I'm Back!!! (for the Umpteenth Time Now...)

After having two somewhat surprising posts sprinkled in a desolate landscape of nothingness (I'm talking about California Institute of Abnormal Arts and moving to Tumblr), I've decided to kickstart this blog post again, in hopes to become more consistent with this. 

It began with She Didn't Text Back, a podcast in which two friends, Will and Daren, discuss anything and everything that comes to their minds. In one of their more recent episodes, they had talked about how they had to remove all the clutter in their lives in order to make room and make more time for their passions, comedy and music (Will and Daren, respectively). One of the few things they've done was removing just about everyone from their friends list on all social media platforms and instead, replacing those friends by following people that inspire them to do greater.

I have to say, it's a pretty ballsy move, since they definitely got a lot of flack for doing so, but that advice stuck out to me. I want make room and time for my passions too (namely music and writing), and having so many people weigh me down isn't helping. Furthermore, I don't even know over half of these people *personally*!

They are people I don't know at all!

So why am I so caught up on trying to befriend them? At first, I had decided to delete my Facebook. Though after hearing that particular episode of She Didn't Text Back (ep. 9 or 10, I forget), I began to realize, "It's not me, it's them!" And so, as a first measure, I've decided to remove 95% of the people from my social media platforms - these are people that don't do anything to help me, nor do I do anything to help them. Essentially, they are dead relationships and I don't want them in my life anymore. If they want to still be connected (and I don't know why would they, considering our tenuous connections) they can find me here, on Instagram, and Tumblr

Tomorrow, I will write more about what the plan is for the rest of August and more importantly, what I'll be doing next to get my life going forward again.

The California Institute of Abnormal Arts

“Circus. Museum. Nightclub.”

These are the three words in which the owner describes this one-of-a-kind place, but it’s more than just those three words. Above all, it’s an experience. 

Here, you’ll find mummified remains of famous performers of the Orient and the West, as well as items that will perplex and mystify you (many of the items in possession by the owner are rumored to be blessed and cursed). It’s a respectful homage to the the freak shows of the past, where two bits will get you a gander at the bearded lady, or the Siamese twins, or the mysterious (and elusive) Missing Link in our evolutionary chain. Best part of all, the owner, Carl Crew, graced us with private tour for myself and my brother and friend. We were the only people there at the time, and he was ecstatic to present his collection to us. 

We only heard of this place because our dear friend of both my brother and me randomly googled “weird things to do in LA” (yes, that’s what he googled), and this was one of the top hits in his search. What convinced us to go was that the place boasted to have a mummified clown in their possession. After the tour was over, we concluded that was true. And it couldn’t be any cooler. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures (nor did I want to: Crew warned that that those who photograph a certain item are guaranteed to disappear without a trace, never to be hear from again *gulp!*), but here is their Facebook page: CIAbnormalArts. So if you’re in the NoHo (North Hollywood) area, this is a place worth experiencing. 

I'm Back! And I Moved to Tumblr (#SorryNotSorry)

After half a year more or less (I think, I don’t remember anymore - just know it’s been too long) of not blogging, I was recently given inspiration to begin anew. I had a delight blogging about my past adventures, and I wanted to keep going. 

Blogging became a catharsis for me, especially now that I could read and reflect upon my recent past. It was effective and I had truly felt I had grown up wholly as a person. 

So! This brings me to this post: I want start up again (for the fifth time already), and I want to be more consistent with it. I like having to spend an hour or so every few days to think back and reflect what's new and what's different (or not...I have my boring days, too).

As the title suggests, I have a Tumblr account now! It's aDorkyHipster (someone took the same spelling as this one - I was aiming for consistency). Now, for the most part, the posts will be the same content, but the different layouts between both sites mean that posts won't be exactly the same (especially when images and videos are involved). I will need some playtime with Tumblr to figure out how things are done there. Additionally, I'd like to focus more on Tumblr for the time being, so head over there first for the latest posts (the same post will arrive here on Blogger some days later). That being said, I'm back, and it feels so right! Until next time, fellow readers!

Gravity

You were probably thinking of Alfonso Cuaron's film, Gravity, weren't you? Although, Cuaron has directed some fantastic movies, including Children of Men and Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mother Too when translated).

However, the "Gravity" that I am talking about is (of all things) from John Mayer. Hey, I'm surprised myself, considering my taste in music. So yeah, he got on my radar and I decided to check out his music. What the hell, why not?

All in all, he's a bit of a hit-or-miss. Some of his work I find to infectious, especially his more mellow, bluesy sound, like "Gravity" and "Daughters"; but his more arena-rock sound, like "Bigger than My Body", feels like it's missing something. I mean, it's not bad, but it doesn't have the same impact as his bluesy songs. Lately, I've been feeling the need to immerse myself in emotional music - it's not that my tastes in music currently don't meet that need; it's more that I'm looking for something that is different, and somewhat unconventional, to my usual tastes. Something to perhaps  change up my routine in a subtle way through music, specifically from someone like John Mayer in this case, is the best way to invoke that subtle change. All said, maybe, I just need some time to come around to Mayer's music. Give the records a few spins - that's usually how I learn to appreciate music from someone new in my collection.

Interstellar and the Cosmos

"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stirs us: there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries."
- Carl Sagan, Cosmos

Lately, I've been developing this fascination of science-fiction, astronomy and the stars, and sciences that are outside of my science, Sociology. Cosmos (the book), Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey (hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson), and even the recent Interstellar film have challenged me, to learn and grow and think critically of what I know and what I want to know. 

While I do understand the basics of astronomy and some basic ideas of the complexity that is astrophysics, it's all so beyond me, incomprehensible, and I'm struggling to grasp these ideas. I'm not discouraged at all, but rather remorseful that I didn't develop an interest sooner. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like astronomy, astrophysics, robotics, engineering, with some form of biology (perhaps microbiology?) and chemistry (o-chem?) seem to be associated with one another, as though if you know one, you're bound to know the others. It feels like I missed out on an awesome, intellectual party of sorts. 

I think anything futuristic has my attention at the moment - steampunk in art, industrial/post-industrialism in music, and science-fiction, robotics, and industrialism in literature. It all seems so imaginative, extravagant, and conjure such unique worlds and circumstances that you can't help but want to explore and discover. 

In the end, I want to know as much as I can, so that I can impart my knowledge onto my children, when that time comes. I want to have a relationship with my kids the way Cooper has with his kids in Interstellar: he's not just a parent, but also a teacher, challenging his kids to think critically, learn new skills, and learn as much as humanly possible. It's an inspiration to be that kind of a father figure when the time comes.

"Hell Naw, B*tch, You Got a D*ick in Your Mouth!"

That's really one of the cool aspects of music: an artist can incorporate samples taken from movies (and such) and either incorporate them as part of the song (like Nine Inch Nails does in "The Becoming") or use that sample an element or introduction to a song. Additionally, it's through these songs that I've found some equally interesting and/or boring films that I've seen. Finally, seeing what samples are used kind of give you some idea as to what an artist finds interesting. It's like getting to know them as a person, rather than as a musician.

Here are some songs and the samples used that I've found along the way:

Nine Inch Nails, "The Becoming" (the screaming heard throughout the song, on a loop)
The looped scream comes from a scene in Robot Jox 

(The sampled screams come in at about 20 sec. into the clip)

Rob Zombie, "Hands of Death(Burn Baby Burn)
The shouts of "Hail Satan!" and "God is Dead!" come from the final scenes of Rosemary's Baby

(Crappy Lyrics Video, but listen for the clip from 2:40-2:50)

(Listen to the first few seconds of this clip and from 0:55-0:59 for "God is Dead!")

Rise Against, "Survivor Guilt"

The discussion of America's future come from Catch-22 (as hi-lighted in the lyrics video)

(The first clip is from 1:07-1:25; the second, about 3:20-3:25)

Dr. Dre, "Deez Nuts"

The second intro (after the phone call, starting at :35 seconds) comes from a bit called "Chestnuts" from Rudy Ray Moore.

(The original bit begins at 1:45)

Well, that's all I've got for now. I've know of some others, but if I included them all, it'd be an incredible long and tedious post. All in all, it's really interesting to see how artists really incorporate existing material (whether it's from a film, television, or even a stand up comedy bit) into their music and make something that can be either frightening or humorous. Until the next post, my fellow readers!

"Yesterday, I Woke Up Sucking a Lemon..."

Radiohead's "Everything In Its Right Place" was their first song I really listened to. I knew about "Creep" because of Rock Band, and I knew of "High and Dry" because of 50/50, but it wasn't until Vanilla Sky that the band caught my ears. The sound is so eclectic and the album, Kid A, as a whole is bizarre, but attractive. That song is what put them on my radar. Eventually, I confessed to my friend that I wanted to really dig into Radiohead's discography. His response? "That's some deep waters there, man." No doubt. 

I decided to begin with Pablo Honey and The Bends, their first two albums and from there, OK Computer, Kid A, and onwards. Some researched yielded that it was with Kid A that Radiohead became to be more artistic and eclectically esoteric with their music. So far though, I'm enjoying their crunchy Alt. Rock vibe and already have found some go-to songs ("Blow Out", "Anyone Can Play Guitar, "Planet Telex", "Just") from both albums. I can't wait to hear their shift from Alt. Rock to Art Rock in Kid A.

Like most of the other bands I listen to, Radiohead's been around for a cool minute, and I've just begun to really digest their music. And I'm fine with that: this is how I come about learning and discovering things at my pace. In some way, it lets me enjoy their on the premise that I want to, rather than giving them attention because they're "what's in" at the moment. I like it that way: I may be late to the party, but I make the most of it nonetheless.