tablesaw | Entries tagged with music

I suppose it would happen that I lose internet access when I'm having an existential crisis. The internet is something I use to fend them off.

I've been making a fanmix for a Whedonland challenge, and that's meant digging deep into my music collection. And digging deep into my music collection has meant listening to music I haven't heard in a while. And listening to music I haven't heard in a while means feeling things I haven't felt in a while.

I've been flashing back to the feeling of the Tower Records at GW, the place where I browsed magazines and books, where I bought new music (that I still have), where I saw Suzanne Vega talk about meeting Lou Reed. just across the way there was an ice-cream place (was it a Coldstone's?) and an Au Bon Pain and a bar I never went to because I didn't turn 21 until I was at UCSB, and I remember it in flashes of how I felt that day, cold or wet or hot or tired or excited or scared or depressed or infatuated or proud.

Or I'll remember standing in the Albany airport, waiting for

isako to give me a ride to meet

ojouchan for the second time, or the same airport later, when my mom called to tell me that my grandmother had died while I was away.

And every flash is different. It impresses upon me that I never really know who I am, because I'm always changing. I don't know who I am right now.

In a lot of ways, I'm afraid of the past more than the future. The past can do as much damage as the future, but unlike the future, it can't be changed. And every year, there's just so much more of it: more pain, more joy, more laughter, more momentum, more power.

So I like to move forward, focusing on the short term, and leaving anything that's fallen out of my view deep in the past, because once I let it drop, it might not be something that's mine. It's something that belonged to a past me.

If I had the internet on right now, I'd go back and look at my posts. But I can tell, right now, that this is the kind of thing I'd be willing to post years ago, but haven't posted much recently. I'm only doing it now because I'm scared, and I can't sleep, and the only way I can reach out right now is with the phone and everyone I know is (or is probably) asleep. But then, back then, I was a lot more lonely, too, I guess. I've been feeling so many things, but haven't wanted to say them, or write them, and there's been so much to do with friends and family and work and all.

I don't know what's going to change. I do know that I'm more regularly social right now than I've been since college, with two gaming groups, one regular group TV-watching, a close friend at work, and dating with

ojouchan. And I know it's going to be a hard time sleeping tonight.

But even now, I'm feeling the relief this blog used to bring, easing the pressure of loneliness and melancholy.

Also, I'm getting a wisdom tooth pulled tomorrow. That's not really much compared to the memories making me revaluate my concept of identity, but it's also not helping me get to sleep either.

(finished 2:12 a.m.)

Internet is back, the result of my modem and router being finicky about the order they got turned on. Off to the dentist now,and I'll look for and add the links I was thinking of when I get back.

Games:

Pub Trivia by jangler_npl (liner notes, friends only): Second(?) place with Reign and mammothali
Jeopardy! by jeffurrynpl. Won pretty handily, actually.
Pyramid with tahnan, mammothali, Moonbeam, Pi(x,y)^4, Reign, saxikath, Qoz, Xemu, Iwik, bookishfellow, jedusor, and probably others.
Exquisite Fruit (see previous entry)

Main Program:

Fair or Foul: Completed with Snackcakes (of DASH)
Three on a Match: 23/30
Vowelled Sets: 16/18
Flat-Solving Competition: 1st place in pairs solving (with cramerica)
Lots of Luck: 72/78, 2d in Pop Culture, possibly 2d overall (with Reign, Btnirn, jangler_npl, and Trick).
Cryptic Crossword Competition (Final Score): 100 pts in 62 minutes. 2d in California division (behind rpipuzzleguy) and 6th or 7th overall.

Walkarounds:

Experience Music Project & Science Fiction Museum with Wraavr and Ucaoimhu

Handouts:

Scandal by thedan: Took me far too long to understand what was going on.
Northwest Airlines by jangler_npl: Very nice finale.
56-Across by Dandr: Solved on light rail.
Wonderland & Pacific Northwest by Ucaoimhu: Solved on plane.
Transsubstitutions by tahnan: Completed except for subtitution cipher (because the cipher is long)

Alcohol:

Something from Two Beers, I think.
Mac & Jack (imperial size!)

Stolen from Bar:

One beer glass

Sneaked Back into Bar:

One beer glass, plus tip

Con Photo:

The attendees of the National Puzzlers' League Convention in Seattle. The first two rows are very large and clear while the other hundred or so attendees look like tiny floating heads.

Five minutes late, way the hell in the back. Not really happy with the uneven composition of the picture.

Confiscated by TSA

3 containers of yogurt

Listened to on iPod

3 episodes of Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!
The Archandroid by Janelle Monáe on continuous loop about 15 times

I guess it's time to boycott Arizona. Again.

A bitch supports the idea of a boycott mostly because I think people should be warned that their family trip could turn into an apartheid experience quicker than flies gather on shit.

—Angry Black Bitch, "On Arizona's new law..."

The boycott was supported by Arizona congressman Raúl Grijalva back on Thursday (when there was still a chance of the governor vetoing the bill).

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., closed down his Tucson and Yuma district offices Friday afternoon, after a man called the Tucson office twice threatening to "come in there and blow everybody's head off," and then go to the U.S.-Mexico border to "shoot any Mexicans that try to come across," an aide says.

—Salon, "Rep. Raúl Grijalva closes Tucson office after death threats"

Which raises the question, can I boycott a place that seems so intent on making sure that I come in the first place? I mean, when the elected official tells everyone that they really ought to stay away from the state they represent, it's not so much a boycott as critical advice.

We've grown accustomed to those travel warnings that the U.S. State Department issues every so often, advising U.S. citizens to "exercise extreme caution" when visiting parts of Mexico -- usually after some new shootout or gruesome slaying.

Now it's Mexico's turn to say: watch out. The Mexican government Tuesday issued its own travel warning, urging Mexican citizens to be careful in Arizona.

. . .

Although details on how the law will be enforced remain unclear, the [Mexican Foreign Relations Ministry] said, "it must be assumed that every Mexican citizen may be harassed and questioned without further cause at any time."

—La Plaza, Mexico turns table on travel advisory, issues warning on trips to Arizona

On the other fronts, groups like MALDEF and the ACLU are preparing challenges, and and you can push Washington on Immigration Reform, as the issue takes itself off the back burner.

Moreover, Public Enemy.

Current Mood: angry

The past two days I've woken up late, so I've gotten to enjoy concerts put on by Capitol Records. The concerts are, I presume, for their employees, though it's pretty much audible for a few blocks around. Yesterday was Saving Abel, which wasn't that great, but today it was V.V. Brown, which was a lot of fun. I'd like to hear more of her.

Later on, I walked down to the Egyptian to buy tickets to a double-feature of The Planet of the Apes and Escape from the Planet of the Apes, and a triple-feature of all three Back to the Future movies. I may corral some other folks to come with, but I wanted to guarantee seats for myself, at least.

This is Hollywood, people.

Another

whedonland challenge. This time, it's a fanmix. Which, for me, became two fanmixes:

Actives Inactive: Songs for the Tabula Rasa / Actives Reactive: Songs for Rejecting the Tabula Rasa

Actives Inactive: Songs for the Tabula Rasa / Actives Reactive: Songs for Rejecting the Tabula Rasa

I had an idea to create a set of list of songs that not only related to Dollhouse, but sounded like something that would be played in the Dollhouse. So I started coming through my mellow, relaxing, sleepy music to create ( Actives Inactive: Songs for the Tabula Rasa )

But while I was setting it up, I found a number of songs that had the same kind of sound and related to Dollhouse, but in a way that probably would get them banned from the Dollhouse. Songs that suggest that forgetting might not be a good thing and that, perhaps, a person should do something to fight it. The kind of music that post-composite Echo plays to herself when she's pretending to be in the Tabula Rasa. And that turned into ( Actives Reactive: Songs for Rejecting the Tabula Rasa )

Current Music: K.D. Lang, "Theme from Valley of the Dolls"

Today was a day for doing things I haven't done in a while. At work, I did Monday through Saturday of this week's New York Times crossword. The times below represent both rustiness and the fact that I was distracted by watching first-season episodes of Angel on Hulu. I'd forgotten a lot about those shows, but it was fun to watch Christian Kane as a young associate.

