Creative Psychosis

There must be something wrong with my shuffle. It’s not random enough anymore.

Every morning, my iPhone is playing the same group of songs. Coincidentally, two of those songs are ‘Every Day Is Exactly The Same’ by Nine Inch Nails, and ‘My Iron Lung’ by Radiohead. I love both songs, and yet I wonder if they’re subliminally trying to tell me something, since they each carry a personal message. You see, both songs describe something in my life— my job (Every Day) and my novel (Iron Lung)— and I know that up to this point, neither of them are getting me any closer to my dreams.

On the flip side, we’re really close to finishing a few things on the Somrod To-Do list… the last remaining soffit in the basement project (yes, we’re still at it after a 4 month break), the ceremonious 10th episode of Magic Junk Radio (yes, I need to lay down some vocals), and believe it or not, there is a Wiki in the works for all of the MJR compositions over the years (yes, it’s practically a Somrod history lesson).

This is all good progress considering that most nights I get home from work at 8-9:30pm. So why the hell can’t my iPhone start playing ‘Dig Your Own Hole’ by the Chemical Brothers every morning? Is that too much to ask for? Can you let a brother get his shuffle back?

April 17, 2003 is a day that will go down in infamy. It was the day that the Somrod spark began.

The night before, an unsolicited and semi-flirtatious e-mail was sent, armed with a closet Star Wars fan comment. The next day, the email recipient was curious enough to log into a dating service chat program, and she found him already waiting there. The rest is history.

Or in retro musical terms, it could be the day titled “They Meet”.

Just in case you don’t have all of the Somrod content tagged , be sure to click over to Magic Junk Radio to read about (and vote for): ‘Nude’ Remixed: M.Sahm Vs. S.Rod

Everyone has a band or singer-songwriter who spans a generation with them; the artist whose career runs through peaks and valleys along with your life. For me, that artist has been Nine Inch Nails.

I discovered the music of NIN as a sophomore in high school in 1991. A girl I was dating gave me a cassette copy of their first album Pretty Hate Machine, and I was immediately hooked. After 1992’s Broken was released, I have followed bandleader and production guru Trent Reznor’s career closely ever since. Sure, there have been a couple speed bumps along the way (i.e. songs like “The Perfect Drug” or “Deep”), but NIN’s hard edged soundscape has always appealed to me.

Outside of the multi-layered textures, pulsing synths, and arrogant guitar power chords that Reznor has woven through his work, I’ve also enjoyed his frequently aggressive and angst ridden lyrics and breathy vocal delivery. So when Reznor released Ghosts I-IV, an album comprised of 36 untitled instrumentals, I was not sure what to make of it at first. I knew I had enjoyed many previous NIN instrumentals like “The Mark Has Been Made” and “La Mer” from The Fragile, or “A Warm Place” from The Downward Spiral— but nearly two hours without a single vocal? It seemed like a recipe for disaster when mixed with an experimental release format via the web only.

Luckily, despite the NIN website crashing on the first day of release, Ghosts I-IV was considered a success by most critics and fans, despite not being as groundbreaking as some of his previous records. My belief on Ghosts is that Reznor didn’t want to chance releasing his “vocal-included” material in the event that this experiment was not as profitable as hoped. However, now that it has been, I expect that in the upcoming months, he will release an EP with vocal tracks. Of course, that is purely speculative from a longtime fan. Forgive my optimism.

More importantly, Reznor had a second experiment in mind for Ghosts outside of the release structure. NIN teamed up with YouTube to host a “film festival” where fans could submit their own visual representations of the music of Ghosts. The films will be reviewed by a team (including Trent) and the “exceptional” ones will be prominently displayed as a YouTube/NIN collaborative “film festival”. As Reznor states, “This isn’t a contest and you don’t win elaborate prizes - it’s meant to be an experiment in collaboration and a chance for us to interact beyond the typical one-way artist-to-fan relationship.” The YouTube page detailing all this can be found here.

Thus, while I am not able to create quality video or anime for the film festival, I did have an opinion that all of the tracks of Ghosts segment into two distinct mixes. Each mix sonically illustrates a character as listed below:

1. Ambicaspian: the musical portrait of a suburban woman who drowned in a lake while swimming alone. Her ghost forever trapped in the lake’s surroundings, she does everything within her powers to keep others from the same fate. No one has drowned there since.

