p a r e n t h e t i c a l l y s i l v e r

we have a borrower cat this week

2009-10-27T01:24:00.001-04:00

our borrower cat is named lucy. lucy in actuality belongs to my roomate's friend mariaelena but she is staying with us for the week because mariaelena's apartment complex doesn't allow pets. they never allow pets but this is the only week they ever check so lucy gets to travel abroad to visit with us. lucy is a fat cat. in mariaelena's email she called lucy 'my gordita.' owing to this i often think of her somewhat absurdly in my head as lucy the gordita. lucy is the queen of our tiny apartment. she is declawed and very tame and quite sweet. her belly is white and the rest of her is grey. she likes to have her tummy rubbed and purrs loudly. sometimes she puts her mouth very gently on your hand when you pet her. she doesn't really play because i think she is really old.

tonight when i came home from school i rubbed her belly in the hall awhile. she 'hung out' while i checked my email. there was lots of purring. then i went to the bathroom and she went back out into the hall. while brushing my teeth i heard a strange noise so i peeked into the hallway to see what it was. lucy was sitting by herself crunching on some cat kibbles. all i could see was her fat backside and chubby haunches in the orange streetlight pouring through the front window. it made me really really sad because i wanted her to come hang out with me some more and we could both enjoy it. instead she sat there fat and alone eating food by herself in the middle of the night by moonlight. is it because she wasn't comfortable with me? why didn't she want to continue to hang out with me? is it because i shouldn't have shunned petting her in order to attend to my own business? will i ever find a living being that i can sync needs with? what is my own business? why can't cats-wanting-to-be-petted and people-wanting-to-pet-cats ever find each other on the same point in the space-time continuum?

singin' in the rain

2009-05-28T22:04:00.002-04:00

i just thought of this invention, and i can't believe it doesn't yet exist!!! why hasn't anyone created umbrellas that have solar panels on them? in many places around the world, people use umbrellas as a portable shade. take japan, for instance. wouldn't it be COOL to shade yourself and at the same time, charge your phone or ipod? solar power is cheap and clean, and the technology to convert it is getting smaller and smaller. seems like the right time to grab the sun energy and make it useful and portable for our daily lives!

oh, i got it!

2009-04-21T08:13:00.005-04:00

here is how we solve all the problems!

1. require every child that is able to bike to school. this will go a long way towards combatting childhood obesity. it will also make motorists more aware of and proactive of bicycle safety. i mean, you wouldn't want to cut it too close if you were passing a bunch of munchkins who were bicycling to school, would you? this mandate, the every-child-bikes-to-school-act, will of course effect some changes in the real estate world.

2. real estate prices, specifically residential prices, for properties nearest to schools are going to increase. this is because children who have to bike farther to school will infer that their parents do not love them as much as the parents of more centrally-located children. this is okay and good. a little competition for the same properties will create a district where everybody wants to be, similar to the traditional "market" of traditional downtowns.

3. prior to this point, local planning departments need to wield the power of zoning. this power is oft abused nowadays to create places that are shitty. but, in this specific instance, the power of zoning can be used for good and not for evil! in areas around schools, overlay zones for denser development will need to be created. these overlay zones will require housing that is reserved for families of all income levels, and it will carry a requirement for public parks and street-level retail. this will ensure that the development focus around schools will be directed in a manner that is healthful to the communities.

4. more progressive communities will, i'm sure, want to implement the incredible ideas of henry george, whose 'single tax' on land allows communities to claim the monetary gains of socially-accrued real estate values. economic rent should, of course, be shared by society; and these new school-driven districts are a great chance to start implementing this idea.

i think that covers the problems inherent in sprawl, childhood obesity, improper motorist treatment of bicyclists, AND real estate inequality.

reviews for wxdu-- 2009 asobi seksu, clem snide, and m. ward

2009-02-15T16:20:00.002-05:00

a s o b i s e k s u | h u s h | polyvinyl, 2009

Pronounced (ah-so-bee sek-su).

Asobi Seksu is comprised of Yuki Chikudate and James Hanna, who met while studying at the Manhattan School of Music. This album follows up the band's EP Citrus (2006). You can read on the CD case about their hardships and challenges since then that have delayed production of this 2009 release.

Their sound has cooled off a little; this album channels a sweet, blissed-out dream pop, and lacks the more intense shoegazing of their previous albums. The songs on 'Hush' are melodically refined with guitar lines that stand apart from the fuzzy background, tight drums underneath and ethereal female vocals swishing around the stratosphere. New for this album is a detailed approach to instrumentation. Listen for the more distinct keyboards, bells, and even organ. The beats are formed by a sweet dreamy regularity similar to the rhythm of icing a cake and the hazy shimmer of tinsel.

If you like the crescendi of sweet and fuzzy, be sure to catch Asobi Seksu at Local 506 on March 26,2009 as they head north after SXSW.

Best: 5, 1 ,11
Indecent: none that i could discern
**Note that there is some dead air around 2:30 on Track 12.

c l e m s n i d e | h u n g r y b i r d | 429 records, 2009

Clem Snide emerged in the 1990s to pioneer exactly what the name suggests: artsy country coupled with sneering spoken lyrics. This subgenre of indie music has now become a standard offering, and Clem Snide is still slipping bittersweet metaphors atop guitars that twang more often than not.

The words are my favorite element of earlier Clem Snide work. Ironic, cutting non-sequiturs slowly strung together to make long-running metaphorical lines; all delivered in a restrained and vulnerable voice. This is still present, but becoming more orchestrated, more elaborate, less bare. The music follows suit; building on the sweet and melancholy with a greater sense of sophistication and a fuller sound. Bolstered by more guitars, unexpected distortion, piano even doubling of the vocals (!). You may enjoy the horns and kazoo on Track 3. You may not enjoy the cheesy piano and drum kit combination akin to light rock radio on Track 2.

Literary Fun Facts: Track 5 features spoken-word composition and performance by Franz Wright, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2004.
"Clem Snide" was the name of a character in several William S. Burroughs novels.

