Lightly Seasoned

I think I need to move North.

This isn’t a funny-ha-ha because I’m currently living in the hottest, driest part of a summer scorcher in central Texas, but because I miss having weather to talk about. I miss having a change of seasons. I miss being thrilled when winter thaws to bring on the swell of spring, or when summer cools to bring the awe of autumn. There are cycles in weather. There are overcast days. There are clear blue skies. There’s frozen precipitation. A cold front is a guarantee of rain. And rain can go on for days. In central Texas, not so much.

I’ve been looking at pictures of Europe, Canada, and Alaska during the summertime, and I’m floored by how lush and vibrant everything is. Flowers on the hillsides. Mountains typically covered in snow are rolling in tall green grass. Even the areas less picturesque are still in bloom. Since the winters are harsh, sometimes unforgiving, everything that grows takes the fullest advantage when it can. So the greens are greener. The woods are thicker. Nature has a narrow window to thrive, and it does it at full power. Our green season is in April, but we’re south of the latitude that stays green. Everything below that turns brown and red and becomes arid, so our green season ends in June.

It’s been 11 years since I moved to Austin, and I will confess that I love this place. It’s usually dry, so the driving is decently safe, roadwise. It’s usually sunny, so the sightseeing is abundant. It’s usually warm, so people wear less more often. It’s a great town and a good area. But that’s just it: these are constants. We have our “cold” months between December and mid-march; maybe a bit of snow once or twice every three years. Otherwise, it’s the same-old. Excepting the four-month scorching drought of summer, this area is flatlined as far as seasons go.

Austin is the Paxil of seasonal weather.

I like that I can drive on dry roads and stroll around during 40°F nights during the winter, but I want some variety. There’s a reason most of the best electronic bands come from the north; for 5 months of the year, they’re locked in and snowed under with little to do outside. There’s a rich life indoors. And when the winter thaws, oh damn do they throw some parties. The ones locked up the most have the wildest throwdowns because that’s their limited window of opportunity. They have to bring out their colors. They have to bring on their rut. They have to live it up because that’s their time to shine in the sun. Winter is constantly around the corner, so motivation is strong.

It’s always nice weather here; even when it’s shitty, it’s still relatively nice. So what’s the rush here? There’s always a nice weekend to have a barbecue or sit on the porch. Central Texans live on a different clock. But when most northern cultures are living it up, we’re either stuck inside due to overheating (and hating the boredom) or biking/kayaking/climbing because that’s what hard-core “extreme” people do (the rest of us sweat miserably and do nothing because we’re stifled).

I know I don’t do well in cold weather, but that’s a matter of training and acclimation. I don’t think I would mind learning how to handle it. If the yankees will teach me how to survive the winter, I think I could find it in my heart to teach them how to survive the summer. Deal?

Really Deep Kiss

I remember way back long ago there was a time when I had Really Deep Thoughts about Really Big Things, and I loved to sit up late at night and think them, roll them around, write about them, get drunk on their meanings. The world was so big and so large and so grand and so rich with future promise!

And then I left my 20’s.

Oh, Journal, how I miss your sweet philosophical kisses.

The Chills Are Alive

♫ Futurepop, Ambient, Chillout, and Dream / These are a few of my favorite streams! ♫

  • Digitally-Imported: DI has a wide-ranging selection of electronic music streams, but the free versions get lower bitrate and jarring advertisement drops.
  • Blue Mars: These streams are the love project of a guy named Lone; they were off the air for a while during the bad old Internet-streaming copyright wars, but are back. His playlists feature a handful of select artists, but sometimes you’ll hear new stuff. Very good for being not in your head.
    • Blue Mars: “In Memory of Earth”. Space music to travel the stars.
    • Cryosleep: “Zero Beat, Guaranteed” This is the most ambient of ambient. Nothing is more mellow.
  • Digital Gunfire: “Long Range, Hard Hitting.” Futurepop, Darkwave, Industrial. Sometimes hard, sometimes aggro, sometimes hopeful. I fucking love this station. Listener-supported.
  • Soma FM: Unique in that they have a strong selection of electronic and non-electronic streams. Top-notch music directors. Entirely listener-supported. My favorite streams:
    • Drone Zone: “Serve best chilled. Safe with most medications.” My other go-to ambient stream.
    • Doomed: “Dark industrial/ambient music for tortured souls.” You’ll hear stuff on here not even Digital Gunfire will touch.
    • Tag’s Trance Trip: “Progressive house / trance. Tip top tunes.” High-energy stuff.

