On the plate

The Racing Scene

Been working on some songs as of late. It's hard to pick up a guitar after not playing for 6 months. It's not so much a lack of dexterity, but having no ideas. It's starting to come again though, and I hope I can finish off the material.

Books

Started rereading The Spandau Diaries - Albert Speers' account of his 20 years in Spandau prison. I find the idea of isolation appealing in some way - being forced to keep yourself sane with a pen and paper. Produce creatively to ward off the depression of loneliness.

Films

Been watching TV Nation and The Awful Truth, both Michael Moore shows (thanks kazaa lite). I think Moore bites off a little more than he can chew with F911. He seems much better suited to goofy satire and tripping up the megacorps.

Listening

Still listening to The White Album. Despite all its faults, I love this record. I am more of a Rubber Soul and Revolver era fan (though I pretty much like the whole catalog), but the best songs on this record are amongst their finest. Savoy Truffle is a rare Harrison gem. I can't stand While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Games

Go is proving the greatest of challenges. It is a highly abstract masterpiece of lateral thinking. It is fairly chessy in that it merges tactical and strategical thinking nicely (go is a little heavier on the strategic side of things). However, go as it is played (as opposed to how it might theoretically analyzed) is considerably less about calculation (even though the possible variations in a game of go is much larger than a game of chess) because the calculations get completely out of control very quickly, and the player is forced to rely on strategic understanding, experience, and intuition, to predict the result of many situations. Shwew!

The Setting

Going to try and post something about the following topics frequently.

The Racing Scene:

The Racing Scene is my new solo project. Organic rhythms, sad guitar, voice. Some keys.

I like to play rock and roll. I have played in a few bands here in Halifax. The Madge Millers, Ampersand, The Warming Signs, and most recently, The National Parks and Soldat. You can get mp3s of these bands here: http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=4029/ and
http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?Band_Id=7997

None of these groups ever played outside of Halifax, and all self destructed inside of a year or so. I would like to say that is because I/we were much too punk, but while my first attempts at bands failed because we didn't know how to be a band (and we sucked), my last attempts failed because we were too disorganized and all of us had too many other responsibilities (though we kinda rocked). Most un punk.

Books (fiction and no):

I am currently reading nothing and this suits me fine. I read novels in fits and can go a year or more and not read one lengthy piece of fiction. I am the same way with films though the gaps between movies are narrower. Last novel I read: I can't remember - and that is weird 'cause I remember just about everything ('cept when to bathe, eat, shop, pay bills, or where my shoes are).

Films:

Just watched Kill Bill vol 2. Loved it. Of course I like QT hate Stephen Spielberg, Tom Hanks. Big revelation.

Listening:

I am listening to Built to Spill's Keep it Like a Secret, and The White Album.

Games:

I like to play games of skill. I have spent too much time playing and studying chess - here is a link http://www.chess.ca/memberinfo.asp?CFCN=120340 which details all of the tournaments I have played. If you haven't ever played in a chess tournament, or if you spent your youth in pursuit of things other than understanding the minority attack, then I am likely about a million times better at chess than you. I played competitive bridge for a few years. I once played bridge with Audrey Grant on TV. If you don't know who Audrey Grant is, then I am probably a million times better at bridge than you. In order to pay the bills I play poker. I have played poker in Halifax for about 2 and 1/2 years. I also play poker on the internet. If you don't have a background in competitive games or advanced mathematics, than I am most definitely a million times better at poker than you. In the past couple of weeks I have been learning about the game of Go. I don't know how good I am at go, but I can probably beat you.