5/28

The playlist for my show tonight:
http://kspc.radioactivity.fm/playlist.html?showoid=5307&date=05-28-2011

Also find it here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/kickitrootdown

In other news, I'm pleased to find that after 22 seasons, The Simpsons has still got it.

More playlists.

Decided to post my radio show playlist every week on here. Last night was my first show! You'll probably notice I used a considerable number of songs from my summer mix... Usually you can find my playlists here http://kspc.radioactivity.fm/show.html?showoid=5307 but I think there are a few tracks missing this week... Oh well.

Black Moth Super Rainbow- Raspberry Dawn
Yann Tiersen- Palestine
Bibio- Pretentious
Starfucker- Death as a Fetish

Thao and Mirah- Eleven
Nora and the Brights- Hideaway
Shannon and the Clams- Sleep Talk
Babies- Breakin’ the Law

Man Or Astro Man- Interstellar Hardrive
Oscillators- Doug Buggy
Health- USA Boys

Say Hi- Devils
Danielson- This Day is a Loaf
Shellshag- Flowers for Julie
The Heavy- 16

Spoon- Don’t You Evah
Bishop Allen- Busted Heart
Smith Westerns- Fallen in Love

Yeasayer- Ambling Alp
Ponytail- Easy Peasy
Dum Dum Girls- There Is A Light

Dirty Projectors- Temecula Sunrise
Sufjan Stevens- Seven Swans
Stereolab- Everybody’s Weird Except Me
Beirut- Postcards From Italy


Mogwai- Death Rays
Surf City- Yakuza Park
Octopus Project- Malaria Codes


If you're lazy yet interested, here's the whole playlist on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PL5CAFBA2F95934FED

A playlist.

Summer 2011 Mixtape
a mix of old and new
of course... there were other things i'd have liked to put on it (e.g. starfucker, bibio) but 80 minutes is not very many.

1. Close To Me- The Cure
2. Queen- The Octopus Project
3. Trash- New York Dolls
4. Gravity Rides Everything- Modest Mouse
5. Knuckle Down- Man Man
6. Doug Buggy- The Oscillators
7. Devils- Say Hi
8. Eleven- Thao and Mirah
9. Dreaming- Seapony
10. Lil Norge- Danielson
11. Ask- The Smiths
12. No Fun- Brave Irene
13. The Sticky- Black Moth Super Rainbow
14. WHALE- Yellow Ostrich
15. Girls On Film- Duran Duran
16. Pineapple Girl- Mister Heavenly
17. Love Like That- The Heavy
18. Boris Bomb- Johnny and the Shamen
19. Malaria Codes- The Octopus Project
20. Sleep Talk- Shannon and the Clams
21. Don't Take Me To Space (Man)- BrakesBrakesBrakes
22. Rewind- Goldspot
23. Exhaustible- DeVotchKa
24. Your Doppelganger- Black Moth Super Rainbow
25. Can't You Tell- Vetiver
26. The Power Of Love- Huey Lewis and the News


enjoy

Dance?

