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March 28, 2005
More required reading
While I'm at it...
Posted by houch at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)
Italia
In the span of my last post, I have navigated myself through the British Isles via London, towards Paris, up the Eiffel Tower, through the Louvre, down to Aix-en-Provence, towards the French Riveira, overnighting to Rome, and now train-waiting for Florence.
AN INTRODUCTION TO ROME
After our first day in Rome, we returned to what we thought would be our hostel. (In all honesty, nothing more than a glorified internet kiosk.) So, the Italian man behind the desk told us that they had overbooked for the night, and we would be staying with a friend named Franco, five to ten minutes away. The reality of getting into a car with a total stranger on a shady side street of Rome - well, I was excited. I thought I was going to wake up a day later in a hotel bathtub full of ice, one less kidney to my account and an incision stitched up with peppermint dental floss. Twenty minutes later, Franco shows up in late 80s model hatchback. We stayed above 'Franco's Bar,' which in my observation never had any customers. Nevertheless, we were given a two-bedroom apartment with sheets, bedside tables and a bathtub with a seat in eat (obviously to make it easier for my kidney to be removed, I thought). All in all, it turned out OK. Franco dressed with the photojournalists vest on perpetually, and he always smelled like ass. But Franco is a good guy. He makes an amazing cappucino. When in Rome, do what the Romans should be doing, stay with Franco.
AN INTRODUCTION TO AMERICA
An hour ago, I was standing at a street vendor's stand, hoping to grab a Panini. Three high school-aged Dutch kids were standing in line in front of me. They kept trying to speak Italian - which obviously they were incapable of - personally, the pointed finger complemented by broken English works perfectly fine for me. Either way, they were trying to tell the guy what type of gelato they wanted in Italian (though the flavors were listed in English, which Im sure they understood). Sure, they were taking up a long time, but mainly to improve their conversation Italian. I can understand that, so I waited patiently behind them. As the second kid was trying to pay, All-American Dad - with the beige polo shirt, crew cut hair and family backpack on, - not to much the family of four with him, noisily walks up behind me. No sooner than I had heard him step up behind me, he was announcing (from the back of the line), "All right, who is in line here?" Then, he precedes to walk up to front of the line, steps in front of the Dutch kids, and pretty much yells at the Pakistani vendor, "ONE WATER," parading a five euro note. The vendor serves him. He gets his water, and as he is walking past us in line, he says, "Three dollars for this, I can't believe it." As he walked past me, I kinda halfway muttered, "ASSHOLE!" in his direction, but he didn't hear me. Now, I'm pretty sure why everyone hates America.
Posted by houch at 12:55 PM | Comments (6)
March 22, 2005
Highland island
Through some seamless amalgamation of trains, planes and automobiles, I've made it from Nottingham through Chesterfield and York to Edinburgh, on to Inverness, and then back to Edinburgh via St. Andrew's. Someone told me that Edinburgh is a "fairy tale." and I'd agree. One of the most gorgeous places I've ever visited. Make that all of Scotland actually. Meeting up with the Rev. Les Newsom and Johnathan Keenan didn't hurt, either.
Over the past few days, I saw Loch Ness (not to mention the mobile home of a guy who tracks Nessie for a living), climbed to the top of the William Wallace memorial, watched a traditional Scottish funeral complete with bag piper, ran on the beach where they filmed "Chariots of Fire" and walked up the 18th hole on St. Andrews old course.
Posted by houch at 11:31 AM | Comments (5)
March 17, 2005
On the road
Tomorrow I'll get on a train with a backpack, five books, a passport and some AA batteries. That will be my home for the next month. Well, the backpack, not necessarily the train. But perhaps the collective idea of "train." The European train, that is. I have a railpass that will take me to any of 16 different countries over the next 31 days. I'd like to see all 16, but that's doubtful.
The wind got warmer here today. It felt too much like home. I guess it's time to start moving. Two weeks from now I don't know where I'll be. It could be Sweden. It could be Poland. It could be Italy.
