Thursday, December 29, 2011

Pencil Panel Page

I wrote a guest post for the new comics blog Pencil, Panel, Page that was started by my prof Roy Cook and a couple other interesting folks. I raise the question of whether Jimmy Olsen could be Superman. Direct link here.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Hobbit Teaser



TORn breaks the trailer down frame-by-frame, here. Next December seems a long ways away.







Monday, December 19, 2011

rabbits wrapped in plastic


...for in every one of us a mad rabbit thrashes
and a wolf pack howls, so that we are afraid it will be heard by others....
—Czeslaw Milosz

Thursday, December 15, 2011

terrible news


"Child Actor Ben Savage passed away recently. He is survived by his wife Topanga, parents Amy and Alan, brother Eric, sister Morgan, and his best friend Shawn."
-- odonnell87 (youtube user)

gardens in the rain


Saturday, December 10, 2011

Pablo Casals on Bach

I've been listening to Pablo Casals's Cello Suites all night tonight. I heard on NPR that the definitive recording of these cello suites was done in London (coincidentally) the very same day that Robert Johnson did his definitive recordings.

The Year in Haiku

I barely ever get into brand new music other than through you two guys these days. And this year, I think most of the music that I newly got into was old music (especially a bunch of ambient stuff). So I'll make up for the shortness of my list by putting it in haiku form.


Shorty said I look like
Fuji-san, or did she
say Pierre Garcon?
-Das Racist

I need a new girl
who I can have fun with, one
I can do drugs with.
-Charles

That shadow cast, I
never loved a wall so much-
even in moonlight.
-The Books

Poor in love, I write
poetry for myself--king
of the everglades.
-Destroyer

The weatherman said
another full moon tonight-
why's he always right?
-Heidecker & Wood

Friday, December 9, 2011

2011: a year stuffed with music

hey, i got a list too. you'll notice some repeats from young day's faves but that's just cuz the guy has such fine taste in music. so, without any ado, here are my favorite 10 releases of 2011 in no discernible order...

Dirty Beaches - Badlands


Tape - Revelationes


John Maus - We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves


Planningtorock - W


Destroyer - Kaputt


Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges


Balam Acab - Wander/Wonder


Holy Other - With U


Roedelius/Schneider - Stunden


Jürgen Müller - Science of the Sea



these are good too:

Heidecker & Wood - Starting From Nowhere


Hauschka - Salon Des Amateurs


Connan Mockasin - Forever Dolphin Love


Two Bicycles - The Ocean

music favorites for 2011














2011 was a pretty good year for music. It's also the first year in at least a decade that I actively followed new releases, read music blogs and sites, and purchased more than just a handful of albums. Here are some of my favorites for the year.



Favorite Labels of the Year
1) Tri-angle Records A couple of my favorite records of the year came from Tri-angle and will appear below, but I'd have to say that I love everything they put out
2) Warminal Records This little net label puts out super quality, chillish electro. I love the releases from Σ-Fly, Fedbymachines, and Essáy especially, but they're all worth a listen.


Favorite Band name of the Year
Adderall Canyonly. Their record, Asuuna is available as a free download and is another favorite of mine this year.


Favorite Cassette Release of the Year
I guess boutique cassette releases have been around for a few years, but I heard so much good music in this format this year -- well actually, digital downloads of cassette releases -- whatever. Moss of Aura's Still Parade was my favorite. Makes we want to put on a white blazer and boat shoes and drive my yellow 'Vette down to the beach.


Favorite Artists that were New To Me this Year that are Otherwise not Included on These Lists that Made me Love to Listen to Music
1) Mount Kimbie
2) Tycho
3) Das Racist
4) oOoOO
5) Nils Frahm
6) Rafael Anton Irisarri
7) Ólafur Arnalds



Favorite Songs of the Year

1) First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar. This song could have been on my soundtrack from 2003.
2) Neon Indian - Polish Girl. I still love a catchy song with a killer hook; this song has the killingest hooks.
3) Harold Budd - Haru Spring. Minimal. Serene. Beautiful.


Favorite Albums of the Year
1) The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World. There is a well-worn description of The Caretaker's music that it is the score for a haunted ballroom. This description is what initially set its hooks into me, but the themes of memory and Alzheimer's that run through this album are scarier than any dancing ghost.
2A) Destroyer - Kaputt. I've seen a critical backlash against this album by critics longing for the days of Streethawk, but for my money, Kaputt is second only to Your Blues.
2B) Panda Bear - Tomboy. Sometimes I hear a kind of music in my head that I just can't hear elsewhere. (or seem to make myself) Tomboy comes as close as anything to that unobtainable sound.
3) Holy Other - With U (EP). Just Creepy-Fresh and Awesome. The first of two Tri-Angle artists in my list.
4) Tape - Revelationes. Tape's Luminarium is one of my favorite records of all time, so Revelationes had a lot to live up to in my mind. It did. It's good.
5) Balam Acab - Wander/Wonder. The album cover draws you right into this odd little sonic world that I love to visit. The second Tri-Angle artist represents.
6) Downliners Sekt - Meet the Decline (EP). A fun-house mirror of an abstracted and fragmented bite-sized electro beam of light. And it's free.


