00:41

Cutting caress of air on
late night sweat.
Tasteless foam on sweet lips
unlicked, unkissed.

Heavy cotton damp over
sleepless wonders.
Empty containers dust,
unreturned, unfilled.

Quick Thought... on Hate.

Nowadays, the word "hate" is pretty quick to cross 'our' lips. "XYZ is annoying/a mess, I hate him/her/it", when, really, XYZ is just, well, annoying. A bit nerve-wracking. Or we just have a perceived bad day.

Meanwhile, stuff like this happens:

"Man Puts In Headlock, Shoots, Kills 8-Year-Old Daughter of Estranged Wife's Boyfriend"

"Private club boots kids who might “change the complexion” of the pool"

"Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children"

Etc. pp. You get the picture. That's the kind of thing (not necessarily person!) I hate. HATE.

Most people I know are just annoying or I disagree, sometimes even dislike them. But they really are not horrible enough to be hated.

I'm grateful for that.

And at the same time incredibly angry, that not everybody is in my lucky position.

American Heritage.

Like in any country - or even more so - the question of cultural foundation, identity and tradtion is a difficult one, a contested notion, up for interpretation and (re-)definition. By chance, I found two items on the net that examplify how odd and/or difficult this negotiation can be, especially when one tradition or definition of identity is preferred, for example (but not limited to) by people from the right wing.

First, TPM reports that Rep. Steve King (R-IA)says that he "opposed yet another bill to erect another monument to slavery," because Democrats had used it as a bargaining chip with Republicans who wanted to secure the depiction of the words "In God We Trust" in the Visitors Center -- that America's Judeo-Christian heritage was being held hostage."

Then there is this nice cartoon on immigration in the US:

The Importance of Being Idle.

I can't help it - every time I see a reference to Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, I immediately have to think of Oasis' The Importance of Being Idle. One of those (random) associations that's hardwired in my mind.

One of the more recent Oasis tunes I actually like. The video is pretty cool as well.

Enjoy your Monday.

One for the Night.

Norman Palm stumbled around Paris singing his nice rendition of Boys Don't Cry for La Blogotheque:

Norman Palm - "Boys don't cry" from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

As usual, the video features toy pianos and charming by-standers. I like those Take-Away Shows.

Al the Policy Wonk.

I used to be a fan of Al Franken. I enjoyed his "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them", his appearances on talk shows and even listened to his Air America show once in a while. (Air America is a good breeeding ground for intelligent commentary. If you haven't seen Rachel Maddow before, do so now) I liked his well-researched, intelligent and angry comedy. I did not think he had a real chance to win the Senate seat in Minnesota, but am quite pleased that he did win it. I would've preferred a clear, ealry decision on election day and not a month long battle through the courts, but hey. Anyway, I'm looking forward to his input in the Senate, and am not suprised at all by this comment from Paul Krugman:

Second, Al Franken’s dirty secret is that … he’s a big policy wonk.

I used to go on Franken’s radio show, all ready to be jocular — and what he wanted to talk about was the arithmetic of Social Security, or the structure of Medicare Part D.

In fact, the only elected official I know who’s wonkier than Al Franken is Rush Holt, my congressman — and he used to be the assistant director of Princeton’s plasma physics lab. (The campaign’s bumper stickers read, “My Congressman IS a rocket scientist.”)

So what will Franken do to the level of Senate discourse? He’ll raise it.

Feels like summer.

Funny thing happened to me the other day. I sat in the sweaty tram, listening to The Hold Steady's "Constructive Summer" and wondered what the summer hit of 2009 might be. Think for the general public it'll be Emilia Torrini's Jungle Drum. Nice, cheery, cute, pretty agreeable. Not a really bad song.. summer-y.
Still, I was looking for something more (and preferably something people by now do not associate with Heidi Klum and Germany's Next Topmodel) And I came home, opened my laptop and tada - a serious contestant for summer hit 2009: Johnny Foreigner - Feels like Summer.

Johnny Foreigner - Feels Like Summer from eds209 on Vimeo.

Really fits this summer in Freiburg. Hot, sweet and sweaty with a dash of thunderstorm. Plus, their EP including this song is available for free download. They sometimes remind me of The Wombats, You Say Party! We Say Die! and especially Los Campesinos!. By the way, Los Campesinos! just taped an amazing daytrotter session.

Runner-up for summer hit '09 so far is The XYZ Affair. Their "2 Summer Jams" are also available for free download and especially "No One That You Love Will Ever Die" is a feel good gem. (At least from my subjective position.)

