Somehow I did a dandy job of picking the coldest spot to work in Rotch Library. I mean, I have a nice view of building 11, and I'm surrounded by books about the National Parks and forestry and agriculture, but I also happen to be surrounded by vents that are spewing coldness.
Working in Simmons was not working, unfortunately. There were too many distractions: my ukulele, my friends, and my largely unread copy of Infinite Jest. So instead I packed up my stuff and trekked over to Rotch Library (a location I am wishing I had discovered sooner, except for this one section that is apparently an icebox) to buckle down and work on this chemistry p-set. It's not much better than Simmons, though. There are tons of books that I could spend hours perusing, and I'm sleepy. Also, with Thanksgiving a mere week away, and my flight home only four weeks away, I find myself missing home more than usual.
I'm not heading back to Oregon for Thanksgiving, though I do wish I was. You have no idea how badly I want to see friends and family and all the people that are honestly just too far away from me for my liking. You have no idea how badly I want a Kahlua Kicker from Dutch Bros (maybe MIT could develop the magic to transport hot coffee over long distances... Course 8 people, you guys should get on that), or pizza from American Dream (why is all of the pizza in Boston so terrible and greasy?!), or any of the myriad of other things Boston just fails at having. A quick peek at Expedia's prices for flights home next week makes it a bit easier to stay here for those four days, however; a roundtrip ticket is around $1000. So instead I'll be relaxing here in Boston, working on a paper, p-sets, a presentation, and starting the studying-for-finals marathon. Oh, and I'll be sleeping a lot. I'll also be working on getting over this lingering swine flu-y cough that just won't go away. Hopefully the sleep will help with that.
My last complaint of the evening: the latest Spoon EP (Got Nuffin) is not the greatest ever. Let me just say that Spoon is one of the bands that I will unconditionally love, no matter what they produce. But Got Nuffin pushes it. The title track is legitimately good, but of the four tracks (one of which is a remix), only two are actually enjoyable to listen to. Maybe I need to give it another listen, but I was definitely less than impressed upon first listen. I'm crossing my fingers that their upcoming album (due out January 26th) is better.
... YES. The vents of iciness that are all around me are no longer trying to freeze everything in the vicinity. I think I can finally get some work done, meaning I will stop complaining.
Coming soon: MIT's Obama-madness, why I'm switching majors (SURPRISE!), and probably a lot more complaining.
Showing posts with label Boston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston. Show all posts
19 November 2009
04 June 2009
IFF-y Movies
There used to be a small independent theater in McMinnville, a short half-hour drive from my house. This is where I went to see movies like Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" on the big screen because the multi-cine-whatever-plex down the street didn't show movies like that. Then, right before "Science of Sleep" was released, they closed. I can remember being rather unhappy about this because I had really wanted to see that movie, but would have had to somehow get up to Portland to do so. (Funny story - I still haven't seen that movie. I guess I should probably do that at some point.) Eventually, I learned that going up to Portland was the only option for seeing independent or limited release films that no one in my hometown cared about. I forget just how many movies I saw up there or which ones, but I know that "Smart People" was among them.
When I moved to Boston, I realized that my movie-watching horizons were suddenly ridiculously open. AMC Lowes and Regal own a lot of theaters in the Boston area, and there are at least three that are accessible by the T from MIT (Harvard Square, Boston Common and Fenway). There are also a number of smaller, independent theaters (though the large corporate ones do a good job of showing a wide variety of movies most of the time) in the Cambridge area (Kendall Square, Somerville Theater in Davis Square, and the Brattle Theater in Harvard Square).
By April, all the movies I had seen (that weren't put on by LSC) had been at the AMC theater at Boston Common. Thanks to the wonderful properties of Twitter, however, I soon discovered that Boston has a film festival, meaning more opportunities to see good movies! The Independent Film Festival (IFF) of Boston was primarily located at the Somerville Theater, with a few films at the Institute for Contemporary Art. After figuring out my schedule, I promptly bought tickets online for three films: "500 Days of Summer", "Upstream Battle" and "Art & Copy". I wish that I could have fit "The Brothers Bloom" in, but I had p-sets due, so I guess I'll see it sometime this summer.
