Neight the Greight is leaving today and now I'm discovering that I'm much more of a sentimentalist than I thought (thanks n8). I think it took until now to realize just how much things are about to change, or maybe I'm projecting? Most people I know are staying in NYC but one by one we will probably leave, move, lose touch, settle elsewhere, who knows where even I will end up. It's a lot to be confronted with, especially because I think I have a lot of fear connected with this idea of the REST of my LIFE. Understandable, and something I need to confront head on lest I get enveloped in it.
Two very different movies, obviously, and things I had been meaning to see for months now.
In terms of Antichrist I can't say it was much different from what I was anticipating: some shock value, lots of rough, violent sex, and some artsy slow-motion thrown in. Oh yeah, and opera. Naturally. I had planned on seeing it fr the sake of having the experience of watching the film, but I had already read about each extreme moment or shock, so I guess there was no way for it to have the desired effect. Still, I can't really say it added or took away anything from my life. I guess some people are just into that sort of thing? Also, Lars von Trier hates women.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox....I mean I guess I kind of understand much more why people hate Wes Anderson. He kind of falls into a Woody Allen category for me: I see the routine, the repetition of one style, but I love it so much, or have loved it in some of their films, that I'll pretty much see anything they do. But yeah, same color palette, disappointing soundtrack (for him), same shots, super detail oriented...but once again beautiful to watch, and I had a great time. Animation gets me almost every time, I find it so hard to fathom the detail, the minutae, especially when I'm not as detail oriented as I could be. Still I feel that movie had a potential to blow me away more than it actually did, sadly enough.
In an effort to get a head start on my Christmas gifts I sort of raced through Confederacy of Dunces (sorry John Kennedy Toole!) and started Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead. It's one of those wonderful things that makes me want to read always, that makes me want to rush out and buy all of his other works before I even finish this one. He's an NYC native and Harvard grad. I saw him with Anna at a New Yorker festival event with Jonathan Lethem that completely blew me away. His style is so detailed and beautiful, one of those authors who is amazingly good at weaving pop culture, race issues, etc. so elegantly you hardly notice the shift except to say YES, exactly. Anyways, I found online a clip from the National Book Festival where he read the exact same sections I saw. Be warned- it's a half hour, and he doesn't come on until about 3 minutes in, but if you have the time he is an amazing writer and well worth listening to.
I added a quote today to my blog from one of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut. I have read almost everything he's written and still can't get enough. When looking for an image of that quote, I came across a number of amazing photos of him that I wanted to share, interspersed with other great things he's said.
I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did'.
If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.
Also: POPE ATTACK! (you only need to watch the first couple of minutes to get the full effect)
The entire point of this post is to acknowledge one of my favorite people who has had (and kept up with) her own excellent blog much longer than mine.
On December 22nd she wrote this post and it articulates so much of the NOW that it kind of hurt me to read. Does that make sense? Maybe only to me and my friends, or me and my age group, or just the two of us, but I happen to think it's pretty fucking dead on.
I wanted to do a sappy dedication post but I realized that my love letter to Allison is far too personal for the Interweb. Just know that if you, mysterious (non-existent?) reader, happen to know this girl, you should be forever grateful. I owe her my sanity and I have no doubt that she will be an amazing writer someday.
The title for this post is from the Beatles song Fixing A Hole. Here's a video with a cute Paul interview to open it. Allison, this is for you:
Today I explained the concept of Lady Gaga to my parents via this amazing fashion recap. We also watched Colbert rap and appreciated this ad that is apparently hanging in La Guardia airport due to either oversight or a really great marketing campaign:
Obviously, we've been on the internet. But it's so nice to finally have a lazy day, especially when it leads to discoveries like this:
Where has RuPaul been, and why did I forget how great she is? I'm going to need to spend a bit more time looking into her fabulous life. Didn't she also at one point have an Oprah-esque talk show? Clips are essential.
