Band Drama!!! and the Fox

Travis.

After spending a nice relaxing dinner (they prepared a delicious salmon chowder that I couldn't resist, and you know how picky I am about eating fish, but alas, I had to eat it because it was superbly delicious) with Sam and Megan and Will and Chris in Oconomowoc followed with heavy lifting (I helped unload their moving truck full of their new kitchen from Ikea) I rolled into downtown Milwaukee (I think I saw "the Fox" but it was kinda foggy and misty and my wipers don't work too well these days so maybe it was just a "harley dude" with a fedora) and kicked it with Joey Vochich (OMG it's Joey Fukin Vochich!) for a few hours talking about stuff (like his surreal week past)

He said that he had already sent an e-mail to Jakey at the Klinic confirming our acceptence of his offer to perform on Friday night as Where the i Divides without an answer from Danny J. and he said that he did so because if Danny makes up some excuse, we're going to play the show without him, performing our acoustic set in a similar fashion to last Tuesday in Greenfield park.

We also discussed the rediculously long message on Danny's answering machine and how it prevented me from leaving him a message on Saturday (due to my refusal to listen to it, YET AGAIN) and he said that he's going to "have words" with him about that along with some other assorted odds and ends that are irking him about Danny's "lack of professionalism". I think our showdown between the two of them may soon be more than just speculation. I can't wait to see them go at it. Bring my popcorn and my beer and get a front row seat. It should be a good one. Joe's got the height advantage but Danny has the military training.

I'll see you later tonight and we'll discuss these things in greater depth and also perhaps a missive about the struggling Milwaukee Brewers and their trouncing given out last eve in Arizona. What a game!!!

Sincerely,

Zach

--- Travis wrote:

> by the way (no, not that awful chili peppers song)

> what's the good word on that prospective klinic

> Friday night deal? are we going to be rocking? i

> hope so...

>

Strom a commin'

So whatever.

Slacking at work. Not doing what needs to be done. I'm waiting for the day to end. Where the i Divides is playing it's first "acoustic" show tonight at a park in Milwaukee. It's not an offical acoustic show (hence the quotes) because I'm playing my electric and Trav is playing an acoustic. Danny is not going to be at this gig. He's decided that he needs his sleep over playing a weekday show. (Yeah. We're that important that people will want us on the weekends because we draw so many fans and whatever.)

The recording that we have been ingnoring all summer has finally been "scrapped" thanks largely in part to our Engineer admitting that he improperly mic'ed the drums and that he was having a hell of a time mixing drums and that affects the overall sound and then Dan wants to retrack everything with click track (why the hell didn't he want to do that six months ago? I'll never know.) So we're going to re-record everything for a great deal of a steal that our engineer is throwing our way. I don't want it to take forever but it's going to.

I have decided that I'm going to simplify the number of guitar tracks. Strip things down. Work with bare minimum. Avoid the excess because that seems to create a void in the recordings. There's so much guitar that it kinda becomes a wash-out and fades into the back. It's not as distinct and discernable as it could/should be.

We have learned a few things from our first run at recording. I hope to got it doesn't take us 100 hours like the last time. (we'll see)

Take a break and take five

My friend Leah has this thing on her website called the Reviewery.

Here's her take on the Take-5 Candy Bar

"Though you cannot see, Caramel, Peanuts, and Pretzels (Chocolate and Peanut Butter will come out the other end later) are all flying out of my mouth in disgust and bewilderment. Tears are coming out of my eyes, not from pain or the projectile puke, but of sadness that the wonderful people at Hershey's made a disappointing and, I'll just say it, ass-gross candy bar."

The Count's #1 american super vending machine exTRAVaganza

This Gem was sitting in my inbox. It's good to have friends.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

those andy capp's hot chili cheese fries have finally come to the
forefront in the vending machine..."someday i will be that very dog and
the day shall be mine alone..."

and now here they sit, bag open, upon my desk.

now i know i shouldn't eat thee...(due to my stomach issues and all,
which are not entirely better) but this is for science.

they pull off the "chili" more convincingly than they accomplish the
"cheese"; which is more of a suggestion than a flavor and may be
destined to be overtaken by a stronger flavor...namely "chili".

i hope these don't get me sick...i don't have any immediate plans for
eating the whole bag but we both know i merry well will.

see you tonight, barring disaster

t

Once a year we do this

Okay... I ran into an old friend at my high school reunion who's on myspace but I haven't added her as a friend because I haven't talked to her in years but she said that I should be her friend so whatever, it's myspace. It's totally lame but I have a band so it's different. I need it in order to "network" and get my music out the the kids.

