Saturday, part 1: MBTI

Went to siderea's not-officially-an-MBTI-typing session in the afternoon. Had some trouble finding the meeting site, due to typical New England navigational angst. In this case, a street that changed names when it crossed a city border, but did not immediately indicate the change of name. In any case, I found them eventually, and, having allowed extra time, was even Not Late.

I got to play, as someone there said, "Alexx Claus and his bag of toys." Well, books actually, but in this crowd, that's a distinction without a difference :-)

The session was interesting, if rather inconclusive. Of the four people being typed, only learnedax got really firm results. I came up as an ISTJ, though siderea seems convinced I'm actually an INTJ. Listening to the profiles, the INTJ mostly seemed to describe things that were true about me. On the other hand, the ISTJ profiles, while only about half of it applied to me, included several aspects which I consider as the very core of my self. For the time being, I'll consider myself an IxTJ.

My general opinion of MBTI typing is pretty much unchanged. I don't think it is in any strong sense True, but it is at minimum amusing, and may actually be a useful tool in some domains. I intend to investigate it in more detail at some point.

Saturday, part 1: MBTI

Went to siderea's not-officially-an-MBTI-typing session in the afternoon. Had some trouble finding the meeting site, due to typical New England navigational angst. In this case, a street that changed names when it crossed a city border, but did not immediately indicate the change of name. In any case, I found them eventually, and, having allowed extra time, was even Not Late.

I got to play, as someone there said, "Alexx Claus and his bag of toys." Well, books actually, but in this crowd, that's a distinction without a difference :-)

The session was interesting, if rather inconclusive. Of the four people being typed, only learnedax got really firm results. I came up as an ISTJ, though siderea seems convinced I'm actually an INTJ. Listening to the profiles, the INTJ mostly seemed to describe things that were true about me. On the other hand, the ISTJ profiles, while only about half of it applied to me, included several aspects which I consider as the very core of my self. For the time being, I'll consider myself an IxTJ.

My general opinion of MBTI typing is pretty much unchanged. I don't think it is in any strong sense True, but it is at minimum amusing, and may actually be a useful tool in some domains. I intend to investigate it in more detail at some point.

Saturday, Part 2: The Magnetic Fields

Well, that was frustrating. I just typed in a huge long entry, and then IE crashed and ate it. I really need to move to a less evil browser one of these days. Well, on to reconstruct it, as best I can.

After the MBTI session, learnedax gave me a ride back to Dorchester. On the way, we book-geeked, and got into a discussion of formalist storytelling tricks. Which turned out to be resonant with some of the later concert...

kestrell and I had tix to see The Magnetic Fields. In mentioning this to various people in the past few weeks, I've had great difficulty in describing their music. In style, it's very eclectic. FOr subject matter, the best short description I can come up with is "anti-romantic". Most of their songs are love songs, but about dysfunctional or disastrous love. They have a wicked and ironic sense of humor, albeit jet black. The lyrics are intelligent and witty, with abundant wordplay, and imaginative rhymes. Perhaps the best way, in text, to describe them is just to link to some lyrics. I'm particularly fond of "Love is Like a Bottle of Gin", at the bottom of that page.

The structure of the evening was weird. The opening act started a bit late, ran for about 40 minutes, and then there was a long break before the main act came on. I thought the main point of opening acts was to "warm up" the audience; what's the point of letting all that energy drain away? But the bulk of the audience seems to have adapted to the structure, for better or (IMNAAHO) worse. The house was only about half full at the stated starting time, and the ushers with their little flashlights were leading people to their seats during the *entire* opening act. During the intermission, a *lot* of people got up and went into the lobby, so the usher-seating continued through the first few songs afterwards. Why do people bother going to concerts if they seem so uninterested in listening to the show?

The opening act made me think about the formalist tricks I had been discussing earlier, as I like the method of performance far more than I actually liked the music itself. It was a fellow named Andrew Bird, who had some fascinatingly constructed music. He had several sequencers, and would lay down multiple overlapping tracks on violin and guitar to form a base, then remix them, and overlay them with vocals, whistling, and occasionally glockenspiel. He took off his shoes after his first number, I think because he was controlling the sequencers with his feet. It reminded me of a cross between two videogames: a more artistic version of Frequency, controlled by a more sedate version of Dance Dance Revolution. I didn't get his CDs, but I'd like to see him live again some time.

The Magnetic Fields played and sang well, though they actually didn't seem all that comfortable "performing", if you take my meaning. There was very little audience banter, or movement from their seated positions. For their last number ("Yeah, Oh Yeah"), they did have some (apparently recently-added) "theatricality", and it really did add a lot. They performed several numbers from their new album ("i"), including one that has become an instant favorite for Kes and I: "I Wish I Had an Evil Twin".

