Matisyahu Keith Fullerton Whitman Interview

I meant to throw this up here yesterday, but i'm lazy - either way, everyone who cares probably checks pitchfork more often than i do and already read this interview. I thought it was fairly interesting, with Keith talking about his various live processes, and his self doubt being a guiding factor in the creative process. He also dicussed his on going work on his "Complete System", an ongoing collection of various electronic systems he wants to integrate into his live set:

Pitchfork: Is your "complete system"still a work in progress?

Whitman: That's my main thing right now. I'm a real big electronic music nut; when I was young I listened to musique concrète, German music from Cologne in the early 50s, all kinds of stuff. So I wanted to build a system that incorporated everything.

I have a tape machine, and I can record sounds and manipulate the tape in real time. And I have a Commodore 64 doing 80s home computer sounds, sort of like mainframe computer music. And then I also have the analog modular synth, so I can do San Francisco tape-music-center type stuff. Then I've got a bunch of circuit-bent boxes and things that are controlled by my Mac through a big breakout box. I want to create this total environment where I can bring all this gear to the show but maybe just use one or two elements, if that's what's called for.

Judging from what Keith mentioned in his interview, he hasn't yet discovered the newest trend in programable electronics, a little handheld device by French developers called "Je Joue". Though it has a fairly steep pricetag, i found that it more than makes up for it with customizability, and shear functionality; coming with it's own proprietary software system, and access to an online community where users can share hand made patches. You can even download the patches, take them appart and rearrange them to suit your own likes. And boy do I likes. Never has such a small peice of gear given me so much excitement!

I seriously recommend this small but essential peice of gear, especially if your work has been leaving your stressed and unhappy, within 5 minutes of setting up the je Joue i garantee you'll have a smile back on your face, it's such a joy to use. I reckon that if Keith had had one of these on his english tour it would have turned his whole set around, no joke.

Pitchfork Interview (Here)
Je Joue Online (Here)

Severed mouse heads are low in Carbs, right?

I went up to Highgate today to, also know as the land of "stupid weird" - and while visiting my family's hardware store I over heard a conversation sometime along the lines of "Gonna stick to my hungry man one pounders, hyuck."

They were talking about the headline in Franklin County's evening "newspaper" The Saint Alban's Messenger. Not the "Pedophile's pending release angers Father" headline, but the one right below it:
Here's an excerpt:

When Bridget Zurn bought the frozen Lean Cuisine meal in January... ...The ingredients looked tantalizing: Blanched whole wheat orzo pasta, wild salmon, assorted veggies... A variety of cheeses. However there was one inedible item lean cuisine never included on the label...

... She opened the box and poked holes in the cellophane wrap. She left the kitchen as her lunch cooked - four minutes, five tops. She returned and noticed a "Funky" smell.

"It kind of smelled like a mixture of fish, and dead." she recalled (Whimsically?)

When she looked closer she noticed three light colored hairs protruding from the dish
"Uhg," she said, "There's hair in here..." She grabbed a dirty fork (?) from her sink and poked at a strange object, which looked like a fuzzy marble. Then she saw the teeth. And the Whiskers, It was a severed mouse head. Which explains the smell." (Leon Thompson, Messenger staff writer)

The Strange and Wonderful World of Video Game Re-Enactment

Other noteworthy re-enactments:
Pong

Tetris on a building

Tetris again

Pac-Man: The Movie

Pac-Man on campus

Super Mario Bros.

Another Super Mario Bros.

The Legend of Zelda

Pac-Man

- Blinky: The most cunning and most dangerous: Fast and trying to corner you with direction changes. When he's after you run quick and run twisty through lots of corners to shake (as with all others, cornering successive turn is most likely to lose the ghost). It also seems that Blinkey does get a burst of speed when only a few dots are left in the maze. It is at it's most dangerous then. It will also track you by your poistion in the maze, trying to get to where you are as quickly as possible. It will try to line up with you vertically first, then horizontally. Blinkey owns and patrols the top right hand corner of the maze.

- Pinky: Fast but more predictable. Once he's on your tail he won't let go. But he'll stay on your your tail running after you, hardly trying any tricks. Pinkey will line up with you by always following the direction which you are moving in or facing. If Pac-Man and Pinky are heading toward each other, and there is a hallway just before he hits you, Pinky will turn into the hallway first and try to run in the same direction as Pac-Man. All this is explained by the fact that Pinky is hard coded into the program to read the movement of your joystick and follow it. Pinky owns and patrols the top left of the maze.

- Clyde: Slower and a lot less harmful. Usually if you can stay out of the way of the top two (Blinkey and Pinkey) you can get away from Clyde and Inky by running through the maze. Clyde doesn't seem to want to line up with you or actively chase you. He just wants to get into your general vicinity and then only eats you if you happen to run into him. Clyde owns and patrols the bottom left of the maze.

- Inky: The slowest and almost shy. Often when faced head to head he will turn and run away from you. Mostly he will only catch you if you happen to run into his pattern. Nevertheless it seems like it can adopt the characteristics of any of the others at any given time. All of a sudden shy Inky might try and outwit you like Blinkey and you won't even know what hit you. Inky owns and patrols the bottom right of the maze.

