Monday, November 21, 2005

A 6ths singers autograph collection

Years ago, in the first blush of my Magnetic Fields/all-things-Stephin Merritt fandom, I started to collect the autographs of the singers on the first 6ths album. The genesis was when singers Barbara Manning and Georgia Hubley were on the same tour, Barbara opening for Yo La Tengo. After that, it was just a matter of going to see the singer when they were touring and asking nicely.

6ths: Barbara Manning, Stephin Merritt, & Mary Timony autographs

6ths: Mac McCaughan and Georgia Hubley autographs

6ths: Lou Barlow autograph

6ths: Chris Knox & Claudia Gonson autographs

I'm still not done, though I've became pretty lazy about it. I only just got Lou Barlow to sign this year, and despite many opportunities I still haven't got Dean Wareham. I figure I have a good shot at getting Jeffrey Underhill and Mark Robinson if they ever tour again, and Mitch Easter if I ever visit his recording studio. I doubt I'll ever get the ones living outside the US, though Amelia Fletcher might be tour again. If I go to new Zealand like I plan, I'll make a stab at tracking down Robert Scott.

I never bothered with the singers on the second 6ths album even though Momus and Sally Timms have come to Austin. A couple years ago I was in DC and went to see Bob Mould DJ at a club. I briefly regretted not having the liner notes with me, but (unintentionally) rubbing up against him on the dancefloor made for a more memorable experience anyway.

In 2000 when Chris Knox came to Austin, he made good on a promise to sign the liner notes made several years before during a phone interview. Per my request, he drew a caricature of Stephin Merritt as well. The depiction and word choice are both inaccurate - Stephin is cuter and doesn't speak New Zealand English - yet it still captures a certain essence of Stephin.

Chris Knox caricature of Stephin Merritt


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Thursday, November 17, 2005

Avenging Unicorn Play Set? Don't mind if I do!

Have you ever had the feeling that your prayers had been answered, but you didn't even know that you had been praying? That's how I felt when I saw the Avenging Unicorn Play Set. From the Archie McPhee website:

Avenging Unicorn Play Set
"Everyone wants an imaginary unicorn friend that they can call forth to smite their enemies. The Avenging Unicorn Play Set has everything you need to use the power of the unicorn to rid your life of irritations. Put the posable, 3-3/4" tall, hard vinyl unicorn on a flat surface and then impale one of three 3-1/8" tall, soft vinyl figures included (businessman/boss, new age lady and mime). Also includes four interchangeable horns (classic spiral, chrome, glow and pearlescent)."

In other Archie McPhee new item news, I now know what I'll be keeping my schoolwork in next semester.

Creepy/cool photos

I walked around my nursing school today taking pictures of anatomical models and a display of antique medical equipment. Yay for creepy/cool!

antique brass tracheotomy tube

ether mask

paper anatomical model

baby skulls & momma pelvises

More photos here.


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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Gut-stabbed guy, a total jerk

One night while I was working at the hospital, a guy comes in by EMS with a stab wound to his gut. The medical staff is tending to him with care and haste, but he decides to be a dick. Every question is met with a smart-alek answer. Every attempt at treating his wound brings on loud and voluminous complaining. He even smacks a tech because "that hurt!"

I realize that he was in pain with a possibly serious wound and that requiring him to be a model of civility under these circumstance may seem out of line. I can only answer by saying that in my admittedly limited experience, people don't act much different when they're ill. If you are normally a strong, resolute person, in all likelihood you're not going to scream at a nurse drawing your blood when you're sick. Conversely, self-centered, whiny people are soooo ugly in the hospital.

Gut-stabbed guy is a picture of douchebaggery. He stubbornly refuses to answer the doctor when asked what he was stabbed with. This might be because a cop is right outside and something illicit preceeded the stabby-stab, but it's still important for the doctor to know if it was a clean, serrated knife or a rusty soda can. When told he needs to go to surgery, Paranoid Von Bitchy accuses the staff of trying to rip him off with unnecessary and expensive procedures. This despite the fact that he doesn't have insurance and, given what I later learned, isn't likely to pay his hospital bill anyway. Exasperated, one of the techs blurts out, "Dude. You got stabbed!" Since he's been whisked off to the operating room immediately, I don't have to interview him for registration. Whew.

The next day I was working the check-in desk when a woman comes in saying that there's a guy outside with no shirt on and an IV port still in his arm. She tried to convince him that he should go back inside, but he told her to mind her own business. A couple of off-duty police officers (they moonlight as security for the ER) go outside and manage to coax the guy inside. Lo and behold it's gut-stabbed guy. He still has a surgical dressing on his wound and, despite the painkillers, the same horrible attitude.

The officers are trying to explain that leaving the hospital the day after getting stabbed is a bad idea, but he's having none of it. "You can't keep me here!" and "I am leaving!" are his responses. Technically, he's right but dude, you got staaaabbed. One of my favorite nurses enters the fray giving her best medical opinion on what will happen if he leaves, to no avail. He demands that she remove his IV port. She explains that he's going to bleed if she doesn't get some gauze and tape on it.

Under cover of getting the supplies, she calls upstairs to check out what the hell is going on. While he's being being escorted outside, I quietly explain how he came to be our patient. The nurse confirms that he left the hospital AMA (against medical advice) and then goes outside to take out the port. Afterwards, practically everyone in the waiting room - medical staff, officers, and patients - is shaking their head in annoyed bewilderment.

Four hours later, he's back. Seems the pain meds wore off and it started to hurt. Really? Funny how that happens. He didn't even have the decency to act contrite. What an asshole. Worst. Patient. Ever.


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Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Meteor showers rock

On the way home tonight I saw a brilliant meteor flash across the sky. Given the amount of light pollution in Austin, it must have been quite impressive to anyone seeing it way out in the country. It broke up as it entered the atmosphere with thin streaks coming off the main one. Really beautiful and it perked me up for a good hour afterward. I checked when I got home (thanks internets!) and we are indeed in the midst of the annual Leonids meteor shower which should peak on Thursday.

Two memories of meteor watching come to mind. When I was 14, my Boy Scout troop (yeah, I am yet another gay Eagle Scout) went to Florida Sea Base in the Keys to earn scuba certification. We happen to be there during the Perseids meteor shower and due to the distance from any cities, the viewing was bound to be good. In my typically spazzy way, I told my troop about it and was answered with a resounding thud of indifference. Looking at meteors was apparently not cool, even for the academic nerds that made up a good portion of my fellow scouts. As the prime viewing time approached, I settled myself on the sand volleyball court to enjoy the show.

