"I feel like there's not enough rock bands out there, especially when we go on the road. It's tough to find other bands out there, because either they're making a record, or they just got done touring. So kids: Start rock bands. Set down the 'Guitar Hero,' learn how to play an actual guitar and start a band, because it's hard to find more bands to put a solid rock-and-roll package together, to get out there. It's getting harder and harder, but I think we've done it." -- Chad Kroeger, Nickelback
Wow.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
From The Bowels of My Photobucket
Some days ago I logged onto my old Photobucket account for the first time in probably three years to find this little treasure:
No need to ask why. You already know it was for tattoo consideration. But in doing so I discovered a powder keg of old photos, long forgotten. These are Early Kyle, 2004 - 2005, when I listened to nothing but Coalesce and took girls to see movies like Mysterious Skin and Elephant for first dates.
No need to ask why. You already know it was for tattoo consideration. But in doing so I discovered a powder keg of old photos, long forgotten. These are Early Kyle, 2004 - 2005, when I listened to nothing but Coalesce and took girls to see movies like Mysterious Skin and Elephant for first dates.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Lovely, Lovely, Bookies
I've bought/read far too many books since last semester, so I'll choose a few of the highlights/ones I remember. With that said... Stuff I've been reading:
1. John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men
So I know it's really inexcusable that I just now read this book, but better late than never, right? It (like all Steinbeck books) was really phenomenally good and (unlike most Steinbeck books) was an insanely quick read. If you are as lame as I am and have yet to read this book, read it. Immediately. Whether you like Steinbeck or not.
2. Joyce Carol Oates
Black Water
I haven't decided if I liked this book yet. It was entertaining, and it was definitely an interesting approach, but my internal jury is still out on the writing style. It's basically a fictionalized account of the whole Ted Kennedy scandal, which sounded fascinating, but turned out to be only mildly interesting. I usually love Oates, but she kind of seemed to drop the ball on this one. I feel like she could have done so much more with the story and her writing was a bit (intentionally, I suspect) choppier than usual. It was a pretty enjoyable read, but I don't anticipate ever picking it up again. More of a library book than a keeper.
3. Cormac McCarthy
The Road
Once again, I'm probably the last person in the world to have read this book, but in my defense, I owned it before Oprah put it on her stupid list. I wasn't floored by it at first, but by the end I was in love. It's just a really simple, sweet story about a father and his son who happen to be coping with the apocalypse.
4. Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs...
This is a collection of really amusing short stories. I'm a sucker for anything that is equally appealing to children and adults, and these fit that description pretty well. Like most McSweeneys books, this one is super great.
5. Dave Eggers
How We Are Hungry
It's Eggers. Enough said.
6. Craig Thompson
Carnet de Voyage
I picked this up at Open on Chinch's recommendation, and it's quite possibly one of the most interesting books I've read all winter. It's a really exceptional example of a travel log, and Thompson's drawings capture his surroundings better than any photograph could.
7. Alison Bechdel
Fun Home
This was also one of Chinch's recommendations. He shot me an email about it and it sounded really interesting. I stumbled upon it on the 3 for 2 rack, and decided to pick it up. Cliffs notes version: lesbian's memoir about gay father + his death + crazy amounts of nerdy literature references = really sad yet disturbingly amusing book that I'm not at all surprised Chinch liked.
1. John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men
So I know it's really inexcusable that I just now read this book, but better late than never, right? It (like all Steinbeck books) was really phenomenally good and (unlike most Steinbeck books) was an insanely quick read. If you are as lame as I am and have yet to read this book, read it. Immediately. Whether you like Steinbeck or not.
2. Joyce Carol Oates
Black Water
I haven't decided if I liked this book yet. It was entertaining, and it was definitely an interesting approach, but my internal jury is still out on the writing style. It's basically a fictionalized account of the whole Ted Kennedy scandal, which sounded fascinating, but turned out to be only mildly interesting. I usually love Oates, but she kind of seemed to drop the ball on this one. I feel like she could have done so much more with the story and her writing was a bit (intentionally, I suspect) choppier than usual. It was a pretty enjoyable read, but I don't anticipate ever picking it up again. More of a library book than a keeper.
3. Cormac McCarthy
The Road
Once again, I'm probably the last person in the world to have read this book, but in my defense, I owned it before Oprah put it on her stupid list. I wasn't floored by it at first, but by the end I was in love. It's just a really simple, sweet story about a father and his son who happen to be coping with the apocalypse.
4. Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs...
