In other news, Collision has a new Facebook page, and I had nothing to do with its creation save that I posed for a picture last week which I was told was needed for the promotional materials for the upcoming concert.  Meanwhile, I hope I am not saying too much too soon, but I think I have a rhythm guitar/vocalist, and I’m far enough along on that that I will be printing music for him (well, yes, a guy, but his range his higher than mine so I think we can do this).  He suggested it first in jest, I think, but he’s the best candidate I’ve seen, and he’s good.

Eric Ashley is again staying on top of the writing, with two contributions since I was here yesterday.  Practise Bits:  Weak has a bit of an unexpected twist in it.  Practise Bits:  Sacrifice is interesting, but I am not absolutely certain what it is that the character did to achieve his objective.

I have long lists of necessary tasks today, and some of them must be done earlier rather than later, and it’s already getting later, so I’m going to have to attend to other tasks and then return, Lord willing.

–M. J. Young

That was not until after I uploaded today’s Examiner article, 11 Minutes Ago:  Cards, obviously in the temporal anomalies category.  It looks at the toughest part of the movie, how it is that Pack can know what card Tim will draw the first time he gets to that point in history.  At least that part is finished.

Collision is confirmed for a concert next Friday evening, at Dutch Neck Village’s outdoor stage at 6:30 in the evening, if my memory is working right.  If you’re in the Bridgeton, Cumberland County, New Jersey vicinity (why would anyone be there?) come see and hear us.  Our part is about an hour; there’s another band after us, with a set change between.  Tomorrow night will be the busiest rehearsal I’ve had in the shortest time, thanks to everyone’s time constraints, and I’m not yet ready for it, so I’ve a lot to do.

Given that there is so much to do I ought to go do it; but last night I managed to print the two recent articles by Eric Ashley, and to read them in the car while waiting to pick up someone around midnight or so, so I should mention them here.  The first, Practise Bits:  Cycling, is a short piece capturing the flavor of a high-speed motorcycle drive.  The second, Practise Bits:  Pallor, is about racism, violence, and redemption.

So I’m done here.

–M. J. Young

It appears that my week now will include a trip north to visit a son with car trouble, which might be tomorrow and might not be easy on any day.  I also apparently have a Collision rehearsal Friday cutting into my time a bit deeper.  So it promises to be a busier week than usual.  Id’ better get to it all if I hope to stay afloat.

This should not be construed as complaining about what we did; we had a mostly good time, and I am not regretting it.  I’m only noting that by the time we ceased doing all those things, it was late, I had not yet had my first cup of coffee, and I had–and still have–stacks of things to do even on a light day.  I have managed to upload today’s Examiner article on temporal anomalies, 11 Minutes Ago:  Choppy, in which I explore the quirks involved when Pack takes three trips to fill in his visits between 7:15 and 8:00.  I’ve also managed to pull together a short series on Butterfly Effect 2, and have begun working on a few articles on the implications involved in the whole birth certificate controversy.

I received word that Collision has a solid line on a performance on one of these upcoming Fridays, but the details are still sketchy.  I’m not even certain whether I have a rehearsal with anyone anywhere tomorrow night, and determining this is one of the things still on my plate to do tonight.  I’m going to have to finish this Blogless Lepolt entry and head for other tasks, and hope I return before Sunday, at the rate things are going.

I did read Eric Ashley’s Practise Bits:  Class, about a young verser who is a student in a wizarding college working extra jobs to pay the tuition.  I have not yet read Practise Bits:  Hip, but hope to remember to do so whenever I manage to return.

There is another bit of a story from Eric Ashley, under the peculiar title Practise Bits:  11!!Leet11!!.  I do not see the connection between this reconfiguration of twentieth century history and the texting language of Geeks, but perhaps I am not understanding something.

Friday’s Collision rehearsal went quite well, overall.  One of the new songs has reached that state that at which the audience would not realize how badly we flubbed it, and that’s a good thing, although it still needs much work.  There’s talk of another concert, and I’m looking forward to it, but am not certain of dates or anything.

Being a bit pressed for time, I’m not going to stretch my brain any further trying to think of what I’m supposed to remember to say, and just leap forward to the next part of tonight’s work.

–M. J. Young

Today’s temporal anomalies piece investigates how the time tumbler, the time machine Pack uses, works.  It’s not all assumption.  11 Minutes Ago part 6:  tumbling draws some conclusions based on the alternatives to reach an understanding of what must happen for the story to work as we see it.

I am expected at a Collision rehearsal tomorrow evening, which will put a big hole in my schedule otherwise, but I’m glad they’re excited about this and am not going to dampen their spirits.  I still hold to that perhaps foolish hope that I will one day be a rich and famous musician, even if like Charles Ives I’m getting recognition in my retirement.  If I don’t make it here tomorrow, you’ll know why.

–M. J. Young

Meanwhile, the temporal anomalies series continues with 11 Minutes Ago part 5:  missed, which discusses why Pack comes back at 8:15 on the early timelines, and whether he might have changed the sequence of his arrivals.  Also on this front, I was looking for a copy of a time travel movie and did not find it, but instead found Butterfly Effect II, sequel to a movie previously analyzed.  I knew this movie existed, because I recorded Butterfly Effect III a year or so ago when it ran on cable, so I figured there had to be a second before there was a third; I just never expected to find it on the racks of a department store.  The first was a disaster, and escaped being a horribly depressing movie by not being the director’s cut, so I have not been looking forward to the sequels; but at least it means I have a time travel movie I can watch.

The members of Collision seem to have decided that we will rehearse this Friday.  That’s kind of interesting, as I’m used to being the one who makes those decisions, but I’m not going to discourage their enthusiasm.  We certainly need the rehearsal, and they’re talking about getting a regular gig, which will be interesting at least.

Eric Ashley continues to be prolific, with three more pieces added to his collection.  I’m not sure who Clancy is, but apparently in Practise Bits:  Clancy he’s involved in hunting pirate submarines.  Practise Bits:  Wake gives us someone’s early morning philosophizing.  The title of Practise Bits:  Desolation gives a clue to the setting but ignores the beastly battle that ensues within it.

–M. J. Young

That seems to be the case with Pack Eoling, in a way.  That is, according to the latest Examiner temporal anomalies article, 11 Minutes Ago part 3:  return, the reason he comes back at 8:30 is that the film crew told him at 8:45 that he told them to tell him he has to, and the reason he tells them this is that they told him it was important and–well, I shouldn’t rewrite the article here, since you can read it there.

And of course since it’s Monday, I uploaded an article and announced it on several venues, then waded through a weekend e-mail backlog, and now am here posting and hoping to get through the game threads quickly so I can run the next errand on time.

It took a while for me to recuperate from back-to-back Collision rehearsals, Thursday here with lead guitarist Kyle who couldn’t make Friday and didn’t want to skip rehearsal, and Friday at the church (which means hauling equipment) with keyboard/vocalist Jonathan and drummer Nick (which means enough equipment to hear the vocals over the drums).  Drummer John did not show and did not call, and I’m wondering what’s happening with him yet again.  But all of this is relatively familiar territory, except that I was more tired from the double rehearsal than I am from single rehearsals.

Also familiar, Eric Ashley has added another piece to the fiction collection, Practise Bits:  Hunter, in which it seems the immortal has the job of delivering justice, although he was only just starting the mission.  Less familiar but not unknown, James T. Marsh gives us an action adventure set in an alternate universe, in which the Revolution is trying to overthrow American communism in the name of democracy.  Stranger things have been imagined.

–M. J. Young

I have uploaded today’s Examiner temporal anomalies article, which is also about trying to get tasks to fit in time, and the failure to do so:  11 Minutes Ago part 2:  failure explains why Pack makes a second trip to the past, when we see him succeed in obtaining his desired air sample and there can be no previous history of his presence the first time he arrives.

Also for your reading pleasure, Eric Ashley has again contributed a couple pieces worth reading.  There are some unanswered questions in Practise Bits:  Avalanche (why does no one stay on the island overnight?), but it’s an interesting bit on what happens when you interact with people who know your doppelganger.  Practise Bits:  Close is an action adventure piece with some tense moments.

I’ll return in a couple hours, Lord willing, to complete my work here before the rehearsal.

–M. J. Young

Eric Ashley has been keeping atop his writing practice, with three articles published since my last entry.  Practise Bits:  Squad tosses a bit of the supernatural into a police procedural.  Eric cites the inspiration of the movie Next for inspiration for Practise Bits:  Impactor, a similar concept involving a precognitive who can see far enough into the future to attempt to choose the outcome he wants.  Today’s addition, Practise Bits:  Leaving, gives something of a fresh take on Feminism.

I believe that I have a Collision rehearsal on Friday.  Three of the team have confirmed to me that they will be there, but there is some confusion in relation to drummer John Mastick.  He sent me a copy of a conflicts schedule, and I chose a date that appeared to fit, and then he posted that I missed something on the schedule; but I double-checked the schedule and sent back that either he misread it or they changed a date and didn’t change the paper, and I have not heard from him since.  So I do not know whether he will make it to our rehearsal or not.

It also pops into my head that I’ve got car trouble that has to be addressed probably sometime this week.  It’s not my car–or rather, it is my car, but it is a car that belongs to me on paper which has never been in my driveway and I have never driven.  It was purchased by and for the use of one of my sons, whose drivers license says he lives here but who has not been home for quite a while.  It has some problems, and said son wants to junk it and get another used vehicle; but when I last saw it it was the best car I owned, and I do need another car, so I’m hesitant to junk a car that I can probably fix cheaper than I, at least, can replace, even if he can get another one as good cheaply.  But then, those pressing him to consider this also want to use the money from junking my car to pay for repairs for the new one, so I apparently have become the fly in the ointment.  I may have to take a day to go north and deal with motor vehicles issues, in any case, although I’m not certain when nor how I can do this.

So it looks like my somewhat disjointed day portends a somewhat disjointed week; let me see what I can do to hold it together for the present.

–M. J. Young