(500) Days of Summer
One of my favorite movies of all time is "Brick", a modern-day film noir set in a California high school, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. When I heard that he was in "(500) Days of Summer" I instantly knew that I'd be seeing it at some point. It was featured at IFF, but it's official release date is July 17th (yep, the same weekend as Harry Potter 6). To be perfectly honest, I can't recommend this movie enough.
Zooey Deschanel costars, and the acting is superb. It's definitely a quirky movie, which I suppose means that some people won't like it. It chronicles a break-up, and bounces around between different days of the 500 days Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is in love with Summer (Zooey Deschanel). While I felt that the concept of the film not progressing chronologically was annoying, it actually proved to be fantastic in practice. By switching the date between the early days of their relationship and the later dates, the overall emotion of the film would change instantly, but rather than be obnoxious it created comedy. Despite the fact that this was a break-up movie, I was laughing the entire time. I thought it was hilarious.
Basically, you should go see this movie. Oh, and don't be late; right before the movie began, there was a short disclaimer similar to an "author's note" that was worth seeing because it's hilarious.
Upstream Battle
Focusing on the Native American tribes living in the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon/northern California, Ben Kempas's documentary follows their battle with the local power corporation. They're not complaining about prices, they're complaining about fish. The PacifiCorp power company operates four dams on the river, generating electricity for Oregon and California. Unfortunately, the dams are responsible for massive die-offs in the local salmon population. The tribes along the river rely on the salmon, that return to the river to spawn, for food. The ecology of the dams and the salmon population can get fairly complex, but the documentary did an amazing job of presenting it in an understandable way. The film is an eye-opening glimpse into the cultures of the tribes, as well as how large corporations respond to whistle-blowing. Also, we learn that Warren Buffett apparently doesn't care about salmon.
I'm not sure about release dates; the film seems to be hitting the festival circuit. Check out the website for screening information.
Art & Copy
In high school I was involved in several FFA contests that involved advertisement design and marketing, so I thought that a documentary focusing on some of the most well-known ad campaigns would be incredibly interesting. I was right in my assumption that it would be interesting, but I can't say that it was my favorite of the three films I saw at IFF. They covered the history of notable ads (e.g. Apple's 1984 ad, Nike's "Just Do It" campaign), and they also followed a man who posts billboards for a living, and the launching of communications sattelites. To be perfectly honest, I think they should have left out the latter two story lines. The film seemed to jump around a lot, and histories were fragmented in such a way that it was a little difficult to follow at a couple of points. No details were given about the sattelites, and all that was shown was a series of shots of a shuttle slowly creeping toward the launch pad. In the end, I think it's worth seeing, mostly because the history of such recognizable advertisements and icons in our society is fascinating.
When I moved to Boston, I realized that my movie-watching horizons were suddenly ridiculously open. AMC Lowes and Regal own a lot of theaters in the Boston area, and there are at least three that are accessible by the T from MIT (Harvard Square, Boston Common and Fenway). There are also a number of smaller, independent theaters (though the large corporate ones do a good job of showing a wide variety of movies most of the time) in the Cambridge area (Kendall Square, Somerville Theater in Davis Square, and the Brattle Theater in Harvard Square).
By April, all the movies I had seen (that weren't put on by LSC) had been at the AMC theater at Boston Common. Thanks to the wonderful properties of Twitter, however, I soon discovered that Boston has a film festival, meaning more opportunities to see good movies! The Independent Film Festival (IFF) of Boston was primarily located at the Somerville Theater, with a few films at the Institute for Contemporary Art. After figuring out my schedule, I promptly bought tickets online for three films: "500 Days of Summer", "Upstream Battle" and "Art & Copy". I wish that I could have fit "The Brothers Bloom" in, but I had p-sets due, so I guess I'll see it sometime this summer.