That aside, I found this page. I run into this guy and some of his friends from time to time when I stray from my usual public houses but we don't have much in common these days. We used to play soccer back in the day. Way back in the day. But here's why I'm even wasting my time on this...

Please tell me that you have a better picture of yourself than one where you've cropped out someone (who's hand is still in frame) and please tell me that you have a better picture of yourself that doesn't involve holding a drink in your hand. But what would I expect. Check the stats... check the layout... check the wardrobe (Obviously not a floordrobe. He's not sporting the metro-hobo look this year that's all the rage with the indie-rockers who matter.)

Anyway. There are reasons why stereotypes exist. I enjoy running into that crowd from time to time. It's good to have your past ambush you in unexpected places. It reminds me to keep being myself, the self I've crafted over the years... or perhaps the best imitation of myself.

In other news, I picked up a copy of the paper this morning for my yearly ritual of reading the "if you were born today" and here's what it said:

"Your home is your sanctuary this year. You'll definitely put down roots. There'll be a few family disagreements but you can work things out."

I don't know what the hell that means. Put down roots? Does that mean I'm a tree? Does that mean I'm going to be establishing a bullshit residence in this mundane city? And what family is it talking about? Totally stupid.

“One ought not to say to those whom one wants to kill, ‘Give me your votes, because your votes will enable me to kill you and I want to kill you,’ but merely, ‘Give me your votes,’ for once you have the power of the votes in your hand, you can satisfy your desire."

Take the time to read this article.

But more importantly, this is nothing new. The Roman Catholic church was at this for years... during the Dark Ages. It has nothing to do with the soul. It has everything to do with power and control.

The sixth column anyone?

Crux of the Mosh

It's come to a point where I need to do something. What? Something you ask?

No. It's not that simple. Sat at work watching Wimbledon. It's nice to have a television in the office sometimes.

But the issue is that Ol' Green isn't doing so well. I went to Fed. Court to get some docs and ended up discovering that my truck is not only pregnant but just went into labor. The water broke.

Turns out there's a gash in a hose. I'm going to have to see if I can get that fixed but it really makes it a challenege to get all of the band gear to Milwaukee tonight for a stupid show.

Bugger.

Imaginationally Challenged

I was having a discussion with someone about a woman who was an author.

She wrote this book called the Place at the Edge of the Earth. I argued that this was simply all that needed to be said. The rest was meaningless. He didn't agree.

So I looked it up, to see what it was about. (read the summary on the link) and I decided that I'm still right. So I present to you this notion that a title can in fact be the sum total of what needs to be said.

With that, take a few hours to find les Amitiés Maléfiques and watch it. "Why do some people write? Because they're too afraid not to." As one reviewer put it, "The other like perfect prey of our mediocrity."

Just some mid-summer musings. I really haven't taken the time to put effort into much on-line excursions as of late. It's really hard to do that when it's nice outside and the call of life in the real world is a deafening roar. That and my regular schedule's been all out of whack!

Plenty of reading time?

I discovered this website and I think it's pretty dang cool.

I found it by searching for meles meles because I'm a nerd.

I now know that Meles Meles lives clans and they live in burrows that get passed down from generation to generation.

I'm so getting the house once the parents are gone. "Squatters Rights"

Jealousy Sets In

My friend is in Berkley studying Latin all summer. I don't really want to know latin but I'm very jealous of the fact that she's preparing for her doctoral studies at UNM. It's weird to feel this way. Weird indeed.

But I did my own work today. I read through the dialogue Euthyphro (not the best translation through this link. I read in in analogue format) this morning and put some effort into contemplating it today. It's a little much for one sit-down but I kicked this idea around.

