So last night I went to see MUM at the Women's Theater. In case you're one of the few people I haven't already told about MUM, they're this band I've only recently heard one or two songs by. I went so far as to buy a couple of their CDs (new off ebay, of all places), which I have yet to receive in the mail, and the first song I heard of theirs, (which I downloaded from a link on victory shag), I've had stuck in my head for about two weeks straight. I described their music today to a friend as complex minimalistic melodies from female Icelandic twin vocalists.

It was MUM's first show in the United States, and I'm affraid they're going to turn around and leave after what happened last night. The sound crew (which I presume was the theater's staff) was just awful, and their first 2 or 3 songs were riddled with feedback and poor mixing. Their Moog never worked, despite various idiots swapping out cords (on stage!) for the duration of at least two songs in the middle of their set.

I felt horribly for the poor lead singers who were both visibly frustrated by the technical difficulties. At one point, one of them was actually wiping tears from under her eyes. (And yet she kept singing and playing!)

Over all, the band's potential was clear. Their drummer was amazing, the twins played accordion and cello quite well (when we could hear the cello), and all five performers switched instruments between nearly every song. I would even go so far as to say the show was "worth it" despite all the technical problems.

I also enjoyed the fact that most of the beats and "programmed" portions of the music were done on Mac laptops--including one of those new "wide" iBooks that I secretly covet.

They have their tricks and I have mine.

I can make myself float
by staring into light bulbs,
so they use florescents.

When I breathe the open air
I too am open, and my mind
floats into cloud-scapes--
so they don't use windows you can open,
and the air is forced to us,
cold, through pipes and vents.

But secretly I drink a glass of water
and even though it could taste better,
it is cool and wet in my throat
and I am on an ocean
floating on my back in a wooden raft.

I can smell the seagulls who land at my feet
and my hair is floating in a pool around me.
The boat lurches softly as the keel
scrapes onto a sandy beach.

Here's something I just wrote that I'm calling Hindenbursting:

=========
Hindenbursting

We are zeppelin.
Exploding clouds painted helium
red and yellow spark-colors at sunset.
I'm hanging from parachute clouds
by handrails of hail
and slippery rope-like raindrops.

I've taken a bottle of the explosion with me
to the park by our apartment, cloudbursting.
Grass is tickling the back of my neck. Dirty imperfect patches of grass
evolving slowly to mud, and for the moment
insects are too stunned or wet to move. I try not to squint
at the wet aerial assault and enjoy the perspective
of each individual shooting star of water, ultimately failing.

Tails of each drop point to the earth, simultaneously
pointing at me; making me the center of the universe.
Each spatter on my cheek is suggesting something--
a universal equation of which I am an integral part
or perhaps a span of time the length of my life
which could not exist were I not present to experience it.

We are too small or I am too big.
Dirty oily cloth and metal bones are screaming,
falling.
The air is hot despite the rain.
=========

I think it's interesting that there is really no emotional turmoil whatsoever in my life right now, and yet, the moment I sit down to write a poem, I fictionally create some.

Did you know the pledge of allegiance didn't use to contain the phrase "under god" in it? Recently, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this phrase unconstitutional.

A man in Sacramento named Mike Newdow is responsible for this ruling, and is also suing the USA for several other things related to separation of church and state.

All I've got to say about this stuff: It's about fucking time.

Another of this guy's suits has to do with prayers at the Presidential Inauguration ceremony.

Searching for this guy brought up the site http://www.au.org/, or Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. That's where I found out about the court ruling. I've got a lot more reading to do...

What's it mean when you wake up nauseous in the morning? I'm not pregnant, so that's not it. I think I'm not getting enough sleep. I guess that's probably because saturday night was spent playing warcraft3 until the light was seeping in the windows.

Uplate: Last night I just couldn't sleep (big suprise there, I didn't wake up till 2:00pm on sunday), so I spent it reading the new wired, cover to cover. They've changed some things around in there, and I'm not convinced yet that it's for the best.