Plus, stereogum.com compiled a pretty nice 4th of July "Independents Day 2009" compilation.

But the summer record of the year is just coming up: Portugal. the Man's The Satanic Satanist. See more and yeah - it leaked already. But do buy it when it comes out on July 17th - what I heard so far is amazing. Guaranteed sunshine during the thunderstorm.

Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video.

Any reader of this blog will have noticed that I'm slightly into music videos. I think they can be so much more than just promotional tools, they can stressor expand the artistic genius of the music or even make a mediocre song really interesting. Though that's mainly true for good, usually indie video.

There are also those other videos, that merely stuff as many scantily clad women and cars, bling and booze in a frame as possible, often degrading women and legitimizing sexual violence. Most they accompany (commercial) rap, but enough rock or electro, techno examples exist as well. Sud Jhally did a good documentary on this topic called "Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video". I have to say that though I was shocked, the events and circumstances shown sadly didn't really surprise me.

See the trailer here:



Hat tip to Anna.

Note: If you can't view the YouTube Video (my tip is because it used clips from Universal Rec. clips..) then go to the Media Education Foundation site. A full-length preview is also available for home use.

Young Boys.

Seems to turn into a Gaslight Anthem appreciation week. Don't worry, this won't turn into a fanboy blog (or at least to a greater extend), but this is just to great not to share

The Gaslight Anthem performed "The '59 Sound" with Bruce Springsteen. Yes, the Boss himself. At this year's Glastonbury.

via merely thinking.

Speaking of Springsteen references: Simon Indelicate of The Indelicates wrote a pretty interesting, and for the most part pretty good, article against anti-americanism or rather a defense of America.

An Ode to Indie Films

It's funny 'cause it's true.



(via a cup of jo)

"Not tonight, not tonight."

The Gaslight Anthem. One of the two reasons why I almost regret not going to the Southside festival.

It is great, all of this
Or just what might have been
Where we could take a seat at the bar with the other broken heroes

We can dance if we want to.

Wanted to post this wicked deep analysis today, to revive the reading journal category.

But that gotta wait until tomorrow, cause the inscrutable ways of the mighty internet have led me to Men Without Hat's "Saftey Dance" video. The opposite of deep. Or good taste. But screw that - it's fun!

Downturn.

Cars in their coral,
awaiting their last drive.
A storefront sale
of hopes and hoaxes.
Slashed prices
too big to fail.

Heavy Cross.

While I had an actual, non-music related reason to post The Gossip's Listen Up video last week, today I'm just going to post their new video because it's new. And cool.



A note on horrid commenting on the net: A Stereogum (where I got the video from inicially) commenter posted this gem:

All joking aside, would this girl be remotely popular if it weren't for her obesity and lesbian-ness?

To quote my girlfriend this weekend: Ah, the voice! Sadly enough, he was one of the nicer commenters, even when considering a certain tendency towards (odd) irony.

(Maybe I should introduce a "Gossip Monday" category..)

Show Some Street Sign Love

This is just to kitschig cute cool not to (re)post it:


(via i can read)

Don't Be A Fool Like the Rest of Us.

In class today this really cool video by the Gossip was referenced and it was completely appropriate and in context. Sometimes I really like my degree program.

It's shot in Portland, OR, by the way.

Hungry?

Then just take a look at how tabloids and other outlets of the old media (in this case the German media, but sadly I'm sure this is no different in other "developed" countries..) treat the victims of the recent airplane crash.

Die Opfer des Todesfluges at BILDblog

And this seems to be standard operating procedure, not an exception to otherwise spotless journalism. The coverage of the shooting in Winneden was even worse.
I kinda lost my appetite.

First Weekend in My Life.

This weekend, with all its highs and lows and mids, was pretty much perfect. And sometimes any given day can feel like the first day in your life.

First Day Of My Life By Bright Eyes from Rich Shook on Vimeo.

For Every Girl / For Every Boy

Found at Genderterror

Clickclickdecker, Mario Adorf and the Forest

Clickclickdecker released a video for one of my favorite tunes of this spring - Dialog mit dem Tölpel - today. I had completely different images in my mind when I listened to it, but the video's pretty good. And features a wonderful Mario-Adorf-as-woodsman character.

ClickClickDecker - Dialog mit dem Tölpel from Hick Pix Bewegtbildproduktion on Vimeo.

Escape.

Obama is Cliff Huxtable.

Once again proving that they offer the most precise commentary on US politics, Wyatt Cenac convincingly argues that Barack Obama = Cliff Huxtable of The Bill Cosby Show.

