Well That's That.

Ladies and Gentleman, Children of All Ages,

This is it. Today, in about an hour, I'll have completed my year of Americorps Service. Eleven Months. Ten Thousand Dollars. 1745 hrs. I've worked with over 300 different kids. I've cooked about thirty friday night dinners. I've helped trained three youth workers. I've mediated disputes and yelled at kids. I've stormed out of work. I planted and grew an organic garden. I've washed dishes, mopped, fixed doors, watched about 40 friday night movies, gone bowling, white water rafting, to the mall. I have written 50 or so permission slips. I introduced the kids to the Band and Funkadelic. We've marathoned Planet Earth and the entire first season of Flight of the Conchords.

I've eaten out of dumpsters, at soup kitchens, on the farm, and in the back of a truck. I've had my hot water turned off. I've shaved my head. I've worked 7 days a week. I've worked 3 days a week. I worked every single day for three weeks straight. I've bought or worked for about 400 records. I've partied, played in basements, bars, and family-friendly coffee shops. I've swam in rivers, lakes, and ponds. I built a boat and then sank it. I've recorded two albums.

Now, as I get ready to lock up the boys and girls club for my last time, it's looking at lot like it did when I started. Empty, messy, disorganized. Back to square one.

It's time for Summer Vacation.

-Andrew

Coupla good movies

After barely making it to the theater in the past 4 months and totally failing at my netflix queue, I saw a few good movies over the past month.

(500) days of summer was the least satisfying, with characters who are barely quirky, clever or interesting enough to drive a romantic comedy, but they threw the rom-com formula out the window and paid a funny hobo to kick it around a little. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has had some great roles in recent films (The Lookout, Stop-Loss, and my favorite film of 2007, Brick), but the underwhelming character and his flawed choices made him repulsive. Zooey Deschanel smirked her way through this one again, as the unreachable, passionless, but jawsomely-hipsterific secretary. The timeline of their 500 day relationship jumbles all over the place and makes this film quirky and a bit of a head-scratcher, but the conclusion was surprisingly satisfying, considering how much it kicks around movie conventions. It is also the first film in recent memory that portrays Los Angeles beautifully and respectfully.

"In a Lonely Place" is a terrific Humphrey Bogart thriller from 1950, being shown at a retrospective of Nicholas Ray (director of Rebel Without a Cause among others). The dialog pops like crazy early on, when Dixon Steele (Bogart), a cynical, disliked but bankable Hollywood screenwriter is accused of murdering a checkroom girl. His best friend is the officer assisting the investigation, and his manager is the sheistiest stereotyped Hollywood Jew. A new neighbor (a tight-sweatered Gloria Grahame) comes into his life and the movie takes a terrifically lovey-dovey turn, and Bogart can be seen smiling for the eighth time in his career. Ray's career was largely affected by the blacklist period, so the anxiety, distrust, and paranoia of the day is brilliantly portrayed throughout as it reaches it's breakneck conclusion.

"The Last Winter" is a stunning psychological/supernatural/environmental horror film that I liked enormously although I admit I have the least experience with horror films out of any genre. This is a story of an Alaska drilling outpost in a murky area on a murky mission (disclaimer: this is the heaviest chunk of enviro-guilt). There is serious drama early on as balls-bigger-than-his-brain Pollock (Ron Perlman, duh), the leader of the pack, returns to his mostly loyal team to confront Hoffman, the government scientist who stands as a barrier to the mission. Pollock basically barks orders and forced bonds of loyalty to the rest of his crew which includes the requisite pothead/mechanic (Kevin Corrigan who I get to work with soon SWEEEET), Maxwell, his little nephew whose cracking under the pressure, and Abby, the only female aside from the motherly nurse Dawn. Oh, there's also a silent Native American dude who reproduces the crying Indian commercial nearly perfectly. Abby and Hoffman got a little romance goin on, which pisses off Pollock and actually works me up a bit too: the conventional horror movie female role is totally untouched here, as she provides absolutely no purpose in the formula aside from sexual release, a calming tone and perfect hair (Spoiler Alert: She is left stranded and helpless in a utility closet, whining into a radio). The enviro-guilt is laid on heavy during Hoffman's voiceovers of how we fucked up hard and the Earth is gonna kill us. This occurs over some compelling and freaky montage edits, created by the director/producer/character actor/man of many hats Larry Fessenden (whom I've had the pleasure of working with before and again soon). Maxwell goes off the deep end and some bizarre, creepy and incredibly well-executed deaths, disappearances and breakdowns occur. There are a few explanations for why--some of them are satisfying in their invisibility and some are clunky in the CGI representations. Obviously, the entertaining factors of "The Last Winter" are not in the Why but in the How. Shit gets freaky, there are explosions and hallucinations and it's all pretty badass. Netflixit.

~J

Japanese Bug Fights Dot Com

http://japanesebugfights.com/



You have to check this website out. Its better than the WWF by far.

T-shirts

Yeaaaaaaah

CANCELLED

Event is off. Sorry if this jerks you around. Look for something in September.

FYI

what up friends? I just wanted to let you guys know that the Real World is currently filming in DC so if anyone is interested in becoming famous/catching an STD/getting in some hot tub time/ruining any chance of running for a political office in the future/etc. I suggest you make your way down here as soon as possible.

I got a new number!

do you think that's a lady color???
i hope not.

well as you may or may not know my phones been dead dead dead for like, a hot minute now. so i finally ponied up and went to the verizon store all, "sir, my wireless plan has rabies please put it down," and a kind quarterback-looking man named ndibe uzoigwe sold me the above phone (modest, functional) and a new plan with AMERICAS LARGEST NETWORK.

new number is: (646)484-1470

feel free to call me today, as i will be attempting to avoid work like i owe it money.

