Slanted and Enchanted

Random Thought #458230

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:12:00 +0000

Is it still considered karaoke if you're singing your own songs? If, say, David Bowie was in a karaoke bar, got on stage, and started singing "Heroes", would he be performing karaoke? It's a conundrum deserving the attention of the human race's finest minds. Either way, the scenario I described would be incomprehensibly awesome.

Working for the Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:13:00 +0000

The trailer below is for a movie called Office Space (perhaps you've heard of it). Give it a look. Go ahead, I'll explain in a sec.

This trailer opens with a statement that resonates with me. If money wasn't one's principal concern, what would one do? What do you want to be? It is, of course, a philosophical quandary so ridiculous only a high school guidance counselor would ever pose it (Sub Item A: high school guidance counselors should be shot... then outlawed).

An astronaut. There, does that answer satisfy? No, of course not. One must be realistic. But when you think about it, "astronaut" is as realistic as any other answer a 16-year-old is likely to produce. Doctor? Sure, little Billy. I know you like to dissect frogs but med school might require a bit more of you then the propensity to cut up dead amphibians. Asking anyone under the age of 25 or 30 what they want to do with their lives is a bit like asking an amoeba why it wants to have kids.

When I was at Savannah High School, they put on these "Career Days"*. One moved around to different class rooms where someone would speak about what they do and recruit (basically). I always went to a lot of different classes just to see what was up. I thought this whole exercise was ridiculous but I got out of class (which was something I did NOT want to do with my life).

When asked this question by adults I gave whatever silliness I had in my head at the time (and this changed a lot)... Doctor, paleontologist, writer, artist (I'm noticing a downward spiral in job prospects here). I'm 27 this summer and I finally have an answer although my guidance counselor wouldn't approve. What do I want to be: a good person. What do I want to do with my life: good things. I'm not sure how realistic this is either.

*Ironically, these "Career Days" didn't happen at the Savannah Arts Academy (my alma mater). Probably because the decision to attend an art school at any academic stage meant that "employment" was not something to which we were that committed.

We're Gonna Turn On the Power!

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:42:00 +0000

I found this awesome bit of clever design via Gizmodo.com, was thoroughly impressed, and thought I might share it with you. It's a multi-tab power strip by Yanko Design. It is completely modular and expandable. Now that I've seen this, I kinda wonder why it human civilization so long to develop the mutli-tab power strip. Check out the image and video below. The company's website can be found here.

I Would Like to Thank You

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:17:00 +0000

Dear Internet,

Thank you. Thank you for knowing everything. You're kinda like the ridiculously diverse, terribly disorganized library I've always wanted (even though your "cute baby animal videos" section is a little too extensive).

Thanks for always being there and, in fact, everywhere. You never stop to eat, sleep, or bathe (and neither do a great many of your denizens). I can always find you when I need you (which is constantly).

Thanks for never judging me. We both know I should be reading about the terrible suffering of the peoples of where ever or the latest headlines instead of Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast episodes. But you don't ask, don't tell, and don't care. That's the sign of a true friend.

Yours,

The Meister

Time After Time

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:17:00 +0000

The day religious zealots have always warned us about has come: science has finally run amok! Scientists (obviously of a "mad" sort) have devised a "quantum logic clock" that is 100,000 times more precise than standard atomic clocks. What madness! What hubris!

"The quantum logic clock, which detects the energy state of a single aluminium ion, keeps time to within a second every 3.7 billion years. The new timekeeper could one day improve GPS or detect the slowing of time predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity." -Tia Ghose (2010.02.08 Wired.co.uk)

Sure, that all sounds fine and dorky and seems perfectly harmless but I'm appalled. I, for one, don't want to know the time to the second for the next 3.7 billion years! Quite honestly, pocket watches are too accurate for me. This new (il)logic clock is an outright abomination! What sane person needs this level of punctuality? Resist, comrades!

You gotta fight... for your right... to be tardy!

Random Thought #388038

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:44:00 +0000

Random Thought #388038: Live Music Mixing

I think it would be awesome to have music mixed live. Not by a live DJ (that's not particularly awesome or rare really). No, I mean live performers being mixed like albums by a DJ.