(500) Days of Summer
One of my favorite movies of all time is "Brick", a modern-day film noir set in a California high school, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. When I heard that he was in "(500) Days of Summer" I instantly knew that I'd be seeing it at some point. It was featured at IFF, but it's official release date is July 17th (yep, the same weekend as Harry Potter 6). To be perfectly honest, I can't recommend this movie enough.
Zooey Deschanel costars, and the acting is superb. It's definitely a quirky movie, which I suppose means that some people won't like it. It chronicles a break-up, and bounces around between different days of the 500 days Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is in love with Summer (Zooey Deschanel). While I felt that the concept of the film not progressing chronologically was annoying, it actually proved to be fantastic in practice. By switching the date between the early days of their relationship and the later dates, the overall emotion of the film would change instantly, but rather than be obnoxious it created comedy. Despite the fact that this was a break-up movie, I was laughing the entire time. I thought it was hilarious.
Basically, you should go see this movie. Oh, and don't be late; right before the movie began, there was a short disclaimer similar to an "author's note" that was worth seeing because it's hilarious.
Upstream Battle
Focusing on the Native American tribes living in the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon/northern California, Ben Kempas's documentary follows their battle with the local power corporation. They're not complaining about prices, they're complaining about fish. The PacifiCorp power company operates four dams on the river, generating electricity for Oregon and California. Unfortunately, the dams are responsible for massive die-offs in the local salmon population. The tribes along the river rely on the salmon, that return to the river to spawn, for food. The ecology of the dams and the salmon population can get fairly complex, but the documentary did an amazing job of presenting it in an understandable way. The film is an eye-opening glimpse into the cultures of the tribes, as well as how large corporations respond to whistle-blowing. Also, we learn that Warren Buffett apparently doesn't care about salmon.
I'm not sure about release dates; the film seems to be hitting the festival circuit. Check out the website for screening information.
Art & Copy
In high school I was involved in several FFA contests that involved advertisement design and marketing, so I thought that a documentary focusing on some of the most well-known ad campaigns would be incredibly interesting. I was right in my assumption that it would be interesting, but I can't say that it was my favorite of the three films I saw at IFF. They covered the history of notable ads (e.g. Apple's 1984 ad, Nike's "Just Do It" campaign), and they also followed a man who posts billboards for a living, and the launching of communications sattelites. To be perfectly honest, I think they should have left out the latter two story lines. The film seemed to jump around a lot, and histories were fragmented in such a way that it was a little difficult to follow at a couple of points. No details were given about the sattelites, and all that was shown was a series of shots of a shuttle slowly creeping toward the launch pad. In the end, I think it's worth seeing, mostly because the history of such recognizable advertisements and icons in our society is fascinating.
24 May 2009
Boston: The Music
[I originally had a really really long post planned, covering the past couple of months, because I've been a terrible blogger and owe you all a legitimate post. Problem is, it got to be about the length of a novel, and I figure that breaking it up a little will make it more readable. This first installment, I'll just cover my experiences with the Boston music scene.]
In the Boston area, more venues are 18+, as opposed to 21+ like most of the good venues in Portland are (e.g. the Doug Fir, Berbati's Pan). It seems as though all ages shows are a bit rare in Boston, but as a college student over the age of 18, it's is heaven for shows!
The Orpheum (Boston)
The Orpheum is a stately venue in Boston, right off the Park Street T stop. Oddly enough, it has seating. I saw Andrew Bird there in January, and it was my first show with seating like that. While I think I still prefer shows where you stand, the seating situation wasn't terrible.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: the Crystal Ballroom
Shows Seen Here: Loney, Dear/Andrew Bird
The Paradise Rock Club (Boston)
Located directly across from the Pleasant Street T stop on the Green Line, the Paradise is in the heart of BU-land. It's a pretty nice venue, and they have these platform/balcony areas at different heights along the sides and back of the room so you can sit or stand up there if you want, or you can be up against the stage, like I was for the Of Montreal show I went to back in April.
fire Zuave and Sugar and Gold opened, and then Of Montreal played in all their glory. For some reason, they didn't play a cover, which actually was really sad. Though, Kevin Barnes did prance around on stage a lot, and he kept his clothes on. I ended up going home covered in glitter and feathers (they dropped feathers on the audience from the ceiling twice over the course of the show), which is a fantastic way to leave a show, in my opinion.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: the Roseland Theater, but far less sketchy
Shows Seen Here: fire Zuave/Sugar and Gold/Of Montreal
TT the Bear's Place (Cambridge)
I saw the Wombats here back in September, and the venue was mind-blowing! It's phenomenally intimate, and really close to campus, which is really nice. Big names don't really play here, but if you listen to more obscure stuff, it's great because it's so small.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: ?
