After months of hibernation, the winged beast otherwise known as Money Shot has awoken! Be on the lookout for new shows accompanied by an 48% increase in face-melting.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your shockers in the standby position.

<---(New Money Shot stuff under media link)

In other news, Katie turns 21 on Monday!  Be sure and tell her you’re glad she’s finally made it to happy hour.

Yeah…

In conclusion, I leave you with a final Zappa clip (at least until I find an even better one).

Angel’s Son

One for Javi:

Street Spirit

Eight-core Xeon systems this year
Intel sources tell Think Secret that a quad-socket version of Woodcrest, which would pack eight processor cores into a single system, is slated for release in the fourth quarter of this year, around the same time Intel debuts its first quad-core processor, Kentsfield.

Whether any of these extremely high-end chip configurations will make their way into Apple’s offerings is unclear. Apple debuted its first four-core system with the dual processor, dual-core 2.5GHz Power Mac G5 in October 2005. To date, however, few applications have been able to effectively take advantage of the extra processing power, although Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard is expected to make better use of multiple cores. Leopard will be unveiled publicly at WWDC, and copies of a developer preview are currently slated to be made available to attendees, sources report. -thinksecret.com

…but I also nicknamed my cinema displays. My left one is James Westfall and my right one is Doctor Kenneth Noisewater. You ladies play your cards right you just might get to meet the whole gang.

Fox 4 news story

Edit:

Mike Roger’s KRLD

Part 2:

DENTON (UNT), Texas — Ask someone to name great music composers, and one might think of the usual suspects – Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss, to name a few.

Add Frank Zappa to the list.

Dr. Joseph Klein, associate professor of composition at the University of North Texas, is teaching a five-week summer course about the music of Frank Zappa for the sixth year in a row. About 20 students in the class will delve beyond Dancin’ Fool and other well-known Zappa tunes to study his prolific mix of mainstream classical, avant-garde classical, jazz, rhythm, blues and electro-acoustic music.

The class is offered from 10 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays starting July 10 and ending Aug. 10 in Room 287 of the Music Building, located on the southeast corner of Avenue C and Chestnut Street. Past classes have included music majors as well as students majoring in art, philosophy, sociology, ethnomusicology, English and anthropology.

“It does draw a special crowd of people because the music is not easy to listen to,” said Klein, who traveled to Lodz, Poland, earlier this year to present a paper about social and political commentary in Zappa’s work. “But people who listen to his music are really fanatical about it.”

Besides studying scores and analyzing Zappa’s musical compositions, students examine the political and social implications in Zappa’s work. After forming the band Mothers of Invention in 1964, Zappa spoke before a Senate committee in 1985 about a proposal to label offensive music and traveled to Moscow and Eastern Europe for the Financial News Network in the 1990s. He died of prostate cancer at age 52 in 1993 in Los Angeles.

Students in the class have watched videos of Zappa’s concert performances and his appearances on Saturday Night Live; study his lyrics; read books and articles on his work, including his autobiography, “The Real Frank Zappa Book;” and have even interviewed a former band member, Arthur Barrow, in a conference call during class. Barrow earned a music degree in 1975 from North Texas State University, now UNT.

Pamela Ward, who is pursuing a master’s degree in ethnomusicology at UNT, took the class about five years ago to satisfy a longtime curiosity about Zappa’s music.

“As a musician, you might feel like there are boundaries to a certain genre, and he gives you permission to walk outside those boundaries,” Ward said.

This year’s class coincides with the 40th anniversary of the release of Zappa’s first album, “Freak Out.” But only in the last 10 years have composers been giving Zappa ’s work more serious consideration, Klein said.

“Conference papers are being given on Zappa; several books analyze his work; ensembles play his music,” Klein said. “His music has more relevance now. That’s one of the problems of being ahead of your time.”

What at first looks like a blow-off class is gonna turn into the most research intensive course I’ll ever take. You’ve gotta love Dr. Klein and the rest the extraordinary faculty in the College of Music.

This is what happens when X-Men 3 comes to town:

Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4

I’ve gotta submit this to collegehumor.

Pyramid Song Video

Gorgeous.

This is Kurt Elling doing a tune on an Orbert Davis (trumpet) album. I’d heard some Elling, courtesy of Nick, but this really caught my attention. Enjoy.

The Double Blues – (Sorry, it’s RealPlayer)

I’m hurting worse than after that football game against Lamda Chi that some might remember.

Katie, I think I’m having an affair with the couch.

The piece is for DVD video and 5.1 surround sound. It’s called Penetralia, and is about five minutes long. I did most of the video material in Motion and then edited in Final Cut Pro. The audio was done in Digital Performer, using Compressor to encode it to Dolby Digital.

The process was exhausting. Working with video takes forever. It ended up taking a little over 8 hours to compress the final video on my G5 dual-core (only five mintues of video)!  I decided to put up a short clip from the middle of the piece. Feel free to download it and take a peek. If you want the real deal, I’d be happy to burn a copy.

PenetraliaClip.mov (3.8MB right click, save as)

Oso Closo

Snarky Puppy

I felt like a little bit of a facelift was in order. I’ve recently acquired some space from Capt. Skeet, so I felt the need to start anew.

In case anyone doesn’t know yet, Katie and myself are happily engaged. The Czech Republic trip was amazing with her around to show everything to. A Eurotrip for the two of us is definitely gonna happen in a few years. I actually just finished the DVD of the trip. Should be slightly interesting.

Fact:Since 1982 158 people have been seriously injured by table tennis balls.

Anyway, it’s probably time to give ol’ pops a call and find out what the damage is. All I know is that there is no way I’m standing on my foot for 6 hours at Penney’s today.

Here’s some swelling after the initial clean up.

It’ll probably start looking worse so I may change this one out.

Fact:
There is a town in Sweden called “A” and a town in France called “Y.”

Eyelid Piercing

June 28, 2004

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A man who soiled his underwear and tried to dispose of the evidence by tossing it over the fence of the city’s largest reservoir has been fined $5,000.

The city bomb squad and hazardous materials crew responded after an Erie Water Works employee spotted a black bag near the 33-million gallon Sigsbee Reservoir last month.

The reservoir was shut down for several hours while the bomb squad X-rayed the bag and hazardous materials crews waited to test it.

Police tracked down Troy Musil, 18, of Erie. He told police he’d been ill and soiled his underwear. He changed at a friend’s house, then climbed over two barbed-wire-topped fences to ditch the skivvies.

Musil pleaded guilty last week to defiant trespass. The judge gave Musil a 90-day suspended jail sentence and ordered him to pay $500 a month for 10 months to the emergency agencies that responded.

If he doesn’t pay, the judge said Musil will be jailed. A telephone number for Musil couldn’t be found.

Fact:
The phrase, “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs”, contains all the letters of the english alphabet.

In case you still haven’t heard the greatest news since the fall of the axis forces, I’ll give you a late notice.

It’s over!
It’s through!
The suffering of millions has ended!

Scott Stapp, you and your post-grunge/Pearl Jam/Anti-Christ wannabes are finished.

Fact:
Icelandic people have over 30 words for snow.