Best: 1, 6 (excellent rock-out starting around 1:30), 9
Indecent: 0

You can catch Clem Snide at Local 506 on March 12, 2009.

m. w a r d | h o l d t i m e | merge, 2009

M. Ward's voice is heavenly and his guitar is impeccable. This new release, Hold Time, finds him collaborating with some unusual and welcome guest stars: Lucinda Williams on Track 10 (the sad Oh Lonesome Me), Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, as well as She & Him co-collaborator, Zooey Deschanel.

Ward's flair for the vintage and taste for unexpectedly appropriate orchestration have crafted an album that is a comforting as it is moving. His voice is smoky, far away, whisper-close and incredibly sexy. His guitar lines borrow rhythm from classic vintage strummers. The lyrics deal with old-timey subject matter (think early Americana) but somehow convince you of its relevancy to the current American milieu. He borrows classic folk elements and metaphors-- the call and response on Track 2 for example-- and tinkers with the production until the resulting sound is warm and introspective. Overall excellent.

Best: 4, 5, 10, 11
Indecent: n/a

Open Letter to Stafford County School Board

2009-02-11T08:19:00.004-05:00

Stafford County Public Schools
Members of the Stafford County School Board and Superintendent
Dear David Sawyer Ed.D.,

My name is Caroline Emerson and I graduated from the Commonwealth Governor’s School (and Brooke Point High School) in 2002. After CGS, I graduated with honors from the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture in 2006. I can not state to you in words the value of my Commonwealth Governor’s School education. Because I was a member of the first class to graduate after all four years at CGS, I think that my observations are important. CGS then was not the formidable institution that it is now, and there were serious problems with the technology, the curriculum, and the transportation coordination. Despite these setbacks, the time I spent at CGS was a completely unique leaning opportunity. I know this because while at UVa, I compared high school experiences with a variety of friends, several of whom attended Governors’ Schools in Virginia and other states. Other programs provide in-depth educational opportunities, but none provided the developing opportunity of being part of a regional community of learners. While at UVa, my friends were the smartest and brightest students in my classes, many of whom attended the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax. It is my connections with UVa and intelligent people that have allowed me to thrive in a difficult economy. It was my CGS experience that allowed me to matriculate into the University of Virginia, and helped me to be successful there.

In addition to CGS, I invested myself heavily in extracurricular activities at Brooke Point. I lettered in Marching Band and Winter Track. I played soccer three years and performed a starring role in the school play, “Royal Gambit” my senior year. I was elected President of the French Club, and Vice-President of the National Honor Society. I routinely tutored children at Stafford Middle and Elementary Schools. I worked weekends in Fredericksburg at a frame shop, and during my senior year, Summit Presbyterian Church employed me as their interim pianist. I regularly played the piano at my own church, Regester Chapel United Methodist Church, and lead the youth group. During my high school career, I was awarded a countless number of awards for scholarship, integrity, academics, athletics, honor, ethics, outstanding contributions, dedication, etc. I would never have achieved so much without CGS to encourage me and push me along. The friends I made at CGS helped me to challenge myself, and the dedication of my teachers set a daily example of what one can achieve through hard work.

At Brooke Point, I was treated as an outcast. In a memorable example, a fellow runner on the winter track team wrote an accusative and downright false editorial in the Brooke Point newspaper. A member of my 4x4 relay team, she insisted that CGS students were not really Brooke Point students and should not be treated as such. Her jealous jabs over GPA totals and her failure to get facts about time investments were difficult to handle for my fellow students and myself. She represented the voice of the student body, a group that misunderstood and was unwilling to accept the opportunities inherent in a CGS education. It is my hope that now, seven years later, students and their parents, and most of all the School Board, would be able to have a broader understanding of the depth and value of the Commonwealth Governor’s School and Stafford County’s participation therein.

You were not involved with the Stafford County School Board in 1998-2002, my tenure at CGS, and therefore you are not apprised of the challenges we faced as a fledgling community of learners. Please believe me when I tell you that those years at CGS were more academically rigorous than any of my four years at the University of Virginia (which was rated the number two public university in America, 2009 US N&WR.) Why do you think we so assiduously weathered the challenges of the early CGS years? Mr. Sawyer, I did it because I wanted to help Stafford County grow into a more sophisticated learning environment for my younger brother and sister. And now my siblings; set to graduate CGS in 2009 and 2011; are enjoying the benefits of our hard work, an established, grounded intellectual community. I am so pleased and proud of my siblings and the education they are able to get from Stafford County Public Schools.

When I read your letter of February 9, 2009, I was shocked for many reasons. First, you underestimate the importance of CGS; I can only hope that my letter and other letters from my classmates will help you to understand our CGS experience. Second, I was upset at your vague strategies for budget solutions. As an architect, Mr. Sawyer, I am fully aware of the challenges of scope and budget, but I also realize how important it is to understand the overall design before endeavoring to reach a budget consensus via saving dollars. Your letter did not put forth a satisfactory explanation of the details of your specific plan. You have upset countless number of current and former Governor’s School students, and you provide no decisive plan of action for how you will alter Stafford’s financial participation in the Governor’s School without sacrificing the students. This is quite dismaying, and you owe an explanation to the students and families of the greater Stafford region. Your words undercut the value of education of high school students not just in Stafford County, but on a regional level. This is disappointing to those of us who worked so hard, and want to see Stafford County continue to be a place of higher academic potential.

Sincerely,
Caroline C. Emerson
caroline.emerson@gmail.com

creating colloquial expressionisms

2008-10-21T10:54:00.004-04:00

i just wanted to point out that the nation's paper of record has a blog dedicated to exposing their own grammatical insurrections. as a linguaphile of sorts, i find this a neverending meta-amusement. i often tend to think back over my own words --spoken, written, or typed-- musing over the alternate meanings that could be deduced or which word trends are getting stale. voila! in this week's nyt-grammar-blog post, the "cliché watch", phillip corbett draws attention to phrases that have been recently overused in the times.

what shakes out? most notably are clichés that seek out a friendlier face to our current financial predicament. seeking to communicate the economy as a game-- fishing, gambling:
-the colloquial expression “on the hook,” comparing sordid economic futures to being as stuck as a worm used for fishing
-blackjack terminology. in one stretch of business coverage last month, the phrase “double down” was used three times in four days

i think this is a little bit frightening. why are is this huge crisis being façaded as a light-hearted game? and whose game is it? i don't think we readers are being taken in, necessarily; i'm not insinuating that the media is PULLING THE WOOL OVER THE IDEAS OF JOE AMERICAN. but it does seem vexing that the metaphors are all so casual, that the only way to handle a crisis of this magnitude is with non-ironic entertainment comparisons.

durham, partyham

2008-10-03T20:04:00.006-04:00

attractive local designers flywheel are throwing the cutest party with free pbrs on thursday night!

O B A M A

ON THE DOUBLE

truly demonstrable of their goodheartedness is that they've posted their gorgeously created wallpaper so you don't have to pull posters off streetlights in order to snag one.

never-ending financial story NEFS

2008-10-01T22:18:00.002-04:00

kiplinger (finally! someone!) has decent advice to normal people about what they can do in the current meltdown. i'm not a big stock-owner myself... my 401k is unfortunately invested in far muckier mire. however, i do think this is the first evidence i've seen of someone trying to appeal to common sense and rationality in financial matters-- something that has been sore lacking of late.

lolbailoutz

2008-09-26T17:18:00.004-04:00

those cats are way cuter than those cats.

via boing boing and ape lad.

how i spent my summer vacation

2008-08-29T11:06:00.017-04:00

researching my city:

boarding the water taxi

skimming the waves of new york harbor

hanging around p.s. 1

site: pedestrian pier at 70th+hudson river

lonely gantry

study model

final model

death // life

2008-08-06T17:10:00.002-04:00

a common approach to sociological history is to presuppose that one is a future archaeologist, discovering remnants of one's own civilization. what will they make of our laptop computers? what will they make of our plastic? how will we communicate with this future version of us?

i have always thought that this "thought technique" is helpful only in a very schematic sense; sort of the same way i regard adam smith's "the rational actor". i think a healthy dose of skepticism is required to separate the important layers where the presupposition is applicable from the rest of the situation, where it is not. it is important to analyze the breakdown of the schematic-- why it works schematically but not in real life.

for example, i think it is useful to consider "future archaeologists" when thinking about sustainable living habits and planetary stewardship: large picture, long range, effects within a small range of variability. i do not support this standpoint when it backs theories of human cultural events or sociological change. this is unacceptable precisely because the historical organization of humanity has been a consistently tangentially changing treatment of itself. change is the very basis for our culture and the change can not be predicted in terms of past trends. and this analogy is particularly vexing because our civilization is unlikely to be so completely eradicated as to produce future archaeologists that fail to recognize a single shard of today's humanity.

so, all that aside for a moment. what if humans found a way to dependably capture immortality? i'm mostly interested in our treatment of the past and how we've projected it onto the future... namely, we respect our ancestry and predecessors because they are dead and we will also soon be dead. it is that cyclic aspect of death and life that keeps humanity invested in the past. speaking about death as an essential element of humanity, helene cixous says the hopelessness of grief and the destitution of death are the most urgent reason for not renouncing our human heritage. "our lost pains are our ultimate goods, our silence renders a sound beyond the ear."

if humans were immortal would we forget our connection to humanity's past? and if that were the case, a "future archaeologist" could very well come across the remnants of our civilization with consternation. it is more likely that our civilization will re-transform itself so completely as to fail to recognize our own motherland. that's the scary part about the impending post-modern global apocalypse that we're so obsessed with talking about lately... not that we'll be wiped out completely so much as that we will change so cataclysmically that our own past will be incomprehensible.

visiting the pacific northwest

2008-05-24T01:30:00.002-04:00

and despite expected weather blahs, it's quite nice. heading out to the SIFF tomorrow which looks sort of promising.

BUT! this is the thing of note... SPANK ROCK IS FEATURED IN A SALAD DRESSING COMMERCIAL!!!! FOR WISHBONE BRAND SALAD DRESSING'S NEW HEALTHY LINE THAT IS "PACKED WITH DELICIOUS CHUNKS OF VEGETABLES..."

i'll dispense with the caps. you can check it here! i almost never watch tv and i choked on my beverage when this commercial came on. after all, spank rock is so DELICIOUSLY filthy-mouthed. i like them because they have a song-- /coke & wet bitch guns nigga holla/ <-- and that line is pretty much the extent of the lyrics. it's pretty genius with some kickin beats and not at all mentally coordinated with salad-dressing-buying-habits.

new product

2008-05-13T13:50:00.002-04:00

finally, the contact solution you've been waiting for! cleans, sterilizes and rinses your contact lenses with the added bonus of beta carotene!

for too long, the only natural way to improve your eyesight was to "eat more carrots"... tired of carrot crunching? want better eyesight? try our new contact solution plus beta carotene! cleanses as well as the expensive brands, but adds a little bonus: better vision!

in a new non-staining formula!

just in time for passover...

2008-04-24T12:01:00.002-04:00

translation of a text i received at approximately 1:30 am last night.

notes to self

2008-04-19T22:02:00.002-04:00

reverend billy looks totally awesome. the church of stop shopping is going on my list of ecclesiastical-yet-secular sunday morning entertainments. right after the church of craft.

happy birthday, mr jefferson!

