Cannabis and Sex

"Another result of the way Cannabis affects our minds can be displayed in just the opposite of the aphrodisiac effect. If we consume Cannabis because we’re extremely distressed or angry, it can increase these feelings and make us more agitated. If we partake of it in order to resist sensual desires, it will work for that end as well. Cannabis can be a multi-functional tool that should be used responsibly. If we consider how we intend to use it and moderate our response to its bodily and consciousness effects upon us, we can utilize it in whichever fashion is best for us."

The Singularity Is Near - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Singularity Is Near - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Each stage of biological evolution and technological innovation increases the level of biological or technological order and enables entry into the next stage. Order in this case is defined as how well the form (genetic or physical) suits the given function. For example, a modern car is better suited for transporting human occupants than a Model T because the newer vehicle possesses numerous design improvements the older one lacks."

Found Music for this week

COLD WAR KIDS - ROBBERS AND COWARDS
JUANES - LA VIDA ES UN RATICO

Found music for the first week of November

In no particular order:

  • DEVENDRA BANHART - SMOKEY ROLLS DOWN THUNDER CANYON
  • JOHN FRUSCIANTE - LIVE AT THE ROXY, 3/19/2001
  • SAUL WILLIAMS - THE INEVITABLE RISE AND LIBERATION OF NIGGYTARDUST
  • PUSCIFER - V IS FOR VAGINA
  • PUSCIFER - DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER EP
  • RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - STADIUM ARCADIUM B-SIDES
  • INCUBUS - JAPANESE LIGHT GRENADE IMPORT
  • BEN KENNEY - VARIOUS SOLO RECORDS
  • EL-P - I'LL SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE DEAD (INSTRUMENTAL)
  • BEIRUT - THE FLYING CUP CLUB
  • DAVE GAHAN - THE HOURGLASS
  • MENOMENA - UNDER AN HOUR
  • MENOMENA - WET AND RUSTING
  • MENOMENA - I AM THE FUN BLAME MONSTER
  • DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - IRE WORKS
  • ROBERT PLANT & ALISION KRAUSS - RAISING SAND
  • FUNKADELIC - MAGGOT BRAIN
  • LES SAVY FAV - LET'S STAY FRIENDS
  • THE SEA AND THE CAKE - EVERYBOD

Musical Savant John Frusciante - Under the Radar - NEWS - VirginMegaMagazine.com

Musical Savant John Frusciante - Under the Radar - NEWS - VirginMegaMagazine.com

Even if you don't know who John Frusciante is, you've most likely heard his music. You can probably even hum several of his guitar riffs. That's because he's the lead guitarist in the world renowned Red Hot Chili Peppers. His rise to fame is the stuff of legends. He was a fan of the band who got a shot at being their new guitarist after the tragic death of Hillel Slovak, one of his idols (along with Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa).

MARS VOLTA | WAX SIMULACRA

MARS VOLTA | WAX SIMULACRA


New Incubus DVD & Guitarist in process of writing symphony

From Sony Music:

Incubus
Look Alive [DVD]

Release date: 11/27/2007
Discs: 2

"Incubus' explosive new DVD Look Alive features footage from their groundbreaking Light Grenades Tour 2007 including multiple concert performances such as the Northerly Island show in Chicago on July 25th, 2007. The DVD also features a behind the scenes documentary with footage shot from throughout the world as well as a BONUS AUDIO CD which includes 5 Live tracks and original music interludes scored by Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger."



July 20, 2007

It's too early to break out the tux 'n' tails and the conductor's baton, but Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger is working on a symphony.

The project began in March, after Einziger had surgery to relieve debilitating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. "I couldn't play guitar for a few months," Einziger tells Billboard.com, "so I just started studying music again. I started working on (the symphony), and I learned very quickly that there were a lo of gaps in my musical knowledge."

Einziger began studying five days a week with a teacher and also spent time with a "musical mentor." The symphony project remained his focus, and he's working on it during Incubus' current headlining tour of North America to promote its 2006 release "Light Grenades."

"I'm just kind of writing it in small pieces, 'cause it's very intimidating to think of it as a whole body of work," explains Einziger, who hasn't titled the piece yet. "It'll probably be three movements and 40 minutes of music, and that's a lot of music to write.

"And I completely realize that it can't just be interesting only because it's the guitar player of a rock band writing it. It has to stand up to the work of other composers as well. It's a pretty hefty task for me to endure, but I'm actually excited about it."

