"I remember doing that as a kid, I’d sit in the mirror and practice freeze frames and stuff. I’d be walking down the hall in my home and every once in a while I’d do a punchline and hold as though there was credits frozen over me, because I was growing up in a world where I was understanding that that was the height of coolness, that that’s how good, awesome, clean people were presented."
(via)
25.9.10
My Gap Feels Weird
This week I got to see Superchunk which I've been wanting to do since the first time I saw Guided By Voices when I was like, 11 or 12. Basically a lifelong dream realized. I think it's amazing that Superchunk aren't thrown around as much as Jawbreaker or Lifetime when people talk about influences on pop punk bands of today. That's all, haha.
8.7.10
The indie rock line in the sand
Folks, what is all this confusion about what is indie anymore? It has always been easy for me to know what indie is. It is a little more than punk, a little less than rock. It's that simple.
It is self-conscious of its aspirations. It would love to "rock" like rock but is worried about the attention that rocking could bring.
It is self-conscious of its aspirations. It would love to "rock" like rock but is worried about the attention that rocking could bring.
2.7.10
The Califonia Gurls video is more outrageous/hilarious/subversive/amazing than anything Lady Gaga has done
I am sick of this Lady Gaga is a serious artiste shit. Sure, the gal knows how to work the industry... if every other pop star had spent like, 5 years working in the industry before deciding to play it, it would be the same thing. I know her videos are supposed to be like high-concept/high-art/high-fashion or whatever too but like, all that shit is lost on me. I shop at the Gap.
Yeah, no, I'm way more blown away by Katy Perry's turn as an Oompa Loompa-style imp that has recently discovered her sexuality. In one scene, she is laying nude on a purple cloud, with shiny purple hair, and after mouthing the line "Sun-kissed skin/so hot we'll melt your popsicle," she covers her teeth with her tongue and looks knowingly at the camera. Like, "come on, I've never been much for subtlety." The plot of the video is just thrown away (i.e. Snoop Dogg appears to be her (literal?) "sugar daddy" and is seen dancing with her and the other Calif. gurls, but then Snoop is the target of a whipped-breast-cream attack that leaves his gummi bear minions incapacitated
Katy Perry's deliberate movements and wide eyes at the beginning of the vid, like while the viewer and also Perry are growing accustomed to this edible wonderland, are kind of charming.
A dress of bubbles? Fuck a dress of bubbles. Calif gurls has Perry donning a dress of that sticky paper candy (that skeeves me out, but still.)
I dunno, I guess what I'm saying is, I'm glad this video has almost 9.5 million views as of tonight.
Yeah, no, I'm way more blown away by Katy Perry's turn as an Oompa Loompa-style imp that has recently discovered her sexuality. In one scene, she is laying nude on a purple cloud, with shiny purple hair, and after mouthing the line "Sun-kissed skin/so hot we'll melt your popsicle," she covers her teeth with her tongue and looks knowingly at the camera. Like, "come on, I've never been much for subtlety." The plot of the video is just thrown away (i.e. Snoop Dogg appears to be her (literal?) "sugar daddy" and is seen dancing with her and the other Calif. gurls, but then Snoop is the target of a whipped-breast-cream attack that leaves his gummi bear minions incapacitated
Katy Perry's deliberate movements and wide eyes at the beginning of the vid, like while the viewer and also Perry are growing accustomed to this edible wonderland, are kind of charming.
A dress of bubbles? Fuck a dress of bubbles. Calif gurls has Perry donning a dress of that sticky paper candy (that skeeves me out, but still.)
I dunno, I guess what I'm saying is, I'm glad this video has almost 9.5 million views as of tonight.
29.6.10
Lyrics of "The Battle of Hampton Roads" changed so they fit my current situation
So I'm going back to Kennett Square. I do believe they've had enough of me.
So now I leave Philly my tail is between my legs/
After deep calms of pain we're drunk to the drags/
And now im heading south on 95 again/
And I'm as intellectually/financially poor as I've ever been.
So now I leave Philly my tail is between my legs/
After deep calms of pain we're drunk to the drags/
And now im heading south on 95 again/
And I'm as intellectually/financially poor as I've ever been.
17.6.10
Made up stupid nonsense words humans become attached to and use ad nauseam
I am pro-"meep"-ban. I fucking hate shit like "meep," some stupid onomatopoeia or idiom or colloquialism that enters the lexicon at the bottom of the popu-pyriamid, with like, band geeks or videogame nerds and then rises, meme-like, to the top, until a school principal gets to the point where they must institute a ban on the word. This isn't a first amendment issue. It's merely a ban on fucking nonsense. If I had any power, I also would not hesitate to stomp this shit out like a foot to cigarette butt for the sake of myself and my staff. SEE ALSO: FAIL AS NOUN
Story about "meep" ban: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO129435/
Story about "meep" ban: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO129435/
4.6.10
Primitive Burger King Gods
My best friend Christian is back in town! Christian goes to B.U. and the type of bro (as in best guy friend) that no matter how long it's been since you've been together last, you pick up right where you left off. You probably need something like that in your life, I think. Anyway, we've been breaking in my new abode with CASES OF PBR and FORTIES. Seriously, it's been a lot of fun. We went to a free screening of "Get Him to the Greek" last night (it's definitely a TBS: Very Funny. Partying-like-a-rock-star-humor rarely fails to amuse. Same goes for Britishisms like "jeffrey.") and dined at Burger King. Christian and I are pretty serious about fast food. So we're feasting on chicken sandwiches and "steak-house" burgers when, after easily ignored songs like "Bring Me a Higher Love" and a Carrie Underwood hit, this song came on and ruined my day with information. Goddammit. I love this song but hearing it at a BK on a rainy night at 10 o'clock? Whilst stuffing your face with sat. fat and processed meat? I HAD TO RESIST URGES TO CONTEMPLATE MY MORTALITY IN ORDER THAT I COULD ORDER SECONDS. It was some kind of music/fast food culture clash. I don't want to hear P.R.G. while I'm eating a burger under fluorescent lights. I don't really want to hear anything at all except the chewing noises that grimly connect us to the cattle we were putting into our mouths.
26.5.10
I WRAPPED UP COMMUNITY FOR A TV AND A GIRL
Thanks Kristen for letting me do that.
By far the show I was most fond of this season, or maybe any season ever (1), was NBC’s underdog/fanart-stimulator/Soup -host-vehicle/Channel 101-mastermind-masterminded/community-college-set Community. In 09-10, while most people were getting too-involved with the conclusion of Lost (2), I was trying to figure out how to make .gif files so I could join in all the fun people were having with the Community ensemble on Tumblr and Livejournal (3). Speaking really broadly: I liked the show a lot and I think it worked on a whole lot of levels.
(More specific now!) The show sometimes gave me butterflies and I think its first season excelled because it featured: a great ensemble led by a fairly-recognizable anti-Seacrest who is able to make my DAD laugh; an exaggerated but accurate portrayal of a few aspects of college that haven’t yet been beaten into a desk (classroom puns!); inter-character chemistry that became a shipper’s dream; fans that (I think probably) mostly experienced and expressed love for the show on the web; the Dan Harmon that listened to those fans; and Alison Brie.
