When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind.

Plug?
Yes, the return of 8 1/2 by Eleven! Expect a plethora of plugs tomorrow.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
No game tonight, and yet again, another weekend series with the Yankees at fenway.

Speaking of the Yankees.
Not only does it seem A-Rod is screwing around in his wife, it seems yesterday that he yelled "Mine" or "Hah" while running base as the Toronto 3rd baseman and Short Stop were trying to field a fly ball, causing them to stop and the ball to drop. It is interesting to read and hear some of the reactions to the incident on the field, especially from his team mates. All the years I have played baseball and softball, I don't think I have ever seen something like this, but again, it is up to the player to also catch the ball.

What is going to be really interesting is when A-Rod opts out, and the Sox make move for him. This is about the most hated man in Boston . . .

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT???
MIKE-MIKE-MIKE VICK!

DUDE!
Your no longer working for Dell!

YES!
The Cold War was so much more fun than the War on Terror!

Nessie (and BigFoot).
There is a new Nessie video shot this past Saturday, they say it is by far some of the best video of it ever. I've seen it, not really impressed. But looking at other Nessie video on YouTube, I found one of the best cryptozoology video ever, the Patterson BigFoot video, and this one cleaned up by computer. I remember first seeing this as a kid, it really freaked me out, as this is very realistic and natural. I love still to this day, no matter who they hire and how hard they try, they can never duplicate this video, it figure, and it's ambulation.

MMMMMM
Rare endangered northern white rhino.

So.
Paris is going to jail her other half is going to jail . . does anyone else see the reality TV potential in this?

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day

I am Malach, and Samuel L. Jackson makes good white guy.

Half of what I say is meaningless . .

Some plugs for youse guys.
After a number of email requests, I have republished my primer on pitching slow pitch softball from 2005, that was taken down from Hill TV. It is now located at Third Option Media, but there is no direct link yet. You can find it here. I added a quick addendum too. Yes, I am soon remodeling TOM.

Also there is new Fetus-X. Some more weird, morbid, poetry.

You are Listening too . . .
Julia, and Lennon favorite from The White Album. Malach personally doesn't like the song, not really sure why, beyond feeling it is a forced song. This is the final song onrecord one, side two, or CD 1. This is the first and only time Lennon did a solo Beatles song (McCartney did a number of them), and features Lennon on all vocals and guitar. The finger picking style of this song he learned in India from band friend Donovan.

The song is about his late mother Julia who was killed after being hit by a motorvehicle driven by a drunken cop in 1958. Part of the song is also about Yoko Ono, and her name, which in Japanese means "child of the ocean" is alluded to in the lyrics. Some of the song is also inspired by the poem Sea and Foam by the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran.

The song itself is very restrained and poetic, Lennon's vocals are only double tracked in select sections of the song. The song is also recorded at a low level, and if you have this album you find yourself turning up the volume for this song, only to have some of the other song blow your ears off. Also interestingly, for a intimate, emotion subject, Lennon kind of changes that with this song, which is more spiritual and meditative. Also interestingly, if you did not know the facts of Lennon's mother, your wouldn't get it from the song.

My Garbage.
About a week ago, I told you about my garbage being dragged about 75' across my yard toward the woods . . . well look what mom showed me today.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Well, I suppose they got to lose a game sooner or later. Pitching wasn't all that good tonight and they are currently down by 4 in the 8th. Day off tomorrow, back to the Yankees for the weekend. Mood: Let's win the next one, or this one.

Ca-razy Weather.
Drought at the Okeechobee Swamp. Crazy Hailstorm in Denver! Don't worry it's beautiful here.

Malach's Quote of the Day
Whether or not I like someone doesn't depend on what kind of genitals they have. - Margaret, Liquid Sky

I am Malach and I pitch.

Don't Pass Me By, Don't Make Cry, Don't Make Me Blue!

Pluggage
There is a new Sunshine, number 40, it is up and just loaded about hour ago. Also, Malach has some plugs that helps him make some money and stay in business. I will diligently be working on more products in the coming weeks. First, a big request and finally up. Perhaps my most popular image on this website, and one I see all over the internet as people's backgrounds on MySpace, FaceBook, MSN Space, and such. All Apologies, the Poster. As an added bonus, I am more than willing to sign them if you buy one, email me for details.

Also, for you KMP Softball groupies, I have started making KMP Fan Gear, and since the lot of you are drunks, debuting today is the KMP Beer Stein. I will be making some baby dolls, and other clothing this week. I am also working on a Fat Bug/JesusMan! mixed t-shirt. And it also seems I got my first Zazzle fan . . .

Oh, and if you want to see the worst YouTube video ever made? Go here. Yes, it is FRIGHTENINGLY bad.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
So far 2 from Cleveland, who have the second best record in the AL. Both games played without David Ortiz who has sore hamstrings, and Papelbon was not available to close today's game. And I also noticed the Yankees are sharing the AL East Cellar with the Devil Rays at 14.5 back. Mood: Kinda of Scared.

Barak.
I agree with this Barak. It has the Malach seal of approval.

Ahh Britney.
Rock bottom, and only 25.

