England

I’m heading off for England in a week. I don’t really know what to expect, the last time I was there it wasn’t such a big thing for me, I was young. But now my favorite bands are all from across the pond, from punk to britpop to even the ineptly named nu-rave.

Which brings me to a conversation I just recently had: what in the world will the 2000s be remembered for? There’s such a definitive line between the decades, but what of my generation? I hope to god it won’t be remembered for emo, which although significant due to its popularity, is a pathetic attempt to reach out to those who have long lost grunge but want the goth aesthetic. I mean look at them! Tell me they weren’t in it for the money rather than the music. Seriously.

Then again, there is “indie” rock. Although, in this age of MySpace and iPods, and where almost every music loving home owns a computer, why is it that people are accepting the same generic drivel from this tired, worn-out “genre”? Why can’t there be that one guy in his bathroom creating a unique masterpiece that actually gets recognized for it? That, would be indie.

These days, especially in England, people seem to be yearning for that ideal, so much that they just accept a tired Oasis clone as the best thing to happen since… well… Oasis, simply because they represent all things indie, which is principally their rise to fame due only to word of mouth on the internet. I speak of none other than the Arctic Monkeys. “SHUT UP! Enough already, Ballstein! Who cares about Derek Zoolander anyway? The man has only one look, for Christ’s sake! Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They’re the same face! Doesn’t anybody notice this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!” Just the way I feel about these cookie cutter indie bands. Does no one seem to recognize that it’s the same thing over and over again?

By the way, if anyone gets the chance, see This Is England, an amazing movie about skinheads in the 80’s. It’s a heavy one, but what an incredible portrait of the nationalism and racism during the Thatcher years partly brought about by the war in the Falkand Islands.

Concerning England, I really have no idea what I should think about going there. I remember a day when Japan was my country of worship, but I feel as if my bonds with Japan were weaker than what I feel for England. Music is now my life, and music from England has been consistently my favorite, going all the way back to the Kinks and the Beatles and up to Blur and Radiohead.

I guess leaving many of my best friends has also had a bit of an effect on me… It’s tough to think I’ll be seeing so little of the people who are closest to me in my life. But I have to accept it. I have to know that it isn’t the end of the world, and I will see them again, as hard as it is for my deluded mind to believe.

Shameless Plug

Never Mind the Bats has rekindled my love affair with the writing medium typically known as the weblog, or more colloquially known simply as a “blog.” So from here on out, you better get ready for some cogency, and more importantly, coherence, in my writing. That is… as soon as I see Hot Fuzz on Friday.

Werner Herzog Double Feature 3/23/07 at the Aero

Yesterday was the second of four days devoted to Werner Herzog at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Showing was a new 35mm print of The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser (aka Every Man for Himself and God Against All) (1974) and a 16 mm print of Heart of Glass (Herz Aus Glas) (1976). But the films weren’t the main attraction, it was Werner Herzog’s appearance in between them in which he discussed the both films as well as answered questions from the audience.

Kaspar Houser is a charming film about a foundling in 19th century Germany. It’s compelling, sweet, and the acting is brilliant. The story is based on the actual events which happened to Kaspar Houser during this same time period.

Heart of Glass, on the other hand, I was completely unprepared for. Herzog did discuss the process he went through when hypnotizing his entire cast to create a unique effect and dream-like quality of acting, but I felt that it was way too artsy. The main character, who was the only one not hypnotized during production, could see into the future. He could see the demise of this small village which relied on selling a special type of “ruby glass” to survive. The message of this film was clear, but it was not done in a way that I was prepared to sit through. I only had 5 hours of sleep the night before, this movie started at 10:30 and didn’t end until midnight, and I had just finished watching another movie just before it; I was in no mood to fully concentrate on this mind-trip. To be fair, I’m going to rent this movie and watch it again when I have the time and am fully awake.

Highlight of the night: Werner Herzog chuckling to himself while recalling the time he was shot during an interview.

Bloc Party at the Wiltern 3/20/07

Wow. All I can say was that might have been the best show I’ve ever been to.

OK, so the first opener, The Like, was pretty terrible. Their songs were all structured exactly the same, making them intensely boring. But whatever.

