Monday, July 28, 2008

A fistful of reviews.

Good evening fellow homosapiens or pets with lingering eyes,

Okay, so last post was six days ago. I see.
News to report?
Recent purchases;

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey. $8.99

This is a great album, I essentially bought it for The Mercy Seat and Deanna, but I hadn't heard the other tracks, they're excellent! A good mix of happy and sad and joy and misery. I strongly advise the purchase of this album if you can find it as cheap as I did, it's probably my favourite Nick Cave album to play start to finish, I listened to it first while cutting a good chunk out of my Zelda, Twilight Princess game last Wednesday and it was epic.
4.5 thumbs up/5.

The Veils - Nux Vomica. $23.99

Normally I wouldn't pay that much for a CD, I mean I would nearly never pay that much but this is my top played album of the year so far, with about fourty plays on iTunes and a fair few more on my iPod, I felt that I owed it to The Veils and my conscience to pay whatever needed for it. It is an absolutely amazing CD that I wish I owned on vinyl. At least half of the songs are heavily influenced by The Bad Seeds and the other half are pretty upbeat and melodic post punk tunes that make you sing and/or dance. The standout track for me originally was 'Advice For Young Mothers To Be' but after listening for longer I'm currently favouring 'One Night On Earth' and 'Under The Falling Branches'. The singer, Finn Andrews is the son of former XTC keyboard player Barry Andrews.
4.9 thumbs up/5.



I'm currently reading the novel of He Died With a Felafel in His Hand, that was the basis for the film of the same name, I didn't expect that the book would be so different and I'm glad that it is. The book is made up of chapters of short stories about the writer's experiences with share houses and extravagant roomies throughout Australia. I'm only sixty pages in so far but it's easy to say that it's going to use the same formula the whole way through, but there's no doubts that it is a fucking good book, hilarious and easy to read. The film adapted parts of the short stories and mixed them up to make the plot they used, which is a very good thing, seeing as I still can't bring myself to read another fifty pages of the English novel High Fidelity after seeing John Cusack narrate the American film adaptation.*
So far, it's excellente and I'll post again when I'm finished.

Other than that I have nothing to report, I have to get back to doing homework...or just, start.

*By the by, I love that film.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Camberwell Market pt 1 - 'Pop culture 1977-1981'

So it was one of those times, I woke up early on Sunday morning and headed down to the Sunday Camberwell Market, a few dollars in hand, looking for a good deal. Did I find one? I think so, bwahaha.

Okay so here I have (all original) 'Rumours' - Fleetwood Mac [$3], an Atari 2600 Pacman cartridge [$3] and one Atari 2600 Space Invaders cartridge (probably broken) [$3].

I spent about an hour having a gander hither and thither and I found nothing that I urgently needed/wanted, then I came across this album that I've never heard, but I'd heard about it being a cornerstone in pop culture (in the neutral sense, equally good/bad) so I spared my coffee money for it. I got a few scoffs and giggles when I was walking around with it tucked under my arm, yes! Good sign...



The Atari games were a last minute impulse buy that I'm glad I found, the space invaders cartridge looks to be broken but I mean come on, these are the original two video games, the original two video games, and I don't own an Atari or plan on buying one soon, but I felt it was a wise choice that even Merlin would have made. (I had a look at ebay value for these guys but in much better condition they only go for about fifteen dollars.)



When I got home, I put Rumours on to give it a listen but...uh...it's a little warped.
And by that I mean a lot warped, still plays (mostly) until it gets to the point were the highs are low and the lows are high, if you get me. The first side of it (which I have a feeling is the better side) works fine with a little pitch change, but I can hear the classics, I can hear the classics.



So like, nine dollars all up, and uhh...I REGRET NUSSINK.

Monday, July 14, 2008

I'd rather finish what I've started...

But I never do, damn the man!

Firstly I'd like to say, I feel stupid about a lot of things I post on this blog, I'm not much of a writer but I can string a few words and do my own spell check but I must come off like a wanker, I mean, I know no one reads this but some of this stuff I just have to delete just in case someone clicks the link from my myspace profile and stumbles upon this blog.

I created this blog with best intentions, hopefully to write something that at least I was happy for people to read and that eventually I would show some people and you know, they might check it once in a while, and I'm not quitting just yet, but I guess I still haven't really figured out any sort of consistency with the writing, some of it is opinionated, some of it is having a whinge, none of it is factual and barely any of it is possible for me to read myself without squirming.

I have a lot of things I'd like to say, but it takes me three or four rewrites of each sentence to get it out.

I guess I'll keep going on about what I buy, do, don't, see, hear, love, hate, want, don't want, and so on and so forth, because I wouldn't have it any other way.
I have no clue whether any one reads this but I wanted to get a little head start before I start telling people about it (other than my myspace link) and I wanted to develop a little consistency to my posting so this wouldn't be full of completely erratic posts.

Back on the topic of the title, I never finish what I start, but oh how I love it when I do. I have aspirations, I'm sure most people do too, but mine build up and clog up my brain. Wouldn't it be nice to do something you love and get paid to do it? I think it would.
In year eight I wanted to be in a signed band, tour and live a "rock 'n' roll" lifestyle, the closest I got to that was recording an EP in a punk band who broke up as soon as we were booked for our first gig, I hate that fucking idea now.
In year nine, I was heavily into the idea of being an artist (drawing, painting etc), so I created a DeviantArt account and got to work, I tried my hand at painting and got frustrated and quit, I am still drawing sketches and doodles and I'm taking VCE art classes at school but I'm pretty over that idea, too. In year ten, I was trying to pursue (or planning to pursue) both of those ideas at once, I was playing in a band with my good friend Kris called Haus of Cards and trying my hand at painting again, both of those things pretty much went to shit.

I guess I'm pretty on and off with arty things, sometimes all I will do is draw and draw or play guitar until my fingers are raw as fuck and sometimes just the idea of being creative will piss me off. And for this reason alone, I wouldn't want to rely on feeling inspired to feed myself and pay my rent, but I can say that having a consistent flow of being happy with my finished work keeps me inspired, so I inspire myself, don't I?

And right now, I'm on the idea of filmmaking, an equally interesting concept but the idea is still fresh and I'm sure it'll turn sour any time now, I guess I've been a little poisoned by my parents' hatred for failure, actually, it's not as bad as it sounds.

Things I'd like to do while still a teenager?
  • Complete, finish and clock more great video games (such as the Final Fantasys, the Zeldas and SNES greats).
  • Collect a fairly decent collection of vinyl records in case I'm still keen on starting a 2nd hand record store, yep.
  • Write, direct and shoot at least one short film that I'm not embarrassed to show to my friends, one that I'm happy with, at least.
  • Broaden my horizons with music, maybe fill another 20gb of my iPod with new music.
  • Properly stop smoking, because if I'm still smoking when I'm twenty, then I'll never quit.
  • Pass school with a decent enter score, as not to rule out tertiary education, we'll see.
But hey, that shouldn't be too hard, I do have three and a half more years.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Monday morning mixtapes
















I present to you (from utter boredom) my personal ultimate top five list.

I'll try not to go into any hefty reviews, don't worry.

Starting with music;

SONGS
5. Winterlong - Neil Young
4. Father to a Sister of Thought - Pavement
3. Sound Check/Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
2. Ashes to Ashes/Oh! You Pretty Things - David Bowie
1. Golden Brown - The Stranglers

This is the opening song for my all time favourite film (pictured below) and that's where I first heard it, I think it's absolutely fucking brilliant, the lyrics and melody go so well together that it never occurred to me that it was about heroin.

ALBUMS
5. Funeral - Arcade Fire
4. Nux Vomica - The Veils
3. Crocodiles - Echo & The Bunnymen
2. Gorillaz - Gorillaz
1. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie



BANDS/ARTISTS
5. Blonde Redhead
4. Neil Young/Lou Reed/Nick Cave
3. Iggy Pop/The Stooges
2. Gorillaz
1. David Bowie


FILMS
5. Oldboy - dir. Chan-wook Park
4. Mystery Train - dir. Jim Jarmusch
3. The Royal Tenenbaums - dir. Wes Anderson
2. Seven Samurai - dir. Akira Kurosawa
1. He Died with a Felafel in his Hand - dir. Richard Lowenstein

Some people will do anything to get out of paying the rent;

Maybe it's just satisfying to find a really good Australian film (after sorting through all of the outbacks, war films, Irwins and Rabbit Proof Fences) or maybe this film would stand out for me even if it was from America but that's irrelevant (not really) and this film is excellent! It's adapted from the book of the same title and it's an argument as to which is better blah blah etc. I haven't read the whole book but what I read was good, but I don't think it delivered as much as the film, The characters in He Died With a Felafel in his Hand (hefty title to type) make it, Danny especially, the soundtrack is really really good with a couple of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds songs, a little Moby (when appropriate) and the oh-so-wonderful Golden Brown (see above). I have been trying to find a copy of this film for at least a year and a half because it's easy to watch over and over, although I do know that this film may not be for everyone.
I don't like it when people say that only the British 'get' British comedy or only the Japanese really 'get' Seven Samurai, but studies show (no they don't) that not only Australians watch Neighbours! Although this movie is nothing like the infamous soap opera, I'd like to think that the 6.9 rating on IMDb is because only Australians 'get' this, see it for yourself if you can find a copy.

