Notorious L.B.T.

Blog move!

2009-03-02T22:53:00.002-06:00

I have some important news to report. My friend Cody has updated my website and as a result this blog will be no longer. That is the sad news. I pay my respects to this here blog and the years we've spent together.

The good news is that the site looks awesome and I have a new blog there. All of my previous posts (and comments too) are there, and I hope to see you there too!

Website: http://lindsaytrapnell.com
Blog: http://lindsaytrapnell.com/blog

Albert Maysles videos

2009-02-24T16:54:00.001-06:00

This is Part 1 of 5. The other installments are already up on the VBS page.

Lindsay & Moskowitz (and friends)

2009-02-23T20:35:00.007-06:00

This is from a screening a few weeks ago of Cassavetes' Minnie and Moskowitz at Film Streams, with Seymour Cassel in person for a post-show Q & A. Seymour was as charming as ever and told many great stories about his experiences making films and being great friends with John and talked a bit about his work with Wes Anderson. I had never seen the film before, and it was great to see it on the big screen.

Seymour as Moskowitz is vivacious, unpredictable and a thrill to watch (and he sports some pretty sweet sideburns and mustache - see below). The film also solidified that Gena Rowlands is indeed one of my all-time favorite actresses.

I always seem to leave Cassavetes films inspired and itching to make a film, and those for me are the best movie-watching experiences. I enjoy a lot of films, but there aren't too many that come along that really give me that feeling that I really want to and almost have to make a movie.

Arts funding

2009-02-16T19:02:00.002-06:00

Okay, I know I run the risk of coming off like a spokesperson for the N.Y. Times, but I also wanted to mention (and link to) a really interesting article about arts funding that was in today's Arts section.

The arts is an area of all this economic and stimulus package talk that often gets ignored, and the reality is that I hadn't even heard about this section of the bill before today (though I have generally bypassed many articles on the economy because how many of those can you really read?), so maybe it was my own ignorance. However, I think it's a facet of an important issue that deserves attention, and I'm happy to say that after a close call, the final version of the recovery package does indeed include $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts.

It is just disturbing to me to read about people in positions of power and government not recognizing the importance of art on a country's culture, well-being, and cultural and economic prosperity. And there seems to be a lot of ignorance floating around when you have a Representative (Republican Jack Kingston of Georgia) saying things like this:

“I just think putting people to work is more important than putting more art on the wall of some New York City gallery frequented by the elite art community...call me a sucker for the working man."

Is Jack not aware that many (or most) artists make less than say, an electrician or plumber? I have pay stubs if he needs to see the proof. By the way, Jack, many people who would fit into your championed group of "working men" are employed in artistic fields: electricians and grips on film sets, construction/woodworkers, set builders, lighting technicians, audio technicians, builders/electricians/plumbers/accountants for art galleries, ticket takers, garment workers, and arts writers (or maybe they don't get dirty enough to qualify as the rough and tumble "working man"). There are too numerous to continue on with this list, but you get the picture and those are only examples of the directly employed...think about those who benefit economically indirectly, for example, the restaurant next to the Broadway theatre, etc.).

I hope we can move towards a more holistic understanding of the arts and its role in society and not have preconceived notions of who "artists" are and who enjoys art. There are people of every race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status who are artists, who try to make a living doing something that relates to art, and who enjoy art in some way.

Why would there be a stigma attached to giving money to people that try to make a living making/supporting/disseminating art or involved in preserving art or educating about art when there is no stigma attached to giving money to people who try to make a living making cars, through investments or the stock market?

Anyway, I think it's an important article to read, especially if you're in the arts, have friends and family in the arts, or care about the arts. If you don't follow into any of these categories, I probably don't know you personally, but I recommend it anyway.

I could go on, but I'll stop myself...here's the article: Saving Federal Arts Funds: Selling Culture as an Economic Force.

Neko Case

2009-02-16T11:22:00.003-06:00

This Sunday's NY Times Magazine had a great article on Neko Case. For those of you not fortunate enough to get the Sunday N.Y. Times, you can read it here.

The photo above is taken in her newly acquired barn in Vermont, with her "piano strays."

Also, the Arts and Entertainment section had an article on M. Ward. Another link for you.

Sheena is a Punk Rocker...

2009-02-13T11:52:00.005-06:00

was covered by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for the War Child:Heroes compilation out February 16, and can be heard on their MySpace page.

They've also set a release date for their new album titled "It's Blitz!": April 14. Their single "Zero" will be available on iTunes February 24th. The album is said (from the band's newsletter) to be inspired by '70s disco collaborations between Italian producer Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer, Joy Division and Karen O's love of dancing. Supposedly Nick was ordered by Karen O to trade in his guitar for synths. This all sounds very intriguing. I'm excited!

Snow!

2009-02-13T11:48:00.002-06:00

It's snowing here. A lot. My planned trip to the grocery store is canceled, and I will try to make do with what I can scrounge up here. I see coffee and frozen pizza on my menu for today.

Once again to Witch Mountain

2009-01-27T17:01:00.007-06:00

Today I was alerted to the fact that Walt Disney Pictures is remaking one of my favorite movies from childhood: Escape from Witch Mountain. The movie was based on a book, and one of the many that I religiously checked out of Dearborn Public Library. It was followed by the just-as-good-if-my-memory-serves-me sequel, Return from Witch Mountain.

I was on the phone with Laura when she described the billboard and said the name of the film. My heart jumped at the name and memory and then sunk upon realizing the inevitable: a remake. "The Rock is in it," Laura said. Oh no, I thought. "Are their two kids in it?" I asked, hesitantly. "Yes," came her reply. "Around thirteen or so?" I was thinking of Tia, the older sister, and my hero - an orphan with ultrasonic speech detectible only to the fellow orphaned, telekinetic brother she protects. "Maybe like eleven." "What else is on the poster?" I asked. There was a pause and then: "A taxi, a helicopter and a spaceship." Yep, that's the one.

The studio gave it a new title, Race to Witch Mountain, and added what they must have considered the crucial ingredient of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. I am very disheartened by this. I'm curious to see the movie, but don't want to interfere with my mind's idealized version of the original. I can still perfectly picture the de-saturated colors and 1970s outfits (it was made in 1975) and the clunky visual effects that will (sadly) no doubt be replaced by the technical wizardry of today. What I most remember about the films (besides the amazing scene where they get dropped off in the Rose Bowl by a spaceship early on in the sequel) is the intelligence, spunk, freedom and paranormal powers that the kids possessed - pure fantasy for a kid.

To illustrate the assumed difference in artistic merit between these two films I present the poster of the original and the upcoming remake.

Free Sundance shorts

2009-01-22T18:31:00.002-06:00

The Sundance Film Festival and iTunes are offering 10 free shorts from now until January 25. I haven't watched any of them yet, so I don't have any reviews, but This Way Up was nominated for an Oscar today in the category of Animated Short Film. James looked interesting, and I remember it getting a fairly good review from friends Erica and Alex who saw it at Sundance. I've also read something about Acting for the Camera, but only remember it sounding interesting and kind of weird. This is all very vague, so I would advise finding out for yourself...and if you watch any really good ones, let me know.

To check them out, click here.

The New Year

2009-01-21T18:44:00.003-06:00

I am back in Omaha after a trip to Park City/Deer Valley, Utah and I am trying to stay inspired and productive. The Utah weekend was much fun as usual; it never fails to disappoint and to revive the senses. I forgot how numbing and LONG the harsh Midwestern winters can be, and although I was still surrounded by snow it was a much needed break from my surroundings and routine.

I've never been much into resolutions, but I feel committed to a number of things this year including pushing myself creatively and having more discipline with my creative endeavors so that I get more done. I am going to hold myself to starting and eventually finishing a short fiction film and a short documentary. I tend to get sidetracked with all of the other stuff I'm doing (most of which I love): teaching, writing, reading, watching TV and films, passing time, hanging out, going to concerts, etc. but I realized that I really want to make films and have to really dedicate myself to that task. I also plan to volunteer somewhere on a regular basis, something I have thought about for awhile now. Maybe it's the combination of the surge of hope, change and optimism of Obama, or rather more specifically the hope and optimism that comes from the still startling fact that our country elected Obama and I feel supportive of our government and a proud citizen, and the fact that I turned 28 this year. Yikes.

To steer away from some of the seriousness and just discuss a few things I have been enjoying lately, how about this great time of television? I am on the season finale of Season 2 of Mad Men (so wonderful!), caught the season premiere of Friday Night Lights (so glad it's back), and am gearing up for the season premiere of Lost tonight. Not to mention the shows that I continue to follow or have recently watched in their entirety: 30 Rock, The Office, 24, Gossip Girl, Weeds, The L Word and Brothers and Sisters. I've been meaning to re-start The Wire, but when will I have time? I can barely keep up with all of these shows.

I caught some films at Sundance and I can't wait for Humpday to be released theatrically because I saw it and loved it. So funny and realistic. Skiing was primarily on the agenda in Utah (my first time ever...I'm still in one piece), but I also saw one of the fiction shorts programs and the doc shorts. There were some good ones and some not good ones, as is often the case with short programs. Watching the shorts did contribute to re-igniting the spark of really wanting to make a short film soon.,

Thanksgiving

2009-01-11T13:50:00.003-06:00

2008.

Movies: 2008

2009-01-05T18:41:00.005-06:00

So I attempted to write down my top ten movies of 2008. Here is my attempt:

1. Billy the Kid
2. Rachel Getting Married
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
4. The Flight of the Red Balloon
5. Reprise
6. Ballast
7. Trouble the Water
8. American Teen
9. The Pleasure of Being Robbed
10. Happy-Go-Lucky

There are a whole bunch of other films of 2008 that could possibly make the list once I see them. These include but are not limited to: Wendy and Lucy, Revolutionary Road, Tell No One, I've Loved You So Long, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Edge of Heaven, Synecdoche, New York, The Last Mistress, A Christmas Tale, Frozen River, Man on Wire, The Visitor, The Wrestler and Milk.

Thoughts? Issues? Suggestions?

I made this shoe with my sister

2009-01-05T18:08:00.002-06:00

We also made another one that looks just like it. Look at that stitching. I love them.

Technically I should say we stitched these shoes and laced them, but I am still really proud of our accomplishment.

Thanks Jamie for your help!

reviews

2008-12-22T10:33:00.003-06:00

The holiday season is upon us! I think it came faster this year than any other year. It is snowy and icy and cold here in Omaha.

I don't have the time at this moment for a proper post, but I can direct you to my 2008 list of music and movies, posted on Omahype and/or my review of a musician named Michelle Malone's album Debris on venuszine.com.

Slacker, but not really

2008-12-16T01:53:00.002-06:00

I know I haven't been great about posting on here lately. I've been writing, but for publications and writing groups, not for this blog. Combine that with the fact that I've cheated on this blog, with another blog, Fistful of Paper, and the guilt grows.

Dear blog, I have not abandoned you. I will return. I still love you the most, even with your simple, unchanged design. You were there from the beginning.

I shall not redeem myself tonight. It is too late, again I have been up writing and grading and not planning for class tomorrow and I would rather try to catch another 15 minutes of a Mad Men episode before I fall asleep. So until then, I will take the easy way out and post another video (albeit a funny one, and related to my new obsession Mad Men).

By the way, it is currently zero degrees out. Exactly. Not negative, not positive, just zero. A whole number, rational number and an integer - all concepts I revisited tonight while tutoring.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis by Between Two Ferns

Kelly Reichardt interview

2008-12-11T17:34:00.004-06:00

Here's interview that Spoutblog did with director/teacher Kelly Reichardt (Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy).

It's really interesting to me on one level because her career is a very close model of something I would love to have. She still gets to live where she wants and she teaches at a college that she really likes and gets to make personal, well made, low-budget feature and short films with friends and the people she wants to and they often get seen by people. She is able to make a living making films and teaching and is able to have full creative control of her films and doesn't think of one film as a stepping stone to get to a bigger, better career but thinks of it as another fun art project and life experience, and as a way to continue to work on and improve her filmmaking skills.

Colbert vs. Kanye

2008-12-05T18:25:00.001-06:00

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Operation Humble Kanye - Stephen Beats Kanye

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Gino's East!

2008-12-05T18:12:00.005-06:00

I am too lazy to take a picture, thus you have a backwards computer-taken picture.

But I am not too lazy to heat this bad boy up. Look it's Gino's East pizza! And I found it in Omaha. Gino's East is my favorite pizza ever. This was by far the best part of my day. The second best part, well maybe it's a tie, was getting a tetanus shot and not even coming close to fainting. I'm growing up.

Brooklyn Go Hard

2008-12-03T17:49:00.003-06:00

Jay-Z on iLike - Get updates inside iTunes

The song is pretty sweet and catchy plus references from the Brooklyn Dodgers (of course) to Annie (once again) to Lykke Li. Nice. And cool typography graphics. B-R-O-O-K-L-Y-N, join in.

Moxie Paper Press

2008-12-01T18:53:00.003-06:00

I joined a small writing group a little while back. It has been a great experience thus far. It is a great group of people and it's nice to have a forum to share work and ideas. And now one of those ideas is coming to fruition. We are starting a small, independent press called Moxie Paper Press (click to go to our website) and we have a blog titled Fistful of Paper. A big shout out to the wonderful, hardworking Cody Peterson who designed our website, blog and logos. Thank you!

And for those of you in the Omaha area, we are gearing up to host our first event titled Monster Holiday on December 13 at the Bancroft Gallery at 10th and Bancroft. Honeybee and Talking Mountain will play and there will be readings by the members of our group/press: Annie Dilocker, Christin Goetz, Drew Hanson, Katie Wudel and myself.

Just wanted to get the word out. More stuff to come from Moxie Paper Press!

p.s. I've added a permanent link to the Moxie site on the left.

Bemis art auction

2008-11-25T15:24:00.007-06:00

American Music Awards

2008-11-24T14:50:00.003-06:00

This year was the first year in many, many years (perhaps ever?) that I have watched the American Music Awards. When I say watch, I mean I recorded them for Beyonce's performance, but did fast forward through them while playing pieces.

Here are my unfiltered, stream of consciousness observations (most of them while watching):

New Kids reunion: Very strange to watch. They have to be around 40, right? Some of them must have kids. They perform part of The Right Stuff, complete with the side-to-side feet moves, this is the most exciting part of their performance. That one move takes me back to my pre-teen days. A time where I received a New Kids sweatshirt and silk pillow with their faces on it for my birthday party held at a roller skating rink in Dearborn, Michigan. I think I had a neon green sweatshirt and side ponytail. Donnie Wahlberg has definitely eclipsed Jordan as my favorite despite his pretty embarrassing attempts at hip-hop posturing. I like his style, nonetheless. The new songs aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. They broadcast Danny and Jon's face all of about 3 times total. This is not a problem for me, but it's funny how blatant they are about it. I do kind of feel bad for them. Jon seemed like he was in his mid-30s back in the day, the dad of the group, but he doesn't seem to have aged much since then.

Kanye West: Bizarre. Egotistic, fashionable, and truly strange. He's mysterious, obnoxious, fascinating, frustrating and talented and apparently "wants to be Elvis"...that's how he ended his acceptance speech. You never know what you're gonna get when he's in front of a microphone at an awards ceremony. At least he keeps it interesting.

This doesn't have to do with the awards, but the Heidi Klum Rock Band commercial is pretty awesome.

Miley Cyrus: I thought I would be really annoyed with her performance, but I actually thought it was exciting, visual, and surprising. Then again, this positive reaction could also be the result of very low expectations. She's pretty well coordinated. This reminds me a lot of Avril's teen-angst, my ex-boyfriend sucks songs with her PG-10, Hot Topic pseudo-rocker/rebel/goth image. Despite the total calculation/marketing ploy/co-opting of real, subcultural/underground styles and movements, there is something that draws me in to this in the same way that certain Avril songs/posturings/performances do. I think it needs just enough absurdity and actual distance from the real thing to work...although this formula doesn't work for Ashlee Simpson's dark eyeliner/emo-ish album or performances.

Coldplay: I would never associate Coldplay with the word avant-garde until I saw Chris Martin's moves. He's all over the place with no apparent rhythm, rhyme or reason. In one word: spastic.

RZA is there? He tells Jimmy Kimmel that his daughter has a Jonas Brothers poster on her wall. Awesome.

I love Terrance Howard. He can really change his voice. Does he really have to introduce Mariah Carey? Couldn't it have been Beyonce?

Beyonce/Sasha Fierce: She performs Ladies (Put a Ring On It). It's amazing. There is a strobe light, and a dramatic entrance. There is a really great cutaway to Queen Latifah doing the hand thing (as prompted by Beyonce). Love Beyonce's expressions, especially the end head pops, looking incredulous and pointing to her finger. Also love the all-female band.

Back to back performances by the Jonas Brothers and Pussycat Dolls? Really? I didn't know the Pussycat Dolls were even still around. Or that they were a real band. I always connected them with some kind of marketing scheme, show, or real dolls. Am I making this up?

Annie Lennox performs live. This is a surprise. Pretty intense. But good, and she's nice and humble in her speech. She seems genuinely thankful for the award, which has to do with humanitarianism as well.

There are at least 2 performers I don't know so far (Natasha something, already forgot the other).

Sarah McLachlan: Do they really need to reach back this far for a song to perform? That Angel song? What about a song from this year? Do they understand that there is interesting, progressive music still currently being made?

Conclusions:
1) The 90s live again!
2) When you're really out of what music is popular at the moment, it is really strange to watch these awards.

Ellen Kuras interview

2008-11-21T13:51:00.001-06:00

Flavorwire interviews Ellen Kuras and Thavi Phrasavath here.

I like this new Beach House video

2008-11-19T13:35:00.001-06:00

Oscar feature doc shortlist

2008-11-18T19:26:00.004-06:00

The Ellen Kuras-directed documentary Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) is on the shortlist of feature documentaries, a list that will be whittled down to five Oscar nominees. I was also very happy to see Trouble the Water on there, a film I really enjoyed. Not a surprise that Standard Operating Procedure and Encounters at the End of the World were also on there. Here's a Hollywood Reporter articleon the full 15. I have a lot of doc watching to do.

My predictions for the five nominees are: Standard Operating Procedure, Trouble the Water, Encounters at the End of the World, Nerakhoon, and Man on Wire. Made in America is my runner-up choice, a wild card. We'll see...

television & suitcase

2008-11-17T20:26:00.001-06:00

television & suitcase, originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

Glimpse shoot

2008-11-15T01:04:00.003-06:00

glimpse

Above is a link to photos taken at the shoot for a music video I'm directing for Honeybee's song Glimpse. The kids were pretty adorable. I just added some that were taken with my Lomo (they're at the beginning of the album). Thanks to the various photographers!

Honeybee at the Bemis

2008-11-13T16:22:00.004-06:00

Some photos I took while Honeybee was recording are up at the Slumber Party Records Flickr site if you want to check them out.

*the link should now correctly take you to the Flickr site - sorry!

Tilly on Sesame Street

2008-11-12T10:48:00.000-06:00

Tilly & the Wall on SESAME STREET from Team Love on Vimeo.

November 4th

2008-11-07T00:11:00.005-06:00

layoffs

2008-10-27T20:06:00.006-05:00

Though I no longer subscribe to the paper version of the Los Angeles Times, only because it is impossible to do so, it was still very disheartening to find out that Carina Chocano was one of 75 staffers laid off today. She's one of my favorite current film critics. She combines intelligence, warmth, and strong opinions to write really witty, insightful, often spot-on reviews.

She also manages to slip in some biting and too-true cultural commentary in some of her writing. Here is the (somewhat prescient, hopefully not so much so that the currently wildly popular Fey suffers a backlash) last paragraph to her Baby Mama review:

Fey has spent several years proving that she's very good at what she does, and she may spend the next few years having to prove that she deserves any success that comes her way. But hey, this is America -- where the fact that a woman is running for president is still talked about with a kind of gee-whiz-look-how-far-we've-come disingenuousness, despite the many countries that have already seen one or more women presidents. If a Fey backlash happens, I hope Hillary buys her a drink.

Places to read her stuff:

L.A. Times reviews and film writings.

Salon magazine pieces.

I hope she quickly gets an amazing job offer.

Wendy and Lucy trailer

2008-10-24T01:17:00.005-05:00

I can't wait to see this. Will this and Rachel Getting Married please come to Omaha? I'm definitely a fan of Kelly Reichardt and her work and I've been eager for this to come out. Michelle Williams is in a bunch of what look to be good movies coming out: Synechdoche, New York, Incendiary, Scorsese's Shutter Island and Mammoth from Lukas Moodyson, another one of my favorite current working directors.

I haven't seen a narrative film that has really blown me away in awhile. I'm ready for inspiration.

More Wendy and Lucy:

UNKLE review

2008-10-21T19:31:00.002-05:00

My UNKLE review is up at venuszine.com

reading material if you wish

2008-10-16T11:10:00.004-05:00

I have two new articles in the City Weekly this week: Meeting the Band: UUVVWWZ (photo above) and a review of Jenny Lewis' album Acid Tongue.

gossip girl + obama = success

2008-10-16T02:00:00.002-05:00

And featuring Hannah from doc American Teen. Pretty awesome.

punk rock tour blog

2008-10-14T11:12:00.005-05:00

I'm going to use a word I don't often use in this post: idol. The word has undoubtedly lost much of its grandeur and power, as our culture has tilted towards excess in many ways, including word usage. It's not enough to like something, but instead you love it. Whereas dislike would've once worked or is pretty accurate, hate may be used. And the phenomenon American Idol doesn't help at all either.

But I digress. I am writing because I was alerted to the fact that Tobi Vail's tour diary from her early days in the band Go Team is online at Punk Rock Tour Blog. Tobi Vail was the reason I had to inject that bit about the idol because growing up she was definitely one of them for me. The drummer for Bikini Kill, she was also a writer of the zine Jigsaw Youth, and perhaps more well known to some as the onetime girlfriend and love of Kurt Cobain. She was the primary reason I bought a drumset with all of the money I had saved in the bank in (was it?) eighth grade.

I was alerted to this blog by Monitor Mix, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney's (another in the idol range) blog for NPR, but I was so excited that I had to share it further.

Other blog posts include entries from Molly Neuman of Bratmobile and Corin Tucker of Heavens to Betsy (and later Sleater-Kinney). This is a very exciting find (what do you call a find that you don't find yourself?) for a Tuesday morning.

I told you to be patient...

2008-10-10T01:57:00.002-05:00

I've been listening to Bon Iver a lot again lately (hence the title), since I checked out For Emma from the library and can play it in my car for now. I have a subscription to emusic, which is where I tend to get about half of any new music I acquire (other 40% buying CDs, 10% from friends), but the issue with that is that my car has become increasingly finicky about what CDs it will play and it refuses about 99% of all burned CDs now (a lot of percentages in this post).

I also checked out Lucinda Williams' "West" and an Iron and Wine CD that I haven't heard. On eMusic I got Department of Eagles and Vivian Girls the other day. I like Vivian Girls a lot and look forward to listening to Department of Eagles.

This turned out to be a "what I'm listening to these days" post, when I intended it as an extended apology of not blogging about fireworks, vertigo, throwing up, and crazy bands from Tel Aviv. I've gotten behind on a lot of stuff lately, and I still feel like I'm running to catch up (or maybe jogging).

But the house is coming together, Laura was here for a fun visit, and now I'm off to Minneapolis to hang with my sisters on their birthday. I can't wait!

last night

2008-10-08T20:01:00.003-05:00

Lykke Li and Bon Iver

2008-09-30T13:03:00.001-05:00

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band.

2008-09-29T21:19:00.001-05:00

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. Omaha. The Anchor Inn., originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

From last, last Saturday at the Anchor Inn in Omaha.

this is what all the walls in my new house are going to look like

2008-09-27T02:58:00.002-05:00

behind the times

2008-09-25T02:24:00.005-05:00

I've been so behind in posting lately. Entries related to fireworks and vertigo are coming soon. I promise.

What I've been doing while not writing here: moving, painting, writing stuff that I actually get paid for (albeit not that much), taking some photos, seeing some shows, surfing the web, grading stuff, teaching, playing outside with dogs, thinking about writing on this blog, thinking about making movies, thinking about making books, watching the blooper reel of last season's The Office, laughing, watching Gossip Girl, trying to drink more water, trying to stay on top of to-do lists, failing at staying on top of to-do lists, eating, e-mailing, sleeping, searching for bookshelves, returning to Pub Quiz, losing at Pub Quiz, thinking about getting a massage, thinking that I'm so behind on New Yorkers, thinking that I should be doing more to help Barack Obama get elected, missing my sisters, being sad about David Foster Wallace's death, recycling, listening to crickets, trying to understand the financial crisis and how it happened, looking away from roadkill, wanting to make stuff, drinking tea, meeting new people, looking forward to Laura visiting, planning a music video, getting annoyed with my phone, smelling Rufus' head, thinking I need to go to the dentist sometime soon, racking up library fines, and making lists.

Omissions/additions: missing Erica, getting so close to finishing my Finger #2 piece.

Further amendment: REALLY missing my sisters.

That's right.

2008-09-24T23:41:00.003-05:00

Not that I needed it, but more proof that Gossip Girl is awesome.

Now if only Serena and Dan would get back together.

jumpin, jumpin

2008-09-18T16:47:00.002-05:00

Meeting the Band: Talking Mountain was in the CW this week. It's always nice when a band whose music you enjoy is made up of nice and fun/funny people.

one word reviews of recent activities

2008-09-17T08:23:00.003-05:00

Okkervil River show: so-so
Neko Case show: amazing
Jeanne Claude and Christo lecture: French

dance, dance, dance at hotel cafe

2008-09-12T11:33:00.003-05:00

Lykke Li at Hotel Cafe.

Labor Day weekend in Hancock

2008-09-08T01:36:00.001-05:00

From Hancock Labor Day

Click here (or above on Hancock Labor Day) for full album and festivities.

rufus in hancock

2008-09-07T22:50:00.001-05:00

rufus in hancock, originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

sincere

2008-09-07T22:49:00.001-05:00

sincere, originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

L.A. photos

2008-09-06T23:42:00.005-05:00

From L.A. in August

Click on the L.A. in August link to see the rest.

My breakfast on August 30

2008-09-04T02:21:00.001-05:00

Do the whirlwind

2008-09-01T22:35:00.002-05:00

I'm back at the keyboard after a long, multiple state break. The states I have stayed in over the past week and a half include California, Minnesota, Wisconsin (with brief stops in Arizona and Iowa) and now I've returned to the good life in Nebraska. I'll post updates, details and photos in the next couple of days (if I can find the time). This week continues to be crazy busy as I'm moving into a new house and starting the fall quarter.

weekend of shows

2008-08-17T21:52:00.007-05:00

I saw a bunch of great local bands this weekend. On Friday, Thunder Power (now sans exclamation points) had their CD release show at Slowdown with Honeybee, These United States, and Midwest Dilemma. It was the first time I've seen Midwest Dilemma and they sounded really good and full (they should sound full with that many members) and I'm always excited to see Honeybee live. Thunder Power sounded great too and the EP Love Yourself looks and sounds awesome.

On Saturday there was a benefit show at The Waiting Room for the Peace Center, which amongst other support, offers free counseling for soldiers with PTSD. Bands that played included: Bear Country, Simon Joyner, Bill Hoover, McCarthy Trenching, Outlaw Con Bandana, Orenda Fink and Baby Walrus (pictured above).

It was the first time I've seen Outlaw Con Bandana, and they were really, really good. I've heard good things about them, and they did not disappoint. I haven't seen Baby Walrus in what feels like forever, and it was way too long, because this band is SO good. They played a few new songs which were really promising and is a sign of more good music to come from them, and the old stuff reminded me how good their album was. I guess I'll have to take Lykke Li out of my CD player. It was bound to happen some time.

Plaiderpillar

2008-08-14T13:31:00.004-05:00

My staff favorite is up at Venus Zine. Amy (a.k.a. Plaiderpillar) makes really awesome stuff. Cody first introduced me to her stuff by way of Herbert, my long-legged monster friend.

Here is Herbert and Rufus:

K.C.

2008-08-14T13:06:00.006-05:00

Last weekend we embarked on a family weekend trip to Kansas City. It's a great mid-size city with quite a bit going on (see Whoop Dee Doo article below, as one example). We went shopping, ate some good food, and saw The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (well worth it). We also visited a small town called Weston and ate at their diner and looked at some antiques.

This first photo was taken in the section of town called the Crossroads Arts District. One of the stores we stopped at was Peggy Noland Kansas City. She designs some cool, kind of out there stuff that has been worn by the likes of Tilly and the Wall members and Lovefoxxx from C.S.S. (those awesome one-piece spandex suits that she often wears). Note: she is the faraway person in the photo below. The store is tiny, as in the size of a closet, and the walls and ceiling were covered in fluffy, white cotton. It felt like you were in a tiny cloud.

This next photo is from Hammerpress, a letterpress and design studio. They had a bunch of awesome stuff in there - concert posters, stationery, art books and art prints - and you could see the big letterpress equipment in the back area they make the stuff.

And here's the sibling set in the small town of Weston, in front of some historic building and historic bell, no doubt.

Tilly at Sokol

2008-08-12T14:43:00.004-05:00

Lykke Li

2008-08-12T12:28:00.003-05:00

Here is my review of the Lykke Li album Youth Novels for Venus.

I'll sum it up for you: it's pretty awesome and really catchy. I've been playing it a ton lately. Plus she can dance.

Princeton review

2008-08-11T11:41:00.002-05:00

You can check out my Venus review for Princeton's Bloomsbury EP here.

dance, dance, dance. so, so good.

2008-08-11T01:16:00.003-05:00

SPLIT SERIES LYKKE LI & EL PERRO DEL MAR- DANCE DANCE DANCE
by lablogotheque

Whoop Dee Doo

2008-08-07T16:27:00.004-05:00

An article I wrote on Whoop Dee Doo's upcoming performance at the Bemis ran this week in the CW. You can see it online here or click on the image below.

If you're reading this from Omaha, it sounds like an awesome event. I really wish I could go but I'm heading to Kansas City this weekend with my family. So if you go let me know how it was.

Beautiful Losers, the film

2008-08-07T00:02:00.002-05:00

I had a strange coincidence yesterday when I randomly remembered there was going to be a documentary on the art book Beautiful Losers, which in turn was based on an art exhibit. I looked on Amazon to see if a DVD was out because I figured the last I heard about it was a really long time ago. No luck. Then I checked this movie blog called Big Screen, Little Screen that I occasionally visit, but hadn't for a long time, and guess what was the last entry? The trailer for Beautiful Losers. Weird.

I'm really excited to see it.

So here it is:

Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.

americana part one and two

2008-08-05T00:41:00.003-05:00

american horses, originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

2008-08-05T00:41:00.001-05:00

american band, originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

guitars and fireworks

2008-08-01T13:41:00.001-05:00

guitar, originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

This is in the happy accident pile of what happens when you accidentally re-use the same roll of film. There are others in the sad accident pile. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

These taste buds are a changing...

2008-07-28T23:51:00.004-05:00

In the last few months, I have acquired new tastes for the following foods:

Steak (though I probably ate this when I was a kid)
Popcorn (especially Tender Whites)
Yogurt (this one in the last week)
Fast food cheeseburgers (more in the last month than the last 10 years of my life)
Jellybeans (Jelly Belly, best combination is Strawberry Jam and Coconut)
Quaker Simple Harvest Instant Multigrain hot oatmeal (new and good...this one isn't that much of a stretch since I've enjoyed other kinds of oatmeal for a long time)

Foods I have started eating only in the last few years:

French fries
Potato chips

It's weird how suddenly you can start eating and even liking foods that you have never had a taste for before. Perhaps my semi-recent change to eating meat has opened up new flavor possibilities? It's like I don't even know my own taste buds anymore.

No Cigar, No Job

2008-07-28T11:50:00.004-05:00

I briefly attended this really great art show (title above) at RNG Gallery this weekend. The displayed art was made in Haiti by Chris Lawson and the artists of FOSAJ Art Center, located in Jacmel, Haiti. An accompanying audio installation was created by Orenda and Todd Fink.

Alessi and Jake Bellows

2008-07-22T14:07:00.002-05:00

The Munny Show

2008-07-22T13:24:00.006-05:00

The Bemis Underground and Trocadero hosted The Munny Show at the Bemis on Saturday. A bunch of really great local artists (Scott Blake, Wanda Ewing, Renee Hoover, Leslie Iwai, Jeff King, Laurie and Charles, Joey Lynch, Miss Cake, Peter Morris, Dave Nelson, Zack Nipper, and Nolan Tredway) were given a Munny to design/decorate/re-create.

I like these kind of concept art shows, it's cool to see how different each artist's work was when given the same canvas/parameters. There were a lot of really cool ones (so much so that I reached my photo limit on this blog post without making an album). They were silently auctioned off with proceeds going to the Nebraska AIDS Project.

Dave Nelson's Munny.

Zack Nipper's Munny.

Peter Morris' Munny.

You asked for them...

2008-07-16T16:49:00.000-05:00

More photos from the Wisconsin trip!

pinecrest 2008

I've got some catching up to do.

2008-07-14T14:30:00.004-05:00

I've returned from one of the best places on Earth: Hancock, Wisconsin. This picture gives you a good sense of the place.

El Perro del Mar review

2008-07-02T16:51:00.003-05:00

You'll need to scroll past the Mars Volta review (or read it), but a review I wrote a little while back for the El Perro del Mar album From the Valley to the Stars was published in the City Weekly this week.

Bemis Creativity Festival

2008-07-02T11:35:00.002-05:00

Bemis hosted the Creativity Festival, a series of awesome free events from Thursday through Saturday - music, exhibitions, panels, workshops, open studio tours - it was really fun, informative, and inspiring.

Much of the conference was devoted to talking about "creative communities" and how to foster, support and keep them alive and buzzing. It's clear that the Bemis is dedicated to promoting and helping develop the arts in Omaha, a task that they see as vital to the health of a city or community. I wish all cities would be committed to that same purpose, even if it's at the expense of business or economy at times.

Anyway, here are some photos from the festival:

bemis

major storm!

2008-06-29T02:48:00.000-05:00

storm

no exit

2008-06-29T02:12:00.006-05:00

On Friday we exited the Bemis to this sight.

Here is the other intersecting street.

Yeah, we were stranded.

Performance

2008-06-27T00:48:00.003-05:00

Performance exceeded my expectations. It was extremely bizarre, provocative, and thoroughly entertaining. Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg were their magnetic selves. The hedonistic den that they inhabited in the film seemed a mirror image to the description Marianne Faithfull gives in her autobiography of Anita and Brian Jones' flat. A place for their crowd to drop in and a place where Anita and Brian passed their time engaging in black magic, drug use, dress-up, physical abuse, sex, music, and hanging out with friends (this was before Anita was with Keith Richards). These activities are featured prominently in the film as well. It's unbelievable to me that the film was released by Warner Brothers. The studio tried their best to bury it, but it found a way out somehow (two years later than it was supposed to be released and after an attempt at burning the negative).

Here's a really good quote (featured on the Film Streams notes) from co-director Donald Cammell:

"One of the reasons I think Warners hated the film so much is because it forces an audience to consider the construction of their own fragmented selves, the various aspects of sexuality, which is something people never question. Nick [Roeg, co-director] loves to tell the story of one Warner executive who observed, 'Even the bath water is dirty in this,' referring to the menage a trois in Turner's bath. Nick could only say, 'Well the water looks that way because they just took a bath!"

My sisters and I managed to keep a fairly straight face through all the absurdity, non-sequiturs, and random cut-up style (at times making it seem that the film was edited by a blind person), until a young girl appeared with a turban and mustache in silk pajamas serving tea to the bohemians and speaking in a munchkin voice. At that point we lost it. I can't remember the last time that I've been struck with uncontrollable laughter (I think it's only happened about 5 times total in my life), but this was a bad case of it. It took so much self-control to contain it. I forced myself to disengage, I looked around me, I tried to get angry, I put a sweatshirt over my face, I took a drink of water. I was literally shaking and sweating trying to contain my laughter and not totally disrupt the whole theater.

This self-control was tested each time the child (or possible midget?) appeared onscreen. The second time she showed up, Erin exploded with laughter (the kind that you can tell the person attempted to muffle unsuccessfully) and we were gone again. Miraculously, I was able to keep things under control for the next scene and a half she appeared, until she blurted "I'm sick of beans" in her old man/baby/nasal drawl as she angrily through a can of beans in the trash. That flipped the switch again. Luckily that was her last line. If her screen time totaled any more than about 6 minutes, we would have been kicked out of the theater.

Algiers and Oslo

2008-06-25T17:30:00.006-05:00

Last Friday I had a Film Streams double feature day: The Battle of Algiers (1966) and Reprise (2008). It is really crazy and eerie how relevant The Battle of Algiers is with regards to our current state of affairs in Iraq and the Middle East. Different place, same exact story. Too bad governments don't seem to learn much from history (or art for that matter). The Defense Department actually screened the film in the Pentagon in 2004. That's one discussion I would've loved to have sit in on.

Apparently the flyer promoting the screening read:

"How to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range. Women plant bombs in cafes. Soon the entire Arab population builds to a mad fervor. Sound familiar? The French have a plan. It succeeds tactically, but fails strategically. To understand why, come to a rare showing of this film."

It's a visceral and haunting film that still has great relevance today, and it achieves a rare level of feeling very real (hence the disclaimer before the film stating that no newsreel or documentary footage was used in the film).

Reprise is a Norwegian film made by a young director and former skateboarding champion, Joachim Trier. I really, really liked the movie. It is about a lot of things: art, ambition, confusion, friendship, the transition into adulthood (and avoiding that transition), love, sanity, self-invention, the public vs. private self, the fine lines between inspiration/genius and madness, identity, popular culture (and its intersection with identity - how books, movies, and music can help shape and define your identity or how you both judge and relate to others), time, aging (and fear of it, and conversely, youthfulness), commitment (and fear of it), selfishness and selflessness, and other issues that humans have been dealing with for a long time. It's also a simple but engaging story about a group of friends at a particular time in their life.

The two main characters were subtle and engaging and played off each other really well, which was important since their friendship is the crux of the film. The movie is stylish and inventive, but I felt that its form didn't get in the way of the story or emotion. There were times where I became pretty aware of the style, but it never crossed that line of feeling pretentious (though it was close at times), cheesy or that it was trying to hard. Basically, it's a really interesting film that I would highly recommend seeing if you have the chance.

I'm heading back down to Film Streams tonight with my sisters to see Performance. I've wanted to see this film for awhile, so I'm really excited to be seeing it projected in a theatre.

Wolf Parade review

2008-06-23T23:22:00.004-05:00

My review of Wolf Parade's new album At Mount Zoomer is up at Venus Zine's website. You can check it out here.

reading in the capital

2008-06-22T23:08:00.004-05:00

I'm backtracking here, but last Wednesday Cody and I went to Lincoln to some free panels offered by the Lincoln Writer's Conference. The first panel was on getting the inspiration to write, the second one was on pop culture and viral epidemics (or something). At night some talented writers gave readings (featured below): Curtis Sittenfeld (Prep), Sean Wilsey (Oh the Glory of it All and McSweeneys editor-at-large) and Meghan Daum (My Misspent Youth and Saturday columns in the L.A. Times).

It was really good to hear a bunch of people talk about writing. It got me re-inspired and re-energized to write.

We also visited some historical Lincoln sites.

CWS 2008

2008-06-19T19:50:00.002-05:00

The College World Series is back. I went with the family to see Fresno State beat North Carolina, which is exactly the outcome we were all hoping for. To add to the whole experience, we sat in front of a group of Southerners, which had its pros and cons. Main pro: sounding like the characters on Friday Night Lights. The guy behind me even said "Aw raht" (all right) like Eric Taylor and they had a kid named Gracie Lee (the Taylors sometime call their daughter Gracie Belle on FNL). If only Riggins played baseball. The main con: when the Michigan fight song came on (as a trivia question) the guy screamed at the top of his lungs "We don't want to hear no Michigan fight song!".

amy's birthday

2008-06-16T14:10:00.004-05:00

Saturday's activities included celebrating Amy's (aka Plaiderpillar) birthday. We went to OJ's for some Mexican food and then to her family's cabin. It was a beautiful day. And I played shuffleboard for the first time. And took to the trails with Cody. Fun, fun!

bike art

2008-06-15T19:26:00.004-05:00

Here are some photos from a poster art event for charity that Cody and I went to on Saturday.

That's Micah standing next to the awesome poster he designed.

I'm displaying some invisible art.

Behind Cody are some of Tony Bonacci's photographs, also on display at Nomad - they're really good. Also I just realized that a sideways mustache kind of looks like a sea monkey.

8 seconds of Times New Viking in Omaha

2008-06-13T12:26:00.002-05:00

how do you spell storm in hopelandic?

2008-06-12T18:46:00.006-05:00

Sigur Ros played at the Orpheum last night. Once again, storms and tornados hit Omaha. Cody and I drove downtown to the wonderful soundtrack of tornado sirens. Then we proceeded to get out of the car when the torrential downpour was in full effect. We were armed with an umbrella, but it didn't help much. The wind was too much for its brittle bones and it broke.

There were a lot of people down in the basement of the Orpheum, where apparently the band came through playing. That would've been pretty awesome to see. Instead we hung out in a parking garage for a little while and then under a building's overhang. But it was cool to watch the storm from outside. We were pretty much soaked by the time we were actually let into the delayed show.

Despite sitting in wet jeans and having soggy, freezing feet, the show was pretty amazing. My favorite part was in about the third song (?), when the horn section made their entrance from offstage in a serpentine march across the stage. That was really cool. It's so impressive when a band like that, that has such a specific sound - layered, ethereal and almost other-worldly - can sound as good, if not better, live as they can on record.

That's Cody throwing his socks out.

The end.

photo of the day.

2008-06-12T11:33:00.001-05:00

southeast london., originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

This was taken in Southeast London in 2000.

The Fiery Furnaces

2008-06-11T02:34:00.003-05:00

This is a gravely inadequate post, but I just want to say that I saw The Fiery Furnaces the other night and they were amazing and now I can't stop listening to them. They are an extremely talented and intriguing band live. I saw Mates of State on Saturday and they were pretty awesome too. Their new album Re-Arrange Us is really good and poppy and the songs and bits of lyrics are guaranteed to stay in head for days. The past couple of days I've woken up with pieces of their songs in my head...like the moment I woke up. That's how catchy it is.

In downer news, Little Couch had a less than impressive showing at pub quiz tonight. In fact, we were so embarrassed that we used a pseudonym. We'll bounce back next week with a best ever score!

Jeff King review

2008-06-07T00:30:00.003-05:00

Above are photos from the Jeff King show "Better On My Off Day" at Pulp. Here is my review of the show, published this week in The Reader.

Spring Gun interview

2008-06-06T15:39:00.005-05:00

Here's my "Meeting the Band" with Spring Gun, published in this week's City Weekly (my scanner's not quite big enough, sorry).

To read it more legibly, here's the online version.

Red Wings Win!

2008-06-05T00:12:00.005-05:00

The Red Wings have won the Stanley Cup! Henrik Zetterberg, one of my two favorite players (Pavel Datsyuk being my other), won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Playoff MVP.

In addition to being one of the greatest young players in the NHL, he is also easy on the eyes. I've often referred to him as the Jared Leto of hockey. Here's a comparison.

Jules et Jim

2008-06-04T12:52:00.005-05:00

Jamie, Erin, Kyle, Cody, Melissa, Brandon, and I went to see Jules and Jim (Truffaut, 1962) at Film Streams yesterday. Our group alone doubled the attendance.

Much is to be said about the film's innovative camera work, fresh and revolutionary for its time. I love the brief freeze frames they use a handful of times - especially when Catherine is revealing the way she looks now and before. The sequence on the bridge (see above) is still exciting and breathtaking even after a few times of seeing it referenced.

However, what is most striking is the complexity of the triangular relationship at the core of the film. Friendships and romantic entanglements are shown with all of the messiness, depth, confusion, manipulation, sincerity and love that often characterize them. Every character shows strength and vulnerability at some point in the film, and throughout you get glimpses of the layers beneath each character's exterior. The scenes between the three of them (four including the child, Sabine) crackle with both warmth and more intensely, tension. Within this threesome, the characters vacillate between their public and private selves, often slipping back into a skin that they thought they had shed.

Rilo in Omaha

2008-06-02T02:28:00.007-05:00

(a week and a half ago)

mr. robot

2008-06-01T01:37:00.003-05:00

Without thinking, I randomly drew this on a piece of scrap paper as I was procrastinating from writing an article. Then I thought the guy was pretty cute and since it will end up in recycling, I thought I would give him his day in the sun here. I also like it when your subconscious does something that kind of surprises you in a way.

Pistons must win tonight!

2008-05-30T17:15:00.003-05:00

The game is coming up so soon. Hamilton is going to play. I read this on the Detroit News (thanks, Dad):

Hamilton said he talked to his father Thursday, and his dad simply told him to "spit" on it.

"This is now or never," Hamilton said. "Usually when you talk to your dad he is like take your time son. But he said spit on it. You are at war right now. You ain't got no choice."

I love it. Get ready for the battle!

p.s. Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals on ABC at 7. It's a night of heart-pounding competition!

the good and the bad of storms and other things

2008-05-30T00:42:00.005-05:00

It's been rainy, overcast and stormy (or at least one of those) the past couple of days. I actually love this kind of weather. I even get kind of excited about tornado sirens and such. I feel bad saying that because of the devastation that they cause (and have caused recently), so I mean no disrespect and realize that they are scary, deadly forces of nature but they are still pretty exciting. I also like anything that breaks up the usual, the routine, and the mundane. I also like excuses to stay inside and read and watch movies. It's kind of like when you get sick when you're younger. It's sort of disappointing but also kind of thrilling since it lets you get out of your routine of going to school and you can watch daytime TV. The sky also looks really cool and I like the wind in the trees and the sound of wind, rain, and thunder. And I love lightning, especially the crazy kind you see out here in Nebraska.