"Oh, man," said Dean to me as we stood in front of a bar, "dig the street of life, the Chinamen that cut by in Chicago. What a weird town--wow, and that woman in that window up there, just looking down with her big breasts hanging from her nightgown, big wide eyes. Whee. Sal, we gotta go and never stop going till we get there."
"Where we going, man?"
"I don't know but we gotta go."
- Jack Kerouac, On the Road
Posted by houch at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)
"Roger, roger."
vs. 
Jesse Coppenbarger: Rock'n'roll troubadour or Star Wars Battle Droid?
Posted by houch at 10:34 AM | Comments (1)
March 14, 2005
Greetings from...
This made me chuckle. There's something resonant about the animated Sufjan Stevens image when you consider that it's framed nicely in the virtual gallery next to the My Chemical Romance's and Taking Back Sunday's of the world.
Posted by houch at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
The gold standard
In what is becoming an annual event, I feel as if I must pass this on...
From: drewcompton@gmail.com
Subject: The Gold Standard
Date: March 14, 2005 6:59:29 PM GMT+00:00
To: houchins99@aol.com
Reply-To: drewcompton@gmail.com
Palmer:
I thought you'd like to know that one hundred and five years ago
today, Congress ratified the Gold Standard, thus putting into effect
William Jennings Bryan's famous and amazing "Cross of Gold" speech.
Tears of gratitude run down my eyes.
Drew
Posted by houch at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2005
Fake plastic names
This is taken verbatim from a Rolling Stone newsletter I subscribe to. The quinessential rock publication?
COLDPLAY SPELL OUT NEW ALBUM
COLDPLAY will release their third album, "X&Y," on June 7th. The British rockers will follow with a world tour. "Everyone is playing at the top of their game," guitarist JONNY GREENWOOD said of the follow-up to 2002's Grammy-winning "A Rush of Blood to the Head." "Chris [Martin's] voice is sounding amazing." The album's first single "Speed of Sound," will hit radio in May.
I see a problem there. Insert a "Buckland" for a "Greenwood." Big difference.
Posted by houch at 07:00 PM | Comments (2)
March 10, 2005
Warhol me
credits: Face Transformer
Posted by houch at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
Acting in the shadows
"Perhaps more than any other people, Americans have been locked in a deadly struggle with time, with history. We've fled the past and trained ourselves to suppress, if not forget, troublesome details of the national memory, and a great part of our optimism, like our progress, has been bought at the cost of ignoring the processes through which we've arrived at any given moment in our national existence."
- Ralph Ellison, Shadow and Act
Posted by houch at 12:27 AM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2005
Loving music
I just read this review here in the University of Nottingham student magazine, Impact. It stands in the upper echelon of music review penmanship, in my mind at least.
Stereophonics - "Dakota"
FACT: Stereophonics bassist actually has his own name tattoed on his neck. FACT: Ex-drummer Richard Cable's mother is called Mabel. FACT: New drivel 'Dakota' is rubbish. Having this on your iPod is like having dwarf porn on your hard drive, but more disturbing.
- NT
Posted by houch at 08:06 PM | Comments (1)
March 08, 2005
Dubliners
Dublin may indeed be the home of Joyce, Yeats, Shaw, Guinness, Old Jameson and tens of thousands named O'Connell, but if you look hard you might find other things, as well. For example, per mile of sidewalk, Dublin undoubtedly features the most human vomit. This is probably not unrelated to the proximity of Guiness and Old Jameson. Nevertheless, I partook in both, only to keep my Chinese take-out within the confines of my stomach. Also, nearly every fence on any Dublin corner features imposing "BEWARE OF GUARD DOGS" sign. For the dozens of signs (and my own trespassing), I saw one canine. It was a benevelent golden retriever wearing a vest that read (or didn't read, depending on who's looking): SEEING EYE DOG.
Walker Percy talks about the soul of place, or something along those lines. I didn't quite understand what he meant, but Dublin helps.
You see, Dublin is also home to the greatest bathroom stall inscription these eyes have ever read. I know it's illegible, but believe me, it reads: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TOMORROW HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF INTEREST.
See that white house in the middle of the image. That's Bono's place of residence. When it comes to Bono, I have little tact. I think he'd like it that way. I tried my best to enter the premises, alas there were too many walls and gates. If it any consolation, Enya lives in that gray castle-like structure.
Posted by houch at 12:12 AM | Comments (4)
March 07, 2005
All things go
Sufjan Steves Reveals First Details About His Illinois LP
Zach Vowell reports:
When it comes to Sufjan Stevens' proposed 50 States project, incredulous smirks seem to be commonplace. Seriously, how could any one man release an album dedicated to each state in the union? That remains to be seen, but for now word is trickling in about Stevens' next 50 States record. Stevens' record label, Asthmatic Kitty, has announced that he will release an as yet untitled collection of songs about Illinois on July 5. The album isn't quite finished, so a tracklist would be premature, but there will be one song entitled "Chicago" and, in total, the record will feature 15 to 20 songs touching on such subjects as the Lincoln/Douglass debates, the Chicago Fire, the World's Columbian Exposition, and Wrigley's chewing gum. A few historical figures/characters that may end up being thrown into the blender of Stevens' imagination include poet Carl Sandburg, Black Hawk, Superman, and John Wayne Gacy.
Described as Sufjan's most ambitious record yet, the album implements more than 30 instruments and musicians, from the usual guitar and banjo to horns, string quartets, and a small choir. The album will feature several guests, such as James McAlister of Ester Drang, Shara Worden of AwRY and My Brightest Diamond, Craig Monturo of Volcano, I'm Still Excited!, and some production help from old cohort Daniel Smith of the Danielson Famile. However, the record was mostly self-produced in a Queens, N.Y. studio. Stevens will also more than likely continue his string of quality visual design by enlisting the assistance of Waking Life illustrator Divya Srinivasan.
As for the sound of the album, PR man Daniel Gill reports that, "One person I've talked to said, 'It's like the music at the Hall of Presidents at Disneyland, like really big and kind of patriotic sounding.' Sufjan really wanted to make it sound a little bit more polished and professional, but it's definitely more in the vein of Michigan than anything else."
Stevens will apparently mirror this folkish complexity by including two sets of tracklistings (which, again, we don't have on hand): The first will be included on the back of the album, while the second will be listed on the inside and will contain track titles stretching as far as three sentences long.
After the Illinois album, Sufjan will hit the road with labelmate Liz Janes in late July. And Gill predicts the Illinois record will not be the sum of Steven's recorded 2005 output, claiming that "by the end of this year" there will "probably" be another state album that will double as a christmas album. Seemingly relentless, Stevens is also bouncing around the idea of recording an EP for a smaller state. His PR went on to say they think the state records will continue to be produced for the indefinite future.
If all that artistic production wasn't enough, Stevens' label Asthmatic Kitty has already had a fairly busy year. San Diego favorites Bunky just released their debut Born to Be a Motorcycle, while once and future Stevens' road warrior John Ringhofer has just released his third album under the Half-Handed Cloud moniker, entitled Thy Is a Word and Feet Need Lamps. These two outfits will be joined by labelmates the Castanets on March 20 at SXSW opening up for Ariel Pink and Daniel Johnston. Unorthodox Christians and wacky lo-fi workhorses all under one roof.
- pitchforkmedia.com
Posted by houch at 04:06 PM | Comments (2)
March 04, 2005
Shamrocks
It's 930 PM local time here in Dublin. Due to a tragic miscommunication, I never found my roommate Ben Hammond. I was supposed to stay with his host family's daughter outside of Dublin. Instead, I'm homeless. Well, part of me wants to sleep on the street, but I'm wimpy. Instead, I'll probably check into a hostel.
