Flexible Time & Constant Speed
George Hrab, Interrobang, and the Theory of Relativity

The Theory of relativity is so fucking cool. Everyone knows or has seen the equation E=mc2, but most folks don’t know what it means, and even fewer folks realize that he coolest, most mind blowing aspects of Relativity are only indirectly connected with the world’s most famous equation. OK, quick primer: E=mc2 basically says that every single piece of matter (helium, gold, diet coke, Abe Vigoda…) can be transformed into, or has an equivalence with a pure burst of energy, and that the relationship of matter to energy is proportionally consistent, regardless of the composition of the matter. The amount of energy (E) locked away inside any matter (hydrogen, tritium, liquid Prell, Lindsay Lohan), is equal to the mass of the object (m), multiplied by the speed of light (c) with the whole puppy squared (2). Yay. Piece o’ cake.

NOW- The really really cool part of relativity is two fold. It relates to the constant speed of light, and the mutability of time. Let me ‘splain:

Light travels at (duh) the speed of light, which is 186, 000 miles a second. Really fucking fast. Nothing else in the universe can go faster. (I’ll explain why a bit later…) The weird thing about the speed of light is that it ALWAYS travels at 198, 000 miles a second. Big deal you say? Well, picture it this way: Imagine someone running past you. This runner is simultaneously running and throwing a baseball forward. If he’s running at 5 miles per hour, and he throws the balls forward so that it’s moving 10 miles an hour (from his perspective), we would observe the ball traveling at 15 miles per hour. (His 5 mph speed, plus the ball’s 10 mph equals 15 mph.) “No shit” you say, and rightfully so. Well, ok- let’s extend this experiment, and put the runner in a rocket car traveling at 1,000 miles per hour. Instead of throwing the baseball, he’s constructed a special baseball shooting canon that fires the baseball forward at 2,000 miles an hour. So what do we, observing the whole thing see? We’ll see the baseball flying forward at a speed of 3,000 miles per hour. (1,000 mph rocket car + 2,000 mph canon-propelled baseball = 3,000 mph flying baseball. ) I’m assuming by the way that we have a high end radar gun or a REALLY KEEN sense of speed… Still with me? Good. Now here’s the cool part. Let’s assume the guy in the rocket car (still going at 1,000 mph) turns on his headlights. (This is like the Steven Wright joke…I know…) You’d expect that we’d observe the light leaving his headlights to be traveling at the “speed of light” PLUS 1,000 miles per hour. But… we don’t. We would observe the light (with a fictional light speed measuring dingus) traveling at a CONSTANT speed of 186, 000 miles per second. Think about that for a minute. No matter how fast the imaginary rocket car zooms along (1,000 mils an hour, 1,000 miles a second, 10,000 miles a second…) when the lights get turned on, that light will ALWAYS appear to be traveling at 186,000 miles a second. To you on the ground, to the poor schmuck driving the rocket car, and to alien observers 10 million light years away; the speed of light is constant. It doesn’t matter if he’s driving towards you, away from you, in front of you, or behind you. Whenever, wherever you observe the speed of light, under ANY circumstances, it’s always, always, ALWAYS 186,000 miles a second. HOW COOL IS THAT! (So Steve, if you’re driving at the speed of light and you turn on your headlights, they just go on like normal. Sorry to ruin the setup, but it’s still a great joke…)

OK. That’s pretty cool- BUT EVEN COOLER STILL and EVEN MORE MIND-BLOWING is this: According to relativity, the faster you travel, the more you weigh, and the slower your time goes. WHAT?! Yup. The faster you move, your weight increases and your time slows down. OK, let’s think about THAT for a while…

Ya back? Good. This means that when you’re in your car zipping along at 60 miles an hour, your watch is running infinitesimally slower than your clocks at home. And the asshole on the motorcycle who just whizzed by you at 110 miles an hour has a watch going even slower than yours. This also means that you weigh just a tiny, tiny, TINY bit more that you did before you started moving. Now, this isn’t some theoretical-mumbo-jumbo-unproveable-horse-hockey. This is an ACTUAL, MEASURABLE, PHENOMENON. (doot-doo, do do do..) Listen to this: Scientists have taken atomic clocks (these are clocks that are accurate to within 1/10,000 of a second) and have synched them up.

