overstatements on understated beauty

So, one of my intentions when I began bloggin' was to push articles of art that I cherish most, yet think that not many of you out there have enjoyed. My selection for tonight is an album of so-called minimal electronica/ambient music by Murcof titled Remembranza. I say so-called minimal, because I think it is a misnomer due to the fact that Fernando Corona's music is so lush with layers it can't possibly apply to the term minimal. The layers continue to peel away and reveal depth that I knew was present upon the first lesson, but had no power of perception or perspective to identify. A great album that fits a great listener is a relationship and like any relationship, there is a building process through which you get to know the album and all it has to communicate sensually and emotionally. One metaphor I thought of for the type of depth this album has is like eating a fresh pomegranate, having to crack it open and meticulously pluck out all the seeds. There is joy in the entire process, even though it takes time and a little bit of work.
There does not exist a bad song on Remembranza. "Rostro" is the hopeless, brittle heart that pens a love song whose very breathy sound sears across galaxies to connect with its truest love. It really does sound as though Corona knows the very essence of melancholy and is skillful enough to transform his knowledge into the perfect sonic representation. Listen to it here. "Camino" is the rumbler that ends the album proper and is fitting theme music for a gruesome late night alley, dripping with the condensation of steam vents and the tension of a city. Yet, it also breathes with ease, a marvelous paradox of style that sounds completely natural.
I listen to Remembranza about 2-7 times a week and quite often while going to sleep. It is, in my mind, a piece of art that is at the pinnacle of style, aesthetics and feeling. Corona's sound here is intellectual, emotional and sensual, a combination not commonly found.
If you live near me and don't have this record, I will assist you in acquiring it, I feel that strongly about the power of character this album possesses.

New Poem

I think that the first love sticks with you forever, like a scar, but a scar that continues to remind us of the possibilities we sometimes feel like giving up on. This is a poem about just that:

Andrea’s Blueprint
[07.11.08]

I’ve looked for you
every day since
the last day I saw you

peering around the veil
of every curly blonde lock
on every street corner
or coffee shop patio
or park bench

a yearning for that lost
I-don’t-know-what-anymore
the way Lou Reed sweats
through his homage to
his favorite opiate

the specter of love still
looks like you, Andrea
even when years of
growth & knowledge
tell me it will look
different when it next occurs…

your smile, your kiss
was the blueprint

Movie night on the couch

Semi-Pro was freakin awesome and hilarious, but I'm in the middle of Juno and I don't get what everybody was so stoked about. In fact, there is one aspect of the film that outright sucks: the way that Juno talks is fuckin ridiculous. For one, her slang is all sorts of off-register...she doesn't sound like a 17 year-old white girl to me (at least, it's not believable in my movie viewing opinion). Plus, she talks in that overly analytical manner that I've never heard a high schooler drop into; usually people don't talk like that until they take a couple of Philosophy classes in college. Ellen Paige's affect is just not fitting for the part from where I sit. But, I am still watching because I'm stubborn...

...and I can't suspend disbelief with Juno's whole I'm in love with you speech to Michael Cera's Bleeker. It just doesn't resonate as a real, tangible 16 year-old girl re-approaching a guy who she'd broken the heart of earlier. Maybe that perspective is biased by my own experience, but piss off if you don't like my opinion.

By the way, The Diving Bell & The Butterfly was amazing. I think Julian Schnabel might be one of my favorite directors, because Before Night Falls was equally incredible.

Smooth Sailing Homey

That handsome gentleman in the Oakland As hat is my good buddy (best friend) John Baker. Today, I dropped him off at the airport as he's headed to Prague (yes, that Prague) to teach English ("repeat after me class: you are an asshat") and drink Budjoviky (Czechvar). When any of you are in Prague over the next year, maybe two, stop in on him and say hi. As for me, I'll be visiting him soon, but for now, I say bye homey and will miss him, dearly.

Congratulations Jesus Shuttlesworth!!!

