The Discontent of My Winter

First things first: I've got new songs, and my first-ever music video! No, I don't expect "Everything's Different Now" could ever win an award (or rotation on the old MTV, the one that used to actually play videos), but I'm pretty pleased with it nonetheless and I had fun making it.

I wrote and recorded "Everything's Different Now" last month, and thought about trying to make a video for it... and then I did it, with a budget of about twenty bucks. Heh. I also realized after the fact that another song I'd written, "The Discontent of My Winter," has the same chord structure, so I recorded that one, too. When I get them on an album together, I'm going to have them as a medley, the slow, moody song into the faster, angsty one. 'Til then, you can listen to them in the ReverbNation widget to the right, or from the sidebar on AndersenSilva.com... or several other places. I'd really appreciate you checking out and sharing the video and the songs. :-)

Clearly, I will not be putting out Tougher Than Flannel (or any other album) before 2014 comes to a close, but I think I'll have enough material recorded over the next several months to release something. It might not actually have that title, but I'm itching to get a new album done. We'll see. I've also been working with my Greta's Unmentionables cohorts, and we're pretty happy with the way "The Bite" is turning out. Gotta start writing a new song...

Andy, Anthony, Mike, and Jon: don't mention it

The writing thing hasn't been as productive as the music thing, though. I had high hopes for NaNoWriMo this year, and the 7,000+ words I did manage to put down are more than the previous two years' attempts put together, but it was nowhere near enough. I like what I have written of Forged in Fire, and I would like to spend more time making this novel happen, but I'm not going to make any commitments just yet.

Depression is trying to pull me under again lately, though it's been mostly unsuccessful ("The Discontent of My Winter" notwithstanding). My lovely tortoiseshell cat, Preeti, went through a spell for several days where she just wasn't eating, and it really rattled me, especially after I lost Meggy, the chinchilla, back in February. I bundled Preeti up and took her to the vet, but Dr. Sass (I just have to like any woman called Dr. Sass) couldn't find any reason for it. An antibiotic and a steroid and two days later, though, Preeti seemed to decide that food was again a good thing. She's doing much better, but I'm still feeling a little overprotective.

A few Fridays ago, I was at Mexicali Live enjoying some shrimp and hard cider and good music, and something (or some combination of things, or nothing at all, I don't really know) suddenly turned my mood dark. I'd just seen Xenia Sky perform and gone up briefly to the merch table to say hi, but back at my seat, I inexplicably felt so alone, even with dozens of people in the space and half a dozen within a ten-foot radius.

Just as suddenly, I was cheered up again a little while later by Xenia herself coming over to me and chatting. Sure, she's a lovely young woman and a talented singer/songwriter to boot, but it was the human connection that touched me and made me feel, well, human again. It was nice to talk music with a fellow musician who shares some of my varied musical tastes, too, and my opinions on people who talk over live music (pro tip: don't bother going to a venue with live music if you're planning on having loud, lengthy conversations with others).

I even got a selfie with my fellow singer/songwriter

After Anna Nalick's headlining set, Xenia and I talked a bit more (both greatly impressed with Anna's voice) and hugged before I left. Never underestimate how much quiet, warm joy a simple hug can impart. The drive home took me through Teaneck and Ridgefield Park and North Arlington, towns with various nostalgic pulls on my soul, but I was doing OK when I got home.

I've also seen Paolo Nutini, Lydia Loveless, Amaranthe, Within Temptation, Tessa Makes Love, Rivky, Goli, and Bob Dylan since my last post, and been to talks featuring John Cleese and John Hodgman (about the former's new memoir) and Nadya and Masha of Pussy Riot (about governments stifling dissent and activism; oh, and yes, I included a few seconds of video of the girls laughing in the "Everything's Different Now" video). I'm hoping to see Tania Stavreva perform this week, and Xenia again later this month; I've got tickets to see Sleater-Kinney at Terminal 5 in February (two nights in a row!) and to see three-quarters of Serious Pilgrim reunite at Rockwood Music Hall in March (two shows in one night!). So, yeah, I'm still keepin' busy. If I'm going to be lonely, might as well be lonely around other people...

8:09 10-11-12

Fancy meeting you here...  Well, I've fallen behind a bit with the whole 'blogging thing, so I decided today would be a good day for a new post.

Less than two weeks ago, I turned 42 years old, and Laura gave me a silver guitar pick, inscribed with a line from John Lennon's "Imagine," as a pendant for the chain she'd given me earlier in the month for our one-year anniversary together.  We figured we'd mark this auspicious occasion (my birthday, not our anniversary) with a small and vaguely "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"-themed party.  (For those who are woefully unfamiliar with "HHGttG," 42 is determined by a supercomputer to be the answer to the "ultimate question" of "life, the universe, and everything.")  We ended up with 22 guests, less than my 40th but a few more than we'd originally planned on; still, a fun time was had by all, and when my peers had all left, I did two shots with Laura's twenty-something co-workers before they, too, took off.  I preferred the taste of the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters I'd whipped up, but hey... I'm not old yet.  ;-)

Last weekend, we opted to celebrate Oktoberfest! We took the train to Hoboken early Saturday evening and walked to the Pilsener Haus Biergarten, where Viktoriya ably waited upon us and delivered two Maßes of beer, delicious beer:

That is a lot of beer

After we downed all that beer, as well as some pretzel dumplings to go with our wienerschnitzel and goulash (and Spätzle!), we took our leave and went giggling down the quiet streets of Hoboken toward Ben & Jerry's, where Laura had her dessert, and the Old German Bakery, where I had mine.  There was also a brief romp through a Halloween costume store...

My silly, silly girlfriend...

We've got three concerts coming up near the end of October: Regina Spektor at the Beacon Theatre, the Indigo Girls at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair (we're going with their biggest fan, my friend Dawn), and Aimee Mann at Town Hall.  Three great acts in four days!  Aimee's video for "Charmer" is a lot of fun, too, and the one for "Labrador" looks awfully familiar...  After that, there's Halloween, and we're hoping to attend the Village Parade, which Laura's never seen, in costume.  November will see us going on a four-day trip to visit her dad and sister.  First time flying together, though we've been quite content and comfortable on four-hour road trips with each other...

I also intend to take part in NaNoWriMo next month.  I first heard about National Novel Writing Month last year and briefly entertained the idea, but I just wasn't organized enough to pull it off.  Can't say I'll definitely be successful this November, but I'm going to give it a determined effort; I've written short stories and poems in addition to essays and songs, so I think I can tackle a 50,000-word novel.  Right?  Hey, that's only 1,666 words a day, and this 'blog post has almost 700 already...  OK, so I'm feeling a little daunted now.

I'm in the process of revamping my Web site(s), too.  The UI should look nicer across different resolutions and orientations (browsers aren't such a consideration these days), and the Gallery... of Death! will finally be updated with all of 2012's pics.  Not sure when I'll be putting the new site up, though; I'd like to have it done before the end of October, but I've got music to work on, too.  I've got most of the music and some of the lyrics to a new song written, I just haven't had much time to finish, what with Slime and the party and work and all...

Two members of Pussy Riot are going to have plenty of time, two years in a penal colony (there's a joke in there somewhere...), in fact.  The third and oldest (at 30) convicted "hooligan," Yekaterina Samutsevich was released yesterday with a suspended sentence, because she'd been ejected from the cathedral by guards before she'd had a chance to get her guitar and join the "punk prayer."  Let's hope common sense prevails and Maria and Nadezhda are released soon, too.  Free speech and political protest are scarce commodities in Putin's Russia this Red October...

Free Pussy Riot!

Yes, I mentioned Pussy Riot's trial in a 'blog post earlier this month, but since the verdict is due today, I thought I'd mention it again and add my voice to those of Pete Townshend, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Regina Spektor, Paul McCartney, Björk, Patti Smith, Madonna, Tegan and Sara, Genesis, Peaches, Faith No More, the Beastie Boys, Johnny Marr, Yoko Ono, Anti-Flag, Rise Against!, and other musicians (and non-musicians) in demanding justice in this ridiculous case.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot

Three members of the punk band / feminist performance art group Pussy Riot were arrested in March and charged with "premeditated hooliganism performed by organized group of people motivated by religious hatred or hostility," a charge which could earn each of them seven years in prison; the months-long detentions they've already endured are far more severe punishment than their offenses (essentially disturbing the peace in a Russian Orthodox cathedral to protest, loudly but non-violently, against an apparent collusion between Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, and its church, or more specifically the church's patriarch; watch the video here and decide for yourself) would've merited in any truly democratic nation.  Even the prosecution's recommended three-year sentence would be a travesty and a miscarriage of justice.  Anything more than the time served would undermine Russia's progress toward freedom since Putin's beloved Soviet days and make a mockery of the Russian court system.

I've been a fan of punk rock since about the age of 16 (which makes it, yes, a long time), and while I certainly enjoy the nihilism of the Sex Pistols and the Blitzkrieg bop of the Ramones, it was always the socially- and politically-aware lyrics of the Clash and the Dead Kennedys that resonated most with me.  A free society needs the ability, nay, the right to stick a tongue or a middle finger at political/social/religious/etc. individuals or groups with whom we disagree.   A holiday in Cambodia and Spanish bombs might not be the most pleasant topics of discussion, but ignoring wrongs and evils doesn't make them go away.

Pussy Riot is guilty of a disruptive political protest.   They could've made their point in a more socially acceptable way and not have offended the sensibilities of some (apparently hypersensitive) church members, but they shouldn't be treated as enemies of the state and church for their actions, and they wouldn't have been in the US or the UK or France.  A few days in jail, maybe a fine, would have sufficed for the brouhaha; instead, Russia seems intent on making them prisoners of conscience and martyrs for freedom of speech.  Putin's supporters state that the girls would've been treated far more harshly had their action been taken in a mosque in a Muslim country... so, that's the standard we should be using in an allegedly democratic court of law?  Sharia?  It's OK, your right even, to be perturbed, angered, outraged at their behavior, but in the end they didn't commit an offense serious enough to merit seven years in prison.

