New Dawn Fades

So last night was an utter blast. I got home and played a bunch of Oblivion and watched some Sports Night. Then I watched a movie called 24 Hour Party People. It was basically a biopic of Tony Wilson and the rise of the Manchester scene through the mid seventies to the mid nineties. The film was at times tedious (mainly due to the choppy editing) but on a whole incredible. For those who don’t know Tony Wilson was the owner of the Hacienda (one of the most famous night clubs ever) and the “owner” of Factory Records (Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays). I highly recommend the movie to anyone interested in the era or the people (Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Martin Hannett). I also watched The Safety of Objects. It wasn’t as good as the other but interesting none the less. It was a kooky little tale of anti-materialism and inter-personal relationships colliding in a suburban neighborhood. Who knew Joshua Jackson could act a bit? 24 was of course amazing and the next season will be a heartbreaker as Mr. Sutherland won’t be there long…Anyway all of yesterday should have been a crap shoot. I got into a car accident yesterday coming home from work. My car got all banged up (but drivable). And insurance is going to be a total bitch but I keep it all in perspective when I realize that it might have been much, much worse. Well the weekend is fast approaching and I’m looking forward to it as I have to start school on Tuesday. And don’t be too surprised is all I talk about is Joy Division and Ian Curtis next time you see me…judge me not harshly it’s just the movie.

Listening to a shit load of Joy Division and New Order

Man Sitting In A Chair, Staring At A Cube

I am returned from my weekend feeling tired and out of sorts…a good sign by most accounts. It was one of those weekends that feels absolutely jam-packed, but when you look back, flew by too quickly. Friday I got off work at around 1 (early…yay!) and headed up to Fredrick to chill with Mike and Dave. We went over to the hookah bar there and had a lovely margarita flavored time. I also got some great CDs on loan from Mike including the hilarious Emo Summer (I’m not sure it is supposed to be though) and the absolutely amazing Indian Summer discography “Science 1994.” We all headed over to College Park and had a party at the Summerville's place. I met this awesome guy there how brews his own beer, which was amazingly good and I think in hindsight more than a little over-proofed. Saturday was the Avalon Party over at my house. It was a blast but I wish that more people had shown up. I tried a new drink called “Calimocho” which involved coke red wine and lime juice. It sounds horrible and for a wine snob such as myself I was very skeptical. However is was great…A kind of sangria like concoction that was both refreshing and very alcoholic (my too favorite qualities in a summer drink). Some friends brought over this portable fire pit as well, so we ended up all staying outside in the rather brisk spring night around a roaring blaze. It felt more like autumn than spring. Sunday however was a nightmare. At the ass crack of noon after staying up till 5 we had people over to see the house. So as usual I got dressed cleaned my room and was promptly kicked out. I went over to Hollywood Video to get a few titles (The Producers is quite funny…in an over the top musical sort of way). Then it happened; I went to into the Game Stop or whatever it was next door and bought Oblivion. It will destroy my life. Amazing graphics (which I was surprised my computer can actually run) and an immediately engrossing story line. That and the opening cut scene has Capt. John-Luc Picard as the voice of the emperor! My summer will now, I’m sure, be spent playing as much of this game as humanly possible. I almost don’t even want to watch the finale of 24 tonight so that I can play Oblivion. HA just kidding; I could never miss the ever raspy-voiced Kiefer as Jack Bauer…KILLING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ON PRIMETIME!!!! The writers for this show are absolutely “round the bend.” It should be a good night…24 to watch and an Oblivion Gate to close in the city of Kavatch…sweet (insert Homer drooling noise here)

Listening to Fascination Street by The Cure, I’ll Believe In Anything by Wolf Parade
And Girlfriend Is Worse by The Ex Models

Readymade

Another day of the 7-5 mad dash. Work is crazy as always. Too much to do…well other people anyway. I’m at my desk at the moment taking a bit of an early afternoon/post lunch blog break (the best kind). No much for me to do at the moment. There are a couple of long term projects but I’m not up for starting them today. On a related topic my employment with WRIT will be at an end as of the 26th. I start school on the 30th and work will not be an option as I go back to high school levels of attendance time. I have had a job way more often than not since I was thirteen; and while the prospect of work has never been a real turn on I feel as if I never accomplish anything when I don’t. A horrible paradox to be sure, but what isn’t in my life… Enough of the mooping, this weekend is weighing heavily on my mind. I’m so sick of the general area I’ve been in of late that I’m desperate for a change. But desperate enough to do something even more lame than hang about a Starbucks just in a different county? No…I think…
Anyway the grandiose ideas that have been sprouting the fertile bed of boredom which is my mind have lead me to believe that I may have built up the weekend too much so as to make any eventuality seem less by comparison to my wild and impossible dreams. And if you guessed that that last sentence was me just trying to see how long I could drag it out…you are right. So I bought Stadium Arcadium by The Red Hot Chili Peppers a few days ago because I liked the single a lot (“Dani California”). Interestingly the new single, “By the Way” and “Californiacation” are a trilogy about some girl that Flea and Kiedis know. Thought that was a new idea. At least the part about spreading them over, what, like five years almost I think. The new CD surprised me by being a double. After liking the last two albums as much as I did and a strong first single I was “amped” to hear the Chili Pepper goodness. I have yet to try the second disc (entitled “Mars” and its counterpart “Jupiter”) the first CD is a big disappointment. For the beginning they run back to their older sound (funk-rock) that in my opinion falls fairly flat coming from a bunch of southern Californian white boys. Now I shall reserve judgment of the entire thing until I muster the courage and give Mars a listen. However if it follows along the lines of the track “Readymade” I think there will be one less Peppers fan in the world. I also, in the same stroke, bought “10,000 Days” the new Tool album. I think that Tool can be incredibly pretentious (which is saying something) and on a whole a decent but overly name-dropped band. That and Maynard Keenan looks like he should have stopped doing heroin along with everyone else in 1997. The New CD will take you an a journey. Well more a trip really. The guitar solos are something that Stevie Ray Vaughan would masturbate to and the vocals are subsumed in the rolling bass and rhythm section of what is either an orchestra or a talented mixer either is wasting talent on this simplistic back beat hodgepodge. That being said I do like the album for the most part. There are some good almost-single-worthy songs on it notably “Pot” and “Rosetta Stoned.” Think they had a substance in mind or on the mind when in the studio? Enough I made this longer than I intended.

Listening to Urbana Is Too Dark by Braid
and Something about A Nightmare by Camera Obscura
(To wash the bad taste out of my ears)

The Static Cult

So I have been on a whole a useless and horrible person of late. My vacation was okay. I hung out with Nando and Harry a lot. However there was not much to do. I think it has something to do with being twenty…and not twenty-one. Anywho, I am going back to work tomorrow and will work till Friday. Next weekend I’m getting away from the MoCo area hopefully. I swear if I drive up Rockville Pike one more time I may scream…I can’t avoid it ever. So in other news the house is still on the market (if anyone is interested in a two story 250,000 sq. ft. Dutch colonial leave a comment). This is breeding some tension between the parentals so I have tried to not be around much. I think once we get a contract on the house things will go back to sort of normal mode. West Wing is finally at an end. I am heartbroken; however during the finale Studio 60 on Sunset Strip aired a promo. It looks great! Also I was very pleased to see Sorkin make a cameo in the last episode. Work should be hellish as there has been no me around to keep the paper from building up. That and I don’t want to go back. So you may have noticed that I have not posted in a while. This is because every time I wrote a post up I was drunk. I have tried to keep that sort of thing to a minimum. I think the working will help with the soberness and in turn with the amount of posts (for anyone who reads this on a regular basis). That’s all really. Until next time “keep it classy [insert area where you are]!”

Listening to Understand by Minor Threat
And Those Who Stayed By Murder By Death

All Lubed Up, No Where To Go

Well it was bound to happen at some point. I had a bad weekend. I’ve been on the streak of my life since I started the blog, but this weekend sucked for the most part. Friday was good but the rest was bad enough to erase any good. It started out hanging out with Harry. We went to a concert at my old high school, which was fun, and some decent music. After, we went to Wow Cow (great name for an ice cream shop by the by) with a number of former class mates that I hadn’t seen in a year or more. All good. Went home and watched Match Point and Shop Girl both of which I cant recommend highly enough. Saturday I got to sleep late but left the worse for it, when…nothing. There was no one around and nothing to do. I drove around a bit and got some gas and then realized that no one was doing anything. I went back home and read until around midnight then went to sleep. Sunday was our open house and I had to be out of the house till 4. So I drove around some more and still there was nothing to do. Everyone was either busy, studying or away. Well I suppose one the bright side a got a lot of reading done in a bunch of books that I had started but never got very far in. Also it now vacation time. I’m taking off work after tomorrow till the end of the weekend. Hopefully there will be something to do then. If not there are always my books. Oh and it’s the 25th blog post making this the silver anniversary. Gifts may be sent to me. Bonus points to anyone who can name the band from the title (No not you Mike!).

Listening to Emergency! Emergency! By Promise Ring
And I’m Back Sleeping Or Fucking Or Something by Moss Icon

I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light

Birthday craziness. AMAZING food. French with scotch (Johnnie Black…eh). Fun though. That was followed by nerdiness…extreme nerdiness. Not much else. Quite for the most part. The weekend is looking very dull. Gas has killed any hope of venturing far a field, and we are having another open house, so not only do I have nothing to do, but I can’t stay home. FUN! Very sad news though. The Brand New show at the Ramshead is sold out. Not surprising; but sad. On the bright side Echo and the Bunnymen are coming to the Black Cat in June sometime. Two very different bands both good…well Brand New is fun if not good. Yay for the summer concert season.

Listening to Exodus Damage (Alias Remix) by John Vanderslice, Speeding Cars by Imogen Heap and The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen

Rising Up Is Hard Work (Let's Just Sit Here)

Well its been mad hectic since my last post. School is kicking my ass, work is beating it raw and my social life is rubbing salt in the wounds. Sorry that was graphic. But yeah…Exams, 60 new building to be bought at work and remodeled and Shah leaving are all weighting heavily on my mind at the moment. This weekend’s party at his house was great. Had a blast…then a killer hangover, which I suppose is the normal bodily response to mixing beer, “rum juice,” champagne, and tequila. I am dumb. Anyway I’m sorry to see him go, but I think he might be sorrier than all of us. To Shah: “Its not like I’m going to let you forget us all…so don’t worry.” The move is well underway. There are a couple of prospective clients who have been back a couple of times, but that is the last thing on my mind. I wont even attempt to deal with that until we get it sold (ah denial). Exams throughout the week then a summer of, wait for it, more school. I shall endevour to keep upbeat about all this however. There is no use crying about things that nobody can change, or at least there isn’t much of a point to it. On a happier not Wednesday is my birthday. The big 2-0. For me it means just one more year until I start living in a bar full time. Going to dinner with the folks then the weekend will hopefully be full of merriment in some for or another. Baltimore, St. Mary’s and Potomac are all on the list of possible destinations…maybe all three (fuck gas prices though). Anyway I have a poli sci test in about 18 hours so until then…please distract me my any means available! No don’t I should work…

Listening to Lousy Reason by All Parallels
And Saanson Kee Mala by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan