NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT [Episode #487 ~ 03-14-26]
Pictured: Phương Tâm (center, in white) performing at the 1965 Miss Vietnam pageant.
What I know is that the nail salon is more than a place of work and workshop for beauty, it is also a place where our children are raised—a number of whom, like cousin Victor, will get asthma from years of breathing the noxious fumes into their still-developing lungs. The salon is also a kitchen where, in the back rooms, our women squat on the floor over huge woks that pop and sizzle over electric burners, cauldrons of phở simmer and steam up the cramped spaces with aromas of cloves, cinnamon, ginger, mint, and cardamom mixing with formaldehyde, toluene, acetone, Pine-Sol, and bleach. A place where folklore, rumors, tall tales, and jokes from the old country are told, expanded, laughter erupting in back rooms the size of rich people’s closets, then quickly lulled into an eerie, untouched quiet. It’s a makeshift classroom where we arrive, fresh off the boat, the plane, the depths, hoping the salon would be a temporary stop—until we get on our feet, or rather, until our jaws soften around English syllables—bend over workbooks at manicure desks, finishing homework for nighttime ESL classes that cost a quarter of our wages…We will do this for decades—until our lungs can no longer breathe without swelling, our livers hardening with chemicals—our joints brittle and inflamed from arthritis—stringing together a kind of life. A new immigrant, within two years, will come to know that the salon is, in the end, a place where dreams become the calcified knowledge of what it means to be awake in American bones—with or without citizenship—aching, toxic, and underpaid.
I hate and love your battered hands for what they can never be.
— Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.
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Here’s what we played in Ep. 487 of No Condition Is Permanent:
FIRST SLICE O’SCHEIßE...
Eddie Kendricks — “I Won’t Take No” — He’s A Friend
Ghetto Blaster — “Na Waya” — Pulp Fusion 10: Africa Funk
Bruno & The Gladiators — “istanbul” — Sleazy Surf! Vol 2
Lee Pei Jing — “Silver $100,000” — Taiwan & Singapore Disco
The Soul Sisters — “I Can’t Stand It” — Ain’t Nothing But A House Party: 60’s & 70’s Club Soul Classics
King Tubby — “Worthless Trap” — Dennis Brown In Dub
The Necessaries — “Dancing Out of Time” — Completely Necessary: Anthology 1978-1982
Phương Tâm — “Bước Giang Hồ (My Wonderful Journey)” — Saigon Surf Twist & Soul (1964-1966)
J.C. Davis — “Coconut Brown” — New Day 45rpm
SECOND SLICE O’SCHEIßE…
Mixed Grill — “A Brand New Wayo” — Brand New Wayo: Funk, Fast times, & Nigerian Boogie Badness 1979–1983
Southern Culture on the Skids — “Midnight to Six” — Kudzu Records Presents…
Lee “Scratch” Perry — “Freedom Dub” — Megaton Dub 1
The Beachnuts — “I’ve Got a Tiger in My Tank” — Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65
Orchestre Tropicana d’Haiti — “Incredulite” — Yolande
The Gories — “Feral” — House Rockin’
Geeta Dutt — “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” — Doob Doob O’ Rama 2: More Filmsongs From Bollywood
Mirrors — “She Smiled Wild” — Datapanik in the Year Zero [Disc #5 – Terminal Drive]
Los Picapiedra — “Gaita En Villa-Roca” — Kabwlú
THIRD SLICE O’SCHEIßE…
Iron Knowledge — “Showstopper” — Chains & Black Exhaust
Malavoi — “Gadé Manzel’” — Mano Césaire Et La Formation Malavoi: La Naissance De La World Music Antillaise En 1969
Wire — “On Returning” — 154
Los Zheros — “Toro En Órbita” — Psychedelic Cumbia Party
The Cadillacs — “Lucy” — The Cadillacs Rock
U-Roy — “Running Around With Tom, Dick and Harry” — Natty Rebel (Extra Version)
Big Star — “Makeover” — In Space
THE FINAL SLICE O’SCHEIßE…
Mongo Santamaria & His Orchestra — “Sweet Tater Pie” — ¡Sabroso! The Afro-Latin Groove
Abstracts — “The Beard” — Las Vegas Grind Vol. 7
Pamelo Mounk’a — “L’Argent Appelle L’Argent” — Pamelo Mounk’a
Flat Duo Jets — “Mexicali Baby” — Introducing Flat Duo Jets
Matumbi — “Dub Planet” — Sufferer Sounds
The Royal Jokers — “You Tickle Me Baby” — Itty Bitty Treasure Chest (Fortune Records) Vol. 4
Blue Rhythm Combo — “I’m Too Old (To Go Through Your Changes)” — B.R.C’s Groove
Sonny Day — “Beyond A Shadow Of A Doubt” — Vicious Vicious Vocals! Volume Vun
LORD BUCKLEY’S WEEKLY BENEDICTION…
Syrinx — “Field Hymn (Epilogue)” — Long Lost Relatives
NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT MERCH!
No Condition Is Permanent 
