I acquired a Tumblr page a couple of months ago, and although the initial excitement has passed (I don't think I'll be posting 70 times in 3 days ever again) it's still an extremely interesting exercise. It makes a nice change from the foot-long posts I put up here once every 3 weeks or so, I like the almost complete anonymity of it, and the fact that Tumblr isn't very audience-based at all, unless you have joined for the express purpose of attracting a wider readership or fanbase. I had to get used to the concept of brevity though ; I'm not exactly used to posting only three or four sentences at a time, or no words at all, sometimes. Also, Tumblr has taught me that people on the Internet really like cats, Nutella, "artistic" shots of naked women and polaroid-esque city skylines, all of which I can dig to certain degrees. But Tumblr, quite literally, has something for everyone, however niche or ridiculous your interests may be. Here are just some of my favourite one-topic blogs I've discovered to date :
A veritable treasure trove of charts, graphs, pictograms, squiggly lines, tables, diagrams, maps and visual representations of pretty much any goddamned topic in the world.
One of my favourites, The Process of Elimination Map.
Exactly what it says on the label - pictures of pretty men wearing pretty suits. Tuxedos and three-pieces, top hats and canes, bowties and neckties, young and old. It's like my equivalent of porn, but you know, classier.
A collection of images of abandoned towns, buildings, rooms and entire cities, with a little snippet of historical background included. Endlessly fascinating and sometimes seriously creepy.
Pictures of shelves and stacks and stacks of books from homes and libraries all over the world. This is what I spend many minutes staring at once I'm bored with the men in suits. Also I wish the library on campus looked like this, but it doesn't.
Possibly the most dedicated Twilight-hater in existence, this Tumblrer (Tumblrererer?) diligently and passionately dissects and rips apart every flaw, inconsistency, grammatical error and nonsensical detail within every page in every book of Stephenie Meyer's sorry excuse of a literary product. Few things make me happier than a dose of snarkily-executed Twilight-bashing in the breakfast hours.
Taken from the blog description : There are plenty of attractive men in the world, but unfortunately few of them that are avid readers. Welcome to "Hot Guys Reading Books" the blog that scours the internet for examples of luscious literary men and gathers the evidence in one place.
So yes ; hot, regular, non-famous boys hanging around reading books in the bus, on the train, at restaurants, on the beach, at home, at the park, and virtually everywhere else in between. This Tumblog is so inspiring and life-affirming, I tell you.
The only country, as far as I know, which has its own Tumblog. Iceland, as you may expect, is adorable, polite, accomodating, friendly, and full of gentle and interesting advice, not to mention some seriously too-cool-for-school music and film recommendations, as well as tutorials on "How To Knit Like An Icelandic Man". I can't wait to visit you in a metal flying machine and walk all over your volcanic plains, Iceland.
Halló, this is Iceland.
I do not know why, but many humans like to climb on me. Here is one of them.
p.s I know I haven't linked you to my own Tumblr, but I haven't updated the thing in yonks and it's sort of embarrassing. I will share when I am ready. Also, please to be recommending other awesome Tumblrs, Tumblrererers and Tumblogs I should be following.
I have always had a bit of a fetish for military-themed films and books (with a particular affinity for World War Two). In fact, I watched the very EPIC Band Of Brothers when I was 10 or 11 years old. It was probably really really inappropriate viewing material for me at the time but thankfully nobody really noticed and I turned out just fine, thank you. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across another war miniseries on Cinemax, promising me hours and hours of Trauma, Man Pain, Deep Issues To Ponder Over In A Quasi-Intellectual Manner, Emotional Porn, and naturally also some fairly Pretty And/Or Ripped Marine Dudes.
Why This Show Be Awesome And Is Needings Your Love. Lots Of It.
"Traditionally, Recon Marines are not deployed for combat missions. Their expertise lies in stealth operations. But in Iraq, they were ordered to race headlong into combat -- in tin-plated open-air Humvees. This misuse of resources is at the heart of the series and provides Simon a through-line that will be familiar to viewers of The Wire: characters futilely fighting the bureaucracy in which they are trapped. "
Generation Kill is based on the book of the same title by journalist Evan Wright, who was an embedded reporter for Rolling Stone magazine during the first 40 days of the invasion of Iraq with 1st Recon Marine Batallion, notably Bravo Company, observing and chronicling (chronicling?) the soldier's experiences during those first six weeks or so. Naturally, the show takes more of a journalistic standpoint and avoids over-romanticizing war and soldierly camaraderie like Band of Brothers tended to do. Neither is there any blatant political statement, and hardly any time is spent bashing George Bush and his stupidity. It focuses more on the characters; the men and the shit they have to face every day, mostly from their own superiors than from the so-called bad guys. There is no well-thought out combat plan, resources are scarce and what resources the battalion actually possess are being atrociously misused, communication between ranks is virtually non-existent, commanders are making up missions for the heck of it (and to get a few medals and commendations thrown in, hopefully) and as a result lots of shitty and unwanted stuff happen to both civilians and the marines themselves. Like, marines in the desert are issued jungle camouflage uniforms. Even I don't need an explanation to know that that is bloody messed up.
The cast is truly what makes Generation Kill stand out ; they are a terrific bunch of actors and nearly all of them have mad amounts of chemistry with everyone else in their platoon, so you really get the feel that these guys have known each other for ages. The dialogue is brilliant and made up of equal parts snark, witty observations, zinging one-liners and the foulest language you ever heard on TV (and you definitely get a lot more laughs out of this show than you would expect) .There are roughly 12 to 15 main characters (and all are awesome in their own way) but I've narrowed down my favourites to just 3. I know. THREE. I impress myself.
Brad "Iceman" Colbert "I was one of those unfortunates adopted by upper-middle-class professionals and nurtured in an environment of learning, art, and socio-religious culture steeped in over two thousand years of Talmudic tradition. Not everyone is lucky enough to have been raised in a Whiskey Tango trailer park by a bowlegged female whose sole qualification for motherhood is a womb that happened to catch a sperm of a passing truck diver. " Played by Alexander Skarsgard (who also plays the baddest ass vampire on TV ever), the Iceman is so named because of his infinite levels of self-control, focus and his stoic, almost cold calm in the most dire of situations. This dude is huge, blond, never wavers and never loses his grip. Also he is super cultured and intelligent and sarcastic and uses really big words and long sentence structures peppered with exceedingly creative cuss words. Despite his mastery of the proverbial poker face and his cool exterior, Brad genuinely cares for his own men as well as for the Iraqi people and deeply affected by the suffering inflicted on everyone around him due to the callousness and incompetence of his superiors. Brad commands the respect and admiration of everyone else, because he is badass and he knows his stuff and is always right. Also, he is ripped.
Ray Person "Yeah, looks like Saddam's big bad Republican Guard hajjis got wind I was coming. As the great warrior-poet Ice Cube once said, 'If the day does not require an AK, it is good."
Ray Person, to put it mildly, is simply the most vulgar character on television. He swears, he makes insensitive comments, he eats like an animal, he cracks jokes at the most inopportune moments, he keeps running his mouth during every waking moment of the day and breaks out into song at random, yet if you look beyond the crudeness of his mouth you will see a dude who is actually far more intelligent, perceptive and articulate than anyone will ever admit to giving him credit for. And what makes him all the more funnier is the fact that the Iceman happens to be his bestest friend in the whole world. I smell irony. Or something. Anyway this 57 second clip will tell you literally everything you need to know about Ray.
Filthy.
Nate Fick
Now Nate, Nate is my favourite. Mainly because the very poetically-named Stark Sands is so goshdarnedPurdy. And I love the cinematography people for giving us all these huge ass closeups of his face so you can get a good look at his holy-shit-GREEN-eyes.
