Monday, April 27, 2009
Zone Out, StumbleUpon and Pixies box set
Physical State: creaky
Mental State: neutral
Music: Radio Dept. - Pet Grief
Fashion sense: blue t-shirt, jeans
Lately I've been noticing that when I get on the computer and do some web-surfing that a lot of time has passed and I don't know how it went by. Case in point, this morning I looked at the clock, 9am...seems fine. Get on the computer, check my email, etc, chat to a friend for a little bit on MSN...boom 10am! As Pixies asked (we'll get to that rant in a second)..."Where is my mind?" Sometimes the times just flies but when you are waiting for things that you need (hmmm i dunno like a tax return) it creeps. Strange thing that. I wonder if this post will take some bizarre amount of time too that has me coming to at 10:20 going "WTF?"
Perhaps the time lapse is due to my newest distraction StumbleUpon. It's a great tool that helps you TO WASTE A LOT OF TIME! Ha ha. It takes down all your interests and then directs you randomly to sites that you would be keen on based on those interests. I've found some great websites this way and it starts to really make you think about how some of the things you love (in my case graphic novels, design and other things) you have gotten out of touch with. There are a lot of amazing websites out there that I wouldn't have been able to find out about unless I read like a 100 magazines a day. It's funny about the need for randomness when using computers. Nora Young also talked about that on her great show Spark last week briefly. In a world where we have computers and so much information to sort through and organize we almost appreciate the surprise or the random a lot more. We have no control over it or when it happens. I think that is the appeal of things like StumbleUpon. Something comes right out of left field and by god isn't it interesting too. Depending on your perspective it can be a lot of fun and very informative or an incredible waste of time. John Lennon said that "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." Interesting. The older I get, the more sense his words make to me.
Ok Pixies...yes the amazing band from Boston who are still one of my favourite bands and unlike anyone else. Well Pixies had a great surprise for everyone recently on facebook (sometimes you can smell the hype a mile away). A lot of people posted that it would be great to see a reformed Pixies bring out a new album and tour. That could still be a reality one day. Nope it was a surprise that 4AD is bringing out a new Pixies box set, Minotaur, of all their albums with new artwork. So for those of us who have all their albums...boo, for fans of Vaughan Oliver...NEW ARTWORK! I wished that this secret might mean something incredible and while I am a fan of Oliver, the cds aren't remastered or anything, they are just the same ones you already own. Now if this gets new people interested in Pixies then that's cool but I can't help but feel like the record companies are capitalizing on early 90s music nostalgia or something. A new Pixies record, now that would be cool.
Physical State: creaky
Mental State: neutral
Music: Radio Dept. - Pet Grief
Fashion sense: blue t-shirt, jeans
Lately I've been noticing that when I get on the computer and do some web-surfing that a lot of time has passed and I don't know how it went by. Case in point, this morning I looked at the clock, 9am...seems fine. Get on the computer, check my email, etc, chat to a friend for a little bit on MSN...boom 10am! As Pixies asked (we'll get to that rant in a second)..."Where is my mind?" Sometimes the times just flies but when you are waiting for things that you need (hmmm i dunno like a tax return) it creeps. Strange thing that. I wonder if this post will take some bizarre amount of time too that has me coming to at 10:20 going "WTF?"
Perhaps the time lapse is due to my newest distraction StumbleUpon. It's a great tool that helps you TO WASTE A LOT OF TIME! Ha ha. It takes down all your interests and then directs you randomly to sites that you would be keen on based on those interests. I've found some great websites this way and it starts to really make you think about how some of the things you love (in my case graphic novels, design and other things) you have gotten out of touch with. There are a lot of amazing websites out there that I wouldn't have been able to find out about unless I read like a 100 magazines a day. It's funny about the need for randomness when using computers. Nora Young also talked about that on her great show Spark last week briefly. In a world where we have computers and so much information to sort through and organize we almost appreciate the surprise or the random a lot more. We have no control over it or when it happens. I think that is the appeal of things like StumbleUpon. Something comes right out of left field and by god isn't it interesting too. Depending on your perspective it can be a lot of fun and very informative or an incredible waste of time. John Lennon said that "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." Interesting. The older I get, the more sense his words make to me.
Ok Pixies...yes the amazing band from Boston who are still one of my favourite bands and unlike anyone else. Well Pixies had a great surprise for everyone recently on facebook (sometimes you can smell the hype a mile away). A lot of people posted that it would be great to see a reformed Pixies bring out a new album and tour. That could still be a reality one day. Nope it was a surprise that 4AD is bringing out a new Pixies box set, Minotaur, of all their albums with new artwork. So for those of us who have all their albums...boo, for fans of Vaughan Oliver...NEW ARTWORK! I wished that this secret might mean something incredible and while I am a fan of Oliver, the cds aren't remastered or anything, they are just the same ones you already own. Now if this gets new people interested in Pixies then that's cool but I can't help but feel like the record companies are capitalizing on early 90s music nostalgia or something. A new Pixies record, now that would be cool.