When I got home, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the house to myself. But I had "Girl in the War" (mp3) stuck in my head, and I fired up iTunes, and then I started listening to songs I hadn't heard in a while. A little Michael Penn, a little Elliott Smith, a little Harvey Danger, and pretty soon it was ninety minutes gone.

Then I did something new. I'm trying to see if I can actually make something of the Spanish I learned in high school, so I spent some time translating some of my favorite songs in Spanish, "Rara by Juana Molina and "Sueño con Serpientes" by Silvio Rodriguez.

I cleaned up a little, I had some food, I took out some trash, I wrote up a post. And of course, now I remember that I was supposed to find my bus pass before tomorrow morning.

Back to the search, I guess.

MonNYTX: 5; TueNYTX: 5; WedNYTX: 6:45; ThuNYTX: 48:45; FriNYTX: 27; SatNYTX: 26:30.

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: Dr. Octagon, "Blue Flowers Revisited"

ithiliana suggests that the "unified fabric of human desire" must be some sort of plaid. Which got me thinking about kilts. Which led me to writing this:

I just wrote up a short abstract.
(It's weak but it scored a book contract.)
But the bloggers told me what I lacked:
"Ogi, where's your trousers?"

Let the wind blow high, let the wind blow low,
The better for my arse to show.
Fen cry, "Oh, John Ringo, no!
Ogi, where's your trousers!?"

I posted a web survey,
But I took it down right away.
Now I'm afeard of all El Jay
Because I nay have on trousers.

I went down to a comm with kink
To have some fun seeing what they think.
All the ficcers gave me eyes that stink,
Saying, "Ogi, where's your trousers!?"

The backlash hasn't been dismissed,
But they've no reason to be pissed.
You can't put ethics on a scientist,
Saying, "Ogi, where's your trousers!?"

Context

Current Mood: pastichy

The Capitol Records building is flying its flag at half mast in memory of Les Paul.

When I left work yesterday, the Internet seemed rather calm. I was away for a few hours because

ojouchan and I went to hear Mozart at the Hollywood Bowl using my firm's box seats. And when I came back, there was crazy.

A whole bunch of racefail from various SF fandom cons popped up, as linkishly summarized by

coffeeandink. I haven't even had a chance to look at the WriterCon issues, because I've been reconstruct my blown mind after the mindblowingly idiotic statements made by

arhyalon. I expect that

linkspam will be kicking into gear over it too.

Penny Arcade also took a dive into the "seduction community." Tycho offers some choice quotes like:

I'm fairly certain the purpose of this course is to make you a better predator of women. Check out their offers of "in-field training," as though you were going to hunt antelopes from a jeep in the Goddamned Savannah.

Gabe, on the other hand, apparently "decided to play devil's advocate" without doing a whole lot of research intot he topic, which was a bad idea. He finishes up saying

I'm a little worried that guys reading the site might take our discussion here as some sort of endorsement and I want to make sure that isn't the case. While some of their advice is probably fine I think the majority of it is really sleazy. Again, I can't blame guys for seeking out help. All joking aside though, I just want to make it clear that I don't think the seduction community is the place to go.

Emphasis mine, because although Tycho doesn't mention what started him down the rabbit hole, it may have been the recent massacre by George Sodini a deeply misogynistic man who regularly participated in "pick-up artist" seminars before taking two guns to a gym and then opening fire, killing three women and injuring nine before using the last bullet for himself.

Alas, a Blog has a collection of responses from "men's-rights activists, anti-feminists and other misogynists." (The original post includes a trigger warning for the quotes, and they are not for the faint of heart.) And these apologies for Soldini represent an extreme of Gabe's empathy. It's part of the reason, I try to divorce considering "intent" when it comes to things like this, because a person can ascribe a good intention or a seemingly reasonable justification to even the most heinous acts.

It's got me thinking about the nature of what "intention" is at all. Last year,

adamcadre wrote about a psychological study investigating how we determine waht is intentional. I wrote a comment thinking about how intention intersects interactive fiction. In response, Adam wrote The Nemean Lion (Z-machine file, requires an IF interpreter to play), and I've been thinking about the last scene in this respect.

