Black Friday

instead of shopping on this marvelously horrible holiday that black friday has become, bekah and I are making stuff and making recordings...oh and hanging christmas decorations in between feeding Amelia carrots and cheerios. all of which has got to be more punk rock than waiting in line outside best buy at three in the morning.

so anyway though, i'm not trying to criticize you if you're surfing the web on your iphone right now whilst shopping at the mall, so definitely try and have a good time if that's what you are up to. just for me, i have the bad aftertaste of commercialism and materialism in my mouth and we're trying to wash it out with some creative endeavors like making wallets out of paint swatches. surely the disillusionment is partly my own fault for watching tv and looking at billboards. we should just move to siberia.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I read an article today that mentioned how families are cutting back on spending this year, some due to circumstances, others in order to make a kind of personal statement about rejecting at least some of the commercialism and materialism of the holidays. Jim Taylor, a market researcher, mentioned that he feels "There's a kind of emotional recession out there." "It's the war, the economy, the falling dollar and a kind of vague sense everything isn't quite right with the world." If you're anything like me, you might identify with this sense of uneasiness about the current state of things here and abroad.

However, as much trouble as there is in the world, I take great comfort in knowing that as bad as things may get, I have friends and I have family who are the closest thing to certain propositions (humanly speaking) that I have to hold onto this life. Meaning, it's likely that bad things will not not happen to me or us and it's likely that they will not happen. I don't really know which, likely, a lot of both. I can't say either with much degree of certainty. But I would more likely bet that my friends will not abandon me, no matter which of the former is more true than the alternate possibility. For that, I am abundantly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving...see you next week.

budget graphic design

Today, while baking some pies at home for the Beacon Society I got inspired to hijack a piece of design for my own purposes and ended up coming up with this Obey-inspired flyer for an event we're hosting in December. In all honesty, making flyers, websites and videos (filming, not editing) is one of my favorite things to do. I rarely have time though and others are more skilled, plus it's a great way for creative people to get involved. Anyhow, when I get the chance, it's a rush to make promotional images and come up with the occasional marketing slogan. And hopefully Obey won't sue me...

thursday; smog check; facebook; trees;

I remember when it was the thing to shave lines in your hair...now apparently, it's the thing to do again. Home sales and prices are plummeting and the leaves are falling off the trees. Somehow I added too many applications to my facebook account. But I'm thankful...that my car passed the smog test, that my daughter is healthy, that my family is intact and that I am blessed with so many amazing friends.

Thanksgiving is on the mind, I'm speaking about Suffering, Thanksgiving and Wonder on Sunday at Northpark and it will only be the second time ever that I'll do the same talk three times in a row. Tonight we'll have a pre-thanksgiving feast at our house, Saturday we'll be out at Serve Fresno Day helping elderly people with their yard work or cleaning up schools. Bekah had a cyst removed yesterday and is now recovering from the operation so Amelia is right beside me at work, playing with toys and generally awed by the world she's just discovering. It seems that she just learned how to throw things outside of the pack n' play much to her delight. She loves her remote control that doesn't match up with any electronics owned by the Townsend family. I'm sure that Suffering is not over for me, but for now I'm thankful that so much of it is in the rearview mirror and I'd like to learn to rediscover some of the wonder that I used to have.

Southland Tales

dusk comes on and I struggle to stop thinking of you

It's been a Superdrag kind of week...between John Davis' new solo album and the interest generated by a reunion "tour" (mostly weekend shows in the midwest and east coast). Now all we can do is hope and cross our pudgy power pop fingers in the hopes that they'll come out to California soon. I might even be persuaded to drive to Arizona or Nevada even. My only chance to ever see them live was during their final tour before the hiatus when my girlfriend (now wife) her brother and her brothers friend drove across Orange County to Anaheim but the show sold out last minute...well, we were late after all.

If you aren't familiar with the greatest (and least heralded) band of the 90s not named Radiohead or U2, check out this treasure trove of riches discovered during the work week.

Superdrag Daytrotter live session mp3s
http://www.daytrotter.com/article/1064/free-songs-superdrag
Superdrag WOXY Lounge Act appearance
http://woxy.lala.com/music/loungeacts/index.php?id=224
John Davis interview and mp3s from I am Fuel you are Friends blog
http://fuelfriends.blogspot.com/2007/10/time-for-one-more-drag-interview-with.html

thanks to Dave Hartley for this and this...