Category: Uncategorized

alright, seriously: why didn’t anyone ever tell me about cursive? what the fuck, people? you had no right to keep this band from me for all these years. NO right at all. i thought we were friends! i thought we shared our treasures and our fantastic discoveries! but now i don’t know if i can ever trust you like i used to. this is going to take some time to get over.

as a whole i would say the plea for peace tour was fair to good. i like the lawrence arms even though it didn’t seem like anyone else did which was a damper on that set. i was pretty un-fond of common rider (we used to be operation ivy! we’re political and conscious and soooo intelligent; so much so that our music can be very audibly just watered down op-ivy leftover crap but you can’t hate us because then you’re not all about unity like we are!), and poison the well was a little too hardcore for my usual tastes.

(i decided a good measure of hardcoreness is the ratio of screaming to singing. thus the new glassjaw cd sucks compared to the old one, because the first one had a higher ratio and was more hardcore and therefore cooler, of course, because glassjaw is a good hardcore band. PTW was probably around 70/30 most of the time, which is a little too high, because the music just wasn’t interesting enough to get me through it on the majority of their songs. admittedly it could have been that the roundhouse-kicking hardcore suburban kids were just too distracting for me to find something to like in the band’s performance, which was all-out if nothing else, so i’d be willing to give them another chance in the future. maybe. if i didn’t have to pay.)

thursday was good because they go all the way and their songs are made to be played live in front of throngs of kids who like to scream. i had a great time with them. they seem like good guys too that have fun playing for people that like to hear them play. i always appreciate getting that vibe from a band.

cursive though? i don’t think i’d ever heard a cursive song before, which i’m now really embarrassed about, because they were outstanding. and they had a cello player! and it made them sound better instead of being used as a stage accessory to make them appear more credible. it was great. dug the cursive. need to get my hands on some cursive. and some guy happily yelled, “i write my name in cursive!” up at the band after their set, which got me pretty good i have to say. oh those crazy kids.

two music blogs in a row. wooo-eeeee. seriously though, check out that minus the bear song. it’s unstoppable. get their e.p.(s). they’re excellent.

**collapsing is not in any way affiliated with minus the bear, their record label, or any subsidiary thereof, and does not profit by their endorsement of the aforementioned band except that if more people buy their stuff maybe they can afford to come down to LA to play more often since they’re from seattle.

[now hearing this: cursive mp3 of “the radiator hums”. jesus you guys… you really should have said something.]

note: if you are offended by me calling glassjaw a hardcore band, which maybe they really aren’t, then i’m sorry but i really can’t be troubled to care. and their first cd is still way better, you’re just going to have to admit it. –b

my buddy joe and i went to the troubadour last night to see some bands play, mainly minus the bear, whom i love. it was pretty strange though, because the rest of the lineup was all these hardcore rock bands that seemed really into screaming and lunging around the stage. the first two bands were pretty terrible and the second was only better because the lead singer was a very large man that danced around a lot, which was at least funny for the first few songs. and he had a theramin, which is at least interesting.

the rest were pretty good though. i’d never heard of bullet train to vegas before, but they were a good time. not the best singers, but pretty energetic and enjoyable. some cool guitar sounds, and pretty hyperactive, basically. i’d see them again. planes mistaken for stars, who went on last, were about the same. only they were better musicians i think. i really liked what they were playing, i just didn’t get into the vocal stuff, because for some reason i can’t really connect with people that only scream things i can’t understand. i guess i’m crazy.

minus the bear was the highlight by far. they’re certainly my favorite band-that-it-seems-like-no-one-ever-talks-about. i saw them back in march opening for piebald, and i’ve just fallen more in love with their stuff as time passes. last night only supported that, in addition to winning over a lot of the audience i think. i caught a lot of people sort of furrowing their brows after they started, then looking at eachother and nodding with the “hey, this is pretty damn good” look. i really think that if they keep opening for bands with wider fan bases, they’ll easily double or triple their own in the next year. especially with their first full length album coming out next month, which is looking to be fantastic. at the show they were selling new ep’s with two of those songs on it and three extras, which i picked up and listened to five times this morning. oh man, it’s good. check out spritz!!! spritz!!!, one of the tunes from the upcoming LP, and remember it — because i’m willing to be that you’ll be hearing more about them soon enough. it’s not just the song of the week, it’s a strong recommendation.

[now hearing this: centaur – in streams. i have a lot to say about this one too but i’ll hold off for another day. it’s time for mongolian barbeque anyway. mmmmmm.]

i have no right to complain about school, ever. my classes demand very little of me and what they do demand is pretty much a joke. that doesn’t make me any happier having a quiz and midterm on the same day though and having to study bullshit instead of playing max payne. seriously, that game is the best thing to spin in my console all year. soon to be thunderously replaced by this though. sweet jesus. i’m pretty sure i actually get aroused when i think about that game. and it doesn’t bother me.

[now hearing this: random mp3 says…the who – baba o’riley. rock and roll man.]