Shows Seen Here: Paper Tigers/the Postelles/the Wombats
The Middle East (Cambridge)
The Middle East is essentially this complex on a corner in Cambridge, up in Central Square. They have a bar and restaurant, as well as two concert venues, Upstairs and Downstairs. I've only seen shows in the Downstairs, and I feel like more recognizable groups play there. Downstairs is fairly small and intimate, with a low ceiling, and it's really dark thanks to the black paint (a la the Roseland theater in Portland). They also start the shows an hour and a half after the doors open, which is pretty annoying. Shows there run pretty late, but it's really close to campus (it's right next to TT the Bear's), so walking back isn't really a big deal.
The Thermals show was amazing! I ended up crushed up against the monitors at the front of the stage with my friend Zoe, and the former general manager of WMBR, Ben, was there as well. The show was energetic and fun, and totally worth the bruises.
Dan Deacon was AWESOME! And I mean that in the induced-awe sense. That man has some amazing power over people. At several points during the show, he climbed down off the stage into the audience, and then instructed us to do things. He first had everyone in the room running laps (Zoe and I sat on the bar on the side of room to avoid certain injury), then he had people dancing like it was the 1800s, and the final crazy thing he got the crowd to do was incredible. He had everyone go to one side of the room, then he had some people form a tunnel with their arms, and then told everyone to go through the tunnel, and once they got to the other side to form another arch with their arms to add onto the tunnel. This tunnel clearly had to go somewhere, so he had the tunnel go up the stairs, outside through the side door, around the corner to the front door of the restaurant, in through the restaurant, and back down the stairs again. And people actually complied. Basically, the show was a huge dance-fest, and is probably one of the best shows I've ever been to. Unfortunately, the pictures I took were deleted by my computer (this is why I'll never own a digital SLR... but that's another rant), so I can't post any of the awesomeness for you.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: ?
Shows Seen Here: Murder By Death, Point Juncture, WA/the Shaky Hands/the Thermals, Future Islands/Dan Deacon
MIT
Yep, MIT. Every year, MIT puts on a shindig in April, with a big concert in the athletic center, and a million other little events. This year, WMBR also put on a free spring music festival on the steps of Kresge auditorium. I had an event with Pi Phi during most of it, so I missed out on quite a few of the bands, but I was able to help the Harlem Shakes clean up after their set, and I saw +/-! I then went to the Ben Folds show. Hotel Lights was the first opener, and they weren't too fantastic. I guess their drummer was sick, so they did an acoustic set, but it was painfully boring. They were followed by Sara Barielles (or however you spell her name). While I don't normally listen to her music, she was great live, mostly because she's a good performer and said hilarious things in between songs. Part way through Ben Folds' set, I realized I had stopped keeping up with his music in 2005, after I saw him live with Ben Lee and Rufus Wainwright. I didn't know many of his new songs, and he played very few songs from the Ben Folds Five era. He also wasn't as all over the place as he was when I saw him the first time. A lot of people I talked to thought the sing-along portion was pretty great, but I just kind of shrugged in response, because the other time I saw him he did that too, but while standing/jumping around on top of his piano. While I was kind of disappointed by the show overall, there were two parts I am so happy I had the opportunity to hear. A while back, Ben Folds officially retired his rendition of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit" from his live repetoire. I had heard him play it live already, so I wasn't devastated by this news, and I didn't expect it when he played at MIT. The audience, however, was pretty insistent, and he ended up playing it. Which was awesome. The other amazing thing was the song he made up on the spot about MIT. He sang that he "loves me the gym" because of the echo, and poked fun at MIT, singing that we just "think about intellectual techinical shit," and that the crowd was siginificantly less drunk than the crowd at the show he had played the night before (which is probably true). Overall, the show was okay, and was not helped by the room getting disgustingly warm.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: Oregon State Fair Pavilion
Shows Seen Here: Harlem Shakes/+/- (plus/minus), Hotel Lights/Sara Barielles/Ben Folds
+/- on the steps of Kresge
Overall, the music scene in Boston is probably the thing I like most about the city. Maybe it's because the shows are more accessible because I live in the city (rather than driving two hours there and back in Oregon), but whatever it is, I like it.
In the Boston area, more venues are 18+, as opposed to 21+ like most of the good venues in Portland are (e.g. the Doug Fir, Berbati's Pan). It seems as though all ages shows are a bit rare in Boston, but as a college student over the age of 18, it's is heaven for shows!
The Orpheum (Boston)
The Orpheum is a stately venue in Boston, right off the Park Street T stop. Oddly enough, it has seating. I saw Andrew Bird there in January, and it was my first show with seating like that. While I think I still prefer shows where you stand, the seating situation wasn't terrible.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: the Crystal Ballroom
Shows Seen Here: Loney, Dear/Andrew Bird
The Paradise Rock Club (Boston)
Located directly across from the Pleasant Street T stop on the Green Line, the Paradise is in the heart of BU-land. It's a pretty nice venue, and they have these platform/balcony areas at different heights along the sides and back of the room so you can sit or stand up there if you want, or you can be up against the stage, like I was for the Of Montreal show I went to back in April.
fire Zuave and Sugar and Gold opened, and then Of Montreal played in all their glory. For some reason, they didn't play a cover, which actually was really sad. Though, Kevin Barnes did prance around on stage a lot, and he kept his clothes on. I ended up going home covered in glitter and feathers (they dropped feathers on the audience from the ceiling twice over the course of the show), which is a fantastic way to leave a show, in my opinion.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: the Roseland Theater, but far less sketchy
Shows Seen Here: fire Zuave/Sugar and Gold/Of Montreal
(The first two photos are of Sugar and Gold, and all the ones after them are of Of Montreal.)
TT the Bear's Place (Cambridge)
I saw the Wombats here back in September, and the venue was mind-blowing! It's phenomenally intimate, and really close to campus, which is really nice. Big names don't really play here, but if you listen to more obscure stuff, it's great because it's so small.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: ?
Shows Seen Here: Paper Tigers/the Postelles/the Wombats
The Middle East (Cambridge)
The Middle East is essentially this complex on a corner in Cambridge, up in Central Square. They have a bar and restaurant, as well as two concert venues, Upstairs and Downstairs. I've only seen shows in the Downstairs, and I feel like more recognizable groups play there. Downstairs is fairly small and intimate, with a low ceiling, and it's really dark thanks to the black paint (a la the Roseland theater in Portland). They also start the shows an hour and a half after the doors open, which is pretty annoying. Shows there run pretty late, but it's really close to campus (it's right next to TT the Bear's), so walking back isn't really a big deal.
The Thermals show was amazing! I ended up crushed up against the monitors at the front of the stage with my friend Zoe, and the former general manager of WMBR, Ben, was there as well. The show was energetic and fun, and totally worth the bruises.
Dan Deacon was AWESOME! And I mean that in the induced-awe sense. That man has some amazing power over people. At several points during the show, he climbed down off the stage into the audience, and then instructed us to do things. He first had everyone in the room running laps (Zoe and I sat on the bar on the side of room to avoid certain injury), then he had people dancing like it was the 1800s, and the final crazy thing he got the crowd to do was incredible. He had everyone go to one side of the room, then he had some people form a tunnel with their arms, and then told everyone to go through the tunnel, and once they got to the other side to form another arch with their arms to add onto the tunnel. This tunnel clearly had to go somewhere, so he had the tunnel go up the stairs, outside through the side door, around the corner to the front door of the restaurant, in through the restaurant, and back down the stairs again. And people actually complied. Basically, the show was a huge dance-fest, and is probably one of the best shows I've ever been to. Unfortunately, the pictures I took were deleted by my computer (this is why I'll never own a digital SLR... but that's another rant), so I can't post any of the awesomeness for you.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: ?
Shows Seen Here: Murder By Death, Point Juncture, WA/the Shaky Hands/the Thermals, Future Islands/Dan Deacon
MIT
Yep, MIT. Every year, MIT puts on a shindig in April, with a big concert in the athletic center, and a million other little events. This year, WMBR also put on a free spring music festival on the steps of Kresge auditorium. I had an event with Pi Phi during most of it, so I missed out on quite a few of the bands, but I was able to help the Harlem Shakes clean up after their set, and I saw +/-! I then went to the Ben Folds show. Hotel Lights was the first opener, and they weren't too fantastic. I guess their drummer was sick, so they did an acoustic set, but it was painfully boring. They were followed by Sara Barielles (or however you spell her name). While I don't normally listen to her music, she was great live, mostly because she's a good performer and said hilarious things in between songs. Part way through Ben Folds' set, I realized I had stopped keeping up with his music in 2005, after I saw him live with Ben Lee and Rufus Wainwright. I didn't know many of his new songs, and he played very few songs from the Ben Folds Five era. He also wasn't as all over the place as he was when I saw him the first time. A lot of people I talked to thought the sing-along portion was pretty great, but I just kind of shrugged in response, because the other time I saw him he did that too, but while standing/jumping around on top of his piano. While I was kind of disappointed by the show overall, there were two parts I am so happy I had the opportunity to hear. A while back, Ben Folds officially retired his rendition of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit" from his live repetoire. I had heard him play it live already, so I wasn't devastated by this news, and I didn't expect it when he played at MIT. The audience, however, was pretty insistent, and he ended up playing it. Which was awesome. The other amazing thing was the song he made up on the spot about MIT. He sang that he "loves me the gym" because of the echo, and poked fun at MIT, singing that we just "think about intellectual techinical shit," and that the crowd was siginificantly less drunk than the crowd at the show he had played the night before (which is probably true). Overall, the show was okay, and was not helped by the room getting disgustingly warm.
Portland/Oregon Equivalent: Oregon State Fair Pavilion
Shows Seen Here: Harlem Shakes/+/- (plus/minus), Hotel Lights/Sara Barielles/Ben Folds
+/- on the steps of KresgeOverall, the music scene in Boston is probably the thing I like most about the city. Maybe it's because the shows are more accessible because I live in the city (rather than driving two hours there and back in Oregon), but whatever it is, I like it.
14 May 2009
Dead Week Deadness
I'm alive, I promise.
Quick updates:
Finals week is next week. As such, I'm fairly stressed over studying and papers, etc. I don't really have time to think.
Allergy season is in full swing here in Boston. Consequently, I've basically been feeling like crap for the past couple of weeks, and over the counter medication was not cutting it at all. Flonase for the win!
I saw Dan Deacon live with my friend Zoe last night. Let's just say that man is a god/genius/wonderful human being, and I wish I had that kind of power over people. I guess I just need to invest in a vocoder? A detailed post is coming, I promise. I also saw the Thermals last week, and despite being squished up against the monitors, it was totally worth it - such an amazing show!
Just wanted to let you all know I haven't dropped on the face of the earth, and that I'll be posting real, legit posts in about a week, after my 18.01 and 7.014 finals are over and I'm packed and ready to head home. I have a lot of fun stuff to write about, and when I have time and I'm not thinking about integrals and Taylor series and recombinant DNA all the time, I'll post again!
MIT students: Good luck with your finals! And freshman, enjoy your last week of the year! One down, three to go...
Just a sneak peek of things to come!
Quick updates:
Finals week is next week. As such, I'm fairly stressed over studying and papers, etc. I don't really have time to think.