"The point which I should first wish to understand is whether the pious or holy is beloved by the gods because it is holy, or holy because it is beloved of the gods. "

Very tough meat to chew on a busy Monday afterknoon. But that was after I contemplated if Socrates was the kind of guy who would just ask you questions to make you look stupid. Or better put, was he "that guy" who plays Devil's Advocate or claims to play Devil's Advocate erstwhile actually just getting his personal rocks off by asking question after question till the person answering them gets irritated, frustrated, confused and finally concedes that the jack-ass of an idiot playing Devil's Advocate is right simply to get them to shut the fuck up.

I still look at these works through the filter of 2K+ years.

Looking at something I haven't looked at in a while

"It is a progressive ideology that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead meaningful, ethical lives capable of adding to the greater good of humanity."

I gotta get a subscription to this magazine.

Lost Time

So much has "gone down" in the last few weeks. I've been hard-pressed to even get to reading my regular blog circuit.

Here's what's been up: (I know everyone is just dying to know!!!)

Where the i Divides rocked the Annex on the 31st of May. It was a blowout show with not a lot of attendance. We didn't get paid this time but we got an invite to play this coming Saturday with some other bands that are more promising to draw some fans. Who knows if anyone will be there when we take the stage, though.

That show on the 31st was also an event starring our manager. She essentially decided that she didn't want to manage us anymore. I'm torn between having her around for the work she took care of and also for being much more involved with what's going on with the band. I guess things will work out. It will be interesting to see if the other members of the band actually figure out that there's a shit load of work to do in order to get more shows booked and more contacts to work with. There's going to be a moment in the near future where I'm going to hear someone say, "We need more shows." At which point I'll respond, "Go ahead and book them youself fuck-head. I'm not the only person in this band who's capable of doing the work to promote it."

I went to Albuquerque over the weekend of the 1st through the 4th. What a nice little vacation that was. I took a mini tour of the town and inspected the grounds at the university of New Mexico. They have a quality graduate program that I'm looking into. I also saw my first Rattlesnake in the wild. That was awesome. The opportunity is there. The potential is there. I even have a place to rent lined up if I decide to go through with it/get accepted. But that's in the future.

After I got back from NM last Monday, I spent the week trying to catch up with what is going on with everything.

I made a list of things to take care of. I've been slowly taking care of them. Slowly but surely. I'm about ready to hire someone to do some database programming. I just need approval from my boss. Once that's done, hell yeah. That will be a huge weight lifted, in more ways than one. The "feng shui" of my living quarters is also a HUGE issue right now so I've been taking time cleaning up small piles of crap. Throwing a lot of stuff out. It's always good to get rid of excess crap.

The band played another show last Saturday in the pasture behind the barn. It's almost time for us to leave the free practice space. We have a new space that we are renting but OF COURSE someone in the band still wants to have one more practice in the barn. I don't. We've already put money down for the other space and we have the key so I don't know why anyone would want to go to the barn except for the fact that they're lazy and don't want to move all of the equipment to the new space. Again, I don't know why that's an issue since I'm the one who will be moving all of the equipment because I have a truck (true) and apparently I'm the only one who knows how to take action (not entirely true).

So congrats for making it through the bitch-fest of a post here on blog dumpster 5000.

In positive news, I'm still off the smoking. I made it through last weekend (with the band) without having a smoke. I've been pushing myself on the treadmill at the gym, trying to up my 2 mile pace. I can get it in under 16 minutes pretty easily but I would like to do it faster but that'll just take time and training. It's a hell of a lot easier to do push myself since my lungs aren't as clogged.

I also picked up a copy of Profit Over People by Noam Chomsky and read that in the last few weeks. I, for some reason, keep getting more and more angry with the basic complacency that smacks me in the face every day. It's as if the citizens of this nation are so oblivious to even the most basic schemes of distraction and pacification. But then again, I'm guilty of it too. I'm a bullshit consumer. I don't care enough to discipline myself even further. I got rid of the tobacco. I rarely watch television. I rarely purchse anything besides food and fuel. I'm trying to get myself into a more simplified state of existence, erstwhile trying to create a band that will someday be a moneymaker. It's a conflict of interest. I think I'll eventually go crazy. That'll be good.

I also heard about a book called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. I haven't gotten it from the library yet. It's time to get smarter. It's time to get wiser. It's time to simplify. Not just me. Everyone. But who the fuck am I? That's right. So keep on consuming. I'll do it too. And we'll just end up hating ourselves even more. Losing more of our basic civility. Demanding more for just ourselves. More for me. Right? Yeah.

PARTY WEEKEND!!!!

Okay, I'm not really going to go all out and "party." I got band things to do all weekend. Rehearsal tonight. Mixing session looming for tomorrow. Covering the city with flyers for our show on the 31st. But I do want to get to this.

Totally awesome extravagnaza of shoveling sausages into your maw with flocks of others similarly situated as myself.

I missed last year for some reason that I can't remember. The year before I went with Kristin and we had our brat. It went well.

And if you want me to be more specific about my quitting smoking excusrsions, I guess I can let you know (Kristin) that I've had a few cigarettes each Saturday or Sunday, usually in the presence of other band members. It's the only place where I'm tempted to have one. Last Sunday was the first band related activity that I've been at that I didn't have a cigarette. I'm planning on not having one this evening at rehersal. I'm also planning on not having one at the studio while mixing. Is that enough info? You tell me...

So I've been off the devil sticks for about a month now. I've been a lot clearer. Things are a lot clearer. I've got a lot of sorting out to do this summer. New directions are calling and their calling out loud.

I don't have time to expound on them right now.

I've got to rush off to other band related activities.

Till then. Keeping strong without cigarettes.

(I have back-slid in a few (usually on Satuday) scenarios that are a little to "familiar" for the social aspects of smoking... i.e. drinking)

Crustin Timberlake

Two days in a row for a post.

I've been off the radar for a while. You would think that only working part-time would afford me plenty of time to post awesome things about the economy or make these scathing comments about how gas prices are worse than listening to MC 900 Foot Jesus, but in fact, it hasn't really been all that important.

Here's why.

I was talking with a friend of mine who is a journalist about the nature of journalism these days. Seems that the trend, from his perspective, is that with all of the "information" flying around the internets these days, people don't want to watch tv news unless it's exciting. People don't want to hear just the facts, they want opinions and "drama." So I've been wondering why I'm even "blogging." I feel like most of the time, what I post just isn't worth taking up someone else's time, albeit three minutes. Still... How many more times can I entertain people with 'facts' like Boys Over Flowers is a better read than Zatch Bell. Or even better yet, introduce new words into the popular lexicon like "Shonk!" or "Ba-zow!" (I was cracking up about shonk pretty much all morning.)

But the truth is, I've been searching for a new avenue for life. I'm reaching that age that some would call the Saturnic Return and regardless, it's something that's just unsettling. Which dreams do I let die, which do I pursue? When do I decide that Madison is over and it's time to leave for the place that I consider home? How in the hell do I afford any of that? They're all relatively simple questions to answer. But I don't just want words as answers. I want actions.

So I'm taking action. I am reading again. I'm reading a lot of stuff I wouldn't normally look into. I've gone back to my old routine of sitting in the stacks at the library and reading a book I've pulled until I lose interest and then wandering off to find another one until something really strikes me as interesting. This is exactly how I ended up with my B.A. in Philosophy. I read a book that blew my mind and I decided that I wanted to study deeper. I'm seeking that new vein. Looking for the next lode. And it'll be big when I find it.

But in the meantime, I listen to A LOT of left talk radio. I hear all the crying and moaning and wailing and gnashing of teething about this and that and it really makes me tired of even caring about the "which side you on" mentality. It's not a matter of which side you're on. It's a matter of realizing that every time we get grifted into thinking that some "Moral" issue is the thing we should be arguing about, we are being led away from the simple idea of Profit over People. Plain and simple. And that's where I'm at right now.

So you want to talk about how Paris Hilton should or shouldn't have to rot in jail for 45 days. So you want to argue about the University of Wisconsin System and how it may or may not extend benefits to life partners for same sex couples. Go ahead. It's the same as watching Real World reruns all summer long on your Dell laptop at the pool. Make sure you stay in the shallow end though. Heaven forbid you might have to swim.

It's been how long?

There's a lot going on in the world of politics and news and this and that. I would comment on that but it's just too time consuming to put together a semi-intelligent rant about the state of the world and there are plenty of other places to get your opinions.

Instead, I'd rather announce that I've quit smoking. I've given it up for a little over three weeks now. Granted, I did have a few cigarettes on Saturdays, hanging out with the band, but they were very unenjoyable. It's absolutely awesome to get rid of that damn addiction. I have dreams again. I don't reek (well, of smoke) all the time. I don't wake up congested every morning. I just fell damn better.

The trick? This time it was the reminder of facts about the drugs in cigarettes that kept me from having one during the week at work, where they are everywhere and pretty much free for the taking. I also kept reminding myself that there will be the horrible sludgy feeling along with the doped up stupor of having a smoke. I give myself breaks without the smoking now.

So stay away from cocaine, stay away from heroine, stay away from meth. But don't make that tobacco illegal. Even though it's probably the most addictive of the bunch.

Not feelin' it today.

I really could care less about just about everything today.

I've been forcing myself to listen to the rough mixes of the recording I've been working on with Where the i Divides and it's terribly frustrating.

Why, you ask? I don't want to talk about it. Lets just say that my expectations for this project and the expectations of my collaborators aren't on the same page. I'm tired of hearing the mistakes, the constant rhythm section jangling like it's all important, all the time. I'm tired of the warble in Joe's "I'm like the guy from R.E.M, right?" voice. I just want to re-track a few guitar parts, a few terrible vocal parts and then mix the songs alone with the engineer and let the rest of the band decide after I've made my "Producer's Cut."

But that's not here or there.

Gas Prices though... That's apparently all the rage these days.

(I love the picture. I want to shop at the Open Pant'ry!)

It's really, really, really slow

Work is slow as molasses. It's been like that all week.

So I've had plenty of time to sit and look at things online.

I was over at Kevin Wolf's doing some investigating and he had a mention of the Wadsworth Atheneum which reminded me of this totally awesomely horrible thing I learned last weekend.



Now, this ain't half bad. It all depends on how you use the words. But rap is just downright boring these days.

...But this is bad. I wish I was in high school again so I could work on projects like this and get credit for them. (rolls eyes, rolls over, dies.)




But at least it's not The (Mad) Real Wedding Crashers.

The land...

Where do all of these unexpected Ministry fans come from?

I keep bringing up Ministry as of late and people seem to love them.
I own two of their albums. One is decidedly not like the other. The Land of Rape and Honey is laden with drum loops and keyboards and samples. Filth Pig is practically the opposite with mostly live drums and mostly guitars. It's two different approaches to making the same kind of music. It's exactly the kind of thing that musicians do when they are tired of cranking out the same song over and over again, unlike the corporate companies that dominate what gets played on most commercial radio. (some of the comments on this link are great. Especially the one about NASCAR.) Again, what happens in the game of Monopoly when someone succeeds in creating a monopoly?


An (perhaps not so) interesting aside in my music appreciation travels:

Ministry covered Lay, Lady, Lay on Filth Pig. When I heard Bob Dylan singing that song, it was well after I had the Ministry version etched into my memory and that was, well, a shock.

Much like when my friend learned that Hunter isn't a Jared Leto song. She had no idea it was Bjork. Which rhymes with pork.

I've also heard rumors that Ministry isolates everything to the extreme when they record. Drum tracks are done one at a time. If that's true, that's mighty purist of them. I'd rather take the Albini route and just go for the ambient sound of "strategically place mics." But then again, I think I like a more "organic" feel to my music.

The Veil Dropped a Long Time Ago

I just sent this off to a Mister John Edwards for President, 2008, on his myspace page.

Dear Mr. Edwards 2008 Campaign Volunteer,

Even though I think our country would be better run by a candidate from the Democratic side of this bi-partisan system we have clumsily manipulating this great nation of ours, I can't help but wonder what sort of qualifications a politician has in making any of these decisions.

If Mr. John Edwards were to sit down and have a one-to-one chat with me, explaining what he expects to do if elected, I would consider giving him my support, but that's not going to happen. I'm not a corporation like Globo-Chem or Conglomo-O looking for ways to raise the bottom line, by padding pocketbooks in the disgraceful popularity contest that used to be a serious affair.

In 2008, I think I'll vote for the candidate I disagree with the least.

Sincerely,
Z


Ahh... Grandma Betsy's Biscuit Powder.