Insomniac Writings Of A Middle Class Zeitgeist

A Bush Review

2009-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

I usually try to engage people in one on one conversations about politics as I find getting on a soapbox doesn't really accomplish the type of mutual respect for differing opinions that personal discourse can. However, with tomorrow being the end of the Bush administration, I have found the last week to highly introspective in terms of the politics and largely how to it has affected society and myself for my entire adult life.

Here is a 9 minute video by Keith Olbermann that reviews the Bush administration. My discussion follows below.

I understand that Keith Olbermann makes a living off of using his emotion and exaggeration to make money. However, his summary shows some facts that really are hard to deny.

1. We never captured Bin Laden.

Instead, we took the tragedy and shock of a nation, to sell a war in Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11. Once Bush was outed for connecting the two in 2004, he still maintained that Al Qaeda was in Iraq. When confronted with the fact that they only were in Iraq because of his war, he stated "So what?" He vowed to take justice on those responsible for 9/11. He did not.

2. The size of government grew.

This is the most damning of the Bush presidency. Most of the people I know that voted for Bush believed that he would shrink the size of government post-Clinton. Who doesn't want less government in their life? It make sense to me. Instead, we have spent almost $600 billion on the war in Iraq, and have broken records for most any presidency has spent. So for those heralding Bush's tax cuts, you have to look at the fact he has increased spending. Therefore, our deficit is worse off, and we have mortgaged our future. Oh, and don't get me started on the $700 billion bailout.

3. The United States engaged in human rights violations.

I'm not one of those liberals that has idealistic views towards war. I understand that war is a violent, primal beast. That said, for an administration that consistently spouted that we are spreading democracy to Iraq, we apparently had some serious cognitive dissonance: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and the lack of habeaus corpus. Bush has admitted in a few different ways that he knew what was going on. The world isn't stupid. They hear our words and see our actions. Nothing hurts worse than being the global hypocrite. I want my family, friends, and myself to be safe, but we didn't need to sacrifice our American values to do so.

4. Critical thinking was attacked as "Anti-American".

Using the war as a primer, people like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Karl Rove used arrogance to hide what really was going on: the war was not succeeding. I understand that a leader needs to make diffcult decisions. However, a leader must be able to listen to what people are telling them. It seemed that we lived in the Twilight Zone for 3 or 4 years. The sad part about this is that Bush's actions permiated out into the public. If you weren't with us, you were against us. As soon as you spoke out against the administration, you were fired.

5. Bush has taken no responsibility for the last 8 years.

In the last week, Bush has done interview after interview, and he simply doesn't get it: the reason why he wasn't popular was because he made mistake after mistake. He didn't listen to leading experts on foreign policy and economics.

Ending on a more comedic note:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Six Days Seven Nights

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

By the way, this isn't a partisan issue to me. I wish parties didn't exist. I am neither Republican nor Democrat.

Lost or How To Find Something Not So Familiar

2009-01-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

Last year, I found myself finally captivated by television: Six Feet Under, Dexter, Weeds (though this show toiled in season 3), Damages, and Pushing Daisies help me through winter. This year, I haven't been as avid with television, but with the wonderful ending to The Shield, I don't believe anything will top it.

So what have I done? I've something I wouldn't typically do, but I'm finally getting around to the sensation that is Lost. Lost Seasons 1 and 2 had a captivating premise, but as time went on, I found that the writing had all the elements of aggravation. Flashbacks used to predictably push the narrative forward, side episodes not tied to the more interesting main stories, and characters very easy to dislike. It took about 6 months for me to finally finish Lost Season 2.

Something happened at the end of season 2 that made me a believer: the show finally stepped into territory I had never seen in television. Science fiction twists with shady unknown characters I haven't seen since X-Files.

While parts of the season 3 have suffered the same problems as the first two seasons, Lost Season 3 excels when it unveils a little more of the mystery: the Others' past, the mysteries of the Island(s), and flashbacks for the main characters that add a little more depth.

More Kate and Sawyer in cages...

More Jack in tense surgical moments....

Less oddly placed flashbacks in the middle of the best the main story has ever offered showing minor character's manufactured and laborious pain...

I'm hoping the shorter seasons of 4 - 6 allowed the writers to cut out the excess fat of monotonous side stories and continue to find something not so familiar.

Musical Discoveries of 2008 Part 3 of 3

2009-01-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

Peter Broderick - Float (Type, 2008)

Peter Broderick had a big year: he released two solo albums, did all the arrangements for Horse Feathers, and toured with Efterklang. Float's main melodic drive comes from subtle piano arrangements backed by a large variety of instruments. As the title suggests, no individual track really steals the show. The album feels like one complete tracks meandering about picking up sad melodies along the way.

Pigeon Funk - The Largest Bird in the History of the Planet... Ever! (Musique Risquee, 2008)

Kit Clayton, Sutekh, and Safety Scissors show how being technically apt with the studio and instruments can pay off for fun's sake. Pigeon Funk's second album hits many genres: glitch, techno, lounge, polka, big-band, musique concrete, and more. A great reminder to everyone that techno usually takes itself way too seriously.

