Bring D.A. Noise

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2008-02-22T11:35:00.000-08:00

I am having issues with Technorati calling this blog "403 Forbidden" for some reason. I am trying to get this rectified so I am sending out a test post in order to hopefully get this to work. Wish me luck.

D.A.: The Schizophrenic Blogger

2007-01-31T13:29:00.001-08:00

Self-deprecation is, hands down, my favorite sport. If some random person walks right up to me and calls me "schizophrenic" to my face, I'd be the first to admit that they were right about that assertion. This concept can also be applied to my schizophrenic choices in going back and forth between blog platforms. Now, today, I am switching again. I am heading back over to WordPress. All along, that was my intention. I just wanted to learn more about that platform before I went forward with using it. Therefore, from this day forward, I'll be at this location so please change your blogrolls.

http://isolationist-noise.net/noiseblog

I posted a brief message over there, but a full-length article is forthcoming.

2006 Year End Review Part 1

2007-01-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

So, here we are in January 2007, the start of a brand spanking new year. As all three **wink wink** of you readers have noticed, my plan for December to blog every single day of the month didn't happen. I'm definitely not surprised by that. But, I chock up the lack of blogging to exhaustion. Big changes over the last couple months at work brought to the point of exhaustion. So, as a result, my blogging performance has been dismal at best.

Now, here I am in 2007 and as of yet, have not completed my 2006 review. Up to this point, I had every intention to write a complete and thorough review of last year's highlights. Well, thus far, it hasn't happened. Since we are already into the second week of 2007, I should just get it done. So, here it is, but it'll be in easier-to-eat bite size chunks. So, here's part one.

Reissues/Single Artist Collections:

Coil - Black Antlers & The Remote Viewer
The Glove - Blue Sunshine
This Heat - Out of Cold Storage
Massive Attack - Collected
The Cure - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Vitalic - OK Cowboy (Collectors Edition)
Windsor for the Derby - Calm Hades Float
Broadcast - The Future Crayon
The Dead C - Vain, Erudite and Stupid
Nurse With Wound - Rock 'n Roll Station
Edward Ka-Spel - Eyes China Doll & Laugh! China Doll
Nitzer Ebb - Body of Work & Body Rework
Nurse With Wound - An Awkward Pause
Current 93 - Sleep Has His House

Various Artists/DJ Mix Compilations:

The Hacker - A.N.D. N.O.W.
Miss Kittin - A Bugged Out Mix
V/A - Not Alone (Benefit for M.S.F.; Doctors Without Borders)
V/A - It Just Is... (Jhonn Balance/Coil tribute collection)
Magda - She's A Dancing Machine
Kompakt - Total 7
Michael Mayer - Immer 2
V/A - New York Noise 3
Kompakt - Pop Ambient 2007

Top 10 Live Shows:

1. Carla Buzolich - Gallery 1812, August 4
2. Matmos - Triple Door, October 21
3. Legendary Pink Dots - Launchpad, Albuquerque, July 2; Berbati's Pan, Portland, July 10; Chop Suey, Seattle, July 11
4. Mono & Pelican - Neumos, June 3
5. A Silver Mt. Zion & Carla Buzolich - Neumos, August 18
6. Sonic Youth - Moore Theatre, June 30
7. Blixa Bargeld; Jarboe; and Sixteens - Triple Door, February 3
8. Steven Stapleton & Friends - Portland, Sabala's Mt. Tabor, June 20
9. Amber Asylum; irr.app (ext); Waldteufel; Soriah & Ear Venom - Wooden Octopus Skull Festival, September 9
10. Neurosis - El Corazon, November 25

Honorable Mention:

The Black Angels & Murder City Devils - Capitol Hill Block Party, July 29
Mastodon - Showbox, September 23
Ladytron - Neumos, April 26
Akron/Family - Neumos, December 16
Mogwai/Earth - Showbox, May 23
Stereolab & Hot Chip - Showbox, March 6
Vashti Bunyan - Bumbershoot, September 3
Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie - Egyptian Theatre, June 17
Ministry - Showbox, May 28
Goldfrapp - Showbox, May 11
Arab Strap & His Name is Alive - Neumos, March 28
Belle & Sebastian - Paramount Theatre, March 25

Current Listening - December 2006

2006-12-06T23:47:00.000-08:00

Listen:
Altar - Sunno))) and Boris
Ys - Joanna Newsom
Varcharz - Mouse on Mars
Black Antlers reissue - Coil
Peel Sessions 1991-2004 - P.J. Harvey
Black Ships Ate The Sky - Current 93
Blue Sunshine reissue - The Glove
Meek Warrior - Akron/Family
A.N.D. N.O.W. - The Hacker
The Silver Tree - Lisa Gerrard
Vulvaland - Mouse on Mars
The Ape of Naples - Coil
Rat Tapes One - Nurse with Wound
No Hero No Fool - Subtle
The Last Resort - Trentemoller
Human Animal - Wolf Eyes
One Step More and You Die - Mono
Self-Titled - KTL (Stephen O'Malley & Peter Renberg)
The Letting Go - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
The Future Crayon - Broadcast
Self-Titled - Scarnella
Body Rework Remixes - Nitzer Ebb
Shipwreck Radio: Final Broadcasts - Nurse With Wound
The Lepore Extrusion - Thighpaulsandra
Total 7 - Kompakt

So much for 31 Days of Writing

2006-12-04T23:04:00.001-08:00

Well, yesterday's blog entry never happened. Now, I have one hour left today and this is all I can come up with for right now. I hope to be more inspired tomorrow and for the rest of the month. Stay tuned.

House Cleaning

2006-12-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am on another Saturday night hanging out at home. I started work on some long overdue house cleaning. I started out by straightening up my cluttered bookshelf. It's been a few months since the last time I cleaned up the bookshelf. Over time, the shelves became littered with copies of old carbon credit card receipts, recently purchased yet unread books, stacks of magazines, multiple Southwest and Frontier credit card applications, and napkins collected from various trips to Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Bauhaus Coffeeshop.

Now, I am sitting here watching Hildi from Trading Spaces go crazy (yet again) with her insanely wild designer sensibilities. Recently, Hildi thought it'd be a great idea to use sunflower seed packets as wallpaper. Needless to say, that didn't go over well at all. As a matter of fact, the couple she was working with took down when she left them to their homework. Well, tonight, her idea was to cover all four walls of a six year old boy's room with compact discs, numbering about 1800, against red paint. Hmmm....I wonder where she took her interior design classes.

Earlier this evening, while doing my laundry, I watched new episodes of Little People Big World. This is a wonderful show, documenting the daily lives of the Roloff family, living outside of Portland, Oregon. The Roloffs are just like any other family, doing what they need to do to take care of their family. The parents, Matt and Amy, are little, while only one of their four children, Zach, is little. This week's episodes have the Roloffs heading to Milwaukee for the annual Little People of America convetion. There was a touching moment during the first episode where one of Zach Roloff's friends, Little Zach, watched his father leave the family, heading out for deployment in Iraq. I honestly admit that I cried. Little People Big World is a show that I think everyone should see. It's a huge show with a lot of heart.

Being that this laptop is starting to act up, I'm finished writing for right now. But, I guarantee that I'm determined to write an entry every day in December.

The 31 Days of Blogging

2006-12-01T10:36:00.000-08:00

Today is the start of the month of December. You know what that means? It’s Christmas time again? Yeah, it is, but that’s not what I had in mind. I was thinking more along the lines of blogging. I am determined to write something in this blog every SINGLE day during the month of December. It’s going to be a challenge since it is indeed the holiday season. But, since I am a loser and have a nearly non-existent social life, this should be a piece of cake, right? Well, we’ll have to see. So, wish me luck folks.

I am going to write every SINGLE day of the month of December. Yeah, I know I said it once already, but I said it again to make sure you’re awake out there. Even if I write only one sentence all day, there will be an entry every single day. I want to become actively involved in my blogging life again, even if I write the most boring and uncreative entries to ever exist in a single blog. I don’t care.

Fear of uninspired and uncreative writing being publicly displayed online is the number one reason why I’ve not been more active in writing. I’m always paranoid and fearful of rejection, but that’s got to change. I mean, after all, this is my blog and should be able to write whatever I want without reservation and without concern. That’s my new approach to blogging: Letting go of expectations and just write. So, there you have it.

Saturday 11.25.2006

2006-11-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

Catchy title, huh?

Well, I wasn’t quite sure what else to call this post. My heart is back into the blogging thing, but my mind isn’t quite there yet. I survived Thanksgiving with Kent and his family (sister and brother-in-law.) I got stuffed on turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, corn, and three kinds of pie, just as any other year. But, with remnants of the flu bug I suffered through over a month ago still lingering, my appetite hasn’t quite returned completely. I’m not quite sure what the problem is, but at least, I am not over-eating. As a matter of fact, it’s been duly noted by a few people that I appear to have lost weight and my face seems thinner.

Hmmm. I’ve been wanting to lose a few pounds, actually, but getting the flu wasn’t quite the method I had in mind. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner as I always do without the over-eating. Speaking of over-eating, three kinds of pie were served at the Lodgson household Thanksgiving eve, the usual pumpkin and apple pie, as well as peach/raspberry. Of course, I took a small sliver of all three, making for scrumptous eating.

The evening was capped with a seemingly never-ending game of 80’s Trivial Pursuit, where the two best teams each had a nemesis category that stumped them. For my team, which consisted of Kent and myself, it was the Sports and Leisure category, which we almost won, if it wasn’t for my hesitation at answering the question with “Wade Boggs.” In the end, a tie was declared, otherwise we would’ve been playing for another 3 hours or so.

After a couple more hours of television viewing (Law and Order and Drawn Together), I had enough and crawled into the uncomfortable hide-a-bed to attempt sleep. I failed miserably. We were in the foyer, next to the front door, with the outside light being on. I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. Rats. Oh well.

We arrived back in Seattle at noon the next morning, which provided me great relief, as Kent’s cute (and sometimes bratty) niece was grating on my nerves a little too much. Despite the irritation, I managed to keep my cool, which is probably the best thing I could’ve done.

What else is new with me? Not a whole lot, other than work. Craziness has been going down at work over the last two weeks (more on that in another post.)

Current Obsession: DList

DList is a newish social network out there in Cyberspace (like we need another reason to avoid human, in-person contact.) I’d like to affectionately note that DList is “Manhunt meets MySpace.” Just like MySpace and every other online social network, you create a profile with your interests as well as noting your favorite movies, tv shows, and music. Adding your sexual interests and private photos are optional. That’s where the Manhunt comparison comes into play. Also, like MySpace, you can add HTML and change the colors on your profile so you can make it all pretty and shit. I also think it’s funny that when you create a profile, you automatically get DList creator, Daniel, as a friend (a la Tom from MySpace.) Good times.

I’d like to add that the men featured on DList are insanely hot and good-looking. So, go check it out!

Dish

2006-07-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo from New Mexico trip for the hell of it. Enjoy!

What B.D.A.N. (as well as my whole life) Needs Now is an Overhaul

2006-07-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

A couple months back, I had this seemingly brilliant idea that I'd develop two separate blogs, Bring D.A. Noise (the one you are reading right now) and Isolationist Noise, which was intended to be more sonically-focused, as in being music-oriented. However, I quickly discovered that I can't even regularly write in one blog, much less, two at the same time. I'd like to say that I was an ambitious person, but in reality, I've become lazier as I get older.

With that in mind, I decided to stick to one blog, which covers whatever the fuck I want to write about, which translates to "everything." Ultimately, I like the name Bring D.A. Noise, but would prefer to switch blogging platforms. I prefer WordPress, but need to read up on web design and other blog accessories in order to maximize my blogging capabilities. Therefore, Bring D.A. Noise is getting a makeover. This makeover is going to take time....A LOT of time, especially since I am such a novice as far as web design is concerned.

So, here's the plan. My first line of attack is to take a look back at my previous experiences in blogging (Disciplinarian Actions from Blogger & last WordPress blog, Live Journal, occasional posts on MySpace blog) and incorporate the ones I thought were okay here. After that, I intend on switching the Isolationist Noise domain name over to something else, incorporating WordPress into the equation. The next thing is to import the chosen entries from here to the new WordPress domain (to be determined.) During these aforementioned actions, I intend on researching and developing a better understanding of how everything in WordPress works. When all of this is done, I want to overhaul the design of Bring D.A. Noise to make it uniquely me (sounds totally cheesy, huh? I think so.)

These things (like everything else) take time. So, bear with me during this transitional period, as I work to make my blogging experience more enjoyable (as well as more interesting.) But, have no fear. My blogging will continue during this time, but may be scaled back a bit. (I can just hear Kern scratching his head at that comment.) Lately, I've been finding Bring D.A. Noise a little bit (okay, A LOT) drab for my taste, which may be keeping people away. I just want to make D.A. Noise more exciting, that's all.

So, enough blathering about this blog. I'd like to now briefly switch the focus to my life right now. Truthfully speaking, my mind and my gut strongly believe that my life sucks the big one. My heart feels really crummy right now. I thought that this vacation would make me feel better when I return. However, ever since I've come back from my wonderful experience in New Mexico (despite Jessica's family getting sick), I think that I feel worse. What the fuck is my problem? I have no idea. The thick haze of funkiness just seems to stay put, becoming more indestructible along the way. Is this all in my head? Is my life really sucky like almost every other body part seems to believe? Who knows?

Yesterday, I thought that I would take the No. 1 Metro Bus over to Easy Street in Queen Anne to purchase the new Peaches record, hoping that may make me feel better. Well, the opposite happened. The bus was over 10 minutes late, then, sat through three consecutive green lights on 3rd and Pike waiting for the 13 to move, even though he could have gone around the 13. So, in total, by the time I got to Queen Anne, approximately 25 minutes of my lunch had already elapsed. Fortunately, I caught a bus going back right away. Anyway, I return back to the office to insert the new disc into computer. Yes, I do believe that Impeach My Bush is the ultimate party record of the summer. Did it ultimately make me feel better? Uhhh...no, not really. Again, what the fuck is my problem? Again, I respond, who knows.