This is a collection of really amusing short stories. I'm a sucker for anything that is equally appealing to children and adults, and these fit that description pretty well. Like most McSweeneys books, this one is super great.
5. Dave Eggers
How We Are Hungry
It's Eggers. Enough said.
6. Craig Thompson
Carnet de Voyage
I picked this up at Open on Chinch's recommendation, and it's quite possibly one of the most interesting books I've read all winter. It's a really exceptional example of a travel log, and Thompson's drawings capture his surroundings better than any photograph could.
7. Alison Bechdel
Fun Home
This was also one of Chinch's recommendations. He shot me an email about it and it sounded really interesting. I stumbled upon it on the 3 for 2 rack, and decided to pick it up. Cliffs notes version: lesbian's memoir about gay father + his death + crazy amounts of nerdy literature references = really sad yet disturbingly amusing book that I'm not at all surprised Chinch liked.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Snapping Away A Photo-A-Day ('Til Death)
This is an excerpt from an article written by Chris Higgins:
Yesterday I came across a slightly mysterious website — a collection of Polaroids, one per day, from March 31, 1979 through October 25, 1997. There’s no author listed, no contact info, and no other indication as to where these came from. So, naturally, I started looking through the photos. I was stunned by what I found.
In 1979 the photos start casually, with pictures of friends, picnics, dinners, and so on. Here’s an example from April 23, 1979 (I believe the photographer of the series is the man in the left foreground in this picture):
By 1980, we start to figure out that the photographer is a filmmaker. He gets a letter from the American Film Festival and takes a photo on January 30, 1980:
Some days he doesn’t photograph anything interesting, so instead takes a photo of the date.
Throughout the 1980s we see more family/fun photos, but also some glimpses of the photographer’s filmmaking and music. Here’s someone recording audio in a film editing studio from February 5, 1983:
The photographer is a big Mets fan. Here’s a shot of him and a friend with Mets tickets on April 29, 1986:
In the late 1980s we start seeing more evidence that the photographer is also a musician. He plays the accordion, and has friends who play various stringed instruments. What kind of music are they playing? Here’s a photo from July 2, 1989 of the photographer with his instrument:
In 1991, we see visual evidence of the photographs so far. The photographer has been collecting them in Polaroid boxes inside suitcases, as seen in this photo from March 30, 1991:
On December 6, 1993, he marks Frank Zappa’s death with this photo:
The 1990s seem to be a good time for the photographer. We see him spending more time with friends, and less time photographing street subjects (of which there are many — I just didn’t include them above). Perhaps one of his films made it to IFC, the Independent Film Channel, as seen in this photo from December 18, 1996:
Throughout early 1997, we start to see the photographer himself more and more often. Sometimes his face is obscured behind objects. Other times he’s passed out on the couch. When he’s shown with people, he isn’t smiling. On May 2 1997, something bad has happened:
By May 4, 1997, it’s clear that he has cancer:
His health rapidly declining, the photographer takes a mirror-self-portrait on June 2, 1997:
By the end of that month, he’s completely bald:
His health continues to decline through July, August, and September 1997, with several trips to the hospital and apparent chemotherapy. On the bright side, on September 11, 1997, the photographer’s hair starts to grow back:
On October 5, 1997, it’s pretty clear what this picture means:
Two days later we see the wedding:
And just a few weeks later he’s back in the hospital. On October 24, 1997, we see a friend playing music in the hospital room:
The next day the photographer dies.
Yesterday I came across a slightly mysterious website — a collection of Polaroids, one per day, from March 31, 1979 through October 25, 1997. There’s no author listed, no contact info, and no other indication as to where these came from. So, naturally, I started looking through the photos. I was stunned by what I found.
In 1979 the photos start casually, with pictures of friends, picnics, dinners, and so on. Here’s an example from April 23, 1979 (I believe the photographer of the series is the man in the left foreground in this picture):
By 1980, we start to figure out that the photographer is a filmmaker. He gets a letter from the American Film Festival and takes a photo on January 30, 1980:
Some days he doesn’t photograph anything interesting, so instead takes a photo of the date.