Quiet Village - Silent Movie (!K7, 2008)

Taking some of the same ideas from the Avalanche's Since I Left You, and removing the dance beat, Quiet Village leaves us with tracks that sound like a family's old 8mm home movies. Swelling strings, beach sounds, and smooth bass, it could make for a cheesy romp through kitschy 50s and 60s soundtracks, but somehow Quiet Village pulls it off.

Sixto Rodriguez - Cold Fact (Light In The Attic, 1970)

The reissue world is often riddled with music snobs who use music's obscurity to show how academically superior they are to everyone else regardless of the quality of the music. However, the best part of the reissue community is when people and labels such as Light In The Attic manage to commericially channel their passion for a lost musician into something that sounds relevant even today. Rodriguez's Cold Fact is one of the those that has all the right ingredients: poetic lyrics about society, poverty, love, life, and psychedelic guitar breakdowns.

SOS - Balance 013 (EQ/Stomp, 2008)

Doing a thoughtful well through out mix over 3 CDs is not something I recommend anyone try. SOS manages to pull it off using just about every style of music: baleric disco, 80s new wave, house, jazz, and more. SOS shows they understand a variety of music styles and blends it into a perfect ebb and flow mix.

Stimming - Resident Advisor Podcast #111 (www.residentadvisor.net, 2008)

The one exception to my list of albums. Every Monday morning, I look forward to the new Resident Advisor podcast. They manage to get many of the hot DJs right now to do an exclusive mix just for RA. My mind was blown when I heard the Stimming live set mix. Essentially all tracks are his productions minus the first track remix, so I would consider this his album. I have not heard any dance music this year that has the same sense of urgency as Stimming. He understands that the high tempo bass beat should service the rest of the track which he often feels with amazing melodies. My favorite new dance artist for sure.

Subtle - exitingARM (Lex, 2008)

For Hero: For Fool left me a little disappointed after A New White really promised a new sound. exitingARM is more effective at what they were trying to do last album: better melodies, harder and faster raps, and no dead songs. A fitting way to leave the Subtle project for a while.

Susanna - Flower of Evil (Rune Grammofon, 2008)

Another form of recontextualization of music that I believe is more difficult is the cover song. In most cases, the artist covering the song doesn't really bring anything new to the track. Susanna Wallumrød is notorious for her covers. Her melacholic and sweet voice has transformed some pretty untouchable classics in the past like "Love Will Tear Us Apart". Flower of Evil has her in full piano diva mode with subtle guitar and drum arrangements on select tracks. This is perfect Sunday morning music.

Various Artists - Disco Italia: Essential Italo Disco Classics 1977-1985 (Strut, 2008)

Last year, minimal techno was king: repetitious drums, very minor melodies, and quiet shifts in dynamics. Thankfully, disco made a huge comeback this year notably in musicians like Hot Chip, Hercules & Love Affair, Lindstrom, Prins Thomas, and others. To mark the landmark year in awesome disco music, Strut has put together an amazing collection of Italo Disco. Heavy percussion, early synths, and spacey melodies showcase the best of the period. Stevie Kotey, owner of the best current disco labels, Bear Entertainment and Bear Funk, mixes them all together with a few exclusive re-edits. Vintage bliss!

Musical Discoveries of 2008 Part 2 of 3

2008-12-31T12:05:00.000-08:00

Harmonic 313 - EP1 / Dirtbox (Warp, 2008)

Mark Pritchard has flirted with using old synth sounds with hip-hop previously on the Global Communication Fabric mix and his nod to old library music project, Harmonic 33. He fully realizes those sounds on his latest project, Harmonic 313. Releasing two EPs this year, EP1 finds Pritchard in similar territory as some of J Dilla's electronic hip-hop producations while Dirtbox has mostly a dubstep sound. Harmonic 313's remix work is also worth a listen.

Jacaszek - Treny (Miasmah, 2008)

Miasmah continues their excellent output with Polish musician, Jacaszek. Combining chamber orchestra, female vocals, and prepared electronic sounds, Jacaszek manages to portray music of forgotten memories.

Kail - True Hollywood Squares (Alpha Pup, 2008)

This year was a little short of hip-hop for me, but Kail's concept album featuring different characters describing the true seedy underbelly of Hollywood rang to for me. Producation ranges from 8-bit video game samples to big band horns. Kail is a true ghetto tour guide.

Lambert and Nuttycombe - At Home (Fallout, 1970)

In a simiar style of Simon and Garfunkel, Lambert and Nuttycombe feature subtle guitar strumming with delicate two-part harmonies. There is a terrible sadness to this album that really shows the issues of Lambert's heroin addiction. I think I listened to this album more than any other from this last year.

The Left - Jesus Loves The Left: The Complete Studio Recordings (Bona Fide, 1984)

With all the recent so called punk music rotting on modern radio, many people want to claim that punk is dead. There are a few bands carrying the punk torch, but no other punk album that I heard this year hits like The Left. The Left capture what is best about punk: tiredless teenage boredom, asking questions, and wonderfully sloppy melodies.

Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go Too (Smalltown Supersound, 2008)

Dance and electronic albums typically suffer from having one or two tracks that are great, and the rest of the tracks sound the same. I guess dance music is usually best in DJ mixes and live sets. That said, Lindstrøm manages to craft an album that combines many of the best parts of current dance music trends - am bient keyboard flourishes, disco breakbeats, and melodic dynamics - all into 3 epic and ambitious tracks.

Märtini Brös - The MB Factor (Poker Flat, 2008)

A mix album of the Märtini Brös best tracks from the last 10 years. Not since Tiefschwarz' Fabric mix has a minimal house mix sounded so good. Throw in some subtle flourishes over the 70 minutes with funky basslines, and it's all good.

Metro Area - Fabric 43 (Fabric, 2008)

The Fabric serious this year has some great contenders: Luciano, Ame, Robert Hood, and Mark Farina. Metro Area's mix beats them all out of sheer fun. The album starts with them commentating over the first track to give it a goofy feel, and then they settle into some rad Italo-disco and electro from the past 20 years.

Nik Bartsch's Ronin - Holon (ECM, 2008)

The European Jazz scene is one which has many different niche's and different styles. I am a fan of free jazz and improv jazz, but no other jazz album from the last year had the most intriguing mix of styles as this Swiss pianist's Ronin group. Modern classical, jazz, funk, electronic drone, and world music all find their way into these 6 varied tracks.

Noisia - Fabriclive. 40 (Fabric, 2008)

Each year, Fabric has a shining example of what's hot in the drum and bass world via their Fabriclive series. Noisia's release foregoes much of the cheesier vocal sounds of typical drum and bass and aims for dark complex beats. For 80 minutes, this mix consistently deals with the ebb and flow of the beats attempting to descend into glitch chaos.

Musical Discoveries of 2008 Part 1 of 3

2008-12-29T19:17:00.000-08:00

My apologies for not blogging in so long. I've been busy working, reading, playing Call of Duty, socializing, playing with my dog, watching movies, and hanging out with Capree.

Typically, in years past, I would be up on the current year of music enough to do a full list of music from that year. I have listened to enough music from this last year to do a list, but I felt that this year also had a lot of older music that affected me. I'm also getting rid of numbering albums because I feel like all of these albums had something I really enjoyed in some way.

The list is simply albums (with one exception). This rules out much of the music I listened to this year. I spent much of time this year listening to dance singles, web mixes, and podcasts. This allowed me to continue to listen to music even though my work environment is more complicated and less music friendly than in the past. This next year, I'll make sure to document what I'm listening to regardless of format, year, or genre.

So without further ado, here is part 1. Part 2 will follow tomorrow, and part 3 the day after that.

Aaron Lightman - Aaron Lightman (Fallout, 1970)

Similar in style to some of Donovan's music as well as other more successful musicians of the baroque pop tradition, Aaron Lightman intersperses shorter pop tracks with longer orchestral arrangements. The reissuer, Fallout Records, is a UK label that specializes in reissues of lost music from the 60s and 70s. I attribute my interest in baroque pop music this year to the label's strong output.

Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema (Babygrande, 2008)

Having been blindsided by their first album, A Heap Of Broken Images, back in 2006, I have been eagerly anticipating their next instrumental full length. Kingston and Young God combine samples from classical, blues, soul, movie soundtracks, and other places unknown with their own instruments such as pedal effects guitar, cello, and keys. The eclecticism of their tastes really shines in their style of Godspeed dramatics with boom bap beats.

Colin Blunstone - One Year (Water, 1971)

Another baroque pop gem. Colin Blunstone is the singer from The Zombies who took to doing his own work after The Zombies broke up. Tracks like "I Can't Live Without You" highlight the sheer madness of Blunstone's vocal dexterity over chamber orchestral arrangements.

David Axelrod - Seriously Deep (Dusty Groove, 1975)

Long out of print, Seriously Deep is one of the most sampled records during the golden age of hip-hop. David Axelrod was known for his productions, and his own album captures his variety of styles: jazz, funk, electronic, classical, and the prototypes of hip-hop. Capree says this sounds like cheesy porn music, but I don't care!

The Final Solution - Brotherman OST (Numero Group, 1975)

A funk and soul soundtrack for a blaxploitation film that never came out. Numero Group has been doing fantastic deluxe reissues of lost funk and soul of the 70s and 80s for a few years now. This is my favorite release of theirs from this year.

The Frogs - It's Only Right And Natural (Homestead, 1989)

The Frogs do what most irreverant gay music cannot: avoid kitsch and novelty. The Frogs sound like early Pixies or Nirvana demos, but with a passion and humor really unheard by my ears since Xiu Xiu. While Xiu Xiu's main drive is emotional intensity, The Frogs use satire to highlight the ridiculousness of the fears of the socially conservative.

Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet - The Breadwinner (Erstwhile, 2008)

Two musicians known separately for their work in experimental music come together to remind us how to use the physical space of a studio. All sounds on this album were original recordings from Lambkin's home: the radiator, the creaks in the floor, the silence/noise of the various rooms/hallways, the neighbors talking through the wall, etc. Using the physical medium of tape to stretch, distort, and splice, Lambkin and Lescalleet remind us of the power of sampling: the ability to recontextualize and present something new from something old, tried, and common.

Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (Type, 2008)

Grouper has always had potential, but I found the concepts on her earlier stuff to be done much better by bands like Charlalambides and Christina Carter's solo work. With Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill, she has given more structure to her typically ambient/drone folk. What ended up happening is a melancholic fresh take to the late 80s 4AD roster such as Cocteau Twins and His Name Is Alive.

