Blanket Insecurity

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:45:07 GMT

NONONONONONONONONONONOPLEASEGODNO

A Fortnight In The Windy City

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 15:05:25 GMT

So!

Here we are again.

I've been in Chicago for two weeks now (hence the subject heading, duh). And I feel like I've come home. I feel so ridiculously comfortable here in so many respects already. Granted, I'm not really living here yet (consult me once I have a job and a place of my own), but in terms of my relationship with the general envirionment, I'm loving it. Any lingering fears of not having the constitution for or ability to adapt to a more urban lifestyle have been pretty much obliterated at this point. Suspicions that I might actually thrive in the Big City are panning out.

And beyond my relationship with the city itself, I feel like I've left my stifling Cocoon of Despair a couple hundred miles behind me. As long suspected, Indiana was breaking my brain. Not Indiana per se, of course, but rather a web of destructive Indiana-related associations in my head. Getting away from that has made me feel the closest to fully-functional that I've felt in a looooooooooooooooooooooooong time. And so quickly!

I think I've seen gloriamunty literally every day that I've been here. Which has just been so incredibly fantastic. We've been working together for several hours every day during the week (she on writing, I on my portfolio). That in and of itself has been wonderful, insofar as I'm producing work again. Being productive. Not just idling, for a change. And if my productive presence is helping P. to be productive, all the better. And then, I've also begun going out and attempting to have something resembling a social life again, hanging out with P. and prayinmantis (who, quite frankly, I have not seen nearly enough of since I've been here...but she's one of those people with a "job", so I guess she has an excuse) and their extended group of friends an awful lot more than has been the norm for me of late. And I'm enjoying it so much.

Now, I'm not delusional. Not completely, anyway. I know that, given the short amount of time I've been here and the nature of my stay thus far, this has been almost like a vacation. So I'm biding my time until the honeymoon is over to make anything more than tentative statements. But I will tentatively state that I feel better than I have in a long time, and I can see that generally being the case for the foreseeable future. Because I've started living again. And that rocks.

And expect to hear from me more frequently. The amount of difficulty I had in molding my thoughts into words and hacking this entry into something at all readable indicates that I need to start writing on a regular basis again, and how!

Minds, start recoiling

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 05:22:18 GMT

FYI

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 03:30:05 GMT

I saw A Prairie Home Companion today and, as it is likely to be one of the few movies I see at the theater this summer, I am available and willing to provide any relevant data that anyone might want to plug into a chart or graph or whatever it is you crazy kids are planning to use to document your summer movie viewing habits.

P.S. As someone who is an Altman fan but is realistic about the fact that he occasionally cranks out a piece of shit and markets it as a movie and as someone who has never really cared for the radio show documented therein, I really (to my surprise, somewhat) quite enjoyed A Prairie Home Companion a lot and would recommend seeing it. One of the few Altman movies that I would recommend to the uninitiated without caveats. Recommended to the extent that there is a long-ish review forthcoming from yours truly (the first edited and thoughtfully composed piece of writing that I've done in a number of years!).

EVERYTHING WRONG WITH EVERYTHING EVER

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:54:33 GMT

OMG, WTF.

Tue, 09 May 2006 08:48:12 GMT

OMG OMAR IS THE COP IN TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET.

Was this already common knowledge?

It's official

Fri, 05 May 2006 18:39:44 GMT

I am a college graduate.

THE FUTURE IS FLUX

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 01:05:12 GMT

For those of you who haven't already, I'd highly encourage you to check out Fluxblog in the next day or so. Matthew used to be such a trailblazing pioneer of all things underground, and now he has completely sold his soul...to the DEVIL. I am officially boycotting Fluxblog and all Fluxblog related products until this travesty has been righted.

