BACK FROM BOSTON/ THE SHEPHERD'S DOG

I'm back from my weekend in Boston, chillin with Cam. Was soooooo nice as always to get out of New York for a while. This was one of the first visits where we didn't really have any work to do on anything (besides a little DVD commentary recording), so was purely leisure. The simplified version:

FRIDAY-

Arrive into Boston at 10:30 PM.
Meet Cam at South Station.
Head to a party at Trevor's.
Watch a guy dance with a lamp.
Daft Punk/Kanye/Justice.
Head back to Cam's at 12.
Bust out the old Nintendo 64, play some Starfox.
Sleep.

SATURDAY-

Wake up.
Shower.
Beat Starfox 64.
Anna's Taquiera for lunch.
Stumble upon random Energy Festival.
Head to Newbury Comics for some DVD shopping.
Watch Sean Penn's new film "Into The Wild" (incredible, see it.)
Stroll down Newbury street.
Panda Express dinner.
While eating, spur of the moment idea to shoot a short film.
Back to Cam's to get the camera and brainstorm.
Come up with concept for short film, Kyle (of Strawberry Melancholy fame) comes over and agrees to act.
Shoot spur of the moment completely improvised short film at random park.
Get home at 2:30 AM.
Watch footage.
Sleep.

SUNDAY-

Wake up.
Shower.
Bagel Rising for lunch.
Back to Cam's.
Record commentary for Burnside DVD.
Watch The OC.
Head to Boston Commons to chill in the park.
Walk to the bus station.
Back to NY.

The end. For photos, check out the Facebook!



Finally, I just want to let you all know that Iron & Wine's much anticipated new album "The Shepherd's Dog" is FLAWLESS from start to finish. Wow. By far my favorite I&W album yet, its also Sam Beam's most experiemental. With a lot more complex and diverse instrumentation, Beam draws influences from various new musical sources while remaining true to the established sound that we love. Its one of those albums that you put on and just let play through as every single composition is memorable. Having said that though, after many listens (I played the album looped for 4 hours straight on the bus ride to Boston) I have been able to pick out possibly three of my favorite tracks: "Boy With A Coin", "Ressurection Fern" and "Lovesong of the Buzzard". I'm really hoping Beam goes on tour soon to promote the album, because I can only imagine how incredible these songs will sound live. Do yourselves all a favor and go pick this up right away.

SHANGHAI KISS

Yeeeeahhh...ummm...I'm really not sure what I was talking about last night. Excuse me for that lol.



Anyways though, a film that I have been wanting to see for a while called "Shanghai Kiss" is going to be screening here in NYC on Monday, October 1st. Unfortunately, well not really unfortunately, but that evening I'm going to be at at Q&A session
with actor Sean Penn at SVA. But I wanted to encourage anyone whos in the area to try and go check out "Shanghai Kiss":

Liam Liu (Ken Leung, HBO's THE SOPRANOS) is a likeable, struggling L.A. actor who inadvertently finds himself as the object of affection for a pretty Beverly Hills teen (Hayden Panettiere, NBC's HEROES). When Liam inherits his grandmother's home in Shanghai, his visit to China and is introduced to Micky (Kelly Hu, THE SCORPION KING, XMEN 2)--a woman who captures his imagination like no other and forces him to reconsider his Chinese roots. Caught between two worlds (and two women), Liam must now sort out the complicated desires of his heart, and find out who he really is.

Yeah its kind of creepy that this guy is being wooed by Hayden Panettiere who is like 17, but we'll give the borderline pedophilia plot the benefit of the doubt here. Also the prepped-for-Hollywood trailer using Modest Mouse and I think some Dido song is sort of cheesy...but oh well. "Shanghai Kiss" made the rounds at many of the Asian-American film festivals last year, so I think it would be worth checking out. Kelly Hu is visual incentive too...

The screening is Monday, October 1st at 7:30pm at the Imaginasian Theatre. Following the film there will also be a Q&A with writer/co-director David Ren. All tickets are $10. To purchase tickets go to www.theimaginasian.com, or call the ImaginAsian Theater box office at 212-371-6682.

And finally, check out the trailer here:
http://www.videodetective.com/titledetails.aspx?publishedid=82679&customerid=63482

MOUTHING OFF

Maybe I'm just making things up here, but I'm starting to find that a lot of people these days in my generation have loose tongues. Anyone else notice this? Its especially a male thing. People who are totally free in their speech, and almost talk without really thinking. I'm pointing this out as a negative thing, because its not about being politically correct or censoring ourselves. But sometimes people will say things they don't mean, don't feel or just didn't take the time to think about how OTHER people will react. Obviously anything someone says is going be rooted in a reality of how they feel. But its like some people just start talking with no consideration for the fact that words mean a great deal, and people don't forget the things you say. Its almost like speech has been cheapened or something, being thrown around carelessly instead of thought about. I find its becoming more and more rare to meet people who are more meticulous with words, comments, conversation...people who are in control of what they're saying and how they're presenting themselves instead of just letting their mouth run on autopilot. Its refreshing sometimes to meet people who are more restrained, and seem to take stances on things and make statements about themselves through how they talk. It may sound like I'm beating around the bush and talking about some specific incident here, but I'm really not lol. Its just something that I had been thinking about, probably provoked by certain instances, but nothing I specifically remember.


Anyway, its 3:20 in the morning and I could just be blabbering on about bullshit myself at this hour lol.

GENERAL PACE

WASHINGTON - Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, caused a stir at a Senate hearing Wednesday when he repeated his view that gay sex is immoral and should not be condoned by the military.

Pace, who retires next week, said he was seeking to clarify similar remarks he made in spring, which he said were misreported.

"Are there wonderful Americans who happen to be homosexual serving in the military? Yes," he told the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing focused on the Pentagon's 2008 war spending request.

"We need to be very precise then, about what I said wearing my stars and being very conscious of it," he added. "And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law."

Anti-war protesters sitting behind Pace jeered the four-star general's remarks with some shouting, "Bigot!" That led Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to abruptly adjourn the hearing and seal off the doors.

The hearing resumed about five minutes later in which Pace said he would be supportive of efforts to revisit the Pentagon's policy so long as it didn't violate his belief that sex should be restricted to a married heterosexual couple.

"I would be very willing and able and supportive" to changes to the policy "to continue to allow the homosexual community to contribute to the nation without condoning what I believe to be activity — whether it to be heterosexual or homosexual — that in my upbringing is not right," Pace said.

Pace's lengthy answer on gays was prodded by Sen. Tom Harkin, who said he found Pace's previous remarks as "very hurtful" and "very demoralizing" to homosexuals serving in the military.

In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that Pace said in a wide-ranging interview: "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."

Harkin, D-Iowa, said he wanted to give Pace a chance to amend his remarks in light of his retirement.

"It's a matter of leadership, and we have to be careful what we say," Harkin said.

Pace noted that the U.S. Military Code of Justice prohibits homosexual activity as well as adultery. Harkin said, "Well, then, maybe we should change that."

HELLA GREEN

^^^ Hmmmm which city's gorgeous waterfront is that??!

Portland, Oregon
Affordable and accessible, this city straddling the banks of the Willamette River has long made sustainable living a priority. More than 30 years ago, with other cities in a freeway-building frenzy, Portland broke ranks and tore down a six-lane expressway to make room for a waterfront park. Since then the city has set an urban growth boundary to protect 25 million acres of forest and farmland, started a solid-waste program that recycles more than half of the city's trash and erected more than 50 public buildings that meet tough standards set by the United States Green Building Council. One of the most bike-friendly cities in the U.S., Portland's public transportation systems boasts a high rate of ridership. Add in one of the nation's largest city parks -- the aptly named Forest Park has 74 miles of running, biking and hiking trails -- and Portland's rep as the nation's greenest city makes sense.

BAM!

So "I, Anonymous" is a regular featured section in our beloved Portland Mercury newspaper. Each edition consists of a confession/accusation/rant sent in by an anonymous reader. Its always entertaining, but I just HAD to post this week's as it not only made me chuckle, but is written by someone who had the balls to do something I know we always have the fantasy of doing.



I, Anonymous
A Patriot's Act

Yeah, I punched you in the face, unprovoked, as I walked by your car (the one with the lame-ass pro-war stickers on the rear window). But, hey... I was just being preemptive. How was I to know if you'd attack me or not? I was assuming from your bumper stickers that you hate my freedoms.

I guess I just snapped and it all came together, like a grand epiphany: "I must stop the people who are saying 'okay' to senseless death, the 'Patriot' Act, and the dissolution of our inalienable rights, given to us in the Constitution." I was merely correcting your behavior, as YOU would have seen fit.

What puzzled me after your nose immediately blurted blood was that I wanted to help you up. But instead I coldly walked on as if you mattered little or not at all. See, I cannot take full accountability for my actions. Your president doesn't, and I'm just trying to follow in his greatness. Violence solves violence, as your bumper sticker truly implied.

Freedom of speech is kinda dead now, so my intention was to explain this in a way you could totally understand. What I did was wrong—100 percent. No question about it, and I hope your nose is okay. Hey, at least I can apologize. Certain people won't.—Anonymous

MADRE

So my mother calls me this morning, and here's how our conversation went:

JANET: "Matt I've been listening to Kanye's new album and I have some questions...."
ME: "Uhhh....yeah.....?"
JANET: "I was wondering if you could explain some of the lyrics to me."
ME: "Ok......"
JANET: "In the song Everything I Am, he says something about Queen Latifah in Chicago. Is he dissing her?"
ME: "HAHAHAHA"
JANET: "What!?"
ME: "No mom, the line is "see how I played a big role in Chicago like Queen Latifah?" Its a double meaning, because Kanye is from Chicago, and Queen Latifah starred in the movie Chicago."
JANET: "OHHHH I see."
ME: "Is that all?"
JANET: "There was another but I can't think of it now."
ME: "You're crazy."
JANET: "Ohhh Branda's here! Hi Branda! Ok I'll call you later!"
*Click*

LOL

CAUSE FOR ACTION

I'm wondering how many of you have heard anything about this?! Its apparently barely getting any coverage, but this video footage thats been uploaded to YouTube is so disturbing.

Basically what happened was, yesterday, John Kerry came to the University of Florida for a Q&A forum. One student began to ask some fairly radical questions concerning Bush's stealing of the last election, America's seemingly impending war with Iran and Kerry's history with Skull & Bones. He was not disorderly at all, but the police then proceeded to grab him, arrest him and taser him right there in front of everyone to see.





You can see in that first video, that the student is actually very polite to Kerry, thanking him for his time and honesty. He also reccomends "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast, which is about the Bush Administration and Kerry says he has actually read it. Now, did ANYTHING this kid say or do warrant physical attack from the cops? Theres nothing that the pigs can even claim against this guy in their defense here.

It's fucking scary to me that this is such a regular occurance. It made me remember the UCLA incident, just from last year, which I also didn't see until recently. If you haven't heard about that, its online as well. Actually I'm gonna find it...

A warning, this one is hard to watch.



This was a case where a student at UCLA (of Arab decent...I believe) was arrested in the school library stemming from him simply giving some backtalk to the librarian when they wouldn't let him in without his school ID. So he ended up getting BRUTALLY tasered by the LAPD (I think UCLA doesnt have its own campus security, they just call LAPD). I mean listen to that kid screaming. Its a miracle he didn't die as a result of all that.

And it all makes me think....WHY didn't anybody do anything? I'm just shooting off at the mouth here, because I doubt if I would even have the courage to try and stop the police. But it all comes back to this idea that we've been trained to forget in this country, and thats that together we outnumber them. I think it becomes especially necessary like in the case of the UCLA incident, where that guy's life was at stake. Its like if you get up to try and stop them, and nobody follows you, you're just gonna get killed or get your ass kicked too. And in other countries that mentality is viewed upon as ridiculous, if you see something wrong you should do something about it. But in America we've been conditioned with irrational obedience.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling...seeing that just kind of put me in a weird mood today.

GEOSABZRA

My boys Blue Scholars and RA Scion were both recently featured on a new Seattle internet music show called Rainhead! Check it out:



RA Interivew

BS Interview

That host likes to say "to say the least" a lot lol.

AGE

An interesting quote I heard:

"Everyone is designed, spiritually, to be a certain age, and it's only the imperfection of biology which makes us live all the filler years."

CORNELL WEST & MOS DEF

Cornell West and Mos Def recently were guests on the Bill Maher show....wow....was an absolutely fantastic dialogue. They discuss everything from Iraq, to Obama, to the insane Jena Six issue currently going on. Watch the whole thing through, its worth your time.









BTW I'm watching the MTV VMAs right now, and Kanye West just performed a new track from "Graduation"....I think it was "Good Life". Wow, it sounded amazing. I'm so hyped for this album.

INJURIES

My brother's ankle.

HOMETOWN

"I'd say the biggest difference between Portland and the other big cities - status obsession.

In NYC, after dark everyone is going to the hot restaurant or club to see or be seen; going out at 10pm after working their 6th 14-hour day in a row.

In Portland we're playing kickball, knitting, opening a gallery, hiking up Tabor, having a pint in the neighborhood. We don't give a shit about getting the big promotion at work, because it means we won't have time for to volunteer at Guide Dogs for the Blind or play that game of ultimate frisbee."

LOL so, so true.

AT THE AIRPORT

Right now my friends are somewhere cruising through the city with the windows down, engulfed in Portland night air, blasting music on their way downtown to the movie theatre.

And I wish I were there.

See you back east.