Meanwhile, there's also conflict in the world of logic-puzzles, where puzzle plagiarism has reared its ugly head, with Conceptis Puzzles, purveyor of soulless, computer-generated, mass-produced logic puzzles, appropriated the concept and presentation of Strimko for their "new" feature Chain Sudoku.

motris and

onigame (constructors of the eagerly anticipated and soon-to-be-released Mutant Sudoku, a book of hand-crafted, soulful logic puzzles) have weighed in.

Yes, even Sudokuland is full of the fail. I'm going to bed.

Current Mood: tired

After some delay, I bought a one-year Dreamwidth account. I've lost track of what that gets me, other than more icons, so I guess I'd better go looking for more icons.

Adam Cadre has a very good analysis of Election:

But what's interesting is that Tracy spends the whole movie seething that she isn't appreciated by others for the hard work that she performs on her own behalf. And that, I think, is a pretty astute observation about American culture. People are very reluctant to let go of ideologies that make them feel good about themselves. Given the choice between psychic rewards and material rewards, they will choose the latter... and then whine because they want both.

Chimatli at the LA Eastside blog rebukes the New York Times for discovering "a new culture district in Los Angeles" in Highland Park.

Here’s the thing, no matter how much they may try to re-write our history and impose ideas of culture on us, Highland Park is not Silver Lake. It’s an old neighborhood of Chicanos, immigrants and working-class White folks that have some of the fiercest neighborhood pride in the Los Angeles area. This area is deep with tradition, culture and dynamic energy.

(Discoverability? Didn't I . . . I'd better pull those notes out before they rot.)

It was

ojouchan's birthday this weekend, so we did a bunch of things. We went to see Harry Potter, we went to see Tori Amos at the Greek Theatre, we ate at the pop-up restaurant Ludo Bites, and we sang along to an apparently rare public screening of "Once More, With Feeling." That was actually quite a lot of things done, and all of them excellent.

MJ, as I'll always remember him.

( Arcade flyer for Michael Jackson's Moonwalker )

YouTube video

From

dine:

Today, roga / roga posted the following:

"... TV moments I love, where the music playing in the background just becomes kind of wired to my brain, forever inseparable from the particular scene in which it appeared, because together with the image they just create this perfect TV moment, that I respond to even years later on an instinctual level, whenever I hear the music or think about it.

(she then listed her top five) and asked " Similar moments you'd like to share?"

I started doing a top 5, but I noticed that my first three were all from this season. I decided I'd just highlight them, instead of cluttering them up with other, older series.

Gram Rabbit, "Devil's Playground" (unrelated (bad) video) in Life, "Find Your Happy Place." Life had a lot of great music, and I really need to pilfer the soundtrack to add to my iTunes. This song was showcased so brilliantly that I rewound the episode a few times to watch it over and over. It's a dark, moody song that plays while the detectives discover a set of bodies left by the same killer, and the editing worked perfectly with the rhythm of the song. Unfortunately, although the episode is online, the song as been swapped out for something far inferior. Damn internet licensing issues!
Garret Dillahunt & Mackenzie Smith, "Donald, Where's Your Trousers?" (audio only, no spoilers) in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I almost put down Shirley Manson's version of "Samson and Delilah" from the opening of season 2, but then I remembered this one. It's hard to describe why it was so memorable if you haven't seen the entire series; It's not so much awesome as it is chilling. If you listen to the clip, you'll hear the light and silly Scottish song about kilt-wearing with the ominous instrumentation. That's kind of the idea.
Jeffster!, "Mr. Roboto" in Chuck, "Chuck vs. the Ring" (actual clip, contains spoilers). This is just silly, but it's deeply awesome. This is also an end-of-the season clip, and a lot of the "Hell Yeah!" moments rely on backstory, but it's still pretty easy to watch.

The other two top contenders were from anime, FWIW.

But it's slow between work, nonwork, and burnout, so Part 2 is still simmering.

In the meantime, I beat two videogames, both puzzles. The first is available online: Blocks with Letters On. It combines several block-moving games with a bit of wordplay, as the blocks need to line up to spell a word at the end. It's pretty simple for most of the 64 levels, but there are a number of very clever designs, and the last few puzzles are killer. In between each level, there's an amusing animation. And there's a sequel, More Blocks with Letters On which brings the total number of levels up to 94.

