March 02, 2006
Ry

%s1 / %s2

About six months ago I tried to convince members of several of my bands to buy a gong that was for sale on craigslist. It was three feet tall. It was $75. I have no idea why I didn’t buy it myself, but I think I didn’t want to accumulate more crap.

I knew it would be perfect for one song. I hadn’t written the song yet, but I would have one song that required the use of at least several earth shattering gong hits (new band name). Since I never got the damn thing (it disappeared shortly afterwards- I’d like to think there is a doomy power metal band in Warwick playing the shit out of it), I present you with a stellar example of heavy gong use. One of my all time favorite metal bands off of one of their best albums (and one of the top ten US traditional heavy metal records, Crystal Logic). Perfect use of the gong, right before the tempo change. Trust me I will be sharing more Manilla Road soon…

“What lies in the dungeons
Of Holy mens fears
For what would kings cower
And men drown in tears
What brings death and pleasure
Growth and decay
What makes life worth living
Who’s the master today

That’s how note read
Slipped under my door
The reason I know not
I have to know more
A poem to ponder
A challenge this night
The Riddle Master
Wants to master my mind
Oh no no no, oh no no no

Strange I was choosen, the fool divine
To battle the master
Of riddle and rhyme
Another mountain
For me to climb
I must find the answer
Before I run out of time

I have no solution
My mind blank with fear
The riddle has slain me
The master is near
Another demon
Walking the Earth
An Angel of darkness
Lucifer
Oh no no no, oh no no no

I can’t believe it’s true
I feel so damned confused
All I know is I must carry on and on and on

With blazing steel I’ll fight
The evil in the night
Daughter of hell I shall not lose, not to you

Then it came to me
Just like a waking dream
The answer had to be Reality

The master does not laugh
Defeated by a man
Leviathan be damned, yea, yea, yea”

Finn

“perfect use of the gong” is a phrase that does not appear enough in music reviews.


Jeb

holy shit i can’t believe you missed a $75 three foot gong. you would have ripped huge gong hits off the three footer all day long.


Ry

%s1 / %s2

I believe I told Finn about this before, but it needs repeating: best song title of the day. Too tired to transcribe the lyrics and the interweb is no help.

Finn

Just the day?


Ry

lyrics are amazing. starport nightlife just ain’t what it used to be.


Finn

starport nightlife just ain’t what it used to be.

so true, man.


Finn

Overtop2a

from

Jeb

I was this close to posting this right after a posted the airplanes.


Jeb

F15blueair_superiority_bluescheme_jpg

I chose the F-15 in air superiority garb for nostalgic reasons. But all of them are cool.

Finn

Where’s the page?


Jeb

the image was a link to it. stupid.


Jeb

Skins Are Lame

Skins are Lame

Finn

I love this article, but it’s ironic that Mozilla’s use of XUL has actually turned out to be wildly useful in practice.


Jeb

Blankets with Branches of the Armed Forces’ Logos

Ry

McSweeney’s Spring Cleaning Sale going on this week.

All this week we’re having a spring-cleaning super sale—most of our backlist books are deeply discounted. You can get The Middle Stories, This Shape We’re In, McSweeney’s Issue 14, The Pharmacist’s Mate, and many others for just $3 apiece.

Ry

WWAD?

Where is Anand?

Finn

New Haven.


Ry

lurking


March 01, 2006
Finn

Until I was about ten years old, I thought that New York was an imaginary city. I remember seeing it everywhere, of course: on TV, in movies, on posters and postcards, and even hearing about it in songs — apparently, it was my kind of town, and it never slept. It really didn’t occur to me that the city was real: even to my young brain, it seemed too mysterious, too complicated, too fantastic, a way-station on the road between Camelot and Oz.

