Techno Robot Pudding

we’re on the road to getting stuff done. i’ve been subcontracted to complete a few tasks here and there, but i actually look forward to the challenges; as well as a chance to gain some more experience and showcase any talent i actually may have.

as of right now, i’m in the process of cutting a final project for my video class. i have a lot of good footage, and i know what feeling i’m going after, but i have yet to figure out just how to put it all together. i agree with Eisenstein that it is the conflict of images that creates messages. how best to pull this off? perhaps a few quick cuts here and there. maybe some fades and effects. but nothing overboard.

and once the visuals are actually put together (something i hope to accomplish tonight), i will score it. i’ve started to become accustomed to protools, so this should be a somewhat enjoyable task… as long as i storyboard everything out and figure out what kind of soundscape to employ.

i should also begin work on my two papers due in a bit more than a week. one’s ten pages, the other around thirteen. of course, this is double-spaced, so that’s really like saying five pages and about seven, respectively. i’m not worried.

i always say that, even when i am worried. it’s a psychological crutch, really. sometimes lying to yourself is alright if it’s for your own good. i know that if i wore everything on my sleeve, so to speak, i would be quite the spastic paranoid individual. so perhaps it’s for everyone’s benefit that i tell myself everything is fine. perhaps it makes me a hypocrite, being a supporter of honesty and whatnot, but when you come to notice how fucked up everything actually is you start lying to yourself to stay sane.

i found a wonderful quote today. apparently it is also a favorite of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. i can see why we share a fondness for it. it goes:

“Remain orderly and modest in your life like a bourgeois so that you can be wild and creative in your work.”
-Arthur Rimbaud

i actually got an assignment done. i had nine days notice. the assignment was done within five. it took about 90 minutes. the product was three minutes of video. i am actually quite pleased with it. there’s something about just sitting there and soaking in the images.

something important happens tomorrow. there will probably be some sort of confusion, maybe some last-minute changes. however, things will run smoothly in the end. everyone will get their speaking done, we will dismantle equipment, and go home. i just hope everything goes fine back where i was supposed to be.

the sabres revealed their new logo and jerseys on saturday. i am not fond of the logo. the jerseys have grown on me a bit, but i’m still weary of them. the center ice logo looks dreadful. however, this will in no way effect the fantastic hockey the team will play this season. i am looking forward to it.

time warner has removed the nfl network from our area’s cable lineup. the excuse is that the nfl network deal would cause a small rise in cable fees for everyone. time warner does not want to raise cable rates for everyone in order to carry a station that only some customers actually watch. they want to put the nfl network on a sports special-interest package for digital customers.

well, why not drop lifetime and put that on a women’s special-interest package? why not drop country music television and put it on a music special-interest package? why not drop fox news and put it on a news special-interest package? we have four news channels, four music channels, and two christian channels; among others. we also have two shopping channels and four channels which show infomercials 80% of the time. at times, the canadian networks may have their feeds cut and replaced by shopping television feeds; supposedly because they go “off the air” for periods of time. if that’s true, then how come i’ve seen late hockey games cut out in favor of shopnbc?

cable rates are going to rise anyways. bite the bullet and pick up nfl network, time warner. for once, i’d like to see other subscribers pay for a channel i like rather than my family paying for their stupid shit channels. then again, it’s probably only a matter of time before we go to satellite…

the bills spanked the dolphins today. defense was huge. i wonder, though. was it a matter of a dominant bills defense or mike mularkey’s frilly limp-shit offense not working? speaking of offense, i’d still like to see some more aggressive calls when the bills have the ball. my “what the fuck” bursts are down, but i’d like to see them decrease further.

tonight we sleep. tomorrow, we dance!

actually, i don’t dance.

you remember that song. it was great. those gentlemen released a new album. download it and then go buy it.

edit: due to the large amount of traffic this post has been getting (most likely from people searching for the song whose lyrics are in the title), i feel as if i need to at least tell everyone what the song is. it’s called “Flagpole Sitta” from the album “Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone.” the band is Harvey Danger. a link to their site is up in the first paragraph.

i’ve borrowed one of these. it’s rather nifty, the manual controls and all. however, i actually still prefer the image quality of a camera i’ve used on many an occasion. it’s not super flashy, but it’s actually quite powerful. i almost consider it an old friend at this point. of course, i still really like it’s slightly superior relative. but not as much as the next step up. maybe i’ll pony up some dough for one of these some day…

sweet exhaustion. how it creates delusions and misfirings in the mind. the ironic sense of apathy is actually somewhat euphoric. as of right now i’m so far gone on mental vacation that i’m into popping on headphones and wading into the depths of some progressive compositions. Bowie’s “Low” and “Heroes” are good for that. Or maybe some of The Cure. Earlier work from Broken Social Scene too, perhaps.

today in a very very local newspaper there was a column written by someone calling himself a “humor columnist.” he went on and on with the same old jokes about the iPod nano. i should’ve known from his self-appointed position and pseudo-witty photo that the column would be filled with the comedic equivalent of a messy regurgitated abortion. i’ve written some fairly mediocre comedy articles, but even the worst had enough cajones to out-joke something of that caliber. of course, there’s the retort “well, why don’t you write something for the paper then?” because firstly, it would probably be mildly offensive; and secondly, not that many people understand my humor anyways. and i don’t really care about the nonbelievers. fuck em.

in other news, i’m losing out. i’ll keep it wide open like that.

blown wide open.

i hate being out of ideas. especially when there are projects that need to be done very soon. i’ll come up with something. how great is it that we were given barely a week’s notice?

it will be another series of compositions, most likely.

it’s funny. i’m actually nervous about something (else). one half of me is reminding myself of how important this could be. the other half is saying “fuck it, this is in the bag.” hubris has made empires fall, but so has paranoia.

i’ve been so much out of ideas that i haven’t posted in a while. in several places. i’ve been meaning to get to work on something new, but it just isn’t happening yet. things will clear up soon. next saturday is huge. after that, we’re good. i’ll FINALLY get some rest.

speaking of which, i need some right now. and you need to go rock out. maybe i’ll put some exciting entertaining manifesto up some other time.

for now, accept my apologies and lethargic dismissive tone.

aw naw, don’t get one-liner all over your face now!

wow, we’ve not spoken in over two weeks. i confess, it’s a one-sided dialogue (ironic?). i’ve been busy, as you may assume. the final film development is finished and ready for editing.

and my sound art is just plain finished. i mixed the rest of it last night, and needed to do very little to finalize and master. listening to it is interesting. i think it will confuse many people, which is quite alright by me. it might find its way to linkage eventually. though i’m going to wait until after it is reviewed to attempt cramming it on the web. it is five and a half minutes long. it contains some foley sound, some synthesizer sound, and some altered generic noise. the central idea behind it is basically an exploration of what goes on in the back of your head leading up to and during a dream. in this case, the dream is turbulent yet mysterious. i won’t say much more. i’ll leave it to the listener to draw their own conclusions.

finished reading Vonnegut’s book entitled Slapstick. fantastic. in fact, i think i’ll go snag another one of his titles soon. you see, my supply of unread Vonnegut is depleted. all two books, the other being Welcome to the Monkey House. also recommended. as is Slaughterhouse Five.

Conan comes to UB on saturday. can’t wait. perhaps he will bring some of his funny friends. perhaps he will just talk. perhaps we will all just sit down and have some tea.

speaking of which, i need to purchase a kettle.