(somerville) new start

best of the best

here is today's pick for the best interweb page describing the best warning signage ever.

(dc -> houston) daddy

i wrote about daddy and the crazy dancing song last night on the nonalignment pact blog, for those who might be interested (patrick! :) ). i posted a few of my favorite songs of his.

(*dc) beautiful data

i like having a job where i routinely hear, "these are beautiful data." (or, more commonly, "this is beautiful data." i make the grammar corrections in my head).

(dc) regular nap

the powers at be at the music blog, the nonalignment pact (NAP), have invited me to be a regular blogger for them. they let me choose between saturday and sunday. i figured sundays i might have more to talk about if i can get myself out of the studio on saturday nights to go to shows or other interesting music-related activities.

this week i wrote about the cassettes at yuri's night dc.

(dc) orreries

i'm coming out of the closet officially with my obsession with orreries.


aren't they beautiful?

i want to talk to these guys:



how is it that i've spent about 5 months of my life in vienna, and i've never seen the globe museum??



also, i think i met this guy who built a generative music sculpture based on gravity equations at yuri's night last year.

and here is one made from lights.

(dc) solution

nasa humor:

if you're not part of the solution
you're part of the precipitate.

(dc) guest geek

i guest-posted on the nonalignment pact music blog today about my data sonification project.

(dc) well, that and

i really love that a surprisingly large percentage of hits to my blog come from people searching on things having to do with cement trucks, like "how cement trucks work" or "cement truck mechanics." perhaps i should provide some useful links for those people, who are no doubt sorely disappointed when this old rag comes up as one of the top links in their google search. but honestly, there is a dearth of information out there about cement trucks. why is that? do i need to start a cement truck informational website? and the sad thing is that the more times i type cement truck in this post, the more likely it is to come up on a google search for those poor souls seeking real information about cement trucks, cement mixers, etc. cement truck cement truck cement truck.

(*dc) i know i know

i'm toying with the idea of shutting this little shop down, but some part of me thinks maybe i will someday think of something clever or meaningful to say, and if that lightning does strike, where would i write?

also, i think i'm starting to go old school again, thinking that if someone wants to get to know me, maybe the best way is to spend time with me. i'm not sure what's here represents who i really am.

i often turn to this blog when i'm lonely, so i guess it should be a good sign that there hasn't been much activity here lately.

(dc) happy new year

happy rat year!

"People born in the Year of the Rooster are deep thinkers, capable, and talented. They like to be busy and are devoted beyond their capabilities and are deeply disappointed if they fail. People born in the Rooster Year are often a bit eccentric, and often have rather difficult relationship with others. They always think they are right and usually are! They frequently are loners and though they give the outward impression of being adventurous, they are timid. Rooster people¡¦s emotions like their fortunes, swing very high to very low. They can be selfish and too outspoken, but are always interesting and can be extremely brave. They are most compatible with Ox, Snake, and Dragon."

(dc) dangerous person

best movie line in recent memory:

"i have two things to say:

1. i'm leaving tomorrow on a bus.

2. that could change."


- eagle vs. shark (2007)

(dc) haiku shake

(toulouse, france) happy new year

it's already 2008 here (3am jan 1).
people have gone to bed.

happy new year!

(dc) fun with patches

i asked carl to name the patches he's creating. this one is called "squirrel 3 to houston"

(*dc) where did it go?

it seems that more and more people are reading this blog, so if you're looking for posts that seem to have disappeared, they've been saved as drafts. some of them seemed a bit personal. used to be no one really stopped by except my sisters and a few close friends.

(*dc) bright side

observation:

the one good thing
about having your worst fears
realized
is that
the fears then disappear

magic

:) yay!

(DC 178 7) snow day

princess roses and balloons to n on her birthday today.

we called a no-go on the arts night show in boston this weekend due to weather. kat and i were planning to drive up together. she was going to fly back sunday and i was going to drive back with my car full of gear. they are due for a second slamming storm saturday night, and it looked like i might get stuck in boston sunday, so we cancelled. other katharine was going to cancel the whole night altogether, but when it looked like the storm would wait till past midnight, she decided instead to scramble to find a replacement performer.

i sorta forgot about winter when we booked this show 6 months ago, but winter comes to boston in a big way.

in full disclosure, i also wasn't feeling quite prepared for this performance. increased work demands - especially travel - have left me severely limited time for plain, old-fashioned practice and creating. nobody wanted us to risk the 16 hours of winter driving for a medi-okra show, especially if few people showed up because of the storm.

another factor that went into the decision was the appeal of being able to finish my film scoring homework, which has suffered at the bottom of my priority list for a third semester now. it's due tomorrow night. perhaps i will be able to salvage some integrity there and get it all finished, FINALLY.

it reminds me of those
rare delicious childhood days
when a foot of snow
would come on the days
of tests and a big homework assignments.

will i ever escape my childhood ways?

(San jose, ca -> dc) Kelly sunshine

My father wrote songs for me and my sisters when we were born. What has always amazed me is how spot on he seemed to be with the lyrics. I've often wondered if this was blind luck or if the songs themselves played a role in shaping our personalities. Not surprisingly, I have always loved my song and the story that went with it - how I was born at sunrise as the sun came streaming in.

For 38 years I have heard the song played the same way with the same piano solo and the same modulation after the chorus. Last week I decided that it was time for me to start playing it. I slowed it down and put it in 3/4 time and raised it a step. Fortunately by now I pretty much already knew the song, what with having it imbedded in my DNA and all.

I'm performing it this weekend for the first time. We'll see if I can do it without crying.

hipsters, take your cynicism and go home.


Kelly Sunshine

By Gary O'Brien Snook

Life is so new
Kelly Sunshine
you brought the sun to my eyes
I'd like to help you through tomorrow
help you through the sorrows and pain

On the day you came along
I knew infinity
now you're here
and your blue eyes smile
so good to have you here

Walk with the wind
Kelly Sunshine
let the clouds be your friend
rain will fall and the flowers grow
and you'll have love in your eyes
and you'll have peace in your heart
and you'll be free
kelly sunshine

Life can be good
Kelly Sunshine
to thine own self be true
find a way to be happy
find a way to be you

On the day you came along
I knew infinity
now you're here
and your blue eyes smile
so good to have you here

Walk with the wind
Kelly Sunshine
let the clouds be your friend
rain will fall
and the flowers grow

And you'll have love in your eyes
you'll have peace in your heart
and youll be free
kelly sunshine

(dc) slip

this time
i'll let it slip
off the first screens

no bump

out of sight
out of mind
out of heart

easy come
easy go
and so
and so
and so
it goes

(dc) balance

why is it so hard
to find symmetry?
reciprocity
magic
generosity
i've got it in me.
i'm doing my part.

no fair.

if i were 21-30
or living within 5 miles
or petite
or a yogini
what then?
would that
bring the magic?

they think it's easier
not to say why