Monthly Archives June 2010

The new guitar player is taking a week to learn the material
He lives fairly far away and can’t afford the gas
I understand that
I’m not too worried about it right now because he picked up the material quickly

Meanwhile, I decided to start assembling the footage for Countrockula’s Theater for the Insane!
I have amassed a ton of clips over the weekend and have mapped out 3/4 of the show
Unfortunately, I am having trouble with the “feature” segment because everything I want to use seems to resist me getting the clip onto my computer

First it was “Moon Over Tao” and I never could get past the copy protection (pissed that I gave away my VHS before copying it) so I tried shooting the screen with my video camera
That technique works for some things but this time there were lines on the screen so...

This whole weekend has been spent watching videos that contain copious amounts of source material and cutting out the fragments that I wanted
In the past, I thought of the video clip that I wanted, searched for it and then chopped it out for whatever purpose
This got me thinking and wondering how many times I lost an idea because the labor took too long and I lost inspiration/interest so I tried using videos that held a very large amount of source material

First was the documentary “KRAFTWERK and the electronic evolution”
I originally started on this video because there is a great quote from Conrad Schnitzler coupled with a great photo of him under power lines with a mixer and headphones (which will be the intro clip to show #8)
This 3 hour monolithic slab of a documentary has so much info...

I have been communicating with a guitarist who is interested in PyroPlasticFlow
We have had several conversations and he brought over equipment last night to start learning the parts
The most encouraging thing was that he picked up the guitar parts very quickly
This is one of my central issues with finding a person to play my music

The music is deceptively difficult in that more is going on with the subtleties of the rhythms than the actual melody that most people don’t play it well
Obviously, not to compare myself to Jimi Hendrix, but it is like being in a guitar store and hearing a person who has accomplished technical prowess but plays something like “Purple Haze” and it doesn’t sound anywhere as good as Henrix
Why?
Because of the nucances

My nuances come from being a drummer and applyi...

After moving from state to state all of my adult life, I have had to take many different driver’s license tests
They have all been the same
You don’t have to study the manual or any of that shit, you just have to use common sense when answering the questions
You’ll get a couple wrong (mostly the ones dealing with space or time incraments) but you’ll pass

I just failed my Minnesota driver’s test
Here are some of the answers I got wrong
And I paraphrasing because I didn’t really take notes

“If you are about to turn left and there is oncoming traffic on a two way street you should”
A- Signal at least 50 feet from the intended turn
B- Nonsensical answer you know is wrong
C- 2nd nonsensical answer
D- Come to a cpmplete stop and keep your wheels pointed forward

Believe it or not the fucking ans...

I don’t consider the busking idea to be a failiure but the “near ticket experience” certainly tried my anxiety reflexes
Using electricity is the biggest flaw in the design even though I can deal with lugging all of that equipment onto the street and taking 30 minutes to set up
It seems that I am always making things difficult by complicating them with intricate setups
However, this seems to be the only way that I can set myself apart from everyone else
Anyone can bring a hand drum or a guitar out and start playing
The fact that I only made a couple of bucks in 2 hours wasn’t a deterrent because I didn’t fanatsize about making tons of money when I thought this up, I kept thinking about how much my idea stood out from the rest
This was re-enforced by the amount of people who stopped to check...

I arrived on Nicollet mall at about 4:30 and headed towards Peavey Plaza
I thought it might be a good spot because of the outdoor concerts that were going on
It turned out not to be for several reasons
For one, no one was tipping at all (after walking further down the street, I saw lots of people getting tipped)
Secondly, I guess the city didn’t want me competing with a major event because just after the band started oplaying, a cop car pulled up and a woman got out with a book of tickets in her hand
I didn’t even let her get the words out of her mouth before I told her “I am packing up and leaving right now”
She asked me if I had a permit and I told her that I had looked for one online and couldn’t any mention of one
I had also asked several cops on my multiple visits about it and none of...

I don’t believe in Extra Sensory Perception in the terms that most people do
The ability to see into the future, read people’s minds etc…. is not really credible with me
But the thing I do believe in is a hightened perception
There are people with a gift for observation that can use their gift to succeed at politics and business as well as artistic and literary success
Hell, most guys that can pick up a girl in a bar have it
It is the ability to percieve the details of a certain thing, be it visual, aural or intellectual and exploit it

Myperception is what makes me uniqe and allows me to make such unique art
Unfortunately, it is also what fuels my anxiety and keeps me from succeeding
The ability to pick apart a subject into fragments can be a bad thing as well when it comes to your fears
B...

Just posted a vid of the new concept I have for a drumkit
This lighter concept will allow me to tour more freely in a smaller vehicle

I was watching WWE Raw on Youtube last night at about 1:30 am when I heard yelling outside
I figured it was just our neighbors breaking up again like they seem to do every other week but this was not the case
There was a flashlight and a dog barking and very angry words
That’s when I realized that the cops were arresting someone
I decided not to poke my head out the windo wand watch
Especially when the cop car on the street flashed his search light right into my window

It was over in less than 5 minutes and the guy along with all but one cop car was gone
I looked out the window again and he hit me with the spotlight again
I felt intimidated

Invader Ace- guitar Wolf

Hoodlum AD- Mick Collins

Cretin Hop, Rockaway beach, Sheena is a Punk Rocker-Ramones

Jet Generation, All though the night (buttobase)- Guitar Wolf

Too fast For Love- Motley Crue

Uncontrollable Urge- Devo

KISS- Acrobat

Son and Daughter- Queen

Rusty Cage- Soundgarden

Lookin’ for a Handout- Hash Palace

Rock N Roll is Straight from Hell- Unknown Hinson

We’re Desperate- X

Car Crash- The Voodo Organist

No Fun- The Stooges

I Got My Ascot n’ My Dickie, Little Lord Fauntleroy- Upper Crust

Saloon- Lolita 18

Pachuco Cadaver, When Big Joan Sets Up- Captain beefheart

Oh No That’s Too Bad, My Shadow in Vain,Basic J- Gary Numan

More Trouble Every Day- Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention

Beat On The Brat,, 53rd and 3rd Surfin’ Bird- Ramo...