SYMPTOM OF THE UNIVERSE

existential dread, subjective media and news reviews and opinionated but not necessarily well-informed commentary.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Just a note: This here is Jimmy3000, and I was Jimmy3000 long before that jackass Andre3000 was Andre3000, in fact he's as much a 3000 as Buster Rhymes was a 1%er, those were the people who clamed the world would end at the stroke of midnight after December 31,1999 (Him and Prince, and Prince had some kind words for the music industry)

JIMMY3000 HUGE ASS RANT ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY BEGINS: LOOKIE HERE NOW.

Ah, let us look at the facts of LipsyncyGate, (the biggest Gate since the Janet Jackson’s Malfunction-Boob-Gate that may have added another six weeks to her astoundingly ho-hum career); the recent debacle regarding the fiercely nosed Ashley Simpson.
In her defense we clearly see it was the culmination of:

a) Acid reflux (that somehow went into remission during the other 87 minutes of a 90 minute show)

b) Stupid band that was thrown together for the sheer purpose of supporting a mediocre performer who’s sister can sing “Take mah breaf away” with near pseudo-Berlin- (i.e. pre blonde/raven tipped Teri Nunn not the Bauhaus art movement of the early 20th century) -like perfection

c) Stupid band who’s hair care products outweigh the cost of studio time at Electric Lady (Jimi Hendrix’s former Electric Ladyland Studio in NYC that does not even have a correct bio on their founder.)

unt d) The fact that the music industry is all about dropping words like “rootsy”, “urban” and “honest” to describe what the food industry would call “McChee-Z Fries”

