The Swell Season in Concert

Published on January 26, 2010 at 7:44 pm in Life and Music. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

What? This is my first post in over two months? nah. That’s not true. You’re telling lies. liess lieesss.

Sooo I saw the Swell Season in concert the other day at Radio City Music Hall. They were amazing. For the unenlightened, the Swell Season is a band-group-thingy made up of Glen Hansard (of the Frames) and Marketa Irglova, and whoever else they happen to be playing with at any given time. For the semi-enlightened they were the guy and girl in the amazing film Once. So, since Once they’ve been touring together as the Swell Season, and put out a new album called “Strict Joy” in addition to Once’s soundtrack and the album “The Swell Season” which they made before it.

So, what kind of music is this that it is so imperative to hear it live? Well, Glen Hansard has this really gruff voice but then he just goes all out with it and sings all about heartbreak and sadness with all his might. Then, Marketa Irglova has a beautiful voice and counteracts all that gruffness. They are an incredible musical duo, and it’s because of that that Once was so good. Oh, they also dated for a little while after Once came out, but that’s over now. But they’re still musical partners!

SO ANYWAY. The concert. Well, no. Back up. Before the concert, they were playing outside on the street, like street performers. They were just standing outside of Radio City Music Hall, an hour before the concert they would perform right inside, just singing on the street with a large crowd of people around them. They then walked towards the back entrance, still singing and being followed by everybody and literally went into the doors still playing music. Look at the picture I got on my cell phone!!! You can sortaофис столове tell that it’s them.

swellseason

So. Oh, yeah, the actual concert. Even in the fairly large Radio City Music Hall the intimate music really got across. They sang a lot of their songs (since they really don’t have that many, only 2-3 album’s worth) plus some stuff from the Frames and unrecorded tracks. But the best part was the stories that Glen Hansard told between the songs, for 5, 10 minutes at a time they’d all take a break from singing and he’d just tell a story about what the song was about, and really good, involving stories too.

One of the things about the Swell Season’s music is that it almost always, starts out very mellow and pathetic-sounding. But over the course of the song, it completely builds up, slowly but surely, into what seems like an entirely different song. One of the coolest examples of this during the concert was a very intense rendition of “The Moon”, which builds up pretty nicely in the real song but it still kind of retains a mellow tone. But during the concert, they went completely crazy, going one more verse (is that the right word?), then another, and just when you think they’ve hit the last verse, and they couldn’t possibly go any farther, they couldn’t possibly reach a higher peak of emotion, they go again, bringing in an electric guitar and then revving up the bass to supersonic levels up to a point where you think your soul is going to explode from too much emotion. And then, the song just dies down and you feel almost relieved, but in a really good way.

Here’s the original song.

And here’s a different live version, doesn’t go quite as far as what I saw in concert, but you can get the idea:

Another great performance was “Say It to Me Now”, with no mic on the voice. Just Glen Hansard singing out at the top of his voice to the entire hall. So, if you’ve never heard of them you should start out by seeing the film Once. It’s a perfect introduction to them and shows how beautifully music and film can merge sometimes.

And if you do know them then you should check their concert listings on their website to see them live because they are exceptional in concert.

HA! I went the whole review without saying “awesome” once! I am proud of myself.

Nothing

Published on November 22, 2009 at 10:21 am in Philosophy. 0 Comments

What if there was nothing? No humans, no world, no solar system, no galaxy, no universe, no multi-verse, not multi-shulty-verse. Just nothing. Nothing existed. If existence were a computer program, you’re looking at an empty notepad document. it be possible for there to be nothing? Probably not. Because the very definition of ANYTHING is SOMEthing. But if there WAS nothing, it would be spectacularly plain. Or not, because even those words are something. By defining “nothing” you are defining the fact that you have the power to define, which is something. Honestly, if there was nothing, it would look like

Google Chrome

Published on November 22, 2009 at 12:01 am in Technology. 3 Comments

I know it’s been around for  a while, and it’s a pretty great thing on Windows, but I recently tried out the beta/developer/alpha/whatever version of Chrome on the Mac, and really it is fast. Faster than any other browser on the mac, definitely faster than Firefox and much faster than Safari every works for me. And since Chrome is faster, my entire system runs a good deal faster too.

It’s really actually amazing. Even typing this blog post just feels faster, the letters seem to post quicker. And of course it’s the perfect browser for google services like Gmail and even just a regular google search, seeing as the browser is basically optimized to use it. I think Google Chrome is the best browser for most people who use computers – people who don’t care about having a supercomputer, and who just want to get online and do stuff. Firefox is good for any sort of add-on in the world, but I think Google Chrome is the simplest, fastest browser on both Macs and PCs, which is what I think Google is going for with Chrome OS, too.

I can see R-rated movies!

Published on October 24, 2009 at 11:13 pm in Life. 1 Comment

Like, in a theater. Like, right now, I could walk into a movie theater and say: “I want a ticket to Paranormal Activity.” And they’d say “Do you have an ID?” And I’d say, “Yes”, and I’d show them my school ID and then they’d let me pay them $12.50 for a movie I could watch online for free anyway.

BUT the point is that today I turned 17 and that is the age that you are allowed to buy tickets to see R-rated movies. Which is cool. And I think in NYC you can get a slightly-better learner’s permit than you could when you were 16. (Not that I have one.) But what did I do today? Well, it was weird. Since I’m older and so much more MaTUrE now, I feel not as super-excited and giddy as usual.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited it’s my birthday and everything, but it was all rainy today so for most of the day I just sat around and watched TV. In the evening I had a party with my family and tomorrow I’m seeing WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE with friends, and I got some awesome presents today. But aside from that it’s just a normal Saturday.

I guess it’s also helped by the fact that this is the first year in a while that my birthday has been on a weekend. On weekdays there’s school to distract you all day and people to talk to that wish you a happy birthday. I’m not sad… I just feel… grown up. :-/

The Office Wedding

Published on October 9, 2009 at 10:09 pm in Television. 1 Comment

Wow, that was a great episode. Everybody always said “Once they get together, the show is over.” Then, “Once they get married, the show is over.” Well, it’s not. Jim and Pam are married and the show is still going strong.

But the funny thing is, this could have been a  series finale. Jim and Pam’s storyline is wrapped up, there’s a baby on the way, and Jim just got a promotion, leaving them a bright future. What if the show ended now? Of course I’m happy it’s not, but it’s nice to know that The Office is wrapping up a major storyline and not holding it out until the last season.

This season, by the way, has been great. Every episode was funny, and all regular episodes have primarily taken place within the office. Like they should. Because it’s The Office.

Things Austen Has Done While Completely Rejecting His Blog For A Month

Published on September 17, 2009 at 6:41 pm in Life. 3 Comments
  • Interned at TalkingScience.org and made movies for them with his friend Jesse.
  • Then redesigned TalkingScience.org (yay Wordpress!)
  • Then began serving as webmaster
  • Went to Boston
  • Began working on his new “”"professional”"” website: AustenSaltz.com (not done yet, and, yes, Netsua is still my personal home)
  • Went to Maine and took PHOTOS
  • Started listening to Radiohead. Awesome.
  • Saw a UFO!

  • Visited Binghamton University – city not much, campus pretty nice, dorms nice, classes eeh
  • Visited Ithaca College – Very nice film school, beautiful campus, tricky admissions system for me
  • Wrote a first draft of my college essay
  • Signed up for the Common App
  • Saw Fight Club for the first time – awesome movie
  • Bought The Office Season 5 on DVD – got excited for The Office Season 6
  • Decided to post on his blog after a month
  • Is sorry

Twitter

Published on August 18, 2009 at 6:21 pm in Life and Technology. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

Ever since Twitter became “cool” – that is, ever since the mainstream media began heralding it as the next form of communication – comparable to email 10 years ago – I’ve found that most of my non-tech-inclined friends just don’t get Twitter. Despite what the media says about Twitter and teenagers, it’s not like every other kid in high school has one, or even understands how it works.

