Agnus Dei

You'd think any given spin on your iPod would be the perfect request-list that's all you.

But sometimes the shuffle of songs just catches you unreceptive. Tune after tune arrives, and you find yourself endlessly skipping to the next surprise selection, hoping it will better suit your mood than what the randomized ether has coughed up so far.

Then there are the magic moments.

Times when the little plastic ditty-dealer seems to know exactly what you're listening for, and delivers it song by song - each connecting to its forebears and followers in a flow of personalized programming that couldn't be better if you were the DJ yourself.

Last night, for example.

I've taken to employing the 'Pod at bedding hour, the better to soothe my nerves and distract ye olde roving brain from its involuntary need to process everything occurring in the day past (and all days previous) while still conscious, never agreeing without a fight to roam the infinitely preferable (and far more effective) thought-sorting rhythms of REM sleep.

Usually I keep an ear or two cocked until the music starts to bore me, then doff headphones, turn cheek to pillow, and nod off to the precious land of la-la.

Not so when the 'Pod doles out what it did last night.

I'm creating an honorary playlist (mixtape, if you will) for fate's nocturnal serenade, but I'm naming it for the plush creature who has watched over my frustrated attempts at slumber the last few nights. Not from a prized position in my clutching arms, mind you, but from her spot at the piano across the room, where she's clearly learned a thing or two about what makes me bop my head and tap my feet - even from a horizontal, blanketed position.

Without further ado, I give you

Lamb Chop's Choice

1) Black Dove (January) - Tori Amos
2) Turn This Car Around - Tom Petty
3) Drama! - Erasure
4) Gone Daddy Gone - Gnarls Barkley
5) W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G. - Front 242
6) Geography - Front 242
7) Everybody's Got A Family - Massive Attack
8) Five Years - Bjork
9) Save Me - Aimee Mann
10) Sleep - Imogen Heap
11) The Walk - Imogen Heap
12) God Morgon - AP3S
13) Abuse - Propaganda
14) Push Upstairs - Underworld
15) Matrix OpenStatic - Front 242
16) Description Of A Fool - A Tribe Called Quest
17) Turn This Car Around - Tom Petty
18) Remind (Live @ Maida Vale) - Orbital

P.S. So far, TB's been all about visitin', bikin', runnin' (!!), weight-liftin' (!!!) and new-TV-show-watchin'.

Up Up Up

If you're keeping score, the end of Summer 2006 went like this:

Hangover 2
Hike 0

Well, third time was the charm. And following is the proof.

You can read along with us in your browser.


And so it begins.




This is the easy part.




Our heroes:




Robo-Kotti & Gweinz...




Robs & Trevs...




...and the conspicuous 5th wheel.




Onward!




Trevs, unaware what he's signed up for...




...but admirably game.




I like this photo.




Robs, first to crest Bear...




...and her wake.




Gweinz, hold still.
There's something in your pack.




Mini Nerd wuz 'ere.




Boom, lookin' lonely.




Top of Boom, lookin' naked.




Not sure what these are...




... but these are alpine flowers.




First leg complete!




And the motley crew still spoilin' for it.




Bring it on!




'Cuz we gots da goods...




...and Mini gots a woody.




Second leg underway.




It's all uphill from here.




You know I wanted to go in there.




But smarter heads prevailed.




So up Snake Ridge we went.




Here's a mountain woman in her natural habitat.




And here's a mountain insect.
(Note the prominent proboscis.)




Now we gotta climb this.




Gweinz: See y'all later.

Robs: Er--




Kotti/Trevs: We'll stay right here, thanks.




Mini: Guys, check this view!




Here's where it gets interesting.




Gweinz: See y'all later.




Mini: Slow down and pose, dammit!




Kotti: You coming?

Mini: Sec, I need a shot of this
loose shale I can't keep a grip on.




Photo showdown!!!
Trevs: of Robs.




Robs: of Trevs.




Trevs: of Mini.




Robs: of Trevs.




Trevs: of two random hikists.




He even pulled this one off.
Don't ask me how.




Robs: I win!




Trevs: Let's take this outside.




Random hikists make their escape.




Trevs pursues, eager for more photos.




As intense as it looks.




Ditto.




Robo-Kotti struts the scree like a catwalk,
showing off her elegant modified gams.




Yeah, it's pretty frickin' cool up here.




The final leg.




Another leg.




Gweinz: See y'all later.
(Spot the red backpack.)




Lofty ideals.




The top!

And here's who we did it for:

John Latt, rest in peace.




My Oma and Opa's ashes are here too.




The other crew, who went the easy way.




See, my photos were better.




The ladies love the foot.




Top right is where we are.




But it's time to go.




Trevs attends to business.




Not to be outdone, Robs throws
her, um...hat...into the ring.




Let's call it a draw!




And onward to the finale.




Now, this may look pretty tame.




But really, it's not.




Hence, my pose.




'Cuz I am here.




This photo could have been better.




This sure looks like ammonite to me.




And this, like a UFO crash site.




And this, a father and daughter
arguing about how much to offer
for the prime alpine real estate.




But I'm funny that way.




And for the record...




We took the easy way down.



EPILOGUE

Every time I biked this summer, I wanted to go for a swim.

I finally got my wish, but no bikes were involved.


So here's the spot.




It's pretty nice.




The gang's all here.




Including conspicuous 5th wheel.




Trevs considers a plunge.




Gweinz considers a shove.




Wyle E. leads the way.




Mini stops to smell the roses.




Trevs and Chibi pull up the rear.




Gweinz opts to stay dry.




Mini does not.




Neither do Robs or Trevs.




But Robs found the water too warm.




Though Trevs enjoyed another dip.




And 5th wheel made manifest his isolation.




Walter.




The diving board.




The way back.




Kotti's friend.




Some hooligans.



THE END

We Rang

My buddy Neil and I entered that Wagner remix contest, but neither of us made the final. The ten remixers who did span the range from dub to straight classical styles. Good on 'em.

Here's what Neil and I did:

Bride of the Valkyries by DJ Plaiditude (Neil Devine)

Ivory-Filtered Shake by DJ Mini Nerd (Stephen Reese)

Thanks again to Nanagram for the title of this post.

No. 25

Kinda speechless at the moment, but Alan Moore Knows The Score. And the synchronicities, as always this time of year, are legion. From the same comic book issue that made me care about proper spelling to an irrational degree:

Autumn is coming.

Autumn...and something else. Something dark...

In the corner of his eye, a sudden blur of gray, moving through the treetops, up to the right...

He turns, focusing...

It's gone.

He stands.

He wonders.

What comes with the autumn?

...And the shadows are growing longer.

Something is wrong.

Something's been wrong all day...

The birds are silent in the branches.

The gators stay close to the bank, stomachs full of rocks and broken turtle shells.

Troubled, he sits...

And sleeps.

And dreams...

It is a dream of someone else, someone who wore flesh and not foliage...

A frightened man.

A man in a furnace.

Alec Holland.

He can hear the roar of the explosion, hear the dreadful sizzling and bubbling and popping...

He is propelled, a blazing stringless puppet stumbling through the flames like some Catholic martyr...

...And he screams...

...And falls...

...And wakes.

And thinks: "What is it that comes with autumn?"

And knows:

It is fear.

Burning in my own crucible, I'll see what I can grow from it.

Liognel

Gnarls Barkley meets Lionel Richie:

Crazy All Night Long