as you can tell from the title, i am going on vacation for a few weeks. as of tomorrow i will be on martha's vineyard for a week to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday and for the first part of july i will be hiking in new hampshire and maine. when i get back i am sure i will have some great stories to share with you all.
in the meantime, i am turning over blogging duties to just hip enough, who i can say is, in fact, just hip enough. i think you will enjoy some of the insight he can provide. also, if adam feels like it, he is welcome to start posting at anytime...
so, enjoy the next few weeks. i know i will be :)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Weighing in
I've been invited to post from time to time by posternutbag. Although I always think I have something to say, I don't always have something to write. The world is such an interesting place that the most I can add is an eclectic mix of curiousities, political insights, general outrage, and hopefully humor. Actually being "technologically adept " to do this once is enough for me now so I will bask in the afterglow of this brief publication until events or emotions move me to greater effort. Thanks for the invite.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
When Art Immitates Art
ever find an album that you just can't put down and over a course of 2 weeks listen to the damn thing about 37 times? i'm in one of those phases right now with the album "stars of cctv" by hard-fi.
i first heard hard-fi a year or so ago through my friends dave, jemma, and thea (thanks for the tip!). for those who are unfamiliar with the band, they are a rock group from staines, england (staines is also the neighborhood used as the setting for the movie "ali g in da house") who combine rock, punk, new wave, beats, and other good sounding stuff to create a really good, energetic mix.
the first track on "stars of cctv" is a song called "cash machine". i love albums that start with a good, upbeat number to get you into the album. cash machine does this perfectly. its a good, rocking number with an interesting message. its about some guy who, despite his best efforts, can't get his shit together. he is broke. he can't buy a train ticket home. he knocks his girlfriend up. but despite all this, you can tell that he still wants to do good. he wonders, like all of us do from time to time, whether or not he can realize his full potential. he wonders if he can overcome the obstacles in his life. he is trying to keep his head above water. i like this guy. sure, he has some shit going on, but don't we all?
this song is also interesting because after listening to it a few (dozen) times, i got a vision in my head that this song is the perfect guy ritchie movie condensed into a 4 minute pop tune. i think the english accent might have pushed the issue a long, but the same things he is singing about are the same things you see in a guy ritchie movie. think "snatch" and "lock stock and two smoking barrels". i could see guy ritchie directing the video in his post-modern style. it just works. so, you can imagine, to my surprise, that when i checked out the video on youtube it has a guy ritchie-like quality to it. the video doesn't have all the camera moves that i would have put into it, but i think the guy who speaks in the beginning is a direct tip of the hat to guy ritchie. check it out for yourself:
there is also another video for this song that presents a more literal interpretation of the song. you can check that out here (why there is russian or some other slavic language at the bottom of the screen i have no idea):
i first heard hard-fi a year or so ago through my friends dave, jemma, and thea (thanks for the tip!). for those who are unfamiliar with the band, they are a rock group from staines, england (staines is also the neighborhood used as the setting for the movie "ali g in da house") who combine rock, punk, new wave, beats, and other good sounding stuff to create a really good, energetic mix.
the first track on "stars of cctv" is a song called "cash machine". i love albums that start with a good, upbeat number to get you into the album. cash machine does this perfectly. its a good, rocking number with an interesting message. its about some guy who, despite his best efforts, can't get his shit together. he is broke. he can't buy a train ticket home. he knocks his girlfriend up. but despite all this, you can tell that he still wants to do good. he wonders, like all of us do from time to time, whether or not he can realize his full potential. he wonders if he can overcome the obstacles in his life. he is trying to keep his head above water. i like this guy. sure, he has some shit going on, but don't we all?
this song is also interesting because after listening to it a few (dozen) times, i got a vision in my head that this song is the perfect guy ritchie movie condensed into a 4 minute pop tune. i think the english accent might have pushed the issue a long, but the same things he is singing about are the same things you see in a guy ritchie movie. think "snatch" and "lock stock and two smoking barrels". i could see guy ritchie directing the video in his post-modern style. it just works. so, you can imagine, to my surprise, that when i checked out the video on youtube it has a guy ritchie-like quality to it. the video doesn't have all the camera moves that i would have put into it, but i think the guy who speaks in the beginning is a direct tip of the hat to guy ritchie. check it out for yourself:
there is also another video for this song that presents a more literal interpretation of the song. you can check that out here (why there is russian or some other slavic language at the bottom of the screen i have no idea):
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Thank You Sarah Montana, Thank You
one of my most bestest and specialist of friends in washington, dc was the esteemed sarah montana. when thea left dc last summer i was very upset. thea and i had a almost weekly standing dinner date where we would go to a fun restaurant in dc and eat food and have a good time. but when she left i was left high and dry...fortunately for me not soon after thea left i met sarah montana and quickly sarah montana and i started a almost weekly standing dinner date and the void in my life left by the departure of thea was quickly filled (but thea, don't take this the wrong way, you could NEVER be replaced! it was just the void that was filled :). bottom line: both thea and sarah montana rock.
but sarah montana has a quality that not even the esteemed thea kruger possesses: sarah montana is the most rockinist and rollinist girl i know. she LOVES rock and roll. she loves rock and roll like i love rock and roll. the first time we really hung out together we went to a baseball game (the phillies were playing the nats at RFK and were in the playoff hunt...needless to say i was a total basket case...that also speaks to sarah montana;'s character, she was able to put up with me at a phillies game) and on the way to the stadium...she was driving...i heard the black keys for the first time. and the next time we hung out we went to bens chili bowl then to stetsons for pitchers of cheap-ass pitchers and a great rock and roll jukebox. we talked about rock and roll all night. it was fantastic. she introduced me to my morning jacket. we went to the MMJ show at the 930 club together. it was awesome. we saw tenacious d together. tenacious d! that is how rockin' she is. she saw tenacious d with me. i don't think i need to go on she rocks, if you get the picture).
the point of all this, yes. for my birthday, sarah got me the led zeppelin dvd "how the west was won" (there is no real concensus on the actual title of the dvd...amazon doesn't list it as such, but its my understanding that its the title even if it isn't on the box). now as i have previously explained, sarah montana is the most rockin' and rollinist chick i know, and she loves zeppelin, so i really appreciated the gift. it was very thoughtful. but i never watched the dvd. why, i don't know. but the time just wasn't right. i thought about watching it a number of times but never could bring myself to. i really don't know why. and, mind you, i love concert dvds. gimmie shelter. stop making sense. the grateful dead movie. festival express. they all rule. and you can watch them multiple times. great stuff. but i never watched this one. i also remember that when she gave this to me she told me this amazing story about when she bought it and the guy at the store couldn't stop talking about how awesome it was, but still i never watched it. until last night.
sarah, if you are reading this, that dvd is f**king awesome. amazing. blows your mind. face-melting. words cannot describe what i saw last night. jimmy page. holy s**t. robert plant. john paul jones. john f**king bonham. through all the stages of their career. this was rock and roll at its finest. if you like guitars, and anyone who knows me knows that i like guitars, if you like guitars, this movie is for you. if you like rock and roll, performed by the masters of rock and roll, this is for you. if you want to hear true masters at their craft, this is for you. it is the zeppelin equivalent of the phish bluegrass dvd (for all phishheads who have not yet seen this please go here...the 1992 MTV interview is great too). so sweet.
sarah montana, thank you. you are really the best.
but sarah montana has a quality that not even the esteemed thea kruger possesses: sarah montana is the most rockinist and rollinist girl i know. she LOVES rock and roll. she loves rock and roll like i love rock and roll. the first time we really hung out together we went to a baseball game (the phillies were playing the nats at RFK and were in the playoff hunt...needless to say i was a total basket case...that also speaks to sarah montana;'s character, she was able to put up with me at a phillies game) and on the way to the stadium...she was driving...i heard the black keys for the first time. and the next time we hung out we went to bens chili bowl then to stetsons for pitchers of cheap-ass pitchers and a great rock and roll jukebox. we talked about rock and roll all night. it was fantastic. she introduced me to my morning jacket. we went to the MMJ show at the 930 club together. it was awesome. we saw tenacious d together. tenacious d! that is how rockin' she is. she saw tenacious d with me. i don't think i need to go on she rocks, if you get the picture).
