Photographic Interlude

Though I can hardly afford the requisite equipment, one of my countless hobbies is photography. Seemingly everywhere I venture -- which, admittedly, isn't very far these days -- I'm compelled to take a snapshot as a sort of documentation of my travails. I've not had the chance to shoot anything remotely worthy of "professional grade", but these "Hipstashots" are current, personal favorites of mine.

I now gratefully share them with you, cherished reader.

The Dreaded "Writer's Block"

Hold the presses! The weblog isn't dead. Yes, I know that I've not been posting as often as I did over the past three or four weeks, but I've hit a roadblock insofar as what to write about. Nothing fancy here, folks. I'm out of ideas. I was planning on posting a psychological/philosophical overview of Paul Schrader/Martin Scorcese's acclaimed cinematic masterpiece "Taxi Driver", but got sidetracked along the way. I'll still be posting this eventually, but it's taking far longer than expected due to the film being so difficult to pin down; it's a multi-dimensional beast that's going to take more than three or four cursory paragraphs to do justice.

The next post will more than likely be the third edition of my bi-weekly "Sketches In Sound" series, with the "Taxi Driver" article following suit, though that may be within a week or two week's time -- it's day-to-day, so it's uncertain as of the immediate moment. Know it's coming, and know that I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. There's much to write about yet, but until I can latch on to something that holds my interest and that I have a passion for, I'll be taking a hiatus. Until then, friends.

Mario, "Inlands of Inanity"

Yo La Tengo - "....And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out"

Human tales come a dime a dozen. Some are wracked in the irrefutable guilt of middle age, living a life in inescapable bondage, attached to an ever-fleeting aspiration that died long ago, yet our too-human need to derive purpose out of nothingness drives us onward, even in the face of undeniable failure. Others, still, are young yet and are just beginning. The rebellious, inexorable angst of youth clashing with generations before them, lost in a haze of confusion and irresolution, quarreling with a faceless adversary that seems both insurmountable and insidiously vexing.

With "....And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out", Yo La Tengo explore every facet of the human journey, all the while creating an astoundingly beautiful (if not overwhelming) patchwork of Americana, kitschy lounge and, of all influences, Ennio Morricone and his contemporaries. This is an album that draws from a number of soundscapes, some more obvious than others, but it does it in a way that ultimately works. From the moment one glances at the enigmatic cover artwork, they know they're in for a memorable listening experience, evoking a glance at idyllic middle-America surruptitiously at war with itself, unaware of pending doom from outward forces. It's a return to the unspoken paranoia of post-war life, a fear of the unknown, a fear of the potential beast lurking within our innermost psyche.

The implied landing of a spacecraft, light caressing the ground of a quiet, suburban setting....it's mid-summer, early in the evening. Families are sitting down to dinner, chatting....ignoring. Dejected and estranged in one form or another from each other. What seems to be another prosaic and uneventful night becomes something far more. Self-reliance and togetherness become mandatory. It's fight or flight. Do you face the outward danger alone, or do you go inside of yourself? Abandon those you love for the sole purpose of self-preservation and survival? This is a study of humanity and of restrained emotions. It, too, is the American under an extra-terrestrial lens; as inextricably human as these compositions are, they also hold an otherworldly, almost alien perception of middle-American life, out of step with the times yet still remaining very contemporary. It's this peculiar duality that shapes the album from beginning to end.

All of these issues are ingeniously explored in this 2000 release on Matador, Ira Kaplan's understated, plaintive wail relegated to a mere whisper on the nostalgic, romantic paean "Our Way to Fall", with its feathered drums and understated refrains. Kaplan's wife, Georgia Hubley, in her immediately recognizable childish coo, pleads for the down-and-out soul of a man living on borrowed time, lost in past glories ("Let's Save Tony Orlando's House"). James McNew is also a factor, his reserved bass swimming beneath a current of flanged-out guitars, steady-yet-bucolic drum loops and patterns. It never seems lost among the instrumentation, but rather seems to guide it into a state of consummate pastoral euphoria, the soundtrack to a night spent alongside brooks in the countryside, lying on one's backside and staring into the stars in abiding wonderment. The trio, masterfully, have crafted a collection of songs that manages to retain the diversity of previous albums, yet remains thematically cohesive throughout -- a difficult undertaking, but they succeed.

However: the album, for all of its restrained musical virtue, can drag on in sections. Most notably is the closer, "Night Falls On Hoboken", which at first begins as though it takes a page out of Calexico's book of bromidic, Southwestern/No Depression-influenced banality descends into a repetitive loop of guitar twang and Tuckeresque drum sequences. What would work as the perfect closer in a three or four minute format goes on for an eternity, never going anywhere, never achieving the lofty pseudo-progressive goals that it sets for itself. Maybe, then, it is the perfect closer to an ode to the forgotten, a tribute to the everyman who spends his life seeking but never finding, lost in a sea of his own doldrums.

In this way, it could be said that "....And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out" is a cathartic call-to-arms for the jaded and the disenchanted of the world. The soundtrack to that audacious dreamer that dare rise above the constrictions of daily ritual and forge the life of their choosing from the ashes of one steeped in hackneyed familiarity. "For those that dare dream, you have already achieved." Thanks for keeping faith alive and well in hearts the world over, Yo La Tengo.

My verdict: ****1/4

"Sketches In Sound, Vol. 2"

                                        

After several false starts, technical discrepancies and issues beyond anyone's control, I present to you the second installment in what was to be a weekly series of mixes featuring slices of my ever-burgeoning music library. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned transpirings, I may have to readjust the schedule a wee bit and make it a bi-weekly posting. It only seems right, no? I'm digressing a bit, so let's get to the music!

This week, much like the last, is an eclectic mix of the well-known and artists who, given the chance, could have been just as big (if not more so) than their major label counterparts. Case in point, Washington, D.C.'s Father's Children, who had the musical prowess and intelligence of early Kool & the Gang and Earth, Wind and Fire along with the street savvy of lesser-known acts like Everyday People, Ice and Kane and Abel. "Linda Movement" is a slow-burning groover that builds upon the overall groove and musical concept of the wonderfully melancholic, pleading single "Linda". Saccharine harmonies, throbbing base, breezy strings and a jazzy mellowness easily make for a gem amongst gems.

Also featured this week are tracks by New Wave spazzes The Fabulous Poodles, Canadian folkstress Ronney Abramson, Arthur Lee's Love and a young, pre-pop Patrice Rushen. It was a pleasure compiling this collection -- I can only hope that, like the last time, you enjoy listening to it every bit as much as I did culling it together!

"Sketches In Sound, Vol. 2"

1.) Darwin's Theory - "Keep On Smilin'"

2.) Calexico - "Night At the Checker's"

3.) First Gear - "Peace, Peace"

4.) Father's Children - "Linda Movement"

5.) Murietta - "You Don't Really Know"

6.) Fabulous Poodles - "Pink City Twist"

7.) Ronney Abramson - "S.T.O.Please!"

8.) Reign Ghost - "Pudsy's Parable"

9.) Mtume - "Dunia"

10.) Electric Blue - "Pursuit of the 27th Man"

11.) The Whispers - "Living Together (In Sin)"

12.) Love - Que Vida!

13.) Sadistic Mika Band - "Boogaloo"

14.) D'Angelo - "Joe Texan"

15.) Patrice Rushen - "Puttered Bopcorn"

Sketches In Sound, Vol. 2

Dear World

*In no way is this piece meant to be taken literally. It's an extemporaneous attempt at expunging some dark thoughts that have been building over the past several months. Sometimes we must enter the darkest caverns in our hearts and explore their every nook and cranny as a means of personal catharsis. A peculiar means of healing: therapy, if you will.

Dear World,

I'm writing you this because my time is nearly up. Self-worth is down, self-depreciation at an all time high. I've tried to get my bearings to the point to where this would make rational sense....to someone. Anyone. Lately, I've lost sight of your appeal. Your pristine rivers, your fantastic vistas -- they no longer appease my once insatiable lust for beauty. The better part of my days are spent hoping, wishing that some ungodly celestial body will come careening into your tainted atmosphere, obliterating not only you but everything dwelling on your wretched surface. Yes, that would suit me just fine. It'd be a real kicker. Nice, swift and easy. Death from above.

I wish I could lie down, never to awaken. Fall into death's embrace, without prejudice....without detriment. Escape into a cold, isolated realm from which there is no escape, but also from which this physical hell no longer has any bearing. I want to be taken into a pit of self-despair so deep, none could ever hope to detach me from its barbarous grasps, lest they be taken into its unforgiving recesses, never to be heard from again. The faith that I held onto so staunchly ceases to exist, a whimper amidst a sea of resolute lethargy. I may be the sole cause of my sorrow; I'm well aware that this may be the case. Part of me wants to be saved from this torment, this purgatory of melancholic listlessness....another wants oblivion. Obliteration. Sweet oblivion.

Most of all....I want greatly to be understood. To be able to converse with another and feel genuinely connected to them, not as though they're being courteous to me so as not to insult or "hurt my feelings". Honest, genuine connection. Understanding. I think that we, as humans, are deserving of basic understanding by others. To maintain a relevance that is rarely afforded to those with little to offer -- that's my wish. Instead of a cold stare, a dismissive glance: camaraderie. I pine for a unity amongst man that hasn't been seen since the days of tribalism. We needed one another because if we did not afford another the time of day, it could very well mean our undoing. Survival. Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" alludes to this. He understood the desire, the LUST for acceptance. To be someone. To MEAN SOMETHING.