The idea is two or more separate performers or sets of performers would (appropriately enough) perform simultaneous, unrelated pieces of music. The pieces played could be as similar or as disparate as the artists choose. Then, a DJ of sorts (or DJs, I suppose) would mix the performances as well as any other elements on the spot. The piece could then be somewhat spontaneous as long as the performers do not have any part or input in the mix. The performers, therefore, become parts of the mixer's performance.

It could be interesting, anyway.

You Make Me Hate Music

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:58:00 +0000

I don't believe in bad music. I know I'm letting a lot of folks of the hook with that statement but it's true. That's right Kenny G and Right Said Fred, you are forgiven.

I even think that phrase "bad music" is nonsensical. Music, like any art, is neither bad nor good but subject to the tastes and attitudes of the audience. "Good" and "bad" don't really exist in the same sphere as art (unless one is discussing the technical ability of the artist but why would we ever do that?). In art there is only interesting and dis-interesting. A song can either catch your ear or be apart of the scenery (and sometimes it's unbelievably boring scenery).

This is actually one of the things I love about art. I love the fact it can be endlessly pondered, analyzed, dissected, and discussed. Being a sad sort of dork, I am entranced by those sorts of things. The subjectivity of art makes it an experience. A song (or film, or painting, or whatever) doesn't have an audience; it has participants. But the key is that not everyone who hears the song will be engaged in the experience.

The "bad music" urban legend is something I've thought about a lot recently. Everyone has their tastes and, even after posting this, I'm sure I call Linkin Park bad music (because I just can't imagine calling them anything else) but what I'm actually saying is: "You know, I don't find anything about Linkin Park's music that interests me and I'd rather not participate."

Mindless Self-Indulgence

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Below is a (very) short story I began playing with a few years ago. I stumbled across it the other day and blew the virtual dust off of it.

No longer able to resist the narcissism (it is a blog after all), I thought to share it. Comments are welcome and harsh criticisms are deserved.

I Had a Heart Once

I had a heart once. I know that this, in and of itself, is not unusual. I mean, most multicellular organisms have a cardiovascular system of some kind (if I’m anything, it’s multicellular). What is unusual is that my heart just up and quit one day. I was standing in the produce section and the crazy thing just stopped beating.

Now, at first, this turn of events was rather distressing (and hurt like hell). But, once they loaded me into the ambulance, I began to feel better. In fact, I felt better than I had before my heart stopped; better than I had most of my life.

When I got to the emergency room the doctor tried to resuscitate me three times before he realized that I wasn’t unconscious. There’s top notch medical treatment for you: trying to revive a man who isn’t dead. Can't blame him I guess. It's not everyday that a fella's heart stops and doesn’t he die or at least pass out.

All the doctors ran tests on me. More than a dozen agreed that my heart was, in fact, not beating. Some suggested slapping a pace-maker on it to jump start things. I wasn't interested. I felt better without it so why fix what isn’t broken. Apparently my heart was in ship-shape besides the whole not beating thing so they asked me if I wanted to donate it. I agreed. What the hell was it doing for me anyway?

World in My Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:03:00 +0000

Below are two images I've created. They were produced in Adobe Illustrator from a couple of photos I took in downtown Savannah. I'm really quite pleased with them actually and may keep working with this style a bit.

As another creative excercise, I want to rework print ads, billboards, and magazine layouts that are not pleasing or effective. While this will may get me hanged, shot, sued by copyright zealots, I think it will be a good way to air out my creative inclinations.

Drayton near Forsyth

Abercorn & Broughton

Mix That Funky Music

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:59:00 +0000

The host of a shindig I was attending last week asked if I could help provide the music by bringing my iPod (as if I go anywhere without the damn thing). While this is fine I don't think my acquaintance really understood what she was asking and of whom she was asking it.

What she was asking, unbeknownst to her, was: "Would you mind spending a few hours endlessly pouring over your entire music collection finding six or so hours of the most interesting and fun songs possible and arrange them flawlessly?" The answer: "No, I don't mind."

You see, I love art and music is simply a subset of that general term. I think about what the music being played around me. This is even true in stores where muzak versions of good tunes will either illicit cackling or tears (depending, of course, on my own mental fragility at that moment). I put my iPod on "shuffle" and it the next button eight or nine times until a song I want to hear comes up its massive randomized queue.

It's not as if my music collection was compiled by strangers in the dark, blindfolded, randomly downloading the obscurities of many disparate artists. I'm just not always in the mood for everything that "shuffle" will through at me. Sometimes it just not a Devo moment and other times nothing is more appropriate.