Bicycle Thieves, The Seventh Seal, Rashomon

The film market in the late 1940s was dominated by the Hollywood studio system, which oversaw the production of a few standard genres including film noir and mysteries, screwball comedies, and musicals. The vast majority of these followed a logical, straightforward narrative of cause-and-effect events, usually constructed with a specific four-part form: exposition (meeting the protagonist in his own world), obstacle (a problem the protagonist faces, creating a goal toward which he works), climax (the protagonist is in jeopardy, or the final standoff before the goal is reached), and resolution (the protagonist achieves his goal, the mystery is solved, the murderer is caught, the guy gets the girl, all is right again). These films are often “morality tales,” simple love stories, or whodunits; in other words, relatively simple surface entertainment. The “art film,” which captivated a niche audience in the U.S. around the end of World War II, roots itself diametrically against this established system: one event does not always lead directly to another, and narratives are not necessarily linear nor do they include a beginning, middle, and end. An art film may consist instead of a series events or a “slice of life.” Usually, the goal of the film is not the end, but the means; a more personal journey or experience that engages the viewer’s intellect. These traits may be due in part to a propensity toward deeper and more universal themes: a questioning of god or faith, philosophical debates including the contemporary ideas of existentialism and absurdism, perhaps reflecting the sentiments of a postwar society. While these traits may not apply to all art films, “Bicycle Thieves,” “The Seventh Seal,” and “Rashomon” do demonstrate these tendencies: a lack of cause-and-effect as impetus for the story; the absence of a linear narrative in the sense of having a beginning, middle, end; and a questioning of one’s moral beliefs or a leaning toward the existential or absurd.
The only cause and effect relationship in Vittorio de Sica’s “Bicycle Thieves” is that Antonio’s bike is stolen, thus he searches for it. Individual events or episodes of his search do not always follow one another directly or logically, and the narrative wanders as blindly as Antonio and Bruno through the streets of Rome. Antonio’s attempts to find his bike ultimately die out or lead to nothing, from his search at the market to his confrontation with the culprit. Andre Bazin agrees, the film “give[s] the succession of events the appearance of an accidental and as it were anecdotal integrity” (Bazin 52). De Sica chooses to include a scene in which it starts to rain and Antonio and Bruno must pause their search, although there is no apparent reason for this scene (other than the fact that sometimes it rains at inconvenient times in real life). Similarly, there are no direct consequences of this cessation and nothing significant or relevant takes place while they wait for the rain to stop. The absence of cause-and-effect relationships is also evident when a character responds to a situation in a way we can neither predict nor justify. When Antonio takes Brutus out for an expensive meal, his motivations for doing so are unclear. In fact, we would expect him to do quite the opposite and perhaps try to reserve his limited funds. This anecdotal quality relates to the film’s lack of a four part structure. Of the three films, “Bicycle Thieves” follows this format most closely, but with key differences that distinguish it from the classic Hollywood narrative. Although an obstacle does arise, it is not a surprise as it might be in a Hollywood film. The audience knows from the title and expects the theft—it is not a matter of “what” but “when.” Also, the identity of the thief is not a mystery, as we clearly see his face. In the same vein, Antonio’s goal is to find his bike, but it is clear from the beginning that he has little to no hope of doing so. His confrontation with the thief might be the climax of the film, but it proves futile, as it does not solve anything nor bring Antonio closer to his goal. In fact, he never finds his bike. Therefore the film has no resolution per se, as not much is actually resolved. Perhaps Antonio has strengthened his relationship with his son, but this was not really the problem, and does not change the fact that Antonio still has no bike and therefore no job, and probably will not be able to feed his family. The film simply ends when the day ends, and, as David Bordwell points out, “the future of Antonio and his son is not revealed” (Bordwell 95). While this film is not explicitly existentialist, it does imply the futility of religion or belief. As he follows the old man through the church, Antonio gets no answers, and in fact the clergy physically stand in his way of finding any. Bazin points to the rain scene to this same effect, “when a flock of Austrian seminarians crowd around… we have no reason to blame them for chattering so much and still less for talking German. But it would be difficult to create a more objectively anticlerical scene” (Bazin 52). The fact that in the end the protagonist does not come out on top and the thief does not get his comeuppance indicates an unavoidable and unreasonable injustice in the world, begging the question, “what type of god would allow this?” Antonio does not apparently question his beliefs in god as much as his moral convictions. After a clearly heartbreaking internal struggle, Antonio decides to disregard his conscience (in the form of his son’s innocence) and steal a bicycle. In a postwar society where people are struggling to merely feed their children, it does not seem implausible that they may question their belief in god or their standards of “right and wrong.”