Speaking of rock bottom . . .
HEY LINDSAY LOHAN! WAKE UP! YOUR ON TV! DO YOU NEED SOME MORE COCAINE GIRLFRIEND?!?

He's Back!
Dr. Death!

Oh Man!
I can't drive without my daily intake of tequila!

HEHEHE.
And these guys will probably make a million . . . Imagine the legal wrangling 10,000 years from now.

Yeah, it's sick . .
but you know you will be watching.

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day

I am Malach and you like you do.

Don't Pass Me By . . .

No Plugs.
Yes, once again no plugs, sorry buckos.

Happy Memorial Day.
Dedicated to all those who served this country, including my Pepere and my Wife's Father who have passed on from this world.

You are listening too . . .
Don't Pass Me By, off The White Album. Another fave of Malach's, and a interesting song. The first solo composition by Ringo Starr to ever make a Beatles album, it actually became a number one hit in Sweeden.

Evidently Starr had been working on this song to get it on a Beatles album since 1964. During a interview, Starr was asked if he had a wrote and song and mentioned Don't Pass Me By, which the rest of The Beatles pretty much mocked. Of course the lyrics and music changed quite a bit over the years, but eventually it was deemed good enough to be included on The White Album. The song has a lot of little indosycracies to it, including Ringo counting the bars toward the end of the song (ending it with Oops), quite a bit of unintelligble shouting over the course of the song, and strange alarm bell going off at the 1:48 mark in the middle of a sung lyric, and a mistaken lyric in the last chorus; but it so much fits the song, and almost redneck drinking song, fiddle and all.

The song was originally recorded with an orchestral arrangement, which was later used in the Yellow Submarine movie.

The lyrics themself, are very strange, mostly straighforward until the last set, I reprint them for you.

I listen for your foot steps
Coming up the drive
Listen for you foot steps
But they don't arrive
Waiting for you knock, dear
on my old front door
I don't hear it
Does it mean you don't love me anymore

I hear the clock a ticking
on the mantel shelf
See the hands a moving
But I'm by myself
I wonder where you are tonight
And why I'm by myself
I don't see you
Does it mean you don't love me anymore

Don't pass me by
don't make me cry
don't make me blue
'Cause you know darling I love only you
You'll never know it hurt me so
How I hate to see you go
Don't pass my by
Don't make me cry

I'm sorry that I doubted you
I was so unfair
You were in a car crash
And you lost you hair
You said that you would be late
About and hour or two
I said that's all right
I'm waiting here just waiting to hear from you

Don't pass me by
don't make me cry
don't make me blue
'Cause you know darling I love only you
You'll never know it hurt me so
How I hate to see you go
Don't pass my by
Don't make me cry

One two three four
five six seven eight Oops
Don't pass me by
don't make me cry
don't make me blue
'Cause you know darling I love only you
You'll never know it hurt me so
How I hate to see you go
Don't pass my by
Don't make me cry

Now, fairly straightforward except for the last set of lyrics that begin "I'm sorry that I doubted you . . " . The whole section with the car crash, and losing hair, is one of the song the fueled the "Paul McCartney is Dead" urban legend that began spring up in 1969 (again more on that on a later date).

This song is actually fairly popular with the modern crowd, and many have done interesting remakes of this song.

The New Painting.
Did a little more work on Livy in the Sky With Diamonds, as the kids love painting with daddy in his studio. Becuase of new blogger labels you can follow along with this link.

Did do anything really major except added a robe-like piece of clothing to the figure, added more color and detail, and the Buttefly. I will move into oils next.

As for this kids, they love the fact my studio has a ton of watercolor paper, and they find this easy to paint on. Between the two of them they must have painted 15 pieces.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation
Trot Nixon is back in Boston, but the Sox are 3 - 1 in the seventh, and Schilling is having an awesome bounce back game. Yeah and Youkilis just hit an inside the park homer, sound like my softball league (when you don't really play with fences . . ) Mood: Let's Go Sox.

RIP Marquise Hill.
Hill, was not a star, but like all members of the team, had his place, and from what I understand a awesome teammate.

RIP Charles Nelson Reilly
OK, Malach can remember CNR from the his days with The Match Game, which used to come on when I was a young lad. Always liked him and his comedy. The other things about CNR is he was a somewhat openly gay actor in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's when it would kill career to be fairly open about it.

His comedy featured gay themed double entendre's, his dress and sense of style pushed the boundaries of television standards. While he never came out of the closet until much later, he never intentionally or purposefully hid his homosexuality.

So, how many drinks . .
Do you think this guy had last night?

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day

I am Malach and I am a BLANK.

I told you 'bout Strawberry Fields.

Plugs.
Once again no plugs, see what happens in a holiday weekend.

More done on the new Painting.
So you can see I worked another hour or so on the painting today and compare the difference to yesterdays. Some more deepening of color, some more detail and pulling together some of the images. You can also see some of the underlaying color in the previous step and how it relates to the current step. You can also begin to see more definition into the textural objects placed upon the canvas.

This is about the time where I switch from acrylics (which I use to block the painting as the dry faster) to oils (which have a better general look). You will notice as it coverts to oil there is a much richer color to the piece.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Well, a sweep of the Rangers, the Angels swept the Yankees. That puts us 12.5 up on the Yanks, and 11.5 up on the division, which currently the Orioles of all teams is in second. Trot Nixon returns to Fenway tomorrow followed by yet another weekend series with the Yankees . . . at that point they might be 15 out. Mood: Welcome Back Trot.