Indecision	An Indecision Exclusive!
Barack Obama Is Cliff Huxtable
indecisionforever.com
Funny Political Video Political Games Joe Biden Jokes

Ruins of a Term Paper

Happiness is...

[from]

Quick Thought ... on Nostalgia, Memory and Media.

Sometimes my memory works in mysterious ways. These days I often stumble upon things and feel a certain warm feeling of nostalgia coming up. Often these things are connected to (perceived) fond childhood memories. Often they are connected to moments that appear to be part of the past, but I can't immediately sort out just how old these moments are. I just read Mortiz' post on Sockenblog. He recently rediscovered a clip from the movie Mulan. He still had that movie on tape. Yeah, on VHS.

That is a method to determine just how old a memory is, in what part and phase of my life I first discovered this band/song/book/poem/film - I sort them by two categories: storage device and the way I had to wait to get hold of the next release/episode/rerun. If I can remember first discovering it via computer - let alone the infamous web 2.0 - it's probably not that old. And as much as I love my recent discoveries, recent favorites and the new technology - somehow having to wait 'til next Saturday to see another episode, to tape it on VHS or to waittto buy the new CD without ever hearing a single track of the record before or to wait to have a reason to go out and celebrate and have a beer with friends - somehow that forced process made those moments even more precious, the memory of them even more nostalgic. The input more important.

Maybe the longing for slower, more concious moments is the reason for these nostalgic moments.

"Other Beatnik Intellectuals Thugs" and the Way to Punk

Jeffrey Lewis takes us on a wild 8 min. anti folk ride through the history of punk.



Via Monarchie & Alltag

Those 7 Words.

Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the F.C.C.'s shift to a harder line on "indecency" on the air. Thought I might "celebrate" this important decision on such a pressing issue these days with presenting you the "Yes We Can - The George Carlin Remix" by Jay Smooth. It feature's all those bad, bad words, based on George Carlin's "7 dirty words" routine (and it's probably NSFW)
Enjoy.

All Your Friend Are Smiling.

The next time when it's one of those days and you're feeling completely down and out, go listen to the Loch Lomond EP "Trumpets for Paper Children" you downloaded here and let the tunes pull you out of the dirt.

Loch Lomond - "All Your Friends Are Smiling" from HUSH Records on Vimeo.

I Might Shed a Tear.

Karo is coming to Freiburg's White Rabbit on Sunday, May 3rd. And it'll be more than just amazing, I bet.



Schöftland will perform as well.
Be there or be square!

Possibly the Most Mind Numbing Groove Ever.

Ralph Wiggum - "Ente (jungle RMX)




Okay, this might be even worse. Via nercore et. al.
Have a good start of the week - and always remember:

Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente Ente

Jay Smooth on Beauty Pageants

..and the truth about Perez Hilton & Miss California, the future and marriage.
Brilliant.



Via.

Mariokart vs. Kettcar

This is what it would sound like if I was making music at the moment. Adolar's smasher Mariokart vs. Kettcar, full of childhood nostalgia, peer pressure, odd attempts to be different and passion.



Download the song here
Check out their 7" EP Planet Rapidia.

Ein ♥ für Blogs.

note: This one's in German, since it's a German topic and it really wouldn't make much sense to do it in English. This might happen from time to time. This is, afterall, a more or less bilingual blog.

Heute ist der von stylespion ausgerufene "Ein ♥ für Blogs." Tag. Ein Tag, an dem die Digitale Boheme und sonstige Blogger und Web 2.0 Opfer (your truly) seo Schmarrn mal seo Schmarrn sein lassen und sich wieder ohne Hilfsmittelchen vernetzen. Durch simple Empfehlung. Like in the good ol' days, als Leute noch Blogrolls hatten.

Unter anderem habe ich heute meine Blogroll verändert/ausgebaut. Dennoch sei aber an dieser stelle auf 5 deutschsprachige Blogs verwiesen, die mir schon manchen Anstoß für ein postig hier oder bei Twitter geliefert haben. Oder mir auch nur einfach eine Welt eröffnen, die woanders und anders ist als meine, mir aber gleichzeitig zeigen, dass meine Scheibe Welt gar nicht so anders ist. Sie ist nur nich geografisch definiert oder hier in der Stadt der Fahrradfahrer verankert.

Et voila:

Texte auf Cornflakespackungen
Acht Milliarden
Karo erklärt die Welt (und scheitert)

und

Coffee and TV. Wobei dieser blog, ähnlich wie Stefan Niggemeier's, wohl nich unter "unbekannt" läuft. Er sei dennoch empfohlen.

Good Ol' Copyboy

US Economy Saved - Recall of all US Dollar Notes

Ah, the Onion again.


Treasury Department Issues Emergency Recall Of All US Dollars

Teabag Update

Rachel Maddow (and Ana Marie Cox) on the - hehe - teabagging in the conservative movement.

Ólafur Arnalds - 'Found Songs'

Fantastic Icelandic artist Ólafur Arnalds - who I mentioned in the Balmorhae post - is releasing a song a day for 7 days for free:

'The songs will be different from what's on my albums, they will be short, mostly just made up from piano. Something to keep me going. Feel free to send me hatemail if I miss out a day!'

Found Songs (via itstoolong)

Ah! History, 'Tis A Tricky Thing.

In a class on the Sixties I took last term we saw a video showing a student protest - in a Fox News frame, oddly enough. I guess this particular YouTube video wanted to show how Fox News would've portayed it. Most of the class did not notice that it had to be a "fake" video - Fox first aired in 1986, Fox News in Oct. 1996. Yet it seems like we often take a media institution as granted that we tend to 'forget' that it hasn't been around all that long.

Seems to be true not only for people engaged in a discussion in a 8 a.m. class but also for anchors on the very network:

[Fox News anchor and commentator] Neil Cavuto claims Fox News is covering teabaggers* in same fair and balanced way it covered the Million Man March in 1995

Teabaggers in this case refers to conservatives protesting the Obama administrations every step, trying to link with the Boston tea party.

Yeah, well.

Life Is Good - Everyone Just Overreacts.

(from PostSecrets)

Might just be true.

Happy Easter and good luck for the new summer term - or whatever this season has in store for you.

Sound for Another Day.

I discovered a fantastic music group via this good sxsw mixtape from Rote Raupe: Balmorhae. The last.fm community tagged them as "post-rock (so post-rock that I hesitate to use the word band), "ambient" and "acoustic" and refers to Olafur Arnalds and Gregor Samsa. Sometimes I think to hear a bit of Sigur Ros as well, though sans the Icelandic and more acoustic. For the lack of a better term I'd tag them as "simply amazing". (Or maybe that is the most apropriate term.) Do yourself a favor, get their "San Solomon" track here, check them out at last.fm, watch this video of a performance of "Night in the Draw" - and put on your headphones.

KEXP live @ SXSW: Balmorhea - Night In The Draw from KEXP RADIO on Vimeo

More beauty.

The Corgan Domain.

When you start a new (artistic) endeavor you run up against a lot of obstacles. You first have to have an idea you actually think worthy of being pursued, then at some point you have to convince others that it's good etc. For Billy Corgan there are other obstacles. In his "manifesto" explaining the future of the Smashing Pumpkins and the Cogan Corp., he announces several other (solo) projects besides the Pumpkins. However

"I would loveto get into more details on those projects but I would like to secure the domain names first because I don't want to have to fight to get them back later"

Too bad, Billy. 'Nother obstacle for future Corgan/Pumpkins genius might be that Tila Tequila of MySpace and MTV Shot at Love fame seems to be his ne muse. See stereogum for details or just enjoy "Today" instead:

The Onion Reveals: Prague's Frank Kafka Int. World's Most Alienating Airport.

Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport

Nostalgia, Money and the Global Village.

This should be a wonderfully euphoric, nostalgic post about Rival School's Used for Glue. One of the music video's I literally fell in love with in my teenage years on Viva 2 (rip). It was just that perfect at that time, in that moment. I still like it a lot - both the video and the song. The video made me buy the record just to have that one song. I just digitalized the record and had the sudden urge to see the video again. I was able to see the viedo despite the demise of (German) music televsion thanks to YouTube. I then wanted to write this wonderful nostalgic blog post about the vid and share/embed the video with you. "Nah-ah" said Universal Music*, apparently they don't want people to spread teh word about great videos that will make other people fall for bands anymore (see: the clusterfuck that is (mainstream) music pr and television in Germany and pretty much every other counry).

Instead, you'll just have to click here.

At least YouTube still is a (alright) resource for otherwise long forgotten music videos. That might all change due to the ridiculous demands from YouTube by GEMA.

Yeah, it all boils down to money. Again.



(* Yeah, okay, the mere fact that a Walter Schreifel band is distributed by Universal is... a bummer.)

edit: Maybe this will just ruin YouTube's dominance.
Here we go, thanks to MySpace Video
Rival Schools "Used for glue"

Stop War

Stefan Benchoam: "Protest piece done in Bloomington, Indiana, amidst the War in Iraq, 2005"

via rebel:art

Fill the Fort.

Saturday, 4/4/09 @ Club Action
Knulp
Union Hills
The Canvas Divine

Will be different, possibly amazing.
See you there.

Blitzkredit Bop

Muff Potter debut the video for their new single Blitzkredit Bop from their new record Gute Aussicht today. And like the song, I don't instantly like the video. It's alright and Muff Potter is one of my favorite bands (one of maybe 3 bands I'm a "fan" of) but I feel like this time they just took the wordplay and the imagery too far (or not far enough), it got a bit too... obvious and therefore boring. But after a couple of spins I'm starting to like the song (especially the music, still not so much the lyrics - a muff potter first for me) So I'll give the video another shot (or two, or three..)

muff potter - blitzkredit bop - video

Clarity & Chaos Mixtape I

clarity & chaos, quiet & loud, new & old, hip & uncool.
I enjoy 'em all and most of 'em make me feel better.
Might be the same for you, might not.
Comment, share, enjoy.

01 Statistics - Another Day
02 The Notwist - Good Lies
03 Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I'm Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings (Daytrotter)
04 Cursive - From the Hips
05 The Indelicates - The Recession Song*
06 The Thermals - Now We Can See
07 The Joy Formidable - Austere
08 Loney, Dear - Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl
09 Parenthetical Girls - Here's to Forgetting*
10 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Everything With You
11 The Acorn - Crooked Legs*
12 Tara Jane O'Neil - Drowning*
13 ClickClickDecker - Dialog mit dem Tölpel*
14 Ich, Alexander - Heute an morgen denken und gestern vermissen*
15 Emmy the Great - MIA*
16 From Monument To Masses - The Noise Thereafter
17 Adorno - Meaning*

(Some of the links (*) are direct downloads, some of them not. Let me know if there is a problem with a link.)

< /end>

The world could
cRaSh
around u
u
would not
notice

unless
there is a
link
or a
#tag

Where the Wild Things Are

Yeah, that charming (children's) book is coming out as a movie soon. Directed by Spike Jonze, screenplay by Jonze and Dave Eggers - so it might actually be a good adaptation. (Unlike Vorstadtkrokodile, which I read and liked as a book in school, but which I don't even recognize in the movie trailer).

Anyway, Where the Wild Things Are might just be amazing. Check out the trailer:


[via videogum ]

Hanky, sir?

Genius idea. Plus - if there still are people willing to pay 100 bucks to have the demise of their stock market portfolio embroidered on a handkerchief, things can't be that bad.. yet.

via merely thinking and swissmiss

Coy Copyboy and the greatest minds.

Blast from the Past - Goodybe Pale

Sadly Pale, one of the bands that ruled my teenage years, decided to call it quits after 15 years in "teenage heaven". Their "Goodbye Trouble" definitely belongs on my mental Teenage Soundtrack and picked me up from the floor more than once.

I finally got to see them live during their tour for their latest record in March 2007 - and it was just as cool as I had hoped it to be as a teen. Heck, they even made the Goo Goo Doll's Iris sound good, heart-wrenching - and nice.
Pale were such a great combination of cool and nice. Well, the people probably still are.

What God Really Hates

A really witty protest against the Westboro Baptist Church's hate.
Via Urban Prankster

The First 100

The Onion "tracks" President Obama's first 100 days in, well, The Onion style.

DAY 16: Obama's "First 100 Days Dilbert Desk Calendar" still on day five.
DAY 14: Taco Tuesday
DAY 13: President Obama meets with Vermont governor Jim Douglas and is saddened to find that he is not the creator of Garfield.

via the still great marbury

Can You Feel the Four Chords of Standardization.

Pop just need one chord more than punk. The Axis of Awesome's 5 min. trip through pop history. Seamless standardization. Enjoy.



Via Bettmenschblog and Achtmilliarden.

It Never Rains in Southern Germany.

Okay, that's definitely not true. However, Freiburg, my new "home", is supposed to be the sunniest town in Germany. Over the last couple of months I realized what a relative term that is.
To document just how sunny Freiburg really is, I set up a new blog project called "Deutschlands sonnigster Hinterhof" featuring a daily photo of, well, the backyard I see from my room's window. Or rather the area behind that.
Doesn't look too bad today - looks like spring is coming. And even my part of town looks kinda pretty in sunshine.

No Career No Hope No Fun No Fashion!

