The Usual Stuff - Infernal Space Robots attack Flemington

A torrent of deadly space robots invaded downtown Flemington, NJ today leaving a swath of infernal destruction in their wake.

Observers, like Al, the Town Drunk, estimated the invasion force at 900 gazillion space robots. This estimate may be somewhat overstated, according to the local junior high chess team, who were on a field trip to the comic book store, but maybe more fully accurate in emotional terms (if you are someone who exhibits emotions).

A nervous bystander with a bad complexion described the robots as a "brightly-painted, smokey, square-shaped, smelly, loud, ambitious, harsh-light-emitting, slow-moving, interdimensional gang bangers from hell." This too was somewhat hyperbolized, according to members of the local marching band society, who were in search of a bar - which, by the way, can not be found in Downtown Flemington since the Union Hotel closed and sold its booze license, creating a de-facto state of prohibition, although many people can (and do) bring their own bottles to many local eateries and alleyways. They stated that the space robots weren't painted, but instead were constructed of brightly colored metals, plastics and glass.

I would like to unequivocally state that no one knows where the spacerobots came from (other than from space) or where they went to for the after-destruction party.

In related news, another onslaught of merely annoying space robots invaded downtown Pittstown NJ earlier in the day, leaving an visibly irritated populace of mopes and would-be aviators to mutter and scowl over their beers at the Pittstown Inne (est 1768). Evan, the town's only punk, an eleven year old kid with a green Statue of Liberty mohawk was heard to say,"Aw, we always get the crappy space robots here! Pittstown sucks!"

Scientists from nearby Raritan Valley Community College were hesitant to comment on the rash of space robot invasions and skeptical as to whether local citizenry could be trusted to report with accuracy on such ground-breaking events. Instead, they decamped to a local watering hole to contemplate, think, cogitate, regard the facts, analyze and mull the reported events over some more.

"This is even worse than Tea Party Day they had yesterday!" said Al, the Town Drunk.

Object - ness

The Perfect Object

Plato's Theory of Forms holds that there is a perfect model for each object in the world, that the objects we have are just imperfect copies of the perfect model. For instance, there is a perfect model of a chair that embodies all of the qualities of"chair-ness".

Well, hey, this is a pretty useful theory in all practicality in that it holds that we can speculate what makes a perfect chair (or any other object) and then strive to that standard. And, for some reason, I have always tended to ascribe to this theory,whether or not it actually makes sense. For instance, I can visualize what I would think is the perfect pitcher, the perfect vase, the perfect candlestick, the perfect house, the perfect road, etc. Probably no one else would agree to my visualizations, so that would make this a "theory of forms for one."

This is also okay, it just means that my approach tothe world, when making things or renderings of things, is individualized. Perfectly good, I just have my own unique take on Everything. For an artist or craftsman, this is what constitutes value and aesthetics - eh? My perfect ideal, rendered as close to my conception of perfection as possible.

The other side of this is mass-production - hundreds, thousands, millions of objects all the same. (including art, music, literature) Not so good, not so aesthetically pleasing, lowest common denominator stuff that we are just stuck with, since due to the"economy of scale"it is cheaper to produce.

Of course, this approach has its upside - mass consumer culture (if that's an upside), autos for everyone and so forth. This approach to reality got a lot of bad press when it was starting out,not so much anymore. It was derided as "creeping conformity" and the pursuit of mass-produced objects as "keeping up with the Joneses."

The heighth of the creepiness around conformity wasthe 50s, when movies like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" came out. People were afraid that all of the sameness was robbing them of their souls. And, it probably was (and is). The sixties went sort of backlash on conformity, resulting in a conformity of non-conformity. This type of conformity you may remember from different movements where everyonewas trying to look like individuals but wound up looking remarkably similar: the beatniks, the hippies, and later, the punks.