Just when things seem as though they could not get any worse, we turn now to the Great Plague and a one-on-one duel with Death himself. Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” strays even further from cause-and-effect and a recognizable plot structure. This storyline functions more like a fairy tale (albeit a very dark one), in that a number of events are unexplained. It is unclear why Death appears to Antonius in the first place, as Antonius does not appear to be sick or in danger. Even more peculiar is that Death would grant Antonius more time. When Antonius first objects, Death says “You all say that. But I give no respite,” a fact that is evident when Death ignores the pleas of Skat (who also dies seemingly without reason). Jof’s visions seem at first like a significant part of the film because they are one of the first things we learn about his character, yet why he sees these visions is never explained. The parallel or connection for Antonius between the existence of god and the act of committing a meaningful deed is also puzzling; at first he asks only for proof of god, yet he later speaks of (and is ultimately satisfied by) doing a significant deed for others. The absence of a four-part structure is also apparent. A number of episodes could be rearranged, as they are mostly unconnected stops on Antonius’s journey back to his castle. The film begins when Death appears and the chess game starts, and ends when the game does. There is almost no exposition, as Antonius is barely introduced before the “problem” (Death) appears, and in fact we never learn very much about him. He appears to be the protagonist, yet he is mostly in the background, observing and thinking. Unlike the other characters, around whom the real action centers, Antonius is not proactive. Antonius essentially has no specific goal he is trying to reach. Not only does this leave us with an absence of a plot point, but also adds to Antonius’s entire quandary: according to Bordwell, “had the characters a goal, life would no longer seem so meaningless” (Bordwell 96). His struggles are mostly internal, thus there is virtually no climax. Most events seem to be of equal importance, and scenes function not to advance the plot but to create an emotion or beg a question. For example, the scene in which the “witch” is burned to death does not directly relate to main plot points or characters in the film, yet it does raise issues of organized religion. According to Bergman, he used scenes to “leave behind a mood… It is a mental state, not an actual story, but one abounding in fertile associations and images” (Alpert 63). The end of the film is not a resolution because the bulk of the cast die and nothing is solved. In “Bicycle Thieves,” the peripheral result of father-son bonding was not the original problem, and the outcome of the real problem is left unanswered. This same disconnect occurs in the end of “The Seventh Seal.” Antonius saves the lives of Jof, Mia, and Mikael, but he never indicates whether his faith in god is restored and does not beat Death. The film seems to detail Antonius’s search for god and existential crisis. Existentialism “stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes a profound anguish or dread” (“existentialism”). Antonius experiences a loss or questioning of his faith after he has spent years in the Crusades, a religious war, yet he doubts its purpose and dreads the potential consequences of a godless world. Again, the “witch” scene comes to mind to demonstrate this questioning of the divine. The so-called believers are always looking for somebody to blame or somewhere to point a finger. Often, the finger should really be pointed at the blamers themselves. Does the devil really exist, or is he made up in the minds of men to explain the unexplainable? Or, worse yet, is he created through the actions of those attempting to rid their world of him? Absurdism, too, comes into play here, as “the idea that the universe is without meaning or rational order and that human beings, in attempting to find a sense of order, conflict with it” (“Absurdism”). This is Antonius’s struggle in a nutshell; when death asks Antonius if he ever stops asking questions, Antonius replies that he does not. Such questions are the root of absurdist thought. Absurdism also asserts that although no inherent meaning exists, it may be possible for a person to create his own meaning; in Antonius’s case, this constructed meaning comes from saving the lives of Jof and his family.
Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon,” called a “conspicuously uncommon film” by Bosley Crowther, is the most unique of the three films. Told through a series of flashbacks of the same event, there is no hint of a linear narrative or four part structure. There is no main character striving to reach a goal or taking the viewer through the film. The goal of the film as a whole (or rather that of the filmmaker) seems to be to provide a case study to supplement or argue sides of the discussion at the end. The final scene could potentially be interpreted as hopeful or “resolved,” but this is probably not the filmmaker’s intent, considering the rest of the film. Following the film’s logic, the man who “restores faith” likely has ulterior motives, lies, or generally cannot be trusted. Though this may not be the case, we never find out. The mystery as to whose story is the true version is also never solved. Bordwell finds this ambiguity typical of the genre: “given the [art] film’s episodic structure and the minimization of character goals, the story will often lack a clear-cut resolution,” and indeed we find this in “The Seventh Seal” and “Bicycle Thieves” as well (Bordwell 99). Cause and effect relationships are, on a larger scale, eliminated along with the exposition, problem, climax, and resolution. “Rashomon” is not a series of events in which new things occur and move a story, per se, forward. Like “The Seventh Seal,” rather than focusing on a linear story, the four stories are used as a vessel to convey, or raise questions concerning, philosophical ideas. In the context of this film, “faith” is not meant in terms of god or a higher power, but rather faith in fellow man. The four stories and the discrepancies between them lead us to believe that man is inherently selfish, weak, and corruptible. Each witness distorts the truth to make himself look nobler or to hide incriminating evidence. Even the “subjective” woodcutter’s story cannot be trusted, as he tells two different versions of his own story. People cannot even be honest with themselves; even the dead man lies (presumably). Therefore, we can trust nobody. The ideas in “Rashomon” relate to existentialism and absurdism in that it details the futility of a search for something that ultimately cannot be explicitly found: in the film, this search is for true goodness or reason in the human heart; in philosophy, for proof of god or inherent meaning in life. Using the aforementioned definition of absurdism, the priest and his faltering faith in the human soul certainly falls in line with this definition.
Being different is what sets the art film apart from the classical Hollywood film. However, it is possible to find some connecting thread or common traits between these unique works. In the case of “Bicycle Thieves,” “The Seventh Seal,” and “Rashomon,” as well as many other art films, those connections include a lack of cause-and-effect relationships, abandonment of a classic four part structure, and philosophically existentialist or absurdist themes.