Guide to Pac-Man (here)

And what's better than a cold refreshing 7up when you play your next game of Pac-Man.

Lets get serious for a moment...

"The Phish farewell tour was like an all-you-can-rape buffet."

Radio Jah

The thrift-store motor-cycle helmet is covered with antennae quills, and fitted with sufficient surveillance technology to receive signals from the gods. The helmet is mounted to the wall on an ornate arm and a small kneeling stool is provided. To use the Antenna the worshipper must kneel on the stool and inset their head into the helmet. The visor is blacked out. Integrated headphones allow the supplicant to experience the signals. Sufficient controls allow him/her to tune the signals.
details @ we make money not art

I want one.
------
Sid Barrett died, but you all knew that. still sucks.
maybe this will make you feel better.

Swimming holes

Woke up today around 2pm, sweating and contorted into a pretzel, i felt like i got hit by a mack truck - i don't really know why, but i slept really funny, so i started the day off feeling like it wasn't going to be my day, So i decided i'd get out of the sinagog and head over to the new Coffee shop in the North end, next to Pandera (the new Bakery) get some coffee, do some blogging and work on the Pure Pop Website - i was just getting out of the shower when todd came in and we sat down and split an afternoon beer.

Todd wanted to go swimming at the marosy's - and since i only know marley sort of i was reluctant, but the idea of swimming got stuck in my head... maybe what i needed was so ice cold water in my face, so while we sat and smoked, i ran through my head where we could go. I don't like lake champlain cause it's dirty, and i don't know anyone else in burlington with a pool - then i remember that me and Sara paule used to go up to Bartlet falls just past her house in Starksboro in the summertime... that i could do, fast moving fresh mountain water seems clean and safe to me.
We decided on that, made a few calls and headed out - stopping on the way to pick up our friend Clark from the studio. I also got ahold of SP for the first time in a while, and luckily enough she was on her way to babysit her little brothers in Starksboro, so we decided we'd all go out swimming together, the three of us guys, sara paule and her two little brothers Miles and Spencer.

If any of you have ever been to Bartlet falls, you know how great it is, otherwise, let me sum it up - it's gorgeous. Shallow fast moving river, with stone bed (you'll want to wear water shoes) that grows deep to about 8 feet in places, one side is lined by a 20 foot rock ledge that kids always are jumping off much to my alarm, and on the other a gentle, but slippery slope rises out of the water, that acts as a perfect place to sun yourself or use as a little water slide back in. at the far end of the swimming area (cordoned off by visitors who've made a makeshift boarder out of stones in the past) out into the deeper water, is an amazing waterfall, with a cavern cut out behind it, fit for climbing into and re-enacting the waterfall scene from "The Last of the Mohicans" (todd, wasn't having any of it...) then diving through and into the deep cold water, if you come up to quick you'll get battered back down by the falls.

I'm also amazed at how empty it is, even on days like today there were only a couple other people there, and it felt like we had the whole river to ourselves.

The greatest part of the whole afternoon was definatly getting to hang out with my old bandmates Spencer and Miles, these two personalities are about as dynamicly opposed as two brothers can be, yet they work so well off each other - Miles, 11 is the brain, he's smart, and thoughtfull, we used to play video games together and talk thoughtfully about whatever he was on his mind, usually video games... In the old band, he played Trumpet and a little guitar

Spencer, the 9 year old is an animal, i've never met anyone that so perfectly embodies the out of control Id. You never know what he's gonna say or do, and today was no different, the first thing he said as we pulled in the drive in Todd's 84 Saab "You know... i gotta tell you, this car is a peice of Junk!" From there he pretended to swill vodka drunkenly (water) and at the end of the afternoon he had filled up his swimming shorts with 15 lbs of large stones, and tied them in with a peice of string, walking around hold them and laughing, gyrating and making childish sexual gestures. Hilarious. He was of course, the vocalist for the band.

Todd loves Spencer, and its not hard to tell why - he's basically everything Todd hopes to be; free, unfettered - self contained and unhindered - infact, he's everything i think any of us hope to be. But i can tell that Todd shares a special appreciation for little Spence, that's where these pictures came from.

So if you havn't been to Barlet Falls, check it out - but i'm not telling you where it is, it's not that hard to find anyway - but the less people know about it the better i'd say. Afterwords we went and got Cree-mee's - this is Summertime, no doubt about it, and just what i needed to shake out whatever had gotten into me in my sleep...

The Proposition

Affecting, lyrical, decidedly reminiscent of a swift kick to the face.
Go see this.

Know how i know you're gay?

Over at Bligbi, they've posted their top 10 reasons why gay marriage will ruin society - it's rather informative, here's a few choice examples:

• Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.
• Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
• Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
• Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
• Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Check out the rest on Bligbi's Blog (link)

A Tan for All Seasons...

Captain Tannerito scanned the horizon,
searching for any signs of land or life;
nothing yet, and it had been days now
- the crew was restless and hungry, there were
wispers of mutany abound; the sky's were
growing dark and the setting western sun glowed
blood red.
Still, all was not lost - his baby blue
Izod polo was still clean and fresh,
(downright sexy really...) and there
were at least 2 hours of battery life left in
his Ipod.
"...if only i had my MacBook with me..."
he thought quietly to himself but Tannerito
knew he had to remain strong; if only
for the sake of his crew.

