geez, i'm really working my hands out this summer. that's ok, i obviously need it.
i'm three different types of guitarist. i did take some classical lessons, and there's a lot of stuff in my discography that is either performed on a nylon guitar with fingers or creatively utilizes chord shapes that are common in classical music but are not often found in blues-based music (pro-tip: that's actually how john lennon got his idiosyncratic guitar sound: he used classical chords in blues music. fucking honkies, right? well, it was ukelele chords. same thing. and, it's sort of what sonic youth did, too, in a round about way, by using weird tunings.). and, my lead playing is very blues-based.
but, my songwriting is very punk rock. almost everything i've ever listened to is some kind of punk rock, and almost everything i've ever written on a guitar is some kind of punk rock.
i used to spend hours thrashing along to bad religion and offspring records. people have this dumb idea of punk rock as being easy to play on guitar, because they associate showmanship with musicianship. it always has been a smokescreen. johnny ramone was moving his right hand every bit as quickly as van halen was, it's just that he was playing very fast chords instead of very fast notes. if you break it down to the physics of it, it's really no less difficult to do. we just have this very silly perception of the whole thing.
i haven't played chords that fast in quite a while, and the song absolutely requires them. i'm going to drive my neighbours nuts practicing it....
that's actually something you're going to notice in the next batch of material. the work i did with the singer in 01 and 02 was much more song oriented, which brought my punk guitar roots out. there's a lot of really unusual syncopation going on.
it actually used to drive him nuts, because it would throw him off on the timing. i can do all kinds of weird things and get back to the one, because i'm a musician, and musicians can do that. he didn't have any musical background, so what he really needed was some kind of a click track to stay in time (we never used them, though, i'd just cut his vocals up afterwards).
Saturday, July 26, 2014
actually, i just listened to the three guitar tracks i saved and
let me just say that the samples will be....minimal. i don't know what i
was thinking working with that guy in the first place. sounds like he's
been playing for two weeks. i'm not sure there's a point in bothering.
but, i'm glad i have what i'm going to call my angularity back. you don't really lose the dexterity. you could pick up a van halen piece after not playing for five years and get it back in a few hours. it's more the mental aspect of the instrument that fades a little. meaning, it would be hard to write a king crimson song after a long period of guitar inactivity (although less difficult to play one, if you can remember it).
it explains why players like billy corgan go through these long periods that make it sound like they've lost it. people blame the lack of acid. i just think he stopped playing his instrument, and lost his proficiency.
when you reduce your guitar to a tool that you only pick up when you want to gain something from it, that's when you lose it. your guitar's gotta be your friend if you want to get anything out of it.
with corgan, i think if somebody could convince him to sit in his room and rebuild that relationship...
there's bits and pieces of it here and there in his later work, like he rediscovers it for a week and then gets bored of it again. he seems to have gone years without really seriously playing. a guy like that is looking for something that doesn't exist. his head's out of it, in the clouds, looking for meaning.
i want to avoid saying he grew out of it or something, because one does not outgrow the guitar. one may trick themselves into thinking there's more to life, but that's indicative of a lack of maturity, not a sign of it. it's a shame.
other people that have to work for a living lose the time they need. that's been more my problem. but i'm glad i'm out of that loop.
ok, so i'm going to get started on this....
but, i'm glad i have what i'm going to call my angularity back. you don't really lose the dexterity. you could pick up a van halen piece after not playing for five years and get it back in a few hours. it's more the mental aspect of the instrument that fades a little. meaning, it would be hard to write a king crimson song after a long period of guitar inactivity (although less difficult to play one, if you can remember it).
it explains why players like billy corgan go through these long periods that make it sound like they've lost it. people blame the lack of acid. i just think he stopped playing his instrument, and lost his proficiency.
when you reduce your guitar to a tool that you only pick up when you want to gain something from it, that's when you lose it. your guitar's gotta be your friend if you want to get anything out of it.
with corgan, i think if somebody could convince him to sit in his room and rebuild that relationship...
there's bits and pieces of it here and there in his later work, like he rediscovers it for a week and then gets bored of it again. he seems to have gone years without really seriously playing. a guy like that is looking for something that doesn't exist. his head's out of it, in the clouds, looking for meaning.
i want to avoid saying he grew out of it or something, because one does not outgrow the guitar. one may trick themselves into thinking there's more to life, but that's indicative of a lack of maturity, not a sign of it. it's a shame.
other people that have to work for a living lose the time they need. that's been more my problem. but i'm glad i'm out of that loop.
ok, so i'm going to get started on this....
Friday, July 25, 2014
ok, so, as i've alluded to, i've reached a pause. there will be further jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj material to complete the one or two volume (not sure yet) cd (which will then comprise my fifth "proper record" in this sea of extended conceptual eps), but i really wanted to focus on going through sequentially so i'm going to go through sequentially. i've completed up to the end of june, 2001. the next jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj piece won't work it's way in until september, as a polished version of the first rabit is wolf track which had this weird sequencer part that freaked everybody out. so, i'll take that sequencer part out and blow it up into it's own thing. but that leaves a few months of stuff, which consists primarily of a rather detailed drum pattern that never found a home and an array of guitar parts that i didn't write and wouldn't claim as my own but would feel ok about raiding as a sample source in a creative, interpretive way.
i've been considering doing something with those riffs for a while, anyways. they're not the greatest on their own, but they had some potential - it's raw material that isn't really good, but is more than interesting enough to work with in warping it into something completely different. see, the project never created anything. that just doesn't sit with me. if i can get it all into a cohesive statement, it accomplishes a lot of things all at once.
the song this drum pattern was written for has a long, convoluted history. it was written as a short radio friendly five minute track (heavily tool influenced) over the summer of 2001 for inclusion into this radio rock project that spawned rabit is wolf, then became a rabit is wolf song, then went through several revisions before it became this sprawling 25 minute mess that i call my fourth symphony, the trepanation nation. this fourth symphony is probably going to need a double disc to house all of the versions. and i'm a little cautious about creating yet another one.
but the drum sequence was completely ignored in the process of the track changing from one nature to another, and i'm listening to it now and thinking i need to do something with it. it's complicated by the fact that i remember reordering the riffs, but don't remember the order they were in. i have a vague concept, but...
so, i'm going to reinterpret this somehow. how, i don't know yet. it's going to be something like the trepanation nation, but not quite. and i'm going to see what i can do about sampling those riffs in.
so, this is going to be a little different, and it could be a while before it works itself out.
to be clear: the intent with this thing was for it to be marketable. i've got spatterings of riffy stuff around, but it tends to get abstract. i'm going to try to avoid that with this. think soundgarden, tool....
i've been considering doing something with those riffs for a while, anyways. they're not the greatest on their own, but they had some potential - it's raw material that isn't really good, but is more than interesting enough to work with in warping it into something completely different. see, the project never created anything. that just doesn't sit with me. if i can get it all into a cohesive statement, it accomplishes a lot of things all at once.
the song this drum pattern was written for has a long, convoluted history. it was written as a short radio friendly five minute track (heavily tool influenced) over the summer of 2001 for inclusion into this radio rock project that spawned rabit is wolf, then became a rabit is wolf song, then went through several revisions before it became this sprawling 25 minute mess that i call my fourth symphony, the trepanation nation. this fourth symphony is probably going to need a double disc to house all of the versions. and i'm a little cautious about creating yet another one.
but the drum sequence was completely ignored in the process of the track changing from one nature to another, and i'm listening to it now and thinking i need to do something with it. it's complicated by the fact that i remember reordering the riffs, but don't remember the order they were in. i have a vague concept, but...
so, i'm going to reinterpret this somehow. how, i don't know yet. it's going to be something like the trepanation nation, but not quite. and i'm going to see what i can do about sampling those riffs in.
so, this is going to be a little different, and it could be a while before it works itself out.
to be clear: the intent with this thing was for it to be marketable. i've got spatterings of riffy stuff around, but it tends to get abstract. i'm going to try to avoid that with this. think soundgarden, tool....
just to keep you up to date on what i'm doing
i don't suppose you care, but i think i have a moral if not a legal responsibility to inform you of what i'm doing. the plan is pretty much set. it'll take a few weeks at least to complete what i've set out.
i've now run through the material for the first half of 2001. i think it's interesting, but it's not really related. you can explore the page if you want. it's arranged chronologically moving down, meaning the oldest stuff is at the bottom.
1) as far as cynicide material is concerned, i have an aborted drum sequence for the song that you know as "the day you saw me cry" and a bunch of rough demos from jon. i was considering raiding jon's guitar parts and cutting them up into samples, but i don't hear much of interest. i may still do this. but, i'm going to be completing that song the way it was initially written as a heavy radio rock tune that's somewhere between tool and white zombie. that will be here:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/to-spin-inside-dull-aberrations
as far as the actual rabit material is concerned, i'm splitting it into five conceptual chunks.
1) the first few tracks all have a post-punk vibe. i'll be uploading this in the form of a single for "me, myself..." that will include multiple mixes of the track (including an instrumental one) and a completed version of the joy division cover (i'm going to go to town with some screwy drum overdubs, and some weird synth work. it'll sound weird. it has to.). i'm undecided on "we're gonna kill someone tonight".
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/me-myself
2) the next couple of tracks have a sort of goth undertone. that includes an instrumental version of clarity, a few takes of #9 and the short version of the wave with the vocals that i couldn't get my processor at the time to process (it's no problem, now). that will come up as a single for clarity:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/clarity
3) i'm going to upload the instrumental version of the wave. i've been referring to this lately as my third symphony.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-wave
4) the existing rabit demo, unaltered
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/rabit-is-wolf
5) a "live disc" containing the various acoustic versions that exist and were planned to be performed. me, myself. day. 9:46. psi. jumped up and down. i think there's a few more. obviously, i won't upload it unless it sounds "proper". there's a few things that i may redo the guitar parts on.
also,
a) i have many, many versions of the song you know as "day". they will be compiled into a comprehensive remix ep. the vocal mix will be included there.
b) a few of these tracks are going to end up on a double-lp chiptune project i'm putting together. like, the sequencer at the beginning of "me, myself" as well as a version of #9.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/thru
i believe that's comprehensive. 9:46, time and psi will not have instrumental versions, as they are pop tunes that require vocals.
if you have any questions, comments or concerns please bring them to me. in the end, my answer to these concerns is going to be to go fully instrumental on the tracks, if i have to. but i'm concerned about the integrity of the tracks first and foremost. and you know i'm very reasonable about shit.
j
i've now run through the material for the first half of 2001. i think it's interesting, but it's not really related. you can explore the page if you want. it's arranged chronologically moving down, meaning the oldest stuff is at the bottom.
1) as far as cynicide material is concerned, i have an aborted drum sequence for the song that you know as "the day you saw me cry" and a bunch of rough demos from jon. i was considering raiding jon's guitar parts and cutting them up into samples, but i don't hear much of interest. i may still do this. but, i'm going to be completing that song the way it was initially written as a heavy radio rock tune that's somewhere between tool and white zombie. that will be here:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/to-spin-inside-dull-aberrations
as far as the actual rabit material is concerned, i'm splitting it into five conceptual chunks.
1) the first few tracks all have a post-punk vibe. i'll be uploading this in the form of a single for "me, myself..." that will include multiple mixes of the track (including an instrumental one) and a completed version of the joy division cover (i'm going to go to town with some screwy drum overdubs, and some weird synth work. it'll sound weird. it has to.). i'm undecided on "we're gonna kill someone tonight".
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/me-myself
2) the next couple of tracks have a sort of goth undertone. that includes an instrumental version of clarity, a few takes of #9 and the short version of the wave with the vocals that i couldn't get my processor at the time to process (it's no problem, now). that will come up as a single for clarity:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/clarity
3) i'm going to upload the instrumental version of the wave. i've been referring to this lately as my third symphony.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-wave
4) the existing rabit demo, unaltered
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/rabit-is-wolf
5) a "live disc" containing the various acoustic versions that exist and were planned to be performed. me, myself. day. 9:46. psi. jumped up and down. i think there's a few more. obviously, i won't upload it unless it sounds "proper". there's a few things that i may redo the guitar parts on.
also,
a) i have many, many versions of the song you know as "day". they will be compiled into a comprehensive remix ep. the vocal mix will be included there.
b) a few of these tracks are going to end up on a double-lp chiptune project i'm putting together. like, the sequencer at the beginning of "me, myself" as well as a version of #9.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/thru
i believe that's comprehensive. 9:46, time and psi will not have instrumental versions, as they are pop tunes that require vocals.
if you have any questions, comments or concerns please bring them to me. in the end, my answer to these concerns is going to be to go fully instrumental on the tracks, if i have to. but i'm concerned about the integrity of the tracks first and foremost. and you know i'm very reasonable about shit.
j
publishing the intersection of two identical particles moving in completely opposite directions (inri047)
ok...
so, to understand this piece, it's necessary to go back to 1998.
i was working out primitive sequencer parts for the first inri demo and it just sort of crossed my mind that there was really nothing stopping me from composing symphonies except for a lot of music theory. well, if i could write electronic music without training, why couldn't i write symphonies without training? i mean, the score writing program exists in front of me. it was just a question of experimenting with it. i could do it myself...
...but i actually already had a pretty hefty disdain for music theory by the age of 17. i'd managed to come across a music history textbook that traced the deconstruction of western theory from beethoven through to schoenberg and this, combined with my experiences as a guitarist, was enough to prevent me from taking it seriously. the perception i had was of modern composers viewing music theory sort of like how biologists viewed creationism. i use that analogy fairly frequently. it just didn't strike me as relevant.
now, i've softened a bit over time to a view that music theory is best understood in terms of the underlying physics. this renders the theory useless, but upholds the basic relationships between tones as physical, mathematical realities. the thing is the next step of abstraction is understanding that these mathematical objects can be arranged and analyzed in any arbitrary way, and the conventional theory really *is* a fallacy akin to creationism. so, i still hold to the general thesis. this is actually the first serious example of me putting that disdain for the idea that music should have a theory into real action. i remain adamantly of the view that art is not a realm where theories should exist or be viewed with anything other than scorn. theories are rigid, formal things; art is informal, chaotic.
so, it's 1998. i have a scorewriter and a very basic soundcard and i want to bullshit a symphony out of it. i did this by composing a single brief melody by randomly mashing notes into a scorewriter. i then took that melody and pasted it over top of itself at differing speeds (64th, 32nd, 16th, 8th, quarter, half, whole notes). i then took that, cut it off near the end of the half notes and pasted it over itself, backwards.
that might sound like it's going to sound awful, but it actually sounds quite lovely. one could analyze it quite easily, but it's creation is beyond the realm of any rules of construction.
which is where art belongs.
