There is no God and we are his prophets.

I knew it would be dark and bloody. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is one sad beast. I was crying last night when I finished it, I admit, just like oprah. Mainly because the father is so good and so ashamed of the world he's left his son. I don't have children yet and I can still feel the weight of that grief. The man wants the boy to feel hopeful and meaningful; but the man is no longer certain that he, himself, feels those things. McCarthy is brave to blaze the road through such bleak terrain, and it is a punishing book, but it's the way he makes you believe in the father's love that makes it so good. The man's mission (he does become sort of a self-styled messiah, as Michael Chabon says in this good essay)may be insane but it's also inspiring. I'm sure oprah will say the same thing when she speaks to McCarthy on her show on June 5th. Ha. I'm gonna watch. How embarrassing.

New News

New group blog up. killerbuds.wordpress.com. check it out. knock you out. you're invited too.
Also, this is a very cool blog by a designer for the Criterion Collection. I know I kinda go on about criterion, but oh well: ericskillman.blogspot.com/

When I was younger, I'd focus most of my attention on lyrics and singers. If I responded to music, it was mainly to the voice fronting the music. The instrumentation was important, sure, but boring instrumentation could often be saved by interesting lyrics or an unusual vocal performance. Then I wrote songs and played in a band, and somehow that experience changed how I listen to music. So, the last few years my attention has shifted strongly to the musical side. I don't pay much attention to the words anymore, instead preferring rhythmic complexity and atmosphere. Basically, I've been listening to more Can than Leonard Cohen. I still love L. Cohen. Seeing Animal Collective Tuesday night got me thinking about this stuff.
Anyway, I'm interested in hearing how others listen to music. How important are lyrics? What do you first listen for? How have the ways you listen to music changed?

Movie Night 5-16-07 - The Holy Mountain

Body functions and body fluids get the lead role in The Holy Mountain and their performance is beautiful.
One of the strange movies you're gonna see, it's got a visual style that makes beauty of disgusting things. We (fight, brian, clif, ty, and myself) all thought it had similarities to both kubrick and bunuel. Actually, pretty obvious similarities, but it didn't feel derivative. Biblical imagery in high-B-movie mode with the body and blood of christ in vivid technicolor.
Man, I really liked this movie. Funny, sincere, entertaining. The Holy Mountain is among the great movie nights so far. Read about Alejandro Jodorowsky, he's an interesting guy. Still alive and working, it appears.

When I Found Myself Afraid, I Fell Upon A Book

river, stream, pretty out
not afraid in present sense but eternal
book is open, on a rock
trap, not tricked, mormons in the bushes
mormons like pyramid schemes, ha
i like em though. my mom's one.

Dark Spots

I just haven't had much to say lately. The last few movie nights have been good but not real exciting to write about. Umm... La Haine was a pretty good French movie; The Great Dictator was a pretty good American one.

Playoffs have been fun so far. Utah Jazz are doing way better than I'd have guessed. I think they're gonna be playing the Suns in the Western finals. There's some great basketball talk over at FESPN. Be sure to read the comments. They're getting really funny.

Music has been great this year. Three artists in particular have caught my attention: Panda Bear, The Field, and Nico Muhly (actually Muhly's I believe was released last year, but I just heard it this week). Muhly I recommend to anyone with a taste for avant free classical. A very popular genre.