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August 31, 2007
I AM A MILTONIST
For those who know me, you know that the last two weeks have not necessarily been the most joyous of times for the old A-Bomb. Not that I was rocking myself to tears in a corner while holding a whiskey bottle and a gun with one bullet in the chamber; but the impending, ominous workload of my Masters, coupled with another piece of crap news (email me for the boring detailsl i don't want this blog to be a forum for my boring-ass pathos), left me in a bit of a funk.
All this was cured, of course, by the fact that I get to hang out at Middle Tennessee State with a bunch of John Milton scholars for a weekend in October.
Seriously! As dedicated blog-readers know, I took a class on Milton this summer and wrote a paper called Encomium To Eve: A Gorgianic Reading of Paradise Lost. My teacher encouraged me to submit it to a conference in Murfreesboro this fall - the 2007 Southeastern John Milton Conference. Despite her optimistic thoughts, I was pretty sure the experience would only afford a rejection letter that I could file: a learning experience. Graduate Students usually aren't accepted to conferences like this, except as observers. Imagine my surprise when . . .
I GOT IN!!!!!!
Not to be to melodramatic or womanish about this, but I feel like Jennifer Beals the end of FLASHDANCE. What a feeling!
Seriously, this acceptance validates everything I have done in Academia for the last year and a half, a journey I embarked on with a great degree of trepidation and confusion, and only a half-hearted trust in my own abilities. As of now, I am 1 for 1 on the conference paper circuit. But I'm not going to downplay this: this is huge.
This is one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and it is a huge affirmation that I am doing what I need to be doing.
Just thought you'd all like to know.
I'll embark on my project soon. And I'm sure you'll want to know about my teaching experience... it's coming.
Posted by Andytown at 02:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 22, 2007
LATEST BLOG PROJECT: THE ANDYTOWN TOP 10
Hey gang,
The AV Club has a series that I'm all Cocoa Puffs over called My Year of Flops. It's an interesting project, as AV Club writer Nathan Rabin goes through movies that bombed and gives them a compassionate but critical eye. This has inspired me to start my own list, much less ambitious - My Top 10 Favorite Albums of All Time. I will be going through and talking about what I like about each of them, where I was when I started listening to them, how I (often) rejected the band on immediate listen, but eventually grew enamored/obsessed with this particular output.
This is a completely subjective list, and all I did was go through my Ipod and pick my favorite albums, then narrow them down. That said, my definitive list may eventually be quantitatively undefinitive, as I may change my mind. But I'll stick with my ten choices.
It was really hard for instance, to leave off Nick Cave and Neutral Milk Hotel, especially since everyone who has talked to me has heard me clammering about the latter all Summer, so much so that their remarkable album has become a central theme in my new album. And part of me really wanted to include Television's MARQUEE MOON and Neil Young's ON THE BEACH, but that would be unauthentic proof that I'm some kind of eclectic hipster, which I'm not. It was equally hard to leave off Weezer, Phish, and Pearl Jam, who played such a big part of my high school experience, but I can honestly say I never listen to their albums anymore unless I want to grab a piece of that again, so that's that. I have included two clear nostalgia picks, which I feel pretty good about.
But I like the list; it mixes nostalgia and certain unarguable (and, granted, uninformed) instincts I have about music, and the way I have come to open myself up to a wide variety of disparate bands.
I'll leave you with my honorable mention, in no particular order:
Neutral Milk Hotel – IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA
Arcade Fire – FUNERAL
Beach Boys – SURFS UP
Beach Boys - PET SOUNDS
The Beatles – SGT. PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
The Beatles - MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
Clem Snide – YOU WERE A DIAMOND
The Decemberists – PICARESQUE
Elliott Smith – FIGURE 8
Television – MARQUEE MOON
A.C. Newman - THE SLOW WONDER
Flaming Lips – YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS
Guns n’ Roses – APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
John Cale – PARIS 1919
Love - FOREVER CHANGES
The Kinks – ARTHUR (OR THE DECLINE OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE)
The Kinks - FACE TO FACE
Weezer – WEEZER
Neil Young – ON THE BEACH
Nick Cave – INTO MY ARMS
Nirvana – NEVERMIND
Pearl Jam – VS.
Pedro The Lion – CONTROL
Phish – RIFT
R.E.M. – EPONYMOUS
Radiohead – THE BENDS
Sigur Ros – AGAETIS BYRUM
Steely Dan – PRETZEL LOGIC
The Stooges – THE STOOGES
The Strokes – IS THIS IT?
Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah - SOME LOUD THUNDER
Talking Heads - TALKING HEADS '77
Talking Heads – REMAIN IN LIGHT
Talking Heads – SPEAKING IN TONGUES
U2 – ACHTUNG BABY
The Velvet Underground – The VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO
The Velvet Underground – LOADED
Wilco – BEING THERE
Wilco – YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT
Stay tuned for my first entry, at number 10, The Doors L.A. WOMAN.
