Thought Distillery » Arts and Entertainment

Everything That Happens

Scott — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:43:20 +0000

Times may be rough, the future may be uncertain, but dog-gone-it at least David Byrne is around to make your day a bit happier. Today I enjoyed reading a great David Byrne interview by The Onion. Afterward I found some relaxation and simple pleasure in listening to the new album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, by Byrne and long time collaborator Brian Eno. Why not take a few moments to chill and have a listen below?

Dil Se (for you and me)

Scott — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 06:56:45 +0000

Bollywood continues. This week we started a trend by going with another Shah Rukh Khan film – Dil Se. Unlike last week’s K3G, Dil Se served us some fairly heavy plot over majestic landscape rather than petty family squabbles with too many helpings of billionaire luxury. Sadly there were no subtitles, but we were able to follow the gist of the story to its exciting and unexpected end.

Today I found a new hobby: mining YouTube for Bollywood song-and-dance videos. It is a treasure trove for known favorites and for uncovering new prospects for your movie queue. My picks from Dil Se…

It doesn’t get much cooler than this: dancing on top of a train traveling across beautiful mountain countryside. Beware of those swiveling hips, SRK! Chaiya Chaiya

This video pulled me in with its haunting melody and amazing cinematography. Don’t miss the burning tree followed by the reversed flowing silky garments! Satrangi Re

The Bollywood Files

Scott — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:36:37 +0000

This month Katie and I set out to explore the world of Bollywood – the Hindi language film industry of India. Bollywood movies are well known for their musical song and dance numbers which is what enticed me into giving this genre a whirl. Last week we started out out big, with the extravagent Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham featuring a star-studded cast including the notorious Shah Rukh Khan. For 3.5 hours we endulged in over-the-top melodrama and many uber cheesey moments. Critically acclaimed? Hardly. Entertaining? Most certainly. Overall, it was a good start and I look forward to recording further notes and samples of our journey here.

Interested in this project? Join us and Say Shava Shava!

Yamasuki

Scott — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 07:59:09 +0000

Many thanks to Tamar for stepping up and filling in during east coast blizzards around Jersey’s WFMU. Were it not for the inclement weather (and the miracle of streaming internet radio), I would not have had the pleasure of filling my sunny west coast ears with the lovely sounds of Yamasuki. A long lost treasure from the early 70′s, I was immediately hooked by what sounded like a very angry samurai shouting and screaming amongst a choir of Japanese schoolgirls. Even better was finding out later that the whole album was the result of two French pop producers trying to bridge the east-west culture gap. There is even a Bananarama connection to this album – check it out.

Just say no the next time

Scott — Sun, 08 May 2005 08:53:55 +0000

Tonight I set about doing some research on a topic that I’ve been thinking about quite a bit recently: how to say “no”. I didn’t make it past the 2nd interesting result from my initial g00gle search before I said “yes” to an über alluring music website I’d never heard of before. If you are at all interested in sifting through a mountainous collection of somewhat obscure artists and are at all interested in spending your CD budget at a store that pays the artists directly 50% or more of the proceeds then walk don’t run to the Portland Oregon based CD Baby web site.

Guilty pleasure confession time: I’ve long coveted the cheap and driving sound of cheesy 60′s surf guitar. Dick Dale, Ventures, Surfaris, and Beach Boys music had tided me over for a while – that is until tonight when I found an entire Surf Rock genre to dig through with hundreds of never-before-heard-by-me albums! (and mind you, it is definitely most proper to call CDs of this genre albums) I can’t wait to try out a super-charged surf rock and expresso powered programming session at work. I’m thinking I might be able to double my productivity. Anyway, so far I’ve the following juicy albums picked out:

The Moon Rays instantly caught my attention. How could I possibly say “no” to the combination of surf music, monster movies, and other 60′s schwank? Note that CD Baby doesn’t do any of that 30 second long sample crap. You get a full 2 minutes – enough to roll around with in a very intimate way. I am instantly hooked and now diving into my search results for German music. (Wow – crazy coincidence that my playlist just randomly started playing the WFMU stream with some German alternapop being broadcast)

Ok, I’ll stop the blatant plugging now as its time to concentrate on the music anyway.

How About A Kiss?

Scott — Sun, 12 Dec 2004 01:58:31 +0000

But just a little one mind you. And to think what I was missing last night in Eugene. I’m sure the music would not have done much for me, but oh the novelty! Just goes to show that size has nothing to do with living life big.

Saturday Sounds

Scott — Sun, 12 Dec 2004 01:52:50 +0000

By about 12:30 today I finally had my act assembled and stepped out to an usually bustling downtown. I guess it is the shopping season isn’t it? Off in the distance my ears detected some sweet yet familiar sounds. At about this time last year I awoke on more than one saturday to the soothing yet haunting sounds of pan-pipes drifting through my window. Sure enough as I spied the crowd of people down the street, the same folk musicians from the Andean mountains of Peru were present garbed in colorful wool ponchos and filling the air with pipes, keys, and percussion. Inspired, I added bamboo pan-pipes to my list of instruments to learn (after the next in line blues harmonica).

Stepping across the street I entered the bookstore (my intended destination) to do a bit of shopping myself. Might as well join the masses, I thought. Anyway, just as I entered I was greeted by more music – this time by a small ensemble including oboe, clarinet, french horn, and flute. Normally by this time of year I’ve become sick of holiday music, but this live treat was just the perfect touch for a most pleasurable hour of book-browsing.

Normally Corvallis is a fairly sleeping little college town, but every now and then days like today come along and create lovely little unexpected surprises. I think I like it here.

Wired In Corvallis

Scott — Sun, 28 Nov 2004 09:25:34 +0000

Note to self: Watching Fahrenheit 9/11 for the first time while over-endulging in chocolate covered coffee beans is probably not the best way to create a relaxing saturday evening. Between the caffeine and thoughts to ponder about our favorite administration, I’ll be lucky to get to sleep by Wednesday. I wonder how easy it would be to train D.C. pigeons to attack certain people of a certain white house whenever they step out onto the lawn flashing their arrogant grins and winking to their compadres of the subservient press? Ah blessed be, these glorious days! Democracy thrives! Profits are up! Innocent lives do not die in vain. Mm, isn’t this caviar just fabulous?

Kinetic Kraziness

Scott — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 06:47:39 +0000

This last weekend brought a zany bunch of people to Corvallis for the annual Davinci Days Kinetic Sculpture Race. The krazy kontraptions are completely human powered and compete in a 3 stage race up the streets, through a mud bog, and down the river. In the end, everyone was a winner because the fun was simply immeasurable. See the gallery for a few photo samplings, including my favorite below…

He Loves Me – He Loves Me Not

Scott — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 21:30:09 +0000

Now before anyone thinks I’ve gone pink triangles, the title of this post refers to a very intriguing French film staring the lovely Audrey Tatou. Like many people, I simply fell in love with this actress upon watching Le Fabuleux destin d’AmÃ©lie Poulain so naturally I was quick to jump on the wait list at the library (yeah I’m cheap too) to see her 2003 follow-up. Well, frankly the first half of the movie seemed to just go nowhere but down, down, and down. But then just when I least suspected, the story picked me up by my feet and shook me upside down. Yes, I was suckered in big time! That first half was a major setup and the second half made it all so perfectly clear – I was riveted to the ceiling (still upside down) through the rest of the video. If you’re into foreign films and feel like a surprise twist then check this one out!

Its always good to be reminded that there are truly three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth!