Autumn. Long leaves of bright undress.

It feels like Fall no matter what the calendar says. I love this time of the year. I like that slightly cool edge to the air and wearing jackets and going to bed with the window open creating a nice little chill. Sam Adam's has their Octoberfest seasonal out right now which is also really good.

This time of the year also finds me at my most creative for some reason. I've really been too lax on my book and need to renew my efforts to finish it. Over the past couple of weeks I've just been writing a paragraph here and there when I'm inspired or think of something cool to put in. I've already wrote the ending. Write now I'm just trying to fill in the little pieces that get me there.

Mostly Minus has been shut down by the law again. We won't be playing at the Park next Sunday because we are not "nice, quiet jazz band". After our brush with the police the last time we played out we thought we should check before hand this time altough since the park is really isolated we didn't think there would be a problem. I've said it before I know but playing out is the only redeeming thing about being in the band and so far it hasn't really happened. It's my turn to write the next 6a2 song. Rebekah's helped me out quite a bit. I'm calling it ATMOS 206 right now. It's shaping up to be really cool and fun.

Our local grocery store just got really ethnic. They have a nearly a whole half-isle for Mexican foods. We are starting to find a lot of Mexicans in our territory so I guess that makes sense. What doesn't make sense is the new large section of Asian foods. They've always had the token Chinese items but they added Thai food and most surprisingly Japanese. I can't even imagine the white trash in our area attempting sushi! I picked up a couple packets of Udon--basically a much better ramen noodle soup.

There's more going on but I'll save it for another journal entry....later today BOCCE!

Random, Inexplicable Hatred

I was stopping to think last night about just how I could develop a downright fear and loathing of the colour purple. I'm not talking about the book or the film (which I kind of like) but the actual colour. I cannot stand it. And not in the sense of simply not liking the color or prefering others but downright hating it. If you look around my house you will not see one purple item. I wouldn't even buy my daughter a purple bicycle. I love red and blue but I'm fundamentally opposed to their integration. I'd tried to trace it back and the only thing I could come to was a bad experience with grape bubblegum getting stuck to my shoe. I don't know. It's just hard to fathom why I should hate a color. It makes absolutely no sense. And even though I cannot admit to it as being stupid I could not change it if I wanted to.

More Pop

As a bit of continuation from my last posting: Last night I was in a bad mood so I started taking it out on my guitar. I cranked the gain up on the amp and was hammering away to this super-goth-beat I had made up. And the weirdest thing happened. By the time I was done for the night I had the basis for the pop song that was eluding me. Do you know how some annoying songs stick in your head? Well that's how this was. I was trying to sleep and the chorus to my song was on infinite loop inside my brain.

baby I wanna dance.
baby I wanna dance
baby I wanna dance
because this is a pop song

The lyrics are deliciously inane I can't wait to see how the song turns out. So that's the whole trick then to writing top-40 music. The ironic twist. You have to be angry and mad at the world to write cheery, bubblegum anthems.

Pop Rocks!

Brandon and I were talking about how our last three songs have been a perpetual/progressive downer. So we are making a conscious effort to make our next two songs a little more fun or upbeat or something. We've been alternating working on each other's stuff and B is next up to bat with what he calls our novelty song. Look for "trendsetters" soon. It has an old-school hip-hop vibe going on. And me? I've been content just to reach in the pool of years worth of unfinished bits or chord progressions or what not and wrangle a song out of it. However, now I have to come up with something poppy. And it's hard! I've been listening to non-stop pop music in an effort to figure it out. Last night I bought Papas Fritas' new greatest hits/unreleased tracks/dvd compilation, Pop Has Freed Us. Now those guys can craft a pop song! And they make it sound so easy. What's the formula? Hand claps? Assorted Oooh's and Aaaah's? I love pop music. The Carpentars. Abba. Beach Boys. Simon and Garfunkle. Brilliant. I'm just in awe because I don't have it in me.

I do know one thing that makes a pop-song. Flagrant use of the word "baby". Don't believe me? Just turn on the local top-40 radio station and count how many songs have the word in there. At one time it was like 2 out of 3.