Posted by Andytown at 10:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 17, 2007
GREAT MOMENTS IN ANDYTOWN HISTORY
One of the guys at the AV Club really liked INTO THE WILD and wrote a good encomium of the book and its protagonist. Read it here.
Now, for a great moment in Andytown history - here's a list I wrote back in May of 2005 (remember 2005? STAR WARS III was terrorizing the box office? Ryan Adams was in the middle of releasing THREE albums in one year? Peter Jennings left ABC? Brangelina?) where I remembered/envisioned the ten worst crimes I had/ever would commit. I looked back at and chuckled, and thought it was at least worth another look. Just so you know, I refer to 2005 as MY YEAR ON AMBIEN. That may explain a lot.
TOP 10 CRIMES I HAVE/WILL PERPETUATE ON THE PLANET
1. In 1991, I claimed to have an INXS fan since I was in fifth grade. I was in the seventh grade. At the time, I had only heard one INXS song – the day before. It was “Suicide Blonde.” In 1995, I claimed to have been one of the first to have recognized (in fourth grade) INXS as “a bogus attempt to channel the energy of an aesthetic without the proper passion.” Then, in 2001, possibly because of September 11th, I swore up and down that I was never “too cool” for INXS’ seminal album KICK, and listened to throughout my “college experience.” In fact, the only three CDs I listened to consistently during my entire “college experience” were:
BOB DYLAN’S GREATEST HITS, VOLUME 3
MAGNOLIA SOUNDTRACK
THE BIG LEBOWSKI SOUNDTRACK
2. In 1994, I hopped a freighter to Ashland, Wisconsin. Telling my parents that I was going on a First Evan Church Retreat (called the “Kickin’ (sic) It Old School Weekend”), I intended to spend the weekend fishing and working on my Sophomore Thesis (title: Elmore Leonard and the Literary Physics of Convention). While in Ashland, I met a man who claimed to be the greatest identity thief in the world. This feat, he told me, had all but eradicated his own identity, thereby leaving him without a childhood or even a proper name. Desiring to be the greatest identity thief in the world, I killed him with my bare hands and drowned him in the briny, nonpenitent waters of Ashland. For the following weeks, I was incapable of responding to my own name.
3. In 1998, while a Sophomore at Mississippi State, I filled out a “career indication” form for the Arts & Sciences department that would allow me to continue without a declared major. I inked in a box which stated that I enjoyed working with my hands. This has never or will never be true.
4. In 1984, my first grade teacher asked the class if anyone had ever seen a constellation. I raised my hand. What I had actually seen was not, in fact, a constellation, but a mere formation of stars resembling a human foot.
5. In 2008, I will become the first person to successfully cheat at the World Series of Poker. This crime, however, will not become evident until after my death in 2027. At the time of the event, my only known infraction will be a violation of the Horseshoe all-you-can-eat buffet privileges. Victory will evade me in the WSOP ’08, unfortunately, because of a faulty cable between X-Ray vision knee-pads and my cybernetic glass eye.
6. Until I was 21, I believed that the “Caspian Sea” was named after the CS Lewis book Prince Caspian, not vice-versa.
7. When I was ten years old, my father took me to the Cook Convention Center to hear a lecture on World Defense to be given by then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. After Weinberger’s obligatory address, an arbitrary and optimistic take on a future of “pride, protection, and power,” I raised my hand. Weinberger took my question, perhaps assuming that I wanted ask him a question about President Reagan’s favorite kind of jelly bean. Instead I asked if he had ever knowingly participated in the transfer of United States TOW missiles to Iran. Weinberger was later convicted of felony charges for what became known as the “Iran-Contra Affair” and resigned his post. To this day, Weinberger blames me for the disintegration of his political and personal life.
8. In 2003, I told a student that I hated being called “Mr. Black,” and if it were up to me, I would just as soon allow all students to call me by my first name. In fact, if it were up to me, I would not allow students to directly address me at all. They would need to submit a form with any query to a state-appointed secretary, who would pass that form to another medium, who would then summarize the inquiry into an expedient variety. I would then entertain the student’s thoughts with a form letter stating that while their question (something along the lines of: “Can I go to the bathroom”) interested me greatly, I have neither the time, energy, nor obligation to answer this or any other question. Also, the students would refer to me by neither my first name nor my last, but instead as “The Culmination of Education.”
9. If reincarnation were real, I have always stated that I would like to come back as Steve McQueen’s stunt man, Bud Elkin. I’ve always thought this would be a nice way to meet women (“Hey, remember when McQueen jumped the fence in GREAT ESCAPE . . . yeah, that was me – want another Tom Collins?”). How this is a crime . . . I’m not sure, but it does amplify my more pathetic qualities – as my psychiatrist explained it to me, “It’s fascinating to me that, given the whole spectrum of human existence and the interesting people who lived over the course of all time, you would choose not even to be a successful movie star, but his stuntman.”
10. May 6, 2005 – In the heading of a blog post, I misused the word “perpetuate.”
Posted by Andytown at 01:48 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 16, 2007
NO MORE TEACHERS, NO MORE BOOKS
School started today, or maybe it was yesterday. I am looking forward to a good year as a "House"master. For the uninitiated, our "House" system is similar to those at Cambridge, only their rooms are not contained by white, cinder-blocked walls. It's also a lot like (sigh) HARRY POTTER.
My house is called Athanasius. Here's a picture of the 3rd Century Saint we're named after:
If you are looking to become a Satellite fan of Athanasius, I can give you a t-shirt. Or you can support us by shouting out our House phrase: "Athanasius Contra Mundum!" (Which means, Athanasius Against The World!" Or you can recite our House Chant, which I made up, and I'm pretty proud of, which is:
WHO-ANASIUS ARE-ANASIUS WE-ANASIUS? ATH-ANASIUS! ATHANASIUS CONTRA MUNDUM! HOO-RAA!
(The "HOO-RAA!" was not my idea. Apparently, someone in my house really liked the movie JARHEAD.)
Have you guys seen "Alby The Racist Dragon" from FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS yet?
Here's footage of Daniel Johnston from the show I saw last week.
Recently, I've been listening to a lot of Wilco in preparation for their September 13th concert in Southhaven. SKY BLUE SKY just gets better with each listen. I made a Wilco mix tape for a friend and wrote, for all practical purposes, a paper about Wilco. I might publish it on the blog soon.
Posted by Andytown at 12:35 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 13, 2007
YOUR CHOICE. YOUR FAMILY. YOUR MIDI.
FROM THE TODAY SHOW:
(This is all transcribed from memory, as I watched it in the gym)
HUGH HEFNER: For years I had about seven million girlfriends, but I realized that was too much. I decided to downsize. Now I only have three, baby.
TODAY SHOW INTERVIEW: Don't you see the irony in this?
HUGH HEFNER (Totally unironic): Oh I see the irony in it, baby*!
Sweet Fancy Moses! I have a number of feelings when I see Hefner, and they range from complete repulsion to total envy (admittedly, mostly for his grotto and ability to wear bathrobes all day and still have women talk to him). According to this interview, Hefner actually believes he is empowering women, and he has bought into the libertarian myth that he can a virtuous business while still exploiting the hell out of a lot of women. Hef's status as an American icon is undeniable; it's hard to imagine the landscape of the last 50 years without him. He is 81 years old and hangs out with girls who were old enough for me to teach.
I wish I had more to say about this.
-------
I can't believe I didn't blog about Daniel Johnston. He played the Hi Tone on Thursday and kicked some un-airconditioned ass. I finally watched the documentary THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON; it's great. Rather than recount his entire history here, I'll refer you to that and this typically scary-informative Wikipedia article.
I'd heard Daniel's music before and it never did much for me. Most of his oeuvre is what I refer to as "Winnie The Pooh Music;" I'm sure the effect depends largely on how high you are. But last Thursday, I really enjoyed his music. While invariably strange to hear a 45 year old man sing passionately and unironically about a "Speedy Motorcycle," it is also clearly moving and rocking.
Here's a picture of Kurt Cobain wearing the same T-Shirt my BFF and fellow show-attendee David Ozier got me:
Roger Ebert is back writing reviews. This is only good news. He's also doing his always entertaining "Answer Man" column, and wrote fine retrospectives/obituaries on the careers of Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni.
I don't know how I feel about SUPERBAD. 99% of me wants to see it solely for the participation of Michael Cera (George Michael Bluth), who would probably be pretty scared of me if he read my blog, based on how much I've written about how much I love him. But do I really need to see a teen sex comedy? It's being called "the new AMERICAN PIE." I would not be surprised to find Satan among the producers of that hideous, value-free series. I certainly don't want to have to endure another dude having at it with an apple pie. I guess I'll wait to hear from someone I trust.
School starts Wednesday. If my blogging trails off, that's why.
Things I like:
Treadwell High School! GO EAGLES!
This joke commercial from TIM AND ERIC AWESOME SHOW GREAT JOB almost made me choke on my cereal.
* - It is entirely possible that Hefner's use of "baby" as punctuation happened only in my memory
Posted by Andytown at 08:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2007
A BRIT AND AN AUSSIE AS COWBOYS
Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are starring in a remake of the 50s B Western 3:10 TO YUMA. It looks like Bale is back to his trademark brooding intensity after the levity and sweetness of Dieter Dengler from RESCUE DAWN. Crowe is playing a character he's played before, the amoral but charismatic villain. "From The Director of WALK THE LINE" conjures up many nice sentiments, but it could also read "From The Director of KATE & LEOPOLD." However, James Mangold is an interesting dude, because all of his movies are so radically different. IDENTITY wasn't the greatest movie I've ever seen or anything, but it was a clever potboiler.
I'm excited about 3:10. There hasn't been a good western since Kevin Costner's superlative OPEN RANGE. The trailer is here.
Continuing remake fever, there's SLEUTH. The original film was based on a hit play from London, starred Laurence Olivier, and is incurably campy and dated though very entertaining. It is one of the most curiously puppet-filled movies I've ever seen. Olivier is at his hammy best. The remake has the following going for it:
1) It's directed by Kenneth Branagh
2) It stars Michael Caine, who was in the original.
3) It's written by Harold Pinter.
But . . .
1) What's up with the house?
2) The original was light and jokey, while this one looks sleak, stark, and humorless.
3) The last time Kenneth Branagh was doing anything interesting was the late 90s.
Why remake this? And why remake it in a different tone than the original? Why is it so hard to come up with new ideas?
The trailer is here. If you want to see a trailer for the original, it's here. (I love these 70s trailers)
Posted by Andytown at 08:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 08, 2007
THE DARJEELING LIMITED
A friend recently commented that the new Wes Anderson movie looks like a parody of a Wes Anderson movie. I dunno, I'm more optimistic. I think these folks think W.A. is on a downhill trajectory, but while LIFE AQUATIC was certainly his worst film, it was definitely not a bad film - it had enough inventiveness for five films.
But the main reason I'm excited is because the trailer features two Kinks songs.
Check it out, yo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcFBOsfoWxU
Posted by Andytown at 12:10 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 06, 2007
BOURNE TO ROCK
The new BOURNE flick is just as awesome as the last two. Likes its superlative predecessors, it rocks with adrenaline, physicality, and the impact of things shaking when trained assassins land on them. This is simply the best thing going in the action genre now and according to this article in USA Today, it's revolutionizing the way these movies are being conceived.
Good, I guess. But after James Bond hit the scene in the 60s, there were a number of knockoffs, some of them iconic (THE MAN FROM UNCLE, THE PRISONER), some of them campy fun (IN LIKE FLINT), some of them horrible and misogynistic (The Dean Martin - Matt Helm movies). I can see the Bourne series spawning a lot of knockoffs featuring boring, physically gifted heroes with none of the defining features that made this (so-far) trilogy so excellent.
After reading Jon Krakauer's latest book, I've been reading his classic, INTO THE WILD. It's easy to see why it touched so many people. The story of an intelligent, personable young dude who ventured off into Alaska to die is, Krakauer argues, consistent with American mythos. We have always been obsessed with self-reliance from Emerson on and some, like Chris McCandless, have taken that to the furthest extreme. "Extreme" seems to be a term we throw around a lot in our culture. People who are extreme are generally characterized by zealous beliefs in things as diverse as Reformed Theology, Hang Gliding, or Organic Coffee. It seems we've added "Extreme"ness as a kind of bar to pass for masculinity; this is why so many youth groups like rappelling (which I, by the way, don't). But we should note that there's a weird romantic element to this that surfaces in stories like those that Krakauer brings up in INTO THE WILD. I'm interested in reading more about this.
Sean Penn is directing the movie of the book. I'm hoping that like Penn, it's thoughtful and interestingly portrayed, but unlike Penn, it's not dour and humorless. The trailer is here.
Posted by Andytown at 11:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 02, 2007
MATT DAMON IMITATES MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY
In honor of THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM coming out, easily my most anticipated movie of the Summer, I thought I'd link this clip of Matt Damon on Letterman imitating Matthew "No Shirt Can Contain Me" McConaughey. It's not much, but that's what I find so funny about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuYD2cwMbpw
I'm really jazzed about the new BOURNE. Some thought the last flick wasn't as good as the first, and I was mystified. I think SUPREMACY was the equivalent of one of the great 70s revenge films: taut, tough, focused, and relentless; totally on par with IDENTITY. And we've obviously seen what Greengrass can do with UNITED 93. Doug Liman did a fine job with the first one, but think how rare that a director of Greengrass' ilk should be handling a major franchise like this.
As for Matt Damon, he is either very very smart or has a very very smart agent, because his post GOOD WILL HUNTING career moves have been very smart. Unlike the doofus McConaughey, he has yet to star as second banana to Jennifer Lopez or Kate Hudson in a dopey romcom. Unlike his old "writing" buddy Affleck, he has only managed to increase the respect of fans and directors. He's never made himself into a public spectacle. And while I don't think he's as talented as some of his peers, he is a solid actor who always manages to deliver.
Let me know if you see it, because I'm out of town until Tuesday and won't get around to it.
Posted by Andytown at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack