"But there was nothing about the little, low-rambling, more or less identical homes of Northumberland Estates to interest or to haunt, no chance of loot that would be any more than the ordinary, waking-world kind the cops hauled you in for taking; no small immunities, no possibilities for hidden life or otherworldly presence; no trees, secret routes, shortcuts, culverts, thickets that could be made hollow in the middle – everything in the place was right out in the open, everything could be seen at a glance; and behind it, under it, around the corners of its houses and down the safe, gentle curves of its streets, you came back, you kept coming back, to nothing; nothing but the cheerless earth."
Thomas Pynchon, "The Secret Integration"
This is Ian Mathers' Tumblr. I live in Canada. I've written about music and other things for Stylus, PopMatters, Resident Advisor, the Village Voice, and a few other places. Hi.
imathers@gmail.com
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
So, I’m gone for a week and a bit. Took the week off work to see the woman I love. I’ve set up some stuff to post while I’m gone, but I’m going to miss a week or Tumblr. So, you know, have fun, Internet; and if there was anything you wanted me to see, please feel free to leave me a message. Have a good week, suckers.
Yep, I’m taking off to Florida again… just until Wednesday this time, sadly. Well, there’s a party here tonight and then at 3:30 my awesome sister is giving me a lift to the airport. I’m going to set up the next installment of ATD to post on Tuesday as normal, and I might have the odd thing scheduled to go up, but mostly you’re on your own.
(Source: wingwalker)
Spoon - “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” (by ryanjunell)
If my life last week had been such that I could have brought myself to do a music diary (and quite frankly, even if last week had been better, I didn’t listen to enough music to do one, really) I would have talked about how the housemate and I went to Toronto on Saturday to see Xiu Xiu. It was a great show, and not just because they played “Suha” and their cover of “Ceremony” (the two songs I most wanted to hear). For the encore they came out and did an amazing version of Suicide’s “Frankie Teardrop,” which I didn’t expect, but it was a pretty perfect match.
But on the way to and from the concert and for a few days after we pretty much just listened to Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga on a loop in the car. I’m a weird Spoon fan; I think this record, Girls Can Tell, and A Series of Sneaks are amazing albums. I think Kill the Moonlight is an amazing five-song EP (the four you’re probably thinking of if you’re thinking of any songs from that album right now, plus “Vittorio E.”) that needs to shed a lot of baggage. And I have little to no interest in their rest of their work so far. Gimme Fiction and Transference both bore the crap out of me (to be fair, I’ve never tracked down Telephono), and the weird thing is that it’s not as if they’re doing anything radically different. They’re a remarkably consistent band, but within their range they’re capable of producing what I think is some of the best, most vital, keenly alive and aware rock music of the last couple decades, and boneless, pale beige dross. It almost doesn’t make sense to me that I would like some albums and not others, so if you like everything I definitely don’t think that’s weird. But I can’t stand some of their work, including some that other people seem to think is really good/powerful (it’s a bit like how I love Liars but Drum’s Not Dead puts me to sleep).
Anyway, during my… miser septimana (thanks, online English/Latin translation thing) I didn’t just find “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” stuck in my head, I found it stuck there in a number of different ways. Sometimes it felt nervy, or romantic, or despondent, or defiant. Throughout all the different shadings, one line kept circling around in my head:
Life could be so fair, let it go on and on
It’s that could that’s the key part, I think.
Julianna Barwick - “Bob in Your Gait” (by bagelfanatic)
Last Friday, at the age of 30, I had my first panic attack. It lasted much of the day. So did the one or ones I had on Sunday, and the one that flared on and off Monday. Last night I’m not sure what to call it, but I wound up unable to sleep until after 4 am.
Thankfully work (an area of my life that is… let’s just say not unrelated to whatever the hell is going on with me) has been understanding so far. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, and I looked up my old therapist and made an appointment for Thursday (both appointments are the earliest I could get in). I made it to boot camp last night, and I think it was good for me, but even getting there took a significant effort of will.
I don’t really understand what’s going on, but I would like it to stop. I would like my girlfriend and my housemate and my family (all of whom have been awesome) to be able to stop worrying about me. Last night around 3:30, listening to this song on repeat was about all I could manage to do.
Ask a Grown Man
in which jon hamm is perfect and says “the world is your oyster” and “slow your roll,” and mentions how fun making out is.
this man is perfection
His smile at the end of this video is pretty similar to my smile when I’m being dorky with Anaïs.
Paintings of paused VHS clips
I would like some or all of these for our apartment, please.