Imagine my surprise when a couple guys from the uber-macho Varsity Scout troop that was also diving at Sea Base joined me a few minutes later. Their nickname among the teaching staff was The Airwolves for the way they quickly huffed and puffed their way through airtanks while on dives. Where my buddies and I could stay down around an hour, these guys breathed their tanks dry in 25 minutes. Maybe it was all that muscle. They were intimidating to all of us skinny guys, at least until we whipped them at volleyball. Tall and gawky is preferable to short and pumped on a volleyball court I guess.

Anyway, these guys had heard me passionately describing the wonders of meteor showers to my troop and, perhaps secure in their sense of personal coolness, decided to see it for themselves. We spent the next hour or so staring up at the night sky in relative silence save for the oohs, aahs, and "did you see that?!"s that come inevitably in response to a lively meteor shower.

The other memory I have is of a near-perfect evening I spent with my friends Amy and Carole. The night started with a bracing swim at Barton Springs pool during free hour. As often happens, we were ravenous after swimming and so stopped at Sandy's for burgers and frozen custard. Sandy's food isn't the best, but it's damn cheap and the look of the place is classic. Eating out back at the picnic tables, it was just right. I can't remember what we talked about, but I do remember laughing a lot. We lingered over our food, unwilling to end a great night too soon. Then I remembered the meteor shower.

Knowing we needed a darker sky than we could get in Austin, we decided to head west on 290 towards Manor. We pulled over at some sort of utility installation that lacked floodlights and spread out a blanket on the ground. Shortly after stretching out, we saw our first streak. Once every several minutes we'd see another one. As meteor showers go, it was relatively unimpressive in both number and quality with only a few long, bright streaks. Still, it was a great reason to keep a wonderful night going.

Meteor showers rock. I wish I had the photographic equipment and knowledge to take some pictures on Thursday.

Demetri Martin on The Daily Show

Last night on The Daily Show, Demetri Martin appeared as the new youth correspondent. It doesn't mean he'll stick around - off the top of my head I can think of five who only made a handful of appearances - but I hope he continues with his "Trendspotter" segments. It was funny and very much in the vein of his stand-up work. The show repeats today at 9 AM, 1 PM, and 7 PM (CST), catch it if you can or it might be added to the online archive (if not there, clips are often available elsewhere).

Previous post about Demtri Martin (and where is that comedy album he was taping?)

UPDATE: The Trendspotting segment is available here.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

My favorite song for the past several hours

I have a tendency to get fixated on certain songs. When a song gets under my skin, I'll listen to it on repeat anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours. That time can be spent jubilantly dancing to "Move Your Feet" by Junior Senior or wallowing in depression to The Smiths' "Oscillate Wildly" (that's the two hour one).

Tonight I became entranced again by a song I've loved for years, White Town's "Your Woman". It's the very definition of a one-hit wonder. A fantastically catchy pop song come out of nowhere, zooms up the charts, and then vanishes. Nothing I've else I've heard from Jyoti Mishra (the sole member) comes even close to matching the sheer brilliance of this track.

After listening to it some 30-odd times and riding the gush of endorphins that flowed from my head to suffuse my whole body, it's forever more going to be lodged in my personal top 25 songs of all time. Rationally, I know it objectively can't be that good of a song, but why would I care about objectivity right now? There's a really, really good song playing.

Recorded on an 8-track at home, it's a marvel of ingenious production. The elements make me shiver: a '30s-era horn sample, the stutter-roll synth bass, the Buggles-esque vocals, the Casio-beat breakdown, the relentless handclaps. And then there's the great you-done-me-wrong lyrics with the clever twist of a man singing a "woman's song". Sure Stephin Merritt does that too and is an admitted and obvious influence on Mishra, but Merritt himself cited this song as the best of 1997 in his list of the best recording of each of the past 100 years.

Does anyone understand when I say this song gives my auditory cortex an orgasm?

Listen again: White Town - Your Woman

Here's the lowdown on the horn sample, the meaning of the lyrics, and other explanations straight from Mishra.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Bad bandaging

bad bandaging

My roommate dropped a glass lid and cut her foot in two places. This is the terrible job I did bandaging it, though I'm not responsible for the bit of black cat fur stuck to the tape. Hopefully I will learn to do a much better job next semester.


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The People's Vending Machine

The People's Vending Machine

The People's Vending Machine

This machine is in the editorial offices of The Daily Texan, student newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin. The "tool of the capitalist pig-dogs" is the regular vending machine a mere four feet away. Compared to The People's Vending Machine, it's a total rip-off. Many are the times a quarter's worth of People's Vending Machine peanut M&Ms has sustained me.


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Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Texas officially enshrines bigotry

graphic respresentation of Texas' homophobia

Even though gay marriages/civil unions were already illegal here, Texas had to make sure that bigotry, ignorance, and fear were enshrined in our state Constitution. I knew this would happen, but it still burns me up. 76% of Texans, fuck you.

Austin/Travis County is an oasis in the political desert of Texas. This graphic is one of the reasons I will never live anywhere in Texas but Austin. At least Mainers rejected discrimination.

Mr. Drop-of-Water's sadness



Mr. Drop-of-Water is sad about the lyrics of "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang. I really like this mural.


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Tower Records murals

In addition to the Varsity Theatre murals I posted about earlier, the building also sports a series of new artworks by FE DE RICO that were added to Tower Records not too long before they closed. I couldn't find any info on FE DE RICO, though I'm fairly certain I've seen his work elsewhere.

Johnny Cash mural
Tower Records mural
More photos here.


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The Varsity Theatre murals

Lack of posting due to tests and my Mac freaking out. Hopefully the Mac freak-out is behind me.

I took some photos of the facade on the former Tower Records a couple weeks ago. These are examples of the older murals painted in 1980 by Carlos Lowry back when the building was the Varsity Theatre (Tower took over in 1990).

Varsity Theatre mural
Varsity Theatre mural
More photos here.

Also, great photos of the Varsity in 1936, and a theater manager's experience during the Charles Whitman Tower shooting. The manager mistakenly calls the street just West of Guadalupe St. Red River when it's actually San Antonio.

Also a nice set here on the artist Carlos Lowry's site with clickable images that identify the characters and films pictured in the murals (I swear I notated the photos on Flickr before I found this site).

The Austin Chronicle ran a good article about murals in Austin which includes the Varsity murals.


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Monday, October 31, 2005

No radiation, but melted plastic is kinda nasty

So that radiation quarantine I was in last week? Turns out it all started because of plastic lab utensils melting in a dishwasher.

Great.

The above referenced article also clued me in that the building failed to meet fire codes last year.

Delightful.

ESB was going to be demolished and rebuilt, but UT didn't get the bonds it wanted from the Legislature.

