I was procrastinating the other day during one of my normally strict bi-hourly spank sessions when I clicked upon an interview with the late, great film director Robert Altman. When the maverick was interviewed by Geoff Andrew in January 2001 for the British Film Institute, the conversation turned to a period of Altman's life spent as a dog tattooist.
G.A.: “Is it true that in the forties you used to tattoo dogs?”R.A.: “Absolutely.”
G.A.: “Can you explain?”
R.A.: “Well, in the forties, I tattooed dogs.”
Alright. Well, after explaining his entry into a canine identification initiative, Altman elaborated:
R.A.: “So, I became the tattooist. We would take the dog, and inside the groin, by the right-hind leg, we would shave and put on the antiseptic fluid and then with the tattooing machine I would do letters, and I got pretty good at it, and we'd put the number of that dog that was registered. We thought we were off to be millionaires. It turned out that I just got a few dog bites."
White Williams isn't the first person you think of when talking Altman, but the two have more in common than you might think. Both bring to mind an incomparable independent spirit. Or was it that they both represent the "pendant" in independent? Oh man, I had some thing in mind for this, I swear! Okay, okay, maybe I just wanted to ease myself into 2008 by writing something simple (read: re-printing someone else’s amusing biographical anecdote/interview). Regardless, Williams will be sashaying his idiosyncratic self all over the U.S. and parts of Canada soon. Williams' latest release is the well-traveled Smoke, out wherever Tigerbeat6 is stocked.
Wait, I know what I was trying to say all along -- one minute you could be seeing yourself as the next Richie Rich, the next you're getting bit by a growling bitch! Nah, that's not it...
White Williams = the dog's bollocks
01.12.08 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs %
01.13.08 - New Haven, CT - BAR Nightclub %
01.14.08 - Providence, RI - The Living Room %
01.15.08 - Montréal, Quebec - Sala Rossa %
01.16.08 - Toronto, Ontario - Horseshoe Tavern %
01.17.08 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick +
01.18.08 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop +
01.19.08 - Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern
01.20.08 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Club %
01.23.07 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club ^
01.24.08 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey ^
01.25.08 - Portland, OR - Holocene ^
01.26.08 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord *
01.27.08 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo
01.29.08 - San Diego, CA - Casbah ^
01.31.08 - Austin, TX - Emos Jr. #
02.01.08 - Denton, TX - Hailey's #
02.02.08 - Houston, TX - Walters on Washington #
02.04.08 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder (FSU) #
02.05.08 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn (MJQ Concourse) #
02.07.08 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 $
02.08.08 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar $
02.09.08 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brendas $
% Ecstatic Sunshine
+ Ecstatic Sunshine & Ghostman and Sandman
^ HEALTH
* Eats Tapes
# Rings (First Nation)
$ Ecstatic Sunshine & Rings (First Nation)
