Odd Connection: Kamakiriad is Japanese for “Praying Mantis“, the avatar I’ve used here that has been assigned to Fly’s nemesis, Ducati. Like Fly, the narrator has a deisel machine traveling in the future but his runs on steam power (peak oil was a reality) and as you can see, the last tune on the CD takes place in Flytown. If this weren’t enough, the “Teahouse” track is my favorite from this CD (Asia [sic] being my favorite SD CD and this 2nd) and hence my email is teahousebythetracks (as someone already took “on“) …. Odd, no? Maybe we can work on a triangle offense …. ah, but The Fly’s idea of sport is to kick old men down elevator shafts and when home, cooking 2 1/2 ribeyes on the grill with some fancy croquette [sic] or a swim with the neighbors.

Enough of that shit …. here’s a review and an interview about the making of the video for the CD:

and here:

Kamakiriad is an album of eight related songs. The literal action takes place a few years in the future, near the millenium. (CD has been out about 15 yrs)

In the first song, “Trans-Island Skyway,” the narrator tells us he is about to embark on a journey in his new dream-car, a custom-tooled Kamakiri. It’s built for the new century: steam-driven, with a self-contained vegetable garden and a radio link with the Tripstar routing satellite.

The next six songs describe his adventures along the way. In the last song, “08-teahouse-on-the-tracks,” the narrator lands in dismal Flytown where he must decide whether to bail out (go long) or rally (add to shorts) and continue moving into the unknown.

Memo: Be sure to click “Teahouse on the Tracks” above for an audio file …. no video file could be found on youtube. While listening to the audio you can check out Fagan’s Website for some informative bio info and some of his personal writings …. JakeGint will enjoy his letter to the Times regarding “The Fall of the House of Bush” and “Lolita” for sure. Tour dates are listed and Fly could learn something from his “Great Pogoda of Merch” store.

The Fly-Ducati Connection will linger in the minds of iBCers whenever you hear Steely Dan or Donald Fagan.