A Futuristic Man of Few Words

When I began this collaboration with the Wave Generator, I didn't realized the difficulties inherent in the process. WG is from the future, where apparently they communicate telepathically through mental pictures, musical sounds and subtle thought forms, rather than through the arduous medium of language. This presents formidable obstacles for a venture based around the printed word. WG swears he has transmitted numerous posts for the blog, but that I must have botched the connection somewhere in the psychic ether. Of course it's my fault. I'm not a psychic sensitive.

Nevertheless, I've launched another blog, the Journal of Weird Studies, posted under my own name and covering a number of my ongoing interests. On the infrequent chance that WG actually gets a message through, I'll post here.

Recipe for anxiety

It's been an extremely busy few weeks here at Wave Generator's Inner Space pad. In addition to getting lost in my ongoing, everchanging line-up of musical obsessions (this week's guest stars: Brian Wilson/The Beach Boys and Robert Pollard/Guided By Voices), doing preproduction work with The CoStars for our first CD and the usual responsibilities of my "stay at home dad" day job, I've put together my first book proposal for a really cool small press series on influential albums and got slammed with a missed due date at one of my regular writing gigs, Ugly Things. Fortunately, the missed due date happened through no fault of mine - somehow I got left out of the mass e-mail notifying staff of the deadline - but I had to cram reviews for 12 books over three weeks. Needless to say, my eyes hurt at the end of that mad period, and I swore off books for an indefinite period - which turned out to be three hours. Ain't addiction fun?

Still, staying so busy kept my mind off the anxiety of waiting for the editor's response to my book proposal. I found out Sunday that the editor - notice I'm not using any names here, probably to protect my ego from public humiliation if I don't get the gig - had begun sending rejection letters for proposals he passed on. Talk about a recipe for anxiety. I thought I would be all cool when things got to this stage, but I'm a blithering wreck. I can't concentrate on anything for more than 10 minutes at a time - with that review deadline and now my week of high level anxiety, my chances of finishing the new Thomas Pynchon novel, Against the Day, have been slowly shot to shit. I'm jittery, cranky and I obsessively check my e-mail every hour. Initially I checked everytime I walked by the computer, but then I started feeling attached umbilically to the Mac. Had to set some limits.

The true horror of my situation hit when I tried to pick a day where I felt it would be safe to freely shed my anxiety. Would Thursday be enough time for them to get all the rejections out? Friday? The more I thought about it, I realized I wouldn't be free from these stomach churning jitters until a)I got a rejection e-mail, which would launch me into a completely different hell cycle, or b) I get an e-mail saying my proposal has been accepted. So better do something instead. Listening to and playing music, writing songs, playing with my kids, cooking, and watching season 3 of Seinfeld helps. The pot of coffee I have every morning probably doesn't.

In between rounds of e-mail checking this morning, I came across a fascinating article on Ultragrrrl (Sarah Lewitinn) in the Village Voice. Apparently, Ultragrrrl has stirred up quite a bit of controversy in the New York music scene for being passionate about bands she loves, daring to speak her mind on the subject in her blog, and being incredibly lucky in maximizing her career opportunities in the music business. Her success draws the kind of ire that should be reserved for mass murderers, child molesters and politicians - she's inspired message board threads with titles like "I Want to Shoot Ultragrrrl in the Face." Kee-rist people, she's not Dubya. She's not even Gina Arnold, whose narrow minded music reviews in the East Bay Express frequently reduced me to conniption fits. For the record, I never wanted to shoot, much less slap, Gina Arnold in the face, even at the height of what I thought to be folly. She's entitled to her opinions. If I disagree, I don't have to read them. In Arnold's defense, she's also a passionate champion of music she likes, and in Wave Generator's current incarnation, I'd probably defend her. And I did enjoy her book Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana.

In a rare display of unabated, and possibly unenlighted, testosterone, I can't help but drool over Ultragrrrl's hot photo (both literally and figuratively) at the top of the article. Maybe I just have a weakness for opinionated, well-endowed women. Anyway, read it and make up your own mind.

Coming back together in this time period

Hey all 4 or 5 of you reading. The Wave Generator was hit with several time travel anomalies over the past few months. I think I have reassembled or remade myself completely, more or less. I won't be sure until I run a complete diagnostic test. During reassembly, I retreated into a bubble of classic Western films, Kiss Kissology Vol. 1 - 1974-77 (oh man, I'm back in the Kiss Army bigtime), Invasion: The Complete Series and Tom Wait's Orphans set. All of them good balm for the soul.

In the meantime, expect to see more posting on this blogsite. I really mean it, Lynda.

Tonight in P-Town!

