Dahl, GNR, epicmealtime

Glad a 4 day week end has come around. I was sorta going crazy on the Spanish phones until 6:30 last night. The job is okay, just sometimes can be depressing based on the nature of the circumstances of the people calling in. The good thing is now I am starting to do the processing bit, which means I can half listen to music and podcasts and whatnot while working on the cases. Can't complain about that.

I am reading "Storyteller", which is this awesome 600 page Roald Dahl Biography that came out in September. It's really well done, and from what I understand the writer had pretty much full access to the Dahl Estate. He read hundreds of letters and book drafts and the whole thing is pretty comprehensive. I guess Dahl was a bit of a nasty person and extremely opinionated, some even described him as a bully. Above all, it seems he was a braggart. His personal experiences were in his mind more valid than anybody elses. Because of this, he would exaggerate wildly and even make up huge details in order to best the stories of those around him. The author really kind of softens this idea by looking into why he was that way, and how his bad temper really contributed to great writing. Maybe pathological liars are just contributing to society in a whole different way.

There is a chapter in the book that talks about how Roald Dahl related to children much more than adults. His outlook on children was a bit grisly, but I thought it was interesting. He said they are creatures that are only concerned with survival. They judge people on if they are a threat to them or not, and gauge people on how essential they are to their own survival. In that way, children are incredibly selfish. In Roald Dahl's books, the children usually are orphans or from 1 parent households, and the adult world is against them. The adults are, for the most part, evil funcrushers who despise children. (The witches, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, The twits). Occasionally an adult comes along that is there to help the child, and this adult is given special consideration. Usually these adults are basically children that have never grown up. (Willy Wonka, Danny's Father, Mr. Fox). The author of the biography decides the Roald was on to something, as children related with his books and the "me against the world" themes that made them so popular. Dahl was quick to point out, however, that children being selfish, self-absorbed creatures is not a bad thing. In fact, it's just a different way to describe purity or innocence. As adults in a society, we are led to give people the benefit of the doubt. Even people who do not have our best interest in mind are acceptable if they are funny, or serve some other useful purpose in the community. But it doesn't matter how funny you are, to a child, if you are mean, you are to be avoided and overcome, not tolerated. Anyways, just some thoughts I was having while reading. It's a good book, if you liked Dahl as a kid.

Speaking of authors, Brian Jacques passed away last week. You ever read those Redwall books? That was my life in Elementary and Middle School. I think I read 8 or 9 of the books. Now there are like 22. Crazy.

Here is the song I made two weeks ago for my last Beck cover. I am trying to mess around with sampling. And what would be a better sample to mess with the first time around than GNR's most famous riff?

Just a Message to Her by Armorie Record Club

The new Radiohead album dropped today. "The King of Limbs". I'm giving it a first listen as we speak. Thoughts later. Andrew and I will be playing some songs at the Radiohead cover concert at the Lundstrom Center next Saturday. You should come if your around.

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All is doing some insane stuff right now.

I watched Restrepo last weekend. I have a goal in life to never get shot at. This documentary was so scary at certain parts I had to close my eyes. It's streaming on Netflix so check it out.

This is so awesomely gross. These Epic Mealtime guys are killing it right now.