Next up was Final Fantasy. Basically a solo effort by Owen Pallett of Arcade Fire fame (he co-wrote the strings arrangement for their albums Funeral and Neon Bible), his performance alone made the show worth the money. He loops violin sounds to create amazing songs, all the while someone is showing a story through transparencies held over a projector. It was a really cool effect.

Then finally Bloc Party. Now, I wasn’t really expecting a lot from them. Their new album was less new wave, a bit slow, and when I saw them at the Greek Theatre last summer their playing was sloppy and the vocals were muddy. Everything has changed. Their playing was impeccable; they’re the type of band much more well-suited to the small-club-venue setting rather than the whole outdoor 2,000 person audience. They played every single one of their best songs in a lengthy hour and 15 minute set. At the Greek, I felt Bloc Party was very intimidated by their opening bands, MEW and Broken Social Scene. MEW I might let slip by as an opener, but Broken Social Scene is a huge band, way bigger than Bloc Party was at the time.

This will probably be the last time I see them.
Why’s that?
‘Cause they’re so mainstream now that I’ll never be able to get tickets.
They’ll probably be filling up the Staples Center not too long from now.

Deerhoof, Spinto Band

Listening to Deerhoof at certain times with certain people in certain places can be completely surreal. I felt like I was in a Dali painting.

The Art Brut/We Are Scientists show this saturday night is going to have the Spinto Band opening for them. Is it strange that I’m beginning to like the opener more than the headliners? Not that I don’t love Art Brut or We Are Scientists, but I just can’t get enough of the Spinto Band. Go out and listen to some of their CD, Nice and Nicely Done, they might just be your new favorite band.

I’ve also come up with a few designs for the LP Club. Check ‘em out.

Life is Troubling

I’m beginning to find life troubling. I look at the fake smiles and the wanted words, but all I can hear or see is disappointment because we can’t speak scripted lines that are perfect for each and every moment.

Maybe this is why we admire movies and music and books so much. Everything in them is exactly how we want them to be. There are no unintentional stumbles, no looks of disappointment when the realization hits that there was something infinitely better to say in that moment of time.

Maybe that’s my real attraction to music. I listen to the rhythms and the lyrics and am mystified by how profoundly they affect me. How they can convey such a deep sense of meaning? I want nothing more than to bask in its perfection. I could never duplicate my favorite song; it may sound exactly the same in every way, but it wouldn’t be the original. Or, at least, this is how I used to view much of the entertainment I enjoy.

Looking at more of the independent or alternative entertainments allow me to experience something that is clearly original, but is definitive because it can be reproduced. There is no mysticism about it, it feels natural and can be connected to.

But at the same time I look back and think to how I could still never duplicate, let alone attempt to sound like, some of the musicians I’ve heard in my life.

I’m stuck at a point where I can’t exactly tell what I’m supposed to follow. I don’t know exactly where my life will take me. I have some vague idea that I’ll be somewhere still alive, but it is neither here nor there.

Artists create masterpieces. But where does the inspiration come from? How does one sit down and create without stopping themselves and worrying that others will ruin the feeling that it evokes in the creator? All of my art has been wiped away because I was scared. Who knows who might have liked it, who knows whether I can even remember what it was. But it’s something I need to overcome because I know it will play an enormous role in my life.

I speak of this because my generation has become divided, much like generations before. There are the psuedo-thinkers and the outside-the-box thinkers. The pseudo-thinkers genuinely feel like they have something going on in their head, but nothing of any sense comes out. They stick together and feed off of each other’s knowledge, refusing to find out anything new for themselves. They alienate intentionally. They have their own… unique… tastes.

The outside-the-box thinkers are the revolution. They are the ones who look in between the cracks and discover something to keep for themselves. If their discovery gets out in the open, they leave it high and dry. They create, they move on. Nothing lasts for them. The little known ones are the ones to keep. “Weird for the sake of being weird” rather than “Weird for the sake of fashion.”

The dichotomy is not quite as clear until after the fact; maybe in a decade or so. But the side which draws to you is obvious. Why? Because you’re reading this blog.

I’m with you.

Update: I realize how this sounds, and yes, it was written at 3 am in a painkiller induced stupor.

Bruin Woods ‘06

I had a great time last week with all my buddies that I see once a year for a week up in Lake Arrowhead.

Brian, Chelsea, Rachel, Riley, and I hangin’ out up in the treehouse at Bruin Woods in Lake Arrowhead.

