Thursday, December 30, 2010
Everyone Else
Everyone Else (2010) - Maren Ade
"While on a Mediterranean vacation, a seemingly happy husband and wife find their connection to one another tested as they bond with another couple."
This movie looks like my vibe.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
DAFT PUNK X TRON: LEGACY
Best Soundtrack of the Year x Best Club Scene in a movie in years!
Monday, December 27, 2010
FEATURE: Animal Collective Interview with Aziz Ansari
Dancing: a few weeks go, Paul Scheer from Human Giant got married, and I gotta say, I’m pretty sure “Poison” by Bell Bev Devoe fucking rocked it at that wedding too. Any wedding DJs reading this, if you don’t have BBD in the crate, you’re failing at your job.
-Aziz
It was the most awesome wedding ever, but I guess I’m biased. It’s good to finally relax, but I’m sad it’s over. It was really sweet to have so many people we love all in one place for a few days. The AC crew came through big time with the costumes, as did many of our other friends. Dave as Raggedy Andy (if that’s what it was) ruled. My parents went as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy for a Halloween party sometime in the early ‘80s. I remember them dressing up. Josh as the Fall Guy also ruled and got a lot of compliments, though he should have titled his costume “Must Be Treeman.” [Our manager] Brian DeRan must have lost serious pounds in sweat in the yeti costume. Best group costume award went to the Biospherians.
“Poison” was actually the only song my wife requested during the wedding. She had a feeling people needed a jammer to get things to another level so she went and asked the DJ to play it. He already had it cued up on the turntable as the next song. As Josh mentioned, some of us covered it at a high school talent show, so we have a special place for it in our hearts. I think just Dave and Guy and I did that cover though. Didn’t guy do the rap? Wait, there are two raps—I think he did one and Dave did the other. One did the “Yo slick, blow” rap, and the other did the “Me and the crew used to do her” rap. I can’t remember which was which.
I feel you on the Back to the Future interaction. I sometimes can be a bit ageist, but I try really hard to get over it. A few years back I had a friend who was 28 and dating a 20-year-old and they came to my house for dinner. It was one of the first times I was hanging with him and I wanted us to get along. But then something came up about Ghostbusters and he said he’d never seen it, and without even thinking I said, “Get out of my house.”
Favorite piece of furniture: record shelves that my father-in-law built. (Can you tell how much I’m into using the post-wedding lingo?) I wish I had a comfortable piece of furniture that was my favorite in the house but I’m super attached to any chairs, couches or tables right now. We just got my family piano moved to our house a few weeks ago and that could eventually be my favorite item too. It’s been in the family for over 50 years but I haven’t had access to it since the mid ’90s. I like family heirlooms.
Wedding jams: I think “Thriller” was another big hit—obviously. It was definitely the one I was most looking forward to and I said if I only dance to one song all night, it has to be “Thriller.” But me and my wife were at the bar getting more champagne and got sucked into conversations with guests and just as we pulled ourselves away and rushed out to the dancefloor, the song ended.
Last great meal: We cook a lot of awesome meals in my house, and we love cooking so they’re pretty much all our favorite, but for the last truly great meal, I have to go with an eight-course meal we ate in San Sebastian, Spain, while we were on tour there last summer. It actually got to a point where we were getting worried about performing because it is hard to play on a full stomach of rich food. We started telling the waiters not to bring us anymore food but they insisted since it was a set menu. I actually think when they went back to the kitchen for the dessert Dave or Noah just snuck out of the restaurant.
Random AC fan: there have been a lot. My brother showed me a review of Merriweather on ESPN.com. That was pretty random. The dude wasn’t a fan though.
Last thing I should tell you to track down is Forbidden Transmissions. They are internet compilations of weird media stuff. Scott Colburn has a lot of them on his computer and burned us some DVDs that we watched during the recording of Strawberry Jam. From the stuff you’ve sent us, I think you’ll enjoy it. You can find a lot of the individual stuff on YouTube or Ebaum’s World, but it’s really funny to watch them all together in these half-hour shows.
