When Iris sleep over... everything's alright

60s/Indie/Brit/Mod/Psych Pop

I am looking to play music with other folks in a collaborative manner. I'm 32 in Edgewater play guitar (mainly rhythm), keys and can sing. In an ideal world, I'd love to make the perfect song that has pieces of each of these songs below... well, at least an idea of them. If you're looking for someone else to make music with and the list of songs below sounds interesting or at least curious, let me know. So far I have recorded some snippets of songs at home with my computer but I've stalled getting them past snippets.

The Olivia Tremor Control - "A Place We Have Been to"
The Aislers Set - "Long Division"
New Order - "Everything's Gone Green" -- > "Confusion"
The Apples in Stereo - "Tidal Wave"
Broadcast - "Valerie"
Echo and the Bunnymen - "Stars are Stars"
The Go! Team - "Bottle Rocket"
Inspiral Carpets - "Directing Traffik"
Komeda - "It's Alright, Baby"
Lush - "Sweetness and Light"
Mates of State - "A Control Group"
Os Mutantes - "Dom Quixote"
The New Pornographers - "Streets of Fire"
Pas/Cal - "What Happened to the Sands"
Ride - "Decay"
Rocketship - "I'm Lost Without You Here"
The Sea Urchins - "Pristine Christine"
Secret Shine - "Loveblind"
Stereolab - "Op Hop Detonation"
The Wedding Present - "Dan Dare"
Yo La Tengo - "Pablo and Andrea"
The Free Design - "Felt so Good"
The Chartlatans - "White Shirt"
The Clientele - "Joseph Cornell"
The Creation - "Painter Man"
Darlene Love - "Lord, if You're a Woman"
Dengue Fever - "Lake Dolores"
Drop Nineteens - "Kick the Tragedy"
Dusty Springfield - "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face"
Fantastic Plastic Machine - "You Must Learn all Night Long"
The Kinks - "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy"
Ladytron - "Commodore Rock"
Love - "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale"
The Magnetic Fields - "How To Say Goodbye"
Moose - "Suzanne"
The Pale Saints - "You Tear the World in Two"

If you've made it this far you can see if the songs I've loaded into myspace get close to what I'd like to make:
http://www.myspace.com/specificentropy

--Jim\

Making the perfect song... a pinch of these and a dash of that.

Combining these sounds would make for the perfect sound:

The Olivia Tremor Control - "Paranormal Echoes"/"A Place We Have Been to"
The Aislers Set - "Long Division"
New Order - "Everything's Gone Green"/"Ceremony"/"Confusion"
The Apples in Stereo - "Tidal Wave"
Broadcast - "Valerie"
Echo and the Bunnymen - "Stars are Stars"
The Go! Team - "Bottle Rocket"
Inspiral Carpets - "Directing Traffik"
Komeda - "It's Alright, Baby"
Lush - "Sweetness and Light"
Mates of State - "A Control Group"
Os Mutantes - "Dom Quixote"
The New Pornographers - "Streets of Fire"
Pas/Cal - "What Happened to the Sands"
Ride - "Decay"
Rocketship - "I'm Lost Without You Here"
The Sea Urchins - "Pristine Christine"
Secret Shine - "Loveblind"
Stereolab - "Op Hop Detonation"
The Wedding Present - "Dan Dare"
Yo La Tengo - "Pablo and Andrea"
The Free Design - "Felt so Good"
The Chartlatans - "White Shirt"
The Clientele - "Joseph Cornell"
The Creation - "Painter Man"
Darlene Love - "Lord, if You're a Woman"
Dengue Fever - "Lake Dolores"
Drop Nineteens - "Kick the Tragedy"
Dusty Springfield - "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face"
Fantastic Plastic Machine - "You Must Learn all Night Long"
The Kinks - "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy"
Ladytron - "Commodore Rock"
Love - "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale"
The Magnetic Fields - "How To Say Goodbye"
Moose - "Suzanne"
The Pale Saints - "You Tear the World in Two"

Oblique Strategies

Can you force a daydream? Would this be the way to start it?
Oblique Strategies

A way to put the Oblique Strategies in iChat on Mac OS X and also in an Oblique Strategies Dashboard Widget.

For my windows peeps, a Yahoo! Widget, Oblique 1.0

Clearly we are uncovering the secrets to the Jurgaisanberg Uncertainty Principal

'"A second possibility is that as a kind of spontaneous mental time travel (stimulus-independent thought) lends a sense of coherence to one's past, present, and future experiences," the researchers wrote.'
from Brain study finds the stuff of daydreams

I think I need to daydream more. A lot more.
Capturing Daydreams
daydreams
The power of daydreams - includes 2 related articles
Why Does Daydreaming Get Such a Bad Rap?

Labels: daydreaming

Hubert Mack Thaxton - Physicist of the African Diaspora

Hubert Mack Thaxton - Physicist of the African Diaspora: "Physicists of the African Diaspora"

Wow! I've found my life calling. To become a physicist of the African Diaspora. That's fantastic.

Tullycraft.com

Oh, sweet sweet Tullycraft!

KnowThyNeighbor.org

Photographing Squirrels - a photoset on Flickr

Manhattan Elsewhere

Manhattan Elsewhere: "Manhattan Elsewhere"

The Non-Expert: IKEA, by Matthew Baldwin

The Morning News - The Non-Expert: IKEA, by Matthew Baldwin: "The Non-Expert: IKEA"

Unfortunaltey, he missed the secret "NO" level where you get a golden coin for each item you can deflect from entering your bag/cart/forklift.

David Hasselhoff

Oh David... the many places you've gone.

Rough Trade Shops: Indiepop 1 - dissect and rejoice!

Rough Trade Shops: Indiepop 1 - dissect and rejoice!: "Rough Trade Shops: Indiepop 1 - dissect and rejoice!"

Now here's a winter/spring project. Find all the songs, make your own mix tape/cd/playlist and you're off!

1.

2.

3.

GO!

Springfield Is For Gay Lovers Of Marriage.com

SpringfieldIsForGayLoversOfMarriage.com
Who knew? Maybe I should move there. Is it warmer than in Massachusetts?

The Good

Interactive Johari Window - Describe Jim's Johari: "Jim's Johari Window"

The Bad

The Nohari Window - Jim's Nohari's Window: "Jim's Nohari's Nohari Window"

A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

A Prairie Home Companion (2006): "A Prairie Home Companion (2006)" my arch-enemy is back and in full-force. Maybe 2006 will be a good year after all?

Vintage Keyboards, Mellotron, Combo Organ Samples, Hammond B3 Organ Samples, Gibson Organ Samples, Sample CD

Vintage Keyboards, Mellotron, Combo Organ Samples, Hammond B3 Organ Samples, Gibson Organ Samples, Sample CD: "VINTAGE KEYBOARD SOUNDS"

Ooh, maybe I can figure out how to load samples into my computer and use these for wonderful organ sounds!

For those days when you need more sleep...

The Silly Sleeping Pose Olympics: Solos page!: "THE SILLY SLEEPING POSE OLYMPICS! "

Pretend you're being active about your need for sleeping!

Alesis Ion Vocoder functions

From Analog Heaven List:

Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 19:53:52 -0700
To:
From: "Ben Ling"
Subject: RE: [AH] RE: more and more Alesis Ion questions...

Well, I'm not the most impartial source - I did most of the design work on the Ion - but I am really pleased with the vocoder. We spent a lot of time tweaking it to get it to sound good in all settings. It may be because I'm so familiar with how it works, but it definitely gives me the best results I've ever had when using a vocoder "live" in real time. Previously, I've always recorded the vocal part first for better consistency and
intelligibility. With the Ion I have no problem getting it to sound great in one take. (...give or take my crappy keyboard playing)

Some highlights/features you might not have picked up from the literature:
(beware long message)

1. It is a 40-band vocoder - 80 filters. This provides fantastic intelligibility. I don't have the exact frequencies off the top of my head, but it has very wide frequency range. I think the lowest filter is somewhere around 60-70 Hz and the top one is above 15 kHz. We did this specifically so that you could vocode drums/drum machines and still get a nice, full-bandwidth sound.

I'll also note for the guys that are interested in this kind of stuff that the frequency distribution (spacing between bands) of the filters is not
even, nor do they all have identical Q. We tweaked them so that there is a little more resolution in the sibilant frequencies, and basically to get a sound that we were happy with - with most of the emphasis on intelligibility.

