Colorless Green Ideas

The Long Lost Post

It's good to be back. I've been a bad blogger, to say the very least. Oh well, from my experience within the "blogosphere," I've observed that periods of downtime or disinterest are practically inevitable, so i don't feel too bad about it. Besides, I've been busy. Yeah, about as busy as a guy with no job or no schoolin' can be.

I've recently acquired my driver's liscence, and I'm kicking myself for not getting it almost 4 years ago. I have no excuse, really, but what's done is done and there's no point in pissing and whining over it. I've since taken quite a liking to driving aimlessly all over this little town with the incomparable company of my uber CD collection ( and perhaps a friend or two ). So, yeah. Thats one little accomplishment that I had to mention. So if you see my in my sexy lil' green Civic, wave me down and I'll give you a ride. Unless I don't like you, of course. In that case I'll probably just laugh at you and your unfortunate pedestrianism. Yes, that is a word.

So far the summer of '05 has been rife with cabin parties, group joints, and drinkin' in the woods, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The company is usually pretty variable, due to working schedules and what-not, but we manage to get off a full-group gathering at least once a week. One person that I'm particularly impressed with is my good buddy Smokey, who has proven himself to be one hell of a Newfie. Fucker will get drunk with me no matter what the conditions... it doesn't matter if it's just him and myself in the middle of the woods in the pouring rain. It doesn't matter if he has to go to work in 6 hours. He'll drink six beers in 45 minutes and do it in fine style.


Cabin party Smokey - "some fuckin' Brazen."

Me and Smokey ought to have our own TV show. It would be the best goddamn thing on television, except for Trailer Park Boys, of course. We'd have awesome catch phrases that we'd overuse in every episode, including "Few beers wouldn't go astray," and "some fuckin' brazen!"
Our laugh track would hoot and holler to kill themselves every time, at least until the show's second season, when the network shuts us down for lack of viewers. Fuck them anyways. You would watch it. Me and Smokey getting loaded in the woods is all the entertainment you will ever need. We'd be the new Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, minus all the suckage.

A few more cabin party shots:




It was a beautiful evening.

So yeah, I guess you could say that I'm getting by. Life in Grand Falls Windsor isn't exactly exciting, or even varied in the least, but we make the best of it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, my circle of friends is the best there is. I love you guys/gals, and I'm sure I'm never gonna meet people as great as you are for as long as I live. You make GFW livable. Even enjoyable. The only thing I can really complain about is the fact that my girlfriend is so damn far away. No matter how awesome you guys are, nothing can fill the gaping void left in my soul from her absence. It's been a long and lonely month without her. Just one more and she'll be back... that's when the summer will really pick up.

But anyway, let's talk about music for a bit. The new System of a Down finally came out mid-May, and it doesn't disappoint. It's far and away the wierdest shit they've ever recorded, and in all honesty, it takes quite a few listens to 'get' it, but when you do, you won't be able to put it down. There's alot of variety on this record, thanks to some really unique instrumentalisation and a number of vocal tracks from Daron. He's all over this CD. Alot of people bash his singing, but I rather enjoy it, especially when he and Serj start weaving those truly unforgettable harmonies. I've got to hand it to SOAD for being unafraid to try something new and risking alienating their legions of fans. I love the entirety of this CD, and I can't wait for Hypnotize to come out in a few short months.

Finch's latest came out on Tuesday, after 3 long years since What it is to Burn, and it's about as different as a sophomore album can be. What it is to Burn was an undeniably overwrought and sugary slice of screamo, but it was also relentlessy catchy, delivered in such a way that it was hard not to like. That CD won Finch an army of drooling fans, fans that are sure to be disappointed in Say Hello to Sunshine. But it doesn't have to be that way. With this album, Finch have begun carving their own niche in the music scene, rather than sticking to living comfortably in the well-trodden screamo safe zone. They've improved exponentially as musicians. The songs are tighter and much more intricate, and Nate's vocals have never been better. Accept the fact that bands change and that What it is to Burn was merely a stepping-stone to greatness and you're sure to appreciate this album, as it showcases a band that has evolved beyond anyone's expectations.

Now that that's done, I have to discuss Star Wars: Episode III. Everybody's talking down this movie as overproduced Hollywood trash. But I have to ask, what do you people fucking expect? It's Star Wars for chrissakes. You uptight, ridiculously anal critics are trying to take this movie for so much more than what it is - shit blowing up all over the place and spectacular lightsaber battles every 5 minutes. That's it. It's pure kids entertainment. Fucking get over yourself, man. Yeah, it's full of smarmy cheese and plot holes. Who cares? This episode actually has about 1000% less cheese than episode II. Yeah, the acting sucks. But so what? You didn't go to the theatre for broadway-quality acting. You went to see shit blowing up and lightsaber fights, and that's exactly what you got. Over 2 damn hours of it, so just stop complaining already.

The only thing that bothered me about this flick was the incredibly obvious slice of political commentary near the end. Even if it was coming from the political left, it was still hard to swallow. Naughty dark-side Anakin is equated to George Bush for a moment, even going so far as to practically regurgitate one of W.'s more infamous quotes; "If you aren't with me, you're against me!" Then an anguished Obi-Wan screams "I fight for democracy!" or something along those lines. Please. Why does every filmmaker since 9/11 feel they have to slip some thinly-veiled Americana referance into their movies? It just makes you look like an idiot. I wanted to slit my wrists at the end of Spider Man when all the patriotic New Yorkers save the day and chant, "you don't mess with New Yorkers!" or whatever. That was just fucking sad. Please, for the love of God, no more talking-out-of-your-ass political commentary in movies. People go to the theatre to get their minds off of shit like taxes and car payments and rent and the shit-abyss that is American politics. Try to remember that.

I'll end with yet another cabin party pic:

I like to call this one "The Morning After." The objects on the table should give you an idea of how we do it down here in Newfoundland. They are:
- A pile of Archie comics.
- A bottle of "miracle bubbles."
- A box of anti-mosquito coils.
- An empty plastic bottle branded with a BT hole.
- An ashtray occupied by said BTs.
- A barbeque brush.
- Several empty beers with their labels torn off.
- An oversized cigar.

Hell yeah. Nothing like smoking BTs on the deck while reading Archie comics and blowing miracle bubbles. And being mosquito-free all the while!

Well, I'm done for today. I'm going to start posting again regularly for sure. I know I've said it before, but I had quite a bit of fun writing this up... it seems as though I'm finally back in blogger mode. Hurrah!

Cheers everybody. Comments please!

posted by Sylpheed @ 11:22 AM