Gift Idea

Starting tomorrow, I encourage everyone to read Advent Book Blog. Thanks to Sean Cranbury (Books on the Radio) and Julie Wilson (Book Madam), each day a different book will be suggested for that special bookworm in your life. Hopefully your shopping will be easier this year, courtesy of the Advent Book Elf.

As for me, I’m trying to decide if I’m going to re-read one of my holiday staples: A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving or The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. However, I’m looking forward to devouring some more David Sedaris before then.

Progress Report

After being distracted by 40 Year-Old Virgin on television last night, I’m making up for it this morning. It’s 11:00 am and I’m on my third Miles Davis cd. Two loads of laundry are in process and I’m nearly finished the dishes. Coffee is being consumed at a leisurely pace and I am plowing through a David Sedaris book.

On top of this, I can happily report that I will be able to put my Christmas tree up again this year. I rearranged the furniture in my apartment a few months back which put the tree’s appearance in jeopardy. Luckily my upstairs neighbour spends Christmas in Mexico and I can stash a rarely used chair at his place. This frees up room for the tree. The tree and ornaments are out of storage and will be going up as soon as possible.

Maybe this 1/2 hour of exercise per day is helping. I certainly have found an increase in my energy level and (for the most part) lightening of my mood. I see the doctor next week and will be discussing things with her.

 

The Options Are Overwhelming

I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to spend my time this weekend. Aside from time that’s set aside to do some post & pre-birthday celebrations with Joe Coffee, Goalie Joe, Bart, Lisa & Maggie, there’s a number of things that I’m yearning to do.

I’d love to spend some quality time watching A Bit of Fry and Laurie, which Joe Ferrett and Scrabble Joe gave me for my birthday. Then there’s the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer that’s waiting patiently to be used to make something (bread, fudge, cake, cookies). On top of these exciting notions, I also have 70 cds of Miles Davis music for my listening pleasure.

Sure there’s laundry, groceries, Wii Fit exercise, coffee drinking, along with other sundry chores and errands to be accomplished. But how can I make the best use of without staying up all night? Why can’t weekends be longer?

Invasion of the 40s.

On Friday, my apartment was invaded by Marathon Joe, Joe Stitch, Joe Nerdo and Joe Mousetrap. They amassed to celebrate with me as I enter my fourth decade.  After dinner from Memphis Blues, we had a little visit and then called it a night. At midnight, the three who had been relegated to the living room (two on the floor and one on the chesterfield) came into the bedroom to sing “Happy Birthday” to me. It was fun. I did not, however, sleep well as I was plagued with a mixture of being over-caffeinated and excited about the birthday proper.

So, at 7:00 am on Saturday, I gave up and got out of bed. It was a fairly sad moment when I had a houseful of people and no one brought me coffee in bed, but was quickly made up for when I opened a large wrapped box and discovered a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. (My, my, my! What fun I will have doing the Christmas baking this year!) Time was flying by as we got ourselves cleaned up and ready to attack the day.

Marathon Joe went home for the day (to nap) and the rest of us went shopping. I wasn’t able to spend any money as my funds are currently low, but it was nice to be out and about with the Joes, looking at shoes and other things. At lunch time, they purchased a small chocolate mousse cake as a birthday cake for me. Too much fun.

By 4:30 we were ready to head out for the main bulk of the planned celebration: meeting up with folks at the Lennox pub and then on to the Commodore Ballroom to see Billy Bragg perform. It was fun to introduce Goalie Joe and Joe Coffee to other Joes. I was also very happy to see Joe Cupcakes, Joe Jitters, Joe Chuckles, Risotto Joe, Pottery Joe and Joe Tunes all together. I had reserved a table at the Commodore so we were lucky to not have to worry about finding a place to conglomerate in the bar. Also, the folks who reserved the table beside us failed to show and we were able to scoop their table. Drinks were consumed. Music was enjoyed. It was brilliant.

Before we left, Billy Bragg was signing product he was selling and so we got in line. I didn’t buy anything, just shook the man’s hand and thanked him for providing the entertainment for my birthday party. Joe Chuckles snapped a photo of Billy with his arm around me, which just capped off an amazing day.

Perhaps it was the excitement of yesterday that did me in. Perhaps it was the consumption of a few Hot Nails (Rusty Nail meets coffee) that’s at fault. Perhaps the two combined with the high fat content of Friday’s dinner are to blame. Who knows? All I know is that today I’ve been feeling very ill despite being very content with what has been on the best birthdays I’ve ever had. I hope I’m better by tomorrow because I don’t have any vacation time left since having H1N1 in October. But if I’m not, I guess I will simply stay home and read my Kitchen Aid manual.