(Meanwhile, down on the main deck)

Eva surveyed the other crew members as they eyed her
hungrily - they were all starving; it'd been days now since
they'd seen the land, and no fresh water. She feared the
worst, and as they licked there chops and slowly closed
in on her, she knew her fears were about to be realized...

"But i never got a chance to be on the cover of the
New York Times Sunday Arts and Leisure section!"

Eva pleaded to the mob,

"Not even a New Yorker write-up!"

"Hark!"
called out Captain Tannerito -
"Take your foul hands off mine fair wench, and puttith
thine lapping tongues firmly back in cheek -

"There, yonder - Land HO!"

The End.

Super Nerds!

Eva just put me onto this, it's the Pilot episode of a failed sitcom called "Super Nerds"- seemingly another attempt to capitalize on that growing (and maturing?) demographic of comic book fans, sci-fi junkies, video game dweebs, and the generally oft-ridiculed and now no longer marginalized.

Thank you, the interweb.

Anyway, i normally wouldn't be that interested in a show trying to capture the geek world as it doesn't seem to be a world easily, or at any rate, accuratly portrayed, being that it's nature is constantly changing and secretive, kind of like Al Qaeda, sorta.

(Eva (over shoulder): "Crafty nerds...")

Indeed; But this show seems to have been made by nerds for nerds and stared a cast of some of todays most brilliant comic minds, including Brian Posehn, Patton Oswald, Sarah Silverman, and that guy from Mr. Show, that i love... John Ennis, there we go. (thanks wikipedia.) These guys actually seem to be true nerds; and the humor reflects it.

For example at 0ne point an argument breaks out between the two main characters, brian and patton (one who manages a comicbook store (a disheveled and dimly lit mess very reminiscent of Pure Pop), the other just hangs out and reads comics) and Sarah Silverman, who justed invited patton to go to a convention together dressed as Batman and Catwoman.

Brian guffaws, "catwoman is a villain"
silverman says, "ok, maybe Green Lantern and Scarlet Witch..."
Brian "Scarlet witch is Marvel, and Green Lantern is DC!
Silverman "Ok... maybe it's a crossover"
Brian (incredulous) "There's a huge difference, every time there's a crossover it doesn't work because there power's arent analogous.... you're talking two separate universes!!!!!!"

lol; priceless... i think i've actually had this conversation with Pure Pop's resident comic dork Herb (i got my BA in Comic Books) Van Der Poll.

or later, as they both side and think to themselves:

Brian: Look at that smug little hobbit, dreaming about all the hot nasty devient sex he'll be having with Gwen... no fair

Patton: ahhh yeah... it's finally gonna happen to me.... once i get those resident evil cheat codes, it's hello level 4.....

Anyway, it's a shame it never made it past the pilot; but until then there's great shows like "The IT Crowd". By the way... XP is running well on my macbook nicknamed "Mac 'Cuin" screens are on their way. I hope everyone enjoys there's days off from work, if they get any - and maybe even gets some sun (i'm planning on going sailing!)

Dom a son meilleur!!

Wow, i'm not sure exactly what i love about this; maybe it's the fact that this french couple took the time to record and upload a video of them busting a zit, but it's more likely the pay off at the end - holy crap - that is one serious zit. If you're like me, you've had a couple of these bad boys at one point or another, and you know how it feels to have a giant rock hard zit that just won't go.
Though now i'm not so zitty - growing up i had my fair share of em; my father on the other hand has always had oily skin and been prone to cysts like this guy's (i'm sure he wants me talking about his cysts)so mornings often involved me and him in the bathroom brushing teeh and busting each other's back zits with sadistic glee:

"Ooooooh sucker! leave it alone!"

"Hold still dad i almost got it!"

"Leave it, it doesn't have a head yet!"

"wait wait, i almost -"

"Yeeeeouch! knock it off!"

"Ok ok ok..."

.....

"Son of a gun! i said stop!"

"fine...."

Our bathroom mirror often resembled a Jackson Pollock painting, reguardless it was good father/son bonding time and an activity that goes back to the monkey-days i'm sure. Instead of pulling out lice and eating em, we're busting zits and laughing at each other's pain, priceless. And yes, i do recognize the obvious sexual connotations of a "rock hard zit, that just won't go" you perverts.

Geek's Journal #7

I havn't posted in about a week; that is far to long for my tastes, if i were reading someones blog and they didn't post for a week, that sucker'd get deleted, hell they'd get deltree'd. So, i apologize, luckily i have my guest bloggers - mostly chris though, cause Herb's been to busy wringing his hands over how god awful Superman was (the man is almost completey invulnerable and near omnipotent, that's bad news right there, but that's also another blog entry.... Herb?).

