Got some Books, too. These two, to be exact. Klein? I haven't really started, yet. I know I'll like it, because No Logo was "change your life" type good. The Strummer book I've started, and well, it's really good. I'm a fan of biographies (I think people are interesting) and i'm a fan of Joe Strummer, and I think his story is interesting. That's about as deep as it is. That's enough for me.
How far from your last home do you live? Why did you move and are you glad you did?
Submitted by Matthew 25.
We moved about an hour and a half away, and a whole world away. Glad doesn't begin to cover it.
Here's the thing: I think a lot of young people suffer under the delusion that what they really need is more company. More people around them at all times. I think they go to places like Myspace, Facebook, or Vox, even, looking for more company. They want to live in a tiny apartment in the city, so they can be around a lot of people, in the hopes that they'll have a more interesting life, with more action if there's more people.
Moving out to where we did was in defiance of all that. We're not hermits. We still have friends. I'm not entirely adverse to the universe. We've just learned how to savor a little less action, and a little more peacefulness. That means less people. Along the way, we've discovered that our lives are far more interesting, whether we share it, or not.
So, my advice? Move to the country. If you can't make it to the country, at least move to exurbia. But, hey, my advice isn't necessarily the advice you should take. But, it worked for me.
In case you didn't already know, Blade Runner is one of my favorite movies, and I just scored the edition you see above. Why get excited about a movie i've seen many, many times, and already own on VHS, and DVD?
Because it's frickin' BLADE RUNNER!!
But, it's kinda like the caucus they just had in Iowa (which looks to be a Huckabee/Obama victory. Congrats to them). It took a long, and complicated route to get to where I want things. Just as in Iowa, they're trying to balance the needs and desires of the minority (a small state, and those without a winning candidate) with the needs and desires of the majority (the rest of the election, and those with a winning candidate) I can see both interpretations of Blade Runner.
In case you don't geek out for it like me, here's the debate in a nutshell: Is Deckard (Harrison Ford, aka the Protagonist) human?
On one side, you've got those who believe that Deckard is human. For this side, the story becomes a tale of man vs. machine, with the subtext being that even the machines yearn for what we already have: human imperfection, affection, and infection. The downside of this, though, is that it reduces the love story to a tale of a man and his plaything, as Rachel (Sean Young) is unquestionably a robot. It puts too much power into the hands of Deckard to make their connection anything better than a perversion.
On the other side, you've got those who believe that Deckard is a robot.For this side, the story becomes a tale of self-discovery, where through conflict, even Robots get a soul, with the subtext being that experience helps shape us, and lets us understand the world, but only through our actions are we ourselves. The downside of this, though, is that it reduces the conflict between Deckard and Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) to a kind of mental exercise, where Roy is more the hero than Deckard, and the audience is played for a chump, trying to empathize with the little Deckard puppet, who's just the plaything of the cops, and other forces of capital C "control".
So, you really need multiple tellings of the story so that each side can weigh in with their relative merits. The end result perfects the story: Deckard is both Human, and robot. He is both discovering what it means for him to love, to hate, to hope and to fear, and he is struggling with non-humans who are more human than he is. It makes everyone, and everything more important.
See, that's a lesson that i really hope we all can learn: to see the things that others see, and learn how that improves our lives as well as theirs. It doesn't always have to be a dichotomy. Sometimes, it can be a dialectic.
So, this post is about Thin White Rope . Davis, California is a strange little University Town, out by Wine Country, but also out by Redneck farmers. It's a good place to study Agriculture, but in the early 1980's it was also a fantastic place to see new Music. Steve Wynn and his Dream Syndicate, True West, but most of all, Thin White Rope.
I first heard them when I bought a copy of "Exploring the Axis", their first long player. I was looking for more dream Syndicate, and somebody had misfiled a Thin White Rope LP in the Dream Syndicate file at Middle Earth records. What I heard blew my mind. A mixture of pure Bakersfield Country (Buck Owens style) Jazzy guitar punk (Television style) and Captain beefheart styled psychedelia. It was pure dusty color, panoramic, like Monument valley, where even the shadows are dirt colored. Mostly it was like Two guitars trying to create an entire Spaghetti western. Lee Van Clief was in that bridge, while Clint Eastwood rode in on the chorus.
I saw them play twice all told. They broke up in the early 1990's. No one seemed to know, in America, but in Europe, they were bigger, and more important than Rocknroll should ever be. To this day, there are Slovenian tribute bands, and Italian discussion forums about them.
So, the picture I put up is from their second record. I put it up because i'm listening to that record, right now. The title is from the line in the song i was hearing when i started typing. Thin White Rope were like that. They're the soundtrack to the movie projected on the backside of my head.
Just as important as Punk rock to my development. The Desert Rock they made, made me.
So, the holidays got alittle mixed up at Casa De Max, this Navidad. End result: we didn't really observe New Year's, but did a sort of Christmas.
First, we picked up my son at the airport. At midnight. A really kind woman running the starbucks at Dulles Airport gave him a free drink, and I tipped her six bucks for doing so.
Then, we drove home, and caught up over the events of the past week. Then, we did a late-late night, early AM gift exchange. I got a DVD (The Bourne Ultimatum) a book (Art of Modern Rock) some CDs ( All Thin White Rope CDs. They're definitely one of my top ten favorite bands of all time, look forward to a post all about them) and a leather cuff .
But, it ain't about what you get, it's about yer family, and it was good to have a family, again. A New Year can wait.
