Get it at bleep.com or from warp-net.com
SQUAREPUSHER. SOLO. BASS. TOMORROW
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The meta- post, or blogs nobody reads
As Emily begins to take flight and FBdN spreads its wings to fly in a more individual direction, I am compelled to revert to the meta-post. A rumination on blogging will hardly display the intense compactness and focus of one of Em’s entries, or the articulate and erudite humor routinely found at FBdN. In the latter’s case, there can be no dispute that a profession in writing was inevitable.
No, the meta-post (the one that seems like it’s never going to get started – this one!) is boring to others and extremely self-indulgent. But, since so few people read this blog (or even know about it), I am safe from any real consideration of audience. Or am I?
It is not a child’s journal, hidden safely in a closet or under the bed. This is a more public space. Family and friends presumably know that you’ve staked a claim to a certain corner of the virtual universe. They are not barred from reviewing you innermost secrets, should you choose to share.
An that’s the funny thing about writing. It reveals so much, often without meaning to. So while I’m posting pictures of vacation, promoting a political point of view, or suggesting a new collection of Brazilian music, I may let my guard down. I may want to.
Music from my afternoon run
I’m dealing with a minor flare-up of colitis, so I have to tread lightly, but I was still able to get in a short run this afternoon. My running iPod (yes, I have a few) coughed up some absolute beauts:
- Tangerine Dream – Encore (not sure which Tree boot this came from)
- Miles Davis – Honky Tonk (from the stunning Evolution of the Groove remix record – Brilliant!!)
- Isotope – Crunch Cake
The last of these is a stone cold lost classic from the fusion era. The whole album is good, but this song in particular really got me going on the run.
It’s good to be on vacation!
Inciting hate (and violence?!), getting rich
I’m pleased to see that some sponsors are starting to take note.
Anyone who cares to pay attention will have seen the strong protests at town-hall meetings, which were designed to educate the public about Obama’s proposed health care reform. Such protests are in keeping with the highest ideals of the 1st Amendment and should be welcome by Democrats as an opportunity to stimulate discussion and public debate. There appear to be some strategy memos that have been circulated among protest groups that urge ‘disruption’ instead of debate – the goal being to drown out the message of those who would promote Obama’s goal. But even this approach should be welcome, as it forces proponents of reform to make their message louder and clearer and simpler. I know this is not a simple topic and I don’t want to see it dumbed down to the point where discussion is irrelevant, but when I am trying a case before a jury, the most important thing is to make my message as clear and easy to understand as possible.
Of course, the thing about civil litigation is that it’s ‘civil.’. Most judges will protect me from a shouting match and interruption. Both sides get a fair chance to present opposing points of view.
And I’m also not worried about being shot or poisoned.
But the trouble with Glenn Beck is not that he’s a revolutionary or an agitator. He is neither. All the time that he reinforces a message of hated and racism to his millions of viewers and listeners, he is exploiting them for the purpose of profit. We see a similar phenomena with former governor Palin. She has left office to cash in on her popularity among the right-wing fringe. Without the burdens of being an elected official, Palin will be free to earn enough without excessive oversight. It may be questionable how well her book will ‘sell’ (many of Glen Beck’s books are given away through conservative website promos), but this of little moment compared to the millions she will be advanced by a publisher desperate for a best-seller. Palin is free to take advantage of such an entity in the same fashion that she took advantage of the people of Alaska, who foolishly thought she would serve her entire term in office, but there is a problem.
When Palin tells you that Obama is going to have death panels that will come and kill your aged and infirm parents or your infant who has a disability, she, a person of note and respect, a former elected official, is telling you that your family is at risk of death at the hands of the government. That is incitement to violence. It is also newsworthy. Which means her face will be on TV and everyone will be talking about her outrageous comments. That also means that a publisher will pay a higher number based on her significant popularity. As long as she is a relevant voice, her earning potential will continue to be high.
The worry is that, in her efforts to create a financially secure future for herself and her family (a laudable goal), she is telling lies. Again, that’s not anything that hasn’t happened before, but people look to her to understand the frightening world around her. They trust her. Does she care about them? Does she care how they will react when she advises them of the imminent assault on their persons that will be coming from the Obama administration? Or does she, like Rush and Beck, just care about the money?
Feeling bad about the Phils getting swept? May I suggest some consumer therapy?
While it is true that the Phillies just got their assess handed to the by the very team that is chainsg them in the lackluster NL East, there are still reasons to be feeling good – even on a Monday. The good folks at The Fightins (a site that always causes me to (a) laugh hysterically and (b) restart Firefox) and Birdland have come up with more designs that allow you to show your love, even when times are tough.
Their catalog of Phillies T’s was recently mentioned in the City Paper (whose website is so busy and annoying that I’ll take the restart necessitated by a Fightin’s visit any day) and the shirts are becoming more and more prevalent around the park.
So, yeah, we got skooled this weekend, but I’d rather it happened now than in (dare I say it) October. So go spend some money, stimulate the economy and make yourself feel better.
