Fluid Flow

Confiscated weapons to be melted into rebar: Weapons were on display Monday at Los Angeles County Sheriff’s headquarters, where Sheriff Lee Baca announced the destruction of more than 8,300 weapons confiscated from criminals in Los Angeles County. The guns will be converted Tuesday morning into steel rebar as part of ‘Project Isaiah.’ Tamco Steel donates its furnace, equipment and personnel to convert the weapons into rebar, and will allocate the steel from the melted weapons to be used for upgrades to freeways and bridges in California, Nevada and Arizona.

(Via Los Angeles Times - Top News.)

Melt the guns
Melt the guns
Melt the guns
And never more to fire them
Melt the guns
Melt the guns
Melt the guns
And never more desire them
(XTC - Melt the Guns, 1982)

I hope the song blasting at the foundry tomorrow.

I am not sure why. Perhaps it’s because I am approaching 50 (in a year or so), perhaps it’s because I am reading Farley Mowat’s “final” memoir, I am not sure.

It certainly isn’t because I have something to write. I have never had a desire to write. Prose and poetry do not leap from my keyboard. The only time that my writing has achieved passing marks is in journalism, geology, and one composition class at UCSB, where the teaching assistant did not mind my simple and direct approach.

It isn’t much to hang your hat on.

But I do like telling stories and I have lived long enough to have a few.

So I have started an outline. The two top headings are “Timeline” and “Themes”. I don’t know where this is going to go, but it seems worthy of exploration.

March 1977.

I had received my drivers license just two weeks before. I am out on my own in the family station wagon. Styling as best you can in a Plymouth Belvedere. I go to Banana Records, that strange little box on El Camino (near Frys for those of you who are to young too remember).

I walk into the store and find Yessongs, an album that I have been lusting after. I buy it, I head outside elated. I backup out of my parking space and crease the car next to me big time.

I walk back into the record store and ask for the owner of the car I just creased. He is cool, and did something similar when he was 16.

I have never asked how much that album cost my folks. But I still have it and I digitized it today.

Had he lived to see it, today would have been Aaron Copland’s 107 birthday.

I celebrated by listening to some of his music. I have been a fan of Copland’s since I was 7 or 8 and when I went on a field trip to the SF Symphony.

Later I realized that I had heard his music on the Gulf Oil commercials during the Gemini space launches.

I met him in San Jose in 1976, and played the tongue-tied fan perfectly.

Gabriel passes on Genesis reunion: “Former Genesis singer Peter Gabriel says he will not be joining his bandmates for an upcoming reunion tour.”

(Via BBC News | Entertainment.)

This was expected and welcome. Over thirty years after the split most fans wouldn’t recognize Gabriel or his contributions. Genesis’ Gabriel years are special, but long gone. The band got better after he left and Gabriel has done pretty well for himself as well.

Still there isn’t any excitement with a reunion tour with this long time fan. The loss of Steve Hackett started the decent from great music into pop drivel. Sadly, Hackett has done little notable since that second, more important split.

Banks, Collins, Rutherford could never match Banks, Collins, Hackett, Rutherford the way that those four matched and exceeded Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Rutherford.

So the reunion of the three rates little more than a “that’s interesting… they must need money”

If Genesis were interested in resurrecting the music, they would bring Steve Hackett back into the fold.

Guitarist Fripp working on Vista soundtrack: “Blog: Microsoft has recruited Robert Fripp, a guitarist best known for his role in the 1960s band King Crimson, to compose parts…”

(Via CNET News.com.)

One of my favorite musicians is teaming up with a hated company to produce bling sounds. Is there no god?

News: Rocker Townshend cautions iPod users on hearing loss: “Legendary rock guitarist Pete Townshend urges his fans to turn down the volume on their iPods, lest they risk permanent hearing loss.”

(Via MacCentral.)

Pete Townshend says that using earphones caused his hearing damage. Most of the ads on the page are for earphones. One case where context-based advertising fails.

Happy Birthday Aaron

And thank you for the music that has filled my life for nearly 40 years.

Today’s song : “You can get anything…: “Today’s song: ‘You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant. You can get anything you want. At Alice’s Restaurant. Walk right in it’s around the back, just a half a mile from the railroad track. And you can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.’”

(Via Scripting News.)

Of course, the pessimists answer to that song is “You can’t always get what you want.” The kicker, of course which lands you smack dab in between, is that if you try, sometimes… you get what you need.

Listening to Pink Floyd “Welcome to the Machine” and “Wish you were here”.

Reading a passage from Annie Dillard’s “For The Time Being” (thank you Real Live Preacher“)

And thinking about Robinson Jeffers’ “The Purse-Seine“.

Nothing new to report, but the net seems a little closer today.