Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
J.J. Cale (1938-2013)
The Man from Escondido. A lazy afternoon. Rocking in a hammock.
Pour a glass of mescal for the man and the music. Liquid coke for some liquid space-rock-funk.
Saw him at McCabe's a couple years back. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were his back-up band. Smooth. Travelin' Light.
Pour a glass of mescal for the man and the music. Liquid coke for some liquid space-rock-funk.
Saw him at McCabe's a couple years back. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were his back-up band. Smooth. Travelin' Light.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
An Evening with Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field (7.19.13)
Keep on rockin' in the free world, and don't forget to buy our limited edition setlist t-shirt for $35 on the way out.
"You're a consumer, you vote everyday." -- Pearl Jam, Soldier Field '95.
“Power to the people man…. The real people, the people that work, not the people that sit in their towers, and try to run the whole thing, thinking that we’re too stupid to notice what they’re doing! They get us in our little holes, and our boxes, and our cages and they show us American Idol and American Gladiators and American …. blowjob, buttfuck, whatever. And everyone watches with baited breath. Oh, who’s going to get a blowjob tonight? What American’s going to get a blowjob tonight? When in reality, you could be getting one yourself instead of watching the fucking TV, I don’t know. I digress. I’m going to get a guitar. But we were just talking in the back, and we were thinking that maybe uh, on the strength of a night like this, and uh, really, uh, so you understand how much we appreciate it, we were thinking that instead of uh, waiting 2 years or even, uh, after we finish the next record, maybe just next summer, we could come back and play, just a few places that we’ve been to and this would be one of them. And hopefully even in a year, the world will be a little more straightened out.” -- Pearl Jam, Alpine Valley '03.
Music is still relevant, and emotional. Ties people together. Dare I say transcends. But 'rock n roll' is a strictly part of the business and economy.
"You're a consumer, you vote everyday." -- Pearl Jam, Soldier Field '95.
“Power to the people man…. The real people, the people that work, not the people that sit in their towers, and try to run the whole thing, thinking that we’re too stupid to notice what they’re doing! They get us in our little holes, and our boxes, and our cages and they show us American Idol and American Gladiators and American …. blowjob, buttfuck, whatever. And everyone watches with baited breath. Oh, who’s going to get a blowjob tonight? What American’s going to get a blowjob tonight? When in reality, you could be getting one yourself instead of watching the fucking TV, I don’t know. I digress. I’m going to get a guitar. But we were just talking in the back, and we were thinking that maybe uh, on the strength of a night like this, and uh, really, uh, so you understand how much we appreciate it, we were thinking that instead of uh, waiting 2 years or even, uh, after we finish the next record, maybe just next summer, we could come back and play, just a few places that we’ve been to and this would be one of them. And hopefully even in a year, the world will be a little more straightened out.” -- Pearl Jam, Alpine Valley '03.
Music is still relevant, and emotional. Ties people together. Dare I say transcends. But 'rock n roll' is a strictly part of the business and economy.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Okkervil River -- Down Down to Deep River
Listening to this song, 'down down to deep river,' several times since my first hearing yesterday morning while driving to work.
At first, I was like what is this river of dreams, but then it becomes rollicking bleeding heart.
Morning music.
At first, I was like what is this river of dreams, but then it becomes rollicking bleeding heart.
Morning music.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times & Live?
If you work at McDonald's or other minimum wage jobs...you don't. This according McDonald's/VISA own financial planning site.
And a brief supplemental article on the same topic.
And a brief supplemental article on the same topic.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Shakespeare in Griffith Park
Macbeth. My first Shakespeare in the Park. Three man dance troupe (to the crooning of Tom Waits) as the opening act. Then the descent into madness. A magical and inspiring evening...
Notes from the Director -- David Melville
Generally, I love Shakespeare because a great humanism is woven into nearly all his work. Empathy is valued. Hypocrisy and arrogance are skewered. Humanity's capacity for self-sacrifice, for finding a higher purpose than self-interest, is vaunted. There is also a gentle acceptance of our foibles and deeper flaws. Shakespeare sees us in toto, yet still manages to paint us as worthy, to say our lives and our actions matter.
Macbeth is not a play which follows this pattern. It's certainly the bleakest of Shakespeare's plays. For though it has characters which embody great virtue, Macbeth himself is no such man. What's more, his eventual fate lacks a sense of moral satisfaction.
As we rehearsed, one question we returned to was, "What makes this play frightening?" It certainly reads like a ghost story or fireside tale. King James, the monarch at the time the play was written, was a known expert on the occult, and Shakespeare served up a tale full of witchcraft and augury. The presence of witches and the casting of spells would have frightened many members of a Renaissance audience. We spent quite a bit of time thinking how best to create a sense of witchcraft in a modern telling of Macbeth, without resorting to comic book characters or cliche. What we focused on was defining the witches' power, while also not resisting the possibility of humor. The witches are threaded throughout the play in a way we hope conveys a ubiquitous malevolence, one that is always observable if you are looking for it. They are also an expression of the lack of human control central to the play.
Working on Macbeth has been always been an ambivalent thing for me. The language, the first pace, the unrelenting action: all these are deeply attractive to me, as is the complex and oddly loving relationship between Macbeth and his wife. But there comes a point when I feel...depleted. I argue with my wife more. It's a dark story with which to associate.
The feeling is a direct reaction to what I find so frightening about the play. Shakespeare, the great humanist, created a different sort of world in Macbeth. In it, he posits a world in which there is no control. That isn't so odd - nearly all the comedies have one lover or another declaring, "Fate! Show thy force!" What is much worse is that in Macbeth, Shakespeare posits a world where our lives have no meaning, where the sum or our existence is a 'tale told by an idiot.' I shouldn't be surprised that Shakespeare could imagine such a world. What does surprise me is the weight with which he makes that argument. In the play, he offers little in the way of antidote, and I'm disturbed that I don't know why. Is it a warning? A product of a long and sad night? Ultimately, the play requires me to contemplate that my life may not have meaning. And that is what frightens me.
But perhaps Shakespeare, the great humanist, has not abandoned me. Because when I rouse myself from this state of existential torpor, what I am left with is a sense of defiance. Life only signifies nothing if I allow it to, one of Shakespeare's greatest plays notwithstanding! Sometimes we must face our worst fears to see what we believe in, and perhaps that is why Shakespeare wrote the play, and why we must perform it.
Notes from the Director -- David Melville
Generally, I love Shakespeare because a great humanism is woven into nearly all his work. Empathy is valued. Hypocrisy and arrogance are skewered. Humanity's capacity for self-sacrifice, for finding a higher purpose than self-interest, is vaunted. There is also a gentle acceptance of our foibles and deeper flaws. Shakespeare sees us in toto, yet still manages to paint us as worthy, to say our lives and our actions matter.
Macbeth is not a play which follows this pattern. It's certainly the bleakest of Shakespeare's plays. For though it has characters which embody great virtue, Macbeth himself is no such man. What's more, his eventual fate lacks a sense of moral satisfaction.
As we rehearsed, one question we returned to was, "What makes this play frightening?" It certainly reads like a ghost story or fireside tale. King James, the monarch at the time the play was written, was a known expert on the occult, and Shakespeare served up a tale full of witchcraft and augury. The presence of witches and the casting of spells would have frightened many members of a Renaissance audience. We spent quite a bit of time thinking how best to create a sense of witchcraft in a modern telling of Macbeth, without resorting to comic book characters or cliche. What we focused on was defining the witches' power, while also not resisting the possibility of humor. The witches are threaded throughout the play in a way we hope conveys a ubiquitous malevolence, one that is always observable if you are looking for it. They are also an expression of the lack of human control central to the play.
