Children of teh Atom

Register

not-I · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 12:05 am Post subject: not-I-yada-yada

Ok, i've just joined this board and figure this is the best way to introduce myself (though rather bombastically) before i start randomly posting shit and looking like an asshat (ok, i've presently achieved both).

My name is not-I, aka Sôhan, aka Travis. not-I is my net name, Sôhan is my Buddhist name, and Travis is my given name.*

A small number of you might know me as DJ not-I, the mash-up dude whose 'work' has been featured on a couple of TCRE podcasts (he may deny it, but this is all Bristle's fault for e-mailing me about one of his BunkSessions and i claim his reputation around here as a letter of reference, though i'm not yet sure that's a good thing). I've just started podcasting myself and you can check out said mash-ups on my site.

I was born in California, and then moved with my family to a little town near Seattle called Issaquah, Washington (where Modest Mouse are from), and now i live in another little town called Vienna, Austria.

For a living i teach English as a second language, translate stuff from German into English, proofread, and occassionally DJ in dodgy clubs. What i really like to do is make music in all sorts of ways.

I practice Rinzai Zen, Kendo, Chen-style Tai-Chi, and can leap over small buildings in a single bound.

I also like beer, and there is a good deal of good beer to be had in Austria.

Telling you about my day will perhaps make this sound less like a pretentious personal ad:

I woke up with my girlfriend, made coffee and prepared breakfast, which we ate whilst watching Sponge Bob. Then i surfed the net a bit, checking shit i posted and wrote a few mails. Then she surfed the net a bit, checking shit she posted, fed her virtual rabbits, and fought a few pirate wars. Then we watched Karate Kid IV: The New Generation, showered, and played hide the salami. Then i walked her to the corner on her way home, bought smokes, went back to my home, and started dicking around with some new mash-ups. Then my best friend called, said he was cycling around, and asked if he could stop by. I said sure. We talked, listened to music, and indulged in mild psychedelics (mainly tequila). Then i walked him across the Danube, and we hung around watching a kid do flips on a trampoline next to the river, and talked some more. Then we both went home, he to 'clean up', me to 'work on these big translations', and we both ended up doing other shit.

I ended up posting here. Based on first impressions, i like this board and can imagine posting a lot of yadayada. Now i'm going to play some online shoot-em-up with said friend, and finish said big translations. Thank you for your patience, tolerance and time. Please be kind or brutal.

Love, ~I

(*the name 'not-I' refers to: 1. Beckett's play; 2. the act of DJing, which is almost always of 'other people's music'; and 3. the Zen concept of 'mushin' or no-mind, which is true self, which is no self. 'Sôhan' means 'original teaching'. And 'Travis' means 'ferry man' - it is a name common to many American cowboys and country singers.

!

flick · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 12:22 am Post subject:

lovely

Ninjadmin · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:23 am Post subject:

welcome to the boards

sounds like you had a lovely day

wraeth · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:26 am Post subject:

Had yer podcast for a while

New blog

districtline · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 8:48 am Post subject:

impressive debut

what's your opinion on vienna then? isn't it quite, ahem, boring?

wraeth · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:14 am Post subject:

Nothing boring about schnitzels and opera

districtline · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:19 am Post subject:

i spent a whole month there last summer. the streets were always empty, i hardly saw a living sould during my time there. ghost city

wraeth · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:20 am Post subject:

Loads of European cities are like that in August

districtline · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:21 am Post subject:

it was july

wraeth · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:27 am Post subject:

Hmmm

hiccup · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:31 am Post subject:

This means nothing to me...

wraeth · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:38 am Post subject:

We need not-I to mash that up with summat - poll !!!!1

districtline · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:53 am Post subject:

wraeth · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 12:02 pm Post subject:

hiccup · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 12:04 pm Post subject:

wieners

wraeth · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 12:19 pm Post subject:

Every one's a wiener

hiccup · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 12:21 pm Post subject:

Wiener takes all

Ninjadmin · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 1:23 pm Post subject:

maybe the streets were empty cos they are like italians and everyone has a month off and goes to the beach

if you are in milan in august it's hard to even buy cigarettes except in the tourist bits

not-I · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject:

In defense of Vienna, it has become quite a happening place in the last ten years: pubs, boutiques, sushi bars, and nice shops on practically every corner, much more diverse population, lots of music besides just classical in a wide variety of venues...

Years ago you couldn't find a place to get a drink on a sunday evening, now that's no problem. Vienna is 'quiet' in the sense that half the young population is constantly stoned, but on the other hand, it's likely the safest city in Europe (very little fight-picking, random violence, etc. and you can walk the streets alone at night in most areas without having to worry) - perhaps there's a connection.

I happen to live in a 'ghetto' here, but all that means is that a large percentage of foreigners live here (incl. me), and they happen to be much more tolerant, e.g. of loud music in the middle of the night, which suits me just fine.

Another thing i like is the 'scene' here. You can go to any given concert (my last was Venetian Snares) and see a complete mix of people in terms of age, class, ethnicity, and 'sub-culture' - there are very few 'us-and-them' cliques here, and i like that.

However, it is true that Vienna is completely void of Viennese ('Wiener') in July and August. That's what Falco - Vienna Calling is all about, to wit (in translation):

'Stella sits in Rio, Stella lies in Tokyo,
men ask her for a light, and for other things anyway.' ...

Wien, Wien, Du kennst mich up, kennst mich down,
Wohin sind Deine Frauen.

'Vienna, Vienna, you know me 'up', know me 'down'
Where have all your women gone?'

The Viennese are also incredibly creative when it comes to German slang. E.g. the Wiener slang term for dentist is 'Pappenschlosser', literally 'gob locksmith'.