ACTORS
5. Jack Nicholson
4. Bill Murray
3. Simon Pegg
2. Toshiro Mifune
1. Steve Buscemi


DIRECTORS
5. Coen Brothers
for;
3. No Country for Old Men (8/10)
2. The Big Lebowski
(8/10)
1. The Man Who Wasn't There (9/10)
4. Hayao Miyazaki
for;
3. Howl's Moving Castle
(8/10)
2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (8.5/10)
1. Spirited Away (9.5/10)
3. Akira Kurosawa
for;
3. High and Low
(9/10)
2. Rashômon (9/10)
1. Seven Samurai (9.5/10)
2. Jim Jarmusch
for;
3. Coffee & Cigarettes
(7.5/10)
2. Down By Law (8/10)
1. Mystery Train (9/10)
1. Wes Anderson
for;
5. Bottle Rocket (8/10)
4. Life Aquatic (8/10)
3. Darjeeling Limited (8.5/10)
2. Rushmore (9/10)
1. The Royal Tenenbaums (9.5/10)


The reason I chose Wes Anderson as my favourite director is because of his consistency to make entertaining films, although dubbed utterly pretentious (which I can see), they're all funny, in an awkward kind of way. The colours in his films are vibrant and easy on the eyes and sets and settings are sort of a parody of their real world counterparts. Most of his films focus on assholes with money, which might be a little old after his last four films but he's supposedly in production of doing a remake of Roald Dahl's kids book 'The Fantastic Mr. Fox', and it's good to see some variation.
I think that all round Akira Kurosawa was the 'best' director on the list, the one who did the most for film, broke boundaries etc. But I only started watching his films a few months, and having seen only five or six (out of thirty or so) of his films, I find it hard to judge. Whereas with Wes Anderson and Jim Jarmusch I've seen every one.
Jim Jarmusch was my second choice because well, I just love his films, my favourite Jarmusch film varies between Mystery Train and Down By Law and my favourite after them varies between Coffee and Cigarettes and Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, for different reasons because they are two totally different films. Coffee and Cigarettes is a series of short segments of famous and semi-famous people talking about coffee and cigarettes, it's as simple as that, (my favourites are Strange to Meet You, Twins and Somewhere in California).

TV SHOWS
5. Monty Python's Flying Circus
4. The IT Crowd
3. Arrested Development
2. Futurama
1. Black Books


CAREERS/JOBS
Despite my endless list of aspirations and to-dos, I can't think of anything other than these three, I mean there's things that seem interesting or fun at first glance, but nothing I'd go out of my way to pursue off the top of my head.

3. Corporate art whore
I sort of just made up that term, I think. What I mean by Corporate art whore is being an artist/designer for things that get reproduced, replicated and sold en masse without having to worry about how much I'll be able to sell one painting for, doing things like designing t-shirts or doing illustrations for books or albums.
2. Own a record store
This is pretty much on par with numero uno when I weigh out the goods and bads of the career, I would love to just own a big second hand store for music (vinyl/CDs), books, films (dvd/VHS) and old video games.
1. Film; writer/director
I guess the fact that I spend a lot of time watching films and browsing IMDB for things to see gave me this urge to want to make my own, I've shot a short on super 8, written a few short scripts and I own a nice Sony Handycam but that's as far as I've gone with this concept, there's much time in the future for that.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Well well well...


















I haef a present!


(and I found the one I had years ago today, shiyat.)

(I also found Arrested Development disc 2 for season 3, yayezzzzzeezzz!!11)

PS; aren't I sexayyyy?

DON'T TAZE ME BRO! (rap remix)


Still no job and little money.

Film review:

STATE'S EVIDENCE:

Plot: 5 teenage American kids all decide to kill themself (they're bored, punx, gangstaz, philosophers, hopeless romantics and not to mention cliche and annoying) all together on video, the film splits up sort of into each person or group and tells a little tale of the day before etc. The cast is B or C-grade, the older sister from Spy Kids (gross), some guy from one of those ABC kids TV shows, that guy from Not Another Teen Movie and someone from NCIS? The acting talent is terrible and so is the whole movie, I would not recommend this to anyone with half a brain, the story is cliche and so is every single character, I hope that they were method actors.

American Pie + A guidebook for primary school philosophy + a touch of Columbine - Anything good/interesting or talented = State's Evidence (minus over 9000 out of 10).