So, in a couple of hours time, Erik and i will start prepping the last supper for this year. It'll be cheese fondue (that's my department), some tapas, oliebollen, champagne and other alcholic brews. This is my last post for this year... which has been extremely kind to me. A new house, moving into it with Erik, the holiday on Sicily, getting Stoffel the cat, the birth of my nephew Wessel and another kid on the way at Erik's sister, and just generally being at ease with it all. 2006 can only be a bummer. Dammit. I'll end on a high note, the three songs i played most this year... the ones who revive the fond memories of this artificial time-span for the rest of my life everytime i hear them, an emotion which will overpower me with melancholy and longing for these days, which in retrospect will always seem better and carefree, no matter what situation i'm living in then, toothless and bald and incompetent of cleaning up after myself.
On!Air!Library! - Feb.
Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds
The Bravery - No Brakes
Oi, it's been a long time. The days we call Christmas or Winterval have come and gone. Lists, lists, lists, endless lists, but thank Oh Great Queer One In The Sky, Antony and the Johnsons tops most of them. Speaking of which, who ever saw Animal Factory?. I didn't, but Willem Dafoe told me about it.
You might have noticed i'm totally back into New Order at the moment (see the lastfm list on your right). Maybe it has to do with reading Deb Curtis' biography of Ian Curtis, well, i've over-explained all that lately, or maybe it's just the cold weather that makes me go all melancholic and gooey inside. I'm listening all of their records, and i'm most surprised by how timeless Republic really sounds. But not very New Order, sadly enough. Loved that record though. I think the last record i should buy this year is Technique, since i only have it on vinyl, and it's got some decent tunes.
In relation to New Order, chromewaves reports about The Coast, and describing it as mid-era New Order (post-Movement, pre-Technique) rings all my bells at this moment.
One thought that crossed my mind this afternoon: Would it be more dangerous to walk outside in generic clothing, or in hand manufactured extravaganza. In the first case you'd blend in better, but some evil soul could easily mistake you for someone else who had done them wrong. These things have to be taken into consideration.
Depeche Mode released the A Pain That I'm Used To single this week on the European Continent, backed with some very eerie sounding remixes by Goldfrapp and Bitstream. Stuart Price/Jacques lu Cont/Madonna's Pet Monkey made two remixes, and just as easily added Peter Hook's bassline of Jetstream (which he produced as well) to the endproduct. Dave Gahan can't stop talking about touring next year, and i'm still damning myself for not getting any tickets for their only concert in the Netherlands. If you have any left, notify me. He also mentiones Anton Corbijn is directing the video for Suffer Well, the third single of Playing The Angel (i hoped for). And that it will be Anton's last video before starting on Control. But i talked too much about that darn movie already. It's about Ian Curtis. And Joy Division. The circles i'm moving in are getting smaller and smaller.
Depeche Mode
The future is now. And since it is being said so, i've finally joined Flickr. Just like last.fm, this is one great idea. But with Flickr, i didn't get it until i finally joined it. For instance, if i want to see some pictures of my old hometown, i follow the tags. Actually, the house i grew up in is visible in this picture, the second one on the bottom left. Right at the back, that's where i first kissed a boy.
One thing i tought myself, though i'm not sure why i ever did in the first place, is to ask yourself always:What's wrong in this picture?. The most marvelous details appear in front of you, impossible to ignore. I've grown a bit tired to that motto lately. As i mentioned at the start of this year, my tagline has become:If you want to feel more, you shouldn't search for more and more extreme incentives, but you should become more sensitive. However the last few days, the details are not exclusively visible to those that pay attention. They are screaming in my face. Something or someone is desperately trying to tell me something.
The past few weeks, i've been nourishing the afterthoughts generated by Broken Flowers. The last shot, where Bill Murray stares straight at you from the screen reappears at random in my mind, the look on his face one that triggers memories of my father and of things that were never said, but understood. At one point I realized, one day, i would be older than my father ever was (i've counted the days, it's August 26, 2021). I can't imagine what a feeling that must be. Like standing on the edge of the world with a view upon a valley where you can see an entire lifetime, tiny.
A bit about my hometown then. This weekend we visited my mother. Her house is somewhere in this picture. To be honest, it must have been 3 months since i last was there, perhaps the longest amount of time i hadn't been there in my life. This weekend she planned an evening where we, me and my brothers' families, got together for dinner and bowling. Erik and i decided to go to my mom a day earlier, to catch up with whatever happened there. So we left at 8 pm and arrived a little after 10. The first thing i saw when i stepped into the room was the old clock we inherited from my father's mother above her television set, standing still at a quarter to ten. My mother was as surprised as me, because she hadn't noticed the clock stopping a few minutes earlier. At about half past 12, Erik and i went upstairs to go to sleep, and the clock in our bedroom stood still at 12 o'clock. But i'm sure that was because it didn't have any batteries in it.
Earlier on that Saturday we headed for the garden-centre. What better gift for your newborn nephew than a baby tree? It's not a good idea to visit a garden-centre two weeks before Christmas. But when we fought our way through the screaming kids to the back where the real trees were, we found a not too big chestnut tree, about 2 metres high. But we did buy a christmas tree as well.
Incredible how peaceful the night is there, compared to our house. Nevertheless, i woke up with a headache that lasted all day until i rested my head on my own pillow, 13 hours later. Breakfast, stroll out back, coffee, visit my brother's house, give them the tree, hold Wessel, drive back, fix mom's computer, head for the restaurant at 6 pm, finished diner at 8, play 90 minutes of bowling, i play the last ball of our third game with exactly 0 minutes left of our playing time. In the end, we catched up with Time.
The song Harvest by Neil Young came by on our iTunes server at work yesterday. His voice is probably my favourite of all male singers, Erik got me hooked to him when he burned a cd for me when we just met, uhm five years ago probably. I wasn't aware someone added the album to our playlist, so i just selected some of the songs of that album, to hear some more Neil Young, and the first song that came by was Old Man...
Old man take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you / I need someone to love me the whole day through / Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true
No need to point out that this song struck a chord in me the first time i heard it. It was a pleasant reacquaintance. During lunch i went into town to get some kitsch to throw in our newly acquired puny pinetree, and a busker stood at the bottom of a staircase, playing Old Man by Neil Young. That was yesterday. I gave him a euro by the way. One more lesson: always reward coincidence, the more it'll serve you. This morning when i arrived at work, i went to our traffic departement, and on the radio Old Man by Neil Young was playing.
My intention to find out more about my dad after seeing Broken Flowers, i think i should take that seriously.
death, christmas, future, Neil Young
Tonight was a dream come true. Not only for me and Erik, watching Antony & The Johnsons perform at the CarrÈ theatre in Amsterdam, but hearing Antony's story of his first performance at the venue, a couple of years back as a backing singer with Lou Reed, for him as well. And it shone through in the show... what a gorgious music performance it was. If i hadn't been at the Melkweg earlier this year watching the Arcade Fire's first show in this country, this would've been the best gig i'd been to this year.
antony & the johnsons
I've just finished reading Touching From A Distance, the biography of Ian Curtis as written by his late wife. At the mo, Anton Corbijn is filming his first movie based on that book. But quite an unnerving story that is. If you're frequently worshipping Ian Curtis (like i do) you'll have a hard time reading it. Because basically, the guy was a racist, lying, cheating, nagging, irresponsible bigot, who had this foolish romantic ideal to die young. Still, a must-read for anyone interested in Joy Division, New Order and all music that came afterwards.
I'm a bit late at posting this story, but two weeks ago, on Friday November 25th, the Netherlands were struck by a snow-storm. Yes, this country is so small, a storm can cover more than half of its surface. What followed was chaos. Villages were out of electricity for 3 days, traffic-jams on highways lasted up to almost 24 hours, public transport came to a grinding halt. I was amazed at what a thin veneer our infrastructure is made of.
I agree, a blizzard is not very common in this part of the world, but if i'm to believe my last post they could become so. Or, if in some case of emergency the lower parts of our country would be flooded, i can't imagine the chaos it would lead to. I've thought about the concept of 'civilization' so many times, and more and more i feel it is confirmed to be a very thin crust, under which hot boiling lava is gnawing to get out, to spurt it's deadly contents out over the unsuspecting crowd.
Mmm.
I'm not getting any happier from this frosty weather.
I must admit i've never been keen on Jim Jarmusch's movies, at least on paper. For instance, it took me several months, perhaps even a year to finally push myself to watching Ghost Dog after i bought it on VHS. But i guess i have some sixth sense for getting excited about movies that turn out to be just the best movie of the year. Or it's just me relying on a cast that includes Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy (this list goes on and on). I'm talking about Broken Flowers.
The story is so simple, i'll suffice to say it's about a man searching for his son he didn't know he had. The rest of the movie is a true breath of fresh air. The first thing i said to Erik after the movie ended, was that this is a movie that just lets you watch... On no occassion you're being forced to bond with the characters, you'll do that by yourself because of the magnificent acting. And i haven't laughed so uncontrollably with a movie since a long long time. That's the end of my promotional speech about this movie...
Cue the personal part. Somewhere around three-quarters into the movie (for the people who watched it: when Don (Bill Murray) finally flies back to his hometown) something in my head clicked. You see, my father died January 1998, almost eight years ago, after being diagnosed with cancer. His birthday is December 21st. You can imagine, since then the festive season hasn't been just an occassion for me and my family to get together. It's not just the holiday season either, ever since he died, from the start of October on up to January 9th there's this weight on my chest. Sometimes i barely notice it, other times it's really hard, it's always there.
Only this year, and i guess it has something to do with me moving in with Erik and not being on my own so much, i feel a lot better about it. And then i'm watching Broken Flowers with Bill Murray, who all of a sudden reminds me a lot of my father, his body language, the colour of his hair, his face. I'm wondering why i never noticed this before, because the resemblance is quite striking. I'm watching the scene with Don walking out of the airport to hail a cab. And the next thought flashes through my head: "What if my father would be looking for me, right now?". And i've been thinking about that ever since.
When my father died, i was 21 years old. A few weeks before he got ill, i told my parents about my homosexuality. In the disordered time that followed, i never had that talk with him in which he tells me it's allright. It's not that i feel sorry about that now, or hold a grudge, because i feel in the end he gave me his support without words, but there's still unfinished business. Let me explain: i was in my post-teens before he got ill, when all i wanted was to move out of my parents house and have a life of my own. My view on the way my parents lived their life was colored that way, and i think everyone goes through that, and only age can smoothe it out. All these years, i was busier dealing with how i felt about him at the time of his death, instead of what he meant to me. What stopped my thoughts during the movie, is that i'm the son in that film. I can't really put it to words, but i feel i haven't been looking for my dad all those years. And on the screen, in the theatre, i saw my father looking for me.
death, movies
On our week in the woods, Erik and i finally got around to watching Network on dvd, from a quite unsettling selection of movies namely Lost In Translation, Clockwork Orange and Repulsion. I don't remember exactly my purpose of all this, but perhaps it's best if i seek professional help to find out.
Anyway, Network proved to be as current now as it was in the time it was released (3 months after i was born) as it is now, especially in relation to Endemol's new venture into reality-tv-showbusiness (thanks to Tom).
Endemol, the company behind 'Big Brother', is pulling out all the stops for its new Channel 4 production. In it, contestants vie to fly to space. The snag? They will be grounded at a military base, victims of probably the biggest hoax ever attempted on TV.
No cost has been spared to make the illusion complete. The contestants take off by plane from British soil, fly a couple of circles over the North Sea and land at a former British military base, believing they are now at Star City, the Russian centre for space tourism. Plug sockets, manhole covers, light bulbs, food, toilet paper, matches and cigarettes are being exchanged for their Russian counterparts. Actors will play the Russian militaries on the base. The space shuttle in which the participants "take off" into space is modeled on movie sets from Space Cowboys. The story goes on and on. Questions about the budget of the tv-show are not clarified, but it's clear it runs into millions.
I don't know what appalls me more: the fact that these people, who are thinking they are partaking in a possibly dangerous expedition, are made fun of, or that someone came up with such an idea, and millions are spent on it to make it happen. Millions... that means there are demographics saying that such a show will be profitable, there is an audience for it. A sickening thought...
If you've seen Network, you'll remember the line 'I'm mad as hell, and i'm not taking it anymore!'. There's a different context in the movie, but in these times, it's more applicable to tv itself. So i want you all to walk to your window...
We're back home from our sabbatical week in the woods, with a short interruption thanks to the little guy on the left here, Wessel. Born on November 12, he's my brother's second child and my godchild, and i'm so very proud of him, his mother, father and little sister. We visited the whole family on Sunday, the rest of the week was spent on reading, listening and walking through the autumn woods.
So, no news on what's new or happening in this world, i'm just slowly letting everything seep back in to my personal space. But watch this space for some shocking updates, coming soon.
Who has kept up with the Intelligent Design row in Kansas? That was bad bad news. Or the one in Pennsylvania? It's bad enough news that a discussion like that is actually happening, but now Pat Robertson goes one further, by saying that "If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city". I can't begin to fathom how much more White Male Conservative American you can get, for one to think the Almighty, if he exists gives love indifferently, would discriminate on man-made criteria like geography...
Frederiksamuel, always a great source for great links, declares the death of the Comic Sans, hurrah! Totally agree with him: Can you honestly take someone who uses Comic Sans seriously?
The mere name suggests some professionalism that's not even there. That postfix, Sans, what is that all about? I've never seen the Comic Serif. So designers, unite against this ghost and excorcise it!
Speaking of ghosts, also at frederiksamuel, a photo of a Six Feet Under ad. Brilliant.
Autumn music... i talked about it, but it's still hard to put into words. Like defining the records that sound great in autumn. Smashing Pumpkins' Adore, i ranted about that in a previous episode. Since i don't want to be too elaborate to explain why certain albums are on this list in this order, i'll just say the one album that reminds me the most of autumn is in front of the other. In that case:
Radiohead - Kid A
R-E-M - Automatic For The People
Suede - Dog Man Star
Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
David Bowie - Low
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
PJ Harvey - Is This Desire?
New Order - Power Corruption And Lies
Japan - Gentlemen Take Polariods
Philip Glass - Glassworks
Interesting huh? I should do this more often. More lists are on their way.
I haven't had much time lately to keep up with the times in this spot, too much on my mind. At work, it's all too hectic, i've got so much chores to do at home i'm doing none of them, and on top of it all i bought Sims 2 for our XBox yesterday. Goodbye sleep and peace of mind! But one thing i did is visit the Elvis Corner, the only shop in the Netherlands specialized in Elvis memorabilia. It just happens to be located 5 minutes away from our front door. Another thing, i've finished reading Lunar Park, which left me wondering why i started reading Brett Easton Ellis in the first place. He's just not that good in writing those climaxes, like in Glamorama. This leaves me with only the two Chris Ware books for my week off, in five days time (tick tock tick tock)... unless i decide to find out about Norman Mailer, he seems someone i will enjoy reading.
No doubt some people are being more prolific now than i am. The boast of energy i usually get in autumn has seeped away, but as energy never is lost - it's a law of physics - i'm not too worried.
I re-rediscovered Smashing Pumpkins Adore, being dissed first as too soft, then too melodramatic, and listening to it in one breath on my way to the MaxÔmo Park concert last Thursday (gladly losing another ten percent of my hearing range... band practice Friday did me no good either, the sound was so loud sometimes it made me dizzy), ehm ehm, the Smashing Pumpkins album... what struck me really hard was how distilled the melodies were. Mere etches of what Billy Corgan did on Mellon Collie and/or Siamese Dream. Funny how the song i hated the most back in 1998 - Anniedog - is now my absolute favourite on the album. Only The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete is one song the album could do without. It's probably one of my most cherished Autumn Albums, realizing that there's a list hidden in that concept. I probably will post that soon.
Other albums that sprung to mind, but in relation to what happened in 2005... The Bravery, Bloc Party and The Killers (the hypes of weeks 2, 13 and 20 this year) are probably worth adding to my Best Of list. But i'm still waiting for those tips of yours...
Never backing out of a promise, here's the full story. I was aware of the existence of this project before long, but through a recent post on Kottke i found the homepage of the Long Now Foundation. Put this one in your long-term favourites.
The whole idea comes from computer scientist Daniel Hillis:
"When I was a child, people used to talk about what would happen by the year 2000. For the next thirty years they kept talking about what would happen by the year 2000, and now no one mentions a future date at all. The future has been shrinking by one year per year for my entire life. I think it is time for us to start a long-term project that gets people thinking past the mental barrier of an ever-shortening future. I would like to propose a large (think Stonehenge) mechanical clock, powered by seasonal temperature changes. It ticks once a year, bongs once a century, and the cuckoo comes out every millennium."
How's that for thinking grand? Instead of seeing us as the end-result of 10,000 years of culture (from the end of the last ice-age until now), Hillis puts us central in history. The next 10 millenia, mankind has to take care of his clock, and his belief is that mankind will last that long. To be honest about it, and not freaked out by global warming, i do too. He has built two prototypes of the thing already (the first is on display at the London Science Museum! Got to remember that), more are coming, and the final clock will be built before he dies. More in-depth information about it here.
Science, Future
Dear readers, i'm not sure where I'm headed. I told you i wanted to save Bret Easton Ellis' Lunar Park for my week off, but i'm not sorry i couldn't resist the urge to pick it up this week. The events in the book have an eerie way of echoing into my real life. Like the book's timeline (which i was unaware of, naturallement), it's nearing November, it's unusually warm for the time of year, and our house is transforming too, though not on it's own accord.
The lock on our living room door has been broken for three months, and yesterday we finally got our heads around lifting it out of its hinges, and fix it. Since the day we got into this house we noticed boards had been nailed over both sides of the door, and always wondered what was beneath them. I suspected the worst, like a big hole someone punched through, but it turned out to be a beautiful panel door, only scarred by bad paintjobs. Erik said we are relieving this house from it's previous owners, and i'm wondering what else we could knock of the wall to find some hidden treasures.
Brett Easton Ellis, Houses
With the days getting shorter, one starts to contemplate the times gone by. Like the year of our Lord 2005. And what musical adventures it brought me. I'm talking about my list of favourite albums. I know, i know, the year hasn't passed yet, and taking even more into account i'm always a bit late with discovering what's really worthwhile (like finding out in January this year that Mark Lanegan's Bubblegum was one of the best of 2004), i'd like to talk about my favourites so far. Or the things that bombed, like the New Order record, the ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead album, Goldfrapp... but perhaps enough has been said about them already.
I won't go into detail about actual ranking, as it's prone to change in time, but just casually meander through them alphabetically. Unfortunately, Antony and the Johnsons is one of those examples of me not being completely up to date with l'Ètat des affaires (that's my dashboard translator talking). That was probably the best of 2004. But Depeche Mode, Doves, MaxÔmo Park and Nine Inch Nails have all truly surprised me, with DM and NIN because their previous efforts were not all that. MaxÔmo Park kind of slowly grew on me, at the moment it's what i listen to most.
