shortcuts - 29/10/07

listening: the band you can't tell your grandma about, Holy Fuck

watching: season 1 of the Hills. It's even worse than I remember. Which means, of course, that I'm loving it to death.

buying: a coat (H&M) and a jacket (Uniqlo) to gear up for the winter. So naturally today the weather started heating up. Come on cold, you can do better than that! (I kid, you can keep hiding for a while. I'll definitely see enough of you over the next few months)

eating: homemade raita salad at work. Take that, EAT.

reading: Crime and Punishment. It's a beast of a novel when you only have about 5 minutes a day to devote to it, but highly worth it.

Jeremy Larson - Jeremy Larson

no, this post title isn't some sort of facetious tribute to John Malkovich, it's actually the title of sound advice alumnus Jeremy Larson's debut album, released to little fanfare last month. The pride of Springfield, MO, he has taken the modern pop sound that had been introduced on a couple of EPs last year to an even more ambitious brand of pop with hints of electronics and classical music. In a genre that has seen its share of repetitiveness and lack of innovation over the years (Keane and Coldplay: I used to kinda like you guys, what happened??), this album feels like a harbinger of very good things to come. It's far from perfect, but it succeeds where so many fail by being fresh and assertive.

Most of the songs are piano-based, yet there is as much emphasis on the additional layers to give it a very modern sound. For sure, this is no electronic music, but there is a clear influence by the laptop-pop scene that has developed recently (DNTEL, The Album Leaf...). As a result many of the tracks create a mood that can feel cold and aloof, but also yearning for warmth. Consequently a lot of the material is about alienating distance and loneliness (Make Believe), but, equally importantly, about not giving up (Swim).
Yes, the music on this record is pretty, but thankfully on songs life More Than You or The Sound Of Snow Larson exhibits a modicum of desperation that is so often lacking in the genre. When you notice how innocuous the subject of love has become in mainstream pop songs, that is refreshing to hear.

Naturally not all is perfect on here, there are still a couple of skippers that, though not bad, aren't particularly memorable either (A Neutral Conclusion, Martyr). But consistency can always come later, what we have here right now is an artist unafraid to take chances to try to come up with an original take on a tired cliche, and that is most definitely a good thing.

listen to songs from the album here

silver lining

no doubt about it, London is an expensive city. Not only do the basic essentials (rent, food, CDs) add up to an arm and a leg here, but indulging in any sort of hobbies generally tends to drive up one's budget to Himalayan heights. This past summer I enjoyed a great recital of Le Corsaire by the Bolshoi ballet, something which I felt very fortunate and delighted to see. Still, the seats cost £90 each, and they were in the upper ranges of the theater, so you can imagine what some decent spots would run you. And how unappreciative you might feel should you witness a less-than-stellar performance. Same goes for pretty much all forms of entertainment in this town, from theater to rugby matches.

But naturally that is the gloomy view of things, one that only the most cantankerous of Londoners would espouse after living here for a while. Because although the options for free/cheap entertainment might seem less comparatively to a city like Paris, there are nonetheless bounds of them for the motivated individuals to partake in. Take movies for instance. At first sight it might seem difficult for movie buffs to keep a regular habit of catching screenings regularly, what with 1 adult ticket in a typical London cinema costing the equivalent of an unlimited movie pass in Paris. But while that might be true in most movie theaters, there are some ways to catch more screenings without breaking the bank, from Cineworld's monthly pass to the BFI Mediatheque, as well as screenings at the ICA. Among these outfits, one has emerged as the go-to place to go see movies from mega-blockbusters to artsier fare while on a budget, a mere few weeks after their general release: Prince Charles cinema. Located a few short hops from cinematic mecca Leicester Square, it provides a wide-range of movies in all genres, special screenings with Q&A sessions, as well as their famous Sound of Music singalong. The prices are on the right side of affordable, going for a maximum of £4.50 for general screenings, while members pay from £1.50 to £3. More importantly, the selection of flicks is top-notch, with recent blockbusters cohabiting with smaller movies. It's thanks to this varied slate that I was able to catch New-Zealand indie rom-com, Eagle vs Shark, this past Sunday. The movie is touching and hilarious, and it was a real treat to be able to watch it with a large audience.
When it comes to cinemas London might never equal Paris, or even New-York, but it's nice to know that there are decent options out there not part of the major chain behemoths. Now if only the Prince Charles would install cup holders in their seats...

pret-less

forecast for tomorrow's lunch break: deeelicious (I hope)

had a nice time

Dedicated to the fortress of suckitude that is Heathrow Airport. My dear, dear Gatwick, you were sorely missed. I promise not to be unfaithful anymore in the future (if I can, you know how these things work. It's not you, it's me).

free music

is there anymore space on the Radiohead bandwagon? Because I've been off it for a while, actually I've never really been a full-fledged passenger, but it seems like I'm gonna have to climb back on again.

seriously, this is pretty amazing. More coherent thoughts later. Maybe.

mercy mercy

at Burberry, less is definitely not more. All I bought was one tie, and they put it in an elaborate package inside a bag fit to hold Imelda Marcos' shoes collection. Oh, and a ribbon? Really?

The receipt was put in its own not-so-little portfolio, maybe so it feels it's worth more than the paper it's printed on? And so we can kill a few more trees, just for the heck of it I suppose.

pinched

Horace Greeley, this is for you

fashion fauxrward

5 crucial reasons why not wearing a belt with your suit pants is a tremendous idea:
- saves time at the metal detector, letting the x-ray machine people focus on the really important stuff, like reminding the people in front of you for the 127th time that day that you have to take your keys and change out of your pockets before passing through. If you wear a belt, the terrorists have won
- 2.1 seconds more sleep time in the morning
- it's a proven scientific fact: when you work, your belly gets hungry and lets you know about it. A belt is just a cruel reminder of the vicious constraints of society. Just let it be, man
- demonstrates your staunch refusal of corporal punishment
- gives you an assured look even if you're doing it out of complete laziness (not me of course, I would never do that)

MC Hammer so hates this post

youtubin: blackass

meet the anti-Jackass, as played by comedy genius and Youtube legend Tracy Morgan in this sketch from Saturday Night Live. And watch for his reaction at the pool.

shameless

on the guilty-pleasure-o-meter, MTV's sorta-reality show "The Hills" has got to rank a very strong 9 banana splits out ot 10. A sequel of sorts to the drama-tastic Laguna Beach, The Hills follows Laguna Beach alum Lauren Conrad as she starts her life in the Los Angeles fashion world, as a FIDM student and intern at Teen Vogue magazine. But LC's fledgling career is merely a pretense to follow her love-life and friendship, with plotlines worthy of the best Beverly Hills, 90210 episodes.
The main ongoing story concerns LC's relationship with her former best friend Heidi, who has now become her nemesis, mostly because Lauren can't stand her boyfriend (now fiance) Spencer. Which isn't surprising considering the guy is pretty much the mayor of Weaselville and has been trying to figure out a way to get Heidi to ditch Lauren ever since meeting her. This has led to some momentous scenes worthy of the most intense Gaza Strip standoffs, including Lauren's memorable observation about her friend's beau that "he's a sucky person. He's a sucky person". The use of this adjective to describe Spencer is so brilliant I have literally nothing to add to it, other than that once you hear it, there is absolutely no way you will not eventually use it in some sentence or another.
There's also Lauren's on-off boyfriend Jason, with whom things invariably ends in tears, generally for no particular reason to the outside eye. Yes, he does seem a bit more distant than usual and, yes, a tad douchy at times, but overall it seems like the breakup happens because the drama is just meant to be. The fact that he's almost the most redeemable male on the show says a lot about the type of people encountered. My favorite is Justin, also known as Justin-Bobby (why? he just wants his friends to call him that. I wish I were making this up), Audrina's (Lauren's roommate) ex-future-whatever boyfriend. Even in the sea of clueless guys the girls encounters, he stands out by his amazingly casual behavior. And I don't mean casual in a good way. From wearing combat boots to a beach party to talking about his other girl to Audrina during a date, this guy is the king of uncomfortable random. Which is to say that every scene he is in manages to heighten the already deliciously-high unintentional comedy factor by at least 250%.
Confirming popular stereotypes about young Hollywood, most of the people on the show are as attractive on the outside as they are unappealing from the inside, and in the end what you see on the screen manages to reach a point of superficial ridiculousness that you can't help but watch. As the trekkies say, resistance is futile.

As a guy in my late 20s, I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be the target audience for this sort of stuff, but I'll be damned if I've missed a single episode of the show's 3 seasons. And unlike other candidates to the guilty pleasure tag like, say Desperate Housewives or The OC, this one only requires you to switch off your brain for 20 short minutes. More than that would be unbearable but as it is, it makes this highly recommended viewing. Or not. But either way it behooves us to realize that this is Lauren Conrad's (and MTV's) world, and we're just living in it.