2009/04/21
Decline
Beirut is one of several names that is associated with Beer Pong, a drinking game that jumped the shark long before Rick Reilly was encouraging his sons to flick their way to victory; if ONLY that could have been a lesson to them about finger fucking!
Beirut is one of several names that guy from New Mexico has assumed when recording his lush orchestrations that incorporate elements of Balkan Rhythms, unusual horn/string combinations and one of those very once in a while kind of voices.
Beirut is one of several places I cannot locate on a map without some type of aural aid device.
Jacques Brel is the secret behind all three of these examples; his "Seasons in The Sun" is all I can hear in my mental tapes when I contemplate Canadian Pop in the '70s, even though the performance we are all so familiar with is by one Terry Jacks. Peep his allmusic.com profile if time allows for enhanced factoids and related artists.
Here's a certain work of his that you can find all about by clicking through!
Beirut is one of several names that guy from New Mexico has assumed when recording his lush orchestrations that incorporate elements of Balkan Rhythms, unusual horn/string combinations and one of those very once in a while kind of voices.
Beirut is one of several places I cannot locate on a map without some type of aural aid device.
Jacques Brel is the secret behind all three of these examples; his "Seasons in The Sun" is all I can hear in my mental tapes when I contemplate Canadian Pop in the '70s, even though the performance we are all so familiar with is by one Terry Jacks. Peep his allmusic.com profile if time allows for enhanced factoids and related artists.
Here's a certain work of his that you can find all about by clicking through!
2009/04/18
Pavo con alliolli
When you want to figure out a room's acoustic tendencies you can stick a microphone next to a speaker that runs a feedback loop of the single phrase you wish to have heard perfectly clear by as many of those in attendance as possible; "The reason we're all here is to get along."
So, the blog can have it's own feedback loop if it wants to with the uploads.
Here's one from a band that featured a gay guy, Elliott Smith and a guy who married a member of a band that I always thought was full of lesbians, Sleater-Kinney.
Anyhoo, it's here.
Speaking of Portland, who's excited for the playoffs? I for one, having not witnessed a single regular season game, don't know what to think; what's the playoffs without either Mike Dunleavy?
So, the blog can have it's own feedback loop if it wants to with the uploads.
Here's one from a band that featured a gay guy, Elliott Smith and a guy who married a member of a band that I always thought was full of lesbians, Sleater-Kinney.
Anyhoo, it's here.
Speaking of Portland, who's excited for the playoffs? I for one, having not witnessed a single regular season game, don't know what to think; what's the playoffs without either Mike Dunleavy?
2009/04/17
flaky flake
flake music; that pre shins shindig that Chiara threw my way once.
Hope everyone is having a great weekday segue in to weekend; I personally am doing great; a period of intense listening has begun anew!
much love all
Hope everyone is having a great weekday segue in to weekend; I personally am doing great; a period of intense listening has begun anew!
much love all
2009/04/15
Latin Prescriptive Grammars
2009/04/14
2009/04/13
2009/04/12
fuck you
Ok, pre-release party, but first: Harvard has problems, yikes...and now, birds of a feather; I wrote a poem in the genre section, kind of. Thank you's and other things tomorrow, until then, listen up!
and check out minnie ripperton at Nice Guy Eddie's joint, those who know know, or so said a great sage of the college age daze once, we thought.
Berlin?
and check out minnie ripperton at Nice Guy Eddie's joint, those who know know, or so said a great sage of the college age daze once, we thought.
Berlin?
Oberlin at large
First of all, I have no comment as to the tendencies of Oberlin College graduates; that shit is nobody's business but themselves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/books/review/Schillinger-t.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
For the lazy non-copy past crowd.
St. Francis loved the birds
so it's only right
to head on out to capastrano
even if it's for just one night
I can't spell too well
especially not digital
toes and fingers
feign inertia
read a book
who is this bird? I found out about her here: LDP KOO KOO!
I was at my free beach house flat earth piso México, with Germans, A French gal, a finnish-american princess (a frog and a princess together, just like Tom Robbins said...) and of course the entire Italian Royal family.
R-BD
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/books/review/Schillinger-t.html?_r=1&emc=eta1
For the lazy non-copy past crowd.
St. Francis loved the birds
so it's only right
to head on out to capastrano
even if it's for just one night
I can't spell too well
especially not digital
toes and fingers
feign inertia
read a book
who is this bird? I found out about her here: LDP KOO KOO!
I was at my free beach house flat earth piso México, with Germans, A French gal, a finnish-american princess (a frog and a princess together, just like Tom Robbins said...) and of course the entire Italian Royal family.
R-BD
2009/04/10
strawberry banana hammock in heaven
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/blogs/culture/2009-04-09/nick-koenig/
for all those who don't like copying and pasting. Choice is important!
for all those who don't like copying and pasting. Choice is important!
2009/04/03
Lord Have Mercy
The team is all here again in Huelva, it's pretty magical, that is to say, magical things are happening.
Rafael Capo García Rodon
That's it.
I love Ten Years After, I know not everyone will, but the album WATT has taught me everything I ever needed to know about my life as an aspiring musician/pirate.
Lead singer/lead guitarists are cool, and Ten Years After has a great one.
'Gonna Run' is my personal favorite, but 'Think About The Times' is a close second.
TYA-W
Rafael Capo García Rodon
That's it.
I love Ten Years After, I know not everyone will, but the album WATT has taught me everything I ever needed to know about my life as an aspiring musician/pirate.
Lead singer/lead guitarists are cool, and Ten Years After has a great one.
'Gonna Run' is my personal favorite, but 'Think About The Times' is a close second.
TYA-W
2009/04/02
WEll Well Well
I am not a hiphop fan. I am not a rap fan. I am not sure of anything anymore. I don't care.
Here's Tupac's album that came after "All Eyez on Me", the one that most people don't have a copy of but have mix CDs, labeled with words like "Middle School Dance Party".
It's pretty pretty good. Why would I lie to you? AMG gives it 5 stars, I didn't know that.
2P-MATW
Here's Tupac's album that came after "All Eyez on Me", the one that most people don't have a copy of but have mix CDs, labeled with words like "Middle School Dance Party".
It's pretty pretty good. Why would I lie to you? AMG gives it 5 stars, I didn't know that.
2P-MATW
2009/04/01
Working Out
Basketball is the best form of meditation available as things currently stand in this industrial hovel in the dirtball dirty south of Spain. Slovenia is producing 3/4's at an astonishing pace. I have noone to talk to about Tom Tolbert blowing dunks on the Magic nor Bill Walton having a conversation with Greg Oden after three swishers and a gravity bong built by Nate.
The Kinks wanted to make a movie, and why not? The idea was that they could base it loosely on real events, and somehow incorporate Australia. You can read about it anywhere but here. So, by that logic, they made a soundtrack to the movie before they could secure the funds for shooting the darn thing. The "concept" album that emerged has some elements to it that I am highly fond of; they turn the drums up and let loose on a few tracks as well as including horns in a totally distinct manner, vis-a-vis "Muswell Hillbillies" or "Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, part one"
They called it Arthur.
TK-AOTDOTBE
Graham Chapman rest in peace, 20 years that's fucking crazy.
The Kinks wanted to make a movie, and why not? The idea was that they could base it loosely on real events, and somehow incorporate Australia. You can read about it anywhere but here. So, by that logic, they made a soundtrack to the movie before they could secure the funds for shooting the darn thing. The "concept" album that emerged has some elements to it that I am highly fond of; they turn the drums up and let loose on a few tracks as well as including horns in a totally distinct manner, vis-a-vis "Muswell Hillbillies" or "Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, part one"
They called it Arthur.
TK-AOTDOTBE
Graham Chapman rest in peace, 20 years that's fucking crazy.
2009/03/31
Speaker Wire
This basically explains everything, I think.
Tom Robbins is a rollicking good time for this reader when he's under the influence of small town spanish isolation.
Listen to TAKSTAR, he actually has something to say; at least the message reads loud and clear when amplified.
Keep living, start breathing with some vigor.
2009/03/30
Morning Wake Up
I don't want to go to work. I'm petrified, sitting stone-faced in a cafeteria with headphones on.
New Jersey Nets Basketball is once again dismal and lottery bound.
Do I have wisdom teeth coming in at 22?
Berlin gaga is all exciting, I hope I can actually muster up the courage to go to work.
New Jersey Nets Basketball is once again dismal and lottery bound.
Do I have wisdom teeth coming in at 22?
Berlin gaga is all exciting, I hope I can actually muster up the courage to go to work.
2009/03/29
2009/03/28
Two Things
R. Kelly's "I Wish" remains atop my most played songs that I don't have in my iTunes.
Watch here, now that it is unembeddable.
Dick Cavett blogs movingly over his love affair with magic.
Watch here, now that it is unembeddable.
Dick Cavett blogs movingly over his love affair with magic.
2009/03/26
Voglio
I am in love, yes yes yes yes, love.
It's perhaps a young love, but that's ooooook.
Naivete is a friend in this day and age of cynicism.
Here's the third Make Believe LP: Going to the Bone Church
People are SLAMMING Jim Cramer, can you blame them? Populist RAGE!!!! Soon the government will have to outlaw ragehol...
MB-GTTBC
It's perhaps a young love, but that's ooooook.
Naivete is a friend in this day and age of cynicism.
Here's the third Make Believe LP: Going to the Bone Church
People are SLAMMING Jim Cramer, can you blame them? Populist RAGE!!!! Soon the government will have to outlaw ragehol...
MB-GTTBC
Some things
time is not passing slowly here in Andalucía, even if it is the tendency of the people to move like molasses on the streets. Good news is that Tocaya is back together and better than ever. Bad news is that I have to keep hearing these same shitty Spanish pop songs whenever I access internet, but headphones in a coffee shop is kind of rude, no? I'll try next time when I come in the morning here...
I can't stop listening to Bob Dylan's "Idiot Wind"; some of the lyrics aren't his best, (or are they?) but the chord progression is so awesome to jam along with. Also the organ on the version I have is absolute wrenching; I read once that there are two versions of Blood on The Tracks, one with NY session players and one with a band from Minnesota. What is it about the great lake state that produces so many fine American musicians; Zimmerman himself and Prince to name a few (I'm including Morris Day over The Hold Steady, and probably ignorant of a slathering of other top notch artists, but oh well)
I also have been listening to a lot of Nick Drake. I read his biography over last summer on a chance discovery at Raven Books in Harvard Square area up in Cambridge, Mass. His usage of so-called open tunings, and the really austere, but moving arrangements of his songs are almost as powerful as the bass lines of the random Daddy Yankee song that currently thumps on the television here in Lyceo, the wifi spot.
ND-FLL
I can't stop listening to Bob Dylan's "Idiot Wind"; some of the lyrics aren't his best, (or are they?) but the chord progression is so awesome to jam along with. Also the organ on the version I have is absolute wrenching; I read once that there are two versions of Blood on The Tracks, one with NY session players and one with a band from Minnesota. What is it about the great lake state that produces so many fine American musicians; Zimmerman himself and Prince to name a few (I'm including Morris Day over The Hold Steady, and probably ignorant of a slathering of other top notch artists, but oh well)
I also have been listening to a lot of Nick Drake. I read his biography over last summer on a chance discovery at Raven Books in Harvard Square area up in Cambridge, Mass. His usage of so-called open tunings, and the really austere, but moving arrangements of his songs are almost as powerful as the bass lines of the random Daddy Yankee song that currently thumps on the television here in Lyceo, the wifi spot.
ND-FLL
2009/03/25
Like Blagojevich
HOw long does it take for something to become "un-newsworthy"; I was reading about the Wire recently and there is a part when Mcnulty loses it because his fake story gets put in the middle of the paper instead of on the front page; so, perhaps there are degrees to one's newsworthiness.
Corruption charges tend to loom long after the initial damage has been done. Nothing seemed more farcical in the wake of a looming economic crisis than the proceedings in Springfield/Chicago Illinois with the Governor Rod.
Matters not, it matters not!
Some light reading on the topic of existence, or maybe existenz. I JUST DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!
So, a friend recently referred to the Mean as the meh, but I think everyone should take a listen to the full length that is available for streaming and decide whether or not this band is doing something really great.
Now, the first Make Believe LP, I believe; Shock of Being. The first time I heard "One Zero"; I was overwhelmed with thoughts and a bit of confusion, after 50+ listens I know that this band is official. Their bass player had to learn on the fly, the drummer omits a hi-hat in favor of a stationary tambourine, while playing some snaking, quaking keyboard lines with a free hand. I could sing this band's praises for days, but instead just grab this and hear something yourself.
Personal comment of the day: I miss everybody back in the States more and more and more and more everyday; the return will be glorious, for there can be no glory without war, this is our unsavory condition.
Is it cold back in Ohio? Is it cold back East? It's unseasonably cold here in Smellva; which makes me want to head for the hills once more and sleep in a warmer, albeit smaller bed.
MB-SOB
I just broke a chair by sitting on it and concentrating, my power is growing...
Corruption charges tend to loom long after the initial damage has been done. Nothing seemed more farcical in the wake of a looming economic crisis than the proceedings in Springfield/Chicago Illinois with the Governor Rod.
Matters not, it matters not!
Some light reading on the topic of existence, or maybe existenz. I JUST DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!
So, a friend recently referred to the Mean as the meh, but I think everyone should take a listen to the full length that is available for streaming and decide whether or not this band is doing something really great.
Now, the first Make Believe LP, I believe; Shock of Being. The first time I heard "One Zero"; I was overwhelmed with thoughts and a bit of confusion, after 50+ listens I know that this band is official. Their bass player had to learn on the fly, the drummer omits a hi-hat in favor of a stationary tambourine, while playing some snaking, quaking keyboard lines with a free hand. I could sing this band's praises for days, but instead just grab this and hear something yourself.
Personal comment of the day: I miss everybody back in the States more and more and more and more everyday; the return will be glorious, for there can be no glory without war, this is our unsavory condition.
Is it cold back in Ohio? Is it cold back East? It's unseasonably cold here in Smellva; which makes me want to head for the hills once more and sleep in a warmer, albeit smaller bed.
MB-SOB
I just broke a chair by sitting on it and concentrating, my power is growing...
Gimme Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
I am always sold on a band when they can make me feel something exciting. Morphine's snaking bass-lines, eruptive saxophone and hypnotic vocals combine for a really interesting listen.
Thanks to el gato negro for this lovely possibility
M-G
Thanks to el gato negro for this lovely possibility
M-G
2009/03/24
Writhing in Agony
There might be a music video in the works for some stuff I made.
Who's afraid of Virginia Woolfe?
Ok, enough sputtering. There will be plenty of music to come in the near future as well as some PDF, printable, files of texts that are deemed of interest by yours truly. Maybe Sam Newhouse will help, maybe this is the first he's heard of it, I'll wait and see if he responds.
Tarentino's face is plastered all over Dewar's ads here in Huelva, along with Clive Owen; ok...
Who's afraid of Virginia Woolfe?
Ok, enough sputtering. There will be plenty of music to come in the near future as well as some PDF, printable, files of texts that are deemed of interest by yours truly. Maybe Sam Newhouse will help, maybe this is the first he's heard of it, I'll wait and see if he responds.
Tarentino's face is plastered all over Dewar's ads here in Huelva, along with Clive Owen; ok...
2009/03/18
Son
Let the record state, that when I had the chance to go pursue love over logic and reaso/the mundane day to day of buttfuck Spain, that I made the easiest decision of my life. Goddamn, it's been an incredible 5 day weekend; never felt more productive or happier with how I spent my time. Now I'm off to Olive Country, to seek my fortune in turning pits in to some kind of device for sustainable energy, same goes for Orange rinds in Valencia.
I just finished a butt ton of tracks, but I've got to finalize them before they can be consumed for general purposes. Two thoughts on that:
1) Knee Jerk-Reactions are never voluntary.
2) I am learning the limitations of the human vocal chords, slowly but surely.
Anyways, why not some spicy pub jazz to compliment that Kinks record that you're no doubt putting on heavy rotation? Squirrel Nut Zippers are a lovely one-hit wonder with the single "Hell" off the album "Hot": all DMX/Earl Simmons comparisons begin and end here, save for the possibility of the worst kind of mash-up.
SNZ-H
My only other thought, before I run for the hills, is that class conflict might become en vogue again; like someone doing a cover of Pulp's "Common People" and not remembering that Shatner fucking KILLED IT (Ben Folds on production).
I just finished a butt ton of tracks, but I've got to finalize them before they can be consumed for general purposes. Two thoughts on that:
1) Knee Jerk-Reactions are never voluntary.
2) I am learning the limitations of the human vocal chords, slowly but surely.
Anyways, why not some spicy pub jazz to compliment that Kinks record that you're no doubt putting on heavy rotation? Squirrel Nut Zippers are a lovely one-hit wonder with the single "Hell" off the album "Hot": all DMX/Earl Simmons comparisons begin and end here, save for the possibility of the worst kind of mash-up.
SNZ-H
My only other thought, before I run for the hills, is that class conflict might become en vogue again; like someone doing a cover of Pulp's "Common People" and not remembering that Shatner fucking KILLED IT (Ben Folds on production).
2009/03/17
Smuse
I have this feeling I completely missed St. Patrick's Day; well at least the drinking portion, I was festooned in the finest green I could find last minute.
You know who looked Irish? Elliott Smith. He also had a thing for quiet, trembling melodies and the occasional gutty guitar hook that has won me over since I was introduced to his music through "The Royal Tenenbaums" scene that always makes me cry.
His last album, released posthumously, that wasn't titled "New Moon" or whatever the fuck that was, came to be known as Songs From a Basement on a Hill. It was supposedly going to be his "White" Album, that was 2006. Crazy to think that Heatmiser's Mic City Sons came out in 1994! 12 years is a serious grind when you're writing music like that guy; in reality he was really incredibly prolific. So, I'll pay tribute, one way or the other, and hope someone finds something in at least one of these tracks.
ES-FABOAH
You know who looked Irish? Elliott Smith. He also had a thing for quiet, trembling melodies and the occasional gutty guitar hook that has won me over since I was introduced to his music through "The Royal Tenenbaums" scene that always makes me cry.
His last album, released posthumously, that wasn't titled "New Moon" or whatever the fuck that was, came to be known as Songs From a Basement on a Hill. It was supposedly going to be his "White" Album, that was 2006. Crazy to think that Heatmiser's Mic City Sons came out in 1994! 12 years is a serious grind when you're writing music like that guy; in reality he was really incredibly prolific. So, I'll pay tribute, one way or the other, and hope someone finds something in at least one of these tracks.
ES-FABOAH
2009/03/16
is Jeff Lynne a rock legend?
The guy behind ELO, The Traveling Wilburys (he played bass/spent a good number of hours removing George Harrison's then-greying pubic hair from his teeth)and a handful of other projects that I don't know dick about, is producing Regina Spektor's new long-play record. Well, he's been around the block, but his production has never been something i think back too fondly of. Spektor has undeniable talent; that voice, oh my the voice, and the piano skills to compliment it all. She has changed sounds on every album; the dark, dirty "Soviet Kitsch" the foray in to pop/dreamy love songs that we call "Begin to Hope" and probably some other shit.
Ben Folds Feat. Regina Spektor-You Don't Know Me
Sumthin i read on pitchfork that made me write the above.
Ben Folds Feat. Regina Spektor-You Don't Know Me
Sumthin i read on pitchfork that made me write the above.
Farley
Ok, so there is at least one person studying/teaching abroad who has to look exactly like Chris Farley; I think I found her.
While we're on the topic, did you know the Farley family made serious bank up in Wisconsin in the pavement business.
NYT front page is blabbing about 27.5 billion for road construction crews, the country over. I wonder who gets the money in Wisconsin...
