"And I've been waiting such a long time..."
I'm mailing the $30 reinstatement fee to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles today. They should receive it by Monday. I'm cleared in the Tennessee computers; now I just have to wait until the offices in Colombus receive my payment and re-adjust me in their computers. And then I'll be able to get my driver's license here in Xenia.
Driver's license --> money --> power = women. So simple an equation. ;)
---
I bought Starflyer 59's new album (Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice) on Sunday. I've been following the band since '94. They started out as My Bloody Valentine-eqsue shoegazers, but as the years rolled by their music matured, metamorphosized into a signature style that is both unique and instantly recognizable.
I'm really bad at describing music, especially rock and roll... It's so easy to pigenhole bands together by style or genre. In the case of Starflyer 59, though, their music is all over the place. Jason Martin, the singer, guitarist, and songwriter, attempts to re-write the rules of rock and roll with each new song. One track may be an ominous rock dirge with heavy cruncha-cruncha guitars and indecipherable vocals, while the next is a soft, 50's style lounge song with sparse guitars, brush-stick drums, whispered vocals, and the background sound of ice tinkling in martini glasses. Their influences are a smattering of kick-ass musicians, ranging from Hank Williams to Patsy Cline to The Cure to The Smiths, by way of My Bloody Valentine, Johnny Cash, Dick Dale, and yes, even 80's new wave.
Out of all my favorite rock and roll bands, Starflyer 59 has the most luscious, beautiful guitar arrangements... They're heartbreakingly sad... They conjure up images of a lonely man walking through the desert, or a boy standing in the rain who can't think of anything but his girl.
Like Joy Electric, Starflyer 59's lyrics are rooted heavily in nostalgia. I think it's why I like both bands so much. Just take, for example, the lyrics to "Fell in Love at 22":
Fell in love at 22
With a girl that's close to you
Find a job and find a life
No more long days, longer nights
With your girl and family too
Playing card games in the room
This is our life, our old times...
Now that John is 42
With a family like you
With a job that led him down
Don't you know I led him round?
This is our life, our old times...
If you know me, you know I tend to ramble on and on about old friends and adventures from the past. I have an adventure, a story, for every occasion, and I love to share them with anybody who will listen. And I look back on those times with a sort of fond bittersweetness. SF59 feels the same way. Growing up in Orange County, California (their hometown), is probably a hell of a lot different than growing up in Dayton, Tennessee, but the magic of youth transcends region. It's the music that connects us...
Starflyer 59 music is a sure-fire way to cure a hangover or make you think about that pretty blond-haired girl in high school who stole your heart but married That Other Guy.
Check out their Purevolume site and listen to my new favorite song, "Good Sons". And buy their album, dammit!
---
I'm currently reading The Elegant Universe, by Pulitzer Prize finalist Brian Greene. He's a leading physicist in quantum mechanics and has some interesting theories concerning the fundamental fabric of space, time, matter, and everything else that exists in the universe.
He's a proponent of superstring theory, that is, the theory that every particle of matter, and indeed, every force or influence (including gravity and electromagnetic waves) in existence, arises from the vibrations of two-dimensional strings(these strings are sub-quantum in scale: ultra-ultra-ultra microscopic, about three billionths of a centimeter). These tiny loops of string vibrate like the strings on a violin; some loops vibrate slowly, like a low note on a violin, while other loops vibrate very fast, like a high note. Low vibrations produce less energy, while high vibrations produce more.
Everyone's familiar with the model of the atom. You learned it in science class back in junior high. You know, the cluster of balls (protons and neutrons) surrounded by orbiting electrons. And everything's made from atoms. Your body contains untold billions of them. Everything you touch, see, smell, taste, and experience in life is made up of atoms. But when you get down deeper, and start looking at the fundamental particles that come together to form atoms (electrons, neutrons, protons), you see that they, too, are made up of even smaller particles, called quarks. But if you look even further, you'll find that the quarks themselves are made of even tinier loops of string.
Sound crazy? I thought so, too, until I started reading this book.
For over 100 years, man has been on a quest to unify the four fundamental forces of nature. These include gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. You're familiar with the first two: gravity and electromagnetism. Gravity's what keeps your feet planted firmly to the earth. It makes apples fall from trees and keeps our atmosphere from escaping into space. Electromagnetism is the force behind most of our daily household items and appliances, such as TV, radio, microwaves, even your stove. The other two forces, the strong and weak nuclear foces, are a bit shadier. You may not have heard of them. The strong nuclear force is the "glue" that binds atoms together. It's like a really tiny version of gravity. Imagine that an atom is the size of a solar system. Just as gravity keeps the planets of the solar system tied together in perfect balance and motion, so too does the strong nuclear force keep the particles in an atom together. The weak nuclear force is responsible for the radioactive decay of substances like uranium and plutonium.
So far the quest to unite these four fundamental forces of nature has failed. The reason is this: Einstein's theory of special and general relativity, while explaining perfectly the patterns of the macroscopic universe (the universe we can perceive with our five senses), breaks apart when the same rules are applied to the microscopic universe (the universe of atoms, particles, quanta, etc.) Simply put, they are imcompatable. But yet they're both right. How can this be? This paradox has frustrated legions of physicists since the 1930's, and it was the one equation that eluded Einstein his entire life. Uniting all four forces would lead to what physicists consider the Holy Grail of science: a universal Theory of Everything (also called a Unified Field Theory, or Grand Unified Theory) that explains, in the simplest of terms, how everything in the universe, from the macroscopic to the microscopic, works. And not just how it works, but WHY it works. It would be a window into the mind of God.
Scientists, including the author, Brian Greene, believe they have found the answer in superstring theory. So far all the research has yielded amazing results; like a puzzle whose pieces have been scattered to the four corners of the earth, man is slowly finding them and putting them back together. Soon, possibly within the next 50 years, we'll start to see the picture emerging.
I'd try to explain superstring theory, but I'm only on page 50, and this book is seriously intense. It's humping my brain relentlessly. As soon as I finish it, or at least digest enough to regurgitate, I'll post a science lesson on the blog.
Maybe we're one step closer to hyperspacing it to a galaxy far, far away...
---
Hey! All the cool kids are myspacin' it. You should, too!
More importantly, I have a favor to ask of you: if you're a friend of mine from Dayton, Chattanooga, or the general 423 area in Tennessee (or if I knew you in high school -- Matt!), then create a profile at myspace.com (it's free). Look me up and add me to your friends list. I only have 10 so far. Everybody else has, like, 300. Trust me, myspace is fun, you'd be surprised who's on there. It's the one thing everybody's doing that I actually like.
Driver's license --> money --> power = women. So simple an equation. ;)
---
I bought Starflyer 59's new album (Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice) on Sunday. I've been following the band since '94. They started out as My Bloody Valentine-eqsue shoegazers, but as the years rolled by their music matured, metamorphosized into a signature style that is both unique and instantly recognizable.
I'm really bad at describing music, especially rock and roll... It's so easy to pigenhole bands together by style or genre. In the case of Starflyer 59, though, their music is all over the place. Jason Martin, the singer, guitarist, and songwriter, attempts to re-write the rules of rock and roll with each new song. One track may be an ominous rock dirge with heavy cruncha-cruncha guitars and indecipherable vocals, while the next is a soft, 50's style lounge song with sparse guitars, brush-stick drums, whispered vocals, and the background sound of ice tinkling in martini glasses. Their influences are a smattering of kick-ass musicians, ranging from Hank Williams to Patsy Cline to The Cure to The Smiths, by way of My Bloody Valentine, Johnny Cash, Dick Dale, and yes, even 80's new wave.
Out of all my favorite rock and roll bands, Starflyer 59 has the most luscious, beautiful guitar arrangements... They're heartbreakingly sad... They conjure up images of a lonely man walking through the desert, or a boy standing in the rain who can't think of anything but his girl.
Like Joy Electric, Starflyer 59's lyrics are rooted heavily in nostalgia. I think it's why I like both bands so much. Just take, for example, the lyrics to "Fell in Love at 22":
Fell in love at 22
With a girl that's close to you
Find a job and find a life
No more long days, longer nights
With your girl and family too
Playing card games in the room
This is our life, our old times...
Now that John is 42
With a family like you
With a job that led him down
Don't you know I led him round?
This is our life, our old times...
If you know me, you know I tend to ramble on and on about old friends and adventures from the past. I have an adventure, a story, for every occasion, and I love to share them with anybody who will listen. And I look back on those times with a sort of fond bittersweetness. SF59 feels the same way. Growing up in Orange County, California (their hometown), is probably a hell of a lot different than growing up in Dayton, Tennessee, but the magic of youth transcends region. It's the music that connects us...
Starflyer 59 music is a sure-fire way to cure a hangover or make you think about that pretty blond-haired girl in high school who stole your heart but married That Other Guy.
Check out their Purevolume site and listen to my new favorite song, "Good Sons". And buy their album, dammit!
---
I'm currently reading The Elegant Universe, by Pulitzer Prize finalist Brian Greene. He's a leading physicist in quantum mechanics and has some interesting theories concerning the fundamental fabric of space, time, matter, and everything else that exists in the universe.
He's a proponent of superstring theory, that is, the theory that every particle of matter, and indeed, every force or influence (including gravity and electromagnetic waves) in existence, arises from the vibrations of two-dimensional strings(these strings are sub-quantum in scale: ultra-ultra-ultra microscopic, about three billionths of a centimeter). These tiny loops of string vibrate like the strings on a violin; some loops vibrate slowly, like a low note on a violin, while other loops vibrate very fast, like a high note. Low vibrations produce less energy, while high vibrations produce more.
Everyone's familiar with the model of the atom. You learned it in science class back in junior high. You know, the cluster of balls (protons and neutrons) surrounded by orbiting electrons. And everything's made from atoms. Your body contains untold billions of them. Everything you touch, see, smell, taste, and experience in life is made up of atoms. But when you get down deeper, and start looking at the fundamental particles that come together to form atoms (electrons, neutrons, protons), you see that they, too, are made up of even smaller particles, called quarks. But if you look even further, you'll find that the quarks themselves are made of even tinier loops of string.
Sound crazy? I thought so, too, until I started reading this book.
For over 100 years, man has been on a quest to unify the four fundamental forces of nature. These include gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. You're familiar with the first two: gravity and electromagnetism. Gravity's what keeps your feet planted firmly to the earth. It makes apples fall from trees and keeps our atmosphere from escaping into space. Electromagnetism is the force behind most of our daily household items and appliances, such as TV, radio, microwaves, even your stove. The other two forces, the strong and weak nuclear foces, are a bit shadier. You may not have heard of them. The strong nuclear force is the "glue" that binds atoms together. It's like a really tiny version of gravity. Imagine that an atom is the size of a solar system. Just as gravity keeps the planets of the solar system tied together in perfect balance and motion, so too does the strong nuclear force keep the particles in an atom together. The weak nuclear force is responsible for the radioactive decay of substances like uranium and plutonium.
So far the quest to unite these four fundamental forces of nature has failed. The reason is this: Einstein's theory of special and general relativity, while explaining perfectly the patterns of the macroscopic universe (the universe we can perceive with our five senses), breaks apart when the same rules are applied to the microscopic universe (the universe of atoms, particles, quanta, etc.) Simply put, they are imcompatable. But yet they're both right. How can this be? This paradox has frustrated legions of physicists since the 1930's, and it was the one equation that eluded Einstein his entire life. Uniting all four forces would lead to what physicists consider the Holy Grail of science: a universal Theory of Everything (also called a Unified Field Theory, or Grand Unified Theory) that explains, in the simplest of terms, how everything in the universe, from the macroscopic to the microscopic, works. And not just how it works, but WHY it works. It would be a window into the mind of God.
Scientists, including the author, Brian Greene, believe they have found the answer in superstring theory. So far all the research has yielded amazing results; like a puzzle whose pieces have been scattered to the four corners of the earth, man is slowly finding them and putting them back together. Soon, possibly within the next 50 years, we'll start to see the picture emerging.
I'd try to explain superstring theory, but I'm only on page 50, and this book is seriously intense. It's humping my brain relentlessly. As soon as I finish it, or at least digest enough to regurgitate, I'll post a science lesson on the blog.
Maybe we're one step closer to hyperspacing it to a galaxy far, far away...
---
Hey! All the cool kids are myspacin' it. You should, too!
More importantly, I have a favor to ask of you: if you're a friend of mine from Dayton, Chattanooga, or the general 423 area in Tennessee (or if I knew you in high school -- Matt!), then create a profile at myspace.com (it's free). Look me up and add me to your friends list. I only have 10 so far. Everybody else has, like, 300. Trust me, myspace is fun, you'd be surprised who's on there. It's the one thing everybody's doing that I actually like.
posted by Billy at 1:45 PM
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