History Tid-Bit : Marathon Man

What's the longest song you've ever heard?

Typically, modern songs are between 2 and 4 minutes long. Symphonies and progressive rock groups may push that up to 9-10 minutes and in the rare case of Paul Westerberg's 49:00, the song goes on for 49 minutes. Usually though, you won't hear songs go longer than an hour. Would you believe that someone has not only exceeded our expectations for song length, but has also performed that song live far longer than the longest concert?

Mark Mallman did just that. In 2004, he performed Marathon 2, a 52.4 hour long song.

He might not be well known, but he's built up a great following. He's known not just for his music, but also his lively performances and stage antics. These are things like riding a stunt scooter off a ramp during a song, dancing on his piano, riding his piano with his crotch, wearing a werewolf mask and calling himself "Mallwolf", kicking, screaming, and solidifying himself as the wild man of the Twin Cities. He gained national attention after performing Marathon 1, which was a 26.2 hour song. This was merely a precursor to Marathon 2, in which he nearly doubled the length to 52.4 hours.

On September 4th, 2004, Mallman readied himself for what was going to happen the next three days. He had a binder with a staggering 628 pages of lyrics and a rotating cast of 75 musicians working in shifts. He could only stop for bathroom breaks and any food or drinks had to be consumed on stage. Music had to be continuously playing. If it was not, they would have to start all over again. Another reason it was continuously playing was that it would keep Mark Mallman awake. The music ranged from catchy rock songs to Pinnk Floyd-inspired improvisation to intimate piano ballads. He could only eat small amounts of food at a time, or else his stomach would fatigue him ( like when you eat too much Chinese food). Whether or not to drink alcohol became a strategic decision. Near exhaustion, his voice hoarse, the fans cheering him on, he finally reached the 52.4 hour mark. A big banner saying "Mission Accomplished" dropped behind the stage. Amidst cheers of the crowd, someone yells for an encore. After a big "Fuck you", Mallman obliges, this time with a much shorter song.

"Victory!" *plays FFVII victory music*

Marathon 2 was considered for a Guinness World Record. Unfortunately, it was denied because of the subjective nature of determining what a song is.

".....zzzzzzzzzz..."

If album covers were more appropriate...

Go see more here

The Time Traveler's Wife movie

*stares squinty eyed at it, as if it were an actual object*

I'm a fan of the book. The novel written by Audrey Niffenegger is best classified as a science-fiction romance. However, this is merely because the relationship between the time traveler and his wife is a huge part of the story. The romance itself is portrayed realistically and without much cheese. The science-fiction aspects of it are woven into the story and it isn't just a gimmicky plot device (like The Lake House). This really is about a man's difficulties experiencing involuntary time travel. The story is focused on him. His time traveling just happens to revolve around his wife. She first meets him as a child, visiting her several times throughout her childhood. They eventually meet in real time, but since it was an older version of him that met her, he has no idea who she is. Then as he eventually grows into the man she fell in love with, the difficulties with having a husband who disappears and reappears randomly get to her. If you ever saw the show Journeyman (which I doubt because it was cancelled after the first season even though it was great) then it was basically like that. The character in the book didn't go around helping people though. He would just be sent to random times and places. The only order was being transported to his wife and eventually his daughter. The book never turns into a Lifetime movie. I want to make that clear. Some people criticize that it does, but I just think the book is being realistic. There's not really any needless drama.

I want to make that clear because the recent trailer for the movie adaptation makes it seem like they didn't understand that about the book. Now I understand how people feel when movie studios misinterpret and twist a book they like into a movie.

Now, doesn't it look like The Notebook 2?? I mean really. It looks like romantic drama trash. That's fine if they're targeting women. It's completely okay. However, to me it seems like they missed the tone of the book. Also, I don't like how they depicted his time travel. In the book he just disappeared instantly. At least I remember being that way. I remember it being described as a popping sound when he disappeared. I could be wrong. Anyways, if I hadn't read the book, I would not be that interested in the movie. Now you understand my squinty eyed annoyed look at it.