Take care,
Brian
Read more: http://www.thefader.com/2010/01/07/feature-animal-collective-interview-with-aziz-ansari/#ixzz19NSlu8Lj
Thursday, December 23, 2010
20 Untranslatable Words from Around the World
1. Toska
Russian – Vladmir Nabokov describes it best: “No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”
2. Mamihlapinatapei
Yagan (indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego) – “the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start” (Altalang.com)
3. Jayus
Indonesian – “A joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh” (Altalang.com)
4. Iktsuarpok
Inuit – “To go outside to check if anyone is coming.” (Altalang.com)
5. Litost
Czech – Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, remarked that “As for the meaning of this word, I have looked in vain in other languages for an equivalent, though I find it difficult to imagine how anyone can understand the human soul without it.” The closest definition is a state of agony and torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery.
6. Kyoikumama
Japanese – “A mother who relentlessly pushes her children toward academic achievement” (Altalang.com)
7. Tartle
Scottish – The act of hestitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name. (Altalang.com)
8. Ilunga
Tshiluba (Southwest Congo) – A word famous for its untranslatability, most professional translators pinpoint it as the stature of a person “who is ready to forgive and forget any first abuse, tolerate it the second time, but never forgive nor tolerate on the third offense.” (Altalang.com)
9. Prozvonit
Czech – This word means to call a mobile phone and let it ring once so that the other person will call back, saving the first caller money. In Spanish, the phrase for this is “Dar un toque,” or, “To give a touch.” (Altalang.com)
10. Cafuné
Brazilian Portuguese – “The act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair.” (Altalang.com)
11. Schadenfreude
German – Quite famous for its meaning that somehow other languages neglected to recognize, this refers to the feeling of pleasure derived by seeing another’s misfortune. I guess “America’s Funniest Moments of Schadenfreude” just didn’t have the same ring to it.
12. Torschlusspanik
German – Translated literally, this word means “gate-closing panic,” but its contextual meaning refers to “the fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages.” (Altalang.com)
13. Wabi-Sabi
Japanese – Much has been written on this Japanese concept, but in a sentence, one might be able to understand it as “a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.” (Altalang.com)
14. Dépaysement
French – The feeling that comes from not being in one’s home country.
15. Tingo
Pascuense (Easter Island) – Hopefully this isn’t a word you’d need often: “the act of taking objects one desires from the house of a friend by gradually borrowing all of them.” (Altalang.com)
16. Hyggelig
Danish – Its “literal” translation into English gives connotations of a warm, friendly, cozy demeanor, but it’s unlikely that these words truly capture the essence of a hyggelig; it’s likely something that must be experienced to be known. I think of good friends, cold beer, and a warm fire. (Altalang.com)
17. L’appel du vide
French – “The call of the void” is this French expression’s literal translation, but more significantly it’s used to describe the instinctive urge to jump from high places.
18. Ya’aburnee
Arabic – Both morbid and beautiful at once, this incantatory word means “You bury me,” a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person because of how difficult it would be to live without them.
19. Duende
Spanish – While originally used to describe a mythical, spritelike entity that possesses humans and creates the feeling of awe of one’s surroundings in nature, its meaning has transitioned into referring to “the mysterious power that a work of art has to deeply move a person.” There’s actually a nightclub in the town of La Linea de la Concepcion, where I teach, named after this word. (Altalang.com)
20. Saudade
Portuguese – One of the most beautiful of all words, translatable or not, this word “refers to the feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost.” Fado music, a type of mournful singing, relates to saudade. (Altalang.com)
Portlandia!
I've really got to get to Portland soon
Thursday, December 16, 2010
A Girl Like You
Smith Westerns - Weekend from Fat Possum Records on Vimeo.
Smith Westerns really got that modern Ramones look and the art of the simple lyrics like down-pat! The video is all lumberjacking adventures x 90s sit around eatin' junk food trying to pick up girls sounds like my kinda weekend.
Monday, December 13, 2010
If Only Joseph Cornell Had Lived This Long - by Denver Butson
he would have been able to fall in love
with Christina Ricci
in Buffalo 66
and he would have fallen in love with her
and made a box
or dozens of boxes for her
perhaps collaging images
someone had printed for him
off the internet
if he had only lived this long
and he would have ridden the bus
and thought he had seen her
on every street corner
talking on every cell phone
to someone he could only hope
was not Vincent Gallo
but better yet
the ghost of Cary Grant
whose character in North by Northwest
Vincent Gallo’s character
in Arizona Dream imitates
running away from an airplane
if only Joseph Cornell had lived this long
Bang bang, tu spari a me
Since I'm vibing that 'Heartbeats' by Xavier Dolan is going to be my film of the year (and 'Bang Bang' the song of my Summer) it looks like I should totally check out Francois Ozon's 'Summer Dress' which is on the love triangle x Nancy Sinatra tip.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Crumple Maps
When it is a beautiful starry night Mr Palomar says, "I must go and look at the stars". That is exactly what he says- "I must"- because he hates waste and believes it is wrong to waste the great quantity of stars that it is put at his disposal. - "Mr Palomar" by Italo Calvino
Buy me one from here
I love the Paris Review
Damion Searls
After Po Chü-i and Burton Watson
Not too old, not young anymore,
almost three dozen years gone by.
Not a failure, not a success—
my first real job, a job to grow old in.
Some potential, too lazy to use it:
I’d watch TV but I like the window more.
My money gets spent when I have it;
cheap food tastes good too, and a small room’s enough.
Even a smaller room would be fine,
a shelf of old books, guitar with no amp.
The books I just flip through and don’t worry about too much,
the guitar is for noodling around on my own.
Mornings on the bus; I get to the office late.
Evenings it’s back home, go to bed early.
Working out’s too much trouble, and my body’s all right,
some belly to keep me company.
So there you have it, day by day, month after month.
Rereading this poem taped to the wall—
that’s the only reason I wrote it.
No genius, not stupid either.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Catch Feelings
To fall in love with someone at an inappropriate time or mistake a repeated hookup for a serious relationship.
"The instant they start to catch feelings
I start to stealin they shit
Then I'm out just like a thief in the night
I sink my teeth in to bite
You thinkin life, I'm thinkin more like - whassup tonight?"
-DMX
Everything comes back to Louis CK
Two of my new favourite words - one is a disease and one is a world view - make of that what you will:
Anhedonia: Loss of the capacity to experience pleasure. The inability to gain pleasure from normally pleasurable experiences. Anhedonia is a core clinical feature of depression, schizophrenia, and some other mental illnesses.
An anhedonic mother finds no joy from playing with her baby. An anhedonic football fan is not excited when his team wins. An anhedonic teenager feels no pleasure from passing the driving test.
"Anhedonia" is derived from the Greek "a-" (without) "hedone" (pleasure, delight). Other words derived from "hedone" include hedonism (a philosophy that emphasizes pleasure as the main aim of life), hedonist (a pleasure-seeker), and hedonophobia (an excessive and persistent fear of pleasure).
AND
Manichean: adjective: Of or relating to a dualistic view of the world, dividing things into either good or evil, light or dark, black or white, involving no shades of gray.
I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With
'I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With' is one of my all time favourite titles. Apparently it makes Larry David uncomfortable because it ends with a preposition - 'with' (just in case you were wondering) - which is amazing to know because Larry David uncomfortable is about as unfathomable to me as time travel.
This movie contains a lot of my favourite things like Second City and stars both Jeff Garlin (of 'Curbed') and Sarah Silverman (of awesome-town).
If you in anyway doubt Sarah Silverman's devotion to cheese please watch the below.
Also she recently published a novel(!) called 'The Bedwetter' which is about well, pee from what I can gather - you can read the first chapter here.
