5.31.2005

And the rest of the story is...

So Pembina VV (Value Village, not of the Kills) was next. Found a Woody Allen biography - Matthew found another copy of the same one - Woody Allen: A biography by Eric Lax (an Allen friend) a checked button-up with epaulets, and two good shot glasses.
Regent had less to offer - ended up with another Allen biography - The Unruly Life of Woody Allen by Marion Meade (not a friend - this one promises to be a much more scathing look at Mr. Konigsberg), and a Scribner's Library reprint of Gatsby.
We made it to the Jefferson store with 15 minutes to spare, but it had been shopped out, and a spanish-speaking mother and daughter pair kept cock-blocking me in all the men's shirt aisles. So I found nothing worth buying. But who's surprised that the Maples was a disappointment? That's right, the Maples, deal with it.

5.30.2005

One Down...

So far, after visiting the St. James Value Village I have acquired a long-sleeve grey/blue Calvin Klein t-shirt (I will soon look like hot early 90's jailbait in Terry Richardson ads), a $0.35 copy of William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, and a blue oversized labcoat screenprinted with New Wave and early 80's punk images.
Note: it smelled strongly of farts near the sporting goods section.
Seen: a Hutterite boy at the men's shoe section who was the spitting image of the young Alvy Singer in Annie Hall.

50%

It's been a long time since I blogged at ya...

Today is Value Village's 50% Day and I'm planning on hitting up all 4 stores today: St. James to Pembina to Regent to Jefferson.

I'll let you know how it goes. Matthew may be joining me for the last 3.

5.26.2005

Pilky, Futura, and the Two-Singers

Yo, check this out:
http://stalkingtheelusivepilky.net/
It's a many-headed hydra of visual enjoyment and subtle/hidden links, featuring contributions by a number of Winnipeg visual artists...
Reminds me of the ol' Futura 2000 labryinth.
Also, could Mando Diao be any better? How about the two-singer verse-and-chorus split on "God Knows"? It's so good that even my Russian-Argentine friend Simon wants a copy...
And... wedge-esque is an excellent blog, thanks New Polluter for the passive heads-up (or did you specifically tell me to go?).

5.25.2005

Still In Love Song

4 years of dating today! Whatever happened to people who would just date for a long time? Marriage is for suckers - ask Ray Smuckles (note: this does not all apply to me, only the part about other people being tools).
Know which song is a good song? Still In Love Song. I know I'm way late in championing it. So what? And yeah, I didn't like the Stills when I first listened to them on their website. I'm fine with that, why can't you deal with it? I was writing a medieval paper at the time, so give me a break, alright? (also it is important to note that "Modern Girls & Old Fashion Men" by the Strokes feat. Regina Spektor is also a great song to listen to)

5.24.2005

mix tapes

I have this idea for a collective art project. It involves the making of mix tapes based on different themes/ideas, i.e. songs with titles that are named after women or songs that start with "I" or song from 1978 etc., and also have arty cases. Actually there are two ideas:

1. Somehow establish a network of people and trade mix tapes within that network. (This idea is newer)
2. Leave the tapes in public places hoping that someone will pick it up and listen to it.

The second idea involves more chance, and a high likelyhood that your tape will get smashed or thrown in the garbage. But there could be a blog for the project, and operatives in different cities, and the tapes wouldn't have tracklists with them, but if you found the blog you could look up all the information the maker wanted to put with the tape, including motivations for picking each song and what albums they came from or how they got in to that band etc.

I'll have to think about it more.

5.19.2005

I Fucking Saw Star Wars Episode III

Last night, 12:01 a.m., REVENGE OF THE SITH. Matthew got the tickets - he's good people.
Dialogue - wooden
Spaceships - CGI has finally evolved to the point where I can't tell if things are tiny models or computer generated images (this is oddly satisfying)
Anakin burning - wow, that was good
Fans - greasy/frighteningly lame (as expected)
There was closure and it was good.
Seen up close Samuel L. Jackson is a scary-looking man. Don't ever date his daughters because he would probably ask you questions about your intentions with his scary head up close to yours and you would not be able to concentrate for the rest of the date.
Hayden Christensen - he was watchable this time. Shattered Glass done him real good, actorly-wise.
Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid- they were the best at actually acting in this film.

