Don’t talk politics and don’t throw stones

I’m back in the same place I was in September and October, doing a somewhat similar although clearly different assignment for the same department at the same organization I temped at before. My first day back was bizarre, as I ran into everyone I had interacted with on a daily basis for a month and a half and they all had nice things to say to and about me. Far better than the opposite, but still strange.

After a half-week of training, I was back upstairs in or near my old office, working on menial tasks with the permanent employees, leaving a lot of time to talk and get to know one another–something I didn’t have the chance to do a few months ago. In some cases, this means venturing into the coworker zone of conversation, which can go from commonalites (“Hey, you like this thing I like!”) to the banal (“Yeah, I’m getting a haircut tomorrow.”) to the awkward disagreements (which I’m about to talk about).

Being a temp means being able to take a step back, away from any workplace drama, personal fallout, policy decisions or systemic issues. The phrase “I’m just a temp,” no matter how jokingly said, reverberate with a kind of freedom. One is still responsible for one’s actions, of course, and should take pride in any work done, but that lack of investment means often escaping office politics unscathed.

That sort of freedom can be nice, except when faced with working closely with someone at length–someone who, very occasionally, openly expresses an opinion I fundamentally disgaree with regarding an issue I care about. Then what? That veil of disconnection shackles my ability to express my opinion, my ability to get involved. Then it’s about sacrificing integrity, biting my tongue to preserve that nonchalance I enjoy.

And I leave work wondering if it’s a fair trade. «»

No, you actually can’t

Last call for most of D.C. on the night before the inauguration was four a.m. The metro opened up for inauguration day at four a.m. Obviously, there was some overlap of drunk people trying to get home and people trying to get into the city to stand on the Mall.

The first train through the Dupont Circle station on the notoriously crowded (on a regular day’s rush hour) red line was packed like sardines. People had obviously driven to places like Shady Grove and Rockville and boarded the metro to get into the city, which ws to be expected. This fact, however, did not deter drunk people who, as they started their attempt to squeeze into the train in defiance of physics, began to chant “Yes We Can.”

It was by far the best use of the phrase I have ever heard.

Here’s to an awesome January 20. «»

In the unlikely event of a water landing

The image conjured for me by those words is a 767 plunging nose-first into the Atlantic, at which point the “unlikely event” more appropriately refers to getting out of the plane alive.

But, sometimes, I guess a water landing isn’t so bad. «»

Songs discovered in 2008

A friend made a post listing songs he discovered in 2008 and asked others to do the same. This is my overly-long (partial) list of songs I found and loved over the past twelve months.

1. The National, “Apartment Story”

This album made a lot of best-of lists last year, so I had a listen and really liked it. It’s fuzzy and distorted like shoegazer rock and the mood of the lyrics align with me emotionally for some reason. “Apartment Story” is a standout and sort of represents where I am as far as relating to music–very much post-angst unlike the music I loved as a teenager.

so worry not / all things are well / we’ll be alright / we have our looks
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2. Au Revoir Simone, “Fallen Snow”

I really like the movie Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (Tim Burton’s first feature-length outing) even though the clown that Pee-Wee ties his bike to scared me as a kid. (The clown was Tim Burton.) In the Wikipedia article on the movie, a band called Au Revoir Simone was mentioned, the group getting their band name from a line in the movie. I got their albums and really liked them–they’re a chick keyboard band from Brooklyn. This song sets a bouncy tone in cold weather, and I fell in love with it early in the year when it was cold in Germany.

nothing seems / to thaw the icy sentiment / of love that’s gone once winter’s spent
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3. Bow Wow Wow, “Do You Wanna Hold Me?”

Someone posted three unedited hours of MTV from 1983 online; it was found and made its rounds on the internet in March. This song was a standout, especially with its bizarre video courtesy of Malcolm McLaren (formerly manager of the Sex Pistols) and the beautifully-named Annabella Lwin (of Burmese and English descent). Note that she was not quite eighteen when the video was filmed, and the band was nearing the end of its lifespan.

life is wasted on illusions / tom and jerry’s no solution
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4. Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk”

I was late to the Vampire Weekend party, but their performance of this song on SNL won me over. I haven’t been able to get the song out of my head since. This is also the second and last song directly and knowingly inspired by African rhythms and performed by very very white people, the first being Bow Wow Wow.