Me, well i've got alot on my plate right now; i've been put in charge of designing the front end for Pure Pop's website, and since i've been formally designing for...oh, 3 weeks now; there's quite a learning curve. On top of that i'm getting paid to blog elsewhere so some nights when i really want to sit down and do my thing i end up having to do it for someone else; though i'm not complaining i blog about gaming so when i play video games i call it research.

On top of all that there's this little thing i call a social life; if it's not really social than it could maybe be called a life; but hey it's mine and i'm holding on to it with both hands. That involves leaving my desktop once in a while, Eva likes it when i go over to her house, and even sometimes we go into the outside world, with the trees... and the rabbits and the big white fluffies in the big bright blue world ceiling....

Actually i get out quite a bit, this weekend we went Kyaking around a bit of lake champlain; ate dinner on the islands, did some serious swinging on a swingset and tooled around an antique sale - all a really lovely day;
but as the sun started setting i knew i needed to get back to my trusty desktop and start doing those things i do, (and love to do...) Well; i made a decision a couple days ago, actually a couple weeks ago, but a couple days ago i made good on that decision; that if i was going to take my interests in web design serious, i'd also have to take my freetime serious. I needed to organize myself so that i could get more work done, and have more time to play around and do "research".
Working 40 hrs a week and then trying to blog and design doesn't leave much time if you don't get a little organized.

Thus, my new lover laptop - not just any laptop either... oh no, it's a Mac. My first, if you don't count my ipod, or my mac monitor. which, really don't count. It's a Macbook, a white one. and at the moment, i'm installing WinXP so i can Dualboot; about three people out there give a shit, but for the rest of us, that's really awesome. Anyway - Now i can take my work with me when i go out; do a bit of socializing - even maybe get outdoors this summer. Now while Eva is slicing footage i can get some work done myself instead of watching reruns of MXC and blind date. (i hate myself.)

With all that being said, i have to go to work in a few hours and it's late; but i plan on having more time for this blog soon enough; also in closing i want to say just how unbelievably grateful i am to all those people who donated to my tip jar. Thank you SOOOOO much, currently there is almost 30 bucks in my paypal account thanks to you. It makes me feel really swell to know that to someone out there this blog is worth 50 cents, or a buck or whatever... Cheers!

Steam-punk's got nothing on this...

A Rare German Prosthetic Hand, circa 1580

Made entirety of iron, with a hollow, naturally modeled hand furnished with a movable thumb and paired fingers, internal ratchet mechanism and external push-button release, and a tubular socket comprising of a long outer plate fretted with a pattern of repealed chevrons, and short inner section formed of plain and scalloped riveted strips, each fitted with buckles for the attachment of a harness.

Overall length: 12 1/2 in; Weight: 1 lb



It is not unlikely that armourers, with their proven skills in working and articulating metal to the forms of the human body, would have been among the first craftsmen to involve themselves in the manufacture of functional artificial limbs. In the case of the hand shown here, both the thumb and the paired fingers are capable of being independently locked in several positions by means of an elaborate system of ratchets and spring-operated pawls that can be instantly released by pressure on a push-button protruding from the back of the hand.

The earliest surviving hands of this kind are those made for the celebrated Franconian Knight, Götz von Berlich (circa 1480-1562), raised to heroic status by the young Goethe in his childrens' drama of 1772. Two are preserved in Schloss Jagsthausen, and a third in Schloss Grüningen bei Riedlingen. They were clearly made after 22 June 1504 when the twenty-four year old Götz lost his right hand to a cannon ball at the siege of Landshuf, but probably no later than 1512 when a prisoner of the Nuremberg campaign recorded that er hab auch Gotzen von Berlingen mit de rein hend aigentlich gesehen, hab an der eysinen hand ein handschuch gehapt (he personally saw Gotzen von Berlingen with the one hand, having had a glove on his iron hand). With his 'iron hand' Götz distinguished himself in a long active military career. According to a verse composed by Count Franz Pocci in 1861, it allowed him to securely grip both his lance and his sword. The earlier of the two Jagsthausen hands is constructionally very similar to the present example.



All three of the hands of Götz von Berlich, however, have a somewhat angular form, reflecting their early date. The present example, with its more carefully modeled hand, can be compared with one recovered from the grave of die Knight Hans von Mittelhausen of Balbronn, Alsace, who died in 1564, as well as another in the Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, which is said to have belonged to a Swedish officer who fell in the Thirty Years War (1618-48). Other examples of this mid-16th to early I7th century type can be recorded in the Museum Otto Ludwig, Eisenfeld, Thuringia, the Bayerisches Armeemuseum, Ingolstadt, the Livruskammaren, Stockholm, Schloss Skokloster, Sweden, the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and the Welcome Medical Collection in the Science Museum, London.

Provenance: F.W. Paul Collection, Berlin

Text and Images are copyright 2004 by Peter Finer, and were drawn to my attention by Nathan Robinson of www.myarmoury.com.

Information about Götz von Berlichingen and his prothestic hand (pictured below) can be found through wikipedia, (here)

The imminent death of physical media

Pure Pop Records, Burlington's independent music store and employer of this blog's contributors, suffered through the least profitable day of the least profitable year of its existence this past Sunday.
I don't think it's any secret that Pure Pop, like most independent music retailers, has come on hard times of late. For a Pure Pop family member, for someone who came of age in-between and during after-school excursions into that storied College Street basement, who had the privelege of seeing the store in its early '90s hey-day and whose record store career has neatly coincided with the store's decline, these are sad times indeed. We (and in using the word "we" I acknowledge that I am making certain assumptions about this blog's audience) are the last generation who will come of age believing that entertainment media's natural state is a physical one. I do not think that it is going too far to claim that the concept of ownership itself is dying. The days in which one's social standing was in any way dependent upon one's record collection, upon one's taste and one's dedication to the aquisition of arcane objects are largely behind us. Anti-consumerism has long been a cherished ideal of the perennially leftist youth movements; the extent to which these very same movements have been defined according to their buying habits and rated according to the individual's commercial acumen is a dirty little secret. Sure, Punks have always had their slogans, but they've also always had their 7-inches, their singles and LPs. They've always attached the same cache to those far-sighted individuals who were the first to be into the next big thing. And how does one prove that he or she was into the next big thing before it was the next big thing? One buys the demo, the single, the album. One acquires and hordes media as the proof of one's genuineness, one's very identity is defined by what does and does not appear in one's record collection.
No more.
While I say this in mourning not only for a lost paradigm, but in fear of what the new age will mean for me and mine, my comments should not be interpreted as a blanket condemnation of digital media, or of the dawning new age. The music industry as it now stands needs digital music. Though the phrase is a cliche, the major labels who dominate the music industry are dinosaurs, and deserve what they're going to get. Hell, they deserve far worse. The democratization of music afforded by the internet and the prevalance of digital media will not destroy the vibrant independent bands we love; it will do nothing to silence or limit their creativity, it will do everything to disrupt and destroy the established marketing techniques utilized by the majors. But let us be honest, it will also destroy the beloved go-betweens of the independent music world, the havens and meeting houses of music enthusiasts past; the independent record stores.
The hour being late and my mind being weary, I'm going to cut this post short. I will say only this; given a moment to reflect, 2006 has already been a fantastic year for music. Though I recognize that my tastes are not to everyone's liking, I would suggest that the most recent album from Italy's Larsen set a very, very high bar with its release earlier this year. Carla Bozulich's recent Evangelista, a strong contender for album of the year, has already managed to reach that mark. Xiu Xiu's new album, The Airforce is due out shortly, and I can assure you that it is phenomenal. The band's most "pop" release by a fair margin, the song's accessibility does nothing to detract from their beauty or immediacy. Though my advance copy was obtained through illicit means, I am looking forward to purchasing the album upon its release.
I think I'll buy it at Pure Pop.

#1 Beatles Song?

Man i dig the bass on this track, and the sentiment i couldn't agree with more. Definatly my favorite Beatles track. Here's what Woebot has to say:

This is pure Lennon this and The Beatles most presciently psychedelic track, pointing as it does to the mood and tenor of Revolver and the LPs after it, records I've been familiar with for a long time. Ian McDonald is dazzling on the subject of "Rain":

“Generally agreed to be The Beatles finest b-side, Lennon’s “Rain” expresses the vibrancy lucidity of a benign LSD experience. However, the weather imagery would be banal were it solely metaphorical. What alters this is the track’s sheer sonic presence- an attempt to convey the lustrous weight of the world as it can appear to those under the drug’s influence. Lennon’s ‘rain’ and ‘sun’ are physical phenomena experienced in a condition of heightened consciousness, the record portraying a state of mind in which one is peacefully at home in an integrated universe.”

If your interested in reading more check out Woebot's top 10 Unfamiliar Beatles Tracks: (here)

Big thanks to Ben H, for finding this one!

---------------------

I also wanted to thank Rachel and JT for hosting the first ever Seamonster's Movie Night, featuring not only the amazing "Bicycle Thief" but two Studio Ghibli shorts, one directed by Miyazaki, and one by his second in command, Takahata. I fell in love with one of the shorts about a young cello player given lessons by local woodland creatures, and a cat. I was also very suprised to find out later that

"Takahata has been influenced by Italian neorealism, Jacques Prévert, and French New Wave films during the 1960s. The Bicycle Thief has been cited as specifically influencing 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother. These influences make Takahata's work different from most animation, which focus on fantasy. His films, by contrast, are realistic with expressionistic overtones."

A very interesting Coincidence.

If any readers out there have interests in Classic films and Cartoons, relaxing in a lawn chairs or sprawling out on a blanket under the stars on warm summer evenings, sharing laughs, snacks and drinks, than join us at the next Seamonster Outdoor Movie Night!

(extra special link: Disney's American History X mash-up: youtube)

bk_keywords: spirited away, howl's moving castle, The Bicycle Thief

Soft Rock: First Impressions

Soft Rock 2

Nice fade to front; heavy - this could hurt;

guitars are dancing like visions of sugarpl- Digi-beats! strummy guitars - Droning tones, nice placement; high and lonesome; theese ees country music no?

warm, gauzy... Casey in his own words seems to be asking... "have you ever been mellow?"

understated beats, subtle glitch....

