Peanuts and Phish

Here is an old Saturday Night Live clip I found on YouTube, enjoy.

Primary Movers #2

I am extremely excited to report that a movie I have been anticipating for the past few months comes out today. It is called, “The Science of Sleep” and stars one of my favorite actors, Gael García Bernal, who some of you may know from his work in “Y Tu Mamá También”, “Amores Perros”, “Bad Education” or “The Motorcycle Diaries” all of which are spectacular movies. Even more exciting is that this movie is directed by one of the most inventive minds in Hollywood today, Michel Gondry. Below is the trailer for the film.



Although known to most for his fascinating “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, Mr. Gondry has directed a variety whimsical film projects including an impressive list of music videos along with his often overlooked, but enjoyable 2001 release “Human Nature”. Both feature films were written by Charlei Kaufman, and it seems like his scripts are a perfect match for the incomparable imagination of Mr. Gondry. As I wade through all of the music videos I am amazed not only by the incredible creativity in each and every video but also the variety from video to video. For a listing of all his work check out his Wikipedia page here and then watch them on Youtube which can be found here. His videos are especially satisfying in this uninspired MTV age where the only videos deemed commercially safe are: A) Rap videos displaying excessive amounts of scantily clad women, jewelry, tricked out rides and gold grills B) Emo videos containing little more than a performance by heavliy make-uped mid-twenties musicians who write songs for high schoolers and whose faux sadness/angst is belied by the fact that they are millionares due to heavy rotation on MTV and Clear Channel or finally C) Bubble gum pop videos pushing oversexualized underage members of one sex rollerblading/shopping/dancing with older members of the opposite sex.

For something completely different look below for an example of Mr. Gondry’s unique vision creating a mind bending backdrop to “The Denial Twist” by the White Stripes.



It is to your benefit to look up his other stuff, especially his work on Daft Punk’s “Around the World”, Bjork’s “Human Behavior”, The Chemical Brother’s “Star Guitar" and Kylie Mynogue’s “Come Into My World” Have fun!

Life is for living

Inspired by Woody Allen’s character in his seminal masterpiece Manhattan, today I will seek to answer the protagonists query, “Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um... Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile.”

Things that make life worth living:
1 Anything written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- “Mother Night”
- “Cats Cradle”
- “Slaughterhouse Five”
- “Time quake”
- “Slapstick”
- “Breakfast of Champions”
- “Jailbird”
2 Television comedies without laugh tracks
- “Arrested Development”
- “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
- “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
3 Live music
4 Music festivals
- 10 Thousand Lakes Festival
- Bonnaroo
5 KVSC
6 Independent music venues
7 Dystopian novels
- “We”
- “1984”
- “Brave New World”
- “Anthem”
8 Disc Golf
9 David Cross
10 Cooking something that requires a recipe
11 Ultimate Frisbee
12 Live Phish
13 Anything written by Philip K. Dick
- “The Man in the High castle”
- “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”
- “Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said”
- “A Scanner Darkly”
- “Dr. Bloodmoney”
14 Socialist theory
15 Live Grateful Dead
16 Pho Tai
17 The sound of rain your roof
18 “The Botany of Desire”
19 Bands who play their songs live differently than on the album
20 Billy Bragg and Wilco covering Woody Guthrie
21 Radiohead’s evolution
22 Successful independent politicians
23 Film scores by Jon Brion
24 Setlists that change every night
25 All films by Wes Anderson especially “Rushmore”
26 The films created and attitude cultivated by Jim Jarmusch
27 Yoga
28 First two albums by Weezer
29 The Books
30 Laughing and crying
31 Woody Allen films
- “Sleeper”
- “Annie Hall”
- “Manhattan”
- “Stardust Memories”
- “Hannah and Her Sisters”
- “Mighty Aphrodite”
- “Match Point”
- “Melinda and Melinda”
- “Manhattan Murder Mystery”
32 The Theory of Evolution
33 Minnesota Public Radio
34 Jim James and My Morning Jacket
35 Debates and arguments
36 Arizona Green Tea
37 “Bullhead City” by Umphrey’s McGee
38 The music and humor of Ween
39 Hours spent at Wikipedia
40 Road biking and running with Nate
41 Russian literature
42 Painting even when you are incredibly untalented
43 Used bookstores
44 Used books
45 Jeff Buckley’s “Live at Sin-é”
46 Ping-pong
47 Shareware
48 “All Songs Considered”
49 Anthony Bourdain's books and television show
50 Tom Wolfe and his “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”
51 Receiving meaningful letters in the mail
52 Jack Kerouac
53 “The Discoverers”
54 Mitch Hedberg
55 Post Rock
56 “Graceland” by Paul Simon
57 Pavement, especially “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain”
58 Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew” and “Kind of Blue”
59 Psychedelic era Beatles
60 Avant garde music
61 Female singer-songwriters
- Fiona Apple
- Regina Spektor
- Neko Case
62 Aaron Copland, especailly “Fanfare for the Common Man”
63 MF Doom
64 Alan Moore’s work, especially “Watchmen”
65 Well written “chick” shows
- Gilmore Girls
- Sex and the City (after Season 1)
66 The Animal Collective
67 Post-Impressionist art
68 Avacados
69 File sharing
70 The New York Times
71 Pitchforkmedia.com
72 Canoeing
73 Stephen J. Gould’s books
74 Road trips with friends and good music
75 Reading outside