Ambicaspian track listing:
02 Ghosts I
05 Ghosts I
30 Ghosts IV
28 Ghosts IV
25 Ghosts III
34 Ghosts IV
21 Ghosts III
36 Ghosts IV
18 Ghosts II
01 Ghosts I
17 Ghosts II
22 Ghosts III
13 Ghosts II
11 Ghosts II
09 Ghosts I
15 Ghosts II
06 Ghosts I

2. Geistfearian: the musical portrait of an urban man who was double-crossed and poisoned by his best friend and his wife, who were having an affair. His ghost forever trapped in the city, he roams the street, toppling scaffolding and breaking pipes in the ground. His pain is so severe that he can never rest.

Geistfearian track listing:
03 Ghosts I
24 Ghosts III
16 Ghosts II
26 Ghosts III
14 Ghosts II
29 Ghosts IV
07 Ghosts I
32 Ghosts IV
23 Ghosts III
27 Ghosts III
31 Ghosts IV
12 Ghosts II
20 Ghosts III
08 Ghosts I
33 Ghosts IV
19 Ghosts III
35 Ghosts IV
04 Ghosts I
10 Ghosts II

In closing, I can only hope that Nine Inch Nails continues to experiment with music and media, a trait not often found in an artist who has already spanned a generation. Cheers.

Recap: I had spinal fusion of the L4-L5-S1 vertebrae back in August of 2007 to correct a congenital condition called Isthmic Spondylolisthesis. I was in the hospital for six days, out of work for eight weeks and in a back brace for six months. You can read about that here .

About a month ago my orthopedic surgeon told me that I no longer have to wear my back brace. This was huge! I can’t explain the level of excitement those words created in me. He said that I’m recovering well and he sees lots of bone growth and did I mention…I can stop wearing my back brace? Getting rid of this brace is the most wonderful news. I am usually a very shy person but I found myself talking to everyone on my way out of the doctor’s office. Telling them about my surgery and how my brace was horrible…OK. I’m exaggerating. I really only talked with two people who asked about the brace I was carrying. There is no exaggeration about how big, clunky, and uncomfortable it was to wear the brace. It went against my fashionista tendencies. The brace was not exactly the perfect accessory.

FINALLY! A little more than three weeks ago I started physical therapy. Generally PT is one the most difficult steps in recovery because you have to start using muscles that were previously restricted. I have not felt this sore in a long time. I’m going about 3 times a week for the next 6-8 weeks. They start me off by having me lay down on my stomach with a heat pad on my lower back. This is to relax the muscles. Then the physical therapist comes in and helps me stretch. So, basically she turns me into a human pretzel before putting me on the bicycle for 5-7 minutes. Followed by some leg/back exercises with weight machines then onto some floor exercises and more stretching. Once finished, its back on my stomach for some ice and muscle stim. I think I walk into PT better than when I leave but it should get better…I need it to get better. But right now its just kicking my ass.

Mark & I would like to extend a great big THANK YOU to the host of the B-Sides Concept Album show - Josh Hathaway, who was gracious enough to invite us on his program last night. We had an absolute blast. If you didn’t have a chance to check it out live you can listen to it right here…

Don’t forget to visit Josh at his blog - Confessions of a Fanboy and tune into the B-Sides Concept Album show on Blogtalkradio every Thursday @ 10PM EST.

Yes, believe it or not, M.Sahm & S.Rod have been invited to discuss their podcast Magic Junk Radio tonight, March 13, at 10pm EST on the B-Sides Concept Album radio show, hosted by BC Magazine and BlogTalkRadio.

Here is the direct link to the show’s page. At the BSCA page, once the radio show is ON, there will be a blinking green button that says “Click To Listen”, and you can open a window for the chat room as well.

If you’re having issues with the hotlink above, here is the full site URL for the show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/bc/bsidesconceptalbum

Hope you can tune in. It should be humorous, or at least as humorous as the banter of Sahm & S.Rod can be. Cheers.

No, there will be no M.Rod or S.Sahm, but rather a merging of the two.

From today on, MagicJunk.com will become Somrod.com. I had started Magic Junk back in 2000, well before I met the lovely Ms. S.Rod. So it was only natural for the site to evolve into something more collaboratively named. We needed a fresh start after a hectic year, and this was definitely a good jumping-off point for us.

For now, outside of some cosmetic changes, the site is still the same. But Somrod Creative will be the launching pad where we hope to bring many new concepts to life. Like GE on ecstasy. Okay, maybe not that good, but we’ll try our best to be productive.

