Surreal, Man.

Today was too weird for me. I slept through the alarm and was late for work by about 20 minutes.

After checking my truck and obtaining the sheets (we're like the KKK and can't do anything without the sheets--our daily route notes), I headed over to the nearby gas station for my traditional breakfast of a bean and cheese burrito and a Mountain Dew. The dude, Roger, rang up my ticket, and a handed him my check card (which is annoying to everyone, because it's an old verification system). As he handed me back my card, I noticed that he was REALLY shaky. He bugged out his eyes, sort of 'wobbled', but unlike Weebles, he did fall down. Indeed, the clerk was out cold with his eyes rolled back. Then, he starts this horrible gasping.

All I could do is stand there with my mouth open, waiting to sign the slip. Luckily, some Mexican behind me in line had his phone with him (mine was in the truck), and called the paramedics. They carted Roger off to the hospital.

I think that maybe I need to work on my crisis-coping-with skills, seriously.

Later, I caught the UFO with the camera phone. I'm all Pete Townsend on that one.

Everything else was cool today until I heard KVOD on the way home. It was "Adagio from Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven. I can't remember who was playing it, but they pushed Adagio a lot, almost getting into Lento territory. It was like Swans was covering Ludwig Van.

The Moonlight Sonata's first movement is pretty damn cool, but my favorite is the third, especially the Horowitz version--really a beautiful interpretation with lots of great dynamics:



My grandfather forced me to watch Horowitz on TV when I was a kid, and I still can't get over his hands (he wasn't Gattaca material). His hands mimic the hammers, really. Chopin is pretty good--this one's from Austria in 1987, a couple of years before he died:



I love this Horowitz quote:

"There are three kinds of pianists: Jewish pianists, homosexual pianists, and bad pianists."

Recession Rock, Part II

Thank you to The Norse Audio God for being a third set of ears, and Greg for putting up with my crummy playing.

Tonight, I did my parts. The setup was easy: The Electric Grandmother on a Gamma, with an MK-219 about 10' off the front, and the Beta 52A up close on the center of the cone. The JDI fed some 'mystery' preamp as well as Mesa Número Dos. I tracked in the control room, which is much more comfortable (even with the dog watching). I used The Orange One, although The Green One was at the ready just in case the Fender let me down. Twelve tracks of bass in a single night ain't too shabby, and it sounds nice.

I think that I did some pretty subtle expressive things with timbre and note duration that really fixed a lot of the slop in my parts--we certainly haven't beat these songs into the ground yet, so there was some learning. I'm glad that I've learned to tighten up a part or loosen it as appropriate. I did some intentional re-writes, so it's a little more interesting, but, as usual, I pulled an O'Dea, and didn't play the same part twice and instead did some improvisation in a couple of sections. I'm pleased with my bits.

Some of the sounds so far are amazing, especially the envelope on the kick drum--it's beautiful, in a Body Lovers sort of way (that's the Beta 52, again--a great microphone, really--there's a really subtle hall effect from the room on the low frequencies which is nice in the overheads). The four overheads sound great, and really pulled off some wicked stereo effects without automation. Some of the lyrics are disturbing enough to distract me from playing, but I got through it.

Pretty much, the record will sound something like this (Joe Osborn's playing just plain rules. Not quite, but y'all get the idea (it ain't sunshine pop, but rather sunshine pop-influenced--I love that stuff).

BTW...those headphones are totally awesome. I need to get a pair of those. This got too epic, and I require sleep.

I'm Terrible.

Tonight's goal was to pick up a pair of pants that will go with the Halloween costume. Alas, a sale was encountered, and I wound up buying yet another dark grey suit. Damn it, man! At least this one was reasonably priced (so I don't care if beer gets spilt on it---or the obligatory cigarette burns that my suits attract while chillin' on the patio with the band).

I got two awesome shirts and a tie, too.

Bad Luck City is a bad influence. I've gone from zero suits that fit to three. And a jacket that I need to lose weight to wear (just a little).

I seriously have a clothes buying problem when I perceive that the checking account has money in it.

I Love This Article, Hilariously "WRONG" (links and stuff emphasis added for)

Do tits make the woman?!? I'm as serious and drunk as a heart attack.

I think NOT, my friends. If that's the definition of a woman, I know several people, including myself, that are, indeed, women.

GIRL POWER, BITCHES!!!!!!!!!

From here:

Transgender "man" reportedly gives birth
Thu Jul 3, 2008 8:15pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but after surgery and hormone treatment lives as a man, has given birth to a girl at an Oregon hospital, People magazine reported on Thursday.

Beatie, 34, who kept female reproductive organs after initiating a transgender transformation and legally changing his name from Tracy Lagondino in his 20s, confirmed the birth to the magazine.

The baby, conceived through artificial insemination using donor sperm and Beatie's own eggs, was born on June 29, and Beatie and the baby are "healthy and doing well," People reported.

"The only thing different about me is that I can't breast-feed my baby. But a lot of mothers don't," People quoted Beatie as saying. He has had his breasts surgically removed.

He told the magazine that contrary to published reports, the baby was not delivered by Caesarean section, but no other details about the birth were given.

Beatie made world headlines -- and stoked public debate about the boundaries of gender identity -- when he went public with his pregnancy during a guest appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in April, in which he was shown undergoing an ultrasound examination.

The thinly bearded Beatie told Winfrey then that he began his sexual transformation about 10 years ago when he started taking testosterone injections and had surgery to remove mammary glands and flatten his chest.

Upon deciding to have a child about two years ago, he halted his bimonthly hormone injections and resumed menstruating.

Beatie's wife, Nancy, 46, whom he married five years ago, was unable to conceive because of a prior hysterectomy. Otherwise, he has said, "I wouldn't be doing this." His spouse has two grown daughters by a previous marriage.

She said on "Oprah" that their parental roles would be fairly traditional despite his transgender status. "He's going to be the father, and I'm going to be the mother," she said.

The couple, who operate a T-shirt printing business in Bend, Oregon, are legally married and he is recognized under Oregon state law as a man.

Beatie has said he is writing a book about his childhood, his mother's suicide and his life growing up in Hawaii, where as a youngster he was a Girl Scout, a teen beauty pageant contestant and earned a martial-arts black belt.

He began living as a man in his 20s, eventually changing his gender on his passport and driver's license. Like many individuals who identify themselves as transgender men, or "transmen," Beatie opted not to remove his ovaries and other female reproductive organs he was born with.

Surprising To Me

The lineup for Felch-Fest 2008 surprised me, seriously. I shouldn't be surprised anymore. It's like I commented on a friend's blog recently:

Put on your surprised face, man. It's always the same.

99% of people are going to really disappoint, eventually.