October 13ths

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A mashup of entries from 10/13/1996 and 10/13/1997, using the old songwriting trick of superimposing the chorus with a repeat of the one of the verses, in this case Victorian Flowers, a song I wrote with a lyricist friend in 1996. The chorus lyrics would also be cross-alternated.

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10/13/1997

John Denver dies in plane crash.

Interesting that Wong Kar Wai (Chungking Express) talks about American pop music as “noise” or “sound”. Pop music really is not about lyrical content. It’s all about feel and the sound around the sound. He chose California Dreamin’ because it reminded him of an orange juice commercial and the image that “orange” conveys. He also wants his films to move like what the song sounds like. (Portishead does this to me, where I actually “feel” the “black-and-whiteness” of the sound.)

10/13/2013

Sometimes the most banal urban photos can become”tableaux”—in this case five lives at a street corner:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10/13/2019

Marquee Poetry/Lyric:

Hustlers abominable
Ad Astra Judy 
Downton Abbey joker


    

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

 

 

10/13/2021

Disaster abounds on YouTube. As soon as you start watching anything about a tornado or an earthquake, algorithms immediately start to feed you more of it and you get on the hamster wheel of disaster content, including all the doom weather forecasters and storm-chasers. In the days and weeks after 9/11 people couldn’t stop watching the planes hitting the buildings and saved them on VCR tapes for continuous entertainment.   

 



10/13/2026

AI Riff Summary:

"Aesthetic therapy serves as a transformative gateway for beginners to cultivate an artistic practice by learning to perceive everyday beauty. Through mindful observation, individuals intentionally seek out appealing colors, forms, and shadows in their surroundings to uncover their personal tastes. This solitary exploration empowers creators to independently define their unique artistic voice without external distractions. Ultimately, the purpose of this reflective process is to help people recognize and connect deeply with the visual elements that naturally inspire them."

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