The View After 4 Years

I’ve got a very special post for you, my two or three loyal readers (Hi Mom!). More work went into this post than any other post in the long and illustrious history of this web log. Granted, all the work was done between 1999 and 2001, but it’s all going to be here.

Four years ago I “released” an album called The View from August 13th, 2001. In total, I probably distributed about 20 copies, and now I offer this album on my website for the modest price of $6. In truth, I probably couldn’t give this shit away... but today, for you, I will.

The album’s broken into three zip files (good for Macs and PC’s), each containing five songs. They’re high-quality 192kbps Mp3 files, so I hope you’ve got a high-speed connection.

I have my favorites, but almost everyone seemed to like “Emote” the best. “Claw Peels” is probably the most fascinating, assuming you’re familiar with the Santo & Johnny song “Sleepwalk” (clawpeels/sleepwalk... get it?).

I hate disclaimers, but I should warn you that I wasn’t the producing genius that I am now. Some of the songs may sound a bit abrasive, and may delve well into cacophony. You’ll also hear some samples used in multiple songs. Tough.

All right, let’s do this...


[Right click (or control click) and select the appropriate action to download the files.]

View-1.zip (16.7 MB)
01 - Bed Sheets
02 - Day In, Day Out
03 - The Layout
04 - Grifter’s Move
05 - All I Know (feat. Henry Membreno)

View-2.zip (16.1 MB)
06 - Plans pt. 1
07 - Drive an 85
08 - Just How Many
09 - Claw Peels
10 - Emote

View-3.zip (23.9 MB)
11 - In Jack's Defense
12 - Dance for Hanky
13 - Motor Go Girls!
14 - Shangri La
15 - Christmas Tree Farm (feat. Jena Kim)

If you like the album, feel free to share with your friends, but I’d prefer not getting linked to on other websites. Thanks for checking it out, and I hope you enjoy it.

Interrobang

I pledge to use this amazing punctuation.

"What‽ Can you do that‽"

Yes I can - assuming it shows up in browsers, I'll definitely use it here. As for my job...

As a reality Script Supervisor, I'm focused on organization and efficiency. Even if I can get this thing functioning without screwing up scripts as they move from computer to computer, probably not. I don't have time to dig through wingding fonts every time its use would be accurate. Plus, executives fear the unusual, and the work I do should appear transparent to them, so it depends on whether or not the executives will ever actually look at the scripts. Finally, I don't want to confuse any "talent" doing voiceovers.

Both The Chicago Manual of Style and my edition of Garner's Dictionary of Modern American Usage are quiet on the subject, so I'm going to take that as a sign it hasn't been trashed.

Thanks to J. "interrobang" for raising public awareness (any comments from a professional proofreader?). More info about this important punctuation can be found HERE. You can use it yourself with the code ‽ in HTML documents.

So, the test: please leave a comment and let me know if you can see this...

‽

Thanks.

50 years, 2 days

Aug. 7th, 1955:
Bill Haley & the Comets appear on The Ed Sullivan Show

While his best music came from a year or two before, Haley's appearance on a show that had massive ratings (only three networks!) is nothing to be ignored. According to this site:

After being used in the hit film about juvenile delinquency "The Blackboard Jungle", Bill Haley & The Comets "Rock Around The Clock" becomes the first rock record to top the Pop Charts, holding the #1 position for two months and remaining in the Top 100 for a then-record 38 weeks. It would be 39 years before that mark was broken.

As for what the bass player is doing in these pictures - he still does it. Here's an article about The Comets now.

= awesome indeed

Maybe this site is something that's already been passed around from inbox to inbox, but I've never seen it before. And it's funny, damn it.

Stuff On My Cat

Pod Person

So I’ve stepped into the ranks of iPod freaks. I’m sorry.

Yes there are cheaper players, and yes there are other products that don’t have a cult of geeks obsessing over them. But iPods are extremely easy and pleasant to use, and I can easily interface it with my car stereo.

Not surprisingly, you’re not likely to see me sporting the earbuds as I jog down palm tree-lined streets at dawn, nor will you be seeing my awkward silhouette bouncing around to some disco-rock hipster music in a wash of flat color. Even when I go on hikes through Griffith Park, I probably won’t bring the damn thing, because I like the relative quiet.

I do like to drive though, and I hope that the passenger seat will never swim in CD cases again. The interface works OK with my car stereo. Once the iPod is attached, you cannot operate it manually, you have to use it through the “head unit” of the stereo. Since the car stereo was designed for a CD changer (and has been retrofitted to accept iPods), it was never intended to search through thousands of artists and songs, so the biggest drawback is that the scroll wheel speed is painfully slow. Not good when you’re driving. To compensate, I’ve started screwing with playlists, and even hesitantly accepting a random shuffle of songs.

I swear I’m getting somewhere with this.

I’ve always liked the album product - I like the artwork and cases to put on shelves – but I’m finding the free-floating, un-holdable music in my iPod surprisingly liberating. Not only am I rediscovering a lot of my music collection, but I’m enjoying the contrasts of Blue Moon followed by Big Pimpin’... Cab Calloway steps off stage and Frank Black steps on… Kid Koala and Led Zeppelin co-headline… you get the idea.

The music doesn’t feel tied to anything other than the quality of its sound, and I love that, even if I have to constantly ride the volume knob on the stereo.

Years ago when I lived in New York, I wanted to make the mix tape of all mix tapes (actually a 3 CD concept soundtrack). It was going to be called Capital City, and I knew exactly which songs would be on it. I could never describe what most of the songs had in common with each other, other then they all seemed to fit some science fiction I had in my head. One of my old film professors, Robert Breer, when reviewing all of a student’s films at the end of the semester, would inevitably say “…and it’s all connected because it all comes from you.” Of course I’m not making the music, but it’s my damn aesthetics at work.

I did make a four-hour playlist called Capital City, but it hardly seems necessary now.