nixsight

• @bremxjones Heh. You’re older than you’ve ever been… and now you’re even older. And now you’re older still. Happy birthday sir! #
• It’s LIVEJOURNAL, not LIVERJournal… Stupid fingers… #
• Oh yes, Asda! Be still my beating lust… Girls, food & cheap entertainment items! #

• @lx Made me think of this image: http://tinyurl.com/4dtr3t & this story http://tinyurl.com/4w6emr... #
• @bremxjones Just finishing listening to the RPS podcast. Aside from the sound quality at the start, it was fun. & I agree about hot sisters. #
• Just saw my first bit of Sarah Jane Adventures. Surprisingly good… #
• … & good use of next episode teaser, for a change! #

I’ve been very lax this week, and haven’t actually fully read anything.

However, I did start reading something – “Millennium People” by J.G Ballard. I also bought a book that I used to own called “The Sparrow” by Maria Doria Russell, because somewhere down the line, my copy has gone missing, and I want Girl One to read it.
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Just this once, I have an excuse for not being timely with the TV… My network decided to suffer a catastrophic failure on Saturday, and that’s nudged everything out of place.

Of course, that doesn’t explain why I didn’t post on Friday when I was supposed to… but never mind.

As always, my thoughts after the jump, and your mileage may have varied on these shows – please do tell me how right or wrong you think I am in the comments!

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• I once thought Dan Lester was a bit odd. Now I think he’s some kind of savant. His EW this week is full of win: http://tinyurl.com/3evg72 #

• @steevbishop Birds are assholes. #
• Southern Water are trying to charge me for a bill that they failed to raise IN 2005! Also, finding it hard to find a complaint line. #
• After having teh “C” word’s etymology explained to me by a g-friend, I feel like I should be using it MORE, in defiance of Christian silly. #
• … Girl One will probably not agree. She is proper fire’n'brimstone atheist, but also gets the squiggles when she hears that one word… #
• @steevbishop Doubleplus ungood assholes. Pigeon bastards! #
• @budgie Interestingly, as a nation we are considered more prudish & yet we are so much better at using the bad swears… #
• @budgie … Though it is still the one word that I only use very sparingly over at Elephant Words & hardly ever on Nixsight. Not sure why! #
• Only 5 posts at EW use the “C” word & 3 of those were me. Tons of “Fuck”. Against nil “C” words @ Nixsight. Huh. Thought I was more profane! #
• Is porn terminology context sensitive? For example, does someone still count as a MILF if the observer is half a decade older than them? #
• @budgie I find that it’s handy to hold a few words back for when I REALLY need them. Oddly, the one word I really struggle with is “flange”. #
• @budgie … And I’m not even sure what it means… #

Beautiful Freak was the first Eels album I ever heard. It’s probably still the one that gets the most exposure, and though there are other songs from other albums that I like better than the ones on this one, I think it’s probably still the tightest and most cohesive track-list of the lot.

The album has been on fairly solid rotation on my iPod all week, for some reason – it’s impressive in that it’s upbeat enough to walk into work by, but also relaxing enough to play during dinner, or when I need to unwind. Girl One likes them too, so that helps.

E’s lyrics, and his vocal, are flexible, too – they have a depth that makes them both cinematic and literary at the same time, but he remains tongue in cheek throughout, and this makes them perfectly light fare to be used as backing to other things. In fact, two of the songs I’m sharing with you here I first heard on movie soundtracks.

The Eels make versatile and awesome music, is what I’m getting at.

3. Rags To Rags – The Eels

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… For some reason, Apple want me to keep hearing this particular song. Their ever unreliable shuffle function keeps letting this one drift to the top. I ain’t complainin’, though. It is, after all, great.

2. My Beloved Monster And Me – The Eels

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Beautifully evocative, and full of both affection and dread. I first heard this song used incredibly literally in the first “Shrek” movie, and it was a shock to the system then, because on the one hand, it was odd hearing such contemporary music in a film set in a completely fantastic medieval world, and on the other, it was amazing.

It’s unclear whether E is singing about a notional partner, here, who is as fierce as she is loyal, or if he’s talking allegorically about a part of his own psyche. In that regard, it’s similar to Laura Marlin’s “My Manic And I”, also on current rotation, also lovely and thought-provoking at the same time.

Me, I choose to hear either song as either meaning, depending on my mood. Perhaps facetiously, I have set it as Girl One’s ring-tone on my phone.

3. Your Lucky Day In Hell – The Eels

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I liked “Shrek”. It had a lot going for it. “Dead Man On Campus”, on the other hand, had very little going for it – unless you class being the post-”Saved By The Bell” movie role for the dude who played Zack.

But it has a kind of charm, and a slick presentation that probably comes mostly from the fact that it’s an MTV produced movie. And that probably counts for the quite sharp music choices that they made on the soundtrack.

Which is preamble to saying that the film opens and closes with this song, and it sets the scene enough that I find the whole movie easy to watch because of it. In that regard, it sticks in my head as one of two great musical openings to films – the other being the use of “One Week” by The Barenaked Ladies in “American Pie”.

A great song, full of loathing and heartbreaking anxiety, with a glut of lines that an occasional misanthrope like myself can sing along to and feel vicariously clever in the process.

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• "Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a philosopher just a writer who doesn’t know how to tell a story?" #
• @emmavieceli Yeah, I’d be a mess! Pud is obviously made of sterner stuff! Hm. "Sterner" sounds wrong but I’m SURE it’s right. "Stronger"? #
• "A lot of Boris’ speeches are taken up by asking what happens next." The amusing Armstrong and Miller podcast on Boris Johnson. #

• First page of art for a strip I’ve written starting to take shape – it’s a lovely, slightly anxious feeling. I LIKE IT! #
• @feliciaday Oh, man… We only just started watching House season 1, so that means, what, MONTHS before we get to see you on there… #
• … Also, only just watching Buffy S4, so weeks till you’re on that, too. After Dr H, Girl One & I need our @FeliciaDay fix… #
• Suddenly Southampton is all wet new students… #
• … Amazon just delivered "The Sparrow" by Maria Doria Russell. I loved it years back & bought it special for G1 to read. … #
• Ok, so that’s, what, 2 & a half hours of pure procrastination? Excellent… It’s not like I have anything better to do… #
• And had a bit of an "Oh fuck" moment when a collection agency called me an hour ago, asking after a housemate from 3 years ago… #
• & then claiming I/we/he? owe them £220 for an old water bill. I have some phone calls to make in the morning, I tell you… #
• @feliciaday I feel your pain – shed dalmatian fur is like a second carpet here. You hoover & seconds later, it’s everywhere again! #
• @emmavieceli Oh blimey… glad he’s fine, but still… He must be shaken. Is car going to be okay? #
• @Emmavieceli Glad results good.Tried to post how beautiful your wedding looked at LJ, but have a mental block on my pw & got locked out! #
• Cool video from Gilliam on "Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus" http://tinyurl.com/66qppp. First I’ve really seen from this – excited now… #

A week of animal-centric movies, where the animals are metaphors for men with guns, or something…

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