Wheeeeeee!

Calexico, Iron & Wine, Texas Book Festival, and the end of my newspaper writing

Last Friday saw the publication of my last two articles for The Daily Texan, at least for a while. One is a preview for the Calexio and Iron & Wine show that happened at Stubb's last night. The other is a preview for the Texas Book Festival that was held this past weekend.

The amount and difficulty of my schoolwork, my responsibilites in the student organizations of which I'm a member, my other job (officiating volleyball games), and a serious lack of sleep are all contributing factors in my decision to drastically reduce my writing for the paper. All of these are more important than writing for the paper. Yes, even volleyball.

Volleyball pays $9.50/hour to do a relatively easy job. And sometimes a team doesn't show up, meaning I'm getting paid for just showing up in uniform.

Writing for the paper pays $8/week with the expectation that I will average one article or a couple reviews a week. An article takes about six hours to complete when you figure in research, conducting and transcribing interviews, and the teeth-gnashing process of writing it. Reviews aren't as labor intensive, but I still have to read the book or listen to the CD multiple times before I write about it, so six hours is a minimum. Even adding in the fact that I get into the show for free and keep the book or CD, I'm not even making minimum wage.

On second thought, it's wrong to compare the two solely on economic grounds. Getting to talk to bands and writers I like is really frickin' cool. Also, going through the process of writing - as frustrating as it can be - makes my future writing better (at least I hope so). Those benefits can't be quantified.

Still, schoolwork and sleep are much more important in the long- and short-term, respectively. And I didn't even get to go to the Calexico and Iron & Wine show because of school and sleep deprivation. I went to the Texas Book Festival, but didn't have time to finish a wrap-up article about it (sorry Texan editors) for the same reasons. Sigh. Some day I'll finish and post the Lemony Snicket interview/show review I did.


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Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Zak Sally, ex-Low

Zak Sally, ex-Low

I just heard the sad news that Zak Sally, bassist for Low, has quit the band. I'm not terribly surprised given the history, but it still makes me sad.

Low is my favorite band (tied with Magnetic Fields). Just as Zak spent his whole adult life in the band, I've been following them since I was a freshman in college. I've seen them more than any other band with the exception of Spoon (with whom I actually went to college), once roadtripping through Texas to see Alan, Mimi, and Zak play five times in five days. I've got almost everything they've released and lots of live shows too.

Dang.

I'm going to miss the way Zak would spend a good chunk of their shows with his back turned and head down. The way he quietly sung "la la la la la" at the end of "Closer". The way he'd smile at some weird thing Alan would say on stage. The way he got to cut loose on their louder, faster songs. The genuine appreciation when he'd get a gift from a dorky fan (that'd be me).

Dang dang dang.

I think I'm going to have to listen to some Low tonight and cry a little.


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Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Wayne Coyne would love my eyes today

I woke up this morning with a burst capillary in my eye.





Just like it says on the back of my (slightly out-of-focus) Flaming Lips hat:




Of course the front of my (rather out-of-focus) Flaming Lips hat says:



It has nothing to do with the rest of this post (as opposed to this one), I just cherish it so.


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Monday, October 24, 2005

It's (probably not) a radiation vibe I'm groovin' on

As I type, I'm sitting in a classroom at UT-Austin, effectively quarantined for now.

At about 6 PM smoke was noticed in the Experiemental Science Building (ESB), which houses biology and chemistry labs. For some reason, the fire alarm didn't go off immediately and a UT police officer came to our lab and told us to leave the building. We gathered outside and took our lab quiz while waiting for the all clear. Apparently the smoke alarms did go off a full half-hour after smoke was first noticed, a rather discomfiting situation given the nature of the work that happens in the building.

Within a couple minutes, several firetrucks, an ambulance, and a Hazmat truck came down the street lights and sirens going. We were moved across the street and asked not to leave the area. Our lab teaching assistant valiantly attempted to go over some of the classwork so we wouldn't get behind as more and more emergency vehicles arrive. Later, our student IDs were collected by UTPD.

After another hour or so the officials on the scene gathered the roughly 150 of us to update us on the situation. While a UT police officer was in the building, their radiation dosimeter detected something (who knew UTPD routinely carried such a thing?). Later, when the firepeople were in ESB, one of their radiation dosimeters malfunctioned showing a reading as well.

All the firepeople were scanned on their way out of the building with nothing detected, but there was still we students, faculty, and staff. We lined up at the North entrance of Welch and were scanned one by one before proceeding to the classroom where I now sit.

The mood in the room is good. Most people are chatting with their classmates or on their cell phones. There's a spirited game of Charades going on in the front of the classroom and a smattering of students are reading or tapping away on their laptops like me.

Officials from UT and the Fire Department just went over the details with us again. All the potential radiation sources in the building were checked and they were not responsible for the probable almost surely false dosimeter readings. We're to be dismissed shortly.

I knew I should have brought my camera with me today.

UPDATE: The area was roped off by standard yellow caution tape, but as I was leaving I noticed that the affected building itself was surrounded by red HOT ZONE tape. Haven't seen that before and would prefer not to again.

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Sunday, October 23, 2005

Pumpkin carving

My roommates and I had a pumpkin-carving party on Friday night. We had lots of snacks including pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, and pumpkin ale. While watching The Thing (John Carpenter version) and The Grudge (American version), we massacred around twenty pumpkins. Thinking back on it, maybe we invited too many people. Floor space was hard to come by and it was difficult to hear the movies what with people chatting and the pumpkin gutting. Still it was fun.

I made a Flying Spaghetti Monster pumpkin.

Flying Spaghetti Monster pumpkin

More photos here.


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Occupation: Dreamland Q&A

Last week I interviewed documentary filmmaker Garrett Scott about his film Occupation: Dreamland for an article to run in The Daily Texan. My laptop started to act up though and I lost the article. So I had to retranscribe the tape and due to lack of time, it ran as a Q&A. I generally don't care for Q&As as I think they're lazy with the exception of the way they're done in The Onion AV Club.

Anyway, the film is about a squad of the 82nd Airborne stationed in Al-Fallujah shortly before the Marines arrived to level the place. In the film, the squad go on missions and while away the hours in-between. It's not a groundbreaking film in form or content, yet it's still an important contribution to the historical record.

Enough people went to see it last week, so it's still showing at Alamo Lamar.


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Monday, October 17, 2005

Sports-related drop in ER visits

A study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine (which I need to start reading) found that hospital ER visits in Boston drastically fell during important Red Sox games. Although sports-related drops like this have been found before, the Boston researchers were the first to chart a direct correlation between the time of the games and the exact volume of ER patients.

From the New Scientist article:
One explanation for the startling correlation is that while people are watching TV, they are sedentary and fairly safe. “People are at home watching the games so they are probably not getting into trouble,” explains Brownstein.
Huh. That's a really interesting idea. The article goes on:
Another is that people who attend ER are often not experiencing a medical emergency in the true sense of the word. “There is clearly some discretionary component that explains the timing,” says co-author Kenneth Mandl of Harvard Medical School.
Now that's more in line with what I thinking. I'm fairly certain that when most people think about emergency rooms, they're thinking about car wrecks and snake bites and heart attacks. All true, and then there's the vague abdominal pain, migraines, and minor lacerations that aren't rush-you-right-in emergencies. The latter are what fill up ER waiting rooms.

At the hospital I worked at, Mondays are typically very busy and it slows down a bit as the week progresses with another bump up on the weekend. This makes sense when you consider that doctor's offices and some public clinics are not open on the weekend and usually booked up at least several days out, so any problems people experience over the weekend will bring them in on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.

Then I noticed a curious thing. Whenever Monday was a holiday, that Monday wasn't very busy. However, Tuesday would be slammed. So I conjectured that some people didn't want to interrupt their three-day weekend with a visit to the ER. That's the "discretionary component" one of the Boston researchers cited.

I'd love to see more research done in this area to nail down the specifics of why this drop in visits occurs. Is it because patients are choosing to do something else instead of going to the hospital, or is it because what they're doing is keeping them relatively safer?

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Now it's official

Yesterday I received notification that I am officially a nursing student. Some of you might be thinking, "Wait, I thought he already was a nursing student." Well, I was officially a pre-nursing student. Lemme 'splain.

Unlike most other schools at UT, in the SoN you are classified as Pre-nursing while taking prerequisite courses for a couple years. Then, you apply to be admitted into the upper-division sequence. It's competitive and roughly 40% (at this time) of those who apply are not accepted. The average GPA of those admitted is around 3.40, so a B average is usually not good enough. The students who don't make it in have one more chance to apply the next semester, then they have to leave the school.

It's harsh, but there's only so many slots in clinical classes and they want to make sure only the students with the best prospects are taken. Also, the SoN is a top-ten nursing school and they want to stay there, so standards are high. The students who don't make it in transfer to another university or change their major.

Yes there's a nursing shortage. At this time though, the bottleneck to getting more people into the profession is not willing students so much as it is the lack of nursing faculty and the availability of clinical sites at which to study. More alarmingly, the existing nursing faculty is rapidly retiring. Which is why the UT SoN faculty are always dropping hints about students progressing through to PhD and becoming faculty themselves. I just found out that if I go right into the Masters program at UT when I finish my Bachelors, they waive the GRE requirement and the application fee.

Nifty, though I won't be doing it. Anyway, as soon as I finish this semester with Cs or better in my classes, I'm officially a nursing student. Yay.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Queer movies and four Vietnamese lunar New Year's

I wrote a couple pieces that were published this week in the school paper.

This one has reviews of several films screening as part of the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival.

This one is a CD review of Four Tet's Everything Ecstatic with a bit about his live show coming up tomorrow evening in Austin.

Yo La Tengo at Emo's

Yo La Tengo 10/6/05

On their way out to play the Chinati Foundation annual event in Marfa, TX, Yo La Tengo stopped in Austin for a packed show at Emo’s. They haven’t played a venue this small in Austin since I began seeing them in 1994, so it was somewhat momentous.

My recently joined-at-the-hip concert buddy Amy and I arrived a bit late to the show and mercifully missed opener Jad Fair’s set. Jad’s artwork is cool, but his music is rather bad. It’s entertaining for a couple songs, then gets progressively more annoying as it goes on.

Yo La Tengo played a good show, but not as great as many I’ve seen before. This is at least partly because I’m a bit jaded about seeing them perform sprawling, mesmerizing versions of “Blue Line Swinger” and "From A Motel 6", but also due to the bland Extend-O-Jams in which they indulged at times. Still, it was enjoyable.

Ira explained that they had recently played at a friend’s wedding and so had learned a bunch of covers, hence the large number of unfamiliar songs they played. I’m not enough of a music wonk to identify them all, but there was a Zombies cover, a Sun Ra cover (not “Nuclear War”), and a song dedicated to Sterling Morrison (ex-Velvet Underground).

Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo

They also brought Jad Fair out to perform some songs off their collaborative album. It was a much needed blast of fast, rocking numbers that invigorated the show even after Jad left the stage.

The best part of the show was when Ira noted that Henry Rollins had done a spoken word show in Austin a couple of nights ago. In honor of this, James gave a dramatic reading from one of Henry’s books. Watch it here (taken down).

A friend and I were discussing the cost versus the length of the show. We decided that at $0.17 a minute, it was worth it. Then went on to talk about the possibility of a band peep-show booth concept where you keep pumping in quarters as long as you’re enjoying the show. My friend was taken with the idea that the band had to keep on playing as long as you had the quarters, possibly leading to exhaustion of known songs and the spectre of amphetamine abuse.

Right after this conversation, I noticed the guy in front of us with “Jesus is Lord” tattooed on the back of his neck in big block letters. Huh. If he’s serious, I can’t imagine that this would endear you to fellow Christians and prospective employers. If he’s not serious, I… Dude! An ironic “Jesus is Lord” tattoo on your neck?!

More photos of the show and a Yo La Tengo video game.

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Thursday, October 06, 2005

The one about the Air Force recruiter

This entry was supposed to have a clever title playing off the Air Force motto. Then I looked it up and realized that nobody would know what I was talking about. The mottos are (there are two) "No one comes close" and "Uno Ab Alto" (One over all). Not exactly "Semper Fi" or "Army of One". Oh well. Kinda goes with the general feel of the Air Force, it being the branch that doesn't have to advertise as much.

Today's meeting of our nursing student association was sponsored by the Air Force. And by sponsored I mean they bought us tons of pizza and soda. Always a good way to get college students to show up. After the business portion of the meeting, the recruiter and her cohorts hit us up with the spiel.

Honestly, it's a pretty good deal if you don't mind the moving every three years, the structure, the uniforms, and - depending on your orientation - the sexual witchhunts. Oh, and possibly working in a war zone.

In order for the recruiter to document that, in her words, "I did not eat $400 worth of pizza all by myself," attendees were asked to fill out a survey form. I left out some key info like phone number, e-mail, and Social Security number because I really don't want them contacting me or acquiring a credit card in my name.

In the comments section I was tempted to write, "By the way, you didn't ask but I'm telling: I like guys kind of a lot. So..." I resisted the temptation, but since the form was pink I drew a big upside-down triangle on it. Hee.