Wow. That's a list of four, i now realize. Uhm. Not so much meandering, as more a plunge from halfway down the stairs. I think i'd better investigate this year's releases the coming weeks. Got any tips?
Music, 2005
What's happening? I'm rereading American Psycho as a warming up to Lunar Park, which i intend to start during our week off in three weeks time. We'll be moving ourselves and the cat to a secluded house somewhere unknown to the rest of the world, and do absolutely nothing but sleep, watch trees, read and walk.
I'm be checking out keyboards this afternoon, since playing in a band is really really really great, but also a bit frustrating with the keyboard i have now. I need my iBook and GarageBand to supply it with sounds, since it's midi-powered, which is not an ideal situation. The keyboard goes mute every 45 minutes, i have to quit GarageBand and unplug the instrument before i get to go on. I bet there are keyboards which are a lot handier and even more possibilities for sequencing, adjusting sounds and the lot if you're ready to spend some cash. Which i am. Gay Erik, the brain and brawn, will be escorting me to the music store.
I've actually wrote my very first proper song for rehearsal yesterday. The band liked it. I'm ecstatic.
I'm in my first listening of Depeche Mode's new album Playing The Angel, and i'm speachless... i could not have hoped for anything better, i guess. From the stories i've read here and there i got my hopes up high, and they're fully solved right now.
The best thing about the album is i can't hear any other single on it apart from Precious, which is quite an odd duck sandwiched between these very stark, stripped down electronic songs. Another relief is the feeling that, as with Exciter, the band didn't intend on making another Violator... they finally seem to be content with the fact that they are Depeche Mode, instead of having to sound like Depeche Mode.
The liner at the bottom of the back says it all: 'pain and suffering in various tempos'. When i read that in the recordstore i shrieked out a nervous cackle, i'm sure people thought i was insane. But you see, Depeche Mode only make a record like this once every ten years, i don't give a shit. Album of the year!
Depeche Mode
All the news you could possibly want to know about robotics is available at Gizmag. About Valerie the domestic android, perfectly imitating rigor mortis. Or the rapid evolution of Exoskeletons... very AT-AT, but not nearly.
Robots
I've mentioned Lars Spuybroek here and there, and now his bureau NOX have a new project, the Seoul Opera House, which looks like a mountain range. Some of it's 'walls' are transparent, other are highly reflective. To be continued...
Architecture
I have officially OD-ed on Chris Ware today, completely unintentional, and had i stumbled upon a copy of Jimmy Corrigan, i would have been comfortable with the concept of instant death.
What happened? With the best intentions i went downtown to see if the Anton Corbijn dvd was in store, and it was, but only as a Region 1 dvd. We are honest people, we haven't (yet) cracked our dvd-player to play all regions. I am pondering the thought right now. Utterly frustated that my one chance this week to seriously spend some money was denied of me, i just walked around, quite zombie-like. Like most people, as i noticed. I started looking at them and wondering when was the last time they had sex? I ended up thinking answers like 'six months ago', 'this morning, for the first time in six months', 'right now' and that's when i stopped. People look unhappy over here, everyone looks like they been dry for ages and ages, with their sour faces, baggy eyes and everything. You can try to make a difference and smile, but i think the crowd would start glaring, or considering your sanity.
Back to my story. I needed to loosen my wallet, and there they were, a copy of Quimby the Mouse and a collected work of Chris Ware's Acme Library of Novelty. Of the latter i once had some little comic-book style editions, which featured some of the stories featured in this book, i noticed at my first glance. But i gave them away at birthday-parties before i fully realized who and how brilliant Chris Ware was. So it's totally accountable that i spent 40 euro on comics. The guy's a genius!
Last thought: i just can't grasp how ugly and amateurish that new Depeche Mode video is. It looks like a tutorial of a ten year old 3D animation program. Oh wait, in the liner notes it says it's made by a German. That explains all.
Comics, Depeche Mode
Today i bought Depeche Mode's Precious on single, including the b-side Free. If this is the kind of song that didn't make the album, it's going to be bloody brilliant. And the first DM album i'm going to dig on the first listening in 15 years time.
Depeche Mode
It's autumn, which means i'm getting the itch again. The itch to change absolutely everything about my site and make it really work this time. So that's why it looks like shit right now. Live with it, it's going to get better.
It's so annoying that my blog puts new posts in front of old ones, but hey, that's the consequence of living in this time-space continuum, you know... time moves in a forward direction. So what i mean by all this, Pitchfork once again gives us something worth-wile, the weekly feature, this time about the Director's Label, a little chit-chat about the medium and the four latest installments in the series.
This is what i consider mind-blowing. Oh well, it's not exactly mind-blowing, i wouldn't want that weighing on my conscience, but hell, it's just figure of speach! Jeez, that's what i get after a month of hard work. Okay, it's not that good. It sucks. Okay, live with it. Like i give a damn. Right. You listening? Oh i should get out more.
pxlpattern
The official release
of Franz Ferdinand's second album is nigh, time to talk about it. I'm hearing mostly reactions they're following the path of The Strokes - great first album, boring second album - well, that's not my opinion. The only thing that might be wrong with it, is that they tried to push as many ideas in to every song as possible, and thus the songs ending up not sounding very distinct from each other. But hey, this is party music, and i think The Strokes like to be much more than just that. So that comparison goes down my very very large dustbin. I think FF's first album is their blueprint, everything that follows is just a variation of the theme. Nothing wrong with that, though i'd like to think they're in a league of bands where progression is a dirty word. That's okay, but i must add it's been long since i heard anything interesting coming from that other league.
Music, Franz Ferdinand
That animal thing quite amused me. This one is a blatantly commercial, sell-out follow up to that idea. It's just to cover the expenses i made this month in presenting you this art. The last one will be mind-blowing.
pxlpattern
From the swamps, this one is decieving in its simplicity. The only way you'll be able to tell is turning it into your desktop. I quite like it. Just two more to go...
pxlpattern
Further delving into the world of pxldesign, this one features some nice elaborate carving. The best tools have been used for this one, as well as some very fine basic materials. A bit pre-historic in its animal patterns. Best viewed when carved in wood.
pxlpattern
Now we're entering the hardcore bit of pxlpatterns, you might get nauseous if you're not well-accustomed to the hardcore pattern lifestyle. A lot more rewarding for me to design these bits, this is very close to what i talked about two weeks ago, the DNA of the internet in my opinion. Enjoy it.
pxlpattern
A bit like David and Goliath? Some fierce statements are being uttered in the battle between Sony BMG and the European platform for indie labels Impala. They are challenging a European Commission decision to allow the merger of the two record giants. Helen Smith, head of Impala, says she has high hopes for the case. What? I seriously doubt if the European Court is going to come back on its decision, unmerging a company this size. Not just because of the amount of people that'll lose their job over this, but Sony BMG wouldn't have become what it is if they didn't have some sort of lobby working for them, especially now.
Shirley Manson, my favourite redhead in pop (that's right, not Mick Hucknall), had the following to say about the whole INXS thing:"In life you have to be prepared to let go of something in order for new growth to occur in your life. And I think it is unhealthy to be constantly coming back to recreate the past." I don't need to add anything to that, do i? I love INXS' mid-80's period, but what i don't like about them, or especially Tim Farris, is that they always are so keen to position themselves as bloody avant-garde. He actually once claimed in an interview Mediate was drum-and-bass avant la lettre. Tsk!
As i mentioned
yesterday, i had my first full-band-experience last night rehearsing with (straight) Erik's band Donau, playing keyboard. And i'm still flabbergasted by the ease with which it all went by. Looks like i finally got lured into that dirty game called rock 'n roll. Watch this channel for more news.
If rock 'n roll is equal to premature death, and let's not kid ourselves,
it is, i have been living on the edge long before this day.
Milieudefensie (Environmental Defense) published a list of 200 of the most polluted (traffic-wise) streets in the Netherlands. I'm very pleased to find out that i've been living near some of them for the last five years! Better even, i lived
inbetween two of the dirtiest streets of Eindhoven from 2000 to 2002! And our house right now is situated less than 200 metres from the Vleutenseweg, that'll grow me some real authentic asthmatic grunt. Always works on stage, har har hghhhh!
Back from the dead, a new pxlpattern! Sorry to keep you waiting for this long, but it takes the weekend for my brain to find some space to churn out something that could pass for art. A nice, primaveral design that is completely out of tune with what's going on in the world right now. But that's what art is all about, right?
pxlpattern
Like you might have noticed before, sometimes exotic esthetics come floating when i concoct these strange designs. Like this one, ancient Chinese almost. Mmm... chinese.
pxlpattern
Quite funky this one, the colours here are really of outstanding quality. Hues are guaranteed for five years. If anything should be wrong with your copy, please return in original package, and a new item will be shipped with no extra charges.
pxlpattern
Our recordplayer is
spinning Young Americans by Bowie non-stop this week. What a gorgeous record that is. That's my cue for starting ranting ][[[[\\\\\\\\\' (whoops, the cat just walked across the keyboard) about Manderlay. Different opinions are circling the internet, but unfortunately i haven't found any stupid reviews yet like for
Dogville, which are laughable, at best.
About the story, the biggest difference between Dogville and Manderlay is the level of abstractness. Dogville wasn't really a town, but a metaphore for the world, the relation between Grace and her father could be interpreted as that of Jesus and God, or Europe and the United States. Anyway, those were something of the 'explanations' i came up with at the time. All of that ambiguity is shattered in the first few minutes of Manderlay, when Grace and her father come across a cotton plantation where slavery hasn't been abandoned yet. Like the miserable philantropist she is, Grace decides to make a change. It's mostly because of little bits in the dialogue that make this movie a 'real' story instead of a metaphore, i can't really remember or point them out here. The only double layer in the story would be the current situation in Iraq, but Lars von Trier has pointed out the script was written before the US invasion in Iraq, so similarities are unintentional. Eventhough the initial let-down at the start of the story, there's enough food for thought left. Needless to say, i recommend this one highly.
My source of pxlpatterns has momentarily dried up, perhaps i'll be able to squeeze some more out this weekend. Just don't count on it.
Tomorrow, i'll be rehearsing for the first time with the band Erik (my straight friend) is playing in. I've been banging out some tunes on top of their demo's, can't wait to play them. Aaah!
movies
Ta, thanks for your patience. I wasn't quite myself yesterday. Enjoy this one, cheers mate.
pxlpattern
What has bugged
me all the time after Katrina hit New Orleans was Kanye West's speech, with Mike Myers watching in horror. I thought that was incredibly narrow-minded to accuse a president of racism. If such a simple answer would suffice for explaining the tragedy
after the tragedy, it certainly would be preposterous, even only because Bush wouldn't ever admit to such a thing. In the last few days, i've read some articles that cleared things up a bit about the situation in New Orleans before and after Katrina. And Kanye West is starting to bug me more and more.
First of all, i guess mayor Nagin's rampant radio-speech was a catalyst for blaming it all on Bush. But the more i get informed, the more this speech seems an attempt of covering up the bureaucratic mess that should have been an emergency plan. And he should have been warned, years ago. In 2001 the Houston Chronicle revealed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had a list of three scenarios that had their utmost concern: an earthquake in San Francisco, a terrorist attack in New York and a hurricane in New Orleans. The latter was the most probable, and would take the most victims. After 9-11, the priority on this scenario got a lot lower. An ambitious plan to protect the city from rising sea-levels and storms called Coast 2050 was made in 1998, but never realized.
After Katrina struck the city, the errors made by local authorities and FEMA officials are numerous. Coast Guard trucks with petrol supply were not allowed to enter the city. When Wal-Mart sent trucks with drinking water, FEMA sent them back, because they didn't have any orders yet. Head of FEMA, Michael Brown, didn't have any experience in Emergency Management, and only after a long three days the state of emergency was declared. In New Orleans, helicopters were parked on one end of the city, while they were desperately needed on the other. After the flooding, an aerial photo showed dozens of schoolbuses on a flooded parkingspace, unclear why they were not used for evacuation while it was still possible.
It's becoming obvious that errors were made on all three administrative levels - local, state and national. But the argument that Bush arrived at ground zero several days after the disaster, is exactly what he did after 9-11, and wether you agree with his politics or not, that was his finest hour. The fact that most people stuck in New Orleans when Katrina hit were black, has a complex origin, and uncovers once more what a hostile environment the US can be if you haven't got the means to change your own fate. But there is a difference between being a victim and starting looting, murdering and raping as soon as the common level of authority falls away. This fact was never addressed by reporters, and i don't know if that's because of political correctness or because of a climate of intimidation, but it doesn't do black emancipation any good. Reproaches of racism and discrimination, like Kanye West did, are only used to create an atmosphere of segregation, not to fight injustice. Is that a direct cause of the lack of strong black role models like Martin Luther King in the last few decades?
If there's one black role model for the young right now, it is Kanye West - but i don't get it. I think Jesus Walks had some very clever lyrics, but all in all, incorporating the idea of Jesus in a song is not what it takes to be taken seriously. Even more so in hindsight with his second album Late Registration that's out now. A title and an accompanying video like Diamonds From Sierra Leone gave me the idea that something substantial was being told, something that would tell (black) people material possessions are not what matters most. The video clearly addresses the horrible conditions children have to work in in third world countries and how the first world (depicted as
white people) are ignorant to that. But rereading his
lyrics i find nothing but the shallow hint of religion and a tale of a rapper stereotype: i'm the best and i had it long coming. Worst of all, if i'm to believe MTV Behind The Video, which ironically always is a way too rose-tainted portrait of the artist involved, some guy on the set of the videoshoot in Prague was actually boasting about how Kanye West flew in some new sneakers because they didn't sell them in the Czech Republic. Sneakers about which
i would wonder if they weren't assembled by children in third world countries.
All of this, paired to what he had to say about the catastrophy in New Orleans, actually makes me angry. Why should i be impressed by someone who channels his anger about the lack of adequate help into such a negative remark, adding to the segregation, while he could be using such an important moment in a positive way? Why didn't he wish them strength and hope for instance? Fortunately for him, that moment probably didn't do the sales of his album any harm, it's still a solid number one on the Billboard chart. I just wish, for once, somebody like Kanye West wouldn't succumb to the stereotype of talking about women, money and fame, but raise his power to a more just cause. The situation in New Orleans clearly spells it: something needs to change about the stature of black people in America.
Katrina, Kanye West, racism
This one is large... best viewed 600x800, at least. A strange history as well, somehow while working on this, i stumbled upon the esthetic of something Thai or Birmese. Subconsciously, this is what's inside of me. Maybe it has to do with my previous life? Queer huh?
pxlpattern
This sort of should be a pattern gone leaking. I hope the effect is more evident when viewed in full glory, being the desktop of your personal computer. I can't tell, let me know what you think.
pxlpattern
This one's really nice... i'm surprised by my own inventivity right now. I should do another version of this with a subtle difference in colour. Perhaps at the end of the month, just keep watching.
pxlpattern
I dare you to use this as a desktop and not feel like there's something watching you.
pxlpattern
I'm halfway through the alphabet, and i'm realizing September does not consist of 26 days. My pxlpattern creativity is a lot higher than i had hoped for, i'll be easily filling up this month. Inserting a 5 day hiatus right now just because i'm in a creative flux is ridiculous.
A little explanation about pxlpatterns and my obsession with 'em might be appropriate, because i guess this sort of behaviour seems a bit haphazard to the untrained reader. But it all starts with my idea of the internet as a place where every bit of information adds up to a ever growing global memory, loosely based on the ideas of Terence McKenna. He went a bit further, wondering if it was actually capable of thoughts on its own accord, but that's one step to far for me. However, if the internet would be a conscious thing, what would it look like if it were visible? Since zeros and ones are what its DNA would be made out of, they would have to be put in an orderly fashion to make any sense. That's what a pxlpattern really should look like, and in that way especially todays pattern would apply to that definition, being the smallest kind of matter to make a bigger whole.
Some of the patterns you've already seen or that are still coming up are not like that at all, a pxlpattern can also be a gorgious backdrop for your operating system, and those are usually the more accessible. But the ones like the one above are really what it's all about. Taking fingerprints of the web.
pxlpattern
As the leaves on the trees are starting to consider moving to a better place, namely under your skidding feet, this neon 1930's version of a clover design is a warm welcome, for when your toweling your hair, sneezing.
pxlpattern
I got tickets
for Antony & The Johnsons show on December 8 in Amsterdam, woohoo! First row on the balcony at
CarrÈ, woo-hoo!!! At his last shows here, scalpers were selling tickets for more than a hundred euro, so the story goes. I'm happy to pay a lot less. Other shows i'm anticipating this autumn is that date that Nine Inch Nails will be playing in the Netherlands, but still no word, no call from Trent what-so-ever. Or Goldfrapp. Rumor is they'll perform at Tivoli aka the club around the corner, but once again, nothing is confirmed.
Telegraphs are rolling in, Ang Lee's new movie
Brokeback Mountain, about two cowboys falling in love in the 1960's Midwest, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Scheduled release date for us Dutch is January 2006. Somehow lately, my interest for movies like
Walk On Water, very conveniently categorized as Gay Cinema, is growing. When a couple of years ago i couldn't be bothered less about Gay Cinema, Gay Literature or Gay Whatever. I wonder why this occurs now, as it seems to be correlated with Erik and i living together. On one hand, that seems contrary, as i wouldn't be able to get any more affirmation of being gay than that. And i feel it has to do with affirmation, the need to see my way of life reflected in the many many incentives imposed on me all day, every day. Perhaps somehow it's connected to recent items in the media about the diminishing tolerance towards gay people in the Netherlands, more specifically in racially/religiously mixed neighbourhoods in Amsterdam, in that way that it's also a good description of the neighbourhood we live in. Don't misunderstand me, we haven't had any trouble introducing ourselves to our direct neighbours, so i guess i've been worrying about the wrong things... It's just that this kind of news, and the personal accounts that accompany them make you aware of feelings you wish you didn't have. Like when we're looking for a house to buy about a year ago, we were taking note of which streets we definitely shouldn't be living in because possible hostility. Sounds ridiculous now that i write it down, but reality nonetheless.
So i guess an explanation is at hand. A rosy story where two men fall in love seems like a nice alternative to reality, to regain some self-confidence. I need it every once in awhile... damn, when will those Will & Grace reruns start again?
music, movies, gay
Really a bit a wallflower, this one. Sits in the background doing nothing. But mostly these kind of creatures are the most peculiar once studied. Also enhances your visual cortex. Whatever.
pxlpattern
A brittle little pattern. A bit like broken China glued back together. So i won't recommend pouring some tea in this. It'll most definitely leak through the cracks just as fast. That would be a mess.
pxlpattern
So, Radioheads first
new song in 2 years is out in the open. Arrangement wise not so much of a surprise, although at the time of Hail To The Thief Thom stated that he used up every trick he knew about playing piano. Maybe Jonny played it. Song wise, very beautiful. The odd Radiohead chord change. I wonder if this ends up on the new album or if they'll record a dressed up version of it. No use for 3 redundant band members if you keep making these songs, right?
