I've been really into The Mountain Goats lately, and last night, while laying in bed I realized that didn't make any sense. There's no reason for me to be feeling the Mountain Goats. It's all about lyrics, in the same way that other people like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are all about lyrics and I just don't get that shit at all. The lyrics are "literate" but straight-forward, not particularly lyrically breathtaking. And yet somehow it works. Even though the musical backing is frequently just an acoustic guitar and tape hiss. Maybe it's that where John Darnielle is coming from is closer to where I'm coming from than hippie territory. He's a music critic and not a poet. But it doesn't seem like that should be enough.
Still, it makes it speak to me... Sometimes there's humor, it doesn't seem to wallow in sadness. (although the sad songs are frequently brilliant.) Then there's the concept album type stuff, which I guess I respond to. That kind of over-arching narrative gives stuff more of a purpose. It rarely seems self-indulgent.
Yeah... I am not a critic at all. I like what I like and sometimes I can justify those decisions. John Darnielle's voice isn't annoying like Bob Dylan's. And he's not political.
Other things that might grow into longer posts in the future: Going to see The Incredibles today and maybe McLusky in Seattle if all goes well. Also: My class is deeply flawed and I am expressing more rage by the day. The other students (and the professors) don't like me. It is all very haha.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
I've got this Lenny Bruce autobiography to read for class. It's not particularly good, but the fact that I'm reading it brings stand-up comedy to mind. Stand-up comedy is rarely that far from my mind, but I'm being reminded of it.
Also: apparently there's been a new shift in Catholic dogma. Women can masturbate now, post-coitally, if the man involved in the act (who still can't wear a condom, as sex is for children) didn't bring her to climax. I mention this because I could do five minutes on this that would be hilarious. But then, really, who couldn't? Lenny Bruce might've broken rules and all that, but sex and religion are a short path to comedy gold. Not a lot of effort to be expended there. I mean, fuck, he was able to do it, and he was a junkie!
Elsewhere: http://www.artbomb.net/detail.jsp?tid=504, to be precise, Matt Fraction reviews Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, as previously established, my favorite comic ever. This is cool because it seems like Artbomb's only violation of their "we don't review superhero comics, ever, we are for the nongeek public" rule. I could talk about why this is significant and I could talk at length about how it's only right that Doom Patrol should be the only exception (although I could also name two others that should be exceptions) but no one's reading this anyway, yes? No one gives a shit when I talk about comics. (oh fuck it: Watchmen and Enigma.)
For a while I was thinking about writing about something I love in art. Besides just "quality," there's something I really have a soft spot for. And that's this balance of the weird and the fucked-up with a very sweet and lovely core. I thought of this while arguing on the behalf of the poster insert in Jim O'Rourke's Insignificance... my roommate Loren Thor bought the record on vinyl and I wanted to take the poster and frame it in the bathroom. It's an amazing piece of art, so I don't want to describe it, but long story short, Loren didn't want it because it's not the sort of thing he wants looking at it while he poops, and he thinks it's the kind of thing that could alienate potential ladypartners. I maintain there is a sweetness but I said this to Loren in that half-ironic tone that I am known to use when I might very well be talking nonsense.
I cannot find the image in question, and I don't want to describe it to you. But I will say that the other art that comes with Insignificance is awesome too, and even better in the big vinyl format: The cover is a transvestite sitting in a chair, while the record sleeve shows the same transvestite being sodomized by an octopus. The poster isn't as good as the octopus image, but that should go without saying. As I look around the internet, the only images that are easy to find are the covers to the Jim O'Rourke albums Eureka and Insignificance. The cover to Eureka is a naked man holding the head of a bunny to his genitals. If I had a record player, I would buy the album just so I could put the cover on my door, (and the music's kind of dull on that one) so amazing is it. I am willing to entertain the notion that there's no sweetness to the artist's work and it's just my gravitation to the bizarre and alienating coming through and then I try to spin it like I'm somehow well-adjusted. I don't know, you make the call.
The name of the artist is Mimiyo Tomozawa and her work is highly recommended. (apparently she's done some manga but if it exists, it's hard to find.)
As is the work of Ken Kagami, who did the art for Deerhoof's Milk Man, and drew an image I very much want on a t-shirt. It's the kind of image that would ensure I made no new friends ever and would alienate all but my staunchest supporters. It is very much the kind of thing I enjoy as one that sometimes positions myself as being different than normal people. It is also amazing. You can see it here: http://www.kenkagami.com/work/d16.html (Warning: not work-safe, but everyone who reads this blog is unemployed anyway.)
I wanted to talk about my attempts to write stories that balance the bizarre and the sweet, optimism with surrealism, and magic realism with the indie-rock-kid world in which I live. But I got distracted. And to make a long story short, I haven't written anything that does that yet. And it doesn't look like anything I'm working on now will accomplish that goal either. Right now I'm just focused on getting all the boring nihilism out of my writing, and trying to avoid obvious autobiograpy. (At least I've never written about high school or struggling with writing in my fiction.) But if I ever do get around to doing such a thing... Look out world! I'ma kick your ass!
Also: apparently there's been a new shift in Catholic dogma. Women can masturbate now, post-coitally, if the man involved in the act (who still can't wear a condom, as sex is for children) didn't bring her to climax. I mention this because I could do five minutes on this that would be hilarious. But then, really, who couldn't? Lenny Bruce might've broken rules and all that, but sex and religion are a short path to comedy gold. Not a lot of effort to be expended there. I mean, fuck, he was able to do it, and he was a junkie!
Elsewhere: http://www.artbomb.net/detail.jsp?tid=504, to be precise, Matt Fraction reviews Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, as previously established, my favorite comic ever. This is cool because it seems like Artbomb's only violation of their "we don't review superhero comics, ever, we are for the nongeek public" rule. I could talk about why this is significant and I could talk at length about how it's only right that Doom Patrol should be the only exception (although I could also name two others that should be exceptions) but no one's reading this anyway, yes? No one gives a shit when I talk about comics. (oh fuck it: Watchmen and Enigma.)
For a while I was thinking about writing about something I love in art. Besides just "quality," there's something I really have a soft spot for. And that's this balance of the weird and the fucked-up with a very sweet and lovely core. I thought of this while arguing on the behalf of the poster insert in Jim O'Rourke's Insignificance... my roommate Loren Thor bought the record on vinyl and I wanted to take the poster and frame it in the bathroom. It's an amazing piece of art, so I don't want to describe it, but long story short, Loren didn't want it because it's not the sort of thing he wants looking at it while he poops, and he thinks it's the kind of thing that could alienate potential ladypartners. I maintain there is a sweetness but I said this to Loren in that half-ironic tone that I am known to use when I might very well be talking nonsense.
I cannot find the image in question, and I don't want to describe it to you. But I will say that the other art that comes with Insignificance is awesome too, and even better in the big vinyl format: The cover is a transvestite sitting in a chair, while the record sleeve shows the same transvestite being sodomized by an octopus. The poster isn't as good as the octopus image, but that should go without saying. As I look around the internet, the only images that are easy to find are the covers to the Jim O'Rourke albums Eureka and Insignificance. The cover to Eureka is a naked man holding the head of a bunny to his genitals. If I had a record player, I would buy the album just so I could put the cover on my door, (and the music's kind of dull on that one) so amazing is it. I am willing to entertain the notion that there's no sweetness to the artist's work and it's just my gravitation to the bizarre and alienating coming through and then I try to spin it like I'm somehow well-adjusted. I don't know, you make the call.
The name of the artist is Mimiyo Tomozawa and her work is highly recommended. (apparently she's done some manga but if it exists, it's hard to find.)
As is the work of Ken Kagami, who did the art for Deerhoof's Milk Man, and drew an image I very much want on a t-shirt. It's the kind of image that would ensure I made no new friends ever and would alienate all but my staunchest supporters. It is very much the kind of thing I enjoy as one that sometimes positions myself as being different than normal people. It is also amazing. You can see it here: http://www.kenkagami.com/work/d16.html (Warning: not work-safe, but everyone who reads this blog is unemployed anyway.)
I wanted to talk about my attempts to write stories that balance the bizarre and the sweet, optimism with surrealism, and magic realism with the indie-rock-kid world in which I live. But I got distracted. And to make a long story short, I haven't written anything that does that yet. And it doesn't look like anything I'm working on now will accomplish that goal either. Right now I'm just focused on getting all the boring nihilism out of my writing, and trying to avoid obvious autobiograpy. (At least I've never written about high school or struggling with writing in my fiction.) But if I ever do get around to doing such a thing... Look out world! I'ma kick your ass!
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris (The Fog Of War, Fast Cheap & Out Of Control) made a commercial for Apple. It features cartoonist/screenwriter Daniel Clowes talking about his Mac. It's bizarre that such a thing can exist, but the reason I find it bizarre is a bit obscure.
Bush got elected. Straight-up. Culture war, good guys lost. Most of America is crazy. But then there's things like this. I don't know. I'm calling this "cultural dissonance." Like cognitive dissonance, but expressed through culture. This world doesn't make sense.
Bush's election doesn't make sense. That Apple commercial doesn't make sense, even to me. Even if Kerry had won, Clowes and Morris are rather "indie." These are things that shouldn't exist, but for completely different reasons. I'm glad that the commercial exists, because there are still good people out there. We are outnumbered. There's not enough of us to make a difference to the world at large, but there's enough of us to make a difference to one another.
Maybe I'm not making any sense. What the fuck am I talking about? I'm glorifying isolation. Why am I doing such a thing, after the democrats lost and the next four years of our lives (at least) our going to suck ass? Because I'm not a political guy. I'm just trying to live. And that's the way to do it, right now. Because if you are a political guy, and you're engaged with the rest of the world, things are going to suck even more. If you withdraw, you will survive. It's easy enough to withdraw. I did it before the election, I thought Kerry was going to win. It's the kind of optimism you need to survive. The argument could be made I've just got my head in the sand, like the president, and that's a bad place to be. Well, yes. But, I mean, Bush seems like a happy guy with his head in the sand. And since a civil war isn't going to happen, and a mass migration will just fuck up our chances in 2008, we've got to live with the fact that the majority of America is fucking crazy. And the way to do that is to do what we always do, seek solace in other things.
We are not the majority, but there's a lot of us. America is going to be hell on Earth for a while. And like any bad situation, it's only survivable when you've got friends. We've got a lot of friends.
The media isn't that liberal. The news, especially, would be better were it more liberal, if it engaged the rest of the world (i.e. the red states, the majority) and was able to convince them how shitty the world is. There has been some talk of a media elite, of a bubble. And I guess that is true now. But I don't have that much of a problem with it, because it's the same bubble I'm in, and it's a rather encouraging bubble. It's not great. I don't know, I need to work this shit out better.
Well, no, not really, I know where I stand: The media shouldn't be more liberal. It should be more vigilant in its reportage of facts. Really, the more facts people know, the less inclined they are to vote for Bush. But that's not because the facts are liberal, you know? Facts are facts. Facts don't come with points of view. I guess the main thing I want is less opinion, and less discussion of opinions, of polls, of spin, of shit that's not news. Yes. Wait. Um. I'm contradicting myself, as I said I liked the opinions because they convinced me that I Was On The Winning Side.
Goddamn it, what was I talking about before...
The rest of the media, the stuff that's not the news... That's encouraging to me. That's where my friends are.
How amazingly on-point was the Daily Show tonight (or last night? November 3rd.) So on-point. The funny that hurts, in a way I rarely feel.
This post is so goddamn unclear. This is not an essay, you know? It's a collection of stances. I stand by them all, (except for the unclear stuff) but not all of them have that much do with each other.
I'm really fucking tired. I started this blog so I wouldn't have to say the same shit to everybody as a conversation starter, engage me. If you do, I think I might be able to work out my stance and my guides to happiness for the next four years by the end of the week.
Bush got elected. Straight-up. Culture war, good guys lost. Most of America is crazy. But then there's things like this. I don't know. I'm calling this "cultural dissonance." Like cognitive dissonance, but expressed through culture. This world doesn't make sense.
Bush's election doesn't make sense. That Apple commercial doesn't make sense, even to me. Even if Kerry had won, Clowes and Morris are rather "indie." These are things that shouldn't exist, but for completely different reasons. I'm glad that the commercial exists, because there are still good people out there. We are outnumbered. There's not enough of us to make a difference to the world at large, but there's enough of us to make a difference to one another.
Maybe I'm not making any sense. What the fuck am I talking about? I'm glorifying isolation. Why am I doing such a thing, after the democrats lost and the next four years of our lives (at least) our going to suck ass? Because I'm not a political guy. I'm just trying to live. And that's the way to do it, right now. Because if you are a political guy, and you're engaged with the rest of the world, things are going to suck even more. If you withdraw, you will survive. It's easy enough to withdraw. I did it before the election, I thought Kerry was going to win. It's the kind of optimism you need to survive. The argument could be made I've just got my head in the sand, like the president, and that's a bad place to be. Well, yes. But, I mean, Bush seems like a happy guy with his head in the sand. And since a civil war isn't going to happen, and a mass migration will just fuck up our chances in 2008, we've got to live with the fact that the majority of America is fucking crazy. And the way to do that is to do what we always do, seek solace in other things.
We are not the majority, but there's a lot of us. America is going to be hell on Earth for a while. And like any bad situation, it's only survivable when you've got friends. We've got a lot of friends.
The media isn't that liberal. The news, especially, would be better were it more liberal, if it engaged the rest of the world (i.e. the red states, the majority) and was able to convince them how shitty the world is. There has been some talk of a media elite, of a bubble. And I guess that is true now. But I don't have that much of a problem with it, because it's the same bubble I'm in, and it's a rather encouraging bubble. It's not great. I don't know, I need to work this shit out better.
Well, no, not really, I know where I stand: The media shouldn't be more liberal. It should be more vigilant in its reportage of facts. Really, the more facts people know, the less inclined they are to vote for Bush. But that's not because the facts are liberal, you know? Facts are facts. Facts don't come with points of view. I guess the main thing I want is less opinion, and less discussion of opinions, of polls, of spin, of shit that's not news. Yes. Wait. Um. I'm contradicting myself, as I said I liked the opinions because they convinced me that I Was On The Winning Side.
Goddamn it, what was I talking about before...
The rest of the media, the stuff that's not the news... That's encouraging to me. That's where my friends are.
How amazingly on-point was the Daily Show tonight (or last night? November 3rd.) So on-point. The funny that hurts, in a way I rarely feel.
This post is so goddamn unclear. This is not an essay, you know? It's a collection of stances. I stand by them all, (except for the unclear stuff) but not all of them have that much do with each other.
I'm really fucking tired. I started this blog so I wouldn't have to say the same shit to everybody as a conversation starter, engage me. If you do, I think I might be able to work out my stance and my guides to happiness for the next four years by the end of the week.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Let me be the first to ask it:
So... what do we do now?
I don't have a solution yet, I just wanted to be the first to ask the question. Bush has this fucking mandate from, no shit, the majority of America. And Republicans I think won some seats in the house and Senate, but I don't know. America chose this shit. The youth didn't vote. Which is fucking sad. I now see why politicians ignore the young: Because we're fucking dumb.
Anyway, now for some shit I've said on message boards:
It seems like a lot of people are saying that they voted for Bush based on "moral issues." And it's easy to mock that, to say "fuck morality, vote on policy" but... As far as I'm concerned, voting for Kerry was the moral thing to do, you know? And that's even when you take in supposed judeo-christian morals like killing dudes being bad, as opposed to just my own personal set of morals. I'm confused that people are saying moral issues are important and the majority of those then vote for Bush. I mean, yeah, vote on policy, but policy is a reflection of morals. And Bush's policies are immoral as fuck, are you fucking kidding me? See... what they could've done, I think, was to talk about morals without talking about religion. Because Kerry is morally superior to Bush, in that he's not a fucking hypocrite. That wasn't a point that didn't get out, at least from Kerry. Or it wasn't made into a moral issue. And I don't think that would've pissed off the current liberals in the Democratic party, because everybody likes to feel morally superior.
Speaking of feeling morally superior, my roommate Luke is going to riot today, supposedly. Not because Bush won, or because the way he won was corrupt. No, he was going to riot even if Kerry won. He's going to riot in downtown Olympia (where we elected Democrats) to send a message about the things that aren't being addressed in politics. It's radicalism and it serves no fucking purpose. None at all. I mean... rioting's fun. But if you're going to destroy a place, why destroy Olympia? At least when there were riots in Seattle, they were opposed to something nearby. This is just foolishness.
But again: What do we do now?
So... what do we do now?
I don't have a solution yet, I just wanted to be the first to ask the question. Bush has this fucking mandate from, no shit, the majority of America. And Republicans I think won some seats in the house and Senate, but I don't know. America chose this shit. The youth didn't vote. Which is fucking sad. I now see why politicians ignore the young: Because we're fucking dumb.
Anyway, now for some shit I've said on message boards:
It seems like a lot of people are saying that they voted for Bush based on "moral issues." And it's easy to mock that, to say "fuck morality, vote on policy" but... As far as I'm concerned, voting for Kerry was the moral thing to do, you know? And that's even when you take in supposed judeo-christian morals like killing dudes being bad, as opposed to just my own personal set of morals. I'm confused that people are saying moral issues are important and the majority of those then vote for Bush. I mean, yeah, vote on policy, but policy is a reflection of morals. And Bush's policies are immoral as fuck, are you fucking kidding me? See... what they could've done, I think, was to talk about morals without talking about religion. Because Kerry is morally superior to Bush, in that he's not a fucking hypocrite. That wasn't a point that didn't get out, at least from Kerry. Or it wasn't made into a moral issue. And I don't think that would've pissed off the current liberals in the Democratic party, because everybody likes to feel morally superior.
Speaking of feeling morally superior, my roommate Luke is going to riot today, supposedly. Not because Bush won, or because the way he won was corrupt. No, he was going to riot even if Kerry won. He's going to riot in downtown Olympia (where we elected Democrats) to send a message about the things that aren't being addressed in politics. It's radicalism and it serves no fucking purpose. None at all. I mean... rioting's fun. But if you're going to destroy a place, why destroy Olympia? At least when there were riots in Seattle, they were opposed to something nearby. This is just foolishness.
But again: What do we do now?
So here's the thing I want to be the anthem of the left in the near-future.
Do you have a ballsack? Because if you do, you really should be shooting your metaphorical jism all over the place?
(i.e. call bullshit. There's a lot of bullshit to be called. Why isn't Kerry calling bullshit? I want Kerry to go on TV and say "the only reason Ohio and Florida will go to George Bush is because of extreme corruption.")
Do you have a ballsack? Because if you do, you really should be shooting your metaphorical jism all over the place?
(i.e. call bullshit. There's a lot of bullshit to be called. Why isn't Kerry calling bullshit? I want Kerry to go on TV and say "the only reason Ohio and Florida will go to George Bush is because of extreme corruption.")
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
It is now Election Day on the East coast, where my family and many of my friends live. The East coast, where the swing states reside.
I am on the west coast, and I am freaking the fuck out. Raw psychic tension is in the air like radio waves. I'm not where the riots are going to be. And I would almost bet money on small riots, at least in the swing states. I hope there's no reason to riot, but for fuck's sake, the past four years have been reasons to riot. Starting with the voter intimidation in Florida. That's the type of shit that I'm talking about, regardless of election results. But yeah, those results. A lot of people fucking hate Kerry. I don't encounter them ever, but they exist.
I need catharsis. I want to go vote and then go to a shooting range, partly for fear of a second civil war, partly just because I'm just going to need some kind of release. So much bad shit is in the air. So much fucking fear. I want to break glass.
This is my first election. Truly we are blessed/cursed to be living in times such as these.
If there was a second civil war, I am confident that the hillibillies would win. I don't want a second civil war, but I would fight in one.
There is the possibility that I will be ashamed of these words a week from now, no matter the outcome. I find it necessary to document the tension in the air.
God fucking dammit.
Vote Kerry, for the love of God. If you absolutely must vote for Bush, because you're a billionaire or something, and a Bush presidency would really work out for you, I suppose I don't have any problem with that, as long as you don't try to intimidate blacks. Also, if you could try to talk your yacht club buddies out of fucking with poor areas of swing states, that'd be great, I'd appreciate it.
