Monday’s Song: Modest Mouse, “Satin in a Coffin”

Satin in a Coffin

by Modest Mouse

You were laying on the carpet
like you’re satin in a coffin.
You said, “Do you believe what you’re saying?”
Yeah, right now, but not that often.
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
God, I sure hope you are dead.

Well, you disappeared so often
like you dissolved into coffee.
Are you here right now or are there
probably fossils under your meat?
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
God, I sure hope you are dead.

Now the blow’s been softened
since the air we breathe’s our coffin.
Well, now the blow’s been softened
since the ocean is our coffin.
Often times you know our laughter
is our coffin ever after,
and you know the blow’s been softened
since the world is our coffin.
And now the blow’s been softened
since we are our own damn coffins.
Well, everybody’s talking about their short lists,
yeah everybody’s talking about death!

You were laying on the carpet
like you’re satin in a coffin.
You said, “Do you believe what you’re saying?”
Yeah, right now, but not that often.
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
Are you dead or are you sleeping?
God, I sure hope you are dead.

Audio Poem: “Strawberry Tea”

Year written: 2006
Collection:  The Salt Flats

Strawberry Tea

I know of another woman
with an ivory throat
who washes clothes by hand
with Lava soap
and wakes each day
with flowers in her hair;
she doesn’t like bees
(although she’s never been stung)
this woman with the ivory throat.

When she plants a garden
(which she does, she does)
her plants grow plump
and juicy inside
and you can hear them sigh
as she walks by,
her gardening-skirt
rippling with her thighs.

Gifts From Enola

Like…OMG.  I was just surfing around Ticketmaster.com, trying to find something cheap and easy to go see or do in the next week or so.  I happened to come across a listing for a band called Gifts From Enola.  I was intrigued, as there is a town called Enola near Harrisburg.  They are playing in the same venue I saw Deerhunter at a few months ago in Cleveland.  So I looked them up. And they are a small post rock band.  (post rock is the genre of rock that is super-serious instrumental stuff.  There are not a lot of post rock bands, and seeing one live—even a smaller one—is a rare event.  A few of my most favoritest bands are post rock, such as Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor).  It’s on a day I have off (and I work midnight the next night) and tickets are six dollars. So even if it snows, I can just not go and I won’t be out a big loss.  This is a tremendous find.  And there are two opening bands listed who I haven’t even looked up yet!  This is major!  Check out the video for their song “Dime and Suture”,  posted below.  It is certainly not for everybody, but it is like whoa for me.

One of the only articles, online or otherwise, I’ve ever found about Hey Rosetta!  HERE

For those who were at all intrigued by my dual free newspaper situation:  it got a little more interesting this morning.  I went down to get my paper, and there was only one there.  It did, however, seem awfully heavy.  Upon opening the bag, I discovered there was both a New York Times and an Erie Times News in the SAME BAG.

Friday’s Film Clip, “12 Angry Men”

All in one shot, no editing cuts…

Borders means it when they have an “everything must go” sale!

Modest Mouse Album Titles, with Bill and Seth

Here is the final installment of Bill and I’s limited engagement of the MM titles.  Please enjoy our brilliance!

Bill:  “Clinging to the Future to Kill the Past”

Seth:  “Plugging all the Holes with Erasers”

Good Morning

When you said
good morning
on the gravel path
it was your morning
and your good

as you saw it
of its kind
the only in the world

morning for you
delicious entire
you giving me

your crazy-quilt
morning patches
of birdsong
singing grasses

I said good morning
back                   no,
not yours back again

I kept what
you gave me
you have mine

My Oscar Picks, the official list

As in years past, I shall now present a full list of my Oscar predictions, so as to have the list in one place in the public sphere, on the off-chance I hit it 100%, I can point to it and do a winner’s dance.

I have bolded who I think is going to win.  The people I want to win have an asterisk after them.  I have predicted one major upset (in the animated film category). I don’t make predictions in either of the shorts categories, as I know nothing about them at all.

Best Picture
“Black Swan,” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
“The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
“Inception,” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
“The Kids Are All Right,” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
“The King’s Speech,” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
“127 Hours,” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
“The Social Network,” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceàn Chaffin, Producers
“Toy Story 3″ Darla K. Anderson, Producer
“True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
“Winter’s Bone” Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers*

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
James Franco in “127 Hours”*

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”*
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”*
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”*
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Animated Feature Film
“How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
“The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet*
“Toy Story 3″ Lee Unkrich

Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″
“Inception”*
“The King’s Speech”
“True Grit”

Cinematography
“Black Swan,” Matthew Libatique
“Inception,” Wally Pfister*
“The King’s Speech,” Danny Cohen
“The Social Network,” Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit,” Roger Deakins

Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland,” Colleen Atwood
“I Am Love,” Antonella Cannarozzi
“The King’s Speech,” Jenny Beavan
“The Tempest,” Sandy Powell
“True Grit” Mary Zophres*

Directing
“Black Swan,” Darren Aronofsky*
“The Fighter,” David O. Russell
“The King’s Speech,” Tom Hooper
“The Social Network,” David Fincher
“True Grit,” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary (Feature)
“Exit through the Gift Shop,” Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz*
“Gasland,” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
“Inside Job,” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Restrepo,” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
“Waste Land,” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Film Editing
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”*
“The Social Network”

Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful,” Mexico
“Dogtooth,” Greece
“In a Better World,” Denmark
“Incendies,” Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi),” Algeria

Makeup
“Barney’s Version,” Adrien Morot*
“The Way Back,” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Wolfman,” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon,” John Powell
“Inception,” Hans Zimmer*
“The King’s Speech,” Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours,” A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong,” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from “Tangled,” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours,” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong*
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3,” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Sound Editing
“Inception,” Richard King*
“Toy Story 3,” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy,” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit,” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable,” Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing
“Inception,” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick*
“The King’s Speech,” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt,” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network,” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit,” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects
“Alice in Wonderland,” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter,” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception,” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb*
“Iron Man 2,” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“127 Hours,” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
“The Social Network,” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
“Toy Story 3,” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
“True Grit,” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“Winter’s Bone,” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini*

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“Another Year,” Written by Mike Leigh
“The Fighter,” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
“Inception,” Written by Christopher Nolan*
“The Kids Are All Right,” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
“The King’s Speech,” Screenplay by David Seidler

Wednesday’s Picture

My car, after an unexpected foot of snow on Sunday.

Today’s Oscar blurb:  my pick for Original Screenplay:  “Inception” by Christopher Nolan.

Monday’s Song: Arctic Monkeys, “This House is a Circus”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQhBoR_Jv-U

This House ia a Circus
by Arctic Monkeys

This house is a circus, berserk as fuck.
We tend to see that as a perk though.
Look what it’s done to your friends.
Their memories are pretend,
and the last thing they want is for the feeling to end.

There’s a room full of trouble and there’s lovers to be had.
Those ones who make sinners out of such lovely lads,
scaling the corridors for maidens in the maze
and the anomaly is slipping into familiar ways.
And we’re forever unfulfilled
and can’t think why,
like a search for murder clues
in dead man’s eyes.

The more you open your mouth
the more you’re forcing performance.
All the attention is leading me to feel important
(completely obnoxious).
Now that we’re here, we may as well go too far.

Wriggling around just so that you won’t forget,
there’s certainly some venom in the looks that you collect.
Aimlessly gazing at the blazers in the queue,
struggling with the notion that it’s life, not film.

This house is a circus, berserk as fuck.
We tend to see that as a perk though.
Look what it’s done to your friends.
Their memories are pretend
and the last thing they want is for the feeling to end.

Today’s Oscar blurb:  my pick for Best Documentary feature:  “Exit Through the Gift Shop”.  All the nominees are excellent but I tire of war/ Africa/ atrocity docs.  Call me a heathen, but there was something very refreshing about a documentary about guerilla artwork.

Sunday Morning Ramblings

1.  Thank you, three days of fantastic weather, for reminding me how Spring and Summer are going to be.  Also, up yours, three days of nice weather, for teasing me.  Now back under 20 degrees, it’s like you never happened.

2.  The new Hey Rosetta! album has essentially brought me to my knees emotionally.  This band just continues to improve, grow, and evolve and it is just killing me.  More to come on this, I’m sure.

3.  So about two months ago, I cancelled my New York Times subscription.  Now, you know I totally heart the NYT.  But since I’m still relatively new to the home-newspaper delivery world (I got my first Carlisle Sentinel subscription about two years ago) I figured I should try a few more papers, maybe a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and then perhaps a regional favorite like the Cleveland Plain Dealer or the Buffalo News.  So.  I cancelled my NYT subscription.  My home delivery stopped.  For two days.  Then on the third day, there was a NYT on my porch again.  I figured it was just a momentary error, a slip of habit by the driver.  But then there was one the next day, and the next.  So I called the Times and inquired about this; I don’t mind free newspapers, but I also didn’t want to keep being charged after I tried to cancel, and I really wanted to further explore the newspaper world.  The dude on the phone assured me my account was cancelled and that he’d make sure the driver stopped delivery.  But he never did stop.  I’ve been getting a free NYT for about two months now.  I don’t feel bad about it; I’m not sure what else I can do to make it stop.  I’m not going to keep calling and complaining that my paper will not stop.  But here’s the really, really strange part:  about a week ago, an Erie Times News also started showing up on my porch every day!  In addition to the New York Times.  For the last week I have been getting two free daily newspapers.  I suspect the same driver must deliver the two (there can’t be that many NYT subscribers in Erie, so it’s probably just a small supplement to the driver’s income) but how they suddenly started thinking I was on the Erie Times News list is beyond me.  I did subscribe to it when I first moved here but it’s been at least 6 months since I cancelled that one.  I am not even calling them to tell them.  People wanna give me free papers, I’mma take them, although I do feel bad about not giving money to these papers (although I am a “circulation” number, helping out their ad rates, so I’m not doing nothing, ha!)

4.  I don’t like to ever even mention the fact that I eat fast food, as it is so in vogue for people to poo poo even the mere idea that fast food exists, but I just cannot NOT mention the fact that I have found the best fast food chain ever.  It’s called Back Yard Burgers.  Here’s their website which includes a site locator (seems it is mostly an eastern chain, and the Erie location may be the northernmost location)…if you are into burgers, you MUST check this place out if you’re ever able to.  Pretty much the best burgers I’ve ever had, fast food or not.  And the environment inside the place is just fantastic.  Spacious and calming, with a fire place and light music playing, as well as multiple televisions (with the volume off) and booths that give you privacy.  I actually go there with a book or magazine to read and find myself staying for a decent amount of time after I’m done eating. 

5.  Anybody who is more tech savvy than I am (read: almost all of you)…what is the process for getting something from a DVD and onto YouTube?  Obviously I’ve got to get it from the DVD onto my computer.  What is necessary on my computer to make that happen, and what does the process entail?  Thanks!

Audio Poem: “You’re Alone”

Year written: 2006
Collection:  The Salt Flats

You’re Alone

What do I care if the cable man
came to your house
& called you a whore?
Why should I blink my eyes
(your parents complain too much about
the state of Welfare)
if you have a troubling thought
sweating trembling in your pale-lit
bedroom?

I’m not you
(you wouldn’t even let me brush your hair)

Begin the Ice

I think (was thinking) I watched her playing with fire and I held my breath as the shimmering sparks danced on her skin like a million baby lightning bugs (butterflies) birthed in one electric minute and gone by summer’s end (our summer).  The blanket of smoke, and the blanket itself, and the candy wrappers and cigarette packs lay crumpled on the bed drenched in perfume untied by desire, but as durable as spider silk.  It falls away while I stretch, brush the diamonds from my eyes, and wake up.  I don’t just lick these morning visons, I eat them, devour them like crushed velvet.  A delicious moment for worshipping a calm language, and begin the ice.

Today’s Oscar blurb:  my pick for best Supporting Actress from the women nominated:  Melissa Leo for “The Fighter”.

Friday’s Film Clip: “28 Weeks Later”

I’m a huge fan of both “28” films.  Although the first—by director Danny Boyle and written by one of my favorite novelists, Alex Garland (who also wrote “The Beach”, “Sunshine”, and the upcoming adaptation of “Halo”) is clearly the superior film (even boasting a Gospeed You Black Emperor! song in the soundtrack, and some have said the song that plays in the scene I’ve presented here is a clear attempt to replicate Godspeed’s sound), the second film does boast a few terrific scenes, among them this one, one of the most heart-pounding experiences I’ve ever had in a theater.  The shot of the zombies running over the hill top might be much more impressive on a larger screen.

A Thaw

1

 

2

 

3

 

4. There is the stand of reeds I walked to at the beginning of the week, now surrounded by a half-water, half-ice mix.

 

5

 

6

 

7. An attempt to re-create the NOW ICONOGRAPHIC photo of me overlooking Misery Bay in winter, now with bare arms and no hat! Of course this means I now need to get a pic of me in the exact same pose and spot during all phases of weather.

 

8

 

9

10

11

 

12

 

13. A woman with a metal detector.

 

14

 

15

Modest Mouse album titles, with Bill and Seth

Bill: “There is Nothing Daring About Winning”

Seth:  “Waking Up From the Coma Very Slowly and Then Immediately Getting Revenge”

Today’s Oscar blurb:  my pick for Supporting Actor from the men nominated:  John Hawkes for “Winter’s Bone”.

Kyle knocks one out of the park…

My homeslice Kyle just made and posted this HILARIOUS video.  He’s a true talent.  Watch and pass it on to your bretheren, let’s make it a YouTube sensation!

(as a reminder, don’t watch this using Internet Explorer; yes, even WordPress now knows there’s a problem with IE and YouTube playing via embedding.  Any other browser seems to be fine, though)

Wednesday’s Picture

Seeds

I am about to listen to the BRAND NEW, full-length Hey Rosetta! album, Seeds.  You can imagine how excited I am.  Rest assured you’ll be hearing more about this soon, so get your “I’m gonna ignore what Seth says about Hey Rosetta!” glasses on.  I am psyyyyyyyched.

Sellouts

–Denis Leary
–The Who
–Johnny Depp
— Jeff Koons
–Harry Knowles
–The Clash
–Greta Gerwig
–Todd McFarlane
–Margret Cho

Monday’s song: Editors, “In This Light and On This Evening”

In This Light and on This Evening
by Editors

I swear to God
I heard the earth inhale
moments before
it spat it’s rain down on me.

I swear to God,
in this light and on this evening,
London’s become
the most beautiful thing I’ve seen.

I’m going to once again sing the praises of the New York Times.  It really does make a difference what newspaper you read.  The NYT treats it’s articles like small pieces of literature.  I was just reading their review of the current season of “American Idol” (the article is written by Jon Caramanica) when I was blown away by this description of Steven Tyler—a description other media outlets would not have even bothered to attempt:

“Mr. Tyler’s face alone is worthy of a weekly show, loose skin slippery over a distant skeleton.  He’s a Claymation figure come to life, all elasticity and wrinkle.  He dresses like a shaman, a time-traveling dandy or a runaway hippie teen.  His grin is wide, like the Joker’s, and when he’s laughing, really he’s braying.”

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Today’s Oscar blurb:  How did Michael Douglas get zero hype in a year that he almost died and also turned in this performance in “A Solitary Man”?