At the end of the trial, one of the defendants, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, made a closing statement that should be read by anyone interested in human rights - which should be everyone, really.  There are many protests and actions scheduled around the world today, from Barcelona to Chicago to Edinburgh to Moscow to Sydney, to show support for these three young rebels and the freedom to peacefully protest.  The women are right; judgment is being passed upon the Putin regime today, not upon them.  "Open the doors, off with the military insignia, join us in a taste of freedom."  Free Pussy Riot!

Whoa... It's August?

Time flies when you're doing whatever it is I do.  Actually, what I'm doing (professionally) these days is different from what I was doing six months ago.  Back then, I was managing a technical support team; nowadays, I'm immersed in data, from both clients (repairing and exporting/importing medical billing software and electronic medical records software databases) and from us (I update Microwize Technology's 'blog and maintain its Web site and user forum), and I do a bit of marketing work on the side as well.

While I need to get crackin' on creating some more of my own music, I was inspired to record a cover of Willie Nile's "One Guitar" this past weekend.  I'd already learned the song three months ago when I marched with the Occupy Guitarmy on May Day, and then last week I heard about the One Guitar Collaborative Charity Initiative, which hopes to both raise money for the TJ Martell Foundation and break the Guinness Book World Record for the most recorded song in history.  Sounded good to me, so I plugged in one guitar (the Danelectro) and came up with my own quick version; I even convinced Laura to help out with backing vocals!

On Monday morning, as I was approaching the office, I encountered a bird sleeping in front of the garage entrance!  I bent down and ruffled the feathers on the top of its head, and it opened an eye to look at me, then buried its head under a wing and went back to sleep.  Since it obviously wasn't interested in moving on its own, I elected to pick it up, carry it in my palm a few feet, and put it down in some bushes, where it wouldn't run the risk of being run over.  The bird didn't seem injured or sick, just sleepy.  Heh...  When I checked back a few hours later, it was gone, so hopefully that means it eventually woke up and realized it had an angry spouse waiting for it at home.

Within the past few weeks, I've joined the Internet Defense League ("Protecting the Free Internet Since 2012"), RebelMouse ("your social front page"), and Vizify ("one definitive, multidimensional, graphical biography").  I didn't have nearly enough of a social presence on the Web before. I mean, I was making do with only Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, MySpace (yeah, still got that), MyOuterSpace (something else entirely), YouTube, Orkut, and the music-related sites like ReverbNation and Google Play and SoundCloud and Bandcamp and... Anyway, the latter two new sites, RebelMouse and Vizify, basically take content you've already posted to social networks and make them more visually appealing; Vizify is more about turning that content into a visual bio, and it has a lot of potential, I think, but I've already run into a bug with the locations (I do not live in Nutley anymore). The first one, the IDL, is so my Web site (well, one of them, anyway) can automatically join in broadcasting a message when the open Web is threatened again, by SOPA or PIPA or CISPA or DOMA or whatever ridiculous act Congress cooks up next. If they're really interested in protecting copyright holders and content creators, let them do so with legislation that's as narrowly focused as possible and can't be used to shut down Web sites willy-nilly. I'll give you my site when you pry it from my cold, dead hands! If you come for mine, you better bring yours. Web sites don't kill people, people with guns kill people. Et cetera, et cetera...

"Free Pussy Riot!" sounds like an advertisement for a really bangin' party (pun unreservedly intended), but it's actually a movement to try to obtain some justice for three young women arrested in Russia and charged with hooliganism for protesting in a Moscow cathedral against Russian president Vladimir Putin and the relationship he seems to have with the Russian Orthodox Church's leadership.  Pussy Riot is a punk band / feminist performance art group that has given voices to the anti-Putin movement, and the arrest of three of their members in March resulted from a one-minute "punk prayer" ("Virgin Mary, Send Putin Away") at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and could result in seven-year sentences.  It seems that Vlad the Repealer is trying to unravel Russia's already fragile democracy and make an example of these girls.

Laura, a punk girl much closer to my heart, is getting ready to run another 5K, this time in Asbury Park in two and a half weeks. There's a 10K in September she's got her eye on, too, and she's been training; in fact, the poor girl got soaked this morning by a sudden, powerful downpour (which I mostly avoided on my way to work twenty minutes later).  We've recently celebrated a milestone by completing our 26th weekly installment of Slime, the Web comic (half a year's worth, and none of them have been published late).  Slime merchandise is a very real possibility; anything you'd like to see/purchase? No, there probably won't be any Slime knitwear.  I'm just not very good at knitting yet.

In addition to the race, our plans for this month including seeing the glorious gals of Goli again at Caffe Vivaldi (Friday the 17th, if you're interested), going to the Renaissance Faire in Sterling Forest, weather permitting, and visiting the Grange Fair in Centre Hall, PA. Perhaps we can sneak in another visit to the Met, as well. What are you up to this month, voiceless anonymous readers?