the reality tunnel

My job is letting me work while I’m on tour.  For the most part I can just log into machines remotely.  I log into my workstation and from there, I can get access to internal machines.  I just keep a screen session running so I can pick up where I left off.  However,  I’ve run into frustrations when I have to copy images that I edit on my notebook to a remote host that is beyond my SSH gateway.  So, I made a simple script called scpush that copies the file from my notebook the a dropbox directory on the SSH gateway and then copies the file from the gateway to the ultimate destination.

Friday October 26th
8pm $6

Mount Eerie
Privacy
Vollmar
Caethua

Mt. Eerie

Phil Elverum (Mt. Eerie, The Microphones) has been making wild
beautiful stuff for years now.  Music, Art, Books…  He has attained
legendary status with his own albums, and has played on or recorded
some of the best stuff to ever come out of the Dub Narcotic studio.
He will be playing solo at this show.

Check out his website/label to get an idea what thus guy is about:
http://www.pwelverumandsun.com/

Privacy

Laurel Knapp is “Privacy”. Marriage records puts out her recordings.
Relevant Quote: “Her gentle singing, which is really
more akin to breathing softly and talking at the same time,
was, and is on this recording, something to behold”.  That sounds right.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=128057113

Also playing will be local faves:

Vollmar

http://www.vollmarmusic.com/

and

Caethua

http://www.myspace.com/caethua

Halloween Harvest: A Hoosier Hills Food Drive feat.
Melt Banana
Racebannon
Busman’s Holiday
The zombedy of Dave Coonce
Tuesday Oct. 30th
8pm
Rhino’s
$10 or $8 with 2 or more canned goods. Tickets and donations bins at Tracks, Landlocked, and Rhino’s.

Winter is coming and the Hoosier Hills Food bank needs donations now more than ever. And what is your reward for giving to those in need? A night with Japanese noise rock legends Melt Banana. While money pays for bands, the Hoosier Hills Food Bank could really use the food. Even if you don’t come to the show, drop off some canned goods at Landlocked, Tracks, or Rhino’s.

The term legend is not thrown around lightly but in the case of Japan’s Melt Banana the term aptly applies. Less a band than an aural force of nature, Melt Banana has been splitting eardrums and expanding musical boundaries for nearly 20 years. Their live show is an event that any words I can produce will fail to do justice.
www.myspace.com/azap

Racebannon is a musical buzz saw that has been cutting a swath through Bloomington for years. Taking their cues from everything that was great about hard rock and metal over the past 30 or so years, Racebannon is a ruthless, earsplitting, bottom dropping, head crushing. musical behemoth dead set on destroying stages from Bloomington to Bangkok and all points in between.
www.myspace.com/racebannonrocks

Fact: There is no show on earth that will not be made better by the inclusion of Busman’s Holiday. These dual set of brothers form like a Voltron to create sweet harmonies and acoustic melodies that belie a defiant f-u ethos as the rail against government corruption, ecological failings, and the plight of the little folk like you and me. Doubt me, listen to the lyrics, they aren’t messing around.
www.myspace.com/busmansholiday

Bread Fest 2007
November 15, 2007

Times: 6-8:30 p.m.
http://www.bloomington.in.us/~mediate

Location:  Fountain Square Ballroom (101 W Kirkwood Ave)
Phone:  812.336.8677
Admission:  $10 (plus cash bar and silent auction)

Everyone is invited to attend Bread Fest, an event to benefit the Community Justice & Mediation Center.  Attendees will have the opportunity to taste a wide variety of breads submitted to the Bread Baking Contest by professional and amateur bakers. Various toppings and hors d’oeuvre will complement the bread tasting. Local wines and beer will also be available at a cash bar. The event will also include music and a silent auction. Prizes will be awarded by judges in three bread categories: yeast, quick breads and celebration. There will also be a “People’s Choice Award” for a favorite bread chosen by event attendees. Call 812-336-8677 or e-mail cjam@bloomington.in.us for more information about the event.   To enter the Bread Baking Contest (deadline Nov. 8th) or to learn how you can help the Community Justice & Mediation Center, visit www.bloomington.in.us/~mediate.

What: The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Pack-A-Thon
When: Thursday, October 11 2007 2PM-2AM
Where: The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project, adjacent to Boxcar Books and Community Center at 310A S Washington St, Bloomington, IN, near the corner of 3rd and Washington St.
For more information: E-mail to mwpp@pagestoprisoners.org, on the web at http://www.pagestoprisoners.org/, by phone to Boxcar Books at 812.339.8710.

On Thursday, October 11th the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project is holding a Pack-A-Thon at its space next to Boxcar Books and Community Center at 310A S Washington Street, near the corner of Third and Washington Streets, across from Third Street Park. The event will start at 2pm on Thursday afternoon and go a full 12 hours until 2am that night.

The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project currently has a backlog of book requests from prisoners that spans at least three months. With the help of Pack-A-Thon volunteers, we hope to significantly reduce that backlog!

Volunteers at the Pack-A-Thon will be reading letters sent from prisoners, filling requests for books from our collection of books donated by members of the Bloomington community, and packaging those books so that they are ready to be mailed. No prior experience is necessary, and training will be provided to new volunteers on the hour, every hour.