Do i sound like i'm complaining? I'm sorry. In contrast to the forecast, the weather's actually pretty nice, perhaps i'll go shopping. Word du jour: college jacket. It's always a good thing to prepare yourself for autumn with some crispy warm new clothes.
radiohead
The double entendre in this pattern is a bit too obvious, but it's hidden layers go quite a bit further then one might suspect. Leave it on your screen for 5 minutes... ponder about it, discuss it with friends. Enrichening, isn't it?
pxlpattern
Yesterday was a
notable day in the history of Rock 'n' Roll. Finally Robbie Williams had a record out,
Tripping, that's actually good. And for War Child, dozens of artists including Radiohead, Antony & The Johnsons and Bloc Party have recorded the fastest album ever. They all recorded one track, which will be available for
download this afternoon from 2 PM onwards. Radiohead recorded I Want None Of It, and i'm very very anxious to hear that song. It's for a good cause, so go figure.
One of the more frivolous designs this month, this exquisite brew of floral and mineral patterns with a explosive colouring. Quite extraordinary.
pxlpattern
Does it actually say iu? What does it mean, for God's sake tell us!!! It's a question i've been asked many many times. Let's say it's about something... very special. Just another classic really. Get over it! I can't do worse!
pxlpattern
It is. Other
comic news... Chris Ware's new book is coming out and
Salon has a review. Still have to get hold of Jimmy Corrigan, now that it actually generated my interest the local store doesn't have it on shelf anymore. Apparently, this book is not another graphic novel like JC, but a step-up to something like that. Other news. Kate Bush is finally releasing her new double-album Aerial on November 7th. I can't imagine what that must sound like. Judging on all of her stuff until the nineties it should be fabulous. Judging on that last album, it should be drab.
Sometimes, beautiful things seem so simple. Like this one. It's full complexity can't be grasped if you don't hit that right mouse-button and turn this gem into your desktop. You might vomit, but hey, it's an acquired taste. So it's your fault always.
pxlpattern
A bit dark this one. A bit... alien. Woo. Don't sue me if this one lays eggs through your gullet into your belly and gnawing foetuses crack open your chest.
pxlpattern
With the names getting more and more frantic, so do the patterns! This one evokes Parisian nights in destinguished clubs, 1923-ish, but really i only made this a week ago! Unbelievable huh, these tricks i play on the eye and mind. Oh la la...
pxlpattern
That new Goldfrapp album, i've been listening to it for about a week now, and it's hard to put a finger on it. Which is an asset in this case. No radical change in sound as between Felt Mountain and Black Cherry, this is that well known Goldfrapp brand of electropop. Alison Goldfrapp sounds more and more like Kate Bush who ended up with some substances in Studio 54.
The real difference between Supernature and the last album is the relentless disco drone that's available in almost every song here. And exactly that's what's rubbing me the wrong way... the first few listens are very tiresome because of the records high sonic density, even in slow songs like You Never Know and Let It Take You there's a multitude of details to be discovered. Would 'overproduced' be a word to describe it? Mmm, perhaps partly, because that density also part of the album's attitude. A result of that sound is as if this collection of songs is meant to be inserted into your custom mix of favorite songs of the moment on your mp3-player rather than in the orthodox manner of starting at track 1 and ending at track 11 some 45 minutes later. The opposite from 'the whole is larger than the sum of each particle'.
But that approach seems to be a sign of the times. No use to review the thing as a whole. I should tell you how great the songs are on this album. Well, they are great! They're all sound like potential singles, and the songs that definitely should be released are You Never Know, Koko and Satin Chic. The songs that probably will be released are Ride A White Horse (obvious because of its obvious drug reference), Fly Me Away (obvious because of its obvious Venga Boys reference???) and Number 1 (obvious because of its obviously tongue-in-cheeck title when it actually lands the top spot).
Whoa, Ali!
music, goldfrapp
Hahaha, that's a funny little name. This one looks really good full screen. Just take it and use it fer chrissakes!
pxlpattern
Handmade from the finest pixels in town, this one seems a bit in tune with the season, yellowy and browny and all. Notice the fine layer of noisy pixels on the background, in contrast with the heavy chunks upfront. Enjoy!
pxlpattern
Ever since i
returned from Lowlands, a little sore throat had been bugging me, which led to a serious infection last weekend on the left side of my throat, jaw and ear, leaving me with a voice only Stephen Hawking is fond to use. The thing went as abrupt as it came, but hit me right back yesterday, and now on the right side. Leaving me with no voice at all. Oh irony, the neighbours have hired heavy hardware today from the DIY store to grind their floors, it's 300 degrees outside and i'm shivering cold inside, and whatever i drink, half of it comes out of my right nostril due to some ridiculous bypassing that i was not notified about. It takes some skill and perseverance to deal with that.
However, this ailment is giving me lots of time to get my head around stuff, you know. Like pxlpatterns.
And Depeche Mode's new song Precious... i hear the drama's back in place! And it sounds more like a single than anything they've done in the past 15 years really. Actually, listening to it for the third time now, it starts to kick in. I was afraid it was a bit too Pet Shop Boys for a moment. But as is more and more often the case with modern music, like with that new Sugababes song (which is great btw) i feel there's some really familiar melody buried somewhere, like they nicked it, but made some effort to hide it.
OK, good, i guess i expected worse. But Anton, that record sleeve is one of the worst ever. Oh no, the album is even worse...
music, depeche mode
A little secret beforehand, i'm using pictures from the gigantuous photolibrary on my l'top to get some inspiration for the pxlpatterns, this one stems from a snapshot i took in the woods in a long weekend off in the Ardennes last year. It's incomprehensible how i came up with this endresult, so i won't bore you with the details. It sort of looked like a Tibetan mountain view, something something. So... ehm... enjoy it.
pxlpattern
Finally i put
myself to do something creative. This months special is the pxlpattern, inspired by the wonderful patterns available at
k10k. I can't promise you a brand-new, slightly psychedelic hallllllucinant pxlpattern every day (best viewed when used as desktop, but note i don't take any responsibility for damage to your screens or brains), but i'll do my best. By the end of September, you'll beg me to stop.
pxlpattern
Oscar Wilde. Lord Illingworth, in A Woman of No Importance, act 3.
And that is the end of the Oscar Wilde Quote Month. Many many thanks to poemhunter, they made this, unwillingly, very easy for me.
On paper, day
three promised to be the most exciting. We started off with the blind couple from Mali
Amadou and Mariam. Nice, but as is often the case with African music, it doesn't work for me because of its lack of silence. The music is always so full of, well, everything, i find it hard to discover a melody or a structure. After that we saw bits and bobs of
Millionaire (a hell of a lot better than their last show i saw in Ekko a couple of months ago... i suppose a lot of it had to do with the horrible sound they had there),
Viva Voce (by some voted as the worst gig this weekend),
Quit Your Dayjob (i get the Cramps link),
Editors (booked in the smallest tent on the site, and clearly the hype works, it was fuller than full) and
Queens Of The Stone Age (fucking loud, good but not impressive). After that we were really tired from all the strolling and standing and all. We got back to our tent, packed up and left. While walking to our car i heard
LCD Soundsystem playing, and the crowd going bonkers. I thought 'Fuck!'. Seems like i missed a good show, as i did with
The Futureheads,
Jamie Lidell and
Nick Cave. But the energy i got from the weekend is still bubbling inside of me. What a break.
Music
Day Two was
definitely the middle day. Not only mathematically, but also in music. With one big, big exception,
Arcade Fire. I hadn't even given it any thought, but if it had been so much as a mediocre show, it could very possibly have weakened the fond memory i cherish of their show earlier this year in De Melkweg, which might just as well be the best concert i ever saw. But no, from the first song on this blew my mind. One downpoint perhaps is that their energy sometimes carries themselves away a tad too much.
So that was the top of the heap on Saturday. Floating beneath the top were
Maximo Park and
Zita Swoon, but i didn't see much of their set, unfortunately.
Marilyn Manson and
Pixies didn't make much of an impression, as did
Death From Above 1979... that might have been a better show if it all would have been a bit tighter. I was surprised by
Buck 65 and
That One Guy, but not so much that i'm going raving mad. Plain bad were
zZz (raunchy),
Born and
2nd Place Driver. All Dutch bands by the way.
Music
The dizziness is
waning, the black spots in my vision are fading and my hearing is returning. Lowland 2005 has ended. What a great weekend that was, after the shitload of work i processed this summer i sorely needed a break. And what better break than getting to see hundreds of bands for free? Right, none.
Friday started with
The Blue Van, Danish of all nationalities, but rocked the stage nonetheless. Highlights were
Kaiser Chiefs and
Franz Ferdinand. Ricky Wilson of the Chiefs stepped on stage with two crotches, but as soon as the music started, they were thrown away, and the dancing never stopped. Amazing. The Franz was good as always, the new songs didn't even stop the show. Big surprise was
Tom Vek (mentioned elsewhere on this site), which was so surprising i bought his record this Monday. I was definitely dissappointed by
The Bravery, the best song in their set was U2's An Cat Dubh for christ sake. Although i was happy they played No Brakes, which is one of my favourite songs this year, i felt as if i was watching Good Charlotte. Ugh...
Music
Oscar Wilde. Gilbert, in The Critic as Artist, pt. 2, published in Intentions (1891).
As soon as
i get things sorted -in my head-, i'll write something about Lowlands. And Erik and i have got to get the wireless up and running again. I'm reading all sorts of headlines about the last episode of
Six Feet Under, but i shut my eyes everytime i run into one. We're one and a half year behind here, so hold the news...
Great news, the Hindustan Times reports that the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore developed a credit-card sized battery which can be powered by bio-fluids like blood or urine. Originally designed for disposable health devices, the system could be integrated in iPods or cellphones in time. Wow. Imagine the mess it'll be, trying to weewee into your phone.
is the
YOU GIRL! site, where the only advice for a girl is to be the most charming she can, or as they put it: your job is to make a boy very much aware that he is a man, not to make him too much aware that you are a girl. Somehow internet is not the medium that's very kind to irony, it tends to get lost in it's shallowness. But keep a keen eye, read it carefully. Like the guide to sitting down:
Floor sitting is very popular. So to look really in the know... Place your feet in with the basic T stance. Bend both knees, as you slide rear toe behind you along the floor. When knee touches floor, place all your weight on it. Then slide the front toe back until knee meets floor and shift to one side. Keep erect from the knees up. Clasp hands on knees and there you are.
Oscar Wilde. Gilbert, in The Critic as Artist, pt. 2, published in Intentions (1891).
Incredible, this link shows some of the opening credits Saul Bass designed over the years. Some real classics among them, Vertigo, Casino... some insights are provided for every movie.
Dear iPod,
Today you turn 18 months old. Do you remember the time when your skin was so soft, when my fingers touched you it felt like we were two magnets, charged alike? You were still pristine white and metal, and your disk was neatly ordened and empty. You've had your ailments in the meantime, but you've lived through them without any damage. Do you remember how i used to walk into the soft spring air with you that February, a year ago? You played me Black Cherry by Goldfrapp, and i admired the wee buds on the trees, and everything seemed in sync, like the Soundtrack Of My Life was finally available to my ears, instead of solely to the viewers of this show.
Some of the songs that would never have made the same impact on me if it hadn't been for you are !!!'s Dear Can, The Smiths' The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and especially On!Air!Library! with Feb., which has grown into something more than a really good song, it's almost like meeting a long lost friend. Actually, the only reason i started typing this post is to express my thoughts on this song. So dropping the dooce style, here it is.
I can't honestly say it's my favourite song ever, if i would have one it would be Love Will Tear Us Apart. Or Karma Police. But it's certainly the weirdest song i've encountered in the last 2 years. The echoing guitars, the way the sounds lap at my ears with Alley or Claudia Deheza's soft, barely intelligible voice singing of toothache - at least i think so. But that's one of the best things, like all songs that are magic to me. You might not understand what it's all about, but you're able to make your own story. Been a really long time since music like that reached my ears, and to be honest, in this day and age, it's pretty impossible to reach that level with a song. The best, most beautiful part, the part where you can hear my heart cracking and falling into two halves, is the last 30 seconds when the electric slide obliterates all the other sounds, and then the song fades out like a candle, which with a song like that is something that takes a lot of courage, but is the only way that does justice to it. Like an long lost friend, it departs, and leaves me with a tootache. At least i think so.
Music, iPod, On!Air!Library!
Autumn's my favorite
season, because of the smell of the plane trees, the soft yellow sunlight, and the notion that days are becoming shorter, but are still long. The songs that provoke the strongest emotional reactions in me are the ones that fit the mood of autumn. Everything from the first three Suede albums, and especially Sci-fi Lullabies. Almost everything from the second, third, fourth and fifth Manic Street Preachers album. Most of Kate Bush' stuff. The odd Radiohead b-side. For some weird reason, i never can get myself to finishing that
ultimate autumn mixtape. I know
all the songs that should be on it, but whenever i start putting them together it's just too much, emotionally. Not that i start sobbing or something, i'm a guy you know, i don't do that tear-thingy. The feelings just clash. Perhaps i'll give it a try once again this year.
New music coming out the coming months: Depeche Mode are releasing their new album Playing The Angel in October. They say it's their best album yet, like they did last time, thus luring us into buying Exciter. I'm not exactly gung-ho about that title either. And Dave Gahan has written about three tracks for the album.
And they started recording the thing about six months ago! Depeche Mode albums (the good ones anyway) take at least eighteen months, two members leaving and one crawling back, a heart-attack and two suicide attempts to record! It
must be crap...
Other albums: Franz Ferdinand are releasing You Could Have It So Much Better... With Franz Ferdinand the third of October. No word yet of any new Rapture material. Sigur RÛs (Takk) and The Bloodhound Gang (Hefty Fine) finally are releasing new albums on September 13. No news on the new Radiohead album, although they will be contributing a track to the new Help album for War Child. Ten years ago they came up with Lucky, which ended up on OK Computer. Ohhhgodohgodohgod let it be as swell as that one. No word yet of any new New Order album, which apparently is already recorded during the sessions of Waiting For The Sirens' Call. I've listened to that one just twice. It's really
that horrible.
Music
Oscar Wilde. This one is for my birthday... i've tried looking for a really meaningful quote, that puts life and death and aging in a completely different perspective with a few simple words. A bit revealing that i chose this one, ain't it? Anyway, it's the one that rang some loud bells for me...
As we speak,
i'm turning 29! Right down to the minute, it's 29 years ago that i came into this world. We're off to Amsterdam in a moment to have a nice time, eat some of the cookies i baked underway and do fun stuff. Woopee!
As we speak,
the cookies i reported about last month are rising to their full size. It smells really good, and if they taste as good i'll be making them again for our birthday party next Saturday.
Another anniversary; the bombing of Hiroshima. I catched the last bit of the memorial service broadcasted on TV, together with some insight information provided by two historians. One clip showing the pilots of the Enola Gay was the most interesting. The exact date of that snippet was not showed, but it must have been some while (years?) after August 6, 1945. When asked wether or not they would drob an A-Bomb again, the answer of one of the pilots was:"Yes, i would do it again, if the circumstances would be the same". I know the circumstances were not very black and white, but the idea that the American Governement decided to drop a bomb on a city and not know what the effects would be for generations to come, seems a deed as inhuman as the enemy they were fighting. The quote of the pilot sounds very similar to the excuse of so many German soldiers:"Befehl ist befehl". Just because the pilots of the Enola Gay were the "victors" in the end, they were applauded for their action.
I refuse to believe the American Governement didn't know what the effects would be, but if they didn't know, they should have. Somehow, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are very underexposed parts of WWII, yet they definitely were the end of it. Perhaps it's explained by the fact that The Netherlands were liberated in May 1945, so a lot of people here were trying to get on with their lives, and the bombing was a quick way to end the war, stop the bloodshed, and forget about it.
To me, the argument that the bombing of Hiroshima saved other people's lives in China and Indonesia for instance is monstrous. Lives aren't exchangable, or to be weighed off against each other. This stresses once more that war changes all the rules we made about being human.
In a recent survey, 57% of a group of 1000 Americans approved of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To quote the quote of Oscar Wilde:
"To disagree with three-fourths of the British public is one of the first requisites of sanity".
hiroshima
Wrapping things up,
today i'll end the Celebrity Escape Month with the four last deaths of July 2005. Financer
Arthur Zankel, cabaret singer
Hildegarde, centenary baseballplayer
Ray Cunningham and most unexpectedly Dutch politician
Wim Duisenberg. Why the hurry you ask? It's a new month, i was stalling, it's time to throw the skeletons out of the closet (haha) and move on. Because August is Oscar Wilde Quote Month. No, i'm not kidding...
Maarten Toonder
, Dutch comic writer, was born on May 2, 1912. He was probably the most succesful comic artist in the Netherlands, has had a great influence by introducing new words and expressions into the Dutch language, and i might say he's the only person so far this month i really admired.
Toonder started publishing Tom Poes in 1941 in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. His comics had a very characteristic format. Every day there were three drawings and an accompanying text (about a book-page long). It started out as a children's cartoon, but soon it became more and more for adults. Nowadays his texts are considered literature and Marten Toonder received several literary prices for them.
I was introduced to his work in the early 80's, when (a balloon-comic version of) Tom Poes started in the Dutch edition of Donald Duck... i was 6 years old. It was my favorite comic in the magazine, and when i reread the stories now (my mother has miraculously kept them pristine from our little sticky scribbling hands, it's great to see there's a lot of humor in it for adults too. I've never read the original Tom Poes stories (without the balloons), so this might be a good time to start, right?
Pierre BrouÈ
, French Trotskyist historian, was born 79 years ago.
Heroic, revolutionary obituaries have been written about him. However, if it's one thing i've learned this last month, writting about dead people, it's one thing: nothing matters after you've ended your life. Oh and another thing: Wikipedia rules. It's obvious to me now, not everyday someone i admire and celebrate dies. Most of the time finding dead people is hard work. But it would've been more hard work without Wikipedia. It's always up-to-date, and there are
terms explained that i've never ever heard of. So here's to Pierre and to Wiki!
Maria do Couto Maia-Lopes
is the exception this month. Not famous for anything other than
not dying for 114 years long. But she finally achieved 'deceased' status on the 25th of July, 2005. She was born on October 24, 1890 in Portugal and was the oldest living Portuguese ever. The question i ask myself, do i want to live to 114 years? Or half that age and not end up looking like a mouldy raisin? Tough question...
Richard Doll
, British physiologist, was born on 28 October 1912. He was the first in the world to prove that smoking caused lung cancer, and increased the risk of heart disease. He also did pioneering work on the relationship between radiation and leukemia, and on the relation between asbestos and lung cancer.
In 1950, he undertook a study of lung cancer patients in 20 London hospitals, at first under the belief that it was due to the new material tarmac, or motor car fumes, but rapidly discovering that tobacco smoking was the only factor they had in common. Doll himself stopped smoking as a result of his findings, published in the British Medical Journal in 1950, which concluded
"The risk of developing the disease increases in proportion to the amount smoked. It may be 50 times as great among those who smoke 25 or more cigarettes a day as among non-smokers."
