From the monthly archives: November 2011
Yet another very minor event interests me greatly.
For the past few years, as the weather turns cold, the frame of our front door becomes the home for numerous juvenile millipedes. At least ten feet from the nearest ground, the young ones apparently climb from the brush and drying leaves below and surround the passage to the inside.
Since I started the terrarium of millipedes and sow bugs, I’ve become quite adept at finding millipedes when I go on hikes. In the early autumn, this is a pretty easy task; the large adults hide under rocks and branches, but are very conspicuous with their bright red stripes and fairly wide bodies.
As the season progresses and the adults begin to winter under, it takes a keen eye to find the babies and very young critters under the dead wood of logs and fallen trees. I seem to have a great ability to find the smallest speck and realize it is a coiled baby hiding from me.
Why these guys, older than young babies given their size and color (the real young ones are white, if not nearly transparent at times), I can’t begin to understand why they make themselves so obvious on the door, and stray so far away from food and shelter. In fact, they crawl straight up towards the porch light which should be more of a deterrent than an attraction. The only reason I can figure, given my distorted view of things, is that they know that I have very comfy, warm terrariums not far from the door, and like settlers from the old west, they daringly crawl seeking a new, prosperous home.
Maybe…
The introduction to Niagara Falls, after having not seen them in person for nearly a quarter century, pulled out all the stops with a bright blue sky and a double rainbow that was near blinding.
Interestingly, prior to this viewing, we actually saw the end of a rainbow, resting down in a garden near the falls. Another lie was exposed; there was no pot of gold…
The day-early Thanksgiving edition.
Snog – Are You Normal Enough: Remix without the vocals encouraging me to be an activist. That just isn’t Snog.
Archers of Loaf – Chumming the Ocean: The slow, piano tune from the Archers’ All The Nation’s Airports album which, I have to admit, pops into my head a lot for no apparent reason.
Speedy West – Skiddle Dee Boo: From a fun old studio broadcast with the guitarist, unaccompanied.
Dead Milkmen – Secret of Life: An unusual song of hope from the band.
Boredoms – Heeba: Another wacky tune from Pop Tatari.
Liars – Scissor: Another crazy band, another great song.
The Kinks – Holiday in Waikiki: I’m very interested in why the iPod seems so likely to play a Kinks song when on random these days.
The Replacements – We’ll Inherit The Earth: On a day when I woke up with the Replacements in my head, this is a fitting way to end the Random Eight.
A number of juvenile millipedes are living under the dirt of the terrarium, but right against the glass side, so they are visible at almost all times.
They seem to interact well with the Sow Bugs; at least, they don’t react negatively when the Sow Bugs walk on them.
I’m happy to see both thriving. Of course, I also find it amusing that they seem to like walking on the skeletal remains of an adult millipede, which looks like dinosaur bones in comparison to their tiny bodies.
Yo La Tengo – Big Day Coming: A twenty minute live version that was a free MP3 download from the band’s website years ago (and could be still for all I know). While I really like this era of the band, with its slow pace, this might not be the best wake up song to start the Random Eight.
Sonic Youth – The Neutral: I still haven’t really listened to the Rather Ripped album; every now and again a song randomly appears that surprises me a bit.
The Kinks – Till the End of the Day: The iPod continues its fascination with The Kinks.
Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall Part 1: I put this on the iPod a few months ago with the intention of listening to The Wall from beginning to end for the first time in ages, but that has yet to happen.
Gaudi + Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Dil Da Rog Muka Ja Mahi: Nusrat made bouncy.
Rovo – Na-X: The Japanese drum-driven band that will keep things moving for the next fifteen minutes.
Boredoms – Which Dooyoo Like?: Natural follow-on from Rovo, if not for it being one of their goofier / screamier songs from Pop Tatari.
Bardo Pond – Walking Stick Man: Quite a day for long songs.
Courtesy of Yoko Japanese Restaurant in Oakton, VA.
And, explored by Coco.
Having him since July, I guess Mousy is more of a pet than a capture at this point. He certainly seems more at ease, even having built a small nest in his tank (which I subsequently destroyed cleaning his home…oops). Plus, not unlike the cats in the house, he seems very intrigued by the camera – never a bad trait in our home.
Meg Lee Chin – Swallowing You: Another fun song from the short catalog of this raw performer.
Amon Tobin – Ruthless: From the Splinter Cell Chaos Theory soundtrack, yet another insight into the diverse offerings from Tobin.
Mission of Burma – Slow Faucet: How many times can I say that this band never ceases to amaze me how they can continue to release great tunes over so many years.
The Who – Our Love Was: I keep wondering if my Who binge about two months ago…which, I might add, greatly violated my rule of not purchasing music over five years old…was worth the effort. Some songs, I’ll say yes. Others, I’m not so sure.
Subtle – Hollow Hollered: Really like the sound of this band and others from a collection of the same folks (Themselves, Boom Bip, and probably others I’m not aware of).
Dead Milkmen – Howard Beware: Guilty pleasure, I guess you could say.
Marillion – Forgotten Sons: The prog band of my high school years, I think the songs are on the iPod now purely for the Random Eight’s amusement. Still, it is fun to hear them after so many years, even if I don’t care quite as much about the music.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook – Intoxicated: From the crossover of Khan’s remarkable singing and Brook’s low key beats.
From a recent vacation to Canada and, in part, Niagara Falls, I decided to set up a camera near the hotel window to capture dime delay photos of the falls. The videos are available here:
First, from dusk to night:
Next, night and our window overcome by fog and mist:
Finally, two separate views on a dreary day:
Contemplating Silent Wishes
Contemplating Silent Wishes, the second release from Fertanish, presents minimalist, experimental rhythms and sounds that patiently travel through a complicated and mesmerizing composition.
Zero Zero Three
Stray
