our gaze

It is Halloween, and I’m staying in. I’ve had 3 Halloween this month. So let’s update this blog.

I went to the Laker’s season opener last night. It was really fun. Drank Newcastle in a can? We were in the Forbes VIP box, which had a much better view than last season’s Cars.com box.

On my way home tonight, my Honda’s electrical system took a giant dump, right in the middle of a turn. Totally quit – I’m thinking its ignition. Had to wait an hour to get it towed back to my garage.

I have been completely obsessed with hoarding live GBV stuff lately. Unfortunately, I can’t afford a new computer right now, and my space is at a minimum. So I’ve been deleting albums off my computer like mad, as well as old pictures that I don’t care to ever see again. The GBV guys rule, and there are tons of live soundboard recordings and even 3 DVDs of Robert Pollard performances. All you’ll ever need is right here:

Guided By Voices Database

Disarm the Settlers forum

needmoresongs Bittorrent tracker

What else.. what else. Doing a massive record hunt this weekend: Amoeba, House of Records, etc. Better clear out that bag. Looks like I’ll be taking my Vespa if I can’t get the electrical fixed.

Tomorrow night I’m having Zombiefest 2008 with Lindsey. Return of the Living Dead!

eff Halloween…

Robert Pollard turned 50 today.

Image Credit

Gold, baby.

In lieu of any original content:

I just link to other stuff!

Top ten motorcycle trips in the country

Live Transmission

I saw Control last night. We got to the theatre a little later than expected, and there was a line to the end of the block. When we got in, the only two seats together were at the very front left. Yikes. It was very close.

The movie was amazing. I can’t wait to see it again. At times it feels like a documentary – it looks (and sounds) like Ian Curtis is singing up there. After the first Joy Division song, someone in the audience cheered. It was great. Sam Riley played Curtis like wet dynamite.. smoldering and sizzling and ready to explode.

It also doesn’t make any sense – as suicides never do. Ian Curtis was only 23 before he hung himself, a little too old to still have that adolescent confusion about love and way too young to be so disenchanted with life that they only way to deal with it is to end it. All our great musicians are dead…

I recommend you go see Control right away, if it is playing in your city. It ends tonight in Los Angeles, but on November 1st The Future is Unwritten is finally playing at the Nuart. I am so effing excited that I almost peed my pants when the trailer came on (maybe it was because of the two glasses of water, the Sunshine shake, and the extreme nervousness).

I’ve been listening to that old Joy Division bootleg I have lately. A lot of the songs performed during the movie reminded me of those demos. Songs bent from wire and glass.

Woke up this morning..

and got my bike out of the garage, and there was ash all over it.

Southern California is burning and it is awful.

Out mailman is not picking up our mail and I haven’t received my records. I guess I should report him, but will that result in him being even lazier? I guess it is worth the chance, since I lost two records that were about 30 bucks.

The pumpkin carving party was awesome.

Oh man, these blog posts are getting pretty bad. Time to regroup.

Joy Division x2

Going to see Control on wednesday.

I’ve been excited to see this movie since I originally heard of it many months ago!

Review afterward?

laff riots

I woke up this morning at 7:40! I was thirsty! Instead of getting up and being productive, I watched these comedy gems on youtube. Andy Kaufman is my hero!!!!!!!!! 

I hate stand up, and I love Andy Kaufman.

random things

SANDWICHEZ!

JUBILEE!

Ugly Modern Scooters

With a few exception, I think a lot modern scooters are ugly. I think the LX150 (and ET4 to an extent) are great looking modern scooters, and with a little work and some some streamlining.. the LX150 can be super sharp. Like mine was… sniff sniff.

But holy fuck, most of these people out there buying modern scooters feel the need to go all Harley-Davidson on them and make them look gaudy as hell! Here is a great example:

Image Source (ModernVespa)

Click the source link for a bigger picture.. but why bother? Lets go down the list of ugliness.

First off, they started with a pretty version of an ugly scoot. I don’t really like GTS250’s.. they just go against the entire concept of scooter to me. But the GTV version is a limited edition throwback to some of the first Vespas (fender light, etc.) Here is an unmolested GTV:

Not bad, just not my style. But back to that monstrosity above.

WHERE TO BEGIN?

How about that seat? What the fuck? Its like a tractor seat, morphed into a giant brown lazy boy? That has the be the ugliest seat I’ve ever seen.

Chrome rims? And two-tone blue pinstriping? Multiple stickers of the brands of your aftermarket add-ons? Congratulations.. you’ve just made the “scooter” version of some teenager’s 1995 Honda Civic.

And a big fat GPS on the bars makes that one big lumbering anti-scooter.

I don’t meant to slag on this guy’s ride, and I’m sure he is going to enjoy it. But it just goes back to my original stance on what makes a scooter a scooter. I guess you could argue that an original fenderlight with 30 mirrors and lights on it is the same difference, but I’d have to disagree.

I know it comes down to taste.. but when you think of scooter, do you think of the bike above, or do you think of something like this?

Me too!

My DREAMS

Hello.. Akira Kurosawa here. I had some crazy dreams last night!

Just kidding, I’m not Akira Kurosawa, but I did have some seriously wacky dreams. Are you a glutton for punishment? Would you like to hear about them?

