More on Loomer in Japan

Update: 9/3/2004 - The lastest order for CD's has been increased to 400! Serge is preparing a new CD pressing of 1000.

Here is the explanation from Boomba Records in Japan as to why they want so many Loomer CD's:

>>We distribute the CD through stores, Tower Records, HMV, etc.. The Loomer
>>was recognized among Japanese rock fans as an unknown masterpiece of the
>>late 90s who was influenced by My Bloody Valentine (they
>>are very popular in Japan). The CD title "Loomer" works for those
>>fans. A limited copies of the CD were distributed in Japan in 1998.
>>Tower Records in Shinjuku sold 130 copies in two weeks.

Coolness!

Packets in Space!

Evidently they are working on making TCP/IP (the protocol of the internet) work in space. They have to compensate for the huge latencies (a Google request to the Sun would take 8 minutes each way) and relativistic effects.

Personally, I'm looking for UDP over neutrino flux ;)

Yes, El, I'm a geek.

Land of the Rising Loomer

For some unknown reason there seems to be a demand for Loomer music in Japan; Evileye Records already has orders for 300 of them, and are likely to have to do another pressing.

This is terribly interesting and exciting, and totally confusing. I wonder what is driving this?

A Lost Opportunity

Over a year ago I jammed with a couple of nice musicians in San Francisco. It was a drummer and a singer and they were looking to flesh out a band that would have explored some areas of music that were very interesting to me.

I went to their rehersal room in San Francisco, a cramped room in the back of a restaurant, I think. We played, just improvisations. I had my double-necked Carvin Guitar and a rack of effects and was playing with some very dreamy textures that were sometimes pretty funky as well. I could see that the singer was enjoying my work; she started moving to the sounds and rhythms I was making and sang some pretty sweet things. However, even though the drummer had told me his influences and they were all people and groups that I loved (and he even had a King Crimson "Discipline" tatoo, for God's sake), it just didn't seem to work for me. He felt both stiff and sloppy, as though he hadn't played in a long time, and I had a lot of difficulty playing with him. In the end, I just didn't think I wanted to play with him, thanked them, and left. I contacted the singer afterwards by email and let her know that I had enjoyed her work, but just didn't think I'd work well with the drummer, and she replied that she understood. I thought we had parted on good terms.

A few months later I saw an ad in Craigslist for a bass player that looked very interesting. I sent them an email, listing my influences and some links to some of my mp3 demos, and waited for a response. And waited. Eventually I tried to contact them again, and talked to their guitar player, and found it was the same group plus him. He promised to forward my email to the singer, who eventually responded with a polite refusal to meet with me.

And I feel bad about this. Every time I see an ad of theirs (and there's a new one now; evidently the band they put together the first time didn't work out) it seems to be the perfect situation for me; just the right influences and goals. I'm saddened that I couldn't convice them that we should give it another shot. I told the singer about one of my very favorite drummers, who is also extremely difficult to play with. However, when I played back recordings of him I was often stunned at what he had really been doing; in other words, it was worth the pain ;) Perhaps this might have been a similar situation. I don't know why they are so opposed to trying it again; I guess I really offended them by turning them down the first time? My guess is that she really thought we had connected while jamming, and that it was as though we'd had a good date and I hadn't called the next day. Musicians are a sensitive lot ;) I'll probably never know.

"The Village"

I feel awfully sorry for Roger Ebert at the moment. I went to see "The Village" last night. "The Village" is M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie, and it's lovely. The cast is wonderful, the cinematography is wonderful, the sound and music are just right. Bryce Dallas Howard, as the blind daughter of the patriarch of the village, is a standout, especially for her movie debut.

So, I feel bad for Roger Ebert because he wasn't able to enjoy this fine movie. In a way, I understand his point; I can't reveal anything about the film other than that, as usual, M. Night Shyamalan has included a twist that might very well make you feel as Mr. Ebert does, but it just didn't bother me, and I hope no one that has enjoyed other pictures by this director will avoid it because of his review; believe me, you will enjoy it! It certainly borders on the unbelieveable, but then again, in a world where Michael Jackson can live on his Neverland Ranch, it's not that much of a stretch. I would have hated to miss such wonderful characters and pictures just because of it.

BTW, I saw the DLP (digital light projection) version and it was very good; the pixelation was minimal and the picture was wonderful. Recommended.

"Control Room" highly recommended!

I highly recommend seeing the movie "Control Room", the movie about Al Jazeera's coverage of the Iraq war. No anti-Bush tirades, no fake drama, no whiny hand-wringing about evil, just a bunch of normal, concerned people (on both sides) trying to do their jobs.

I would like to meet and talk with all these people, even including the CENTCOM media coordinator.

Have you ever wondered if the Al Jazeera reporters are really the lying, propaganda spewers that Donald Rumsfeld kept saying they were? Here's how to find out! (Hint: remember who you heard that from).

Update: Evidently the CENTCOM media coordinator mentioned above has been muzzled by the Marine Corp. What a shame; he really put a human face on the American Military, and seemed to be the sort of person we wish all our military personnel could be.