Recent movies I wanted to punch in the face

Well, in some cases it's more like THEY punched ME in the face. They started it dammit!

I think I spend too much time on this blog talking about everything positively. That's simply because I don't often listen to/read/watch pieces of shit on purpose. However sometimes I watch a movie hoping it's good or watching because I don't have much other choice. Sometimes that doesn't turn out so well, hence, this blog entry.

I'm not a movie critic. I'm not a cinema snob. I don't watch movies and critique them. I can sit through a dumb action movie and have a good time if they do it well. I can sit through a dramatic film and be moved. I can watch a complicated sci-fi time travel film and enjoy putting the puzzle pieces together. However, sometimes a movie just hits you the wrong way or there's parts of it just glaring at you. It's sitting there begging you to ignore it, but you can't because it's such shit. So, you feel like punching it in its proverbial face.

*Oh yeah, SPOILERS ahead if you haven't seen these*


X-Men Origins: Wolverine

It's Wolverine, how do you fuck that up? The whole movie could've been about Wolverine clawing people up and it would've been awesome. It's one thing to not follow comic book continuity. I can understand that. But what I don't understand is how do you not follow continuity in your own damn film franchise?? Amnesia bullets? Are you shitting me? So Logan is walking around in the X-Men movies with two holes in his skull that anybody could exploit? Bah. Sabretooth is nothing like the one depicted in the first X-Men, nor does he even remember who Logan is. I'm sure they'll make another sequel that might show that but still. The whole movie just reeked of lazy writing and what they did to Deadpool... I can't forgive what they did to Deadpool. I know most of you who aren't into comics don't understand but it's even stupid in the movie. It's the equivalent of taking your favorite character in any written material and the filmmakers castrate them and misinterpret everything about them. Overall, it was an okay film, but it could've been so much better. So fuck you X-Men Origins.

Knowing

Haha. I like Nicolas Cage. Even if he's in a bad movie, he always takes it that extra mile so that it becomes a bad movie that's fun to watch. Case in point: The Wicker Man. Terrible movie, but it's very unintentionally hilarious. Here, Cage once again delves into Wicker Man mode a few times. It's not worse than X-Men Origins by any means. The disasters look pretty cool and the overall story is okay. Though the whole thing with the aliens is almost a jumping the shark moment. I didn't even know you could have those in a movie. The alien/angel/rapture shit was so random, as was the final scene where Cage drives all the way to NYC to be vaporized with his family after hugging everyone. So I'd most likely just stare at this movie awkwardly instead of hitting it.

Twilight

I never read the book, so I came in going by what I saw in the trailer. I heard this was awesome so I figured I'd see what the big deal was. Well, it's nothing like the trailer. The trailer implies that vampire fighting and protecting Bella would be a major conflict in the film. It's not. I was watching this for an hour and I had no idea what the point was or when the bad vampires would come into play. They don't come into play until the last 15 minutes of the movie, then there's a fight that lasts 2 minutes. Pretty much if you saw the trailer, you saw the majority of the vampire showdown. So fuck false ads. What was the other hour and 40 something minutes about? Teen romance. If you recall being a teenager, then you know teen romance is basically "Oh you're cute, I'm going to awkwardly look at you and talk to you until you notice me" "You haven't spurned my advances, let's go out on a date" "Omg it's been like 2 days and I love you! I want to be with you forever!" Even "Say Anything" almost had this format. Except their romance was much more sweeter and real. The only depth this romance has is that he happens to be a vampire. So he always wants to eat her because she smells delicious. They also can't go out in direct sunlight because his skin sparkles. She wants to be with him forever (after like a week) so she wants him to bite her. He refuses because he wants to keep her "pure". The problem with this is that he is forever 17 and she will eventually get old and it will just be plain awkward. So what he's basically saying is that he doesn't want to commit to her for eternity, just until she dies at the most. How romantic? But not. It's a movie that works for teens, but for people who have had real relationships...meh. That vampire's an asshole. Seriously, he's not nice to everyone, always looks grumpy, is much too sensitive over his skin being all bling bling, is rarely sweet with Bella, and is apparently just with her because the relationship is temporary so he can run away if he gets bored. Am I the only one who sees this?! Maybe the book is different, but that's the impression the movie gives off. So fuck that. I heard in the later books this drama gets even more fucked up. To the point where it could be seen on Maury. Shit, if they film the last book, we'll get to see a grown wolfman think a baby is his soulmate. Classy. Fans will burn me for this...and that's okay.