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5. Santogold, “L.E.S. Artistes”

A friend linked this video for me in April or May and the visuals with the song stuck with me, especially when the video turns violent with the paint. Bang bang.

walking by myself / down avenues that reek of time to kill
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6. Nada Surf, “Whose Authority”

Usually upbeat indie songs bore me, but Nada Surf has given me a couple exceptions, this one being notable for its video with Michael Maronna (better known as big Pete from Pete & Pete). Showing it to a friend, we were both impressed by his cycling skills–it’s almost hypnotic how he weaves in and out of traffic in New York. (I realize people do this daily, but it’s big Pete–and he’s surprisingly good. It’s doubtful they staged the entire video, though parts are clearly scripted.)

welcome back to real life / the picture is gone
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7. Yo La Tengo, “My Little Corner of the World”

Understated and beautiful, I discovered this 11-year-old song last year.

you’ll soon forget that there’s any other place
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8. Talking Heads, “Psycho Killer” (from Stop Making Sense)

A friend convinced me to download Stop Making Sense and we watched most of it together. This version of “Psycho Killer” is still my favorite song from the show, even though it’s the first song and it’s really just David Byrne and his frenetic presence that carries the performance. The entire show is easily among my favorite music films.

“It’s like 60 Minutes on acid.”
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9. She & Him, “This Is Not a Test”

One of my favorite albums of 2008 comes from a collaboration between actress Zooey Deschanel and folk artist M. Ward. The record is like combining Motown, the Beach Boys and a recent indie-folk record. The only bad part about the album is how short it is.

the summit doesn’t differ from the deep, dark valley / and the valley doesn’t differ from the kitchen sink
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10. Mates of State, “My Only Offer”

I found this song on one of those mix CDs you get with music magazines. I had heard of the band and they seemed like they would be to my taste–somehow, married couples from the middle of nowhere make good indie bands. This song is infectious, and it was a shame they rushed through it when they played it at Black Cat in November.

in secret we believe / we’re nothing, nothing, nothing that we need
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11. Bon Iver, “Re: Stacks”

Bon Iver’s lo-fi album has made a lot of year-end best-of lists. I haven’t explored it much further than this long closing track. It was used on one of the most intense episodes of House I’ve watched, and I’ll always associate it with the emotional images in last season’s finale.

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12. Amanda Palmer, “Have to Drive”

I can’t help but sing the praises of Amanda Palmer. This song is particularly beautiful, a slow piano number with strings that kick in towards the end. The performance artists who have been with her on tour gave the song an extra dimension when I saw Amanda live.

we will drive them far away / from streets and lights / from all signs of bad mankind
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13. Black Kids, “Look at Me (When I Rock Wichoo)”

The DJ played this at DC9 and I loved the video. It was so upbeat and catchy, the track immediately went on my commuting playlist. The 80s animation takes me back to all the awful television I loved as a kid and still occasionally love as an adult.

i don’t believe in happenstance / you’re gonna give me your last dance
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14. Vermillion Lies, “December”

This quirky band opened for Amanda Palmer, and I downloaded everything I could find by them. “December” is an introspective number chronicling a relationship from December of one year to the next. Their songs are simple, catchy, and most have a humorous slant; their stage presence, on the other hand, defies classification.

in december we were young / not a year ago and now we’re old
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15. Cat Power, “Willie”

Every few months I discover a Cat Power song I never paid attention to before and it becomes my new favorite song of hers. “Willie” was that track this December, and it somehow captures the emotional resonance of the past year, though the lyrics have nothing to do with the past twelve months in my life.

he’s on the same side as you / he’s just a little behind
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16. The National, “Green Gloves”

I fell for this song about a year after I first heard the National. Another subdued winter song, it makes me feel cold just listening to it.

get inside their heads / love their loves

But how does this affect Obama?

In the coverage of Israel’s military action in Gaza, I noticed an undercurrent that was consistently mentioned. To paraphrase, “The only good news is Israel’s timing to do this before Obama takes office.” Writers and reporters would then go on to mention that the decision was probably made due to uncertainty about the president-elect’s position and support of Israel, but the statement was also made with a nod toward how this benefited Obama in that the conflict might be resolved by the time he takes office, a fairly naive view of how foreign policy works.

That timing didn’t really pan out anyway, and the situation’s going to be here for a while (as if it really ever went away).

It occurred to me that framing the events in Gaza as benefiting the president-to-be was incredibly callous and self-centered. It might be the case, but shouldn’t it be more important to cover the events there and what they mean in greater terms? I understand the rock star quality Obama has, but to look at every event through those glasses is absurd. When the president-elect ate at Ben’s Chili Bowl, a D.C. landmark, in the past few days, someone asked him about the significance of eating there. He responded, “It means I’m going to get a hot dog.” To skew world events to how they might impact the president-to-be is to frame everything in terms of its Obama-significance, and I can’t stomach four years of that. (How long will the honeymoon last? Until he does something moderately unpopular with someone, which should easily be within the first hundred days.)

Obama-centric or America-centric, the U.S. coverage of what’s been happening in Gaza hasn’t been particularly great. It takes reading analysis to gather an understanding of what Israel’s trying to do (surgically remove Hamas as a viable force in the region and turn public opinion in the Arab world firmly against the group, isolating Iran’s influence from the greater Middle East) and how it’s turned out (badly–it’s near impossible to eliminate a group like Hamas without harming civilians, and civilian casualties make Israel look like the bag guy). I didn’t benefit from hearing about how the actions in Gaza affect the future president. If mainstream news outlets are going to cover irrelevant dimensions to a story, the least they could do is offer better coverage of the story itself and what it means. «»

Favorite movies of 2008

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

I downloaded and watched this movie at home, and it’s a film I can’t see introducing to or watching with others, similar to how I felt about Requiem for a Dream after watching it for the first time. It’s a dark, muted piece with excellent acting and the film held my attention with concern for the characters, questioning what was happening at every turn. The story follows two college-age girls in Ceausescu-era Romania, one of whom decides to get an abortion, illegal at the time. The exposition is almost non-existent, leaving the viewer disconcerted or puzzled at times. It’s a somber ride fraught with emotion, and an excellent film. It did its job so well, I’m not sure I’ll ever watch it again.

WALL-E

I’ve looked forward to every Pixar movie (save Cars) since Finding Nemo, and WALL-E did not disappoint. The prospect of having to defend Pixar’s films to increasingly older people isn’t something I look forward to, but as long as they keep making films like this (and Up makes it seem like they will), I’ll manage. I wrote about the movie at length after I saw it in July, so I’ll defer to that post for my thoughts on the film.

Doubt

Doubt is the film adapation of the play of the same name, and the movie is faithful to its predecessor, reading like a play through each scene. It’s terrifically acted (Viola Davis should win best supporting actress) and the story is captivating. I wish I had seen (or even heard of) the play first, but the material deserves the treatment it gets in this movie. It has all the aspects that make a good story, but is a bit minimal in its ability to fill the screen.

Slumdog Millionaire

The story of an orphan in Mumbai has numerous similarities to City of God, only this Indian take on the story is far less gritty, a bit more lighthearted and a lot more romantic. The storytelling device of using Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is brilliant, encasing the entire movie in drama without needing much more. The plot draws the viewer into the protagonist’s life, making for an interesting romp through the streets of Mumbai as we retrace the footsteps of his past. Some have suggested that Slumdog Millionaire was too quickly coronated, hastily pegged as a possible best picture winner. I’d agree with that assessment, but it doesn’t at all detract from the enjoyment of the movie. I didn’t have the same emotional reaction as two people I saw it with, but that may have something to do with the next movie, my favorite film of 2008, which I saw at a matinee before Slumdog.

Milk

I learned about Harvey Milk freshman year of college, attending a screening of the 1984 Academy Award-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk. Throughout that year, I had a work-in-progress black-and-white photo collage in my dorm room of people who inspired me (preserved here). When I returned to my room after watching the documentary, I immediately found a picture of Milk online, printed it out, and added it to the collage. His story is powerful and tragic, and he was an amazing figure from his life, his story and what (and who) he represented. Sean Penn, more than I could have imagined, captures that impression of Milk as a joyful individual who fights for what he believes in, ignites passion in others as a charismatic speaker, and shares the noble message of inclusion with whomever will listen.

As the film began to reach its inevitable climax, a sinking filling arose in my chest and I cried more than I have ever cried at a movie. That moment, as fictitious as it may be on film, is now etched into my mind. The movie ignited those same feelings of inspiration as The Times of Harvey Milk did, punctuating them with a sense of sadness at what a tragedy it was to lose such a figur and tempering that sadness with anger at how the world still hasn’t listened to the message Milk preached at rally after rally. One of the most incredible stories of the past generation, I believe the film does justice to the man.

So rarely am I touched by a film in the way I describe above, and in that sense Milk succeeds on every level that matters. «»

Favorite music of 2008

Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer

I wrote in September:

…it might be the best record I’ve heard all year. [The] mix of polish with Palmer’s grit and brutal honesty [...] in some of her lyrics makes for an amazing record.

I saw her at the 9:30 Club in early November, and the show did not disappoint. It was unfortunately brief due to it being an early show with another act scheduled later. The brevity combined with having to attend the show alone dampened my mood, but the two opening acts (Vermillion Lies in particular) and Amanda’s playing kept me focused on what I loved about the music.

In that month, she also provided me with the irrevocable memory of listening to a song about abortion while walking to my temporary job with the Catholic church.

