Saturday, December 23, 2017

"Lookin' at Luckey" the live-action version aka... music videos are awesome

"Lookin' at Luckey" comes alive!


(editors note:  this was supposed to go up Tuesday.  Not sure why it didn't.  Fucking computers and internet things...)

GREEN BAY PACKERS WEEKLY UPDATE:


Unfortunately, I was unable to watch a single second of the Packers game as I was busy doing this:


THIS WEEK IN MUSIC:


I was shooting a music video for "Lookin' at Luckey" this past weekend which was a fucking blast.  I got to work with some amazing people including the absurdly brilliant writer/director, KEVIN PIETILA, and the beyond beautiful and wonderfully-talented lead actress, SONORA MINDWERL.  And that's not including my other ridiculously awesome friends SARA MORRIS, BRIANNE KATHLEEN and A VIEW OF EARTH FROM THE MOON'S VERY OWN (JUST LIKE) JON FICKES.  It was truly a blessing to have so much artistic energy in the room(s) when making this fucker.  I had such a fun time despite learning that I am not quite as brilliant an actor as I assumed I once was.  That honor goes to Sonora and Jon Fickes, who were wonderful when "action" was called.  Give me a guitar, mic and a crowd and I'm in my element.  Give me words to say and a camera in my face and... not my element so much.  Although, I used to do a fantastic Jack Black/Tenacious D-type impression given the right audience.  I passed my high school speech class with a Bob Marley song ("Redemption Song") and Jack Black inspired improvised speech/performance.  I was tasked with performing this improvised speech in front of my whole graduating class later on, which I guess means it was pretty good.  So, I have that going for me, which is nice...

We did a lot of amazing things during the video but perhaps my favorite was this:


What a beautiful car that I am so undeserving to even sit in...  This Thunderbird was amazing.  It's lucky you can't see below the waist on these shots.  Boners upon boners...

Anyways, more updates for you soon... So tired... Who knew video shoots were more draining than recording sessions?

Monday, December 11, 2017

Winning doesn't cure all aka... I Go To Extremes...

Even a Packers win can't cure Asperger's... I know, right?


GREEN BAY PACKERS WEEKLY UPDATE:


Well, folks, we did it!  We gave Aaron Rodgers a reason to come back.  Was it a great reason?  No, it was the bare fucking minimum needed.  But, who gives a shit?  HE'S COMING BACK!  Sure, the loss to the Ravens would have really helped our cause; as would have an unlikely win over the Steelers, who seem like they are mostly concerned with getting their kicker as many "practice" game-winning kicks as possible before the playoffs to get him prepared for the Jaguars (yes, it's still fucking weird as fuck to think of them as legitimate contenders) and/or the Patriots.  But, nevertheless, here were are.  Not out completely, but goddamnit, the one time I need the Saints and Vikings to come through...  I think they both lost knowing they couldn't beat a pissed off Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs so their best bet was to keep the Packers out of the playoffs altogether.  The Falcons seriously tried to give the Saints that game and the Saints acted like winning was somehow related to the myriad of sexual harassment/assault stories coming out recently and they wanted nothing to do with it, not even be in the same room or building as it.  And the Vikings are, well, the slightly above average team (who is still legitimately the third best team in the NFC behind the Eagles and Rams, pending the severity of Wentz's injury.  Wow, the Vikings have sure benefited off the injuries of MVP-caliber QB's this year.  Sheesh...  And I don't want to hear any of that mumbo-jumbo about "our starting QB is hurt too" as Bradford:

A.)  Was always going to get hurt
B.)  Has played 2 good games in his career - last year vs. the Packers and this year's season opener vs. the Saints
C.)  WAS ALWAYS GOING TO GET FUCKING HURT ANYWAYS

Also, that hit on Rodgers, and the hit on Goff last month, by Barr were mostly definitely filled with intent.  I don't need anyone to tell me otherwise.  I do have eyes, you know...)

I thought they were, which still makes them, subsequently, the third best team in the NFC this year.  Good times...

Another solid performance from our defense and, this time, our special teams.  Our offense continues to put our defense in very difficult positions and refuses to help them out after the first five minutes of the game up until the last five minutes of the game it seems.  And Clay, Mr. "ARE YOU TAKING ALL YOUR TINY SHAMPOOS?" Matthews seems to find ways to make big plays in big moments, despite his injuries.  Ha Ha, who I PREDICTED WOULD START MAKING SOME BIG PLAYS, made what turned out to be an enormous, points-saving interception at the end of the first half.

