Why Not Roll The Dice - A Journey into Random Reality

How listening to a podcast led to carrying around dice

Good morning, and welcome to the Sunday Sip, your Life In Michigan newsletter. Prepare to have fun as I tell you about my journey into random reality.

Something about the phrase “Random Reality” immediately triggers the theme of The Twilight Zone and the voice of Rod Serling. It also conjures thoughts of having my mind blown by LSD or contemplating movies such as The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Interstellar. I start thinking of all the cosmic and metaphysical realms I don’t understand but am hopelessly intrigued by.

Until a few weeks ago, I had not heard the term, “Random Reality,” let alone in casual conversation. I went to Ziggy’s to see a show where my friends in Ladyship Warship (hey Kristin and EZ) and Angel Of Mars (hey Andy, Terri, Rich, and Angie). Then Damon walked in and started to blow my mind.

I met Damon a few years ago through Fuzz Fest. He had an experimental electronic band called EnD. Damon is sort of a wizard of creating electronic music and building his own instruments to make new sounds. He kindly chatted with me and blew my mind for the first time on my Fans With Bands podcast, talking about his music and allowing the music to basically create itself.

At the Ziggy’s show - sidebar: isn’t it sort of wild and fitting that the place I talked to Damon about random reality is at a bar named after Ziggy Stardust? If you are tripping right now, hang on!

Anyway, at Ziggy’s, Damon asked me if I’d checked out his podcast. I looked at him, confused, as I missed a memo and wasn’t aware of his podcast. He laughed, gave me some shit for not paying attention to his message about the podcast, and then proceeded to explain that the podcast is about random reality. As he explained what the show was about, I started to smile and get excited. I wanted to start listening right away.

The podcast is called Your Aleatoric Reality. Each episode features Damon and his friend Misha talking about random reality. Specifically, they discuss ways to introduce randomness into one's life to spark creativity and have fun. Each episode is random. From the name of the podcast to the theme music to the format for a given episode, they use dice or a random number generator to determine what the outcomes shall be.

While it may seem that this podcast could go off into left field, it stays grounded. That is due to the chemistry of the hosts. As long-time friends, they’ve had these sorts of conversations before. The beauty is that now, we can listen in, share a laugh, or interact via email and listener challenges. They also have tools to help you on your quest for randomness on their Cheese Director (the name was random). In addition to random words, numbers, and online dice rolls, you can get a Tarot reading or explore the I Ching.

The basic idea that I’ve gleaned from Your Aleatoric Reality is that by simply rolling dice, you can introduce a bit of randomness, which breaks you out of your routine. You don’t have to do anything crazy, like roll the dice to see if you’ll cut your beard off or keep it. In fact, Damon and Misha make a point that this isn’t meant to act as a catalyst for negativity. Instead, you can throw the dice to pick from a set of menu items at dinner. You can do a dice walk and let Fortuna (the Roman goddess of chance) or Tyche (the Greek goddess of chance) guide you.

My adventures with random reality have been limited yet extremely fun. You may have seen a few notes I’ve shared on Substack regarding the die picking of my music. I list out six artists or bands. Then, I roll a 12-sided die to assign each item two numbers. Once all items have two numbers, I roll one last time to pick the winner. It has helped me break out of the usual albums I might gravitate toward.

At dinner, my wife and I used a die to determine which menu items to order. We each picked a few menu items and assigned them a number. Then, I rolled the dice to see what was for dinner. We both ended up trying something new. I think the people next to us at the bar thought we were a little off.

My foray into random reality has been light but refreshing. I am considering using it on vacation to wander through a town or at least help with menu items. It could also be fun to randomly select a particular destination during a trip. Say roll for a particular hike or place to explore. Or perhaps, get really crazy and pick from items in Atlas Obscura. Another idea is to use the dice to pick from a list of bucket list trips. The possibilities are endless!

