From the dream journal

Note: My father passed away on Tuesday night. This was the dream I had last night.

My father has died, and arrangements have to be made at the college because apparently he has been teaching some sort of business or economics class there. I check in to see if things have been taken care of, and am disturbed to find that Brian Warner, AKA Marilyn Manson, is teaching the class. At least he had the decency to take off the make up before coming to class.

I go to the hospital to do some paperwork, when one of the doctors comes over and looks at the papers. He turns to another doctor and says “You didn’t try the [I forget] procedure?” The doctors argue, and one of them says, “I can save your father.”

“No,” I say. “He died days ago.”

“I can bring him back.”

I stare at him. “That’s…horrible. Even if it were possible, which it’s not, his brain hasn’t had oxygen in days. He’d be like a zombie!”

The doctor shakes his head. “He’s been kept on ice.”

“Still, it’s…OK. Knock yourself out. It won’t work.”

The doctors go into the other room. I sit in the waiting room, contemplating just leaving but concerned that they are doing terrible things to his corpse. Then the doctor comes out. “Mr. Novak…here’s Mr. Novak.”

My dad walks out dressed in a suit. His hair is darker than it had been, closer to what it was 25 years ago. He looks at me and says, “Someone told me that numbnuts from Glenoak is ruining my classes.*”

*Marilyn Manson went to Glenoak high school, fairly close to my parents’ house. One of the last things he said ot me was that he had seen a movie trailer with “That numbnuts from Glenoak” in it, and that Manson shouldn’t act.

From the dream journal of jaynova

…I’m helping a production crew film the movie God Help the Girl (written and Directed by Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian). The production is a mess, and everything is on a shoesring budget. Many of the scenes are being shot on the stage of a theatre becasue it’s cheaper.

I am also dating this girl (And, I want to point out that that this dream has nothing to do with my current relationship with Adele…this whole thing just feels symbolic, you know?) with whom things are not going well. Between trying to manage the movie and the relationship, I’m stressed out.

However, we finish the film just under budget by cutting corners and having locals volunteer for parts in the movie. One couple shows the crew a trick (which we get on film) where the guy (an old, heavy-set man with a beard) pours whisky on himself, and his wife (an older woman, early 50s, maybe) rubs ice cream on him, then sets the whisky on fire. Everyone has a good laugh. Then, they tell me a joke which begins “What do you call a couple made up of an Amish man and an ‘English'(non-Amish) woman?” They tell me the answer, and I feel like the answer holds some key to understanding the universe, much like the question “If, hypothetically, you have a bottle, and in the bottle is a goose roughly the size of the bottle, how do you get the goose out of the bottle without hurting the goose or breaking the bottle?” The joke is one of those types of things.

Anyway, right before the wrap party, my girlfriend breaks up with me, but says, “Don’t get upset. We both know this was going to happen, and we’re better for it.” I agree, and I go to the wrap party. Cue the song “Come Monday Night” by God Help the Girl.

Upon waking, I can not remember the punchline to the Amish joke.

What happened???

“What happened last night?” I asked myself upon waking on New Year’s morning. My head didn’t hurt. My mouth wasn’t dry. I actually had a clear memory of the night’s events.

But that can’t be right. It was New Yea’rs Eve. New Year’s is always fuzzy. Could it be that my decision to stick to beer and avoid the shots and the mixed drinks was a good one? Did I actually make a responsible decision?

There are truly the end times.

Happy New Year, and may Quetzalcoatl bring you a great year to come. You know, before he ends it all on December 21st! 

An Open Letter to Marcia Fudge

I just wrote to my Congresswoman, Rep. Marcia Fudge, regarding the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, H.R. 3261):

Rep. Fudge,

Hello. I recently moved to Shaker Heights and was pleased to see that we have a representative who is as dedicated to Civil Rights and issues of Social Justice as you are. I know you are busy, so I will make this short.

I am writing to plead that you vote against the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Online Piracy is a big deal, and I understand the desire to put new tools in the hands of the legal system to deal with it, but the collateral damage the act will cause would hurt many websites and internet-based businesses.

The Internet has changed the way the world operates. While the freedom of the Internet has made the piracy of intellectual property easier then before its inception, this same freedom has opened new doors for Democracy, both in and outside of the United States. Social media sites like Twitter and YouTube have been used to make the world more aware of the plight of the inner cities of the United States, and they were instrumental in the revolutions in Libya and Egypt. Putting the keys to this powerful medium solely in the hands of the entertainment industry lawyers is counter to everything the United States is supposed to stand for.

I won’t take any more of your time, though I will provide a link to a video (about PROTECT-IP, the Senate version of the bill). Thanks you for your time, and I hope you will oppose this misguided bill.

Thank you for your time,

Jason Novak

OK, here’s the thing: SOPA almost passed today. I urge all of you to write similar letters to your congresspeople and tell them to say no to SOPA.

Back?

I’ve been terrible at updating this blog, mostly because I’ve been spending my writing time with To Eleven. It’s the music blog, but even if you don’t like my kind of music, it’s entertaining enough. For instance, today, I’ve got a mock-fanfiction featuring Tegan and Sara teaming up with Kaki King and John Darnielle (of the Mountain Goats) to fight crime. Jayson said that it was the most disturbing thing I’ve ever written, so…go me?

Also, I’m terrible at self-promotion, but the Canton Film Fest is going on right now. This is of interest to you because I wrote most of the promotional stuff for it, including the program. I’ll be there tomorrow night to check out the horror movies, so if you see a guy who looks completely awesome, it’s probably me.

Poster by Jayson Shenk

Haiku

Butterflies’ shadows
Dancing in the scorching sand
Dancing on the sun.

From the dream journal…

…and I’m on a yacht, walking around with Adele, my friends Terry and Nicky, and Greg Grunberg (Parkman from Heroes). I have apparently pissed some people off, though I can’t remember why. Suddenly, over the intercom, I find out that the people I have pissed off want me to come to the gymnasium, or they will start killing people. I refuse, and Terry and Nicky run into the room to tell me that four children have been killed. We run, and I take a strategic behind a door. Adele gets on the intercom and tells the men that I am ready to turn myself in to them,. One of the men who wants me dead, an older man with grey hair, possibly in his early 50s, walks into the room carrying an uzi. I wait for him to walk past the door, and then I jump out, reaching to put my thumbs in his eyes…

…and I wake up as I lunge at the pillow beside me.

Haiku

On the expressway–
Janet Jackson’s glowing face
Peering through the fog.

Another T-Shirt!

Over at Ript Apparel, they have another t-shirt that I helped design with Kari Fry, who did most of the work (READ: All of the work). ! This one is a mash-up of Serenity and The Breakfast Club! It’s available today, May 2, 2011, only, and for only $10!

Here’s what the design looks like:

Go buy it!!!

Haiku

A record playing,
She, making breakfast in bed-
Breeze from the window.