Your Eyes are Kansas City

Trips in July

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:51:49 -0700

On the fourth of July, I was in the Florida Keys. That's me there, after fishing for three hours in 95 degree heat and considerable humidity. It turned out that the whole point of the trip to the Keys was fishing, though at the time Katie and I went down there, we thought it was just a family get together. Her brother Adam was there, with Kasie and Dylan and Sean, and her parents. Everyone backed out but me for the first fishing trip, so it was me and Katie's father, which was alright. I'm a city boy and college boy, so the prospect of undertaking a big traditional man activity with my future father in law was daunting, but it ended up ok.

I don't really understand, though, how anyone lives in the Keys. The heat was oppressive, the humidity mind-boggling, and though the hotel was air conditioned, the air could only just keep up, and plenty of the stores we passed on the road were big open air affairs. I'm used to the kind of heat you can escape by standing in the shade, but that does very little good down there.

The American flag shirts were our cult identifiers that day. Katie's mom bought them for everyone on the trip. I was the last one to change out of mine.

The next weekend Katie and I drove up to Washington for Shannon's wedding, just outside of Longview. We lost a tire just south of Mt. Shasta city, and put the donut on in some very small neighborhood where only three cars passed us in fifteen minutes. We ended up replacing the tire at Mt.Shasta tire on Mt. Shasta Blvd, but as a result we didn't get to our motel in Longview until about 11.

The wedding was lovely and I got to see some old friends, and generally drank and had a good time. I didn't bring my camera because I am bad at camera ownership. On the way back to San Jose, we took Barbie in our car and generally drove in a convoy with the others, and got home again at about quarter to 11. So 26 hours on the road in three days, and this morning was the first chance I had to sleep in, in my own bed, since July 2nd. Naturally it makes me feel a lot more human.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Memorial Day Weekend

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:48:12 -0700

Lombard St.

On Saturday, I took Katie and her mother Cary up to San Francisco. Cary was dying to see Lombard Street, and I had never driven it before. So we waited in line with all the other tourists and drove down the street, and then got out at the bottom and took pictures. More are on my flickr.

After that we went to Fisherman's Wharf, and I simply don't understand the appeal of that place. Sure,you can get seafood, but it's not like they have some kind of new, exotic seafood that you can't get everywhere. I guess Dungeness crab is less common in East Coast markets, so Cary was excited about that, and sure enough, she truly enjoyed hers.

The next day we had lunch with my parents, both of whom were under the weather. My mom had pneumonia last week... and I guess still does. Since pneumonia is a condition and not a disease, when do you stop having it? My dad just had a regular cold, and the rest of us were ok. Still, the lunch date went off a lot better than when my mother had lunch with my brother's future mother in law.

Muir Woods

On Monday, we went to Muir Woods, up across the bay. It was packed for Memorial Day, so we took the shuttle in from Mill Valley. It was cool and shady, and pleasant, but there were so many damn people there. The best thing about walking around in a redwood forest is the quiet and cool, and time to think, and you just don't get that here, at least not on a weekend. We saw a cute little chipmunk, though.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

The Stand Ins

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:30:09 -0700

The Stand Ins

Okkervil River

So I guess it is a thing now to record a bunch of extra songs when you go in to make your album, knowing full well that you're going to make the crappy songs into a follow on album? Is that a thing? Sufjan Stevens is doing it, and now Okkervil River has done it twice. I guess in the past all of that music would have sat around on master tapes for years, until anthologists resurrected it to put on greatest hits records as the "never before released" tracks, and I guess that always sucked, if you were a hugs fan of a band, but by and large, people are releasing records that don't come close to the maximum run-time of a CD, so you have to figure the stuff that doesn't make the record is probably better off unreleased.

But anyway we have this thing now, and I blame the internet for it, and here is Okkervil River's latest record, The Stand Ins. In discussions with other Okkervil River fans, the words "5th best Okkervil album" have been bandied about, which is not how they would like to bill the record, I am morally certain. I think that's not true (I think it's probably 3rd best), but I also think that's not fair. This is a record that should be compared with one and only one other Okkervil River album, and that album is Black Sheep Boy Appendix. And in that comparison, I think The Stand Ins is the clear winner.

