Saturday, May 31, 2008
daddy
inspired by the fine people over at pretending to be japanese (my new internet-crush) who argues about who's dad is the coolest, i felt an urge to post a tribute to my dad. since my memory still occasionally works and recycling is the shit, i pulled up an old piece i wrote about him two years ago. it's a bit sentimental, and if it doesn't make you see how cool he is, this might: his record collection is still bigger than mine (and i'm really trying here!). among his favorite bands/artists are the doors, the who, the beatles, rollings stones, the moody blues, bryan ferry/roxy music and elton john.
originally written in april 2006 and posted on my old blog. slightly revised.
when it comes to listening to music, i've always had my dad to look up to and be inspired by. i went through his record collection often as a kid, and while i was still young enough to not know better, anything that looked or sounded, shall we say, age appropriate, was the pick of the day.
i used to listen to his 60's collections. status quo. my dad loved status quo - he told me over and over about seeing them live back in the day. i listened to beatles. rolling stones. i know every roxy music cover still. although dad's love for bryan ferry never rubbed off on me, he still tries.
though the biggest moment i remember is when i realized he had rocket to russia. he must have had it since it came out but i'd never paid much attention to it before (after all, in the late 80's, four guys with ridiculously tight jeans and an american 70's punk attitude didn't do it for this pre-teen girl). it must have been around 7th grade, cos i'd just started listening to nirvana and guns n' roses. i had a friend who loved the ramones, so imagine the coolness of finding this record. (when i moved out many years later i brought it with me. the only thing i've ever really stolen from my parents.)
i learned to appreciate the doors through my dad's headphones. he had all the albums. his favorite one is the soft parade. my favorite one was waiting for the sun (although i think i'd go or strange days nowadays). i noticed once when looking through his old photo album from his youth, that he used to have a drawing of a man, in a uniform, without a face, on his wall in his parent's house, that said the unknown soldier.
he's told me stories about listening to radio luxemburg, that played rock n roll on the air, the thrill of it, just like the stories you hear in movies about those magic years. back then he played guitar in his parent's basement when he was in high school, he had long hair and wore jeans to school even though he studied to be an engineer (think late 60's small town sweden, nice haircuts and suits!), he didn't care what people thought of him and he liked awesome music.
when in my most pretentious teenage years and early twenties, i wondered why, with such good taste in music, he listened to elton john. cos elton john for me has always been 80's elton john and piano ballads elton john. until a few years ago. cos being exposed to early 70's elton john through movies like almost famous and elizabethtown i must admit that i'm hooked. i guess i should thank mr crowe for it.
i was the first person in my class and among my friends to have a cd-player in my house. i can still find records in my dad's collection that i didn't know he had. that way it's easier to accept that he grew out of the style, that he nowadays looks like any other 50+ guy; perhaps a bit younger, a bit more groomed and a bit more handsome. cos he still, of course, listens to awesome music.
and he still doesn't care what people think of him. it runs in the family.
originally written in april 2006 and posted on my old blog. slightly revised.
when it comes to listening to music, i've always had my dad to look up to and be inspired by. i went through his record collection often as a kid, and while i was still young enough to not know better, anything that looked or sounded, shall we say, age appropriate, was the pick of the day.
i used to listen to his 60's collections. status quo. my dad loved status quo - he told me over and over about seeing them live back in the day. i listened to beatles. rolling stones. i know every roxy music cover still. although dad's love for bryan ferry never rubbed off on me, he still tries.
though the biggest moment i remember is when i realized he had rocket to russia. he must have had it since it came out but i'd never paid much attention to it before (after all, in the late 80's, four guys with ridiculously tight jeans and an american 70's punk attitude didn't do it for this pre-teen girl). it must have been around 7th grade, cos i'd just started listening to nirvana and guns n' roses. i had a friend who loved the ramones, so imagine the coolness of finding this record. (when i moved out many years later i brought it with me. the only thing i've ever really stolen from my parents.)
i learned to appreciate the doors through my dad's headphones. he had all the albums. his favorite one is the soft parade. my favorite one was waiting for the sun (although i think i'd go or strange days nowadays). i noticed once when looking through his old photo album from his youth, that he used to have a drawing of a man, in a uniform, without a face, on his wall in his parent's house, that said the unknown soldier.
he's told me stories about listening to radio luxemburg, that played rock n roll on the air, the thrill of it, just like the stories you hear in movies about those magic years. back then he played guitar in his parent's basement when he was in high school, he had long hair and wore jeans to school even though he studied to be an engineer (think late 60's small town sweden, nice haircuts and suits!), he didn't care what people thought of him and he liked awesome music.
when in my most pretentious teenage years and early twenties, i wondered why, with such good taste in music, he listened to elton john. cos elton john for me has always been 80's elton john and piano ballads elton john. until a few years ago. cos being exposed to early 70's elton john through movies like almost famous and elizabethtown i must admit that i'm hooked. i guess i should thank mr crowe for it.
i was the first person in my class and among my friends to have a cd-player in my house. i can still find records in my dad's collection that i didn't know he had. that way it's easier to accept that he grew out of the style, that he nowadays looks like any other 50+ guy; perhaps a bit younger, a bit more groomed and a bit more handsome. cos he still, of course, listens to awesome music.
and he still doesn't care what people think of him. it runs in the family.
