Category Archives: Uncategorized

In Maine


My grandmother, my mother, and me. 1972.

I don't know who took this; but whoever did had a really good eye. It's a fantastic example of the Rule Of Thirds: the shores nearly perfectly follow the horizontal third-lines, and the vertical lines pass through us and the house (and its big tree). We're on one of the intersections, and the house is on another. And, there are twin low points (one to our right, and one to the left of the house) on the other two intersections. Once I draw it in my mind, my eyes can't escape the box those four points make - and yet the box itself is completely empty.

Pretty impressive for a snapshot, IMO.

My Eternal Shame

Have you ever heard a song you haven't heard in many years, a song you once liked, but upon hearing it again, you realize that the song is really just terrible, abhorrent, without merit ? You ask yourself : What was wrong with me? How could I have been such a poor judge of quality ? Does my taste still suck ? Well, it just happened to me.

Back in 89, this song got some airplay on the local alternative station (WEQX!), and I liked it so much I ran out and bought the album, and played it over and over. Then I stopped listening to it, lost the CD, never heard it again, forgot all about it - until last week.

Gack! The video is all new romantic, goth-lite, but it's not a goth song. The band wants to look like a metal band, but it's not a metal song. The singer overdoes his faux-operatic shtick while looking like early Ian Asbury - but sounding more like the guy from Queensryche than Jim Morrison. And this was the single... I don't even want to know what the rest of the album sounds like.

I'm so ashamed.

Oh Noes!

After nearly 20 years of PC use, I got my first virus this morning - and it's a nasty one. It started out in my primary user account : as soon as I log in I get a Blue Screen and then the PC reboots. It happens so quickly I can't launch any applications. So I tried one of the other accounts on the machine. That came came up OK, but this virus/trojan has hijacked all the web browsers on the machine and redirected all Google and Yahoo search results to bogus URLs - so I couldn't do any research on the problem. Eventually, that account Blue Screened, rebooted, Blue Screened, rebooted, and so became useless too.

I found some apps, by searching the web on a different PC of mine, which claimed to be able to fix this problem; but it looks like the virus has blocked any of those apps from even launching. Mmm, insidious.

So, I'm going to try going back to a saved restore point. If that fails, I guess a Vista re-install is coming my way! Hooray!

60 Second Reviews

It's been a while since I've done one of these...

  • And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Festival Thyme EP. These songs are bigger, slower, richer and definitely less in-your-face than those on 2002's "Source Tags & Codes" (the only other record of theirs that I have). Pianos and strings are up front and guitars are just more texture. It's quite a change. 3/5.
  • Hank Williams -20 of Hank Williams Greatest. Thought it was about time I owned some Hank. The recordings sound so primitive - simple, rough, unprocessed - and that's not necessarily a bad thing, just sounds strange to my ears. The songs are great, regardless. It's the only Hank I've ever owned, but I know most of the songs already... cultural osmosis, I guess. 4/5.
  • Copeland - You Are My Sunshine. Harmonies!!! Mellow and shimmering, dripping with harmonies. They're in the same league as, say, Death Cab For Cutie - that intimate and melodic alt-pop that gets dangerously close to overdoing the earnest introspection. But, I still like it. 4/5.
  • Parts & Labor - Stay Afraid. On the other hand... This one wallows in discord. A jackhammer drummer keeps time for the vocals, while the guitars lay down thick sheets of hiss and growl, and angry electronics spit bleeps and whistles into every nook and cranny. It's a lot like Boris, but in English, and possibly even more abrasive. But, while I could've enjoyed it 15 years ago, I'm just not up for this anymore. 1/5.
  • Nostalgia 77 Octet - Weapons Of Jazz Destruction. A nice sampling of contemporary jazz styles - from Latin, to intimate piano-led things (reminding me of Esbjörn Svensson), to things that sound like they could have been co-written by Stereolab. It never goes too far out, but is definitely not cocktail-lounge jazz. 3/5.
  • Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell. Upbeat and bouncy, fun and fairly accessible. Smart, but not pretentious. Sometimes pretty, but never twee. All of the songs are quick and to the point - only one breaks 3 min. There's a little Decemberists flavor here and there, especially on "The Harrowing Adventures Of..." (which even sounds like a Decemberists song title), but mostly it's a lot more energetic and punky. 4/5