Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: brussels, cinema, film, leonard cohen, london, music, paris, penelope cruz, photography, roman polanski, self, self portrait, tom waits, vicky cristina barcelona
I’ve been busy obsessing over the most disjointed random things/people in the world. That’s what I’ve been busy doing instead of blogging on this shit.
1. Leonard Cohen. It’s because every time that doc Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man is on Sundance I watch it. It changes my life every time. I always love Leonard Cohen because he gets you at all points in your life. And as I’m going through a whirlwind of dullness and mood swings and everything, he is making the most sense. He tends to make sense a lot more than most people do. Something about Cohen’s voice and words and presence is just comforting. I almost wish he was my father.
2. Penelope Cruz. I would do the little accent mark but I have no idea how to. I finally saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona and she blew my mind. She’s just so sickeningly beautiful and amazing. I think I might add her to my extremely short list of people I’d go gay for. (and btw, the movie was really good too, but I’m biased since I love anything by Mr Woody)
3. Self portraits. I’ve been taking too many of them.
(me and Edith, I tried very hard to get her into the photo)
4. This fucking Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Image Stabilizer lens. I NEED IT IN ORDER TO SUSTAIN MY LIFE.
I was playing around with it when Madelaine and I bought her new camera yesterday. It has the best focus of any lens I’ve ever had my hands on. I’m going to try and find a cheaper one somewhere (ebay? reliable y/n?) before I leave in 15 days.
5. Obsessing over the fact that in 15 days (give or take, too lazy to calculate exactly) I’ll be in London, Paris, and Brussels. Yeah. WHAT!? Thank GOD. I don’t even know what to do with myself. We basically have no plans for anything. I can find my own way around London by now so Madelaine just plans on following me around to places that are for sure hits, and then just hanging out. and then eventually celebrating her birthday by doing something dangerous and stupid most likely. Maybe I’ll try and see the family. Who knows. The only plans for Paris is the Louvre, so I can cry and recreate the race in Band of Outsiders while trying to not get kicked out (oh and look at epic art pieces, of course). I might try and visit the Cinematheque Francais so I can weep. No plans for Brussels at all except to get Belgian chocolate.
6. Tom Waits. I am going through a serious musical rut where he is basically all I listen to. I would marry Tom Waits.
7. and last: ROMAN POLANSKI. I finally got around to watching that documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. I love him so much I refuse to believe he’s a pervert, but it’s obvious he got his groove on with that 13 year old girl, what Humbert Humbert would call a nymphet (that reference was necessary). She wanted it though, I guarantee it. Who wouldn’t want to get it on with a young RP?… Like, come on girl, just admit it, stop tormenting this little man’s soul. He’s a genius, a god of his art form, let’s allow him to frequent our country again and continue making spectacular films…. give it up girl!
Remember the time you drove all night
just to meet me in the morning?
Went to see one of my favourite bands ever last night, the Kills. to say the least, they fried my little brains.
tons of random, weird things happened. I guess I’ll try and sum up the night in bullet points? my thoughts are not complete at the moment.
- Jamie Hince asked us to light his cigarette, and we did. talk about a random as fuck moment. I have a hard time believing that Jamie Hince ever goes without a lighter on him though. Not that I care. I was just like “dude.”
- really wanted to ask them for a photo when they were sitting next to us but I feel so awkward doing that. especially when they are in conversation. instead a snuck a creep ass photo.
- someone explain to me how moshing alone ever happens? okay, I get moshing and all that if there’s a group of people doing it. but when you are there alone, drunk off your ass, and trying to insinuate a mosh pit, please just give up and save yourself and everyone around you.
- the Magic Stick/that entire building that houses like 9 different things is the greatest venue because it allows you to smoke inside. I hadn’t been there in over a year. yeah anyway, the law in Detroit is too busy worrying about people getting shot every day to worry about smoking indoors.
- I forever hate Faris Rotter from the Horrors (opening band [I know]) for more reasons than one, but now I have a new one. my friend passed out during the Kills encore which was terrifying and we won’t even go into that. But somehow we got ?sort of backstage? when I dragged her out of the crowd. I’m like, busy trying to revive a life here, and Faris walks by us literally 4 different times. I’m like DUDE, can’t you tell I’m freaking out and I know you can’t do anything because you’re dumb but can someone please acknowledge the fact that I am having a crisis right now!?!!? Faris walked by us so many times I thought he was running a fucking marathon. and he did nothing except drink and look at us conspicuously.
- We met these people there that were kind of with us the entire night and kind totally trashed. I’m still trying to figure out how seeing a show totally trashed is enjoyable whatsoever. they were nice though.and the girl Stephanie shared some drinks with us and had the backup cigarettes. meeting people at shows is so strange because usually you end up getting their numbers and you look in your phone the next morning and you have no idea how or why.
- The Kills are incredible and I don’t even know who I have a bigger crush on anymore, Jamie or Alison. when they played “Kissy Kissy” I almost combusted into 100 flaming suns.
Check out my photos (they suck) if you wanna.
I just really, really, really, really want to be friends with Ryan Adams. I feel like it isn’t so much to ask.
The Kills are incredible. their music is incredible and there is nothing like it. Listen to their first album “Keep On Your Mean Side,” it will change you.
There has always been something very special about this band to me. I don’t know what it is and I don’t want to know.
