Tonight I made a song for this concept album that's been kicking around my head for a week or two. I posted it on the music page for downloading. Lots of notes on the thinking behind this one - lemme know what you think.

It's crazy how 4 hours of work can result in a 1 minute 42 second song. Wild... IF you need me I'll be in sleepy town.

Looks like I'm into a Sunday night groove of posting to this thang-a-lang. Good weekend - Went to see Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings on Friday at Southpaw. I love a band of guys in suits moving from side to side in unison.

Was in the city on Saturday and saw 3287420934 people lined up for the opening of the new MOMA. I can't wait to hit that place up, even with the $20 entrance fee. You can't put a price on art, but you can put a price on admission.

Went to a friend's birthday party that involved all sorts of debauchery, ice luge shots and messiness. DJ'd a few sets and felt good making people get down.

For those of you clocking the Floyd Bocce Ball Tournament - our team played today (some of our team members hadn't slept; see party description above). We were victorious even in our sorry state, bringing our record to 3-0. Look for us on ESPN soon. I'll also be doing endorsements for Nike.

Random links to good stuff:

Chengwin - half chicken half penguin
Superbad - creative web/graphic design with no purpose but to waste time
I like this poster

Been getting great music as of late. Have you heard of The Notwist? They are your new favorite band.

Hoping to make headway this week on an album concept that's been burning a hole in my brain, and meeting with I. to work on our EP. May also take up industrial/product design soon.

This feels like a very self-serving, indulgent post. Not much insight or dialogue. In that vein, let me just say that I love peppermint tea. Thank you Internet for giving me this soapbox to stand on.

..gobble gobble...

The Sunday night check-in.

Things are good. Real good. Pulled my weight in an ongoing bocce-ball tournament at Floyd today. Our team, the Mustangs are 2 and 0! It did mean some mid-day drinking which was unexpected.

My brother got married yesterday out in Jersey City. It was a real nice catered event (ooooooooooh - fancy). Did a lot of celebrating and dancing. I was a bit fearful it was going to be an emotionally debilitating day (lots of family drama), but it turned out to be surprisingly fun! Got to see my niece which is always amazing. She spent a good amount of time just doing laps on the empty dancefloor as people ate dinner. Sometimes its the simple things...

Brainstormed yet another concept this weekend (they're coming out of left field these days, but I actually need to make one stick!). This one is for an album , and it feels like a good thing. Been getting together with I. to try and get a 5-track EP together before the holidays (yeah, you know - so the labels can put it out for the holiday rush). I'm just gonna keep throwing spaghetti at the wall and wait to see what sticks.

I've been getting inspired by former Soul Coughing front man Mike Doughty. He's been blogging his experience as he records his new full length album. Check it here. damn I love that guy. Son sincere and honest - great songwriter and all around nice guy. I
m gonna see if he wants to play on my album (sidenote: If anyone reading this can make that happen, I'll be your best friend. For reals.)

I've been obsessed with a song I heard on music.for-robots.com. It's a great site that my man JP contributes to. They post free MP3s for evaluation purposes. Great write ups and selections. JP posted this song by Oliver I, who apparently is 15 years young and plays all the instruments . Download the mp3 here.

In sadder news, everyone's favorite rapper, Ol' Dirty Bastard has passed away. He's given me so many smiles over the years, from Wu Tang, to his solo career. I have a vision of him in that Mariah Carey video "Honey" when they're in the fun park emblazon on my brain. "Damn Mariah - Go back like babies with pacifiers". May you find peace in the after life.

Pics from Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY on the photoblog page. 

REPORTING LIVE FROM NEW PALTZ...

Once a year I get to come up to the Mohonk Mountain House outside of New Paltz, NY for a 3-day technology conference concerning education. I look forward to this every year (well this is my second time so I guess I've only looked forward to it twice!). It is SO beautiful here (pics to be posted when I get home). I'm surrounded by people in my industry who struggle with the same issues I do. We laugh and dance and eat (a lot) and talk a ton of shit.

It's a starange environment. More so than anything else I do during the year, this makes me feel I am in a "carreer" - which can scare me shitless. Admitting I am on some sort of a carreer path could possibly mean that the Creative dreams are over.

I think I'm coming to an understanding that these things need not be mutaully exclusive. I can rocka day job that I love, and even try to enhance it - while still taking my free time to create and express myself. Maybe even more to the point, I've found ways to incorporate creativity into my 9-5. If I didn't I'd probably frak out!

So anywho- it feels great to be here. I've met some amazing people and learned a lot.

AND IT'S SNOWING!!! SNOWING I SAY!!!!! I don't think it's snowing in the city. I'm looking forward to a busy weekend when I get back. This is a good feeling - being relaxed...

A whole truckload of new pics on the photoblog page. High five.  

Love those balmy Sundays!

Had a great day today to top of a pretty great weekend. These notes can be enhanced by picks I'm about to post on the photoblog page.

Enjoyed the enthusiasm of cheering on late day runners in the marathon. I was just as pumped up for the cheering crowd as I was for the runners! Also got to skateboard around wide open streets that were covered in thousands of Gatorade cups. Wide open baby.

Hit up Williamsburg, but steered clear of the Bedford bullshit festival, and opted instead for great side streets, galleries, and catching up with an old friend.

Then into the city to get a frame for a new poster I got. What's up silkscreen.

So tired - blowing off math homework in place of posting pics. I gots my priorities straight. Busy week coming up, brother's wedding next Saturday. Starting a new creative initiative this week. Hopefully this one will get legs. Ok - now I'm just babbling.

Latex - liptex

What the f? When Bush was elected in 2000, while it was a disappointment, no one had the abillity to grasp what he was capable of or how low he could go. Certainly, if we had an inkling as to how he'd react to the events of 9/11, there would have been a swing in those polls against him. It's been this lack of foresight that has on some level made the last 4 years a touch more tolerable,

HOWEVER, when this fucking guy gets elected AGAIN with Americans knowing what a diabolical, underhanded, self-serving, money hungry bastard he is - it leaves me little faith in the country we call home.

I am an American, but I feel much more like a New Yorker today. Perhaps I live in an insulated community - not an ivory tower by any means (NYC has it's own batch of problems, conflicts and hazards). But I do believe that as New Yorkers we are more in tune with the realities of the world, both local and global.

How did this happen? Does middle America really believe that he is the right man for the job, or did they fall prey to G.W.'s scare tactics? Regardless, for me it creates a divide between myself in my community and the rest of the country. We are not unified. We are not all on the same page. But we are all in this together, which is what makes it all the scarier. To paraphrase Stripes: George W is the Big Toe on our giant foot.

The most fucked outcome of this is that life will go on probably unitterupted. People will still be influenced to shop as much as they can (both to keep the fat cats rich, and to keep the nation numb), we'll still dilute ourselves with TV, movies, and coca-cola in an effort to forget our troubles. The news we receive is a watered down version of the truth, expertley tailored to make us feel one way or another. The Truth has never been harder to ascertain. All the people who voted for Bush will go back to this lifestyle and live the American Dream, which is really a nightmare in disguise.

Sure - I'm rambling here, but whatever. I'm a tangle of emotions as I try to get through this day. We all kid around about moving out of the country, but now it seems more of a reality.

God help us.

Close-up of skyscraper sculpture in lower manhattan. See photoblog page for more pic love.  

Connecting at the 5-spot.

For about the past month I've been dealing with massive internet issues at home. I rebooted - I recycled - I changed settings - did virus scans - even had the techie from my booshy cable company come out to take a look. Nothing. I could barely get online, and even when I did it was like I was rockin' a 56k dial up (what's up 1998?).

Tonight I took a trip over to the cable company and exchanged my cable modem for a new one. Needless to say my shit is on fire right now!!! En fuego even.

So if you've been missing stupidfresh updates, now you know why.

Anywho - here's what's been cooking in no particular order:

Been continuing to brew up the cover song project. Tried a few songs out on some people last week - good response.

Yesterday (Sunday) was the nicest Halloween of all time. I got to skate to the Brooklyn Bridge and spent some QT up there for maybe the last time this season. Continued into the city. I love skating around city hall - the streets are really wide, but it's still very crowded. A good mix of dangerous and fun. Went up to Union Square and bumped into some people I used to hang with there.

DJ'd a birthday party on Saturday night. Not the most dance friendly engagement but still a good time. The highlight was probably the end of the night where it got really moody and I was able to play some deep cuts (the Jamie Cullum cover of Frontin', the Nostalgia77 soul cover of Seven Nation Army, etc.) Maybe it was the Makers on the rocks talking but it felt real good.

Been rocking a math review for the GRE's. I'm not sure if I'm going back to grad school, but I'm starting to take the steps to give myself the option. It's all about options.

tomorrow is the mother f-ing election. It's starting to freak me out some. I, like many people, have toyed wit the idea of moving the hell out of dodge if that crazy Texan stays in power. It's an interesting excuse to get me to France. Bold move but you know.

On a certain level I feel like moving away is more about running away. When you relocate you buy time where you have to figure out the new town and it's logistics. You spend time moving around, upgrading to areas and apartments you like. Getting better jobs, building a solid core of friends for a support system. But what happens after that? That's what I'm struggling with right now. Sometimes I wish for the ignorance is bliss angle, and sometimes I feel blessed for the gift of always wanting more. The hard part is getting it.

It'll be easier with an internet connection. About to post some pics from the past week or so.

GO VOTE NOW!!!!!!