2002 maddening material
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[12/18/02] ... WednesdaY 4:05 p.m.
i'm soon to be gradgitated! hooray. i'm taking my last undergraduate final exam ever at 7 pm cst tonight and it's on MOVIES! hehehehheheehee. these films in particular:
Harlan County USA (1977) Barbara Kopple
Tampopo (1987) Juzo Itami
History and Memory (1991) Rea Tajiri
North by Northwest (1959) Alfred Hitchcock
Touch of Evil (1958) Orson Welles
Citizen Kane (1941) Orson Welles
Short Cuts (1993) Robert Altman
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) Vincente Minnelli
Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944) Freleng
Rape (1975) Joann Elam
The Harder They Come (1973) Perry Henzell
Blue Velvet (1986) David Lynch
Apocalypse Now (1979) Francis Ford Coppola
Ballet Mecanique (1924) Fernand Leger + Dudley Murphy
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) Maya Deren + Alexander Hammid
Blonde Venus (1932) Josef von Sternberg
The Snapper (1993) Stephen Frears
Daughters of the Dust (1991) Julie Dash
i suppose they're all worth seeing, given that they're important enough to be included in a college-level syllabus. just a warning though, some of them (i.e. Daughters of the Dust) are extremely hard to watch and (for me) to understand. it's all pretentious crap anyway. darn snotty film industry. i think i learned the most in this class than i did in any other class i've taken in college. that's probably a bad thing.
aside from the fact that this exam is testing me on the entertainment industry, it's actually going to be semi-hard. my prof is a pretty tough grader. very detail-oriented. bastard. to make it even worse, i'm straddling the A-B grade line (i currently have a 90% average) and i have to do well on this final to tip the scales over to my side. still, i would much prefer this to any business class final. thankfully those were all finished off last week in the form of group papers and presentations.
i graduate (officially) on sunday (22nd) morning and then i'm leaving Illinois...for a gooooood long while. i've had quite enough of these never-ending cornfields and irritating greeks. i'll be moving back to ohio for a week or two to celebrate xmas and new years and all that good stuff. then i'm heading out to NYC baby. my friend jason has a place under the, get this, brooklyn bridge! too dope. so i will be leaching off him for a bit. =)
i have no job yet. no job offers. haven't even had any face-to-face interviews. ugh. not looking forward to those. but i'm extremely excited about seeking out a job in the music/entertainment/advertising industry. and being on my own! crazy fun.
boys suck too. use you and lose you, usually how it goes. but i'll deal. i suppose. lots of fish in the sea, etc etc etc.
do not EVER get soup from Subway. their sandwiches taste like crap, but they're edible. the soup is absolute trash. i got the "golden broccoli and cheddar" soup and it sat in my bowl like a congealed lump of fat (which i have no doubt it was extremely high in) and jiggled. it wasn't even golden. it was closer to beige. and the specks of broccoli looked sickly. GROSS. it cost me $1.50 and i tossed it out after half a spoonful.
BUY "JAPAN NOT FOR SALE VOL.3"!!!!!! it was put out in 2000 by Sony Japan. if you like pop or indie pop or indie or just plain japan, you need this album. way dope. happy stuff. helps you tide over the depressing winter months. GO!
that's all i've got for now. picking up cap + gown tomorrow. writing message in shorthand on left hand in ink...don't forget kitty...!
[11/02/02] ... SaturdaY 12:00 p.m.
information asymmetry is a bitch. especially in relationships. if you don't love someone, tell them. don't say what you don't mean. hearts are fragile and i'm a pessimist as it is.
funny how you think someone is "the one" and to them, you're just a summer fling. well, winter's here. i should have known better.
[07/11/02] ... ThursdaY 12:21 p.m.
go buy: "typing of the dead" (a computer game put out by sega)
go read: "geek love" by katherine dunn (a book about circus freaks)
go visit: threebrain.com (home of the infamous 'gonads&strife squirrel')
go see: q and not u perform
go listen: to This American Life (no gonads but plenty of strife)
go run: 5 miles uphill
go drink: raspberry stoli & tonic
go flush: birds from the bush
go find: a lost pet
go seek: the meek
go breathe: your lover's breath
go wash: yourself clean of sorrow
go absorb: a museum
go write: your eulogy
go make: a difference
go live: life
[07/11/02] ... ThursdaY 6:54 p.m.
