9/11/2007
I Have No Idea What's Going On With The Formatting In The Previous Post
Really. Rap album reviews coming up this week!
9/09/2007
Why I Love Craigslist
Reason #1
Dragon*Con Spider-Babe - w4m
Reply to: pers-414712001@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-09-05, 3:42PM EDT
YOU: wearing the garb of evil spider-man, smoking a cigar, strongly resembling Tobey Maguire.
ME: the large pair of glasses poking out of a pink, L-shaped tetris piece. thinking up all of my best lines, but resting on the decision to find you in your natural habitat...
the web.
Reason #2
Why did you have to be a psycho? - w4m - 35
Reply to: pers-4104546857@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-08-31, 9:29AM EDT
We were having so much fun. I miss you. Why did you have to turn into a creepy, bat shit crazy psycho?
Edited to add: Christ all mighty some of you guys out there are disturbed. This is a message directed at a specific person. Nowhere in here does it say "Please send me e-mails offering me oral sex (among other things)". Or maybe I should thank you for identifying yourselves as creepy and psychotic right from the get go.
Reason #3
hot rocker amputee chick - m4w - 24
Reply to: pers-415732654@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-09-06, 5:52PM EDT
Yesterday I was at the walgreens in Lawrenceville buying those nicotine patches. There was a hot chick with two lip piercings and her left arm was cut off or something right past her elbow. she had apparently locker her keys in her car or something because she was telling the lady ringing me up something about her dad coming up there. i had the perfect setup to hit on this chick, and for some reason didnt act. ive been kicking myself for not offering her a ride for the last two days. somebodys got to know this chick, it cant be that hard to find her. so everyone, keep a lookout for this broad, tell her i was the guy at the counter with all the tattooes. and if anyone knows her, hit me up.
Dragon*Con Spider-Babe - w4m
Reply to: pers-414712001@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-09-05, 3:42PM EDT
YOU: wearing the garb of evil spider-man, smoking a cigar, strongly resembling Tobey Maguire.
ME: the large pair of glasses poking out of a pink, L-shaped tetris piece. thinking up all of my best lines, but resting on the decision to find you in your natural habitat...
the web.
Reason #2
Why did you have to be a psycho? - w4m - 35
Reply to: pers-4104546857@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-08-31, 9:29AM EDT
We were having so much fun. I miss you. Why did you have to turn into a creepy, bat shit crazy psycho?
Edited to add: Christ all mighty some of you guys out there are disturbed. This is a message directed at a specific person. Nowhere in here does it say "Please send me e-mails offering me oral sex (among other things)". Or maybe I should thank you for identifying yourselves as creepy and psychotic right from the get go.
Reason #3
hot rocker amputee chick - m4w - 24
Reply to: pers-415732654@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-09-06, 5:52PM EDT
Yesterday I was at the walgreens in Lawrenceville buying those nicotine patches. There was a hot chick with two lip piercings and her left arm was cut off or something right past her elbow. she had apparently locker her keys in her car or something because she was telling the lady ringing me up something about her dad coming up there. i had the perfect setup to hit on this chick, and for some reason didnt act. ive been kicking myself for not offering her a ride for the last two days. somebodys got to know this chick, it cant be that hard to find her. so everyone, keep a lookout for this broad, tell her i was the guy at the counter with all the tattooes. and if anyone knows her, hit me up.
9/05/2007
Murakami Notes
Right now I’m finishing up the last third of Harukai Murakami’s novel Dance Dance Dance. Once finished this will be the seventh novel of Murakami’s I’ve read, in addition to the short story collection After the Quake and his nonfiction work Underground. That puts Murakami right up there with my most read authors Raymond Chandler (I’ve read every Marlowe novel except Playback), Kurt Vonnegut (I may have read everything of his in high school), and Philip K. Dick (I’ve read so much Dick I can’t even keep the plots of his novels straight in my mind). What does this mean? I can’t say, but they are all authors whose novels I repeatedly pick up if not compulsively then with an unconscious attraction.
Interestingly, while Dick and Chandler may have little in common with each other, they are both clearly an influence on Murakami. Murakami’s book jackets often quote critics acknowledging this debt to Dick, though I would say only a handful of novels truly bear the comparison. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka On the Shore, and Dance Dance Dance (And maybe to a lesser degree Sputnik Sweetheart) all incorporate fantastic or sci-fi elements, but there’s another kind of Murakami novel set in an objective reality familiar to us all. For me, Norwegian Wood and South Of the Border, West Of the Sun, straightforward realist dramas both, are Murakami’s most moving works. While the sci-fi elements are absent from both novels, they are definitely consistent with the rest the Murakami canon.
