Creating Myself Step by Step

Ever wonder how I draw something? This is like the turkey, only more static. I do this because I feel like at certain stages this drawing was more interesting than what I ended up with. Also, yes, I realize this makes me extremely self-absorbed (the picture, not the post).

Ok, so I start by blocking out shapes... kinda.

Then I put some hair in and eyebrows and I solidify the layering on the face.

I honestly think I could have stopped here because I think I nailed the likeness more than I did in the final product. But cool right?

So now I added some highlighting and jacked the right eye (my left) so it looks like my eyes don't line up. They may not in real life either, but I like to think art is a way of buffing out flaws.

So then I messed with the mouth some more, added what looks like some more meddling with the highlights and shading, and made a funny shirt about how I'm King Candy. Ha!

So for better or worse, there are the results of this craziness. I don't know if I lost the likeness somewhere in there or not, but I think it looks enough like me that most people who know me could pick it out of a crowd. I guess more of these experiments will happen from time to time, and maybe I'll try my hand at color some time.

Review: My Dinosaur Life

January 19th marks the release of Motion City Soundtrack's fourth album, My Dinosaur Life. This album marks the first release by the band on major record label Columbia Records. My Dinosaur Life also sees the band reuniting with Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus in a producing capacity. Under his watch, the band released their second album Commit This to Memory.

I'm going to go right ahead and disclaim my own credentials for reviewing music as I make no secret to having little skill in the medium not to mention an 'ear' for it. I listen to the things I think sound good and that entertain me without having to be analyzed for their technical merits. That being said I've been listening to Motion City Soundtrack since probably 2002 or 2003. One of the interesting aspects of this band in particular when it comes to me is that it often takes an extended amount of time for me to fully appreciate a lot of the songs on a given album. For instance many of the tracks off of Commit This to Memory I would skip in favor of the more popular tracks such as 'Everything is Alright', 'Better Open the Door', and 'Feel Like Rain'. Literal years have passed in the interim and it wasn't until very recently that songs like 'Time Turned Fragile', 'Make Out Kids', and to a lesser extent 'Let's Get Fucked Up and Die' finally became frequent listening material to me. The band's third album Even if it Kills Me presented a very interesting anomaly in that I enjoyed almost the entire album with the exception of 'The Conversation' (ugh, eff that song) from the very beginning. With this in mind I was curious to see how the soon to be released My Dinosaur Life would live up. By the time the first single, 'Disappear', was released to the public it was clear that whatever it was going to be, the album would be a distinctly different experience for me than Even if it Kills Me.

Having never done a CD review before, I'm just going to do a brief write-up of each track on the new CD with my impressions and then a brief summary at the end.

'Worker Bee' -- As far as opening tracks go, 'Worker Bee' is a very fitting start to an album that is intensely more about the journey of an individual than the comparatively romance slanted tracks of Even if it Kills Me. The track is about new starts and the rewards for endeavoring to be better. The opening lyric "It's been a good year, a good new beginning" is appropriate both thematically and as part of a new album. Of course it wouldn't be an MCS song without a slight element of humor and you get the impression that while the 'voice' (as I don't like assuming that the person telling the story of the song is necessarily the lead singer of the band) is saying how well he's doing, he almost doesn't quite believe it himself. 'Worker Bee' is trying to reaffirm that things are better now and one gets the sense that the words are just as much for the singer as they are for a state of things. It's a great, fast little track that pulls you in and puts you in the right mindset for Motion City Soundtrack. It's a little Weezer-y, but quirky enough that it's unmistakably not.

'A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help)' -- 'A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help)' is one of my favorite tracks on the new album and one which shares a lot in common with songs from previous albums that hooked me right away. This song is about a guy who 'gets it' without really understanding it. I don't think it's meant to be clear what precisely he's having trouble with, but it's immediately applicable to almost anyone's life. Sometimes the most simple concepts are the ones that for no particular reason elude us. 'A Lifeless Ordinary' is kind of a plea to have the boring life without complications that realistically doesn't really exist. It's a bouncy track that is chock full of catchiness and an inertia that pulls you through it in the most engaged sense. Without a doubt this is one of the standouts of the entire album.

'Her Words Destroyed My Planet' -- This one pretty much explains itself in the title. The song is sung as an anthem that if this girl had not broken this guy's heart so completely he would never have been able to become a better version of himself. Simply: girl breaks guy's heart > guy falls apart > guy sorts life out > guy is better off more or less. It's an idea that almost anyone who's ever been on the receiving end of a break-up can relate to. It serves as a 'what-if things didn't change, where would I be'? This song is also one of the most decidedly Motion City Soundtrack-sounding tracks on the album. There's not much else out there that sounds like it, and it has a lot of quirks that make it unique to this band. I imagine this is why 'Her Words Destroyed My Planet' is the first single.

'Disappear' -- As far as being the first song I was able to hear off of My Dinosaur Life, 'Disappear' took a little getting used to. This is a very dark track and decidedly more openly angry than any other Motion City Soundtrack song that has come before it. It's a fast track that angrily and purposely drives forward with a shady angst that belies an almost destructive undertone. Props go to the band for being able to still take me off guard after all these years with such a different sound and approach.

'Delirium' -- This song reminds me a ton of 'Modern Chemistry'. Not in the sense that they sound very similar because they don't, but more in the subject matter. This is a darker song like 'Disappear' but with that trademark MCS upbeat camouflage that can almost fool you upon first listen. Also distinguishing 'Delirium' from 'Disappear' is the fact that while the singer does indeed sound in a bad place, you get the idea that he's seeking and/or asking for help whereas the voice from the other song sounds like he's done with everything. 'Delirium' is where the proverbial nose points up and pulls out of the darker plummet of the album. Musically it's fast and it's fun and easy to sing along with.

'History Lesson' -- 'History Lesson' is pretty cut and dry too. It's also one of those songs that I haven't entirely warmed up to yet. Logistically thinking, I would put money on this track being amazing at a live show. As a recording it has a contained energy that I feel in a crowd of people all shouting the lyrics will be much more palpable. Thematically I think this song is about the singer looking back at how it was. Sometimes you have to look back before you can move forward, and as far as the arc of the album goes this is the beginning of the metaphorical journey out of the valley of 'Disappear' and 'Delirium'. It's not a bad song, but I feel like in a live setting it will be much more effectively energetic.

'Stand Too Close' -- This is another one of my insta-favorites on the new album. 'Stand Too Close' really dials back the energy a little and takes a moment to slow it down. It stands as a nice reprieve in the album, but musically it sounds a lot like MCS's previous acoustic versions; most notably the acoustic version of 'Fell in Love Without You'. It's reflective and it's steady and it's about being hesitant or not willing to walk outside your comfort zone. It almost asks 'what if I do, but what if I don't?'. It acknowledges the truth and it weighs that against the potential outcomes of putting yourself out there. Definitely a favorite for how unique it is against the rest of the album.

'Pulp Fiction' -- This is another one of those songs that I'm not completely behind yet. To be honest I had to check out a few video interviews with the band to even figure out that the song isn't supposed to make a ton of sense. Perhaps that's the reason for the disconnect. Generally I like to be able to imprint part of my life onto the song as I'm listening. While that's pretty simple as far as 'Her Words Destroyed My Planet' and @!#?@! go, 'Pulp Fiction' is virtually impossible to easily relate to. Musically this is very MCS as it is almost 80% synth keyboard. It's a fast song that I don't find impossible to listen to, but there is something preventing me from getting behind it wholeheartedly.

@!#?@! -- Hoo boy. I could have wrote the whole album review based around this one song. I will make no secret of the fact that this is not only my favorite song on My Dinosaur Life but one of my favorite Motion City Soundtrack songs ever. Immense kudos go to the song on its first lyric alone referencing one of the most defining games of my life; The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. There's something about the song that is 'in your face' without being aggressively so. There's an irony to it as well that harkens further comparison to Weezer's lyrics, but again in a very MCS way. The song is deliberate, it's fast, it's catchy and it takes on a certain self assured air that I just find myself relating to on a very base level. Lead singer Justin Pierre admitted that he originally wanted this song to be about The Legend of Zelda, the title of the song is a quotation from the video game Q*bert, and at least one of the band members calls it 'the nerd anthem'. Upon further discovery I also found that most of the band took a while to warm up to this song which drives my love for it that much more. Lastly, @!#?@! is FILLED with the f-word which is just wonderful as swearing is one of my favorite things. All in all, this is just one of the coolest songs I've heard thus far in 2010. Awesome.

'Hysteria' -- This is one of those songs that took me a little while to warm up to, but also serves as a perfect example of a track that has become one of my favorites of the album. It seems to be very aptly named as the song has a nervous kind of energy that is appropriately hysterical. The lead singer of the band describes it as a 'crush song' which makes a lot of sense given that context. The voice is talking about how easy things would be for him if it wasn't this person he apparently clams up around. I guess the song really is emblematic of how the mind reacts when its around someone it is attracted to. Thoughts fly, crash, get jumbled and you come off looking like a crazy person. This song is a lot like that.

'Skin and Bones' -- 'Skin and Bones' is a song questioning self worth. It asks 'am I ok?' and in the end will everything be alright. It asks the fundamental question that everyone asks themselves at some point of whether they are actually all of the things they claim to be or are they coming up short? It's a song that questions roles in the universe and ends up deciding that we're all alone in the cosmic sense. 'Skin and Bones' is cool because it asks the dangerous question of 'what's the point?'. Again this song is a classic in that it effectively mixes a generally upbeat song with lyrics that are pretty much the opposite.

'The Weakends' -- The closing track is very much in turn with the opening track of the album. Just like 'Worker Bee', 'The Weakends' is very similar in that they are hopeful and optimistic with that same twinge of sarcasm. It's almost as if in each case the words are what the singer intends but he's almost saying them to try and make them true. This track contends that tomorrow is a new day and that it's going to fight hard to best all the things that get in the way, but it doesn't sound convinced. I really like the parallel with the first song, but overall I don't like 'The Weakends' as much as 'Worker Bee'. It doesn't sound too much like an MCS song in a negative way. As it is I still think it's a good song, just not a good MCS song and that's what I signed up for. By no means would I call it the worst song ever by the band (an honor which goes securely to 'The Conversation'), but it's below the middle. Like I said, this song flourishes as a thematic complement to the opener but it fails to distinguish itself in Motion City's catalogue.

Ok, well that's it then. My Dinosaur Life is a great album that proves the band is, if nothing else, not remotely getting stale with age. This album also has an invigorating amount of life to the vocals that I never noticed were missing from Even if it Kills Me. Seriously, play any song off of the last album and then listen to any off of this one. Justin Pierre really dug deep for this effort and it pays off. It feels good to have that energy back, even if I never noticed that it was gone in the first place. I'd recommend this to anyone who's enjoyed a Motion City Soundtrack song in the past because there's really something for everyone's taste. My Dinosaur Life stands as a good step forward for the band as well as a respectable demonstration of where they've come from at the same time.

Oh, and don't forget to listen to @!#?@!.

Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox

It's been a good number of weeks since I saw Fantastic Mr. Fox and it just so happens that I'm getting around to it now. Luckily for any of you unfortunate enough to stumble onto my blog from time to time, the movie may still be playing in a few theatres or it could be on its way to DVD. So that has to be some kind of boon right?

Anyways, Fantastic Mr. Fox is the story of a wily, fast-talking fox determined to live life stealing chickens and engaging in devilish mischief as any proper fox would do. Upon being cornered on a particularly dangerous raid of a local farm, Fox is told that his wife is pregnant. This revelation, along with an earnest urging to give up his life of danger, spurs Fox to retire from the scheme business and get an honest job. The film flashes forward a few years and Fox is working a day-to-day job with an altogether average home life. Of course Fox has never given up the ghost of his past life and it is none too soon that he is up to his old shenanigans once again which leads to inevitable trouble for his friends and family, and the crux of the entire film.

