My Eyes, They Burn

So it's been awhile since I lasted posted something here and I don't have a good reason other than that I'm lazy. However, today's entry is brought about by the horror that was this past Sunday's Mary Worth comic strip. I only saw it this morning, thanks to The Comics Curmudgeon (which by the way is really hard to spell, and I always get it wrong), but my eyes will be bleeding for the next three days at least. If you go to this entry Mary Worth is the first thing you'll see. The horror is in the last panel.
:waits:
Yeah, that's right, the writers of Mary Worth have somehow found out about Glenny and Mar and are trying to destroy their credibility. Or something. All I know is that it's an abomination and my soul is dead. Forever.
In other news, Gloria is away this week and the person filling in has left for the day. I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do, but whatever it is, I'll be doing it here at WPFW. Hurrah.

Elitism

There are times that I like to pretend that I'm not a cultural elitist. That somehow my mainstream tendencies, especially in cinema, and utter disdain for the culture of elitism creates means that I've somehow avoided being an elitist. That because I like Law and Order as much as I like Evelyn Waugh I'm not a bad person who looks down on others for their tastes in music, tv, and movies. I like to imagine that I don't judge people entirely on their choice of music or not knowing anything about the Kinks and Fred Astaire. I like to pretend that I'm not that kind of person.
However, I pride myself on my knowledge of musicals and the Kinks alongside my love of America's Next Top Model while looking down on people who like rap and can't appreciate a good black and white movie. I know that in most cases I'm a hypocrite through and through and willingly acknowledge that part of my personality. I just can't bare the fact that, despite not owning a single pair of drain pipe jeans, I've grown into the kind of person I never thought I would be. I was so sure that by not enjoying the majority of the films the rest of my family love and religiously watching ANTM and catching episodes of Law and Order whenever possible that I could somehow avoid being culturally elitist. That by not excelling in school for the most part and not going to a fancy uni I could avoid that stamp. I was wrong.
I'm a cultural elitist. I'm also a hypocrite. I take no pride in the former and acknowledge the latter because I know I must. Whether either label makes me a worse person, I can't say. It's just who I am.

A Statement Responding to CNN

This will only make sense if you're watching CNN right now but I need to get it out of my system so I can finish reading this article at the AV Club. So, my statement: You can't have it both ways. You can't say that the n-word is some sort of term of endearment when it's said by a black person but is racist when said by a white person. The world just doesn't work that way, especially the world of politics. And granted I'm saying this a white girl, so my statement may not mean anything because of that, I may be incredibly naive, but it's my opinion. You can't have it both ways. Not in politics at least.
:sigh: Now, onto Britney Spears. Yeah that's how CNN works.

KC Bandwagon, All Aboard

So it seems that since DW is out for the count until December (hurrah Christmas special!) my obsessive nature has decided to latch back onto the KC bandwagon. I haven't decided whether this is a good thing or not, but I haven't re-joined any LJ communities so that's a good thing. Anyway, the point of all of this, is that this past weekend was T in the Park/Oxygen Festival. Much like Reading and Leeds Festivals the two work kind of in conjunction with each other, namely if you're playing T in all likelihood you're going to playing Oxygen. Unlike Reading and Leeds the two festivals don't share headliners, or at least that's my belief. Anyway, the ultimate point is that KC played both this weekend, ending with Oxygen. Another band, Rage Against the Machine, also ended with Oxygen. Because of a policy at Oxygen trying to control the number of injuries due to way too many people moshing at the front (my guess based on the language used in the NME article this is based on), Rage fans had to show up a set early to get those key spots. Let's think for a second. Rage Against the Machine compared to Kaiser Chiefs. Chances are, their fan bases don't really, at all, overlap. And this is the bit that makes me happy. Kaiser Chiefs won. Well, when I say won, I'm using the word as a means of showing that KC somehow managed to get hardcore (and trust me these guys had to be hardcore) Rage fans moshing. That would be a bit like getting me to like rap in a little less than an hour. So yeah, booya.
Because Hulu gives me House I'm now 4/5 of the way through Firefly. Don't ask me how the two correspond, just trust that they do and it's all because of Hulu.
Finally, sorry for any incoherence in this entry. My brain doesn't seem to be working properly today.

Those Boring Days and Giddy Nights

Some days are meant for rewatching episodes of NMTB that you've seen fifty million times because Mark Ronson is gorgeous. Some days are also meant to check KC's website out of shear boredom and vain hope. Today happened to be one of those days and now I'm giddy from chocolate, diet coke, the comedic stylings of NMTB and two brand spanking new songs (to me anyway) from KC. One is quite nice and the other is horrible, but only because the lyrics are horrible. The music itself is quite nice. In any event, if these songs are any indication of what the new album is like (a quick note from the band's website: "Our new album is almost complete. We're still working on the finer details, artwork, title, mixing and website." Yeah, that's my definition of almost complete too) I'll be happy. Then again they could play dirges and I'd probably be happy though. I'm not exactly an unbiased source. So yeah, despite the boredom that filled most of my day, the end's been quite nice I have to say.
Finally, I would just like to say this: Dip. God musicians can be idiots (present party included.)

Edit: This picture, by the brilliant mimi-na of deviantART is utterly brilliant and completely spoilerish for the last episode of season 4 DW. It also makes me super-duper wonderful if in a strange way. Click the link at your own expense, oh un-spoiled DW fans.

Before Bed

This is almost too sad to mention, but I'm going to anyway. The Last Bus Home has gone green. Before the layout was red and I go to check it tonight and BOOM the layout is green! I must say I'm ridiculously excited. Yay for green!
Also, everyone works with Mark Ronson. It's no longer a unique thing to work with Ronson. He's the syphilis of the music world; he just keeps getting passed around. And if we carry this analogy forward, it's really not that surprising he's gotten to Carl Barat. I mean the man did work with Pete Doherty. However I'm still excited about the upcoming album (late spring 2009 people. That's my guess anyway) and still think Mr. Ronson is incredibly talented. Incredibly talented musical syphilis.
...
Yeah, I'm a horrible person.


And yay for green!

Something To Do

Item 1:
1988 - Past Masters Volumes One and Two, The Beatles
1989 - All That Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald
1990 - Flood, We Are Giants
1991 - Achtung Baby, U2
1992 - Kerplunk, Green Day
1993 - In Utero, Nirvana
1994 - Parklife, Blur
1995 - Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt
1996 - Susanna Hoffs, Susanna Hoffs
1997 - Blurring the Edges, Meredith Brooks
1998* - Version 2.0, Garbage
1999 - Title of Record, Filter
2000* - Thirteen Tales of Urban Bohemia, The Dandy Warhols
2001 - Beautiful Garbage, Garbage
2002** - The All-American Rejects, The All-American Rejects
2003** - Folklore, Nelly Furtado
2004** - Hot Fuss, the Killers
2005* - Employment, Kaiser Chiefs
2006* - The Life Pursuit, Belle and Sebastian
2007* - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, The Cribs
2008 - A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation The Wombats (thus far anyway)

* These entries had runner ups too numerous to list
** These were the years I was deeply entrenched in the Beatles and so for the most part they weren't listened to during the year of their release (especially 2004)

Item 2:
Oh shut up Alex. You did not almost headline Glasto you dumb twit. Also, I doubt Damon Albarn's mother actually nixed the idea. For Christ's sake. You don't deserve Rossini.

Item 3:
Oooh, I'm a Bloc Party fan and therefore I get to complain about stupid countdowns and be taken seriously. Cor, if I complained every time a band's website made me unhappy I wouldn't have time to do anything else. I mean, KC had a stupid countdown to the "release" of a new website design. At least you got real information Bloc Party fans. All I got was a new website that told me nothing.

Sit Back In Your Old Rocking Chair...

Because sometimes lyrics need to be re-posted.

