Reading List: Februar

Fiction: 

J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
J.D. Salinger: Franny & Zooey.
Virginia Woolf: Breaking the Waves.
William Gibson: Neuromancer.
William Gibson: Count Zero.
William Gibson: Mona Lisa Overdrive.
Douglas Coupland: Generation X. 
Caitlín R. Kiernan: Threshold.
Caitlín R. Kiernan: Low Red Moon.

Films: 

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, Wes Anderson) ****.
Bring it On (2000, Peyton Reed) ***.

Music: 

Clues: Clues.
Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles.
The Arcade Fire: Funeral.
Portishead: Third.
Elliott Smith: Elliott Smith.
Kid Harpoon. First EP.
Kid Harpoon: Once.
Kid Harpoon: Second EP.
Los Campesinos!: Romance is Boring.
Scout Niblett: The Calcination of Scout Niblett.
Simon & Garfunkel: Live in New York 1967.
So Many Dynamos: Flashlights.
So Many Dynamos: The Loud Wars.
So Many Dynamos: When I Explode.
The Whip: X Marks Destination.
The xx - The xx.
You Love Her Coz She's Dead: Inner City Angst EP.
Crystal Castles:  Crystal Castles.
André Herman Düne: Brother Morphine.
Howlies: Trippin' With Howlies.

Episode Five - Love, Love, Love, what is it good for?

This is the first episode this season that I won't see live, but I am a little bit more excited by the trailer than expected. I would feel good about this episode if Freddie felt more like a well-developed character afterwards. Love doesn't fix everything - the theme of the season.

mixtape...

the good natured. HOW CAN I BELIEVE IN YOU? eugene mcguinness. FONZ. slow club. GIVING UP ON LOVE. social studies. LET'S LIVE FOR TODAY. sonic youth. MOTE. various production. HATER.

Pour the perfect pint!

In more semi-technodeserty news: 

The AV Club has an interview with Olivia Williams (Adelle DeWitt), who is in Roman Polanski's new movie, "Ghost Writer". Someone asked me last Friday whether I was ever "on the AV Club" (it was a very fun but weird conversation, simply because I don't get to completely geek out about Joss Whedon half-drunk in real life often). I am. Mostly because they have interviews with really cool people, like Alia Shawkat, or recently unemployed Ana Marie Cox (please, give her a segment on the Rachel Maddow Show. That would totally make my day).

Health Reform! LAST CHANCE! THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY WILL RISE AND FALL WITH... (it's a forum. Somehow, that word does not quite inspire the apocalyptic visions other news outlets employed today).

Barbara Rosenkranz vs. Heinz Fischer for President (my first presidential elections!)? Wackness.

Gegenüber von der Supermarkt, Ja.

It's the only thing in my head right now. Plus such a bad internet connection that I have to wonder what size pictures are, which is... a serious challenge.

More pretty pictures from the lost scene. 

In "the real world"...

Die Presse: Eberau: Volksbefragung bringt klares Nein zum Asylzentrum, 21. Februar 2010

NY Times: Marines in Afghan Assault Grapple With Civilian Deaths, February 17, 2010

Lied zum Sonntag

Eugene Mcguinness - Monsters Under The Bed

There are so many hours in the day. I know I've got work to do but hey -
My will to move, or even use my brain, is weathered by the eternal english rain.
And when the talk show ends, I scream right at the screen for more pregnant teens. I can't fall asleep, it's almost 3 so I water the flowers out on the street,
and I spent 5 hours on the net last night, avoiding the monsters under my bed with square eyes.


How fan-fucking-tabulous it is to be so scared of the dark like this. I know I've got work to do, it's a bitch. I'm staggering round, I can't find the switch,
and I spent 5 hours on the net last night avoiding the monsters under the bed with square eyes. Now I dare not stick my feet out the end, in case they bite and sing a monster song


La-da-dup-ba-da-bow-ah


There are so many hours in the day to address this problem in some way- Some barbie doll talks of carb intake. I turn it off, and for now, I'm ok.

 [auf "The Early Learnings of Eugene McGuinness", 2007]

Episode Four - It's Gotta Get Bad Before It Gets Good

She's Katie fucking Fitch, and who the fuck are you? 

I don't really have any wishes for this episode (being all seeing, I already know that this will be fantastic, but devastating). There's a pretty good chance that hearts will be broken.


mixtape...

peaches feat. iggy pop. KICK IT. le loup. OUTSIDE OF THIS CAR, THE END OF THE WORLD! loney, dear. EVERYTHING TURNS TO YOU. timber timbre. MAGIC ARROW. mountain goats. GAME SHOWS TOUCH OUR LIVES. portishead. SMALL. 


This  starts awkward and then turns into the most awesome ever because they are basically interviewing each other (and the last minute is just...). 

And why in Europe, of all places?

"Why has the crisis of capitalism not become a political crisis for the centre-right? And why have conservatives in Europe had a better recession than their counterparts in America, which until recently seemed like the exception to the conservative mood in the rich democracies? True, the centre-right is not without hope there. [...] Even if their recent recovery proves to be enduring—which is, as yet, far from obvious—a puzzle remains as to why the European centre-right coped so much better during the economic crisis."

Economist: Old dogs and new tricks, February 11, 2010

But sometimes the music just comes straight from the episodes...

So I've been rewatching the first two seasons of "Skins" (it's the holidays, so what else am I gonna do?) - and among the many things that I noticed in my second run through (the first was almost exactly a year ago) is how different the show felt in its second season: much more serious, the characters had more depth. And I remember too how suprised I was to find myself way more moved by the Jal/Chris story, that developed so slowly and then almost seemed to come out of nowhere in the second season episode "Chris", than the whole Cassie-thing, although I love the character of Cassie and her function in the story, as the perceptive, outspoken girl that always notices everything but can't really interfere to prevent the catastrophe she sees coming (hence her name). I had pretty much the same feeling after rewatching some season three episodes and comparing them to season four so far (they could not pull off an episode like "Pandora", with its lightheartedness and simple cuteness, right now). 

Three other things: I miss friendships, as I said in my review on "Cook" (Cassie/Jal, Jal/Chris before they become a couple, Maxxie/Anwar, even Sid/Tony at times)

I forgot how wacky Pandora is in the season two episode "Effy". Lisa Backwell doesn't get enough credit for "Skins", and that makes me sad. 

I miss the Effy from season two episodes like "Tony & Maxxie", "Tony" (although the fact that Tony "finds himself" with the help of a spirit named "Beth" that looks remarkably like his sister/a female version of himself still disturbs me) and "Effy" (it's probably relevant to keep in mind how much responsibility Effy had to take up in season two, and how destructive her parents were). The writers struggled to turn her from one of the most interesting minor characters into the major one in season three, and I think they succeeded in retaining some of her most interesting qualities (most importantly how observant she is when it comes to other people, and how much she enjoys seeing stories unfold), but failed in providing her with her very own storyline. 

Anyways: 

Althea & Donna - Uptown Top Ranking

I knew Scout Niblett's cover version before and this time around I realized where I'd heard the song while watching "Jal". In other news, people who talk during Scout Niblett concerts make me mad. They are evil.

Not even topics, more like... random thoughts.

How do you measure the performance of the legislative branch? How many hours of work actually lead to bills that get passed? How effective these bills are in tackling whatever they concern? How many of the burning issues actually get as far as to the floor of a congress / parliament? 

Why does "Skins" lead me to loads and loads of good music, in spite of the fact that only a tiny part actually comes from episodes? 

How have I never mentioned that "Parks and Recreation" and "Better off Ted" are far better shows than "The Office", "How I Met Your Mother" or "30 Rock"? Because THEY ARE. 

"Friday Light Nights" ended its fourth season last Wednesday, and the fifth one will be the last. Devin wasn't in the second half of the season, which is probably why I never wrote about it. I also thought it was a little bit weird how Dillon all of a sudden turned into a completely different kind of city this year (still good drama and acting, and possibly the most realististic portrayal of family life on television). 

and finally, a confession: I've never really liked fanfic but omg, among the many fans of "Skins" are some incredibly talented writers who add so many vital facets to the characters - I don't think I'd enjoy this season quite as much without them. and They are quite lovely.

Incrowdverhalten.

"Was Kathleen Hanna really mainstream in the '90s? Or Courtney Love—God help us all—a role model? Still, I see where you're headed with this. It's not that today's music lacks brash, unapologetic female stars—Lady Gaga, hello!—but everything about them, from their antics to their songs' production, feels so calculated, doesn't it? Rock stars in the '90s seemed less packaged, less sculpted than they are today (the latter being literally true in Love's case and also Phair's). I don't see that pendulum swinging back anytime soon; mainstream pop music is now practically synonymous with an overtly constructed persona, especially where female artists are concerned."

Slate: Exile from Grrrlville, February 11, 2010

St Vincent - Laughing with a Mouth of Blood

via Monitor Mix (obviously)

Das Lied zum Sonntag

Bei einigen Textzeilen bin ich mir nicht sicher.