Mike Vick.
So, would it not be an interesting line at the unemployment office this year with Vick, Chris Henry, and Pacman Jones? Woof - Woof.

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day.


I am Malach and could I go for a cigarette, thanks Barney.

The Walrus was Paul!?!?!

No Plugs Today.
Sorry Buckos.

So Malach has realized something about himself.
So, today was yet another beautiful pre-summer day, almost 90 degrees. So, I am out in my studio painting, while the kids are playing in their wading pool and with the hose, with the large double doors open watching them while I paint. My 4 year old daughter keeps coming over to help and give advice. I am playing The Beatles album Love. Get into a conversation with my 5 year old son about the meaning of the song All You Need is Love. So, what does Malach realize? I am closet hippie.

So is the a phrase for a geek/hippie? A Gippie?

Speaking of the new painting.

Since I haven't done a painting since the last commission a few months ago. And since so many people liked following along with the painting and what I think about and do while I paint; I decided to do it with this one. Unfortunately, I did not photo my pre-canvas creation process which I will do next time.

So, at left is what I worked on today for about 2 hours. I wanted to do a painting about my kids, but I got inspired by one of the Beatles songs we were listening too, so this painting is about my 4 year old daughter and will be entitled Livy in the Sky with Diamonds.

First is in kind of hard at this stage to see the textures that were applied to the canvas from some of the junk I keep around my studio. It will be a bit more obvious once I begin to work on the piece and highlight some of it. You will also notice, once again, a strange shaped canvas. This is just two similarly sized canvases, put together, but instead of brackets, like usual, I actually just screwed the top canvas onto the bottom, throught the stretcher bars, so the top canvas is raised from the bottom about 1". I then made this haphazard cover up between the two from assorted pieces of fabric, canvas, plastic, and netting. Also added, a some paper (you can see the fringe hanging off the canvas at the right of the image) a gate handle, a squirt gun, and a few other odds and ends including a dredel.

The first 2 hours of this piece is basically blocking in the image, color and composition, very rough, but you can see the basic form of what I am going for. I use fairly straight forward color for this process. I will be building up the star and diamond patterns, adding more light, and defining the figure a bit more next session.

So, later.

Playing baseball with the boy, the boy's got a pretty good swing for a 5 year old. Using a fairly heavy padded bat, and a practice baseball. Line drive up the middle on the old man. This is the first time I have ever taken a ball in the groin, all the years I played. Luckily he's only 5, and I was back to speed in 10 minutes.

Something is stalking my garbage.

So, I live in the suburbs, on a dead end street, in a semi wooded area. We get skunks, raccoons, possum, rabbits, the occasional woodchuck, and occasional deer and coyote. I have a fairly long yard (about 180' which ends in a fence, beyond that fairly dense woodland, slightly swampy, and the about 200' later the highway.

So last night, something dragged my locked garbage can (the one with two bags of fairly heavy garbage in it) about 75' until the top popped open and went to town on the two bags. Now, I am unsure what could have done this. As far as I know there are no bears anywhere near where I live . . .

You are listening too . . .

Glass Onion, off The White Album. A interesting Lennon composition, said by Lennon as a response to those who dug for meaning in his lyrics. He basically did this song to fool around with those kind of people. The song references other lines from other Beatles songs. It references I Am the Walrus, Strawberry Fields Forever, There's a Place, I'm Looking Through You, Within You Without You, Lady Madonna, The Fool on the Hill, and Fixing a Hole.

The line "The Walrus was Paul" became a huge lynchpin for the later "Paul is Dead" conspiracy that developed in 1969. According to Lennon, "Glass Onion was a throwaway song, much like I Am the Walrus. "I threw the line in—'the Walrus was Paul'—just to confuse everybody a bit more. It could have been 'The fox terrier is Paul.' I mean, it's just a bit of poetry. I was having a laugh because there'd been so much gobbledegook about Pepper—play it backwards and you stand on your head and all that."

Musically the song has a killer Ringo drum rift, and is one of the more experimental songs off The White Album in terms of studios wizardy, and sampling. This song in turn has been sampled numerous times by the hip hop community. It also features strange little song samples from each of the songs it references. I like it alot.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.

After a long rain delay, Dice-K only pitching 5 cause of a stomach bug, they still won last night. Yanks have lost 2 in a row, and Cashman in now on the hot seat. Of of this moment they are 11 up, and they are up right now 6 - 4 in the top of 6. The Mood: I hate to say this, but the Division in over.

Oh Dana Plato.

OK, what's the over under before Lindsay Hoehan appear in Playboy?

Hehehehe.

Hey, you guys could always try hanging light up signs around Boston.

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day.

I'm not going to deny the fact that I've tried pot. I hated it. But I've never tried cocaine. I've seen my father, I've seen how it messes with families, and, you know, it fucks your life up. If I hadn't experienced that, I may have gone a different route. I don't know. But I've seen how it literally tore my parents apart. - Lindsay "Dana Plato" Hoehan

I am Malach and my groin feels much better thank you.

