One Thing To Do

mar. 15: one instruction manual to follow

Jesse Thorn has a successful, long-running interview-based radio show and podcast, “Bullseye,” formerly called “The Sound of Young America.” He recently wrote a guide for “making independent media…and making it your job.” Thorn covers some well-trodden ground, but his use of examples works well, and I get the impression that while all of his points are important, it’s probably worth attempting to follow just a few of them, if only for your own fulfillment. I often find these sorts of articles and lectures (about how to exercise your creativity) to be simultaneously inspirational and discouraging, but the thing I found particularly encouraging about this piece was that it seems to take the long view: Thorn is describing how he eventually turned his creative passion into his livelihood, and he uses examples that range from people who went all-in on something at one moment to people who did something small as an extracurricular that then grew through persistence (i.e., Kasper Hauser).

feb. 17: one film to see

I just saw Dee Rees’ film Pariah, and I was blown away. It focuses on a seventeen year-old from Brooklyn, Alike, who struggles to find her own identity, friends, love, and her place within her family. The film beautifully and heartbreakingly captures the difficulty that Alike has with rejecting the performance of femininity and heterosexuality that her parents expect of her while finding a way to uniquely embody her own lesbian identity in a way different from her peers. Her friends would have her more aggressively express her sexuality and pursue sex, while her parents would have her play the role of a straight female, something like her sister. Alike is comfortable with neither of these options, and Pariah poignantly explores her navigation of the territory in between (or, perhaps, on the periphery of).

The movie could have been only about how difficult it must be to approach the process of coming out as a gay black female in Brooklyn (a worthwhile topic to address), but it avoids reduction to this theme alone—Alike is a teenager, a seventeen year-old, and the difficulty of that experience per se, the coming-of-age experience (musical taste, drug use, academics, curfew) is woven into the film’s explorations of sexual orientation and race. It is rare for a movie to make you feel so embedded in an experience vastly different from your own, and Pariah skillfully finds the common threads that allow such connections to be made. It would be absurd to say that I understand Alike’s experience, but it would be right to say that the film imbued me with a glimmer of some sense of the complexity of her experience. But we’re getting away from the point: go see the movie.

nov. 27: one initiative to check out

The “Who Are You?” sexual violence prevention campaign, running this fall in New Zealand, features a pretty powerful video focusing on the possibilities of bystander intervention. A number of different governmental and non-profit/support/advocacy agencies have collaborated on the campaign, but it’s the video that’s really worth checking out. I’m impressed with how relevant, moving, and educational the short film is all at the same time.

mar. 22: one album to buy

I can’t say that I know much about the band Wye Oak, but their latest album, Civilian, is fantastic. I was recently listening to Beach House’s Teen Dream when a friend recommended this album, and he was right about the parallels; both bands are duos from Baltimore, and at first listen, they share a similar sonic landscape. 

But then, Civilian’s dynamics creep up on you. Much of the record exists in a sonically steady place, where Jenn Wasner’s dry vocals are at the helm, but at some moment, as if from nowhere—you might not even notice it the first time you listen—there is noise coming from all sides, massive noise.

And the duo retreats back into staccato keyboards, looping guitar, and light cymbals. In some way, the album is all over the place, but it manages to convince you that it is one cohesive thought. I like that.

Start with this track, “Plains,” from Civilian.

cred. ws

mar. 10: one piece of software to install

I continually find myself looking at my bright computer screen in a dimly-lit room too late at night. A good way to fix this would be for me to turn off my computer, read a book, and go to sleep. Yeah, right.

Somebody out there is thinking about me. F.lux is an unobtrusive, free piece of software that gradually warms the colors on your computer display after sunset so that you’re not looking at the harsh blue/cool glow of the screen, but rather an emulation of a halogen lamp to more closely match what is presumably the lighting in your home after dark.

I recommend setting the preferences so f.lux changes from day to night over the course of an hour, rather than immediately—you’ll hardly notice it, and that’s the whole point. Maybe it’s just hype, but I certainly find it nice.

feb. 19: one album to buy

I started liking Robyn around the time her song “Konichiwa Bitches” came out. I thought she was awesome. Things changed. I am now in love with her. As she would put it, I am “recklessly, headlessly in love with her” (“Hang With Me”).

The final album of her Body Talk trilogy, simply titled Body Talk, has made this happen. It is one of the best electro-dance-pop albums I have ever heard. With this album, Robyn has created music that, on the one hand, makes you want to spring up lively out of your seat, dance, and sing along; on the other hand, the lyrics and melodies can be deeply affecting at times—isolated, distant love songs. But they’re the same songs: Robyn’s music on this record simultaneously adapts to your mood and creates tension with it, layering itself with feeling in a way that dance-pop seldom does.

Grab the album. If you have a heart, and you like to move, you won’t be disappointed. Her song “Hang With Me” would be a good place to start.

feb. 17: one performance to watch

Musically, I’m not sure that anything quite gets to me like kids’ choirs performing excellent songs with passion. And the PS22 Chorus kind of just knocks everything else out of the park. Granted, I’m behind the curve on this one—they’ve been popular for awhile—but remember that NBC rerun campaign? “If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you!”

I don’t know that their performance of Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” would be considered the best if you polled everyone (surprisingly, “Firework” by Katy Perry is fantastic), but there was no way I could choose any other performance to post. I grew up on Stop Making Sense and throughout my life, the songs from that album have given me a strong sense of musical purpose, and have become wrapped up with deep personal meaning. “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)” tops the list on that front. Watch for when the soloist comes in: “I’m just an animal, looking for a home—share the same space for a minute or two.” These kids made this song their own.

I hope you’ll work your way through their YouTube stash, too. It’s worth it.

cred. to JD for the twitter reference to this group

feb 11: one blog post to read

They might have something to say about people like me over at the “Lens” blog on The New York Times website. I often take photos with my phone, and I use a few different apps to crop, change levels, and apply filters to these pictures. This process is at the center of a debate surrounding the Pictures of the Year International awards for photojournalism, one of which went to Damon Winter for his work in NYT covering the life of soldiers in Afghanistan. Winter, a professional photographer, took the photos for the essay entirely with the Hipstamatic app on his iPhone. Is this a dramatic departure from form? Is it a dramatic departure from the status quo in terms of the end result as experienced by the viewer? Winter has a more engaging take on this than I do, so head on over to “Lens” and read his statement.

feb 02: one article to read

I started watching football regularly about two-thirds of the way through the professional season this year. There are myriad reasons that I finally picked up a taste for watching the sport at a college and professional level on television. I’ve thought about them and could share them, but that’s not why you read this blog.

Now, whether you are a longtime fan, a new enthusiast like me, someone neutral on the subject, or a cynic who thinks that athletics are a loathsome pursuit, you’re still probably tuned in to the current trends enough to know that things have changed in football over time. The sport has both become more dangerous, and the public, the players, the media, and the leagues have become more aware of the dangers involved in the game, particularly those surrounding head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. A recent article in the New Yorker by Ben McGrath details some of these shifts, and attempts to get a sense of what they might mean for the future of the sport.

It’s an interesting read as a pivot point to what we’ve seen in the media over the last couple of years, and what we may see happening and changing (or, as various people cite in the piece: not changing) in the years to come. Note: I call this an article, and not an essay, because I don’t think that McGrath presents a thesis, but rather, more of an overview. Correct me if I’m wrong.

By the way, Julius Peppers was fined $10,000 for the hit on Aaron Rodgers in the NFC Championship, pictured above.

jan 26: one interview to listen to

Should you watch the television series Louie first, or start with Terry Gross’ interview of its creator and star, stand-up comedian Louis C.K.? Both are wonderful and insightful. Perhaps you should look to the show first, which is available on Netflix Watch Instantly, though if you start with the interview, you might be prompted to delve into the show (if my recommendation isn’t reason enough). The show’s first season on FX this past year came as a huge surprise to my friends and me. It starts as a somewhat direct translation of Louis C.K.’s stand-up: edgy, irreverent, self-loathing, and sarcastic. However, soon into the series, the tone becomes more contemplative, the episodes become a bit less linear and more arty in their direction, and the main character (and his relationships) takes on a more clear emotional arc. The humor and content, in many ways, stay the same throughout, but it becomes obvious that there are questions being asked in this show, and not just comedic observations being provided.

cred. ek, ws, lm, and ah for thoughts on louie

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