Regarding Mac's Last Blips

"Oh my brother, I still wonder, are you alright?

In the deepest silence, gold and diamonds,
all through the night

Everything that happens will happen today

& nothing has changed, but nothing's the same

and ev'ry tomorrow could be yesterday

and ev'rything that happens will happen today"

- from "Everything That Happens", David Byrne/Brian Eno 2009

"Everything That Happens" was Mac's last Blip on his Blip FM page, and I think we'd all agree - judging by the lyrics - it was an uncanny choice, given that it was posted only hours before his death on October 18.

My first plans - as of a couple of days ago - were to post videos of the last 17 or so of Mac's blips - an eclectic selection, to be sure - but, for those reading this blog, you'll notice my initial attempts have been pulled. Bowie/Eno's "Some Are" and Simon and Garfunkel's "A Most Peculiar Man" are great tunes, but as I began considering them along side of the others, I got a little spooked and sad. There seemed to be a black thread connecting them all, and, in the end, posting them seemed like - if you'll pardon the expression - overkill.

Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" was Mac's Blip for October 16... I wasn't planning on posting it but I decided to give it another listen. I don't think the lyrics ever really sunk in before. Now, for me, at least, they have new meaning. (As of this revision, I've put them on the sidebar.)

That being said, the most remarkable thing about Mac's last ten Blips is that 5 of them were by a band he had recently discovered, The Knife... No, gang, we're not talking Smiths and Morrissey here, but I'll let you work that out for yourself. Below is The Knife's "Silent Shout" - Mac blipped the tune on October 11th. (I particularly like those orange concentric ring patterns in the video - I used to see them when I shut my eyes as a child. Mac and I discussed this... we both had the mutual experience of seeing strange organic shapes unfolding when we shut our eyes as adults - teeny glimpses of weird biomorphs - as if we were peering through the wrong end of a telescope.)

So, Happy Halloween in advance.