I got far more gifts than I deserve today, and mostly books, which I don't have the room or the time for, although they're all things I can't wait to read. I now own:
Today I discovered a great (if sporadic) section of the New York Times whose aim is to report on brain research. Yesterday’s article was on education, and how cognitive science is going to effect the way we teach children, since most teaching methods prior have been the result of tradition and assumption. For example, this article claims that"most entering preschoolers could perform rudimentary division,” whereas in my preschool we just learned how to count to ten.
It will be interesting to see if these methods are actually adapted and how they could effect the next generation. My math skills are incredibly weak and, although a lot of it has to do with the fact that I was too shy as a kid to explain that I didn’t understand things, I also think that my basic skills are to blame.
A group called Building Blocks is testing this idea of early math immersion and seems to have already garnered great results. The best part? They believe that by targeting certain parts of the brain it can even effect self-control. Maybe we can get rid of the 4th graders on Ritalin?(side note: Microsoft Word recognizes the word Ritalin. We’re doomed).
Another great article is from November 26th, and it focuses on psychosurgery. I had never heard of this but apparently there are new procedures which may help to cure depression, anxiety, obesity, and OCD among other things by DRILLING HOLES INTO PART OF YOUR BRAIN. There have been mixed results: some have gotten better, some haven’t changed, and an unfortunate few have gotten much worse. One even lost the ability to care for herself after it went awry.
However, I’m not completely opposed to such an extreme method. As someone who has dealt with depression, it seems most medication and therapies are almost as strenuous to endure as surgery would be, and often feel futile. Even when certain patterns of thought can be recognized, it is not always within the means of a patient to eradicate them or act otherwise. That negative self-awareness can be terribly frustrating and dis-heartening, and I’m sure it would be an amazing relief if this surgery could eventually be a safe option.
There are a few more articles to be found in this section but I won’t summarize them all, though one in particular caught my eye. Apparently, it has become possible to erase memories a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This can be done to erase experiences of trauma or even just to fix a bad habit, yet it raises so many more questions about just how important these memories are to who YOU are as a person.
Also: “If traumatic memories are like malicious stalkers, then troubling memories — and a healthy dread of them — form the foundation of a moral conscience”
They mention in the article the tendency of artists and writers to explore the notions of consciousness and identity that are now being explored by neuroscientists (see this article about identity from the same section). I read a great book on this about a year or two ago called “Proust Was a Neuroscientist” by Jonah Lehrer in which he took examples of works by Cezanne, Stravinsky, Walt Whitman, and of course Proust (among others), and analyzed how their particular understanding of the process of human nature relates to scientific theory today. Amazing book, and also partially the topic of my colloquium for Gallatin, though with less science involved.
What am I trying to say?
Basically just that I find these new developments fascinating. I wonder how an in-depth understanding of the brain will effect the way we understand ourselves and relate to one another. What will happen if we can edit ourselves so easily?
Also- I feel like these developments are all a pretty big slap in the face for religion, the way we have starting defining what makes us human in the most practical of terms. Would we be much further along scientifically if religion hadn’t gotten in the way? (oh no- I think I might have gotten that from the ridiculous alternative universe episode of Family Guy. It is also the second time I’ve mentioned that show today).
Enough about the brain, I have to transcribe, but first:
The title of this post comes from a great poem by Wallace Stevens called The Man with the Blue Guitar from 1937. It’s too long to post but here it is along with a few bonus poems. If you’ve never read him, you probably should (thanks Kyle! You probably forgot but you recommended him ages ago)
Also, in looking at poetry earlier I came across this:
Democracy! Bah! When I hear that I reach for my feather boa!
I have tried to embark on this type of thing before…pretty much every summer I have declared that I’ll be reading something epic which rarely gets finished. But now I’ll really have time (finally) and it will be nice to keep my brain active. I usually am trying to do so but I feel like I’ve been slacking in that department lately, being wiped out with finals and certain inane classes and busy work at internships….
But! Here are some interesting things I’ve learned this morning from the New York Times annual “Year in Ideas ”
Ok, so this isn’t entirely true, and in this article they do make sure to refute that idea. But still, there is something slightly unnerving about us whittling down trees and ivy to their specific purpose and then finding a way to recreate that out of things that “resemble giant fly-swatters” and “leaflike modules that harness both solar and wind energy.” It is comforting to know that there are people out there who are able to be innovative with energy. Apparently, “when a breeze rustles Grow's [designer Samuel Cochran’s] leaves, tiny piezoelectric generators in their "stems" create a small charge.” We’re starting to get better and better at harnessing nature. But when will these things actually be usable? I guess it’s hard to tell on the East Coast- I feel like California gets all of the energy tricks, with all of their wealthy liberals and sun.
Which made the New York Times hint at a viewable paper rather than print. Good work staying relevant, NYT, although I think I’d rather read than watch most of your staff.
This section disturbs me quite a bit, actually. They’re describing how robots are often used for warfare, but now they’re going to make them ethical and feel guilt. Isn’t that part of the reason why we don’t want to be the ones fighting, to avoid the emotional aftermath? And whose ethical standards are we programming these poor robots with? Also, you can’t read an article about robots without this type of threat: “the software will actually allow robots to outperform humans from an ethical perspective.” Their superiority is always looming- eerie.
Because otherwise, we will obviously want to kill ourselves. Shades of Brave New World, anyone?
5)Who owns the moon?
I mean, I thought we did, since we conquered it with a flag and all way back in the day. But apparently now that we’ve discovered frozen water the moon is totally a commodity again. We (and China) have been crashing things into it right and left, and now the amazingly forward thinking katrillionaire Richard Bronson has created commercial flights to the moon! If you have $200,000 I suggest you get on it.
But how are we going to divide up this glorious satellite? Maybe this is what the UN is for.
(Also- I have always thought astronauts were the forgotten heroes- they get to go into fucking outer space! Why aren’t we still obsessed with them like in those good-old Cold War days? Since Lance Bass wasn’t allowed to leave Earth I thought we had standards. Bronson- way to lower those.)
I decided my musical thoughts of the day needed their own separate post but first!
I apologize for any and all grammatical/spelling errors on this blog. I suppose I should try harder, but I've never been a perfectionist, so this is just kind of how I roll- sloppy.
ANYWAYS
I've been meaning to post this video for a really long time. It's an acoustic version of Winter Never Stops by one of my favorite bands, Deerhunter. It's been around for awhile but I only recently discovered it and I feel compelled to listen to it every day.
Deerhunter - Winter Never Stops (Acoustic) from Bradford Cox on Vimeo.
Yes, another one of those "deer" bands that people can't keep straight, but I have to admit I'm a sucker for their sort-of-experimental "shoegazy" ways. Plus I have a completely serious and probably unhealthy obsesssion with Bradford Cox, the lead singer and, as a solo artist, Atlas Sound (I posted a link to a song off of his amazing new album Logos a few months ago). He's been accused of having a huge ego blah blah, but he writes great music, knows everybody (he collaborated with Karen O for the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack), and is fucking hilarious, as is evidenced by his blog and this Pitchfork video.He posts mixes and covers on his blog all the time; he's basically always working on music, and in every interview I've read he just comes across as having a great outlook. He's just a super huge music fan.
It's because of Bradford that I fell in love with the song I'll Be Your Mirror by the Velvet Underground. Though I've been fans of their music for many years I hadn't really paid much attention to it's beauty and simplicity, but Bradford mentions it all the time, and now I'm convinced. People hate on Nico's involvement since she was basically placed in the band by Andy Warhol (I believe?) and "can't sing," but I've been sold on her strangeness since the Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack changed my life in high school.
(song around the :45 mark)
(Sidenote- how perfect is Alec Baldwin's narration? Wes Anderson just nailed it with this film on so many levels...I need to watch it again)
Anyways, I highly suggest you give "I'll Be Your Mirror" another listen.
I also got a craving for the Velvet Underground song "Jesus" on my commute to work and in listening to a few tracks in reverse order I suddenly noticed something I should have noticed from the get go: The Velvet Underground self-titled album completely has an ephiphanal (real word?) arch to it: Jesus turns to Beginning to See the Light turns to I'm Set Free....ok, so maybe it's not that cool or in depth, mostly I was just amazing that it took me 4 years of listening to the album to even notice that transition.
