What's your current headache?

my entire life, one of my favorite things in the world has been watching the wildlife in the wooded field behind my house. Deer, groundhogs, and owls would all hang out there, and it was so calming watching them. My dogs especially loved the deer, and would watch them for hours each day from the back window.
They’re now after a few years of the neighborhood fighting a losing battle against property developers, they’re in the process of clearing it all to build a handful of McMansions. They’re literally clearing everything, right up to the fence.
I’m incredibly depressed. I’m sure my dogs will be depressed too. I hate this world and the need to ruin every little postage stamp sized piece of nature. I feel like I’m watching Saruman tear the forests of Isengard to build his war factories.
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my entire life, one of my favorite things in the world has been watching the wildlife in the wooded field behind my house. Deer, groundhogs, and owls would all hang out there, and it was so calming watching them. My dogs especially loved the deer, and would watch them for hours each day from the back window.
They’re now after a few years of the neighborhood fighting a losing battle against property developers, they’re in the process of clearing it all to build a handful of McMansions. They’re literally clearing everything, right up to the fence.
I’m incredibly depressed. I’m sure my dogs will be depressed too. I hate this world and the need to ruin every little postage stamp sized piece of nature. I feel like I’m watching Saruman tear the forests of Isengard to build his war factories.
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Fuck that shit.

"When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money."
 
I think this is karma.

Years of me sitting soldering together weird ambient noise pedals and now the universe has decided I need to actually experience this stuff in the wild.

I am beyond exhausted but this Saturday I get to spend 6 hours driving to and from Philly for something called "CAVE RAINBOW IN NEGATIVE COLOR

That is a real name. A real event. Sixty five actual dollars. Seating's first come first serve.

From what I can tell it’s:

1. A bunch of layered recorded sounds from “ethnographic archives and obscure corners of the internet”

2. Followed by a slow, meditative trio meant to make you think about time or whatever

So basically: tape hiss and random field recordings then an organ holding one note for 90 minutes.

And it’s timed to the spring equinox somehow because of course it is.

Now look, I’m not innocent here. I’ve built pedals that degrade signals into mush. So yeah. This is on me.

This is what happens when you spend years telling the universe you like abstract noise.

The universe goes, “Oh you like that? Here. Go sit in a museum and marinate in it.”

But the real kicker is why I’m going.

This is my father-in-law’s way of “spending time” with his daughter. Which apparently means:

1. Picking something he wants to do
2. Not going out of his way at all
3. And then buying non-refundable tickets so now everyone is locked in

So my wife feels bad, which means I get roped into this whole thing.

Nothing says quality time like a multi-state drive to sit silently in a room listening to what I assume is a curated playlist of haunted air.

I’m fully expecting to sit there wondering has it started and can my farts be part of the composition? God forbid I make eye contact with some rando who's really into it.

If I come back talking about “the relationship between silence and decay,” just know I’ve been broken.

This is my punishment.
 
I think this is karma.

Years of me sitting soldering together weird ambient noise pedals and now the universe has decided I need to actually experience this stuff in the wild.

I am beyond exhausted but this Saturday I get to spend 6 hours driving to and from Philly for something called "CAVE RAINBOW IN NEGATIVE COLOR

That is a real name. A real event. Sixty five actual dollars. Seating's first come first serve.

From what I can tell it’s:

1. A bunch of layered recorded sounds from “ethnographic archives and obscure corners of the internet”

2. Followed by a slow, meditative trio meant to make you think about time or whatever

So basically: tape hiss and random field recordings then an organ holding one note for 90 minutes.

And it’s timed to the spring equinox somehow because of course it is.

Now look, I’m not innocent here. I’ve built pedals that degrade signals into mush. So yeah. This is on me.

This is what happens when you spend years telling the universe you like abstract noise.

The universe goes, “Oh you like that? Here. Go sit in a museum and marinate in it.”

But the real kicker is why I’m going.

This is my father-in-law’s way of “spending time” with his daughter. Which apparently means:

1. Picking something he wants to do
2. Not going out of his way at all
3. And then buying non-refundable tickets so now everyone is locked in

So my wife feels bad, which means I get roped into this whole thing.

Nothing says quality time like a multi-state drive to sit silently in a room listening to what I assume is a curated playlist of haunted air.

I’m fully expecting to sit there wondering has it started and can my farts be part of the composition? God forbid I make eye contact with some rando who's really into it.