She & Him, She & Him

Zooey Deschanel recently broke my heart by becoming engaged to Ben Gibbard. Imaginary crushes aside, She & Him provided the soundtrack to the first half of this past year for me. Back in June, when I still wrote on a regular basis, I had this to say about the record:

Combine stripped-down folk-pop with a Beach Boys-esque affinity for false harmony, and you can roughly determine the space She & Him’s record occupies. The songs are diverse and brief, much like the mid-1960s pop-rock songs Zooey is channelling. “Sentimental Heart,” the album’s lead track, does much to showcase Zooey’s voice, and the piano/violin instrumentation with the vintage-sounding vocal effect seems like an indie-Motown hybrid that I didn’t think possible.

Mates of State, Re-Arrange Us

I got my first iPod early this year, and a song by this band is the second-most-listened-to song on it. “My Only Offer” is simultaneously bouncy and wistful, a mood which is hard to capture in any medium, especially song. The album is filled with songs that are subtle but epic (“Blue and Gold Print”), poetic but declarative (“The Re-Arranger”). “My Only Offer” was the first song I heard, and I didn’t expect to go any deeper into the album than that track, but when I did, it rewarded the visit with a catchy and accessible collection of songs. «»

Thanksgetting

Only Thanksgiving-related because it was posted on Thanksgiving two years ago (and deals with thanks), Ze Frank’s “Thanksgetting” show is one of his more poignant, and it’s rare I get to share it with others. So there it is.

I haven’t had any particularly noteworthy Thanksgivings, but I’ve never had a bad one (one came close, though it was less “bad” and more “awkward”). This Thanksgiving fell within that tradition, involving lots of food, some football, some Rock Band, good company and an unexpected moment (of the good variety) to close out the evening. Rather than build the perfect Thanksgiving, I’m content to cook a sweet potato casserole and have a good day. It all worked out according to plan. «»

Who saw this coming?

Awful–almost an entire month gone without me writing here. A list, to play catch-up:

1. I’ve been getting scattered temp work, most recently a couple weeklong stints doing nothing of importance at a place I shouldn’t name publicly. It’s boring, mindless work, but it’s income (for now).

2. A corollary to that, I’ve been researching grad schools so I won’t have to do the boring, mindless work since the job market really stinks right now for people in search of work.

3. Working on another Christmas mix. This would be a mix of songs for me to give people around Christmastime, not a mix of Christmas songs (which I will undoubtedly also make). The premise is always the same, yet how I execute it come November is always somewhat different.

4. I’ve thought about writing haiku for each day I haven’t written in this blog, but I probably wouldn’t be able to think of enough things to write about for those days. Not even three lines per day, really.

5. For all my not writing, I have been more social and going into town for various events. Not exactly interesting on their own, and since blogging is a self-absorbed activity on its own anyway, it takes effort to not turn this into a vanity pit–something it would become were I to list shindigs I go to then talk about after. Just thinking about that makes me feel kind of sick.

Thanksgiving tomorrow. «»

Battle with the internet

In this case, “the internet” refers not to the imagined space created by websites, articles, bulletin board posts and various media, but rather the physical internet as it is piped into our home. “The tubes,” if you will.

Since we moved in to the new townhouse in August, we’ve been using a wireless router, hoping to get the ethernet ports that are in each room worked out by someone professional who knew what they were doing. After three attempts (the Comcast cable guy, a local IT support company, and Geek Squad) and much bitterness directed toward those three groups at their ineptitude, unwillingness or sheer laziness, the two of us in the house with the most experience in networking and electrician-type things pulled the magic internet box out of the wall and decided to do it ourselves.

The first step was quick: I hooked up the modem to the incoming cable and got the wireless and wired internet to work with my laptop. Step two was figuring out how to pipe that working wired internet through to the rest of the jacks in the house. This involved ripping the facade of an organized board out of the wall to realize there were simply ethernet cables running down the walls to this box from each room. More than that, each one was labeled. After staring at it, the two of us resolved that a trip to Lowe’s could make all of this happen.

We picked up a specialized wirecutter with a tool on the end that let you put heads on any ethernet cable. After stripping the outside of an ethernet cable, all one had to do was organize the colors so that they were correctly assigned and clamp the head onto the cable. Voila, one end of the cable was set up so that we could plug that into the router. Internet was sent to each room one by one as I meticulously and infuriatingly shoved tiny wires into each jack in their specific color orders. Six of those later (four internet lines, one phone line, and one that shifted when it was being clamped, thus trashing that head entirely) and internet was go. Everyone’s computer was plugged into their respective walls and the internet worked for everyone. It took around four hours, starting some time before eight o’clock and ending somewhere after midnight, but it was done.

The kind of satisfaction ensued that only a ridiculous DIY project that ends with the intended result can bring. I went to work tired, but I had an excuse–I was up late stripping wires and physically networking the house. It was kind of awesome.

I hope I don’t have to do it again. «»