Officially the don Horn/Ampersand/Quiet Brandon International Media Corporation: Denver Branch Best Music of 2012 The Last Year of Our Species.

Good Day, friends and acquaintances and strangers that somehow came across this thing. I have a great taste in music so my opinions are therefore the most important ones in regards to music released into this world during the calendar year of 2012. If I didn't hear it, it was not important/good. This is an assumption we must make. If I didn't understand it fully, it must not have been worth my time to give it the required attention.

I'm doing things a bit differently this year. I decided against the whole "ranking stuff" thing because come on. I always regret it later. I put the xx over Dirty Projectors in 2009? What was I thinking? And how can you choose between two great albums of entirely different genre? What is this based on? Something unquantifiable? That special feeling that special music gives me? Which one does "that" better?

No no no. This year, I'm just going to share with you a list (in alphabetical order lest you think I'm trying to rank them) of the music that was released that was very very special to me. There are 15 if you want to try to figure out how they would rank based on what I say about them. And I will say why it was special to me. Maybe we can start a dialogue that way. I know listing things starts dialogues, but it usually comes down to me saying "I don't know why I liked this more; I guess I just didn't get into that other one that much."

Take a look. And then tell me what music was the most special to you. Let's bond over this.

A is for...Aesop Rock: Skelethon. I'm not sure if this is less "dense" than his last album or not, but it feels that way to me. I can follow along a little better. It's either me or him that has changed. Probably me. He still spits out words with an intensity that sounds like they've been stuck in his throat for ages and he...just...hastogetthemoutrightnow. I like it a lot. Also, surprising to me because I kind of find her too precious, that song with Kimya Dawson is great. She is utilized in a way that is not annoying! More just creepy in a really great way.

B is for...Bobby Womack: The Bravest Man In The Universe. It sounds just as I hoped it would sound. After the greatness that was Bobby Womack on the last (two) Gorillaz album(s), I had high hopes for a Damon Albarn (and Richard Russell!) produced Bobby Womack album. His voice has oh so much soul at this age, I can't get over it. And Albarn's production is modern yet classy. Usually if you try to modernize soul like this it sounds cheesy and terrible. But something tells me this will age well. The production enhances the vocals, as opposed to masking/ruining them.

C is for...Chromatics: Kill For Love. Speaking of cheesy production...this sounds quite a bit like something cheesy from the 80s. Yet...I like it. Why? Well, this is a great album for driving around at night (yeah yeah, I know their last album was actually called Night Drive). The electricity of the city, experiencing life. Synths. Stuff.

C is also for...Cloud Nothings: Attack on Memory. This one took me a bit. It took me a while to get over the vocals. I almost have a love/tolerate relationship with the vocals. Sometimes it's annoying pop punk, and sometimes it sounds like a young Johnny Rotten (i.e. actual punk). The music, though, just sounds so alive! Kind of like what Titus Andronicus did for me a couple years ago. The energy of that punk rock that I lived for in high school. Unpredictable, turn on a dime, can't-help-but-air-drum-in-the-car rocking out. It kind of reminds me of Nirvana without being stuck in the 90s. And "Wasted Days" may be the song of the year. Maybe.

D is for...Dirty Projectors: Swing Lo Magellan. Beautiful record here. It reminds me of the last TV On The Radio album in that I feel like the last one reached such a level of technical mastery and now they are playing in the newly expanded playground they've created. Using it to create (dare I say) poppier sounds without compromising who they are. Putting more heart on display while making the technical stuff look easy. The breakdown that happens late in the album where they actually purposefully get off the beat, talk over each other, just lends to this as well. They're having fun. So listening to it is just fun.

E is for...El-P: Cancer 4 Cure. This really was a big year for hip hop. As you'll see. I don't know if I can get away with my years-old practice of shying away from commenting on hip hop because I'm "so new" to the genre that I don't know what to say! At this point I don't think that's fair. Why do I like this album? Because it's so bombastic, because it references Step Brothers and Groucho Marx. Because Nick Diamond is on there. And he lets the intro play for a full 3 minutes before jumping in there. This is a hip hop album that would have held up last year, when it seemed like nothing could hold a candle to Shabazz Palaces. It's at that level.