Anyway, Lt. Fick is basically in charge of Brad and Ray and all their homies, and he is proper prep school graduate material. His father was a lawyer and his mother a social worker, and he arrives in Iraq full of faith and idealism in the motives and goals of the mission. And it is heartbreaking to watch all his hopes and optimism perish in the desert because of the aforementioned messed-upness of all the higher officials. He genuinely cares about all the men under his command and often gets himself into trouble trying to protect them and help them stay out of unnecessary danger, and then he feels he has to carry the burden of all that on his own shoulders, alone (the guy literally does not smile for like, 6 episodes in a row) and he loses all his naivete and becomes reserved and strung up. And it is much sadder in his case because Nate doesn't really say a whole lot, and instead relies on his massive green puppy dog eyes to EMOTE in an EPIC fashion and convey all his deep internal struggles and make you almost cry. Also, Nate and Brad have a very special sort of bond (born out of mutual respect and understanding, mind you - as well as the fact that Stark and Alex have some insane chemistry together) , and they spend a lot of time either eyeballing each other very meaningfully or gazing very longingly out at something else.
And I haven't even mentioned the scores of other great characters; the endearingly psychotic Trombley, the pseudo-racist Poke, the gorgeous Fruity Rudy (who actually plays himself in the series) and all the commanding officers you just want to punch in the face. It's a bit hard for me to pass judgement on a show about war (hardly subject matter as light and fluffy as vampires or telepaths) but in terms of entertainment value and as a piece of fantastically-made film designed to provoke thought and challenge your opinions, Generation Kill, well, kills. And the ending made me cry. I mean, all that Johnny Cash and unresolved trauma-induced angst. I was pretty glad to be alone at home with nothing but cornflakes for company, thinking "Show, you are Awesome". In fact, the only unAwesome thing about this series is that it only lasts 7 episodes and was totally snubbed by the Emmys. Boo.
I swear, these guys could play marshmallows next, and it would make me curl up on the floor and flail around at the utter unfathomability of their Divine Awesome.
It actually makes for truly fabulous Internet-surfing background music. I have listened to nothing else for 3 whole days. If you're curious, this clip was taken off the band's 2007 tour film Heima, which everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime. Here's the trailer. Geographical landscape pornography set to majestic glaciery post-rock, dudes.
I haven't updated in yonks, and I am bored. Therefore, meme it is. Maybe two.
The Soundtrack Of Your Life
Basically what this meme does is tell you what the soundtrack would be like if your life were a movie. Like all memes of this nature, it does not make much sense. But it seems fun, and definitely a lot more interesting than the infinite variants of "6 Random Facts About Me" floating around cyberspace. So, here be the rules:
1.Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc) 2. Put it on shuffle. 3. Press play. (No duh) 4. For the first question, type the song that’s playing. 5. When you go to a new question, press the next button TWICE. 6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool… just type it in. (I don't need to pretend to be cool, you asshat. I define it. Coolness, I mean.)
1. Opening Credits *HTML - The Hot Toddies ZOMG guys this is like the funniest song ever. In all seriousness. Although it rather points in the direction of my life turning out to be some sort of very quirky offbeat comedy with snappy dialogue and obscure pop culture references and a bittersweet ending. Aw.
2. Waking Up (in the morning, I assume) *Magpie - Patrick Wolf I refuse to wake up to this song. It is gorgeous, yes, but it also creeps the hell out of me, and it has nothing to do with waking up in the morning. I protest most protestfully.
3. The First Day Of School *Elusive - Scott Matthews Again with the utter irrelevance.
4. Falling In Love (Well, that was fast, no?) *Fall Line/Sunshine - Jack Johnson & Matt Costa This would work brilliantly. Just don't pay any attention to the lyrics.
5. Losing Virginity *Hallelujah - Imogen Heap Ooooooooooooooo. Leonard Cohen would approve.
6. Fight Song *Great Dane - Mates Of State Aww. I wanted some angst here. My life soundtrack needs ANGST, people.
7. Breaking Up *Exo-Politics - Muse AH, angst! Angst of a very political nature, but we'll take angst however we can get it.
8. Prom (OK, so I just broke up right? And I'm going to the prom? With a guy? By myself? What?) *I'm On My Way - The Proclaimers See, that works too.
9. Life *Reading Time With Pickle - Regina Spektor Uh huh.
10. Mental Breakdown *Nude - Radiohead Oh this is too cool. I get to have a Radiohead song in my life movie! And for the mentalbreakdown stage, too. I think I am tearing up now.
11. Driving *The Life Pursuit - Belle & Sebastian
12. Flashback *Spring Came, Rain Fell - Club 8 We'll have to make this a happy flashback. We need angst, I tell you. And emo. Where is the emo?
13. Getting Back Together * Space And The Woods - Late Of The Pier Boogierific stuff.
!4. Wedding * The Plot - White Rabbits A bit loud for a wedding. But hey, why not.
15. Birth Of Child *To A Bond - Islands AWW! I mean. Awww! I mean, the song's about bloodstains and leaves and ravines but whatever. Baby shall not get it. 16. Final Battle (so what are we now, LOTR?) *Bodysnatchers - Radiohead Another Radiohead track? Oh no way man. I is not worthy of their patronage, really.
17. Death Scene *Lola Stars And Stripes - The Stills
18. Funeral Song * New Soul - Yael Naim
Teh End.
And since it's all about music today, I thought I'd indulge in a wee pinch of pimpage, which I have not done in quite a long time.
Is it just me or does Jonsi sound very much like he is singing in English (and he's not, just so you know)? It is creepifying how the dude sings Anglais so well when he isn't even trying.
Also, ladies and gentlepeasants, you would all do very well to check out Fanfarlo, if you haven't already. They're a lovely indie folk band from London and they possess major pwnage and are also 1/6 Scandinavian and happen to be quite tight with the boys of Sigur ros. So tight, in fact, that their new album cover for Reservoir even features Jonsi Birgisson's younger sister on it. I developed mad love for these guys on the strength of just three demo singles last year and I am dying to get my ears on their first full-length effort. Also, whatever Sigur ros pimps, the BAP also pimps. Duh.
All this pimping, it makes my soul all warm and fuzzy.
No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. No more pants jokes. They're juvenile and silly and absolutely hilarious but I should stop now.
It's quite remarkable what wonderful things your parents do for you sometimes. Apart from conceiving you and giving birth to you and feeding you and whacking you over the head when you try to grab a hot iron. It's also wonderful when they buy an old rare CD from 1999 and forget about it, leaving it tucked way at the back of the cupboard with Elvis Presley and cockroach eggs ( I kid you not) so when you eventually dig it out as a 15 year old making her first foray into the world of music on her own (leaving Westlife behind) you feel like it's some sort of personal victorious discovery when in reality the album has been with you in the same house for nigh on 7 years. I have not seen much of this band on any of the usual music blogs I frequent. To this day I have yet to meet or hear from anyone who is at least familiar with the name. My mother almost had a fit when she saw the word "bastard" on the cover. But it felt good anyway. It was like an itty bitty special secret. And Debt&Departurevery slowly and very intensely worked its way into my brain and my heart and became my unofficial favourite album of all time, probably. I still can't quite put a genre to it; some songs are full out rock, others are more country. But there is a definite darkness that permeates the whole thing. Even the lighter songs feel a bit heavy, gloomy, and at some points positively suicidal. Only last year did I learn that Those Bastard Souls were/are an indie supergroup of sorts, made up of the likes of Joan Wasser, whom I remember as the violinist from the Leonard Cohen thingie, the dude from The Grifters and a couple of wanderers from Jeff Buckley's posse. And only much later did I learn that Debt&Departure is widely, if rather quietly, considered as one of the best albums of the 90s. Some reviews have dubbed it "insular, muddled, pretentious and with painfully cliched lyrics" but you should screw all that and listen to me because I'm always right.
What is the point of all this, you ask? Well it simply affirms what I have always known; that I, the Ultimate Awesomeness, have kick-ass fabulous taste in music. And a willingness to clean CD covers with cockroach egg smushed on them. And that I have almost equally awesome parents. But seriously. It's truly a gorgeous collection of music, one that will stay with me for a long time, and I'd recommend that you try it out. They may not be Sigur ros, but hey; who the heck can even come close?
I have been busy getting educated for the last week. I'd say my proudest achievement,however, was non-academic. I spent my weekend drawing up little tags for all the Euro 08 teams in their national colours. Who knew I had all that artistry lying idle within my soul? If I had a bleeding camera phone, they'd all be up on this here blog for you to admire. But I don't. So they're not. And you can't.
I downloaded the new Sigurros, and have been listening to it quite diligently. They sound- god forbid- happy. Not since Hoppipolla has there been such pure, unadulterated joy within the band, and the entire album is filled with the aforementioned happiness. It is overflowing with jaunty guitars, energetic tinkles, tribal drumming, handclaps, bouncy strings, joyful bursts of horns and trumpets, plus enough "oooh-ooohs" and "lalalalalas" and coos to last you till your funeral. And I want this album played at my funeral. Even the slower songs have a tinge of hope and optimism about them, instead of the usual air they have of the-world-is-ending-God-is-dead-the-Earth-burns-the-Trees-weep-we-shall-all-perish. This is probably due to the total lack of reverb, which is usually a speciality of the band. The heavy, distorted ambient sound is gorgeous and all that, but you can only have so much of cello-bowed-guitar and "oooh awwwhh ooowwwhhh" vocals. It makes the new LP both sound and feel much lighter, fresher and more organic. To add to the list of uncharacteristic deviations, only two of the songs are actually any longer than six minutes. And if you know Sigur ros, you know you'll be spectacularly lucky to get even a four-minute track. Regardless of how different it is to their previous efforts, it's still an excellent piece of music. They inch a little closer to more poppy vibes and radio-friendly track lengths (one blog describes it as what Death Cab For Cutie would sound like if they moved to Iceland and renounced the English language) , but I don't think I'll ever have to worry about them. Despite the bi-polarity of með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, it still reeks of Sigur ros-ishness. Which is never a bad thing at all. Now, when it comes to Coldplay..that's another story altogether.
The most fascinating thing about the new release is that it features the Ros performing in English for the very first time. Honestly, I can't tell the difference when Jonssi sings in Hopelandic/Icelandic or English. He still sounds like he's rolling extra large marbles around in his mouth and swallowing all his r's. It has sparked huge debate within the forums as to what he's actually singing. And to date the good people over at the message boards have come up with this ;
All Alright (work in progress) I want him to know what I have done I want him to know it's bad I want him to know what I have done I want him to know right now It may be this time tomorrow it may be today it is now alright now it's better now we'll know now he'll know what I am feeling I'm sitting with you sitting in silence listening to bird-hymns, like home singing in tune, together a psalm for no one listening to our birdlove it's home They're singing to my new love they sing it for me they're singing to my love
I just find it ironic that after all these years of unintelligible warbling in a language only four people on earth actually speak, it's one English song that gets people all riled up and killing their gray cells trying to find out what it really means. I say screw it and pretend it's in Vonlenska as well. It won't make much difference, and I'm sure the boys won't mind.
I have homework now. You can stream the entire album here and here before it drops on June 23. The band have prepared a special widget for their adoring music buddies to play with until we can all get our hands on an actual copy. Because they're cool like that.
(What song/s would you like to be played at your funeral? It's a tad morbid, perhaps, but I find shit like that utterly fascinating)
This surely, must be the best musical month I've had in quite a while. Not only do I have the new Coldplay to look forward to, but Sigur ros are also releasing their fifth LP, a mere seven months after the last album, which simply reaffirms everything I ever said on this blog about their insane coolness.
Their new album art features nekked people running across a road, as does the music video for their first single. All this artistic nudity in the style of Film School Grads Gone Wild, I believe, has pretty much sealed Sigur ros' fate with the Malaysian censorship board.
No, I don't really get paid to talk about them all the time, but considering the number of new fans I've made them in this country, I think I deserve an award, at the very least. Some sort of recognition, free concert tickets, my own vacation house in Iceland, with a golden retriever and a washing line made up of old broken guitar strings, and surrounded by dead trees. I demand appreciation, dammit!! Or do I have to repeat myself in Icelandic? Or Vonlenska, if they understand that better? But I digress. I have to start saving up now. I'm not too worried about purchasing Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. My parents also being avid Coldplayers, it's far more likely that they'll buy that album way before I can even finish saying "a rush of blood to the head". And they'll hog it all to themselves and not let me put songs on repeat and then I'll have to wait until one of them goes to work so I can steal it and listen to it on my own. Thank goodness there isn't a CD player in the car anymore, or I'll never get my hands on it. But I digress. Again. I'l have to start saving up to buy the impossibly-titled Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust( I dare that kid who won the spelling bee thingamajibby in the US to spell that. I dare him.) especially since this time around it features Jonssi singing in Ye Olde English, and also a 90 piece orchestra plus an entire boy's choir, which is the most extravagant thing the guys have ever done. Or maybe I'll pay somebody to go find it. The bare backsides on the cover worry me. The government may not even let the CDs get anywhere near this here country.
But after the whole Arctic Monkeys debacle ( and I'm quite certain it's a bleeding scam), these two albums, released within two weeks of each other, from two of my most beloved bands in the entire existence of the universe, should be very wonderful consolation. Now all that remains is for either one band to play a gig in KL, and I can die happy.
This is sick. This is incredible. This is the best thing that's happened all week, with the exception of Michael Johns making the top 12 in American Idol. My 2nd favourite band of all time have performed the most mind-blowing act of generosity, which has exceeded everything nice they have ever done before. Like including no song titles whatsoever in the album (), so that we fans would have no need to learn how to pronounce all the words in Icelandic. Sigur ros have probably just made my year. They just uploaded all 97 minutes and 21 seconds of their new tour film Heima, on Youtube. The entire fricking film. Just in case you didn't know, I'm actually insanely excited right now. I also have the insane urge to pee, but I'm holding it in just long enough to finish this post. Then I can go pee, and come back and wait for the video to load. If you don't know what a Sigur ros is, they're the band I was raving about just a couple of posts earlier, and if you stay and watch this, I promise it will be worth all 97 minutes and 21 seconds of your time. Even if you don't dig the music, it's practically like a pornographic take on the Icelandic landscape. Let me know what you think! I have to go pee now.
Oh &%$# this is gonna be orgasmic. (The film, not the toilet break)
Edit (March 11) ; I have just finished watching all 97 minutes and 21 seconds of Heima. I think I died and went to a trans-dimensional heaven for those 97 minutes and 21 seconds. I was all psyched and itching to write a review of it, but I have changed my mind now. In the words of Jonssi Borgisson, I say to thee; too many words just spoil things. Sigur ros are such huge advocates of the beauty of silence and they play down the meaning of words to such a degree, that plumbing my vocabulary for fancy, verbose, flowery phrases to describe Heima would be an injustice to them and what they stand for.I am not going to attempt to tell you about what the film is about, or how wonderfully it has all been put together, etc. In other words, no review from me, baby. All you need to know is that I liked it very very much, and I wouldn't have traded those 97 minutes and 21 seconds for (almost) anything else. Cheers!
