People are Funny and Amazing"Tender is the touch / Of Someone that you love too much"I walked into the coffeeshop that is my current haunt this morning, intent on getting a cup of joe before starting my day of translation work. My friend S. flaked on me in terms of our breakfast plans -- which was a minor irritation, since I drug my dumb ass outta bed even though I was tired, to have her cancel because she too was tired and headachy. Anyway, so I roll up to the coffeeshop, wearing what was probably an
I'm having none of it look on my face. This guy who works there, who I call "Iceman"was there. Generally I have no patience for him. He seems pretty goofy and very unserious, but in a negative way. One time he got into a flirty ice fight with "Smiley," this girl who works there who is almost always in a bitchy mood. This ended in his tossing the ice back into the icemachine, which meant that I boycotted iced drinks or icewater for quite a while. Hence my dislike for the Iceman. Anyway, so I'm there, both Iceman and Smiley are working, and I'm irritated about breakfast and more than a few other things -- and I'm sure that I look it. Iceman goes to the cd player, and the tones of Blur's "Tender," come pouring from the speakers. I couldn't help but bust out a huge smile. That was exactly the song I needed to hear this morning, matching my mood in so many senses. And of all people, it was muthafuckin Iceman who made that happen. We shared a moment singing along gospel style to Damon Albarn and smiling. After fixing my coffee the way I like it, I thanked him for the song and left. People can really surprise you sometimes. Apparently the Iceman is much more perceptive than I'd given him credit for.
A list of many things: A response to MartyListening:
1.
Brakes Give Blood (nice witty British boys I met at their instore...Good musicians, fun, but also totally sweet individuals. A dream of an experience. They talk smack about Dick Cheney and have a song called "All Night Disco Party." There also seems to be love of Johnny Cash.)
2.
The Wedding Present Sea Monsters (all about heartache and breakups. Seems appropriate)
3.
Maximo Park A Certain Trigger (a good wake up album. Also counteracts some of the bad feelings from #2, but not entirely. )
4.
M.I.A. Arular (Dusting this one off to listen to in my car. Lots of dancy tracks.)
5. anything by the Smiths;
Morrissey Vauxhall and I (all time greats. The Morrissey disc sports songs like "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get," "Hold On to Your Friends," and "Find Out for Yourself," which I guess the Killers just covered.)
6.
Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere (The cover of Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone" is totally hot.)
7. Various mixes of music in my possession.
8.
Richard Hawley (if you don't know this dude, you ought to. Both
Coles Corner and
Lowedges are amazing. He was also in the band Longpigs back in the 90s -- I happened to catch them when they were opening for U2 back when it was their POPMART tour. I liked them then...but his solo stuff is really soulful and country-tinged. Hawley also played bass (?) in Pulp.)
9.
Virginia Rodrigues Nos (Brazilian singer who is fucking amazing. This album is both danceable and melacholy, but with a stillness, if that makes any sense).
Reading:
1. Lots of stuff for the ethics class I'm teaching this summer. Right now, that involves Bentham and Mill. Soon we'll be on terrorism stuff, which is always controversial and a lot of fun to do.
2. Stuff for my German translation. It's on Dada, but only when I can get the sentences to make any damn sense.
3. I want to read this book by Alain Badiou on Marcus Aurelius -- no one seems to talk about him anymore -- and I've heard a talk on Badiou, so this is exciting. Also on deck
Kant After Duchamp by Thierry de Duve, some books by WHT Mitchell and by Danto.
Watching:
1. David Lynch jag. Just got done rewatching the
Twin Peaks series, which was, again amazing and frustrating in terms of how it all ends. Don't worry, I won't spoil anything. Also saw
Blue Velvet on the big screen (even better than at home!), and
Fire Walk With Me and
Lost Highway. I think I'll have to rewatch
Mulholland Drive soon.
2. In a weird connection, I think that Altman's latest,
A Prairie Home Companion sports some Lynchian elements. At points the film was a bit slow, but there are certainly some great moments and great shots. The way Altman utilized mirroring in this film is pretty fantastic.
3. I need to finally watch Fellini's
Satyricon, since I own it but have yet to watch it.
4.
2046 (one of my favorite films from the past year. Beautifully shot is the understatement of the year here.)
Doing:
1. Teaching
2. Playing some gigs this week...on the part of the tour I can swing while still being gainfully employed
3. There are a coupla art projects I need to tend to / both collage wise and painting wise. Hopefully I get a minute this week to indulge myself.
4. Going to shows. For sure the Brakes instore was great...there's another instore today, and maybe I'll get to see the Walkmen on Friday. They were fantastic the last time I saw them live about 2 years ago...but we'll see.
5. Still trying to figure some things out (when am I not).