A laundry list of stray observations that are related to most of the laundry-listed reasons above, written both now and over the course of the season:
READ THE REST OF THE POST AT KRISTEN'S BLOG, A TV AND A GIRL
By far the show I was most fond of this season, or maybe any season ever (1), was NBC’s underdog/fanart-stimulator/Soup -host-vehicle/Channel 101-mastermind-masterminded/community-college-set Community. In 09-10, while most people were getting too-involved with the conclusion of Lost (2), I was trying to figure out how to make .gif files so I could join in all the fun people were having with the Community ensemble on Tumblr and Livejournal (3). Speaking really broadly: I liked the show a lot and I think it worked on a whole lot of levels.
(More specific now!) The show sometimes gave me butterflies and I think its first season excelled because it featured: a great ensemble led by a fairly-recognizable anti-Seacrest who is able to make my DAD laugh; an exaggerated but accurate portrayal of a few aspects of college that haven’t yet been beaten into a desk (classroom puns!); inter-character chemistry that became a shipper’s dream; fans that (I think probably) mostly experienced and expressed love for the show on the web; the Dan Harmon that listened to those fans; and Alison Brie.
A laundry list of stray observations that are related to most of the laundry-listed reasons above, written both now and over the course of the season:
READ THE REST OF THE POST AT KRISTEN'S BLOG, A TV AND A GIRL
20.5.10
Lavis Bloke
I get to see Lavis Blake tonight who are "taking Philly by storm." I will probably heckle something like "What the fucks is your name a reference to?"(edit: to a homeless woman that squatted in the abandoned house next door. I see a trend! Omar, Lavis Blake... someone needs to start a band about "Spare some change for cup of coffee" Liacouras guy.)
I was really bummed when they took their old songs off their site in favor of some more Philly math-lite. It seemed weirdly self-conscious of them. This is another case of me reading way too far into the activity of a local band but, come on, it was kind of drastic. And though the guitars got noodly and open tuned, I've determined this isn't a turn for the worse. LB's place, now, (no longer outliers which, even though I know very little about the band past their Myspace page, I will declare them,) is somewhere between Spraynard's posi-stoke and Algernon's elated emoturity.
Dag Nasty-informed lyrics and annunciation in "On The Road" (which for some reason, conjures images of Fozzybear:)"We live and learn respect." "We live in library stacks" which is even better. Share some motifs with the 'nard dogs: "As the sun goes down/across those hills." Kyle, the singer, is seriously great. His shuddering vocal on "Era of Hopeful Monsters" gives me the chills.
I was really bummed when they took their old songs off their site in favor of some more Philly math-lite. It seemed weirdly self-conscious of them. This is another case of me reading way too far into the activity of a local band but, come on, it was kind of drastic. And though the guitars got noodly and open tuned, I've determined this isn't a turn for the worse. LB's place, now, (no longer outliers which, even though I know very little about the band past their Myspace page, I will declare them,) is somewhere between Spraynard's posi-stoke and Algernon's elated emoturity.
Dag Nasty-informed lyrics and annunciation in "On The Road" (which for some reason, conjures images of Fozzybear:)
18.5.10
Summer To-Do List, v.1.0
Cover awesome songs with one or more bands. 4 Non Blonde's "What's Up," Piebald's "King of the Road" with lyrics changed to be about my friends, "Roadrunner" with Kennett-related lyrics, "No Fun," etc.
Convince Failed Attempts at Facial Hair to play a full band set somewhere.
If Fest Chester actually happens, redefine frontman while leading a group of confused and susceptible musicians to local, single show infamy.
Have meaningful experiences while listening to: An Emo Diaries comp, Orange Rhyming Dictionary, This is Happening, another Spraynard all-nighter, etc.
Cook more, cook better.
Make my way to East Fairmount Park or equivalent around sunset any evening I can.
Fight loneliness with loud music, books, writing and, duh, other peeps.
Convince Failed Attempts at Facial Hair to play a full band set somewhere.
If Fest Chester actually happens, redefine frontman while leading a group of confused and susceptible musicians to local, single show infamy.
Have meaningful experiences while listening to: An Emo Diaries comp, Orange Rhyming Dictionary, This is Happening, another Spraynard all-nighter, etc.
Cook more, cook better.
Make my way to East Fairmount Park or equivalent around sunset any evening I can.
Fight loneliness with loud music, books, writing and, duh, other peeps.
17.5.10
Best Shit I've heard this year so far
With the impending release of This is Happening, I thought it'd be OK if I listed the best shit I've heard so far this year:
This is Happening
the Monitor
Transference
the Brutalist Bricks
Cut and Paste
That untitled Teenage Softies E.P.
The Skin Cells
Romance is Boring
All of these records are really really good. 2010 >2009
This is Happening
the Monitor
Transference
the Brutalist Bricks
Cut and Paste
That untitled Teenage Softies E.P.
The Skin Cells
Romance is Boring
All of these records are really really good. 2010 >2009
16.5.10
Facebook Status Lyric Atrribution
I hate it when a person uses a song lyric in their Facebook status without attribution. I am trying to change the world one status at a time but I'm worried I look like a douchebag.
12.5.10
Just watched a Philadelphia Independent Film Festival submission called "My Kidnapper." Definitely the type of doc I'd read about and would immediately feel like I had to see it, it's that interesting. So read about it.
TV Producer Mark Henderson, one of the six "kidnapees" experiences a kind of Stockholm Syndrome when he starts receiving emails from his Colombian kidnapper. Henderson and some other tourists were taken during a camping trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains by a group of Colombian revolutionaries. They were let go after a few months and then, not quite a year later, Henderson and his fellows start getting emails from the group, asking pretty mundane things like "what've you been up to since?" Their kidnappers became Facebook friends and invited them to weddings. For Henderson, staying in touch with his kidnappers and making the documentary with the other people captured seemed to take on a weird, 21st century therapy... Pretty wild.
Here's the trailer:
TV Producer Mark Henderson, one of the six "kidnapees" experiences a kind of Stockholm Syndrome when he starts receiving emails from his Colombian kidnapper. Henderson and some other tourists were taken during a camping trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains by a group of Colombian revolutionaries. They were let go after a few months and then, not quite a year later, Henderson and his fellows start getting emails from the group, asking pretty mundane things like "what've you been up to since?" Their kidnappers became Facebook friends and invited them to weddings. For Henderson, staying in touch with his kidnappers and making the documentary with the other people captured seemed to take on a weird, 21st century therapy... Pretty wild.
Here's the trailer:
11.5.10
Revessay: My off/on relationship with Spraynard's "Cut and Paste."
I loved Spraynard's first E.P. I guess, like everyone else, I had a Latterman-sized hole in my eardrums that had to be filled? But you know those Latterman comparisons are just lazy so that's the last you'll hear of that.
I think I started listening to that demo during that January warm-spell last winter... or was it late fall? Don't really remember. I remember trekking out to Cedar House, Sartaj in tow, hoping to catch them at an overcrowded shit show. Mimi had given them two thumbs up after seeing them play Fennario a week earlier. I guess we missed Spray, but thankfully got to see Factors of Four rock the kitchen before dealing awkwardly with a crackhead in some Baltimore Avenue Chinese restaurant. So the first time I saw Spraynard was probably at our house that following spring break... their sets haven't gotten much longer. They played the demo + a Plow cover.
A lot of time passed, from a local music standpoint. The buzz about "Cut and Paste" started, in my ears, mid-fall, when Mimi played me "Jay's Cafe," a C+P track that had its debut on "West Chester Nuclear Winter." The song is an instant classic, but yeah dude, my interest in Spraynard had definitely waned by this point. I think I probably had some post-Pirouette fear of band commitment. Factors of Four had yet to fail me (well, actually, they were broken up by the summer's end,) but I just felt too tired to get attached to anyone else. And my ambivalence toward Spraynard continued, through downloading C + P, seeing them play my house one or two more times, and the laser tag show...
READ MORE ON MY BLOG THAT WILL STRICTLY BE ABOUT LOCAL MUSIC RELATED STUFF (IF I KEEP UP WITH IT.) INAUGURAL ESSAY Y'ALL.
I think I started listening to that demo during that January warm-spell last winter... or was it late fall? Don't really remember. I remember trekking out to Cedar House, Sartaj in tow, hoping to catch them at an overcrowded shit show. Mimi had given them two thumbs up after seeing them play Fennario a week earlier. I guess we missed Spray, but thankfully got to see Factors of Four rock the kitchen before dealing awkwardly with a crackhead in some Baltimore Avenue Chinese restaurant. So the first time I saw Spraynard was probably at our house that following spring break... their sets haven't gotten much longer. They played the demo + a Plow cover.
A lot of time passed, from a local music standpoint. The buzz about "Cut and Paste" started, in my ears, mid-fall, when Mimi played me "Jay's Cafe," a C+P track that had its debut on "West Chester Nuclear Winter." The song is an instant classic, but yeah dude, my interest in Spraynard had definitely waned by this point. I think I probably had some post-Pirouette fear of band commitment. Factors of Four had yet to fail me (well, actually, they were broken up by the summer's end,) but I just felt too tired to get attached to anyone else. And my ambivalence toward Spraynard continued, through downloading C + P, seeing them play my house one or two more times, and the laser tag show...
READ MORE ON MY BLOG THAT WILL STRICTLY BE ABOUT LOCAL MUSIC RELATED STUFF (IF I KEEP UP WITH IT.) INAUGURAL ESSAY Y'ALL.
5.5.10
Animal Sounds
I still stand by my hyperbolic claim that Teenage Cool Kids are the best band of the decade. Click to 2:50 into this video and see why.
Also, who didn't love an underdog this tenth of a century? Arrested Development? Conan-as-Tonight-Show-host? Yankee Hotel Foxtrot debacle? Y100-to-YRock-on-XPN? Stuff like that.
EDIT:
They have fucking EVERYTHING a young rock fan wants these days: running and Malkmusite/mathy guitar lines, drones, kiss off lyrics (Savage, sneering in Art School Anarchist: "[So,] is there a reason for your sentimental streak, or have you just gone soft man?"), hooks/bababa's til the Texas cattle come home...
EDIT:
Maybe the problem is there aren't enough young rock fans around to appreciate?
Also, who didn't love an underdog this tenth of a century? Arrested Development? Conan-as-Tonight-Show-host? Yankee Hotel Foxtrot debacle? Y100-to-YRock-on-XPN? Stuff like that.
EDIT:
They have fucking EVERYTHING a young rock fan wants these days: running and Malkmusite/mathy guitar lines, drones, kiss off lyrics (Savage, sneering in Art School Anarchist: "[So,] is there a reason for your sentimental streak, or have you just gone soft man?"), hooks/bababa's til the Texas cattle come home...
EDIT:
Maybe the problem is there aren't enough young rock fans around to appreciate?
29.4.10
GOT ANY WHAT/May is coming.
May is coming, everyone.
I think this song, Liz Phair's "May Queen," the closer of her underfuckingrated sophomore effort Whip-Smart (and it IS whip-smart,) does a good job defining that end of year, up all night confusion that finals bring on. "Got any what?" Although Liz is probably talking about fucking rock and roll would-bes like Nash Kato, and, I don't know, finding relief that she's not their only booty call? That WOULD be a relief.
"Don't be fooled by him he's fine.
Rock and roll Ken doll,
He's a national end-all,
He's an on and off friend of mine ...
Where have I been?
Got any what?
Who have I seen?
I spy a May queen.
You were miles above me,
Girls in your arms.
The changing of her majesty's guard is truly amazing.
Got any what?
Disease, hashish, a mind,
Do I have any what?
Where have I been?
Got any what?
Who have I seen?
I spy a May queen.
You were miles above me,
Girls in your arms.
You could have planted a farm
With all of them hay-seeds...."
-Liz Phair (knows that May is coming.)
And here's a bonus. "Polyester Bride."
I think this song, Liz Phair's "May Queen," the closer of her underfuckingrated sophomore effort Whip-Smart (and it IS whip-smart,) does a good job defining that end of year, up all night confusion that finals bring on. "Got any what?" Although Liz is probably talking about fucking rock and roll would-bes like Nash Kato, and, I don't know, finding relief that she's not their only booty call? That WOULD be a relief.
"Don't be fooled by him he's fine.
Rock and roll Ken doll,
He's a national end-all,
He's an on and off friend of mine ...
Where have I been?
Got any what?
Who have I seen?
I spy a May queen.
You were miles above me,
Girls in your arms.
The changing of her majesty's guard is truly amazing.
Got any what?
Disease, hashish, a mind,
Do I have any what?
Where have I been?
Got any what?
Who have I seen?
I spy a May queen.
You were miles above me,
Girls in your arms.
You could have planted a farm
With all of them hay-seeds...."
-Liz Phair (knows that May is coming.)
And here's a bonus. "Polyester Bride."
14.4.10
'Lost' is awk
Loving the last season of "Lost" but one thing is bothering me. Every time a character interacts with Smoky/Not-Locke/Man in Black, I just feel like they're dancing around a MAJOR issue. Not-Locke is always talking about how he wants to leave the island and the rest of the cast (Richard, aside) is just nervously going along with the plan. Not-Locke HAS to know something is up, right? Like, his followers are totally dragging their feet on this "we're going to take the Ajira plane off the island" thing.
All they have to tell him is "Dude. Leaving the island sounds great and all and we want to help you out, but everyone else says you're THE absolute evil that will destroy the world and if you get off the island it will be the end of everything, or whatever... So I guess what we're trying to say is, like, good luck or whatever, we can't help you out anymore. The whole cork/wine thing..." Is that so hard?!
All they have to tell him is "Dude. Leaving the island sounds great and all and we want to help you out, but everyone else says you're THE absolute evil that will destroy the world and if you get off the island it will be the end of everything, or whatever... So I guess what we're trying to say is, like, good luck or whatever, we can't help you out anymore. The whole cork/wine thing..." Is that so hard?!
11.4.10
Wolf Party
Those wolf mechanics banging, indeed.
Class presentations
Insert easily drawn parallels between these two clips:
Ugh nevermind, clip is nowhere to be found. Jeff and Pierce's zany Spanish presentation on Community 102. Just watch this instead:
Ugh nevermind, clip is nowhere to be found. Jeff and Pierce's zany Spanish presentation on Community 102. Just watch this instead:
How do you fight it? We started our own radio station.
I will never forgive the teens and tweens of Noggin's target audience. They made a decision during the early double- zeroes: trashy composite sketches of a parent's worst nightmare or clever kids living the "making something out of abs. nothing in the suburbs"-dream. These, the teens weened on MTV's Laguna Screech and the post-90s Real World ("A number of different people in a house doing abs. nothing productive. Let the drama begin!") wanted something like the new MTV but packaged for middle school.
And, actually, that was it: The Big D. Drama. (I'm going to start using we, because I am not excluded, being that I was a tween/teen in the early aughts.) We, for some reason, wanted to look into an awful sort-of mirror every Friday night. And, for awhile, it was fun... until this point of "I no longer know who the fuck I am supposed to have empathy for." Radio Free Roscoe was a respite from/foil to Degrassi: The Next Generation's batshit fucking insanity. Both did have golden nuggets of realism buried in some (brilliant) middle-aged writer's vision of teenagedom.
RFR's of course was much more generous: marginalized, "voiceless" high schoolers will, enterprisingly, find their voice. It entertains me to no end and comes as no surprise that it sprung from the same mind that spawned The Adventures of Pete and Pete. And watching it, I get this kind of embarrassing sense of physically being uplifted (see also: listening to an especially funny Earles and Jensen call, or Rasputin Secret Police's "The Sacred Cup.")
Fine line between precious and awesome. I dunno. That's all I have to say about that for now.
And, actually, that was it: The Big D. Drama. (I'm going to start using we, because I am not excluded, being that I was a tween/teen in the early aughts.) We, for some reason, wanted to look into an awful sort-of mirror every Friday night. And, for awhile, it was fun... until this point of "I no longer know who the fuck I am supposed to have empathy for." Radio Free Roscoe was a respite from/foil to Degrassi: The Next Generation's batshit fucking insanity. Both did have golden nuggets of realism buried in some (brilliant) middle-aged writer's vision of teenagedom.
RFR's of course was much more generous: marginalized, "voiceless" high schoolers will, enterprisingly, find their voice. It entertains me to no end and comes as no surprise that it sprung from the same mind that spawned The Adventures of Pete and Pete. And watching it, I get this kind of embarrassing sense of physically being uplifted (see also: listening to an especially funny Earles and Jensen call, or Rasputin Secret Police's "The Sacred Cup.")
Fine line between precious and awesome. I dunno. That's all I have to say about that for now.
10.4.10
What is not to love about this video?
Well, considering it features Britt Daniel and Janet Weiss performing together on the same stage, there is abs. nothing to not love, only love love love forever. Let me marry this video.
30.3.10
Forget Who We IzZzZz
EDIT: And if Jade Tree folds because they really had to take a chance on these kids buying the Analphabetapolothology reissue and folks remain satisfied with their Soulseek downloads or whatever... sorry for the haterade.
29.3.10
The New Patriotism
This might get me into some trouble.
Between The Hurt Locker and The Monitor I feel that there's probably a new, young patriotism coming around... maybe one that's sort of, maybe, more understanding (?) of where we are right now? And what it took to get here? And an appreciation of where we come from? New regionalism?
That is a Polaroid Zach took of his room.
Between The Hurt Locker and The Monitor I feel that there's probably a new, young patriotism coming around... maybe one that's sort of, maybe, more understanding (?) of where we are right now? And what it took to get here? And an appreciation of where we come from? New regionalism?
That is a Polaroid Zach took of his room.
28.3.10
Dispatches from John Crodian
Texts:
Me - These tweenage girls on the R5 just said West Chester was boring. Want me to fuckemup?
John - Tell them about Macaroni Castle. That's what I'm trying to call my apartment.
Me - These tweenage girls on the R5 just said West Chester was boring. Want me to fuckemup?
John - Tell them about Macaroni Castle. That's what I'm trying to call my apartment.
26.3.10
First of many blurbs I will be writing about NBC's "Community"
I like that the writers don't overdo it with Abed. I think Abed is two things: a TV character with Asperger's and great metacommentary on how everyone wishes their life was more like a TV show and will go to distant ends to make that a reality. (Actually, those two things are pretty much facts.) It would have been really easy to: have the entire character (and maybe even entire show) revolve around the fact of Abed's Asperger's... the entire show would devolve into jokes about his "social awkwardness" (in most college lecture halls and conversations, being "socially awkward" is considered a disease unto its own) and Abed's storylines would be centered around trying to get him to assimilate into, like, normal society or whatever, and the lessons it would teach would be "it's OK to be different!" (Which it is, and I don't have a problem with that being "a lesson that is often taught," but it would get tired.) Also it would be really easy to have each episode be some amalgam of sitcom tropes and Abed would sort of ground the whole thing by calling everyone out on it. This is something the show does do a lot but not to excess. Abed isn't a crutch the show leans on... he really is like some kind of commentator keeping each character in check. In that way he works to the show's total advantage. Just as the audience is catching on, saying to each other "Hey this is just a riff on _________," Abed steps in and calls everyone out on it.
[Paragraph about the new, hilarious weirdness the show has stumbled upon, using each actor's ability to do physical comedy and tempering it with their great dialogue/chemistry, creating some kind of "synergy" unseen in any other sitcom of late (or at least the ones on NBC Thursday nights.)]
WATCH COMMUNITY.
[Paragraph about the new, hilarious weirdness the show has stumbled upon, using each actor's ability to do physical comedy and tempering it with their great dialogue/chemistry, creating some kind of "synergy" unseen in any other sitcom of late (or at least the ones on NBC Thursday nights.)]
WATCH COMMUNITY.
23.3.10
Amazing Adverb of the Day
This is a Ben Franklin-level adverb, re: getting drunk, via Community creator Dan Harmon:
"Childhood-revealingly."
This entry is me taking notes. Required something more permanent than a retweet.
Everyone should also know I'm probably going to look like him one day (soon):
"Childhood-revealingly."
This entry is me taking notes. Required something more permanent than a retweet.
Everyone should also know I'm probably going to look like him one day (soon):
22.3.10
Boy on the Verge
I borrowed Vendela Vida's Girls on the Verge from my cousin who gets an A+ for her (to my total delight) so-clearly-a-Gen-Xer bookshelf. Douglas Coupland's Generation X, Shiny Adidas Tracksuits and the Death of Camp, various McSweeney's, etc. The book is an excellent series of firsthand accounts of different rituals the modern day girl chooses to go through: marriage, rushing a Sorority, the debutante ball. But I look like an idiot carrying it around:
My cousin is also an OG Death Cab fan from back in the day. She saw them with the Dismemberment Plan during the amazingly named Death and Dismemberment tour. I had so quickly outgrown Transatlanticism that I couldn't take seriously claims that their old stuff is a lot better and a lot different. And actually when I hear a song like "Crooked Teeth," or even "I Will Posses Your Heart," I always feel like such an idiot for writing their new stuff off. But it's too late now. Or not. Because I ripped We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes and haven't stopped listening to it. It's fucking awesome.
It's mathy and has killer hooks and mopes only maybe a third of the time (Why do I think this is a bad thing for some bands and not others? I don't get me.) Some tracks remind me of American Football (this is always good if we're talking about a band that formed before the insane Philadelphia math rock boom of 2008.) I hate being wrong.
21.3.10
Note to Self
You should never appear literary. If it shows, then you've crossed the line and become a pretentious bore. And God save us from that.
-Larry Kirwan
Charter of Liberties
I get amazed by students have lived in this city almost two years and still they say things like Rittenhouse Square Park and have never ridden a bus. It's easy people: William Penn laid out five SQUARES (just. squares.) in his original plan for Philadelphia, and all you have to do to catch the bus is find the sign and all you have to do to get off is pull the cord. Get it? Also find it annoying when students have never been further east than the train station, further north than Susquehanna Avenue, and further west than the fraternities.
18.3.10
One of many blurbs I will be penning about "The Monitor"
The Monitor, like Grievances, ends on an optimistic note (literally.) Both songs have the feel and the lyrical content of a person that's too tired to carry on. In Albert Camus, Stickles is sucked dry by Glenn Rock, toasting his "general indifference." After an emotion-shattering din, something -- an accordion, perhaps, or a melodica -- plays a melodic tune for the last 45 seconds of the record. A ray of light. All will be well... eventually.
"The Battle of Hampton Roads" goes from Stickles' minor-key pleas for his darling to not "ever leave," (repeated and reinforced by french horns and dramatic drumming,) to a seriously victorious-sounding bagpipe line (again supplemented by rolling drums,) inducing head nods and fist pumps. The rolls shift from the tom to the snares and crash cymbals. Guitars enter. The bagpipes drop out, replaced with an arpeggiating lead guitar riff, like the breakdown of "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ." This song is, thankfully, far from over. This lead slays. You have just succumbed to tears brought on by the bagpipe's beauty, and now this lead guitar is reminding you that everything will be OK. The band collapses into their trademark din and drone that shifts for another 90 seconds until it sounds like the tape machine is shut off.
In other news, I have been having an amazing time dogsitting my cousin's beast, Ella. She's a pit/cane corso mix and on most days that would a terrifying prospect but she's middle-aged and lazy. We play frisbee for a half hour (she's amazing,) go for a walk, and then she watches TV and eats pizza with me until bed... which she shares with me.
And just like Halloween, I never want to not celebrate St. Patrick's Day. My Catholic grade school was St. Patrick's (and thus my Parish) so it was something I grew up with... it wasn't shoved down our throats, creating resentment. It created, like, a weird sense of pride. Fond memories there... Great friends followed me back to Whitemarsh Township where we enjoyed Franzone's, Guinness and Wawa. A total tri-force.
"The Battle of Hampton Roads" goes from Stickles' minor-key pleas for his darling to not "ever leave," (repeated and reinforced by french horns and dramatic drumming,) to a seriously victorious-sounding bagpipe line (again supplemented by rolling drums,) inducing head nods and fist pumps. The rolls shift from the tom to the snares and crash cymbals. Guitars enter. The bagpipes drop out, replaced with an arpeggiating lead guitar riff, like the breakdown of "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ." This song is, thankfully, far from over. This lead slays. You have just succumbed to tears brought on by the bagpipe's beauty, and now this lead guitar is reminding you that everything will be OK. The band collapses into their trademark din and drone that shifts for another 90 seconds until it sounds like the tape machine is shut off.
In other news, I have been having an amazing time dogsitting my cousin's beast, Ella. She's a pit/cane corso mix and on most days that would a terrifying prospect but she's middle-aged and lazy. We play frisbee for a half hour (she's amazing,) go for a walk, and then she watches TV and eats pizza with me until bed... which she shares with me.
And just like Halloween, I never want to not celebrate St. Patrick's Day. My Catholic grade school was St. Patrick's (and thus my Parish) so it was something I grew up with... it wasn't shoved down our throats, creating resentment. It created, like, a weird sense of pride. Fond memories there... Great friends followed me back to Whitemarsh Township where we enjoyed Franzone's, Guinness and Wawa. A total tri-force.
17.3.10
St. Patrick Was a Rocker
Just try and tell me listening to this song you still feel pangs of regret about all the money you spent at Hot Topic on Dropkick Murphys merch. Just try.
"So give me a Guinness, give me a Keystone Light, give me a kegger on a Friday night."
This song makes me think of a joyous St. Patty's day morning, pre-parade, everyone leaving their homes for the day.
"Brrrridie! Bridie, girl!" My parents took Mimi and I to see Black 47 at a college fair at, I think, the old Civic Center. I WAS GOING TO PUNK SHOWS IN WEST PHILLY 10 YEARS BEFORE YOU FUX.
The Inverted "Understanding Titus Andronicus" Pyramid
"OMFG OBERST IS OUR GOD HOW DARE YOU SOIL HIS NAME BY COMPARING HIM TO THIS AVERAGE GUY THAT HAPPENS TO FRONT A GREAT ROCK AND ROLL BAND, SOMETHING CONOR WAS NEVER ABLE TO DO FOR VERY LONG?" - Dumb Bright Eyes Fans that need to grow up at the bottom.
"Although he sounds staggeringly similar to another angsty youngster, Conor Oberst, Titus' Springsteen-Bloody-Valentine sound differs greatly from the Nebraskan folk troubadour." - Reductionist music critics that need to just take out their headphones and think of better things to say in the middle.
"We aren't going to mention anyone but Patrick Stickles and the rest of Titus Andronicus when talking about Titus Andronicus because if you're not lazy, you know that they have no easy points of comparison except maybe the history books they dig their noses in." - Actual human beings at the top.
"Although he sounds staggeringly similar to another angsty youngster, Conor Oberst, Titus' Springsteen-Bloody-Valentine sound differs greatly from the Nebraskan folk troubadour." - Reductionist music critics that need to just take out their headphones and think of better things to say in the middle.
"We aren't going to mention anyone but Patrick Stickles and the rest of Titus Andronicus when talking about Titus Andronicus because if you're not lazy, you know that they have no easy points of comparison except maybe the history books they dig their noses in." - Actual human beings at the top.
14.3.10
New Acquisitions
Of the physical variety.
Kathleen Edwards - Failer (used)
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Belly - Star (used)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
First time at Main Street Music in Manayunk. Awesome store, does a great job of bridging the young XPN demographic and the old XPN demographic.
Kathleen Edwards - Failer (used)
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Belly - Star (used)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks
First time at Main Street Music in Manayunk. Awesome store, does a great job of bridging the young XPN demographic and the old XPN demographic.
5.3.10
You're Allowed to Have It
One of my favorite ever comedians, Paul F. Tompkins, did this HBO special about beer a long time ago.
4.3.10
Akin to being inside of an armpit
It's really weird watching the late-David Foster Wallace read an essay of his that I just finished.
Yeah I'm done for the day
...because I was retweeted by @nprfreshair.
This was in reference, by the way, for their call to tweeters to come up with their own NPR names.
3.3.10
John Crodian Dispatch
Text from John just now:
"It's 2010 and people in my English 295 class are doing bad Eric Cartman impressions."
"It's 2010 and people in my English 295 class are doing bad Eric Cartman impressions."
Shiny Adidas Tracksuits
I just realized I have to figure out what I'm going to do next semester. I don't really know what the next step is... I'm going to have to meet with an adviser soon and pick out my fucking classes. I don't think I want to think about the fall just yet. Might apply for capital semester in Harrisburg just so they can make a plan for me. I wish Might Magazine were still around. I'd have my decision: I'd be in San Francisco in a beat, dude.
1.3.10
A Poem
I felt better today and I think I'm indebted to my commute-and-pre-class-listening: Andrew W.K. and Loudoun Wainwright III. I also got a monthy Zone 3 Trailpass which I'm super stoked about! If I'm not going anywhere in life, at least I can go anywhere on SEPTA (within 3 zones, including buses, subways, NHSL, Trolleys etc.)
A Poem:
The conquest will survive.
The more that you can give it, then the more it will be
And if you do not have it, you can take it from me.
All we ever wanted was a thing to believe,
And now that we have found it, we have all that we need.
The more that you can give it, then the more it will be
And if you do not have it, you can take it from me.
All we ever wanted was a thing to believe,
And now that we have found it, we have all that we need.
We have found our pride.
Andrew Wilkes Krier
(Remember this on days that lack that extra something.)
A Poem:
The conquest will survive.
The more that you can give it, then the more it will be
And if you do not have it, you can take it from me.
All we ever wanted was a thing to believe,
And now that we have found it, we have all that we need.
The more that you can give it, then the more it will be
And if you do not have it, you can take it from me.