And then there's the cheap, but excellent beer, proximity to nature, healthcare system, low cost of living (if you work here) and efficient public transportation (including night busses)...

Ok, enough yadayada for today, i never thought i'd be writing a defense of a city with which i have a love-hate relationship.

Oh, one more thing, i loved Ultravox when i was in high school, and i can still play the piano solo to 'Vienna'. Perhaps a Scotsman is ultimately to blame for my residence here. :-o

not-I · Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject:

i'm a master procrastinator, so it looks like i'm pulling an all-nighter to finish these translations i've been bitching about - they're for an artsy viennese fashion team who always feature weird texts and concepts to go with their latest collection.

They're actually pretty cool. They've done fashion shows in a refridgerated warehouse, a sewer, parallel to a magic show, etc. (which reminds me, i watched most of the movie "The Prestige" with some students today, i thought it was a pretty decent film, i liked how they integrated the Tesla-Edison rivalry story [Edison was an asshole in actual fact] and Bowie was ace as Nicola Tesla - too bad i had to leave for another class before the end).

Anyway, the first text was in ridiculously pretentious German prose and intensely annoying to translate, but brief (cheers, Avalokiteshvara

). Now i'm working on the main text and actually enjoying it (it's sophisticated, but clear and succinct, which is unusual for German academic texts). I'll hook you up with some linkage as soon as they publish this stuff.

The all-nighter is to be accompanied by Earl Grey, light beer, and chilled-out, mostly instrumental, music, specifically DJ Vadim - The Soundcatcher, DJ Kentaro - Enter, and perhaps a bit of DJ Krush, Turntables On The Hudson, and DJ Spinna's Life:Styles compilation. i will take occassional breaks to read and post shit to clear my mind for further translation.

i have to be in the middle of nowhere tomorrow at 7:40am to teach medical English to military nursing students, then travel across town to teach another course, then go to Tai-Chi practice in the evening. Hence i will be either a muttering zombie or a manic street preacher by tomorrow night. But as Homer would say whilst drinking dishwashing liquid, 'Yeah, but what're ya gonna do?'

ok, back to the salt mines....

~I

districtline · Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:56 pm Post subject:

light beer!? wtf!?

not-I · Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:58 pm Post subject:

well, it's 5% percent volume.

that's considered 'light' in Vienna.

districtline · Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:59 pm Post subject:

i used to drink stiegl all the time

much better than that gösser

not-I · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:04 am Post subject:

mos def.

it's schwechater for me atm ('recht hat er').

never liked gösser, though they have a nice slogan ('gut, besser, gösser').

oh yeah, and to answer your query in another thread, i do have a funny austrian accent when i speak german (though it's american-austrian, sort of a reverse schwarzenegger)

now leave me alone! i muas jetzt hackeln'!

districtline · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:10 am Post subject:

a reverse schwarzenegger

gösser is a decent beer but it tastes a bit funny. and the döner in wien is different from the one in germany. but bosna hot dogs, yeah

there's a beer called Wxxxberger or something which is alright as well.

i spent a month walking around josefstadt drinking stiegl

bristle-krs · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:31 am Post subject:

i went to wien once.

the few shops that were open were really upscale & expensive; the riesenrad was shut; and i never got me gums round a schnitzel

districtline · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:42 am Post subject:

what! i ate a few schnitzels but they were really dry

bristle-krs · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:45 am Post subject:

my schnitzels have just the right moistness and melt in your mouth

not-I · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:39 am Post subject:

you biatchas should come to wien now - it would roXor yer soXors, personally guaranteed.

district, you're thinking of wieselburger - it's a good, slightly bitter beer that they serve at Flex, where DJ Vadim is playing next week

wouldn't know about the schnitzel myself - haven't eaten meat in, like, ten years - but there's this little place in a passageway near st. stephen's that supposedly has a reputation for best schnitzel to uphold, so that would be the spot.

dönner varies around town as far as i know, but it IS different from the standard turkish-german fare. sausages are everywhere, and they have great names in Viennese slang - one with cheese inside is called 'ein eitriger' (puss-filled one). personally, i dig the falafel sandwiches, and there's a great israeli-owned place in the middle of the 'bermuda triangle' party district that has the best. :grrr:

but speaking of dead meat, if you visit vienna and don't see the 'kaisergruft' (imperial crypt) you're missing out on the ultimate viennese macabre experience (they entombed their bodies there, but their hearts are under st. augustine's church, and their guts under st. stephen's).

Ninjadmin · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 2:46 am Post subject:

reverse schwarzenneger is the most difficult move in porn

not-I · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 3:54 am Post subject:

i can do it in my sleep

hiccup · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 9:59 am Post subject:

Ninjadmin · Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:28 pm Post subject:

double X triangle the fucker

not-I · Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 2:07 pm Post subject:

So i finally finished that damn translation last night and sent it off at 6 in the morning, but not before...

*watching The Prestige with an ESL class on Friday
*unwinding afterwards with colleagues over a couple beers and Next Friday DVD (my Czech colleague was taking slang notes)
*having pizza and a piss-taking session with my former band
*going on a voyage of the mind with said compadres
*going to my Tai Chi instructor's big annual extravaganza where all the classes performed the shizzle they learned and i was assigned to the front row of our class for our demo (it's chen-style, which along with the typical floating around includes some acrobatic kicks, punches and splits. Fan and sword styles were also demonstrated.

Now i'm chilling out at my girlfriend's. She's fixing her bicycle tire while i post shit on the internetz. For lunch we're gonna have:

pita pockets stuffed with veggies and basil tofu, with veggie-dogs and beer on the side. :grrr:

it's a long weekend here in Austria, so later i'm gonna go home and work on my album! :na:

here's a pic of my tai-chi instructor:

here's another pic: