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October 26, 2004
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell, 10/23/04
While I liked Cloud Atlas, I didn't think it should be on the Booker shortlist. It's one of those novels where the events in one uncompleted story ends, another story begins which refers to in the previous story. Then you hit the sixth story which completes itself, and the stories are now resumed in reverse order as the author finishes each one. While it seems very intricately plotted, I'm not sure the parts of Cloud Atlas really work together. It's a mish-mash of genres all vaguely connected though I don't really see how the themes work in this novel. The six stories, embedded in each other, are a fascinating idea, but I don't think they're connected to one another well. I wished that the stories didn't simply reference the next story in order, but that all the stories referred to one another. The genre shifting (from Typee-type journal to letters to mystery novel to etc.) isn't confusing , but it does make this seem like a very synthetic work. While he does an amazing job of creating each entry, I still wished the whole thing connected more. I wish the novel didn't seem like a long meditation on the insatiability and destructiveness of materialism. And I really doubt people in Hawaii will ever sound like the characters in this novel even in a thousand years.
And yes, I would sleep with David Mitchell if asked politely.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)
Showgirls DVD, 10/22/04
Ok, I've watched this one. You probably have too. This time, I watched it with the commentary track by this guy who does midnight showings while delivering commentary. David Schmader sounds like he had a great time. He argues rather passionately that this is the most underrated work of art of the last century because it's so bad. And it's so bad because everyone in this movie is making the worst possible decision at every moment. (The only exception is Gina Gershon who seems to be the only who knows how bad this movie is.) The women don't act like women. They behave like robots with bad programming. They lunge at everything they eat. They talk about nails, snack food, breasts and being naked incessantly. Worst of all, they dance like they're flinging themselves around a room. When he said that I realized something. Darryl Hannah plays one of the replicants in Blade Runner and there's that scene where Decker shoots her replicant character, Pris. She slams into a wall and some furniture and she flails her arms up and down as she dies. That's how Nomi dances. We never did see what pleasure bots did in Blade Runner. Now we know.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
October 25, 2004
Tarnation, Oct. 20, 2004 @ The Castro
You might as well accept this. If I'm writing about a movie, I'm going to tell you how it ends.
Ok, so there's the cliche about butterfly wings. You know, a butterfly flapping his wings in Beijing eventually creates a Hurricane Andrew or Ivan out in the Caribbean. The metaphor's a good one for explaining the essential chaos of weather prediction. It's also damned good for explaining the chaos of individual lives.
Tarnation starts with a grainy video shot a woman singing a show tune. It's simple and unaccompanied, yet there seems to be something wrong here. Mostly, I think it's the length of the camera shot. We're not used to watching ordinary people sing without editing. Music videos have insured that our visual representations of music look anything but pedestrian. Singers don't sing with out plots, camera gimmicks, special effect or endless fields of booty. It's uncomfortable mostly because it's embarassing. This is a whole movie almost entirely based on this principle.
This is a journey through juvenalia in search of a personal history. It's what print biographers do all the time, but it's not often used by documentary film makers. We have so many confessional autobiographies in print and so few confessional film ones. Why? Maybe writers imagine themselves as characters all the time; directors imagine other people doing characterizations. This may be because most film makers don't usually want to reveal themselves. It can seem self-indulgent at best and self-serving at worst.
The first scene involving Jonathan himself was him crying while receiving some very bad news about his mother, who turns out to be that singer we saw earlier. This is where I thought it was going to be horribly self-indulgent. She's overdosed on lithium and he needs to go back home to Texas.
As he travels back, the movie explains his story up to this point. As it turns out, he's got quite a story to tell and this story involves mostly the horrible events that let to his mother's overdose. It starts with one event. Renee fell off the roof of the family home and didn't bend her knees. She was paralyzed for six months after. When she refused to walk, her parents somehow received some advice from a neighbor who suggested electric shock treatments as a cure. There appears to have been nothing wrong with her brain then. This began a series of hospitalizations, medications and treatments to solve a slowly decaying emotional state. Jonathan was born in the early 70s. His father left early on and his mother's state eventually left him in his grandparents' care. His rebelliousness also got him hospitalized eight times, the first time after trying a marijuana joint laced with PCP. Meanwhile, he got involved with some friends who introduced him to punk rock and avant-garde films. His films are certainly amateurish, but fun and certainly entertaining. Meanwhile, his mother situation deteriorated. She kept coming in and out of hospitals. Finally, the lithium overdose damaged her brain. There's a shot at this point of his mother giggling hysterically at a small pumpkin. The embarassment of the first situation is gone. Now, we're left with the embarassment of someone who's clearly not who they used to be. This is where the reality of the past catches up with someone like the tide and leaves them horribly transformed.
