This feature that I just made up is called All I'm Sayin'. Will it be topical and current? Maybe. Will it be profound? Not if you read carefully enough. Will it be short? Now you've got it!
So here's all I'm sayin': I've heard some public personae suggest that repealing the Bush tax cuts--currently a hot debate between the Congress and White House--is actually equivalent to RAISING taxes. I mean, that IS the money of hard working Americans that "they" want to take! Well, maybe more like not not take... Well, gee, how do you know when your taxes are going up or down compared to with what you should owe as a citizen? Oh, wait--yes, you in the back with the highly-pinned vest--you "don't owe them government nuthin'"? Ohhkaay....let's back up a little.
Putting aside the "question" about tax breaks for millionaires. And billionaires. And probably Exxon. And...well, let's put all that aside--doesn't every citizen owe the government...something? You know, just a little somethin-somethin for our ability to enjoy steady food, protection, socioeconomic mobility, and South Park? To paraphrase a t-shirt I saw recently, "we're adults, and we understand the deal." Please do raise your hand if you don't. (Not that anything could happen to you, since this is America.)
For our "current" national need to save money, I definitely agree with limits on spending. All I'm sayin' is that we still need to agree that income taxes are owed, then agree on where the tax owed line should be drawn, and then agree to pay them.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Overheard at the Rare Vertebrate Quarter-Annual Board Meeting
Haikus are easy.
Daily blog maintenance is
quite the opposite.
or
Set ambitious goals:
life is full of excuses...
so there isn't one.
and finally
If a zombie dies,
and no one is there to see,
Does Jesus grow wings?
Daily blog maintenance is
quite the opposite.
or
Set ambitious goals:
life is full of excuses...
so there isn't one.
and finally
If a zombie dies,
and no one is there to see,
Does Jesus grow wings?
Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Things I Like, Part: Then
As the casual blog reader may discover, I enjoy music. Who doesn't? But I also enjoy procrastinating for other would-be tasks by finding, rating, and eventually organizing new music into playlists for mixtapes (always delivered on non-tape formats, but you know what I mean). I suppose the mixtapes I make fall into about 3 categories: 1) the mixes of the best new music that I've come across (recently a common form, since I've had a lot of time to be looking); 2) mixes of a certain artist or type of music that I would like to listen to or share with someone else; and 3) mixes of any type of artists whose songs I can organize into certain themes (though sometimes for specific persons). I enjoy discovering, perusing, and sharing any of my favorite music, but it's the third type of mix that I like the most to make. It's also the third type that I invariably reach for in lieu of anything else to listen to that is new or otherwise compelling me.
Have you been able to see where this is going? I'd like to post--and give a little bit of explication for--a few of my favorite type 3's. So here goes...and also here goes me at my most self-important. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind myself what everyone else already knows: I didn't make this music; I just arranged the songs in ways that are probably novel (and hopefully interesting). But I should also add that the arrangement is key for why I enjoy making the mixes. Maybe the songs have emotional meaning specific to me, but I'd like to think the track listing makes the mixes work as albums, not just compilations. I hope anyone I share them with feels the same way. Either way, I'll keep on making them. Onwards!
2007 was the beginning of the modern age of JG mixes. The first three mixes I'll list were made between the summer and the very end of that year. The first is a summer sort of mix, inspired by how damn hot it was in Virginia that year. I got a little bit worried, and put my anxiety down for posterity.
OK, so by now you may have noticed the other things that I do that I'm over-proud of--the titles are usually unabashedly "cute" (this one may be the worst), and I've included a "bonus track" on each of the three from 2007 (and some from the future). Bonus points if you can guess which song is the bonus track for these!
Next up is a mix I made for Halloween that year.
This was the first time I made a conscious effort to have a "featured artist." In this case, it was Radiohead, which I selected NOT because I love them in an undying fashion, but because they go very well with the theme. Moving on.