While we're on the topic, did you know the Farley family made serious bank up in Wisconsin in the pavement business.
NYT front page is blabbing about 27.5 billion for road construction crews, the country over. I wonder who gets the money in Wisconsin...
I've been had
I was reading the visitor counter to the right, and I have a feeling that someone is going to flag the blog soon; you can't ever be too paranoid, but it seems that the clamps are going to come down in the future upon those who share music for free on their website, even if they go about it in a slightly sly manner, but oh well, here's some more music anyway.
Lesley Wynn, thank you.
K-MH
Lesley Wynn, thank you.
K-MH
2009/03/14
I smoke weed all day
Hello Punta Umbría. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.
Check out the following things, if you haven't already:
A chance to improve the 9th grade Spanish you learned, and get some goodies.
Pay Sean Mair, according to his facebook status; I'm inclined to agree wholeheartedly with this.
Tocayo is a Spanish word which means that you have the same name as someone.
Punta Umbría; update.
Good weather. Lots of titties like the third world girls gone wild.
Check out the following things, if you haven't already:
A chance to improve the 9th grade Spanish you learned, and get some goodies.
Pay Sean Mair, according to his facebook status; I'm inclined to agree wholeheartedly with this.
Tocayo is a Spanish word which means that you have the same name as someone.
Punta Umbría; update.
Good weather. Lots of titties like the third world girls gone wild.
2009/03/13
jungle love
As much as I should post another Time video, I'm going to instead pass on some information that was no-looked off the elbow my way (oh White Chocolate, I miss your thunderous passes, rendering the finish an exercise in futility, if only you could have played with Shaq in 1996 instead of 2006).
Via the only guest poster ever, Pedro Astacio (not Pedro Martinez, rest assured), a bunch of established veteran MCs go to work over hijacked/sampled/straightjacketed Sufjan Steven's tracks.
Here it is:
hokay, download here: gimme the biz baby.
Possible Tracklist for "Tocayo/a: Whatever your name is"
-Hey Zeus!
-Creed Stone
-Este Hombre
-Fumado
-Gunga
-Run DMT
-Dumb Fun
-Old Spinster's Tale
-Breakfast in Deathbed
-He's Just a Bird
-Flying
-Free Hugs For Free People
Am I the only one gorging at the 2ND Free Crack Giveaway over at Taka's blog? I thought all white people loved Taka(note, perhaps untrue).
Dunking the basketball on a 7 foot rim, just because you can is acceptable only while playing pickup soccer on the same "court".
Via the only guest poster ever, Pedro Astacio (not Pedro Martinez, rest assured), a bunch of established veteran MCs go to work over hijacked/sampled/straightjacketed Sufjan Steven's tracks.
Here it is:
hokay, download here: gimme the biz baby.
Possible Tracklist for "Tocayo/a: Whatever your name is"
-Hey Zeus!
-Creed Stone
-Este Hombre
-Fumado
-Gunga
-Run DMT
-Dumb Fun
-Old Spinster's Tale
-Breakfast in Deathbed
-He's Just a Bird
-Flying
-Free Hugs For Free People
Am I the only one gorging at the 2ND Free Crack Giveaway over at Taka's blog? I thought all white people loved Taka(note, perhaps untrue).
Dunking the basketball on a 7 foot rim, just because you can is acceptable only while playing pickup soccer on the same "court".
2009/03/12
Old Drink
My fingers are sore from playing a steel string guitar for many hours yesterday; fuck flamenco guitars. I was fucking around with an open D tuning (DADF#AD) with a clipper lighter as a slide in between trying my best to sound impressive to the strangers and companions in the carmona complex.
I'm gonna re-plug this band, The Mean, because their music is excellent and deserves multiple listens (finally, someone will give you your money's worth).
While we're at it, why not one more album before I head off to work?
I was introduced to Gil-Scott Heron through secondary/tertiary sources; an obscure hip-hop reference, allmusic.com cross-cultural comparisons, or maybe it was my older brother Max who laid the seeds of appreciation for a true activist/musician.
Anyways, I don't have TV here in Spain, and my excessive internet usage could be categorized as addictive or compulsive, but viva la revolución!
GSH-TRWNBT
I'm gonna re-plug this band, The Mean, because their music is excellent and deserves multiple listens (finally, someone will give you your money's worth).
While we're at it, why not one more album before I head off to work?
I was introduced to Gil-Scott Heron through secondary/tertiary sources; an obscure hip-hop reference, allmusic.com cross-cultural comparisons, or maybe it was my older brother Max who laid the seeds of appreciation for a true activist/musician.
Anyways, I don't have TV here in Spain, and my excessive internet usage could be categorized as addictive or compulsive, but viva la revolución!
GSH-TRWNBT
Stuff and Things
Hello world. A chance encounter in Sevilla with a Senegalese folk musician named Malik was incredibly rewarding.
There may or may not have been a man screaming/singing sevillanas in the middle of the night outside my window.
I'm up remarkably early, although I got some new chamomile delivered from granada, that is quite delicious.
So, here's the first post of the day, perhaps more to come if I don't turn in to a lazy bones.
P-SE
There may or may not have been a man screaming/singing sevillanas in the middle of the night outside my window.
I'm up remarkably early, although I got some new chamomile delivered from granada, that is quite delicious.
So, here's the first post of the day, perhaps more to come if I don't turn in to a lazy bones.
P-SE
2009/03/11
hey sluggo
big shoutout to one Raymond Daniel O'Brien III, who put me on to this. What a grand opportunity to maneuever within the simulacrum of power that Colbert has created for the organized, slacker youths of today.
Fucking Cool
There's no use in having pretensions these days, especially concerning places that are judged on the basis of their own perceived closed-off manners. Mooney was the first person to explain bridge and tunnel syndrome to me, well, second-hand, but that's good enough for this mannish boy. Friend of music and related things, Marisa Beltramini put me on to a very interesting music label/story of interest, that you can read here.
Oberlin alums are scattered throughout King's County, and methinks this says a lot about how I won't be able to afford an apartment anywhere but salisbury, Maryland upon my return to the old glory herself.
If Burger King sponsored a Ben Kweller concert in Brooklyn, my head might explode.
Oberlin alums are scattered throughout King's County, and methinks this says a lot about how I won't be able to afford an apartment anywhere but salisbury, Maryland upon my return to the old glory herself.
If Burger King sponsored a Ben Kweller concert in Brooklyn, my head might explode.
2009/03/10
Staring At The Sea
You can scan through your brain, past the short-term memories; what you ate most recently, the source of the intermittent high-pitched noises on a local pedestrian street, the number of times you stared at that same photo (for the record, 17) longing for someone while you're supposed to be doing something else. You can get caught up in a melody or a rhythm and lose all track of time, and then as soon as you think you're getting somewhere you look around and forget everything that's just happened. The simulacrum of the internet promises nothing more than what it is, a pooling of information, while you might spy a baroque soliloquy on plateauing you could also click on the links within that article and tune out.
I recently read Tom Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" for the first time recently; I think I understand why it's so goddamn highly recommended by everyone, and my mom; Wolfe was never on the bus, but he understood what it meant, and that it couldn't be expressed with words, that's some shit. There is a critical moment when Kesey and co. go to Berkeley, California for a serious anti-war rally/march in to Oakland. His takeaway message for the bright-eyed left-leaning youths of yesteryear? "Fuck it." Couldn't agree more, at some point we have got to all say, "fuck it", if we're ever going to get out of this crisis mode bullshit.
As far as I can tell, repackaging is the crux of America's ascendancy and probably it's rebirth in this time of tumult.
I recently read Tom Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" for the first time recently; I think I understand why it's so goddamn highly recommended by everyone, and my mom; Wolfe was never on the bus, but he understood what it meant, and that it couldn't be expressed with words, that's some shit. There is a critical moment when Kesey and co. go to Berkeley, California for a serious anti-war rally/march in to Oakland. His takeaway message for the bright-eyed left-leaning youths of yesteryear? "Fuck it." Couldn't agree more, at some point we have got to all say, "fuck it", if we're ever going to get out of this crisis mode bullshit.
As far as I can tell, repackaging is the crux of America's ascendancy and probably it's rebirth in this time of tumult.
Fill My Heart
So, why stop a good thing?
I rambled yesterday about the merits of dropping one's pretensions about the perceived coolness of music, and in that vein, attempting to embrace the randomness/emptiness of discovery.
With that in mind, why not listen to some Bob Zimmerman?
John Wesley Harding was the last album Bob Dylan released before breaking his neck in a motorcycle accident that for some reason revealed the beauty of christian grace from the bleakness of his hospital bed. BOORING, but at least this is a good listen.
I just finally noticed how many songs are described in his early catalogs as dreams, fucking cool.
BD-JWH
I rambled yesterday about the merits of dropping one's pretensions about the perceived coolness of music, and in that vein, attempting to embrace the randomness/emptiness of discovery.
With that in mind, why not listen to some Bob Zimmerman?
John Wesley Harding was the last album Bob Dylan released before breaking his neck in a motorcycle accident that for some reason revealed the beauty of christian grace from the bleakness of his hospital bed. BOORING, but at least this is a good listen.
I just finally noticed how many songs are described in his early catalogs as dreams, fucking cool.
BD-JWH
2009/03/09
Thrillseekers
If we all knew about all the same bands at exactly the same time, and we could all vibe on it, then there would be no need for the elitism that lays to waste so many potentially beautiful minds. That said, most people have terrible taste in music, and that is totally acceptable (most people believe that most other people have terrible taste in music).
I was particularly late on the Wilco bandwagon; I was watching THE Ohio State play for the national championship against UMiami (FL) and kicker Mike Nugent's favorite band was none other than the above mentioned. I had known of them for some time, but "A Ghost is Born" was the first album I ever actually acquired and listened to multiple times. Freshman year hallmate Marisa Beltramini was a big fan of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", but I only knew that from my clandestine mental photo-cataloging of her CD collection; it was sandwiched between Sufjan Steven's "Come On Feel the Illinoise" and Ben Folds Live.
So, 2007 marked the release of Sky Blue Sky, which, fittingly, I listened to for the first time today. It's pretty fucking good. I was doing dishes and lying on the couch at various points while taking it in, thinking of a lover far away; it's real good for that.
W-SBS
I was particularly late on the Wilco bandwagon; I was watching THE Ohio State play for the national championship against UMiami (FL) and kicker Mike Nugent's favorite band was none other than the above mentioned. I had known of them for some time, but "A Ghost is Born" was the first album I ever actually acquired and listened to multiple times. Freshman year hallmate Marisa Beltramini was a big fan of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", but I only knew that from my clandestine mental photo-cataloging of her CD collection; it was sandwiched between Sufjan Steven's "Come On Feel the Illinoise" and Ben Folds Live.
So, 2007 marked the release of Sky Blue Sky, which, fittingly, I listened to for the first time today. It's pretty fucking good. I was doing dishes and lying on the couch at various points while taking it in, thinking of a lover far away; it's real good for that.
W-SBS
Four Course Meal
Awesome. The bestie bounces yet again, so now I have to keep whittling down the list of eligible euros to hang out with. Basically it's a slow road to hope, but, lord willing, I won't go insane with the slowness of Huelva (aka nuclear contamination land, seriously they just completed a serious investigative report on this toxic dump) in a non-productive manner.
I met a guy named Deshawn who listens to good music; it was the perfect antidote to Spanish pop. The shit he's in to sometimes reminds me of Make Believe, a band that Joel Handley put me on to some time ago.
The brothers Kinsella and their kinfolk/bandmates thrash with elegance, I don't know how else to put it. Their second LP, "Of Course" shows them maturing (they somewhat recently released a new LP entitled "Going To the Bone Church" which I HIGHLY recommend).
MB-OC
I met a guy named Deshawn who listens to good music; it was the perfect antidote to Spanish pop. The shit he's in to sometimes reminds me of Make Believe, a band that Joel Handley put me on to some time ago.
The brothers Kinsella and their kinfolk/bandmates thrash with elegance, I don't know how else to put it. Their second LP, "Of Course" shows them maturing (they somewhat recently released a new LP entitled "Going To the Bone Church" which I HIGHLY recommend).
MB-OC
Kids Don't Know Shit
After a lovely weekend of traveling around southeastern Iberia with Red, friend, Rosa and co., I'm back grinding the axe of the death pit of despair we call Huelva. It's not that I have any odious thoughts so much as I am a tad disorganized, or at least perceive myself to be extremely far away from where I could be at; this type of thinking usually results in an extremely satisfactory nap.
This looks interesting, if you're in to that kind of stuff.
NYT Op-eds have a tendency of scaring the bejesus out of me, especially when coupled with the baroque e-mails I'm getting from working adults (READ: not recent college grads) about the gravity of the situation back home, that said, everybody is kind of full of it, so at some point you gotta say fuck it.
I have just discovered; some girls are bigger than others.
Uploads will continue now that there is interwebbing; the one euro tariff per session isn't so bad I suppose.
This looks interesting, if you're in to that kind of stuff.
NYT Op-eds have a tendency of scaring the bejesus out of me, especially when coupled with the baroque e-mails I'm getting from working adults (READ: not recent college grads) about the gravity of the situation back home, that said, everybody is kind of full of it, so at some point you gotta say fuck it.
I have just discovered; some girls are bigger than others.
Uploads will continue now that there is interwebbing; the one euro tariff per session isn't so bad I suppose.
2009/03/06
Princeton Heads Continue Making Moves
Hokay, I just creamed my jeans. This is the best new band I've heard in a long time.
All youse guys on faceboo might be interested in giving these dudes some well deserved love, here.
credit this to the OFFICIAL Nick Koenig facebook page, as well as some humble hype from keyboardist\vocalist martin raboteau.
All youse guys on faceboo might be interested in giving these dudes some well deserved love, here.
credit this to the OFFICIAL Nick Koenig facebook page, as well as some humble hype from keyboardist\vocalist martin raboteau.
The Hardest Thing ever I done
I have a theory that Tennessee Williams would probably like Bill Simmons; at least he might consider him a fellow writer. That said, T-Dubs would probably be appalled at the hyperbolic amount of analogies Simmons uses in comparing sports teams to marriages.
So, I know I said I wouldn't be posting any albums or writing this weekend, I was supposed to be on the road to partly sunny Lisbon, but plans change; Red's feeling under the weather and her 2 week paid vacation to Prague requires her full health. At least, if she wants to have a better time than Maurice in Albert Camus' "A Happy Death".
So, I want to talk more about Nick Koenig; who doesn't? Besides being my number one influence musically, Hot Sugar has always had the balls/confidence to understand that making beautiful/interesting/funny things will not captivate the minds of all who come across your creative work. It's good to start in 8th grade, because his star began its rapid ascent thanks to several pranks which will forever live in my head.
A group of 9th graders had started a mountain bike gang, just writing those words leads me to believe that I am a two bit hack (but you gotta fake it till you make it), that also occasionally sang unaccompanied renditions of RHCP tunes (namely, under the bridge); they all wore Hoagie Haven T-Shirts and talked shop on shocks, disc brakes and the like. Us outsiders, namely the chubby cum insecure underlings, were in awe of their brazen confidence and zen materialism. We all wanted fancy bikes too; we didn't care about the process back then, like a child in the CVS who sees the candy isle, and by that logic, in my case, didn't get the coolest bike in the world (in hindsight, I'm so fucking grateful that my dad bought me a bike, since our mini-mansion in the woods was a stones throw from some really lovely hills). I had befriended Koenig, so to speak, at a little league game at the tender age of 11; I was kind of a motherfucker on the diamond, to the extent that I was a big baby who could waddle around the bases with a cocky gracelessness. He was talking shit, and despite at first finding him unsavory, came to enjoy that someone without even a minimal knowledge of the admittedly complex rules of the game could heckle anything/anyone that he felt like.
It is also worth noting that DMX was HUGE amongst suburban boys and girls at this point; and that I paid out the ass for Capital Punishment and It's Dark and Hell is Hot second hand, thanks Zac Anglin.
One sunny spring morning, while the masses are gathered out on the northeastern entrance of John Witherspoon Middle School, the one that leads to the parking lot/cafeteria/basketball courts, a faint signal grew stronger and stronger. As, we all stood and waited, it became abundantly clear that it was "Party (up in here)". Slowly, but surely, Koenig arrives, flanked by two now anonymous counterparts blasting the music out of a shitty CD/Radio player that he has fastened to his handlebars. Noone could deny him, and rightly nobody did; I made some snide remarks, but the truth is that he had won everybody over with his winning confidence/remarkable lack of awkwardness.
Basically, pay this motherfucker.
Oh, and he put me on to this triumphant work of guitar great Ryland Cooder. Enjoy.
RC-BS
So, I know I said I wouldn't be posting any albums or writing this weekend, I was supposed to be on the road to partly sunny Lisbon, but plans change; Red's feeling under the weather and her 2 week paid vacation to Prague requires her full health. At least, if she wants to have a better time than Maurice in Albert Camus' "A Happy Death".
So, I want to talk more about Nick Koenig; who doesn't? Besides being my number one influence musically, Hot Sugar has always had the balls/confidence to understand that making beautiful/interesting/funny things will not captivate the minds of all who come across your creative work. It's good to start in 8th grade, because his star began its rapid ascent thanks to several pranks which will forever live in my head.
A group of 9th graders had started a mountain bike gang, just writing those words leads me to believe that I am a two bit hack (but you gotta fake it till you make it), that also occasionally sang unaccompanied renditions of RHCP tunes (namely, under the bridge); they all wore Hoagie Haven T-Shirts and talked shop on shocks, disc brakes and the like. Us outsiders, namely the chubby cum insecure underlings, were in awe of their brazen confidence and zen materialism. We all wanted fancy bikes too; we didn't care about the process back then, like a child in the CVS who sees the candy isle, and by that logic, in my case, didn't get the coolest bike in the world (in hindsight, I'm so fucking grateful that my dad bought me a bike, since our mini-mansion in the woods was a stones throw from some really lovely hills). I had befriended Koenig, so to speak, at a little league game at the tender age of 11; I was kind of a motherfucker on the diamond, to the extent that I was a big baby who could waddle around the bases with a cocky gracelessness. He was talking shit, and despite at first finding him unsavory, came to enjoy that someone without even a minimal knowledge of the admittedly complex rules of the game could heckle anything/anyone that he felt like.
It is also worth noting that DMX was HUGE amongst suburban boys and girls at this point; and that I paid out the ass for Capital Punishment and It's Dark and Hell is Hot second hand, thanks Zac Anglin.
One sunny spring morning, while the masses are gathered out on the northeastern entrance of John Witherspoon Middle School, the one that leads to the parking lot/cafeteria/basketball courts, a faint signal grew stronger and stronger. As, we all stood and waited, it became abundantly clear that it was "Party (up in here)". Slowly, but surely, Koenig arrives, flanked by two now anonymous counterparts blasting the music out of a shitty CD/Radio player that he has fastened to his handlebars. Noone could deny him, and rightly nobody did; I made some snide remarks, but the truth is that he had won everybody over with his winning confidence/remarkable lack of awkwardness.
Basically, pay this motherfucker.
Oh, and he put me on to this triumphant work of guitar great Ryland Cooder. Enjoy.
RC-BS
quick comment
I hope the music uploaded this week will tide you over for the weekend (which in my case is friday-sunday). I'll be running around the western coast of Iberia with Red & co.
If not, then oh well, but either way don't feel disappointed that I am lazy and selfish.
If not, then oh well, but either way don't feel disappointed that I am lazy and selfish.
2009/03/04
Inevitability
One of the links on the right side of the blog will no longer be providing new posts. Yes, that's right Katharine Mooney has hung up her golden gloves of caffeine induced web log posting to pursue a career in fine dining/writing/living away from the unhealthy glow of a macbook screen. So, what's a guy to do? I suppose you could skim the archives. Or, you could do the only thing that seems to make sense on a cold, blustery March afternoon and put up a special post to serve as the death knell to an occasionally fantastic read.