All we ever wanted was a thing to believe,
And now that we have found it, we have all that we need.
We have found our pride.
Andrew Wilkes Krier
(Remember this on days that lack that extra something.)
28.2.10
Pure White Love
This story I've been following has, I guess, reached a kind-of conclusion.
From the story, by Philadelphia Inquirer staff writers Mari A. Schaefer, Nancy Phillips, and Tom Infield:
"A classmate at Interboro Senior High School who was with the girls in the moments before they died told police that she, too, had intended to take her life. The girl said she and Gentile had left school at 9:30 a.m. and walked to the Norwood station. Dorwart sent them a text message, asking her friends to wait for her to join them, the girl told police, who declined to release her name.
'Hurry up, the train is coming,' the girl replied via text message. 'We missed the first one.'
As the train approached and its whistle blew, the girl said, Gentile stepped onto the tracks. Dorwart followed.
The girl said she had screamed at her friends to get off the tracks.
Ignoring her pleas, Gentile and Dorwart embraced and were struck by the train."
Something so eerie about picturing them embracing on the tracks of the NEC... probably won't be able to shake that image for awhile. Especially speeding past Norwood on my way home next Thursday. It sucks. One of those "Life gets better, just trust me." situations.
From the story, by Philadelphia Inquirer staff writers Mari A. Schaefer, Nancy Phillips, and Tom Infield:
"A classmate at Interboro Senior High School who was with the girls in the moments before they died told police that she, too, had intended to take her life. The girl said she and Gentile had left school at 9:30 a.m. and walked to the Norwood station. Dorwart sent them a text message, asking her friends to wait for her to join them, the girl told police, who declined to release her name.
'Hurry up, the train is coming,' the girl replied via text message. 'We missed the first one.'
As the train approached and its whistle blew, the girl said, Gentile stepped onto the tracks. Dorwart followed.
The girl said she had screamed at her friends to get off the tracks.
Ignoring her pleas, Gentile and Dorwart embraced and were struck by the train."
Something so eerie about picturing them embracing on the tracks of the NEC... probably won't be able to shake that image for awhile. Especially speeding past Norwood on my way home next Thursday. It sucks. One of those "Life gets better, just trust me." situations.
27.2.10
Internal Citations
My friend Zac Magnum (real name withheld) runs a great blog called the Styrofoam Drone and a little over a week ago posted an album by a band called the Library of Congress.
You may listen to it and think, "Wow, this is fucking awesome." You may be surprised that this band with a fairly anonymous name borrowed from the intellectual center of our nation's capital put out a great record you never heard. You will swallow that surprise when you learn it was a band featuring future members of Titus Andronicus. "This band features future members of Titus Andronicus? Well, then!"
The album, quite Titus-ly called Writings on the Human Condition, is just as riddled with suburban discontent and other problems of the educated, white, male middle-class as the first Titus Andronicus record. You come for the angst, sure, but you stay for the collaborative feel of the songs. Andrew Cedermark and Patrick Stickles worked side by side (presumably) in Library of Congress. One stops singing and the other starts. Patrick screams, Andrew recites, thoughtfully. "Internal Citations" features the same running lead guitar-playing that makes "No Future Pt. 2: The Day After No Future" a perfect song to drive to. Lyrically, there's a bit more sentimentalism to counter the nihilism.
"Citations" begins with laments: that kids will now be able to "throw away cassettes and CDs," and after 2002, Andrew Cedermark will "never see another palindromic year."
"Sometimes when I'm feeling lonely, I imagine myself as the master of my own destiny and that's happened a lot since my secret crush, she went back to Germany... but as long as I can get back to you, we can steal 'For Sale' signs along the avenue. For all the sausage in Berlin, there's nothing I'd rather do!" Is it weird that I wonder who this is about? Every time I listen to this song, the scene plays out in my head. A breezy Jersey afternoon, picket fences, a station wagon, a tape. HAHA THAT WAS SO FUCKING PRECIOUS OK SNAP-TO.
Los Campesinos! just announced the rest of the dates for their American tour. I'm not surprised they're skipping Philadelphia. I don't know why I don't hate them. They're probably blowing us off because R5 wouldn't give them a big enough guarantee and having them play the TLA last March was sort of a joke (Patrick and Ian Graetzer were there.) Or do I only think that because I'm young and fun can only be had in small spaces without the involvement of thirtysomethings that heard about the show from XPN? I don't know Gareth, I would think it would be gratifying to see how affecting "i just sighed. i just sighed..." is. I'll never forget what a dreadful experience that TLA show was. People trying to make me feel like singing at a show is absolutely uncalled for behavior. I didn't know my babysitter was coming.
"i just sighed. i just sighed..." is the sound of all the weight coming down on me when I realize that I have mised x *********** classes or that I was the only one that didn't want me to apply to London or that maybe getting a ticket to P4K Sunday was a bad idea because everyone thinks I'm an idiot who is broke. It's the sound of me wishing I could take back my stupid "And will you talk to my zine?" @tedleo because he talked to about 100 billion zines 10 years ago and definitely doesn't want to do it again at a punk house to some kid who definitely does not fit in there. It's the sound of me wishing that punk houses in the city were more like parents' houses in the suburbs.
You may listen to it and think, "Wow, this is fucking awesome." You may be surprised that this band with a fairly anonymous name borrowed from the intellectual center of our nation's capital put out a great record you never heard. You will swallow that surprise when you learn it was a band featuring future members of Titus Andronicus. "This band features future members of Titus Andronicus? Well, then!"
The album, quite Titus-ly called Writings on the Human Condition, is just as riddled with suburban discontent and other problems of the educated, white, male middle-class as the first Titus Andronicus record. You come for the angst, sure, but you stay for the collaborative feel of the songs. Andrew Cedermark and Patrick Stickles worked side by side (presumably) in Library of Congress. One stops singing and the other starts. Patrick screams, Andrew recites, thoughtfully. "Internal Citations" features the same running lead guitar-playing that makes "No Future Pt. 2: The Day After No Future" a perfect song to drive to. Lyrically, there's a bit more sentimentalism to counter the nihilism.
"Citations" begins with laments: that kids will now be able to "throw away cassettes and CDs," and after 2002, Andrew Cedermark will "never see another palindromic year."
"Sometimes when I'm feeling lonely, I imagine myself as the master of my own destiny and that's happened a lot since my secret crush, she went back to Germany... but as long as I can get back to you, we can steal 'For Sale' signs along the avenue. For all the sausage in Berlin, there's nothing I'd rather do!" Is it weird that I wonder who this is about? Every time I listen to this song, the scene plays out in my head. A breezy Jersey afternoon, picket fences, a station wagon, a tape. HAHA THAT WAS SO FUCKING PRECIOUS OK SNAP-TO.
Los Campesinos! just announced the rest of the dates for their American tour. I'm not surprised they're skipping Philadelphia. I don't know why I don't hate them. They're probably blowing us off because R5 wouldn't give them a big enough guarantee and having them play the TLA last March was sort of a joke (Patrick and Ian Graetzer were there.) Or do I only think that because I'm young and fun can only be had in small spaces without the involvement of thirtysomethings that heard about the show from XPN? I don't know Gareth, I would think it would be gratifying to see how affecting "i just sighed. i just sighed..." is. I'll never forget what a dreadful experience that TLA show was. People trying to make me feel like singing at a show is absolutely uncalled for behavior. I didn't know my babysitter was coming.
