***: Peter's Cake Mix

This mixtape was created specifically for my wonderful twin brother Peter, using only songs from his iTunes playlists ... it was really fun to make ... full of crazy ups and downs, lefts and rights, dark turns and sudden blinking lights! ... and tomorrow is he & I's birthday ... so Happy Birthday, Brother!!! I hope you enjoy it!

*I also found a slew of music videos that remind me and make me think of Peter ... if you scroll down, you'll see (and hear) em!*

Speaking of my brother, he took all of the rather amazing photos at the bottom of this post ... They are all very intriguing and many make me think of the fantastic photographic work of Diane Arbus ... nice work, Peter! I can't wait to see more!

Here's Peter with our friend and photographer, Mindy Tucker =

I put this song at the tail end of Peter's Cake Mix ... it will always make me think of him =

"Dream Brother"

Jeff Buckley

There is a child sleeping near his twin
The pictures go wild in a rush of wind
That dark angel he is shuffling in
Watching over them with his black feather wings unfurled

The love you lost with her skin so fair
Is free with the wind in her butterscotch hair
Her green eyes blew goodbyes
With her head in her hands
and your kiss on the lips of another
Dream Brother, with your tears scattered round the world.

Don't be like the one who made me so old
Don't be like the one who left behind his name
'Cause they're waiting for you like I waited for mine
And nobody ever came...

I feel afraid and I call your name
I love your voice and your dance insane
I hear your words and I know your pain
Your head in your hands and your kiss on the lips of another
Your eyes to the ground
and the world spinning round forever
Asleep in the sand with the ocean washing over...

And here it is in all it's sweetly-iced, glowing-candle glory ...

Behold!!! Peter's Cake Mix!!!

And a merry UNbirthday to you! and you! and YOU!

ENJOY!!!

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Wow ... what a week!!!

In art news, I'm sad to report that Birmingham's beloved 14-year-old Barehands Gallery will be closing at the end of this year ... R.I.P. , Barehands Gallery ... you will be very sorely missed.

On a lighter art note, I'm part of a current group postcard show in San Juan, Puerto Rico called "Not About Beauty", curated by Juan Alberto Negroni =

Here's a photo of the exhibit as it's currently displayed =

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There's a lot to report in "music news" this week!!!

1st up, I finished editing the new Eat My Shorts video that I shot! check it =

Tuesday nite, the phenomenal Atlanta band, Deerhunter played at Bottletree and it was totally and utterly amazing! For an encore, they did the entire setlist over again, but in the crazy fast-paced style of The Ramones! haha ...

After the show, I found the lead singer, Bradford Cox and not only did he talk into my tape recorder for Ryan, who couldn't be there, but he also explained what the "Calvary Scars" mystery percussion explained! I remember me & Brianna once "decided" that it was some sort of wind-up toy ... nope! ... haha!

Thanks for explaining, Bradford! I like that you think it sounds like "footprints in snow" ...

Later that week was Bottletree's 5 Bands 5 Bucks show with Bremen, The Banditos and our good pals from Jackson, Mississippi The Overnight Lows, another good friend Dan Sartain and my own band Nowhere Squares ...

Here's some photo evidence of the Overnight Lows being extremely rocking despite Marsh losing a crown to the microphone =

Say "CHEESE", Dan! =

We Nowhere Squares so love our new bass player Andy =

Speaking of extremely rocking, THIS SATURDAY we'll be spazzing out at Magic City Wholesale with not only Eat My Shorts, but also Broken Letters and Nashville's Natural Child ... bring it! =

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Friday I travelled down to Montgomery to see my sweet babyboy, Ryan ... it'd been 2 very long weeks! ... Sigh ...

Here's a performance of one of his favorite Arcade Fire songs, "The Sprawl II" that I'm dedicating to him =

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Saturday nite Danny Gamble and his wife Cathy threw Peter and I an awesome birthday party ... THANKS!!! It was a royally grand time, complete with delicious food, Beatles songs and a good hot fire (that we later sang and danced around!) =

There was also a cake for each of us =

Peter's:

mine:

thank you, Elizabeth for making it vegan!

Jess Marie and Cathy enjoying the grub:

(note: A lot of the other guests appear in Peter's portrait series down below)

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Sunday, Green Central Station had another epic picnic, despite the overcast skies ... once again I was all over the place on the badmitten court ... haha ...

Here are some of the folks that partook in the grub & good times =

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Holy crap there are a LOT of videos this week cuz I found a ton of videos that always remind me of my brother, Peter whenever I see them ... Here they are in sort of chronological order :

Peter loves The Doors ... at end of this performance I remember we always joked about it, saying that Jim Morrison fell asleep ... haha =

Blue Oyster Cult ... another Peter favorite ... He loves "Don't Fear The Reaper" more, but I definitely remember watching this one with him (and making fun of most of it ... especially the singer's costume ... haha) =

Speaking of making fun of videos ... this Red Ryder one was somehow both laughed at and revered =

I specifically recall Peter being frightened by this Eurythmics video ... maybe it was the ventriloquist's dummy ... or maybe it's cuz this one is just plain old MENTAL! =

Speaking of MENTAL ... we both love and enjoy this timeless classic by Peter Gabriel =

and now ... the Talk Talk show ... Peter so loves Talk Talk that I couldn't find just one video that would suffice ... so here are 4!!!

"Talk Talk" =

"It's My Life" =

"Life's What You Make It" =

and

"I Believe In You" (from his favorite album, "Spirit Of Eden" )=

I remember Peter showing me this one by R.E.M. and being fascinated that it not only didn't have lip-syncing in it, but no people whatsoever! =

Here's one by a personal favorite of both ours, the very underrated Miracle Legion =

Ah ... black clothes and cemeteries ... Skinny Puppy and the dark era =

And what would the dark era be without Joy Division?!=

Peter also turned me on to Nirvana ... I was pretty amazed by this video =

The Stone Roses ... another band Peter opened my eyes to ... This song will always make me think of hearing it for the 1st time tripping and Peter dancing in my dorm room with his hair cut just like the lead singer's! =

Now here's a few Peter movie moments :

The trailer for the great cult classic "Android" =