Sunday, August 23, 2009
Anvil
This is a copied post from Jeff Green's Greenspeak Blog. It is a truly great blog and I wholeheartedly recommend that all of you read it. I just recently saw Anvil: The Story of Anvil, and it is an amazing rock documentary. Check out Jeff's post (Because his post says essentially everything I wanted to talk about, and I didnt see a point in re-writing essentially the same material.)
I have seen many rock documentaries over the years. Some are okay, some are great (like "Dig"), and some are amazing. Into that latter category I would put, off the top of my head, "Stop Making Sense," "Don't Look Back", and, though it is entirely fictional "This is Spinal Tap." But I now have to add "Anvil: The Story of Anvil", which isn't just a great rock and roll movie, it's a great movie period--one of the finest documentaries I've ever seen and easily one of the best movies I've seen in the past year. Chronicling the sad fate of 80s Canadian heavy metal band Anvil--a band that I, like most people, probably never heard of---it is truly the "real life Spinal Tap", as others have noted: An un-ironic, true-life tale of a bunch of guys now in their 50s trying to cling on to and recapture their brief fling with rock-and-roll glory. It doesn't matter if you don't like this kind of music, or rock documentaries in general. The beauty of this movie (along with the Spinal Tapian moments of unintentional humor) is the human story: The meditation on aging and ambition and doing what you are passionate about in life--and what happens when things don't entirely go your way. It's inspiring in the most humble and innocent way. For every moment that you may feel, "Wow, these guys are a bit ridiculous and sad," there are two more that will have you cheering them on, or at least admiring them for being so devoted to their passion, and to each other. It's a love story, really, and it's an incredible one. Do yourself a favor and rent it.
Here is the trailer:
Freshman Orientation
Today I acted as a tour guide for the freshman orientation at my high school. I am entering my senior year, and let me just say that high school goes really quickly. I can vividly remember my own freshman orientation, easily recalling all the fear I experienced that day. I was immensly freightened, trying to seek out friends, yet still trying to act like I wasent about to lose my shit. As I gave the tour today It was refreshing to visually see all these feelings present in the freshman, not because I enjoy seeing them in pain, but because despite all the bullhit that comes entangled with high school, it is nice to see that ever kid gets nervouse in the shadow of something new and mysterious. If any freshman at SI are reading this let me just say that I hated my freshman year. I felt awkward, alone, and ashamed of my nerdy hobbies and interests, yet I continued to seek exceptance in groups that obviously werent interested in being my firends. But the lesson I learned from this is stick with it. It took me almost a year to find my good core group of friends. I swim and played waterpolo, so I became very close friends to those guys, and to my suprise most of them were into the same things I was into. We have had deep lunch conversations about Star Wars, videogames, music, films, and these monologues have been some of the highlights of my high school life. So my lesson to all the freshman out there:
1. Be Social - Go out and find people who have similar interests to yours.
2. Be Open Minded - You will be suprised my the amount of people you share interests with. At first I would never have thought that people on my schools water polo and swim teams would be into the same things I were, but some of them turned out to be very intelligent people well versed in nerd topics, who just happened to also love water polo and swimming.
My high school experience has had ups (friends) and downs (freshman year), but as I enter my senior year I will be very sad to see it end.
Blank Tapes
Last Thursday (August 20th) I saw the Blanktapes at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco, and it was incredible. The Rickshaw Stop is a cool little club in San Francisco with a really intimate and hip vibe, and is a great place to see concerts. However the real star of the show were the Blanktapes. I went to the show on a firends recomendation, never really hearing their music before and they blew me away. They are a cool little indie folk rock band this is reminisent of Todd Snyder meets Grizzly Bear. If you are in to indie music definetly give them a listen, and if you are in San Francisco give the Rickshaw Stop a visit.
Old Memories Vs. New Memories Retrospective
So as I posted earlier while I was out in Maui I saw an old friend of mine, and debated the idea of new memories vs. old memories. So I gave the situation time to digest and now im writing this blog. So I met this girl in the summer of 2007 and we became great friends; hanging out for 2 weeks and sharing great memories. However, the vacation ended and we stayed in touch, but eventually stopped talking. Not because we were mad at each other, but the both of us just got caught up in our own lives. So this past August I was out in Maui, and I saw here yet again. At first I was scared to reintroduce myself, scared of getting blown off, and ruining my image of our previouse time together. However, I soon said hello, and we were catching up in no time. Yet things were not the same. Yes we reminised about our previouse adventures and caught up in reguards to our own lives, but something was not the same. I felt that both of us had weird expectations for the reunion, maybe recapturing the old fun we both used to share, and that never happened. So in reguards to old memories vs. new memories their is no clear winner. The old memories will never be out done just because they ended on such a high note, but at the same time it was really nice to see her again. Feel free to sound off in the comments section to speak about my conclusion.
TV Update Too
I forgot to include TV in the previouse update...my bad.
Favorite TV shows of 2009 So Far.
1. Lost - Season 5 was awesome, and I cant wait for the conclusion of the series in season 6.
2. Battlestar Galactica - The conclusion of the show was very sad yet heartwarming at the same time. One of the best shows ever.
3. Mad Men - This is just a great show that everyone should watch.
Show With The Best Finale - Scrubs: I love this show, and it went out in a very sad yet wonderfully retrospective episode.
Comeback Kid - Heroes: Season 3 was a piece of crap, but with Bryan Fuller back on board I have hope for a resurgence in the vain of season 1.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Media Update
Sorry I havent updated in quite some time. After El Salvador I just wanted that experience to soak in and I did a lot of writing on the topic (see previous posts), but as I was in Maui with my family I didnt really feel like writing. However, now I am home, school is about to start, Waterpolo has strated (I am tired!), and the holiday season is rapidly approaching. So, I will take this time to post my thoughts on 2009 so far, in relation to movies, music, and video games.
So Far Top 3 of 2009
1. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear - An amazing album by a band that is best described as Radiohead meets some crazy harmonies. If you have not heard of this New York wonder go check them ut immediatly.
2. Live in London by Leonard Cohen - One of the best live albums I have heard in years, and its Leonard Cohen; nuff said.
3. 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day - This is American Idiot round 2, with far more polished ideas and focus then its predecessor. Anyone who likes rock should definetly give this album a chance.
Albums Im looking forward to in the rest of 2009
1. Humbug by the Arctic Monkeys - I love all their previouse albums, really fun alternative vibe, but Im excited for were they take their sound in the future.
2. The Resistence by Muse - Muse is incredibly epic, so I have high hopes for the scope of the ballards they are able to create on this album.
3. Backspacer by Pearl Jam - I still listen to Ten on a daily basis, so whenever this band does something new, I pay attention. Truly a living legend.
4. Strcit Joy by Swell Season - I loved the movie Once, so Im naturally curiouse what the group responsible for the amazing soundtrack does next
5. Raditude by Weezer - The last few albums by Weezer haven't been that great, but I still have hope that one day they will release a record on par with the Blue album...one can dream.
Movies
So Far Top 3 of 2009
1. District 9 - Neil Blomkamp has easily created the best sci-fi film since the original Matrix. Props to Peter Jackson for giving this guy a budget and a chance.
2. The Hurt Locker - This one enters the pantheon of great American war films. Kathryn Bigelow has accompliushed the impossible of making a great war film were the combat almost seems secondary.
3. Star Trek - JJ Abrams has made a great entertaining summer film while being able to create an entry portal to the deep mythos involved in the franchise. It is arguably the greatest sci-fi prequel/reboot ever.
Honerable Mention: Up - I love Pixar immensly and this is another great film to add to their quiver of franchises. As of now it is my 3rd favorite pixar film, and that is a phenominal accomplishment.
Movies Im looking forward to in the rest of 2009
1. Shutter Island - Whenever Scorsese and Leo team up I take notice.
2. Avatar - James Cameron is a great filmaker, but Im curiouse to see if this film can have enough substance to match its style.
Video Games
So Far Top 3 in 2009
1. Flower - Who says videogames cant convey emotion? Thatgamecompany has created an audio visual masterpiece that was wonderfully relaxing, but still had me in tears by the end of the game. The best 15 bucks I have ever spent.
2. Infamous - Sucker Punch has crafted a truly legendary super hero game, and it seems like a great start for a promising new franchice.
3. Killzone 2 - This game has been at the center of a lot of controversy (the prerendered trailers), but the final game really delivered.
Games Im looking forward to in the rest of 2009
1. Beatles Rockband - I am a huge Beatles fan so Im curiouse to see if Harmonix can deliver on the fab four experience.
2. Brutal Legend - The genius of Tim Shafer needs to be know by all, and if the early impressions are any indication he is about to get his due.
3. Modern Warfare 2 - Modern Warfare is one of the best shooters of all time, so im obviously excited to see what Infinity Ward does next.
4. Assasins Creed 2 - The first game had its issues with repatition, but if the developers have learned their lesson, this could be an amazing game.
5. Uncharted 2 - I loved the first one, and the sequel looks even better. Naughty Dog is on a role.
Thats it folks!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Battlestar Galactica: You have made me a proud fan.
Battlestar Galactica has made me a proud fan. In short, after the UN talked with the cast and creator of Battlestar Galactica, the UN changed its language in reguards to race. For example their is no longer a black or hispanic race, but just one human race. So Say We All!
Here is the link to the original story that ran on G4
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