Nearly all of Murakami’s novels have at their center the disappearance of a woman, always a person intimately involved with the male protagonist. These disappearances disturb the protagonists’ complacent existence and the protagonists’ mount a subsequent investigation, however passively conducted, that leads to author gradually peeling back society's veneer. Whether the revelations experienced lead the protagonist literally into another world, as with Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Dance Dance Dance, or simply to a deeper understanding of contemporary urban existence and its attendant alienation and despair. These narratives often take the form of loosely plotted mysteries with digressions always as important as any ensuing revelations and the eventual resolution. Here Murakami reveals his Chandler influence. If nothing else, Raymond Chandler was an author more preoccupied with the shattered souls at the center of his mysteries and the society that allows these souls to exist as they are.
Sometimes though, I think Murakami exhibits more in common with David Lynch than any other author. Whereas Philip Dick confronts issues of Identity and Self in a slightly askew universe where technology runs rampant, Lynch and Murakami both perform a metaphorical “pulling back of the curtain" of a world initially resembling our own. Lynch reveals the seedy, unacknowledged dark side of suburban America and, recently, Hollywood. Murakami's milieu is always urban Japan. Both men, though, are more than a little obsessed with sex. Outside of the aforementioned forms and narratives Murakami continually reworks, sex in all its myriad forms is probably the author’s favorite recurring subject. Lynch depicts sex as an ugly, though necessary, affair with roots in violence and control. For Lynch, sex is ripe for abuse at the hands of Evil individuals and something his younger, more innocent characters need be protected from lest they also become corrupted. Lynch is a Midwesterner, after all.
Murakami also sees sex's potential for trauma and emotional scarring, but also acknowledges the opportunity for warmth, healing, and humanity. Most of all, Murakami understands the need for sex, psychologically, physically, and emotionally. Murakami’s protagonists, though always loners at somewhat of a remove from society, have lots of sex, usually quite easily. However, since Murakami’s protagonists’ are always centered, thoroughly decent people in a cold alienated world, they recover strength in sex. They heal themselves and others and discover meaning and fortitude. Through sex, the protagonists confront overwhelming odds and true despair, bringing new balance to their upset world.
These are just some notes as I finish this last Murakami novel. Whenever I read a review of a new Murakami novel, critics generally credit Murakami’s craft and artistry but throw their hands in the air as far as recovering any meaning. He is at times an inscrutable author, his narratives loosely constructed and full of metaphor and allegory, but I hope to do better. These notes may be the beginning of a longer piece on the author and his work.
Interestingly, while Dick and Chandler may have little in common with each other, they are both clearly an influence on Murakami. Murakami’s book jackets often quote critics acknowledging this debt to Dick, though I would say only a handful of novels truly bear the comparison. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka On the Shore, and Dance Dance Dance (And maybe to a lesser degree Sputnik Sweetheart) all incorporate fantastic or sci-fi elements, but there’s another kind of Murakami novel set in an objective reality familiar to us all. For me, Norwegian Wood and South Of the Border, West Of the Sun, straightforward realist dramas both, are Murakami’s most moving works. While the sci-fi elements are absent from both novels, they are definitely consistent with the rest the Murakami canon.
Nearly all of Murakami’s novels have at their center the disappearance of a woman, always a person intimately involved with the male protagonist. These disappearances disturb the protagonists’ complacent existence and the protagonists’ mount a subsequent investigation, however passively conducted, that leads to author gradually peeling back society's veneer. Whether the revelations experienced lead the protagonist literally into another world, as with Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Dance Dance Dance, or simply to a deeper understanding of contemporary urban existence and its attendant alienation and despair. These narratives often take the form of loosely plotted mysteries with digressions always as important as any ensuing revelations and the eventual resolution. Here Murakami reveals his Chandler influence. If nothing else, Raymond Chandler was an author more preoccupied with the shattered souls at the center of his mysteries and the society that allows these souls to exist as they are.