Today a performer like KRS-1 can come on stage, say he supports Arab terrorists for killing half of lower New York on a September morning because security at the World Trade Center gave him and his hoodlum friends a suspicious look (i.e.whitey) and somehow in the course of a two and a half minute lift of someone else’s music with his digitally corrected live vocals, while increasing profits by sales of t-shirts, pendants, and 40 openers shaped suspiciously like hollow point 9mm bullet casings for Boogie-Down Productions LLC.
Meanwhile; poor little Ashley Simpson is too stupid to stop “hoe-downing”, and we’re too busy trying to act amazed like this is the biggest thing to happen since we all brought home a copy of John Lennon’s Double Fantasy to find 60 percent of the album was Yoko Ono howling like some performance artist beholden to the Babylonian lord of the flies; Cap’n Pazoozoo Ray Howdy
The popular music of has reached a level of mundane that I have no words for. There are no more guitar gods; today they barely qualify as guitar noodlers. Lyrics of a bygone age somehow are reborn in non denominational atheistic gospel makeover to sell everything from insect repellent to weasel chow or end up in the top 40 radio slot for a few weeks depending on the marketing skills of an Illuminati-like Music Industry.
It’s sad to think that singers and songwriters don’t throw televisions out windows of hotels, (except for that idiot from New Kids who lit his trash can on fire and had to do community service – Rock on dude!) and if you think about it; there was a level of frustration; there was this inspiration that was well…Inspired.
Back in the golden age of rock and roll even drug induced cement heads could say things like “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year.” or “And if I swallow anything evil, put your fingers down my throat.” or “’That chick don’t wanna’ know, forget her.”
Today the music industry has been given a blank check: Get whoever you want as long as they’re not over 23 and they have plenty of body piercing and/or tattoos and we will supply talent both digitally and canned, we will supply the music from hits twenty years ago and don’t make any rules about what they say as long as it does not offend any non white minorities, or if it does let us know so we can build a marketing campaign around it. If I have to sit through one more remake where some idiot exec shoves a soundtrack to it that includes Beyonce featuring Puff Diddy featuring Lincoln Park singing “She Bop” or some other crappy songs of 25 years ago, because the industry feels it has invested enough money in those markets a quarter century ago and they know that stupid catchy tunes sell and the just cant come up with a new digital media for people to re purchase their entire music catalog from the 60’s and 70’s without having it backfire ala’ a three stooges pie fight, because most kids will never realize that Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton wrote “Ghetto Superstar” long before it got that West Si’ede makeover.
The music industry is the worst thing to happen to music since the Khmer Rouge began cleansing Cambodia of people who wore glasses, knew what a school was or just showed up for what they thought was a friendly game of Yhatzee.
The music industry is truly the evil empire: let’s look at the facts concerning the death of Jimi Hendrix, a case that was reopened by Scotland Yard two years ago, why? It appears the day before Mr. Hendrix’s death he told his producer, a man named Michael Jeffery the he (Hendrix) would no longer be doing business with Jeffery or any of Jeffery’s cohorts Jeffery according to another witness said “You’re a dead tomorrow.” And, true to his word; in less than twenty four hours later Jimi Hendrix was dead of what the medical coroner in St. Mary Abbots Hospital stated was “an open verdict” case, and not “due to barbiturate intoxication resulting in auto asphyxiation from vomiting” (can’t dust for vomit- I know), within three years Jeffery’s was killed in a private jet explosion over the Atlantic Ocean, and in three years of Hendrix’s sold out shows and endless touring he brought in something like $37,000 when it was all said and done.
Scotland Yard ended up closing the case although they could never clearly say why the Ambulance was reported lost for over an hour on their way to a hospital less than a few miles away, or why Monika Danneman (Jimi’s girlfriend at the time.) was told by the doctor on staff that Jimi Hendrix was fine and she would be allowed to see him in a few minutes.
For the record, I don’t believe in UFO’s flown by either Bigfoot, Elvis or Carlos Santana, I am the first one to tell you JFK was shot by one I repeat: ONE very fucked up guy in a book repository building who was trained by the United States Marine Corps as a sharp shooter and although we love a good myth; despite the hours of audio tape available only three shots are ever heard, that and Oliver Stone is a puffy dough faced fucking liar (90% of his Abraham Zapruda film is staged and chroma-keyed to look legitimate) or that I’ve played “Stairway to Heaven” backwards dozens of times and all I think I ever heard was “Chip-chop, charley, bobby, tramp.” And “Ernie! These kids are driving me crazy!”.
Hell; Jim Morrison; fat, dead would-be-Irish-poet, love the guys music but I had friends who told me he was “iced” because he was going to put out an album with Janis Joplin and Mr. Hendrix, guess what? I have that album, It’s Jimi and Mr. Mojo risin’; two of my teenage hero’s that were so unlike Depeche Mode or Duran Duran that I still worship at the altar of the dead Jimbo’s, but this album was god-awful, it was so bad I shudder to recall it as I type, two drunken idiots that made (Adult-Granola-Rockers) Train sound legitimate. Jim Morrision wanted to test the limits of reality and see how much Jack Daniels is required to fill a bathtub, then consume it before 10 AM - Yet, I do believe this whole Hendrix murder thing: The music industry is an impossibly wealthy entity (Many times what the Vatican is holding if they liquidated, and that’s goddamn scary); and it thinks nothing of marketing anger and violence to disenchanted middle class kids under the guise that it shows them what urban life is really like, so they can embrace it, and suddenly think they’ve become a true ghetto thug and some little dick on unnecessarily prescribed medication who felt deprived because his parents would not buy him Grand Theft Auto for him when he was eight can come to school with a fully loaded AK-47 and we go and blame Charlton Heston; How many of these snot nosed kids ever bought a record from “Bright Eyes” Heston?, How many even heard of him. I bought Cyprus-Hill’s “Black Sunday” and (A to the Mutha-fuckin’ K) there’s about 300 references to shooting either a rival gang member, hood, cop, convenience store representative, circus midget or pesky astronaut before track one is 30 seconds into itself. (Okay, yes, where did he get the gun? The NRA needs to address what the fuck is going on too and stop sticking their heads up their asses: but driving a car and not playing Carmegeddon for real or buying a refrigerator and not huffing Freon fall under the sphere of responsibility at some point as well.)
I think if the music industry tell a 19 year old girl who; let’s face it; is only being promoted because her sister is the Angie Dickenson (yes Tom, I am talking about a very obscure YMCA Carnival acquired poster that your Mom took exception to.) of our brave new age of perpetual youth culture/marketing; a 19 year old who is being told by the music industry (and I make a distinction between the music industry and the recording industry, because for those guys to take the shit the music industry is feeding them and make them sound as engineered as well as they are it does take talent.) to “ho-down” and then “blame the band”, saying she has acid reflux, scurvy and projectile diarrhea she’s going to do it, because they can make or break that McChee-Z fry faster then we can get it out of our digestive systems.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

I am pseudo-apolitical.
When thinking about it honestly, allowing no outside influences or trends affect my ultimate judgement, I really don't care that much who wins the presidency. I do have impressions that run against the conservative side of the fence, politically-speaking. Wait... No. I do have issues. Limited stem-cell research and Christian Fundamentalists. That right there about nails it on the head. I cannot truthfully be as anti-war as I would like to be and while I want to believe all the oil company conspiracy theories, the bottom line is that they are all theories and I just do not really know the real truth. I will not base my opinions on the theoretical but i will based them against some fuck telling me his god will rain down his hellish wrath on me, my kin-folk and my puppies. George Bush speaks to an invisible man and that is just plain silly. I am independent but lean towards the Democrat persuasion. Kerry does not thrill me in the way I want to be nor does he give me the douche chills.
By the way, like the Seinfeld episode where Kramer "misses his moment," it happened to me this afternoon! After a fairly hearty lunch, an afternoon smoke and lots of caffeine, I felt the need to heed nature's call number 2. I went upstairs with a clenched jaw, a light sheen of sweat on my brow and a bookmarked paperback as my lower abdomen gurgled in anticipation for the blast off, only to find that there was unexpected company over! I cannot evacuate in this sort of situation so I had to cruelly halt the beast within. Long story short, I have yet to report to the poopdeck and reschedule the download. That was 6 hours ago. What the heck is going on?

