Computer Troubles And More!

I've been having computer troubles since a little over a week ago. Catastrophic failure has been averted; but I'm not sure for how long. So, in case there's a long pause here while I scrounge and scrimp and build a new frankensteinian internet terminal, I'll ramble on about my weekend at Bonaroo '09 after the fold...



Yes, yes, I went to Bonaroo. {see here, and here for generic details} We paid for the cheap-o regular tickets- roughly $270-ish after all the fees, etc. Four days of Primitive Camping, with porta-potties and a half mile walk into the center festival area. We- I went with my sister, her "wife", and some hippies- arrived Thursday night and stayed through Monday morning. It was... interesting. A bit disappointing- okay A LOT of a bit- but also vaguely cool and fun in ways that probably had more to do with the people I was with than the location.

Sunday, while firmly entrenched beneath a tarp for further protection from the sun, I wrote a little piece about the profound problems I kept running into face-first.

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Ah, Bonaroo. The heat, the mud, the stench of burning skunk, and human shit. The scantily clad women and men, the burning red glare of sunburned flesh, and the rage inducing sight of morning joggers hoofing it around the 700 acres of tents and RVs. The three women wearing only paint on their exposed chest-icles. The copious amounts of frat boys sheathed in greek letters, false bravado, and beer pong tables.

I'm forced to contemplate the dried on mud, the ants, and especially the faux hippies. Do they know they're faking it? Does everyone else? What happens at the instant they become authentic, when faking it has become making it? Do they notice? Or does it take such a profound naivety and refusal to acknowledge reality, that they will have long before convinced themselves that THEY are the real deal- while everyone else is just a hippie hater?

Afterall, they will have, naturally, gravitated to the external reinforcement of other wanna-bes. The profound stupidity of the ones who try so hard to be free, counter-cultural, and relevant while miming slogans and ideals invented decades ago, buying fake authentic organic free-range cotton blended skirts at L. L. Bean, and spending daddy's money on drugs of varying quality and quantity, goes unnoticed by those guilty of perpetrating. Instead, they see their own ideas reflected in perfect detail by a hundred thousand others and bask in their own original brilliance, convinced of their ability to effect the change that hasn't happened during the nearly fifty years of peace, love, and funky munkeys. I'm my own bi-sexual, independent, free, and proactive vector for a beter world- making a change by singing along to Ani Difranco's cover of a hundred year old Union Hymn, thirty miles north of, virtually union free, Alabama.

Hand in hand with the huge recycling, composting, and conservation intitiatives among thirty thousand gas guzzling behemoths- not a Prius in sight- and enough poly-plastics to choke every dolphin, manatee, and whale that has (or will) ever lived.

But that Grateful Dead sticker/flag/t-shirt on the car/RV/100% water resistant, non-biodegradable tent makes them a rebel- just like everyone else...

Maybe I'm being too harsh.

There are ALL kinds, and it takes them all, right?

'Cause when I think huge hippie hug music fest, I think the Neo-Conservative HEART of the bible Belt in Southernmost Tennessee. Because the many hundreds of porta-potties- serviced and chemically cleaned three times daily- and the nigh $300 cheap tickets beam wavey gravey straight into MY brains. I mean, where else would one fo to watch Bruce Springsteen and Snoop Dog and Nine Inch Nails but a peace, love, and happiness festival sponsered by FUSE, Butterfinger, and Xbox 360? Now with free, seven dollar, showers! And a tent to recharge your cellphone while you check your email and update your twitter. New Media makes you edgy, hip, and culturally relevant! (This message brought to you by Vitamin Water PLUS by Coca Cola...)

Then again, four days of primitive camping with the sounds of generators- for the RVs, the lights, pavillions, and occasional camper- that does take a certain amount of comitment. Hence the ubiquitous smell of dank stanky 'anky... or is that human shit? Best not to think about it, like that mud in front of the porta-'lets that sucked your inorganic, petroleum based, flip-flop off your foot and squished up past the blisters on your toes.

Groovy.

You tool.

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Having said that, it wasn't all bad. It's an interesting experience, and if you're an upwardly mobile recent college graduate, or a frat boy, or attracted to either of those, you'll probably love it (assuming you can stand the opressive heat of the southern summer). But the line-ups are kinda stupid, and the hour to hour and a half sets that stagger means there will be many times where you watch one show for thirty minutes, catch the last thirty of another, and the final thirty of a third before waiting an hour or three for the next set. Just check to make sure you have ample amounts of portable shade, sunblock, hydration (and electrolytes), and resolve. Ensuring that you give a crap about the line-up, optional...

But don't expect it to be anything like what the advertising material claims. (Maybe if you fork out the $700 for the cheapest VIP tickets... maybe...)

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Cool

Of course, you're all Doctor Who fans. And you like really cool things- like Tesla Coils being used as instruments... so:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/20/tesla-coils-sing-the.html


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Before the Music Dies

I just finished watching the documentary BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES, on Hulu. It's a look at the state of the "Music Industry" circa 2005/6. As always, there are some points I disagree with; but overall it's an excellent film. Go watch it.



Some points/thoughts I had while watching:

Watch this movie, Before the Music Dies, and watch how people curse. Cursing is normal and natural. Restriction of cursing is understandable, I suppose, but absolute prohibition of it is stupid.

Radio is about percentages: if you retain 51% of the population, you're a winner. As you make a profit, you can lose that percentage. It's the dollars, stupid.

Brendan Marsalis makes the point that Coltrane and others came out and were hated for 5 yrs. Today, you don't have 5 years for your sound to catch on, gain fans, and become something-through the radio markets and "traditional" Record Company Route. "If it's really new, the people won't like it because they won't know what it is."

First half is "Why is it shitty, right now?" Second is, "Why it doesn't have to be, and how it isn't."

Here's the sad fact: Radio, that industry the record execs once loved for getting their content out to the masses, taught us all that music was free. The consumer knows why ads are there; but ads are an annoyance, not a means of funding the radio station. Sure, we all know the deal; but it takes thought to connect from These Annoying Ass Ads to "Oh, that annoyance is okay, because without it, we wouldn't have the radio." In fact, that's not the case, exactly; look at Public Radio, after all. That instruction "Radio is Free (ish)" became music is free, and with the availability of easy copying it became downloading/sharing without guilt.

How is this for a business model? Instead of a million people out there trying to get famous, get rich, and "be somebody" (whatever that means); artists being concerned with being artists. Musicians focused on making music; and when the record company comes and says "Hey, we can do something for you," saying "You can have this album, and distribute it, and do your thing, and leave us the hell alone." Basically, forcing the record company to accept your terms, and not vice versa. It takes a hell of a will to do; and I'm not saying it's the smartest move- but it's the way to remain "pure", "true", "uncorrupted" while still taking every authentic advantage that comes along.

"There are three types of artist. The first is the one who hurts to do what they do. ... The second is the type who tries to be like the first. The third type is one who does whatever they're told." -Erykha Badu

"I don't think that we need to panic; I just think we need to teach our children well." -Dave Mathhews

"It's important to sound like You, to feel like You, to be like You." -Erykha Badu
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Mish Mash Makes Music

Sometimes, I wonder if we'll be creative enough to find the solutions needed for survival in the future. And sometimes, I think we'll be alright:

(First seen/heard at BoingBoing)



(There are 7, in all.)
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Free Inch Nails

NIN is giving away it's newest album completely free in a variety of formats; and all they want, in return, is your email address.

http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup
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Stuck in my head

Now, stuck in yours...



Yes, it is that song from Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Isolated by Chiasm.

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Stuck in my Head

This has been stuck in my head, recently; and i can't say I'm mad. It's very catchy, and it's an awesome band.

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