Off The Subject

Are there any Skoidats fans out there?

If so, let me know. I've got a totally random, off-the-wall question for you.

Thank you for your time.

That Was Then, This Is Now

For most of my adult life, I have been in love with the girl in the right of this picture. (I would appreciate better screen captures of her from this movie if possible... this is the only thing I could find anywhere online.) Lala Sloatman is her name, but I only knew her as Nora's sidekick in Pump Up The Volume. (To my knowledge, you don't learn her name - Janie - until the end credits, and even then the words were so small it took until I looked at a DVD copy last night to really be able to read it.) As I've discovered via some Inter-Web-A-Tron research I did this morning, her cousin is Ahmet Zappa, who also appeared as an extra in Pump Up The Volume, along with Seth Green and some other strange Hollywood fringe types, which puts this girl in good company. Sadly, her filmography is, to say the least, disappointing. (The Adventures of Ford Fairlane and Joe Verses The Volcano.)

I'm sure the particular circumstances that make me obsess over Janie are as specific and singular as any other obsession any of us develops. I can only say that, 17 years later, this obsession still has a pretty strong hold on me. Yowza.

Nora: It's after 8 o'clock, so I guess it's okay to kill myself.
Janie: Oh no, it's after 3, I guess I'm totally fucked!

Back In The Day

Going to see Watchmen last night (more on that later), I couldn't help but remember one of my all-time favorite Onion headlines:

Area Girlfriend Still Hasn't Seen Apocalypse Now

Other infamous episodes that have occurred during the couple's 18-month relationship include Tillich's August 1999 insistence that Jensen listen to all of side two of the Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat, his January 1999 failure to talk Jensen into visiting the grave of Philip K. Dick during a Colorado road trip, and his ongoing unsuccessful efforts to get her to read Alan Moore's Watchmen, a 1986 postmodern-superhero graphic novel she described as "a comic book about a big blue space guy" and that he calls "nothing less than a total, devastating deconstruction of virtually every archetype in the genre's history."

I don't know what appeals to me more: the fact that they managed to cover just about every base regarding this kind of relationship dynamic (omitting, obviously, the Area Boyfriend's insistence on going as The Prisoner for Halloween, and the Area Girlfriend stating that she didn't know who that was), or the fact that this is pretty much the way I interacted with my girlfriends for most of my life.

And now, I will do the dance of shame. Again.

Just The Hits, Ma'am

While you were probably a bit disappointed to find that Mortal Engines did not perform live on the air today (as I suggested they might), hopefully you weren't too disappointed with the awesome selection of tunes the higher ups tossed down my way that needed to be played NOW! So, here it is:

Episode 012: "Extreme Backlog Of Material"

Playlist & Footnotes.

This one rocks in a sort of mellow, late-at-night / existential kind of way, which actually doesn't explain anything about what you can expect to hear, except that you won't be surprised when you get to Nick Cave or Joy Division.

See ya in seven. Enjoy!

Now What?

Like the majority of Americans (who do not suffer from extreme poverty or extreme luxury), I have no idea what to do with free time. It should be noted that this is not the same as having, "no idea what to do with my free time," an entirely different concept which has its own problems and difficulties. Rather, actually having free time is the issue, and how to best spend that free time (without driving myself crazy) is the problem.

Last night I took my last final for Winter Term. (My grades prediction for the term: two As and an A-. One of my papers last term didn't quite get a perfect score.) Now, with a full week and a day at my disposal for Spring Break, I am faced with the unsettling task of trying to walk the fine line between "enjoying myself" and "being productive" until 10 AM on March 30th, when I can relax and start studying and doing homework again.

I do not "vacation" well. I realized this when I was in Kona, Hawaii, with Megan, and there was one evening where all I wanted to do was read The Odyssey, because it was the only piece of homework I knew I'd have to finish at some point after I'd gotten back. (Mind you, it wasn't due for a few more weeks after that, even.) In fact, I spent some of my free time this week trying to track down cheap copies of my books for next term, to be really honest. (I even started reading one when I was eating lunch yesterday... I couldn't help myself.) There's something about actual leisure time - doing nothing and enjoying it - that drives me absolutely batshit. I personally think the reason I have so many hobbys and interests is to avoid actually having to do nothing; there will always be stories to write, comics to read, records to sort and listen to, etc.

On Tuesday I did a brief mental tally of the things I hope to accomplish during my life in my Free Time, and just about had a breakdown. Not counting the books & records I hope to (someday) enjoy, I have constructed enough hobbies and projects I hope to complete to keep me busy well into senile old age. (Maybe by then I'll be able to forget about it.)

It occurs to me that this, more than anything, summarizes the modern human condition: trying to find enough things to fill our time with until we die. A somewhat depressing notion regarding life, but is probably a more accurate description of how we live in America than any other I can think of. In The Architecture of Vision (a collection of interviews and writings by Michelangelo Antonioni), he makes a point of stressing (in the late '60's, mind you), that, "clearly free time is a problem," for people, and he suggests that the Government will have to develop more powerful drugs to keep people entertained. While his suggested solution, to me, reads more like a joke (Antonioni had just spent a long time in California making a movie with a lot of youth activists who all turned him on to recreational drug use), his point is entirely taken: what do we do when there's nothing left to do?

