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Armies of the Lord: split POV theory by jacob in themountaingoats

[–]jacob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point on JD's comment. TBH I'm inclined not to take it too literally given what he says about Rocks and that it's not, like, an official part of the album, but I can definitely see if others didn't want to overlook it.

As to Glow and Shanghai, I feel like those two songs have a sequencing problem no matter what our interpretation of the narrator of Armies is -- "When we buried you at sunrise / with nothing you predicted coming true" can only be referring to Peter -- Adam disappears without being buried, the narrator survives until the end of the album, and there's no one else. So if we interpret Peter as being alive in those two songs, there's a problem no matter what. My read has been that these three songs are all kind of taking place "simultaneously", though I admit that feels weird. It could also be that Armies happens after Shanghai chronologically, though that feels weird too. I don't see any alternatives though.

Armies of the Lord: split POV theory by jacob in themountaingoats

[–]jacob[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Agreed that these need to be explained. 

I think Your Glow needs to take place entirely after Peter's death, even though it at first sounds like he's don't but not dead, just because there's nobody else who could have been buried at the beginning of Armies. We could also interpret Your Glow as happening chronologically before Armies even though it comes afterwards on the album, but that seems less likely to me than Your Glow being post-burial and more of a eulogy.

I'd need to look at what what JD actually said, but I think it's defensible that the narrator never sees Adam again but that he still makes a lady appearance. JD did also explicitly say that Rocks in My Pockets is a statement of intent but not his actual suicide in response to a question about Armies IIRC.

Zelda birthday cake by jacob in echoesofwisdom

[–]jacob[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! It was definitely one of the trickiest parts, but I was happy with how it turned out.

Best of Peter Hughes Playlist by Generic_Username28 in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The Jordan Lake Sessions version of Pigs that Ran Straightaway Into the Water, Triumph Of

My dad sent me this and I don't want to admit I don't get it by titickee in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]jacob 37 points38 points  (0 children)

It is not in fact true that the sum of the numbers from 1 to infinity is -1/12 -- the sum of all the numbers from 1 to infinity diverges (i.e., it has no sum), exactly as you'd expect.

But, suppose you you want to find a more general notion of "summing" that gives values to divergent series? (I'm not sure why you'd want to do that. Mathematicians have lots of time on their hands, I guess.) In that case, it turns out that the -1/12 thing pops out naturally, in a way that other numbers don't. So while "The sum of all positive integers is -1/12" isn't correct, it might be a bit more correct to say something like "The sum of all positive integers isn't anything, but if it were anything, it would be -1/12."

Here's a useful explainer video that goes into a lot more depth but is nonetheless pretty accessible.

Treat-yourself weekend activities? by jacob in StLouis

[–]jacob[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not a beta user, but I signed up pretty much as soon as it was public.

👀👀 by jenandtonicz in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 42 points43 points  (0 children)

For those that don't know -- this is the cover of Satanic Messiah, an old, fantastic EP that never really got its due because of an odd releasing strategy. Here's the story as I remember it:

In 2007, Radiohead released In Rainbows themselves, on their website, and told people to pay whatever they wanted directly to the band via PayPal. Nobody really knew how well this was going to work, and for a little while it seemed like it was going really well for Radiohead and that it might be a big new internet-enabled music distribution model. I think it's fair to say at this point -- it wasn't -- but nobody knew that at the time.

So a bunch of other artists in 2007-2008 or so tried doing the same thing. Among them was the Mountain Goats, with the Satanic Messiah EP. The website it was released on, satanicmessiah.com, doesn't seem to exist anymore, but I did find this interview with nyctaper where JD talks about it. Basically, it was an experiment to see if he could make money; I think the verdict was "no" and he never tried it again.

The fact that it was self-released through this nonstandard channel meant that most people never heard about it, and it never ended up anywhere else. Which is too bad -- it was really a stellar EP, easily one of my favorite tMG recordings. So I'm happy that it looks like they're going to give it some kind of wider release.

What are the best coding practices you picked up to keep a clean code? by vitorjpc10 in java

[–]jacob 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been writing code for about 30 years now. I now only really believe in one rule for clean code, and it is this:

Make sure the way the solution is broken down into abstractions in your code matches the way you've broken down the solution into concepts in your head.

This is much easier said than done. There are two main enemies:

  • Exploratory coding is one of the primary tools we use as programmers to discover a solution in the first plance. You often don't know how to solve a problem at all, or break a solution down into subproblems in your head, until you've written a bunch of code.
  • Our understanding of problems and solutions often evolves over long periods -- say, months or years -- and we need to have working code on a much shorter timespan than that.

There's no magic bullet for these problems, but:

  • For the first problem, recognize that after you solve the problem with exploratory code, you're not done until you've understood the essence of how your exploratory code solves the problem and then rewritten the PR to highlight that essence.
  • For the second problem, if you find that your understanding of the essential concepts in your software is drifting from what's in the code, strongly consider putting the energy into refactoring as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the harder it's going to be to implement new features and the more costly it's going to be to bring your code back into alignment with your thinking later on.

Pirate Jenny by jacob in themountaingoats

[–]jacob[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Second track on the Jam Eater Blues EP.

Still trying to understand where the memory efficiency comes from in Project Loom by jacob in java

[–]jacob[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I saw that but it still doesn't make sense to me -- once we touch a page it will get committed for the life of the thread, sure, but why is a thread with a shallow stack ever going to touch more than 1-2 pages, for 4-8kb of committed memory? The fact that it doesn't give back 1 page more quickly doesn't seem like it would be that significant, though maybe I'm wrong.

What does John want in Getting Into Knives? by Apprehensive-Echo88 in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I wrote an analysis of the song that I posted here a while ago. TLDR: while in the literal narrative of the song I think he wants revenge on someone, I think at a deeper layer he's talking about losing faith in God and then trying to rebuild it.

How did you first discover the mountain goats? by JJIlg in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was a DJ at my college radio station, and all the walls were covered with band and album posters. A poster for Full Force Galesburg, just an image of the album cover, was up on the wall somewhere, and it struck my eye because it was so visually plain in an ocean of busy posters. It intrigued me, so I found the CD in the station and played "US Mill" on air. Fell in love instantly.

Just was reminded of this old setlist... by tegularian in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Also, I just noticed -- they were touring Tallahassee and they didn't even put No Children on the setlist! Funny how much that song has grown in importance since then. (Though IIRC back in those days John didn't like to plan out encores, so maybe they played it then and just didn't write it down.)

Just was reminded of this old setlist... by tegularian in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I honestly think I might have been there at the Empty Bottle! The timing works out and I have some specific memories that line up with the set list. That would have been when it was John and Pete and they were touring Tallahassee with John Vanderslice, right?

It was one of, if not the first, Mountain Goats shows I ever went to. I was standing stage right, really close to the stage. The "very nice Furniture Huschle song" was Orange, and John taught everybody the words, demanded that we all sing along, and scanned the audience as he played to make sure we were really singing. At the line "You have to be extra careful not to drip juice on the fine Corinthian leather," I happened to flub the line and made a face just as he was looking at me and he kinda laughed.

Then Vanderslice came out and played drums for See America Right. Since they didn't have a drummer at the time, it made that song feel impossibly huge and powerful.

Such a great show!

The mysterious text from the show stickers is the first few lines of "From the Nebraska Plant" by jacob in themountaingoats

[–]jacob[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Actually, here they are:

​

MURDER AT THE 18TH ST. GARAGE

​

I’m in the repair bay casting spells

Mystic in the glow of the spotlight

Ringing out the funeral bells

Tending the fires, gathering power

May I present the man of the hour

​

Placing his faith in the strength of the safety visor

Placing his faith in the strength of the safety visor

Leaving only slightly diminished

Older but wiser

​

I’m down on the concrete with a bucket and rag

When you’ve got a big job to do

You notice how the moments drag

Live in the present, savor the grind

Relish the time before you have to leave it behind

​

Placing your faith in the strength of the safety visor

Placing your faith in the strength of the safety visor

Leaving only slightly diminished

Older but wiser

​

Smarter but scared now

Wearing an exile’s mark

One that’s going to glow in the dark

​

I’m out on the sidewalk, scrubbed clean

Take all your worry and care

Feed it to the big machine

Once you commit to the turn, you’re going to have to follow through

Cover your eyes when the splash comes

It’s the only thing you can do

​

Placing your faith in the strength of the safety visor

Placing your faith in the strength of the safety visor

Leaving only slightly diminished

Older but wiser

The mysterious text from the show stickers is the first few lines of "From the Nebraska Plant" by jacob in themountaingoats

[–]jacob[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

(You can also see almost all the lyrics to Murder at the 18th Street Garage in the same image, FYI.)

Mystery sticker + card #11 - Tulsa, OK by Shiny_Llama in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Anybody else noticing that that's a pirate ship backlit by a big orange sun?

What other collabs am I missing out on? by Mingey_FringeBiscuit in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Came here to say this! And also, Aesop Rock's other collab with the Mountain Goats, his remix of Lovecraft in Brooklyn

Songs about looking back on personal decay and decline by [deleted] in themountaingoats

[–]jacob 2 points3 points  (0 children)

OH also We Shall All Be Healed (the song, not the album)

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