So, it's only right to offer some context first; Mooney often spoke highly of The Band, mistakenly referring to them as a quartet, but an aficionada nonetheless. Enough so to change the name of her blog's final incarnation to "Moondog Matinee"; late in the game, The Hawks released an album with the same name. For those in the know, The Band were a quintet composed of Levon Helm on drums/mandolin/vocals/guitar, Richard Manuel on Piano/Vocals/Drums/chugging Gran Marnier (wikipedia says around 6 bottles a day before cirrhosis won out), Rick Danko on bass/vocals/fiddle, J.R. "Robbie" Robertson on guitar/vocals (it's worth noting that the only song he sang lead on in their entire studio discography is "Till Kingdom Come" (obligatory pontification of the relation to Jay-Z/Coldplay and this song begins and ends NOW!) and Garth Hudson on Organ/Saxophone/Accordion/Piano (he plays that signature line on "The Weight"). Some serious fans consider producer/tuba player John Simon the "6th" member of the group; you can't deny his playing on "Rag Mama Rag" among other standout tracks. I forgot to mention that every single member took a turn on playing various auxiliary horns among other things, leading to a distinct sound (the breakdown in "Chest Fever" springs to mind most immediately).
In honor of the passing of a blog, and the broke as a joke nature of basically everyone I know (save the rich jews, I'm not kidding), I'm doing double time in posting a second album today. Also, I think Mooney eye fucked my older brother at commencement.
It's also worth noting that this album is composed entirely of cover songs; an odd juxtaposition to a group that produced some of the best original music of their time.
TB-MM
So, it's only right to offer some context first; Mooney often spoke highly of The Band, mistakenly referring to them as a quartet, but an aficionada nonetheless. Enough so to change the name of her blog's final incarnation to "Moondog Matinee"; late in the game, The Hawks released an album with the same name. For those in the know, The Band were a quintet composed of Levon Helm on drums/mandolin/vocals/guitar, Richard Manuel on Piano/Vocals/Drums/chugging Gran Marnier (wikipedia says around 6 bottles a day before cirrhosis won out), Rick Danko on bass/vocals/fiddle, J.R. "Robbie" Robertson on guitar/vocals (it's worth noting that the only song he sang lead on in their entire studio discography is "Till Kingdom Come" (obligatory pontification of the relation to Jay-Z/Coldplay and this song begins and ends NOW!) and Garth Hudson on Organ/Saxophone/Accordion/Piano (he plays that signature line on "The Weight"). Some serious fans consider producer/tuba player John Simon the "6th" member of the group; you can't deny his playing on "Rag Mama Rag" among other standout tracks. I forgot to mention that every single member took a turn on playing various auxiliary horns among other things, leading to a distinct sound (the breakdown in "Chest Fever" springs to mind most immediately).
In honor of the passing of a blog, and the broke as a joke nature of basically everyone I know (save the rich jews, I'm not kidding), I'm doing double time in posting a second album today. Also, I think Mooney eye fucked my older brother at commencement.
It's also worth noting that this album is composed entirely of cover songs; an odd juxtaposition to a group that produced some of the best original music of their time.
TB-MM
Vincent Gallo approved
RJD2 seems pretty universally adored by those who are fans of various genres of music; hip-hop heads call him one of their own, progressive rock fans are likewise enamored with how he wears his influences on his sleeve, college students who aren't too hip still come out in droves to angrily demand a return to the turntables (hello Cleveland!) and aspiring producers who utilize samples can do themselves a big favor by seeing the thin line between Moby and the guy who made Deadringer.
One group that the dude really seems to lean on as an influence is King Crimson. One of the more well known, and, furthermore, respected names in the progressive rock game. More on these fellows in a moment; until then, let's watch this clip.
As a quick tangential statement; the ploy by youtube/big music companies to end the embedding of music videos that contain copyrighted material is alright with me, in fact it is only fair.
Anyways, King Crimson get love from both sides of the rock pond fanbase; yeah their flights of fancy are indulgent and a tad ridiculous, but at the core of everything they rocked and grooved (something that few bands can do with taste).
I don't even want to write anymore about this fucking shit, I just think that one might have time to listen, if they have time to browse my incoherent ramblings.
KC-ITCOKC
One group that the dude really seems to lean on as an influence is King Crimson. One of the more well known, and, furthermore, respected names in the progressive rock game. More on these fellows in a moment; until then, let's watch this clip.
As a quick tangential statement; the ploy by youtube/big music companies to end the embedding of music videos that contain copyrighted material is alright with me, in fact it is only fair.
Anyways, King Crimson get love from both sides of the rock pond fanbase; yeah their flights of fancy are indulgent and a tad ridiculous, but at the core of everything they rocked and grooved (something that few bands can do with taste).
I don't even want to write anymore about this fucking shit, I just think that one might have time to listen, if they have time to browse my incoherent ramblings.
KC-ITCOKC
2009/03/03
Pita Pockets
I miss falafel like whoa; in theory one could acquire such an item at one of the 7 "kebap" joints here in Smellva, but they don't have hummus nor tahini; crucial elements in the shwarma universe that I know and love. Here in bizarro Spain, none of these rules apply to food related goods.
When it comes to guitars, they also have some rather unique ideas here about music. I'm not entirely sure why, but the necks are fatter and the bodies smaller on most flamenco guitars, mine included.
International string ensembles are dope though. Here we have Stanley Clarke (a genuine hero) on the bass, Al Di Meola on guitar and Jean Luc-Ponty on violin. This is a really intriguing album on many levels; the sheer virtuosity on display will do it for most people, but there is real soul to this (an indescribable weight that you can feel while listening [better with headphones, but to each their own]). Rite of Strings, bang bang whoosh.
ADMSCJLP-ROS
I might be in love.
When it comes to guitars, they also have some rather unique ideas here about music. I'm not entirely sure why, but the necks are fatter and the bodies smaller on most flamenco guitars, mine included.
International string ensembles are dope though. Here we have Stanley Clarke (a genuine hero) on the bass, Al Di Meola on guitar and Jean Luc-Ponty on violin. This is a really intriguing album on many levels; the sheer virtuosity on display will do it for most people, but there is real soul to this (an indescribable weight that you can feel while listening [better with headphones, but to each their own]). Rite of Strings, bang bang whoosh.
ADMSCJLP-ROS
I might be in love.
read a book.
Read a Book, Get out of Jail. That's the tagline for this interesting essay on a really intriguing alternative sentencing program up in Massachusets. Mitt Romney was probably not on board with this.
2009/03/02
Free Throw %
I was sitting on my couch listening to the Jadakiss gem, "we gon' make it (feat. Styles P) [NOT a Lox cut]" and thinking to myself, damn this guy is pretty good. Well, that logic extends to many other talented MC's, as far as I can tell. One of whom my older brother Maximillian introduced me to at a young age was Big L. A man whose legend only grows larger by the day for his combination of finesse and fire. One might even extend that argument to include the term pedagogy for standout tracks like 'ebonics'; the rosetta stone of hip-hop slang for doughy 16 year old japanese jews from sleepy suburban settlements.
BL-TBP
It does make me sad to think that the late greats like Biggie, 2Pac, Big L, and company all were depicting their actual lives through their music; well sad, and also incredibly intrigued, like most people, because noone should have to live such a polarizing existence.
BL-TBP
It does make me sad to think that the late greats like Biggie, 2Pac, Big L, and company all were depicting their actual lives through their music; well sad, and also incredibly intrigued, like most people, because noone should have to live such a polarizing existence.
2009/02/28
Bob Herbert
The Statistics on display here are a tad disconcerting for someone with 20+ G's in student loans: read on, because Herbert is a man on fire as of late.
2009/02/26
coffee, pushups, and doing the dishes
Nina Simone was one hell of a musician. I dig that she became increasingly radial with age and that she never stopped jamming; this, of course, is but mere speculation on the part of the author. Nick Koenig, aka Hot Sugar, was the first to play the lovely Ms. Simone for me at a very young age; then again this dude is always ahead of the curve.
At first I thought that we were listening to some strange relative of local IROC driving goofball Derrick Simone, but I have been known to be kind of moronic in my first impressions.
It's going to rain buckets here in Spain; another successful outing of basketball related endeavors with the people who work at my elementary school has me wondering why I was such a polarizing figure in the Oberlin College intramural circles; too much time and a girl 4 hours away in olive country do these things to the young expat.
Although my gig got canceled, Riccardo came to the rescue and got me a one hour slot at a party inside the plaza del toros here in Huelva this saturday at 12:30 AM. What a fucking guy.
I found a youtube clip of Dolph Lundgren doing pushups. I watch it every day, because I found this amazing website where you can dl youtube clips and convert them in to .mp4 format. Those who know, know.
NS-LIAO
At first I thought that we were listening to some strange relative of local IROC driving goofball Derrick Simone, but I have been known to be kind of moronic in my first impressions.
It's going to rain buckets here in Spain; another successful outing of basketball related endeavors with the people who work at my elementary school has me wondering why I was such a polarizing figure in the Oberlin College intramural circles; too much time and a girl 4 hours away in olive country do these things to the young expat.
Although my gig got canceled, Riccardo came to the rescue and got me a one hour slot at a party inside the plaza del toros here in Huelva this saturday at 12:30 AM. What a fucking guy.
I found a youtube clip of Dolph Lundgren doing pushups. I watch it every day, because I found this amazing website where you can dl youtube clips and convert them in to .mp4 format. Those who know, know.
NS-LIAO
2009/02/25
2009/02/23
Deborah Solomon
Is doing all the legwork on some excellent interviews with some extremely interesting people. She asked Bill Ayers all the questions that noone had the nerve to before, and now comes a, probably Trey Parker/Matt Stone approved, interview with economist Dambisa Moyo. Read on, read on, read on.
Also, love works in mysterious ways.
Also, love works in mysterious ways.
2009/02/20
Long Form Essay?
Re:gifting
American marketing schemes call to me, even while I’m overseas. This holds to be some semblance of truth when you consider the consequences of repackaging that America tends to embrace; a few examples, such as beer cans, popular music, and the internet. To start with the latter, let’s consider the concept of clicking through; to me, this is usually found to be true in the e-mails people send with attached hyperlinks or nowadays, in many web logs such as, Deadspin or freedarko that require extra-dimensional viewing of the ethereal complexity, or not, of lassoing in on the information that means something to you while you’re online. For many beer companies, in particular those who have “American” values, there is a tendency to find new ways to sell “old” (status quo) product with newer, shinier packaging that tries to appeal to a new base of consumers, for example Busch Beer’s camouflage containers or Candyflouge, or better yet the Coor’s Light aerodynamic Lockheed-Martin Can of the future! (No funnier beer company than the one with the CEO who got a DUI). With music, there is a strong cultural identity among aspiring “American” producers to jump on the “remix” game.
Who invented the Remix? Was it Sean Combs? Was it P-Diddy? Was it Ben Stiller?
P.Diddy - Bad Boy For Life
I’m not quite sure, but Musik Konkret is institutionalized, so that makes it special to some people…anyhoo, it’s a dense labyrinth, this remix. Like a fluid, it knows no volume on it’s own, the remix relies on a solid foundation of an already established artist by which to use as a “soundboard”, in quotations because it is not just aural, visual as well when referring to a listener base. I don’t know where to begin with this, but I do want to raise a point of awareness; big music companies send out samplers of “Hip-Hop” hit singles, let’s use DMX’s “Party Up in Here” with such great B-Side cuts such as the DJ FA Remix. If you really took the time to study each of the tracks and how they reinterpret some facet of the original, enough so to openly claim their reference in the first place, they are comfortable enough with it to put their own name on it, which changes the new containers of that substance. So, if I had to put in my two-penny head’s direct response, I’d say the remix was invented by either Phil Spector, for stealing the Motown sound; like here with “How Do You Sleep?” by John Lennon. I used to read about James Jamerson, the name when it came to Motown session men on the low-down 4 string skanking bass; that guy was potent. Or maybe the remix was invented long before, when blind poets would rouse up a string of imitators, masquerading as philosopher kings, and one day they would be translated in to other languages to have their word’s revisited and regurgitated and, perhaps in an ideal world, refined.
Beer, is delicious. Beer, is deceitful. Beer, prescription strength. Cheap Beer is an interesting phenomenon; what’s the point of expensive beer anyway, the average Natty Light 30-Rack holder may ponder aloud while carving his jousting helmet. For many companies, the need to reinvent an old brand is as old as the concept of the market itself. The makers of the 30 can pack are kind of insisting you drink a lot of beer; if they feel otherwise, perhaps they should offer other ways by which to accomplish the selling of 30 beers in a way that doesn’t seem so bohemian. National Bohemian, as a counter-example, or Natty Bo as it was told to me (retelling, haHA!) on a recent trip to DELMARVA, doesn’t look like it has ever changed it’s logo or can/box concept (it does appear to be owned by Pabst Blue Ribbon, another hallmark of holding steady on its symbols). The Coors Brewing Company, makers of such fan favorites as Blue Moon Winter Ale and Blue Moon Spring Ale (all fans, please, raise your hands, post haste!) recently repackaged the light version of it’s signature brew with a new, awfully convenient, can that ensures even greater freshness of the same great taste that prior consumers of the product enjoyed while attempting to reach out to a new extreme of the consumer base, the advertisement campaign isn’t cheap, but maybe it is effective. Another example of repackaging an old formula comes from another heavy hitter of the blackout beer industry, Belgian behemoth Inbev, formerly known as Anheiser-Busch. Insert Vaudeville interpretative dancer here. Busch and Busch Light brand beers have been spotted in some rural areas, like Princeton, New Jersey, sporting a fucking camo box and can wrapper;
basically, if you go hunting, you ought to be drinking beer, and when you think about your hunting beer, it better be Busch, because the drunk guy who just buckshot you in the face drinks AMERICAN BEER! Or maybe it’s just funny and since we pull so much of this repackaging off as a culture, that we should embrace the beauty of “American” dishes like Tofurkey and Spam, what the fuck the British did LONG ago. Beer, yes beer, we got it from another country, most certainly, there were no Natives that I can remember reading about with last names like Bush or Cheney, those kind of sound like the last names of the guys who took their land and gave them syphilis, I’m just telling it like it was told to me.
For the final example, the internet, you can look no further than the above words that I recently published in this here web log. America is a nation of thieves, the old adage being that there is no honor amongst them, pillaging and plundering and plowing through like wild beasts amongst the litany of “purer” producing cultures; this is most evident in the world of “drugs”, another vague term that needs updating. Ok, thanks for reading, this was my first time trying to write something a little bit longer about exactly what I write about, or think about, in my head.
Love,
Al
American marketing schemes call to me, even while I’m overseas. This holds to be some semblance of truth when you consider the consequences of repackaging that America tends to embrace; a few examples, such as beer cans, popular music, and the internet. To start with the latter, let’s consider the concept of clicking through; to me, this is usually found to be true in the e-mails people send with attached hyperlinks or nowadays, in many web logs such as, Deadspin or freedarko that require extra-dimensional viewing of the ethereal complexity, or not, of lassoing in on the information that means something to you while you’re online. For many beer companies, in particular those who have “American” values, there is a tendency to find new ways to sell “old” (status quo) product with newer, shinier packaging that tries to appeal to a new base of consumers, for example Busch Beer’s camouflage containers or Candyflouge, or better yet the Coor’s Light aerodynamic Lockheed-Martin Can of the future! (No funnier beer company than the one with the CEO who got a DUI). With music, there is a strong cultural identity among aspiring “American” producers to jump on the “remix” game.
Who invented the Remix? Was it Sean Combs? Was it P-Diddy? Was it Ben Stiller?
P.Diddy - Bad Boy For Life
I’m not quite sure, but Musik Konkret is institutionalized, so that makes it special to some people…anyhoo, it’s a dense labyrinth, this remix. Like a fluid, it knows no volume on it’s own, the remix relies on a solid foundation of an already established artist by which to use as a “soundboard”, in quotations because it is not just aural, visual as well when referring to a listener base. I don’t know where to begin with this, but I do want to raise a point of awareness; big music companies send out samplers of “Hip-Hop” hit singles, let’s use DMX’s “Party Up in Here” with such great B-Side cuts such as the DJ FA Remix. If you really took the time to study each of the tracks and how they reinterpret some facet of the original, enough so to openly claim their reference in the first place, they are comfortable enough with it to put their own name on it, which changes the new containers of that substance. So, if I had to put in my two-penny head’s direct response, I’d say the remix was invented by either Phil Spector, for stealing the Motown sound; like here with “How Do You Sleep?” by John Lennon. I used to read about James Jamerson, the name when it came to Motown session men on the low-down 4 string skanking bass; that guy was potent. Or maybe the remix was invented long before, when blind poets would rouse up a string of imitators, masquerading as philosopher kings, and one day they would be translated in to other languages to have their word’s revisited and regurgitated and, perhaps in an ideal world, refined.
Beer, is delicious. Beer, is deceitful. Beer, prescription strength. Cheap Beer is an interesting phenomenon; what’s the point of expensive beer anyway, the average Natty Light 30-Rack holder may ponder aloud while carving his jousting helmet. For many companies, the need to reinvent an old brand is as old as the concept of the market itself. The makers of the 30 can pack are kind of insisting you drink a lot of beer; if they feel otherwise, perhaps they should offer other ways by which to accomplish the selling of 30 beers in a way that doesn’t seem so bohemian. National Bohemian, as a counter-example, or Natty Bo as it was told to me (retelling, haHA!) on a recent trip to DELMARVA, doesn’t look like it has ever changed it’s logo or can/box concept (it does appear to be owned by Pabst Blue Ribbon, another hallmark of holding steady on its symbols). The Coors Brewing Company, makers of such fan favorites as Blue Moon Winter Ale and Blue Moon Spring Ale (all fans, please, raise your hands, post haste!) recently repackaged the light version of it’s signature brew with a new, awfully convenient, can that ensures even greater freshness of the same great taste that prior consumers of the product enjoyed while attempting to reach out to a new extreme of the consumer base, the advertisement campaign isn’t cheap, but maybe it is effective. Another example of repackaging an old formula comes from another heavy hitter of the blackout beer industry, Belgian behemoth Inbev, formerly known as Anheiser-Busch. Insert Vaudeville interpretative dancer here. Busch and Busch Light brand beers have been spotted in some rural areas, like Princeton, New Jersey, sporting a fucking camo box and can wrapper;
basically, if you go hunting, you ought to be drinking beer, and when you think about your hunting beer, it better be Busch, because the drunk guy who just buckshot you in the face drinks AMERICAN BEER! Or maybe it’s just funny and since we pull so much of this repackaging off as a culture, that we should embrace the beauty of “American” dishes like Tofurkey and Spam, what the fuck the British did LONG ago. Beer, yes beer, we got it from another country, most certainly, there were no Natives that I can remember reading about with last names like Bush or Cheney, those kind of sound like the last names of the guys who took their land and gave them syphilis, I’m just telling it like it was told to me.For the final example, the internet, you can look no further than the above words that I recently published in this here web log. America is a nation of thieves, the old adage being that there is no honor amongst them, pillaging and plundering and plowing through like wild beasts amongst the litany of “purer” producing cultures; this is most evident in the world of “drugs”, another vague term that needs updating. Ok, thanks for reading, this was my first time trying to write something a little bit longer about exactly what I write about, or think about, in my head.
Love,
Al
Lazy Os
Do you ever spend a 3 month period in the doldrums, where just as you are beginning to embrace the lonely life, only to have the Italian girl of your dreams materialize out of nowhere? This may slightly alter my plans of (not) trying to get a man to fellate me at Carnival.
So, in case you don't already peruse any of the links I post on the daily, I'm gonna give everyone another chance to pick up Party With a Drumkit post haste. It's free, but y'all better get ready to pay him.
I've been doing some thinking, and I'm going to try my damnedest to get back to posting music ("mine" as well as others and as long as I don't get flagged by a google user, which, since I'm a low-profile presence in general, I don't see happening)
First up; Mali's late greatest guitar shredding hero Ali Farka Touré's important work "African Blues". I was put on to this sound by local guitar hero Kunal Prakash/a chance encounter at the public library. It's hard to describe this collection of songs without using unnecessary superlatives that I have no business employing in the first place (the best African Blues album that will get posted on my blog today, I just can't help myself).
First, we revisit Jasha Tull's intriguing remix of a Radiohead song that uses video footage from an old Thomas Edison clip; quite good.
So, let's make friends: AFT-AB
So, in case you don't already peruse any of the links I post on the daily, I'm gonna give everyone another chance to pick up Party With a Drumkit post haste. It's free, but y'all better get ready to pay him.
I've been doing some thinking, and I'm going to try my damnedest to get back to posting music ("mine" as well as others and as long as I don't get flagged by a google user, which, since I'm a low-profile presence in general, I don't see happening)
First up; Mali's late greatest guitar shredding hero Ali Farka Touré's important work "African Blues". I was put on to this sound by local guitar hero Kunal Prakash/a chance encounter at the public library. It's hard to describe this collection of songs without using unnecessary superlatives that I have no business employing in the first place (the best African Blues album that will get posted on my blog today, I just can't help myself).
First, we revisit Jasha Tull's intriguing remix of a Radiohead song that uses video footage from an old Thomas Edison clip; quite good.
So, let's make friends: AFT-AB
2009/02/18
Carnival de Cádiz
Turns out there is a super shitshowzen fiesta in Cádiz this weekend that they call Carnival. When I think of Carnival I think, in this exact order, of 1) Carnies, 2)West Deptford, New Jersey's finest auto-mechanic George Carney, 3)Rodney Carney's potential as an NBA player, 4)The Simpson's episode where they go to buy a new TV and Marge finds the Chanel suit (Carnivalé! Magnetbox!) and finally 5) of large outdoor festivals.
I didn't really ever give too much of a fuck about this Manu Chao garbage till I got to Spain; Alia Kate and select company had played some of these jams for me in the past, but nay did I realize how very very popular it all was for some reason. So, I dated a girl here who really dug it, enough so to give me a copy of "Próxima Estación: Esperanza" and, in truth, it's quite good. So, thanks Allison.
I hope everyone is having the BEST BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVER! Check out Harriet Dubman when time allows.
Cuarte Ríos
Tapas are a thing to marvel at in Spain; for the cynical, a small overpriced serving of some type of meat or fish in oil, for the optimistic, a chance to whet one's lips with the unique flavors of Iberia. Here in Huelva, there are approximately 1,000 places by which to procure tapas throughout the day; the siesta is to be respected and revered to the point that one must consider 15:00 the "hora de comer"(hour of eating) as all local restaurants adhere to this principle like garlic on a pincho de pollo. The prices vary from 1.20 to 3.00 euros for a tapita, in most cases 2.00 euro is about standard. Often times you find the pricier tapas have a tad more quality; this is no surprise when you consider that the most highly valued commodity a foreigner can bring is cash. The additional baggage of looking so obviously foreign is the vacant stares that a proprietor of the bar will often produce upon your entrance, order and payment for services rendered.
Neil Young has been playing in my head ever since I got off the train from Madrid 5 (!) months ago; there's no two ways about it, everybody knows this is nowhere.
So, like the rarest of rare birds winging on by with a blood-red rose in it's beak (also you're drunk), it is a true pleasure to come across a tapas bar that offers the friendliest service, the cheapest tapas and the chillest atmosphere. Cuarte Ríos does all that and more; it's also the only bar whose outdoor seating doubles as a "botellón" every Thursday evening; for those not in the know, a botellón is a street drinking festival that students/unemployed/the young and stupid engage in at least once weekly, the standard botellón is 2 liters of rum per 3 people. Kind of brings it back to the days of "Mountain Rum" in Adrian's garage, but that's another story for another day.
The tapas are fucking delicious here; ensaladilla and it's fair skinned cousin patatas ali-oli are usually closer to ipecac syrup than savory splendor for yours truly, but at cuarte ríos there is no better companion for a cruzcampo or a DIY tinto de verano (another truly great feature of the place is the three soda bottles juxtaposed to some dirt cheap vino tinto where the customer can make as full a glass of wine as she/he wants). The montaditos, small sandwiches, feature warmed, crispy bread as the base for juicy lomo or a warm, filling slab of tortilla de patata.
The guys who work here are just trying to make working at a tapas bar as fun as possible for themselves. They joke around constantly, they do their best to speak up to 5 or 6 different languages in any given moment and they HATE on British people's accents (oh, cuarte ríos you had me at "Qué pasa tío")
The place also manages to be one of the few magnets for extremely attractive people. There is always some fine pieces of ass, on both sides lest you ladies think I've gone the way of Charlie Bukowski (slowly, but surely one tends to anyway), on display chatting it up and moving their eyes all over the room.
To sum it all up, Huelva is low on providing one with any form of fulfilling entertainment, but Cuarte Ríos is like the roughest gem amongst the thicket of landmines in some southeast asian jungle. BOOOM! Better hope you make it there without losing too many limbs in the process.
Neil Young has been playing in my head ever since I got off the train from Madrid 5 (!) months ago; there's no two ways about it, everybody knows this is nowhere.
So, like the rarest of rare birds winging on by with a blood-red rose in it's beak (also you're drunk), it is a true pleasure to come across a tapas bar that offers the friendliest service, the cheapest tapas and the chillest atmosphere. Cuarte Ríos does all that and more; it's also the only bar whose outdoor seating doubles as a "botellón" every Thursday evening; for those not in the know, a botellón is a street drinking festival that students/unemployed/the young and stupid engage in at least once weekly, the standard botellón is 2 liters of rum per 3 people. Kind of brings it back to the days of "Mountain Rum" in Adrian's garage, but that's another story for another day.
The tapas are fucking delicious here; ensaladilla and it's fair skinned cousin patatas ali-oli are usually closer to ipecac syrup than savory splendor for yours truly, but at cuarte ríos there is no better companion for a cruzcampo or a DIY tinto de verano (another truly great feature of the place is the three soda bottles juxtaposed to some dirt cheap vino tinto where the customer can make as full a glass of wine as she/he wants). The montaditos, small sandwiches, feature warmed, crispy bread as the base for juicy lomo or a warm, filling slab of tortilla de patata.
The guys who work here are just trying to make working at a tapas bar as fun as possible for themselves. They joke around constantly, they do their best to speak up to 5 or 6 different languages in any given moment and they HATE on British people's accents (oh, cuarte ríos you had me at "Qué pasa tío")
The place also manages to be one of the few magnets for extremely attractive people. There is always some fine pieces of ass, on both sides lest you ladies think I've gone the way of Charlie Bukowski (slowly, but surely one tends to anyway), on display chatting it up and moving their eyes all over the room.
To sum it all up, Huelva is low on providing one with any form of fulfilling entertainment, but Cuarte Ríos is like the roughest gem amongst the thicket of landmines in some southeast asian jungle. BOOOM! Better hope you make it there without losing too many limbs in the process.
Eddie Jordan I miss you
I'm still saucy at Henry Abbott for not giving me any love for the heads up on the Benicio Del Toro-Portland Trailblazer T-Shirt on the Colbert Report, but he is the institution of basketball blogging, and did alert me to a fellow who is running a fantastic grassroots campaign out of our nation's capital:
Ernie Gone is an effort to bring an end to the madness of the Ernie Grunfeld era for the Washington Wizards. Much to the chagrin of the entire freedarko crew, most likely, EG has been doing an egregious job of putting together a roster: one of the highest payrolls in the NBA is struggling to break the 20 win plateau this season.
To make things interesting, an anonymous angry fan got his shit together and started printing t-shirts for interested parties to put on. He was offering them for free, but then got over 3,000 hits thanks to señor Abbott over at ESPN. He did take the time to respond personally to my request, and so I will return the favor and post his message.
I put some options up on Cafe Press. They aren't free, but this is the best I can do. Cafe Press makes the money, not me.
Fire Ernie is at http://www.cafepress.com/ErnieGone
All Ernie's Fault is at http://www.cafepress.com/AllHisFault
and a more generic option Want a New GM is at http://www.cafepress.com/WantNewGM
If you have any better ideas, please let me know.
Ernie Gone is an effort to bring an end to the madness of the Ernie Grunfeld era for the Washington Wizards. Much to the chagrin of the entire freedarko crew, most likely, EG has been doing an egregious job of putting together a roster: one of the highest payrolls in the NBA is struggling to break the 20 win plateau this season.
To make things interesting, an anonymous angry fan got his shit together and started printing t-shirts for interested parties to put on. He was offering them for free, but then got over 3,000 hits thanks to señor Abbott over at ESPN. He did take the time to respond personally to my request, and so I will return the favor and post his message.
I put some options up on Cafe Press. They aren't free, but this is the best I can do. Cafe Press makes the money, not me.
Fire Ernie is at http://www.cafepress.com/ErnieGone
All Ernie's Fault is at http://www.cafepress.com/AllHisFault
and a more generic option Want a New GM is at http://www.cafepress.com/WantNewGM
If you have any better ideas, please let me know.
2009/02/17
Xenophobos
It's time to top talking about the all-star weekend that recently came to pass; apparently Jason Richardson was extra excited to get these talks over with.
The last thought I have on all this not so implicit xenophobic analysis of Rudy Fernandez by the all-American CWebb, GP and Kenny Smith triumvirate is that Spain's casual racism has created severely bad karma. There is something to be said for xenophobic Black Americans as well, but I don't have the authority nor the cognitive capacity to deliver a statement that will do much of anything one way or the other. The Fernando Martín tribute, 20 years after the dude's unfortunate early demise, was somewhat touching after truehoop posted the George Karl story about the game after Martín was killed in a car crash.
In other news, Huelva made it on the BBC apparently; 21% unemployment coupled with immigrants that make Tom Joad look like Tom Jones. It's no unusual to want to watch videos at a time like this:
what the fuck is this shit? Anyways, y'all need to give it up for the originator of the Astroboy series Osamu Tezuka, dude was on point.
The last thought I have on all this not so implicit xenophobic analysis of Rudy Fernandez by the all-American CWebb, GP and Kenny Smith triumvirate is that Spain's casual racism has created severely bad karma. There is something to be said for xenophobic Black Americans as well, but I don't have the authority nor the cognitive capacity to deliver a statement that will do much of anything one way or the other. The Fernando Martín tribute, 20 years after the dude's unfortunate early demise, was somewhat touching after truehoop posted the George Karl story about the game after Martín was killed in a car crash.
In other news, Huelva made it on the BBC apparently; 21% unemployment coupled with immigrants that make Tom Joad look like Tom Jones. It's no unusual to want to watch videos at a time like this:
what the fuck is this shit? Anyways, y'all need to give it up for the originator of the Astroboy series Osamu Tezuka, dude was on point.
the chimp is dead, long live the chimp
That Sucks that the first chip club related post I make on my blog has to do with a monkey mauling a woman and then after a long winded struggle with police, gets riddled with bulletholes where it slowly ambles back to its cage and expires.
2009/02/16
Muck Raking for pennies
Yowza, this might make things messier than many may have thought possible.
The flowery prose of Roger Cohen's world travel op-ed columns elicits strong feelings from this fake meximan, of fire and brimstone. I've decided to reinvent the blog and start dedicating it to reaching my personal goal of living in a post-moral world. I want to see videos of RA the rugged man teaching a 7 year old girl how to shoot an automatic rifle, these things are important for America.
So, it looks like shit is not gonna go so well for some people in this day and age; I keep meeting bored ex-pats and it is utterly puzzling.
So here's a poem i wrote:
Concubine,
The coins on the dresser
might fetch the morning paper
and a cup of fresh brewed tea
The paperback copy
of "A Separate Piece"
should remain ajar at page 13
Have you fared well
in your latest dreams
truthfully, do tell
When I return
we'll discuss till
it ends with quiet
complacency, a kiss
and a cleft soaking
wet for some reason
The flowery prose of Roger Cohen's world travel op-ed columns elicits strong feelings from this fake meximan, of fire and brimstone. I've decided to reinvent the blog and start dedicating it to reaching my personal goal of living in a post-moral world. I want to see videos of RA the rugged man teaching a 7 year old girl how to shoot an automatic rifle, these things are important for America.
So, it looks like shit is not gonna go so well for some people in this day and age; I keep meeting bored ex-pats and it is utterly puzzling.
So here's a poem i wrote:
Concubine,
The coins on the dresser
might fetch the morning paper
and a cup of fresh brewed tea
The paperback copy
of "A Separate Piece"
should remain ajar at page 13
Have you fared well
in your latest dreams
truthfully, do tell
When I return
we'll discuss till
it ends with quiet
complacency, a kiss
and a cleft soaking
wet for some reason
It's a big big world
Even though, I'm utterly convinced that Tara Moncure has her own unique weight as a satellite in this world; every time I go abroad I meet, bare minimum, another random acquaintance of the lovely Larchmont bred lass.
So, what of seeking out a fortune in a foreign land in the world of music?
While working the music at a friend's birthday party I was approached by a fellow from this band, Sonidoex:
Admittedly clownish stuff, but what are you supposed to do when the guy has a fuckin goober of hash sticking off his thumb and he's shoving it in your face, while half-assedly complimenting your rudimentary POS audio-digital signal converter while slowly backtracking when he notices the ounce and a half of bud chilling next to the laptop? He later rescinded his compliments, but was kind enough to call me a musician, which is really funny.
SO maybe there is room to make music in Europe; let's all hope so.
So, what of seeking out a fortune in a foreign land in the world of music?
While working the music at a friend's birthday party I was approached by a fellow from this band, Sonidoex:
Admittedly clownish stuff, but what are you supposed to do when the guy has a fuckin goober of hash sticking off his thumb and he's shoving it in your face, while half-assedly complimenting your rudimentary POS audio-digital signal converter while slowly backtracking when he notices the ounce and a half of bud chilling next to the laptop? He later rescinded his compliments, but was kind enough to call me a musician, which is really funny.
SO maybe there is room to make music in Europe; let's all hope so.
2009/02/14
Febrew Airy
The Spaniards are big fans of this Carnaval thing. I don't know why, well maybe because they are encouraged to dress up and get savagely drunk. They seem to do that every day any way, so I don't see how February 18th will be all that different from today, St. Valentine's.
Single people flock to the bars, contented lovers feed eachother chocolate covered strawberries (a local specialty, somewhat ruined by the coldest winter in 50 years). Weird to think Isaac Hayes isn't around to wish us all a special St. Valentine's Day.
I just watched a recording of the Horace Silver Quintet at The Umbria Jazz Festival in 1976; wow, what a bunch of motherfuckers. Apparently the above track is based on a Japanese scale that they discovered in a book and wrote a melody over. In the live version, the drummer takes a long extended solo and just KILLS it.
Ok, everybody enjoy their day. I have to say goodbye to a special friend.
2009/02/11
Ramblethon
When I read a book like George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London" my brain shuts off for the subsequent hours while I process what it is I had been shoving in front of my eyes for a week straight. The basic premise is that our main man G.O. loses his two sources of income in Paris while plies his craft at becoming a writer, something he believes he was born to do. He then relies on his journal/wits to retell the interim period in which he was flat broke. The characters he unveils throughout his exasperating walks come, unsurprisingly, from the dregs of society.
If there are any takeaway lessons from the book, they might be;
-It's way iller to be poor in Paris than in London.
-You can definitely still go to jail for, to quote Richard Manuel of the Band, "the crime of having nowhere to go".
-Orwell believes that those "tramps" who skulk about the country side for fear of being locked up are divided in to two camps; 1)the educated who have fallen on hard times and 2)working stiffs whose services were no longer required at their prior line of work. In the case of the latter, he seems to claim that they lack two things; 1) something to keep their bodies, and therefore minds, occupied and 2) some kind of sexual activity. Orwell repeatedly mentions the rampant homosexuality among the wandering homeless/unemployed of Great Britain.
That's about it, also Simmons is doing a podcast about NBA trades, and....I'm listening.
If there are any takeaway lessons from the book, they might be;
-It's way iller to be poor in Paris than in London.
-You can definitely still go to jail for, to quote Richard Manuel of the Band, "the crime of having nowhere to go".
-Orwell believes that those "tramps" who skulk about the country side for fear of being locked up are divided in to two camps; 1)the educated who have fallen on hard times and 2)working stiffs whose services were no longer required at their prior line of work. In the case of the latter, he seems to claim that they lack two things; 1) something to keep their bodies, and therefore minds, occupied and 2) some kind of sexual activity. Orwell repeatedly mentions the rampant homosexuality among the wandering homeless/unemployed of Great Britain.
That's about it, also Simmons is doing a podcast about NBA trades, and....I'm listening.
Cantankerous Sores
It's sunny and 75, what the fuck Huelva? I love you.
This blog is a great little space to explore some things of interest:
Ben Baker-Smith just launched a new website; check it out here.
Joe Flaherty was in my dream the other night; check out his IMDB page here.
This video is a fucking disgrace, but kind of exactly the direction I'm headed in sonically.
This blog is a great little space to explore some things of interest:
Ben Baker-Smith just launched a new website; check it out here.
Joe Flaherty was in my dream the other night; check out his IMDB page here.
This video is a fucking disgrace, but kind of exactly the direction I'm headed in sonically.
Steak Fritters
I have noticed that, more often than not, people who work lower level security jobs or clerk positions here in Huelva do the absolute minimum required. If you give them money, they love you forever.
I have no problem giving this drop a second plug; nobody I know is working harder than Taka at making some original sounds.
Cancel my subscription to Spanish Elle Magazine; their christmas edition featured some of the most homoerotic photos of Pau Gasol I have EVER seen.
Why is it suddenly a big deal that MIA is Tamil?(Psych; read about some real shit) Fucking NYT missed the boat on that one like they were Elian Gonzalez's momma (RIP).
I have no problem giving this drop a second plug; nobody I know is working harder than Taka at making some original sounds.
Cancel my subscription to Spanish Elle Magazine; their christmas edition featured some of the most homoerotic photos of Pau Gasol I have EVER seen.
Why is it suddenly a big deal that MIA is Tamil?(Psych; read about some real shit) Fucking NYT missed the boat on that one like they were Elian Gonzalez's momma (RIP).
2009/02/10
hello potential backers
Have you read this blog? I suppose you should get on it post haste. You can currently view señor Baker-Smith's demo reel, which does feature a great shot of one Rafael Capo García Rodón being executed by one Georgie Schaefer and myself.
Also, a certain gem finally dropped from the vaults of my A-number one-favorito producer on the planet. So GET ON IT PEOPLE!
Also, a certain gem finally dropped from the vaults of my A-number one-favorito producer on the planet. So GET ON IT PEOPLE!
Things to discuss
The weather is fast improving here in buttfuck, España. I officially have a gig scheduled on February 27th at this kick ass bar called Lyceo; they have everything you expect of a solid Spanish bar, aka coffee and treats during the day and a decent beer list/wine/liquor when the sun goes down. The beard experiment of 2009 looks a little like this:
NSFW I suppose
Look at that handsome Italian to my left, the extremely talented Domenico Cecere. More to come on this hombre.
NSFW I suppose
Look at that handsome Italian to my left, the extremely talented Domenico Cecere. More to come on this hombre.
2009/02/09
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