| We are Devo. D-E-V-O. |
[07 Jul 2008|11:04pm] |
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mood |
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 amused |
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music |
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"The Analog Kid" - Rush |
] |
Two facts about me: I have trouble concentrating on words and sentences, unless they are very exciting, so reading takes me a bit of time. Nevertheless, I really enjoy it, and I try to get as much out of a given text as I can, which is a way of compensating for the fact that I generally get through less material than some other people. And the other thing is, I can't take anything seriously for extended periods of time. I think it's an impairment just as detrimental to my functioning as ADD.
I've been re-reading His Dark Materials, which are favourites of mine, despite the fact that they are, indeed, quite serious in their tone. They actually put me in a pensive disposition for a while, and that can be useful to me. Today I finished the second book, The Subtle Knife. I was just about on the last page, and I was managing to keep up with the mood of the story, when I came across something that cracked me up. It was of course unintentional, and I could have just made the association and moved on, but no, I have such a hard time moving on that couldn't resist reaching for a pencil, and doing this:
Sorry. I find that, once you listen to Devo, you can't un-listen, and then you find yourself associating things like that with their ridiculous songs. If you don't know what I'm referring to, you should watch this video. And it's okay if you can't get through the whole thing.
I would read the third book in the trilogy, but Finbar's got it. Drat. What's next on the summer reading list then? Hell, what do you know! Another Frank Zappa biography.
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| Some thoughts about gender relations |
[07 Jul 2008|12:45pm] |
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mood |
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 productive |
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music |
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"Seabeast" - Mastodon |
] |
I think I might have mentioned my disdain for misogyny here or there, but I haven't yet clarified that I dislike misandry (I believe that's the word) just as much. I'm not a fan of the fact that girls can get away with variations of the statement "Guys are buttsuckers who can't do anything right", or that you can find merchandise with slogans such as "Boys are disposable". Try and imagine putting "girl" in those sentences - what you'll get is a busted head. I don't think this sort of thing is tolerable for either group. What kind of cultural climate do you get out of that? I don't like the fact that I find many girls who have some sort of counter-productive animosity towards men in general, while at the same time, they really want to be respected and taken seriously. Well, first of all, I don't respect men in general either - or women. I don't disrespect them either. Respect is earned by individuals, or particular groups with a particular cause. And second of all, respect goes both ways. Who's going to treat you well if you treat them like shit?
And on a different, though vaguely related, note, I have a love-hate relationship with the website Feministing.com. On the one hand, they have links to some interesting news stories, or books. And on the other hand, I find them kind of petty and self-obsessed. They seem to go on and on about things in their own, Western culture that are irritating, but fairly irrelevant on the larger scale, such as products and commercials, or stupid people that say dumb shit. What difference do those things make? Dumbasses are everywhere, and they talk about everything. Yes, some of them influence public opinion, but you can attempt to counteract it, and you won't achieve the desired effect by saying "Fuck you, Rush Limbaugh." Sure, it's nice to rant about people and their stupid opinions, but that makes you a rambler, and not really an activist. Some of the problems they talk about are not even worth the attention at all - such as YouTube misogyny. Congratulations, you're on the Internet! Everybody gets made fun of here - the perpetrators will pick anything about anyone that they think might sound offensive. How does that affect your abilities or performance in whatever activities you pursue besides reading comments? And since when is it an effective strategy to give bullies what they want, which is a reaction?
I don't see these girls posting a whole lot about international issues, or offering any feasible plans of action. They just point out some problems in their own culture in a very superficial way. Yes, women are earning less money, and yes, abstinence-only education in the States does a lot of harm - how am I supposed to go about helping that? It's like they're always singing "What shall we do with the drunken sailor? What shall we do with the drunken sailor?" but they don't know any of the verses that offer some ideas on what to do with him.
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| Watchin' movies. |
[01 Jul 2008|08:57pm] |
I've been on a movie-watching binge. Some movies I watched with other people; some by myself. If you count the Mystery Science Theater 3000 movies, then that's even more. Although technically, MST3K is a show, but who cares? Right now I am watching Knocked Up, and it's really not as funny as other people told me. Oh well - I finish every movie I start, and it has some entertaining parts in any case. Here's one detail that, for some reason, bothers me more than anything else in this movie: the part where the two guys go to Vegas - are they listening to Britney Spears in the car? Fuck this! What guys would actually do that? In real life, they'd be listening to Motorhead, I'm sure. Most people don't even notice things like that, but me, mreeeeghh, I just can't get over it.
The other thing that makes my movie-consuming endavours so much less rewarding in general is the lack of female characters that are actually watchable, or entertaining by any stretch of the imagination. The last time I watched a movie with a girl that I could actually relate to was...wait, I forget. Was it, perhaps, never? No, no, wait. I got something. The last time this happened was when I was five years old, watching Alice In Wonderland, because I was an imaginative child, always tripping out on my own thoughts, and it all just made sense. I though, if I saw a rabbit running around with a watch, I'd totally go after that mofo too, and if he went in a hole, I would for sure not hesitate to jump right in as well. And ever since that...nothing, really. Well, I really liked the title character in Juno - that was one exception. The whole premise of the movie wasn't something that really won me over, though.
Hell, I don't care if the characters are "relatable" - they don't have to be like me at all. I wish they'd just be interesting in any way. Admittedly, I don't know a lot of movies - I just watch whatever other people recommend. I'm not a film geek by any accounts. But my complaint still stands - that, and the bad music.
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| Survery is Okay! |
[22 Jun 2008|08:20pm] |
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mood |
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 sore |
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music |
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"Who Are You?" - Black Sabbath |
] |
I've decided to do one of those things where I answer lots of questions, and then post the results. Why not? Waste of time, true, but I'm on vacation, and really tired from running around outside and climbing rocks, so there
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| Summertime, and the living is cheesy |
[21 Jun 2008|07:06pm] |
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mood |
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 groggy |
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music |
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"Mongoloid" - Devo |
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What to do for the rest of the summer? My goals at the end of school were to practice the bass and write my novel, and so far, I've been keeping up the good work on both those things. Other than that, my free days so far have been very enjoyably occupied by friends and random stupid entertainment, but I'd like to do something useful with my time. And by useful, I mean something I can put on my resume. I want to learn something about work and life in general. I don't think I will learn much from hanging around with my pals, and competing for who can mess with whose mind the most. Plus I feel kind of bad about being a freeloader in my parents' house, even though they don't mind. On the contrary, my father used to not let me work when I was 16-18. Right now I'm big enough that I can choose what to do myself, but I'm not sure which path to follow over the upcoming two and a half months. Just get a random job in some old ladies' clothing store, and help them to choose cardigans when they arrive? What to do, what to do?
I've been kind of hoping to get some experience in a media-related field, like radio, TV, or music. I had an unfortunate disappointment the other day, when I found out that a record label where I had an interview last week doesn't want to accept me as an intern. Well, balls to them. I guess I'm just too cool for those yuppie werewolves from outer space. I guess they just want hipsters with Velvet Underground t-shirts and stupid glasses who will do as they're told least they lose a milligram of indie cred. It actually looked like a great place to work, regardless of my insults, so I'm pretty angry with those buttheads for accepting some other mofo instead of me. I think they owe their office to me to use as setting for gruesome imaginary cartoon violence. Oh well; case closed, and bar open - let's go!
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| You, with the hair! |
[21 Jun 2008|06:00pm] |
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mood |
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 lazy |
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music |
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"Death In Fire" - Amon Amarth |
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I'm not a big fan of having pictures of me taken, I don't like displaying my image on the Internet, and I usually don't participate in discussions of hair, let alone start them, but today I am going to make an exception to every one of those rules, because, upon my awakening this afternoon (yes, afternoon), I couldn't help but notice that my hair was looking especially metal.
Last night, I saw Dethklok, and they put on a pretty great show, especially for a band that doesn't actually exist. We got to watch them on the screen while some dudes played the songs onstage. It was very well done, but it seemed to short to me. The opening acts were real, as opposed to imaginary, and I enjoyed both of them. They were Soilent Green, and Chimaira. The latter really impressed me! They were loud, and had neat light effects, too, and I liked their bassist. I'm going to be him when I grow up.
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| Dethklok Dethklok |
[19 Jun 2008|03:59pm] |
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mood |
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amused |
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music |
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"One More Magic Potion" - Ensiferum |
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It's been a while since I've seen any Metalocalypse. Finbar and I are going to see Dethklok tomorrow, so we decided to watch some of it in preparation. Man, I completely forgot that practically every episode is capable of giving you a seizure. They should have put a warning on the DVDs, or something. It's a good thing that neither of us are epileptic, otherwise, there'd be trouble. And of course, a lack of epilepsy is a good thing every day of the week, not just while watching Metalocalypse.
I wonder how exactly a Dethklok show is going to occur. I always thought it would be cool to have some people re-enact the characters. But I bet you that's not what will happen. It'll probably be like Gorillaz, with projections on the screen. We shall find out.