Allergy season is in full swing here in Boston. Consequently, I've basically been feeling like crap for the past couple of weeks, and over the counter medication was not cutting it at all. Flonase for the win!
I saw Dan Deacon live with my friend Zoe last night. Let's just say that man is a god/genius/wonderful human being, and I wish I had that kind of power over people. I guess I just need to invest in a vocoder? A detailed post is coming, I promise. I also saw the Thermals last week, and despite being squished up against the monitors, it was totally worth it - such an amazing show!
Just wanted to let you all know I haven't dropped on the face of the earth, and that I'll be posting real, legit posts in about a week, after my 18.01 and 7.014 finals are over and I'm packed and ready to head home. I have a lot of fun stuff to write about, and when I have time and I'm not thinking about integrals and Taylor series and recombinant DNA all the time, I'll post again!
MIT students: Good luck with your finals! And freshman, enjoy your last week of the year! One down, three to go...
Just a sneak peek of things to come!28 April 2009
Beautiful Weather = Photos!
It's officially springtime in Boston! As such, I've taken a million pictures with the snazzy new digital camera I got for my birthday a while back... I promise a real blog with actual text about the amazing stuff that's been going on around MIT and Boston is on the way. But for right now, I'm going to rely on the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, and leave you all with some photos! Enjoy...
[Mmmmm, dining... My camera has a "food mode" that's supposed to help make the food look "more appetizing". I think food from dining is going to need a bit of help in that department.]
[Mmmmm, dining... My camera has a "food mode" that's supposed to help make the food look "more appetizing". I think food from dining is going to need a bit of help in that department.]
26 March 2009
WOLVERINES!
Fear not, my dear and faithful readers! I am, in fact, alive. MIT and the usual things that just come up in life have kept me from blogging. Exams, papers, p-sets, resumes and applications for government jobs that probably don't actually exist because of budget cuts (thanks a lot, NRCS), helping run MIT's debate tournament, and Spring Break have basically made life incredibly busy. Well, saying that Spring Break is making my life busy is kind of a lie - I'm spending Spring Break here in Boston, with very little to actually do. I guess I've been exploring the city, using my camera, and reading, instead of blogging. On the upside, I finally saw Watchmen.
(Funny story - I went and saw it by myself in the afternoon a couple of days ago at the AMC Loews (a.k.a. professional wallet rapists - $8.75 for a matinee? REALLY? and $8.50 for a small popcorn and a small soda? REALLY?) in Boston Commons, and looking around the theater, I noticed something. Everyone there was there by themselves. Yep, I saw Watchmen with all of the other single, loser comic book (... I mean, "graphic novel") fans, most of whom were probably seeing it for the fifty bajillionth time. Needless to say, I walked out of that theater with a little less dignity than I walked in there with. Oh, and my verdict on the movie: it was awesome! I don't care that the ending was different, I was completely happy with the movie all the way through.)
I was also pretty excited to get my hands on a copy of the new Decemberists album, The Hazards of Love. Reason #1340974519384 why I love being a member of WMBR: I was listening to The Hazards of Love last Saturday. It came out this past Tuesday. I didn't have to pay for a thing. Promotional copies are fantastic. This new album is the first of their full-lengths to not get a score of at least 8 from Pitchfork, and for once I agree (Pitchfork and I are usually not the best of pals - Pitchfork doesn't know this of course, but I tend to disagree with most of their scores, and their reviewers... but what do I know, right?). While this album clearly has the usual hallmarks of a Decemberists album, it lacks a few elements that make a Decemberists album truly great. This album is much darker than their previous works (yes, it is possible - gone are the days of songs of vindictive sea-faring orphans - they've moved on to talk of killing babies), and the songs are clearly intended to be listened to in order. The single, "The Rake's Song" can only be truly appreciated in context with the other songs on the album, which present the listener with a very detailed and intricate plot line that can occasionally be difficult to follow without the liner notes (which they've generously provided on their website). I once told a friend of mine that of all the musical groups I listen to and love, the only two that I feel can do no wrong are Spoon and the Decemberists. I still feel this way, and will continue to unconditionally love the Decemberists despite The Hazards of Love. I mean, I like it, but I think I'm going to go back to listening to The Crane Wife and Castaways and Cutouts.
