insomnius

"‘Somebody,’ said Jacques, ‘your father or mine, should have told us that not many..."

Mon, 21 May 2012 06:15:48 +1000

“‘Somebody,’ said Jacques, ‘your father or mine, should have told us that not many people have ever died of love. But multitudes have perished, and are perishing every hour—and in the oddest places!—for the lack of it.’”

- James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

on seeing the Prometheus trailer yet again

Sun, 20 May 2012 19:19:06 +1000

Me: … :/
Lap: Well, it'll be better in 3D.
Me: Why, because I won't be able to see or understand anything and I'll get a headache and have to leave?
Lap: … yeah.

"But people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and friends, anymore..."

Sun, 20 May 2012 19:18:56 +1000

“But people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and friends, anymore than they can invent their parents.”

- James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

"I may be drunk by morning but that will not do any good. I shall take the train to Paris anyway. The..."

Sat, 19 May 2012 23:00:43 +1000

“I may be drunk by morning but that will not do any good. I shall take the train to Paris anyway. The train will be the same, the people, struggling for comfort and, even, dignity on the straight-backed, wooden, third-class seats will be the same, and I will be the same.”

- James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room

"I have this probably-dumb-but-what-the-hell mystical sense that if even one small detail of my life..."

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:15:02 +1000

“I have this probably-dumb-but-what-the-hell mystical sense that if even one small detail of my life had been changed, then everything would be different now, and who’s to say that the things most dear to me wouldn’t have to be traded away in the bargain?”

- John Darnielle (via practicallywalkingonair)

I said almost exactly this to someone just the other night. Causality is complicated.

I love that song, but come on.

Sat, 12 May 2012 18:25:55 +1000

Not only is there always one person who yells for Golden Boy, it always sounds like the same dude.

Cut it out, that dude.

music for dinner parties

Sat, 12 May 2012 14:20:30 +1000

me: hm
me: should I put a song called "christfuck" in this playlist
me: probably not

megachiropteran replied to your post: Saw the Mountain Goats last night and the night… Is...

Sat, 12 May 2012 14:19:35 +1000

megachiropteran replied to your post: Saw the Mountain Goats last night and the night…

Is that when it’s going to come out????

Pretty much! JD said it would come out “in the fall”, so of course the crowd pointed out that it’s fall here right now and so he had about twenty days left. Then he said Octoberish. SO EXCITED.

"Whenever something was missing, Marie attributed its disappearance to “something in the house..."

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:22:00 +1000

“Whenever something was missing, Marie attributed its disappearance to “something in the house that loved it.” “There is somethin’ in this house that loves brassieres,” she would say with alarm.”

- Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

Saw the Mountain Goats last night and the night before. Won’t go into detail as I would just...

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:31:59 +1000

Saw the Mountain Goats last night and the night before. Won’t go into detail as I would just disappoint myself by failing to capture the amazingness in words. It was very, very good.

Not sure how I’ll wait until October for a recording of White Cedar.

superdiscochino: i say this as an american sports chauvinist, i.e. a guy who likes football and...

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:11:15 +1000

superdiscochino:

i say this as an american sports chauvinist, i.e. a guy who likes football and baseball and kinda can’t be bothered to give a crap about soccer no matter how hard he tries:

aussie rules football aka THE FOOTIE is objectively and indisputably THE BEST SPORT

hands down, no contest, THE BEST

Actually I’ve never met an Australian who spells it “footie”. It’s footy! I’ve been to two whole matches myself. Positively unAustralian.

Maybe I should try to corner PPH after a Melbourne show and bang on about this so boringly that he signs my Fangio record to make me go away. Not a devious plan at all.

of interest mainly to people named Elise

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:23:00 +1000

[10:09:32] Len: btw, I may be winning.
[10:09:36] me: AT WHAT
[10:09:40] Len: Chifley

housemate and I discuss Joey Comeau

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:13:58 +1000

Housemate (paraphrased): Yeah, I like a lot of the stuff he makes, but I don't really intersect with the things he likes all that much.
Me: Even Tom Hardy?
Housemate: Well, I haven't tried intersecting with Tom Hardy.

Music Diary 2012 :(

Tue, 01 May 2012 21:21:41 +1000

Well, it looks like the Music Diary Project is happening again this year, and without me. Started yesterday, in fact. I was vaguely aware that it was coming up to the right sort of time for it, but have been too busy alternately shovelling my way through enormous piles of uni work and collapsing sick and exhausted in bed to do anything about it.