See Emily Play – BOOKMARK THIS!
See Emily Play is looking pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself. It is so liberating to have a WordPress.org blog and I think Em has caught the bug. Also, I shouldn’t really take all the credit. I thought she was going be mainly content and I would act as her contractor for all design and customization. I’m very happy to say how wrong I was. I established the basic platform, using the lovely and flexible Atahualpa theme from BytesForAll. That’s a great platform to start with because it features a TON of shortcuts that let you (me) manipulate code to get the look and color you want.
But now, Em is acting as site owner and, not only making the decorating and environmental decisions about HER website, but also implementing those decisions. That’s a testament to her enthusiasm and the intuitive nature of the WP platform. I remember how excited I was back in the day, when I set this thing up for myself, and now I’m getting to relive all that enthusiasm with Em. Priceless.
Lots of jazz fusion, waiting for me to listen.
Jazz-fusion. So reviled and so beloved by so many. I just hauled in the mother load from a dear friend in D.C. Mr. el Sturj has a deep collection (50+ gigs of Mahavishnu alone!). We’ve had some famuily staying with us, so I haven’t gotten to assimilate any of this material into the master list just yet. I also note that there is no shortage of possibilities to help jump start Blogerantz, which has been dormant for too many days. I have gotten bits of positive feedback recently and Google Analytics confirms that people from all over the global village have stopped by to sample the treats. So, it’s time for more treats.
Get ready to ‘See Emily Play’
It may not be much just yet, but we are ready to launch the mpomy subdomain See Emily Play. This will be Em’s personal blog with a focus on whatever the hell she wants to focus on. I’m assisting with set-up and design implementation, as well as the obvious domain and hosting issues. All content, as currently contemplated, will be courtesy the lovely Emily.
This is a special moment for me, because mpomy.com is really an exercise in vanity and catharsis. Google Analytics has confirmed that there’s not a whole lot of traffic, and that’s fine. The more important result has been that I’ve become somewhat comfortable with the best platform on the web and I’m running it locally on my host provider, so it’s my bandwidth, my rules, my domain. If there was something extremely interesting going on out there, I would have a journal entry here that would help me remember for later. Links can be preserved and pictures saved and it just goes on from there. Any fine writing is purely coincidental.
Emily, on the other hand, presents a totally different approach. She has had to be dragged into this kicking and screaming. Well, not quite, but it has taken the encouragement of a professional, published author, who recognized Em’s talent and encouraged her to act as a guest blogger. That’s a lot different than a partner or family member saying, “you’re such a great writer, you should just start writing a blog.”
So, today I spent the afternoon assigning a subdomain, setting up another mySQL database, installing a separate and discreet WordPress installation, and getting some very basic customization underway. Even now, the earliest entries are beginning to take shape across the room as we engage in the age-old exercise known as “dueling laptops.” Update your Google Reader accordingly.
We knew Erik Prince was a bad dude, but this is off the hook!
Blackwater, now known as Xe Services LLC is the paramilitary outfit contracted by the Bush administration to massacre Muslims secure Iraq after the glorious well planned invasion that resulted in the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Now, sworn statements filed in Federal Court in Virginia y ex employees, and reported on by The Nation (maybe I should renew for another year) indicate that company President Erik Prince may be responsible for the murder of individuals who were coopoerating with Federal investigators. In other words, this has nothing to do with the countless Iraqis who were undoubtedly killed by Blackwater, this is Prince killing people to save his himself from prosecution.
There’s also a lot of other classy stuff in the statements, like the following:
The former employee also alleges that Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,” and that Prince’s companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life.”
Nice.
Beardfish meditation – Abigails Questions from ‘Destined Solitaire’
This is the review I posted at ProgArchives. I’m not sure I complied with all the rules nd requirements, so, just in case they take it down, I’m posting it here.
100 word minimum? No Problem. I’m ranting a bit tonight, so instead of cranking out 1000+, let’s just focus on one song, OK? Can you tell I like the album? Can you guess what my rating is going to be?
“Like the white dot in the middle of the TV when you turn it off…” That’s right, we’re going to the infinite universe that is ‘Abigails Qusetion.’ And quoting the lyrics is not where you expect a Beardfish review to begin. I keep saying the same thing to anyone who will listen, but I can’t believe how much I like the lyrics for this band. That’s not supposed to be true for a prog band, or at least not usually. That’s exactly the reason I’ve enjoyed so much international prog over the past twelve months. Take away any understanding because you’re hearing Polish or Portuguese or French, or whatever. But these guys are fans of Zappa, and the written (and spoken and sung) word was such a big part of what made his music special. It was not just comedy – it communicated a big idea that could not be captured by the music alone. ‘Billy the Mountain’ (once described as a movie-for-your-ears) is my favorite example, but there are many others. The fascinating thing is that THESE GUYS DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH TO EACH OTHER. They don’t speak English to their friends and family. And while it is clearly far more common for a Swedish person to be fluent in English than visa-versa, being able to have a nice conversation in English is one thing – writing about the infinite universe, with idiom, simile and metaphor is something else entirely. Yet, for some time now, for Rikard and the band – no problem.