(***dates/places for fun stuff...2002 dates unless specifically referred to as differently***)
*austin city limits festival
-austin, tx
-sept 28-->sept 29
-512.478.7211
*bonnaroo
-manchester, tennessee
-june 21-->june 23
*bumbershoot: the seattle arts festival
-seattle, washington
-aug 30-->sept 2
*cleveland fest
-cleveland, oh
-july 13-->july 14
*CMJ music marathon
-nyc, ny
-oct 30-->nov 2
*coachella
-palm springs, ca
-april 27-->april 28
*independent music conference
-philadelphia, pa
-aug 28-->aug 31 2003
-203.606.4649
*krazyfest
-louisville, ky
-june 21-->june 23
*ladyfest dc
-washington, dc
-aug 10-->aug 14
*more than music fest
-columbus, oh
-july 5-->july 7
*noisepop
-san francisco, ca
-feb 26-->march 3
*siren music festival
-coney island, ny
-july 20
*SXSW (south by southwest)
-austin, tx
-march 7-->march 16 2003
-march 12-->march 16 2003 specifically music
[07/10/02] ... WednesdaY 11:45 a.m.
i'm 42% slut...which is actually less than the average, 46%.
based on the 6,302,866 test takers so far:
i'm sluttier than 43% of the world.
i'm cleaner than 55% of the world.
hey toys and girls...it's been a while since i caught up with you, but i just wanted to inform you that i'm only about half whore. by the way, i'm in dc until august 11th, china rocks my world (shanghai in particular), and i'm currently an official (temporary) employee of NPR.
i'm staying at the american university dorms (no thanks to you slackers!). i have a roommate from new mexico. she chills @ the ecuadorian embassy 9-1 daily (without pay!) and then busts her butt at a retail job just so she can eat. she's a rockin artist and has red curly hair and can never seem to stick with one guy for very long. we get along.
so npr is having us work on something called "intern edition". basically, it's a radio show produced, written, and directed by the 30 or so interns here this summer. the story topics include: cricket, american idol (fox), the decline of symphonies, nick dupree, metro (subway) elevators, native american sovereignty, the rarity of black male magazines, dowsers, the mental health of african-american women, and u.s. opponents of terrorism. i've never done anything like this and i'm excited as heck (even though you're probably not going to be hearing my particular voice in the show). just letting you know that radio kicks my butt...and more kids should get into it...not just the *indie elite.
*note: i am regrettably not a member of the aforementioned demographic, so don't come around questioning my supposed authority on these things. so there.
my Austin-ian (TX) friend dave has a zine. and a production company. and a band. Late Sunday Afternoon Depression is his baby and you should check it out. ask me or him for a copy of their zine's very first issue. his band, syntax!fascist, played SXSW 2002 after existing for less than a year. i don't know about you, but that screams "quality tunes" to me.
[04/25/02] ... FridaY 8:55 p.m.
So I have no idea where I'm living in DC. I'm screwed. Email me if you can hook me up. PUHLEEEEESE!
****100 Girls - I was pleasantly surprised by this teeny bopper flick that got ZERO hype. Witty script, adequate acting, believeable actors, and not a single shitty pop song in the entire soundtrack. This is not to say that it was a good soundtrack...just that I was spared being tortured with the strains of Destiny's Child or the Backstreet Boys. Funny shit. Check it out.
***A.I. - The Kubrick part was awesome. The Spielberg part was uninspired. Hence, it started off brilliantly, and deteriorated from there. Also, Haley Joel Osment scares me.
****Angela's Ashes - Do you have one of those friends that is ALWAYS bubbly, energized, and ready to party? Well, bring them back to earth with this flick. Harsh enough to scare you off Guinness. Enjoyable appearance made by Breaking the Waves lead, Emily Watson.
***Canadian Bacon - An attack on Canada led by Michael Moore! = Funny.
**Drowning Mona - Started funny. Got increasingly drab.
****Drugstore Cowboy - A classic. Go watch. Lots of drugs, sex, and a baby-faced Heather Graham.
*****Farewell My Concubine - Wow. Moving and beautiful. Or maybe I'm just biased because I'm Asian. If you're Asian, watch it cuz it's quite accurate. If you're not Asian, watch it for its historical content, gender issues, and human spirit.
*Hamlet (2000) - I like Shakespeare, but I couldn't understand a word. I'm dumb. Hawke wasn't even very incredibly good looking.
***Sexy Beast - Direction reminiscent of "Snatch." A bit of a language barrier with the Brits (Aussies?), but it's funny even without a complete understanding of the script.
****The Man Who Wasn't There - Billy Bob scores again. Nice noir style cinematography, superb acting, quirky script. About a barber who only wanted to make some money in the revolutionary dry cleaning industry.
[03/30/02] ... SaturdaY 7:41 p.m.
i'm going to DC for the summer. well, china first, then DC. i took up NPR on their internship offer and suddenly the future is quite clear. well, the next few months at least. yay NPR!
Petty Plagiarization of the DeepElm webpage ("News"):
At all costs, get this record immediately: SIGUR ROS "Agaetis Byrjun" (import from Iceland). Sigur Ros means "Victory Rose" in Icelandic. The title translates to "Good Beginning." Most of the lyrics were written in a faux language (that only resembles Icelandic, some call it Hopelandic) created specifically for the recordings.
On December 18, 2000, NPR (National Public Radio) broadcast an interview with Mike Mantione of Five Eight regarding the recent release of The Good Nurse. Mantione addressed the new record's overlying theme of mental health and the need to recognize that many Americans have psychological problems serious enough to warrant professional care. The interview was featured on "Morning Edition" which offers incisive coverage of the day's news, interviews and signature NPR commentators. The program is broadcast to 524 stations across the USA and reaches an audience of 8.3 million. NPR reaches listeners worldwide in over 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa via NPR Worldwidesm.
(the only purpose for inclusion of that last paragraph was for the nifty facts about NPR...yay NPR!)
Neet: Deep Elm key ring w/ "Indie Til Death" slogan (choose red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black, or nite-glow!)
[03/27/02] ... WednesdaY 12:53 p.m.
howdy all...kitty cat has a dilemma and needs your advice. whilst the rest of the world is dealing with terrorism, famine, earthquakes, and shitty pop music, i am in turmoil over my summer plans. my goal in life is to make ads. write ads. critique ads. you know, anything to do with consumer exploitation and mind control. thus i am torn between these two golden opportunities...
i recently applied for two summer internships. the first was National Public Radio (NPR) in Washington, DC, and the second was Zipatoni Inc. in St. Louis (a brand marketing firm).
Concerning NPR, I interviewed with them before spring break via telephonic apparatus..AND then discovered an emailed OFFER (!) from their audience and corporate research department when i got back from arizona!!!
The internship is unpaid, college credit available...but i'll be working at NPR!!! how about that for a resume booster? the only problems i have with accepting their offer is finding living accomodations in DC (all by my lonesome!) and whether this will determine my career path. the former may be solved because one of my high school buddies is going to school in DC (American University) so she might be able to hook me up. the latter is the more significant dilemma. i'm not so sure marketing research...or research of any kind will be what i want to do for the rest of my life.
the zipatoni internship is a copywriter position, a slightly more desireable job...ok, ok, a much more desirable job. as a marketing major, statistics just don't do it for me. creating ads though...happy happy joy joy. zipatoni would provide me with experience inside a real advertising agency, letting me see how it works, whether it's really what i want to do, and give me a chance to create! not to mention that i spent way too much time filling out the application and creating creative writing samples just for that purpose. oh, this one is paid. $2000 for the whole summer i believe. but i don't interview with them until April 4.
should i accept NPR's offer right now? wait until i receive an answer from zipatoni (which could take a month!)? not sure how long of a decision period i have with NPR...i should give them a call...indeed...
feedback? advice? first aid? anyone?
AIM = devaskate
email = devaskate@boardbitch.com
evol,
cat
[02/18/02] ... MondaY 2:20 a.m.
poor little homepage has been put on hiatus for 2+ months. so sorry. here's an update on me:
applied to NPR for a summer internship. it was worth a try. i hope they like me. i hope i'll get in...shah guff!
applied for a study abroad tour of China. two weeks in the month of May, perusing the business world of the Orient. oh yeah, and site-seeing. maybe.
i'm going to be 21 in 8 days.
i am working at WEFT 90.1 Community Radio for East Central Illinois. not getting paid though. it's all volunteer work and i hope to get my own weekly time slot soon. considering how long the training process takes and how few time slots are actually availalbe, soon could mean a few months. o well. more time to research movie soundtracks for what will eventually become a program entitled, "Soundtracks of Our Lives." i know i'm ripping off the band (which i LOVE) but i couldn't come up w/anything better.
if you can't tell already, i'm hoping to get an internship this summer. jade tree is hiring interns, but they're in delaware and offering no pay. blah. i just need work experience so i don't flop when i hit the real world.
