21 JULY 03

Well, the submissions deadline for the San Francisco Performance Cinema Symposium has finally passed and I am now BURIED in submissions that all arrived in the past 3 or 4 days. Ug. Some of them look Excellent, some look pretty cool, some are dreck. I am very excited by the prospect of this coming off in Spetember. I need to start focussing on the promotion and getting an audience. I’ve asked about a dozen corporations for money, all have either said no or have simply not responded to my request. Life is tough right now for everybody, I suppose.

Today I do more editing of SEI, and then start exporting clips into Florence. Florence is software I designed that was developed by Peter Nyboer. Florence is my mother’s name. I’m dedicating SEI to her memory.

Any time left over, I will work on Dennis Young’s CD covers. I’ll focus more on that towards the end of the week.

Political Statement of the Day:

There’s a piece circulating the web right now – about Bush’s trip to Senegal was completely insulting to the Senegalese and a bit of a disaster on the ground. It pretty much rakes him over the coals. Some of it is a bit over reactive (like whinging about Bush having his own meals – sorry, but poisoning is too easy, and given the violent evil things Bush has done since his usurpation of power, he’d be a fool NOT to bring his own food along…) but some of it is pretty spot on target about how Bush is basically filth. Pure and simple.

while I find such emailings informative, I also find them irritating, because there’s no DATE on the thing, the author’s name was taken off, so there’s no way to verify the authenticity of the claims made. So: a word to the wise on the left – IF you’re going to pass stuff around like that, INCLUDE the SOURCE and THE DATE. Otherwise, you’re just passing a likely story along. And likely stories, while entertaining, are not useful in building an historical case against the Bush legacy.

2004 can’t come soon enough…

22 JULY 03

I wrote the following letter to a fellow who runs a site on PNAC, the Republican/Fascist conspiracy that is dedicated to a ruinous unipolar geopolitic. My response to his site follows, and it outlines my ideas on the subject.

Interesting site on pnac.

What’s even more interesting is the link below. It was written during the
clinton era pre-9/11. I believe it still holds, as the real game in this
world is economic. I see the mid-east troubles as a side show to the real
issue: The madness of American Unipolarity, and the necessity of a
multipolar future.

The link below discusses issues inside the Chinese Military from the 1990s,
but, again, since the fundamental structures still stand, the problem hasn’t
changed – 9/11 and the idiotic war on terror I see as (murderous, stupid,
and tragic, of course) but basically a sideshow.

the biggest problem with multipolarity is the formation of superstates,
similar to, but not exactly congruent to those predicted by Orwell. Oceania
(NAFTA), EUrasia (esp. when the russians finally join), and EastAsia (esp.
when Japan, vietnam, Philipines etc. and China complete their own
semispheric trade accords. Look for that in the mid – late 20teens)
Look for proxy wars between India (Oceania / Eurasia client) and a Chinese
client.

I also think there is the possibility of the development of an Islamic pole
or pseudoPole. East Asia, it’s own trouble with Islamic fundies aside, would
be more happy with this than Oceania and Eurasia. Follow the guns – I think
you’ll find China pouring a lot of ordnance into Islamic states. The Islamic
Pole or pseudoPole would be enough to temporarily stagger Oceania and
Eurasia with proxy wars, and even strain any alliance they might have
against EastAsia. The goal being to buy time while EastAsia develops into an
equal pole.

The present administration is too stupid and reactionary to plan like this -
they see a unipolar situation and will simple seek to maintain that at all
costs. VERY short sighted, indeed.

The next empire will be the EU when Russia comes on board, and NATO is put
to pasture note – NEVER disbanded, just made irrelevant and more of a joint military
tool for “peace keeping” and other crypto-colonial efforts. I would expect
Russia to join later this decade or early next. With Russia on board, it
will be a unified economy from Portugal to Alaska. A massive consumer state
in the west, and vast resources in the east, including one of the largest
oil and gas reserves on the planet. Oceania won’t be able to compete, and
its power will fade.

If the present hegemons are running the show then, expect a great deal of
misery. If intelligent foresighted people are in power, expect Oceania to
actually prosper: with a reduced military budget, a progressive tax
structure, and a balanced federal budget, there will be plenty of capital
for expansion and innovation. With (as what presently obtains) a bloated
military and deficits, the USgov will suck up all available cash, driving up
real interest rates (even as the fed sinks to zero) and propel the US into a
depression.

that’s how I see it playing out. What do you think?

best,

HW

the link I discussed earlier – a real MUST READ for policy wonks:

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/doctrine/pills2/

24 JULY 03

Still getting submissions for the symposium. Got email from Ian Wallace – another chapter in our ongoing discussion about jazz and the audience. I got another rev of Florence from Peter. It fixes a number of things. I actually got it to crash the other day. I need to send Peter the log file. Today I set up SEI into Florence, and then rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

After I rehearse a few times, I will work on Dennis Young’s CD cover. Elizabeth is on an over-night camping trip, so Beth and I are going to have a lovely evening. It’s so nice to go on a date with the woman I love so very very much. Woo Hoo! Tommorrow I will work on more of Dennis’s covers, email pdfs of them to him, and then do more rehearsals. Next week, I have to prepare for going to Vermont, which means having to ship my CS2x to the school for performance and rehearse on one of my cranky old DSS1’s! I hope this comes off well.