Sad face. I enjoyed doing it last year. Maybe next year.

katherinestasaph: andyhutchins: What should we call a generation’s inability to precisely describe...

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:25:07 +1000

katherinestasaph:

andyhutchins:

What should we call a generation’s inability to precisely describe moments in life without snippets of pop culture used as punch lines? Because this is what the What Should We Call Me fiefdom makes me wonder.

I’m not entirely sure quoting a book passage in response to this isn’t the exact same thing in a different medium, but here’s Leslie Savan:

People, meet the Person Nouvelle, a pop-culture ethnic of indeterminate heritage; a pastiche of lightly donned identities and a vast knowingness (if often shallow knowledge); a population that includes more of us than we like to admit (myself and loved ones included). This newish kind of person is someone who can swing a media reference, who can kick in with irony and has come to expect it, who can be both tough competitor and vulnerable victim; it’s someone who might even have the commercial cojones to market him- or herself, at least over e-mail, pager, or phone. You need not possess all of the above abilities to be a Nouvelle. Only one trait is really required: that, on a fairly regular basis, you vibrate with autonomic media responses.

…

It doesn’t matter which piece of media you prefer—Fox News Channel or NPR, Wal-mart or Nordstrom, TV evangelists or TV bad boys. It’s not which, but how much. How much do you cough back up the stuff you’ve been imbibing? How much do you understand life and politics through the language, imagery and constructs of the media you dwell in?

Well, this strikes uncomfortably close to home.

five mottoes to live by:

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:27:32 +1000

Nobody can stop us. There are no grown-ups here.
If in doubt, choose doubt.
Feeling things together is good for us.
Don’t read the comments.
Love, love, love.

This Spotify integration is one of the more annoying things that’s happened on Tumblr. I...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:18:48 +1000

This Spotify integration is one of the more annoying things that’s happened on Tumblr. I can’t even tell from my phone that I won’t be able to stream a song someone posts until the “lol nope you need Spotify” page comes up. Grargh.

oneweekoneband: I don’t even dare to begin to translate the...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:23:43 +1000

oneweekoneband:

I don’t even dare to begin to translate the wonderful, playfully-alliterative lyrics to “Im Zweifel für den Zweifel,” so for once in this week I’ll leave you with the German text—quite possibly my favourite Tocotronic lyric:

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel / Das Zaudern und den Zorn / Im Zweifel für’s Zerreißen / Der eigenen Uniform

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel / Und für die Pubertät / Im Zweifel gegen Zweisamkeit / Und Normativität

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel / Und gegen allen Zwang / Im Zweifel für den Teufel / Und den zügellosen Drang

Im Zweifel für die Bitterkeit / Und meine heißen Tränen / Bleiern wird mir meine Zeit / Und doch muss ich erwähnen

Im Zweifel für Ziellosigkeit / Ihr Menschen, hört mich rufen / Im Zweifel für Zerwürfnisse / Und für die Zwischenstufen

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel / Und die Unfassbarkeit / Für die innere Zerknirschung / Wenn man die Zähne zeigt

Im Zweifel für’s Zusammenklappen / Vor gesamtem Saal / Mein Leben wird Zerrüttung / Meine Existenz Skandal

Im Zweifel für den Zweifel / Das Zaudern und den Zorn / Im Zweifel für’s Zerreißen / Der eigenen Uniform

This is so good. So good. I don’t know what to do with myself.

Elephant Eyes - A Sinking Ship (live in Fairfield) I went to...

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:47:00 +1000

Elephant Eyes - A Sinking Ship (live in Fairfield)

I went to see this band on Thursday, having seen their first couple of gigs and then failed to make it to anything for months and months even though they were great.

They’re still great! I’ve had real trouble not listening to this song for the last couple of days. More, please.

(Elephant Eyes on Bandcamp)

"Morgan’s Non-Negotiables: 1. Non-smoker. 2. Probably not sworn to monogamous relationships. ..."

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:07:14 +1000

“Morgan’s Non-Negotiables: 1. Non-smoker. 2. Probably not sworn to monogamous relationships. 3. UNDERSTANDS INTERNET DETECTIVERY AND/OR PURSUIT THEREOF.”

- Len