“Let’s circumcise our watches…”
“Synchronize sir…”
“Whatever..”

Clock A stays on the ground, and clock B gets taken up into an airplane and flown at 700 miles an hour. After the flight, the two clocks are brought back together and… clock B is slightly SLOWER than clock A. No shit. (We’re talking about a small difference, like thousands of a second difference, but a measured difference none the less.) Once you get into the realm of really fast speeds, (approaching the speed of light) the differences become more apparent. (I think it was estimated that the astronaughts that traveled to the moon and back were about 3 seconds younger after they returned to Earth than everyone else on the planet. I may have that figure wrong but it’s still REALLY FREAKIN' COOL!)

THAT’S why nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. (I told you I’d get to it.) Once you’re speed begins to approach 186,000 miles per second, your time slows down more and more, and your weight increases more and more. Eventually your time STOPS all together, and your weight is infinite.(You weigh more than the entire universe.) In other words: BIG STOP SIGN.

I can’t truly express how unbelievably inspiring this information is to me. That a hundred years ago, a patent clerk could figure this shit out ON HIS OWN, with no more than a pad and pencil fills me with a sense of humility, awe and reverence. Who needs water into wine when you have relativity? And get this- IT’S TOTALLY REAL!

So. What the fuck does this have to do with Interrobang?!

Well- I really like the idea of flexible time (?) and constant speed (!). Those concepts are so inherently incongruous with what we experience on a day to day basis that their temerity is unbelievable and inspiring. Question mark, exclamation point.

I started writing the songs for Interrobang during the winter of 2005. I saw a documentary on the band They Must Be Giants and was inspired by their endless drive and creativity. (constant speed, indeed…) I wasn’t really familiar with their work, and often found their vocals to be nasally annoying. Something came across in this film however that demonstrated their earnestness and drive. It really inspired me. (I’ve subsequently become a big TMBG fan. Better late, eh?…) Right after viewing the documentary I wrote down:

“I hate my hair, I hate my voice.”

This was the first line written for the record, and in deep, deep, DEEP (we’re tawkin’ deep) haiku like fashion revealed to me the direction the album would take. It would be a much more personal record; this time turning my observational vitriol inward at myself, instead of outward at late night purveyors of god, false panaceas and Spaneck Vertical Roasters. I would also consciously try to write when the muse punched me in the face, and not save up notebooks full of ideas and sketches, waiting until “composing time” to distil and formulate the snipets into songs. The tunes were often written in single stretches, with minimal editing and rewriting, all in faux western “suiboku-ga” style.

I hesitate to talk about the songs individually as I’ve done on previous liner notes, because I feel that the they can and should speak for themselves. From disappointment and resignation, to observation and elation, I think the songs on Interrobang are some of my most earnest. I see the first 30 minutes of the record as a Geology suite (with one brief detour) that reflects on the both doubtful and assured nature of my psyche.

[Man it’ so easy to start sounding like a pretentious asshole when you talk about stuff like this… Do I think that my duality is anything special? Fuck no. I know that the reason bullshit psychic prognosticators and profilers are seen by so many as accurate, is because they TREASURE the dual aspect of human nature. These fuckers rely on knowing that humans can be both the most noble AND the most savage of creatures (often within the span of a single commercial break) and that this duality makes it very easy to cast a broad net of “statements” (i.e. guesses) that are often seen as “accurate” (i.e applying to EVERYONE). Fuckers… Anyway… No, I ain’t special.]

While listening, keep in mind the idea of question and resounding answer, as well as the flexibility of time and constant speed. Now I know that this self-revelatory thread doesn’t carry through every single tune (hey, I gotta have at least ONE song about interesting fauna) but I think overall it’s about as confessional and personal as I get. But hey: don’t you assume you really know me.


Donna and Slau make this recording possible.
Science, the wonder of the Universe, and the inspiring musicians, songwriters, authors and moviemakers of my never ending childhood make the songs possible.
Thanks everyone.

I guess I will stay.