If you're not a billionaire, and you're voting for Bush, you are fucking dumb. Trust me, it's not going to work out for you at all. (The New York Times reported that Bush told his supporters in a private meeting that he'll try to privatize social security once he's sworn in for his second term. I know that The New York Times is the liberal media or whatever- Which is funny because it's also the most respected newspaper in the country- and the Bush white house has attacked it, but the Times is sticking by this, and fuck, extremist conservatives do want more government agencies privatized, so it's not like the Times pulled it out of their asses)
Is John Kerry a tool? I don't even know anymore. Well, wait, yes, he is a tool for the Democratic party, a total piece of blandness. But what the fuck ever, that's the kind of tool you build a house with. Third parties are the kind of tool that means penis. And George Bush... he's the kind of tool that tears down a house. He's beyond being a tool, he's the fucking devil. Seriously. And that's a stance I would stand by, even if I were talking to a schizophrenic. I wouldn't even qualify it. Attention schizophrenics: George Bush is the devil.
Attention voters: Vote for Kerry, please please please.
I want to go downtown and just have shirts that say "Hugs for Kerry." And I will just hug people, no matter what their stance is. I will hug them, because a hug is something good and pure and George Bush is probably opposed. I will be the happy face for the Democrats. I'm just hugging, you know?
Although if Bush is re-elected, and the riots start? If that happens I will be the face on the bottles of poison for Kerry, the Yuck face. And I mean, I'll still give hugs, because that's just how I roll. One love!
It's going to be hard to calm me down over the next twenty-four hours without the aid of hard alcohol and hard narcotics that I am not inclined to take part in. Blowjobs won't even help, so intense will be my mind-state.
I am on the west coast, and I am freaking the fuck out. Raw psychic tension is in the air like radio waves. I'm not where the riots are going to be. And I would almost bet money on small riots, at least in the swing states. I hope there's no reason to riot, but for fuck's sake, the past four years have been reasons to riot. Starting with the voter intimidation in Florida. That's the type of shit that I'm talking about, regardless of election results. But yeah, those results. A lot of people fucking hate Kerry. I don't encounter them ever, but they exist.
I need catharsis. I want to go vote and then go to a shooting range, partly for fear of a second civil war, partly just because I'm just going to need some kind of release. So much bad shit is in the air. So much fucking fear. I want to break glass.
This is my first election. Truly we are blessed/cursed to be living in times such as these.
If there was a second civil war, I am confident that the hillibillies would win. I don't want a second civil war, but I would fight in one.
There is the possibility that I will be ashamed of these words a week from now, no matter the outcome. I find it necessary to document the tension in the air.
God fucking dammit.
Vote Kerry, for the love of God. If you absolutely must vote for Bush, because you're a billionaire or something, and a Bush presidency would really work out for you, I suppose I don't have any problem with that, as long as you don't try to intimidate blacks. Also, if you could try to talk your yacht club buddies out of fucking with poor areas of swing states, that'd be great, I'd appreciate it.
If you're not a billionaire, and you're voting for Bush, you are fucking dumb. Trust me, it's not going to work out for you at all. (The New York Times reported that Bush told his supporters in a private meeting that he'll try to privatize social security once he's sworn in for his second term. I know that The New York Times is the liberal media or whatever- Which is funny because it's also the most respected newspaper in the country- and the Bush white house has attacked it, but the Times is sticking by this, and fuck, extremist conservatives do want more government agencies privatized, so it's not like the Times pulled it out of their asses)
Is John Kerry a tool? I don't even know anymore. Well, wait, yes, he is a tool for the Democratic party, a total piece of blandness. But what the fuck ever, that's the kind of tool you build a house with. Third parties are the kind of tool that means penis. And George Bush... he's the kind of tool that tears down a house. He's beyond being a tool, he's the fucking devil. Seriously. And that's a stance I would stand by, even if I were talking to a schizophrenic. I wouldn't even qualify it. Attention schizophrenics: George Bush is the devil.
Attention voters: Vote for Kerry, please please please.
I want to go downtown and just have shirts that say "Hugs for Kerry." And I will just hug people, no matter what their stance is. I will hug them, because a hug is something good and pure and George Bush is probably opposed. I will be the happy face for the Democrats. I'm just hugging, you know?
Although if Bush is re-elected, and the riots start? If that happens I will be the face on the bottles of poison for Kerry, the Yuck face. And I mean, I'll still give hugs, because that's just how I roll. One love!
It's going to be hard to calm me down over the next twenty-four hours without the aid of hard alcohol and hard narcotics that I am not inclined to take part in. Blowjobs won't even help, so intense will be my mind-state.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
To the best Alex and I can work out, "I Want Pussy" off of Ol' Dirty Bastard's Nigga Please is the song where a main part of the beat is ODB fucking a girl on top of a bass drum.
My paper for class... it's not a review, but the teacher got the impression. I make the argument that it's the apex of hip-hop. This is a controversial view, because the album's rather offensive, and others might prefer something more politically conscious. My stance is that 'conscious' hip-hop is frequently boring as fuck and I am infinitely more amused by people just talking about themselves and how awesome they are. The point of my paper is that the reason that an ODB album is able to be the apex of hip-hop is because hip-hop is really fucked-up.
The record's also hilarious. I don't know how much of the hilarity is intentional, but it doesn't matter. It's never unintentionally hilarious because the music is bad. The music is pretty fucking solid, the beats accompany ODB's flow (which is insane, but GREAT and listenable) well. I don't know how much of what is being said is jokes and how much is just straight-up real ODB bragging. "Girls want to fuck me when they smell my underarm?" I don't know. "I take the cocaine, it cleans out my sinuses?" That's not true at all, but I still don't know whether he means it or not.
But yeah, good record. If you see it in a used bin (and you might... it had a hit single, but it's fucking weird, and most people are dumb) buy it. I'm pretty sure it's a party record but I am not a partier. Maybe play it at a party where you don't know everyone there. It can function as a conversation starter, while also making it seem like there's a crazy drunken crackhead in attendance at your party, i.e. spicing it up.
Oh yeah, and the original title was The Black Man Is God, The White Man Is The Devil. It also probably could've been released under the name Big Baby Jesus, as ODB had announced that's what he was switching his alias to before the release of the record. That's a lot of religious imagery for an album predominantly about fucking.
My paper for class... it's not a review, but the teacher got the impression. I make the argument that it's the apex of hip-hop. This is a controversial view, because the album's rather offensive, and others might prefer something more politically conscious. My stance is that 'conscious' hip-hop is frequently boring as fuck and I am infinitely more amused by people just talking about themselves and how awesome they are. The point of my paper is that the reason that an ODB album is able to be the apex of hip-hop is because hip-hop is really fucked-up.
The record's also hilarious. I don't know how much of the hilarity is intentional, but it doesn't matter. It's never unintentionally hilarious because the music is bad. The music is pretty fucking solid, the beats accompany ODB's flow (which is insane, but GREAT and listenable) well. I don't know how much of what is being said is jokes and how much is just straight-up real ODB bragging. "Girls want to fuck me when they smell my underarm?" I don't know. "I take the cocaine, it cleans out my sinuses?" That's not true at all, but I still don't know whether he means it or not.