Guilty Simpson - Ode To The Ghetto (Stones Throw, 2008)

I first heard of Guilty Simpson from Madlib and Jay Dee's Jaylib project and Dabrye's Two/Three. I have always found his brash rapping about living in Detroit to be hypnotising. It captures the documentary style found in the best rap and hip-hop. Madlib, Oh No, Black Milk, Mr. Porter, and J Dilla all contribute fantastic production. My favorite hip-hop album of the year.

Gultskra Artikler - Kasha Iz Topora (Miasmah, 2007)

Miasmah is hands down my favorite label currently. Erik Skodvin, half of Deaf Center, snatched up Gultskra Artikler after Lampse put out the fantastic 2006 release, Pofigistka. Kasha Iz Topora is a continuation into the Siberian madness of previous releases. Classical cello and piano, electronic flourishes, and field recordings are combined to evoke haunted Lynchian memories with Russian folk tale flair. Miasmah is the new Kranky!

'Nuff Said

2008-08-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

"That's not light red. It's pink."

http://gwenspot.blogspot.com/2006/08/light-red-vs-pink-in-which-gwen-clears.html

The marrying of media

2008-06-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite experiences in the world of art is when worlds collide. Two musicians I respect and admire come together for a project, a writer teams up with a director, and so on.

To go along with this, a favorite of mine is to keep track of what The Criterion Collection is putting out every month. Around the 15th, they unveil usually 3 to 5 new titles coming out three months from the unveiling. Almost as much I enjoy seeing what titles they have coming out, I peruse their cover art. It consistently surprises and amazes me how well the layout and design of the packaging compliments the films themselves. Other media that I enjoy does this as well, but I wanted to focus on Criterion.

The main graphic designer that I admire that works with Criterion is Eric Skillman. You can reach his blog, Cozy Lummox, here. He describes the behind the scenes design process that goes into designing the layout of Criterion's titles as well as other projects he is involved with. So without further ado, I wanted to highlight 5 titles that he designed that I particularly enjoy.

1) Divorce, Italian Style (illustrations by the famous Jamie Hernandez)

2) Yi Yi

3) Robinson Crusoe On Mars (painting by Bill Sienkiewicz)

4) Night And The City

5) Hands Over The City (illustrations by Danijel Zezelj)

Rewatching Movies

2008-06-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

"Foreigners are just children who don't know any better..." -- Setsuko Sato on NPR

Japanese-American view of Lost in Translation

More often than not, I would prefer to watch a movie I haven't seen than one that I absolutely adore. I simply get restless with my movies, music, books, and other media. However, it seems that I am coming to a point where I am definitely interested in watching films that I have seen 5, 10 years ago.

Yesterday, Capree and I watched Lost in Translation. There were a few things that time and changing of perspective have done for me with this film:

Scarlett Johansson looks really little in this movie.

She is supposed to be playing a 20s-something who just got married, but definitely looks like a teenager. When filming this movie, she had to be 17 or 18. She's come a long way.

The movie is definitely not rascist.

When I saw this movie the first time, I wasn't sure if Sofia Coppola was portraying the Japanese very respectably. The "Lip My Stocking" scene is hilarious, but it felt like it was playing on the core stereotypes that American's think of with the Japanese. After viewing it yesterday, I realized quite the opposite. Someone so fixated with showing the Tokyo landscapes, and shooting on location shows a tremendous amount of interest, fascination, and ultimately respect for the Japanese culture. The link I posted above is a reading by a Japanese-American women who felt that it was in fact that the Japanese were frustrated and placating their American guests. See quote above.

Bill Murray is wearing eyeliner for quite a bit of the movie.

I definitely missed this one the first go around, but after I watched the behind the scenes footage, they made note of his makeup artists putting some sort of eyeliner on him. Throughout the entire movie, he had dark circles around his eyes that were more than his trademarked natural droopy eyed look.

Founding Father

2008-06-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here is what the "Father of the Constitution" said:

"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home." -- James Madison

Check out more quotes here. I have to ask myself where we are now when I read comments from the people who were instrumental in forming our country, but whatever...

Concept albums

2008-06-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

Top five concept albums that I create in the next twenty years.

1) A gangster rap album from the perspective of a persecuted Mormon travelling west. (Album title: "Mo' Ghetto")

2) A chin stroking album of field recordings from the wild Savannah of computer programmers talking to each other. (This one has to be under my musical alias "The Swami of Bits")

3) A country western album told from the view of a rogue cop in Detroit (Album title: "Bringin' Home The Red, White and Blue Bacon")

4) A musique concrete album of different animals giving birth. (Album title: "Physiological Expulsion")

5) A death metal record with the backup, harmony vocals done by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. (Musical alias: "Fall From Grace").

Daydreaming

2008-06-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today, I got a massage while down in Cedar City visiting Capree's parents. About 30 minutes in, I was finally in a place where I felt fully relaxed. Something odd happened where I was daydreaming so intensely that it seemed real and true.

I dreamed that I had a brain tumor and that I was dying soon. I went to everyone I knew and said my piece to each person that needed to be said. What was said isn't clear, but it happened in a flash. My friends, my family, my wife, and all those I've met along the way.