ALSO she recently got dissed on via Twitter by the TED/AOL crew for her TED talk (which no one will ever see I guess but you can get the lowdown here). Peep the Twitter back and forth - kinda shows why you don't get into a pissing contest with a former bedwetter right?
Monday, November 29, 2010
Get your Ticket BYO Pizza and Bottle of Wine
Yours Truly Presents: Girls "Laura" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.
GIRLS TICKET FOR SALE IN MELBOURNE CHEAP (KEYWORDS)
Hey lovely people who read my blog (yep all 20 of you) I'm hoping that at least a few of you live in Melbourne and might attend concert with some regularity? Anyway I have a Girls ticket to their Melbourne Concert on 10 Dec at the Corner hotel that I'm selling 15 dollars below cost for 25 dollars (cheap right?)and free postage (i know I'm too generous) if I was you I would totally be at this concert BUT y'know LIFE happens and we can't be everywhere at once so you should go and have an awesome time!
Comment below if keen I'd love to pass it on cheaply to another fan! Get in by the 6th December peoples or like y'know before.
UPDATE!
Ryan McGinley loves them! So should you!
The genius of 'Pitchfork Reviews Reviews'
19 hours after its release, jesse eisenberg still hasn’t heard My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
anyway so then a few minutes later, jesse eisenberg’s handlers clear a path for him to go take a picture with the DJ and i catch him near the DJ booth and i go up to him and say “so have you listened to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy yet?” because i feel like i should do some coverage of that record given the title of this blog obviously and he
smiles at me but then looks nervous and says he hasn’t listened to it and i say “well do you like Kanye West?” and he thinks about the question and goes “wait why are you asking me this?” and i say “i write a tumblr about music” and he thinks about this and wrings his hands, which is something i do a lot, and if he was just some other kid who was here reporting on a celebrity gala, and not a movie star, i might have made conversation with him and compared nervous habits like hand-wringing and constant hair adjustments, but he is a movie star in a rush so i don’t, and then he says something to indicate that he doesn’t want to tell me if he likes Kanye West, and then he says “i’m not… i’m not a voice in the music industry”
I've spent the last few days listening to nothing but Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and tell you the truth I feel a bit like I've also been tripping. I'm WestWhelmed and/or WestedOut. So as part of a little MBDTF-detox heres a funny review review - to remind me not to take West and his masterpeice - or its Pitchfork 10.0 - too seriously.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
She works hard for the money
LESSONS LEARNED - The life of a working girl may not always be glamorous but it is greatly improved by the presence of Cary Grant and/or James Stewart.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Dear Future Husband
Mark Ronson
Salon's Men on Top 2010: Sexiest Men of 2010 is half loser-snoozer (2 of the guys with their shirts off/open, whose names rhyme with Tussel Whammed, are over 60 or work for Obama and aren't Jon Favreau) and half totally spot on with regards to guys-that-I-would-like-to-dream-date-in-2010. In particular I would like to combine the above Top 3 into some sort've Super-Ultimate-Boyfriend - can you IMAGINE?!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge,
So did ya hear that Pulp are reforming? In case you doubt my Pulp devotion - please take note I stayed up till 2am on Sunday night watching this doco on 'Common People' on YouTube and have listened to the song on repeat since then. Love!
AMAZE NOTE - He tries to track down the girl from Greece and explains the dance sequence in the video - true.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Whip my Hair
There are so many things I love in this video - covers, Willow Smith, Boss, comedy tunes, Jimmy Fallon - dear God it even makes me like Neil Young!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Reasons to Survive November
as if a locomotive made of cold
had hurtled out of Canada
and crashed into a million trees,
flaming the leaves, setting the woods on fire.
The sky is a thick, cold gauze –
but there’s a soup special at the Waffle House downtown,
and the Jack Parsons show is up at the museum,
full of luminous red barns.