Ok, Fixed the Feed

But first as always, plugs.
Sunshine number 39 is up, and as usual, totally true, but there are even worse situations.

Hey, guess who got the number one comment on Schilling's blog.

Ok, my RSS Feed.
So here is the problem. I use Ice Rocket RSS Feed Builder to build the feed, love their feed builder. Here's the problem, I use Feed Burner to promote the feed, they are awesome also. Basically Ice Rocket sends this to Feed Burner, and you end up with something translated, plus Feed Burner has all sort of cool feature thy provide with, one of the big ones being this.

So here is the problem. I have been using a feed since 2003. That feed got so huge, Feed Burner no longer supported it. To top it off, Ice Rocket has no way to archive or easily edit your feeds so it won't get bigger than the 512K that Feed Burner accepts.

So this left me with a quandry. I love both Ice Rocket and Feed Burner, but I need Feed Burner more than I do Ice Rocket. So I came up with and idea. Why not just use the .xml that come with this blog? So I did. Blogger feeds are easy to regulate so this won't happen again. Also I am not totally convinced someone registering for my feed nowadays wants to read through 2000 old feed updated dating back to 2003.

So, my new feed will look a lot different than the old one. It will contain these blog posts, so the 40 or so of you that subscribe, don't be shocked. Also if you just subscribed for site updates, I do put those in a section right at the beginning of every blog called "Plugs", so you won't miss an update, you will just get them once a day all at once. And to top it off, the feed address did not change and it also contains categories, and I don't have to manually update the feed. We will see how this works.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Day off yesterday, now a rain delay in Texas, and from what I understand it is only about 65 there. It was 95 here all day and still in the 80's right now. Mood: Hot.

Ok, when I was in high school.
Someone left a carton of milk inside one of those old huge steam radiators and it took them about 2 week to find the nasty smell.

Can the little man fight Big Oil?
Suprisingly this could work, most small gas station make a silver of profit per gallon of gas, my father used to own one. Of course just wait until Wal*Mart start selling gas.

Damn the Man!
It is the 1960's all over again brother! I can just picture Just Me out there protesting!

Advice for those of Death Row.
If you are going by Lethal Injection, get really fat.

Well.
It looks like Malach might starting playing around with his Facebook account.

Now this!
Would make a really good webcomic.

Malach Quote/Video of the Day

I am Malach and you just took a ride on one of my favorite roller coasters.

Rocky Raccoon . . .

Plugs.
Just a new 8 1/2 By Eleven. Strip 537 in which Leyla reveals she is a bit of a swinger. Also some of you may have noticed I am having a issue with Feedburner, and my feed, I am in process of trying to correct it.\

Also if you ever wanted to be a part of Malach's softball team, or are a just a fan, the new uniform is up and available to purchase, along with other stuff, including Stool Sample Webcomics stuff (some of the stuff is rated PG13 and R, so you will need to register to see it. Speaking of the softball team you may notice were are in second place, one game behind the first place teams, and now 3 games ahead of the next competition (we beat the Outlaws this evening).

You Are Listening Too . . .
A Malach family favorite, Rocky Raccoon by The Beatles off The White Album. One of Dad's faves, my fave, and the kids, The Beatles always throw these kooky fun songs in their albums, especially later in the career. The song was written primarily by McCartney and was written in India. McCartney kind of ad-libbed the song while playing guitar for Lennon and Donovan. They thought is a funny, and developed a whole song about it.

There are claims the song is a parody of a Bob Dylan song, just as Back in the USSR is a parody of a Beach Boys song (never admitted by any of the Beatles). But it is easy to see. They not only slighty mock his singing style, but also his particular arrangements and compositions of the time, included the harmonica. For the Beatles, this is a tribute to the man Dylan. The song is quite simple, about a man named Rocky Raccoon, who goes to shoot a man who stole his woman, but instead gets gunned down. The Old West style honky tonk piano is played by George Martin.

The life of an internet star.
So, I get this phone call today, from a obviously foreign dude (Indian/Pakastani) accent, "Mr. Malach, you are a very famous internet celebrity, and we read your website and notice you are a bit of a alternative fuel guy". "Have you ever heard of Ethanol?'

"Why Yes", says Malach.

"Ahh, I represent a company that has developed a way to produce ethanol from organic garbage, not corn like it usually is"

"Really", I say as I feign interest.

"So, we notice your fame and ask if you would be interested in investing, do you invest?"

"Well yeah, a bit," I say trying to stifle a laugh.

"So can I send you some informaton on our company?" Sure I say, and I give them Dr. Murk's Address and Phone number. HAHAHAH he's dead!

Ahh a life of debauchery and sin.
You got be kidding me.

AAAUUUGGGGHHH!
SNAKES ON A PLANE!

Wha'ya sayin' mang?
So, uh, Dubya, we building a fence to keep the alien dolphins out?

Celtics Fans.
Man does this Bill Simmons put it all in perspective.

Whip crack!
MINIMUM WAGE!

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day

I am Malach and I don't have no problem with fruit.

Christopher set me straight

Plugs.
8 1/2 by Eleven number 536 is up, and is Lucas's first and only video game based strip. Also check out Malach's article about the Curse on the Boston Celtics over at the WoW.

