"The worst mistake that you can make is to think you are alive when really you're asleep in life's waiting room."

What is that, some sort of vibrator?

SPONGY BRAINS!

One of these brains is infected with mad cow disease (more properly known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or, in humans, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease); one of these is not. Since you can't see inside your brain, guess which one is which!

"This is your brain. This is your brain on bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Any questions?"

*

"Where Your Eyes Don't Go"
by They Might Be Giants

"Where your eyes don't go a filthy scarecrow waves its broomstick arms
And does a parody of each unconscious thing you do
When you turn around to look it's gone behind you
On its face it's wearing your confused expression
Where your eyes don't go

Where your eyes don't go a part of you is hovering
It's a nightmare that you'll never be discovering
You're free to come and go or talk like Kurtis Blow
But there's a pair of eyes in back of your head

Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part that wonders
What the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of
Should you worry when the skullhead is in front of you
Or is it worse because it's always waiting where your eyes don't go?

Where your eyes don't go a part of you is hovering
It's a nightmare that you'll never be discovering
You're free to come and go or talk like Kurtis Blow
But there's a pair of eyes in back of your head

Where your eyes don't go a filthy scarecrow waves its broomstick arms
And does a parody of each unconscious thing you do
When you turn around to look it's gone behind you
On its face it's wearing your confused expression
Where your eyes don't go"

Don't worry, be a collective brain instead.

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale.

from the World Science Festival's website: "What Bobby McFerrin does is not an act; it’s spontaneous invention. He peers over the edge of the cliff, acknowledges the void below, and dives head first, buoyed by the element of surprise. Bobby uses dense rhythms, extraordinary scales, and complicated intervals that accomplished musicians and educators have studied and dissected.

For many people, the name Bobby McFerrin will always be associated with the first a cappella song ever to reach #1 on the charts in America, a feel-good ditty with an inspirational message: 'Don’t Worry, Be Happy.'

Bobby’s legendary solo performance and collaborations with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and The Vienna Philharmonic have toured the world. For Bobby McFerrin, music-making is an unending quest. 'Music for me,' says Bobby, 'is like a spiritual journey down into the depths of my soul. And I like to think we’re all on a journey into our souls. What’s down there? That’s why I do what I do.' "

Robot Philosopher and the Invincible Mullet

Watching MST3K with N8 and Big Al. That is a pretty good show. Don't you agree?




Here are some of my new favorite things from the World Wide Web. This link, which comes suspiciously close to hacking the real world, and its internet counterpart. I like it when systems which are designed to be exploitative are themselves exploited for their flaws! I just like it when people who try to fuck other people are, themselves, fucked! Okay? I'm trying to be less angry and vindictive but it just... isn't... working.

Anything that can make me consider more deeply my relationship with my body, never mind my glands, is okay by me. "My relationship with my body." Yeesh.

Bertrand Russell On Mind And Body Problem - VidoEmo - Emotional Video Unity

Finally, this.

On the analog front, besides being a bit of recluse, I'm currently trying to finish up Fables of Identity so I can really pour myself into The Tibetan Book of the Dead; the real title is Bardo Thodol and is more accurately referred to as The Great Book of Liberation Through Understanding in the Between, which sounds pretty all right to me. Then I would like to read a really good novel after that; any suggestions for a solid, really engrossing read? I haven't had any really stellar book recommendations in a long time. I like Kundera, Joyce, and most graphic novels of any ambition or quality. Stuff that is difficult but fun-difficult, like a puzzle or a game.
Good music recommendations are always welcomed, too. I've been into Grouper, Stevie Wonder, and pretty much anything I haven't heard yet.

Alternately, what should I do this weekend? I want to get out of the house.

Love,

Hawkwind Albumcover



edit: Tom Lehrer rules. Thanks, buddy.



edit 2: (fake edit)

Baby, it's foggy in Osaka tonight.

If you'll look out this window to your left, you'll notice a super-swanky sidebar full of garish Google gadgets and fun virtual toys. One of them lists some of my favorite eardrum-twisting, nerve-buzzing musics. But there's a lot of media out there, so let's see if we can't join forces to scare up some suggestions for the freakiest songs, bands, movies, cartoons, writers, artists, and so forth.

Just a few quick thoughts on the Osaka noise monster known as the Boredoms or the V(oo)doms, with the (oo) standing for the symbol for infinity.

With a perpetually rotating lineup of surreal miscreants and a catalogue of songs touching (obliquely) upon sex, drugs, and galaxies, the Boredoms formed when I was just four and continue to tour and record to this day, over twenty years later; they have continually evolved while retaining their unique identity. Their songs are diverse, texturally rich, and complex without being impenetrable; careful and repeated listening reveals layers of cultural influence, stylistic variation, and subtle interconnectedness. Schizophrenic, sometimes difficult to listen to, unapologetic and weirdly arresting, listening to the Boredoms is both unsettling and incredibly rewarding. Fun, even. Maybe that's why they've been so influential to experimental musicians worldwide, setting the gold standard for ultra-kooky inventiveness. This group gets the highest possible marks from me in originality, smarts, and sheer guts. Great to listen to, sober or otherwise.

Super Go, Boredoms!!!!!