25 JULY 03

Well, I found a bounty of bugs in Florence. I wrote them up and sent them to Peter for fixing. Last night Beth and I went to an Indian Restaurant and had spicy food – something we don’t getto eat with Elizabeth very often. After dinner we went to a cafe for some coffee and cake and then went home and listened to some smooth music on the steree-eree-ereee-ooo. John Coltrane (Giant Steps), The first Enya record (which is actually pretty good), Voices by Roger Eno, Music has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada, and a home-made compilation CD of various tunes, ranging from Dead Can Dance to Hawaiian slack key geeeetar music.

This morning, Beth and I went to breakfast at All You Knead, where I had my usual eggs ‘n’ Bacon, and Beth her usual Crepe… today, I work with Florence as best I can, and rehearse as much as possible. I’m thinking of bringing the CS2x with me on the plane, so I can rehearse right up to leaving and then upon arrival in VT. I can always ship it back by UPS.

Political statement for the day: Fuck the TSA and their tin horn fascism, those half witted lackey pinheaded freaks from hell.

26 JULY 03

Re-edited the trees section of SEI, so I can more easily cross fade between two different camera angles at once, making for a more fluid performance. Right now it’s too choppy and eats up too much keyboard space. Beth and E went to see Sinbad at the movie theatre, and then went to the park. Tonight, I cook up some din din and then tomorrow Beth goes to Texas AGAIN, and with E out of summer camp, I’m basically SCREWED as far as getting any work done is concerned. But I’ll have lots of fun playing with Elizabeth.

Last night I went to SomArts for the Electronic Music Festival.

I missed the first act, but the second show was Bran(…) Pos. He ran his voice through a mic into some processors. EVERYBODY who gets a mic and some processors does this. He’s just very systematic about it. I think the sutff I did in 1992 with processed vocals was intrinsically more interesting. I didn’t find his work that vital.

Next was DISC. DISC is a mix of Matmos and kid606. I found them loud and tedious. A big disapointment. I’ve listened to both Matmos and 606,so I figured this might be really interesting. It wasn’t.

The last act was O.Blaat. The music played was much more interesting than the presentation. There were several lights (incandescent and flourescent) strung about the hall. They would come on at seemingly random times, loosely affiliated with the music. The music was better than DISC, and was really quite interesting until the very end when it got so loud I had to leave. The lights were pointless.

Overall, a mediocre evening. But I ran into Charles K., Pam Z, and Dan J., which was nice – it was good to touch base with them. Afterward, Jef, Mark, and I went to Dylans and hoisted a few.

27 JULY 03

An ongoing conversation I’ve been having with Ian Wallace about Jazz is ongoing, and he was so kind as to reprint some email I sent him in this regard, so he might clarify his position regarding the state of Jazz in our world to myself and others.

Read his online diary thing at:

http://diaries.krimson-news.com/IanWallace.shtml

Ian’s a great guy, and a fantastic drummer who’s way inside all this stuff.

His (and Keeling’s and Reuter’s) diary is one of the highlights of my day.

The present conversation is as follows:

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Sunday, July 27 2003
I got a letter from Henry Warwick relating to my thoughts on the state of jazz and rock. I think he missed the point I was trying to make. So in case anyone else out there felt the same way, I will try to clear it up.

From Henry;

In your latest diary, you wrote:
> So what is jazz now?
> Well to my mind it is now another form of classical music just like the
> symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven,
> Brahms, Haydn, Rachmaninov, Elgar, Vaughn Williams, John Williams, Leonard
> Bernstein, Elmer Bernstein, etc., etc.
> So is there anything wrong with that?
> Well no, absolutely not. Just because something is old or played in a certain
> tradition doesn’t make it any less beautiful and moving. In fact, it may
> serve to make it more so, like old wines or an old violin. And that’s what
>Annie does; she plays classic jazz.

Henry responds;

I’m sure Annie is a great singer, and I would never detract from her
efforts, but I must strenuously disagree with your assessment that it is a
new classical music. That is the line taken by Marsalis / Couch / Giddins et
al – that it was something that happened and isn’t happening any more.

HW

Part of my reply was;

Also while I’m writing to you I’d like to say that I think you got the wrong idea in regards to my posting about jazz and rock and the general state of music. This is my fault in the fact that I didn’t make myself clear enough. I love jazz more than any other musical form and continue to believe that it is still being played creatively and soulfully. It’s just that I think that it has gone as far as it can go in form and structure. This to me isn’t a bad thing.

Wonderful classical music still continues to be written and so does jazz. They just allude to the tradition that has been created in the past. Take Wayne Shorter’s last two albums; Footprints Live and Alegria. These are the highest form of playing and composition and creativity, but there’s nothing particularly new in form, harmonics and construction. Is this a bad thing? I don’t think so. I happen to think it’s a wonderful thing. Annie is the same way, she carries the torch using the tradition of jazz and making it her own.

I certainly don’t think jazz or rock is dead. Far from it.

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To which I can only agree, really, and so the conversation continues…

Today, I drove Beth to the airport. She’s back in Dallas for more SAP training – this came up without much warning. So, now I have to rehearse and pack for Vermont, design Dennis’s CD cover, AND watch Elizabeth all week because E isn’t in summer camp this coming week. I don’t mind being with E this week – it’s just that I have all these other MASSIVE deadlines to deal with, including sending out acceptance letters to people re: the SF Performance Cinema Symposium. I also need to line up news organisations to help promote this event. And keep an eye on her Boo-ness – this isn’t going to be easy.

So – it looks like I have my work cut out for me. Oh – and I have to find a job, ‘cuz I’m broke. Details, details, details.

Also, the bounty of bugs I found in Florence were mostly user error. There are other bugs in it, but they are so peculiar and oddly functional, that I’m actually able to use them, as a kind of glitch aesthetic. Eventually I’ll need them smoothed out, but for now, the errors actually enhance the material. Well, who’d-a-thunk-it?

PS: Listening to Harry Shearer’s Le Show, I heard someone do a parody of a song by the Pheremones. They did a song back in the 80s about “If you ain’t got the DOUGH Ray Meeee folks” which had to do with immigrants coming to America and finding nothing but poverty. The singer of this new version adapted it to California. Clever and kind of funny, but mostly if you live here…. Shearer’s website hasn’t listed the song yet, so I’ll find out who did it later this week. I always liked the Pheremones – I saw them play every Wednesday at the Grog and Tankard in Washington DC.

I wish they’d get some new music together – with the likes of George (sock puppet) Bush blowing thigs up, emptying the treasury, and ruining the planet – and the puppetmaster NeoCons running rampant all along – the world NEEDS Al and Jimmy doing that Pheremone thing.

28 JULY 03

Elizabeth is out with her godmother, Bree, today. Bree is a professional cat sitter / dog walker with her own business, Claws and Paws. She’s great with furry beasties. And E loves going with her to feed the little critturs. Otherwise:

Feeling over worked and bleak.

Came across this in my lyrics collection.

It made me laugh, because it was written by the Pheromones back in 1989. So I thought it might be of some interest.
Goes to show just how little the world has changed… The tune is a modified Irish Reel – sing songy, kind of surgy, and very silly – the arrangement being a guitar, squeezebox and vocals.

Dance with the Young Republicans
by Al and Jimmy Pheromone

Let me tell you all a story about a modern master race
That eats industrial food and raise their kids on atomic waste
They’re as tough as they come and when they’re young
They play with guns and bombs
Disemboweling bad guys with the endorsements of their moms.
In high school they play football to the atonement of their minds
- to the sound of cracking ribs and the splintering of spines.
In college they pay time for their tops to be refined -
Then gathering in hordes to hear the wisdom of Holy George!

And we’ll lift our heads high
And Dance with the Young Republicans
We’ll tighten our neckties
And Dance with the Young Republicans

They’re not great businessmen suited in starchy etiquette
Just passion minded youngsters who look great in leatherette
And sport the latest colour, as long as it isn’t red
They look so natural in khaki pants and a brown shirt instead.
Well I guess the social thinking of the army has a bond -
You’ve got to admit there’s something about a man in uniform.
The best part of this trend is you don’t have to spend
A part of your lives having to serve
When you’re in the fashion reserve!

And we’ll lift our heads high
And Dance with the Young Republicans
We’ll tighten our neckties
And Dance with the Young Republicans

She can drink and smoke and vote and has a place out with the boys
Her goal is to control the things the privileged class enjoys.
And motherhood will follow a career with equal pay,
She doesn’t think her drinking buddies would take it all away.
But the rights that she’s embraced were won by people she’d despise
And opposed by those who top the list of men she’d idolise.
And if she had nothing to lose, I guess I’d understand
She’s just a political reactionary of THE FATHERLAND!

And we’ll lift our heads high
And Dance with the Young Republicans
We’ll tighten our neckties
And Dance with the Young Republicans

And we’ll lift our heads high
And Dance with the Young Republicans
We’ll tighten our neckties
And Dance with the Young Republicans

YO!

30 JULY 03

Today I send out the acceptance notices to people in the SF-PCS. Today, Elizabeth is going to start a three day day-camp at the YMCA. Yesterday I developed a database to track everyone in the SF-PCS. I also sent off a new design for Dennis Young’s CD. He didn’t like it and I think we’re leaning toward the first design. I’ll send him one more later this week, and then we’ll decide.

Yesterday the Pentagon had the stupid idea of selling futures on terrorist attacks. The Onion couldn’t have invented something so utterly amoral and insane as that. Once it came to light, and everyone laughed nervously and then shouted at them in utter rage, they quickly withdrew the concept. Frikkin morons.