I am the Ass from New Years' Past

Blog imitates life, for this week anyway, it is a reflection of what I've been up too lately...much inactivity. I took the week off after getting out of school and I don't have much to show for it except we got showtime free for six months so I've been watching and tivo-ing lots of movies. The sundance channel rocks.

Anyway, to the point. Maybe some of you more savvy music folk (Eddie) can help shed some light on a discussion Brent and I had over dinner tonight. Due to an ipod random pick, I was expressing lament over a group in which I only enjoyed their first album (at least a daily listen in junior high). Since then their successive albums (as a whole body of work) have all just sounded mediocre to me. A sign of a great band is an ability to progressively evolve over time and sadly this does not seem to happen with some. Brent's theory is that a band may be playing together for several years before getting signed to a major label. Once a band is signed, they are forced into playing the best tunes they've made over the years because the studio sees this as the best mode of capitalization. So, it follows the "first" major album ends up being much better.

I disagree. Even if a band plays together several years then gets signed, the album that will be produced should be of their most recent material. Unless a band or label really digs old tunes they made years ago, I can't see a record becoming the "best of before we were signed" album. That's the basic gist of our conversation. Our limited knowledge on the subject hinders our ability to talk intelligently about this so we are basically using logic.

Hiking

We went on a hike today to a waterfall called Eaton Cayon Falls in Alta Dena. The San Gabriel Mtns. are pretty much next door to us so it eludes me why we haven't been hiking sooner. It was a lot of fun and we'll definitely prioritize doing more of the same in the future. The three mile round trip hike was just enough for my out of shape body but sadly I have to admit I'm feeling a little leg pain. The first part of the hike was a well beaten, open-air path which was very warm from the constant sun. The last half mile was along the banks of the river so it was very rocky and we had to switch back across the river several times resulting in "wet foot" (my inadvertent dipping of feet in the river due to poor coordination while rock jumping). There was graffiti (the ugly kind) on various rocks which ruined the natural feel of the place. Ultimately, we ended up at a small but pretty waterfall where a hippy dude started burning some homemade incense which I thought he was smoking because it looked like a stogy in string so I asked him if it tasted good, oops. There were also some kids swimming but it was not as crowded as we thought it would be. Kudos to Brent for finding the trail for us today. Good times.

Concert withdrawal

It has been nearly a year since I went to a show. For us, that is unheard of. We used to go see bands play, at the very least, every other month even if it was just a local band at a small venue. So I am having a live music craving. After coming to LA, I was excited at all the musical possibilities. Bands that would never come to OK, I would now be able to see. This has obviously not panned out for me. The demand is higher so the shows sell out quickly and are quite a bit more expensive. The base price is generally double here, bummer. I also need to get a jump on buying tickets, for example, Built to Spill is playing four nights at the Troubadour at the end of July for a good price but guess what, all are sold out! So, I am partially to blame for my little dilemma.

On another music topic, Grandaddy came out with a new album earlier this month and sadly there is no tour planned because the band is breaking up. It sounds like music will still be made but just separately. Thanks to Robbie for sharing them with us; they played a great show in Lawrence. Oh....shows.

Movie Review

So, I watched Junebug tonight and it was ok. It was an interesting look at family and the dynamics therein. Everyone had their role, the quiet dad, the opinionated mother, the detached son with his always positive, pregnant wife, the favored son with his career oriented new wife. There were several tonal scenes where a room in a house was full of energy because of the people interacting within it but then the same space was shown empty causing you to realize what gives a place life. This occurred in varying ways throughout the film. The new wife was trying to lure a simple country-boy folk artist to show his work in her gallery and the artist's character and works were obscure and funny. Anyway, the critics really liked this film and Amy Adams (pregnant wife) was nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for the role. I say it was average. I would recommend it to those who enjoy movies that are reflectively slow, intentionally quiet, relationally based and don't mind if the plot isn't incredibly thick.

Done with School

Well, its official. I'm done with school...for now. Finals are over, I've achieved associate degree number three and now the wait is on for the FAA to "give me the call." We'll see how all that pans out. It should be an interesting year.

I plan to take the weekend off, well sort of. I have to update the 'ole resume so I can start earning my keep again. I did not think I would be out of work the whole time I was in school but here I am. I miss work. Hopefully, I can find something half as descent as what I left in OK.

I rented Junebug from the library today. I'm sure I'll write about it if it ends up being worth anything. I wanted the movie Catie recommended but I was shut down. I guess I'll have to stop being a cheap ass and go to the movie store to get it.

On another art note, check out Scott Fraser. Brent and I saw his work at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa more years ago than I can remember but he remains one of the best photo realistic painters I've seen. I usually hate still life's but this guy puts a whole different perspective on them. Even his website's gallery shows the incredible detail in his work when you zoom on them. Enjoy.

A few observations.

It has been almost a year since this OKC girl uprooted and moved to SoCal.
Here are a few things I've learned so far (in no particular order):

1. Bigger cities are just better. There's always something to do.
2. Bigger cities have too much traffic; the logic follows I suppose.
3. Given the previous, timing is essential for efficient travel.
4. In-N-Out has the best fast food cheese burger and fries period.
5. The beach is addictive.
6. Everything becomes more important and relevant when famous people are involved. After seeing this local news story, I know now that Jesus is right-on.
7. There are more politically conservative people here than I thought there would be. I'd like to know how blue this state really is.
8. Unfortunately, it seems (for some) with more diversity comes more friction (racism,intolerance, etc.) In my naivete, I thought if people were exposed to those of different cultures and persuasions then they would be more accepting. I could expound on this later.
9. Now is the time for June gloom.
10. Earthquakes are scarier than tornados.
    

My very first blog post....

Oh, the possibilities for the first entry. Does this set the precident for subsequent posts? This whole thing is still a little obsure yet interesting to me. My good friend C's blog made me realize how easily I can stay informed in her life and thoughts. This has inspired me to take the blog leap. I have already grappled with the reality of further disconnectedness in personal interaction as a result of these things but ultimately many a conversation has spurred from my blog leeching. So here's the start of the experiment......