Back from the e-dead.

In all honesty, I am still alive, despite claims to the contrary. Simply put, I have not been at my computer as much as I usually am. So less time to bloggy blog. Here's a rundown of what's happened since the last time I posted.

1. visited the Abrahms Planetarium on saturday...ignored the neo-nazi rally...
2. rehearsed with the Beasts @ Brian Richard's on Sunday.
3. arranged and met with a possible student teaching opportunity in Lansing schools, Everett high school to be exact. Saw Aaron Bales from across the school but couldn't talk to him.
4. Got my percussion class on.
5. Recorded at Elpop studios Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during freetime during the day...working on a record with my fiance, Amanda.
6. Went to piano class, prepared for final exam.
7. Finished a research paper over 15 pages long on heavy metal and how it relates to music education.
8. Sang in a choral chamber concert at Martin Luther Chapel.
9. Attended a cancelled Beasts show and hung out at the Temple Club, talking about Brian Eno, Scotland's relationship to England, boxing, and how great Oasis was back in the day.
10. Watched the wings mess things up.
11. Discussed recording/mixing at Elpop with Kevin.
12. Drove around a lot.
13. Reserved a room at Owen for second summer session.
14. Had a makeup composition lesson on Tuesday.
15. Did some grading of journals, music responses.
16. Presented an article to Psychology of music.
17. Had a panic attack.
18. Listen to the Girl Group Box set like 50 times.
19. Organized and packed, but failed to find a cart and didn't have time to move each piece separately.
20. Saw Matchpoint
21. Wrote some new songs
22. Further worked out the scheduling for my masters comprehensive exams
23. Burn some CDs
24. Ate a lot of Jelly Bellys
25. Slept a decent amount.

More on all of this later...

Andy Bechtel on MLB

Chris Shelton's homerun in yesterday's Tigers game (April 17) featured the presence of Andrew Bechtel...brother to my fiance, Amanda Bechtel. He is briefly recognizeable during the opening shot of the clip with Shelton's statistics. He is wearing a gray t-shirt and is directly above Chris Shelton's name in the statistics box. He is smiling, fully aware of his greatness. Shown on Sportcenter, the MLB website and whatever other highlight reel that featured it, I would show the entire clip, but I think MLB could castrate me just for publishing this image.

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April 25th, a week from today, Match Point comes out on DVD. It's also showing at Campus Cinemas this weekend...we will be seeing it. That means we'll have seen it three times in theaters. I noticed that the movie was recorded in mono. That's pretty atypical to modern film. Not only is it not taking advantage of "surround sound," and mainly featuring an opera soundtrack recorded from a vinyl record, but now I learn that entire movie was filmed in mono.

The movie is dark, twisted and definitely for an audience that is comfortable with adult concepts of post-modernism and cynical eccentricities. Woody Allen does not act in the movie, although there are a few mildly-Woody Allen-comedy-ish situations, and a reference to "g and ts" that always breaks me up.

Two shows coming

April 20th @ the Belmont in Hamtramck andApril 25th @ the Temple Club in Lansing.

Another blog later today? Maybe.

Information Theory

The Beasts of Burden and I are in Go and Do Michigan this week! Go and Do Michigan is the Entertainment paper for Heritage Papers, which is the larger parent company that supports small regional papers in the Metro-Detroit area. Check out the spotlight online here .

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Not sure why I'm posting this today...the following are snippets from my personal diary as I discuss information theory...

Please Note: Most of the time, these journal entries refer to what is more specifically called information entropy and how it is applied to music...you can check out the mathematical realities of this theory by checking out the Wikipedia entry of it. Also make sure to check out the more broad Wikipedia entry on Information Theory itself. And don't forget that, as Wikipedia puts it best, "Information theory is a broad and deep mathematical theory, with equally broad and deep applications."

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(Journal Entry, January 26)

Last night during psych of music class, Dr. Taggart talked about information theory: "as information increases, redundancy decreases." The implication, of course, is that the more redundant something is, the more the listener is disinterested. Redundancy was discussed as being bad. Dr. Taggart mentioned her observation that pop music is redundant, and yet popular...she was speaking about radio music and how this signifies that since the public likes this type of redundancy. And she said that "we [educators] are not doing our job."

