walking on american soil

after what seemed like forever, i'm finally in salt lake city! i had a string of bad luck with my flights with delays and re-bookings, so i ended up spending the night in houston at the airport sleeping the best i could in chairs. not too comfortable, but at least now i can say i've been to texas!

all-in-all it took me about 40 hours to get from my door to dave's, of which about 16 was spent in the air.

now we're off to see the mormon temple.

going away

it just a week left now! FREAKING OUT!

i've never traveled this far before! i don't know what to pack, i haven't thought it through yet! i don't know what i need to have on the plane! i haven't bought any spare batteries, or a plug converter, if i even need them, i don't even know if i do yet. i don't even know what i need to know! what do i need to know? HELP!

listening to margot

indiana-based margot and the nuclear so and so's album not animal is quite a cute affair. i found it on radiobutt (here, to download) where it's compared with neutral milk hotel, the decemberists, arcade fire and broken social scene, and i don't know. the 3 latter i don't listen too much to so i'm sure that's in order, but i wouldn't say they're too much alike neutral milk hotel. neutral milk hotel are way more noicy than these guys. margot is softer and sweeter. i even hear a bit of coldplay here and there in them. the album doesn't make me go WOW, but it's good.

something that made me go WOW, though, was neutral milk hotel's 1998 masterpiece in the aeroplane over the sea. it's definitely on my top ten favorite albums list (a list i haven't compiled in its entirety yet)! it's great in so many layers, it just has to be listened to repeatedly to fully be understood.

here's one of my favorite songs from it, called holland, 1945. the video is someone else's - there doesn't seem to be any videos made by the band - though it's strong and does get the message across.





EDIT: here's someone who's put his love for in the aeroplane over the sea in words more eloquently than me.

zack and miri

zack and miri make a porno, kevin smith's new flick, is coming in the end of october! although, probably not to sweden, as is usually the case with his movies.. but hey, what's the internet for, right?

here's the trailer.



[on my love of kevin here]

more mary timony

here's a nice mary timony song from her 2002 the golden dove album. i especially love the synchronized dancing part :)

helium

how come no one, until now, bothered telling me about the band helium?

judging from what little i've found to listen to it has most of what i love about 90s music; the shoegazing aspect, feedback noice, lovely vocals. (oh, and it says on wikipedia that juliana hatfield's brother jason was in an early line-up of the band, before they changed their name to helium. cool, right?)

they released two albums and a few eps on matador before they split up in 1998, but singer mary timony continued to make music solo and in other constellations. this is one road i'm going to explore.

have a listen:

helium - xxx (1994)



helium - superball (1995)



helium - pat's trick (1995)



helium - honeycomb (1995)



helium - leon's space song (1997)

when i grow up

i hope you've seen i put a save bitch banner up to the left, but in case you use a feeder and never actually see my pretty little display of fun info and links, here's one more, just for you! (it almost fits too!)



i read bitch magazine as often as i can get my hands on it, which is not always cos they don't sell it in too many places here (pressbyrån centralen!) and i'm not as organized as i may seem (ahem), but i do love it. so i support it! cos the thing is, they have problems with funding and we all know what it's like in the world of publication; small, narrow magazines get put out of business while big, "broad" magazines thrive. this is why all magazines are the same.

don't tell me you haven't noticed.

so i'm putting my 5 cents in. buy the magazine, or give them a few bucks, ok? thanks!

now.

for something equally important. you know what i got in the mail today? this!



juliana hatfield's brand new memoir! it's called when i grow up and it's pretty! here, see for your self! [här på adlibris.se] now, i'm off to read it. see you when i'm done! (look! it's in the ny times.)

arachnophobia

i have a spider problem. it seems a spider has moved in to our bathroom. it has made itself a home underneath the door frame on the left, and for every passing day its net sort of advances into the room. not by much, but enough to make me a bit jumpy. see, even though i'm very much afraid of spiders, i don't mind them in my home, as long as they mind their own business and i don't have to see them very often. this fellow, however, i see every time i go into the bathroom, so we have a problem.

i won't kill it. i condemn killing spiders unless there's a really good reason to. and i'd say really good reasons for killing spiders is if they're in my bed, or if they attack me. simply being there in plain view is not a good reason. so my only option really is either to get over it, or to remove it. but that would mean i have to get within two feet of it and somehow grab it, or get over my phobia, and i can't do that. clearly.

i wonder if this particular spider is accident-prone..

testing testing

You Are 78% Indie

You're a very indie person, and admit it, you look down a little on people who strive to be normal. You'll indulge in a little mainstream pop culture every now and then. But for you, anything not indie is a guilty pleasure!

How Indie Are You?

subing

it would seem my luck has turned. today i got two calls about jobs, temporary as sub, but jobs nonetheless! now yours truly has part time sub jobs for the next four weeks and for about a week after i return from the states. yay!

the trip to slc is coming closer and it still seems quite unreal but oh so exciting. this must be a dream. pinch me!

so far so good

so, it's september now. (what?!) what better time is there to review the year so far. (stay with me here.)

so far this year i've read 23 books. i keep this information not in my brain but in my reading diary i started using in may of last year, because, obviously, who really remembers what they've read. had i not had the diary i'd never remembered what i read a month ago, let alone 6 months, or a year ago. so, yay for reading diaries! it's not a very elaborate thing, i only record title, author, date and a few key words or notes about it, so no pressure.

so in order of appearance, this is it.

1. our band could be your life by michael azerrad. this lovely little book of 500 pages is subtitled "scenes from the american indie underground 1981-1991" and covers a whole line of important bands and indie labels, starting with the d.c. hardcore scene (and sst) and moving west to olympia with k records and sub pop. some of the bands covered is black flag, minutemen, hüsker dü, sonic youth, dinosaur jr, the replacements, fugazi, beat happening and mudhoney. it's a very nerdy and really interesting book, especially if you, like me, have an insatiable need for all things music-related.
   
   
   
2. the virgin suicides by jeffrey eugencides. actually i started reading this last year when i was in glasgow, but put it down cos i found it boring. i really loved the movie so i was greatly disappointed with the book, i actually had to force myself to finish it, even if it's not very long. my tip is, watch the movie instead.
   
   
   
3. the bell jar by sylvia plath. finally i got what the title actually means! at first a bit confusing but in the end things kind of fall into place.
   
   
4. jenny by jonas gardell. i liked it before i even read it since it has my name on it, but really it didn't need that circumstance to lean on, it stands very well on its own. it's a beautifully written story. jonas is one of my favourite swedish authors in that he writes poetic and doesn't duck heavy and tragic content, such as violence, bullying, rape, abuse and the like.
   
   
5. living my life by emma goldman. what a woman! this is emma's abridged autobiography, and it's still on over 550 pages! she's truly a fascinating woman. there's a lot of late 1800-early 1900 history in here, both on russia and on the u.s. i'm no history expert of any kind but there were things in here that i've never ever heard of and that clearly has been written out of history by the people who "won". it's a personal inside account on what went on in the american workers movement during this time and on the revolution in russia and its aftermaths. it's very dense and took some time to read but it was worth it.
   
   
6. black girl/white girl by joyce carol oates. my first novel by her. has lots of contrast; white - black, rich - poor, religion - atheism, prejudice - open-mindedness, shielding - non-shielding. my strongest memory is that it was haunting.
   
   
7. bitch - in praise of difficult women by elizabeth wurtzel. at times it was a bit ranting, but mostly it's smart and interesting. it's typical wurtzel in style and with lots of pop culture. according to herself in her second memoir (more, now, again, 2001) she was high a lot of the time when writing this, but i can't really say that you can tell, except maybe for it being very long.
   
   
8. america the beautiful by moon unit zappa. i liked it! i had similarities to what francesca lia block writes and not only the setting. lots of art and music.
   
   
9. prime by poppy z brite. sequel to liquor and as everything poppy, really good.
   
   
10. soul kitchen by poppy z brite. sequel to prime and also great. poppy is one of my absolute favorite writers.
    
    
11. the gum thief by douglas coupland. oh, man. as much as i love my favorite canadian's style and books, this one was a bit of a disappointment. it's hard to describe it as strange, cos most of his stories are a bit strange, but this was stranger. it was still good, but it wasn't great, which i always expect and almost always receive from coupland.
    
    
12. special topics in calamity physics by marisha pessl. i became very infatuated with this novel. i still am! its form doesn't fit its contents, but because of that i really does; it's really a coming-of-age kind of story but in an academic form and a kind of dense but also poetic and beautiful language. there's a lot of contrasts here. also there's mystery! i don't know if the countless references to music, literature, poetry, theatre and movies (mostly old ones) are real of phony, but it doesn't really matter cos it's credible enough to work perfectly in the story.
    
    
13. the amethyst child by sarah singleton. an ok book for teenagers with everything it should have; friendship, summer holiday, parents who just don't get it, falling in love, identification.. and a cult!
    
    
14. the devil you know by poppy z brite. a collection of short stories. some good, some better.
    
    
15. this book will save your life by a.m. homes. i believe i wrote about this, yeah? i want donuts!
    
    
16. garnethill by denise mina. i rarely read crime, but i would never hesitate to pick up a novel by denise mina. i wrote about this as well, see the link above.
    
    
17. the mistress's daughter by a.m. homes. a very very honest and raw autobiography mostly revolving around her adoption and when as an adult she came in contact with her biological parents. disturbing and interesting.
    
    
18. all families are psychotic by douglas coupland. a bit crazier than usually but very sweet.
    
    
19. exile by denise mina. book no 2 in the garnethill trilogy. maureen o'donnell's crazy life continues with a new suspicious murder. well written and very thrilling.
    
    
20. resolution by denise mina. book no 3 in the garnethill trilogy. great as before.
    
    
21. moral disorder by margaret atwood. my first book by atwood. i still can't really tell what this story is actually about but i liked reading it. it's a bit fragmented and it seems like it's made up of shorter stories that wasn't really meant to go together from the beginning, maybe. there were odd things about it, like the voice of the narrator changed between first person and second person over the chapters for no apparent reason. but all in all i enjoyed it. i plan to read her more known novels (the handmaid's tale and oryx and crake) in a not so far future.
    
    
22. the brooklyn follies by paul auster. a truly awesome novel! very inspiring and extremely well written. i now have a huge crush on paul auster!
    
    
23. låt den rätte komma in by john ajvide lindqvist. an impressive vampire/horror story set in a working-class suburb to stockholm in 1981. i'm so impressed by this that i scarcely know what to say about it. it's well written, totally believable, thrilling and sweet! (available as english translation)

this is normally about what i read in a year so that must mean i get 4 months extra this year. i have a pile of book to read next (more paul auster and john ajvide lindqvist to start with) but if you should have read something really great lately, please tell me! and as for you; now you have lots to pick from. if you don't know what to read next, don't blame it on me.

still august

now i'm on season 5. or at least i should be, could i find it. so make that season 6. i'm also about to start reading paul auster's the brooklyn follies, so soon i'll know nyc from within without even having been there. comforting thought.

i'm out of words. i'm sorry.

august

if you need me, i'll probably be on my couch, dressed in what was closest to my bed, watching season 2 episodes of law & order and maybe answering the phone if it rings.

also, i think my right ear might be infected. it sucks.

being a tourist

it seems i COULD be happier! thanks to my dear dear friend dave i'm going to go to the u.s. in october! for the first time! i've been wanting this for so long!

I'M SO EXCITED I'M WRITING IN CAPITALS (and over-using exclamation marks)!

shining on

today's mail included the highly anticipated package from ye olde records containing juliana hatfield's new album plus a poster and a limited edition demos cd. i couldn't be happier!

the album how to walk away, the second to be released on her own label and officially released 19 august, is sweet, much softer than her latest (made in china, that i wrote about here). the songs feel familiar and mature. it sounds like she's shed a lot of the anger she's expressed in earlier recordings. after two listens i've fallen for the opening track the fact remains and the beautiful remember november.

also recently, it was brought to my attention that juliana's putting out a book. her memoir when i grow up is set to be released in september, and, according to amazon.com it

takes readers behind the scenes of rock life as Hatfield recounts her best and worst days, the origins of her songs, the source of her woes, and her quest to find a new purpose in life. Writing with the same talent for lyricism and poetry found in her songs, Hatfield has produced an engaging literary memoir that will resonate with anyone who's lost faith in a dream.

as you can imagine, i can hardly wait.

also, here's the in my room spread she did in spin magazine recently.