Description by uploader barun432:
Nicolas Slonimsky talks about his association with Frank and his daughter Moon Unit in a public discussion organized by Charles Amirkhannian. He also talks about Zappa' music, about Edgard Varese and the Synclavier
Author: thad
Hungry Freaks, Daddy
Olympia, Paris, France, 1968. Uploaded by timmo1782.
Luden's Cough Drops
Another collaboration between Zappa and Ed Seeman (like the Underground Merchandising video I posted a couple of weeks ago). Once again uploaded by Seeman himself.
Gridlock, and the Threat of More Gridlock to Come
Dear Senator McConnell,
I saw you on the news vowing that, if Harry Reid enacts filibuster reform, you will ensure that your caucus will dig its heels in and make itself even MORE intractable. I have a few questions regarding this attitude:
- I am in favor of filibuster reform, as I was in 2005, back when you were also for it (and Harry Reid was against it). Can you provide a reason why you changed your position on this issue other than your party losing the majority?
- You have previously stated that the sole purpose for your previous intractability was to ensure that Barack Obama would be a one-term president. Now that this strategy has proven, objectively and unambiguously, to be a failure, can you provide a reason why you believe you should become even MORE resistant to compromise?
- To tell the truth, your threat seems empty. How do you propose that your caucus could be any more resistant to compromise than it already has been these past two years? What do you propose to do that is worse than filibustering every single bill and nominee that your opponents bring to the floor? Are you going to start filibustering your OWN bills now?
Thank you.
Synclavier
Black Page, Synclavier version. Uploader timmo1782 says "early 80s I'm guessing"; I'm inclined to agree.
Dragon Quest 1&2 SFC
I've occasionally been poking through the Super Famicom remake of the original Dragon Quest on my cell phone -- you know, when I've had downtime and haven't had my PSP or DS or suchlike with me.
First of all: man, onscreen D-pads suck, even for games that require as little precision as DQ. I have to savestate-spam just to get around the outside wall of Rimuldar without accidentally walking out.
Second: there's so much that's wonky about the interface of this remake. The stupid little half-steps you take instead of moving a full tile at a time, the bizarre decision to stick the action button on X and leave the menu on A (something they stuck with on up through 7 on the PS1!)...frankly I'm almost inclined to tip the Game Boy remake as the superior version of the game despite its inferior graphics and sound, just on its smoother interface.
(Also I recall the GB version having a more charming translation. I probably snorted out loud in class when I took the Princess to an inn and the keeper remarked the next morning that we'd sure been up late last night.)
(Yeah, I played Dragon Quest in class for most of CSE122. If you'd ever tried to sit through a lecture with that instructor, you'd understand.)
ZPZ in Austin
Bits of Keep It Greasey, Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy, and some solos I can't quite place offhand but that sure sound great. 2009; uploaded by ZappaIrl.
More Random Thoughts
Got an E-Mail about a Win7 update needs doin'. Only a four-day job but it'd still be nice to get.
Dizzy again today. It had been awhile. Don't know what caused it; did not like it.
Those Threadless shirts came in, and so far they seem like quality merchandise! I am happy with them. The Groupon deal still appears to be going on; it's worth checking out. (Though I now find that both shirts have been marked down to about the price I paid with the coupon since I ordered -- oh well, it happens.)
Ate dinner at Cornish Pasty. Good food, good beer.
Arrow has turned out to be a surprisingly good show, but man the dialogue on tonight's was overwrought. Geoff Johns? Oh.
Lunch
Egg, sunny-side-up, on toast, with feta, sour cream, and Arizona Gunslinger sauce.
Fascist Theocracy
Zappa's legendary 1986 appearance on Crossfire -- pardon the audio quality.
I'd read a (maybe partial?) transcipt before but never actually sat down and watched it in its entirety. It really is quite astounding just how aggressively ignorant John Lofton is -- incest is a major problem in America because of Prince? Seriously? Jesus Christ. Good thing conservatives had their priorities straight -- not like there was anything more important going on in early 1986.
Douchebag of Liberty Bob Novak seems downright moderate by comparison.
Judging by the E-Mails I routinely get from the Washington Times (thanks to foolishly signing up for a mailing list from a local Republican politician I knew professionally in 2006), they have roughly the same journalistic standards today as they did then. But that's a story for another day. (A story titled Is Obama Ruled by Demons?)
The parallels to recent debates about adult content in video games should, of course, go without saying.