Einziger says Incubus' road schedule should give him plenty of time to continue working on the symphony. After wrapping up on these shores, the group will hit Europe and South America in the fall, with Australia, Japan and other parts of Asia slated for 2008.

The next Incubus album is also on the quintet's radar -- especially since any leftover "Light Grenades" material has been used up for B-sides and bonus tracks.

"We'll be starting completely from scratch," Einziger says, "but that's how we like to do it. We like to look at our albums as photo albums from a very specific time and place. We want them to be representative of where we were at a specific time, so including older songs would seem strange. Everything we do next time will be fresh and brand new."

Source: Billboard

Manly Drinks - The Manliest Drinks in the World

Manly Drinks - The Manliest Drinks in the World — Campus Squeeze

8. Rusty Nail
¾ oz. scotch
¼ oz. Drambuie

Usually served on the rocks in an old fashioned glass or can also be served 'straight up' in a stemmed martini glass. Garnish with a twist.*

*For those of you who don't know, a twist is a strip of lemon rind that is twisted above the finished cocktail or sometimes rubbed along the rim of the glass to add subtle flavor.

The truth about Hunter S. Thompson - CNN.com

The truth about Hunter S. Thompson - CNN.com: "DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- It wasn't a reckless obsession with liquor, drugs and gunplay that made the late Hunter S. Thompson the undisputed king of Gonzo journalism, his wife says. Instead, it was old-fashioned principles such as working hard and telling the truth, enlivened by the glee Thompson took from learning and from being right."

.

You have to hear it to believe it.

 
 

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via The Daily Swarm on 10/2/07

The future holds especially good news for audiophiles. EMI is currently signing contracts with "classical specialists," as yet unnamed, to provide lossless downloads to consumers.

"iTunes is absolutely brilliant in bringing classical to a wider audience," says Benthall. "But I don't think anyone would argue they're a classical specialist. It's difficult to browse through classical music on iTunes if you don't know what you want. We're working with two or three classical partners to make lossless files available in the next six months. Their sites will enable people to easily browse and learn more about classical music."

Read and comment. From stereophile.com.

 
 

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AlterNet: Pornography and the End of Masculinity - Sent Using Google Toolbar

Pornography and the End of Masculinity

By Don Hazen, AlterNet
Posted on September 22, 2007, Printed on September 24, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/62833/

In his new book, Robert Jensen forces the reader to face the music about the effects of a porn industry gone gonzo and the need to reassess the trappings of masculinity as the source of increased violence against and degradation of women.

I have always been part of the collective liberal progressive libertarian value system that accepts pornography as a legitimate expression of the First Amendment. Part of that thinking is that women participate in porn films of their own free will and that porn often represents fantasies -- though sometimes quasiviolent or degrading -- that people actually have. So as long as people are merely acting in porn films and there is no coercion, or law-breaking, it is acceptable.

But I've changed my mind. No, I'm not a prude, or anti-sex. Nor do I think there should be a national campaign to snuff out all porn. In fact, I sometimes watch certain kinds of porn. But what has become clear to me is that, under the guise of the First Amendment, a huge and powerful porn industrial complex has grown out of control. And a big part of its growth is fueled, not just by the internet, but by continually upping the ante, increasing the extremes of degradation for the women in tens of thousands of films made every year. I am convinced, although it is, of course, difficult to document, that the huge audiences for porn and the pervasiveness of the themes and behaviors of degradation are having a negative impact on the way men behave and the way society treats women.

Sexism and attitudes toward women were supposed to have gotten better after the 1960s and the feminist movement. The sons of boomers were going to be different. And while perhaps that is true in some cases, what we have instead is more violence against women and more social acceptance of demeaning male attitudes and behaviors that would have been considered out of bounds 20 or 30 years ago. As a society, we've gone backwards.

Part of my thinking on pornography has been shaped by seeing what is on the internet myself, and part, by reading Robert Jensen's powerful and provocative book, excerpted below: Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity. Jensen has convinced me that something as powerful as the porn industry and its sexual extremism must not be kept under the rug due to liberal shoulder-shrugging about the First Amendment. The porn industry should not enjoy our collective denial in terms of its real-world impact on women -- and men -- simply because we might be berated by First Amendment purists or be uncomfortable grappling with complex issues of sexual expression.

