Gus Van Sant

Gus Van Sant is my favorite modern filmmaker. His films Elephant, Paranoid Park, Last Days, Milk, etc. are masterworks and so I just wanted to make a post to honor his awesomeness.

Definitely a personal hero of mine. He's an honest, gracious, intimate filmmaker with a talent for the technical as well as a grasp on the emotional, mental, and even spiritual aspects of filmmaking.

I aspire to be similar to him.

He's the man, if ever there was one.

The spaceman says everybody look down...

"The storm maker says it ain't so bad,
the dream maker's gonna make you mad.
The spaceman says everybody look down,
it's all in your mind."

There's a lot of stupid crap in the world, but I think what takes the cake is the argument over whether or not there's intelligent life, or life of any kind, somewhere else in the universe.

First off, I don't profess to know or to have an opinion on life somewhere else, but the fact is, nobody actually knows about that. At all. This universe is too huge, and there are places that mankind may never see. Now it isn't logical to say that because we can't be %100 positive that it automatically makes it true or untrue, but I think everybody should just stop bitching about it and focus on things that are a million times more important.

I think that all the X-Files I've been watching has sparked this sort of interest in humanity's belief in things that we can't really seem to prove nor disprove.

What I'm more interested in, I think, is the need to believe in something that man seems to carry around. What creates this need to have faith in something? And are people directing their faith in the wrong directions? What makes the belief in God different from the belief in extraterrestrials? Can you honestly say that we can prove God exists anymore than we can prove that the paranormal exists?

I'd love to hear some thoughts.

New Year

It's insane how one year can change so many things.

I've got to say that it's going to be interesting as hell to see where the end of 2009 will have me. Maybe I'll finally be out of Georgia...

Oh well, here's to the present!

Slipping Into Obscurity.

Dat's what my ass is doing, biotch!

I'm trying to figure out how many friends I'd lose if I did the one thing that I've been too afraid to do for almost six years.

Probably all of them.

Slacking

I've slacked.

Not good.

Must try to be more diligent.

The Visitors (ABBA, 1981)

Listen to The Visitors, understand ABBA.

In the genre of pop, ABBA is one of the most popular, well known groups to contribute to the genre. When most folks think of ABBA, they think of tracks such as "Mamma Mia", "Dancing Queen", "Waterloo", and "SOS". When people think of ABBA, they tend to ignore their final work which is without a doubt their most mature, realized album.

During this time in Benny, Bjorn, Anna, and Ann-Frida's lives, the two couple has just recently divorced. Though they continued to work together, the tension became too much and the group split, making The Visitors the last album ABBA would produce.

While most of ABBA's previous work was fluffy, fun and, light (though incredibly well crafted), the final album carries a darker, more somber tone. It deals with multiple themes such as war, loneliness, nostalgia, and sadness. Mirroring the feelings of the four at the time, The Visitors showed fans that ABBA could be versatile.

The brilliant production values are definitely not compromised here, merely changed in sound and style. Benny's piano is still distinct, Bjorn's guitar is unique, and the ladies' vocals are immaculate as usual.

I think what impresses me most about this album is the power behind the lyrics. I'll be the first to admit it: while clever, and well written, the lyrics of ABBA's older work is fluff and nothing more. They're nothing deep, insightful, or fresh. However, with The Visitors, Benny and Bjorn's lyrics reach a level of insight and depth that really makes me feel sad that ABBA didn't continue in this vein of songwriting.

Whether they've written about the war (The Visitors), or just about the pain of their separations from their spouses(When All Is Said and Done; The Winner Takes It All), the lyrics never feel hokey or stupid. In fact, it might be safe to say that this album has some of the best songwriting of the 80's. Here's a sampling from a couple songs on the album:

Soldiers write the songs that soldiers sing
The songs that you and I don't sing
They blow their horns and march along
They drum their drums and look so strong
You'd think that nothing in the world was wrong
Soldiers write the songs that soldiers sing
The songs that you and I won't sing
Let's not look the other way
Taking a chance
'Cause if the bugler starts to play
We too must dance
-Soldiers


Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see whats in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time
-Slipping Through My Fingers

All in all, I must say that I'm quite impressed with the note ABBA chose to take off on. It's almost as if they wanted, for just once in their careers, to actually be taken seriously. It's as if for once they wanted to be seen as more than just the band with the catchy dance tunes.

In my eyes, they succeeded.

10/10

Blogging

I think I hate the whole concept of blogging now. See, the thing about this world is that everybody has an opinion. It's an inescapable fact. The world is around us, everybody views it in their own way, and then they formulate their opinions on it.

Whereas some people's opinions are well-thought out, have foundations, and can be taken into objective consideration; there are also those other folks. To quote Phillip DeFranco: "Everyone's opinion matters, until they decide to open up and share with the rest of the world how stupid and ignorant they actually are."

Blogging, and the internet in general, is a cesspool of opinions, smart and stupid; but mostly stupid. See, from the safety of their homes, hidden behind their computer screens people can say whatever the hell they feel like. They're free to twist words, make things sound pretty, and all that jazz. Although the majority of them just say what they want with absolutely no grace.

Take YouTube for instance. Go to any video with thousands of hits, and you'll seem them. The neggys, who go video to video spouting their worthless ignorance and stupidity.
"
THAT WAS GAY!"
"I cant buleve I wasted my tyme on dat shite!"
"dood, u suck man."
"my fat uncle's farts are better than you."

It's like everybody in the world who doesn't know how to use their brains just flock to the internet. It's becoming a place I really hate.

I guess I'm just tired of people being able to edit what they say, to make themselves sound smarter than they actually are. I just wish folks would grow a little bit of decency and sensibility and discuss their opinions in a thoughtful, tolerate manner. And preferably in person so that if they're opinion makes no sense they can be called out on it, unable to take anything back!

Yet, that's just MY opinion. ;)

A lady called the office today, and when I answered she tried soliciting some crap to me. She told me she wanted to tell me about an awesome opportunity, and at the end there would be a special surprise.

When I told her that I wasn't going to be able to talk to her, she got all pissy and hung up. I'm still curious as to what the surprise was...

A couple of days before that, these two guys came in and tried to sell me some golf package. My boss had to come out and tell them to leave.

Plus, I was working in the front office, and the brother of one of the clients came into the front and started asking me all these random questions about myself. He then went off on a tangent about how he fixes doors for a living.

Needless to say, I have an interesting job encountering some interesting folks.

Some of the people are really sweet though. I've met several people that I've just really liked a lot. I can also relate to a lot of them I encounter, as my family has gone through similar times. It's rewarding going to work every day and knowing that God is bettering people's lives because of it.

It also reminds me of how much good is still left in the human race, despite what a lot of people would like you to think.