Upon reading an earlier version of this post, Joolie made me a graphic:

Gay Force

She's so cool (and trademark-violating).


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Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Weezer was at least partly right

Some of us are on drugs. I don't take pleasure in the often debilitating drug habits of others, but damn sometimes it makes me giggle in dark region of my heart.

A few more quotes overheard at the hospital:

Patient says to the doctor, "Please don't take my Ambien away. Please! I won't abuse it. I promise. Just give me one. Okay two."

Patient to nurse trying to give him pain medication, "Pills?! If I wanted pills, I would have bought them on the street. I need a shot. And I am not a drug-seeker."

Patient to doctor, "I'm not a crack addict. I just started smoking it last week."

Nurse to patient, "Are you taking any medications on a regular basis?"
Patient hands nurse his list: 140 tabs Lotensin†, 5 coricedin†† (sic), 3 Aleve, 2 doses night quill (sic), 12 24oz beers, crack - I don't know how much, and 2 Tylenol PM.

He'd almost have to smoke crack to offset all the depressants he's taking, though he really should keep track of his dosage. Maybe he should get one of these:



† Lowers blood pressure
†† Coricidin Cough & Cold, also known as Triple C, is sometimes taken recreationally which can seriously fuuuck you up to and including death

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Saturday, October 01, 2005

Voxtrot, The Bellrays, & The Octopus Project at Emo's

Last night I saw a fun show with two local bands outside and one touring band inside. I was surprised but impressed that they all were able to draw a near sell-out crowd at Emo's. Everyone played well and you should definitely go see them if they're playing near you.



Voxtrot




The Bellrays




The Octopus Project

More pics here.

Friday, September 30, 2005

Bat-poking, not a good idea

Just got a university-wide email from the Director Environmental Health & Safety at UT-Austin.
"If you touched a bat near E.P. Schoch (EPS) on Tuesday, September 27, 2005, you need to immediately contact the Austin/Travis Country Health Services at 972-6055 or The Texas Department of State Health Services at 254-778-6744. If your phone contact is outside normal working hours, please leave a message and phone number. State 'you were exposed to a bat Tuesday at UT-Austin and were advised to contact them.' These messages are monitored and calls returned every few hours."
Sigh. Suffice to say, touching bats is a bad idea. Bats on the ground are usually wounded or sick. Wounded or sick mammals can bite defensively (though apparently bats mostly don't). Animal bites transmit rabies. Ergo...

Bat Conservation International has a great page that answers questions about rabies transmission from bats (it's rare). Also on that page is the text of a 1999 resolution from the North American Symposium on Bat Research. It outlines the symposium's opposition to the idea that all bat contact incidents be medically handled as bites, i.e. rabies shots, based on an evidence-free "undetected bite hypothesis".

This whole thing is fascinating to me as a person deeply interested in public health, emergency room treatment, and bats. Two more things to love about Austin; home of Bat Conservation International and North America's largest urban bat colony. Oh, and hospitals.


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Lots of medical pics, but text only. So don't freak.

Aw yeah. I just found a Flickr photostream called Clinical Cases and Images. These x-rays and pictures are cool, kinda gross, rather nasty, and quite foul. Sadly, the photos stop at the beginning of the summer (probably used for a class), so I went looking and found the x-ray photo cluster which led on to related subjects. Clusters was a great idea for Flickr.

A guy started a site called Hot or Not?-style rating site for scars, Scarmageddon. There are check-boxes on the side to show scars that are still bleeding, open wound, stitched wound, fully developed, or ScarSafe (very tame). Of course I would argue that the first three categories are not scars at all, merely potential ones, but don't let that get in the way of giving yourself a raging case of the willies.

The current top voted pic is this weird scar from a rattlesnake bite. Eeesh. The full story of the bite is here and the dude has some seriously cool/ball-retracting pics (suitably hidden behind a warning) of his arm during surgery. Like skin cut away and muscles exposed. Wow.


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Not sure if I want some of these kids as colleagues

X-ray of a collapsed lung

Today in Anatomy & Physiology class we discussed air pressure as it relates to the lungs. To inspire, or breathe in, the diaphragm contracts and creates negative pressure in the chest cavity, which causes air to flow into the lungs.

We're going over material already presented in the textbook and the professor asked the class of roughly 75 students what happens when a person is stabbed in the chest, puncturing a lung or the lining around them.

Cricket, cricket.

So I finally spoke up that the person can't breathe in; the pressure in the lungs is already equalized by the open wound and the lung is probably collapsed. Professor nodded and asked the class what this is called.

Cricket, cricket.

She looked back at me and I, rather annoyed by my classmates, responded, "Pneumothorax." C'mon people! This is basic stuff for even a casual watcher of ER.

Seriously, give a medical vocabulary test to my class and fans of Trauma: Life in the ER and the couch potatoes would kick the students collective ass. I shudder to think of the timidity and shaky hands of my classmates when we practice drawing blood on each other. Sure, everybody's got to learn, but the fear and lack of enthusiasm is kinda depressing.

If you are into such things, the Trauma: Life in the ER website has an ER simulation game where you can pretend to be a doctor. I haven't played it yet, but it looks fun. The intro doesn't say, but I assume you can simulate what it would be like to commit negligent homicide or manslaughter, if you are into such things.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Two last bits about ACL 2005

During the Arcade Fire show, they threw out water bottles. Some of the weirdo fan-boys were treating them like holy relics so Win said, "Don't keep them, drink the water!" To which Richard noted the eBay potential, "Water bottle previously owned by The Arcade Fire. No reserve." Funny guy.

Also, ACL has posted pictures from the fest (most of which are unimpressive) and managed to misidentify The Decemberists as The Arcade Fire in several pictures. I emailed the Fest about it, let's see if it gets corrected.


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Tuesday, September 27, 2005

My mind is reeling

First, I read that Kathy Griffin has filed for divorce from Matt. There was a weird vibe between them on her reality show, but having no basis for comparison, I assumed it was just their way. How sad.

Then, pushing the relative shallowness of celebrity marriage completely out of my head was this post by AmericaBlog alledging US soldiers posted gruesome photos of dead bodies on a porn site. He does a good job of laying out why he's inclined to believe it as well as provide an analysis of what it might mean. The post contains examples of the photos, but they are censored to eliminate the gore, so don't let that stop you from reading it.

UPDATE: AP has picked up the story.


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Sunday, September 25, 2005

Austin City Limits Festival 2005

Austin City Limits sign

Austin City Limits Festival was just okay this year.

