| Iran paranoia |
[21 Jun 2009|03:37am] |
I know little about Iran, and less about current events there, even after reading the news on it. I'm willing to believe the following, even though I haven't witnessed them myself:
1: There is a country called Iran, in roughly the place it's seen on maps.
2: The people there are majority Shi'a Muslims and are Persian, not Arab.
3: In 1979, a government led by the Shah was deposed somehow and an Islamic theocracy took its place.
4: The current government of Iran is very complex, with multiple vertical and horizontal channels of power. It is very roughly and non-discretely divided into sacred and secular branches, of which the sacred branch wields more power. Actually, I'm not sure about that last clause.
5: Iran recently held an election, the results of which have been contested.
6: Some amount of public protests have occurred regarding the results of the recent election.
I just have a hard time buying the story that the media is reporting, i.e., that the government skewed the results of this election in its favor, then people rioted, and now there are violent government crackdowns, is so convenient. It fits in so well with a continuing story building the US towards war with Iran that it just seems false. When I heard the election and protests in Iran compared to Tiananmen Square, it just seemed like a cheap use of a cultural signifier of evil, oppressive government, which could be another bullet point in the case for war. One thing I don't know but have heard repeatedly is that the Iranian populace doesn't love the government, but wasn't so discontent that they'd violently oppose it. This, if true, contradicts the story the news is reporting, if true.
I guess all I'm saying is, don't believe everything you hear, and think about the context such stories are in.
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| Nothing smells like a fo'c'sle. |
[14 Jun 2009|10:49pm] |
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You don't hear this much, but I love the smell of a boat -- damp, close, a little mildewy. It smells like home. I'm glad to be on one again. I'm glad to have private time again. I'm glad I can pirate internet on this one. Now, if only this boat could be sailed. Sadly, it doesn't have a tiller or a bowsprit, so it's just a bunker tied to the dock for now.
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| Red Over Red |
[23 Apr 2009|03:06pm] |
"Red Over Red", Trenchmouth's first album, is finally here! 17 tracks of awesome for the low price of ten bucks. A couple of tracks are up at our myspace, our Reverb Nation page, or this review on a great music blog, Before You Listen. You can get your copy from myself, Jeremiah, Zac, or JennyBanks.
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| Dust, garbage, and memories |
[19 Apr 2009|09:33pm] |
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I spent all of today clearing out my storage unit in Bellingham. It was packed to capacity with the items I left when I precipitously moved to Seattle. Unopened packages of bars of soap, books, college papers, bedding, clothes, photos, floppy disks, two computers over twelve years old, five thousand comic books, a dozen sheets of uncut L5R cards, cassette tapes, ice axes, dozens of notebooks, toiletries, sunscreen, dirt, a birthday card from my grandma who died years ago, a strange crocheted owl thing from my other grandma who died many years ago, a broken piggy bank that used to play "Oh Susanna" when coins were inserted, rock climbing gear, binoculars, Atari 2600 games, a tv and vcr, notes from old girlfriends, candles, what may have been a bathroom ventilation fan, what may have been a car battery charger, art, a framed Star Trek coloring book from 1963 titled "Unchartered World", and immeasurable filth, all sorted, thrown out, re-packed, or ready for sale. Much new room will be available in my storage unit for all my other belongings that will soon need to go there.
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| Saint Patrick's day |
[13 Mar 2009|11:04pm] |
Is this really Trenchmouth's fourth St. Patrick's day? Our first show was St. Patrick's day, 2006, in the tiny upper room of the Hazelwood in Ballard, when the staff asked everyone to please stop stomping on the floor so hard the bottles fell off the shelves. Good times.
This Tuesday, March 17th, we've got two big shows, with lots of room and plenty of Jameson's. For you early risers, we're playing at the Blarney Stone Irish Pub in Belltown, on Third and Stewart, starting at 2 pm. Then, we're dinner music at Mulleady's, at 21st and Dravus in Magnolia, from 5:30 until 9:00. The show at Mulleady's is all-ages, and both are free!
In other, really big news, we just recorded a whole album in one weekend! Go to our myspace to listen to samples. There are some old favorites there, plus a lot more (seventeen tracks!) on our first album, "Red Over Red".
Thanks for being fans, and we'll see you next Tuesday!
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| Upcoming Trenchmouth Shows! |
[10 Feb 2009|02:36pm] |
Spring is a great time for folk music, it turns out.
Trenchmouth has four upcoming shows and an album to record!
Saturday, February 14th, bring your valentine to Slim's Last Chance where we, The Black Crabs, the Hard Money Saints, the Unemployables, and Shit Gets Smashed are playing a benefit show for our friends and inexplicably loyal fans Micah and Nanette. Even if you don't know Micah and Nanette, the show will be great. It's a $10 suggested donation. 5606 1st Ave South, in Georgetown.
( See the poster! )
Friday, February 20th, we will rock the Blarney Stone pub to its core. 1909 3rd Ave, in Downtown Seattle at 3rd and Stewart. We'll start at or after 9:00, and go until we can't. We'll sing every song you've loved over the years, and many you haven't! No cover!
Then, the last weekend in February, we're headed to the studio to immortalize our sound on cd!
Who was Saint Patrick, the man, the martyr, the mystery? We don't care, but we love March 17th anyways. We're opening the day at the Blarney Stone again, starting at 2:30 in the afternoon. As a great man once said, "You can't drink all day if you don't start early.
" Then we're rounding out the night at Mulleady's at 3055 21st Ave W, in Magnolia at 21st and Dravus. Three hours of Trenchmouth! The best part of these St Pat's shows is, no cover for either!
We'll see you at our shows.
Keep an eye on our myspace page, www.myspace.com/trenchmouthband for updates.
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| Good old excruciating, hideous pain |
[23 Dec 2008|06:53pm] |
I have no idea what the fuck happened. One step, I was trotting along after a bus on a clear sidewalk, tired, sure, and worn out from walking around downtown shopping after being on my feet all day. The next step, I felt like someone hit my leg with a stick and it was in such spectacular pain that I couldn't straighten it, let alone stand or walk on it. There was no one and nothing that could have apparently hit my leg. Zac theorizes it was, clearly, a ninja attack. He dismisses the hypothesis that it was a velociraptor, since I wouldn't then have a leg, but it I'd never have survived a ninja attack, either. A velocininja? Orbital bombardment?
So, here I sit on Rachel's couch, occasionally icing my calf and achilles' tendon, largely unable to move my right leg at all. Happily, Rachel is the world's best girlfriend, and has pampered me well with homemade shepherd's pie and painkillers. (Please note: I am always accepting more painkillers, should you be in the neighborhood.) Zac, upstanding citizen that he is, brought me whiskey, which mixes nicely with the codine. To get some potassium in me, I'm eating prunes. I'm trying to be careful with the prunes though, since walking all the way to the bathroom is nearly impossible. Well, certainly hurculean.
I called into work tomorrow, so come by and throw things at me, since I can't chase you.
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| Peril! Thrills! Chills (literally)! What danger awaits? |
[21 Dec 2008|02:58pm] |
With some trepidation, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) swinsyren and I are about to set out from her place on Capitol Hill to my place on Beacon Hill, about six miles southward. It's still heavily snowing and sunset is exactly one hour and fifteen minutes from now. It's an adventure! Will our intrepid heroes survive? Will they reach their distant goal or be waylaid by some unforeseen, inclement hazard? Will they be forced to eat their cat? Will Dylan fall to his death because his $10 shoes have no traction? Tune in next week!!
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| Something I should have figured out a long time ago |
[16 Dec 2008|05:13pm] |
The application process for my last job and my last apartment had something in common that was very telling. For both of them, of course, I sent in all the required paperwork, but the success in getting both of these things was completely determined by meeting the person I was applying to. In both cases, they didn't even check my references. They met me, liked me, and let me in.
This, of course, makes applying for work over the internet maddening.
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| Show reminder: Tomorrow! |
[04 Dec 2008|09:01pm] |
Just so's no one forgets, Trenchmouth is playing tomorrow night at the Rendezvous!
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| It's Repeal Day! Come do it right with Trenchmouth! |
[30 Nov 2008|08:42pm] |
On a cold January day in 1917, the United States banned the manufacture, sale or transport of intoxicating liquors. On December 5th, 1933, we threw off the yoke of Prohibition and got drunk. Come keep this proud Constitutional tradition alive by celebrating the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition this Friday night at the Rendezvous!
2322 2nd Ave, Seattle (in Belltown!)
A mere five bucks! Starts at 10:00 pm!
We're followed by the Blue Ribbon Boys and the stupendous Atomic Bombshells Burlesque!
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| Peanuts |
[28 Nov 2008|07:19pm] |
The comic strip, by Charles Shultz. You know it. I'm not trying to defend it, really, because everything bad people say about it is true, but it had great moments, like these:
This is the first Peanuts strip, from 1950. I love this. It sets the tone for all of the next fifty years, the hapless Charlie Brown, his friends conspiring against himthe big headed children, the awkward pacing and stilted humor, the minimalistic art that barely developed in half a century. But this is also brilliant on its own. I love how utterly without context "How I hate him" is. I love that the girl's expression doesn't even flicker, while the speaker's expression looks like a very understated Stewie from Family Guy in the last panel, and how clear that change is from the vapid expressions that are on the faces in other panels. It's like the cartoonist is saying that happy, friendly people are vapid, and only negative emotions are genuine.
Here's another thing from the first Peanuts movie that I think needs no explanation of how awesome it is:
The music is Beethoven's Sonata for Piano number 8 in C, "Pathetique", 2nd movement (also the tune to a Billy Joel song), played by Schroeder.
This entry's kind of random, but people bag on Peanuts a lot in comic strip discussions, but it's not all bad.
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| Cranky |
[09 Nov 2008|12:23pm] |
I helped build Seacompression in a cursory way yesterday afternoon, then commenced to drinking. By the time I was leaving there around two, I was facing a long, dark, rainy bike ride home and all I wanted a taco from the taco truck. Tacos were $2 each. The couple in front of me in line kept asking, "But what can we get for five dollars?" to the kid at the window. "But what if we give you a sticker? Then what can we get?" This went on for, I don't know, a few minutes -- way way longer than it took to actually buy two fucking tacos. Eventually I screamed as loud as I could, "Two tacos and a dollar change!" Then they got the hell out of my way. swingsyren says I was having an especially DPW night.
In other news, I've never been one to post song lyrics, but I've been considering ( these ) lately.
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| Four options: |
[17 Oct 2008|06:10pm] |
Plans could include any of the following four paths:
Option one: Get a part-time job with zero stress that gives me enough energy and creativity to pursue other interests like making my band not suck and getting my writing published (and writing to begin with) and building up to riding a century, or even trying to get a really kick-ass job. That last point's a sticky one though.
Option two: Go to graduate school and embark on a career trying to right some wrongs in the world.
Option three: Skip grad school and join the Foreign Service in the State Department. While I think that going to grad school would give me more options, this would be a pretty good way to jump start a career, and wouldn't preclude grad school at a later date.
Option four: Sell, store or throw out everything I own; go to a tropical beach; sell painted seashells to tourists to support my rum habit; pretend not to speak English. Several people have expressed interest in joining me in option four.
Several wise people have also pointed out that, given the long process of getting into grad school or joining the Foreign Service, options one through three aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
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| How to get into grad school |
[17 Oct 2008|05:26pm] |
I applied for grad schools last year and didn't get in. Now that I'm thinking about it, and have talked about it with some people, I realize that getting into grad school is a really involved process and I know nearly nothing about it. If any of y'all have insights about choosing what schools to apply to and then getting into them, I'd appreciate it.
How to find out what schools are right for me?
-- Grad students work a lot more closely with professors, so finding out what professors do what is important. Finding a school with a professor or a few professors who work in the field I want to pursue is key.
-- What internships or study abroad programs are available at the school? Internships seem like they're absolutely key to build experience, credentials and contacts.
-- How is the school for job placement after graduation?
-- I'm considering a degree in international relations, but there's a chance I'd switch to international law. In law schools, tier is important. So, does the school have an international law degree and what tier is it?
How do I find out this information? I'm not fully sure about a lot of it. I bet I can just google "law school tier". And I can find out if the school has an international law program on its web site (although graduate school web sites are amazingly uninformative, I've found). In terms of what professors to look for, I think I'll need to ask other professors. Every school seems to have a "what jobs our graduates went on to" section, but, while it's probably true, it's hardly unbiased. Is there another source for this information? Internships and study abroad programs I can find out about from the schools pretty easily.
Once I decide what schools I want to apply to, then I have to determine whether or not they'll let me in, and generally how to make my application more competitive. I applied to two really good schools last year and didn't get into either, so I guess that tells me something.
So, My steps are:
-- Answer all those questions above to find out what schools to apply to.
-- Contact the relevant professors and try to get their feedback on my chances of getting in, and generally start a dialogue with them.
-- Visit all the schools and professors that I can.
-- Visit my professors at Western and really schmooze them up for good recommendations. I got recommendations when I applied last year, but I want to thank those professors in person and ask them to do it again.
-- Write a really fucking awesome essay (or two. The two schools I applied to last year wanted different things said in their essays).
-- Take and rock the LSAT on the chance that I wind up wanting to go to law school.
-- Do all this right now so I'm not cramming at the last minute.
I'm coming down with a cold, so I'm sure my fuzzy head has forgotten stuff, but what?
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| I need a job |
[01 Oct 2008|01:34pm] |
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I'm not kidding. I don't need crank replies. I need job leads.
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| Job hunt |
[23 Sep 2008|03:50pm] |
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I need a job. Know anyone who's hiring?
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| photo thing |
[19 Sep 2008|01:05pm] |
The "post an unedited photo" virus:
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