1. The tool thief

This dream had me walking up my alley. All the sudden, this guy jumps up and says “HEY! THANKS FOR THE FREE TUNE-UP! Hhahahaaahahhahaha” and he starts running up the alley. I was thinking “I didn’t tune-up this guy’s car” then I notice he has my toolbox! I start running after him, but he is super slow. I catch up to him and he’s trying to get in this busted down car. I open the door, and all the sudden I have my helmet in my hand! I hit him in the face with it. I say “hey, those are my tools, I need those!” I follow him up into his apartment, and I take all the tools he stole, PLUS his car keys. I say “I’m a reasonable man, if you needed to borrow them you could have just asked…” but I know this is a lie, because i don’t lend out my tools.

2. Kindergarten DJ

In this dream, I simply was in a kindergarten class, and I was holding up two records and asking different kids which record they liked more. They always picked the lesser of the records! Kids are dumb!

3. Cushman pusher

In this dream, I’m at these fairgrounds. This old man is pushing this giant old scooter. I say “hey, is that a Cushman?” (Cushmans are these old weird Sears scooters that old guys from the midwest seem to be into). He says it is, and he is huffing and puffing, and there is a giant parade of old people behind him. Basically, think of the scene in The Passion of the Christ when Jesus is carrying the cross, and everyone is following him. Except the cross is an old scooter, and the Roman soldiers whipping him are actually geriatric peers.

don’t stop now

Sometimes you talk to someone for like, 7 hours, and at the end of the conversation you think “holy shit.. is someone playing a trick on me? That was awesome!”

Buzzards and dreadful crows, kids! I’m making mix CDs as we speak. I gotta make some phone calls. Blog post cut short.

Admiral Starship’s Farting Clown Review Round-Up

I made that title up.

OK! Hold your breath.. here are some quick reviews from all the things I’ve bought or seen in this last week or so:

1. The Darjeeling Limited

I liked this movie. I disliked The Life Aquatic because it felt like another director making a parody of a Wes Anderson film. This is good, a tiny bit heavy-handed in its visual metaphors at times, but all together a sublime and pretty fun film. I’ll be watching this again in theatres.

2. Bruce Springsteen – Magic

This album feels like an apology to all the Bruce fans who weren’t into his Ghost of Tom Joad-esque Devils and Dust and his stompy folk throwback The Seeger Sessions. This is an E-street album through and through.. and you will hear a lot of saxophone. But is it any good? Yes, but the production bugs me. One my favorite song on the album “Girls in their Summer Clothes” I feel like they muddled Bruce’s voice. And I’m not so into “Radio Nowhere” which is the first single. But its good. But not as good as Devils and Dust.

Oh yeah, and the song “You’ll Be Coming Down” is totally Bruce’s version of the Morrissey song “Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself?” (which he played at the concert. It was amazing)

3. Robert Pollard – Coast to Coast Carpet of Love / Standard Gargoyle Decisions

Double album release, but not a double-album. Get it? “Coast to Coast Carpet of Love” is all power pop, and “Standard Gargoyle Decisions” is straight crazy rock. I could go on all day about these, but I won’t. Because this blog is pretty Pollard heavy to begin with. CtCCoL is good, but I like SGD much better. Nothing on either album is grabbing me like “Normal Happiness” has, but that is by far my favorite Robert Pollard solo release (this is not counting his team-ups like Keene Brothers and Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard). Buy them both, love them both.

4. Morrissey Concert

It will blow your socks off. Can’t wait for his next album.

5. Nightmare on Elm Street 17: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare

Probably the worst movie ever? No.. not ever. But it was bad.

6. DVD Player

I don’t know, but Amazon.com just said it was delivered. I bet it plays DVDs real good.

7. Spudnut Donut

Stacy is in town, and we scootered over to “Spudnut Donuts” to try a donut. They are made of potatoes. We only had one helmet available, so we drove backstreets and sidewalks while looking out for Johnny Law. This made the donut much more delicious. Wait, actually, we had two helmets for the donut trip. But the adrenaline was still there from the previous trip. SPUDnuts, get it?

I hope you are better informed now, dear reader/consumer. Get ready for the weekend, it will be a doozy.

Vegfalia: Biodeisel powered Vanagon

Image Credit (Flickr Page)

Vegfalia is a new blog I’m following about a biodiesel-powered Vanagon! Awesome!

They only have a few posts up, but I hope they continue with their trials/tribulations with a fossil-fuel free ride. I love that it is a Syncro, too (4×4). Check it out.

Keep Punching, Joe

I received some Daniel Johnston in the mail yesterday. It is nice to be able to listen to it on my iPod, because I only have “Keep Punching Joe” and “Hi, How Are You?” on tape, so I listen to it in my kitchen when I’m cooking or cleaning.

Hmm..

Haven’t really messed with my motorcycle yet. Most likely this weekend I’ll do some parts location and do a little bending, etc. The good news is that from 5 feet away, it doesn’t look bad. And most people will never know it got smashed into after I do a little work this weekend.

But I know. And it pisses me off.

Have a Halloween costume idea.. and I’m excited! Next weekend should be a pre-Halloween extravaganza! Knott’s Scary Farm and a pumpkin carving party, hosted by yours truly! I know two people who won’t be recreating certain Halloween memories from last year, though. I’m corn mazing this one sober, folks.