But we didn’t stop there. Blogimus Prime has served me well since 2005, but it was more playful than keeping with the current direction of our sites. However, we didn’t have to look far for a name— only back to a couple of previous blog entries from December 2006 and August 2005. Creative Psychosis fit the general vibe of most of the blog entries, plus it inspired a really kick-ass header graphic (as you can see above).

The only thing that remains the same is Magic Junk Radio, since the MJ name really catered to our podcast style. Speaking of which, we just launched Episode 9 today. Go check it out if you have the chance.

All in all, we’re happy to be working towards our creative goals again. It’s quite liberating to make a rocket of your rust and cobwebs, and launch that mothersucker into space! Cheers.

Up from the cauldrons of spinal regeneration, moldy basements and long commuting jobs, it has been confirmed that the rumblings of a new episode of Magic Junk Radio are indeed true. It’s been a long time, far too long for most to maintain a commitment to a pet project.

But after running through forty conceptual tracks trapped in the Somrod vault over the past fifteen months, eight have banded together for a common theme and have reached sonic completion. All that remains now is the mixing, some last minute revisions, and of course, the joint narration of M. Sahm and S.Rod that glues together their humble composition. Hey, at least we are more productive than that Peter Gabriel guy!

Thus, within the next week, someone will lock their keys in their car, someone you know will get laid (hopefully that person you see in the reflective surface), the Knicks could fire Isiah Thomas, the new Nine Inch Nails album will reach a dozen plays on my iPhone, and the ninth episode of Magic Junk Radio will finally reach the internet. No, really! We swear! We cast your podshake! We cast it up!

It’s Valentine’s Day… again! Usually, I’ve had a sort of love/hate feeling about the day in general. Well, hate is a strong word— let’s just say dislike or even indifferent. But today, I’m going to shed my negative ideas and embrace the love. Yes, love: how corny is that?

Anyway, I have been listening to our wedding music all day. Before the wedding, Mark and I put together a compilation CD and gave these to our guests. These songs were chosen to appeal to everyone and were actually used during the ceremony and reception (as noted below). While I was planning our ‘joyous event’, I initially cringed at the idea of having gift CD’s. It’s usually a collection of overly sappy or clichéd music with no real meaning or reason. Mark and I decided that if we were going to do a CD, it would have to reflect ourselves, the music was too important. The entire wedding was pretty much planned the same way, and we get complimented on the mix to this day.

I find that I smile when certain songs start playing on my iPod. I look down and realize that we had that song attached to one of the happiest days of our life together. Each song evokes memories during the wedding and the fun we had. And isn’t that the point of music? Shouldn’t it jog pleasant memories and console you through hurt? Some people don’t really give it a second thought. Let’s just say that we have been to a few weddings where the music didn’t seem to fit or reflect the couple.

The Somrod Wedding CD Track List:
1 - Arioso - Steve Erquiaga (J.S. Bach)
(Processional - Ringbearer/Flowergirl/Maid-of-Honor)
2 - The Princess Appears - John Williams
(Processional - Bride)
3 - Do Your Realize?? - The Flaming Lips (Recessional)
4 - All I Need - Air (First Dance)
5 - Destiny - Zero 7 (Dance after Cake Cutting)
6 - Flim - The Bad Plus (Dinner Music)
7 - Watermelon Man - Herbie Hancock
8 - You’re My Best Friend - Queen (Cake Cutting)
9 - Beautiful Crazy - Space Raiders
10 - Move - Miles Davis (Dinner Music)
11 - Gentle Thoughts - Herbie Hancock (Dinner Music)
12 - Oye Como Va - Santana
13 - Baby Can’t Wait - Maktub
14 - I’m The Man Who Loves You - Wilco

In retrospect, I would not change a thing. Although Mark still jokes that the recessional could have been ‘I Might Be Wrong’ by Radiohead. But I don’t think so. He’s just lucky I didn’t dedicate R.E.M’s “The One I Love” to him. Hope you have a nice Valentine’s Day.

In October 2007, I wanted to get an iPhone. However, the 8GB of storage seemed a little small for me for all of the music I listen to. So knowing that Apple usually updates products in January at the MacWorld conference, I decided to wait until then.

Thus, January rolls around and Steve Jobs offers only software updates for the iPhone. At this point, I was really tired of waiting and was not ready to sit around until June for Apple to launch a 16GB model. So on January 17, S.Rod and I bought ourselves iPhones as birthday gifts to each other (call it the Capricorn Infinity Gift Loop). We have enjoyed them a lot and it has helped us communicate more, since I hated carrying both my iPod and phone. Usually the phone ended up in my Freitag bag.