2. One of my favorite features is the "band-shift" function. This simply moves the frequencies of the synthesis filters (exponentially, so they
maintain they're relationship) without changing the synthesis filters. This has a cool pitch shift effect that can make you sound like Darth Vader or a chipmunk if you crank it in either direction. It's very useful in small amounts to get a slightly different vocal sound.

3. A very important (and cool IMO) feature of the vocoder is that it is completely independent of the synthesizer section. There is no "vocoder mode" and it does not affect polyphony. It _does_ take over the entire effects chip, though.

There are two big advantages of it being independent of the synthesizer section. The first is that you can use any synth program (or combination of programs) as the synthesis source - you are not limited to the typical square-wave-plus-noise signal. (...though this does still give you nice results.) Having 40 bands also allows you to use synthesis signals that would otherwise be mushy and unintelligible.

The second advantage is that you have a huge range of possible inputs to the synthesis and analysis filter banks. In typical use, you'd connect a mic to one of the external inputs for your analysis signal, and use the effects send for the synthesis signal, but there are a bunch of other cool possibility. You can bypass the Ion's synth section completely, and use external signals for both the synthesis and analysis filters. You can even route one or more of the external signals through the Ion's filters and distortion/compression effects first. You can also use the Ion's internal sounds for both inputs. Use the same sound for both banks, and you get a resonant filterbank. This is used to good effect on a preset called "Violacoder", where the vocoder adds a nice body resonance.

4. The trickiest part of using any vocoder seems to be setting the input levels. The Ion seems to a little more forgiving than most, but you need to keep in mind that it has a huge range of input gain adjustment (called "Analysis Sensitivity" in the LCD). At the lowest setting it will accept a +4dBu line level signal. At the highest setting, it will work with the cheapest, high-impedance Radio Shack mic. If you're not getting
satisfactory results, try tweaking this Sensitivity parameter.

5. The first four vocoder parameters - Analysis Sensitivity, Sibilance Boost, Decay, and Band Shift are available as sources in the Mod Matrix.
You can assign them to one of the Mod wheels for minor tweaks during live performace, or modulate them with an Envelope or LFO if you are using the vocoder as a filterbank.

6. I've mentioned the Analysis Sensitivity, Band Shift and input select parameters. The Decay parameter adjusts the envelope time of the synthesis filters. Long decay gives you the most "robotic" sound. Crank it for the full old-school Cylon sound. Medium decay settings typically give you better intelligibility. Short decay times sound the least like the traditional vocoder sound. You can get cool drum sounds that way, or harsh alien vocal effects.

The Sibilance Boost does what you might guess. It boosts the high frequencies of the analysis input signal. This will improve the
intelligibility when using darker synthesis sounds - especially sounds without any noise component. Like the other parameters though, this can be used and abused for other purposes. (My philosophy is that if a parameter is turned up all the way, it should _sound_ like it's turned up all the way.) When using the vocoder as a filterbank, the Sibilance Boost can adjust the amount of "rosin" on the "bow".

7. I should make it clear that even though the vocoder functions independently from the synth engine, the vocoder parameters are stored with Programs. So once you have it set up for a particular synth sound, it will stay set up.

8. Though I greatly prefer the Ion's interface, the Micron has the identical synth section and vocoder. At $399 in most stores, it's worth
checking out for the vocoder alone.

Thanks,

Ben Ling, Alesis

Yahoo! News - Injuries Rising as More Kids Take Up Golf

Yahoo! News - Injuries Rising as More Kids Take Up Golf: "Injuries Rising as More Kids Take Up Golf"

What the hell kind of wussy kids are growing up these days? I am surprised one of the injuries listed is not: BLINDED BY HORRIBLE CLOTHING.

I guess this merely confirms the burberry clothing trend is never going to slow down.

Shit.

Wallace & Gromit : In Theaters October 7

Wallace & Gromit : In Theaters October 7

Horray Horray Horray!

Wood Tiger

Wood Tiger: "Queen Elizabeth"

You know, with my crazy name, I always thought I must be somewhat royal. It also means that I am eccentric and not crazy! Horray for eccentric! And Royalty!

Maybe You Just Don't Fidget Enough, Researchers Say

Overweight? Maybe You Just Don't Fidget Enough, Researchers Say

I always knew my nervous twitches and habits had a benefit. They keep me slim and trim. Or perhaps closer to slim and trim, anyway, rock and sway and fidget your fingers to a slimmer you... just be careful not to bite to close to the quick, or your fingers will be sore.

Oh oh oh, the wedding present with a new album and tour

The Wedding Present @ Manifesto Records

This is certainly good news. And it may mean the ugly baby might just live.

I would like to leave you some notes from my recent department meeting.

These are directly from my department meeting this morning. I cannot tell whether I should be horrified or humored. At the time of the meeting, it was all bad news and made a very unpleasant job seem even more dire.

However, now that I look back at my notes, it's funny. I may not have a job soon, but I'm hoping it is a fun ride downhill.

(These are pretty much unedited, I removed anything specific to my job though)
The situation [x]... it is a premature baby, born before it should.
The [x] is like a baby; we take care of that baby.
We are the babysitters of that baby.
If the baby is dead tomorrow, we do not need babysitters.
The [x] is not a complete animal, if we do not deliver it (presumably, the premature baby), we are in troubles.
We need to keep the premature baby to ourselves, even if it is ugly.
An ugly baby can be made less ugly with makeup.
We need to help others with [x], even if it is ugly.
Do not kill the ugly baby, even ugly babies need babysitters.
Put makeup on the ugly baby before you show it to others.

Sadly, all I understood is that ugly babies should not be killed, but makeup should be applied.

I am so glad I have cats.

parappa the rapper spys on can. no. 6 says print.

http://www.murgatroit.org/spy/

The PLUM-STONE MIDI PROJECT

Audio Plugins and Excitement!

apulSoft - free software ports

And this Real Guitar

Trying to get into the Christmas Spirit

Decorating for Christmas

I try. I try. But all I can say is, BaH!

Anyway, this site has some great pictures from 50s magazines.

Always a day late

Welcome to the Feast of Fools!

Pat and I keep missing these. The postcards are forwarded from our old addresses and we get them the day after the show happens. Ugngh.

But my mom laughs because she can, damnit!

I love my mom because she is crazy funny.

This series (2) of pictures was taken at the site where the Eastland went down. The history of the Eastland is inextricably tied to my family's fate. A story I will tell in the near future. However, on the day of this picture, my mom and her friend went to a book signing by a man who wrote a book on the Eastland disaster.* They then took a guided walk to sites of interest.

*This is fucked up, the man who wrote the book used to WORK AT MY JOB. My life is full of bizarre coincidences usually based around my mom. See my posts about "Do the Thaxton" and "Linda Lu" by Ray Sharpe. It's crazy. By the way, I am still looking for the 45 of "Baby Ora"/"Do the Thaxton" if you happen to come across it.

I laugh because I can't cry.

That sums up work lately.

This morning a co-worker said, "I laugh because I can't cry" and I thought it was appropriate.

Well, I can cry. But it's really uncomfortable to cry at work. At that point, you just want to go home but you can't and so you sit there trying to hide it. God, my job sucks ass right now.

On the positive side, with so many things awry at work, we do have plenty to laugh about. For example, we can all share the joke of one of the upper management types tellings us he like to work in the nude at 4am, that was enough to make me switch teams. Dear God people, keep that shit secret.

I wish I could encapsulate our morning conversation, it was full of laughs and . When I said, "Dear God, that [nude work at 4am] was enough to make me switch teams." My co-worker said, "You better now let the religious right hear you say that. You'll be their new poster boy." Actually, their poster boy would be nude 50 year old men working in hotel rooms burning the eyes of those who gaze upon them. The religious right, being quite myopic, would probably only target public transportation advertising running on the assumption that gays only live in the big city. It is at this point that I call upon the homos in the burbs to take charge in the fight.

Laugh or cry
They may have blinded us but you must take up the fight!

textilesounds: home of LU, lorelei and human companion

textilesounds: home of LU, lorelei and human companion

Sweet noise pop sounds to look into soon.

Flop.

Yahoo! News - Rove: Bush Serious About Gay Marriage Ban

Flip flop. flip flop.

Politically, I am not very active. I find the whole system frustrating and relatively elitist. In general I try to avoid politics.

However, with the recent election of George W. Bush, I keep reading that his "moral" stance was a large reason he was able to so thoroughly win electoral votes in the midwest and the American heartland.

An article I read today, "Gay marriage stand helped Bush win," indicates that Bush's stance on Gay Marriage is a major reason he was able to win.

However, a week before the election, Bush publicly stated he does not agree with the republican party on the Gay Marriage/Civil Union issue: Bush Says His Party Is Wrong To Oppose Gay Civil Unions.

But just a few months ago, wasn't this the same man who put forth a CONSTITUTIONAL AMMENDMENT to ban gay marriage? Bush calls for ban on same-sex marriages.

That's a bit of flip flop on this issue.

Assuming we have a separation of church and state in the USA, a marriage certificate from the government (the state government, not the federal government) is nothing more than a civil contract between two people. A little cold, I know, but really, it's a legally binding contract performed by a government employee that may involve a blood test or proof that you are not related.

I wonder if Bush with work toward an ammendment again in his second term, making yet another flip flop, this time against.

I wonder if saying he supported (or, more accurately does not oppose) Civil Unions is a primary reason that 20% of self-identified GLBT folks voted for Bush. I certainly hope their vote for Bush does not start to erode their civil liberties if he decides to flip flop on this issue for a third time.

How I love Margaret Cho.

Margaret Cho wrote an article, "Presidential Cockfight," for In These Times. It references Angry Vegans (they're hungry), Al Gayda with its intensive Pilates regimen, and that the shrub could be like Hitler if only he would apply himself. Her take on the pope living with 500 other men surrounded by antiques is a gem you'll have to find as you read through the article. It's worth your time, I promise.

This article will make you laugh!

It brightened up my day.

Sometimes you're handed crap, but then you see the light.

Crap:
Like a new Herbie movie featuring NASCAR....
Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)

Light:
And then a few moments later you are rewarded for not gouging out your eyes and plugging your ears by learning that Stereolab and Godzilla are teaming up... "CD Japan and various Japanese news sites are listing an upcoming tribute CD to Godzilla and Godzilla Final Wars featuring various American and Japanese musical acts including Sum41, Hoobastank, Zebrahead, 10 Feet, Felix Da Housecat, Stereolab, Tatsuo Sunaga, Low IQ 01 and others. Sum41 and Zebrehead have already been mention and this looks to be a seperate album from the film's soundtrack which is rumored to being produced by Keith Emerson."

More info here: Godzilla Final Wars tribute CD.

maczealots are a funny bunch

hee hee, i know it's a joke, but truth is said in jest. i mean, i love my iPod, but apple can be all sorts of weird. Also, I am incredibly tired so nothing I write, say or do makes sense this week.

BBspot - Apple: Next-Generation iPods Will Have No User Interface, Controls

Oblique Strategies...

At work, I find myself less than enthused with my current situation. So, in an effort not to go crazy working for Ren Hoeck (of Ren and Stimpy), I enjoy Oblique Strategies. A zen-like approach to ignoring the ever ridiculous work place.

Don't have the cash for the real cards, or know you'll lose them in the next big shakeup? Here is a Flash version of Oblique Strategies.

How I love personality tests

This is the first time I have taken the Meyers-Briggs test without getting INFP as the result. I actually turned our INFJ this time. Now that I am judgemental, let me say, "Why the hell are you reading this when it's so nice outside?"

I should work on getting that "P" back, shouldn't I?

INFJ - "Author". Strong drive and enjoyment to help others. Complex personality. 1.5% of total population.

Take Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test

So although I took only one test, it gave me two sets of results. The aforementioned Meyers-Briggs and the Enegram type. While I always score the same for Meyers-Briggs, I notice that my Enegram type is a bit more wishy-washy. Perhaps because there are a greater variety of results I can have? I don't know. But here's the dish:

Conscious self	Overall self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Enneagram Test Results

Type 1	Perfectionism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	73%
Type 2	Helpfulness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Type 3	Image Awareness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	53%
Type 4	Sensitivity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	46%
Type 5	Detachment	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	53%
Type 6	Anxiety	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	60%
Type 7	Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	60%
Type 8	Aggressiveness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	46%
Type 9	Calmness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	46%

Your Conscious-Surface type is 1w2
Your Unconscious-Overall type is 1w2

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Now you know everything about me. Isn't that exciting?

Apartment = GO.

In my last post, the apartment was still up in the air and I had actually given up on getting the apartment we wanted.

Well, through some rigamarole and late-in-the-week fact checked, we actually got the apartment we were hoping for. Thank goodness. In total, it was over two weeks from the first time we saw the apartment to the approval. We waited a week to get the application and then another week to see if we were approved. This made it tough because other landlords wrap up the deal with about 5 business days so we could not really look for another apartment while we were waiting on this one.

All is done, though. We sign the lease tonight.

I bet you're curious to see this fancy apartment, aren't ya? Well, here's the layout.

Dad and Daddy, or why Florida owes these foster parents a "debt of gratitude"

Currently, many things in my life are in a state of upheaval. My position at worked switched on me, and my new manager is incompetent. I moved to a new desk with no electricity, phone or network connection. Apartment searching hit a dead end; the great apartment we both loved turned out to be a no show. We never heard from the landlord. Anyway, I really do not have much to complain about, but things are all over the place.

Then I read this article, "Court lets gay foster dads in Fla. keep kids." Now, it starts on the sour note that Florida (run by Jeb Bush) does not permit gay and lesbians to adopt children. But this story illustrates the case of two foster parents who have been show to be explemplary parents to two sisters, so much that the judge suggested they be used to show other foster parents how to do their job.

The best part is the bit about the people who complained that gay people were doing a good job. The couple wanted to take the foster children away from the gay couple, yet they had never been foster parents nor had they adopted children before, but some how, they were better qualified. Evidently, they were better qualified at complaining.

C'est la vie.

Again, the judge applauded the gay couple on their foster parenting skills and they have been awarded long-term care of the children. One step away from the evils of gay people adopting children.

Fuck yea! If I can wait 8 months

I'll get a second chance.

There will be a second Rockin' 50s Fest in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Ray Sharpe will be there. If I can only wait eight months, I'll finally find out what's going on.

April 15, 2005, HERE I COME!

Elusive, but alive!

So, in my search for more information on how to "Do the Thaxton" and Ray Sharpe... I found out he performed at a "Rockin 50s Fest" this past Spring in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Shit!

If only I could travel through time.

You can see the line up on this page, scroll down a bit.

Ray Sharpe... ever the elusive character

I am still on my quest to find more information about Ray Sharpe, who performed the even more elusive "Do the Thaxton."

I am running on the assumption that "Do the Thaxton" is in reference to the Lloyd Thaxton show. Unlike music today, it seems music was much more regional in by-gone eras. So I figured if I could find out a bit about Ray Sharpe I could confirm he was from California or elsewhere. The AllMusic bio on him is sparse, but it does say he was born in Fort Worth, TX.

That's a start. It does not really pin him in California, but perhaps he escaped Texas for sunny LA?

From the Dot Record Story, I was able to glean odd snippet, though it contains nothing about location:

Sharpe, who was characterized by producer Major Bill Smith as "the greatest white-sounding black dude ever," grew up in Fort Worth, Texas.

Who knew?

Back to my hustle

Yesterday's post was very brief. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to really convey my overwhelming excitement.

You're Famous.
It all starts when my friend Brandy sends me a message with the subject "You're Famous" and a link to a list at McSweeney's. Always the curious cat, I went. Evidently, a 60s swinging dance was called "The Thaxton." Now, my name is fairly uncommon and my full name is just out of control British so the excitement was building.

From the Go-go's song Beatnik Beach, I always knew there was a 60s California dance show called the Lloyd Thaxton show, but I never knew there was a dance, too! I can only assume the song, the dance and the show are somewhat related. My current research has not delved that far.

The dance. The song. The show.
So, for any dance there's gotta be a song. I already know about the Lloyd Thaxton show, Brandy and McSweeny's alert me to the dance, now I need to find the song. Voila!

Ray Sharpe recorded "Do the Thaxton" as a b-side to "Baby Ora" in 1963. Now I have something to obsess over. To find that single, to scour record shops and e-bay, the find that SINGLE! Exciting.

Now, for my part anyway, very few people have had the chance to "Do the Thaxton." I've never had a line out my bedroom door, but with this possible dance crazy in the early 60s, maybe my time was done before I was even born?

