transclassical

Dedicating this blog to my music and compostions...

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:21:08 GMT

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?

Electronic Music For Your Listening Pleasure

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:49:36 GMT

This is news?!

Wed, 19 May 2010 03:06:05 GMT

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

Cat Food...

Mon, 17 May 2010 05:53:54 GMT

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.

Thanks Mom!

Mon, 10 May 2010 06:53:51 GMT

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!

Electronic, Classical and Improvisational

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:38:34 GMT

Composed and Improvised. Take your pick...

"We're number 37" (In health care, that is)

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:50:35 GMT

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!!

transclassical

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:40:33 GMT

More Music! Check out my newest: "Harpie" (BTW, that is not a violin, nor anything like it, toward the end. Ceci n'est pas une violin!)

transclassical

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:39:32 GMT

Prosecute Bush and Cheney for torture

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:22:14 GMT

http://www.usalone.net/cgi-bin/oen.cgi?qnum=8609

Polar Bears

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:55:40 GMT

http://action.defenders.org/polarbeartrade

No one should die because they cannot afford health care.

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:34:42 GMT

No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. We are only as strong as the weakest among us. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.

Ha ha...

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:03:48 GMT

Funny comic.

http://abstrusegoose.com/a/179.htm

Open Letter to President Obama

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:12:41 GMT

This nails it for me. I hope President Obama finds his way to reading it. I sent an email to the Whitehouse requesting that he do so if he hasn't already.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lamott27-2009aug27,0,4202519.story

(Thank you, Ranen, for pointing the way to this letter)

Will they never stop trying to out do themselves?

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:01:46 GMT

New "poll" being sent out by the RNC:

Just in case the graphic isn't easily readable, it says:

___________________________________________
It has been suggested that the government could use voter registration to determine a person's political affiliation, prompting fears that GOP voters might be discriminated against for medical treatment in a Democrat-imposed health care rationing system. Does the possibility concern you? Yes __ No __ Undecided __.
___________________________________________

They are good, aren't they? Who comes up with this crap?! I just hope people can see how crazy this is. First of all, it's just dumb. Nobody, nowhere, nohow, is even thinking of doing things this way- except for the lying sacks of you-know-what who put this "poll" out. Secondly, come on- this would be insanity to do, even if somebody had the thought. Obviously, since power shifts back and forth between right and left, the next time the Repugnance Party takes hold, they could do the same thing.

Nothing that happens will be "Democrat-imposed" and there is no rationing being planned. What we have now it Corporate imposed, and there is definitely rationing going on.

This is America. We don't do things like this. It CAN'T HAPPEN!!!

I hope I didn't have to write any of this. I hope that this one is so over the top that even the dumbest tea-bagger can see the idiocy. But then, if they can't, then they wouldn't be able to understand, or even be interested, in what I've said.

Argh!

Systems

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:08:26 GMT

All of the different ideas about how we should run our country... Everything from Laissez-faire Capitalism to Socialism... They're all just systems. Ways to get things done. Every one has it's merits and it's flaws. The flaws seem to be mostly related to people being irresponsible for their own lives and the lives of others.

All systems can be gamed in favor of the powerful if the powerful are committed to gaming them.

Anarchy: In a personal way, if it's just about ourselves, we don't need any laws. It's those other guys that need laws.

Same with the Free Market: My company plays fair. We don't need any regulations and government participation. It's those other guys who need to be regulated.

Same with Socialism: If we could trust the government, then there would be no problem letting them run things. But we can't (or at least some people say we can't).

Like that. So we're all busy arguing about how to get things done, and we're not facing the fact that what's missing isn't logistics, it's integrity. Simple integrity. Responsibility. Doing what's right. For everyone involved. I don't care who provides my health care or how it's insured, just so those doing it are authentically interested and invested in me and my health. Whoever is going to do it right and with integrity, bring it on.

Simple, no?

No.

If it were simple we'd have figured it out. As a species, we've barely figured out how to walk upright (check out all the people you know with bad backs), let alone how to operate like intelligent beings. Look at the hysteria going on now. If you blur the words of these screeching protesters at the Town Hall meetings, it sounds just like a bunch of pissed off chimps. Because it is. Not just them, it's all of us sometimes.

We'll need to somehow germinate a generation of people that understands the value of integrity and responsibility, and understands that's the access to a world that works. And it will have to start with those of us who are already here, practicing and being examples. Those of us who can.

Miniatures

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:37:10 GMT

It seems like most music services have limits on the size of the piece of music which can be uploaded. For a decent quality MP3, it comes out to about 4 or 5 minutes. Most of what I compose is rather, shall we say, epic. This becomes an opportunity for me to write more of what I would call, "miniatures".

I can still put the big works up on my own website.

Stay tuned.

Going Public...

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:03:49 GMT

Time to show up, right? Or, they could just shovel piles of CD's, scores and artworks into my grave with me.

I think "showing up" sounds like the better option.

I don't know who's reading this, don't know my way around, but if you find me here, please take a moment to enjoy some of my music and look at my pictures.

http://www.reverbnation.com/transclassical
http://www.transclassical.com