Anyway, the point of the story is that while we were buying the iPhones, I asked the salesman what happens if Apple releases the 16GB next week. He stated that we could return them within 14 days and only pay a $40 restocking fee. That return period ended on January 31.

On February 5th, Apple released the 16GB iPhone. Insert string of curse words here.

In the end, I would have been better off buying back in October when I originally wanted it, and I would have had the iPhone all this time. But in trying so hard to not get burned by inevitable technology upgrades, I ended up getting cremated.

Classic Sahm luck at its best. So it goes. Cheers.

I intended to post this on my birthday but got sidetracked…

On January 17, 2008, Mark said to me: “Birthdays are a good day to think about the future!” But today, I can’t help but think about the past.

Here is my version of events since my birthday last year:

January 2007: SUCKED ASS!!! I spent my 30th on my living room floor in so much pain. That’s why I celebrated both my 30th & 31st last week.

February: Physical therapy and visits to various spinal specialists along with a boatload of tests. I was still in a lot of pain. On a brighter note, we started house hunting.

March: More house hunting and more doctors. Looked at a 3 bedroom townhouse in Stamford. Hmmmmm…

April-June: Problems x problems = more problems. Our closing date got pushed back by a month and a half - Bad. We found this out after we already gave notice re: our apartment lease - Worse. We were virtually homeless - Disaster! But thanks to Mom for her sofa bed! - Not too Bad. Worst of all, I relented to the fact that I needed surgery to correct my back condition.

July: The moving rush, set-up, unpack, hurry, hurry… need to get things done before August 7th. I can’t stand up for more than 5 minutes anymore. I’m really freaking out and Mark is not helping, because he doesn’t want me to have the surgery until 2008; I can’t do this without him. In the end, we both know it has to be done. Mark gets better and he’s trying not to freak out.

August - December: So I get into surgery prep mode. Blood banked… check. Pre-surgery MRI… check. Pre-surgery CAT Scan, blood type & screen, chest x-ray, lumbar x-rays, EMG, surgical clearance… check check check. Yet I’m so close to calling the whole thing off. Until surgery day comes and I focus on thinking positive. I don’t really remember much… my mom and Mark looking concerned… the anesthesiologist saying “this is going to make you sleepy”. Oh, and someone calling my name when I woke up after surgery. In all honesty, the rest is mostly a blur.

I barely remember anything from the last three months. I was in a lot of pain while my spine was regenerating from the procedure. Mark spent most of his time working his ass off in the basement, and bringing me things even though he’s the worst nursemaid ever. He tried.

So you can see why I have decided to take Mark’s advice and think about the future. 2008 will be our year. We are both doing well professionally. We have a nice house that we own (or will in about 20-30 years). We are definitely in a good place. I’m choosing to focus forward with hope.

Sorry. I was deleting spam, saw this headline, and couldn’t resist. I just needed something funny to break my miserable Tuesday. Of course, it does beg asking how an online meat salesman can ever get an e-mail past the spam filters… :o)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled podcast. There may not always be blood, but there will always be Sahm. Cheers. Peace. Winning Mega-Millions Tickets.

As you may recall from this April entry, we were on a mission to upgrade and integrate the desks for our new home office.

Originally, I had envisioned two L-Shaped desks to go in the corners of the room opposite the closet and entranceway. S. Rod had foreseen a great disturbance in the Force with that, and suggested a room length slab mounted to the wall so it had no legs to deal with.

However, balancing the new desks against our three seven-foot tall bookcases ruled out the slab idea. Worse, the small width of the room canceled out the L-shaped desk idea too. So after selling our old tables at a yard sale, we moved into our townhouse without any desks.

But inspiration sprung from below. Outside of the turquoise paint color, the second thing we put in the room was the FLOR carpet. We bought those color patterns quite spontaneously, but it turned out to help make our choice much easier.

I had pushed for a more modern look to keep pace with the paint and carpet, and S.Rod found a frosted blue-green glass table with brushed nickel edging and legs that fit in perfectly. Multiply that by two and the new workstation was complete.

Now if only we could have such luck with the studio… Click here for the hi-resolution version. Cheers.

