Institute for Psychic Reform

2012-01-31T22:58:00.005-05:00

The Nexus Six

Regeneration

2012-01-27T18:40:00.001-05:00

<p>d</p>
download

A New Song

2012-01-26T19:21:00.001-05:00

120125

Some Photographs

2012-01-17T19:59:00.003-05:00

Some Photographs

2011-11-17T18:17:00.001-05:00

Some Poems:

2011-11-15T21:39:00.001-05:00

Grandma Gave Me a Slice of Hot Banana Pepper

Learning, or trying
to read her twinkle
of mischief
as a soft crisp
yellow slice
of hot pepper
offered
like a treat
cool and hot
at once on the tongue
confusion for me
tears of laughter for her

Dull Hammers

Her words dull hammers
of an unhappy life
Unhappy childhood
of hateful parents
with broken spirits
the dull hammer
with which she writes
her one note poetry
over and over and over

Understanding

Once in a dream I heard
through the fog of waking
people in another room
speaking English
but it was not my tongue
and meant nothing
to me
the pleasant chatter
of friends discussing
without meaning

Buried

My childhood bicycle
was buried all but a piece
of one wheel
in the red clay dirt
full of round red gravel
in the vanished pine woods
near the house
where I did not have
a bicycle

Samba Rio demo reel 1999

2011-09-07T21:33:00.001-04:00

Bloody Mary Recipe - From Scratch

2011-07-05T20:01:00.000-04:00

In a tall, straight sided pint glass

fill loosely with ice

add 8-12 shakes or grinds of salt and pepper (to taste)

12+ splashes of Worcestershire sauce

10-ish splashes of Tabasco sauce

as much hot horseradish as you can stand (for newbies I put about a half a teaspoon)

two each lemon and lime wedges, squeezed (optional)

pour 2oz of vodka over the ice to begin breaking up the ingredients

[at this point you can make it a Bloody Caesar by adding
a couple of ounces of clam juice or substituting Clamato for of the tomato juice)]

[or you can have a Bloody Bullfight by adding a couple of ounces of beef broth]

top with the best tomato juice you can find
roll drink into larger glass or shaker and roll back and forth a couple of times

garnish with pickled crunchy object of your choice like green beans, carrots (my favorite), olives, garlic, peppers, shallots, cauliflower, olives with almonds or garlic... if these are pickled hot, all the better!

Serve with a straw and a big stack of napkins for swiping the forehead.

Rinse and repeat.

Is a fantastic pick me up virgin as well.

The Poor Little Personal Art Blog That Could

2011-07-01T21:17:00.000-04:00

I feel like a bad parent for leaving the blog barren for so long. Rest assured art has been happening, but apparently it is art of the slowly evolving sort right now. There is a new song in the works that is stuck jittering against a touch of writer's block over the lyrics. You can download the music so far. There are hints that at least one new live project is in the works. Some Kind of Bat Car is in the middle of a massive convulsion in preparation for the 10th annual Kentucky Artcar Weekend in early August (4-6). I have been taking pictures and here are a few of my favorites since my last post and some extra. Talk to you sooner!

Some Photographs

2011-06-14T00:11:00.000-04:00

RPM 2011

2011-02-04T21:18:00.001-05:00

So for the next month I'm going to be recording music most of the time. This will make my sixth RPM Challenge album in five years (I produced two albums in 2009). Here is the RPM Challenge mp3 player. I will do my best to update this thing as I move along. Sorry about the auto play feature. I'm trying to find how to defeat that. If worse comes to worse I'll just delete this post.

IFPR's player:

2011-01-25T18:03:00.000-05:00

Some Music

2011-01-09T18:30:00.001-05:00

1-Lyre of the Wasteland

2-Yeah

3-The Secret of the Serpent Fish

A Dream

2011-01-09T18:27:00.000-05:00

Swimming in a large pool overlooking the ocean. Can see out to the horizon where a blimp sets down into the water among many white ships. Pool is very white with a large apron. Far back there are monks self-immolating, kneeling nose to ground before lighting. For some reason I and one of the two friends that are also swimming decide to join the monks. When we tell a monk this he is not surprised and leads us to an indoor pool. While in there some kind of bubble swarm begins to move around us in the water making the burning more and more attractive. Suddenly a grey-ish translucent thing shaped like a stingray though more rounded begins pushing me from below, waking me from what feels like a trance. The pool barely has a rim and there are windows that come all the way down. I drag my companion, who is in a froth of bubbles, to a window which I pull out of the frame. The monks just observe this without reaction.