Ray Crist
, American scientist, was born on March 8, 1900. By that he's the oldest person featured this month, but i'm afraid, with all respect, he's also the least interesting celeb. He was the oldest worker in America when he retired at age 104, and he started teaching and researching at Columbia University in 1925. Well done mr. Crist!
Jean Charles de Menezes
, Brazilian electrician living in London, was born on January 7, 1978. I'm moving into really grim areas with this Celeb Esc thingy... Jean Charles was shot by Metropolitan Police at Stockwell Tube Station in London, who connected him with the four attempted bomb attacks a day earlier.
As none of the perpetrators had died in the explosions, police start immediate investigation. A written address reportedly had been found inside one unexploded bags, located in the three-storey block of flats in Scotia Road, Tulse Hill, home of Jean Charles. At 10:00 a.m., officers observing the block saw Menezes emerge. He had just received a call to fix a broken fire alarm in Kilburn. The officers followed him for to a bus-stop, where he boarded a number 2 bus. Several plainclothes policeman boarded the same bus. This bus arrived at Stockwell Tube station. The officers were suspicious of his clothing and behaviour, concerned that he was hiding explosives underneath his thick clothing. Police claimed that heavy jackets in summer heat raised suspicions. At the time of the shooting, the temperature in London was about 17ƒC (62ƒF).
Outside Stockwell station, police challenged him and ordered him to stop. Instead, Menezes ran. Eyewitnesses reported that up to twenty police officers in plain clothes pursued Menezes into Stockwell station, where he jumped over the ticket barrier, ran down an escalator and tried to jump onto a train. He was pushed to the floor of the carriage. Two officers pinned him down, while a third shot him seven times in the head and once in the shoulder with a handgun. He died at the scene.
There is some speculation on as to why Menezes ran from the police. A few weeks prior, he had been attacked by a gang of criminals and may have relived the situation upon seeing the plainclothes officers running after him. The Financial Times has speculated that "there were irregularities about the immigration status of both that might have made them wary of the police. Both may have had reasons to fear non-uniformed people carrying guns and claiming to be police officers." Menezes' student visa had expired, and he was working illegally, thus fearful of an immigration problem. Menezes' work colleague Gesio de Avila believed that he ran simply because he was late for a job to install a fire alarm.
Now, Jean Charles has his own
Wikipedia page. The moment i heard about the shooting my first thought was apparently anyone is a terrorist when they start running from the police. So maddening to see the truth to be a horrible coincidence, instead of thorough investigation.
Patrick Sherry
, British singer with Bad Beat Revue, was born about 29 years ago. The band was playing at Leed's Warehouse's Club NME night, when Patrick made a jump but fell short and landed on the floor, injuring his head. He later died of his injuries.
NME don't fail to mention Bad Beat Revue is an "up-coming band", as if that makes this accident any more tragic.
a proper publishing... how someone got charged $250 for a recipe, and decides to get even. Here's the deal:
2 cups butter
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. soda
4 eggs
24 oz. chocolate chips
2 tsp. vanilla
1-8 oz. Hershey bar, grated
4 cups flour
3 cups chopped nuts
5 cups blended oatmeal*
Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375. Makes 112 cookies (recipe may be halved).
* Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder.
James Doohan
, Canadian actor, was born on March 3, 1920. Four words: Beam me up, Scotty!
Edward Bunker
, American author and actor, was born on December 31, 1933. He is most famous to my generation for his role of Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs. Bunker spent much of his childhood in different foster homes and institutions, and started on a criminal career at a very early age, continued throughout the years. He has been convicted of bank robbery, drug dealing, extortion, armed robbery and forgery. After he was released once again from prison in 1975, he finally left his criminal days permanently behind and became a writer. He has stayed out of jail since and instead focused on his career as a writer and actor. His most famous novel is Little Boy Blue.
Amy Gillet
is the most unlikely person on my list this month. Australian cyclist, she was born on January 9, 1976. That makes her a little less than 7 months older than me. Some other people that died on the 18th of July were Jim Parker, an American Footballplayer (there seems to die one of them each day), Gerry Thomas, inventor of the TV dinner (ironically, the guy was a gourmet cook and according to his wife, he never ate any of them), and William Westmoreland, U.S. Army General who commanded operations in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. But it's not just her age that made me highlight Amy Gillet.
She was a world champion junior rower, and at age 20, she was a member of the Australian women's eight at the Atlanta Olympics. After failing to make the Australian rowing team for the Sydney Olympics, she was identified as a cyclist with potential. She was rated as one of the top 100 women road cyclists at the time of her death. She died after an accident near Zeulenroda, Germany when a motorist ran into her squad. Five of her Australian team mates suffered major trauma. Gillett was undertaking a doctorate at the University of South Australia at the time of her death.
Clearly someone having no trouble to adjust her life to changing environments. My sympathy feels a bit erratic, and i'm a bit uncomfortable with expressing it here because just ten minutes ago i never heard of Amy Gillet. However, it's not less sincere.
I believe it
was Dutch journalist Guuz Hoogaerts who once pondered the idea that live albums by definition are superfluous. He didn't think there was any live album that really added something to the back catalogue of an artist, or made any previous works expandable. That is a quote from somewhere around 1996-1997, from the top of my head, so it's a bit tainted after all these years of rehabilitation of the Rock Spirit (i.e.no longer reinventing music but reviving the true nature of rock, y'know, the trend U2 has followed since Pop). And i'm sure there are lots of people who'd name 10 live albums from the top of their heads that in their opinion would not apply to that law, but the reason it came to my mind is that i just bought the CD release of a, as far as i know, formerly very rare live EP of Killing Joke called
HA!
The way i discovered Killing Joke is probably very similar to most other people, by Love Like Blood. However, as my musical interests started to drift off the beaten paths somewhere in the nineties, a friend gave me a tape of that live EP. The energy on that recording is something i sorely miss in all of the Killing Joke albums i've bought since then, still thinking the other records would be all the great ones. But no, Killing Joke albums don't work for me. I'm very happy with getting reacquainted with these six songs, which in my opinion, make all the studio work of KJ redundant.
Edward Heath
, British Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974, was born on July 9, 1916. As Prime Minister, he represented a transition between the traditional leadership of senior figures such as Harold Macmillan and that of later meritocratic figures, starting with Margaret Thatcher. These are his titles, starting from birth: Edward Heath, Esq, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Heath (1945), Lieutenant Colonel Edward Heath, MBE (1946), Edward Heath, Esq, MBE (?-23 February 1950), Edward Heath, Esq, MBE, MP (23 February 1950ñ1955), The Right Honourable Edward Heath, MBE, MP (1955ñ24 April 1992), The Right Honourable Sir Edward Heath, KG, MBE, MP (24 April 1992ñ7 June 2001), The Right Honourable Sir Edward Heath, KG, MBE (7 June 2001ñ 17 July 2005). One can only dream to achieve a business card saying just that.
Pietro Consagra
, Sicilian sculptor, was born on October 6, 1920. His father, a travelling salesman, financed his study at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Palermo. Consagra moved to Rome in the 1940s forming art group "Forma" to promote abstract art. His work became widely known from the mid-1950's and has been exhibited widely throughout the world notably the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. Consagra returned to Sicily during the 1980s. There he helped create an open air museum on the ruins of Gibellina, destroyed in a 1968 earthquake. His final wish was to be buried at the Gibellina museum.
Ronald Wilson
, Australian lawyer, judge and social activist, was born on 23 August 1922. Wilson is best known as the author of the Bringing Them Home report about the Stolen Generation (the Australian Aboriginal children who were removed from their families by Australian government and church between 1900 and 1972), published in 1997 which led to the creation of a "National Sorry Day" and a walk for Reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000 with 400,000 people participating. A man who made some effort to bring some justice to this world.
Cicely Saunders
, British physician, was born on 22 June 1918. She is most renowned for founding the hospice movement with the opening of the St. Christopher's Hospice in 1967, emphasizing the importance of
palliative care in modern medicine. Let's hope she profited from her own invention, had she needed it. G'bye Dame...
Paolo Seganti
, Italian actor, was born on May 20, 1965. However he's not dead yet. The story i was about to post on him considering The Celebrity Escape went like this:
He played several characters with typically foreign names like Lorenzo or Phillipe on series as The Nanny, CSI:Miami, Babylon 5 and As The World Turns, and probably hard-to-spot roles in movies such as Cradle 2 The Grave and LA Confidential. Most noticable fact is his executive producer-credit for Dark Days, documentary about homeless living in subwaytubes, featuring music by DJ Shadow.
IMDb got two actors of the same name mixed up. I've sent them a notice. The real Paolo Seganti that died on July 13, 2005, 28 years old, was murdered in Rome in an act of homophobic violence. I can't seem to find anything about his work, but when things like these still happen in a country that considers itself civilized, i'll show some respect... albeit completely random and discriminatory.
Piero Cappuccilli
, Italian opera singer, was born on November 9, 1929. He started his international career in 1959 in the New York Metropolitan Opera, and sang in numerous opera houses world wide in the following decades. In 1992, after a car accident, he stopped singing and started teaching opera.
Frances Langford
, American singer and entertainer, was born on April 4, 1914. She was originally trained as an opera singer, but after throat surgery at a young age she was compelled to shift to a more contemporary repertoire. She became very succesfull during the Golden Age of Radio, and made her film debut in Every Night at Eight in 1935, in which she introduced one of her most popular songs, "I'm In The Mood For Love" (and that's still a favourite even with me, but then again, i have the odd taste in music). She's also the first female to be featured on my Celebrity Death Month. But that's just a tiny detail to an already rich life.
Frank Moores
, Newfoundland and Labrador's second premier, was born on February 18, 1933. As much as he must have meant to the people of Newfoundland (who's doesn't know one?), i feel i've reached the nadir of what makes this month exciting. So Frank Moores, here's to you... that's it for today.
Byron Preiss
, American publisher, was born in 1953. He's regarded as a pioneer in digital publishing, as he was one of the first to release CD-ROM's and electronic books, you know, where people thought the future was before internet arrived. He also published books by celebrities such as Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, LeAnn Rimes and Jay Leno. More important, he helped launch the graphic novel field. He died on July 9 in a traffic accident.
Well perhaps he's not so much a celeb but more someone who probably went to all the right parties. That counts too.
Peter Boenisch
, German journalist, was born on May 4, 1927. During the 60's he was chief editor of newspaper Bild with great succes, pushing sales figures above five million. From 1983 to 1985 he was spokesman for president Kohl, but Boenisch was often brought to embarrassment by Kohl's quotes. So that didn't last long. Later on he led the Petersburger Dialog together with Gorbatsjov, a forum for improving the relationship between Germany and Russia.
The citizens of London
that died on the 7th of July, 2005... i can't ignore the awkward coincidence that i've made July into a month of dead people, and then this happens. I can only pay as little tribute as i can on this spot, and express my admiration of the dignity with which the Londoners carry this tragedy. Unwilling to break because of these cowardous attacks.
What most strikes me is the media silence... instead of being bombarded (bad pun) with newsflashes every five minutes, making you only immune to the tragedy, the absence of news makes a much bigger impact. I understand it's part of the tactics, but it serves a minor cause...
Paul DeliËge
, Belgian comic artist, was born on January 21, 1931. He was part of the so-called Šcole de Charleroi, along with Peyo (yep, the Smurfs) and Roba. That doesn't make him my most favourite comic writer, but his style is typically one (as is that of Peyo and Roba) that's popular with kids. So heck, perhaps he even had some influence on me subconsiously... I can say Peyo had, eventhough i'm not too fond of the Smurf style nowadays. And i read a lot of Eppo or whatever comic magazine i could find, back in the days. So here's to you, Paul DeliËge, adieu...
Baloo Gupte
(sorry for the typo of yesterday), Indian cricketplayer, was born on August 30, 1934. Every newsitem about the man says he always stood in the shadow of his more talented brother Subhash. Makes you wonder what would be worse... to die as a total nobody, which is the privilege of 99,999% percent of this world's population, or being remembered as someone who didn't amount to as much as you could have. Baloo was good at spinning the ball (please note i haven't got the foggiest idea what that means, or any other term coming up), but apparently he played only three Test matches during a span of five years in the early sixties, claiming three wickets. Let me tell you, that is pretty bad.
Well, that is our escaped celebrity of
this day. It's kind of rewarding to find out i'm actually taking interest into someone who i normally would never ever have heard about. Makes it all worth while. Tomorrow, there will be more... or one less, to be precise.
Hank Stram
, American Football coach, was born on January 3, 1923. Out of the diarrhoea over at Wikipedia i managed to distill that he won the SuperBowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1970. Any further information? I couldn't be bothered, American Football must be the most heterosexual passtime ever invented. And this guy was the only celeb that died yesterday. Tomorrow isn't promising any better with cricket player Babloo Gupte...
Tiger's translation tool
seemed the best one of the widgets when i discovered them, but when the story gets a bit too long, the endresults are not too reliable. Or even downright Pythonesque... I ran the second sentence of the Celebrity Escape Month Explanatory Post from English to German to English to Italian to French to Dutch to French to Greek to English and from:
"That's a stupid name, but i am entangled in the suffocating, rigid dogmas of my own corporate identity" i got
"She is idiot a name, but is in s soffocare, that remains inflexible doctrines of identity of his enterprise me puts." What, lost in translation? More like added...
Alberto Lattuada
, Italian movie director, was born on November 13, 1914. His most famous works are CosÏ Come Sei, Mafioso and Luci Del Varietý. The latter was co-directed with Frederico Fellini, his first movie as director. I've never heard of the guy, but little details like that made me choose him above Grete Sultan, 98 year old pianist or Gaylord Nelson, who died at the age of 89 yesterday, even though he's the founder of Earth Day.
Obie Benson
, one of the Four Tops, was born on June 14, 1936. Apart from writing songs for his own band, he also co-composed Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. With the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953, he sold more than 50 million records. His last performance with the band was on April 8, 2005, on Letterman.
I realize i'm breaking my own rules the second day i've put them to work, but hey, life
is tough. Literally... people don't die everyday, i guess. Erik seems to like the Four Tops. So that's why he's here.
Karel Glastra van Loon
, Dutch writer, was born on September 24, 1962. His book
De Passievrucht is the most translated Dutch book ever, published in 31 languages, in 34 countries. The book was made into a succesful
movie in 2003. He also was a passionate supporter of the Dutch Socialist Party, and wrote a number of books on social issues.
In 2004 he was diagnosed with cancer, he died on July 1 2005. A book about his battle against the disease will be published posthumous.
Not because of
kottke, well not
just because, i'm turning July into the Celebrity Escape Month here on pastedescape. That's a stupid name, but i
am entangled in the suffocating, rigid dogmas of my own corporate identity. The idea is i'll be picking one celebrity each day, that died the day before, and point out why they actually made a difference. Why am i doing this? I actually had the idea of turning all of 2005 into a deathblog, but that seemed a little too ambitious. My preoccupation with fame
and death however is a combination that's all too tempting to totally ignore. So i figure one month would be a good excercise. And referring to
kottke, the Celebrity Death Age is already here. Getting prepared for it seems like a good idea. Then again, if you want to know how to deal with so many dead people, ask the people of Bosnia or Rwanda for the telephone number of their shrink, i'm sure they'll be willing to help you with your problem. Well then, with no more delay, i say farewell, adieu, auf wiedersehen to the thirtyone people on this planet who'll be making the ultimate career-move this coming month...
Ever wondered why
my posts were scarce and frantic lately? I've just finished playing Fable, which consumed my time and attention for the last three weeks. I must say, the end was a bit of a letdown, too rushed. I mean, i've played my character for 15 hours, i'd get to know him, i would have liked to say goodbye. Am i getting too sentimental? Ah well, i'll think i'll be playing it soon again, but now completely on the evil side... hehehe...
Last wednesday, the
full moon reached it's lowest altitude in the sky in 18 years, occurring only a day after the summer solstice. Not only was the sun at it's highest and brightest and hottest, but the whole night the sky was lit as well.
Yesterday evening, sitting outside, winding and cooling down after a far too hot day at work, around midnight i managed to spot just one star. Probably Vega, but i couldn't orientate myself due to the absence of other stars, so i'm not sure. Erik and i were visiting Theus and Aafke, barbecuing in their backyard, that's where the aforementioned winding and cooling down occured. Their neighbours and all of the kids in their family to the third degree were watching the match Morocco-Italy in the FIFA World Youth Championship, quite noisily. And as soon as the game ended, and Morocco had won, we found out that the majority of the neighbourhood had been watching it as well. And was Moroccan. And was willing to jump into their cars and drive around the block, honking, shouting, well past midnight.
A better way of assimilating into Dutch society, i couldn't think of one. Every other newsitem for the past few years has been about better integration of ethnic minorities into our society. If that means acting like the average Dutch after a soccer match, the Turks and Moroccans have blended in very well. With one exception, the Dutch are usually drunk as hell. The newest idea of our governement in the field of integration is a national holiday for the people who succeeded in their Integration Course. How such a day would look like, or how the graduates should be celebrating it, there's still discussion about it. One idea was to let them sing the national anthem, the Wilhelmus. If those people were truly integrated, they would only know the first verse, like the majority of the Dutch.
The pastedescape motto is, and always has been: you better create before you think. The story above is true to that dogma. When i plugged the adapter of my iBook into the socket last Saturday, i noticed little sparks inside the holes, and the thought occured to me we've made cunning ways of controlling fire since rubbing sticks together, yet we are still apes. I was trying to link the heavenly bodies with our earth-life in a way that would make everyone go 'Ooh! That's clever!'. But with a motto like that, subtlety is easily lost. I just wanted to ask myself, why is it that i always feel modern society is so unchallenging? Thought provoking ideas are very scarce, even among politicians who have taken the duty upon them to talk the peoples language. Like Inge said a couple of days ago during a telephone conversation, when she was explaining a row with her boss: 'He said, 'It's not wrong what you're doing, but it's just not the way we do it!' Okay, i'm not that stupid!' So that's how one is trained at management courses, to give your employees a false sense of self-esteem. Oh well, watch me rambling... I should see 2001: Space Odyssey again soon, that would soothe my mind. That and a glass of whiskey, and my old diaries from ten years ago... to get my self-esteem up a bit again.
My favourite band from last year, !!!, have released a new single. Review is up at Pitchfork. That explains why they're performing at Lowlands, for which i still am keen to lure Erik into luring some of his powerfull connections into giving us free tickets.
This foretelling thing,
i must be getting the hang of it, or i'm just going mad. I actually dreamed i was listening to Radiohead's new album, and it was mindblowing. They had made it so it would appear to be a house, wherein every room equalled a song. Somehow this also was made visible, and in one of these rooms i sat down with Colin and Ed and we listened to the last song on the second disc (oh yeah baby, it's a double!). It was so beautiful, i wanted to cry, but i couldn't... I just realized in horror that this was the best album ever made by anyone, outshining anything by the Beatles by far!