I'm sure most normal people can simply ignore the music they hear when it doesn't interest them. Those folks could probably just "shuffle" the iPod or rely on the "Genius" feature to mix it dynamically (don't get me started). I just can't. This is the case with most art I encounter. I think about the composition of billboards and the color schemes of cereal boxes and the faux-Indie tripe being played in bookstores.

So I spend three hours or so going over my 10,000+ songs and do, indeed, find about six hours of pure enjoyment. Starting with "Carnival" by the Cardigans and ending with "An Ending (Ascent)" by Brian Eno (and stopping for a bit at all points in between).

As it turned out, my acquaintance didn't use my mix but that really wasn't the point. It was good fun digging through my tunes finding out was wholly separate genres and groups went together nicely ("Emperor Tomato Ketchup" by Stereolab and "Heart of Glass" by Blondie for example). I may make mixes like this from time to time just to dig through the pile a bit (and become the dorkiest music snob in three states).

UPDATE The Day the Music Died

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:15:00 +0000

Oh! The great equalizer that is the Internet! On Tuesday, I talked about pop star Lily Allen's objections to illegal file sharing and the supposed affects on record companies and artists. It appears, however, that Lily is quite guilty of flagrant copyright violation when it suits her purposes (see Bob's comment on Tuesday's post) but this is too good.

In a scandal sure to be known as "Mixgate," Allen is offering digital "mixtapes" on her website lilyallenmusic.com. The mixtapes feature 30 second to 1 minute cuts from various artists (none of which gave Allen permission). What's more, many of the artists featured do not have any connection to EMI (Allen's record label). She is therefore providing an artist's work without permission via the Internet. This is, I'm told, in breach of copyright laws. Smell the hypocrisy.

As of early this morning, all posts on her blog ("It's Not Alright") have been erased. Her latest Twitter update (seen here) says the abuse she was receiving was simply too much.

Brief note to all artist turned pundits: One should probably be aware of what the laws are before you go off supporting or denouncing them. For more on Ms. Allen and the whole sorted affair, see TechDirt's article here.

The Day the Music Died

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:52:00 +0000

We've heard, more than once, from artists (usually RIAA members) implying that music piracy will essentially end recorded music. The most recent artist to join the fray is UK pop princess Lily Allen. Allen is essentially opposing illegal file-sharing but more specifically the Featured Artists Coalition's acceptance of it. Allen has started a blog (titled "It's Not Alright") regarding music piracy and collecting letters and kudos of other artists worried that music will simply stop being produced. Seriously? Yeah, seriously.

The legal or moral quandaries surrounding file-sharing, torrents (with a "z"), and piracy really aren't my concern. Nor is this my general distrust of "the man" rearing its inconvenient head as many record companies are certainly not "the man" or any part thereof. No, I have an question of logic.

I'm a bit fuzzy on the details of Lily's logic (as I'm sure she is as well) but I gather it goes something like this: record companies (you know who are!) cannot scratch out a living marketing and selling music because its products (i.e. music) are not being purchased any longer. This results in the collapse of the entire recording industry and, indeed, the art of music altogether into an infinitely dense black hole swallowing that special something that makes us human (and the end of civilization). I feel this argument won't survive scrutiny.

Music has existed in one form or another pretty much since humans have. Record companies on the other hand, have existed about 100 years. Likening the end of record companies to the end of music is like saying the closing of Shotheby's auction house is the end of painting or the downfall of Barnes & Noble is the end of literature. People (you know who you are!) have a deep need to create and will create regardless of the market conditions and sales projections. It's a major part of our humanity. The neanderthals and early modern humans weren't worried about distribution rights when they began painting mammoths on their cave walls.

Record companies are a delivery system. Granted, quite an effective delivery system for quite some time. They were the masters of a supply chain and technology that allowed musicians to move from gifted minority to pop culture icons. This worked out well for a time but things change. They do not own the supply chain that is the Internet and therein lies their weakness. Record companies are not the production method of art, just its broker (its dealer). They no more own it than anyone else. If illegal file-sharing and piracy bring down record companies something else will simply rise to take their place. I think Lily will be fine if she can roll with it.

