Last night I heard the machine composer, and as an enthusiastic amateur aficionado in all things musical I was delighted. As a past computer science major I was also intrigued.
I can hear you say now — Vox, you, the Gonzo Hooker, once a Gonzo Hacker? Yes, my little creatures, I surely was. Only it brought me no great joy. And once I got sick, I wasn’t able to finish that path and had to find a new one. The Path of the Yarn.
Much better path.
Last night I dreamed about Saint Cloth. He’s a very special saint, and few know of him. He’s patron to the losers, the filthy sinners, the dreamers, the absent, the lost, the ugly, and the voiceless. I’d like to think he’s *my* patron saint, or that I’m his. Last night I dreamed that Saint Cloth gave us all a song so very sad that on hearing it I lay my head in my hands and let my tears just fall. I was hoping someday to make Saint cloth a mix tape, in that goofy way that you make someone a mix tape. Like the bard says — saints have hands, that sinners hands do touch; and palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.
Speaking of music that makes us weep (in a powerful way, not in an OMG THIS SUCKS way), my friend Kathleen has a new blog. She’s a music therapist (which makes complete sense, as I tend to use music as a mood drug) and she’s blogging about life and thoughts and just whatever comes across. Kinda like me here. 
Her newest entry at the moment is about performances that make one cry because of their courage and honesty.
I can definitely relate to that. There are several songs that I know will do that to me; I won’t shed actual tears (I rarely do that) but my throat will close and my eyes will sting. I have a killer techno remix of “Now We Are Free” from the Gladiator soundtrack that does it every time. There’s a song by a Japanese artist named Hitome — “Wish”.
Also usually the Fifth Dimension’s song “Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine” will do it to me, but because I have the stupidest image in it. When I was probably around 7 or 8 I saw an episode of “Head of the Class” where they performed the musical “Hair”, and when they were singing the second half of that song they carried a flag-draped coffin onto the stage. That mental picture has always stuck with me, most likely because I was so young and impressionable when I saw it.
It may not actually be a stupid image by itself (in fact, in considering it I think it’s pretty powerful), but I feel a bit stupid uttering anything like “A scene from ‘Head of the Class’ has affected me on some level for the last 20 or so years.”
I got some ideas last night about the Dark King of my Fantasy chess set, so that’s part of what I’m working on today. Also, THE INCREDIBLYOMGPINKTHING, which is close to completion.