The debate must be pushed, and the consciousness raised. Many will say, don't mess with the issue because it's a slippery slope and could lead to the repression of other freedoms. I've concluded we need to take that chance. Male attitudes are potentially being shaped by ugly and sometimes disgusting abuse toward women. And tens of thousands of young women are being seduced and intimidated into lives of extreme public humiliation on-screen. The impact on their lives over the long run could be devastating.

The advent of Gonzo

One phenomenon in porn is the ascension of Gonzo films. There are two styles of films -- one are features that mimic, however badly, the Hollywood model of plot and characters. But the other, Gonzo, has no pretensions, and is simply the filming of sex acts, which, Jensen writes, while also occurring in features, are "performed in rougher fashion, often with more than one man involved, and more explicitly degrading language, which marks women as sluts, whores, cunts, nasty bitches and so on."

The Gonzo films, which have come to dominate the industry, also emphasize the newer trend of sexual acts, which include: double penetration -- anal and vaginal -- and ass to mouth, or ATM, where anal sex is followed by sticking the penis in the women's mouth. In addition, many of these films include men, often in multiple numbers, ejaculating into the faces and mouths of the women performers. The women usually swallow the semen, but also can share it mouth-to-mouth with a female partner. For Jensen, the most plausible explanation of the popularity of these acts is that women in the world, outside of pornography, don't engage in these acts unless forced. "Men know that -- and they find it sexually arousing to watch them in part because of that knowledge."

As Jerome Tanner, porn film maker, explains, "One of the things about today's porn and the extreme market, the gonzo market, is so many fans want to see much more extreme stuff that I'm always trying to figure out ways to do something different. But it seems that everybody wants to see a girl doing a double penetration or a gang bang. ... It's definitely brought porn somewhere, but I don't know where it is headed from there."

Mitchell Spinelli, interviewed while filming Give me Gape, adds: "People want more. They want to know how many dicks you can shove up an ass. It's like 'Fear Factor meets Jackass.' Make it more hard, make it more nasty, make it more relentless."

Jensen clearly decided in writing his book that the often overwhelming reality of the behavior and values of the porn industry must be experienced by the reader, at least in written form, to understand what the issues are. Thus, in the book, he describes porn scenes, quotes dialogue in the porn films, and includes interviews with porn actors to help capture what they are thinking. Some of this is a little hard to take. Here is one example:

Jessica Darlin tells the camera she has performed in 200 films, and she is submissive. "I like guys to just take over and fuck me and have a good time with me. I'm just here for pleasure." The man who enters the room grabs her hair and tells her to beg the other man. She crawls over on her hands and knees, and he spanks her hard. When he grabs her by the throat, she seems surprised. During oral sex, he says, "Choke on that dick." She gags. He grabs her head and slaps her face then forces his penis in her mouth quickly. She gags again.The other man duplicates the action, calling her a "little bitch." Jessica is drooling and gagging; she looks as if she might pass out. The men slap her breasts, then grab her by the hair and pull her up. Later in the scene, "One man enters her anally from the rear as she is pushed up against the couch. The other man enters her anally while his partner puts his foot on her head. Finally one grabs her hair and asks here what she wants. 'I want your cum in my mouth,' she says. 'Give me all that cum. I want to taste it.'"

Jensen writes, "In researching the porn industry, one of the most difficult parts is writing about the women who perform. Men see women in porn films as objects of desire (to be fucked) or ridicule (to be made fun of.) When porn performers speak in public, they typically repeat a script that emphasizes that they have freely chosen this career because of their love of sex and lack of inhibition." Nina Hartley is one former porn star who frames her experience in the porn industry as empowering -- a feminist act of a woman taking control of her own life. But Jensen notes that while "we should listen to and respect those voices, we also know from the testimony of women who leave the sex industry that often they are desperate and unhappy in prostitution and pornography but feel the need to validate it as their choice to avoid thinking of themselves as victims."

Robert Jensen -- radical man

So that you understand, Robert Jensen is a true radical. His positions on masculinity, race and pornography are way out of the mainstream. He thinks that concepts of masculinity make men less than human and should be junked. "Men are assumed to be naturally competitive and aggressive, and being a "real man" is therefore marked by the struggle for control, conquest and domination. A man looks at the world, sees what he wants and takes it."

In writing his book, he turns to one of the most vilified feminists, Andrea Dworkin, as his guide. One of Dworkin's books, Intercourse , enraged many readers. "In it, Dworkin argues that in a male supremacist society, sex between men and women constitutes a central part of women's subordination to men. (This argument was quickly and falsely simplified to "all sex is rape" in the public arena, adding fire to Dworkin's already radical persona.)" But Jensen embraces Dworkin for best understanding pornography and notes that "her love for men was so evident."