The antidote was not a complete cure. So back we go to the individual ideal of perfection, individual commitment. But how does this ideal square with the universal - we do have universal needs like the needs not to blow up, pollute and otherwise screw up the planet. If I'm busy with my individual pursuit, how does that square up with the collective need? Is the universal good conformity? Individualism? A blend of the two?

As you might remember, the social experiments based on the perfect race (the Nazi's "Master Race") and the perfect society (Nazis again, the Soviets and Red Chinese) didn't pan out so well for millions of slaughtered people and people interred in concentration camp due to their defects. When applying the theory of forms to society, really bad things happen.

I'm still looking for my perfect pitcher, however.

Around and around we go.

What is purple, weighs 2,000 pounds and swims in the ocean?

After listening to a band for 41 years, your affinity for their music can get pretty fully realized. Of course, I relate to many such bands with varying degrees of personal affinity. One of the bands with which I have a very close experiential alliance is Moby Grape. I have gone the full gamut of musical appreciation with this band, although I have never seen them perform live (to my chagrin).

Moby Grape ran the spectrum, in rock music terms. At times they sound like enthusiastic, talented amateurs, at other times studio wizards, goof-offs, the tightest band ever, a band threatening to fall apart as they played, great harmonists, lousy harmonists, ace guitarists, bogus guitarists. To put it plainly, there's a lot there with Moby Grape - five guys who could write, sing, play and function together as a band / or not. They also had a great rock legend, Alexander (Skip) Spence (may he rest in peace) in their midst, a man who you can hear inspirationally hammering away on rhythm guitar on all of their best tracks and singing in a uniquely windy, elastic voice.

Much has been made of the self-destruction of Moby Grape, who were supposed to be "the American Beatles" or something, but I'll take what they left us - albeit that is very hard to find nowadays. (They continue to have enormous legal problems with their ex-manager, so their first two (great) albums "Moby Grape"and "Wow/Grape Jam" are hard to come by without overspending dramatically. I listen to them in the revered VINYL format, BTW).

The Moby Grape Main Legacy was those two albums and all of the tracks they laid down in 2 years, 1967 and 1968. Thank The God Who Whistles in the Treetops that Sundazed records has packaged up the Grape's left-over recordings from those two years (67 and 68) as "The Place and the Time" and made them available in CD and LP format. I have the CD and have listened to it non-stop for the past week. (Maybe, I'll pop for the vinyl, too. Why not?) It's a Moby Grape paradise of alternate cuts, demos and live tracks. I'm so freaking happy with this package that I probably can't even express it properly. It's the Zing Zang with the Kamoogelly Ding Dang! They call it 'the great lost Moby Grape album' and for me, that is exactly what it is. I'm hearing their subsequently "studio-ed up" cuts in their original state for the first time and tracks that they cut after Skip left in their full-group presentation. Its just wonderful.

Now listen, Moby Grape is not for everyone. No, no, no. I don't know if they are one of those "ya hadda be there" bandsor whatever, but like I say, I have been getting maximum joy out of themfor 41 years, with a lot more to be had. Ditto on Skip's LEGENDARY solo 1969 lp, "Oar". Its also available from Sundazed and should be heard. I have an original rare vinyl copy that is my most prized possession in the world. Its almost worn out from 40 years of listening, dubbing and admiring. Needless to say, "Oar" is not for everyone either. If you check the reviews of it online, many are negative. It either gets you or it don't. However, one thing that Il ike about "The Place and the Time", is that it has two or three numbers that would fit nice and sonically on "Oar". Phabulous!

Enough on this for now. Check out a capsule summary of Moby Grape's exploits and bad luck at allmusic.com

Moby Grape's immortal original lineup: Skip Spence - guitar, Jerry Miller - lead guitar, Peter Lewis - guitar, Don Stephenson - drums, Bob Mosley - bass. '

All hail the Grape!

