Holidaze

So, it's been awhile. What have I been up to? My brain, I feel, is still functioning at about 35% speed. Something about the holidays just slows everything down. And I have a cold and was hit in the head pretty hard by a laser gun yesterday (by my own teammate and sister too, she's too hardcore for me and apparently I wasn't playing up to her expected level). There's a bump and discoloration. And I've been staying up late and sleeping in. These all may be partly to blame for my lack of mental motivation.

The main addition to my life has been the one and only Rock Band. All I can say is that it is so awesome and so addictive. My sisters, brother and I are on a world tour with our band the Snuggle Bees. We went a little crazy the first night, staying up until our eyes burned and our limbs fell out of sync. I woke up and had to wear a wrist brace for the day. I was back on the drum throne today, but I am weary of overdoing it again. I am trying not to hit so hard, but it's a hard habit to break, especially when Blitzkrieg Bop comes on.

Speaking of The Ramones, I am currently reading Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. It is SO good and has lots of juicy and disgusting dirt on the bands and the whole scene. The book itself is mesmerizing, filthy and flies by, pretty much like punk itself. I really can't recommend the book enough, especially if you're into music, culture, punk or just reading about depraved youth. The combination of the book and rock band takes me back to younger days when I was really pretty into punk music and playing the drums. Ah, nostalgia. That nostalgia, the fear of getting old, the punk book, and Rock Band have all coalesced into a deep desire to start a band. For now, however, I will settle, knowing that I am a vital member of the jetsetting, rocking Snuggle Bees where we don't have to deal with long drives in a cramped van with fast food meals and dirty clothes. Where I can rock out in the comfort of my pajamas and take snack breaks in between songs.

Well, I'm itching to either get back to Rock Band, watch 24 or play this card game called Nertz, so I'm going to cut this short. To give a quick rundown on other updates, I have gotten a haircut, gone to the paper store Pulp, had Christmas, gone shopping, saw Juno, Atonement, 27 Dresses, The Kingdom, and The Namesake, edited, shot (video, not a weapon), been in the snow, watched up to the second disc of 24 Season 6, played racquetball, bowled, went go-karting and played laser tag (for the first time), and sat by the fire and hung out with family a lot.

Happy Holidays to all (slightly belated, but New Year is a holiday too, right?)!

why not?

What may or may not amount to my favorite 20 songs of 2007. The only ones that will likely not change under any circumstances are #1 and #2.

I really love/hate year-end lists. Here they are, anyway, in descending order:

20. Grand Ole Party - Look Out Young Son
19. Ryan Adams - Two
18. Marnie Stern - Every Single Line Means Something
17. The White Stripes - Rag and Bone
16. Thunder Power!!! - Sleep, Not Violence
15. Caribou - Melody Day
14. Architecture in Helsinki - Heart it Races
13. Baby Walrus - Red Horses
12. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothin'
11. Rilo Kiley - Smoke Detector and Fifteen (tied)
10. Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica
9. The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour and Go Places (tied)
8. Grizzly Bear - Knife
7. The Gossip - Your Mangled Heart
6. St. Vincent - Jesus Saves, I Spend
5. Feist - 1234
4. Arcade Fire - Antichrist Television Blues
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Down Boy
2. Beyoncé - Irreplaceable
1. M.I.A. - Paper Planes

my third pillow

P.S.

M.I.A. had this to say about Beyoncé:

"She’s like super. She’s like harder, faster, stronger. In our lifetime, Beyoncé will be a classic, like how people talk about Aretha Franklin."

I agree wholeheartedly, M.I.A.

Why don't you marry it then?

My obsession with M.I.A.'s song Paper Planes has not waned. I crave it every day (usually multiple times) and it never ceases to put a smile on my face and get my head moving. As I assume most people do, I go through intense song obsessions (as well as whole albums). Usually, however, I continue to play them and they wear themselves out and move to the back shelf, making way for a new one. Well, this song is stubborn and refuses to get out of the limelight. It's bound to happen at some point, but until then I'll be singing, "I'll fly like a paper get high like planes, catch me at the border I got visas in my name, if you come around here I'll make em all day, I'll get one done in a second if you wait."

Pulp

A new store is opening here in Omaha, called Pulp. I am very enthused as it sells something I get very excited about: paper. It specializes in letterpress stationary (love it!) and also sells "unique tote bags and wallets, journals, prints, art and design books and other paper/wood-based accessories."

In addition, Pulp is also "home to an art space dedicated to showing contemporary works on paper, including (but definitely not limited to) printmaking, photography, painting, sculpture and book arts."

Exciting!

The grand opening of the gallery at Pulp is Saturday night, and it features the artwork of Omahan Joey Lynch (see photo of artwork above). You can see more of his stuff here.

the bandwagon can be fun

I love lists, so I couldn't resist. However, there are too many movies and albums to think about and this list is much more fun to make, so here it is

My top ten favorite shows of 2007*:

1) Marianne Faithfull at the House of Blues, Anaheim, California
2) St. Vincent, Scout Niblett at The Waiting Room, Omaha, Nebraska
3) Bright Eyes, Simon Joyner at The Waiting Room, Omaha, Nebraska
4) The Gossip at The Knitting Factory, New York, New York
5) Girl Talk, Dan Deacon at The Echo, Los Angeles, California
6) Tilly & the Wall, Baby Walrus, Bear Country at Slowdown, Omaha, Nebraska
7) Rilo Kiley at First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota
8) The Gossip at the Troubadour, Los Angeles, California
9) M. Ward, Yo La Tengo, and Bright Eyes at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California
10) Wilco, Andrew Bird at the Orpheum, Omaha, Nebraska

Runners up (in order):

Neko Case, Porter Wagoner/Billy Bob Thornton at Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, California
The Faint at Sokol, Omaha, Nebraska
St. Vincent, The National at Slowdown, Omaha, Nebraska

Please remind me of any shows I have attended that you think could make the list that I may have forgotten. My memory doesn't seem to stretch back to the beginning of the year...

*note: amended 12/11/07 10:25 pm

dig a pony

weekend update

I am back from Detroit where I was attending my cousin's wedding. It was a really fun weekend -- lots of family bonding, story telling, dancing, eating (Buddy's pizza!), and hanging out.

My plane fishtailed and slid on the runway yesterday when we hit a patch of ice. That was pretty exciting. It's weird to feel the total loss of control in a vehicle that large.

I finished Atonement. It was good. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie. I started In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders after that and I am almost finished with that. It's a nice change of pace from Atonement.

I got my copy of In Persuasion Nation for like $5 or less from this warehouse/consignment style book store in Wisconsin - a totally random place as part of an outlet mall. I was deliberating even buying it because I was looking for stuff for my sisters at the time and felt guilty for getting something for myself, but I had wanted the book for awhile and I figured it was roughly the price of a mocha at Starbucks, so I bought it.

I was looking for a book to bring with me on the trip as I was almost finished with Atonement, so I picked up the Saunders book and starting flipping through the pages when I saw some scrawled writing on the cover page. I stopped and navigated back to the page. It pretty clearly read George Saunders in cursive. I looked closer and, sure enough, it was an autograph from the author himself. So the $5 wasn't bad for a hardcover, signed edition. That was a pretty thrilling discovery.

nouvelle musique

I have been very busy as of lately, so I haven't had a lot of time to post. I did go to a great show this past Saturday night though and I feel the need to promote some music that you may not have heard. The show was held at the Bemis Underground, the basement of the contemporary arts museum the Bemis Center. The Bemis also has a great artist in residency program here in Omaha. You live and work there and they provide one of their brick lofts, large gallery workspace and some materials. They support artists from all different mediums including music. Some of the past residents include Tilly & the Wall, Orenda Fink, and Gillian Welch. David Matysiak from Coyote Bones is currently there.

Anyway, the show included music from Alessi, Thunder Power!!! and Baby Walrus -- all really great musical acts. If you haven't heard any of these musicians/bands, you should check them out when you get a chance. Alessi is from England, but was here in Omaha for a spell recording, and Thunder Power!!! and Baby Walrus are Omaha-based.

And here is a link to CoCo Art, where you can download some songs from some other Omaha bands that are making some interesting music.

There is a lot of great music coming out of Omaha right now.

Other than listening to music, I have been busy with teaching, writing and shooting. More details to come in the near future.

And, in other news, it is winter here.

Not good.

I have a layer of Liquid Nails on a piece of my finger. I like how hardcore and mystifying that sounds.