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I find myself listening to the same bands just new music of theirs. Like me being excited about the new Portishead. If ever you feel like you want to hear new music and you don't know where to go and you, like me, do not have a lot of money, go here and subscribe to their podcast.

I have heard so many new bands that I haven't heard of before.

It also has turned me on to my favorite album of 2008 so far the self titled Mono in VCF . It is like finding a present in a time capsule.

When I finally get a job, KEXP will be the first place I donate to.

Still not feeling it

The only bright part of my day was this.

portishead's new video from their upcoming album. April 29th will be one of the happiest days of my life.

a hard quiz that is sure to take up a moment of your time

I admittedly am in feel sorry for myself mode lately. Not a fun space to be in and I haven't been posting due to my woe is me attitude the past few days. I have now been unemployed for almost two months and try as I might, I am not feeling as optimistic as I once was. Last week showed so much promise, but I am back to playing phone tag with one place and my little birdie friend at another job said it looked good for me, but alas no word yet.

So the only thing I can offer you is this really hard music lyric quiz. (That I found on my favorite blog Pop Candy)

click here

All of the words are in alphabetical order so it is a bit hard to switch your mind to think of a song in this way. I got 18/50 and am so bummed that I missed a song by The Clash, after talking about them.

Drop me a line and let me know how you did.

Another opportunity to walk the walk

If you are against the war and missed L.A.s protest on Saturday, you do have another opportunity to participate. Please click the link below for vigils in your area. It looks like many still have room for you.

vigil locater . brought to you by moveon.org.

To see a great photo essay of Saturday's events go to LA ist

Tap Project-Organization of the week

As Americans we take a lot of the things we have for granted. One of those things being clean, drinkable water. As many of you may have heard this week is World Water Week. Organizations like the Tap Project are making it easy for you to participate in helping clean water a reality for millions.

Please visit their website www.tapproject.org for information on how you can participate.

Did you know that $1 can help give a child clean water for 40 days? That means that $9.50 can provided water for a whole year. That is less money than to see a movie at the Arclight.

Kudos to all of the restaurants that are participating. You will see many in the Los Angeles area.

As a note, I learned from some server friends of mine that if you are interested in participating, please let the server know when you are ordering. They ring up your donation as part of the bill and that it is hard to ring it up later and can be confused as a tip. We all want money to go to the project. So say:

"I would like a turkey burger, with a side of vegetables, an ice tea and I would like to make a $25 dollar donation to the Tap Project."

Some of the servers will make a point to let you know that their restaurant is participating and will ask if you are interested in participating, but some won't so if you want to participate, be proactive and ask.

As part of my former blog, Lemon Life, I featured local organizations that make a difference in the community they serve. I have some great organizations lined up and I am happy to start with World Water Week.

Recommendation to watch: Sundance's Iconoclasts w/ Isabella Rosellini and Dean Kamen

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It looks like we will not be seeing St. Patrick's a national holiday soon. Guinness fell over 700,000 signatures short of their goal.

oh well, luck o' the Irish.

Getty adendum

This Friday starts the Getty's Fridays Off the 405 series. Also free.

Click here for more information.

I have not had the pleasure of going yet, but plan to this Friday. I cannot wait!

If you have gone and have a review drop me a line at my email address.

Song stuck in my head

I haven't done this in a while but lately I have had "Radio Clash" stuck in my head. This stems from a Clash documentary I saw on PBS a couple weeks or so ago. Yes, it is in my head still.

Did anybody watch it? Was that Lee in the background graffiti writing?

Sometimes my posts are not in order

Sometimes I write a few at a time and they sneak in between other posts.

I am unemployed, bored, and tired of waiting for the phone to ring. Drop me a line at my email address.

Losing momentum

If you are interested in taking part in making St. Patrick's day into a holiday, join Guinness Brewery's petition. They seem to be losing momentum.

If you know the history of the irish impact on this country or just want a day off go to:

www.propostion317.com

I know that this is a promotional thing for St. Patrick's day, but if congress can vote in a bunch of crappy laws detrimental to its people, why not try for something fun like this. Who does it hurt anyway?

Still Laid off...still frustrated...still finding stuff to do on the cheap

One of the greatest free venues Los Angeles has to offer is by far The Getty Museum.