Impeach My Bush - Party Record of the Summer

What I do know is this: I'm seriously contemplating some significant changes to how I'm living my life as it exists today. At this point, I refuse to divulge any hints or disclose any ideas as to what may be in store for me right now. I'm not ready to discuss it, since these ideas are currently on the drawing board envisioned in my skull at this present time. But, when I'm ready to come out (again), you'll hear it first, right here at Bring D.A. Noise.

I'm nearly reaching the breaking point where I want to raise my hands in the air (with an imagined movie camera panning away from me and twirling around in circles) and exclaim to the clouds above "ENOUGH." Setting ridiculously melodramatic statements aside, have you ever reached a point where you can't take the drudgery of your dull and seemingly lifeless existence any more, to the point where you finally have to say enough is enough? That's me, right here, right now. In the past, I'd attempt to conjure the necessary steps to making myself feel better, but then, things don't change. Most often, I feel even worse. But, change is much needed for me right now. Also, the drive and desire to improve the situations in my life is also much needed right now.

There is no time like the present to make change happen. Like I always say, stay tuned.

**D.A.'s Note: I changed my mind. I will give one hint and one hint only with respect to change: NO, I am not going to become a born-again Christian, and NOT joining an Ex-Gay Ministry, either. So, you can wipe the sweat off your forehead now and sigh in relief. I PROMISE! That's all. Thanks for reading and drive safely.

B.D.A.N. Will Be Back Soon

2006-07-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick note to the TWO readers of B.D.A.N., The Kern and Another Boy from Oz:

Dear Faithful B.D.A.N. Readers (Like the new Acronym?):

Since I returned from New Mexico, I've been completely exhausted. Not only that, but I just can't get myself back into the mode of actually working, as in, my job. That is the reason why I've been silent after my short-lived rash of prolificacy (thanks for the new word, Kern, BTW) last week. Despite this insidious crime I've committed, please find it in your hearts to forgive me. I PROMISE (scout's honor, even) that I will write again very soon, most likely this weekend.

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

With Love,
D.A.

P.S. Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday Dear Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Happy Birthday to You!

Make a wish and blow out the candle, you crotchety bastard, GODAMMNIT!

Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Days 5 & 6

2006-07-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

**Note from D.A.: Since this blog lists entries in reverse order, I recommend that you start reading from Day 1 of my ABQ trip in order to see the logical progression of events during the trip.

For the most part, days five and six were pretty uneventful, as I spent a good chunk of them writing in this blog. I spent several, multiple-hour chunks of time at Satellite Coffee, a sister coffeeshop to Flying Star, sipping away at iced mochas and/or delicious cherry lemonades. Jessica needed to go to work to prepare for the next serious of summer camps, starting next week. Unfortunately for her, these days of peace and calm before the storm of next week's activities were less productive than she was hoping. The main reason for this is the fact that she had several meetings over these two days.

Wednesday evening consisted of Jessica driving to REI, standing in line forever, waiting for the only bike guy available to be free to help her, and then picking me up to take recycling out to the bins outside Smiths before heading home.

On Thursday night, while Randy was in Santa Fe river rafting, Jessica and I awaited the arrival of her brother, Andii, coming into town from Golden, Colorado, for their grandmother's 75th birthday party on Saturday afternoon. For dinner, we had fish and garlic fries, which were extremely heavy with garlic, being much more garlic-y than I like. After that, Jessica's parents dropped by with two HUGE storage bins of family photo albums, flagged with pictures that they'd like to scan for the DVD presentation of "This is your Life, Grandmother."

That was pretty much it for the last two evenings.

[Revised] Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Days 3 & 4

2006-07-07T15:32:00.000-07:00

**Note from D.A.: Since this blog lists entries in reverse order, I recommend that you start reading from Day 1 of my ABQ trip in order to see the logical progression of events during the trip.

July 3rd, 2006

Monday morning in Albuquerque was a low-key affair, as we perused the local shops of the Nob Hill area of town as well as make a final attempt at thrift store shopping. We also planned to sit down at Flying Star so that Jessica could see Bring D.A. Noise, as she's never seen this blog. Arriving at the local Buffalo Exchange shop, we swiftly scoured the racks for some cheap clothes. I stumbled upon a white and orange-checkered patterned short-sleeved Western-themed shirt, which seemed a little bit small, but nonetheless, I thought that I finally found something. Then, a certain someone swooped in and grabbed the shirt from me, proclaiming that she (Jessica) liked the shirt as well. "I'm going to try it on," she says. That bitch stole the shirt right from my hands. HOW DARE SHE?!?! Well, you can't win them all.

After the steal, we arrived at Bumblebee Burritos for lunch. Jess and I ate a side of black beans and a chicken taco, respectively, while sharing a cheese quesadilla. My idea of splitting a cheese quesadilla was actually inspired by my memory of watching Napoleon Dynamite in Seattle with Jess and Randy last October. Even though the chicken taco was not my favorite, I still enjoyed our lunch together.

After lunch, we crossed the street and checked out Natural Sound, a locally-owned record store in Nob Hill, and a local card and paper shop. Imagine Jessica's surprise when we walked out of the store (A RECORD STORE, NO LESS) without me actually buying something. I can't begin to count the number of times Jess and I shopped at record stores in Minneapolis (particularly Let It Be R.I.P.) where she literally dragged me kicking and screaming from the store. While looking around Natural Sound, I saw Surrounded, the new dual-disc box set by Bjork in the display case across the room. $129 proved to be too much for me to spend right now, given that I don't have a a whole lot to work with on this vacation. She purchased Bebel Gilberto's 2004 self-titled disc.

Jessica's musical purchase - Bebel Gilberto

After perusing Natural Sound, we set up shop at Flying Star coffeeshop and restaurant so that I could show Jessica Bring D.A. Noise. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side. The signal of Flying Star's wireless internet connection registered as being very low the whole entire time we tried to log onto the Internet. Also, the connection would give out on us frequently. After some struggle, Jessica did manage to see a little bit of my blog, but wasn't able to read it too extensively. So, instead, we hung out and took a couple pictures. Jessica also wrote a note in a card that she purchased for our friend Catherine in Minnesota.

Matt and Jess at Flying Star in Nob Hill

Before returning home for dinner, we stopped at Blockbuster to pick up Office Space, which people keep harassing me about because I hadn't seen it. After that, we headed over to Jessica’s parents, with whom I’ve not physically seen in possibly a decade or so. It’s been a long time, obviously. Jessica was helping her parents with scanning photos of her grandmother for a surprise gift for her 75th birthday this upcoming Saturday. During our stay there, I was feeling Sudoku-sick (similar to homesick, HA HA) for my Sudoku book, which I left at home. So, we decided to head over to Barnes and Noble to pick up a new Sudoku book. Along the way, Jessica found a children’s book called Skippy Jon Jones, about a feline that dreams of being a chihuahua. I discovered that Jessica collected children’s books (from when she went back to school to get a teaching certificate. After securing our purchases, we left Barnes and Noble satisfied.

Our last stop was Smiths grocery store to pick up a few last items for tomorrow’s picnic BBQ with Jessica’s parents and grandparents. We originally meant to only get a few things, but things started adding up monetarily. Jessica suddenly felt a craving for Root Beer floats, causing her to grab a thing of ice cream and a two liter of A&W root beer. We also bought three bags of chips, one bag of expensive kettle chips, which cost more than the other two bags of Lay’s products, combined. Over $40 later, we left.

We then arrived back at the house for some dinner. Jessica and Randy made White Cheddar macaroni and cheese and fresh green beans for dinner, along with salad. After dinner, we settled in to watch Office Space, which was funny. In particular, I enjoyed the scene where they stole the troublesome photocopier that jammed constantly from the office and destroyed it in a barren field in the middle of nowhere. We stayed up long enough to watch an episode of Just Shoot Me and the first half of an old Conan O'Brien episode before retiring to bed.

July 4th, 2006 - Independence Day

Fourth of July proved to be the hottest day of my trip thus far. We started the day with a trip up to the top of the Sandia Mountains, approximately seven miles outside of Albuquerque. Jessica packed water bottles and some leftovers for us to snack on when we were done walking around Sandia Crest. Also coming along for the ride was Jessica's faithful sidekick, Dito. Despite being only seven miles outside of town, total driving time was approximately an hour, since we had to maneuver around the twists and turns of mountain driving up to Sandia Crest.

Shortly after we left while driving on the freeway, Jessica and I realized that we didn't make ourselves coffee before we left the house. We decided to stop along the way at whatever coffeeshop or cafe we stumble upon along the way. We ended up stopping at Coffee At Dawn, a little cafe along Highway 14, which was actually open on the holiday. Little did we know as we walked in the door that we'd be literally be waiting 20 or so minutes for our coffee drinks to be made. The friendly woman behind the counter seemed to be having some problems with the obviously worn espresso machine. Even Jessica's patience started to wear thin as we waited and waited and waited for her Iced Cafe Au Lait and my Iced Mocha. Finally, over 20 minutes later, we bid adieu to the nice lady of Coffee at Dawn. Again, we went on our way to Sandia Crest. After about an hour, we arrived at Sandia Crest to check out the walking paths and teeter along the edge of the mountain top.

Sandia Crest has an elevation of over 11,000 feet, while the city of Albuquerque has an elevation of approximately 5200 feet. Arriving at Sandia Crest almost felt like we completely changed climates, as the temperature at the top is quite a bit cooler than in Albuquerque city limits. Cooler temperatures made our visit rather comfortable for all of us. Initially, we thought that Sandia Crest wouldn't be that busy due to the Fourth of July holiday, but we were completely wrong. There were lots of people walking along rocky paths with their children and/or their dogs. When we started walking down the path along the edge, Dito would fearlessly teeter along the edge, making me slightly nauseous.

Jessica and Dito along walking trail

While we were walking along one of Sandia Crest's trails, I discovered a tree in the middle of nowhere that had what appeared to be the letters "D.A." etched into the bark. Interesting! Funny, I swear that I've never been there before. Maybe my visit was foreshadowed by someone somewhere along the line. I could only wish.

Along the way, we also headed to Kiwannis Cabin, an old cabin built in the 1920s by a group of high school kids. Finally, we returned to the parking lot and then finished the trip by checking out the observation deck at the very top of Sandia Crest, where you can see a gorgeously breathtaking, yet slightly nauseating view overlooking Albuquerque and the surrounding area. Deciding that I was exhausted, we returned to the car to eat our snacks.

Jessica & I in front of Kiwannis Cabin
Sandia Crest, New Mexico

Jessica and I at Observation Point

After munching on our snacks (consisting of leftover green beans and white cheddar macaroni and cheese from the other day, along with strawberries), we drove back down the mountain and back into Albuquerque. Upon our return, I took a long walk into Nob Hill, walking past Flying Star, Natural Sound, and Starbucks, before returning back to house. Jessica stayed back, preparing food and salad fixings for dinner with her parents and grandparents in celebration of the Fourth of July. The plan was to have a BBQ, and then, go see fireworks.

Dinner with Jessica’s grandparents and parents was a fun and relaxing affair. Jessica’s mom and dad brought beer, wine, (early on, I knocked over my first beer, even though I was not drunk) and snacks, including wheat brownies and rice krispie-esque bars with puffed rice, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Jessica’s grandparents brought over Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Also on the menu for the evening was grilled salmon patties, tofu, asparagus stalks, corn-on-the-cob, BBQ chicken, and salad with help-yourself fixings (peppers, sliced carrots, mandarin orange slices, and onions.) As was the case all day long, grey clouds hovered in the sky, taunting us, along with the rest of Albuquerque. “Was it going to rain, or was it not going to rain,” was the question of the evening.

As sundown came, Jessica’s grandparents didn’t think that they wanted to go watch fireworks and deal with traffic. Then, suddenly in a fit of excitement, Jessica decided then that the time was right for her to tell the story of Skippy Jon Jones. Despite some minor groaning from some of us, Jessica insisted on sharing the story of Skippy Jon Jones with everyone. So, she held the book up for all to see and told the amusing tale of a cat that wishes to be a chihuahua. After storytime, we realized that practically everyone was slightly intoxicated with either beer or red wine, resulting in virtually no one being able to drive. Therefore, we decided to skip on the fireworks.

Shortly thereafter, Jessica's grandparents left for the night. Her parents stayed for a little bit longer before leaving as well. Randy and I helped Jessica clean up the kitchen and the backyard patio before retiring into to bed to recover from the long and event-filled Fourth of July activities.

Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Day 2 (Part 2: LPD)

2006-07-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

**Note from D.A.: Since this blog lists entries in reverse order, I recommend that you start reading from Day 1 of my ABQ trip in order to see the logical progression of events during the trip.

Sometime after 6:00, we arrived back at the Lobo House, as Jessica affectionately calls it, for a few minutes rest before making some dinner and preparing to go to the Legendary Pink Dots show. Once we finished with dinner and picked out our wardrobe for the show, Randy snapped some photos of us, which has been a ritual before heading out for a fun night on the town. Each time we partook in this ritual, Jessica was dating a different boyfriend, which I find interesting. Thinking about it, the first time I visited Jess in Albuquerque was the only time I actually had a boyfriend. Imagine that?!?!?!? As always, Jess and I had a lot of fun posing for the camera, in this case, the digital camera I borrowed from my roommate, Kent. Produced from this photographic session is a wonderful picture of me looking like I am stoned, unprepared for the flash that greeted my eyesight.

I'm not stoned, I SWEAR!

At long last, the night that was 15 years in the making has finally arrived. We are going to the Legendary Pink Dots show! After making a quick stop at the slowest Wells Fargo ATM I’ve ever seen, we arrived at the Launchpad, apparently the best venue to see a show in Albuquerque (or, so I’ve heard.) As you walk into the Launchpad, you are greeted by the bar, the best place to have the bar, right as you walk in the door. On your left, there are several booths to sit and chat with friends before the show. The venue is fairly narrow with exposed brick walls on each side. As you delve into the venue, you approach a stairway which leads to an upstairs sitting area with a balcony overlooking onto the stage. The layout of the Launchpad reminds me somewhat of the Fine Line Music Café in downtown Minneapolis, where I’ve seen Goldfrapp for the first time as well as Throwing Muses and American Music Club.