1. This last semester turned out extremely well. I was able to pass out of the 4th and final level of piano for proficientcy. I am done with my Theories and Aural Skills. And, above all else, I survived my undergrad composition jury. So after I was grilled by the entire comp. faculty and my portfolio was reviewed, I have been allowed to continue my progress towards a degree in composition.

2. I got a job. I am now employed by JC Penney Inc. I was hired as a commision shoe salesman (spare me the Al Bundy jokes). In fact, I’m really enjoying it. Turns out, I’m quite a salesman and the pay is great.

3. ThreeScore released its demo after recording for 4 days with Adam and after I spent a week’s worth of hours on the mixing of the CD with a little help from John and Josh. If you want a copy feel free to get ahold of me or get on the site.

4. I just recently got back from playing at Alyssa’s mother’s wedding in Gatesville. Alyssa and I each sang and I played guitar at their country theme wedding. It was a very sweet ceremony (and so was the wine). Alyssa, you have a wonderful family.

5. Turns out, I’m going to San Francisco in July. Can’t wait to see “The Rock”.

6. Katie is still hangin’ in there with me. She keeps me going every day, and is a constant source of inspiration. Believe it or not, this comming September marks 5 years for us. Where does the time go? I suppose it flies when you’re having fun and disapears when you’re busy at the same time.

Fact:
Mailing an entire building has been illegal in the USA since 1916 when a man mailed a 40,000 ton brick house across Utah to avoid high freight rates.

I can’t say enough about this organization that I have been a part of since my arrival here at UNT. I am truly excited to have this opportunity of leadership in not only one of the largest but most prestigious chapters in the nation. I am more than grateful.

I congratulate all of the other brothers that will be taking on leadership positions for the next year, and I can’t wait for all the great things to be accomplished in the name of Sinfonia.

Hail Sinfonia!

Fact:
Since 1982 158 people have been seriously injured by table tennis balls.

“How You Remind Me” and “Someday” playing simultaneously:

Fact:
This abbreviation started with the Greeks. “X” is the first letter in the
Greek word for Christ: Xristos. So saying or writing “Xmas” is the same as
“C-mas.”

click above for more pics

I know that most of you have already gone by Kilgore’s site and picked up the audio from the songwriters competition. But, for those lucky few of you who havent, I’ve got it right here for you.

As soon as I get done compressing the video, the two of us will probably put it up as well.

>The Loneliest.mp3 (right click, save as) 13.6mb (it’s 10 mintues long)

Fact:
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies’ room during a dance.

Today is my birthday.

Band: Joss Stone
Album: The Soul Sessions
Song: Fell In Love With A Boy

Fell in love with a boy
I fell in love once and almost completely
he’s in love with the world
and sometimes these feelings can be so misleading
He turns and says “are you alright”
oh i must be fine coz my heart’s still beating
come and kiss me by the riverside
Sarah says it’s cool she dont consider it cheating

Band: The White Stripes
Album: White Blood Sales
Song: Fell In Love With A Girl

fell in love with a girl
i fell in love once and almost completely
she’s in love with the world
but sometimes these feelings can be so misleading
she turns and says “are you alright?”
i said “i must be fine cause my heart’s still beating”
“come and kiss me by the riverside yeah
bobby said he fine he don’t consider it cheating” now

Fact:
Ernest Vincent Wright wrote the 50,000 word novel Gatsby without any word containing “e.”

Awww

Fact:
Emily Dickinson wrote more than 900 poems, of which only four were published during her lifetime.

“Just think — this guy has won seven tennis Grand Slam titles, but then he goes home to his wife [Steffi Graf], and she’s won fifteen more than him…”

Fact:
If a glass of water were magnified to the size of the Earth, the molecules comprising it would be about as big as a large orange.

P.S.
Before the Primus bashing begins, come well armed.

Fact:
Al Capone’s business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

1. Katie is offically settled in to her new apartment just off campus, so I find myself wandering over there on many and occasion.

2. Things are going great in Phi Mu Alpha. This is my first semester as Secretary and Webmaster. It’s been great to get more involed in such an amazing organization. I also have a new little brother named Zack. You can’t really miss him in the picture. He’s the only one wearing a cowboy hat (keepin’ the G spirit alive).

3. Comp is taking up a ton of my time. Once again I find myself doing double the composition by doing acoustic and electro-acoustic pieces at the same time during the semester. On the upside, I’ll be putting some nice pictures up of one of the CEMI studios soon.

4. I have to pass my pass my Piano profficiancy this semester. That will be my biggest challange by far, but if I can, I won’t ever have to look back.

All in all it looks to be a crazy semester.

Me, John, and some of the boys

Fact:
The sea wasp is half an inch long at best and more poisonous than any other jellyfish known to man.

Mike Portnoy’s long list of Awards include 19 Modern Drummer Magazine Reader’s Poll Awards including:
-Best Progressive Rock Drummer (9 years in a row!)
-Best Clinician (twice)
-Best Educational Video/DVD for Liquid Drum Theater
-Best Recorded Performance of the Year (5 times) for Dream Theater’s Awake, A Change of Seasons, Falling Into Infinity, Scenes From A Memory, and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

Sample from last year’s Modern Drummer Magazine results:

*Clinician Winner Mike Portnoy, with other nominees Dom Famularo, Akira Jimbo, Virgil Donati

* Educational Video/DVD Winner Mike Portnoy “Liquid Drum Theater DVD” , with other nominees included Dave Weckl: A Natural Evolution, Vol. 3: Getting Your Own Sound

* Recorded Performance Winner Mike Portnoy “Dream Theater: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence” with Runner up Mike Portnoy “Dream Theater: Live Scenes From New York”, and Mike Portnoy for “Transatlantic: Bridge Across Forever”

I don’t usually see too many drummers get runner up twice behind themselves!

Fact:
A tenth of the 7 million tons of rice grown in the U.S. each year goes into the making of beer.

Anyone who has had it done knows, but it sure is making life pretty crappy for the time
being. My lunch is consisting of a Pina Colada minus the rum (which would really be
nice right now), and hopefully I can step up to some soup for dinner.

P.S. Nitrous Oxide rocks my world.

Fact:
The average person in the U.S. has felt compelled to see the
movie Star Wars an astonishing 6.7 times since its 1977
release, either in theaters or on TV.

Smokin’

Katie and I decided to go ahead and exchange gifts tonight. I walked up to her door with her present in hand and was promptly greeted at the door by Katie and her father. As soon as I stepped inside the door, Katie asked me if I liked what she had gotten me for Christmas. I was a little confused until a flip of the light switch and a closer look outside revealed a green-paper-wrapped metal monster.

This is truly one of the few things that I actually need for Christmas. Sorry Kil, but the “footlong fire-breather” just ain’t doin’ justice to our choice mexican meat market steaks. I can’t wait to fire it up as soon as I get back in more ways than one. Just follow the sweet scent to our house from this point forward.

Fact:
50,000 of the cells in your body will die and be replaced with new cells
all while you have been reading this sentence.

Fact:
It would take 81 billion lego bricks (2 studs wide, 4 studs long) stacked
on top of each other to reach the moon and back to earth.

Indifference or Ambiguity
Written for Journal of Electroacoustic Music – Sonic Arts Network (Winter 1998).

1. Indifference

There is a property of environmental sounds that could be called associative, or perhaps imagistic. Others have named it cinematic or anecdotal. i This property could one day occupy a central place in the acousmatic discourse. However, in order for this to come about, the current discourse would have to pause from its focus on musical transformations and interpolations of found sound and begin investigating the social baggage latent in found sound. This baggage can be recovered by reflecting upon the cultural and physical origins of any source sound. In the case of sounds extracted from everyday social experience, these reflections may prove to yield insight into a sonic phenomena whose semantic complexity stretches beyond the realm of music. ii The associative properties of environmental sounds are often ambiguous and difficult to pinpoint, even when their original identities are left in tact. The ambiguity is attributed to the fact that the number of associations from a given sound or sound world may equal the number of people listening. There is no way of saying exactly what the sound of a small burning fire will evoke for a listener. The context of the work in which it is heard may suggest or point to certain meanings, but there are never any guarantees that every listener will perceive these same meanings and not, for instance, other meanings entirely beyond the scope of the composer’s original intentions. Some may challenge this presumption altogether by saying that sounds evoke no images or visualizations whatsoever. I can not deny that some people may feel this way, but I believe from the feedback garnered from my compositions that there are many people who do recognize these imagistic properties and it is from their example that I wish to carry forward this discussion.

What we safely know about sound associations is that they connect environmental sounds back to their origins in social experience. A concert listener might comment that a stream of memories and images washed over him/her while listening to a work comprising only environmental sounds. iii However, to generalize the likelihood for certain memories and images to be evoked from a specific environmental sound is, at the present moment, an enormous task due to the wide variations from person to person.

More importantly, there is the issue that listeners will not approach the crackling fire as an object capable of evoking associative impressions. The mood or atmosphere roused by the warmth and stillness of the crackling fire will either not be perceived as such, or else, the feeling will not register consciously enough for responses to be adequately articulated in words.

Therefore, listeners may experience a stream of images flowing through a cinematic sound canvas, but not possess the vocabulary to describe these images. Their inability to articulate their impressions might be the result of an untrained ear – an ear which is superseded by visual attention, and whose higher development has been restricted to the arts of speech and music. The conditioning in western culture to ‘look at’ rather than ‘listen to’ one’s surroundings validates the indifference towards perceiving sound as a rich cultural text readily available for analysis and critical reflection.

There are other realms in which indifference is at play. The chief designers of social environments in the west have a habit of ignoring sound altogether in order to reach the more elaborate and refined structural goals that cater to visual aesthetics. General attitudes to listening in the environment would change significantly the day architects, engineers and city planners begin to include the activities of composition and orchestration in their job resume. By understanding these activities from the inside they would finally realize the impact their work has on people socially and psychologically. iv In actual effect they would begin to hear their creations the same way they see them before the first day of construction. Such sensitivity and understanding would yield a much more tasteful approach to the acoustic design of contemporary architecture. iv Theorists in disciplines connected however loosely to environmental sounds have also been persuaded by the domination of the visual senses (or by musical prejudice itself) to completely ignore the study of environmental sound from a sociological or psychological point of view. The enraptured attention awarded to visual experience by many westerners makes such study seem completely trivial. After all, seeing is believing; what more is there to know?

Within the discourse of Sound Art, the issue of sound associations has been touched upon here and there, but it has never been dealt with in a detailed and focused manner. Douglas Kahn, in fact, would go a step further and argue that there is absolutely no historical tradition of audio art whatsoever. By audio art he means an art practice that works primarily from the notion that sound can act as a vehicle for social discourse. The absence of an audio art practice can not be perceived as a coincidence when considering that all of the twentieth century’s “most noted radical attacks upon music… ultimately returned” to musical principles. v This is illustrated by Kahn in the following:

Luigi Russolo’s `art of noises’ was recuperated immediately into the goal of `a great renovation of music’; Edgar Varese’s `liberation of sound’ was a motto of retreat when compared to Russolo’s position; and at the core of John Cage’s emancipatory project was a will to impose musical precepts upon all sounds. vi

In effect, what existed outside of the normal sphere of the musical source sound was brought back into the musical fold by the early avant garde to rejuvenate musical practice. These acts of rejuvenation only lifted musical discourse as opposed to having ever launched a school of audio practitioners interested in using sound strictly as a means for social discourse. The musical avant garde continually tailored new sounds to fit new notions of musicality, and in doing so, invariably stripped these new sounds of their associative qualities. vii It would seem that the extra-musical associative complexity of environmental sounds would have to be addressed by disciplines outside of music. In order to remain in the sphere of artistic thinking, this would necessitate a new branch of artistic discourse, which Kahn proposes under his heading `Audio Art’.

Kahn’s `Audio art’ has historically remained only a latent possibility, because whenever the impetus existed the technology was not around, or conversely, when the technology finally took shape the impetus was thwarted by musical prejudice. viii The documentary film pioneer Dziga Vertov came to film only because the technology did not exist in Russia during the twenties to adequately record sound. Thus, Vertov’s `Keno Eye’ was born out of a frustrated Keno Ear. Vertov writes,

Upon returning from a train station, there lingered in my ears the signs and rumble of the departing train… someone’s swearing… a kiss… someone’s exclamation… laughter, a whistle, voices, the ringing of the station’s bell, the puffing of the locomotive… whispers, cries, farewells… And thoughts while walking: I must get a piece of equipment that won’t describe, but will record, photograph these sounds. Otherwise, it’s impossible to organize, edit them. They rush past, like time. But the movie camera perhaps? Record the visible… Organize not the audible, but the visual world. Perhaps that’s the way out? ix

Vertov’s way out was a fatal blow to the founding of a documentary or anecdotal school of sound production. Equally as decisive was a subtle shift in artistic direction taken by Pierre Schaeffer when he completed his earliest musique concrete experiments, approximately twenty years after Vertov became a filmmaker.

Kahn notes that Schaeffer’s first musique concrete work Etude aux chemins de fer, which was constructed from train sounds, posed what Schaeffer called “problems of association.” Schaeffer concluded that these problems would disappear if his experiments surfaced inside “the sonics of music;” where sounds ostensibly could only be “associated with themselves.” x This implies that the sound of that train would work more effectively if subsumed into the language of music. The outcome of this decision was obviously not good for initiating a social discourse around environmental sound. The social imagery latent in the train sound, or in all other environmental source sounds at the disposal of Schaeffer and his followers, remained unexamined and unacknowledged, and as a result, the birth of audio art was once again postponed.

Sadly, the path selected by Schaeffer continues to dominate the thinking of more recent acousmatic composers who have directly or indirectly followed in his footsteps. Acousmatic music, or the musique concrete of today, continues to edge against these associative properties of environmental sound. However, the vast gulf between musical invention and external social complexity continues to hold water, and it does so irrespective of the presence or absence of environmental sounds. Nonetheless, there is some present activity which goes against the grain and pursues an interest in environmental sound associations. The challenge that awaits the composers (and also the theorists) who move into this terrain, is the development of a vocabulary and a perceptual knowledge base for determining specific meanings from environmental sounds rich in potential associations.