What I don't like about the weather is that it deterred my plan of seeing Loves of a Blonde at Film Streams tonight, something I was really excited about. I've wanted to see this movie for so long and I was thrilled at the chance to see it projected on the big screen. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait longer. And I don't know if this is to be blamed entirely or even partly on the weather, but I have been feeling chronically tired the last few days. I don't really know what it is, but I am so sleepy about 80% of the day.

Just saw on the news that a tornado touched down in Kearney this evening, which isn't too far from here. The storm isn't that crazy here right now.

I have not really followed through on some of my intended posts and promises. I saw The Flight of the Red Balloon yesterday. I wanted to write a post about it today, but I am feeling some pressure to get my real writing work done before I go into it. But I will say that I really, really liked the movie. Juliette Binoche was amazing, as usual. I will really, really try to write a bit more about it tomorrow. And post some photos. I apologize in advance if I don't (I don't think this is how blogs really work -- promises and apologies), I'm pretty busy this weekend catching up on some articles that are due. It was really nice to have a fun vacation in Chicago, and now I'm realizing that I have a lot to catch up on.

What else? Cody and I improved our pub quiz score on Tuesday. First time: 13. Second time: 18 (right?). At this rate, we'll get a perfect score in a month and a half. Little Couch (our team name) will win. We are determined.

Pistons play tomorrow night. They have to win, and they will.

I have a new overall idea/concept for my short film. Sort of. Just an idea, but not for a plot or anything. It's not like a breakthrough or anything, but I'm looking for something to really get me going with this thing and I'm hoping maybe this new sort-of idea will be it. We'll see...

I want to get back into watching The Wire, and I've had Fat Girl rented for so long and have still not watched it. I'm also trying to see more films that I think will inspire me for my own film. Not that they have to be at all related in terms of content or style, but just inspiring film-wise. The Flight of the Red Balloon was one of those films. There are certain films that just make me want to make a movie. And that was one of them.

Oh, and we got Date with the Night and Call Me on Rock Band. Very exciting. Snuggle Bees had a serious reunion session tonight. It was pretty awesome. We haven't lost our chops, and our band chemistry is still palpable. We filmed a few of our songs as we played musical instruments. It was pretty funny to watch.

Lastly, I had a really bizarre dream last night. It is too strange and complicated to try to describe/explain, but I will say that it involved a movie within a dream starring Jena Malone, Ellen Page and myself and had to do with academia, relationships and their boundaries, and rain. I was acting in it and knew that Jena Malone would eventually be killed by her abusive ex-boyfriend in the movie and while my character (who was her professor) was trying to help and protect her, I also thought (as myself) that I wasn't such a big Jena Malone fan and I wouldn't be too sad if she wasn't in the second half of the film. The dream also featured Usher, who performed onstage while riding motocross and performing stunts inside of a giant rubber tire. And that's like only the basics of half of the dream. Crazy.

what I'm doing right now

2008-05-28T14:41:00.002-05:00

Looking like this and dancing to the Santogold album when I should be writing.

chicago!

2008-05-27T15:31:00.006-05:00

punctuation heaven

2008-05-22T12:43:00.006-05:00

Man, it's been too long...

I've been busy in random ways. And unfortunately now I don't have too much time to write since I need to shower, eat breakfast (or rather lunch now), do laundry, pack for Chicago, grade papers and exams, and go to the bank all before 5:30 when I leave for Chicago.

So, a brief rundown of what's been going on: my sisters came home from college; Laura visited for the weekend; saw Rilo Kiley twice; jumped on a tiger bounce, split my jeans; backyard bbq; saw The 400 Blows with a bunch of high schoolers at Film Streams and led discussion afterwards; saw My Blueberry Nights and Iron Man, watched the Pistons and the Red Wings win; played Wii Fit (awesome), Catchphrase, croquet and racquetball; went to some graduation parties; watched seasons finales of The Office and Gossip Girl; saw Jeff King artwork at Pulp; wrote some articles; got a freelance job at Venus Zine; and finished my first official year as a teacher.

Now for the upcoming stuff: I am heading to Chicago this afternoon, tagging along with Honeybee who are playing some shows in the city. I'm hoping to meet up with some friends and take some photos and video. As for viewing material: Pistons vs. Celtics and Loves of a Blonde and Flight of the Red Balloon at Film Streams.

I've got some other stuff on my to-post list, so look out!

Omaha in the springtime

2008-05-14T15:27:00.003-05:00

Jasmine tree, originally uploaded by NotoriousLBT.

I like this house. And this tree. And the owner working in his garage-top garden. He was nice too.

the frere-joneses

2008-05-12T17:38:00.003-05:00

I just recently became aware of Tobias Frere-Jones, a typeface designer. He works at Hoefler & Frere-Jones in New York and also teaches at the Yale School of Art. He's developed some really cool typefaces.

Anyway, upon learning about this fellow, I immediately wondered if he was related to (I figured the brother of) The New Yorker music critic, musician, photographer, blogger, and occasional contributor to other cool publications (e.g. Slate, Village Voice) Sasha Frere-Jones. (That last link was his personal blog, here is his New Yorker blog.) Frere-Jones is not exactly a commonplace surname. Sure enough, they are brothers. Just thought I would share this exciting (for me, at least) discovery. What a talented, cool-named fraternal duo.

friday finds

2008-05-09T13:23:00.004-05:00

Came across this magazine/quarterly/website. It has a lot of good stuff in it. Here's their blog, which makes me miss L.A. when reading it because a lot of their postings are about cool L.A. events.

Also, Susan Faludi wrote an op/ed in today's NY Times about HRC. An interesting read.

OMG

2008-05-09T02:52:00.005-05:00

Wow! Major reveal/plot development on the Gossip Girl that I finally watched tonight. The episode aired this past Monday. I could not believe it. The end was a complete stunner! A totally unexpected, highly dramatic, slightly preposterous, oh-so-engaging twist. Too bad I don't know a single other person who watches this show. That has to change. Are there any closet Gossip Girl watchers out there? I know it's hard to admit it, but I'll stand by your side. We can discuss the series and especially the episode "All About My Brother." Next week the episode is titled "On the Verge." Does the show get a credibility point or two for the Almodovar homages? C'mon people!

p.s. If you live in a major city, then insert an "F" between the "M" and the "G" in the title of this post.