But yeah, good record. If you see it in a used bin (and you might... it had a hit single, but it's fucking weird, and most people are dumb) buy it. I'm pretty sure it's a party record but I am not a partier. Maybe play it at a party where you don't know everyone there. It can function as a conversation starter, while also making it seem like there's a crazy drunken crackhead in attendance at your party, i.e. spicing it up.
Oh yeah, and the original title was The Black Man Is God, The White Man Is The Devil. It also probably could've been released under the name Big Baby Jesus, as ODB had announced that's what he was switching his alias to before the release of the record. That's a lot of religious imagery for an album predominantly about fucking.
The election's in less than a week. I am alternately filled with dread and exhilaration.
This is great:http://www.salon.com/news/letters/2004/10/27/youngvoter/ It's at Salon, so you have to watch an ad, but... it's very encouraging. It's a letter from a black 21-year-old. The giveaway that he's a liberal might be that he's at Salon, but... he's also young, and he's black. So there's no way he's going to support Bush. It's a great piece, and I'll just quote a good bit from early on: "I saw Ann Coulter on some show where she was literally speaking for black America. Being that she is an aging white chick with poorly dyed roots, she obviously got it wrong. Those polls saying how Bush will get 16 to 18 percent of the black vote are just wrong. To quote ODB, "Nigga please."
There's other, more encouraging things. That quote just makes me smile. Because it's about politics and it quotes Ol' Dirty Bastard. I wrote a paper on the album Nigga Please for class. It's a pretty fucking great record, for many reasons.
There's other stuff on Salon, and elsewhere, about the GOP's plan to shut down the black vote. God, I wish that news would break.
So yeah, swing voters: Yes, they're dumb. But what's funny is the idea that they're waiting for something. Waiting for one of them to do something amazing, or maybe to eat a baby or something. And the funny thing is... That could totally happen. If the news I just mentioned broke? God. Of course, the mainstream media totally isn't covering shit like that, shit that will henceforth be referred to as "important news." They're covering campaign stops instead. And the Red Sox.
Oh, yeah, so the election night drinking game. It requires two kinds of liquor. For every thirty electoral votes that go to Kerry, take a shot of happy alcohol, whatever that might be for you. Like it's a party. For every thirty that go to Bush, take a shot of something else, like you're drinking to forget. I don't know what I'm talking about, so I'm going to say rum for Kerry, whiskey for Bush. But it depends on your preferences.
So in between all the politics shit... I'm in this class that isn't very good. My teacher doesn't particularly like me, I figure, but I arguably bring it on myself by making my distaste for the class known. The class is just wrong and based around bad ideas. I don't want to seem like I'm just casting myself in a rebel fuck-all posture because I think I'm so bad-ass, but... I mean, fuck, I disagree. No one else speaks up. Story of my life? You know, maybe.
Also: I saw some movies. I Heart Huckabees, Team America: World Police, and Shaun Of The Dead. Three relatively different movies. They have a few things in common. One is that they're all mainstream enough that I can see them in shitty-ass Olympia, even if I see them later than other people. The other thing is that they're all comedies, and they're all funny. Yeah, I Heart Huckabees is a bit pretentious. But it's funny. And Team America's overall position is one I disagree with. Shaun Of The Dead... is pretty fucking solid, nothing wrong with it. Not all the jokes work, but I definitely laughed a good deal. Of course not all the jokes in a comedy are going to work. But all these movies had enough jokes that did work that I can recommend them as comedies.
There are times when I'm at a movie and I'm laughing at shit no one else is laughing at. You know what I think is key to enjoying comedies, to knowing whether you have a good sense of humor regarding comedies? Show up early at the movie, watch the pre-film programming. This includes the trailers and the stuff before the trailers... Either big expensive shit, like you're watching TV type stuff, or the ads on the screen and an unrelated pseudo-radio broadcast. In all of these things you should find things to laugh at. If you can find anything unintentionally funny, you are smart enough to judge comedies. If you can't, than you don't get irony, so I don't know what you're doing seeing the movies I just recommended. I know that most people reading this get the idea of unintentional hilarity. I'm just sharing my litmus test with you.
That new Alexander Payne thing doesn't look very good at all. Sideways? God, the commercial even has a bit of "naughty girl, might have to be spanked" dialogue. What the fuck? Does anyone think that's edgy? Does anyone think that's funny? Has anyone not heard this a million fucking times before? Granted, it could be a matter of the funny jokes being too offensive for TV. But... God, that shit is just played out. It's fucking played out. And then when you see the actual trailer about the plot and shit... It looks like it's for boring old men. But the criticism has been made than About Schmidt is for boring old men, but I thought that movie kicked ass.
The Life Aquatic looks awesome though. Oh my god. Maybe a bit more jokey than previous Wes Anderson movies, but that's probably all down to editing, right? The trailer for Royal Tenenbaums had some obvious jokes that read subtle in the actual movie. But even if it is more jokey... I like jokes. It just looks fucking great. It opens on Christmas. I hope my brother and I live up to our Jewish heritage and leave before the Christmas dinner to see it.
This is great:http://www.salon.com/news/letters/2004/10/27/youngvoter/ It's at Salon, so you have to watch an ad, but... it's very encouraging. It's a letter from a black 21-year-old. The giveaway that he's a liberal might be that he's at Salon, but... he's also young, and he's black. So there's no way he's going to support Bush. It's a great piece, and I'll just quote a good bit from early on: "I saw Ann Coulter on some show where she was literally speaking for black America. Being that she is an aging white chick with poorly dyed roots, she obviously got it wrong. Those polls saying how Bush will get 16 to 18 percent of the black vote are just wrong. To quote ODB, "Nigga please."
There's other, more encouraging things. That quote just makes me smile. Because it's about politics and it quotes Ol' Dirty Bastard. I wrote a paper on the album Nigga Please for class. It's a pretty fucking great record, for many reasons.
There's other stuff on Salon, and elsewhere, about the GOP's plan to shut down the black vote. God, I wish that news would break.
So yeah, swing voters: Yes, they're dumb. But what's funny is the idea that they're waiting for something. Waiting for one of them to do something amazing, or maybe to eat a baby or something. And the funny thing is... That could totally happen. If the news I just mentioned broke? God. Of course, the mainstream media totally isn't covering shit like that, shit that will henceforth be referred to as "important news." They're covering campaign stops instead. And the Red Sox.
Oh, yeah, so the election night drinking game. It requires two kinds of liquor. For every thirty electoral votes that go to Kerry, take a shot of happy alcohol, whatever that might be for you. Like it's a party. For every thirty that go to Bush, take a shot of something else, like you're drinking to forget. I don't know what I'm talking about, so I'm going to say rum for Kerry, whiskey for Bush. But it depends on your preferences.
So in between all the politics shit... I'm in this class that isn't very good. My teacher doesn't particularly like me, I figure, but I arguably bring it on myself by making my distaste for the class known. The class is just wrong and based around bad ideas. I don't want to seem like I'm just casting myself in a rebel fuck-all posture because I think I'm so bad-ass, but... I mean, fuck, I disagree. No one else speaks up. Story of my life? You know, maybe.
