If I used twitter (or even knew what it was, really) I would send out the following instead of trad-blogging it.
So weird. Haagen-Dazs Conspiracy was the name of the band I tried to form during the
summer of '95!
(My email response to a friend about his response to my email about the closing of Maggie Moo's in Park Slope.)
Earlier tonight Listmaker asked me what I do with all the photos I've taken for the last year and a half. "I file them" was my response. And that's it. I might flip through them but I no longer select the best shots and put them together for this webpage. I'm not sure when I lost interest in doing that, but I did. Handwashings mentioned that he missed my podcasts. I sort of miss doing them. I have a secret fear that I'll start smoking again if I do another podcast. It's total superstition.
Anyway, I think I'll post random blog entries in the near future about what I've been doing while in my thirties. Earlier today Handwashings and I took the G to McCarren Park pool for the Band of Horses show. We got there early and caught some rays. Listmaker joined us in time to see the headliners.
(Band of Horses)
(Handwashings is the king of relaxation.)
I had a fun time. I wish Band of Horses had been opening for a band a little more suited to the venue - someone a little more rousing and able to really take control of the space and the crowd. It was a free show, so I'm not really complaining. And I've got to say I'm a huge fan of that venue. Is it the best outdoor space for live music in the city?
I think I'm enjoying this podcasting thing more and more. Especially the listening to other podcasts aspect of it. Here's a list of the shows I'm pulling into my iTunes:
The Epileprechaun Show - This comedy podcast is put together by my friend Jon. He's only done one episode so far but there are some really funny moments. (feed)
VU D'ICI (Seen From Here) - Recommended by Addie, this regularly updated music show from Montreal is a lot of fun. The host is overy friendly, plays good music and speaks in that wonderful mix of English and French Canadian. (feed)
Soccergirl, Incorporated - Soccergirl's podcast is just plain fun. The naughtiness is fun, but I love it best when she let's her freestyle rapping flow. She had a really good rhyme going a few days ago. Listening to it while shopping in the local Pathmark was a pretty odd experience. Actually, listening to any podcast while walking around is strange. I laugh and smile and chuckle sometimes. It's obvious I'm no longer listening to mopey indie rock. (feed)
The Dawn and Drew Show - Just a pair of long running podcasters trading stories and making each other laugh. K-Robo told me to listen to this one. It took two or three episodes before I warmed up to it, but I have and now it's a regular in my podcast rotation. (feed)
Baseball Prospectus Radio - Hosted by baseball injury expert Will Carroll, this one hour radio show features a great mix of interviews, commentary and analysis. Listening to Will and the BP crew discuss trade rumors this past Saturday was fantastic. The most recent episode also featured an interview with Dodgers General Manager, Paul DePodesta. (feed)
Studio 360 - I've got a soft spot for Kurt Andersen. I can't explain it. I was fascinated with his website Inside a few years ago. And now he hosts a regular show once a week on Public Radio International. Unfortunately, the podcasts are only ten to twenty minutes and don't feature the entire show. The most recent episode is all about The Aristocrats and features an interview with Penn Jillette. Sometimes listening to interviews is much easier than reading an interview. (feed)
Pod Alliance - This podcast is a neat idea. It's a regularly updated sampling of members' shows (about 5 min. excerpts). Each episode also has a random podcast or two. I like listening to this when I'm on the elliptical machine at the gym. I don't know why. (feed)
On the Media - For approx. 40 or 50 minutes each week (just the time of a full day's subway commute), I get about five or six media related stories. It's just perfect. Brooke Gladstone has that very public radio voice, so be warned if you're not a fan of that sort of thing. (feed)
Northwest Music Podcast - They've only produced one episode so far, but that episode had me listening to my iPod as I came into the house, waiting to turn it off until a Tullycraft song had finished playing. Tullycraft! How can you not like a podcast that features a new tune from Tullycraft? Click the link to find out what other tracks are featured in the first episode. I liked some of them. This podcast is probably better for listening to while using the elliptical trainer. I hope there's an update soon! (feed)
Balgavy.com Podcast Edition - Hey! I know this one! This is my podcast. Eventhough I claimed to have a huge ego while at a party yesterday, I really don't. I don't listen to my podcasts over and over again. I swear. I am not that in love with my voice. I swear. You can even find it on the iTunes Music Store (search for "balgavy). That's probably the easiest way to add it to your iTunes feed for podcasts. (feed)
Please let me know what other podcasts I should subscribe to!
my friend, shm-okshawn-oo, has a regular radio show at rutgers on wednesday nights. i've yet to tune in, but i think tonight may be the night. point your internet browswers to http://thecore.rutgers.edu/ @ 8pm. or, if you're in the piscataway area, listen at 90.3FM.
