not seeing the forest for the flesh eating ants swarming up my leg.


I have had my nose buried in polls and campaign news concerning national elections in '08 since... well, since the national elections in '06. It is a lot like fantasy football. I have no idea how to play fantasy football, but this is an accurate comparison for sure. Mostly because I am itching to get married and stop paying health insurance. I figure that the marriage tax break and no longer paying my HMO will balance out socialized medicine tax increase. Yay!

But all the while, I can't tell you a thing about the local elections coming up this november. That county executive might be up, Lynn Marinelli is up for re-election, and my county rep. might have something going on as well. I could be wrong. We could just be having pie and jam-off at the county fair.

So I go to the Buffalo/Niagara League of Women Voters website to check things out. Not a drop of information. All I know, the guy who is an officially endorsed Democrat is probably real corrupt and will most likely get elected. Leon Czolgosz is going to be my write in candidate.

Do any of you folks have information on our blundering candidates?

My addiction started many years ago,

You see, I had not seen the wonderful friends I had made the freshman year of college in about a year. Being absolutely horrible at making friends by my onesome I gravitated towards that special group of freaks who accept those too nerdy to be accepted by the treckies, the dorks too geeky to play Vampire LARPS. I was friends with the Anime crowd. You will have to take my word on this, but they were the coolest anime kids the world has ever known.

There was Jamie: the born-again-off-again Christian who could be found reading The Story of O, playing piano without ever taking a lesson, capture stray kitties and put them to her bosom, and dance like a maniac. All without the fortifying spirits of alcohol.

Dave, the 30 year old freshman who chain smokes. He began smoking to kick his cocaine habit, and it worked!

And a constellation of very minor characters which I will leave out for interestingness sake. Jamie and Dave weren't very active. Jamie's lack of Dance space and soccer, and Dave's lack of coke had led to a little slowness, a little softness. A noticeable, but modest paunch.


But When i saw them after one year, the change was amazing. The crazy characters would play Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) at home, in the arcade for hours. And they wanted me to try. Oh, the horrid songs! The indignity of dancing like stationary hop-scotch! The utter un-coolness of it told me not to dance. But their newly shapely thighs and tight buttocks commanded me to dance.

And oh! was it unimaginably fun! Cooly I told them it was alright. But when I got back home a few days later I made a rare trip to the mall. Thankfully, my apartment at the time was in a basement under a staircase. And with my tiny window blinds shut and the music down I shed my bourgeois music and stillness for a dance epidemic.

I mention all this because a new version is coming out for the Wii. It will have the usual dance pad and also involve motion with the two remotes. It promises to be the craziest game I am ashamed to play.

that is all

Hi,

Youtube still amazes me. One day it will occur to me to type in the name of a musician, show dog, novelty cigarette manufacturer, just to see what comes up. Well, today was Dan Deacon's day.

I have memories of Dan. He went to school with my friends. So, when i would see Dan I would be high or drunk, both, or carrying a length of PVC pipe covered in pipe insulation and duct tape. I saw Dan perform a handful of times, but man, it was freakin' awesome. An kinetic ham electronica genius.

Care to see a youtube result?



you will look for more, I know you will.

We just got back from visiting my folks.

A 6-7 hour car ride makes those at the destination the most horrible people on the planet, by simple virtue of their distance. But, it was a lovely trip and I ate a great number of clams.

I hung out with all my hometown friends. This is a bit of a misnomer, as only two of them are from the same town as me, but hometown is a much larger geographic term encompassing anything east of Syracuse and generous parts of Connecticut. We played a game called 'Who Wants to Eat a Millionaire" if provoked we can play it next estrip party.

Speaking of estrip. Separately but with the same concerned tone both my folks asked me what Estrip.org was, due to the new bumper-sticker. Boy were they relieved.

And now, I must get blood flowing back into my legs after such a long car ride.

squishy kisses

The title of this journal is not a failed playwright MFA thesis, but it could be if you ask nice enough.

No, I am talking about [link=www.pandora.com]Pandora.com[/link] it is a streaming music site where you plug in the name of a beloved song or musician and BAM it provides you with hours of things you might also like.

I have been listening to a radio station with songs similar to Nico's Marble Index album. Monday it was Tom Waits-like radio.

To give you a sense of how much I am enjoying it I usually keep a text document open that I fill with new artists I hear. The more obscure stuff has some repeats (Like Robert Wyatt, which has about 30 songs) but there have been few repeats with the above mentioned.

One thing I quite enjoy is to pop in a band with a dozen side projects. Or a musician who put out a few works before dieing of going Syd Barrett crazy. Specifically, the band Morphine has has both. Mark Sandman, the singer and principle song writer had a heart attack early in the bands career (though he was in his 50's). It is about 60% Morphine, his solo stuff, and rarities. So freakin' awesome.

It is part of what they call The Music Genome Project. Music is analyzed and cut up into specific characteristics. These are based on the sound and not the lyrics. So your happy happy upbeat music station could suddenly have a bright song with cut yourself lyrics. It is part of the joy.

So, if you are stuck at a soul crushing job what makes you want to bore out your eyes with hardened dung and can listen to music please check it out; you will be happy you did.