back on the air...

January has traditionally been my least favorite month and I've been doing a decent job of keeping myself busy or in a stupor for most of it. Now that it's almost through, I can emerge however slightly and fill in the blanks from the baby roots of 2006.

First: I bought a new computer. I worked my ass off and saved a wad o' cash and plunked it down on the barrelhead for a Mac Mini. It's been a joy, although I still lack certain cables to begin recording my music and alleviating my indigo balls creatively speaking. I have been working on "The Rice Papers," realizing the stumbling at the beginning was due to pieces of writing, which although entertaining, don't move the story forward, and I've had to flense some choice bits for flow's sake. Part of writing is killing your babies.

Also on the writing front, I'm on the iseesound.com staff, and I've been doing CD reviews and such. It's a throwback to my News Record days, although I have a lot more freedom to pepper my critiques with toastisms. Most recently I skewered "She Wants Revenge," a band so confined by its own ethos, they've run out of ideas before the formal release of their debut.

At work, I've been given free rein to invent a venue for the warehouse in back which will be redubbed the Bier Hall. In the coming months, I hope to have a week lined up thusly:

Tuesday: salsa dancing (this was brought to us with its own built-in crowd)
Wednesday: Naked Music night (this will be a forum for bands or band members to experiment with different versions of their established tunes, or test out new songs in a stripped-down format: say a guitarist would do an all-keyboard set, or acoustic versions. the point would be to bare the song in a new way, take it down to its basics in front of an audience)
Thursday: karaoke with Sean (who has the best selection in town period.)
Friday: Neopolitan Night: Three different bands (say one electronic, one rock, one hip hop) so as to give variety to the evening rather than having to sit through three samey-same garage acts. And so no one is given more importance than another, construction paper cards will be drawn to determine the order: brown goes first, then white, then pink.
Saturday: Club Bristol Night: sometimes you want to go out and be social but don't want to have to shout all night. I propose a DJ night where they spin trip-hop, lounge/exotica and all around chillout. This night would sometimes showcase art openings as well.

I've been put in charge of it all and when it takes off, this could be a breath of fresh air for Cincinnati's music scene. I'd appreciate any feedback from people who want to see this happen, and from those who want to perform. I'd like to have a backlog of acts before I begin.

I've seen King Kong three times and might catch it a fourth before it leaves the big screen. See it, you fools!

I've been acting MC for the Baryard Burlesque and this weekend we're going on the road for a couple shows with Hogscraper. I'll blog the details upon my return.

Schizo weather is making my allergies go haywire. It needs to stay filthy or stay beautiful. Now time for coffee. Apologies for the lengthy silence...

Ben Franklin's birthday

a great american, even though he died of syphillis. :)

and here's this piece on dailykos comparing ben to w.

The Great Franklin-Bush debate...in 6 rounds:

Bush: America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.
Franklin: All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones. In my opinion, there never was a good war or a bad peace. When will mankind be convinced and agree to settle their difficulties by arbitration?

-

Bush Health care reform must begin with Medicare; Medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society. We must renew that commitment by giving seniors access to preventive medicine and new drugs that are transforming health care in America.
Franklin: Well done is better than well said.

-

Bush: There is no "trust fund," just IOUs that I saw firsthand, that future generations will pay---will pay for either in higher taxes, or reduced benefits, or cuts to other critical government programs. The office here in Parkersburg stores those IOUs. They're stacked in a filing cabinet. Imagine---the retirement security for future generations is sitting in a filing cabinet. It's time to strengthen and modernize Social Security for future generations with growing assets that you can control, that you call your own---assets that the government cannot take away.
Franklin: Half a truth is often a great lie.

-

Bush: The fact that somebody leaked this program [of illegally spying on Americans without a warrant] causes great harm to the United States. There's an enemy out there.
Franklin: Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.

-

Bush: I'm a uniter, not a divider. I refuse to play the politics of putting people into groups and pitting one group against another.
Franklin: Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest.

-

Bush: I'm not going to change my mind.
Franklin: For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise. ... When you're finished changing, you're finished.

Final score: Bush 0 Franklin 6

That's right---the guy with the cardiovascular system of a teenager just got his clock cleaned by a 300 year-old man.

good times.

i have too many cds

yes, i do. probably 3500, or maybe more. yes. i got many of them for less than $1.00, and while many of those were good, many of them were... shall we say... not as good.

so, in order to pare the collection down, i've decided that each week i'll go through seven or so (one per day on average) and evaluate whether i'll keep them. i think i'll even do them in roughly alphabetical order. good times.