Recent Photography

2010-12-19T18:00:00.001-05:00

Touch Me, Right There - Beefcake

2010-12-05T23:19:00.002-05:00

Oops, seem to have missed a month! Well, listen to this and be happy (from 1999):

Some Music

2010-10-31T16:08:00.001-04:00

I have recently been expanding the music section of the website and thought I'd post some songs here for you to listen to. Visit the music page for three full pages of downloads and playable tunes.

Beefcake & Friends 1998
Obey

______________________
Reverend Goat Carson & Beefcake 1998

Captain Kirk and Custer

Song of Betheshazaar

That's Right

Hoofbeats (A Joyful Noise)

Mysterious Girl

All On

Whitehouse Toilet
(with Mysterious Girl Slight Return)

Why Deny

Chief Seattle

Some More Some Kind of Bat Car

2010-08-29T16:50:00.000-04:00

Choir to Sing Genetic Codes

2010-07-15T21:05:00.000-04:00

The New London Chamber Choir recently performed a musical piece written and arranged using the genomes of the 41 piece choir to define each singer's parts. More and some audio here. I'm hoping this will become available in a hi-fi version. Very interesting concept.

From Technocar to Some Kind of Bat Car

2010-07-12T14:01:00.002-04:00

Some Kind of Bat Car

2010-07-04T12:15:00.002-04:00

Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys

2010-05-21T19:45:00.000-04:00

I was working at Sound Warehouse when Paul's Boutique came out. This was right after college, 1989. There were all kinds of amazing, new things happening with sampling and rap and dance music. We were pretty much all of us fans of the entire Def Jam catalog so we were always playing License to Ill and all the other rap, punk, and rock hybrid stuff that was out so we were really looking forward to Paul's Boutique. We played that album to death. It came out just in time for Mardi Gras and became that year's album. We had it in my boombox on autoreverse with all the EQ and the volume pushed up to the top all day. The first song of the album popped up in random and I let the album play. Man, it still makes me want to shake my butt.

The RIAA has pretty much killed this kind of truly abandoned sampling. That's one reason the Beastie Boys switched to playing the parts on instruments instead of building with samples. I think something has been lost in the progress of music. Snipping bits of people's audio memories and making something completely new of it is a path music should be allowed to pursue.

2010-05-03T23:14:00.001-04:00

See this full set of pictures here.

The horror.

More Stuff!!!

2010-04-25T14:27:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the untimely demise of Getafixx Hosting (thanks for the ride, Justin), psychicreform.com no longer has limits on its size or bandwidth. Also, thanks to the weekly political/cultural podcast I have been doing with a friend I found an easy source for a simple Flash player I can put on my pages. Check out the music page for free streaming audio and lots of new downloads including the first four discs of the new IFPR boxset spanning the last decade. The site will be expanding slowly and the art page should improve dramatically.

Some Pictures

2010-04-25T14:07:00.000-04:00

Music: RPM Challenge

2010-03-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

So once again this year I sent a CD to Wired Magazine's RPM Challenge. I had originally planned on creating an 8 song concept album which I planned out, recorded a draft of one song, and wrote and partially recorded the music for two more songs. At the same time I was moving from one house to another and after about a week of 8 or more hours a day of moving stuff I realized I was going to have to ditch the concept album idea all together. I can't remember how but I decided to do two pieces with mostly guitars that beat the 35 minute limit. I got two nights to work on it and I managed to crank out something that fit the requirements. It really does have its moments but a lot of those are countered by the other moments. Give it a listen: http://instituteforpsychicreform.rpmchallenge.com/

Sparklehorse

2010-03-10T23:37:00.001-05:00

It's a Wonderful Life from Luis Ackerman on Vimeo.

You will be missed.

Nearly Frantic

2010-02-17T12:20:00.001-05:00

"Nearly Frantic" - Institute for Psychic Reform 2010 from alan evil on Vimeo.

Bells & Whistles

2010-02-15T21:01:00.000-05:00

Bells & Whistles - Institute for Psychic Reform from Alan Evil on Vimeo.

Some Pictures

2010-02-15T19:31:00.001-05:00

Pine Mouth - Long Story Short: Stay Away from Chinese Pine Nuts

2010-02-15T19:17:00.000-05:00

Friday a friend of mine made a pesto. Yesterday (Sunday) I was tidying up the kitchen and went to put the pine nuts in the right cabinet. Of course I popped some in my mouth and went about my business. As I finished the beer I was drinking I noticed a distinct bitter flavor in the back of my mouth which I dismissed as some lingering aftertaste of the Abita Turbodog I had left over from the Superbowl. By the time I went to bed it had gotten pervasive though the last Turbodog had been consumed four or five hours before.

Unfortunately today I am constantly tasting this bitter taste in the back of my mouth and tongue. I complained about it to my better half earlier today and she asked if I had eaten any pine nuts. It actually took me a few moments to realize I had snacked on them. Turns out she had read on one of her food blogs about the phenomenon known as "pine mouth" that was being caused by certain pine nuts. Sadly this effect would appear to persist for days and even weeks! Its onset may have been triggered by my snacking on the pine nuts and that effecting those I had eaten as pesto two days before, or the snacked pine nuts may have been coincidental

Here's a picture of the offending pine nuts:

If there was ever an argument against buying any "American" types of food from China, this is it. The closest thing to a scientific study of this (totally observational but observed by scientists self experimenting) is here, and a pretty good article about it is here. Not much information out there (though what is has thousands of responses of people experiencing this) but one thing I can tell you is if this taste sticks around for a couple of weeks I'm going to be very unhappy. Here's a quick synopsis of what I've found out:

1. It would appear this is caused by Chinese pine nuts only.
2. It is probably caused by the nuts being heated in transit (imagine containers full of them riding cargo ships across the ocean) and the heat altering certain triglycerides.
3. This is not caused by contamination by heavy metals or pesticides.
4. It seems onset is around two days after ingestion.
5. The effects last from several days to over two weeks.
6. It does not effect smell but wreaks havoc on your taste buds.

Driftwood

2010-01-20T22:05:00.001-05:00

Lately I have been making pieces using milled wood with finished driftwood. Here is an animated picture of me working on a couple of pieces:

River Ice

2010-01-05T10:05:00.000-05:00

Bill Callahan - All Thoughts Are Prey To Some Beast

2009-12-26T20:19:00.001-05:00

Great album.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-26T18:48:00.004-05:00

I feel kind of bad, letting this blog languish. But I was actually making art so I guess that's good. I'll post pictures this year, I swear. In the meantime, here's this year's Photoshop Xmas cards. The bottom one would be infringing a copyright if I made any money on it. So don't send me money... for that picture. Otherwise, please send money.

Please consider these two attempts at Soviet propaganda style cards as well as my blatant theft of a touching Tim Burton animation moment as my holiday greetings to you.

Bon Iver - Woods

2009-12-26T18:45:00.002-05:00

The Universe

2009-12-19T23:19:00.000-05:00

2009-12-05T19:07:00.003-05:00

Update 12/8/2009: I still don't know what happened but I have been presented with a tedious method for repairing the blog's photos. Please stand by.

My photo links to Flickr appear to have changed. I am attempting to find the original pictures linked so I can re-establish the blog. Otherwise I will keep going on and post some old pictures now and then. How do you rebuild something done so casually over several years? So please bear with me. In the meantime, here's a new picture of a questioning tank:

Infinity

2009-12-03T17:12:00.001-05:00

Not an infinity that is just adding more numbers - a higher kind of infinity - the infinity that exists between two numbers.

Some Pictures

2009-11-16T19:18:00.003-05:00

Day of the Dead Drawings

2009-10-16T00:07:00.005-04:00

These are each 5.5" x 4.25" (I cut them so it's not too horribly precise) and are Sharpie permanent markers, Pilot metallic paint pens, Sharpie Paint Pens (not so much as they're better on less permeable materials and kind of fizzle on paper), and this 12 marker bunch of "Skerple" pens I got for $1.50. I didn't realize they weren't Sharpies until I'd been using them for a couple of hours. I was thinking how crappy the tips were on this batch and how funky the cap colors were and... Oh yeah, that says "Skerple," not "Sharpie." For $1.50 I got a bunch of stinky, permanent water color marker things that look almost exactly like Sharpies.

...and they smell like hell as well.

So anyway, click here to visit the set of my Day of the Dead drawings. Here are a couple of pages for your edification:

Hurdy Gurdy

2009-09-29T08:11:00.001-04:00

thanks john

Robo Bat Car

2009-09-03T00:26:00.002-04:00

A lovely sunset picture of the car at my brother's farm. The name will change. After a little boy shouted to me as I drove through town, "I like your robo-batcar!" that may, indeed, become the name.

My Favorite Sandwiches

2009-08-20T19:14:00.002-04:00

I should have pictures for this but I don't. Sorry.

Here, in no particular order is my list of favorite sandwiches:

1. Onion bagel with cream cheese, spicy sprouts, and slices of fresh, homegrown tomato. (just had that which inspired this post)
2. American Club on wheat. Three slices of wheat bread layered thusly: bottom slice of bread, mayonnaise, turkey, swiss cheese slices, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonaise, middles slice of bread, mayonnaise, ham, American cheese* slices, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonaise, top slice of bread. The mayonnaise should be applied in a thin but substantial layer as this is a major flavor in the combination and it acts as the glue that holds it together. To serve you insert four long toothpicks at the mid point of each side, cut sandwich into quarters corner to corner, and arrange artfully with some potato chips and a couple of dill pickle wedges.
3. Blue cheese and fresh mint leaves on a French sandwich roll with a blue cheese mayonnaise. Key to this is having a fresh blue cheese and newly picked mint. If you don't have time to make the mayonnaise, it's not all that important though it adds a little zing to the flavor and more moistness. Great summer sandwich.
4. The first BLT of the summer.
5. Oyster poboy from Domelisi's [5240 Annunciation St. New Orleans, LA]. If you're in New Orleans and you don't go here (only open for lunch), you are missing a truly old school New Orleans institution, and some of the best food you'll ever put in you mouth. The last time I was there there were four generations of family women making the sandwiches from the pretty young girl taking the orders through to the grandma placing each oyster or shrimp carefully and perfectly so that there was a uniform layer on the bottom piece. The cutting board has a groove in it so deep that it bites into the framing underneath. Shrimp, oyster, or catfish, it will be one of the best sandwiches you'll ever bring to your lips. Smother that puppy in Tabasco, get an ice cold Dixie, and sit and soak in the lively, loose, and openly social noise of New Orleans as it takes a break.
6. Mufelata from Central Grocery in the French Quarter. Actually that should be a half of a mufelata. One of those things can easily feed four people. Here's a recipe:

New Orleanian cook and cookbook author Chiqui Collier was kind enough to share this recipe with me for this site, and says, "It is my pleasure to send you the recipe for the original muffletta sandwich that was created by the grandfather of a lady i worked with 28 years ago." (Presumably that was Signor Salvadore.)
"The recipe for the olive salad is the exact way it was given to me. It makes over a gallon, but since your comments indicate that you love it, i'm sure you won't want to cut it down. It stores very well in the refrigerator for many months and makes great gifts along with the recipe for the sandwich. It does appear in my cookbook, "Cookery N'Orleans Style"

For the olive salad:
1 gallon large pimento stuffed green olives, slightly crushed and well drained
1 quart jar pickled cauliflower, drained and sliced
2 small jars capers, drained
1 whole stalk celery, sliced diagonally
4 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced diagonally
1 small jar celery seeds
1 small jar oregano
1 large head fresh garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 jar pepperoncini, drained (small salad peppers) left whole
1 pound large Greek black olives
1 jar cocktail onions, drained
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or pot and mix well. Place in a large jar and cover with 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 Crisco oil. Store tightly covered in refrigerator. Allow to marinate for at least 24 hours before using.

For the sandwich:
1 round loaf italian bread
1/4 pound mortadella, thinly sliced
1/4 pound ham, thinly sliced
1/4 pound hard Genoa salami, thinly sliced
1/4 pound Mozzarella cheese, sliced
1/4 pound Provolone cheese,sliced
1 cup olive salad with oil
Split a muffuletta loaf or a loaf of Italian bread horizontally. Spread each half with equal parts of olive salad and oil. Place meats and cheeses evenly on bottom half and cover with top half of bread. Cut in quarters. Enjoy!
Serves four timid dieters, two hearty New Orleanians or one incredible maiale.

*provolone is a good substitute.

Sleeping in the Back Seat

2009-08-16T12:16:00.002-04:00

via

The Morph Begins

2009-08-15T21:56:00.002-04:00

Richie Havens

2009-08-15T21:15:00.003-04:00

I did sound for Richie Havens once. Meaning I set up a p.a. with two mics for him in a record store. But I met him before and was there at the mixer through the set. He was amazing. So kind, just glowing from within... he is one of those people that you can see is special and that you feel is looking into you when he speaks to you.

Anyway, a girl who worked at the store part time also taught second grade in the French Quarter and had brought her class to see Richie Havens play. He played his whole show directly to the children, only occasionally glancing at the adults with a smile. It was utterly magical to watch this man hold these children spellbound for an entire set. His set had nothing to do with his last album or what he had rehearsed with a band, he was simply making those children dance and watch him and loving it and them and everything.

Color Blind

2009-07-23T22:30:00.003-04:00

I can't tell the difference between these two pictures, can you? Click on the picture for more examples. I can only tell a very subtle difference in three of the pictures.

Fins

2009-07-11T22:50:00.003-04:00

The passenger side fin on the Technocar is approaching its final shape. A gallon of Bondo has gone on this one fin. I just got two more gallons to hopefully finish both with. This is going much more slowly than I hoped. Working on the center sides of these is tough. I'm considering bringing in some scaffolding so I can sit level with the roof but not sit on the roof. To do that I will need to empty out and re-arrange my entire shop. Joy.

Banjo Yawns

2009-07-05T22:46:00.001-04:00

Another animated .gif.

A Nice Little Zombie Movie

2009-06-20T23:52:00.001-04:00

via

Found Image

2009-06-20T21:53:00.005-04:00

This is a photograph of two men in a boat on an algae choked lake in China.

Thanks to Uncertain Times, a great place for sounds, videos, and images from around the multiverse.

A Neat Art Installation I Found Online

2009-06-17T17:17:00.000-04:00

The Hallway from The Hallway on Vimeo.

"A 125 foot hallway - English in one direction / Japanese in the other.
From the Yokohama Triennale 2008.
(courtesy of Hara Museum)" via

Update and New Music

2009-06-12T22:05:00.002-04:00

My deepest apologies for going so long without an update or at least an interesting picture or something.

Since the last post Boo came to visit and we completed a Psychotronic Jug Band song we started on the internet. I've since fleshed it out a bit and I'm waiting for some tracks from Rick before I call it finished. It is called "Glass" and here is the latest mix of it. This is not meant for release so please delete after listening, and burn your computer just to make sure. Thanks.

I have this fascination with graffiti. I've earned a living at one point with an air brush and t-shirts and I currently use spray paint in my art. But what these guys do, building from a base up to the finished product, that shit can be amazing.

The technocar is growing fins. I've done the initial fiberglass layer on the passenger side fin. I'm going to do a second layer of fiberglass to really stiffen it up before I begin shaping it with Bondo.

Birds

2009-05-17T13:47:00.002-04:00

Below are some bird pictures. The mourning doves were on the fence in my back yard. The turkey vulture, Harris's hawk, and American kestrels were at Bernheim Forest with representatives of Raptor Rehab of Kentucky.

Pair of mourning doves.

Turkey vulture.

Harris's hawk.

American kestrels (male on left, female on right).

Death by Computer

2009-05-17T13:38:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago I was working on mixing a song when my computer froze. This is an extremely rare occurrence (compared with my old Windows 98 machine) and I have always been able to recover my work when I get the computer restarted. This time things did not go well. When I got the computer back up and running I started the program I use for music, Ableton Live, and it was as if I had just installed it for the first time. It didn't know where the music libarary was, where the VST's were stored, and worst of all, when I tried to open the session I was working on when the system crashed, it was "corrupted." Several days of careful drum programming, tweaking of levels, measure by measure work of leveling out the three vocal parts, all the guitar effects, volume, panning, reverb sends, etc. that were contained in the session file are gone. If I were to sit down and repeat all the work I did on this song it would take me several full days. The question I have to ask myself is, "Will I?"

New Psychotronic Jug Band Mixes

2009-05-05T17:30:00.001-04:00

Much mixing and recording has gone on over the last few days. You can hear completely revamped mixes of "Devil's Box" and "Isolated" as well as new mixes of "Could Be Heaven" and "Unchanged" with all new organ tracks.
www.psychicreform.com/music2

Visualization

2009-04-26T13:06:00.000-04:00

A friend directed me to this video of Ansel Adams speaking about the art of photography. "The whole key lies very specifically in seeing it in the mind's eye, which we call visualization."

The Key to a Photograph from Ansel Adams from SilberStudios.Tv on Vimeo.

Song Preview (Prelisten?)

2009-04-25T21:44:00.002-04:00

Untitled 090424-090425

http://www.psychicreform.com/music2/

[edited 4-26-2009 to update link]

Cowbirds Courting

2009-04-05T22:52:00.001-04:00

These two cowbirds were doing the dance on the wire outside my back window.

Animation

2009-04-01T21:24:00.000-04:00

Life List

2009-03-31T18:20:00.000-04:00

Watch closely the first time. This page starts off in a hurry.

Spring

2009-03-22T16:22:00.001-04:00

Though it has been a decade since I left New Orleans Spring never ceases to surprise and delight me. Last year was the first year that the onset of Autumn didn't tell me the trees were dying. The speed and vigor of the spring bloom here in Kentucky seems so sudden after the long dreariness of winter.

Cinematic Dream

2009-03-16T16:42:00.000-04:00

I had a very strange, movie-like dream this morning that I'll try to describe.

The opening shot is of a guy on a rock ledge squatting down by a pool of water in a depression in the rock. He has a shaved head and has just ducked his head in the pool. He stands and lets out a joyous shout, the camera pulls back and up, turning to the right as the man walks to the edge. As the camera pulls back the view opens to a shot straight down a nearly vertical, snow covered slope with a bay and the ocean far below and more mountains marching away to the left. The camera then plunges over the edge as a writhing mass of people come sliding by, kicking up a huge cloud of snow. There is some kind of organization to this and there's some kind of sail boat (dark blue and green with the sails furled and the masts fastened down to the deck) in their midst. There's a lot of shouting and they're obviously trying to go as fast as possible and control the boat and themselves. The camera is right in the middle of this chaos but it is moving a little slower than the people so it backs out of the flashing snow, arms, legs, and flash of the boat cloud of blinding snow and shouting people. It becomes apparent that they're all roped together and as the camera drops behind the mass of people the thick rope comes to a single person at the rear with an oversized climbing axe who is obviously controlling their speed by digging in. He is fighting to keep them under control, huge rainbows of snow spewing from the tip of the axe. Along the route are turbine heaters and at one point the brakeman gets too close to one and the thick rope is badly singed, part of the outer sheath melts. There is a new sense of danger though the rope appears to be holding.

There is a sudden shift and we're in an empty room with dark green walls and ceiling. Through an open, vaulted door (from a green hallway) comes a black woman with a little bit of gray hair holding a plaque (around 12" x 16") of some sort in her hand. She's talking about how this is the 99th time her team has won and how she needs room to hang all of them as she gestures around the empty room. A red couch and a large oak desk are brought in as she bitches about her husband's mobiles* that are being hung in the corner and along the left had wall. He explains them to a man (vaguely resembles my uncle, Dan) who has flopped down on the couch and a girl (possibly my girlfriend Tari) who stands nearby. The mobiles are specially made to tune contact with another world, place, or dimension. While this is going on the plaques are being hung on the wall.

There is a brief glimpse of the boat being carried to the water over jagged rocks and large gravel by the team that has made it safely to the bottom despite the bad rope. All the people appear to be badly beaten up and the brakeman is lying still at the edge of the snow above them.

Back in the room which now has three or four mobiles hanging and the walls covered with plaques we can hear the sounds of conflicts coming from a spot in the middle of the left wall up where it meets the ceiling. The sound is clear yet removed and the black man says this is from another place. It sounds as if a group of men has forced entry into a room and a child's voice is warning them they'd better leave. There is sound of violence from the men, obviously hurting the child and then suddenly the men begin to scream. There are more sounds of violence but now extreme like cracking bones and ripping flesh, the bodies of big men being slammed against walls. Suddenly it ends and the child's voice says, "I warned you." The black man then explains that they gave the child power just by listening and that it is important they continue.

Unfortunately I woke up at this point and don't know if the team won their bizarre sport, giving the woman her hundredth plaque, or if the powers concentrated by the mobiles become understood. It sure was entertaining in my head, though.

I had this sense the movie intentionally would not resolve any of the stories, leaving the viewer with more questions than answers.

*the suspended pieces of the mobile appear to be stitched leather pockets or pillows that are various muted dark colors, maroons, browns, greens, with metallic blues and grays almost as if they were metallic that was painted but then the paint was wiped or worn away around the stitches. He explains that they are painted foil to best focus the waves.

Mid-March Update

2009-03-13T20:01:00.000-04:00

Today is Friday the 13th of March and it is also a full moon. That might explain why I just spent several hours in a parking lot swapping out starters for my van.