I would just like to extend a huge congratulations to Jesus Shuttlesworth, er, Ray Muthafuckin Allen!!!!! It was lovely seeing you play a possessed, opponent-ravaging NBA Finals to get your first ring, something I would've preferred to see you do in a Seattle Supersonics jersey. But hey, I love you no less and why the hell wouldn't you jet on a team going down the drain to the sewer???? Oh, and by the way, it was extra special to see you squash the Rapist, none other than Black Mamba (Uma Thurman should slice him one for that), the smuggest man alive Kobe Asshat Bryant. I do believe you kicked his ass!

A Love Affair Sans Disappointment

At least I have the Sox to keep me happy! Yes, I live in Seattle and, yes, I also root for the Mariners, but they suck and have a much shorter history and less rich tradition. Okay, they have a pretty good tradition of sucking the last few years, but anyways, I'm here to celebrate the Sox, not bitch about the Ms. In his last 6 games, J.D. Drew is slugging a mind-boggling 1.158 and that puts his OPS at a Pedrunkulous (Pedroia + ridiculous=Pedrunkulous...it's a long story) 1.773!!! I guess hitting in front of an also red hot Manny Ramirez (15 game hit streak, .386 average with 7 homers and 20 rbi!!) does a body good. This team is amazing. They have a sub-par Josh Beckett going every 5th day, Clay Buchholz on the DL kept company by Daisuke Matsuzaka and David Ortiz, but they continue to find ways to win. A little tip of the cap to manager Terry Francona is in order, because he has tinkered with the lineup and used the back-up players he's dealt in royal style. Doesn't hurt to Bartolo Colon step in for $5 a start and tear opposing batters a new one. Through it all, they have the second best record in the AL and thrid best overall, are leading the gruesome AL East (with the Yankees 7 games back in the basement!) and have shown that they can kick some ass (re: Fight Night @ Fenway versus the Tampa Bay Rays)!! Here's to a bright looking season! Thanks for helping keep me sane boys.

The Break-Up & the Brokenhearted Once Weres

You know that shattering feeling when a lover comes to you, because we need to talk and shoves a knife into your heart, but through your throat and around your lungs? That is the collective shredding of a fanbase's hearts in Seattle. But, with the cursory attempts at making them stay through lawsuits, we are dragging out the end; calling her 12 times in the middle of the night pleading for her to come back or why don't you love me anymore questions barely intelligible through the tears and hyperventilated sobbing. JUST FUCKING GO ALREADY!!! I can't stand the thought of you hanging around for this bullshit court crap, when we all (admit it or not) know you're going to Oklahoma City. Just fuck off and leave, but remember to leave the team name behind so that we might be able to ressurect it all once we've gotten past the late night binge drinking to forget you. Clay Bennett, I swear to the gods that if I ever meet you in person, I will remove your testicles Fight Club style for what you've done here (Howard Schulz, don't think you're much more in the safe zone yourself). My first sports memories, shit, some of my first memories at all, are of going to Supes games in the Kingdome when I was 4 years old. Do you wanna venture a guess as to what year that was?!!!?!?!!?!!?! 1979 motherfucker!! The only time we've had a championship in this city...and yer gonna drag that team away like an abduction victim in the middle of the night, only during the day and right in front of us. I fucking hate you. And I mean that. The brazen balls on you to talk of how (paraphrasing alert!) leases aren't specifically enforceable???!!? What the fuck are you smokin dickweed?! I don't get my deposit back if I brake a lease with a landlord, why should you get to name your price for bouncing on your lease, asshole?! And, by the way, you lost money last year because the team SUCKED ASS AT A SHIT INFESTED REST STOP!!! You'd lose money anywhere with a team that crappy! Though, I suppose when you rape a city's loyalty to its oldest sports franchise, people won't wanna show up to games, but I doubt that's the majority of your problems. Well, good luck in HELL mother fucker, er, I mean Oklahoma City!