Double-Dose of Popcorn

Being a damn shut-in every evening, I’ve turned to watching a ton of movies in the past month or so to supplement or replace my usual social interactions. Chances are, if I get my hands on it, I’ll eventually end up watching it. As such, there’s no telling what I’ll see. Here’s what I’ve seen this month (the range is all over the damn place).

“Sucker Punch” was alright, but it would be a great movie if it knew what it wanted to be. It was as split-personality as the girls in the asylum. The optical and visual production values were so high, even the dirt was crisp and clean. But the story needed a lot of work. I guess the plot bend at the end kinda justified most of it, but it left me feeling like I just ate some clean dirt.

Picked up a copy of “Star Trek: First Contact”; hadn’t seen it since theatrical release. It was an important movie in the series, but understated. I’d forgotten about it in the shadow of “Star Trek: Generations” and the rest of the Next Generation movies. Had a good visit from our old enemies The Borg, but the dialog had a few rough spots where the writers assumed too much.

Found a copy of the original “Nosferatu” silent film on archive.org. A bit slow and tedious, even for silent films, but you can see where some of our horror movie tropes originate.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still”, the recent remake, was a decent reinterpretation of the original film. It occurs to me that Keanu Reeves prefers to take on “Christ roles”, where his character commits the ultimate sacrifice to save the world.

I also put on “The Matrix” some time later, speaking of. That movie, sad to say, is the closest thing to a perception-altering religious experience I’ve experienced in the 18 years since leaving religion. I’m not sure how to feel about that. But I replay it every now and then just to feel a glimpse of that wonder again.

If you want to see the origin of phrase “that’s two D’s, for a double-dose of my pimpin'” (as heard in “Idiocracy”), then watch “American Pimp”, a documentary about pimps, pimp ethos, pimp style, pimp history. Made in the 90’s, but most of the lessons learned stand the test of time. It may be the world’s second-oldest profession, but bitch betta get my money.

Speaking of hard pimpin’, “Black Dynamite” is smartly written as a farcical look at blacksploitation films of the 70s with all the pimpin’, ass-kickin’, whitey-punchin’ karate you can handle.

“Salt” features Angelina Jolie as a secret agent turned double-agent on the run for her life and her sleeper mission. Jolie proves she has the chops to look stellar in the heat of action. Not much range in her character’s emotions, but it’s a star vehicle nonetheless. There was a surprise twist at the end, but worth it. High popcorn value.

If you haven’t seen or heard of the German-directed film “Hanna”, and you’re into Europe-trotting action films like “Bourne Identity”, you’re missing out, my friend. Hanna is a 16-year old girl specially trained by her survivalist father to kill (and to do so with ruthless efficiency), and her target is her father’s former boss at a top-secret American-funded eugenics program. I haven’t seen a little girl putting the boot to this many people since “Kick Ass”. Do yourself a favor and hunt this movie down.

I felt uneasy after watching Darren Aranofsky’s “Black Swan”. It was a very good drama of the highest caliber, on par with all of Aranofsky’s other works. I palpably felt the solitude and loneliness of Natalie Portman’s character, the unhealthiness of her mother’s smothering and manipulation, the gradual descent into delusion and madness in the hopes of being absolutely perfect, flawless, and complete. The only air in the suffocating environment was Mila Kunis’ portrayal of the light, thrillseeking, flaw-embracing counterpoint to Portman’s perfectionistic insanity.

On a dark note, you haven’t seen a bleak film until you’ve seen “The Road”. Bleeeeeak. I finished it feeling hopeless for my future and for the future of mankind. I was a little stunned, and obscenely hungry for the following week. An unspecified environmental disaster befalls the earth, and a permanent winter sets in everywhere; all the animals die, no crops will grow, and it’s forever overcast. Mankind is doomed, and a father and his son fight to scavenge for food, clothing, and seek shelter from bands of survivalist cannibals. It’s a hard movie to watch, but when it all comes down at the end of our human history, this is what it would be like.

Earlier this week, I woke up feeling like Joe Banks. Lost in the shuffle, driven to show up, clock in, do my work in a overcast daze. Doctor told me I had a brain cloud. So that night, to console myself, I watched “Joe Versus the Volcano”. I never saw it when it came out, but picked it up in the past year and return to it every so often to help me remember that I can change my fate if I wanted.

And finally, tonight I watched “McGruber”, and I have to say, it was mildly amusing for its send-up of its namesake TV series on which it’s based. Nice Molsen Beer jabs, too, a reminder that the original show and its actor are both from Canada. And it was good to see Val Kilmer acting again. Campy, cheesy, way too much man-ass, but funny nonetheless if not braining is what you’re in for.

So, that brings you up to speed with my recent movie habits. Keeps me busy until I pass out in bed. Most people have cable to keep them from living their life to the max. I have this.