The featured artist here was Iron & Wine, with two unexpected cameos from Willie Nelson (I may have given away the identity of the bonus track). I have to admit, this was, very consciously, the saddest mix I've ever made. Sad was the theme (SAD, anyone?) but there may also have been some non-mitigating circumstances. Okay, too much sharing...and on to two more.
The next two were made the following year. The first is the most elaborately themed (dare I say, conceptual? <cringe>) and "features" Stereo Total and the Pixies; the second is my favorite mix ever that I continue to listen to...let's just say a lot. It features Yo La Tengo.
So that's it for today's installment of over-sharing. I feel much better having explained myself. Thanks very much for listening. If you would like a CD, inquire within. If you have an idea for a mix, let me know. Or try it yourself!
Have you been able to see where this is going? I'd like to post--and give a little bit of explication for--a few of my favorite type 3's. So here goes...and also here goes me at my most self-important. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind myself what everyone else already knows: I didn't make this music; I just arranged the songs in ways that are probably novel (and hopefully interesting). But I should also add that the arrangement is key for why I enjoy making the mixes. Maybe the songs have emotional meaning specific to me, but I'd like to think the track listing makes the mixes work as albums, not just compilations. I hope anyone I share them with feels the same way. Either way, I'll keep on making them. Onwards!
2007 was the beginning of the modern age of JG mixes. The first three mixes I'll list were made between the summer and the very end of that year. The first is a summer sort of mix, inspired by how damn hot it was in Virginia that year. I got a little bit worried, and put my anxiety down for posterity.
Thingz R gonna Δ:
An end-times primer
1. Wildlife analysis – Boards of Canada
2. Amazon – M.I.A.
3. There was sun – Devendra Banhart
4. I don’t wanna die – The Unicorns
5. Volcanoes – Islands
6. A method – TV on the Radio
7. I will (LA version) – Radiohead
8. This just in – Out Hud
9. Broken Household ApplianceNational Forest – Grandaddy
10. Nuclear war [version 1] – Yo La Tengo
11. Postcards from Italy – Beirut
12. Bride of Rain Dog [instrumental] – Tom Waits
13. Chromakey dreamcoat – Boards of Canada
14. Great God Bird – Sufjan Stevens
15. Young folks – Peter Bjorn and John
16. Glassy dusty (wordless) – Grandaddy
*
*
*
20. Bonus track
OK, so by now you may have noticed the other things that I do that I'm over-proud of--the titles are usually unabashedly "cute" (this one may be the worst), and I've included a "bonus track" on each of the three from 2007 (and some from the future). Bonus points if you can guess which song is the bonus track for these!
Next up is a mix I made for Halloween that year.
Pretty.Spooky:
Tricks & treats 2007
1. Dirty knife – Neko Case
2. Goblins and trolls – Quasi
3. The amazing sounds of orgy – Radiohead
4. Three days – Willie Nelson
5. Mr. Moonlight – Clinic
6. The color of the fire – Boards of Canada
7. Moonlight drive – The Doors
8. #1 – Animal Collective
9. Reckoner – Radiohead
10. It’s over – The Beta Band
11. Ostrich &chirping – Elliott Smith
12. Rose-petal-ear – Califone
13. Nothing is ever lost or can be lost my science friend – Liars
14. Where I end and you begin – Radiohead
15. Dracula – Gorillaz
16. I shatter – The Magnetic fields
*
*
*
20. Bonus track
Winter chill
(Hold someone tight)
1. Christmas blues – Willie Nelson
2. Walkaways – Counting Crows
3. Cymbal rush – Thom Yorke
4. Oktober im park – März
5. Hey mama wolf – Devendra Banhart
6. Unknown song – Unknown Artist
7. Carousel – Iron & Wine
8. Work – RJD2
9. Your girl – Blue States
10. Van Helsing boombox – Man Man
11. Ashes on the ground – Yo La Tengo
12. Gatekeeper – Feist
13. Aquarius – Boards of Canada
14. The last hour – Elliott Smith
15. Sodom, South Georgia – Iron & Wine
16. Grey ice water – Modest Mouse
17. Alone in Kyoto – Air
18. Bog people – Xiu Xiu
19. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow – Dean Martin
*
*
*
23. Bonus track
The next two were made the following year. The first is the most elaborately themed (dare I say, conceptual? <cringe>) and "features" Stereo Total and the Pixies; the second is my favorite mix ever that I continue to listen to...let's just say a lot. It features Yo La Tengo.
