Other stuff I'm doing

[Peregrine]

Well, looks like mama gets a 2 day break instead of the standard 1 day. Pop is coming by to fetch her. I've spent entirely too much time cooped up & behind the computer. I think I may blow this popsical stand this eve & go dancing somewhere. I haven't gone Salsa dancing in like, forever.

then again I might just really like the peace & quiet & go sit in a park some were & smoke a spliff...

[stefano]

So I've moved back home to Cape Town with my wife. After a couple of weeks cruising around seeing the sights and people, we're settled; I'm trying to get by as an independent consultant working off the table in the lounge. I probably won't post as much as I did at other, more bored times, but want to resuscitate my surveillance thread and the one about demurrage currency in the Economics forum.

Chat soon.
F

[Penguin]

Ive been working.
I got a job!

Working with my hands doing stuff thats not too bad. Feeling pleasantly tired, its been a while since I had a real job.

[stefano]

Travelling! Visiting in-laws and parents on opposite ends of the continent, and fitting in some work and tourism. Nice trip, but it's good to be home.

[Alaya]

Thank you for those, Stefano

Here is some yarn I've spun on a hand spindle.

[Nordic]

That's beautiful, Alaya.

[slow_dazzle]

Good to see so many positive things - about time we all started doing something to offset the bloody doom. The yarn making chimes with what I would like to do if only I knew how. Never mind, my partner is currently draught sewing curtains for internal doors. A good sewing machine is a good investment - older ones are better - less plastic parts.

Me? i'm looking forward to splitting cherry wood logs tomorrow, for the wood burning stove. There are some burning in it right now and the smell is lovely.

[Alaya]

That's beautiful, Alaya.

Thanks, sweets. Means a lot that you say that. XO

[Allegro]

.
Everything is a Remix

Part One: pop/rock music | Part Two: film
Kirby Ferguson, originator

This post has been dressed up with no place to go, but then I remembered this “other stuff” thread would be a better fit than the “listening” thread.

The vimeo Remix Part One was a kind of motivator of sorts, but when I’ve gone again to listen to it, I begin to wonder why it was a help in the first place. It was, though, because, well, take me outta the classical mode, and I’m a rookie. And you probably already knew that .

Which is to say, my curiosity has gotten the best of me. Some of what I’ve been doing for maybe four months or so is listening to excerpts of music posted in the “listening” thread while looking up lyrics— lyrics, lyrics, lyrics and more lyrics —than I’ve looked up in all my life! I’ve listed genres, book marked and categorized a lot of pop, rock, alternative rock, art rock, punk rock, metal, funk, jam, etc., posted at RI, and read musical composition notes (of the lengthy and more complicated pieces) online since I’ve been thinking all these months that many RIers know more about pop and rock music, the lyrics’ messages, the sub-genres and historical bits-and-pieces about composers and performers than I could shake a stick at.

So, what might be telling of my rookie-ness is that I’ve phased into a lover of musical spectacle, like the Tull Thick as a Brick at 40 minutes in length, which I think is a spectacular composition relative to much of the vids in the “listening” thread; Patience and Capital, both with spectacular shows of digital art; Europa’s spectacular performance including the chorus and the visuals projected behind it, the blend of traditional acoustic and electronic instruments, and the impressive percussion setup; then, Brain Damage & Eclipse with its yellow light that filled the circle projected over head in the final moments of the vid that reminded me of my affinity for the sun! Spectacular.

Why am I doing all this? Because my classical training insists; because I love listening for nuances during performances and noticing musical phrases during which nuances were not apparent; because I RI— a few of you know that, and I love that you do if only by way of reminder.

~ A.

[dada]

I'm playing 1 game of Q*Bert for a little over 3 days straight, starting Thursday next week. I should say attempting to play, because you never know what kind of hallucinations may interrupt me, but I really think I can do it!

For those who don't know, qbert is an arcade game from 1981, where you jump this little orange thing up and down a pyramid made of cubes, dodging enemies while changing the colors of the tops of the cubes. I'll be doing that for a long time, at Richie Knucklez arcade in Flemington, NJ. The whole thing will be streamed live.

Looking back over my life, I'm not quite sure how something like this happened. Although I did have a scary lucid dream when I was about 13 years old, where I was climbing this gigantic, enormous, practically infinite pyramid. I always thought that was as a result of reading too much hitchhikers guide before bed, but now I think it was the qbert, echoing back through the time stream to my younger self. So, yeah.