While we hope to get a lot of work done, this will also be a fun and festive event, so bring music, snacks and beverages to share, as well as everyone you know! Additionally, book donations and donations of packing supplies such as envelopes large enough to hold 3 books, large sheets of paper that could be used to wrap packages of books, or packing tape will be very useful.

For more information, contact the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project at mwpp@pagestoprisoners.org, pagestoprisoners.org, or 812.339.8710.

For those unable to attend this special event, Pages meets several times every week to help send books to the imprisoned. The regularly scheduled meeting times are Mondays (during the school year) from 7-9pm , Thursdays from 7-11pm, and Sundays from 2-5pm.

The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project is an all volunteer effort that strives to provide free reading material to prisoners in the United States. By providing free reading materials upon request, we hope to aid in the rehabilitation process and stimulate critical thinking behind bars. Our volunteers are concerned citizens and activists interested in rehabilitation, rather than punishment.

The project exists to alleviate pain, boredom, and attrition and to provide a direct opportunity for self-education. Additionally, we exist because prison libraries sometimes fail in this respect, and are understocked, or are only able to be patronized during specific and limited hours. Finally, The Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project exists to inform others about the condition of the prison system in Indiana and throughout the nation and the effects of incarceration on our communities. Through the letters and books that we send and receive, we hope to build connections between those who are within the criminal justice system, and their communities at large.

Saw that Radiohead is offering a name-your-own-price downloads for its new album.  This might be a better model for Defiance, Ohio audio files since I see a problem with totally free-as-in-beer audio files as being perceived only for promotional purposes or not valued in the same way a physical record is.  I would love to plant the bug in listeners’ heads that while digital downloads lack some of the substance and features of records or discs (artwork, tangible object) the fluidity that they can be transported and shared ought to be viewed as an asset in the same way that artwork would.

I’ve been watching the Ken Burns documentary, The War on PBS pretty intently, and it’s so much to take in. Some of the most elequent, descriptive, and thoughtful comments quoted in the film were by a veteran named Eugene Sledge, from Mobile. It turns out that he published his diaries from his time fighting in the Pacific theatre. The book is called With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa.

While it is possible to recognize narratives of heroism and villany in the documentary, more than anything, it makes me think about how immense and terrible war is, that it is incredible to me that after the destruction of WWII, anyone would ever wage war again. It seems so unfathomable, the extent of the horror and destruction, but listening to the stories, memories, and carefully crafted explainations of those interviewed, so obviously worded from a mental dialog revisited over a lifetime, that even those immersed in the belly of the horrors could glean what seems like so much understanding of humanity’s darkest capabilities. Even with this understanding, though, there seemed to be a general sadness in how little this knowledge offered in terms of imagining or crafting a different course for humanity.

October 30th
@ Guilty Pleasures 201 E. 2nd St.
Good Luck
Quadrillion Babes
The Whomping Willows (Harry Potter inspired music)
and Zombie Dress up party!
starts at 6! (pre zombie parade)

Thursday, October 11th
10 PM at Uncle Fester’s
$5

Gutbucket is the new darling of the downtown New York music scene that nurtured such giants as John Zorn’s ‘Masada’ and ‘Bang on a Can’.  Some call it “jazz-punk” but “cartoon-thrash-indie or psychedelic” could be added to the genre pool.   www.gutweb.com

Mouthbreather hasn’t cut short their lust for wildly energetic rock and roll, despite the fact that they are kick-ass musicians.  Imagine if The Stooges put on magic hats and suddenly had chops like Dillinger Escape Plan.   www.myspace.com/mouthbreathermusic

Basilica can be heard as chamber-music, noise-rock, tech-grind,  post-whatever, or a colossal absurdity.  Their explosion of guitars, bass, drums, violins, and visuals is one of Bloomington’s most truly provocative performances.   www.myspace.com/basilicaproject

Stringzz plays some old and new charts for jazz string quartet and rhythm section.  These young performers will fill the room with the sweetest tones and hottest licks but always with the ripe smell of soul.

Goodhands Team is an anomaly.  Ask 2 people about them and you’ll hear about 3 different versions of GHT.  Electronic and acoustic, rhythmic but aleatoric, GHT exists as a precious abberation.  www.goodhandsteam.com

Monday October 22nd
Das Kapital (myspace.com/thedaskapital)
Chicago punk rock on Johann’s Face Records.  Featuring former members of the Traitors.

The Cool Girlfriends (myspace.com/thecoolgirlfriends)

(Possibly) Pedro Says, “Hi”
Bloomington’s new rock band.

once again same deal, starts at nine, drinks available, donations to be taken up.

Saturday October 20th
The Brokedowns (myspace.com/thebrokedowns)
Dillinger Four-esqe punk from the Chicagoland area on Thick Records.

American Cheeseburger (myspace.com/cheeseburgersrule)
Thrash from Athens, GA

One Reason (myspace.com/onereason)
Now they’re local.  Won’t be playing too often for a while.

Also starts at nine, drinks will be available.  Donations will be a little more enforced for the 2 touring bands.