Get Caught Reading!!!

Boyos,

In honor of "Get Caught Reading" month, I ran across and decided to post about this site.
Basically, it's a site dedicated to interviewing musicians, to see what kind of books and/or periodicals have influenced their lives and work. You probably don't realize this about me, but I'm an avid reader - given the time to do it. To find a way to fuse reading with musicianship is something that pleases me greatly, especially since - as easy as melodies come to me - I SUCK at writing song lyrics.

Enjoy. And, if you haven't discovered Paste magazine yet, pick up a copy soon.

Hated

Been kinda too busy too post lately but I figured this would more than make up. Grab yourself a sixer and let GG take you on a wonderful journey. This may be one of the most incredible documentaries ever. Be warned though, you may never want to eat bananas ever again.

G.G. Allin - Hated

Deuce x Infinity

If Andrew (Arthur's younger brother) played the drums: http://www.liquidgeneration.com/Media/Videos/Viral_Videos/Bizarre/Koreas_Most_Expressive_Drummer/

Lower Your Eyelids

As a fan of skate videos, and an even bigger fan of French electro/shoegaze wizards M83, this is quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. Think Bones Brigade meets The Rock.

Totally. AWESOME!

Holy Awesome.

Arthur (and guys), I still haven't found whatever movie it was that I heard Sean Connery say "Don't sass me, woman. I'm fighting a serious urge not to slap you right now!" However, I did run across this little bit o' AWESOME today. Boys, you are welcome.

The Devil's Playthings

Don't know if you guys were ever fans of the Afghan Whigs, but Greg Dulli's got a new band with Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, QOTSA) called The Gutter Twins. I think the name is in reference to the fact that between the two of them, they've probably taken every drug known to man and contracted every venereal disease humanly possible. Their new album, Saturnalia, captures the sounds of decadence, depravity, and despair. Pretty much just like everything else these two guys ever got their hands on.

Here they are on Letterman the other night playing their standout track "Idle Hands". Dave seems to be a huge fan. Not quite sure they feel the same about him.

What Do I Know? I Teach Art!

I don't know if you guys heard about this yet, but here is legitimate proof that we're better than those dimwitted pansies from across the Atlantic. (I'm talking about the Brits and their educational system, but really, you can take your pick from any European country.)

Stuff white people like

#50: Irony

Joe are you blogging for them too?

Yeasayer

Hands down, my favorite new band in quite some time. Think Peter Gabriel meets David Byrne meets The Beach Boys meets TV on the Radio.

Conan likes them too.

Yeasayer - 2080

If it's good enough for James Spader.......

Another website I like to waste time with: www.picturesofwalls.com

It's exactly what you think: a website devoted to user-submitted pictures of things that are written on and in random places. As a fellow graffiti-obsessed-for-the-sake-of-humor individual, this site is right up my alley. (If you've ever been to the MSU art building, any bar in the greater Lansing area, for instance, you would see my handiwork.....mostly in bathrooms.)

I Could Totally Kick This Kid's Ass!

Ever wonder how many youngsters you could pummel in a playground fracas. Well, honestly, neither have I. But once again the internet has provided a totally absurd answer to an even more useless and irrelevant question. You could probably find a more productive way to waste five minutes then by taking this survey, but then again you'll never know your odds of survival if you find yourself in a situation like Kramer found himself when he pissed off his karate class. Plus, it's pretty effing amusing. Especially the part about your "moral compass". I must admit it is comforting to know that if push came to shove, I could easily take 20 five year olds.

Sounds like the start to a bad Michael Jackson joke.

I did the dishes, I mowed the lawn...

Don't know if you guys caught Wilco on SNL last weekend. I was kinda hoping they would play Impossible Germany but they chose instead to play Walken and Hate it Here, two very strong songs from the last album. If you watch the videos, pay attention to:

1. Glen's drumming - the dude is a beast.
2. Tweedy's nasty Gram Parsons suit on Walken.
3. Nels, as always.

Both performances were pretty solid, too bad Hillary had to show up and piss on the parade.

Bad English

If one day the whole world starts communicating via "text-speak" instead of plain English, you can blame New Zealand.

Happy Birthday, Friend-O.

Check out this hilarious No Country for Old Men spoof. The 2:46 mark is pure brilliance.

Life is a Highway?

Man, I want to hate this guy so much. Every time I have seen BSS Kevin Drew has bored me to death with his Kumbaya, neo-hippie, drum circle jerk-off sing-alongs and his tired and trite philosophies on GWB and the war. Yeah we know, he and it both suck. Shut up and play some music. Plus he may or may not be hitting this.

But my god, the dude can write a killer pop song.

No! No! Too Sexy!!

You cannot tell me that The Vitas does not defy logic. (In reality, I hear he's a castrati. Yup, for real.)

Waste time

Recently, lots of people have been asking me if I would ever consider running for some sort of elected office. Well, the answer is, unequivocally, yes! In fact, I already hold a relatively inconsequential elected position. With this position comes very little power and even less glory. But one day, one day, I would love to be addressed as "Congressman" or "Mayor" or maybe even "Education Secretary". And if I ever did land the post of education secretary, my first measure would be to universally replace the "F". In it's stead, dumb little shit boxes the world over would find the picture posted above. I'm fairly convinced this is one of my better ideas.