So, highlights:

"Lost Coastlines" is the real intro to the record. I always like Okkervil's up-tempo work a little more than their quiet songs (notable exception is "A Girl In Port")

"Starry Stairs" is the follow-up to "Savannah Smiles" from The Stage Names, which I think benefits from a little interpretation. If you don't know what these two songs are about, they are less remarkable, but once you do a little reading, they make a lot more sense.

"Pop Lie" is another good up-tempo number.

Major disappointment:

When I saw that Charles Bissell (of the Wrens) was credited for guitar on "Singer Songwriter," I was excited. Listening to the track was a big let down. I assume that Charles Bissell is playing the obnoxious guitar sting in the verses, but that's unremarkable at best, and the song is one of the worst on the record.

Overall: You'll like it if you like Okkervil River, but remember, these are the songs that didn't make the cut for The Stage Names.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Mountain Battles

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:25:22 -0700

Mountain Battles

The Breeders

Continuing the "ex-Pixies members releasing a record in April" theme, The Breeders dropped Mountain Battles three weeks ago. If you haven't been following the Breeders (maybe you don't even remember "Cannonball"), I will recap for you here: Pod - Fantastic, but badly mastered; Last Splash - Wonderful, see esp. "Drivin' On 9"; Title TK - I almost cried.

Quick test to see if you would like the Breeders (assuming you have some real basic Pixies material): Listen to "Gigantic" and ask yourself "would I like to hear this voice singing inside my head?" If the answer is yes, you're in.

So, Mountain Battles. Title TK is a hard act to follow. It is a record-that-lives-in-my-car. Mountain Battles is not Title TK. It's a little less like having Kim Deal singing softly into your ear at night and a little more like going to see an obscure but well regarded band at one of the few venues in San Francisco that has parking figured out. It's a treat, but it won't make you shudder.

There are several songs that sound like The-Breeders-and-no-one-else-ever, and there are a few songs that explore new sounds and ideas (at least in the Kim Deal / Kelley Deal idiom, which includes the Amps and The Kelley Deal 6000 and a few others). It's well produced, in the sense that you can put the record on and let it run, with no jarring interruptions. I don't have a whole lot to say about it, but I have a generally pretty good feeling about the record. Perhaps you will like it.

Some Highlights:

"Overglazed" - the first song on Title TK was different and kind of memorable. The first song on Mountain Battles has been described as "not a song" by at least one other Breeders fan, but I enjoy it. I think it's a good lead into the record, whether or not you believe the lyric "I can feel it" constitutes a song.

"Night of Joy" - classic Breeders. If you liked anything on the first three Breeders records, you will probably like this. If this adverb even modifies this adjective, then it is even "slightly spooky."

"German Studies" - One of the harder tracks on the album, appropriately in German. But the vocals on this track are pure, pure Breeders. If you don't like this... it is possible that we can't be friends anymore. I just have so much less time for people than I used to. You have to draw your lines somewhere.

"Spark" - Could have been on Title TK and would have fit in pretty seamlessly. If this came on when I was out on the highway, it would calm me down.

"Walk It Off" - This is one of those songs where I like 90% of the song just ok, but every verse there is a run of about 5 seconds that I really, really like. I call these "Get Him Eat Him songs."

"It's the Love" - is not, despite the first 12 seconds, a Dinosaur Jr. song.

"Mountain Battles" - the title track, the last track on the record, and one of the most unusually instrumented songs on the record. But if you like Kim Deal's voice, you probably love this song. It's like she is standing behind you, singing into the back of your head.¹

Rating: You should probably buy this record. I am 80% certain you should buy it.

There are two kinds of people in this world: the kind who like 4AD record covers and the kind who don't. Please use the image provided to sort yourself out.

1: Kim, I am available any time you wish to do this.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Seven Fingers

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:35:23 -0700

Svn Fngrs

Frank Black

New this month from former Pixies frontman Charles Thomas is Seven Fingers... unless it's Svn Fngrs. It might be either. Also, you'll note that I didn't refer to this as a Black Francis record. It is, but at this point I'm so confused about what makes an album which... well, let's just say that it's easier to keep Stephin Merritt projects separate.

I was underwhelmed by the last record under this band name, Bluefinger, and I asked a lot of questions in that review about what made it a "Black Francis" record instead of a "Frank Black" record. I'm not going to coner that ground again. Instead, I'll just say that this record is definitely better.

It is only 7 songs long, and I got it for only $9, which is pretty good. Of the seven, we have, I think, 4 highlights:

"Garbage Heap," which is track 2, starts with some Pixies style instrumentation, and I guess you could even sell the verse as a Pixies song, but when you get to the chorus, we're talking about Frank Black, maybe even FB & The C's. But, as I've pointed out probably a hundred times, that's actually what I like best. So this is probably the second strongest track on the record.

"Half Man" is the shakiest entry on this list. It's about 2 and a half minutes long, and I like about 30 seconds of it enough to mention. It would have been the weakest song on, say, Dog In the Sand, but that's actually not terrible. I think anyone who doesn't like this is probably just going to say that it's boring.

"The Tale of Lonesome Fetter" took two or three listens to grow on me. The verses are weaker than the chorus, but I like this song.

"When They Come To Murder Me," the last track on the record, is probably the best of the seven songs. It's the one that should be a no brainer for Frank Black fans. If you like any of his other work since, say, 1998, you'll probably like this (I allow for the existence of a fan who liked everything through Cult of Ray but nothing since, who may not go for this one.)

So I realize that that's not the strongest review, and after you read it, you're likely to reach the conclusion that this is a record for completionists, and everyone else would be better off spending $0.99 on one song on iTunes. That's a totally justified conclusion. But I feel good about the record nonetheless.

Rating: I feel good about the record, despite some weak songs.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Distortion

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:43:19 -0800

Distortion

Magnetic Fields

2008 Begins with a bang, as the Magnetic Fields release their latest full length album, Distortion. The sound is different, the sound is heavier, but the songs are fantastic. Sure, my friend and former lead singer Rick says he likes the record best through his living room wall, where the sound is less harsh, but he is quick to admit that the songs are great.

The other big shock for fans of recent Stephin Merritt releases is that he splits singing duties on this record, something that he did on 69 Love Songs, to be sure, but I suppose we all considered that record an exception. Otherwise, it has been a long string of Merritt-only Magnetic Fields records: i, Charm of the Highway Strip, Get Lost, Holiday. Shirley Simms does a lot of the heavy lifting on the record.

A quick run down of my favorites from the 13 song record include "California Girls," "Old Fools," "Xavier Says," "Too Drunk to Dream," "The Nun's Litany," and "Courtesans." "Zombie Boy" almost makes it, but there is one line that really makes me cringe, which I will leave as an exercise to the reader. No obvious misses here, but I don't really need "Three-Way," the instrumental first track.

Fans of the Magnetic Fields should definitely pick this up. Most people considered i a missed step, but after a couple of listens, I believe most people will also consider Distortion a fine return to form. Me, I liked a lot of the tracks on i, and I consider this another fine record.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Quickly: Jenn Grant

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:44:35 -0800

Orchestra for the Moon

Jenn Grant

What: Jenn Grant's Orchestra For The Moon

How I found it: I saw a snatch of her song "Dreamer" on a documentary about the Weakerthans.

Why You Should Care: "Make It Home Tonight" is a perfect Jason Molina song... by someone else. Honestly, you will like this song. And "Dreamer." And the rest of it. Possibly the best debut record in a long time.

Where I have Been for the last month: Moving into a new apartment. Changing jobs. In Florida. The holidays. Not dead, not gone, not given up.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

From the HK Collection: from Beijing With Love

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:37:22 -0800

From Beijing with Love

Last week I dusted off Stephen Chow's secret agent parody, From Beijing With Love. It isn't new, and it isn't well known, but hey, that's what the Hong Kong collection is for--stuff you just don't have.

Stephen Chow is best known here for Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, but he has been very prolific, and there is a large back catalog of his work available. One of his more recent efforts (prior to making it in the United States) is this spy movie.

The skull of a dinosaur is stolen by a man with bulletproof metal armor and a powerful golden gun. Declared a national treasure, it must be recovered at all costs, but for some reason the man in charge of resourcing picks pork butcher and reserve secret agent Stephen Chow (that may not be his name in this movie. I forget, but it usually is in his movies) despite his almost total incompetence. On the way to foiling the bad guy, Stephen meets and falls in love with a treacherous double agent, only to be betrayed.

Ok, so it's funny. But what's funny about it? Stephen Chow is a master of nonsense, and that humor abounds in the movie. At one point, going through his secret agent case, we discover that his shoe is really a hair dryer, his hair dryer is really a cordless shaver, his cordless shaver is really a hair dryer, and his mobile phone is really a cordless shaver. His gun first fires backwards and then fires forwards. He has a briefcase that launches him into the air, although not always at the right angle.

Subtitles and transfer are a little iffy, as is usually the case with his early Hong Kong works. Also, look out for ugly transvestites--the funniest thing in the world to Stephen Chow is ugly women.

Also recommended: God of Cookery, Flirting Scholar

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Beowulf by Seamus Heaney

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:01:16 -0800

Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition)

Beowulf is an epic poem about a great Scandinavian hero, written in Anglo-Saxon (or Old English), over a thousand years ago in England. This translation, by Seamus Heaney, is pretty new and has been very well received.

Some notes on the story first, because why not: There is a great leader of Danes named Hrothgar, who builds a maginificent hall. Unfortunately, this disturbs a monster named Grendel, who, in revenge, takes to sneaking into the hall at night and mutilating sleeping men. Hrothgar's efforts to defend the hall are unsuccessful, and the happy place becomes sombre and empty. Eventually, the news reaches a great Geat warrior¹ named Beowulf, who voyages with some warriors to Hrothgar's Aid. He takes on Grendel in single combat and rips his arm off. Grendel limps back to his mother's house to die, and his mother, enraged, comes back to the hall to get revenge. Beowulf follows her to the murky water she inhabits and fights her at the bottom, eventually defeating her and returning with Grendel's head as a trophy.² Hrothgar rewards him happily and he sails away back to Geatland, where he eventually becomes king. Some years later, a dragon is aroused and Beowulf gives his life to defeat it. Then everyone gets really depressed, because they believe their land will eventually fall.³

The first part of the story, Grendel and Grendel's mom, that's good stuff. Good and epic and larger than life. The part with the dragon and 50 years later? Not so great. Feels kind of tacked on.

Now, a word on the translation: Beowulf is probably the best surviving work in old English, so there is a lot of nitpicking about translation and a lot of choice. The original has a rigid verse structure that makes verse translations difficult, and of course translating verse into prose inevitably means losing something. This particular translation has been quite popular and is definitely better than whatever old translation I read in high school. It is in verse, and it maintains some of the alliteration, and in fact is close enough to be printed with the old English on the facing page.

Read it.

1. I couldn't resist this one (great Geat)
2. At no point in this story did Angelina Jolie show up naked. I double checked. I admit that I can't read old English and had to rely on the translation, but there wasn't anything in that facing block that looked like the words "Angelina Jolie." In this respect I feel slightly lied to.
3. For the eventual fate of the Geat kingdom, see a fucking map.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Novels in Three Lines

nobody@vox.com(Judah) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:17:17 -0800

Novels in Three Lines (New York Review Books Classics)

Felix Feneon

I was oh so tempted to write this in three lines. I think I have a fixed layout here and everything, so it makes sense. It would have ended up something like:

Novels in Three Lines, given as a birthday present, was read in two days by Judah Nielsen, Campbell, CA. A happy birthday.

Unfortunately, that doesn't really convey much. What we have here is a collection of short news items that were written by Felix Feneon, a Frenchman, in a distinctive style. There are some 1200 of them, many involving stabbings, shootings, suicides, drownings, and acid scaldings.

Scheid, of Dunkirk, fired three times at his wife. Since he missed every shot, he decided to aim at his mother-in-law, and connected.

So what makes them novels?

Well, nothing more than a French pun, really. The same word, nouvelles, can be used to mean either novels or news, and the translator has taken the approach that these are the novels Feneon didn't write. Many of them could be expanded into short stories or novels, and there is no doubt that the author makes his style felt in these very short spaces, but they are, in fact, non-fiction.

When this was given to me, it had a post-it note on it that said "This is the ultimate toilet book--you can read three novels while you take a leak." That seems like one of the two good solid uses for the book, the other being, perhaps, a coffee table book. Or if you choose to read it cover to cover, it shouldn't take long. A couple of hours, perhaps.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend