the owl and the octopus

Cat

2012-01-28T09:20:00.000-08:00

I had a weird experience this morning. It was about 6:15am and I was sitting in the living room, surfing the 'net. It was pretty quiet so I wouldn't wake my wife up, and as I was sitting there I heard a cat "vocalize" in the back room. I looked around for Jazz, our only cat, and he was right behind my head on the back of the couch.

01.23.2011

2012-01-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

I. Altered guitar project. Picked up a very used Six Flags guitar w/Superman symbol on it, a broken nut, no tremolo bar, and a chip on the neck. Also, I have yet to try it out to see if the electronics in it works.

Sat down yesterday and took out all the frets and filled the slots in with super glue. Giving that about a full 24 hours to dry and will sand that down. The neck had some rough spots where I pulled the frets out from so sanding may be a job. Next:

Moveable bridge along the body.
Kill switch.
7th "bass" string made of wire stretching above the top string.
New paint job.

II. Decided to use old films, "Searching For Something" and "A Gift Giveth", for two upcoming art shows. One is at Fort Worth Community Arts Center, affectionately known as FW-CAC. Finally getting a piece in there, was hoping to get a new film in there but not quite finished with my newest one, "An Ode To An Idea". However, I built this new "box" to hold my iPad in in order to show the film. Still trying to decide how to present the audio portion of the film. The other show is at CUT Salon, a pretty cool hair salon, this one is put on by F6 Gallery.

III. "An Ode To An Idea", came about as a lesson plan for my students. We were/are going to start doing stop motion animated films and as an example I was going to make a film about how the star of my show was looking for an idea for his film. It has grown "legs" and taken off from that idea. I love how you can take a simple idea, as searching for an idea as a lesson plan, and it becomes this being that is "An Ode To An Idea".

12.30.2011

2011-12-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

Review of my visit to the museum today.

*Update - In the past I have dismissed Kaws artwork as bad mixes of Warhol and graffiti but after seeing the black canvases and the two fiberglass sculptures at the museum today, I have a new appreciation of his work.

Soundtrack for week 11.28 - 12.02

2011-11-28T04:29:00.001-08:00

"Green Naugahyde" - Primus

"Sailing the Seas of Cheese" - Primus

"Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell" - Flaming Lips

"Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" - Flaming Lips

"Noche del Chupacabra" - Wo Fat

"Tala Matrix" - Tabla Beat Science

"Finally Confident" - ~topic

2011-11-15T19:05:00.001-08:00

New illustration for upcoming Hentai Improvising Orchestra show.

Soundtrack for week of 10.31.2011 - 11.04.2011

2011-10-31T04:31:00.000-07:00

"music to jog to" - the owl and the octopus

"Love In the Age of Circuitry" - Andy Spain

"Digital Music Landscape for drum and computer" - Herve Provini

"Lost Brother" - Assif Tsahar, Cooper-Moore & Hamid Drake

"Awash In Feedback" - Stone Machine Electric

"Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator" - Squarepusher

"Sustrepo" - Hentai Improvising Orchestra

Almost midweek

2011-09-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

Almost midweek. Grades are due. 1st project, Grid project, on the way and is due this week. Parent teacher night on it's way this Thursday. Decorating the 1st floor in KSU colors and with a football theme.

the goal post constructed but unpainted.

I have two new songs about ready to go. Both, "09.06.2011" and "09.11.2011", sound very electronic. Instruments used:

1. old broken Casiotone
2. Ibanez Soundgear 6 string
3. Garageband loops
4. Numark portable turntable

New image for Stone Machine Electric t-shirt design. A combination of a human skull and foo dog.

foo dog/human skull design

Soundtrack for week of 09.12 - 09.16.2011

2011-09-12T04:52:00.000-07:00

1. "Disintegration Loops I" - William Basinski
2. "Disintegration Loops II" - William Basinski
3. "Disintegration Loops III" - William Basinski
4. "Disintegration Loops IV" - William Basinski
5. "Wake Up!" - John Legend/The Roots
6. "The Message" - Dem Southernfolkz.

09.03.2011; Works in Progress

2011-09-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

Some "works in progress":

"ZAP" #1

"ZAP" #2

"ZAP", is two canvases in one.

"FEAR or PHOBiA"

Yet another "Untitled" piece.

Lately, I've really gotten back into painting. Photography and video has kind of taken a back seat to painting.

Need to start thinking about instruments to build or find for an upcoming project with our wonderful dancer friends/collaborators with the Home Made Dance Project. With electricity issues we may find ourselves playing acoustic a lot.

Current list of instruments:
1. Cymbals
2. Pot lid percussions
3. drum kit parts
4. battery powered toothbrushes
5. combs
6. cabinet doors
7. things to hit other things with

08.06.2011; An early morning

2011-08-06T02:45:00.000-07:00

I suppose the pain meds have worn off from my recent surgery. It's early and I can't sleep. All I can think about is cats with human bodies, a man made of concrete wandering the streets, men with bizarre beards, a film I'm working on called "Exile on Montgomery Street", the music of Phill Niblock, and coffee.

CHINA '88 Excerpt from Phill Niblock on Vimeo.

Brasil '84 Excerpt from Phill Niblock on Vimeo.

New and Improved "exile on montgomery street" excerpt

2011-07-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Roadside memorials

2011-07-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

A new series of photographs of roadside memorials. This is the first two...

"Shaver; .25 miles east of Eastchase exit, Fort Worth, TX"

"B. Minyard; .25 miles east of Eastchase exit, Fort Worth, TX"

Fun with Voice to Text

2011-07-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

1.
-Email to mother:

"Mom can I get Betty Brown's, Betty Morgan's, Michael's and Sister's phone numbers?".

-What Voice to Text created:

"Mom kanye gay betty brown bedding orange michaels and sisters phone number.".

-Video idea spoken to Voice to Text program:

"Video idea for training birds

Number 1 toy monkey wind up banging symbols.

Number to banging wind up monkey catches on fire.

Number 3 hold me out of stuffed animal carcass outside.

Number for birds fly down and eat car games. "

-What the video idea was supposed to say:

"Video idea for reigning birds

Number 1, toy monkey wind up banging cymbals.

Number 2, banging wind up monkey catches on fire.

Number 3, pull meat out of stuffed animal, hang carcass outside.

Number 4, birds fly down and eat carcass. "

06.22.2011; sketchbook pages

2011-06-23T04:28:00.000-07:00

05.30.2011; a life simply

2011-05-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

i've been thinking a lot lately about how to simplify my life without losing the things that I feel like I need in my life to be enjoyable. This is not some new agey idea or anything like that but I'm striving for a life that is a little more free, where I have time to finish work and do some other things that I enjoy like running more, gardening, and meditating.

There are a lot of books, blogs, and tv shows out there that are supposed to help one with this but they don't take certain things in account like people with ADD, differing lifestyles, etc... Also, these things are a "demotivator" to me because it almost seems like simplifying your life is a fad and I have this mentality that if something is "popular" my attention for it won't sustain itself throughout.

My challenge to myself and hopefully with my blog and my journals/sketchbooks is to document my steps to simplifying my life.