I guess the problem (for me) stems from feeling as if, when I am not actively engaged in something that I can rationalize as being Productive, I immediately feel guilty, even if I'm just hanging out with friends or, even worse, just enjoying myself, alone. The day I realized that I have trouble just sitting alone with my thoughts was somewhat worrying. Try sitting somewhere peaceful and relaxing for an entire hour, not reading or looking at the Inter-Web-A-Tron or watching a movie or listening to the radio or anything. Just sit down outside, alone, for an hour and see what happens.

Spooky, huh?

Any advice for how to combat this until I can begin stressing and freaking out again next Monday?

Three Things

1.) I am still fairly impressed by the fact that, for the first year since I started living on my own, I didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day by meeting up with friends and getting hammered. I used to really look forward to Drinking Holidays, and it was a really nice change of pace to sit at home, cook dinner with my roommates, and listen to records. I did have some Reed's Ginger Beer, but at that point I had given my bike lock keys to Joel, and only had two over the course of the entire evening. Woo, boy. Calm down, buddy!

2.) One of my other roommates - Marcus - has been teaching me how to make bread from scratch, which resulted in Joel and I making bread bowls for our homemade chili last night. So far I've made about four differnt loaves (one with Joel), and all of them have come out alright, and more to the point, entirely edible! I'm still sort of blown away by how simple it is to make, and how it requires a rather disproportionate amount of your time to make something so simple. But I've been pleased with the results, and have expanded my baking skills to include 1 pie crust, 1 batch of peanut butter cookies, and a batch of flat bread, too. I think the next step is going to be to start fooling around with garlic bread, or mayhaps something with fancy olives in it. If you have any bready suggestions, please, let me know. I'm still a beginner at this point, and need all the guidance and suggestions I can get.

3.) Is there anyone who came of age in the late 70's & early 80's that didn't absolutely love Star Wars? Is it even possible not to?

Never Fails To Impress

It might be open for some more debate, but I think Miller's Crossing might be my favorite Coen Brothers movie. I could listen to the dialog in that film all day long, and there is something about the way it was filmed that just looks beautiful everything single time I see it.

Either this, or Barton Fink. It's a toss up.

Agreeable Sounds

If you're lookin' for some new music to get you through the tail-end of winter, might I recommend the bands I saw last night during one of the rare times I actually left my house:

Hearts And Minutes: My friend Tristan told me he was morally apposed to bands who don't all live in the same town, which only turned him off of this band more given that one member each lives one Portland, LA & Oakland. I have to say I was a little lukewarm on the beginning of the set, but as they kept playing they got better and better. That's an interesting tactic when you play live: save all your good songs for the end, and give them the slow lame ones to start with. Still, they piqued my interest enough to pick up an '09 Tour CD, and I'll report back if my opinion improves.

Moment In Static: Comprised of several of my friends (and one roommate), it's hard for me to think of another band that loves Don Caballero as much as these guys. Certainly the draw when you see 'em live is their drummer and their singer / percussionist / Korq player, who dance and move and kid and look like their having more fun than just about anyone you know. They seem to be obsessed with '80's cover songs (Devo, Gary Numan, Wire), but the covers are generally strange and deconstructed, and more to the point, their original material is much, much better. The name is probably the only thing (anymore) that I'm not sold on... yet.

The Jezebel Spirit: I used to work with one of the guitar players for this band, and their first CD, Turtles All The Way Down, was pretty awesome (and epic) instro-rock with the emo turned all the way up. They're still just kids, but they totally get it, and seem pretty stoked on the music they play. I didn't get a chance to stay for the whole set, but I did pick up their new CD (Remember... Always obey, you'll live longer than way), which (like thier first CD) is one continuous performance, broken into "suites" (or tracks). They're playing at the Know pretty soon, so check 'em out if you can.

Considering The Appeal Of Staying Home

Part of me feels guilty that I don't go out as much as I used to. I don't go to very many shows anymore, I don't go to very many parties, and most nights you can count on me being home.

I'm sure there are friends that wish I was more social. I'm sure there's others that haven't even noticed.

Sometimes I want to be more social. But, having focused so much of my life for the last 18 years on trying to have as much fun as humanly possible every spare moment of my life, I think I'm allowed some quiet evenings at home with a book and some Ginger Ale.

Hope everyone else is having a good time! Gimme a call and we'll get coffee.

But not too late. I start to loose steam as soon as the sun goes down.

Strap On Your Spurs...

...'Cause it's time to go dancin'! Tune in for an hour of downhome, in-yer-face, just like grandma used to make Cow Punk this week on Blasphuphmus Radio, with special guest DJ Jazzy Joel of Alpha Protist! Yee-ha!

Episode 011: "Cow Punk" w/ DJ Jazzy Joel

Playlist & Footnotes.

I had a really great time, as I also got to help run sound for Eet on What's This Called? Linky links, anyone?

Eet on What's This Called?

Playlist & Footnotes

Whew. I'm all radio-ed out. I gotta say, it was a good day.

See ya in seven.