"i just sighed. i just sighed..." is the sound of all the weight coming down on me when I realize that I have mised x *********** classes or that I was the only one that didn't want me to apply to London or that maybe getting a ticket to P4K Sunday was a bad idea because everyone thinks I'm an idiot who is broke. It's the sound of me wishing I could take back my stupid "And will you talk to my zine?" @tedleo because he talked to about 100 billion zines 10 years ago and definitely doesn't want to do it again at a punk house to some kid who definitely does not fit in there. It's the sound of me wishing that punk houses in the city were more like parents' houses in the suburbs.
26.2.10
I'm trying to figure out how to connect my love for Los Campesinos! and Dave Eggers into some kind of combo short essay/review. I think they're definitely "birds of a feather:" sincerity, word vomit, critically polarizing. Looking at this piece from The Awl yesterday for some inspiration: Dave Eggers, Wyndham Lewis and Hate
22.2.10
A true story
Just dealt with a dreadful woman. She is a graduate student here. She smelled awful. Like my own body odor. Likely in her late-20s but looks fit to be dating my grandfather (but he has much better taste.) Condescending attitude about my ability to enter data. Totally incapable of giving me clear direction but I've figured it out anyway. She won't realize it but her contracting this busy work to me clashes with her and her team's post-collegiate socialist ideology. Disgusting band aid on her finger, edges curling, making me turn my head and gag. I still have that gagging feeling, hence the brusque tone of this entry. The band aid finger was her mouse-clicking finger. I have since drenched the mouse in hand sanitizer. I still don't know how to calculate market equilibrium and that is more important to me than her hundreds of inane guide-use surveys.
16.2.10
Research
Papers/research I want to publish one day:
Pop Music Fragmentation and the Death of the "Event Band"
Never Made Jenkem: Delinquency Amplification Spiral
Black, Irish, Heavy Metal: The Identity Politics of Phil Lynnott and Thin Lizzy
Pop Music Fragmentation and the Death of the "Event Band"
Never Made Jenkem: Delinquency Amplification Spiral
Black, Irish, Heavy Metal: The Identity Politics of Phil Lynnott and Thin Lizzy
15.2.10
I Hate the Taste of Coffee on Your Breath
My personal favorite (and thus indisputably the best) Los Campesinos! songs are the not-immediately-satisfying-but-eventually-life-affirming and slow-building, more dynamic ones. These are the ones even my sister loves! Rather than throwing the listener in the middle of some break up with a glockenspiel and a wall of guitars, the more dynamic Campesinos! tracks ease into the proceedings. You will get a keyboard. Then, a steady drumbeat. Bass, guitar. Finally, a glock and vox. All so melodic and complementary of one another, like "In Media Res" or "This is how you spell..." At half speed, Gareth sounds less desperate and more likably pleading. "In Media Res"'s opening lyric, "Let's talk about you for a minute..." has been getting lots of attention. I think it's a good fit for one of their most interesting songs. The opener of their most interesting, best, accomplished, whatever album yet. I think Romance is Boring is their best because it's a dynamic album filled with dynamic songs... unlike their (still fucking brilliant) debut which is more like a series of post-breakup slaps in the face.
Wise words in today's AV Club/Valentine's Day
"I hate Woodstock. There is the birth of one of the most destructive myths shoved down the throats of Generations X and Y ever, that this thing that happened in 1969 is the best thing that ever happened in pop music and nothing you’ll ever experience in your lives, pathetic young ones, is ever going to be as good." - Jim DeRogatis
DeRogatis was talking to the AV Club today about the 11 worst rock movies and hit some good points when talking about Wooodstock. I have to agree. The same "music fans" that Christian and I have always maligned for "liking everything, dude" are the ones who go crazy for the Woodstock myth.
Valentine's Day with Miles, Kara and Mimi was a blast. We went to Pizza by Elizabeth's (which I hadn't been to in at least three years) for dinner. I was initially really turned off by that idea. I don't like how they elevate pizza on a gourmet pedestal. Anyone that knows me knows that I love pizza. Actually, anyone between the ages of 16-22 that would ever want to deal with me loves pizza as well. But I don't like when someone takes pizza out of the hands of the common man and makes it 9.25-11 dollars for an 8-inch pie. You can get a slice of pizza that's 8-inches wide and 12-inches long at Lorenzo's for 3 bucks. I balk at the prices at Elizabeth's but the flavor delivers despite leaving an enormous hole in my belly and pocket. I hope their claimed use of locally sourced ingredients is true.
Then we saw Valentine's Day. Ha. I loved Mimi's optimism: "There are so many good people in it! How could it be bad?" Topher Grace makes her swoon. It was an optimism I missed, spending time with so many jaded film majors (and becoming a jaded, amateur film dork myself.) Mimi and I do have a habit of enjoying terrible movies together like Twilight and we were supposed to go see Dear John last week but she couldn't wait for me. Out of a BOUQUET of plots, Topher and (weirdly) Anne Hathway's was the most enjoyable. She's a (SPOILER!!) phone sex operator and Topher freaks out but then gets over it because that's actually a really funny occupation for someone you are dating to have. There was a lot of really tactless gags, obviously thrown in at the last minute punch up the script. A mentally challenged girl in a wheel chair babbling about Ashton Kutcher running barefoot through the airport was definitely uncalled for. Not to get all Gabe Delahaye PC on you, it was just so unnecessary and something I wouldn't expect to see in even an Adam Sandler movie. And also not like I want to give this movie too much credit. Oh, shame on you, Valentine's Day! I expected so much more from you, Garry Marshall, creator of Pretty Woman, Raising Helen, and Georgia Rule! The movie left us all in a really good mood. I guess that was the ultimate goal.
Miles and I also might as well have burned the three dollars we spent on the arcade game, Tokyo Cop.
DeRogatis was talking to the AV Club today about the 11 worst rock movies and hit some good points when talking about Wooodstock. I have to agree. The same "music fans" that Christian and I have always maligned for "liking everything, dude" are the ones who go crazy for the Woodstock myth.
Valentine's Day with Miles, Kara and Mimi was a blast. We went to Pizza by Elizabeth's (which I hadn't been to in at least three years) for dinner. I was initially really turned off by that idea. I don't like how they elevate pizza on a gourmet pedestal. Anyone that knows me knows that I love pizza. Actually, anyone between the ages of 16-22 that would ever want to deal with me loves pizza as well. But I don't like when someone takes pizza out of the hands of the common man and makes it 9.25-11 dollars for an 8-inch pie. You can get a slice of pizza that's 8-inches wide and 12-inches long at Lorenzo's for 3 bucks. I balk at the prices at Elizabeth's but the flavor delivers despite leaving an enormous hole in my belly and pocket. I hope their claimed use of locally sourced ingredients is true.
Then we saw Valentine's Day. Ha. I loved Mimi's optimism: "There are so many good people in it! How could it be bad?" Topher Grace makes her swoon. It was an optimism I missed, spending time with so many jaded film majors (and becoming a jaded, amateur film dork myself.) Mimi and I do have a habit of enjoying terrible movies together like Twilight and we were supposed to go see Dear John last week but she couldn't wait for me. Out of a BOUQUET of plots, Topher and (weirdly) Anne Hathway's was the most enjoyable. She's a (SPOILER!!) phone sex operator and Topher freaks out but then gets over it because that's actually a really funny occupation for someone you are dating to have. There was a lot of really tactless gags, obviously thrown in at the last minute punch up the script. A mentally challenged girl in a wheel chair babbling about Ashton Kutcher running barefoot through the airport was definitely uncalled for. Not to get all Gabe Delahaye PC on you, it was just so unnecessary and something I wouldn't expect to see in even an Adam Sandler movie. And also not like I want to give this movie too much credit. Oh, shame on you, Valentine's Day! I expected so much more from you, Garry Marshall, creator of Pretty Woman, Raising Helen, and Georgia Rule! The movie left us all in a really good mood. I guess that was the ultimate goal.