UNDERWATER
1. Deep water – Portishead [waking from a dream]
2. Beach party – Air France [an inauspicious beginning]
3. Endangered species (outro) – Nicodemus [solitude]
4. Vilaines filles, mauvais garçons – Stereo Total [surf’s up]
5. Surf wax America – Weezer [the sea lives]
6. Sea ghost – The Unicorns [the sea speaks]
7. Mr. Grieves – The Pixies [lost at sea]
8. Instant death – Beastie Boys [uncertain future]
9. Deep dark well – M. Ward [you brought this on yourself]
10. It’s raining – Quasi [insult to injury]
11. Danger of the water – The Futureheads [the beginning of the end]
12. When the levee breaks – Led Zeppelin [climax]
13. Swimmers – Broken Social Scene [survival]
14. Wave of mutilation [UK Surf] – The Pixies [re-assertion]
15. Underwater love – Smoke City [re-union]
16. Die krise – Stereo Total [re-solution?]
*
*
*
20. Coda [together…forever]
Folk Feeling Blues
1. Dreaming – Yo La Tengo
2. Whatever [Folk song in C] – Elliott Smith
3. Her disappearing theme – Broken Social Scene
4. Queen bee – Devendra Banhart
5. Beautiful – Belle & Sebastian
6. Blue turning gray – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
7. You can have it all – Yo La Tengo
8. Boa constrictor – Magnetic Fields
9. Saddest vacant lot in all the world – Grandaddy
10. Space beatle – The Beta Band
11. Agave – Daniel Lanois
12. Fuel for fire – M. Ward
13. Tom Courtenay [Acoustic] – Yo La Tengo
14. Loch raven – Animal Collective
15. Ritournelle – Colleen
16. Stolen shoes and a rifle – Blitzen Trapper
17. Technicolor – Ms. John Soda
18. You got yr. cherry bomb (alternate version) – Spoon
19. Constants are changing – Boards of Canada
20. Blue-green arrow – Yo La Tengo
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
A promise and a poem
First, the promise. It was to myself, and it wasn't really a big deal. I made a pact with myself (and a blog buddy) to post something every day. Yesterday I missed. Oh well! I hope very soon to let everyone in on exactly what was going on yesterday that kept me off the nets (hint: it involved pilgrims and indians).
Next, the poem. So maybe it's cheating a bit because not only did I not write this very recently, but it's already been posted on Facebook. However, I was reminded of the topic twice in the past few days, and moreover, it's what this thing is for! The Notes section of Facebook just doesn't have the same flexibility of purpose as an individual blogspot. Lastly, it's STILL the year of the tiger (2010). There are a little over than 3,000 left out there. So without further ado (except for some minor edits):
Earths With no Tigers...
...are planets
sans snow or even,
places;
worlds of ears without
a word to bear;
from pounds
and pounds of house,
we're down
to ounces of a home.
Our home, now--
a hushed no-where,
no longer
so willing to harbor
children
who have never heard
of stalking and stripes
or
fangs and fight
or really,
a truly righteous animus.
(With symmetry dead,
who will ever utter:
if only it were thus...)
Next, the poem. So maybe it's cheating a bit because not only did I not write this very recently, but it's already been posted on Facebook. However, I was reminded of the topic twice in the past few days, and moreover, it's what this thing is for! The Notes section of Facebook just doesn't have the same flexibility of purpose as an individual blogspot. Lastly, it's STILL the year of the tiger (2010). There are a little over than 3,000 left out there. So without further ado (except for some minor edits):
Earths With no Tigers...