I won’t say that random reality has been without pitfalls. If you are curious about what is out on the internet regarding random reality, you’ll quickly find yourself down a rabbit hole. Actually, it would be more like a rabbit warren with all sorts of tunnels in which to hop down.

I’ll leave you with this bit of randomness. Using my 12-sided die, I rolled a 12. Going to Wikipedia, I used their random article selector (in the main menu on the left side of the screen) twelve times to arrive at this gem on the Danish Spitz - enjoy a bit of random reality. If you are intrigued and take on a bit of randomness in your day, let me know.

Upcoming Events You Won't Want to Miss

There is so much to share every week. If you have events that we missed, please be sure to post a note on Substack.

Music

Home for the Skalidays 2024: Mustard Plug w/ J. Navarro & the Traitors, Killer Diller and More at the Magic Stick in Detroit on Dec 26 - Ska, Ska, and more Ska in Detroit

Poor Player Album Release Party wsg Jo Serrapere & Mike Galbraith at the Lager House in Detroit on Dec 27 - Enjoy Michigan Americana in this legendary space.

SETH with Kandy Fredrick at Crazy Wisdom Music in Ann Arbor on Dec 27 - Songwriters converge for an evening of music in Ann Arbor.

Ladyship Warship,The Blueflowers, Hillbilly Knife Fight at The Old Miami in Detroit on Dec 28 - Experience some of Detroit's best rock bands before we call 2024 done like dinner.

Angel of Mars w/ Good Mans Brother + DJ Marcie Bolen at Bowlero in Royal Oak on Dec 28 - Don’t tell me you can’t find any great music! Rejoice with heavy music in Royal Oak.

Flood The Desert + Drink Their Blood + Apostles + Lucius Fox at the Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids on Jan 3 - Start the new year with a sonic blast wave of heavy music

Centenary, Blind Haven, Monolithic Architecture, Room 101 at The Sanctuary in Hamtramck on Jan 3 - The heaviest thing in the universe descends upon Hamtramck

Laith Al-Saadi at North Star Lounge in Ann Arbor on Jan 4 - The soulful blues of Laith Al-Saadi in one of the best listening rooms in the land.

Super Nuclear Presents: A Trip To Space with BoneHawk & Angel Of Mars in Traverse City on Jan 4 - Prepare to have your mind blown

Beers

A Christmas Eve Brunch at Ogma in Jackson on Dec 24 - Start your holiday off right with fantastic food and beverages with our friends at Ogma Brewing in Jackson.

Thirteen Year Anniversary at Witch’s Hat Brewing in South Lyon on Dec 26th - Might as well keep the good times rolling by celebrating Witch’s Hat’s anniversary.

Time Well Spent: A celebration of all things Plato at 8 Degrees Plato in Detroit on Dec 28 - Sadly 8 Degrees Plato is closing their doors. But before they do, there will be one last celebration of the great community they have built.

Home Brewing - Tasting Event at Urbanrest Brewing in Ferndale on Jan 5 - Check out some home brews and help pick a winner

Annual Brewday with Stiggs Brewery & Kitchen in Boyne City on Jan 11 - Come to Boyne to brew with us, the Stiggs Brewery team, and the Stiggs Brew Club. It has become an annual event where we brew a delicious stout outside over an open flame. If you are into fat tire bike riding, the Fat and Flurrious Bike race starts and ends at Stiggs on the same day.

Various Intrigues

New Year, New Gear! Used Gear Sales Event at CameraMall in Ann Arbor on Dec 27-28 - Shop local for your camera gear at CameraMall

Found In The Underground VI: Mini-Arts & Music Festival at Tangent Gallery in Detroit on Dec 28 - Check out a fantastic art and music fest to finish off the year with a blast. There is also an opportunity for budding concert photographers to work on their skills during the live music.

Boards and Board Games at Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor on Dec 29 - Enjoy cheese boards and board games at Zingerman’s Delicatessen!

Bridge Drop in Charlevoix on Dec 31 - In Charlevoix, they drop bridges instead of balls for New Year’s Eve.

