What lies in the shadow of the statue?
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
The 10/31 Project! Colbert kills it again.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The 10/31 Project | ||||
| ||||
I love how Colbert's mockery of Glenn Beck's whimpering is more convincing then Beck's actual attempt.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
04/09 Goals!
I did pretty good this last month. I'd give myself a B-. I need to get more writing done! That is the one area I'm lacking in...I'm going to really motivate myself to try and scribe something daily (not counting blogging). I only missed one day at the gym and the balance part of my life seems copasetic.
And...if there is anything else you think I need to add, hit me up.
Numbs:
Funk Butter
How It is
Three Way Duel- finish two 4 line verses
Self:
Finish the following songs...
Up High Intro
Sunrays
Miniboss
24 Hour/Gym:
Hit the gym at least four times a week
The Balance:
One Kelli date per week
Keep the 2nd grader going with her studies and well being Sunday thru Wednesday each week
Work my three shifts each weekend and try to come up with new perspectives and insight for the business
Read at least one book over the month
Try NOT to eat out as much
Take 15 minutes out of each day to sit in silence and reflect
PS...As you can tell, The Ratchet & Clank figures look GREAT!
Y & The Walking Dead (volume 1's)
Y: The Last Man (Unmanned)
A mysterious plague has killed every man on earth except Yorick Brown, who was somehow spared (oh…and his male pet monkey, Ampersand). That is the compelling premise of Y. The sole Y-chromosomed human survivor is an amiable, headstrong young man, the son of a U.S. congresswoman and, as it happens, an amateur escape artist. He spends most of the story on the run from a tribe of self-styled Amazons (think Feminazis) bent on eliminating the last vestige of patriarchy. He is also trying, with a bioengineer who may be responsible for the worldwide "gendercide," to figure out why he survived; hoping to reach his girlfriend in Australia; and, of course, contemplating the repopulation of the planet. The pedestrian artwork doesn't do much to liven the story. However…“Y” has fast-paced, Intriguing characters and plotlines as it lays the groundwork for what’s to come.
The Walking Dead (Days Gone By)
An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. It has been said…that the Living can never stand up to the Dead: they are too many, and their hungry, avid minds are not freighted with the conscience of the Living. Kirkman and Moore have put that contention into question in their first auspicious volume of the "Walking Dead". Doubtless the Dead will Walk, and the Walking will die…but who will survive, and what will become of them?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Delusions
What delusions let you sleep at night? Each person believes their delusions are more realistic then the others delusions. Sorry to shock you…it’s ALL grayscale. A continuum. The world is constantly changing. Solutions that fixed things in the past go out of date and have to be replaced. Things swing back and forth and will do so forever. The details never repeat but the general pattern remains constant.
(Jabbaholic by Gunnar McKell)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Breathe
Some breathe new life into old tropes. They’re not interested in new ideas about everything as much as in the problems and choices those ideas pose.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Apple of The Minds Eye
What we perceive is just Plato’s cave, and in the end all matter is just harmonics of strings. According to Aristotle what we perceive to be reality is no more than shadows on a wall. According to Buddhist traditions we create the universe in our mind from our perception of reality. The “Dimensions” are just structures of our minds to understand what our senses perceive of reality…mind depends on its object and objects depend on the mind.
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Horror
What the hell is a “good ethicist”. Someone who sees the horror in everything? The idea is not that mortality should be divorced from science is exhausted and it’s not about thinking we can go places we should never go, it’s so we don’t lock shut the doors before we know what’s on the other side. It’s time to put away archaic fears and superstitions. Making the choice to use ancient rules is just as backwards as the rules themselves.
You Never Knew
I broke out "3rd Eye Vision" recently...such a good disc, such good mems. It's weird how music can transport you like that.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Buggin Out 09'
Dope spin on a CLASSIC song. If you haven't downloaded the J-Period mixtape "The Best Of Q-Tip" shame on you...
http://jperiod.com/
It's FREE!!! and aweSOME!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Public Enemy/The Roots/Jimmy Fallon
Ok...rap performers PLEASE take note. You are all boring the UCK out of me. But, this is dope!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
WTF???