Screamers: The Hunting

Does anyone remember the old Peter Weller movie, Screamers? Peter Weller is a soldier on a distant planet where there's these machines nicknamed Screamers. They pop out of the ground with a saw for a head. They used to be tools to help them win some war but now they gained sentience and starting making versions that look just like people. Anyways, it was a good movie. If you have nothing better to do, go watch it. Screamers: The Hunting is a sequel to that movie. It punched me in the face first. The people in this movie are stupid as hell. I don't even want to begin to talk about how shitty this movie is. The special effects aren't so bad but everything else is. I wanted to smack every character in this movie because they were either annoying or dumb. There was supposed to a romance in here between two characters but it's worse than Twilight. "Hey man, you keep following me and creepily trying to flirt with me. It's truly disturbing. Umm...okay let's have sex!" Fuck this movie.

He's Just Not That Into You

I don't know where to start. Characters contradict themselves and go against their own beliefs, some are plain unlikeable *cough* Scarlett Johanson *cough*, and really the movie teaches women NOTHING. The men and women in this movie are not portrayed realistically. They're caricatures and stereotypes of people in certain situations. I was watching this with my lady (because why else would I watch it) and we were both calling it out on stuff. "That's not true!" "What the hell? I don't know anyone like that" "I don't understand why this guy totally changed his beliefs on marriage. It seems like he's just doing it to shut her up" The only good thing about this movie is that they were wise to cut out Scarlett Johanson singing. They show her on stage singing, but there's no sound. Woo! Fuck this movie!

The Unborn

My girlfriend saw this movie and told me it was a pile of shit. I haven't watched it so I can't say definitively how bad it is, but I added it here because she hated it with such enthusiasm. So fuck this one too!

X-Files

I mean the recent movie. The first movie that came out back in the day was okay, but it dealt with the mythology and answered questions from the show. The new movie is pretty much a monster-of-the-week thing. The problem is the "monster" sucks. The Euro-Frankenstein's Monster is only onscreen for maybe 30 seconds. The ending is just so anti-climatic it's ridiculous. There is no real confrontation. The story has nothing to do with the show's mythology and it barely answers any questions posed by the show's finale. I had to really dig around online to find out Mulder and Scully put their baby up for adoption. I mean you'd think they'd say so in the movie but they don't. It could've been eaten by Cthulhu and we wouldn't know. Are Scully and Mulder living together or not? Are they lovers? If this is the case, why the fuck did Scully let Mulder sit around all day throwing pencils at the ceiling and growing his Zach Galifianakis beard? At the end of the movie, as an X-Files fan, you just feel let down.

There could be more movies on this list, but earning my wrath takes a bit more effort. These movies are the only ones (that I can think of or remember from this year or last year) that really accomplished that. No easy feat. If you have any suggestions or additions to the list, then let me know.

Bad Album Cover

Part of me thinks that would be a great name for a band. Anyways, I saw this album cover today:

Though it totally gives off a douchebag vibe or a white wannabe rappers vibe, the band isn't actually like either of those. Bill should add this to his list of bad covers.

Maybe their target audience is Spencer Pratt, douchelord.

If you know of any other horrible covers, be sure to leave a comment about them. I'll add it to the post.

I Cans Read: Book Reviews 6/08/09

This is the first ever edition of "I Cans Read" on this blog. Woot!

In these features, I shall talk about books I've read somewhat recently. I like reading fiction, and my favorite kind are those with a humorous or interesting slant on life. I'm also really into mysteries. I'm not too big on fantasy books. I love a good science fiction book, but books taking dragons, goblins, trolls, and wizards so seriously just isn't my cup of tea. A fantasy book with some humor in it would be interesting though. I just think the majority are just too serious for their own good.