"new" bands i love: South, Cornelius, Ashby, Mull Historical Society, Clinic, Sigur Ros, Mum, Demoted to Hugs, Abandoned Pools, Pinback, Lovage, the Good Life, Desaparecidos, Soundtrack of Our Lives, the Avalanches, Mars Volta, the Distillers, Mineral. i think there are a few more i forgot to list. there are always more.
go HERE for some awesome college internet radio. well, at the very least, it's leaps and bounds better than the radio station here.
i watch an insane number of movies every week. here is a list of the ones i was able to successfully cull from my shrinking memory bank. critiqued in order of viewing recency:
Theater:
***Brotherhood of the Wolf (France) - Nearly mindless action flick for hardcore subtitle readers. Exciting cinematography. Bland characters. Lots of corsetted cleavage.
****Monster's Ball - Racism is the big deal in this flick. The "monster's ball" is actually a term used to describe the audience attending an electric chair execution. Moving performances by Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton.
****In the Bedroom - Heavy examination of parental roles. And how far you go in protecting your child. Or others' children.
****A Beautiful Mind - Smart people are nice people. They're just obsessed with being smart. Johnny Nash is an example of brilliance and its unfortunate side effects. Jen Connelly performs kick-assidly as usual.
****The Royal Tenenbaums - Yay for dysfunctional families. Be they rich bastards or geniuses, parents will always love their children...and fluffing their own egos.
***Lord of the Rings - Have not read the series. Thus I'm unqualified to provide an informed opinion. I guess it was ok. Not a big fantasy flick fan. Same with hairy feet.
****Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone - I'm addicted. I will watch all the movies in the series whether they are of high cinematic quality or not. Gimme a damn Quidditch broom!
****Waking Life - As they mentioned in "The Making of..." on Bravo, "If you don't like what the characters are saying, you'll be able to appreciate the visuals." Gobs of philosophy. Existentialism. Quoteth a friend, "I was forced to think more in the first 5 minutes than I have all year." Damn these fucked up movies that make you wake up your brain.
Rental:
****My Own Private Idaho - Is from the "Gay&Lesbian" section of the video store. Sex is a commodity in this movie, but the perspectives viewed are priceless luxury goods.
****Barfly - Proof that dialogue is everything. Well, that, and darn good acting.
**Pola X (France) - Awful editing. Also the brutality and grittiness that I've come to see as common in French cinema. Based on a Hemingway story. Supposedly. Incest, sex, industrial music.
****Ghost World - Life is mundane and the general public is insane. Ghost World proves it. But beautifully and meaningfully.
*****Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Hedveeg awaits your perusal. Transgenders, rock n roll ballads, and lots of wigs. You won't regret it.
****The Anniversary Party - Directed by the two main leads. Great editing, capturing the awkwardness of human relationships. Drugs, sex, and sorrow are to follow.
*Baise-Moi (France) - Um. The box said it was one of the top 10 European films of the new millennium. Considering the millennium is only 1 yr and 2 months old, I should have known I was being duped. "Unrated"...AKA XXXXXX. There's one particular "shot" (literal) that promotes projectile vomiting. The faint-hearted should definitely glance right past this. However, if you're ultra-violent and looking for something to wack off to, try Baise-Moi...translation: "Rape Me."
*The White Balloon (Iran) - I was bored. I know it's internationally acclaimed. I know it's art. I know it's about the beauty of family. And simplicity. But I was bored. Sorry.
****Time of the Gypsies (Yugoslavia) - Entertaining flick produced in a country a world apart from our loaded capitalist skyscrapers. The lead role is no hunk, but light humor and hope make that irrelevant.
***Children of Nature (Iceland) - Another artsy film. I learned of this movie because of interest in a band's presence on the soundtrack: Sigur Ros. The dreamy slow nature portrayed in the movie works for the soundtrack, but the movie...eh, lacked workage.
*****Amores Perros (Mexico) - Hells Yes. Violence and dogs and drugs and betrayal. Love it love it.
well it's late. i'm tired. lots of group project marketing research to deal with this week. blah.
evol,
cat