Ugh. I just about had a breakdown in my apartment. All of these dvds, these grand goals of studying the work of past masters to say something with current film. Indie film, green film, local film, local talent, huge messages. It's doable still. I want to sell them, but there is so much more to be done!
I'm sad, and in a dark place, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You just gotta remember to look up from time to time.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Best of 2013 (Music #12) 29 January 2014
It's a month into 2014, I'm just now posting my top albums of the previous year, and still I feel harried. Classic Cody. Tweaking the pieces, hoping to get it together sooner than later.
The top album of the year for me is simple. My favorite bands currently performing are A Wilhelm Scream, Propagandhi, Defeater, Strike Anywhere, Tool (so rarely, and so underwhelming of late, that they seem to flicker at the edge), Rise Against, The Roots, Wolves in the Throne Room, Agalloch, and Panopticon. I can't think of any others that are in such an upper echelon for me. It goes without saying that a release by any of these albums, short of a drastic style/aesthetic/political bent change will merit a top release of the year for me.
Hence A Wilhelm Scream's "Partycrasher" and Defeater's "Letters Home" being in the top 10. The rest of the list follows.
1. A Wilhelm Scream - "Partycrasher"
2. Dennis Johnson - "November"
3. Deafheaven - "Sunbather"
4. Defeater - "Letters Home"
5. Stara Rzeka - "Cień chmury nad ukrytym polem"
6. Run The Jewels - "Run The Jewels"
7. Sigur Ros - "Kveikur"
8. Boards of Canada - "Tomorrow's Harvest"
9. Haken - "The Mountain"
10. The Ocean - "Pelagial"
Many things to be said about the year. The new Gorguts was incredible but just not my bag. New Soilwork was a return to their sound of the past, but they still don't sound as good as Omnium Gatherum. No black metal, outside of "Sunbather" and moments on the split that featured Panopticon impressed me at all. I couldn't get into Gris, Summoning, Arsaidh, and many other back metal albums from this year. I found myself returning time and time again to "Celestial Lineage," Alda's absolute masterpiece "Tahoma," and "Sunbather" anytime I needed a modern black metal fix (which is happening more and more frequently). The glacial song structures and impact resonate the more I consider playing music again. I haven't given fair consideration to many albums from this year. Kanye, Carcass, The Knife, Dillinger Escape Plan, but the initial listening to of parts of these albums stoked no real fire in me to further explore. Naturally, most of this will probably change.
I enjoyed the hell out of some Baths, Fire! Orchestra, Chelsea Wolfe, Janelle Monae, Justin Timberlake and many more this year, and I hope to listen to more and more each year. Thanks.
The top album of the year for me is simple. My favorite bands currently performing are A Wilhelm Scream, Propagandhi, Defeater, Strike Anywhere, Tool (so rarely, and so underwhelming of late, that they seem to flicker at the edge), Rise Against, The Roots, Wolves in the Throne Room, Agalloch, and Panopticon. I can't think of any others that are in such an upper echelon for me. It goes without saying that a release by any of these albums, short of a drastic style/aesthetic/political bent change will merit a top release of the year for me.
Hence A Wilhelm Scream's "Partycrasher" and Defeater's "Letters Home" being in the top 10. The rest of the list follows.
1. A Wilhelm Scream - "Partycrasher"
2. Dennis Johnson - "November"
3. Deafheaven - "Sunbather"
4. Defeater - "Letters Home"
5. Stara Rzeka - "Cień chmury nad ukrytym polem"
6. Run The Jewels - "Run The Jewels"
7. Sigur Ros - "Kveikur"
8. Boards of Canada - "Tomorrow's Harvest"
9. Haken - "The Mountain"
10. The Ocean - "Pelagial"
Many things to be said about the year. The new Gorguts was incredible but just not my bag. New Soilwork was a return to their sound of the past, but they still don't sound as good as Omnium Gatherum. No black metal, outside of "Sunbather" and moments on the split that featured Panopticon impressed me at all. I couldn't get into Gris, Summoning, Arsaidh, and many other back metal albums from this year. I found myself returning time and time again to "Celestial Lineage," Alda's absolute masterpiece "Tahoma," and "Sunbather" anytime I needed a modern black metal fix (which is happening more and more frequently). The glacial song structures and impact resonate the more I consider playing music again. I haven't given fair consideration to many albums from this year. Kanye, Carcass, The Knife, Dillinger Escape Plan, but the initial listening to of parts of these albums stoked no real fire in me to further explore. Naturally, most of this will probably change.
I enjoyed the hell out of some Baths, Fire! Orchestra, Chelsea Wolfe, Janelle Monae, Justin Timberlake and many more this year, and I hope to listen to more and more each year. Thanks.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Tokyo Story (Film #10) 28 January 2014
I rewatched Tokyo Story over the last couple of nights, and I may re-watch it again. Yes, I'm supposed to be packing and I'm watching slow Yasujiro Ozu films. I have to feel like I'm doing something intellectually, or I'd be even more depressed than I already am, so there ya have it.