Also: I saw some movies. I Heart Huckabees, Team America: World Police, and Shaun Of The Dead. Three relatively different movies. They have a few things in common. One is that they're all mainstream enough that I can see them in shitty-ass Olympia, even if I see them later than other people. The other thing is that they're all comedies, and they're all funny. Yeah, I Heart Huckabees is a bit pretentious. But it's funny. And Team America's overall position is one I disagree with. Shaun Of The Dead... is pretty fucking solid, nothing wrong with it. Not all the jokes work, but I definitely laughed a good deal. Of course not all the jokes in a comedy are going to work. But all these movies had enough jokes that did work that I can recommend them as comedies.
There are times when I'm at a movie and I'm laughing at shit no one else is laughing at. You know what I think is key to enjoying comedies, to knowing whether you have a good sense of humor regarding comedies? Show up early at the movie, watch the pre-film programming. This includes the trailers and the stuff before the trailers... Either big expensive shit, like you're watching TV type stuff, or the ads on the screen and an unrelated pseudo-radio broadcast. In all of these things you should find things to laugh at. If you can find anything unintentionally funny, you are smart enough to judge comedies. If you can't, than you don't get irony, so I don't know what you're doing seeing the movies I just recommended. I know that most people reading this get the idea of unintentional hilarity. I'm just sharing my litmus test with you.
That new Alexander Payne thing doesn't look very good at all. Sideways? God, the commercial even has a bit of "naughty girl, might have to be spanked" dialogue. What the fuck? Does anyone think that's edgy? Does anyone think that's funny? Has anyone not heard this a million fucking times before? Granted, it could be a matter of the funny jokes being too offensive for TV. But... God, that shit is just played out. It's fucking played out. And then when you see the actual trailer about the plot and shit... It looks like it's for boring old men. But the criticism has been made than About Schmidt is for boring old men, but I thought that movie kicked ass.
The Life Aquatic looks awesome though. Oh my god. Maybe a bit more jokey than previous Wes Anderson movies, but that's probably all down to editing, right? The trailer for Royal Tenenbaums had some obvious jokes that read subtle in the actual movie. But even if it is more jokey... I like jokes. It just looks fucking great. It opens on Christmas. I hope my brother and I live up to our Jewish heritage and leave before the Christmas dinner to see it.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
So sometimes I think about the Pitchfork best of the 90s list, the second one. I always think about best records lists, but that's the one closest to my tastes, most reflective of what I like. And I mentally formulate my own list. Tonight I made an attempt to write that list down. It's awesome in that it really betrays me as a guy who only likes like five bands. It's also great in how quickly it falls apart... By the time it gets to Archers Of Loaf, it is abundantly clear that I am talking out of my ass and don't know anything about music at all. There's three Flaming Lips records in the top twenty, and Zaireeka is really just there in theory, because I only heard it once. It's hard as hell to make lists like this, because you ask yourself "Do I (a) more than (b)? Yes. Do I like (b) more than (c)? Yes. Do I like (a) more than (c)? Well... depends on my mood." And it falls apart as an exercise rather quickly.
Friday, October 15, 2004
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
I've got some viruses on this here computer. They can't be removed by anti-virus software, and I can't find the actual files yet. This could be a problem. So far the only thing I've been experienced was my computer wanting to show me gay porn... Not the most effective virus in terms of the large percentage of the population that wouldn't be bothered.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
So when you do searches for files in Windows XP, the default setting involves a cartoon dog looking through a book. It is rather disturbing. It can probably be turned off, but I'm torn about whether I really want to do such a thing. Sometimes the dog looks up from the book to stare at you with big wide eyes.
So bizarre.
I should really be asleep.
So bizarre.
I should really be asleep.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
No essaying today, kids. Just some notes on the quick.
So a while ago (a week maybe? Probably more) my computer's hard drive died on me. It got replaced. But all the music I had on that old hard drive is now gone, as is a lot of writing. Beginnings of novels, journals of ideas, that kind of thing. So what can I do now, but come up with new ideas? The failure of the laptop led to my thinking about the failure of technology we nonetheless depend on, which brought to mind an old idea, which I then fleshed out, and long story short: my mind is a constant spring of disturbing imagery.
Class is okay. I disagree with the teachers in regards to several of the principles the class is based around, but in discussions I can make my fellow students drop their jaws. (I've done it to two separate students on two separate instances, and both times it was fucking amazing, because you can control your jaw, so there's no reason for that to ever really happen.) So there's that.
Oh, and the current goal of dorm J208 is to beat Sonic And Knuckles all in one go before October 19th. For that is the ten-year anniversary, you see. We realized this once one roommate (John Samson) put in some Dreamcast game compilation. While playing it, I made an offhand reference to 1994. Alex said he thought the game came out in 1996 or thereabouts. So he looked online and found out it came out on October 19th, 1994. This led to the decision to beat the game before then, and a lot of remembrances of the past ten years, growing up and shit like that.
I bought a belgian waffle iron and it is the smartest investment I have ever made. Or at least it will be until it breaks, which hopefully will never happen.
So the new Pixies songs... they're rather good indeed. Not the shock of the new, and they won't save music or anything, but it's one more good band in the world. They're still a good band. Their first new song has the chorus "bam thwok, oh, love, bang, wakka wakka wakka"which sometimes runs through my mind at times of intense joy. It's the joy of the fact that the Pixies are making music again, you know? It's nice. The Warren Zevon cover is good too, but it's not an original song with the chorus of wakka wakka wakka which means it's a lesser song than Bam Thwok.
So a while ago (a week maybe? Probably more) my computer's hard drive died on me. It got replaced. But all the music I had on that old hard drive is now gone, as is a lot of writing. Beginnings of novels, journals of ideas, that kind of thing. So what can I do now, but come up with new ideas? The failure of the laptop led to my thinking about the failure of technology we nonetheless depend on, which brought to mind an old idea, which I then fleshed out, and long story short: my mind is a constant spring of disturbing imagery.
Class is okay. I disagree with the teachers in regards to several of the principles the class is based around, but in discussions I can make my fellow students drop their jaws. (I've done it to two separate students on two separate instances, and both times it was fucking amazing, because you can control your jaw, so there's no reason for that to ever really happen.) So there's that.
Oh, and the current goal of dorm J208 is to beat Sonic And Knuckles all in one go before October 19th. For that is the ten-year anniversary, you see. We realized this once one roommate (John Samson) put in some Dreamcast game compilation. While playing it, I made an offhand reference to 1994. Alex said he thought the game came out in 1996 or thereabouts. So he looked online and found out it came out on October 19th, 1994. This led to the decision to beat the game before then, and a lot of remembrances of the past ten years, growing up and shit like that.
I bought a belgian waffle iron and it is the smartest investment I have ever made. Or at least it will be until it breaks, which hopefully will never happen.