Friday:

Kasabian were boring. dios (malos) were a welcome surprise. Clearly I need to see them again soon. Mates of State were good, but poor Kori was already bright red. Get that woman some sunscreen please. What I like about them is that their vocals are slightly off-key, but it works. Like Exene and Jon from X. Sound Team was a disappointment. They'd been signed by a major and had spent a lot of time holed up working on songs, but the music and performance was just blah.

Upon the advice of a friend, I watched a bit of Thievery Corporation, but to me it sounded like sex music for a couple who just bought a copy of The Kama Sutra, so I left.

Spoon was pretty good. Having gone to college with them, I've been a fan for years and seen them more times than I ever will another band. It's got to be north of 50 times, so they have to really kick-ass for me to be impressed. The ACL set was good, but not great. A rushed "I Turn My Camera On" lost its power. "Paper Tiger" was, as usual, an expanded version with washes of roaring guitar. Love it.

In a moment of synchronicity while I was writing some of this post, the new TV show "Kitchen Confidential" used the Spoon song "Stay Don't Go" in its second episode.

John Prine's voice is shot, but he's still a compelling performer speaking truth to power. Introducing ""Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore", he said, "I retired this song in 1978. Well George Bush made a liar out of me."

After a few more Prine songs, I hustled out of there to get to The Arcade Fire show at Stubb's.

I started a photo set of interesting "Here I am!" flags that people bring so their friends can find them.

Flying Spaghetti Monster & Jolly Roger flags

I particularly loved this Flying Spaghetti Monster flag.
More pics here.

Saturday:

Woke up late and missed some of the morning bands. I got there in time to see Mike Doughty.

Mike Doughty

He's touring with a full band now, and even though I wished for him to do just that, it was a bit dull. No "Janine" to end the set either. He did do "St. Louise is Listening" which might be my favorite Soul Coughing song.

Built to Spill kinda sucked. When they aren't into a show, their energy and performance reflect it. I've seen them kick-ass and I've seen them suuuuck. This show was closer to the latter.

Death Cab was better than I expected, competent and energetic. Still, I've never been a fan, though their current single "Soul Meets Body" is currently holding me in thrall. From the size of the crowd, either The OC has plenty of influence on musical taste or Oasis fans are willing to wait four hours (through Jet too!) in the hot sun.

Eleanor of The Fiery Furnaces

The Fiery Furnaces were great in that they confused the audience. Clearly, many people were just waiting for Bloc Party. FF threw them for a loop. I don't think I'll be buying any FF albums soon, but I did enjoy the show and got some great pictures.

I wandered around and ate after that, watched Bloc Party for a couple songs, then headed out to the Built to Spill/Decemberists show at La Zona Rosa.

Sunday:

The day that saved the festival from mediocrity. If not for this day, I would have been disappointed.

My roommate didn't want to go and so gave me her intact wristband, which I gifted to friend Amy. I'm so glad friend Amy was able to go see her two favorite bands.

Anthony Gonzales aka M83

We got to Zilker Park a little late, but saw the whole M83 set. Damn they are amazing. Loud, bombastic, beautiful songs. Wish I could have seen their Friday show at Emo's. Anthony Gonzales writes great music and is very cute.

From a distance, Doves were blah. Amy and I worked our way towards the front as they played that one song which is pretty cool. Can't be bothered to look it up now. We just wanted Arcade Fire.

The Arcade Fire

Despite having just seen them on Friday, Amy and I needed to experience the majesty again. Whoo-boy did they deliver. Despite the heat, they dressed up and played some of the songs even better than Friday. "Haiti" was incredible. Very excited crowd, very awesome band.

Amy went off to see The Decemberists and I went to Bob Mould. Bob was cool, but I knew that I'd enjoy another helping of The Decemberists more so I hiked over to their stage. I got there in time to hear Colin Meloy launch into one of his now-standard bits.
“Yesterday I was hanging out with Ben Gibbard [Death Cab for Cutie and I asked him, ‘Ben, how do you write songs of such pathos?’

And he said to me, ‘It comes from my upbringing.’

‘How’s that?' I said. And he picked up his guitar and sang me this song.”
The band then launched into a rousing, extended version of “Chimbley Sweep” complete with the shushed breakdown where Colin got most of the crowd up front to crouch down quietly (the one holdout got a drink thrown at him by a fan). It was going to be a hard song to top, but they did with "The Mariner's Revenge Song" complete the requisite whale attack. Sure it's old hat to fans who've seen them before, but the crowd, including many non-devotees, ate it up.

After a Wilco song and half of Franz Ferdinand one, Amy and I headed out. Despite the awful heat and dusty air, it was all worth it.

Many more photos here, including way too many Arcade Fire pics. I love them so.

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Friday, September 23, 2005

The Arcade Fire, non-ACL show 9/23/05

There was nobody I wanted to see at ACL on Friday night, so friend Amy and I went to see The Arcade Fire at Stubb's. We got there early enough to secure a place up front.

In a moment of telepathy, Amy and I had the exact same thought about opening band The Black Keys, "It's not my thing, but they are very good at it." I'm hyper-pleased with the photos I took of them. Blurry, yet in focus also. I really need to figure out how to do it on purpose.

The Black Keys

The Arcade Fire started on a melancholy note with lead guitarist/singer Win Butler saying he used to live in Houston. The band sent out best wishes to the people of the Gulf Coast with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". It was sad and beautiful.

They went from there into their standard opening song "Wake Up". It was amazing being in the midst of a crowd that loudly sang out the "ohhh" parts. They played a surprising number of non-Funeral tracks (setlist here), including songs from their re-released first EP and "5 Days", a David Bowie song. The highlights for me were "Tunnels" and "Power Out", great songs on album but stunningly powerful live.

Overall, it was a great show, though my prediction has held true, their show in January in Emo's is still the best thing I've seen all year.

The Arcade Fire 9/23/05 in Austin

The Arcade Fire 9/23/05 in Austin

More pics of both bands here.


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Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Percussion quintet plays DJ Shadow

Brian Udelhofen is a music teacher with great taste. He arranged DJ Shadow's "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" and "Changeling" for Percussion Quintet then taught it to his students. Nifty video of their performance.

At the risk of sounding stoned and tautological, cool stuff is cool.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Talk Like a Pirate



It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Uh, I mean, Yarr! 'Tis be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Rock on.

There's tons of websites with good pirate content, but take five minutes and listen to the famous (in England) Million Pound Radio Show sketch Pirate Training Day. It's funny.

Much less funny, I had a piece about the holiday published today. Happily, I managed to work in a mention of Pastafarianism. Unhappily, my editor cut the pointers on how to talk like a pirate. Arr! So I've self-published them.

Talking Like a Pirate: The Basics

It may seem daunting at first, but talking like a pirate is just a matter of practice. Follow these pointers and soon ye’ll be leavin’ landlubber talk behind ye.

