anyway the books i've listened to have predominately been on the short and light side, a lot of mysteries. but that's okay, i've been having fun. anyway the point is that as the next logical step (bc i like the malloy musical) now before bed i'm going to try and start War and Peace…

i used to be something of a voracious reader, but over my 20s the pace fell to like 1 book every two years, if that. but now i've read two dozen books since June, and that feels good!

he's sooo good and the fact that his role in Wu-Tang is still "the goofy stoner one" and not "the greatest rapper ever who accidentally ended up friends with a bunch of weirdos" is an astounding display of being chill

we plan to have Puzzles of 2025 done by the end of November. will it be a success? will we beat TMBG to their next album? will the constant atrocities pile up so much as to make releasing a collection of silly songs seem impractical or in poor taste? will we release it anyway? stay tuned….

here’s the trailer again. Elsie Janis stans rejoice and/or recoil www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1CM...

not to distract from the nice tune, but how is that chair creak at the start so incredible and so in time with what follows???

i also saw a large grasshopper on a rock. (this is the only interesting thing that has happened to me recently.) i took a photograph of it but i'm not going to share it. go outside and see a bug for yourself! !!

while i'm here (i have not been keeping up with "social media" and i have no intent to), i am doing fine and i hope you are as well. this week, i was pleased to get this year's vaccines, and to vote in the local election. i'm feeling lucky to get to do these basic things.

promotional post-script: this sort of thing is what happens when you listen 2 music on "youtube". instead, avoid and/or maximize inexplicable bass solos by paying ur fave artists directly, e.g. using "bandcamp" on today, "bandcamp friday" ! ! ! even Chuck Mangione had a page there for some reason

rose i am forced to admit that i have eternal affection for Escape from Monkey Island because it came out when i was a kid and was the first LucasArts game i played

then this youtube playlist follows the tune with an alternate take of the same tune, and at around 4:00, it sounds as though someone has added reverb to the horns for like a single riff?? what's going on with pre-smooth-jazz Chuck Mangione??? i'm going to bed!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=URs-...

i was in fact singing "So Long Mom" to myself just yesterday (for no particular reason). the satire aside, his rhymes and tunes are such a delight! his work is a fundamental influence on me whenever i'm trying to create a rhyme or a tune.

(oh, as i did not include "alt text" for the video above, i've copied the text of the video to the "alt text" for this image (one of the Elsie Janis photos in the video (White Studio, 1925, from the NYPL)))

Some of what we've done so far sounds so good and some of it sounds so bad and I'm excited for everyone to hear it all. thanks

I'm happy to finally be collaborating with my pal Hedra. It's a big project and the year is halfway over today, but I think we can pull it off.

Here is the announcement of Puzzles of 2025, by me and Hedra Rowan.