So the new Pixies songs... they're rather good indeed. Not the shock of the new, and they won't save music or anything, but it's one more good band in the world. They're still a good band. Their first new song has the chorus "bam thwok, oh, love, bang, wakka wakka wakka"which sometimes runs through my mind at times of intense joy. It's the joy of the fact that the Pixies are making music again, you know? It's nice. The Warren Zevon cover is good too, but it's not an original song with the chorus of wakka wakka wakka which means it's a lesser song than Bam Thwok.
Monday, September 20, 2004
So, back at Evergreen, haven't done any blogging, or any social interaction. Social interaction is more of a priority. Sometimes I'm on the bus and there's stuff I want to blog, but when I return to my dorm that urge has passed. So now, my passion is gone. So I'm going through the motions. But anyway, yeah, Let's talk politics goes so good with beer. Or: Everyone is retarded except for me.
So, the current Republican talking point is to label John Kerry a... I'm going to call him a waffler, because the term they're using is FUCKING RETARDED. "Waffler" makes me think of waffles, and even though it's still a dumb term, it's not one that the entire media have jumped upon. Anyway, the reason they're using this terminology... It's not to galvanize the Republican base. To do that, you just keep on calling him a liberal. Whatever. It doesn't need to be done. It's not going to get Democrats to defect and vote for Bush. (or more likely, get them to not vote, or vote for Nader, or something else that's not going to happen, because Bush is too fucking terrible.) It's done to make him not look like a good leader in the eyes of swing voters. Swing voters. Swing voters, whose minds aren't made up. Who, when the polls vacilate between 41% and 48%, it's their fault. People whose opinions constantly change based on the facts being presented to them.
... Do you get where I'm going with this?
It doesn't seem like an effective tarring tool. Leaving aside the fact that the reason Kerry might vacilate is that he's learning, and understands nuance, which is what editorial cartoonists seem to be picking up on. This is what the Republicans seem to be saying: Hey, swing voters. Kerry's like you. And you'd make a bad leader.
What's weird is that... this might be the Republican stance? The closest I ever came to agreeing with Ann Coulter was when she stated that swing voters are dumb, because if you're an adult, you should know your beliefs and know whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. Even that I'd only agree with on a tentative basis. I mean, yeah, you should know which economic policy makes more sense to you. But, in terms of shit like war... Wars are easier to either justify or regret after the fact. Also: War wasn't always the Republican thing. That's a neo-conservative thing. Back in the seventies, Bob Dole denounced Vietnam and World War 2 as being Democrat wars. But I'm getting distracted.
You know who I agree with more than Ann Coulter? Chris Rock. In his last special, he called bullshit on the breakdown of conservative/liberal, of Democrat/Republican. His stance was that, if you're sane, you don't automatically agree with shit before you hear the issue. If you're sane, you don't tow the party line. (This is not to say that Zell Miller is sane. As has been previously discussed, he's completely fucking off his gourd, and as such, doesn't realize that he's registered with the wrong party.)
As I type this, I realize these are two separate issues, and I'm kind of going against my original implied definition of a swing voter. So, um, damn. If my presentation of ideas was done backwards, it would've read like this: Swing voters are okay. And how funny is it that Republicans, in their quest to win the swing voter's favor, just talk shit on the idea of them? I think it's probably the secret resentment that political parties feel for swing voters bubbling to the surface in a subliminal way.
So, the current Republican talking point is to label John Kerry a... I'm going to call him a waffler, because the term they're using is FUCKING RETARDED. "Waffler" makes me think of waffles, and even though it's still a dumb term, it's not one that the entire media have jumped upon. Anyway, the reason they're using this terminology... It's not to galvanize the Republican base. To do that, you just keep on calling him a liberal. Whatever. It doesn't need to be done. It's not going to get Democrats to defect and vote for Bush. (or more likely, get them to not vote, or vote for Nader, or something else that's not going to happen, because Bush is too fucking terrible.) It's done to make him not look like a good leader in the eyes of swing voters. Swing voters. Swing voters, whose minds aren't made up. Who, when the polls vacilate between 41% and 48%, it's their fault. People whose opinions constantly change based on the facts being presented to them.
... Do you get where I'm going with this?
It doesn't seem like an effective tarring tool. Leaving aside the fact that the reason Kerry might vacilate is that he's learning, and understands nuance, which is what editorial cartoonists seem to be picking up on. This is what the Republicans seem to be saying: Hey, swing voters. Kerry's like you. And you'd make a bad leader.
What's weird is that... this might be the Republican stance? The closest I ever came to agreeing with Ann Coulter was when she stated that swing voters are dumb, because if you're an adult, you should know your beliefs and know whether you're a Republican or a Democrat. Even that I'd only agree with on a tentative basis. I mean, yeah, you should know which economic policy makes more sense to you. But, in terms of shit like war... Wars are easier to either justify or regret after the fact. Also: War wasn't always the Republican thing. That's a neo-conservative thing. Back in the seventies, Bob Dole denounced Vietnam and World War 2 as being Democrat wars. But I'm getting distracted.
You know who I agree with more than Ann Coulter? Chris Rock. In his last special, he called bullshit on the breakdown of conservative/liberal, of Democrat/Republican. His stance was that, if you're sane, you don't automatically agree with shit before you hear the issue. If you're sane, you don't tow the party line. (This is not to say that Zell Miller is sane. As has been previously discussed, he's completely fucking off his gourd, and as such, doesn't realize that he's registered with the wrong party.)
As I type this, I realize these are two separate issues, and I'm kind of going against my original implied definition of a swing voter. So, um, damn. If my presentation of ideas was done backwards, it would've read like this: Swing voters are okay. And how funny is it that Republicans, in their quest to win the swing voter's favor, just talk shit on the idea of them? I think it's probably the secret resentment that political parties feel for swing voters bubbling to the surface in a subliminal way.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
In brief: I'm now anticipating my return to Olympia. I guess this kicked into high gear after my last day of work, and realizing that I'm now in the home stretch. The fact that the mugging made me afraid to walk a street near my house at night might've helped.
I finished my short story, Drawing In Frosting. I don't know how good it is. I'll be sending it someone's way soon as my laptop is back connected to the internet.
I bought some CDs today, and found out there's a new copy of Arthur available. I had an audible reaction. I forget the first thing I said aloud, but I know that the last thing I said was "hellzapoppin'." The cover feature was an interview with Grant Morrison, conducted by Kristine McKenna.
My brother borrowed a copy of Simpsons season 4 DVDs. I got to see some episodes that I hadn't seen before, including what Entertainment Weekly apparently named the greatest Simpsons episode ever.
I think I had more thoughts, at one point.
I finished my short story, Drawing In Frosting. I don't know how good it is. I'll be sending it someone's way soon as my laptop is back connected to the internet.
I bought some CDs today, and found out there's a new copy of Arthur available. I had an audible reaction. I forget the first thing I said aloud, but I know that the last thing I said was "hellzapoppin'." The cover feature was an interview with Grant Morrison, conducted by Kristine McKenna.
My brother borrowed a copy of Simpsons season 4 DVDs. I got to see some episodes that I hadn't seen before, including what Entertainment Weekly apparently named the greatest Simpsons episode ever.