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/17/pope-africa-condoms-aids
I kept looking through the article for some sort of explanation as to why, exactly condom use would increase the risk of AIDS, since it does appear that's what the Pope actually said. But I don't, for some reason, see any sort of of rationalization or reasoning for the remark.
I think he probably meant that using condoms means you are still engaging in riskier behavior than by not engaging in it at all, which, I guess strictly speaking is correct, even though it's not realistic or pragmatic approach to the AIDS crisis in Africa.
Who would have thought that a man who's thinking is straight out of the 15th century would ignore centuries of scientific knowledge in order to stay true to a book of oral stories written down hundreds of years later in a dead language and then translated several times since.
And really…Who even takes him serious anymore? (outside of the state New Jersey). The Catholic church invents dogma when they don't like what the bible says. By the way…where did the whole "purgatory" thing come from anyways?
Peace, DAG.
The Daily Show: Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Part 1
I give Cramer props for having the balls to go on The Daily Show (unlike Rick Santelli).
With that being said…Stewart is the “true” voice of news. He is on some Edward R. Murrow type of ISHT. Note to “professional” journalists…you must abandon the bad habits of contemporary journalism, and from the smooth talk, corruption, and complicity that come with them. You need to find some way to free yourselves from much larger social and economic forces that lead to co-optation.
Peace, DAG
Monday, March 16, 2009
IDES of MARK
Goal CHECK!
Numbs:
Beat Box Song- finish 16 lines
*Haven’t started this one yet
Three Way Duel- finish four 4 line verses
*8 lines done, 8 to go.
Self:
Finish the following songs...
Cosmic Legend
*Done
Up High Intro
*Not done
Sunrays
*Haven’t started this one yet
24 Hour/Gym:
Hit the gym at least four times a week
*The only day I missed was last Wednesday, substituted with roller-skating.
The Balance:
One Kelli date per week
*Oh yes!
Keep the 2nd grader going with her studies and well being Sunday thru Wednesday each week
*Ditto
Work my three shifts each weekend and try to come up with new perspectives and insight for the business
*Boo Yah!
Read at least one book over the month
*”Soon I will be invincible”
Try NOT to eat out as much
*I’m struggling with this
Take 15 minutes out of each day to sit in silence and reflect
*Zen!
PS. This record SUCKS!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
High Pressure Fate
Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her. But once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game. -Voltaire
How many of you believe in fate and destiny? Do you know the difference between the two? I had something VERY strange happen to me this morning. I have been feeling a little under the weather the past couple of days. After I dropped Elektra off at school I decided to go to the doctor. Kelli gave me the number of her physician. I called yesterday and they told me that I needed to come in and fill out a new patient form. They didn’t mention that the wait list for new patients is a couple of months long. Like May 12th 2009 long. This wasn’t going to work for my flu like bug eating away at my sinuses. I dropped by the Instacare in Sugarhouse. There were only a couple people ahead of me but I overheard the staff stating some people called in today and there was only one doctor working the rounds. After about 30 minutes, they called me back and took my vitals. The mini-boss nurse told me that my blood pressure was high. This is nothing new to me…it runs in my genetic code and I have been apathetic at setting up a primary physician in the SLC to get this taken care of. She took me back to the room. After another 15-20 minutes a different nurse? Came in and told me another doctor is on the way in and it shouldn’t be much longer. I always get restless waiting for them…I usually start playing with the ear light and other trinkets they have laying around (ADD?). I hear a knock knock at the door. In walks this forty something female general practitioner that I swear I know from somewhere. She asks me the usual and performs the gland, throat, eyes and ears check. After this she goes back to the computer and pulls up my file. She tells me in that the last two, 2 and a half years I have been to the Instacare three times. She studies the screen and is alamared that my blood pressure is/was high on all three occurrences. She seems really concerned and tells me that I need to get it cheeked out as soon as possible. After this, she starts to explain the antibiotics and what not to me. I drift off and I finally place her.
