Something That Happened.

No matter how you look at it, it was a tough decision for everyone involved. May God, the universe, or whatever dark matter that's running this business allow Terri Schiavo to rest in peace. Sorry if this seems inappropriate, but I can't help but echo a refrain from a Jane's Addiction song:

Ain't no wrong now, ain't no right

Though I don't really believe there ain't no wrong, there was certainly no easy was to resolve Terri's situation. I only hope that things worked out for the best and that she didn't suffer any more than she already had.

There is nothing original about what I'm saying; there are going to be thousands of others echoing similar sentiments today and in the days to follow. But still, I wanted to say something. The events leading up to Terri's passing touched me more than many other tragedies I'm made aware of nearly every day, perhaps due to its passing resemblance to our own situation. Though my mom is not living with a feeding tube and never will, there are remarkably difficult questions I have had to make regarding her condition, and will probably have to make in the future.

I saw my mom wander into her restroom and turn on the light switch. She turned on a light switch. I haven't seen her do that since the onset of her condition. It was an amazing moment. I have no way of knowing whether it was a purposeful action or an unconscious one--did she know she was causing the light to turn on in her new restroom, or was she simply unconsciously going through the motions of an action she'd performed on many a room throughout her life? Was she aware, or was she on autopilot?

The moment the event occurred, it certainly didn't matter to me. My mom was turning on a light switch, and that was enough to fill my heart in that moment.

The view from a subway in New York City.

Will I ever experience this view? Do I really want to? I think I do, but will I ever make enough money to do so? You may think it's absurd to think that someone from L.A. can't find the way to make enough money to fly out to New York--but then, you don't know me. I seem jinxed when it comes to making money. I can't seem to make or save a buck to save my life. This may be as close as I ever get to enjoying the perspective from aboard an NYC subway.

Who knows, though? Maybe that's a good thing. Perhaps I'll create brilliant stories from an imagined perspective. There have been untraveled yet brilliant artists, haven't there? Haven't there?

Sure there have. Besides, I've always got digital images to look at--thank goodness for digital images and their archives.

[Image discovered on Ourmedia.org. Photographer: Adam Fields. Ourmedia provides free hosting of digital media and a community of collaboration.]

There is supposed to be another audio post here. The audio post that was supposed to be here, the one that continued from and concluded the previous posts in the series I made today, somehow managed to never make it to the site. These recordings were made from a cellphone and using a free audioblogging service--apparently an (sometimes) unreliable means of transmitting recordings.

We'll see if the post shows up here. If not, you'll simply have to conclude the story on your own, or email me to find out how the story ends. It may not be over yet, anyway...is anything ever?

This post continues from the previous one.

"Continuing from my last post..." I say, but apparently the previous post, which I recorded from my phone, never made it to the site. Well, no matter; it was simply an intro to what I'm expressing in this and the following post, anyway.

Don't you fucking hate advertisements? (Sorry, I've just got to pay the bills somehow.)

During the bus ride home last night I turned on my iRiver and tuned in to Indie One-O-Three-1, just about the only commercial broadcast radio station worth listening to anymore. Hearing shouts and whistles and a familiar English voice, I realized I was listening to Indie's simulcast of Billy Idol's live performance at the Roxy. So I turned up the volume, closed my eyes and settled in for the last leg of my long ride home.

Almost immediately I found myself fumbling for the record feature of my digital audio player; I wanted to be sure to record this performance. Billy Idol's performance was stellar--at least, stellar-sounding, since I had no way of seeing Idol's on-stage maneuverings. Idol and his band were really moving me in my seat, my finger air-guitaring chords from my vantage point in the seat near the middle of the bus, an updated version of the popular 80's song Eyes Without a Face giving me the chills.

Jonesy, currently a deejay at One-O-Three-1 and forever a Sex Pistol known as Steve Jones, joined Idol on stage for a few songs. Jones' distinctive axwork added the proper seasoning to songs such as the 26-year-old Ready, Steady, Go and the ever-popular Rebel Yell. Jones was rock-steady, to put a pun on his performance, and I couldn't help but envision his past performances with the Pistols (as evidenced in the recent documentary The Filth and the Fury).

So I have MP3 recordings of some of the tracks simulcast last night. They're certainly less than perfect--the tracks lose quality from time to time as reception varies--but they're better than many bootlegged concert recordings I've heard. If you'd like to hear them, contact me and maybe you can (not) come over to listen to them.

untitled audio post 3/25/05 at 07:00:00 PM
[.5 MB stream or download]

A brief audio post in which I mention the Walking Man.

untitled audio post 3/25/05 at 11:34:00 PM
[6.9 MB stream or download]

My thoughts while on the way home from my temp job.

My thoughts while on break during a temp job.

Remember that guy you always saw at the ballgame gripping his AM radio, listening to Vin Scully calling the game you were watching--the game right down on the field below? When you were a kid you thought that was funny; why was this guy listening to a game on a portable radio when you were both right here sitting in the stadium in the midst of the crowd, watches the ballplayers pitching down below? Well, now you understand that guy, and I'll tell you why: because that guy is you.