Thank you Christopher.
Christopher read my Celtics blog and set me straight. It is not Len Bias said the wise one, and he gave me 3 very reasonable reasons.

1. Red Auerbach made a deal with the devil, and the devil called it in in 1987. That luck and wizardy this team had dissappeared, so did the championships.

2. David Stern is purposely not only a Celtics hater, but anti-East Coast in general, and wants nothing more for this once storied franchise to fails, so he fixes it so they will.

3. Danny Ainge is trying to build the Pheonix Suns. All offense, no defense, what I like to call the "Bizzarro Detroit Pistons"

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Well lets see, Schilling sucks tonight, they can't seem to turn a simple play, baserunning blunders, and they are still only down by 5. Well if they lose they are still 9.5 up. Mood: Unsure

Wow.
I did not even realize this was a law.

This is a interesting idea.
I suppose you could actually compare the group from today to those of the 70's and 80's.

Man.
You can't really sell any kind Coke nowadays. How's a guy supposed to make a living with these gas prices?

heehee
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Little People are so angry.

Malach's Quote of the Day.
I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes. - Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas

I am Malach and I set fire to your mind

OK, I am Convinced; The Boston Celtics are cursed!

No Plugs.
Been busy again!

The Celtics.
Malach has not been a huge fan of the Celtics since their 80's glory days. I lost interest as the direction of the NBA changed dramatically and as the Celtics once great franchise started to wallow in misery. I have recently got a bit more interested in the NBA, and the Celtics as the league has started to shift back to Basketball as opposed to some of the reasons why I left. After tonight, I am now convinced the Celtics are cursed, a yet unamed curse, but I will figure this one out.

Len Bias, perhaps he cursed the Celtics . . . after his death, what happened? Reggie Lewis, the whole Tim Duncan fiasco (that year the Celts had somthing like a 65% chance to get the first pick in that lottery and the Spurs who had one of the worst chances got it), screwed up drafts, Rick Pitino, not waiting for players to mature, and now this draft. With the second worse record in the NBA, they had a 40% chance for the number one or number 2 pick, and they ended up with 5. . . .

What now? Well they will probably package someone like Gerald Green and their pick, maybe for Kevin Garnet, but Oden or Durant would have looked good in green. Of course, Memphis had a better chance than the Celts and they ended up 4th.

You are listening too . ..
Blackbird, from The White Album. Another favorite McCartney ballad and truly beautiful song. The song overall is very simple . . . McCartney playing accoustic guitar, a sample of a blackbird singing, and the sound of a electric metronome in the background. Suprisingly, this was a Manson favorite off the album and he based some his thoughts of an upcoming racewar based on messages he got from the song (yeah I don't really see it in this one).

McCartney's inspiration for the song comes from their stay in India, when he was awoken in the early morning by a blackbird singing. The guitar piece of the song is inspired by Bach's Bouree. Notice the playing of multiple notes at similar times.

Lyrically it is a simple song, but very powerful, and in my opinion very symbolic of where McCartney was in his life, ending a long relationship with Jane Asher, and meeting Linda Eastman.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Well Tavarez and Mussina did not match up well for the Sox, but Tavarez no-hit the Yankees for 4 innings, and then they got into the bullpens, the Sox strength and a Yankees weakness . . . 7 - 2 right now top of the 8th. Tomorrow should be interesting Schilling vs. Petite, with Schill coming off a so-so last start. The Mood: Pretty Confident.

Gangs, EBay, and the Ivory Trade.
I am surprised EBay hasn't stopped this . . . of course this gives me tons of ideas for my Jr. Meth Lab . . .

I find it very shocking that . .
The Spirit amd Opportunity Rovers are still functioning 2 years+ after they were supposed to stop. There is a special on this, I think on the Discovery Channel, they play it everyso often.

Ok, here comes a deep joke.
So scientist are releasing a birthcontrol pill that will stop your period . . . didn't they already release it for text messaging and chatroom? Thank you, I will be here all week.

MMMMMM
Coelacanth

Paula Abdul.
Sorry Paula, Brian Greise already used that excuse.

Malach's Quote Video of the Day.

I am Malach and I faked the moonlanding.

That's Shaft I'm Talkin' 'Bout!

Plugs.
Just a new 8 1/2 by Eleven. Number 535. Not really Lucas's best work, but 'tis a set up piece I supposed.

Heroes.
So, Heroes is kind of like a Quentin Tarrantino movie. First they bring back George Takei in a kick ass role, and now, Richard Roundtree. He's a bad motherf- SHUT YOUR MOUTH!. So is Heroes. Nice season ender, with a interesting cliff hanger for Hiro.

Bud Dwyer.
OK, a few of you more morbid types, wanted to know a bit more about the video I posted in yesterday's blog. More specifically about some of the people in the later half of the video: the suicide, and the guy shot in the head while walking by phone booths. The video was a snippet of the Micheal Moore anti-firearms documentary Bowling for Columbine.

The guy blowing his brains out is Bud Dwyer. He was a PA politician, whom after a scandal, basically blew his brains out on live TV after calling a press confernce in 1987. The Filter song Hey Man Nice Shot is based on the incident. You can actually view the entire video at Live Leak (you need to register and present age verification).