To make circumstances worse. As soon as I signed on this computer, there was a message from Ben saying that he was at the airport, and never found me so he's leaving. I waited there for an hour. Ben doesn't own a cell phone, so there's no way to reach him. This bodes to be a great weekend.
Posted by houch at 09:23 PM | Comments (3)
March 03, 2005
Theologians
The theologian NT Wright has been on campus here at the University of Nottingham the past two days giving a series of lectures. I chose to attend them, seeing as they were free and I've heard people talk about, read from and listen to Wright. Entitled "Paul for the New Millenium," his lectures focused on two things: 1) Creation and Covenant 2) Gospel and Empire
Now, those are words I've heard before, which is more than I can say for most of what I heard during the lectures. I was able to comprehend words like PAUL, ISAIAH and NEW TESTAMENT. Phrases like "Second Temporal Judaism" sound like driving directions to me. And, as far as I'm concerned, Pauline Theology was a movie critic for the New Yorker.
Nevertheless, following the second lecture, there was a question-and-answer session. Another student bluntly asked about the Iraq War, and Wright had some particularly insightful thoughts. Initially, he questioned the cultural and religious implications of the two most overtly Christian leaders in the realm of major countries supporting a war that could easily be perceived as a crusade against Islam. Is it not just creating propaganda for the terrorist factions? Again, a strong argument, but nothing new.
He then mentioned how we, as religious individuals, should not be turning to the typical Enlightment-heavy left-wing protest elements to refine this problem. I'm not entirely sure what that means, and I think this could be due to a disjunction in American-British meanings. Wright contended that a leftist would be closer to an ignorant anarchist, someone who would just as soon get rid of government, without really considering the alternative. And, sure, I can see that. However, in American terminology, a left-leaner would be one in favor of big government, not no government. In fact, no government would be closer to a right-leaning libertarian alignment. Nevertheless, in England, big government is just assumed. That's why the kids here at uni only pay 1,100 pounds in tuition.
Back on subject. the last point Wright made was undeniably the most profound. Drawing this notion from his knowledge of ancient Judaic government, Wright pointed out how those of us who vote - if we even do - consider that the extent of our civic duty. We vote, and whoever wins is just assumed to have a mandate which frees them to do anything they wish. (You need look no further than Bush's rhetoric after the past election concerning political capital and mandates.) However, in Judaic times that was simply unacceptable. What was more important than choosing a society's leaders was keeping those leaders in line. (And, yes, it's worth noting that we are drawing off this from an ancient governing body with no concept of what modernity would call "equality" or "liberty.")
In a sense, our current state is nothing more than armchair citizenship. Voting is considered "enough." And, honestly, I may be going for too much with this, but I somehow feel this is mass culture induced. We have been programmed to consume, consume, consume. You put in the quarter and, in turn, get to ride the horsey. In a sense, we just want to vote, lay out on the couch and watch our mandate being spent. Rubbish. But, I'm in a quandary, because while I know that's wrong, I can't exactly offer some alternative, some revision, some course of action. I'm not advocating activism on everyone's behalf. But perhaps a bit less passivity. Perhaps some resistance. Perhaps something, anything.
Posted by houch at 10:16 PM | Comments (2)
Vatican, too
You're Vatican City!
You're pretty sure that you're infallible in all that you do or say, and
it's hard to say whether you're right. You have a lot of followers, most of whom will
do whatever you say without question, or line up to see you ride around in your spiffy car.
Religious and reserved, you have some wisdom, but also a bit much contempt for everyone
around you. You're also fabulously wealthy, no matter what you say to the contrary.
Take
the Country Quiz at the
href="http://bluepyramid.org">Blue Pyramid
Posted by houch at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)
Preacherizing
"In terms of its (the Left Behind Series) impact on Christianity, it's probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible."
- Rev. Jerry Falwell
Preposterous.
Posted by houch at 12:32 AM | Comments (1)