I bought two albums today and chainsmoked listening to them in the car when I think I burnt my throat or something which is awesome and stupid. Beck’s “Sea Change” and Sonic Youth’s “Dirty.” I love music.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anna karina, cinema, film, music, oasis, sigur ros
I finally have ventured into the bold, magical, atmospheric world of Sigur Ros, and I’m too lazy to find out how to insert the accent mark.
Here’s a song my friend sent me by the band. It’s so beautiful, I don’t even know how to describe it. I guess it’s a cold, blue, sparkling type of musical euphoria. It’s called “Olsen Olsen“. Do you ever feel that there is so much good music in the world, even things to be discovered from decades ago, and you will never have enough time to listen to it? I hope I can find all the time in the world to listen to amazing music.
I’m Anna Karina obsessing (then again I am always Anna Karina obsessing). She is beautiful, sad, and joyful looking all at the same time. Why is it that all actresses nowadays seem to be everything but? I think most of my favourite Godard films star Anna. Band of Outsiders is undoubtedly my favourite, and Une Femme Est Une Femme is a second.
I was involved in a conversation today about foreign films. a bunch of my friends are watching Amelie in film study right now and they ”can’t be bothered to read subtitles.” I give up on the world.
Anyway, this blog post is all over the place so I apologize. I’ve been in an unusually FANTASTIC mood recently, I’m not sure why. stuff about life seemed to click with me this week. I think I’m going to live my life…. unapologetically. I guess that would be the world. Selfishly. Just for myself. I never want to be stuck in a situation at work or with kids or something that is going to make me feel like I wasted my time. Life is so fragile and fast, it’s useless to me to worry about things like that. I just want to have fun and experience everything. I had an insane moment when my friend and out I went out to eat the other day, and we sat afterwards in the restaurant talking about this subject for an hour. We walked outside and on the speakers was “Live Forever.” Right from the beginning of the song. I think my heart exploded into a trillion pieces. I’ve never had a sign be that obvious in my entire life. Not only have I never heard that song on the radio, but how poignant that song was to that moment and that epiphany… was insane. I wanted to cry. I plan to live forever, and just in case I don’t I should probably just do what I deem necessary. No one else. To me, life would be useless to live it by someone else’s rules.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: andrew bird, bob dylan, cinema, crime drama, don't look back, film, i love television, jack kerouac, manhattan, music, photography, tom palumbo, woody allen
Since I’ve been sick I’ve been laying around watching TV for what seems like a decade. I’ve accumulated much !!!inspiration!!! (yes, from the TV and the internet) recently. Here are some of the things that make me want to make myself get off this couch and do something.
1. Tom Palumbo.
This is one of the most inspiring streams I’ve come across on flickr in my life. Tom Palumbo is a photographer who has uploaded much of his work from the 1950s and 60s. His photos are so breathtaking, I almost cried looking at this stream. To me, Tom Palumbo’s photography sums up what the art of taking photos should be about. You can tell how much he loved his wife Anne just by looking at 5 or so photos of his. His photos make you want to know the people inside of them. And they are also timeless. They are perfect (I don’t know when else I’ve used the word ‘perfect’ for a photographer besides Avedon).
Jack Kerouac by Tom Palumbo
Palumbo in action
Anne by Tom Palumbo
2. Don’t Look Back, the famous Dylan doc, has been on TV at least like 8 different times the last couple days. I watch it every time. Bob Dylan is so…. for lack of a better word… cool. Dylan is the coolest man on earth. and why does no one look like him anymore?
3. This is totally irrelevant. But a couple weeks ago I got around to watching Woody Allen’s Manhattan. It was incredible and might take the cake for my favourite Allen movie of all time. I understand there are a lot of Woody Allen haters around. I don’t get that contempt at all. I think he’s hilarious and brilliant.
4. Crime dramas. Besides all the Dylan obsessing that’s been occurring, I’ve been watching any type of crime drama that’s been on TV. I don’t really know what “crime drama” even means, it just seems appropriate, so forgive me. Obviously, these bitches are my favourites:
I think I’ve seen every episode of Law and Order: SVU, and most of them more than once. I can NEVER GET ENOUGH.
Then I watched like, 9 hours of NCIS which is actually great. for some reason I never ‘got it’ until yesterday. Maybe it’s because it was the only thing that was on all day Saturday. NCIS was pretty legit, and my dad informed me that our old next door neighbour is related to Mark Harmon and we met him a couple times or something. wtf? (p.s. Mark Harmon is hot).
Then I ventured into the world of CSI. I never watched CSI and I don’t really know why. I watched the craziest episode that featured the sad acting of Criss Angel. It was about a magician who took out his anger on his crew by killing them in typical magician-esque fashion (i.e. sawing a girl in half, literally). Seriously, who THINKS of this stuff!? Anyway… Gary Sinise is a badass.
5. Andrew Bird. most of my indie shithead friends have known of him since like, before they were born or something. I finally listened to him and I am in awe. I love him. take a listen for yourself.
and he’s adorable.
final thought: anyone that becomes a fan of “summer,” “laughing,” “sleeping,” or “hot showers” on facebook should probably be shot.
I’m sick again. I woke up this morning and I felt like Morrissey ran me over with that 10-ton truck he talks about. I went into school at my second class and left after an hour. then I came home and slept on and off for 5 and a half hours.
of course this all happens on the nicest day of the year yet—85 and not a cloud in the sky.
Tim Buckley is the best musical discovery I’ve ever made fully on my own.
I cannot explain to you how much I just want to live inside of this song.
