Talkin' Bout My Generation

The passing of director Robert Altman is terribly sad, not just because we've lost one of the greatest directors of the last thirty years, if not ever, but also because it really illustrates the sea change between our generation and the one that is, with Altman's death, apparently dying out. For instance, let's take a look at some of the eulogies given by some of Altman's "Prairie Home Companion" cast members. From Meryl Streep:

“Bob's restless spirit has moved on -- I have to say, when I spoke with him last week, he seemed impatient for the future. He still had the generous, optimistic appetite for the next thing, and we planned the next film laughing in anticipation of the laughs we'd have. What a gent, what a guy, what a great heart. There's no one like him and we'll miss him so.

From Garrison Keillor:

“Mr. Altman loved making movies. He loved the chaos of shooting and the sociability of the crew and actors --- he adored actors --- and he loved the editing room and he especially loved sitting in a screening room and watching the thing over and over with other people. He didn't care for the money end of things, he didn't mind doing publicity, but when he was working he was in heaven.

He and I once talked about making a movie about a man coming back to Lake Wobegon to bury his father, and Mr. Altman said, "The death of an old man is not a tragedy." I used that line in the movie we wound up making --- the Angel of Death says it to the Lunch Lady, comforting her on the death of her lover Chuck Akers in his dressing room, "“The death of an old man is not a tragedy."” Mr. Altman's death seems so honorable and righteous --- to go in full-flight, doing what you love --- like his comrades in the Army Air Force in WWII who got shot out of the sky and simply vanished into blue air --- and all of us who worked with him had the great privilege of seeing an 81-year-old guy doing what he loved to do. IÂ’m sorry that our movie turned out to be his last, but I do know that he loved making it. It's a great thing to be 81 and in love."

And finally:

"I would like to send my condolences out to Catherine Altman, Robert Altmans wife, as well as all of his immediate family, close friends, co-workers, and all of his inner circle.

"I feel as if I've just had the wind knocked out of me and my heart aches.

"If not only my heart but the heart of Mr. Altman's wife and family and many fellow actors/artists that admire him for his work and love him for making people laugh whenever and however he could..

"Robert altman made dreams possible for many independent aspiring filmmakers, as well as creating roles for countless actors.

"I am lucky enough to of been able to work with Robert Altman amongst the other greats on a film that I can genuinely say created a turning point in my career.

"I learned so much from Altman and he was the closest thing to my father and grandfather that I really do believe I've had in several years.

"The point is, he made a difference.

"He left us with a legend that all of us have the ability to do.

"So every day when you wake up.

"Look in the mirror and thank god for every second you have and cherish all moments.

"The fighting, the anger, the drama is tedious.

"Please just take each moment day by day and consider yourself lucky to breathe and feel at all and smile. Be thankful.

"Life comes once, doesn't 'keep coming back' and we all take such advantage of what we have.

"When we shouldn't..... '

"Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourselves' (12st book) -everytime there's a triumph in the world a million souls hafta be trampled on.-altman Its true. But treasure each triumph as they come.

"If I can do anything for those who are in a very hard time right now, as I'm one of them with hearing this news, please take advantage of the fact that I'm just a phone call away.

God Bless, peace and love always.

Thank You,

"BE ADEQUITE"

Lindsay Lohan

Okay. I understand that Lindsay Lohan was probably upset when she wrote this, and that she's probably not the best example to hold up of the writing skills of the early 20s set, having gotten most of her education on film sets and in the bathroom at Butter. But still, wow. Even if she had spelled adequate correctly, I still have no idea what that would mean. It's like the cryptic slogan serial killers sign off with. Reading what Keillor and Streep wrote, I cried for Altman; reading Lohan just made me cry for my generation. Kids spend so much time writing in this James Joyce - MySpace stlye stream of conciousness that they never take the time to actually sit back and read, to learn what actual writing is.

And yes, I understand the inherent hypocrisy in the fact that I'm writing this in a blog. I'm sorry.

(Streep and Keillor via Ain't It Cool; Lohan via USA Today)

I'm Not Entirely Sure Where Sweden Is, To Be Honest With You

I know, I'm posting like crazy tonight. Anyway. I tend to to skim over a lot of acts on music blogs, because I just can't absorb that much music that fast. So when I first saw The Knife, I just kind of kept going. Because I'm a fool. I figured, Daft Punk pretty much took care of my need for eclectic electronic pop by people who wore masks as a symbol against the image obsession in the music business. Which is a pretty heavy need in my life, oddly enough. And also, they're Swedish, and I felt like I was listening to enough Swedish pop lately. Like the other night, I watched nothing but Cardigans videos on YouTube. Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Then the other day, I realized that the José González song in the Bravia commercial I've been watching obsessivelyey for the last year is a cover of The Knife's 'Heartbeats'. I know, like I said, I'm a fool. So I found a copy of The Knife's original, and I haven't stopped listening to it since.

The Knife - Heartbeats

How can you make a song about werewolves even better? Make the video about werewolves too! And, make it olde timey!

TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me

And I wasn't kidding about the Cardigans back there. If you look past their 'Lovefool', 'Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet' stage, they're actually pretty good. I really like this song, and this video. What? I think overhead shots are neat. That's all. Fine, and Nina Persson is pretty. Are you happy now? God, it's all about image with you. You make me want to wear a weird 'Eyes Wide Shut' mask and mope. Yes, you make me that angry.

The Cardigans - I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer

How Does It Feel?

I was beginning to think that this movie didn't actually exist. I would hear that it was coming, but there was never a date attached, there weren't even production stills till a month or two ago. But now, we have a 'Factory Girl' trailer. And, well, it seems they made it into a movie alright. Sienna really looks the part, but God I hope she can act. All I really see her do here is look cute in some quick shots and then she gets drunk and slurs. I remember when this movie was announced, there was a story where they asked Bob Dylan to clear his name, but he said no, since the story basically revolved around him trying to save Edie from the factory, and that never happened. So apparently, they've changed it, so now Edie is torn between Andy and some charming, mumbling harmonica playing type whose name is absolutley not Bob Dylan. Oh, and if you look quickly, you'll see Jimmy Fallon and Mena Suvari. Yeah, I know, I forgot about them too.

I Know Nobody Likes Me. Why Do We Have To Have A Holiday Season To Emphasize It?

Hi. It's been a while. No, I know. No seriously, I know. Just, stop talking. I've been looking at this page, thinking, oh, November 2nd wasn't that far away. And then I look at my watch and it's Chrono, 2.33'49. And I wonder when I bumped that button. But for some reason, this last month, I've actually been doing stuff. And, I apologize to you, reader. Where are my manners? So, what are the haps my friends? Yeah, that's right, I said it, and I meant it.

I enjoy Christmas. Enjoy in the mellow sense of the word, where you go kind of soft on the joy, you let it roll off of your tongue rather than stabbing whoever has the misfortune of being in your ear shot with your enthusiasm. Christmas is a day where my family gives each other gifts, the question of "What are you doing with your life?" doesn't come up until after the sun comes down, and no one is required to shower or change out of their pajamas. Which is a classier way of saying that we don't shower or change out of our pajamas. It's lovely. We eat cold ham. So obviously, I look forward to it every year as a day of calm, a day of peace.


But this year, I don't know why, but I am all about Christmas. There hasn't been a moment in the last week where my body hasn't been digesting a wonderful syrup based Starbucks/Caribou Coffee holiday themed beverage. I've reached a state of equilibrium where I think my body would collapse if I didn't have a Fah-La-La latte with me, which is kind of scary, but in a jolly sort of way. I've also been listening to SomaFm non stop, more specifically their XMas In Frisko feed, the only place to hear Nat King Cole and "The Lonely Jew On Christmas" back to back. Either that, or I've been streaming all five discs of Sufjan Steven's Christmas collection, because one version of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" just isn't enough. My only fear is that my Christmas spirit will peak somewhere around November 28th at 8/7c, approximately. And then where will I be? A grinch with 10 pounds on tinsel? And yes, even now, I admit it, that it is way too much tinsel to be healthy, but you don't understand, I'm really happy right now.