Moreover, where can I learn the dance steps to this wonder? It was not highlighted in John Water's Hairspray. Probably because it was a West coast dance and not a East coast Baltimore diddy. But maybe he holds the answer? I always thought he'd be fun to have over for dinner, but maybe, more than that, he has the answer to my question?

Just how do you "Do the Thaxton."

If I had a litany of previous lovers and exploits, I'd totally put together some kind of survey. But really, I could just ask a hand full of people. I talk to most every one of them, and I could get the information directly. Or I could talk to rosy and her five friends :)

But wait, the excitement is not over.
Looking a little further into the Ray Sharpe "Do the Thaxton" mystery I find that he also recorded a song called "Linda Lu." Now you might not find that odd, but that is my mother's name. Perhaps there were a slew of Linda Lu's in the early 60s? But what are the chances? Of course, in the early 1960s, my mother's last name was not Thaxton. Does that make Ray Sharpe some kind of future telling mystic thinly veiled as a rockin' artist? Perhaps.

I can find no information on his potential for a clairvoyant.

Just to finish it off.
This site has a great picture of Jackie DeShannon on the Llyod Thaxton show. I do not believe she is "Do[ing] the Thaxton" at the moment. ;)

Do the hustle/thaxton/ho'

Excitement abounds for me today.

Free lunch.

Dance numbers ("Do the Thaxton").

Rock stardom.

Apartment. maybe.

Homosexualis couplis inhabitus

I love good online personality tests

Reading the blog of a friend (Brandy), I came across this fun personality test. I wonder how accurate this description is of me?

The Changeling

Category X - The
Changeling

Witty, amusing and a bit weird, you're welcomed
into most social groups, even though you don't
'fit in' perfectly .

What Type of Social Entity are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Springfield, USA.

Thanks Lenyr for sending this map.

Which lead me to this wonderful link.

I love the Simpsons. I lament they do not taunt George W. the way they have poked fun at previous and past presidents. I can only assume Fox would swoop down and crush them should they poke fun at W. It's so easy and they haven't done it. Which leads me to remember the time Fox News tried to sue the Simpsons (a Fox television show) over a spoof. What fuckups. Ultimately, Fox would not let a subsidary of itself sue itself. Makes sense for most people with common sense*.

*Unfortunately, most people lack common sense.

I need a change (No one needs a gay accordian player)

If I weren't a gay homosexual (or if I were a closet case), this would fit the bill perfectly.

Evidently, the Air Force is looking for an accordian player, under thirty-five and fit.

Unfortunately for them, I am gay and the military has an unsuccessful 'don't ask, don't tell' policy about the homos. I'll have to look for other career opportunities. Their loss.

But really, I do need a change.

More musical animals and the noises they make

A few days ago, I found a great link for Moose... today I found a great linke for Bunnygrunt.

I am glad to see that Bunnygrunt is back. Horray. Perhaps they'll play a show in Chicago?

Moose, certainly not together creating music as a band and their releases are hard to come by.
Bunnygrunt, together again with possible new music on the way?!

Moose

Have I ever told you about one of my favorite bands? Moose.

There's not a lot of information about them out there, but they made beautiful music from shoegazing drone to perfect pop.

Somebody give the Lord a handclap!

Jack Ryan and Me: Our Sex Lives.

Currently, the Illinois Republican Party has a hot topic on their hands. Jack Ryan, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate for Illinois in the 2004 election has some bad press at the moment. His divorce files from a California court have been opened. In those records, it is alleged by his ex-wife that he had taken his ex-wife to sex clubs against her wishes. So now we know more about Jack Ryan's sex life than we ever should. I don't think these files should have been made public, he has an ex-wife and child who will suffer more than he at this, but they are public.

So what's his stand on gay marriage?
Last night, Pat and I were waiting for his mom to get into Chicago on Metra and we could not remember Jack Ryan's stance on gay marriage and/or civil unions. I assumed he was a moderate on the issue. I could not remember exactly, but his youth made me assume he was a bit of a 'no marriage, but those civil unions are okay' kind of guy. In light of recent findings, I would assume he would be a bit of a lefty on issues such as gay marriage, surely, a man who enjoys going to sex clubs has to understand there is more to human sexuality that a man and a woman procreating. However, he's against gay marriage. More over, he supports the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In declaring his support for the DOMA, he states, 'I am opposed to same-sex marriages, civil unions, and registries.'

So, it's okay for a straight man to take his spouse (against her wishes, in this case, which could constitute abuse) to a sex club, but it is not okay for two men or two women in a loving relationship to get married? Wait, I used that silly word: love. Love is decidedly absent from his declaration of marriage on his Web site: 'I believe that marriage can only be defined as that union between one man and one woman.' Evidently, I have been wrong my entire life to think that marriage was the holy union between two people who love one another.

One step further, if I took his prescription for marriage, it would be okay for me to marry a woman, yet to go to sex clubs. Furthermore, I do not need to love this spouse; just marry her. If you want to talk about the downfall of the family unit, I think one should think about the absence of love in the family unit. You cannot blame gays and lesbians, who love each other against the odds, for the absence of love and subsequent downfall of the family unit.

Now, my sex life is not up for public scrutiny. As far as I know, there are no court records or police blotters with that type of information about me. To be honest, my sex life is pretty boring compared to Jack Ryan's. I don't care if someone goes to sex clubs; however, don't dare stray from the strict definition of right-wing/religious right marriage and speak out against gay marriage. You fuck over (heterosexual) marriage and the family unit on your own time, don't do it and then blame gays and lesbians for your own doings.

Don't blame us because you've fucked it up
If the breakdown of the family has occured over the past 35 years, as Jack Ryan says, it is straight people's fault. 35 years ago (almost to the day, June 27, 1969) drag queens were rioting in the streets of New York's Greenwich village after a police raid on a popular gay bar, the Stonewall Inn. The idea of legal marriage was a long way off and not even on the radar. Hell, the idea of being seen in public with another gay or lesbian person was a novel idea for most. Even now, with greater acceptance of gays and lesbians, the threat of violence looms. If, against these odds, two people want to get married, why stop them?

Maybe, instead of blaming gays and lesbians for the downfall of the family unit and the deterioration of marriage, look to the true root of the problem and solve it. The first step might be to look in the mirror.

Step over bootylicious

I've got something sizzle-leaner: callipygian.

A new favorite word to be added to the list of : discombobulate, onomatopoeia and hotpants.

New list of favorite words:
callipygian
discombobulate
hotpants
onomatopoeia

And one I forgot yesterday: tintinnabulous (the sound a tinkling bell makes, petite sound, big word)

Every once in a while, I wish I was an author...

Because I think about odd situations when I overhear conversations.

For example, today a coworker wore a really smart shirt, but someone commented to her (positively) that it looked similar to a Marshall Field's shopping bag with the green stripes. Then I suggested she add straps and wait outside for some wealthy haus-frau to bring her home. She could then live the rest of her days carefree in the coach house behind their north shore mansion. Of course, the haus frau would forget about her purchase, but would talk about the darling cute girl with the charming figure she picked up at Fields before the days of the May Store take-over and how the service has gone down since then. My coworkers husband could move into the coach house and they could lead an idyllic life while the haus frau considers them adoring accesories. ('My dear, they head to work during the day. How quaint,' she'd say to her friends over lunch.)

Another time at lunch we talked about the odd situation of three roommates; a blind psychopath, a deaf schizophrenic and a third roommate (not too bright) who thinks the other two are part of a performance art group. You see, the deaf person would hear no one but the voices in his head. The blind person would never see who the deaf person was (not) talking/signing, but would attempt to kill the imagined disembodied voices anyway, the third roommate would see it all as constructivist theatre. Three's Company has nothing on that scenario.

But I'm not an author, I am a squirrel tamer. Very under-paid position as you well know, but crucial to the neighborhood squirrel circus nonetheless.

The Big Ride, the (little) Synopsis

Ech, it has taken me so long to get this posted. Believe me, I've tried for a few days to get it uploaded, but it's been hard. I think I have four drafts at this point. Essentially, I have mixed feelings about the ride.

I feel the organizers did a good job for the ride. The route was breath-taking. We started north on Sheridan Road through the north shore, onto a bike trail with flowers in bloom; the smell was intoxicating. We had a pit stop at Lamb's Farm and headed West to Volo Bog, a great place for lunch with plenty of grass to stretch out. The country roads and conservation area in McHenry were beautiful with manicured farm land stretching out; a patchwork quilt of crops vying for space while maintaining a semblance of balance. The trip's toughest spot on the way to Wesley Woods (in Williams Bay, outside of Lake Geneva) was on Highway 50 in Wisconsin. The stretch was mainly uphill and car traffic was steady at 50+ mph.