Can’t wait to see you all next year (but hopefully sooner)!

In other news, it turns out I have four impacted wisdom teeth which require surgery under anesthesia to remove. This will happen Thursday (August 17, 2006) morning, so don’t expect much out of me for about 2-4 days afterwards.

I drove a car for the first time EVAR today. It was surprisingly easy… I’ll be having another lesson tomorrow morning, then another on Wednesday afternoon.

For anyone who has a mac and is a student:

Schoolhouse is possibly the most useful program for assignments I’ve ever laid eyes upon.

“With the ability to sort and organize your assignments, exams, and projects quickly and easily Schoolhouse is a must have for any student on-the-go. The power of smart groups allow you to interact with your work as simply as your iTunes library. Newly introduced in this version are Classcasts, the ability to publish your assignments to the web automatically for anyone to subscribe to. And with powerful automatic graphing of your grades and a GPA & Finals calculator you’ll never be in the dark at the end of the semester.”

It seems that this app can export assignments to iCal or even to an iPod. How sweet is that? And it’s free (although I’d gladly pay the developer for it).

To all you Windoze users out there… umm, well… good luck, I guess. I’m sure pen and paper will work fine to remember stuff.

My Sidekick 3 is working great; it has many much needed upgrades which the SK2 lacked (mainly the track ball and the size of the device, no longer does it have the dimensions of a bar of soap). My only complaint is that the battery becomes depleted after a very short amount of use compared to the SK2, but hopefully this will all be sorted out in the next OTA (Over-The-Air) update.

Check out Tapes ‘n Tapes, by the way. A link to a torrent of a music video of theirs is here. They’re awesome.

Just ordered a bag from Iron-on Resistance along with some shirts from Oddica, there’s a coupon right now for $7 off your order if you write in the code ‘tell’ so I figured I’d just go ahead and get Blackbird Migraine and Ghost Cameras printed on the ever so soft and communist American Apparel.

Still working on my summer work of second semester Honors World History (I’ve already finished second semester Honors World Literature) from 10th grade which I missed while in Italy and Japan. I have to finish this or they won’t let me into 12th grade. Damn Pali thinks I have a textbook delinquency too, so they won’t give me my schedule for next year (I turned in all my books for sure).

Oddica shirts arrive

I received my three Oddica shirts in the mail today: Exploded Boombox (pictured), Octopus Incident, and The Undertaker. All of them are incredibly soft and printed with astounding detail and precision. Each shirt comes with stickers, postcards of the shirt designs, and large pins of the purchased t-shirt designs all in a re-sealing bag with more shirt designs on it.

I am extremely happy with the purchase as these are excellent t-shirts with artistic designs which will stand out among the plethora of t-shirts I own.

More pictures after the jump.

Flaming Lips Announce Summer Tour Dates

Flaming Lips Announce Summer Tour Dates:

The Flaming Lips have announced dates for their summer tour, which begins July 22 in California. The band will be joined by Sonic Youth, Go! Team or Wolfmother at various dates.

They’re going to be in LA while I’m away! But if anyone does happen to be in town when they are in your area, I highly recommend seeing them. Just check out this article about them by an amazing music magazine called Paste. Think of Paste Magazine as Rolling Stone sans the sex, drugs, and mainstream corporation brainwashing. Great musical tastes and articles; they’re going to be big.

Sneak Peek :: Oddica

Sneak Peek :: Oddica:

Oddica.com has an amazing selection of t-shirt designs by artists getting the recognition and royalties an artist deserves.

Artists will share in 41 percent of Oddica’s Net Profit annually and receive Royalties, in perpetuity.
Artists will receive $500 for each commissioned Design. ($250 up front, and $250 when you finish, unless the Design happens to be pre-existing. Immediate PayPal payments are an option, too. (Oddica will pay the PayPal fee.)
Artists will receive an additional $500 for every Reprint. Three Reprints of a single Design, for example, would result in an additional $1,500.

All in all it’s a very good business model and should be able to compete with Threadless if they keep up the good designs.

There was some server trouble with recognizing credit cards on the night their site went live, however, the whole Oddica team is making leaps and bounds to set wrongs to rights. Never have I seen an independent t-shirt company so dedicated to their cause.

From my experience so far with this company (the lightning fast email responses as well as a personal phone call), they can be sure this customer will be coming back for more.