Urban Outfitters Rant and Recent Music

I realized this morning that I would make a terrible "professional music critic." For that matter, I would make a terrible hipster; I don't like listening to an indie playlist or radio station just for the sake of the trend. The label "indie" does not automatically equal appealing. In fact, many of the big name indie bands sound pretty drab and boring to me, so actually having to listen to new releases and critiquing them for a publication would be difficult for me. I'd either say, "This one was pretty good," or "Nope."

It's easy for me to immediately relate the indie genre to Urban Outfitters. The store's name, in turn, has become my new favorite adjective. I feel like it's the easiest way to describe the subculture that wears $90 thrift store crap that I could find in my grandma's garage, and follows every self-proclaimed indie band that the store releases a vinyl LP for.

I don't hate Urban Outfitters. Every Christmas I generally order about $200 worth of stuff for my family, (and I can't deny a nice pair of clearance t-strap shoes or a fantastic deal on a vintage-style purse,) but I really dislike the fads that have been bred by its sales and endorsements. I don't like having to see those trends screaming at me when I go to a show in my tragically un-hip southwestern town, because most people have no idea what they're doing. They don't know how to adopt the look and make it work for them, (but maybe in general, few do.) Perhaps in a bigger city, I would be more accepting, but it would most likely be because I would have exposure to individuals who modify the style and add creativity to it--maybe a piece or two from UO, but also a vintage necklace, a thrift store sweatshirt, a handmade skirt.

I digress. It's hard to put a finger on my musical tastes. Rhapsody classifies me as a fan of Electropop, Indie Pop, Alt Dance, Post-Punk, and Brit Rock. Sometimes I'd like to expand my horizons, if only to not sound so dense and uncultured around people that have one or two bands in common, but if I don't like the first 10 seconds of any song on the album, I'm not going to go out of my way to become intimate with the band. Anyway, I suppose everyone can be a critic these days thanks to the internets!

The whole purpose of this post was to list the music I've been digging on recently because it's fun for me to come back to it months later and say, "Hey, I remember that song!" So in no particular order, here are a few songs off of albums that I dig in their entirety:

Grimes - Circumambient (album: Visions)
The Antlers - Parantheses (album: Burst Apart)
Flo & the Machine - Spectrum (album: Ceremonials)
Austra - The Noise (album: Feel it Break)
School of Seven Bells - The Night (album: Ghostory)
The Rapture - In the Grace of your Love (album: same title)
Youth Lagoon - Posters (album: The Year of Hibernation)
M83 - Midnight City (album: Hurry Up We're Dreaming)

Other songs:

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks
Of Monsters and Men - Six Weeks
Phantogram - Turning into Stone
Zola Jesus - Animal
Zola Jesus - Vessel
Digitalism - Reeperbahn
Glasser - Apply
Hooray for Earth - True Loves
Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know, (the new "Pumped up Kicks"? Nooo!)
Gotye - State of the Art
Bell X1 - Nightwatchmen

The Undiscovered Bedrooms of Manhattan

I stumbled upon a fantastic blog entry today that appealed to my dreamy, whimsical side. Here's a snippet:

"A friend of mine once told me about the "typical dream of a New Yorker," as he described it, wherein a homeowner pushes aside some coats and sweaters in the upstairs closet... only to reveal a door, and, behind that, another room, and, beyond that, perhaps even a whole new wing secretly attached to the back of the house..."

I found the entry very inspiring. Read the rest here.

Lori Nix

So much cool:












For more, visit her website here.

Rarities

I hear the reverberations of a distant self, shouting back at me, telling me to follow the questions that form the stem of a trail into nothingness.

M83 - Midnight City

M83 | Midnight City from DIVISION on Vimeo.

Kilian Eng

Kind of a comic book/Heavy Metal/Tron vibe, but I'm diggin' it. See more here.

Cowboys

After watching modern Westerns, I've come to the conclusion that I am a sucker for tight-fitting cowboy clothing. In "Cowboys and Aliens," Daniel Craig wears his well:

Michael Fassbender

Dear Young Magneto,
You are so attractive! (Pun intended.) I thought you were pretty decent looking in "Inglorious Basterds," but at the time, I was hard up for Sgt. Donny Donowitz, so I didn't fully appreciate your sexiness. But in "X-Men First Class"? Dear Lord, you're stunning...I'm trying to figure out if it's your private evil theme music, your black turtlenecks, your gorgeous eyes, or your reckless abandon due to the violent, traumatic events of your childhood. Either way, I want to be your heavy metal lover.

Truly, (I'm really not kidding),
Angeline

Dream Coincidence

Two nights ago, I had an elaborate dream about a brutal Aztec or Mayan Warrior Lord. I remember watching him in a shallow pool of water, perhaps a swampy, river runoff area, and the tribe he was up against sent its men, one by one, to battle him. Each one that approached him did so in terror, and he basically hacked them to pieces with his weapon, leaving body parts and so forth in the water. (I watched this as if I were there, but nobody knew I was there...almost like watching a movie play out.) After all of this, he somehow approached me and confided in me what route he was was planning on taking in order to conquer other lands and tribes. When I found out where his "path of terror" would lead him next, I plotted it out on a map, and while the map didn't resemble any I've ever seen of the world, it was apparent to me in the dream that it was South America. My dreams are sometimes vague feelings, rather than definite shapes and symbols, and so when I tried to recall his name the next morning, the only thing I could piece together was "Nozca."

Today, I was working on a Geology lab involving plate tectonics, and I had to look at a plate boundary map of the world. All along the west coast of South America, (in almost the exact same S-shaped pattern that I plotted out for the path mentioned above,) there is a plate called the "Nazca Plate." I'm trying to remember if I looked at this map earlier in the week, but I know that if I did, it wasn't for more than a few seconds. So, it's odd to me either way that 1) If I didn't see the map at all, then wtf? 2) If I did see the map, it's pretty incredible that my brain can store something that insignificant and trivial and bring it back up in such a strange format.

the performance

Adaptation

A quote, dug up, remembered:

"Charlie Kaufman: There was this time in high school. I was watching you out the library window. You were talking to Sarah Marsh.
Donald Kaufman: Oh, God. I was so in love with her.
Charlie Kaufman: I know. And you were flirting with her. And she was being really sweet to you.
Donald Kaufman: I remember that.
Charlie Kaufman: Then, when you walked away, she started making fun of you with Kim Canetti. And it was like they were laughing at *me*. You didn't know at all. You seemed so happy.
Donald Kaufman: I knew. I heard them.
Charlie Kaufman: How come you looked so happy?
Donald Kaufman: I loved Sarah, Charles. It was mine, that love. I owned it. Even Sarah didn't have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want.
Charlie Kaufman: But she thought you were pathetic.
Donald Kaufman: That was her business, not mine. You are what you love, not what loves you. That's what I decided a long time ago. "

Advice

"Don't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night."

-Philip K. Dick

Civil War Pictures

Cheetos Commerical - Site Party

Cheetos has put out some really awesome commercials lately, but this one by far is my favorite. I love how us white people dance.

Astrological Transits and Lykke Li

Courtesy of Cafe Astrology, these attributes are [supposedly] affecting me right now...Oh Venus, you slay me:

183 Sextile Venus - Sun

Positive aspect: You are feeling especially attractive these days, and that feeling can bring things to you. Good time for love affairs: you are in great form, and come across as especially attractive. You can have the world at your feet right now as Venus illuminates your Sun sign personality traits and you project these traits in a most pleasing manner.

98 Trine Mars - Venus

Positive aspect: Your loving feelings are wide awake. You are attracted to the charm of the opposite sex and will easily fall in love. These feelings are more physical than intellectual. Your senses will be awakened. You will feel in top form, wanting to go out and meet people. You are strongly focused on love and sexuality right now.

So in light of these transits, I'd like to point out that Lykke Li's video for "Get Some" compliments my feelings in a sensual, witchy kinda way:

Lykke Li - Get Some (Director: Johan Söderberg).

Lewis Hine - Steamfitter

1921 - Gelatin Silver Print

Abraham Lincoln

I lovelovelove this picture. Taken from a history book, apparently four days before his assassination in 1865. :

Alice Returns - Teaser

Oh my gourd, a sneak peek! I loved the violent, bloody, twisted first game so much! Hopefully this one doesn't try to latch on and/or mimic Tim Burton's Alice world. That would make me very sad.