I went to Barnes and Noble to empty these gift cards I've had for an embarassing length of time. My friend Brittany was working there and I asked her to recommend me something. So she shoved this book in my hand.


Good Omens : The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch was a really great read. If you liked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or any of Douglas Adams' other books, then you'll absolutely love this one. It has great British humour about it. The book is pretty much about the end of the world as we know it (I know that song just popped in your head. It's okay). However, someone misplaced the Anti-Christ, who is an 11 year old named Adam, who was raised by a normal loving family. Unfortunately, the boy he was switched with got the Satanist family. To make it worse, both heaven and hell want the apocalypse to happen. Caught in the middle of all this an angel and a demon who team up to save the world. The angel does so because he likes books too much, the demon because he likes cars too much. Then they find a book of prophecies by a witch named Agnes Nutter which details the whole book. Anyways, it's a funny book and a good read.



The Pleasure of My Company - Steve Martin

This was also a good read, and it was very witty. I mean you look at Steve Martin's recent movies and you don't really think he's the funniest guy anymore. His last great movie in my opinion was Bowfinger. Steve Martin, the Writer, is clever, witty, funny, and just really eloquent. The book is basically about an OCD man who barely gets out of the house eventually trying to become a better person to impress a girl. It's a basic story, but the glimpses we get into the main character's thought process, his difficulty with his OCD and women, obsessions over little details, and his witty narration make it very interesting. Steve Martin also wrote an autobiographical book about his years in stand up. I think I'm going to pick that one up sometime because it sounded pretty interesting.



The Boy Detective Fails - Joe Meno

The greatest boy detective this side of Encyclopedia Brown goes off to college. Shortly after, his beloved sister and partner in fighting crime commits suicide. He's devastated and is admitted to a mental institution. Ten years later he moves out into a halfway house with some of his old nemeses, takes a telemarketer job, takes meds, gets a crush on a pretty pickpocket, and tries to move on with life. He befriends two neighborhood kids who want him to find out who killed their pet. Soon he starts feeling the thrill of investigating again and starts finding clues to his sister's death. Why did she kill herself? It's the only mystery the boy detective is afraid to face. This was a pretty original book. I liked it. I could imagine it taking place in the same world as Pushing Daisies or any other whimsical place. The mystery in it was pretty good too. It seemed to drag down a few times in it but it would get back on track fairly quick. Overall a good book that talks about why we lose that spark we had when we were children, how we always try to reason and make sense of a world of chaos, and getting through grief and the things we can't let go of.

What I'm Listening to: 1/14/09, because I'm late with this shit

Sorry it's taken so long for this one. So yeah. Anyways, I've actually gotten off my ass and listened to a bunch of musically inclined stuff. Thus, I shall enlighten you on what I've been listening to.

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Even Greg Dulli himself said he really liked these guys and thought they were great. That was enough reason for me to finally check out their record. It has a very interesting sound. It's like a throwback album to no genre or period in particular. You definitely get a 60s vibe on a couple songs, but it doesn't feel like it's intended. It just seems like these guys like what they like and play what they feel like. To be honest, I'm only really into a couple songs on it. "Time to Pretend", "Electric Feel", "Kids", "Pieces of What". The other songs are interesting, they just don't grab me as much.




Right Away, Great Captain - The Eventually Home

The second part of a trilogy of albums by Andy Hull (Manchester Orchestra) that continues the story of the 17th century sailor and his descent into insanity because of his wife's infidelity. The story takes place almost three years after the first album ended with the sailor becoming the Captain. It's about him coming home and having to deal with his feelings towards his wife, his growing insanity, and his urge for murder. Why doesn't he just get over it?? Beats me. Anyways, the production on this is definitely better than the last one. The first album was mostly just acoustic guitar, but this one has better sound, more back up vocals, better arrangements, and it just plain sounds better. The lyrics are really well written. Even though they all mostly follow the same theme of bitter resentment, it doesn't really get too old. There's a confessional and personal quality to them that is unshakeable.The album can get really dark. Trust me. This is the kind of album you listen to alone, laying down in bed, with only the music and your thoughts to comfort you.

"Devil Dressed in Blue", one of the acoustic numbers of the album. It's about putting his inner demons into song.

"Memories From a Shore", a song I like from the album that is a good example of the arrangements I'm talking about.

Right click, Save as would be good.


Coconut Records - Davy

Coconut Records is the solo project of Jason Schwartzman. You know, the actor from Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, etc. He was also one of the founding members of the band Phantom Planet, where he played drums. He's broadened his instrumental horizon by playing the majority of the instruments on Davy, which is his second album. It's been a pretty good listen. The production seems to have improved and the songs just seem better written. I guess you could say it sounds like indie rock by way of the Beatles because of the keys, acoustic, and the bright poppy melodies that show up in it. It's catchy stuff. His lyrics still aren't the greatest, but I've heard worse. I like how the songs can get stuck in your head for days, but not in that annoying way. Definitely not in an " I Kissed a Girl" way, which led to getting purposely Rickroll'd multiple times to get it out of my head.

http://www.myspace.com/coconutrecords



Shearwater - Rook

I was a Shearwater virgin. Then I listened to this album. I'm not sure what to say about it. My friend Bill said Jonathan Meiburg is his favorite vocalist, but not necessarily singer. I didn't understand that when he told me it, but now I think I do. I literally can't understand half of what Meiburg is freaking saying. His voice goes into these high pitched little wisps and it's just not decipherable. Then during usually singing, he does it such a way that the words sort've roll together. It's like Jeff Buckley and Morrissey's voices got it on and had a baby. However, it sounds really really pretty. It goes well with the music, which is definitely a highlight. Some songs bring in the strings, acoustic, and piano, and some rock out with distorted guitars and a nice beat. Meiburg's voice also changes according to what the music needs. In some soft acoustic, piano driven song, his voice goes into those little wisps. Then when rocking out, he's belting it all out. His voice has many ranges. So yes, he's a great vocalist. I haven't gotten toooo into this album though. It's really nice to listen to, but I just can't get into it. It might be the whole "I don't know what he's saying" thing or because the majority of the songs are slow, but it doesn't mean it's bad. It's just more appropriate when you want to listen to something a little beautiful.

Just give it a listen.
http://www.myspace.com/shearwater



Lydia - Illuminate

That's a pretty cover. I just really dig it. Anyways, I haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with this one. I'll put this simply though: If you like Copeland, you will like this. The lead singers sound similar, the style is really similar, the sound is similar, the only real difference is the songwriting and the addition of a female backup singer. I'm not that much into Copeland though, so it's hard to get into this one. The instrumentation and songwriting are a highlight. Everything's well put together and the vocals are done well enough. Though I wish the female singer would get more opportunities to shine. Layers and layers of sound cover every song, it's like a sonic tapestry for your ears. It gives it some serious atmosphere. Anyhoo, if you like Copeland, give it a listen. If you don't, then you probably won't this much either. If you just want to listen to something pretty, give it a listen. I appreciate the work put into the album and it's well done, but I honestly probably won't play it that often. Maybe if I was in the mood for it.

http://www.myspace.com/lydia


Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

This was on a gagillion "Best of 2008" lists. I had to check out what was so bloody amazing. It sounds like someone picked up a group from the 50s and brought them back here to record some tunes. The singing is quite good on it ( and he's almost as good a vocalist as Meiburg, except I can actually understand what this guy is saying) and I like how the backup vocals give it that oldies vibe. The rest of the instrumentation is pretty good. Though from what I've heard, it's not as good as people make it out to be. Not saying it's bad, but just reaaaaaaally overhyped. To me, I haven't really felt a personal connection to it nor have I heard anything that really makes this band any different from some others. I have to admit, it's still a really solid album all around. I can see why alot of people put it up on their lists. I'll have to give it a few more listens since I haven't spent that much time with it.

http://www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes


Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

I know what you're thinking. You think this is some weird joke that I'm listening to Lily Allen. My credibility has gone out the window. My credibility is really going to go bye bye when I tell you how much I like it. Seriously, this is a good album. I was surprised. I just listened to it out of curiosity. I was pleasantly suprised. It turned to be as much about sex, drugs, and love as any album in Greg Dulli's repetoire, as critical of fame and the state of the world as we are when we look at Lindsay Lohan, and as personal and honest as our most revealing songwriters. It's also quite funny at times. She wrote all the songs, went to LA, and recorded them all at one time, rather than what most people like Allen do which is co-write and produce with tons of people. I also really like the use of accordian as a primary instrument in one of her songs. It's rare that you hear that. I didn't think I was going to like the song about George Bush (it's called "Fuck You", subtle, I know) , since I don't like most political songs (In Sum 41's case, a whole freaking album). But it sounds so quirky, cute, and odd, that it's hard to even think of it as anything political. Anyways, I really liked the album. I have since listened to the first one and it's just way too "usual pop singer" for me, but I like this one.

I'll write a new post that's more recent and totally NOT a post I had written in January that I haven't posted.

New Cursive album out

Cursive's new album Mama, I'm Swollen is coming out March 10th.

I might have a review of it by then. No, I didn't download it illegally just so I can be the first blogger to put up a review and get user traffic. I bought it from the Saddle Creek website for a dollar.

That's right. A DOLLAH!

For a limited time, you too can buy the mp3s LEGALLY for a dollar. Hurry up though, each day it increases in price by a dollar until the release date.

I'm pretty excited to listen to this. The cover art has me jazzed a little.

The Album Cover Game

1 - Go to “wikipedia.” Hit “Random Article” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to “Random quotations” or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. Click "New Random quotations" at the bottom to get a new list, since the link will sometimes give you same page over and over.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop/MS Paint or similar to put it all together.


This is a fun little time waster. You can come up with some brilliant covers. Here's some I made:




Here are some from other people:

A very interesting read

Did anyone listen to the band The Format? I probably was into them for a little bit a year or two ago. Apparently, they broke up a year ago for hardly any reason it seemed. Now, the band manager is touring around the world researching for his book. On his blog he wrote about the demise of the band and how much they went through just trying to get the band to where it was before it broke up. It's a very interesting look inside the industry and it's all together a good read. I want to read his book when it comes out. I don't even care what it could be about.

http://waywardlife.posterous.com/on-drowning

The story amounted to these two kids bashing their heads against a wall for three years, knowing that they had something worthwhile but unable to find strong support, beyond their booking agent and lawyer (it should be noted here that the band’s new label had some solid supporters but were caught in an industry quagmire, what with eleven year old kids becoming able to get music for free - for eternity - on their six hundred dollar computers). On the surface, especially to the music biz, the album was a complete flop. It didn’t matter that they had been swept under the rug, nor did it matter that “The First Single” was a mega-hit waiting to happen. The data showed that this horse had run its best race and come in second-to-last (always more pitiful than loser).

Sitting in front of me were two young men who were nothing short of desperate. They both smoked an extraordinary amount of cigarettes, perhaps one for every minute in an hour. Their knees shook through the holes in their jeans and they both picked at their food in a way that suggested apathy for the thing that might keep them alive for the next day. It wasn’t sadness or despondency; it was pure depression.

We agreed to work together and they were dropped from their label within a few months...

Click on the link to read the whole thing.

Zooey is a Sweetheart

She & Him are being featured on a new compilation that came out on January 30th. It's called simply "Sweetheart", and is comprised of 14 covers of love songs by various artists.

1. Death Cab for Cutie - Love Song
2. Katy Perry - Black and Gold
3. DeVotchKa - Hot Burrito #1 (I'm Your Toy)
4. Department of Eagles - Love Me
5. Jessica Lea Mayfield - Words of Love
6. Ben Bridwell - Your Love Is Forever
7. Kate Tucker - I'm on Fire
8. Rogue Wave - Maps
9. A.C. Newman - Take on Me
10. Jem - Yellow
11. Richard Hawley - Early Morning Rain
12. Daniel Martin Moore - I Hear Music
13. She & Him - I Put a Spell on You
14. Lila Downs - My One and Only Love

As you can see, it also features Katy Perry, which is amusing if you know about the whole "They look alike!" thing. For those who need a reminder or wanted to see a picture of them together:

Zooey is on the left, and Katy Perry is on the right.

You'll also notice that Death Cab for Cutie is on there. Why is that significant? Because Zooey Deschanel is engaged to Ben Gibbard. Bleh. I mean Gibbard is cool and all, he makes good music usually, and is a good guy. But he's also the most homey dude ever. He's like that guy who is in the friends zone with a bunch of girls and you suspect he smells funny. I think about Gibbard and her and it feels like the most mismatched couple ever. Well...Natalie Portman and that Devandra Bernhardt guy were worse. Anyways, the thought of Gibbard and Zooey being engaged and stuff just makes my stomach turn a little.

On the upside, this post is a good excuse to put up Zooey Deschanel pictures. Also, She & Him Volume 2 is coming this year.

Good Old War- "Weak Man" video

Good Old War - Weak Man


The music video for "Weak Man" by Good Old War came out the other day. It's a folky, laid back, chill vid, which is perfect for the band. It features Anthony Green on guest vocals.

Update on Joaquin Phoenix Rappah Jammah

I guess he WAS going for a "The Dude" look.

There's some vids on youtube of Joaquin looking like a chubby sailor and rapping. Afterwards, he falls off the stage.



This is bizarre. I just think he's doing this for fun. I think he's serious about a career in music, but not serious about a career in rap. I think he's just doing rap for fun. If he's as much a perfectionist as people say, then he's doing this because since he's not that serious about it, he doesn't have to care if it sucks. It's all in good fun and a joke to laugh at. Casey Affleck is filming it because he wants to hone his skills. That's what I think is going on.

And you know what? It really doesn't sound half bad. I mean sure, I don't know wtf he's saying 80% of the time, and I'm sure he's drunk as shit, but I've heard far worse.

Joaquin Phoenix....the Rapper?

For those who don't know, a while ago Joaquin Phoenix announced that he quit acting to pursue a career in music. Most people (like me) naturally assumed he'd be going the acoustic Johnny Cash-esque route. Hey, it worked for Steven Seagal *rolls eyes*. Well according to a few articles and a video, he's working with P Diddy and it's going to be a rap album. It conflicts with previous reports that he was working with Tim Burgess from The Charlatans.


WTF

Not only that, but he wants to do a documentary on himself about his transition from movies to rapping. It's to be directed by his brother-in-law, a certain actor known as Casey Affleck. I know, I know, you're thinking "You've got to be kidding me". I barely believe it myself. Then I saw the video. I also saw pictures of him rapping and Affleck taking video of him around November of 2008...so it may all be true after all.

He looks like a younger Greg Dulli if he got heavier into drugs and quit shaving. Maybe he's going for a Serpico / The Dude look.

Anyways, the first day of shooting reportedly starts tonight at a show he's doing in Las Vegas.

History Tid-Bit: The Anti-Video Music Video

The 80s were a time where music videos were the biggest thing. MTV actually showed music videos. Can you believe that? Teens everywhere would sit around all day watching music videos. They would either have the band playing along and trying their hardest to look cool with their long curly hair locks flowing behind them, or cheesy choreographed dance routines in tight spandex, or extravagantly made videos with the production values of a short film. Well, when the Replacements did a video from their song "Bastards of Young", what did they do?

They had a shot of the speakers playing the song the whole time. They were like...fuck convention. In the video for "The Ledge", they just had a shot of the band sitting around in a room with couches and chairs doing nothing in particular. Another video had them purposely not lip synching to the music and changing up instruments a few times throughout the song. It's pretty funny if you get the joke, and it's refreshing for a band to not take itself so seriously.

An interesting tid-bit takes place on January 18th, 1986, when The Replacements were the musical guest on SNL. It's notable because they were banned from SNL because of it. Why? Well, they showed up drunk as hell, bumbling around, and Westerberg dropped the F-bomb on TV audiences across the country. Of course, some say it's the best performance SNL ever had.

I'd show you the video of it but the network has taken down most SNL videos on sites. So far I haven't found it.