A list of things to do:

1) throw away all unwanted items and items that have not been used or looked at for the past 6 months.

2) determine what things are important in my life and what I want to accomplish day to day, year to year.

3) take time to read more:
a) "The Happiness Project"

4) reduce my web presence.

5) run more/bike more

6) eat better.

This sounds like a New Years Resolution list but it has taken this long for me to get it in my mind that I want to do this.

This site will be dedicated to this....

improvfriday 05.26 - 05.28

2011-05-28T09:26:00.001-07:00

05.18.2011

2011-05-18T08:40:00.001-07:00

Page from a current sketchbook.

Soundtrack for the week of 05.16.2011

2011-05-17T04:06:00.000-07:00

1. "Original Gangster" - Ice T
2. "Sang" - Tim Hodgkinson
3. "Pragma" - Tim Hodgkinson
4. "05.14.2011" - Hentai Improvising Orchestra

Weekend

2011-04-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

Even though the Horn COO was out of town it was a very enjoyable weekend.

Saturday, 04.23.2011:
Jo left town to enjoy some time with her sis and kids. Spent most of the day trying to get ready for the HIO recording later in the evening. 2/3 of HIO arrived around 5:30. Sparky greeted them as they entered making sure everything was alright. After his approval, dinner was started and Hickey and Ken kept dinner lively with some guitar antics and a rousing guitar and balloon duet. The duet was approved by Timmy as he layed under the table as the noise went on.

After dinner we decided to add a soundtrack to the movie "Restrepo", which only Ken watched as he played. It took roughly 52 minutes to draw the music to a conclusion, after which we moved the festivities into the living room to reminisce about the music and to watch the remaining moments of "Restrepo" with sound. After "Restrepo" we watched a bit of various B movies and the majority of Dario Argento's masterpiece, "Suspiria". I think I'm the only one who appreciated the bizarreness and campiness of the movie. Burned some copies of an Apollo 18 cd and this nights HIO music.

Stayed up watching more Argento movies and listening to the thunder outside.

More about the HIO tomfoolery:
Stash Dauber
The Grubbermeister

Sunday, 04.23.2011:
Did nothing today but watch movies, worked on various HIO things, and played with the dogs. I sat around waiting for the rain to come but never did. Jo returned around 7:00'ish, well but tired.

Movies watched:
"Black Sunday" - Dario Argento
"Black Sabbath" - Dario Argento
"Pelts" - Dario Argento
"Shock" - Mario Bava

Oh, for the love of people

2011-04-13T04:35:00.001-07:00

Life would be so boring if it weren't for people.

1. Yesterday, grumpy man was walking down the parking lane in front of Walmart going toward his vehicle. He was inbetween the back end of the cars and the middle of the lane, pushing me either right near the bumpers or the center of the parking lane, which is the part I chose to walk down. As I passed by him, we made eye contact, so I figured he was move over a tad bit so I didn't have to remain in the middle of the lane. He did not. Instead he chose to ram my shoulder with his shoulder and decided that a small "growl" and the evil eye would be a better response than an "excuse me" or "sorry". I could've been the bigger man too but as my grandmother use to tell me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.".

2. The same situation as above occurred in the afternoon except both we we're both in our cars. The other car was in the middle of the lane and the person was on the phone. As I drove up the lane, I chose to not move since I was on the correct side and at the last moment the other gentleman decided to move. His response was a smile and a small wave. I'm just glad he decided to keep his one hand on the steering wheel while he decided to wave to me.

3. I watched people take things out of the shopping cart of others so they didn't have to go to the aisle that had the same product. I watched as someone cut in line at the restroom in order to go to the restroom first.

Many other situations such as these occurred throughout the past few days.

Funny how things happen

2011-04-09T06:41:00.001-07:00

First, Hentai Improvising Orchestra was sitting outside Hooligans in Denton this past Saturday night when we noticed a crazy group of people who we originally thought were cheerleaders but turned out to be dancers. Ken and I were frightened by said group as they ran towards us at one point only to stop to "pose" for a moment. We called them, "The Cult of Pastel People". The rest of the evening I thought of how we should have an improvising dance troupe join HIO for a show. I reached out via Facebook looking for a dance group to join us for Art Goggle and someone reached out to us. Turns out this someone may or may not be affiliated with the group of "Pastel People" that attacked us last Saturday night.

Second, and I hesitate to write about this, but after work me and a coworker went out for a cool beverage and a game of billiards. We wanted to try a new neighborhood watering hole. As we started playing pool a group of leather clad bikers entered and made their way to our table. We mentioned this to them and they made a few jokes about us wearing "TECH" and "KSU" shirts, but they seemed cool. Later in the evening the gentleman came up to me and mentioned that they had a daughter that attended our school, I asked their daughters name, and was amazed that I knew their daughter. We ended up talking to them for several hours after our introductions.

I mention this because it proves how small this world is. A lot of people told me not to take a job in the same area where I live and when I asked why, their response was that I needed separation from students after school. I have learned that this is not a reason. I love moments like these.

04.02.2011

2011-04-02T08:04:00.001-07:00

New track for an upcoming release of bass improvisations:

Will be participating in a recording session with HIO at:

Violitionist Sessions

a couple new portraits

2011-03-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

A couple new portraits I took, with some masks that I'm currently working on:

Fort Pierce

2011-03-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

So many windows boarded,
with no vacancy sign around.
A white bird skips.

03.14.2011; Fort Pierce, Florida

2011-03-15T03:28:00.000-07:00

6:31:27 AM

Day 1 down.

2:30:53 PM

Left Fort Worth around 6:30am made it to Jim's hotel, outside of New Orleans, around 4pm.
Went to Bourben Street to get some grub and daiquiris. Had a snack at Storyville. By snack I mean heavy appetizer like étouffée egg rolls and nachos. Washed those down with an Abita Strawberry beer. Later we walked around the French Quarter taking photos and people watching. Saw a homeless woman with "shopping center" feet, plenty of interesting street performers, and architecture. Made our way to the French Quarter Restaurant for more étouffée and "fried funness", which means fried oysters. Jim had a brisket po-boy at a seafood restaurant. Made our way to a daiquiri stand aft which we went back home to relax before we continue the drive.

2:45:59 PM

8:48:13 PM

Long day driving. New Orleans to Fort Pierce, FL + 4 stops = 12.5 hours. Lovely drive with nothing much to see except water, flatlands, and "Anti-Abortion" signs followed by Disney World signs. We're staying at a Sleep Inn in Fort Pierce, the a 5 star hotel, but a place to lay our heads without being in the car. Wandered up to a local Wendy's where we continued the trend of having a mediocre meal. Earlier in the day we had lunch at a place called Beef O' Brady's, where I had their soup of the day, Chicken and Dumplings. Not a meal to write home to mom about. Our hotel is surrounded by gas stations, adult stores, closed down and boarded up buildings, and fast food restaurants.

As we arrived we were greeted by a tan stray dog bounding over a small ridge from a small ditch behind the hotel. Preceding the small predator was a small brown rabbit. They each darted into and out of some small bushes, zigzagging around the black pavement of the hotels parking lot, only to head east across a small field disappearing into Florida's dark night.

03.12.2011

2011-03-13T08:42:00.001-07:00

Sanj made it in last night as Spring Break has officially begun. had a little dinner at Fuzzys and came home to relax. Today we wandered around Fort Worth, beginning on 6th Ave. @ Fort Worth Camera and walking all the way to Montgomery Street Cafe and back. After that we rode out to the TCU campus to walk around and to find a deli for lunch. We had a rather delicious lunch @ a place called Carshons Deli on Cleburne Street right off Berry Street.

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The Codex of Haikus

2011-03-08T04:15:00.001-08:00

I have been looking for something that can combine all my artistic expressions in one thing. I love and find inspiration in such endeavors, i.e. Kurt Schwitters “Merzbau”. While flipping through “Twilight”, not the vampire books, but the collection of photos by Gregory Crewdson, the other night it dawned on me to do something like this. Some of the past thoughts for photos, paintings, or video pieces started coming back to me but this time they seemed to fit together as a sort of a collection.

People without faces but who carry masks in a backpack in order to show emotions, architecture with no real utilitarian purposes, words that just sit in random locations, and more.

Working title for the project, “The Codex of Haikus” or “The Codex of Babel”.

Soundtrack for 03.07.2011

2011-03-07T04:51:00.000-08:00

1) Beans - "End It All"

2) Spheruleus - "Forgotten Outland"

3) Spheruleus - "Driftwood/Seafoam"

4) Spheruleus - "Rust"

Ukulele Rendered

2011-02-24T04:47:00.001-08:00

New track:

Ukulele Rendered

02.23.2011

2011-02-23T03:54:00.001-08:00

Revamped my electric cigar box ukulele to be an acoustic cigar box ukulele. Major improvement in sound. Still has a contact mic in it so it's still amplified.

Did some "Exquisite Corpse" exercises with some elementary students last night at East Handley Elementary School. Was quite fun to share some art and music with young students, hopefully, one will go on to become an artist.

Soundtrack for another sleepy day, 02.23.2011:

1) Herve Provini "Digital Music Landscape for Drum and Computer"
2) Arturas Bumsteinas "Eterniday News Vol. 1"

Yet another home...

2011-02-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

Alonetone (music)

http://alonetone.com/theowlandtheoctopus

Dreams

2011-02-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

Have you ever sat back and thought about the reoccurring images, themes, and sounds that happen in your dreams? For some reason early this morning after I let my dogs out to do their "business" I did and here is what I came up with:

1) there is always some king, ruler, leader. For example, last night the ruler was John Fahey. How I knew this was because he had the crown over his head.

2) animals leading a revolution.

3) Phoenix. The mythological creature not the place.

4) Always silent except for background music.

5) Ants.

6) Usually there is either a person or animal wandering around reciting poetry, which I can only tell because there are speech bubbles over their heads.

7) Most times the locations have very few people. Even if it's in a location like a city I usually only notice one or two people.

02.14.2011

2011-02-14T04:44:00.000-08:00

Last week was lovely, aside from one day off due to ice. Got some interesting photos:

Went out and supported our tennis team and on Saturday went out to watch our baseball teams play during a scrimmage with Poly.

Sunday was quite peaceful. In the lower 70's, my wife, the "beasties", and myself spent the day outside. Read a lot in "The Tao of Wu" by RZA and watched several inspiring artsy movies like "The Cats of Mirikitani".

Got some work done in two altered books, on two paintings, and an orchestrated piece of music.

02.12.2011

2011-02-12T05:32:00.000-08:00

Soundtrack for 02.11.2011

2011-02-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

Angel Faraldo "Scelsi Remix: 7 Mantras"
Cello + Laptop "Live at El Niu, Barcelona"
Mat U Stone "Creak vs. Beat2"

02.09.2011

2011-02-08T04:49:00.000-08:00

prickly sounds of ice
against the metal screens outside
here's to the crew.

02.01.2011; RPM Challenge, Day 1

2011-02-01T05:05:00.001-08:00

RPM Challenge, Day 1:

1. Drum tracks almost completed.

2. Album cover started.

3. Working title, "4 Cantos"

01.31.2011

2011-01-31T04:18:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't do it. I tried switching over to a different blog/website provider that charges but I just couldn't justify that $99 a year.

Weekend was awesome. Saturday, 01.29.2011, I auditioned for Stone Machine Electric, a rock/doom band. I fooled them enough to let me join them.

Sunday, 01.30.2011, allergies kept me indoors instead of outside in the beautiful weather but I didn't let that ruin my day. Got me a new used bass, Ibanez Soundgear 4 string, it's not fancy but it's wonderful to play. Got some work done on a new video piece and some new music, that hopefully will be posted soon. Also, watched some good Kurosawa flicks.

Amping up for 02.01.2011, the RPM Challenge.

Merry Christmas to us

2010-12-19T17:16:00.001-08:00

Saturday

1) I dumped the dogs off with Puddin.

2) Went to Dallas to pick up Jo's computer that a friend of ours was working on. Like usual traffic was backed up as I drew near downtown Dallas. I attempted a shortcut that turned out worse since gps requires an address in order to be effective.

3) Took Jo to her 2.5 hour, full body massage.

3.5) I wandered around the museum district, took some photos, listened to some street noises, and enjoyed the scenery.

4) Went to check in at the Worthington Renaissance in downtown Fort Worth.

5) Had some fantastic calimari at the Vidalia's.

6) Went and had a fantastic dinner at MK's Sushi on 7th.

7) Drove around Fort Worth looking at Christmas lights. No one this year really put up anything but we did see some fantastic lights in downtown Fort Worth.

8) Went back to the hotel opened gifts and watched tv.

9) Woke up the next day had some wonderful breakfast then went on our way.

the origami crane

2010-12-18T05:33:00.000-08:00

The most peaceful form of meditation these days is folding a paper crane, an origami crane. I've always been interested in the "art of paper and paper-folding", whether it's just watching movies on the subject, i.e. "Between the Fold" or in trying to find a more interesting and less representational use of paper in art.

Recently, I started getting back into origami in order to teach my students how to fold paper, specifically the crane. The crane seems to be the most overused shape in origami next to a box, the heart, and the ever popular "cootie test" that every elementary school kid plays. The last three days I've probably created 100 different interpretations of the crane utilizing several different papers and images.

Upon doing this simple lesson I have discovered a new way to meditate and that is just sitting down and folding the crane. I've often thought about changing up what I fold or trying to learn a new form but I like folding something that is simple and somewhat overused, similar to the way Andy Warhol used the soup cans or pop culture icons.

Soundtrack for 12.14.2010;

2010-12-14T04:35:00.000-08:00

1) "Improvisation Air 1" - Shinobu Nemoto

2) "Improvisation Air 2" - Shinobu Nemoto

3) "Melting Loop Trio" - Shinobu Nemoto

Some boring thoughts on the past weekend and Soundtrack for 12.13.2010

2010-12-13T04:18:00.000-08:00

Lost my computer this past week for about 4 days. Thought I was having some kind of software problem only to discover that it was a hard drive dying on me. Not sure what I have lost because of no backups until I go through my external hard drives but I know there is some music, videos, and photographs that were more recent that I didn't backup. Sucks to be this attached to a piece of technology.

I think I may start doing a few small solo shows in the new year, as "the owl and the octopus" to satisfy my more minimalist side. However, I would love for Hentai Improvising Orchestra to have a lot of shows during the summer so I won't have time to do anything else.

1 more week left till Christmas vacation.

Soundtrack for 12.13.2010:

1. "Hound Dog" - Big Mama Thornton

2. "Breath Taking" - Akio Suzuki and David Toop

3. "Theoretically pure anterograde" - THE CARETAKER

12.09.2010

2010-12-09T04:26:00.000-08:00

I'm so bad at this, typing on this blog.

Some new photographs:

Working on a long video piece. Started out as a piece for my friend's band, Herd of Instinct, a prog-rock style band. This will be the longest piece I've ever tried to put together so we'll see. No video sample to show yet.

Soundtrack for 12.06.2010:

2010-12-06T04:44:00.000-08:00

1) "In the 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy By Magic" - Kasai Allstars

2) "Catching Fire" - Lars Lundehave Hanse

3) "AT" - CHRISTINE SEHNAOUI, DRAGOS TARA, D'INCIS

4) "Sur Place 3, Saint-Martin-d'Hères" - Pali Meursault

10.30.2010

2010-10-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Went to the Irving Arts Center today to see a sound installation by the artist Mineko Grimmer. She creates these sound sculptures where ice and rocks are suspended above wooden sculptures usually with guitar strings, bamboo tubes, and metals. Over a period of time these blocks ice melt dropping water, ice chunks, and rocks down on the sculptures below. Beautiful. I got there as they were replacing the blocks of ice but I walked around the building for a good hour and went back in to catch some of the sounds as the rocks began to fall. It was stunning. I just sat there, along a wall, and waiting with anticipation for rocks to fall just to hear what everything sounded like.

I was really inspired after leaving this show. Earlier in the day I was feeling a little depressed about how I felt about the current state of art and music, feeling that most current art/music is mediocre. After seeing her sculptures I didn't know whether to give up creating art or to go home and work on some of my own art.

I've been really exploring music, which we take for granted here in the States like hip hop and punk, but created in other locations. Today I watched, "Taqwacores", about Muslim punk musicians, the book is more about a fictional house or community
of Muslim punks. Recently, I watched some stories about Iraqi hip hop emcee's and their fight to get their music heard.

missing video

2010-10-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

The missing video from the last post:

a gift given/returned from owl and the octopus on Vimeo.

"the gift given/returned"

Still under construction.

the weekend of this past weekend(er)

2010-10-25T04:44:00.000-07:00

10.22.2010

Went to BoomerJacks to watch the final game of the Rangers/Yankees game where the Rangers won in a wonderful fashion. However, our service at the bar was terrible.

10.23.2010

Pretty much hung out at the house till the HIO show at Lander's Machine Shop. Rain, rain, rain, most of the day but I did get out to get some necessary items, one being some 8mm film converted to DVD:

"a gift given/returned" - 8mm found footage. Still under construction...

The Hentai Improvising Orchestra show was very different than other shows. Lot's of percussion, maybe a little more aggressive than most, but was still very interesting. Lori, from the Firehouse, donated several xylophones, recorders, and other percussion prior to the show so we put them to good use. It was a quiet beginning to the night but as I look through some of the Facebook pages from the night, the evening started to get busier the later the night went on.

A nights sleep minus 2 dogs.

10.24.2010

Watched the Alabama/Tennessee game that we recorded from the night before. Finally made it to the grocery store where I was reminded why I hate going to the store.

On a brighter note I started working on a series of HIO games and movies using my Nintendo DSi.

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10.17.2010; Vernon Fisher and stuff

2010-10-17T12:59:00.001-07:00

Never fails, when i set out to do something I forget something. Took Jo to get a message so I decided to get a museum membership and go in to see the Vernon Fisher show at th Modern. Dropped my bag off up front then headed in. First piece, reached in my pocket for my pencil and reached for my backpack to get my sketchpad to write in, realized I forgot to get it out before handing over my backpack. I'm too committed now to turn back. Now i have to go back and research artwork titles in order to finish this...

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10.10.2010

2010-10-10T06:17:00.001-07:00

Stole this idea from Breaking Light, what I will be playing tonight at Doc's Records and Vintage:

Listed in picture:

1) Small toy guitar. Was a Pixar Toy Story guitar now a HIO altered guitar.
2) Old iBook. Used to film performances with cheap old web cam.
3) 6 string cigar box guitar.
4) 1 string cigar box guitar.
5) iFlip
6) Old VCR videocam
7) Sony video camera

Not pictured:

1) MacBook Pro.
2) Portable turntable.

above the plain

2010-09-28T04:33:00.000-07:00

in utah’s rocky ranges to new york
the prevalence of fussy puffy coats seemed out of place
the sleek city streets are kind of blown up
those guys wearing the techiest coats
with over a million zippers down
drawing from subtly sturdy sophistication
rugged guys climb mountains in the city
merging two worlds
well versed double lives, diving into the world
fantastical costumes transformed into mesh happy
woodland sprites while a nomad king to
devote the transition to so drastic a balance
helps men find refuge.

String Theory

2010-09-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

a video piece of babies singing a refrain
at the top of their lungs.
the climax breaks with a moment of rage,
thrashes about in a violent attempt to break
in a defeated heap of exhaustion,
to demolish an accident,
often one time auto-destructive influences
with untitled babies turns anarchy in on itself,
dragging
the macho power kicking and screaming in the opposite direction
specifically the phallic requires one explosive night scene,
soaking up electrically charged spaces,
i examine the realm to find more interesting places to explore.
currently as part of the two walls of speakers
a web of strings
attached on the curious hybrid of electric towers
pluck the distant hum of feedback
in a separation wall,
silences the other side opposite of themselves
with a distortion the experimental piano player
gently tweaks towards collective harmony.

09.24.2010

2010-09-24T16:44:00.001-07:00

This heat equals
Flies buzzing around
A reprieve is needed.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

imagine the price of something

2010-09-21T04:24:00.001-07:00

Around this time last year
to present the billowing wooden organ
built specifically for everything
the staggering tandem
stood back to back
the shoes were the puzzle
mesmerizing and conjoined vision
crafted to echo,
the impressive handiwork of years
makes sense that to approach to supple
overwrought, conceptual flourishes subtly
designed for example
the simplicity of the monastic standpoint
of desire having a viewpoint
a victim can take that dialogue
and superimpose images onto life,
silhouettes open desire

09.10.2010

2010-09-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

09.08.2010

I need to stop eating before going to sleep at night. My dream included me being chased by priests throwing kernels of corn at me, that exploded upon impact. Soundtrack was "No Record" by The Nihilist Spasm Band.

09.09.2010

Last night the priests turned into skeletons with bird heads in priest robes throwing the letters C-O-R-N at me. I start looking for a car to escape in but all the doors were locked, I see a turtle the size of a VW Bug, I climb on top his/her shell, and it took off walking down the street, a little faster than a slow jog. For the rest of the dream, that I can remember, was a serious of travel sequences through a weird, Suessian landscape where I was the only human.

09.07.2010

2010-09-07T05:01:00.001-07:00

09.04.2010; DELTA

2010-09-04T19:26:00.001-07:00

Delta - Interview
Uploaded by on-point. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.

09.04.2010; How To Survive an Outbreak from a Committee

2010-09-04T06:57:00.001-07:00

How To Survive an Outbreak from a Committee

in space, death surrounds us at all times. a few inches of the chilling embrace, an infinite empty grave and monsters lurking around hope. The perils of advice traversed us.

A.

the intimidating figure
with the plasma cutter
is a stoic protagonist.

don’t be fooled though.

no nightmare is original
now slightly more experience
and capable
the loss of the universe,
the concept of dementia
intersects with the story
and mind...

B.

the classic limb-severing fashion
as in the stasis
freezes
the pulse of kinesis
can now launch debris into
sailing towards and impales
time.

C.

from point to point in a scenerio
exchanged magnetic movement
to weave through certain floating spaces
when we found the problem
spinning rapidly closing.

D.

collecting power nodes and time
should have its own unique
being...

Sketchbook #1

2010-08-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

New doodles, new gig.

2010-08-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

Survived the first day of school. It's going to be a wonderful year, hopefully, I will get some good stuff to show in competitions throughout this year.

New doodles that may make it to new stencils that may make it into a new painting:

08.16.2010

2010-08-16T04:59:00.000-07:00

Gabriel Von Wayditch Teaser from Normal Life Pictures on Vimeo.

An inside joke

2010-08-11T04:42:00.001-07:00

What started as an inside joke has become a project of an OCD undertaking. As I work out certain scenes I continue to add elements to other scenes and as I work on those I add elements to the previous scenes. Below is the first 1 minute of progress up to this point but like everything else will probably change by the time I start the next scene. The title, "Exile on Monkgomery Street", is just a working title right now.

More to come...

08.05.2010

2010-08-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Some photos I took on my walk from El Campo Street to the Amon Carter Museum.

"Rust"

"Gardener's Boots"

"Church w/Scroll"

08.04.2010

2010-08-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

a strong wind left
leaving melancholy behind.
a green jungle in slumber.

Words I remember from our training at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth;

monolithic
claustrophobic
red
black
mental

07.24.2010

2010-07-25T05:40:00.000-07:00

Decided on a movie, Shinboru or Symbol, rather than attending the Yells at Eels/Tidbits show at the Kesseler.

I don't even know where to start in describing or explaining this movie, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this movie myself. Director Hitoshi Matsumoto has created a funny, thought provoking little gem with Symbol. How can you not like a film that combines odd scenes, fart jokes, luchadores, and religion with a quirky soundtrack. It has two stories intertwined with one another, seemingly having nothing to do with one another, but eventually working their way into each other. You start off by learning a little bit about the luchadore Escargot Man on a day where he is to have a big match with some younger fighters. The transition from this story to the story of a man trapped in a white room was seamless as a chicken feather from Mexico lands on the dirty soil then floats down to the floor of the white room where we meet our other subject. He eventually wakes up to survey his room only to find no way out and a rather phalic protrusion from the smooth white walls. I feel it necessary to mention at this point that when we learn what the small sculpture on the wall is two older moviegoers decided to get up and leave saying as they passed by, "If this is what the whole movie is going to be about then I don't want to waste my time.". What follows are odd and mostly futile attempts by this Japanese prisoner to get out of his situation, with every push on the small protrusions is followed by a seemingly useless item, like sushi without soy sauce.

I probably should've prepared myself for this by watching Hitoshi Matsumoto's first full length, "Big Man Japan", which received a lot of praise but as with a lot of movies it got lost in the vast expanse of my Netflix queue, but I will watch it today. I laughed so hard at "Symbol" I came home with a headache. I couldn't find a decent trailer for "Sumbol" but here is a trailer I found for "Big Man Japan":

07.24.2010

2010-07-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

07.23.2010

2010-07-23T16:18:00.001-07:00

this weekend

2010-07-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

07.17.2010:

Yells at Eels rocked.

Cool Kids put a perfect ending to a great night.

07.18.2010:

Ate brunch at Bread Winners. San Antonio Tacos = Soft taco filled with eggs, sour cream, cheese, and black beans. Place was packed.

Went to see "The Kids Are All Right Now" at the Magnolia Theatre. Pretty funny movie. Was great in portraying tension. Julianne Moore needs to keep her clothes on.

Then came home to watch "Greenberg" with Ben Stiller. Ben Stiller goes through life pissed off and wanting to do nothing, a wonderful utopia in most peoples minds but what a let down. Good movie all the way through till the very ending to which we still don't understand what the hell just happened.

Misrepresented Peers

2010-07-17T05:02:00.000-07:00

Nothing good happens
As power is lost in the bar
Actually in the part that I occupy
As a rain delay occurs
In the game I watch
People stand around me
Flirting with people
As they did many years prior
Uninvited guests arrive
But are welcomed with open arms
As drinks flow
Noise rises
My sanctuary is dismissed
people crowd my chair
The bar hands do their best
To keep the hordes satisfied
I imagine lizards occupying a buffet line
As people march in
corralled by some overweight
Housewife checking names off
Bob smith arrives at the bar
Naming off the microbrewed beers he searched
All this to impress the masses he didn't like in the past
What one does to impress
To look good in the eyes of misrepresented peers

07.16.2010

2010-07-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

1) Finally get to sign my paperwork for my new teaching position. Was getting a little worried about it since I haven't filled out paperwork but turns out the teacher whose spot I am taking decided not to officially resign till she found another position.

2) Einstein is losing hair like an old man so I've got to take him to the vet to see what we can do. If it isn't one thing it's another.

3) Thanks to my friend, Bonnie the science teacher, HIO has "TD the HIO gorilla" going places other gorillas will never.

"TD making a phone call; 07.16.2010"

4) Creating some new music entitled, "The Ghost Orchid".

5) Going back to the photographing toys. What I enjoyed doing in the past.

07.11.2010

2010-07-11T20:23:00.001-07:00

How we spent our day.

old "haikus" about Smokey

2010-07-07T04:35:00.000-07:00

We lost our little girl, Smokey, whom we've had for 14 or 15 years now. She was the cat that kept all the other animals in check. I found these couple "haikus" in a sketchbook:

her grey black frame silent
as she stalks across the carpet
trees rustle in night breeze

I stumble out of bed
into the darkness of the hall
her claw reaches out

new postcard art and sticker art

2010-07-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

A week of the "Gump"

2010-06-28T04:49:00.000-07:00

1) 06.20.2010. Drove 13.5 hours to get home. Had a blow out about 20 miles west of Ruston, Louisiana. Had the tire replaced at the most sad looking Walmart I've ever been to.

2) 06.21.2010. Drove Rooth around. Went through the attic to see what needs to go and what needs to stay. Ate at Ruby Tuesdays. Freezing cold. Had asian dumplings and hamburger shooters with pimento cheese. Both were great dishes. Jim came over for a drink then went up to his house and met the family, minus "mini Jim", who was exhausted and hungry so went to sleep before we got there.

3) 06.22.2010. Found someone to clean attic out. Went to Michael's and Hobby Lobby with Rooth.

4) 06.23.2010. Supervised attic cleanup. The people we hired knocked the attic and garage out in less than 3 hours. The rest of the day was filled with slack and trying to finish Mel's little video for the reception after the wedding. Had dinner at Applebee's. Later, went to Hooters to have a few drinks with Jim.

5) 06.24.2010. Picked Jo up at airport. Hung out with Rooth and Penny a little bit.

6) 06.25.2010. Went to rehearsal dinner at the Montgomery Brewhouse later that day. Prior to the Montgomery Brewhouse I went to the Hank Williams Museum. Pretty interesting stuff. It was cool to see some of the clothes that were made for him and see some of the old instruments that he and some of his bandmates played. It was more interesting to talk to the fella' that runs the place. Picked up the book "Still In Love with You" written by his step-daughter Lycrecia Williams.

7) 06.26.2010. Went to Mel's wedding. Very nice wedding right by Rooth's house. Dark clouds rolled in and within 10 minutes of the ceremony's beginning the bottom fell out. Thunder and lightning could be seen through the sanctuary's windows. Power finally went out. Priest didn't miss a step. Reception was nice and pretty laid back. Got to see a few people that I haven't seen in awhile and a few that I have never met. Rooth wasn't feeling too well so I picked us up a little dinner from Ruby Tuesdays. This time two orders of the asian dumplings. Later in the night we met up with Mel and Davis at the Brewhouse again for drinks.

8) 06.27.2010. Came home, with no delays in travel, and picked up animals. The rest of the evening was taken up by slackness...

Current art/poetry book

2010-06-21T21:00:00.001-07:00

06.21.2010; Just a little late

2010-06-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

[06.18.2010]

First, yesterday, I got a call from L.T. at the FWISD art office about an art teacher resigning from the high school near our house, Eastern Hills High School. After a few minutes of calling everyone I knew to get my resume and stuff to the principal I got an interview set up for Friday. Had the interview at 1:45pm and knew by the end of day that I got the job.Later that night, had an amazing night of beer, dairy queen, beer, performances by Doggebi and ClearSpot, with a nice performance by HIO at 1919 Hemphill, then more beer with friends at HIO's favorite hangout, Ye Olde Bull and Bush Pub in Fort Worth.

[06.19.2010]

Didn't do much except watch TCU put the beatdown on FSU at the college world series then picked Ken up and headed out to the Phoenix Project in Dallas for another performance. Ate dinner at Vietnam, then had some beer in the parking lot of the P.P......We went on first so I could come home to get some rest before leaving town for Montgomery. So we missed everyone else's.

[06.20.2010]

A 10 hour trip only took me 13.5 hours. Left a little late but the drive was fine until I got about 5 miles east of Shreveport, Louisiana and I had a flat tire. 98%, 105% with the heat index, and 110% on the blacktop of I-20 where I had the pleasure of unloading the trunk and having to change out the tire. Nearest place to get a new tire, 22 miles further down the road in Rustin, Louisana, the most depressing Walmart I've been in. I thought they were going out of business when I first walked in from the tire and lube department.
After that the drive was long, but nice. I hate the long drive but I like driving through cities like Yazoo City, Uniontown, etc... Unfortunately, I was so ready to be out of the car I didn't take the time to stop and take photographs as I passed through these towns.

[06.21.2010]

Relaxing day in "the Gump". Woke up early and enjoyed some coffee. Worked on some artwork/poetry, worked on a new instrument a little bit

Before

After

and thought about cleaning the attic out; that was quickly dismissed upon climbing the stairs and realizing how hot it was/is. Rooth decided to hire someone to come out and clean the attic while I supervise what is being thrown away and kept. Another reason I won't live in a neighborhood with a homeowners association, they will not let her place a dumpster out front so we can clean the attic. What happens when someone wants to do a large remodel. I guess that won't happen. Watched Federer almost lose in the first round of Wimbledon. Currently watching some college world series baseball.

06.16.2010 mind map

2010-06-17T04:29:00.000-07:00

06.13.2010

2010-06-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

around the corner
a cool breeze greets us
the man stares forward

06.10.2010

2010-06-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was great.

1) Ran/walked yesterday morning. Ran some "fast" laps around the school park and ran some reps up and down the stairs near the elementary school.

2) Started a couple new little art pieces which includes a video;

3) Made some progress in "Dragon Age" on PS3.

4) Bison burgers at the Stash Daubers. Discussed upcoming HIO shows, paper mache techniques, and listened to Jimmy Stewart sing some classic tunes.

5) Came home and slept like a baby...

06.09.2010

2010-06-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

aromatic coffee
mixed with the clean air
today rain may fall

06.01.2010; Henry Brant

2010-06-01T03:56:00.000-07:00

05.31.2010; new entry

2010-05-31T20:22:00.001-07:00

05.22.2010

2010-05-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today went well, I learned a lot of things:

1) My internal voice on art gets the best of me sometimes. My head doesn't listen to my heart and my heart doesn't listen to my brain. Instead of trusting that my paintings could stand on their own I try and build some "crazy" installation, that at the end of the day, looked incomplete and thrown together.

2) "The Shortest Distance" is the most underrated singer-songwriter in the DFW + Denton area.

3) I love to do these outdoor festivals. They're different than galleries, lot less stressful and a different set of challenges to work with.

4) The sun is HOT! Respect the sun!

Augustine Kofie

2010-05-21T04:06:00.001-07:00

TQOL "Augustine Kofie" from The Qualities of Light on Vimeo.

Pre-Babel Construction

2010-05-20T04:02:00.000-07:00

Been attempting to read Plato's "Republic" and listening to Sir Thomas More's "Utopia" on audiobook and "Wave Twisters" by DJ Q-bert. I'm really interested in this idea of the perfect society. This piece is based on these things along with the story about the Tower of Babel and the other versions of this story.

You will be able to see the full installation on May 22, 2010, Arlington Highlands shopping center from 12pm - 5pm.

Daniel Higgs

2010-05-18T04:03:00.000-07:00

Was never a big fan of Lungfish but loving his solo stuff.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

2010-05-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

A must see movie for street artists, artists, and people who love art especially street art. Banksy is one of my favorite artists. I appreciate his willingness to create art under the assumption that no one will know who he is and the viewer is left to their own to decide what the pieces mean and if they're really art or a practical joke.

Haiku

2010-05-10T10:23:00.002-07:00

tumbleweeds of dust
float dotting the sky around
rusty motors groan

05.10.2010

2010-05-10T10:23:00.001-07:00

Pretty good weekend, even though my throat was killing me and I didn’t get any sleep. Although, I didn’t find anything at Half Price Books or C D Source, I didn’t get anything built for school or my upcoming show, but other than that everything else was fine.

I finished up new tracks for an upcoming cd, “Do You Make Jesus Want to Vomit”. I’m using mostly sound samples recorded during the weekend of Hentai Improvising Orchestra’s recent show at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.

Today, I started the beginning processes of “creating” this Merzbau, The Fort Worth Merzbau, a public/private sculpture in my backyard. I’m not real sure why I want to create this sculpture other than because I can but the more and more I think about it the idea of a sculpture that can be moved around in inspires me. I like the thought of this structure that will contain everything that I like and uses mostly trash is exciting.

How to avoid it becoming a pile of trash?

The first stages of the construction will be presented at the Art in the Park, May 22 at the Arlington Highlands shopping center. I have a small space of 10’ x 18’ that we can treat like a portion of gallery space. I think I will install a little installation that once the show is over I can move back to the house to be part of the installation there.

“Do You Make Jesus Want to Vomit” was completed over the weekend.

Saw Iron Man 2, pretty average at best, but it is a mainstream movie based off of a comic book so you get what you get.

“Cabinet of Curiosities; Day 4. The Meeting of Self and God”, was begun this weekend. Supposed to go along with the songs on “Do You Make Jesus Want to Vomit” cd. This film is more about life and death that actually meeting God but that was the title I thought about.

Prom is next weekend and the gallery show at the school the following weekend.

New music

2010-05-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

the owl and the octopus
"Do You Make Jesus Want to Vomit"

Samples were taken from a recent Hentai Improvising Orchestra performance at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center show for Other Arts. Other samples were taken from the same weekend field recordings, one field recording taken earlier that week, and some gopichand samples Hickey sent for a past performance that he couldn't attend.

There will be a few limited edition cd's for sale soon.

*The bird in the photograph was found already dead in my neighborhood, I assure everyone that I did not kill the bird.

Alexi Biryukoff - "talmenka"

2010-05-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

When listening to this current release by sound artist, Alexei Biryukoff, "talmenka" made me forgot where I was. I actually got “confused” with my surroundings because as I listened to this through my noise canceling headphones I knew there were no geese or trains anywhere near urban Fort Worth.

Most people don’t hear the music in everyday life and sounds so it’s always difficult for people to appreciate pure field recordings. It was hard when I was given an early Chris Watson release to listen to but as I listened I got used to hearing natural sounds in recordings, also to someone who doesn’t travel these documents are a treasure. How do you review a release of sounds from one’s surroundings? It’s like walking out your front door and reviewing what you see. I just love listening to the natural rhythm of my surroundings and this is a good example of pure field recordings. From the industrial sounds found in “a six min trip” to “rain” Mr. Biryukoff presents a nice audio presentation of his town.

Weekender

2010-05-03T04:06:00.001-07:00

Pretty decent weekend.

Nothing notable happened on Friday. Last day of TAKS testing, that’s about it. Went out to the first night of the Other Arts show at FWCAC to see Tammy Gomez/Ramsey set.

Saturday, May 1st was a pretty peaceful day. Worked on a new kalimba and went to a few yard sales. Found some books, an old wine box, and a free end table. End table will be found as part of an installation to be installed at the Arlington Highlands shopping center in May.

The kalimba was made from an old dominoes tin, it was used later that night at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center show, for the first time and probably last time. Sounded “dead”, no resonance and some of the keys had no sound at all. Picked up Ken and headed up to the theatre to set up early for the show. Once that was done we headed up to the seafood place for some grub then went over to The Grotto for the HIO Pub Crawl, besides we needed to wait somewhere for Hickey to arrive after slopping the horses and feeding the pigs. After a couple drinks and enough Kentucky Derby watching to last a decade we headed back to the FWCAC to pick up Hickey and head over to our usual spot, Bull & the Bush.

Once there we walked across the street to Doc’s Records to crate dig before they closed. Found a couple records, which I didn’t purchase, but I did find an old autoharp, which I did purchase. It’s old, missing about 5 strings and the one’s that are still there are rusted. Sounds amazing. Creepy.
My new favorite toy.

Over at the B&B we just did our usual thing, reverted back to our childhood and made silly jokes that only we would laugh at, drank, etc... Dan McGraw found us and decided to join us. Told a wonderful story about writing a story somewhere about drugs, his current story, and how Fort Worth is boring and has nowhere to get good food. Also, gave some helpful grooming tips to Hickey. While Ken conversed with some other patrons and Hickey breaked for some more beverages I walked up to Dairy Queen for some much needed grub, again.

Off to FWCAC for our show we go. James Talambas/Paul Thomas started the night fairly subdued but quite interesting in it’s simplicity. SWIRVE was next, jazzy spoken word to close the first half. During intermission Hickey and I went to McDonalds for some coffee and apple pies. Second half began with Paul Unger/Max Oepen, interesting jazz. HIO closed out the night. Quiet, creepy, and a bit sloppy but after listening to the audio from that night most of Sunday much more interesting than once thought. Two out of three members wasn’t really into the night, for whatever reason, and it showed in the music. Music seems uneasy. Ken couldn’t hear me, Hickey had a few technical issues with a new instrument but through all that we got about 30 minutes of audio. Later, Herb mentioned it was quite different than anything else he heard from us but wasn’t as bad as we assumed it must’ve sounded.

Sunday, was lazy. Didn’t get too much done around the house. Jo laid out in the sun while I worked on a new wood kalimba, dumped the audio from the night before, and read a little bit.

The things I carry:

2010-04-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

1 Blackberry smartphone
1 8g iPod touch
1 A and 1 D acoustic guitar strings
several pink erasers
1 glue stick
2 containers of 7mm pencil leads
1 extra fine Precise pen, black ink
1 Laddie pencil
3 Twist Erase .7mm mechanical pencils
1 set of keys
20 Elmers paint markers
15 Treehouse paint markers
2 white out pens
1 black sharpie
1 small bottle of Advil
1 8” x 10” sketchbook
1 8” x10” grid notebook
1 3” x 5” plain Moleskine
10 mailing labels
1 book of my own poetry (currently working on)
a copy of “The Maximus Poems” by Charles Olson

Anton Mobin "Floating Wood"

2010-04-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

Anton Mobin - Floating Wood
Green Field Records

Field recordings have been used in many way; as source material to manipulated, as background noise in pop songs, and as documentation of the world around us. Some artists treat the recordings with effects as you would a guitar and some leave it as is with little or no editing. I love phonography in all it’s forms, treated or untreated, and recently I’ve downloaded quite a few good releases from some netlabels using field recordings:

“Sound Journal Edits” - My Fun

“3Nocturns” - 1HOME

“Floating Wood” - Anton Mobin

After hearing, "Tales 4 Tapes" by Anton Mobin/Ayato, I've been downloading and listening to as much A. Mobin's stuff I can find, and there is a lot out there. Most is good, some are mediocre, and a very few are less than interesting but “Floating Wood” is beautiful. It’s mysterious, a bit creepy when some of the animal sounds come in, and a bit calming with the water and rain sounds. I felt like I lost 20 minutes of my life and I didn’t care that I lost that time. When the mbira sound comes in part of the way through I thought this was just another ploy by an artist to get the fringe listener to be engaged in the “new age” nuances of a field recording piece but the familiar instrument tone is the background music to a great or several great pieces of sounds combined.