All in all, it would be tough to say that this movie is a fresh story all things considered. The real draw of the film lies in three significant factors. The first and most obvious is the animation style. Utilizing stop-motion and other visually quirky elements, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a very entertaining film to see. While some viewers will likely find the admittedly odd style of the film to be anywhere from off-putting to disturbing, it is safe to say that Wes Anderson stalwarts will be delighted how well this new medium accents the directors approach to movie making. This leads into the next significant draw of this movie -- Wes Anderson. It would be reasonable to assume that if one did not enjoy any of the director's previous cinematic efforts, Fantastic Mr. Fox will not change any minds. Another common mistake in assessing the merits of this film would be to immediately dismiss it as a children's movie. While I would say that a child could see this movie and not walk away with any deep psychiatric scarring liable to manifest itself in adolescence; I would say that older audiences are much more likely to cull enjoyment from the various things Anderson does in this and all of his films. Wes Anderson is quite skilled at creating a universe for each of his movies that feels grounded in reality, but just 'left-of-center'. There's an odd quirkiness inherent in a movie by this director that at once unsettles the viewer while making them that much more engaged in the incredibly detailed world presented. As always, experiences will vary from person to person.

The final selling point in this movie's favor is the superb voice casting. All audio recording sessions were performed in the areas they were appearing in the movie. For example a scene in a barn was audio recorded in a barn. To be honest, it's a small detail that likely will not register in your head as you watch, but upon thinking back I found it to add a nice level of texture to the proceedings. I've always been a fan of George Clooney as a comedic actor. I find his willingness to go the extra mile for a laugh commendable, and as a voice actor he's really able to go for it in a way that tickled me from start to finish. Clooney plays Fox with a manic kind of energy that propels the film and the character scene to scene and stands as perhaps one of the key lynch pins in achieving the tone of the movie. Clooney is joined by Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox who surprises with her great comedic timing and wonderful ability to play straight girl to Clooney's manic show-stealer. Playing their son is Jason Schwartzman as Ash. Schwartzman is at his best when in an Anderson film and this is no exception. Here he plays the part of misplaced and slightly depressed child forced to live in his own father's shadow to both humorous and heart-warming effect. These actors are joined by appropriate and inspired voice casting the likes of Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Wes Anderson himself, Michael Gambon, and Willem Defoe.

There's not much else to say about Fantastic Mr. Fox. Like almost all of Wes Anderson's movies it has equal parts humor, drama, and in the end heart-warmth (if such a thing exists). Without sounding like I'm knocking the film, it's a light affair. Nothing too heavy or emotionally charged, but at the same time this stands as one of those movies that I personally could watch almost any day at any time on a whim. Long story slightly less long? See this movie if you're looking for some entertainment on a level not as low as something like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (which is not by any stretch a bad film), but not as intense as something like Away We Go.

Thoughts on a Snowy Day.

Happy New Year everyone! Originally I was going to post up a 'Best Of' list for 2009 on January 1st, but life got in the way as it always does. Suffice it to say that 2009 had some very good things and some truly horrible things, but managed to end on a high note. Good? Great.

Today is January 7th, 2010. For those of you in Milwaukee, Wisconsin today you should know that it's a snowy day out. For some of us this will be a complete nuisance, and for some it will be a day of fun and enjoyment of the slowly falling flakes. Looking out my window over the city and watching the day progress, I've gotten to thinking. No deep thoughts that will produce paragraphs and paragraphs of words jumbled together to represent my thoughts, but some ideas.

A good snow day is one which the snow falls down slowly and gracefully -- when the wind isn't blowing right through you and the temperature doesn't completely freeze out any of the joy in your heart. On a day like this the usually grey and miserable scene outside is covered up and hidden. Especially in the city it's refreshing to watch the overwhelming greys of the buildings, skies, and pavements give way to a white blanket of snow. It's hard to be too gloomy on a day like today, assuming you don't have to get places on time or drive long distances.

Finally, a good snow day is a blank slate. A whitewash over the city, but more importantly a canvas to have a really fun day. Sledding, taking pictures, taking a walk... just admiring the world when it looks like this. And so I'm left thinking about what the day will yield for all of us -- for me, for you who may be reading this, for people I don't even know. These questions exist everyday existentially, but on a day where we're all being snowed on it brings us all closer together whether we realize it or not.

So what will we do today? It's a rare and temporary clean start, a visual gift, and most importantly a blank piece of paper to write a very specific story. Have fun today everyone, Happy New Year (belated), and here's to a 2010 together!

(At the risk of becoming redundant, this will be the last picture I post up on this blog in this style. This picture represents my brain on this day, and if the words featured above it make about as much sense you have my sincerest but amused apologies.)