I'm not sure I agree with that point. Wouldn't information theory's implications (i.e. that redundant music also has little information and is usually not as pleasurable) be incorrect because "radio pop" proves the maxim to be incorrect? Since "radio pop" isn't very information-intensive and is full of redundancies, "radio pop" shouldn't be valued and popular at all. In fact, "radio pop" should be, then, disliked by many as being too redundant. But that isn't the case. Obviously, then pop music proves that redundancy is actually what the masses want, that information-intensive music is actually disliked more often...the whole statement in the class is false.

Could it be that information theory doesn't work at all because of pop music proving it incorrect? Afterall, if the theory implies that redundancy leads listeners to becoming bored, then why do so many people (in the case of the United States) listen to "radio pop?" I think that's a pretty nasty thing to do, to negate info theory on this grounds, it may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, or some other cliche. Perhaps the reason pop music gets thrown out is because, so far, researchers have focused on theoretical harmony and melody, and since diversity in harmony melody and rhythm tends to not go hand in hand with pop music, maybe there's another answer.

I think considering applying info theory to things beyond melody and harmony could be a way to include "radio pop" into the theory. Certainly pop music can often be reduced to pretty simple and redundant harmonies and melodies. But is pop music redundant and shallow in rhythmic elements, too? IF the argument for proof of the theory lies in listeners growing bored with song elements, than probably rhythm doesn't escape the hammer either. Most pop songs are pretty damn redundant rhythmically. So not melodically, harmonically or rhythmic...

It must lie in tonal color, or timbre, or what some call the vertical color of the sound. Does this help to prove information theory? It certainly does a far more significant job of it then the other elements of music do. And that tone color is sometimes totally ignored in classical music fields as being significant (i.e. a fantastic harmonic-and-rhythm-intensive string quartet...which just sounds like a bunch of string instruments throughout) seems to be a logical step to why many would want to place emphasis on other elements over the color of the sound.

So, does it work? The implication of this would be that information theory demonstrates that the main populous values tonal color of sound and its complexity over harmonic/melodic and rhythmic "norms." In fact, harmonic/melodic complexity would then become the 'dressing' to what the average listener really wants; the "sound" of the music.

Certainly social regulation will help aid what people choose to do with their ears, and this reality should not be deemphasized. Certain locales focus on certain musical styles, while many also feature their respective counterculture of musical realities. I think overall, it makes plenty of sense to consider how social constructs may guide the popularity of popular music, too. Another day, though.

The obvious question still remains that if information theory is truly applicable to music then how can it work to explain how someone appreciates and values music? I think the answer lies somewhat in color of the sound or timbre and how many "pop" listeners value it's importance. This also means that to truly dial into the pop audience "the sound" may be just as important as the melody and harmony and the rhythmic elements.

Still I have trouble accepting the idea that pop audiences value their music because of it's immediacy. Where does immediacy fit into this information theory business?

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The father of Information Theory; Claude E. Shannon...(Journal Entry, January 27)

Interesting conversation about Information Theory with Mark Sullivan. The missing link between my problems with the theory and the reality of its application as I wrote about it yesterday lies in the confusion of the way information theory works. Sullivan explained that info theory was actually an offshoot of communication theory, and its design had no connection to music, initially.

In actuality, information theory focuses on the elements of redundancy and variance...and how much of one or the other could be removed or added to the original signal and the information would still be understood. In fact, information theory focused on how much distortion could be added to a signal at each stage (broadcaster,carrier,receiver) and the information would still be fully transferable and understood.

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(Journal Entry, March 10)

Although I haven't really written about it here, I am consumed in my spare time thinking about information theory. It comes up almost weekly in my discussions with Mark Sullivan as we discuss the pieces I've been pondering or actually bringing in. I still keep coming 'round to my introduction to the theory and its application in music and I think it's a faulty one still...

Here is a recap...

Information theory proves that popular music (that kind which is highly redundant in harmonic, rhythmic, melodic elements) should not be popular in anything more than a genre. In other words, people shouldn't appreciate popular music. The ones who do value it, should be taught to refine their abilities to appreciate complexity and when they do, they will no longer enjoy simplistic, redundant music again.

Here's my issue.
1. True information theory would never be used to devalue something...it is all about information transmission and the best way to accomplish it in each specific reality.
2. Since true information theory is actually about the interconnectivity of redundancy and variance when trying to transmit information, it would mean, then, that the only thing information theory is apt to do when applied to music is define the norms at which different information is successfully transmitted.
3. Information theory, in essence PROVES why pop music is popular. A certain norm has been defined as how information is transmitted and songwriters/composers in "radio pop" are simply working within the defined paradigm of how to successfully transmit their information with a certain amount of variance and a certain amount of redundancy.
4. My earlier pondering on the subject of timbre fits into this perfectly, too. Since pop audiences value the variance of tone in pieces within acceptable "radio pop" (see local radio playing pop-punk immediately after a rap song or before a neo-folk pop tune), they would expect that amount of variance in the music they appreciate, and possibly bring out more redundancy in other aspects of the communication. With classical music, timbre may be devalued to embrace harmonic complexity, so the timbre may be more redundant to allow for more harmonic variance and thus classical information is more successfully transmitted via this combination of redundancy and variance.
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING POINT IS KEY
5. Information theory would also easily explain that...the norms of some elements will be more redundant and some elements will be of high variance...defined by whatever the paradigm is for the type of communication. Certain types of communication require almost zero variance to be most easily understood, and some are very successful with low elements of variance. Information theory never attempts to value or devalue a certain type of communication, just to prove it.

As I write this I realize what this means in reference to classical music and pop music. In actuality, a composer or songwriter can choose whatever paradigm he or she chooses to work in and take whatever comes with the choice. Working within the bounds of redundancy or variance, one can easily see why someone may appreciate Detroit techno, 12-tone serialism, or the orchestral works of a Vivaldi-knock-off. It becomes more important for those who appreciate these genres to know what they value in music, and for educators to understand HOW certain styles are valued when in reference to variance or redundancy.

It is clearly a removal from context that would lead to a group saying that information theory somehow values one thing or another. The only thing information theory attempts to value is the broadcasting/reception of the information however large or small it may be....

In the case of the "trained" musicians who appreciate music high in variance, they attach to a certain type of communication that may have little redundancy in certain ways, but in essence is within their grasp of reception for the information to be communicated. For others, even with "training" they may choose to enjoy redundancy as a way of expressing/receiving of a different bit of information. Information theory makes no value judgments.

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(Journal Entry, April 12)

Information theory still plagues my thoughts, although now it is almost entirely on the question of my own compositions and work with the Beasts of Burden. My new thoughts are on the question of implied redundancy vs. actual redundancy, still on the aspect of timbral variance, and of course the question of melodic and harmonic redundancy and how it can actively shift the attention to timbral variance.

I don't know how but they found me. Run for it, Marty!

Yesterday night eventually watched Back to the Future which I had been having a hankering for since the weekend. The movie is endlessly creative and hilarious to me, even after having watched it possibly more times than any other movie. The opening Doc Brown sequence with a time-traveling dog, a remote controlled DeLorean, terrorists driving a VW bus, fire-tracks that don't burn the main characters, and a spinning liscense plate with the word "outtatime" written on the side have to be some of the greatest visuals in a movie ever. And let's not forget the words "I'll draw their fire!" which took me about 6 years to figure out what Doc was saying at that point.

For those who knew me when, I used to have a foreign Back to the Future advert stuck to my computer tower. Here's some examples.



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You better watch out for the waves of "Crime" that occur in Norway this time of year. Reuters reports today that "'People sit inside their cabins, watch crime on television and then read crime books at night,' said book reviewer Ane Farsethaas, who prefers 19th century British detective Sherlock Holmes to the modern thrillers most of her compatriots devour. 'It's a very Norwegian thing to do,'she said.