Alice - Madness Returns Teaser from Gamester.TV on Vimeo.

Michael Wolf - Architecture of Density

I remember stumbling upon these pictures a while back, but have since realized that they've left a large impression on me. I find myself in certain situations, (perhaps breezy outdoor adventures, or wide open buildings,) and my mind drifts back to these cramped quarters that people experience everyday of their lives. These blow my mind; they truly honestly make me appreciate the fact that I can drive half an hour in almost any direction and encounter openness, fresh air, the absence of laundry and people and steel:










Taken from the Press Release on this series from Michael Wolf's site:

"One of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the world, Hong Kong
has an overall density of nearly 6,700 people per square kilometer. The majority of its citizens live in flats in high-rise buildings. In Architecture of Density, Wolf investigates these vibrant city blocks, finding a mesmerizing abstraction in the buildings' facades.

Some of the structures in the series are photographed without reference to the context of sky or ground, and many buildings are seen in a state of repair or construction: their walls covered with a grid of scaffolding or the soft colored curtains that protect the streets below from falling debris. From a distance, such elements become a part of the photograph's intricate design.

Upon closer inspection of each photograph, the anonymous public face of the city is full of rewarding detail- suddenly public space is private space, and large swatches of color give way to smaller pieces of people's lives. The trappings of the people are still visible here: their days inform the detail of these buildings. Bits of laundry and hanging plants pepper the tiny rectangles of windows- the only irregularities in this orderly design."

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Yesterday I was enjoying broccoli cheese soup for lunch, and it made me crave the fabulous combination in the form of a casserole. I rarely get to have the Cheddar's version of broccoli cheese casserole, but I didn't want to go through the process of adding rice, so I found this recipe on the site Simply Recipes:

Ingredients

• 2 pounds broccoli, stems removed (can use vegetable peeler to peel, then slice and eat like celery), large florets cut, yielding about 8 cups of broccoli florets
• Salt for blanching water
• 2 strips of thick-cut bacon (about 2 ounces), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch wide strips
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 5 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 to 3 teaspoons of freshly cracked black pepper (1 to 2 teaspoons if using fine ground black pepper)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (1 Tbsp salt for 2 quarts of water). Add the broccoli florets and boil for 3-5 minutes or until just tender enough so that a fork can easily pierce the floret, but still firm. Strain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

2 While the water in step one is coming to a boil, cook the bacon pieces on medium heat in a frying pan until lightly browned, but not crisp. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess fat. Set aside.

3 Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. In a bowl, whisk the eggs into the flour, then whisk in the cream and milk. Add the black pepper (more or less to taste), salt, and mustard. Mix in about a third of the cheese.

4 Place the parboiled broccoli florets in the casserole dish, sprinkling about a third of the cheese over the broccoli florets as you lay them down. Sprinkle the bacon pieces over the broccoli. Pour the egg, cream, milk, cheese mixture over the broccoli, moving the broccoli pieces a bit so that the mixture gets into all the nooks and crannies. Sprinkle the casserole with the remaining cheese.

5 Bake for 25-40 minutes, or until set. Once the top has browned, you may want to tent with aluminum foil to keep from burning.

Serves 5 as a main course, 10 as a side.

*****

I did a few things differently, mostly because I'm poor and can't afford to spend a lot of money on specific ingredients for one freakin' dish.

I used 1 1/2 cups milk instead of the 1/2 cup heavy cream. I'm sure it would have made it creamier, but oh well.

Though it may have been cheaper to get fresh broccoli, (I didn't bother looking,) I went with 8 cups of frozen broccoli for the convenience factor.

Added more bacon. Also added crushed crackers on the top.

Verdict? I liked it! I think I should've added more salt and pepper, esp fresh cracked pepper, and also, I think butter would have been good. Maybe next time I'll melt some and stir it into the cheese mixture before it's poured. Annnnd, I think cream cheese would be awesome somewhere in there, maybe dropped in softened dollops. Mmmm, cheese.