electronic impulses from brain to fingers; directed? sometimes. random? always.
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Chinkie for life.
NorCal for life.
Bruin for life.
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Saturday, August 17, 2002
After missing my final Wednesday, I was pretty damn fucked. and I felt it. I was all distressed and distraught and upset for about 12 hours, and then Thursday I couldn't feel helpless anymore. I had to just go about my day and after the Ducks left, I didni't really know what to do. what happens when I have nothing better to do? stonyness prevails!
All Night: so until about 10am I was enjoying a euphoric experience. a sense of well-being, creativity sparked, writing here, playing here, dancing here, good times with an apartment to myself.
10:15am: my professor calls me! apparently he tried to call me the night I wrote the letter but I didn't get the call? I think it mustve been when I went outside to get notes from a friend. sucks. see THATS what happens when fuckers don't leave messages! I don't get their calls; people on both ends get stressed; people are clueless until they finally speak; they get mad. anyway, my ASS got lucky, as he told me to haul it down to campus to take the final. Silly me chose to take advantage of the lack of stringent times and i crammed for about an hour half, then fell asleep. Despite knowing that I should be heading down to take my test, I slept. tsk tsk. And when I thought that it was past 4pm, I thought I was fucked again. Luckily it was only 0130pm. I was done by 0400pm and proceeded to walk home with a bit more bounce in my step.
Sure the test was FUCKING HARD. Sure it was more comprehensive than anything we did in class or was shown. Sure it was confusing and discouraged me. But it was open book (technically only charts and tables in the back, but oh well, i accidentally flipped to read up on Rankine cycles) and I had a cubicle to myself. I predict a max 50%, 24/48. relative to the class, that could be anywhere from good to really good. or bad or really bad. anyway.
Went over to Vanslut's to kick it. then decided it was a good time for a Forty Ounce evening.
Steel Reserve: $ 2.00
London Broil: $ 4.32
CD's: .10 c
Three drunk fools dancing in the living room: Priceless.
doobin @ 2:42 PM
Friday, August 16, 2002
vanson asked me over to his place for London Broil. cheap over at Ralph's! 14.32 down to 4.something. for some reason that seems to taste a lot better. but no, i had to decline, as I had already decided to make dinner for the Duck and her Quacky best duck friend.
playing true to my completely nocturnal schedule, I awoke from dreamy slumber around 930pm. I entertained them for four hours, and they were gone. What a humongously lazy time. good company but i felt disconnected a bit. something just felt off. or felt like nothing at all. was a bit desensitized. speaking in fragments. should. finish.
......
based on the rhyming of "appropriation" and "procreation," thought of when talking about "spoken word" with Aileenie. the space station part is good metaphor but doesn't fit into this. I'll mess with it. but here is the idea in first form.
......
sex is
the appropriation of procreation is
the association of the simulation of stimulation is
the inoculation of constant inflation during copulation is
the speculation of the recreation of the joining of two human nations is
the sensation of Adam and Eve's joined space stations is
sex
......
doobin @ 6:47 AM
Wednesday, August 14, 2002
yeah... so because the mind's been blank, there's nothing to really talk about right now.
doobin @ 7:51 AM
Sunday, August 11, 2002
crap I hate forgetting to change the destination blog on blogBuddy.
doobin @ 7:46 AM
don't publich that last post. I can't access blogger to delete it.
doobin @ 7:40 AM
Current musical infatuations:
The Big Pill - "The Big Pill"
this band rocked at Warped Tour LA, playing for thousands of walker-bys for probably 7+ hours. energetic and exciting to say the least. Their sound is truly culturally mixed in the fashion of LA Rock n Roll. I hear reggae, beach-rock, latin rhythms, hip hop, lounge, punk, a whole bunch of shit. The lead singer belongs at the mic with the tone of his voice and presence. The group reminds me of 311 with the vocals and tight snare drum, and would fit right on Late Night with Craig Kilborn. High-brow LA rock, for sure. with a scotch on the rocks. check out the sounds section and listen to em!
Thievery Corporation - "The Richest Man in Babylon"
One of the better chillout/downtempo/downbeat/lounge/whatever/mellow music groups out there. They really put together some nicely layered and quaity pieces that draw from a lot of thigns. I hear heavy reggae/dub (I guess these guys are more into dub than I thought) and latin influence because most of the album uses these elements. In fact, if you're looking for a chill background music ala reggae or dub, this one is cool. just because they're white doesn't mean they don't know their Jamaican dub. You can try to get this, should be easy on a P2P program; If you want a CD to hold, I guess you can't buy it yet (Mine is promo copy... ah yes the wonders of piracy...).
Sasha "Airdrawndagger"
after listening to this for the first time with Mary, whom allowed me to appreciate music a lot more (espeically with eyes closed), I was blown away and had to play it for Dzuy.