At home, I finished The Adventures of Lolo, which has been sitting on my Wii Virtual Console for a while. The puzzles were fun, but it did make me long for the later sequels where the puzzles were insane and plentiful.

In books, I finished reading Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon and moved on to Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles. I also picked up a few new fiction books from Central Library on a lunch break. I guess I need to start actually writing up the

50books_poc thing, huh?

Season finales have come and gone, and the DVR is a bit empty right now. Still no idea why Dollhouse survived and Sarah Connor didn't.

I don't listen to lots and lots of music, but this song has been makig me happy today. I think that I'm going to enjoy the chiptunes more than the Weezer originals.

So it's my first diurnal weekend, and

ojouchan and I celebrated by going to . . . a dentist!

Today was the rescheduled appointment for my first filling. The earlier attempt failed when I wouldn't stay insensate; today, they injected me with lots and lots of drugs to be extra sure. Last time, I could mostly feel my mouth as I left the building; now, I'm only just able to feel again, several hours later.

When I was a kid, dentists' offices had TVs on, endlessly playing whatever reruns they could tune in. Now, we bring MP3 players into the chair to provide our own soundtrack. When I hit "shuffle songs" to start the procedure, "Sweet Blue Flag" from the soundtrack of Killer 7. On the one hand, it sounded really cool. On the other hand, it sounded really creepy.

Ojou had to go too. Her root-canaled tooth acted up yesterday, and she had it checked out this morning with me. The X-rays looked fine, so we think it's just inflamed. But for today, at least, we're strictly a ramen household.

Last night, while walking to the Metro, there was a crew setting up some equipment in front of the Pantages. I thought it might be some filming.

When I got out of the Metro again this morning, there was a full stage up, and streets blocked off in all directions. The entire intersection was blocked off with gates and fences. I smiled at some security guards, and then walked straight through anyway. I wasn't stopped until I tried to get out. The security guard tried to give me a speech about how I wasn't allowed through the gate and I had to go around, but I when I pointed out that this course of action would send keep me in the supposedly secure area even longer, she let me through.

I asked what was going on, and she said it was a concert. I asked how long it was going to be up, and she said until midnight. Which is hell for me, since it's going to be blocking off my route to the Metro. By tonight, they'll actually care about the security, and there'll be hundreds of concert-goers milling around to boot.

The inconvenience of the road closure—not to mention the thought of a very loud street show while I try to sleep—was all that I cared about. I went home grumpy.

It wasn't until I told

ojouchan about the concert that I even bothered to find out who was playing:

Depeche Mode

I'm going to bed now, when I wake up, I'll be listening to a live performance by Depeche Mode coming through my window.

Current Mood: faithful & devoted

Last night was fantastic. The highlight was definitely Cullum's medley of "Singing in the Rain" and Rihanna's "Umbrella". Also, from this point forward, I don't know how much I'm going to care about jazz combos that do not have at least one DJ.

But the song that's been stuck in my head recently is from Paula Frazer and Tarnation. Amazingly, its lyrics appear to be nowhere online. So I'm goign to put them up here:

Do the new things you know
Bring you happiness now?
I don't know;
But I hope so.

If I've been unkind,
I hope you don't mind.
I don't know;
But I hope so.

The melody we hear,
The melody we fear,
Is only August's song.

I missed summer again
'Cause the sun doesn't shine;
I'm wishing for it
In my mind.

Just one more song;
It won't be long
Till it's over
And gone.

The melody we hear,
The melody we fear,
Is only August's song.

The taste of the wind leaves you hungrier still.
And the time that passes takes you further away.
It's only August's song.

—Paula Frazer and Tarnation, "August's Song"

I don't think there's been a year since I started working nights that I haven't felt like I missed summer, though I've been seeing more and more since

ojouchan started spending them with me.

ThuNYTX: 12:30. ThuLATX: 7. ThuNYSX: 14. Jonesin': 5:30; I was very distracted, but the theme deserves a special look.

Current Music: Paula Frazer and Tarnation, "August's Song"

I finally have regained my car, and it's running well. I had a scare last night when the gas station attached to the garage I use refused my check card. I had to get a last-minute bailout from my parents in exchange for a check. Luckily, it appears that it was just a random malfunction, since all the money remains in my account. So, Mom, since I know you're reading this, yes, you can cash the check, I'm not in any dire financial straits that I'm hiding from you.

Moving on.

It was a long day at work, getting to know some of the firm's underutilized software. We have lots of very powerful programs that are loaded onto our computers with no explanation, so nobody knows how or when to use it. And they tend to lie dormant until the right job comes in overnight, and I start using my 1337 help-file-reading skillz to figure out what can be done. And of course, it helps when I can blast Pink Martini while I work.

Furthermore, one of my coworkers is involved with organizing "Airplane! The Reading! The Return!," [link removed 8/13/11; originally "http://www.treepeople.org/vfp.dll?OakTree~getCalendarEvents~&sd=07/23/2004&ed=07/23/2004"] a staged reading of the script of Airplane, at TreePeople Park Friday and Saturday night. It certainly sounds like fun, and if any other Angelenos are interested, let me know.

So, I've got to take the Metro home today because my car is still in the shop. I was lucky enough to catch a ride from

wjukknibs here, but I'm on my own the way back.

I keep meaning to write about the Arboretum trip, but I was . . . distracted today. Possibly after I get home, or possibly a bit after. For now, here are the answers to the Lyrics Thing. Go there first if you don't want to be spoiled. Sorry, but I don't have time to link to the lesser-known artists right now. Let the Google be yor frend.

( Here Be Titles )

I hope that clears everything up.

Hey, remember that meme? The one everyone did? The that involved shuffling your mp3 files and selecting your favorite lyric from the next twenty-five songs? The one I didn't do because I don't have an collection of mp3 files?

Well, I've decided to do it now, since my CD carrying case is packed with travelin' CDs. These are all CDs I know rather well, so I decided to pick my favorite single line from each. Guess at what song they're from, marvel at their poetry, boggle at their inaptness, I don't care. I just want to be one of the cool kids.

( Cut because the cool kids probably don't care anymore )

SunNYTX: 21.

Current Music: See entry.

I'm safely home from convention. I've nestled myself back into the house. Of course, there's no food in the house, because I didn't want any food in the house going bad. So maybe I'll go get some food. When I get back, maybe I'll tidy up a bit and watch a whole bunch of Angel.

It was a great vacation. Audio excerpts of it can be found below, now with handy titles so that you can tell which one is which. I'll try and spruce them up abit as the week goes on too. Adding context and information and pictures that relate.

Of course, not everything fit in there, so I'll have to do some writing too. Most especially, I want to tell you all about Kid Beyond. I mentioned that we were going to see his show, but . . . uh . . . Short version: See his shows [Link removed 8/13/11; originally "http://www.biggerbread.com/shows.htm"]. Now. Fly to one if you have to.

In the mean time, here's what some other people have been writing about this past week from NPL Members Lunch Boy, Saphir, Foggy, and Wesley. There will, undoubtedly be more, and I'll probably keep linking them. Also, there is a notable report of one event from a passerby, describing the game of Schroggle. This person appears to have been armed with a better camera than any of the Krewe, so I think we're all thankful to her.

Also, in the meanwhile, I've probably got no chance of reading all of what's happened to all of you in the past week, so feel free to vaingloriously give me the highlights.

Hm. It's the food of the now time eating bye.

Tablesaw!

It's the saw of the table!

[Written Offline]

Tally Part, Part 2

By the Time I Don't Get to Arizona

I'm from Hollywood

Actives Inactive/Actives Reactive: Two Dollhouse Fanmixes

They're Just Some Activities I Used to Do

Your Arse Is Showing.

Hollywood Report.

Failsplosion!

Paid Up, Linked Out

The MAME in the Mirror.

Seasonal Music

Actually, Yes, I Am Still Writing It

Your Sweetness Causes Me Such Endless Pain

My Own, Personal

Lyrics Post? Really?

And Don't Call Me Shirley.

No Va.

Fallen Off the Bandwagon.

And Now I Have to Stay Awake for Work Purposes.

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April 2025

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