F is for...Frank Ocean: Channel Orange. I'll admit it. I probably would not have even given this a chance if he hadn't posted that coming out thing online leading up to the album. I always figured, he has a nice voice, but I also pre-decided that he wouldn't have anything interesting to say. The Odd Future crew irritated the hell out of me last year and I would just as soon have nothing to do with any of their output. But part of that was the misogyny and homophobia of what they were saying. But he's gay? And this album is getting good reviews? OK fine. Maybe I was wrong about this guy. I'll get the deal of the day $3.99 album on Amazon. If nothing else, there's at least a track featuring Andre 3000. But wow. He has a lot to say. This is some next level R&B. A modern Marvin Gaye (pardon the pun). The production and diversity of sounds is amazing, but what keep me coming back are his songwriting and that beautiful, beautiful voice.

G is for...Godspeed You! Black Emperor!: Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! A couple 20 minute tracks and a couple 6 minute tracks. Those two 20 minute tracks are kind of the definition of epic music, but I just find it accessible. I can just put it on like a pop record and listen to them like it's nothing. It's a quick 20 minute journey. Well a couple of them. Once it really gets going, you really gotta listen to the whole thing.

J is for...Japandroids: Celebration Rock. Kind of the opposite of the rock spectrum. Quick songs (ok, not like Off level quick, they are almost all over 4 minutes) of anthemic whoa-oh-ohs and guitar licks and a few actual lyrics to throw in there. "The Nights of Wine and Roses" is now one of my favorite drinking songs. But all the songs, put together, are a statement of "let's be young! woohoooo!" sloganeering but like, without being shallow, ya know?

J is also for...Jens Lekman. I was a little reluctant to put this on there. Especially because I skipped Jack White (did you notice that? I'm still kind of surprised I skipped his album on this list because it's great!). But also because I find the actual music to be somewhat cheesy. A little too smooth jazz for my tastes. But he always always always gets me with his combination of melody and lyrics. The simple songwriting. It doesn't matter how they are presented. These songs are pure gold. Every one of them.

K is for...Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d city. I wanted but kind of failed to like Section.80. Now I'm wondering if I should give it another chance. He has so much to say on this album, and so many creative ways to say it. It sounds like a debut to me.

K is also for...KIller Mike: R.A.P. Music. Can he and El-P team up all the time now? What a great foundation is laid for Killer Mike to just...kill it. He sounds completely alive and excited to rap about literature and staying sharp. It's inspiring. So listen up.

O is for...of Montreal: Paralytic Stalks. OK I will admit I am somewhat of an of Montreal apologist. Their last couple albums were a little lacking but I really really wanted to like them more than I probably actually did. I may have forced it a bit. But this one? Pitchfork hated this one? After gushing over Hissing Fauna? It's like it wouldn't fit their pre-set narrative of this band to admit they have returned in a big way. This is their darkest album, it is easily their best and most personal since Hissing Fauna, and it's very rewarding. Is it a mess? Kind of, but that's because it's exploring the human psyche, which is a mess. It's still catchy, still has those great sing along choruses about making the one you love start crying and it feeling good, exploring the darker reaches of your mind to come out clean on the other side. You know...therapy.

R is for...Robert Glasper: Black Radio. I didn't know who this guy was (he is a jazz pianist). But one of the free songs of the day on google was a song featuring Lupe Fiasco and Bilal. So I said "ok, I'll take that free song!" And I did and it was pretty good! Then the album came out and I looked at the track listing and who was featured. Erykah Badu! Chrisette Michele! Yasiin Bey (you know, Mos Def)! Why not give this a try? But more than a collection of R&B and hip hop personalities getting their jazz on is a celebration of  the love of the music. That sounds cheesy. But it's great jazz with great singing--and some rapping--on top. It's Billie Holiday for 2012. It's hard to describe. But a gorgeous experience.