The way back from Wisconsin followed a similar route, except our morning start was very hilly (damn hills, I'll kick your asses!) and not on Highway 50 (thank God). However, we HAD to be back at Northwestern by 4:30pm Sunday and that made the day unnecessarily rushed compared to Saturday. Actually, it was pretty shitty. Instead of having a relaxed trip back, it was rushed. We were rushed through pit stops, people were shuttled instead of biking when they could have made it fine, just not fast enough. Knowing this, I rode faster on Sunday so that I wouldn't be 'swept' to a spot near the finish line because I would have been pissed if I had spent months training for a ride only to be driven to the end when I knew I could have finished on my own.

My other contention with the ride was that it really lacked any social aspect, part of that is my fault because I am not a socially outgoing person. To combat ill feelings left from the extravagance of the Palotta rides, this ride is incredibly bare bones. It gets 100% of the donations raised to the organizations and that's great. In fact, it is just amazing. But I would have loved to have had a 'meet-n-greet' with the other riders before it started. Being a single rider, I thought it odd there was no buddy system for people, you were By then end of the second day, I really hadn't met more than about 10 people on the ride. Granted, they were 10 great people and I hope I'll get to see more of them... but it would have been nice to know who the other people are who were along the way. If I were an extrovert, I would have introduced myself to everyone along the way. Unfortunately (or not --- I am who I am), I am an introvert and that means meeting 50 new people in one day is horrifying. I don't expect other people have the same problem. But I do. For the first part of the ride on Saturday, I just wanted to go home. More than anything I wanted to go home. The ride was not too tough, the social aspect was killing me.

I did learn a few things from the ride... some I learned a little too late, though. Butt Balm, I had some, but really had no idea how to use it. Everyone says it goes on your 'sensitive areas' but that is not a very clear explanation. You can check out my ride log for more on that, it can be slighlty graphic. Racks rack racks. My bike is a city commuter bike and I have metal racks on the back of my bike for hauling groceries and boxes around town. I really wish I had the time to swap the racks for Pat's saddle bags. The racks weigh about 7-10 lbs, which may not seem like much, but after 80 miles they get VERY heavy. I would guess my bike weighs about 25 lbs without the racks, so they really up the weight by about 25%. Of course, add to that my weight of 220 lbs. A bonus of my bike and I weighing at over 250 is that I had momentum from going down hills to head right back up them... so I was devastated when there were stops at the bottom of the hills. Erh... What goes down must come up?

So all in all, the bike ride was a success. I was able to pedal both there and back and my only problem was a broken spoke. The wonderful people on crew were able to get me up to a bike shop in McHenry to fix it since it was making my wheel wobble about an inch and threw my rear brakes out of whack. Would I do it again? Not on my own, but I might if I rode with a friend.

Now back to my regular daily programming and my new found laziness.

I am back and the ride was fine. All bones accounted for and unbroken.

Zee beeg bicycle ride begeens tomorrow!

I will post again Sunday night or Monday morning with information on how it goes.

Have something you can't tell anyone? You could write it here. It's an odd site, but damn, it's addictive.

Dentists fear me

Well, maybe they don't fear me, but they should. Actually, everyone should be afraid of me because I am mean, grrr.

Back to the topic of dentists. They really shouldn't fear me, per se. I am an amicable dental patient, but everytime I go to the dentist, odd things happen in the environs that day. Not odd like battery watches dying (and thus being sold off by Pat and my mom as a Las Vegas oddity on par with Uri Geller [an arch-enemy]), but odd as in people fainting in the office or police intervention. As far as I know, neither was my fault. The jury is out on the watch batteries.

So today I had my dentist appointment at 2pm and they sit me in the chair. I was about to be prepped for the novacaine when I heard the rumblings of a ruckus outside. At this point it just sounded like a couple having an argument on their way back to their car. However, after some time, I can hear the voice of my dentist. Something's up. By the way, at this point I have been waiting for the juice for about 20 minutes now.

This conitinues for a few minutes and the technician never comes back with my novacaine. Over the next serveral minutes, I see the staff from the office heading to the back door (the sound source of said ruckus). The receptionist even left her faithful post and opened the back door. That's when the flood gates opened and I could hear everything. Now, I couldn't really make out what was going on, I was just getting snippets like:

"Keep your hands of him..." - female voice
"Is that a threat, I don't take threats..." - male voice
"Court order... you can't take that." - dentist

Amidst these comments I heard the police were coming. Next thing I knew, the police were making their way through the dentist office to the back. Some commotion about the 'court order' ensued and then the police asked everyone to walk outside with them to settle the matter, if possible. Around this time, the woman in an adjoining office and I look at each other wonder 'What the hell is going on.' We made some eye contact, but it's not like we could do anything. Back to the folks walking through the office. I expected to see some professionals. Since there was mention of supplies leaving the office, I thought maybe a dental technician was let go under bad circumstances. To my surprise, the three perps were two men who looked like window cleaners or painters (including the cleaning bucket) and a woman in one of those sateen jackets that were very popular when I was in grade school. That was 20 years ago, those jackets really aren't in style anymore... I wasn't going to tell anyone. As far as they knew, I was on the dope halfway to heaven. But I wasn't, I could tell what was going on and I wanted a bit more information.

I never got much more information. An older woman who is probably the dentist's mother came through to let us know everything was alright. It sounded like the dentist and his dental partner split their business, but evidently not on friendly terms. So the partner sent a painting crew as the muscle to get stuff from the office? eh? Maybe the previous dentist partner is now a painter? A change of career? Would I want my dentist to be a house painter on the side?

At this point, I ask if I can just change my appointment to some time next week. We all agree its best I leave the situation, knowing this may just be the beginning. I'll report back next week should more dental drama ensue. One can never be sure. Of course, I can wear a watch to my appointment next week and stop time while I am at it to break through the sixth sense and get to the bottom of all this mess.

Worm holes, here I come!

goodbye birthday month :)

Birthday Birthday

All month the count-down was on for my golden birthday and tonight, as thunderstorms roll into Chicago, the countdown is ticking for my birthday to end. Although, as a bonus tomorrow is Memorial Day and I have the day off from work. So really, I can think of my birthday as a multi-day event... In fact, I have tried to think of the entire month of May as a bit of a birthday event. It has had it ups (milkshakes and bubble drinks) and downs (tonsilitis and hospital visits), but all in all it was plenty of fun and endless bike rides.

As Sunday nights rolls out in sheets of rain, I am trying to decide if I want to order pizza for dinner. My favorite food... but do I want to torture some poor delivery guy in this torrential rain? Why oh why do I have moral dilemas! Ice cream, pizza, why?

Last night was smashing. I assumed that due to the holiday weekend there would be a smaller turnout, but to my surprise we had 14 people at a table in Francesca's. Dinner was enjoyable, though delivery of the entrees was a mixed bag. It was a bit of a free-for-all without the waitress available to direct entrees to their proper owner. Once we solved that problem, we ate, drank wine and had tasty deserts before a group of us headed to Big Chick's for tasty liquor and fun dancing.

Since it is ass-less chaps weekend (IML/BearPride) in Chicago, I thought Big Chick's might be a little less crowded, but it was pretty packed throughout the night. At the start, the music was the typical boorish gay dance bar music, however, we had a few good runs. Specifically a Kellis/Shiela E./Prince combo that kicked ass. I mean, I dance to 'Milkshake' and 'A Love Bizarre' and 'Controversy' when I am getting ready for work in the morning, but it's been a long time since I have flaunted my breakfast readiness routines in public. Thankfully, I was wearing thinning pin-stripe pants and a bright orange shirt as to not draw attention to myself.

After a good hour or two of autogyration and perculating on the dance floor, we did eventually head home close to 2 a.m. I am sure there is more to write about last night, but I don't want to bore you. Of course, if I forgot anything, the comment sections would be a great place to add some dish.

Today (Sunday) was a family birthday. Not for me though, for a nephew. But I did get some hearty birthday wishes along the way. Anyway, I need to sign off, I did order pizza and it's on the way.

One day and counting down. Actually, less than 12 hours until May 30, when I turn 30! And no less a present, a CD I ordered through eBay (the Judybats, Down in the Shacks Where the Satellite Dishes Grow) arrive in the mail today; lightning quick delivery! What a fine birthday present.

Tonight's my fun night out. We'll start out at Francesca's on Bryn Mawr for dinner at 8pm followed by some drinks at Big Chicks. Hopefully we'll be able to stay out until midnight. Now that I'm old I might not be able to make it. I'm starting to worry :)

I took the day off from work yesterday for a splendid lunch with m'friend Brandy followed by a visit to the Terra Museum. I have never been to the Terra before, which is a shame because it will be closing soon. Anyway, I was looking for a print of Stuart Davis' Super Table online, but turning up nothing only to find that it is part of the collection at the Terra! Hot damn! And it was on display with several of his other works as part of a fantastic show, A Transatlantic Avant-Garde: American Artists in Paris, 1918–1939.

The show was quite enjoyable and there is no reason for you not to go if you are in Chicago because admission to the museum is free, although a $5 donation is suggested and quite affordable. I will note that the museum was the loudest I have ever been in; in part because of its location on Michigan avenue and in part because people's voices carried through loud and clear. Evidently, I should have been going to the Terra more regularly through the years. It's always unfortunate to trip over something in its swan song year. Such is life. But it made for a great beginning to a fun birthday weekend.

There's a Web site for this?

For the record, I'm a 'pop' man, not a 'soda' fan. And the Southern 'Coke' contingent is just f'in backwards.

Have you ever asked a question and, instead of receiving an answer, you are told, "Don't worry about it." And that makes you worry more than any answer ever could. That's been my job for the past few months and will continue well into the fall. Some days are just uneasy.

Last night was a wonderful dinner with my friend, Jen, who I do not see enough. We had tasty asian at Alice and Friends, a veggie/vegan friendly restaurant in my neighborhood. Luckily, eating healthy for dinner last night and having a crazy healthy lunch today (veggie lasagne and spinach salad) leaves plenty of room for a birthday milkshake this afternoon. If all goes well, I hope to see a movie at the Music Box tonight, The Saddest Music in the World. From what I can surmise based on reviews, it looks like it will be beautiful, but possibly boring. I'll have a cup of coffee before I buy my movie ticket.

Thankfully, in some odd way, my last post covered both Monday (the day of the post) and Tuesday (the day it felt like since I have a four-day work week)... because Tuesday really wasn't worth waking up for.

Monday Monday Monday but really it's TUESDAY!
Normally Mondays are a bust. However, this week is beginning on good terms. Maybe because I can imagine it is really Tuesday (I took Friday off to celebrate my birthday weekend). Maybe because I got my UPS package in the mail with a Edirol USB/MIDI keyboard so I can rock out on my futon. Maybe because this weekend I was finally able to spend some time with the ever handsome curator or murgatroit.org.

Don't stop, but I'm there
Also, I got the pledge check this weekend that put me at my mark for the Ride for AIDS. I'm there. Now, if you have not pledged but would like to, please do so. I feel bad because I had some good ideas to raise additional money and to make it more fun for the people helping out. For example, I wanted to do a miniature golf tournament to raise some cash and get people together. Unfortunately, May turned out to be quite a bust. I had tonsilitis which put me on the skids for a week... my illness added to extended family hospital trips meant that Pat and/or I were occupied with one thing or another. Anyway, the point is, I wanted to make it easier for people to pledge and to give them something for their help and it just didn't happen that way. However, I do plan to have a bit of an appreciation BBQ after the ride is done, and I'll probably throw a birthday cake in the mix while I am at it.

So I am glad this will be a short week at work followed by a four day weekend. I can't wait to have some time off. I hope to have a weekend without travelling through infinite weather systems on my bike soon. Luckily (probably because of our proximity to Lake Michigan), I have not experience hail on my bike ride. I thank God for that.

ov&ou

Make this week end already! Dear lord. I was hoping my birthday present to myself, from myself would arrive today. It's in Hodgkins, IL and it's been there since late last night. I suppose since it is UPS ground, it will be sitting there for several days on the lonely loading dock. Then again, I suppose the closer it arrives to my birthday, the more authentic a gift it will be. I'd rather have it this afternoon, though.

Shit, it's Thursday. I've just covered Monday. Who knew it could all be this difficult.

My purpose with this weblog phenomenon is to track and document the month of may, 30 days until I turn 30! It hasn't been easy. I've been trying to do something fun and nice each day until I get there. Monday was a night at Big Chick's. Tuesday I took it easy and watched the Hairspray DVD with commentary by John Waters. Wednesday I met Pat and his mom for dinner at Andies in Andersonville. Tonight I'll go to my parents house to celebrate my mom's birthday which was actually this past Monday.

While Tuesday may have seemed a boring way to celebrate the day, I rarely have the time to watch a movie; let along watch a movie with commentary. It makes me pine for the upcoming John Waters movie with Tracy Ullman, A Dirty Shame. Hairspray is a great movie, one of my favorites... but it's pretty fair for a John Waters' film. Although it sounds like some scandalous scenes were left on the editing room floor. A scene early in the movie where Tracy Turnblad breaks into Amber von Tussle's house to dye her hair platinum blonde and another later in the movie where Tracy does have roaches in her hair. How nice.

And Andies is a restaurant that is out of my league price-wise for a standard night out, but great for a semi-special occasion. Although it does just blow my fucking mind at how yuppified Andersonville has gotten. I remember it when Andies was a storefront restaurant and the Cheetah was not a glimmer in the eye of the homo-fabulatti. Ah. Granted, there was more crime in the area back then. It's all a trade off.

Tonight I get to spend some time with my mom. I have no idea what we will do for her birthday tonight. One of my sisters took my mom out for dinner on Monday and my other sister took her shopping yesterday... unfortunately, I do not have anything that interesting planned. But, for my super secret birthday surprise I got myself a chocolate milkshake. Work is a bitch with some weird project going on. Everytime I ask about the project I get the same answer, "Don't worry." Which makes me worry more than anything else they could have said. So, I'm not going to worry. Wait, what am I saying? I am all about the 'worry.' Shit. I need a new plan.

Have I told you about Monday night? Not yet. On one hand, it was a mundane night out... on the other hand, we had reason to celebrate. First off, Pat and I headed out to Big Chicks. The fact that we were able to drink there at all is a reason to celebrate. We were all worried for a while that Big Chick's was going to close; yet another casualty of Winston Mardis de Sade, the Liqour License Control Commissionner for Chicago. Thankfully, the state legislature (with Representative Larry McKeon) passed some legislation to grandfather Big Chick's. Phew. But that's not all. We not only had a few drinks at our favorite bar on Monday night, my friend Michele joined us. And yes, it was after 10 p.m.

Let's have a moment to reflect on what an occasion that was...

Okay, trying to get back on track. I made quite a formidable post yesterday. However, I never got to Sunday or Monday.

Sunday was a day for relaxing... finally. That was my Sunday birthday treat to myself. A nice breakfast at the ridiculously North Shore Walker Brothers Pancake House in Wilmette. The food is tasty and the coffee is great. But there is a huge discrepancy between the clientele and the wait staff. The clientele are decidedly North Shore (i.e. wealthy and white) while are the employees are not. It's not bad, I just find it odd. I imagine, it is probably a good job with decent tips (I hope they are decent tips). But it always strikes me as odd to see the contrast. One that I do not see as often in the city. Perhaps I should rephrase that, it might be a contrast I do not notice as often in the city. I am sure it exists everywhere. It could also be that the North Shore is sooooo North Shore. Which reminds me... the reason we went to Walker Bros Sunday morning is because we saw Mean Girls Saturday night.

You can read about Mean Girls all over the place. It is a movie written by Tina Fey (of Saturday Night Live fame) and based on a book Queen Bees and Wannabes... by Rosalind Wiseman. The movie is very funny. A bit dark, but funny. Actually, you can think of it a Never Been Kissed 2, in a way. Including the ubiquitous 'four popular girls walking in tandem down the hall from ankle to hair shot' which made Pat moan. It's in every movie.

You can see the movie for yourself, or not. Regardless, the movie did resonate with me because my senior year in high school was such a vitriolic experience for a variety of reasons. That is for another post since it has nothing to do with me celebrating my birthday and it has more to do with being made ridiculed for years in school and what backlash might ensue from that. Not a happy topic, but something worth posting at a later date. The general point is that the movie was a slight over-the-top, but generally accurate depiction of highschool cliques in the middle-class world.