FOX HATES YOU

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 23:38:36 GMT

From Variety

'Arrested,' 'Kitchen' cut back
Fox pulls both shows from sked

By JOSEF ADALIAN

It's not looking good for "Arrested Development""Arrested Development" or frosh laffer "Kitchen Confidential."
Fox has cut back its episode order on the critically-admired "Arrested" to just 13 segs, down from 22. Producers of "Kitchen," meanwhile, have been told the show won't be getting a full-season pickup.

More worrisome: Fox is pulling both shows from the schedule, effective immediately. "Arrested" returned from a month-long hiatus this week, while "Kitchen""Kitchen" was slated to return Monday.

Instead of the two laffers, Fox will air repeats of drama "Prison Break" in the 8-9 p.m. Monday slot for the rest of the November sweeps. It's presumed "Arrested" and "Kitchen" will return to finish out the remainder of their runs in December. Come January, net has long planned to move "House" into the Monday slot.

Fox wasn't commenting Thursday morning, and for now, nobody's using the word "cancellation." But in the case of "Arrested," the handwriting appears to be on the wall.

While numbers for "Arrested" were underwhelming this week, it's worth noting that a number of returning laffers -- including Fox's "Stacked" -- aren't doing much better.

U.S.E. Tonight!

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 15:40:00 GMT

U.S.E.* are playing tonight at Second Story. If you've never heard or heard of them before, check the link:

www.usemusic.com

Everyone I know who has seen them seems to agree that they're one of the most fun bands you'll ever see live. Here's the Village Voice review of their show in NYC from the other night. Don't miss this, dude. Seriously!

$5, starts at 10 PM. More info available at the Second Story website. See you there, rockers!

* (who I absolutely refuse to refer to as United States of Electronica because it's the worst band name in the history of band names, and because it's misleading, and because it makes them sound lame when they're anything but, and also because I don't even think they call themselves United States of Electronica anymore...)

CALLING ALL FILM FANATICS

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:09:57 GMT

For those curious, here's this semester's schedule for City Lights (IU's film series). As is the university standard, I didn't see any information for this until several of the films had already been shown. I would've liked to have seen Knife In The Water, but whatever. The Harold Lloyd night this friday should be fun. I still have yet to see any of his stuff. Also, it's nice that they're showing Nashville, but it would've been awesome if they'd managed to snag a print of one of Altman's many movies that have been unavailable since the early days of VHS (Brewster McCloud, anyone?) rather than the one Altman film that I know almost by heart.

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 19:22:11 GMT

Much love to all UK peeps. I'm really glad that you're all okay.

I know that just London was affected directly, but still.

Since this is apparently all I have to talk about anymore...

Fri, 10 Jun 2005 19:25:51 GMT

TRON IN MOROCCO!
Fridays (meaning tonight), 9-11 PM CST
Listen on the radio at:
1570 AM in Bloomington
Listen online at:
www.wius.org
Direct requests, comments, & concerns to:
AIM: WIUSREQUEST
Phone: 812-855-9487
E-mail: troninmorocco@gmail.com

If you listen in, IM me or something. WIUS isn't showing up on Shoutcast, so I have no way of knowing how many people are listening online anymore.

PRE-PARTY TIME!

Fri, 03 Jun 2005 19:35:03 GMT

Just a reminder, dudes:

TRON IN MOROCCO!
Fridays (meaning tonight), 9-11 PM CST
Listen on the radio at:
1570 AM in Bloomington
Listen online at:
www.wius.org
Direct requests, comments, & concerns to:
AIM: WIUSREQUEST
Phone: 812-855-9487
E-mail: troninmorocco@gmail.com

The perfect lead-in to a night of hardcore partying down.

Thu, 26 May 2005 20:27:10 GMT

Ladies and gentlemen, starting next friday (June 3rd):

THE RETURN OF...TRON IN MOROCCO!
Fridays, 9-11 PM CST
Listen on the radio at:
1570 AM in Bloomington
Listen online at:
www.wius.org
Direct requests, comments, & concerns to:
AIM: WIUSREQUEST
Phone: 812-855-9487
E-mail: troninmorocco@gmail.com

Perfect for pre-party ass-shakery. Check it out, d00dz.

Words fail.

Fri, 06 May 2005 01:29:42 GMT

Greatest badly translated lyrics ever

Wed, 09 Mar 2005 18:06:27 GMT

Bonde Do Vinho - "Mexe Remexe"

It lies down in the soil
And it dances with emotion
Now it moves, rummages
It moves, it moves, it moves, it moves
It lies down in the soil
And it dances with emotion
Now it moves, rummages
Moves, moves, moves

Stopped in the thick wall
Already it left fashion
Because the Tram of the Wine
Boot pra dances in the hour

Uh tá in the fashion
Boot pra dances in the hour

I ordered dance in the hour
and you he spoke that not
Now the Tram of the Wine
Goes to teach dance in the soil

(Original Portuguese lyrics available here. Translation provided by the linguistically sketchy Babel Fish.)

Tue, 15 Feb 2005 21:27:43 GMT

My phone plan has run its course. And seeing as how I have no desire to deal w/Verizon again, I simply...don't have a phone at the moment. So I'll let youse guys know when I have a phone number again.

Sun, 13 Feb 2005 04:23:37 GMT

Userpic grab bag!

Wed, 02 Feb 2005 21:11:04 GMT

Following Matthew's example, here is another collection of high-quality images ready for use as LJ userpics. Enjoy!

From Bootleg Action Figures.

STRESSED, BUT WHY?!?

Wed, 19 Jan 2005 20:50:47 GMT

(this is me with a bad headache)

(Edit: Actually, no. Forget it. It's funnier to just leave my current music as "headachy".)

For those interested...

Tue, 19 Oct 2004 23:30:20 GMT

O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly. In the "Personal Story" segment tonight, he is the darling of the television critics, the host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central, and now has a book called "America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" -- 'inaction,' one word. Welcome, Jon Stewart, to the no spin zone, everyone.

JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": How are you, sir?

O'REILLY: OK. You know what's really frightening?

STEWART: Uh oh.

O'REILLY: You know what's really frightening?

STEWART: You've been reading my diary.

O'REILLY: You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary.

STEWART: If that were so, that would be quite frightening.

O'REILLY: But it is. It's true. I mean, you've got stoned slackers watching your dopey show every night, OK, and they can vote.

STEWART: Yeah.

O'REILLY: You can't stop them.

STEWART: Yeah, I just don't know how motivated they would be, these stoned slackers.

O'REILLY: Yeah, it just depends if they have to go out that day.

STEWART: What am I, a Cheech and Chong movie? Stoned slackers?

O'REILLY: Come on, you do the research, you know the research on your program.

STEWART: No, we don't.

O'REILLY: Eighty-seven percent are intoxicated when they watch it. You didn't see that?

STEWART: No, I didn't realize that.

O'REILLY: Yeah, we have that there.

STEWART: We come on right after, I believe, puppets that make crank calls...

O'REILLY: Yeah.

STEWART: ... so we are, I think, the appropriate follow up...

O'REILLY: Yeah, and that's a great lead-in for you.

STEWART: It's a wonderful show, by the way.

O'REILLY: Puppets can't vote, but these dopey kids who watch you can.

STEWART: They actually can -- in Florida, they can.

O'REILLY: Puppets can vote in Florida.

STEWART: As long as they vote Republican.

O'REILLY: And they haven't committed a felony.

STEWART: And they haven't committed a felony, that's exactly right.

O'REILLY: But you do have some influence. Now, how do you see that? You have influence. John Kerry bypassed me and went right over to you. You're only four blocks away. He said, "O'Reilly, I don't think so. Stewart, I'm going to go talk to you."

STEWART: Well, I have to tell you -- and again, I mean no disrespect, but the snack selection backstage, quite frankly...

O'REILLY: Yeah, it's...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: You know, I don't want to shake Guantanamo Bay, but it's a little sparer back there.