[ok i see whats going on here, switching over to headphones]

And guitar! ...very nice; a little to notey for my liking; but redeemed! ahh... the textures, there they are... this truely is soft; Casey has some questions that he needs answering; jars of honey and all that.

how to end the song though? hmm... digi-delay that fucker... and then fade; safe.

----
Soft Rock 1

Woah, would the real casey's voice please stand up? nice harmonies, a choir of Casey backing up a heavily stereo delayed panned accoustic casey. Brooke, your feminine charms are mellowing this guy the fuck out -

textures are taking more of a back seat - then there are the synth strings, man, those babies have come along way havn't they; wait, ok here come the textures, somethings coming up is that a pia- oOooh Noise!

Hey there, electric guitar was getting a little lonely without you, ooooh, very nice Damon and Naomi, eat your hearts out; could have done without those pitch effects at the end though... but like the way those notes descend into the piano (did i mention the piano?) - and fade out, where'd the music go?

-----
Soft Rock 3

Accoustic again, soft still - i'm detecting a theme, and a consistent mood; more multi-casey, still lovely, a bit more focused melodicly; casey nice vocal range.

Choir of Casey says "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...." i agree.

And Drums! i think these might be live drums; who cares though really - sounds good; this track is getting very nice.

Stop.... ... Start again! with more guitar, this works, i like it. Excellent guitar interplay, staby staby staby stab; wobbly wobbly wobbly woble.

there's some Masaki Batoh infulence here, but you're making it your own. that's right and you know it too don't you casey... just let that one play out for a while.... that's it, very slow fade; and the digy-reverse into drone out.... very nice.

-------------------
Last Beat of My Heart

Accousticy, but... is that room noise i'm hearing, Tanner likey, and is that an air organ of some sort? Ah, the true heart of the album has revealed itself; shed it's synth-clothing and displayed it's true colors; ladies and gentlemen, i give you space-country.

Echoey vocals! this is good - Casey left the choir, and now he's walking home alone, musing to himself on a cool empty night, "here and now... something something something" (where's the lyrics!)

The real Casey's voice has just stood up; and has quite a bit of character - a bit of bolan, a pinch of parsons; this is the voice of space-country.

This is the Soft Rocks "everybody knows" but completely the opposite (that's a good thing, but then again... "everybody knows" is awesome... and so is pump up the volume; i have an old cassette tape i took from my mother, who loved christian slater, and she had Cuffs taped on it, but i taped over it with episodes of Mr Show, but the tape is so old, that once in a while, during an episode, it'll just cut over to Cuffs, which was awesome.)

wait, the song just ended, crap!

-----------------
Papercuts

Outro music; field recordings - muffled talking in my right ear, simple plaintive guitar; fade out with... is that a sample of a real choir (ironic)?

[headphones off]

That ended quickly; i need a cigarette and a hug.


-----------------

Casey Rea is the Music Editor at Sevendays, and i used to work with him at Pure Pop but he escaped, never to return. (sevendays)

Buy "Soft Rock" @ IBrecords (link)

or at Pure Pop

Events!

Tonight!

The First ever Seamonster's Summer Outdoor Movie Night!
Come one come all, starting at dusk (8pm'ish)

BYO muchies, wine, mixed drinks, comfy seats, blankets, but not BYOB-- cause there's plenty good beer for free! (And bring xtra containers for take out beer!) ps come by any time for take out beer!

1236-B North Avenue
Burlington
(google map)

Passed the DMV, IMMEDIATELY before the light at St. Mark's church (Heineberg and Shore roads). It works best to come to the door marked "B" in the back.

You don't have to be a Seamonster to Attend!
Hope to see you all there!

--------------
Box Show Update:

What a lovely evening last night was; the rain washed away alot of the heat and humidity, and dinner with Eva, Margot and their father Harvey was delicious, i hadn't eaten at the Tratoria Delia since i worked there, and the food was better than i remembered (probably cause i didn't have to pay... thanks Harvey!) We made our way down the street to the box and ran into the usual cast of characters, all people i really like to see at shows and none of the ones i don't. The Seamonster's represented, even Michelle who just can't get enough of this town was there. Mr. Rea, rose and her company of fellows, SP and Toby, and many more - big thanks to Eric and Amanda for always being excellent hosts, and Greg for organizing the event.

The Music was exactly what the doctor ordered, languid and thoughtfull in places, forcefull and frantic in others, and always expertly played. The big suprise for me was not by way of playing, though i had never heard Glen Jones outside of Cul de Sac, and his "ode' to a cemetary" (or whatever it was) was gloriously dark - but the fact that James Blackshaw, who i had no info about except that i love his playing, looks like he's my age, or younger, just a kid - i guess, but he plays with as much confidence and emotional depth as you'd expect from someone three times his age.

The beauty of the night was that it felt less like a performance and more like a bunch of friends relaxing into a summer's evening, listening to each other play. People were layed out, with their hands behind their heads looking up at the ceiling, others reclined in their chairs, everyone payed close attention.

Ethan Covey reviewed Blackshaw's new album over at Dusted Magazine, if you havn't heard Blackshaw, and have any interest in checking out the style i'd suggest reading this review, picking up his new album (the cuts i've heard are lovely.) then, perhaps Jack Rose's "Kensington Blues" that came out last year, and though Ben Chasney's new one is killer, it's not for beginners, with industrial strength drones, and disonance, so i'd say get his (six organs of admittance) "Compathia", or last years "School of the Flower". Then, i guess maybe, some John Fahey, what the hell.

Covey on Blackshaw:

"On Sunshrine, he embellishes his six- and 12-string work with harmonium, farfisa, bells, bowed-symbols and a variety of other noisemakers. On the title track, he eases the listener into an appropriately Zen state with a chorus of bells and soft percussion before building in a series of increasingly intricate melodies on guitar. While obviously well-versed in the techniques of his aforementioned predecessors, Blackshaw’s particular style is one of light, shimmering runs; he never ventures into the harsh, darker territories frequented by many of his contemporaries."

James Blackshaw: Sunshrine review (dusted)

Contact info

james blackshaw (from london)
http://www.jamesblackshaw.com
http://www.myspace.com/jamesblackshaw

jesse sparhawk (from NYC)
http://www.myspace.com/jessesparhawk

glenn jones (from boston)
http://www.billtmiller.com/glennjones
http://www.myspace.com/culdesactheband

greg davis (member of the national beard registry)
http://www.autumnrecords.net

bk_keywords: Imaginational Anthem, The Bicycle Thief

Happy Father's Day

Best dad ever?

The effects of E.P.T.

Back to the Future

"New analysis of the language and gesture of South America's indigenous Aymara people indicates a reverse concept of time"

"...Contrary to what had been thought a cognitive universal among humans – a spatial metaphor for chronology, based partly on our bodies' orientation and locomotion, that places the future ahead of oneself and the past behind – the Amerindian group locates this imaginary abstraction the other way around: with the past ahead and the future behind."

"...Analysis of the gestural data proved telling: The Aymara, especially the elderly who didn't command a grammatically correct Spanish, indicated space behind themselves when speaking of the future – by thumbing or waving over their shoulders – and indicated space in front of themselves when speaking of the past – by sweeping forward with their hands and arms, close to their bodies for now or the near past and farther out, to the full extent of the arm, for ancient times. In other words, they used gestures identical to the familiar ones – only exactly in reverse." (Physorg.com)

Dark Days

Lovely days, walking around under the brooding clouds with Eva this afternoon was more wonderful than expected. I get out in nature not often enough and when I'm finally out there I can't imagine why I don't get out more often (oh yeah, no wifi.) All the way to the farms I remember thinking scattered thoughts, what I need to do for work, what I need to do when I get home, laundry, future - I even remember (cause we were listening to U2, War.) having this big long thought to the tune of; wouldn't it be nice to have that sort of bonoesque certainty towards one's own views on life? And then I thought, naw, then I thought... Well, maybe? But as we parked and walked past the barn, up the hill past the piglets all these thoughts began to fade off.

What was going on around me seemed to be much more interesting, or at any rate, much more real. The Sky was all sorts of grey and the trees were that in greens. Dark shades of green, almost black in places, fresh and wet. As we walked to the top of the hill that overlooked the majority of the estate I took a breather and practiced a bit of beginners meditation, which consisted of me, recognizing my thought, labeling it, and then promptly having a nice little discussion in my head about it. WoopsFrom there down into the meadow via a nice little path that made me feel sort of like hansel, and I imagined Eva to be Gretel (it was an elaborate fantasy mind you, lederhosen was involved.) the undergrowth was thicker here not as groomed as the woods previous. Ropy vines snaked around through the dense foliage and bramble patches, and my converse were getting pretty damn soggy. Eventually we came to the meadow, and from what I could tell - the epicenter of mosquito breeding in Vermont; so far this year I had yet to come across a mosquito. This is a warning to everyone, they are here, they are coming. You've been warned. After we made our way through the field we re-entered the wood; and started to make our way back up the hill towards the barn. The trees were amazing in this part; a combination of the well groomed tall growing forest at the start of the path, and the dark, twisted overgrowth on the lower. My imagination was having a field day, and my head was filled with all sorts of adventure and whimsy; it reminded me of one of my favorite childhood books; especially when we walked upon a gopher hole and next to it was a little baby cuty ball, I'm not sure otherwise what it was, we decided on hedgehog, but it was quite a bit bigger than that, so who knows... (woodchuck?)I wanted to be friends, but it looked like he wanted us to to take a hike so he could go back to being really fucking cute, so we hit the road, went and got some Chinese food... mmm scorpion bowl.

Eva's got the rest of the pictures over on Deadbeat Dirt (link)

BTW scariest movie in years? Defiantly The Descent. Watch it, Love it.
Not the Scariest movie in years? Dog Soldiers. Woof. Go figure.

bk_keywords:my side of the mountain, The Descent, Dog soldiers.

If Homeitems were Swedish...