Too bad with these kind of dreams you can never exactly remember the music when you wake up.
Funny how this dream is clearly a curious amalgam of everything inside my useless-Radiohead-bit-fact part of my brain, which is estimated at taking up about 80% of my brain's capacity. Oh god, i
have to get out more.
I installed Tiger
today on my laptop, i am going mad with delight... But i won't have much time enjoying it, since this weekend is going to be a busy one. Tonight the
Midzomergracht festival, one week full of gay-related events, kicks off with the MegaPANN party (i.e. meeting the old skeletons) in Tivoli. Tomorrow Erik and i will be attending the Lee Harvey Oswald Musical premiere in Amsterdam, very anxious about it. This has nothing to do with homosexuality besides the obvious references. Then on Sunday, after the obligatory family meeting i'll be seeing Tom Lanoye amongst others, being interviewed about his outing and his books. At least, judging the title of the evening, Uit De Boekenkast (Out Of The Bookcloset - it sounds better in Dutch, believe me), that's what i'm expecting.
I'm in Duran
mode again. Their 1981-1985 singles bo
et is really all i need to enjoy their genius. It's all there, the brilliant early b-sides, the night versions, their best singles and with the extended Girls On Film their best piece of music - period. Oh, and Tiger Tiger hinting at how great Seven And The Ragged Tiger could've been. I've always been aware that the producer on Duran Duran and Rio, Colin Thurston, had a big influence on how great the recorded versions of Duran's songs sounded, but only just now it occured to me i ought to check out any other music he produced. A quick search brought me a
list of the things he's done, and an interview with the guy about recording
Magazine's second album in 1979. That earned him his credits, along with working on David Bowie's Heroes and Iggy Pop's Lust For Life earlier on. Zapping forward, he seems to have blown them after producing Human League's Crash. Inbetween, some remotely familiar names like Bow Wow Wow, Howard Jones and Kissing The Pink pass by, and Kajagoogoo's Too Shy, which in my humble opinion is one of the best 80's singles. But then again, he co-produced it with Nick Rhodes. Of Duran Duran. Who's celebrating his 43rd birthday today, i'm realizing right now. I heard some DJ summing up celeb birthdays this morning. Sometimes you wonder if it's all coincidence. You know, life and everything. Anyway... i'm gonna check out some of Colin Thurston's work, some day.
Hello June! Today
i signed up for the DVD release of Chris Cunningham's long-awaited freak-galore Rubber Johnny, due June 20th. As it says on the site, this is the first of two Chris Cunningham releases this year, the, apparently, even longer-awaited Spectral Musicians follows later on.
In the series Director's Label the only DVD that really seemed worth the money was Chris' volume. Dreamlike or nightmarish the style of Michel Gondry or Spike Jonze may be, their collection of videos would be more like a immaculate candyshop. Cunningham is more a doctor Frankenstein, giving life to dead mechanicals and abstracting the human lifeform to a monstrous result. That's an idea that gets my brain rattling. He should do a Nine Inch Nails video.
Other news, last weekend Erik and i finally bought ourselves an XBox. We had the money lying around for awhile after selling the old gasheaters that came with our house. We figured as soon as we would buy the machine, all home improvement would come to a grinding halt. So we postponed it as long as we could... eventhough we're far from finished now. Walking through the store with this big black shiney XBox box, i could see the kids staring at us, and i really had to contain myself from sticking their eyes out singing na-na-na-na-na... Played til 3 AM that Saturday night. As we speak, even my primary bodily functions have come to a grinding halt.
Yes or no:
the only question i am asking myself the last few weeks. On June 1st, the Dutch are the third country in the European Union to have a say about the European Constitution through a referendum. The politicians are full of it, and their main concern is to get more than 50% of us to vote Yes. There's one big problem however - this referendum is the first opportunity for the Dutch to express their aversion to the European Union directly to the people in charge.
From left to right in the political spectrum, politicians are urging the people to vote Yes, the only major exceptions in this are the left-wing Socialistische Partij (SP) and right-wing Groep Wilders, representing somewhere around 10-15% of the electorate according to the latest polls. The polls for the European Constitution show a whole different figure, an estimated 60-65% is going to vote No.
On May 29th, the French make their way to the poll-boots. The polls there are indicating a close finish, currently a little more than 50% percent intends to vote No. If the French do decline the Constitution, it won't matter much what the Dutch decide, but if it passes in France, the disgrace for Dutch politicians will be inefficeable. With the greatest spirit the Yes-camp is campaining, to my great irritation in a unprecendented condescending tone. If it were up to them, the choice for 'us' would be Yes or Yes. Reasoning behind this is it doesn't matter if you're for or against the European Union, or if you're afraid the Netherlands don't have the political weight to change things in our favour, the Constitution takes care of us no matter what. Ofcourse i understand this, i think most people in the Netherlands understand it's essentially a good thing. But like a troubled teen in an identity-crisis won't take any good advice, the Dutch won't either. Being asked to say Yes, they are going to pronounce a loud No. It's a No to the bureaucracy of Brussels, the invisibility of Europe, and a No to the current governement who aren't exactly what one would call popular these days.
But it's not a choice between Yes or No, there are in fact 4 options for me. Yes is still an option, as i've read the most passionate pleas for the Constitution by several Dutch journalists, with arguments like not choosing the side of someone like Jean-Marie Le Pen, or admitting it's simply impossible to fully understand the European Constitution without spending at least 3 full days studying all the pros and cons, and leaving the answer up to the experts in The Hague and Brussels.
But that could also plea for a firm No. And i'm not so much against the Constitution, but more against the European Union as a union implies there are also countries outside that union, benefitting anyone who has the luck to be born inside of it, and further crippling anyone outside of it. The idea of consolidating our status and expecting it to grow in calculated percentages every year by a system of false security seems hopelessly outdated to me, and i don't wish to support it in any way.
The third option is a blank vote, which hasn't been mentioned by either the Yes- or No-camp. Understandable, a blank vote will not count for the result, but will count for the turnout percentage. It's also a cowardly vote, so no option what-so-ever.
The last seems the most alluring right now. Not voting at all. As i've voted for every election i've ever been able to, this doesn't seem like a passive option to me, but an actual choice. The European Constitution is too complicated for most citizens to comprehend. Must i question my political awareness when i do not know what to vote, or should i question the sense of reality of the politicians who decided to put something so precious, this delicate matter in the hands of the ignorant majority? What else can they expect of the people than to handle it carelessly. If something so complicated is presented to me in such a simplified, condescending manner, i should also have the option to say 'I don't want any of it'.
Woohoo, we have
reached the pinacle of the holiday discount, This Is Number 1! What better way to end than spreading the pastedescape gospel around the globe baby! Available here is a
editable pdf of the Official Escape Point, that looks like this:
That means you can print it on a shirt, print it as a book cover, or print it and use it as a template to spraypaint a metro car. I'm just throwing options at you, you do with it whatever you feel like. I'm not responsible anyway. I don't even know you. I don't even care if you turn it tenthousand-fold into a transparant sticker and paste it all over the nasty bits in the porn-magazines in your local sexshop. That would be very very naughty, you know.
Allright... it's over. I've satured your brains, i can sense it. Hope you enjoyed the last ten days, God knows i've done my best to entertain you. And what a tough audience you were. But i'm satisfied, and i'm gonna do this more often. So goodnight and farewell, enjoy the main act, may the force be with you.
With all honors
going to BarB at the
3voor12 forum, i'd like to start my own branch of Tapeswap. The rules are quite simple:
1. email me your postal address (i won't put it here because of spam harvesters, but if you put roy before pastedescape.com, and it'll work i guess);
2. tell all your friends;
3. i'll link two people together, and mail each the other's address;
4. they will have to compile a mixtape (and by tape i mean cd/dvd/actual tape/vinyl/mp3 blog/whatever) for each other and post it;
5. sit behind your frontdoor a couple of days for the mailman to come, listen to the music and dance!
That's it. Do it now!
The only discount
i have for you which i did not produce myself, is the
Oblique Strategy by Brian Eno. I don't know how many people are familiar with it, but the more the merrier i guess. They have a purpose, but not erasing all interactivity, i command you to google
Oblique Strategy and find out for yourself.
Revealing my secrets
online, i haven't really moved into that branche, did i? Well, during the holiday discount days all my inhibitions are gone, so i might as well go the full monty, so to speak. That doesn't mean any nudity, or free porn, or hot gay erotica on this website. I only typed that last sentence to pump the viewing figures, because frankly speaking, the advertisers
have been complaining about disappointing sales figures. So hey, it works for commercial television, branching into cheap sleazy sex, then when all eyes and currency flows are fixed on you, start making decent programs. Or whatever is decent by your cultural standards. Eyes fixed? Ready for the decent stuff? I'll be revealing
the ten rules by which i live my life, as a modern day Moses or Vishnu or Keanu or whatever. From the mountain of Etna, i'll be virtually blogging these commandments down to the world.
God knows what havoc i'm wreaking upon m'self by doing this...
The Rules Of pastedescape
1. It doesn't matter what you're doing, as long as you're doing it;
2. Creativity is like making a sandwich. It doesn't matter what you put on top as long as the base is fresh;
3. The more restrictions, the greater freedom you have;
4. The more knowledge, the less spontaneity;
5. Everything works in circles, and two opposed extremes (ie. left-wing and right-wing) are often not very dissimilar;
6. White and black are not, i repeat not, colours;
7. Sincerity is merely a method by which you can purify your personality (thanks Oscar Wilde);
8. Something's wrong, all the time;
9. In a thousand years time, or from a lightyears distance, absolutely none of this matters;
10. and finally... Radiohead rules!
Some of these rules may contradict another, but any paradox created is not capable of destroying the known universe.
A great idea
which i never got completely around to put into full action are the pxlpatterns. What i created so far are two, Sevilla inspired, patterns. Great for a desktop backdrop or to turn into wallpaper, but i let you do the hard work there, i'm just putting them up for grabs. So these...
can be downloaded like
this and
that.
November 2004 was
supposed to be the month in which i was going to write my first novel, in the
nanowrimo. The goal was 50.000 words, i got to 3564. To not let it all go to waste, why not bore you with what i wrote. To be honest, i went really well, especially when putting on some music that fitted the mood of the scene i was describing. Well. You be the judge.
Here we go, the book is called...
TITAN
ëItís OK, Doss, itís OK. Iíve sorted out the colors on the blankets, we can go to sleep now. We really need to get some sleep, itís been a long night. Tomorrow morning, iíll explain everything to you. I will remember it this time, i can see the pattern very clear, very clear in front of me, i wonít forget.í
ëCalm down, lie right down. You shouldnít get so excited.í
ëI finally sorted out the colors, theyíre on the blanket Doss, donít you see it?í
Doss picks the blue cloth from the side of the bed, and dips it in the bassin, soaking it with cold water. Wrings it, and spreads it on her brotherís face.
ëCalm down Ware, i love to hear everything in the morning, but just be quiet now.í
Dossa already knows thereís no use in really listening to her brother, even tomorrow. Ware has been talking gibberish again, another night is wasted. She doesnít even hesitate to switch of the machines, she canít be bothered anymore to examine the readings.
In one week time, with or without a breakthrough in Wareís dreams, they will have to take the risk and board the Aquila. Find out who the hell is carrying the diamond. Her brother is slowing his breath, the wet cloth rising and lowering above his mouth.
ëBlue, blueí he whispers. His head arches back, his chest heaving slow and deep. ëItís blue, and i will sit right there,í his right arm swinging up and pointing to a undefined place in the dim-lit room, ëAnd i will be all alone. Thatís when the diamond is mine Doss. I can see her shining.í
ëShhh...í Dossa silences her brother, takes the cloth of his damp face, soaks it again. Her eyes follow Wareís arm, his finger, guiding her gaze out the windows, to the only star in the soft orange sky, low on the horizon. The Sun.
Gregory takes a long look at Marsh, undoing his belts and straightening his clothes after the smooth ungearing from Prometheus. Marsh notices, and glances sideways to him.
ëYouíre keeping an eye on where weíre going?í
íYes, weíre heading to wide open space, Marsh.í
Marsh heads over to the communication device, and activates the welcoming speech in each of the passengerís cabins.
ëWell,í Marsh starts, then clearing his throat, ëJust keep track of the flight matrix, take this baby in a tight curve around Saturn, and get us out of this dead end.í Marsh takes big steps to the hallway door, and dissappears.
Gregory mumbles something intelligable, and fully routined starts pulling the joystick and sees the orange surface of Titan tilting, and rotating until it hovers above the little windows in the cockpit. Speed slowly increases, and in about ten minutes the vessel gains enough speed to break free from Titanís gravitational pull and head for Saturn. After that, thereís nothing more to it than keeping an eye on the matrix, sit through the six hour flight to Saturn, make the swoop around the planet, and be catapulted in the direction of planet Earth.
ëDead end...í Gregory repeats, as the outer rings of Saturn start appearing behind Titanís electric blue atmospheric peel as sharp blades, looking at them sideways. He grabs the passengers list, and stares at the names. Itís a pretty empty ship this time, with only four people. Two Titan natives, and two returning to Earth. All doing business, as usual. Marsh is crancky as always when there are not many attendents.
the list, Marsh made some comments after every name, and a perfect, coffee colored ring is set on the bottom of the page. Gregory tosses the list on Marshís seat, and swings his chair back to his part of the control desk, picking up a the book he was reading before departure. The soft whisper of the opening doors sound behind his back. Marsh re-enters the cockpit, walks up to his chair, grabs the back as if heís about to topple, and starts asking Gregory some unimportant questions, about storage capacity. Gregory answers him without lifting his eyes from the pages, but not continuing his read. Marsh walks back to the door, and is off again. Gregory sighs, noticing his shoulders are strained. He relaxes, and goes back to the last words he was reading. He glances over at Marshís chair, and notices itís empty.
the time Marsh returns, Gregory has changed course twice. First setting free from Titanís gravitational pull, and after about an hour or more, the flight matrix showed some unexpected debris ahead, forcing Gregory to make a slight adjustment to the schedule. Marsh sits down, puts his feet up on the desk and sighs hard, notices the red dots on the flight matrix, and jumps right up again.
íWhat happened Greg?í
íWe encountered a pebblebeach.í
takes long looks at the matrix, to the window outside, then at the flight schedule on his desk, then back at the matrix.
íOkay, good.í He says, ëI see thereís not a great deal of time loss in our schedule.í
íNo, we might even be able to get ahead when we make the swoop.í
íGreat Gregory.í Marsh sits back, and swings his feet back on the desk again.
Gregoryís book is lying down in his lap, heís looking at Saturnís gigantic sphere coming closer and closer.
ëYou really like this place, donít you?í Marsh not so much asks, but just takes note.
smiles, figuring out what to say.
ëI just like to see it pass by. Perhaps iím a bit more fond of the view than you.í
ëOh, i like to look at it, donít get me wrong. I love Saturn. Itís just, it looks so alien, and cold.í
íThatís the best thing about it. It looks friendly with all the yellow and beiges, but itís one of the most hostile places we can reach.í
íYes, thatís one way to look at it.í
íHave you seen any of the passengers yet?í Gregory asks, starts, and continues ëAfter checking them in ofcourse.í
íNo, not really.í
íAll business, as usual?í
íHmm, what, iím sorry?í
íAll businesspeople?í
ëYes, i do think so. Or, no, no not really i guess. Oneís some kind of royalty i think. Very elaborate clothing, an old woman. And oneís a diplomat i reckon. Looks like one anyway.í
íYou know Gregory, i donít think iíll be seeing this in awhile.í Marsh starts.
looks up from his book once again, and stares at Marshís face from the side, looking through the windows. He knows what Marsh is going to say.
íI had a talk with the people at the home station, Dix in particular, he has some pretty good ideas you know. He setting up a Earth bound project, and he says he could really use my help.í
ëGreat, Marsh... congratulations. I already noticed you and Dix getting along well.í
íOh, itís not just that, they really have ears for what i have to say. I didnít study for all those years to, er...í
Gregory looks at Marsh looking at him, him frowning.
íDix is going to need a experienced pilot at some point Greg.í Marsh continues, ëYou should get in contact with him.í
íYeah, well...í Gregory begins, pauses and looks outside, ëIíll keep it in mind.í
íYou should. Youíve been doing these flights for how long now? Two, three...?í
íSix years now, iíve made a dozen flights.í
íThatís just a bit too long Greg, you know that. You can do better than that donít you think?í
íSure i know, but where is a 42 year old pilot going to take up first pilot, when there are hundreds of people, your age,í he points to Marsh, ëwith more experience?í
directs his gaze back to the window.
repositions himself on his chair, closing the book. Heís always irritated when Marsh starts to talk to him like that. As if he couldnít figure out his position in the company. Pilots donít make more than fifteen transsolar flights without a two year pause, and the Earth bound projects are very scarce. Marshís mentioning Dixí project stings, not because of his half hearted recommendation, but more because of the prospect of any kind of future beyond taking people up and down to Titan.
íPeople are to hung up about Earth anyway. Some day, sooner or later, we have to let go.í
looks to his side, away from Greg, and is visably agitated. He doesnít say a thing.
studies the cover of his book. ëThe Key To The 21st Centuryí is printed in black italic letters across a dark red. He came across the book the last time he was visiting Earth, in a second hand bookstore in New York. The subtitle attracted him the most at the time. ëThe Lost Art of Civilizationí.
stands up abruptly, looks at Gregory, and says:íI guess you can leave the controls for half an hour or so, we should meet up with our passengers.í
On their way to the library, the main room of the Aquila, Gregory and Marsh are passing various passengers cabins, all of them unoccupied. Only the last four before the library are taken by this tripís passengers. The unoccupied rooms are sealed off, behind their doors a single soft green lightbulb illuminates the neatly arranged furniture, in one corner of the room, the bed and entrance to the bathroom in the other corner. The most expensive room has a relatively big window, which is particularly a luxury when close to Saturn or Earth. Gregory often sits there to enjoy the view during the first and last nights of the flight.
past the last appartments, the hallway makes a slight curve, and ends with the elaboratly carved fake-wooden doors of the library. Marsh swings through the doors, touching both of them with his fingertips to keep them opened for Gregory to enter.
the oak table in the middle of the room, some opened bottles and glasses are standing on a shiny platter, the four passengers of the Aquila awkwardly scattered through the vast library. ëGood afternoon ladies and gentlemení Marsh begins with a clear voice, and rattles his standard welcoming text, the occasional joke here and there, to put some of the less experienced travelers at ease. In particular the old woman Marsh mentioned early, seems to appreciate his speech the most. He introduces Gregory, who then has his own lines, from which he omitted the funny parts, because they never had the effect Marshís lines had. ëI guess iím just too serious about ití Gregory figured.
the welcoming speech, Marsh and Greg start pouring drinks for the passengers, and start a cosy chat with the old woman and a towering dark man dressed in flawless, thick, white clothes. The other two passengers are already engaged in a conversation, although their posture and facial expression shows that they probably already know each other. One of them, the boy, is wearing a bandage around his head, covering even his eyes. The woman, with large red curls, is eyeing Gregory as she is talking to her companion. The old woman, indeed dressed in a very elaborate dress, with an ancient symbol embroided on the front. If Gregory remembers well from one of his books, it resembles the sun, but heís not sure. Best to keep conversation shallow at this point, especially when royalty is involved. Marsh and the black guy are having a heartily laugh. The old woman, her name is Dezel if Gregory heard her correctly, excuses herself, and leaves for her room. The woman on the sofa has her eye fixed on Gregory again. Despite feeling uncomfortable, he strides over to her and the boy, and sits down in the seat across the sofa after shaking their hands.
íAre you on your first trip to Earth?í Gregory asks, noticing the 8 shaped jewel on the womanís necklace, which means sheís a Titan native.
ëFor my brother it is, iím used to it.í she answers, her gaze now fixed on Marsh and Chistolm, the other passenger.
The boyís head is pointing at the direction of his sister voice. He opens his lips, dry from not talking a lot Gregory reckons, but doesnít say anything.
íBut then again, itís always a strange experienceí the woman says, ëI still find it as exhilarating as the first time.í
boys says her name softly halfway a story about her first descend to Earth, how she met up with a guy she ended up almost getting married to, a terribly sentimental story to Gregoryís taste.
í... people donít realize just how lucky they are sometimes.í is Dossaís last sentence, as she stands up and touches Gregoryís shoulder.
íNice to see you Gregory, iím sure weíll have a longer chat later!í She smiles with bright white teeth and sparkling eyes, and walks over to Marsh and Chistolm.
boyís head follows her footsteps, his mouth half opened at first, then closed as he directs his head into Gregoryís direction.
ëAll those stories...í he sighs.
sniggers, then realises his disrespect, and clears his throat.
íI noticed you werenít exactly thrilled to hear her stories, but thatís okay.í he continues in a soft manner, ëFunny how someone with no sight can see some things more clearly than people who can use their eyes. I know my sister, sheís a comfort creature, and sheís very comfortable being listened to. Youíre a listener, i can tell. Youíre exactly what i imagined a solar pilot would be like.í
ëReally? What exaclty would that be?í
ëAttentive to his surroundings, co-operating with the machinery rather than solely controlling it. An interest in the deeper meanings of things. Things like that.í
íHa...í Gregory gasps. ëQuite well put. Youíre very perceptive...í
ëItís a well known fact that people with one sense disabled develop their other senses beyond normal range.í
íYes, iíve read that, i can see itís true.í
ëBut you donít like my sister, do you?í the boy whispers.
íI-Iím sorry?í Gregory stutters.
ëYou donít like her, yet youíre looking at her like you want...í
The stream of words is stopped by Dossa and Marsh falling down on the sofa, almost pushing the boy of the couch. ëOh Ware...í Dossa laughs, í he gets a bit too heavy a bit too oftení gesturing Gregory not to pay attention with one hand, the other is holding a big glass of booze. Marshís cheeks are flushed. Gregory stands up from the chair and excuses himself.
ëMarsh, iíll be in the control room, weíll be approaching Saturn soon...í implying Marsh should get up with him and pilot the ship around the planet.
ëOh what?í Marsh blares ëYouíre a professional Greg, youíre a bloody good pilot.í Dossa shreeks out laughing with a slightly menacing undertone.
íYes iím a professional, captain Marsh.í he replies, looking down at Marsh throwing back the last bit in his glass, at which point his eyes meet Gregoryís.
ëIíll be in the control room, weíll be approaching Saturn soon.í
Marsh holds his empty glass close to his face, tipped downwards, and little drops of liquor are staining his ice blue uniform. His eyes are growing darker, moving from Gregoryís face to the floor, to Dossa, to his glass.
Gregory starts walking, and about a minute after he has taken place behind the control panel, Marsh quietly sits down in the chair next to him, and starts logging into the system.
ëLeave thatí Gregory says, tilting his head in Marshís direction, ëYouíre obviously intoxicated, and you are making a bloody fool of yourself.í
ís hands hover above the control panel. His eyes are watery.
íAs you said, iím a professional, and i can handle this myself. I just wanted you out of that situation.í
ëFuck you Greg.í Marsh shouts, ëYouíre not my father, you fuck!í
íYouíre being very childish though, captain Marsh.í
íDonít fucking say that!í
Gregory raises his voice, ëYou ARE captain of this ship, Marsh! Iím trying to keep you from behaving like a irresponsible moron, which isnít something Dix would like to hear from!í
íWhat the fuck is this? Are you threatening me?í Marsh shouts and jumps up.
íGet the hell out of here Marsh! Get the fuck out of this control room!í
turns his face away from Wareís direction, and starts preparing the swoop around Saturn. About 5 minutes pass before Ware moves, giving up his aggressive posture, and leans back against the door. His hands rub through his short, blonde curls. He steps forward, sits down into his chair and starts browsing through flight data. Gregory takes a quick glance sideways, at which Marsh replies ëIn 2 hours 34 minutes we must have Saturn behind our backs.í without looking Gregory in the face.
turns back to the flight matrix, and continues working.
sits next to him for another 15 minutes, his hands going through the motions. Stands up, and walks out through the doors. Before the doors close behind him, Marsh walks back in.
íYou can be so condescending, Gregory...í he starts, ëYou had no right to speak like that to me, i mean in the library. I am the captain of this ship, and i TAKE my responsibilities! You have no right to decide if iím acting like a moron. Iím not drunk, if thatís what you think. I was having a normal conversation with that woman, and some adults enjoy a drink with that Greg. Thatís a way of communicating Greg... that you...í
Marshís flow stops for a moment.
ëThat you are not capable of. Youíre so overcorrect, youíre so, youíre so...í
íYou have to get to know your customers, for fuck sake Greg! You canít be just the pilot of a ship man, thatís just insane! Thatís not the sort of customer care the company dictates. If youíre not capable of giving that, donít dismiss me from that responsibility, i am bloody well aware of what iím doing. I am bloody well aware! Donít ever, ever call me a moron! Ever again!í
sits, listening to it, looking to his left hand side, panellights flickering.
sound of the doors sliding open, and closing. Just the humming of the machines, and the sun illuminating a small strip of Saturnís atmoshpere, spreading across the window like a giant golden smile.
ëMother Lepard.í
ëThe box is safe.í
íMake absolutely sure no one getís access to it, we believe some people are aware of your cargo.í
ëThatís not a surprise. Iíve taken serious precaution.í
ëYou know to what length they will go to get hold of it. We are afraid your life is in danger.í
íIíve taken serious precaution.í
íKeep close contact. If thereís the slightest suspicion, we will intervene.í
ëI wonít allow that.í
ëYou are not in charge. We must guarantee the cargoís safety. Please note youíre obliged to report the slightest suspicion.í
ëI will.í
ëDonít make any change in the plans. Repeat: no change of plans. The tiniest mistake is fatal now.í
ëI wonít.í
íReport every 12 hours.í
ëOn Baburís blood.í
ëOn Baburís blood.í
Marsh opens his eyes. He looks at the clock, and quickly counts the minutes heís been asleep. He gets up from the bed, walks to the window, and requests the view from the back bow. Saturnís soft yellow disc is fully lit, from now on they will be flying in one straight line back to Earth. He flicks on the light in the bathroom, and steps into the shower. The gush of water is cold at the start, it startles him for a second, then he relaxes. His brain starts to recall the information he read before drifting off into sleep. He canít distill any logic from it, though it seemed crystal clear at the moment. He turns the temperature up a few centigrades. In his mind, he thinks back to the second before sleep. What was he thinking? The only thing that resonates loud and clear through his head is that name.
drying himself, his thoughts wander to his argument with Greg. His machine-like fondness of the protocol is fucking up the plan. If another event like this occurs, heíll have to take precautions, and get Greg out of the way.
ëMy lecture should have gotten some sense in his fucking headí Marsh mumbles to himself.
He walks over to the cabinet next to his bed, and opens the bottom drawer. In the back, he flips over his clothes and gets the box out. Sitting down on the side of his bed, he shoves the drawer back with his right foot, and opens the box. The needle and the bullit are glistening, smiling at Marsh. He takes the leather noose from the inside of the lid, and shoves it over his left wrist, just over his elbow. He tightens it, and start screwing the bullit on top of the needle. The veins in his arms are starting to bulge. Marsh licks his lips while massaging his bicep. His whole body already is getting hot in the prospect of shooting up. The transparant liquid in the bullit is shot through the needle, into his bloodstream. He pulls out the needle. Lies back on the bed. His brain goes over the information again. And again. His head feels like ice cold burning, and Marsh starts to laugh.
Today i present
my ultimate spring mixtape Grow In The Wild, marrying the female and the male, celebrating the concept and the conception of life. It was the first compilation i made with my iPod, and somehow i always thought it still needed to be adjusted, but hearing it now, it sounds immaculate really. It kind of compilated itself. Now i can't offer you the actual music, that would be wrong wrong wrong, but i'm sure there's some detective material among my readers, you know how to use LimeWire or Soulseek. What i can offer is the
cover and
back.
Tracklist: Bj–rk - All is full of love - funkst–rung exclusive mix / Queen adreena - Weeds / M™m - Now thereís that fear again / Lisa Germano - Turning into Betty / Kristin Hersh - Velvet days / DAAU - Oliphant / Blur - Wood pigeon song / The microphones - I want wind to blow / Suede - Waterloo / I am kloot - To you / The smiths - The hand that rocks the cradle.
Ever watched Absolutely
Fabulous'
Donkey? That was a brilliant piss on Sex And The City, and it rang so true. Because, let's face it, the world
is divided in donkeys and horses. It's not a bad thing, it's
good to acknowledge this fact. Now, take a good long look at your significant other, while he/she's on the phone making plans for tonight/scrubbing the floor, and ask yourself this one question: Are you the donkey?
If the answer is No, please contact me, i've got some great products for you. But first of all, download the Horse banner and put it up your site. Ever seen a merry-go-round with a donkey on it? I didn't think so, and it's not without a reason. Be proud to be a Horse, because Horses make the world go round. The banner is just the beginning, i'm thinking of Horse magazines, clothing (business
and leisure), perfume, holiday resorts, gated communities... There is no end really.
If the answer is Yes... well cheer up. The Donkey banner is for you. Wear it proud and clearly visible, because you don't want to be mistaken for a Horse do you? That wouldn't be fair to the real Horses, plus it'll cause you lots of grief. Being a Horse is something in which all your limitations of intelligence and looks would be easily exposed, you'll only feel more sorry for yourself. That means the Horses will have to stand your whining and hee-hawing, and you can only count on a certain amount of compassion.
So, make your choice and stand for it.
Remember Trent Reznor's
generous offer to the Garageband 2.0 scene, how he gave a multi-track file of The Hand That Feeds for us to
tinker with? Leaving us with an impossible amount of possibilities to fuck it all up, ending with a hundred versions of the song in your head, and a hundred unfinished Garageband files on your Mac? Giving the title of the song and the line
do you want to change it a whole new sublayer? Well, i thought that was a great idea.
The first Holiday Discount Goodie i've got for you is NIN's next single, Only, as a
Garageband file. I've been so kind to play the first four bars (the bass and piano part) in MIDI, which leaves the rest of the work with you! To create that same kind of tongue-in-cheeck, you should download it, and figure out the rest of the song. But don't try to hard, because the purpose is to create a zillion different songs that all go
there's no fucking you, there is only me. Hilarious.
Here it is... the one and
Only. More Holiday Discount tomorrow, same place same time.
PiËce de rÈsistance,
that would look good as a heading right? Well, i got something for you that could bear well that very title. It's the one and only pastedescape gun. What the banana skin was to slapstick, the gun is to a exuberant succesfull lifestyle. It looks like an ordinary toy gun, but let me tell you some of the mind-boggling additions that can be custom installed for you. What about the INCOGNITIZER, making you unrecognizable in the presence of annoying acquaintances. Or the LIQUIDIZER, simply evaporating the people in front of you during shopping or at a concert. Or the ESCAPE, with just one push on the button creating a dimensional hole to escape from wherever you are, for instance the whore that O.D.'d in your hotelroom with the police busting your door. Or the ZEE, expanding the possibility of pushing command-z (or control-z) into real life, undoing whatever goes wrong! There are no limits.
This is what it looks like. Do you want one? Ofcourse you do. I know, ofcourse. In fact, you don't have to do anything. I'll be in touch with you soon.
It's time to
celebrate... i'm off not only for a long weekend (Ascension Day and Liberation Day are tomorrow, and Friday is compulsary day off), but on Monday i'm leaving for two weeks of Sicily. The first five days we'll be spending in
a lemon orchard with a view on the Etna, the following five i'm up for anything.
Plus, i'm thinking about joining Donau, the band Erik (the other one) plays in, as keyboard player. As i'm fiddling about with Garageband 2, i'm getting more confident about it. Who needs to know how to play a chord when you've got your Mac!
update:
I won't abandon you totally the coming weeks. I've scraped together some quite amazing goodies, which i will be revealing to you through the wonders of Timed Publish courtesy of Pivot. The next ten days, check this site at 18.00 hours (Central European Time), and enjoy it. Keywords: open minded, scissors, glue and paper! Woohoo, Mount Etna here i come!!!
As i mentioned
yesterday, i bought NIN's new record last friday. Don't ask me why albums are in the shops in the Netherlands 5 days before their official release, but i question that fact as much as i question the existence of oxygen. It must be some divine power or something. My favourite track so far, still, is Only. Because it's pretty much the least i had expected to be on this album, a real poppy song... as far as NIN can get pop. Over the weekend, during a drive in which many many insects popped against the windscreen, Erik and i had the opportunity to take a good listen, and here's my conclusion: It's fucking great!
The album starts off where The Fragile ended, with multi layered songs where the added value lies in their production, not the melody. And that immediately made it clear to me why i still have a hard time liking The Fragile... as ambitious as it is, it definitely lacks some decent tunes. Especially on the second half of With Teeth, this flaw is certainly fixed. Highlights are Every Day Is Exactly The Same, Sunspots, The Line Begins To Blur and closer Right Where It Belongs.
This album also made me think if NIN are still current despite or because of their unprolific nature... i'd like to think the latter, i can't imagine buying an album like this every other year. You could easily put any song from The Fragile on this album. However, that also makes it clear Trent has succeeded in creating a sound that sounds as up-to-date as it is timeless, so hands in the air for that. Now, if you'll excuse me, i'm off to treat myself to dinner outdoors.
I wish i
sitting on the shore of a lake right now. However, drying the laundry in the crisp spring warmth in our own garden is not too bad either. Last night the BBC broadcasted a documentary about George Seurat's
Dimanche d'ÈtÈ ý la Grande Jatte 1884 in their series Private Life Of A Masterpiece. What an eye-opener that was. I was familiar with the painting but only in the most superficial way, and had always questioned wether or not Seurat's technique was a gimmick. The documentary did not specifically answered that question, just noted that it was a painstakingly procedure and typically a route only a young male artist on a mission to change painting would have the stamina to follow. Seurat died in 1891 at the age of 31, seven years after La Grande Jatte. I'd like to think his style would have evolved into something more livilier, because as much his pictures and especially sketches speak of his talent to distill shapes from the white of the canvas, what his work always lacks to me is a human soul.
Much was said about the figures on La Grand Jatte, i'll recapture. La Grande Jatte is one of the isles in the Seine, now situated in Parisian suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine, but 111 years ago it was on the edge of the city, and a popular spot for the high society to spend their Sundays, for instance. However, La Grande Jatte then was also known as a cruising area, where prostitutes offered their services to married men. It was a well-known fact that a woman, strolling on her own on the isle, was a
singe, contemporary slang for a prostitute. Literally singe means monkey, and you can see the couple prominently pictured on the right of the canvas walking a monkey. The experts don't agree on why the monkey is in the picture, but it's most logical explanation to me was it was that the man was spending the afternoon with his high maintenance mistress, and the monkey stands symbol for that, as an accessory, a luxury item. If you look close, there are several women on their own in the picture. One of them, on the left, is holding a rod and is fishing. Now the word for fishing in French is pÍcher, almost the same as pÈcher, which means to sin. This similarity alone might not be a proper explanation for the woman's behaviour, had it not been for various cartoons being published at that time, refering to the singes as women holding rods. Seurat's choice for this figure is sufficiently explained by that for me. The general undertone to this painting is a criticism against the overestimation of fashion and keeping up the outward impression.
The central figure in the painting however, is the child in white, literally central on the canvas, which stands out for several reasons. Not only because of it's white dress (a symbol for white light, where all colors are present?), but it's also the only figure looking directly towards the viewer of the painting. It's also the only figure not painted in Seurat's characteristic style, but with plain brushstrokes. It's as if Seurat meant to say he had more faith in the simplicity of a childs world then the adult society. But perhaps that's a bit too sentimental, make of it whatever you want to.
Interesting to see was that an earlier work of Seurat,
La baignade ý AsniËres, was very similar to La Grande Jatte, not only in composition, theme but also size (300 by 200 pixels here, 3 by 2 metres in real life). Noteworthy are the boats in the background, which appear in both paintings, implying La Baignade and La Grande Jatte depict two opposite shores of the same water. On La Baignade you can see the lower classes pastime, on La Grande Jatte it's the upperclass of Parisian society anno 1884.
It seems the
Radiohead machine is building up steam... Thom played some more new songs at the Trade Justice rally last week, to be precise they were Reckoner, Big Ideas, House Of Cards and
Last Flowers Til The Hospital. I was already familiar with the first two, the last two are completely new to me, but apparently they've been floating around. With many many thanks to
ateaseweb.com, i also beamed the latter up for you to beam down to your comfortable homes. Sound quality is not pristine, but it's all The Lord has giveth to us, we should be thankful.
Other news, remember i was nagging about how long it had been since i'd seen a decent movie with
Naomi Watts in it? The Assassination of Richard Nixon is coming out soon in The Netherlands, and We Don't Live Here Anymore is currently playing, saw it tonight. Movies that have already drawn millions to the box-office the world over, and finally the one and only copy of it ends up in our part of the globe. Well, it's not too bad, but i think i'm gonna watch 21 Grams again soon. That was really good. Seems Naomi is the kind of actress that gets paid shitloads of money for playing the Hostess Twinkie Motherfucker, and uses that shitload to make something a bit more thought-provoking.
Every 6 months
there's a gigantic Record Fair in Utrecht, and this weekend the sun took that precise spot on the firmament once again. And thanks to the sunny weather it was not crowded at all, and an impressive 150 euros lighter i got to the finish. Leaving the New Order vinyl for what it was for once and for all, i bought about every decent single Blur released since 1994 (twelve to be exact), a Morrissey singles bo
et, and the albums i still missed from Pet Shop Boys, Underworld, Nitzet Ebb (!), Jesus and Mary Chain and Joy Division.
