two.points.collapsing

i can’t believe i just sat through the duration of jurassic park: the lost world. it’s sort of embarrassing; that movie is terrible. not sure what the station was thinking either in hoping that would be a good match up against the oscars for ratings. fox could have at least left the simpsons on in its regular time.

it’s an appropriate testament to my current work ethic though, that i would sit through a jeff goldblum vehicle without much of a fuss. granted, i never stopped telling the movie how stupid it was, knowing it could hear my comments and try to do better next time, but all the same i did watch it. because i can’t do it anymore. i don’t want to think about what i have to do for the next day on a sunday night. i want to read science fiction classics. i want to catch up on current events. i want to watch movies that are better than michael crichton adaptations. i’d really like to kick back and run my fingers through the hair of a sweet girl’s head lying in my lap, but i guess school’s not the thing keeping me from doing that so we won’t go there.

all i’m saying is that having six weeks left of school sure isn’t causing me any sadness.

but speaking of movies that aren’t too great, i caught spun friday night here in LA. although the crowd was full of artsy looking people some of whom i would have loved to take home with me, the pretentiousness couldn’t make up for a movie that just isn’t that great. i wouldn’t say i didn’t like it — i mean, it’s no lost world, but i wouldn’t say i’d recommend it either. jason schwartzman, brittany murphy, john leguizamo… good cast, really, but it wasn’t funny enough to make me want to see it again or moving enough to make me want to think about it afterward. i really dig the soundtrack of our lives song that played during the credits though (instant repeater ’99).

and if you’d like to read some science fiction classics with me, by the way, pick up dune by frank herbert, which after finishing i’d say deserves its accolades, and do androids dream of electric sheep by philip k. dick which after starting i’m guessing won’t take me many more hours to complete. good stuff.

[now hearing this: the aforementioned.]

they’re tardy, i know, but i did have some remarks on the ted leo show from what was it, two weeks ago now? man, i have to get it together…

the show was great, i’ll tell you that. see ted leo if you never have, for christ’s sake. the guy twitches and shakes and contorts like he’s possessed by an unholy groove demon that wants to rock harder than a mortal body can allow it to do. this is a fun thing to see happening on stage in front of you. and the music is fantastic, if that’s important to you at all. the band knows how to lay down some hooks. i wasn’t even that familiar with their stuff before going to the show and i was bobbing and nodding with the best of ’em.

i don’t know if my complaints would be true of any ted leo show, but he could do to improve a few things on the night i saw him. mainly, ramble less between songs and in so doing stretch a set that could have been closer to 80 minutes of tight rocking into 100 minutes which are a bit hard to stay enthusiastic through. especially for a new ted leo fan such as myself. the crowd was certainly thinning and those that remained a little less full of the spirit than early on in the set when he played ‘ballad of the sin eater’ or ‘where have all the rudeboys gone’.

still, worth every penny. and i’m always a sucker for atom and his package as well. so late or not, enjoy some ted leo with me for the song of the week, specifically 2nd ave., 11am, which causes involuntary head motion every time i hear it.

SPRING BREEEEAAAAK!

although i am not one of those people who are now glued to 24 hour news coverage to get up-to-the-minute war updates, i did turn on CBS so i’d have something to watch while i ate my cinammon toast crunch cereal this afternoon now that i finally got some milk from the grocery store. dan rather was talking to some representative or analyst who was talking about what sort of missiles and bombs we had used in the big first strike and how much they cost per missile, to which dan rather asked, “…which means we spent over a quarter of a billion dollars on that attack alone?”

the rep’s response, “oh yes, at least.”

not to use a pun, but that seriously blew me away.

[now hearing this: rilo kiley – the execution of all things.]

well if you missed me it was because i was gone for five nights having the best time of my life. nine people, two vehicles, five nights, five cities, 2,711 miles, 8 hotel rooms, too much candy, hundreds of pictures, some gambling losses, plenty of drinking, the best friends i have, more laughs than ever, no stress, and a few mad libs mixed in, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a spring break. i could try to tell a more full story but it wouldn’t do it justice. hopefully i’ll actually get around to posting a few pictures some time, but i remember saying i’d do that for the yosemite trip too and we all know that never happened.

i am back though so at least i can get back to writing in my weblog. i mean, what a relief, huh?

[now hearing this: recover – ceci n’est pas recover.]

i’m in this class where we have to send a lot of class-wide emails, and we all have roles in one big semester-long project. one of the ‘supervisor’ kids sends emails that are almost unbearable to read though because of the extreme overabundance of praise and exclamation points. i’m sure everyone knows people like this. we got one this week that must have drained her thesaurus of synonyms for ‘great’, and contained an unbelievable twenty-two exclamations to only two periods and one question mark. that’s 88 percent exclamations! how unnatural can you get, honestly — one simply cannot exclaim every thought. and there weren’t even any doubles or triples. each one was a separate (apparently) exciting idea. frankly, i was exhausted just reading it.

but boy was i happy afterward!

spring break starts…well, right now in spirit but i guess technically tomorrow night after i turn in my art project, which i get to spend all afternoon tomorrow editing (it’s digital video). gotta take care of some business between now and then, but i’m dancing for joy already. and this is the last one too. yikes. better get a commemorative haircut right away.

