Archive for the ‘East Jeus’ Category

two new songs

Recorded March 19th, 2011, during a party here at East Jesus. Thanks to Jacques for the videos. Namaste.

car-b-que


This lovely 6.9L Daimler, delivered to the Don Quixote Sculpture Garden in East Jesus, California, will be radically and violently transformed between now and January 9th into a car-b-que, ostensibly with much photo- and videographic documentation.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines….

East Jesus Build Party: November 26-28

the best Slab City docu I’ve ever seen

From The Drone, a French alternative / indie music & culture webzine. They say this will be “much bigger” than they originally planned, which I think was a one-hour show for the Franco-German arts channel ARTE. I can’t wait to see the finished product. I guess I like seeing the Slabs on TV better than live. Go figure.

The End of The Road – Documentary Trailer from The Drone on Vimeo.

kristi michele – the way

This isn’t news, but I only recently discovered this video. The estimable Kristi Michele performed this original song during the Mammoth Erection Festival in June. I was present, listening intently, hoping I would someday see the video on YouTube…. Kristi is off to the UK for a little tour and some recording dates, hopefully returning safely to our shores before Christmas.

the dream before

By Laurie Anderson.

last year’s man

by Leonard Cohen. single take after many weeks rest.

Powersys 2.0 – the finishing details are endless…

Desulfators, catastrophic fuses, buss bars, oh my!

Delays.

Eight months and fifteen thousand dollars later, I am still not finished.

Meh.

—-

Last night’s landmark (in lieu of project completion) was the final interconnection and torquing of the battery bank itself. With no charging in about a year and prolonged exposure to the elements, bank voltage was measured at 49.63V, the rough equivalent of 12.4V on a twelve-volt system. Which really ain’t too shabby, and utterly miraculous given the combination of neglect and rough-housing these things have endured since coming into my ownership. But that’s all I had to show for the effort: four significant digits. An electrochemical “Hello, world!” The first clumsily-uttered syllables of a precocious infant. Proof of life inside that unbelievably massive, toxic aquarium, the soft machine containing (at full charge) nearly one-quarter megawatt-hour. Antony & the Johnsons should sing a ballad in homage to this monstrosity.

Tonight, after escaping from the afternoon heat for many hours in the *other* container, I worked by flashlight, slowly pushing closer to completion. Whatever criticisms I may hurl at myself publicly, I am trying for the first time in my life to actually do everything right on this project. Every little step calls for introspection, “what-if” contingency anticipation, reconsideration of the previous three steps, and painfully cautious execution. Usually I just rush through things, after the motto, “We’ll fix it in the mix.” The stakes are too high now. There might be a caustic sink hole in the ground to show for miscalculation. Or permanent blindness. Or worse.

Tomorrow I’ll pull down the protective plywood sheets I put up this morning, connect the desulfators and then figure out what to do next.

The After(mam)math – photographic evidence

magic day

Yesterday was unseasonably cool and, in the morning, overcast with cumulus clouds, which blocked the sun occasionally, making it a perfect time to go out into the sculpture garden and get busy with some projects. The windmill’s tail needed to be re-mounted; the Tower needed to get its electric lighting started; ditto for the dome. I got all three done, plus a few sundry Tower modifications / repairs. On top of that, I got a good bit of maintenance inside the living area taken care of, and cleaned up the music room. Just the vacuuming took nearly an hour. The dust out here is brutal, and I don’t fight it very often, so when I do, it’s a real chore.

Windmill, repaired

While I was up on the top level of the Tower, I took a few photos of East Jesus below (click for larger image.) I got a little work done at dusk and will hopefully get more done soon, posting the evidence accordingly.

I haven’t tested it yet, but the dome should perform quite well as a counterpoise for the screwdriver antenna, and I got to thinking…. what if I set up the Mac as a sound capture / looper / processor / mixer and created live mashups of ham & swl radio signals, ergo Geodesic Dome As Radiophonic Musical Instrument? I was thinking of doing an extended work of sound art based on that idea anyway… whaddaya think?

Reminder: The Mammoth BBQ is Coming!

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