Y2K 25 New Year’s Eve Party at Hear.Say Brewing in Ann Arbor on Dec 31 - Michigan’s capital for beer and improv hosts a shindig on New Year’s Eve.

In Other News

Holy Moly, we’ve been busy with Life In Michigan. There is the story of my first visit to Ziggy’s in Ypsilanti, where I checked out Soot, Angel of Mars, and Ladyship Warship. Then, we made our first visit to the North Star Lounge in Ann Arbor for a performance by Ananda Murari. We returned to the North Star Lounge for a show by the Annie and Rod Capps Quartet. We also enjoyed tasty chili and a bit of beer at the Ada Chili and Beer Festival.

This past weekend was filled—a metal show with Finality at the Token Lounge on Friday. Then, on Saturday, we did an interview with the fine folks on the Better On Draft podcast as a warm-up for the annual 4 Elf party at Dark Horse Brewing. Speaking of Better On Draft, be sure to check out their chat with Dark Horse Brewing and talk with us.

If you need suggestions for books, music, or movies, Pulp contributors from the Ann Arbor District Library can help.

We visited the Besser Museum in Alpena last year, and it sounds like it is getting a huge makeover. Darby Hinkley of The Alpena News has the story of the new exhibit, which opens in January.

Over on MiBrew Trail, Tony Garant from Sippin In The Mitten has a review of our Life In Michigan collaboration beer with Barrel + Beam. Thanks, Tony, for the kind words, and I'm glad you enjoyed this wonderful beer by our friends at Barrel + Beam!

Substack Restack Attack

Substack is where it’s at. Check out these other superb publications:

East Side Art Supply: Sadvertising by

Travis Huggett

- These are great fun. I found myself imagining the voiceovers by the greats such as Tina Fey, James Earl Jones, or Morgan Freeman.

Darkrooms: The meaning behind a photo by

Marcel Borgstijn

- A great reminder that a photo is so much more than a photo.

I00 Real People: Where words meet images -The Ridden Word by Richard Partridge - A wonderful set of themed images and words about bicycles.

Adventures Yet To Print

Brenda’s just about has ready a story on Monster Box Theatre coming to Jackson. They have actually been in Jackson for a bit but now will be opening up their theatre after a lot of work to renovate the building. It is a great story as this small theatre company also does wonders for the local mental health organization called Segue.

My first-timer's experience at Oktoberfest is written; I just need to get it over to the editor for approval. The Detroit vinyl and beer story is still patiently waiting. However, I may need to write up the rest of our Germany adventures first…we’ll see.

What Are You Reading?

Brenda mentioned Stanley Tucci’s new book What I At In One Year in her last Sunday Sip, but it's worth a couple of plugs. This book is like comfort food. Particularly if you enjoy the audiobook version as Stanley reads the book to you. While most of us don’t have famous actors for friends and family, I felt that Stanley, in most ways, is a regular person sharing their story and love of food. Speaking of food, he’s got one hell of a metabolism. If I ate as much as Stanley, I’d have to run a marathon a day to fit into my pants. As Brenda mentioned in her last Sunday Sip if you are close to Stanley’s age, this book definitely has you considering the time you have left and how best to use it. Not in a sad or morbid way, but more of a carpe diem vibe.

What Are You Spinning?

The dice have been sort of all over the map in terms of album selection. Many times, I get an album that is not my first pick. However, the die did shine recently by landing on the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas. There is a gentle playfulness to this album. It sparks not only the joy of watching the Charlie Brown special, but the joy of music that uplifts. I can listen to this album year round as it is wonderfully written and, in a way, timeless.

That’s A Wrap

As my buddy Sturgill once said:

“Keep your head out of the clouds

And remember to be kind

And just stay in school

Stay off the drugs

And keep between the lines.”

Thank you for reading. I hope your week is awesome! Don’t forget to kick out the jams!

Now, here is your moment of zen