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| Its August already. 2 days from now will mark my 1 year anniversary in
the city of Austin. Lots of shit has happened since I moved, most of
that good, which is awesome. I cant complin about anything honestly
right now as life is treating me very well overall.
I am back from my vacation in Las Vegas and Southern California. I
managed to survive, liver intact, and come home with a few dollars in
my pocket, and I do mean a very few dollars. Vegas was a good time, but
it was not as awesome as I remembered it from my last 2 trips.
Definitely drank a lot more this time around (bourbon) and played a
shitload of poker, both tournaments and cash game. Good times. SoCal
was a lot like i remembered it from when I was there 8 years ago. Kind
of strange actually to visit a place when you are 18 and then it be
exactly how you remember it that many years later. Its not my scene
there at all. Many people dig it, and I wish those people the best. For
me however, it not my style and I could never live there. LA is a
shithole no matter how you slice it.
I said to my boy Otis before hitting LAX airport that Id never go back
to SoCal again unless I had no other choice, then I realized that I
haven't been to a Dodgers game, so I will make at least one more trip
back, but it will be a long while thats for sure. I suppose that needs
some clarification, it is a goal of my to see a baseball game in every
stadium before I die. I did get to see an Angels game in Anaheim last
weekend and it was awesome. Nice field, we had great seats and Vlad
Guerrero was right in front of our view.
I finish my 2nd MBA class this week, 2 down and 8 to go, not bad.
I need to get back into the groove and start seeing more movies. I
havent been to the theater in forever it seems. Movies I havent seen
currently in theaters:
Simpsons
Die Hard 4
Transformers
1408
Sunshine
Knocked Up
Rescue Dawn
In other movie news, the new Wes Anderson movie The Darjeeling
Limited, has a trailer up and is due in September. It looks like a
retelling of Rushmore, Royal, Life Aquatic and I am perfectly okay with
that to be honest. Check it:
http://foxsearchlight.com/thedarjeelinglimited/
| | |
| Holy fuck, an update. I remember back just a few years I used to blog
regularly and now its like pulling teeth for me to even think about it,
much less actually update. I havent updated really since just after
SXSW, which was just before New Orleans, I figure that is as good as
place as any to begin.
I had a blast in New Orleans. Collin,
Berns, and Raza drove down from Chi and met me and we hung and partied
down for the weekend. I coldnt have asked for much more really. The
actual city on NOLA left me with mixed emotions. Its like a good idea
that has gone bad and gotten worse over time. The mood, atmosphere and
lifestyle down there is like everything someone of my taste would want.
It is a very old, sad, dark, and beautiful city. Happiness and fun
seems to be everywhere at the same time you feel sorrow and sadness
equally all around you. To me, many of the great traits of NOLA were
overpowered by the large population of degenerates that seem dwell
there and by the high levels of poverity, filth, and crime. Certainly
not a middle class in New Orleans, there is only the very rich and the
very poor which makes the majority of the population and the stragglers
left in the middle are fighting them both in a way on a day to day
basis. Throw in a fucked up road system, a lot of water, and tourists.
Thats about how I remember it. On a reverse note, I would gladly go
back and experience it again.
Went to the Prince sign-along
and had a blast. For those outside of austin, there is a movie theater
here that serves food and beer and they have these special events
called sing-alongs where they play videos of certain groups or musical
themes with the words going across the bottom of the screen and the
people get wasted, sing a long, dance in the aisle, whatever you want
to do. Its like a danceclub only with a huge movie screen and themed
videos. So they had a Prince one and it was off the fucking hook.
Granted I like Prince as it is and I love to sing out loud despite
having a shitty voice and being tone deaf. But add to it that I got
extremely inebriated and was surrounded by a bunch of other people singing, and it was like I was on Soul Train up in that piece.
Had a birthday, turned 26, nothing really changed or felt different.
Started
class for my MBA. Many peeps already know about it, but through my work
I can go back to school and get a Master's degree for free. Its pretty
epic. Only 30 credits, 10 courses, and I am currently in my 2nd one.
Its time consuming to an already busy and over booked schedule that I
call life, but its worth it. Id be a fool to pass it up.
Everything
aside from that is pretty much business as usual. I play a lot of
poker, watch a lot of movies, see a lot of live music, party, hang with
friends, all that good shit. Im always busy, never get to call all the
people I want to or email the people I want to, but thats life.
Balancing working 10 hour shifts, school, personal time, time with
friends, and relationship time can prove to be a daunting task. But its
all worth it. I wouldnt change it to be honest. I am very happy with
everything. April and I are getting ready to mve to a different
apartment. One that is bigger and offer washer and dryer connections.
Moving makes me remember when I moved to Austin and into my current
apartment, which was almost 1 year ago. Fucking time flies. Parts of me
feel like I havent been in Austin long at all and that there is so much
of the city I have yet to see. Other parts of me feel like I have been
here a while and I have the city mapped. In either case, this is a
great city and it is certainly providing me with everything that I need
for the moment. I think a person can make or break their own situation.
I hear horror stories of people moving to a new city where they dont
know anyone, or few people, and they cant find a job, dont make any new
friends, dont learn anything new, etc. I honestly cannot fathom that
concept. Im not saying Austin has been a piece of cake for me, believe
me I have had my rough spots, but overall things have been great to me,
especially with the things that matter most to me - job, im making okay
money at the moment (really good for the cost of living here), I work
with some cool people, and am getting a free Master's. friends, ive met
and made friends with a lot of interesting and aweosme individuals. I
certainly have a blast hanging out here, and that is largely due to
good company. I knid of lost my train of thought in the paragraph, so
ill end it and say things are kick ass here and Im happy.
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I
havent done a "new music this year" update in a long time, obviously,
since I havent posted. So Ill do one now. So far this year hasnt
exactly blown my hair back with new music hitting the market. There has
been some decent stuff but not a lot of stellar "holy fuck this is
amazing" type of stuff. So far Id say the best album this year would be
Neil Young Live at Massey Hall 1971. It you are strictly into the
rocking the fuck out Crazy Horse Neil Young, then it wont be for you as
this entire show is just Young and an acoustic. But if you are into the
Harvest side of Neil Young, then this album will certainly blow you
away. I also really like Shellac's new record, Excellent Italian
Greyhound and I am privy to Icky Thump, the new White Stripes. I love
the White Stripes and dont really give a fuck to listen to what any of
the nay sayers in the scene have to say about them. I know I know, they
arent as cool as that one band that sold zero copies of that 7" they
never recorded but opened up for a band that wasnt really as good that
one artsy band that Ive enver heard of, but they were damn close. Yeah,
Ive heard it before. In other music news, a few Built to Spill albums
were recently reissued on vinyl, which rocks for me because now I can
get them on the cheap and not be forced to pay inflated ebay prices.
I havent really been staying up on the new movie scene as far as
getting to the theater. For years Id say I averaged a movie a week at
the theater, and lately its been like one a month. I cant think of
anything Ive seen at the theater in a bit except for 28 Weeks Later and
Day Watch - I liked both. I have an entire theory on 28 Weeks Later and
why I liked it so much, but Ill save that for a nother time.
DVD wise, some movies that stand out in my mind are Seraphim Falls and
the Good Shepard. Good Shep was really slow and I can see why a lot of
peeps wouldnt dig it, but I really got into and found my self totally
wrapped up in the story line. Seraphim Falls was fucking bad ass. A
great mixture of Western in the vain of Outlaw Josey Wales, of Action
in the vain of First Blood, and of religion/supernatural in the vain of
Carnivale. Its new and at most rental stores, go rent it and then we
can discuss it. After watching it, mixed with my regular doses of
listening to Bob Dylan, it made me want to watch Pat Garrett &
Billy the Kid, which is also a great film. Season 2 of Twin Peaks
finally hit dvd, so that was good to finally see. Best dvd news of all
though for sure was that Porkys Revenge (part 3 of the Porkys trilogy)
was finally released on dvd. It was a glorious day for me as I am a
huge fan of those films.
Im going to Las Vegas in a month. I havent been in over 2 years so Im pretty stoked about that. | | |
|
By nature, I am over indulgent. In just about everything I
do, I always have been really. That said, for a music festival with the
magnitude of SXSW, it can be overwhelming on the body, and it has been.
Today my body was actually giving out on me a little I
think. I threw up a shit ton before bed last night, and I woke up this morning
to more puking and took the party to work and threw up more there. Let me back
up, my SXSW update –
Tuesday – paced myself well, didn’t spend all that much
money and was home an in bed by 2:30am, which was a good thing because I was up
at 8:30am to go to work. The band Ume is so
fucking good and their show at Emos was epic.
Wednesday – paced myself overtime, but got good and drunk.
In bed at 4:30am and had to be up by 10am the next morning. Future of the Left
(which is a new band with 2/3 of ex Mclusky members) fucking killed. Seriously,
anyone who likes Mclusky, their sound, etc. this is the band whose bandwagon
you need to climb on now. The Mountain Goats – best live show I’ve ever seen of
them. When I’ve seen them it has always been very quiet and just the one guy,
or the one guy and a bass player, but still way quiet. Well this show had a
drummer with them, Jon Wurster of Superchunk, and he rocked shit out for real.
An epic set. The Blue Van didn’t make it in or something, because they didn’t play,
but Blonde Redhead played a solid set. I’m bias here, but I think the Mountain
Goats really just set the bar with their performance. The term “dead in the
water” is appropriate in this case.
Thursday – up at 10, breakfast at 11, beer shortly after.
Boris from Japan
brought the pain and the Melvins floored me. Seriously, so fucking good. Teamed
up with Big Business it was just non stop drumming from 2 full kits. Amazing.
Saw Future of the Left again because they are the shit, then the Hydra Head
showcase. Big Business fucking brought it. That drummer owns shit. I capped the
night off, musically, with a set from the Pony’s. Finally got home and in bed
(after throwing up a bunch) around 4:30am.
Friday – woke up 8:30 because I had to go into work and get
some stuff done. Feeling as ill as I did, I would have called off in a second.
But I had shit to do, so I just went to work and threw up there a few more
times. Ate a bunch of crackers and hit up the Longbranch to see Turbonegro. I
need not even say that this band is epic live, but I will and they are. Due to
timing and locations I had to choose between seeing the Saints or Public Enemy.
I choose the Saints, and I’m sure it was the right choice. They were pretty damn
drunk, but having fun on stage and rocked the hell out. The Saints show was small, not packed and
awesome, where as the Public Enemy show was certain to be a pain to get to and
park, packed as fuck, and not as good as the Saints. Not a lot going at night
that I am crazy about, which is good because it will allow me to recoup a
little bit, and bounce back for a hard day tomorrow. A lot of bands I want to
see tomorrow and I’m going to hit it hard all day. Gotta go into the office for
some work early, then the shows and beers start at 11am, godspeed.
| | |
| (copied from myspace for those of you who still read this and not myspace (yes, all 2 of you im sure))
To all my friends, family, fighters, freedom writers and revolutionaries
– I wont really be available over the next few days. With South By Southwest in
town, officially referred to by SXSW from here on out, I have much shit going
on.
The weekend started last night when after work I went to a
poker tourney, got drunk and got home late. Went to work this morning, left
there and went downtown for a SXSW pre party (caught a really good performance
by Ume in the process). An old friend from Carbondale, Sara, is in
town for the fest, so I’m trying to kick it with her as much as possible as
well.
I have been lucky enough to have met some really cool peeps
since I’ve moved to ATX and I have made some awesome friends, one of which who
was kind enough to hook me up with a pass for the music fest. Tomorrow I work
then go to shows at night, I’m taking Thursday off to go to day and night
shows, and I’ll go into work a little bit Friday morning so Ill be able to go to day and night shows
then, and Saturday is wide open as usual.
To those who care, will be in the area, or who may want to
grace me with their presence, enjoy some music with me, or simply do shots of
tequila and drink beer with me, here is a complete list of where Ill be (those
who know me well enough wont be shock that A.) I made a spreadsheet of what
bands I want to see, where and what times they are playing and that B.) Ill
stick to this list pretty fucking closely once all is said and done, with the
obvious exceptions of shows too close together and geographically too spaced
out.
WEDNESDAY:
08 pm - Maps & Atlases
@ Emos
09:15 – Future of the Left (ex-members of Mclusky) @ Emos
10:00 – White Denim @ Blender Bar
11:00 – Mountain Goats @ Emos
12:45 – Blonde Redhead @ Emos OR
01am – Blue Van @ Blender Bar
THURSDAY:
12:40 pm - Panthers @ Stubbs
1:20 pm – Pelican @ Stubbs
2:00 pm – Boris (from Japan) @ Stubbs
3:05 pm – Melvins @ Stubbs
4:00 pm – The Ponys @ Waterloo
5:00 pm – This Moment in Black History @ Sound on Sound
6:00 pm – Bad Wizard @ Barcelona
09:30 pm – Daughters @ Emos
10:30 pm – Big Business @ Emos
12:30 am – Pelican @ Emos
01:00 am - The Ponys
@ Emos
FRIDAY:
02:00 pm - ? (from ? and the mysterians) @ Antones OR
2:00 pm - Qui (David Yow’s new band) @ Longbranch
04:00 pm – Turbonegro @ Longbranch
06:00 pm – The Stooges @ Waterloo
07:00 pm – The Saints @ Dog and Duck Pub
08:00 pm – Public Enemy @ Town Lake
10:15 pm – Clorox Girls @ Emos
12:45 am – Green Milk From the Planet Orange @ Flamingo Cantina
Lamar Pedestrian
Bridge show late night
afterwards
SATURDAY:
12:30 pm – White Denim @ Mohawk
2:00 pm – The Ponys @ Mohawk
4:00 pm – Green Milk From the Planet Orange
@ Mrs. Beas
6:00 pm - Riverboat Gamblers @ Town Lake
8:00 pm – Mastadon @ Town Lake OR
8:00 pm Buzzcocks @ Emos
9:00 pm – Meat Puppets @ Emos
11:00 pm – Bad Wizard @ Emos
1:00 am – Turbonegro @ Emos OR
1:00 am – Qui (w/ David Yow) @ Emos
That’s all the big shit Ill be catching. I’m Ill be catching other shit in between and after
hours, but for now that’s what I got slotted. By the end of this all, I am
going be exhausted from no sleep and my liver is going hell in the process.
That is of course assuming that my liver already isn’t shot.
| | |
| [A conversation amongst colleagues: a series of emails]
Collin,
Do you think dylan writes pop songs?
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Frank,
Bob Dylan wrote pop songs. What do you mean?
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Collin,
Well
i was in a conversation with a guy who has good taste in
music but he is a music snob in a way, and not in the normal "snob"
sense of he only
listen to bands that sold zero copies of the ep they didn't record but
they are SOOOO indie, not like that. He is in a sense that he
only listens to stellar shit. He seriously only digs a small handful
bands/musicians and they all have to be epic in a way, have an amazing
back story, etc.:
Hank Williams
Roy Orbison
Buddy Holly
Carl Perkins
Little Richard
Chuck Berry
Slim Harpo
The Beatles
The Beach Boys
Led Zeppelin
The Pixies
Nirvana
west coast rap - NWA, Dre, Ice Cube, Easy E, etc.
thats it, literally.
So we get into a conversation about Bob Dylan and we went round
and round and all that shit and in the end he was like: "I like to make
pop music and I like pop music when its done good
and done right. Dylan doesn't make pop songs. He doesn't make catchy
songs. I don't like his voice. He is the best writer hands down, and I
respect that, but I don't care about lyrics as much as I care about
melodies, song structure, and overall sound."
So this got me thinking, "Is dylan a pop music artist? Does he make pop music?" So I asked you.
-----------
Frank,
The songs of every artist you listed below appeal to people, groups at
a time. People sit around and listen to Hank Williams, dance to his
to waltzes. Orbison through Berry make you want to sock hop your rocks
off. The Beatles, the Beach Boys, Zeppelin and Pixies: you put those
records in with friends - that's music that's meant to be heard being
heard. All great. Listening to Dylan is largely singular. Of course
it's pop - but it's not sexy, not even the least bit carnal.
If I had to guess, I'd say your buddy either sees or wants something
for himself - either as a musician or as a person - that's just not in
Dylan's music. I mean, the guy's right, kind of. Think about it.
Listening to Dyaln is lonely, because it's the greatest music ever,
but it's just not toe-tapping, tip-up-your-cup catchy. Listening to
Dylan, you're LISTENING to Dylan - not dancing, or drumming, or
humming - which is probably why he made his music the way that he did.
I read a book by Cub Coda. He said all blues, first and foremost, is
dance music. Is all pop music, first and foremost, dance music? I
don't think so. Dylan's certainly not pop rock, if that's what your
buddy means. And now that I think about it, that quote by Coda, a lot
of the times it seems like Dylan took the dance out of his blues
music. But so did Billy Holiday, and she's pop music. ------
[Collin
is one of the smartest, well spoken, and knowledged dudes I know.
Period. He always has a way to bring shit back down and make me see
things in manners that I couldnt before. This is a perfect example.] | | |
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