An alert.

Get ready for a really awesome article connecting Bicycle Thieves, Rashomon, and The Seventh Seal.

(Sam.)

So busy. No time for a real update.

Just wanted to let you know there's something to look forward to. (If you look forward to reading my posts.)


That is all.

Also, unrequited love is unrequited.

so dreamy.

A coincidental post.

Is it a mere coincidence that VD stands for both "Valentine's Day" and "venereal disease"? Similar to the case of THC (tollhouse cookies, tetrahydrocannabinol), I think not.

Had occasion to use the word "serendipitous" today, for probably the first time ever. Skipped out on it. Perhaps I will still use it today.

Speaking of which... word of the day:
inveigle- to persuade or obtain by ingenuity or flattery.

I was trying to think of a story to go with this word but I am too distracted. I just came back from my weekly cello lesson, and I have this impression that I'm really terrible at cello. Like HONESTLY, when I head out to my lesson every week, I literally imagine my cello instructor just absolutely dreading my lesson. Why do I do that? The number of things about which I feel this way leads me to believe it's all in my head, but I don't know what makes me do that.
Actually, today I kind of got the impression that I'm not really as bad as I think I am, but I don't know, he's a super nice guy and knows I've been feeling kind of down on my playing lately.
And actually he's really cool. Probably the coolest, in fact. He's the original hipster, I swear. He's probably in his 60s, and we're facebook friends (he's also quite active on facebook). His religious views are "gut strings" and his political views "utopian socialist." (Also, I hope he never reads this blog because this could potentially be creepy, but whatever.) Maybe that's why I'm so worried about sounding good. I never used to worry, but then again, my last cello teacher was an old lady who mostly talked about "mother." So I guess I didn't really care what she thought. And I never used to practice, and now I do... you'd think that would make me less worried about sounding good, but you'd be wrong.

Tonight we're watching The Seventh Seal in my film class. I once watched the first half but gave up on it. For some reason, I thought the film was super long and I'd sat through at least an hour and a half... but it must have actually been much less than that but just felt like a really long time, as the entire thing is only 100ish minutes.

My RA gave everybody in our hall a little valentine's day bag filled with a lollipop... and a condom. WHICH I WILL NOT BE USING. THANKS FOR REMINDING ME HOW SAD AND LONELY I AM ON VALENTINE'S DAY.

Well, not really, but actually kind of. And that was silly, she's just being nice.

This weekend is parents weekend. Wooo. Ugh. Perhaps I'll get a nice meal out of it.

Decided to write my final paper for Music 110 on film music. Or something more specific as that is what my teacher said he wanted. I can pick one composer to write about (I'd probably choose Morricone), or I could even watch movies about composers or several about one composer and compare them. I wonder if I could just do like... a few of my favorite soundtracks. What would I pick? Well, definitely The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Could I pick The Third Man, with a soundtrack composed entirely for the zither? 2001 or A Clockwork Orange would obviously be good choices as well... There Will Be Blood... Pulp Fiction... The Graduate (okay, now that's just cheating)... Maybe I could pick the new Alloy Orchestra soundtrack for Metropolis?

Pure musical genius:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PwpOmjAu1M

Went to the FilmForum screening last night, saw some really poignant shorts. My favorites were the first ("The Solitary Life of Cranes" by Eva Weber) and the last ("Get Out of the Car" by Thom Andersen). A few of the filmmakers were there, including Andersen, who was hilarious, because he seemed to not want to be there or answering questions.

The guy who gave us the tickets for the screening went to my high school. Actually, he was a senior when I was a freshman, and we were in the same prom limo. And he was prom king. But he didn't appear to recognize me. But seriously, what are the odds.


CURRENTLY READING: A History of Western Music, 8th ed.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: The Octopus Project (Hello, Avalanche)
CURRENTLY WATCHING: The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)

A thought.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm actually as good as I think I am at pretending not to be heartbroken.



That is all.

Sufjan Stevens- Age of Adz

Age of Adz- Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty)

Most of us know Sufjan Stevens as a creator of mellow, indie-folk and orchestral rock, poetic ballads that frequently feature a softly plucked banjo or the soaring sounds of a violin. Those familiar with his music likely know his most popular album, Come on Feel the Illinoise, part of an undertaking by Stevens to write an album for each of the fifty states. With the release of Stevens’s newest album, The Age of Adz, it is clear that he has abandoned not only his states project, but also his entire approach to songwriting.

Released in November, The Age of Adz (pronounced “odds”) is an amalgam of musical styles and strays far from the acoustic, symphonic, lyrically-focused Sufjan we know. It opens in the familiar Sufjan style: softly sung lyrics over acoustic guitar, sprinkled with piano. But as the album progresses, it seems to grow conspicuously louder, bolder, brassier, more electronic, and less lyrical. The highlight of the album is the title track, a flawless hybrid of his newer and older styles: it utilizes some musical structure and instrumentation that alludes to his earlier works, in addition to electronic sounds and effects. The nadir of the album, on the other hand, is “Too Much.” A not-so-seamless attempt to synthesize an electronic aesthetic to his classic style, this track sounds clumsy and awkward. Another weak point is the final track, “Impossible Soul,” of which some parts are mesmerizing and others utterly painful. A valiant effort, this 25 minute piece features heavy use of effect pedals, synthesizers, what sounds like 8-bit tones, and (to my dismay) the autotune.

But where did this drastic change originate? The work of any young composer is bound to grow and evolve over time. Such change was foreshadowed by Stevens’ 2009 release, The BQE. Strictly instrumental, The BQE is a symphony dedicated to New York’s Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. In an interview with BeatRoute, Stevens said “[The BQE] kinda sabotaged the mechanical way of approaching my music.” However, although BQE shows musical growth, it does not apparently lead into Adz; in fact, Adz seems to share more similarities with Stevens’s previous albums. The explanation, says stevens, is that the new album was heavily influenced by an illness which affected his nervous system, leaving him unable to work on new music. “The Age of Adz, is, in some ways, a result of that process of working through health issues and getting much more in touch with my physical self. That's why I think the record's really obsessed with sensation and has a hysterical melodrama to it,” said Stevens in an interview with Exclaim!. In the same interview, he used words like “debilitating,” “confusing,” “bizarre,” and “mysterious,” to describe the experience, loaded words which make sense in the context of the new album.

Complex and multi-faceted, The Age of Adz is not for the casual listener (nor the Stevens purist). But, deep within Stevens’s new form is a uniquely beautiful musical product.

And also

if I didn't know me, and I read this blog, I would probably hate me.

Does this make sense?

Also, I posted a picture of my own ass to student talk. (Or did I?)


CURRENTLY READING: NOTHING... I'm a failure :[
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major by LV Beethoven
[also: Hipster Girls by Lil B (Red Flame [Evil Edition])]
CURRENTLY WATCHING: Rashomon (1942, dir. Akira Kurosawa)

That's all, fuh reals.


Oh oh except tomorrow I'm actually going to post a CD review... GET STOKED.





This time, fuh reals fuh reals.

If this blog were my child

I would go to jail for abandonment/neglect.

... Cool.















That is all.

A late notice.

Dear dedicated readers of my blog (yes, all two of you),
Unfortunately my computer decided to die on me (what?! twice within a year and a half?! yeah, i know.) so I have not had a computer for almost a month. Or over a month. I'm not sure. Regardless, that is why I have stopped blogging.

However, in the interim, I have been journaling by hand. My initial plan was to eventually upload these handwritten entries to my blog, but the nature of writing by hand is so different from writing online that I fear my entries have become too weird/personal, so I don't know how many I'll actually post. But you've got that to look forward to, that is if you look forward to reading my posts (<3 Samuel <3).

At first when I lost my computer I would get really moody and weird at times... like technology withdrawal, or something. But now I don't even want my computer back. Computers are a barrier between people of our generation and reality, Facebook is super lame, email is for suckers. FUCK YOU, STUDENT TALK.

Well well well, can I update you on? I've decided to study abroad next semester at the University of Essex in Colchester, England. They've got a lot of film classes, so that should be neato! I still have to start the application though, which is due later this month... but I have the utmost confidence that I WILL GET THAT APPLICATION COMPLETED AND TURNED IN ON TIME!

(I should probably be working on that rather than blogging but... sacrifices must be made).

Also, I successfully dressed as Daria for Halloween.

Please watch Swimming to Cambodia.

I've seen some more bands recently as well... better keep up that list...
Octopus Project
Starfucker
Sufjan Stevens
Owen Pallett

and maybe Young the Giant tomorrow. But probably not.


I'm getting ready to pick my classes for next semester and I think I've decided on the following:
Special Topics in Music: Film Music
Rock and Roll Writing
Music in Western Civilization
Elementary Astronomy
Applied Keyboard Studies

NEAT.

Uhh... not too much else going on... Thanksgiving soon, that'll be exciting...

MMK I'll try to update more (or maybe get my computer fixed... maybe).



That is all.



CURRENTLY READING: Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: The Blues are Still Blue by Belle and Sebastian (The Life Pursuit)
CURRENTLY WATCHING: Swimming to Cambodia (1987, dir. Jonathan Demme)

An oath.

I was thinking about how absurd it is that we pose for pictures. I mean, in the way we do. Everyone huddles together and smiles, for the most part, and it's like. When you look back, you're still going to know if that was a fake smile. Remember school pictures in elementary school? And the vision and hearing tests? That was fun.

From now on I am not going to smile in pictures. Even if I'm having the time of my life.

My birthday is in two days!