Last year they waited for Pete Doherty to die, now The Indelicates released a Recession Song - for fun! And for free! Now that's zeitgeist. It's so zeitgeisty, it's even a fashion ad:

Quick Thought on... Slumdog Millionaire

Is last nights Oscar hero, the surely amazing, stylish and well-intended Slumdog Millionaire, just an/other example of modern Orientalism? A representation of India through a Westerner's gaze, even the "real" people turning (themselves) into representations that fit the 'feel-good' framework?
Or is it another sign of Hollywood (and the Western cinema field) actually opening up to a new form of internationalism, aknowledging e.g. Bollywood?

Sometimes, All You Need Is A High-Five

...and to share it with a thousand other people.

Antimanifesto

no difference between "found" poetry and "composed" poetry.
not possible to isolate the conscious or the subconscious.
no difference between pattern and chaos.
"right" and "wrong"; "good" and "bad"; "correct" and "incorrect", are superstitious terms; all language is "true".
All language is hiding something.

Iain/Pathoslogos - Manifestos Are Kind of Stupid
via Silliman


Wild Association: But Alive - Antimanifest

Büchner and the Future.

I have a nice literature calendar hanging above my desk. The topic is Beziehungen & Begegnungen. And this weeks quote touched my heart in a uncanny, almost frightening way:

Was kann ich sagen, als dass ich Dich liebe; was versprechen, als was in dem Worte Liebe schon liegt, Treue? Aber die sogenannte Versorgung? Student noch zwei Jahre, die gewisse Aussicht auf ein stürmisches Leben, vielleicht bald auf fremden Boden!

(What can I say but that I love you, what can I promise but what is already whithin the word love, loyalty? But the so-called support? A student for another two years, the certain prospect of a turbulent life, soon maybe on foreign soil!)*

--Georg Büchner in a letter to Wilhelmine Jaeglé, his fiancée, March 1834

Georg Büchner died 3 years later.

*My (ruff) translation

What keeps you going.

See yourself to the door

reminds me of myself last year / it feels like 10 years ago from the now and here /

Wild association h/t to Pascal

Quick Thought... on Internet Communities.

Aren't Internet communities - especially when they involve a certain amount of communication between registered users on a multiplicity of (random) subject like twitter, message boards or popular blogs - imagined communities like nations, as described by Benedict Anderson?
Or is it "just" a sign that you're spending too much time on the Internet when you start coming up with such comparisons, start imagining a web based communal identity like you imagine a national identity?

Love has left..

Stereogum has a new A Camp song "Love Has Left the Room" and a short Q & A with the great Nina Persson (The Cardigans, A Camp) about the song featuring this gem:

When love finally does leave the room, where does it go?
It goes to the sky bar at the Mondrian in LA and fucks with someone else.

The song's pretty decent as well. You need to sign up to download it, tho'.
Have a good Hallmark's Day on Saturday.

Copyboy and Luck.

For What It's Worth.

Walking from the bus stop to my flat today I had a lot of stuff on my mind I suddenly wanted to share with the world / the net. About modern life, high expectations, new attempts at poetry, student life.

Real genius insights. Though pretty depressing.

So screw that.

Enjoy Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie instead.



Cope with Thursday, fall in love with Friday.

Nothing to Worry About.

Do you by chance remember Young Folks? That cheerful song that put you in a good mood the first +/- 1000 times you listened (and/or danced) to it? Instant cheer-up? Yeah, the one with the whistling

Peter Bjorn & John totally moved past that one and have a new record coming out soon. And on it will be "Nothing to Worry About". A completely different song - with a pretty heavy beat for indie pop terms - yet the same effect on me: Instant cheer-up. (And it'll probably be pretty annoying some time in the future. But what the heck.) Get it here.

Dine with Foucault.

While studying for the upcoming exams I had the quite obvious urge to listen to The Weakerthans brilliant "Our Retired Explorer Dines with Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961" Song.
And I even discovered that there is a fun video for it:

Watch out for the guy with the red rose.

Would you do that if Barack was watching?

Seriously, would you still do whatever you're doing if Barack Obama was watching?

(via)

The 30 Second Commute.

Even though Obama - and the reporting about President Obama - should be shifting away from personal, celebrity gossip to actual policy and hard work, there is a pretty interesting bit on nyt.com about the new management and the President's attempt to combine work an family:

“Even as he is sober about these challenges, I have never seen him happier,” Mr. Axelrod said. “The chance to be under the same roof with his kids, essentially to live over the store, to be able to see them whenever he wants, to wake up with them, have breakfast and dinner with them — that has made him a very happy man.”

50 People in London

This latest installment of 50 people, 1 question is all over the Internet already, of course, but it's just too beautiful and touching not to share:


Fifty People, One Question: London from Crush + Lovely on Vimeo.

