Monthly Archives: August 2011

I’ve been starting to make playlists for work, since lately I’ve been able to use my iPhone to make the musical selections. So far, I’ve made one playlist, which I really like, but I was also under the influence of sleeping pills, so it’s not the opus I someday hope to create.

Being a DJ was the first job I ever wanted. If I could afford the hours to volunteer at KEXP in the slim hopes of someday working up to getting on the air occasionally, I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment. During the summer when babysitters had to come over while my mom was at work, I used to use our record/cd/tape player in the living room to create an all day music mix for the sitter. Thus, picking music for a cafe full of people to listen to a few times a week makes me glad, especially when I get positive reviews in various forms.

So, I’ll share some of these playlists with all of you, via Groove Shark.

There are all sorts of hidden nuances and connections in the transitions, so if you notice any, share them. =) Some portions even tell a story, at least in my own imagination. Also, maybe there are some accidental ones in there that it would be fun to discover.

Sadly, there are a few songs that aren’t available on Groove Shark, and since I bought them on iTunes I can’t upload them. BS!

Said songs are: ‘Almost Like Being in Love’ – Nat King Cole, ‘Crazy Love’ – Van Morrison,

Some bands are on there twice, some bands didn’t make it but would have if I spent more time working on it.

Now I’m getting ready for the fall with a rainy day playlist, just in case I’m still working at Java Bean in Autumn.

Playlist #1, The Warm-Up. 

If I’m going to be completely honest with you, I most often feel like this blog is a big waste of time. I know, I shouldn’t allow lack of comments and such to get me down, I should do it for the sheer joy of writing and enjoying the things that I enjoy with fervor. Yet, much of the time there’s an editor in my brain that tells me I should quit.

Well, that definitely won’t be happening. In this busyness of late, when I’ve had no time to blog here on RtM, I’ve missed it so much. So, to the four or five faithful readers of this blog, thanks for being here, because apparently I’m going to be doing this even if I’m the only one reading it.

Here’s to hoping I have time to get back at it over the next few weeks.

I’m so in.

Today, I was sad waking up, because in my dream I was playing a really amazing role-playing video game. The game doesn’t exist in real life, and I was so disappointed to realize I couldn’t keep playing. I was about to start this really sick quest chain to enable one of my characters to summon elementals, but I couldn’t find the outskirts of the Battlefield of the Dead on my map. I think I’d just found it near the Forest of the Damned when I woke up.

This has been all over the internets now. I saw it because Brian sent it to me last night.

A simple video, but one I enjoy quite a bit.

If someone said I could party with any five people alive, Kanye, Jay-Z, and Aziz would be three of those people. This video makes someone wish someone would say I could party with any five people alive. They looked like they had a great time filming. This leads me to believe that they had just as much fun recording the album, and why shouldn’t they have, recording in various cities all over the world.

There are so very many things I should be doing right now. None of those things is blogging on RtM. Yet, I miss it so very much. Thus, here I am anyway. I’ve been falling behind in every conceivable way, because my body just wasn’t made for the sort of schedules I’ve been working lately. This week is a really light schedule, but starting next Wednesday I work ten days straight, and twice in that ten days I work until between 9 and 11 at night and then wake up at 4 the next morning to open. For a depressed insomniac, that’s a recipe for disaster. And so, things like reading, RtM, and Trigger Fiction have fallen by the wayside. I hate it, and I hope to use the next few days to get back in action. So, there you have it, a bunch of information about my life, in case anyone cares.

Now, on with five things I’ve been enjoying during these woeful pauses; again, just in case anyone cares. On with the show!

1. Wye Oak, live at the world famous Crocodile Cafe!

Let me tell you, folks: See this band live when they come near you. They. Rock. So. Hard.

Just two people. Her, with several guitars and an effects board. Him, with a drum kit, a keyboard (which he plays simultaneously with the drum kit), and an effects board. Per person, they create more sound each than anyone I’ve ever seen live. They play so well together, they showcase each other really well, and I want each of them to be my friend.

So epic.

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2. A Dance with Dragons

A lesson I learned reading this book: Don’t start reading a 1,000 page hardcover book and a new job at the same time. It took me nearly a month to get through this book. It’s hard to tell, because there are more words on a page in a first edition than in paperbacks, but it could be the longest book in the series so far. It’s definitely longer than A Feast for Crows. 

Now, I love the world that Martin has created in these books. I love the characters, I love the way he develops story. Yet, that just makes it hurt all the more when he unceremoniously kills off main characters. There will be NO spoilers here, aside from the reality that Martin is willing to kill off main characters. Many of you have seen the HBO series now, so you are well aware of his willingness to kill off characters who would be untouchable in any other serial storytelling.

There are times when he has spent so much time and so many pages developing a character and events, and then kills them and erases it all. It’s difficult to take after you’ve spent soooo much time investing in that character.

In the world of George R.R. Martin, no one is safe. That’s good, but also irritating. Sometimes it seems like he is killing characters just because he can. Is there actually contempt for the reader at work here? I sure hope not, and I could just be angry since the wound is still fresh.

Though I may bitch, I’ll still be pre-ordering the next installment however many years from now it is released. I’m addicted to Westeros.

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3. Attack the Block [Invasion/Visitation Movies #6]

OMFGLASERS!!! Ahem.

This movie was amazing. I didn’t laugh as much as I expected to, although it was definitely hilarious. I also bet I’ll laugh more on my second viewing, since I won’t be on the edge of my seat quite as much.

Instead, the movie was a huge amalgam of elements that all added together to create one kick-ass package. Believe me, people, this movie kicked all kinds of ass. Laugh out loud jokes, characters that were lovable without being flimsy and 2-dimensional, awesomely over the top aliens, genuine social commentary, and brilliant performances by all involved (especially the young actors).

I was going to say that, sadly, a few of my favorite characters died, but on second thought I think all of the main characters were favorites. The deaths were also really important to the plot: for the journey of our protagonist, as part of the poignant social commentary I mentioned, and to create tension.

I want to go see it again today. I won’t, but I want to.

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4. Watch the Throne

I never, ever use iTunes to buy music anymore. Thus, I had no idea that Watch the Throne came out earlier on iTunes than it did on Amazon’s mp3 store. Then Brian told me, and I bought it right away. I am still on my first listen, not all the way through yet, but so far so wonderful!

“Otis” has already been playing several times a day, and I know I’ll be listening to this album a lot over the next few days/weeks.

Oh yeah, and Jay-Z is back.

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5. Cowboys & Aliens [Invasion/Visitation Movies #7]

With a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, most people don’t like this movie. I respectfully disagree. Sure, the movie had plenty of weaknesses, but it had everything I hope for in a fun summer film.

Daniel Craig was a fucking badass as a cowboy.

Olivia Wilde was scaldingly hot.

The aliens are refreshingly original, and although they are somewhat evolutionarily suspect, they are still pretty awesome biologically. Also, instead of the silly flying saucers they could have easily gone with in a genre/cliche mashup like this, they instead had really great UFOs that flew in legit formations and combat maneuvers.

Keith Carradine as a cowboy. Always wonderful.

Sam Rockwell. Period.

In the saddest fall from grace in history, I was genuinely disappointed that Harrison Ford was in this movie while watching the trailers. All for nothing. While his character has some glaring development flaws, this is still his most enjoyable character on screen in at least a decade.

As I’ve written before, when I first saw the premise for this movie (back when it was still called Now), I had this idea, but they beat me to the punch. (Sorry for the terrible run-on sentence at the beginning.)

My idea, called Stopwatch, was that, as medical science advances, to the point of most probably being able to grow organs, humans could potentially live indefinitely, or at least for hundreds of years. If space travel never becomes a reality, then overpopulation would become an issue. Thus, minutes of life would become a commodity. You would be given an allotment of minutes at birth, along with a chip which stops your heart when you run out of time, and you have a watch or similar device that keeps track of your remaining time. Thus, time literally becomes the world’s most valuable commodity.

People who accomplish great humanitarian feats, as well as the extremely powerful and wealthy, would be awarded or sold ‘Infinity Passes,’ shutting their chip down entirely so they can live as long as they choose. However, the moderately wealthy will need to buy minutes from the down and out to keep living. Drug addicts, the cripplingly poor, people who can’t afford medical treatment for their kids… they could sell their own minutes to willing buyers.

You can leave minutes to relatives and friends, in the case you die in an accident or something, and obviously there will be hackers and activists of different stripes trying to steal from or bring down the system for various reasons. That’s the gist of the idea, with a bunch of other things that came to me mixed in.

Now the trailer is out. Yup, this is definitely my idea up in smoke.

How come no one told me about the track released from Watch the Throne?

The beat is what Kanye does best, but at the same time it is really stripped down for him.

I love this song. Kanye. An Otis Redding sample. And indications of a return to form for Jay-Z?!?

Listening to it for the first time just now I laughed out loud like six times. In a good way. This is what swagger should always sound like.

Can Kanye really make the best Hip Hop album of the year two years in a row?

Get the song here.

I’m not a fan of the cover for the upcoming Kanye/Jay-Z album.

This amazing fan art on the other hand… !!!

This guy made it.

This has been all over the internets, so you’ve probably seen it already, but here it is anyway. Our first look at Superman from Man of Steel. 

In this shot I think he looks more like a cross between Bizarro and Superman than straight up Superman.