flagrantdisregard

Welcoming 2010

John — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:06:48 +0000

Happy new year.

I Saw Jesus At Walmart

John — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:55:15 +0000

I recorded another song just before Christmas. I don’t know where the idea came from. Christmas, shopping, the recession, foreclosures, paying bills, the Bible, the insanity of bringing a pine tree into one’s house, debt. It’s fuzzy. Many possible interpretations. What do you think?

Video: I Saw Jesus At Walmart (.mov ~11.5MB)

I recorded with Ardour. Did the percussion tracks with Hydrogen. Used ZynAddSubFX, a software synthesizer, for the synthy noises. Recorded the guitar and voice tracks with a Samson C01 microphone and Xenyx 802 mixer. I wanted to do something visual to go along with the song but I a) don’t have access to actors and b) don’t have any talent or time for animation. So I found some photos, made them into a collage, and then traced and sketched and shaded a pencil version of it with Gimp. Then I did a screen capture of erasing an opaque layer on top of the drawing to create a controlled reveal of the final image.

Late lunch

John — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:23:04 +0000

Me: Are we seriously going out to dinner at 4pm?
Wife: It’s a late lunch.
Me: Whatever, Grandma.

The kids are off visiting with relatives and this is what becomes of us. Roll out of bed at 11 and lunch at 4.

Hey, Everybody, Let’s Go To Maine!

John — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:46:02 +0000

Inspiration for another song hit over the weekend. Funny, writing. I can try and try to write something and fail and fail—then, out of nowhere, inspiration hits and the song writes itself in a few hours. This one, melody and all, came to me from the internets.

I hope you like it. I’ve never been to Maine, but it sounds lovely. Happy Thanksgiving.

Lyrics:

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.
It’s known as the Pine Tree State.
They’ve got lobsters, lighthouses, and submarines.
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

Would you like to see Moosehead Lake?
Well that’s in Maine, northernmost part of New England.
We could hike the Appalachian Trail or go to West Quoddy Head.
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

We could climb Mount Katahdin
or see Old Sow,
the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western hemisphere.

We could enjoy the Fall foliage
or kiss a French-American
but you can’t go to Golden Pond ’cause it’s really in New Hampshire
but anyway…

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.
It’s known as the Pine Tree State.
They’ve got lobsters, lighthouses, and submarines (and clams!).
Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

Hey, everybody, let’s go to Maine.

Too old for the band

John — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:36:49 +0000

Son: Hey, Dad, you’re a pretty good singer.
Me: Thanks!
Son: Yah, if you were just a little younger you could be in a band.

Bad Horse Chorus (for ukulele)

John — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:08:21 +0000

My personal interpretation for ukulele of the epic Dr. Horrible song:

Bad Horse Chorus
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog
Music by Jed Whedon and Joss Whedon
Lyrics by Joss Whedon

    C          Am
Bad Horse, Bad Horse
    C          G
Bad Horse, Bad Horse

   C
He rides across the nation
    F               C
the Thoroughbred of Sin
   C                            Am   D7   G
He got the application that you just sent in
   C                    F               G
It needs evaluation, so let the games begin
G
A heinous crime, a show of force
G
A murder would be nice of course

    C          Am
Bad Horse, Bad Horse
    C           G
Bad Horse, he's bad

    C
The Evil League of Evil
   F             C
is watching so beware
    C                                   Am    D7 G
The grade that you receive will be your last, we swear
   C                              F                  G
so make the Bad Horse gleeful, or he'll make you his mare
G
You've saddled up, there's no recourse
G
It's "Heigh-ho Silver"
G6          C
Signed, Bad Horse

Let’s revive the Golden Rule

John — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:24:53 +0000

“Often people don’t really want to be compassionate. I sometimes see when I’m speaking to a congregation of religious people a sort of mutinous expression crossing their faces because people often want to be right instead.”

– Karen Armstrong, TED July 2009

Recent Tweets

John — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:55:41 +0000

Kids are off watching some movie called Cloudy With Meatballs. I “couldn’t go” because I was “working on the car.” I’m a “genius.”
Grosse Pointe Blank is on Netflix watch instantly! *blip! blip! blip!*
My son is now a Taekwondo orange belt.
Just bought a ukulele! Now must wait a week for delivery. :(
Proof that I wore a tie the other night. Jacket too. Oh, I was dapper and a half.
I think I drank my weight in martinis tonight.
You don’t want me on your trivia game team unless there’s a category called Useless Knowledge (Even by Trivia Game Standards).
The bear in the red cape is worth the trip.
The 2010 California Protection of Marriage Act: protect traditional marriage by banning divorce.
Daughter is exploring her creative potential. Consequence: I’m listening to Ricky Martin sing Livin’ la Vida Loca.
Things I wish I’d known in advance: that joining Facebook meant I’d one day be reading about my niece’s cramps.
Two hours of email complete. Now moving on to “real” work: typing things into a computer to make it “do” stuff.
Not hungry but I’m eating breakfast anyway. Hey stomach, you’re not the boss of me.
Received email asking for my computer expertise to spy on a cheating husband. Has it come to this? Very depressing.
9 people getting married at 99 cent store on 9/9/09 because they won a contest. News head says it’s a “very meaningful ceremony.”
Saw Ponyo tonight. We all liked it. If you liked My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki’s Delivery Service I think you’ll like it too.

twitter.com/yafd

I am parent, hear me roar

John — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:25:34 +0000

I despise the term “Mr. Mom” because it implies that the only way to be a good parent is to be a mom or that raising children is “woman’s work.” I am a father, dammit. An equal parent. And a damn good one, too.

When one hears the word “Father,” certain images spring to mind – and many of those images are not positive. In fact, most of these images are ingrained into us at an early age. The traditional view of the Father is often that of the bumbling parent who cannot possibly survive parenthood without the help of his wife. This scene has been played out in countless sitcoms and television commercials. The father has his place when it comes to parenting and that place is firmly behind the mother.

And I have a problem with that.

Read more at Child’s Play x2: The Glass Ceiling Nobody Talks About

Longing for days gone by

John — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:12:45 +0000

For those of you miserably eking out your days neck deep in the vomit and ire of your tantrum-prone toddler, let me clue you in: the “Terrible Twos” were nothing compared to the “I Will Stab You While You Are Sleeping Nines.” It only gets harder.

Parenting, I’ve discovered, is like true love or being hit repeatedly in the face, in that, you can’t really really know what it’s like until it happens to you. And just when you get it to stop hitting you in the face, it stomps on your neck and starts singing for-kids versions of bad pop music.

If I wrote a parenting book today, it would only have one word written in huge, bold letters on its single page: “Don’t.”

Yes, it was one of those days.