[now hearing this: cursive – ‘the great decay’.]

just really quick: describing someone as a “direct-to-video fixture” in a movie review is even more funny than referring to that one overweight black guy as “kangaroo jack cut-up anthony anderson”… but either way you have to read the onion’s review of cradle 2 the grave. it’s terrific.

i got my new impossibles dvd (never) say goodbye in the mail last week, and watched every minute of it. yes, i’m one of those guys who watches commentaries — but only on the stuff i really like. i love the impossibles, so of course i was thorough with this one. it made me realize something though which i think needs to be instituted more uniformly across the world of independent rock music: the farewell video. i own two of these now, the other being braid’s killing a camera. interesting that both of them are named after songs of theirs, but that’s not the point.

the point is that if i were in charge, i would make these mandatory for any bands breaking up that have gained any sort of following. you videotape the last big goodbye show, provide interview/behind the scenes footage enough where you get to fully explain your reasons for breaking up along with some off-the-cuff humor and insight, and leave that to your fans as a kind of parting gift. i don’t know if you’ve seen this sort of thing, but i know when i watch either of these, it’s like watching a great tragedy. i get really involved with the characters and experience their excitement and joy, and then in the end feel the real sadness in the finality of the whole event. you get the pleasure of seeing them play their hearts out one last time and the pain of knowing that after that, it’s all over — it’s beautiful! it’s perfect. i honestly think every band should do this. that means you, any bands that have recently called it quits… ahemdplancoughshinersniffleburningairlinescough. plus, they get to make a few extra bucks in the final breaths of their band, right? everyone wins! it’s a glorious institution. vote yes on prop 35b and get a quality send-off from your favorite defunct music groups. the children are our future!

and in honor of this idea which i’m sure will take the music world by storm, i’ve chosen a delightful selection from the aforementioned impossibles dvd for the song of the week. that is to say, they play this song at the last show; but the recording i’m sharing is actually from their first album, not the live version from that night. still, you’d do yourself wrong to have not heard the week of august 1st. listen to it while emailing that special band asking them to document their demise before they fade away.

[now hearing this: ted leo/pharmacists – “the ballad of the sin eater” from hearts of oak. caught them live last night as part of my super-fantastic weekend but that story will have to wait til tomorrow.]

so now, i write a check to toyota every month so that i can zip around in a silver car. now, i have a ‘respectable resume’. now, i get to decide what town to live in in 6 months’ time. now, my eyebrows perk up when my cell phone has more than three bars worth of reception. now, the waiting is almost over and the building is about to get under way. now, more than ever, i’m aware of where i am and where i need to go, and now, more than ever, i feel like i’m in control of what comes next.

so now, more than ever, i hope there is patience enough in you to hear about it over and over until it’s just done with already.

believe me, no one is more sick of hearing about it than i am of thinking about it.

[now hearing this: kruder and dorfmeister – the k&d sessions.]

i didn’t mention that we saw old school on saturday. i’d say if you take it for what it is, it’s pretty damn funny. i know it was stupid, you don’t have to tell me; but will ferrell and vince vaughn both have really good comic talent that makes a lot of not-so-great dialog suddenly very funny. they know how to deliver, and they know how to improvise. could the movie have done with more of them shining and less old-guy and/or fat-guy humor? well, probably, but what movie couldn’t. i’d certainly watch it again when it inevitably ends up on comedy central.

in my philosophy class this morning the guy sitting next to me was taking notes with one of those little miniature golf pencils that are only about the length of a thumb. when he dropped it on the floor he made this face like he didn’t even want it back, but i picked it up for him and gave it to him anyway, and he kept using it. i kinda feel sorry for him for some reason. he doesn’t even get to erase.

[now hearing this: cave in – “lift off”]

motivation: zero.

that point has come as it has every year in memory. only this time it’s more severe than ever because it’s not ‘i want summer’, it’s ‘i want to move into the whole next part of my life’. it’s much more intense than before because i know things are going to be new soon, and i just love the idea of personal progression and evolution. i’m excited.

too bad it’s only now turning to march, and there are months left to wade through between this point and that one. it’s a struggle that takes significant strength. just to stay awake in an economics class at this point is an ordeal, same with mustering the energy to do a video art project to complete a minor. especially when i can see no real way that either will give me any enjoyment or personal growth, which is most important; or even at least put another tool in my career-building belt, which would be at least some sort of consolation were it to be so. sadly, it is not, and i must waste time and energy doing futile things.

i have this great idea of the life i want, and it’s fun sort of skipping around picking out little ways to make it real. a lot of it i can’t control obviously, because a big part of it is connecting with other people — their participation not exactly being my decision. still, it does seem like i’m getting somewhere lately. now as soon as that dark-haired, lovely girl hiding behind a book and a pair of glasses decides to come introduce herself to me, i might be right on the path to something great.

[now hearing this: nothing technically, but i was listening to wu-tang clan’s “triumph” on the way in this morning and thinking how that song is pretty phat. yeah, i said it.]