@leyink

A man and his muppet

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:42:21 -0700

A man and his muppet

BART: Bay Area Retrograde (Vol. 1)

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:24:00 -0800

After a few years of delving into minimal, new way, NDW and the like, I discovered this compilation after wandering into Aquarius on a sunny Saturday walking down Valencia.

EPIC

Aquarius Records’ review:

BART: Bay Area Retrograde (Vol. 1) (Dark Entries) lp
A few years back, Minimal Wave offered some choice crate digging collections of nearly forgotten darkwave and post-punk electronics through their Lost Tapes and Found Tapes collections, highlighting the differences between the European and American models of underground new wave. Dark Entries produced this anthology in that same tradition, focusing even more tightly on the geography of the Bay Area. As Johnny Ray Huston so rightly points out in the liner notes, San Francisco in the ’80s had its own unique crucible of local events that shaped the Bay Area’s particular sound (e.g. the assassination of Harvey Milk, the growing AIDS epidemic and the fear surrounding the disease, etc.). While there’s none of the art-damaged abstraction filtered from The Residents, Snakefinger, or Tuxedomoon in an obvious lineage to the artists featured here, BART (named after the subway that connects Oakland, Berkeley, and other parts of the East Bay to San Francisco) is a great collection of quirky minimal wave electronics, with a fair amount of unreleased material from obscurant Bay Area new wave bands.

Nomimal State opens the compilation and was from the suburban hamlet of Danville, recording this demo 1983 with a militantly uptempo drum machine and urgent synth lines. It’s a track that easily fits next to the likes of The Units and Nervous Gender in terms of manic, punkish use of electronics. Speaking of The Units, they round out the compilation in contributing their sci-fi pop anthem “Mission,” which is still bitchin’ after all these years! Voice Farm is the other ‘big name’ to appear on this compilation, contributing a sinewy darkwave number from their 1982 album “The World We Live In.” Batang State, Quiet Room, and Necropolis Of Love offer more Joy Division / Wire / Kraftwerk atmospheric post-punk number with considerable panache. The Wasp Women were a crossdressing trash-punk outfit, whose demo featured a wastoid lo-fi number and had appeared in the 1982 film “What Ever Happened To Susan Jane.” Danny Boy & The Serious Party Gods offer a fabulously campy disco number with suitably over-the-top raunchy lyrics that ramble on and on against anthemic synths. If there’s one track that you need to hear from this compilation it’s this one! But the whole collection is very well done, and comes highly recommended as with everything that Dark Entries releases.

So happy. <3 superamit: Many of you have asked, so here’s...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:12:34 -0800

So happy. <3

superamit:

Many of you have asked, so here’s what’s going on with me.

WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE

8/1979: Born. Grew up in CT, built a killer eraser collection, fell in love with computers.

Left college to start a company. Fell hard. Fled to India for 3 months.

Started 2nd company. Learned to be an adult. Fell in love with NYC.

Moved to SF, discovered burritos & some of my fave people on Earth.

9/2011: Got diagnosed with Leukemia!

Cried. Went through 3 cycles of chemo. Hurt. Thought hard about what I want out of life. Grew up a second time.

TODAY

… After over 100 drives organized by friends, family, and strangers, celebrity call-outs, a bazillion reblogs (7000+!), tweets, and Facebook posts, press, fundraising and international drives organized by tireless friends, and a couple painful false starts, I’ve got a 10/10 matched donor!

You all literally helped save my life. (And the lives of many others.)

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Tomorrow, I’ll be admitted to Dana Farber in Boston for 4-5 weeks.

First I’ll get a second Hickman line to allow direct access to my heart (for meds and for nutrients if I’m not able to eat). Over the next week, the docs blast my body with a stiff chemo cocktail to try and eradicate all traces of cancer cells. In the process, the immune system I was born with, and my body’s ability to make blood, are destroyed.