5.18.2005

T-shirts + Animals + The Fader

You know those gym shirts that you see in movies sometimes, maybe even remember from highschool? The ones that say the name of the school and "Phys. Ed." and have that line for the owner to write their name with a marker? Well I was thinking about making a t-shirt that says: 'What's the deal with..." and it has a line where you can write whatever it is that you just don't get.
If I were to make one now it would say: "What's the deal with...stuffed animals in your car?" When I see that I know to expect a driving style similar to that of a giddy child high on Orange Crush who also has to pee but can't press hard enough on the gas to drive more than ten kilometers per hour under the speed limit. I can only imagine the inane places these people are headed. Probably some place like Giant Tiger or a craft sale.
The Fader has a feature on Miles Davis this month. It's a good read. But why do I care what (pseudo-) celebrities think about Miles? The best part is the second hand account of Miles answering the door naked, with a boner and a gun, saying "What you want?!? What you want?!?" and this was to a friend of his. Also check out the size of his pupils!

5.16.2005

I Bought Some Clippers

Today I bought some clippers in order to shave my head. I haven't done it since I was in grade 8. I will probably look at least as ridiculous now (soon) as I did back then. Which is good, really, as I've been feeling too confident lately, a confidence which is exhibited in the hubris which lies behind believing one's own head to be handsome enough to not require the adornment of hair.
Oh man am I a dink or what?

5.15.2005

Black Mountain Side

I heard this new band. They are called "Black Mountain". I know nothing about them. Scott gave me a copy of their album. Mostly a guy sings but sometimes a girl will sing as well. Is their name based on a Zeppelin song? I don't know, maybe. Do they sound like Zeppelin? I don't know, maybe. But they are good. GOOD. I like them so much I almost don't want to learn anymore about them, it might spoil the romance.
Did you know that I have the free gift - Team Zissou toque? Better believe it, y'all.
Adidas is doing this thing now for the 35th anniversary of the shell toe where they are releasing 35 versions of the shoe as designed by varying hip stores throughout the world. I saw a few, number 33, 34, and 35 this weekend. Overall the design is quite fetching, quite, BUT THERE ARE METAL REINFORCMENTS AROUND THE EYELETS! WHY?!? And it's a sort of burnished grey commemorating the anniversary. Okay, I could take the celebration of the 35th year (Coral or Jade Anniversary, who cares?), and the Louis Vuitton-inspired patternwork (done to death). It's such a shame
I must leave you now as I am watching The Party. Ho ho, it looks as if the waiter is drunk!

5.12.2005

breaking up is easy to do (i break up everytime i break up with you)

Hello.
Today Glenn and I are to pick up Glenn's drums from Julia's house. Where we used to be a band.
We were called:
DADADADA: Lazers.
I loved that name.
Maybe I will design it in to a shirt. A shirt of hurt and healing.
And it will have lightening and blood. It will be a Dario Argento movie made in to a shirt. But with fewer bugs and more Goblins.

5.11.2005

Fishing with John

"Fishing...with John. Fishing...with John. Fishing...with John."
-my new favorite song
If you ever rent Fishing with John, be sure to listen to his commentary.
Q.: Who is cooler than John Lurie?
A.: Maybe Charles Bronson at the end of Once Upon a Time in the West, but that's probably it (they called him "Harmonica").

5.10.2005

Weezer = Spanked

Rob Mitchum, you got it going on. For those of you who don't care to follow the goings-on at Pitchfork Rob Mitchum writes reviews. Reviews of albums and songs.
Sometimes, a review is just so right you can't even pretend to argue.
Rob has done this here. I can't really explain it better than he can. That's what music journalism is fucking about!

5.08.2005

Oh Where Have All The Rats In The Cages Gone?

Do you remember the Smashing Pumpkins?
I still have Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness, I do I do. I think I have listened to it maybe thrice. I just never got in to it.
But what I was wondering today, as I was sitting here, I was wondering: What Happened to All Those Kids Who Loved Smashing Pumpkins? I guess they are here. Not that I'll visit, because, like I said earlier, I never really got in to them. But wondering about them reminds me of the innocence lost with the ending of the 1990's.
Also: is "fey" a word that people know? Because I've been using it lately and nobody asks what it means, but there is that flash across their faces, you know, when the face slackens, and you figure they didn't get it, but it's a small word and they don't think it's worthwhile to ask...
Or maybe I am a grammar elitist!

5.06.2005

It's good to start things you know you'll give up pretty early on.

I'm pretty adept at stopping doing things. Especially if they are even minorly difficult to maintain. Like this. So, I won't tell anyone that I have it - actually I probably will - and then when I get too lazy and/or unmotivated and/or feel totally boring, I will just give up and sometime this will disappear when someone needs more space on a server for music downloads. And I know they aren't going to buy the album even if they do really like more than two songs, the liars.