Put a record on

Slate.com, an excellent political and social commentary blog, dedicated one of their daily photo journals to the (almost) long-lost record store. Our generation and the generation before us have all but put out record stores, favoring digital music and cds before that. Our generation prefers ipods because of their convenience and portability. I like my ipod, but downloading music instantly doesn't quite have the same effect as thumbing through stacks of old records.

I remember when I first heard Paul Simon's Graceland on record. It was the spring of 2008 and I was sitting outside in a Burlington yard, having dinner with friends. The sound was robust and beautiful and did proper justice to Simon's terrific album. The sound that resonates is what sets records apart from your computers and ipod docks; records recreate an unadulterated sound that unique to records. Admittedly, listening to records is about the whole experience. There is something very charming about placing the needle on the grooved record and the crackling noise the record makes as it begins to spin.

Interestingly enough, the generation that killed the radio star, is also bringing records back. Our generation is incredibly nostalgic, even for things that we didn't experience the first time around, like records. Luckily, in Burlington, records are not hard to come by. Burlington has an abundance of music and thrift stores, most that sell records.
Burlington Records, on Bank Street opened last spring and sells records and record players (there is also an awesome thrift store on the second floor). If you're looking for cds, don't bother: Burlington Records sells records exclusively. Pure Pop, on N. Winooksi (at College Street), has older records and a great collection of newer music released on vinyl. Pure Pop also has an huge selection of new and used cds. Downtown Discs on College Street also sells cds (mostly used) and also has a small collection of records. Off the beaten path is Speaking Volumes on Pine Street (across from Battery Street Jeans and Great Harvest Bread Co.). Speaking Volumes is an awesome book/antique/record store in Burlington's South End. Speaking Volumes' collection rivals Burlington Records' collection with rare records. It's a bit expensive, but if you're looking for something unique, you can find it at Speaking Volumes.
You'll find records popping up at thrift stores, yard sales, and perhaps in your parent's house. Wherever you find them, give them a second look. Soon, you may be asking your dad for his old record player.

"Slutoween"

Look, it's sexy Indiana Jones!

I have a confession: I hate Halloween. This is unpopular with Halloween enthusiasts young and old and I have been met with looks of utter disgust when I tell people that, yes, I hate Halloween.

First, I don't like manufactured scary things (movies, haunted houses, etc.). The world is a frightening enough place as it is. I don't need to watch some woman being hacked up with a chainsaw by a masked man for entertainment.

Second, I don't like costumes. I've always had an fear, although I admit, an irrational one, of mascots. At profession sporting events I would cower behind family and friends as not to be seen by the mascot (what is this anyway?!). I don't know why these people in furry get-ups think that they can give me a hug, pat my head, and honk my nose just because they are in a costume.

As an adult, something new bothers me about Halloween. Yes, it's fun to get together with friends for a Halloween party. And like Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Arbor Day, Halloween is another excuse to drink. However, when I was younger I dressed up as a rabbit; a bag of Jelly Belly's; and as a pair salt & pepper shakers with a friend. However, there is a current trend with women and girls to dress up as, for a lack of better work, a hooker. The trend epidemic is so popular, there is even a name for it: Slutoween.

Women will put on a mini-skirt, stilettos, a bra, and some ears, and voila! She's a sexy bear. Leggings + tank top + ears= a sexy cat. Basically, a scantily clad outfit + ears = the standard female Halloween costume.

I don't have a problem with miniskirts--wear whatever you want, respect yourself, and have fun. My issue with the Slutoween epidemic is the lack of creativity and the fact that Slutoween has been marketed to girls. Frankly, it's gross how early girls are sexualized and not just on Halloween. Check out Limited Too or Abercrombie Kids; tight t-shirts and mini skirts are marketed to little girls as young as four.

You might say that girls want to wear sexy costumes. I argue that they "want" those costumes because it is the only thing that is marketed to them. Walk into any store that sells clothes or costumes and you'll find completely gendered boys and girls sections. Boys are sold Batman costumes and girls are sold mini dresses that resemble princesses or witches costumes. It is so ingrained in our culture that no one seems to notice anymore.

Mean Girls brought this phenomenon to the mainstream when the main character Cady states, "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it." Yeah, that's pretty scary.

Where The Wild Things Are -- Follow up

So I made a post a couple weeks ago talking about Spike Jonze and how wonderfully brilliant, cool and awesome he is. Yep, still right about that. Go see Where The Wild Things Are, I wasn't disappointed and hopefully you won't be either!

I'd like to first say how amazing all of the costume and set design was. The wild things, the big furry, towering creatures that they are, were made out of big foam suits in combination with CGI (for their heads.)

side note: I'd like to give some props to Maurice Sendak for introducing some of the strangest creatures especially within a children's story-- sometimes horned, sometimes fanged, furry yet fierce, big, loveable, mismatched wild things.

There's an amazing fort-type building they create in the movie which was also an incredible aesthetic element.

I wasn't really sure what to expect-- purely a children's movie or something more.

I got a lot more. You can definitely read into this movie as a commentary on life-- where we are the wild things trying to find some sense of order-- having to confront answerless questions and thus having to come up with our own sense of meaning-- the important part is how, who, or what you define this meaning as.

It's darker than I was expecting, which I really liked-- It didn't try to sugarcoat ideas by presenting an easy solution to the questions it asked.

Karen O. (lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's) and The Kids, wrote the soundtrack for the movie, which takes you on a journey in tandem with the film, playful, dark, sad, lonely, happy, etc.

so after the seeing the movie, my own personal wants:

- one of the suits Max wears

- A big, life-sized wild thing stuffed animal

Disney

So yesterday I opted out of studying for a french quiz for a good bit of television. No, it wasn't Sports Center, or MTV, or Anthony Bourdain. It was the good old Disney channel. And what better feature did I watch than the legendary "Aladdin"?

I remember watching this movie as a kid and not understanding it. Well, most Disney movies have "hidden messages"that only appeal to adults (we'll get to that), but I'm talking about the story in general specifically. The whole law about the princess having to marry a prince, the whole concept of marriage, and Jafar's inexplicable infatuation with evil went way over my head. However, the movie was saved because of the cute and lovable Abu, and the shy but sweet Carpet, and of course, Robin Williams' signature excessively bizarre voice acting as the Genie. Years later, I understand that Muslim tradition during (probably) the 10th-14th century treated women far differently than Americans view women today (as well as marriage), and Jafar's motives became more of an issue of lust for power, something incomprehensible by a five-year-old.

I gotta hand it to them, even after 17 years of aging, and the evolution from the animated to the computer generated - which I can ramble on for ages - the film was still knee-slapping hilarious. The allusions to pop culture still appeal to our senses today - when Aladdin becomes Prince Ali Ali'ababwa (or something like that) and parades into Agrabah, the Genie pops up like an announcer during the very familiar Macy's Day Parade. Aladdin also confides in the Genie at some point, and the Genie tells Aladdin that he likes him - but "not enough to look for curtains" or something along those lines.

Rant - I'm upset at all this computer-generated garbage. We have lived through the death of animated feature films as we know it. It started with "Toy Story", and as a last-ditch effort Disney produced Mulan and maybe a couple others, but "Finding Nemo" was the nail in the coffin, and really the turning point in what children watch. Did you know that Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, though both still on the Disney channel, are now completely computer-animated? Yeah, its pretty depressing.

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot; the movie captivated me so much that I decided to stay till the end and show up five minutes late to my quiz. Haha.

Cooper

Meet Cooper, a lovely black lab aged 6 years. Cooper is probably the best dog I've known. She loves people, but doesn't jump. She is shy, but very playful. She's the type of dog that will play ball until your arm gets too tired - if you couldn't tell by the picture, she actually is quite attached to her ball. You'll also notice from the picture that she doesn't sit like a normal dog. She plops down right on her ass. I think she thinks she's a person. She loves attention - if you pet her, expect to be in for the long haul. She only sheds once a year, which I think is pretty uncommon for black labs.

Here's a short story of Cooper's dedication: I went for a kayak and paddle boat ride with my parents last summer, and we saw Cooper running along the shore, making sure we were in sight the whole time. We stopped and talked for a little bit, then realized that Cooper wasn't on the shore any longer - she had actually jumped into the water, and swam probably 100 yards to us. She was almost there, but no way could she stay afloat for that long. My stepfather had to lead her into shore in his kayak. I thought she was a total bonehead at the time. But I realized she only did it because she had to be near us.

Whenever my brother, Sam (he's 4 1/2), is playing near the water in his sand, Cooper is sure to be sitting nearby, protecting him. I'm sure that if he were to fall, she would be right there to try to help him.

Cooper tore her ACL about a year and a half ago. It happened over the summer, but we elected not to do anything right away - she would require 6 weeks in a crate after surgery, immobilized, so we figured we should wait until winter when she's not really missing anything. Winter came - she got the surgery. She was really, really out of it when she got back home. She had to wear a cone around her head so she wouldn't lick the staples in her leg and infect the incision. There was some humor in it though - her entire leg had to be shaved so the vets could operate efficiently. I mean the ENTIRE leg. Like, paw to butt. Her back actually looked kind-of like a big, hairy chess board. The funniest part of it all was it took until the beginning of this summer for the hair to grow back. I took her on a walk and someone stopped and asked me why she looked like that - I told him she was a rare breed of lab, a Checkerboard Lab. I think he thought I was serious.

Unfortunately, we think Cooper has now torn her other ACL. We aren't sure what to do. Another surgery is costly, and potentially risky. We could end up having to put her down. I'm scared for her - she's such a good dog, loving, devoted, and friendly. I hope she can play ball again.

The best band you are (probably) not listening to

This weekend, I had the sensory pleasure of seeing Grizzly Bear in concert. The indie darlings were melodic, charming, and completely rocking. Opening for Grizzly Bear, however, was Beach House, the best band you are (probably) not listening to. I’ve loved them for awhile but their live performance confirmed my undying love; theirs was one of the best I’ve seen in recent memory. Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste told the audience, “You should really listen to this band.” I know Ed, I know.

I first discovered Beach House in the winter of 2008 after they released their second album, Devotion. During the desolate Vermont winter, I was warmed by the otherworldly melodies and the poetic lyrics that would dance around romantically in my head.

Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Beach House is Victoria Legrand and Alex Scully. Legrand and Scully employ a keyboard, organ, guitar, and exquisite vocals to create some of the most original music I’ve heard. I read an article describing Beach House as “unclassifiable” music with which I wholeheartedly agree. Often artists are cheaply passed as sounding like x artist (I find this particularly common in bands with female vocals). However, vocalist Victoria Legrand’s voice is so hauntingly beautiful, she is unparalleled in comparisons.

I don’t care much for “Best of” lists, no matter how accurate they are. However, both Beach House’s first album Beach House and their second effort, Devotion, were included on Pitchfork’s Best Albums list in 2006 and 2008, respectively.

I have to wait until 2010 to hear another Beach House album. Yet, this band’s already impressive body of work is sure to get me through another long winter. I implore you to check out this beautifully talented band.

What, say you, is the best band that we’re not listening to?

ps:

The Trotsky

Bonjour from Montreal. This weekend is the Montreal Film Festival (Festival du Nouveau Cinéma.) I just attended a screening of Jacob Tierney's "The Trotsky." Revolutionary!

What an interesting concept for a movie-- a 17 year old kid, Leon Bronstein, thinks he's the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky. He has a list of things he must do in order to fulfill a life that mirrors Leon Trotsky's. He's incredibly motivated, dedicated to getting his school a union for it's students.

I'm impressed with this movie for a number of reasons. I thought it was shot well, it had an incredibly unique plotline, the characters were interesting-- especially Jay Baruchel who did a great job as Leon. The dialogue was noticeably more believable for the most part than with many other movies. It was inspiring-- the story, the creating of such a story and just the movie as a whole, rebelling never seemed so... inspiring? yea.

See this movie when it comes out. Especially all you UVMers who have been a part of any of the on-campus protests, you'll probly dig this.

Ahoy matey...

So, we all remember the ex-navy captain Vermonter who was captured by Somali pirates last spring, correct? Well, piracy continues to be an issue in the ungoverned waters off the coast of Somalia. However, some resolution may come sooner than expected.

A band of Somali pirates attacked a ship last night, but were immediately thwarted. Why?

The vessel they attacked was a French navy command ship.

The ship, titled "Somme", measures 160 meters long. Allegedly, the pirates were confused when the ship fired back, and attempted to flee. The Somme captured a band of pirates, who are held on board at this time.

Seriously - how do you fuck that up?

Read the Full Story Here

My Video

I think its way too abstract... but... whatever.

Its all about Legos... and life. I'm not sure if I did this assignment entirely correctly, but, if nothing else, try to listen to my message and use your imagination. Other than that, I'm not going to tell you too much else. If you're really interested or confused, I guess you can ask about it. But I think everything you need to know is already in the video.

recipe for cookies & life.