Mr. Mobin used several different locations for his source materials and a few different mic setups for this too. At the bottom of the little instrumentation and location information for this piece on audioblog.arteradio.com there was a quote that sums up this piece and most of all Mr. Mobin’s work perfectly:

“Calm and surrealist nothing is real in the composition which combines Improvisation & Field Recordings.

"Inner Collapse" - Anton Mobin
Treetrunk

"Tales for Tapes" - Anton Mobin/Ayato
Justnotnormal netlabel

04.26.2010

2010-04-26T20:21:00.001-07:00

My Monday started with me waking up at 4am because of my sinuses, falling back asleep only to wake up again at 5:15 wondering why my two alarms were not going off. That mystery is still unresolved. Left the house a little early to make sure I get to the school early, TAKS week and all. Before I go any further I would like to mention that I watch Fox 4 news every morning for traffic and weather updates and nothing was said this morning about the accident. I get about half a mile from my house on I-30 east and stop. Nothing. For 1 hour more I, we, inched along till finally we have an opportunity to exit. Now upon attempting to exit no one in the right lane would let any of us over knowing good a well that a few yards up the roads are blocked off, instead they just ignored us. Once we got off a had to drive a ridiculous route around Arlington just to get back on I-30. Hour and a half later I pull into he parking lot at school. Once inside I discover that there was no one watching my classroom. Fun times. Good thing I don't have any supplies to worry about.

The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Just preparing for the TAKS tests and all.

04.25.2010

2010-04-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

"untitled"
Still under production

"untitled"
Still under production

Pretty good weekend.

Friday, 04.23.2010;
Got some work done on my new entry into the cigarboxnation.com double neck cbg contest. Worked on some paintings and that's about it.

Saturday, 04.24.2010;
Got some errands completed with my co-pilot, Sparky, but unfortunately for him PetSmart was out of his favorite food. Worked on the cbg again and some paintings. Took a nice nap while the lawn guy sweated pulling up monkey grass out of two of my flower beds. Later in the evening went to a friends 40th birthday party at the Tyler House in Oak Cliff. I learned, as if I didn't know by now, that I just don't fit in with "professionals".

Sunday, 04.25.2010;
Hung out with my wife outside all day. Wonderful. Again, worked on the double neck cbg, almost finished now. Went to the Stash Dauber's for a lawn chair party. Quite enjoyable, best part of the evening, "Mime in a Bag".

"Mime In A Bag". chalk on concrete. 2010

double neck cbg in production

Pretty laid back weekend

2010-04-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

1) Took Jo’s car to Walmart to get the oil change and tires rotated before she drove out to east Texas to see her sister. That took a few hours due to Walmart’s managements genius move of laying off the opening cashier back in the service department.

2) Spent a couple hours trying to clean my classroom so another teacher can use it the next couple of weeks for math tutoring and TAKS testing.

3) Met some coworkers at Grimaldi’s Pizza in Dallas for some lunch and baseball. Which Texas went on to lose 3 to 7 against the hated Yankees.

4) Stayed away from Record Store Day but did get the reissue of John Fahey’s “Yellow Princess”.

5) Started on a new cigar box guitar for the contest on Cigarbox Nation, where we’re asked to build a double neck cigar box guitar. Drew a couple different designs:

a) a simple double neck with two diddleybow necks.
b) a double neck with one diddleybox at the top for a bass string and a expanded diddleybow neck at the bottom incorporating 5 sympathetic drone strings and a playable string.

I decided to combine the two and make one neck with three sympathetic strings and one neck with a playable string.

6) Spent a lot of time watching Asian horror films and Stanley Cup playoff games.

a) Tokyo Gore Police
b) Samurai Princess
c) Tokyo Zombie
d) Versus

7) Destroyed some existing artwork and started creating something new and different from their remains.

04.13.2010

2010-04-13T20:50:00.001-07:00

This weekend was pretty exhausting. I hate driving and this weekend I had to drive over 1400 miles to visit mom in the "Gump". It was good to see mom although she looked the worst I've ever seen but by the end of my stay she had improved a lot. Talked to her today and other than having no voice she assured me she was feeling better; enough so she went to the beauty salon.

On the drive back I got reacquainted with Hank Williams Sr. I guess growing up and listening to your father walk around the house singing Hank Sr. you don't really appreciate his music. That and Hank is not the coolest musician to listen to when your a teenager. It reminded me of my father.

I started working on a new instrument using only items that I found in my parents garage. Pictures to follow...

Plaistow "The Crow"

2010-04-10T04:21:00.000-07:00

My first review on the site, hopefully, more to come.

Plaistow is the reason I love netlabels, netlabels may be abundant on the net and very easy fo an artist to set up, good ones present some of the best and honest music you'll find anywhere. Case in point, insubordinations.net, a netlabel devoted to improvised music, their new release is a 2009 recording by Geneva's very own Plaistow. Plaistow is a trio comprised of:

Johann Bourquenez: piano
Raphaël Ortis: bass
Cyril Bondi: drums

Plaistow's music is at times very minimal and other times very bombastic, composed and/or improvised, melodic vs. noise. Cyril Bondi is definitely one of the most underrated drummers playing in music today. His playing can be light when playing little flourishes on the cymbals as in "Doppleganger" or full on as in "Full CSS". "Boomerang" is my favorite track on "The Crow", for it's a song hard to describe. Space and silence are two instruments that really should be added to their musicians list, they play as an important part to Plaistow's music as each of the other individual performers, best heard on this track. Johann Bourquenez channels John Cage in his piano work and at times offers up some bizarre Turkish melody. CB's drums creates a certain tension with his sparse drumming that I found myself cringing at every cymbal hit, awaiting the next. Raphael Ortis' bass is a great low end compliment to the music, like in "Mairie des Lilas".

At times one feels like this album isn't finished, like they didn't know where to end and ultimately cut some thoughts short of being completed until you listen to the album more than once and its entirety. It's good played in parts or on shuffle but is better played as a whole.

It's simple, if you like improvised music, free jazz, minimalism, or rock download this or any other Plaistow album. Also, check out all the other releases on insubordinations.net.

04.09.2010; I would like to thank all those that made my trip to the "gump" possible:

2010-04-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

1) First and foremost, God. Without the man above I wouldn't be standing here today. Nah, really, I want to thank Jo for letting me borrow her sweet ride.

2) Frank Zappa for writing songs like "Dancing Fool" and "Valley Girl".

3) DangerMouse for piecing together the Grey Album.

4) Mississippi fire and brimstone radio stations

5) The old man in the black F150 or whatever driving 15 miles under the speed limit slowing down traffic.

6) Pretzels

7) Ira Glass and everyone working on the This American Life podcast

8) Steve Jobs for developing the iPod.

9) Cruise control.

10) Quiktrip coffee.

Plaistow

2010-04-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

PLAISTOW trio