Those dudes, those conspirators killed Caesar back in 44 B.C. Was he becoming too powerful? Threatening the Republic?
I don’t know. Don’t care. Not much of a history buff.
But it seems to me that one can relate to and apply this ancient story here and now in 2007.
How, exactly?
By plotting the assassination of some personal tyrant.
Something that has gained too much power in one’s life.
Something that has gotten greedy.
Something that threatens the balance.
Is it television? Well, we could all watch a little less television, but c’mon! Let’s not be crazy here. Save that for a New Year’s resolution.
Is it the day job? Forty hours a week is nothing to sneeze at. That’s a lot of power. But my day job takes good care of me. Income. Health insurance. Some modicum of dignity. Time in the morning to compose this very Gazette!
Friends? Girlfriend? Family? No, if anything, I need to give these folks more power in my personal Republic.
Music? Which part of music? There’s songwriting, practicing, performing, promotion, branding, set-up, tear-down, networking, travel, supporting fellow artists, etc. It is quite the monolith, but it has brought so many beautiful things into my life. I’m not ready to cut back on it just yet.
Food? Uh, no, I think not. I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t enjoy food, sex, and sleep a little too much.
I’ve got it! I shall gather up all my inner allies and slaughter Emperor Magazines!
Sneaky buggers, magazines. In the past year, I’ve subscribed to MacLife, Wired, and NerdTown [not really] and do you know what I’ve discovered? Magazines do not satisfy wants and needs, they only create more wants and needs! By design! Any publisher will admit it.
The articles are NEVER as interesting, lengthy, or in depth as the front cover would lead you to believe.
Ad after ad after ad after ad after tiny article with HUGE PICTURES after ad after ad. Wired only costs $10 per year, but how much more does it cost in the long run, when it shapes my brain to want the latest, greatest, smallest, and sleekest?
It’s like inviting a nasty billboard into my home.
Just because it promises some interesting tidbit of information or entertainment.
I say thee nay! Get thee behind me Satan! I know what you’re up to!
You know what? There’s this thing called the Internet now. I can look up ANYTHING I think of at ANYTIME from virtually ANYWHERE and find vast storehouses of relevant information. So why do I need these glossy chunks of gadget porn littering my apartment, corrupting my impressionable brain?
I do not.
“Et tu, Southpaw?”
Yes, et me.
And Another Thing…
More verbosity with velocity and viscosity:
SXSPaw!
That’s right, friends, it’s that crazy spring break week when everyone screams, “Show your badge! Show your badge!”
• It’s a chance for the local leather-pants-retailers to make some extra sales.
• A chance for Austinites to score some mediocre, drunken scrumpin’ from non-Austinites for a change.
• A chance for bands to walk shoulder-to-shoulder down the street, even closer than they sat in the van on the way!
• A chance for yankee dumbasses to wonder who froze Stevie Ray Vaughan in carbonite on Town Lake.
• A chance for folks to say “I’m gonna come to your…” and “Sorry I didn’t come to your…” within the same hour.
• A chance for young bassists to pick up a brochure for UT and think, “Maybe I should, like, cure cancer instead of layin’ down grooves.”
• A chance for six months of Pitchfork stardom and a lifetime of paying back the record company for a 2-minute CGI video.
• A chance for all of us to visit Los Angeles without leaving town.
• A chance for you to see Southpaw Jones perform THREE TWO TIMES. South by SouthPaw!
Thursday, my debut at the Alligator Grill with top notch talent all around! Sunday, my afternoon debut at Leeann Atherton’s Full Moon Barn Dance!
Thursday, March 15th, 2007
7:00 PM Third Coast Music @ SXSW Alligator Grill
3003 South Lamar
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 444-6117
4:55 The Ginn Sisters
5:25 Beth Wood
5:50 Abi Tapia
6:15 Ed Petterson
6:35 Andrew Walker
7:00 Jeff Tveraas
7:20 Southpaw Jones
7:40 Michael Austin
7:55 Steve Carter
Sunday, March 18th, 2007
2:00 PM SXSW Annual Barn Dance Full Moon Barn Dance
11241 Slaughter Creek Drive
Austin, TX 73301
Price: $10
The Finest Bands from Austin and Around The World. Two Stages for Bands and Acoustic Acts. 2:00pm - 11:00pm. Real Ones, Pop Up, Zeegrass, Barbara K., Mr. Brown, Topaz, Gary Primich, It’s Over, Leeann Atherton, Kim Deschamps, Andrew Walker, Southpaw Jones, Luna Tart, Michael Clay Band, 100 Year Flood and maybe more TBA.
Oregon’s as good a place as any to hunker down a while
Oregon’s as good a place as any to hunker down a while
I saw and learned so much there
That I started up a file.
The coastline is a stunner, I headed down to Devil’s churn
The coastline is a stunner, I headed down to Devil’s churn
When those girls in Eugene flash a smile
The world just has to slow its turn.
The loggers and the huggers, they fight like cats & dogs
The loggers and the huggers, they fight like cats & dogs
There’s this might flowing river
That that dam Bonneville clogs.
Heard ol’ Bob Dylan sing “Today’s been a sad and lonesome day”
Heard ol’ Mr. Guthrie sing
“Roll on, Columbia roll on”
“Roll on Columbia roll on”
Went out to the fish shop
Got some shrimp, bought some mussel, ate up some prawn.
Met a wise man up in Portland. He sees where every wild beast plods.
Met a wise man up in Portland. He sees where every wild beast plods.
We shared a mound of sushi
Even offered up some to the gods.
Towers fell in New York on a day called 911
Towers fell in New York on the day called 911
Breaking this cycle of terror
That’ll be the biggest thing man’s ever done.
Down in Pennsylvania, that’s where the final missile fell
Down in Pennsylvania, that’s where the final missile fell
It held purpose and evil and oceans of fuel
And a handful of heroes as well.
Can’t send me to Asia, I’ve got these goofy songs to sing
Please don’t send me to Kabul, I’ve got these goofy songs to sing
Ain’t got no heart for fightin’
I wouldn’t even know which gun to bring.
Two dark gray military jets patrolled the empty sky
Two charcoal military jets slashed the northwestern sky
I headed south to Ashland,
Had me some boysenberry pie.
Oregon’s as good a place as any to sit and rest a spell
Oregon’s as good a place as any to hang your head a spell
There’s plenty of ways to ease your mind
While the world goes straight to hell.
Animal Tracks Paul S. presents the top ten tunes of animal bands:
3. Deerhoof - Milk Man
“i don’t know what she’s saying most of the time, but i like it.”
SPJTV
Moving pictures because technology allows it:
My friends Seela and Jon have kittens! E-mail me if you want one.
Quotopia
Freshly-picked quotes from the ol’ reference collection:
A kitten is so flexible that she is almost double; the hind parts are equivalent to another kitten with which the forepart plays. She does not discover that her tail belongs to her until you tread on it. Henry David Thoreau
Is This Interesting?
Thoughts/feelings that just might not matter:
Oh, I just don’t have time to write much this morning, and that makes me mad. Southpaw smash! Grr!
Last night, I appeared as part of a unique show called 20×2. Twenty artists, bloggers, musicians, filmmakers, etc. answered the question “What if?” in two-minute segments. It was a tough little assignment. I called upon my trusty key-tar (or guit-board) for inspiration, and I ended up with a three-part presentation:
I. What if Bob Dylan were a neo-conservative? [Thanks to Matt the Electrician for kick-starting that idea.] II. What if you slept with Southpaw Jones? III. What if this here world is the only possible world?
Needless to say, I was shaving down seconds until the last minute to get it all squeezed in. It was a blurry blur, and I was quite stressed, but I think I finished in under two minutes or at least under 2:10. Since I was the 5th performer, I then got to relax with Maggie and watch the rest of the show, which ranged from good to great.
The event was part of the SXSW Interactive Festival, so there were many multimedia elements and nerdy in-jokes. I’m proud to say I got a solid 80% of them.
At some point today, I need to look up my fellow performers on MySpace, and ask them to be MyFriends.
Animal Tracks Paul S. presents the top ten tunes of animal bands:
4. Pedro the Lion - Forgone Conclussions
“his last few releases have kind of been slammed by critics, but i still think he’s one of the best melody writers around”
5 Facts, 1 TX Town, a Springsteen Lyric & a famous Jew
In no particular order:
1. An isolation tank is a lightless, soundproof tank in which subjects float in salty water at skin temperature.
2. John C. Lilly first used it to test the effects of sensory deprivation in 1954.
3. Fairy, Texas
4. A therapeutic session in a flotation tank typically lasts an hour.
5. Now ever since I was a child I can remember that mansion on the
hill.
6. For the first forty minutes it is reportedly possible to experience itching in various parts of the body.
7. Howard Cosell
8. The last 20 minutes often end with a transition from beta or alpha brainwaves to theta, which typically occur briefly before sleep and again at waking.
Animal Tracks Paul S. presents the top ten tunes of animal bands:
5. Andrew Bird - Tables and Chairs
“the line about snacks always reminds me of the andy kaufman story where he took his audience out for milk and cookies.”
“I wish I could pave a freeway for her. It would start at the beach and end within reach of my house.” -- Freshly Picked Flower,One in the Door, One in the Grave
Do it With Style
Animal Tracks
Online Museum of the Week
Quotopia
Fool Around Friday
I post whatever I want every weekday. I reserve the right to change my opinions. It is not my intention to bore.