Category: Uncategorized

this is the nice man who sure took his sweet time driving in front of me on the way home tonight. i guess when you’re that excited about the lord, you’re not really in much of a hurry to get anywhere that isn’t heaven.

i, on the other hand, am in a huge hurry to get to this weekend. why? cause i’m going to both freaking days of coachella, that’s why, bitches! good fortunes have smiled upon me and now i get to see dozens of good bands and all i have to do is bear some 106 degree heat [gulp]. if god were really awesome, he would have made this event near the beach instead of in the damn desert. let’s see the emo kids try to wear sweaters to this cursive show; i dare them!

i can’t begin to say how worth the sweat it’s going to be though — i got free tickets for me and my roommate through work, along with vip bracelets and passes to the spin party saturday night. so it’s all free rock AND free booze. what’s not to like? it’s even worth probably having to sleep in my car parked at a rest stop off the freeway saturday night. but who cares, we get to see radiohead and the flaming lips within 24 hours of eachother! and a pixies reunion show! and 2manydjs! and and and…

well i don’t want to rub it in or anything *coughallforfreecough*.

[now hearing this: modest mouse.]

i am pleased to report i spent a large majority of my weekend sitting in my apartment alternately reading, watching videos, and playing video games. i know it was beautiful outside, but you can’t let the weather bully you into going outside every time it’s nice. it’s LA, it’s beautiful all the time. and besides, i can absolutely appreciate a nice day through the sliding glass door off my living room while i sit on the couch and finish crimson skies on my xbox, don’t try to tell me otherwise. it was a gloriously geeky weekend.

the main non-geek event was jen’s birthday, which went crazily off course when we couldn’t get into the downtown standard roof bar and tried to walk to a party, which led us — a party of 12 or so noisy post-college kids in varying levels of intoxication — through the very sketchiest parts of downtown. our wisest move was giving up and turning around to get cabs and go to hollywood instead where my favorite part had nothing to do with bar hopping and everything to do with new york pizza from greco’s.

returning to geek news though, did you know you can already pre-order the original star wars trilogy dvds at places like best buy and amazon? make fun all you want, but if you order now you save 25 bucks, and it’s not like i wasn’t going to buy them anyway. who cares if they don’t come out for another 5 months — this is a piece of my childhood we’re talking about.

me at the prospect of getting a card in celebration of what was formerly known as ‘secretaries’ day’, only recently updated to the slightly less embarrassing ‘assistants’ day’ or ‘administrative professionals’ day’: not exited. actually, possibly offended, despite the fact that, yes, the word ‘assistant’ is part of my job title.

me at getting a card in celebration of aforementioned, containing 50 dollar amazon.com gift certificate: excited! thank you so much! it’s so nice to be appreciated to the tone of free video games and comic books to be shipped in 1-2 business days.

the only surprise more pleasant would be getting promoted out of the position that betokens such a card, with the commensurate raise allowing me to buy more video games and comic books on my salary. not bitter though! very honestly. i love my job and i like free stuff, so i’m happy all around. the promotion nod will come soon enough on its own. happy holiday-formerly-known-as-secretaries’-day!

kill bill: volume two – 4 stars

in my review of the first one, i sort of decided that the thing holding it back from being a 5 out of 5 was its incompleteness. it was all style and not enough content, and obviously it didn’t finish the story. it was a fucking great time though.

for the second one, i’d say it was the yin to the first one’s yang. where the first was almost entirely action, action, blood, blood, the second filled out the other half of the badass-centered movie with a lot more storyline and hard talk. the characters face to face being the large, willful, cool-as-hell, clint eastwood from fistful of dollars types you know quentin wanted them so badly to be. and it was a fucking great time again.

my criticism after having seen both then is pretty nominal… it’s solely an editing complaint. i would rather have watched the whole movie at once, as i guessed after seeing the first one, and that maybe a few parts had been switched around to even it out a bit more. spread the killer fights and the killer character development throughout the whole story. that way the first one doesn’t feel shallow compared to the second, and the second doesn’t seem so dialogue-heavy compared to the first. because i definitely could have used a bit more of those ‘holy shit!’ moments i kept getting in volume one this time out, although the ones you do get are soooo worth it.

nonetheless, outstanding job by david carradine as bill. what a priceless character. and what a great set of movies — i can’t wait to see that director’s cut DVD (before christmas? come on quentin, please? it’ll make a great holiday gift!).

had a great damn weekend. i think the most fun i had at every instance was the result of not getting to do what i really intended in all three days. had a blast hanging out with my friends friday night because we couldn’t get into the 9:30 kill bill and had to wait around and stand in line for a 12:00 show instead. tried to drive to the san diego zoo saturday with my special lady and ended up driving right back because of the pouring rain — in san diego? now there’s luck for you — but had a lovely time just driving in the car and talking to her and going to the record store instead. and tonight i had planned on catching arrested development with the guys but since it got bumped (fuck you 24!) we ended up chatting mostly and then watching an old episode of the shield.

a great measure of quality people and wonderful girlfriends i think are times like all of those; when you’re basically doing nothing and it’s still the greatest. i love the people i spend my weekends with.

and i love this pavement cd i got too. filled in the hole i’ve been meaning to fill for ages now, and for 6.95 it was finally meant to be. so crooked rain, crooked rain gets me about as caught up as i need to be and unfair gets me about as rockin’ as anything pavement has ever done. good pay day song.

i sat here thinking a few minutes ago that i don’t have much to write about, but that i should come up with something anyway so i don’t slack off for too long. then somehow that got me reflecting on my life as it stands today; and i’m completely wrong about having nothing to say. this moment of idle consideration has caused me to realize, just now, that this year has seen more changes in my life than probably any of the last five.

i’m more consistently considerate of my own body now than ever before and i’d like to think it shows. for reasons too varied to really explain efficiently, i suddenly follow with consistent enthusiasm things i before had almost no interest in — liberal politics and the chicago cubs. i am going on the 10th month of the first streak in my life without cable television, and except for a craving here and there, i prefer it that way. i am reading more ravenously than ever and trying harder to really get something out of it. i’m probably a single raise away from being comfortably self-sustaining. i have friends in several far-off major U.S cities. i have a girlfriend who is also a young professional and have no problem staying a night with her and leaving for work in the morning. we do culturally enriching things together but also appreciate time alone. i currently have wine chilling in my refrigerator. and as of this current tax year, i am no one’s dependent.

apparently, at some point, i became a grown up. while the point in time at which this transition occurred may elude me, the fact remains it has happened. some might be scared, but being far from knocking on death’s door, i choose instead to be excited. i think it may end up being more fun than being a kid was anyway — when i it comes down to it, i didn’t have nearly as many friends or freedoms as an unhappy 12 year old.

besides, i may not have cable but still watch cartoons when i get a chance. i may be into politics but i’m still more into rock concerts. i may have a girlfriend but i wouldn’t let that keep me from playing video games. the wine in my refrigerator is accompanied almost solely by frozen pizzas. and as ravenously as i will ever consume literature, it will likely always include a safe portion of comics.

so can a person be a grown-up child, in a way? as in, a healthy, well-adjusted, socially acceptable and functional way? i’m of the opinion that this is really the only way to go. it should be the new ideal. if you cannot be a philosopher-king, perhaps you can settle for being an adult-youth? a responsible-upstart? a practical epicurean? a thoughtful reveler?

it could be time to write a philosophy text here, so i had better leave the topic for further deliberation. you might be wise to flee before i start asking for converts.

it’s been a hell of a year for radio in LA. i had honestly not turned on any radio of mine the entire duration of my college education. then they put up an indie-rock station and my hope was renewed. i’ve posted enough about them in the past to leave that station alone by now though. they seem to be doing okay and i check in with them frequently.

now we’ve got perhaps an even more valuable addition: air america radio. i heard the chatter about this station starting up around the web pre-launch, and fortunately remembered the station frequency while in my car during the first week. already i’m hopelessly addicted to this station. it has taken over my drive times and i put it on over weekends when i’m running errands. i even put on headphones for the first time ever in 9 months at my job to listen to john kerry on al franken’s show this morning (which was a bit brief and generic, but i’m still 100% on his side come election time).

i think i’m intrigued at the idea of being intellectually stimulated while driving, which is entirely new to me outside of the odd road-trip philosophizing with my friends. i’ve never tried an audio book because it seemed weird to me, but being too busy at work to read news sites and not having cable to catch the daily show at home has left me with a dearth of liberal political satire lately, and god it feels good to have it back. not coincidentally i’m sure, steven colbert was a guest co-host on the evening show last week, and jon stewart was a guest on the afternoon show this wednesday.

‘morning sedition’ and ‘the o’franken factor’ are especially good for those in their cars during the morning commute or around town grabbing lunch, respectively. admittedly, it could be novelty that’s making me tune in so compulsively for the inaugural few weeks and it could be right back to ipod country come may. but at least for now part of me is looking forward to drive times and a little sad when i get to work in less time than normal. that’s a pretty strong endorsement, so i recommend you check it out (1580 AM or streamed live on their site).

it’s a true testament to someone’s strength of spirit that in five years of acquaintence you would never even guess they were facing a life-threatening illness. for the same reasons i imagine the loss is all the greater to everyone who knew her, and my heart and thoughts are with the wakerlys this week and in the future.

i wish that just driving up to show our support at a service could better reflect how much we enjoyed knowing her. if it’s any comfort to mike or the rest of his family, there was one thing i thought while listening to her friends and family speak of kate: that she really lived life well and made a mark on the world around her. she will absolutely be missed.

friday night while meg and i were enjoying delicious hamburgers at the hamlet, our waiter commented on my cursive shirt and then launched into how the new mars volta album was the best record in five years. it was funny how suddenly he felt comfortable pouring out his musical obsession to us; but i enjoyed it. more people should just put themselves out in front like that.

nevermind that i disagreed with him and think he’s awfully generous to an album of mainly screaming and racket-making…but you can’t blame a lonely music geek for trying to liven up his menial job delivering burgers. in fact, i commend him.

the rest of the weekend has been great; or rather had been up until having to come in to work on a sunday afternoon — damn busy season. i saw ladykillers which could not even leverage my coen fascination into making me fully like it, and also hellboy which surprised me by being cooler than expected. so i’d say pass on ladykillers because it’s okay but missable, but check out hellboy if you’re into comic movies because this one does a nice job of it.

now, back to work. at 5pm. on sunday. all i say is i better get me some free food and be outta here well before arrested development comes on…

the mountain goats – we shall all be healed – 5 stars

i know the mountain goats are still new to me, having never heard them until the amazing previous record tallahassee. so it could be that i’m still floating in the realm of infatuation and not thinking long term here (see yesterday). however, i do know how i feel about this cd right now, and that comes in two parts.

one, this is not tallahassee. that was a remarkable cd in every way i could think of, and still one of my favorites almost two years later. the new cd may get a five star rating just like the prior, but that’s because i love them both, not because they are equal.

so, two, is the fact that this cd still blows me away in a lot of the same ways. fantastic writing. that same endearing, unique, almost-but-not-quite annoying vocal style. the same simplicity of a man and his words and his guitar, even when that core is embellished with strings or percussion or keys (and might i say, well done in this go-round). i want to cry or snarl or reflect with him, i’m drawn into the strange world of each song — perhaps more by standouts like ‘mole’ or ‘against pollution’ — and i honestly can’t get enough of this cd. half the time i go from track 13 back to track 1 for another trip around.

it’s definitely not quite as beautiful as its predecessor, which was softer and more tender. i also miss the bittersweet tone that ran through all of the last album and held it together tighter than this one. but you can’t write multiple concept albums based around the failing marriage of a fictional couple, can you? probably not, even if i wished he did. with we shall all be healed, though, he did put together another piece of work which has me convinced he’s brilliant, so i suppose i shouldn’t ask for much more.

and if you’re curious yourself, try not to cry as you fall in love with another especially good track, ‘linda blair was born innocent‘. not that i’m saying i cried or anything — it’s just really good, okay?