For All You Groovy Undead

Snagged from rhanlav:

Move Your Dead Bones, Bones, Bones!

Dead heroes unite! And get funky!

-The Gneech

Today's Forgotten English

fifishness
The state of being in some degree deranged. The term, it is said, had its origin from the circumstance of a considerable number of the principal families in the county of Fife having at least a bee in their bonnet[s].

--John Jamieson's Etymological Scottish Dictionary, 1808

Birthday of Erik Satie (1866-1925), eccentric French composer born of a musical French-Scottish family. He wrote numerous works that influenced Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, who in return championed some of Satie's pieces, including Gymopédies and Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear. Originality could be found throughout his idiosynchratic scores, some of which were written without musical bars and contained such quizzical instructions as "with astonishment," "light as an egg," and even "work it out yourself." Satie worked as a café composer in fin-de-siècle Paris, creating innovative pieces, such as the waltz "Je te veux," that he called "furniture music." He intended these to be heard only in the background and would become curiously distraught when patrons left off their conversations to marvel at his performances.

I keep thinking of Bill Murray's line in Tootsie ... "I want people to come up to me and say, 'I saw your play man ... what happened?'"

Actually, I remember hearing one of Satie's pieces in High School, at least I think it was Satie. The piece was called "The Banshee," and it was an extremely discordant bit of creepy piano abuse; dilletante and I had to do an improv sketch to it, as I recall. (Or maybe it was Greg Ligon? It could have been either.)

(That reminds me, I wonder what ol' Greg is up to these days.)

(Wow, I've got a lot of parenthetical comments, here!)

-The Gneech

Edit: Turns out it wasn't Satie. Nevermind!

Um, Not Much, Really

I've had a few people ping me today and try to get me to comment, talk, or generally expound on the people who announced they were leaving Keenspot today. So here it is:

"Huh? Oh yeah, that. Whatever."

I knew it was coming a month ago, and in Gneech time, that's practically forever. Keenspot will fill the empty slots, the comics that are leaving will either succeed or fail, and life will carry on. Despite all the background noise in the webcomics scene, the fact of the matter is that nothing much ever actually happens.

Keenspot isn't exactly the gateway to instant success ... nor is it some kind of infighting money-leech riding on the back of cartoonists, either (both of which various people seem to think it is). To paraphrase Zaphod's therapist, "Vell, look ... Keenspot's just zese guys, y'know?"

-The Gneech

*lightsaber noise*

Snagged from bucky_boy...

Star Wars Horoscope for Libra

You are on a lifelong pursuit of justice and determined to succeed. You convey the art of persuasion through force. You always display your supreme intelligence. You have a great talent in obtaining balance between yourself and your surroundings. Star wars character you are most like: Obi Wan Kenobie

What is Your Star Wars Horoscope?

"Kenobie?"

-The Gneech