Makes me wish I had time to go to my ukulele class again. Fail. (on me) Every time I see a cute one, I think of the ukulele love of my life, the Blue Beltona. Oh and the ukulele singer love of my life, James Hill, playing the ukulele love of my life. Someday... le sigh.
No, I wasn't high. But I was watching Waking Life, which I'm fairly certain meets the criteria for being high. If you missed my previous post, I re-posted one of my favorite clips from the movie along with a few others. The last one is really intriguing. Actually, they all are.
I don't wanna be an ant, you know?
Maybe I only exist in your mind... I'm still just as real as anything else.
Sabertooth tiger, right behind you.
Okay, mister psychic, I believe you, you're a psychic.
Sometimes NPR is just kind of awesome. Actually, most of the time it's pretty awesome, but in this case it's extra, extra awesome.
I know that the MPDG schtick is starting to grate on some people's nerves, but I try really hard to divorce She&Him from all that. I think the music can stand on its own. Here are my favorite songs from Volume Two:
PS - does anyone else hear some Harry Nilsson going on in there?
Oh and I forgot to add one other thing to the previous "recent acquisitions" post. How could I forget this one?? I really like it, but it gives me a very "Sharon Jones & Dap Kings" kind of feel. Which is not a bad thing, but all the same... Anyways, it's probably just Kylie. She sounds a lot like her.
Now onto the recent acquisitions. I have heard nothing about any of these books (besides Vonnegut, which was recommended to me), and so I'm hoping that I got a good spread and that I'll be able to get through them. Ha, I never thought I'd say that. But honestly 2010 so far has not been fantastic and I've had a lot of trouble reading, so hopefully this'll get me out of my funk. And it seriously is a funk - I've been trying to read Persuasion for like a month and I'm only 1/3 of the way through. And not interested. So, so, so sad.
I listened to this whole album in the car on my way back from LA today. I liked it, and I liked the angry.
For some reason, when I first heard 'Daisy' I just thought of whether or not KC would like it. I have a feeling he will, but I'm not sure. There's definitely a lot going on in the song to consider.
Amazing live album. Ignore the tongue in this vid.
Ya, pretty much.
Me likey. Depends on mood, though.
You might remember this? Ya, I think I was kidding. I'm actually really enjoying this album
Here are a few things that I've learned in taking your class this quarter:
1. History really does repeat itself. Not in the way that I used to assume - where exact actions were repeated - but in the way that people think. In their ideology, in their values. I'm beginning to think that it might be a result of each successive generation's backlash against the former.
2. Many people have discovered things before they were "discovered". Whether it was because the original discoverer lacked the courage of their conviction or because said "discovery" was simply not accepted, it is clear to me now that hardly any discoveries change the world overnight. Time is the ultimate obstacle through which all knowledge must pass.
3. Science is invariably swayed by politics, and politics by culture. As much as we'd like to think that a purely scientific mind will simply rise above the pressures of society, the truth is that a majority of scientists are as prone to vanity, weak judgement and fame as any other person, and they're not above indulging their vices. Alternatively, we owe more to the few who've weathered past cultural storms than I could possibly imagine.
I ran across the cutest picture ever yesterday (thank you google image swirl) of Cate & Kate while I was looking for a picture of Kate Winslet chubby (hear me out) to prove the point that no, I do not think she is fat or ever was, BUT that by today's standards (a decade and a half after Titanic) she would never have been cast in that movie. You'd be surprised how many actresses wouldn't make the cut nowadays. Which is probably why movies suck more. Anways, I'll have to come back to that another day, because I have discovered something startling about the C/Kates: I think they may be the same person. Let alone the fact that they actually share the same name, they also have many other eerily similar qualities. I shall explain:
(so cute, right? ah, youth.)
(a more recent photo. still bff after all these years.)