Saturday, October 23, 2004

The Starbuck's issue seemed to have touched multiple nerves in our not-so-secret society of malcontents...
I celebrated the response from the void with a home-made cup o' joe, milk, no sugar. I drank half of it in the car before I arrived at the diner this morning and proceeded to consume enough trans-fat and lipids to clog a garden hose. Have you ever noticed after a greasy diner breakfast, the urge to explode is so enticing that a three minute ride home to the home base loo is an eternity and then some? While my arteries may now be clogged, my G.I. tract most definitely isn't. It was like the scene in "Dumb And Dumber" crossed with the bathroom scene in "American Pie" with a bit of "Trainspotting" thrown in for more eurotrash credibility. I was quite surprised that no one mentioned the diuretic and laxative properties of Starbucks and other similar burnt-ashtray flavored varieties...

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Ok... we have a little problem to discuss and this is by no means a clever, original rant - I am certain it may even be a tired topic amongst some readers who have experienced this scenario many times.
I have an issue with Starbuck's Coffee. Not with the coffee itself. In fact, it is quite delightful!
It is the fancy variations of how it is served.
I had a trendoid dude two turns in ahead of me ordering a double decaf soy latte, non-whip with a shot of mocha and an Iced Caramel Macchiato, no ice(?). The next person before me was a young woman ordering a Chai Spice tea and non-fat Mochacinno [sic], shot of vanilla hold the creme. I felt bad for the coffee clerk. "What a crap-ass, shit, cock job" I thought to myself as I was patting myself on the back for the simple, efficient order I was about to place.

There are three sizes served here, Tall, Grande and Venti. I was corrected twice by the pimply coffee slinger. I usually stop a Dunkin Donuts if I run out of coffee at home in the morning. I needed a small with milk and a large black. When asking for a small he said back to me "Tall". I replied "Um, thanks, a small coffee please." He corrected me and said "tall coffee." I looked at him for a moment and then up at the sign and yes, the smallest was a Tall. "Ok, Tall with Milk" I said. He replied "Tall with room for milk". At this point my blood pressure was notably elevated, and I hadn't a drop of caffeine in me yet.
"I will also take a large - the biggest one you have, black, please" (insert your own gay jokes here).
"Venti, topped off" he replies in a smug manner.
I no longer felt sorry for the poor asshole working at McStarbucks. Iwanted to reach over the counter and punch a hole right through his entire head. I paid for my coffee and left.

I wrote this earlier today and left it sitting there until I had some time to re read it. Confirming my opening statement about the commonality of this complaint, I did a Google search for "Venti+Starbucks+Definitions" and this article came at the top of the list. Anyone who nods in assent at this posting should read this and know that we are not alone.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Just a note to my contributors - Anyone can comment, member or not. In fact, spammers sometimes comment and it is really annoying. As CONTRIBUTORS you can post your stuff right up from, like mine. I encourage it. Please. Stop being shy.
Click to enlarge artworkThe band is Sleep and the record is called Dopesmoker. It is 2 songs, the first one, Dopesmoker, clocking in at 63 minutes. It was rejected by their label, shortened, renamed 'Jerusalem' and broken up into suites. Now it has been restored to its original form.
This album sounds like the result of distilling Black Sabbath from a gas to a solid, denser at the core than a collapsed star. Listening to the thick sludgey riffage is akin to doggy-paddling through an ocean of warm peanut butter. There is a bizarre dissonance to the sound yet it is strangely soothing once adjusted to the wall of buzzing, throbbing sound. I listen to stuff like this when I am working, visualizing dimly lit floating empires of ashen desolation in the echoing voids of outer space...
I don't really smoke dope anymore. I love the idea of it, the ritual and everything else that goes with catching the buzz and just relaxing, thinking stoned thoughts...However being laden with responsibilities that I did sign on for, I cannot be a functional doper. I haven't tried to be and failed, I just know myself well enough to know that I cannot get through a normal day of obligations in a haze of green fluff. I was unable to perform reliably when my only responsibility was to show up at work at 5pm so I will use that as a rule of measure. I do not approve of the way that it makes mediocre things seem fantastic (i.e. television shows that I would never watch in a clear state). My eyes become so absurdly red and doofus-like, it is a like a caricature and Visine hardly works. As I get older, sometimes i get 'the fear' and it taints the experience completely. Finally, my wife doesn't really like drugs and at this point in life I have no problem with that so I just avoid them. Who needs to be stoned with a disapproving eye cast upon you? Yuck. That is poo.

Monday, October 18, 2004

If I see one more mention of the Flaming Lips in the music press I am going to silently scratch my head, chin and sac in confusion, like I usually do. Does anyone else notice the alarming frequency of press that this mediocre band receives? I personally hate them since the asshole lead singer Wayne Coyne criticized Bob Pollard from GbV as having become predictable or something like that. Look at Blender, Rolling Crap Stone, Spin and the other biased mainstream publications and you will see what i am talking about here. One fucking jokey song in the mid-90's (She Don't Use Jelly), and all this adulation? Enough already.

Excellent Television show on HBO: The Wire. It just keeps getting better and better. That is all the positive stuff I have to say for now.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

All day a listened to Drive By Truckers, a phenomenally good band...They are the logical descendant of Lynyrd Skynyrd but not as mook-ish and right-wing. They are like the Outlaws, but with more than one good song. They are reminiscent of Molly Hatchet, minus the Frank Frazetta fantasy-art covers. They are like Marshall-Tucker Band, except they don't suck a big horse cock. Got the picture? Heavy git-tars, gruff whisky and chewbacco vocals and songs about moonshine, gamblin', fuckin' and dying. There are no songs about gay sex though, so don't get all excited.

Friday, October 15, 2004

20 needles from my shoulder down the arm to the outer side of my hand... Acupuncture treatment for some sort of carpal tunnel-y thing going on. I want to take a picture next week and post it because it reminds me of the Cenobite from Hellraiser... Angels to some, Demons to others...
I do not get the hipster fascination with the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson in particular. Fine and well, innovative sounds from the era back then but if one more fucking doofus extols the amazingness of Pet Sounds to me I am going to punch him or her in the face and then when they hit the ground, kick them like DeNiro and Pesce in Goodfellas. after that I just may pee on them. I am not not sure yet but I might. I am playing the new Brian Wilson "SMiLE" right now and it sounds like doo-wop surf rock to me. Fuck all you doofuses.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

The greatest keyboard player ever. Ian McLagan-->
My musical taste as of lately is baffling even to myself, regarding my segueways from The Faces into Mastodon into Aimee Mann and then to The Fifth Dimension, all within 30 minutes. I stare at screens too much, craving sunlight and outside stimulus. I find myself constantly talking like the Kingfish, telling no one in particular "Lookee heh now".
Bill O'Reilly sued and counter-suing for talking about rubbing one off...

What the fuck?
What is wrong with everyone lately?

All I know is that I keep my my mouth shut now in the workplace, even though I mostly work by myself, but even then...

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Things I have a hard time telling the difference between:


more to come, since I often ponder such matters. Please comment.
High on high-fructose, listening to Three Dog Night and doing late night graphic design work on a semi-pornographic DVD packaging project. Some might deem it erotica, but to the uninitiated it is very slappy and spanky and S&M-y. I deem it somewhat absurd and chortle-inducing. Whilst editing ass on my screen, I wonder if this is where I had hoped to be in this point in my career and then I dump a paper cup of milk over my head and remind myself of the autonomy that I have earned by working a series of crap jobs and snatching up the clientele like a giant ball of velcro. Questionable? Nah. Unethical? Not! Odd how it all works out? Indeed! Speaking of ethics, my MP3 collection, group mostly in full album discographies by artist, is climbing into the ranks of the high four digits. How do I sleep at night? By staying up as late as I can until I pass out in a black hole of hibernation. I don't remember my dreams much these days unless they are questionably disturbing in content. My favorite record right now is by Mastodon, titled Leviathan. It is very prog-like but more thrashy than Slayer. I usually start on this type of music after lunch, when caffeine has been ingested and food has entered my gaping maw. Mornings i prefer Howard Stern, especially when he talks like the Kingfish and makes fart jokes.

Monday, October 11, 2004

I am revisting the Blog thing yet again, with a the intention of not letting it become as heavy and doom-laden as a cinder block filled with lead-laced mud. I promise myself not to make it into a direct commentary on my fluctuating states of unhappiness, nebulous reasoning about arcane topics that are only hinted at, and poo complaints about the state of matrimony, suburban hellishness and sciatic pain. In a perfect universe, this blog will focus on music, art, literature, journalism, software, hardware, idiotic people and good food and drink. That is all I care to write or read about. Friends please join in.