...excepting the algorithm i used, of course. i suppose it's more reich than schoenberg, but kind of more xenakis than either.
the initial version ended up subsumed underneath a messy noise collage that i created independently and have lost the source material for. that messy noise collage was eliminated from the track for the 1999 version, which was reconstructed by reproducing the algorithm. these are tracks 19 and 20 on this systematic exploration of the theme.
in 2001, i ran the midi file through my soundblaster live!, which as primitive as it is, has a much nicer wavetable in it than the primitive soundcard i used in 1998 and 1999 (i don't remember what it was). this is track 21. i also slowed it down by about 20 bpm and allowed the full file to "intersect", which let it breathe more. i've previously not done anything with this mix other than append it to some mix cds. the guitars on the soundblaster are notoriously bad, so there wasn't a lot to do with it....
why? well, i was writing a lot with scorewriters at the time and was just experimenting with the old file, really. but i was also finishing up what would be the only year i would spend in the math-physics department, and thought it sounded like i would imagine intersecting particles *should* sound like. i was generally interested in finding ways to combine science with music then - an interest that is present in older tracks as well and that has stuck with me. i may explore these themes further in time. one of the ideas i really wanted to accomplish was a physical modelling of the universe, to actually simulate the music of the spheres, as pythagoras imagined it. i think i underestimated the complexity of such a task....
of course, i never expected the music of the spheres to be tonal. and i wouldn't expect the sound of particles intersecting to be musical, either. but, we can take some artistic license. if intersecting particles are to make a sound, it OUGHT to be something like this!
now, the place to work out the actual intersection is rather arbitrary. i had initially cut off the entire section of pure whole notes, back in '98. what i wanted to do in '01 was create a sequence where it's cut off incrementally, creating shorter and shorter pieces. i didn't actually do that then, but i have now.
as for the piece, i haven't changed it much. i've doubled the guitar with a pizzicato string section, and put it through a better guitar synthesizer (and amp simulator, and effects). the sound fonts are otherwise identical, just updated mildly to a better synthesizer.
i've included the midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written june, 1998. reimagined june, 2001. slightly rearranged and re-rendered at the end of july, 2014. the renders here are from june 1998, june 1999, june 2001 and july 2014. as always, please headphones.
credits:
j - programming, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, composition.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include piano, electric guitar, orchestra hit, synth pads, pizzicato strings and pc card.
released june 18, 2001
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-intersection-of-two-identical-particles-moving-in-completely-opposite-directions
so, to understand this piece, it's necessary to go back to 1998.
i was working out primitive sequencer parts for the first inri demo and it just sort of crossed my mind that there was really nothing stopping me from composing symphonies except for a lot of music theory. well, if i could write electronic music without training, why couldn't i write symphonies without training? i mean, the score writing program exists in front of me. it was just a question of experimenting with it. i could do it myself...
...but i actually already had a pretty hefty disdain for music theory by the age of 17. i'd managed to come across a music history textbook that traced the deconstruction of western theory from beethoven through to schoenberg and this, combined with my experiences as a guitarist, was enough to prevent me from taking it seriously. the perception i had was of modern composers viewing music theory sort of like how biologists viewed creationism. i use that analogy fairly frequently. it just didn't strike me as relevant.
now, i've softened a bit over time to a view that music theory is best understood in terms of the underlying physics. this renders the theory useless, but upholds the basic relationships between tones as physical, mathematical realities. the thing is the next step of abstraction is understanding that these mathematical objects can be arranged and analyzed in any arbitrary way, and the conventional theory really *is* a fallacy akin to creationism. so, i still hold to the general thesis. this is actually the first serious example of me putting that disdain for the idea that music should have a theory into real action. i remain adamantly of the view that art is not a realm where theories should exist or be viewed with anything other than scorn. theories are rigid, formal things; art is informal, chaotic.
so, it's 1998. i have a scorewriter and a very basic soundcard and i want to bullshit a symphony out of it. i did this by composing a single brief melody by randomly mashing notes into a scorewriter. i then took that melody and pasted it over top of itself at differing speeds (64th, 32nd, 16th, 8th, quarter, half, whole notes). i then took that, cut it off near the end of the half notes and pasted it over itself, backwards.
that might sound like it's going to sound awful, but it actually sounds quite lovely. one could analyze it quite easily, but it's creation is beyond the realm of any rules of construction.
which is where art belongs.
...excepting the algorithm i used, of course. i suppose it's more reich than schoenberg, but kind of more xenakis than either.
the initial version ended up subsumed underneath a messy noise collage that i created independently and have lost the source material for. that messy noise collage was eliminated from the track for the 1999 version, which was reconstructed by reproducing the algorithm. these are tracks 19 and 20 on this systematic exploration of the theme.
in 2001, i ran the midi file through my soundblaster live!, which as primitive as it is, has a much nicer wavetable in it than the primitive soundcard i used in 1998 and 1999 (i don't remember what it was). this is track 21. i also slowed it down by about 20 bpm and allowed the full file to "intersect", which let it breathe more. i've previously not done anything with this mix other than append it to some mix cds. the guitars on the soundblaster are notoriously bad, so there wasn't a lot to do with it....
why? well, i was writing a lot with scorewriters at the time and was just experimenting with the old file, really. but i was also finishing up what would be the only year i would spend in the math-physics department, and thought it sounded like i would imagine intersecting particles *should* sound like. i was generally interested in finding ways to combine science with music then - an interest that is present in older tracks as well and that has stuck with me. i may explore these themes further in time. one of the ideas i really wanted to accomplish was a physical modelling of the universe, to actually simulate the music of the spheres, as pythagoras imagined it. i think i underestimated the complexity of such a task....
of course, i never expected the music of the spheres to be tonal. and i wouldn't expect the sound of particles intersecting to be musical, either. but, we can take some artistic license. if intersecting particles are to make a sound, it OUGHT to be something like this!
now, the place to work out the actual intersection is rather arbitrary. i had initially cut off the entire section of pure whole notes, back in '98. what i wanted to do in '01 was create a sequence where it's cut off incrementally, creating shorter and shorter pieces. i didn't actually do that then, but i have now.
as for the piece, i haven't changed it much. i've doubled the guitar with a pizzicato string section, and put it through a better guitar synthesizer (and amp simulator, and effects). the sound fonts are otherwise identical, just updated mildly to a better synthesizer.
i've included the midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
written june, 1998. reimagined june, 2001. slightly rearranged and re-rendered at the end of july, 2014. the renders here are from june 1998, june 1999, june 2001 and july 2014. as always, please headphones.
credits:
j - programming, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, composition.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include piano, electric guitar, orchestra hit, synth pads, pizzicato strings and pc card.
released june 18, 2001
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-intersection-of-two-identical-particles-moving-in-completely-opposite-directions
the second phase is now entirely completed.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3JSjmqp0cbtYmywctLw8KaXgXG3A2ZOF
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3JSjmqp0cbtYmywctLw8KaXgXG3A2ZOF
nexus card arrived in the mail today.
first show over will be the seminal kraut-noise act, oneida.
i'm learning that detroit has a show i'd spend $10 on pretty much every day. i don't have $10 to spend every day. if i were to somehow find a job, i'd not be able to go to a lot of the shows, so it's a catch-22. worse, it costs $9 (maybe $7, i'll find out) in tolls to get back and forth. that's going to mean i'm going to not buy very much beer when i'm over. going across 4 or 5 times a month (which is roughly the current plan) is going to add up to substantial border tolls, unfortunately. i mean, the cost of a $5 show is actually $15. that's a big difference. i can't resolve that, i just have to eat it.
so, that means i'm going to be picky. but, the flip side is that i have a huge array of options. as i'll be keeping a close eye on things, i'll also point out here shows that i nearly attended but didn't. unfortunately, these are probably going to be a lot of the up and coming acts i'd otherwise take a chance on. and i will miss some things in person.
for the next few months, i have an increased amount of disposable income. i will be over quite often.
oneida is a good first show. first update on the first of august.
first show over will be the seminal kraut-noise act, oneida.
i'm learning that detroit has a show i'd spend $10 on pretty much every day. i don't have $10 to spend every day. if i were to somehow find a job, i'd not be able to go to a lot of the shows, so it's a catch-22. worse, it costs $9 (maybe $7, i'll find out) in tolls to get back and forth. that's going to mean i'm going to not buy very much beer when i'm over. going across 4 or 5 times a month (which is roughly the current plan) is going to add up to substantial border tolls, unfortunately. i mean, the cost of a $5 show is actually $15. that's a big difference. i can't resolve that, i just have to eat it.
so, that means i'm going to be picky. but, the flip side is that i have a huge array of options. as i'll be keeping a close eye on things, i'll also point out here shows that i nearly attended but didn't. unfortunately, these are probably going to be a lot of the up and coming acts i'd otherwise take a chance on. and i will miss some things in person.
for the next few months, i have an increased amount of disposable income. i will be over quite often.
oneida is a good first show. first update on the first of august.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
trolling weird al
deathtokoalas
i refuse to follow the rules that exist in conventional english grammar regarding its/it's, as it demonstrates rather clearly how grammar is in fact a form of mind control. it clearly follows that weird al is an nwo pawn, btw.
but, let us analyze this carefully. we have three things to take into account.
1) contractions. it's can clearly be used as a contraction for "it is". no argument.
2) plural. generally, when used without an apostrophe, an s at the end of a word means that the idea expressed is one of plurality.
3) possessive. generally, we use apostrophes to indicate possessives.
it follows that, to be consistent across the language, its should mean plural and it's should be used for both the contraction and the possessive. yet, for absolutely no discernible reason other than the arbitrary dictate of some centralized grammar authority somewhere, this convention is shattered for it's/its. i don't know the history, but it almost certainly reduces to somebody's arbitrary opinion on the matter.
i reject all of this as inconsistent with the principles of natural justice, which demand that laws be on a firm, rational basis rather than at the arbitrary dictate of some authoritarian body. with enough push back, we can take back our language as a democratic, dynamic entity and have this changed to something more rational.
so, please join in me in ignoring the irrationality of this particular rule of modern english - and any others you may find.
Luke
What do you have against koalas?
deathtokoalas
it's the cuteness. puts me into a rage just thinking about it...
Mario
whether or not you're being a troll, you make a rather interesting claim. You must be the life of the party, too. Haha take care.
deathtokoalas
well, in some sense, i'm drawing from orwell. but, you don't really need to draw on fiction. you can look at the development of french. the history of repression that has gone into french is very deep and well documented. most people that today speak "proper french" previously spoke a different dialect of latin, such as occitan. these dialects have been viciously repressed through forced schooling in a manner that is every bit as heavy-handed as the forced anglicization of natives in australia and canada. the development of france as a nation-state is inherently connected to the standardization of french as a language.
if you analyze french, you'll immediately realize how ridiculously constructed it is. the gendering is really quite ridiculous, and consider how much deference it provides to authority (specifying between the tu and the vous seems entirely arbitrary, until you realize it's meant to enforce a hierarchy).
linguists will tell you that language is really at the core of how we think. how many philosophical debates reduce to the meaning of a term? and, there's good reason for this, as it's at the core of how we grasp concepts. if the centralized grammar authorities (dare i say grammar nazis) can get you to think in a way that upholds hierarchy and defers you to authority, they're a good ways towards getting you to behave in the way they want.
it's/its may be trivial in that context, and english is not nearly as controlled as french is. but, it's a good place to start in deconstructing the conditioning and questioning the ideas underlying the grammatical rules.
a better example in english is capitalization.
stop and think about what they teach kids in schools. whenever you capitalize a proper name, you're enforcing a hierarchical relationship between people. when a child writes "the president", it's marked as incorrect. it must be The President. for the rest of your life, you will write The President, The Prime Minister, The CEO, etc.
this is so engrained it's not even thought about. but it's a means of enforcing a social order.
Mario Venegas
holy shit. I wish I had that much time on my hands. Well, TIL. Thanks for that wall of awesome information. That's pretty rad stuff. What do you do for a living, if I may ask? You seem very knowledgeable. I apologize in advance, English isn't my first language.
deathtokoalas
let's just say i'm a musician. you can hear my music by clicking my name.
lsm234
You rage against the machine, bro!
deathtokoalas
i'd advise building parallel structures, instead. far more productive.
(evil laugh)
J.D.
Look out we have a rebel here! Mwahaha that was a fragment! that will show the establishment!
deathtokoalas
nonono, rebels necessarily acknowledge the existence of the state and flail hopelessly against it. post-leftists are trying not to do that any more, because there's a recognition that it's just a waste of time. it's a bit elitist, but it's really more realistic. one of the problems is that we don't breed in the first place, so this whole idea of building for future generations is really just empty liberal rhetoric. the focus needs to be on the now. and that's actually getting back to roots; it's a forgotten central aspect of marxism that workers can only live for the present if they stop living for the afterlife. so, the new anti-establishmentarianism rejects rebellion in favour of creative building. there's not much hope that it's going to create systemic change, but it at least allows us to get a feeling of freedom while we're actually still alive. leave the rebellion for the terrorists. gimme an art commune in the mountains, and put your guns away...
Amy
I think you lost 80% of your audience when you started using multi-syllabic words. Great diatribe, though :)
Chris
Have you heard of Weird Al's parody of "Royals" by Lorde called "Foil". He actually talks about the illuminati and consperacies and what not. Weird Al is not a mastermind of evil, he is a mastermind of parody. And I started to listen to your so called "music" before I had to turn in off because of the LITERAL irritaion it brings to my brain. If you want to become a successful muscian, try less scratching on the chalkboard and more actual musical instruments, like say a piano. I would abadon your music career and go into writing. You are obviusly a better writer than a muscian.
deathtokoalas
there's plenty of pianos in there, but i'm actually a guitarist. there's a few poems, too. i mean, there's 70 some songs up. try the "recent" playlist a few lines down.
that song i have up is a bit of a joke, but it's necessary for another week because i'm putting the songs up in the same order and length as i wrote them, meaning they'll consistently be staggered by about 18.5 years. i'll have you know i was 15 when i jammed that out in 1996. it was my first demo tape....
....and if you appreciate it for what it is, it pulls it off well. but it's not for everyone, admittedly.
Monotremata
the subterranean tremor that being currently engineered is language mash-up : spanglish, frenglish, sprench, germalian, bulgarese, etc. Cityspeak and Newspeak will merge with these into an 'idiomatic singularity' - the corridors of power speaking in code, separating the rulers from the ruled. Doubleplusgut! \m/
rejectfairytales
While I share your view that there is much in thoughtlessly spoken language that ought to be opposed I think you've made a poor choice in railing against non-use of the apostrophe in this case. If anything I think we should use apostrophes less. I agree with the trend toward using a lone s or es for plurals, eliminating nonstandard plurals eg: plural of squid should be squids not squid ; plural of octopus should be octopuses not octipodes. Just this would make English a lot simpler, which I think is important because as +jnrclerk points out, language is NOT the be all and end all. Meaning is so much more important so the more we can eliminate arbitrary rules the better.
