I created "A New Commitment" on March 21st, roughly 6.5 months ago - or 27 weeks ago, and I am just now on Weekend Review #2. I could have written 20+ weekend reviews by now. It's time to recommit.
It was a good weekend. I studied with Jeff Friday night, and feel very motivated to understand the medicine that I am dispensing week in and week out. From Chocolate to Morphine is a great starting point, and John loaned me The Marriage of the Sun and the Moon. Many starting off points. More on all of this later. He made ribs and corn on the cob, and they were incredible. Earlier that morning, I got my flat tire fixed and met a girl I'd been texting off of OK Cupid, by the name of Shawnte. We had a really good talk about family and psychology and other things. Sunday has just been really chill, and I finally finished Lost Highway, review to come at some point.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Jane Doe (Music #4)
Converge's Jane Doe is considered by many a keystone: it catapulted Converge to the forefront of a genre they were sort of creating as they were going, along with well-known bands Botch and Dillinger Escape Plan (both of which released albums in 1999 that heralded Jane Doe). The style is some sort of super frenetic hardcore punk variation, typically considered "mathcore" or "math metal." I would argue that it's more hardcore (hence "core"), as it fits into the punk aesthetic, the "DIY" scene, and so on.
To understand Jane Doe, a little background info is important:
It's the first album in which singer/lyricist/artist Jacob Bannon truly came into his own as an artist. Here's the cover to Jane Doe. He has used this blend of medias in the artwork of several other bands, as well as each of the following releases, including this year's forthcoming "All That We Love We Leave Behind." Bannon is vegetarian and straight edge. He's said he likes small, intense venues over large ones.
2001 was a crazy year for artistic music, having releases by Tool ("Lateralus"), Opeth ("Blackwater Park"), Radiohead ("Amnesiac"), Bjork ("Vespertine"), The Strokes ("Is This It?"), Jay-Z ("The Blueprint") White Stripes ("White Blood Cells"), and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds ("No More Shall We Part"), among many other lesser-knowns (Unwound's "Leaves Turn Inside You", The Microphones' "The Glow, pt.2", Neurosis' "A Sun That Never Sets", Fugazi's "The Argument", Gillian Welch's "Time The Revelator", Stars of the Lid's "The Tired Sounds Of", Daft Punk's "Discovery", along with many, many others).
Personally, I'd been following Toolshed like a hawk, waiting for the newest release by Tool for the past several years. Little did I know that I'd listen to the album non-stop for the better part of two years, before joining a ska band and creating a hardcore band of my own, events that would obliterate my music boundaries. Needless to say, my first experience with Converge, outside of snippets I'd hear, here and there, was seeing them in concert in 2004 at the Meow Meow, in Portland's industrial SE side (it used to be the B Complex). It was a show with Cave In and Between the Buried and Me, which I was more excited to see. Converge completely blew me away though, I must say, and I've been a huge supporter ever since. I don't listen to their music nearly as much as I'd like though, and I'm trying to rectify that.
To understand Jane Doe, a little background info is important:
It's the first album in which singer/lyricist/artist Jacob Bannon truly came into his own as an artist. Here's the cover to Jane Doe. He has used this blend of medias in the artwork of several other bands, as well as each of the following releases, including this year's forthcoming "All That We Love We Leave Behind." Bannon is vegetarian and straight edge. He's said he likes small, intense venues over large ones.
2001 was a crazy year for artistic music, having releases by Tool ("Lateralus"), Opeth ("Blackwater Park"), Radiohead ("Amnesiac"), Bjork ("Vespertine"), The Strokes ("Is This It?"), Jay-Z ("The Blueprint") White Stripes ("White Blood Cells"), and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds ("No More Shall We Part"), among many other lesser-knowns (Unwound's "Leaves Turn Inside You", The Microphones' "The Glow, pt.2", Neurosis' "A Sun That Never Sets", Fugazi's "The Argument", Gillian Welch's "Time The Revelator", Stars of the Lid's "The Tired Sounds Of", Daft Punk's "Discovery", along with many, many others).
Personally, I'd been following Toolshed like a hawk, waiting for the newest release by Tool for the past several years. Little did I know that I'd listen to the album non-stop for the better part of two years, before joining a ska band and creating a hardcore band of my own, events that would obliterate my music boundaries. Needless to say, my first experience with Converge, outside of snippets I'd hear, here and there, was seeing them in concert in 2004 at the Meow Meow, in Portland's industrial SE side (it used to be the B Complex). It was a show with Cave In and Between the Buried and Me, which I was more excited to see. Converge completely blew me away though, I must say, and I've been a huge supporter ever since. I don't listen to their music nearly as much as I'd like though, and I'm trying to rectify that.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Film #5 (Dead Freight / Part 2)
More on "Dead Freight."
