Don't know why this old story popped into my head today in the shower...
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized Everybody wouldn't do it. So Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Thoughts on songwriting
In my grad program, the huge themes we deal with are structures of power and epistemology (ie: how we get information, and how we internalize that information subconsciously). Ok, at least, that's what I'M interested in. One of the books we read was Howard Becker's Art Worlds, which discusses conventions that we use, usually without thinking about it, to create art. For instance, when I write a song, I use a 12-tone scale, 4/4 or 3/4 time usually (or some derivative of), and a guitar. All of which follow certain conventions that have been set through the years - the guitar is of a certain proportion and audio range, made up of certain types of woods and shapes, with standards for the length and width of the string, the neck, the body, etc etc. And, the guitar plays a 12-tone scale. Not a 4-tone or a 33-tone - both of which would probably require the invention of new instruments.
It just makes me wonder, the songs I write, the songs I like, the songs that inspire me - am I just a copycat? Is there anything truly original in what I do, or am I just a faded carbon copy of the thoughts, feelings, words, and sounds of those who came before me? Could I even break these conventions if I wanted? The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is, I would get little to no distribution, because people are familiar with conventions, and that is what they want. The longest answer would be to look at how we are encoded (in the Stuart Hall-ian sense) with certain signals that make us feel certain ways, that evoke the feeling of like or dislike (think of those HSBC ads that are all incredibly post-modern), and why these conventions are in place, and what art means, and who has the power in the art world, and then how these power structures play a huge role in how we view society and how we internalize certain codes we receive from visual arts, TV, movies, journalism, the Internet, etc.
Why do I write the songs I do in the way I do? Because it's what I like, it's what speaks to me. Why do I like it, and why does it speak to me? Because it's all been DONE BEFORE. Because I play into these conventions that have been embedded into our art worlds and internalized in our subconscious as the "right" way to do things, the "likeable" way to write music. Not all of us can be Harry Partch.
My brain sometimes feels like it's about to explode. I'm gonna go quell it with some music.
It just makes me wonder, the songs I write, the songs I like, the songs that inspire me - am I just a copycat? Is there anything truly original in what I do, or am I just a faded carbon copy of the thoughts, feelings, words, and sounds of those who came before me? Could I even break these conventions if I wanted? The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is, I would get little to no distribution, because people are familiar with conventions, and that is what they want. The longest answer would be to look at how we are encoded (in the Stuart Hall-ian sense) with certain signals that make us feel certain ways, that evoke the feeling of like or dislike (think of those HSBC ads that are all incredibly post-modern), and why these conventions are in place, and what art means, and who has the power in the art world, and then how these power structures play a huge role in how we view society and how we internalize certain codes we receive from visual arts, TV, movies, journalism, the Internet, etc.
Why do I write the songs I do in the way I do? Because it's what I like, it's what speaks to me. Why do I like it, and why does it speak to me? Because it's all been DONE BEFORE. Because I play into these conventions that have been embedded into our art worlds and internalized in our subconscious as the "right" way to do things, the "likeable" way to write music. Not all of us can be Harry Partch.
My brain sometimes feels like it's about to explode. I'm gonna go quell it with some music.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
SVU
At Emily's watching an SVU marathon. But I think the marathon is over. We both want to watch more. What the heck is this NCIS thing?!
I'm hungry.
I'm hungry.
Serious media overload...and games
Ever since I got home to LA for spring break, I've been suffering from serious media overload. Let's list them, shall we?
- First of all, there's the pile of readings for next week.
- Then there's fun-reading novels I've been accumulating for the last year or so.
- I should also mention that I have a G5 tower with a huge flatscreen in my room that I usually use for film and media editing, but when I'm not doing that, because it's not connected to the Internet, I watch DVDs on it. Much more reliable than my TV and DVD player hook up in my room.
- There's a beautiful HD flatscreen TV downstairs in the living room begging for me to take advantage of it (and ravish it and make love to it...ohh, this ended up in a very different place than where it started...)
- And finally, the computer (MacBook) on which I'm writing this blog, which IS connected to the Internet.
Hence, I have been juggling:
- Legitimate readings for class (The Conquest of Cool, Hacker Culture, and some Foucault - I do love me some Foucault over break, and I'm only being a little sarcastic)
- Trashy readings like Greg Iles' Third Degree, and Raymond Khoury's The Sanctuary, not to mention my wanting to read The Neverending Story again since it came up over brunch yesterday. The Neverending Story is nowhere near trashy. Just so we're clear.
- Two papers - one Response Paper on the Oscars, which really shouldn't take me more than a couple hours to pound out, if only I would stop getting distracted... and a one-page *treatment* type thing to give to one of my profs on what I want to do my final paper on. Something about the iPhone, the computer, code, digital technology, the Internet, and structures of power. I realize it's still kinda hazy. I really want to work anonymity in it too.
- Forrest Gump and Farewell My Concubine have taken over the beautiful, luscious HD flatscreen in the living room. And I watched 24 on it today too. And Food Network. FINALLY, television! After being deprived all semester...
- Fingersmith and Charmed is playing on my G5.
- And because I need the Internet for the latest episodes, BSG has been playing on this MacBook.
And, on top of all this media-related stuff, I still have a letter of recommendation to do, a college essay to edit, study abroad forms to fill out, taxes to do, Disneyland to go to, Sabi to spend time with, songs to write, food to eat (especially the pasta from lunch today and lots of leftover sushi from tonight - Mama, Daddy, and I totally over-ordered - and at Trader Joe's tonight, Mama actually asked if I needed any more food), people to see...
Other than the near-burning of Juliana and Palak's apartment during game night, it's been wonderful being back home. And even the near-burning of the apartment was... amusing (and quite a relief that nothing worse happened). Juliana attempted to make s'mores in her oven. Realized baking them for a minute was too long - the marshmallows caught on fire WAY before that. Mario taught me how to mix my first drink (Bacardi and cranberry juice...except the cranberry juice mysteriously disappeared, or got consumed, halfway through the evening, so my second drink was Bacardi and coke). Michael V told me to brace myself for Friday (I think I'll just let myself be dragged around Disneyland like a rag doll...). Angeline and Sam let in some random dog when they arrived that somehow got loose from its owner across the way. Hiromi was still glowing from her wedding (I still want to see more pictures!). Jen (among others, but I think my respect for her as a Werewolf expert is just really high given the last time she fooled us ALL when she WAS the Werewolf) led the Citizens to a rousing victory against the Werewolves, despite the fact that everyone kept getting the finger pointed at by Claire. I FINALLY met Liz Pan. And all of us were happy we were not Giada de Laurentis. Is that even how you spell her name?! There were s'mores, Mary Ellen's homemade rice krispy treats, cheese, hummus, veggies, Claire's green grandma cupcakes, mini cheeseburgers (I could so use one right now), guac & chips, and more cupcakes. I shouldn't have eaten beforehand...
Speaking of eating, Crave is ... good...but not worth the wait. That was the longest wait for food in the history of...histories. I've been to better crepe places, but I think everyone would agree I was grumpier than usual yesterday.
And speaking of food, I'm hungry again.
- First of all, there's the pile of readings for next week.
- Then there's fun-reading novels I've been accumulating for the last year or so.
- I should also mention that I have a G5 tower with a huge flatscreen in my room that I usually use for film and media editing, but when I'm not doing that, because it's not connected to the Internet, I watch DVDs on it. Much more reliable than my TV and DVD player hook up in my room.
- There's a beautiful HD flatscreen TV downstairs in the living room begging for me to take advantage of it (and ravish it and make love to it...ohh, this ended up in a very different place than where it started...)
- And finally, the computer (MacBook) on which I'm writing this blog, which IS connected to the Internet.
Hence, I have been juggling:
- Legitimate readings for class (The Conquest of Cool, Hacker Culture, and some Foucault - I do love me some Foucault over break, and I'm only being a little sarcastic)
- Trashy readings like Greg Iles' Third Degree, and Raymond Khoury's The Sanctuary, not to mention my wanting to read The Neverending Story again since it came up over brunch yesterday. The Neverending Story is nowhere near trashy. Just so we're clear.
- Two papers - one Response Paper on the Oscars, which really shouldn't take me more than a couple hours to pound out, if only I would stop getting distracted... and a one-page *treatment* type thing to give to one of my profs on what I want to do my final paper on. Something about the iPhone, the computer, code, digital technology, the Internet, and structures of power. I realize it's still kinda hazy. I really want to work anonymity in it too.
- Forrest Gump and Farewell My Concubine have taken over the beautiful, luscious HD flatscreen in the living room. And I watched 24 on it today too. And Food Network. FINALLY, television! After being deprived all semester...
- Fingersmith and Charmed is playing on my G5.
- And because I need the Internet for the latest episodes, BSG has been playing on this MacBook.
And, on top of all this media-related stuff, I still have a letter of recommendation to do, a college essay to edit, study abroad forms to fill out, taxes to do, Disneyland to go to, Sabi to spend time with, songs to write, food to eat (especially the pasta from lunch today and lots of leftover sushi from tonight - Mama, Daddy, and I totally over-ordered - and at Trader Joe's tonight, Mama actually asked if I needed any more food), people to see...
Other than the near-burning of Juliana and Palak's apartment during game night, it's been wonderful being back home. And even the near-burning of the apartment was... amusing (and quite a relief that nothing worse happened). Juliana attempted to make s'mores in her oven. Realized baking them for a minute was too long - the marshmallows caught on fire WAY before that. Mario taught me how to mix my first drink (Bacardi and cranberry juice...except the cranberry juice mysteriously disappeared, or got consumed, halfway through the evening, so my second drink was Bacardi and coke). Michael V told me to brace myself for Friday (I think I'll just let myself be dragged around Disneyland like a rag doll...). Angeline and Sam let in some random dog when they arrived that somehow got loose from its owner across the way. Hiromi was still glowing from her wedding (I still want to see more pictures!). Jen (among others, but I think my respect for her as a Werewolf expert is just really high given the last time she fooled us ALL when she WAS the Werewolf) led the Citizens to a rousing victory against the Werewolves, despite the fact that everyone kept getting the finger pointed at by Claire. I FINALLY met Liz Pan. And all of us were happy we were not Giada de Laurentis. Is that even how you spell her name?! There were s'mores, Mary Ellen's homemade rice krispy treats, cheese, hummus, veggies, Claire's green grandma cupcakes, mini cheeseburgers (I could so use one right now), guac & chips, and more cupcakes. I shouldn't have eaten beforehand...
