Library Tapes SUMMER SONGS (2020)

 

 13 minutes of holy 

over a year since we got to see Bernie at the old opera house.  just after Super Tuesday, still a bit of hope.  yelled myself hoarse.  as we were leaving, I spotted him exiting the stage door and yelled "BERNIE!" so loudly he visibly startled and a big crowd gathered to say goodbye.

 keep swinging and you'll die beautiful, no matter what

The Pilgrim WALKING INTO THE FOREST (2019)

I'd really like to post more but the weather has been ideal for like 5 straight months and there's lots of hikes and beaches to explore so I'm gonna do that until I twist an ankle or something (I AM *NOT* MANIFESTING THIS, MR. UNIVERSE)but in the meantime keep cool my babies! I ran 20 miles Friday before last from Downtown Monterey to Moss Landing (the fishing village that is about halfway up Monterey Bay to Santa Cruz) and I forded the Salinas River with my shoes and running pants held aloft and yes it was a sandy bottom and yes the quicksand tried to eat your beefy boy, but never fear, I was borne up on eagles' wings and made it back home, thanks to the Good Lord and a loyal wife and dog that waited past sunset for me and drove us home, where I drank a half-pint of TJ's purple drank, threw up, and went to bed. A supposedly fun thing that I'm never doing again. the world is so goddamn beautiful I hope some good humans survive and see it back again

Toshiya Sukegawa: BIOÇIC MUSIC: FOUR SEASONS (1994)

 

re-commit to being a de-networked subversive, a useless data point, a star beyond sight, with habitations in soft sweet orbit

Favorite Films of 2020

11. THE HUNT (dir. Craig Zobel)

10. BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM (dir. Jason Woliner)

9. LA VÉRITÉ (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)

8. THE INVISIBLE MAN (Leigh Whannell)

7. SHIRLEY (dir. Josephine Decker)

6. EMMA. (dir. Autumn de Wilde)

5. KAJILLIONAIRE (dir. Miranda July)

4. THE VAST OF NIGHT (dir. Andrew Patterson)

3. PALM SPRINGS (dir. Max Barbakow)

2. ANOTHER ROUND (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)

1. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (dir. Céline Sciamma)

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mention honorable

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI (dir. Regina King)

ON THE ROCKS (dir. Sofia Coppola)

BAD EDUCATION (dir. Cory Finley)

DOWNHILL (dir. Nat Faxon, Jim Rash)

BLOW THE MAN DOWN (dir. Danielle Krudy, Bridget Savage Cole)

pas pour moi

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (dir. Aaron Sorkin)

WONDER WOMAN 1984 (dir. Patty Jenkins)

DA 5 BLOODS (dir. Spike Lee)

HAPPIEST SEASON (dir. Clea DuVall)

THE TRIP TO GREECE (dir. Michael Winterbottom)

(((Special Schrodinger's Cat Zone: TENET (dir. Christopher Nolan) Did I like it?  Kinda!  Did it annoy the fuck out of me?  Yes!)))

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I had adrenaline energy at the start of the pandemic/lockdown, but it sure waned itself on down.  Luckily, had enough in the tank to make it to CA before winter.  

Didn't get to see as many 2020 films as I would have like, will try to make it up.  *Really* miss going to the theaters.  Our last trip was the night before our local lockdown was announced.  We weren't even sure about going out, but I'm glad we did.  Portrait of a Lady on Fire is incredible, and if any film understands social isolation, it does.  A lot of people planted victory gardens.  I planted an ornamental pumpkin patch and Indian corn.  The raspberry bushes didn't take.

This version is from their first album, which came out in '89 if you can believe it.  More raw, Midwestern spirit, sounds like the Replacements, if you dosed their beers with caffeine pills.  All-timer.

almost everything should be faster

PS
Saved a cat within a month of moving to CA.  Waiting to reject the call to adventure now, I think.

Harold Budd/Robin Guthrie ANOTHER FLOWER (2020)

The goddamn virus took one of the great composers of our age.

Harold Budd was pure elegance and heart. He was still doing sublime work at age 84.  We should have had another decade with him.  Rest in peace, you absolute legend, you titan of melody, colossus of feeling.

If you would like a crash course, there is an incredible value on his "Budd Box" on Bandcamp right now:

Top Ten Budds, Today

1.       Luxa (1996)

2.       Lovely Thunder (1986)

3.       The Pearl (1984)

4.       Music for 3 Pianos (1992)

5.       Translucence/Drift Music (2003)

6.       The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

7.       The Moon and the Melodies (1986)

8.       White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

9.       The Room (2000)

10.   Another Flower (2020)