When I felt I was at a place of piece and complete clarity, I snapped out of it. Yet, I came back completely free from worry or stress.

That hasn't happened in a while.

The real meat

2008-06-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

So it begins. The real meat of the presidential nomination. The entire pomp and circumstance of it all can make one nauseous, but at least we can start discussing the real differences in the nominees. Old vs. new. Experienced vs. naive. More of the same vs. change.

I hope serious discussion will occur about how these nominees will shape our future . Time to stop being bitter, and have civil discourse to help us raise ourselves out of the doom and gloom of the present day. Hopefully, neither candidate will turn personal and treat each other as enemies like the current administration. Above all, we are Americans - not conservative - not liberal.

Grand Theft Ignorance

2008-05-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

- By Mr. Beck's own logic, Pong, released in 1972, trained efficient killers in Vietnam.

- "Killing each other is not a natural human instinct." Cain and Abel rings a bell....

- Where'd he get his statistics from? The quote goes, "41.8% of all statistics are made up."

- The fact that he draws parallels from video games and the military is quite funny. The military is trained to kill its enemies.

So it begins where the mainstream media attempts to shoot down Rockstar. The genius behind Rockstar really is that they really embrace all this media scrutiny. The Hot Coffee scandal would ruin most people, but instead, Rockstar has pushed the boundaries even further in GTA4.

The irony of all this is that everyone is calling GTA4 the greatest artistic achievement in video gaming. Too bad, people who haven't played the series have to make knee jerk comments. They won't understand the political satire, the freedom of choice, excellent game mechanics, or the rest of it. You have to appreciate the attention to detail that they have crafted in the latest of the series.

And I'm not going to apologize that this makes me laugh:

It costs $99 to fill this thing

2008-04-18T10:31:00.001-07:00

Cities made of polygons. Bit by bit. byte by byte. word by word.
debug my workweek. Design my night. charge my soul and type my life.
Cities made of traces. Stack by stack. core by core. bug by bug.
thread my eating process. Manage my sleep. code the Haxan and test my stress.

Schedule schedule schedule brief brief brief view review.......

The dust will not be blown from our tongues. split the lip and down a Rockstar.
Crooked scripture for the war outside; bent men for the silent kill inside.
We're living in a spiritual cemetery where the gallows are created in droves.
I'm put on bus just to make a living with a sugar on my teeth hell bent on dysfunction.

'sall good.

First Aid Sleep

2008-04-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

Another day, another dollar, another hustle....

The sun has finally decided to show. It's punching me right in the eyes right now, as I commute to work. The taste of old-fashioned donuts and diet mountain dew lace my breath, and all I can think about is the crappy spring mattress that they have in the First Aid room at my work.

Last week was a gray haze as I couldn't find a rhythm of sleep. I was consistently getting 4-6 hours of sleep. Because of this, work was a difficult to say the least. It has percolated into a fit of foggy depression, and I knew that it was simply because of the lack of sleep. I set out to find a place to take a nap. I couldn't sleep on the floor in my office because of a few reasons. First, people would come knocking . Even when I lock my door, and close the blinds, people don't get a hint very well. Secondly, I actually wanted a dark room with quiet. My office has a large window overlooking at the mountains, that lets the sun in even though the blinds are shut.

After a recommendation from my buddy at work, I found my way to the First Aid room on the third floor. They have a first aid room on each floor of the people (for a total of 3). When you approach the door, there is a sign a la an outhouse that says "Vacant" or "Occupied". You can't help think of people having a passionate love affair when it says OCCUPIED in big red letters. Upon opening the door, I found a a bed, telephone, and a stack of what appeared to be sheets. Next to the stack of sheets was a sign on the wall that said, "If you are sick, please call this number. We need to keep track of usage of this room." I don't that's really necessary especially considering that when I'm sick, I usually want to be left alone. After observing the sign, I moved onto the bed. Covered in sheets from a 1980s hotel, I noticed that the pile of sheets weren't sheets at all. They were disposable pillow covers. I guess they want to let you lay your head on the pillow and drool to your sick hearts content.

Closing the door gave myself complete freedom. The room was pitch black and nary a sound. The only thing I could hear was the corporate hum of electricity in the rafters above the ceiling. I set my cell phone's alarm for an hour in the future, and got the best sleep I had all week.

Alvadar's Destiny Afire

2008-04-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

"I've got eye goop again!"

"It's flaring up?"

"Yeah."

"How does it feel?"

"Like an American miniature horse taking a dump on my eye."

"Ohhh."

A short pause.

"Eww....miniature horses are creepy. They're creepy looking. Come look at this photo. They're freaky."

A short walk to the other room.

"Huh."

Erased blog

2008-04-14T18:22:00.001-07:00

*Sigh*...

I wrote this long blog about baseball and how some memories from when I was a kid, but somehow it didn't post.

Another time now. The time has gone.

Blogs are like comics...

2008-04-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

The amount of interest oscillates up and down and all around.

I know that no one is reading this since I stopped writing since the Xbox arrived and pushed my interest in video games to the forefront. If I don't consistently write these, people leave. So I write this blog as an exercise of my own memory which has always been poor when recalling events and not list of facts.