The one of the other guy getting shot in front of the phone I remember seeing on TV when I was young. I could not find a ton of info on it and don't remember the names, but the shooter was a father shooting a man who allegedly abused his son.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Well the pitching matchup wasn't good, and I figured this would be a loss. Only 8th inning down by four, we will see. Pitching matchup ain't too good for the tomorrow either.

So uh Clinton Portis . . .
Thinks it's no big deal if Micheal Vick is involved in dog fight, in fact, let's quote the fantasy bust of last year: "If that's what he wants to do, do it. I think people should mind their business." Well Clinton Portis, you see, dog fighting, and using your property for dog fighting is a felony in Virginia. Dumb ass. So with that logic, I should be able to oh, say, murder you?

YAY!
We set a new record today! What, it wasn't a good record, why doesn't anyone ever tell me this?

Your Heroin Addiction.
Is keeping the Taliban alive. That could be a good t-shirt.

Malach's Quote of the Day
One had been dismissed — and subsequently executed — for a foiled assassination attempt on a higher ranking student, a second had been killed in the practice arena, and the third died in his bunk of natural causes — for a dagger in the heart quite naturally ends one's life. - Drizzt Do'Urden

I am Malach and happiness in a warm bath

Lisa Lopes, Amaral Bus Company, and various other shiite

First the plugs.
Sunshine number 38 is up, with some digital manipulation by Malach. It is the perfect little piece to toss up in a MySpace or Forum comment when you win argument, for example here.

Lisa Lopes.
For those of you unsure of who she is, check out the Wikipedia entry. Now Malach is not a fan of TLC, but they are much better than some of the crap on the radio stations that play their type music. Last night, VH1 (Also not a huge fan of VH1), played a documentary called The Last Days of Left Eye. Evidently Lopes filmed much of the last two years of her life for a documentary. She discussed her career, here mental breakdowns, her alcoholism, her 7 year relationship with Andre Rison (who house she burned down), how she was turning her life around in Honduras doing some missionary work, moving away from TLC, her spiritual epiphanies there, the strange coincidences of her journey, her mental breakdowns there, and filiming up to the point of her death . . . they were actually filming inside the vehicle she was driving the moment the accident occured she died in. It was all together fairly powerful and surreal, and worth a watch.

Amaral Bus Company.
Don't EVER use Amaral Bus Company. My wife works with kids with Autism. Today, she and a co-worker took an Amaral bus down to Mystic Aquarium for a trip. About an hours trip. First and foremost, the promised bus did not contain a promised DVD player, and the running water and toilets did not work properly (yeah you take a group of thirty 8 - 12 year old Austic kids for a 2 hour ride in that condition). On the way back from the Aquarium, the bus, overheated and broke down, about 10 miles from the Aquarium. It took Amaral's more than THREE hours to pick up this group in another bus, and bring them home. Whoever took their calls for help on the phone was an ASSHOLE and could really seem to care less. To top it off, the CT. State Police were also rather unhelpful. All this busful of special needs kids wanted was for the police to bring them some antifreeze, so they could limp the bus off the highway to the next exit that had a McDonald's, and for some reason they couldn't even seem to do that.

One of the kids parents drove down there, and he happens to be a deisel mechanic, took one look at the underside and engine of the bus and stated . . "Man, I am surprised this bus made it this far, it looks like it has had no maintenance since it was bought".

So, boycott Amaral Bus. If you need a bus locally, go with Furtado Buslines, or Tremblay Bus.

You are Listening too (BANG, BANG, SHOOT, SHOOT!). . .
Happiness is a Warm Gun off The White Album. Very interesting and underated Beatles song. Primarly written by John Lennon, it has five distinct sections in an under 3 minute song. Lennon himself used it call it the history of rock and roll.

The song begins with a lilting surreal part based on a acid trip, drums, bass, and distorted guitar start up, and then the songs jumps to a ominous sound guitar rift and Lennon emploring "I need a fix" (hence many think the song is about heroin, but Lennon denied this). Then there is a punky steccatto off kilter section. The final section is a doo-wop send up. This songs changing tempos became a huge influence to bands like Radiohead, Mr. Bungle, and more avant garde rock bands.

The biggest and most radical accomplishment is the frequent changes in timing, rythmn, and tempo. Begining in 4/4 time it shifts to 3/4 for the guitar solo and next section, then jumps around to 6/8, 3/4 and then back to 4/4 and 3/4 shifts.

As for what the song in about, the most of it is symbolic and very surreal. At the time, Lennon might have been descending into heroin addiction, but Lennon denied the song was about that even though the lyrics easily fit that. Lennon did state, that the idea for the song came from a Peanuts book entitled Happiness is a Warm Puppy (Bang, Bang, Shoot, Shoot).

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Well. 2 out of 3 from the Braves with Kason Gabbards pulled up from AAA Patuckett to start, and lot of starters resting for 3 games in the Bronx nest three days. They are currently 10.5 up on BALTIMORE and 11 on New York and Toronto. Should be some interesting pitching match ups, and they actually favor the pinstripes. Mood: Yankees Sox, AGAIN.

OH MY GOD!
The Brood is coming.

Damn.
I can't even deal with one wife.

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day.

