Hauntology and Home Taping

I've been blind for so long - how could I not know about or ignore Ariel Pink? I've seen the name pop up, noticed he played a few shows up here and haven't really bothered to listen to his music until just recently... A young man who basically records perfect/yet-distorted anti-fi pop songs on a 4-track so relentless that they sound always in context of something else. Hauntology is the word I best believe is used to describe this effect and the effect is amazing... Listening to his recordings, I feel like he's capturing any of the following:
1) You're driving late at night listening to AM radio in rural towns and due to the strange static, it all sounds like Captain Beefheart trying to sound commercial (but doesn't).
2) An Alternate Universe in the 70's where Bowie and president Nixon never existed and the arrival of the moog happened 30 years earlier.
3) You're in a recently democratized country and they're playing their local pop music (which was filtered through Eurovision contests).
4) You find a VHS tape with the following video

Ballardia

I was in Ballard last night with my friend Will. We tried the best kept secret 'Coppergate' - a cute little resteraunt/bar in the 64th block of Ballard, tucked away in one of the more sleepy blocks. They feature a nautical theme with nudie pictures (*and somehow the theme works in a very irreverent way). The food was awesome Norski fare (as if my people knew to finally throw a spice or two into a dish) and an amazing assortment of Aquavidt. We later tried to get into the Mamie/Awesome show at the Tractor, but it was sold out (along with most of Old Town Ballard. It's no longer the sleepy, quaint block... It looks more like Capitol Hill with drunk het's n' hipsters swaggering between bars...) In any case -- I'm off to get my locks cut off today by Eug'. No more looking like an old fisherman... [Update, 2/21 - the times just reported that the Ballard Denny's was saved as a historic landmark. This comes as a big suck-it to developers wanting to de-colorize the area as much as possible and encourage more traffic gridlock. Heh-hah.]

Have you met Karen yet? She's Pretty Ordinary

Much like the Miranda July aesthetic that art embraces everyone, the English produced Karen Magazine promises to be just that: highlighting the ordinary over the gloss and overhyped: KAREN is more interested in the weather than what to wear, sell by dates than celebrity....
Unfortunately, their web presence is scant, but it is refreshing to see a mag that tells it like it simply is... No Brittany, No wars, No surface analysis of the 08 electoral process, just articles on your husband's feet and breads you like to buy.

Valentine's Day Redux

Well humph - my plan to upload the video I had been working on in imovie and final cut didn't exactly take off like I hoped. Final cut is a bit complicated to learn and the backup video in imovie timed out with you tube. So alas, I cannot give you the video I was hoping to make. I'll just use this as a place marker however and leave you with this offering from Wian Treetin.

Cut Above

I'm playing around tonight w/my Final Cut Express. It's the cheaper version than the larger $1k editing suite and figuring I'd first get my feet wet here before doing anything foolish. It's pretty impressive. The video and title effects are good and I'm amazed at how extensive it is. I should add that while Final Cut is evolved, iMovie has rather devolved. They've taken the adaptability out of it. It's sad that Apple did this. They've raised one bar, and then lowered another... Sigh.
In the meantime - enjoy this video by Dirty Bros (courtesy of Jockohomo): Anal-Oral Issue Kitty

Caucus Ruckus

So - I just ducked out of the Beacon Hill (on Capitol Hill) Caucus. It was kinda fun to connect w/neighbors and such, but I was really there to cast my initial vote. I didn't exactly want it to consume my entire afternoon off (afterall, I have a mountain of laundry and have to have to have to clean my floors today... No question.) Needless to say, I hung out for an hour and was starting to get that "sweaty, stiffled over-layered" feeling and surrounded by the B-Hill precinct was starting to wear on me. I wasn't exactly wanting to be 'swayed' from Ob to HRC, so I just signed and dashed out. And yes - I cast my vote for O. I might regret it (or who knows, he might not make it into the primary) but hey - i did my part...

Frozen in Time

I'm sad to say that I totally forgot tomorrow was Super Tuesday. I'm even more embarrassed to say that when asked, I could not rightly remember what it was (and mistakenly told my trainer that it was our primary -- it wasn't). Ok - mea culpa, when I was asked - I had just finished benching about 140 (almost getting to my goal of benching my weight), and the blood was not exactly making it to my cranium... but yeah, I feel really dumb. I also feel out of touch. I read the occasional analysis of the candidates, but I seldom watch the debates nor take interest in what their message is. I know HRC's voting record and that Obama is great communicator, but aside from that, my voting pref' is based purely on show-biz intuition - who's gonna have wide appeal in November (ahem - Obama)... Gawd, am i that shallow? Meanwhile - the eastern seaboard will sound off who might actually have a chance against the Mccain...
In any case - here's something also in NY.