2008-04-15T09:07:00.002-04:00

sounds like an onion headline, but it's not!

woman arrested for dancing at the jefferson memorial

passport breaches

2008-03-22T13:20:00.003-04:00

it shouldn't be news to you anymore that the three candidates in the '08 presidential election have had their passport files illegally accessed. however, i think that it is worth discussing the media-ted response to the event itself. this msnbc article, like so many other poorly-orchestrated communications, works so hard for little return. the actual information is that the files of all three candidates were looked at by state department employees. this is illegal, as anyone's private information belongs only to its individual owner. the information that is communicated in this article is 7% the aforementioned fact. the other, oh 90% or so, is attempting to get your hackles up-- your favorite candidate was violated! s/he could be compromised by this setback! or, what if those state department buffoons are illegally accessing my information RIGHT NOW?

relax, jimbo. this is an absurdity. the files were breached, it happened. there should be no "fallout", no emotional media response other than to note that this is illegal, and we shouldn't stand for illegal actions within the administrations of our federal government. that's it-- that's all there is to say. the candidates themselves seemed appropriately offended that perhaps their personal data had been compromised (that is to say, viewed by someone else.) i might be upset if someone pulled my records unnecessarily to examine them for (personal?) gain.

it just seems silly to promulgate conspiracy theories based on this. obama visited a muslim country? ok, good! he should go see how the rest of the world operates before he endeavors to become our leader to parlay with that world. mccain went overseas? okay, wasn't he in a war? it's also plain to me (especially in light of the recent spitzer catastrophe), that public figures are PUBLIC FIGURES. yes, they should expect a decent amount of privacy, the same guaranteed to any other american. however, it doesn't seem unreasonable that the voting public, the selfsame public they endeavor to represent, should have the access to knowledge about the candidates. i don't need to know the minutia of my candidate's life choices, but i do think that as a public figure, one would expect to reveal more details of one's life for public scrutiny. it's part of the gauntlet of representation that accompanies public office.

the spitzer ordeal was especially painful to me because it seems that we live in an increasingly transparent world, where hiding information requires a considerable amount of skill and discipline. i would hope that my elected representatives would spend their time engaging in activities promote the public good, and not re-structuring their finances to hide illegal activities. obviously, spitzer is an extreme case. but i feel like it defines something more concrete that we should insist on in our elected officials. glastnost! perestroika! yes yes, we neeeeeeeeeeeeeed to know what they're doing! yes, i'm not trying to fool anyone: i'm going to judge them, and their ability to fulfill their duty. it is that level of responsibility that we should demand from our public servants, and we should be holding them to that level of intense scrutiny. i believe that is something that comes with public office, and if you shy away from the critical public eye (assuming there is one...) well, perhaps you don't deserve the position.

2008-03-14T00:05:00.002-04:00

"Maybe," thought Francie, "she doesn't love me as much as she loves Neeley. But she needs me more than she needs him and I guess being needed is almost as good as being loved. Maybe better."
-betty smith's fabulous a tree grows in brooklyn

lots of posts to come about thermodynamics, nola, jose gonzalez live, some stuff on other music.... and pi day! just no time for typing, sadly.

i'm thinking of a dream i had

2008-02-14T08:57:00.003-05:00

last night, it went like this:

i was home at my parents place for awhile during what felt like winter break, but there was no discernible christmas goings-on. i decided that the downtime was good for getting in some physical fitness, so i went to the track at my high school to run a little. in my dream, the track was different than it normally is; it was inside and worked its way around the gym. there was a concert going on in the gym during my jog, amy winehouse was singing her heart out. as i was on the outside, i could hear it and hear the commentary, which was less like sports-commentary and more like talking-heads-narrating-a-parade.

after my jog, i went home. i told my mom about amy winehouse's concert which i saw for FREE. since my mom's out of the loop on pop culture sometimes, i filled her in on amy winehouse's "soul chantuese of the century" status. my mom didn't bat an eye, and said, "that's nice, honey... you know amy's staying with us, right?" i'd been getting something out of the fridge while talking to my mom, and there sitting at the dining room table was a mute amy winehouse. she had really red pouty lips. i'm a little flabbergasted, and my mom explains that she really loves amy's music, and amy needed a place to stay during her 7-night tour of the high school gym. so she's staying with us. and it's a little upsetting because everyone in the family has a cold right now, so they can't properly enjoy the time with amy.

my mom reached into the fridge for what first appeared as cold medecine she was going to dole out to my illin' family members. but then i saw it was coke! she was fixin' to freebase a little coke to make ease the flu! i protested, again flabbergasted, and she countered with, "oh honey, it's just fine for colds. everyone will feel better in a jif!" and then she served coke to amy winehouse.

the end!

conjur woman @ la mama etc

2008-02-02T08:36:00.000-05:00

CONJUR WOMAN: folk opera.

when i first heard the title, i wondered how "folk" and "opera" could cooperate. i'll spare you webster's thoughts on those words, but it to me, folkish elements are earthy, emotional, rootsy, commutual, raw. and the operatic is educated, particular, effortful, high-minded, pretentious. do not be confused as to the auspices of conjur woman; it only uses "opera" as a formal structure, a thematic medley of songs. conjur woman is all folk.

it's also a one-woman show that runs about fifty minutes. and it's constant singing, which is a testament to the amazing power of the voice of the conjur woman, obie-winner sheila dabney. one woman, three musicians, and a bare stage composed entirely of wooden planks. these planks served a dual purpose. on one hand, they illustrate the folk show's bare bones, populace-of-scarcity style; and on the other, they underscore one of the play's major thematic elements: the verticality, the axiality, and the naturality of trees.

in the songs of the conjur woman, trees illustrate love and escape, the comforts of passion and the anxiety-stricken way out. in an especially evocative set of cadences, she uses her magic rituals to transform her lover into a tree so he'll be safe from the villanous grasp of white slave-traders. yes. this emotional event, its rising action and aftermath, are conveyed in a 50-minute set of songs. and the communication isn't easily done, the entire production seemed challenged to maintain the ritualistic emotions over the time period.

i think the opening scene was the strongest, the most arresting. the conjur woman limps on the stage with the aid of bluesy guitar chords. her body pains her and her memories pain her, and when she opens her mouth to sing, you feel her pain. her opening lament is a thing of great beauty. i could feel my heart in my throat as she sang about what she had lost. this begs the question (that we should all consider during the month of february,) what color could tears be other than black?

Photographer: Brian Hilg
courtesy David Gibbs/DARR Publicity.

the rhythmic guitar and her rich, earthy voice illustrated the anguish and the simplicity and the animalistic qualities of the tale before it even began. unfortunately, the opening song was so compelling and so well orchestrated that the rest of the play couldn't quite maintain the same level of emotional communication.

my companion and i discussed afterwards our own guilt at failing to pay attention during the middle of the show. it was obviously intended to be emotional and absorbing, except that it didn't have an overall narrative shape that was designed to hold one's attention for fifty minutes. i realized, though, that this is okay. while not paying exact attention to every utterance from the conjur woman, my thoughts drifted towards magic and sexuality and rhythm and religion. and this is the nature of folk. we love it because it brings out unusual, yet natural things in our own selves.

the tale sung by the conjur woman isn't the six o'clock news: it is a Tale. both and operatic and consummate, this play is about Folk and Telling. it is her journey in emotional communication, and if we are caught up in the eddies of our own emotions, then our journeys have been enriched and counterpointed by hers.

i'm just sayin...

2008-01-28T09:18:00.000-05:00

meat's no treat for those you eat!

a word on puberty

2008-01-22T23:24:00.000-05:00

when you're really little, your body is your total ally. it enables you to run and jump and climb and talk and taste and see and to enact myriad other great action verbs. you learn how to use your body to get the things that you want- another peanut butter sandwich, a new record in jump rope, a big hug. unfortunately, when you hit puberty, everything changes. your body decides it wants to hate you! hate everything about the you that is you that you've spent years figuring out!

your body mutinies. suddenly you start bleeding. uncontrollably! regularly! you spent thirteen years of your life trying really hard to keep all that blood on the inside, and suddenly your crazy stupid body is tryin a push it all out. you've worked really hard to run faster than all the neighborhood kids. you can beat anybody across the blacktop as a fifth-grader. and then what happens? tumors! they sprout on your chest! slowing you down, ruining your stride and your proud pace. and don't even let me get started on feeeeeelings.

in elementary school, i had it figured out. boys were scum. they smelled funny and didn't know the right way of doing anything. there were two that were tolerable, and they were in my gifted ed class. the others were useless except for chasing at recess or taunting (this included my brothers.) suddenly, as of thirteen, i was supposed to "like" boys?! my friends were developing crushes and i was supposed to like the stinky creatures too! it was too much to take for awhile-- my whole system was shocked... bleeding, mutinous, tumorous!

now that i'm lightyears in the future, i can say that i'm overwhelmed that this happens to everyone. i'm still nostalgic about the good old days before people expectations toed the gender line. and i'm still wigged out that my body turned against me with so much vigor.

more like benevolenvy

2008-01-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

Benevolent Creator

the reason people have blogs is to convey personality maps like that one.

also, this meme is worth its own post, but it's been a long day: i, rearrangement servant. spat out that i could be know as "escarole inner om". yes, thank you internets.

battleship:subway!

2008-01-15T19:00:00.000-05:00

who: you, and your fellow train-rider

what: an epic and impromptu game of battleship staged only inside massimo vignelli's helvetica-plastered conceptual map of the new york city subway. you each have two battleships made of sixpoints and two points, and you choose locations for them-- they must be consecutive but not necessarily linear along the train lines. your opponent calls out stations, (or in the super-challenging version you only exchange line numbers...) so then once you've made a hit, you have to try all the surrounding stations to see if you can sink a ship!

when: times when you only have a map and there's still a long way to travel

where: on the train, silly!

why: well, it beats moody silence

i know it's been a while, but...

2008-01-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

hey! look! someone FINALLY gets it!

Bike Boxes!

j'oublieriez la route!

2007-11-18T11:58:00.001-05:00

knitting factory; november 15, 2007

2007-11-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

travis morrison hellfighters, georgie james, aqueduct

so i work a lot. being an entry-level architect is inarguably time-consuming. but since my office is in tribeca, i jumped at the chance to walk around the corner and check out these bands at the knitting factory. i wasn’t disappointed.

travis morrison opened the set around 8:30, which feels early even for a school night. the crowd treated them accordingly, it being far too early to rock. i am always exhausted by this cool-kid shit, and last night was no different—i can just be confident that those “cool kids” missed out on traveling along all the great rhythms that the hellfighters produced.

last time i saw tmh, they headlined the mercury lounge, and their sound was completely different. in summer of 2006, they were more fluid, and expelled a feel of bongo-lounge rolled up in spoken word poetry. last night at the knitting factory, i felt more connected to old d-plan and that dc sound that i crave. the drumming was tight, almost militaristic. heavy on the downbeats, almost marchable. the “our nation’s capital” influence? it pervades all my favorites (q and not u, fugazi, etc. ) and is so distinctive that it defines the dc sound for me.

travis morrison himself is an incredible live performer. he channels troubadour-like expression to really convey his lyrics across to the audience. he’s witty and also weird, but in a way that’s so nuanced that it makes the venue feel smaller and more like hanging out. his between-song banter is priceless, comprising in-jokes with himself, the crowd, bandmates. travis has always been a showman, and you can tell he believes in the music and wants to convey the depth of his creation. it’s kind of awesome. his voice is slightly nasal but always reminds me of a books-on-tape narrator; rich and illustrative and following a larger narrative that we (the audients) can’t sense. he also dances, which i prize highly among all traits in men.

the set list last night was probably a little short for my taste. we got a taste of the new album, all y’all, with the charismatic “moneytown.” travis’ lyrical delivery was spot-on, capable of being both sarcastic and needy in “i’m not supposed to like you but i do.” there were also a strange number of apple pie references which i can’t profess to understand. . in addition to old-hellfighter bongo smoothness, i detected a bit of watered-down go-go drumming interspersed with typical angular-military tightness. this is one of the reasons i really appreciate travis morrison; he’s capable of experimenting with beats! he lives that miscegenation that sasha-frere jones grumbles is absent from music. morrison is a sucker for a good baseline and tight drumming, and he's open to appropriating and enjoying beats from every which way. all the songs tmh performed were rhythmically tight, featuring those quintessential beats locked tightly together with instumental layering and travis’ well-delivered vocals.

i also wanted to send kudos out to the hellfighters. they synched well and sounded great, especially the newest additions, thomas orgren on bass and vince magno who bolstered keys and the rhythm section. travis is lucky enough to be able to cull the best of northern virginia talent into a solid backing band for his creative genius and on-stage antics. i was lucky enough to enjoy dancing to their show last night.

i mostly attended last night for the hellfighters, but i won't mince words of praise for georgie james. they were great. when i saw them last, they played pianos at cmj and it was nothing more than a way to familiarize oneself to their existence. the set up was short, it was a washed-out day in a place of people who were tired and strung out. last night was a complete difference, and it was a delight to jump around during their set. unfortunately, i think they could have been mixed better. it was like someone adjusted the set-up to "loudness" and never changed the levels to be customized for the band. the vocals were shamefully indistinct from the instruments which produced a muddled sound. oh, and georgie james deserves so much better!! i like them-- i love dual vocal pop, i like narrative songs about places and place-based anxieties, i love q and not u. i enjoy listening to their music and jumping around! but i didn't really appreciate the mixing last night at the knitting factory.

and aqueduct? how can i even begin! i think the kiss of death was when the man with the blackberry was taking a picture of the band on stage using his blackberry. this just indicates how different this band's musicality (and cultural epicenter) are from my own. their overly dramatic onstage presence and the cult-treatment of mid-90s nerd culture are mawkish and tired. (no, not nerdy like interesting bookish or successful computer nerds. not nerdy like those rawk dudes in weezer. nerdy like emotionally autistic or nerdy like having no perception of other people.)

their music is danceable and occasionally cute, but overall it lacks depth and the nuances that make good lasting tunes. c'est la pop, n'est pas? two summers ago, i had a love affair with aqueduct's ditty "growing up with gnr." it is epic! it has guitar lines that buffet you about like a small dinghy lost in a growing storm surge. but, i do not think that aqueduct live is able to channel or prolong that epic, swelling sound. it just comes off as over-theatricized and lacking in musical innovation; not what you'd hope from a billing where travis morrison opened the evening, and started off so strong.

editor's note:

travis morrison hellfighters will be playing union hall in park slope tonight with the ever-enjoyable takka takka. will i be there? will you be there? there's only one way to be sure!

screenprintemps

2007-11-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

you may recognize the image- ryan shot this one down at coney island. i converted it to a silksreen and inked it black and my own green. the moire effect is mostly due to the computer, so i'm happy to share that it looks less orthogonally pixelated in real life.

short stop-action film

2007-11-09T19:13:00.001-05:00

set: intersection of worth and broadway, lower manhattan. 9 pm. an early fall mist hangs high in the sky, not obscuring vision, but blotting out the lights and feel of the skyscrapers. our street feels like a room. a few pools of water have gathered from this afternoon's rain, filling in the potholes and the sidewalk ruts. the streetlights glimmery vague-ishly orange in the puddles. few people pass and even fewer cars.

nearby stores: the north side of worth is lined with dramatically lit merchandise from the parade of mannequins at strawberry. the south side of worth is lined with dramatically lit merchandise from the parade of mannequins at steps. the street slopes down on the north side, so the strawberry mannequins reign supreme over the street. they're lounging gauntly, defiantly challenging you to purchase their cheap wares. on the south side, the steps mannequins are street-smart. one may even pretend a ghetto booty. they're smaller, more savvy, less posh (but still just as cheap) as their competitors across the street.

rising action: the camera is motionless, at the ready in the center of the intersection, faced squarely down worth street. the angle is wide, so the underlit mannequins are visible, even amounts of each building balancing the shot. the camera never moves throughout the whole scene. somewhere far away, you hear the breaks squeal on a speeding cab. the puddles shake from the subway. did that mannequin move?

crux of the matter: here the action needs more creative legwork. obviously the mannequins come alive and fight each other in the middle of the street, strawberry fashion soldiers versus steps fashion soldiers. i think it would be more fun if we watch each civilization rise through bare combat to the development of firepower, all within a single night. there should definitely be much breaking of glass windows, melting of plastic bodies and general mannequin grotesquery. i think it would be neat if they destroyed each other completely so when i walk to work the next morning, there's no trace of a battle. the camera doesn't move the whole time and the final shot should probably be the early morning light breaking over the hudson. with some sea gulls picking over trash and maybe one limb in the trash heap.

ok, friday night festivities are now go!

RYUJI SAWA THE RETURN

2007-11-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

november 6, 2007
theater for the new city

from every press release, you'll hear this: "Ryuji Sawa: The Return is a Japanese show incorporating dazzling elements of Japanese popular theater, including Kabuki dance, Taiko drumming, sword fighting, martial arts and instant costume changes."

this may give you an indication that this show is awesome, but it doesn't inform you of the true wonder of "ryuji sawa: the return." the show is stunning- beautiful, emotional, silly, melodramatic, confusing, shiny, and loaded with expert talents.

ryuji sawa: the return is a series of loose vignettes, held together in a dreamlike pseudonarrative by nothing other than the very presence of ryuji sawa, or, in some cases, his imagination. some are not true vignettes but rather are dance or song or talent (?) interludes that splice together the true vignettes, which borrow plot elements from Japanese history.

the “talent” portions are by far the most amazing to those of us who might describe ourselves as initiates to the japanese off-broadway scene. a 12-year old boy, ozora takami, described as a ”japanese fan dance prodigy” is absolutely amazing. his talents extend farther than “fan dance” and his fan dance is more impressive than i’ve ever seen. he also twirls katanas (fake?) and staffs in addition to his fan work. his fingers are nimble, his movements quick and calculated, all the twirls and flips perfectly practiced and executed in time to the music.

what i find sort of confusing is how this kid, obviously a celebrity in “traditional” j- culture, is whisked away to america to perform to a small crowd in the east village. i’m sure he’s much more in-demand in japan! and soon he’ll be too old to be a child prodigy or a national icon. i’d live those days up while i had ‘em, man, i wouldn’t travel to the other side of the world to be underappreciated. it also seems to me that it must be tough to do traveling show business with your life- particularly at such a young age. remember when you were twelve? yeah, middle school sucked. but at least you weren’t angsty (or teased by your schoolmates) while being billed as a child expert at traditional dance.

the other off-shore talent was two taiko drummers who performed in the style of old tokyo. they’re one of the top taiko groups in japan! and it was really really incredible. they shouted, they danced, they echoed back and forth between the drums without sacrificing the basic underlying rhythmic structure. the dynamics and timing were crucial and the spirit was really engaging.

(L-R): Ryuji Sawa and Ryoki Kiuchi
Courtesy of David Gibbs/DARR Publicity

the theatrical portions add in a generous amount of what other audients described as “1970s las vegas authentic glam”. it’s true, the effects were over the top (including disco balls and a fog machine) and all of ryuji sawa’s costumes were almost blindingly flashy. i was more impressed by the melodrama so thick you could eat it with a spoon. is this a feature of traditional japanese theater? i’m definitely going to have to do more research.

i was really impressed by how the audience was inherently involved in all the action. it really didn’t seem like there was a “fourth wall” at all—but rather that the acting was an extension of a conversation or explanatory dialogue. sawa frequently addressed the crowd during the highest emotional points- freezing and making faces before he stabbed an enemy, freezing and making faces when parted from his love interest, freezing and making faces as he gurgled and stumbled to a dramatic death.

all of the martial arts sequences which were so over-orchestrated that at one point i looked around for a conductor. it was exactly analogous to watching an esther williams synchronized swimming sequence... the practiced emotional responses, the tightly-regimented group movements, the confirmation of audience expectations about plot ups and downs. in this respect, i was amazed (rather than sickened as i sometimes can be by traditional american musicals.) there was little space on the stage, and the martial arts portions were dancelike and flowing, their campy aspects understood as part of the convention and not a hindrance to communication.

another thing i need to research is homosexuality in japanese culture- and what is the standard treatment for what americans would consider “homo” elements. americans obviously revile these elements as a standard treatment. (except for liberal educated new yorker elites, who welcome them in artistic mediums or for other creative endeavors.) the reason this occurred to me is that there were a number of important dramatic elements in the vignettes that would indicate homosexuality to american audiences. (luckily we were a few of the only judgemental whiteys in the mostly japanese and surprisingly elderly audience.) for example, all characters, but men especially, performed what the playbill described as “instant costume changes”. i think that there were some points where the costume change was not quick at all, and rather more akin to a strip tease. but, the hairy legs of japanese men are a turn-on not for me! for whom, then? other japanese men?

i think that the layers of clothing, of transparent material, and their transformative removal was a thematic element that united all the vignettes. sawa’s characters were frequently stunted by some emotion until he removed his outer garment and transcended the circumstance to defeat the bad guys in a bout of fantastic dance-fighting. you see what i mean about melodrama...

the presence of homoerotic symbolism was racheted up by the performance of takami, the fan dance child extraordinaire. in the opening scene of the production, takami is dancing around to traditional music in jeans, garbed as a boy. by the end of the song, he is made-up and costumed before our very eyes as a maiden geisha, demure and dancing to more modern japanese music. throughout the show he is on set alternately as a male or female character- essentially with no difference. i, however, read into his performances that he more enjoyed being the young warlord wielding a sword, and that his face was more rote and forced in his performance as a young geisha wielding a fan. true? hetero-american confirmation bias rearing its ugly head? my companion, also a caucasian american, added independently that he thought takami preferred his male roles.

(L-R): Ryuji Sawa & Mari Okamoto
Photographer: Hideyuki Tatebayashi

which brings us to gender roles. (you thought i could post a review without considering these?) i would like to better understand what the historical context of women in japanese culture. in most of the vignettes, they seemed to be merely just ancillary characters to sawa’s magnifique. he rescues them, he saves them, he must leave his weepy wife to go to fight, he must escape his ex-lover etc etc etc. women seem to function as no more than a impetus or excuse for sawa’s characters to fight. at one point, i was reminded of kurt russell’s character in deathproof, tarantino’s latest oeuvre. sawa’s posture, hair, occupation (fighting vis-a-vis being a car dude) and attitude toward women—all similar to russell, and all similarly upsetting during the bulk of the performance. (ok, subtract the ending off deathproof because i feel sort of like tarantino slapped that on there to mollify me personally.) sawa was the “big man” in almost every scene. is this misogyny typical for japan? or is it just a sawa thing? he was the most successful combinor of rockabilly and sword fighting so maybe he’s 1960s-nostalgic in slightly un-pc ways like david lynch. (perhaps i've already had this same sort of conversation about racist nostalgia and how that pervades all lynchian structural symbolism?) but, sawa also dresses in glammed-up kimono, does strip tease, and delicate fan dance as well? you can see why further research is required.

i don’t want to “spoil” the plot (or dreamlike psuedonarrative as i think of it) but you should go see this. if only for the kabuki “thriller” dance sequence and the incredible taiko drumming. and the glitzy costumes. and the marvelous martial artistry. and the child prodigy dancer.

(L-R): Ryuji Sawa
Courtesy of David Gibbs/DARR Publicity

the joys of grownuphood

2007-11-01T19:51:00.000-04:00

i'm teaching myself how to burp the opening bars of el scorcho.

places past and phuture

2007-10-24T10:45:00.000-04:00

why park slope was an excellent place to live:

no sexy witches here

via gawker... "so the Scores strippers maybe shouldn't have gone to the Daily News with word of their date with all the Park Slope kids. Now the school has disinvited them from the party and may cancel the event altogether. What has our society come to when a group of exotic dancers can't hand out candy to children?"

my favorite part is the comment that if you wanta see boobs in the slope, just head to the tea lounge. your eyes can drink their fill of breast feedin!

why philly's gonna be an awesome place to live:

philly filled with unattractive fatties

travel + leisure mag's readers rated philly basically unlivable due to its residents being least stylish, least active, least friendly and least worldly. god i can't wait to live there! i'm gonna gentrify it alllllllllllllll up!

gaming is for lovers

2007-10-21T12:25:00.000-04:00

way beyond pong

which of the many defenses of video games do you agree with? do you agree with his analysis of military reality vis-a-vis military virtual reality?

i am quite obviously not a gamer. but i'm also aware of how biased i am against everything barnett writes that it is difficult for me to sort through what seems like a reasonable claim and what isn't. here are reasons that i have an emotional keen-jerk reaction to discredit barnett's words:

1. he's in the military! and i've been around enough military dudes (due to growing up next to quantico) that i know the military doesn't encourage critical thinking skills or individuality, two traits which i prize, also, fighting and killing are not my deal.

