marvinstwin | Entries tagged with music

"Franz Ferdinand is music of the night: to fling yourself around your room to as you psyche yourself for a night of hedonism, for the dance-floor, flirtation, for your desolate heart-stop, for losing it and loving losing it, for the chemical surge in your bloodstream. Its for that lonely hour, gently rocking yourself, waiting for dawn and it all to be even again."

-Alex Kapranos

Yes, I'm still in a Britrock phase. Yes, there are actual important things going on in my life. Yes, some of them are exceedingly stupid... like my last night in StL for instance. But no, I don't feel like talking about any of them right now. And no, I am not Ulysses.

I don't get my car back until Monday. My life is on hold until then.

Pierce Brosnan cannot and should not sing.

Lizzie still kicks ass at cards.

And I'm going to go watch Shada again because I'm going through Paul McGann withdrawal and, no matter how much the lady doth protest in his hilariously high voice, he is not "exceedingly stupid."

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: milady's boudoir
Current Music: Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses

Do you ever feel, when looking at your life, that you add two and two and end up with something in the vicinity of sixty five?

I think that sort-of explains how I'm feeling right now. I feel like I can't make decisions and I can't work and I can't fucking think because I don't trust my judgment. I've forgotten how to count and I don't know how or when that happened.

I still haven't talked to two very important people about the whole 'going home' thing. *sighs* I don't fucking know what to say to them. Well, that's not entirely true. "I love you and I'm going to miss you and I wish I could take you with me," is generally how I want to end the conversation. Unfortunately, I have a lot of other things to say first, and I'm notoriously awful when it comes to dealing with those sorts of serious discussions.

I wish I could just send a mass Bcc e-mail as Lori described. Only, that really wouldn't solve anything, now would it? I want to give these people some serious hugs and a real explanation and my address so we can mail things back and forth (huzzah for being in the general vicinity of a post office again!). We also owe each other food and, seeing as I just about have my stomach back to normal, I'd like to settle those debts before I go.

Big Brother mine, how is/was Barcelona? Did you ogle any seductive Spaniards? I've heard good things about the local fauna, please tell me my sources haven't lied! Also, any good food? I can think about food again! I want to hear about it! *hugs* Talk to you soon.

*sighs* Papa flies in today. I think I'm having sympathetic flight insomnia. If I had a life, I'm pretty sure I'd hate it.

And now for some news on the entertainment front:

1. Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution." Ouch. Ouch to the nth degree. This film is gorgeous. The costumes and sets are stunning and the lighting is dim but appropriately evocative. The very explicit sex scenes are, by turns, violent, creative, and disturbing. It's the sort of film where you sit there trying to analyze the characters' motivations afterward. Would you have done what the characters did, were you in their situation? You rather hope not, and yet it all made some sort of fucked-up sense. Whatever. This film hurts like a piece of glass through the aorta. If you ever feel the need to be traumatized in a really artistic sort of way, this is a good one. It's also nice if you enjoy vintage oriental fashions and textiles, which I do.

2. Traveling Wilburys aka George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison. I haven't heard their music since the last time mum and I air guitared our way through the Concert for George. Gabe Saporta's cousin is right, they are utterly ridiculous, and yet rather amazingly amazing. They are also the only way I can tolerate Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison singing, much less attempting to harmonize. I think that having to endure endless repetitions of the Roy Orbison special on PBS has ruined my enjoyment of his solo music for life. I can't even stand covers. Anyway, yes. I ♥ Traveling Wilburys. The end. Oh, and Jenny Lewis does a pretty good cover of the song "Handle With Care". So, if you're a Jenny Lewis fan *cough

honeynutchexmixcough*, go have a listen.

3. The Libertines. I'm a huge fan of Yeti, so, on a whim, I decided to check out John Hassall's old band. Heh. Little did I know that I would find a gaggle of pretty, chemically-altered boys and one of the most explosive friendships in recent music history. Think Brideshead with no gentility, half the guilt, twice the alcohol, quadruple the drugs, and a liberal splash of rock n' roll. Why had I never given them a listen before this? They're sort of punk and sort of indie and really just lots of fun. Great music to put on when you're getting ready for an evening out or feeling the need to just be a dork and bounce around your room.

4. My mum likes The White Stripes... I'm not sure what to make of this. I mean, I also like them to a certain extent, but... wow. Weird.

4. Ruckus is gone and I have to actually buy music like a normal person again. Rats. I'm really going to miss having an internet-based lending library for all things musical. I'm pretty sure my wallet's going to miss it, too.

5. If anybody knows where I can lay my hands on an mp3 of "I Played The Part," I will give them a veritable feast of strange and exotic sexual favors involving glow in the dark paint in exchange for the information.

Current Mood: 3 fucking a.m.
Current Location: the couch
Current Music: The Libertines - Can't Stand Me Now

Because it makes me happy!

( He played it well... )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: the h.m.s. failboat
Current Music: Slings & Arrows - I Played The Part

So everyone canceled class today, which is a little weird, but I'm not exactly complaining because it gave me time to sleep off yesterday's double migraine and then do about eight hours of sketching. *headdesk*

I've decided that the dancers in Manic Music are going to be a bunch of stripedy little clowns. To quote Spencer in the Backstabber vid: "What the FUCK are we going to do about these mimes??" Hopefully Mary Jean will like my concept and my sketches and won't think I fail at life. That would be nice. *headdesk* LIIIIFE.

I bought the Vampire Weekend album off of Amazon on impulse. I couldn't help it. It wasn't on Ruckus and harpsichords do something absolutely terrible to my self control. Why do you think I want to throw myself at Sir Percy all the time? Well, aside from the fact that he is the pinnacle of lacy perfection. *flutters fan* *tries to not hyperventilate at the thought of all that taffeta and lawn* *fails*

So, yes. Vampire Weekend: ridiculous and twee and awesome. Go listen. Ryan Ross approves.

ALSO, BUTCH WALKER'S NEW SONG "PONCE DE LEON AVE" IS ABOUT HILARIOUSLY AWESOME 3AM MISTAKES! HIS MYSPACE IS ENTITLED 'INDIE/GLAM/CRUNK'! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH I HAVE BROKEN MY CAPSLOCK!

TARA, WE ARE GOING TO A BORDERS BOOKSTORE ON THE 12TH AND I AM GOING TO BUY THAT CD AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BUTCHFEST! THERE WILL BE DANCING AND SINGING AND BEING PRETTY PRETTY STRUNG OUT FOR A GIRL!

LIIIIIIFE.

Current Mood: anxious
Current Location: the h.m.s. failboat
Current Music: Butch Walker - Ponce De Leon AVE

So, I have a metric fucktonne of work to do this weekend. I have already been up for a few hours, doing stats and I have to design a dress and read and take a quiz and submit to two hours of stat software HELL in the lab tomorrow. I don't want to think about.

What I want to think about instead is how amazing last night was. By a stroke of good fortune and fantastic timing on my part, I called Ryan yesterday to ask if he wanted to go to the Balloon Glow with me. I left an awkward voice mail, as per usual, and didn't think anything would come of it. Only, about half an hour later, Ryan called back, telling me that he was coming by to pick me up in 20 minutes and that I was to dress up, because he had two (rather expensive) tickets to the COMPLETELY SOLD OUT Lord of the Rings Symphony and that I was going with him. I'm pretty sure I squealed like the thirteen year old girl I not-so-very-secretly. Miracle of miracles, despite both of us needing to shower and make ourselves look pretty, we actually made it there on time. And, after some seriously awkward conversation with some of Ryan's old colleagues, a sip of champagne, and a slice of cake, we settled in for nearly two hours of STUNNING music.

*sighs* I was utterly blown away! The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is amazing and the choir was pitch perfect. The soloist was lovely and the two little boys who sang Alec's part were ridiculously cute. You heard different parts of the music than you do when listening to the soundtrack, like the accordion and mandolin parts. They were charming! I was transported, brought back to the golden days of LoTR fandom, when we were all so ridiculously obsessed. I remembered the weight of the air and the warmth of the light and the way the fabric of my sleeping bag felt that night when I finally saw the film, sitting on Cynthia's floor. I remember being in love with Orlando Bloom (O, such halcyon days!) and I remember how it felt to apply prosthetic ears in the car on the way to Cynthia's before the RoTK premier. I was so very different back then, and yet so fundamentally the same.

I'm (clearly) still the same sentimental idiot I was at fourteen... I just feel that way about different things. For instance, as I was listening to the music, I realized I'd forgotten the smattering of elvish I used to know. I can't quote the books or the movies or the fics as accurately as I once could. I've even forgotten some of the minor characters' names. And for a moment I was very sad, I think Ryan must have noticed because he stroked my arm a bit, but then I realized that I've kept the bits that matter: the good feelings and the silly lines. I still recite the part of the VSDs about the Gap at Rohan and the Banana Republic when I walk by the two stores at the Coronado. I still tell people the ridiculous story about the finest weed in the South Valley. And, when I feel sad, I still imagine myself wandering the shimmering halls of Rivendell, wearing a magnificent gown. I do! And listening to the music last night brought me back there all over again.

So, what I'm trying to say, amidst all that rampant sentimentalism, is that I had a lovely time and am immensely grateful to Ryan for taking me. If the orchestra in your town decides to play this symphony, GO! It is brilliant and amazing and I sound like Orlando Bloom back when he was still a gushing fanboy, but... yeah, awesome. Pure awesome smothered in awesomesauce. You should totally go. [/incoherence]

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Location: the h.m.s. failboat
Current Music: Fellowsip of the Ring Soundtrack - May It Be

So, pretending that last night didn't happen, the most annoying thing in the world is the fact that there's always music playing at the History Museum on the weekends and that one can hear it in the apartment because the walls are approximately the thickness of a 3x5 note card. And yes, one day whoever was out there did the Beatles, but as it was not the actual Beatles (or even a good band) playing the songs, the whole thing rather sucked balls. I wish they would just fucking shut up. I'm sick of dealing with other people in general right now, say nothing of said people's music choices. Grrrrrr.

I agree with Cynthia, shotguns are in order. Shotguns and maybe cannons? I like cannons.

Speaking of cannons, here's a little bit of truth from one of our baby bands from Warped Tour:

Well, I set sail to find the edge of the planet
Instead I fell off before I got to the ship.
One morning you'll wake up, and you're actually caring
About all the things that you said you never would think about.

-Jet Lag Gemini, "Doctor, Please!"

Back to work.

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Location: the h.m.s. failboat
Current Music: Jet Lag Gemini - Doctor, Please!