Friday, April 16, 2004
five kinds of friday
New music!
1. New Mum! Now like the pixie-drunk child of Blonde Redhead and Goblin.
2. New Call and Response! Now like latter period Stereolab, without the experimentation (i.e., decent background music that has no hooks).
3. New Devendra Banhart! Now with a full band, but Elka took it so I can't say how good it is.
4. New Bright Black! Now (and before) like Mazzy Star, only with more pot and more crickets.
5. New Cee-lo! I still don't get it.
1. New Mum! Now like the pixie-drunk child of Blonde Redhead and Goblin.
2. New Call and Response! Now like latter period Stereolab, without the experimentation (i.e., decent background music that has no hooks).
3. New Devendra Banhart! Now with a full band, but Elka took it so I can't say how good it is.
4. New Bright Black! Now (and before) like Mazzy Star, only with more pot and more crickets.
5. New Cee-lo! I still don't get it.
film flam
God damn, I've been watching a lot of films lately. No, it's not because I'm semi-employed; it's because of the SF International Film Festival. If you get one of those nifty press passes, you can go to two preview screenings every day, plus bring home VHS tapes AND check out the films during the actual festival showings. It's pretty sweet. Only I'm starting to miss the real world a bit. Every time anyone talks to me, I have nothing to say other than "I saw a good film" or "I saw a crappy film." Then I can tell them the plot, but no one really likes to hear about movie plots, especially foreign films that they probably won't see anyway.
So I've decided to just not go out. Or catch up on what all my friends are doing. Chris is learning how to be Fatboy Slim. Brent is trying to find where all his company's server files went to. Kathleen is preparing to go to France for three months. Jake is on vacation. Bruce is trying to impregnate his wife. Russ is driving down to Santa Barbara for one show. Elka is painting and painting and painting.
Jeez, there's just not that much gossip these days. Why isn't anyone doing something scandalous? Come on, people!
Anyway, I'm writing reviews of the films for Kitchen Sink. Supposedly, they'll be up on the website eventually. While you wait breathlessly for them, here's some other things I've learned from the festival:
*Everyone in wants to move to Arica. It is the New York City of Chile.
*All the teenagers yell a lot in the French projects.
*The Polish really aren't that attractive a people.
*Icelandic people are all as weird as Bjork.
*Deadpan comedy is the new slapstick.
*The cop film really needs to be retired.
*Tesla coils are always funny.
*Someone should give Taylor Mead a starring role, immediately.
*Whipped cream makes good lingerie.
*Daniel Auteuil is the finest actor of his generation. This isn't funny, it's just true.
*There's a lot of bad Euro-disco being played in clubs in Buenos Aires.
*Scenes where 60-something women screw their daughters' much younger boyfriends make me uncomfortable.
*Everyone should see Everyday People -- it's like a Spike Lee movie without all the yelling or Wayne Wang's Smoke without the sentimentality.
*This is the worst SFIFF year in recent memory. Why? Because a lot of the movies really suck. But also, there's no Mary-Louise Parker in it.
One night last week I came home late and got totally sucked into Five Senses, mainly because of Parker. There's just something about her -- that sad, thorough stare, that bitterly crinkled mouth -- that gets me every time.
Mmm, bitterness.
So I've decided to just not go out. Or catch up on what all my friends are doing. Chris is learning how to be Fatboy Slim. Brent is trying to find where all his company's server files went to. Kathleen is preparing to go to France for three months. Jake is on vacation. Bruce is trying to impregnate his wife. Russ is driving down to Santa Barbara for one show. Elka is painting and painting and painting.
Jeez, there's just not that much gossip these days. Why isn't anyone doing something scandalous? Come on, people!
Anyway, I'm writing reviews of the films for Kitchen Sink. Supposedly, they'll be up on the website eventually. While you wait breathlessly for them, here's some other things I've learned from the festival:
*Everyone in wants to move to Arica. It is the New York City of Chile.
*All the teenagers yell a lot in the French projects.
*The Polish really aren't that attractive a people.
*Icelandic people are all as weird as Bjork.
*Deadpan comedy is the new slapstick.
*The cop film really needs to be retired.
*Tesla coils are always funny.
*Someone should give Taylor Mead a starring role, immediately.
*Whipped cream makes good lingerie.
*Daniel Auteuil is the finest actor of his generation. This isn't funny, it's just true.
*There's a lot of bad Euro-disco being played in clubs in Buenos Aires.
*Scenes where 60-something women screw their daughters' much younger boyfriends make me uncomfortable.
*Everyone should see Everyday People -- it's like a Spike Lee movie without all the yelling or Wayne Wang's Smoke without the sentimentality.
*This is the worst SFIFF year in recent memory. Why? Because a lot of the movies really suck. But also, there's no Mary-Louise Parker in it.
One night last week I came home late and got totally sucked into Five Senses, mainly because of Parker. There's just something about her -- that sad, thorough stare, that bitterly crinkled mouth -- that gets me every time.
Mmm, bitterness.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
a new kind of stupid
I did something very stupid yesterday. I applied some muscle relaxant. In a sensitive area.
On Saturday, I thought I'd pulled a groin muscle playing basketball. It didn't feel that bad while playing -- just a little sore -- but afterwards I could barely walk. And to go dancing that night, I had to drink a bunch of whiskey and some Dr. Pepper (separately) and take some aspirin.
But I still hurt on Sunday, so I bought some Ben Gay. This in itself felt strange, since I'd never purchased the stuff before. Who buys this gunk? Does a topical muscle relaxant actually do anything? And why does it have to smell like mint flavored locker room?
Anyhoo, I put that stuff on and went back to the computer. Five minutes later I nearly fell off the chair! It burned and burned and burned. And it wasn't a place I wanted it to burn.
I tried to wash it off but it was too late. I finally knew what Jerry Lee Lewis meant when he sang "Great Balls of Fire."
I sure hope it's better by this Saturday's Three Kinds of Stupid party. I don't want the whole party to smell like mint.
On Saturday, I thought I'd pulled a groin muscle playing basketball. It didn't feel that bad while playing -- just a little sore -- but afterwards I could barely walk. And to go dancing that night, I had to drink a bunch of whiskey and some Dr. Pepper (separately) and take some aspirin.
But I still hurt on Sunday, so I bought some Ben Gay. This in itself felt strange, since I'd never purchased the stuff before. Who buys this gunk? Does a topical muscle relaxant actually do anything? And why does it have to smell like mint flavored locker room?
Anyhoo, I put that stuff on and went back to the computer. Five minutes later I nearly fell off the chair! It burned and burned and burned. And it wasn't a place I wanted it to burn.
I tried to wash it off but it was too late. I finally knew what Jerry Lee Lewis meant when he sang "Great Balls of Fire."
I sure hope it's better by this Saturday's Three Kinds of Stupid party. I don't want the whole party to smell like mint.