I think I had more thoughts, at one point.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Another Summer living in Philadelphia, another mugging. This time I really didn't have any money on me, but this time, the robber actually cared enough to run my pockets and shit. He got my wallet, containing two photo IDs, (one for Evergreen, one for Camden County, NJ) my voter registration card, two bank cards, ( one for Wachovia, one for Bank Of America, both canceled now) two pre-paid phone cards, a Best Buy gift card with eight bucks on it, and maybe some other crap.
So yeah I think I can go back to Olympia now. (although the ID shit will need to be replaced in order for me to get on the plane.)
So yeah I think I can go back to Olympia now. (although the ID shit will need to be replaced in order for me to get on the plane.)
Sunday, September 05, 2004
The latest Chris Rock HBO special, Never Scared, is now available on DVD. For a while I was thinking that Chris Rock is the funniest dude around, but after watching the special, I reconsidered that stance. Not that he's unfunny, it's just that other people are funnier. Chris Rock is just the most on-point dude, especially vis a vis the whole men and women/whites and blacks tip. Other people try to be on-point on more political matters, like the overrated David Cross (did you know that Phil Ek and Chris Walla were somehow involved with the audio engineering of his tour? There is no reason for that to be the case) but Rock's great for the kind-of-oversimplifying for the sake of a joke. This is good because it allows for his bits to have payoffs, as opposed to just being riffing for the sake of riffing. The fact that the person I would now name as being funnier is mining a completely different terrain of comedy (Mitch Hedberg) should really speak that I'm not downplaying the awesomeness of Chris Rock at all. Chris Rock's... to say he's more perceptive than funny just seems fucking insane, really. But I always quote his bits, and think of them, and keep them in the back of my mind, whereas I don't laugh out loud when they're said.
Anyway, when I got online, I was thinking I was going to talk about comedians in vehicle movies (long story short: BAD IDEA) and talk about how great Pootie Tang is, and the key to enjoying it. (essentially irony, but more irony of the fact that you are watching a movie called Pootie Tang, about a rap star crimefighter who is too cool for the English language, and the movie's really poorly made but it's not a BAD movie, and many of the jokes just fucking work and are funny.) The irony thing would spin into talking about John Darnielle talking about "ironic music appreciation" in an interview with The Believer, and how it's basically just listening to things that you don't quite "get," but enjoy regardless. This was then going to lead to me talking about the complete fucking insanity of Ol' Dirty Bastard's album, Nigga Please. (It's insane... I've heard he doesn't remember making it, but more apparent when you listen to it is the complete lack of rhymes... I think most people think it's crap, but there's a charisma to it, even when talking shit on whitey and talking about girls on his dick.) Apparently Chris Rock does the intro to that album, but I haven't listened to it, just heard some bits while in my brother's room, looking at a clock. It would've wrapped up with me talking about someone's offhanded comment in Vice (I hate this magazine a lot in theory, but find it compellng and enjoyable as opposed to repellent in practice) that they think that "heavy metal is the new rap" which they probably meant in terms of hipster irony whiteboy appreciation, not in terms of defining youth culture of America... Which seems true and prescient, and I should mention that in that Believer interview, John Darnielle (he's the guy in The Mountain Goats with the zine/website Last Plane To Jakarta) was talking about metal. His fondness for/fascination with the band Deicide came up.
So, I've tackled all those topics, but in abridged form. It's like the cliff notes to my thought process. I am sleepy and have to go to work tomorrow, I should also meet up with both of my parents once or twice before I go back to Olympia, which is starting to seem crazy fucking soon.
There was a family function at my mom's house that my mom might be pissed at me for missing. There's cake in the fridge which might rightfully be mine. There's clothes on the floor of the living room which definitely are rightfully mine, but I gave them to my mom to get rid of because they suck ass. Lots of shirts she gave me for Christmas, I said I'd never wear, and she insisted that I would. Looking back at it now, I should've used the comeback that I'd been dressing myself at least since I was five and that wasn't going to change, but more important in retrospect is that I was completely right and she was full of shit. But to bring it back to a Chris Rock I didn't laugh at, but will be stuck in my memory for all eternity, a man can't win an argument with a woman because a man is concerned with having his argument making sense, which is an obstacle women aren't concerned with. Maybe there are some women reading this thinking Chris Rock and I are misogynists, but in your heart you know that is not the case, even if you are unwilling to concede that Chris Rock is, as ever, fucking on-point.
Anyway, when I got online, I was thinking I was going to talk about comedians in vehicle movies (long story short: BAD IDEA) and talk about how great Pootie Tang is, and the key to enjoying it. (essentially irony, but more irony of the fact that you are watching a movie called Pootie Tang, about a rap star crimefighter who is too cool for the English language, and the movie's really poorly made but it's not a BAD movie, and many of the jokes just fucking work and are funny.) The irony thing would spin into talking about John Darnielle talking about "ironic music appreciation" in an interview with The Believer, and how it's basically just listening to things that you don't quite "get," but enjoy regardless. This was then going to lead to me talking about the complete fucking insanity of Ol' Dirty Bastard's album, Nigga Please. (It's insane... I've heard he doesn't remember making it, but more apparent when you listen to it is the complete lack of rhymes... I think most people think it's crap, but there's a charisma to it, even when talking shit on whitey and talking about girls on his dick.) Apparently Chris Rock does the intro to that album, but I haven't listened to it, just heard some bits while in my brother's room, looking at a clock. It would've wrapped up with me talking about someone's offhanded comment in Vice (I hate this magazine a lot in theory, but find it compellng and enjoyable as opposed to repellent in practice) that they think that "heavy metal is the new rap" which they probably meant in terms of hipster irony whiteboy appreciation, not in terms of defining youth culture of America... Which seems true and prescient, and I should mention that in that Believer interview, John Darnielle (he's the guy in The Mountain Goats with the zine/website Last Plane To Jakarta) was talking about metal. His fondness for/fascination with the band Deicide came up.
So, I've tackled all those topics, but in abridged form. It's like the cliff notes to my thought process. I am sleepy and have to go to work tomorrow, I should also meet up with both of my parents once or twice before I go back to Olympia, which is starting to seem crazy fucking soon.
There was a family function at my mom's house that my mom might be pissed at me for missing. There's cake in the fridge which might rightfully be mine. There's clothes on the floor of the living room which definitely are rightfully mine, but I gave them to my mom to get rid of because they suck ass. Lots of shirts she gave me for Christmas, I said I'd never wear, and she insisted that I would. Looking back at it now, I should've used the comeback that I'd been dressing myself at least since I was five and that wasn't going to change, but more important in retrospect is that I was completely right and she was full of shit. But to bring it back to a Chris Rock I didn't laugh at, but will be stuck in my memory for all eternity, a man can't win an argument with a woman because a man is concerned with having his argument making sense, which is an obstacle women aren't concerned with. Maybe there are some women reading this thinking Chris Rock and I are misogynists, but in your heart you know that is not the case, even if you are unwilling to concede that Chris Rock is, as ever, fucking on-point.
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