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In some of the most yummy news for the day, the presence of rat tailed maggots is in question at least in Cape Town, South Africa. Check out this tasty article in reuters, too. The expert interviewed had this to say "Since the rat tailed maggot is quite large and clearly visible to the naked eye, it is highly unlikely that it would be ingested in the first place," he added. That's a big assumption, Mr. Expert considering people eat this stuff...steamed angler-fish.

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In other news, published gossip has officially crossed the fence into the realm of gossip, according to Reuters. If this makes no sense to you, then check it out for yourself. It may make sense to me now, but I don't care any more than I did before I heard about it. I wonder why I'm posting it...

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A good list of stuff went into this years 50 selections for the National Recording Registry in 2006. Personal favorites including Wendy Carlos's "Switched on Bach," Gil Scott-Heron’s "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life," Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation," and classics from the 60s including the single "Dancing in the Street" by Martha and the Vandellas, "Are You Experienced" by Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Zappa's "We're Only in it for the Money." This year was a goodin' though because it also included "Poeme Electronique" by Edgard Varese, "That'll Be the Day" by Buddy Holly, "Time Out," by The Dave Brubeck Quartet and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" by the great Jerry Lee Lewis. Really, everything in the list is extremely significant not the least being the first official transatlantic phone call, and the debut recording of Barber's Adagio for Strings. Here is the entire list.

"Canzone del Porter" from "Martha (von Flotow)," Edouard de Reszke, 1903

"Listen to the Lambs," Hampton Quartette; recorded by Natalie Curtis Burlin, 1917

"Over There," Nora Bayes, 1917

"Crazy Blues," Mamie Smith, 1920

"My Man" and "Second Hand Rose," Fanny Brice, 1921

"Ory's Creole Trombone," Kid Ory, June 1922

Inauguration of Calvin Coolidge, March 4, 1925

"Tanec pid werbamy/Dance Under the Willows," Pawlo Huemiuk, 1926

"Singin' the Blues," Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke, 1927

First official trans-Atlantic telephone conversation, Jan. 7, 1927

"El Manisero" ("The Peanut Vendor"), Rita Montaner, vocal with orchestra, 1927; "El Manisero," Don Azpiazu and his orchestra, 1930

Light's Golden Jubilee Celebration, Oct. 21, 1929

Beethoven's Egmont Overture, Op. 84, Modesto, California, High School band, 1930

"Show Boat," Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson, James Melton and others; Victor Young, conductor; Louis Alter, piano, 1932

"Wabash Cannonball," Roy Acuff, 1936

"One O'clock Jump," Count Basie and his Orchestra, 1937

Archibald MacLeish's "Fall of the City," Orson Welles, narrator, Burgess Meredith, Paul Stewart, April 11, 1937
"The Adventures of Robin Hood" radio broadcast of May 11, 1938

Joe Louis-Max Schmeling fight, Clem McCarthy, announcer, June 22, 1938

"John the Revelator," Golden Gate Quartet, 1938

"Adagio for Strings," Arturo Toscanini, conductor; NBC Symphony, 1938

"Command Performance" show No. 21, Bob Hope, master of ceremonies, July 7, 1942

"Straighten Up and Fly Right," Nat "King" Cole, 1943

Allen's Alley segment from "The Fred Allen Show", radio broadcast of Oct. 7, 1945

"Jole Blon," Harry Choates, 1946

"Tubby the Tuba," Paul Tripp (words) and George Kleinsinger (music), 1946

"Move on up a Little Higher," Mahalia Jackson, 1948

"Anthology of American Folk Music," edited by Harry Smith, 1952

"Schooner Bradley," performed by Pat Bonner, 1952-60

"Damnation of Faust," Boston Symphony Orchestra with the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society, 1954

"Blueberry Hill," Fats Domino, 1956

"Variations for Orchestra," Louisville Orchestra, 1956

"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," Jerry Lee Lewis, 1957

"That'll Be the Day," Buddy Holly, 1957

"Poeme Electronique," Edgard Varese, 1958

"Time Out," The Dave Brubeck Quartet, 1959

Studs Terkel interview with James Baldwin, Sept. 29, 1962

William Faulkner address at West Point Military Academy, 1962

"Dancing in the Street," Martha and the Vandellas, 1964

"Live at the Regal," B.B. King, 1965

"Are You Experienced?" Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1967

"We're Only in It for the Money," Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, 1968