Last Monday I get an email from Sarah containing new reviews from kindergartners and third graders. It's been about a year and a half since I've posted any of these. For your reading pleasure, please click over to the reviews and see what the kids these days have to say about everyone from Nico to Essex Green.
Here are a few of my recent del.icio.us links:
Jimmy Page's Sweater Vest: A butterfly in the Amazon flaps its wings...
some talk of a new minor league ballpark for richmond, va
Undeclared - Apatow talks about music, extras, whether or not there will be a special edition, and whether the release is really in July!
i want it on cable and on-demand! i'm so greedy!
New (sub)Urbanism: Getting Around in Suburbia
with real trolleys you can just jump onto the sideboard, right?
music (for robots) - Smokey Turtle by EYEBALL SKELETON
i just heard this track on WXJM. there's nothing wrong with a good novelty song every now and again.
here are a few of my more recent del.icio.us links:
MTV.com - Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) - Video
maybe a bit too literal at points, but i really like it. sadly, subterranean just ran it without any identifying credits
The Podcast-Review Blog (copyright safe music for podcasts)
knowing this kind of stuff could keep me in front of the computer for the rest of my life
ESPN.com - MLB - Caple: Driven to succeed (Bobby Madritsch)
bobby madritsch is my favorite baseball player. there should be a new profile of him every week.
music (for robots) - The Hysterics
new york kids make the pretty rock music you can't help but love
twenty/forty just published an interview with eric bachman of crooked fingers.
once in the next five times that i do something productive, i plan to work on creating my own photomosaics. i've had the link sitting in my bloglines account since october. since i've been taking digital pictures for the past five years, i figure it's time to see how i can use those photos in interesting ways.
speaking of reminders, i should also mention that i really like the music revies at 75orless.
a month ago i meant to mention that my friend sarah is continuing her series of interviews with kids about indie rock on her blog.
her most recent roundtable has kids talking about architecture in helsinki, sufjan stevens, darren hanlon and flin flon.
am i the only person i know who doesn't like itunes? i don't use it for my ipod, i use musicmatch. but there's this whole thing going down called podcasting that sounds really cool. more later.
i missed last night's beulah show. i didn't really try to go, so it's hard to say that i actively missed it. i imagine it was crowded.
this installment of "what is marc doing with his social calendar?" features a mention that i'm headed to south street seaport tonight to see THE NATURAL HISTORY. they're playing with enon and detachment kit. the show starts at 6pm. i don't know when the natural history goes on. it's free. i've only heard a few songs by the natural history but i really like them. so that is what i'm doing. if anyone wants to join me, text me! ha. actually, you can't text me. i'm so not about SMS. but you can call me. or email me.
in a few other notes:
there have been very few facial hair updates because my facial hair doesn't really change anymore. i trimmed my beard this week. and i over-indulged with the use of the scissors when attacking my moustache. it's very short now. but i kind of like it. the moustache is sort of like filled in stubble. every morning when i open the medicine cabinet i see my razors on the top shelf and i wonder if i'll ever use them again. the blade on each razor has probably only been used once or twice many months ago. i bet it's starting to rust. my shaving balms are crying out from neglect. my soothing aftershave lotion sits under the sink now because it's used to rarely.
in fantasy baseball i remain in third place. i just went through the standings and it looks like it will be impossible for me to move up to first place. this is sort of depressing and i'm now realizing that i should've made some major moves before the trade deadline. i tried. i guess i just didn't try hard enough. last week i spent an hour or two at the computer trying to create a graph of how things were going. i thought about turning that into an image file and posting it here. then i realized that my graph meant nothing and it wasn't actually relevant to how my season was going. it didn't predict where things were going to go. sometimes excel is just a giant, useless toy.
hmm, what else?
things need updating!
i may see a movie this weekend. the last movie i saw may have been anchorman. i laughed some. it was fun.
i think it's time for lunch.
tonight - some rock. who's in?
THE BAIT SHOP is the new PEACH PIT AFTER DARK??????
Next season, even more bands are likely to reap such benefits. Mr. Schwartz says "The O.C." is adding a new set to the program, a venue on the show called the Bait Shop, which he describes as an "all-ages club." Ms. Patsavas has already lined up bands -- including Modest Mouse, the Killers and the Walkmen -- for Bait Shop performances in three episodes next season.
i'm sure all the serious OC followers have already heard about this. but i don't read all the message boards and follow all the internet details, so this is news to me. very fun news as just yesterday i was involved in a ten minute conversation about 90210's peach pit after dark. basically, this news makes me think that there's one more good season of THE OC left, and then it's all downhill. (link via obscure store
a good, concise interview with sam beam, "the iron & wine guy" that k-robo describes as having "one helluva beard and such a sweet singing voice."
is anyone else reading "the letters of gary benchley, rock star" that the morning news presents every few weeks or so? i read the first one, then skipped a bunch. i read the 7th and just today they published the 8th which is fantastic reading. it's called getting the band together, part III and is so totally worth your time this afternoon. it's funny and interesting and it feels honest and about 3 times better than what you read in an average blog.
UPDATE:
I just finished reading the rest of these, and I now realize why I typed "feels honest" above. I had to type that because it's so totally not honest. But in a good way. It's good in a wild, silly, this is how crazy it could be to live in New York for a year if you were 22 kind of way.
2ND UPDATE:
I've now decided that these tales should become the basis for a TV show on IFC, a sort of post-Felicity meets Wonderfalls with a dash of VH1's Best Week Ever.
today i'm spending my lunch with salon.com. i only click through the ad every third day or so (mostly to read king kaufman writing about baseball). today i decided to break from my usual pattern and see what the online magazine had to offer. i found a few things worth reading (or, closely skimming):
eric boehlert on wilco and the new book about the band
an article about zen arcade that starts off slowly, recapping everything you read in "our band could be your life" (i got bored and didn't finish it, so i'm not sure if it finishes stronly or not)
reviews of an hour's worth of virgin music store selections. told through the eyes of an ipod-less, internet connection free young man who has a girlfriend who may not be as into music as he is.
(link via lockhart steele)
or maybe that's not quite what i mean.
i'll toss an opinion in here or there. but i can't seem to build up to whole paragraphs about things (see my previous entry about MEAN GIRLS - finding a link to the movie's official website does not a blog entry make). i'm currently listening to SONGS: OHIA. this is some damn fine music to be listening to when you've just finished watching a good episode of everwood (the teaser for next week made that episode look incredible) and you're at the computer trying to figure out how to make a productive night of things. listenting to this album (the magnolia electric co) puts you in a mind where listening to this record is doing something. i could just sit back right now and feel like the night was complete (especially since i finally updated my dvr blog).
more rambling... (and thus completely invalidating the introduction to what i have to say)
my roommate of over 6 1/2 years moved out and into a new place with his fiance last week. he'll think it's funny that i'm not mentioning his name here. but he won't be around the apartment to give me a hard time about it, so it's okay. anyway, a few weeks ago dan started posting photos on his fotolog of all the things he was going to miss upon leaving this part of town. check out the series. it starts here: http://www.fotolog.net/sweetplantain/?photo_id=7716009
one of the positives of having a new computer at work is that i've now got the power at my desktop to have a million applications running. and i can't bring myself to turn off itunes. i'm currently streaming the indie pop rocks! tunes from soma fm. it's a good mix of music and i think it's going to have to become one of my primary sources for listening to new stuff now that i won't be hanging out most evenings with music buying machines dan and sujan. one of the fun highlights on this stream is the occasional "station i.d." i just heard andrew from american analog set remind me that i'm listening to soma fm!