There's no rest for MIT students, though. Well, I suppose I could have not done any work over break, but I would have payed dearly for it next week. So interspersed between all the exploring of Boston and photography and literature binges, I've been working on my 14-page museum exhibit design proposal for my writing class. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that bad. Maybe it's because I love writing, or maybe it's because there's not really any pressure right now. No clue. Regardless, I'm certainly not complaining. We also had a requirement to critique a speech or presentation for my writing class, which I'm knocking out tonight by going to a forum on food locavorism, which should be interesting. I'm interested to see how they portray agriculture and family farms.
And finally, the reason behind the blog title: wolverines are BACK! Those things are vicious, and I hope I never come across one while camping or hiking. I think I'd probably hyperventilate. Or have an asthma attack while running away. Actually, the asthma attack is probably more likely.
[Congrats to the MIT Class of 2013! Can't wait to meet you all at CPW and in the fall!]
(Funny story - I went and saw it by myself in the afternoon a couple of days ago at the AMC Loews (a.k.a. professional wallet rapists - $8.75 for a matinee? REALLY? and $8.50 for a small popcorn and a small soda? REALLY?) in Boston Commons, and looking around the theater, I noticed something. Everyone there was there by themselves. Yep, I saw Watchmen with all of the other single, loser comic book (... I mean, "graphic novel") fans, most of whom were probably seeing it for the fifty bajillionth time. Needless to say, I walked out of that theater with a little less dignity than I walked in there with. Oh, and my verdict on the movie: it was awesome! I don't care that the ending was different, I was completely happy with the movie all the way through.)
I was also pretty excited to get my hands on a copy of the new Decemberists album, The Hazards of Love. Reason #1340974519384 why I love being a member of WMBR: I was listening to The Hazards of Love last Saturday. It came out this past Tuesday. I didn't have to pay for a thing. Promotional copies are fantastic. This new album is the first of their full-lengths to not get a score of at least 8 from Pitchfork, and for once I agree (Pitchfork and I are usually not the best of pals - Pitchfork doesn't know this of course, but I tend to disagree with most of their scores, and their reviewers... but what do I know, right?). While this album clearly has the usual hallmarks of a Decemberists album, it lacks a few elements that make a Decemberists album truly great. This album is much darker than their previous works (yes, it is possible - gone are the days of songs of vindictive sea-faring orphans - they've moved on to talk of killing babies), and the songs are clearly intended to be listened to in order. The single, "The Rake's Song" can only be truly appreciated in context with the other songs on the album, which present the listener with a very detailed and intricate plot line that can occasionally be difficult to follow without the liner notes (which they've generously provided on their website). I once told a friend of mine that of all the musical groups I listen to and love, the only two that I feel can do no wrong are Spoon and the Decemberists. I still feel this way, and will continue to unconditionally love the Decemberists despite The Hazards of Love. I mean, I like it, but I think I'm going to go back to listening to The Crane Wife and Castaways and Cutouts.
There's no rest for MIT students, though. Well, I suppose I could have not done any work over break, but I would have payed dearly for it next week. So interspersed between all the exploring of Boston and photography and literature binges, I've been working on my 14-page museum exhibit design proposal for my writing class. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that bad. Maybe it's because I love writing, or maybe it's because there's not really any pressure right now. No clue. Regardless, I'm certainly not complaining. We also had a requirement to critique a speech or presentation for my writing class, which I'm knocking out tonight by going to a forum on food locavorism, which should be interesting. I'm interested to see how they portray agriculture and family farms.
And finally, the reason behind the blog title: wolverines are BACK! Those things are vicious, and I hope I never come across one while camping or hiking. I think I'd probably hyperventilate. Or have an asthma attack while running away. Actually, the asthma attack is probably more likely.
[Congrats to the MIT Class of 2013! Can't wait to meet you all at CPW and in the fall!]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)