I've Never Heard of This Band, But Their Booking Agent Is a Genius

Great Album

DL

This is by far my favorite album released this year. Come's all the way from the Saharan nation of Niger, recorded by desert rebels who are now, as far as I know, on the run somewhere in the Sahara. The first half is awesome acoustic/bluesy guitar songs, and the second half is whirling dervish psychedelic guitar music. Enjoy!

Knox Vegas

Im going go off Nick's good initiative, and introducing ya'll to Knoxville, TN.

Its been alittle over 11 months since i moved down here, and there are a number of things that this city has to offer that on first glance, may be missed.

Most notably if you're simply driving through, you may miss the awesome live music scene. It starts with the blue plate special; 5 days aweek, the visitor center sponsors- free live music at lunch, that usually hosts traveling acts that range from the 'big time' to local fame. Such acts over the past few months have included Bela Fleck, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Hackensaw Boys stopped by to perform for short noon time show. From there nearly all of the bars located in the historic Old City offer a variety of acts that are all free most nights of the week. I've managed to see alot of live shows this year by simply getting these places before 10. It is true that genre wise, the scene is predominately bluegrass, alternative country/ rock, but there are some progressive alternative music spots, most notably the Pilot Light and what is now the Catalyst. Beyond these there are big venue places, such as the Tennessee Theater & the Bijou, where everyone from Sonic Youth to Robert Randolph to Iron & Wine to Avett Bros have played this year.

The next major thing about Knoxville, is its location. Nestled in the Tennessee Valley on the Tennessee River, K-town is roughly an hour from the Great Smoky Mountains and less than two hours from the Cumberland plateau. On a clear day, you can see the Smokies from the city. A cool part of my job down here, was being able to go hike around some of the state parks close to town, wading around in streams for fish sampling and assessments. And I managed to go on a few hikes in the Smokies, but not nearly enough. Being one of the most easily accessible national parks in the country, its attracted a fair bit of tourist type industries, which has detracted from the area surrounding the park (at least on the TN side) but once inside the park, its still peaceful and gorgeous.

Probably the last major thing to take note of for Knoxville, is some good, inexpensive food/drink. There are a some local initiatives to promote local produce such as the farmer's market and Knoxville's Co-op Three River Market, which aren't great when held up in comparison to the efforts in other states, but its step in the right direction. There are few places in town though that do strive for the local taste, such as the Tomato Head, a great little sandwich/ pizza restaurant that is super popular and always busy. Others while as proactive on that end, still offer great deals such as Barley's Taproom, ($2 pint nights), Downtown Grill and Brewery ( 25 cent mimosa's for brunch), Preservation Pub (Free pizza at happy hour), Nama's Sushi and the Bistro at the Bijou.

So there are some things that this city has to offer. Definitely more than I anticipated before moving here. While the State is largely still a very poor (as is Knoxville), and in some instances very backwards, Knoxville is making strides to be more of compelling and interesting places, such as Nashville and Memphis. I figure most of you might still have an image of the south as being confederate flag waving rednecks and trailer parks, but if you ever find yourself in this part of the country, you'll be pleasantly surprised that the stereotype is slowly fading, and there are some cools things going on down here.

Save this date!

I want to do something I think on the weekend of the 24 25 26 of July maybe bleeding into either week bookending it. I know its not great notice but I wanna get a feel for whether people can do it or maybe other dates would be better. I think this is the best date for me. I wanna get on this fast so we can work it out and all get it up on our calendars. It would be in New Jersey.

En Italiano!

Ladies and Gentleman Mr. K. Rootes-Murdy

May I present to you, for your blog-reading pleasure, this guy:



Welcome to the Boogaloo, kirb

Geneva Wedding

So I went back to Hobart a week ago. The occasion was seeing a fellow Statesman, Preston Rich, take part in matrimony. I don't know if you guys know Preston that well. I lived with him a summer in DC and he introduced me to my girlfriend. Anyway it was great to be back in Geneva.

The wedding was pretty crazy. I was a groomsmen. My duties included trying to persuade the five year-old ring bearer to come down the aisle by giving him a cookie. The thinking being that he wouldn't hand the rings over and I would have to persuade him into exchanging expensive jewelry for a sugary delight. I failed at this job because he ran down the aisle before he was supposed to. He spent the rest of the wedding sleeping in the rear of the church. I also got a cookie out of the failed mission ring swap mission, which since it was a Baptist wedding I counted as communion.

I also took it upon myself to call the best man "BM" all weekend from the time we tried on our tuxes, to the rehearsal, and all the way up to us sitting people in the church. Right before the ceremony he said to me, "Vince you know that is the medical term for bowel movement, right?" When I nodded sheepishly he revoked my candle lighting duties. It is sort of odd that one of my good friends committed himself to another person for his whole life, and I spent the weekend making jokes about fecal matter. I think it shows how both of us will spend our adult lives.

Furryoke

What a weird time. I've got some pictures on my phone that I'll try to figure out how to upload. Basically, everyone was really drunk. I got a fox drunk - he drank through his huge fox face, and I have a picture of him more or less face down on the bar. Highlights - I got mad props for singing Ace of Spades, and I made out with a chick and got her number... and she wasn't a furry. Plus the gayest dude alive, whom I work with, was really drunk and being retarded. It was wild.

A request for James

Can you make a movie poster for the terminator but instead of starring Arnold it's bill Cosby?

Furries are invading pittsburgh

Furry convention in pgh this week. I work right next to the convention center. Make-fun-of-people mode, activate. Apparently some of them got kicked out of their hotel last year because they threw some sand into the corner of their room and were pooping there.