LOGAN LAWNCHAIR CINEMA

early this summer i had the idea that i should host a summer film series here in logan. since i had recently bought a projector i almost felt that it was my duty. the idea was that i'd call it the LAWNCHAIR CINEMA and show a different movie in the great outdoors every week. everybody could be invited and it'd be for the excuse of a social gathering more than anything else. well i let the idea sit for about half the summer but when some of my freelance work started to slow down i got on the ball.

i knew that i needed to come up with some sort of mobile solution for these movies since i wasn't sure where this event would take place each week. so i started sketching out plans for a screen that i could set up anywhere. in the end it ended up being a frame of PVC that could be broken down for easy transport (see time-lapse video below). i enlisted the sewing skills of jessica belcher to convert a queen size sheet for the screen part. i had been thinking maybe green canyon was the best place to do it so that we wouldn't be disturbing anybody and everyone knows where it is. but, since there aren't any power receptacles up there i ended up buying a heavy duty power inverter that i can run off my car battery. 150 feet of extension cords were needed to keep my running car out of earshot and to keep the exhaust from gassing the audience.

after these preparations everything seemed to be ready. so two wednesday's ago, i kicked it off with the cycling movie Breaking Away (1979). we had about 15 people show up and i think everybody enjoyed themselves. i was glad to have mister lance petersen there to help me set everything up.

this past wednesday we had our second showing. we played Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) and it went off pretty well. we had a few new faces and i felt the movie was pretty much unanimously acclaimed by those in attendance.

i think next wednesday night we'll be showing the bmx classic RAD (1986) but we'll be changing up the location to bryan bostrom's freshly grown grassy back yard. they're having a sushi party before and then we'll show the movie at dark preceded by an episode of Arrested Development.

it would be great to see anybody who can make it. all are welcome and it's free!

GEEKINESS

i am a geek. i needed something for my music that can split the signal from my guitar and send it two different places. in addition i wanted to be able to turn on these seperated signals at will. there are guitar pedals for sale that serve just such a purpose but i decided to build my own.

i un-soldered some components from an old amp i have (some of you may remember said amp from last christmas' white elephant extravaganza). i then went to radio-shack and bought the needed components i didn't have. by the way, you are a geek when you know way more about this geek crap than the guys who actually work at radio-shack.

i came home and killed about 5 hours wiring, testing, and then re-wiring until i came up with this beauty. total cost was bout 17 bucks. i doubt anyone else will get much excitement from this post but i know no one will doubt that i got excited about this. i give you the dw-ABY:

A-PUNK

i know this song is probably old news by now but i just saw the video and thought it was pretty cool. i like the idea that bands are making interesting videos and it's become acceptable to do it on a low budget. it's about the ideas more than the expensive equipment or the production quality.

anyway enjoy:



on a side note, vampire weekend's other video couldn't seem any more to me like a rip off of wes anderson. does anyone else agree with me?

QUINCY THE NEPHEW

my sister and her family just moved to mississippi and had this kid a few months ago. his name is quincy and i can't help but wonder if that southern barbecue is the best thing to bring a kid up on. either way, i thought this was a pretty amazing photo of the kid.

WELL, IF YOU'RE CALLING ME OUT...

okay, so I'm a big slacker when it comes to blogging and you all know it. big deal! but to appease the masses let me blog about my newest geek project.

my close friend and bandmate motoki-san has officially moved away which means that the band is currently defunct. i've decided recently that i'm gonna give music on my own a shot. as such, i've been scheming and have thusly settled on the following details for said endeavor.









this incarnation will include the following instruments all of which will be played and managed live by me:

• electric guitar
• electric bass
• bass drum, snare drum, high hats, crash (all of which will be controlled by feet)
• drum machine
  
• microKORG synth
• echoplex tape loop echo
• microphone
• loopers (the interesting/difficult part)
• samples
• e-bow
• heavy delay
  

i am strongly opposed to the use of laptops in live music. to me it takes away the thrill of the moment because you have no idea what is pre-recorded and what is being produced on the spot. i will not be using a laptop and will do my best to produce everything live (with the exception of samples of course).

what will it sound like? i have no idea. why? because i'm still in the extremely geek phase of the project where i buy a ton of geek pedals and loopers and build what i'm currently calling "the contraption".

the contraption is a kick drum into which i've suspended a snare drum right behind the rear head (so i can use my feet to hit it with a kick pedal). but the best part of the contraption is that i'm building a rotary speaker inside the front of it.

for those who don't know what a rotary speaker is, it's a speaker that is mounted so that it spins while it's producing sound. one of the most common rotary speakers is called a leslie and it's usually used with a hammond b3 organ (the most famous of all rock/jazz organs). i'm convinced that it is the best sound in the world. because the speaker spins, it fluctuates the pitch due to the doppler effect.

anyway, back to the one i'm building. i've mounted two 8" speakers to a wooden disc that's about 20 inches in diameter. the disc sits right behind the front head of the kick drum (which i've cut 6 different holes into to allow the sound to escape from the drum). the disc is attached to an axle that has a flywheel which is belt driven by an electric motor. when the motor is turned on the disc starts to spin and whatever is playing through the speakers is in turn affected with wobbly/chorus type sound.

some classic songs that feature a rotary speaker:

procol harum - a whiter shade of pale**
pink floyd - echoes
jimi hendrix - little wing
spencer davis group - gimme some lovin'

** 1:16 = best moment in the history of audible sound, IMHO

there are tons of effect pedals that TRY to emulate this sound but i figured there's nothing like the real thing.

in addition to the instruments already mentioned i have an idea to make an instrument out of an old analog delay unit i have. i think it MIGHT sound kinda like the intro of "ten thousand lines" by electric president. by the way, holy hell, i've been into them lately. if you haven't heard them they're worth checking out. anyway, if said "instrument" is anything interesting, then i'll try to blog about it upon it's completion.

i think it's likely that the music i make will be more along the lines of post-rock or maybe even noise rock due to the fact that songs will start small and build as i continue to add new instruments to the mix using various loopers. these songs will likely have a "layering" style to them and not so much verse-chorus-verse structure.

the last bit of information i have pertains to what i call it. for some reason i can't quit kicking the word "DOLBY" around in my head for a couple of reasons:

1. it was the first symbol i ever recognized that had to do with music technology. i was probably about 5 and my dad was listening to a waylon jennings tape in the car. i noticed the symbol on the flap of the tape deck where the cassette goes in. i asked him what it was and he gave me an explanation. it now carries a very nostalgic feeling for me whenever i think of that moment.
2. the reference to the new technology mentioned to save "smell the glove" in spinal tap
3. because i'm considering making stereo-phonics a part of my live performance

For copyright and un-originality reasons i thought maybe i'd change the spelling to DULBY. i haven't settled on this name yet though. so if you've read this far then please leave a comment suggesting a band name for me. it could be something that plays off of DOLBY or something altogether different.

anyway, i know this blog has been so geek-boring for pretty much everybody but this is what you get when you ask for a blog update from me.

FIXED

firstly, i want to dedicate this post to jessica. she is my nyc savior and best host ever. she pretty much treated me like a welcome house guest all summer long. i can't wait for anytime and the possibility of a goat cheese omelet next month.

with that said, here's a link to a game i made for a class. i hope it will gain a spot in the ranks with jesse's classic titled "heavy shred". brooklyn folk should note that the street names may seem familiar.

anyway, try it out and post high scores as comments. it may be a little slow depending on how fast your computer is. i plan to make a version 2.0 so i'd love to hear your comments about how to make it better.



LINK

a tip: don't run into stuff. it makes it way less fun (but if you do run into stuff, visit the bike shop).

GORGE

DC BIKE POSSE

this past week was spent by a select few in our nation's capital. that's right, washington dc. most of us arrived on thanksgiving day and were treated to one excellent meal courtesy of friends myke and dalel bybee. the days that followed would hold many exciting adventures and stories, my favorite of which being a tipsy bike ride home from the galaxy hut. i just want to extend a nice firm thank you to those that made this trip such an enjoyable experience. thank you.

STOP THE PRESSES....

so as it would appear, there has been a miscalculation on the previous post. the actual number is really 112. i could blame the mis-information on "bad intelligence" or perhaps on "hanging chads" or maybe something even more ridiculous but, as true americans, I think we're all wise to that bullshit by now. When it really comes down to it, i was doing a socialogical experiment. i'm flattered that many of you worried for my health at such a shocking number of McVisits. thank you. i hope that i have not betrayed your trust too much.

some stats:

112 - Total McVisits
$474.12 - Total Dollars Spent*
$4.23 - Average Cost per McVisit
3.25 - Average Days between McVisits

This also means that the gift certificate goes to Andrew Cazier. Congratulations to him on a victorious guess. He edged out Jeremy Wilkins (who has recently made a habit of being a runner-up). Sorry Christy, you're win has been snatched out from under you just as mine was a few weeks ago. It hurts, doesn't it.

*most of these dollars went towards plain double-cheeseburgers (that's right, just meat and cheese on a bun) which is a steal at just .99 cents each. another favourite** of mine which was acquired within the last year is the ranch snack wrap with crispy chicken.

**british spelling of the word favorite. definition = same as a american english version.

McANSWER

So, after some number crunching I have come to a total for McGUESSING GAME. Just to recap the guesses for number of visits in 1 year:

Christy Baugh: 365
Andrew Cazier: 179
Neil Miner: 1,000,000,000.5
Hallie Wilkins: 327
Jeremy Wilkins: 180
Amanda Nelson: 267
Michelle Anderson: 243
Cayle Christensen: 300

The total is (drumroll please): 575 visits

Which makes Christy Baugh the proud owner of a $5.00 gift certificate to McDonald's. Thanks to everybody who participated.

McGUESSING GAME

so, just for kicks i've decided to host a little guessing game. you all need to guess how many times i used my debit card at mcdonald's in the last year. submit your guesses by commenting on this post. to help you out i would guess that i only pay with cash 5 percent of the time i visit the golden arches. make guesses for the period from november 1st 2006 to november 1st 2007. keep in mind that last year was not a leap year. also, for those who don't know me too well, think big and then double it. i eat there a lot. i imagine it will be somewhat embarrassing to tell you all the actual number but i'm pretty excited myself to see just how much of an addict i am. the winner gets a gift certificate to mcdonald's. i will be going over my atm statements for the last year to find the actual number. once everyone has had a chance to put in a guess then i'll reveal the extent of my addiction.

oh, and forget about all this closest without going over business, the closest to the actual number will win whether it's over or under the actual.

01110011 01101111 01110010 01110010 01111001 00100000 01101110 01100101 01101001 01101100

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decode my blog at: http://nickciske.com/tools/binary.php

A CROSSROADS...

so there i was, riding home from school about 12 minutes ago and i go to lay some mean patch and blow out the rear tire on my bike (the same one andrew and jason so lovingly crafted for me). i realize that the short life of my tires is due to all the bad-ass skidding i've been doing around campus and this poses a bit of a crossroads for me. do i ride my bike more conservatively and actually use the hand brake andrew insisted i have or, do i continue to be a bad-ass at the expense of new tires every 3 weeks or so? this is a tough question but i think you all know the answer. once a bad-ass always a bad-ass.

i ordered 4 new tubes and 4 new tires from bike nashbar minutes after getting the flat. i even paid extra for 2-day priority shipping. i'm so cool.

HOW TO APPROACH THE BLOG

so, im pretty sure my blog has gone unread so far. i'm kind of happy about that though because i am new to it and i know my posts suck balls. i just took a look at lupus ana's blog and i really think she's onto something with the whole "flow-of-conciousness" what the hell is she talking about type of narrative. in the future i plan to take a page out of her book on that one. i'm sure i won't be as good at it as she is, but i can try, can't i? until later...

DW

"A LITTLE TOO HOT"

i was riding my bicycle to class the other day. it is a fixed gear so generally the only way to slow or stop is to lock up your legs and skid the back tire. it was early and my mind wasn't fully functional for the day yet. i went to skid around a tight corner but i came in "a little to hot". i ended up going directly into a big planter of 3 foot tall juniper bushes. lesson learned: i'm a bit of a jackass.

people saw me and laughed at me. I laughed as well but we were not laughing together. so it goes.