They also did an interesting sort of audience conditioning. One of them is apparently having ear-pain problems around loud, sharp sounds -- like applause. So they requested that we show our appreciation "Brazilian style", by snapping our fingers. Took the audience a bit to adjust, but it was pretty cool once it sunk in. I myself have never been able to snap my fingers, but I found my own non-sharp way of making noise, by rattling my feet against the floor :-)

After the show, I picked up several of their CDs, which I am now happily listening to.

Saturday, Part 2: The Magnetic Fields

Well, that was frustrating. I just typed in a huge long entry, and then IE crashed and ate it. I really need to move to a less evil browser one of these days. Well, on to reconstruct it, as best I can.

After the MBTI session, learnedax gave me a ride back to Dorchester. On the way, we book-geeked, and got into a discussion of formalist storytelling tricks. Which turned out to be resonant with some of the later concert...

kestrell and I had tix to see The Magnetic Fields. In mentioning this to various people in the past few weeks, I've had great difficulty in describing their music. In style, it's very eclectic. FOr subject matter, the best short description I can come up with is "anti-romantic". Most of their songs are love songs, but about dysfunctional or disastrous love. They have a wicked and ironic sense of humor, albeit jet black. The lyrics are intelligent and witty, with abundant wordplay, and imaginative rhymes. Perhaps the best way, in text, to describe them is just to link to some lyrics. I'm particularly fond of "Love is Like a Bottle of Gin", at the bottom of that page.

The structure of the evening was weird. The opening act started a bit late, ran for about 40 minutes, and then there was a long break before the main act came on. I thought the main point of opening acts was to "warm up" the audience; what's the point of letting all that energy drain away? But the bulk of the audience seems to have adapted to the structure, for better or (IMNAAHO) worse. The house was only about half full at the stated starting time, and the ushers with their little flashlights were leading people to their seats during the *entire* opening act. During the intermission, a *lot* of people got up and went into the lobby, so the usher-seating continued through the first few songs afterwards. Why do people bother going to concerts if they seem so uninterested in listening to the show?

The opening act made me think about the formalist tricks I had been discussing earlier, as I like the method of performance far more than I actually liked the music itself. It was a fellow named Andrew Bird, who had some fascinatingly constructed music. He had several sequencers, and would lay down multiple overlapping tracks on violin and guitar to form a base, then remix them, and overlay them with vocals, whistling, and occasionally glockenspiel. He took off his shoes after his first number, I think because he was controlling the sequencers with his feet. It reminded me of a cross between two videogames: a more artistic version of Frequency, controlled by a more sedate version of Dance Dance Revolution. I didn't get his CDs, but I'd like to see him live again some time.

The Magnetic Fields played and sang well, though they actually didn't seem all that comfortable "performing", if you take my meaning. There was very little audience banter, or movement from their seated positions. For their last number ("Yeah, Oh Yeah"), they did have some (apparently recently-added) "theatricality", and it really did add a lot. They performed several numbers from their new album ("i"), including one that has become an instant favorite for Kes and I: "I Wish I Had an Evil Twin".

They also did an interesting sort of audience conditioning. One of them is apparently having ear-pain problems around loud, sharp sounds -- like applause. So they requested that we show our appreciation "Brazilian style", by snapping our fingers. Took the audience a bit to adjust, but it was pretty cool once it sunk in. I myself have never been able to snap my fingers, but I found my own non-sharp way of making noise, by rattling my feet against the floor :-)

After the show, I picked up several of their CDs, which I am now happily listening to.

Nightmares

Woke up grumpy and over-tired, despite much sleep, due to an inexplicable string of nightmares. One was, in hindsight, sufficiently amusing to relate here.

I was having the long-discussed Prisoner-watching party here. Only, for some reason, we didn't have the original version, but the late 90's remake, with high production values, but crappy writing, it having been turned into a campy action-adventure piece.

Thankfully, no such version actually exists. But it does bother me that my subconscious was able to create such a thing, in considerable detail...

Nightmares

Woke up grumpy and over-tired, despite much sleep, due to an inexplicable string of nightmares. One was, in hindsight, sufficiently amusing to relate here.

I was having the long-discussed Prisoner-watching party here. Only, for some reason, we didn't have the original version, but the late 90's remake, with high production values, but crappy writing, it having been turned into a campy action-adventure piece.

Thankfully, no such version actually exists. But it does bother me that my subconscious was able to create such a thing, in considerable detail...

John Ford is a God

Follow this link NOW!

John Ford is a God

Follow this link NOW!