to do: summer 2008

There are many things I'm a bit embarrassed about -not having read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" being one of them. That needs to happen. I picked up my copy at the local Goodwill today, and cannot wait to begin the gem.

I also have a list of movies that need to be watched this summer:

- HE WAS A QUIET MAN
- The Promotion
- THE GO-GETTER
- Wristcutters: A Love Story
- Mysterious Skin
- Choke
- Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
- The Ballad of Jack & Rose
- The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
- THE LOOKOUT
- Starting Out In The Evening
- Coffee & Cigarettes
- Rear Window
- Pi
- The Hawk Is Dying
- The Fall
- Volver
- The Science of Sleep
- The Usual Suspects
- Love Comes Lately
- Fargo
- Taxi Driver


I'm highly enjoying the Jonathan Safran Foer I picked up at the UofA [cheaper] bookstore of lonely books no longer wanted at the main shop; basically my favourite spot in the world. I did not realize he was married to Nicole Krauss - I don't even want to know how fantastic their son is going to be.

Well - the new "Mates of State" is out & I don't want to sound self-absorbed - but "The Re-Arranger" precisely mirrors this summer's feel. I couldn't pin-point it until I heard the piano vamp, the rhythmic background "eee" and "duhdahduh's." The repeating "Re-arrange/re-arrange/re-arrange/re-arrange us." This is the space I inhabit.

Just stop & shake it off.

Mates of State - The Re-Arranger

He Was A Quiet Man Trailer:

confession

Hi Audiophiles Anonymous. My name is Jane and I kind of, sort of, have this thing for Weezer. I'm sorry! It's just after hearing "Freak Me Out" I really couldn't resist but join the triple-platinum band's bandwagon.

I know, I know - no self-respecting esoteric music-lover would admit to this publicly (it's alright, no one really reads this blog anyway).

And did you know that Rivers Cuomo attended Harvard? Yeah, really! Do you know who else attended Harvard? A lot of people. I know, hey!

I mean, even if he did major in English...it's Harvard! Like, that's legit, right?

And isn't it considered delightfully ironic and "hipster" these days to embrace the exact opposite of the abstruse? Case in point: Kanye West. You like "Stronger" and I like the band that pulled out the top iTunes download of 2005 ("Beverly Hills" - if you didn't know).

Man, there's just something so heartfelt about American "punk-rock". I mean, do you realize how many bands credit Weezer as influence?

Jimmy Eat World, for one...yeah...suck it. But really - can you name another band (excluding The Beatles) who have produced so many catchy tunes? I'll give you some time to think.

What I'm really trying to say is that Weezer doesn't have to be a guilty pleasure. This song, in fact, is quite precious. And has some high class references. Sort of.

Heart Songs - Weezer

Gordon Lightfoot sang a song about a boat that sank in the lake at the break of the morn'
& a cat named Stevens found a faith he could believe in
& Joan Baez never listened to too much jazz, but hippie songs could be heard in our pad
Eddy rabbit sang about how much he loved a rainy night
Devo Benatar were there the day John Lennon died
Mr Springsteen said he had a hungry heart
Grover Washington was happy on the day he topped the chart

These are the songs
These are my heart songs
They never feel wrong
& when I wake for goodness sake
these are the songs I keep singing

Quiet Riot got me started with the banging of my head
Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, & Slayer taught me how to shred
I gotta admit though, sometimes I would listen to the radio
Debby Gibson, tell me that you think we're all alone
Michael Jackson's in the mirror
Gotta have faith if I wanna see clear
Never gonna give you up, this new love a wishing well
It takes two to make a thing go right, if the fresh prince starts a fight
Don't you worry for too long 'cause you know these are the songs

Back in 1991 I wasn't having any fun
'Til my roommate said "Come on," and put a brand new record on
Had a baby on it, he was naked on it
Then I heard the cold words that broke the chains I had up on me
Got together with my bros at some rehearsal studios
Then we played our first rock show and watched the fanbase start to grow
signed the day
made a record all our own
a song comes on the radio and now people go "This is the song"

Weezer - Heart Songs

there's a black crow sitting across from me; his wiry legs are crossed

I have been out rain running in the forest.

I have been distracted ever since.

I'm almost finished notes, but I don't want to forget how this feels. So far, I've listened to Bon Iver's "Re: Stacks" fourteen times tonight & I think possibly that I am in love.

"Everything that happens is from now on" could be my nightly search for an eternal present; it would wipe emotions like regret & guilt. I forget though - it would mean clean socks until I never washed them. I forget - what were her words? "What did my arms do before they held you." The paradox of clean starts.

this is pouring rain/this is paralyzed

After an uncharacteristically blazing past long weekend for Edmonton, we now have a week of rain to look forward to.



The third week of OrgChem is decidedly the clincher. I hope this is the most tired I feel for the remainder of summer. But also - I'd be lying if I said I didn't waste away yesterday evening in bed with "The Office" until some unholy hour, whereupon I then spent a good hour Youtub-ing John Krasinski. Yes, boys and girls, I hate myself too.

I've just experienced a B-I-Z-A-R-R-E Bjork cover of Death Cab's "All is Full of Love" and never ever ever again. Enough said.

Today a spider bit my foot. I can't think about much else right now.

Today I was in a Bon Iver mood - and then I was browsing STG - and apparently so was somebody else.

Today I am still in this kind of a mood. On the bus home, I didn't need any shoulder or arm to rock me to sleep.

Bon Iver: Re: Stacks

Bon Iver: Blindsided

"this is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization/
it's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away/
your love will be
safe with me"