O'REILLY: It's close, it's close. We want people to be hungry when they come out.

STEWART: I think that's wise. We have, what I like to call, snack- size Three Musketeers, some Snickers, some Milky Ways. If I were a presidential candidate and I had to choose, I think a place that had an energy pick-me-up might be the place I would go.

O'REILLY: Do you think that Kerry does himself any good talking to you? Because I think most of your audience is going to vote for him anyway, aren't they?

STEWART: If I thought...

O'REILLY: The stoned slackers.

STEWART: If I thought honestly that their strategy hinged upon his coming and talking to me, I would suggest that they were in some deep trouble. I don't know. I feel like, you know, we don't have an agenda of influence. If we have influence, it is peripheral. And I don't imagine that people who watch the show are watching it to make up their minds in terms of who they think would best prosecute the war on terror. I think they watch to see who would maybe have the best jokes on the war on terror.

O'REILLY: No, here's what I think. I've been on the show a couple of times. I mean, you obviously make fun of everybody. You know, I'm making fun of your show now. But you get everybody.

STEWART: We are, in fact, crass and immature.

O'REILLY: But you are a show that your target audience is younger, left leaning, so you have to play to the choir sometimes.

STEWART: But the real estate is younger, just because it's Comedy Central.

O'REILLY: And it's at 11 o'clock at night.

STEWART: I don't know if it's left leaning. I mean, would you suggest that -- you know that blue collar TV show that does all the -- like Foxworthy and all that? You'd consider that a red state show -- you know, Foxworthy and -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

O'REILLY: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

STEWART: OK. They're our lead-in on Monday nights, and there's really no difference between...

O'REILLY: But even so, younger people tend to be a little bit more, you know...

STEWART: When you say younger, are you talking 9, 10? What are you talking here?

O'REILLY: No, I'm talking 18 to 25, you know. The people who are on your intellectual level.

STEWART: Thank you.

O'REILLY: They seek that.

STEWART: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: You ask some serious questions too.

STEWART: Very rarely. Every now and again.

O'REILLY: Well, you asked me why I was such a bad person, didn't you, or something like that? Wasn't that a serious question?

STEWART: Did I ask you why you were a bad person?

O'REILLY: Yeah, I think so.

STEWART: No, I wouldn't have done that.

O'REILLY: ... "scum of the earth, O'Reilly," I think that's the way you put it.

STEWART: No, I wouldn't have put it that way. I think it would have been, why do you have such je ne sai qua?

O'REILLY: Yeah, some French. We're boycotting France, so I couldn't answer...

STEWART: By the way, I couldn't agree with you more about the French thing. They are such an important country, and I think really deserve a boycott.

O'REILLY: Yeah, they do.

STEWART: Because of the influence they wield in the world.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: Well, you know, I know you don't agree with...

STEWART: They have a variety of cheeses, and...

O'REILLY: I was just going to say, you have to have your brie before you go on.

STEWART: Do you really believe France is, in any way, worthy of a boycott?

O'REILLY: I do. I think France has really hurt the USA, to be...

STEWART: Really?

O'REILLY: Yes, I do.

STEWART: More than like Saudi Arabia? You would advocate a boycott...

O'REILLY: No, I'm not going to say more than Saudi Arabia. But I'm saying we do a lot...

STEWART: So why not boycott them?

O'REILLY: France is supposed to be our friend. Saudi Arabia is...

STEWART: Since when?

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: Since the revolution they haven't been our friend.

O'REILLY: OK, when you get a guy like Kerry on...

STEWART: Yes.

O'REILLY: ... and again, he bypassed me, so I took it personally, he went over to talk to you...

STEWART: But you and I are not competitors, let's be frank about it.

O'REILLY: Well, we're on our second rerun on THE FACTOR -- is now at 11 o'clock.

STEWART: I don't mean in terms of -- we're not competitors in terms of content. You're a news show, and we are a comedy show.

O'REILLY: That's true. But what do you want the audience to get out of your discussion with Kerry? Just yucks, or anything else?

STEWART: First of all, I shall rarely refer to it as yucks, and I think you should reconsider.

O'REILLY: OK, I'm sorry about that arcane term.

STEWART: "Shnicks," we call it shnicks -- shnicks and giggles.

O'REILLY: Thank you.

STEWART: All right. I am very uncomfortable going more than a couple of minutes without a laugh, because the same weakness that drove me into comedy also informs my show. So that same, what we call, neediness, neuroses...

O'REILLY: If you're not hearing the audience laugh, you're getting a little nervous.

STEWART: That would be exactly correct, because it is, at heart, a comedy show. But it's a comedy show about things we care about. So naturally, it's informed by relevant issues and important information.

O'REILLY: What do you think Kerry wants to get out of coming on your show?

STEWART: He wants to get what any politician does: access to a new constituency. He wants to get...

O'REILLY: The stoned slackers.

STEWART: ... that's exactly right, because the stoned slackers, this election is going to rely on the undecided. Who is more undecided than...

O'REILLY: Than the stoned slacker, right.

STEWART: ... the people who are high. Right now, they're thinking to themselves, ice cream or pretzels, ice cream or pretzels.

O'REILLY: Don't you think that these guys want to be hip, when McCain was on with you -- Bush hasn't been on with you, right? You would remember that...

STEWART: George Bush?

O'REILLY: Yeah.

STEWART: I don't recall the president stopping by the program.

O'REILLY: But McCain's been on.

STEWART: Yes.

O'REILLY: OK. Kerry's been on, as we mentioned.

STEWART: Yes.

O'REILLY: I've been on. So you've had the three most powerful people beside him on.

STEWART: That's probably right.

O'REILLY: What do you think Kerry wanted to get out of it?

STEWART: A hug -- just a sweet hug. I'm sure what he wants out of it is, again, that access -- it's the same thing that Budweiser wants out of it. It's the same thing that Dell computers...

(CROSSTALK)

STEWART: No, it's access to this market that may be untapped, an untapped potential, a reserve, an ANWAR, if you will. He wants to drill in an area that has previously been un-drilled. And don't make a dirty remark about that, because I see it coming.

O'REILLY: All right, your book is...

STEWART: But what do you think he wants out of it?

O'REILLY: I think he wants to be hip. I do. I think going on your show is a cache, and he's considered the hipper candidate than the square.

STEWART: So you think he's not looking for votes. This is middle- aged crisis?

O'REILLY: No...

STEWART: This is a mid-life crisis...

O'REILLY: No, he just wants to get that tag...

STEWART: ... buying a Corvette.

O'REILLY: ... that he's with it, that's all. And he probably wants to get hair tips from you. Look at that hair. It's great. All right, Jon Stewart, buy his book, here he is. And I'll see you on your show in a couple of weeks.

STEWART: You will see me on my show.

O'REILLY: Right back with Dan Rather -- how can you not watch it -- in a moment.

And I'm in the process of downloading O'Reilly's Daily Show appearance from SoulSeek. So I may put up a link to that, as well.

Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ...

Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:34:02 GMT

Tomorrow, tomorrow:

Tron In Morocco!
Wednesdays, 6-8 PM CST
Listen on the radio at:
1570 AM in Bloomington
Listen online at:
www.wius.org
Direct requests, comments, & concerns to:
AIM: WIUSREQUEST
Phone: 812-855-9487
E-mail: troninmorocco@gmail.com

Next week, I'll be doing a special Halloween show, w/lots of shpoooooooky myuuuuuuuuusic. Fun!

As usual, playlists and whatnot can be found at troninmorocco.