I like to write on these what I'm currently reading/listening to/watching, because i feel like it keeps me reading/listening/watching more. And I should be doing more of all of those things, in addition to writing more, which is kind of what the blog's for.

No word of the day because I hate smiling in pictures.



That is all.

CURRENTLY READING: The Story of Pygmalian and the Statue by Ovid
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Weird Science by Oingo Boingo (Dead Man's Party)
CURRENTLY WATCHING: My So-Called Life, season 1

A musical.

There are some really simple things that make me happy for no reason. I think everybody has those things. I love the word "paranoid," just looking at it typed on my screen is good enough. I also have this little spot on my pillowcase where i must have put it in some bleach, and it's this little brownish pinkish dot, this little imperfection. Maybe I like it because it distinguishes my pillowcase from all the other ones that sat on the shelf next to it.

I still have to watch the Music Man, it is making me UNhappy. It's just not that interesting for long periods of time. I'm noticing some cool things in it though. There's a lot of sing-talking, like when people talk to a beat, or sing to some diegetic music; they aren't singing a melody really, it really more like talking. And there is almost always background music (diegetic or not) playing. It's pretty cool, actually. Creative. It's almost operatic in a way. Start this video at about one minute in if you want to see what I mean.



This weekend I have to edit my first video for my production class. I think it's going to be fun but I also can kind of tell that it has the potential to be incredibly frustrating and ultimately disappointing. BUT. I'm keeping optimistic.

confiscable
liable to be taken by an authorized party.

That's a pretty good word. Like a contraband, right? I think so. I'm trying to use the word confiscable to bring up some sort of memory but I can't, and I should take a shower instead anyway. I always have good ideas in the shower so maybe I'll think of something in there and tell you aaaaall about it tomorrow. (Also, it's funny that blogspot doesn't recognize confiscable as a word).

It's also been hard to read in my room today because I can hear other people talking really clearly. I don't know where they are but somehow their voices must be echoing in such a way that it sounds like they are speaking into a megaphone directed toward my open window. I know at least one of the people talking (I can recognize one, anyway), and it's hard not to eavesdrop.


That is all.

CURRENTLY READING: "Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism" by Rosalind Krauss
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Vivrant Thing by A Tribe Called Quest (The Anthology)
CURRENTLY WATCHING: Thirteen (2003, dir. Catherine Hardwicke)

A memory.

I let myself get away with not posting an update yesterday because, technically, my last update WAS yesterday at 1am... either way, I'm missing one.

Funny story... Today in my video class each student was required to bring in an external hard drive, onto which we had to copy 50 video clips. We were supposed to rename our drive, and I suggested that the girl next to me name hers Melora and I named mine Shirley. The video clips were taking forever to load onto the drives, so two people uploaded them and the rest of us daisy-chained to share with the rest of the class. I got the videos, and gave my drive to another girl in the class so she could upload them to hers. When she was done, she turned around, gave me back my hard drive, and said "Thanks, Shirley." Because she (understandably) thought that was my name. Maybe that story isn't as funny as I thought it was. Oh well.

I read an article earlier today about Ernest Withers , an African American photographer whose work documented the civil rights movement. It was recently discovered that he was also a paid FBI informant, putting a blemish on his reputation. The article mentioned other artists whose work belied their personal morals or activities (T.S. Eliot's anti-Semitism, Picasso's misogyny), but the point was, should we judge an artist's work based on their art alone? Should their personal lives have an impact on how we view them? Randy Kennedy, the author, seemed to think not, and I tend to agree. But it is an interesting question. I also think that Withers is different from Kennedy's other examples in that he took advantage of his position as a photographer to gain information (allegedly), and that his behavior seems to contradict the messages he supported through his art.

Art and issues around art are especially of interest to me lately. I am not sure why. I guess I'm taking basically all arts-y classes this semester.

Speaking of classes, I should mention that while the norm is to take four classes I am only in three: Fundamentals of Music, Intro to Video, and Musical Theater in America (also, cello lessons, but that's only half a credit, and it's not really a class...). I should also note that I have to write papers for zero of my classes which is why I have been adamant about blogging recently.

But enough of that. On to our word of the day...

efface
to cause to disappear by rubbing out, striking out, etc.


I admit that I have not been the best about actually using my "word of the day" in real life, but I think this one is going to be especially hard to squeeze in today.

