To blog, or not to blog.

I was considering writing a second blog entry in as many days, but instead I have decided to hit the open road and listen to/sing along to some Radiohead.

My hunch that I would enter another Radiohead phase is proving correct.

"One day I am gonna grow wings, a chemical reaction..."

I was browsing a music message board today and there was a thread in which people were listing what they considered to be Radiohead's best song. I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of people listing "Let Down" from the albumOK Computer. "Let Down" has always been one of my favorite Radiohead songs, dating way back to when I recorded a copy of the album on cassette before my brother Michael left home and went to college, but because of the cassette's limited size, I was only able to get the first half of the album on the cassette. Anyway, I listened to the first half of the album over and over, and "Let Down" became one of my favorite songs. The final verse of this song contains perhaps the greatest moment of any Radiohead song.

Reading this thread force me to listen to "Let Down" and some other songs from the album. While looking at the tracklist in iTunes, it struck me how remarkable the album really is, especially the first half. The first six songs ("Airbag", "Paranoid Android", "Subterranean Homesick Alien", "Exit Music (for a Film)", "Let Down", and "Karma Police") constitute one of the best and most consistently great runs on any album ever recorded. I'm struggling to think of another album that can match that six-song run.

I feel my annual period of listening obsessively to Radiohead may have begun tonight.

(Tongue in Cheek)

This BYU-Utah basketball game proves that Max Hall didn't know what he was talking about.

Turn up the AC!

As much as I would have liked Austin Collie to have stayed for his senior season at BYU, I am glad that things have worked out so well for him as they have. He's given me a reason to follow the NFL, and it has been a lot of fun to track Collie's progress this year. I don't think he could have been put in a better situation, and he made the most of it. He's definitely played very, very well as a rookie. I offer many props to Austin Collie. I wish I could have watched today's AFC championship game to see Collie tear it up. Anyway, way to make all of us at BYU proud, Austin. Go Colts!

Awesome movie posters

I've recently decided that I'm going to decorate the Party House, or at least my room in the party house, with awesome movie posters. I've been looking at a lot of posters online, including a lot of foreign posters, and I must say that Poland takes the cake for awesome movie posters, surprisingly enough. I just thought I share a few of the awesome posters I want to get.

Let the Right One In

Harry and the Hendersons (Polish)

Children of Men

City of Lights

The Empire Strikes Back (Polish)

The Princess Bride (Brazilian)

Rocky

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (German)

8 1/2 (Polish)

Amelie (Polish)

Those are just a few of the awesome posters I've been looking at.

Haiti

This picture, found on the New York Times homepage, breaks my heart:

A Time Suction Device

Behold, all ye procrastinators:

http://www.passiveagressivenotes.com

Life goal #1

Just in time for New Year's Resolutions, here is a life goal I just created.

Life Goal #1:

Create a meal called Pottage Soup. Pass this recipe on to my children.

FIN

I'm back...

in black. More like back from the black. It's been awhile since I blogged, and while I don't really have any valid excuses for not writing, I think I may have determined something that has been preventing me from writing more.

Basically it's this: my approach to blogging got too cerebral. I spent too much time thinking about things, outlining, planning, etc., and not enough time actually writing. This over-thinking began to take place because I gave myself an unnatural standard to achieve with my writing. It was like I couldn't write unless what I did write was going to be so good it could be published without any substantial revision. I've realized that I was not only more productive as a writer, but what I did write was usually pretty good and enjoyable to read when I didn't take myself too seriously. I need to write because it brings me happiness and contentment, and that's all. I can't feel like I need to produce a masterpiece every time I sit down to blog. It's just got to flow freely and naturally.

I hope consciously acknowledging this hang up will let me overcome it and write as frequently as I once did. It seems like I'm not the only one who is less prolific these days. Is the general enthusiasm for blogging waning? I hope not. I won't delude myself into thinking that I am going to lead the blogging renaissance, but I will do my part.

Why count sheep when you can blog about music and robots and zombies??

Every once in awhile when I'm in a creative mood, or at least thinking about being creative, I'll stumble across a song that is perfect for whatever I have in mind. Earlier this year when I was brainstorming the still unfinished Bad Jeremy Trilogy, I heard the song "Robotboy" by Robyn and my brain was flooded with images for the perfect ending montage for the film. I love the feeling when this epiphany takes place. I realize my ideas aren't anything spectacular or groundbreaking, but there is still a certain satisfaction when this happens.

I'm writing this because I just had one of those moments. It was such a random occurrence too! I was writing down some ideas about a short film involving zombies and robots (very high-brow), and I was trying to decide on some music to listen to. I find that music can be a useful, though imperfect, resource in evoking certain moods or emotions when I'm writing. For some reason I decided on an obscure band I hadn't listened to in a very long time, The 1900's. It wasn't until the third song of their only full-length album that magic happened. The song "When I Say Go" immediately jumped out at me. I remembered listening to it sometime in the past, but this time the music and lyrics struck me like lightning. It fits perfectly with the premise and mood of the film I'm trying to conceptualize. How often are you going to find a song that fits perfectly with your ideas for a film about humans and robots teaming up to fight off the zombie horde? Look at these lyrics:

Watching all the quiet faces I don't understand

I believe we can be rescued by better things than man

And everyone would be so sorry I don't even know

I've been watching all my time go to waste

And you never thought you'd be so slow

First one to the steps when I say go

Any body but my own

Waiting on the lines that we define

Listen up! I never knew I'd ever be so sad

I've been touched in places by very scary hands

If anyone should ask me I'll tell them I don't know

I've been leaving all my clues like my footprints in the snow

And you never thought you'd be so slow

First one to the gate when I say go

And you need to hold your own

Waiting on the lines that we divide

All the world is cold

Ice to snow to sun

Look at what is left

It's just me

And I've been waiting all alone

Watching all the quiet faces I can understand

Why we need to be rescued by better things than man

And you never thought you'd be so slow

First one to the steps when I say go

Any body but my own

Waiting on the lines that we define

Waiting for the one I love

I've been forgetting you

It's late and I don't feel the need to point out all the parts of that song that turn on light bulbs in my head. I guess I just felt the need to blog something, and, since I couldn't sleep, this is what I came up with. I should really sleep now.