Tue, 19 Oct 2004 03:46:58 GMT

Universal

art (249975)
cats (130226)
dancing (239431)
writing (351052)

Popular

none

Common

buffy the vampire slayer (27693)
graphic design (22080)
hot hot heat (31066)
photoshop (26758)
sonic youth (13878)
the strokes (36805)
yeah yeah yeahs (23182)

Specialist

!!! (4852)
adam ant (1438)
arrested development (1636)
basement jaxx (2398)
charlie kaufman (1845)
cindy sherman (1187)
clinic (2118)
cocteau twins (3922)
daniel clowes (1135)
deerhoof (1696)
erase errata (1249)
grant morrison (1098)
hella (1272)
illustrator (1451)
jim henson (2123)
jpop (7933)
junior senior (2176)
kids in the hall (9858)
lightning bolt (1706)
mars (3474)
melt banana (2509)
michel gondry (1066)
mix tapes (7250)
mr. show (3090)
numbers (1970)
paul thomas anderson (1237)
pavement (8781)
scrabble (6212)
soulseek (1015)
spoon (4852)
stella (1001)
stephen malkmus (1214)
stevie wonder (3044)
strangers with candy (3099)
the beach boys (4529)
the gossip (2571)
the kills (1215)
the office (2636)
the onion (4467)
the royal tenenbaums (5864)
the walkmen (2840)
this american life (1381)
wet hot american summer (2668)
will ferrell (3963)
x-ray spex (2298)
xiu xiu (3285)

Unusual

5 rue christine (15)
adult. (981)
aya takano (41)
barbelith (114)
bob odenkirk (538)
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bobby conn (114)
bow wow wow (150)
bumblebeez 81 (196)
chris ware (448)
david foster wallace (720)
david rees (44)
def jux (523)
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esg (195)
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glass candy (244)
gogogo airheart (455)
hal ashby (51)
hans bellmer (212)
james chance (118)
jim o'rourke (442)
jim woodring (130)
john c. reilly (132)
john wilkes booze (20)
jonathan fire eater (27)
joycore (15)
junko mizuno (874)
lester bangs (499)
liliput (99)
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michael kupperman (12)
miracle chosuke (75)
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neil hamburger (84)
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onitsuka tiger (25)
patton oswalt (145)
paul pope (150)
peter milligan (89)
pil (360)
post punk (722)
princess superstar (357)
racebannon (430)
robert altman (278)
royal trux (151)
sick lipstick (143)
skin graft records (22)
sparkle motion (201)
sugar hill records (12)
swell maps (78)
the accidental tourist (12)
the fiery furnaces (416)
the lou reeds (11)
the rezillos (227)
the waitresses (199)
tracy and the plastics (601)
troubleman unlimited (29)
united state of electronica (129)
wius (15)
xbxrx (676)
young marble giants (163)
zadie smith (349)

Rare

abstract pop (1)
andy earles (3)
early scritti politti (2)
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food elephant (1)
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hamburger school (1)
improving my artistic craft (1)
jon wurster (4)
laughter-induced nosebleeds (1)
mr. wilson's crotch (1)
nxm (4)
pirate dad (2)
puppy vs. dyslexia (1)
quality comics (2)
rick veitch (6)
sex tiger (8)
syreeta (1)
the best show (5)
the coke dares (4)
the sweat brothers (1)
tom scharpling (6)
watching commercials at staples.com (1)
worthwhile comedy (1)

</ljcut>

Edited to remove obnoxiousness from your friends page...

Tron's in Morocco, you say? Ummmm....why?

Wed, 06 Oct 2004 01:52:57 GMT

Check it out, doooodz!

Tron In Morocco!
Wednesdays, 6-8 PM CST
Listen on the radio at:
1570 AM in Bloomington
Listen online at:
www.wius.org
Direct requests, comments, & concerns to:
AIM: WIUSREQUEST
Phone: 812-855-9487
E-mail: troninmorocco@gmail.com

I'm working on a special Halloween show for the kiddies. Be on the lookout for that and more upcoming themed shows.

P.S. I'm currently putting my playlists up on my new LJ, troninmorocco. Check it out, cats!