So, why isn't this disfiguringly self-indulgent? His earlier amateurish avant-garde films gave him material to illustrate his mood at each point of this film. Now he probably films himself constantly so he's got plenty of material to chose from. It looks like iMovie also gave him the tools to give the film a glossy, almost video-game look with all the flashing graphics.
And the real reason this isn't horribly egocentric is his mother. We watch a good amount of footage of her, both before and after the lithium overdose. Those two scenes of her singing and laughing at a pumpkin are largely unedited. Before, she seemed a little strange. After, you have a very clear sense of what's now missing. The human being that was previously there is now gone.
Finally, the story of both lives, mother and son, is parallel at the beginning, yet Jonathan is in a far better place. It's partly because he's got a better support system. When Jonathan tries asking his grandfather why they continued with the electric shock treatments, his grandfather slowly gets upset and finally calls the police. His grandfather hasn't been able to deal with any of this for the longest time. Jonathan has had two boyfriends who have kept him sane. Finally, he decides to care for his mother. It's an amazing decision given how different she seems to be.
We're all the product of the general laws of the universe and our particular histories. Sometimes, it ends badly. I hope that our particular circumstances look out for us then.
`
Posted by deaconmf at 11:49 AM | Comments (3)
October 21, 2004
"A man by heitning his fansie & immagination may bind anothers to thinke what hee thinks...": The Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson, 10/18/04
While reading the acknowledgements at the very end of almost 3000 pages, our intrepid author realizes he made some mistake at lecture he gave at Cambridge and proceeds to correct it. Maybe this explains the change in tone in the last volume or, at the very least, the strange plotting of these novels. So much time in the first two books is spent explaining the adventures of Jack and Eliza that the third volume comes as a shock. Finally, the character introduced all those pages ago becomes the lead. Daniel Waterhouse, in the space of a year, saves the UK from, well, almost everything. He insures the succession of the George I, preserves the reputation of the Mint and manages to meet every important figure in England of the period. He's a walking deus ex machina, it seems. We'd call him a superhero.
Anyway, despite the crowded plot of the last book, all three books are a joy to read. The occasional anachronism does break up the flow somewhat. You can't use the term, "shock troops," and not expect people to go "whaaa?" Eliza de la Zour and Jack Shaftoe make an entertaining couple, though they spend the most part of 3000 pages and some 30 years apart. Jack's adventure takes him east through most of the known world. Eliza, by comparison, goes nowhere, but spends her time in the Netherlands, France, England and Germany. Daniel makes a few cameos in the middle third.
This novel is packed with historical information of all kinds. He's obviously read his sources (Baudel especially) and you get a lot of essential information about the economics of the time. This plot would make zero sense without it. The complexities of commerce in France are baffling beyond belief. No wonder the Industrial Revolution happened elsewhere. While they spend some time discussing the difficulties of determining who invented the calculus, our author decides to spend most of his time elsewhere. The politics of the time made for some interesting characters and Stephenson spends some time developing all these cameos, ranging from William of Orange to George I. Even Louis XIV spends some time presiding over the various attacks on England.
His great character here though, is Isaac Newton. He really does seem to get at the complexity of a man who essentially anchors the Scientific Revolution in equations and absolute conceptions of matter and time. This is, of course, the same man who never left alchemy behind, whose ideas about God were heretical and whose reputation as Master of the Mint left compassion far behind. He's not at all funny, though at points, he's obviously in love. That's not to say someone without a sense of humor can not fall in love, but it seems to help, if you ask me. Liebnitz comes across as silly sometimes, but a well-rounded individual.
Well, would I sleep with the characters? Er, not really. Daniel's a really old man through most of this and Jack's got some plumbing problems I really wouldn't want to deal with. Neal Stephenson on the other hand would probably look great after a shave. Then I'd tell him, his books are great fun. (And yes, I know this isn't answering.)
Posted by deaconmf at 09:52 AM | Comments (2)
October 15, 2004
"Well, technically speaking, the operation is brain damage..." Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 10/14/04
Roddy and I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last night on his housemate's monster tv. That tv sure takes up a lot of room. It's as big as a wall essentially. So we ordered some pizza and started watching this thing.
And once again, all I find is that words fail. This is one of the most amazing movies I've seen in a long time. It's so good I'll probably name it movie of the year. I've been thinking about why for a long time as well, but my thinking fails. The plot of this movie is a machine that can erase the memory of loved ones. The heart of this movie is an almost easy sentimentality that is constantly undercut by its specific, nearly surgical cruelty. Its creators want this relationship to turn out well, but they know rationally that it can't and never will. I can't imagine who would want to solve their emotional problems this way. First, it seems like an all too easy way out to simply. Then, the real impossibily of erasing someone from your memory just somehow wrong. You could take that person's memory out, but there would always be these holes where the past schedule of your life would be missing. When he figues out how horrible this situation is, Jim Carrey, whose Joel characher really does seems emotionally frozen, tries to escape the process by hiding memories where they simply don't belong. It's a backing up process that simply doesn't work. I know I'm emphasizing the plot in this movie which really doesn't say much about the mood of this thing. There is so much joy in this movie when Joel screams that he's finally happy living in the present lying on his back in the middle of a frozen lake with Clementine or how excited Clementine (another awesome role for is when she's wearing a neighbor's 70's outfit. The complexity of this thing is how its sentimental happiness keeps getting erased by this horrible process of forgetting. It gets desperate, horrifying and finally sadly resigned as the oblivion process erases every trace of Clementine. This thing would not work without both actors putting their heart into these roles. Some scenes I want to remember about this movie: snow and sand on the beach at Montauk, elephants at a parade in New York, drive-in movies where you replace the dialog, talking to someone you love in bed under the sheets then being unable to find them and the sheet just goes on forever, looking at the stars making up constellations. Some things this movie reminds me of: Betrayal (A play and movie by Pinter where we watch a triangle'e entanglements backward. This is one depressing but perfectly realized disaster. If all our movies were like this, romanticism would be cured.), It's a Wonderful Life (A related film where it seems most of the important scenes take place in the winter, where the main character has his expectations and hopes constantly pulled out from under him, where he has to remember his place in the world while forgetting he had hoped for a different trajectory. It's essentially a revisionist personal history.), The Dead (The short story by Joyce. Forgetting is like death though forgetting seems to make living through so much possible. We get lots of snow, death, and forgetting in the throes of a typical ritual, though in the end, no one is forgotten and everyone is brought into the embrace of God by the slow covering of snow.), The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Kundera's seven story-novel thingie which besides its title, is about how memory works in episodic fashion, like this movie). Maybe the movie is a kind of brain damage because I can't make much sense of it. I know I sound confused by the entirety of this film, but I love it because the movie and I are as conflicted about love and forgetting.
Posted by deaconmf at 10:31 AM | Comments (2)
October 13, 2004
"This song promotes homosexuality": The Mekons' "Heaven and Hell"
If you're a band that's been around for 25 years, what do you do for a party? Earlier in the year, the Mekons decided to re-record some early tunes of theirs and called that record "Punk Rock". Most of it wasn't, but it did make them sound like a much younger band. This time out, they decide to do a real best-of compilation and call it "Heaven and Hell". So what happens this time? They're pretty good at thematic records where certain images keep repeating themselves, like rolling heads and vampires and ghosts. Without the context those albums provided, their commited socialism is now the one idea keeping these 32 tunes together. And, goddamn, it still works. Fear of money, capitalist excess, and America keeps them thinking hard about what all this means. While their violins whine like an unruly brass section under stress, they keep drinking whiskey to keep from shitting in their pants and singing to hold back the darkness. Some of them really can't sing well, but Sally Timms always hits those heavenly notes and Jon Langford grumbles his way through. Meanwhile, they keep sloganeering like the old band of fellow travellers they've always been and the lyrics of disbelief, anger and righteous indignation just keep coming: "This song promotes homosexuality." "The sword is sharp, the arrow swift, the witnesses all-seeing." "Ghosts of American astronauts glow in the headlights beams." "Champaigne was never cheap, but I could pay someone to drink it for me." "Destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late." This last one comes from "Memphis Egypt" where they implacate rock and roll for its joy in the power of capital. They implicate themselves. So, at the end, when they claim as they did at the very beginning that they'd never been in a riot, it's finally clear they've been fighting that good fight against themselves as well. Bad art sloganeers. Good art is just plain messy and I'm glad the Mekons have been around long enough to implicate themselves.
Posted by deaconmf at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2004
The Ghost in the Machine Speaks?
Or sings? Or makes noise? Or plays an instrument?
Last night, I was hanging out with Roddy and we got into this conversation about sound replication on computers. Because I'm not really understanding the topic, I figured I'd ask people a couple of questions that came up.
1) What exactly is going on when a sound/music simulating program simulates sound? As you can tell the difference between different instruments by the sounds they make, different programs also sound different. Why is that? Is it a function of the programming itself? And if so, why do they simulate sound differently?
2) Is it possible for a given sine wave function can produce different sounds on the same computer program? Is it possible in reality?
Any direction would be much appreciated. I'm also checking with vaunted Google and the university library.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:10 PM | Comments (2)
Eying That Promotion...
After the movie we played Settlers of Catan. And dammit, I got close. Damned close to winning. Congratulations to Aaron.
Grrrr! Catan will be mine next time.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
Help the Aged: Harold and Maude, Dolores Park, 10-9-04
Miss C (who is even better than a cruise director at informing us of fun events) sent an email telling us that Harold and Maude would be playing outdoors at Dolores Park and that we must go. And so, we did. After some last minute shopping at Buy Rite, Kim, Miss C and I spread our blankets and lay out our delicious snack food spread. Then, Miss T came by with Aaron. They added more to our picnic and we ate for a good long time. Great food, like pasta salad, Mediterranean food, wine, cider, fried chicken and delicious cookies. Wish you were here.
SPOILER ALERT: I can't imagine someone reading this hasn't seen Harold and Maude, but it might be possible. So, don't read the following if you want to be surprised.
Then we saw the movie. I don't think I've seen Harold and Maude in years. Not actually sure when, but I know I saw it in San Francisco. I always forget how strange looking Bud Cort is. He's extremely baby-faced, yet very alien-looking with those big sad eyes of his. I also forgot how quiet he is throughout most of the film. I seem to remember Ruth Gordon better mostly because she talks so vivaciously and with mucho gusto. The movie itself reminds me a lot of the Graduate in terms of its plot and so shares a family resemblance with Garden State. All three of them seem to be about boyish men growing into a maturity through relationships with women. They also have some catchy pop tunes buoying the entire atmosphere in these films. Did Bud Cort really have hair on his chest in that bedroom scene? I'm still not sure why Ruth Gordon's character decides 80 is the correct age to check out of this life, though the movie gives hints of hard her life has been. Would I sleep with Bud Cort? Um, no. Not now, not then. Sorry, dude.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:42 AM | Comments (3)
October 07, 2004
I Dance the Music Electric: Mouse on Mars/Rat-a-tat/Junior Boys
Yup. It was a dance party even though, as we all know, SF Indie, et. al. don't dance.
Unfortunately, I missed most of the Junior Boys set. They sounded pretty energetic during the their last two songs. Maybe next time.
Rat-a-tat got started pretty quickly. They better have. It's just two guitarists and a drum machine. Anyhow, it was a lot like the record itself. You hear the first tune and think it's a great idea to have guitars that sounds like synthesizers playing in front of a synthesized beat. The idea gets tired pretty quick though. If I kept dancing, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more because I wouldn't be listening. Oh well.
Then Mouse on Mars went on. They were a lot of fun at first as well, but the tempo didn't seem to vary. They seemed very happy to be in San Francisco and the crowd danced its approval. Now, that's a complement here. I loved watching a drummer sing that wasn't Phil Collins, but after awhile, I was just tired. At my age, I don't think taking drugs is really an option and by looking at these entries you can tell I've been pretty busy.
It's time for a short break from eventful things, so I can get some rest. Maybe I should take up meditating again. (Insert deep breath here.)
Posted by deaconmf at 01:50 PM | Comments (1)
No More Bling: A Short Trip to the MOMA
Who knew my wardrobe would get me invites? Miss C. thought my shirt would be appropriate for the Glamour show at SFMOMA, so I went along. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of the art. We stayed in the lobby, got some delicious Skyy Vodka drinks and some high priced pupus. My tshirt made me look hoi polloi. (I just like using that term.) It obviously bothered the frat boy in line behind me who said "I'm all for elitism." Bite me, grown-up frat boy. It was still a good time talking to friends about movies.
Posted by deaconmf at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2004
Symmetry is good for you.
