music AND art.

December playlist

Funk You Up (Love of My Life remix) - Erykah Badu
I'm Good, I'm Gone - Lykke Li
Drain the Blood - The Distillers
Through & Through & Through - Joel Plaskett
Every Morning - Sugar Ray
Me or the Papes - Jeru the Damaja
Crystalised - The XX
Over and Over - Hot Chip
Down Down Down - The Expendables
Big Jumps - Emiliana Torrini
Us Placers - Child Rebel Soldiers (Lupe, Kanye, Pharrell)
In One Ear - Cage the Elephant

ready, set, listen.

paradox.

When did we decide that we could fulfill our daily dose of culture simply by browsing the internet? When did our computer screen become our window to the world? We are an entire generation living vicariously through others' blog space.



However, just for funsies, I will continue to update this site.

ryan.

and to follow up...

enjoy. :)

work, kindling, recess.

It's been much to long since I last posted, but my life got a bit hectic there for a while. Now that I find myself with all this free time on my hands, it's back to the blog I suppose.

My latest art discovery I can credit to my good pal, Arjun. Here's a sampling of some work by James Jean.

jamesjean.com

camellias on the moss.

Sorry I haven't been keeping up to date, I'm a little horrible at this. I also figured no one was reading this blog anyway, but it turns out I have FOUR followers!! So I must be true to the fans and continue putting down my thoughts.

SO the latest in my life would be a book I just finished titled The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which was originally written in French by Muriel Barbery and translated into English by Alison Anderson. The story intertwines two points of view; that of Renee, a Parisian concierge who nurtures a fervent love of art, philosophy, music and Japanese culture, and Paloma, an extremely intelligent twelve-year-old who lives on the fifth floor and plans to end her life on her next birthday. Both hide their true natures from the rest of the world, instead preferring to keep to themselves and scorning society and its idiosyncracies. However, when a new tenant moves in, Kakuro Ozu, everything begins to change.

I found the book to be humorous, intelligent, sentimental, and a wonderful read. Although sentences such as "The enigma is constantly renewed: great works are the visual forms which attain in us the certainty of timeless consonance" would sometimes discourage me, I pushed through and found it entirely worth it. The story is filled with philisophical observations, which I greatly appreciated, but if you are not a fan of intellectual commentary, I would not recommend this book.

My tastes in literature are extremely varied, however, and I've just begun Chuck Palahniuk's (author of Fight Club and Choke) newest novel, Pygmy. More on that to come. And finally, just for fun, I thought I would throw in a video that my friend showed to me. It's really fascinating, if a little long. Hope you enjoy!

summer lovin'.

I only just started this blog and I'm already falling desperately behind on my posts. It seems vaguely reflective of my inability to consistantly maintain a diary... oh well I'm trying.

So a few nights ago I went to see the new indie flick 500 Days of Summer. It was all I expected and more. For those of you who haven't yet heard of it, it's a delightful romantic comedy (to satisfy our need to squeeze everything under a neat label) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, two actors I really enjoy, and now even more so. The formatting was very interesting, which is often true for most indies, and the filmography lovely. I was most appreciative, however, of the unique ending. I find the majority of movies I see very predictable, but this one defied all my predictions. But of course I won't give it away.

This leads into my admiration for Zooey. I think her acting has a special signature that I adore, not to mention her extremely expressive eyes. My favorites of her would be her roles as Kate in The Go-Getter, Kit in Failure to Launch, Anita in Almost Famous, however small, and of course her quirky cameo as Kat on my favorite show, Weeds. (Notice all the K-names. Coincidence? Hmm...) She's also been in some not-so-great blockbusters, such as Yes Man and The Happening, but I can always forgive an upcoming actress her career mishaps. Some of her works are also my list of to-see, including Gigantic, Flakes, and Live Free or Die.

Aside from her acting career, I also greatly enjoy her musical work. She is a half of the duo that is She & Him, which also includes M. Ward. Their premier album, Volume One, came out March of last year. Their acoustic sound is reminiscent of the 70s with sugar-coated, country-flavored vocals. The mood is cheery, relaxed and almost overly sweet. It's not exactly one of my favorite bands, but it's definately worth a listen.

That's about all for now, although I wanted to quickly go off on a tangent and mention something I noticed very recently: there are three movies coming out called Nine, 9, and District 9, all within about three months of eachother. They all have absolutely no relation in plot, except the latter two have apocalyptic themes. Interesting little factoid I geuss.

cha ching!

I scored big time! My family took me out to an auction, where they sell off the unwanted posessions of deceased family members. (Only slightly depressing.) I found a box hidden away on the side with an AMAZING record collection from the 60s and 70s, with exactly 73 vinyls within. I paid $32.50. When I calculated (yes, I'm a dork), it came out to about 45 cents a piece. Quite a bargain I would say. The list of artists includes The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink FLoyd, Black Sabbath, Elvis, The Moody Blues, Elton John, The Who, Queen, Billy Joel and many more. This then inspired me to go through my mom's old record collection where I found even more goodies like Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Simon and Garfunkel, and The Beach Boys. This onslaught of oldies has caused me to fervently update my itunes. Or, I suppose, backdate? Bad pun maybe. This also made me think about some soundtracks that really fit this current musical mood of mine, including the ones for Almost Famous and Dazed and Confused. Both must-sees in my book. Anyway I've discovered a new personal passion and just need to score myself a record player so I don't keep bumming off my friends. Teehee.

so here it goes..

About the author:
I'm new to blogging and thought it would be a good way to share and discuss my interests. I'm most interested in discussing books, movies, music, fashion and travel. I also will most likely throw in other tidbits and randoms. My tastes are fairly eclectic, which doesn't exactly mean what some people seem to think it does..

Anywho, here are some fun facts for you to get to know me better.
Things I can't get enough of: coca-cola, sunshine, white v-necks, Mexican food and my iphone.
I live in the California, which largely influences my lifestyle.
I quite literally listen to basically all genres of music.

My current favorite songs would be:
Roots, Rock, Reggae- Bob Marley
Nothing to Worry About- Peter Bjorn and John
What It's Worth- Buffalo Springfield
Going Back to Cali- Notorious B.I.G.
Raindrops From the Sun- Imani Coppola
Always Like This- Bombay Bicycle Club

Of course I tend to get new favorites every week. And I'll most likely share that within this blog.

Now that you know some about me, I'll start with a real topic of conversation. I recently finished a book called The Hakawati, by Rabih Alameddine. It's an amazingly beautiful novel that interweaves the stories of one man's family, as well as traditional Arabic tales. The modern plotline is that of a middle-aged man, Osama, joining his family in Beirut to be with his father as he withers away in the hospital. He then reflects back on the fascinating stories of his ancestry, going back to his great-great grandfather. Meanwhile the tale of Fatima and her magical sons Shams and Layl unfolds, which also leads into a seperate story, the epic of Baybars. The author's diction and syntax create a magical atmosphere that makes it irresistable. The novel is an exquisitely flavorful exploration of the Middle Eastern culture that I thouroughly enjoyed. I would highly recommend it for everyone.