Respectable

I kind of burned myself out on Nellie McKay last year. I loved 'Get Away From Me', but after listening to it a lot, the cleverness of the lyrics kind of die after a while, because you know what's going to happen next. It kind of becomes boring. And that was a problem for that album, because the lyrics carried a lot of it. Not that the music was bad, it just wasn't enough to bring me back after awhile. This would have been fine since this was all happening around the time that 'Pretty Little Head', McKay's follow up album was supposed to get released. But then it didn't. And then, in January, it wasn't released again. And then Sony dropped her from the label, and McKay went off to do 'The Three Penny Opera' on broadway. And I kind of moved on. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, Lily Allen, Regina Spektor - they all released albums in the last year that kind of filled my alternative angry girl pop need. Not that my alternative angry girl pop need can ever be filled. Which brings me to Tuesday, when 'Pretty Little Head' was finally released on McKay's own Hungry Mouse label. Well, it came out on Tuesday, but I wasn't able to get it till Wednesday, but on the plus side, I got lunch at the pirogi factory - that's right, an entire restaurant devoted to pirogis. And an added bonus - I'm pretty sure the woman working the counter was a Bond girl in a former life.

It turned out to be the best Wednesday ever, because not only were the pirogis delicious, but the album is fantastic. I've realized that I've been using the word fantastic a lot lately, mostly because I like the way it sounds, so if anyone has a suggestion for a new word, well, that would be fantastic. The music is a lot tighter, the lyrics are still really smart, kd Lang guests on a song, which I'm pretty sure was on the Rumour Has It soundtrack, because they keep saying "Rumour has it" over and over again. So other than the visualizations of Jennifer Aniston and Rob Reiner cinematically violating the memory of 'The Graduate', it's a really enjoyable album. Here's a video for 'Real Life', which isn't that stunning, but the odd scenes of running in the dark and playing in a secluded cabin for a bunch of old people gives you a real feel for what this album is like (I meant that in a good way):



The Hold Steady, and especially front man Craig Finn, seem to believe in the same literary lyrics approach that McKay takes to writing. Which also might explain why they've put out three albums in as many years, if my idea of lyrical burnout has any merit. But I think 'Boys And Girls In America' finally overcomes that, when Finn actually tries to start singing, which makes the music much more noticeable, and enjoyable. I also love the fact that these guys are an ugly band. And not like, in the Weezer way, where they're weird looking but people still think the lead singer is cute, but honest to goodness ugly people. You wouldn't look at these guys twice if they weren't playing, which means they have to everything through the music. Or dress up like Zorro. (I like this video, but I think it falls into the kind of gimmicky, Blink-182 territory that a band as smart as The Hold Steady doesn't deserve to be in)



Also, I've been up all night, though I haven't been able to watch television because my roommate just bought the new Final Fantasy game and Holy God I hate myself for typing this sentence. Sorry. Anyway, I ended up trolling YouTube the entire night. Hence this post. But, it brings up the serious question of, when you mix Jenny Lewis, Sarah Silverman, and He-Haw together, is the result destined to be the greatest thing in the world?



Yeah. Pretty much. Also, in the wake of the Google buy out, where the world of YouTube, a utopian land of freedom and old videos of Mr. T calling people fools, has been transformed into a world of corporations bickering over copy right violations and kittens falling asleep, it interesting to see who the new emerging stars are. In the olden days of, last month, people loved the earnest kids talking into their cameras. They were all about the lonelygirl15s. But now that we're down to business, people aren't even pretending anymore. They just want to be Catwoman:



Plus, she uses the Pipettes. Segue!



They would have made a fantastic Haloween costume for you and two friends, but no, you had to be the sexy mental patient. Also, I'm sorry I said fantastic again. I'm working on it, I promise.