Sadly, we have another week of people who don't watch football but insist on giving you their opinion based on their scanning of the Redzone channel and the stats from their fantasy football league calling Brett Hundley a good quarterback.  I even heard one announcer say "Teams are definitely going to take a look at this young man once the season is over."  Why?  Are there a lot of teams in need of, and willing to overpay for, a mediocre backup QB?  Oh wait, that's right, Scott Tolzien, Mike Glennon, Geno Smith, Brock Osweiler, Ryan Mallett, Matt Barkley, Matt Cassel, Matt Schaub, Kellen Moore, etc. all got paid by new teams despite their old teams deeming them not worth it after watching them every single day in practice.  So, yeah, I guess teams are in need of, and willing to overpay for, an average backup.

But his stat line, again, belied his play:

35/46 - 265 yards - 3 TD's - no picks - 31 yards rushing

It looks good right?  Well, if you watched the game, it wasn't.  Hundley is great on the first drive and the last two drives of each game it seems.  He led 3 TD drives in the 4th quarter and overtime.  He reminds me of someone...  Wait...  There's someone I can remember who was painful to watch for the first three quarters of a football game but somehow turned into a touchdown machine in the 4th quarter and seemingly pulled win after win out of his ass...  No...  It can't be...  Brett Hundley is like...  TIM TEBOW...  HE'S BACK...

To be fair, Hundley is not as painful to watch when throwing a football as Tebow, but goddamn he sure plays a lot like him.


THIS WEEK IN MUSIC:


Goddamn, Asperger's is a bitch sometimes...  Take today for instance.  My girlfriend and I went to go get some lunch at a local place we have been wanting to try forever (like five years).  Easy right?  Sounds fun, trying a new place we're both excited about.  Well, we get there and it seems a little out of sorts.  The workers are all unaware of what anyone else is doing and seem generally very disorganized.  Whatever, the food smells great.  I order my food and it's a little more expensive than I would've thought but who cares if it's good, right?  Well, it was... fine.  Irritated that I just overpaid for a mediocre meal, I try not to lose my shit.  I'm stewing and wishing I hadn't paid for it.  My poor girlfriend is trying to casually enjoy her mediocre food but can't because of me.  I obviously don't want to start ranting and raving about how overpriced the mediocre food is in the middle of the day during the late lunch rush, but fuck I really want to punch someone.  It ruins my day, until...

So, I'm shooting a music video later this week for "Lookin' at Luckey" which is fucking awesome.  It's my favorite song on the album and it's sounding like it's going to be an amazing video.  The director I'm working with MADE THIS, which is unbelievably good, and I'm putting on makeup for the first time; which, I'm not sure I can get better looking but let's try.  It's all very exciting.  So exciting, in fact, that I went out and actually bought some new clothes for the shoot.  Now, I never buy new clothes.  "Why?" you may ask.  Well, for multiple reasons.  Hmm...  Let's see:

- I hate spending money on things that aren't music, food or booze, generally I hate spending money on things that aren't experiences
- I hate going to places where lots of people are, like stores or malls (Thanks Asperger's!)
- I like to wear the same things every day, over and over and over (Thank's Asperger's!)
- When I do actually buy new clothes, I hate to wear them so I won't ruin them (just me being cheap and/or weird, I guess)

So, it was weird for me to actually spend some money on myself but I DO GET TO WRITE IT OFF, so I have that going for me, which is nice.  I was excited.  Some nice new clothes that will look great on camera.  EXCEPT, I wash the jeans and now there is a huge spot where the sticker that shows the size (31x30, I'm not ashamed) was and it won't wash off.  What the fuck?  This is fucking madness.  This never happens on the $40 Levi's I buy once every six years.  WHAT THE FUCK?  I don't get it.  I desperately search online for a store that has the same size in stock so I can swap them out for a new pair.  No dice.  I'm pissed.  I feel deceived.  I feel ripped off and taken advantage of.  MY BRAND NEW PAIR OF FUCKING JEANS LOOKS FUCKING STUPID AND ARE GOING TO LOOK EVEN FUCKING STUPIDER ON CAMERA!  I couldn't be more angry.  I hate it.  I feel stupid.  "This is why I don't deserve nice things..."  I think.   I'm so depressed about it that I can't eat dinner.  My day is ruined, AGAIN...

And, once again, my poor girlfriend has to deal with this shit.  I have some Krud Kutter goo be gone or whatever the fuck it's called which should take off any glue residue and then I'll rewash them.  Seems simple enough but I can't get over the emotional toll it has taken.  IT'S ABOUT AS DEPRESSING/RIDICULOUS AS THIS.  "And who could understand the all-consuming pain?  Only a man who's weeping in the rain knows where to go..."  Wow.  But Billy Joel was certainly on the spectrum and has many songs, INCLUDING THIS ONE, that are about it, whether he knows it or not.  Billy, I know why you go to extremes, it's call the spectrum, bud.

