changes

Send my body to Arby’s

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Standalone post link: Send my body to Arby's

On some lowkey Wallace Stevens shit this Sunday morning.

It’s a blustery, dark day, though. No sunny chair. No green-winged cockatoo around. Closest thing is the calls of migrant geese on the wind, and our dog’s occasional whimpers at the creaking trees and house noises, and/or at us for just sitting around.

Especially appropriate because I used to be a believing Mormon so coffee is a no-no for every morning, but perhaps an especial sacralege for Sunday morning when I’m supposed to be at church taking the sacrament and recommitting to do and not do a bunch of things such as not drink coffee. Death and resurrection, newness of life. Awake and arise.

Standalone post link: On some lowkey Wallace Stevens shit this Sunday morning

The friendmaking challenge really threw me off and I stopped playing this for a long time, but I finally got back to it and pushed through to finish the main storyline. I kind of love this game.

This game has been hillarious to me and I probably should write something more about it and my weird reaction to the friendmaking part. It is silly and fun but also has an occasional dark satirical and slightly cynical take on human society. Or maybe I’m bringing my own issues to the game. This is what I should probably explore. But not today.

Date: 2024-05-11

Apparently I love Canadian video games?

I’m hooked after starting this on a whim one day while browsing Apple Arcade for the first time on my laptop. I’d wanted to play something on the Switch but not enough to kick my kids off the Switch.

Standalone post link: Playing Log: Sneaky Sasquatch

This was so real to me as a 14 year old, and a little bit scary. First Smashing Pumpkins album I purchased. And I still like listening to it now, I guess.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Siamese Dream

EVERYTHING THAT THE SKULL SAID WAS TRUE

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Standalone post link: EVERYTHING THAT THE SKULL SAID WAS TRUE

I’m purple man, too

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Standalone post link: I'm purple man, too

Comfort bedtime reading with my son every other night or so.

Past Log Updates

DATE : 2025-01-01

Started reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with Will tonight. First two chapters, about 10%.

I kind of wanted us to try something new but this is good. A great read. Comfort read?

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Standalone post link: Reading Log: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

(I built a playlist to finally try the original 3LP Vinyl edition tracklisting: Dawn - Tea Time - Dusk - Twilight - Midnight - Starlight)

It works, or at least it doesn’t make any less sense than the regular CD track order…and I didn’t have to spend $700 or whatever to try it. I think I could have bought this for $75 at some point but I didn’t have the money.

Here it is -

dawn

1. mellon collie and the infinite sadness
2. tonight, tonight
3. thirthy-three
4. in the arms of sleep
5. take me down

tea time

1. jellybelly
2. bodies
3. to forgive
4. here is no why
5. porcelina of the vast oceans

dusk

1. bullet with butterfly wings
2. thru the eyes of ruby
3. muzzle
4. galapogos
5. tales of a scorched earth

twilight

1. 1979
2. beautiful
3. cupid de locke
4. by starlight
5. we only come out at night

midnight

1. where boys fear to tread
2. zero
3. an ode to no one
4. love
5. x.y.u.

starlight

1. stumbleine
2. lily (my one and only)
3. tonite reprise ❋
4. farewell and goodnight
5. infinite sadness ❋

❋ vinyl only bonus tracks, sourced from The Aeroplane Flies High Deluxe Edition for purposes of my playlist.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: MCATIS

This was a “personalized” suggestion for me from the Apple Music algorithm and it was a good one. I hate that a little bit, but glad to learn of this band.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Dust Inside a Dream

Even exploring all these kind-of obscure shoegaze and dream pop bands I knew it was always going to end up with me listening to Smashing Pumpkins. A lot.

Past Log Updates

DATE : 2025-01-04

Apple Music’s hype blurb is making me feel better about liking this album so much, apparently as much as a 44-year-old as I did as a 14-year-old. I suspect it is working along the lines of those narratives printed on the back of potato chip bags, though. This isn’t just junk food, it is part of a rich, generations old artisanal tradition. The taste is utterly unique and each crunchy bite is so satisfying and what life is really about. So don’t hold back; enjoy every morsel; feel no shame for eating this whole bag of corn puffs or Famous Amos cookies or whatever…feel no shame for listening to these ridiculous guitar solos over and over again.

“Twenty-five seconds. That’s precisely how long it took for the members of The Smashing Pumpkins to transform themselves from promising alt-rock underdogs into certified Gen-X icons—a metamorphosis that can be plotted in the amount of time it takes Siamese Dream’s atomic lead track, “Cherub Rock,” to achieve liftoff. From its opening militaristic drumroll, the song builds and intensifies like an army being mobilized, one member at a time. Then comes a fireball of a guitar riff that doubles as a declaration of war: Against the cynical scenesters who doubted the Pumpkins’ indie credentials; against the underground’s rigid aesthetic orthodoxies; against anyone who dared to write off their generation as navel-gazing nihilists.

“On first listen, 1993’s Siamese Dream feels like a quintessential Clinton-era alt-rock artifact: Billy Corgan and James Iha’s smeared, swirling guitar noises on tracks like “Cherub Rock” and “Rocket” hit the sweet spot between Nirvana’s gritty riffage and My Bloody Valentine’s sensory-overloading splendor. And the ready-made anthem “Today” dresses up prevailing themes of self-loathing in an ironically sunny sing-along wrapped in a candy-coated fuzz; it’s a song that makes bitter sentiments like “I’ll burn my eyes out!” seem almost sweet. But Siamese Dream’s heart truly belongs to the gatefold-album epics of the mid-1970s, when groups like Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Pink Floyd were elevating rock ’n’ roll into the realm of transcendental, quasi-religious experiences (and bitchin’ planetarium laser shows). As the mosh pits of America raged, the Pumpkins were taking a stage-dive into the stratosphere.

“None of the band’s Lollapalooza-era peers were attempting the sort of multi-tracked guitar-architecture that thrusts the grunge-gaze groover “Hummer” through its heady peaks and immaculate comedown. And even in the age of peak MTV Unplugged, no other alt-rock outfit was crafting acoustic ballads as cinematic and dramatic as the string-swept “Disarm.” True to its title, Siamese Dream brokers a harmonious coexistence between the Pumpkins’ muscular and melodic extremes, as best exemplified by the totemic mid-album double shot of “Geek U.S.A.” and “Mayonnaise”: The former is a furious blast of pure psych-metal savagery, the latter a slow-motion, hazy-headed lullaby that’s become one of the most beloved album cuts in the Pumpkins’ canon. At a time when fellow alterna-nation deities like Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder were exhibiting allergic reactions to their newfound celebrity, Corgan gamely stepped up to fill the void—as both an unapologetic rock star with stadium-sized ambitions, and as an open-hearted empath eager to cultivate a profound emotional connection with his fans.”
– Apple Music Blurb Writer

DATE : 2025-01-02

Listening to Siamese Dream (old scratched CD from the 90s) - I’m so happy it is actually playing though without really skipping in my newer car’s CD player. I will probably listen to it a bunch of times. It’s been playing over in my head for weeks now if I’m honest. Sad to say, or at least uncool and unrighteous to admit to, but true.

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Standalone post link: Listening Log: Siamese Dream