God it's been too long since I posted a blog. So here it is.

I need to poop.

The end.

I was inspired to write this today:


Zephyrus

Internal frowns, external vexation
From disappointment of expectations.
I'm pulling petals off the rose,
Bleeding sweat from the thorns.

Whispering sweet incantations,
You gently gather the fallen petals
And with lithesome elegance
Raise them to the heavens.

Their scent wafts skyward,
Seraphic and sublime;
Zephyrus exhales softly,
Angelic breath gives them wings.

Their dance eases my bruised hubris,
Sanctifying boorish finesse,
Revoking anathema,
Replacing it with grace.

It was the summer of 2006. I had spent the better part of an hour sampling a huge variety of musical groups in the CD section of Barnes and Noble when I ran across several Bjork albums. I had heard OF her before, but never really had taken the time to actively listen to her music. What little I had heard before had honestly grated on my nerves, and/or unimpressed me. But, I had continued to hear how a small legion's worth of fans swore by her music, and I decided to give "Medulla" a chance. Just one short listen.

What I heard for the next few minutes sent chills down my spine… layers upon layers of vocals… and nothing else. Pure a cappella bliss - unconventional, gritty, graceful; full of complex harmonies, beat boxing, full choirs, strange time signatures, and Bjork's signature voice. Which for some reason didn't annoy me as much as it enchanted me. I bought it immediately, rushed home, and popped it in my DVD player.

What followed was, literally, a life-changing hour of music. It was an assault on my ears from all directions, ranging from a single solo voice to dozens upon dozens; from clean, pure vocals to highly-distorted almost-unrecognizable samples of voice, to guttural "noises" that challenged my comfort zone. Make no mistake, there is nothing conventional about this album, save a few beautifully-recorded choral pieces, but even then, Bjork's emotive, guttural voice contrasts beautifully with the choir, setting it apart from any choral piece you may have ever heard.

Lyrically, the music is kind of hard to classify - much like the music itself. Themes of sadness, joy, lost love, and everything in between make themselves known. Bjork uses a language of her own, which I like to call "Bjorkish", which is featured on several pieces, simply adding to the other-worldly feel of the album. What's important to note, however, is that regardless of if you can understand the words, you can clearly understand the emotions of the songs. Several songs had me in such an unsettled state, in fact, that I almost had to fast forward it. But I dare not. And I now appreciate those tracks more for that simple reason - if music is supposed to be a reflection of human emotion, then Bjork is one of the few musicians I've ever listened who has managed to capture more than just "happy", "sad", or "angry".

My favorite track on the album is, without a doubt, "Desired Constellations" - a song which Bjork ponders the mistakes of her life, likening her attempts to make things right to tossing stars across the sky repeatedly and randomly, hoping to find the right constellation with each throw. Starting with a mellow, unrecognizable loop of an Icelandic Choir, Bjork's soft vocals build to a heart-wrenching climax in which she croons, "How am I going to make this right?" It came at a time in my life when I was asking the exact same thing. Talk about capturing and emotion and expressing it in a song.

It was the 5.1 mix of this album that really got me thinking about audio recording engineering. It was such a dynamic mix to such a dynamic album, full of emotion and complexity. And while this album got me hooked on the rest of her repertoire, there is still no doubt in my mind that this is, and will be, one of my favorite albums for years.

New shirts!

I pooped today!


Pickles... Cucumbers soaked in evil


Yeah! Toast!


I'm a suuuuuuuper model!!


BLUE STEEL


Okay, someone buy me a new camera because this phonecam stuff is the shit. And by that I mean the kind that comes oozing out of your ass when you are sick, not the "awesome shit!" kind.

Just got back from a double-header movie feature of Rescue Dawn starring Christian Bale (BATMAN!) and Sunshine starring Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow in Batman Begins)... both come highly recommended!!!

Rescue Dawn was an incredibly immersive movie about a pilot who becomes a POW, and his subsequent escape and rescue. Let me tell you... Bale is a master of his craft (acting)... there's NOTHING this man won't do to make a movie he stars in to become better. Physically, he goes from this in the beginning of the movie:



to this by the end of the movie:



He *physically* lost weight/gained weight DURING the shoot of this movie to make it that much more convincing. Unbelievable. Or how about this... 1-2 months before the filming of Batman Begins, he finished up doing a movie called "The Machinist", in which he lost some 60 pounds and looked like this:



and in roughly a SINGLE month, bulked up to look like this for Batman Begins:



The man's a god, 'nuff said.

