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lucci & remedios the squirrel cub

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    KARAOKE ICE:
    an orifice of adventure.





    Proper Pop Protocol:
    10 Steps to Achieve Karaoke Wonder


    1. Resist the urge to stare at your feet. You’ll miss the cue from the squirrel.
    2. When attempting to sing Hey Ya by Outkast, remember that vowels too can be words.
    3. Avoid gazing directly into the mirror ball.
    4. If you lose your place, make it up.
    5. Try the “Wedge and Pry:” signature dance move of the oyster shuck.
    6. Bring friends. Safety comes in numbers.
    7. Try turning Ring of Fire into a sing along.
    8. Save the stage diving for the pool.
    9. Aretha Franklin has soul. You may not. So what.
    10. Take precaution when attempting to Flip It and Reverse It.


    Lucci and Remedios:
    a tale of two friends


    My name is Lucci, Yes, I go by my last name only. My friends joke it sounds so much like louche; you may be vaguely aware that louche is from the French louche, "shady, suspicious," from Old French losche, "squint-eyed," from Latin luscus, "one-eyed." The name names me well as you will soon see, for I only respect stray facts, manic theories, and well-told lies.

    I am both conjuror and illusionist: a woman of the world who has fallen down an elevator shaft into a pool of mermaids.


    My companion. A handsome one he is. We travel, surrounded by warm, bright and often humorous incident, the textures of a life well lived, on which we doodle and jest, nibble at the edges of our own desires. I speak, of course, for I know nothing if not that observation matters and I have no problem letting others know what I think. Words I covet: deshabille, disorderly, bombshell, tidy, fit, eunuch, all the serious “s” words like solemn, sullen, somatic, slumbering. The lively rhythmic variety of Italian curse words: che cazzo! Che schema! La bruta! una bella fica.

    And why not? I grew up under the watchful eye of Tranquilina Lucci, my father’s mother’s mother, who by the time that I knew her, had lived so long she’d lost track of her age. Lusty and combative, a former vaudeville stripper turned seamstress, the fascination she felt for accordion players with their traveler’s serenades became her way of speaking, lines of non-sequiturs softened through song.

    At night we dream of numbers, lots cast through chance calculation. Seven returns twice but tells no one of its secret.

    The days I remember best are those spent in the dark together, stowed away in cabinets beneath the bathroom sink, under beds, behind doors, in closets, to conspiratorially huddle against space and light, sharing stories and avoiding the teeming masses of children milling about. I imagined that the hole in the closet ceiling led all the way to the roof, and pictured it as an orifice of adventure out of which my future would eventually be birthed. Remedios, the resident squirrel cub, most certainly put this hole to the best possible use, in performing broken magic tricks that never failed to delight.

    At the stroke of one, five, nine, came an announcement: “I feel a song coming on!” which signaled our escape to reason. Scamper then from inside the sink/closet/bed and head to my room, a smallish space with a large picture window, throw the shutters wide, and sing our lungs out, accompanied most days by one of twenty-one records kept for such occasions.

    August nights she ventured out, to perform private solos under the ruined lights of the ancient theatre across the street, sultry burlesque routines combined with a bit of soft shoe. She acted in my own private fictions dancing in concert with the stories I told myself about a squirrel, in a color-encrusted suit, swimming to the moon. Made of the thread of hundreds of unraveled kerchiefs stolen from the trunks of traveling troubadours, a cacophony of memory and texture, color and story, glitter, wool, and light.

    There was a sense that nothing after these impromptu performances would ever be the same.
    ..

    We learned to believe in the magic power of shimmer and string for with a needle and a few clever tricks it could be used to repair the damage—of small spaces, large families, of lost and forgotten children. With it we played cat’s cradle in spring; in winter it was knit into conical caps with colored flaps to keep our ears warm. In summer the hats were refashioned into breezy hammocks hung in the narrow space between buildings. In it we swung, side-by-side, escape artists on a magic carpet ride to nowhere. String was our claim to forgiveness.

    Now. My own temporality suspended, indefinite, my sense of future concatenated, flattened, and folded. It is the cliché of my age that hurts me most.

    If the preceding posts are simply a compendium of mass misconceptions—a confusing jumble of mythology, gossip, jest and hoax—what, you must ask yourself, can you believe?

    Get Your Tinklepop On

    *Watch a home movie from our San Jose 2006 tour

    *Gaze at amazing photos from our San Jose 2006 tour




    Want to Practice in Privacy?
    Prepare to get your karaoke on. Check out 22 gems from our tinklepop archive. If a squirrel can do it, so can you.

    *The Tinklepop Menu*

    RING OF FIRE, Johnny Cash. 1963, Abilene
    YOU REALLY GOT ME, The Kinks. 1964, Erie (PA)
    THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING, Nancy Sinatra. 1966, Loveland
    RESPECT, Aretha Franklin. 1967. Kansas City
    LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS, Beatles. 1967, Portland
    SUPERSTITION, Stevie Wonder. 1973, St. Bernard
    THE HARDER THEY COME, Jimmy Cliff. 1974. Traverse City
    HOTEL CALIFORNIA, The Eagles. 1977, Chula Vista
    I WANT YOU TO WANT ME, Cheap Trick. 1979. Bollingham
    YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG, AC/DC. 1980. Bozeman
    I WANT TO BE SEDATED, The Ramones. 1980, Dubuque
    HEART OF GLASS, Blondie. 1981. Providence
    BLISTER IN THE SUN, Violent Femmes. 1983. Rapid City
    MATERIAL GIRL, Madonna. 1984, Pontiac
    KISS, Prince. 1989, Baltimore
    KILLING ME SOFTLY, Fugees. 1996. Truth or Consequences
    IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT, REM. 1997, the Jersey Shore
    HURT, Nine Inch Nails. 2003. Macon
    HEY YA! Outkast. 2003, Oakland
    CREEP, Radiohead. 2004, Evanston
    WORK IT, Missy Elliot. 2005. Murfreesboro, TN
    freestyle beat track, Missy Elliot. 2005. Murfreesboro, TN

    Especially for Los Angeles, we are unearthing two more freestyle beat tracks and three classics of tinklepop from the archive:
    GOOD VIBRATIONS, Beach Boys. October 10, 1969, Torrence
    LOSER, Beck. 1994. Glendale
    GIVE IT AWAY, Red Hot Chili Peppers. 2005. Los Angeles

    LOOK FOR US IN L.A.
    August 30-September 3 and Sept 6-9, 2007

    Venice Beach, Watts Towers, Silverlake, Santa Monica; a car wash, boardwalk, street corner--we'll be all those places and more. Go to LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) for the complete two-weekend tour schedule.








    CREDITS:
    Concept, design and realization (on vocals): Nancy Nowacek, Katie Salen, Marina Zurkow
    Producers: Nancy Nowacek, Katie Salen, Marina Zurkow
    Music produced and arranged by: Lem Jay Ignacio
    Costume fabrication: Scott Paige
    Remedios the Squirrel Cub: Adrian Mejia (San Jose) / Jean Spinoza (L.A.)
    Lighting design: Marcus Doshi
    Wiring & installation support: Ministry of Transport
    Engineering & electrical consultant: Bob Grimm
    Tech Consultant: Julian Bleecker
    Needlepoint:
    Carol Stakenas
    Knitting: Knitta
    Lucci's voice: Michael Portnoy
    VO engineering: John Dylan Keith at Harmonic Ranch, NY
    Technology Intern (San Jose): Diem Dang
    CD Mastering: Andy Snavley/Bendy Music

    Karaoke Ice was designed and produced in collaboration with students and graduates of the San Jose State Cadre Laboratory for New Media.
    Cadre Laboratory Team (the believers):
    Joel Slayton, Executive Producer
    Michael Weisert, Line Producer

    Web Development Team (html funk):
    John Bruneau
    Bruce Gardner
    Kristin O’Friel
    Michael Weisert

    Software Development Team (code connivers):
    John Bruneau
    Kristin O’Friel
    Corrie Tse
    Michael Weisert

    Build Team (heroes of heavy metal):
    Thomas Asmuth
    Sarah Lowe
    Owen Premore
    Ben Ward

    LACE team:
    Carol Stakenas, Executive Director
    Bridget DuLong, Managing Director
    Enrique Castrejon, Program Coordinator/ Lucci driver
    Franco Castilla, Administration
    Sarana Mehra, KI Stage Manager
    Dwight Carey, Membership Coordinator
    Elizabeth Spear, KI intern
    Zoë Chao, Getty Intern/KI intern
    Mengning Li, Getty Intern/Archives
    Vincent Ruiz-Abogado, Board Member/Lucci driver
    Polly Baranco, KI Intern/Fellow
    Holly Witham, Bookkeeper
    Chisari Watanabe, KI intern
    Kelly Bishop, Intern
    Katie Arntzen, Intern