Capree and I just watched the documentary, "Comic Book Confidential", thanks to our friend Kayla. We both had a smile on our face the entire time, as it brought back many memories from our lives. I let Capree explain her thoughts on her blog.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
I started reading comics in the cliche way through superhero comics. I believe it came about from the reprinting of the X-Men stories from the Chris Claremont Dark Phoenix Saga. This were released in the early 1990s to reprint the X-Men stories from the 1980s. Placing supplemental new stories with reprinted stories would show up in the Classic X-Men line.

What's great about this memory is all the things that are triggered with thinking about it. My brother, Quinn, and I would go to Night Flight Comics after we got our haircut at the Cottonwood Mall. We'd always go look through the back issue bins, trying to find new series that were mentioned in the Classic X-Men issues. It's funny now that I think of it that I never kept up with the most current story of X-Men at time. I always followed 5 to 10 years behind. While it is and was obvious that Marvel Comics was milking the franchise for it was worth through it's countless spin offs, I simply didn't care. There was so much to discover. I remember I got a X-Men superhero encyclopedia through the Scholastic Book Club in elementary school. I wish I knew where that was...

Eventually, I broke out of my boyhood transfix on superheroes. Using my interest of
The Simpsons at the time, I found interest in Bill Morrison who worked on the Simpsons comics. He actually did an appearance at Night Flight where he signed the Treehouse of Horror comics and did a personalized portrait of your favorite Simpsons character. I asked him to do Groundskeeper Willie, and he drew it in like 5 seconds. Again, I wish I knew where that was...

At this point, I started to take notice of individual artists and followed them from series to series. I remember Battle Chasers and The Darkness during this time. But I had found that I was still trapped in the mainstream notion of what comics are. Big chested women (and men), technically and meticulously colored, with stories that simply never end until the reader loses interest.

Two particular comics came about that really changed everything for me: Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. My friend, Tyler, and I would look for all the issues of Johnny while I found Jimmy Corrigan on my own. I had read that Jimmy Corrigan had received a National Book Award which seemed impressive because graphic novels never seemed to be critically acclaimed or accepted as a art form like a book. I ordered the hardcover edition, and the rest is history. From Jimmy Corrigan's author, Chris Ware I found a world of independent comics where real world stories and issues were addressed. In addition, the artist's style was completely at their whim without any preconceived notions of what a comic book should be.

I could continue on, but I'll save some of my thoughts for another time. I'll just say, that all of this really culminated at ComicCon last year where all my the different phases were mashed together. Giant superhero publishers with big movie deals and the individual artists who pulled just enough money together for a booth, it is all there. For those of you are into comics at all (I'm looking at you), go to ComicCon.

Our Baby

2007-12-18T20:09:00.001-08:00

Capree and I decided to take the plunge! We are having a....XBOX 360!!! Woo!

Oblivion and Call of Duty 4 here we come!

Thoreau

2007-12-04T18:35:00.001-08:00

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." - Henry David Thoreau.

is-ˈkāp : to avoid a threatening evil

2007-12-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

Reading:

The theme of escape has come up a few times in the last week or so, whether it is above mentioned book, No Country For Old Men, Bicycle Thieves, or many other examples in my life. I've been trying to make sense of the significance of escape and how my awareness of its meaning has heightened.

Escape has always seemed to me a negative trait. I perceive people do temporary and usually damaging things to escape from their stress and problems. Drugs, alcohol, sleeping around, etc. Escape is a cop out and its cruel irony only causes people to childishly further ensnare themselves.

While it is true that people often choose poorly when faced with the opportunity of escape (i.e. Llewelyn Moss in No Country taking the money), it sometimes isn't ultimately up to us. Fate or outside forces or whatever you want to call it keeps us
from having full control (see: Antonio Ricci in Bicycle Thieves). And that is scary and frustrating to know that no matter what you do or how you attempt to escape from something, there is a possibility that you will never escape.

So with all this media and personal experience laid before me, I'm writing this mostly to remind myself: I can't control everything that effects my outcome and life. It's not so much the placement and stature of life, but how it is lived.

The most admirable people live with honor and adhere to their code of ethics, regardless of the fire and damnation that befalls them. Their code may not seem the most logical at times, but it allows them to escape a threatening evil: themselves.

I can stop the monster.

Paints

2007-11-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

Just got home from the paint store! We finally purchased some paints for our home. Grape green for one wall, half moon crest (a medium gray) for the main, base color, and decorators' white (a slight offwhite) for our alcoves.

Things will look great yet.

Now, if we could get our Twig light to be shipped... Hurry up USA custom-made light!

Gos

2007-11-09T17:04:00.000-08:00

Also, I misspelled goes as well. So it gos.

Alot.

2007-11-09T17:03:00.003-08:00

Apparently, I misspelled a lot. I do that alot.

9 to rinse and repeat

2007-11-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

Now Playing: Bill Fay - Time Of The Last Persecution

The energy comes and gos.

I voted FOR the referendum. I felt that more choice for people has more potential. In the long run, there could be alot of wasted breath over the issue because of lack of volume. Teachers afraid of losing their jobs or thinking that the referendum is a vote of no confidence in regards to the public school system are also in the wrong. If anything, the best part of capitalism - competition - will help spur both of these systems to excellence. Public schools will be subsidized for any defectors from their schools anyway. The 24 children per teacher policies are stupid anyway, and I don't think NCLB is helping either.

Winter is coming and the sky turns gray. I think we'll make it this year. Conquering (and eventually painting) the new place. I'll find my way with music yet. Flirting with the idea of making a music profile page on MySpace. I need 1 or 2 more tracks to be finished....if only I had the time or energy to do it right now. I would rather work on a mix for that house party I promised a while ago.

Capree and I have been absolutely captivated with Weeds. We've watched 3 years of television in a two week span. There is something about the jacked up suburban family being portrayed in such a biting, satirical, and yet light-hearted way. Mary-Louise Parker and Kevin Nealon pretty much carry the show.

I need to set goals and follow them through. Life can pass me by way too easily now that I'm done with school and working my mind off.

Rio De Stark Reality

2007-09-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

an empty sea of dormant rabies; made like a forged saber; veins open to suggestion; the curl of an oil spine; shaped noise glitches; eating only protein; the wait of the game; advantage of shock; moved to descent; deconstructive anti-war semi criticism; time goes to waste; waiting to shine through.

dusted music anthologies; eating the media trunk; yet eaten by nostalgia; auto-brooding over the sun of the past; surrounded by air; kneaded carbon screams waste; blood takes away the sustain; never to be safe;

the anti-call...

the hot air of thoughts; the stationary actions; reissued in a plastic bag; the same continuous groove; tricked investigative reporting; have nothing-good special moments; the thoughts of rising ash; the filling of social rooms;

the hard-pressed flat cushion; ubiquitous overbearing of doubt; unkindled theories; the amok of questions; a echo chamber leaf in reverse; delayed vibrato; ebb-and-noise; the the the the;

the anti-call...

Iraq: The Twilight Zone

2007-09-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

I wonder what circumstances changed from 1994 to 2003.

Fall Update

2007-09-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

Listening to Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36

"You call your music minimal, but it I call it simple. Push the button!"

(Written like family updates at Christmas time....with sarcasm)

Dear INSERT YOUR NAME HERE,

I hope you are well! Things have been so busy and hectic around the Kimball household! I can barely even keep up with myself. Between graduating and moving into a new home, I have no time for anything on my TODO list. As fall begins to grace us with its wonderful crisp air, I feel it is time to reflect back on the year 2007.

Upon graduation, Cappress and myself began our search for a new home. Do we look in Sandy or Draper? What about West Jordan? Lehi? We just didn't know. After the great help of Joe, we found a townhome we liked in Lehi. A few papers signed later and deadlines being moved up, we moved in on my birthday. There were some kinks along the way, but we got them worked out.

A few days after our move, we went to Comic Con with our friends Peter and Will. A few stormtroopers and drag queens later, we found ourselves talking to some artistic inspirations - Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets Author) and Brian Wood (DMZ Author). Fantagraphics had many books that I had never seen before, and they were definitely my favorite booth (albeit a simple one). We went to some different panels like the WB fall movie preview, Futurama, Vertigo Comics, Battlestar Galatica, Joss Whedon, Gays In Comics, and Sarah Silverman. The Sarah Silverman Program cast was hilarious and made humor of the terrible questions asked by show attendees during the Q&A. I got to ask Mr. Brian Posehn about his experiences with TaB, and luckily, they didn't make fun of me.

After returning home, we found ourselves becoming accustomed to our new life in the home. Caprice had recently got a job at Saans Photography, and was driving to South Salt Lake, while I have retained my job at Cluster Resources in South Provo.

Through her connection at the studio, Capri has her first gallery show up at their gallery location on 300 South. At her artist reception, many family and friends showed up. See my previous blog post about it.

The rest of August was spent furnishing our home and getting ideas for future projects with the home. Thanks to the personal direction of Ikea and the wonderful whirlwind with gift card companies via Modern Materials, we were able to get most of our downstairs furnished. Painting and replacing the flooring remains....

Other festivities include paying for random things that aren't enjoyable. Both Capper's car and mine started having problems at the same time and I recently chipped my tooth playing basketball. We pushed through and hopefully are done for now.

Mike and Chenele (of Dixon fame), opened their Twin Falls home to our motley crew. A rodeo and caffeine addiction later, we Wii-ed ourselves back home to usher in the fall.

We hope happiness and health find you during this fall season.

With love,
The Boy Wonder and Captain Capreece

Sunday Music Recommendation: Porn Sword Tobacco

2007-08-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday is a lazy day for me. In order to gift wrap my laziness, I listen to appropriate music. Something that I keep finding myself coming back to is Porn Sword Tobacco.

Porn Sword Tobacco is a guy from Gothenburg named Henrik Jonsson. His music sounds like music from lost 1970s movie soundtracks, or a lost memory, or something cliché like that. His sound isn't simply melodies played on synthesizers - he really makes things interesting with the noise that he places through each track. Whether he uses the sound of a record that has finished, tape hiss, or the motor from some unknown machine, each sound complements the sound of nostalgia bursting through a broken radio in slow motion.

