Post II

There are moments in the early morning where you've got nothing to do but no mood to sleep either. After I've exhausted all my energy to read words, I watch videos. Here are 2:

Adam Freeland - We Want Your Soul (directed by Happy) 

Radiohead - Knives Out (directed by Michel Gondry)

Source: Jeff Hamada @ Hypebeast

Artsyy

AJ Fosik (myspace, I couldn't find his website) + See more of his work. All I can say is...OMGGG!!
Jon Burgerman


Sidenote: You know that person...The person who likes art, but never goes to galleries.... OR really likes music but never really mastered an instrument? I'm that person. So what can I do? Talk about it.

Source: Bunnywax + Jeff Soto @ Fecal Face + Wooser Collective

Happy Holidays!!

Sorry kids, I totally forgot to say "Happy Holidays!!!!" 

I think 'happy holidays' is a safer bet compared to 'merry Christmas' because I don't know what you're celebrating... At least I don't really celebrate Christmas, I think it's just an excuse for some Chinese to get a holiday break ('Some' referring to the fact that mainland Chinese don't get those days off). 

You can skip the rest of the entry, it's just personal ranting.

Anyway, it's weird coming back to the city. Everything seems to be in a hurry. People, in general, don't seem to give a shit about you and so most of them end up treating you like shit. Got that vibe a couple times already. I think people in college just don't really care, which is quite different from chucking crap your way. My Dad, brother, and I kinda got that treatment when we were at the British Consulate when we were renewing our passports.

The British lady was very impatient with us and verbally abusing us throughout, as if we were some soft-spoken Chinese who were easily pushed around (which we end up being, we couldn't do much to her other than bitch about her in Cantonese). 

One instant was that my brother didn't have the right photos, his face wasn't big enough in it, so the lady told him to use the photo booth on the other side of the floor. But we found out that we didn't have enough change. So we were discussing if he should get his passport done in HK or the States, cause the lady said that she couldn't insure that it'll be done before the day he leaves. Then the lady looked up and said, "Why are you still here? Go over there and take the photo." She even gave us a look. As if we were so stupid that we couldn't follow her simple order. 

I'm not making a generalization that British people are like this, but I hate it when people in power do shit like that. You're pretty much at their mercy. I hate that. We're cooperating. We're being polite. Why take advantage of that and push us around? 

The sad thing is, there's no way out of that. Like, you need a passport. You can't just say, "I'm not taking this shit anymore" and walk out. You need it as a part of your legal identity. You need it to travel. I need it to get back to the States to study. I just felt so dependent.

I don't know if it's just me, but I seem to have pretty bad experiences with government-related people... The lady who took my ID photo and stuff kinda did the same thing.

Well, all I know is: Treat people like people and not like shit. I guess for certain people and certain circumstances, it's easier said than done... But I know I'll try.

Something about the Colors

Calvin Harris - The Girls

Hot Chip - Ready for the Dance Floor

David E. Sugar - Chelsea Girls

The indies are doing 'color-explosion' in their music videos. 

The gangstas are doing them in black and white. Talk about 

opposite ends of the spectrum.

With all this hype going about mish-mash of colors, American Apparel is certainly one of the vehicles that's moving this trend along. All this hype about the brand is kinda bugging me 

though... It's great they're doing this 'anti-sweatshop' thing, but

something nags me about them. I'm not sure what... I feel like 

there's this evil monster lurking behind the curtains...Or I've just become a lot more cynical in this past year or so...

Music Trends of 2007

The crew over at XLR8R compiled a list of music trends of 2007. The best list didn't do much for me, a few were true but weren't that funny. The worst list turns out better...

Here are a few:

Mp3 Blogs
It's a love/hate thing. Blogs do promotion for bands, but also for a lot of shitty music that gets the same attention. The blog is run by some 17-year-old kid who doesn't know anything about music and production, kids download the music in a crap quality months before the release, play it in the club (aaaahhh), and throw it away after a week. That really makes me start to think if the new generation appreciates music at all.
Boys Noize

One thing is that your fame pretty much came from the Internet too... So you're either saying your music's shit or you're kinda being obnoxious in saying that you're one of the better ones out of the bunch.

I think most kids do appreciate music. There's such a wealth of music out there that it's hard for bloggers to consistently refer back to older artists on a monthly basis. This blogging thing started out with the intent to share. This 'come fast, go fast" thing is just an unforeseen consequence, in my opinion.

Haha, here's the link to the Oxford American article that I said I would post before.

Every DJ with a laptop and an internet connection having the exact same playlist.
Mike Davis, Burlesque Design

Justice's D.A.N.C.E.?? Hot Chip's Over and Over??
Oh check out the Hood Internet, if you haven't already, they've got this Girl Talk thing going.

Club Rap
I can't think of anything worse than oversexed fashionista 20-somethings charging promoters $2000 just so they can get on stage and lip-synch to their little MySpace hit. I don't want to name any offenders because I might have to interview them next year.
Mosi Reeves, XLR8R writer

Yay High School Musical!!!

Banner and above info via XLR8R

Friendly Fires

Nice vid with a slo-mo balloon and a great hook. Friendly Fires' band name just reminds me of one of Sean Lennon's title of his most recent album.

Fine, I'll be nice and provide you an mp3 link too...

Friendly Fires - Paris

Via Good Weather for Airstrikes

Cut It Out

Must have taken lots of paper...A band called Trenchcoat.

When Your Lost

Kimya Dawson's "I Like Giants".

When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side
Of the road, turn out the lights, get out and look up at the sky
And I do this to remind me that I'm really, really tiny
In the grand scheme of things and sometimes this terrifies me

But it's only really scary cause it makes me feel serene
In a way I never thought I'd be because I've never been
So grounded, and so humbled, and so one with everything
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

Rock and roll is fun but if you ever hear someone
Say you are huge, look at the moon, look at the stars, look at the sun
Look at the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the sky
Say I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye

When I saw Geneviève I really liked it when she said
What she said about the giant and the lemmings on the cliff
She said 'I like giants
Especially girl giants
Cause all girls feel too big sometimes
Regardless of their size'

When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side
Of the road and run and jump into the ocean in my clothes
And I'm smaller than a poppyseed inside a great big bowl
And the ocean is a giant that can swallow me whole

So I swim for all salvation and I swim to save my soul
But my soul is just a whisper trapped inside a tornado
So I flip to my back and I float and I sing
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

So I talked to Geneviève and almost cried when she said
That the giant on the cliff wished that she was dead
And the lemmings on the cliff wished that they were dead
So the giant told the lemmings why they ought to live instead

When she thought up all those reasons that they ought to live instead
It made her reconsider all the sad thoughts in her head
So thank you Geneviève, cause you take what is in your head
And you make things that are so beautiful and share them with your friends

We all become important when we realize our goal
Should be to figure out our role within the context of the whole
And yeah, rock and roll is fun, but if you ever hear someone
Say you are huge, look at the moon, look at the stars, look at the sun
Look at the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the sky

Say I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
And I don't wanna make her cry
Cause I like giants

It's Almost Over

Juno



2 Days in Paris



Go watch some movies when your done with your finals.

It's OK

Sighn is going to produce 1 million hand-made wood cutouts, which is going to take him most of his life to finish.

Check the clip he posted.

I think it's a good word to repeat over 1 million times. It's got this comforting and optimistic tone to it. That it's ok you've made this mistake. Or that it's ok, you shall overcome this hardship.

With finals coming up, and all the stressful shit that comes with it, I'm telling myself, "It's ok. You'll be home in a week." Even though this doesn't change much of the crap that's going to come, it certainly make things look a bit brighter.

Source: Fecal Face