...are planets
sans snow or even,
places;
worlds of ears without
a word to bear;
from pounds
and pounds of house,
we're down
to ounces of a home.
Our home, now--
a hushed no-where,
no longer
so willing to harbor
children
who have never heard
of stalking and stripes
or
fangs and fight
or really,
a truly righteous animus.
(With symmetry dead,
who will ever utter:
if only it were thus...)
Monday, November 22, 2010
Check please!
Greetings gentle reader,
For my compulsory posting tonight, I wanted to make a comment on the airport screening process controversy. I hear that there is a move amongst some parties to encourage passengers to "opt-out," either of the revealing body scan or the full-body pat down. (Incidentally, I'm actually not sure if one can legally opt out.) I don't really have a serious, studied argument for one side or the other, so I'm not going to share anything more than two gut reactions to the whole thing.
First, I can't imagine that many people will actually want to make themselves spend more time in the airport when they could spend that time getting to their destination. Nor would they want their young children to spend that time. Nor would they want, one might hope, for all the other people that just want to be passengers to spend that time on the day before Thanksgiving. Either way, I'm pretty sure that the hubbub there's been already in the news has been enough to call attention to the objections that people have, and the technology will be changed for the better (apparently, it's already developed and in use in Europe). Maybe even the national and flight security infrastructure will adapt! Maybe we'll all just get along. But until then, and certainly through the damn holiday, people can put up with either 1) the same body search to which they've been potentially subject for several years now (I've had one!), or 2) a picture that is perhaps unflattering but also the best technology we have in a US airport to see if you got something on you that you shouldn't. Or maybe it's that sketchy grandma character with the aisle seat...
My second point is merely the observation that, to the outside observer, it would seem we Americans love to be the voyeurs, but not so much the voy...ees? I don't think that's really true on the individual level (more so than for any other earthling, anyway). But it's funny how much sex and violence "we" can consume on the screen, but then deliver such shock and horror about the subtly displayed outline of our own naked body--this display being a trade-off that could help prevent more of the real-life violence that we witnessed not 10 year ago.
I suppose it's free speech either way, and I suppose that's why the terrorists hate us. And I suppose that the next time I pay hundreds of dollars to fly someplace, I'll be happy to get my whole money's worth.
For my compulsory posting tonight, I wanted to make a comment on the airport screening process controversy. I hear that there is a move amongst some parties to encourage passengers to "opt-out," either of the revealing body scan or the full-body pat down. (Incidentally, I'm actually not sure if one can legally opt out.) I don't really have a serious, studied argument for one side or the other, so I'm not going to share anything more than two gut reactions to the whole thing.
First, I can't imagine that many people will actually want to make themselves spend more time in the airport when they could spend that time getting to their destination. Nor would they want their young children to spend that time. Nor would they want, one might hope, for all the other people that just want to be passengers to spend that time on the day before Thanksgiving. Either way, I'm pretty sure that the hubbub there's been already in the news has been enough to call attention to the objections that people have, and the technology will be changed for the better (apparently, it's already developed and in use in Europe). Maybe even the national and flight security infrastructure will adapt! Maybe we'll all just get along. But until then, and certainly through the damn holiday, people can put up with either 1) the same body search to which they've been potentially subject for several years now (I've had one!), or 2) a picture that is perhaps unflattering but also the best technology we have in a US airport to see if you got something on you that you shouldn't. Or maybe it's that sketchy grandma character with the aisle seat...
My second point is merely the observation that, to the outside observer, it would seem we Americans love to be the voyeurs, but not so much the voy...ees? I don't think that's really true on the individual level (more so than for any other earthling, anyway). But it's funny how much sex and violence "we" can consume on the screen, but then deliver such shock and horror about the subtly displayed outline of our own naked body--this display being a trade-off that could help prevent more of the real-life violence that we witnessed not 10 year ago.
