Thursday, September 25, 2003

"A history of the Iraq war, told entirely in lies."

There's been a lot of fascinating writing lately about Bush's terrorism in the Middle East, especially now that it's clear to basically everyone that we were deceived. But nothing sums it all up better than this article.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 12:05 AM EST

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

A big thanks to Mike Riemel and everyone else at Foto-Shop for the excellent evening.
That has got to be the absolute smallest performance space I've ever been in - just slightly smaller than the bedroom in our sublet. No, I'm not kidding.
But despite its size, it was packed with nice people, interesting art, and a great atmosphere.
My DJ set went pretty well, too. I may be posting some or all of it online soon.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 08:31 PM EST

Sunday, September 21, 2003

On Tuesday, I'm playing a laptop DJ set at Foto-Shop, a little gallery in Berlin. I've never done a DJ set before. This should be interesting.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 11:26 AM EST

Sunday, September 14, 2003

A not-unexpected but nonetheless truly horrifying article appeared today on Yahoo news, talking about how the powers granted to the government by the Patriot Act have now been used to prosecute common criminals.
While it's patently obvious that prosecuting common criminals is vital, it's equally obvious that it has nothing to do with the so-called "war on terror". But under the provisions of the Patriot Act, the methamphetamine-lab proprietor mentioned in the article is being charged with manufacture of chemical weapons.
To quote from the article: "Prosecutor Jerry Wilson says he isn't abusing the law, which defines chemical weapons of mass destruction as 'any substance that is designed or has the capability to cause death or serious injury' and contains toxic chemicals."

Petroleum can cause death or serious injury. Perhaps we'll see Exxon prosecuted?

Mercury and lead are dangerous as well. Will Union Carbide be hearing from John Ashcroft?

Declaring a war on terror is kind of like declaring a war on air. You can't ever win because your enemy is both everywhere and nowhere at once. The harder you hit it the more it expands. But if you talk tough and look angry for the camera, you can convince uneducated people that you mean business, when all you're really trying to do is keep them scared.

The real problem, of course, is that most Americans simply aren't paying attention. It's easy to dismiss the now-frequent comparisons between today's dystopian America and some scary books as conspiratorial nonsense when you've never read them. And if you only get your news from sources that say what you want to hear, how will you ever find out what's true?

Worse yet, how will you even know what to question?

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 07:32 PM EST

One complete reformating and reinstallation later, my computer seems to be under control again.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 03:24 PM EST

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Serious computer problems.
If I'm not answering your emails, that's why.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 09:39 PM EST

Saturday, September 6, 2003

Berlin rocks.
No, really. Ok, so maybe things with the album didn't work out exactly as planned, and that created a bit of a gig/promo vacuum that ended up leaving us with a little more free time and a little less cash than planned.
But this is a really great city, full of really cool people and just the right chic/grit ratio. Plus, it's comically inexpensive to live here, and that's always nice.
But I think we've decided that we're leaving. Alison can't really work here in any sort of meaningful way until she gets much more German under her belt. Until then, it would be nothing but English-language theatre gigs, and those are few.
So we're probably going to New York City.

That's intimidating, just looking at it there on the screen.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 05:14 PM EST

Tuesday, September 2, 2003

The good folks at Raveline contacted my booking agency a few days ago to get my commented chart for this month. While I'm touched that they're interested, I still can't quite understand what "chart" means in the context of someone who's not a DJ. They just want to know what sort of music I'm listening to on a regular basis?
In any case, I sent them this. It's weird, so I'll be surprised if they publish it.

--
Dennis DeSantis - "Five Minutes, Today, Forever" (unreleased)
My most recent tracks, soon to be available on CD and vinyl from ?....

Sensual Physics - "Live set at S.A.T., Montreal" (unreleased mp3)
I had the pleasure to witness this set live. And the misfortune to have to follow it. Simply brilliant dubby minimal glitch.

Lusine - "Push" (Ghostly)
The more Lusine I hear, the more I want. Heartbreakingly beautiful music, every time.

John Ashcroft - "Let the Eagle Soar" (unreleased live recording)
Pseudo-religious fake patriotism from the truly insane Attorney General of the United States. This is quite possibly the most insincere piece of music ever made. I'd remix it in a heartbeat but I'd probably be thrown in a naval brig forever.

Noah Pred - "various tracks" (unreleased CDR)
13 tracks of floor-friendly funk from this up-and-coming Montreal producer. Basslines to die for.

John Tejada - "Backstock" (Palette)
Thanks to Benfay for pointing out just how unusual this music is. Tejada is the master of developing variation.

Heiko Laux - "Offshore Funk" (Kanzleramt)
Stylistically diverse, great sense of harmony, full of surprises.

krill.minima - "Zwischen zwei und einer Sekunde" (Thinner)
Beautiful ambiance from the world's greatest netlabel.

Alexander Kowalski - "|response|" (Kanzleramt)
This is going to be on everyone else's chart too, and with good reason. More amazing music from Alex.

Dennis DeSantis - "Punch!" (unreleased work-in-progress)
This opera in 16 scenes to a libretto by Nigel Maister is my doctoral dissertation. At least until it's finished, this is what I'm listening to more than anything else.

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 05:10 PM EST

Monday, September 1, 2003

Ah, sweet sweet DSL. Finally, we're back on a broaband connection. We've been on a hellish AOL dial-up connection since June, so this is quite a relief.
Still, it's only getting me about 200-250 kb/s - considerably slower than my old cable connection back in the US. Anyone with Deutsche Telekom DSL experience care to lend any insight?

Posted by Dennis DeSantis @ 05:15 PM EST

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