1. They were both in a period piece early in their careers that was an adaption of a very famous piece of literature.
Cate: An Ideal Husband (Wilde)
Kate: Sense & Sensibility (Austen)
2. They have both played a younger version of Judi Dench.
(Cate: Elizabeth)
(Kate: Iris)
3. They have both played a character who is a member of the British army fighting against the Nazis.
(Cate: Charlotte Gray)
(Kate: Enigma)
4. They have both played Nazis.
(Cate: Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
(Kate: The Reader)
5. They have both played a middle aged woman who is having an illicit affair with a student.
(Cate: Notes on a Scandal)
(Kate: The Reader)
6. They have both played a somewhat whorish, very unstable character in a movie with the title "_____& Cigarettes"
(Cate: Coffee & Cigarettes)
(Kate: Romance & Cigarettes)
7. They've both played opposite Leonardo DiCaprio AND been nominated for an Oscar in those roles.
(Cate: The Aviator, she won)
(Kate: Titanic, she didn't win)
8. They've both performed Shakespeare.
(Cate: War of the Roses cycle)
(Kate: Hamlet. She's one of the all-time greatest Ophelias, in my opinion)
9. They've both starred opposite very famous comedians in bizarre films that have developed dedicated cult followings.
(Cate: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Her last name in this movie is Winslet)
(Kate: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
10. They've both become animated.
(Cate: Ponyo)
(Kate: Flushed Away)
Honestly, I could go on. But I've already wasted wayyyy too much time on the computer, so I'll just leave it at that. Now who wants to go watch a movie?
I was exhausted. I was tired of running around. You don't get to know a place by visiting it's tourist traps, and we tried to avoid some of them, but still - I was exhausted. My memories of most of Barcelona are generally pretty nice - it was one of my favorite cities in Spain - but there was an hour - just one - where I felt magic. It's hard to describe, but I know what it was because I've felt it before.
It was late. Maybe midnight, maybe later. I was with Krystle, Paulina, Kiah and Susan. We'd been walking around after getting some tapas and we went back with Kiah and Susan to their hostel in downtown (ours was in the suburbs on a university campus somewhere and we had to take a 30 minute subway ride to get there). We went out of our way to walk back with them because they had a computer room and everyone I was with needed - needed - to check their email. I remember stopping to take a long exposure picture of the freeway while we were on our way over there. You've gotta know that my roommates couldn't be away from a phone or computer for more than 24 hours or they lost their shit. I, on the other hand, spoke on the phone only once the entire summer (oddly, it was the day after this, I think). I felt like I wanted to be lost, and disconnecting from everyone that I knew back home helped me do that. I wish I'd been able to stay longer, because I was just starting to acclimate to this new way of life.
The hostel was great. It was super nice inside and everything was really clean (which is way more than I can say for most of the places we stayed... I really wish I'd taken more pics of some of these dirt holes). When we found the computer room, I jumped on for about 5-10 minutes, chatted with my sister, and was ready to be on my way. By the time I was finished, the other girls were just settling in for what I assumed would be a good 2 hour chat with their loved ones. Obviously a lot of CA was online since 1am in Spain is 5pm here.
I left the computer room and wandered around for a bit. I kept hearing this booming sound that seemed to be coming from the walls, so I decided to investigate. It turned out to be a mini-theater, pitch black, with 30 or so huge comfy seats and only 3 other patrons. It was late and I was tired, so I sat in the back and watched. It was me, these 2 French guys and a girl from somewhere in eastern Europe, I think. She said something in English, but her accent was hard to place. We were watching Slumdog Millionaire, and it was about halfway through. It was so comforting to be in a movie theater - in Valencia we didn't watch TV, we didn't see movies, we didn't hear news - and you can imagine the comfort that I got from just this one little thing. A movie. In English. I'd never been so happy to hear my own language. I sat back and got lost in the story.
As it was nearing the end, I began to reflect on my trip so far and the things that I'd seen and done. The experiences I'd had, and the thought that no one, ever, would have those same exact experiences. Maybe it was the movie, but I just had a feeling of destiny. Like everything I'd done had been leading up to this point, good and bad. I'd been so many places, heard so many languages, and interacted with people of every type of culture I could imagine. I mean, I was sitting in a theater in Barcelona at 1am with 2 French guys and a Norwegian chic watching an American movie about Indian kids. It was surreal.
As the film ended I just had a feeling of wholeness, of oneness with the world - I knew that right at that moment I was feeling the same thing as the other 3 and it wasn't about where we came from or what language we spoke or how much money we did or didn't have or where we were going. It was about the human experience and the fact that we were sharing it. Right then. It was a feeling of completeness like I've never had. For a few minutes the world just felt tiny, and free, and ready.
It's funny that these little moments, moments that people I'm with don't even notice, end up being the ones that I remember. They're so insignificant and yet so precious to me. I once heard someone say that memory is "a wonderful thing if you don't have to deal with the past" and it's true. These little moments that I have - they're unreal sometimes - but I know that as soon as they're over there's no way to recreate them. There's no way to get that feeling back and I miss it. I remember each feeling like this, they're all different, and I miss them all.
The following press conference is the first public mention of AIDS in the Reagan White House. At that time 200 Americans had died of a new infectious disease. Reagan himself did not mention AIDS for three more years.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
PRESS BRIEFING BY LARRY SPEAKES
October 15, 1982
The Briefing Room
12:45pm EDT
Q: Larry, does the President have any reaction to the announcement the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, that AIDS is now an epidemic and have over 600 cases?
MR. SPEAKES: What's AIDS?
Q: Over a third of them have died. It's known as "gay plague." (Laughter.) No, it is. I mean it's a pretty serious thing that one in every three people that get this have died. And I wondered if the President is aware of it?
MR. SPEAKES: I don't have it. Do you? (Laughter.)
Q: No, I don't.
MR. SPEAKES: You didn't answer my question.
Q: Well, I just wondered, does the President
MR. SPEAKES: How do you know? (Laughter.)
Q: In other words, the White House looks on this as a great joke?
MR. SPEAKES: No, I don't know anything about it, Lester.
Q: Does the President, does anyone in the White House know about this epidemic, Larry?
MR. SPEAKES: I don't think so. I don't think there's been any
Q: Nobody knows?
MR. SPEAKES: There has been no personal experience here, Lester.
Q: No, I mean, I thought you were keeping
MR. SPEAKES: I checked thoroughly with Dr. Ruge this morning and he's had no (laughter) no patients suffering from AIDS or whatever it is.
Q: The President doesn't have gay plague, is that what you're saying or what?
MR. SPEAKES: No, I didn't say that.
Q: Didn't say that?
MR. SPEAKES: I thought I heard you on the State Department over there. Why didn't you stay there? (Laughter.)
Q: Because I love you Larry, that's why (Laughter.)
MR. SPEAKES: Oh I see. Just don't put it in those terms, Lester. (Laughter.)
When I was 15 I went to the music store and bought My Bloody Valentine's album "Loveless". And you all laughed. It was 2004 (yeah, that was SIX years ago) and everyone thought I was a freak for buying something that was recorded in 1991. I thought it was an incredible album... just thinking about it makes me want to listen to it. Obviously Beach House (their album "Teen Dream" is RS's #2 College Radio Album) had the same idea.
It's like a nice gussied up version of MBV. In my opinion. I'm in the process of listening to the whole thing... if something sticks out, I'll let you know.
For INSTANCE. Why does Zooey Daschanel look adorable all the time? She's allergic to gluten, eggs, and dairy. What does that leave? Vegetables and soy milk. And fish.
I would stop eating dairy since I'm lactose intolerant, but I love cheese. And it pretty much wouldn't make a dent in all of the crap that I consume. Le sigh.
I can't take any more Jane Austen books where people's heads get ripped off by zombies or where Mr. Darcy is really a vampire. I can't. I just can't. Read a real book.
This made me laugh. Mostly it was just Jim Carrey and his pendulous balls, though.
ApartmentTherapy is my favorite website now. I look at it almost every day and just... fantasize. "Some day, this will all be yours...."
