October 31st, 2009
Lonesome Vampire Bill
Perhaps there’s no better time for a sacrilege than Halloween.
As the end of this month was drawing nigh and I was finally finding some time to work on this month’s song, I decided to do something in the frightful orange spirit of this holiday. I’ve been catching up on the first season of True Blood (having abandoned it last year as too not for me after watching the first episode…vampires don’t socialize with humans, after all), and I’m enjoying it now. I somehow got sucked in – if you’ll allow me to stick my neck out and say that – for the second season and so had to go back and find out the things I’d missed. Netflix to the rescue. (more…)
Tags: halloween, vampires, velvet underground
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September 29th, 2009
Because We Are the Sky
When someone tapes your voice, does it sound strange to you when you hear it played back? Mine does, as it does for so many people. The sound I hear myself making from inside my head, from within the acoustical confines of my skull I suppose, is often embarrassingly different from the sound emitting from the tape recorder. And I wonder if this implies a certain lack of self-awareness, or if it’s a matter of the way sound behaves in different spaces (inside a head, for instance, as opposed to out in the open air or magnetically captured onto tape). I have a feeling it’s the former, unfortunately. (more…)
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August 25th, 2009
Truman’s Hat (Previsited)
Today is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Truman Capote, one of my favorite writers.
Truman possessed that glorious ability to dream-up an excellent story and then craft it into perfection with the precision and grace of a masterful wordsmith. From humble beginnings, he rose to enjoy the riches of celebrity, and floated about in its high circles with effortless aplomb, soon charming himself into the talks and toasts of many…just as he had expected. He was also quite the tiny tyrant at times, often becoming an embarrassment to himself and those around him with his uncontrollable boozing and fiery tongue. (more…)
Tags: truman capote
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July 23rd, 2009
Why Can’t I Say What I Mean?
I share a birthday with Thomas Edison and claimed him as a hero from a very young age, even going so far as to cause chemistry set explosions in my closet many mornings before walking off to school. I’ve had many heroes since, but find it slightly ironic that one of my latest icons was an arch-nemesis of Mr. Edison’s, a Serbian visionary whose name even to this day isn’t given the credit it’s due. (more…)
Tags: batman, iphone, tesla
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June 24th, 2009
Inlet
The dragon roars from the other side of the canal, startling me from this sketch about something that may or may not have happened. It certainly could have I suppose, and possibly did somewhere.
Another exercise in repetition. Another exercise in repetition. I dream of one day writing a song with no repetitive elements. A song that grows, as Virgil Thomson has said, like a plant, organically flowering from root to stem to limbs stretching toward the Sun. A natural progression that builds upon itself and then takes leave of its previous melody and rhythm.
Today is not that day. The dragon is getting closer….
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Tags: dragons
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