Awesome New Band

Hehehe... well let's not go so far as to say awesome, but...

Way back when I mentioned that my friend Dan and I were in a band of sorts and that we'd been working on material. Well that's sort of steadily been going on for about a year or so and we're finally feeling happy about some of the songs we've got, and we're slowly recording them on our own. We finished one last night called "There's A Light" and here it is! Hopefully you'll at least find it entertaining, and if not well, you know what they say... those who can't play, critique.

We call ourselves Chris & Doug [there is a story there, but trust me, it ain't that intriguing].

Chris & Doug - There's A Light [mp3]

Enjoyment on the Brazos

I feel like I'm starting to become a fanboy here but, I saw these guys again last night and they're really great. I hope their album comes out REALLY soon.

Here's a track off a compilation I got from a magazine called Esopus. Not very evocative of the band's current incarnation, but it's hard not to be wooed by the obvious talent of the stripped down track.

Brazos - Passenger

I'm On A Soccer Team

For the past 5 or so years I've been infatuated with International Football (soccer). This comes as a result of becoming bored with all the American sports I grew up playing. Now I'm finally on a team... even if it is in the MGD 64 [miller genuine draft] sponsored Super Social League here in Austin.

I give you...

Happy V-Day from The Tripwire

Last night the editor for The Tripwire sent out an email asking us contributors if we wanted to put together a little something for Valentine's Day for the site. I went along with it and chose a couple songs.... Black Joe Lewis's "Bitch, I Love You" and one of my top five favorite songs of all time, James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"

Check it out... it's pretty cool.

Favorite Record At The Moment

So these are some of my records,

And this is my record player,

And this is my favorite record at the moment,

The lovely resurgence of vinyl as a mass produced and bought product again has blessed me with a soft, classy and used album from a quirky musician. Unfortunately this same resurgence has disallowed me to find a track to offer up to you, as I don't want to spend the money on purchasing an electronic copy for myself. Love lost. However you can now search it out if you want to... A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night.

Taking Cues

In July of 2008 I spent 2 unbelievably comfortable weeks in Oahu, Hawaii. I was with my family in a house we rented on the North Shore, and in the 14 days we were residents we learned to live the lifestyle. There were a few days of tourist activity at the start - Pearl Harbor, the flea market, surf lessons, etc - but then remarkably, we just did nothing. It was as if we really were from there. One night, my brother and I even drove into the city to catch a Vampire Weekend show with the locals. All in all, great experience. If you've ever got the chance to live in Hawaii, I'm sure I don't have to tell you to take it.

Anyways, the point here is that I took a cue from my great friend, Anton, and filmed as much as I could while I was there. Unfortunately, when you assimilate to the island life, you don't want to pick up the camera and film. I tried though, and here is the minute-long intro to the whole affair. Now I know what Anton is talking about when he refers to the difficulty in getting projects done. Here we are, nearly 6 and a half months later and this is finally done. I'm not even thinking about when the actual content will be done with. Let's not. Let's just enjoy this for a little bit...

I don't know that much about the export/sharing process
so this could probably be clearer and work better.

New Ears: JAWS

New Ears for the New Year.

Even though it's February.

For the new year I'd like to broaden the scope of New Ears toward the medium of film. An HBO showing of Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic JAWS being the catalyst for this latest urge to write, I figured that over the next few weeks I'd take the time to have my own little Spielberg Retrospective. This is as a result of a) having the time in the evenings to do such a thing, b) having not seen his classics in quite some time begs the question of how they've withstood the test of time, and c) I recently acquired a brand new Sony 46'' HDTV and really want to watch the hell out of it. [and d) I just moved into a new place, and the debt acquired from new house purchases is sure to curb my weekend spending.]

So here it is...

JAWS was Spielberg's big breakout onto the film scene and as such has been probably one of, if not the, highest grossing films of his career. It's a tight and suspenseful flick and one that has struck so many people where it hurts... with a fear of water. I, to this day, cannot swim comfortably in the ocean. I spent two weeks in Hawaii this past summer and while I enjoyed myself in the water playing about in the clearest of seas with crustaceans and fish and squid, there was not 5 minutes that went by where I wasn't checking my back.

We all know that Spielberg was a wunderkind of filmmaking. We all know he had technical prowess, we all know that the man knew how to work with kids. What I love about JAWS is that now, at 25 years old, after more than 100 viewings of this thing [I'm sure], there are still things I catch in it that make me more frightened than ever, that make me laugh harder, and that make me still wonder like a little boy.

First of these: probably the scariest scene in the film for me, when Brody's son Michael [played by Chris Rebello] is stuck in the water after the man in the red row boat is attacked [leg bitten off no-less]. The look on the kid's face is one of utter shock and terror. He is literally in awe of the massive beast as it swims past, undoubtedly with the lifeless body of the row boater hanging out. Also worthy of mention, this is the first time we see glimpses of the shark and it's nearly halfway through the film. This has long been considered the greatest tactic in creating suspenseful cinema... keep the audience waiting and play on their emotions, their imagination. Spielberg does it to perfection here. Plus, when we just barely see the jaws of the beast open under about a foot of water, it is absolutely frightening. It looks real. And it makes me want to cry.

Second: one of the funniest moments of the film that I haven't caught before. While the boys are all sharing war stories [literally sometimes], and Quint and Hooper are showcasing their wounds, laughing it up with drunken fervor and bravado, Brody [played perfectly by Roy Scheider] is come over with a look of yearning to be included, lifts his shirt and feels across a scar from what can be said is probably an appendix removal, then drops his shirt again in puny defeat. I had never caught this moment before, but this last time it got me giggling for a good few minutes.

Third: an effect I've wondered about ever since the beginning. When Brody decides not to fire at the beast as it swims away we're left with a close-up looking up from the decks into his face. In the background a shooting star is seen flying from right to left of the screen. I've always wondered if it was SFX or if the moment was just one of pure magical luck. That's what I want to believe. I've searched the internets all day and can honestly say that no one knows for sure. On HBO's version it looks animated. On my DVD it looks real. Spielberg has claimed it both ways, and fans across the net have noted it as a 'berg trait in many of his classic films.

I suppose we'll never know for sure, but I'll keep hoping that it was just happenstance. It's more enjoyable that way.

So that's it for JAWS. Next up on the agenda will be E.T. The Extraterrestrial. I've been wanting to watch that for weeks now.

Feel free to watch it sometime this weekend as well...
Next week we can all comment on it.

Funny Cartoon, Serious Commentary

I opened up the Life & Arts section today to find a great F-Minus. It's a great little piece of satire, yet also a great bit of commentary on what I'm sure is the state of much of these USA.

[click, it gets bigger]

p.s., getting off a treadmill is quite possibly the weirdest experience ever.
It feels like you're walking 3-4x faster than normal.