the point of all this, yes. for my birthday, sarah got me the led zeppelin dvd "how the west was won" (there is no real concensus on the actual title of the dvd...amazon doesn't list it as such, but its my understanding that its the title even if it isn't on the box). now as i have previously explained, sarah montana is the most rockin' and rollinist chick i know, and she loves zeppelin, so i really appreciated the gift. it was very thoughtful. but i never watched the dvd. why, i don't know. but the time just wasn't right. i thought about watching it a number of times but never could bring myself to. i really don't know why. and, mind you, i love concert dvds. gimmie shelter. stop making sense. the grateful dead movie. festival express. they all rule. and you can watch them multiple times. great stuff. but i never watched this one. i also remember that when she gave this to me she told me this amazing story about when she bought it and the guy at the store couldn't stop talking about how awesome it was, but still i never watched it. until last night.
sarah, if you are reading this, that dvd is f**king awesome. amazing. blows your mind. face-melting. words cannot describe what i saw last night. jimmy page. holy s**t. robert plant. john paul jones. john f**king bonham. through all the stages of their career. this was rock and roll at its finest. if you like guitars, and anyone who knows me knows that i like guitars, if you like guitars, this movie is for you. if you like rock and roll, performed by the masters of rock and roll, this is for you. if you want to hear true masters at their craft, this is for you. it is the zeppelin equivalent of the phish bluegrass dvd (for all phishheads who have not yet seen this please go here...the 1992 MTV interview is great too). so sweet.
sarah montana, thank you. you are really the best.
Friday, June 15, 2007
I Don't Know How To Feel About This
president bush wears crocs. i wear crocs. is this the only similarity the two of us have?
I Don't Blog About DC Much Anymore, But...
...i cant resist a post about easterns motors.
those in the DC area should know easterns very well. not only do they have a song that should be in the honorary class of the local commercial hall of fame, but for some reason they are able to get all of these big-time professional athletes appear in their commercials. so, with that in mind, i bring you this tidbit, a behind the scenes look at the filming of the new easterns motors commercial (thanks to deadspin and the dc sports blog for the tip).
those in the DC area should know easterns very well. not only do they have a song that should be in the honorary class of the local commercial hall of fame, but for some reason they are able to get all of these big-time professional athletes appear in their commercials. so, with that in mind, i bring you this tidbit, a behind the scenes look at the filming of the new easterns motors commercial (thanks to deadspin and the dc sports blog for the tip).
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
I Am Really Displeased With That Last Post
i am not the worlds best writer. for those of you who read my blog regularly (all three of you) probably realize that by now, but that last post was probably one of the biggest pieces of crap i have ever written. if i had a good mind, i would delete it from existence and start over, but for some reason i am not going to do that. maybe it will serve as a reminder to me to do a better job.
see, that last post could have been better. i could have thought it out more. i could have done multiple drafts (well, i did a first take but it was even worse than that one so i started over), but i didn't. to me, blogging is all about writing in the moment, almost a stream of consciousness kind of thing and when i have something to write that is complex and emotional, like the last post, my words and thoughts get all jumbled up and i have trouble saying what i am thinking and i have trouble thinking clearly enough to say what i want. you can see how that can become a problem. there were just too many things i wanted to write about and i didn't have a clear plan on how to say it.
i'll try and do better in the future. i don't want to let all three of you down.
see, that last post could have been better. i could have thought it out more. i could have done multiple drafts (well, i did a first take but it was even worse than that one so i started over), but i didn't. to me, blogging is all about writing in the moment, almost a stream of consciousness kind of thing and when i have something to write that is complex and emotional, like the last post, my words and thoughts get all jumbled up and i have trouble saying what i am thinking and i have trouble thinking clearly enough to say what i want. you can see how that can become a problem. there were just too many things i wanted to write about and i didn't have a clear plan on how to say it.
i'll try and do better in the future. i don't want to let all three of you down.
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