Kid Harpoon - Small Town War

Spreading rumours, growing tumors, come upends (?), coming sooner.
Blood under these nails. / Push me down, I am peaceful lying on the ground. Blackened by fame, a blackened heart so eloquently sharp,blinded by hands and hooks. A vision of Peter Pan: I'd rather die than be a crook!

One two three, gunmen count, hitting four, they cancel themselves out.
Run to the hills, run to the ground.

Admists a foreign dining hall, portrait on the wall, monkey and the circus ring.
"Feeling peckish son? We pay bananas if you sing."

The soldier from our town gave his life to the crown,
marching to war as a goose,
vanished in a breath and honoured with a noose.

The balance is equal the struggle of people, joys are not our trade.
 The big earth spread open, the color a token, my face still a name.

Are we friends are we foes nobody seems to know, these hungry vultures will pick my bones clean. When I was a minutiae can't stop between rivets (?), time will judge us all.

A fatal friend or a foe, with two hands which must show a prophet or shaman's tongue.
I am an atom: I believe in neither one.

So to end with the beginning and the trumpets call whose winning . Where Judas is all our friend, if to destroy is to create let's hunt and kill with pens.

One two three, gunmen count, hitting four, they cancel themselves out.
Run to the hills, run to the ground.

[auf "The First EP", 2007]

Linkliste unbehandelter Themen

The soundtrack for your reading: "Percussion Gun" by the White Rabbits, a six-piece band from New York City (why is vimeo so much prettier than youtube?)

While I completely support the Robin-Hood-notion of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor (yes, "Leverage" is something I look forward to every week, even though Christian Kane looks like a little girl with that hair bring on the hate), I think the whole idea becomes a little bit problematic when governments engage in the purchase of stolen goods to fight tax evasion. You fight tax evasion with policy and binational agreements, and no, getting back more money than you invest in the purchase of said stolen good does not make it any more right. 

The EU-directive about "Vorratsdatenspeicherung " isn't just currently under review in the German constitutional court , there is also an effort among lawyers and judges to have it repealed. My internet provider definitely knows more about me than most people in my life (ugh. is that bad?) and it's a little bit scary that people don't actually care about this a little bit more. As this is a huge programme to be only used for the "Fight against terrorism", it will naturally slowly grow into something of relevance in the fight against illegal filesharing and (what? DIVORCE?). Pandora's box. 

I've avoided the issue so far but here it comes: "Anwesenheitspflicht" for asylum seekers is the rainbows and unicorns version of incarceration. It's unconstitutional, so why are we even discussing it? The "we have to be able to talk about everything" doctrine sounds nice (let's talk about adoption for gay couples! hey, where did you go?), but this conversation should go something like this: "So we've thought about detaining asylum seekers for weeks inside the reception centres because that will clearly help to avoid conflicts" / "But that's unconstitutional" / "OK, next idea."

To soothe the feelings of frustration and hopelessness, pretty leaves art.   

Look, an entire post without mentioning ... almost oh and this 

Episode Three - Less Squee, more Angst

Spoiler-Free Hopes and Wishes: 

Scenes in which Naomi is not defined by Emily. 

Scenes in which Cook proves that he is "nicer than most people think". 

This probably won't happen but where is Katie? She needs more scenes, because she is secretly awesome. 

Equally astonishing music as in "Emily".

Freddie, doing something that doesn't make me unhappy.

More unexpected "this is the Effy from season one and two who was so above the trivial lives of little human beings and only occasionally meddled in their affairs" - appearances.

until then: some music. crystal castles. ALICE PRACTICE. shinichi osawa - PUSH  (tronik youth remix). clues. PERFECT FIT. the rosebuds. LIFE LIKE . so many dynamos. THE FORMULA. aa bondy. HOW WILL YOU MEET YOUR END?

Thomas and JJ have a very special job interview at a cinema, proving that they can bring the funny.

...oh and, you know, the review. I got almost everything I wished for, if you count the preview as an integral part of the episode. 

[humble apologies to everybody who does not care about "Skins". It will be over in like six weeks.]

Someone took this to heart

"In terms of not giving people what they want, I think it's a mandate: Don't give people what they want, give them what they need. What they want is for Sam and Diane to get together. Don't give it to them. Trust me. You know? People want the easy path, a happy resolution, but in the end, they're more interested in... No one's going to go see the story of Othello going to get a peaceful divorce. People want the tragedy. They need things to go wrong, they need the tension. In my characters, there's a core of trust and love that I'm very committed to. These guys would die for each other, and it's very beautiful. But at the same time, you can't keep that safety. Things have to go wrong, bad things have to happen."

