Decisions
I’ve done a lot of hiking in the last 8 months. This is one of my favorite signs from the trail so far, spotted in the Columbia River George. -Foster Huntington
ASQUALL
“
Dear Friends,
Well, it’s been quite a weekend. Someday, long from now, I will even have an emotional reaction to it, like a person would. I can’t wait! But before I become blinded by this “emotion” experience, there’s a few things I’d like to say. Well, type.
People have told me that this matters, that my life is about to change. I am sure that is true. And change is good — change is exciting. I think — not to jinx it — that I may finally be recognized at Comiccon. Imagine! Also, with my percentage of “the Avengers” gross, I can afford to buy… [gets call from agent. Weeps manfully. Resumes typing.] …a fine meal. But REALLY fine, with truffles and s#! . And I can get a studio to finance my dream project, the reboot of “Air Bud” that we all feel is so long overdue. (He could play Jai Alai! Think of the emotional ramifications of JAI ALAI!!!!) What doesn’t change is anything that matters.
What doesn’t change is that I’ve had the smartest, most loyal, most passionate, most articulate group of — I’m not even gonna say fans. I’m going with “peeps” — that any cult oddity such as my bad self could have dreamt of. When almost no one was watching, when people probably should have STOPPED watching, I’ve had three constants: my family and friends, my collaborators (often the same), and y’all. A lot of stories have come out about my “dark years”, and how I’m “unrecognized”… I love these stories, because they make me seem super-important, but I have never felt the darkness (and I’m ALL about my darkness) that they described. Because I have so much. I have people, in my life, on this site, in places I’ve yet to discover, that always made me feel the truth of success: an artist and an audience communicating. Communicating to the point of collaborating. I’ve thought, “maybe I’m over; maybe I’ve said my piece”. But never with fear. Never with rancor. Because of y’all. Because you knew me when. If you think topping a box office record compares with someone telling you your work helped them through a rough time, you’re probably new here. (For the record, and despite my inhuman distance from the joy-joy of it: topping a box office record is super-dope. I’m an alien, not a robot.) So this is me, saying thank you. All of you. You’ve taken as much guff for loving my work as I have for over-writing it, and you deserve, in this our time of streaming into the main, to crow. To glow. To crow and go “I told you so”, to those Joe Blows not in the know. (LAST time I hire Dr. Seuss to punch my posts up. Yeesh!) Point being, you deserve some honor, AND you deserves some FAQs answered.
In which Joss Whedon says, “Thank you,” and makes nerds everywhere start the day off crying.
(via laughterkey)
——
I would watch his Air Bud reboot.
(via popculturebrain)
(via popculturebrain)
I absolutely adore the jackets to both Alligator and Boxer— the one color on black and white scheme seems to me to fit perfectly with the mood of both albums. Actually, I’m more than a little sorry that they abandoned the pattern when they released High Violet; as it is the three look great together in my cabinet, but think of how much better they could have looked together!
At any rate, although the two albums share on overall similarity in style, the differences are significant and they reflect, perhaps better than any jackets I’ve ever seen, the difference in the albums. Green was obviously the best choice for an album called Alligator, but Boxer’s yellow is a little more subtle if, I think, just as significant, since it evokes a sort of light-in-the-dark, chilly and urbane, that has sort come to characterize The typeface, too, is important. Although I wish I was enough of a typeface nerd to know what the two are called, the one that spells out “Alligator” is suggestive of motion, of highways, of thoughts that move back onto themselves and get stuck, while the one that spells out “Boxer” is much more staid, much more traditional, much calmer.
Those two things, though, are just details— the big difference in attitude, the change in the band that happened in the two years between albums, is represented in the difference between the cover photos. Alligator’s blurry, out of focus close-up of Matt Berninger under a ghostly chandelier fits well with “Abel” and “Secret Meeting,” with the slight madness and obscure wisdom of that album, whereas the clearly staged, incredibly well focused picture of the band performing in a dinner club not only suggests a tighter and maturer album, but also expands the view to include the whole band; without whom none of this, not Alligator, not Boxer, would have been possible.
If anything, then, Boxer, is the mark of The National’s maturation as a band, as a unit with members that hold equal importance and carry equal weight, and the evidence is there even before you open the album up.
Blue bird watercolor original painting by AgolDesign on Etsy @etsy.com
(via erinitasmith)
The article is here. Sign the petition here.
Don’t Expel Bullied Gay Teen!
Darnell “Dynasty” Young has been bullied for months — it has sometimes gotten so bad that he has thought about suicide.
His mother contacted the school but instead of taking appropriate action, asked Darnell to “tone down” his accessories. That is victim blaming.
Not knowing what to do, his mother sent him to school with a stun gun because he didn’t feel safe. On April 16, 6 students surrounded him threatening violence. He pulled out the stun gun and raised it in the air, setting off an electric charge. He did not use it on anyone — he simply scared them away, protecting himself.
Young was soon arrested and taken away in handcuffs. He is now facing expulsion from the school.
Please tell Arsenal Technical High School to not expel Young — who hurt no one and was just trying to protect himself — and to change their school’s bullying policy to offer more protection for LGBT youth. No one should feel unsafe at school!
— Brittany
RIP Maurice Sendak
(img via somethingelsa)
Well, shit, folks. Everything I knew to be true is a lie and I’ve got a lot of #feelings happening right now because I just saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower and it was good.
(via popculturebrain)