Nevertheless, my song of the week is:

Frightened Rabbit - "My Backwards Walk"


This song saved my life once.  I wish that was me being overly dramatic, like I so often am.  I remember having an anxiety attack in a hotel room somewhere in Eastern Washington and trying to not jump out the window into traffic.  All I wanted to do was drink until I couldn't remember and be done.  I can't remember where that thought came from but I knew I needed to get out my room.  It was after midnight (not in an Eric Clapton kind of way) so I wasn't sure what to do.  I got in my car and just started driving.  Frightened Rabbit's "Midnight Organ Fight" was in the stereo and was playing, though I wasn't paying much attention.  After about 30 minutes, this song came on.  I didn't know where I was or where I was going but this song felt so sad in a peaceful sort of way for some reason.  I started crying.  I didn't know what was happening as I sped along past the farm fields and empty landscapes.  I just kept pressing the back button to start this song over again, and again and again and again.  Occasionally, I'd pass a semi-truck trying to make up time to somewhere but it was pretty much just me out there.  Mostly, I just stared out the passenger side window and watched the so-dark-they-seemed-infinite fields while playing this song on repeat.  I must've driven for at least two or three hours as my half-full gas tank was starting to run low.  I pulled off to try and check my phone's GPS to see where I was but I must've gone too far since I had no signal.  I drove on and found signs for I-84.  I had driven all the way back to Oregon, I guess.  I'm glad this song came on since speeding along at 80 miles an hour in that state of mind is probably not the best thing one can do.  Anyways, thanks Frightened Rabbit...

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Spotify's "Your Top Songs of 2017" and more aka... I can't believe this year has passed me by aka... concussions suck...

Holy shit, it's almost 2018...  Let's recap this crazy year, in music of course...


GREEN BAY PACKERS WEEKLY RECAP:


Honestly (as if I've ever been anything less than honest with you people), the Packers probably had no business taking this game.  The "Battle of the Bays" was won by defense, special teams, some new plays and some lucky bounces.  I was texting my brother the entire game "we'll win if we just don't throw it."  This became the "just don't throw it" game.  Every first down, every third down, every big play "just don't throw it" showed up on my phone, either from Jobe or to Jobe from me.  It was our rallying cry, and... it fucking worked!  That Williams kid is a beast and had some 2013-2014 Lacy-esque, I'm-fucking-tougher-than-you big boy runs, like his touchdown carry.  And, of course, Aaron Jones, the rookie sensation who somehow is back only two weeks after hurting his knee, had one run for twenty yards, and, oh yeah, the fucking game winning score.  I love those kids and they're only going to get better...

For anyone who didn't know how brilliant Kenny Clark has been playing this year and was questioning Clay Matthews III and his abilities/impact, welcome back to the real world.  4 1/2 sacks between them, and an unreal impact on the running game.  Those kids just fucking know how to play ball.  I know people complain about Clay and his seemingly annual ailments but injuries happen and  we shouldn't hold it against him; though I do believe health is a skill, just look at Brett Favre.  Also, I remember Reggie White playing with a torn knee ligament and destroying the Bears after they tried to cut-block him on like the second snap or something, which fucking pissed him off, and he played the rest of the game like a hungry lion who only ate quarterbacks and running backs.  I can't remember who, but someone this week got a sack off the "hump move" which I haven't seen for years.  I don't know how a move could be so devastating yet so unachievable by anyone else.  Goddamn, Reggie was special.  Wait, he was a preacher, so I'll rephrase "man, Reggie was special."  God bless him and God rest his soul.  Truly one of a kind...  Anyhow, on to the music.


THIS WEEK IN MUSIC:


I wasn't able to post this on Monday like normal due to being out of town (and busy) at a show.  My good friend Jonathan Fickes' band A View of Earth from the Moon had an album release show and party over the weekend which I was fucking thrilled to attend.  That man is true talent and I got to see, and smoke way too many cigarettes with, some old friends.  Life's journey is funny, but never as predictable it seems.  Anywhosal...

One of the only good things about the internet is Spotify.  I find more new music on there than anywhere else.  Tastemakers and aggregate websites seem to be a dying breed.  No one reliably tells me who is good and who isn't anymore, like Pitchfork used to (or B-Sides in Madison, WI, one of my all-time favorite record stores).  I spend more money on Spotify recommendations (yes, I still buy music.  Hello?  Independent/struggling artist) than on music from anywhere else.

But, one of my favorite things is when they send end of year playlists.  It's strange, and always surprising, to see what I listened to the most during the past year, so today I wanted to go over some of the highlights.  It's not what I expected but some strange events played into that, which I'll discuss.  Here are some of the songs I spun (nope, clicked) the most in 2017:


- Courtney Marie Andrews - "Rookie Dreaming"


This song was high on the list from 2017 for two reasons:

1.  This is a phenomenal album that I could listen to front to back, many times over.
2.  I was forced to listen to this album front to back, many times over.