Surprise of the Year
In the set-the-bar-always-lower realm of radio pop, I always thought Adele was one of the best. Her Tiny Desk Concert performance made me a fan.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Bastards of Young



I just watched the new documentary about The Replacements called "Color Me Obsessed" at the Trylon Microcinema a few days ago, and it was pretty awesome. It wasn't a typical documentary, though--there was no footage at all of The Replacements, and no interviews with any of them. Almost no pictures, even. I'm not sure what the story is behind that, but I'm guessing it was done on a small budget. Definitely worth seeing, though, and it made me track down some of their music. They also talked about this 1986 performance on Saturday Night Live--I guess the band tore the hell out of their dressing room and got banned for life from SNL.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

iZombie

Have either of you guys been reading Mike & Laura Allred's "iZombie" comic? I haven't seen it at all yet, and it's up to 19 issues already. I'm debating whether to pick up the trades--curious what you think if you've read any.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

I'm Fuckin You Tonight



title of the year

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

watch it disappear ok


take a dEEp breath and stare intently at the center cross-hairs for a minute or so. T'will disappear all invisible like.
now read, or don't-- for to savor the mystery to linger

crazy clown time


it's here.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Monster Squad meets Anthrax

The Monster Squad : Halloween - 2011 (Minneapolis) from jonas bjarki on Vimeo.

Monday night at the Triple Rock, Jonas, the Finders boys, and two other guys played a set as The Monster Squad, an Anthrax tribute band. Jonas is putting it up on Vimeo, but he's teasing us with this preview first. (I got the honor of filming it.) They were really awesome.

hand skills


Sunday, October 30, 2011

You see, there's a war on, friend!

This page from Jack Kirby's "The Forever People" #5 (1971) is my favorite page from a comic in a long time. (By the way, his name is Sonny Sumo, and he's in possession of the Anti-Life Equation.)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

NBA Jam '93



This rulez ass. It's the pitch video from Midway arcade games from 1993 to the NBA trying to get player and league licensing. Who did not love some NBA Jam BITD?

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Heart, She Holler


looking forward to this.

I'm Allergic To My Tongue

I don't know why I keep posting NSFW stuff, but this one is less NSFW than the messed up thing with the heads in the crotches. This is more like Tim-and-Eric-NSFW. The Chonus is strong with this one.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

lost in the harbor

When You Were Mine

This is a great cover of an old Prince tune, off his "Dirty Minds" album. My friend Morgan posted this on facebook. I guess she's going to see them in Portland tonight.

I Live My Broken Dreams

oh man this is good

Since I Met You

This is a nice.. watch a little ways in at least for the change.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Melancholia



melancholia is now available on VOD and i highly recommend it. if you ever wanted to see lars von trier's version of tarkovsky's the sacrifice this is your chance.

5 Myths of Occupy Wall Street


By David Weidner, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Occupy Wall Street, the month-long protest centered near the New York Stock Exchange, has the establishment scared.

What once was seen as a traffic problem in Lower Manhattan has elevated into a debate about economic inequality in America, with bulls-eyes trained on the backs of bankers. How else can one explain the sudden explosion of media coverage at Zuccotti Park, the discussion of the protests by the Republican field of presidential hopefuls and a shout-out by President Barack Obama last week?

Still, the media still doesn’t know what to make of this growing movement. Is it a liberal tea party? Is it Marxism run amok? Is it an Arab Spring on Wall Street? Is is a hippie gathering? Will Radiohead show up? Having covered the protests for nearly the month they’ve been camped out downtown, I want to clear the air on some of the myths surrounding this movement in American society and politics.

Myth: The protesters are pushing for anarchy, support violence and communism.
Myth-makers: Ann Coulter, The Washington Times, bloggers, New Hampshire Tea Party, Ron Paul.
Fact: Many of the protesters are seeking jobs, are students or are underemployed. Not one of dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters I spoke to want hand outs, or to overthrow democracy. Rather, they want a return to a democratic process free of corporate and special-interest money. The protests are a month old and have been mostly peaceful.