UPDATE: tullycraft to pavement!!! does it get any better? (btw, i heard a little shrimp boat earlier)
in some "back home" related news, dan sent me an email tipping me off to pitchfork's review of skywave's new album, synthstatic. pitchfork gives the album a 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. that's a pretty high number and the reviewer really seemed to enjoy the album, even though he may have used the word "derivative" half a dozen times (or maybe the reviewer just mentioned the idea that many times).
anyway, i've only seen skywave once, and that was in the spring of 2002 (photos located here). while i never saw them in fredericksburg, i caught them in brooklyn and had a great time at the show.
since i just spent the weekend on the couch coughing and sneezing due to a cold, i'm in the mood to see what the rock lifestyle is all about. alex stopped by last night and reminded me that it is possible to go out for three days and nights in a row. i'm jealous of his endurance. and excited about a lot of the things coming out of my hometown the past few years. hopefully in the next few months there will be a few more interesting announcements about characters of note that i grew up with.
last week, along with a bunch of others, i got an email from my friend jeff. he'd been in bali for a few days, traveling, seeing the sights, taking a break from his time in australia. he'd sent a few emails before sending the one below. they were good, entertaing travel missives. but nothing struck me with the urge to travel and be a more friendly, interested person like the email i'm reprinting (with permission) below. i had an inkling it would be a crazy report from bali when his previous email ended with the lines: I had all the expereinces I told you about in the past 48 hours and I am EXHAUSTED from writing this. I'm gonna go to this drag show in a bar in the alley by my hotel and hit the sack. i had no idea how much fun the next few hours would be for jeff.
from: jeff s.
date: thursday, feb 19th, 2004
subj: killing time in the airport-cockroach just crawled across the screen
Friends,Last night, RIGHT after I wrote that massive email, I had a life-changing experience. Maybe not changing, but life-affirming. I was ambling down the street at like nine o clock, yawning and getting ready for an early bedtime.
And then:
I heard the most spazzed-out, funky LIVE version of "I Feel Good." I looked over, and saw this Balinese band, fronted by this ELECTRIFIED sweat-soaked guy, _cranking_ out the jams. This kid, the singer, was ON fire...he was soaked in sweat, shaking and grinding like a videotape of Mick Jagger and James Brown on fast forward. He had a cordless mike, and he was running up to hotel guests, mostly quiet English people who were just trying to politely eat. He'd shake sweat on them and howl into the mike right at their table, climb the empty chair and jump off.
There was drummer, bass, guitar, and this guy SMOKING the djembe, smiling massively the whole time. That guy's grandparents were headhunters in Java, I later learned. Then these insanely feral looking Greek people jumped on the stage and grabbed all the other djembes and bongos and just tore it up right along with the band, junglifyingf the Stones, Beatles, everything. This one guy who looked like Animal from the Muppets and Charles Manson did this shaking, terrifyingly sexual dance with these two undulating indonesian women. Sweat flew _everywhere_ It was the rawest, hottest, most primal rock and roll I have ever seen.
I'll tell you this: Ian Sevonius and the Make-Up need to fly over here just to wipe this band's ass. They're a great show, but these guys are the real deal.
I had to talk to them, and my god are they ever nice. The singer is named Alfan, from Denpasar. I told him I was American and a huge fan already...he smiled and had me to the table, introduced me to the band, and put me on the band's bar tab.
I started drinking Arak, a rice wine, and the realness commenced. I met the guys, we talked about the Stones and music. I told them I was from VA, and they said "What band is from there?" They're obsessed. It is our cultural duty to mail these guys cds, for real.
They learned I played the drums, and got REAL excited. They said, hopefully, "You play the drums with us?" I said, well, I gotta go tomorrow..." They all laughed and said no, right now.
They sweated out some more strange, sweaty island sweat-drenched rock classics, then Alfan said "Now, all the way from America our new friend and drummer...JEFF!" They all clapped and chanted and hooted, trilling and I took the stage.
We played a heavy heavy wandering version of Clapton's cocaine...I looked up, and they were all smiling so broadly, and so was I. My shirt was drenched with sweat, and the drummers, 2 djmbe, bongo, and dijerdoo player all looked at me. I scaled the beat back, and we all followed. Then the guitarist started playing the most amazingly ropically stretcy guitar solo for like ten minutes and then the jams got straight Secret Cave. It just devolved into this thudding orgy of rhythm, and I was part of it, holding the backbeat down while these 2 Javanese headhunters' grandchildren went positively apeshit. Alfan began crooning in Balinese, a traditional Hindu prayer and chant over everything. Every man and woman in the place was on the stage in between the musicians, dancing furiously. We kept gong, the jam must have been an hour long.
American neo-hippies all need to come wipe MY ass right now, because this drum circle was the real deal, holyfield. Finally it all thumped to a slow eventual halt. I said thanks and we all clapped for each other and hugged.
Then the birthday cakes came out. Turns out it was Animal Mansons' 34th. The band _rocked_ a version of happy birthday and the dancing resumed, people smearing their faces with/eating cake. It's easily the b
I stayed up till 3 am drinking Bintang and Arak with the band and their friend and the singer's mom. They, and most Indonesians, are the warmest and most genuinely friendly people you can meet. If you hang for ten minutes with an indonesian guy, you're friends for life. Money was no issue here, it was just all love, and fantastic.
The guitarist is Javanese and Muslim. We talked about religious intolerance, how Muslims get a lot of heat unfairly now after the bombing in Bali. They asked about playing rock music in America, Natasha in Perth, we just hung, man.
I'm in the airport now and excited to get home and clean up, see Natasha, but so sad to leave. This place is so wonderful--in four days I have felt every range of emotion I can about it, but it all falls under love.
Please send this along to everyone you like, and remember: when the man in the loincloth asks you to touch the Holy Snake, DO IT, and don't ask for change out the donation box.
-Jeff
anyone up for a trip to harrisonburg, va for this year's macrock? it's being held april 2-3.
i went to the first macrock. it was a lot of fun. i missed the pre-cursor to macrock which was held at old dominion university sometime during the spring of 1995 (or was it 1994?) and i'm still kicking myself about that. okay, i'm not really kicking myself about that. and i'm not really kicking myself about never organizing the first macrock either - long before it was called macrock. virginia college radio took 1996 off and sam was in charge of bringing it roaring back in 1997. he did a great job and it's exciting to see the event is still going on.
i am bummed that the wxjm online radio webcast is down, though.
with all the cold weather and snow, i'm still pretending it's like the end of december. in keeping with that spirit, it's still time to continue with the 2003 wrap-ups. the following excerpts are from dan's 2003 music list which is now online:
The Thrills - So Much For the City
Ohmigod. If Mayflies USA was the perfect band to listen to during cookouts at Prospect Park in 2002, this band will be the one to listen to in 2004. Every song is like sweet molasses dripping with pop perfection. One of Stone Groove's favorites of the year.The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Done?
The Unicorns combine some of the more annoying aspects of Too Much Joy, Of Montreal, and Tullycraft into one unappealing glop.Exploding Hearts - Guitar Romantic
Stone Groove couldn't handle them (too loud) but the kids know this band is where it was at in 2003. Ten brilliant songs, over and out, goodnight. It is almost like they were here on earth just to record this amazing record, they did it, and then they were gone. Sounds crazy, but the rock gods must have had a plan to take this young rock band from us so soon. If only we had an Eddie Cochran of our generation to write a eulogy for them.
And that's just a sampling of what Dan has to say about a few bands who released albums in 2003. The list also includes a quick revisit to his 2002 list, a brief essay on combining his record collection with Sujan's and "An Open Letter to Huey Lewis."
Last weekend I meant to link to “a collection of hand-drawn ‘imaginary record covers’. Homegrown funky folk art: Howard Finster meets Motown. posted on a bulletin board and linked from boingboing. After briefly scanning the link I vowed to return and check out everything that was posted. Looks like I waited too long. According to an update on the boingboing posting, the discussion thread of the original posting was removed due to privacy concerns about the artist.
Fake album cover art can be a lot of fun. I’ve only made three fake album covers in my life. And I’m only happy with the way two of them turned out. All three were created as art projects during college (as a high school teenager I was too busy making fake videos to pretend-package anything having to do with music). The first was an awful, awful 7” cover self-portrait based thing. I used terrible colors and I’m now embarrassed to show it to anyone (and I’m not embarrassed about too much). The second was for that same class. It was a very dirty sort of cut and paste collage, assembled from various photos I had sitting around. It worked at the time but it was a definite sign that I wouldn’t be going into graphic design as a profession.
The third album cover (cd size, like the second) was designed for a band some friends of mine had formed. Mitten never actually released a “6 song EP” called “Do you eat meat?” on “Picky Boy Records (pbr002)” as the spine of my cd indicated, but I had fun mistitling the songs. I couldn’t remember the actual titles of their songs (except for the two covers) and it was late at night when everyone who would’ve known the answer was asleep. I did the best I could when it came to titling. “Elevators/Lifts” became “Elevator is a Lift.” And I hope I was right when I titled a song “Grafton Snowball.” Now that I think about it, I’m not even sure if that was an actual song by Mitten. Did I just make it up? Jamie, Jeremy, Kate, Rishi, Kevin? Someone want to chime in here?
Anyway, making up fake stuff is fun. If anyone finds out that the imaginary record covers I mentioned at the start of this entry are posted online again, let me know.
(and only related in the most distant of ways - here's a post by blogger jay smooth that discusses the idea of 'blog beef' dis records. his entry links to an mp3 he created, "i know why the unicorn cries." it's all tongue-in-cheek. and it's a great example of the fun, creative things people are doing with their free time.) (link via a whole lotta nothing)
post polvo snooze fest * a mix tape fanzine is now online. after months and months dragging my heels i finally got my act together this past week and posted all the material dan and jeremy have collected during the past few years. make sure you check out jeremy's article about the mix tape road trip he and dan took. and the interviews. you've got to read the intereviews, a lot of them are from six years ago and a lot of fun. and because i want to write something, expect another article or two during the next week.
i'm not the sort to encourage online interactive web participation, but this time i'm making an exception to my rules. check out the everwood music guide for the episode entitled "just like in the movies". mojave 3's "bluebird of happiness" (from their album spoon and rafter) was featured in a very pretty scene featuring amy abbott and a new boy who works in the drug store. - and - the everwood music website is having a little poll about your favorite music from the episode. and i voted. because i really like the song. and i like the show. and i'm filled with nice and happy thoughts these days. so, go vote! right now "bluebird of happiness" is barely beating liz phair in popularity!
a month and a half ago the guardian presented a great story on the history of the cassette tape. i wish there were links in the story, because it seems like some interesting things are mentioned toward the bottom. (link via brushstroke.tv)
a few quick notes before i go to bed. chris larry played some amazing cambodian garage rock(scroll down to second review) on his live radio show tuesday night.
alex recently revamped lachimafilms.com. check out the news section for continually updated info about the creative things he's been up to. one of the most exciting things he's been doing is handling the film/video channel of wiselephant, the new company helping artists clear a path between their work and their audience through marketing support and more.
and if you haven't checked out lazy comet, jamie's new fotolog, do so now. he's currently borrowing my digital camera and the stuff posted on his fotolog is just a tease for what he'll be submitting to the borrowed camera project.
One of tonight’s other “blast from the pasts” (in addition to watching college pal, Gina Main, on “Fear Factor”) included the watching of the video for Calla’s “Televised.” It aired this past weekend on “Mixtape Mixdown - Indie Rock” on Fuse. The video is a collage of various live clips and photographs. It all works well together, but the most exciting thing was catching a few images from the town where I grew up – Fredericksburg, VA. About three quarters of the way into the video, there are a few shots of Allman’s Bar-B-Q. The video, directed by Moh Azim (with pictures by Bobby Barocci), includes wintry, ethereal images of the one-story brick barbecue joint that’s been around for decades. While watching the video again, I noticed that a few shots of the Twi-Lite Motel were also featured. The Twi-Lite Motel sits alongside Route 1, two blocks from Allman’s and has that classic “motel” look. It’s that kind of place where you would’ve taken your girl in high school to lose your virginity (if you were both into that pseudo-retro-hipster thing yet always high out of our minds on some kind of low-grade heroin – so out of our minds that grime becomes cool). The other thing I should note is that I’ve never eaten at Allman’s, even though it’s a Fredericksburg institution. I don’t really like barbecue. I’ll make a point of eating there the next time I’m in town, though.
i know i'm a sort of paranoid person. i can't help it. that's what makes me a little paranoid. if i could help it, it wouldn't always get my brain into trouble. but what's up with the new ted leo ep? it's called "tell balgeary, balgury is dead." those letters are a little too close to the letters in my last name to allow me to sleep comfortably tonight.
i'm listening to beulah's new album, yoko. the second song ("landslide baby") features a sound that resembles the sound made by my pager. it's driving me crazy. but i'm into the album.
i just got an email from dan with the subject heading "what are the dvr's plans for october?"
according to pitchfork's daily music news two good music shows will be returning to sundance channel on fridays this october. one of them, "sonic cinema," will be hosted by thurston moore.