WARNING: Thought Tangent
[begin:]
He was going off about Cafe Del Mar Vol 9 playing in the background at one of our friend's Hong Kong home, so I thought to try to recreate a similar atmosphere. After a cool party, we chilled out at our place with Joyce, Mary and Roor. Dzuy had never met Roor, but I could tell their mouths would be meeting many times that night. Joyce, of course, had left an impression on Roor the previous day. After some minimal activity, Dzuy was passed out on the couch, and I began our journey into what some may call ...Bliss.
Intensely layered and thoroughly filled with complex arrangements and instrumentation/instrumental elements, the tracks took form as a really cool musical journey. The album's decidedly softer progressive beat kept our pulses moderate and dynamics skyrocketing. The syncopation of trippy elements in some of the songs is what made the tracks outstanding, but what brought our listening to climatic suspense was the filling of musical space with layers of elements until a HUGE breakdown. He would then bring back elements one by one until it reached its original path of musical enlightenment.
This was a collection of journeys within themselves, self contrained vacuums of trance-setting beats.
Since then Dzuy, who's literally been studying electronic music since New Order, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys -- the New Wave people of the 80's, has been studying its musical composition and making some of his own shit, finally using his sampler and software to do what his passion has brought him to do. It's his destiny to be making this music, and he's using Sasha's album as inspiration, as counseling, as an answer, and as an influence to his musical curiousities of electronic music.
[:end]
Can you reach enlightenment amongst the stars and light illuminated by the aural (as in aura) and sonic (because its not aural) energy of electronically produced beats? With Airdrawndagger, I think so.
You can only download this one.
The Isley Brothers "The Heat is On" (remastered) (2001)
[for novelty and thematic purposes, Jive talk:]
Funk pionai's in da 60's an' 70's, da Isley Brothas put dis album out in 1974, at da damn height o' post-wah' Vietnam an' opinions about Ebony oppression an' mistreatment. "Fight da Powa'" be spearhaid 4 da album, some 'esample o' how powerful Funk could sound in beat an' message. They represented not only Funk singa's, but ebony dudes an' hos as well. Fuck dat shit. As some great contrast, da Isley's dug ballads, an' serious-like dese-he'ah guys be so's pimpin' an' sweet even I started t' git some rock-on. Imagine if company wuz wit' yo' ass when da disc turned t' trax likes dese-he'ah. No diggety. I shaw dun did.
I is talkin between da sheets beat.
[:end]
[normal speak, translated from Jive (see above):]
Funk pioneers in the 60's and 70's, this album is from 1974, at the height of post-war Vietnam and opinions about Black oppression and mistreatment. "Fight the Power" is spearhead for the album, an example of how powerful Funk could sound in music and message. They represented not only Funk artists, but black men and women as well.
As a great contrast, the Isley's dug ballads, and seriously these guys are so smooth and sweet even I started to get a hard-on. Imagine if company were with you when the disc turned to tracks like these. I sure did.
I'm talkin between the sheets music.
[end:]
......
man get a guy high and you really take his focux away huh!
doobin @ 7:39 AM
Why isn't the Record Industry Hurting More?
......
This article/interview focuses on Stan Liebowitz -- an economics professor following copyright law -- and how he claims that the music market has not yet proved that Napster and its successors have injured sales. But eventually the industry will be seriously threatened by downloading.
He bases his findings on empirical evidence -- real data -- and is currently re-assessing his latest standpoint that download should be hurting the industry more than it is and that the trend of decreased sales is merely a consequent of economic recession and 'wolf-crying' of RIAA officials.
......
and FREE SLICK RICK!
doobin @ 7:33 AM
wouldn't it be cool to replicate sun light?
no, really, to be able to recreate natural light through artificial means. perhaps maybe the mechanism is made of a natural element and supported by artificial technology. kind of like the concept of using diamonds for the core of a laser beam, but with visible light and an unstable explosive ball of gas.
make way for nanotech!
funny how I've began to use nanotechnology as my answer for any question about everything that can be broken down into atoms... but its true! the power and application of the atom is something that will propel mankind to a new stage of life (and death). What's funny is that in about 20 (?) years from now, we'll be using the same things that decimated a country to solve crazy problems and hack into high-security systems. What used to be only used at the top level of military weapons will be in the hands of the consumer (ME) before we die.
and maybe I am making gross assumptions that nanotechnology will jump us to new levels of tech, but if I keep my imagination alive and assume that there will be something capable someday of doing whatever I think of, then maybe I'll produce it and change the future of man. regardless, be ready to see a world that is completely different than the one you grew up in.
doobin @ 5:45 AM
An Angelino Borne.
......
At first thought, 'Hip Hop Orchestra' made me think of a classical symphony playing hip hop beats. Then the name made me think of a group that repped the Four Elements of Hip Hop -- Rapping, DJing/Skratching, Grafiti, Dance (Five if you count beatboxing). When I actually heard daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra, I thought that they sounded like a modern jazz-rock band with freestyling MCs. And now after hearing their CD, I think they belong in show business and should change their name. I mean, 'Hip Hop Orchestra' is more appropriate for a collective of the elements. but then again thats true for other names too so thats a moot point. I still thought the concept was HOT.
