21

THANK YOU BASED GOD

Thesis

If you're gonna skip out on blogging for a week, it better be for a good reason. Well, as some of you may have noticed, I turned 21 on Thursday.

Birthday Blitz

Let's be honest: I'm at the end of a five-day bender. Often fun, sometimes sloppy, rarely irresponsible, this week has been a set of important lessons about self and identity. It's also been ridiculous fun. Thanks to everyone who ran the town with me (Zech and Kate for housing, Bron for crawling, 4tet 4evr, Lynn for driving, Ken for the card, Bubbz for the platypus and cookies, Barton for the convos, Dall for <3, Jimmy for dancing, Jay for Bebop, and to everyone else my sleep-deprived mind is forgetting).

It's been somewhat difficult to reconcile drinking with my (for the most part) straightedge performance these past two decades. It's a decidedly different way to understand and present myself, and one that probably makes other people redefine "Patrick." That's fine, though I may be overestimating how important my refusal to drink was to people's expectations and assumptions of me as a human being.

I think the emergence of a partying Patrick is refreshing, if not that unexpected. I've been party mentality since I learned how fun dancing is. Now that actual alcohol supplements this sort of fun, I'm not too upset with myself or recent decision making. It really does open one up to the mutability of perspective and experience. I just need to remember that this isn't very Important, and that most everyone has been doing this without me for a while now.

This doesn't need to be a reimagination of self on the same scale that my embrace of radical feminism was, but it does require self-discipline and -criticism. And maybe a little less self-seriousness than this blog post would suggest.

Party on, fam.

This Is A Music Blog

I hate to do this (jk luv music blogging), but there has been so much great music released/leaked in the past few weeks. Here's a quick rundown of what's blowing me up this summer:

> 4 by Beyonce
> Emergent Layer by Golden Retriever
> We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves by John Maus
> "Next To You" by Chris Brown (Feat. Justin Bieber)
> Player Piano by Memory Tapes
> Go Tell Fire To The Mountain by WU LYFE

> Bon Iver, Bon Iver by Bon Iver [9.5 lol]

This year's music is hypercrazy. Special shoutout to Colin Stetson's New History Warfare, Vol 2, which came out earlier in the year and was totally slept on by yours truly. It's like the most inventive album ever and omg I love it so much that I bought it.

Also, here's an important reminder that I'm having the best July ever:

> 08 / Liturgy at leBish

> 13 / AnC0 with mi padre in Pitt

> 14 / 6@|\|6 6@|\|6 at leBish

> 15 / KertVile & Woodz at USSRrecords
> 16 / P4k party in Chi

Get jealous, fam. Or come along!

Conclusions

Living positive, we can change the world. Up ahead is a busy work week, but one that also includes The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King Extended Edition in theatres, 4th of July celebrations, Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon in IMAX 3D (Thank You Based God), and all sorts of other reading and creating. My original comic masterpiece is underway, as is a novel, and plenty of reading of Judith Butler and Cormac McCarthy.

Sounds like a great summer!

Here's a #RARE picture of Lil B's Based Cat "Keke"

51

Thesis

Everyone loves music videos! Too easy.

Let's be honest

A phrase I'm using too much this summer. But anyway, let's be honest: I'm only blogging at the moment because I'm too tired (sic) to go to sleep. Liz Harris, goddess, is keeping me company while I mull over the dark days of the soul and what it means to be alive:

What I'm Actually Thinking About

> Going to a wedding in a week

> Turning 21 on Thursday

> Wearing dresses

> The Game Of Thrones season finale tomorrow night

SPECIAL MUSIC VIDEO EDITION

When you see three stellar music videos in the span of a few days, you gotta blog. Especially if JBiebs is featured heavily in one of said videos.

For your consideration:

VIDEO 1

In which two talented singers and dancers do their part to pretend the heterosexual imaginary. Love the music. Hate Chris Brown. The melody is pretty vanilla, but the video budget is hella ridiculous (why is the world falling apart?) and the production is fresh (see 4:20 for James Blake influence and the best part of the song).

This video is notable for the emergence of Bieber's lower register, sexuality, and post-apocalyptic Derelict steez. In other news, I'm a Belieber.

On a third listen, this song might be my favorite ever. Still hate Chris Brown.

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VIDEO 2

In which Rihanna outdoes Beyonce's "Run The World (Girls)" with a much more complicated and engaging feminist anthem. This is empowering anti-rape music that is never heard in mainstream pop music. Sure, Rihanna dresses as sexy cop at one point in the video, but the song is unambiguously about killing her rapist.

For cool discussion of the song, check this out.

Lyrics are a cut above Katy Perry's "wanna be a victim/ready for abduction." Still hate Chris Brown.

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VIDEO 3

In which the year's best album gets its first music video/short film. That's right - Grouper's A I A has reclaimed its throne (rightfully so) in part thanks to this amazing piece. The atmosphere is chilly and the vibe is righteously dark. Like Lars von Trier and David Lynch wanted to really scare you.