Speaking of eating, Crave is ... good...but not worth the wait. That was the longest wait for food in the history of...histories. I've been to better crepe places, but I think everyone would agree I was grumpier than usual yesterday.
And speaking of food, I'm hungry again.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Who's kidding who?
So, I attempted to try and maintain two blog "series" on this blog - one for movies, and one for geocaching. Two months after starting, they both amount to an EPIC FAIL. *sigh*
I did, however, get to see Revolutionary Road and Coraline before I came back to LA. Coraline was awesome. I need to see that again, maybe write a paper on it, do something nerdy like that. Revolutionary Road was rather predictable - I mean, you KNOW what's going to happen at the end at around minute 20. Can't wait to see Sunshine Cleaning when it comes out. I love Amy Adams. And, waiting for the Happy-Go-Lucky DVD, though Melissa walked out in the middle of it! Melissa, she's SUPPOSED to be annoying! I think you may have just given Sally Hawkins a huge compliment!
As for geocaching, that's officially on hold until it warms up a bit in NYC. Maybe I'll find some caches here in LA this week.
I did, however, get to see Revolutionary Road and Coraline before I came back to LA. Coraline was awesome. I need to see that again, maybe write a paper on it, do something nerdy like that. Revolutionary Road was rather predictable - I mean, you KNOW what's going to happen at the end at around minute 20. Can't wait to see Sunshine Cleaning when it comes out. I love Amy Adams. And, waiting for the Happy-Go-Lucky DVD, though Melissa walked out in the middle of it! Melissa, she's SUPPOSED to be annoying! I think you may have just given Sally Hawkins a huge compliment!
As for geocaching, that's officially on hold until it warms up a bit in NYC. Maybe I'll find some caches here in LA this week.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Irritable
I've been irritable lately and I don't know why
Everything that happens just makes me want to sigh
I know that there is really no one I can blame
But everything around me makes me feel really lame.
It might be papers calling, or unfinished work,
It might be Facebook distraction through which procrastination lurks,
It might just be the hustle bustle of going home for break
When I just want to fly away and hang out by the lake.
So while I finish packing for my flight tomorrow,
There might be a few unattended to things that my cousin coming can borrow
Ok, I know this rhyme just really sort of sucks,
But when I don't have time to think, I guess you, dear reader, are out of luck!
Everything that happens just makes me want to sigh
I know that there is really no one I can blame
But everything around me makes me feel really lame.
It might be papers calling, or unfinished work,
It might be Facebook distraction through which procrastination lurks,
It might just be the hustle bustle of going home for break
When I just want to fly away and hang out by the lake.
So while I finish packing for my flight tomorrow,
There might be a few unattended to things that my cousin coming can borrow
Ok, I know this rhyme just really sort of sucks,
But when I don't have time to think, I guess you, dear reader, are out of luck!
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
MTA is my hero
Ok, I know that the MTA could suck a lot of the time, but something just happened that makes me really love the MTA right now.
About a month ago, my 30-day unlimited ride cards kept getting deactivated (demagnetized), and I went through two of them before I realized what was doing the demagnetizing (I had just gotten a new bag with a magnetic clasp on it - a very strong magnetic clasp).
Per the advice of the MTA people, I mailed both my cards to their office in hopes of a refund or some sort of compensation, and proceeded to not hear from them for almost a month. Part of me was starting to think mailing in the cards via snail mail was a bad idea and that I should have just reported them lost.
Today, though, I checked my mail, and there were two letters from the MTA, both about my funked up cards. One letter, which corresponded to the older card, compensated me for 18 days, giving me a 14-day unlimited ride card plus a check for the remaining 4 days. The other letter for a card I used once, and got demagnetized on the same day, included an entire 30-day unlimited ride card.
My faith in the public transportation system of NYC is renewed. :)
About a month ago, my 30-day unlimited ride cards kept getting deactivated (demagnetized), and I went through two of them before I realized what was doing the demagnetizing (I had just gotten a new bag with a magnetic clasp on it - a very strong magnetic clasp).
Per the advice of the MTA people, I mailed both my cards to their office in hopes of a refund or some sort of compensation, and proceeded to not hear from them for almost a month. Part of me was starting to think mailing in the cards via snail mail was a bad idea and that I should have just reported them lost.
Today, though, I checked my mail, and there were two letters from the MTA, both about my funked up cards. One letter, which corresponded to the older card, compensated me for 18 days, giving me a 14-day unlimited ride card plus a check for the remaining 4 days. The other letter for a card I used once, and got demagnetized on the same day, included an entire 30-day unlimited ride card.
My faith in the public transportation system of NYC is renewed. :)
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