Sometimes though, I think Murakami exhibits more in common with David Lynch than any other author. Whereas Philip Dick confronts issues of Identity and Self in a slightly askew universe where technology runs rampant, Lynch and Murakami both perform a metaphorical “pulling back of the curtain" of a world initially resembling our own. Lynch reveals the seedy, unacknowledged dark side of suburban America and, recently, Hollywood. Murakami's milieu is always urban Japan. Both men, though, are more than a little obsessed with sex. Outside of the aforementioned forms and narratives Murakami continually reworks, sex in all its myriad forms is probably the author’s favorite recurring subject. Lynch depicts sex as an ugly, though necessary, affair with roots in violence and control. For Lynch, sex is ripe for abuse at the hands of Evil individuals and something his younger, more innocent characters need be protected from lest they also become corrupted. Lynch is a Midwesterner, after all.
Murakami also sees sex's potential for trauma and emotional scarring, but also acknowledges the opportunity for warmth, healing, and humanity. Most of all, Murakami understands the need for sex, psychologically, physically, and emotionally. Murakami’s protagonists, though always loners at somewhat of a remove from society, have lots of sex, usually quite easily. However, since Murakami’s protagonists’ are always centered, thoroughly decent people in a cold alienated world, they recover strength in sex. They heal themselves and others and discover meaning and fortitude. Through sex, the protagonists confront overwhelming odds and true despair, bringing new balance to their upset world.
These are just some notes as I finish this last Murakami novel. Whenever I read a review of a new Murakami novel, critics generally credit Murakami’s craft and artistry but throw their hands in the air as far as recovering any meaning. He is at times an inscrutable author, his narratives loosely constructed and full of metaphor and allegory, but I hope to do better. These notes may be the beginning of a longer piece on the author and his work.
9/01/2007
Deconstructing The Myth
Last night I saw Rob Zombie's remake/reimagining of Halloween. It's an interesting film, if not exactly a good one. Roughly the first half of the film is devoted to exploring the environmental and psychological factors that led stoic, white-masked Michael Meyers to kill all those babysitters on Halloween night. Then the second half reworks the basic plot elements of the first Halloween film, substituting out that film's atmosphere and quiet creepiness for detail and brutality. This second half manages a pretty tense climax, as Michael pursues an injured Laurie Strode around and through the decrepit, abandoned house of his childhood. Though one might argue the necessity of remaking a classic horror film, in its second half Halloween is effective enough to justify its own existence.
The first half of the film, though, lands Halloween in a developing unofficial sub-genre of films deconstructing or explaining the psychology behind long established pop-cultural myths. Off the top of my head, there's Batman Begins (2005), Hannibal Rising (2007), Casino Royale (2006), and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006). All are origin stories explicitly delineating a psychological backstory for familiar characters. It’s a curious trend, particularly in cases like Halloween where, like many horror movies, the mystery surrounding the film’s central character is part of the point. Who is Michael Myers? The Bogeyman or the Anti-Christ? Neither, according to Rob Zombie. Michael is really just a screwed-up kid with a stripper Mom and an alcoholic Step-Dad. Terrifying? Not really. Michael Myers is no longer a determined, perhaps even supernatural, killer with inscrutable motives. Michael’s motives are actually quite easily explained and therefore, I would venture, less scary. The logic of the film reduces Michael Myers to a familiar set of psychological traits, nothing more.
What's next? The First Temptation of Christ? A Die Hard prequel depicting a toddler John McClane defusing a hostage situation at his pre-school? I for one like some things to remain unexplained.
The first half of the film, though, lands Halloween in a developing unofficial sub-genre of films deconstructing or explaining the psychology behind long established pop-cultural myths. Off the top of my head, there's Batman Begins (2005), Hannibal Rising (2007), Casino Royale (2006), and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006). All are origin stories explicitly delineating a psychological backstory for familiar characters. It’s a curious trend, particularly in cases like Halloween where, like many horror movies, the mystery surrounding the film’s central character is part of the point. Who is Michael Myers? The Bogeyman or the Anti-Christ? Neither, according to Rob Zombie. Michael is really just a screwed-up kid with a stripper Mom and an alcoholic Step-Dad. Terrifying? Not really. Michael Myers is no longer a determined, perhaps even supernatural, killer with inscrutable motives. Michael’s motives are actually quite easily explained and therefore, I would venture, less scary. The logic of the film reduces Michael Myers to a familiar set of psychological traits, nothing more.
What's next? The First Temptation of Christ? A Die Hard prequel depicting a toddler John McClane defusing a hostage situation at his pre-school? I for one like some things to remain unexplained.
25 About Me
1. The book I am reading at the moment is...
Dance Dance Dance by Harukai Murakami.
