Tuesday, December 29, 2009

No time for quotes.


I made this, come check us out, its $5.

Monday, December 28, 2009

[Insert quote here]

Just got back from San Diego, spent Christmas there with my honey and her family.

Here's what I got for Christmas:
- The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs
- My Friend The Poet by Terrie Leigh Relf
- Incesticide, Nirvana
- An "F" in POLS 406 (A mistake, working it out in progress)
- $50 gift card (Going toward bills)
- Acoustic B200H [Head] and B410 [Cab] (A present to myself)

Pretty good, and I loved San Diego, I'll be putting up pictures soon enough documenting our adventure.

But its not like you care.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

"I've always had a problem with the average macho man - they've always been a threat to me."

Random Guy in Car: [In a condescending tone] Hey! You guys look Samoan!
Me: Ok? [Confusion sets in]

Maybe one of the nicer things that someone yelled at me from a car?

Its a lot better than "FAG!" or "GAY!" or "FUCK YOU!".

Not like it bothers me that much to be yelled at from passing cars, but could they not make it an issue over sexual orientation? I get it, your an all-american, beef eating, Affliction wearing, Spike TV watching straight male that likes chicks (not women), explosions, and monster trucks. Fine, but get a life.

I mean, can you believe this?


The priorities of the American male. Scoundrelly conflux in a level to which I can't even understand.

How about just being a human? This isn't fucking the animal kingdom. If your an assclown, no amount of hormonal odors will get a girl in bed with you, people have a brain, with willpower and processes of conscious thought. They will know what your after and your priorities, and if its anything like that video then its not okay.

Random Guy in In-n-Out: Hey, can I ask you a question?
Me: Sure.
Random Guy in In-n-Out: Why do you go around acting like a girl and wearing girl's pants?
Me: Because this is America, and I feel like it.
(Though they weren't actually girl's pants to be honest, just skinny jeans)
Random Guy in In-n-Out: [Huffing and puffing comments that I couldn't really hear]
Me: Bye!

Stop it. Just stop. Try to act like a human. I hate to be preachy and I know it won't make a world of difference, and I know that I contribute to this culture as an American male, but really.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Writing Books For Karen O

Its agreed that...

The mind is a reiver and the cleaver a bridge,
But if cleavers make canyons why did mine make a ditch?
Don’t try to talk slowly, was the one thing I learnt
I’m smarter, but whats harder, not what’s inside her shirt

Yeah I am sorry, but you can't have a look
And do you know how hard it is to write a whole fucking book?
Well I am hungry because being full is wrong
The carrots taste worse as you eat it along
So, shit...
-
Back? Well that cracks for me
And he's such an art star!
He can’t tell the difference between a book
And the 'going postal' scene

For lunch there is Thanatos, not lest
He’s such a fucking Godot-esque
Man, it’s funny but it’s true
Existentialists can only serve you so far

Wait, what? But yeah though, I didn't hear
And that year! And that hair! And that air!
I'm starting to sound like a teenager
But fuck me if I stop to care

And would my asshole friends act the same?
Playing gone/there games
When he meant sexism and in all honesty
He probably did.

Like those people that believe Darwin was wrong,
But not for religious reasons.

And now I don't feel so good.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

"Everybody I know who is right always agrees with me."

By the power invested in me by no one in particular, I hereby declare you all popes of the Eristic order of Discord, a member of the Legion of Dynamic Discord (lest you speak to Eris with your pineal gland), under the disorganization of the Paratheo-Anametamystikhood Of Eris Esoteric (POEE) founded by Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst. Your responsibilities are (but not limited to) the following:

1- To invoke infallibility at any time, including retroactively.

2- To completely rework the Erisian church.

3- To baptise, bury, and marry (with the permission of the deceased in the latter two cases).

4- To excommunicate, de-ex-communicate, re-ex-communicate, and de-re-ex-communicate (no backsies!) both his-/her-/it-/them-/your-/our-/his-/her-/it-/them-/your-/our-self/selves and others (if any).

5- To perform all rites and functions deemed inappropriate for a Pope of Discordia.

Yea verily! So much for all of that...

Here is your card:



































Or follow the link: CARD!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The dizzy epiphany discovered an artifact of my own, it's the little things that get us through life, I need a little escape.

Albums that have shaped the person I am.

No reason why, I just like lists.

[In no particular order]

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
One of those first albums you remember hearing, this album is one of those for me. From a CD my dad bought sometime in the 80s when CDs were first introduced and now keep in my own collection. Reminds me of night-time road trips under a canopy of in obscured starlight in some location with no landmarks but darkness and the silhouettes of some mountainous region in the distance.

Elton John - The One
Yes, not one of those albums that Elton will be remembered for, but it’s one of my favorites, to me there is not a bad song on the record. Also one of those first records I remember listening, I found a CD version of it recently in the clearance bin of a record store near my house for $1, a steal in my opinion, and much needed since I only had the cassette version of it. It’s the first record after Elton's struggle with alcohol, drugs, and bulimia and features Eric Clapton, David Gilmore, Pino Palladino, and Olle Romo.

Pink Floyd - Pulse
Another road trip record and a record I would listen to when I was young. Pink Floyd were pretty heavy for me, but none of the elementary school kids would get it, typically they would pass on my suggestions for party music when I would bring up Pink Floyd, wasn't cool I guess.

Supertramp - Crime Of The Century
This band was pretty important in my childhood, prog-rock and an interesting band as well no doubt. All the covers that bands (Goo-Goo Dolls, and does Gym Class Heroes count?) though are annoying, you've probably heard many songs from this band and not even know it was them.

Dead Kennedys - Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death
The first punk rock record I ever heard back in 7th grade at the behest of a friend of mine with a strange fascination for the Viet Cong and AK-47s, back when there was no punk rock kids or punk rock fashion, it was just punk rock. It was outrageous to me, "To Drunk To Fuck" completely blew my mind, it seemed like they didn't care about the singing or the playing, I could hear the mistakes clearly on the record but it spoke to me, this was around the time of 9/11 and I was starting to feel the animosity of racism for the first time.

Fugazi - Repeater + 3 Songs
This was the first record that expanded my idea of where punk rock can go musically. I first got into Pink Floyd, punk deconstructed that for me, but Fugazi was the first that I heard which brought the ideas of classic rock back into the music of punk rock, albeit in a different way. Fugazi wasn't about the speed or the mosh-pits, it was about the music again and that started my turn into the musical taste I have now. A huge influence on me, Joe Lally is a massive influence on the way I play bass.

Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime
In my opinion, pound-for-pound, the greatest album of all time. Yes Sergeant Pepper's was a great record which unlimitedly influenced all music to come after it, but if we disregard that and just look at the weight of the album in regard to songs themselves, Double Nickels is better. Its 40+ songs, (not a bad or even just okay song in the batch, all amazing) with half of the album written in only a couple weeks upon learning that Husker Du's upcoming record Zen Arcade was to be a double album, the greatest result of one-upsmanship I personally have ever heard ("Take that Huskers" in the linear notes). A huge influence in every way, Mike Watt is also one of those bassists that shaped the way I play today.

Crass - Stations Of The Crass
Another punk band that took my idea of punk and changed it. Poetic, biting, and weird sounding, they had a strange musical approach that was more influenced by classical music and David Bowie then anything "punk". Pete Wright completes the trifecta of bassists that influences the way I play.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
People might take me the wrong way, I'm not trying to copy the way Kurt Cobain sings, I try to copy the way Karen O sings, because I adore her. This band showed me that you can be artistic with a heavy underground and musical background and be a successful mainstream act as well. In my opinion, they are the most talented act out there right now, and are absolutely amazing in every way. I love all their records, but I had to choose this particular one because it was my first foray into their world.

No Age - Nouns
I tried these guys out, learning about them approximately 3 days before they hit MTV, and while I didn't know much about noise rock at the time I learned that I liked it. It was like an abstract painting, it was good to not have the implicit meaning thrown in my face and to just feel the expression in what sounded like distortion grinding against metal over poppy SST influenced punk rock. Oh and Randy Randall is just about the coolest guy, though I haven't seen No Age yet live, I had the priviledge of seeing Randy put a solo guitar performance in a DIY art gallery that I volunteer at, that was an experience, and there was only about 5 people there, I was expecting a bigger crowd but its their loss.

Nirvana - In Utero
All said Nirvana is still an influence on me; I would be lying if I said that they do not affect me musically in any way. Kurt Cobain speaks to me, yes it may now be the 21st century, but I still feel as crappy as everyone else did in the early 90s, so what if Green Day is the soundtrack to our times, they are not as musically daring as Nirvana was, a complete anomily of mainstream music that will probably not happen again.

Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Common Life
Finally something like this blew my way, it was about time someone took the idea of taking Poison Idea and Pink Floyd and putting them together. Damian is also a ridiculously cool guy, giving me 20 minutes of his time to just stand outside of the Smell and talk.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
It's not necessarily his guitar chops that I listen to, (while they are amazing, but that I do not need to say) its his expression with the guitar. He played it as more then a guitar, he painted with it and he was a goddamn great painter at that. Everything he did with it was incredible, the blues, the rock, the noise...I try to emulate that with bass (at only a minute fraction of anything that he ever did, but someday I hope that it can come close to a marginally decent proportion).