2. Time for a Story

A listener wanders in uninvited, and strictly by chance, to a concert of acousmatic music. This listener does not know the meaning of the word acousmatic; nor the field of acousmatic music; and nor the story about the Pythagoreans.

Almost immediately upon arrival, the lights creep down to pitch black and remain that way for the duration of the performance. Electrified soundscapes derived from sources almost banal in their everyday domestic familiarity are beckoned by this inexplicable darkness. With these soundscapes, intense shafts of imaginary light poke out from the black. They imprint pictorial images on the mind, although the content of this imagery is vague, hazy, fragmentary, and difficult to detail. The listener reflects, “These sounds are most familiar, but the worlds I enter can not be described.”

Unaccountable sparks of excitement accumulate in the listener for the next ninety minutes before the lights creep up again to signal the end of the performance. The listener’s imagination is racing, but at the same time, is fighting to find words to identify the experience. Places, atmospheres, landscapes, people, and dramatic predicaments fly in and out of the mind – lingering well beyond the applause and the quiet shuffles to the doorway.

“This may not be music at all,” thinks the listener. “Instead it may be a drama without speech, a film without projections, or a painting transformed into raw physical energy.” The listener opens a door leading the way out while considering that maybe the word music is incomplete and even potentially misleading. Perhaps the listener has just opened the door towards a brand new reality. A time and place where sound could serve a ‘Theatre of the Imagination’ complete with impressionistic traces of everyday reality. “Ah,” mutters the listener, “if only these fragmentary impressions could yield something more tangible.” Once again, the unconscious teases one with possibilities that are difficult to get a grip on.

3. Ambiguity

A composer is about to embark on a piece which contrasts notions of cold detachment versus warm intimacy. Many sounds or sound environments could represent either one of these notions. However, this is where matters get complicated. All or most of these sounds are going to have other sets of meanings inherited from other contexts or situations. How does the composer use these sounds and keep the listener focused on the subject of the work?

Should the composer take Trevor Wishart’s advice, and limit the selection of sounds only to those sounds that the intended listener will equate with a specific meaning or association? xi Or should the composer follow Barry Truax’s example of isolating one of the associated sounds and slow this sound down to reveal emotional and imagistic layers that were not evident beforehand? xii There is also the issue of ordering events in time. Wishart says transform a limited palette of highly identifiable sound images in such a way that fashions a dialogue and interaction amongst the elements. This he believes is the root of articulating myth in music and other time based arts, as though symbolic meaning is latent in the actions drawn from a synthetic transformation of two or more elements. xiii Truax, on the other hand, allows for temporal transpositions on the natural morphology of the sound to guide the listener through a process of examining the sound’s latent symbolic imagery at a microscopic level.

Whether following Wishart or Truax, the composer is relying on various musical processes which are predicated on the technical facility and artistic necessity to transform a sound into a morphological form other than its original state. Truax allows the listener to hear the cries of seagulls, but he then stretches the seagulls in time to reveal what he calls the inner song of a sound derived from the external world. By structuring the gradations of the time stretches in a progressive fashion, and by framing them with the right descriptive title and program note, he invites the listener to journey into this sound and discover rich associative imagery that could not otherwise be discovered. xiv However, when the journey is complete, will the message or imagery of the piece still come across? Well with sound there seems to be no guarantees. Some will get it, while others may in fact perceive a whole set of other images and issues completely outside of the intentions of the composer. But – and this is a big but if there is a future for imagery in acousmatic music – the possibility exists for a listener to engage in the piece on some level other than the highly emotive and utterly wordless level commonly associated with musical listening experiences.

However, what if the composer elects to employ environmental sounds with only the slightest degree of manipulation and without any hint of morphological transformation whatsoever? Or more contentiously, what if the composer wants to erase all ties to musical precepts and journey entirely in the domain of audio imagery? How far must he or she stray from music? Where can the composer turn to for possible models and points of departure?

Will listeners and composers of acousmatic music ever be able to call a spade a spade – or is the sphere of aural imagery far too ambiguous and rich for such straightforward black and white meanings? Are such decisive conclusions even desirable in a field attractive for its semantic ambiguity? Finally, is the ambiguity of environmental sounds inherent in society’s simplistic knowledge about them, or in the multi-layered meanings that exist beneath their outer surface?

It is premature to answer many of these questions until the auditory system is elevated to some level that is compareable to visual perception. The area in which this elevation needs to take place lies in the ability for listeners to interpret meanings in the sounds they hear in common everyday life. The inability to do so cuts off access to vital information that is equally as revealing as the personal histories suppressed by forgotten dreams.

Art can often facilitate heightened perception and awareness. Perhaps the first step to a heightened or expanded aural perception will necessitate developing works which ask listeners to dig for meanings in the materials presented. xv Compositional strategies will then need to be revised in order to facilitate this new level of aural engagement. However, this revision can not take place until composers learn to listen differently, and begin rummaging more carefully through the vestiges of social experience buried in the undergrowth of the everyday contemporary soundscape.

- Darren Copeland, Composer

Fact:
The American National Sausage and Hot Dog Council what they would
like on their hot dogs if their moms weren’t watching, 25
percent said they would prefer chocolate sauce.

Cubase screen-shot

My final piece for my electroacoustic class is finally complete. I thought it might be polite of me to throw up a watered down MP3 of it up on the site. For best results, I would recommend strapping on some headphones and full-screening the visualizations on your media player. There is a good deal of stereo play from one ear to the other and it’s suprisingly fitting with the screen animations.

The title of the piece is Superstring Theory. The whole atmosphere of the piece lets you just hover in it. Almost a lack of a forward progression of time. The sound samples range anywhere from the voices of friends and family, to various sound samples of war. None of it is really that tangible though. The samples have all be convoluted with one another through SoundHack and Peak. The final product was mixed together with Cubase. All of which, was done on my shiny new Powerbook. Open your mind and enjoy.

Fact:
Barbados, in the eastern West Indies, is one of the world’s most densely
populated countries.

Fact:
Potatoes were banned in Burgundy in 1910 because it was said, “frequent use
caused leprosy.”

BestandWorst.com

I finished eating my turkey several hours ago here in G-town, and watched a little Cowboys and Dolphins over some sparkling grape juice. That means it’s officially time for fall 03′ to come to an end. Every day is just a countdown to New Orleans. I can hardly wait. It’s gonna be a helluva time. Plain and simple.

Fact:

“The Ring,” the horror movie, was filmed at the overnight campout
location of a popular Christian summer camp in Bellingham, WA.

Actually, as I type this, there is a Powerbook at Comp USA in Lewisville that is selling for half price. I have gained connections there through Nick and Adam who keep informing me of what an incredible Mac guy they have at their store. I should also mention that I am looking into a laptop for the comming semesters in which I will me involved with the Executive commitee of Phi Mu Alpha, now that I have been eleceted Secretary in which I will have much information to record, post, pass along, and organize.

