Some interesting sites i've stumbled across lately....for your rainy afternoon or late-nite surfing:


http://www.downhillbattle.org - Music Activism site, about supporting independent labels and musicians. Also read this at their site: http://www.downhillbattle.org/reasons/ and other articles in their "Must Read" section.


http://criticalmassradio.net/


http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html - Steve Albini is a very well-known and well-respected record producer. This article shares his opinion about what is wrong with today's music industry.


http://www.stupidvideos.com - some of these are hilarious!

last night's gig was really fun! i met a bunch of cool new people. :) (hi!!)

what a gloomy day today... good for bumming around the house. cleaning. reading. working on stuff indoors. i can't believe summer is almost over. the last weekend in august and this is what we get! feeling pretty low energy and a little tired. probably all the vacuuming.

k

i've come to the conclusion that i need to be more aware of - and look for - positive aspects of this world. the more i live, the more disappointed and dismayed i become - with where our society and culture is, and is headed. it can make a person feel so dark, and although it may be impossible to accept what is, i'm seeing that it will become necessary to come to some sort of terms with it, at least for me personally, in order to keep functioning and interacting with the rest of the world (as opposed to running away to some mountainside and living as a hermit).

marc thinks it's all about seeing things from the other person's point of view. take george w bush. perhaps if you strip it all away, he's just someone who has been desperately seeking his father's approval all his life. doesn't make his actions any more right, but when you look at it that way, it makes him seem less like a cartoon villian. hmm.

k

*evil laugh* just slaughtered marc twice at age of empires... i hold my strategy close to my chest. Excited to go into the studio tomorrow - was preparing mixdown guide files all day... also have another lesson with my new teacher (did i mention i'm learning some classical guitar)?

time to drag my ass to bed. ate too much licorice tonite, i feel like a candy factory.


k

my hermit side is coming out today and i don't want to leave the house. too late, plans already made... and they're good ones... going to see a bunch of music today. will come back in between shows and mix the bass tracks we recut last night. doing some new drums on monday and grand piano first week in sept. synchronicity working in our favor again with various friends and bartering systems allowing us to afford this luxury. (thank the universe!). can we be done by the end of Sept? I'm hoping but not committing... that seems to get me in too much trouble with myself (guilt complexes, artificial deadlines, internal pressure, self created stress). just let it flow...!

caught a bit of the new Rickie Lee Jones album the other day... sounds beautiful. i've never really listened to much of her stuff but i just might have to check her out more now. i also like how her website has a bunch of reviews she's written about albums she personally enjoys. i would like to maybe do that too... if i find the time. spread the word.

i'm pretty bored with the messageboard. does anyone read it? my webstats say yes... but people seem pretty shy about posting. i'd love to have a conversation with someone. should i be journalling on the messageboard instead or something? give me some feedback please! (on the messageboard!) http://messageboard.karenkosowski.com

k :)

i am so addicted to Age of Mythology. Thank god for LCD screens or my eyes would be falling out. I'm trying to be a reasonable person though... an hour here, an hour there, some me-time to break up the day. I'm not normally into computer games... my only vices being the Sims (and any Sim game like Sim City, etc)... and now Age of Mythology. I blame Jenn. She got me into it! The common thread with all my favorite games is that it involves building my own little EMPIRE! Except in A of M i have to conquer and destroy my rivals... *insert evil laugh here*

the funniest part of all is that i turned on the tv last night and saw this featurette on old Greece... examining how they used to defend their cities etc... and i understood it from an entirely different point of view, thanks to A of M. It all made so much more sense!!

(my favorite form of attack is by sea)

i'm also 50/50 about the olympics... seems like that's all there is on tv (frustrating) but when i do turn it on, i get hooked into watching because it can be kinda exciting!

i've been learning some classical guitar... kind of a fun spin on things. Makes me feel very much like a music student again... reminds me of taking classical piano when i was a kid. yeesh. i was just a kid, wasn't i??? it sounds like so long ago. i haven't kept in touch with really anyone from school... have no clue what anyone is up to except for maybe one person. heard of a lot of people getting married through my one or two last connections but that's from running into someone maybe once a year...

did you ever do that thing where you load up google and just put people's names in? i don't find much... marc has been trying different sentences to see what comes up.... apparently there's a whole trend out there... what is it called, google-whacking? or something? i've got to pay attention to details more.

k

going to have to see a doctor cuz this tummy stuff just doesn't quite feel healed yet. but no more of this walk in clinic stuff, i guess it's time to find a family doctor in Toronto. i hate going to doctors. i usually feel pretty dumb going to one unless it's something that i really know i need help on. strep throat, etc... and for that i try the walk in clinics usually. so finding a doctor today... going to be a fun fun fun day. can't wait to start.

did you know that there's a new car that can read your moods, and will change color (inside and OUTSIDE) to reflect what you're feeling?? that's pretty crazy. i wonder if it's just a prototype thing... or a special experiment, or if they actually expect to sell it anytime soon. apparently it's blue when you're sad, orange when happy (when extra happy, the antenna will actually wag), and red for angry. so imagine you're driving a little aggressively and it goes red... wouldn't that be like practically inviting the police!!

there's only so much stomach flu one person can take. this is my 2nd round in 8 days... i guess i didn't rest enough after the last one to really kick it. been lying low like i never have before... watching multiple rented movies... all silly romantic comedies... julia roberts, colin firth, and the like. i can be the queen of bad movies, but even *i* really didn't enjoy that catherine zeta-jones / george clooney flick ... what was it called even? uncontrollable cruelty? immeasurable cruelty? i'm too lazy to even get up and check the video case for the proper name. the only foods i have been able to find appetizing are oatmeal with apples, and mass quantities of blueberries. not together, the oatmeal and blueberries, just the blueberries on their own. the oatmeal with the apples. you get it.

gotta check out this site: www.youhavebadtasteinmusic.com

it's times like this that i wish i had a manager. actually, when don't i wish i had a manager?? it's really *&$! hard to do all this myself. it would be great to get a little hands on support... someone to dive in and help me sort some shit out. someone to say spend more time on music, i'll make the phonecall... etc. also on my wish list: someone to help with booking gigs. maybe i should open up the invitation for interns again... but it's really hard doing that because each time there's quite a learning curve and when it comes to the day to day workings of things, stuff that can't get put off too long, volunteers can be risky business. then again, any help might be better than my current level of procrastination.