Now that I count myself a resident, I can safely report that New York exists, its magical sense of unreality worn thin by countless morning commutes, irrational parking tickets, and unfathomable cabaret laws. And yet, every once in a while I catch a glimpse of something I can only describe as sublime: a moment that trembles on the brink of mystery and then vanishes, carried away on an unexpected scent, or folded between skyscrapers by the flat, grey light of an approaching storm. In these moments, I see in my fallen metropolis the magic long ago transferred to the invisible cities of literature, and in the crush of her crowds and monuments, a numinous shock of recognition opens a brief window: I sight Lankhmar in her sprawling alleys, Arkham in her sudden bookstores, Minas Tirith in the ruin of her smoking towers. In these flashes, the truth is revealed. The great cities of our imagination exist to help us see our own homes more clearly; they are not windows but mirrors, not doorways to escape but portals of recognition. As Melville said of Queequeg’s home, “It is not down in any map; true places never are.”

City of Saints and Madmen review

Ry

clearly we need a quote category. maybe tha should replace link? and it could have one of them giant quote things in the background. yeah, i can feel it.


Finn

let’s keep link, but I’d like a quote category too.


Jeb

i used to think ET california wasn’t real. also ‘minas tirith’ kind of broke me out of my reverie on this dealy. “Verily, in the rumble of the 7th Avenue IRT, do I hear the drums of kazad dum”


Ry

I finally picked the paperback of this up on sale a month or two ago.


Finn

The kind of life I would like to lead

You will need this sevillana (switchblade) and so that it will open swiftly I am giving you this little bottle of whale oil. Whale oil is the best. And finally you will have plenty of time to read. I am giving you my copy of Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén’s (1902-1989) Sóngoro Cosongo.

(↝via Tim Bray)
Ry

%s1 / %s2

Man this part where they do the spoken word breakdown and talk about bad tattoos is brilliant. Each album gets better and better.

Jeb

nice green arrow.


Ry

$5 and it’s yours.


Jeb

link is 403’ing btw.


Ry

FINN!


Finn

fixed.


Finn

sort of.


Ry

works for me now.


Jeb

that song rules. are we going to need a new tag besides garage when finn leaks the new streets here? GAHroj.


Jeb

Avatar

Jeb

man, why doesn’t this animate?


Finn

rmagick broke the animation.


Jeb

some ‘magick’ that turned out to be. MORE LIKE RSHITK!


Jeb

maybe when the image click thru is fixed you guys will be able to check this out in its unmolested glory. it’s a 20/60 on the pink floyd laser show minutes scale.


Jeb

Hippies 2.0

“With FarmNotebook you can:

  • See at a glance information on your favorite seed suppliers
  • Add your own seed suppliers, even if it’s your uncle Bob
  • Add the specific varieties of crops you grow (including vegetables, fruit, flowers, herbs, grains, and cover crops)
  • Display photos (either from the seed catalog or your very own) of everything you grow
  • Display detailed descriptions of your varieties, including detailed histories of heirlooms
  • Share your varieties with others and use varieties they’ve already entered
  • Record plantings, seed starts, and transplants
  • Record harvest dates and quantities
  • Give friends or customers the address to your own FarmNotebook.com page, which is constantly updated with information on what you’re growing and harvesting
  • Remember in future seasons what and when you planted previously.”

This will come in handy when we move to Big Pink.

Ry

Big Pink better be code word for northern california cause I’m pretty much done with east coast winters. I’m wearing an extra layer of clothing each day this week- currently at 5.


Jeb

how about new mexico?


Ry

i can dig it.


Ry

are burritos allowed on the farm 2.0? how about in our all night studio 2.0?


Jeb

Varnr22b

“Encounter between a large Mosasaurus and the crocodile, Thoracosaurus somewhere over what is now New Jersey.” There’s more where that came from.

Jeb

i wish albrecht durer was still alive so he could make some engravings of these dinofights (note: i just had to check wikipedia to make sure that albrect durer was a) real b) male c) someone who made engravings)


Jeb

Don’t know if you guys ever read it, but it’s awesome.

Ry

nice tag loser.


Jeb

what do you want me to do? it did. and the pics were cool, not like those crap flickr fakemodels ones that are just blurry photos with a nonblurry line in the middle.


Ry

43 NintendoDS

Finn, get your shit together with this organizer for your Nintendo DS.

Jeb

btw lifehacker is the source of the most annoying reposts on the internet.


Ry

Meatball

I’ll take one of these for my next birthday or xmas or easter.

Ry

Wave Radio 2006

iPod Hifi reminds me of the Bose Wave Radio commercials. Where does my turntable go?