I don't dislike record companies (some I outright love) but I will not grant them the power over the whole of an art form. The fate of music is not inextricably linked to the success of Atlantic, EMI, and Sony. As with any other art, music lives and dies with us. Music will simply evolve with us even if record companies don't.

My Poor Brain*

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:45:00 +0000

I worry about my poor brain. Sometimes as I begin to speak I forget was I was going to say. Other times, I begin one activity only to be quickly (and completely) distracted by something. As soon as I sit down to read or write or anything really I suddenly recall some wholly unrelated thing I've been meaning to ____ [insert verb].

Even my desperately strewn about interests seem to display this (gadgets, economics, politics, history, art, music, film, literature, on and on...) They read more like the required courses for a liberal arts degree! I'm like some kind of academic tourist without the academia.

I believe I'm pretty bright and I am thankful for my mind (I'll miss him when he decides he could do better and leaves me) but this can't be normal or healthy. If everyone's mind was this scattered nothing would ever be accomplished. There would be millions upon millions of half built statues and unfinished paintings and War and Peace would be a pamphlet!

It's my fault. I suppose I abuse the old boy a bit with all the reading and thinking and such. That truly isn't my intention. I mean well enough. I assume he knows that. After all, he's the brains.

*Apologies to Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters for misappropriating his awesome song title for my not quite as awesome blog post.

Welcomed Visitor

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:11:00 +0000

One-man indie powerhouse Jim O'Rourke has released a new album titled The Visitor. It's apparently a single track 38 minute pop opus. I just got it this morning so I don't have any opinion yet. Although, I've never known O'Rourke to disappoint. Find more info about Jim O'Rourke and his new album here.

"I'm a Loser."

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:45:00 +0000

Perhaps I'm crazy but the Beatles box set just doesn't seem worth it. It seems, however, a fair chunk of the industrialized world have already lined up for their copies and the critics are weighing in (oh thank God!) but I just can't join in the Liverpudlian orgy.

Is this even necessary? The Onion's A.V. Club Talk's most recent podcast (see here) would lead one to believe that the box set is just this side of indispensable. Can this be? I'm certainly not an expert or audiophile to any degree but I feel the original CD releases I have hold up quite well. I own every album except the first two (please don't judge me harshly) and I'm happy dammit!

And then there's the release of the box set being coupled with the Beatles Rock Band video game. I haven't any issues with the game really but the whole coordinated release thing grates on my artistic sensibilities. I'm actually left wondering if John and George would have been on-board for all this tomfoolery (let's not speculate a la Dave Grohl and Chris Novoselic http://bit.ly/cfhLk.)

It'll be pretty damned hard to revere the Beatles any more that I do already. I don't think Paul's more prominent bass lines or Ringo's more distinct drumming will change my long-held opinions of this band's talent or place in history. I don't think I'll buy the box set or the hype.

Cold Souls

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Cold Souls is new film starring Paul Giamatti as an actor who undergoes "soul extraction" and off-beat hilarity ensues. I'm actually a bit excited about this one. Cold Souls promises to be a fun and quirky comedy. I can only hope it lives up to its premise's potential. See the trailer below.

For the NY Times review of "Cold Souls" click here.

Design + Discovery

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:17:00 +0000

David Carson is one of my heroes. From his work in advertising to his own Ray Gun magazine he has helped redefine the modern aesthetic and question the tenets of print media. Carson's work is challenging but engaging; alien but natural. Below Carson is taking a funny and insightful look into his work at a TED conference in 2003. I would love to hear any thoughts on Carson's TED talk or work.

To those interested, I also whole-heartedly recommend Lewis Blackwell's "The End of Print: The Graphic Design of David Carson." It surveys much of Carson's work and is beautiful to boot.

Brace Yourselves.

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:13:00 +0000

A previously unreleased Brian Eno-produced album is to be, well, released. Harmonia & Eno '76: Tracks and Traces is a collaboration between Brian Eno and krautrock outfit Harmonia is set for release on September 18th. Consider yourself warned.

Just Turn It Off...

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:22:00 +0000

Recently, I visited a local sports-bar sort of restaurant and was appalled to find, upon a trip to the restroom, a television. Repeat: a television in the restroom.

This sort of restaurant isn't really my "thing" and this is largely why. This is a restaurant whose most prominent features were televisions. In fact, there were on the order of a dozen televisions in every direction. There was not a direction one could look that did not feature sporting events and the people of love them.

I'm not naive. I understand that proliferation of screens and channels is not considered a determent to the establishment but a benefit in the eyes of others but a television... in the restroom? Seriously? Seriously, people.

Is there anything human being can do anymore with a damned television? While one "does as nature intends" one may be kept abreast of the oh... 45 seconds or so of T.V. one would otherwise have sacrificed. Dammit! Are my pills wearing off?

I don't dislike sports and my frustration doesn't really have anything to do with programming choices. It's more the simple and ridiculous truth that the damned "boob tube" has become so ubiquitous that we won't leave long enough to urinate or wash our hands! Very little, ladies and gentleman, is that important.

Group Therapy: The Kesey Method

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:05:00 +0000

I've been reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Granted, I'm not very far along in the story (only pg. 51 as of this afternoon) but I'm having a bit of an issue: I don't find any of "Big Chief's" theories that nutty. In fact, I think he just about right. Conformity is the currency of society? Yes. Assimilated members of said society will fight to preserve it? With you so far. Those poor souls who either refuse to confirm or are undesirable will be destroyed or marginalized? Obviously.

I'm sure that's largely the point: all the supposedly insane patients are the real people and everyone "outside" is a faceless, consuming automaton. Is this not a universal truth of the modern world? Am I insane? Probably not (at least not in any interesting or harmful way). This is such a blatant fact I don't believe this point even requires much discussion or explanation.

I am unfortunately reading this novel several decades after its publication and I think a bit of it's punch is lost in the passage of time. It's a bit like reading Orwell's 1984 after 1980. I read it in 2000. While a good book and terrifying concept it's not quite the same as reading it in 1947, I'm sure. In a Cold-War America I imagine questioning the very purpose and fabric of our society was quite riotous. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is now on high school summer reading lists. Not exactly risque.

Interestingly enough, I think that this book does have a fair point and should be read by those unsuspecting teenagers. For God's sake, "individualism" is mass-marketed by corporations. Coca Cola's slogan is "Open Happiness." Really? What the hell does that even mean? Need we continue? I'm sure I'll have more on this as I dig into it a bit more.

Kodachrome.

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:06:00 +0000

Allow me to briefly explain the blur to my right: My dad has let me borrow his old Nikon D70 digital SLR camera. I haven't played with it much yet but this image is a result of the afternoon's tomfoolery. The possibilities are endless! At some point I decided to disregard exposure, apperature, focus, and even aim. This makes me happy.

When asked for comment...

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:27:00 +0000

I just canceled my MySpace account. During this process one is provided a field into which one may enter a reason for cancellation or general comment. I provided the following:

"Nothing really to say, I guess. It's not you, you know... It's me. We had some laughs but that's all behind us now. I wish you all the best."

It was really one of the better break-ups I've experienced and quite overdue to be honest. We simply out-grew one another.

iTunes and the Apocalypse

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:36:00 +0000

I hate iTunes. What exactly is the value of a program whose principle market is the all-too-crucial obsessive compulsive demographic. iTunes allows those among us with the impulse control of rabbits to waste remarkable amounts of time finding album artwork for Pulp singles. Do you know what year Country Life by Roxy Music was released? I didn't but now I do thanks to my aesthetically pleasing media manager. This is not healthy.

Cradle to Cradle

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:19:00 +0000

Why is my 20oz. plastic Coke bottle designed to outlast not only the delicious fluid it holds but me as well? Why are carpets, furniture, and even clothing made from and coated with dangerous chemicals? I honestly do not know. We have a socio-political system that seeks to be less bad not good. Tell me FDA/EPA, exactly what are the acceptable levels of mecury in the water supplies or carcinogens in my veggies?

William McDonough and Michael Braungart have devised a design concept called Cradle to Cradle. Briefly, the concept centers on the idea that products should be created with the express purpose of being recycled completely or discarded to biodegrade harmlessly. McDonough and Braungart have published a deeply interesting and enlightening book also called Cradle to Cradle.

Below is McDonough's talk at TED.com about the Cradle to Cradle concept for those interested.

Dave Brubeck Quartet

noreply@blogger.com (randalmeister) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:49:00 +0000

I found this recently on YouTube. I think this is genius. Joe Morello's drum solo in this performance is awe-inspiring. Perhaps I'm over-reacting.

No; just kidding. It is actually that good.