Flashback to October 26th 2000, Instacare…Rose Park, Utah. It’s late at night and I am with the mother of my daughter getting her checked out at the local clinic because she is not feeling well. The doctor who is treating her is troubled by her condition, tells her it looks like she has “Toxemia” and needs to get it checked out as soon as possible. I pooh-pooh the situation…why did the Instacare doctor catch this and NOT our family physician? The same family physician we had seen twice that week and said it was nothing to be anxious about. Long story short, the next day (October 27th 2000)…Elektra’s mom checks into LDS hospital where they tell us that she indeed has “Toxemia” and she cannot leave the hospital until the baby is born. October 28th 2000...Elektra is born two months early.
Back to present time. After the doctor hands me the script and wishes me well. I ask her if she used to work at the other clinic circa 2000. She tells me yes and I then tell her the story. She seems sincere and relieved that everyone is well. After I step out of the clinic and get my medicine I call the good doctor back and make an appointment for May 12th.
Is this weird to anyone else? The only reason that doctor is there today is because someone called in. The only reason I drop by…today, this morning…is because well…I’m not feeling up to par and the other Doc (May 12th) couldn’t get to me today. Not to mention, the whole situation with Elektra. And it’s the same doctor!
I have avoided this for a long time now and a road that I take to run off brings me back to meet it.
Peace, DAG!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Thundercats!
Hooooooooo!!!
Elektra and myself watched some ondemand Thundercats last night (circa 1985). It brought back many afterschool mems. Elektra said she wanted to be Cheetara for Halloween.
*These pictures drawn by Elektra Thomas (3/10/09)
Monday, March 09, 2009
"People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like."
--Abraham Lincoln
This was my most anticipated movie of the year (next to Coraline & Avatar). I refreshed on the graphic novel this past fall and going into this thing I tried to separate my expectations from the comic to how it came across on the silver screen. Snyder was in a no-win situation, really. If you are too faithful, the flaws of the original material show through and you get the blame from the pedestrians and media who don’t “understand” it. If it's not faithful enough, the fanboys and girls will eviscerate you. . Would you rather have a faithful and enthusiastic failure or have an unfaithful, yet great film that is more accessible to the mainstream? That’s a topic for another discussion though.
So, with the WATCHMEN film I expected a visual interpretation of the story and not the second coming of Christ.
The Good:
Snyder’s attention to detail: from the look and feel of the substitute 80’s, pulling some of the shots directly off of the panels and the Minuteman stuff was SPOT on! The opening credits might be one of the best I’ve seen on any film ever. I haven’t had the chills like that since I was a kid (or since I saw T.D.K. last year and you could hear Batman’s’ cape-see previous years POST).
Performances (inspired casting): Most notably Rorschach, The Comedian & Veidt. I never really liked Ozymandias in the book so I was surprised how much he won me over in this. Dan and Manhattan were great as well.
The Squid Free ending: Really, how could he have included the alien squid and made it look good? AND…made it so that people that have never read the source material wouldn’t have not busted up laughing at it?
The Bad:
Nixon: If you are going to do some type of B movie makeup and costuming go all the way and get one of those Point Break presidents’ masks. The Nixon caricature was distracting.
The Ladies: Ackerman looked the part, but not enough to disguise her inability to deliver a line with anything resembling human emotion. How Carla Gugino, who is actually a decent actress that has managed to turn in decent performances with people who aren't "actor's directors" (I'm looking at you, Robert Rodriguez) could give a performance so stiff and useless is beyond me. On top of that, she looked like a forty something made up to look an old geezer and sounded like she was more interested in picking up her paycheck.
Vices (Violence, Sex & Rock N Roll): The violence was over the top in some scenes where I don’t think it should have been (the alley thug fight, Veidt fighting Rorscah, etc). It made the human characters seem too superhuman, and, even worse, it made the scenes that should have been extreme (Rorschach pouring the hot grease on the inmate, Rorschach's origin, Manhattan blowing Viet-cong up) seem more commonplace. It took me out of the moment and often times obliterated the message at hand. Also, I cannot seem to decide how I felt about the immense strength of all the heroes in Watchmen, it seemed almost Daredevilish (although not quite). I couldn’t figure if they were heroes because they were so strong (superhuman?), or if their strength was rooted in their ability to put on masks? Thoughts…
The sex scene made me want to scream “Hallelujah” to make it stop! WAY, WAY to long and every time you thought it was going to quit it switched to a different angle. He could have made this shorter and a little more sophisticated.
Music can definitely add or take away from a movie experience and I wouldn't nitpick about the music if they didn't try to make it so "HEY! THIS IS THE 80S!" (The “99 Red Balloons” bit). They seemed so bent on proving to you what year it was by the music it was playing, I would have rather had an awesome score and a title card that said what year it was. To me, it was too in your face, other than the Dylan song which fit well and is mentioned in the novel several times
Replace or Inspire?: I have never believed that a movies job is to replace a book. I’m more on the side that it’s to inspire people to READ the book. With that being said…just that this film exists and is this bad-ass is a miracle at all. There were some things omitted that I would have like to see in the film…More of Rorschach and the shrink, Dr. Manhattan dissing the traditional atomic symbol on the helmet the Army gave him for his first outfit and instead using a representation of the hydrogen symbol. I also missed the bit in the bar where Dan goes off on the Knot Top after learning what happened to Hollis after he tries to calm everyone down at the beginning of the scene (if figure this will be reinstated with the Hollis death scene in the Director Cut with “The Black Freighter” bits?).
Some changes were handled inept and really didn’t make much sense to me…How are we supposed to believe Laurie and Dreiberg value human life so much as to get indignant with Veidt if they so callously kill people for kicks in the alleyway? Is the attention paid to the Silhouette's lesbianism really that important? (Since they didn’t even mention Hooded Justice or why the Minutemen disbanded) Why that, instead of, oh...I don't know...developing the relationship between Rorschach and The New Frontiersman before the last twenty minutes of the film! And the part with Dr. Manhattan and Laurie on Mars drove me NUTS! I mean, this is where the value of Human life is examined for gods sake and it comes off clumsy.
4 out of 5. Must...see...again...in...IMAX!
Peace, DAG!
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Ms. Free Will
Where are the ideas?
High def doesn’t equal high quality
Far more micro than macro
Most of these endeavors sound like a drinking game
A common tactic in this discussion is to reduce “IMAGE“ to philologically or otherwise, to the matter of free will.
High def doesn’t equal high quality
Far more micro than macro
Most of these endeavors sound like a drinking game
A common tactic in this discussion is to reduce “IMAGE“ to philologically or otherwise, to the matter of free will.
Monday, March 02, 2009
03/09 Goals
Two months in 09' have already shot by. I had an idea over the weekend that I need to outline my month to month goals and BLOG them so 1) I can maximize my time and get ISHT done & 2) be held accountable to ALL OF YOU who read this. I need to push myself and you need to push me over the edge. Here is what I have so far...(spoiler alert: if you do not want to know the names or what not of Numbs/Rotten/Mark Dago songs you might want to skip that part).
Numbs:
Beat Box Song- finish 16 lines
Three Way Duel- finish four 4 line verses
Self:
Finish the following songs...
Cosmic Legend
Up High Intro
Sunrays
24 Hour/Gym:
Hit the gym at least four times a week
The Balance:
One Kelli date per week
Keep the 2nd grader going with her studies and well being Sunday thru Wednesday each week
Work my three shifts each weekend and try to come up with new perspectives and insight for the business
Read at least one book over the month
Try NOT to eat out as much
Take 15 minutes out of each day to sit in silence and reflect
What else can you think of? Let me know...
Peace, DAG!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Soak
Because if there is no danger, there is no reason for the listener to sympathize with the character. And if there is no surprise, the listener will just up and quit. The answer is simple: Angst…you’re soaking in it.
("Dilla" by Shepard Fairey)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
White Snow Falling
White Snow Is Falling Today And Tomorrow
And In New York And In The Mountains
And At My Moms Work And In My Room
And In The Car And In The Bank
And In The Library And My Neighbors House
And The White House
But What Is This White Stuff Stuff Falling
Its Vanilla Ice Cream
Its Not Falling Snow
Its Ice Cream
By Elektra Thomas
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
My Silverstein Style
Music:
Same as it ever was. Rotten Musicians was lucky enough to play the SL Weekly’s Music Award Showcase this past month (1/30/09). I posted some video of the Huka experience and if you are in the beehive state you can view us via the Comcast on demand in the UTAH on demand section (Channel 1). The reception/party for the honor was SWEET (minus the cous cous pickled veggie island) and I didn’t even sport a hockey mask to the event. I left early but I’m sure that Neon Trees took the grand prize (three grr).
Salt Lake Magazine showed us some love under “The List”…
http://www.saltlakemagazine.com/Salt-Lake-Magazine/February-2009/The-list/
AND…we were able to ROCK KRCL’s “Loud & Clear” show on 2/7/09. They did a short but sweet interview and we ran through “Starscream Part One” live. Not a bad performance…It’s a rush to do songs on the radio or television LIVE. If you EFF up it’s there for everyone to see but damn…if you can’t shine on the spot you are in the wrong profession or hobby.
We have a name for the new NUMBS project and the projection is that it will be out by the summertime. This Summer…2009. I have heard a bunch of the rough mixes back to back (about 10 of the songs) and…think early nineties, syntax error type of isht.
The Dago solo endeavor is eventual. Eventually it will be next. Fisch has really outdone himself with the tracks. Maybe I’m biased but DAMN some of his best work…I will be posting “Cosmic Legend” by the end of the month?
Work:
I had the owners of the company I work for present my five years of service credential to me. They pulled me from a training conclave I was involved with this past week. When they came in and called my name (with my direct supervisor) the first thing I thought of was…who did I piss off? What driver did I agitate? Defensive about my weekend ordinary, you could say that. In all fairness…I have really been with this company for almost 7 years. I took a mental health sabbatical once (I.E. quit) and when I came back they couldn’t bridge my service. It’s aight though…vacation accrues quicker after the fifth year (the next benchmark is at 15).
Misc:
Elektra has completed a hundred days of the second grade and has only missed one. She has gone on her award tour through England, India, and China & Greece so far (in school trips). She told me she likes the stories about Zeus, Hera & Apollo. My kid likes Greek Mythology, awesome! The other night we watched a show on History about the Trojan Horse. (The true story of Troy?). She asked me if it was a myth…I told her myth is more potent than history. I mean, what if all myths were true?
I have been reading a grip lately. So far in 2009 (besides my funny books) I have ran through Coraline, The Lab and I am almost finished with The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread. I have got Neverwhere, The Graveyard Book and Anathem in my library queue. Oh, I’m listening to The Gunslinger on audio CD. Books never die.
K and myself have immersed in a few television series via DVD…”The Wire” (on season four) & now…”Pushing Daisies” (just into the first season). I will review BOTH of these once we have finished them. The hype on both should be BELIEVED.
Okayplayer.com been posting some bandwidth worthy additions. Some of the newness (recommendations): Inverse “So True EP”, J- Period “The Best Of Qtip/Abstract”, MF Doom “Ballskin”, Xzibit “LAX original version”, Blu “Amnesia” & “JB’s gone”, Tanya Morgan “Real Hip Hop Don’t Die”, Cradle Orchestra “So Fresh” & “Live Forever”, Playboy Tre “We Are The Robots” & Pac Div “Let’s Go”.
We went ice skating in Provo yesterday…Me, K, Lex, Shaun & Tasha! I had dreams of being Pitfall Harry swinging from my grandmothers’ spaghetti…I slept well last night.
Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day.
~Friedrich Nietzsche
Peace, Mark.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Part Of Everything
A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You're free at last...
-Charlie Daniels
I went to Provo last night to work on some SHIZ. We were able to get some ruff mixes of a few of the tracks. We finished a promo spot for my brothers' DJ ventures. It was a BLAST to make. Gunnar ended up sound like one of the Mooninites. The music that we make seems to center myself and when I'm with my friends it seems like there is always balance. Last night was another reminder of why I do this and why I have to.
Peace, DAG!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Regular People
You seem to think it's some sort of conspiracy to numb regular people. It's the other way around. Regular people DESIRE numbness, and conspire with themselves to achieve it.
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