Category Archives: Artists

Bring that (wicked chainsaw) beat back!

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on November 11, 2007. No comments.

I’d seen sometime back that Drumcorps was coming to town. As usual, I was late again in catching this concert thinking it was another week off, when in actuality, it was this past Friday: the same day Plan B was in town.

Aaron Spectre, aka Drumcorps, is just one guy, but his music sounds like a couple guys from the foundry teamed up with Otto the Mechanic–an aspiring death metal vocalist–at lunch to rub chainsaws and welding equipment together.

The videos on YouTube don’t do ‘the music’ justice as you’re getting a fair amount of distortion when ‘this music’ is ‘played live’ at high decibel levels then recorded with your old run-of-the-mill video camera mic. But trust me, if you’re stuck in traffic, rather than honking your horn or giving yourself over to road rage, nothing works better to calm your nerves than a little Grist. Seems like he’s got a new one coming out, apparently with more guitar, for all you purists out there.

So now that that’s off the radar, I can start planning well in advance for edIT‘s December 15th date with Seattle. . .

On the Complexities of Time Travel and Negotiating a Teen Wolf Contract

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on November 7, 2007. 1 Comment.

So, I’ve been watching Heroes on NBC. As a lot of you know, its about time travel, world-wide plagues, mind control, morphology, flying around, et. al. Its kind of fascinating me now, b/c I remember back in the day how intrigued I was with the Back to the Future trilogy. Either I couldn’t put my finger on the whole idea due to my adolescent mind, or the writers were hastily trying to navigate Michael J. Fox’s prior engagement to play Teen Wolf or something and they cut a few corners.

There’s some thread in all of this that dictates that if you don’t like how something ‘ends’ then you go back in time and just rewrite the beginning. Sure it creates this little ripple in the time space continuum but its really no big deal as long as you get back in time to make sure nobody recognized the moment you teleported out of some boring conversation about coffee mugs or sneakers. That or you’ve got super awesome writers that can adjust on-the-fly to every producer’s whim or strange detour these far-fetched plots decide to take.

Blogumentary my Dear Watson

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on November 4, 2007. No comments.

Its been a couple weeks since I last wrote, and since then I’ve:

1) seen seven (7) documentaries:
Sister Helen
Crazy Love
Does Your Soul Have a Cold
Songbirds
The Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
The Story of the Weeping Camel
Moog

2) been in the market for a new cellphone and came across this thing:


the Pantech A1407PT, which uses bone conduction technology. (*should be noted I haven’t decided on which one to get, and when I do decide, it probably won’t be this thing)

3) been wanting to introduce the world to this guy, the blobfish:


who might as well be an ancient grandfather of mine given the sad look on that mug of his. That and the typical bit of phlegm that can sometimes inadvertently dangle from some Clinardian orifice.

4) been completely digging the new XLR8R DJ mix from Starkey, a guy from Philly I met at the Laptop Battle at Chop Suey a couple years ago. That, along with some of the tracks I’ve been hearing off of Food for Animals’ new release entitled “Belly.”

5) learned that this website now boasts the world/galaxy/universe’s largest photo/file/scan in existence. You know the image well, but at 16 gigapixels large, don’t you want to see the lips of Jesus in stunning, high resolution?

More always,
M

Remembered. . .

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on August 6, 2007. No comments.

My mention of Lawrence Fritts helped jog the memory of a drive Jenna and I were taking up Beacon Hill one night upon our return from a function in the city. As I punched buttons on the radio dial, I came upon a familiar voice on Ira Flatow’s Science Friday on KUOW–the local NPR station here in Seattle.

It was Larry (as he’s affectionately called by those who have the honor of knowning him) speaking upon the passing of Robert Moog earlier that day. Larry is known for gloriously detailed and complex stories, and this interview happened to be no exception. He recounted a loving tale of his own personal interaction with the man, Moog, and how he acquired a knob (or cord, or something) from one of ‘Bob’s’ original Moog machine prototypes.

When prompted to give a summation of Moog’s legacy, I was crossing my fingers that it would all get sandwiched into the last thirty seconds of airtime. I didn’t want to hear him get rushed or cut off by the host for station identification. . . and you know, Larry pulled it off quite gracefully. The host had a good 5 to 7 seconds of interlocutor thanks and pause for Moog’s passing.

That said, thought I’d check into Larry on YouTube and luckily, I found a very interesting art piece I remember seeing from my days as a University of Iowa Graduate Student. Originally observed at the University of Iowa Art Museum, it is a collaboration betwtixt Fritts, the artist Sue Hettmansperger, and mezzo-soprano Katherine Eberle. While its a good representation of how Larry gets down, bear in mind compression–both in video and sound format–take away from just how effectively this piece can resonate in the body and brain.

It should be noted that Larry is known for his work in anechoic chambers, whereby, simply put, the sound of a sound is non-reflected back upon itself. OR, its unaffected by its own self and exists as ‘pure sound’ when interpreted through the ear or recorded by microphone. . . I think?

Blog of Ages. . .

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on August 6, 2007. No comments.

“What’s up w’me? . . .” Anyone know the hymn the title is inspired by?

Anyway, that’s the title I’ll use to reflect the awe and majesty I experience in the world day in and day out. Just today, while driving around I saw what looked to be the equivalent of a Back to the Future/Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome car. It had stickers covering it, a silver-painted finish and some jet engine thing mounted on the tailfin of what looked like its Ford Falcon outer shell.

My jaw dropped and I was kicking myself for not getting next day delivery on my new point and shoot, the Canon Powershot SD 850 IS. Soon, I’ll keep it strapped to my body, frantically snapping away at all things I find interesting/important and/or capturing video on the 4gb card I snagged along with it.

The superstitious tendencies mentioned in my previous post worked to a degree in a couple more baseball games. All told–in the last three games–I’ve gone 6 for 13 at bat. It didn’t cure my continually aching bicep muscle on my throwing arm which I now have after every game in the field or hurling on the mound. It’s becoming more and more apparent why they call it the Puget Sound SENIOR Baseball League.

I also got hit-by-a-pitch on the top of my foot last game. Tried my hardest to make it look quite spectacular by pulling off some aerobatic flip and rolling on my head, all in one motion to keep the weight off of the sting I felt. At first, no sign of a bruise, but today, I’ve got Fred Flintstone club foot:

club_foot.jpg

I also got stung by a wasp for the first time in my life a couple weeks back. I was on a shoot, walking around with the photographer scouting our shots. We approach this little greenhouse, and as I’m rounding the corner of tall-standing plants, I feel a very sharp concentrated pain in my wrist. Thought I had brushed up against some prickly vegetation, but within seconds, my wrist was white and there was the most perfect little hole with something pulsing in the middle of it.

In the past, when I’ve dislocated my fingers or toes, I grew light-headed. With the same weary feeling, I pulled the little, pulsing thingamajig out without thinking–very much like the times I’ve reset my fingers or toes when dislocated. The photographer, David Atkinson, of Colorblind Images was like “Oh, cheers. . . we should watch that and make sure you’re not allergic.”

“Drats,” I thought. “Allergic: Never thought of that, never been stung. . . ” I pictured myself dying on the most beautiful plot of land I’ve seen in quite awhile. Owned by Colin-Schroeder-of-Colorblind-Images’ parents, Swans Trails Gardens is located in Snohomish, Washington. As I drove up before the shoot, there was this perfect little church at the top of a hill. With the smell of livestock manure all around me, it reminded me of the South and my buddy’s farm in Kentucky.

Thanks to Alice, I live.

Other news: Sold a load of old cd’s today. In that recycling effort, picked up Marcus Schmickler and Hayden Chisholm’s release entitled “Amazing Daze,” which is quite good in a very niche, electro-acoustic way. Have to thank my old Professor Lawrence Fritts for developing my taste in contemporary electro-acoustic music. ‘Bout it for now.

M

Ten Megatons of Megablog Entry

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on July 11, 2007. No comments.

I know. Its been awhile since I’ve written. I’m sure there are thousands rapt by this blog, tuning in every day to see what’s new or to feverishly take note of my grammatical/writing prowess.

Anyhow. I’ve been busy with baseball and the productions I’ve been assisting on. Today, I’m trying to catch up on laundry and actually cook food rather than buy it, as I’ve been doing for the past week or so. Below, you’ll find two cauldrons that–when melded together–comprise one of my many culinary masterpieces: Dhal Masala.

Dhal Diptych

It was graciously handed down by my good friend Dhanraj Emanuel, from my days in Memphis (picture a grandmother handing her grandchild the secret family recipe to those chocolate chip cookies old Mrs. Wittaker has been trying to get her hands on for years).

What else: Oh yeah, I’ve been plagued by incredibly unreliable internet stability making it ever so difficult to blog whatsoever. I say this now, b/c I’m actually typing this without internet connectivity. Once, I’ve written a handy amount, I’m going to reset the wifi device, again. . . for the fifteenth time today. . . then hit ‘save.’

Having just saved that last little bit, I’ll say that I had the pleasure to work with Reed Brown and Eric ‘the Creative Director’ in from Nashville, Tennessee this week. The last day of the shoot, I walk in to find Eric drinking a Mountain Dew. My head does a double take b/c when its hot–as it has been for the past few days here in the Emerald City–we from the South reach for Sun-drop which is basically magic in a can.

I remark on his sipping from the receptacle holding canned dew from a mountain, and he remarks about how he has to adapt to his current citrus beverage b/c of dropped sun’s unavailability out here in the NW. He also goes on to give me an incredibly informed account of how all of the five or so major citrus beverages differ, based on his sensitive palette which can detect subtle taste nuances in each.

Totally awesome. On another shoot, I ran into Karl Marks who was working security. That, too was totally awesome.

Last night, exhausted and full of Korean BBQ, I watched “Be Here to Love Me” which is a documentary about the singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, probably known most for his song “Pancho and Lefty,” made famous by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.

Pancho and Lefty cover

While watching it, there appeared a short clip out of this broadcast, Nashville Now, that used to air when I was a kid growing up in Nashville. Then I said ‘that is where I know him (Townes and his music) from.” The show, hosted by Ralph Emery, also brought back another childhood memory of this guy.
snowbird

Lawrence of Arabia

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on July 2, 2007. 1 Comment.

On Saturday, in the sweltering sun, I slaved over the barbecue and grilled meat for a crowd of over 15 at a Fourth of July weekend bash.

Grillmaster Mike pt. 1

Thanks to all who indulged, as it was my sincere pleasure to serve up marinated chicken and the like after its couple hour rest on the barbie to keep with proper food handling requirements. I had this wicked Lawrence of Arabia type thing going on with my cap and a red hankie. Someone managed to snap this pic of me above.

I also made some Chicken Biryani and saw “Water,” the third installment in Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s ‘Elements’ Trilogy. Do yourself a favor and watch it. ‘Bout it for now.

Dust Breeding

Written by Michael Clinard. Posted on June 28, 2007. No comments.

You all know the photograph by Man Ray. Well, today I’m grappling with my own dust bunnies, as I go over some negs I’m retouching for my site. Check it:

Dust_on_Negative

Yeah, I’m totally stoked!

Switch to our mobile site