Without any further ranting, here she is:

PowerBook 1GHz (15.2″ TFT)

512MB DDR333 SDRAM
AirPort Extreme Card
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
60GB Ultra ATA drive @ 4200 rpm
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 (64MB DDR)
Full size keyboard
Gigabit Ethernet
FireWire 400 & 800
DVI & S-Video out

Beautiful industrial design
Housed in a sleek, lightweight aluminum alloy enclosure, the PowerBook G4 is resistant to stains and scratches. It�s also perfectly smooth on all surfaces, with no doors, protruding latches or levers to break, and no sharp edges to catch on your clothing.

Ultralight. Ultracompact. Ultradesirable.
Starting at just 4.6 pounds, the PowerBook G4 is light enough to carry around all day. You�ll even marvel at the way we�ve fitted this supersharp high-resolution TFT XGA active-matrix display into such a remarkably compact frame.

The legendary SuperDrive
Your PowerBook G4 with SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) comes loaded with iDVD software, and can be used to burn DVDs which can be played in most consumer DVD players. iTunes lets you burn your own music CDs, and the Disc Burner feature in Mac OS X enables burning of data CDs.

High-speed architecture
The PowerBook G4 gets a tremendous performance boost from an advanced cache memory architecture � including 512K on-chip level 2 cache on all models � that provides ultrafast dedicated memory with massively enhanced throughput. The PowerBooks ships with a generous supply of memory and there�s room for even more.

Tell me what you guys think.

Fact:
If you are hedenophobic, you have a fear of pleasure.

Man, this is pathetic.

– 3mb (right-click, save as)

The piece is primarily made up of sounds produced by a wine bottle, and the sound of Katie’s roommate, Delia, laughing (The title of the piece is the name of one of the mythological Sirens). All of the sounds were edited in Peak and Audition, sampled and sequenced with VSamp, and then brought together on Cubase for the final product (On a Mac). It’s not too much, but I had some fun working out the details. I just hope you have some headphones, because there is some pretty nice panning in the piece. Enjoy.

Fact:
It is not against the law in the U.S. to be a drug addict. In 1962, the
Supreme Court called imprisonment for being an addict cruel and unusual
punishment prohibited by the Bill of Rights.

Happy Birthday Lil’ Bro

Preston, I hope you have a extremely “sick” birthday. This semester has already been much more of a pleasure after having you around. Best of luck for the rest of your journey.

Fact:
By law, information collected in a U.S. census must remain confidential for
72 years.

Fact:
The muskellunge, a fierce fighting fish that can weigh in at around 70
pounds, is the official state fish of Wisconsin.

“My dog died because one time we tried to rape her.” -Delia

Fact:
The song with the longest title is ‘I�m a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old
Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doin� Those Beat-o,
Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues’ written by Hoagy Carmichael in
1943. He later claimed the song title ended with �Yank� and the rest was a
joke.

“ROME, Italy — Actor Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus in Mel Gibson’s controversial film “The Passion of Christ” was struck by lightning during shooting.

The film, which is spoken in Latin and Aramaic, has come in for criticism from some religious leaders. It portrays the last hours of Jesus, but some Jewish and Roman Catholic groups are concerned the film will fuel anti-Semitism. “

- CNN.com

(right-click, save as)
“The Passion” Trailer -15mb

Fact:
The hairless area of roughened skin at the tip of a bear’s snout is called
the rhinarium.

Fact:
One year of a dog’s life is not really equivalent to seven years of a
human’s life. A more accurate system is for the first year to be 15 human
years, the second year to be 25, and then every year after two counts as
four human years.

Fact:
Between ages 30 and 70, a nose may lengthen and widen by as much as half an
inch and the ears may be a quarter-inch longer – due to the fact that
cartilage is one of the few tissues that continue to grow as we age.

Touch your lips just so I know
In your eyes , love , it glows so
I’m bare -boned and crazy for you
When you come crash
into me, baby
And I come into you
In a boys dream
In a boys dream
If I’ve gone overboard
Then I’m begging you
to forgive me
In my haste
When I’m holding you so girl …
close to me
Oh and you come crash
into me, baby
And I come into you

* – (Click if you need to catch up on your reading.)

Check this out.

Creepy.

Fact:
The “Yongle dadian,” an encyclopedia of the Chinese Ming dynasty, had
22,937 chapters in 10,000 volumes. Over 2,000 Chinese scholars worked on
the book for 5 years before it was finished.

I threw open the door and ran towards the smoke. Right in front of one of the apartments there is a futon beside the doorway completely engulfed in flames on it’s right side. I violently knocked on the door until the guys finally got up from their X-Box and answered. The first guy comes out and says, “Oh shit! Chris, you caught my damn couch on fire with one of your cigarettes!” The other guy jumps up off the couch inside and says, “Holy shit dude. What do I do?” The first guy yells, “Get some freakin’ water you retard!” and then he turned to me and said, “Thanks man. I think we’ve got it taken care of.” I said something about just not wanting his complex to burn down and we laughed a little as I walked back to Katie’s car.

I told Katie that Smokey the Bear would have been proud of our reaction.
Remember, “Only you can prevent complex fires.”

Fact:
The Statue of Liberty’s mouth is 3 feet wide. The statue weighs 450,000
pounds, or 225 tons. The copper sheeting weighs 200,000 pounds. There are
167 steps from the land level to the top of the pedestal, 168 steps inside
the statue to the head, and 54 rungs on the ladder leading to the arm that
holds the torch.

(Notice the air-brushed crack in the mirror)

My mom and I stared at this, jaws dropped, for about 5 minutes. It’s kinda hard to sell your clothes when you left em’ in the dressing room. Just my opinion.

Fact:
The human brain continues sending out electrical wave signals for up to 37 hours following death.

Ben and I sharing some of Brenham’s finest

I am a man of my word Ben, and we will be headed your way in the near future. Let your Slut Puppies know that it’s only a matter of time. It’s always a pleasure bro. I’m looking forward to it again.

Fact:
You are most likely to have a heart attack on Monday then on any other day of the week.

Sinfonie For Life

Our short-staffed team did well playing Ironman style ball game after game; no one ever getting a break until the occasional timeout. Katie, was kind enough to tape some of the games to provide us with some truly classic footage.

Since a whole game would take up a great deal of the server, I leave you with a short clip from a game against Lambda Chi. A shining moment of Sinfonie offense, our offensive line gives Kilgore enough time to hurl a rain soaked ball into the hands of your’s truly. The conclusion of the play demonstrates just how “non-contact” UNT intermural football is.

Fact:
The pupil of an octopus’s eye is rectangular.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll

Fact:
There were 15,700,003 Model T Ford’s manufactured, all in black.

We showed up and got her checked in, and ended up waiting in the lobby for about an hour an a half. She was shaking with chills and was completely miserable. I’ve never seen her look so sick. They finally called her back and we were placed in a room. After all the initial testing they found that she was extremely dehydrated and there was probably something viral going on in her stomach. So, she needed to be put on IV for awhile.

After they stuck her twice, they finally had the IV running. After awhile they were able to get rid of her nausea and she was able to rest for awhile. I’ve never watched so much crappy TV in my life. I think I went from mutiple episodes of Full House to Three’s Company.

To make an extremely long story short, she got enough fluid in her and she was able to be released at about 4:45 AM. After a good 6 hours at the hospital, I was able to bring her back. She’s still not in the best shape, so drop her a line on her site. She’ll probably post more detailed information than I did. Hopefully we can get her back to her old self in no time.

Fact:
The country with the most post offices is India with over 152,792, compared
with just over 38,000 in the United States.

Jkjazzsax:
Melissa says:
i bet one day our town will be as big as wichita falls
::bluetrinn:: says:
well, i guess that’s something that all G-towner’s aspire to have one day.

Fact:
In Britain, the law was changed in 1789 to make the method of execution
hanging. Prior to that, burning was the modus operandi. The last female to
be executed by burning in England was Christian Bowman. Her crime was
making counterfeit coins.

NateDSaint:
Remember kids, Schoenberg may be dead, but at least he isn’t French.

Fact:
The word “four” has four letters. In the English language there is no other
number whose number of letters is equal to its value.

Fact:
Chocolate contains the same chemical, phenylethylamine, that your brain
produces when you fall in love. But don’t have too much � an excess of
phenylethylamine makes people very nervous.

Kil and I when his hands were a bit prettier

We had our second game of Phi Mu Alpha Mystic Cats football last night. We worked our butts off last week after being severely unorganized for the first game. The game last night was against Lamda Chi and proved to be quite eventful. First of all, I have to say that I had a really great game. While Kilgore was quarterback I had a %100 completion rate on my routes. I usually got at least a good 5 yards after each reception on top of that. I played both ways the whole game and defense was even better. I played safety and had all kinds of good stuff goin’ my way. I had a lot of trouble grabbing flags the first game, so I made a promise to Kil that I wasn’t going to miss anymore this game. Out of about a dozen open field tackles I only missed one flag.

Huff Train

In the end I payed dearly for my passionate playing. The Lamda Chi’s beat the ever-loving crap out of me. I was talking a lot of trash on the field so I was the recipient of many a late hit and punch to the back. I am so freakin’ sore. My right hip is in shambles. I came down on it way too many times.

Yes, that’s the work of human hands

In fact, I got off lucky. I suggest taking a trip to Kilgore’s site to see the extent of his injuries. I can’t wait until Wednesday to do this all over again.

Fact:
A poodle fell from a balcony in Buenos Aires in October 1988. It killed
three people. One was struck on the head, the second run over by a bus
while watching, the third witnessed the event and died from a heart attack

Kil and I were also able to sneak in his digital camera so he took tons of shots and even took some video clips. I figure since they are already on the server, I might as well share the wealth.

(right click, save as)
Hands Down (9mb)
Screaming Infedelities (8.8mb)

Fact:
The nose cleans, warms, and humidifies over 500 cubic feet of air every day

This is a pic of a bunch of us after our pinning ceremony last week with our new little brothers mixed around.

I would like to introduce all to my new little brother to the direct right of me. That would be Preston. Preston is gonna be one hell of a Sinfonian. I can’t wait to finish up this semester with him. It’s gonna rock my Sinfonies.

Fact:
Tooth enamel is the hardest substance manufactured by the human body

Fact:
Japan is one of the most competitive soft drink markets in the world.
Approximately 1,000 new soft drinks are launched in Japan every year, of
which only a small number survive. There are more than 7,000 different
soft drinks sold in the country.

Fact:
In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death

As far as comp goes, CEMI is everything that I had hoped it would be so far. We have definitely “gone off the the deep end” in terms of musical idea, approach, and theory. My individual comp lessons have also started out looking very promising. The goal for the first part of this semester is going to be a pretty major work for me. I’ve agreed to write a contemporary cello piece for my bro Javi, who has approached me numerous times about considering a work for cello. It’s a scary thing to jump into and cello is pretty intimidating instrument to write for, but I see some great growth to be gained and I’m mostly amazed that someone actually wants to tackle a performance of a new piece like this. We’ll see what comes of it.

In fraternity news, I finally have a little brother. His name is Preston and he hails from the San Diego area. He is an extremely cool guy, and I knew from the moment I met him that I wanted him as my little this semester. He is pure proof to me that things are gonna be really cool this semester. I can’t wait until things start to pick up for their probationary period.

Other than that, It’s mere survival. Be sure to wish Katie a happy birthday tomorrow. And you thought it would never come.

Fact:
The largest pyramid in the world is not in Egypt but in Cholulu de
Rivadahia, Mexico. It is 177 feet tall and covers 25 acres. It was built
sometime between 6 and 12 A.D.

Fact:
If all of the animals on Earth were weighed together, ants would make up
10% of that weight.

I went into G-town on sunday afternoon along with Katie so we could both spend about 24 hours with our families. My dad and I had talked the week before and he had found a lease that he was going to hunt on come September 1st. He invited me to hunt with him that morning since I would probably be in town. We got up there and it was already mass chaos. The birds were already starting to fly and the field was pretty packed. I ended up taking a spot towards the middle of the field. Big mistake. All the birds were out of range and I was consantly being bombarded by stray 12 gauge shot. I ended up jumping the fence and going solo past the tree line. That’s when the fun began. I shot about 14 and bagged 12 of em. The most amazing moment of the day came when two birds miraculously flew too close to each other the moment the shot flew by. The result was a manifestation of the phrase, “two birds with one stone”.

Even though it was early, I really enjoyed the entire morning. I was able to spend some quality time with my dad, involving shotguns. It don’t get better than that.

Fact:
Every year 12 percent of the U.S population is arrested.

We eventually made it to Hulen mall and soon found ourselves at Regis. Katie had been talking about me putting in some red highlights for several days, so after a short talk with the stylist we decided that I would only be this age once and I should seize the freakin’ day. After she cut my hair with a razor blade, (which actually turned out extremely well), she started splotching fire engine red on my hair. The end result was quite shocking, yet fun. The problem is… the fun ran out pretty quick.

By the next morning I was really tired of it. It looked like some little kid went crazy with a red crayon in my hair. I had to do something about it. So I went up to Wally World and bought a bleach kit. Katie applied it on top of all my red chunks and we let it lighten for about an hour and a half.

At this point, I now had white hair with pink spots in it. This was perfect for the UNT vs. OU game party that I was about to attend. I threw on my hat and we headed out. Leave it to Kilgore to keep something like that on the down low. I probably had my hat pulled of a minimum of 10 times. At least others found joy in my misery.

On the way in I made Kilgore stop at Wally World once again. This time I bought a dye kit for brown hair. We got back home, put the german chocolate cake topping on my hair, and 25 minutes later I was a normal human being. I guess you could say that it was all worth it in the end. But, I know one thing for sure. This is definitely gonna turn into another nickname in the fraternity. That is one thing I have a surplus of in my life.

Fact:
The launch of the teddy bear began in response to reports that Theodore
‘teddy’ Roosevelt, president of the United States, refused to kill a bear
cub whilst on a hunting trip in 1902.