(The album covers pictured above are "Wow" and "Grape Jam", which came packaged as a "two-fer", unheard of at the time. "Wow" is a Sgt Pepper - influenced album, with great songs abetted by sound collages, studio trickery, sound effects, lots of edits and a surprise cut that needed to be played at 78 rpm featuring Arthur Godfrey on ukelele and the Lou Waxman Orchestra playing loping, antique jazz accompaniment behind an absolutely crazed Skip Spence composition. "Wow", was as they say "high concept". Grape Jam was a collection of blues jams, murky performance pieces and one great Bob Mosley blues song, "Never", that was later stolen and renamed by Led Zeppelin as "Since IBeen Loving You." You can pay a lot of money for the CD versions of these two items, or get relatively cheap vinyl versions.)

Film - "Sin Nombre"

This was a hopping good movie. People told me it was depressing, but I don't get really feel that from movies. Yeah, it was depressing for the (fictive) characters - it sucked to be them, for sure, but when I watch a movie I guess I am following the craft of the thing and man, this movie was tight. The narrative is very linear and its a real chair-arm-grabber - lots of things go wrong for our crew of people heading North to New Jersey from Central America.

So, I don't know, it seems like the good movies now are tending to be made outside the US, outside the Hollywood system. Real stories are tending to be told with real actors in real situations. The same was true for the Italian gang film, "Gomorrah". I would rather watch this kind of stuff, with subtitles, than a Tom Cruise unbelievable action mess anyday. I'm going to continue seeking out so-called "foreign" films. They seem to be happening like they were in the 60's. Hollywood is spending a trillion bux a flick and the art is happening elsewhere.

Trouble is - you have to work to see films like this. They are not in general distribution, lets say. I see mine at the (little, funky) Montgomery Cinema in Montgomery, NJ (Rt 202, near Princeton). There are usually about 20 people in the audience - you know, "good film" nuts and its very comfortable. I don't even know too much how you find out about little, arty films. Scour the web, I guess, or just show up at the very few places who are dedicated to showing artistic films.

PC Hood Ornament

I don't like to work when I actually have to apply myself. When I can work and its completely effortless, that's okay. But, working with effort, ugh! That really sucks. It seems such an intrusion on the beauty of life to even HAVE to work, so when it involves effort or unpleasant or annoying tasks, forget it.

I'm referring to work here as the phenomenon that happens in reaction to the necessity of supporting oneself and one's family financially. What a distasteful thing this is, even to contemplate, associating as it does the lack of freedom with $.

So, when at 'work', I like to work at total efficiency, friction-free and complete everything I need to accomplish by about 10 a.m. Then I'm free to skylark the rest of the day, you know - do things like contemplate reality, take a walk, fuck around with my blackberry, go to lunch, go to the bookstore and goof off real good. I find that if you get all of your crummy assignments done in the most efficient manner possible, you can pretty much stick to this schedule. Of course, there's a lot of illusion necessary. You have to talk a good ballgame without actually lying and not actually appear to be goofing off too badly, but those are small concessions to the necessities of coping with odious things like "having a job."

Ah, well. Gee, I should be working now, but am doing this instead!

Eventually I'll

start posting stuff that may actually

a) be interesting

or

b) make sense

but probably not today. Here's an architectural anomaly to look at from mid-Amercia. A building that is a Big Ass basket. I was actually inside this building and have to admit to being a bit awed by it. Its not exactly Notre Dame Cathedral, but it does have a unique feel to it. Not exactly that feel you have when you stand up in public and say something humiliating, but a certain feeling of undeserved awe or somefin'.

I'm really proud of just having gone commercial on my blog by putting those annoying ads in the right hand column. I envision a day when casual conversation will be punctuated by advertisements.

"Hi, Bill. How ya doin'?"

"Great, Jim! Hey, have you tried new Frosty Oaty-Ohs! They contain 100% of your daily requirement of riboflavin and Mercury!"

"No, but may I recommend to you the Law Firm of Donner, Donner and Skelton? They really are on your side in the event of personal injury!"

"Okay, and stay away from my woman, right?"

"Right."

My Mind Is Such a Place Fine Is

Dang, I'm getting that corn pone rush