The director commentary on the standard/Blu-Ray double release by criterion is, as one might expect, incredible. There is a tracking shot, which struck me as completely revolutionary for him. Haha. He wasn't quite as strict in his formalism as I thought. Apparently his shot lengths aren't that long either, which the commentator thought would surprise Ozu followers. I would certainly have guessed they'd be longer. It's strange. Ozu films aren't difficult because of shot length (at least Tokyo Story), but because of subject matter and nuance. Very neorealist in their scope, they deal with simple stories about family, and seasons, and nuclear Japanese life.
Touching on an issue close to my heart, the film deals with a fragmented family (mine from divorce and previous marriages), theirs from marriages and death, and the dysfunction of a family in the modern age; the family spend little time together and have little desire to do so.
I found the film much subtler in its exploration of this theme, but commentator David Desser expresses the actions of the family that makes excuses not to interact or be burdened with their visiting family as much more integral and a conscious part of their psyche. Hearing his exposition made the story disturbing - do we really care about each other that little? Our own flesh and blood, the closest to our own genetics, the first we'd protect aside from ourselves, the most common recipient of our own reciprocal altruism?
Again, this is an issue close to my heart, and more complicated than I'm making it seem.
The story involves an adage, or trope, or simple literary device which I won't go into here (as it would require spoiler alerts), but which make the story ring with a clarion call; care about those you should (I'd argue that it runs a broad humanist, altruistic gamut in which we should try to care about everyone)!
Upon watching the film all the way through for the second time, it was painfully clear that this film should be able to, like the amplifier in Spinal Tap, go to 11. Anyway. Adieu.
The Last Films I've Seen
1. Tokyo Story, 1953, Ozu; 10.0.
The director commentary on the standard/Blu-Ray double release by criterion is, as one might expect, incredible. There is a tracking shot, which struck me as completely revolutionary for him. Haha. He wasn't quite as strict in his formalism as I thought. Apparently his shot lengths aren't that long either, which the commentator thought would surprise Ozu followers. I would certainly have guessed they'd be longer. It's strange. Ozu films aren't difficult because of shot length (at least Tokyo Story), but because of subject matter and nuance. Very neorealist in their scope, they deal with simple stories about family, and seasons, and nuclear Japanese life.
Touching on an issue close to my heart, the film deals with a fragmented family (mine from divorce and previous marriages), theirs from marriages and death, and the dysfunction of a family in the modern age; the family spend little time together and have little desire to do so.
I found the film much subtler in its exploration of this theme, but commentator David Desser expresses the actions of the family that makes excuses not to interact or be burdened with their visiting family as much more integral and a conscious part of their psyche. Hearing his exposition made the story disturbing - do we really care about each other that little? Our own flesh and blood, the closest to our own genetics, the first we'd protect aside from ourselves, the most common recipient of our own reciprocal altruism?
Again, this is an issue close to my heart, and more complicated than I'm making it seem.
The story involves an adage, or trope, or simple literary device which I won't go into here (as it would require spoiler alerts), but which make the story ring with a clarion call; care about those you should (I'd argue that it runs a broad humanist, altruistic gamut in which we should try to care about everyone)!
Upon watching the film all the way through for the second time, it was painfully clear that this film should be able to, like the amplifier in Spinal Tap, go to 11. Anyway. Adieu.
The Last Films I've Seen
1. Tokyo Story, 1953, Ozu; 10.0.
Monday, January 27, 2014
EPL Gonna miss this place (ALATWA #13) 27 January 2014
It feels really good to be posting on here. I'm not doing it everyday, but just a little bit helps. I'm at the Eugene Public Library (EPL), and I'd like to reflect on my relationship with this place. Lately all of my entries are "life" entries, and not much about what they should actually be about.
I'll quickly change that. A look at the week ahead. Well, it's Monday, and my brother is sending someone to Eugene to help me pack on Thursday, so the week is generally me packing and scrambling around trying to sell a few things! That's it. I've met with friends who I'm very sad to leave and I hope that I get to see a few more before I peace out for the time being.
Most of my friends have left Eugene. Were I to have followed a path of high efficiency, I wonder where'd I'd currently be? Eugene seems like a great place. I'm glad to be heading back to an area near my Dad and Mom.
Ok, anyway, let's talk about the library. I know I got a library card pretty soon after moving here. I always checked out way too many things, and I've had my library account in collections twice. I've never lost or had anything stolen, but I've had things out ridiculously long. I don't own it well enough. You shouldn't check out books or media if you have a hard time managing life, which has always been a bit of a struggle. It's like the Roots album, "Things Fall Apart." I'm guessing that's name after the Chinua Achebe book (yes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_Fall_Apart_(album), which comes from a W.B. Yeats poem)?
I'll quickly change that. A look at the week ahead. Well, it's Monday, and my brother is sending someone to Eugene to help me pack on Thursday, so the week is generally me packing and scrambling around trying to sell a few things! That's it. I've met with friends who I'm very sad to leave and I hope that I get to see a few more before I peace out for the time being.
Most of my friends have left Eugene. Were I to have followed a path of high efficiency, I wonder where'd I'd currently be? Eugene seems like a great place. I'm glad to be heading back to an area near my Dad and Mom.
Ok, anyway, let's talk about the library. I know I got a library card pretty soon after moving here. I always checked out way too many things, and I've had my library account in collections twice. I've never lost or had anything stolen, but I've had things out ridiculously long. I don't own it well enough. You shouldn't check out books or media if you have a hard time managing life, which has always been a bit of a struggle. It's like the Roots album, "Things Fall Apart." I'm guessing that's name after the Chinua Achebe book (yes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_Fall_Apart_(album), which comes from a W.B. Yeats poem)?
Friday, January 24, 2014
In the eug (Friday Life #9)
In Eugene, Oregon on my last Friday here for quite sometime. I've paid rent through the end of the month and this phase of my life is officially over! Crazy.
I majored in anthropology but it feels like my entire life is digging out from the rubble. I can't wait to really grasp life. Vestalee always said to own it. If you show up, you need to own yourself. Own your actions, own all of it.
It's time. No more excuses! Thanks Vestalee.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I majored in anthropology but it feels like my entire life is digging out from the rubble. I can't wait to really grasp life. Vestalee always said to own it. If you show up, you need to own yourself. Own your actions, own all of it.
It's time. No more excuses! Thanks Vestalee.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:W 7th Ave,Eugene,United States
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Lots of things changing (A Look At The Weekend #11) 23 January 2014
Ugh. I'm always asking myself, "how did I get here?" It's a tough question to answer at any given time, but it's gotta be done sometimes.
This week, I have to give my cat away. "I couldn't do that" a lot of you would say. Well, guess what. FUCK YOU. If your back was against the wall and it were the difference between staying alive and not, you would do it. I have no other way of going on living. I can't move in at my brother's (because apparently I'm not tidy enough), and I can't move in at my father's (because I owe my stepmother money and she's really pissed off at me and probably will be for a long time), neither of those homes would accept another cat anyway. I would have to have her live outside, which presents many issues. Her survival, her access to human companionship (only an idiot would say that that isn't an important part of a domesticated cat's life, especially one acclimated to 9 years of daily attention, sleeping with a human, etc), and many issues with me. Guilt (something some of us know nothing about, apparently), frustration, the logistics of giving my cat attention, and many other things. It's for the best, I guess. I need to become more tidy and work on repairing human relationships, and becoming a better person, in a few key areas. I'm perfectly normal in some ways, but there are others where I'm not. Having a cat isn't part of my life scheme currently. I don't deserve one with the place I've gotten myself in.
I still don't know what I'm going to do. I may hurt myself. I can't take this. Tears.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This week, I have to give my cat away. "I couldn't do that" a lot of you would say. Well, guess what. FUCK YOU. If your back was against the wall and it were the difference between staying alive and not, you would do it. I have no other way of going on living. I can't move in at my brother's (because apparently I'm not tidy enough), and I can't move in at my father's (because I owe my stepmother money and she's really pissed off at me and probably will be for a long time), neither of those homes would accept another cat anyway. I would have to have her live outside, which presents many issues. Her survival, her access to human companionship (only an idiot would say that that isn't an important part of a domesticated cat's life, especially one acclimated to 9 years of daily attention, sleeping with a human, etc), and many issues with me. Guilt (something some of us know nothing about, apparently), frustration, the logistics of giving my cat attention, and many other things. It's for the best, I guess. I need to become more tidy and work on repairing human relationships, and becoming a better person, in a few key areas. I'm perfectly normal in some ways, but there are others where I'm not. Having a cat isn't part of my life scheme currently. I don't deserve one with the place I've gotten myself in.
I still don't know what I'm going to do. I may hurt myself. I can't take this. Tears.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Big game, big days (A Look at the Weekend #11) 16 January 2014
My first official post of 2014!
This weekend is about habit. Trying to change bad habits, that is. This weekend holds some things in store. First, for anyone in the northwest, it's Seattle's chance to clinch their second League championship (first in 2005) and go to their second Super Bowl. It's kinda cool. My dad has always loved the Seahawks and they're my NFL team, I suppose :)
Anyway, I just want to get in the habit of writing in this every day, so until tomorrow, here I go.
This weekend is about habit. Trying to change bad habits, that is. This weekend holds some things in store. First, for anyone in the northwest, it's Seattle's chance to clinch their second League championship (first in 2005) and go to their second Super Bowl. It's kinda cool. My dad has always loved the Seahawks and they're my NFL team, I suppose :)
Anyway, I just want to get in the habit of writing in this every day, so until tomorrow, here I go.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Friday (Friday Life #8)
At my dad's, doing work. Life goes. On :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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