If I come back talking about “the relationship between silence and decay,” just know I’ve been broken.

This is my punishment.

Fuck that shit. Call in sick and find yourself one of these instead... Don't forget to bring a recorder.

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forest-sound-amplifier-1.jpg.webp
 
1. A bunch of layered recorded sounds from “ethnographic archives and obscure corners of the internet”

2. Followed by a slow, meditative trio meant to make you think about time or whatever

So basically: tape hiss and random field recordings then an organ holding one note for 90 minutes.
“Oh you like that? Here. Go sit in a museum and marinate in it.”
a multi-state drive to sit silently in a room listening to what I assume is a curated playlist of haunted air.

This sounds fucking awesome. I want in.
 
my entire life, one of my favorite things in the world has been watching the wildlife in the wooded field behind my house. Deer, groundhogs, and owls would all hang out there, and it was so calming watching them. My dogs especially loved the deer, and would watch them for hours each day from the back window.
They’re now after a few years of the neighborhood fighting a losing battle against property developers, they’re in the process of clearing it all to build a handful of McMansions. They’re literally clearing everything, right up to the fence.
I’m incredibly depressed. I’m sure my dogs will be depressed too. I hate this world and the need to ruin every little postage stamp sized piece of nature. I feel like I’m watching Saruman tear the forests of Isengard to build his war factories.
Had something similar happen over the summer.
My stance is, I'm still pissing off my back deck. You moved into my line of sight, not the other way around.
 
my entire life, one of my favorite things in the world has been watching the wildlife in the wooded field behind my house. Deer, groundhogs, and owls would all hang out there, and it was so calming watching them. My dogs especially loved the deer, and would watch them for hours each day from the back window.
They’re now after a few years of the neighborhood fighting a losing battle against property developers, they’re in the process of clearing it all to build a handful of McMansions. They’re literally clearing everything, right up to the fence.
I’m incredibly depressed. I’m sure my dogs will be depressed too. I hate this world and the need to ruin every little postage stamp sized piece of nature. I feel like I’m watching Saruman tear the forests of Isengard to build his war factories.
Are you sure the fence is the property line? If those are your trees, may have a payday ahead
 
What bugs me most is the way the development takes place. EVERYTHING is removed down to the last blade of wild-grass. :mad:

Once the road-drainage and sewage-treatment is laid out, then the buildings get e-wreckTed and a bunch of non-indigenous grass and trees are planted so the Stepford Wives and Hubbies can be happy. No one ever stops to think, "Hey, let's work around this 100-year-old tree and we can leave that small copse over there as is and integrate some of what was here into The New Plan." That'll look good.

Then the displaced animals such as coyotes or bears are hunted down and euthanised because some f-whhhits let their cats out at night for wild-animal's midnight snack and then complain to the so-called authorities about it.


Condolences for the loss of those environs, Nick.



Here, they've renamed some stuff because people got offended by the name.
"Hello, city hall? How 'bout our tax-dollars going toward fixing the annual ice-melt drainage-issue on our streets instead of replacing signage (and forcing address changes and credit-card info and...) all because somebody found a name to be icky."
 
Take an edible beforehand and you'll be just fine.
On a normal basis I would try to engage with the artist' work to get a better understanding and appreciation, even when it's not my cup of tea. My workload has almost tripled in the past year and it's been hold off burnout. The prospect of having to spend energy for this makes me even more weary.

My work as a federal employee has had an all consuming effect on my outlook however. The concert will be attended by dilettante types who take themselves too seriously (my father in law is one of them when it comes to art). It will be difficult for me to attend it knowing most of them have no idea DOGE used ChatGPT to axe grants from the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts.
 
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Here, they've renamed some stuff because people got offended by the name.
"Hello, city hall? How 'bout our tax-dollars going toward fixing the annual ice-melt drainage-issue on our streets instead of replacing signage (and forcing address changes and credit-card info and...) all because somebody found a name to be icky."

They’ve done that here too, but it’s usually because it was the name of some bastard colonialist dude who sucked in every way…I’m okay with that. Also the city took care of the address changes for everyone on the street (for mail, at least) so that was cool.

My mom lives on a street that happened to, they had a First Nations led renaming ceremony that was pretty awesome to see.
 
One of the things I miss now that I live in the city is peeing in the back yard with the dog. Then again I suppose peeing in the middle of the sidewalk in the middle of the day would be considered fairly normal around here...
 
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