The Lingering Lemon of Death

blast from my past

back in 1996 or so, i got a new computer, one with a video camera connected to it. i have a long history of making faces at myself in the mirror, so the next thing i knew i was playing "freeze that frame" with my camera.

i've had a web page stashed away with these pictures for a long time, and I stumbled across it today. seemed like a good time to recyle these pictures, remember the days when i still had hair within 6 inches of my forehead.

this is what I looked like just before microsoft squished netscape like a bug. Notice the lovely star trek cubicle wall behind me.

---

Before Coffee	After Coffee
Alfred Hitchtoy	George Washingtoy
Karl Maldentoy	Scary, isn't it
... and they pay me to work at Netscape	My boss walked in, had to look serious
No matter where you go, I'm always pointing at you	I dunno, Marlon Brandtoy ???
What I looked like as I read this web page	... and that's the way it was, one fun day when i unpacked my shiny new machine, 10 years ago.

the east of western -- show report

friday night at the bottom of the hill

opening act "Olympian". a bunch of obviously great musicians playing music that i felt not cool enough to appreciate. i enjoyed watching them, but more in a "look at the strange creatures in the zoo" sort of way.

next act, "Floating Lotus". when it started with a fiddle and a peruvian flute thing both dripping with reverb, i began scanning the room for the nearest exit, but then the guitar and bass came in and i really enjoyed this part of the show. lead singer was interesting to watch and his songs drew you in so you wanted to listen to them. i think they wanted people to dance for them, but this was apparently a non-dancing crowd.

finally "East of Western". it was great to hear these songs live that i had previously only heard in a studio context. although the sound system was pretty good, it was still not the place to go to hear the lyrics. still the energy of guitar and drums in a live situation is 1,000 times higher than you can capture in an album so it was still a great sound.

if you missed it, do some penance. check out their web site, buy the record, tell your friends, sell your homes, change your name, follow the band around.

in which i do not understand the world

i keep running into this, and i do not understand this at all, or if i do understand i am worried by it. many happy places on the internet where people can post an article, and then there's a place for people to post comments on the article. you know what the first five posts on every one of these is starting to look like:

Post by: d00d007
Subject: The Concept of Dialectic Truth

!!!!!!!  #1 !!!!!!!!!
I got the first post.  You all suck, I win I win I win

Post by: darkgurl
Subject: The Concept of Dialectic Truth

Did I get #1, I want to be the first to post.

Post by: speeemer
Subject: The Concept of Dialectic Truth

#1 ???

Post by: jk
Subject: The Concept of Dialectic Truth

Damnit, I wanted to be #1

Post by: d00d007
Subject: The Concept of Dialectic Truth

LOSERS!  I RULE!

doug reimagines blogging

a sad day in the blogosphere.

doug's a good friend and a great thinker. he has changed his mind about blogging.

read his post announcing his departure.

i can't talk him out of it, but i can write whatever i want in my blog.

i think he's wrongheaded on this, it's a little bit deciding not to make books any more because somewhere out there people are burning books. the stupidity of humanity freely manifests itself in every new medium. to retreat is to let stupidity win.

i suppose being a nationally visible figure causes him to endure more scrutiny than the great unwashed bloggers out there. my limited experience with that sort of thing is that your friends know you are not the idiot you appear to be in the press, and you just need to get over it and let the press and/or critics chew you up and spit you out. hiding doesn't make them go away or suddenly start loving you.

he does make an interesting point though, about the non-conversational nature of blogs. i'm a tool junky and i really like using the right tool for the right job. the statement that there are certain types of thought best done in conversation, and that blogs are a really bad form of conversation, is really interesting. and it is that kind of thinking that i will miss.

[ doug caught me on aim after i posted this -- he said, and i quote "I am not wrongheaded" ]

i'm promoting ... and i'm doing my dishes!

note to all sf bay area readers. come on out to this and listen to some great music and start the buzz on what, if there were any justice would be the beginning of an interesting and beautiful career for some great people who make great music.

CD RELEASE PARTY East Of Western is celebrating the release of our first, full-length album, 'The Empty Drone Of Special Effects.' You, my friend, are invited. FRIDAY / JANUARY 13th 8:30pm / $10 BOTTOM OF THE HILL 1233 17th Street, San Francisco w/ special guests THE FLOATING LOTUS & OLYMPIAN DJ-ing inbetween sets provided by MR. GOODBAR ALL AGES Tickets available in advance at: www.ticketweb.com Just search for 'East Of Western' to get the goods. Buying advanced tix is muy importante. Why? We can't go into it here, people are listening. Trust us. Please come to the party. Its been a long time since you rocked, hasn't it? Did we mention we'd love for you to come? Please come. Oh, and one more thing - we'd love for you to come to the CD release party (info is above, in case you missed it). What's that? Directions? Check here: www.bottomofthehill.com WHAT IS EAST OF WESTERN? By now, you might be wondering, 'What, or who, is East Of Western?' Is it a band? A spoken word / mime troupe? A medicine show? A mapping technique, much like triangulation? Your first guess was right. East Of Western is a new band, of the rock and roll variety. And now you're thinking, 'Why do I care?' Oh, come now. Of course you care. East Of Western consists of Kevin Marks, Jared Milos, Steve Joh, and Jeramy Sossaman. You have our action figures at home in that old box in the garage. Besides that, you might know us from bands like Flytape, Gypsy & The Joint, Shindig, The Plain Janes, Barefoot In The Rain, Rover, Betty Please, Threshing Floor, Overcast, and Kiss. Just kidding about that last one. None of us were ever in the band Kiss. I have seen Kiss live, though, and they were very entertaining. I digress... We hope you can make it to the show and pick up a CD. The evening is sponsored by MusicHawk - a company some friends of ours are starting that will revolutionize the way you find good music and connect with other lovers of good music. Stay tuned for more begging, pleading, and rock and roll. If you'd rather not play our little game, click on the 'unsubscibe' thingy at the bottom. We'll love you just the same.