It would be safe to say that the 2007 cyberlife of the Somrod tandem was thoroughly squashed under the weight of reality. Or if you prefer, we are sarcastically proud to present our list of 2007 Excuses:

1. House hunting/researching and subsequent contracting/purchasing/moving to temporary housing/storage/moving in/setting up (MS & SR)
2. Major spinal corrective surgery and subsequent rehabilitation (SR)
3. Six months of clean-up, repair and renovation of 120 year old water leaking basement (MS)
4. Job change in May (MS)

Therefore, our 2007 Online Results are rationally explained:

1. No new art or literature produced
2. No upgrades or revisions to the main website
3. No podcasts released
4. Lowest number of annual blog entries ever
5. Traffic goal from 1/02/07 not reached

Despite that, we are in a better place physically, mentally, and financially than we were at the beginning of 2007— just without the fun outlets that makes us feel semi-complete. Nevertheless, anyone who knows us realizes we’re creatively itching like two dogs who crash landed on the Planet of the Fleas. Hell, people I’ve met this year did not even know I was an artist or a writer! 2008 will be the end of that, I assure you.

Anyway, even if we missed the goal, we still had a moderately better year of unique visitors to the site as you can see below:

Click to see a comparison from 2005 to 2007

Luckily, we’re already hard at work on the new endeavors. So even if the alarm bells are ringing, there’s no fire. I’m even feeling bold enough to set a goal for 2008 unique visitors of 130K. Yeah, dream the MF-ing dream, my friends… you’ve got nothing to lose. Cheers.

By the time you turn 32, the initial shock of entering your thirties is gone. The memories of your twenties grow a bit fuzzier each month. But most importantly, everyone your age has either started having kids, having affairs, or doing a career shake-up. Some brave souls even go for the trifecta.

As for me, I haven’t the time nor the desire for kids or affairs, so I’ll have to be all about the shake-up. You know how it goes, Future Mark grabbing Past Mark by the shoulders and shaking vigorously, “Look what you’ve done, you fool! You’ve doomed us all!” But all time fantasies aside, I know I’m a Capricorn, so I won’t leap into anything unless it is a calculated risk.

Nevertheless, I’m hopeful that turning 32 will be a good omen. Bill Clinton was elected governor of Arkansas when he was 32, the youngest person elected to that position in 40 years. But then again, Led Zeppelin drum god John Bonham, artist Keith Haring and martial arts legend Bruce Lee all died at the age of 32. Of course, the legacy of all three was already left, so it was not as if they were robbed of their chance to have an impact on the world.

Because for me, that’s what life is about— having impact. After all, what good is being infinitesimal? What good is being anonymous? To me, there’s no point in being alive unless you’re trying to achieve something righteous. If I never do anything that has a noteworthy impact on the world, then ultimately I will consider my life a failure. This is the sensibility that drives me to try. Birthdays tend to be a reminder of this, the reflective nature it contains. I used to get depressed every December 26th because I knew I had not achieved anything that made me feel like I had meaning. But not anymore.

To celebrate yesterday evening, I had an excellent steak dinner in Manhattan, drank several pints of tasty foreign beer, and had four hours of laugh-filled discussion with my two best friends in a familiar lounge. Underneath it all, I was happy because I feel like I am the closest I have ever been toward realizing my life’s purpose. Now it’s just a matter of time of making it happen. Cheers.

No, I didn’t learn a new language. S.Rod and I saw Les Misérables on Broadway last night, and it got my head stirring a bit. While I will admit that most things seen on Broadway are not my cup of tea, the musical was entertaining for the most part.

One of the character’s soliloquies (Fantine) made me think about the ongoing struggle with identifying the ‘American Dream’ (even if the characters were in 19th century France) and how to achieve it. I’ve always been under the impression that ninety nine percent of the world does not actually get to see their dreams finalized. That doesn’t include ‘dream’ vacations or material possessions either, I’m talking about dream careers or dream endeavors… the things that encompass our lives and define our history. In essence, it’s the content of how the encyclopedia entry of your life would read. Would there be anything worth reading in yours, or something that makes you unique?

When my mind gets rolling on this topic, it knocks over dominoes in my head (all to S.Rod’s late night discussion dread). I want my dreams so badly that they linger in my mouth like peanut butter. I get a feeling like my brain is lined with creative plastic explosive and I just need to find a way to program the detonator so that my dreams can blow up and spread across reality.

From there, I hope that S.Rod and I can make our collective dreams happen. I know we have the means, it is just a matter of realizing that we could be part of the one percenters if we believe. Êtes-vous prêt à commencer, mon amour?