this is up my alley, but it kind of floated by, too, indicating it's a little generic.

https://savingthrow.bandcamp.com/

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/13/rush-nme-interview-1978-rocks-backpages

my dad didn't have the attention span to read a rand novel. thankfully.

i'd read more rand by the time i was 15 than he did in his entire 55 odd years, and i couldn't get through any of it, i thought it was boring. 

i don't suspect he would have liked objectivism much, if he had bothered to learn much about it. he was a profoundly unselfish person.

but, peart really did warp his mind in pretty shitty ways.

"She's just a very brilliant woman, an excellent writer, but a brilliant thinker as well. She has a great clarity of thought." - neal peart on ayn rand

if neil really didn't want brain cancer, he would have worn his tin foil hat.

but, he made the wrong choice. tough titties, neil.

i will not be mourning the passing of neil peart at all

my father loved rush, but i could never stand them. we used to argue about this, actually. 

neil peart was known as the drummer for rush, and i would argue he was overrated as a drummer, but he was also the band's lyricist and thematic director, and i would argue he was even more overrated in that category. i also believe that his lyrics had a profoundly backwards influence on my father's broader outlook on life. they really corrupted his critical thinking abilities in a dramatic way.

and, so the question i would ask neil's memory in his passing due to a brain cancer that nobody survives, in fact the same cancer that got my dad, is - where's your free will now? huh?

does he not realize that by not making a choice to avoid all causes of brain tumours, he's still made a choice to die of cancer, and it's consequently his own stupid fault?

there are some bands that are overrated, and it ultimately doesn't matter. nobody cares what gord downey thought, in the end - his views were harmless enough. but, rush were worse than overrated, they were dangerous because they were ignorant, and yet seen as enlightened by a fanbase that bought into the pretension.

and, on some level, i would actually state "good riddance".

...but i want to make a point clear. it should already be clear...

...but if i don't go to your shows, or review your records, or otherwise acknowledge your existence, chances are pretty high that the reason is that i think you suck. and, there's a lot of bad music in detroit, controlled by a lot of filters with very bad taste.

so, i mean, if i'm not "supporting your scene", it's not some kind of accident. it's because i don't like it. and, i don't care how cool you think you are, either.

broadly speaking, art should not and cannot be thought of as a transactional process. this idea of "supporting the scene" is exactly why there's so much garbage out there - people get shows because they did somebody a favour, and are consequently expected to buy into a system before they can get something out of it. it's pay to play. and, it's bullshit, and i won't have anything to do with it.

i understand that i need to meet people and network, that i can't just create the greatest thing ever and expect it to magically sell, that i have to find some way to market it. i understand that i live in a capitalist reality, whether i like it or not.

but, i'm not remotely interested in any sort of "scene" that rewards loyalty over talent. that scene is going to suck, and it won't take long before it's full of dumbass macho bros sitting around by themselves wondering why nobody shows up.

i need you to evaluate my art on it's merit and i want to be a part of a scene that values my talent, not one  that rewards me for seniority and for showing up.

there's reasons i'm at the age i'm at and have kept an arms-length distance from every scene i've ever been near. after a while, i basically hate virtually everybody, and the feeling is often fairly mutual.

but, i need it to be about the value of the art, or i don't want to show up at all.

we're going to need to move to the chromebook for today.

i'm going to set up email posting. it seems overdue....

so, i lost the week. again.

i don't want to lose another one....

the dso is camping out in the burbs for it's performance of carmen this weekend, and while they can't get rid of me quite that easily, i'm not going to hitch out to see this particular piece as it's a bit too, err, bourgeois for my tastes.