– Or maybe I’ll visit beautiful Donna,
the kickboxing queen from Santa Fe,
and roll around in her foldout bed.
I know there are some people out there
who think I am supposed to end up
in a room by myself
with a gun and a bottle full of hate,
a locked door and my slack mouth open
like a disconnected phone.
But I hate those people back
from the core of my donkey soul
and the hatred makes me strong
and my survival is their failure,
and my happiness would kill them
so I shove joy like a knife
into my own heart over and over
and I force myself toward pleasure,
and I love this November life
where I run like a train
deeper and deeper
into the land of my enemies.
- Tony Hoagland
So November has pretty much blown in its usual subtle and generally sucky way and is once again my least favourite month of the year - to be closely followed by December as per usual. Tony Hoagland gets where I'm coming from on this though. Thanks Tony.
I Jon Lovitz This
30 Rock. In Depression-era New York City, a General Electric executive (Alec Baldwin) attempts to change the life of a female radio writer (Tina Fey) for the better. What happens when business and show business collide? Directed by Frank Capra and featuring hilarious supporting performances by stage star Jane Krakowski and vaudeville comics Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock is a charming screwball comedy for the ages.
(via uprightcitizens)
It's Like You Know
Oh Showalter how do I love thee! I wish this was out on DVD so badly.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Playing favourites
Love Streams is my favourite John Cassavetes film.
Play it Again Sam is my favourite Woody Allen film.
Vivre Sa Vie is my favourite Jean Luc Godard film.
Surviving Desire is my favourite Hal Hartley film.
Metropolitan is my favourite Whit Stillman film.
I love all these directors and nearly all of their films - OK not really so into later Godard (post-1970 blues) because my attention span is not the Grand Canyon and my patience is not the Nile - but if I really had to pick these are my favourite of the favourites. Love you guys - don't go changing.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
In which Bicycle Thieves destroyed my hope for the future.
See EXHIBIT A - Bicycle Thieves. The hard part is sometimes I don't know whats going to mow me down into an emotional wreckage. Will it be Au Hazard Balthazar or Breaking the Waves? Apparently not it will be (goddamn) Bicycle Thieves. I haven't been this devastated by a movie since I was 12 and saw Vertigo for the first and only time - all I can really remember is being all wide eyed and whispering to my mother "you can't trust anyone ever" - thanks Mr Hitchcock for DESTROYING MY CHILDHOOD!
OK so perhaps I should have known better than to watch Bicycle Thieves on a Tues night after Gossip Girl when I'm in the middle of a Saturn Return Crisis (AKA trying to catch up on 10 years of stuff I haven't achieved - must read Tolstoy, move overseas and have 3 careers ASAP etc) and work is sucky busy and stressful. However the biggest mistake I think I made in watching this film is at the 1 hour mark (which was at 11pm on this unexpectedly traumatic Tues night) is thinking that director Vittorio De Sica would offer me some respite from the unrelenting bleakness of this movie towards the end - WRONG!
Now I'm even more hesitant than usual to watch films with children. I mean look at this kids face! I nearly started crying just looking at this expression again!
The restaurant scene killed me the most - the looks this kid gives literally pierces some buried childhood trauma spot right in my BRAIN! Also I feel like this is why I could never EVER have babies or puppies - if I ever saw this look IRL I would literally crumble into lame overly sentimental dust!
OK this clipe from Hilarious just made me feel a bit better - if Louis CK can deal with kids and make it funny maybe the world is an OK place - maybe.
Even though I'm sure I will grow to love or at least appreciate this movie as much as I now love/appreciate Vertigo I still feel that movies like this should come with a warning that says "may cause long term psychological damage" or at least "do not watch before bed after Gossip Girl on a Tues night".
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Karma Repair Kit 1-4
and eat it.
2. Find a place to sleep where it is quiet,
and sleep there.
3. Reduce intellectual and emotional noise
until you arrive at the silence of yourself,
and listen to it.
4.
