Meal
Superego Exchange (Conscience Revisited)
This track wouldn't exist if not for the Creative Commons remix contest and the coincidental wealth of free-time my move to Seattle has granted me. As the name suggests, it's my take on 'Superego Exchange' by the Bm Relocation Program. In keeping with the original's, I am releasing this under an Attribution-ShareAlike license. Alas, the contest closes tomorrow. I would've liked to have spent more time on it but, like a mother whose child has outgrown the home, I'm forced to release it into the wild, watch it mature from a distance, fend for itself, and eventually get trampled to death by wild buffalo.
Fellow musicians, producers, geeks: If you're interested in further remixing this track (God knows it could use it) let me know and I can provide you with the individual instrument tracks. Also, if you're interested in making some techno/hip-hop influenced blues music along the lines of A3 or R.L. Burnside's newer stuff, and especially if you're a guitarist, keyboardist or vocalist, contact me.
Stop sitting there. Go download the mp3. I mean it.
Pieces
Dazed
Kinda busy right now, wanted to update everyone anyway: I'm in Seattle, staying at my uncle's for a little while. Matt couldn't make the road-trip in time, so I came out with Denise -- went through Canada, saw the Falls, the lakes, Winnipeg, Calgary, the Rocky's and finally Vancouver... BC's gorgeous. Canadians are friendly. Vancouver serves micro-brews in the park. The music scene in Seattle's ridiculously cool -- White Stripes, My Morning Jacket, Burning Spear and George Clinton are all playing here. Good times. D's flying back Friday, so I'll stop doing touristy/family things and dive into my new life head-first. Much love.
living the facade, more fully
Some friends and coworkers came to an unofficial going away party at Olive Garden this evening. There've been some cracks about how many parties I'm going to have; the answer is, of course, as many as it takes to get me to leave. No, but seriously folks.
*sound of crickets*
So anyway... Today was mildly productive -- I got some reading done in A Heartbreaking Work which I purchased the other day, along with Mother Night, Player Piano, Gravity's Rainbow and a road trip atlas. Adam's been suggesting GR for quite the while, and it seemed like a good idea since I'm going to have a good week in the car to do nothing but listen to philosophy 101, bone up on my German, and read. Of course, we'll probably end up screwing off and having a Radiohead marathon instead.
In other news, Denise flew back from Peru last night, and she came along for OG and coffee tonight, and much revelry was had by all. Had a little exchange about the concept of "connections" (why C-students tend to make more money than A-students) and my (perhaps rather utilitarian) use of them. May loosely tie in with that whole manipulation discussion, in that it makes me out to be a shallow and conniving individual. I'm not -- really, I'm not! And if I tell people I'm not, soon they'll start believing me! Muahahahah! Shh! It'll be our secret! Hey! Why are you looking at me like that?! Don't leave!
To top it all off, I spent the last half-hour feeding the Amazon recommendation engine information about my purchases, ranking them, etc, so that I can further define myself by the purchases I make and the media I consume. In this case, self knowledge really is happiness; but I'd still like to ponder how this might affect social evolution. I read a short-story in Harper's about a town where everyone learns the day of their death, and then plans their life using that information -- marrying people that will die at the same time, that kind of thing. Makes me wonder whether I'd fall in love with a girl that loves Vonnegut, reads computer code and philosophy texts just because they're inscrutable and listens to blues-influenced techno and techno-influenced jazz. Yes, I am that narcisstic. So long as she was cute. Yes, I am that shallow.
... Damn, I'll never be able to self-promote.
man bites blog
"Meals" are taking much longer to get together than I thought they would. This is due to the fact that, when viewed in the cold and critical light of day, all my great creative efforts are revealed as cleverly disguised pieces of crap. I think this has something to do with why I never posted anything on a regular basis.
That realization, combined with my joblessness, slothfulness and an atypical quantity of self-doubt/self-criticism has rendered me impotent on the creative front. This is probably just a decompression phase, tho, so I'm not too worried. Still, any tips for getting the ol' juices flowing are always appreciated, if only because it's encouraging to know that other people have researched and care about that sort of thing. It's damned near impossible to do anything in a social vacuum.
Other than that, life is just grand. I'm finishing up Thomas Pynchon's V (which is... different) and a couple other books I've left unread for too long. Small goals. Baby steps. Now that I'm free, I can play with my balls like David Bowie to my heart's content. Praise Allah.
A blog is a man's best friend
This is hilarious and disturbing and everything that one would expect when Fox News and trademark law jump into bed together. I will continue laughing, unless they win, at which point I will cry.
Something about government-endorsed marriage disturbs me in a big way. It's not that I oppose marriage, or poor people, or even poor people getting married; the use of marriage as a crime-prevention device just sounds altogether too artificial.
... and, seeing as how my healthcare benefits expire at the end of the month, this would be a godsend.
And since I'm running out of steam, I recommend this book to anyone looking to supress a chuckle, and this one to anyone that thrives on shock-value.
