transclassical

I've decided to get a little bit organized. Um. Maybe not really, but I am going to distinguish my two blogs. This one here at Live Journal will be dedicated to my composing, teaching and thoughts/discussions about music. Maybe a little bit about other arts too.

My other blog, at http://www.transclassical.com/blog will be for my generalized ranting and raving about politics, futurism and weird science.

I do have music posted up on the Transclassical site which isn't anywhere else on the web- http://www.transclassical.com/music

I'm looking to network and share with like-minded souls who compose and/or love to listen to computer and otherwise electronically generate music. My background goes way back to the days of Musique Concrete- magnetic audio tape, razor blades and splicing blocks. Yup- a studio full of snippets, loops of tape hanging from push pins around the studio. I think I'll post some of my oldest works up on my site. They have a neophytic charm, I think.

Next up, maybe a discussion of the current state of affairs in computer music?

Processed Meats May Pose Heart Health Risk

Like, haven't we known this for a VERY long time? Funny.

I appreciate science corroborating "common knowledge", because sometimes, it turns out that "common knowledge" is incorrect. But when it's found out to be true, the media pretends like nobody knew this before....

Oh well. Just one of my pet peeves

Sitting here enjoying a nice cup of warm Saki. And wondering... Why the Hell is there artificial coloring in cat food?!?!

I know that cats are not, as some assume, color blind. But they're also not stupid. If the food smells good, they will eat it. No matter what color it is!

So, my little kitties are getting old, and they recently began to throw up a whole bunch. On a whim, I read the ingredients on the food I was feeding them. Artificial colors! Artificial flavors! C'Mon!

So I switched away from Friskies and 9-Lives (almost all flavors of which contain these poisons), and began to feed them Science Diet, Iams and an asssortment of those boutique healthy and natural brands. The throwing up has significantly decreased (not counting the hairballs, of course!). Of course, my wallet is thinner- but they're worth it.

Don't feed poison to your pets. Read the labels, spend a few cents more, and keep your little friends healthy and vital.

As I'm sort of giving a rebirth to my website and online participation, it's fitting that on Mother's Day I start out by thanking my mom for going the distance with me in the first place.

Mom's not around anymore to read this or appreciate it in any material way- she died peacefully about 16 years ago. We had no loose ends, so to speak, with each other. It was all said. All complete. She's free to go, and I'm free to go on. It's very powerful.

I was the third and last child- a 14 year gap after the second one. I always had the impression that Mom had "been there and done that". My friends would crack their head open or break something and their moms would appropriately panic and freak out all the way to the emergency room. When I injured myself, my mom would methodically patch it up and let me know it would all be fine. I know that I appreciated this on some level, but I think I also missed being fussed over. Mom was great, however. (So was Dad.) I'm blessed with good parenting.

Mainly, though, I'm present to the fact that Mom could have chosen to not have me- it had been 14 years after all!! Another pregnancy! In this day, maybe she would have made that choice. Thinking abstractly and generally, I respect that choice if a woman needs to make it.

But personally, it's just WEIRD!! How could I not have been? It's much easier to imagine dying and ceasing to exist than not having ever existed. At least for me- I don't know about you.

I think that the best way to honor the choice that my mother made is to make as big of an impact, in a positive way of course, as I can- the more that happens in the world as a result of my mom choosing to have me, the better I honor her. All the music I've written, all the smiles I've given away, My Daughter, Frances, of course!, the votes cast, the projects inspired... so far...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Now let's all go make a difference that would make Mom proud!

Composed and Improvised. Take your pick...

Here is a song celebrating our proud ranking in the World Health Organization's list of world health systems for all the obstructionist hecklers to sing as they continue down the road to total irrelevance. Enjoy!!

Mediocre and proud of it!!