I'm a participant in a college radio email group. I got a little long winded today and posted the following comments about copyright law. It all started with someone innocently referencing an article about music bootlegging posted on Salon.com.
Here are some of my disjointed thoughts:
Do you envision the future the author suggests where:
"Bootlegging may even evolve into something of a hobby for tens of thousands of desktop producers who will spend their free time splicing together the latest top 40 hits for kicks, like model-airplane builders. The record industry could even respond by selling its own do-it-yourself bootleg complete with editing software and authorized samples. In a sense bootlegs are music fans' response to the disposability of pop culture."
To me, that all sounds quite fun (I can already see the package of the ‘do-it-yourself bootlegging kits’ in the aisles at Sam Goody). I think recontextualizing music and art is a positive thing – as long as it isn’t the only thing people are doing with music, art, film, etc. Is it too much to suggest that remixing songs and squashing them together is just a fad (ie, model-airplane kits)? Will this sort of thing just become another music subculture five years from now?
I’m sure we’re all sick of reading articles about the music industry falling apart and losing revenue and looking to blame the internet and filesharing. But I agree with the thoughts that we’re just in the lull of a music cycle. Tuesday’s Salon article about the current state of MP3’s is one of the best technology articles they’ve posted in a long time.
The author of today’s article makes a comparison to ‘pop art’ of the last few decades and I think that’s a valid point. The visual arts have been around for thousands of years whereas recorded music hasn’t been with us for nearly that long. I’m not really sure what I’m trying to suggest…but I think it’s an interesting time to watch as copyright issues are discussed and muddled through.
While in college, I was a big proponent of a film I programmed called "Sonic Outlaws." It was about Negativland and culture jamming and copyright law. It played on a Thursday night in April. Less than ten people paid to see the film – and it screened twice that night! As much as I wish the rest of the population cared about copyright law, I just don’t think they do.
Obviously there are more interesting things going on in the world than copyright law conversations and the questions discussed in this article and others are so hard to answer. I’ve given occasional thought to the issue during the past 12 years (from the time I started creating home videos) and have yet to resolve my feelings on the subject.
As an author and creator, I want to be compensated for my work. The copyright system is one that holds the outright theft of work in check. As someone who desperately wants to own a PVR (be it a TIVO or ReplayTV) I don’t want anything standing in the way of trading copyrighted television shows with someone who remembered to record something I didn’t.
the early february (or was it late january?) conversation jamie and i had about expanding balgavy.com has finally paid off. he's written his first column and it's a pleasure to read. his first topic? the 2002 siren music festival.
i don't think 'careening' is exactly the right word. it's not an entirely perfect description. i do think it comes close. saturday was one of those days that just lasted a long time and by the end of it, i was ready for a solid sleep. is careening something you can do without a car? specifically, i'm referring to my walk between luxx and the rock star bar. at no point did i actually stretch my arms to the sides and pretend I was an airplane, but in retrospect, it sure feels like that's how i navigated the trip from one part of williamsburg to the next.
i think my ears are still ringing today (or maybe that's the incessant whine of this computer). after seeing the wall of sound that is skywave at luxx, i gathered my wits (disappointed they didn't play one or two more songs). wth my digital camera tucked into my pocket, i whirled out of the bar and headed west. i was on a quest for pizza and in a hurry to get to my next destination.
a left on bedford. no sign of pizza...but there were a few open delis. i stopped in one, thinking it would be the last option for finding food. in my drunk and quite buzzed state i asked for a roast beef sandwich. no bread. i needed food. i hadn't eaten since the fourth or fifth inning of the mets game. thinking perhaps too quickly, i surrendered to my sugar loving interests. i bought a pack of hostess cupcakes (for $.50!) and i was out the door. by the time i got to the rock star bar i was on a sugar high. i think. i must have been. but i honestly can't tell. i've never gotten any sort of sugar high before. processed sugar is like water for me. but i couldn't sit still at the show. the only thing that kept me focused when the spectators finally went on was the picture taking.
yeah. lots of careening and whirling on saturday night.
how is it that portable cd players seem to keep getting smaller and smaller? and what's with all that stabilization nonsense? people jog with cd players these days! years ago a high school friend and i went to the local record store in our small town in his 1970's trans-am or camaro. he'd updated the tape deck with a portable cd player - i think the cd player had cost him a few hundred dollars. at the store he bought the new sonic youth, "dirty." it was one of the special limited edition ones with the "dirty" pictures. we were so bad-ass in those days, right?
i was reading a lot of 'rolling stone.' and i knew i was too old to be reading the magazine, but i couldn't help it. i liked peter travers - he turned me on to hal hartley's film, trust. it took me years to see trust. but peter travers is the one who pointed the way.
sometimes i think about having children and when i think about that i have to consider the ages to which i'd introduce them to rolling stone magazine and sonic youth. would i even do that? can you force things like that down your kids' throats?
sometimes i wonder if i'm becoming a libertarian? politics has always been such a tough thing for me to figure out. i do like this new keyboard i'm using, though. all the keys work! it makes for a much happier me.
from cd players to talking about myself. i sure am probing the depths of my thoughts and existence tonight. existence. makes me think of that david cronenberg (sp?) movie - eXistenZ. i didn't see crash. i should make that attempt. sex and cars. cars and sex. i passed on seeing "ocean's eleven" this morning. i had errands.
last night i did my ERRANDS dance for my roommates. i'd had one beer! one beer and i was dancing! what has gotten into me?
i hear there's a new weezer video that's all about puppies. or baby farm animals. i've been tuned to mtv2 for the last thirty minutes and i haven't seen it. what's wrong? shouldn't they be showing weezer videos every 15 minutes? isn't that the favorite band of everyone who blogs? or, am i just trying to stir something up? trying to create some sort of conflict?
there's very little conflict in my life these days. just the conflict of trying to convince myself to go to the gym on monday nights. sometimes, after a monday at work, i'm so in the mood for an episode of 'seventh heaven.' and that's just wrong. plain wrong.
i saw a movie last night called 'va saviour.' one of the main characters reminded me of a friend. i'm bummed that i haven't gotten email from her in over a week! i skipped a party she held in order to visit my family, and i get ostracized. taken of the email list! boohoo. no one likes me. isn't that what these entries are for?
i spent a lot of time this weekend working on my website. it still needs a lot of updates but i posted almost one hundred party photos from two weeks ago.
and i lost my work pager. it was replaced with a two-way pager. i never thought of myself as someone who'd utter the phrase "2-way me!" i guess i am.
how many people regularly mention their urge to urinate while typing? hmm...that wasn't supposed to come out like that. i need to pee. how many people type "i need to pee" in their online diaries? is america experiencing a case of too much information overload?
i'm jealous of my friends who own houses/condos/townhouses.
like all the cool kids, i'm listening to weezer right now. but not their new album. their first album - the blue one. it wasn't until all the new interviews with rivers came out that i learned this album is called the blue album. can you believe i purchased the first issue of blender? i'm a big fan of inside.com and simon dumenco - he writes a great weekly column about magazines. a great weekly column. it's fast become one of my favorite reads on the net (i sound so 1995). during college i used to spend hours using the mosaic web browser and searching for web pages about "my so-called life."
factoids.
i've been drinking again. i went out after work to celebrate the going away of a co-worker. he's moving back to oregon. another night spent at the bar drinking pint after pint - not smoking. i don't know how i'm surving without smoking.
there are moments when you feel so weak - when you're about to give in and just bum a cigarette from someone. but i didn't. i am strong. at least, that's what i keep telling myself. i plan to go out tomorrow and saturday night so i'll continue to test that theory.
saturday night will be spent watching a friend's band, "tweezer." they're a weezer cover band and i hear they're amazing. in town from dc and playing a show in the big apple - how could it not be fun? and that's why i'm listening to weezer right now - to get ready for the show.
i just watered my peace lily - those things go through water so quickly! i need to call a friend in boston - i haven't talked to her in over a month. lots of big news to share. why am i so hesitant to share some of that news?
one of the key activities for this weekend needs to be a trip to the library. i have books that are two or three weeks overdue. i've also got to update my real website. and i should open the window in here. it's getting too hot.