Gun deaths of children in the US is perpetrated rarely, and typically by unbalanced peers, a la Kip Kinkel or someone of that ilk. Sure child gangs exist in Brazil (City of God link) and other third world countries, but things don't get that out of hand in the U.S., do they?
The most brilliant thing about Breaking Bad is the sense of morality blindness it causes. It's not that it makes you forget that there is a right and wrong, but that layers so many possible outcomes/potential reactions/unforeseen wrinkles that, if pondered thoroughly, raise more questions than they could possibly answer. It was very hard to buy into the show. I watched the first episode several times before I finally decided to suspend my belief enough to accept Walt's chosen path.
Quoting from an imdb reviewer upon seeing the episode:
"I suppose I could just borrow from our very own Mr. M--- who, at approximately 10:07 last night, sent me a text that simply, yet eloquently, read, "FFFFUUUUCCCKKKK!!!!" Really, that's probably the best method of summing it all up, anyway."
Not sure if that's the proper precis, but it gets at some of the difficult ground covered here. Another reviewer, talking about one of the main characters (Jesse):
"And despite the fact that he's committed his fair share of crimes, and has, just as the others, murdered, he still remains very much in touch with his moral center, and I find that to be quite the fascinating aspect of his character."
That's a good way of explaining the crux of the show. The morality blindness it fosters makes us question our moral center. I am reminded of the concept of Arthur Rimbaud systematically deranging his senses to make these synesthetic poems where everything is conveyed in an incredibly warped way. Breaking Bad is, at its best, a Rimbaud poem, in which not our senses but our moral lens is warped to the point of confusion. In the end, Walt is trying to help his family, but the relatedness of his every day actions becomes more and more strained and blurry. Can he really justify these things he's doing? His wife has grown to fear him incredibly, and so despite the fact that she's won his parental investment, her genetic fitness is nonetheless in jeopardy, as his choices may have huge ramifications for this.
More on all of this later.
Gun deaths of children in the US is perpetrated rarely, and typically by unbalanced peers, a la Kip Kinkel or someone of that ilk. Sure child gangs exist in Brazil (City of God link) and other third world countries, but things don't get that out of hand in the U.S., do they?
The most brilliant thing about Breaking Bad is the sense of morality blindness it causes. It's not that it makes you forget that there is a right and wrong, but that layers so many possible outcomes/potential reactions/unforeseen wrinkles that, if pondered thoroughly, raise more questions than they could possibly answer. It was very hard to buy into the show. I watched the first episode several times before I finally decided to suspend my belief enough to accept Walt's chosen path.
Quoting from an imdb reviewer upon seeing the episode:
"I suppose I could just borrow from our very own Mr. M--- who, at approximately 10:07 last night, sent me a text that simply, yet eloquently, read, "FFFFUUUUCCCKKKK!!!!" Really, that's probably the best method of summing it all up, anyway."
Not sure if that's the proper precis, but it gets at some of the difficult ground covered here. Another reviewer, talking about one of the main characters (Jesse):
"And despite the fact that he's committed his fair share of crimes, and has, just as the others, murdered, he still remains very much in touch with his moral center, and I find that to be quite the fascinating aspect of his character."
That's a good way of explaining the crux of the show. The morality blindness it fosters makes us question our moral center. I am reminded of the concept of Arthur Rimbaud systematically deranging his senses to make these synesthetic poems where everything is conveyed in an incredibly warped way. Breaking Bad is, at its best, a Rimbaud poem, in which not our senses but our moral lens is warped to the point of confusion. In the end, Walt is trying to help his family, but the relatedness of his every day actions becomes more and more strained and blurry. Can he really justify these things he's doing? His wife has grown to fear him incredibly, and so despite the fact that she's won his parental investment, her genetic fitness is nonetheless in jeopardy, as his choices may have huge ramifications for this.
More on all of this later.
Monday, September 3, 2012
No real weekend/Work 2/2 (Weekend Review #2)
"Langston Hughes put shanks in crews."
We passed their graves:
The dead men there,
Winners or losers,
Did not care.
In the dark
They could not see
Who had gained
The dead men there,
Winners or losers,
Did not care.
In the dark
They could not see
Who had gained
Climb those cemetery walls again; leave these flowers at your headstone.
These are a few of my favorite things. I had a good night with Bad Hat tonight. I'm sick of piddling around with this thing, and even though this is supposed to be a weekend report, it may wind up a bit bigger than all of that. It's about 1230am. For the hypertext-challenged, the following references are The Roots, Langston Hughes, and Defeater.
So the republicans pulled Clint Eastwood out of their hat, eh? Interesting. Considering how much the average republican bitches about celebrities being liberal, this is quite humorous. It's also flat-out embarrassing and miserable. Gran Torino deserves another look (expect a review on Evolutionary Psychology and Film), and I had my misgivings from the start. Ugh. He's doddering, and well into his dotage. Nobody said it better than Jon Stewart.
Some people start early. Douche patrol code red on Paul Ryan's lyin'.
I'm really considering a vote for a third party this year. I just don't feel right voting for the establishment. I'm not sure any true campaign finance reform can be enacted with these two parties, and that's the only real chance that can lead to a change in this country. Maybe Green Party this year? I'm not sure. I wish we were parliamentary like England and other countries, where it wasn't just X and Y, but again, corporate politics seem to help keep this alive.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Saturday life 5
This is the last day I will ever be late to work, he says as he rides the bus, late to work.
This is a problem, no? Says the manager for the 20th time. Yes, yes it is. He reaches for the triplicate "official" paper.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This is a problem, no? Says the manager for the 20th time. Yes, yes it is. He reaches for the triplicate "official" paper.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Hilyard St,Eugene,United States
Friday, August 31, 2012
Anathema
Catching the #28 home. Hard to believe that in less than two months I will have a car!
It has been a good while. I am also planning on a Seattle/Portland trip at the end of October to see converge both places. :). Very excited!
Hoping to hang with ep on Monday!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It has been a good while. I am also planning on a Seattle/Portland trip at the end of October to see converge both places. :). Very excited!
Hoping to hang with ep on Monday!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Olive St,Eugene,United States
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Film #3: 6/12/12 film #4: 8/28/12
Weekly film reviews, installment #3. I am going to review certain show episodes as well, if they merit a bit of discussion.
New:
What a perfect segue into a few thoughts on last week's Breaking Bad episode: "Dead Freight."
"Amphetamines are more toxic than cocaine and, when abused, cause worse problems. The body has a great capacity to metabolize and eliminate cocaine: the liver can detoxify a lethal dose of cocaine every thirty minutes. It cannot handle amphetamines as efficiently."
Andrew Weil said it well. It's toxic. It's an impure, unholy mess. Nothing good comes of it except the 3am cleaning of an addict's apartment. I am from Washington and currently live in Oregon, two states riddled with
meth problems. Large manufactured housing businesses in the area who keep their homes up off the ground had people breaking into their lots and taking the copper piping off of the bottom of the houses to sell at metal scrapyards. A local business owned by acquaintances lost several thousand dollars worth of food when a burglar broke in and took the metal necessary for keeping the refrigerators cold for what are probably similar reasons. Finally pseudoephedrine requires a prescription (the necessary ingredient to manufacture the methylamine), but there is no doubt that the product has not fully dried up.
"Dead Freight" jumps right in on this, as it involves a young boy caught in the fray between Walter, Jesse, and Mike. Largely due to Walter's ego, he is unable to simply give up a job at the height of his power, and in so doing has found a grey area of psychological culture, in which the individual is driven to a point beyond narcissism in which the ego not only feels it is the center of everything but becomes a black hole, sucking in weaker objects and chewing them up or obliterating them. Like a fine (read: incredibly dangerous) military commander, Walter feels that his work is actually helping a majority of people.
New:
What a perfect segue into a few thoughts on last week's Breaking Bad episode: "Dead Freight."
"Amphetamines are more toxic than cocaine and, when abused, cause worse problems. The body has a great capacity to metabolize and eliminate cocaine: the liver can detoxify a lethal dose of cocaine every thirty minutes. It cannot handle amphetamines as efficiently."
Andrew Weil said it well. It's toxic. It's an impure, unholy mess. Nothing good comes of it except the 3am cleaning of an addict's apartment. I am from Washington and currently live in Oregon, two states riddled with
meth problems. Large manufactured housing businesses in the area who keep their homes up off the ground had people breaking into their lots and taking the copper piping off of the bottom of the houses to sell at metal scrapyards. A local business owned by acquaintances lost several thousand dollars worth of food when a burglar broke in and took the metal necessary for keeping the refrigerators cold for what are probably similar reasons. Finally pseudoephedrine requires a prescription (the necessary ingredient to manufacture the methylamine), but there is no doubt that the product has not fully dried up.
"Dead Freight" jumps right in on this, as it involves a young boy caught in the fray between Walter, Jesse, and Mike. Largely due to Walter's ego, he is unable to simply give up a job at the height of his power, and in so doing has found a grey area of psychological culture, in which the individual is driven to a point beyond narcissism in which the ego not only feels it is the center of everything but becomes a black hole, sucking in weaker objects and chewing them up or obliterating them. Like a fine (read: incredibly dangerous) military commander, Walter feels that his work is actually helping a majority of people.
Location:W 18th Ave,Eugene,United States
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