— Richard Brautigan
Saturday, November 6, 2010
From the desk of Julie Klausner
7. Emo Guys Who Have Crushes on Pam from “The Office”
I get it, fellas. She’s not intimidating, like one of those women who wears make-up and styles her hair, and has a good job that she enjoys, and confidence, and a..what do you call it…an adult woman’s sexuality. There’s nothing scary there, because there’s no mystery: she’s just like you! Mousy and shy. And one day your fantasy will come true. You’ll meet a nerdy, cute girl just like that (like you), and NOBODY BUT YOU WILL KNOW SHE’S PRETTY! Shhh! It’s a secret! And she’ll melt when she sees your record collection, and she’ll swoon when you play her the song you wrote, and she’ll never want to go out to a party where you’ll be forced to talk to people of social status, or comb your hair, or buy grown-up shoes, or demonstrate a hearty handshake, or make eye contact, or basically act like a man. You know what? If you want to date somebody just like you, here’s a novel idea: be gay. At a certain point, there’s a lot more dignity to actually taking it in the ass.
I'm currently reading Julie Klausner's book 'I don't care about you're band..' and this is my favourite part so far.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Nobody ever has to find out what's in my mind tonight
Yourstru.ly Presents: Warpaint "Undertow" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.
Can't wait to have some Warpaint in my life in 2011. Fave band of 2010 for sure.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
In the Bedroom
This is one of my favourite blog posts of all time from Tavi's blog Style Rookie which i hope you are all reading. I wish I had blogs like Style Rookie when I was a teen to look to for culture inspiration and knowledge that other people where into stuff that I was. Its weird how easily isolated one feels in high school even in the 90s when the internet was around! It was only movies like these that made me feel connected to something special and that weird cool teenage girl thing was a lifestyle choice not just a phase. These movies are also still some of my all time favourites - in fact Heathers will remain my all time favourite movie forever I think.
I also think Girl and Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael would fit really well into this series.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Ain't No Party Like A Music Video Party
HOW TO DRESS WELL "WAKING UP TO LIFE SOMETIMES SEEMS WORSE" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.
So like if anyone has mp3's of these tracks I would totally be sending you postive vibes for days. Otherwise I'll just sit here like Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network pressing refresh.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Runaway by Ye
I would LOVE to see this on the big screen is that wrong? Eep its kinda epic and beautiful. Lets do a screening Melbourne!!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
How to Act Bad
HOW TO ACT BAD starring ADAM GREEN from Dima Dubson on Vimeo.
"I’m not a schizophrenic, I’m just a, a… I’m just Jewish. There’s a difference." - Adam Green
About HOW TO ACT BAD:
For the past year filmmaker Dima Dubson has been following musician and friend Adam Green around New York, Los Angeles and Europe documenting the life of this cult music troubadour. HOW TO ACT BAD will bring you up close, and offer an intimate portrait of the singer/songwriter, artist, rock star and human being Adam Green, from Dima Dubson's unobstructed perspective.
The film will reflect the excitement and artistry in the creative life Adam is living - from his music to his paintings and sculptures to his current filmmaking project (known as “The Lake Room Movie” starring Macaulay Culkin, Devendra Banhart, Jack Dishel and Dev Hynes among others). HOW TO ACT BAD will also offer a candid peek into Adam's personal life and show him both alone (as alone as he can be in the presence of Dima and his camera) and with his friends.
HOW TO ACT BAD is a film about an endlessly creative person as generous with his virtues as he is with his faults, all of which make him a most fascinating subject.
If you want to see more amazing footage of Adam Green AKA "the singing man" by filmmaker Dima Dubson help HOW TO ACT BAD get that paper and get real paid by spreading the word or contributing to the film's Kickstarter campaign. Its all for a good cause y'know.
PS last time Adam came to Australia he pretty much single handedly made Rockwiz culturally relevant and funny -AND duetted with Toni Childs. Its one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I would have paid to see that truly - or at least I would pay to see it again.