High on Words & Letters

A few years back I discovered a strange quirk of mine. I was working and a supplier was writing an invoice. I watched without any expectation when suddenly the feeling of absolute pleasure came over me. I could actually feel something (endorphins?) being released from the back of my head and flooding me. Now, this doesn't happen everytime, but there must have been something about the way this guy wrote that triggered it. He wasn't born or raised here and it might have been the assuredness, the movement of the hand and of course his unique handwriting that did it. There is a pleasure in watching someone do something with absolute sureity and experience.

This isn't handwriting, but I just love the whole way this was filmed and the way the guy talks (and sings).

M83 in Motion

Some cool vids I've had on my YT favourites list, feat. the sublime Antony Gonzalez, M83.

Anit no CGI here


The Great Dictator

Pentatonic Love

I love the universal Pentatonic scale (the black keys on the piano). Music that incorporates this scale always moves me.

You will note that the last two pieces below have that looping, repetition (and trains - a motif in my life and dreams) for which I also have a partiality to. Reich was hugely influential on electronic music (you can hear it in Tangerine Dream). There's probably a load more music I have, I'll post it when I can.

Aphex Twin plays the piano? Avril 14th

I don't usually go for this music, but I thought this song was beautiful (sounds alot like Yesterday) when I saw the film:

On my previous Music To Turn Me On post: Love on a Real Train by Tangerine Dream

Steve Reich - Contemporary Minimalist
An acquired taste of mine. I couldn't find a decent recording of this piece on YT so heres:

on Grooveshark (listen to whole music tracks for free!).

Being Polite

I hate bullshit. Seriously, when I don't feel like being social, when I don't feel like making small talk, don't expect me to be a fake and pretend to be interested in who, what, when and why. Is there no place on this earth where there is no obligation? There must be. And then if you're not, you're branded anti-social and a square. Fuck sakes, leave me be!

All That Is Solid Melts Into Air

This suddenly came to me as I felt the pang of reality return.

When I'm lying in my soft warm bed, I imagine sometimes that touch of a hand on my body, through my hair, the warmth of someones breast where I lay my head, entwining myself around the covers, another body, imagine soft words and the sound of breathing against mine. And then, as if by the flick of a light switch, it vanishes into nothing, into reality. And the pang becomes more real than anything. I feel it centred at my heart, radiating an aching pain through every nerve of my body. It ends with tears.

On a Bloody Spree

I've always had a thing for the vampire genre, books and films. But I've suddenly now caught onto the current trend for all things dangerously irresistible.

The new Twilight movie, which was total cheese but a good laugh, surprising that as it's supposed to be based on the book series...True Blood as you've heard, and I've been going through my film collection: Afore mentioned The Hunger, Interview with a Vampire and one of my favs Bram Stokers Dracula (Coppola). I saw the latter in my late teens, so it kinda coincided with puberty and all that sexual awakening. I have to say, it was probably the first time I knew what the word 'erotic' truly meant. Something on a higher level than plain carnal sex I think. Other than that, I thought the story was moving in all it's extremes: The idea that someone could defy God and death, to become a monster, a killer for the hope of being reunited with the one you love..."I have crossed oceans of time..." Ah! It's a love story really, but I've read the book by Stoker and it reads more like a mystery story, it doesn't have all the emotional background. Well done Coppola!

I wonder what's next for us fang bangers?

Old School Fang Bangers

I love this film, especially the opening titles...

The Hunger 1983

V Book

So this is based on a book series huh? I might give it go, just for a change. I don't usually do genre books like this, but I feel like something easy on the brain. I've had to do a load of research for my final year dissertation and I can tell you, the stuff I have to trawl through is like trying to walk through a glue spillage the size of a small town.

Anyways, I've now seen season 1 & 2...and it was what I expected. As much as I love the characters, the setting, the whole premise, it's basically turned into a post modern soap opera, although this is definitely of the adult kind and therefore alot (and I mean "alot") more mature compared to Twilight, that other vampire series so popular with teenage girls. Well, it's something to watch for gods sakes! Season 3 will be out next summer, I will be watching.