Oct 16, 2011
Construal and “The Self”, performed with artist Mariel Carranza and other artists at Highways Performance Space, 10/14/11. Photo: Lever & Fulcrum Whew. It’s been a fun past few months. It seems like I’ve been performing all manner of strangesies for most of 2011. From Stockholm to the L.A. County Fair, I’ve shifted gears so many times, my parts need lubing! :-) In the midst of all this, I’ve also been recording and mixing Rattle Rattle. Everything’s been recorded, but there still remains an ocean of elements to work with. A sound to be captured and perfected. It needs to shit fire and bleed nails. And it’s not quite there yet. But goddammit, it will be. I pray, by next spring. Delays, delays, delays. I’m sorry. And thank you, at once. Imagine your worst enemy. Now imagine his/her pus-ridden, severed head on a silver platter, garnished with buttermilk biscuits and gravy. I want Rattle Rattle to accomplish this for you. I want to make you shit yourself with fury. Something like the Occupy Wall Street folks. They take over bridges, sidewalks, the attentions of compliant suits…and finally, the worldwide media. Huzzahs to them! A pulsating rhythm that anyone can march to and collectively shake things up. Wall Street may be a portal in the right direction…but I’m guessing you have to actually be there, right? Tell that to the seemingly delusional misfits who are “occupying” City Hall in Los Angeles. I served one full day of jury duty the other day (yay). During our lunch break, I took a short stroll over to City Hall, and viewed a sea of tents stationed along the surrounding lawn. Signs had been staked into the ground, with “OCCUPY LA” scrawled in a rainbow of fun colors. Pumpkins were laid out on the grass, with print-outs of Republicans (and the occasional Democrat) taped onto them. Schedules on dry-erase boards laid out the various activities planned for the imminent “occupation”. Kind strangers pulled up to drop off water, blankets and food. A makeshift “university”/circle jerk was in full session, as psychobabbly teens and their mentors were going on and on about “rallying” and “mission statement”. A bespectacled hipster interrupted the session to promote the “Zero Waste” initiative, as he handed out a large stack of fliers to everyone present. Create waste to eliminate waste. Way to go, asshead. Why am I being so cynical? Because these people are playing by the rules, preaching “unity” and “change” to each other like they’re handjob-crazy, and following a format that is not as impacting in L.A. as it is in NYC, because the peeps in Wall Street are on the SIDEWALKS where the MONEY IS, not confined to the legal constraints of a grassy area shaded by trees. Go where the money is, morons. Occupy Beverly Hills! Occupy Irvine! Or better yet, occupy YOURSELVES. In the past 20 years, I’ve been to protests/rallies for gay rights, immigrant rights, worker rights and indigenous rights. As Americans have bought more into daily comforts, the urgency of civil matters has greatly decreased. In Los Angeles, it’s been ten-fold. I remember going to a No on Prop 8 rally a few years back (in West Hollywood, natch), and I was so consumed with rage at the issues at hand that I wanted to throw a brick through a window. My friend asked me “Why are you so angry?”, as George Takei addressed the thousands of cheering masses from the podium. Why, indeed. All that said, I’m definitely for the underdog; the underdog who does, and not says. And yes, I know I didn’t actually throw a brick through a window that one time. Frankly, I didn’t want to end up getting arrested and putting my partner and family through a worrying hell. Call me chicken shit. But at least I didn’t claim to be a revolutionary.

Construal and “The Self”, performed with artist Mariel Carranza and other artists at Highways Performance Space, 10/14/11. Photo: Lever & Fulcrum

Whew. It’s been a fun past few months.

It seems like I’ve been performing all manner of strangesies for most of 2011. From Stockholm to the L.A. County Fair, I’ve shifted gears so many times, my parts need lubing! :-)

In the midst of all this, I’ve also been recording and mixing Rattle Rattle. Everything’s been recorded, but there still remains an ocean of elements to work with. A sound to be captured and perfected. It needs to shit fire and bleed nails. And it’s not quite there yet. But goddammit, it will be. I pray, by next spring.

Delays, delays, delays. I’m sorry. And thank you, at once. Imagine your worst enemy. Now imagine his/her pus-ridden, severed head on a silver platter, garnished with buttermilk biscuits and gravy. I want Rattle Rattle to accomplish this for you. I want to make you shit yourself with fury.

Something like the Occupy Wall Street folks. They take over bridges, sidewalks, the attentions of compliant suits…and finally, the worldwide media. Huzzahs to them! A pulsating rhythm that anyone can march to and collectively shake things up. Wall Street may be a portal in the right direction…but I’m guessing you have to actually be there, right?

Tell that to the seemingly delusional misfits who are “occupying” City Hall in Los Angeles.

I served one full day of jury duty the other day (yay). During our lunch break, I took a short stroll over to City Hall, and viewed a sea of tents stationed along the surrounding lawn. Signs had been staked into the ground, with “OCCUPY LA” scrawled in a rainbow of fun colors. Pumpkins were laid out on the grass, with print-outs of Republicans (and the occasional Democrat) taped onto them. Schedules on dry-erase boards laid out the various activities planned for the imminent “occupation”. Kind strangers pulled up to drop off water, blankets and food. A makeshift “university”/circle jerk was in full session, as psychobabbly teens and their mentors were going on and on about “rallying” and “mission statement”. A bespectacled hipster interrupted the session to promote the “Zero Waste” initiative, as he handed out a large stack of fliers to everyone present. Create waste to eliminate waste. Way to go, asshead.

Why am I being so cynical? Because these people are playing by the rules, preaching “unity” and “change” to each other like they’re handjob-crazy, and following a format that is not as impacting in L.A. as it is in NYC, because the peeps in Wall Street are on the SIDEWALKS where the MONEY IS, not confined to the legal constraints of a grassy area shaded by trees. Go where the money is, morons. Occupy Beverly Hills! Occupy Irvine! Or better yet, occupy YOURSELVES. In the past 20 years, I’ve been to protests/rallies for gay rights, immigrant rights, worker rights and indigenous rights. As Americans have bought more into daily comforts, the urgency of civil matters has greatly decreased. In Los Angeles, it’s been ten-fold. I remember going to a No on Prop 8 rally a few years back (in West Hollywood, natch), and I was so consumed with rage at the issues at hand that I wanted to throw a brick through a window. My friend asked me “Why are you so angry?”, as George Takei addressed the thousands of cheering masses from the podium. Why, indeed.

All that said, I’m definitely for the underdog; the underdog who does, and not says. And yes, I know I didn’t actually throw a brick through a window that one time. Frankly, I didn’t want to end up getting arrested and putting my partner and family through a worrying hell.

Call me chicken shit. But at least I didn’t claim to be a revolutionary.

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