I no longer mean anything. To anyone, to anything. Most of all to myself. Into your arcane recesses I descend. I have my reservations....I realize that, most likely, I won't be coming back from this journey. Maybe that's payment to fate, unforgiving and without condolence. Life has taken its toll, for it has surely broken this soul. Until the next one?

Mosaic: Uncanny Windows 8 Emulation, or Pallid Imitation?

Out of sheer curiosity this morning, I decided to give the "Mosaic" skin a try. I'd been watching videos describing and exhibiting the unique, if not exactly innovative, "Metro" user interface which is to be included with the next incarnation of the long-standing operating system, and I was duly impressed. "Live" tiles that seem bursting with a strange life all of their own, vibrant colors drawing you in, practically shouting that "this is an experience!"

I haven't had a great deal of time with this extremely well done Windows Vista/7 modification, but what I can say is that, for a beta, it's incredibly smooth and well-rounded. Everything the daily PC user needs is here: e-mail integration, social networking (Twitter and Facebook widgets are available in the "Mosaic Store", which we'll discuss briefly), the aforementioned "live" tiles featuring calendar and clock interfaces, and last but certainly not least, the ability to jump back into the usual Windows experience/UI we've been accustomed to since the late '80s via the "desktop" tile.

E-mail and social networking are a breeze to set up: simply enter the required information after prompted, and you're set. The Twitter application works similarly to other widgets in that you're given a pin number that you must enter at the prompt, but aside from this, it works exactly as you'd expect it to. The calendar, weather and clock widgets are full screen, and are experiences unto themselves. Sporting smooth animations and screen-filling vibrancy, they're similar to what one would see on a Zune or the Windows Phone 7 series of smart phones except these are....well....ten times larger and quite a bit snazzier due to the processing power of a PC. One qualm I have, though, is that the weather widget is just as temperamental as that of "vanilla" Windows and you may find yourself gritting your teeth in frustration after having to re-enter your credentials after the screensaver kicks in. This is something I pray the developers fix in subsequent builds, as it's aggravating and dampens the otherwise immersive interface.

The "Mosaic Store" is an attempt to replicate, on a smaller scale, the forthcoming "Windows Store", though full-scale applications aren't available -- yet. What you do have access to, however, are widgets. From "Music" to "Video", no option is out of reach. To acquire any of these accessories, simply click on the desired widget, wait a moment whilst it downloads and installs, and you're basically good to go. I'd have liked to see YouTube and RSS feed widgets made available to users, but we can't have it all. Perhaps in successive builds?

Though "Mosaic" is hardly perfect -- it's buggy, being a beta -- it brings the "Metro" experience to those who simply aren't willing to install a developer build of Windows 8 just to see what all of the fuss is about or want something visually appealing to mess about with for a period of time. In time, I see this replacing the standard desktop for myself, but until the sluggishness and occasional crashes are squared away, it's nothing more than a nice diversion. Still, if you're a stickler for aesthetics, you owe it to yourself to give it a try, if only a cursory one.

To a lovely friend, for assurance and support.


A Letter to An Unborn Child


Cherished one,


As you rest within the comforting confines of your beautiful mother and creator, take in the sounds that surround you. Observe the repetitious heartbeat within you, the lifeblood of all humanity. The precious nourishment that is provided to you by the one who would give her all for you, no matter the situation, no matter the cost.


You will find, as you age, that this life holds much in store for you. The world that you enter is a wondrous one, but it is not without its travails and its hardships. Those you hold most dear to you will cause you the most torturous of pain, into the deepest valleys you could ever imagine, but they will also catapult you to the highest of highs.


This, dear one, is a world of dualities. You will find that you'll have more questions than you do answers. Fear not, as this is the intention. That which has given each of us the precious experience we've come to know as "life" on this magnificent planet seeks to improve us through trials. The journey is the most priceless gift we could ever receive, for one who does not seek answers and solutions is very much doomed to repeat the mistakes of their forebearers. 


Keep love in your heart for those who would otherwise persecute you, for it is this love that they may not have likely received during the course of their life experiences. Mountains are moved by the force of unencumbered, unconditional love.


Witness the trees, the air and the ground beneath your feet. Feel the Earth meld itself to the soles of your feet. Notice a unity, a collaborative effort between all elements. As you gaze into your mothers eyes, seeking assurance and acceptance, understand that within her lies a part of you, and vice versa. You are one. The love between you is shared between all beings, however it is desire for self-appeasement that drives men away from this natural conviviality. 


Be ever cognizant of your world, of your surroundings. Most of all, be love. Do your best to provide warmth to the coldest hearts, support to the most dilapidated bridge. However, never lose sight that you, too, need these things to survive. Hold perspective and balance forever in your heart,and you will be all right. There is no "perfect peace", but with these things in order, you will find peace in your heart, mind, and most importantly, spirit.


With great love and solicitude,


Mario