    Special Thanks:
    Mike Berk
    Chris Bregler
    Louis Brossard
    Greg Brown
    Cory Clarke
    Dan Core
    Dave Della Costa
    Steve Dietz
    Marcus Doshi
    Ernie Fertado
    Scott Flora
    Bob Grimm
    Lem Jay Ignacio
    Adrian Jones
    John Keith
    Gordon Knox
    Steve Landau
    Criswell Lappin
    Lawyers for the Arts
    Paul Leduc
    Dan MacAuliff
    Paul Makovsky
    Metropolis Magazine
    Scott Paige
    David Pepe
    San Jose State Foundry
    Rijin Sahakian
    Dave Sardy
    Score
    Joel Slayton
    Carol Stakenas
    Bob Stockwell
    Michael Sweet
    Beau Takahara
    Cynthia Taylor
    Katharine Wallerstein
    Ben Ward
    Wanda Webb
    David Wilhoit

    Extra Special L.A. Thanks to: Zoë Chao & Enrique Castrejon

    Special Thanks to our LA Community Partners:
    Mark Allen, Machine Project
    Preston Bautista, Japanese American National Museum
    Ben Caldwell, KAOS Network
    Cheryl Grace, African Marketplace and Cultural Faire
    Andrew Campbell, Plummer Park, City of West Hollywood
    Hamp Simmons, City of Santa Monica, Cultural Affairs
    Rogelio Acevado and Rosie Lee Hooks, Watts Towers Arts Center
    Rose Cano and Maria Jimenez, Plaza de la Raza
    Jason Brown, Betalevel
    Sean Dockray, Telic Arts Exchange
    Pompea Smith, Hollywood Farmer’s Market
    George Magallanes, Field Deputy, Macarthur Park
    Lisa Figueroa, Chapman & Associates
    Daryl Chou, Firecracker at the Grand Star Restaurant
    Chris Ronnie, Ronnie’s Auto Service
    Nisan Pirian, Hollywood Carwash
    Lisa Melandri, Santa Monica Museum of Art
    Jeremy Faulkner, Belmont Village of Hollywood Hills

    LACE Board members:
    David Burtka
    Chad Clark
    Deborah Hong
    Blake Koh
    Sean McDonald
    Jan McFadden
    Tony Payne
    Synderela Peng
    Glenn R. Phillips
    Bryan Rabin
    David Richards
    Linda Taalman
    Brian Wills
    Grace Kim

    Karaoke Ice is made possible with generous support from Alamance Foods, Blik Surface Graphics, CADRE Laboratory for New Media Chapman & Associates Charitable Foundation, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the City of West Hollywood, ColorKinetics, Cool Neon, Marcus Doshi Lighting Design, Eovia, Extra Space Storage, The Getty Foundation, Bob Grimm, Hanger 18 Studios, The James Irvine Foundation, Ministry of Transport, Montalvo Arts Center, National Endowment for the Arts, New York University, Sally and Don Lucas Artist Programs, D. Sardy and Symbol Technologies.

    Additional support for LACE and its programs comes from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Izze Beverage Company, Jockey Hollow Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Morris Family Foundation, Stone Brewing Co. and the members of LACE.

    Lucci + Remedios’ Friends:

    LOVE US, LOVE OUR TRUCK.
    Or just our stuff. Become a member of the Karaoke Ice Squirrels for Girls glee club by purchasing one of our snazzy tshirts



    T SHIRT in S, L, XL, XXL.
    $10 plus shipping.
    To order, email karaokeice@yahoo.com


    MAKE US YOUR FRIEND

    View Our Myspace Friends

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  • Heroes

    ...... ...... ..

Blurbs

About me:

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Who I'd like to meet:

Details

  • Status: Single
  • Here for: Friends
  • Hometown: New York
  • Orientation: Not Sure
  • Body type: Slim / Slender
  • Zodiac Sign: Libra
  • Children: Love kids, but not for me
  • Education: Post grad
  • Occupation: Ethnomusicologist

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