In terms of improving society I think encouraging brevity would be the best cause. Just think of all the empty verbiage floating around especially in legislative documents, legal documents, and the procedural documents of many companies. I find that most people who use too many words have a similar thing to hide - they are talking bullshit! Of course that isn't always the case but it often is. Leave the koalas alone - I'm just sayin!
deathtokoalas
yeah, the meaning > procedure thing is really the crux of a lot of my grammar anti-authoritarianism. language is spoken first and foremost. writing is important, it's importance cannot be understated, but the purpose of writing something down is to get a meaning across.
i've put it down to focus purely on recording right now, but i've been reading a bit of archaic political literature lately by the likes of richard price and thomas hobbes (the aim is to get in between the historical debate over the french revolution that happened between thomas paine and edmund burke). it's impossible not to notice that the spelling and grammar used in texts before 1900, and especially before 1800, is dramatically different than spelling and grammar used today. yet, when i'm having trouble following something, it has more to do with attitudes that have changed than the difference in writing conventions. that's to say nothing of shakespeare or chaucer who were legitimately writing in a different language. yet, if you let a grammar authoritarian loose on these texts, the result would be ugly. with hobbes, it's just missing the point that language is constantly evolving; with shakespeare, it actually diminishes the artistic expression.
and, it's worthwhile to wonder what somebody will think of reading this very youtube comment in the year 2200, if youtube is still online that far into the future. i'd normally say something like "if we avoid blowing ourselves up", but i suspect that if we do blow ourselves up the internet will keep running without us for quite some time into the future. web pages written in archaic language could be an interesting phenomenon in the not so distant future.
somebody pointed out that this whole thread is sort of funny because my grammar is actually almost spotless. well, most of the rules make sense. i want to go back to the idea of reason being the guiding force, rather than convention. language will shift, but reason will stay mostly static. if we focus on reason rather than convention, we will provide future generations the ability to disassemble our archaic writing; if we focus on convention over reason, we run the risk of becoming incoherent to future audiences.
akkinex
It's is the conjugated form of both 'it is' and 'it has.' FYI
Oh, and this might help to explain why the apostrophe for the possessive 'its' was dropped a couple hundred years ago. From http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp
From what we understand, the possessive was also written it’s until a couple of hundred years ago. While we don’t know for certain, it is possible that the apostrophe was dropped in order to parallel possessive personal pronouns like hers, theirs, yours, ours, etc.”
deathtokoalas
hrmmmn. thanks for that.
i've deleted about a dozen posts explaining that the rule applies because "it" is a "personal pronoun". the people posting thought they were smart, but it's actually a really dumb response that i didn't want to get into. i didn't know that it's was an Officially Correct possessive in the past; in light of that information, your post has made me reconsider.
rather than focus on pronouns, let's look at a concept called a "possessive determiner". consider the following:
this is our house / the house is ours.
that is their house / the house is theirs.
this is your house / the house is yours.
that is her house / the house is hers.
this is it's house / the house is it's.
(it may be a cat, for example)
in each case, the first phrase is using what you may mistake as a pronoun as a "possessive determiner". the second phrase is the possessive pronoun. the s in each case is not due to possession, but due to it being a pronoun rather than an adjective.
wikipedia (i don't have time to go to the library, sorry) lists possessive determiners in english as:
1) my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose
2) the saxon genitives formed from other nouns, pronouns and noun phrases (one's, everybody's, Mary's, a boy's, the man we saw yesterday's).
you can clearly see from this that its is used in exactly the same way as a general noun possessive is. yet, it inconceivably isn't written that way.
ok.
i had to triple check that and rewrote it a few times, not being somebody that cares a lot about grammar. the only reason my grammar doesn't suck is because i spent my entire childhood in my room reading and i picked it all up through intuition. it's just about what looks right.
but i'm done now. the personal pronoun thing is not correct. so, please stop posting it. i will block you!
John
The current iteration ofit's versus its has a very simple explanation to it: The form it's is always a replacement for either it is, or it has. Perhaps this is the whole point. If we used the apostrophe in possessive situations, wouldn't that remove the need for its to exist? That would also mean that it's would not always be a contraction of it is or it has. That could be the very reason for this rule, to keep the two meanings visually, and identifiably separate. For the record, I have no idea how many times I confused myself trying to write this comment. I sincerely hope that this is an acceptable means of emphasis, or at least acceptable in the absence of access to italics? Knowing my luck though, my grammatical discussion is grammatically incorrect somewhere. Blimey, I should have ceased this comment sooner.
Oh come on! Why did that have to be a short cut for strikethrough?! -_-
deathtokoalas
you can get italics by surrounding the word with _. you can bold by surrounding the word with *.
_ italic _ . without the spaces: italic.
i've always understood the difference as being an attempt to separate the meanings in the way you've provided. but, there's virtually no chance anybody is going to get confused. with all the homonyms out there, confusing the contraction with the possessive should be the least of anybody's concerns...
Unofficial winner
It makes us look professional.
deathtokoalas
please. most professionals can barely spell their own names.
it makes you look like a social outcast, or an english professor that can't find a real job.
i was in school a long time. math. physics. programming. law. music. a few other things. i'll admit it was very surprising to me the first time i realized the guy in front of me, who has a phd in an incredibly abstract topic and dozens of published papers, was not able to get his homophones straight. it was just like...
"did he just write there on the board when he meant their? i thought this was a university. give me my money back..."
....but it's so overwhelmingly common in the university classroom that you eventually get used to it.
professionals are interested in the thing(s) that they're studying. you'll run across the odd one that is particular about the grammar, but for the most part they simply don't care.
you've just been lied to by your high school teachers. the truth is nobody cares about your grammar or is going to judge you based on it.
it's not the only thing they lied to you about, either.
"i know she just built a usable prototype for a quantum computer, but she didn't capitalize her proper place names, so how can we hire her?"
it doesn't happen.
people will judge you on your work.
i refuse to follow the rules that exist in conventional english grammar regarding its/it's, as it demonstrates rather clearly how grammar is in fact a form of mind control. it clearly follows that weird al is an nwo pawn, btw.
but, let us analyze this carefully. we have three things to take into account.
1) contractions. it's can clearly be used as a contraction for "it is". no argument.
2) plural. generally, when used without an apostrophe, an s at the end of a word means that the idea expressed is one of plurality.
3) possessive. generally, we use apostrophes to indicate possessives.
it follows that, to be consistent across the language, its should mean plural and it's should be used for both the contraction and the possessive. yet, for absolutely no discernible reason other than the arbitrary dictate of some centralized grammar authority somewhere, this convention is shattered for it's/its. i don't know the history, but it almost certainly reduces to somebody's arbitrary opinion on the matter.
i reject all of this as inconsistent with the principles of natural justice, which demand that laws be on a firm, rational basis rather than at the arbitrary dictate of some authoritarian body. with enough push back, we can take back our language as a democratic, dynamic entity and have this changed to something more rational.
so, please join in me in ignoring the irrationality of this particular rule of modern english - and any others you may find.
Luke
What do you have against koalas?
deathtokoalas
it's the cuteness. puts me into a rage just thinking about it...
Mario
whether or not you're being a troll, you make a rather interesting claim. You must be the life of the party, too. Haha take care.
deathtokoalas
well, in some sense, i'm drawing from orwell. but, you don't really need to draw on fiction. you can look at the development of french. the history of repression that has gone into french is very deep and well documented. most people that today speak "proper french" previously spoke a different dialect of latin, such as occitan. these dialects have been viciously repressed through forced schooling in a manner that is every bit as heavy-handed as the forced anglicization of natives in australia and canada. the development of france as a nation-state is inherently connected to the standardization of french as a language.
if you analyze french, you'll immediately realize how ridiculously constructed it is. the gendering is really quite ridiculous, and consider how much deference it provides to authority (specifying between the tu and the vous seems entirely arbitrary, until you realize it's meant to enforce a hierarchy).
linguists will tell you that language is really at the core of how we think. how many philosophical debates reduce to the meaning of a term? and, there's good reason for this, as it's at the core of how we grasp concepts. if the centralized grammar authorities (dare i say grammar nazis) can get you to think in a way that upholds hierarchy and defers you to authority, they're a good ways towards getting you to behave in the way they want.
it's/its may be trivial in that context, and english is not nearly as controlled as french is. but, it's a good place to start in deconstructing the conditioning and questioning the ideas underlying the grammatical rules.
a better example in english is capitalization.
stop and think about what they teach kids in schools. whenever you capitalize a proper name, you're enforcing a hierarchical relationship between people. when a child writes "the president", it's marked as incorrect. it must be The President. for the rest of your life, you will write The President, The Prime Minister, The CEO, etc.
this is so engrained it's not even thought about. but it's a means of enforcing a social order.
Mario Venegas
holy shit. I wish I had that much time on my hands. Well, TIL. Thanks for that wall of awesome information. That's pretty rad stuff. What do you do for a living, if I may ask? You seem very knowledgeable. I apologize in advance, English isn't my first language.
deathtokoalas
let's just say i'm a musician. you can hear my music by clicking my name.
lsm234
You rage against the machine, bro!
deathtokoalas
i'd advise building parallel structures, instead. far more productive.
(evil laugh)
J.D.
Look out we have a rebel here! Mwahaha that was a fragment! that will show the establishment!
deathtokoalas
nonono, rebels necessarily acknowledge the existence of the state and flail hopelessly against it. post-leftists are trying not to do that any more, because there's a recognition that it's just a waste of time. it's a bit elitist, but it's really more realistic. one of the problems is that we don't breed in the first place, so this whole idea of building for future generations is really just empty liberal rhetoric. the focus needs to be on the now. and that's actually getting back to roots; it's a forgotten central aspect of marxism that workers can only live for the present if they stop living for the afterlife. so, the new anti-establishmentarianism rejects rebellion in favour of creative building. there's not much hope that it's going to create systemic change, but it at least allows us to get a feeling of freedom while we're actually still alive. leave the rebellion for the terrorists. gimme an art commune in the mountains, and put your guns away...
Amy
I think you lost 80% of your audience when you started using multi-syllabic words. Great diatribe, though :)
Chris
Have you heard of Weird Al's parody of "Royals" by Lorde called "Foil". He actually talks about the illuminati and consperacies and what not. Weird Al is not a mastermind of evil, he is a mastermind of parody. And I started to listen to your so called "music" before I had to turn in off because of the LITERAL irritaion it brings to my brain. If you want to become a successful muscian, try less scratching on the chalkboard and more actual musical instruments, like say a piano. I would abadon your music career and go into writing. You are obviusly a better writer than a muscian.
deathtokoalas
there's plenty of pianos in there, but i'm actually a guitarist. there's a few poems, too. i mean, there's 70 some songs up. try the "recent" playlist a few lines down.
that song i have up is a bit of a joke, but it's necessary for another week because i'm putting the songs up in the same order and length as i wrote them, meaning they'll consistently be staggered by about 18.5 years. i'll have you know i was 15 when i jammed that out in 1996. it was my first demo tape....
....and if you appreciate it for what it is, it pulls it off well. but it's not for everyone, admittedly.
Monotremata
the subterranean tremor that being currently engineered is language mash-up : spanglish, frenglish, sprench, germalian, bulgarese, etc. Cityspeak and Newspeak will merge with these into an 'idiomatic singularity' - the corridors of power speaking in code, separating the rulers from the ruled. Doubleplusgut! \m/
rejectfairytales
While I share your view that there is much in thoughtlessly spoken language that ought to be opposed I think you've made a poor choice in railing against non-use of the apostrophe in this case. If anything I think we should use apostrophes less. I agree with the trend toward using a lone s or es for plurals, eliminating nonstandard plurals eg: plural of squid should be squids not squid ; plural of octopus should be octopuses not octipodes. Just this would make English a lot simpler, which I think is important because as +jnrclerk points out, language is NOT the be all and end all. Meaning is so much more important so the more we can eliminate arbitrary rules the better.
In terms of improving society I think encouraging brevity would be the best cause. Just think of all the empty verbiage floating around especially in legislative documents, legal documents, and the procedural documents of many companies. I find that most people who use too many words have a similar thing to hide - they are talking bullshit! Of course that isn't always the case but it often is. Leave the koalas alone - I'm just sayin!
deathtokoalas
yeah, the meaning > procedure thing is really the crux of a lot of my grammar anti-authoritarianism. language is spoken first and foremost. writing is important, it's importance cannot be understated, but the purpose of writing something down is to get a meaning across.
i've put it down to focus purely on recording right now, but i've been reading a bit of archaic political literature lately by the likes of richard price and thomas hobbes (the aim is to get in between the historical debate over the french revolution that happened between thomas paine and edmund burke). it's impossible not to notice that the spelling and grammar used in texts before 1900, and especially before 1800, is dramatically different than spelling and grammar used today. yet, when i'm having trouble following something, it has more to do with attitudes that have changed than the difference in writing conventions. that's to say nothing of shakespeare or chaucer who were legitimately writing in a different language. yet, if you let a grammar authoritarian loose on these texts, the result would be ugly. with hobbes, it's just missing the point that language is constantly evolving; with shakespeare, it actually diminishes the artistic expression.
and, it's worthwhile to wonder what somebody will think of reading this very youtube comment in the year 2200, if youtube is still online that far into the future. i'd normally say something like "if we avoid blowing ourselves up", but i suspect that if we do blow ourselves up the internet will keep running without us for quite some time into the future. web pages written in archaic language could be an interesting phenomenon in the not so distant future.
somebody pointed out that this whole thread is sort of funny because my grammar is actually almost spotless. well, most of the rules make sense. i want to go back to the idea of reason being the guiding force, rather than convention. language will shift, but reason will stay mostly static. if we focus on reason rather than convention, we will provide future generations the ability to disassemble our archaic writing; if we focus on convention over reason, we run the risk of becoming incoherent to future audiences.
akkinex
It's is the conjugated form of both 'it is' and 'it has.' FYI
Oh, and this might help to explain why the apostrophe for the possessive 'its' was dropped a couple hundred years ago. From http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp
From what we understand, the possessive was also written it’s until a couple of hundred years ago. While we don’t know for certain, it is possible that the apostrophe was dropped in order to parallel possessive personal pronouns like hers, theirs, yours, ours, etc.”
deathtokoalas
hrmmmn. thanks for that.
i've deleted about a dozen posts explaining that the rule applies because "it" is a "personal pronoun". the people posting thought they were smart, but it's actually a really dumb response that i didn't want to get into. i didn't know that it's was an Officially Correct possessive in the past; in light of that information, your post has made me reconsider.
rather than focus on pronouns, let's look at a concept called a "possessive determiner". consider the following:
this is our house / the house is ours.
that is their house / the house is theirs.
this is your house / the house is yours.
that is her house / the house is hers.
this is it's house / the house is it's.
(it may be a cat, for example)
in each case, the first phrase is using what you may mistake as a pronoun as a "possessive determiner". the second phrase is the possessive pronoun. the s in each case is not due to possession, but due to it being a pronoun rather than an adjective.
wikipedia (i don't have time to go to the library, sorry) lists possessive determiners in english as:
1) my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose
2) the saxon genitives formed from other nouns, pronouns and noun phrases (one's, everybody's, Mary's, a boy's, the man we saw yesterday's).
you can clearly see from this that its is used in exactly the same way as a general noun possessive is. yet, it inconceivably isn't written that way.
ok.
i had to triple check that and rewrote it a few times, not being somebody that cares a lot about grammar. the only reason my grammar doesn't suck is because i spent my entire childhood in my room reading and i picked it all up through intuition. it's just about what looks right.
but i'm done now. the personal pronoun thing is not correct. so, please stop posting it. i will block you!