It took me
not two days but a full week to get my head around the R.A.M. piece. Very informative, so the gods have no right to withhold from you the information i'm about to pass on. I hope the same gods close an eye on this one, with possible copyrights and everything, but hey, it's an English translation of a Dutch transcription of an interview that was edited for broadcast, so where's the original anyway? Floating in the global subconsiousness i guess, and it's my duty to wake you up! Here we go...
Talking are Arnon Grunberg (AG) and Lars Spuybroek (LS) about the mechanization of human behaviour in Spuybroek's architecture.
AG: Is an architect also a manipulator, a director of human behaviour?
LS: I hope so, weíre supposed to be. Architecture is a profession that requires great discipline. Buildings impose discipline, so youíll have to be.
AG: What do you mean by discipline?
LS: We are habitual creatures, and buildings are reflections of our habits. When you go to the toilet or your bedroom, the architect has determined how youíre going to do this.
AG: Do you wish to tear down these habits?
LS: In part... for a very long time we imagined that usage, very much a word of the sixties you know, people opening up to their environments, a sort of phenomonology of the environment. Usage was the word, but in the end usage was nothing else but the reflection of a building. Like that famous quote from Churchill:
ìWe shape our buildings: thereafter they shape us.î Iím interested if usage and standardization of behaviour can be combined with experiences, and things that more in touch with the present.
AG: In so many words, are people slaves to the buildings?
LS: No, but when an architect looks at repetitive behaviour, like...
AG: Someone uses the toilet five times a day...
LS: Yes, for instance. Or wether you use the toilet in November 1997 or April 2004, to the building thatís irrelevant. The fact that this behaviour is repeatable, and autonomous of time is very important to an architect
AG: Whatís the definition of repeatability to an architect?
LS: That youíre able to mechanize and organize behaviour, at least thatís how we think from the 1920ís on.
That is functionality, buildings are pure mechanization of behaviour
AG: So thatís what youíre doing when youíre designing, youíre mechanizing human behaviour?
LS: You canít avoid it! Iím trying to find moments when it
can become something else, when architecture opens up and becomes undefined or less defined. You see, there are two techniques in architecture: one is functionalism, to define spaces, two is a kind of undefining things like Mies van der Rohe did. Everything is a hall with a curtain which you can move. The problem is it doesnít determine anything, it constantly forces people to make decisions.
AG: And people donít like that? We want to be forced to follow a route?
LS: We force ourselves, we turn ourselves into buildings! When we program our own behaviour, thereís not much use in constantly imagining what youíre going to do. Itís perfectly natural to have scripts, like for instance when i wake up in the morning i donít want to figure out what i have to do. I have a chain of actions, all day long. Itís just we donít use them everywhere, but the Functionalists thought so. As if youíre a machine-operator, thatís what your own body and your interference with others would be like. Iím interested in how to break this pattern, without making things undefined.
AG: Once more, we are buildings ourselves?
LS: Yes, you build yourself! When you start making habits, habit and habitat are the same word after all, youíre turning yourself into a system thatís repeatable. Thatís something thatís very important.
AG: So eventually youíre designing something in which the inhabitants can perform certain rituals?
LS: Well, iím doing that, and every architect is doing that, but the schedules iím creating have different levels of flexibility. Sometimes theyíre very rigid, like when using the toilet. Thatís when i accept the mechanisation of behaviour. But there are also parts of the building that are much more flexible and open, they are just wedged between very determined parts.
AG: The
Son-O-House for instance, is that an example of an attempt to break down mechanized behaviour?
LS: That is the most extreme example!
AG: Oh well, i like extreme examples...
LS: Good... You see, i make art structures, and buildings. In a building there are windows, doors and mechanization of behaviour. Art structures work very differently. Although this is a structure that focuses on habits, every action will blend with the next, so you get nodes. This is not so much about habits, but more about experience, and by that i mean, the moment youíre there, the present, is important. You make a decision, which can be different to the decision youíd make a moment later.
AG: This difference between customs and experiences... to be able to live somewhere you need habits youíre able to repeat without thought, thatís your definition of mechanization of behaviour, and the experience is being somewhere at a certain point in time, go through a sensation, and after that, thereís no need to relive it.
LS: Well, you
can relive it, but these spaces are just that undefined, different types of behaviour... i mean, itís a piece of art. You move this way, then go that way, you wonít sit down...
AG: You canít feel at home, or is that too sentimental?
LS: I guess youíll feel at home just enough. It has many disciplines, itís a sonic piece of art, itís full of sensors and the computer watches your steps and that input is used to affect a composition or rather a relation of sounds.
AG: People who walk there have an influence on what they hear?
LS: Yes, a straight influence, or more indirect interactive. Interactive is generating a direct effect, but in this case you create an effect in the composition which recomposes and youíll get a change in sound.
AG: It sounds as if you conducting psychological experiments on the visitors?
LS: Itís not so much psychological, but more neurological.
AG: But an experiment...
LS: It relates very much to esthetics. Usually esthetics are about cultural codes, and you decode them in relation to where you are, and you say ëAh!í or not. When youíre in Rome, youíre constantly measuring proportions. When youíre in the Son-O-House, you
feel. The floors arenít even so youíre very aware of your muscles, you constantly turn you head, your entire body is being mobilized. Itís very different to a conventional building.
AG: Youíre saying this is more a piece of art?
LS: Yes itís a piece of art!
AG: But in a conventional building, when youíre designing that, it is important for itís users to not constantly having to consider whether or not they having an esthetic experience
LS: What iím doing is trying to mix things. Looking at sets of behaviour, what kind of behaviour one could have. After that iíll see if i can open the space up. On locations used for very formal actions, you have to determine things very precisely. With more informal behaviour, iím able to mix more, keep it more open.
AG: What is informal behaviour?
LS: Behaviour that is not predefined. Youíve got your scripts but they are much more flexible, things can flip over, go askew. You see that a lot in working environments, this kind of pro-active mixing of formal and informal behaviour.
AG: Are you aware of the power you have over the people living and sleeping and eating inside your buildings?
LS: Yes, but that power is available for everyone
AG: But iím not an architect
LS: But youíre the architect of your own habits
AG: When iíll be living in a building you designed, youíll be the one who mechanized my behaviour!
LS: No, iím not a functionalist! In part, iím mechanizing human behaviour
AG: Youíre not entirely able of avoiding the mechanization, eventhough youíre not a functionalist?
LS: No, thatís very important. Because if i would, everything would be an experience, and thatís no way of organizing things.
AG: And people wouldnít feel at home?
LS: Right. Itís all about turning actions into habits, for one to build a script. On the other side it should be able to flip over to experience and turn into something new. For architecture, thatís very important.
AG: So you do have some sort of power?
LS: Yes, but i donít mind.
AG: You shouldnít mind, i donít think power is a dirty word. I wonder if youíre conscious of it, and if youíre considering the people whoíll live in your buildings. Itís not just that building. How do you think about that?
LS: The fact that iím using the word ëscriptí implies i have a different approach of behaviour. Would i approach behaviour in a clinical way, like toilet bathroom, if i couldnít care for human orientation, iíd say thatís the classical control of behaviour. But the fact iím saying theyíre cycli or rhythmes of behaviour implies iím implicitely noticing it should be flexible, and it should be! Itís very important to look at customs, to leave open possibilities.
AG: You also designed a building that with the aid of colours shows the emotional state of mind of itís inhabitants?
LS: Yes, the
D-Tower, thatís also a piece of art, i made it in co-operation with QS Serafijn. Itís a website with a questionnaire... itís not really a building, more like a little tower in Doetinchem. What happens, every year we select 50 people, the chosen ones of Doetinchem. They all get a password for the site, and receive a list of questions every week, that handle hate, love, happiness and fear. The computer visualizes those four moods and checks every day at 6 pm for the most intensively experienced mood. If itís love, the towerís red, if itís hate, the tower is green. You drive back from work in the evening, and if you see the tower is green, the most intense emotion is hate.
AG: Does that tower, itís design, have any influence on the mood the people there?
LS: The shape itself, no.
AG: Do you thank youíre able to change the state of mind of them?
LS: No, i think it can be intensified, because they know their answers are made visible. But you have to do it so, theyíre not going to lie. If you would publish their answers on the website, theyíd fake their way through those questions. We thought of a way, with those 50 people, that they would truly be responsible for the emotions of the city.
R.A.M. is playing
in the background, and all of a sudden Lars Spuybroek is being interviewed by Arnon. Great, i try to focus on what's being said, but i think i'll have to watch the
rerun to fully grasp it all. And it might not be a bad idea to transcribe it for you. But that won't happen tonight, i'm off to watch Millionaire playing in Ekko tonight, and tomorrow i'm going to see The Band tribute at the Bellevue theater in Amsterdam. Hold your breath til tuesday, at least.
Since we moved
to our new home, i wake up around 7 o'clock, everyday. Weekend or not. And eventhough i had a good amount of beer at someone someone's birthday party last night, which always sends me into a dreamless coma, i was wide awake this morning at 6:30. Crawling up to Erik's back usually knocks me back into sleep, but nuh-uh not today. So here i am, trading precious sleep for blogging. And it took me half an hour to type these six sentences.
What does one do when blogging and not being able to come up with an interesting topic? You search the
list. Note that another half hour has passed since i last mentioned the time i'm taking. Oh fuck it, this is the most useless blogentry ever. See you when i actually have something to say.
I can feel
great disturbance on the web about the new Out Hud album.
Some don't think much of it,
others (other than Pitchfork - they're on our side yaaay!) dig it. But i'd like to pay a bit more tribute to it, although i'm not familiar with their previous album. That paves the way for anyone to totally slag off the following:
The connection with !!!, who by the way made my year musically speaking in 2004, is pretty obvious. Three of Out Hud's members play in that band, so comparisons are quickly made... and to no surprise their music is quite similar, the most noticable difference is that Out Hud's more abstract and electronic approach. The best moments on the record for me are the choruses in It's For You (brilliant, that cheap MIDI piano) and How Long, they don't get more proto-New Order-ish than that. But a few bars of genius on a 50 minute record would be pretty poor huh? Besides manufacturing some golden pop moments, their capability of pasting layer on layer of rhythm and melody creates that other New Order-ish link, a wall of sound that still breathes, is transparant, joyous and melancholic at the same time. In my humble humble opinion, that's what makes this record my first highlight this year. The third New Order link is that pug ugly record cover. But i imagine Charles Manson would say, it's not the outside that matters, it's your insides.
What's happening in
the fickle world of contemporary rock music? Well, i'm so anxious to hear the new Nine inch nails record that i've done The Forbidden Thing... downloading The Hand That Feeds with Limewire. And i was
warned that the sound quality might be pretty crappy, and it was. And now, forever, i will never be able to get a proper first listen. I feel filthy and i will never doubt you again, ever, Trent.
Billy Corgan is ready to release
his solo record this June. Finally, what took him so long? I'm particularly curious because honestly, Machina and the Zwan record weren't that much of an artistic succes to me. I hope he put his prolific nature, which made him write 2000 brilliant songs in ten years time as the Pumpkins, to good use and write 12 more than brilliant songs. Oh no, 11 songs, there's one Bee Gees cover. Bee Gees? Oh God...
What's on heavy rotation in my iPod right now? Not the new New Order record. The first spin sounded as boring and uninspired as it's
cover. Peter Saville, what's happening dude? I've completely dusted off my Goldfrapp folder on the other hand, and as we speak i'm listening to
Out Hud's new album. And as is the case with so many new bands, this sounds exactly how that New Order record should sound. Audible magic!
Yesterday, Thom and Jonny performed Arpeggi, a new Radiohead song, during Jonnys performance on the Ether Festival. Ofcourse, somebody had the bloody nerve to record it. And i got it here for you, ain't that nice. Over at atease the radioheads are tearing out their brains wether is any good or not. You fools, don't you know it'll sound 180 degrees different when the album comes out, in approximately 375 days or so? Anyway... enjoy it.
update
a bit later, Thom played some more new songs, and one of 'em is
here.
PJ Harvey's back
in my life again, and just to keep to a promise, a bit about her. Every album of her has a very distinct atmosphere, and it's just now that i'm playing Uh Huh Her for the first time in months, and i'm pleasantly surprised. This album feels a bit like a cold humid summers day, with thundering clouds, containing a promise for prettier times. Stories From The City... is so different, it's one of my favourite spring albums, when every sound and beam of sunlight seems like a new thing. Is This Desire? is probably my favourite PJ album, the first time i listened to it (years after it original release) it became an instant classic. Not at all what i expected from her, and feeling like i missed out on her 'electronic' period when it was current. Haha, current.
Erik and i
went to see The Ring Two last night, inspite of the bad reviews it got. I have to say the first movie was more dense, and i'm getting flashbacks about all the symbolism in The Ring, how good it worked. The story in The Ring Two however is definitely secondary. It's all about the shock, and there are some very shocky moments in it. Other than the absence of a storyline, other things that annoyed me: the
kid playing Naomi Watts' son, displaying the worst overacting i've seen in ages; and the thought it has been too long since Naomi Watts featured in a decent movie. Or should i just get out more?
The best thoughts for this blog i usually get before i fall asleep, and usually i don't remember them when i wake up again. But this one stuck... Horror is the only genre where it's okay for a big budget, blockbusting movie to not necessarily have a happy ending, making it in a weird way, the most life-like type of film. Perhaps that's one part of the appeal, you don't know for sure if it's gonna end allright. You didn't went to Lord of the Rings thinking 'Let's see that Frodo fry!' Especially not if you read the book, ehm... you get the point. A good horror really works on your nerves, making you feel like a kid again. In that manner, Blair Witch Project is without a doubt, the scariest movie i've ever seen. I was 24 when i watched it, heard all the stories about it long before, well prepared one could say. But it was night, i was alone, and afterwards i was afraid to walk up the stairs in the dark, scared that someone would grab my foot.
Next post would be nice if i'd figure out a way to write about the horror of esthetics.
Summer of 1999
i went on a big money-consuming trip to London, and for some reason i was convinced that
Nostradamus' prediction of London's destruction
(II.51Ý London shall be burnt by the year of 666 x 3) would come true. So i went to London to die, and what did i do?
In those days, before the gift of firing up my own cd's was bestowed upon me by the gods, i made mixtapes. Almost proto-ipod-ish, as they really were a soundtrack to my holiday (lots of Atari Teenage Riot though). But i also made five copies of a mixtape, the a-side filled with some good tunes, the b-side 45 minutes of silence, and on the sleeve it said:
I assume there are still limits to culture. That's why i give you this tape containing 11 bits of mine. In return i want your soul. Make your own b-side and send it to [i'll leave that out, i've moved 3 times since then]
I have a hard time recalling all the places i placed each of the art bombs, but i put one in the Tate Gallery in St. Just, one in a youth hostel, and one in the Depeche Mode bin in a record store in Notting Hill, London. Big chance they were all picked up by the cleaners and tossed in a bucket of bleach.
So that was the story of the art bomb. Great idea, but i got zip reaction from my terrorist action. I figure, it's been 6 years, officials have dropped the price on my severed head in a bag by now. Great idea yeah, i should do that more often...
update: the approximate tracklist of that tape was Depeche Mode - Sea Of Sin / Chemical Brothers - Morning Lemon / Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy / Smashing Pumpkins - Once In A While / The Breakfast Club soundclip / Suede - My Dark Star / Aphex Twin - Nannou / R.E.M. - At My Most Beautiful / Dangerous Liaisons soundclip / Nine Inch Nails vs. Aphex Twin - At The Heart Of It All / U2 - First Night In Hell mix
So what's happening at the neighbours?
- Well, rumour is
Mars has a recent history of volcanic and glacier activity. And by recent, you know i mean in the last 4 million years, ofcourse. Furthermore, spacecraft
Cassini has discovered an atmosphere around Saturn moon Enceladus, probably caused by volcanoes, geysers or other gases escaping from the heavenly body, to quote old school Madonna. And finally, there are clues the
universe is still expanding. So no need to worry about where to store your kitchen appliances.
Whatever i'm doing
on my computer, as soon as i hit a page, a photo, a soundbite that's remotely connected to my current state-of-mind, i have to start blogging. Like a machine that starts without warning. So just a minute ago i stumbled upon a picture of Catweasel In His Younger Years
Aubrey de Grey, who appeared a great deal in yesterday's broadcast of
Tegenlicht. I only caught it with half an eye, as Erik and i were just back home from a fantastically relaxed weekend on Texel. I've posted the link, i'm gonna watch it. And if you understand Dutch, so can you.
History is hot.
Today Loe de Jong, Hollands most famous and most important historian died, and it's treated like hot news. Who was it, that said history is a hot topic? I don't remember, but i do remember all the 'Greatest X of all time' polls of lately, where X can be anything from British Book to Dutch Queer Dead Right-Wing Bald Megalomaniac Politician, and Hollywood homespun like Alexander. We all know it has something to do with the turn of the century, which was approximately 5 years ago, but in what way exactly? Some thoughts on that
here. I say it's because we need to place our present problems in context with the series of events that created them. Why is Iraq seemingly unfit for democracy, we ask ourselves, at which the article hints...
"(The Americans) have been thinking about rebuilding Iraq in two years. So when I talk about how the British arrived in Iraq in 1917 and left in 1955, it's bound to make their flesh creep."
Now that's one thing. The other one is the one i was talking about two days ago. I wonder at what time in the last few years did our society pass the point of becoming 1984? Was it the widespread introduction of security cams? The internet? Big Brother (that TV show)? 9-11? All of these? And it does relate to the constant attack of the media on our memories? How they are being manipulated with aforementioned 'Greatest X of all time' contests or 'I love the 80s' and such drivel? I recall a certain ad that was running here half a year ago i guess, by some manufacturer of digital cameras, which really pissed me off. It said something like 'You're creating instant good memories'. Fuck it, good memories are birds that sing when you're lying in the park, with some wine and some friends, and the sun's just right. It's not created by a piece of hardware for you. This is so typical of everything we read and see in today's media. Everything has to be the genuine article, an addition to our hectic lives, or else it's not worth the trouble or money. And if they are the genuine article, they are definitely worth the money. Whatever money.
As for 1984... i was just about to type something like 'the media control our minds boohoo' but then i realized what i was doing. Blogging. And i remembered Citizen Kane, and its history. How in that time, there were also too little people with too much power, telling the world what they wanted to, not what it needed to know. I sometimes think the 70s were the best period in recent human history, especially when i see pictures like
these. Life was just as decadent, but people looked like they did, and looked great (except Liz Taylor ewww), and everything was actually still genuine, because it had never been done before! But then i realize what i'm doing, blogging. For at least another 384 days.
Blogging. A year
ago, i only did it for half a year, thinking from March til August i'd long to my outside life. Now i've been cured from that thought. It's quite addictive (but i need to crank up my viewing figures). Quite so, i'm gonna revive the
PROTRO blog. Not just to have another output channel for myself, but also for my best friend Inge. We went to
Supernatural in the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, but had too much interesting conversations to be really partying. So we left early.