2. fighting and killing are not my deal! i feel like i'm so completely thrown and horrified by even acts of simulated violence that it is really difficult for me to understand how anyone would want to spend their time fighting and killing (albeit simulated.) then it becomes difficult to respect people who want something-- to play at violence-- that i so abhor. i think it is important to relate that i have several close relationships (familial, fraternal, romantic) with people who do choose to spend their time playing these games. i don't judge them as harshly as i judge the unnamed gamer-nerd who personifies all the negative traits. fair? not at all.

3. i think the use of "game" as an action verb ('Microsoft's Xbox Live service allows me to game with friends from home via a high speed internet connection.') just seems so wrong. particularly in that context. it feels depersonalized, separated from any kind of fun action. it's like using the verb "interface" to describe the your activities with your friends at a bar. reading articles that use "game" in this fashion just sort of confirm how weird i feel about gaming as a social activity.

4. social activity? i think this is just my own non-participational bias, but it is really hard for me to consider group playing of video games as a valuable social opportunity. i haven't really done very much of it so perhaps i don't know very much about it. but i know when i play video games (i'm hearkening back to my semester of doctor mario before i began driving the bus), i had no real substantial or valuable contact with the other people who were playing or hanging out in the suite room. i never looked at anyone's faces. (and perhaps it is important to note the social cues that are founded in face-to face interaction.) i'd give standard, non-thoughtful responses ("yeah") to conversation, i wouldn't remember or apply the social capital gained from those conversations at any other point.

and maybe this is the crux of the matter! my definition of social interaction isn't just being in the same place as other people. it isn't even shared goals or experiences. those are important, but it is actions that these goals or experiences allow: it's having meaningful back-and-forth, the kind of conversation where i remember details and save them up for future conversations. it's how to make every dialogue into a springboard from which to further encounters with that person or use the social knowledge of the interaction to benefit me in other similar social situations. on those terms, 'gaming' can never be a truly social activity. yes, you can build hand-eye coordination. yes, you can further group identity and foster a common sense of purpose. but i don't think that it is as valuable as talking and interacting on any other level.
here's an important question to ask about gaming as a social destination: do you learn anything meaningful about the other people? about yourself? perhaps you get a sense of someone's skillset or competitive drive, or their problem-solving abilities (in more adventure-oriented gaming fields.) i just have never walked away from playing video games and felt like i really knew my fellow players better than when we started. to me, it isn't at all like talking in a coffee shop or sharing some physical experience.

speaking of sitting in a coffee shop, we were in one this morning, at a table next to a man who had a laptop hooked up to an external keyboard. thinking this external hardware was strange due to the size of the laptop, my roomate and i noted how odd this was. my roomate's boyfriend later commented that this man was playing 'world of warcraft' which, when played properly, demands an external keyboard such that one hand can work the mouse and one hand can work the keyboard. this blew my mind! not the keyboard-mouse split obviously, but rather that someone would go to a coffee shop to play a video game. would you? why? (it seems quite apparent that i would not, but i'm interested as to why anyone would choose this course of action.) coffee shops to me are warm, comfortable, sweet-smelling places. they are places to relax, make conversation with friends, read, think, etc. to me, a cafe has a double function: to provide serene mental space for me to conduct my own mental business, or to provide a nice atmosphere to interact with other people.

playing a game, a game set in virtual reality, doesn't seem to me to figure into either of those functions. in fact, it seems socially maladjusted... like bringing a book to read at a funeral you know is going to be boring. or answering a cell phone call when giving a public presentation. there's something about giving the virtual world precedence over the physical world that really scares me, and this is one of the many reasons that i hesitate to endorse video-gaming as a social function.

so now i'm going to try to understand why anyone might take their game and play it in public. let's, perhaps, consider this analgous to an activity i like to do: taking a book to the local park (the one with trees, not the one with concrete and dog poop) and reading. i like to do that, and it's going into the public zone while engaging in a private, technology-based activity. is this giving the virtual world precedence over the physical one? yes, it seems, perhaps it is. but i'm still far more engaged in the physical world. the thing that scares me about how i play computer games is that the level of detachment from the real world is incredibly intense. i become completely unaware of everything about my surrounding situation. (maybe people who play a lot of games become more inured to this, and they're capable of sensing information from their external environments?) not me, boy, when i'm tuned in, everything else is tuned out. but when i read my book at the park? i'm engaging the external environment on a level that is more involved! i'll look at people, overhear their conversations, watch the sunlight move across my lap as time passes, feel hungry when i catch a whiff of the local bakery on a passing breeze. i like this sort of engagement with the real world. why is this?

do i have some sort of misrepresented bias-- maybe older technologies have more credence because they've been tested with time? i'm not sure. the older generation always strongly protests the newest ideas, but then slowly comes to realize that the ideas are handy, convenient, moneymaking. perhaps i've been subject to this sort of obsolescence. or maybe i don't play enough video games to appreciate their finer points (that seems more likely.) from my game experience, it really seems more of a guilty pleasure, a way to kill time, a growing addiction.

i think sometimes people recommend to me their favorite tv shows based on how addictive the show is. what? in all other areas of my life, i try to avoid habit-forming behaviors, or at least try to analyze my rationale and control my own actions rather than be governed by an external stimuli. so how come television is judged on its ability to ensare one's attentions? video games seem largely the same way. perhaps in games as opposed to television, the "second life" aspect is so embroidered that it does enrich the imaginatory powers of the participants' brains? i don't really know. i just know that gaming as a social mechanism seems a little too mechanised for me to appreciate.