Month: June 2020

So, it isn’t just that we are at a political crossroads. Police account more violent death in this country than any other cause. And the violence they bring upon Americans is nearly always disproportionate to the crimes being committed. (Not to mention: how is justice possible if the people involved are executed by police before anything can actually be sorted out?)

This isn’t a devisive political issue that is “misunderstood” depending on your political alignment. If this many people were killed by any organization in the world, Americans would call for us to step in and stop it. The actual crime in our country that is unchecked more than anything else is police violence. And it’s not a belief; here’s the data.

Above the Law: The Data Are In on Police, Killing, and Race

Thanks again Mick Hickman for for chatting with me for Somewhere In-Between: A Radio Zine. He told both Tales From The Space! and Tales From The Ranch!, a feature that will document the stories surrounding these Salem institutions.

Do you have a story about shopping (or working) at Ranch Records – Cds, Lps, Vintage Rock Art, Dvds, or a story about going to (or working or playing) The Space Concert Club? Let’s get in touch!

After several weeks off without any new live Mini-Mutations, I was quite excited to offer up this new episode of Mid-Valley Mutations. One hour of new live jams! Listen as I learn to play my new synthesizer, with several new Mini-Mutations experiments. (And an episode of Dimestore Radio Theater to close it out.) I like this one. Hopefully you do, too?
https://midvalleymutations.com/2020/06/24/present-in-this-moment-193/

I’m thinking of having a segment on my radio show, where people share their stories and memories about going to, working at, or seeing shows at The Space Concert Club. It would probably feature people calling in, and telling short anecdotes about their experiences.

If I did this, would you like to call in?

I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner, but I had to abandon one of the songs I was working on, and just wrote a new one. Here’s a little of the sausage making: I had a jam session a while back, where I recorded about an hour of me playing bass, trying different parts out that would make up these songs. The ninth “song” I’d worked out just wasn’t coming together, no matter how much I tried to make it work. So, I finally decided today to start over.

I’m sure this happens all the time to bands, and I was sort of waiting to hit a wall. But nine out of the 10 songs I did work out that day have come to fruition in a way I like. One didn’t. Those are INCREDIBLY great odds, for a project where I expected a couple of these to even be tolerable afterwards.

Maybe this is a real thing?

Among my many habits that often get strange looks: usually, with few exceptions now, I’m a credit watcher. I want to stay until the end, to allow for time to process as I unwind from my experience. Most of the time, it is also rewarding. I can’t think of any credits I STAYED for that made me dislike a good film.

This also might come from my own movie credits being so small that you can’t see them unless you read closely. But I digress.

This is similar to how the letters pages are gone from comics. Most people’s don’t care, I’m fighting a loosing battle, the times they are a changin’. But really, just let the credits play. It’s not that hard.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/15/the-end-of-credits-why-doesnt-netflix-want-us-to-watch-them?fbclid=IwAR2a7oMZEdLxZcv0ubaMGZ0g9qLLxYQSfRnISsx_gnyRupIsN4vG7zzmpcc

Recorded a bunch of new stuff for the last bit of the songs I need to finish. All 10 should be done in the next few days.

Cut my own hair for the first time since 2006 or so (maybe longer). I used to cut it myself when I had to, until I could find someone to do it for me. A long string of friends have been helping me over the years, to the point where I sort of forgot I could even do it myself. But I finally went at it, and found all the old skills coming back. I don’t know why I ever stopped. I will certainly save a fair amount of money this way.

I also had my first “social distance gathering” with a very small group of friends in our back yard. We had a fire, stood at a distance and tried to pretend that we haven’t been horribly scarred by the world around us. It was okay, I guess. I guess this is what friendships are like, now…

I love the sound of background noise
I wanna hear the crack in the singer’s voice
Fingers moving on the fret board
Every time he plays a new chord
I hear his friends hanging around
I hear him play an instrument he just found
I hear a low buzzing sound
I hear his parents hanging around
I hear his parents saying “turn it down”
I hear his parents saying “turn it down”
I hear his parents saying “turn it down!”

COOL YOUR WARM JETS, BRIAN ENO!

I do love having video chats with friends (thanks Obadiah!) But there is some part of me that feels like I should be in 2001, or Total Recall, or some other movie with video phones. And then the world doesn’t have weird mutant strippers or a Star Baby and I have to wonder what all this science is for if we can’t get to the weird future tech.

Where’s my Johnny Cab?