talking guitars

This morning, while having my coffee, I came up with a vision for a piece that would get accepted by the Bang on a Can festival, the same festival I applied to last year. It happened because I was playing around with my software, learning its capabilities while covering stuff like Elliott Smith and Daft Punk. Why do I like that Daft Punk song so much? I can't quite figure it out--not that I've really tried. I probably shouldn't be admitting stuff like this, but, once again, I am not my preferences. I grew up on Nirvana (and Primus), getting into Beethoven in High School, playing classical piano, improvising, and playing drums in an indie rock band. So my tastes are confused, stuck in between. And yet, anything that tries to bridge the gap ultimately sounds cheesy and awkward. (Except Michael Gordon's Light is Calling, which only sounds somewhat cheesy.)

So today, I worked on a piece for clarinets that involves the good ole MacBook Pro. But that's hard work, so I practiced for the Gallery Cabaret open mic on Sunday: Elliott Smith (with computer accompaniment) and Daft Punk (with guitar through a vocoder). (A propos de rien, je devrais parler/écouter plus de français. Und auch Deutsch.)

I'll make some videos here soon. Most of the stuff I've done so far is mediocre--like I said, thrown together in a few minutes. I figure the more stuff I just throw up (regurgitate) the better it will get. On verra bien.

We've had a bit of snow up here. I ventured out to get new tires and had to traverse some fairly snowy streets--much worse than you get in Chicago. I've seen the dump-truck snow plows go by; they have their plows up and are going about 40 mph. I wonder if they just hope their sheer velocity will blow the snow off--or if there's some sort of brush underneath. They didn't have the right size tires but said it would cost $170 for two tires and installation. So I came back, telling them I'd call if I need them to order them. Then continued working.

Around 7pm, I walked to a nearby restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn't know exactly where it was and took a little tour of abandoned villas on the lakefront. And then it was closed. For the whole week. Which means they open tomorrow. So, on the way back, I passed by the corner market. I knew I wanted something decent, so the frozen pizzas were out. I settled on some homemade soup, which was frozen to within near absolute zero. After 15 minutes in the pot, it turned out not so bad.

While buying the soup, I asked the (clearly) local store clerk a simple question: "so is this much snow usual for up here?" Which turned into a 10-minute answer, more like a lecture, starting with global warming being b.s., saying that Al Gore is just in it to clamp down on industry (like he has nothing better to do), then touching on government conspiracies to withhold new technology from us, and finally ending with a recommendation that I "check out" Bob Lazar. He couldn't remember the website
name but said I could find it on Google. Well, according to Wikipedia, this Lazar guy is a total hoax, starting with the claim that "Greys" fly their spacecraft on Earth, and ending with him selling illegal hazardous materials. I wanted to ask this guy if he listens to Rush--shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Headed back to the big city tomorrow. Birthday parties and social fun. Hopefully the snow is worse here than there.

For Chicagoans who hate parking on the streets, you'll find this funny.

"If someone spends all that time digging their car out, do not drive into that spot. This is Chicago. Fair warning."
-Mayor Richard M. Daley

And finally, I think this is fantastic, but I will probably never cover it for obvious reasons.