Layne Tribute - Nutshell unplugged cover

I decided to post post up my cover of Nutshell by Alice in Chains today. I recorded it last night with my acoustic guitar and a regular microphone in Sony Acid. The vocal/guitar balance is a little off, but it does the job.

I had the song right until in the second verse I flubbed the lyric "My gift of self is raped." when I said "My sense of self is raped." This does detract from the song, but hopefully you can enjoy it despite that.

Jarrett

Bill Hicks - Journal Entry

The other day, I wrote a part of journal entry about a Bill Hicks performance. It was his infamous Heckler video where he completely loses it on an audience member. I thought it would be fun to write about for my creative non-fiction class.

Here it is:

I watched my favourite comedian Bill Hicks all day today. He’s one of my best friends at the moment, just for his brutal honesty about everything. He tells the real truth about politics and the puppetry, and attacks the American dream and the phony war on drugs. He is my hero, the dark poet. He is frequently booed and heckled on stage because, ironically, he always ends up playing in front of the wrong audience in the States. He’s booked in the backwoods like Baton Rouge Louisiana, the places where the folks living there don’t understand his material. I watched a video today from Bill Hicks in a small club in Georgia. One drunk woman yells “you suck” at him. He ends up calling her a drunk bitch and a cunt and ends up going on a very long rant. Yet, afterwards he says with much self awareness “Gee Bill, you’re digging yourself into quite a hole here. You’ve been running around yelling: I’m a drunk cunt, I’m a drunk cunt. That’s original material Bill, never seen a comedian ever do that! Is there a punch line here Bill?” IT’S HILARIOUS. How he can sit down and make fun of himself that way.

Later another heckler interrupts him yelling “Freebird!” as a request. Bill then chastises him on how he’s getting nowhere in interrupting him and acting like a drunken idiot. Bill yells “This is where we are again! You interrupting me you fucking idiot! This is where you: the fucking peon masses, can once again ruin anyone who tries to do anything, because you don’t know how to do it on your own! That’s where we’re at! Once again the useless waste of fucking flesh that has ruined everything good in this goddamned world!” Bill is getting furious. He then screams at the top of his lungs while rolling on the ground that Hitler had the right idea, but he was an underachiever. “KILL ‘EM ALL ADOLF! BLACK, JEW, AMERICAN, WHITE! THE EXPERIMENT DIDN’T WORK!” Watching Bill express his frustrations with such eloquence is great catharsis for today. For I think like Bill sometimes, and it’s great to watch someone else say the things you are too inhibited to say.

Jarrett

Alice in Chains "Nutshell"

Okay. Just recently I have taken a liking to this song. I'm not sure if it's the melodic baseline, Layne Staley's unmistakable vocals, or because Alice in Chains has such an influence on modern melodic rock bands.

I found this a few days ago watching Theory of a Deadman instrumentally cover it before moving into one of their better known songs. Later I found Staind doing an amazing acoustic cover too.



Nutshell Lyrics:

We chase misprinted lies
We face the path of time
And yet I fight
And yet I fight
This battle all alone
No one to cry to
No place to call home

Oooh... Oooh...
Oooh... Oooh...

My gift of self is raped
My privacy is raked
And yet I find
And yet I find
Repeating in my head
If I can't be my own
I'd feel better dead

Oooh... Oooh...
Oooh... Oooh...

Nutshell is a song probably fueled by Staley's heroin addiction. The isolation, the deceit, the loneliness, the battle of addiction, this song is him in a nutshell. His paranoia dilutes his privacy, and rapes the person he is. The ending line of this song states "If I can't be my own I'd feel better dead." This culminates the struggle. He's losing himself, because heroin is eating away who he is. Death is the end of his detachment.


Video page here

I have to cover this song and post it up right away!

Poladroids?!

When reading another blogger's posts, I've recently discovered a program called poladroid. It's a realistic polaroid generator that takes ordinary photos and romance them with the subtle tints and hues of a polaroid camera. I love it! I've been playing around with it for a few days now.

Here are the results:

Yours , Jarrett

A week in review: photo chronicle.

Our vessel. 16 ft with a 70 hp johnson engine.

New $14.99 road bike: before.

New $14.99 road bike: after.

Front of Symes-Telfer block

New Road Bike!

Hey bloggers! It has been a great summer so far for me. I just graduated high school and have recently come back from a vacation to St.Lucia! I arrived in Canada a week ago and have already managed to find another road bike. Well, I guess my dad found it at a yard sale for $15.

It's a RoadKing Seville and has to be at least fifteen years old. The front wheel is a tad warped, but it doesn't interfere with the stability at all. This is a great bike because it takes no effort to peddle, and the bearings are so good you can coast for as long as you can. It came with a rock-hard plastic saddle, so I swapped that for a gel CCM. Also, the grip tape was peeling so I replaced that as well. I added the trademark cargo holder on the rear, adjusted the handlebar angle and it was ready for the road.

My dad likes this type of bike just like myself. He says it's what he grew up with. It's easy to carry, can be driven on pavement or gravel, and is very fast. He wants one now!

Original condition.

Aftermarket condition.

Jarrett

Spray paint bicycle / Dadaist anti-art machine

My bicycle

This is my bicycle that I use to get around. It's an old Norco road bike with a quick release front wheel and an aftermarket cargo attachment rack over the rear tire. I rigged up some bungee cords to hold on an old milk crate for cargo purposes. I also spray painted it tremclad fire red last week.

It was originally painted and ugly red and yellow sunburst colour, so I decided to repaint it. I was inspired by a set of pictures on flickr, called monochrome bikes of Amsterdam. They were all local spray painted bikes in the city used as free transportation. They remind me of a mix of Bohemian transport vehicle and Dadaist artwork. When I park mine, it will resemble rolling public art. It also acts as a theft deterrent because the average thief won't steal such a unique bike.

I wholeheartedly prefer the older road bike styling compared to the modern mountain bike. For one, they're faster, easier to peddle, and light enough to carry up a flight of stairs. They can also ride on other surfaces besides pavement (just watch for obstructions!). They are the superior commuter.

Jarrett