(via The Junction)

Quick Thought .... on Naming.

Does the shift from the male positive, common use appliance Walkman to the unisex/non-gendered name iPod exemplify a general shift away from gendered, male positive naming?

Can't Block This Popup.*

So, finals time is coming up again. When I need a break from my cultural studies fix at the English dept. library, I head over to the great Team Love library. Recent great discovery: Popup from Glasgow. Their indie rock, constantly shifting between pop bliss and chaos, satisfies both the rhythm obedient and emotional I.
And there's a nice video as well. Enjoy:

This saved my (mon)day.



*Yeah, I know, it's bad-word-play-day.

"Are Poems True?"

Stephen Colbert discusses meaning, metaphores and J. Alfred with "inaugural poet" Elizabeth Alexander:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Elizabeth Alexander

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

(via Silliman's)

President Obama.

Barak Obama is finally sworn in a President of the United States of America. This image from the New York Times, found here, expresses way better than the glossy, celebratory images from the actual inauguration ceremony what I see in him and what kind of President I hope he will be. (Btw: Thought the speech was good, but not breathtaking.)

Now, in regards to his presidency: I fear the worst, hope the best. He will definitely not be able to the expectations - the tasks are just to hard, the expactations to high. But a decent attempt would be great.

Listen!

The greatest thing about the Bush - Obama transission isn't that finally a politician moves into the White House with whom I actually agree on a few issues. I'm especially looking forward to being able to listen to. His speeches. Press conferences. Statements. I don't think I will agree with every single Obama utterance, but it'll at least be bearable again to listen to him (if not even enjoyable). I had a hard time listening to Bush speak - not just because of what he said, but also because how he said it - and that means a limited ammount of first hand information I could base my own opinion on. With Bush, I could only stand the soundbites. With Obama, I'm actually looking forward to the (possible) end of soundbite politics. That's change I want to believe in.

Speaking of speeches: His speech on election night was pretty amazing, possibly historical, also in form, not only content. That sets up pretty high expectations for tomorrows inaugural address. For starters, here is Obama's brief speech during the inaugural celebration concert .

G-Unit or P-Elect

Really interesting short documentary (10 min.) by Byron Hurt comparing the contrasting male gender roles represented by Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, and Barack Obama.



(via merely thinking)

Dick and - Obama?

I can't help it. I've been looking at Nixon's speeches during the 1968 campaign for a class today, and I have a eerie déjà vu when listening to some of the arguments. I can't help but notice some similarities between Richard Nixon and - Obama. It's really odd, but it's the strategy of claming to speak for the Americans themselves (in Nixon's case: the silent majority) and claiming to go beyond party limits for the sake of America and the necessity of a 'period of negotiation' because "there isn't a place in the world where the United States isn't worse off than it was eight years ago".
I'm not saying there are actual parallel between them (also not that their speeches of performances are similar). But it just struck me as pretty odd, if not creepy.

"Is that what my voice sounds like?"

Shameless self-promotion: You can check out - and download - 'our' new EP called "Pocket Poets, Pocket Dances" at our website www.unionhills.de (Click on "Liebestöter")

Enjoy - and feel free to comment.

Presidential deja-vu.

We're back to "If you don't do exactly what I told you now, we'll be screwed forever"-politics. From the New York Times:

Just hours earlier, Mr. Obama called for speedy passage of the stimulus measure, warning that the recession “could linger for years” if Congress did not pass his plan within weeks.

Quarter Life Crisis

...and your mother said:
"Your party ended
pretty early, didn't it?"

You just spilled your coffee.

"Best" of 2008

Everybody does it, I can't help it.
Here they are, my entirely subjective Top 5 records/songs of Oheight. Picked more autobiographically than critically. Though all of 'em are very good.

Records

I Kettcar - Sylt
II Get Well Soon - Rest Now! Weary Head, You Will Get Well Soon
III Portugal. the Man - Censored Colors
IV Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
V Tomte - Heureka


Songs

I Chuck Ragan & Nagel - No Rubber Tired Vehicles Beyond This Point
II Why? - The Hollows
III Bon Iver - Skinny Love
IV MGMT - Time to Pretend
V The Hold Steady - Constructive Summer

Video

Stars - Bitches in Tokyo


Thoughts, comments, disapproval.

Things to Spoil the Holiday Spirit III*

A Dennis Prager quote via Feministing:

First, women need to recognize how a man understands a wife's refusal to have sex with him: A husband knows that his wife loves him first and foremost by her willingness to give her body to him. This is rarely the case for women. Few women know their husband loves them because he gives her his body (the idea sounds almost funny).

Some people should just fucking stop talking about women AND/OR men.



* Thing I obviously being the Israel - Palestine mess, II the pope's remarks on non-traditional heterosexual relationships. But don't even get me started on that.

Merry Christmas

Put the Lights on the Tree!

Coy Copyboy Procrastinates..

Christmas Shopping

(Cartoon by Gary Markstein via Cagle)

I'm done with all my Christmas shopping for this year - and even without too strenuous encounters with the shopping masses - thanks, Internet! I once made the mistake of trying to enter a brand new Ikea on Dec. 23 - not such a good idea. But now that this ridiculous (but some how necessary) part of this time of year is behind me, I'm ready for the merry holidays.

How Can I Express?

I see you in your car
-your air, your hair, your stare.
I feel you in your street
- your feet, your beat, your cheat.
I hear you in your room -
- your steps, your regrets, your sex.

How can I express,
overwhelmed by your presence?

That.
I'm.
Lonely.

Vogue.

Stunning black blocks your insecurity,
obsession with your style
represses your troubles.
Spend it all on your look,
that looks like you never looked.

Do everything to get his intention,
then act like your not interested
Interest through desinterest,
oldest trick in the book.

Ode to Giamatti.

A day after today is not enough /Words trick more than they play /Of sparks so sweet and rough / To taste the colors is your way to pray / Your life is bottom shelf / Your booze tops yourself / Crank up the TV / Tear up the books /Create more / be less / never undress / Differ from difference / another Other /The naked leeds the blind / surprise is far behind

I---------------------------------------------------------I

There's a beep in static,
that's worth fighting for.

Thought taped tediously.

Nothing's not necessarily nothingness.
Less labor longer lingering!
Radical Rudy reduces randomness.
Sexy Suzie seduces silence.

[Hope]

In a long plastic tube
you trip over your own feet

~

A race to face;
the goal wants you


The bear is named!
The bear is named!
It bears the same!


Same sex, same flex,
same cheques, same fame,
same failure, same solution.

~

The tube has an end.
The silver lining was
just reflecting silver.

:-/

repetitive words on
repetitive flags.

individuals marching
one by one
unisono.

flash vote
revolts by mailingslist
emoticons of hate.

in a last gasping breath
the fish yelps:
"pour la solidarité humaine."

I'm Lost for Words.

"Language rules everything"

-says he.

"That's genius!"

-says she.

But what is it worth,
if language fails me?

random acts of kindness.

Improveverywhere.com
[via]

The Male Mujer.

From the New York Times:

But nowhere are attitudes toward sex and gender quite as elastic as in the far reaches of the southern state of Oaxaca. There, in the indigenous communities around the town of Juchitán, the world is not divided simply into gay and straight. The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call "muxes" (pronounced MOO-shays) -- men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.

"Muxe" is a Zapotec word derived from the Spanish "mujer," or woman; it is reserved for males who, from boyhood, have felt themselves drawn to living as a woman, anticipating roles set out for them by the community.

Not only is it a interesting third gender concept (more/via). But it is an indigenous, an old concept. A socially accepted role for men who feel like women - something 'we' in the Occident* either still dismiss or see as a progressive achievement. In my eyes, this is just another little fact proving the whole colonial "European societies as epitome of the civilization" idea was (or is) ridiculous.

*As a sort of Said-esque term

It's not easy being a manly ad..

(Image byCaveman 92223; via)

Night Out.

To the tune of 80's heartbreak
I drink to understand.

I raise my glass to your mind,
I drown a bottle on your body,
I take a shot on your eyes.

My feet shuffle til they fade.
My hips wiggle til they break.
My hands clap til they're sore.
My voice sings til it's gone.


And at gloomy halogen dawn,
nothing has changed.
Except our ways.

Visions for the Illuminated Pint.

In case you're reading this and live near Ulm: Be sure to go to the 'Offene Lesung' at Kultbar (Ex-Regenbogen), organized by Union Hills guitarist and plain ol' great dude Samuel and titled: "Visionen fürs leuchtende Bierglas"
Present your own poetry or just listen - it's supposed to be even more relaxed than 'regular' poetry slams. No competition, just an attempt of art. Too bad I can't be there.

It's too offensive, too offensive.

So metal(poseur) Label Roadrunner Rec. apparently refused to promote Amanda Palmer's (Dresden Dolls) Leeds United video and album - because her belly looks to fat in the vid. After this ridiculous refusal, Roadrunner lost its most talented (and maybe even skinniest) artist.
And it only makes me like Ms. Palmer more.
The video is amazing, by the way.