Friday, May 30, 2008
what matters?
one of my all-time favorite novels is high fidelity by nick hornby. the movie is also awesome. i love the novel for several reasons.
first of all i really like the language, and the tone of it. the flow of it is fantastic. you're really there, you can see the racks of records you want to go through so badly, and the awkwardness gets under your skin.
second of all, i really dig the characters. they are really real, like it says on the back of the penguin edition "oh god, i know people just like that!", we really do. rob becomes your best buddy, or worst, and you fall in love with him, or with dick. barry is.. well, he's jack black, essentially, which is one reason the movie version works so well.
third, it really appeals to the geek in me; top ten lists, obscure musical facts, pop-cultural references, anal filing systems, obsessive behavior, the focus on mixed tapes.
at one place in the book (p.91) rob ponders on something he's been talking to the others about in relation to his underlying women problem, namely what really matters, what you like or what you are like, and says that
those of you who's read the book or watched the movie knows what it eventually resolves to, but whatever that is i still think this is an interesting dilemma, cos even though it's superficial and even mis-guiding to judge people on what they like, it does, after all, matter. at least to me. certainly not as much as it does to barry with his questionnaire, but still.
however, there are morons with impeccable taste, just like there are awesome persons without taste (i call them radio listeners). i think it matters what people are like, but generally i do prefer them to have good taste.
that's what i think. what do you think? i put the poll to the right up just to find out, so please click it. thanks.
oh, and for the love of god, if you haven't read the book, make sure you do that first, but fast, you only have a week before my poll closes.
first of all i really like the language, and the tone of it. the flow of it is fantastic. you're really there, you can see the racks of records you want to go through so badly, and the awkwardness gets under your skin.
second of all, i really dig the characters. they are really real, like it says on the back of the penguin edition "oh god, i know people just like that!", we really do. rob becomes your best buddy, or worst, and you fall in love with him, or with dick. barry is.. well, he's jack black, essentially, which is one reason the movie version works so well.
third, it really appeals to the geek in me; top ten lists, obscure musical facts, pop-cultural references, anal filing systems, obsessive behavior, the focus on mixed tapes.
at one place in the book (p.91) rob ponders on something he's been talking to the others about in relation to his underlying women problem, namely what really matters, what you like or what you are like, and says that
"..the truth was that these things matter, and it's no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently, or if your favorite films wouldn't even speak to each other if they met at a party."
those of you who's read the book or watched the movie knows what it eventually resolves to, but whatever that is i still think this is an interesting dilemma, cos even though it's superficial and even mis-guiding to judge people on what they like, it does, after all, matter. at least to me. certainly not as much as it does to barry with his questionnaire, but still.
however, there are morons with impeccable taste, just like there are awesome persons without taste (i call them radio listeners). i think it matters what people are like, but generally i do prefer them to have good taste.
that's what i think. what do you think? i put the poll to the right up just to find out, so please click it. thanks.
oh, and for the love of god, if you haven't read the book, make sure you do that first, but fast, you only have a week before my poll closes.
kevin is teasing us
i love kevin smith. i think he's one of the funniest people alive. i love his movies, or flicks as he calls them. i force them on everyone i know - not too seldom with a positive result mind you. he writes great characters and awesome dialogue. if i had to pick one thing about them that's better than anything it would be the dialogue. they're also incredibly nerdy and sweet. and foul of course.
people usually say that clerks is their favorite (makes sense; back to the roots and all), but i'd say mallrats. casting jason lee as brodie must be one of the best thing he's ever done. what an obnoxious character and how perfectly portrayed! there are so many things i love about that movie it's too vast to list.
the reason for this sudden expression of love is that his new film zack and miri make a porno is coming out this year and he's just put a teaser (not a trailer) up. enjoy! (don't worry, there's no porn in it, just a lot of talk about sex.)