As part of the nap study I participated in, I got to take an MRI yesterday. It was very interesting experience. I went to the lab and they asked me to empty my pockets and remove my shoes and glasses. Then I lay down on a table and they slid me into the machine. It wasn't as claustrophobic as I thought it might be because the mirror allowed me to look out of the machine. Sure was noisy with all this clicking even with the ear plugs in. There was a fan blowing air through the machine, but I kept imagining that the magnetic field was making my hair tingle.
So what did I learn from this? The tech told me my head was very symmetric, inside and out. I'm near perfect! Yay!
Posted by deaconmf at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
October 05, 2004
Wine Obsession and the Evil That Men Do: Sideways 10/4/04
Again, I have to thank Ms. C for a good time. She invited me to see a screening of Alexander Payne's new movie "Sideways". Although we had to wait outside for about an hour, it was still no problem because it was free. Free is always a very good price.
Well, the movie itself was an interesting little character study. Myles, 8th grade school teacher and aging writer wannabe, takes his friend Jack on a holiday through Santa Barbara wine country just before his wedding. While there, they meet Maya, a hot blonde waitress who seems to like Myles, and Stephanie, a sales person at a wine tasting place that Jack gets the hots for. Emotional complications ensue. Our heroes behave badly.
There's quite a few things that are likeable about this movie.
1. Sandra Oh finally gets a part where she looks like the hottie she is. I thought the director was being observant at first. Then I found out that the director married her. No wonder she looked great.
2. Virginia Madsen gets a part where she smolders with her brains. She delivers her monologue about wine with such insight and sexual magnetism that when we finally see her hand on Myles' hand, it comes as a shock.
3. Paul Giamatti does another great character. This time, his loser is a frustrated writer who teaches 8th graders. He's a relatively recent divorcee who can't seem to let go of that relationship. He's also wine-obsessed bad drunk. Thomas Haden Church's character just seems irresponsible, but Paul Giamatti's Myles does a lot of shitty things to in order to get laid or just to avoid embarassment.
Miss C was right about one big problem the movie has. The women disappear about 2/3rds of the way through and then we get this strange plot detour that takes up most of the rest of the film. Oh well.
Alexander Payne was interesting, though he did seem a bit full of himself. I thought he was very good at indulging people with bad questions and he did try his best to answer everything. Would I sleep with the director? Damn right I would. LOL.
Posted by deaconmf at 10:53 AM | Comments (1)
New home and some thanks
Well, I think most people know by now I'll be living in the Lower Haight. Yay for more transit. More yay for closer proximity to my friends.
Also, here's where I thank a couple of people:
Thanks David for hosting me and giving me a shout out.
And thanks to Roddy for sending your friends my way. Yay!
Posted by deaconmf at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2004
"I'm not a winner, but I don't intend to lose", The Nervous Breakdowns @ Madrone, 10/3/04
I keep forgetting that the miraculous can happen anywhere. I'll get to the miracle in a moment.
Last night, Roddy listed a bunch of things he wanted to do and the one we had talked about was a publishing party for a magazine called Kitchen Sink. Good magazine. I'd been walking past Madrone (Ms. C: New cool bar alert!) all weekend on the way to the Independent. So glad the party was there because the inside of the place looked great. Lots of dark hard wood and a nifty bar where they displayed their infused vodkas on a back lit wall. Lots of nifty, not so moderately priced drinks too.
So we waited for the band to show. And here's where the miracle occurred. They were amazing. I think I'd read that they put on an amazing show in either the SFBG or the Weekly, but this was a great time. They started off with an instrumental that sounded a lot like Imperial Teen. Then:
1. They did a cover of the Go-Gos' "This Town".
2. They sang about sex! Over and over again. I told a friend of mine once that we needed more post-punk songs about enjoying sex.
3. Female bass section!
4. Good sloganeering lyrics. Besides the title of this entry, they came up with "Your pessimism turns me on" and "This is not a song of silence".
5. They sounded like 1995 was happening all over again with those loud post-punk guitar chords and Keala is a damned good player.
6. They played a tune that was built on the bones of "Sweet Jane" and called that one "S.O.B." They also dedicated it to Film School for drinking all their beer when they played with them.
