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yesterday i synced up a couple of small battery powered synthesizers. it’s cool knowing that i can do this by myself, but it’s more fun when someone else is along for the experimental ride. my ultimate goal is to generate these kind of progressions and engage non-musicians on first fridays. i want them to play something rhythmically or just make beep sounds in the right places. here are a couple of those progressions:
weird slow spy
UFO shuffle

we had a few people drop by the homer’s conference room for mondo beep last friday. elena and jennifer played twinkle twinkle little star on a casio synthesizer that was filtered through a volca keys synth. it was pretty melodic compared to the racket we were making earlier.

it’s the first friday of the month, and artists in the crossroads will set up their indoor displays in a few hours… indoors. normally i would take my boombox, laptop, and beeping gadgets out to the sidewalk, but it’s too cold now for that. tonight mondo beep goes inside the conference room next to homer’s on 80th street. we’ll start making noise around 6pm and keep doing that until you plus me starts playing at 7:30. if you hear an unearthly howl, and you’re not prone to seizures (we might have a strobe light) come inside and jam with us.

the snow started falling around 9am. i was scheduled to teach CPR today, but the class was canceled. homer’s is closing in an hour. i’ve seen one vehicle go down my street. i guess it’s time to burrow in, fry potatoes, and watch netflix… then lose interest, think about getting out, but then just stay home and play synthesizers.

just when i thought i had seen every beatle documentary out there, this one popped up on netflix. it’s about freda kelly and her memories of beatlemania. she was the beatles’ fan club secretary from 1963-1972.  i’ve been watching this beatles doc little by little since last night. i love hearing stories that are old and new.

YJ’s is a self proclaimed third world snack bar. it’s one of my favorite places in KC. last night jenny & i went there to enjoy coffee and snacks. the temperature dropped 20 degrees, and a stack of pennies fell off the door frame while we stayed warm inside listening to an awesome jazz combo.

i recently discovered the band, big star, while listening to a minnesota public radio station online. the DJ was playing songs by this band that only released 3 albums between 1972-74. big star never achieved commercial success, but their music was a strong influence on groups like R.E.M. and the replacements. there’s also a good documentary about the band on netflix.

the other morning jenny asked me when my next CPR class was scheduled, and i said ” hang on, i need to look at the map.” obviously i was referring to a calendar. it’s an easy to mistake one for the other if you really think about it: they are both made of paper, they both fold, they both have destinations. as i get older my brain is compacting alot of these things that resemble each other. it started with weddings and funerals. maps and calendars are just the newest addition to a growing list.

i like to write song parodies. some people think parodies are lame. i think they can be awesome. glenn & i wrote and recorded this one last summer. here’s a link to the video if you are unable to watch the one above (mom).

they finally really did it! those maniacs at the retroist recorded a podcast about planet of the apes circa 1968!