Salvador Dali

I want a Surrealist Kitten.

[Source: Cute Overload!]

Red light, can't stop, so I spin the wheel

Week 2 of Starting Strength:

Squat: 145
Bench: 155
Deadlift: 185

DB Military Press: 40
DB Bent Over Rows: 47.5

Dips: 2x8
Chin Ups: 2x5 with 70lbs assistance

My numbers are up everywhere except my squat and rows. On Wednesday, I squatted 160 but realized that my form was horrible; I wasn't going deep enough. I ran into a similar problem with the rows; I was getting the weight up, but my not high enough. Checking my ego, I lowered the weight today on both and did sets that I was proud of the form.

My lower back started to hurt this week a bit, and I can't help but think it was the poor form in those two that contributed. Hopefully with this little ego check I can keep on putting up more weight with better form and better results.

Space Buddies

I will probably watch this movie.

Russian Star Wars

The Russian Star Wars posters are amazing. Over the last few years on message boards, the Polish movie posters pop up which are similar in their "huh?" appeal. These were two I have yet to see. I love the electro-jaguar Darth Vader.

Dennis Dutton on The Colbert Report

"Is everyone doing art just to get laid?" - Stephen Colbert

It was refreshing to have someone on The Colbert Report talking about art and its importance in our lives and history. Stephen Colbert's little jab at conceptual art had me smiling.

I am intrigued by the book and its ideas: the brief excerpts I have seen make it look to be an easy read too. It also looks like it departs from the theory I am accustomed to reading and goes along a sociological insight into the material.

He's no good to me dead.

Remember Esme?

Polyvinyl is on a Mike Kinsella kick. American Football's EP, The One Up Downstair's EP and Owen's "(the ep)" have all been reissued on vinyl.

This is The One Up Downstair's first appearance on physical media. It was released earlier via iTunes, but this release seems to be catering towards the collector more than anyone else.

Due to my affinity towards these releases, it hit me today (perhaps a little late to the party) that this is signifies a definite shift towards digital downloads and vinyl, and away from CDs. It seems as though this kind of release appeals to the digital and analog archivist in a way that the CD never really would. You get your CD quality audio via the digital download (although I'm not quite sure on how the audio is encoded which could prove to be a problem for me) and the physical vinyl artifact with its tangible art work, etc.

Vinyl always has had that sensual appeal in its format and sound, something that the CD always had looming in its shadow and criticism by audiophiles. With this best of both worlds approach, why have the CD?

Obama to Citibank: No $50 Million Private Jet

First, Obama puts up salary caps, and now this. Citibank thought it could use a little of its $45 billion in government funds to buy up a private jet with an enhanced interior.

Thankfully, the "Obama administration called Citigroup about the company's new $50 million corporate jet and told execs to 'fix it.' "

[Source: Huffington Post]

Tramampoline! Trambopoline!

Intensity

Tech Support

Air softly crowing, singing fears to sleep

Drove home in the light rain listening to Mineral's End Serenading. It was one of those semi-existential (for lack of a better term) moments with the rain hitting the windshield in syncopation with the music.

I wanted to laugh at the lyrics and their overly emotive qualities, but I couldn't. Detached from Mineral, they would be high school poetry or a college introduction to creative writing assignment (at best). In their context though, they are something else. The simplicity of the guitar, the recording aesthetic and the delivery all come together at a point of rupture from the trite and move into a moment imbued with infinite meanings.

In the end, I'm just a Mineral fan.

3...2...1...Now fall in my arms now

I can't help singing along to this, and I'm hoping (for better or for worse?) that the next "Punk Goes Acoustic" has this track on it.

Do I need this for the gym?

I see tchatchke like this all the time, and my first instinct is "I want this." I then have to think of when, if ever, I would use it.

[Source: Gizmodo]

Yes, I think we've met before

This puts a smile on my face.

Late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal

I finished my first full week of the starting strength program with no interruptions. I have been trying to get in on it, but I had honestly been half-assing it the last few weeks of lifting: that is no way to see results.

Squat: 145
Bench: 150
Deadlift: 175

DB Military Press: 35
DB Bent Over Rows: 55

Dips: 2x8
Chin Ups: 2x5 with 80lbs assistance

My numbers are okay, but really could stand to improve. The squats are rough on me and I feel like they will be the most slow going. The bench and deadlift are going fine and even today after I finished my set I felt like I could have thrown up more weight; that was probably me being cocky though.

I pleased with my DB rows. The military press could stand some improvement, but my left shoulder is off and on with the soreness in its range of motion.

Dips come easy, and I want to transition up to 2x12 soon. With the chin ups, I'm unimpressed with myself. I can hammer out 2 or 3 full chins before I'm spent, so I need the assistance to do complete sets.

On off days, I'm swimming or doing intervals on the stationary bike. My stamina needs to increase; I can only make about 15-20 solid minutes in the pool before I'm spent. I'd like to be able to do a full 30 minutes of laps.

One step at a time.

I am sad, elated; I am segregated.

Just got in. The night started at the Whistlestop watching Fugazi's "Instrument" DVD. It puts a smile on my face to know that I had the chance to interact with and interview Ian MacKaye.

I left there and didn't really want to head home and thought of going to the gym. I opted instead to try Pink Elephant.

The band that was playing when I walked in sounded like an amalgamation of Seaweed, Samiam and Jawbreaker. It wasn't until the third song that I realized it was in fact Blake Schwarzenbach's new band The Thorns of Life. I kept thinking to myself, "this singer really wants to be Schwarzenbach with his content, delivery and flow."

All in all, their set was great. It combined what I like about Jets to Brazil and Jawbreaker into one catchy package. What I could make out of Schwarzenbach's lyrics still had that straight from the diary feel to them but with a little more reflection and insight. I guess this is to be expected as Schwarzenbach has hit his 40s now and isn't the 23 year old he was when Unfun came out. 

I was pleased that the feeling of watching them reminded me of the first time I saw Jets to Brazil when they toured on Four Corner Night. It was great to see a band that I was ultimately unfamiliar with and be really stoked on what I was hearing: that feeling seems to be few and far between for me.

Kevin showed up after their set and we asked Schwarzenbach if he would be interested in talking to us for our ongoing book. Schwarzenbach gave us a way to get in contact with him and seemed to be receptive and appreciative of the idea of the project being about subcultures and the internet.

Now, if only I could a hold of Bob Nanna again.

Through the sound of crashing pins

I'm going to try and make this the time I actually stick to this, instead of letting it fade away.

My paper proposal was rejected from the 2009 EMP Pop Music Conference. The topic this year was "Dance Music Sex Romance: Pop and the Body Politic." My proposal dealt with lyrical content and the shift from an erotics of wounds to a neurotics coupled with the implications that this has for the perception of the body by both the lyricist and listener, specifically in the context of a live performance . I'm curious to see the accepted proposals once they are posted: I anticipate a lot of electronic music to be dealt with this year based off the fact that "dance music" are the first words of the conference title.

I ultimately choose to focus on "pop and the body politic" as dance music isn't my area of expertise. Instead, I looked at (for lack of a better term) the late 90s post-hardcore indie/emo of Saves the Day, Alkaline Trio, etc and trajectory of bands that have followed them.

There is always next year to try again, and this dog has put a smile on my face.