So listening to "I'm Set Free" got me thinking about how much I like songs about freedom, like "I'm Free" by the Who and the Aretha Franklin song "Think." Freedom is something so desired and emphasized by people, especially people I know, and myself, who like to believe that they know better than to be trapped by convention. But in reality, we are so far from being free. I'm still enrolled in a major university and working a part-time retail job, etc. etc. Wanting to work in the arts is different from Wall Street maybe, but does it make me less free since I have to work so much harder to make any money at all in comparison to other professions? One of the most reasonable lamentations about New York is that so often you end up working to live, and I would never want to end up like that, but wouldn't it be great to make a boatload of money and then have that out of the way and be able to do what I want? Maybe that's freedom but it seems like you have to give up a part of yourself in order to earn that kind.
Going to All Tomorrow's Parties in September made me have an ephiphany about music. It's certainly not completely true but I do believe that the closest you can get to complete freedom is to be able to play music, even if you aren't successful. At ATP there were so many great collaborations (No Age with Bob Mould playing Husker Du songs, even one with Bradford, Caribou playing with Four Tet, so amazing) and I felt like there had to be even more happening behind the scenes. Musicians just have a language all their own with which to communicate with each other, and even if everyone can't play it always (cheesy, I know) brings people together. Muscians are always the ones with those great stories about travelling the world to study different traditional instruments or to tour with bands they admire, and what an amazing way to express yourself- to pick up an instrument and just make something happen.
Basically, I wish I played something. I know that elements of the music scene are just as mired in money and power etc, but I like to keep my innocent view of how much can be done with that awesome talent.
What was this post about? No idea.Rambling. I slept four hours but for some reason still wanted to get this out now? God. Anyways here's a present if you made it through, an old/creepy/awesome video you've probably seen of a time-lapse mural.
I felt on the verge of an existential crisis the other day, but I'm already feeling much better. It all makes sense though. the FUTURE is looming, I've got maybe 2 days left and then I'm done with NYU, except of course for my colloquium. I'm sure I'll have a good number of freak outs in the next couple of months even though somewhere in me I know that even if I had some grand plan for my Life, chances are it would never come out the way I planned it. So why worry?
In other news, I wish London was closer...they have some fucking GREAT art.
Take, for example, this years Turner Prize (the winner was just announced last week).
Apparently this piece, Seizure by Roger Hiorns, was the favorite
But it didn't win. Still, it's beautiful. I'll let the Guardian describe it since you know, they're British so it sounds better:
The artist poured thousands of litres of copper sulphate into the flat and then waited for it to crystallise. The work saw many hundreds of visitors queuing up to don wellies and gloves and explore its miasmic spaces.
Sigh. I want to don some wellies and spend some time in the depths of these blue crystals, for sure.
Here is the winner:
It has no title and is by artist Richard Wright, who designs his pieces right on the gallery walls. Since this also involves gold leaf and the most popular word used to describe the experience of seeing it is "transfixed," I'm glad it won, although
In other news, is it bad that I'm super excited for a cover album? Beck has decided to cover Songs of Leonard Cohen, my favorite album, and according to Wikipedia (the thinking man's source) it's going to involve: MGMT, Devendra Banhart, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy. I never cared much for MGMT but, as one of my recent posts showed I have so much love for Devendra. I can't wait to hear what he'll do with it.
Also, Little Joy opened for Devendra and I've been really into them lately. They're super poppy and all incredibly attractive, but in that down-to-earth, I want to party with you and hide my jealousy kind of way. They just kind of chill in bars in California with Devendra and listen to Portuguese/Brazilian bands and jam. Not a bad life.
(The guy on the right is Fabrizio Moretti from the Strokes which, side note, I never had a Strokes moment but there are so many signs recently that I should have, like gushing friends and end-of-the-decade lists, plus praise from James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem, DFA records) who I definitely trust, so I think it's about that time).
Also, despite Binki Shapiro's ridiculous name, she has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard.
In other important news, the ever amazing New York Magazine approval matrix introduced me to the existence of a 5 pound, 12,600 calorie gummy bear. Just thought you should know.
