Saturday, October 27, 2007

Guitartalk

I feel kind of like a dick for not teaching myself guitar early.

Today I started practicing some chords and basic chord progressions (Cmaj, Dmin, Gmaj, Cmaj) and of course it's a bit hard at first, but I feel like I am learning it faster than I thought. I've had a guitar since 2001 and granted it wasn't the best guitar, but it was sufficient to learn on.

I got it because at the time all my best friends were in bands and doing cool guitar solos in my face. And in retrospect, it brings me back to a point I realized a few months ago when I decided to make music my "thing." While great art will always be great art, it's only as good as long as you're looking at it. Of course great art can inspire and move people but, it's not as, I guess you can say, engrossing as music is. No one thinks of the gallery they saw last week while doing dishes. No one makes love staring at the Sistine Chapel on their ceiling. No one exercises to this week's comic books. And by no means am I down playing art. It's still very important to me but the point I want to make is, that I've come to realize I want something more interactive. Something more involving and something can permeate into every aspect of life.

The reason I thought guitar playing was so cool was because it was an audio and visual representation of skill. Not only that, it was a outlet for style and personality. How you played, what you look like when you played and what you played said so much about the guitarist. At one point or another, we dream about become rockstars but we never really break down why it's such an attractive dream. Great guitar playing is not just a measure of skill. It's an indication of personality.

I've never really thought about the guitar for the last 6 years because I never really thought of who I want to be. I don't want to be the next great guitar player. I don't want to be voted the coolest looking guitar player. I just want to say "I play guitar." The statement alone says a lot. It's not an easy instrument and in itself there's so many styles to play. Any one style can say volumes about you. But like a simple statement, visual art itself is taken at face value (in some way). You see someone's art and that says so much about them. It doesn't reveal the whole story about the person. There's no liner notes to it. You can't see how it was made or what it really says.

But watching someone play guitar... THAT'S the whole story.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

[photos] Pics from Hiro Ballroom (+Cool Kids!) 9.13.07


COOL KIDS + FLUO KIDS + YUKSEK LIVE + 33HZ + BRODINKSKI @ Hiro Ballroom

Flickr

[credit cards] TRUUUUUUE STOOOORY!


Shout Out Out Out Out - Forever Indebted

You know they got me,
More than I got out
And every month I think I've finally hit the bottom
But they keep growing
And fucking growing
And every month I get in deeper
With my knowing.
Well, God damn!
How did this happen?
It's not like I spend all my time spending, spending.
Well, God damn!
If I could get out,
Somehow I know I'd just go right back in.

All my friends
They're in the same boat
They just can't get out
But they keep working every day as if there's hope
And that's it
That's how we're living
And to boot, we're still made to feel guilty
Well, God damn!
How did this happen?
It's not like we spend all our time spending, spending.
Well, God damn!
If we could get out,
Somehow I know we'd just go right back in.

They say we have to learn to compromise
Stay inside our means and we'll all be fine but
We're surrounded by their credit lines
And their payment plans with interest piled up high and
Why do you think they fucking advertise?
It's cause we'll make them rich
While they ruin our lives and
Like Jaycie Jayce in a conga line
I'm in an awkward place and I'm out of time.
And they only say you have to compromise
Once in you're in too deep
And they own your life and
It's no wonder that we're all stressed out
When paying bills is always on our mind and
They say we have to learn to compromise
Stay inside our means and we'll all be fine but
We're surrounded by their credit lines
And their payment plans with interest piled up high and
Why do you think they fucking advertise?
It's cause we'll make them rich
While they ruin our lives and
Like Jaycie Jayce in a conga line
I'm in an awkward place and I'm out of time.



Damn.


I thought I'd never be the guy in debt. NEVER. Never liked credit cards and now I am a victim to my own urges to charge. The sad thing is, my mom detailed how much I have as my own pocket money and gas and it's ALMOST $1k a month. Just for me. And I still manage to somehow over spend. And I have no clue how it always happens. Actually, before my vacation, I was fine. Then I went a little charge happy for the past 3 months. I usually had a few hundred saved up a month and I would blow it all once I get my monthly bonus.

In a way, it's like the kettle calling the pot black (is that the right expression?) My mother used to be the queen of overspending but now she's finally learned her own ways. I've only been making some real money for about a year and I guess in a way, tapping into my hereditary spending habits is not a good sign. But, I know she's giving me the hour long lectures about saving because she doesn't want me to be like her when I grow up. But like the song states, you just can't help and you can't get out.

So, one of two things need to happen: I either need to stop spending (which, after I get my hard drive for my laptop and maybe a guitar/camera for my b-day next month, that's about it) or make even MORE money so I can still be reckless and retarded. But, I tell you what, I am going to try and do both! More money, less spending!


Let's go!

(Oh, asides from the debt we are paying off, I am actually even with paying everything off. So provided I just spend money like a normal person, I will be fine well before the year is over and that god forsaken American Express card will have a big fat zero for a balance!)

[photos] MisShapes 07/27/07 Leigh Lazark's B-Day!



A lot of oddballs there that night or maybe we just got there late. Enjoy all the ridiculous people.

New DJ set from Daft Punk for Louis Vuitton?


Guy-Manuel, Pharrell, Thomas

click here and view woman's Spring-Summer 2008 to see the ugly new line from Vuitton but more importantly to hear a new set from Daft Punk!
Here is the MP3 if anyone wants it. Oh... and is that RATATAT in there? :)

This post is for those of us still alive


I am going to say that as short as it was, Portal may have been one of the best games I've ever played.
If you've never heard of it or barely care about video games, at least look at the game's trailer and just see how genius this game is.

The real reason this game is such a gem is how it decides to portray it's narrative. And, for those of us who have beat the game, can we all agree that on a somewhat serious tone, the end song was so beautiful? For those of you who want to relive the ending again, here is the MP3.

I absolutely love the path some games are taking lately. Games like this play out like very impressive short films. There are so many small details in this game that are littered all over. If you go out of your way to search for them, you can see just how endearing this short game is. The sort of effort put into it's presentation was great. The game almost played out like a Twilight Zone episode with a touch of Pixar sweetness near the end.

Because of technology, games can really fulfill the designers' dreams of creating very unique and lasting experiences for gamers. I think Portal stands as a good example of how a little stroke of (borrowed) genius and some well thought out story mechanics can really present a truly remarkable experience for anyone. Not just hard core gamers.