Where: 1200 Getty Drive (just off of Sepulveda)
When: Tuesdays-Sundays
What: Wide range of art including Van Gogh's Irises and my favorite current exhibit The Goat Dance a retrospective of the photographs of Graciela Iturbide. It also has an artfully designed garden/sculpture garden. (Just don't touch)
Total cost to you: $8 parking, tram ride free, admission to the museum free.

You may recognize the mural at the left "Nuestra Senora de las Iguanas" re-worked by Anne Sperling was originally a photo by Graciela Iturbide. (You can see the mural in Silver Lake just stand outside of Intellegencia and look up and to the left) I went expressly to see the Iturbide exhibit, not because of the mural but because I am a huge fan of the Mexican photographers. Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Tina Mondotti being among my favs. (You can see an Alvarez Bravo in the adjacent Nudes room) I am not the best at being an art critic, but what I love about Iturbide's work, as well as that of her mentors, is that as well as being very artfully done, there is also an element of social-political criticism to each and every photograph. (There it is again social political criticism) Catch he talking about her work in this short video Hay Tiempo/There is time on the Getty website.

Click here/haz clic aquí
I strongly recommend seeing this show, it runs until April 13th.

No matter how hard you try, you cannot enjoy all that the Getty has to offer in one day. Go often, it is so quiet and peaceful. It really feels like you are on a little retreat. Who knew that free could offer you piece of mind?

now that I ...

... put on an indistinguishable picture of myself on this blog, please do not write me nasty perverted notes. I will reach through this computer and smack you.

my favorite banned movie

After looking through Filmtracks I was reminded of my favorite banned movie written and directed by Todd Haynes, also one of my favorite film directors. (His "I'm Not There" was featured, but my favorite film is the "Citizen Kane"-esque "Velvet Goldmine") ((A girl who likes Hip-Hop and Glam Rock, No Way))

I digress.

My favorite banned film is a movie he did a couple years after he finished film school called "Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story" which you will find by clicking here (It is best if you do not watch it full screen, very pixelated, obviously a copy of a copy)

I think this is a great film of the effects of fame on the psyche as well as a great film about eating disorders. I think it is a must see for young girls and might sway people away from that destructive disease.

What Barbie Dolls?!?!
I know you might be put off that it is "acted" out by Barbie Dolls, but if any of you are old enough to remember how she looked before she died, you would realize that it would be a human rights violation to ask anyone to widdle away to the weight she was before death. Not that the starlettes aren't trying.

So if you have about 40 minutes to spare check out my favorite banned film, how it ended up on the internet I will never know. When I saw it as a copy of a copy of a copy the Carpenter Family, especially Richard was taking legal action so that it would not be seen, he didn't want Karen remembered that way, and the doll thing didn't help.

Let me know what you think. It isn't bad to comment on a blog that you are reading or emailing the person to let them know that you are reading. In fact it is encouraged.

"Honest to Blog"-Diablo Cody

I mentioned recently that I wished that there were a category for best film soundtrack.
Strangely I just came across this blog called Filmtracks that is blog about nothing but soundtracks.

Basically it names a soundtrack, lists all of the songs and enables you to directly download or buy.

Yay! No more guessing. No more sitting 5 inches from your television with a magnifying glass trying to decipher black screen with white type, in hopes that you will figure out the song that you like.

Unfortunately this blog is on hiatus. I hope it comes back soon, but you will have plenty to keep you busy. Check out the redesigned cover art , re-worked by the blogger.

Filtering through nostalgia

This blog isn't as music heavy as the other blogs I have had. I kind of miss talking music w/ people.

This is good segue to....

One of my recent purchases has been the Filter Magazine winter '08. (with Q-tip on the cover.) Read the article "Q-tip and the Legacy of Hip Hop", I think it is one of the more eye opening articles I have read in a long time. I love the interview style to tell the story of an era. (See Yes Yes Ya'll by Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahern) Did you know that Low End Theory, which by the way is my greatest hip hop album of all time, influenced Dr. Dre to make "The Chronic."?

See all the people who were influenced by Tribe and what they say about them.

I remember running to a friend's house after school everyday to watch Yo! MTV Raps just to catch the Bonita Applebum video. Tribe was the first Hip Hop band I ever fell in love with. I love hip hop as poetry, I love hip hop as social political criticism, those are the reasons I love Tribe and continue to be a big fan. I regret only being able to see them twice before they stopped being a group.

By the way if you are wondering what music I listen to you can find me by my email address at www.jango.com. I have 4 stations to choose from.