The Illusion of Safety (Music #10) 20 February 2013

Today I am going to write about an album that changed my life:
The Illusion of Safety.

I had this habit of judging an album by its cover.  I must have been 23 or so and I was at Just Music, the local music store in my hometown of Longview, Washington.  I had been playing in a band with friends called Empty Skies about a year before.  Punk was new to me.  AFI, Death by Stereo, Opeth, In Flames, and of course Tool dominated my listening experience although none of them really had the accessibility that I wanted in a band.  Empty Skies was bludgeoning, rhythmically simple, and not what I wanted.  I knew I didn't want to go back to that.  I'd known the bass player for a while (Jason), and I had just met the drummer (they had played together in a band, X-It 49).  I loved the energy and skill from this kid, just 16.  I definitely wanted to play with him more in the future.

Thrice's TIOS completely floored me.  It had a decent amount of technicality, punk energy, short songs that were fairly dynamic, and catchy vocals mixed with screams.  It was the band I'd been waiting for.  It was the band I wanted to be in.  There can be no doubt of the influence this band would have on my musical interests.  I couldn't stop listening to it.

From the opening dissonances of "Kill Me Quickly," to the breakdown and conclusion of "The Beltsville Crucible," I was completely absorbed.  While I loved it for a long time, it's not my favorite Thrice album.  I jogged Lake Sacajawea to this album more than any other, and seconded only by Thursday's Full Collapse and Rise Against's Revolutions Per Minute.

Other music news.
Meh?  The only metal album of note for me thus far is Riverside's Shrine of New Generation Slaves, and it's not amazing to me.    

Some scribblings of late (Film #8)

"The sexual interludes in L'Avventura leave one cold and sad: the early scene with Anna in Sandro's apartment, Sandro with Claudia outside the deserted town and later in the hotel room after his encounter with the young architect, Sandro with the high-class prostitute in the early morning. Never has "sin" looked less inviting. The sensuality, pleasure, guilt feelings and remorse of Fellini's characters are replaced by pervasive ennui and irritability, and the sense of the inability of any person to make contact with another even in the most intimate moments. Sex in Antonioni's world may stem from a desire to communicate, but it frequently takes the form of aggression and tired surrender to habit. Among his characters a life in which the sexual act has meaning or even gives pleasure seems unavailable and perhaps unimaginable."
From Jack C. Ellis' A History of Film, 1976.

Heavy stuff from L'Avventura and I'm currently working my way through another Antonioni film, hellbent on finally updating my film blog.

This is the first year (end of 2012/beginning of 2013) in which I can remember two 10/10 films in such close succession.

The Last Films I've Seen
1.  Amour, Haneke, 2012, 10.0.
It's bleak and brutal, it's so real that it's disheartening, but it's so real that it's inspired and beautiful as well.  Growing old is a very real challenge, and this movie pulls no punches.  I will write about it further in the future.
2.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Chbosky, 2012, 10.0.
Another hellish part of American life: High school.  I can honestly say I hated the experience for the most part and this film is brilliant in its humor and reality, and hidden darkness.  Another essay waiting to be written.
3. Colombiana, Megaton, 2011, 4.7/10.
Nothing wrong with a slightly conscious action/revenge flick with a pretty girl in it, is there?  The kids in South America aren't alright, alright? Alas, we get an opaque portrait at best.
4. Hawk The Slayer, Marcel, 1980, 2.7/10.
Yeah, I watched it.  So what?  I've been balancing my heady top 100 cahier du cinema film list with some really dumb action films.  I'm a professed lover of Coscarelli's The Beastmaster, but Hawk is pure crap.  The acting is terrible, Jack Palance is terrible, and the story was usually terrible.
Speaking of Cahiers' top 100,
5. Moonfleet, Lang, 1955, 6.2/10.
I really want to like this film, but it's a bit hollow for me.  I will definitely show it to children when (if?) I ever have any, but for now, I'm not sure I can recommend this film.  Good acting, enough seriousness to be a good adult/kid movie, but not put together well (strange for a Fritz Lang film).

Sign of life (ALATWA #10/11)

This week should prove interesting.  Tonight, I had a meeting with two new friends for a drink at Starlight, a group of  ex-Washington resident, anthropology majors.  Should be a lot of fun, once it happens.  I've been wanting to meet Emilia for a while.  Getting over a cold or bronchitis though, so it's best not to spread it any further than need be.

Here I am one week later ^^^^ and this should have been posted!  Let's see.. what lies ahead this week.  I'm helping my dad dig a well up at his place, where I'll go tomorrow morning at some point.  He's getting the motor fixed on the drill and it should be good by tomorrow.  I'm staying through Friday at his place.  Looking forward to working hard and having some good food and playing some guitar.  Nothing else really on the radar, aside from an essay I'm writing about Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura.

(Saturday Life #10) 2 February 2013

To the ballet I go.  Here, I'll see everyone living their life to its fullest like I should be.  I will be thinking about that as I watch.