T is for...THEESatisfaction: awE naturalE. So after Shabazz Palaces blew my mind last year, I was ready for everything I could find associated with them. So this was the big release of 2012 associated with Shabazz Palaces. And it kind of does for R&B what Black Up did for hip hop. It just blows it wide open. If R&B is the right genre for this. Maybe just call it another variation on hip hop. Why do I have to try to label something like this? But what this album does here is it takes two voices, winds them around each other, puts other pieces around those two voices, and makes something gripping and enchanting. Does that make sense? I didn't think so. Just listen!

Y is for...You should also check out these honorable mentions! Much more great music came out! Alabama Shakes. Animal Collective. The Antlers. Bat for Lashes. Big Boi (still needs more gestation as it just came out, it's probably not as great as Speakerboxxx or Sir Lucious Left Foot but it's still Big Boi). Brother Ali. Cat Power. David Byrne & St Vincent. Death Grips. E.D. Sedgwick. The Evens. Fiona Apple. Flying Lotus. Georgia Anne Muldrow (produced by Madlib!). Grimes. Hot Chip. Jack White. JJ Doom. John K. Samson. Leonard Cohen. Liars. Lower Dens. The Men. Nas. Neneh Cherry & The Thing. Santigold. Scissor Sisters. The Swans. Tanlines. Titus Andronicus. Ty Segall. The Walkmen. The xx. 

What did you love?

Playlist/CD/something coming soon.

Obligatory Third Post About The Oscars

I promised it, although now I'm not sure why. There's not much left to say. I will say that Hugo deserved the wins it got. Nothing upset/surprised me too much. Glad some Colorado filmmakers won best documentary short. The Artist is now officially "overrated" but I wish it no ill will. Good for it. Tree of Life will end up being one of those movies that, years down the line, people will say "really? Tree of Life won no awards?" or maybe not. I like to think it will be recognized as 2001: A Space Odyssey is now. But who knows.

I'm glad it's time to move on. It reminds me of the end of the year when I obsess about putting together my list of best albums and once I've done that I can finally listen to other stuff. I can now watch whatever the hell movies I feel like. Not that any of them were a chore (I should have seen The Descendants earlier, that's for sure!). I just feel liberated.

That is all. Thanks for playing.

Updated Oscar related things and thoughts!

I said I would do this so here it is. Now that I've seen most of the movies nominated for most things, here are some final thoughts about what I would like to see happen tomorrow on the TV screen which is oh so important.

Best Picture: Still Tree of Life, duh. But I can see The Artist taking everything for nothing more than nostalgic purposes. I didn't dislike The Artist and wish it no ill will, but it was simply "good."

Lead Actor: George Clooney will probably win and I now think he should. He was marvelous. I always think Clooney is overrated but I quite liked his performance here.

Lead Actress: Hopin' for Michelle Williams, who channeled the simple charm of Marilyn Monroe. The movie wasn't as good as I had hoped but the acting was great, particularly Ms. Williams. (Prediction is Glenn Close, just seeing the trailer I could tell that that's the type of role that wins Oscars)

Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh was also brilliant in My Week With Marilyn. So go him. I don't know who to predict so I decided Max Von Sydow despite the movie being (presumably) terrible. Mostly as a way to finally recognize his brilliance.

Supporting Actress: No interest in The Help but I can see someone from that movie winning. I half-heartedly endorse Bérénice Bejo from The Artist for her charm level, but none of these nominees particularly impressed me this year. Where's Carey Mulligan or Charlotte Gainsbourg?

Animated Feature: I saw none of these. I will blindly hope for A Cat In Paris because I imagine it is a lot of fun, and I will blindly predict Rango. What are we to do without a Pixar nominee?

Cinematography: I was surprised Moneyball wasn't nominated although Wally Pfister got recognized for his work in Inception. But that was probably my second favorite cinematography after Tree of Life. Predict The Artist because it's gonna take home a lot. Even though the lighting had lots of the faults of 40s (and earlier) black and white cinema with multiple shadows always on display. But maybe that was purposeful?

Directing: See above. Predict The Artist but Tree of Life really should take this one.

Editing: Hugo should win, again expecting The Artist...

Song: Go Bret McKenzie!

Adapted Screenplay: I believe The Descendants will and should win. Wonderful story, wonderful dialog, just well told. Moneyball's a distant second.

Original Screenplay: Predicting Midnight in Paris. I didn't see A Separation, but I'm going to hope for that one anyway. None of the nominees I saw impressed me all that much this year.

I sadly didn't see any documentaries, shorts, or the nominated foreign films this year. Other than seeing Time Freak randomly at a film festival. I can hope for Time Freak, but that's not really a fair way to judge it.


I will try to make my final entry about the oscars less list-y and more paragraphy. See you after that!


Oh, one final note. Alfred Hitchcock never won an oscar. Stanley Kubrick only won once for visual effects. The best movies are often not even nominated. Even with 10 nominations. So see Shame, Melancholia, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Drive, The Skin I Live In, King of Devil's Island, and many more. fyi.

of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks

I guess it's time to throw in my 15 cents about this new of Montreal album, eh?

Last year sometime I was reading an interview with Kevin Barnes that had a fairly surprising amount of time praising the Sufjan Stevens album The Age of Adz. It was about how the album was so under-appreciated and in retrospect people would see it as one of the great works of our time. I was happy to see someone defending it so fiercely because I happened to agree strongly with his assessment. Adz was such a massive personal statement into which Stevens threw his whole being, a radical departure from all of his past "mainstream" releases.

It appears that Mr. Barnes was quite influenced by this great work. He seems to have decided to make his own personal version. So what we get here isn't as quite as radical a departure as the one Sufjan Stevens made, but that's only because of Montreal has never shied away from the outrageous/layered/layered/layered/A.D.D.-esque sounds that can be found on this album. But something has changed.

Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? was my favorite album of 2007, a year that included oh so many great albums (Battles, LCD Soundsystem, Okkervil River, Jens Lekman, Animal Collective, Jay-Z, M.I.A., and many others absolutely killed it that year). I had to venture into the world of Myspace to find this, but here is what I wrote about Hissing Fauna in my 2007 summary:

of montreal - hissing fauna, are you the destroyer?/icons, abstract thee
not only my favorite album of the year, but quite possibly my favorite album of the last FEW years. such happy, uplifting music about depressing subject matter. WE JUST WANT TO EMOTE 'TIL WE'RE DEAD. such a perfect opening line to the greatest album i have heard in a really long time. it makes me dance, shed a tear, think, scratch my head, laugh, all while singing along. and i never ever wanted to write this song...

The way that album combined dizzying highs and depressing lyrics moved me in ways I still find troubling. Since then, of Montreal's music has been disappointing me to a degree. The last couple albums just found Barnes reveling in his Georgie Fruit alter-ego, creating a strange fusion of of Montreal and Prince, getting all sorts of funky. Nothing wrong with any of that, it just didn't seem as personal a work, and it was near impossible to relate to it on a personal level.

This new one is different though. He has finally moved on. The lyrics hit the same levels of depression as Fauna, but the music now has a darkness to match. The way they are sung retains what Destroyer did, and once you've spun this a few times, if you're like me you will find yourself singing along with just as much emotion as on Hissing. It's just instead of singing about wanting to "shave your head, have a drink, and be left alone (is that too much to ask?)" it's more about how "somehow I lost the thread of being human, wrapped in all this bitterness."

It's a trip into the depths of Barnes' psyche, it's his most personal work since at least Hissing Fauna, and it's easily the darkest record they have put out. If you can take it, and if you can give it the time and attention it requires, I highly recommend it.

Le Beau Serge

Latecomer: Le Beau Serge

This one hasn't been on my shelf too long. I think I got it last time Barnes & Noble did their whole 50% off all Criterion dealie.

I think this may be the first Chabrol movie I have seen. Fitting, I say, as it was his first film. Maybe I should visit his filmography entirely chronologically. Or maybe that would be too daunting. But with the level of skill and intuition on display in Le Beau Serge, I imagine his films were all very impressive.

Camera movement. That's the main thing I noticed in this film. Lots of long takes. Lots of scenes that took place in just one take. There was a lot going on but it was very easy to follow. This is certainly the work of a filmmaker who has spent a lot of time studying film. Perhaps he was a film critic who decided he would pick up a camera? He was? Cahiers du what now?

But anyway. I don't know what else to say here. It was inventive but not to the degree that other New Wave directors would take things. But he beat them to the punch, so maybe he continued to push and innovate as the 60s went on. I certainly can't wait to find out. If nothing else, I could watch lots of his movies just for the fact that the camera work is certain to be impressive and probably a big influence on later directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson and Martin Scorsese.

Highly recommended, although maybe not as highly as the early work of Truffaut or Godard. But that's just this one movie.

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adulthood

I was fortunate enough this weekend to witness a band I had finally started giving up thinking I'd be able to see. Despite coming of age as a punk rock kid in Fort Collins, my timing was just slightly off and I never got to see the great heroes of Fort Collins punk rock at home. Of course I'm talking about The Descendents.

Growing up I always imagined seeing them at the Starlight, a tiny venue of many punk shows in my day. Today, the Starlight is closed and I don't go back to Fort Collins very often.

So imagine my surprise when I found that The Descendents were playing a show in Denver, sort of a one-off thing, at The Fillmore, which is pretty much the opposite of The Starlight. I never thought they'd play a place like that.

Let me take a few sentences in the middle here to acknowledge the other band that played that night. Another band I missed seeing whenever they were in town despite being a fan about 10 years ago. Hot Water Music is currently working on their new album at Fort Collins' The Blasting Room so they got to play as well as another one-off show that's not part of a tour. They have a huge discography, and my time as a fan only spans a couple of their albums, so I only knew a few of the songs they played but they were still incredible. I may need to get back in touch with their music.

Now, when the great and powerful Descendents took the stage, the first thing I noticed was Milo's grey hair. For a band that prides itself on immaturity, it was quite striking.

But the music. Oh, the music. Every damn song was played with such a high energy level, such electricity and fervor, I almost forgot I was at a venue advertising a Creed concert in the coming weeks. For The Descendents' set, I know every word, every note and every chord was right, right on.

For the All-o-Gistics they brought a bunch of kids on stage. From my understanding, they are the band members' kids. They have kids? They have their own Descendents?? But the kids read off the All-o-Gistics. These kids are the future and if they live by these simple rules they don't have to worry about running out of energy and passion in their lifetime.

One strange thing happened. One of the biggest moments of excitement for much of the crowd was when they played "Nothing With You" off the strange second-reunion-album, 2004's Cool To Be You. It is probably one of the better songs off that album, but it's really got nothing on their 80s discography. I know a lot of kids probably got into the band with that album, but I certainly got into the band with their other strange reunion album, 1996's Everything Sucks but it didn't take me long to discover the beauty that is the band's 80s discography. So why people would particularly latch on to something from 2004 in 2012 when it's markedly inferior to the old stuff (this can't just be my opinion...right??) is a big mystery to me.

What other observations can I make? It was kind of funny when Milo sang "When I Get Old," and he even laughed a little bit at the beginning of the song, but I don't think he's really become his definition of old. Grey hair and whatever age number he has reached has nothing to do with that.

They played damn near every song on the classic Milo Goes to College and I went crazy screaming along to damn near every song they played. That's what's important. I finally got to see those local Fort Collins punk rock heroes live. It wasn't at a tiny, sweaty, smokey bar, but it was still everything else I would hope for. And soon I will be able to re-live the show (and you can see it too!) because it was being taped for some sort of video release. Can't wait!

One last thing. This whole post was about how they embrace immaturity, and how we love them for it, but there has always been one dark spot in one of their early songs, a song that is otherwise awesome and I still love, but it always makes me uncomfortable. "I'm Not A Loser" is a great anthem for punk rock types against jock types that will empower the outcasts of high schools for generations to come, but it happens to end with a bunch of homophobic slurs. These days, it is apparent which side of this ongoing battle of the outcasts vs the cool kids that homosexuals will tend to reside upon, and in this live rendition, this has been recognized, as the slurs were taken out of the song. Some things are worth growing up over, and I'm happy to see that they have become wise without losing their ability to declare "thou shalt not suppress flatulence." Amen to that.

Melancholia

The other one that got snubbed.

It's a good time for a movie dealing with the apocalypse. How would you deal with it? If it was actually happening?

One person just knows things. She knows we are alone in this universe, and she knows that it will end. But with such an innate understanding, you also see the bigger picture:

"The Earth is evil. We don't need to grieve for it."

But for the rest of us, it's all just a mass of confusion. Clinging to anyone that will give you answers, we don't know any better. We just want life to continue because we believe it is important. Especially if we are in fact alone. What is this universe without life, anyhow? Sure, it's beautiful but without life beauty does not matter. No one to perceive it as such. So we want to believe that the threat to all life on earth "looks friendly."

I don't know if this movie even should have been up for any Oscars. Maybe best picture, but the individual elements (acting, cinematography, writing, etc) were basically utilitarian. All just pieces of the bigger picture. Nothing individually stood out, yet the film itself has left a lasting impression on me. And I'm glad I caught it in the theater, particularly due to the final shot. I can't imagine it having nearly as great an effect watching on a TV with my version of surround sound.

So if it's still in theaters near you, definitely check it out. The first act is very uncomfortable, I should warn you, but it's part of what creates this lasting effect. I felt this movie for days after leaving the theater.

Oscars 2012 - Initial Thoughts on the Nominations

I will follow up once I've seen more and again after the ceremony. Follow along at home and comment and make your own predictions! Here's where they're posted.

Best Picture:

TREE OF LIFE TREE OF LIFE TREE OF LIFE. Unquestionably the best film of the year. I loved Hugo and I still have to see the others, but hands down, man!

Lead Actor:

I really need to see more films, I haven't seen any of these! But based on snippets and such, it appears that George Clooney was great in The Descendants...But really? No Michael Fassbender?

Lead Actress:

No Elizabeth Olsen? No Carey Mulligan? They will both get their due someday if they keep up the good work. I think Meryl Streep just has a permanent spot on the nominee list. I will be pullin' for Glenn Close, although I need to see more of these.

Supporting Actor:

I have no comment at this time, although I'm a little disappointed in the absence of Paul Giamatti & Philip Seymour Hoffman...but those two guys do get their share of credit so it's not a huge deal. Would have liked to see John C Reilly for Cedar Rapids, even though it seemed like such a joke role he did a great job fusing comedy with drama in this performance and what he still hasn't won an Oscar? Just because he mostly does comedy doesn't mean he's not one of the best actors working today...Or Carnage or We Need To Talk About Kevin (but I haven't seen those ones).

Supporting Actor:

Or maybe this is where Carey Mulligan should have been. Still not there though. Let's see. The Help just needs to shuuuut up. Melissa McCarthy was very funny in Bridesmaids but is that enough for an Oscar?

Animated Feature:

Seen none of these. What do you think Pixar is thinking now? They lost their perma-spot!

Cinematography:

TREEEEEE OF LIFFFFE. Disappointed to see no Roger Deakins this year. When will he be properly recognized? But it looks like the only movie he would have been possibly nominated for this year was In Time, so it makes sense that he wasn't on the list. Next year though. If nothing else, he's doing a Bond movie so it will probably look awesome...

Art Direction:

Hugo!

Costume:

Whatever...

Directing:

Great field of talent here but obviously I'm going to pull for Malick.

Not much else to say about the other categories. Except "only two songs?"

Oh wait, Writing is there at the bottom:

Adapted Screenplay:

Need to see more of these before I can say anything. Betting on The Descendants though, were I a betting man.

Original Screenplay:

I'm sick of saying nothing about The Artist, I really need to go see that one. Bridesmaids would be a good one to win though.

Neglected:

obviously I need to see more movies in general, but come on!

-The Skin I Live In

-Le Havre

-13 Assassins

-John C Reilly

-The King of Devil's Island

-Martha Marcy May Marlene

-Melancholia

-Shame

Fugitive Days

What a great, inspiring book.

I mean it.

I don't think I'll make it through all of the books in one year but the point is that I'll just keep reading them as long as it takes. Next up was Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist by one Bill Ayers. The whole reason I had so much interest in this book in the first place was the smear campaign in the 2008 election when ol' Sarah Palin would talk about Obama palling around with terrorists. I' was glad Obama got through that whole load of bullshit and managed to win the election, but I was concerned about Ayers' fate. I figured at least i could be part of any increase in book sales resulting in the publicity of the situation.

After reading this book, I now wish Obama had actually been influenced by Ayers' ideology, that they were actually close and his policies would reflect that. Maybe then we wouldn't be undergoing all this expansion/reinforcement of Bush's Patriot Act and wars. At least the wars are kind of winding down now...

In this book, Ayers repeatedly talks about his motivations, how it felt like even they didn't do enough. Is there anything that could have been done to stop the war? The Weather Underground is considered extremist but even they couldn't do enough. Although hearts-and-minds are theoretically the way to get things changed in this country as it is something resembling a democracy. And then when a president goes to war AGAINST the will of the people, what does that mean for democracy? Well, he managed to win hearts and minds enough to get a second term despite doing something that despicable.

I'm getting off track. What track are we even talking about?

Motivations. Obligations in an unjust world. Are we not obligated to do EVERYTHING WE CAN POSSIBLY DO when we see injustice? Is Occupy Wall Street winning hearts and minds? Are they shaping policy? To "get this country back" it seems like some big things have to be done. First, a constitutional amendment declaring that corporations are not people so elections are no longer run by corporations. Then maybe the real will of the people can come through. Maybe. At least then there is a chance. Which is kind of why I think Colbert is one of the most important figures in the political scene right now. He's doing everything he can with his stature to spread word and expose how ridiculous that Citizens United ruling has made our political system. Am I back on track? Is this just one long rant?

I keep just avoiding the topic I know I have to hit. I'm not doing anything really. I comment every once in awhile about stuff, I vote, I donate to HRC and other causes, but I don't really take action. I don't win hearts and minds to the cause. How are we supposed to affect change when a significant portion of the population repeatedly votes against its own best interest and seem to be in the pocket of corporate America? It seems so obvious but people are not easily swayed to the truth. Occupy is our chance. But people seem to prefer to turn a blind eye or focus on the idiots within the OWS movement rather than the now clear message it is sending.

This is the least focused entry I've ever posted, isn't it? Am I supposed to be talking about the book? Read the book. Try to figure out how it applies to today. Read Bill Ayers' blog. And do something. And get me to do something as well. Whatever can be done.

Two-Lane Blacktop

In addition to my stack of books to read, I have a "stack" of DVDs/Blu-Ray discs that I have not yet watched despite having enough interest to purchase them. Sure, some of them were purchased for $1 at library sales or Blockbusters going out of business, but still worth my attention. I am going to try watch at least one per week, I have 35 or so. I will write something or other about these as well. This is a series I will call Latecomer.

Latecomer: Two-Lane Blacktop.

I watched this last night. As I write this, the Criterion bonus features are playing in the background. Director Monte Hellman is having a conversation with Kris Kristofferson. They were talking about his song "Me & Bobby McGee" and its relation to the movie. Mostly the line "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." This is a line that has always stuck with me since the first time I heard that song. Giving up everything is the only way to truly be free. So this movie.

Non-actors James Taylor and Dennis Wilson starred in this film. And they were great. Warren Oats was great as well. Ummm.

I like movies where they don't give the main characters names. The Man With No Name trilogy. Last Year At Marienbad. While these characters are developed, full human beings with All Things Human Beings Possess, a high level of mystery is maintained. Where does this guy come from? It's not important. The writer knows, but he ain't talkin. There could be something dark, but it's up to the audience's imagination. What brought him here? Well he's here. This is what he does. He has reasons, and we know he has reasons but we don't necessarily know. He's livin' and that's life.

That's what we do.

Ides of March

Man, this is getting exhausting. Saw Ides of March today. I don't have a whole lot to say about it. It was fairly entertaining and kind of a pessimistic (but wholly accurate) view of politics in general. Great cast. I would have loved to see a nice confrontational scene between the rivals played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti (due to them being perhaps the greatest actors working today) but what can you do.

I guess that's all. Great actors but nothing that really stretched any of them.

Pudd'nhead Wilson

First book done!

At a lean 139 pages, this was my way of getting a head start on things, of knocking out one all quick-like.

What to say about a book that's over 100 years old?

The introduction by Langston Hughes gave me the impression that it would be nearly humorless, a very serious story about a very serious subject. And yes, the subject was very serious (slavery, nature vs nurture, MURDER!) but it was still Mark Twain. It was still a breezy, entertaining read that had me giggling fairly frequently.

The main thing though was the arbitrariness that race was presented in. The whole "if you're 1/32nd black then you are a slave" thing. How that 1/32nd made any sort of difference. My first thought was that I felt bad for the real Thomas A Becket, the one switched in his infancy to be a slave when he should have rightfully been free. Now obviously there is no way we should justifiably feel any worse for him than we do for the other slaves, because there is no difference between being made a slave before you know what's what and being made a slave from birth. And Twain tends to avoid writing much about this injustice here. He is just an innocent bystander but with how big of a douche the fake Thomas A Becket is, we just wonder what the real Tom would have done in the situation. But what about all slaves, had they been given a fair shot at life?

And here we are in 2012 and I am doing little more than stating the obvious. We know that slavery is wrong and has left a huge scar on our country's legacy. What can be pulled from this book that can teach us real lessons today?

Mostly it's the people of the town. How much they are like the people of today, easily swayed, not very bright, mob mentality. People who will call someone a "Pudd'nhead" for making an ironic comment that they don't understand. They are fascinated by the foreigners from Italy, and then want their blood based on some fairly weak circumstantial evidence. These are our juries; these are our voters. Easily swayed, easily swayed back. This is how our country had slavery and how now the tea party has taken over the media and the republican party. This is how George W Bush got elected to a second term before we were smart enough to try something different but then 2 years later brought more of the same fools into congress to react to that. This is us.

Finally, I'd like to remark on probably my favorite parts of the book. At the beginning of each chapter are excerpts from Wilson's calendar. These bite-sized snippets of Twain's wit (and in some cases, extreme pessimism) are some of the best takeaways in the book. Here is one of extreme pessimism that I found particularly...particular:

"All say, 'how hard it is to have to die' -- a strange complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live."

Shame

Tonight I decided to go see Steve McQueen's new film Shame. I think I will make this quick as I need to get back to reading...

Fearless direction. Love the how willing the camera is to linger on awkward situations, unblinking, lots of long takes of close up shots.

The acting was wonderful. Duh. I'd be behind Fassbender and/or Mulligan this year at the Oscars.

Speaking of Carey Mulligan, here she is singing some more. She did a fine job on that Belle & Sebastian song ("Write About Love") and an even better job here. Well, the context was different. Watch out, Zooey Deschanel, Carey Mulligan's got chops! There was one line in the song where I thought it was exposing the character as an inferior singer, I thought "oh she missed a note there" but then she just brought it home in a minor key. Nice.

It was weird that his character was named Brandon and people said his name a lot in this movie. Particularly in Sissy's phone messages.

Lots of sex/nudity but for me the most uncomfortable moments in the film didn't involve these aspects. It was the lingering.

Highly recommended if you think you can handle it.

high ambition

Hello out there!

If you can read this, it means you can read!

This year I have decided to try and tackle my piles of books (somewhere around 35) that i have not yet read. See, I'm great at buying books at things like Borders going out of business and library sales and such. But not so great at reading them, because I have been focusing all of my cultural energy on music consumption. So this year I am trying to make it a bit more even. And try to read all those books and see more movies. Also about movies, I got an awesome present which was a gift certificate for the Denver Film Society, more importantly to go toward a year long membership which will get me discounted tickets and some free screenings and stuff. So I have to make it worth the money by seeing a lot there. Plus it's that season when lots of great movies are out.

Why am I telling you this? Why are you wasting your reading abilities on this? I guess as a heads up for what I hope to do. Every movie I watch, book I read, and (new) album I listen to, I will try to write something about it here. See if I actually do it! Sometimes it will be my usual essay length thing talking about its merits, sometimes it will just be a couple sentences to recommend or non-recommend something. Who knows what it will be?

FYI I am about 2/3 of the way through my first book of the year, Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain. I will tell you about it soon. Stay tuned!