Etude

I want to thank Roy for suggesting just the right name for the little Christmas card battery that earned his soul by playing on for weeks after being thrown in the trash. Etude. For warbling songs in the dark to the mice.

Etude. [French étude, from Old French estudie, study.] A short composition for a solo instrument featuring a point of technique but performed because of its artistic merit.

Etude. Like Mike the Headless Chicken who slept with his phantom head tucked under his wing until he died, six months after he was beheaded.

Etude. Life takes care of life.

Naming souls in the lateral universe

Béla Bartók + tiny mouse + one handed Santa + warped robot calliope music = ?

That Christmas card battery in my garage as been playing carols from the lateral universe for 13 days now and that, in my magical thinking, earns it a soul. Imagine one part Bartók on a macabre calliope (Roy's image), reincarnated as a tiny mouse (the mice in the garage get credit for that part though I have since relocated them to their new home along the Carson River.)

And the battery plays on. In case you can't make it out, in this clip it's belting out, "Santa Claus is coming to town". But it can't be long now, although I also thought that on the 31st when I made the first video of its plucky little concert. Yesterday, however, Santa with the missing hand took up the death watch.

I'm not meaning to start a debate over the existence or nonexistence of the soul just accept that everyone and thing gets a complimentary soul just for making it out here to the language barrier. So the little battery, the Christmas card dude, needs a name before entering the Great Silence but I haven't come up with one yet. Any suggestions?

Shut brain, open wallet

The other day I found this creepy little homily in a store dressing room. In keeping with the principles of perception management, which works best when the mechanics are hidden, it was placed high on the mirror, slightly out of sight but not out of range. I love the phrase, "This unattractive word". Obviously they are hoping to make customers feel "unattractive" if they don't splurge. I say tacky, desperate, and yes ... sinister.

The days of desks without roses

It's a dreary Saturday morning here in Nevada. Rain is washing away our fluffy white snow and after reading various posts about the horrors of the modern workplace cubicle, I found this sweet little NSFW clip at Drifty's which fits my mood to a T. Why T? I don't know. T has been the gold standard for fine fits since I was a kid. Glengarry Glen Ross has it all. Great writing. Great acting. And an office from the days when a desk was a DESK, real estate was HOT and men were, well... losers. Plus I love the line, "How should I know? I'm not a leash."

Glengarry Glen Ross

07:22
A similar scene has been playing in my head lately. In it, I am all the characters. It's chilling but I did get up early and write a new poem this morning and finished another I started a couple of days ago. I think it has something to do with my new desk which screams "crunch time", "do or die". "Coffee is for closers only".



Alec Baldwin

Yep

In case you're wondering, the Christmas card battery is still warbling its little heart out in the garage. It's been going 10 plus days now and, I must admit, I have developed both respect and fondness for that little thing. It has won a life of its own.

The Bounds of Sense

Dadaist Rock Band Album Cover Meme

I found this on Roy's blog. His album cover turned out to be "eerily appropriate" and it seems mine did too. He got it from UV, who found it at Mini-Obs and so on. According to the inexplicable whims of fate, the name of my band is The Bounds of Sense and this is our album cover. As you can see, we are a force to be reckoned with. And who are you?


Instructions:
1. The first article title on the Wikipedia Random Articles page is the name of your band.

2. The last four words of the very last quotation on the Random Quotations page is the title of your album.

3. Any appropriate picture in Flickr's Creative Commons licensed photos will be your album cover.

4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result.

Restore paper ballots

Congress is poised to consider a new emergency paper ballots bill next week. This could be our one last chance to get this right before the election in November. Transparency and accountability are essential if we are to restore our democracy.

Please sign the petition here.
Thanks.

In case you haven't heard, electronic voting machines are incredibly easy to hack. Watch this video from Princeton University. They demonstrate the procedure. After you see it, I think you will agree. We need a paper trail!

Princeton Study Exposes Diebold Flaws

paper ballots 2008 election voting machines Diebold MoveOn