So I went to Radiohead last night, although I never did find a fourth to the party. As a little background the first time I ever saw radiohead (and the only other time) was when I was 15(?) and my dad took me to see Belly. Radiohead opened and at that time just had the one song on the radio, "Creep". I didn't know that there was the radio version and the album version of the song. So they dropped the f-bomb a couple of times and I was so worried that my Dad was gonna say "come on son let's go." and that I would miss Belly. We didn't leave; however, the next time I went out to get a new CD my dad said, "I hope it's not that radioman band."

Steve Malkamus and the Jicks opened up. I used to like Pavement but the Jicks just didn't do it for me. They sounded too jam-band, like an indie-phish. Then Radiohead came out and did their thing which at this point in their career is basically experimental noise rock. It's weird that they've retained their popularity from where they started to where they are at now. Perhaps they are similar to the Beatles from "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" to the white album. (Not bigger than Jesus though). They are still one of the few groups from that came out at that time that are still around. (Trying to think of who else is still around in the mainstream from that early-alternative time period: Pearl Jam and STP and ? ? ?) When I see experimental bands I always sit back and think "wow, that sound was neat" but as a whole I'm not moved.

As the night progressed Thom Yorke took shots at the venue, Clear Channel, and the VIP boxes in between songs. Thanks guys! I deserve to be booed because I happpen to work for a company that happens to own a box for shows like Alabama and happens to give me the leftovers. And then as I leave I pass their merchandise booth where a radiohead t-shirt will cost you $35-$45 I suspect that they must not be too anti-corporation/money.

Music

We worked on "Trendsetters" last night and had a pretty productive evening down in my basement. I twisted Rebekah's arm until she came down and recorded the chorus. She nailed it and it sounds so good. Not so much the music or anything but her vocal delivery is so on. So the song is about 90% done, just little tweaks here and there and a better mix. I even managed to work in a little nod to Wesley Willis which was fun.

It's cool to be producing music, even the shoddy, dimestore variety we generate. I'd much rather spend an evening working on something original then trying to learn to play the latest modern rock single like I do with our other band, Mostly Minus. Mostly Minus was starting to get interesting for a bit. They had come up with some original material and the plan was to start playing out. Nothing spectacular, just playing at the local pizza parlor or sub shop. Well the guitarist is 18 and lives at home and his dad shut us down. He didn't want his son playing out for whatever reason. So of course we had to support that. We are not about to go encourage out and out rebellion. Well the grapevine rumor is that the guitarist is moving out on his own. And if that happens then we might start playing out again. That at least is something to look forward to even if the music sucks.

As for playing live as 6a2. I'm not ruling it out. It's been a background thought as we have been making the songs. We want them to be natural as possible without them becoming too dependant on the computer. I think we have been successful to some extent. The only thing is my vocals. I have that low-fi fem voice going on Vincent and I reused it again on the new song. As a singer I think I do better with a girl voice than a guy's. Really as long as I get a vocal effects unit of some sort with pitch shift I think it could happen. Tentatively we plan to play out toward the end of the year. I really, really want that to happen.

My sister is coming down briefly Friday night. I really wanted to record her playing drums. There is an old, old song that we did together once upon a time that I want to resurrect. The drum beat would be near impossible to produce with the drum machine. It's too involved and she's too talented. It's just this neat epic song that I miss playing. But she is not going to be around long enough for it to happen. That's dissapointing.

Old People

The old guy across the street from me died, which sucks. I've watched him work to fix up his house over the past couple of years. He's slow but the house has really been shaping up. So he makes improvements to it and dies and can't even enjoy it. The other old guy down the road came over to tell me. I think he was just itching to start a conversation. His whole life is spent under the tree in his front yard. He just sits and waits. I'd talk to him more but his milky eye is kind of creepy. I need to try to be more compassionate. I really do. I only love two people. Should I love more? Could I?

Music

I have an extra VIP ticket to Radiohead this Sunday if someone in the St. Louis area wants to go.

Rebekah got me a Cardigan's CD she found in a thrift-store. So now after all these years I finally own my very own copy of Lovefool. Cool.

First Day of School

I took an extended lunch break today to go with Rebekah for Mina's first day at school. It was basically an hour for her to find her classroom, meet the teacher, and for the teacher to lay down the law. So we went over how hitting and firearms are not tolerated, how snack day works, and the method the teacher will be using to help them learn the alphabet (I guess the ABC song set to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is ineffective in this age of the Internet). If there was a soundtrack for the morning it would be "White Trash Moon" by Kristin Hersh. I think Mina got put in the stupid class. One of her fellows is a eight year girl who has been held back twice. I was one of the few Dads present. (To my pride I was the one with a full set of teeth.)

We need to set a time to go over the whole pledge, holiday, birthday issue with the teacher. Little did I suspect we would have to hit it so soon. Tomorrow (the first full day) is a classmate's birthday and her Mom is bringing in treats! Hmmmmmmm.

Indie

I'm a fan of independent cinema. I like some music groups that are categorized as being indie. I wasn't aware that there is this whole subculture of people that are classified as "indie". I don't get it or maybe I'm just out of touch. So "indie" is short for independent. So if a person is independent they dress in matching uniforms of bargain basement flood pants and low-top converse all-stars? And that makes sense...

Forget making sense. The part of it that I found downright repugnant is the posturing that goes along with it. Sure I enjoy Belle and Sebastian but I'm not about to take that leap wherein I feel that listening to them elevates me over my fellows. How can one determine that the more esoteric a band is the better they are? There are some people that if their favorite indie band in the world suddenly became popular they would cease to like them. (Or if they lent their music to a commercial.) It's not about the music it's about the accessibility of it.

To be fair this form of elitism spills over into other areas of life. Wine snobs. Film (celluloid) purists. Denae who only reads "Whitman".

And where am I? Balanced hopefully. Yeah, I appreciate acquired tastes. Solondz. Winterson. Chimay. However, I'm woefully in love with pop-culture. Case in point: I enjoy Avril.

Weekend Related Things

I swear it must have been 90 degrees when I woke up in the morning Saturday. I rallied the troops and we headed out in field service. Nothing too fruitful came out of the morning except that Richard offered to loan me his copy of Seven Samurai.

After service Brandon came over we started working on our new song. I had already had a nice 909 beat with a 303 bass line I had worked up so it didn't take long for me and Brandon to add guitar and keyboard tracks. Topped off with a sample swiped from Kristin Hersh it seems nice. One more vocal session and it should be done.

Rebekah and I watched Seven Samurai in its entirety. I do mean "entirety". The film was over three hours long with a 20-minute intermission.

Went to sleep satisfied...

And today? Not much. Went to the meeting. The guest speaker was from a rural congregation so he had all these redneck illustrations that flew over our heads. "Now of course we all like our possessions. But if we had to choose between our four-wheelers and fishing boats or the truth, what would we pick?" He was a lively, good ole' boy that kept a nice pace and me from dozing. What more could I ask for?

Afterward we went grocery shopping for the week. Came home grilled some burgers. Played around with T-Racks.

Score 1 for Creation, er Nature

Once again creation has trampled over mankinds' latest and greatest. Scientists have identified a sea sponge that has been doing fiber-optics longer and better than us. They are now studying it to figure out how to make our fiber optics as good. I think this will be a long time in the making considering their track record at trying to duplicate the created world. I enjoy how they are all eager to give credit where credit is due. "It's such a wonderful example of how exquisite nature is as a designer and builder of complex systems," said Geri Richmond, a chemist and materials scientist at the University of Oregon. (italics mine) Once again nature becomes a surrogate placeholder for that three letter word that science cannot utter -- "GOD".

Sick as a Dog

Yesterday at work I started getting mentally sick and then by the end of the day I physically sick. Throwing up, out, over. I couldn't decide if I had the flu, or food poisening, or was just wigged out over a bad situation at the office. By the time I went home my body was in extreme pain and the only thing that helped was soaking in the bath tub. I took 3 baths last night.

Today I woke up feeling exhuasted but better. I'm so fatigued. For my hour lunch break I climbed in my car and fell asleep. I can't wait to get home to my bed. I feel miserable. I would've called off today but it would've had the appearance that I was ducking out of seeing my boss after yesterday's fiasco. So I showed up. I want to go home.

Chicago

Our Chicago weekend flew by and we had some good fun. Our first stop was Ikea. I had my eye on some stools on their website but the shipping was outrageous. We decided to take the opportunity to just pick them up. I couldn't believe how big that place was! From the scant amount of items on their website I couldn't imagine that it was a three-level shop the size of a small mall. There we met my sister and her friend from Madison, WI, Carrie.

That night we went to see what will probably be one of the last performances of Throwing Muses. David the drummer is calling it quits and Kristin and Bernard are reforming as 50'~ (Fifty Foot Wave). We ate dinner at the Abbey Pub until the doors opened and then staked our claim at the front of the stage. It's funny how no matter where you see Throwing Muses there is many of the same people. We saw Jason and Christine Mitchell and the annoying Jon Lovitz lookalike that was in San Fransico in 2001.

The show got started at about 10PM. The opening bands were ho-hum; but how could they compete with our favorite band in the world? The Throwing Muses show was killer. Musically the band was so strong and Kristin's voice was awesome. Rebekah was really dying for them to play her favorite, Mania. She got it during the 2nd encore. So she was happy. The show concluded at about 1:30AM. We left satisfied but a little sad that we probably wouldn't get to see them again.

So it was back to the hotel. Our hotel was screwed up so that they didn't have two double beds that we requested on booking. The idea of sleeping four of us on a king size was not an option so I grabbed the floor. I was so tired that it didn't even matter and it wasn't the first time I had fallen asleep on a hotel floor (it was however the first time sober). I woke up under the desk and I was glad that I didn't jump up instantly in the morning or I would've been in for a serious concussion.

The next day we just spent shoe shopping at some of the stores along Halstead street and the surrounding area and headed home.

I Loathe the 80's

First off on band names. Monocle was already taken so I tried Narwhale which was already being used so I settled on SixAfterTwo or 6a2 or 2:06 or whatever for me and brandon's little songs because I already had this domain name. So we were supposed to record our new song tentatively titled "Vincent" last night but the drummer of the rock band we are in decided he could play for the first time in 3 weeks. Plans changed much to my regret.

Playing loud obnoxious male rock music is fun but it is not fullfilling. I go home feeling soiled. The lead (and I do mean LEAD) guitar player was showing off his new guitar which he remarked was very "Pantera". So we bounced through some sloppy renditions of the songs on our setlist and spend time learning a new original (very Blink 182) and a cover of "Send the Pain Below" by a band called Cheffelle or something.

The best part of the evenings are just sitting around and chatting with guys something I rarely do any more since my friends of old have left. We were talking about how 80's style is making a comeback. The hair. Outlandish colours. Brandon even mentioned that he saw acid washed pants with elastic leg and waste bands in a catalog a young sister had. I hate 80's fashion I hope it's a brief fad.

Produce

I tried to grow tomato plants this year but my black thumb had another agenda entirely. Not that they're dead but merely stunted. All I have is these little plum sized green tomatoes on plants that are on only one and a half feet tall. So I have been relying on the kindness of others as their tomatoes are coming in. Last night someone brought some huge ones to the Kingdom Hall. I grabbed this super large bulbous one that bore an uncanny resemblence to Joeseph Merrick's (The Elephant Man) head. We brought it home and turned it into salsa and guacomole. YUM.

It seems we are having more and more parts regarding foreign languages on the Service Meeting. In our area the foreign language population is directly tied to the number of Mexican restaraunts that are open at any given time. So apart from the occasional spanish-speaking fajita chef we don't really have to deal with it. It's weird though the different languages you'll run into. I came across this lady who only spoke Macedonian. Folks in the cities might not think this odd; but, here to find someone speaking Macedonian in a rural farming territory seems bizarre.