All’s Quiet on the Blog Front

I haven’t had much to write because I’ve been busy either playing/exercising on the Wii Fit, getting stuff organized/ready for the arrival of Joe Nerdo and Joe Stitch on Friday, and listening to the new Carbon/Silicon album “Carbon Bubble.” The Wii Fit is fun and the 1/2 hour per day has helped exponentially with my depression. Joe Nerdo and Joe Stitch are coming for my birthday on Saturday. And “Carbon Bubble” kicks ass!! So …

Hallelujah

The long wait for new music by my favorite (contemporary) band is almost up. Hopefully they come to Canada (and get into the country) with a tour for this album. I had tickets to see them 20 months ago, but the concert was cancelled because they were denied entry into the country which made me cry.

Hopefully I will have my iTunes library restored by then as well.

Bookish Stuff

I haven’t written much about what I’ve been reading lately. Basically, my silence stems from the fact I’ve been reading the same novel for the past two months.

On September 7th I started what has proven to be the most difficult, frustrating, and mesmerizing novel I’ve ever tackled: Gravity’s Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon. Having previously read other novels that are classified as “challenging” reads (Ulysses, Giles Goat Boy, and pretty much all of William Faulkner’s novels) I felt that ready to dive in, head first.

I feel a bit as if I have done a belly flop instead of a clean and graceful straight dive.

Pynchon, from the first few pages seems to be simpler to read than Joyce as the novel appears to be a linear narrative. However, it is far from linear. The shifts in voice, time, and space are not marked by chapter breaks and have made me re-read many sections and pages. There is also a strong narcotic effect to Pynchon’s writing. There is a rhythm to his words and how he uses them to paint amazingly detailed and vivid images that often sweeps me up, makes me lose my place in the story, and forces me to re-read more sections and pages. Now, with less than 40 pages to go, I feel like I have spent two months spinning my wheels with the book.

I know I have, in fact, understood a lot more of the novel than I think. I am so immersed in a theoretical and critical reading of the text that I forget that I have been following the plot. This book is meant to be read in an academic setting: there is a lot of stuff going on that draws on post-structuralist theory — particularly surrounding the break down or reversals of the dialectic and the question of signification in language.  One person I know who loves the book does not have a literary theory background which makes conversations about it a bit unsatisfying for me. For example, I was trying to discuss the Preterite in the novel. On one hand, the word is a Calvinistic term related to the damned which definitely has a place in the novel. However, the preterite also means the simple past or historical past verb tense, which also has a place in a post World War II novel. I believe Pynchon was aware of and was playing with both meanings of the word.

When I read Infinite Jest this summer, I reminded myself that reading high literary novels requires trust in author and that what might not make sense at first will coalesce in time into an amazingly intricate and rewarding story. Another tool I keep in mind while reading this types of novels is that I might not get everything in them on my first reading. Having read The Sound and the Fury a few times, I can attest to having a richer experience with each reading. I’m just not sure if I will have the energy to attack this beast again unless surrounded by a group of literary critics.

Sad Man, Happy Man: The Good and the Bad of It.

Mike Doughty’s new album, Sad Man Happy Man, is a return to the stripped down sound of his earlier works (Skittish & Rockity Roll) with minimal production and the instrumentation of only Doughty (vocals, guitars, drum programming, and electronic looping) and Andrew ‘Scrap’ Livingstone (cello). Recorded in a short amount of time, the lyrical content ranges from unique word playing rap (reminiscent of Doughty’s work with his former band ‑ Soul Coughing),  to introspective, emotional lyrics about relationships, to reflections on the socio-economic news of the day.

I’m just going to overtly state right here that I like this album a lot.

There is something about minimally produced music that I find very appealing. I think it sounds more raw and unpretentious, for some reason. I also enjoy Doughty’s popping multi-syllabic raps and the way he celebrates the pure sounds of language. If I had the energy to, I could possibly use Doughty’s use of repetition to partially illustrate the main argument of Derrida’s “Signature Event Context” as Doughty manages to imbue each iteration with different texture and meaning.

Musically Livingstone’s bow work eerily stretches the expression of the cello notes into an haunting emotionality that at times seems at odds with Doughty’s more upbeat guitar strumming. Although the guitar work is very similar on each song, the drum programming helps differentiated between the tracks while rounding out the stripped down sound and elevating the music to a rock n’ roll level.

Up until now, I’m sure that this review will make Doughty a “happy man.” However, I have read things he has said in interviews about the album that I find, for lack of a better word, objectionable.

Firstly, in a few articles, Doughty intimates that Sad Man, Happy Man is a response to criticism/disdain of fans to his last album: “I did this record mostly acoustic, because I think that’s what my audience was looking for.  I think they wanted more like the Skittish type vibe and I hope that I don’t put it out to a lot of handwringing [sic] that I should’ve made another Golden Delicious.[1] To me Doughty seems to imply that he cares more about making people like him than making music he wants to make. I believe that an artist forges a path independent from their audience and trust that the appropriate audience will follow. But art/poetry is “news that stays new” and it seems to me that Doughty’s comment points to his being less interested in making art than money. He has become a “panderer”, grasping for a broader audience/market.

Perhaps this is the music that is in his heart to make, which is fine. I just wish he would take complete ownership of his choice to take a step backwards, sound wise.

Secondly, Doughty has stated:

“Lord Lord” is all sly drug references, like “Tango and Cash” and “Dr. Nova,” which are both brand-names for bags of heroin. “That song is kind of like my ‘Walk on the Wild Side,’” Doughty says. “I like how Reed’s tune is all about tranny whores and yet is all over classic rock radio.”[2]

Reading this made me stop, shake my head, and walk away from my computer screen muttering “he’s got his head up his ass”. Simply name checking heroin brand names is by no means the equivalent of Reed’s exploration of the dark side of 70s sexuality. Sure both Doughty and Reed studied under eminent poets (Sekou Sundiata and Delmore Schwartz respectively), both spend time in “factories” (The Knitting Factory and Andy Warhol’s Factory respectively), and both were heroin addicts.  That is where the similarities end. If pushed to make it, I’d compare “Lord Lord” to “New Sensations,” Reed’s driving celebration of life on the other side of addiction.

I’m just going to say that Doughty has a long way to go and a lot of writing to do before I’m going to consider his work in the same league as Reed’s.

I will, by all means,  continue to enjoy Mike Doughty’s work as he writes smart music. I just wish he would realize that his audience is not just made up of people unwilling to embrace anything that is different from what has come before.

 

 

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[1] Glide Magazine October 23, 2009 : http://www.glidemagazine.com/articles/55286/mike-doughty-sad-man-happy-man.html

[2]SCUG Net August 26, 2009:  http://www.scug.net/mike-doughty-to-release-“sad-man-happy-man”-–-october-6th-on-ato-records/

Cluster Fuck of a Weekend

As you know I run my iTunes from an external hard drive that I must connect via USB port to my laptop when ever I want to add music because my iTunes library is too large to exist on my computer.

On Friday I went to load the new Mike Doughty cd, Sad Man Happy Man.  I decided (stupidly) to update my iTunes to the newest version first. I checked and it did not transfer my library it so I tried to reload the library from the file on my external hard drive. No dice, it wouldn’t move. I did not panic. I simply added the new cd and then tried to add it again. It still would not load.

So, I used my handy copy of iPod.iTunes that I purchased after the iPhoto debacle I went through earlier this year* to pull the iTunes from my iPod and reconstruct my library that way. I think I did something stupid (like touch iTunes) while it was going and it stalled. Again I did not panic. I simply shut everything down and went to bed. I did, however, move the iTunes from my laptop to the trash to free up some space.

Yesterday I, once again, ran the whole pull the music from the iPod to the computer. It appeared to work although I noticed there were a lot of duplicates showing up in iTunes. I deleted a few but then stopped as I realized there might be a bigger issue. I stopped and went to bed as it was 1 am by this point.

This morning I got up and pulled the music from the iPod to the computer another time. Again it appeared to work. All the music seemed to be back on my computer. So I synched my iPod to iTunes to get the new cd & all the other stuff back on my iPod.

However, only 2/9 of the music is on the iPod. It appears to exist on my program of iTunes, but when you try to play a track it says “can’t locate the original file”.  And I’ve tried reloading the previous music libraries (even one from10.10.09) and the rest of the music seems to have disappeared. I can’t figure it out. I haven’t emptied the trash. It’s just gone.

So… at this point my plan at this point it to cancel my order for the Miles Davis Complete Columbia boxed set, re-load all that I own, borrow what I can from other friends, including Joe Tunes and Joe Coffee (I should be able to get A LOT of stuff that way), and buy cds of some that I should have on disc already. Maybe I should update my wishlist on Amazon to realistic items and my friends/blog readers can simply help rebuild my library that way. Hmmm.

This isn’t as bad as losing the photos. It might cost me a few ducats but I can’t buy the photos I lost — including one of me and Jasper Fforde! But as my meds aren’t really doing the job these days, I am finding this problem to be completely demoralizing and am fighting to not devolve into a weeping mess. I don’t know if the new Mike Doughty cd can possibly be good enough to make up for this. Hell, a new Richard Thompson, Lou Reed, Joe Jackson, or Paul Weller might even be hard pressed to be worth the trouble.

*It was just icing on the cake that I couldn’t locate my previous registration of iPod.iTunes and had to re-purchase the program.

Smuggly Superior Coda

This is perhaps my favorite Dead Kennedys song and I thought it was a fitting coda to yesterday’s post.