Thursday, 8 April 2010
Andrew WK: 'It's time to let you hear the song which earned me a juvenile restraining order'
Andrew WK aged 17 (back when he was Andrew Fetterly)
I was in high school in the 1990s, in a town called Ann Arbor in Michigan. I had a crush on a girl and was deeply and passionately fixated on her. She had a baby face, a 14-tooth smile, large eyes, a crowned forehead, an oversized brow and a tender style. She consumed me with both lust and hatred – lust, because I was truly drawn to her beauty and soft skin, and hatred because she rarely spoke to me, wouldn't look at me much and never gave me a chance to show her my deep affections. I used to call her house just to listen to her say, "Hello?" Then I'd hang up, terrified and shaking with nervous ecstasy.
In our senior year of high school, when I was 17, we were required to make a final project which was presented to the head of the school and graded as our final exam. This was when my crush was at its absolute height. I decided to write a song dedicated to her and submit it as my final project for graduation. The song was My Destiny. I've never recorded another song like it, and now – listening to it after all these years – I can see why.
Here are the lyrics:
Called Up Your Number Fourteen Times
To See If You Were Home
Home Is Where I'll Find You
When I Find You
Do You Feel Lonely When You're Alone
A Sheet To Keep You Warm
Warm – Electric Blanket
An Extra Blanket
You Are My Destiny
I'll Make You Fall In Love With Me
I'll Make Myself Your Fantasy
Weeping Like The Willow Tree
Drove Past Your Doorway Fifteen Times
I Don't Want To Cause You Harm
Harm – That's What You're In For
If You Don't Open Your Door
So I'll Keep Knocking A Million Times
I Will Knock Until My Knuckles Bleed
Bleed – That Blood Will Leave A Stain
On You Forever
You Are My Destiny
And I'll Make You Fall In Love With Me, Me, Me
It's horribly painful – the sound of confusion and trouble, which is what I was in. I had wanted the song to have a big impact, but not the kind I got. Be careful what you wish for...
The day after I submitted the song, the head of my school called me and my parents in for a private meeting. They played the song for my parents as I sat next to them, paralysed and devastated by the humiliation. The head of the school recommended that I go into counselling or see the school psychiatrist (my parents did send me to a child psychologist following later exploits in arson, baseball card forgery and mail fraud: his final diagnosis? "You have a devilish side"). That was bad, but nothing compared to what happened a year later.
It turned out that the assistant to the head of school got a copy of my song on cassette and gave it to the girl I had a crush on. This was probably the worst thing that had ever happened in my life. She heard the song and was completely freaked out. Within three days, every kid in school had a copy. She told her friends, teachers and parents: "This guy at school is stalking me and threatening my life." She played them the song and they called the police.
In the end, I had a juvenile restraining order put on me, which lasted until I was 21. I've never told anyone about it since, except my closest friends and family. Three months ago, I was advised by my personal manager and life coach to finally let people hear it, to resolve the nightmare. So, I am. Now is the first time since the incident that I've let anyone hear the song. And I can hear why.
Andrew WK @'The Guardian'
HA!
A plane flying from Washington to Denver Wednesday was escorted into the airport by F-16s after Mohammed Al Madadi, a Qatari diplomat, evidently had a cigarette in the lavatory. When flight attendants smelled smoke and asked him what he'd been doing, he allegedly replied "Lighting my shoes on fire."
UC Santa Cruz taps Nicholas Meriwether to be new archivist for Grateful Dead Archive
The University of California, Santa Cruz, has appointed Nicholas Meriwether as the new archivist for the campus’s historic Grateful Dead Archive.
Meriwether comes to Santa Cruz from the University of South Carolina, where he has served as Oral Historian in the South Caroliniana Library for the past five years. His background experience includes work as an educational, research, and rare-book consultant.
Meriwether holds a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University, plus a Masters in Library Science--with a specialization in archives--from the University of South Carolina.
His research on the Grateful Dead, their cultural significance, and their impact on late 20th century society has resulted in a number of publications.
Meriwether is the editor of All Graceful Instruments: The Contexts of the Grateful Dead Phenomenon (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007), as well as four volumes of Dead Letters: Essays on the Grateful Dead Phenomenon (Dead Letters Press).
His writings on popular culture, music, literature and history have also appeared in numerous anthologies, journals, and books.
“The Grateful Dead Archive at UC Santa Cruz represents an extraordinary collection with immense research value to academics and scholars from a wide range of disciplines—including historians, literary critics, musicologists, and others,” noted Meriwether.
“The material in this archive will enrich our understanding of a range of academic topics that extend far beyond the bounds of popular culture and American music,” he added.
Meriwether’s role as archivist will be to provide managerial and curatorial oversight of the Grateful Dead Archive--planning and supervising the processing of all materials and facilitating the archive’s use by scholars, fans, and students.
“Nicholas is a perfect fit,” said University Librarian Ginny Steel. “We feel very fortunate that he is interested in this position because he has an excellent academic background and exactly the archival experience and training that we were seeking. He also brings deep connections to the Grateful Dead community that will enhance his work as he helps us build and expand the archive.”
The Grateful Dead donated their extensive band archive to UC Santa Cruz in 2008. Representing one of the most significant popular culture collections of the 20th century, it documents the band’s remarkable creative activity and influence in contemporary music history.
“I just can't imagine that there is a better person for this job than Nick Meriwether,” said David Gans, host and producer of the nationally syndicated "Grateful Dead Hour" and author of several books about the Grateful Dead.
“He is the embodiment of academic passion and scholarly dedication. I have spent countless hours in conversation with him about the Grateful Dead, and I have learned from him a great deal about academic rigor and the importance of getting all of this recorded properly for posterity,” Gans noted.
The archive includes a wealth of materials related to the phenomena of the Deadheads, the band’s far-reaching social network of devoted fans, and the Grateful Dead’s highly unusual and successful musical business ventures.
“The Grateful Dead Archive will be, like the Dead, something much more than it initially appears,” noted longtime Grateful Dead publicist and biographer Dennis McNally. “Just as the band was not merely a music group but an adventure, an odyssey, and a subculture, the Archive will reflect not only the Dead, but that most critical of post-war decades, the ineffable 1960s.”
The Grateful Dead Archive is expected to open in 2011, as the centerpiece of UCSC’s new and renovated McHenry Library.
'Old Woman in a Casket'
Photo by Dezo Hoffmann
'Scream Thy Last Scream' and 'Vegetable Man' were recorded in early August 1967 for possible release as Pink Floyd's third single. There had even been a press announcement on 25 July tipping this song (under the title Old Woman in a Casket) for release as the next single. However, Scream Thy Last Scream and Vegetable Man were thought to be too inaccessible and unsuited to public consumption to release.
'Scream Thy Last Scream'
(Mono/Stereo/Alternate Mono mixes)
'Vegetable Man'
(Mono/Stereo mixes)
Latest from Kyrgyzstan Uprising
Reports have now emerged that Kyrgyz opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva intends to stay in power and lead an interim government for six months which will write up a new constitution for the county. This could not be confirmed immediately by all sources. In the morning after protesters ousted the government in Bishkek and took over government buildings, the city is still reeling from the looting done the day before. (See pictures below)
However, no reports of new violence from the capital have emerged. Some Kyrgyz netizens reported that the situation was relatively calm and that some people had even gone to work. The opposition earlier declared that they have appointed new ministers of interior and defense and were working to restore calm in the capital.
Same as it ever was...
All the usual bullshit really...
The only bit of good news was ManU getting knocked out!
117 will soon need a name!
I'd propose Audiozobium, but for some reason, I get the impression this would not be well received. But how about Iggypopium? Or even better, Ziggystardustium? Wouldn't that be cool?
A team of Russian and American scientists has discovered a new element that has long stood as a missing link among the heaviest bits of atomic matter ever produced. The element, still nameless, appears to point the way toward a brew of still more massive elements with chemical properties no one can predict.
The team produced six atoms of the element by smashing together isotopes of calcium and a radioactive element called berkelium in a particle accelerator about 75 miles north of Moscow on the Volga River, according to a paper to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters. The superheavy element 117, which is made of atoms containing 117 protons, is roughly 40% heavier than lead.
The team produced six atoms of the element by smashing together isotopes of calcium and a radioactive element called berkelium in a particle accelerator about 75 miles north of Moscow on the Volga River, according to a paper to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters. The superheavy element 117, which is made of atoms containing 117 protons, is roughly 40% heavier than lead.
...
Element 117 fills the final gap on the list of observed elements up to 118. If the latest discovery is confirmed elsewhere, the element will receive an official name and take its place in the periodic table of the elements. For the moment, the discovery will be known as ununseptium, a very unwhimsical Latinate placeholder that refers to the element’s atomic number, 117.
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