I kind of hope they will do the song about the banana stickers!
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| Victory to Ensiferum! |
[17 Jun 2008|02:40pm] |
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music |
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"Victory Song" - Ensiferum |
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I've come to realize that, thus far, I have unwittingly been on a quest for the dorkiest metal band ever. I now continue the quest, but with conscious determination. I suspect that the winner lies somewhere in the realm of viking metal. Because, just by its description, viking metal has got to be the nerdiest genre of music, period.
At the moment, the winner of this prestigious title is Ensiferum.
Because, swords in their hands, they kill each and every man who dares to invade their sacred land. Let's see if anyone will be able to top them in the near future.
Finbar saw Ensiferum some months ago. I was unable to attend, which upset me. Anyway, Finbar told me that they started every number with the words "This song is going to be called..." As of that moment, I assume, all of their songs have been called whatever they happened to entitle them on that fateful night.
As a bonus, here's a haiku about my preferred method of transportation:
I have a nice bike.
He takes me all around town.
I call him Andy.
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| I've got the jones for Vernors |
[03 Jun 2008|01:22pm] |
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mood |
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refreshed |
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music |
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"Path to Vanir" - Enslaved |
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Today's the day for a bit of product placement. That hasn't happened yet in my blog, and hell knows, it's about bloody time. You know what's a great kind of ginger ale? Vernors. It's my favourite ginger ale, and I would like to take a bit of time to recognize its merits. It has a wonderful creamy taste, and it quenches your thirst, as well as diffuses all the stress that you have on your mind. You can drink all your worries away and it won't even be bad for your liver. Finbar and I once guzzles seven cans each in a single afternoon, and shared our eighth one. Supposedly, Vernors was created when some guy (his name was Vernor, and I wonder if good friends called him Vern. And EVERYBODY was a good friend of his, because he was that great of a guy.) just happened to leave the ingredients in a barrel, took off to the American Civil War, and then came back to discover this delicious concoction, which he went on to market as a source of joy an delight. That's a very likely story if you ask me.
I highly recommend the Vernors experience to anyone who wants good luck and refreshment in their lives. Where Vernors goes, good times follow.
Next up, we have the technology report. I hate this computer. It's slow. If your grandfather had a bicycle, and this computer had a race car, grandpa would WIN. Don't forget to tune in this time tomorrow.
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| Russians: can't live with 'em, can't knock 'em on the head with a frying pan |
[01 Jun 2008|03:55am] |
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music |
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loud Russian shitflaps |
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I try my best not to discriminate against anybody, and it comes to me easily. It' s only with the people of my very own background that I'm seriously sick of trying. I'm Russian, and I can't stand other Russians. As far as particular people go, such as family - I gotta like 'em, and I manage. But with Russians at large, I don't get along with them, and they seriously are my biggest pet peeve. I have NO Russian friends. All the Russian stereotypes are true, and I only hope to live up to as little of them as possible. It's true that Russian guys are dumb, misogynistic, annoying, arrogant drunk loudmouth douchepackers, and, although THANKFULLY I have no evidence to support that claim, they probably have small dicks. Russian girls - well, many of them are pretty, but most of them are stupid. (And I can get away with saying that because I am a Russian girl. I really hope I'm not like the rest of them, though. I try my best.)
I get annoyed with Russians all the time, and it's always because of some typical Russian qualities they have - because they're drunk, loud, or stupid, in my face at that particular moment. Most of them are exactly the same.
The only thing worse than one Russian is, you guessed it, a group of Russians. You catch them all over town, being loud and obnoxious together, and acting like they're better than you. Russians ARE the bad guys. If you don't like them, I can only sympathize with you. The other day, my boyfriend's friend accidentally let it slip that he doesn't like Russians, and then he started apologizing to me about it, only I said "No, no, I agree with you 100%".
The reason why I'm typing this up at 4am is because there is a bunch of wasted assholes beside my apartment building, making noise and having no life. My father talked to them, called security, and called the police, but since they have brains the size of approximately one peanut, further diminished by their dipshit excessive drinking, it's not working. The police won't come because they've more dire situations to attend to. Man, I wish they'd just pass out in a puddle of their own vomit already and let me sleep.
I'm so happy I don't live in Russia anymore. At least I have that much less of them to deal with now.
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| I'm actually 60, but thanks for the compliment |
[21 Apr 2008|12:22am] |
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music |
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"Black Snake" - Cuby + The Blizzards |
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The best response to my music taste I've gotten so far:
When I told a new acquaintance who my favourite musicians are, he said "What are you, like, 48?"
(I'm 19)
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| I lived all my life on Planet Earth |
[12 Apr 2008|02:31pm] |
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mood |
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happy |
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"Planet Earth" - Devo |
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Here I am, reporting that life is pleasant. I have no rants for today, because I'm making a point of just chilling. I have switched the portion of my brain that does all the critical thinking. I still have two exams, but those don't intimidate me much. I mean, psshh, Canadian Media, COME ON! All we said in that class was "there is a lack of diversity in the mass media, and too much advertising". If you can't write about that, you probably can't tie your shoes.
On Thursday, I wrote my statistics test, and I think I did pretty well on it. The only thing I couldn't remember was "What is cell depletion?" Cell depletion is when cells deplete. This was a five-mark question, so maybe I'll get at least one for writing that.
Yesterday, I spent the day with Finbar (we like to meet really early in the morning. The fact that we really want to see each other gives us the motivation to get up at the buttcrack of dawn). I'm so glad that school is over, and now I can just enjoy pleasant activities to my heart's content. Although there's never enough Finbar time in my life. We've got something like 6, 000 things we'd like to do together and discuss.
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| The Real Frank Zappa Post |
[11 Apr 2008|12:40am] |
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mood |
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 giddy |
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music |
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"Lumpy Gravy I" - Frank Zappa |
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Because I just had a VERY GOOD DAY, and I'm in a VERY GOOD MOOD, I am going to make a Frank Zappa post. I will talk about the albums We're Only In It For The Money and Lumpy Gravy.
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| After your unique taste escape, be sure to brush your teeth |
[09 Apr 2008|09:42pm] |
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mood |
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 awake |
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music |
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"Shine" - Motorhead |
] |
I've got this bag of Pringles (yes, it's an actual bag, not one of those robot-arm tube things that you learn to associate with Pringles since infancy), and it says "A Unique Taste Escape". Escape from what? Your 9-to-5 job? Your mother? Prison? Other, less unique tastes (like bananas)?
I kind of wonder what the people who make slogans for products are like personally. I also really want to know who created those toothpaste ads I see on the subway that depict people making out, with slogans like "If dating is a game, give your mouth the home court advantage."
Toothpaste: because only the people who make out use it. The rest are just little kids and the elderly - and we all know that neither age group has any teeth. And if you're single, and don't get any action, it's probably because your dental hygeine is beyond salvation - or maybe you eat all the time, so it doesn't matter whether you brush your teeth or not. Also, don't forget to treat dating like a baseball game. Not because it's fun like a game, or slow like baseball, but because your best friend will want to know what base you got to. Home run!
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| Thank you, brain - I really appreciate it |
[08 Apr 2008|03:48pm] |
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mood |
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 bouncy |
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music |
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"This Town" - Green River |
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I don't especially like it when my mind pulls weird stunts when I most need it to be in working order. I can't concentrate on anything, and so many different images run through my mind that it's like an acid trip. Either I have ADD, or I'm just tired and the weather is too good. I have a lot of energy, and none of it is productive. I kind of want to make a free-standing leap 50 feet into the air, and call it a day.
AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
A message I just received from Patrick: "If I didn't have a French interview later today, I'd say, 'No need to concentrate! Let's go get some pizza!'" That'd be aces.
Spinach is gross. Thank you.
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| Excuuuuse me please! |
[26 Mar 2008|10:25pm] |
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mood |
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amused |
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music |
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"I'm So Cute" - Frank Zappa |
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Handing in a 30-page paper sure feels pretty good; I won't deny that. However, I think I have deposited my entire attention span for this school year into that thing. And there are still two weeks left of school, and a large quantity of course material lies around the table, yet to be read and committed to memory. What to do, what to do...
In other news, a discussion we had in class about privacy has proven to be so riveting that I changed my Facebook profile dramatically. Some friends of mine still have unsightly pictures of me posted for all to see, and it's not like telling them that it's illegal to have them sticking around without my permission will achieve anything. However, I have tinkered with the settings so that at least you can't access them from my profile. Nor can you obtain any insight on what I've been up to last weekend, unless I specifically have the intention of informing you about it.
Facebook is a creepy, creepy thing. The Internet in its whole, gargantuan entirety, I find, is exceedingly creepy. When I just started using the Internet (which was at a pretty late stage in its development, because when I lived in Russia, we didn't even have a computer in our home, would you believe, until a relative of ours stole one from his workplace. And even then, there was no Internet.), I thought, whee-ha, this is so cool! Imma post everything about everything I've ever done! Soon enough, I realized why that can't always be a good thing.
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