Manic Street Preachers: Montana/Autumn/78 (2.3M mp3)  

I spent a while this afternoon loading my entire Manic Street Preachers collection and then sorting out duplicates and cleaning up the metadata. This is a dull and obsessive task, but it seems a lot more heroic when done with this song on repeat. Maybe the second-greatest b-side of all time. 1998, from CD1 of the two-single set for "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next".

Recent additions elsewhere on this site:
- an Apple Mail rule script
- an unplanned music review
- and a completely useless index of TWAS issues by title

0. We do not act. There is nothing.  

1. Or we act, but that is all. There is the fact of the thing that we do, and nothing more. No attention, to intent, no content, no life.  

2. When we are better, we try to act well. There is the fact of the thing that we do, and then there is the way in which we do it. There is attention, at least, but the lack of inattention is not enough. Attention is not purpose, not message, not inspiration.  

3. When we are better still, we act for a reason. There is what we do, and how we do it, and why. There is something we hope to accomplish, and a method in which we think it can be done, and then the things we do to see if we are right. But the lack of purposelessness is not enough, either. Purpose is not content, not spirit.  

4. When we are nearly ourselves, our actions are also ideas. We act not only in service of a particular goal, but of a story in which our purposes are explained. Our actions describe a way in which the world might be different. That is almost enough.  

5. And when we are completely ourselves, what we do originates from a spark inside of us. The story is the expression of a divinity, and the purpose serves a story we not only write but believe, and our diligence is thus spiritual instead of mechanical, and our actions are worthy of our moments and our breath.  
 

5. Every fully human action begins in Anima. Every action, from the epic to the occupational, should be founded in the immanence of self. Morality is the steadfast refusal to allow ourselves to inhabit only part of our nature. Whatever you do, do it as if you are you, as if you will be accountable to yourself for every moment of this life, forever.  

4. Art is the expression of Anima. Everything you do should express something you believe. There is no empty action, there are only the actions that tell the stories we mean, and the actions that tell stories we didn't consider. Consider your stories.  

3. Design is the method of Art, of how we span the difference between the world without our Art and the world that is touched by it. We must understand the context into which we act, and know how we hope to change it. This is neither abstract nor optional, and is part of the conception, not the implementation. Understand before you plan, and plan before you act.  

2. Craft is the unfolding of Design. We carry ourselves into stories and plans, and then into work that is ennobled by us, and ennobles us. We act to change the world, and the world is important and deserves our care. These are the words of the story we hope to tell about how we could be. Let your smallest details evoke the grandest revelation.  

1. Production is the translation of Craft into patience. In the end, there is always what is done. There is waiting, and repetition, and correction, and walking across rooms and writing down numbers, and starting over. Know what your work requires, and refuse to resent it.  
 

0. And here is the most critical and pressing permanent truth of the appearance of good and evil in daily human effort: It is impossible to assemble this moral structure of action in reverse. You cannot, no matter how sorely and casually and frequently you are tempted, start with Production. It is pointless to demand that unmotivated actions be informed by Craft, inane to attempt to interpolate Design into unsolicited diligence, idiotic to hope to derive Art from undirected intents, and profoundly offensive to try to stipulate something in which to believe. Every fully human action begins in Anima, and evolves in these irreducible stages. Not only is there no shorter way, there is no other way at all. To act otherwise is destruction. To act otherwise is to consume moments and breath and return inevitably to nothing, bringing the world with you.

Just because I can, here's the last ten hours of music iTunes has played me.  

#	Artist	Song	Time
1	Garnet Crow	忘れ咲き	4:58
2	スピッツ	ほのほ	4:18
3	Feel So Bad	KALLO-KALLO-KALLO	3:39
4	Trans Am	Outmoder	3:42
5	Miller, Scott	Fairest of the Seasons	3:38
6	Zeppet Store	エヴリィ	4:36
7	Darling, Julia	Blue	4:03
8	Feel So Bad	今日はクリスマス	3:20
9	Breeders	Cannonball	3:33
10	Stretch Princess	Angels	5:00
11	Whitley, Chris	Cool Wooden Crosses	2:44
12	Amos, Tori	Concertina	3:56
13	Amos, Tori	Lust	3:53
14	Feel So Bad	ENDORPHINE	4:00
15	My Bloody Valentine	Nothing Much To Lose	3:17
16	Production Club	Man on the Scene (feat. the Incredible Moses Leroy)	3:30
17	Runrig	Day Of Days	3:37
18	Fake?	Drip	4:56
19	Feel So Bad	愛しているのに	3:42
20	HIM	Love You Like I Do	5:14
21	Siam Shade	1/3 の純情な感情	3:44
22	Suran Song in Stag	No Don't Stop	3:52
23	Siam Shade	アドレナリン	4:28
24	Amos, Tori	Cloud on My Tongue	4:43
25	Field Mice	Clearer	3:54
26	Fredriksson, Marie	Vidare igen	3:28
27	Moore, Abra	I Win	4:22
28	Garnet Crow	夕月夜	4:15
29	Sarge	Stall (Live)	3:26
30	New Pornographers	Chump Change	4:18
31	Amos, Tori	Cruel	4:07
32	Utada Hikaru	Animato	4:31
33	Fiona	In My Blood	4:09
34	Gackt	Lust for blood	5:11
35	Feel So Bad	グレチャウゾ	4:56
36	Radiohead	A Wolf At The Door -It Girl, Rag Doll-	3:21
37	HIM	Rebel Yell (Live)	5:13
38	元ちとせ	凛とする -strings version-	4:51
39	Glay	アイ	3:56
40	Do As Infinity	菜ノ花畑	3:36
41	Feel So Bad	今夜はおしゃれをして	3:59
42	BUMP OF CHICKEN	夢の飼い主	4:49
43	Douglas Fir	At the Hotel	2:59
44	Leo, Ted / Pharmacists	The One Who Got Us Out	3:04
45	Low	I Started A Joke	4:28
46	Twigs	Slumber	2:44
47	Feel So Bad	Deeper	2:42
48	Feel So Bad	オーブントースター	3:17
49	矢井田瞳	明日からの手紙	4:50
50	Frames	Sickbeds	4:12
51	Corrs	Summer Sunshine	2:53
52	pillows	Plastic Flower	4:11
53	Big Country	Perfect World	3:16
54	brilliant green	Wishing You	3:02
55	Supercar	Love Forever	4:11
56	Ladysmith Black Mambazo	Wangibambezela	4:59
57	Martin, Charlotte	Parade On	4:15
58	HIM	In Joy And Sorrow	3:35
59	Siam Shade	Love Vampire	4:39
60	Sarge	Detroit Star-Lite	3:33
61	Feel So Bad	今日は今日、気ままに	3:00
62	Mandalay	You Forget	5:04
63	Sarge	Dear Josie, Love Robyn	3:01
64	Primitons	City People	3:32
65	Amos, Tori	Parasol	3:54
66	Amos, Tori	Sweet The Sting	4:16
67	Amos, Tori	The Power of Orange Knickers	3:36
68	Amos, Tori	Jamaica Inn	4:03
69	Amos, Tori	Barons of Suburbia	5:21
70	Amos, Tori	Sleeps with Butterflies	3:36
71	Amos, Tori	General Joy	4:13
72	Amos, Tori	Mother Revolution	3:58
73	Amos, Tori	Ribbons Undone	4:30
74	Amos, Tori	Cars and Guitars	3:45
75	Amos, Tori	Witness	6:06
76	Amos, Tori	Original Sinsuality	2:02
77	Amos, Tori	Ireland	3:49
78	Amos, Tori	The Beekeeper	6:50
79	Amos, Tori	Martha's Foolish Ginger	4:22
80	Amos, Tori	Hoochie Woman	2:34
81	Amos, Tori	Goodbye Pisces	3:36
82	Amos, Tori	Marys of the Sea	5:11
83	Amos, Tori	Toast	3:42
84	New Model Army	Brother	5:58
85	New Model Army	Higher Wall	4:22
86	New Model Army	Flying Through the Smoke	3:13
87	New Model Army	You Weren't There	3:36
88	New Model Army	Orange Tree Roads	3:56
89	New Model Army	Someone Like Jesus	6:36
90	New Model Army	Stranger	3:35
91	New Model Army	R&R	3:37
92	New Model Army	Snelsmore Wood	4:14
93	New Model Army	Paekakariki Beach	4:43
94	New Model Army	Christian Militia	3:25
95	New Model Army	Notice Me	2:38
96	New Model Army	Smalltown England	3:21
97	New Model Army	Vengeance	4:06
98	Ida	Laurel Blues	4:50
99	Ida	599	5:29
100	Ida	Late Blues	5:24
101	Ida	Mine	5:31
102	Ida	What Can I Do	2:57
103	Ida	The Details	4:38
104	Ida	Sundown	6:42
105	Ida	Written On My Face	3:50
106	Ida	The Morning	7:30
107	Ida	Forgive	7:31
108	Garnet Crow	夏の幻	3:55
109	Tullycraft	Wild Bikini	2:34
110	Trembling Blue Stars	Helen Reddy	4:25
111	Springfield, Rick	Hole In My Heart	3:12
112	September When	When I Drive	2:18
113	Lucksmiths	Moving	2:51
114	Lucksmiths	Transportine	4:11
115	Frames	Revelate	4:33
116	Zeppet Store	INNOCENCE	3:55
117	HIM	Wicked Game (666-Remix)	3:54
118	Amos, Tori	Hey Jupiter	5:11
119	Manic Street Preachers	Solitude Sometimes Is	3:21
120	Siam Shade	素顔のままで	4:26
121	mcdonald, glenn	Confetti Beams	3:03
122	Keene, Tommy	Disarray	3:07
123	Aberdeen	Emma's House	3:56
124	New Pornographers	The Laws Have Changed	3:26
125	Into Eternity	Beginning Of The End	4:39
126	スピッツ	みそか	4:37
127	Utada Hikaru	Exdous '04	4:32
128	Frames	Fake	3:59
129	Manda and the Marbles	Upside Down	3:18
130	Low	California	3:23
131	Blue Nile	I Love This Life	4:04
132	Manic Street Preachers	No Jubilees	3:44
133	Wedding Present	Ringway to SEATAC	2:43
134	Ida	Honeyslide	3:37
135	Gackt	精一杯のサヨナラ	4:44
136	Gackt	Tea Cup	5:28
137	Gackt	Etude	6:24
138	Gackt	ありったけの愛で〜Llv〜	5:36
139	Gackt	ピース	4:12
140	Gackt	この夜が終わる前に	4:58
141	Gackt	君に逢いたくて	5:33
142	Gackt	Dears〜LLV〜	6:58
143	Gackt	サクラソウ	2:42
144	Gackt	Love Letter	4:55

Spitz: Misoka (3.2M mp3)  

This week this seems like the quintessential rock song to me. And it's only more quintessential if you don't speak the language.

If nothing occurs to you, open the tiniest window to somewhere else.

Stochastic in our causes, patriots in a republic of disingenuity, discarders of our angels, prophets of the silently unwound, we cede imbalance to inertia and the slow wind to the quickening hours. Give us reticence to the measure of our tolled waiting, and open ways that we may be escaped by the enchantments we helped tether. And we kneel in parted seas, shelter us with black clouds and the sinuous disenfranchisement of sand. When we stray from the islands of your tenuous grace, lead us to half-hatched disarray and limn our scars in the exhalations of convulsive repose. Give us panic for wakefulness, and tiny hatreds for eyes. Place our souls in the thick throats of lost doves, and our doubts in the deepest vaults of your sightless candor. Lead us to webs of dread and the shut exits of last year's mice, and let their thinset tremors smooth us as we diminish. We are the unmoved and the yet to know; we are the hollows of the bled and the disintegrated confidence of our practice. We are always here, and we are nowhere found.  

So we are undone.

I periodically find myself with small amounts of tabular data that I want to share, and hand-building HTML tables each time is tedious in repetition and awkward to instrument. I have finally amused myself by writing a simple server-side perl script that renders data from a csv file into an HTML table, and you are welcome to it if you have similar needs.