Next Friday, I get my donor’s stem cells by IV. I start on immunosuppressants to prevent my body from rejecting them (I’ll be on them for 12-18 months). For these weeks I’ve no immune system, so I’m severely vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. My hospital room and hallway become my world.

Meanwhile, the stem cells make their way to my bone marrow and, with some luck, start producing platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. At this point, my blood type changes to the blood type of my donor. And my blood will now have my donor’s DNA, not my own.

This is science fiction stuff. I can hardly believe it’s even possible, and there’s lots of chances for things to go wrong. It’s frightening.

AFTER THE TRANSPLANT

Recovery to a new state of “normal” takes about a year, but there’s a few storm clouds hovering:

My immune system is new, like a baby’s. I’m prone to getting sick.

Just as with any organ transplant, there’s a chance of rejection. Except in this case, it’s my blood that’s the foreign body, and it touches every organ. They call it graft-vs-host-disease and it can cause health issues and organ complications for the rest of my life.

Successful transplant or not, Leukemia can relapse. Stubborn mofo.

Overall, 75% of AML transplant patients survive year one, 50% make it through year five. My odds are a little better since I’m young.

THE GREAT NEWS

I’ve got a long road ahead. But I’ve got a donor & amazing family & friends. A few months ago I didn’t have many options. Today I have a plan.

I am alive. I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Thank you.

RT @tackyy: I wish caucus results weren’t so close. Because “Romney swept away by...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:18:17 -0800

RT @tackyy: I wish caucus results weren’t so close. Because “Romney swept away by Santorum surge” would be hilarious.

Grits: Pork, water, pin oats, salt, spices

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:10:25 -0800

Grits: Pork, water, pin oats, salt, spices

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:56:30 -0800

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:23:31 -0800

Kendall the wizard making science! @ Grandma Rita’s http://t.co/YLuvO3UC

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 02:20:46 -0800

Kendall the wizard making science! @ Grandma Rita’s http://t.co/YLuvO3UC

Pretty epic microbrews on tap @ South Park Tavern http://t.co/uxQii5ST

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:39:59 -0800

Pretty epic microbrews on tap @ South Park Tavern http://t.co/uxQii5ST

Buckeye Brewing Company "Hippie IPA" Of course, Ohio. Of course.

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:00:09 -0800

Buckeye Brewing Company "Hippie IPA" Of course, Ohio. Of course.

Buckeye Brewing Company “Hippie IPA” Of course, Ohio. Of course. http://t.co/LNJvBqlN

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:35:21 -0800

Buckeye Brewing Company “Hippie IPA” Of course, Ohio. Of course. http://t.co/LNJvBqlN

You know? NBD. http://t.co/uN6a7S4r

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:52:39 -0800

You know? NBD. http://t.co/uN6a7S4r

You know? NBD.

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:56:14 -0800

You know? NBD.

Not pleased that “RAVE! RAVE! RAVE!” is not in my phone.

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:07:17 -0800

Not pleased that “RAVE! RAVE! RAVE!” is not in my phone.

OH: “They drink themselves into racism and pregnancy.”

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 07:39:17 -0800

OH: “They drink themselves into racism and pregnancy.”

“The Nutcracker, Op. 71, No. 12e: CharActer Dances: Dance of the Reed Pipes” by...

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:57:51 -0800

“The Nutcracker, Op. 71, No. 12e: CharActer Dances: Dance of the Reed Pipes” by Tchaikovsky is my new jam. Listen: http://t.co/y35EUP3w

Hello, Internet. I’m looking for a great front end developer and UI designer to work on a...

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:54:13 -0800

Hello, Internet. I’m looking for a great front end developer and UI designer to work on a website for a small startup in Palo Alto. Ping me!

Invest in America. Invest in @thesam. http://t.co/Si4r2pYD

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:56:16 -0800

Invest in America. Invest in @thesam. http://t.co/Si4r2pYD

The Bad Idea Mulitplier

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:16:58 -0800

The Bad Idea Mulitplier

Invest in America. Invest in @thesam.

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:32:24 -0800

Invest in America. Invest in @thesam.