7. In their best moment, Matt, the rhythm guitarist, turns around and starts singing into the mic with his shorts unzipped. They keep falling down. He eventually turns around, pulls them off, then gyrates his ass and crotch in time to a tune that might be a Peaches cover. He looked great in his tighty-whiteys. While he's gyrating, the bassist and lead guitar ended up lying down on the floor. Alt-rock orgy exhaustion! Matt's my vote for best looking guitarist this year. We need more hot Asian men on stages everywhere.
When it was over, I went over to talk to the lead guitarist/singer, who happened to be from Hawaii. So was Matt. Did I also mention they're gay? Keala said it figured that the one other Asian guy in the room was from Oahu. It somehow makes sense.
They play again on 10/16 at Balazo Gallery in the Mission. I'm there just to see if they pull this off again. I'm pretty certain they will.
Would I make out with the band? Oh, hell yeah! Orgy at Balazo! This proves miracles can be skanky too.
Posted by deaconmf at 12:05 PM | Comments (1)
Everybody do the psychrock! Ghost/White Magic/6 Organs of Admittance @ the Independent, 10/2/04
I almost didn't go to this because I was feeling rather sorry for myself, but I'm glad I went. 6 Organs guy still looked very cute. He's got those alt-rock style signifiers down. Messy hair, inability to look at his audience, modest sounding. Before amplification, everybody had to project. Now we get very quiet vocals all the time. Finally figured out why he sounds folky yet psychedelic. The top string on his guitar is either very loose or an actual bass string. Give him that rather distinctive droning sound. Most of the time, he seems to use it to keep time. It looked and sounded pretty entertaining though. Liked the Spanish sounding tunes a lot. Must be from that Octavio Paz record.
Then White Magic came on. Two big burly looking dudes and one tiny blonde woman on her keyboard. The guitarist sounded great and came up with a lot of interesting melodic ideas. The drummer did something I'd never seen before. He pulled his tshirt collar up over and dropped his shoulders. This dropped the collar back over his head and wiped the sweat off his face. Brilliant if messy idea. LOL. On the other hand, the chick was really getting to me on the keyboard. She kept doing scales on all these songs and I was getting so tired of it. Finally, she began playing guitar which helped. She didn't rock out, but at least her modest guitar skills stopped those stupid scales.
Finally Ghost came on. They started off with a nice jazzy tune where they all gradually came in. Then they started on the whole prog-rock thing. This wasn't much fun, though the lead singer's crushed velvet magenta (fuschia? Hard to tell with stage lighting.) outfit looked made for this kind of performance. I know they're Japanese. They look Japanese. They sing with Japanese accents. But it sure didn't sound Japanese at all. Far more Celtic actually. Those damned penny whistles and flutes were driving me crazy, but they knew how to make those guitars sound big, so everything was ok. I kept thinking that people would hate this if they weren't from Japan. Can't imagine who would want to listen to Yes. Would I make out with the band? Sure! The bassist didn't have the greatest teeth, but he was about my height and had a great body. I wonder if Japanese bands get laid on the road in America.
Posted by deaconmf at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
Chug-Chug-Chugging Away: Earlimart/Heavenly States/Elefone @ the Independent, 10/1/04
This was the first of two shows this weekend and it was nice. (Much thanks to Chris for the suggestion.) We got there a little late because I was at an apartment interview. (Speaking of which, those two haven't called me back yet. Grrrrrr!) I met David and we walked over to the Independent. They've done a nice job with the place. Took out that horrible bar from middle of the room, but they really can't do much about that monolithic pillar where they used to have the mixing board. Anyhow, we saw Elefone's last two songs. Damn, they looked young. Later, when I was in the bathroom, I saw the lead singer. On stage, I would have sworn he was 20 because he was short and energetic. As it turns out, he's got a head of very grey hair. Poor guy. Then, Heavenly States went on. They politely did their alt-pop thing until the very end when the lead guy ran off the stage. He had some decent banter going, but no one was laughing. Poor guy. Definitely a cute bassist who looked really tall on stage. Then David and I took turns standing next to him near the bar. Turns out he's probably 5'10". And really rail thin. The main event was very sensitive. Earlimart sound so Elliot Smith but I don't remember them sounding like this before. Breathy vocals. Beatlesque tunes. Depressing subject matter. Thing is the tunes were sturdier than on the previous record and I remember la-la-laing in my head as it went on. Surprise of the evening: They knew Springsteen's "State Trooper". I didn't think anyone knew "Nebraska" anymore. Would I hit on anyone in the band? Guess not. I can't even remember what they looked like.
Posted by deaconmf at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)