Myth: Most Occupy Wall Street protesters don’t know what they’re protesting.
Myth-makers: Author William Cohan, Donald Trump, Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times.
Fact: It’s true Occupy Wall Street has become a melting pot of causes: environmentalism, anti-war peace protest and workers rights to name a few. But the protesters are uniformly opposed to a system that favors what they call the 1%: the super rich who have consolidated nearly 40% of the nation’s wealth. It’s no accident that they’ve picked Wall Street as their base. Big banks are responsible for creating the bubble that led to our recession and high unemployment. Moreover, bank executives who have failed nevertheless continue to get eye-popping rewards: for instance Sallie Krawcheck and Joe Price were ousted from Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) a few weeks ago. Their exit packages totaled $11 million. The bank lost $14 billion during the last year, announced it will charge debit-card holders $5 a month and is foreclosing on thousands of mortgages. The bottom line: you don’t have to be an expert on the machinations of global finance to know something is wrong here.

Myth: The protest is simply a liberal tea party.
Myth-makers: Me, Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Jon Stewart
Fact: Like the tea party, Occupy Wall Street is concerned about the deficit, the Federal Reserve and mounting U.S. debt. But they don’t lay the blame on a government (they don’t absolve it either). Consider that banking and corporate profits created a bubble during the last decade at the U.S. Treasury through tax revenue. When the bubble popped, it bankrupted the government and thrust us into unsustainable long-term debt and annual deficits that this generation of mostly young protesters will have to pay off. That sounds an awful lot like the tea party with one exception: they have a more sophisticated view of how the U.S. got into this debt quandary.

Myth: Occupy Wall Street is a paid group aimed at re-electing Obama.
Myth-makers: Herman Cain, The Daily Caller blog, Sean Hannity.
Fact: No one is getting paid to protest. In fact, many protesters have sacrificed income to march. Moreover, almost every protester I’ve spoken with has complained about Obama and how he’s pandered to Wall Street interests.

Myth: The protesters are hypocrites. They say they hate the banks, but they bank. They buy from big corporations. They’ve been spotted at McDonalds.
Myth-makers: Ginia Bellafante and Sorkin of the New York Times; Human Events, InfoWars blogs; Bernd Debusmann of Reuters.
Fact: It’s actually true. Occupy Wall Street protesters do buy products and services from corporate America. But does that make them hypocrites? Consider that most of these protesters are NOT against banks. They are against improper actions of banks: foreclosures, inequitable compensation. Nor are they against the bailouts. They just want the same opportunity for homeowners. Would they be less hypocrites if they grew their own zucchini at Zuccotti Park, made their own clothes and all banked at a credit union? The funny thing about credit unions: usually you need a job to join.

And from this example you can see why Occupy Wall Street is confusing to many Americans and threatening to powerful financial interests. In more ways than most Americans know, they are like them. They’re at the mercy of banks and big corporations. With the 2012 election just a year away, Occupy Wall Street has some tough decisions to make. Will they allow themselves to be co-opted by union interests and political candidates who want to turn their numbers into votes? Or will they remain fiercely independent, challenging the status quo? Wherever the movement goes, one thing is certain. Wall Street and Washington are paying attention. And they recognize Occupy Wall Street is a dangerous threat to the system. You can bet that 1% knows that part isn’t a myth.

http://www.marketwatch.com/Story/story/print?guid=640772DE-F34A-11E0-BDE6-002128040CF6

Friday, September 30, 2011

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Wow. Harold Budd's, 'Haru Spring'.



Wow. What a great track by Harold Budd. I took this snapshot of Ikey whilst listening to it for the first time. I couldn't find a video link to it, so listen to it on NPR's site for (I assume) a limited time [along with the rest of 'In the Mist'].

(then go buy the track on iTunes for .99 - the best not-even-a-dollar you will spend today.)

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/18/140479643/first-listen-harold-budd-in-the-mist

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

ze Olde Oighty-Noiners Pudcazt. EEP7















Check Out Episode 7 of the Old89ers Podcast, here - or - here (where you will also find some random screen grabs from 'High Noon' to supplement the music on this episode.)

Friday, September 16, 2011

hey moon


for the moment, this is the only song in the world that i require.
also, while searching for this on youtube i just realized that it's a cover of a molly nilsson song. i don't know who you are but i think i might love you, molly nilsson.

where do you do

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

washed out

Yourstru.ly Presents: Washed Out "Far Away" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.


seriously - if 15 years ago you told me that there would be a bunch of bands doing smooth sax, and soft rock, and synth-wave -- and that it sounded really good -- I would have sent you back to Mercury on the back of a Tsetse Fly.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Friday, August 12, 2011

this is really, really sad :'(


we don't usually ever post anything that's just outright depressing, do we? well, for no reason at all, that's about to change. read this.

Dntel



Hey guys.. I'm finally settling back into Minneapolis now. I haven't been active on here for the past two weeks, what with the Seattle trip and then the Williston trip. But now I should be back in a normal routine soon.

I went and saw Dntel at the Triple Rock tonight. It was really good. A band called The One AM Radio opened up for them, sounding a bit like the Postal Service. Then Jimmy played, mostly by himself, except for a few songs where the One AM Radio folks came out and sang. I talked to him for a little while after the show, and he signed my limited edition tour 7". We also exchanged email addresses--he said he has a Figurine song that'll probably never come out that he could email me. Sweet! It was really nice to see him perform, even though he mostly just tweaked a gizmo most of the time. He did a little singing, and there were cool visuals in the back. It was kind of like seeing a DJ, I guess, but this DJ played really good music of his own.

I thought this lightning girl was a good "first post back after a hiatus" image. :)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Mr. Broken Bird

Hobo with a Shotgun


Hobo with a Shotgun is now available on the Netflix instant service. I loved it. It's ultra-violent and worth a look-see. 80's, synthy, John Carpenter inspired music and blood, blood, blood and more blood. This movie will not pan away as the violence takes place, be prepared. While watching this I felt like I was 10 years old again watching my first 'R' rated movie.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Here it Comes Again - Download the Fourth Episode of the Old89ers Podcast















We talk about this poor weird roadkill and much, much more.
The Old89ers Podcast, Episode 4

panic on the streets of london

Panic on the streets of London (link to full article)

"I’m huddled in the front room with some shell-shocked friends, watching my city burn. The BBC is interchanging footage of blazing cars and running street battles in Hackney, of police horses lining up in Lewisham, of roiling infernos that were once shops and houses in Croydon and in Peckham. Last night, Enfield, Walthamstow, Brixton and Wood Green were looted; there have been hundreds of arrests and dozens of serious injuries, and it will be a miracle if nobody dies tonight. This is the third consecutive night of rioting in London, and the disorder has now spread to Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham. Politicians and police officers who only hours ago were making stony-faced statements about criminality are now simply begging the young people of Britain’s inner cities to go home. Britain is a tinderbox, and on Friday, somebody lit a match. How the hell did this happen? And what are we going to do now?

...

Tonight in London, social order and the rule of law have broken down entirely. The city has been brought to a standstill; it is not safe to go out onto the streets, and where I am in Holloway, the violence is coming closer. As I write, the looting and arson attacks have spread to at least fifty different areas across the UK, including dozens in London, and communities are now turning on each other, with the Guardian reporting on rival gangs forming battle lines. It has become clear to the disenfranchised young people of Britain, who feel that they have no stake in society and nothing to lose, that they can do what they like tonight, and the police are utterly unable to stop them. That is what riots are all about.

Riots are about power, and they are about catharsis. They are not about poor parenting, or youth services being cut, or any of the other snap explanations that media pundits have been trotting out: structural inequalities, as a friend of mine remarked today, are not solved by a few pool tables. People riot because it makes them feel powerful, even if only for a night. People riot because they have spent their whole lives being told that they are good for nothing, and they realise that together they can do anything – literally, anything at all. People to whom respect has never been shown riot because they feel they have little reason to show respect themselves, and it spreads like fire on a warm summer night. And now people have lost their homes, and the country is tearing itself apart.

No one expected this. The so-called leaders who have taken three solid days to return from their foreign holidays to a country in flames did not anticipate this. The people running Britain had absolutely no clue how desperate things had become. They thought that after thirty years of soaring inequality, in the middle of a recession, they could take away the last little things that gave people hope, the benefits, the jobs, the possibility of higher education, the support structures, and nothing would happen. They were wrong. And now my city is burning, and it will continue to burn until we stop the blanket condemnations and blind conjecture and try to understand just what has brought viral civil unrest to Britain. Let me give you a hint: it ain’t Twitter."

rock me tonite


after the 2012 harmonic convergence, ascension, rebirth and dimensional shift we'll all be able to dance like this on the graves of our oppressors.

edit: jk, y'all, jk. i'm sure shit will be as fucked as ever. and you can dance however you like. but those snaps hold a certain power, just sayin'.

Friday, August 5, 2011

brad


"my mom is dad, she's dad!" -- Havedy (YouTube commenter)

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Friday, July 29, 2011

(It's Cold Gin Time Again) It's The Old89ers Podcast, Episode 3. Get SOME!

















http://old89erspod.tumblr.com/
All About the Abstract (y Tu Madre)

ain't got nothing at all


been listening to clams casino and holy other together on shuffle and i have to admit i suffer a bit of confusion as to which one i am listening to sometimes. but i don't mind, i love em both. seems i'm a sucker for a well placed, nostalgia inducing and melancholic vocal sample. occasionally, i attempt to compound my confusion (not difficult, btw. oh, look a mote of dust! what does it mean?) and i add balam acab to the mix too.

just look at that little angel. how can it not be lovely?