Joss Whedon, AV Club Interview in 2001 

but also: 

"Very occasionally, if you pay really close attention, life doesn't suck." 

By the way, this  is really pretty.

This is what happens when I battle a cold with booze...

More music! Kid Harpoon is a singer from Kent. People in his songs wreak havoc and destruction (so guess what they remind me of). 

Stealing Cars 

Stealing Cars - Kid Harpoon from felix on Vimeo.

website. 

I know I just rambled about a song but...

I can not stop listening to "Lucky Bastard" by All Get Out. This live version is good too, but the Daytrotter session one is haunting me.

And yes, I currently do have a playlist titled "You're Always Afraid", featuring several songs from the episode and some others that I found equally fitting.

(also being sick for a week, then caring for someone who is sick, seems to result in getting SICK AGAIN. For fuck's sake.)

Das Lied zum Sonntag

Ben Folds Five - Mess 

There was a time that I had nothing to explain. Oh, this mess I had made! But then things got complicated, my innocence has all but faded. Oh, this mess I have made
And I don't believe in God, so I can't be saved. All alone as I've learned to be in this mess I have made.
All the untested virtue, the things I said I'd never do: least of all to you.
I know he's kind and true, I know that he is good to you. He'll never care for you more than I do. But I don't believe in love, and I can't be changed. All alone as I've learned to be, in this mess I have made the same mistakes, over and over again.
There are rooms in this house that I don't open any more. Dusty books and pictures on the floor. That she will never see - She'll never see that part of me I want to be for her - What I could never be for you.
And I don't believe in God, so I can't be saved. All alone as I've learned to be in this mess I have made.

[on "The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner", 1999]

A weekend spent thinking about this episode of "Skins" , experiencing the sense of shell-shock in fandom, and the immediate instinct to write stories to make sense of it. I know, there's been a lot of "Skins" and too little of anything else here, and I promise this will change soon (I also hesitate to review the final episode of "Dollhouse", because posting it would be such a definite end). It's just that this is such a good story.

And then other stuff happened...

"And what those thoughtful, educated, well-off, well-regarded gentlemen did was invent a democracy sufficiently undemocratic to function and endure. They wanted a government run by an American elite like themselves, as James Madison wrote, “whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.” They wanted to make sure the mass of ordinary citizens, too easily “stimulated by some irregular passion … or misled by the artful misrepresentations” and thus prone to hysteria—like, say, the rabble who’d run amok in Boston Harbor—be kept in check. That’s why they created a Senate and a Supreme Court and didn’t allow voters to elect senators or presidents directly. By the people and for the people, definitely; of the people, not so much."

NY Mag: Is Democracy Killing Democracy? , February 5, 2010

see:

Republican Virtue.  

To celebrate Squee, Part II

Here's something that somehow sounds like it belongs into "Skins" (The Whip shares a label with You Love Her Coz She's Dead, maybe that's why?)

In other news: The Sarah Silverman Program is back, Austria has a new minister for research and universities, the US policy process is broken, Archie Panjabi from "The Good Wife" is awesome, but mostly, it's Emily's episode on "Skins". Priorities, kids, priorities.

Working stream here / now here (this is like a frakking treasure hunt). 

Compare and Contrast: Rossum 2020

"And, for an instant, she stared directly into those soft blue eyes and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were no longer even remotely human."

William Gibson: Count Zero, p29

Columnize My Randomness, Part 28

So Many Dynamos are THE PERFECT band to beat back awful winter. "It's been over a year now / The novelty of haunting has worn off. / It was cool for a while / My funeral was decent and I want to see my friends now." (The Novelty of Haunting). 

Amy Acker talks about her character Whiskey in this interview, and reveals the definite answer to one of the remaining questions the "Dollhouse" left after its finale, and Eliza Dushku explains some aspects of Echo and is really happy that they got to wrap the show up, instead of ending up with a never-resolved cliffhanger.

Daria is finally coming out on DVD in the US. I watched this when I was 15 (back when MTV was...different. Oh, nostalgia), and in terms of intelligence, characters and dialogues, this is my favourite high school series of all time, beating even "Freaks and Geeks".

Comic Book Resources has a preview of Brian Wood's continuation of "Demo", a series of graphic novels centering on people with special abilities.[via Pop Candy]

Tomorrow's episode of "Skins" is Emily's . e4 has a couple of clips that you might not want to see if you want to go unknowingly into the episode.