It looks like Chicago is going to happen this weekened. How weird that I live in Illinois but have never been. When I go to a Throwing Muses show I'm always torn about whether I should watch the shown or tape it for posterity. You can't really enjoy the concert when you are viewing it through the viewfinder of a camcorder.

Down to my Last

Eek! I'm getting down to my last few tabletas of Clenbuterol that I bought while vacationing in Mexico. They've really worked on my asthma but unfortunately the FDA will not approve the drug for sale in the US. I'm going to see if I can get my doctor to prescribe it and I can buy it over the Net from Canada or Mexico. If not I'm either stuck with stupid inhalers or will have to make a trip north or south of the border.

Concerts

So last night I came within inches of skipping out on the book study to go see Liz Phair. (What a terrible, terrible sentence.) But just as I was ready to commit that terrible travesty the show sold out. Last year I was offered tickets to go see Allison Krauss (one of my guilty pleasures.) but I refused because the show was the night of the book study. I must be slipping.

But that's OK that I missed Liz Phair. There are a ton of great shows it seems coming up. First and foremost THROWING MUSES this weekend at the Abbey Pub in Chicago. My boss gave me his VIP tickets to Radiohead in a couple of week and Steve Malkmus is opening up. (What a coincidence practically the only two guy singers I like are touring together.) Then in September it was announced that the Aisler's Set will be touring with Yo La Tengo. (The Aisler's Set being one of my new favorites.) Then Julianna Hatfield & Some Girls will be starting their tour. They haven't announced an STL date yet. If they don't I might try to catch them in Madison, WI where my sister lives. Then Kristin Hersh should be starting her solo tour.

In other more important goings on the gap between true and false religion is widening or at least becoming more visible.

Krispy Kreme

More developments in the Krispy Kreme story. Friday night I e-mailed Krispy Kreme regarding the profanity used by their employee. My e-mail was more fueled by a desire to try to get a coupon for some free dougnuts then some sort of righteous indignation. Well yesterday the manager of the North County Krispy Kreme called to apoligise to me about the cursing incident. I hate talking on the phone. That's the reason I e-mailed my complaints in the first place! So I kind of stammered and stuttered for a bit and then hung of the phone. Well tonight the regional manager called me to get some information and to offer his apologies. ARRRGGG! I was only trying to get some free doughnuts; I didn't want to deal with this. Tommorrow the president of Krispy Kreme will probably call me.

My friend from Southern Illinois called me up out of the blue. He only calls when there is an assembly or convention coming up so he can bum a place to stay. Well it turns out his convention is this weekend. Surprise! Surprise! I had to break it to him that we are going to Chicago this weekend for the last Throwing Muses show EVER! He'll be scrambling for a room now.

Brandon and I finished our second song and the first recorded on the computer. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. We are recording under the name Monocle as a tribute to Mr. Peanut or Col. Klink. Here is Rival The Sun

The Zoo

Yesterday we took Mina to the St. Louis Zoo. The Zoo is really one of the shiny points of an otherwise lackluster city. I can't think of any other free zoo that can compete in terms of scope and execution. To that end I always cringe when I hear people complaining about having to pay $2.00 for soda there. Don't they realise that a zoo like this would cost them at least $15.00 a head elsewhere?


They recently added a new house for penguins and puffins that I was eager to check out. It must be popular because there was line to get into it. I've never seen a line for anything at the zoo. The cool (literally) thing about it was that inside they kept it at 45 degrees. It was like a meat locker. Along the pathways that had these transparent swimming tanks for the birds. You could reach out and touch them if you were so inclined. (Prior to entering the Zookeeper warned against it because they bite.) The designer must have taken a lesson from Walt Disney World because you exit right into a gift shop.


Animals in zoos really have it made. In his book Life of Pi, Yann Martel's character Pi argues against people who would like to view zoo animals as prisoners. He laughs at people who picture lions in the wild sitting on the African plain admiring the sunset or planning a vacation. Zoos, as he explains, provide food and water as well as a secure environment, free from predators. Animals, he says, prefer the familiar. The small environments zoos give them are better suited for their phyche. Zoos are doing for animals what humans have done for themselves for a long time--supplying all their needs in a condensed environment, or home.