image and sound.
Kahimi Karie & Cornelius: "A Fantastic Moment"
Beautiful.
(....and listen for the sly Lou Reed sample.)
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Sunday, July 23, 2006
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
I'm not dead.
No, I'm just extremely hot and trying to escape the cloud of muggy mundaneity that has crept into my apartment and suffocates me at night. But at least it's barbeque weather.
Work continues, tedious as always but at least air-contitioned. Some days I dread going to work, but then when I return to my hot third-floor den I almost want to go back to my semi-constructive hotel duties. At least it keeps my mind and body occupied.
Escaping to a small chair on my roof becomes more and more frequent, but the pulsating silent sun as of late has made relaxing deadly in the daytime. Recording music is challenging when creativity is strangled by cynicism, but at least I was able to have a cold drink with Fade 13, another Corvallis musician who gave me three CDs of great music.
Beer has become a daily beverage, with or without others, but that can be blamed on the season.
And last night, while lying on the roof, Octavio and I saw a UFO fly by. So we spoke of the X-Files.
.
No, I'm just extremely hot and trying to escape the cloud of muggy mundaneity that has crept into my apartment and suffocates me at night. But at least it's barbeque weather.
Work continues, tedious as always but at least air-contitioned. Some days I dread going to work, but then when I return to my hot third-floor den I almost want to go back to my semi-constructive hotel duties. At least it keeps my mind and body occupied.
Escaping to a small chair on my roof becomes more and more frequent, but the pulsating silent sun as of late has made relaxing deadly in the daytime. Recording music is challenging when creativity is strangled by cynicism, but at least I was able to have a cold drink with Fade 13, another Corvallis musician who gave me three CDs of great music.
Beer has become a daily beverage, with or without others, but that can be blamed on the season.
And last night, while lying on the roof, Octavio and I saw a UFO fly by. So we spoke of the X-Files.
.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
absinthesizer.
Why, I've been so distracted that I haven't been able to direct you to my shiny new song, downloadable here.
As I'm sure most of you know, absinthe was the chosen drink to get crunk on in late 19th-century/early 20th-century Paris. Supposedly a whole slew of artists, writers, and general bohemian eccentrics were frequent drinkers of "the green fairy," not just for the purpose of getting smashed, but as a source of high-proof liquid inspiration. Van Gogh, Picasso, Hemingway, Toulouse Lautrec, and Oscar Wilde all gave props to the wormwood-infused drink. Then eventually the conservatives got uptight, and suddenly there was a widespread campaign against absinthe saying that it was a dangerous hallucinogenic drink that turned good Christian folk into murderous Dionysian heathens, and absinthe ended up being outlawed in America and several parts of Europe.
Absinthesizer, then, is apparently about a psychedelic drink that provides instant electronic inspiration to musicians. It is a bit of a throwback to Synestheseus and all its psychedelic tomfoolery, but as with my other Manticore material, there is a sinister edge just beneath the whimsy.
There's ornaments on elephants and katydids on kids,
and plasma-sucking flowers that will grow from your eyelids.
.
Why, I've been so distracted that I haven't been able to direct you to my shiny new song, downloadable here.
As I'm sure most of you know, absinthe was the chosen drink to get crunk on in late 19th-century/early 20th-century Paris. Supposedly a whole slew of artists, writers, and general bohemian eccentrics were frequent drinkers of "the green fairy," not just for the purpose of getting smashed, but as a source of high-proof liquid inspiration. Van Gogh, Picasso, Hemingway, Toulouse Lautrec, and Oscar Wilde all gave props to the wormwood-infused drink. Then eventually the conservatives got uptight, and suddenly there was a widespread campaign against absinthe saying that it was a dangerous hallucinogenic drink that turned good Christian folk into murderous Dionysian heathens, and absinthe ended up being outlawed in America and several parts of Europe.
Absinthesizer, then, is apparently about a psychedelic drink that provides instant electronic inspiration to musicians. It is a bit of a throwback to Synestheseus and all its psychedelic tomfoolery, but as with my other Manticore material, there is a sinister edge just beneath the whimsy.