Like many stubbornly pure radicals who in the end have provoked change, Jensen, by sheer dint of the power of his arguments, forces one to examine the contradictions and the consequences of our acts, assumptions and opinions. And, by the way, Jensen has a different definition for radical, preferring the Latin "root" for its meaning. "Radical solutions are the ones that get to the root of the problem." For Jensen, the question becomes: "How do we explain the fact that most people's stated philosophy and theological systems are rooted in concepts of justice, equality and inherent dignity of all people, yet we allow violence, exploitation and oppression to flourish."

Jensen's book is a serious effort to deconstruct pornography and connect it to the society in which it grows and, in some ways, dominates. He addresses in detail the arguments that justify porn and the research that may connect porn to violence. His narrative, interwoven in the book, is about a lonely journey to shed the straight jacket of masculinity, and the pain and lack of acceptance that goes with the territory as he relentlessly pushes his ideas into the public domain.

In the end, the book grapples with a fundamental question. "If pornography is increasingly cruel and degrading, why is it increasingly commonplace instead of more marginalized? In a society that purports to be civilized, wouldn't we expect most people to reject sexual material that becomes ever more dismissive of the humanity of women? How do we explain ... increasingly more intense ways to humiliate women sexually and the rising popularity of the films that present those activities?" Jensen concludes: "... this paradox can be resolved by recognizing that one of the assumptions is wrong. Here it is the assumption that the U.S. society routinely rejects cruelty and degradation. In fact the U.S. is a nation that has no serious objection to cruelty and degradation."

Robert Jensen is on a quest. And he has taken a major step forward in his journey in producing a book that the reader can't run away from or casually dismiss. It is filled with facts, data, intelligent observation and analysis, as well as examples of the raw product of an industry gone gonzo. I know this may sound like a cliche, but I guarantee that after reading this book, almost no one will think about pornography in the same way again.

Man makes guillotine to kill himself

Legendary! Determined? Obviously. (but to a greater extent than we could even fathonm)

 
 

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via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder on 9/13/07

A man built his own guillotine and used it to kill himself.
Groundskeeper from the Fairlane Green shopping center at Outer and Fairlane drive discovered the body shortly before 11 a.m. Monday.

Allen Park Deputy Police Chief Dale Covert said the roughly six-foot tall guillotine was bolted to a tree and included a swing arm. Covert said police also found several store receipts detailing the materials used to assemble the device.

"I can't even tell you how long it must have taken him to construct," he said. "This man obviously was very determined to end his life."

According to investigators, the man had to make several trips to carry the wooden and metal parts to the area in the woods.

Link


 
 

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Walter Cronkite after the Tet Offensive, 1968

In the context of the time?

 
 

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via Crooks and Liars by bluegal on 9/13/07

Presented without comment.


 
 

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Libérate de la esclavitud laboral
















Unlawful Detention: Walmart Tries To Steal Shopper's Baby

This is kind of shit infuriates me. All this fear and everyone so anxious to be a fucking hero.

 
 

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via Consumerist by Ben Popken on 9/11/07

avaandstacy.jpgA Walmart security guard demanded a woman hand over her baby at checkout, thinking it might have been a baby that was reported missing in the store, according to a Myspace post by the mother, Stacy Arrington of Parkville, MD (pictured):

"They are trying to tell me that Ava is not my child. She started fussing so I began taking her out of the seat. The whole time this security guard is asking me to "give him the baby". FUCK YOU! There was no way I was handing her over! I tried to walk away, leaving her car seat, the diaper bag, even my wallet...they blocked me! I am screaming for them to get the fuck away from me. I start crying, sobbing, just holding Ava near me. Everytime the security guard put his hands near her I shifted away. Ava is screaming at the top of her lungs by this time. I am screaming to get a manager. I started telling them everything I could think of to prove she is mine. Her birthmark, hospital card in the diaper bag, my ID in my wallet...pictures of her in my wallet. I am screaming that I am going to sue the FUCK out of them and God help them when my husband and father hear about this!

Finally the manager realizes they have the wrong person..... he gives me everything for free... he puts the bags in my card and I basically run out of the store, still holding Ava. I couldnt get out of that parking lot fast enough."

We're getting really sick of these stories of unlawful detention by stores. Your rentacop badge doesn't make you God.