John
The current iteration of
Oh come on! Why did that have to be a short cut for strikethrough?! -_-
deathtokoalas
you can get italics by surrounding the word with _. you can bold by surrounding the word with *.
_ italic _ . without the spaces: italic.
i've always understood the difference as being an attempt to separate the meanings in the way you've provided. but, there's virtually no chance anybody is going to get confused. with all the homonyms out there, confusing the contraction with the possessive should be the least of anybody's concerns...
Unofficial winner
It makes us look professional.
deathtokoalas
please. most professionals can barely spell their own names.
it makes you look like a social outcast, or an english professor that can't find a real job.
i was in school a long time. math. physics. programming. law. music. a few other things. i'll admit it was very surprising to me the first time i realized the guy in front of me, who has a phd in an incredibly abstract topic and dozens of published papers, was not able to get his homophones straight. it was just like...
"did he just write there on the board when he meant their? i thought this was a university. give me my money back..."
....but it's so overwhelmingly common in the university classroom that you eventually get used to it.
professionals are interested in the thing(s) that they're studying. you'll run across the odd one that is particular about the grammar, but for the most part they simply don't care.
you've just been lied to by your high school teachers. the truth is nobody cares about your grammar or is going to judge you based on it.
it's not the only thing they lied to you about, either.
"i know she just built a usable prototype for a quantum computer, but she didn't capitalize her proper place names, so how can we hire her?"
it doesn't happen.
people will judge you on your work.
ok, i've got the shape of this done. i didn't do much besides update the guitar font and splice it with a pizzicato string patch, which actually creates a bit of a sitar-sounding effect. but, the sound font update overall is really much better.
i've got it rendered at 8 speeds and will have to pick one. i may upload them all together, which will produce the effect of a single 46 minute track, but i need to determine if this is actually interesting or just pointless. and, i'll do that after i get a few hours of sleep....
this will almost certainly be done for tomorrow.
i've got it rendered at 8 speeds and will have to pick one. i may upload them all together, which will produce the effect of a single 46 minute track, but i need to determine if this is actually interesting or just pointless. and, i'll do that after i get a few hours of sleep....
this will almost certainly be done for tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
publishing the symphony of psilocybin induced madness (inri046)
so, that means i need to record here that today is the day that inri027 was compiled as a four track ep.
==
the core of this was written in my parent's basement in the spring of 2001. planning on going to a rave that weekend, i had previously purchased a large amount of drugs; i was, however, forced to stay in due to having a calculus test that sunday (the rave was out of town). well, my parents were gone for the weekend, most of my friends were out of town and i had a massive stash of drugs...
it is quite literally a symphony of psilocybin induced madness and was written directly into an ancient, hacked score-writing program. while it has been labelled as a symphony of drunken confusion in certain contexts to get around certain social stigmas, this is inaccurate.
around 2006 or so, i took a course in electronic music design that had a recorded component and pulled the score off of my hard drive with the intent of finally recording it properly. the dx7 i had available to me greatly improved the synth patches, enough that i'm willing to let the track rest that way.
i've included midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
i consider this my second symphony.
written early 2001. reconstructed in the first quarter of 2006, especially over march. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-symphony-of-psilocybin-induced-madness
==
the core of this was written in my parent's basement in the spring of 2001. planning on going to a rave that weekend, i had previously purchased a large amount of drugs; i was, however, forced to stay in due to having a calculus test that sunday (the rave was out of town). well, my parents were gone for the weekend, most of my friends were out of town and i had a massive stash of drugs...
it is quite literally a symphony of psilocybin induced madness and was written directly into an ancient, hacked score-writing program. while it has been labelled as a symphony of drunken confusion in certain contexts to get around certain social stigmas, this is inaccurate.
around 2006 or so, i took a course in electronic music design that had a recorded component and pulled the score off of my hard drive with the intent of finally recording it properly. the dx7 i had available to me greatly improved the synth patches, enough that i'm willing to let the track rest that way.
i've included midi files of the original composition, if you'd like to mess with it on your own.
i consider this my second symphony.
written early 2001. reconstructed in the first quarter of 2006, especially over march. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - electric guitars, programming, digital effects & treatments, composition, production.
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include synthesizers, clavinet, kalimba, nylon guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, banjo, electronic drums, pc card, violin, cello, bamboo flute, flute, viola, soprano saxophone, tuba, trumpet, organ and music box.
released may 15, 2001
the rendered electronic orchestras variously include synthesizers, clavinet, kalimba, nylon guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, banjo, electronic drums, pc card, violin, cello, bamboo flute, flute, viola, soprano saxophone, tuba, trumpet, organ and music box.
released may 15, 2001
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-symphony-of-psilocybin-induced-madness
on third thought, i'm probably going to eliminate thru. it hasn't worked out as substantially as i was thinking.
in which case, everything will end up on jjjjjjjjjj, the 2006 version remains authoritative and the long version exists only as cut.
about the only reason i can justify having thru right now is as a sort of a second side. i'll have to see how much material gets generated in the end.
in which case, everything will end up on jjjjjjjjjj, the 2006 version remains authoritative and the long version exists only as cut.
about the only reason i can justify having thru right now is as a sort of a second side. i'll have to see how much material gets generated in the end.
actually, i'm not going to do that, either.
the 5:31 "cut early mix" is about 20 minutes in it's full render. it's kind of unnecessary to have both the 20 and 5:30 version, and i actually like the 5:31 version better. what happens over that last 15 minutes is that the thing slowly unravels. the 5:31 cut-off is optimized to exclude empty space.
i'm going to wait to see how much space is left for thru, and if i have an extra 15 minutes i'll render it and fade it out. but i actually don't expect that. so, i'm going to stop inri027 right there. if i do the fade out for thru, it won't appear on the single.
hey, it's 48 minutes. that's a hefty ep as it is.
the 5:31 "cut early mix" is about 20 minutes in it's full render. it's kind of unnecessary to have both the 20 and 5:30 version, and i actually like the 5:31 version better. what happens over that last 15 minutes is that the thing slowly unravels. the 5:31 cut-off is optimized to exclude empty space.
i'm going to wait to see how much space is left for thru, and if i have an extra 15 minutes i'll render it and fade it out. but i actually don't expect that. so, i'm going to stop inri027 right there. if i do the fade out for thru, it won't appear on the single.
hey, it's 48 minutes. that's a hefty ep as it is.
yeah, you know, i can't improve on this, really.
the score is for a lot of guitars, a lot of synths, pc card percussion, pc card bass, very electronic sounding drums and something that could be called an orchestra. if i was to redo this, i'd be copying over the previously recorded guitar parts, dumping the percussion and bass out through the old soundblaster (as i did before) and mapping the orchestra to synth patches. so, the only difference would be in the patches, and the piece is saturated enough that nobody will tell the difference.
so, that would be a waste of time, that i'm not going to bother with.
2006 version stands.
i *am* going to create a long render of a very early mix that i found, and it won't take long to get that up.
and that will be the quick conclusion to inri027.
that means the symphony will not appear on thru, but i think i'm going to need the space anyways (because there's going to be an extra choral piece, and a weird punked-up beethoven thing). so that will likely work out.
or i might use the early mix instead. we'll see how that works out.
the score is for a lot of guitars, a lot of synths, pc card percussion, pc card bass, very electronic sounding drums and something that could be called an orchestra. if i was to redo this, i'd be copying over the previously recorded guitar parts, dumping the percussion and bass out through the old soundblaster (as i did before) and mapping the orchestra to synth patches. so, the only difference would be in the patches, and the piece is saturated enough that nobody will tell the difference.
so, that would be a waste of time, that i'm not going to bother with.
2006 version stands.
i *am* going to create a long render of a very early mix that i found, and it won't take long to get that up.
and that will be the quick conclusion to inri027.
that means the symphony will not appear on thru, but i think i'm going to need the space anyways (because there's going to be an extra choral piece, and a weird punked-up beethoven thing). so that will likely work out.
or i might use the early mix instead. we'll see how that works out.
so, i've already explored this composition in much more depth; i just pulled these four mixes off my hard drive - and that is the totality of inri027.
1) carleton mix, for music 3604 (2006). includes ambient guitar into/outro, entirely live guitars and the symphony partly played through a dx7 and partly through the soundblaster.
written early 2001. reconstructed in the first quarter of 2006, especially over march. this version was finalized on march 30, 2006.
2) divine amoebas mix. in 2004, i lifted the piano part to form the end of an anti-war protest piece i was putting together. it's slowed down to half speed and combined with an 808 going haywire, beethoven samples and backwards guitars.
piano part written in early 2001. this construction is from january, 2004.
4) alt mix. this is also from 2001, but it's a bit mysterious. i don't have a date, just an mp3 from 2007. i'll have to briefly explain.
this is a process piece, like most of the things i worked out through 2001. i initially composed it to repeat in patterns of 9, where each pattern had an extra bar of silence at the end of it. this created a twenty minute piece that spiralled down into nothingness, and became rather sparse at the end. for the final, published version i ended up modifying the patterns of 9 to decrease as the length of the pattern increases. so, if the initial section that repeats in a pattern of 9 had 8 bars of rest then the next pattern with 12 bars of rest would repeat in patterns of 8, and so on down to 3. this had the effect of shortening up the piece by about 50%. beyond that, i then added a piano part and a ridiculous crescendo.
so, this early mix is the initial cycling of 9s across the score. i don't remember why i cut it to 5:30 back in 2007, but i do think it's the perfect cut off point and will stick to it.
written early 2001. this render is from july, 2007.
5) initial soundcard mix. as with all the pieces from 2001 that i'm finishing, this was written in a scorewriter and monitored using the ol' soundblaster. i've got these mixes up because it's interesting to hear what this actually sounded like as i was composing it.
written early 2001. this render is actually from may 13, 2001.
that's almost an hour of difficult listening. good luck...
3) is a forthcoming vst mix. i'm not sure if i'm going to try and reintegrate the guitars from the carleton mix into the new vst mix or leave it as is as the final render.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-symphony-of-psilocybin-induced-madness
1) carleton mix, for music 3604 (2006). includes ambient guitar into/outro, entirely live guitars and the symphony partly played through a dx7 and partly through the soundblaster.
written early 2001. reconstructed in the first quarter of 2006, especially over march. this version was finalized on march 30, 2006.
2) divine amoebas mix. in 2004, i lifted the piano part to form the end of an anti-war protest piece i was putting together. it's slowed down to half speed and combined with an 808 going haywire, beethoven samples and backwards guitars.
piano part written in early 2001. this construction is from january, 2004.
4) alt mix. this is also from 2001, but it's a bit mysterious. i don't have a date, just an mp3 from 2007. i'll have to briefly explain.
this is a process piece, like most of the things i worked out through 2001. i initially composed it to repeat in patterns of 9, where each pattern had an extra bar of silence at the end of it. this created a twenty minute piece that spiralled down into nothingness, and became rather sparse at the end. for the final, published version i ended up modifying the patterns of 9 to decrease as the length of the pattern increases. so, if the initial section that repeats in a pattern of 9 had 8 bars of rest then the next pattern with 12 bars of rest would repeat in patterns of 8, and so on down to 3. this had the effect of shortening up the piece by about 50%. beyond that, i then added a piano part and a ridiculous crescendo.
so, this early mix is the initial cycling of 9s across the score. i don't remember why i cut it to 5:30 back in 2007, but i do think it's the perfect cut off point and will stick to it.
written early 2001. this render is from july, 2007.
5) initial soundcard mix. as with all the pieces from 2001 that i'm finishing, this was written in a scorewriter and monitored using the ol' soundblaster. i've got these mixes up because it's interesting to hear what this actually sounded like as i was composing it.
written early 2001. this render is actually from may 13, 2001.
that's almost an hour of difficult listening. good luck...
3) is a forthcoming vst mix. i'm not sure if i'm going to try and reintegrate the guitars from the carleton mix into the new vst mix or leave it as is as the final render.
http://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-symphony-of-psilocybin-induced-madness
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
the symphony of psilocybin induced madness (final mix)
the core of this was written in my parent's basement in the spring of
2001. planning on going to a rave that weekend, i had previously
purchased a large amount of drugs; i was, however, forced to stay in due
to having a calculus test that sunday (the rave was out of town). well,
my parents were gone for the weekend, most of my friends were out of
town and i had a massive stash of drugs...
it is quite literally a symphony of psilocybin induced madness and was written directly into an ancient, hacked score-writing program. while it has been labelled as a symphony of drunken confusion in certain contexts to get around certain social stigmas, this is inaccurate.
around 2006 or so, i took a course in electronic music design that had a recorded component and pulled the score off of my hard drive with the intent of finally recording it properly. the dx7 i had available to me greatly improved the synth patches.
written early 2001. reconstructed in the first quarter of 2006, especially over march.
it is quite literally a symphony of psilocybin induced madness and was written directly into an ancient, hacked score-writing program. while it has been labelled as a symphony of drunken confusion in certain contexts to get around certain social stigmas, this is inaccurate.
around 2006 or so, i took a course in electronic music design that had a recorded component and pulled the score off of my hard drive with the intent of finally recording it properly. the dx7 i had available to me greatly improved the synth patches.
written early 2001. reconstructed in the first quarter of 2006, especially over march.
well, i'm not sure i hear the occitan or medieval influence in the tune, but i do like the idea of mixing renaissance music with techno.
i happen to have just completed a track that mixes (english) renaissance guitar (lute) music with warp records style drum 'n' bass:
maybe there's a trend developing there.
i happen to have just completed a track that mixes (english) renaissance guitar (lute) music with warp records style drum 'n' bass:
maybe there's a trend developing there.
Monday, July 21, 2014
publishing the time machine (inri044)
and there it is. inri025.
inri026 is the adventures in guitarland, already completed.
inri027 is my symphony of psilocybin induced madness and is actually finished in it's fully complete form with live guitars. i'm going to construct a vst mix out of it, which will make this a little different than the other tracks as the synths in the full section are from the dx7 in the closet in the music department at carleton university. but, i shouldn't have to actually play any parts, so it should be relatively fast to run through.
===
the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, synth bass, electric bass, brass, orchestra hit, drum machine, electronic drum kit, nylon guitar, electric guitar, synthesizers, synthesizer effects, music box, piano, bells and mellotron.
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-time-machine
inri026 is the adventures in guitarland, already completed.
inri027 is my symphony of psilocybin induced madness and is actually finished in it's fully complete form with live guitars. i'm going to construct a vst mix out of it, which will make this a little different than the other tracks as the synths in the full section are from the dx7 in the closet in the music department at carleton university. but, i shouldn't have to actually play any parts, so it should be relatively fast to run through.
===
regarding
this piece, my memory is blurry; yet, i have a vivid recollection of
playing parts of it for my guitar teacher on a sunny day, where there
was still snow on the ground. it's funny how we remember seemingly
irrelevant details, but i guess the atmosphere of the performance is
important because the performance is. that would date it to roughly
march, 2001.
i switched the piece from classical guitar to piano halfway through writing it, and vaguely remember thinking that an impossible interval had something to do with it (a specific c# cannot be hit on a standard classical). yet, that doesn't change the fact that it's guitar music. the counterpoint is very guitar.
to further complicate things, i've long wanted to turn the piece into a jazzy idm romp. it has a kind of a jingly feel to it that belongs in the warp records sphere.
so, what is this? a classical guitar piece? a jazzy piano piece? a techno tune? all of the above! as with other pieces from this period, this is presented here in multiple formats: several rendered midi tracks, live guitar versions, a vst version and a "full band" version.
i have included the original midi file (and sheet music in pdf) as a bonus item in the download, if you want to play with it on your own.
conceptually, the time machine aspect referred simply to the slowed down guitar chords at the beginning of the song. if you play it a certain way, it sounds like time is collapsing in on itself. or, so i thought, anyways. the various versions i have created here have made an attempt to take that idea to it's logical conclusion. it's a mix of the vision i had at the time and a bit of hindsight.
written early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. rendered, arranged and performed over june and july, 2014. as always, please use headphones.
i switched the piece from classical guitar to piano halfway through writing it, and vaguely remember thinking that an impossible interval had something to do with it (a specific c# cannot be hit on a standard classical). yet, that doesn't change the fact that it's guitar music. the counterpoint is very guitar.
to further complicate things, i've long wanted to turn the piece into a jazzy idm romp. it has a kind of a jingly feel to it that belongs in the warp records sphere.
so, what is this? a classical guitar piece? a jazzy piano piece? a techno tune? all of the above! as with other pieces from this period, this is presented here in multiple formats: several rendered midi tracks, live guitar versions, a vst version and a "full band" version.
i have included the original midi file (and sheet music in pdf) as a bonus item in the download, if you want to play with it on your own.
conceptually, the time machine aspect referred simply to the slowed down guitar chords at the beginning of the song. if you play it a certain way, it sounds like time is collapsing in on itself. or, so i thought, anyways. the various versions i have created here have made an attempt to take that idea to it's logical conclusion. it's a mix of the vision i had at the time and a bit of hindsight.
written early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. rendered, arranged and performed over june and july, 2014. as always, please use headphones.
credits:
j - electric guitar, programming, digital effects & treatments, digital wave editing, loops, production, composition.
the various rendered electronic orchestras include acoustic bass, synth bass, electric bass, brass, orchestra hit, drum machine, electronic drum kit, nylon guitar, electric guitar, synthesizers, synthesizer effects, music box, piano, bells and mellotron.
released march 21, 2001
https://jasonparent.bandcamp.com/album/the-time-machine
the time machine (ambient mix)
this slowed down ambient version is the final piece of inri025, which is now complete.
written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further remixed over july, 2014. this version of the track was completed on july 21, 2014.
written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further remixed over july, 2014. this version of the track was completed on july 21, 2014.
the time machine (electric guitar mix)
the track was originally written for classical guitar, and then switched over to piano because there is a high c# that cannot be reached on very many classical guitars. however, the c# can be reached on an electric, so i've chosen to play it that way instead.
played straight through at a steady 180 bpm, the track is rather boring, so i've interpreted it a little differently for playing purposes. i suppose this is the final interpretation of the track as a solo piece.
written in early 2001. reinterpreted in july, 2014; this version of the track was completed on july 21st, 2014 and adjusted for volume on may 27th, 2015.
played straight through at a steady 180 bpm, the track is rather boring, so i've interpreted it a little differently for playing purposes. i suppose this is the final interpretation of the track as a solo piece.
written in early 2001. reinterpreted in july, 2014; this version of the track was completed on july 21st, 2014 and adjusted for volume on may 27th, 2015.
change of plans.
i'm not going to play this piece 6 times. the reason is that it's really not that interesting to listen to as a solo piece. played at 360, it's robotic (strike 2). i actually can't play it on a classical at all without ruining the best part of it (strike a third). and it's not interesting enough to film myself playing (strike two more).
i will interpret it as a live guitar piece once and only once, on solo electric, and move on to some more interesting interpretations. i do still want to fuck with the score rather considerably.
so, that will be up here soon.
i'm not going to play this piece 6 times. the reason is that it's really not that interesting to listen to as a solo piece. played at 360, it's robotic (strike 2). i actually can't play it on a classical at all without ruining the best part of it (strike a third). and it's not interesting enough to film myself playing (strike two more).
i will interpret it as a live guitar piece once and only once, on solo electric, and move on to some more interesting interpretations. i do still want to fuck with the score rather considerably.
so, that will be up here soon.
i'm glad i'm finally awake. i passed out thursday afternoon when i got back from detroit and slept pretty much all of friday, saturday, sunday. it was a compound burnout, the type that is inevitable after so many weeks of 30 hour days. when these burnouts hit, the tiredness is just relentless...
for example: i was able to make it to get groceries on saturday morning, but i was so tired and void of energy that i could barely lift my school bag full of groceries. that's the same school bag of groceries that i normally fill and carry on my back without any effort whatsoever.
i don't think i've been awake more than four hours at a time since. but it's weird because you don't sleep long periods when you burn out like this, either. it's three hours awake, four hours asleep, 2 hours awake, 3 hours asleep, etc.
i'm alert now, though. thankfully. and hopefully for the next 30 hours...
for example: i was able to make it to get groceries on saturday morning, but i was so tired and void of energy that i could barely lift my school bag full of groceries. that's the same school bag of groceries that i normally fill and carry on my back without any effort whatsoever.
i don't think i've been awake more than four hours at a time since. but it's weird because you don't sleep long periods when you burn out like this, either. it's three hours awake, four hours asleep, 2 hours awake, 3 hours asleep, etc.
i'm alert now, though. thankfully. and hopefully for the next 30 hours...
Sunday, July 20, 2014
again, i don't know why those 131 people are subscribed.
the next thing up will be an "expressive" electric version of the track. this should be up quickly.
i'm going to record myself playing it live, too - probably tomorrow afternoon, as that will make some noise. i'm dying my hair tonight, as well.
the next thing up will be an "expressive" electric version of the track. this should be up quickly.
i'm going to record myself playing it live, too - probably tomorrow afternoon, as that will make some noise. i'm dying my hair tonight, as well.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
the time machine (final mixes)
1) so, i've completed (yet) another track.
a reminder: what i'm doing right now is sorting through a number of scores (these are literally written pieces of music) that i wrote out over 2001 and never got around to converting into listenable music. they've been sitting around, for the most part, because i was hoping i could actually get real life orchestras to play these pieces. delusions of grandeur...
the technology is now accessible and pliable enough that you don't really need real musicians to play a score anymore. i've played most of the guitar sections, but i have to admit that the vst-based samplers that are out there now are quite phenomenal. i actually had to come to the hard realization with this track that i couldn't play the nylon guitar part better than the sequencer, and i was just going to introduce noise to the track by mic-ing myself. now, the nylon guitar part in this piece is very metered - there is no expression in the arpeggiation and the notes need to be directly on the beats. so, on one hand it's not surprising that a machine is able to be a robot better than a person. regardless, as a musician, it's a disturbing feeling to come to terms with.
i retain the right to add my wanky guitar part at the very end, but i don't think it's going to happen. it's better without it.
written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTXTBZcQK
2) so, this is the final version of this track, with live guitars throughout. i've cut off the end section and placed it in a separate track; the full version in one piece can be found on the single's associated record, jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj.
written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014. this version of the track was completed on july 11th, but picked up the end swell on july 19th when it was separated from the full mix.
3) i've added an ambient section to the piece, as i always meant to. the thematic idea behind the time machine actually just comes out of the introductory guitar part, but it was supposed to be further interpreted through a sound collage that creates the impression of floating through space.
written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014. this version of the track was completed on july 19th.
a reminder: what i'm doing right now is sorting through a number of scores (these are literally written pieces of music) that i wrote out over 2001 and never got around to converting into listenable music. they've been sitting around, for the most part, because i was hoping i could actually get real life orchestras to play these pieces. delusions of grandeur...
the technology is now accessible and pliable enough that you don't really need real musicians to play a score anymore. i've played most of the guitar sections, but i have to admit that the vst-based samplers that are out there now are quite phenomenal. i actually had to come to the hard realization with this track that i couldn't play the nylon guitar part better than the sequencer, and i was just going to introduce noise to the track by mic-ing myself. now, the nylon guitar part in this piece is very metered - there is no expression in the arpeggiation and the notes need to be directly on the beats. so, on one hand it's not surprising that a machine is able to be a robot better than a person. regardless, as a musician, it's a disturbing feeling to come to terms with.
i retain the right to add my wanky guitar part at the very end, but i don't think it's going to happen. it's better without it.
written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTXTBZcQK
2) so, this is the final version of this track, with live guitars throughout. i've cut off the end section and placed it in a separate track; the full version in one piece can be found on the single's associated record, jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj.
written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014. this version of the track was completed on july 11th, but picked up the end swell on july 19th when it was separated from the full mix.
3) i've added an ambient section to the piece, as i always meant to. the thematic idea behind the time machine actually just comes out of the introductory guitar part, but it was supposed to be further interpreted through a sound collage that creates the impression of floating through space.
written in early 2001. drastically rearranged in june, 2014. further constructed, warped and appended to over july, 2014. this version of the track was completed on july 19th.
yeah, this is probably coming to a close without those guitar theatrics, after all.
i'm torn between stopping and noodling over the end part and leaning very heavily towards stopping.
it's just that i want to maintain the sombre, reflective quality of the section as an end to the piece, and ultimately a transition into the next track. it does get a little more busy at the end as it fades out, but all i'm going to accomplish by putting an electric guitar in there is to saturate the track.
i haven't decided entirely. i'm going to make some spaghetti and come back. but i think this version is done...
what i did instead is run a guitar through a synthesizer, and then shift it over a few octaves. that makes it sound a little like a trumpet.
i'm torn between stopping and noodling over the end part and leaning very heavily towards stopping.
it's just that i want to maintain the sombre, reflective quality of the section as an end to the piece, and ultimately a transition into the next track. it does get a little more busy at the end as it fades out, but all i'm going to accomplish by putting an electric guitar in there is to saturate the track.
i haven't decided entirely. i'm going to make some spaghetti and come back. but i think this version is done...
what i did instead is run a guitar through a synthesizer, and then shift it over a few octaves. that makes it sound a little like a trumpet.
Friday, July 18, 2014
i have the cockroach specimen you requested
hi.
i got the roach you asked for. i'll be out tomorrow morning for groceries, but should otherwise be home almost all of the upcoming week.
a few notes.
1) that's the first roach i've seen since the first week of june, and it's also the first roach i've killed on the side of the apartment closest to the door. it was actually right outside the door, in the hallway, and scattered when i turned on the light. so, it got stomped on. that felt good.
2) it is indeed an oriental roach, which is determined primarily by it's dark colour.
3) oriental roaches are seasonal. it's been cool overnight this week. they tend to come inside in the fall. so, i was expecting them and hoping this would be a good test if my barriers were working.
4) the fact that it was stumbling around in the hallway far from a water source does suggest as much, although it also suggests that it may have been scattered in an unexpected direction from it's entry path in the back area by the residual sprays. i'll monitor the situation further, but if i continue to see roaches scattering around on the outside of the apartment, i'm going to request that the back room gets inspected for holes and has steel wool or whatever else put in to patch them up. i can help with looking for holes. the thing is that i can block the holes in the apartment, but i can't block the doorways, so if they're going to be coming in through there then the basement entry points need to also be addressed.
5) for now, i'm cautiously concluding that i've blocked this space off, but that it's only a partial barrier. further, there's really no way for me to guess where it actually came from, so no further leads on holes to patch.
(pause)
i'm sorry, i just want to clarify that when i say
"back room gets inspected for holes"
i mean inspected by you or i or paul or whatever. i'm NOT requesting an exterminator.
those guys tell you lies half the time, anyways. they want to be able to come back repeatedly, otherwise they're out of a job.
j
i got the roach you asked for. i'll be out tomorrow morning for groceries, but should otherwise be home almost all of the upcoming week.
a few notes.
1) that's the first roach i've seen since the first week of june, and it's also the first roach i've killed on the side of the apartment closest to the door. it was actually right outside the door, in the hallway, and scattered when i turned on the light. so, it got stomped on. that felt good.
2) it is indeed an oriental roach, which is determined primarily by it's dark colour.
3) oriental roaches are seasonal. it's been cool overnight this week. they tend to come inside in the fall. so, i was expecting them and hoping this would be a good test if my barriers were working.
4) the fact that it was stumbling around in the hallway far from a water source does suggest as much, although it also suggests that it may have been scattered in an unexpected direction from it's entry path in the back area by the residual sprays. i'll monitor the situation further, but if i continue to see roaches scattering around on the outside of the apartment, i'm going to request that the back room gets inspected for holes and has steel wool or whatever else put in to patch them up. i can help with looking for holes. the thing is that i can block the holes in the apartment, but i can't block the doorways, so if they're going to be coming in through there then the basement entry points need to also be addressed.
5) for now, i'm cautiously concluding that i've blocked this space off, but that it's only a partial barrier. further, there's really no way for me to guess where it actually came from, so no further leads on holes to patch.
(pause)
i'm sorry, i just want to clarify that when i say
"back room gets inspected for holes"
i mean inspected by you or i or paul or whatever. i'm NOT requesting an exterminator.
those guys tell you lies half the time, anyways. they want to be able to come back repeatedly, otherwise they're out of a job.
j
Thursday, July 17, 2014
suicide is ALWAYS a conscious decision. take a step back away from your self-important worldview and ask yourself: is your perception of somebody else's life more valuable than the person that owns it?
whether the attempt is through overdosing on pills, cutting wrists or anything else, i would consider STOPPING a suicide attempt to be a FUNDAMENTAL INFRINGEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, and anybody that gets in between somebody and their INHERENT RIGHT to kill themselves should be kicked in the forehead, tarred and feathered and forced to walk through the city with a sign that says "I PREVENTED SOMEBODY FROM CARRYING THROUGH WITH THEIR RIGHT TO DIE.".
if you see somebody trying to die, you should not interfere. life is not sacred. god does not exist. you are in control. don't deify the state in response. deify yourself.
whether the attempt is through overdosing on pills, cutting wrists or anything else, i would consider STOPPING a suicide attempt to be a FUNDAMENTAL INFRINGEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, and anybody that gets in between somebody and their INHERENT RIGHT to kill themselves should be kicked in the forehead, tarred and feathered and forced to walk through the city with a sign that says "I PREVENTED SOMEBODY FROM CARRYING THROUGH WITH THEIR RIGHT TO DIE.".
if you see somebody trying to die, you should not interfere. life is not sacred. god does not exist. you are in control. don't deify the state in response. deify yourself.
well, that was indeed a kafkaesque mess but i got my expedited border clearance. hey, all those years of avoiding a criminal record came in handy. i'm squeaky clean. i get to use the special line...
but, that doesn't mean this wasn't a pain in the ass. i've ranted about this here quite a bit over the last year. it's only fitting that the last section of it was off the wall ridiculous...
getting across the actual border was not a problem. i just showed them my letter, and he let me through. but, he chuckled and wished me luck. he knew what was coming...
the walk up fort street at around 7 am was purposefully brisk; i was admittedly a little uncomfortable. but, the more i walked, the more it just reminded me of montreal. yes: detroit is full of decaying bridges, falling apart buildings, abandoned industrial centres, smoldering sewers and people sleeping on the street. but, i didn't feel threatened so much as i felt a level of empathy. how'd it get that bad, anyways?
the other thing that made me relax a little was a friendly retriever that ran over across a field to say good morning. it's funny how goldens are basically the universal stress reliever.
it was about twenty minutes to the bridge, which is a short walk for me.
once i got there, though, i wasn't sure how to proceed. i tried going under the bridge first. this is the first point that the smog got to me: i nearly heaved, and had to sit down. first attempt at directions was a hotel that looked like something out of a stephen king movie...