Going back downstairs, we pass by the merchandise table, where there was a significant chunk of LPD’s back catalogue for purchase, including both the North American (via Soleilmoon, out of Portland, OR) and German (via SPV) re-issues of their back catalogue. There was also a t-shirt, which I opted against purchasing, Edward Ka-Spel’s collection of writings and lyrics, Love and Loud Colours, and BLRR’s recently released re-issue of Eyes China Doll, the second of Edward’s China Doll series, released during the late 80’s and early 90’s. After some trepidation over the small budget I left myself with (having a small or no budget at all is the story of my life, by the way), I forked over $35 for Love and Loud Colours. I mean, after all, that was on the top of my list of LPD items to purchase. As I was hesitating, I remembered that the book included a CD single, which sealed the deal for me.

Up until we arrived at Launchpad, we had no idea if there was an opening act, or when the show was actually started. As it turned out, there wasn’t an opening act (that was a surprise), and that they were supposed to start at 9:30. Wow, a LPD show that could be done by 11:00! The forthcoming Seattle show on the 11th has 2 opening acts, which means that LPD would not start until 11:00, at least. Interesting! But, I digress.

So, we headed to the bar for a quick drink before the show. Even though I was wearing my Guinness hat, I ordered a Budweiser. Again, small budgets equal Budweiser. Jess ended up with a Guinness. I didn’t realize that she liked Guinness. Well, maybe I knew that. I kept reminding myself that I needed to have enough money left at the end of the trip for a place to crash in Portland on the 10th and an Amtrak or Greyhound ticket back to Seattle. God, budgeting money completely SUCKS ASS!

Grabbing a table underneath the balcony, we sat before the show to people-watch. Alongside those people dressed for the summer weather were also a few of the usual suspects, dressed in head-to-toe goth gear. At this point in time, the venue was not very full, but slowly people started trickling into the standing area. Jessica mentioned to me that since there isn’t a backstage area like most venues, the band would be coming from the balcony to approach the stage. Most likely, the band was hanging out in an undisclosed location behind a door on the upper level, marked “NO ENTRY.”

Sometime after 9:15 or so, we grabbed a place to stand in front of the stage, since a few people were starting to claim space. We originally picked the middle, but as usual, I found myself behind a tall guy, so I suggested that we grabbed an open space in front of stage left. We stood in front of what appeared to be Silverman’s setup, which consisted of synthesizers and effects, along with a cape draped over the front of the stand. The cape had some pink dots on it, how apropos. When we were looking at merchandise, the guy behind the table gave each of us a pink dot sticker and a button. I ended up getting a second button because I waited to get the book, and was given one again when I made my purchase.

**D.A.’s note: With regards to describing their performance, I’ve opted to discuss specifics of the Albuquerque show in a future blog entry. I’d like to discuss highlights and thoughts on the other two LPD shows I will be attending in Portland (Berbati’s Pan) and Seattle (Chop Suey) as this point. Therefore, my description here is abridged, but also contains a couple photos from the show.

The show started at approximately 9:45. The Legendary Pink Dots, consisting of Edward Ka-Spel, Silverman, Niels van Hoornblower, and Martijn de Kleer, descended the balcony stairs to take their places on the stage. Edward approached the stage wearing a black tunic over jeans, walking barefoot, as he has each time I’ve seen him in the past. Niels wore, by far, the flashiest suit and pants I’ve ever seen him in. For the next 90 or so minutes, everyone in the audience was entranced by ethereal vocals of Edward. At one point, in traditional LPD fashion, Niels walked into the audience, making everyone swoon in his path with his excellent “hoornblowing” ability. He even walked upstairs with his saxophone (with a light attached) to serenade fascinated onlookers.

Their set consisted of what I believed to be tracks from the new album, Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves, along with other tracks I’m not familiar with. The one song I did recognize was Belladonna, which started their encore. Their live performance here brought back memories of past LPD shows I’ve seen. Their music is whimsical at times, nearly apocalyptic at times (nowhere near what I felt when listening to the new Current 93 album, for example, Black Ships Ate the Sky.)

At one point, Edward bent over to sing to two gothic-looking girls, one appearing to be more normal, with a pink dot sticker on each of her breasts (how original); and the other one definitely donning the dominatrix look. Personally, I find the gothic look completely silly. But, these two wouldn’t be out of place at all in Seattle’s Vogue nightclub. My only complaint about the show was the few people that were standing behind us, chattering loudly during softer parts of the set. Stupid chattering assholes have been a real thorn in my side lately. I'm seeing more and more of it, which drives me completely insane. But, half the time, the perpetrators appear to be able to kick my ass. In the end, if I turn around to say "SHUT THE FUCK UP," I'd most likely make it worse. But, why the fuck do idiots spend their money on shows if they are just going to talk all the way through it??? That pisses me off.

After the show, the band came around to chat with the crowd. A small line formed alongside the merchandise table to greet Edward. After some coaxing, Jessica got me to get in line so Edward could autograph my book. When we got to him, Jessica did most of the talking. I’ve always been in awe of Edward, which made the moment magically. Jessica thanked Edward for coming to Albuquerque, being that she’s always missed out on seeing past shows.

We left Launchpad a short time later to find a place to get a drink, but a lot of the bars in town were actually closed, most likely because it was Sunday night. Then, we had the idea of driving over to the Pulse Nightclub, the gay nightclub in town, but that, too, was closed. Jess then suggested Albuquerque Mining Company, which she thought was gay-owned, given the giant leather daddy painted on the wall outside. We arrived there to see that AMC, too, was closed. We gave up, and headed home to retire for the evening.

Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Day 2 (Part 1: Shopping)

2006-07-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

**Note from D.A.: Since this blog lists entries in reverse order, I recommend that you start reading from Day 1 of my ABQ trip in order to see the logical progression of events during the trip.

Day two of my Albuquerque trip started on a delicious note with Jessica cooking a nice late-morning breakfast with wheat pancakes, scrambled eggs, sliced strawberries and veggie sausage patties. Again, YUM! After that, the plan was for Jessica and I to do some thrift store shopping, but first, Jess needed to go to the car wash. Jess paid for a car wash, along with vacuuming and polishing. Well, later, we discovered that they failed to clean the pumper, which caused Jess some fits of annoyance and irritation lasting for the next several hours. There's nothing worse than not getting what you paid for.

What's a good way to follow up an evening of shopping? Yes, you've guessed it - another day of shopping. I mean, what else is there for a gay guy and his "not so fag-haggish" fag hag to do on a warm sunny afternoon in Albuquerque (oh, and it also being a holiday weekend)? Apparently, unlike in the mighty city of Seattle, there’s not a whole lot else to do. The agenda was to get a couple pairs of shorts for me and some inexpensive hiking boots for Jessica. So, we set off to one of Albuquerque’s finest strip malls and arrived at an Old Navy sandwiched between a discount shoe store and a Skechers superstore. Woooowee! I wasn’t so sure I could handle the multitude of choices.

So, we walked into the discount shoe store, not Famous Footwear, but a local version of it. I found a pair of black suede Converse All-Stars high-top sneakers, which I totally loved, but wasn’t sure that I could afford them. Ultimately, I made the reluctant decision not to buy them, thinking that I could always go back before the end of the trip to get them. Jessica, on the other hand, wasn’t having such luck. Her quest for women’s hiking boots was more arduous than anticipated. So, we left. Our next stop was Old Navy.

Under normal circumstances, being that I am normally surrounded by Capital Hill’s Bauhaus coffee-guzzling Hipsters from Hell (I love Bauhaus, actually), I’d be embarrassed to admit that I wear Old Navy. However, being that I don’t have Mommy’s money to spend on a regular basis, I am on a budget. So, therefore, if I want to buy my shorts at Old Navy, fuck it, I will buy my shorts there. Since Albuquerque doesn’t have ridiculously overpriced hipster clothing stores such as Zebra Club, Urban Outfitters or Ian, Old Navy is the natural alternative. Besides, for the price of a XL t-shirt only an anorexic 95 pound gay “boi” could fit in, I got TWO pairs of cargo shorts! Count em, TWO PAIRS OF SHORTS! Imagine that. To complete my newly-acquired suburban mini-wardrobe was a nice looking Madras shirt and two worn-in v-neck shirts. Jessica found a cute sleeveless crocheted blouse for $2.97, which I purchased for her. Success!

From there, we skipped Skechers and walked over to another discount shoe store so that Jessica could continue her quest for new hiking boots. Right before I arrived into town the day before, at last minute, Jessica filled in for a sick day camp instructor on an overnight trip to Los Alamos, NM, approximately three hours from Albuquerque, with a group of 2nd and 3rd graders. By the way, Jessica works as an Education Coordinator at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. There, she organizes and coordinates educational programs facilitated through the museum, including annual summer camps for children of all ages. Anyway, when they got there, while setting up their pup tents and gear, the clouds rolled in and suddenly, the frightened children were pelted with hail and soaking wet. Fortunately, Jessica had another person with her to help gather the kids together to seek shelter. Aside from that, the trip went fine, but Jessica accidentally left her soaked hiking boots at the campground where they were staying. Since getting her boots would require a six-hour roundtrip, she decided to leave them there, which spawned her shopping for a new pair. Besides, that would totally suck ass if she traveled three hours to end up not finding them. So, we arrived at this other shoe store, but no luck. Women’s hiking boots must be hard to come by in Albuquerque.

From there, we hit Starbucks for some chilled drinks. But, Jessica, being health-conscious, opted against their choices of frappucinos, so she just got a decaf coffee. She even asked the barista, who apparently was fairly new, what process they use to decaffeinate their coffee beans, to which he responded blankly. Fortunately, the woman who was making the drinks, saved the day, explaining that they used the Swiss process of decaffeinating their beans, which apparently is the better option. The other option apparcks.comently uses formaldehyde, which definitely doesn’t sound very good. YUCK! In the car ride to our next destination, Jessica explained the difference between the two processes, which inspired me to nickname her Debbie Downer, after Rachel Dratch’s character on Saturday Night Live. I’d follow it with the sound effects of the “Charlie Brown’s school teacher.” But, you can’t fault the girl for being health-conscious, but I personally prefer the “oblivious avoidance” technique for dealing with those issues. “La, la, la, la….La, la, la, la…”

After Starfucks (as I like to call it from time to time), we headed on our way to check out some thrift stores. Earlier, when we got the car washed, we passed two small thrift stores, but they were closed (assumedly because of the holiday and that they were owned by local churches.) We hoped we’d have better luck at Thrift Town, a locally-owned thrift store, like Savers or Value Village, which moved to a new location since my last visit in November 2002. Back then, I found a cute short-sleeved shirt for $3.50 or $4, which I still wear to this day, so I figured that I’d find something again. I literally only spent three to five minutes in the men’s section before I decided that there wasn’t anything I liked. I think I found one shirt, but there was a stain on it. Damn! On the other hand, Jessica found a couple sun dresses to try on and a funny looking white fuzzy vest. I told her to try it on with the white frilly Mexican sun dress that she also found just for kicks. Even though, she looked silly in this outfit, nonetheless, the look provided a perfect photo-op. The look screams “Bjork wanna-be from Albuquerque.” Do you like the rhyme? Ha ha!

**Geez, suddenly, he thinks he’s Tupac!**

Jessica raiding Bjork's closet, as
envisioned by Thrift Town in ABQ

After Jessica’s fashion show in Thrift Town’s fitting room, we ventured to Savers. Again, we didn’t have any luck. We only spent maybe fifteen minutes. Our thrift store shopping left us slightly hungry for a snack, so we decided upon Taco Bell for a quick bit to eat for a late lunch. Paying for my baja beef chalupa and steak soft taco made me realize how expensive eating fast food at Taco Bell in Capital Hill is. The difference is clearly in the sales tax. I saved at least a $1. $1.25 could get me an extra apple fritter at Bauhaus. To me, that’s a big deal. But, that’s Seattle for you. I just need to get over it.

From there, Jessica needed to drop by her grandparents house so I waited in the hot and stuffy car, thinking that she’d only be a few minutes. Well, over a half-hour later, I figured that I better go inside, otherwise, I’d pass out from heat exhaustion. Besides, we wanted to try and check out Kaufman’s, a local military and uniform gear shop, and figured it’d be closed early on Sunday. Lately, the wannabe disciplinarian in me wants some military-looking clothes for Halloween, or dress-up nights at the Eagle. As it turns out, Jessica was recounting her Los Alamos story to her grandparents, which reminds me that I failed to mention that fearless leader Jessica also has a run-in with a hungry skunk. So, we left, but discovered that Kaufman’s was actually closed Sundays in general. We were foiled again.

Then, we finalized our trip with a stop at Big 5 Sporting Goods to make one last attempt at finding hiking boots for Jessica. We arrived there, and Jessica found some boots that were okay, but ultimately decided to wait to buy them. Jessica and I think alike. We bitch and bitch and bitch in frustration when we can’t find what we’re looking for, but when we do, we think in dollars and cents and the balk at buying the thing that we were just complaining about not finding. Ha ha! But admitting that you have a problem is half the battle right there.

**End of Part One**

Travelogue: Albuquerque, NM - Day 1

2006-07-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday afternoon, I left the warm sunny skies of Seattle for the (much) warmer and humid skies of Albuquerque, NM, to visit my wonderful and incredibly awesome best friend of 15 years, Jessica, for the week. After dealing with some minor irritations checking in at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, I grabbed a quick lunch at the incredibly busy Wendy's restaurant while waiting for the rare non-stop flight I was boarding to leave.

Coming into this trip, I found myself extremely worn out from the stress of work and frustration of my social (or the lack thereof) life. As can be seen in the picture below this paragraph, you can see the exhausted, glazed-over look in my eyes (well, actually, my eyes are closed.) I've eagerly awaited this trip for the last two months, particularly when I found out that the Legendary Pink Dots announced their first-ever Albuquerque show. That made this trip even more special because after all these years, Jessica and I would finally be attending our first-ever LPD concert together (after 15 years of missed opportunities for Jessica, as I've seen them three times, and the fact that she was responsible for introducing me to LPD in the first place.)

For the most part, Southwest Flight #2576 was smooth, until we got about 150 miles from Albuquerque. That's when the turbulence hit. That last half hour of the flight proved to be excruciating for me, considering I am not quite the frequent flyer, unlike my mother (as a mistreated, disrespected Northwest flight attendant), who deals with turbulence on a regular basis. For a few fleeting minutes, I thought of possible doomsday scenarios, thinking that this might be my last flight. Those scenarios, of course, proved to be silly (obviously, otherwise I'd not be typing this as we speak LOL.) At last, I arrived at about 5:40, ABQ time.

As usual, I was enthusiastically greeted by Jessica and her boyfriend Randy. Thinking about it now, I realized that this is the shortest time apart we've had in the last ten years, being that Jessica just visited me this past October in Seattle. I've made it a point to try and see her more frequently than I have in the past. As a matter of fact, we may meet up in San Francisco in September to see Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint exhibit at SFMoMA, as a belated 33rd birthday treat to my dear friend. Jessica always knows how to bring a smile to my face whenever I am down. She has the knack for keeping me grounded. Now, I just need to find a boyfriend to do that. Anyway, moving on...

Our first order of business when I arrived was to get groceries for the week. But, before we did that, Jessica and Randy expressed that they wanted to go to Keva Juice to get juice smoothies and then walk to McDonalds for some french fries. Hmmm....an interesting combination. At that thought, I instantly became reminded of the many times Jess and I went to the Uptown McDonalds in Uptown Minneapolis (or as our mutual friend, Audra, affectionately called McD's...Skank Nation) for McDonalds french fries and Hot Mustard McNuggets sauce. So, imagine the scenario, a vegetarian and her faggoty friend eating french fries fried in animal fat. Yummy! What memories!

From there, we went to Trader Joe's for some grocery shopping. Little did I know as we walked through the automatic doors that we would be embarking on what easily became the longest grocery shopping trip of my life. Shopping for organic foods can be so complicated and time-consuming at the same time. But, I'm doing this with Jessica, so that is what made it fun. Even though Jessica's grocery list was short, we still managed to peruse every single aisle of Trader Joe's. I repeatedly reminded myself the whole entire time that I am in Albuquerque and people are more relaxed and don't constantly operate with a stopwatch. I'm not at work so there's no need for me to be constantly rushing through my day. Albuquerque is a place to be laid back in, so I better learn to become accustomed to the relaxed approach to life.

During our extended excursion at Trader Joe's, I discovered that practically ALL of their employees were hotties. Seriously, the hotness factor of Trader Joe's employees overwhelmed me with excitement. Early on in our grocery shopping trip, I apparently became popular amngst the two young Hispanic men that stared at me hard as I walked by the checkout aisle where they stood. Relishing in the unanticipated attention, I calmly hoped that this was a sign of things to come for this trip. Anyway, back to the hotness factor, a cutie with tattooed arms walked by when we were in the frozen food aisle, enticing eager customers with free samples of their cheesecake. Stopping to where I was standing, he invited us to buy one of their cheesecakes since they were on sale.

Finally, about 90 minutes later, we arrived at the checkout aisle. Then, in what seemed like a flash, the grocery shopping trip was completed. From there, we then went to Target for a few things. My intent was to buy some new white t-shirts and some new socks. Well, I got the t-shirts (I decided on v-necks) and the socks, but also, along the way, picked up a cool Guinness baseball cap with a patch that says "Guinness Keeps Its Head," a copy of the remastered Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison, Gatorade, and a pack of citrusmint-flavored Orbit gum (BTW, the new Orbit gum commercial with Snopp Dogg is hilarious, but I digress...) Then, at long last, the evening of shopping was completed and we returned to Jess' house for a late dinner.

I arrived at Jess' house and was greeted by the barking of Dito, Jess' dog (a mix of Blue Heeler and Australian Cattle Dog,) whom I met for the first time. After a late dinner of vegetarian cheese pizza and salad, we settled into the living room to watch an episode of the Simpsons and then watched a rerun of Saturday Night Live. That ended my first evening in Albuquerque.

Vacation Time at Last

2006-07-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

So, unbelievably, we are already at the mid-year point of 2006. Gosh golly, the end of June came too quickly for me. You know what this means??? Two words - NEW MEXICO. NEW MEXICO? You ask. Well, the answer is simple. I'm going on vacation. Believe it or not, I am going on vacation this Saturday when I fly the friendly skies (no, I'm not flying on Northwest Airlines...sorry Mom!) to New Mexico, Albuquerque, to be exact, to visit my dear friend Jessica.

Jessica & I in front of Gum Wall in Pike Place Market
October 2005

While I am on vacation, I PROMISE (SOLEMNLY SWEAR) that I will write while I am sweating it out like a bareback pig bottom fresh out of Basic Plumbing (seriously, though, NOT REALLY) in beautiful Albuquerque. That's a promise I am determined to keep. Again, as always, stay tuned.

Dubya as You've Never Seen Him

2006-06-28T00:11:00.000-07:00

My friend from MySpace, Elle, sent me this photo, which cracked my shit up. I promise to write more in this damn thing soon, but in the meantime, enjoy the new side of our....**emulating the sound of vomiting**...."beloved" president!

Current List - June 16, 2006

2006-06-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

D.A.'s Current list for June 16, 2006

Reading:

Just finished reading Floor Sample, an autobiography written by The Artist's Way creator, Julia Cameron. Floor Sample provides insight into how events in her life (mainly her bout with alcoholism, and subsequent sobriety) formulated the foundation for The Artist's Way. She was once married to world famous filmmaker, Martin Scorsese.

Next up:

A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig

The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown: For the third time....maybe I will actually finish it for once.

Godless - Ann Coulter: Some time ago, The Kern asked me why I'd want to spend the money on buying the wackjob's books. My answer was that I was impatient and didn't want to be 564th in line on the reserve list at the library. But, I can't help but love her tomfoolery and her loathsome stupidity. So, I came up with the idea that I may go to a different bookstore each day and read a chapter from the book so that I don't have to spend the money. Also, I'm morbidly curious to see what kind of responses I get from people that see me read this book.

Current listening:

A Bugged Out Mix - Miss Kittin
Black Ships Ate the Sky - Current 93
The Drift - Scott Walker
The Sleeping Mustache
Rather Ripped - Sonic Youth
The Sun Awakens - Six Organs of Admittance
operettAmorale - Black Sun Productions
The Ape of Naples - Coil
The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast - Matmos
Alles Fallt - Das Bierbeben
The Conduit - Jarboe
Seies - Larsen
The Hacker And N.O.W. - The Hacker
Your Children Placate You In Premature Graves - Legendary Pink Dots
Salvador - Ricardo Villalobos
You Are There - Mono

WM3 Worldwide Awareness Day

2006-06-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

In 1993, the tragic murder of 3 eight year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, shocked the town and the nation. On June 3 of that year, 3 young teenagers, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols, were arrested and subsequently convicted of murder. While Jessie and Jason were sentenced to life plus 40 and life without parole, respectively, Damien was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

These three young men were arrested, charged, and sentenced, even though West Memphis police, in particular, coerced Jessie into an "error-filled" confession, and they never officially found hard evidence linking the three to the crime. During the trial, Jessie, Jason, and Damien were repeatedly subjected to intense scrutiny, discriminated against, and instantly deemed guilty, based solely on the way they looked, the way they dressed, and what music they listened to. As a result, three innocent men went to prison, serving life and death sentences. Despite being in this situation, all three remain hopeful and optimistic that they will one day be free.

Their case has also been profiled in two critically-acclaimed documentaries, Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2, as well as documented in the book The Devil's Knot by author Mara Leavitt.

I don't know a whole lot about the specific details or the history of this case, but this website is a wealthy source of information about the case as well as providing ways for people to contribute to the Free WM3 Legal Fund. For example, Damien Echols (who's currently living in solitary confinement on Death Row) has made various attempts at appealing his death sentence as well as request for a DNA test that could (and most likely, would) exonerate him of any wrongdoing. He's obtained new counsel that has worked extremely hard to pursue any and all possible legal options so that Damien can be given a chance to clear his name. The costs for pursuing these avenues are significant, and any donation helps fight towards allowing Damien due process before the law, just like any other American human being.

Today, which has been designated WM3 Worldwide Awareness Day, marks the 13th anniversary of their arrest. Events are being held all over the country with the explicit intent to raise awareness of the cause as well as raise much needed funds to assist WM3 and their families with the legal aide that they need and fully deserve, just like you and me. In recent years, the WM3 have gained many allies, speaking out on their behalf and raising awareness, including actors Margaret Cho, Wynona Ryder, and Jack Black, as well as South Park co-creator Trey Parker, Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder, X vocalist John Doe, musician Steve Earle, Misfits vocalist Michale Graves, and members of the Supersuckers and Alkaline Trio, amongst many others.

Eddie Vedder shares songwriting credit with Damien on the track Army Reserve from Pearl Jam's new self-titled album. Also, last year, Margaret Cho was instrumental in publishing Damien's memoirs called Almost Home.

I firmly believe in my heart that every human being deserves to be treated with fairness and dignity. Persecution, subtle and overt, is a daily part of my life as an openly gay man, living in a religiously and politically divided country. Even though I've personally gone through tough times in the past, I can't even begin to fathom what life is like for Jessie, Jason, and Damien, whose adult lives have been spent unjustly imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit. The trials living my life as openly gay under the scrutiny of others pales in comparison to what these men are going through in the lives. Beyond the debate over death penalty in this country is the mere fact that these innocent men had their lives taken away from under the circumstances of their case.

Being an avid listener of Black Sabbath doesn't automatically deem a person "satanic" or "evil" or "demonic" or "murderous." Wearing all black doesn't always mean that you practice Satanism. As is typical of every act of right-wing punditry in the U.S., the innocence or guilt of certain persons (particularly with the WM3) is based solely on musical listening habits, movie viewing habits, or interest with occultism. Anyone living outside the realm of what is subjectively deemed "moral" is instantly viewed as "insert religiously bigoted statement of choice here". Meanwhile, the lives of Jessie, Damien, and Jason are in the balance, in the case of Damien, is extingusihable at the discretion of another human being, which in my heart believe is just plain wrong. Life is too precious to take for granted when you're living in this kind of hell. The whole thing just sickens me beyond belief.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Jason Baldwin, and Damien Echols, as well as their families, friends, and the legal counsel representing them on this slightly-cloudy afternoon here in Seattle. I'm not an overtly religious person...I prefer to use the word "spiritual," but I do believe that there is a higher being that loves these three unconditionally (unlike what the Pat Robertson's, the Bill O'Reilly's, the Fred Phelps's, and Ken Hutcherson's of the world would like to tell you.)

At the same time, I also pray for the families of the three eight-year old victims and members of the West Memphis community as well. Their losses are unfathomable, but I sincerely hope that there's room for forgiveness of these three (and also, whoever is truy responsible for the crime.) I urge everyone who firmly believes in the dignity of the human spirit to become educated on the case and to lend support to the hard-working legal representatives that working to finally free the WM3.

Blogpsot = Amazing Bible Studies

2006-05-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-19T23:01:00.000-07:00

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??????

2006-05-18T01:06:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-05-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

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)

2006-05-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

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.

Current List for May 2006

2006-04-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Now that I am back blogging again, I thought that I'd list my current favorite items of interest in the areas of listening, reading, and other stimuli. April is drawing to a close, so bring on the May flowers (as the age old adage goes)!!

Favorite Record of the Moment:

Out now! The latest in the Bugged Out! series comes to you, courtesy of the self-coined "unique" Miss Kittin. As with every Bugged Out! set, there's one disc devoted to the uptempo rhythms of a night on the town, while the other disc is devoted to the bedroom dj in all of us. Last year's mix, by current sensation Erol Arkan, impressively melded today's hottest club sounds, while slowing it down for the second disc with the uberchill of 60s easy listening classics and the glam 70s prog rock. At the same time, Arkan also throws in a little M83 for good measure, while closing it out with the blissful trance pop of the Spacemen 3. Miss Kittin, on the other hand, chooses to keep the same pace over both discs, making for a stellar smorgasbord of clash-free electro soundscapes alongside rave classics like Don't Go by the Awesome 3. The "chill-out" disc effectively melds D.A. noisily (get it?) hard clang of the classic Aphex Twin remix of Curve's Falling Free, with the icy cold chill of the Two Lone Swordmen mix of Saint Etienne's Heart Failed (In the Back of a Taxi.)

This edition of the Bugged Out! mix best reflects Miss Kittin's recent dj gigs of last year, most characteristic of her mix set from last year's Sonar Festival in Barcelona, where she pulled out one of my personal all-time favorite techno classics, the formidable The House is Mine by Caspar Pound's Hypnotist moniker. Are you looking to relive the good 'ole days where you wore that pacifier on a chain around your neck and baggy dress-length, rainbow-striped t-shirts while walking down today's streets with the iPod and ear-buds? Well, this is the ultimate soundtrack for your journey to the dancefloors of 2006.

Listening: The next 9 (in no particular order):
Ellen Allien and Apparat Orchestra of Bubbles
Matmos The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth
Ladytron The Harmonium Sessions (limited edition tour ep)
Massive Attack Collection (limited deluxe edition)
Fe-Mail Blixter Toad
Larsen Seies
Final 3
Black Sun Productions operettAmorale
Duncan Vainio Vaisanen Nine Suggestions

Other Listening:
Wire Pink Flag (re-issue)
Leaether Strip After The Devastation
Supersilent Supersilent 1-3
Ladytron Witching Hour/Extended Play
V/A Rune Grammofon Money Will Ruin Everything
Mogwai Mr. Beast
Daniel Menche Concussions
Spunk En Aldeles Forferdelig Sykdom
Spunk (remixed) Filtered Through Friends
Organum Sanctus
Covenant Skyshaper
McLusky Mcluskyisms
The Hope Blister Underarms and Sideways
Stereolab Fab Four Suture
Cocteau Twins Lullabies for Volaine
V/A MSF Benefit Not Alone
Current 93 How He Loved The Moon (Moonsongs for Jhonn Balance)
Nine Inch Nails Every Day is Exactly the Same ep
Klutae Hit & Run
Morrissey Ringleader of the Tormentors
V/A American Gigolo 2 Mixed by Abe Duque

Current Reading:

Other Reading:
The Artist's Way Julia Cameron
Money Will Ruin Everything Rune Grammofon
Writing Down The Bones Natalie Goldberg
Wreckers of Civilisation - Coum Transmissions & Throbbing Gristle Simon Ford
The DaVinci Code Dan Brown
In Beauty Zadie Smith
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert Pirsig
Howl Fifty Years Later: The Poem That Changed America Jason Shinder (Editor)

Overtime at Work: LOTS of it!

Most eagerly anticipated event: A VACATION (FINALLY) to New Mexico for 4th of July

Forthcoming Items of Interest:

Film:
The DaVinci Code
United 93

Live shows:
Architect [Haujobb side project] (The Vogue, May 3)
Slow Music with Bill Rieflin, Hector Zazou, Robert Fripp, Peter Buck, and friends (Showbox, May 6)
Goldfrapp (Showbox, May 11)
Modeselektor (ReBar, May 19)
Mogwai (Neumos, May 23)
Ministry/Revolting Cocks (Showbox, May 28)
Sonic Youth (Moore Theatre, June 30)
Legendary Pink Dots (Launch Pad ABQ, July 2; Berbati's PDX July 10; Chop Suey SEA, July 11) A Silver Mt. Zion/Carla Bozulich (Neumos, August 18)

Forthcoming records:
Carla Bozulich Evangelista
Peaches Impeach My Bush
Legendary Pink Dots Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves
PTV3 (Psychic TV) Hell is Invisible...Heaven is Her/E
Sonic Youth Rather Ripped
Throbbing Gristle Part Two MAYBE SOMEDAY

Another Scandal in the Literary World

2006-04-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, the author of the book A Million Little Pieces, James Frey, was crucified by the media (particularly by loud-mouthed, right-wing talk radio hosts) when the truth came out that he "embellished" certain facts in the book to make the story interesting. Under normal circumstances, that is not so much of a problem, unless your finished product is categorized as non-fiction. Pieces gained notoreity when the queen of talk show entertainment, Oprah Winfrey, made it a selection of the month for her famous book club.

Speculation about the questionable credibility of Frey's story later surfaced a short time later, spawning a phone call from Oprah herself into Frey's interview on the Larry King show to defend the book, proclaiming that his "story of redemption resonated with her." When Frey fessed up a short time later, the shit hit the fan! Boy, oh boy, it sure did. On January 26th (my birthday), Frey returned to the Oprah show for a public display of ridicule, spearheaded by the duped talk show host herself. The fallout from the incident left a bitter taste in the mouths of many in the literary community, calling into question the integrity of authors.

Now, three months later, another up and coming fiction writer by the name of Kaavya Viswanathan, a Harvard University student, is in hot water, being accused of plagarism. Her critically-lauded debut novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life, has been pulled from stores by her publisher, Little, Brown and Company, when it surfaced that certain passages were plagarized from a series of novels by another author, Megan McCafferty. These passages "unintentionally minicked," nearly word-for-word (as Viswanathan maintains), passages from Megan's novels, Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings.

In light of this new scandal, Frey's "alleged crimes" pale in comparison. While Frey was guilty of misrepresenting embellishments as truth, at least he did not blatantly plagarize another author's work. In reality, I'm curious to know how many non-fiction books actually feature subtle fabrications and other embellishments in the interest of making for original storytelling. Unfortunately, Frey made the mistake of getting caught in the heat of the lies and deceit. In turn, he was demonized and vilified in the media for his misgivings.

His deceit culminated in an intense backlash, resulting in legal action, raised by "duped" readers of the book. Some readings even recommended the book to friends, while psychiatrists and mental health experts encouraged patients to read the book. As a result, consumers sued for fraud in droves, demanding compensation for money spent on the book as well as "wasted time." In my mind, not only is that going overboard, but it's just plain stupid. If "wasted time" becomes the standard for which compensation is based on, then people might as well be able to sue the major TV networks for "wasting viewers' time" for worthless trash on the airwaves (I'd like to sue for the waste that is ALL reality TV). While we're at it, can we also sue radio stations and the major record labels for wasting our time and polluting our bodies with air waves emitted as a result of ALL the shitty music they produce and manufacture for public consumption? (I'd like to sue for being subjected to Britney Spears and Korn, amongst others.) Where would it end? People already believe that us Americans are too much of a litigious society. Allowing the ability to legally pursue compensation using the standard of "wasted time" would only make things worse.

On the other hand, the allegations against Viswanathan have harsher ramifications for the accused. The author misrepresented her writing style as being her own, when in reality, the style mimicks the style of another established author. Maybe the error of judgment on Viswanathan's part could be attributed to youthful ignorance or a lack of literary knowledge, but the truth is, her actions are unconscionable. On the other hand, part of the responsibility for this egregious lapse of judgment should fall on the editor of Opal Mehta. I'd like to believe that the editor should be responsibilty for fact-checking as well as checking for potential plagarism from other source material. (As an aside note, albeit minor, the English student that I'd like to be has recently an increasing number of typos in books that I've read recently. This really surprises me. I've only just begun to notice this problem.)

Am I being too picky? No, I don't think so. As a reader with an interest in English literature, I have a reasonable expectation of accuracy in literature on all levels, spelling or otherwise. I may not be likely to sue a famous author over such errors, but I believe accuracy should be part of the responsibility of a professional, bestselling author. I'm interested to see how this story develops. As mentioned earlier, the book has been pulled from shelves, while legal action is being contemplated. I expect that standards for accuracy in literature may change in the aftermath of this latest literary controversy.

TONIGHT: Dining Out for Life 2006

2006-04-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the 13th annual Dining Out for Life fundraiser, a nationwide event sponsored by AIDS-related charities (Lifelong AIDS Alliance here in Seattle.) Every year, this event raises much needed money for people living with HIV/AIDS. Over 150 restaurants in the Seattle area are participating in this wonderful event, with portions of the proceeds going to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance. They are an incredible organization that have done wonderful things for those in need throughout the Seattle area. They also sponsor the AIDS Walk annually, this year's coming up on September 9th. So, if you're looking for something to do, while helping out a wonderful cause, please partake in your local Dining Out for Life fundraiser.

I've participated over the last few years in Minneapolis as well as Seattle, and eagerly anticipate a great meal at the Greek restaurant, El Greco in Capital Hill. I recently enjoyed a great Sunday brunch there with my good friend, Ashley. Good times in the name of great food and worthy causes. Bon appetite!

Retooling time for this blog thing

2006-04-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

It's Confession Time here at Bring D.A. Noise:

I've been bored...bored to DEATH with life. Life has this funny way of playing mental tricks on you when you least expect it, almost rendering you to the point of numbness. This past winter, just like past winters, signs of vitality in my soul are slim to non-existent. I wonder why I get into these unshakeable funks, which lead me to bouts of isolationist thinking. I've been anti-social of late, choosing instead to plug the headphones into the iPod and keep to myself. It's blatantly obvious that I have not blogged in over two months. Recently, though, I've been missing this blog so thought that I'd get back to business. As my co-worker/blogging friend, The Kern, can attest to, I've recently expressed several ideas for things to write about. However, they never ended up seeing the light of day.

What's my problem, anyway? Is it the lack of inspired writing? Lack of confidence in my writing abilities? Lack of focus? Fear of rejection of my writing? Well, ultimately, I chock it up to utter laziness. However, I want to change that. With change in mind, the plan is for the Bring D.A. Noise blog to retooled and revamped. For the time being, I will continue to blog using this Blogspot addy, but, will eventually return to WordPress. I'm also thinking of renaming my blog as well. The name of choice at the moment is "Spunk Action." At this point, don't ask me what inspired this name choice because I'm not going to tell you. *wink wink*

What's been missing from my blog is a sense of focus. When I first started blogging (with LiveJournal), I never clearly defined the main objectives of why I blogged in the first place. A specific purpose wasn't set in stone. My writing was based on whatever I felt like writing at the time a particular post came into being. How can I make my blog an unique experience for myself and its readers? I did, however, tell myself that I wanted to veer away from what other gay bloggers were writing. I didn't want to write about crushes on high school jocks or experiences with drugs and sex. That's boring to me.

With that in mind, I came up with the idea for the current incarnation of my blog, Bring D.A. Noise. With this idea, I wanted to document my experiences with discovering and delving into non-traditional, unconventional, and experimental music. At the time, I thought "What a perfect idea for a blog!", particularly since I am such a big music fan. Writing about music most other people don't know or understand is a great blog idea that stands out from other "queer" blogs. However, when I did write about music, the writing was bland and uninspired. That bland style of writing resulted in the deterioration of confidence in my writing ability. Then, I got bored and lost interest in writing. Also, struggles with depression didn't help matters.

As recent as a few days ago, I sat down and put some thought into what kind of a blog I'd like to write. My desire for a clearer definition of my intentions for blogging was long overdue. As I thought about this, my earlier idea of writing about my exploration into experimental music creeped back into my consciousness. After further thought, there were other things that I wanted to write about. In the end, I came up with three main objectives that I'd like to accomplish for this blog.

1. What I'd like to call "The Usual Suspects": The usual rants, raves, observations, anecdotes, revelations, moments of self-realization, and random acts of "bitching and moaning" about the current state of the country I live in and the world around me. This has always been a part of my blog, but I'd like to take these ideas to a new level of interest and excitement.

2. Experimental music exploration: Detailing my "journey" (yeah, yeah, yeah...I know it's a cheezy and an extremely overused term, but I don't have any better words that come in mind) through the "adventures of modern music," as the British magazine The Wire proudly endorses. Writing in the style of a music review, I'd like to document artists that continue to fascinate me and adventurous music.

3. My Artistic Recovery: Documenting revelations encountered while walking through the artistic recovery process, by way of the incredible and thought-provoking book, The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. More to come on this in future blog entries.

All in all, I anticpate increased blogging activity on my part over the course of the next several weeks, ultimately culminating in a new blog address and design. So, stay tuned (and THIS TIME, I MEAN IT.)

The "Current" List for February 2006

2006-01-29T15:53:00.000-08:00

In no order of importance:

Music
After The Devastation - Leaether Strip (Alfa Matrix)
The Ape of Naples - Coil (Threshold House)
The Life Pursuit - Belle & Sebastian (Matador)
Live at Astoria, May 14, 2004 - Throbbing Gristle (mp3)
Filtered Through Friends - Spunk remixed (Rune Grammofon)
The Men Album - The Living Jarboe (Atavistic)
Heat - Colder (Output)
Tender Buttons - Broadcast (Warp)
Tonight The Monkeys Die - Low remixed (Chairkickers Union)
Operetta Morale - Black Sun Productions (Divine Frequency)
En Aldeles Forferdelig Sykdom - Spunk (Rune Grammofon)
Endless - VVV (Mute)
Witching Hour - Ladytron (Rykodisc)
The Days of Mars - Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom (Astralwerks)
Shipwrecked Radio Vol. 1 & 2 - Nurse With Wound (ICR Distribution)
Crime and Dissonance - Ennio Morricone (Ipecac)

Books
Deliberate Prose - Allen Ginsberg
Queer - William S. Burroughs
Our Lady of the Flowers - Jean Genet
Don Quixote - Kathy Acker
The Artist's Way - Julia Cameron

33 is the New 40

2006-01-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

At least, that's how I felt this past Thursday, which marked my 33rd birthday. Even though, I haven't quite felt up to par mentally, I still believe that this is going to be a great year. I'm determined to make this a great year. I haven't been in much of a blogging mood. Don't get me wrong - I thoroughly enjoy blogging, wholeheartedly. But, writer's block can be a real bitch, allowing skepticism to reign supreme in my brain. Anyway, I am determined now more than ever to remain optimistic and hopeful that the mental funk will go away.

2005 Year End Review: Mysterious Skin

2006-01-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

Am I the only person on this planet that is sick to death of hearing "Brokeback Mountain this, Brokeback Mountain that...?" Am I the only one? Well, I was sick to death of hearing about it since the "Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall portraying gay lovers" hype began over a year and a half ago. It's been that long. SERIOUSLY, I DON'T CARE. I still want to see it, just for the sake of seeing what the hype is all about. I don't doubt that seeing Jake Gyllenhall is a giant orgasm waiting to happen. That, I can not dispute (just take a look at the shirtless and bald Gyllenhall in Jarhead....enough said.) However, it makes me completely livid when other, equally deserving films get overshadowed due to the uber-over-the-top hype of "straight actors playing gay characters in a gay-themed film" schtick.

Gregg Araki's latest flick, his adaptation of Scott Heim's wonderful novel, Mysterious Skin, is my favorite film of the year. Simply put, Mysterious Skin is, by far, Araki's strongest and most mature of his films to date. Approaching the topic of child molestation is a tricky task for anyone to take on without the potential for sparking a little controversy. However, Araki proves to be up for the task. Araki adds his signature to the already beautiful, yet heartwrenching story by continuing his use of lush, atmospheric ambient shoegazer rock. Even though Heim's novel doesn't necessarily elude to a particular musical reference point, the film's score by Harold Budd and ex-Cocteau Twin guitarist Robin Guthrie fits perfectly with the overall mood of this film.

The performances of everyone involved are wonderful throughout Mysterious Skin. But, this film belongs to veteran Third Rock from the Sun actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His portrayal of the sexually confused and vulnerable Neil McCormick carries this film. Unfortunately, Gordon-Levitt's harrowing performance has been virtually ignored by the viewing public and Oscar voters alike, which is par for the course of independent filmmaking. Elisabeth Shue (as Neil's aloof, yet loving mother), Brady Corbet (as the sexually-abused Brian Lackey, who blacked out, convinced that he was abducted by aliens) and Michelle Trachtenberg (as Neil's concerned best friend, Wendy) also turn in what I believe to be Oscar-caliber performances. Mysterious Skin didn't pull in the $$$ that Brokeback Mountain is pulling in right now as we speak, but that should not deter anyone from taking a look at this film.