  • “Hello!” is “Ahoy!”, “yes” is “aye”, and “a wealthy merchant” is soon “gone down to Davy Jones’ locker”.
  • Pirates always speak in the present tense. “I have been plundering vessels for some time now,” is properly said, “Aarr! For many a year I be a gentleman o’ fortune.”
  • All instances of “is” become “be” and the pronoun “my” becomes “me”. So the observation, “Whoah! There is a big bag of gold coins over there,” is instead, “Shiver me timbers! Thar be treasure.”
  • Gerunds lose their terminal “g”. Pirates like sailin’, pillagin’, and drinkin’ (actually that last one should be “splicin’ the mainbrace”).
  • Beginners should start sentences with a hearty “Aarr!”* You’ll find it’s easier to continue from there.
*It’s “Aarr!” or "Yarr!”, not “Arrgh!” Pirates say “Aarr!” People unwilling to part from their jewels say, “Arrgh!” Well, they do when run through with a cutlass.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Another great in-store

Saturday I went to another great in-store at End of an Ear. Big Dan is doing a great job booking acts and drawing a crowd.

Great Lake Swimmers and Palaxy Tracks were thoroughly enjoyable, made all the better than it was free and there was pizza and beer.

Great Lake Swimmers, a band

More photos here.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Ring the bell and drooling begins

For a little extra spending money, I referee volleyball games. Mostly intramural games on campus, but also 5th-8th grade girls’ games all over the city. The pay’s not bad, and the girls’ games at least are easy. Their play is not quite up to the bump-set-spike level; it's quite a sensation when the balls stays inbounds for more than a minute.

I was officiating at a girls’ game the other evening and a mom kept yelling, “C’mon girls!” in such a way that my brain immediately responded, “Do you believe in love? Cuz I got something to say about it, and it goes something like this!” Mom kept yelling it periodically and every time I was unable to stop myself. It was like a Pavlovian Madonna-song trigger.

During the break between games, I started to wonder if there were other such Material Girl-dependent switches buried in me. I ran down a list of Madonna songs and was troubled to realize that, when someone says "God?", a gospel chorus starts "oooh"-ing in my mind followed by church organ and Ms. Ciccone singing, "Life is a mystery..." I also think, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Sadly I must conclude that if I was dressed in rubber clothes, then handed a crop and a Chihuahua, I would be unable to resist fake-spanking the dog.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

I'm not as think as you drunk I am

ethanol molecule

When people are brought into the ER for being drunk, their "complaint" is often listed as ETOH. More properly written EtOH, it stands for ethyl alcohol (OH being the oxygen+hydrogen functional group that, when attached to an organic molecule, makes it an alcohol - I paid attention in organic chemistry). Ethyl alcohol is better-known ethanol or "that shit that gets you fuuucked uuuuuup" as I once heard a frat boy explain.

After checking them out to make sure nothing else is wrong, the patient is usually just left to sleep it off. Sometimes the med staff will hang a banana bag (IV fluid containing a multivitamin which causes the yellow color, thiamine, folic acid, and sometimes magnesium sulfate).

Registering these patients can either be really easy or really difficult. If they're passed out, you try one "Mr. [name]!", then just mark off that they are unresponsive. If they're awake, getting them to respond to questions can be a lengthy and tiresome chore. Gold star if you successfully get an intoxicated person to sign paperwork while dodging their flammable, bile-tinged breath.

One night EMS brought in a young man that was loaded. Completely out. It was his 21st birthday and he'd attempted to down as many shots. Sigh. After taking care of his medical needs, several nurses and techs surrounded the bed and sang a rousing version of "Happy Birthday" to his unconscious body.

I've mentioned before the sense of humor pervasive in our ER. It feels like home to me.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

RGC show


Last night I went to see Retribution Gospel Choir at Emo's. It was a good show, made better by the lack of cigarette smoke in the air. Yay for the smoking ban!

I was busy taking pictures and just enjoying the show, so I didn't take notes on the actual setlist. The set list as written:



I know they didn't play "Destroyer" and did play "Down By the River" (Neil Young).

Alan Sparhawk and Mark Kozelek's voices sounded great and it was nice to hear them both play loud as they both come from much quieter bands. Surprisingly big crowd for a new band on a Tuesday, but I guess the "big names" fronting it brought people in.

More photos.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies

My friend Amy sent me a link to The Rocky Horror Picture Show in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies. Animated bunnies, but still. I drew looks of fear and concern from fellow students when I started choking with laughter. (Make sure to click on the dancing bunny in the balcony at the end of the clip)

Turns out, the Jennifer Shiman have done a slew of these, all hilarious. She seems to have a particular affection for horror and science fiction. You really can't argue with the logic of Jaws + animated bunnies = funny.

What I'm most impressed with is Shiman manages to get the plot across in 30 seconds while still throwing in unnecessary but memorable scenes from the films. This made my day.

Revenge of a gospel choir

I had an article published today in The Daily Texan newspaper. It's about a band called Retribution Gospel Choir.

I'm not thrilled with my writing, but then I'm rarely am. Also, writing articles is torturous. I love interviewing bands, love going to the show, love getting the CD for free, and hate hate hate the misery of writing the article or review. Figuring out an angle, crafting paragraphs and transitions, coming up with descriptions that aren't total cliches, the whole thing is a gut-churning, headache-inducing exercise in madness. And yet, I'll do it again and again. So welcome to my pity party, I'm completely ridiculous.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Katrina shaking up US media?

Looking for a short respite from school-related work, I got sucked into a multi-hour Katrina-centric reading frenzy.

Take five minutes to watch this incredibly well-delivered, stinging critique from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. Or read it (scroll to the September 5, 2005 8:58 p.m. ET entry). Is Matt Wells right? Has Katrina saved the US media? Got some more time? Watch this compilation of media actually doing their job.

Harper's has posted an essay from their upcoming issue for free on their site. "The Uses of Disaster: Notes on bad weather and good government", written by Rebecca Solnit before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, is thoughtful and illuminating.

Naomi Kline is advancing a great idea, "Let the People Rebuild New Orleans". She reasons that disaster relief money rightly belongs to those victimized by the disaster rather than the no-bid contractor buddies of government officials. So, the people affected most should lead the effort of reconstruction. She also cites two relevant examples of how it can go terribly awry when business interests supplant human interests: the 1995 Mexico City earthquake and last year's tsunami.

Just as they did with 9/11, The Onion finds a way to make me laugh when all I could manage before was tears and rage.

A bleeding head story

I haven't come through on my promise for more ER stories yet, so here's one.

