Digressive Comedy

For a while I've had this theory that modern sitcoms are experiments in fractured narrative. Recently, because the world is a beautiful and indulgent place, I was able to write about my crazy theory for the New York Times Magazine. Plus, a nice Nytimesy illustration of 30 Rock comes along with the article. Officially, it appears in print this Sunday, but you can read it here.



(And thanks to Lelenditor for spit and polish)

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Jonny Olsen

A few months ago, Rob of High Places told me about Jonny Olsen, a kid from LA who, within a few years, became the only white Laotion pop star. I watched some of his videos, listened to his music, and quickly became a fan, of sorts. Last month, I interviewed Olsen and then profiled him for the LA Weekly, which was published today.

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Gang Gang Dance

Roos Shamanana wrote a review of the new album, Saint Dymphna, for the this week's LA Weekly. Long ago Roos conducted an interview with them for identity theory. Then, recently he slapped them on the Believer comp.

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Believer Fifty-Eight

The Believer Art Issue is out and beautiful and includes an unbelievable poster by Robyn O'Neil, whose art is pictured above. Also of note is Miranda Mellis' fantastic interview with the seed bank artist, Dyveke Sanne and a piece about Sol Lewitt, who inspired me to make a lot of mediocre geometric artwork in high school.

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Meredith Monk

Last week Roos Shamanana went up to Geyserville and had the opportunity to interview Meredith Monk, who, in his mind, stands as one of the most creative, unique musicians living today. I can't believe the things she does with her voice. In our meeting, she was kind and thoughtful. Talking with her was an all around good thing. The interview turned into an LA Times article and then, later in the week, I saw her perform an amazing piece in an eight-story art installation, which made me rethink my entire view of what a performance could be.

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NewVillager blog has begun.

Read it here and then maybe listen to the new tracks.

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Maya Deren meets Trespassers William

Trespassers William just put up a simple video. It's a clip of the amazing Maya Deren film Ritual in Transfigured Time, which is influenced heavily by her work with Haitian vodoun ritual. The video is for the TW song "Weakening," which was released on our last full length called Having.

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Believer Fifty-Seven

The new Believer contains two new interview formats for us: the micro-interview and the self-interview. Plus, there's a nice piece about old-fashioned humor medicine and an interview with the young composer Nico Muhly, who seems be defining some of the parameters the new classical music. I am very happy about all of this.

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Mickey Hart

Last week I called Mickey Hart, former Grateful Dead drummer and cherished childhood icon. This conversation ensued and was published by the Seattle Weekly.

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NewVillager in the Woods

I am a "glowing being."

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Gwar

To celebrate Gwar's upcoming tour, I'm posting a Gwar review I wrote late year for the Seattle-Post Intelligencer and a pleasant television encounter between the band and the lovely Joan Rivers.

Read the Gwar concert review

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African music blogs

Seattle Weekly just reprinted my Village Voice article on international music blogs and how they just might turn our world into one big multicultural dance hall.

Seattle weekly article
Awesome tapes from Africa

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Believer Fifty-Six

The interview with my heroes, Tim and Eric, in the new Believer discusses the above Humpers video and other comedic things. The Paul Collins essay on radical Fonetik spelling is also pretty damn fine.

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RichDoors

Our very first NewVillager track, "RichDoors" is up and running and ready for its 7 inch single release in October.

http://www.myspace.com/newvillager

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Wall art

Here’s a piece of untitled wall art I made in 2005. The materials include clear pushpins, black yarn, masking tape and two colors of construction paper. I’ve made about 5 of these in my life, some of which were in places where I lived, two of which were violently torn down by family members or friends. This is what it looked like after 2 years of wear and tear.

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On sleeping in your car

A few nights ago, I slept next to the beach on the Oregon coast. I was in my car. I had parked in a Best Western parking lot with the windows cracked so I could hear the waves all night long. It was as nice as nice can be.

I would have camped, but the campgrounds I came across were full and as far as I could tell, the parking lot was closer to the beach and quieter – In my car, I heard no sounds of middle-aged men screaming at the sky, throwing their beer cans into the fire. Plus, with all the ocean wind and fog, sleeping by the beach is a little more comfortable in a car than a flimsy, whistling tent. I would also argue that sleeping in your car is way more hygienic than sleeping in any hotel room. Sure, it’s illegal, but after years of car-sleeping I remain pretty unconvinced that my 8 hour usage of a parking spot has caused much harm in the world.

I always survey the town, find the biggest hotel with the biggest lot, preferably with a couple of nice dark nooks, wait until after dusk and then park. My back seats fold down to reveal a small bed. I lay some blankets and pillows down and keep a flashlight nearby. If I’m in a conspicuous spot, I might drape a blanket over the seats to make a fort for hiding. But as far as I know, the hiding has always been more based in paranoia than real danger, since noone has ever “caught” me. I’ll usually wake up early, when the sun comes out, and drive away before anyone seems to care. It’s fun, easy, clean, fast, and free. Sleeping in your car is good for you! Goodbye.

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Caroliner Rainbow

When I first saw this video on youtube, I demanded an explanation, so first I interviewed Caroliner for identitytheory and then, a few years later, after watching them play two Seattle shows, I interviewed them again and tried to give my own personal explanation of the Caroliner nightmare.

the identitytheory interview
the sf weekly article

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Making Granola

I made some granola the other day and it was fantastic and I'm going to continue to make my own cereal for the rest of my life. It tastes like heavenly crunch pop crackle snap. It isn't jammed with flour and high fructose corn glue. Plus it's bingbangeasy. I made a blueberry-almond variety that lasted me two weeks. Don't let the world's cruel stigmas on granola prevent you from baking and then eating beauty in bowl.

a nice granola-making instructional video

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The New Buffalo

An self-penned article titled The New Buffalo asks the question:
Has tribal culture been utterly swapped for casino culture?

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Prurient

From SFWEEKLY: "Prurient’s Dominick Fernow claws and roars at his equipment until an evil, abstract din erupts, expressing what he describes as 'the feeling of dread I get when I stare at a tile in a bathroom.'" - R.S.

preview

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