Seer

The ULTIMATE personality test
brought to you by Quizilla

Fact:
The human feet perspire half a pint of fluid a day.

I’m so happy for you Katie Lou.

Fact:
A marine catfish can taste with any part of its body. The female marine
catfish hatches her eggs in her mouth.

Fact:
In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in
space. NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, created the
technology with the goal of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and
eventually, feeding future space colonies.

As far as music goes, the fraternity is fired up as well. Things are really tight already this semester. It is gonna be one great semester, and hopefully an even better year.

Fact:
When he was a child, Blaise Pascal once locked himself in his room for
several days and would not allow anyone to enter. When he emerged, he had
figured out all of Euclid’s geometrical propositions totally on his own.

As far as music goes, the fraternity is fired up as well. Things are really tight already this semester. It is gonna be one great semester, and hopefully an even better year.

Fact:
When he was a child, Blaise Pascal once locked himself in his room for
several days and would not allow anyone to enter. When he emerged, he had
figured out all of Euclid’s geometrical propositions totally on his own.

Fact:
In 1972 in Sadieville Kentucky while attempting a world record a woman
named Betty Mahoney rode her horse for 5 days and nights without stopping
when she reached the 6th day the horse collapsed and killed her.

Here are a pair of pics that I took today of the set:

That should give you a half decent idea, but you gotta see this thing. Could be hands down the best shell wrap that I have ever seen. Considering the small ammount of fix up I have done to em’ I’d feel fine putting them up to any other maple set in the market (especially Pearl Masters). The Swiss made Paiste’s were a perfect choice as well. While I was in Georgia, I talked to the drummer at Guitar Center. He is running an almost identical setup as me and he had rave reviews. Things can only get better. I can finally die happy now.

PS… Game/Music Room:

Fact:
Because its eyeball is fixed, the whale must move its huge body to shift
its line of sight

We’ve got just about everything moved into the new house as of now. I brought all of my stuff up last weekend, so my side of the house is pretty much unpacked. We’ve got a ton of living room furniture, a pool table that needs to be leveled, a bar (with stools and neon sign of course), a nice entertainment center with a rockin’ system, but most importantly, a place to jam.

The drum set came in this week and I stayed up almost the entire night on Friday setting it up. This thing is blowing my mind. The onyx wraps on the shells are gorgeous. While I was in Georgia with Kilgore picking up the living room furniture (details to come on his site), we went to Guitar Center and I picked up some new Evans Hydraulic heads to replace the stock single plies that it was gonna come with. I have never heard a set sound like this right out of the box. I can’t even imagine what this thing is gonna sound like in a year.

So, that’s the extremely abridged version of the last 9 days. Katie is on her way up here tomorrow for a luxurious and extended stay at West Hall. I’m completely floored. I haven’t seen her in over a week and I just can’t take it anymore. I really look forward to seeing that face tomorrow.

Fact:
The first person other than royalty to be portrayed on a British stamp was
William Shakespeare in 1964

Last restart:
2�Weeks 5�Days 16�Hours 41�Minutes 56�Seconds

Record uptime:
2�Weeks 5�Days 16�Hours 41�Minutes 54�Seconds.

(Nick, no need to comment)
Laaate

Fact:
It is believed that 90 percent of all scientists who have ever lived are
alive now, and that as many scientific paper have been published in the
years since 1950 as were published in all the centuries before 1950.

Matrix Ping Pong

Enjoy.

Fact:
In a Czechoslovakian church there is a chandelier made of human bones. The
ceiling is festooned with the remains of former worshipers

Good golly miss molly, it sounds good. I rolled down the windows as I left the shop. I floored it and took off down 380. I let out a scream of joy as I rounded up Cliff Dr. gaining some strange glances. The muffler is about half the volume and it sounds so deep and mellow. Everyone that I have talked to seems to approve. Even the folks are starting to appreciate my more silent aproach. I even gained at least 20 horses after getting it installed which has put me in an excellent mood today. My truck is reborn and so am I. Carpe Diem baby!

Note to self: I just said way too much about a muffler and it is sad that it has brought so much to my life.

Fact:
There was a prehistoric horse breed (called eohippus) that was about the
size of a housecat

Here a few of the images Katie took with her brand new digital camcorder she brought to the 94.7 Alternative Afterhours concert on the square. Not too shabby at all for a video camera.

Things turned out really well. We had a nice crowd that was really responsive. We were able to pull off every cover song that everyone asked for except for the persistent cry for “Walkabout” from Jordan. As you can see, there was a great view of the square and Stead had to keep the masses under control and informed from time to time, as well as remotely broadcasting every 30 minutes on location. Stead passed the hat around for us at one point during the evening and I made a whopping $12.33. But that’s not what things were about. We came to provide a little rock for the biggest square in America, and I think we provided. Thanks go out to everyone who came by. Ross, your originals came off really well. You know where to find me if you ever need a hook up from the music world. I’ll try to get a small video clip of something we played up here soon.

Fact:
The tongue is the only muscle in the human body that gets stronger as you
get older.

CX Series 5-Piece Maple Drumset in Blue Onyx

Features:

- DW all-maple 8-ply shells
- Wood bass drum hoops
- Suspension-style tom mounts
- 22″ x 18″ bass drum
- 10″ x 9″, 12″ x 10″, and 14″ x 12″ toms
- 5″ x 14″ snare
- Snare stand
- 402 double bass pedal
- DW 820 Double-braced boom cymbal stand
- DW 820 Double-braced, 2-leg rotating hi-hat stand
- DW 700 Series Straight Cymbal Stand Pair
- True-Pitch� Tuning System w/ bass drum muffling pillow

I get everything you see except for the extra floor tom (maybe later) and the cymbals. For cymbals I will probably go with a complete set of Paiste 802’s: 14″ hi-hats, 16″ crash, 20″ ride, 10″ splash, and a 18″ china. I’ve played on them before and was suprised by their warmth. After a set of cymbals, this baby will be fully ready to play. I mean, the bass drum is even already muffled. Wish me luck cause it’s gonna be hard to get me to leave the house.

Fact:
The onion is the most consumed vegetable in the entire world.

Huffman & Shifflett
Friday, Aug. 1st 9:00PM

I want everybody to head up to the square this friday night. Ross and I are going to be playing a minimum 3 hour set on the gazebo beside the courthouse. We’ll be playing a ton of covers and probably a few originals mixed in. We can also take some requests on the spot if you want to come up and give us a run for our money. Actually, if you want to hear something played, go ahead and leave it as a comment to this post. According to Stead, they are gonna rig us up pretty well, and we will probably be airing some of the performance remotely on 94.7. Come on out and bring a friend. This is G-town afterall. I know you have nothing better to do.

Fact:
A recent study at Cambridge University, England, proved that men do actually have a harder life than women

Fact:
The initials M.G. on the famous British-made automobile stand for “Morris Garage.”

Fact:
Insects consume 10 percent of the world’s food supply every year

Good lyrics. Great song. Name the band and song without using a search engine, my comments, or anything. Then, you will be cool in my book.

Fact:
An octopus has 8 hearts.