Why was I forced to listen to this album front to back, many times over?  That's a fair question.  Well, I heard "Not the End" on a Spotify playlist and listened to it over and over for an hour or so while driving.  Seeing as I had indulged in Courtney Marie Andrews' sweet melodies for that long, I purchased the album and popped it in for an upcoming five hour drive.  I brought along about five or six other CD's that I would switch out along the way but fate intervened.  As soon as I left Baker City, OR it began to snow.  As I approached La Grande, OR it began to snow, hard.  Soon, the freeways were being blocked off but I was already cruising.  I got stuck behind the snow plow trucks trying desperately to clear the roadways; at thirty miles per hour.  For the first six hours of my return trip, stuck behind those plows, the roads were still so treacherous that I was unable to change CD's as my car kept sliding around and I was trying desperately to not drive off one of the many cliffs I was passing.  So, for six hours straight I played "Honest Life" by Courtney on repeat, listening intently so I wouldn't notice my car sliding dangerously towards the edge, towards my impending death, time and time again, during what turned out to be my ten hour drive back to Portland.


- PUP - "DVP"


Probably my favorite live show from 2017.  It's rare I get to just lose myself (in the music, the moment, you own it) and became an unabashed fan, yelling along to every word from the front of the pit with the other die-hards.  This show released my inner fan in a way I haven't experienced since watching maybe Ryan Adams, the Hold Steady, Jon Fickes (on Sunday) or Joanna Newsom (take your pick).

- Land of Talk - "Loving"


Probably my second favorite live show from 2017.  There's just something about their albums "Life After Youth" and  "Some are Lakes" that just hit me where I need it.  Not sure exactly what it is, but I love it and want more of it.

Steve Forbert - "Romeo's Song"


I know I've posted this song before but it never gets any less impressive each time I listen to it.  Maybe Steve would never reach these heights again on a recording but, goddamn, did he nail it at least once on this beauty.  Also, I love the home movie style video linked above that has the "Classics Disco" tag in the corner...  Clearly shot when videographers thought VHS would supplant film in the movie world.  Boy, were they wrong...

- Modern Baseball - "Wedding Singer"


I found this record last year and was moderately intrigued.  It popped back up on a Spotify playlist a few months later and I couldn't stop playing this on repeat.  Their incessant hipster-ing is borderline annoying but the tunes, especially this one, are just too good to hate.


- Childish Gambino - "IV. Sweatpants"


Who knew an ex-writer from "30 Rock" had this in them?  Is he a brilliant MC?  No, but it's ridiculous and it's pure, silly fun.

- Joan Shelley - "Cost of the Cold"


Couldn't find a decent live video for this one, but goddamn is this a beautiful song.  Again, Spotify said "Bradley, I think you're gonna like this shit muthafucker" and they were right.  The first time I heard this I was cleaning the house (which I do every Saturday) and played this song on repeat for the 1 1/2 hours it takes me to finish.  Almost every time, except for a couple moments when the vacuum was going, I found myself getting lost in the melodies and wonder of this song and completely forgetting that I was cleaning the fucking toilet or whatever.  I did this for three weeks straight, listening to this song probably, what is that, 70 times and never once got sick of it.  It landed on some playlists which pushed it up onto my 2017 most played tracks.


The Kinks - "Lola"


This one makes the list every year for sentimental reasons.  She knows why...

Bonus points since Ray Davies kind of looks like Casey Jones from the first Ninja Turtles movie in this video.

- Paul Westerberg - "Things"


Again, no good live video but this song doesn't need any of my yammering or bullshit to make it brilliant.  Not sure why but "14 Songs" had a huge comeback this past year and I couldn't stop spinning, or clicking, or pushing the "track forward" button until #11 to hear this fucking song.


- CHVRCHES - "We Sink"


Live from a stage I've graced more than once.  Fuck, is it just me or is the singer absurdly attractive?  It took until this past year to finally get on board with this band.  I can't remember why I wrote them off initially but I'm glad I gave them a second chance.  Damn, Scottish girls are hot...


- Wesley Willis - "Rock N' Roll McDonalds"


I'll never forget the first time I heard this song and the asshole who played it for me.  He thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.  He repeatedly called Wesley a retard and said this was the dumbest and most hilarious shit he'd ever heard.  It was obvious there was more going on and I was very interested in learning about Wesley.  I watched "The Daddy of Rock 'n' Roll" and my heart nearly exploded for this man.  His music never sounded the same to me after that.  All I hear now is the pain and the anger and the hurt and the love and the compassion and the desire and the beauty that isn't obviously clear.  Once I left my small town in southeastern Wisconsin, I found friends who felt the same and got this music for what it was:  tortured, more than anything else.

I don't know what else to say.  I could go on from my "Top Songs of 2017" playlist all night but these are the highlights.  Peace Bitches!

(dictated but not read.  Fuck, what do you expect?  It's goddamn 2:30 in the morning)