Haven't posted for a while. The Wave has been slipping the time and space stream pretty intensely for the past month. Tonight I will assume corporeal form long enough to give two performances in Portland. Both take place at 9th Avenue Charter House (or Brewing Pub depending on which sign you trust) at the corner of 9th and SE Yamhill. First, solo as Wave Generator at 9 pm, secondly with the CoStars at 10 pm. We'd love to see you there!

David Bowie - Asset or Liability?

My friend, writer Derek Hill, and I stumbled across a game involving Mick Jagger while watching videos of the Rolling Stones one late, smoky night. Called "Asset or Liability?" we charted Mick's evolution from cool countercultural icon to embarrassing fashion victim possessed by an undiagnosed physical disability whereby he cannot control or curb his nonstop spastic movements. His overarching evolution can be traced through the '60s (where he was a cool asset) through the '70s (mixed bag, but weighing heavily towards liability) through now (vocal asset, physical and lyrical liability). Variations and anomalies, of course, do occur, and the asset/liability pendulum can swing several times, even within the course of one song!

Charting the course of David Bowie's career, we see less of a steady decline. Surprisingly, Bowie has stayed an asset throughout most of his career, successfully maneuvering between the almost irreconciliable poles of commercial viability and artistic integrity. That's why it's all the more shocking when he does go wrong (Surprise! He went way wrong with a certain Mick Jagger in the '80s. Remember Dancing in the Streets, anyone?). In this clip, he goes very wrong. All I can figure is Cher bribed him with a hefty paycheck, obscene amounts of coke, and possibly a roll in the hay. Fans of the late Bill Hicks will know exactly what's going on here. It involves Bowie and a certain engorged member belonging to the Lord of Darkness.



David Bowie & Cher

Answer to a reader's question

Since some of you might not read the comments section (and who has time to indulge every yahoo's ill-informed opinion), I thought it would be worthwhile to post my response to a reader's question, especially since it deals with my ability to "predict" the future.

This reader (I will call him Derek) asks if I can predict tomorrow's winning lottery ticket numbers. My response:

"Sure, I can predict the next day's winning lottery numbers, but not necessarily all in the same dimension or time period at the same time. I see the winning lottery ticket, but the numbers fluctuate (much like how your old movies would depict the passage of time on a calender) since I'm seeing all possible outcomes in all dimensions. The future is hard to predict specifically since there are an infinite number of tunnel realities to factor into the equation. The fact that I'm from the future is no guarantee that I can know the future of your local time-space backwater. I'm only from one possible future.

If you're curious, the most numbers I've "seen" in the same time-space locality was three. You'd be better off guessing the winning numbers.

You are also correct Derek in your assessment of my esoteric knowledge. You 21st century humans are not ready for all the knowledge I have to share. I do not use the phrase "mind-frying" in jest. Have you ever witnessed a mindfry. It's not a pretty sight. And you never forget the smell."

I will answer any other readers questions to the best of my abilities, while keeping in mind what is safe to reveal to you collectively at your current evolutionary level.

A very brief history of The Wave Generator

Sent from the year 2525 to warn our generation of an impending catastrophic future, the Wave Generator unwittingly became stranded in our time period due to an interdimensional anomaly that only became apparent on his arrival. He makes the best of his dilemma by writing songs and performing on a frequent basis, hoping that his words and music will inspire others to join the fight against the forces of mediocrity, fanatical religion, political cynicism, greed, and evil, in no particular order. The future is of your own making. Don't dream it. Be it!

Sometimes posing as 21st century human, writer and musician, Joe Pettit Jr. (in order to study your time period more closely), The Wave Generator currently writes for Ugly Things magazine and VideoScope. He performs with The CoStars, Rush Mountmore, Monster Vs. Monster and The High Holies. He has played with many other bands, maybe even yours when you weren't looking. He makes more special appearances than Michael Caine.

Welcome to the Future Head blog

On top of being a musician/songwriter and time traveler, I'm also a writer. I've written for a variety of publications, including the All Music Guide online, Images Journal, Ugly Things Magazine, and VideoScope magazine, under the byline Joe Pettit Jr. My interests are mainly music (especially music that takes you on a journey), weird headtrip movies, visionary art, books (esp. fantasy, science fiction, horror, psychedelic philosophy, metaphysical speculation, paranormal research, magickal history, conspiracy, as well as some mainstream fiction and nonfiction), and ideas off the mainstream radar, such as the Mayan Calender and its possible implications for human evolution, 2012 - the theorized end of recorded history, apocalypse as humanity's psychological shadow rising, and the possibility of life in other dimensions and planets.

This blog will be used to discuss these ideas and to write about music, art, books and movies that address these themes or that I think are just fine works of art. If you like what you read and have a book, CD or movie you'd like me to write about, contact me. If you'd like to submit something for review consideration, e-mail me and I will get a mailing address to you. Otherwise this will be a freewheeling journey through my current obsessions.