EMS wheels in a gurney with a guy strapped to it. Lac to the top of the head and he's really drunk. As many people know, cuts on the head bleed a lot. This guy's hair is dyed red and gummy from the blood. His face is streaked with it. He'd look fantastic lying on the ground in a war movie or lurching about in a zombie flick. And yet, he's fine. No need to send up a pint from the blood bank.

For no good reason, the rest of this will be in Q&A format.

How did he split his scalp open?

He got drunk, started showing off, and fell down.

Why was he drunk?

He was at a bachelor party.

For who's wedding?

His.

Really?

Oh yes.

When is the wedding?

In three days.

Wow.

Yeah.

He's going to look awfully funny in the wedding photos isn't he?

Well, before the stitches get put in, his hair is going to be trimmed all around the laceration. So unless hairstyles change radically in the next couple of days, yes he's going to look funny.

Of course, there may not be any wedding photos once his fiance gets wind of this.

At least we'll have a chart started if she's sends him back our way ball-less or something.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

+ a few gravities

A few weeks ago, I went to Six Flags Over Texas with my sister. I hadn't been there in years and was seriously jonesing for some coaster airtime. Having grown up in Dallas, Six Flags was a yearly summer ritual sorely missed.

We went on a weekday after school had started for the youngsters so as to avoid the crowds. Still, we were astounded to find the park practically empty. We never waited more than a minute or two in line for any ride. Gloriously, I rode most of the rollercoasters several times in a row. With so few people, there was no reason for the staff to make riders leave after one circuit.

In four hours, we had criss-crossed the park, riding everything we wanted to multiple times. My sister was great in that, while she didn't accompany me on most of the big coasters, she never complained about waiting while I rode them again and again. She's cool like that. We ended up going on rides we didn't really care about just for the hell of it. Same time next summer, definitely.

Fairly early on, I wanted to get over to Judge Roy Scream. It's a wooden coaster built in 1980 tucked away on the edge of the park. It's not as intense as some of the other coasters, but it's still my favorite. In general I find wooden coasters inferior to steel ones. They're slower, can't incorporate looping elements, and tend to bang the rider around. Judge Roy Scream overcomes these drawbacks though. It has the rickety, sway-and-creak quality of wooden coasters that makes up a large part of their charm, without the furious jostling of the loathsome Texas Giant (also at Six Flags Over Texas).


You pull out of the station and take an immediate right to begin ascending the first hill. The clickety-clack of Judge is especially beautiful. To the right is an artificial lake and the rest of the park which you can contemplate as you ride to the top, then it's up and over. Two hills and five camelbacks later, you're done. Elegant and absolutely wonderful.

My favorite part of any ride is that floaty feeling in your stomach as you plunge downwards at 22 MPH every second, cancelling gravity, before pulling up and doing it again. Judge Roy Scream's series of five camelbacks is pure "airtime" heaven. I rode it six times in a row, mostly in the front car. I told ride-operator Jessica, "It's probably just the endorphins, but I think I love you."

I had another great ride on Shockwave. Built in 1978, it's notable for it's double loop at the bottom of the first hill.

The loops are great and riders are under significant positive Gs during them. I didn't ride it at night this time, but after dark it's lit up with lights all along the sides of the track which is particularly cool as you go through the loops. They're fun, but I like the drops. Airtime is best.

After a couple rides, I came back into the station and saw that not only was there was no one waiting, but the other six or so people on it with me were getting off. I moved up to the front car and rode it out of the station alone.

What a glorious experience it is to ride a coaster alone in the front car. As little as possible between you and the track. No one screaming or whoooo!-ing. Swinging back and forth between positive and negative Gs. Slowing exhaling through the drops with my arms in the air. Sublime.

(Click on the coaster photos (by Joe Schwartz) for more)

The last great ride I went on was Titan. This was a new one for me as it was added in 2001 after my last visit. As space in the park is somewhat constrained, they took out some parking to accomodate Titan.

I got a little nervous on the loooong ride to the top of the 255" tall, first hill. The drop is a monster that bottoms out in a tunnel. Aside from it's height, what makes Titan interesting is the two helices you go through practically on your side. One spirals up to the third drop, the other spirals down near the end. While pulling 4.5 Gs, you can look over and see the ground turning underneath. It's intense.

On my way out after a second ride, I went over to the booth that shows pictures of the riders right before they enter the tunnel at the bottom of the first hill. The girls in the front were screaming with eyes shut tight. The guys in the middle had their fists in the air with "YEEARGH!" expressions on their faces. In the back I wore a serene, Buddha-like smile. Enlightenment through acceleration?

Running out of things to do, my sister and I decided to go on Yosemite Sam's Gold River Adventure. It's terrible. Since he says it better than I ever could, I'll quote Kevin Tuma's review from Theme Park Insider:

"Once this ride was great dark ride, called "the Spelunker's Cave". It was a fascinating, mystical water ride filled with animated elflings, that started from a tropical cave's mouth and ended in an alpine snow flurry. Then along came Bugs Bunny. The original ride was destroyed in order to make a corporate franchise ride. It's pretty darn awful too--it does Bugs no favors."



As a child too small and fearful to ride the coasters, The Cave was a favorite of mine. I practically fall into a nostalgia fugue state remembering the feel of the tub as it traveled along, the cold air, the musty smell, the reverberating music, and the slighty sinister Spee-lunkers [the "correct" spelling].

Here's a in-depth description of the ride with pictures. For those who actually remember riding it, a righteously geeky fan has sonically recreated the experience.

It used to be weird and unique, now it's loud and trademarked. Sigh.

The day ended with my sister and I riding the Texas Star Carousel. Not an exciting experience mind you, but a nice digestive at the end of the day. Like having Armagnac and chocolate at the end of a meal. Which I've only done once aboard an Air France plane from Rome to Houston, but still.

Six Flags Over Texas, I will see you again at the same time next summer with as many friends as I can drag along.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Yeah, I'm still here

Haven't posted in a while due to:

1) School starting
2) Funeral of my uncle
3) Guilt from other projects I'm supposed to be doing
4) An avoidance of the struggle that is sitting and writing

However, today I organized my school and various-bits-of-work schedules, then read Craig Thompson's Carnet de Voyage. As is often the case, when I see or hear great art, I'm inspired to get off my ass and make something, however meager and amateurish. This post is not that thing. Things are percolating though.

In the mean time, join me in getting riled up by this.

UPDATE: The link above is dead, so here's another to the same account by EMS workers Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky.

More interestly, This American Life aired an all-Katrina episode last week that has an interview with Lorrie Beth Slonsky and others from the same group.

(Scroll to Last Week, the show's called "After the Flood", interview starts at 21:05)