Mittwoch, Januar 25, 2006
You can tell I've been listening to too much music...
The Soundtrack of my last few days...
"And I just can't help believing / though believing sees me cursed" - Johnny Boy (You Are the Generation that Bought More Shoes and You Get what You Deserve)
"Wir stehen herum / Wir stehen nicht gut da und stehen auf / Stehen auf den Moment in dem der Wind dreht / Und die Zeit wenn er in unsre Rücken bläst / Solang es geht" - Locas in Love (Wartezimmer)
"Hit the redial / Maybe we should sigh a while/ Save our second wind for sentimental warm weather." - Architecture in Helsinki (Wishbone)
"Flower, flower, flower / Power, power, power / I come over / I take over / Kudzu, kudzu, kudzu / Moods, moods, moods" - Deerhoof (Flower)
"Such dir eine windstille Stelle / Stau auf Stau, ein Schritt nach vorn, das wär's schon / Er zögert noch, und dreht sich um, und dreht sich um / Lass doch den Wahnsinn an seinem Platzt" - Kommando Sonne-Mnilch (Traust dich nicht)
"And we'll all float on ok" - Modest Mouse (Float On)
"There is nothing left to fear / Not now that bigfoot is captured" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Upon This Tidal Wave)
"This is how we are / We are young and stupid / And raised by wolves" - Voxtrot (Raised by Wolves)
"How strange it is to be anything at all" - Neutral Milk Hotel (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea)
If anyone knows what to make of this, let me know, because I'm not quite sure myself ;) . Each of these quotes represents one major thought-strand of mine of the last few days, arranged in a pseudo-sensical order, the last one being the ever-recurring one - how strange it is to be anything at all, but how beautiful it is, too. I feel strangely happy tonight. And I just spent the last hour trying to sort this out to spread this happiness (although it is debatable of how much use cryptical, out of context quotes are for this...). Gosh, happiness sometimes isn't productive ;) .
Current Music: The Shins - Caring is Creepy
"And I just can't help believing / though believing sees me cursed" - Johnny Boy (You Are the Generation that Bought More Shoes and You Get what You Deserve)
"Wir stehen herum / Wir stehen nicht gut da und stehen auf / Stehen auf den Moment in dem der Wind dreht / Und die Zeit wenn er in unsre Rücken bläst / Solang es geht" - Locas in Love (Wartezimmer)
"Hit the redial / Maybe we should sigh a while/ Save our second wind for sentimental warm weather." - Architecture in Helsinki (Wishbone)
"Flower, flower, flower / Power, power, power / I come over / I take over / Kudzu, kudzu, kudzu / Moods, moods, moods" - Deerhoof (Flower)
"Such dir eine windstille Stelle / Stau auf Stau, ein Schritt nach vorn, das wär's schon / Er zögert noch, und dreht sich um, und dreht sich um / Lass doch den Wahnsinn an seinem Platzt" - Kommando Sonne-Mnilch (Traust dich nicht)
"And we'll all float on ok" - Modest Mouse (Float On)
"There is nothing left to fear / Not now that bigfoot is captured" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Upon This Tidal Wave)
"This is how we are / We are young and stupid / And raised by wolves" - Voxtrot (Raised by Wolves)
"How strange it is to be anything at all" - Neutral Milk Hotel (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea)
If anyone knows what to make of this, let me know, because I'm not quite sure myself ;) . Each of these quotes represents one major thought-strand of mine of the last few days, arranged in a pseudo-sensical order, the last one being the ever-recurring one - how strange it is to be anything at all, but how beautiful it is, too. I feel strangely happy tonight. And I just spent the last hour trying to sort this out to spread this happiness (although it is debatable of how much use cryptical, out of context quotes are for this...). Gosh, happiness sometimes isn't productive ;) .
Current Music: The Shins - Caring is Creepy
Sonntag, Januar 22, 2006
Jeden Abend werfe ich...
Jeden Abend werfe ich
by Erich Mühsam
Jeden Abend werfe ich
eine Zukunft hinter mich,
die sich niemals mehr erhebt
denn sie hat im Geist gelebt.
Neue Bilder werden, wachsen;
Welten drehn um neue Achsen,
werden, sterben, lieben, schaffen.
Die Vergangenheiten klaffen.
Tobend, wirbelnd stürzt die Zeit
in die Gruft. Das Leben schreit!
by Erich Mühsam
Jeden Abend werfe ich
eine Zukunft hinter mich,
die sich niemals mehr erhebt
denn sie hat im Geist gelebt.
Neue Bilder werden, wachsen;
Welten drehn um neue Achsen,
werden, sterben, lieben, schaffen.
Die Vergangenheiten klaffen.
Tobend, wirbelnd stürzt die Zeit
in die Gruft. Das Leben schreit!
For a while now, this poem (an attempt at an english translation is below) by Erich Mühsam has been a kind of motto to me in so many situations. For the past week I've also had its first four lines as my messenger personal message. Today I got a reply to it in my Inbox - with another beautiful poem by Mühsam, that I had not yet read, "Vision". Everything seemed to fit together, the poems complimented one another - and I was overwhelmed that somebody would actually make this connection. Thank you :) .
I'm done with exams now, back to living the St Andrews life - pubs, books, and an ever-increasing number of golf tourists and simple minded individuals that manage to annoy in the most unsuitable situations. Or, to quote Voxtrot, "What's a book to you in bed, Do you feel better, older?" I'll go to bed now and read nonetheless, and wonder whether the chaps having car races right outside my window right now usually have classes the next morning when they do them at 03.00 on any ordinary weekday.Current Music: Voxtrot - The Start of Something
Every evening I throw
a future behind myself,
that will never rise again -
it has lived in the mind.
New images are forming, growing;
worlds are turning on new axes,
to become, to die, to love, to create.
The pasts gape apart. --
Raving, twirling time falls
into the crypt.-- The life screams!
Samstag, Januar 14, 2006
After that rather negative music I just realised that maybe I should post something positive, too... The spaced out Spiral Golden Town by Deerhoof is here, the dirty Avenue D song is here and the best of all of them, "Wishbone" by Architecture in Helsinki, is here. Enjoy them and think happy thoughts :) .
Current Music: Deerhoof - Spiral Golden Town
PS: The MP3s are linked from musicblogs, mainly, which give you some songs to preview with a mini review and to encourage you to buy the full album. Just to explain where this seemingly obvious piracy comes from ;) .
PS2: It might actually be from the second chorus of Spiral Golden Town that I keep thinking of "no man is an island". Even though she sings in Japanese, it does kind of sound like that... or maybe it is just another sign that I am seriously thinking too much about that line.
Current Music: Deerhoof - Spiral Golden Town
PS: The MP3s are linked from musicblogs, mainly, which give you some songs to preview with a mini review and to encourage you to buy the full album. Just to explain where this seemingly obvious piracy comes from ;) .
PS2: It might actually be from the second chorus of Spiral Golden Town that I keep thinking of "no man is an island". Even though she sings in Japanese, it does kind of sound like that... or maybe it is just another sign that I am seriously thinking too much about that line.
Collected Thoughts, Part II
No man is an island - It's been said many times, yet it has come back to me over and over again the last few days in the most random situations, and it has greatly influenced the way I think of some things these days. Yet I'm not sure whether I fully agree. Maybe I really am just another Toru Okada.
I just realised that there are more than two people in the band Belle and Sebastian. Maybe I am being naive, but I was surprised to find that neither of the seven (!!) band members is called Belle, or Sebastian. For me the female voice was always Belle, well, and the male voice Sebastian. Hmmm.
I must have spent more than 5 hours browsing through and listening to alternative music the last three days. A very nice time, though. If you have the chance, listen to Deerhoof (especially Spiral Golden Town, and Flower of Panda Panda Panda). They're very very weird, but strangely intrigueing. If you want a good laugh (and are not easily offended), get The Dirty South by Avenue D.
And for some very good, but depressing music, listen to "For Real" by Okkervil River (you can find it here). Or watch the video. It must be one of the freakiest things I've seen in a while, and it so much reminds me of something I've seen before, yet I keep watching it again...
Current Music: Okkervil River - For Real
I just realised that there are more than two people in the band Belle and Sebastian. Maybe I am being naive, but I was surprised to find that neither of the seven (!!) band members is called Belle, or Sebastian. For me the female voice was always Belle, well, and the male voice Sebastian. Hmmm.
I must have spent more than 5 hours browsing through and listening to alternative music the last three days. A very nice time, though. If you have the chance, listen to Deerhoof (especially Spiral Golden Town, and Flower of Panda Panda Panda). They're very very weird, but strangely intrigueing. If you want a good laugh (and are not easily offended), get The Dirty South by Avenue D.
And for some very good, but depressing music, listen to "For Real" by Okkervil River (you can find it here). Or watch the video. It must be one of the freakiest things I've seen in a while, and it so much reminds me of something I've seen before, yet I keep watching it again...
Current Music: Okkervil River - For Real
Mittwoch, Januar 11, 2006
Collected Thoughts
Happy New Year, everyone. Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear, as John Lennon would say.
If you ever are in the Czech Republic, sit in a restaurant, and the waitress asks you something in Czech, don't just nod, you may regret it later.
And don't play scrabble there, either. Unless you know what you're doing ;) .
Meeting three groups of people in three days can be intense as well. Spending the weekend at a scholarship interview with many people being there only because of excellent academic scores (without anything else), but still meeting some interesting people. Then meeting friends from the same interview, but for UWC, three years earlier, on Sunday evening. What a difference between these two worlds, and what a gorgeous evening. And then coming back to St Andrews, and what a difference between that world and the two previous one, and how fluffy and comfy they are compared to here, and how I wish a Christmas Break would be enough time to grow up sometimes.
A poem I discovered the other day, and that I quite like...
Now I will get back to studying for my International Relations exam that is tomorrow. I don't feel prepared. But when have I ever for an exam. Oh, and I need to include "delightful upholstery" in any one of my exams. Looks like it'll be in philosophy ;) .
And two other bands that I am listening to at the moment: Architecture in Helsinki, and Okkervil River. Maybe I'll write something about their songs another day. One is ironically cheerful, the other one is as graphic as I've seen in a while...
Current Music: Lasgo - Something
If you ever are in the Czech Republic, sit in a restaurant, and the waitress asks you something in Czech, don't just nod, you may regret it later.
And don't play scrabble there, either. Unless you know what you're doing ;) .
Meeting three groups of people in three days can be intense as well. Spending the weekend at a scholarship interview with many people being there only because of excellent academic scores (without anything else), but still meeting some interesting people. Then meeting friends from the same interview, but for UWC, three years earlier, on Sunday evening. What a difference between these two worlds, and what a gorgeous evening. And then coming back to St Andrews, and what a difference between that world and the two previous one, and how fluffy and comfy they are compared to here, and how I wish a Christmas Break would be enough time to grow up sometimes.
A poem I discovered the other day, and that I quite like...
In the Desert
by Stephen Crane
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter – bitter", he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."
by Stephen Crane
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter – bitter", he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."
Now I will get back to studying for my International Relations exam that is tomorrow. I don't feel prepared. But when have I ever for an exam. Oh, and I need to include "delightful upholstery" in any one of my exams. Looks like it'll be in philosophy ;) .
And two other bands that I am listening to at the moment: Architecture in Helsinki, and Okkervil River. Maybe I'll write something about their songs another day. One is ironically cheerful, the other one is as graphic as I've seen in a while...
Current Music: Lasgo - Something
