The Hottest Year on Record...

will begin january 2009.

That is all.

Hot Detroit Wheels

Shooting a film in Michigan?  Need a certain set of wheels?  Look no further than my good buddy Doug's new venture, Motor City Film Cars.

Mass Production

Finally got around to making some more of these official Rouge Roastery Tiki God of Coffee ukuleles, built on the Mahalo U-30RD framework.  They're going fast, so shoot me an email if you're interested.  Cost is $60 plus shipping.  

Curse you, Nellie McKay, and your moving performances!

If this doesn't bring a tear to your eye, see a doctor.  You may have Sjögren’s syndrome.



Someone please pass the tissues.

"Every Body Do the Michigan Rag"

Anyone else have a cat who plays the ukulele when she's hungry?  I was suprised I was able to get a shot of it, even if it is less-than nominal.  Perhaps I'll try to get her with video next time, but I imagine we'd end up in some kind of Michigan J. Frog situation.

Send fan mails and monetary expressions of amazement to Hello Kitty c/o Steve.

And speaking of MJF...

A Return to IPM!

Last time was so much fun, I just couldn't turn down a last-minute opportunity to spin tunes at IPM alongside my pal Mitch, making his debut as DJ Bikklestein.  He's recently returned from a 12 year stint in Japan, bringing back all sorts of heady J-pop goodness.

Though I didn't attempt anything too fancy this time around, what with putting my set together the night before, the one time I did go for a beatmatch I blew it horribly.  Thanks a lot, beer!  See if I ever drink you again!

The Spider kicks things off with August's edition of "Metal Shop," followed by myself, Bikklestein, and last but not least, Agent Detroit. 

LISTEN HERE

** 01:33:00  Funky Winkerbean **

1. Curly Toes - Anonymous
2. Frau Wav - Clark
3. Get the Hell Out - Nine Horses
4. Dreaming My Life Away Remix - Silvercord
5. Volcanoes - Islands
6. Means to an End - Joy Division
7. Boogie Woogie / Rock 'n' Roll - Komeda
8. Almost the Same - Clearlake
9. Ever Fallen In Love? - The Buzzcocks
10. Touche Pas Mon Sexe - The Comix
11. Rainbow Man - Busy P
12. Outdoor Miner - Wire
13. Toxic Girl (monte carlo 1963 version) - kings of convenience
14. Can You Feel It - Jackson 5
15. Little Bit More - Jamie Lidell
16. Exister - Prototypes
17. Konichiwa Bitches (trentmoller remix) - Robyn
18. Hot Ride - The Prodigy
19. Themes from E.T. - Walter Murphy
20. Starman - Dewey Cox

Hayes Hargrove: Jedi Knight

Fun and geekery abound on the set of Starlight and Superfish. Holy chow, these new iphones can do some pretty fun, albeit unnecessary to humanity's survival, things.

A Streaming File... of HITS!

The archive of mine and Jimbotron's sets at IPM radio have come online. LISTEN HERE.  'Twas a fun and lubricated night.  The beats were cool and the grilled meats were hot.  Oh, and it was probably the first ever digital linkup between live internet radio and a maternity ward.  Welcome to the jungle, baby Zoe!

Here's my set list, which follows Jimbotron's excellent opening.  

** Funky Winkerbean **

Approaching Metaluna ("Normal View")- Herman Stein
Yesteryear - Malibu
Rubicon - Alan Braxe & Fred Falke
Technopolis - Yellow Magic Orchestra
Magnificent 7 / Instant Club Hit - The Clash / Dead Milkmen / Trainwreck?
Carlos Wendy Walter Stanley - The Chap
Roulette Thrift Run - Clark
Can't Go for That - PJ Pooterhoots
Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant
The Creation - Ira Newborn
The Minuet of the Robots - Jean Jacques Perrey
Magic Tubes - Chris Joss
The Lobby - Fidgital
Rev Up - The Revillos
Antarctica - Men Without Hats
Welcome to the Jungle - Bossa
No Swinging the Club in the Car - Cliff Martinez
Tiger Dust - Yello
Berghain - Aril Brickha
The Savers - Perrey & Kinsley
Balinese Bongos - Les Baxter
Flesh - Ken Nordine
Freaks - MC Chris
Mothra's Song - Akira Ifukube

Spin Spin Sugar Hiccups

So I guess I'm spinning my very first IPM internet radio set this-coming Saturday evening.  Tune in live and find out if I pull a Superpitcher or a Supergreg.

 

It's been an awful long time since I've done any sort of live DJing, so this could go either really well or horribly wrong.  Either way, it should be entertaining.  And hey, I get to spin alongside my good buddy Jimbotron, so that's something especial.

I think I'm to be introduced as DJ Funky Winkerbean.  Or possibly Futurefolkhero.

Or how about Funky See Funky do?

Updates, My Buttocks

Haven't had much time to do anything here since I got laid off, what with trying to keep up with my stories on the TV every afternoon and baking brownies. Seriously though, why has time sped up considerably since leaving that jorb of mine? I wonder if my fellow now-laid-off-former-coworkers are experiencing the same temporal event. I can't believe it's summer already! But as I was saying, I didn't even think anyone was looking here, until I got a message from out of the blue taking me to task for not updating. Thanks for the kick in the pants, "he-who-shall-not-be-named."  I'll do my best to update this space more often, with as much interesting junk I can.

Oh, and I'm officially sick of all the blog hype. Every time I turn on the tv or radio it's "blog this" and "blog that." Blow it out your blogholes.

That being said...
I've been discovering some great blogs lately! BLOG BLOG BLOG!

The Tiki God of Coffee meets a Jumping Flea

Finally finished the ukulele I've been messing around with on off and on for a little over a year. Turned out pretty nice, I must admit. Though I always had the inkling to make some cool looking ukes, it wasn't until I had to come up with an idea for a friend's birthday gift that I found direction.  Not long ago he had started a coffee business based around a tiki / hawaiian mythology, and had tapped me for some tiki art for the business, which seemed perfectly suited to a ukulele migration.

The best part is that most of the difficult design work is now done, and I'll be able to produce more of these relatively easily compared to the initial prototype.