Working on Macbeth has been always been an ambivalent thing for me. The language, the first pace, the unrelenting action: all these are deeply attractive to me, as is the complex and oddly loving relationship between Macbeth and his wife. But there comes a point when I feel...depleted. I argue with my wife more. It's a dark story with which to associate.
The feeling is a direct reaction to what I find so frightening about the play. Shakespeare, the great humanist, created a different sort of world in Macbeth. In it, he posits a world in which there is no control. That isn't so odd - nearly all the comedies have one lover or another declaring, "Fate! Show thy force!" What is much worse is that in Macbeth, Shakespeare posits a world where our lives have no meaning, where the sum or our existence is a 'tale told by an idiot.' I shouldn't be surprised that Shakespeare could imagine such a world. What does surprise me is the weight with which he makes that argument. In the play, he offers little in the way of antidote, and I'm disturbed that I don't know why. Is it a warning? A product of a long and sad night? Ultimately, the play requires me to contemplate that my life may not have meaning. And that is what frightens me.
But perhaps Shakespeare, the great humanist, has not abandoned me. Because when I rouse myself from this state of existential torpor, what I am left with is a sense of defiance. Life only signifies nothing if I allow it to, one of Shakespeare's greatest plays notwithstanding! Sometimes we must face our worst fears to see what we believe in, and perhaps that is why Shakespeare wrote the play, and why we must perform it.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Huichica '13 Playlist
A playlist for a summer afternoon.
Wild Mountain Nation - Blitzen Trapper
Nothing Is The News - Damien Jurado
Tangle and Ray - Fruit Bats
Can We Really Party Today? - Jonathan Wilson
Love Thine Enemy - Cass McCombs
50 Lashes - Floating Action
Downtown Jenny - The Donkeys
Hollywood - Jessica Pratt
Long Time Ago - White Magic
Primitive Man - Fruit Bats
Valley of the Silver Moon - Jonathan Wilson
Furr - Blitzen Trapper
County Line - Cass McCombs
Don't Stop Loving Me Now - Floating Action
Dragon Ships - Fruit Bats
Dolphin Center - The Donkeys
Wild Mountain Nation - Blitzen Trapper
Nothing Is The News - Damien Jurado
Tangle and Ray - Fruit Bats
Can We Really Party Today? - Jonathan Wilson
Love Thine Enemy - Cass McCombs
50 Lashes - Floating Action
Downtown Jenny - The Donkeys
Hollywood - Jessica Pratt
Long Time Ago - White Magic
Primitive Man - Fruit Bats
Valley of the Silver Moon - Jonathan Wilson
Furr - Blitzen Trapper
County Line - Cass McCombs
Don't Stop Loving Me Now - Floating Action
Dragon Ships - Fruit Bats
Dolphin Center - The Donkeys
Youthful Hook-Up Culture
A New York Times piece on females embracing hook-up culture especially in college.
Here's two parts that stood out later in the article --
One point connecting economic background to hooking-up:
In one study, conducted with Laura Hamilton, now a professor at the University of California, Merced, Dr. Armstrong followed roughly 50 women from their freshman year at Indiana University in 2004 until the end of their college careers. They found that the women from wealthier backgrounds were much more likely to hook up, more interested in postponing adult responsibilities and warier of serious romantic commitment than their less-affluent classmates.
And a point of view that can only come with experience and age.
“People kind of discount” how “difficult it is to find someone that you even remotely like, let alone really fall for,” she said. “And losing that can be just as impractical and harmful to yourself, if not more so, than missing out on a job or something like that. What else do you really have at the end of your life?”
Here's two parts that stood out later in the article --
One point connecting economic background to hooking-up:
In one study, conducted with Laura Hamilton, now a professor at the University of California, Merced, Dr. Armstrong followed roughly 50 women from their freshman year at Indiana University in 2004 until the end of their college careers. They found that the women from wealthier backgrounds were much more likely to hook up, more interested in postponing adult responsibilities and warier of serious romantic commitment than their less-affluent classmates.
And a point of view that can only come with experience and age.
“People kind of discount” how “difficult it is to find someone that you even remotely like, let alone really fall for,” she said. “And losing that can be just as impractical and harmful to yourself, if not more so, than missing out on a job or something like that. What else do you really have at the end of your life?”
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Brett Easton Ellis' Bastard Children
"Guilty pleasures" is a misnomer for these films. More like a director's 'bastard children.'
I've seen all of these, and agree with all. Ellis fuckin' nails it. A very consistent list of films. Except his top choice. On a list with these others?...Maybe I need to see it again.
I've seen all of these, and agree with all. Ellis fuckin' nails it. A very consistent list of films. Except his top choice. On a list with these others?...Maybe I need to see it again.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Murica Fest - Garage Rock
At the Echo. Taking up the Echo & downstairs in the Echoplex
Lineup
Lamps (9:30, Echo) -- incredibly loud, feedback bouncing off the walls deliberately
Fuzz (10:00, Echoplex) -- Ty Segall as drummer in the band
Destruction Unit (11:00, Echo) -- Saw maybe one song, kind of forgettable
The Intelligence (11:15pm, Echoplex) -- The band of the evening. Maybe this was what seeing the early Clash was like.
Milk Music (Midnight, Echo) -- You Can't Throw Your Arm Around a Memory. Make out session in the bathroom corridor. Disco ball lights. Chloe Sevigny.
Lineup
Lamps (9:30, Echo) -- incredibly loud, feedback bouncing off the walls deliberately
Fuzz (10:00, Echoplex) -- Ty Segall as drummer in the band
Destruction Unit (11:00, Echo) -- Saw maybe one song, kind of forgettable
The Intelligence (11:15pm, Echoplex) -- The band of the evening. Maybe this was what seeing the early Clash was like.
Milk Music (Midnight, Echo) -- You Can't Throw Your Arm Around a Memory. Make out session in the bathroom corridor. Disco ball lights. Chloe Sevigny.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Fourth of July
"I guess before we left the U.S., since this is the last night in the U.S...(U.S.A. chant breaks out)...This is a toast...
I guess I just wanted to clarify that whatever we said, whatever we said tonight, whatever we said in the other cities, we have an opinion, and it comes from a position of caring.
And it comes from a position of caring for our country. And I think that's what makes you a patriot. It's when you care for our country, when you care. And you just don't care for the country, it's the people in it. We got great oceans, mountains, canyons, cities...but it's the people in it that make up this country.
And we know you've been through a lot and I think when you care about that, that makes you a patriot.
And it's not necessarily about victory, it's not necessarily about corporations, and what's good for them, it's not about money, it's about the people.
So when we leave this country, I want you to know...I guess we just hope that you're proud of us when we leave here & take our songs abroad. We hope we have your support, and we hope that you're proud of us for having an opinion, and a stand... Thank you very much."
--Eddie Vedder (Holmdel, July 14th, 2003) -- encore break before going into 'Growin' Up' by Bruce Springsteen.
I guess I just wanted to clarify that whatever we said, whatever we said tonight, whatever we said in the other cities, we have an opinion, and it comes from a position of caring.
And it comes from a position of caring for our country. And I think that's what makes you a patriot. It's when you care for our country, when you care. And you just don't care for the country, it's the people in it. We got great oceans, mountains, canyons, cities...but it's the people in it that make up this country.
And we know you've been through a lot and I think when you care about that, that makes you a patriot.
And it's not necessarily about victory, it's not necessarily about corporations, and what's good for them, it's not about money, it's about the people.
So when we leave this country, I want you to know...I guess we just hope that you're proud of us when we leave here & take our songs abroad. We hope we have your support, and we hope that you're proud of us for having an opinion, and a stand... Thank you very much."
--Eddie Vedder (Holmdel, July 14th, 2003) -- encore break before going into 'Growin' Up' by Bruce Springsteen.
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