Found these guys on Atom films, then i found the Youtube link. Anyone interested in found sound/collage/industrial should check this out, lots of fun. Sort of a Domesticated Neubauten

Youtube video (link)
atomfilms hi res (link)

Craptacular

So, the Omen remake completely sucks, what a shocker. I don't really even know where to begin, but I'll start with Julia Stiles, who couldn't act her way out of something wet and delicate. Then there's Liev Shreiber, aka Cotton Weary, who tries desperately to give a shit at all. Together they're a force to be reckoned with; a force of sheer boredom. Damien was stupid too, at least the original had a funny hat.

The two most interesting characters, the priest and the journalist played by Pete Postlewaite and David Thewlis respectively, get no love, and die as per the original script in gruesome (but not gruesome enough for this guy) "final destination" style coups de grace. Yawn.
David Thewlis for almost the entire movie stood around acting non-chalant chewing some everlasting stick of juicy fruit, THIS was acting, this was more interesting than anything else that happened. This man, has talent! Have you seen Island of Dr. Moreau (the remake.) that movie was, wait, no that movie sucked too. But, wait... val Kilmer was in it so, that's not his fault. Naked! There we go. Good movie (but so was Real Genius, I digress.)
And then there were the special effects shots and the "scares". Since nothing new or interesting happens in this movie, and since the original which I quite enjoyed, relies on a few little techniques called "Suspense" and "mood", which this movie obviously does not, the director decided to throw in a couple montagey dream scenes involving some loud noises, and a nice cliche'd "I'm looking in the mirror oh NO! What's that horned robed demon thing being reflected from behind me, oh my, it's gone now!" Horseshit.
By the end of the first quarter of the movie the audience at the theater pretty much had it nailed down, most people laughed heartily at almost ever ridiculous line, and every over the top menacing look from damien. Luckily I enjoyed it for that sake, though I can't help feeling like I just lost two hours of my life I'll never get back, two hours I could have spent blogging about navel lint.

On the upside, I did finally get to see a trailer for "The Descent" which is stirring up a buzz in all the right places, and is shaping up to be a real scare.

Fun Factoid
------------------------

"A fragment from the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament, dating to the Third century, gives the more mundane 616 as the mark of the Antichrist.

Ellen Aitken, a professor of early Christian history at McGill University, said the discovery appears to spell the end of 666 as the devil's prime number.

"This is a very nice piece to find," Dr. Aitken said. "Scholars have argued for a long time over this, and it now seems that 616 was the original number of the beast."
- cutesy of religionnewsblog

6.6.(oh brother.)6

"YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHRGggggggGGGGGGGGGHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" -"Angel of Death"

• Stage a "Slay-out." Don't go to work.
• Listen to Slayer.Have a huge block party that clogs up a street in your neighborhood.
• Blast Slayer albums all evening. Get police cruisers and helicopters on the scene. Finish with a full-scale riot.
• Spray paint Slayer logos on churches, synagogues, or cemeteries.
• Play Slayer covers with your own band (since 99% of your riffs are stolen from Slayer anyway).
• Kill the neighbor's dog and blame it on Slayer.

National Day of Slayer website (link)

Amen.

Highgaters in the News

For my first installment of "Highgater's in the News" Meet Kyle Berthiaume, a 16 year old from my home town. He just got arrested for raping a little girl, repeatedly, at his mother's daycare. Also for molesting another girl at the local Highschool MVU.
When asked to make a statement Kyle replied, "I'm not saying nothing,".
This leads me to wonder, what happened to the good ol' days of Highgate? Days when the biggest headline was catching one of the Rainville boys humpin on one of their cows, or a simple redneck beatdown on a minority, or maybe some local drunks running down a pedestrian. Those halcyon days are gone, for good it would seem.

You can read more about Kyle over at WCAX.com (link)

Isn't it Beautiful?

OSX + WinXP = Geek pr0n.
engadget has the money shot

Anyone wanna go in on a Castle?

only 26,000,000 Euro

This exceptional and one of a kind Castle has participated in French history, will offer you a medieval atmosphere ( woodwork, stones...) with every modern convenience ( central heating system in each rooms, video room, hidden lifts...). 6 second stone houses, 5 barns and many other outbuidings complete this wonderful property. The 200 ha are composed by parks, woods, grasslands, ponds and river. Located in the South of France.

Check out other castles for sale around the world (link)
Courtesy of boingboing

---------------------------------------

On another note, I had a chance to sit down this weekend and read the entirety of Allison Bechdel's new graphic novel "Fun House". I've always been a mild fan of her "Dykes to Watchout for" Comic, though often times it gets a little thick with uber-liberal rhetoric. Luckily for me this book avoids all that and focuses on something much more interesting, self discovery, childhood and family trauma. I won't get into an indepth review, since Margot just did one, (that would put mine to shame.) but I will say that I didn't put it down once, read it straight through in one 4 1/2 hour sitting.

By the end of it I was quite touched; that Allison was able to find understanding and some closure to the events of her childhood, events that most people might have chosen to simplify and villainize, or worse still, forget. Further still that she was able to acknowledge her father's wonderful talent and gifts along with his terrible truths, and to see their inseparable connection to her own, was enlightening.

• Margot Harrison's Sevendays cover story (link)
• Allison Bechdel's Blog (link)
• AfterEllen review (link)
• DTWOF strip archive (link)