specks of dust

Well, no surprise that something like the new Beck album is floating around the internet now. I remember when a pre-release version of Guero was floating around. I have the same feeling about The Information as I did about the pre-release Guero. There are some gem quality songs, mixed with some that don't quite hold my interest. I have to admit, Elevator Music, Cellphone's Dead, and Movie Theme, are really great songs. The production is impressive...so much so that it almost eclipses the bare-bone meaning of some songs. Nausea seems to be pretty hip, but maybe too hip...too clever.

I've always had this idea about art of any kind...when you present a collection of work, some of the collection will be better than other parts of it. Maybe this works in a useful comparative way, as, let's say, a collection of poetry. If every poem was perfect, it might overwhelm the reader, as well as not particularly framing any one poem from any of the others. If one presents a few perfect poems, and a number of filler poems (or maybe just okay poems), then the better ones stand out. Maybe the author is never completely sure what the general public will like in the end, and perhaps the author doesn't know himself (or herself) what piece he (or she) likes themselves.

The purpose of making art is as variable as the number of grains of sand at the beach. The best reason is probably to have as much fun in the time we have on earth in our alloted time. I don't know if Beck's music will last for generations to come...maybe a few of the songs will linger...but I'm sure he is having fun making them. I remember a reviewer once commented on David Bowie's songs being similar to children's nursery rhymes...maybe these are the most catchy songs...ones that have a hook like a nursery rhyme.

as i contemplate another night of sleep, i am drawn back to my childhood and an overnight at a summer day camp. my parents had sent me to a camp at a local jewish community center. i'm not jewish, but my parents had a friend whose kid went there, so they thought it would be good for me (i think it was inexpensive as well). i still don't understand why i went there...maybe it was because i liked to play tennis, and they had tennis courts.

so, there is this overnight. i recall a part of it where they had what they called a "canteen." usually a "canteen" is something that holds water. this one was where the boys and the girls (i think i was 8 or 9 or so at the time) meet, drink lemonade, and watch a movie together. the movie was "the sound of music," with julie andrews.

now, suffice it to say, when i first saw the film, i was highly disappointed, since directly before that, i had seen mary poppins, and quite expected "the sound of music" to contain at least a little animation. the only image i have of the film to this day is the one where they are dancing around on a hilltop, singing (this may have also been the trailer, if they had them at that time). at least the songs were catchy.

i don't remember much about what happened during the film, or after, or whether we saw the whole film. i do recall there being some sort of music playing and the idea of dancing, but nothing more.

later in the evening, there is a memory of someone lying naked on their back and peeing into the air near the swimming pool, but this may have been a dream, as i couldn't sleep, this being the first overnight away from home.

in the morning, we found that someone had raised my underwear instead of the flag sometime in the night. now (as a grownup?), i would have found it somewhat amusing, but then i was mortified. there was this song from "the sound of music" going through my head while we saluted the underwear.