The word "efface" makes me think of...
This one time in second grade. My teacher was Ms Ketcham. She sucked.
Anyway, one day I was waiting in line for something, I don't remember, but I had to sit at a table with the pencil boxes, and I wrote PENCILS (in pencil) on the plastic lid of the box.
After recess Ms Ketcham gave us a very serious talk about how somebody destroyed her property by writing on it or some bullshit like that. And, after making a big deal out of how wrong and bad it was, she urged whoever it was to confess. So obviously I wasn't going to confess to her; when I was in second grade (read: even now) I was truly intimidated by teachers and people in charge and couldn't stick up for myself. But when I got home that day I told my mom what happened and the next thing I know we're having a "parent-teacher conference." It was all very serious until Ms Ketcham showed my mom exactly what I had done to deface her beloved property. "This is it?" my mom asked. She took the plastic lid of the box, licked her thumb, and effaced the word PENCILS from the lid of the pencil box.

My mom is a really awesome woman and I think she deserves an entry all to herself, but that is for another time.



That is all.


CURRENTLY READING: "Life In The Way Of Art" by Randy Kennedy from Sunday's New York Times
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Postcards from Italy by Beirut (Gulag Orkestar)
CURRENTLY WATCHING: The Music Man (1962, dir. Morton DaCosta)

A list.

Today I went to the Epicenter 2010 show and I had the best time EVER seeing Blink 182 and Bad Religion (also, Rise Against, 30 Seconds to Mars, but whatever.)
Anyway, I realized how many shows I've been to and I thought it might be a good idea to start making a list right now, even though there are definitely bands/artists I will forget.
So, (in no particular order except how they come to mind):

Blink 182
Bad Religion
Rise Against
30 Seconds to Mars
The Matches (more than any other band, around 7x!)
Laura Veirs (2x)
Minus the Bear (2x)
Snoop Dogg
A Tribe Called Quest
Wu Tang Clan (plus Method and Red a separate time)
Rakim
KRS one
Murs and 9th Wonder
Immortal Technique (2x... ugh)
Brother Ali
Jedi Mind Tricks
Hieroglyphics (del!)
Bad Brains
Slipknot
Cypress Hill
Sublime (sans Bradley)
Geto Boys
Pennywise
Pixies
Buzzcocks
Dead Man's Bones
Man Man
!!! Chk Chk Chk
The White Stripes
Jimmy Eat World
Motion City Soundtrack
Green Day
Paul Simon
Brian Wilson
Hall and Oates (2x)
The Turtles
The Lovin' Spoonful
Of Montreal
MGMT
Sam Roberts
Ben Kweller
Sufjan Stevens (about to be 2x!)
The Decemberists
The Shins (2x)
Viva Voce
Belle and Sebastian
Imogen Heap
Rogue Wave (2x)
Death Cab for Cutie (2x)
Plain White T's
Roses Are Red
This Day and Age
A Thorn for Every Heart
Aquabats
Backstreet Boys
NSync
Britney Spears
Mandy Moore
Gwar
Steve Aoki (also, Rivers Cuomo and Lil John)
Infected Mushroom
Deadmau5
Cascada
Built to Spill
Eagles of Death Metal
Young Galaxy
Madonna
Reel Big Fish
Streetlight Manifesto
Suicide Machines
The Hives
Ok Go
From First to Last
I Am Ghost
Dashboard Confessional
Brand New
Sage Francis
Yo La Tengo
Styx

These aren't even necessarily bands I even like, some I just remember because I bought a shirt or a poster which helped me remember...
LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANY I'M MISSING.

An illness.

First of all I would like to say that I am sick. I have a cold, and a sinus infection, and the flu, and the ebola virus, and the chicken pox. Well not ebola or the chicken pox but you get the idea.

There's something so satisfying to me about being sick. As much as it sucks, there's a part of me that loves basking in my own vile body of unhealth and unrest. It feels like yeah, my body's at it's limit, but now it's cleansing itself and I will be as good as new when I'm better.

My disgusting personal oddities aside, I would like to share with you today's word.

hobbledehoy
an awkward, gawky young fellow.

Well. Looks like Michael Cera's got his own little entry in the dictionary.
Also, please watch this:


I'm playing Modest Mouse in my room. Without a doubt, they are the band I listen to the most. They never get old. And I think that in addition to their music AND lyrics being utterly ILL (cough, cough) I happened to find this band at the right time in my life. I thought I wanted to talk about this but I am realizing that I do not have the energy.

I don't feel good, I'm going to bed.

CURRENTLY READING: Sunday's New York Times, DVD review section by Dave Kehr
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Breakthrough by Modest Mouse (This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About)
CURRENTLY WATCHING: The Third Man (1949, dir. Carol Reed)

An exercise.

I remember reading somewhere that when you keep using your brain for something it creates channels or pathways in your brain that make you better at that activity. I would like to be a better writer so I am going to try to just keep writing and getting myself used to thinking of words and stringing them together to form a thought or communicate feelings and ideas. This is my first attempt. Practice.

I'm trying to just keep writing even though I have nothing to say because I think it is good for me. It's not even that I would necessarily like to be a writer or do any writing whatsoever for the rest of my life, but I see other people who can express themselves through painting or drawing or writing music and I am not really very creative in those ways. I think I am a good writer but I just don't have things to say that I can put into words.

I have always thought of myself as a creative type and I am starting to come to terms with the fact that I am (and probably always have been) more of an academic. I always tell myself I'm musically inclined and bad at math, but I have an inkling that I am quite good at math and not that musically inclined either.

I wish I had more to say right now. I would like to give myself a word or page count that I should try to reach but unfortunately blogspot does not tell you how many words or letters you have typed. I should also stop using the word "you" in my writing because it's not really correct or proper. I should also stop using the words "really" and "very" because they don't sound good either. I should also stop using "good" and "interesting" and their ilk because those are not really good or very interesting words.

I actually really like words and I feel like I have a big vocabulary but I am not used to using bigger or more creative words in context, or ever. I try to use different words when I speak, mix it up a bit, I tend to say things like "excellent" or "superb" or "delightful," but even those have become a bit commonplace in my vocabulary. Maybe I should learn a word every day and make it a rule that I must use that word at least once in the day, in proper context.

Today's word of the day on dictionary.com is:
frabjous
wonderful, elegant, superb, or delicious.

This is an incredibly satisfying word. Not only because it is from the Jabberwocky (trust me, it is), but because "wonderful" and "superb" (as already mentioned) are words for which I am constantly trying to find a synonym.

Damn I wish I had a word count.

I feel that this blog is going nowhere. None of my posts have any meaning, nor are they of any interest to anybody. They aren't even entertaining for those who might care to read.

Also, I have managed to accomplish exactly zero percent of my work today. Well, not zero, I did decide to skip the prologue in this book I have to read, and I read the first page after that, that's gotta count for something.

People always say "write what you know," right? Yeah, but all I know is ME, and film people will always tell you never to write about yourself. Draw from personal experience, they say, but everybody can tell when you write about yourself, and it's narcissistic and indulgent unless you are actually somebody people know or care about. (I am neither of these.)

Bottom line: I've got nothing to say.

That is all.




CURRENTLY READING: Doing Documentary Work by Robert Coles
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Ask Me Anything by The Strokes (First Impressions of Earth)
CURRENTLY WATCHING: Pink Flamingos (1972, dir. John Waters)

An update.

So a good friend of mine recently asked me to update my blog more.

Something about "intelligent film discourse"?

Here I go!

I'm currently taking a video production class and I am SO HAPPY with it. The professor is (I think?) a visiting professor from UCLA.

Usually in my film classes I feel like I already know a lot of what they're telling us (history, significant films and film movements, etc.). There are only so many times I can watch the scene of the Odessa Steps, or discuss the many ways in which DW Griffith and Edwin S Porter advanced the art of editing and continuity. Right?? I mean, it's not that I know so much already, but I feel like every class I take starts AGAIN at the beginning and covers the same shit. But in this class, I feel like she uses things I already know to teach me more. I'm also actually learning, which is refreshing.

We read an article about video art and time. If you think about it, the main difference between film/video and other visual arts is TIME, in many respects. For example, video can have a duration predetermined by the artist. Film can also manipulate time by speeding up the passage of time, or slowing things down, speeding them up, playing them in reverse or out of order.

I think that part of the reason I am so happy with this class is due to my summer internships. I became sort of disillusioned with the whole industry over the summer. I have always been into film as an art form, a means of expression, whatever. And I used to look at some of those stupid mainstream blockbusters and think, "Who thought this was a good idea?!"

But I've realized I'm a huge snob in that way. And that I have an appreciation for more sophisticated movies. And I can't help it. Is it just that people don't know that there ARE better things out there? I'm not sure, but I'm straying from my point.

The point is that I realized this summer that the movie business is just that-- a BUSINESS. It's not about making something meaningful or powerful or even very good, it's just about making MONEY. This makes me a bit sad. And it makes me less excited about my eventual career in the industry, or whatever. I don't know.

So, I signed up to volunteer at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles. They call it the "Cinefamily." It's a small theater that shows indie/cult movies and has screenings with people from the industry. They are definitely about quality. And significance. Anyway, tomorrow is my first day of volunteering, and I'm excited. I need a "cinefamily." They're doing a series of Jacques Tati films, so that's what will be showing when I'm there. I've never seen any of his films so I hope I get to watch a bit.

Well, it's the weekend (for me, no class tomorrow!), so I'm going to go find someplace to start a ruckus.

That is all.