Shangri-la [The Kinks]
Now that you've found your paradise
This is your Kingdom to command
You can go outside and polish your car
Or sit by the fire in your Shangri-la
Here is your reward for working so hard
Gone are the lavatories in the back yard
Gone are the days when you dreamed of that car
You just want to sit in your Shangri-la

Put on your slippers and sit by the fire
You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher
You're in your place and you know where you are
In your Shangri-la
Sit back in your old rocking chair
You need not worry, you need not care
You can't go anywhere
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la

The little man who gets the train
Got a mortgage hanging over his head
But he's too scared to complain
'Cos he's conditioned that way
Time goes by and he pays off his debts
Got a TV set and a radio
For seven shillings a week
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la

And all the houses in the street have got a name
'Cos all the houses in the street they look the same
Same chimney pots, same little cars, same window panes
The neighbors call to tell you things that you should know
They say their lines, they drink their tea, and then they go
They tell your business in another Shangri-la
The gas bills and the water rates, and payments on the car
Too scared to think about how insecure you are
Life ain't so happy in your little Shangri-la
Shangri-la, Shangri-la la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

Put on your slippers and sit by the fire
You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher
You're in your place and you know where you are
In your Shangri-la
Sit back in your old rocking chair
You need not worry, you need not care
You can't go anywhere
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la

Emotional Attachment

The mark of something brilliant is when someone involved (either by watching, reading, or listening) in that something gains an emotional attachment to the something. The emotional attachment a person gains can show itself in a hundred different ways but, since we're talking about emotions, the most obvious form is through a show of emotions.
I don't cry often. I think that is because when I was younger I cried quite a lot and so now it takes something truly horrible to make me cry. However, I am prone to becoming hyper-involved in fantasy mainly because I prefer fantasy to the real world much of the time. Also I spent a lot of my youth living in what essentially comes down to a fantasy world. So, when I become involved in something brilliant and create an emotional attachment to that thing, if it provokes me, I will cry. However, this doesn't happen all that often. Most of the things I become emotionally attached to don't do things that make me cry, usually they just annoy me. Except in two cases.
House got split into basically two halves because of the writer's strike. This is why I can say I don't really like feel attached to any of the new interns, because I never really got the chance, or continuity, to get to "know" them. However, I spent a huge chunk of my down time at school either repeatedly watching NMTB or House and so I did gain a kind of emotional attachment to the characters that have been in the show since its inception, namely House and Wilson. Therefore, when the season finale came around, the brilliance of the writers and my emotional attachment to those two characters provoked me into sniffling, if not outright bawling, when the character of Amber/Cut Throat Bitch died. This is because I sympathized with the pain that both House and Wilson felt and also because the writers wrote the episode in such a way as to tug at the heart strings of anyone who cares about House and Wilson. So I cried, if only for a short while.
The character of Donna Noble was not originally written as someone very lovable. In "The Runaway Bride" she comes off as very...yelly. When it was announced that the character was coming back for season four of Doctor Who, no one was looking forward to watching her again. But, thanks in large part to the amazing acting abilities of Catherine Tate, the character became someone almost everyone loved. I spent most of this season falling madly in love with the character of Donna Noble and defending her existence on the show to my father. This constant defending, plus the brilliance of Catherine Tate, plus the excellent writers, plus my involvement in the Doctor Who LiveJournal community all equal a very strong emotional attachment to the character of Donna Noble and the show itself. [Editor's Note: If you have not seen "Journey's End" and wish to remain unspoiled, do not read] Last night was the season finale of Doctor Who. For the last 15 minutes or so, I cried my eyes out due to my emotional attachment to the character of Donna Noble. I cried and swatted at my computer screen with my blanket, yelling at the Doctor and telling him he was a horrible bastard. After the episode was over, I cried myself to sleep. In four weeks time, when I'm watching the finale again, I know I will cry just as much as I did last night.
Some people cried when the character of Sirius Black died in the Harry Potter series. Others cried when Dumbledore died. People cry at the end of movies like The Little Princess and Steel Magnolias. I didn't cry when Sirius died or when Dumbledore died. However, I did cry when the Donna Noble I had grown to love died. And I still hate Russell T. Davies for giving the Ten/Rose shippers what they wanted, but killing off a character so much more important to many of us. Also, the Christmas special looks really stupid.

An Addendum from Behind the Sofa written by Iain M. Hepburn (who puts into words my feelings after "Journey's End" better than I could have, along with all the reviewers at BTS):
And then there was Donna. Oh, Russell T Davies, why? Why did you do this to us? What was this, an exercise in point scoring? A reminder to us plebs that ultimately you’re in charge? Because that’s what it felt like. It felt like Russell saying a big up yours to the naysayers. Perhaps this was his punishment for all the criticism of Catherine at the start. ‘Oh, they think she can’t act then? They think Donna’s a horrible character? I’ll show them. I’ll write her into being one of the best companions the show’s ever had, and give Catherine every opportunity to showcase her skills as an actress, to the point where you really, really care about her. That you forget the criticism you had of Donna and of Catherine from The Runaway Bride.

‘Then BANG! Fuck you for falling for my manipulative writing. Fuck you for your emotional investment. Now you’ve learned your lesson. Never doubt me again.’

Because this was the most ignominious exit Donna could have. It wasn’t dark, it wasn’t heart-wrenching, it was brutally, cynically manipulative. Even just killing her, melting her brain under the sheer weight of Time Lord knowledge, would have been a more noble exit for Noble.

Russell’s self-proclaimed desire to never kill off a companion, even allowing for his ever-more-pompous attempts to work the DWM audience, has effectively forced him to do something worse. After managing to imbue Donna Noble with a sense of dignity lacking in The Runaway Bride, he denies her a dignified end. We're supposed to feel sorry for Donna's loss, and sorry for the Doctor's. But ultimately, his mindwipe solution just left me feeling hollow.

Random Thingies to Pass the Time

An article about KC's third album was posted this morning on NME.com. It seems Mr. Ronson is calling Talking Heads and ELO "bizarre" but more importantly; how is the album like ELO and Talking? Are we talking about Little Creatures and Stop Making Sense Talking Heads or crap Talking Heads? Does Ronson mean the first Tom-Tom Club album and in what way does the album sound like the Tom-Tom Club? Do I finally get to hear Ricky rap!? I mean, you give these influences but with no explanation, how are we to know what the heck you mean? Honestly, a few pointers would be nice.
Meanwhile, my family has gone all sentimentally about Rescue Dawn and cinema history. As you can see, I'm blogging and watching the movie at the same time, so you can probably guess my emotionally involvement in all of this. Besides, I'm not what you would call a cinemaphile. Audiophile yes, cinemaphile no.
Side effect of changing one of my meds to another med: Nausea. Benefit: chocolate craving will finally be fulfilled. However nausea still sucks monkey balls.

VIENNA --- 5 MIN

This is going to be a bit random. I've just got things to say with no particular rhyme or reason to the order. And yes, I'm still alive.
This past weekend was the Glastonbury festival. I spent most of the weekend not really caring what was going on and continually expecting NME.com to report that Kaiser Chiefs were playing a surprise gig. I don't know why I was expecting that, but for some reason I was. However, they didn't and I continued to not care that this past weekend was the Glastonbury Festival.
So NME.com announced that the Arctic Monkeys start work on their third album this month and according to Filter the new Franz Ferdinand album is suppose to hit stores in January. So that means Arctic Monkeys sometime around January and Franz Ferdinand March 2009. I hope.
I am now a card carrying member of the ACLU. Damn you random person from Richmond making eye contact with me!! Damn you!! Yeah, I thought I was just going to sign a petition or something when she asked me if I wanted to end torture and bring back the Bill of Rights. Oh how naive I was. Now I have a membership card and a sticker declaring that I have a membership card.
The Last Bus Home had an interesting post today. The reason it was interesting was because it had to do with commuting and train countdowns. Kind of like the one that constitutes the title for this entry. Anyway, according to Mr. Bus his train station countdown use to be complete rubbish. And the way he described it makes me believe him. I don't know what I would do if I didn't know how many minutes were left until such and such train was showing up. Granted, none of the trains I take are ever so full that I would think about waiting around for another, but not knowing the approximate time arrivals for the next three trains is invaluable in my neurotic little mind. And yes, I really do obsess over the approximate time of my commute and the time it takes to get from stop A to stop B. It's either that or sleep and miss my stop altogether.
Don't talk to me about Doctor Who or might explode at you. RTD better have some legitimate and really fucking brilliant cards up his sleeve or the entire fandom will kill him. We don't care if he's leaving the show, if he fucks this up, we will kill. 0_0
Ta now. I've got a kitchen to clean!
PS - I rescind everything I said about the character of Donna in this entry. Catherine Tate is an amazing actress and Donna is made of so much win it hurts. Also, almost done with archiving. So excited.

Proof of Existence

Read. Rejoice in the entry "Being Extremely Egotistical" and the picture of Noel Gallagher. Have a lovely weekend/week.
By the way, I really wish Muse were touring. They're so much fun.

Wombatties

Go and find the Wombats' "Let's Dance to Joy Division" and enjoy the blissful irony of life. That is all.

Random Shite

When I'm not archiving or answering the phone (and confusing people), I goof off by looking at the more respectable websites that are book-marked here at home. These are two informative/hilarious tid-bits that I found whilst at work and didn't want to forget:

Your final score was 99/180
Birthday Party DJ (73-108 points)
You are a rabid consumer of music. You get a rush every time you hear something new but remain faithful to those artists you love. Your music collection represents who you are and what you care about and your home may even bear the tell-tale signs of your affections – posters, old band t-shirts and the odd music biography. But you aren't a completest, you know what you like and make sure you have it. Simple as that. To expand your repertoire, perhaps there are some genres that you'd benefit from giving a little more attention to – perhaps now is the time to hear something new or get hold of that missing album from your collection. [Music IQ quiz, taken from an article at Drowned In Sound]

Jakob Dylan will be playing at the Admiral Benbow in Wichita, Kansas next week to promote this album. His father will not be paying attention. [A comment by Haden in response to this article {second comment down if you won't the full comment}]

In other news, The Fratellis have perfected the medium-tempo song on their new album. All of which means, there's a better chance of understanding them the first time 'round. Not a guarantee since the lead singer has a thick accent (somewhere between Kate Nash's over-annunciated cockney and Ryan Jarman's under-annunciated Yorkshire), but a much better chance.

An Honest-to-God Review

I know, as shocking as this, it's a real review of the White Rabbits show last night. Brace yourself.

It's not often a band can fool you into thinking their penultimate night of touring is actually their first night of touring. But given the amount of energy the White Rabbits had last night (about the same amount as 20 unmedicated ADHD kids) you wouldn't be faulted for thinking just that. Although the audience seemed almost incapable of moving the band more than made up for the lack of energy emanating from that part of the room. The set, which seemed particularly short for a headlining act, was fast paced with only a handful of slow song to change the pace for the stagnant audience. The band, made up of two drummers, three guitarists, and one keyboardist, seemed to be having a ball though which in the end is all that matters sometimes.
Openers Greenland, a local DC and, kept a fast pace more akin to the White Rabbits than Miles..., who wouldn't maybe been more at home opening for the Walkmen. All in all the gig was good, no matter how apathetic the audience seemed.

White Rabbits

1. Standford Town/Sea of Rum
2. While We Go Dancing
3. Dinner Party
4. Navy Wives
5. Fox Hunting
6. ?
7. Fort Nightly
8. I Use To Complain Now I Don't
9. The Plot [with three tambourines]

Encore

• Take A Walk Around the Table
• Maggie's Farm [a Bob Dylan cover]

There Are Things I Should Be Doing

The world, as I see and experience it, has no love for me. Yesterday there was the horrible weather that left me with soaking feet and standing at the train station for two hours waiting for my sister to pick me up. Today, there's a Lily Allen/Kaiser Chiefs collaboration. Some might question my response to this fact, but then again those same people may question why I think dying your hair pink is a bad idea too. Of course dying your hair pink and getting shit-faced isn't exactly a guarantee of horribleness, the only female singer-songwriter/Kaiser Chiefs collabo I want to see is Kate Nash/Kaiser Chiefs. I guess I just don't see the LA/KC styles meshing very well, no matter how much Mark Ronson magic is added. I guess I'll just have to wait until next year :crosses fingers: to see.
Also, White Rabbits concert tonight. I won't be able to function at all tomorrow, but I'll still be working.

Your So Vain

There are times when I miss my days of insane fanaticism, at least for Kaiser Chiefs. Lord knows I'm still insanely fanatical about DW. But yeah, there are days when I miss being insane, not just because things were simpler then, but also because I could laugh when members of the band said ridiculous things. Like, "Oasis have disappeared up their own arse." I could enjoy that sentiment so much more if I wasn't a semi-rational human being. Granted I can still enjoy the quote because I think the Gallagher brothers have long since taken up residence in their own arses, but that's a different thing all together. Because, you have to understand, the reason I dislike the Gallagher brothers so much is the same reason why, when I read the rest of the article, I wished so desperately that I could be a bubble headed fangirl. Back then, I could swallow the inherit shallowness of the rest of what Rick says, because...I wouldn't have seen it that way. I would have agreed wholeheartedly. Now though, it's just rubbish. Vain, pompous, rubbish. Nevertheless, I trust their manager more than I trust Rick, so I'm very excited about getting the album next year ;D

A Quick Note to Potential Parents

Here's just a little piece of advice from me to you: For the love of God do not let your child play a string instrument, such as a violin, unless you are completely and utterly certain that they will be good. Qualities such a child might possess is a good sense of tonality and well developed motor skills. If your child doesn't possess one of these qualities (preferably a good sense of tonality) do not let them near a violin, viola, or cello. Please. My ears don't like bleeding. 0_0

Alright, back to work. I've finally gotten to last week in the archives. Tis exciting.

Suit

So today was a rather big gig for le Kaiser Chiefs and NME, in their typically hypocritical way, covered it like it was the biggest fucking gig of the year. I think it's because the band is working with Mark Ronson, but I'm paranoid about NME giving any band too much exposure. Anywho, in their exuberant coverage, they decided to include a couple of pics in their weekly round-up of music news. Per usual, I immediately freaked out when I sited said picture, because I'm not right in the head. However, once I got over myself, I noticed what Monsieur Ricky was wearing. A suit. Sadly, the two pictures posted at the NME site are basically shite for facial expressions, but still. A suit avec tie. My fevered fangirl brain went positively berserk. So yeah, I just wanted to point that out. Have fun dissecting my insane psyche.

Work

Imagine getting lost on your way to an interview. In a skirt. Now imagine developing blisters because you've been walking for twenty or so minutes in the wrong direction in poorly chosen shoes. Add all of this with a heaping dose of nerves and you've got my Wednesday morning. Okay, now we're going to fast forward to the offices of WPFW. I'm sweaty, nervous, and a minute late for my interview. My feet are also killing me I can't wait to get home. I've basically got the job bagged because the station is that desperate for help. Everything is going nice and smoothly. I figure, a half hour and I'll be on a train back to my bed and my last of "Law and Order" binging.
Around 3:45 that same afternoon I leave the offices of WPFW, after all the shows from about mid-January of this year to the end of February. I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally, and my feet are still killing, only a lot worse because I had to walk around some more to find some place to eat for lunch. However, I did find out that I like falafel. I'll be going back to the station tomorrow, and this time I will be wearing sneakers instead of unbroken-in mary jane's. Despite everything, life is good.
So that's basically been the major events of this last week. I started my first "real" job archiving Gloria Minott's shows from this year and starting this week I'll also be shadowing her producer during the show, which should be fun. Life is indeed good.
Other interesting things:

• The House season finale made me cry. It was both heart-wrenching and very embarrassing.
• Fox was incredibly stupid in cancelling Firefly. It's the best damn show I've seen in ages, at least on this side of the pond.

Well that's it pretties. I'll write sometime in the future.