Earlier in the day I moved the Technocar over to my shop in Smoketown and put it up on rollers so I could move it around the garage. Despite the 1000 pound limit for each of the four dollies I sat it on (car weighs 1600lbs and the dollies should be able to support 4000 pounds), moving it is nowhere near as easy as I hoped. The casters just were not meant to roll and rotate under anywhere close to that much weight. But it can be rolled around if I can get my feet planted against and it sits a little higher, making working on the sides that much easier. The plan here is for the car to begin sprouting various and sundry fins constructed with fiberglass over a wooden frame. The poor car

Los Po-Boy-Citols

2009-03-08T12:30:00.001-04:00

Some close friends of mine in New Orleans discovered a blend of latin and funk called boogaloo and decided to form a band to play it. In typical New Orleans fashion they incorporated the sound of the Crescent City into their relatively faithful readings of the classic originals they cover as well as rendering New Orleans classics into the boogaloo style.

Their debut album New Orleans Latin Soul has got to be one of my favorite albums of 2008 and they are definitely one of the best live acts I've seen in years. The band grooves along as comfortably as your best dancing shoes, feeling at once tight and precise and easy and loose. You can hear the band's smiles in every note and sitting still is not an option. Live the band transmits an air of relaxed joy that infects an audience. This music is the kind that makes the ladies dance and the men folks boogie. It is fun. Do not miss them if you get a chance to see them live. They're that good.

Los Po-Boy-Citos' MySpace page features lots of free streaming music but you should just go ahead and buy the album here (and help out a great N.O. record store as well). It will be the best $13 you'll spend this year.

Web Site Rebuild

2009-03-04T21:45:00.000-05:00

The IFPR website is being torn down and rebuilt. We apologize for any weirdness of any kind. Sorry.

RPM Challenge 2009 IFPR Ice Mine

2009-02-28T15:25:00.000-05:00

RPM Challenge

2009-02-28T01:47:00.000-05:00

Two albums in one month. I'm pretty sure there's a medal for that.

www.psychicreform.com/rpm09
www.psychicreform.com/psychotronic

RPM Challenge

2009-02-23T23:47:00.000-05:00

I was just about to stretch this one out but decided it was nice at this length.

As I upload songs, a version of each song for the challenge will be here.

I am going to upload the various songs for the IFPR album to the IFPR website and I'll post links as individual posts in this blog. Please leave me feedback and be aware that as each song is re-worked during the month it will be deleted from the internets and the links here will no longer work. If you download the mp3's to listen to, please save them in a separate folder that you can later delete. When the album is complete a free, high quality mp3 will be available at psychicreform.com.

RPM Challenge

2009-02-21T23:52:00.001-05:00

Another song finished tonight. I'm really enjoying recording this year's album for the challenge.

I'm up to five songs and around 32 minutes of music. I'd like to get two more pieces recorded before the end of the month.

As I upload songs, a version of each song for the challenge will be here.

I am going to upload the various songs for the IFPR album to the IFPR website and I'll post links as individual posts in this blog. Please leave me feedback and be aware that as each song is re-worked during the month it will be deleted from the internets and the links here will no longer work. If you download the mp3's to listen to, please save them in a separate folder that you can later delete. When the album is complete a free, high quality mp3 will be available at psychicreform.com.

RPM Challenge

2009-02-18T22:53:00.001-05:00

After recording the basic tracks for the Psychotronic Jug Band album last weekend here is another piece in the IFPR puzzle.

As I upload songs, a version of each song for the challenge will be here.

I am going to upload the various songs for the IFPR album to the IFPR website and I'll post links as individual posts in this blog. Please leave me feedback and be aware that as each song is re-worked during the month it will be deleted from the internets and the links here will no longer work. If you download the mp3's to listen to, please save them in a separate folder that you can later delete. When the album is complete a free, high quality mp3 will be available at psychicreform.com.

Psychotronic Cave Band

2009-02-16T17:02:00.000-05:00

Last weekend was the Psychotronic Jug Band reunion sessions. Boo LaCrosse drove up from Atlanta while Rick Sinai braved New Orleans airport security to fly to Louisville. We pretty much recorded from noon until one or two in the morning for three days straight. As the man sitting in the control seat I will just say that it was grueling. A lot of fun but hard work.

We will release these sessions before the end of the month for the RPM Challenge. There are still tracks to be recorded for almost all the songs so I doubt the RPM Challenge album will be "The Album." Either way, as soon as the album is complete, you'll get to hear it.

Life in Four Bottles

2009-02-12T00:35:00.000-05:00

via

RPM Challenge

2009-02-11T22:13:00.000-05:00

A third piece for this year's album is up. This one is not quite finished, needing some kind of lead part over the top. It will either be a vocal part or a lead instrument, probably trumpet. Regardless, here it is, as it is.

As I upload songs, a version of each song for the challenge will be here.

I am going to upload the various songs for the IFPR album to the IFPR website and I'll post links as individual posts in this blog. Please leave me feedback and be aware that as each song is re-worked during the month it will be deleted from the internets and the links here will no longer work. If you download the mp3's to listen to, please save them in a separate folder that you can later delete. When the album is complete a free, high quality mp3 will be available at psychicreform.com.

RPM Challenge

2009-02-08T00:53:00.000-05:00

The second "finished" piece for the RPM Challenge is in the can. Here is a direct link to the mp3.

As I upload songs, a version of each song for the challenge will be here.

a picture

2009-02-06T10:59:00.001-05:00

rpm song

2009-02-06T00:09:00.000-05:00

This is the first piece for this year's RPM Challenge album that I am going to set aside as "finished." It is slightly possible that sampled spoken voices might be added later but I doubt it. So far this piece is untitled.

www.psychicreform.com/rpm09/090205.mp3

RPM Challenge

2009-02-05T22:53:00.000-05:00

Every February Wired magazine runs this thing called the RPM Challenge. This is the third year* that IFPR has taken the challenge which is to write and record an album in 28 days. They define "album" as 35 minutes or ten songs.

This year is no exception for IFPR. We at IFPR Studios are working non-stop to bring you another CD of sonic wonderfulness. What is exceptional is that I will be doing two albums for the RPM Challenge this year.

One will be the IFPR album which it appears will be mostly instrumental this time around which really is a return to IFPR's roots, be they whatever they may be. I am a bit uncomfortable releasing pop sounds under the IFPR moniker as most IFPR material is of a more ambient/IDM/jazz-ish ilk and this album feels like it will be a return to this style.

The other album will be by the band Psychotronic Jug Band which is a reunion of myself with Rick Sinai and Boo LaCrosse. We played together and wrote songs together a lot in New Orleans, performing as Boo LaCrosse and the Psychotronic Jug Band. Our various bands played shows together, we sat in with one another, dominated open mic nights, and like that. Weekend after next my old friends are arriving in Louisville from N.O. and Atlanta to spend four days writing and recording music and I have no idea what to expect the results will be. But some pretty great things will come of it, I'm sure of that.

I am going to upload the various songs for the IFPR album to the IFPR website and I'll post links as individual posts in this blog. Please leave me feedback and be aware that as each song is re-worked during the month it will be deleted from the internets and the links here will no longer work. If you download the mp3's to listen to, please save them in a separate folder that you can later delete. When the album is complete a free, high quality mp3 will be available at psychicreform.com.

*The first two RPM Challenge albums were I Have Electric Head and The Ant and the Grasshopper.

Ice Storm Pictures

2009-02-01T18:20:00.002-05:00

The weather hasn't been kind to Louisville the last few months. We had the awful windstorm from Hurricane Ike that destroyed trees and power lines and now we have this amazing ice storm hit us. Conditions here are nowhere near as bad as far western Kentucky where they had nothing but freezing rain for an entire night and day. We had a little freezing rain followed by several inches of snow followed by freezing rain leaving around 3/4 of an inch of ice coating everything while in west KY they had around double that much ice (hard to fathom the weight of it). Trees are snapped, bent, and broken, power, phone, and cable lines fell under their own weight as well as falling limbs, and many streets and most sidewalks are solid ice. Today we are getting a big thaw with the temperatures in the sun approaching 60 degrees but I just wonder how much will be left tonight to re-freeze for tomorrow.

I took a LOT of pictures because it's been absolutely beautiful despite the tragedy of it. Below are a few select pictures.

For more pictures you can check my Flickr page where you will find these sets:
1-27-09
1-28-09
1-29-09
1-30-09
1-31-09

Fender Bender

2009-02-01T18:17:00.001-05:00

People are so nice. During the recent ice storms my street was closed at the top of the hill due to a downed power line. One idiot after another drove all the way up to the warning tape crossing the road and was then forced to back down. Someone lost control and hit my car but the cocksucker wasn't kind enough to fess up to it. If you're reading this, dear driver, I'd just like to say, "Fuck you and your extended family."

This makes the third time my car has been hit and damaged while parked. What is up with that?

Bon Jovi!

2009-02-01T17:51:00.000-05:00

I have been keeping a political/links blog for a while but I realized I needed a place to just do a journal-ish kind of blog about life, art, music, and food at a more personal level, so that's what this is. This is about me and the world around me. I hope you enjoy it!