September 10, 2007 - Monday [Stacy Arrington] (Thanks to Amanda!)


 
 

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More famous dead than alive



 
 

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via Reuters Blogs by Kayan Ng on 9/11/07

Peter Hook of Joy Division REUTERS/Mark Blinch

Joy Division helped define a musical era, opening the gate to the electronic age amid halting lyrics of hits such as "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Shadowplay." Their time together was cut short when lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide the night before the band was to go on its first North American tour. It has been 27 years since Curtis died. For those too young to remember Joy Division or Curtis' death, a contemporary version would be the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in 1994.

Perhaps enough time has passed for the players involved that they're ready to tell the story. Fans of the band -- indeed, anyone with an appreciation for modern music -- may be excited to see two Joy Division-related films screening at the festival this year. "Control" is a black-and-white biopic by celebrated photographer Anton Corbijn, whose previous directing experience was music videos. The film is a perfect companion piece to Grant Gee's documentary "Joy Division."

In death, Curtis has become an enigma. Adding to the mythology is that there exists little footage of him, except for some grainy images, two albums, and artefacts and memories saved by those around him. But no one really knows the man, said Sam Riley, who plays Ian Curtis in "Control."

"The fact that he took his life at 23 is compelling and fascinating and I think that's why young people are still interested," he said in an interview. "Because the music is incredible, his lyrics are phenomenal for that age that he was, at any age really."

Peter Hook, the bassist, thinks Curtis would have been "grateful" for the band's success, but wouldn't have liked that people were upset by his death.

What do you think about Ian Curtis, his legacy and why he has achieved more fame in death than when he was alive?


 
 

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Roq La Rue Gallery: Hultberg, Sol, Badrak, Hiemstra



 
 

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via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz on 9/8/07

Femkehaem
Seattles' Roq La Rue has stellar art hanging right now. First, a mini show of Femke Hiemstra's "Heatwave" series of exquisite drawings and digitally-colored prints. Above, "Skinny Dipping" (graphite on paper, 7" x 7"), which my lovely wife just purchased for me as a birthday gift. Link to Hiemstra exhibition

And the main exhibition features the incredible talents of Stella Hultberg, Amy Sol, and Oksana Badrak. Seen here, from left to right, Hultberg's "Sometimes" (oil and ink on tea-stained paper, 12" x 16"); Sol's "Music of Turtles" (acrylic on wood, 8" x 10"); Badrak's "Lost #3" (giclee print, 8" x 10").
 Showpages September2007 Gallery Stella Images Stella 1  Showpages September2007 Gallery Amy Images Amy 4  Showpages September2007 Gallery Oksana Images Oksana 14
Link to Hultberg, Sol, and Barak exhibition


 
 

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I Think You're Fat - Esquire

It's not about fat people, It's about being honest with everyone and getting to the point.

Frank Zappa Explains the Decline of Music

Not to disagree with Zappa because he's dead and genuine music still exists but Frank does have a humorous take on why a good majority music is not available to listeners of music.

Possibly the most useful thing to consider before browsing the Internet [pic]

 
 

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Unusual Musical Instruments

 
 

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via Dark Roasted Blend by Avi Abrams on Sep 04, 2007

"QUANTUM SHOT" #265
link



You mean this device plays music, too?

This article will cover a few bizarre musical instruments, an oddities used by musicians to convey that special feeling or a melody. Some of the uniquely crafted items may cost a fortune, others are very simple and can be easily assembled from parts found in your kitchen. All of them have loads of character, and that special sound that no other instrument can make.

"The madness" started in 1619 with the "Temple of Music" acoustic experiments:


(image credit: Bibli Odyssey)

But I am going to devote a special post to vintage music machines, as they are endlessly fascinating to my inner "music geek". Fast-forward to the modern times:


Thumb Pianos, or Kalimbas

Robert Patterson Collier makes custom and very aesthetically pleasing miniature instruments. There are many varieties on display in his Flickr set and, with his permission, here are a few that we particularly like:

Kalimba made from lamp parts and an ashtray:



The Ultimate Portable Thumb Piano? "A Camera Piano" -
Kalimba fitted inside a bellows camera case:



"The thumb piano, known as a kalimba or mbira and by many other names, is a lamellaphone that uses plucked prongs called tongues, keys or tines to generate acoustic vibrations."

Another Collier's set shows easy-to-make "Screw Lamellaphone" in detail and this Instructables article describes the DIY process:



Zither Kalimba:


Robert writes: "The sound produced is idiosyncratic to each instrument, often colored by creaks, buzzing, humming, croaking, twittering, hyper-resonance and other strange artifacts... While many of the instruments are wired with a piezo transducer and some even have their own built-in amplifier or digital recorder, the manner in which the sound is captured and the signal processed offers great potential for exploration."

On his Flickr set page are many links to the videos, marrying the lamellaphone's "ambient sounds" with minimalist abstract imagery. Some are very relaxing, check them out.


On the other end of piano scale

High Fashion... Fluid Forms... Consider this futuristic "Pegasus" piano made by the German firm Schimmel and designed by legendary Luigi Colani himself:



...or a classic upright piano nicely complementing your Porsche (or your SonicAir toothbrush)



We also like this transparent concert piano idea:



Another model "Otmar Alt" that even your kid would love:




The Ondes Martenot - very strange French keyboard with a plaintive spacey sound

Definitely better sounding than most analog synthesizers, this highly refined instrument has been invented in 1928 by a French radio enthusiast Maurice Martenot. The pure "space bliss" sounds are made by pressing the sensitive button with your left hand (modulating the waves) and stretching the special string assembly with your right hand.


(image credit: Keyboardmuseum)

Here is a demonstration of the technique:



Watch Radiohead perform on the Ondes Martenot the techno despair sounds that this instrument was plainly designed to produce. "The Martenot Waves" keyboard was also used in the "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Mad Max" soundtracks.


Guitar Solos with Bite

Bill Stahl Photography site has a groovy picture of this bass guitar: (unfortunately there is little information on where to order this thing)



From this monumental compendium of curious instruments (thanks to Barry Wood) come a few guitars that may cause some head-scratching:

Split-Level Doubleneck from China (quite ergonomic, we might add)-



Spanish coolness -



Hindu Doubleneck (would come handy to have goddess-like four hands to play it, they say) -



Some gorgeous acoustic guitars:
Delmundo -



Zemaitis engraved guitar:





Weirdomatic has collected more examples of bizarre bass guitars. Here is a couple of our favorites:

This one is made from "Ouija" board, apparently for communicating with the "Grateful Dead":



Assault Bass, made by The Armando Custom Case company:
(order it from here - but just don't take it thru the airport security checkpoint!)




For a True Audio Gourmet: Drums Made From Cheese!

If you consider yourself a sophisticated partaker of sublime sounds... sort of like a gentleman shown here:


(original unknown)

then you will appreciate the yummy sounds produced by a set of drums MADE FROM CHEESE.


(image credit: Quixoticals.com)

Seen at Quixoticals.com, they were created by Dutch artist Walter Willems for the Mocca Contemporary Art exhibition. The cheese must be really aged to make a thumping sound, plus the whole thing may be used to feed the starving artist for a week, if paid gigs would dry up.


Finally a truly EPIC instrument

Bored of the tinny sounds your little piano or guitar makes? In the mood for something as big and mysterious as the ocean itself? Come to Zadar, Croatia, and listen to "The Sea Organ". Giant 70 meters long instrument has 35 pipes and resonating underwater cavity - they interact with tides and wind to produce the deep, entirely natural sounds.



Designed by award-winning architect Nikola Basic and built in 2005, this project is not only extremely popular with tourist, but also a welcome redeeming feature for what was once an ugly concrete-enclosed waterfront.



Such nature-affected instruments are often called "aerophones", and at any given moment listeners can hear at least five pipes played in harmony by the waves and wind movements. This page has a sample of "sea Organ" sounds.

The air holes "breathe in" the wind along the shore, and the pipes hidden deep underwater make lower sounds.




(image credit: OddMusic)

Aeolian Wind Harp is the only other instrument comparable in its aural majesty to the "Sea Organ" - a grand Aeolian harp is very rare instrument, first introduced ages ago in Ancient Greece. A perfect choice for the "Myst/ Riven" game sound effects.



I leave you with a link that just might totally swallow you up. This page is the best compilation of bizarre instruments to my knowledge, with a sound sample from each of them! Prepare to spend a while there.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of instruments we found since our last publication on this theme. Hats off to these musicians who master the art of playing such oddities. It takes a certain panache and loads of determination to learn to play an unusual instrument. As for me, I only play normal-looking keyboards. "Sometimes I also play the fool", like John Lennon used to say.

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Automated Music Instruments
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