Blogpsot = Amazing Bible Studies

So, I came onto Bring D.A. Noise to check out my fellow Blogger Kern's page, but a weird thing happened when I clicked the link. I didn't get his blog. I got a poorly-designed wacko website, boasting Amazing Bible Studies, the mega-site for Christians. What the hell? I know that Kern is constantly writing about the American Family Association and their excessive use of scare tactics to manipulate and bully people into promoting their despicable agenda. So, instinctively, I thought that the AFA hacked his site.

Well, as it turns out, when I was adding links to other blogs, I inadvertently transposed the p and the s in blogpsot (there, I did it again - curse the demon of carpal tunnel), I mean, blogspot. That was the cause of the problem. As it turns out, I made the same error in linking to Bob Mould's blog as well and the same page came up. Ooops. But, the irony of this happening is uncanny.

So, web surfer, beware. If you mistype the word "blogspot," you might be tempted to check out some amazing bible studies. What was funny about the site was that a pop-window floated across the screen, claiming that you won a new plasma tv or something. That was funny.

New Game! Liberal Political Sudoku

I recently discovered a new political blog courtesy of Michael from the Gay Bloggers Tribe, called Irregular Times. Latching onto the insanely popular Sudoku puzzle craze that's sweeping the nation, the folks at Irregular Times sporadically post their own spin on the Sudoku puzzle, the Liberal Political Sudoku.

In this game, just as in regular Sudoku, nine letters are given with the same premise. Each letter must be present only once in each row, each column, and within each set of squares, without repeating. But, there's an added twist. There is a clue at the bottom of the puzzle with a political anecdote or riddle that can be spelled by unscrambling the nine letters you are given.

For your amusement, the most recent edition of the Liberal Political Sudoku puzzle can be found here. I've not completed this yet so I don't have the answers. That's your job. Enjoy!

New Photo

In an attempt to change my profile photo here at Bring D.A. Noise, I ended up having two photos post in this manner. I have no friggin' clue how that happened, but found it slightly amusing (anything is amusing after the kind of weekend I had) so I am leaving it this way. Enjoy. See you next time.

My New Blog: Isolationist Noise

Today I am launching my new blog devoted to my exploration of experimental music and art, entitled Isolationist Noise. As with most people, I'm obsessed with music, amongst other medias of art. But, music and writing are my two main passions. In recent years, however, the desire for creative fulfillment disappeared over time, replaced with disillusionment. With the introduction of The Artist's Way into my consciousness, the desire is making a comeback. The drive is in me to become creatively fulfilled. Isolationist Noise is meant to document the recovery process by way of exploring the music I love, along with the desire to finally bring the miscellaneous attempts at creative output to fruition. Without further ado, Isolationist Noise can be found at:

http://isolationist-noise.net/noiseblog

Have no fear! Bring D.A. Noise is not going away, not in the least bit. Since D.A. Noise focuses on my thoughts with respect to popular culture, politics, and religion, I figured that Isolationist Noise is not really the conduit by which I want to discuss them. Unless these topics are discussed as related to experimental music or my creative output, pop culture, politics, and religion won't be discussed here. So, please continue to read Bring D.A. Noise.

As already mentioned, Isolationist Noise focuses on two areas:

1. Creative Recovery/Creative Exploration: Isolationist Noise will document the process of recovering from the creative blockage. I'm using the book The Artist's Way as a guide for getting through the frustration of blockage and reinvigorating my creative growth. For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a writer. However, up to this point, physical circumstances and inner turmoils have drained me of any creative motivation. The motivation and confidence is now slowly coming back, but still needs a lot of nurturing. That is one of the main focuses of The Artist's Way, in that part of the creative recovery process requires the nurturing of the inner artist. Your inner artist, just a physical human being, starts out as a baby and grows as time passes. The lack of creative nurturing as a young artist-to-be grows by either family members or friends instigates the creative blockage. With the proper nurturing of the artist child, the artist's creativity grows over time, awarding the artist for their hard work later down the road. So, with Isolationist Noise, I plan to document creative works in progress.

2. Exploration of Experimental Music: Music has always inspired my creative endeavors. I wrote poems which were influenced by sounds, particularly the music of SWANS, Coil, and Throbbing Gristle, amongst others. With respect to the blog's name, the term Isolationist came from "Isolationism," which was used as a term to describe a subgenre of Ambient music. Also referred to as Ambient Industrial music and Dark Ambient, Isolationism can be either minimalist and atmospheric in tone, or on the harsh side, can be claustrophobic and/or excruciatingly brutal. In 1997, Virgin Records released Ambient 4: Isolationism, the 4th and final volume in their Ambient music series, which featured tracks by Thomas Koener, Godflesh side-project Techno Animal, and Seefeel, amongst others.

Before the release of Ambient 4, I started to become interested in drone and noise music, starting with the first time I heard the drone masterpiece, Soliloquy for Lilith by Nurse With Wound. Drones are featured prominently in isolationist-sounding music. The first "isolationist" record I acquired in my collection was Motion Pool by Main (fronted by Robert Hampson, formerly of the band Loop.) On the back sleeve of the cd, the words "drumless space" appears. Drumless space is an apropos way to describe Isolationism. Another "isolationist" band that strongly influenced my interest in this genre of music is the amazing, but short-lived project known as Seefeel. Their phenomenal recording, Succour, ranks in my Top 10 for all-time favorite records.

Then, of course, the word noise comes from, again, my interest in unconventional music. With Isolationist Noise, I intend on reviewing new experimental recordings that I purchase along the way. I also hope to discuss how experimental music has inspired my creativity and other aspects of my life. Isolationist Noise is about the experience of exploring new and interesting music. Isolationism and experimental music have also played a role bringing the desire to create back to the forefront of my function in life. I'm slowly becoming more and more inspired to write in recent weeks, which hopefully will culminate in a fruitful creative life.

I'm also beginning work on Isolationism, my first full-length collection of writings. I haven't written any original pieces in a long time, but hope that will change. Many partially realized ideas are swimming in my head for new writings. I prefer to write in the form of poetry and stream-of-consciousness, but desire to experiment with prose poetry and creative non-fiction as well. Isolationism, the book, is also meant to be a tribute to the music that inspired me over the course of the last 15 years of my life. I also plan for works in progress to be documented as well as the eventually incorporation of interviews with people that inspire me and live show reviews and photos.

For now, the design of the site is going to be simple, based on an already created WordPress theme template. The simple design best reflects, in my mind, what isolationism means to me: dark and stark. As time progresses, I plan on updating and personalizing the design of the site, but manuevering through instructions on how to use WordPress' interface and functions has been difficult. So, I'd like to become more familiar with using WordPress and its processes, as well as, read more about coding in XHTML and working cascading style sheets (CSS) before I think about modifying the design. With that in mind, please stay tuned and I hope that you like Isolationist Noise.

WTF??????

So, I did not know this, but apparently, famous actress Jada Koren Pinkett Smith (otherwise known as Will Smith's wife) has a new band. Little did I know that this band, Wicked Wisdom, performed at OzzFest last year!?!?!? OZZFEST?!?!?!? WTF?!?!?!?












Seriously! Wicked Wisdom is a metal band. They performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight. I switched back from Letterman after the Goldfrapp performance to eyewitness Jada Koren (as she now goes by) attempting her best "Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath" impression. Imagine Jada suddenly fronting Sunno))) or the Melvins or some other form of clusterfuck. Whoa, dude, that's fucked up, man! The song performed, Bleed All Over Me, drudged and droned over the course of slightly more than three minutes of metal goodness (that's left for interpretation.) In the end, I thought, "Whoa, dude!" Whether that's a positive or negative comment, that's left up to interpretation. One word summarized the experience: Clusterfuck!

Despite the clusterfucking I'm feeling in the aftermath, I found that I actually enjoyed it. This brings her coolness factor up a notch or two. I'm actually embarrassed to admit that last sentence. By the way, she's on Blogger, too.

Forthcoming

Hello All (2 of you):

I honestly can't contain the excitement growing in my cells for what I'm about ready to announce. I've documented in recent weeks my strong desire to return to the days of explosive waves of creativity. As a matter of fact, I don't even remember the last time I felt I had any of those aforementioned waves. Simply put, I've been uninspired. However, as I slowly work my way out of the abyss, I'm starting to become inspired again on the blogging front. Aided by Ashley's aptly-timed recommendation of the Artist's Way, my longing to write is returning to my soul. In order to facilitate this, I decided to make some changes with respect to Bring D.A. Noise.

On Monday, with freshly acquired funds, I acquired a new domain, with the intent to return to using WordPress. With WordPress, I'm allowed more flexibility in the design and layout of my blog. Since I'm not well-versed on HTML, XHTML, and CSS, web design is an elusive concept. Up to this point, this made me apprehensive about creating my own website. But, on the other hand, I like having the ability to categorize my blog entries for easier searching capabilities and organization. Also, there are way more templates and themes to choose from for layout.

Have no fear, though. Bring D.A. Noise on Blogger won't be going away. The plan is to use this present site as an archive of previous blog entries from various sites, including entries all the way back to the days of LiveJournal. The focus points for most of D.A. Noise's energies pertain to musings on various subjects dealing with current events (from the worlds of entertainment, politics, and pop culture, although the lines for all three now blur together.) Besides this, D.A. Noise will document my study of the principles discussed in The Artist's Way. With that, I will write a summary of each week's topics as well as work my way through the activities at the end of each chapter. I sincerely hope that this does not bore anyone. Worse case, boredom ensues for approximately 12 weeks.

Now, I come to the new and (hopefully) exciting part. Besides Bring D.A. Noise, I've decided to create a new blog by way of the almighty WordPress. One of the main ideas behind the new blog is to create an outlet for documenting my creative output that may ensue as the creative blockage dissipitates. Another purpose of the new blog is to document the exploration of new and innovative music that inspires me to create in the first place. In the last ten or so years, I've developed an interest in challenging experimental and unconventional music, which I've always wanted to explore more and document the exploration along the way. Hopefully, new opportunities and sources of inspiration will develop by way of the new blog.

*Please note the clue in the next paragraph as to the name of the new blog in Boldface*

To start out with, the focus of the website is solely on the blog. During this time, I plan to use a pre-created theme for the layout. As I become more familiar with the WordPress blogging program, a new layout will be created and the blog will become a full-scale website. In the future, I hope to have interviews with influences as well as the documentation of creative works in progress. In the end, this website will be the impetus for commencing work on my proposed first collection of writings with the working title Isolationism. I'm not quite ready to announce the address of the site as of yet, as I want to input links and post categories, along with creating a profile of myself. I hope to present the link to the new site in the next few days.

That's all for now. As always, stay tuned!

The Uber-Bitch is Back!

Flipping through channels on a dull Monday night, television-wise, brought me to the vomit-inducing news reporting that Fox News is so famous for. Tonight, on Neil Cavuto's Your World, the New York Times bestselling author and uber-bitch of right-wing punditry, Ann Coulter, acknowledged that, in theory, this is the Democrats' year to potentially take back the House of Representatives or even the Senate (clearly, a back-handed compliment.) However, when Mr. Cavuto asked her if she could actually predict if they will succeed or not, she balked. "I can't say statistically state by state," she claimed, while subjecting us all to her horrible "hair-don't." At least, Hilary had the imagination to change hers every once in a while.

Then, we found out that she has a new book coming out, Godless. Apparently, liberals are godless, too. At the end of the interview, she was asked if she would ever run for office. She responded with an emphatic "No." Thank you, God!



















Spawn of Satan??? Scarrry!

Godless comes out June 6th. Lucky us.

By the way, is it just me, or does it seem like she loses at least one piece of clothing with each subsequent book cover? Let's just hope the Ann Coulter sex book never happens! I mean, look what it did for Madonna.

Moussaoui LIVES (For Now)

The verdict in the Moussaoui trial came in this afternoon: LIFE in prison. After the verdict, the LCD (lowest common denominator) of humanity gleefully left the courtroom, proclaiming that "America has lost! I won!" Ummm, excuse me, if you call spending the rest of your natural born life in prison a "WIN," then there must be something wrong. At this point, I'd rather see him rot in prison for his complete disregard for the 3,000 plus humans that lost their lives on that dreadful day and for the millions who survived and are still living. Most likely, these people are going to be out enjoying the rays of the warm May sun, sitting down for dinner with their families, going to rock concerts, and the many other activities and freedoms that us Americans get to enjoy. On the other hand, the "Moussaoui Messiah" gets to eat prison food, watch his back for other prisoners (most likely Americans themselves) that want to break his face and kill him, and possibly peruse the prison's library, burying himself in law books and educating himself on how to appeal his sentence (as his own attorney.) Sounds like shit loads of fun. I'm extremely jealous of him. Ummmm.....not really.













Is he the Real Winner???

The Artist's Way: An Introduction

For as long as I can remember, I'd always wanted to be a writer. I dreamed for the day where every day I had the ability to inhabit local coffeeshops in whatever city I lived in on a daily basis to write and not have to work a mundane, exhausting job. I still dream for this day to come. But, in the meantime, I've had no choice but to firmly plant at least one foot on the pavement of reality. Sometimes, though, that reality really really sucks.

I've spent the last several years and the three cities that I've lived in partaking in sporadic spurts of immense creativity poring out of my body and soul. Recently, however, I've felt that I've lost my motivation to create. I know in my heart that I am capable of extensive productivity in the frontier of creativity, but my mind, with its occasional bouts of neuroticism, I'm creatively useless and uninspired. I've felt that my recent attempts at creatively have not been aesthetically appealed, repetitive, and monotonous in nature. I've rationalized that my lack of confidence in my writing ability is the result of laziness and lack of motivation. There's a part of me which believes that recent bouts of work exhaustion have also played a factor in my lackadaisical approach to recent creative efforts.

My frustration with these issues came up in a conversation I had last fall with my dear friend in Olympia, Ashley. She suggested that I checked out a book that she's used to help her with channeling her creativity. The book she recommended, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, proved to be extremely helpful to her in the recovery of creative energy. Based on her recommendation, I purchased this book on a rainy afternoon around Thanksgiving. Sure, I will try it, I said to myself, without much hesitation. At this point, I'm open to just about anything.

Divided into twelve chapters, The Artist's Way focuses on different characteristics that are most often lacking in an artist's consciousness as the artist struggles to maintain his/her creative motivations. These deficiencies most often lead to creative blockage. These focal areas are:

Week 1 Recovering a sense of safety
Week 2 Recovering a sense of identity
Week 3 Recovering a sense of power
Week 4 Recovering a sense of integrity
Week 5 Recovering a sense of possibility
Week 6 Recovering a sense of abundance
Week 7 Recovering a sense of connection
Week 8 Recovering a sense of strength
Week 9 Recovering a sense of compassion
Week 10 Recovering a sense of self-protection
Week 11 Recovering a sense of autonomy
Week 12 Recovering a sense of faith

The exercises in the end of each chapter allow the participant to place the concepts presented into context, with respect to how they apply to the participant's creative situation. In addition to these exercises, Ms. Cameron also presents two other activities that should be incorporated into the recovery process.

Activity number one, the Morning Pages, ideally takes place every day, where the participant is asked to write three pages of writing in the form of stream-of-consciousness. The idea is to write whatever comes to mind, unabridged and uncensored, without much thought put into it. When the Morning Pages are completed each day, the participant is then asked to put the writing away and not look at it again. The primary purpose of this activity is to empty the brain of extraneous thoughts, feelings, and emotions that may be festering inside, causing brain drain and potentially blocking the creative flow.

Activity number two, the Artist Date, asks the participant to set aside a couple hours once a week to take the "artist child" in you out on a date, just you and your "artist child." No one else is allowed to accompany the participant. The Artist Date potentially creates new sources of inspiration and motivation for the artist to prosper.

I went through this book for the first time earlier this year. The ideas Julia expressed throughout this book were right on the ball, aiding in the development and maintenance of my creativity. However, towards the end of the book, I discovered that even though I was reading the book on a weekly basis, I wasn't actively participating in the creative recovery process. To further exacerbate the problem, the toll work has taken on me physically and mentally in recent weeks didn't make the recovery any easier. In particular, when the subject of addictions (such as workaholism) presented itself, the light dawned on me. I've fallen prey to the addiction of workaholism, although, it wasn't the act of constantly working that was the issue for me. In reality, the truth was, I was running myself down to the ground, carrying the weight of what I perceived to be the expectations of my superiors as well as trying to keep up with the transitional period we're going through at the law firm.

Shortly after finishing this book, an idea came to me. This blog had been neglected by me since the end of January. Up until recently, this blog felt boring and uninspired. Then, I thought, wait a minute. Why don't I go through the Artist's Way a second time while documenting the process using the blog. So, with that in mind, I decided to incorporate the Artist's Way into my blog.

Here's how this will work. At the beginning of each week I will introduce each chapter and summarize the concepts raised in the chapter. Then, over the course of the week, I'd complete the exercises in the book as blog entries as well as document my artist's date for the week. At the end of the week, there will be a Check-In entry, where I'm asked a few questions to summarize what happened over the course of the week. Since I'm in the middle of the first week, I'll combine the Check-In and the Chapter summary in the same entry.