Demon Sweat

Crossing the Equator

Yeah, that's my left earlobe. Nice hole, huh?

Some years ago (ten exactly now that I think about it), I went and got this hole punched in my ear. It was a vain decision, I'll admit. I'm still not sure as to why I did this.

There is a great story as to why earrings are always worn through the left ear for men. It goes back to the days of sailing ships. Merchant seamen used to wear the earring in the left ear to signify that they had crossed the equator.

At the time of the piercing I had not been aware of this information. I think I was more caught up in the moment of finally being liberated from my boring childhood and oppressive parents (I think their motto was "Keep the rules strict, but the actual parenting lite).

Now that I am looking back upon it, I was crossing a personal equator and the symbolism was perfect. It was, and is a memorial of my personal freedom. I had removed the earring after wearing it after several months due to infections (I'm a dirty boy), but I still have the hole as a gentle reminder of my journey across that threshold.

It also reminds me that I will keep crossing similiar equators, thresholds, and barriers as life moves on, as I have done the past decade.

Boring

Absolutely nothing going on for like a week now.

Sonya Thomas

I know this has nothing to do with music, but I am infatuated with Sonya Thomas. She's a world class eater, and I bet she could put me away. Check out her stats:

From: Alexandria, VA
Age: 36
Weight: 105

* Asparagus: 5.75 pounds Deep Fried Aspargus Spears / 10 minutes
* Cheesecake: 11 pounds Downtown Atlantic cheesecake / 9 minutes
* Chicken Wings: 167 chicken wings / 32 minutes
* Eggs: 65 Hard Boiled Eggs / 6 minutes, 40 seconds
* Fruitcake: 4 pounds, 14 1/4 ounces Fruitcake / 10 minutes
* Hamburgers: 7 Burgers (3/4 pound) "Thickburgers" / 10 minutes
* Jambalaya: 9 Pounds Crawfish Jambalaya / 10 Minutes
* Oysters: 36 Dozen Oysters / 10 Minutes
* Pulled Pork: 23 pulled pork sandwiches / 10 minutes
* Tacos: 43 soft tacos / 11 minutes
* Turducken: 7 3/4 pounds Thanksgiving Dinner / 12 minutes

I think I'm in love.

My Childhood

I didn't grow up like most kids...

My I.Q.

I took an IQ test at tickle.com. I'm not sure of it's scientific value, but I guess I did well. Here's what my results said:

Congratulations, matt!
Your IQ score is 129

This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.

Your Intellectual Type is Visual Mathematician. This means you are gifted at spotting patterns — both in pictures and in numbers. These talents combined with your overall high intelligence make you good at understanding the big picture, which is why people trust your instincts and turn to you for direction — especially in the workplace. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.

They also offered me a more thorough assessment for 12 bucks extra, but being of a high IQ, I did not think it would be worth it.

Fluxus

Did a little research on Fluxus:

Fluxus was an art movement begun in 1961/1962, which flourished throughout the 1960s, and into the 1970s. Characterized by a strongly Dadaist attitude, Fluxus promoted artistic experimentation mixed with social and political activism, an often celebrated anarchistic change.

Fluxus, Dadaism, and Surrealism are truly "punk rock" forms of art. If you don't understand these, then you truly lack an understanding of how great Ween is. Ween is a musical version of these.

Good Eats

GM on the forum started a thread about the best way to make baby back ribs, and it got me thinking. I saw a really good episode of Good Eats that detailed how to do it. Then I got to thinking about what a really cool show it is.

Emo is DEAD

One reason I love Ween so much is that they are to music as what the dadaists were to art. Well, you could say that about punk too, but I digress.

What made me think of this? My friend Matt Gonzales wrote an article for PopMatters about Ben Kweller. In the article he keeps insisting he's "not emo". They even go into a lengthy conversation about the meaning of emo.

Whatever. Emo sucks. It's a total music industry fabrication, and so is Ben Kweller. He claims he's not "emo".

What he is, is an assclown.

Take a quote from his website:

ON MY WAY was recorded in just three quick weeks, with hardly any rehearsal or pre-production. Two years of near-constant international and domestic touring – both as headliner and alongside such bands as the Strokes, Kings Of Leon, Dave Matthews Band, Dashboard Confessional, Adam Green, and Brendan Benson – had given Kweller and his crew a musical telepathy that allowed them to hit the studio and bash out the tunes almost instantly.

Sounds lame to me, and that's what emo is: lame.

And so is Mr. Kweller.

Emo is the embodiment of what is wrong with music today, at least popular music. This guy spends more time working on his "emo" wardrobe and his "emo" hair than he does on his music. And, yes, I've listened to his "music." You can too by the magic of the infernet. It's nothing but contrived stylized garbage, and I've heard it before a million times.

And that's what I love about bands like Ween. They are so fucking disgusting and you can totally tell they don't give a shit about their "look." To them it's all about the music.

The RIAA can dress up their dolls all they want, I'll stick with putrid, nasty, in-your-face rock. Music is dead, long live Ween.

Hagku

It appears blogger has a title function now. Weird...

I finally went ahead and archived every single haiku I did in the haiku thread of the ween forum.

Tons of time I spent-
Putting words into haikus
But now I am done.

You know what would be nice?

It would be nice...

If Ween would announce more tour dates.