strange days...

i've been running around crazy for the last two weeks, promoting a show involves a ton of small details. every day i have a list of ten things to do. and i'm lucky if i accomplish five. then i add five more things to the next day's list. i have ten again. i only accomplish five. this goes on and on. tasks compete with each other for my attention and completion. occasionally (often) tasks are put off too long, and become critical. things you originally gave yourself plenty of time to do, suddenly become life and death. such is life...

had a phone conversation today with a guy who owns an indie label who is interested in distributing the ok cobra album. nothing solidified yet, but it's looking good. i'll let you know if/when things are finalized.

also gearing up to apply for a videofact grant to shoot a video for child in rhyme. i would love to do a video for this song. so far, from the feedback we've gotten from people who have heard the album, this is everyone's favorite...

i'm writing another one now with the same lyrical theme/structure. sort of a child in rhyme pt. 2.

i live in a padded room with a skylight,
i've spent all, my life, trying to get, my mind right,
slept through the game, that's cool, i'll catch the highlights,
i'm the zone, now, it's twilight,

and i'm a cat, living the fourth of nine lives,
you do the math, i've, got, time, right?
into the darkest parts of my mind, i'll try to shine light,
i said before, 20/20 is hindsight...

just a little taste. don't bite. (c) 2006 ryan somers, you suckers.

what else can i tell you about?

i've lost over five pounds in less than a week. i'm on day six of my own special diet plan. i did this in early 2003, after i had spent a year working at universal, where i ballooned from 170 to 205 lbs. yeah, i was fat. huge. it was gross. sitting at a desk for ten hours a day, eating fast food, and drinking beer every night. when i left there i made a decision to get thin again. it wasn't as hard as i thought it would be. you just have to make a decision and stick to it.

all i did was this...



1. no beer.
(beer is HUGE. every beer you drink is like eating a sandwich. drink 8 beers in a night. you just ate a loaf of bread.)



2. no booze of any kind.
(when you drink, you make bad decisions about food. like eating pizza at 4 in the morning. also, booze = calories.)



3. no eating before you sleep.
(i usually go to bed around 4 or 5 in the morning. so, i don't eat after midnight.)



4. no bread / pasta / potatoes / rice / sweets.
(this is a hard one. i love sandwiches. the rest are easy, i don't eat pasta anyway. eat salad with chicken. every day. only.)



5. drink tons of water.
(those 2L bottles of water? i drink 2-4 of those a day. water cleans you. and makes you not as hungry.)



6. walk. a lot.
(simple. fuck your car. fuck the bus. and fuck taxicabs. walk. c'mon fat ass, it's not that far.)



7. use your muscles.
(you don't have to go to a gym. do 20 push-ups and 20 crunches. doesn't sound like much, but you'll feel it. you'll want to do more.)



8. find productive things to do.
(going to bars when you're not drinking is not fun. your drunk friends will only annoy you. everyone will annoy you.)



9. stick to it.
(it's been a week, i've already lost 5 pounds, i can have one beer. no. you can't. do it all the way to your goal. and a bit more.)

simple. i gained a bit of weight this winter. life's been cushy and i've been lazy. the beer gut will be gone in a month. i'm already 25% of the way there. and it hasn't been difficult at all.

okay. enough of that. time to share some emails i've gotten. i apologize in advance if you didn't want me to post your email up here. no, i won't take it down. i'll just try to remember not to do it again. every once in a while i'll collect a few emails and post 'em up here. on with it...

first up, weird email i got today (names have been changed):

"hello,

i know *****, from a long time ago. i recently looked her up on the internet
because it's been a while and i wanted to know how she was doing. i knew
about ***** and figured she'd most likely be working on some other musical
project by now. i came across your site and read every single blog entry in
one sitting. i really don't know what made me want to write to you, but i
will let you know i debated on it for quite a while. i guess the fact that
we both care about the same person, however different the situation may be,
was a weird enough coincidence to want to make a connection.

i'm sorry for what you went through, and are still going through, regarding
*****. i know how you feel. .....if you need somone to listen, i'll be here."

so that's pretty weird. an email from somebody i don't know, talking about some personal shit. so i replied:

"what a strange email to receive.
is ***** your name? where do you live?
sorry, i just found this email to be quite strange..."

and get this response:

"i understand, i'd feel the same way. just know that i mean no harm, or mind
games, or anything that you may be thinking right now. i'm just writing
because she left an impression on me that i haven't quite been able to shake
off as well. i live in Canada. that's all i'm saying for now."

that's all you're saying for now? what's with the mystery vibe? i'm not down that shit:

"hey, no offense to whoever you are... but this whole contacting me out
of the blue and being all mysterious is just weird, and borderline
creepy. remember, YOU contacted me. i'm not trying to be an asshole,
but i'm sure you can understand how being contacted by a random
stranger, talking to me about personal things, but not telling me who
you are or where you're from... i'm sure you can understand how
strange that is..."

and i get this back:

"no offense is taken. the reason for not giving you ample information about
myself is because i thought i wouldn't hear back from you anyways. i
figured, what's the point in throwing myself out there to someone who most
likely won't want anything to do with me.

i live in Vancouver and my name is indeed *****. i met ***** through friends
a long time ago. we were once close, but drifted."

okay. that's fine. but uh, you went all captain mysterio after i had already emailed you back, so that whole "i thought i wouldn't hear back from you" thing doesn't make sense. anyway, this was just weird. but i guess the internet is a strange place, and it's relatively easy to stumble across other people's sites when googling your ex.

here's a note from my friend simona:



"Hey... I just wanted to know that sometimes I read your blog when you
link to it on Myspace and the posting about "the girl and the dream"
was so moving I almost cried. Seriously -- you are such a good writer
and I hope you continue to pursue that."

thank you. it was a strange dream. it came from a mind that has been feeling strange lately. strange seems to be the word and feeling of the day for me. it can also be a bit strange posting up personal things, but then again, you can hear it all in my songs anyway, so it's not like i'm the type of person to keep anything to myself.

and on that note, a note from my friend jon:



"I was thinking yesterday while I was reading your blog what a cool medium it
is, a midway point between journalling for its own sake and having an
audience for whom it is necessary to engender some polish and structure...."

definitely. i think you hit the nail on the head. it is a midpoint. not totally polished/edited, like a magazine or book would be, but still, even when you're just sort of free-flowing, you are conscious of the fact that it will be read. even if only by a few.

and, finally, an email from jay.



"First of all, I have to let you know that your album was something I needed to hear. It was hard for me to tell whether it was made ten years ago or in the year 2016. OK Cobra is retro, organic, psychedelic, creative, deep, innovative, sarcastic, clever, thought provoking…..and it’s bleeding soul. I was sold after hearing Time Flies….after hearing Child in Rhyme at the end, I realized I should have made that song myself…"

thanks man. that's the best feedback i've gotten so far. most people just say either "it's cool, i like it," or "it's not really my thing." i appreciate the fact that you actually listened to it. thanks man.



some stuff to check out...

last gang records.

kho films.

urbnet records.



lexicon.



if you used to read my column, you might remember me mentioning these cats a few times. super slept-on, these guys are their own genre. forget crunk. forget grime. get slump. here. and here.

oh yes, i can't remember if i wrote this already, but we're working on getting a few remixes together for the new pressing of the ok cobra album. anybody interested in laying down a remix, shoot me an email and i can send you links to the files you need. i've got a couple already and they're dope as shit.



i think i might go up to toronto a day early and hit up this party on friday.