{postscript: alright, i’m studying, flipping through my (awful, pointless, doesn’t smell what it’s shovelling) textbook looking at key terms in bold and in the margins and what have you, and what’s there on the side of the page, defined clearly so we poor readers can understand? i’ll quote exactly because it deserves nor requires any more comment:

“quality exists when the firm’s goods or services meet or exceed customers’ expectations.”

i mean come on.}

i’m at work flipping through an ‘urban’ magazine doing research for one of my boss types, and i see an ad with the line, “including the hit single, ‘no panties’ featuring [some singer]…” and after the initial “jesus”, i actually start to worry, because the world is full of people that wouldn’t react that way, but instead with a “daaaaamn” or a “yee-ah”.

that’s why i have a hard time playing with others.

it’s time for some notes on the weekend now past, before i forget to write what i’m thinking about writing. it might be easier to make a list or use bullet points, but that’s not for me. although i think it is an effective method for the medium, i don’t want to grow to rely on it. it probably isn’t good writing in the broader sense and it could allow one to get lazy.

friday night was not much to speak of because cheeseburgers (in-n-out, best around) and cookies (diddy riese’s, best around) and alcohol (around in plentitude) and video games (constantly around) isn’t such a bad run; it just doesn’t make for much of a story. and neither did the party we were talked into going to later on. except a tall fruity black guy was putting his arm around one of our crew a little more than is customary in most circles, which was funny at least. too bad the girls weren’t very interesting or attractive even if they seemed to like us just fine. better to go home and get some rest for saturday night.

which would see us off to our friends’ place for a birthday party entitled, “the slackjawed yocal brou-ha-ha”. i don’t go to many ‘theme’ parties but i have to say it’s a fun idea to get as white-trashy as you can and go drink beers with some friends. i had to cut the sleeves off a t-shirt for the occasion, not having any trailer park wear in my closet, waiting to be showcased at such an event (surprising, huh?). it was an underattended but still pretty decent time, i thought. but i’m biased.

tonight was better. nothing beats good company and lots of cute smiles and a winding, enjoyable conversation. we’ll leave it at that because i want to go to bed grinning like i am right now.

[now hearing this: laptop shuffle pulls up… houston – “…at the foot of the gunflint trail”. i think i grabbed this from their mp3.com site, which has lots of good stuff by them, which i would point you toward if you like heavy spacy rock. and before you ask, they’re from minnesota, not anywhere in texas. go figure.]

i am always saddened when i remember that burning airlines isn’t a band anymore. especially when listeing to mission: control or remembering the concert they played on september 12th of last year — saying, “let’s just play some music and have a good time,” in the aftermath of such a tragedy.

i feel like lots of my favorite bands are no longer together, and i worry about what that says about me as a music fan (aging? nostalgic? mired in a musical moment whose time has passed? old and jaded and uninterested in recent offerings?). instead of growing outward i’m almost as often pushing roots further inward, such as picking up old jawbox cd’s at amoeba and telling myself the new stuff i bring to the listening station isn’t worth the money. check out this song of the week though, and tell me there isn’t a quality that’s hard to match, then or now. it’s called consolation prize from the cd grippe and it’s smashing. then afterward, email me and recommend some new stuff because i’m feeling out of the loop these days.

[now hearing this: roommates playing halo on my tv.]

i’m at work and it’s friday. we get to leave early because there’s a big move today. not like we’re switching buildings or office spaces; certain departments are just moving to other sections of this huge warehouse building that’s stylishly outfitted as an ad agency. so everyone gets to pack up all their stuff into boxes so movers can come over the weekend and carry those boxes 30 yards across the building to another desk. the people in my department, for the most part, if they stand up at their desk and look over a partition, can see the new desk they’re moving to. and yet people are putting things in boxes for some outside agents to come in and cart over for them. now i’m no financial analyst, but it seems to me a pretty wasteful use of corporate funds. big companies sure to seem to get frivolous.

i still don’t know what i’m doing tonight, but i do know that there’s an awful lot of freshly purchased alcohol in our kitchen as i write this, so i’m not really worried. if worse comes to worse, i could be very happy simply drinking 7 & socos or heinekens while i play my new copy of max payne on my shiny new (and free, might i add. that’s right, i said free) x-box.

[now hearing this: office sounds and boxes being packed. i need to bring in some headphones or something.]

gonna write. gotta write. every class i’ve ever taken with a writing component, the teacher has stood there and told us, “if you can’t think of anything to write, just start writing,” which always seemed paradoxical to me, but i guess they have a point. if you start writing about how you have nothing to write, at least you’re writing something, right? and maybe it will lead to something else. i just don’t want to lose interest in this journal like i’m sure so many people do who start one, write a lot, have a great time, post less and less, then give up. that makes it seem like a fad. personally, i think this has been too beneficial to me to let it be a fad and just let it slowly fall out of my life. any practice writing is good. and this is practice in front of an audience, even (or so the tracker tells me). and if i want to write something serious someday (as i keep telling myself i do), and i don’t have the time to really dive into that project now with school (as i tell myself i don’t), then i’d better stick with something more manageable where i can at least hone my voice a little bit. right? that’s how i see it. practice makes perfect. maybe i should make up fictitious stories about my day then, since i’d rather write a novel than an autobiography.

today my consumer behavior professor introduced part of his lecture on a guy named thorndike by saying, “he asked the big questions. like bart simpson, who answered the age-old question, ‘can hamsters fly planes?’…” the lecture was actually on experiements to see if cats were smarter than dogs (thorndike’s big question, which isn’t so big really at all), but i don’t think i have any other professors who can ably quote the simpsons like that. bravo sir.

oh and by the way that was a true story not fiction. not much of a story at that. what can you do.

[now hearing this: rancid – …and out come the wolves because sometimes it’s fun to listen to old punk cds from high school. or was that junior high? i can’ even remember.]

i feel so different lately. things are definitely reshaping themselves, and when i stop to think about it, i can’t do much but cock my head at an angle and wonder if things are going to work out for the best on this new little path i’m picking out ahead of me. i’m not afraid so much as curious at how this happened and what it will bring.

it’s hard to explain the differences exactly. it’s just that my time seems to be consumed so quickly lately that a lot of things are getting left out that wouldn’t have before. it could be the fault of my blossoming social life (snickering in background), or maybe the hectic side effects of working three days a week and taking a full courseload crammed into the other two. but i do i know i spend more time away from the comfort, safety and reflectiveness of this desk i’m sitting at now, and that i’m spending more nights ‘out’ in the prototypical college fashion than i have any other semester, by far — which isn’t hard since this is the first time i’ve really done it at all. still, alcohol is a regularity now. trying to make girls smile at me over bottles or plastic cups seems to be the weekly mission. which is only the old mission with the addition of recyclable containers, true, but manages to seem so far from where i was a year ago. or even a few months.

i don’t dislike it; i’m just aware of it. so it’s hard to fully sink into without half-worrying about the eventual outcome. i have to say it’s strange to me though that some things are getting shortchanged as a result, and it doesn’t seem to matter much to me at the moment. i haven’t been reading as much. i haven’t been getting new music for weeks. and as you know i haven’t been writing nearly enough either. i chalk most of this up to a busy week here, or the fact that the old income has dropped from the summer job to the fall job (unpaid internship), but i have to hope that i’m not just kidding myself, and that i’m not turning into someone that i won’t like as much as the idea of me that i’ve had built up in my head for so many years now. he was a great brian. people seemed to like him, and he was what i wanted him to be. i was proud to be that guy. i can’t let him sneak away or get buried.

expect more. we can’t let him slip through our fingers.

oh, and speaking of new music and lacking the same, the solution to the song of the week problem is to just make it an old favorite. take a b-side from hum’s downward is heavenward sessions called puppets, and you’re all set. trust me, it’s a beauty.

[now hearing this: hey mercedes‘ weekend e.p.]

so hectic lately. worked three full days (m,w,f) last week, then 8 hours on saturday, then out all day sunday running errands (check out these shiny new black shoes; so sexy), then yesterday i had the pleasure of awaking at 5:15am to work a conference from 6:30 in the morning to oh, only 9:00 at night. no biggie. wasn’t dead tired with legs that begged me to just lay down and enter a nice relaxing coma. there were some fringe benefits like free krispy kremes, free (crappy) chicken lunch, a couple free beers at the end-of-day-party, and getting to see the band chicago perform. lemme tell ya, that was a riot. those guys are pretty damn old, and their music is pretty damn lame, but they sure do seem to think they have fans. and that’s important.

i also saw some early footage of the new coughdaredevilcough and coughxmen2cough movies, which as far as i know hasn’t been released anywhere else. that was probably the highlight of the day.

so i was exhausted last night and grouchy and impatient with classes today. ah well. going to a screening of rules of attraction tonight in hollywood, with a talk with the director afterward. i obviously can’t recommend it yet — i’ll get back to you on that — but it sure does look wicked. “based on the book by brett easton ellis” is a phrase i like hearing. i loved american psycho. hopefully this will be great as well.

since it’s been several days i don’t mind being longwinded, but this is the best part for me (skip if you don’t like sappy stuff about girls). friday night past, we had some people over for a few drinks, mostly friends of my roommate, but also a trio of our friends who all live together, who’d never been to our place. and one of whom i didn’t really know that well before friday (we met once, played some darts at their place one time). who happens to be a cute girl. with whom i happened to have one of the best conversations i’ve had in weeks with anyone female, about books, for heaven’s sake, among other topics such as careers and atheism (but you have no idea, world of women, how easily i will be yours if you are cute and you talk to me about books). so i was pretty excited, and still am even though an attempted second visit was somewhat of a failure due to poor timing and lenghty grocery store trips. what can you do? but the important thing is the potential. the delicious, exciting potential.

[now hearing this: the faces – “ooh la la”. you know, that song from the end of rushmore. good mp3 to pop up in the shuffle.]