You see, after all these years you now understand that Vin is the Voice of the Dodgers. He's the narrator of our team's unfolding story, the collective consciousness of the Dodgers made available through his endearing (and enduring) windpipes. Fans come and go, though a few diehards stick around--but Vin, he's the ultimate fan, the one who moved with the Dodgers from Brooklyn so many years ago. Those Who Know listen to Vin, even while at the ballpark; and though it's true that there are other scores to listen to via that radio (Raiders fans still considering the Silver and Black our own colors), Vin's really the reason you're carrying around that radio.

Who wants to play Dungeons and Dragons? I haven't played in awhile (oh, it's only been what, 15, 20 years--basically, since I was a kid), but after picking up a D&D game accessory at Goodwill this past week, a compilation of pre-drawn characters called The Shady Dragon Inn, I've kind of had the urge to animate those dudes.

"Sit on it, Fonz."

I love when Ritchie, in a moment of anger, said that to the Fonz; it tickles me when I think recall the scene. Ritchie's bravado was nothing less than hysterical in his confrontation with Fonzie, AKA Arthur Fonzerelli--or better known to Mrs. C as Arthur (which also tickles me to no end). I was disappointed they didn't show that scene during the recent broadcast of Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion.

I realized this past year that I've stopped watching sitcoms. Oh, I still catch the occasional sitcom, usually when my girlfriend turns on That (God-awful) 70's Show. (Can somebody please point out the humor in this show for me? I can't seem to find it. Am I becoming humorless? 'cause I just don't get what my girlfriend finds so funny about that show.)

As I was saying, sitcoms are still watched in my household, but I've stopped watching any of them regularly. I believe the last sitcom I watched with anything approaching regularity was Frazier--and the first season or two, at that. I also began watching Seinfeld as often as possible near the end of its run. No sitcom in the past few years, however, has encouraged me to schedule my ass to sit down during primetime; in fact, no show has (though I'm now downloading episodes of Lost via BitTorrent--which still doesn't guarantee I'll actually get around to watching them).

Will someboday please call Garry Marshall and pester him to produce Happy Days again (with all the old actors)? I don't think I can stand another night of Ashton Kusher.

I've been on vacation this week, more or less--which explains why you haven't been hearing anything from me (unless you've taken note of my music podcast, Tempo of the Down). What do I do on my vacation days? Well, I geek out, for the most part--busying myself with installing software and learning more about operating systems, stuff like that. I also have sex, and not always with myself...

This morning I'll be reading a book I picked up yesterday at the library: Audio Anecdotes (edited by Ken Greenebaum and Ronen Barzel). I spotted this one at a bookstore last year but couldn't afford to buy it, broke as I am. So once the Los Angeles Public Library got their own copy, I made certain to place it on hold. (That's right, I have the LAPL's only copy of this book--and it even still has the software CD that came with the book! So if you want to borrow it sometime in the near future, you'd better place a Hold request on it; otherwise I may be holding on to this baby for awhile...)

Using my old Mac, it's seems that it's taking forever to complete editing Session 02 of the Tempo of the Down podcast. That old Mac has fared me well over the years, but it's been choking on the newer CPU-intensive apps like Audacity, which I use to edit my recordings. About halfway through a project, it's an effort in frustration to continue through to its conclusion, because Audacity begins to hiccup once I have more than a few tracks lain out.

I won't go into more details here, but I assure you it's an exercise in frustration. I love my old Mac, but she needs an assistant to handle the audio production tasks, such as that new Mac mini--which I'll be able to get for free if enough of my friends follow through with this offer. Don't worry, the offer's legit--I'd just advise using a webmail account you wouldn't mind having spam sent to. Google's free webmail, Gmail, is perfect for this sort of thing, as it has a decent spam filter; let me know if you'd like an invite for a Gmail account.

Doonesbury tributes Hunter S. Thompson.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on Session 02 of Tempo of the Down, so watch VoyagerRadio.com and stay tuned...

The latest Something that Happened torrent package is now available. The torrent includes all the recent podcasts, audio posts, and other recordings posted to this site; this particular package includes all audio posts, since I haven't put out a podcast in awhile. The dates of these audio posts cover February 24, 2005 through the present.

You should be able to download the torrent using either your iPodder application or BitTorrent client. Once you have either of those installed and depending on which application you're using, either subscribe to the torrent feed or download the torrent.

Thank you Hilary for your feedback, which motivated me to make these recordings available today.

You can now add the final audio clip, Interview #5, to that list. Also stay tuned for Session 02 of Tempo of the Down.

In the meantime, The Master has been kickin' out the shows left and right, making me look like Chester the Terrier to Spike the Bulldog.

Though I haven't been putting alot of Something that Happened podcasts out there lately, here are you some ways can still get inside my mind:

• a) Listen to the audio posts I've made on this blog (most of which haven't been included in the podcast feed)


• b) Listen to the super-geeky audio interviews I recorded and which have been posted as a series at LQ Radio:
  
  
  
  • interview #1
  
  
  • interview #2
  
  
  • interview #3
  
  
  • interview #4
  
  
• c) Listen to Robert Walch's interview with me for his podCast411 podcast

Thank you, anyone who is listening, for doing so. The possibility that someone is listening comforts me.