Monday, April 20, 2009
New Bat For Lashes...new album sounds amazing
Physical State: sleepy
Mental State: spotty
Music: Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Fashion sense: white t-shirt, jeans
This is going to be a runaway for the Mercury Prize this year. Really liking her new album. If you don't know Natasha, then you're missing out on something cool. Is it just me or do I hear a lot of Cat Power gene-spliced to Kate Bush in her voice?
Physical State: sleepy
Mental State: spotty
Music: Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Fashion sense: white t-shirt, jeans
This is going to be a runaway for the Mercury Prize this year. Really liking her new album. If you don't know Natasha, then you're missing out on something cool. Is it just me or do I hear a lot of Cat Power gene-spliced to Kate Bush in her voice?
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Back once again: The blog name, Calgary Artists and Tatsumi
Physical State: achey muscles, gym
Mental State: encouraged
Music: Pains of Being Pure at Heart - s/t
Fashion sense: blue t-shirt, jeans
Ok after some consideration and a need to do more writing on a daily basis, I figure back to the blog is a good start. I mean I was doing this thing for a long time and the last two (count 'em) years I have slacked off. So here I am starting this up again. Let's hope it takes this time.
First off I met up today with a new meetup group for Calgary artists. Yes I am living in Calgary now in case you didn't know and freshly laid-off (or not that freshly about a month and a half). Anyways so I signed up with the meetup group to get inspired to draw again, to start thinking about art again and to frankly get out of the house as well and be more social. I thought it was a great first meeting and I am looking forward to more events in the future. I also found out pointers on some great comic stores around town which I am looking forward to checking out.
Secondly, Stranger Than Paradise. Why that name? Well it comes from the name of Jim Jarmusch's debut feature film and I always liked that movie for it's b/w and it's "smallness." The cast of Richard Edson, John Lurie and Ezter Balint are still great. This film watches like a small graphic novel reads. They are a bunch of broke goofballs who just hang out all day (and in Ezter's character's case listen to Screamin' Jay Hawkins all day). I still love this film and it's one of Jarmusch's early works that still rock.
The third thing I wanted to draw attention to is the great work of Japanese master graphic novelist Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Tatsumi has quickly become a favourite of mine after reading about his work in one of Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve editions. Tatsumi is the originator of the realistic "Gekiga" style. Tomine ushered in Tatsumi's work to North America in the past decade, graphic novels that were created in the late 60s! The new editions are lovingly hardbound by the fine folks at Drawn and Quarterly. These four volumes of Tatsumi's work are timeless. I just read that he is going to be at the Toronto comics fest in May and I wish I could go. This recent article in the NY Times pays tribute to this lesser-known artist and reviews his most recent work at a hefty 855 pages, the graphic novel A Drifting Life. This fascination with all things Tatsumi comes at the same time as I am reading Murakami novels. I would love to see the two of them collaborate on something together. One can dream.
Physical State: achey muscles, gym
Mental State: encouraged
Music: Pains of Being Pure at Heart - s/t
Fashion sense: blue t-shirt, jeans
Ok after some consideration and a need to do more writing on a daily basis, I figure back to the blog is a good start. I mean I was doing this thing for a long time and the last two (count 'em) years I have slacked off. So here I am starting this up again. Let's hope it takes this time.
First off I met up today with a new meetup group for Calgary artists. Yes I am living in Calgary now in case you didn't know and freshly laid-off (or not that freshly about a month and a half). Anyways so I signed up with the meetup group to get inspired to draw again, to start thinking about art again and to frankly get out of the house as well and be more social. I thought it was a great first meeting and I am looking forward to more events in the future. I also found out pointers on some great comic stores around town which I am looking forward to checking out.
Secondly, Stranger Than Paradise. Why that name? Well it comes from the name of Jim Jarmusch's debut feature film and I always liked that movie for it's b/w and it's "smallness." The cast of Richard Edson, John Lurie and Ezter Balint are still great. This film watches like a small graphic novel reads. They are a bunch of broke goofballs who just hang out all day (and in Ezter's character's case listen to Screamin' Jay Hawkins all day). I still love this film and it's one of Jarmusch's early works that still rock.
The third thing I wanted to draw attention to is the great work of Japanese master graphic novelist Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Tatsumi has quickly become a favourite of mine after reading about his work in one of Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve editions. Tatsumi is the originator of the realistic "Gekiga" style. Tomine ushered in Tatsumi's work to North America in the past decade, graphic novels that were created in the late 60s! The new editions are lovingly hardbound by the fine folks at Drawn and Quarterly. These four volumes of Tatsumi's work are timeless. I just read that he is going to be at the Toronto comics fest in May and I wish I could go. This recent article in the NY Times pays tribute to this lesser-known artist and reviews his most recent work at a hefty 855 pages, the graphic novel A Drifting Life. This fascination with all things Tatsumi comes at the same time as I am reading Murakami novels. I would love to see the two of them collaborate on something together. One can dream.