There's ornaments on elephants and katydids on kids,
and plasma-sucking flowers that will grow from your eyelids.
.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
stolen skates for humor's sake.
Renob Control's first weekend performance of new comedy sketches, dubbed "Boz Scagg's Boss Gaggs", went quite well. It was my first time doing anything theater-related since high school, and working with the Renob crew proved to be a smashing time full of fun, challenges, and petty theft. The show will run for two more weekends, so if any of you care, come to the Brody Theater in Portland Friday & Saturday night for some balls-out comedy. Both nights feature sketches written by meself, but I only appear in Saturday's show. Peace up!
That should say NW 27th. The 21 is just another joke! Whoa ha ha ha! ...No, it was a mistake. We suck.
.
Renob Control's first weekend performance of new comedy sketches, dubbed "Boz Scagg's Boss Gaggs", went quite well. It was my first time doing anything theater-related since high school, and working with the Renob crew proved to be a smashing time full of fun, challenges, and petty theft. The show will run for two more weekends, so if any of you care, come to the Brody Theater in Portland Friday & Saturday night for some balls-out comedy. Both nights feature sketches written by meself, but I only appear in Saturday's show. Peace up!
That should say NW 27th. The 21 is just another joke! Whoa ha ha ha! ...No, it was a mistake. We suck.
.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
ancient archives of video.
I recently found out that Myspace, in additon to being a popular networking/music/dating community, has a whole damn slew of music videos, old and new, available for quick and easy viewing. Here's what I've been watching:
The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever" - The wacky psychedelic video they made for their wacky psychedelic song.
David Bowie "Oh You Pretty Things" - Apparently an unaired 1972 performance from the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test.
Tom Petty "Don't Come Around Here No More" - A great classic video, full of extreme 80s postmodern formalism.
Tom Waits "The Piano Has Been Drinking" - Waits being his bad self on the 70s talk show parody "Fernwood 2Night." And check out the young Fred Willard.
Jackson 5 "Blame it on the Boogie" - This one speaks for itself. But don't let Wolfman Jack scare ya.
.
I recently found out that Myspace, in additon to being a popular networking/music/dating community, has a whole damn slew of music videos, old and new, available for quick and easy viewing. Here's what I've been watching:
The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever" - The wacky psychedelic video they made for their wacky psychedelic song.
David Bowie "Oh You Pretty Things" - Apparently an unaired 1972 performance from the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test.
Tom Petty "Don't Come Around Here No More" - A great classic video, full of extreme 80s postmodern formalism.
Tom Waits "The Piano Has Been Drinking" - Waits being his bad self on the 70s talk show parody "Fernwood 2Night." And check out the young Fred Willard.
Jackson 5 "Blame it on the Boogie" - This one speaks for itself. But don't let Wolfman Jack scare ya.
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Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Friday, May 05, 2006
neu song #2
"Monsters" is now available for download on Caws Pobi's myspace page.
The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him? (Revelation 13:1-4 NIV)
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"Monsters" is now available for download on Caws Pobi's myspace page.
The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him? (Revelation 13:1-4 NIV)
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Wednesday, April 26, 2006
pictures.
Octavio had a birthday, and we had a party, and it looked like this.
There he is, looking strangely like one of those laughing Buddha statues.
A whole slew of folks showed up, including some beers and a couple bongo drums.
Kendra's mussed locks are humbled by Octavio, God of Hair.
Sunday mornin' brought the dawn in.
.
Octavio had a birthday, and we had a party, and it looked like this.
There he is, looking strangely like one of those laughing Buddha statues.
A whole slew of folks showed up, including some beers and a couple bongo drums.
Kendra's mussed locks are humbled by Octavio, God of Hair.
Sunday mornin' brought the dawn in.
.
Monday, April 17, 2006
food for a gestating album.
1.
The Manticore (Mantichora) as illustrated in Edward Topsell's History of Four Footed Beastes
"A triple row of teeth meeting like the teeth of a comb, the face and ears of a human being, grey eyes, a blood-red color, a lion's body, inflicting stings with its tail like a scorpion...with a special appetite for human flesh." -Pliny the Elder
"The manticore was also attributed with having a voice that was the mixture of pipes and a trumpet. The beast is very swift and makes very powerful leaps. The manticore is reputed to roam in the jungles of India, and is known to have an appetite for humans. Like its cousin, the Sphinx, it would often challenge its prey with riddles before killing."
-quoted from www.monstrous.com
2. Butoh
Butoh performers being creepy, yet chic
"We are between sanity and insanity, beauty and ugliness. Good and evil don't matter; emotion lurshes from serenity to rage without warning. East and West, too, have merged: Leering Japanese ghosts waltz to Edith Piaf; a forest hag dressed for a Versailles ball strikes wild kabuki poses. Fear turns frolicksome at a soiree deep inside a nuclear-fallout shelter." -quoted from Eric Prideaux, www.pripix.com
"It was a short piece, without music, and it raised a scandal. In the piece a young boy (Yoshito Ohno) enacted sex with a chicken by strangling it between his thighs. In the darkness that followed a man - Tatsumi Hijikata - approached the boy. Since then butoh is called shocking, provocative, physical, spiritual, erotic, grotesque, violent, cosmic, nihilistic, cathartic, mysterious." -quoted from Dance of Darkness, by Harmen Sikkenga, www.butoh.net
more later.
.
1.
The Manticore (Mantichora) as illustrated in Edward Topsell's History of Four Footed Beastes
"A triple row of teeth meeting like the teeth of a comb, the face and ears of a human being, grey eyes, a blood-red color, a lion's body, inflicting stings with its tail like a scorpion...with a special appetite for human flesh." -Pliny the Elder
"The manticore was also attributed with having a voice that was the mixture of pipes and a trumpet. The beast is very swift and makes very powerful leaps. The manticore is reputed to roam in the jungles of India, and is known to have an appetite for humans. Like its cousin, the Sphinx, it would often challenge its prey with riddles before killing."
-quoted from www.monstrous.com
2. Butoh
Butoh performers being creepy, yet chic
"We are between sanity and insanity, beauty and ugliness. Good and evil don't matter; emotion lurshes from serenity to rage without warning. East and West, too, have merged: Leering Japanese ghosts waltz to Edith Piaf; a forest hag dressed for a Versailles ball strikes wild kabuki poses. Fear turns frolicksome at a soiree deep inside a nuclear-fallout shelter." -quoted from Eric Prideaux, www.pripix.com
"It was a short piece, without music, and it raised a scandal. In the piece a young boy (Yoshito Ohno) enacted sex with a chicken by strangling it between his thighs. In the darkness that followed a man - Tatsumi Hijikata - approached the boy. Since then butoh is called shocking, provocative, physical, spiritual, erotic, grotesque, violent, cosmic, nihilistic, cathartic, mysterious." -quoted from Dance of Darkness, by Harmen Sikkenga, www.butoh.net
more later.
.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
commercial break.
And now, a word from Timothy Leuers: Super Psychologist
"Most Americans think that they are in the top quartile of social intelligence and creativity. Americans will make false claims of self consistency as in the "I told you so" bias. Americans will tell you that they have knowledge that could not possibly exist (since it is knowledge about non existent events) and get angry when this fact is pointed out to them. In short Americans have a selective attention - they will ignore negative information about the self and concentrate on their positive, socially desirable aspects. Indeed, the only Americans that have given neutral self appraisals are undergoing treatment for depression. From a psychoanalytic viewpoint, there is nothing surprising about this. This selective attention, editing, ignoring, and creating a positive self image is nothing other than the ego at work. However, all the above measures of self enhancement show neutrality or even self depreciation when applied to the Japanese.
"My own work on "visual self enhancement" suggests however that the Japanese do have a positive self regard when it is confined, literally, to the regard or the gaze. I claim that they enhance their self-image, or the imaginary representation that they maintain of themselves. Give a Japanese a piece of paper and ask him to write about himself and he will portray himself as the same as the next guy. Give him a camera and he will suddenly become appealing, positive and upright. There would seem to be a much greater importance placed on the visual sign rather than the phonetic. From this data I have suggested the existence of a mature "specular self" in Japan."
.
And now, a word from Timothy Leuers: Super Psychologist
"Most Americans think that they are in the top quartile of social intelligence and creativity. Americans will make false claims of self consistency as in the "I told you so" bias. Americans will tell you that they have knowledge that could not possibly exist (since it is knowledge about non existent events) and get angry when this fact is pointed out to them. In short Americans have a selective attention - they will ignore negative information about the self and concentrate on their positive, socially desirable aspects. Indeed, the only Americans that have given neutral self appraisals are undergoing treatment for depression. From a psychoanalytic viewpoint, there is nothing surprising about this. This selective attention, editing, ignoring, and creating a positive self image is nothing other than the ego at work. However, all the above measures of self enhancement show neutrality or even self depreciation when applied to the Japanese.
"My own work on "visual self enhancement" suggests however that the Japanese do have a positive self regard when it is confined, literally, to the regard or the gaze. I claim that they enhance their self-image, or the imaginary representation that they maintain of themselves. Give a Japanese a piece of paper and ask him to write about himself and he will portray himself as the same as the next guy. Give him a camera and he will suddenly become appealing, positive and upright. There would seem to be a much greater importance placed on the visual sign rather than the phonetic. From this data I have suggested the existence of a mature "specular self" in Japan."
.
Monday, April 03, 2006
neu songs & spectral locomotives.
First of all, if you haven't yet, you gotta check out that last link I put up. It's one of those shining stars of the internet.
Now that I have my neu apartment and my DIY studio set up again, I'm working on a neu album, and I have a brand neu song up on my Caws Pobi page. The title I pulled from an old Elton John lyric (though my song isn't about Sir Elton). The samples I use in the song are from Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for Dedicated to the Aegean Sea, a mildly sexploitative Italian-Japanese 1979 film. I haven't seen the movie, but the music sure is funky.
A vanguard of innovative production methods, Morricone incorporated a lot of electronics into his soundtracks as his career progressed. He said this: "In my opinion, the use of electronic music and synthesizers should serve to change the concept of the music itself. One is dealing with a different kind of music here, something that is born from the instrument itself, full of new sounds and colors." I like that.
(No naked women were squished in the making of this music.)
.
First of all, if you haven't yet, you gotta check out that last link I put up. It's one of those shining stars of the internet.
Now that I have my neu apartment and my DIY studio set up again, I'm working on a neu album, and I have a brand neu song up on my Caws Pobi page. The title I pulled from an old Elton John lyric (though my song isn't about Sir Elton). The samples I use in the song are from Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for Dedicated to the Aegean Sea, a mildly sexploitative Italian-Japanese 1979 film. I haven't seen the movie, but the music sure is funky.
A vanguard of innovative production methods, Morricone incorporated a lot of electronics into his soundtracks as his career progressed. He said this: "In my opinion, the use of electronic music and synthesizers should serve to change the concept of the music itself. One is dealing with a different kind of music here, something that is born from the instrument itself, full of new sounds and colors." I like that.
(No naked women were squished in the making of this music.)
.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Sunday, March 19, 2006
queen bitch.
Who can find 5 things wrong with this picture?
...Give up? Or did you find more than 5? Well, let's have a look...
1. Gwen Stefani sucks as a musician, artist, and icon.
2. Oh, the white queen! Gwen is given a disturbing racist dominance in the photo with her white outfit, white skin, and flowing blonde hair, while the dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-dressed Japanese women are posed around her like servants. Servants to what? She certainly doesn't need any help being an overrated, pompous tart.
3. Parading around America in supposedly 'Harajuku'-style outfits with four Japanese girls on leashes would make one think that Gwen's solo album was more Japanese influenced. Instead, the record is more reflective of America's own brand of obnoxious R&B-pop-crap. Why isn't she wearing FUBU jackets and being flanked by young black men?
4. Usually, rock stars trying to show off their iconic sex-symbol status surround themselves with members of the opposite sex (remember Robert Palmer?). If Gwen were really trying to make a statement about gender and ambiguous sexuality in the pop music world, I could respect that. But I don't think she is. She just comes off as a creepy lesbian dominatrix.
5. Gwen's whole "gang of silent Asians who back up my ego and illustrate my creative decision" thing reeks of old fashioned imperialism. When David Bowie found himself influenced creatively by figures such as Klaus Nomi and Lindsay Kemp, he brought them to the forefront while collaborating with them, acknowledging their presence in his art. Gwen is posing more like a conquistador, enslaving the natives of a foreign land and bringing them back to America so they can be used as props in her stage show. "Look what I have discovered! Don't they make me look good??"
But don't take it from me. Take it from Yoko Kukuri, a free, non-silent girl who had this to say on a web thread about Stefani's song Harajuku Girls:
"I am usually liking Gwen Stefani but this song is horrible!!!! even if it is dedicated 2 japanese girls. I myself am japanese and I feel like she is letting our culture down!!! please no"
There you have it. The desperate plea at the end says it all- "please no".
Here's a bonus one:
6. Gwen Stafani isn't Japanese. Bitch.
.
Who can find 5 things wrong with this picture?
...Give up? Or did you find more than 5? Well, let's have a look...
1. Gwen Stefani sucks as a musician, artist, and icon.
2. Oh, the white queen! Gwen is given a disturbing racist dominance in the photo with her white outfit, white skin, and flowing blonde hair, while the dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-dressed Japanese women are posed around her like servants. Servants to what? She certainly doesn't need any help being an overrated, pompous tart.
3. Parading around America in supposedly 'Harajuku'-style outfits with four Japanese girls on leashes would make one think that Gwen's solo album was more Japanese influenced. Instead, the record is more reflective of America's own brand of obnoxious R&B-pop-crap. Why isn't she wearing FUBU jackets and being flanked by young black men?
4. Usually, rock stars trying to show off their iconic sex-symbol status surround themselves with members of the opposite sex (remember Robert Palmer?). If Gwen were really trying to make a statement about gender and ambiguous sexuality in the pop music world, I could respect that. But I don't think she is. She just comes off as a creepy lesbian dominatrix.
5. Gwen's whole "gang of silent Asians who back up my ego and illustrate my creative decision" thing reeks of old fashioned imperialism. When David Bowie found himself influenced creatively by figures such as Klaus Nomi and Lindsay Kemp, he brought them to the forefront while collaborating with them, acknowledging their presence in his art. Gwen is posing more like a conquistador, enslaving the natives of a foreign land and bringing them back to America so they can be used as props in her stage show. "Look what I have discovered! Don't they make me look good??"
But don't take it from me. Take it from Yoko Kukuri, a free, non-silent girl who had this to say on a web thread about Stefani's song Harajuku Girls:
"I am usually liking Gwen Stefani but this song is horrible!!!! even if it is dedicated 2 japanese girls. I myself am japanese and I feel like she is letting our culture down!!! please no"
There you have it. The desperate plea at the end says it all- "please no".
Here's a bonus one:
6. Gwen Stafani isn't Japanese. Bitch.
.
the removal of anxiety.
The website for Blackbook Magazine has a featured dialogue between two of my favorite artists, Jeff Koons and Matthew Barney. Read it here.
Barney has several good things to say about his own creative process (and his experiences in modeling), but I am able to identify more with Koons's statements, if I consider my songs to be my 'sculptures'.
Ushering in Banality, by Jeff Koons
film still from Cremaster 1, by Matthew Barney
.
The website for Blackbook Magazine has a featured dialogue between two of my favorite artists, Jeff Koons and Matthew Barney. Read it here.
Barney has several good things to say about his own creative process (and his experiences in modeling), but I am able to identify more with Koons's statements, if I consider my songs to be my 'sculptures'.
Ushering in Banality, by Jeff Koons
film still from Cremaster 1, by Matthew Barney
.
the Hit, and soup.
Remember when I mentioned a song I recorded with my cousin down in LA? Well, the song can now be heard on Caws Pobi's myspace page. Bend an ear.
Also, if there is anyone in Corvallis that does not have my Brettrospective book of cartoons, there are a few for sale at Interzone cafe on Monroe. Supplies are limited!
And it just so happens that Interzone is right across the street from a new soup shop that opened not too long ago. The soup there is good, and I endorse the place, but Cody and I had the idea of opening a soup restaurant on Monroe a loooong time ago. Someone must have overheard us.
I just typed in the word "soup" into Google's image search, and it brought up the pictures above. Go here to learn about pixel tiles and the art of mariosoup. If you are an art nerd like me, they probably remind you of Alfred Roller's Vienna Secession posters.
.
.
Remember when I mentioned a song I recorded with my cousin down in LA? Well, the song can now be heard on Caws Pobi's myspace page. Bend an ear.
Also, if there is anyone in Corvallis that does not have my Brettrospective book of cartoons, there are a few for sale at Interzone cafe on Monroe. Supplies are limited!
And it just so happens that Interzone is right across the street from a new soup shop that opened not too long ago. The soup there is good, and I endorse the place, but Cody and I had the idea of opening a soup restaurant on Monroe a loooong time ago. Someone must have overheard us.
I just typed in the word "soup" into Google's image search, and it brought up the pictures above. Go here to learn about pixel tiles and the art of mariosoup. If you are an art nerd like me, they probably remind you of Alfred Roller's Vienna Secession posters.
.
.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Royal Robertson.
Today I stopped by the OSU bookstore to check out the new art books, and I found a fascinating little book about How to Look at Outsider Art. For those of you who aren't in the know, Outsider Art is a loose term used to group together art created by social outcasts, the homeless, the mentally ill, children, or anyone else lacking academic art training or working outside the established fine arts world. Primitivism is often linked with Outsider Art.
Flipping through the book, I was really struck by the art of Royal Robertson. Robertson was a sign painter in Louisiana who's drawings jump between his interest in futuristic fantasy and his obsession with his adulterous ex-wife, Adell. There is certainly something tragically funny about his art, but I also feel that his drawings represent the fundamental compulsion to express, a compulsion felt by every artist. Robertson's emotional turmoil over his lost wife drove him to create his art, and while his aesthetic taste for streamlined spaceships and castles dominate his visual style, the anger he felt towards Adell is an ever-present theme. His personal fantasy world becomes a bizarre mix of cosmic imagery, bitterness, biblical threats, and calendar-like numerical grids. (click for a larger image)
.
Today I stopped by the OSU bookstore to check out the new art books, and I found a fascinating little book about How to Look at Outsider Art. For those of you who aren't in the know, Outsider Art is a loose term used to group together art created by social outcasts, the homeless, the mentally ill, children, or anyone else lacking academic art training or working outside the established fine arts world. Primitivism is often linked with Outsider Art.
Flipping through the book, I was really struck by the art of Royal Robertson. Robertson was a sign painter in Louisiana who's drawings jump between his interest in futuristic fantasy and his obsession with his adulterous ex-wife, Adell. There is certainly something tragically funny about his art, but I also feel that his drawings represent the fundamental compulsion to express, a compulsion felt by every artist. Robertson's emotional turmoil over his lost wife drove him to create his art, and while his aesthetic taste for streamlined spaceships and castles dominate his visual style, the anger he felt towards Adell is an ever-present theme. His personal fantasy world becomes a bizarre mix of cosmic imagery, bitterness, biblical threats, and calendar-like numerical grids. (click for a larger image)
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