Some links to preview his tracks:

U.S. Saloon Props
En Hyllning Till Cyckeln

Guns and Ammunition

2007-08-24T16:05:00.001-07:00

Beware: Orem Police

Crazy News Article

Moving Through The Void

2007-08-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

Now listening to Listening Garden by Christopher Willits and Taylor Deupree. I love installation recordings like this for their simplicity of intent. Further information about it can be found here.

Capree's show went off without a hitch. Preparations for the event pushed all the way up to when the reception began, but kudos to everyone for their great work to make the gallery's artist reception a success.

Being Capree's first show, it seemed to generate quite an interest. Many people from family and friends showed up (thanks everyone!) to complete strangers keeping a look out for new artists during the gallery stroll. It was rewarding to hear the positive support given to Capree as the road to get from conception to being placed in a gallery was not an easy task. If I recall, the black and white photos were shot late 2006/early 2007, and I remember speaking with Capree about the Seven Deadly Sins shoot a year or so ago. Through changing implementations of the basic concept, she was able to create something really quite beautiful.

For my own personal enjoyment, I saw many people lost to my nostalgia in the flesh who, along with myself, have found our paths crossing yet again. It's a beautiful experience when it occurs, and I never want to take it for granted. For those I spent time with, thank you.

For those who couldn't be there, you were missed. There are a list of people that I have in mind that I would love to see again soon if busy schedules would allow it. Mostly congratulations and also a few grievances are in order to those missed. I would love to see you soon.

As I attempt to juggle and fill in the various voids of life, I hope to be able to have people into my home once we have things somewhat in order. Expect an invite!

Dusty Groove

2007-08-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Continuing along the line of recommendations, here is a record store/record label that everyone needs to check out once: Dusty Groove

They pretty much have the rare soul/funk/r&b thing pegged down. They just started a record label branch for stuff that was sadly out of print. Anyway, have a look around...

To Lick Old Wounds

2007-08-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

The sediment that has been sifted is left to drift and settle where it pleases. Or so it seems for now. The world has gone to seed waiting for the Fall's imminent daily slumber post-career. Asphalt and flashing lights; the Solo weary from tasks only each can bear itself. Ashen eyelids show neglect and hide the waning resolve of dreams found in Venice or Cairo.

The pulsating hum of useless inventions keeps the Modern modest. And yet, rarely has rhythm been locked in step with man so well. Gapless - not one - snapshots of durable minutes keeping the Strings taught. Vibrating with fear and worry and doubt. Stone washed moments tried and true. The United States of Americans have never gone so suddenly still.

It burns.

Flavor Paper

2007-08-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Being a culture mutt, I like to channel other peoples' passion into some sort of recommendation. Here we are: Flavor Paper

Scratch and sniff wallpapers, funky designs, and installations to inspire your new home.

Artistic Binary

2007-07-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

Every once and while, a Japanese game studio comes along with a really neat idea.
Behold:

In case you can't tell what is going on in that video, I'll explain. You are a mannequin-like person that travels around MC. Esher landscapes collecting flaming orbs. In order to get across the many pitfalls, the camera must be rotated such that the optical illusion of the area will open up holes, fill gaps, make stairs, etc. It is quite possibly one of the greatest game idea I've ever seen.

Welcome to Cardboard City

2007-07-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

In a desperate attempt to reignite my social life, I've given myself to flightful fancies. This, of course, comes at a time of relative change. A change that may or may not be drastic to others, but significant enough to send those crazy chicken prophet teachings through my head. I embrace the change, but my genetic makeup keeps me from completing The Letting Go. I find ways to manage it in a healthy manner, but it manages to inconvienence me during stressful times.

I keep running into old acquaintances in odd places. For example, I saw someone in the ice cream aisle. I saw my freshman roommate at the gym. As I type this, I realize it is no large feat as Provo is not the largest place nor does it claim many diverse places to see someone socially. Especially in the summer.

In addition to this physical location change, work is throwing many new experiences and challenges my way. My coworkers are a joy to work with, and I feel somehow indebted to almost each one of them for the great atmosphere that allows me to me. With the minor exception, they are more brilliant, more sincere, and more loyal people than I can muster in my angry early 20s.

My musical education continues down unexpected avenues as I find myself into quite an Internet seeker. I've taken it to the near most extreme edge of the definition of a hobby as it is the most intriguing cultural experience to me. Where else can I gain an appreciation for a group of 5 Japanese hippies that I would know no other way? Or perhaps the group of Brazilian revolutionaries who would hide their politics of the 1960s through thinly veiled romantic metaphors? Never before my love affair with music (don't tell the wife) would I gain such a positive and enriching view towards this all-too-easy-to-pin-ugly-on society? While the act of record collecting and musical exploration can often be a insulated, ego-driven activity, I hope to be able to use my own experience to bring the light to people's eyes when they hear something I play that they never they were born to love.

I will continue to make mixes and hone my skills that way, but I hope composition continues to treat me well. I've written 2 or 3 tracks I could proudly put my name to. I don't know what I want to do with them. I need to come up with a plan of where I want my music to go (i.e. publicly through record labels, intimately through close friends, or safely on my shelf only to be heard by Capree and myself).

Godspeed, discipline! I'm better for it. And Blogger is getting tired of my attempts to reignite my sad weBlogs to publically make my thoughts known (est. 2001).