Throughout the 1980s we see more family/fun photos, but also some glimpses of the photographer’s filmmaking and music. Here’s someone recording audio in a film editing studio from February 5, 1983:
The photographer is a big Mets fan. Here’s a shot of him and a friend with Mets tickets on April 29, 1986:
In the late 1980s we start seeing more evidence that the photographer is also a musician. He plays the accordion, and has friends who play various stringed instruments. What kind of music are they playing? Here’s a photo from July 2, 1989 of the photographer with his instrument:
In 1991, we see visual evidence of the photographs so far. The photographer has been collecting them in Polaroid boxes inside suitcases, as seen in this photo from March 30, 1991:
On December 6, 1993, he marks Frank Zappa’s death with this photo:
The 1990s seem to be a good time for the photographer. We see him spending more time with friends, and less time photographing street subjects (of which there are many — I just didn’t include them above). Perhaps one of his films made it to IFC, the Independent Film Channel, as seen in this photo from December 18, 1996:
Throughout early 1997, we start to see the photographer himself more and more often. Sometimes his face is obscured behind objects. Other times he’s passed out on the couch. When he’s shown with people, he isn’t smiling. On May 2 1997, something bad has happened:
By May 4, 1997, it’s clear that he has cancer:
His health rapidly declining, the photographer takes a mirror-self-portrait on June 2, 1997:
By the end of that month, he’s completely bald:
His health continues to decline through July, August, and September 1997, with several trips to the hospital and apparent chemotherapy. On the bright side, on September 11, 1997, the photographer’s hair starts to grow back:
On October 5, 1997, it’s pretty clear what this picture means:
Two days later we see the wedding:
And just a few weeks later he’s back in the hospital. On October 24, 1997, we see a friend playing music in the hospital room:
The next day the photographer dies.
It all began with a kiss.
"There had been days and nights when the memory of their kiss had burned and burned on his lips..."
Welcome, everyone, to the Phantom Lips blog.
As we begin publishing hopefully within the next month, this blog will be used as an online supplement to our written publication. As co-editor of Phantom Lips I wanted to let you know a little more about our vision for Phantom Lips, and our hopes.
The idea of Phantom Lips is to provide a written resource for self and communal exploration. Our desire for ourselves, our contributors and our readers is to discover something that we have never seen before, something that will weigh like an anchor in our hearts, and unveil a new horizon of possibilities for us. We want you to find your phantom limb, to suddenly feel the fingers of an extremity you never knew you had before or had even missed.
We chose the term “Phantom Lips” because the things that we discover about ourselves and about others has a phantom-like effect but has the depth of a romance as well. This is an opportunity to try new things and to test your abilities.
Phantom Lips will not be your ordinary Literary Journal or ‘Zine. We desire to produce the quality of a journal, but our main goal is to encourage others to work on new things whether it be alone or with others. Often times we learn more about ourselves, when we have the opportunity to collaborate. We hope that you find your Phantom Lips throughout this whole process.
If you are interested in contributing, or helping in any way feel free to contact both editors: Kyle and Katy.
Submissions, questions, and anything else can be sent to either phantomlipszine@gmail.com or editorial@phantomlips.com
We are accepting all kinds of submissions, whether it be: poetry, essays, reviews, fiction, complaints, photography, art, and anything else you can wrap your mind around. There are no restrictions so send in anything. But also try something new to send in, we desire for you to try something new, even if it doesn’t work out.
Thanks!
Katy
Welcome, everyone, to the Phantom Lips blog.
As we begin publishing hopefully within the next month, this blog will be used as an online supplement to our written publication. As co-editor of Phantom Lips I wanted to let you know a little more about our vision for Phantom Lips, and our hopes.
The idea of Phantom Lips is to provide a written resource for self and communal exploration. Our desire for ourselves, our contributors and our readers is to discover something that we have never seen before, something that will weigh like an anchor in our hearts, and unveil a new horizon of possibilities for us. We want you to find your phantom limb, to suddenly feel the fingers of an extremity you never knew you had before or had even missed.
We chose the term “Phantom Lips” because the things that we discover about ourselves and about others has a phantom-like effect but has the depth of a romance as well. This is an opportunity to try new things and to test your abilities.
Phantom Lips will not be your ordinary Literary Journal or ‘Zine. We desire to produce the quality of a journal, but our main goal is to encourage others to work on new things whether it be alone or with others. Often times we learn more about ourselves, when we have the opportunity to collaborate. We hope that you find your Phantom Lips throughout this whole process.
If you are interested in contributing, or helping in any way feel free to contact both editors: Kyle and Katy.
Submissions, questions, and anything else can be sent to either phantomlipszine@gmail.com or editorial@phantomlips.com
We are accepting all kinds of submissions, whether it be: poetry, essays, reviews, fiction, complaints, photography, art, and anything else you can wrap your mind around. There are no restrictions so send in anything. But also try something new to send in, we desire for you to try something new, even if it doesn’t work out.
Thanks!
Katy
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)