Evidently, I am not doing very well at making a post every day, for the 30 days in May leading up to my 30th birthday. Illness got in the way last week and work weirdness is preventing me from having time to come up with something good to write this week. It's not that I am busy at work, in fact, I think I may not have work to do in a few months (well, I'll have something to do, I'm just afraid I'll be bored silly) ... things have been odd. So today I am taking some time out to recap some birthday month celebrations I have had since my last post. And since I really started to recoup from pharyn-tonsil-itis.

Last week was a blur of painful yawning and the sound of my tonsils and uvula resonating with each breath I took. I can normally count on relaxed breathing to help me fall asleep at night. A meditative way to calm down while I lay in bed, waiting for my cats to start bringing each and every toy of theirs into the bed as a gift to show they've missed me. This is not the case when the inside of your mouth vibrates. Instead of thinking about falling asleep, I start to think, "what if things swell up so much, my airway is blocked?" Hell, the back of my tongue, my uvula and tonsils were already touching one another (which feels totally fucked up)... maybe they'd want to get that extra bit closer? Needless to say, sleeping was a chore last week. But by Friday, things were turning around.

Friday started off the weekend with a musical kick as Brandy and I attended the Kurt Weill review at the No Exit Cafe in Roger's Park. The show started at 8pm, but we showed up closer to 7pm for dinner. We made a great meal from several tasty vegetarian appetizers. The show was very good. The first act was the 3 Penny Opera. The pieces were very dark and brooding, which is what people might expect from Kury Weill. I found the pieces as a whole to be a bit confusing, it seemed as if they were a whole story, but it didn't make sense. I wanted the pieces to flow together with as a cohesive whole; however, as Brandy pointed out after the show, they flow together through the mood they create rather than the story. The second act had my favorite song of the night though, "The Saga of Jenny." A wonderful song about how decisiveness can be deadly.

Friday wrapped up and lead into Saturday, packed with Kiddieland fun. It seems as if Kiddieland is a hidden Chicago gem. Most people do not know about it, but it's just outside of Chicago, west on North Avenue in Melrose Park. It's been there for years and years, and their wood rollercoaster, the 'Little Dipper' is recognized by American Coaster Enthusiasts as a classic coaster! The rides are definitely aimed towards kids, but there are plenty for adults... including a one-of-a-kind ocotopus/spider type spinner called the 'Polyp' with the BEST looking cars and the funnest ride you can find. Anyway, I did not venture on my own. I was with my friend and her two nephews and neice. And I'd have to say, going on the Tilt-a-Whirl with two little ones provided one of the best, unbalanced rides I have had in quite a while. Plus, they really got into the whole 'lean into the spin' concept. Really, can you have more fun? Perhaps. But it'd be a hard go to top a day at Kiddieland.

As this post grows and grows, I think it's best to sign off. Evidently, I recovered from my illness, never died in my sleep from my tonsils and uvula getting hitched, saw the Kurt Weill review and spent a day at Kiddieland. I suppose I am still working toward something fun every day until my birthday... tonsils be damned!

Thanks to the power of antibiotics, I am back among the living. Actually, I never felt very sick. According to the doctor, I should have felt quite ill based on the looks of my tonsils and lymph nodes. One the plus side... it meant this week has had a wonderful bevy of bubble drinks. They're cool and refreshing. Plus, it did not hurt to swallow when I was drinking them.

Unfortunately, being sick this week meant I could not ride my bike at all, which is tough knowing I have a long bike ride in early June. But, it also rained heavily all week so it was probably the best week to be out of commission while I am 'training' for the ride.

Of course, being sick meant that my birthday excitement and glamour was low this week. I was feeling lousy. After my doctor appointment on Tuesday, however, I did make it to the MCA for the Lee Bontecou exhibit. Her artwork is amazing. The exhibit is horrible. How could they amass such work for a retrospective and then turn around to give it such a horrible showing? Basically, the works are hung in a lofty room with little or no direction except that the works are generally in chronological order. I still highly recommend seeing the work, but maybe you should read up on Lee Bontecou before your arrival at the museum.

The MCA visit was my last hurrah before I was down for the count for a few days. Although I was able to buoy my spirits with bubble drinks of mango-tapioca love from Thai Grill. Now I embark on the weekend.

Tonsilitis... here I come!

Ugh... Today is one of those days that will have no birthday fun. Sadly. My tonsils or lymph nodes are swollen, breathing and swallowing hurt and that just makes me crabby. Though I did make yummy banana chocolate chip pancakes for dinner with a cranberry/berry/banana smoothie. I'm all about the health and cold beverages. So I suppose I did have a fun birthday treat. I ate my favorite breakfast for dinner and as I type I am listening to the happy goth show on my favorite community radio station, WLUW Chicago.

So, all in all, I am full of lies. I had my favorite breakfast for dinner and my favorite radio show will put me to bed tonight. That's pretty good without even trying.

Sunday night's post is going to cover the weekend.

Saturday was a big bike ride day to train for the Ride for AIDS which happens in less than a month! I rode with a small group on a training ride from the TPAN office on the far north side up to the Botanical Gardens at Lake Cook Road. It was a fun ride... I never find myself exhausted by the ride, but the rest of the day I feel both tired and revved up. It's an off feeling. When biking a long distance at a moderate pace, my heart rate never spikes like it might with jogging... but it gets up there. However, I feel the effects of the exercise throughout the day. I don't feel like I am explaining this right at the moment. The gist of it is, I feel like a nap would be GREAT, but I cannot nap because my body is in full motion.

So, Saturday night, to celebrate a long bike ride and a nice evening in, I got my favorite Thai dish from my local fave, Thai Grill on Granville. Anyway, Panang Curry with Chicken and a Phucket bubble drink. YUM! I got some take away, came home and watched Amelie... my favorite movie. I identify with the main character, Amelie, in so many ways. Plus, the entire movie is filmed in rich reds and greens, my favorite colors. The characters, the whimsey and the art direction really combine with such energy to create my favorite movie. I am not much of a movie reviewer. I am not much of a movie watcher. Amelie, however, is one I can heartily recommend.

Sunday was a flurry of Mother's Day activities, some well planned, others occuring through the grace of God. First, brunch (a concept I generally abhor for it's many young (sub)urban socialite conotations) at the Empire Room in the Palmer House downtown. So much fresh fruit and many tasty chocolate deserts made for a great meal. To be honest, I still don't get brunch. I'd much rather have pancakes at the local diner, but once a year I can handle brunch. After brunch with Pat's family, I headed to my parents house to see if I could catch my various siblings. It worked. My sister Gail was on the way out when I arrived, but my other sister, Barbie, arrived early so I saw them both. We ordered tasty Pizza and my brother cam over as well. My younger sister was in Colorado attending a domestic violence conference, so she was absent from the festivities.

All in all, it was a busy weekend. I hope to have a bit more time to myself this week. Let's home for a slackerly Monday.

Finally, I am back on track with birthday excitement for the month. This week has been very bland for birthday fun. One reason is that I was very low on cash so I had to be careful about what money I spent. However, today I got myself a delicious MILKSHAKE! yum. I thought I ordered my standard, the banana caramel milkshake which tastes like a banana creme pie in liquid form... but somehow I got a chocolate caramel shake. It was still good. In fact, it was great. I am a bit ashamed to mention the milkshake was from Oberweiss, which is across the parking lot from my job in suburbia... I refer to it as Crazy Cracker Ice Cream based on Jim Oberweiss' campaign to become the reuplican nominee for the Illinois senate this fall. In his television ads, without taking a breath, he would deride imigrants working and living in the US and then suggests we buy presciption drugs from Canada. Evidently, he is fine with 'foreigners' when it's economically helpful and when they are north of the US and against 'foreigners' from south of the border. What a load of shit. And, with me at the center of the world, I was pissed that he was making my bi-monthly ice cream adventure a guilt fest. Fucker. So, I resigned myself to enjoy the ice cream and just refer to it as Crazy Cracker Ice Cream... replacing the other CC in my life with the new nickname of 'daddy drinks,' but that's another story.

Today ICE CREAM.
Tonight ROLLERSKATING.
Tomorrow AN INCREDIBLY LONG BIKE RIDE INTO THE ESCAPE POD!

