An entry I wrote before the blog existed

June 10, 2005

Listening to: This Old Heart of Mine (Is weak for you): Isley Bros.

I just got home from seeing this awesome Hungarian movie that took place entirely in the Budapest subway called Kontroll. It was about this rag-tag group of ticket collectors, a bunch of misfits. One of them, our hero, stands out a little, he seems a little more intelligent than the rest, or something. It made reminded me of a David Lynch movie-- as if Lynch remade Terry Gilliam's Brazil and set it in a sprawling subway system instead of an oppressive bureaucracy. There were moments of complete hilarity-- one of the group has narcolepsy and passes out every time he gets involved in a conflict. Each member of the team is hilarious. And in some moments I was tense and nervous and caught up in the action. It truly was a thriller, as I was thrilled the entire time. On the edge of my seat with both laughter and concern. I was thrilled, what can I say?

I had to take the El home alone-- which sort of creeped me out, since I just watched a slightly creepy movie about a subway where people were getting pushed in front of trains by a shadowy, evil figure. Natasha went to Al's for the night. They are starting their running program early tomorrow morning. I had to wait ages for the fricking North bus, which isn't surprising, but always annoying. When I got home, I found that lovely Stephen, our superintendent who lives below us, installed our window a/c units. He also installed an extra one-- in my room. God bless that man. He is wonderful and makes living in this apartment all that much better. So now I'm letting the rooms cool down. I'm a little concerned about energy costs for the summer with three a/c's going at once. I'll have to talk to Eric about keeping his turned down in the day.

I was thinking about good albums today at work. I downloaded My Morning Jacket's album It Still Moves last night and was reading some reviews of it on Amazon. One said that the first listen didn't do much for him, and didn't think about it for awhile. Then he found himself on a long car trip and listened to it a couple of times and it hit him and now he's totally in love. I haven't listened to the album really yet, so don't have anything to add as of yet, but it made me think about some of my truly favorite albums. A couple of them were those that passed over me on the initial couple of listens, and then something clicked and I couldn't take the albums out of the cd player. Most notably is Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I can't say I thought much of it the first listen (in Stacey Palevsky's car on a drive out to the lookout station in Hoosier National Park my senior year of college), but after a couple of listens I was hooked. I listened to it on repeat for several months (that with the soundtrack of The Royal Tenenbaums and Whiskeytown's Pneumonia). Those three albums represent four months of my life. They were my soundtrack. Each one took a couple of listens to get into and I've never found my way out.

There are some albums that I loved immediately, but then I got sick of them. Recently one such album was Ray LaMontagne's Trouble. God, at first, I couldn't listen to that cd enough. Then it just kinda stopped for me. Then I saw him live and it was officially over. I'm not sure why, I just got tired of it. And he wasn't a very charismatic performer-- which isn't totally necessary-- but it helps. Maybe he'll continue growing as an artist, but for now I'm done. I can't help holding him up to the likes of Josh Ritter, who is so charming on stage, and so obviously loves to sing his songs. He smiles and shines his whole set, and you have to imagine he's laughing with joy on the inside as he sings. It's fantastic. That's why he has such an enthralled following. I can't imagine anyone leaving one of his shows *not* in love with the man.

Now, my favorite Wilco is also great live, but Tweedy is hardly similar to Josh Ritter. I've read that earlier in the Wilco days, in the days of lots of drugs and booze, Tweedy was a son of a bitch on stage-- not unlike Ryan Adams-- though I can't imagine him that bad. I'm glad that I found them while Tweedy was cleaning up and focusing his music. Though now he is quite the artiste in interviews. I don't mind the pretensions too much, as long as he doesn't end up like Billy Corgan. Another Chicagoan poet/musician, one who drives me nuts.

Many thoughts of the arts tonight. My brain is still buzzing from that film and I don't know if I'll be able to sleep. Tomorrow I plan on hitting a garage sale and then painting a small dresser someone gave me. Allison's birthday party is tomorrow and I need to finalize her gift.

Alright, get thee to bed!

Listening to before bed: Josh Ritter: Bone of Song. I can't wait for his new album, or for his tour dates. I plan on seeing him in Chicago and possibly in Madison or Milwaukee.

Comments

[Sharon]

Claire,

Enjoyed reading your new blog...plan to drop in to see what's up with you. Check out the soundtrack from the movie "Crash." I'm finding myself constantly humming Bird York's "In the Deep," that haunting slow song near the end of the movie. Mark Isham's "Adagio for Strings" is a must-hear too. later.

Sharon

[Chuckles]

Kontroll is an amazing movie. I am warming up to Wilco, I honestly got them confused with Bright Eyes for a little while. Like a year.

[Adorable Girlfriend]

AG is going with UC to Wilco next week. UC got the tickets and asked me to go.