Eyes from the Darkness

Some footage of Saffy the Cat retiring to her tree fortress last night;



Music is a traditional Japanese melody, "Moon Over Desolate Castle."

Twitter Sonnet #85

Melted cheese has outlived its usefulness.
Leaves spread before us like linoleum.
My friends, chlorophyll is ours to harness.
Sweeter and greener than petroleum.
Had a dream about Grey Goose jelly beans.
There was no rum or cream in my eggnog.
Deliver real substance by any means.
The woods were built by a well suited hog.
Lunch settles on the bottom of the day.
Yellow, thin sun sheet across the ceilings.
Hard vegetable charges are dropped into the bay.
Polyester explains sour feelings.
A green balloon sailed into Pac-Man's mouth.
And Superman will not save Brandon Routh.

I think I might finally be seeing the end of this sickness. Still a little sore in the abdomen, but I managed to sleep through the night, and my normal sitting positions aren't too uncomfortable. So I've my fingers crossed.

Listening to Michael Jackson's Thriller while drawing yesterday, I thought about what a curiously unfocused album it is. Although "Baby Be Mine" seems natural next to "The Girl is Mine" at first, the tones of the two songs are a bit wildly different, going from an earnest seduction to typical lightweight 80s Paul McCartney. The lyrics throughout the album seem simplistic and rigid, particularly "Beat It"--"You wanna be tough, better do what you can so beat it, but you wanna be bad." However, "Beat It" shines for its focus on guitar over synthesiser which hugely diminishes "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and several of the other songs. The strongest thing about the album is melody--the progressions on both "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" are wonderful and sort of ominous. The lyrics on "Billie Jean" are strange and mysteriously provocative of emotions enough to easily make it the best song on the album.

I almost said the lyrics were "compelling", but I've promised myself never to use that word in a review of anything from now on. People always say it, but what does it really mean? You're compelled to keep listening, or compelled to think about it, or dwell on it? All at the same time? We can do better than that.