Like Brad, I've got a pretty solid arsenal of websites that I like to visit whenever I don't feel like grading papers or being even remotely productive. Generally, this happens between 3 and 5pm every day. These are two of my all time favorites.

Get ready to waste the rest of yer day...

http://www.doingitwrong.com/

http://www.shipmentoffail.com/

Outsourcing gone awry

The celebrate the 25th anniversary of Thriller, and to demonstrate his cultural fluency, Michael Jackson has released this Indian version of his classic hit. The world is flat indeed.

Contextually Immeasureable

So, I have a handful of websites I check pretty much anytime I feel like wasting time, or basically just not dedicating myself to academia in any way. One of my personal favorites is www.overheardinnewyork.com, which is a blog of things people literally hear on a daily basis while going to and fro in the huge city. Most of it is hilariously out-of-context, and almost always reminds me of things I hear in the classroom every hour of every day. (On a related note, I'm convinced that "Overheard in the Classroom" is a blog that needs to be started at some point.)

Here's some gold for you:
NY Suit: "Hey, man, you gotta light?"
British Tourist: "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't smoke."
NY Suit: "I asked for a light, not your fucking life story."

Or, if you prefer:
Guy #1: "That fucking redhead bitch. I told you, man - those redheads are all the same."
Guy #2: "Whoa, dude. I know you're upset, but racism is just not cool."


Happy Reading!

Dirty lips

Pornolize!

it's like having this guy read the internet to you. Just add an address.

EAT MY FOOD, OR THIS BITCH DIES!!!!!!

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El Orfanato

Last night we headed to downtown Royal Oak to check out "The Orphanage" at the Main Art Theater. All I knew about this film is that it was produced by Guillermo Del Toro who was responsible for last year's fantastic Pan's Labyrinth. Some consider this film to be a companion piece to Pan's, but I felt that it was far superior and much more emotionally engaging. I have always been a fan of horror movies, especially psychological thrillers like The Thing, Alien, and more recently Sunshine. But never before have I experienced in a theater the sensations of breathlessness, panic, and literally, chills running up and down my spine. Laura said she almost vomited at least eight times from the suspense and alternately had one hand either covering her eyes or blocking her ears. I know many are turned off by foreign films because they often burden the viewer with having to read the translated dialog, but for me it only worked to enhance the mystery of "The Orphanage". I saw this with nine other people last night and later over our Mojitos and Belgian Ales we all agreed that it was hands down one of the scariest movies ever. They are supposedly making an American version of the film which I'm sure will strip it off all of it's tension and suspense and replace those elements with ones of horror and violence and guts ala Hostel and Saw. So go see it now!!!

Les Savy Fav on Conan

Tim Harrington is a disgusting beast. But my god he rocks!

Making the rounds

Maybe you've heard it by now, but Thom Yorke was on BBC Radio 2 a few weeks back playing Reckoner and Everything In Its Right Place. Listen here.

Lost and Found

On the advice of some of my colleagues, I sat down for the first time last night and watched lost. I started with the hour long re-cap of the entire series which I found to be much more entertaining and engaging than I thought it would be. I have to admit though, I did find the narrator's voice slightly creepy/annoying and pedophilic. It was my plan to watch the recap, and if it hooked me, I would watch the new episode.

Well, I was hooked. The story was much different than I thought. I half expected it to be like a scripted Survivor but it turned out to be much more like Lord of the Fies. The new episode, however, annoyed me in the way the second half of Vanilla Sky annoyed me. It seemed like they were trying too hard to be creative or artsy. Plus, the fat guy doesn't do it for me. I'll probably sit down next week and continue watching it, if only because it is February and there is not much else to do in Michigan this time of year. And I am slightly intrigued by the story. So, here are my final thoughts/questions:

1. If this is the best show on TV, a strong argument can be made for how weak TV shows currently are.

2. I kept looking for a deeper meaning to the character John Locke. Why was he given that name? Does it have anything to do with THE John Locke whose writings served as the basis for the Revolution.

3. Is the island invisible? Was this ever explained?

Art, I need some answers!

Hot Chip

Check out the new Hot Chip track "Ready for the Floor". Even if you aren't a huge fan of electro you've got to appreciate how good these guys are. Kind of like Junior Boys with a sense of humor. If you don't have their old album "The Warning" pick it up now or Hot Chip will snap your neck!

The Eliminator

This is what it meant to be a warrior. These new guys are totally bush!

"I Driiiiink Your Milkshaaaaake!"

So, I was lucky enough to be in Chicago this weekend, one of the relatively few places that is currently showing There Will Be Blood. I knew from the beginning that this movie would be phenomenal, even when all I knew of it was a poster with the title and Daniel Day-Lewis' name, but it defied even my already-high expectations. Daniel Day-Lewis has got to be in the top 5 most amazing actors of all time. Plus, Johnny Greenwood provided an amazing and very original-sounding score, and you just can't go wrong with anybody from Radiohead these days.
Go. Now. Do not hesitate.

FYI - More About Me

I am master of the Engrish language!

FYI - About Me

Radiohead Live at 93 Feet East (16 January 2008)

Do yourself a favor - Grab a pint or two and watch this in its entirety.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=DFA0A65681B7036D