"Switched-On Bach," Wendy Carlos, 1968

"Oh Happy Day," Edwin Hawkins Singers, 1969

"Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers," Firesign Theatre, 1970

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Gil Scott-Heron, 1970

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken," Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 1972

The old foghorn, Kewaunee, Wisconsin, recorded by James A. Lipsky, 1972

"Songs in the Key of Life," Stevie Wonder, 1976

"Daydream Nation," Sonic Youth, 1988

You can view the entire list with ethnomusicological (word?) explanations from the Library of Congress website. Direct link is here. The pages says the list is for 2005...the induction is in 2006.

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Can't the press leave stars alone? After all they only made their fortunes from attention. Child protective services have made a visit to Britney Spear's house after it was reported that her child took a spill. The spill, was rumored to have been a purposeful attack from mother Britney because the child's first words were "christina aguilera." Link to the article.

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Kinda feeling a little wierd in the stomach.

No recording but some videos.

I ended up spending my Tuesday (so far) doing other random errands besides that which I had originally suggested I'd do when mentioned in yesterday's blog. Does that sentence make any sense? Anyway so I haven't done any recording today like I had planned. Instead, I am going to post a collection of whacky videos I've seen over the internet. I love Youtube and google video.

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This first video is of The Velvet Underground performing on the Lawrence Welk show back in 1968. Though it looks much like the usual Lawrence Welk performers and their usual dancing fare, it's actually the band performing their classic, "Sister Ray."



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Oasis is great. End of story. When I was in younger-school I loved them but always tried to downplay my love for fear of being trampled by those who still were mourning Mr. Cobain's death and were into angst-rock. Frankly, Oasis has tired and dated far less than any of the bad angst psudo-grunge rock of the 90s. And in many cases, hasn't tired at all. The songs will always be great. So here I celebrate with the youtube of their music videos from the record that received the most backlash, Be Here Now. This was their most elaborate record, filled with excess and so were the videos. Here they are with links to the youtube...

D'Yer Know What I Mean
Ridiculous amount of Helicopters. And Explosions!

Stand By Me
Rumored to be dedicated to my fiance years ago.

All Around the World
Totally crazy!

Don't Go Away
The final video from the record. Get your Magritte on.

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Some say this is the best music video ever made. I tend to agree, but this specific version is different...it's the famous audio from the famous video but now it's...Thriller... in Lego!!!

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Ok, I'm almost done.

Devo was far more than Whip It. Here's their original video to the song Jocko Homo which was what the idea of a de-evolved human was...DEVO.

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What kind of video-related blog post would this be if it didn't include a little of my favorite video/audio myth/truth...Darkside of the Moon and Wizard of Oz.

This is only part of the video. I've done it a few times and it's a strange experience. Basically you start the record (and keep it on infinite repeat) on the third lion roar. There is some disagreement to this, but it works best there for me.



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I'm crazy! I can't stop! Here's more.

A blast from the past, this video still makes me laugh quite a bit.



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Jay-Z vs. Weezer. Download record.



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Wow.
So this is it for real.



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Bye.

Brighton girls are like the moon

In the summer of 2004 when I moved out of the city of Kalamazoo, a plethora of trucks and people showed up, which I later found out was some kind of movie crew. I saw the crew shooting at a Bed and Breakfast across the street from John Stites's Arcadia Recording . I remember thinking that the crew seemed rather large-scale for a film shot in Kalamazoo, and then the moment passed into memory. It was true that parts of movies had been filmed all over Michigan, including scenes in "the Island" and supposedly the infamous final scene in "Road to Perdition" was shot on the banks of Lake Michigan. However, I learned last weekend that this film crew shooting in Kalamazoo was more than a choice scene. The entire film was made around Kalamazoo. In fact, the film was called "Kalamazoo?" and featured many television celebrities, including the star of Blossom, Mayim Bialik! Wow. The movie's website can be found here .

We ended up going into Kalamazoo on Saturday with partial intentions to see the movie, though we ended up focusing in on cheaper fare instead. We visited the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts , Polly and Ester's and had some brews and some artichoke dip at Shakespeare's Pub. We enjoyed our time in Kalamazoo, as always.

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Pitchfork published a pretty insightful interview with Neko Case today. I don't follow her releases or career at all, admittedly, although I do have all the New Pornographer's releases. In any case, I enjoyed the interview, specifically the discussion of her songwriting process with lyrics and trying to devalue specifics. Link here.

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In some strange news, Ernie K-Doe is running for mayor...which is fine by me...except that he's been dead for 5 years. Here's the story .

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Succumbing to peer pressure-by-way-of critical comments, I went in on Friday and picked up a copy of After the Heat, a Cluster/Eno collaboration, from Flat Black and Circular. Sadly, pitchfork did breif reviews of the collaborations which included some works that I already owned. I say 'sadly' because this was all I needed...When I saw this review, I decided it was time for me to stop holding off on this specific performance...and off I went to purchase it. I'm so easily manipulated.

The record has a meditative quality that I really admire, and a kind of shameless commitment to repetition that would just kill most people's interests. I think that about four years ago I would've been endlessly annoyed with the lack of major change. The thing is, minor change...tiny change is found throughout the record and it's easy to enjoy the record in that kind of amphibian-sight kind of way. Brian Eno once commented on the subject that music could be appreciated in the way that an amphibian (like a frog, which was his example, if I remember correctly) saw the world. Instead of focusing, the frog saw the entire surroundings and noticed minor changes to the environment. For some a record like "After the Heat" would have far too much redundancy, and be a prime example of just how wasteful modern composition is. Minimalism gets this charge quite a bit too...in fact, this record is a minimalist rock record... And it's worth mentioning that repetition and boredom-inducing were some of the initial complaints of Beethoven's fifth symphony, too. Or at least that's what I heard about it on NPR.

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Percussion Ensemble recital tonight! I shall attend.

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Today it was reported in the Associated Press that Salman Khan, famed Bollywood actor, was sentenced to five years in jail for shooting a deer on a nature preserve.
Amanda and I had seen Khan in films at our favorite Indian Restaurant in East Lansing, India Palace . "Bollywood star Salman Khan has been found guilty of poaching a rare buck in a desert wildlife preserve and sentenced to five years in prison, his lawyer said." So sayeth the Associated Press today. Here is the CNN article. What's totally crazy about this arrest is the fact that this is a major celebrity based on the number of times I've seen the guy in films and in the press. He has appealed his charges, but I'd like to see if we can do some global bonding by way of Dick Cheney and Salman Khan. That would be awesome.

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Will work on the record some tomorrow. Some songs may even be finished for real...forever.

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And even though I didn't feel like posting the trailer for Kalamazoo? in the blog, I do have this video.


Fayard and Harold Nicholas in Orchestra Wives (1942) backed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra to (I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo.

Town Without Pit(ne)y

Today, two notables found in the news; both found in CNN (aka the AP). The first is of the mysterious death of 65 year old Gene Pitney, singer of the classics "Town Without Pity" and "24 Hours from Tulsa" and other songs usually not mentioned in the wire postings on his yet-to-be-determined-why death. He was found in his hotel room in Wales during a UK concert tour...he was found dead . The second notable was actually published yesterday, marking the release of "At War With the Mystics," the latest Flaming Lips release I keep talking about here on the blog. Basically the article discusses the bright future of the band as well as the typical psudo-bio, vague album analysis, and other things found in an article like this. I am very happy that the Associated Press found it necessary to do an article on the band, but want to point out something. Here is a hyperlink to the Flaming Lips article, entitled "The weirdest popular band around." I immediately was reminded of a similarly structured article that came out over a year ago about the release of "A Ghost is Born," the last Wilco studio release. This article carried the title "The most eagerly awaited weird CD of 2004." I went looking for the article, but couldn't find it on CNN or anywhere...strangely other articles from around the same time are still available for viewing. So my bush-league side came out, and I googled for a long time until I found a blog that had the article, and now it is available for browsing here. Read both articles and note the similarities between the two. Obviously the associated press feels as though notable music should be labeled "weird" for it to survive.

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Not one to usually bring up religious/science related debates, I just can't leave this one alone. Reuters today posted an article about researcher Doron Nof who has been doing research recently on scientific ways to consider biblical accounts. For instance, in the past he published a piece that said there was hard science behind the parting of the Red Sea. Now, he's keeping his hydra-religious-explanations coming with the latest scientific piece that says Jesus may have walked on ice and it was misconstrued, by accident or on purpose, to be that he walked on water. Besides the fact that any respectful Christian shouldn't even be bothered or surprised by Nof's research (and it seems that many Christians are, as he sadly recieves hate mail from those who seem to have forgotten Jesus's "love thine enemy" maxim), I can't help but laugh at the obsurdity of his explanation. If Jesus in fact "walked on a floating piece of ice" as Reuters reported, then it would be assumed that he knew he was on it, and what did he do to "walk" on it? Did Jesus register that the witnesses on the shore or in the boat were watching and walk in place as the piece of ice floated towards the boat? Afterall, he probably knew this would end up looking like him walking on water, because the people from the shore wouldn't be able to see the big hunk of ice he was surfing on.That's just hilarious to me. Jesus walking in place on a piece of ice that happens to float over to the boat. He's lucky it didn't just drift off into the sea as he did his high-steps.

What's stupifying about this whole situation is that this researcher has gone to great lengths (twice!) to try to explain with science that these stories could've happened. Any Christian shouldn't really need proof if they have "faith" anyway. So why get into a huffy about it. As for his explanations, I think if a religious person is relly needing science to prove "miracles" then they may not believe in miracles afterall. The whole concept of a miracle is that it is beyond explanation. YOU MORONS!

So then why have this guy try to prove it with hard science? Well, he is trying to reason it out in his own mind, and just happens to be publishing it too. Let him do his own thing. If you believe in miracles, you shouldn't be surprised when someone says they can't physically happen. Stop writing hate mail. Let the guy think what he wants. His goofy jogging-in-place on a piece of ice explanation is ridiculous anyway!

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A man was interrogated in London because someone reported him suspicious for singing along with the punk anthem "London Calling" by the Clash. I can't believe it. I used the word stupified above...that only begins to describe my feelings for this one. Here is the Reuters article explaining the situation. I just can't get over this. The quotable person in the article had something to say about the scenario, which actually was about a taxi driver getting nervous about the music the limey was listening to (including Led Zep, the Clash, etc) "The report was made with the best of intentions and we wouldn't want to discourage people from contacting us with genuine concerns." Or perhaps the next time I mention how much Bubble Tape is "THE BOMB" I can get a genuinely concerned US resident to call their local OHS. Who knows, now with the OHS sex-with-minor scandal maybe they'll want to hold me in custody for 3 years just to take out their anger.

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Concert last night at University Lutheran went well. I think we could've been far more accurate with diction unification throughout all the songs, specifically in "Ca' the Yowes," but overall the performance was quite enjoyable and I was very happy with it. I thought we performed confidently. Mark your calendars for April 25...not only a choral performance at Martin Luther Chapel, but also the final Rock show at the Temple Club part of our Tuesday-night residence.

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Recorded nearly 18 minutes of ambience yesterday that I am really excited about. A small amount of redundancy, yet a work formed fully of four simple ambient loops. The end result is sprawling, open and airy, and very meditative. It will be edited down some (probably to around 15 minutes), and then I will keep working on new material for this release. If I haven't made it clear in the past, I'll make it clear now...an electro acoustic music record will be released before the year is out.

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Yesterday on the History Channel, Amanda and I watched a show on modern marvels called "containers" and the show focused on different types of containers including bottles cans, etc. Right at the end Amanda and I were treated to a little spot on some of the coolest residential housing we've ever seen. Called "Container City" the spaces are designed from old shipping containers. Incredible. You must check out the website here . The concept for the buildings is new and fresh, and I hope this continues. Recycling could go a long way.

ham sammitch recording squid ruckus victrolas songwriting placement exams

Weekend was fun. Friday evening Amanda and I kicked back and watched the DVD of Rogue Artists Epiphany. It was the film of a live theater/performance art show in Los Angeles, that I had done some music for. I had submitted two pieces, both from the record Grace Monica; How You Loved Me and Aint it Grand to be Alive. Both pieces were used in separate performance art vignettes. It was pretty incredible. Very entertaining, very thought provoking, very creative, and very enjoyable! In How You Loved Me, a sandwich sang the words along with the recording. My voice singing through a ham sandwich. Tempting an overweight person...a small red dress taunting her too. The other song featured "a day in the life from the perspective of hands" and it included an engagement, gambling, and a happy ending. What fun!

Saturday spent some time recording Frontier Ruckus. They were on a natural high from winning Battle of the Bands the night before here at MSU. Despite being on a natural high, they were a little tired from a night of celebrations, too. Overall, things were pretty productive, though I would've liked to have seen more drum tracks recorded. Turns out, it was a pace-yourself day for them though, as they recorded into the evening too. You can read more about on their grammy-blog on the grammy hall records website...The State News decided to relegate the winners to a single paragraph within an article about a band that didn't place. They seemed to be favorites of many, this other band, so it seems as though the State News is endorsing who they think were the true winners. Back on the planet earth, Frontier Ruckus, the actual winners, have more shows and more recording dates lined up.

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Saturday evening Amanda and I hit up Flats and then headed over to the infamous International Center to celebrate Beatles-fest, as put on by the UAB. They showed Hard Days Night, a movie that I had never seen. Amanda and I watch HELP! at least bi-monthly or so, so as the movie started I found it kind of hilarious that I had never seen it. Amanda owns it, and we just never got around to seeing it. The movie, shot in refreshingly clear black and white, was briskly paced, serenely written with light witty humor, and a foamy, refreshing, but not overwhelming head to accent the thick, muddy texture of the drink...or...umm...

Also, a Beatles cover band, the Yellowsub Marines played. They were fun, and even a little self-demeaning in their humor which made it even more enjoyable. There's nothing worse than a cover band being all proud of itself. They weren't though, and it was good fun...we even won some prizes! Paperback Writer was my favorite song of the night.

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Sunday, I worked again for a long time in Bidule working on more soundscape and synth-driven neo-krautrock tracks. Drones and minimalism are my thing. Driving drum and bass isn't. I like my soundscapes to be dark, aimlessly floating between multiple expectancy realities. Finally got Bidule to freak out and start stuttering into oblivion and then into a crash. Quite enjoyable.

After picking Amanda up from the Marriott (where she had been honored for being one of MSU's top 25 seniors in the school), we went out to Eastwood Towne Center to do some last minute shopping [Amanda=9 dollar shoes], before heading to church. After church, we watched the Squid and the Whale. The movie had a personal honesty I haven't seen in any other divorce-type movie. All the characters were true. Truly sad, truly angry, truly funny. In this way, the movie was quite a success, but I sometimes found the movie a little emotionally confusing, and I know I need to watch it again. After that, we watched Waking Ned Devine.

Tried to untangle some necklaces. I worked on them for over an hour. I ended up getting one out of the glob...no more. Out came the scissors. I felt defeated.

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Pitchfork didn't have too many positive things to say about the new Flaming Lips record, probably due to the fact taht it wasn't a "return to form" or more aptly pronounced, a "return to the soft bulletin." Though the Soft Bulletin hits all the right buttons in my book, and is one of my favorite records of theirs, I'm not sure I can devalue them simply on falling short. Afterall, if they would've just repeated themselves or made an album that was in the same vein as TSB, then it would've been called a "shameless return to 'hey-day' flaming lips" or "rehashing far more material." The fact is, a lot of people are going to really really like this record, and that may be a reason for many to dislike it. Anyone who has kept up on news posts about this record probably have seen it coming. It's called critical backlash. Or something.

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Have you heard of the Victrolas? You better. MYSPACE'EM!!

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Must finish grading songwriting papers. Today at 4, I meet Dr. Kratus to discuss my placement in student teaching and schedule my comprehensive examinations. So...later.