I suppose it's free speech either way, and I suppose that's why the terrorists hate us. And I suppose that the next time I pay hundreds of dollars to fly someplace, I'll be happy to get my whole money's worth.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
zombie (a)musings
I'm watching The Walking Dead on AMC. It's pretty entertaining, while fairly un-ridiculous. And on basic cable! [update: it just got some more ridiculous] Anyway, I had two great questions brought on by the show that I quickly took to the web.
The first question was--can zombies swim? Inquiring minds must want to know, because a plethora of answers had been offered. Some postulate they'd doggy-paddle; some reckon they'd sink; some figure they'd trudge across the bottom like old-school divers. Eh.
The second question was, would any animal eat zombies? Could an animal be relied upon to successfully defend one against zombies? And might, one day, extinct animals be brought back to protect our zombie-laden future?
So this question wasn't immediately answered, but I stumbled across a website that just warmed the cockles of my heart:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18683_7-scientific-reasons-zombie-outbreak-would-fail-quickly_p1.html
The very first reason mentioned (#7 on the list) answered my question pretty convincingly. In fact, everything would eat them, down to bacteria. And depending on the scenario, they'd rot, mummify, stiffen, become crippled, be destroyed by truly modern military abilities, or just be the newest target for all the NRA members currently repressed by the legal restrictions on killing things that move. Each of these would qualify as, um, setbacks in the ability for zombies both to feed themselves and reproduce, which was related in my favorite point (#1): both their primary food source and their sole means of reproduction are also found in the one creature that will actively hunt them back (straight from the article: "that's like having to fight a lion every time you to want to have sex or make a sandwich"). In what other creature is that the case? Besides vampires--but let's not start on vampires.
One dissenter did mention that the list author had not made the distinction between supernaturally-motivated walking dead zombies, and virus-infected, deteriorating flesh hungry creatures who may or may not be wholly dead humans (though--in lieu of a cure--still without all traditional human rights). However, since I'm worried about MY world being subject to a zombie apocalypse, I'll assume we are not dealing with anything supernatural; I'll proceed to sleep much easier tonight.
I did start wondering, though--if a zombie plague is carried by a virus, then wouldn't the viral genome be able to adapt like any other one? And if zombies (or rather, the zombie virus) evolve, in which direction would that evolution proceed? Across species lines, perhaps? And for the human strain--wouldn't an adaptive virus evolve towards a human vector that doesn't succumb to the pitfalls of the list? AND if this were true, wouldn't the pinnacle of zombie virus evolution be towards a vector that is essentially the same as a human? AND if this would happen...well how do we know it hasn't already?
There goes my good sleep.
The first question was--can zombies swim? Inquiring minds must want to know, because a plethora of answers had been offered. Some postulate they'd doggy-paddle; some reckon they'd sink; some figure they'd trudge across the bottom like old-school divers. Eh.
The second question was, would any animal eat zombies? Could an animal be relied upon to successfully defend one against zombies? And might, one day, extinct animals be brought back to protect our zombie-laden future?
So this question wasn't immediately answered, but I stumbled across a website that just warmed the cockles of my heart:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18683_7-scientific-reasons-zombie-outbreak-would-fail-quickly_p1.html
The very first reason mentioned (#7 on the list) answered my question pretty convincingly. In fact, everything would eat them, down to bacteria. And depending on the scenario, they'd rot, mummify, stiffen, become crippled, be destroyed by truly modern military abilities, or just be the newest target for all the NRA members currently repressed by the legal restrictions on killing things that move. Each of these would qualify as, um, setbacks in the ability for zombies both to feed themselves and reproduce, which was related in my favorite point (#1): both their primary food source and their sole means of reproduction are also found in the one creature that will actively hunt them back (straight from the article: "that's like having to fight a lion every time you to want to have sex or make a sandwich"). In what other creature is that the case? Besides vampires--but let's not start on vampires.
One dissenter did mention that the list author had not made the distinction between supernaturally-motivated walking dead zombies, and virus-infected, deteriorating flesh hungry creatures who may or may not be wholly dead humans (though--in lieu of a cure--still without all traditional human rights). However, since I'm worried about MY world being subject to a zombie apocalypse, I'll assume we are not dealing with anything supernatural; I'll proceed to sleep much easier tonight.
I did start wondering, though--if a zombie plague is carried by a virus, then wouldn't the viral genome be able to adapt like any other one? And if zombies (or rather, the zombie virus) evolve, in which direction would that evolution proceed? Across species lines, perhaps? And for the human strain--wouldn't an adaptive virus evolve towards a human vector that doesn't succumb to the pitfalls of the list? AND if this were true, wouldn't the pinnacle of zombie virus evolution be towards a vector that is essentially the same as a human? AND if this would happen...well how do we know it hasn't already?
There goes my good sleep.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
The Things I Like, Part: Now
As I flail about for some more specific bloggy themes, I'll keep posting in reference to the default one: me. Actually, waiting for a more concrete vision just means I'm not writing or posting or sharing anything, and nothing is a really hard place to start from. So the things I like are the things that will be posted. A lot of times that will be music.
With more time on my hands, I have been able more often to scour for free, new, fresh music. Here's what helps:
http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/
Buried in the forkcast, I found this free album of some DJ work by Phaseone (whoever that is).
http://lefserecords.com/tracks/Phaseone-WhiteCollarCrime.zip
I might try out my album-reviewing chops later, but I'll give it a one paragraph plug and just say:
Phaseone has mixed some songs from greater and lesser known artists like (in order of appearance): Raekwon, Burial, Animal Collective, Bon Iver, Panda Bear, and Radiohead. A dubstep and hip-hop vibe is felt throughout, and it will run the gamut from mellow and reserved to scratchy and twitchy. It has seamless transitions from track to track, which I find pleasurable. It's not just a mix, though, but a proper album, with an ear towards variety in pace and mood. It's at times ephemeral, soulful, bumping, and playful. It has played very well through both stereo and headphones. I've worked to it, cleaned to it; I'll soon test it out behind the wheel, and hopefully with other human beings in a social setting. Check it out!
And while we are on the subject of hot DJ work, here's a new free album from Girl Talk--"All Day." Party time!
http://www.illegal-art.net/allday/
With more time on my hands, I have been able more often to scour for free, new, fresh music. Here's what helps:
http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/
Buried in the forkcast, I found this free album of some DJ work by Phaseone (whoever that is).
http://lefserecords.com/tracks/Phaseone-WhiteCollarCrime.zip
I might try out my album-reviewing chops later, but I'll give it a one paragraph plug and just say:
Phaseone has mixed some songs from greater and lesser known artists like (in order of appearance): Raekwon, Burial, Animal Collective, Bon Iver, Panda Bear, and Radiohead. A dubstep and hip-hop vibe is felt throughout, and it will run the gamut from mellow and reserved to scratchy and twitchy. It has seamless transitions from track to track, which I find pleasurable. It's not just a mix, though, but a proper album, with an ear towards variety in pace and mood. It's at times ephemeral, soulful, bumping, and playful. It has played very well through both stereo and headphones. I've worked to it, cleaned to it; I'll soon test it out behind the wheel, and hopefully with other human beings in a social setting. Check it out!
And while we are on the subject of hot DJ work, here's a new free album from Girl Talk--"All Day." Party time!
http://www.illegal-art.net/allday/
Friday, November 19, 2010
My First Post...
...won't be so much. Just having it up is the biggest step. I can now fulfill each foisting desire, and every over-sharing fantasy. World, I consider you on a need-to-know basis. Cheers! And a pretty picture of somethings in my backyard.
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