First, I found Pacmanhattan (read: Pacman/Manhattan) on Gaper's Block today. It looks awesome. Possibly a bit more difficult to recreate than 'ghost in the graveyard' but for those who yearn to combine retro video games with summer night tag, this is for you.

Right now I am at work, with 40 minutes to do, fretting a major thunderstorm. I rode my bike to work this morning, knowing it might rain. Of course, I can pop my bike on the front of the bus, but I'd rather ride home. I get home quicker on my bike anyway... in fact, even though it's about 10 miles, it only takes me 15 minutes longer to ride my bike to work than to drive. And my drive to work is not heavy with traffic.

I think this evening calls for a bubble drink... but if it storms heavily, it might call for sitting in with the windows open, enjoying what might be the first thunderstorm of the summer (at least the first I will be awake for). That would make for a perfect Thursday... assuming the heavy rain does not start until I get home, say 5:15pm.

May 5. Cinco de Mayo!

I'm not even into the first week or birthday exciting and I have already forgotten to make a post. Tuesday is over and done and I wrote nothing. Well, 'forgotten' may be the wrong word... I tried before I left work, but it didn't happen. Then I got home later than I thought, spent some time stretching (to prevent bicycle injuries) and went to bed. It was a busy day.

I spent the evening at my sister's house. I was amazed, the trip from Park Ridge to Roselle only took 35 minutes. And all this time I have been horrified about suburban traffic. Of course, there were no delays or problems. So really, I am still horrified by suburban traffic... one fender bender and the expressway will come to a halt with no way off and no alternate roads available. Thank goodness everyone drove nice. I have no patience for traffic. That's why I ride my bike :)

On to Wednesday.
My birthday treat to myself was a tasty cup of after work coffee and a raspberry pastry from Dinkel's Bakery on Lincoln. So tasty. If you like donuts, go there and get a chocolate glazed donut. They are the best I could imagine. It's so hard to find a good bakery with fresh cake donuts anymore. Dunkin' donuts is a joke, the donuts are processed 'donut food.' I need real donut and Dinkel's delivers. So, I have a chocolate donut this morning after my yogurt/granola/berry breakfast. Yum.

So evidently today is a double-dinkel day, DD, just like my bra-size. oh la la!

So my cinco de mayo birthday is nearing nightfall. I'll spend the rest of the evening finishing up a volunteer Web job I have been working on for quite some time (about 1.5 years at this point) and then spend the rest of the night in and under the covers (oh la la).

over and out.
everyone should eat a donut for cinco de mayo. a cilantro donut. well maybe not... but I highly recommend Dinkel's for donuts. However, be sure to wear your mid-length black jacket. Evidetly, it's the neighborhood uniform. You need that or a baby. I'm not kidding, it's a little freakish. Oh conformity, where did I go wrong?

May 3. 27 days until I am thirty.

Tonight will be a fun night of eating dinner at Calo in Andersonville... soaking up the Mafiosa old-time Italian restaurant feel like an olive drowning in a Martini. The food is okay, but the lush red interior makes you want to disappear into one of the boothes, ignore your companions conversation and let someone dish out the gossip behind you. Mind you, I have never heard exciting gossip at Calo. I have also never had to overhear consultants talk there either, which is certainly a bonus. I think the potential for dish adds to the atmosphere of Calo much more than the actual thing ever could. I am all about potential... and while Calo's food does not have much, the atmosphere of Calo has potential aplenty!

Following Calo, we'll head to Big Chicks which may or may not be closing in the near future. There was a ridiculous ruckus this past winter about liquor licensing. I certainly hope they stay open, it's the only homo-bar I go to. Granted, it's grown up with its neighborhood and as the north edge of uptown gentrified, so has its clientele, but it's still my favorite bar in the city.

Back to Calo... while I have never heard good dish at Calo, Gulliver's on Howard offers the BEST coffee clatch conversation I have ever experienced. Bar none.

May 2.

Day two into my golden birthday adventure month.

As for birthday fun today I had a great breakfast (even though I was not wearing the Lakeview prescribed black mid-length jacket).
A fun bike ride up the Skokie/Evanston sculpture garden with a friend who is doing another AIDS ride later in July/August.
Tasty chocolate mousse desert from Cafe Boost in Andersonville.

That's a lot of birthday fun... and obviously this entry will need to be edited. It's a rough sketch just to make sure I have an entry each day up to May 30 and it's aftermath, May 31.

Time for bed. Tomorrow will be a bike to work day. 6:30am and a bike trek into the burbs.

May Day. May 1, 2004.
In 30 days, I turn 30.
My golden birthday.

So, to celebrate my golden birthday this year, I am going to do something fun for myself each day until I turn 30. Then, I think I'll go out for dinner on the 31st. You know, just to make sure I got everything done.

My plans don't seem to be taking me out of town, I will have to adventure in Chicago and its environs. Mostly by bike, I hope. The week after I turn 30, I plan to particiate in the Ride for AIDS Chicago. The weather has not been very cooperative for bike riding this spring. Last week, the gusts of wind were quite treacherous. I felt as if I was riding at an angle just to keep moving forward in a straight line, which is imperative if I do not want to become road kill. I ride my bike to work in the suburbs and suburban drivers are very confused by bicyclists. Run them over??? Or avoid them by swerving into another lane of traffic. They would never think to just pass someone on a bicycle, they must make a big production of it. Of course, it's normally just a few people a day who act this way and countless cars do pass successfully. However, the drivers who make a production of it tend to leave an imprint... I'd prefer that to be a mental imprint, and not tire treads.

So today is number one. I spent the afternoon sorting out my Web site so I could begin posting daily about my 30 ways in 30 days to keep jims happy. Or something like that. Perhaps day one will start out with a well deserved nap... shh, don't wake me up.

I need to keep a list of arch enemies....
So far I have Garrison Keiler and Uri Geller. Perhaps Mayonaise. We'll see.

Perhaps I have truly died and gone to heaven. There is going to be a pinball themed roller coaster in the UK's Alton Towers. SPINBALL WIZARD.

http://www.altontowers.com/
http://www.rcdb.com/installationdetail2472.htm

Oh me oh my that should be fun, I'll have to get there second to none.

Will a new internet phenomena save my Web site from being one of the never-updated wonders of the world?

Will vegans create a new breed of super monster hell-bent on destroying the world?

Tune in and see if I post again.

Oh oh oh! It's Machobeagle.com

|/H\| Me Music Necronomicar Ride for AIDS

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

60s/Indie/Brit/Mod/Psych Pop

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Making the perfect song... a pinch of these and a dash of that.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Oblique Strategies

Clearly we are uncovering the secrets to the Jurgaisanberg Uncertainty Principal

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Hubert Mack Thaxton - Physicist of the African Diaspora

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Tullycraft.com

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KnowThyNeighbor.org

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Photographing Squirrels - a photoset on Flickr

Manhattan Elsewhere

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

The Non-Expert: IKEA, by Matthew Baldwin

Sunday, March 12, 2006

David Hasselhoff

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Rough Trade Shops: Indiepop 1 - dissect and rejoice!

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Springfield Is For Gay Lovers Of Marriage.com

Thursday, February 16, 2006

The Good

The Bad

Monday, February 13, 2006

A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Vintage Keyboards, Mellotron, Combo Organ Samples, Hammond B3 Organ Samples, Gibson Organ Samples, Sample CD

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

For those days when you need more sleep...

Alesis Ion Vocoder functions

Monday, April 11, 2005

Yahoo! News - Injuries Rising as More Kids Take Up Golf

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Wallace & Gromit : In Theaters October 7

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Wood Tiger

Friday, January 28, 2005

Maybe You Just Don't Fidget Enough, Researchers Say

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Oh oh oh, the wedding present with a new album and tour

Friday, January 14, 2005

I would like to leave you some notes from my recent department meeting.

Monday, January 03, 2005

parappa the rapper spys on can. no. 6 says print.

Friday, December 10, 2004

The PLUM-STONE MIDI PROJECT

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Audio Plugins and Excitement!

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Trying to get into the Christmas Spirit

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Always a day late

Monday, November 22, 2004

But my mom laughs because she can, damnit!

Thursday, November 18, 2004

I laugh because I can't cry.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

textilesounds: home of LU, lorelei and human companion

Monday, November 08, 2004

Flop.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Flip flop. flip flop.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

How I love Margaret Cho.

Monday, October 25, 2004

Sometimes you're handed crap, but then you see the light.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

maczealots are a funny bunch

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Oblique Strategies...

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