hibi no neiro

This is one of the most delightful music videos I've seen in a very long time.

This music video was shot for Sour's 'Hibi no Neiro' (Tone of everyday) from their first mini album 'Water Flavor EP'. The cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base, from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam.

Directors: Masashi Kawamura, Hal Kirkland, Magico Nakamura and Masayoshi Nakamura

therapy news and SFO news

exciting news in the world of dylan.

i had a therapy appointment yesterday, and it went really well. we talked about the MMPI (minnesota multiphasic personality inventory) that i had taken a week and a half ago. i was really ticked after my consultation with the dude that analyzed my test results because i felt extremely pathologized. realized when i was talking to my therapist that actually the guy didn't find anything dramatically wrong, just that when the test comes back pretty level, they need to report something about you. so yeah, basically what came out of that is that i show high levels of stereotypically masculine interests and behaviors, and that i could potentially work on developing an "appropriate level of selfishness."

end result, i need to make an appointment with dr. thorp and let my therapist know and he'll mail me a letter. so.. ideally i'll be starting hormones by the end of the month. i'm really excited, but it also kind of hasn't hit yet. it's been such a long time that it doesn't completely feel real.. that and i'm paranoid that something will happen with insurance and i'll be fucked and have a ton of medical bills to deal with. i'm nervous about having to switch insurance policies, that whatever i end up getting on will call it a pre-existing condition. but.. things to worry about later.

in other news, last week i was in ohio visiting sumner. we recorded pretty much straight through the week, finishing strong with an all-nighter saturday night, and we emerged with a really nice 5-track EP. we still have a few little changes we want to make after listening to the music once we slept, but once we are done tweaking, i'll put up further information. we're thinking about having a small cd release party in the twin cities in june-ish.

New Song up on Myspace!

I completely and totally forgot to mention this. Sumner and I hung out over break, and got some stuff recorded. Well, the bass line and my vocal part for one demo, and a complete demo of the song "Decorah, IA." If you're interested in taking a listen, or watching a video we recorded of the song "Good Things," go check out myspace.com/somethingfromoz. I look rather odd in the video, but honestly, what are you supposed to do when you're not singing!

We wrote Decorah, IA this past summer in the backyard of the house I was living in. So its pretty much brand new since we're still living in different timezones.

music humor

So I was looking through some of my old music theory stuff and found this...

C, E-flat, and G go into a bar. The bartender says, "Sorry, but we don't serve minors." So, the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between
them.

After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished; the G is out flat. An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.

Then D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second."

Then A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims, "Get out now! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."

The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the NEXT night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes.

The bartender says: "You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development."

This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and is now au naturel.

Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest.

The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.

On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bass less.

The bartender decides he needs a rest - and closes the bar.

long lazy monday

my supervisor isn't a work today, which means i don't have that much to do. currently i'm taking a break from calling all of our RIC congregations and finding out if they have youth groups, who the youth group contact/leader is, and putting that information into an excel file so i have a database of youth contacts and don't need to waste time hunting down the information later.

also this morning, bryan and i were the only people here at 9.. everyone else rolled in around 10:30-11. so that was fun. i would've stayed in bed for another hour or so if i had known.. oh well.

today i've been listening to lots and lots of cloud cult. in particular i've been enjoying "when water comes to life," journey of the featherless," "the ghosts inside our house" and "story of the grandson of jesus"

what else.. one of my friends was in norway and is returning tonight. i'm excited, i hope we get to hang out soon.

yeah. so i'm done procrastinating. i'm gonna go perambulate with bryan for 15 minutes.

The Nicest Thing

A friend sent me this lovely video this morning. It's quite beautiful... the lyrics are so poetic and I'm impressed by the simplicity of the violin and guitar parts. So yeah.. enjoy.

learn from the mistakes of others

It is a horribly stupid idea to read the book "love is a mix tape" by rob sheffield when you've recently broken up with someone you had a long term relationship with. It's an even worse idea to read it while it's raining. I am willing to bet it will make you feel like shit. Also a bad read if your significant other has died recently I would think. It's about how Rob, the author, met Renee, his wife. They get married after a year, then five years after that she dies instantly one morning of a pulmonary embolism. Rob's life goes to shit for a few years. And that's what the whole book is about. To add an extra twist of the knife it's interspersed with track lists from different mix tapes he and Renee had made. It's just fucking depressing. If you are an idiot and happen to read the book, there really isn't anything to be done but maybe sneak a few shots of vodka out of your parents' stash and try and read something cheerful and optimistic. Or dry and boring.

The Scarring Party

So The Scarring Party. I have recently discovered them, thanks to Mugsie. They've basically created a new genre of "end time music." They're dark, a little macabre, and the lead singer uses a home made copper microphone that makes him sound like an old victrola record. And there's a banjo, an accordian, and a tuba. What's not to love?

Oh Estelle!

So this evening I had the joy of attending a concert at the Steyer Opera House in the Hotel Winn. It was Charlie Parr opening for Erin McKeown. Charlie Parr plays really amazing blues/country/folk solo stuff, he's a great guitarist. Erin McKeown is an amazing jazz guitarist/singer. The concert made me feel like practicing and just playing my guitar more, which is always a good thing. She played some of her stuff that I had heard before, and some I hadn't. I really liked one of the songs she ended with that I think was called "Oh Estelle" that had some lovely call and response sections that involved punching the air with one's left hand.
She played Slung Lo which made the night for me.
I think partially what I really enjoyed was being able to just dance around, get some tense shitty feelings out of my body. This year, really starting with the summer, has been my year of re-learning how to dance and enjoy it without being intoxicated. I went to a lot of Highlandville dances and that was excellent, and I've also been doing some dancing when I go out before I drink/only having a drink or two, and it's good. I remember being little and dancing around and not caring, so it's nice when I can dance like that again. Not that I'm anything amazing... but it just feels good to move. So basically, if anyone ever wants to have a dance party, let me know, we can rock out.