2. The last film I saw at the cinema was...
Rob Zombie's Halloween.
3. The last CD I bought was...
The After Dark compilation from Italians Do It Better Records.
4. The last time I had a good night out was...
Last Saturday. Assisted by good conversation, "One quick drink" became four pitchers and closing out the bar.
5. The car I drive is...
A white 2002 Nissan Sentra. I hate my car. I hate driving.
6. The best programme on television at the moment is...
There's one more season of The Wire yet to come.
7. The newspapers I read are...
The New York Times, occasionally the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
8. My favourite building is...
I always liked that Eastern European-Orthodox church off McCarren Park in Williamsburg. Most of my favorite buildings are churches.
9. My mobile ringtone is...
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" by Bob Dylan.
10. My favorite word is...
Sassafras.
11. My dream sandwich would be filled with...
There would definitely be avocado. Tomato? Onion? A tasty spread? Who really has a "dream sandwich"??
12. My last holiday was to...
Guess that would be my June trip to NYC.
13. The last magazine I bought was...
The most recent issue of The Atlantic Monthly.
14. My last mystical experience was...
I don't even know what the fuck that means.
15. If you took my television away...
I'd be fine if I could still watch DVDs on my laptop.
16. My favourite poet is...
Philip Larkin or Gregory Corso.
17. My perfect Saturday night is when...
I'm surrounded by friends, there's a frosty pint in my hand, and there's something interesting to see.
18. My perfect Sunday morning is when...
I'm not too hungover for brunch or to do the errands I've been procrastinating.
19. I would most like to own...
Desire leads to dissatisfaction. I could use a new computer, though.
20. On my perfect day I would...
I would feel active and productive during the day and still have enough energy to go out and enjoy myself into the night.
21. The TV programme I would like to be in is...
A TV programme with lots of hot bitches on it. Just kidding. Um, The Wire?
22. The most-played artist on my MP3 player is...
How do you check that? I guess it could be UGK. Or Against Me! Or anything else.
23. I recycle the following household items...
My roommates have me recycling basically everything that could be recycled. Plastic grocery bags, plastic bottles, newspaper, aluminum cans, glass, etc.
24. My biggest weakness is...
I tend to be overly-analytical. This sometimes leads to inaction and, later, regret.
25. I am...
Doin' just fine, thanks.
Dance Dance Dance by Harukai Murakami.
2. The last film I saw at the cinema was...
Rob Zombie's Halloween.
3. The last CD I bought was...
The After Dark compilation from Italians Do It Better Records.
4. The last time I had a good night out was...
Last Saturday. Assisted by good conversation, "One quick drink" became four pitchers and closing out the bar.
5. The car I drive is...
A white 2002 Nissan Sentra. I hate my car. I hate driving.
6. The best programme on television at the moment is...
There's one more season of The Wire yet to come.
7. The newspapers I read are...
The New York Times, occasionally the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
8. My favourite building is...
I always liked that Eastern European-Orthodox church off McCarren Park in Williamsburg. Most of my favorite buildings are churches.
9. My mobile ringtone is...
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" by Bob Dylan.
10. My favorite word is...
Sassafras.
11. My dream sandwich would be filled with...
There would definitely be avocado. Tomato? Onion? A tasty spread? Who really has a "dream sandwich"??
12. My last holiday was to...
Guess that would be my June trip to NYC.
13. The last magazine I bought was...
The most recent issue of The Atlantic Monthly.
14. My last mystical experience was...
I don't even know what the fuck that means.
15. If you took my television away...
I'd be fine if I could still watch DVDs on my laptop.
16. My favourite poet is...
Philip Larkin or Gregory Corso.
17. My perfect Saturday night is when...
I'm surrounded by friends, there's a frosty pint in my hand, and there's something interesting to see.
18. My perfect Sunday morning is when...
I'm not too hungover for brunch or to do the errands I've been procrastinating.
19. I would most like to own...
Desire leads to dissatisfaction. I could use a new computer, though.
20. On my perfect day I would...
I would feel active and productive during the day and still have enough energy to go out and enjoy myself into the night.
21. The TV programme I would like to be in is...
A TV programme with lots of hot bitches on it. Just kidding. Um, The Wire?
22. The most-played artist on my MP3 player is...
How do you check that? I guess it could be UGK. Or Against Me! Or anything else.
23. I recycle the following household items...
My roommates have me recycling basically everything that could be recycled. Plastic grocery bags, plastic bottles, newspaper, aluminum cans, glass, etc.
24. My biggest weakness is...
I tend to be overly-analytical. This sometimes leads to inaction and, later, regret.
25. I am...
Doin' just fine, thanks.
7/06/2007
In The Meantime...
I know the number of posts on this here blog has dwindled over the last month...I recently moved and things are kind of tumultuous at the moment. Once I get settled I promise regular posting will resume. In the meantime, here's some wacky ass Youtube tomfoolery.
6/25/2007
An Interview With The Carbonas
Here is the interview with The Carbonas that I promised to post a week and a half ago. For those of you not in the know, The Carbonas are a local punk band whose members do double-time in a number of other Atlanta bands like Beat Beat Beat, The Lids, and Gentleman Jesse and His Men.
This interview was a little different than the Selmanaires' interview. First of all, I guess one member was not told about the interview and only showed because he was in the area shopping for used records and saw his bandmates. Then, two other members showed up drunk and continued to drink from unconcealed beer cans during the interview. As I recall, it was about one o'clock on a Saturday afternoon when we began. All in all, though, the interview went very smoothly and I found the entire band genial and easy-going. The less said about the drunken shenanigans afterward, theirs and mine, the better.
Incidentally, I think this interview reads more like the typical Vice interview than the interview with The Selmanaires.
ME: Standard question: How would you describe The Carbonas to someone who’s never heard the band?
GREG: Basically…Bad punk rock.
JOSH: We don’t have any original ideas.
DAVE: We don’t try to break new ground. We’re kinda just recycling old shit. And we definitely don’t want to come across as “art” shit.
GREG: We like bad European punk that nobody has ever heard of because we’re snobs.
ME: So you guys have, what? Two LP’s and an EP out now?
DAVE: Our first LP didn’t come out so good. We thought it was good at the time, but we fucking hate it now.
ME: What was that called?
DAVE: "Scenekiller." And we have another LP on Raw Deluxe out of Oakland. We recorded that in like 2003.
GREG: But it didn’t come out till last year.
DAVE: We don’t like that shit either.
GREG: Dave doesn’t like it.
ME: Okay, what have you recorded that you do like?
DAVE: Um, a couple singles…
GREG: We have like four singles. Three or four, I don’t know. On compilations. We’re getting ready to re-do the vocals on the new one and it’ll be out in…maybe 2009? The new LP will be on Goner. If Goner exists in 2009 it’s gonna kick ass.
ME: What do you guys think of the girls down South? Does Atlanta have attractive girls?
JOSH: Atlanta’s always had hot girls.
DAVE: If I may? Atlanta took a direct hit from a “Jailbait Missile.”
ME: Please explain.
GREG: There seems to be a lot of young ladies that come out to shows. And that’s fine, that’s okay, I like it that young girls are taking an interest in music and art.
DAVE: It’s not like the ages range from 18 to 29. It’s all 17- and 18-year-old girls and then that’s it.
GREG: I think maybe it’s a punk rock issue. All the older girls get into really kickass bands like Foreigner or Alan Parsons Project. They’re all like, “I like this Alan Parsons’ Project. I think his project kicks ass.”
DAVE: 22- and 23-year-olds, they think they’ve all got their shit together and they’re so over it. Then the next batch of 17- and 18-year-olds come in.
JOSH: Once you have a college degree, you don’t like The Carbonas anymore.
GREG: But them young girls, they like dumb music like the fucking Carbonas and shit.
ME: Is it hard to maintain a long-term relationship while touring in a band?
JOSH: Yeah, definitely. One time on tour I got a hickey on my neck. While I had a girlfriend. So on the way home we took grip tape from a skateboard and rubbed it on my neck so it looked like a wound instead of a hickey.
DAVE: The story was, if anybody asked, it was “guitar strap burn.” Then there was the time—
JOSH: The time I fell asleep jacking off in the bathroom?
GREG: You were trying to fuck a plastic woman.
JOSH: Yeah, I was trying to fuck a plastic doll. But it had a hole in it. I gave up and just started jacking off and then…fell asleep.
GREG: I had to take a shit and complained to the person who lived there and we had to unscrew the door.
JOSH: I woke up just as the door was being opened only to look down and realize what I’d done.
If you want to hear The Carbonas and you don't live in Atlanta...Well, you got Myspace. Otherwise, I think every record of theirs is out of print. Maybe that new record will come out on Goner this fall.
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