Sunshine was a very intense, extremely well-made SCI-FI movie. I use caps on SCI-FI, because this is truly sci-fi, and not fantasy set in the future or space operas (which many people confuse for sci-fi), a la Star Wars. And I ate it up. The cast did an incredible job... I was extremely impressed with Chris "Human Torch" Evans' performance, and of course, Cillian Murphy, who is fast becoming one of the more impressive "young" actors today. They did an amazing job of capturing the "largeness" of space, and of the spaceship "Icarus II" that was carrying the salvation of mankind. The intensity of the sun was so well-done I almost began to sweat in spots!! The effects were also top-notch, and the last half hour is extremely intense, the kind of intense that keeps you at the edge of your seat. This was a really really GOOD movie, and a great SCI-FI. See it.

It's amazing how, no matter how many times it's happened in the past, rejection stings like a slap in the face, every time.

A new one for a new one's sake... it's been over 2 months! and what a 2 months it's been. i'm just emotionally exhausted lately. relationships of all forms have been changing drastically and it's just overwhelming. but i'm still optimistic and EXTREMELY enjoying my audio engineering courses and getting to actually go out, meet, and record professional musicians. How fun!!!

It was a murky day - which is not to say that it was cloudy, because despite the grey sky that covered the entire horizon, a bright haze marked where the sun showed though. It illuminated just enough light to cast a vague, undefined shadow that cautiously followed him as he crossed the relatively quiet street. Not that he was even fully aware of his lurking stalker; his mind was intent on other matters. Even the slight, chill breeze that occasionally raked his black hair only managed an instinctual shiver. A brick fence forced him to unwittingly alter his destination. His shadow melted into the larger shadow of his final destination. He subconsciously adjusted his brand-new rectangular glasses, which supposedly complimented his high cheekbones and roundish face, or so he was told. He brushed aside a few strands of hair so his brown eyes could observe what he suspected to be true: "Sunday: CLOSED." Well darn.

A short game of phone-tag ensured that she knew this, and was still on her way. He hoped she was okay. He hoped he was okay. Be strong. For her. For you. He repeated this to himself several more times as he waited in his sleek, silver, door-ding-infested car. A couple of Spanish-speaking men passed him, oblivious to his existence, and made for the Mexican restaurant that he was parked out in front of. Be strong. For her. For you.

The black Civic came from the opposite direction that he was parked. She finally noticed him as she passed his car and pulled into a parking spot near the cafe. He started up the Tiburon - the shark - and used its superior turn radius to quickly pull up in the spot beside her. He cautiously exited his car, his murky shadow once again on his tail. He looked her direction... her chin-length hair was what could only be described a frazzled, her large, deep brown eyes covered by excessively garish, yet strangely attractive orange sunglasses. But it wasn't enough to hide the fact that they were swollen, nor did it hide the runny makeup. His heart reached out to her, wanting to take away the pain. He settled for an awkward hug instead.

They grabbed a quick drink at the gas station next door, and opted to sit in the black, wire-framed chairs outside the cafe. Working within the confines of the security chains that held all the chairs and tables together, they finally managed to position a couple of chairs across from each other. He did his best to put on a comforting smile. She was in pain; the darkness she spoke of earlier was definitely apparent. It started slowly, as most of their conversations had, but it wasn't long until it all started pouring out... her eyes, her words, her heart. Tears flowed down both her cheeks like a steady rain and onto her jacket and pants. He wanted so badly to just reach out and hold her... but he could not. Like the chairs they sat in, he was chained. So he did what he could. He listened. He told her it was okay. He told her he understood what she was going through. He told her she was doing the right thing. He pulled every last encouraging remark that he could out of his bag of encouragement; he applied his logical mind to trying to analyze and help her situation; and most importantly he used his ears to just listen. Just physically being present when she needed someone. He hoped it was enough. Be strong. For her. For you.

An hour passed, and it was time for her to go get ready for work. She was more composed than before, and he was glad. He walked her to her car, and this time the hug wasn't so awkward. His lonely shadow, which had followed him around all day, merged with hers for a brief moment in time.

Later that day, he received this message: "Wow. Thank you. That talk helped more than you know. I feel like a destined dark day has been saved by the help of a friend." He smiled. It was a murky day - which is not to say that it was cloudy, because despite the grey sky that covered the entire horizon, a bright haze marked where the sun showed though.

I got new glasses!!

Before:


After:


And now the obligatory pussy shots!





Not sure why, but he sometimes feels compelled to jump on my back when I'm brushing my teeth in the morning.
I usually then give him a piggy back ride over to the sofa.

PUSSY SHOT OF THE WEEK


Toombs questions what I'm doing - and if you don't believe me, just look at his question-mark-like tail.

Made you look! Actually I came up with the idea because I have a friend who LOVES cats and eats up all the pics of cats I have, but doesn't have one of her own. So, I decided that I'd try to get a "good" picture of my cat and post it once a week, with the above-title, and let others benefit from yet another cat pic blog post. :-P