Nutshell

Here's my nightmare week in a nutshell, minus everything nightmarish:

Free tickets to Franz Ferdinand. I love that band, the music is so sexy. Weezer, too, but I can't even listen to the new album its so horrid. I would be so excited if it was 2003 or so. Oh well.

Tickets are going on sale for the Psychedelic Furs show in Norfolk. No joking. The damn Psychedelic Furs.

My hair is as pink as pink can be. Hot hot pink, according to Manic Panic. I got tons of compliments tonight which is lovely cause I've been feeling like right shite.

I just received a package in the mail from my new best friend, Kathie Olivas, and her husband, Brandt Peters. I can't wait to get home and see what goodies are inside!

I finally got around to watching Anton Corbijn's Joy Division/ Ian Curtis film Control. It was pretty good, Samantha Morton is just such a wonderful actress and such a natural beauty. I love the music of Joy Division. The film looked amazing, it was just a bit overlong.

The Umbilical Brothers are here. Right now. They are onstage, I'll be going in momentarily to watch the show. I have to wait a bit after a program begins to shut down the box office. The guys are so nice and so much fun, I'm so relieved that its not another stodgy classical group (though the last trio was super nice, actually) and not a bunch of snotty dancers chain smoking outside of the building.

There's the good stuff, which is a decent amount of good stuff, actually. Time to go watch a show!

30th Century Man

Blogging has recently become less feasible at work. Work has been rough since our staff became so scarce. Nevertheless, I will try to be a little more conscientious about blogging.

This weekend I finally got to watch the documentary Scott Walker: 30th Century Man which I had been anticipating since some time in 2007. For those not familiar with Scott Walker, he is a singer/songwriter/producer/musician extraordinaire. His career blossomed in the 60s when he was part of the popular boy band The Walker Brothers whose hits "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" and "Make It Easy On Yourself" made him an international star. Later he went solo, releasing 4 consecutive albums on which he began to write his own music which explored increasingly darker subject matter and existential themes. He then sort of disappeared from the music scene, appearing sporadically in the 70s and 80s. He has since produced abstract, intense solo albums that are considered at once avant-garde, difficult and transcendent. Significant pop musicians such as David Bowie (who executive produced this documentary), Brian Eno, Radiohead and most every other British musician with chops cites Walker as an influence.

I heard about Scott Walker about 8 or 9 years ago. Since then I've collected a number of his albums. I'm not so fond of the newer stuff (it's tough to take, very strong), but I adore the dark romanticism of the 60s solo albums. I also love the Walker Brothers and their fusion of 60s pop with a big orchestral sound. Heck, I even enjoyed Walker's soundtrack for the French film Pola X, a film so strange and unique that it deserves a blog post of its own here sometime.

The thing that captivates so many about Scott Walker is that he spent such a long time out of the spotlight and away from any semblance of "celebrity" that he's become a figure that's shrouded in mystery. He does very few interviews and very little is known about his private life. However, the music makes the man and this documentary focuses solely on Walker's music career, from the beginning to the present and it does a remarkable job of delving into Walker's process and product. I fully expected 30th Century Man to be simply a series of interviews with co-workers, peers and disciples. For some reason, I didn't expect Walker himself to be involved in the film at all, given his undeserved reputation as a J.D. Salinger-esque type recluse. However, much to my delight, the filmmakers interviewed Walker rather extensively and even captured footage of him working in the studio. Walker was about 63 years old when they shot the film, and he looks and sounds incredible. He's much more relaxed and casual than I had imagined, and he speaks candidly of his music both past and present. Yes, his recent music is crazy and pushes the envelope of music as art, but the guy doesn't cut a freakish figure at all. In fact, he seems like a really lovely fellow!

I'm so pleased that 30th Century Man finally has gotten its DVD release. Now Scott Walker fans like myself will gain a new perspective on the music and perhaps he'll gain some new fans as well. Though the film avoids delving into Walker's personal life, it's an insightful and often inspiring look into Walker's musical genius.

Overwhelmed

Work has been wild. In one week's time, we lost 1/3 of our staff. My business has gone from 6 employees working here daily down to 4. It's been a bit of a blow (pun intended!). I miss one of the folks a lot, he is a good friend of mine. He's going to grad school so I'm very pleased. The other guy was a complete douchebag and everyone at work is delighted that he's gone. Nevertheless, it's been a struggle picking up the slack and I haven't had much time for blogging.

A few tidbits just to waste a few minutes:

My case of my hotly anticipated Junko Mizuno Pure Trance mini figures is waiting for me at home. I cannot wait for work to be over so I can drool over each and every one and see what pulls I get! Junko Mizuno is the reason that I started collecting these art toys that I adore, so this mini series is a big huge deal. Forever my hero, Mizuno also released some lovely adult products available only in Asia. Gosh they're cute!

Thanks to my brilliant, wonderful husband who obviously loves me, I have my very first complete blind box mini series. For my birthday, my husband found an elusive Tara McPherson Skull Flower on ebay for me. I now have a complete set of the Gamma Mutant Space Friends, colorways, chases and all! Oh, it's heaven!

Drag Me To Hell was awesome. Thank goodness Sam Raimi didn't become a complete write off, especially after that Spiderman 3 shite.

The new upstart webstore Tokyo Rebel is now officially a US licensed retailer for the Japanese punk brand SEX POT ReVeNGe and the Japanese cute/punk/goth brand Algonquins. These are excellent brands and anyone familiar with Harajuku street fashion will be excited. Check out more info and pics from the Japanese flagship stores here. Support these cool folks at Tokyo Rebel, they're really trying to build something awesome here by trying to bring you the best Japanese fashion brands (no knockoffs) at the best prices.

That's all for now, hopefully more soon!