Crushing Krisis

The Newest Oldest Blog In New Zealand

Archives for November 2006

Welcome to NaBloPoMo

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November was National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) at Crushing Krisis; it was also the month the blog transitioned from Blogger to WordPress.

I posted at least once a day during NaBloPoMo, and each post was self-contained – referring only to other posts (or original songs) blogged in November.

You could start by reading the introduction or conclusion, or by checking out my brief bio, a post about identity, or a story about trusting people.

Or, listen to a Trio of newly recorded songs, each corresponding to a loose topic. Original song topics included Identity, Elise, Hindsight, Things Left Unsaid, Friendship, Perspectives, while three cover-song Trios focused on Childhood, Teenage & Current Influences.

Finally, I read every participating NaBloPoMo site, offering highlights from each: #, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. In all i highlighted about 10% of the over-2,100 participating blogs.

Many Splintered Realities (or, The Conclusion of NaBloPoMo)

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I began this month by comparing my entry into National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) to a DC comics-style Crisis – a reboot of me and my entire multi-verse of blogging, all for the benefit of any new readers that might stop by. Everything familiar would be eliminated, or re-imagined from scratch.

 

 

I was never a DC comics fan, so fittingly this month wound up more of a Marvel Comics event, even if i didn’t intend it. Marvel doesn’t have a hand catchword like “crisis” for their crossovers, and they usually don’t destroy the entire universe to make their point.

Age of Apocalypse is a particular favorite of mine, because it involved the X-Men, which was my concentration in Geekdom. In it, Professor Xavier is assassinated in the past, causing decades of history to shift radically.

For four months all of the many X-Men books were canceled and replaced with their alternate reality counterparts, similar at the core but alien on the outside. Wolverine and Jean were mercenary lovers. Magneto formed the X-Men, and Scarlet Witch was the first to fall in battle. Beast was an evil scientist, and Shadowcat a heartless bitch.

Unlike DC Comics, Marvel never really eliminates the past. At the end of four months the history we knew and loved returned. Not unscathed, though … it came along with new insight onto characters, and relationships, and some new characters mysteriously brought over from the alternate time line.

 

 

My little Krisis of the Infinite Crises (AKA NaBloPoMo) wound up a lot like that.

Clearly I am still me, and everything I’ve written over the past six years of Crushing Krisis remains part of my personal canon. Yet, during NaBloPoMo I recast some of my major characters, topics, stories, and songs. Certain themes, previously prominent, didn’t merit a mention. Others were played up anew for dramatic and comic effect.

Some changes were temporary for the sake of simplicity, like the comedification of my mother, and the suspension of archives and backlinking to old posts.

One universe-shattering change is here to stay: the port of my blog to WordPress.

Other, smaller changes may or may not stick: The return of Trio, the web’s longest running single-artist web session (AKA podcast). Reinstatement of comments. Retirement of certain prominent persons and topics. New favorite reads. OCD Godzilla.

 

 

As I re-imagined my personal narrative for NaBloPoMo I was reminded about the best aspects of myself and my life, and how they could be reflected in the best aspects of my blogging. I realized how blessed I am to have a six-year-old website that I still enjoy updating, and how unique I am to be able to express some of my sentiments in song.

I realized how truly, truly lucky I am to have such fascinating people interested in reading about it and hearing it.

I thank each of you for your attention, patience, and support. I sincerely hope that you decide to stick around to see what the future holds in store.

 

 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Trio Season 5 – Suite #9: Perspectives

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Trio: Season Five, Suite #9:
Songs on the Topic of Perspectives
Bucket Seat, A Few Bars of Goodbye, Bridge



Trio – the original singer-songwriter web session – returns for its fifth season featuring my own DIY music. This season each trio of songs will have a loose topic to connect them, which I will discuss between songs.

A sample of what I had to say in this Trio…

Re: Perspectives
I don’t anymore clearly recall what brought these words out of me. … And so, as a result, I occupy very different spaces in these songs depending on the mood I’m in when I’m performing them.

A Few Bars of Goodbye
I act vocally as the narrator, but that is not always where I am standing as I am performing that song. Sometimes I feel as though I am one of the characters, and it’s not always that I am the guy with his guitar. … sometimes I’m the woman. Sometimes I feel like I’m some inanimate aspect of the situation, like I’m his guitar, or I’m her ring, or any number of things in the room that you don’t see through the lyrics but I see very clearly when I perform it.

Bridge
It’s the oldest song of mine that I’ve played all this month, and it’s name is very indicative of the role it has served in my life – it’s bridged a lot of musical transitions for me, and it’s bridged a lot of gaps in relationships. … I’m not singing it to the same person it was originally written for.

You can download this Trio, or listen to a previous Trio:

A Note of Upkeep

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I have now officially read every NaBloPoMo blog (at least, those that weren’t unfortunately 404’d at the time of my visit).

Considering that i read a lot more than one or two posts at many blogs we’ll call it an average of four per blog across the whole 2,100ish lot of them, which means i read about 8,500 posts in the last four weeks.

Just so the record is straight, i finished the monstrosity that is S slightly after midnight, but I left the post date on the 29th because i refuse to let it (or this) be the post that won me bragging rights to this whole NaBloPoMo shindig. (and i had already posted twice on the 29th, so it is hardly cheating)

Please tune in the evening of 11/30 for my victory dance, including more new music and comprehensive wrap-up posts.

But first? First there will be some sweet shut-eye.

NaBloPoMo Round-Up #10b, or Possibly #11, but Most Definitely Last: A Splendiforous Surplus of S, and the Complete Abridged Works of the Fab Four

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Because i have a minuscule, highly-atomic OCD-Godzilla tramping around in my soul, crushing tiny mitochondria like so-many prop houses made out of cardboard, i almost couldn’t allow the Roundup series to extend to the hideously prime 11.

Then i realized that this is the eleventh month of the year so it would totally make sense.

I’m still not completely at peace with it, but Godzilla has retreated back to his radioactive hidey-hole so i can get down to business.

209 S blogs between here and recording more new music and writing real content. 209. 209. 209. I should record a whole song of me saying it over and over and over.

Seriously, my Beatles Complete Scores book actually has the score for Revolution #9. As if anyone has that at the top of their list of Beatles songs to play out of the 200ish in the book.

Okay, now i’m just stalling. Although, that book was possibly the most satisfying $50 i’ve ever spent on myself.

But, hey, that’s a great idea! I’ll listen to a tiny fraction of every Beatles song chronologically for every S blog i read! If a song ends my time is up, and the blogger gets an honorary link for wasting my time holding my attention.

Although, more likely is that I might hear 2 whole seconds of some of them while i frantically click away!

Just kidding. I actually average 46 seconds of attention per blog, which means this should take me about three hours, and plenty of catchy choruses.

Ready? [Read more…] about NaBloPoMo Round-Up #10b, or Possibly #11, but Most Definitely Last: A Splendiforous Surplus of S, and the Complete Abridged Works of the Fab Four

NaBloPoMo Round-Up #10: The Mercifully Interesting Ps & Rs

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Okay, now this is starting to feel a little bit like college. 30 hours left to do all this cramming in! No preamble tonight – straight to the Ps.

Foremost of Ps is Lane @ Pink Elephants. I read Lane loooong ago, before you knew what a blog was! And now she lives in Australia! And created the much beloved, addiction-begetting NaBloPoMo Randomizer! More exclamation points follow: ! ! ! ! [Read more…] about NaBloPoMo Round-Up #10: The Mercifully Interesting Ps & Rs