"do you know if i can get in some kind of plaza around the bridge?"
"no."
"does that pay phone work?"
*laughs* "no."
"do you know if there's a phone around here?"
"there's no gas stations for a good ways in either direction."
"well, thanks, then."
so, i went back under the bridge again...
there was a side street running along the complex (and it was a complex. it looked like a prison.) that i decided to take a walk up, and it took me into a nicer street full of very old churches and quaint, if dilapidated houses. three houses in a row had angry, barking, unchained rottweilers that could have easily hopped their four foot tall enclosures should they have decided to. it's a problem in windsor, too. cheaper than a security system, i guess.
and apparently very necessary.
i bumped into a border cop on his way to work and flagged him down...
"how do i get in here?"
"do you have a car?"
"no."
"well, why do you want to get into here?"
"i have a nexus interview."
"why do you want a nexus card if you don't have a car?"
"so i can get across the border. i'm from canada..."
"you're from canada? how did you get across the border?"
"the tunnel."
"and how did you get here?"
"i walked."
*awkward pause*
"well, you can't get in here without a car. you're going to have to call a cab."
ok, so here's the thing: i can see the enrollment centre through the fence. it's a few hundred yards, at most. and, yet i need to call a cab to transport me those few hundred yards? yes, i do: this is what the cop is trying to tell me. but, i'm not about to call a cab, so i keep walking.
eventually, i get to a cross street with a big sign
MICHIGAN WELCOME CENTER* --->
*note yankee spelling.
well, that sounds like a good thing to try.
hours:
9 am - 4 pm
it's like 7:30...
so, i look up the road and notice it runs into customs. i'm thinking "maybe there's a phone in there". customer service is closed, and there's no barriers so i just keep walking, until a border cop yells at me:
"WOAH. WOAH. YOU CAN'T BE IN HERE. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?"
well, i'm looking for a phone. is there one in that building?
"PLEASE STEP TO THE SIDE AND EMPTY YOUR POCKETS."
ok.
so, i pull out some pieces of paper, keys, a few dollars...
"who do you want to phone?"
"i'm trying to get in contact with the nexus office."
"how did you get in here?"
"i just walked in. there's no barriers or anything."
"do you have a car?"
"no."
"why do you want a nexus card if you don't have a car?"
"well, i'm from canada and..."
"you're from canada? how did you get across the border without a car?"
"i took the tunnel."
"what? how did you get here?"
"i walked"
*awkward pause*
another officer walks over....
"this person just strolled in here, can you believe that."
"where are you going?"
"i'm looking for nexus."
"do you have a car?"
"no."
"why do you want a nexus card if you don't have a car?"
i laughed out loud at this point.
"because i'm from canada and..."
"wait. how did you get across the border?"
"i took the tunnel."
"and they let you in without documents?"
"well, i have this nexus document. i'm here for a defined purpose."
"pfft. anybody could print that off. do you have any drugs on you?"
"what? no..."
"yeah. right. step into the office, please"
so, i walk into the office...
he takes my id and starts running it through the system, asks me all kinds of absurd questions, accuses me repeatedly of living in collingwood and having a record of escaping the custody of an officer, visibly shatters a blood vessel in his forehead when i provide "jessica" as an alternate name and eventually gives up.
"go back to the michigan welcome center and call a cab from there."
again with the cab. they were really serious about this.
i did walk back to the welcome center, but i was planning on calling the enrollment centre, not the cab. it's now barely 8:00, so i have an hour to wait, and wait an hour i did.
the cop drives by about 8:30...
"listen, i knew this was going to be a problem, but i'm pretty sure the person i initially talked to said they'd give me a lift. the thing is i think they meant from canada, and i couldn't get a hold of anybody to provide instructions, so here i am."
he seems to have softened up a bit, after realizing i'm both harmless and frustrated. the absurdity of the situation actually seems to have become clear to him. but...
"i'd drive you down there myself, but then i have to pat you down, which means i need a female officer present and there aren't any."
"i can't waive that?"
(i don't care what gender my doctor is, and i don't care what gender the cop patting me down is)
"no. plus, i'd have to do all kinds of paperwork, and i just don't want to."
ah, yes. a lazy cop. gee, whudda thunk that possible, huh?
"but, i'll call you a cab if you want."
there's no irony in any of this.
i refuse the offer, and suggest i'll call the place when the welcome center opens.
this is where i got a break, and i have to say it's every bit as surreal as the rest of this. the place opens at 9:00, i use the bathroom, and then ask if there's a pay phone...
there isn't, but he offers the office phone, depending on who i'm calling.
i'm calling nexus, because i'm on foot and need to find out how i'm going to get in there.
apparently, this kind fellow has been working at the michigan welcome center for years and years, and given out instructions on how to get into the nexus office hundreds of times, but has never been in there himself. he's been wondering the whole time if his directions are even accurate, and he wants to know what it looks like inside the complex.
so, he offers to drive me in.
and i graciously accept.
he takes me back along the side street i came in at, past the entrance the first border cop went in, back under the bridge and around through a gated area. i am now finally at the nexus enrollment area. i thank the kind fellow and that is that.
but, the border guards are concerned about how i'm going to exit the complex.
"i guess i'll call a cab."
nobody else got the sarcasm. i was actually planning on asking somebody for a lift to the other side of the fence.
so, the interview goes well. the interviewer was a little older, and i seemed to convince him i'm a good kid. which is what i needed to do.
i got the marijuana question, i was honest, and he overlooked it. they can be very strict about that. but, the thing should get here in 7-10 days.
at the end of it, he asks me if i have a phone. i don't carry a phone. so, he picks up the phone and starts dialing the number for a cab for me...
"listen. if you call me a cab, i'm just going to ask that they drop me on the other side of the fence and walk back to the tunnel. so, why don't you just let me ask somebody for a lift out?"
and, finally, i got some fucking logic from somebody.
"no. we'll just escort you out."
a few minutes later, a truck pulls up with a border cop in it.
"are you here to escort me out?"
"yes."
so, i reach for the door....
"no. i'm not driving you. you're going to walk."
at first, he tries to lead me to the exit to the ambassador bridge.
"canada is that way, but where's your car?"
"i don't have a car."
"why do you want a nexus card if you don't have a car?"
i was on the brink of being a smartass, but managed to restrain myself.
"so i can get across under the tunnel. i just need to get to fort street."
"well, how are you going to get over the bridge?"
"no, i want to walk to the tunnel."
"walk...to...the....tunnel?"
at this point, i understand that every single one of the awkward pauses was shock that i'd walk that far. remarkable.
"yeah."
"well, follow the truck around the building and meet me at the crossing."
i did this, and we walked to the gate that first border cop went through. then i was out the side street and back up fort towards the tunnel...
without having to call a cab.
this is your tax dollars at work protecting you from terrorism.
but, that doesn't mean this wasn't a pain in the ass. i've ranted about this here quite a bit over the last year. it's only fitting that the last section of it was off the wall ridiculous...
getting across the actual border was not a problem. i just showed them my letter, and he let me through. but, he chuckled and wished me luck. he knew what was coming...
the walk up fort street at around 7 am was purposefully brisk; i was admittedly a little uncomfortable. but, the more i walked, the more it just reminded me of montreal. yes: detroit is full of decaying bridges, falling apart buildings, abandoned industrial centres, smoldering sewers and people sleeping on the street. but, i didn't feel threatened so much as i felt a level of empathy. how'd it get that bad, anyways?
the other thing that made me relax a little was a friendly retriever that ran over across a field to say good morning. it's funny how goldens are basically the universal stress reliever.
it was about twenty minutes to the bridge, which is a short walk for me.
once i got there, though, i wasn't sure how to proceed. i tried going under the bridge first. this is the first point that the smog got to me: i nearly heaved, and had to sit down. first attempt at directions was a hotel that looked like something out of a stephen king movie...
"do you know if i can get in some kind of plaza around the bridge?"
"no."
"does that pay phone work?"
*laughs* "no."
"do you know if there's a phone around here?"
"there's no gas stations for a good ways in either direction."
"well, thanks, then."
so, i went back under the bridge again...
there was a side street running along the complex (and it was a complex. it looked like a prison.) that i decided to take a walk up, and it took me into a nicer street full of very old churches and quaint, if dilapidated houses. three houses in a row had angry, barking, unchained rottweilers that could have easily hopped their four foot tall enclosures should they have decided to. it's a problem in windsor, too. cheaper than a security system, i guess.
and apparently very necessary.
i bumped into a border cop on his way to work and flagged him down...
"how do i get in here?"
"do you have a car?"
"no."
"well, why do you want to get into here?"
"i have a nexus interview."
"why do you want a nexus card if you don't have a car?"
"so i can get across the border. i'm from canada..."
"you're from canada? how did you get across the border?"
"the tunnel."
"and how did you get here?"
"i walked."
*awkward pause*
"well, you can't get in here without a car. you're going to have to call a cab."
ok, so here's the thing: i can see the enrollment centre through the fence. it's a few hundred yards, at most. and, yet i need to call a cab to transport me those few hundred yards? yes, i do: this is what the cop is trying to tell me. but, i'm not about to call a cab, so i keep walking.
eventually, i get to a cross street with a big sign
MICHIGAN WELCOME CENTER* --->
*note yankee spelling.
well, that sounds like a good thing to try.
hours:
9 am - 4 pm
it's like 7:30...
so, i look up the road and notice it runs into customs. i'm thinking "maybe there's a phone in there". customer service is closed, and there's no barriers so i just keep walking, until a border cop yells at me:
"WOAH. WOAH. YOU CAN'T BE IN HERE. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?"
well, i'm looking for a phone. is there one in that building?
"PLEASE STEP TO THE SIDE AND EMPTY YOUR POCKETS."
ok.
so, i pull out some pieces of paper, keys, a few dollars...
"who do you want to phone?"
"i'm trying to get in contact with the nexus office."
"how did you get in here?"
"i just walked in. there's no barriers or anything."
"do you have a car?"
"no."
"why do you want a nexus card if you don't have a car?"
"well, i'm from canada and..."
"you're from canada? how did you get across the border without a car?"
"i took the tunnel."
"what? how did you get here?"
"i walked"
*awkward pause*
another officer walks over....
"this person just strolled in here, can you believe that."
"where are you going?"
"i'm looking for nexus."
"do you have a car?"
"no."
"why do you want a nexus card if you don't have a car?"
i laughed out loud at this point.
"because i'm from canada and..."
"wait. how did you get across the border?"
"i took the tunnel."
"and they let you in without documents?"
"well, i have this nexus document. i'm here for a defined purpose."
"pfft. anybody could print that off. do you have any drugs on you?"
"what? no..."
"yeah. right. step into the office, please"
so, i walk into the office...
he takes my id and starts running it through the system, asks me all kinds of absurd questions, accuses me repeatedly of living in collingwood and having a record of escaping the custody of an officer, visibly shatters a blood vessel in his forehead when i provide "jessica" as an alternate name and eventually gives up.
"go back to the michigan welcome center and call a cab from there."
again with the cab. they were really serious about this.
i did walk back to the welcome center, but i was planning on calling the enrollment centre, not the cab. it's now barely 8:00, so i have an hour to wait, and wait an hour i did.
the cop drives by about 8:30...
"listen, i knew this was going to be a problem, but i'm pretty sure the person i initially talked to said they'd give me a lift. the thing is i think they meant from canada, and i couldn't get a hold of anybody to provide instructions, so here i am."
he seems to have softened up a bit, after realizing i'm both harmless and frustrated. the absurdity of the situation actually seems to have become clear to him. but...
"i'd drive you down there myself, but then i have to pat you down, which means i need a female officer present and there aren't any."
"i can't waive that?"
(i don't care what gender my doctor is, and i don't care what gender the cop patting me down is)
"no. plus, i'd have to do all kinds of paperwork, and i just don't want to."
ah, yes. a lazy cop. gee, whudda thunk that possible, huh?
"but, i'll call you a cab if you want."
there's no irony in any of this.
i refuse the offer, and suggest i'll call the place when the welcome center opens.
this is where i got a break, and i have to say it's every bit as surreal as the rest of this. the place opens at 9:00, i use the bathroom, and then ask if there's a pay phone...
there isn't, but he offers the office phone, depending on who i'm calling.
i'm calling nexus, because i'm on foot and need to find out how i'm going to get in there.
apparently, this kind fellow has been working at the michigan welcome center for years and years, and given out instructions on how to get into the nexus office hundreds of times, but has never been in there himself. he's been wondering the whole time if his directions are even accurate, and he wants to know what it looks like inside the complex.
so, he offers to drive me in.
and i graciously accept.
he takes me back along the side street i came in at, past the entrance the first border cop went in, back under the bridge and around through a gated area. i am now finally at the nexus enrollment area. i thank the kind fellow and that is that.
but, the border guards are concerned about how i'm going to exit the complex.
"i guess i'll call a cab."
nobody else got the sarcasm. i was actually planning on asking somebody for a lift to the other side of the fence.
so, the interview goes well. the interviewer was a little older, and i seemed to convince him i'm a good kid. which is what i needed to do.
i got the marijuana question, i was honest, and he overlooked it. they can be very strict about that. but, the thing should get here in 7-10 days.
at the end of it, he asks me if i have a phone. i don't carry a phone. so, he picks up the phone and starts dialing the number for a cab for me...
"listen. if you call me a cab, i'm just going to ask that they drop me on the other side of the fence and walk back to the tunnel. so, why don't you just let me ask somebody for a lift out?"
and, finally, i got some fucking logic from somebody.
"no. we'll just escort you out."
a few minutes later, a truck pulls up with a border cop in it.
"are you here to escort me out?"
"yes."
so, i reach for the door....
"no. i'm not driving you. you're going to walk."
at first, he tries to lead me to the exit to the ambassador bridge.
"canada is that way, but where's your car?"
"i don't have a car."
"why do you want a nexus card if you don't have a car?"
i was on the brink of being a smartass, but managed to restrain myself.
"so i can get across under the tunnel. i just need to get to fort street."
"well, how are you going to get over the bridge?"