[updated: damn. the embedding first seemed to work just fine and then didn't. click here to see the teaser.]
oh, and yeah, kevin's one more thing i love about the 90s. so if you haven't seen any of kevin's movies yet, DO IT NOW! your life will never be the same. :)
people usually say that clerks is their favorite (makes sense; back to the roots and all), but i'd say mallrats. casting jason lee as brodie must be one of the best thing he's ever done. what an obnoxious character and how perfectly portrayed! there are so many things i love about that movie it's too vast to list.
the reason for this sudden expression of love is that his new film zack and miri make a porno is coming out this year and he's just put a teaser (not a trailer) up. enjoy! (don't worry, there's no porn in it, just a lot of talk about sex.)
[updated: damn. the embedding first seemed to work just fine and then didn't. click here to see the teaser.]
oh, and yeah, kevin's one more thing i love about the 90s. so if you haven't seen any of kevin's movies yet, DO IT NOW! your life will never be the same. :)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
sun anyone?
i'm not feeling too funky, so no real interest in writing anything. except maybe that i've become cynical and even more sarcastic since watching a season and a half of house md. for the last week or two. and that this time of year is the worst for teachers. especially the ones that grade. who wants summer vacation?!
juliana has updated with two more songs
10. fleur de lys
11. hole in the sky
juliana has updated with two more songs
10. fleur de lys
11. hole in the sky
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
sweet vaccation
Copenhagen To London Stansted
flight 3468; dep. Sat 21 Jun 21:35
arr. Sat 21 Jun 22:25
From London (Stansted) (STN) to Montpellier (MPL)
Sun, 22Jun08 Flight FR 632 Depart STN at 06:05 and arrive MPL at 09:00
insert the mediterranean sea, sun, wine, cheese and all things french (almost)!
From Montpellier (MPL) to London (Stansted) (STN)
Sat, 05Jul08 Flight FR 633 Depart MPL at 09:25 and arrive STN at 10:25
London Stansted To Copenhagen
flight 3467; dep. Sat 05 Jul 18:25
arr. Sat 05 Jul 21:10
flight 3468; dep. Sat 21 Jun 21:35
arr. Sat 21 Jun 22:25
From London (Stansted) (STN) to Montpellier (MPL)
Sun, 22Jun08 Flight FR 632 Depart STN at 06:05 and arrive MPL at 09:00
insert the mediterranean sea, sun, wine, cheese and all things french (almost)!
From Montpellier (MPL) to London (Stansted) (STN)
Sat, 05Jul08 Flight FR 633 Depart MPL at 09:25 and arrive STN at 10:25
London Stansted To Copenhagen
flight 3467; dep. Sat 05 Jul 18:25
arr. Sat 05 Jul 21:10
Monday, May 5, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
you are the camera
my forever favorite musician juliana hatfield is blogging on her myspace page. i hope you know about this already, but if you didn't, she's blogging about her songs; what they mean and what she think about them now and this and that. it's interesting! and, i suppose, a way to get to know her a little better. so go read it!
for convenience, this is what she's posted about so far:
now i'm off to read the last one myself. enjoy!
for convenience, this is what she's posted about so far:
now i'm off to read the last one myself. enjoy!
gimme indie rock
sebadoh from the gig at kb yesterday. it was an alright gig. i had hoped for more hits - considering it's a somewhat of a reunion tour and all - but they obviously wanted to be more obscure than that. fine by me, i still had a good time :)
Thursday, May 1, 2008
calamity physics
i take it you've all heard the expression that goes something like "if you're gonna read one book this year, let it be this one". (my memory is a bit fuzzy here i admit.)
well. that book should be special topics in calamity physics (2006) by marisha pessl.
i just finished reading it and i can honestly say i've never read anything like it. it may not be the best book i've ever read, but it's certainly one of the most special books i've ever read. it had me at the first couple of pages and i just had to have more, right till the end. the characters and the plot - but also the language, her fantastic use of it - has been in my head 24-7 for the week it took to get through the 515 pages and i have no doubts as to them staying there a bit longer. i'm not quite ready to write a review yet, i'm still in a phase where i just want to throw adjectives at it. like fascinating. interesting. thrilling. heart-breaking. devouring. beautiful.
you get the idea. i'll try to gather my thoughts soon enough. here's some kind of official site i haven't quite figured out yet, and here's what some others thought of it.
well. that book should be special topics in calamity physics (2006) by marisha pessl.
i just finished reading it and i can honestly say i've never read anything like it. it may not be the best book i've ever read, but it's certainly one of the most special books i've ever read. it had me at the first couple of pages and i just had to have more, right till the end. the characters and the plot - but also the language, her fantastic use of it - has been in my head 24-7 for the week it took to get through the 515 pages and i have no doubts as to them staying there a bit longer. i'm not quite ready to write a review yet, i'm still in a phase where i just want to throw adjectives at it. like fascinating. interesting. thrilling. heart-breaking. devouring. beautiful.
you get the idea. i'll try to gather my thoughts soon enough. here's some kind of official site i haven't quite figured out yet, and here's what some others thought of it.
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