Miles and I also might as well have burned the three dollars we spent on the arcade game, Tokyo Cop.
4.2.10
Isuzu
I think Temple students have a weird sense of pride about "shootings in North Philly," "right around campus." I think they like the novelty of it. Over spring break or at Easter dinner, they will catch up with relatives who will no doubt make a joke about wearing a bullet proof vest or dodging bullets on the way to class. The student will reflect, not with awe but with the wisdom only a college kid in the big city can possess. (This assumed wisdom is why I have removed myself from on-campus housing.) "It was right by my dorm! Sirens all night! Happens all the time! Crown Fried Chicken massacre!"
20.1.10
Angryangryangry
Temple University is STRIVING to separate itself from its former glorified community college status and build a world-class institution. Despite gracing the cover of the Inquirer seemingly once a week, they are barely state-class, city-class even, if the experience I just had is any indication.
Regrettably, I am on academic probation. Last year, I fell hard for the lie that college is a land of alcohol drenched opportunity with little consequences and no hard work. There is little hard work, sure, and it CAN be alcohol-drenched but there are consequences. I finished the year with a 1.4. I skipped class. A lot. CLEARLY I need some academic advising. And Temple knows this. They just want to make it as difficult as possible to get any.
It is the second day of my third semester and I haven't gone to class yet. The complication of commuting requires me to drastically change my schedule. Not thinking too far ahead last semester, I signed up for a 9 a.m. class. If I lived on campus still, this wouldn't be a problem. After I scheduled this class, I found out that I'd be commuting this spring. No big deal but I would have to revise my schedule. Ok. So I wanted to do that Monday, which was pretty much "Temple University is Back to Work Day." I was doing my job at the library. Apparently, advising wasn't doing theirs. They wouldn't be taking anyone until Tuesday. Fine. Why did I have to wait for advising?
Temple, maybe (for the most part) with good reason, doesn't allow folks like me who have a tendency toward shittiness to register for or revise their classes on their own. I am ok with this. I am doing my best to get off probation. It sucks. I got a 3.0 last semester. I am trying. I still have to revise and register with an adviser.
So I waited til yesterday, after work. I had work at the library from 10-2. I guess that's frowned upon? Because when I got to advising, they had taken away this precious sign up sheet which is the only way SCT advising wants to communicate with you. They're supposed to be there until four o'clock. I left Annenberg, angry.
I came back today at 10 am, plenty of time before work at 1. I was number 75 on a crude looking sheet. I waited responsibly; no headphones = no missing your name being called. During my wait I missed my first scheduled class: a photo lab, the one class I'm not planning on moving. Other folks were missing classes too. Is this responsible advising? Giving students no choice but to sit, wait, and miss while stranger after stranger is called? Especially struggling students like myself? God forbid you leave and come back to find your name crossed out.
I sat there for three hours, waiting. Students get called by an adviser, follow them into their office and leave 10-25 minutes later. The adviser may not be seen again for at least 15-20 minutes after the student leaves. What are they doing with our time? Is it wrong to assume that they should meet with a student and emerge with the student, ready to call the next name? Doesn't actually dealing with an enormous volume of pissed off Com students get easier when you make it more efficient? I know watching what I see plainly as a bunch of unhelpful stooges behave even less efficiently than the average eats me the fuck up.
After over three hours, I got fed up and left, not wanting to make the administrator I cover for during her lunch hour wait any longer. Because, unlike SCT Advising, I care about the people I'm helping out and I don't like to make them wait. I only expect the same. Tell me, is that too high a standard? And should a statistically below-average student be allowed to gripe? I think so. Because tomorrow, I will miss another class while watching for this incompetence. I'll just be sure, this time, to call out of work so I can spend, quite possibly, all day there instead of half a day. Am I not putting enough time in for you, adviser, or are you not putting in enough time for me?
I thought college was supposed to be BETTER than high school. Better people and better classes are in check, definitely. Better guidance? No way. Maybe SCT advising should be coaching a soccer team like Mr. Mosier did.
Regrettably, I am on academic probation. Last year, I fell hard for the lie that college is a land of alcohol drenched opportunity with little consequences and no hard work. There is little hard work, sure, and it CAN be alcohol-drenched but there are consequences. I finished the year with a 1.4. I skipped class. A lot. CLEARLY I need some academic advising. And Temple knows this. They just want to make it as difficult as possible to get any.
It is the second day of my third semester and I haven't gone to class yet. The complication of commuting requires me to drastically change my schedule. Not thinking too far ahead last semester, I signed up for a 9 a.m. class. If I lived on campus still, this wouldn't be a problem. After I scheduled this class, I found out that I'd be commuting this spring. No big deal but I would have to revise my schedule. Ok. So I wanted to do that Monday, which was pretty much "Temple University is Back to Work Day." I was doing my job at the library. Apparently, advising wasn't doing theirs. They wouldn't be taking anyone until Tuesday. Fine. Why did I have to wait for advising?
Temple, maybe (for the most part) with good reason, doesn't allow folks like me who have a tendency toward shittiness to register for or revise their classes on their own. I am ok with this. I am doing my best to get off probation. It sucks. I got a 3.0 last semester. I am trying. I still have to revise and register with an adviser.
So I waited til yesterday, after work. I had work at the library from 10-2. I guess that's frowned upon? Because when I got to advising, they had taken away this precious sign up sheet which is the only way SCT advising wants to communicate with you. They're supposed to be there until four o'clock. I left Annenberg, angry.
I came back today at 10 am, plenty of time before work at 1. I was number 75 on a crude looking sheet. I waited responsibly; no headphones = no missing your name being called. During my wait I missed my first scheduled class: a photo lab, the one class I'm not planning on moving. Other folks were missing classes too. Is this responsible advising? Giving students no choice but to sit, wait, and miss while stranger after stranger is called? Especially struggling students like myself? God forbid you leave and come back to find your name crossed out.
I sat there for three hours, waiting. Students get called by an adviser, follow them into their office and leave 10-25 minutes later. The adviser may not be seen again for at least 15-20 minutes after the student leaves. What are they doing with our time? Is it wrong to assume that they should meet with a student and emerge with the student, ready to call the next name? Doesn't actually dealing with an enormous volume of pissed off Com students get easier when you make it more efficient? I know watching what I see plainly as a bunch of unhelpful stooges behave even less efficiently than the average eats me the fuck up.
After over three hours, I got fed up and left, not wanting to make the administrator I cover for during her lunch hour wait any longer. Because, unlike SCT Advising, I care about the people I'm helping out and I don't like to make them wait. I only expect the same. Tell me, is that too high a standard? And should a statistically below-average student be allowed to gripe? I think so. Because tomorrow, I will miss another class while watching for this incompetence. I'll just be sure, this time, to call out of work so I can spend, quite possibly, all day there instead of half a day. Am I not putting enough time in for you, adviser, or are you not putting in enough time for me?
I thought college was supposed to be BETTER than high school. Better people and better classes are in check, definitely. Better guidance? No way. Maybe SCT advising should be coaching a soccer team like Mr. Mosier did.
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