Synaesthesia: A Critique in 20 Pages/Tracks

Well, not really synaesthesia. Synaesthesia is, for those who aren't up to date on weird, esoteric, hippie-descriptors, is what is described as substituting one sense for another. While certain fungi may cause said effects to occur, some people stumble upon it even more naturally. Richard D. James, aka Aphex Twin, is a so-called synaesthete. He "hears" color hues in sound, etc. Other well known artists are also reported to be synaesthetes, although their particular traits vary.

Regardless what you think about this interesting concept, it's not what I'm talking about, so forget it. I'm merely discussing how it's nice to listen to music while writing. Yeah, that is nice. Listening, writing, reading, all at the same time. Sounds/looks/writes nice.

Since it's the end of the academic year and there are folks out there struggling to write papers, I thought I would share my paper writing mix. It got me through the seventy pages of my Master's Thesis.

The songs are almost entirely lyric-less. They are quite airy and ambient, although there are some electronic songs in there too. Can't have you falling asleep on your keyboard, now can we? But don't worry, it's not going to make you get up and dance. You'll just peck keys with authority. All in all I think it is best for blanketing out background noise (like idiots talking on cellphones in the library) but not distracting from the task at hand.

The whole thing runs just under two hours. My first try at podcasting! No microphone though, so I guess it's just a mixcast. Whatever.

Writing Mix (password: writing)
Salt of the Sea - The Gentleman Losers
Julie and Candy - Boards of Canada
Call Me - Marsmobil
Weathered Stone - Aphex Twin
Six Pack - Tortoise
White Light Of - Do Make Say Think
Hexagon - Aphex Twin
Eleventh! - Arovane
Sing - Slowdive
Maps - Ada
Everything Merges with the Night - Brian Eno
Morning Passages - Philip Glass/Michael Riesman
Cliffs - Aphex Twin
Historics Repeating as One Thousand Hearts Mend - Esmerine
Open the Light - Boards of Canada
I'll Come Running - Brian Eno
Guilty Cubicles - Broken Social Scene
Scoop - The Notwist
Laureline - The Gentleman Losers
Alpha and Omega - Boards of Canada

I don't want to use your love

I just finished my thesis, and so I am kicking back, at 1am, with a six pack of tall boy Steel Reserve, my favorite malt liquor, purchased from our very own Harlem Up! 24 Hour Deli. The song of the hour, courtesy of my good friend Deejay Gonzo, whose mix, Dance Party for Dummies Vol. 1 got me through the thesis process, is The Outfield - I Don't Want to Lose Your Love Tonight. I'm going to give you the song, but you should download the mix. It's very swell, and it kept me amped during the two all-nighters that went down this past week. Check him out.

But still: I just want to use your love, I don't want to lose your love.

The Outfield - I D...

70 pages full of pizza

Because my graduate school department (which shall heretofore go unnamed) decided to screw me over, I have had to compose my entire Master's Thesis in one week. It is a good thing that I was already ahead of schedule before the eliminated the schedule, otherwise I would be dead in the street right now, and not sitting on top of 70+ pages on Freud, Derrida, Kristeva, and Marx.

This is my excuse for the scanty posts of late. Next week I should be back at work, which means back on the internet, which means back on the blog. Right now I'm taking time out from my last few pages to steal NYU's internet at the catalog terminal. They won't give me a wireless logon, the bastards! Luckily I can steal this at 230am. I would have earlier, but the place was swamped with NYU jerks instant messaging. I just keep standing up to make sure no one's stealing my laptop from the carrol across the room. The laptop is expensive, sure, but if I lost the thesis now, I would have to light the place on fire. And not that metaphorical, just-talk-about-it fire, the real kind. The kind that burns libraries down with its vengeful anger.

So that's it for now. Maybe, depending how batty I get, there will be another post later tonight. Tell you what: at least I'll update the blog quote to something appropriately philosophical. That Bowie quote has had its day. Move over!

Oh, one other discovery. Drinking soda with pizza will taste like a pizza party, no matter how old I am.