The imagery works really well with the song, gives me the heebie-jeebies. Also check out "Sputnik," a previous collaboration between Grouper and Weston Currie. And even still, I hate Chris Brown.

Grouper - I Saw A Ray from Weston Currie on Vimeo.

Conclusions

Can you get enough? Maybe I'll hit double digits for the month. That's a lot of blogging! Did I mention that good ole Ted came to visit the other night? Or that I went to a camping trip birthday bash? Or that I've worked 36 hours this week? Maybe next time!

This Blog Has Been Brought To You By Dairy Queen

$15

Throwback Image

Thesis

Playing poker with friends has its ups and downs. But that's not what I'm going to talk about tonight (good game, Jay; happy birthday, Annamarie; see ya soon, Kyle). Instead, this blog will hold fast to Rza's June Blogging Challenge - which means another movie review. This one won't be as rambling and ridiculously long as my Tree Of Life review. It'll even be about a lamestream summer blockbuster!

<< BREAKING NEWS >>

We briefly interrupt this blog to inform you that Lil B and Lil Wayne have recorded a track together for Weezy's upcoming pre-Carter IV mixtape, Sorry 4 The Wait. Thank You Based God. We now return to regular blogging.

Summer Movie Review (04)

X-Men: First Class [2011]

Directed by

Matthew Vaughn

#SurpriseSummer2011 Whoda thunk that Thor and First Class would turn out to be killer comic book movies? After the middling X3 and the abominable Wolverine (still haven't brought myself to watch all of it), my expectations for another Fox-owned X-Men movie were pretty low. But Matthew Vaughn and crew created something special: a superhero origins story that feels fresh, a blockbuster with character-motivated action, and a message that doesn't feel forced. This is the lamestream summer movie to beat.

It is maybe important for this review to understand that I'm an X-Men fanboy. My first artwork to hang in my dad's cubicle was of the X-Men (a drawing I recreated eight years later because I am a nerd). My poor little brother couldn't watch Sesame Street like other toddlers, because I was too busy watching the X-Men animated series. A few years later, I actually graphic-novelized the 2000 film. And I'm currently dedicating a startling percentage of my income to buying collections of Grant Morrison's early-'00s run on New X-Men. All of this to say:

i nerd... First Class make me :)

So, maybe this movie isn't for you. But it's for me. And shouldn't it be held to a different criteria than The Tree Of Life? This is a big summer movie with just the right amount of heart and just the right amount of silly. I love the look, I love the pacing, and I love the story. The vibe of the movie feels right. Erik and Charles' relationship feels right. The dynamic of the X-Men feels right. I don't care that Banshee isn't Irish or that Beast looks a little off or that Moira isn't a geneticist (okay, I'm a little bummed that Moira isn't a geneticist). All I care about is the spirit of coalition and fun. This movie has both.

It also has standout performances and a refreshingly breakneck pace. Michael Fassbender should get awards for his Magneto, all dedication and simmering anger. James McAvoy's Professor X is freewheeling and spirited, with enough seriousness and thoughtfulness to be developed later into the bald Charles everybody knows and loves. For as great as Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart were in these roles, it's remarkable what these young actors were able to do. A few of the moments shared between the two nearly had me in tears (seriously).

Real talk: this is the best X-Men movie yet.

While the first X-Men movie was a revelation back in the day, and X2 had some self-serious swag, neither movie had as much of a good time with the X-Men as this movie did. And it's this fun and adventurous spirit that ends up being the film's strongest attribute. Because behind all of the liberal themes and wacky sci-fi melodrama, X-Men is above all about having fun being whoever you are. First Class captured that sentiment while still delivering on the goods of a big action flick. To me, that makes this is a perfect summer movie.

Summer Music Review (03)

Changing gears. Might as well talk about what I'm listening to right now.

Shadowland [2011]

by Barn Owl

(Thrill Jockey)

Okay, I intended this review to be longer, but I'm getting hella sleepy. I've listened to it like four times in a row now (it being a relatively short EP), and it has stayed engaging. This is the first Barn Owl I've listened to, but if the rest of their output is this brooding and assured, then I'm gonna have a new love affair this summer. This three-song release is all tension and texture, mood and motion. Sounds like it's burrowing away into my brain. There's plenty more to write, but seriously. Sleepy.

Conclusions

I'm waking up not too long from now to run with my co-worker baby. It'll be good for me. I really do love to sweat. Especially in the rain. I'm a little concerned about my circadian rhythm, at which I threw a major curveball after staying up until 5 AM to watch Game Of Thrones. It certainly wasn't good for me to watch all nine episodes in a single sixteen-hour span, but I can't help but feel a little bit accomplished.

Well, now that my cereal is gone: to bed.

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