"no, i want to walk to the tunnel."
"walk...to...the....tunnel?"
at this point, i understand that every single one of the awkward pauses was shock that i'd walk that far. remarkable.
"yeah."
"well, follow the truck around the building and meet me at the crossing."
i did this, and we walked to the gate that first border cop went through. then i was out the side street and back up fort towards the tunnel...
without having to call a cab.
this is your tax dollars at work protecting you from terrorism.
so, i took a google tour up fort street, which is where i'm headed this morning.
it's pretty run down, but it's an industrial area so i'm not really walking through the 'hood. and there's only been one shooting in the vicinity this year.
there's been two on my block in windsor. yeah. well, it's perspective.
i'll be fine...
i'll point out i *am* wearing $5 shoes and a stained white tshirt.
it's less about wanting to keep the shoes and more about not projecting wealth.
not that i have any wealth, of course. but shit is relative.
it's pretty run down, but it's an industrial area so i'm not really walking through the 'hood. and there's only been one shooting in the vicinity this year.
there's been two on my block in windsor. yeah. well, it's perspective.
i'll be fine...
i'll point out i *am* wearing $5 shoes and a stained white tshirt.
it's less about wanting to keep the shoes and more about not projecting wealth.
not that i have any wealth, of course. but shit is relative.
uploading the time machine to the scratchpad
and, now i'm mulling if i want guitars at all in the end part...
i think i want one. maybe two. probably not three, unless it comes out at me.
this is consequently close to a final mix.
http://googledrive.com/host/0B5JfVE9XTZikMS1zek9ER0xSU1E/scratchpad/
i think i want one. maybe two. probably not three, unless it comes out at me.
this is consequently close to a final mix.
http://googledrive.com/host/0B5JfVE9XTZikMS1zek9ER0xSU1E/scratchpad/
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
see, in order to get across the border, i need a nexus card. but, in order to get the nexus card, i need to get across the border. it would be a simple exercise if the enrolment centre was in an accessible location, but it's located directly underneath a bridge that i cannot cross. (that sounds poetic, but i can't cross because i don't have a vehicle, and they do not allow pedestrian crossing, and there's no public transportation, and it's almost impossible to find a taxi cab driver both willing and able to cross). so, the only option i can conceive of is to try and cross somewhere else, and hope they let me walk, or escort me to the centre and back. but i'm not really hopeful either is a possibility...
i will say that when i get to the border, i'm certain that i'll understand what my actual options are. i'm just a little fearful that none of them are going to be realistic.
but, logically, is there really much of a difference between letting me drive over a bridge to the center and letting me walk over? i'm clearing customs and being allowed to move from customs to the centre on my own either way, right? i may be freaking out over a perception of the location of the office to the bridge, rather than anything rational that the border guards can actually interpret, one way or the other.
if my plan *does* work, i'm basically going to be walking through detroit at 6:00 am. well, i'm going to end up doing that relatively frequently anyways. my experience with walking through unsafe neighbourhoods has mostly been that thugs go after thugs and so long as one does not project wealth (meaning, it's not a good idea to pull out a roll of hundred dollar bills....as though i have any, right...), there's really little risk in these supposed high risk neighbourhoods.
and, for me, in the end, i'm on their side. i've had my share of conversations with thugs that are probably thinking some nasty shit in the back of their mind, but i tend to convince 'em i'm cool - and not any better off than they are. despite being white and well spoken....
the only other thing i can think of is trying to hitch over the bridge. if that's my only option, that's my only option. i'll find out.
i don't want to come off some drug war narc, i'm really not, but i know that the big problem is not poverty but drugs.
and not any drugs. it's the nasty ones. coke. meth. there's no discussion there, no attempt to size me up - it's just a possible income source to exploit to get high.
i know to stay on the main roads.
and 6:00-7:00 am is not 3:00 am, either.
i'll be fine...
like, i've never seen or heard of a fight in any place in any city in any downtown that wasn't ultimately about cocaine. even when it's about sex, it's really about cocaine...
so...
hey, kids.
i'm not going to tell you not to do drugs. drugs can be fun, sometimes!
but cocaine is baaaaaaad.
baaaaaaaad.
baaaaa.
it IS though. don't do coke...
i will say that when i get to the border, i'm certain that i'll understand what my actual options are. i'm just a little fearful that none of them are going to be realistic.
but, logically, is there really much of a difference between letting me drive over a bridge to the center and letting me walk over? i'm clearing customs and being allowed to move from customs to the centre on my own either way, right? i may be freaking out over a perception of the location of the office to the bridge, rather than anything rational that the border guards can actually interpret, one way or the other.
if my plan *does* work, i'm basically going to be walking through detroit at 6:00 am. well, i'm going to end up doing that relatively frequently anyways. my experience with walking through unsafe neighbourhoods has mostly been that thugs go after thugs and so long as one does not project wealth (meaning, it's not a good idea to pull out a roll of hundred dollar bills....as though i have any, right...), there's really little risk in these supposed high risk neighbourhoods.
and, for me, in the end, i'm on their side. i've had my share of conversations with thugs that are probably thinking some nasty shit in the back of their mind, but i tend to convince 'em i'm cool - and not any better off than they are. despite being white and well spoken....
the only other thing i can think of is trying to hitch over the bridge. if that's my only option, that's my only option. i'll find out.
i don't want to come off some drug war narc, i'm really not, but i know that the big problem is not poverty but drugs.
and not any drugs. it's the nasty ones. coke. meth. there's no discussion there, no attempt to size me up - it's just a possible income source to exploit to get high.
i know to stay on the main roads.
and 6:00-7:00 am is not 3:00 am, either.
i'll be fine...
like, i've never seen or heard of a fight in any place in any city in any downtown that wasn't ultimately about cocaine. even when it's about sex, it's really about cocaine...
so...
hey, kids.
i'm not going to tell you not to do drugs. drugs can be fun, sometimes!
but cocaine is baaaaaaad.
baaaaaaaad.
baaaaa.
it IS though. don't do coke...
uploading the wonderful noise to youtube
the track switches over, tonight. in the alter-reality, it's now nov 17, 1996.
traffic was up this week, so schizoid did well, even though it was only up the one week. it will cycle back in a little later...
========
i suppose this is my first real "noise" construction. i was going for a sort of an "obliviously insane" feel. like, imagine bach just losing his mind one day down at the cathedral. i think i hit it, overall, but the tools i had available to me at the time weren't the best; this could have been more unsettling than it is, if i did have access to better tools (i was thinking that at the time). this was constructed on a 4-track tascam with the aid of a kawaii and a few effects pedals....there were no computers involved...
the "hurricane" part of the noise was constructed by looping little bits of sound over themselves. this is oversimplified, but basically it: i took every cassette i could find and dubbed them all on top of each other. not simultaneously, but in different bits. so, i guess if you had more advanced wave analysis tools you could deconstruct that...
the rest of the noise is multiple tracks of guitar noodling through multiple effects patches, mostly high feedback.
a part of the composition involved fucking with cords and pressing pause while i was mastering it. i was sort of playing with the fantasy/reality split. i wouldn't have been able to articulate that then like i could now, so i'll just sort of let that be. i was thinking in terms of being awoken out of a dream.
please use headphones.
over the next few years, i raided this for samples...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHCzsrJk55M&list=PL3JSjmqp0cbslW9qCBKT_nEcwUt1DY0aN
traffic was up this week, so schizoid did well, even though it was only up the one week. it will cycle back in a little later...
========
i suppose this is my first real "noise" construction. i was going for a sort of an "obliviously insane" feel. like, imagine bach just losing his mind one day down at the cathedral. i think i hit it, overall, but the tools i had available to me at the time weren't the best; this could have been more unsettling than it is, if i did have access to better tools (i was thinking that at the time). this was constructed on a 4-track tascam with the aid of a kawaii and a few effects pedals....there were no computers involved...
the "hurricane" part of the noise was constructed by looping little bits of sound over themselves. this is oversimplified, but basically it: i took every cassette i could find and dubbed them all on top of each other. not simultaneously, but in different bits. so, i guess if you had more advanced wave analysis tools you could deconstruct that...
the rest of the noise is multiple tracks of guitar noodling through multiple effects patches, mostly high feedback.
a part of the composition involved fucking with cords and pressing pause while i was mastering it. i was sort of playing with the fantasy/reality split. i wouldn't have been able to articulate that then like i could now, so i'll just sort of let that be. i was thinking in terms of being awoken out of a dream.
please use headphones.
over the next few years, i raided this for samples...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHCzsrJk55M&list=PL3JSjmqp0cbslW9qCBKT_nEcwUt1DY0aN
grargh. i still can't get a hold of anybody on the other side of the border. and it turns out booking a taxi is a process of trial and error - most taxi drivers can't or won't drive across the bridge. after all, that's what the tunnel bus is for. and it's going to cost like $40....
catch-22s. gotta love 'em.
i'm just going to show up at the tunnel really early and see what happens. i'm hoping that if they don't let me walk they'll escort me, and if they don't do that they'll let me call the center from detroit, where it's not long distance.
i tried calling two of those numbers from a pay phone.
one was a full mailbox, the other was an automated system. i can't be dropping $5 on dead ends over and over. that $10 is waste enough.
catch-22s. gotta love 'em.
i'm just going to show up at the tunnel really early and see what happens. i'm hoping that if they don't let me walk they'll escort me, and if they don't do that they'll let me call the center from detroit, where it's not long distance.
i tried calling two of those numbers from a pay phone.
one was a full mailbox, the other was an automated system. i can't be dropping $5 on dead ends over and over. that $10 is waste enough.
clearing my head at a math rock show in windsor
i needed to clear my head a little tonight, so i hit a show with a few different spins on what's currently called "math rock". i'm glad i did, as i'm feeling nicely relaxed at the moment.
first up was sly why, which was a valiant (and sometimes successful) attempt to cross hip-hop with chick corea. when it clicked, it was pretty groovy, but i was left with the overall impression that it was a proof of concept that requires quite a bit more work to get to where it needs to be.
the rhythm section was really outstanding in the synthesis. the bassist did a decent jaco, while the drummer effectively spliced breakbeats with fusion drumming. where it fell apart a little was with the vocalist/keyboardist.
it's not that he wasn't a good player - he was. but , the vocals seemed rather superfluous, in the sense that i didn't get much interesting out of it. further, he used the same electric piano sound on every single track, and it got a little monotonous after a while. i mean, chick had limited technology at his availability in the late 60s and early 70s. this guy could make his keyboard do whatever he wants it to by merely connecting it to his phone, y'know? why settle for a single, 40 year old tone?
i wanted to suggest he check out some squarepusher, but i instead just suggested he consider orchestrating the keys a little more. i suspect the thought has already crossed his mind, as he mostly agreed with me.
with that in mind, these kids have the potential to do something special, if the vocalist also decides to step back a little from the mundane topics explored in modern commercial hip-hop. i'd keep an eye on this space. i know i will.
toasted plastic, which i'm not repeating the silly chillwave anti-phonetic styling on, was up next and they presented a somewhat generic (but entirely competent) rendition of the emo/math thing that's been floating around since roughly 2000. if there's something worth noting here, it's that the drummer is quite talented. he was able to push through some otherwise predictably unpredictable (if you know math, you get that) songwriting and entirely generic singing.
on the other hand, sometimes you just want to stand in front of some amps and get blown over by them. it's kind of why i left the house tonight, actually.
it's nothing special, but it's loud and melodic and just a little bit complex and it's consequently worth cover if you're looking for it.
what i wanted tonight was just to sit back and have a beer and relax, and it was this act that i thought would be most conducive to that atmosphere. it was a lot of tapping on the ol' ibanez, with some relaxed drumming. again: not a lot to talk about, in terms of originality. but if you like the kind of passive jazz/post/math that's been floating around on bandcamp the last ten years or so, and you want a beer, it's worth the $5.
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2014/07/15.html
first up was sly why, which was a valiant (and sometimes successful) attempt to cross hip-hop with chick corea. when it clicked, it was pretty groovy, but i was left with the overall impression that it was a proof of concept that requires quite a bit more work to get to where it needs to be.
the rhythm section was really outstanding in the synthesis. the bassist did a decent jaco, while the drummer effectively spliced breakbeats with fusion drumming. where it fell apart a little was with the vocalist/keyboardist.
it's not that he wasn't a good player - he was. but , the vocals seemed rather superfluous, in the sense that i didn't get much interesting out of it. further, he used the same electric piano sound on every single track, and it got a little monotonous after a while. i mean, chick had limited technology at his availability in the late 60s and early 70s. this guy could make his keyboard do whatever he wants it to by merely connecting it to his phone, y'know? why settle for a single, 40 year old tone?
i wanted to suggest he check out some squarepusher, but i instead just suggested he consider orchestrating the keys a little more. i suspect the thought has already crossed his mind, as he mostly agreed with me.
with that in mind, these kids have the potential to do something special, if the vocalist also decides to step back a little from the mundane topics explored in modern commercial hip-hop. i'd keep an eye on this space. i know i will.
toasted plastic, which i'm not repeating the silly chillwave anti-phonetic styling on, was up next and they presented a somewhat generic (but entirely competent) rendition of the emo/math thing that's been floating around since roughly 2000. if there's something worth noting here, it's that the drummer is quite talented. he was able to push through some otherwise predictably unpredictable (if you know math, you get that) songwriting and entirely generic singing.
on the other hand, sometimes you just want to stand in front of some amps and get blown over by them. it's kind of why i left the house tonight, actually.
it's nothing special, but it's loud and melodic and just a little bit complex and it's consequently worth cover if you're looking for it.
what i wanted tonight was just to sit back and have a beer and relax, and it was this act that i thought would be most conducive to that atmosphere. it was a lot of tapping on the ol' ibanez, with some relaxed drumming. again: not a lot to talk about, in terms of originality. but if you like the kind of passive jazz/post/math that's been floating around on bandcamp the last ten years or so, and you want a beer, it's worth the $5.
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2014/07/15.html
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
so, i've got my border pass interview on thursday and i have to admit
i don't know how i'm going to get over that bridge to the enrollment
centre. i've been sending out emails and calling people all month, and
nobody has a good answer for me.
the thing is that the bridge is closed to pedestrian traffic. somehow, the bridge became privately owned, which makes the owner liable. there were some suicides in the 70s from jumpers, and the owner had to pay out, and it's been closed to pedestrians and bicyclists ever since. i'm going to avoid ranting about property rights, other than to note that none of the governments in the region at any of the levels have had anything but problems with the guy. i mean, he has a monopoly on cross-border traffic that can't fit through the tunnel, which is virtually all trucks amongst other things, and he hasn't really been responsible about it....
so, they're building a publicly owned bridge in reaction, but it won't be done until like 2020. i should be able to take my bike on that one, but it's also way out of the way. you'd have to think the operator will make some changes when he gets some competition. until then, i simply can't walk over the bridge.
the tunnel is also closed to pedestrians and cyclists because it doesn't have a sufficient walkway, which is a court case i'd probably win if i bothered, but it's a lot of effort i don't really have to expend. it does have tunnel bus service, which is what i'd have to use to get across the river when i want to. most of the places i'd want to get to are then within walking distance up woodward avenue, but i may want to go to pontiac from time to time and i'd have to take the bus for that. if i find myself doing that often, i'll probably get a worthless bicycle and lock it somewhere near the tunnel in detroit. i mean, they won't let bikes on the bus either, unless they're disassembled into a bag, which is really outrageous. i'd probably want to take one of the tires with me back and forth...
so, the problem is that i'm going to show up at the border crossing on thursday morning and not know how to get across. i'm HOPING the border guards will just drive me over, but i'd like to get some verification of that. if i can't, my plan is going to be as follows...
