So I am still in a band and we are still practicing music. Apparently Dear Friend(s?) might play the Root Cellar in April, so we're tentatively shooting for that as our first show. Eli was in a shitty mood and was sick yesterday, so we didn't really broach the subject.
The music: I'm not honestly sure how good it is. I don't think we've come into our own yet, plus I haven't written shit for lyrics, but yeah. I dream of making crucial jams and I'm not quite sure if these are crucial jams. I hope they're crucial jams. :(
Anyway, I did pull an all-nighter to do that paper. I did pretty well yesterday considering, but I slept like a rock last night. I used to write like ten-pagers all the time for US History, but I suppose that when they're on more complex/thought-provoking subjects, they take longer, like waaaay longer.
Yesterday and today I've been listening to a lot of Tunes for Bears to Dance To. They were a screamo band from Florida whose members went on to form or play in the fantastic bands Capsule, Torche, and Tyranny of Shaw. I prefer them to any of those bands, or most bands in general. Take the musicianship of a band like A Case of Grenada, combine that with rawer production and some degree of silliness, and make it a lot better, and you've got these dudes. Yeah, nobody reads this anyway, but here it is.
So I'm here at New Henderson trying to start an essay (which, I hope, is the hardest part of this thing). I already know what I want to say (kind of), which is good, because it's past 10 and the thing's due tomorrow. Probably gonna be a late night, this has to be 6-8 pages. Probably 6.
Anyway, I'm writing this to try to clear my mind so I can get down to business. I need something catchy to kick off an essay about human freedom, man's social nature, and the relationship between the two.
So this weekend I went to New York (with Quinn) and saw Black Dice for the third time (with Quinn and Jarred). They played like 7 songs I'd never heard before, which I can only assume to be off REPO, "Glazin,'" which is off REPO, and one I recognized from Load Blown. The new jams were very solid, so I can only assume that their studio counterparts will be similarly good. I always like to hear a band that's good at what they do. Blank Dogs opened and played some okay rock stuff that was really Brooklyn and not hugely interesting, but at least didn't sound bad. Whatever.
If I ran this town, I would start this paper with "The relationship between man’s perception of his own freedom and his social nature is something complex that I won’t get into."
So posts on this are going to be intermittent for a while because I have finally laid my old computer, which looks like what you see above, to rest. I got it at the beginning of junior year and after about two and a half years of hard use, I am declaring it finished.
Shit rules.
I think about a year ago the hinge started to break, then I dropped it off my bed and it wouldn't shut, so that put me like $175 deep in repairs. Then the keys started sticking and the clicker didn't always work. Still we soldiered on! Then around November 2008, the thing started running very, very slowly, at which time I had 2% of my hard drive space available, which I think may have caused it. I continued to use it, convinced that it would still last me through this semester, but NOPE. The battery has ceased to function and it will instantly shut off if unplugged, which is often because the plug design on this thing always was piss-poor.
So a pretty disappointing Thursday night turned into a pretty fucking awesome Thursday night because I watched The Warriors with Ben and Quinn. I am a huge softie for these "Dirty New York" movies, partly because I've listened to Combat Rock so many times, so I probably already loved this movie without even watching it.
Honestly, the plot of the movie was also ridiculously awesome. An eight-member gang is framed for the murder of an important guy who says "CAN YOU DIG IT?!?!?!" a lot, so they have to get back to Coney Island from the Bronx with every gang in New York looking to git 'em. A lot of shit goes down that night.
What really blew me away was how often this movie tried to sabotage itself with gimmicky shit and piss-poor acting, but still ended up ruling. The movie made time move forward with this shit where the live action would turn into a comic book so they could switch scenes, and a female DJ sort of became the narrator, which The Warriors didn't really need at all. The movie's "antagonist" was a whiny little bitch who reminded me of Scorpio from Dirty Harry only not as menacing, and ended up getting fucked up by Swan real fast. Oh, the guy who played Swan actually did rule pretty hard. The "romance" between Swan and some woman was pretty weird, and the conflict within the Warriors between Swan and Ajax was hardly developed at all before Ajax got arrested (WHOA SPOILER) and the guy disappeared from the movie. THIS WAS AWESOME
So it was abnormally warm and sunny outside. I wore a shirt with sleeves rolled up in the middle of February and did not feel cold at all. This has been a three-day warm spell here in Annandale, and since it sounds like it's raining outside, I think it might go back to being cold as balls like tomorrow. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this year, so this was really more of a pleasant interlude than actual spring. Last year I noticed myself appreciating the changing seasons much more than I had before, so the warmth and sunlight today put me in a really good mood.
When I think about it, nothing particularly amazing went on today. Well, actually, it definitely was above-average. Met a girl who I might be into although my natural fear of rejection makes me think I didn't impress her at all. That's neither here nor there, though. Who cares.
Also went to a Root Cellar pot luck briefly and saw the same people who always hang out at these things, which is good. I like them. Brought Quinn along and introduced him, so he might get in on it and it'll rule.
Biggest news: Daniel might be coming to the city over (his) spring break. Really miss that dude and I hope that whole thing works out. Also might go to Phoenix for a few days over the summer before heading to Dude Fest and flying out of Indianapolis. However, all this costs money, and I don't have much. So realistically, Dude Fest probably isn't happening and I will miss Black Ships/Comadre/Coke Bust (whose link isn't working)/everyotherbandiwanttoseeever. I am very optimistic.
I said I'd post some music on here and I haven't forgotten because I only said that a little over two days ago. So here it is:
Pygmy Lush are my favorite band in existence right now. I only really, really like a few bands in existence right now anyway, because everyone is always breaking up, but I really liked Bitter River the first time I heard it, at first enjoying the heavier songs more, but soon realizing how fucking brilliant the folky stuff is. Then they released the entirely-folk Mount Hope last year, which was one of my favorite records of '08 because it ruled. Anyway, I only got wind of this live recording recently, and it fucking kills. The audio quality is about on par with Mount Hope and better than Bitter River, and since there's no clapping, I'll take a wild guess and say it was recorded in a studio. The songs are mainly drawn from Mount Hope, which means that they're great but essentially the same, but the two off Bitter River, "Headless" and "Throw the Jockey," are rearranged and generally better. Sadly, no "Hurt Everything" or "Send Bombs," but in its place are the three surprises: a new, as-yet-untitled song which absolutely rules, a cover of the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" which sounds nothing like the Ramones but also absolutely rules, and a REWORKED PG.99 SONG. Granted it is one of the least abrasive songs pg.99 ever did, but I was very pleased with how a folked-up "Lonesome Waltz of Leonard Cohen" turned out. Love this shit.
Also, if you're in the mood to hear something I really can't vouch for in terms of quality, I learned about fifteen minutes ago that Dan and Amit from Mother Night have formed a new band, Torchbearer. I saw Mother Night open for 108 (whose link also isn't working) in New York in '07, and they were very good. I was similarly impressed by their full-length, Lifestyle/Deathstyle, which was a good, creative hardcore record. I haven't listened to this Torchbearer EP, which they are offering up for free download (as everyone should), but I probably will tomorrow, and I'd expect something similar to Mother Night, which is a good thing.
Last post on here, the Phelps one, was really fucking useless. I apologize. I am not used to this kind of power, and at this stage, stupid shit like that might devastate my huge fanbase. Here's how that one slipped through: I was going to write about Verse breaking up because their bassist decided not to be edge anymore, and use that as a jumping-off point to write something about how everyone needs to make their own choices, without necessarily agreeing with that dude, and how fucked it is that a band (probably) broke up over something that trivial. Then I realized that a)I don't really care about Verse and b)nothing coherent was coming out of it. So yeah. Fuck straightedge and fuck being pressured into doing anything.
"What is new?" For the last three weeks I have been playing music with some friends. There are about 3.5 songs written at the moment, and as the first is radically different from the most recent 2.5, I'm going to say we have 2.5 songs. I described it to Daniel earlier as something like "Drive Like Jehu covering Jawbreaker with harmonized solos," and I think that's about it. Honestly, after being in two bands just last semester that barely did and did not (individually) come to fruition, and before that being in many, many "bands" that totally fell apart, I have to respect groups that genuinely have their shit together onstage. You have to actually work at it and have things go your way. Last semester things did not go our way.
Oh, other thing. I don't want to fall into the niche of "Bard bands" who play Smog every month and nowhere else. In fact, I want to avoid playing Smog ever.
Think about this: no non-weed smoker has ever won eight Olympic gold medals at once. I am in awe and I don't even smoke weed.
My roommate also pointed out that the munchies this dude gets must be RIDICULOUS.
Apparently Ted Turner also likes weed. That dude is cuh-razy. I also realize that I'm a few days late on this one, but I didn't have a blog a few days ago.
So I am sitting here in my room wanting to practice the Rzewski piece I have to learn, but my roommate and his girlfriend are dozing ten feet away and it's really awkward. Obviously it would be a dick move on my part to just start playing, but this actually kind of sucks. I literally can't do anything of use in a room which is legitimately half mine. Fuck this shit. Anyway, this was supposed to be a post about the PANDA DOG ON THE LEFT.
Holy shit that dog looks like a panda. It is cute and fluffy in its own right, but it also resembles another creature among the world's cutest and fluffiest. I just want to hug that thing until one of us dies. Careers and stuff be damned, if you can name something in life more worthwhile than a Panda Dog, I urge you to share. With me.
Update: roommate's girlfriend has left and roommate is still sleeping. Situation is slightly less awkward (or way less awkward) but no more useful. Kudos to him for going to bed early or something, but I really need to do this.
So I'm Jack and I decided to start a blog because it's easy and the demise of Juicycampus has left a void that needs filling... in my heart. I post on Girth Crisis occasionally, but this blog isn't going to be totally about music like that one. I may post a good album here and there, or even most of the time, but this is about ME. ME ME ME.
I go to college and like to do fun things like everybody else. I'm generally a pretty bummed-out dude and I can only expect that that'll come out in these blogs. Also I will try to actually tackle things that matter (to me) other than my love life or other things you would expect to find in a personal blog. Might review some albums even if I don't post 'em, might talk about the news. I rarely watch the news.