Now, it’s perfectly okay to not understand how something works and admit it. You can’t expect everyone in the world to know about everything in the world. But when so-called journalists “admit” that they don’t know how a particular part of Twitter works, I get a little agitated. I’m not insisting that everybody gets a Twitter to understand it, but if someone is writing an article where one of the main topics is Twitter, they should at least take a look at Wikipedia and find out what “trending topics” are.

That’s not as much an insult to the linked interview as much as an expression of frustration that even though Twitter is the coolest new thing (at least for the rest of the world), nobody actually seems to understand how it all works or even why it’s important. Twitter came up in class at school recently, and someone said this: “If you have the time to post on Twitter, you obviously have no life to post about.” Yet that same person has a Facebook, a service far more advanced and time-consuming than Twitter.

People are saying that 140-characters is too small an amount to say much of anything. But which is it? Is Twitter limiting and pointless or time-consuming and important? Nobody who’s “anybody” really seems to know. Twitter is not the new and ultimate way to communicate. It can be used that way, but it’s not the main purpose. It’s an interesting gimmick on CNN, but at it’s core Twitter is used for vaguely keeping track of people you know and celebrities.

Some of my friends who have gotten Twitter accounts just to try it out are confused because they don’t see the point of it. That’s because they know probably two other people on Twitter. Britney Spears and me. If your type of people aren’t on Twitter, then maybe you shouldn’t join.

And despite what everyone thinks, a regular tweet isn’t “I pooped! Now back to work.” People post little tidbits of information about their lives or about whatever they’re doing that is – wait for it – interesting for the people who – wait for it – willingly decided to follow them in the first place. It’s a fun way to keep track of minor celebrities (the ones who actually tweet themselves, like Rainn Wilson) and your friends. But beyond that it’s nothing more.

What I’m trying to say is that people have to stop making a big deal about how great or stupid Twitter is. Or, at least – if you’re going to say it’s one or the other – know what you’re talking about.

District 9

Published on August 14, 2009 at 9:21 pm in Movies. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

I saw District 9 this morning. Wow. If you haven’t seen the trailer,  you should check it out now because – even just the trailer – is one of the coolest trailers I’ve ever seen.

The basic premise is that 20 years ago, aliens came to Earth. Not to Paris. Not Manhatten. Not the Golden Gate Bridge. Nah, their mothership stopped over Johannesburg, South Africa. And the aliens weren’t here to invade or  even to enhance interplanetary communication. They were malnourished and starving – the poorest of the supposed alien race, on a ship scavenging for resources on different planets around the galaxy. And they just happened to run out of fuel over Earth.

As the movie’s main plot starts, all of this is old news. 20 years have gone by, and almost 2 million aliens are living in District 9, right outside of Johannesburg in what over time became a slum. Then, when the awesome-effect of the aliens wore off, people got tired of them scavenging their food and wanted them out – so a private security company, MNU, is hired to move them to a new location away from everyone. Our main character then needs to enter District 9 to get them to sign eviction notices. And then some crazy stuff happens which is the rest of the movie – I’m not going to explain it here because it’s nice to not know exactly how the movie is going to play out.

What’s so interesting about District 9 is it’s real-world approach to such a traditional storyline. The movie is shot like a documentary for much of the time, inter-cutting interviews with scholarly-looking experts who act as sort of narrators on the events of the movie. There is also a lot of hand-held and security camera footage. Over the course of the movie, it shifts to a more narrative-style storyline, but the real-world grunginess of the documentary parts still shines through.

Even if District 9 isn’t a perfect movie, it is such a unique film that it’s differences from, say, Transformers and Independence Day, make it well worth the ride. At times it was bloodily funny and also incredibly sad. Because we see the alien scenario in such a different context than usual, it feels fresh, new, and exciting. It feels like the crisis is really happening in our world. Or at least the world that we see on CNN.

And as usual… 87% on Rotten Tomatoes – certainly not bad at all