Do You Realize???

bopscotch @ 2007-04-11T17:02:00

2007-04-11T21:21:39Z

Today I learned something incredibly life-changing. My lifestyle, that of the student bum, has to go.

When I am not at school, I am at home, being a bum. A very disorganized, self-loathing bum who rarely accomplishes much. I speak of dreams and fantasies that will never be realized because of my disorganized bum ways.

This occurred to me during a conversation with manatoba earlier this afternoon, in which my current lifestyle came very close to causing disastrous results for what the future may hold for us. It was on my way back from class today that I have decided that this shall not happen ever again.

It is one thing to be relaxed, and to play by your own little rules. But, it's another thing entirely when your own rules result in nothing being truly accomplished, accompanied by a lack of self-worth and no real caring or planning considered for the future. This shall not stand.

I am getting tired of seeing what my fellow LJers accomplish, while I sit here and nothing is done. Something must be done. The bum me has to go, and the new me has to take charge and actually organize, and take action.

I am going to start this with posting this entry on both this LJ and my newer account, flying_squid, an account I made for exactly this purpose - letting go of the old me who has been posting as bopscotch and letting the new me take charge. I once read a strip of Opus by Berkley Breathed, in which Opus proclaims that it is not about "finding" yourself, but creating yourself. This is what I plan to undertake.

I cannot afford to be this bum anymore. Bum, be gone!

bopscotch @ 2007-03-20T14:14:00

2007-03-20T18:15:35Z

bopscotch @ 2007-03-20T10:16:00

2007-03-20T14:16:37Z

bopscotch @ 2007-03-19T02:09:00

2007-03-19T06:46:11Z

I will admit, I am a horrible blogger. I have been so horrible at it that cap_scaleman and manatoba have mentioned it to me that I have not been posting, at all.

I am going to start posting more and more so that we will no longer have this dilemma. I am also going to post more so that my posts become more and more cohesive. No more of this completely random clap-trap that I've been prone to for the past couple of months - real posts about actual subjects!

Today, I start with an interesting event that has occurred here at my house...

Sunday evening, while I was at the Cleveland International Film Festival (more on that in a later post), my mom decided to cook a hot dog on the grill for my step-dad. Normally, this would not cause a stir of any kind. Except that my mom walked outside, and our grill had moved to the other side of the porch, far and away from where the gas is. After moving the grill and cooking the hot dog, she came back in and told my step-dad about having to move the grill.

My mom first noticed that the grill was moved back on last Wednesday. She assumed that my step-dad moved it to sweep the porch since last Wednesday, we were having weather in the 70s.

The problem is that my step-dad did not move the grill at all. He pointed this out to my mom almost immediately when she brought it up. By Occam's razor, they concluded it was not me either, who moved the grill.

My mom and step-dad also noticed that one of our back porch lights was broken, upon investigating further.

My neighborhood here in Berea, suburb of Cleveland is not one wrought with high crimes. We get along with our neighbors pretty well and we certainly don not have any known enemies. So, it has made my mom a little paranoid with what might be going on outside in the middle of the night. Me, I am just going to go on staying up all night on the computer and then sleeping until noon. That is just how I roll.

On a lighter note:

Way back on March 6th, I went to see TV on the Radio and Subtle at the Agora, even though it was sold out. It was rad. What was more rad though was that I got in for free. While standing there thinking I would have to pay off a scalper, "need tickets" sign in hand, a man claiming to be with Interscope Records just gave me my ticket.

I spent the money instead on merchandise - they were selling all sorts of Doseone/Subtle/Anticon items at the merch table. I picked up nearly all compact discs - Adam "Doseone" Drucker's solo material, Alexander Kort's solo album (he plays the cello and bass in Subtle), and Subtle's albums. I also though, picked up Drucker's book The Pelt. If you're really interested in Drucker's art and forms of poetry, I highly suggest it. I spent around $60 on all that stuff. I am a shitty saver/spender.