Fact:
Sixty thousand miles of vessels carry blood to every part of your body

Ouch. 2 stars.

Fact:
Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike
factory workers in Malaysia combined.

Rog uncovers the secrets of the male shaving industry and also provides a truly revolutionary solution that is sure to sweep the populous by storm.

Fact:
The shortest verse in the Bible consists of two words: “Jesus wept” (John
11:35).

The Straitjacket Floats

“Image is everything today. And image begins with fashion. Few items in today’s wardrobe are as fashionable and as versatile as the straitjacket. Suitable for home or office, for work or play, the straitjacket is not just for bedtime anymore. Join our models on a carefree tour of the exciting world of straitjacket fashion. Don’t forget to tighten your straps.”

Fact:
In 1660 a boy at Eton College, United Kingdom, was beaten for not smoking.
It was believed that tobacco smoke was fumigatory against the plague.

I returned home to a radiant Katie who was sporting a green lettered North Texas T-shirt. I was so proud, I could’ve cried. She just got back from orientation, so she is registered and ready to go for Fall. I hadn’t seen her for a week and it was starting to feel like we were 100 miles apart again. I am so thankful to have her close to me this next year. I’d go crazy if I had to do another year like the last again. I’m very optimistic about this next semester.

The best news of the week came from Kilgore. We finally secured a place to move into. We are gonna be moving in around the first of August. I’m gonna head up there on Monday to sign the lease, check the place out, and snap a few pics. According to Kil, this place is really massive. It’s got 4 bedrooms, a huge living room, dining room, and kitchen. It was just redone inside with new paint and carpet. It’s even got a basketball court in the back. We are also bringing in a pool table. At this point I can’t really ask for more. The rent is great and so is the neighborhood. I’m ready for it.

You’ll have to come by to see the rest.

Fact:
All the planets in our solar system could be placed inside the planet
Jupiter

I’m outta here until Saturday. We are headed down around Kerrville to sit around the river and do absolutely nothing (which is a great thing). Jordan, I leave you with my Zonkboard. Keep stirring up trouble. Farewell.

Fact:
The Germans considered Casablanca (1943) a propaganda film and made it
illegal to show in German theaters during World War II. Even after the
war, only a censored version was allowed to be shown in Germany; all
references to Nazis were removed.

…why am I coughing up blood?

Fact:
In the Egyptian Pyamids, the length of the diagonal across the base divided
by the perpedicular hight gives Pi to ten decimal places.

Kenny #1

Kenny #2

(But, no one has a small.)

*Huff laughs like a snob*

Fact:
All the planets in our solar system could be placed inside the planet
Jupiter

BTW: I’ll go ahead and put up the idiot’s IP and such in case some of you guys are that bored this summer. I’ll leave his hard drive in your hands.

Fact:
Grant Hill’s mother was the college roommate of Hilary Clinton.
Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore were also Harvard college roommates.

Saturday started off early with us showing up out at the lake at 9:00 in the morning to start doing sound checks. Just as things were about to get started “Hurricane Possum” decided to start blowing in. Rain was flying in sideways. We put away the electronic gear and threw a massive tarp over the drums and the mixing board which I had to sit on to keep from blowing away. After what seemed like an act of God, the winds changed direction and the storm headed north. We got everything set up again and the rock was delivered. All in all we were up there playing for a good 8 hours. Lots of friendly faces, lots of stopped boats, and a whole lot of fun for all of us. I’ll get the pictures up as soon as I can. After I get rid of the painful sunburn on my face, all will be well.

On Sunday, I was booked to play oboe for First United Methodist in their Independence weekend ceremony. They brought in a bunch of people from North Texas to play as well. I already knew the first Flute, Juliette, from SAI. She was one of our favorite members of the truly unimfamous PMA/SAI softball team. One of the trumpet players recognized me as the oboe player from band with the weird hair. Hey, I’ll take what I can get.

I’m exhausted. It’s a Monday after a holiday up at the clinic. I’ll feel better after I make my trip to the bank with all my payment from the weekend.
Score.

Fact:
The average human has about 10,000 taste buds � however, they’re not all on
the tongue. Some are under the tongue; some are on the inside of the
cheeks; some are on the roof of the mouth. Some can even be found on the
lips � these are especially sensitive to salt.

Take State Road 16 South. Turn right onto FM 1287. Continue South for 13 miles. Turn left onto FM 1148, and travel East for 3 miles. Turn right onto Camp David Rd. (Yep, that’s The Breakers)

Fact:
Even if the stomach, the spleen, 75 percent of the liver, 80 percent of the
intestines, one kidney, one lung, and virtually every organ from the
pelvic and groin area are removed, the human body can still survive.

Sunday night proved to be eventful though. As I was about to go to bed, I underwent an agressive attack of Fibromyalgia. I found myself vocally expressing the stabbing pain in my back that was making me jerk uncontrolably. After some pain meds I was able to get some sleep. By Monday morning I was a wreck. I was almost completely immobile. I had to be called in sick to work and I missed my last class of History before the final. I ended up sleeping for over 18 hours, but things were better by late evening.

Katie got back that evening from her cruise. It seemed like she’d been gone for a month at this point. I was at least able to see her for a little while and she looked so good. On top of that she came home bearing gifts from Mexico:

Katie, you rock.

Fact:
Spacewar is generally considered to be the first video game. Programmed in
1962 by MIT student Steve Russell, Spacewar was a simple game with ASCII
graphics where two players would blast lasers at each other. At the time,
the game only ran on massive, million-dollar mainframes the size of a
small house. Spacewar was circulated to other computer labs across the
country, but only nerdy college students with access to mainframes could
play it.

I sat up in the scorching hot G-town bleachers with Katie’s family for over 2 hours to see my Katie graduate from Graham High School. I enjoyed finally seeing her walk across that field. It’s now time to move on to bigger and better things. Katie is headed up to UNT this fall. Looks like I’ll have some help painting the town red. You are already more expected than you even realize. I’m really proud of you babe. Especially considering everthing you did this past year for your school, your friends, your family, and even your graduation ceremony. Enjoy. It’s done. Summer ahoy.

Huffpuffs need love too

My congratulations also go out to the rest of the class of 2003. I wish you all the very best to come. Get out of G-town at some point, but always remember where you came from.

Then I got back to my lathering.

On that same note (no pun intended), Katie put together a most impressive banquet. By far the most classy I have seen. The food was great, the atmosphere was excellent, and the music was perfect. Look at you. You’re pretty much done. I can’t wait until Friday.

BTW: If any G-towners have pictures of the band playing, please let me know.

Kings X – Kings X

The band has been described by many critics as one of the most overlooked bands of all time. The trio is actually from Houston. I saw them in concert last summer and became even more impressed with the tightness of their material. It’s smart rock with a little kick in the jaw and a sound that is both unique and precise in its groove. I also recommend their album, Dogman if you give a flip at all.

Ruben

Ruben Studdard, the finalist favored to win American Idol, just happens to be a Sinfonian. Just an example of another brother taking care of business.

SFL Ruben!!!

Superstring Theory – (2003)