One of her remarks definitely rang true, how our memories are influenced and invented for us by the media today. As i'm typing this, i'm thinking i'm never going to get across what i really want to say. So i leave you (yes, you, you're the only one reading this) with this teaser, and i promise to get back on the topic soon. Within the next 386 days.
I got the
Arcade Fire tattood across my heart last night. They were performing in Amsterdam, and i almost can't put to words how great that was. Almost. I've rarely seen a band take the stage, capture the audience and genuinly create music with a fierceness and warmth as they did. While queuing up to get into the Melkweg, people were selling their newborn babies to get hold of a ticket, it's true i'm not kidding!, and once inside the usually bored audience for once refrained from talking loudly to each other over beers, while constantly checking their phones, and paid some attention. But alas, no one danced. Especially not on the balcony in the back, where i was, silently rocking out. But fuck, it was a tremendous show, best in a long long time. Even
Bj–rk goes to see them.
Update: i've found someone
Flickr page which includes zillions of great pictures from the show.
Just coming in, the trailer for
Episode III. I can feel a great disturbance in the force... it's as if a thousand souls cried out, grabbed their coats and queued up in front of the movie theatre.
And if we are to believe some top-secret cult movie site, Michael Winterbottom's new film
9 Songs is not to be missed either. It features a real sex scene. The storyline goes something like 2 people meet inbetween rock concerts, and it features a really graphic sex scene, and the actors really had sex with eachother. I can already envision all the arthouse cinemas at Sunday, full of slightly jaded couples in their thirties...
She: So what's the movie about, you've read something about it didn't you?
He: Uhm, yeah, i don't really remember, but it had something to do with rock concerts.
She: Oh.
He: What?
She: This isn't another rock movie is it?
He: What do you mean?
She: I don't like them. Like when you dragged me to High Fidelity? The only thing funny was Jack Black.
He: Oh... well, it's a... also a love story i remember.
She: Mmm. Are you keeping the popcorn on your lap? Why did you buy it anyway, you don't...
He: Shhh, it's starting!
After all the
time i've spent on our house, i've been back at work full-time since last week. And it feels good, getting my head around stuff again for a change. This doesn't mean however our house is finished yet, oh god no by far. But what has been done, we've finished half of our floor in the livingroom. That's something.
Who also have gone back to work, are
Radiohead. That means the tormenting countdown to their next release has officially begun. I'll be keeping count meticuously here, starting now. I bet in about 390 days from now i'll have their new album/ep/single/whatever in my hands.
For anyone interested,
our house is falling to pieces. As in pieces into a puzzle, i mean. I mean it's starting to
look like something, bit by bit. The art of choosing the right color for your carpets or walls is one that was slumbering, but is starting to awake inside me once again. My words du jour are
Solaris (Tarkovsky's original, so, contrary to popular believe, that doesn't mean i have George Clooneys butt in my home), Metro, Bauhaus, 1930's, 1950's, 1970's and 2000's.
Through kottke, i reached a page about
Garry Winogrand, which includes a fantastic quote: "He never developed film right after shooting it. He deliberately waited a year or two, so he would have virtually no memory of the act of taking an individual photograph. This, he claimed made it easier for him to approach his contact sheets more critically. "If I was in a good mood when I was shooting one day, then developed the film right away," he told us, I might choose a picture becuase I remember how good I felt when I took it, not necessarily because it was a great shot. You make better choices if you approach your contact sheets cold, separating the editing from the picture taking as much as possible." Set your type size to large, or else you won't get through i guess.
Tonight i'm going to see Team America, so expect it to be on the hotspot tomorrow. Shame that it seems to be the last viewing tonight, only in it's second week running. Further on movies, since
everyone seems so eager to be spoiling the plot for Million Dollar Baby, and everyone else who's blogging is linking to
this story, i might as well. I might go and see it next week.
Movies,
Art,
Photography
It's going to
take about 5 weeks for my new internet connection to be ready for use, so don't expect that many updates the following weeks. However, breaking news i'll be reporting to you as soon as possible. See ya...
Update: under breaking news, i guess something like
this falls, about the extinction of human kind in this millenium. There's not much follow-up information however, about when this extinction is going to occur for instance, and wether or not i should stock some milk.
Life
The curves of
my physical and mental state are finally heading upwards again... i think i've suffered every possible illness a normal person is capable of this last week, from flu to colds to coughing so much you think your lungs are coming out. The fact that it's the mingiest weather ever in February, just sneering wind that cuts through everything, no sunshine, no happiness is very much responsible for that. If there was someone responsible for all of this, i'd be demanding in front of their doors for a public hanging. But that's the thing with weather... it just gets to suck, and doesn't take one single bit of responsibility. 'No no, i'm just the weather, i can't help myself buh buh buh.' Well fuck you wind! I hate your fucking guts! You make me sneezy and my nose runny, just when i'm out of handkerchiefs, standing in front of my door, making my fingers freeze and my keys drop, i'm fucking sick of ya! Piss off and don't come back. Take them shitty assed clouds with you and leave us alone!
I mentioned my mental state yet? Uhm, i don't know.
Life,
Home
I wish i
had some more time to make this post a special one, but with the new house and all, it's not gonna happen. Yesterday i got knackered from pulling nails from our floor. But what for special goodies did i found for y'all today? Here's a site about
an award-winning clock, and yes, clocks can win awards too. As long as they're art. And that reminded me of the Brian Eno project, the clock to stand ten millenia. So a little search gave me
this page first, which probably is ancient too. Read it. Then read this...
a bit more in-depth story about that project. For you lazy slags out there, i'll try and make a little story out of it soon. In the near future. Which is somewhere between now and the year 12.000 AD.
Culture,
Art
At Pitchfork, they
had the wisdom to put
Kid A on top of their 100 best albums of the first five years of this century. At EMI, they've been so silly to blame their dissappointing sales figures on the delay of the Coldplay and Gorrilaz albums. On the
GLAAD Shortlist, most remarkable is Will and Grace being the only nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. Well, that and Outstanding New York Theater: Off - Off Broadway. Titles like Bald Diva! and The Big Voice: God or Merman? are self-explanatory. Back to Will and Grace... surely there are more comedy series that portray homosexuality in the proper way. They don't actually have to be in it all the time, do they? People might start to think there's a gay invasion on hand, omygawd! However, i glaaaaaaaaad that New York is finally taking a stand on the
gay marriage thingy. And last but not least, according to ¸berblogger Kottke,
answer.com is a great search site. Although i can't find what
rectalage means.
Music,
Links,
Entertainment
After all the
screaming, clawing at eyes and deaththreats, we did not get the key to our new home last friday. It's postponed until wednesday. At the time, Erik and i felt like sulking in bed all day, but that was not going to do me any good, so i tucked him in and went packing. The mess i cleared from my bookshelves, unbelievable. As Inge stated later, who was around initially to help us in the house, but then just to cheer me up, a lot of material that would look good on coffee-table. 'Oh, you're reading about psychology/cultural history/communism, how interesting!'. Except all these books were collecting dust for as long as i had them, so out with 'em!
Still i got four boxes full of books.
Talking to Inge, somewhere halfway a sentence, she interrupted me:'What are you trying to say, that i am putting words in your mouth?', which made us laugh real hard.
Somewhere during the weekend i had a brainflux. Globalism is 'in' right now, and that it's obvious there's going to be a reaction against it somewhere in the future. Not just focusing on your surroundings, but getting self-sufficient as a country or maybe even as a human being. No longer commuting for hours every day. Then something else happened, and i came back to consiousness. I guess it takes some practice before i get real good at cultural forecasting.
Home
Last night, we
went to see
The Aviator, because, well, you know, a movie that's nominated for every Oscar available and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, well, that brings back fond memories of Titanic, right? OK, before i get all nasty, it was a good movie. Every camerashot honed to perfection, every frown of Leo was sincere and in place, very classy indeed. But this is a movie that spans some twenty years, yet no one ages. I almost get the feeling it's done on purpose... am i supposed to think about this stuff mr. Scorsese? That's kinda hard when i'm chewing paaahpcorn cause the noise in my head kinda drowns everything else out.
You know i was just kidding there right?
There's nothing else but amazement for movies like this, yet they kind of choke on their own perfection. Yes, magnificent colors, yes great actors in every scene, oh yes another shot of a plane flying through the camera... this movie is heralded as Scorsese's second coming, but couldn't he just make a movie less grand, more honest? Or was it just Leo, that i didn't get truly captivated in this story? He has talent, we all know that, but he just has to get a more Jack Nicholson kind of face.
Which reminds me, i always wondered where his line 'Heeere's Johnny!' in The Shining came from, being an inhabitant of the Olde World, not totally familiar with all the customs in the US of A.
Suddenly, it appeared to me.
Movies
In the history
of buying houses, there hasn't been a worse day for me than today. Main players in this tale of deceipt, sloth and greed are some of the most vile, evil characters you have every seen. Nothing unnatural for the average
notary. I won't bore you with all the details, it comes down to the point that the notary Erik and i picked for transfering our house couldn't be bothered to move her saggy ass one bit faster to secure the passing date we had all agreed upon, weeks and weeks and weeks ago. Other supporting characters, but not less important, are lazy bank-employees and the girl at our mortgage-adviser with cheese for brains who forgot to send the bank one of the forms needed for applying for a mortgage.
Initially, the passing date would have to be rescheduled from next Friday to somewhere next week. Thank god, with some good help from our middle-man, we're going to get the key the day after tomorrow after all. But to get a message like that, so close to THAT DAY, feels a bit like getting your heart ripped out and fed to scruffy alley cats. Oh i'm sorry, you needed that? Those cute pussycats looked hungry!
That reminds me of the best subject for a blog, your cat. Erik and i came across the best name for our cat-to-become, while watching tv last night. Some Belgian guy was participating in a quiz, his name was Stoffel. Great huh?
Home
Ambition, we all
like the taste of that, right? On every other commercial these days, you hear a fake Strokes song in the background. So now i'm playing the first Strokes record first time in a year, maybe even two. It strikes me how good it sounds, while when i bought it, i soon felt i had believed the hype, it didn't appeal to me at all.
In hindsight, and to be honoust, even at the time being it was pretty obvious they were the first of many bands to reach back to the band-feel, but not in a strictly retro manner like in the 90's. Like Interpol, Franz Ferdinand etc. nicking all the best goodies from the past, but clearly celebrating the present.
During the dishes, often a moment in the everyday panic for reconsideration of the everyday panic and the larger whole, i wondered if it was them who ushered in this new era of, what shall we call it, humanness. In contrast with the cold steel and white of an iPod in our right hand, there's the Courvousier in our left, and we are connected to our minds and our bodies, our bowel movements and with a pampered and powdered ass stuck in designer jeans. We've achieved the massive luxury overdose, because if we don't take full profit from material possessions now, it's going to be wasted forever. Uber-hedonism. The world is lost, the standards and values of the 20th century have gone bankrupt, terrorists are blowing the place up, global warming is beyond the point of no return, AIDS is threatening the third world, and besides everyone says the mayas before long said the world is going to end in 2012, let's do what we want RIGHT NOW!
My second thought
on the whole is we are going to ask ourselves what's all this luxury good for. Maybe because Erik and i are getting ready to move into our house, i'm asking myself these questions. What do we really need to make it a happy home? No dishwasher, coffee-pad machine, tumble dryer or microwave, in my opinion. I feel i'm far beyond saturated with electrical devices that supposedly enhance my life.
Adding up to this, we have very distinct ideas about our house. Restoring it, but just not necessarily in it's original state. Starting point is getting the best looking material, so not in a retro manner. The idea behind it is that when the house was built, around 1910, luxury was (i guess) in very basic materials that were beautifully crafted, and just that was the added value. Like
metro tiles. I realize we are trying to reach back to the ideas of the
Arts and Crafts Movement, or
William Morris, or
Bauhaus, or
De Stijl, but in a different way, ha! Taking a step back, looking at what's necessary and cutting out everything else.
Wow. Liedewij Edelkoort, consider this my application.
President Chirac had
a good idea, using tax money to fight AIDS. In the same article, the viruses seems to be growing drugs-resistant.
Within 10 years, the
point of no return will be reached in the fight against global warming.
Theo van Gogh's controversial movie Submission has been
withdrawn from the International Rotterdam Film Festival, because of security fears. Meanwhile, his murderer's trail has started today. He took full responsibility for his action, and expected to die on the second of November.
And, to cheer you up, here's all about
The Breakfast Club.
A short update on the short update... you're also wondering what exactly those people are doing in that Chemical Brothers video? It's called
Krumping.
I mentioned it
in the last post, the new Trail Of Dead album lies in my trembling hands. In the last weeks there have been some conflicting opinions about this album, some are shouting it's the Trails downfall, others call it another high. Nothing so appetizing to start the year with a controversial album. On their site and in interviews the band stated that they took a long time to make the best album they could and some gibberish about '
pop culture', 'commercial succes' and 'Paris Hilton'. Actually they didn't exactly mention Paris Hilton, i'm just trying to boost my viewing figures. Those words, out of the mouth of a alternative band, brings back memories of the Smashing Pumpkins. And we all now how that ended. In my opinion... very very messy.
Well, the end result has been released, for the world to find out. Pretentious is one word that suited the Trail, and there's been no change in their tactics in that departement. The only difference between Worlds Apart and their previous records is that the pretence was always in balance with the heavy themes, dragging rhythms, accelerating from 0 to 100 in three seconds. This contrast has pretty much disappeared on their new record. What's left are annoyingly stale songs about the descent of our civilisation i guess, that on first hearing don't seem to depart. So you can imagine, i was disappointed.
With every spin however, the songs annoy me more, and start to become an itch i can't reach. There's definitely more to be discovered in this record, and it dawns on me this is a pop record, it can't be defined by the standards of alternative music. Highlights of the album are Caterwaul, Let It Dive, The Best and The Lost City Of Refuge, the first being the prototype Trail song, the last the complete opposite with it's soft drum machine sounds.
They also tour, thank god. I'm going get tickets tomorrow for their show at the Melkweg, February 20th.
Music
I bought the
new records by And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and LCD Soundsystem today, in this wonderful country called Holland where records are in store days before their official release. Am i so naive to think i'm privileged, then let the people with their personal copies of aforementioned albums cast their stones upon my sorry little head.
Well, i haven't had the time yet to actually listen to them, but in total honesty, i am deeply worried about the quality of the Trail Of Dead record. LCD Soundsystem might be so hip, it's actually boring. So why did i buy them? It was mainly an outing of my belief i should support the musicians i find to be inspiring. The last Trail Of Dead album was my personal favorite of 2002, so that earned them a guarantee for their next album. And LCD Soundsystem, well, i very much enjoyed !!!'s last and Radio 4's next to last album, i reckon this should be good. I'll keep you informed.
Right now i'm enjoying wireless internet, courtesy of the Airport card which i had installed today, all in preparation of moving into our new house. Erik and i also went to buy some second-hand cutlery which seems almost real silver. We are snobbing and faking our way into the high street for sure.
and i just
, totally at ease, walked 50 meters from my car to my front door, on a stormy moonlit night, and i read
this. I'm someone who genuinly was afraid to go to bed after watching Blair Witch Project. It's a good movie, sure. At least i'm indoors now, my lights are on.
Just a quote
from the ever delicious Damon Albarn, sung in the song by the same name. Only just found out that Quality (?) Newspaper the Mirror ran a story in October last year that Graham Coxon
rejoined the band.
The 35-year-old guitarist agreed to return after an emotional meeting with the other band members, including Damon, last week
Taking in account the reputation of British Press, i question the meaning of the words
emotional,
meeting,
including and
last week. However, even the slightest hint of Graham getting back with Blur is good news. Let's be honest, Think Tank would've been a bad album even with Graham, but it definitely lacked his guitars.
The strange news however, is the
strange sound from the radar on the Huygens capsule, as it approaches Titans surface. Great start of an imaginary Kraftwerk song.
Free download of Annie's new single remix
- Heartbeat will be released somewhere in February,
here's the link.
The first pictures from Huygens
-
This is a picture from the surface of Titan, and
this is a panoramic view during the descent of the capsule in Titan's atmosphere. Mindboggling.
... your cat! It
has come to this all time low, and so soon, i can't imagine what i'll be covering next week. Expect the worst. But now, cats. Erik and i are planning to get a cat as soon as we have scattered our joint furniture around the gigantic living room of our new house, and there are no more chances of any young jumpy kitten to be smashed by falling tools or cans of paint. Which, according to the schedule, will be the 1st of March. Young kittens around the world already are anxiously looking forward to this date.
We are killing time on long drives by making up names for them. I tend to royalty (Claus-Cazimir), Erik to plain cuddly names (Bobby). Last Sunday all of a sudden the name Moses appeared in my head. Not a bad name we agreed, but then i realised it spawned from Joshua Kadison's MORiffic 'Jessie'. Exit Moses.
Then we changed subject to Worst Songs Of All Time, another hilarious topic with miles of asphalt stretched out in front of you. Or the game where the other has to guess what famous person you have on your mind.
To give this post the least bit of contemporary significance, here's the
Mac Mini's Power Supply and how to make your own
iPod Shuffle in 3 easy steps. There. I fit in to this world.
Celebrating the 10th
anniversary of Army Of Me, and all the fan remixes and covers she got sent,
Bj–rk's organizing a contest. Send in your remix or cover version of the song, according to the following rules:
1. Email remix or cover version to bjorkremixes@gmail.com
2. Include in the email, name of act and contact details: phone and address.
3. Name of mix in subject line of email
4. Make sure track is 128kbs mp3
Let's see what happens.
Not only are
New Order releasing a new single and album coming March, news is that Anton Corbijn finally will be directing his first movie. Even better news is that it depicts Ian Curtis' life. Hopefully they get to stick with the actors that played Joy Division in 24 Hour Party People, especially the guy that played Ian there gave me goosebumps.
Today was a
beautiful day for taking pictures. The stormy clouds provided a gloomy backdrop for the old buildings in the city being lit by the wintersun, making them look how they must have done a hundred years ago. However, our digital camera rests untouched in Erik's rucksack, virgin to all this beauty. The floods and rains in Scotland are heading our way, so my chance of capturing this in bits and bytes is over.
The next quote would've been very valuable to me had i read it in 1999, but i only saw it in an interview with Leon Giessen yesterday:
If you want to feel more, you shouldn't search for more and more extreme incentives, but you should become more sensitive. It left me with the kind of feeling i get whenever i listen to any of Morrissey's solo albums, 'Damned, that's so true, but why didn't i know this music when i was really 16?' I wasn't 16 in 1999 by the way.
After Justin Timberlakes
and Janet Jacksons 'Boobgate' the American Broadcasting Company installed a 7 second delay on their live broadcasts. As dumb witted as that is, couldn't they sanction a 3 minute delay, to save the world from
Ashlee Simpson at the Orange Bowl?. Save your ears, and skip to the last 20 seconds of the clip, and hear -what? 40.000 people?- the audience booing her. I actually felt sorry for her, for about 7 seconds.