Notable Entries:

Mastodon - Leviathan
Thank you Mastodon, I took a complete dive on this record having not previously heard any of their material but thinking that the album artwork was too ridiculously good for the music to be bad, and my assumption was correct.

Depeche Mode - Songs Of Faith And Devotion
Although Depeche Mode never really stuck on me as intensily as Elton John or Pink Floyd as a child, this record along with Violator was still something that I heard a lot as a kid.

Civil Disobedience - In A Few Hours Of Madness
My favorite 7", its crust punk, but its strangly atmospheric, and unlike any other crust punk that I've heard.

The Lion King - Soundtrack
It won an academy award for a reason.

Jimmy Page And Robert Plant - No Quarter: Jimmy Page And Robert Plant Unledded
My first listening experience with Led Zepplin-esque material. This is the last entry I'm making for a album that I heard a lot as a kid, I swear.

Michael Jackson - Thriller
I'm aware of the sudden boom of interest in his music after his death, but really he deserves it, and I owe my existence to Michael, if it were not for Thriller my parents would have gotten divorced before I was even born (long story).

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Well I'm not okay, I'm not oh-fucking-kay.

So I've written about a novella's (or so) worth of material in a month and a half or so. My brain is mentally drained from all these collegial labors, (disregarding finals). Its been taxing on my psyche, already strained by a short attention span (guess what I should be doing right now?) and a lack of reserve energy (at all times let alone now). Furthermore my tribulations are not done yet, still 10 more pages to go, that will bring my count to about 60+ pages total and over 17,000 words, at least a novella by any definition.

And I think I wore too many layers of clothes, today's count brings me up to 5, its making me look fatter then I usually do.

1st layer: Small KXLU t-shirt
2nd layer: Medium Grey t-shirt
3rd layer: Longsleeve Green shirt
4th layer: Grey hoodie
5th layer: Daniel Johnston t-shirt

Excessive?

Ugh, well no, I am okay, its just that song is how I feel.

For the record, My Chemical Romance is a good band. There ... I said it.

I want to make a U2 cover band, It'll be called Us2, and it will be just us two. And we'll make our first album, "We Were Also At The Joshua Tree, But U2 Didn't Notice Us There At the Time."

I want to make so many bands, but just to use up these awesome band names I came up with;
-I'm A French Existentialist Writer, Love Me!*
-I'm Not the Enemy Shao Kahn Is*
-The Band Before Time (Land Before Time cover band)*
-I'm Rainbow Fucking Randolph (Lots of I'ms)
-Philip K Dick the Movie
-Bring Me the Head of Miles Davis
-GASP!!
-I'm In!
-Eejanaika (Isn't It Great?)
-What the Hell

If you want to use any of them, let me know first and I'll let you know if its okay. The Star (*) denotes that you can't, but the others you can ask.

I'm okay now
I'm okay now
But you really need to listen to me
Because I'm telling you the truth, I mean this, I'm okay.
(Trust me)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

BWBD

Old BWBD pictures from late 2008 to early 2009.
God is nowhere. (God I'm fat in this, not photogenic at all.)
Ray ray.

I like this one a lot, it was in a auditorium, and although it was the best sound system we've ever used (really, it was nice), we still had a buttload of technical problems.



Ryan's old pedalboard, back when punk rock was simpler.


Halloween performance.


This is my bass Robespierre, she sometimes looks like this after performances.

Ray doesn't like shoes very much.

The crew, and a pixie shooting out of the frame.

Had to put at least one of me singing I guess.

Michael Myers briefly pausing his homocidal spree to rock out.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Brendan #1

You may have noticed that I have just instrumentals playing on this page, ("Something Against You" might be an exception but to me it counts) well, its a soundtrack after all...

I figured that this page does not need lyrics to explain anything, I'll do that for you.

Instrumentals do not need lyrics, they are a title, that's all you need to know about them, nothing else, just a quick idea and you fill in the rest, I love that about them.

The scene here fills the ideas, the music sets the tone, and besides when you take away the singing you here the music clearly, perfect example, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", if you listen to it without the singing you hear things that you haven't before. Like the chorus effect (reference video demonstrating the sound)-


-oozing into the end of the second bridge after the chorus that goes into the guitar solo, have you ever noticed that before? I love it, these little details in songs that make you wonder if Kurt Cobain deliberately turned on his chorus pedal at that moment to capture that sound or if it was completely unintentional.

Its all in the way a musician hits the strings, or turns on a pedal, or plays something barely noticeable over all the distortion but would leave a huge gap if not done right, even when we do not quite know what it is.

Details details details.

Maybe I'm just compulsive.