Now, it’s best not to speak about Zappa too much in a Beardfish review, lest the reader get the impression that this is a one-trick-pony of Mothers-impersonators. That’s not the case. No way. Then why do I even bring it up again? because the music, the notes, the time signatures, the arrangements are tough, at times, on the listener, particularly the new listener. And that criticism may be reasonably directed at much of Zappa’s music. And also, these guys know the Zappa schtick upside-down, backwards and forwards, and they don’t care to hide that fact. The thing to remember is that it is merely a jumping off point, and it is not the thing itself. Too often I see the word ‘retro’ associated with this band, and I cringe. With all due respect to Mike Portnoy’s very kind words about it being just like 1974, this is not retro. This is progressive. Ideas from the past, particularly those involving intensive composition, are being recombined and mixed with NEW sounds and NEW ideas to make NEW music.
“Nothing has a beginning. Nothing has an end.” What a comforting thought. It reminds me of Neil Young (perhaps the most un-prog of artists) who said “It’s all one song.” Well, despite that lovely refrain, Abigails Question certainly does have a beginning and an end. It also has a TON of material in between, including a little chit chat about the density of space (basically a vacuum) compared to the density of complex living organisms, like tadpoles. But even with that unexpected (and very welcome) roadsign, this was the song I was waiting for on this record.
At a little more than nine minutes, this is concise, especially given the variation of music contained therein. After a very brief bit of atmosphere, the verse begins, supported by something akin to soft mellotron hits and guitar that sounds like it’s processed an octave up. Drums and bass drive steadily while keys, guitar and vocal meander in a daze through the first 50 seconds. In order to get to the “Nothing has a beginning…” refrain there’s a quick little somersault that feels meant to be disorienting for the listener, but it happens so fast that we find our feet right away, and are rewarded with a bit of synth melody that would make Tony Banks proud. Unlike most Genesis, that melody is with us for less than twenty seconds – which is actually a small eternity in Beardfish time. Now we’re back to verse two. The short cycle basically repeats until we’re just under the two minute mark. All change!
Now it’s time for a somewhat anxious meditation on how an infinite universe could be a bad thing. This is matched with an unsettling up-chop on the guitar that is so not reggae. Basically the song is contemplating the spontaneous and immediate end of everything. This troubling thought leads directly into a polyrhythmic section where it seems everyone is regimented in their own march. It reminds me of Wetton-era King Crimson. We are then rescued by an instrumental statement, similar to that earlier synth melody, but now carried by the organ. There is a little groove here, almost like beautiful and mellow rock’n’roll music. Is Beardfish about to become a jam band? What do you think? This lovely bit of music goes from just before the 3 minute mark to about 3:34. Again, in the life of this song, that’s a pretty nice little jam.
Now it’s the same melody, transposed and counterpointed to be a little peppier and a little more edgy. At 3:57, we’re back to the original key for this part, and there is a small sense of resolution, small because we know it is temporary. Just around 4:15 some synth (Moog?) foretells the next transition. It’s the same key change, but VERY quickly followed by hits at the 4:36 mark (which is the exact halfway mark, by my calculation). Now we’re gently meandering, noodling a bit even. Organ, bass, drums and guitar, kind of just going together, but constantly changing direction. This is hard on the listener, unless it is setting something up. Why yes, that’s the same theme we just heard back at the 1:14 area. Ahhh… I feel so relaxed. i hope this is not a false sense of comfort. That floor tom is hitting a bit hard.
Now some noodling and hits and then really fast vocals about checking out the trail left from that first kiss. The lyrics are delivered so quickly that I needed to look them up, but they’re followed by the old demon voice (octave down) confirming that yes, “You should totally check it out!” OK, stoner! Now, at 5:23, the stage is set for something tasty. Why, yes, that IS a delightful little clavinet solo. Such easy rockin’ music is rudely interrupted by the aformentioned chat about the density of intergalactic space compared to some complex stuff here at home. This voice reminds me of the seemingly benevolent super computer controlling everything on the starship, which computer (emotionless) may or may not be planning on killing the crew. What IS definitely killing is Rikard’s organ solo, which only runs from 6:40 to 7:16. Again, that’s a long time to be in the same progression for this song. What I love is the maturity on that tiny little solo. He’s got a very small amount of space and he delivers chops AND emotion. It is an ecstatic high point to the record and perfectly sets up the rest of the band to take us home.
Repeat that extra fast lyric and then we close in on the BIG FINISH – YES!! Nothing has a beginning, Nothing has an end! Except with those sustaining Hammond chords and the very tasteful and understated guitar melody accents, we’re pretty much in jam band heaven from 7:28 to the finish. It is an extremely rewarding finale for a listener who has gone through the whole experience described above and it shows the emotional power that this quartet can muster to bring the chaos to a sublime conclusion.
The rest of the record is also very good.