I am Malach and happiness is warm ribeye steak.

My Guitar is Gently Weeping!

No Plugs today.
I had a lot of client work to do today.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Well let's see. Won the first game of the double header big time, losing right now 3 - 0 with a replacement for Beckett who will miss 2 starts (Devern Hansack). Yankee lose again so that puts them 10.5 up, 11 if they win. Also the only team to have this big a lead this early in the year was the Mariner team that won a 116 games. Mood: I'm so excited.

Check out Malach's new house.
I move in after my 401k goes crazy.

Scamming the Goverment . . .
Of SSI by coaching your kids to fake mental retardation? $288,000
Three years in prison for Social Security Fraud? Priceless

GEM Plumbing that who you turn too . . .
Damn, they got awful little jingles too all over this region.

Hey Ratzy
Uh, you do realize no one has spoken Latin for like 1000 years? Well that's away to stem the flow of Catholics leaving the Church, do the Mass in a language they don't understand. What's next? Limbo?

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day

I am Malach and Santa Rocks.

As Promised

Plugs.
There is a new 8 1/2 By Eleven, this one is a sappy one and is 523.

You are listening too . . . .
While My Guitar Gently Weeps, by the Beatles from the album The Beatles (aka The White Album. This song was fully penned by George Harrison, as a solo song, but was included on The White Album. This song is also one of the only Beatles song to feature a famous guest musician in Eric Clapton who played the solo and lead guitar on the recording. Pretty much a straight out 70's style guitar rock song, Harrison got the inspiration for the song, from of all places reading I Ching. Based on the Eastern idea and philosophy of relativism, Harrison commited to writing a song on the first few words he read by randomly opening a book. Those worlds were "gently weep".

Surprising, even though at the time, this was one of Harrison best songs, The Beatles were uninterested in recording it (One of the many parts of friction developing between the band). Undaunted, Harrison invited Clapton to come play during recording sessions. Clapton was a bit unsure as The Beatles never let anyone record with them, but he came and it served a two fold purpose. A moments relief of the inner turmoil among the band, and Harrison being freed up to concentrate of rythmn guitar and his vocals.

They decided to give Harrison's song a go and were mightly impressed with the sessions and recording. Clapton himself, was in on the mixing and suggested they "wobble up" his guitar a bit to give it a "more Beatley feel".

The song has an almost frenetic, frantic feel to it, with McCartney's piano, and the harmonizing adds to the feel. Even the ghostly off time harmonizing. Harrison had come a real long way from his early Beatles tunes, and it would even get better.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
Another rain out, tons of rain today, another double header tomorrow. And as promised, the worlds greatest color man, Jerry Remy.

Remy absolute rocks, and we are lucky to have him. There are time when him and his partner Don Orsillo go on these multi-inning nutty tangents, make fun of everything under the sun, and get the multi-inning giggle fits.

Also Remy sometime has a tendency to disappear, and leave Orsillo hanging for a inning or two, and then come back seemingly high or innebriated. RemDawg rocks.

And the Yanks lost again today increasing the Sox lead to 10 games.

OH YEAH!
This will surely improve the Angry Piper's life!

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day
This morning, prompted by increasing concerns about terrorism, oil prices reached a record high as the cost of a barrel of crude is a whopping $44.34. Wow, it seems shocking that a product of finite supply gets more expensive the more we use it.... Now the terror alert means higher oil prices, which oddly enough means higher profits for oil companies giving them more money to give to politicians whose policies may favor the oil companies such as raising the terror alert level. As Simba once told us — it's the circle of life - John Stewart

I am Malach to the East blackwards . .. . SISSIES!

We are the gopher girls

A plug or two.
532 of 8 1/2 by Eleven is now up, and ahh, the mystery of the beautiful Leyla! Also, Malach used his Hollywood contacts to post and exclusive trailer to Titanic II: The Surface over at the WoW.

Also, I am not sure if you people are following the continuing sage of Dr. Robert J. Murk, so let me present in some order.

1. Go here
2 The go here
3. Now, go here
4. Then go here

That should somewhat explain it. I think the freemasons got him.

Oh, and you absolutley have to check out Malach's new MySpace song . . Prize if you guess where that one comes from.

Hey, Malach warned you about this a month ago.
Do you have your documents ready?

One night in Paris.
I wonder when the reality special will come out?

The Bee Movie.
OK, this one looks like it could be REALLY funny, or REALLY bad.

This should be interesting.
Y'know the lottery at least in this state makes a TON of money, so I would think they would cover a misprint, and even have some type of insurance for this.

Newgle
New Google coming soon.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation
Double Header won the first one, close right now in the second. If sox win they are 9.5 up in the division. Also nutty Red Sox nation figured out that if the Sox play .500 ball the rest of the season, they will win 97 games, and for the Yankees to catch them, they will have to go 30 games over .500. Mood: Feeling Confident. Also, one of the best color men in the business, Jerry Remy, mad a major flub today, and fell off a table while doing air guitar, when it gets up on YouTube, it will be here first.

9/11
It will be interesting to see what is in these reports.

Speaking of Conspiracies.
When I invent a timemachine, Dealy Plaza, Dallas Texas, November 22, 1963 is one of the very first place I go with a couple of cameras.