The live show was dope; the orchestra was placed at the center of the thriving cultural Arts mecca that is Los Angeles, at the Grand Plaza. This was my first trip downtown, into the Arts district, and I was quick to note the design, height, and shininess of the tall buildings, as well as the excitement and buzzing of expectant Angelinos. The sense of excitement that comes when in someplace new and cool is what filled me, and this combined with all the other circumstances is what made the experience. I was digging the whole environment, atmosphere, the people, the setting, the weather, the company I had, everything. Enjoying city nightlife does that!
The program described the orchestra's instruments, like a musical program, giving a lot of weight to brass/winds, strings, and percussion. the presence of MCs and two pairs of decks startled me. Why, I dont know, because this was a Hip Hop group (or was it...). Then again, I only really expected instrumental symphonic music.
at around 08:15pm daKAH took the stage and went into a medley of a song that has roots in Funk, Soul, and Rap with Isley Brothers, The JB's, and Public Enemy. I'm not sure which one though. followed by an original piece, then a tribute to The Root's via a medley. the second set was dedicated to the performance of daKAH's original work 'Unfinished Symphony,' also on their CD, which I bought, and kind of regret (but its all good because I'm supporting the Arts).
Overall the music was cool, reminiscent of any band that I hear for the first time.
The crowd sucked because they were mostly a high-brow Arts crowd, and the music wasn't amplified enough to get them off their seats. I spent most of my time sitting down.
One thing I noticed is that there wasn't enough emphasis on the beat. And I mean the BEAT, the Boom-Bap beat, the drum beat. Most of the sound came from the brass and the MCs, and it wasn't until some electronic beats were used that I could feel the bass. I welcomed it, but then it slinked away and fell back into submission.
Upon further inspection of the Hip Hop Orchestra's CD, I realized that what they played didn't represent what I knew to be hip hop and the musical aspect of hip hop. in fact, it would go so far as to be an incorrect and invalid example of hip hop music. or perhaps a slight segment of general music that relates to it? Really, the band sounds more like the multi-cultural rock of L.A., but with amateur and uninteresting emceeing. I guess its just the rock music sound that give Hip Hop orchestra its draw. And I think its the 'Orchestra' name that gives the group the ability to be displayed in Downtown LA at the Grand Plaza, the center of the LA Arts District. Soon, it wait gain notoriety among the Arts community and will be propelled into national light, regardless of its inaccurate style.
STRAIGHT hip hop they are not. a contemporary Jazz ensemble with hip hop tastes, able vocalists and good emcees they are. It's just that daKAH doesn't make me think about Hip Hop. sad.
It is because the instrumentation is so simple that Hip Hop/Rap is preserved, but when the group gets so large and the conductor gets ambitious with musicality and instrumentation, as in HHO, its hard to retain that core of hip hop music, the simple Boom-Bap. Then again, this makes me question the direction of hip hop, a subject for another post.
If I want to listen to Hip Hop, I'll ask for Outkast or Atmosphere or Common or Mos Def or ; If I want Hip Hop with live beats, I'll ask for The Roots, Breakestra, or Heiruspecs; If I want Hip Hop BEATS, I'll ask for DJ Shadow or Krush or Cam or Unkle; Not until I want a band that reps cultural/musical fusion will I ask for daKAH (or Ozomatli, or The Big Pill, etc)
But currently they are the best example of what they do, which is background symphonic music for MCs, or a classical take on a contemporary style or a fusion of many styles, whichever you want to look at it.
The CD itself makes me think Hip Hop Orchestra is destined for Vegas. thats right they belong in Vegas. maybe for a magic act's background? or some type of show. something like that.
But perhaps this opinion comes from the fact that the recording doesn't live up to the live show.
......
Tonight I felt like an Angelino, a child of Los Angeles, a part of this city's thriving culture (somewhat). funny because I'm not fully assimilated into the culture of San Francisco (just a couple parts) and the Bay Area. I realize now how much of a bubble I was in while in Belmont/San Mateo and the Peninsula area.
The experience reaffirmed my goal to become as immersed in the culture of this city that I possibly can. and I mean culture of all levels. luckily as a young minority student with enough money in his pocket, I can pick and scramble my way into enough events and such that will give me good exposure to whats out there. anything from free hip hop shows to International Festivals to performance events to sports to music to poetry to anything in the underground to anything in the mainstream. Anything is game now.
Next: Invid on Aug. 17, Less Than Jake/Yellowcard/Sugarcult/Whippersnapper on Aug 18.
"Going to the city" has once regained the implication of cultural exposure and smalltown excitement that it did when I referred to San Francisco. yay for LA.
doobin @ 5:45 AM
so heres the news.
I'm getting used to watching TV on the couch and sitting at the computer playing video games and overall being lazy. and I'm liking it.
I haven't sat to think think think and convey my thoughts in a long while. Like whats up with this summer and how my mindset has changed, how this past month has managed to change my style of living, how friends are becoming oddly distant yet still close yet still not in sync. hell, I haven't turned on my computer much in the past week.
here's to having fun and writing about it so I remember what I do, regardless of my actual physical activity.
doobin @ 5:44 AM
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