I also kept noticing how many beautiful women there were there. Shit, I was standing right next to one for almost the whole time TV on the Radio hit the stage. I kept thinking, "Damn they're beautiful, but I will never see them again." Now I think I can understand why uberdionysus keeps taking pictures of them. (If this isn't why you take them, Troy, I apologize for suggesting such a thing in advance)

My only beef with the show was that the Agora "ball room" is smaller than the Grog Shop and the acoustics are just as bad, if not worse.

Oh yeah...

2007-03-06T19:09:51Z

For real this time, I'm going to go to Chicago to see Arcade Fire on May 19th at the Chicago Theater. I have a seat in the balcony - better than being under the mezzazine. I already have my ticket. I'm getting there by taking Mega Bus, which provides service across my section of the Midwest. All I need is a place to stay and I'm there, and perhaps I will visit some places in Chicago that I did not get to visit in the first place when I visited my sister in 2004. Rock on.

IT'S MOTHERFUCKING HOOOOOOJ!

2007-03-06T18:38:47Z

XKCD is so true sometimes

2007-03-04T18:58:15Z

It leaked.

2007-02-05T03:09:23Z

So slow, and beautiful.

New York, and music

2007-01-11T17:10:15Z

I should post this before it's 12:00 PM Eastern in an effort to catch people on their lunch break, and be able to actually have people making commonets.

I have been thinking about my plan to go to New York, and I'm losing enthusiasm. I don't know why I am, I should be terribly excited about going in the first place, whether it'd be to see the Arcade Fire or the Welcome to Dreamland concert hosted by David Byrne. I think it's stemming from the fact that the Arcade Fire tickets went on sale, and I completely failed to get a ticket. I'm sure you all have read about the fiasco involving Bowerypresents.com and Tickets.com, so I'm not going to go into it. But it did feel like a blow to my dreams when I was put into those "virtual waiting rooms" and then magically, everything was sold out. It was pretty shitty.

Anyway, I would say that I'll just go see Bryne's show on February 2, like I announced before, but I am indeed losing enthusiasm, and I'm starting to get filled with doubts. The concert is three weeks away. Work only pays me every two weeks, and I did not start working until this week. I'm starting to think that I don't have enough cash. I also don't know anything about getting a flight/bus, let alone getting a room at a hotel/motel/hostel. Last but not least, next Monday is when I start my next semester.

I know that if I keep going about things like this, I'll never amount to anything, but the logical part of my mind is telling me to just give up on going to see Byrne's show on the 2nd. Perhaps it'd make more sense to just keep saving money and have a better plan set up for when I know I can just go, and not interrupt school and work? I don't know.

I also never told anyone on here this, but I made probably the most insane New Year's Resolution I could. I made the resolution to not listen to anything for a month. The reasons behind this are plentiful - my music collection was starting to become ubiquitious to me, my ears have been bombarded with music nearly constantly for about 10 years, and I rely on music too much when it comes to putting my headphones on and ignoring everyone else in the world, for instance. So here I am, eleven days into this. I'm surprised myself that I've lasted this long, though the past couple days have been extremely tempting. Also, I may end it sooner than a month because on the 29th, Asobi Seksu is playing at the Grog Shop, and I'll be damned if I miss that show because of a silly resolution.

Also, TV on the Radio are coming in March. Definitely don't want to miss that either. They're playing at the Agora, which I have never been to.

I think that I'm going to start making posts that are more "intellectual" on my other LJ that I never post on. We'll see.

New York

2006-12-30T17:12:20Z

Alright guys, I have been kicking around this idea of going to New York City for a long time now. Some of you may remember me wanting to go back at the beginning of the year, to see Sweeney Todd on Broadway. It never happened for several stupid reasons and faults of my own. This time, I do not want this to happen.

There are two things I'd like to do in New York. The first being of course, one of the five Arcade Fire shows in the middle of February. If this does not pan out, on February 2nd at Carnegie Hall, there is going to be a massive freak-folk concert hosted by David Byrne.

I have never actually traveled before on my own. The farthest I have driven was deep into Lorain County here in Ohio, which was a good two hour drive in my mom's minivan, and it almost drove me insane. Would it be easier (i.e. less problematic) to just take a flight into New York, or to take a bus, as opposed to driving? Which would be cheaper?

I'm making the assumption that I will be staying in a hotel/motel. Does anyone know a good one? By "good" I do not mean extremely expensive: I mean one that would be close to the church to see AF or if I do not get a ticket, then one relatively close to Carnegie Hall. Since those places are the main reasons for me being in NYC, I figure I might as well have a hotel that's nearby as opposed to on the other side of the boroughs.

As of right now, I have about 400 dollars saved up. I am also thinking of applying for a credit card to just max out and then cut up at the end of this trip. Since these concerts aren't until February, I will have more money by then because of work. Assuming I don't spend a dime, I'll have close to 700 in the bank, if not 800 (even more if I'm going to see Arcade Fire in the middle of the month, as opposed to the folk concert). I'm also thinking of selling a little bit of my music collection, as it's taking up more space than what it's worth. Think that's going to be enough?

All suggestions will be considered. I just don't want to be this guy who never did anything daring in his life. I usually make excuses to stop me from doing what I'd truly love to do: in this case, experience music I know I most likely won't get to in Ohio, and finally seeing New York City.

NMH - Neutral Milk Hobbes

2006-12-19T06:41:12Z

bopscotch @ 2006-12-13T22:22:00

2006-12-14T03:22:57Z

I went to the library and I got these books:

I want to be him

2006-12-12T05:46:53Z

The Velvet Underground's Scepter Session Acetate up for Auction

2006-12-02T03:22:47Z

(click)

bopscotch @ 2006-11-28T17:10:00

2006-11-28T22:10:48Z

I also want Jon Brion's album "Meaningless"

Jon Brion is most famous for being the co-executive producer of Kanye West's Last Registration from last year. Other career highlights include his involvement with Fiona Apple's older albums, and his film scores (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I Heart Huckabees). What people don't know is that he made this lovely pop album on his own. I've heard a couple mp3s, it sounds really swell. I'd love to own a real copy so I don't have just a bunch of lame, non-artist paying MP3s on my computer. I'd order it myself, but... yeah.

bopscotch @ 2006-11-28T16:52:00

2006-11-28T21:52:56Z

This book looks amazing. I want it for Christmas! (click it)

bopscotch @ 2006-11-27T14:34:00

2006-11-27T19:34:32Z

bopscotch @ 2006-11-23T22:03:00

2006-11-24T03:03:14Z

How the Pilgrims shaped our sex lives
Our forefathers bequeathed us with some serious hang-ups
By Brian Alexander
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 9:29 a.m. MT Nov 22, 2006

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15754563/from/RS.1/

We here at Sexploration have decided that the true meaning of Thanksgiving has become lost amid the annual Detroit Lions loss, the Macy’s parade and the midnight stampede into the nearest Wal-Mart. We’d like to see America return to quietly gathering with family and friends to remember our Pilgrim forefathers.

And what better way to kick off this national revival than to answer the question everybody seated around the giblets and stuffing and space-age jellied cranberries has, but never asks: Did these people ever have sex?

Of course they did. Babies were born and they didn’t pop out of the pumpkin pie.

The question is understandable, though, because the Pilgrims have a reputation as a pretty dour bunch; if one moved in next door, you probably would not invite him to your next boozy leather 'n lace Halloween costume party.

And, true to their reputation, they spent a lot of time thinking about how to punish lust, according to a remarkable online archive of texts and scholarly commentaries assembled by anthropologists at the University of Virginia, including James Deetz, Patricia Scott Deetz, Christopher Fennell and Lisa M. Lauria.

Even now, the Pilgrims' views still inform debate about sexuality in this country.

Though there was no formal criminal code at the time of the first Thanksgiving in the autumn of 1621, everybody knew what was expected because they were intimate with the source of Pilgrim law, the Bible. They were, after all, the religious right of their day, and they thought they had been guided to America and requested by God to establish laws based on Biblical teachings “for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith" as the Mayflower Compact stated.

To this day there are some in this country who believe sex laws should be Biblically based (and many old sex laws still on the books are, in fact, taken almost straight out of the Bible), but even most social conservatives might balk at that. The Pilgrims, however, did not.

Leviticus provided their guidance and that Old Testament book is not exactly nuanced. Sodomy? Death. Bestiality? Death. Man has sex with his daughter-in-law? Death. Adultery? Death. You get the picture.

The laws of Plymouth Colony echo Leviticus. You could be sentenced to death for sodomy, rape, buggery and, for a time, adultery. (Sodomy and buggery might be synonymous to us, but buggery apparently referred more to bestiality.)

Some Christian preachers today quote Leviticus 20, approvingly arguing that both the Old and New Testament are the infallible word of God.

And on his farm he had a sheep...
In practice, though, even the Pilgrims did not typically enforce death for sex. In fact, only one person was put to death for a sex crime in the colony, poor Thomas Graunger, a teenage farm boy who, perhaps flush with the surge of hormones, turned to those he knew best. His story could make you look at the Thanksgiving turkey in a whole new way.

Governor William Bradford recounted the tale:

“He was this year detected of buggery, and indicted for the same, with a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves and a turkey … He was first discovered by one that accidentally saw his lewd practice towards the mare. (I forbear particulars.) Being upon it examined and committed, in the end he not only confessed the fact with that beast at that time, but sundry times before and at several times with all the rest of the forenamed in his indictment.”

As punishment, he was forced to watch all the animals killed. At first, the court had a problem figuring out which sheep Thomas favored — sheep looking pretty much alike — but Thomas helpfully pointed out his sex partners. After being killed, they were buried in a pit, and then Thomas himself was hanged. If you wonder what the animals did to deserve it, Leviticus was cited by the court: “If a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death; and ye shall slay the beast.”

Though Thomas was the only person executed for a sex crime, punishments were still brutal. Even for lesser crimes, like fornication, you could receive whippings, brandings, wearing a Hawthorne-esque scarlet letter, time in the stocks, fines and banishment. Yet if court records are any indication, there was no shortage of colonists willing to tempt fate.

Thomas Saddeler got the penal full house. He was found guilty of sex with a mare and sentenced “to be severely whipped at the post, and to sit on the gallows with a rope about his neck during the pleasure of the Court, and to be branded in the forehead with a Roman P to signify his abominable pollution, and so to depart this government.”

The story of Plymouth’s sex life isn’t all men and horses. There were also men and men, and men and women, or at least that seems to have been Edward Michell’s theory. He was put on trial “for his lewd [and] sodomitical practices tending to sodomy with Edward Preston, and other lewd carriages with Lydia Hatch.” He was sentenced to be publicly whipped, first at Plymouth and then Barnstable.

Men were not the only offenders. The prim women weren't always so prim.

“Mary, the wife of Robert Mendame, of Duxborrow” was put on trial for “using dalliance diverse times with Tinsin, an Indian, and after committing the act of uncleanness with him … the Bench doth therefore censure the said Mary to be whipped at a cart’s tail through the town’s streets, and to wear a badge upon her left sleeve during her abroad within this government; and if she shall be found without it abroad, then to be burned in the face with a hot iron; and the said Tinsin, the Indian, to be well whipped with a halter about his neck at the post, because it arose through the allurement [and] enticement of the said Mary, that he was drawn thereunto.”

Women were often caught with the evidence: babies. The records are spotted with one bastard child after another or complaining husbands who can’t figure out just when the new son or daughter was conceived.

Babies showing up just a few months after marriage were also evidence of fornication. Premarital sex was punished severely. Thomas and Joane Pynson, a married couple, were found guilty of “incontinency before their marriage” so Thomas was whipped and Joane had to sit in the stocks.

Fines were levied even for making passes, for appearing to have a “lascivious carriage” in public, or partying in mixed company at an unseemly time of night.

“Whereas Edward Holman hath been observed to frequent the house of Thomas Sherive at unreasonable times of the night, and at other times, which is feared to be of ill consequence, The Court has therefore ordered, that the said Edward Holman be warned by the constable of Plymouth, that he henceforth do no more frequent or come at the house of the said Sherive, nor that the wife of the said Sherive do frequent the house or company of the said Holman, as either of them will answer it at their perils.”

The court had no idea why Holman was going to visit Sherive or his wife (or both? Hmm…) but those who create sex bans often have the best imaginations.

Give thanks
It wasn’t all severity at Plymouth. The Courts did attempt fair trials and some accused were found innocent. Sometimes punishments were skipped out of mercy.

Perhaps such mercy was a nod to human nature. After all, according to Lauria’s estimates, up to 50 percent of Plymouth colonists had premarital sex, despite the laws. Some were gay or bisexual. There were bad marriages, cheating wives, teenagers flooded with hormones. Life was complicated.

Does that sound familiar?

We have an awful lot in common with the Pilgrims, including, among some of us, the unrealistic image of sexual propriety they bequeathed us.

Keep that in mind as you gather around the turkey this Thanksgiving. And as you say grace, give thanks you weren’t one of them.

Brian Alexander, a California-based freelance writer and contributing editor for Glamour magazine, is working on a new book about sex for Harmony, an imprint of Crown Publishing.

© 2006 MSNBC Interactive© 2006 MSNBC Interactive

bopscotch @ 2006-11-19T00:06:00

2006-11-19T05:06:50Z

You scored as C.G. Jung. You are more of a spiritualist than would be immediately apparent. Some of your notions are questioned by the cynical, but deep down you know the human consciousness is more than the flesh and tissue can account for. You tend to take a scientific observationist look on matters the average person wouldn't even begin to analyze. You personally are responsible for most of the ideas that are floating around in modern psychologist's/psychic's paltry little skulls. On the down side, you tend to be associated with that asshole Freud.

</td>

C.G. Jung

83%

Adolf Hitler

75%

Friedrich Nietzsche

75%

Dante Alighieri

50%

Steven Morrissey

42%

Miyamoto Musashi

42%

Stephen Hawking

33%

Jesus Christ

33%

Mother Teresa

25%

Sigmund Freud

25%

Hugh Hefner

17%

O.J. Simpson

17%

Elvis Presley

17%

Charles Manson

What Pseudo Historical Figure Best Suits You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Oh, I'm 21 now

...

2006-11-17T08:15:29Z

Lately I've been thinking of what some would think of as maddening things... Getting rid of all of my t-shirts and jeans, so for then on I will no longer be a "guy" as noted in Lord Whimsy's book. My wardrobe would be forever replaced by dress shirts, and suits of all kinds. This though, alas, is very unpratical given my current living situation. There's no way I could wear a suit to my current job (working in the Student Union Dining Hall at Baldwin-Wallce College), nor could I possibly get away with getting rid of all of my t-shirts (some of them I've grown personal attachment to).

______________________________

I just finished reading through several concert schedules and it would appear that there are not going to be any good shows for the next month. There are two remotely interesting shows coming in December, the folk/raga guitarist Peter Walker in the beginning of the month and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at the very end. Other than that, nothing.

______________________________

I also just discovered that The Science of Sleep has ended its run at The Cedar Lee movie theater. As I've mentioned, I was able to see the film back in early September. I promised myself to find someone special to take to see this movie, once the Cedar Lee had it. Obviously, I've found no one who I could have taken with me, and now I'll never will. Hopefully, I'll find someone to take to the movies to see Stranger Than Fiction. There's no other movies that are really intriguing me besides.

______________________________

Can someone tell me how to work the image program GIMP? I just want to be able to make my pictures from the past couple shows small and usable for the Internet. Can someone also tell me how to aquire the help files? I downloaded them from GIMP.org (the main website of GIMP for Windows) and those aren't working.

______________________________

Joanna Newsom and Bobby Birdman, who I saw last Friday, were really amazing. I was able to get into the show, despite it being sold out, thanks to a trio of girls with a spare ticket to boot. The only downer was that there were 299+ other people in the venue with me, where the most I've seen at the Beachland Ballroom is close to 200 at the most, and some were complaining about this fact very loudly (loud enough to cause Newsom to comment about it inbetween songs). The way they arranged her album Ys for the tour is musically fascinating. Also, Bobby Birdman, despite being mostly electronic and "busy" in the mix on his albums, decided to go with ONLY a cheap Fender stratocaster for this tour. It was great, as it allowed his crooning to truly shine, and he played the guitar in a slow, beautiful 1950s way (think of 1950s rock n' roll a la Buddy Holly and "Lonesome Town" from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack).

_______________________________

Jamie Lidell and Snax this past Monday were very amazing as well. One of the most fun shows I've ever witnesssed and taken part in. The Grog Shop, despite being a hole in the wall, was not overly crowded with drunk Case-Western Reserve students or hipsters (perhaps because it was a Monday?). This allowed me to take a lot of pics of Lidell in action very easily. Opening for him was fellow Berliner Snax - who is just is outrageous on stage, if not more so, than Lidell. While Lidell covers a lot of ground with soul music, Snax goes into Disco styles, the biggest influence being Italo-disco, like Giorgio Moroder (though there is of course Chicago and NYC flourishes too). And while Lidell's stage antics are that of the crazy soul singer, Snax' are those of the gay disco diva. These two played off each other like a bow and a fiddle, with Snax joining Lidell on the stage near the end playing live synths and cowbell. During the encore, Lidell performed Multiply (title track of his album on Warp Records) and passed the mic around, leading to me singing/shouting the chorus. There's a pic of this out there. I'll aquire it soon.

______________________________

that's it for the bopscotch report!

My friend Chelsea

2006-11-09T08:21:33Z

Today, I'm not going to whine and complain, or brag about some new shit I bought. Nope, today, I'm going to give this space for my good friend Chelsea.

Chelsea's pretty cool. I originally met her a million years ago at the local coffee shop. She and a friend of hers performed acoustic versions of Smashing Pumpkins songs (Cupid de Locke and another from Mellon Collie), and I thought it was pretty awesome. Since then, I've been bumping into her on and off around town, until she transferred over to Berea High (my high school alma mater). These days, she has been recording original music in her bedroom and taking pictures. Also, she paints on occasion (more on that later). I'd go so far as to say she is one of the truly beautiful people.

Unfortunately, she has no real income. She has no car, and as a result she can not hold a job (she had to quit her last one, working at a local Chipotle, earlier this month). That combined with a series of unfortunate events have left her with no money at all. As a result, she's been looking around for things of hers to sell, which includes her art.

I told her that I knew artists, designers and other types on here, and she asked me if I could link her eBay auction of her current painting. I told her I would.

Here it is. This piece took her a little over two years to paint. We both have our fingers crossed that someone buys it so that Chelsea can move on with life with some kind of money in her pocket. So, feel free to pass this around, if you think you know someone who'd want to buy it.

If you have any tips, helpful hints, etc. for my friend, please post them! The more, the merrier.

bopscotch @ 2006-11-05T03:09:00

2006-11-05T08:09:02Z

Decisions, Decisions

2006-11-03T03:10:56Z

Is Joanna Newsom live good? How about Jamie Lidell? They're both going to be in Cleveland, just days apart from each other. Miss Newsom will be at my new haunt the Beachland Ballroom while Mr. Lidell will be present at my old haunt The Grog Shop. I need to know before this upcoming Tuesday about Newsom, so I can sign off in the calendar at work that I would need the evening off. Other than knowing she is solo with her harp, I have no idea what she would sound like, or what her show is like.

I don't feel too strongly about either of these artists, but they're looking like the two strongest acts coming to Cleveland in November, and I'd like to see something, in comparison to spending my nights indoors like I always do.

Opus yesterday

2006-10-30T17:13:14Z

Normally, I don't read the comics in the Plain Dealer. But I was cleaning up the dining room table when I read Opus yesterday. It's so good.

Elephant 6 Goodies I've Found

2006-10-21T03:32:02Z

Surfing the internet, I've come across this excellent blog of Elephant 6 material, simply known as Optical Atlas. This guy has been uploading videos, mp3s, and the like with more at Optical Atlas dot com.

What's really amazing about the place is that it also has one of the first Elephant 6 tapes made, Neutral Milk Hotel's Hype City Soundtracks. It has, but is not limited to - sound collage, an early version of "King of Carrot Flowers pt. 3" listed here as "Up And Over We Go," "Engine" and other fine examples of Jeff Mangum and friends. Enjoy!

Also, Elephant 6 dot com, where more goodies can be found, has this posted:

You heard it from Kelly - send away!