Previous Araki films, such as The Doom Generation and Nowhere, are not really known for their stellar acting performances. However, Mysterious Skin changes everything. Here, Araki comes out as a promising filmmaker that has a lot going for him. Araki plants himself permanently on the map of independent filmmaking. Film connisseurs and music lovers alike must check out this touching and wonderful film.

2005 Year End Review: Live Show Highlights

2006-01-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

What year-end review is complete without a look back at the great shows that I saw in 2005. Experiences range from fire alarms being tripped during performances to return-to-form comeback performances from mainstay alternative artists to irritating mosh-pit inducing harmonics from audience members falsing believing themselves to be great singers to partaking in a goofy rendition of "The Hokey-Pokey" and a game of "Limbo" during an encore, and just about everything inbetween. So, here it is, my favorite shows of the year (in no order of preference):

1. Frozen Rabbit, May 2005 at Capitol Hil Arts Center: Blissful ambience from experimental performer Phil Western (who collaborated with Cevin Key (Skinny Puppy) on Cevin's ongoing side project, Download). About 20 minutes into the set, Brian (who ran the now-defunct online label, Flesh Eating Ants) accidentally hit the fire alarm, causing a mere 20 people (including staff working the show) to exit prematurely out of the venue. Firetrucks arrived approximately 30 minutes later. After this minor delay, Frozen Rabbit finished their sonic journey without further trouble.

2. Dead Can Dance, Sept. 17th at Paramount Theatre: After 7 years apart, the magnificent duo of Brendan Perry and Oscar-nominated performer Lisa Gerrard graced their presence in Seattle. The eagerly anticipated return of DCD sold out every single show on their spring European tour. As walys, their music was incredibly gorgeous, almost like they never disbanded in the first place. Their 2-hour set included a few new songs (at least they were songs that I didn't recognize) like Crescent and Hymn for the Fallen, which further sealed their fate as being one of the greatest live experiences ever witnessed. The haunting How Fortunate The Man With None brought tears streaming down my face. This show is one of a few shows that I'll never forget. The performance was recorded and made into limited edition live recordings. Of course, I bought a copy. How could I not?

3. Bauhaus, Oct. 14th at Paramount Theatre: 80s Goth rockers returned for their second reunion tour. Their set contains all of my favorite classics, such as Kick in the Eye, Bela Lugosi is Dead, She's in Parties, Swing The Heartache, and more. Despite the fact that vocalist Peter Murphy was dealing with a bout of sickness, Bauhaus never ceased to disappoint throughout the entire show. Double Dare, to my disappointment, was not performed, but that didn't detract from their overall performance.

4. Bob Mould, October at Neumos: See Thurs. Dec. 29th @ 8:21 a.m. blog entry

5. Chicks on Speed, Nov. 14th at Chop Suey: The art electro-rock trio Chicks on Speed put on another fun performance at Chop Suey. Of course, they played their rendition of Cracker's Euro Trash Girl, which is my favorite song from CoS' repertoire. This particular contained one of the more interesting and fun encores I've ever eyewitnessed at an electro rock show. Vocalist Melissa led a rendition of the Hokey Pokey song, which brought an excited display of audience participation. A free-spirited game of Limbo soon followed.

6. Antony and the Johnsons, two shows - April at On The Boards, Seattle and Sept. at the TBA Festival, Portland, OR: Antony brought his charisma and beautiful voice to two incredible performances this year. The first performance was at On The Boards, where Coco Rosie, William Barinski, and Devendra Banhart opened (unfortunately, I missed the opening performances because I was dinking around downtown, losing track of time). All of them joined in for a song or two during Antony's set. Antony's hauntingly beautiful vocals mesmerized everyone in the room with a graceful sadness. Antony proved to this fan that he is genuinely gifted, a bright star gracing the dark clouds of the current musical landscape. The second performance was part of Portland's annual art festival sponsored by PICA (Portland Institute of Contemporary Arts), the TBA Festival, which also brought Diamanda Galas' two incredible performances in 2004. Unfortunately, Antony was struggling with being under the weather, which made this second performance a short, but equally powerful performance, ending the set with my 2nd favorite song of the year, the haunting and gorgeous Hope There's Someone. That show was also where I met a nice woman by the name of Mary, whose enthusiasm of seeing Antony made the evening a perfect affair.

7. Neurosis with Jarboe, January at Neumos: The beginning of 2005 finally brought me my first Neurosis musical experience. In support of their Eye of Every Storm release and their collaboration with ex-SWANS vocalist, Jarboe, the ferocious sonic performance of Neurosis was one of the more powerful performances of the year. Jarboe joined in midway through the main set, starting with the incredible song Within. Jarboe's intense vocals added a new dimension to the Neurosis sound, while holding her own with the noise rock titans.

8. Wooden Octupus Skull experimental music festival, Sept. at ReBar and The Baltic Room: Review forthcoming

9. Adult., Nov. 16th at Chop Suey: In support of their newest release, Gimmie Trouble, Adult. (with the addition of newest member, Sam) rocked the crowd at Chop Suey with Nicola Kuperus's snarling vocal stylings and synth punk rock hooks. Sam proved to be a much welcomed addition to the Adult. sound, while Nicola displayed her best Siouxsie Sioux impression on new and old Adult. tracks. When their electroclash hit Hand To Phone was requested, Nicola politely declined, which didn't remotely surprise me. She engaged the audience with her mesmerizing vocals while whipping around on the floor with her diehard fans. Adult. never ceases to please their audiences with their unique brand of electro punk.

10. An Evening of Improv with Bill Rieflin, Peter Buck, Robert Fripp, Hector Zazou, Matt Chamberlain, November at Crocodile Cafe: This unique improvisational supergroup entertained its audience members with three long ambient soundscapes, lasting between 25 and 40 minutes a piece. I never thought that I would see these phenomenal musicians all together in one place. This performance was one of my favorites of the year. The grooves and atmospherics created were slumber-inducing and mesmerizing in scope.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Self-Loathing Queer Has Now Left This Body

2006-01-02T10:49:00.001-08:00

Any year can have its ups and downs, but for me, 2005 was not one of my better years. As a matter of fact, if I was more of a drama queen (that fact can be debated at will by anyone), I'd tell you that 2005 was the worst year of my life. In certain respects, that would be true. The hardest thing for me was the assault and the aftermath that I endured on and after February 15th. Conversation with my mother over the phone on her birthday should not have centered around blood gushing from my head and bruises on my knee. That was one of the hardest phone calls that I ever had made. My attack, which was basically over a stupid fucking cellphone, resulted in medical bills that took forever to be covered by insurance with $$$ still owed; pain and suffering; and fallout and subsequent hatred for Sprint. Their collection agency is coming after me to this day, but I hope to resolve this over the next couple of months by paying them so that I can move on.

2005 was also the year where I struggled with sadness and depression. I've been fighting these demons for years, but nearly took over my mind and body completely over the summer and the beginning of fall. Manifestations of the above took on the form of doubt, loathing, anger towards certain people and situations, utter contempt at certain factions of the local community (i.e. the "goth and darkwave" scene, the gay community, and "holier-than-thou hipster mentalities"), and downright hatred of myself. I've never attempted suicide before, but came close on a few occasions this year. In particular, June through September were the worst months.

However, my point of awakening did eventually occur when I finally said to myself "Enough is enough!" My main problem is that I continued to allow myself to be negatively impacted by these frustrations. I allow these thoughts to continue. I allow myself to feel down. Now that I think about it, as Kent put it during an argument during moving time, I did like to complain. I allow people and circumstances to bring me down and make me resentful. I've never quite come to the point of complete self-acceptance of my mind and body. My self-acceptance consists of the following things:

I am openly gay to those on a "need to know" basis as well as with friends.
I weigh 175 pounds (give or take a few) on a good day
I value respect more than popularity.
I don't waste money on $200 pair of jeans or $70 t-shirts, nor do I weigh the level of my self-worth based on how much I don spend on these things.
I don't benchpress 300 pounds, nor am I emaciated. I eat what I want to eat and feel no guilt for it.
I love experimental, industrial, most forms of electronica, some indie-pop music....fuck that labeling bullshit....I like good quality music, not mundane pop music made for the sake of mainstream consumption. I hate Britney and Hilary Duff, much prefer Cher as an actress, firmly believe that Whitney is definitely whacked on crack, and despise mainstream "rap metal" such as Korn and that ilk.
I love to write and will continue to do so as long as I live.
I am fascinated by creative people and find geeky guys with glasses and close-cropped beards sexy. I also have no qualms with admitting it to most right-wing moronic pundits and hypocritical, mean-spirited "Christians.

The list goes on and on and on, but you get the point. I've hated myself inside and out for far too long. I've endured far too many years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds on this self-implosion which is aided and abetted by biased opinions of those who are not in the know of me as a person, nor are in the right in the first place. There comes a time when you finally stop the insanity by saying "Enough is enough." For me, now is the time for me to defenstrate the "self-loathing queer" half of my dual personalities out of my body. I am determined to make 2006 the best year of my life, almost at all costs.

Truthfully, I could not have gotten through 2005 without the love of my close friends and the caring folks at my place of employment. I'd like to, in particular, thank the following folks: Jessica (my best friend of 15 years); Ashley, Jeanne, and Soren (my dear concert-going friends in Olympia); co-worker/fellow blogger The Kern (see blog of the year entry); Glory, Wendy, Cheryl, Wilma, Dianna, and Marlene (present and past secretaries at my employer); and Kent (my housemate), despite several arguments and disagreements over the last 14 months). At the end of the day, I have a great situation right now here in Seattle that makes life worth living.

The title of this blog entry contains the theme of 2006 for me. Here's to the new year - may it be a prosperous time for all aspects of the mind and body for everyone.

Goodbye, Rainier Beach! Hello, Sanity!

2006-01-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

So, the big weekend finally came and went for D.A........Moving time. At first, I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of trying to find a new place to live smack dab at the end of the year during the holiday. Now, however, I'm greatly relieved that my roommate and I have left the ghetto when we did. Going 5 weeks without a working furnace sealed the deal for the both of us. A lesson learned saved us further trouble down the road. Don't rent from friends. DON'T DO IT. They weren't my friends beforehand so I really didn't have anything to lose, other than thousands of dollars in rent paid.

On the other hand, this weekend didn't go quite as planned. The moving out part took a lot longer than I was hoping. We finally left the abyss four hours after we were supposed to be out. When picking up the rental truck and getting some last minute items, we were nearly accosted by Hispanic day laborers loitering around the SODO Home Depot. Three guys opened the passenger door. I thought that we were getting carjacked. The slumlords also tried to bring people in to replace the carpet on 11 hours notice. My roommate, Kent, said fuck no. An altercation ensued, and I spoke up when I should not have. In the end, though, they lost that battle.

We don't think we'll hear the last from the slumlords, but they have nothing on me. I never signed anything so they can't come after me for anything. I am out of $7,700 in rent, with nothing to show for it, other than an empty wallet, a couple scars on my head from my assault in February, and hours lost due to stress and/or dread faced over not wanting to go home late at night. I can't get those $$$ back, but I am greatly relieved to know that I may never have to set foot in Rainier Beach ever again unless absolutely necessary. I am not a spiteful person so I don't expect anything other than making sure that Kent doesn't get screwed over in closing costs by those bastards. If you're going to manager a piece of property, get the fucking sense to know what your legal obligations are before you decide to become landlords. Studies show that rocket science is not required for property management.

Yesterday, we survived the move into our new apartment in Capital Hill with huge sighs of relief. The new apartment is in complete disarray, but that is to be expected on the first night of the move. We could not have completed the move without the assistance of several people: Jonathan (our extremely nice and much better organized LANDlord - note the lack of the word SLUM); Dave, Michelle, and cute little Abby (Kent's brother-in-law, sister, and niece); Joanne (Kent's friend who helped store a few things overnight); and Kendra (Kent's friend who supplied us some boxes courtesy of her local liquor store). Abby was so cute and very well-behaved as she carried small items into the new apartment. She called me Uncle Matt and told me she loved me, which about brought me to tears. She is so cute!

With our new location, huge bucketloads of stress are lifted from our shoulders. Kent is in walking distance to school. I don't have to take the bus if I don't have to (which means that I will never really take a bus), unless I'm unusually lazy one day. I can walk just about everywhere that I need to go. That makes me a happy boy. I am the type of person that wants to get from A to B without interference and too much stress. I don't want to be stalled by stupid people that never have change ready, certain people who confuse themselves for TuPac Shakur rapping loudly on the bus, spontaneous AWWF Smackdowns involving canes and walking sticks, muggings in February, and horrible cellphone on the bus etiquette to prevent me from trouble-free travelling.

So, here's to a great and less-stressful year in 2006. Finally, I'd like to bid adieu to Rainier Beach and dipshit slumlords! Good riddance.

Denim for Satanists

2005-12-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

This article completely made my day. Fashion-conscious atheists are rejoicing on Swedish street corners at the newest trend in hipster fashion. Eventually, Cheap Monday denim jeans will grace the legs of hipsters in Seattle's Capital Hill. Have you had trouble finding the perfect gift for the Satanists you know and love? Well, your troubles are over. Before you know it, Jake Gyllenhall will become a Cheap Monday celebrity spokesman. Who knows, these jeans may even spark yet another cheesy and judgmental form letter from _________ (insert favorite Christian watchdog group here). Here here!!

Happy Last Friday of 2005 (to Bring D.A. Noise's 2 readers)!

Photogenic

2005-12-29T20:27:00.000-08:00

I am posting another picture taken by my best friend Jessica during her October trip to Seattle. I am impressed with how the photo turned out. Normally, I hate viewing photos of myself, but this photo is a rare exception to the rule. Enjoy.

2006 Upcoming Music Releases

2005-12-29T19:31:00.000-08:00

We all know what the new year means??? In the case that you didn't, well, the answer is simple....eagerly-anticipated new music releases, of course. Here are a few that I look forward to most:

My top pick for 2006: Industrial afficionatos would be utterly foolish if they were not chomping at the bit to get their hands on the first new full-length studio record in 25 years by the "Godfathers" of Industrial Muzik, Throbbing Gristle. Trent Reznor may have brought industrial music to the minds of teeny-boppers and alternative rock inner-circles in the form of Nine Inch Nails. However, TG made it possible for the Ohio native to even begin to dream of creating the music that he creates today.

Granted, TG did not sell millions of records, nor did they make millions on concert tickets. Instead, in their short existence during the late 70's, they pushed the boundaries of live performance with post-apocalyptic themes addressed in their music. Even after they initially terminated TG, its core members (in picture above), Cosey Fanni Tutti, Chris Carter, Peter Christopherson, and their fearlessly enigmatic leader, Genesis P'Orridge, continued to make tremendous and thought-provoking contributions to the world of experimental and industrial music: Chris and Cosey, Coil, and Psychic TV, respectively.

After many years of recording and creating their solo projects, the members decided to get back together in 2004 to plan a modern celebration of industrial music in the form of RE-TG, a three-day affair. RE-TG was cancelled at last minute (to my dismay - I was raring to go), but the members made it up to those who purchased tickets by performing at the Astoria in Central London. Seeing this performance brought to my mind recollections of performances I've eyewitnessed in my home state of MN at the legendary First Avenue nightclub. Astoria and First Avenue could easily be sister clubs, in their look and feel. Anyway, the Astoria show was an extraordinary experience for me and my friends (we met for the first time at that show) Ashley and Jeanne. Unfortunately, RE-TG turned into an ATP-sponsored affair, Nightmare Before Christmas, which happened months after the Astoria performance (and of course, when I did not have the money to go). Again, I will miss the new year's performance by the demigods of industrial music due to the shortage of monetary funds. Dammnit. I guess that you can't win them all.

March 2006 sees the eminent release of Part Two, the new TG studio record.

'PART TWO' Track Listing

Vow of Silence
Rabbit Snare
Seperated
Almost A Kiss
Greasy Spoon
Lyre Liar
Above The Below
Endless Not
The Worm Waits Its Turn
After The Fall

Other releases to look forward to in 2006:

Goldfrapp - Supernature (US Release)
Coil - The Ape of Naples
Leaether Strip - After The Devastation*

*After The Devastation marks the triumphant return of EBM/Industrial mainstay, Claus Larsen a.k.a. Leaether Strip, after a few years' absence. Check out the Alfa-Matrix website for further information.

2005 Year End Review: Hey, Fucker! Listen! (x 6) to the Blog of the Year

2005-12-29T18:12:00.000-08:00

In the beginning of 2005, I was gung-ho about blogging. Prior to 2005, I started with Livejournal, but found it to be quite boring. Then, I progressed to Blogger, which I found to be better than Livejournal. However, I became disenfrancised with Blogger's slow server and desired to be more proactive in the design and layout of my blog.

This lead me to WordPress, which I like even more, but depending on what you want to do with your blog, being a WordPress user often requires the blogger to be somewhat self-sufficient. When you consider that I had no knowledge of such concepts as HTML, XHTML, CSS, RSS feeds, etc., self-sufficiency proved to be problematic. More accurately, I attribute my lackadaisical approach to blogging and web design to be purely lazy. Once I became finally too flustered to move forward, instead, I opted to come back to Blogger.

Well, guess what, the times they are a changing...yeah, that was dumb, I know. Anyway, the ultimate goal for me is increased proficiency with WordPress and its idiosyncrasies, while becoming more proactive with the design and manipulation of the layout of my good 'ole Disciplinarian Actions program. The plan is to use my Blogger site as an archive of my blog, starting with the end of 2005 and going backwards. Starting in 2006, I plan to return to WordPress, with future plans to update the layout.

Setting aside this silly diatribe, I want to recognize a few blogs from people that I know as well as people I've met online through the Gay Bloggers Tribe and a couple celebrities' blogs formaking blogging interesting and aesthetically stimulating.

My favorite blog of this year has to go to my co-worker, Kern's, blog called Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen! Check it out here. Whether he's slinging mud at dumbass right-wing nutjobs (I won't mention names....Bill O'Reilly), sharing anecdotes on exactly how stupid unmentionables (again.....I cough out the words "Bill O' Reilly") really are, or educating me on Scott Walker's discography, Listen! (x 6) stimulates me daily.

My friends always complement me on how informed I am on music and upcoming shows. What they don't know is that I am nothing more than a blathering idiot on the continuum of music knowledge compared to Kern. His penchant for creating descriptive metaphors garnered him a regular writing gig for the DeLorean section of Tiny Mix Tapes. That position is well-deserved. If you want recommendations on genres of music even I can't accurately describe without sounding like a dork (not the kind of dork in the form of a silly Madonna lyric), Kern is your man.

In particular, I'd like to mention his recent synopsis detailing the "silly Merry Christmas v. Happy Holidays conspiracy theories that unmentionables (do I need to say Bill O'Reilly AGAIN?) start for no other reason than being a stupid, pseudo-Christian blowhard." Well-written and enlightening, Kern definitely knows how to use the right words to put members of unmentionables in the Idiot Brigade (I won't repeat myself this time) in their place.

All in all, well done, chap!

I'd also like to make a shout-out to other blogs that motivate me to wanna be a better blogger:

Drubskin*
D. Travers Scott
Bob Mould
Margaret Cho
Zeitzeuge
A Gay Muscleboy In Training
Palochi

Thanks, folks!

*Editor's note: You must be 21 to enter Drubskin's site, which contains adult content. But, it's well worth your while. Drub is an extremely hot and talented artist. TRUST ME! Also, don't try it at work.

2005 Year End Review: Comeback of the Year

2005-12-29T08:21:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to veteran "alternative" rock star Bob Mould for blowing me in the year 2005 with his amazing recording, Body of Song. Around the time he released his last record, Modulate, I saw him perform at the Aladdin Theatre in Portland, Oregon. This performance basically consisted of Mould playing his guitar over pre-recorded electronic loops and samples. Unfortunately, his guitar playing didn't mesh well with the samples, making for a slightly awkward-sounding performance. Songs written for Modulate sounded much better on record, but, unfortunately, these songs didn't translate well in the live experience. Nonetheless, the mere fact that, at that time, I was finally eyewitnessing Mould, a historical fixture in the 80s' Minneapolis music scene, in the flesh for the first time. Editor's note: I was 11 when Zen Arcade came out, and besides, I was obsessed with Prince's Purple Rain at the time.

Moving forward to 2005, despite my disappointment with Modulate, I still eagerly anticipated the eminent release of Body of Song. This record marks the triumphant return of the Bob Mould that I've known and loved over the last decade or so. Every track on Body of Song is strong. In particular, the track Underneath Days made me convinced that Bob Mould was reading my mind. The lyrics perfected matched my frustration with the romantic situation I was going through at the time. How did he do it? I have no idea.

Again, I jumped at the opportunity to see Mould live here in Seattle at Neumos, buying my ticket within days after the show was announced. My wish for a better sonic experience with Mould proved beyond fruitful, especially when he brought along hottie singer/songwriter Richard Morel (engineer for the dynamic DJ titans Deep Dish) on keyboards for the ride. The live set was a sonic tour-de-force, harkening back to what I envisioned a classic Husker Du show would sound like (again I was a musically-clueless young boy during the heyday of Husker Du). Mould's set consisted of Mould solo tracks, classic Sugar gems, and even a foray into Husker territory with such classics as Could You Be The One and Chartered Trips. Unfortunately, I vacated Neumo's during the second encore (so I can catch the last ghetto bus ride back to, well, the ghetto, Rainier Beach).

All in all, 2005 was, without a doubt, Bob Mould's year. In a concert setting, he is at the top of his game. In spirit, he's come into his own, open in his sexual identity, and confident in his step. Not to mention, his blog, Modulate, is a gay blogger's wet dream in written form. I look forward to his upcoming acoustic show in February (on my mom's birthday), which I am sure will prove to be stellar. Regardless of how the music sounds, I am all for gawking in a "I have a crush on you, but not in the vein of The Jets" manner. One thing is for sure, musically, Bob Mould is far superior to those godawful, one-hit wonder Minneapolis pop schlocksters The Jets any day of the week.

Please pray for Nathan

2005-12-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

During my perusal this afternoon of Margaret Cho's blog, I came across this mind-numbing and gut-wrenching account of the death of a much too young GLBT activist from Fresno by the name of Nathan Christofferson (see entries dated December 19 and 27th.) A link is provided to a detailed accounting of the aftermath of his death from the eyes of one of his friends and fellow activists. This accounting can be also be found here.

Reading stories about young lives being taken away from us due to ignorance, misinformation, disrespect, and under the guise of "compassion and caring" is disgusting and unbelievably ANTI-Christian. You hear me, James Dobson, Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Michele Bachmann, "Rev." Fred Phelps, Pat Robertson, Angela Davis, "Hon." Clarence Thomas, "Hon." Scalia, Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Lon and Bon Mabon, Marilyn Cosgrove, George Bush, Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney...etc. I said ANTI-CHRISTIAN. In the middle of my workday, I had the arduous task of holding back the tears of anger, disgust, and rage at the audacity of Nathan's own family members and members of the parents' hate-ridden church ministry to demonize his sexuality. How FUCKING dare they call themselves Christian! How dare they call themselves "loving family members." Their actions are just plain hypocritical and demeaning.

It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you believe in the despicable world of hatred that we currently live in. I firmly believe that Nathan was one of those courageous individuals that we desperately need to stand up and fight. I can't help but be disgusted at the state of the human race, particularly here in the states during the dictatorship and free reign of Dumb (Dick Cheney) and Dumber (Dubya). I grieve for the voices of those lost due to hatred (by others as well as self-hatred). We live now in a physical and psychological terrorist state, which must be stopped at all costs. I grieve for those of us left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath. Please pray for Nathan tonight.

2005 Year-End Review: The Great Record that could've been Greater

2005-12-28T08:16:00.000-08:00

The new Sigur Ros album, Takk, was at the top of my list at the end of last year as the most eagerly anticipated releases of 2005. So, alas, the beginning of September was an exciting time for me due to Takk's eminent release. After first listening to it, my response was, "Is that it?" Takk reverts to more manageable, bite-sized sound collages, which left me slightly discouraged and not quite fulfilled. To me, Takk missed something, although I can't quite put my finger on what that "something" is. Were my expectations too high? Under normal circumstances, I judge musician's new records on their own merit, versus comparing them to previous efforts. Judgmental "die-hard" fans piss me off when, for example, Sonic Youth did not record Sister 2004 when they released last year's wonderful record, Sonic Nurse. But, for some reason, I expected more with Takk. I do not want to, by any means, say that Takk is a bad record. No, it is not. But, I liked the longer tracks that dominated ( ).

In the end, I think that Takk just needed a little more oomph. That lack of oomph, notwithstanding, Sigur Ros' singer, Jonsi Birgisson, graced the music world, yet again, with one of the most uniquely beautiful male voices in the world. Even if Sigur Ros ever recorded the worst song known to man, Jonsi's voice would make it tolerable. Seeing Sigur Ros' live performance at the Paramount in September definitely more than made up for my slight disappointment with Takk. Jonsi also scored major points with his vocal contributions to the elegaic and gorgeous double-disc recording "Exactly As I Do," by the enigmatic British expatriate and current Icelandic resident Andrew MacKenzie, a.k.a. Hafler Trio.

Brief Commercial Interruption

2005-12-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

Can I just say that I fucking hate Friendster? Well, I do. I swear that the website runs on the slowest server on the planet. Also, I am tired of getting e-mails from random Russian girls, desperately in need of companionship. This is particularly troublesome when they proclaim to be intrigued by my profile, and want to get to know me. Chicky-poo, you must have missed something. I am gay. Seriously, I AM GAY! Hello, I think my profile makes that point quite obvious. It's not morse code, nor is it something that only rocket science can answer. BTW, no, it's not the DaVinci Code, either. Anyway, enough about this. I must dump Friendster.

2005 Year-End Review: Pissing on Michele Bachmann (Cunt of the Year)

2005-12-27T18:13:00.000-08:00

Bored housewives posing as "caring and compassionate" state legislators with nothing better to do than to discriminate ruled the day in my home state of Minnesota in the year 2005. State legislator and idiot-magnet Michele Bachmann (R - Stillwater) repeatedly attempts to permanently write marriage discrimination against same-sex couples into the Minnesota state constitution. However, thus far, she has failed. However, her "movement" appears to have gained momentum, in the name of, amongst others, her minister husband, who recently convened a local summit for M4M (Ministers for Marriage, not men 4 men - get your minds out of the gutter), proclaiming that the principle of marriage must be "saved" from demonic forces (apparently, loving same-sex couples fit the description in their meek and feeble minds). Also, lesbian in denial, Mary Liz Holberg, is another alleged do-gooder who co-orchestrated the initial legislation, along with Ms. "shit-for-brains-bimbo-with-bad-90s'-hair" Bachmann.

Insert editor's note: Take one good look at Mary Liz, and even you, too, would exclaim "You're so dikey...AHHHHH," just like Margaret Cho's mom.

Truth be told, Ms. Bachmann's real "agenda" is to run against Patty Wetterling for a seat on the U.S. House of Representatives. Right-wing pundits proclaim that Bachmann's repeated endorsement of the hateful marriage amendment has gained her clout in the political arena. Considering that she represents only a small piece of the urban demographic (parts of Anoka county and the riverside town of Stillwater), she is severely out of touch with those of us who seek to preserve the virtues of the MN and US Constitutions. In my mind, the Constitution is founded on EQUAL rights, not special rights. I'd like to hope that more Minnesotans desire fairness and equality, rather than separatism.

It's bad enough that Minnesota is plagued by its dipshit governor, Mr. Tim "I'm gonna cut snow plows from the state budget on the eve of a major snowstorm because I'm an imbecile" Pawlenty, and numbskull state senator Norm "Mentally Malnourished Puppy Dog of the Republican party" Coleman. It's Pawlenty that violated the separation of church and state by allowing the "Luis Pulau Christian Circus Sideshow" to convene on government property, namely the state capital grounds in the summer of 2004. Mr. Coleman was assigned to cover the Democratic Party's National Convention as the Republican roving correspondent on the mean streets of Manhattan last year. In reality, the only reason why he was even there was because he is allegedly the "future of the Republican Party." Personally, I hope that Al Franken puts a stop to that, once and for all.

Anyway, back to the bitch. Bachmann is convinced that legalizing same-sex marriage threatens the sanctity of marriage (which is a tired piece of rhetoric that is unrealistic. Apparently, 50-hour marriages by bimbastic pubescent trendsters does not threaten the sanctity. I'd be curious to see the divorce rates of, say, the town of Stillwater, in comparison to, say, a small town in the state of Massachusetts before and after they legalized same-sex marriages. If you configure registered same-sex couples and allow them the right to get married, I bet that since there are more married couples in the marriage pool, ultimately the divorce rate would not change drastically for the worse. That is what marriage amendment proponents would like you to believe. Also, I'd assume that more weddings would mean increased income for hairstylists, florists, attorneys (assuming that they would be drafting more prenuptial agreements), and caterers, amongst other professionals. All in all, an increased economy benefits the nation as a whole. You would think, anyway.

In my assessment of Ms. Bachmann's intentions, they are purely politically motivated, rather than out of the concern for the "sanctity of marriage." Her efforts to write discrimination into the MN state constitution must be stopped at all costs. If she wins this seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, what makes you think that she would not take her proposals to the national level. People like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Pat Robertson, Michael Savage, the list goes on and on....like to rant and rave about how having an opinion contrary to theirs equates to anti-American-ism. But, in reality, that is the furthest from the truth. But, I digress....again.

For me, I am all for healthy debate and for the right to be heard, regardless of stated position on any and all societal issues. However, the straw that broke my back occurred when I was flipping through channels on the small screen television that my Dad used in his office at the parents' house one afternoon back in 2004, and I came across Ms. Bachmann on a local public access station, touting her hate rhetoric. During the course of conversation with the host of this show, she had the audacity to state "It's nothing against gay people personally." In my mind, that statement of disrespect personalized the same-sex marriage debate for me.

I'm still unsure about how I personally view the institution of marriage in respect to my status on this planet as a human being. I'm still learning to be self-sufficient financially, mentally, and physically. However, even if ultimately marriage is not for me, I sure as hell firmly believe that other loving couples who contribute to the makeup of the American family should be entitled to marriage and the legal protections of marriage (regardless of sexual preference.) Delusional "do-gooders" who seek to discriminate and demonize respectable human beings under the guise of religion do not have the right to monopolize the institution of marriage. Listen up, bitch...oh, I mean, Ms. Bachmann..... SHUT THE FUCK UP!

2005 Year-End Review: Worst Record of the Year (Even though I somewhat like it)

2005-12-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

**Editor's note: This entry has been amended as of Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2005 @ 3:17 p.m.

Back in 2003, everyone got bent out of shape when Madonna rapped about pilates and soy lattes in song. However, the single highlight of the new "back to her dance roots" record, Confessions on a Dance Floor, is I Love New York, which actually sets a precedent for horrid lyrics, especially when she says "other cities make (her) feel like a dork" at one point in the song. Worse than that is the lyric that goes something like this:

If you don't like my attitude
Then you can f*** off
Just go to Texas
Isn't that where they golf

Clearly, this monstrosity of a song lyric is a point-blank reference to President Dubya. Touche, Madonna. Despite these horrific attempts at poetic license, the song is quite catchy, and by far, the lone standout track of an otherwise lackluster album. This album is ripe for a knock-off Britney or Christina Aguilera copycat. God forbid.

At any rate, Confessions is far from being an outstanding record. I mean, come on, Madonna, is the despicable Abba-sampling track Hung Up the best you can come up with? What's worse, I am convinced that she had just finished watching Napoleon Dynamite when she decided to dress up for the Hung Up video. That, to me, is a worse travesty than the Mini Cooper reference in her ode to being herself, American Life. In the end, Confessions leaves me with the same feeling of uncertainty that the mere presence of the pretentiously ballsy and maniacal right-wing pundit bombshell, Ann Coulter, invokes in me. Let me clarify:

Confessions (Pro): I love this record because it is a horrible piece of shit.
Confessions (Con): I hate this fucking record because it's a horrible piece of shit.

Ann Coulter (Pro): I love her because she says the stupidest shit ever, which in turn, makes me laugh my ass off.
Ann Coulter (Con): I hate her because of the stupid shit that makes me laugh my ass off in the first place.

I love Confessions! I hate Confessions! Oh, fuck, I can't decide whether I love it or hate it. Ditto for Ann Coulter. I love Ann! I hate Ann! Fuck me, again, I can't decide. However, what I can tell you is this: Confessions on a Dance Floor is a horrible piece of shit, which I can't help but like. So, shoot me.

2005 Year-End Review: Introduction

2005-12-23T22:38:00.000-08:00

Yes, folks, it's that time of the year again, where we get bombarded with everyone's best-of-the-year lists. This year, mine will be provided in parts. I had a hard time deciding the Album of the Year, so, there will be several, picked by genre. I will also write about favorite shows, books, and other tidbits. I also have an Entertainer of the Year award to hand out (it's nothing fancy, unlike an Oscar or an Emmy). Finally, we will close the Disciplinarian Actions Year in Review with an award going out to a whole gaggle of punk dumb ass thugs for being a collective ASSHOLE(S) of the Year. More on that forthcoming.

In the meantime, I am going to list my favorite albums of the year here, but they are not in any sort of order, nor will I reveal the elite records quite yet. So, take a guess as to what I will crown the best of the year. Stay tuned.

Favorite recordings of 2005 (In no particular order)

The Campfire Headphase - Boards of Canada
Livin' Fear of James Last (collection) - Nurse With Wound
Pictures - Timo Maas
Cripple Crow - Devendra Banhart
Thrills - Ellen Allien
DE9: Transitions - Richie Hawtin
Witching Hour - Ladytron
Playing The Angel - Depeche Mode
The Men Album - Jarboe
Kompakt Total 6 (compilation) - Various Artists
Akron/Family & Angels of Light - Akron/Family & Angels of Light
The Angels of Light Sing "Other People" - Angels of Light
Untitled - Autechre
Body of Song - Bob Mould
Golden Ocean - 50 Foot Wave
Exactly as I Do - Hafler Trio f/ Jonsi
Takk - Sigur Ros
Fabric 23 (DJ Mix) - Ivan Smagghe
No Wow - The Kills
OK Cowboy - Vitalic
The Ape of Naples - Coil
I Am A Bird Now - Antony and the Johnsons
Judas as Black Moth (compilation) - Current 93
Supernature - Goldfrapp
Gimmie Trouble - Adult.
D.U.M.E. ep - Adult.
Black One - Sunno)))
Cinder - Dirty Three
Goo (Deluxe Edition) - Sonic Youth
Pornography/Faith/Seventeen Seconds (Deluxe Editions) - The Cure
Okie Dokie, It's The Orb on Kompakt - The Orb
The Great Destroyer - Low
Assassin - Margaret Cho
Demon Days - Gorillaz
Only Teeth - Nine Inch Nails
A Bugged Out Mix - Erol Arkan
Aminanima ep - Amina
Play - Larsen
Souvlaki (2CD reissue) - Slowdive
Crime and Dissonance (compilation) - Ennio Morricone
Arular - M.I.A.
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
Shipwreck Radio Vol. 2 - Nurse With Wound
A Long Red Ladder to the Moon - Edward Ka-Spel
En Aldeles Forferdelig Sykdom - Spunk
Ciautistico! - XXL (Xiu Xiu and Larsen)
Double Vulgar 2 - Thighpaulsandra
La Foret - Xiu Xiu
26,000 - Frozen Rabbit
Tender Buttons - Broadcast

Distractions galore

2005-12-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

Let's face it. I am lazy. No, actually, I have been preoccupied of late. Lots going on right now. Between (1) monotonous busy work at the workplace, (2) frozen ass cheeks at home, and (3) the recent purchase of an iPod, I've not been in the blogging frame of mind.

(1) is the result of continuous tedium. (2) is the result of my slumlords' (ooops, I mean, landlords) inability to effectively be....landlords. (3) has resulted in the nearly endless and arduous task of picking and choosing songs within its 30GB hard drive. I am a fool to think that I am going to get absolutely everything on this thing. I could have purchased the 60GB, but I didn't want to spend the extra $100. Meanwhile, more about (2).

Our slumlords (as we affectionately call them) failed to address our requests to fix the furnace so we were freezing our asses off. Because of this (and my roommate's need to cut expenses, and understandably so), we gave the bastards 20 days notice of our departure from the house. Our notice was greeted with annoying text messages, claiming we needed to give them 30 days. That, my friends, is incorrect. Besides, we are not on a lease so we are not breaking one, and even if we were, we are justified to break the non-existent lease due to this mere fact: WE HAD NO FUCKING HEAT. But, finally, the furnace was fixed this afternoon. The stupid thing is that it turned out to be the fact that when some electricians came out to re-wire the thermostat, they forgot to plug the thing back in. **this is where author smacks forehead with his open hand, emulating Homer Simpson**

DOH!

Un-fracking-believable, if you ask me.

On the bright side of things, though, we got approved for a new apartment in Capital Hill. I am relieved at the prospect of being back in the city and closer to everything. The best part is that we no longer have to take any bloody 7 or the ghetto 106 bus routes. No more dealing Tupac-wannabes rapping out loud, cat fights between Asian women walking with canes, endless streams of people not knowing what a fucking Express bus is, bewildered drunks taking 15 minutes to fish out $1.25 from the paper cup they used to collect from in front of Nordstroms Rack, the list goes on.... I am a "get me from A to B at my pace, not someone else's" kinda guy, who greatly prefers to walk everywhere at every opportunity. Plus, cheaper rent is always good.

Anyway, this blog has been neglected for far too long. Besides, I have year-end discussions to post here anyway. For the time being, I am posting to Blogger until I can get Disciplinarian Actions back up and running again (hopefully, with a new design). I also plan to use Blogger as an archive of old blog posts. So, in the meantime, I hope that the 2 of you, my dear devoted readers (2 is probably stretching it), stay tuned. For now, I will leave you with a photo from the disc of photos my best friend Jessica finally sent me. Enjoy.

Saturday afternoon

2005-11-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I don't have a whole lot to say this Saturday afternoon. Let's see...the sun is shining today, unlike yesterday, which was rainy. Yesterday, I started what I hope to be a daily ritual of writing every day - three pages a day, writing about whatever, based upon an idea by the author Julia Cameron. I started working through her book, The Artist's Way, which was recommended to me by my friend Ashley. Since I started reading the Essential Acker collection, an anthology of writings by the late great Kathy Acker, I've been in a stream-of-consciousness frame of mind. Her writing style is unique, much like with William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac (which have made up my recent reading.)

From book to book, I find myself having to adjust my reading speed to keep up with the understanding and appreciation of each individual author's writing style. I adjusted to Burroughs' writing style quicker than Kathy Acker's style (even though with both I find myself a little bit lost as to what they're writing about). Then again, understanding everything I read the first time around would be boring, at best. And, boredom is my second least favorite feeling for me to have (stupidity being numero uno!)

Confessions about right now

2005-11-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

I am going to be posting from the blogspot address for right now. Disciplinarian-actions.com/noise will be down for a short while. Postings from both addresses can be read via site feed at my Tribe.net profile or else at my Technorati.com profile:

http://www.technorati.com/profile/disciplinarian

Meanwhile, I am still somewhat stuffed from yesterday's Thanksgiving dinner. I see visions of the big mound of stuffing with sausage sitting in the Michelle's Purex baking pan in the fridge. Visions of stuffing, scalloped potatoes, and turkey dominate my imagination at this moment. I'm stuffed, but also hungry at the same time just thinking about it. What is that all about, anyway?

In other news, I started reading Essential Acker, consisting of selections from author Kathy Acker's literary ouevre. I do see Burroughs-esque descriptions and landscapes in her prose.

Also, I'd like to say that Madonna's Confessions is a piece of shit, albeit an incredibly catchy piece of shit at that. If you were one of those who got bent out of shape over her American Life rap, you've heard nothing yet. Just take in the lyrics to I Love New York and try not to vomit. I dare ya.

Lastly, my favorite cd right now is the remastered edition of Sonic Youth's legendary recording, Goo. Goo is one of the greatest alternative records ever made. Fuck it, it's one of the greatest records of all time. PERIOD.

Socializing in the MySpace-age

2005-11-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

I like Tribe.net and MySpace.com. I can't help it. Socializing is not one of my strong points, but I do find both of these sites fun. But, what I don't understand is, why do people get so hung up on who they add as friends on these things? I look at certain profiles, where the author says that they ONLY want friends that they actually physically know in the flesh or whatever. Some people are even adamant about it. For me, this is yet another example of "clique-ness," which is definitely becoming overrated as far as I am concerned. In my opinion, these sites are fun - fun for the purpose of entertainment and amusement, something not to take too seriously. Besides, didn't we already graduate from high school (many of us YEARS ago.) Come on, folks. Meeting people, in itself, is difficult already. This should not translate to all forms of social gathering and social settings. People need to lighten up a little bit. If you don't want to add someone, don't add them. It's simple. It really is. Now, I can understand if you have someone who does not take the first hint of rejection and continuously requests to be added to the point of going into stalker-mode. Then, I can understand. In the end, can't we all just get along? I don't think that it's too much to ask. Seriously, it isn't. Anyway, that's my take. Have fun, folks - don't take it so seriously.

D.A.'s new blog

2005-10-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Bring D.A. Noise blog. Due to the onset of extreme boredom that writing about my personal life has created, I've decided to shift the focus of blogging on musical interests. I am not your conventional fag, particularly when it comes to my cd collection. Whitney is absent from it. Cher can't penetrate it. Madonna is in there, but invisible. I refuse to incorporate Avril, Hilary, or Ashlee in it. In terms of noises, my cd collection can probably kick your cd collection's ass. Actually, Diamanda eats little girls like Lindsay for breakfast.

Therefore, let's bring D.A. noise. Hee hee.

Upcoming topics:

The Fe-Mail Phenomena
Wooden Octupus Skull experimental music festival
Dead Can Dance, Sigur Ros, and T. Raumschmiere concert reviews
Who REALLY put industrial music on the map
My all-time favorite records

So, stay tuned.