1) i'll show up to the earliest tunnel shuttle across and hope the border people either let me walk to the enrollment centre or escort me there. hopefully, that's worked out before 6:00 am.
2) if i get sent back, i'll have to walk to the bridge and ask them to get me over there somehow.
the instructions that the center provides just assume i'll have a car. in fact, the primary purpose of this exercise seems to be to get my plates on film.
the thing is that the bridge is closed to pedestrian traffic. somehow, the bridge became privately owned, which makes the owner liable. there were some suicides in the 70s from jumpers, and the owner had to pay out, and it's been closed to pedestrians and bicyclists ever since. i'm going to avoid ranting about property rights, other than to note that none of the governments in the region at any of the levels have had anything but problems with the guy. i mean, he has a monopoly on cross-border traffic that can't fit through the tunnel, which is virtually all trucks amongst other things, and he hasn't really been responsible about it....
so, they're building a publicly owned bridge in reaction, but it won't be done until like 2020. i should be able to take my bike on that one, but it's also way out of the way. you'd have to think the operator will make some changes when he gets some competition. until then, i simply can't walk over the bridge.
the tunnel is also closed to pedestrians and cyclists because it doesn't have a sufficient walkway, which is a court case i'd probably win if i bothered, but it's a lot of effort i don't really have to expend. it does have tunnel bus service, which is what i'd have to use to get across the river when i want to. most of the places i'd want to get to are then within walking distance up woodward avenue, but i may want to go to pontiac from time to time and i'd have to take the bus for that. if i find myself doing that often, i'll probably get a worthless bicycle and lock it somewhere near the tunnel in detroit. i mean, they won't let bikes on the bus either, unless they're disassembled into a bag, which is really outrageous. i'd probably want to take one of the tires with me back and forth...
so, the problem is that i'm going to show up at the border crossing on thursday morning and not know how to get across. i'm HOPING the border guards will just drive me over, but i'd like to get some verification of that. if i can't, my plan is going to be as follows...
1) i'll show up to the earliest tunnel shuttle across and hope the border people either let me walk to the enrollment centre or escort me there. hopefully, that's worked out before 6:00 am.
2) if i get sent back, i'll have to walk to the bridge and ask them to get me over there somehow.
the instructions that the center provides just assume i'll have a car. in fact, the primary purpose of this exercise seems to be to get my plates on film.
lost a few days there due to renovations in the unit. it's actually good i didn't dive into this too far, because i need to reflect on this last section a little more. i don't really need yet another looped over blues jam as an appendage to another ambient section. so, i'm going to want to reanalyze it to ensure i'm not repeating myself.
i've been doing this for the last few tracks: planning something elaborate, and then stepping back from it to stress the simplicity a bit more and let the textures come out.
there's going to be a lot of guitars running through this, i've decided on that. but i want to map it more carefully, to ensure it's not as loop-oriented. i made a conscious decision several years ago to try and move away from minimalist music structures; that decision has only become more necessary to maintain relevance since then, as minimalist post-rock has become so saturated and boring. i don't think anything about this section is guilty of the worst characteristics of modern post-rock - not by a large margin. the textures are too electronic, and the loops are too constructed, for that kind of accusation. but i do think that going back to the old tools brought me back to the old world, where i picked all those old crutches back up again.
which is not catastrophic overall. i think there's something to be said for building styles, and mine is pretty idiosyncratic when you break it apart. but i really want to mix this up so that it's a meaningful addition to my discography, rather than just another piece that follows an existing formula. and it's a correction i'd rather make now than five more tracks down the line.
i want to find a way to interpret these old tools in a new way.
for tonight, i'm going to relax a little and check a local show out with a bit of bailey's in the coffee. i'll revisit this when i get home.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1447034165539685
i've been doing this for the last few tracks: planning something elaborate, and then stepping back from it to stress the simplicity a bit more and let the textures come out.
there's going to be a lot of guitars running through this, i've decided on that. but i want to map it more carefully, to ensure it's not as loop-oriented. i made a conscious decision several years ago to try and move away from minimalist music structures; that decision has only become more necessary to maintain relevance since then, as minimalist post-rock has become so saturated and boring. i don't think anything about this section is guilty of the worst characteristics of modern post-rock - not by a large margin. the textures are too electronic, and the loops are too constructed, for that kind of accusation. but i do think that going back to the old tools brought me back to the old world, where i picked all those old crutches back up again.
which is not catastrophic overall. i think there's something to be said for building styles, and mine is pretty idiosyncratic when you break it apart. but i really want to mix this up so that it's a meaningful addition to my discography, rather than just another piece that follows an existing formula. and it's a correction i'd rather make now than five more tracks down the line.
i want to find a way to interpret these old tools in a new way.
for tonight, i'm going to relax a little and check a local show out with a bit of bailey's in the coffee. i'll revisit this when i get home.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1447034165539685
Monday, July 14, 2014
hi again
1) i was thinking you'd drop by to check on the job, but the guys wanted to ask me to tell you that the plaster needs a second or third job. i think it's just cosmetic.
2) i noticed you put some paving stones out in the front. i was going to go get some at the beginning of august (i have a big home depot run planned), but i have to say that's a lot more than i was planning on. i won't touch the stones until you tell me what you want done with them. i was actually thinking that maybe the neighbour might want a little say in it, to be fair about the whole process of ripping down the garden. i *had* asked her not to cover the window, but she did anyways, which is why i just acted. my concern was/is just keeping the window clear; i have no meaningful opinion on the actual landscaping, subject to the practical request. if that's important to her, i have no objection to letting her take control of it - as long as the window stays clear.
3) i'm going to drop the request for the fire inspection because the fire separation to the basement seems to be re-established. just briefly, it seems like the philosophy in the fire code is about risk. there's almost no restrictions on single, detached units because the risk is only to the property owner, and increasing risks for larger and larger buildings because the risk is shared for more and more people. that is, the bigger the property is, the more people the landlord is making risks on behalf of, and the more stringent the requirements. i do feel there's some risk in having the furnace in the kitchen like that, but i don't feel there's any measurable risk down here anymore so i don't feel i have the moral or philosophical right to infringe on risks you decide on for you and your family - that would be characteristic of an overbearing tenant, which i'm trying not to be.
4) i am going to be building some large shelving units down here at the beginning of august (when i make that big home depot run) in the bedroom, living room and a few places in the hall around the kitchen. i want the shelving for books and cds and towels, but they could be used for anything. none of it will be attached to the wall or anything, it will all be free standing, but it's going to be measured and cut to fit the unit so it's going to more or less become a part of the unit. it will be easy enough to remove one day if you have to and/or you want to. but i would be unlikely to take these shelves with me (then again, i think i'm unlikely to move, too). regardless, if you want some influence on that, let me know. right now, i'm just thinking about very simple sealed and unpainted wood units...
5) lastly, i'm not sure if you're aware that the ontario energy board boosted gas prices by 40% on april 1 and that there's some expectation that this will happen a few more times in the next few years. gas is still waaaaaay cheaper than it was even five years ago, but you'd have to expect that's something the gas companies are out to equalize, and there might not be such a dramatic difference in price anymore four or five years from now. it's something to look into further before you switch the rest of the building over. it's a shame that solar is still so prohibitively expensive to install and upkeep, because it can actually generate electricity to *sell* and is the only way to really get off the grid.
j
2) i noticed you put some paving stones out in the front. i was going to go get some at the beginning of august (i have a big home depot run planned), but i have to say that's a lot more than i was planning on. i won't touch the stones until you tell me what you want done with them. i was actually thinking that maybe the neighbour might want a little say in it, to be fair about the whole process of ripping down the garden. i *had* asked her not to cover the window, but she did anyways, which is why i just acted. my concern was/is just keeping the window clear; i have no meaningful opinion on the actual landscaping, subject to the practical request. if that's important to her, i have no objection to letting her take control of it - as long as the window stays clear.
3) i'm going to drop the request for the fire inspection because the fire separation to the basement seems to be re-established. just briefly, it seems like the philosophy in the fire code is about risk. there's almost no restrictions on single, detached units because the risk is only to the property owner, and increasing risks for larger and larger buildings because the risk is shared for more and more people. that is, the bigger the property is, the more people the landlord is making risks on behalf of, and the more stringent the requirements. i do feel there's some risk in having the furnace in the kitchen like that, but i don't feel there's any measurable risk down here anymore so i don't feel i have the moral or philosophical right to infringe on risks you decide on for you and your family - that would be characteristic of an overbearing tenant, which i'm trying not to be.
4) i am going to be building some large shelving units down here at the beginning of august (when i make that big home depot run) in the bedroom, living room and a few places in the hall around the kitchen. i want the shelving for books and cds and towels, but they could be used for anything. none of it will be attached to the wall or anything, it will all be free standing, but it's going to be measured and cut to fit the unit so it's going to more or less become a part of the unit. it will be easy enough to remove one day if you have to and/or you want to. but i would be unlikely to take these shelves with me (then again, i think i'm unlikely to move, too). regardless, if you want some influence on that, let me know. right now, i'm just thinking about very simple sealed and unpainted wood units...
5) lastly, i'm not sure if you're aware that the ontario energy board boosted gas prices by 40% on april 1 and that there's some expectation that this will happen a few more times in the next few years. gas is still waaaaaay cheaper than it was even five years ago, but you'd have to expect that's something the gas companies are out to equalize, and there might not be such a dramatic difference in price anymore four or five years from now. it's something to look into further before you switch the rest of the building over. it's a shame that solar is still so prohibitively expensive to install and upkeep, because it can actually generate electricity to *sell* and is the only way to really get off the grid.
j
yup. hole's getting patched. the logic i provided was entirely accepted.
very relieving. and he actually seems happy i pointed it out to save him headaches down the road.
i also received a verification that the unit is older than 1998, as it was here when he bought it in 1996.
that's useful to know.
Rules relating to rent
(2) Sections 104, 111, 112, 120, 121, 122, 126 to 133, 165 and 167 do not apply with respect to a rental unit if,
(a) it was not occupied for any purpose before June 17, 1998;
section 120 is rent control, reducing rent increases to cpi. units built after 1998 are NOT subject to this legal restriction.
that's a helluva fucking loophole in the law. supposedly, it's to provide "incentives" to build new units which "provides jobs".
this is politician-speak for class warfare.
but i'm safe. was worried, as he mentioned this unit was an add-on...
i had a little talk with him, and i'm not really the problem unit. i mean, i'm not running a/c and so long as the unit is insulated it should hold summer heat deep into the fall.
i didn't have to turn the heat on down here until the polar vortex hit. presuming the winter is nowhere near as cold as last year, i should be the least of his problems.
it's actually the unit on the other side that is costing him.
he admitted to not thinking it through.
we may actually get some better insulation in out of the ordeal.
very relieving. and he actually seems happy i pointed it out to save him headaches down the road.
i also received a verification that the unit is older than 1998, as it was here when he bought it in 1996.
that's useful to know.
Rules relating to rent
(2) Sections 104, 111, 112, 120, 121, 122, 126 to 133, 165 and 167 do not apply with respect to a rental unit if,
(a) it was not occupied for any purpose before June 17, 1998;
section 120 is rent control, reducing rent increases to cpi. units built after 1998 are NOT subject to this legal restriction.
that's a helluva fucking loophole in the law. supposedly, it's to provide "incentives" to build new units which "provides jobs".
this is politician-speak for class warfare.
but i'm safe. was worried, as he mentioned this unit was an add-on...
i had a little talk with him, and i'm not really the problem unit. i mean, i'm not running a/c and so long as the unit is insulated it should hold summer heat deep into the fall.
i didn't have to turn the heat on down here until the polar vortex hit. presuming the winter is nowhere near as cold as last year, i should be the least of his problems.
it's actually the unit on the other side that is costing him.
he admitted to not thinking it through.
we may actually get some better insulation in out of the ordeal.
yeah. i took the switch off and the connection had actually broken in half.
less than a year old.
i think they sell them at the dollar store across the street....
although i should point out it's made in china.
communist? yeah...
i need to relax, i'm really agitated.
the sound collage is coming along well, anyways.
it's supposed to sound like a time portal.
the conceptual basis of the piece was initially just some slowed down guitar chords, and it's turned into something more than it was meant to be, but, hey, do things to the most extreme possible...
less than a year old.
i think they sell them at the dollar store across the street....
although i should point out it's made in china.
communist? yeah...
i need to relax, i'm really agitated.
the sound collage is coming along well, anyways.
it's supposed to sound like a time portal.
the conceptual basis of the piece was initially just some slowed down guitar chords, and it's turned into something more than it was meant to be, but, hey, do things to the most extreme possible...
it's not that my $10 coffee machine refusing to work is catastrophic, it's that i am entirely cognizant of the reality that it was designed to break. if i had more time, i'd sue out of principle.
it's this idea of forced obsolescence. they actually teach graduate courses about it. it's fancy language for designing things in order to break, so they'll be repurchased. and, it's a central aspect of our throwaway, consumerist culture.
there's no use in boycotting because everybody does it. it's an industry standard in industry after industry. graduate level courses are usually for general application; it's getting the idea of making things badly across, so it can be applied on a general basis.
there's nothing in a coffee machine to break, so they design the switch badly on purpose. and, the way they did it is really dangerous. the burner comes on, but the pump doesn't.
result: a useless pile of plastic and metal, and another $0.50 of profit from me after taxes and payouts. ugh.
if we were to sit down and purposefully design the dumbest society possible, we really couldn't do much better than what we've already got.
and, of course there should be a law against it, but you've probably forgotten that regulating corporations is COMMUNISM.
COMMUNIST!!!
it's this idea of forced obsolescence. they actually teach graduate courses about it. it's fancy language for designing things in order to break, so they'll be repurchased. and, it's a central aspect of our throwaway, consumerist culture.
there's no use in boycotting because everybody does it. it's an industry standard in industry after industry. graduate level courses are usually for general application; it's getting the idea of making things badly across, so it can be applied on a general basis.
there's nothing in a coffee machine to break, so they design the switch badly on purpose. and, the way they did it is really dangerous. the burner comes on, but the pump doesn't.
result: a useless pile of plastic and metal, and another $0.50 of profit from me after taxes and payouts. ugh.
if we were to sit down and purposefully design the dumbest society possible, we really couldn't do much better than what we've already got.
and, of course there should be a law against it, but you've probably forgotten that regulating corporations is COMMUNISM.
COMMUNIST!!!
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