Malach's Quote of the Day
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. - Bertrand Russell

I am Malach and life goes on brah!

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Life Goes On, Brah!

Plugs
Rejoice, there is a new Tales of WoW!, Adrift and this one is funny!

You are listening too . . .
A very strange Beatles song, that many people find surprising that was on The White Album. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da . . . is it a fun and popular Beatles song, yet has also been voted worst song of all time (though I can think of thousands of others that fit that bill). Many of the young'uns might remember this being the theme of the TV show Life Goes On.

As for the song, I don't think a lot of people get it. First it is the only reggae song the Beatles ever did or really attempted, and is more in the vein of ska. Of course The Beatles added a bunch of stuff to it (a honky tonk piano rythmn being one), but the killer McCartney bassline is definitely reggae. The song was written mainly by McCartney as a concious nod to the emerging reggae movement. The song employed a number of schemes The Beatles had never used before in a song, and continued to showcase the highly experimental nature of The White Album.

While McCartney mainly wrote the song, Lennon made a major contribution. The song was originally conceived much slower than it's current pace, and Lennon was not pleased with the song. While experimenting with acid, Lennon sped the song up, and the rest of The Beatles were amazed at how good it sounded. It was re-recorded at the higher speed.

The song is rather simple in it's subject matter, and the lyrics are also pretty simple. But listening reveals a whole sub level of sounds, voices, and laughter. In addition, in the second time through the verses, McCartney switches some the wordings as a slip of the tongue, but they never changed it.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is supposedly a greeting in the Yoruba tribe meaning "Life goes on". The Beatles were actually sued over the saying; a Nigerian Singer clamed he taught the saying to McCartney. It was settled out of court.

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
BORED! I hate rainouts. And yet the Yankees still fell another half game behind.

Speaking of the Weather.
Huge rain, thunder storms and rare tornado warning all over New England . . . but we got squat here is SouthEastern MA.

Internal Decapitation.
Wow. Pretty amazing.

Half a Million Dollars.
For some interesting reading?

Let's see.
He 10 months old, named Bubba, and got a gun permit, and a gun for his birthday. I would think this was in Texas.

Phil Spector.
Yeah you killed someone with that haircut.

The positive side to having Herpes.
See, every cloud has a silver lining.

You know what I find interesting.
They like to put our founding fathers on our money. But what about guys like these, who came before Washington? Or especially a guy like John Hanson?

Bo Diddley.
Suffered a stroke today would be a shame to lose him.

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day

I am Malach and The Grey Album is very interesting.

Won't you come out and play?

Mucho Plugo.
There is a new 8 1/2 by Eleven number 532. Lucas hates the art, but I like it. Friday Night RPG Cartoons number 1.10 is also up and has WAY too many inside jokes, so like 3 people will enjoy it. Sunshine number 37 is also up and I must say, I couldm't disagree with Hex more on this one. Also Malach posted a short article at the WoW, some of you might enjoy.

More Beatles.
Aound the time this album was released, many things in the Beatles lives began to change. The big one being Brian Epstein's death. Lennon got divorced, McCartney and Jane Asher finally ended their stormy relationship, Yoko Ono and Linda Eastman enter the picture, Yellow Submarine the movie premiered, the Beatles went to India, and finally, in January of '69, they began filing and recording Let It Be (recorded before Abbey Road, but we will get into that).

Again the major event was Brian Epstein's death. Espstein had this gift, of keeping the Beatles egos in check and smoothing over hurt feelings, he also handled their business affairs admirably. After his death, no one filled that void. Epstein was perfect at reducing Lennon's ego, buttering up Harrison about his lack of songs on albums, and softening McCartney's almost militaristic psuedo-leadership.

After his death, some further events exacerbated Epstein not being there. Yoko came into the picture, and Lennon refused to leave her side, and they began collaborating artistically. This lead to other girlfriends and wives also being there. Epstein was always adamant about that not occuring, and now no one was there they respected enough to listen too.

For a replacement for Epstein, McCartney wanted Lee Eastman (his soon to be wife Linda's father) as their manager, where the rest of The Beatles wanted super manager Allen Klein. In the past decision like this were always unanimous (with Epstein smoothing out what was in the bands best interest) but this time it was a 3 - 1 vote. After this album it becomes a bit of a quick downward spiral so hold on.

Jerry Falwell.
Well he's dead. I am sure there is a warm place in Hell for him.

Really?
I suppose if your into the slutty drug whore type.

Speaking of Slutty Drug Whores.
Paris doesn't like prison . . . WAHWAHWAH!

Be vewy qwiet.
Phil Spector is huntin' B movie actwesses, heheheheheheheheheheh

The Mood of Red Sox Nation.
For once the pitching matchup didn't favor the BoSox. Verlander pitched a beauty. And Tavares v. Maroth tomorrow don't look good either. Mood: Hey their still 8 games up and the NL is coming.

Hey you Danes!
My 4 year old is gonna kick your asses if you don't quit it.

See I told you!
Malach's profile didn't get deleted! It is still right there.

Malach's Quote/Video of the Day
Are you going to Punch in the Face Town? - C.Rag

I am Malach, and I ask you . . . Are you going to the Punch in the Face Town?