Water Ballet From Hell

            Do you find that you're sleeping a little too well as of late?  That your dreams are of the innocuous stripe, i.e., old friends turning into llamas and eating your baseball hat, rather than full out, scream-yourself-awake nightmares followed by 15 minutes of sweating and shallow breathing interrupted by occasional anxiety-induced "whale flips" that rip the covers off your significant other?

My least favorite Burger King marketing campaign.

Well I just might have a remedy for that.

In Alaska, the only moments I had to watch the Olympics were at odd times, usually very early in the morning, and so the events that I was able to catch were generally the weird, quirky ones like race walking and horse-dancing (call it what you will, it's horse-dancing.).  I enjoyed this, since I've always held the opinion that the unknown events were much more interesting than many of the popular events.  Truth be told, there are a lot of relatively obscure sports out there that I think people would love to see in the Olympics.  Dwarf throwing is a very inclusive sport.  Fire eating merits consideration.  Eel wrestling would make good television.  I think the IOC could try harder; but I digress.

Strange events are a rootin' tootin' good time, but there was one event I saw that transcended mere oddness and burst into the realm of absolutely crap-your-freaking-pants terrifying.  They called it... Synchronized Swimming.

You probably know what synchronized swimming is, and you may have seen a little bit once or twice.  But have you ever actually seen synchronized swimming?  Have you?  Have you taken the time to notice the individual swimmers?  They are creatures of pure nightmare; born of the abyss and taking on forms that upon the first cursory glance appear to be human. For the sake of sanity your brain forces you to see them as human.  That illusion begins to slip once you really get a look at a swimmer up close.  Their terrifying alien-ghoul faces will imprint themselves on your brain.  "KILL IT WITH FIRE!" you will silently scream as the last vestiges of your sanity are extinguished.  From then on, a fear you never imagined will accompany your every waking moment; a fear only surpassed by the terrors that fill your sleep.  You will never take a bath again.

I've given you fair warning friends.  Below are some lunacy-inducing images of these synchronized demon water clowns someone found from the London games.  Gaze upon them, and never sleep again.

Now Playing: October 4

herefore music, being in it's very design a construct of heaven, and, possessing innately the capacity to enlighten, inspire, yea, even to soothe the savage beast, is therefore considered by me worthy of propigation and distribution by those in the happy possession thereof to the misfortuned and benighted among the populace.  Consequently, and with such a benevolent aim in mind, the vast expanse of the internet being so great and capacious a vessel as to allow mercurial transfer of melody in fleet-footed fashion, have I undertaken to dispense that which is but a mere exemplaritorial cross-section, of that music which is most lovely to hear, and is, as determined by myself, being of sound mind and hearty constitution, to be of rather good taste.  It was, and remains, insofar as I am able to warrant, my most closely-held wish, that you enjoy the following musical compositions and learn, as I have, to relish them.

So I was up late reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine last night, and I dig the guy's style.  Literary flows off the Heezee, yo.  I thought I'd try introducing this post T-Paine style, hope you slogged through it okay.  In case you didn't, I said, in essence:  Music is rad and good music should be shared.  The internet is a great way to do that so here's some stuff I'm into.  Hope you can dig it.

Been into a lot of Dubstep/Glitch Hop lately, and I'm still enjoying the folk/Indie scene.  Take a listen and find something you enjoy.

	Fleet Foxes - The Cascades Since their formation in 2006, the Fleet Foxes have been one of the most influential groups in the Indie Folk genre.  Truly beautiful music.  I've been listening to this song on repeat the last couple days.
	Savant - 8-bit Lightsaber Savant is easily one of my favorite Dubstep/Glitch Hop/Electro House artists.  Relatively new, he's cranked out 4 full-length albums in the last 10 months, and 8-bit Lightsaber is off of his latest album, Ism, which released last week. It's an infectious, funky dubstep track drawing heavily on a Chiptune sound.  Sounds a lot like Mizuki's Last Chance, which is another of my favorite Dub/Chipstep producers.
	Radical Face - Ghost Towns One of the projects of Ben Cooper, Radical Face is one of my favorite Indie bands.  Their most well-known song is Welcome Home Son, and if you haven't heard it, you should.  This song is from The Family Tree: The Roots, which is the first of what will be a trilogy of albums, with The Leaves and The Branches yet to come.
	Fleet Foxes - Blue Spotted Tail Another beautiful song from the Fleet Foxes, Blue Spotted Tail is pretty simple to fingerpick and it's always relaxing to play, like all of the Flee Foxes' stuff.
	The Weakerthans - Sounds Familiar I so much love the style and cadence of the Weakerthans.  There's genuine poetic depth in the lyrics, which are at once thoughtful and playful, and delivered in a wry, affectionate tone.  It's something shared by bands like They Might Be Giants and The Mountain Goats (some of my all-time favorites) that really speaks to me.