(06.28.04):
Today in history (from The History Channel):
1914 Archduke Ferdinand assassinated

In an event that is widely regarded as sparking the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, is shot to death along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Ferdinand had been inspecting his uncle's imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite the threat of Serbian nationalists who wanted the Austrian possessions to join newly independent Serbia.

The archduke and his wife, Sophie, were touring Sarajevo in an open car with little security when Serbian nationalist Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a bomb at their car. Ferdinand managed to deflect the bomb onto the street, but a dozen people, including Sophie, were injured. Later in the day, the archduke and his wife were driving through Sarajevo's streets again when their driver took a wrong turn onto a street named after the archduke's uncle, Emperor Franz Joseph. As the car slowed to change direction, another Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, fired his pistol into the car, fatally wounding the archduke and his wife.

Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the question of Slav nationalism once and for all. However, as Russia supported Serbia, an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war was delayed until its leaders received assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm that Germany would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention. On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe's great powers collapsed. Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Serbia had lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I had begun.

Listening to: iTunes mix I'm sleepy...Oh Wait, Wake Up! iTunes required.

(06.21.04):
Listening to Robyn sing, "Reaching for eternity..." Today is one of those ficticious days where I'd prefer to hide under in a cave with a pair of giant headphones covering my ears while listening to some percolating analog synth type tones. Yet I think tonight it'll be a bottle of some red wine, preferably a pinot noir, and maybe Bryter Lyter. I've decided too much coffee depresses me. Seriously, more than one cup of coffee creates the most awful feeling of anxiety, and I'm sure that's not normal. Gone are the days when I could drink pots of black coffee and still fall asleep. Gone are a lot of days. And I think to myself, "What would Syd Barret (should that be two t's?)do? Then again I feel like some crazy tangent with Peter Gabriel whispering in my ear, "Come talk to me." Fuck. I mean. Yeah, play on... Let us pretend that fourteen years are gone and I'm still showing the world my stories as we drive to school, no buses for us. Jump ahead, we're listening to The House of Love. Sure was great.

(06.15.04):
I have no love for hippies or The Grateful Dead. Referring to their stop at the recent Bonnaroo music festival just south of Nashville, Phil Lesh, bassist for The Dead, had this to say about their appearance:

"This is just a stop on the road, man. A way station to wherever or whatever. It's all about the journey."

(06.11.04):
For a moment I forgot the date, and then I found myself saying, "Happy birthday," and only then did I remember the date. Nick Drake plays softly through the my tiny PowerBook speakers, Hazy Jane II to be exact. On my commute in to work I scribbled a number of random words. But I don't have that notebook in my possession as I type. For the most part I noticed that I have a different notebook for each location that I inhabit. There's one in my car, a different one in my messenger bag, another in my bedroom, another in my AOR, and another in the basement where I record music. Which reminds me because I really need to write some new songs. I have ideas, but ideas that are strings of words lacking melodies and true structure or substance. Updates have been sparadic at best. No real reason, but it's not like lots of people come to the site. I only had one taker on the free CD thing, but that person wasn't really a stranger, or a stranger in the usual sense, more like a ghost from a way distant past.

(06.08.04):
After putting out albums for 11 years on Elektra, Stereolab has been dropped, and it looks like a number of other Warner Bros. affiliated bands will no longer have a place to live either. This is a sad, sad day indeed.

(06.07.04):
Guitarist Robert Quine found dead. According to billboard.com (a site not even worth linking to) Quine died of a heroine overdose. I'll quote Jason on this one, "Man what the fuck is with drugs?" First time I heard Quine was on one of Matthew Sweet's albums, can't recall if he played on Girlfriend, Altered Beast, or both. Either way that's some pretty sad news.

Listening to: Emergency & I (The Dismemberment Plan - Too bad these guys disbanded, but then again maybe not. Kick ass album.)

(06.02.04):
Earlier I made the mistake of eating a doughnut.

(06.01.04):
Album: Misery is a Butterfly (Blonde Redhead - Perfectly suited for 4AD, although 4AD is now part of a larger label. This is some fine, yet strange songwriting from this Italian/Japanese/twin brother trio.)