It is a fuckload of work to be open-minded and generous and understanding and forgiving and accepting, but Christ, that is what matters.
- Dave Eggers, writer
I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating. I don't care if it's a book, a film, a painting, a dance, a piece of theater, a piece of music. Anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us. I think this world would be unlivable without art. Thank you for inspiring me.
- Steven Soderbergh, filmmaker
artists
Joseph Cornell
Lee Miller
Georgia O'Keefe
Lawrence Weiner
others too numerous to mention
writers
Jim Crace
Dave Eggers
David Sedaris
Doris Lessing
Hunter S. Thompson
music
Alice in Chains
Ben Harper
Brad
Erykah Badu
Janis Joplin
Jill Scott
Missy Elliott
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Pearl Jam
Shemekia Copeland
Soundgarden
Uppity Blues Women
Victoria Williams
magazines
ArtForum
Book
Entertainment Weekly
Link: An Art Journal
The New Yorker
scr[i]pt
Tricycle
Utne Reader
films
American Beauty
Basquiat
A Beautiful Mind
Blue Velvet
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
The Insider
Ocean's Eleven
Office Space
Ordinary People
Rashomon
The Ref
Three Kings
Traffic
The Way of the Gun
Wings of Desire
Art Under the Influence
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Fade to Black
C'est finis. Art Under the Influence bids you adieu.
I'm getting a job. That's right, a job. An actual job. Not one of my usual artistic/writing/begging for grant money gigs, but a j-o-b. I got shut out of the teaching stint by injury and I can't honestly say that I miss it. I liked the kids, but things happen for a reason, so c'est la guerre. I've spent the last few days putting together my resume. Let me explain - I haven't had to do a resume for the past ten years. I'm a living testimonial to the power of networking, because virtually every job I've ever had came by way of a friend, or friend of a friend of a friend. Let me tell you, there's nothing like doing your resume to make you sit back and say "Just what in the f *** have I been doing with my life?" I even met with a career counselor (she's still recovering from that meeting.) She's informed me that the preferred resume nowadays relies on something called "SAR". Situation - Action - Result. No longer can you write something like:
*Effectively delivered blow jobs to CEO and CFO of Fortune 500 company.
Nope, that dog don't hunt these days. It now must reflect thusly:
*Effectively administered three blow jobs per CEO and CFO weekly, creating a relaxed tension-free work environment, which resulted in my becoming head of Chapstick development division in six months.
Resumes are hard, dude. Just like those CEOs. Can you tell I'm getting punchy from this? Don't even get me started on the blowing sunshine up their a **** aspect of cover letters...
(Okay, I need a judge's ruling, does "blow job" constitute cussing?"
They say of me, and so they should,
It's doubtful if I come to good.
I see acquaintances and friends
Accumulating dividends,
And making enviable names
In science, art, and parlor games.
But I, despite expert advice,
Keep doing things I think are nice,
And though to good I never come-
Inseparable my nose and thumb!
- Dorothy Parker
When ugliness abounds, I find solace in humor. I hope that my B-more OZ sisterhood finds the same. Thanks to Noelle, Butta, Monica, Denise, Tysha and Tia. We put the F - U back into fun. ;-)
Pearl Jam Saves Sonia - Film at 11
No one, and I mean no one, is more shocked than I. Not that a van driving suburban mom can't suddenly see the light and bow down before their passion and spirit. It seems to have hit her like a bolt out of the blue. I'm just pants-down proud about the whole d*mn thing; that I had the least little bit to do with it. (How do you like the all-new non-cussing Crash? Hmm?) Just because I'm not cussing, there's no reason you shouldn't enjoy "Save You."
Gonna save you fucker....not gonna lose you
Feeling cocky and strong.. can't let you go...
Too important to me
Too important to us... we'd be lost without you
Baby, let yourself fall... I'm right below you now
And fuck me if I say something you don't wanna hear
And fuck if you only hear what you wanna hear
Fuck me if I care... but I'm not leaving here
You helped me when I was down... I'll help when you're down
Why are you hitting yourself... c'mon hit me instead
Let's pick up your will... it's grown fat and lazy
I'm sympathetic as well... don't go on me now
And I'm not living this life without you, I'm selfish and clear
And you're not leaving here without me, I don't wanna be without
My best friend... wake up to see you could have it all
Are you getting something out of this all encompassing trip?
Have you the belief that the road ahead ascends off into the light?
Seems that needlessly it's getting harder
To find an approach and a way to live
Are we getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?
You can spend your time alone redigesting past regrets
Or you can come to terms and realize
You're the only one who cannot forgive yourself
1. Would you consider yourself an organized person? Why or why not?
I'm fabulous at organizing other people's lives, but not so much my own. I can organize "projects" that are important to me. My therapist says to look at my life as a project. I say leave me alone about it, already. ***Issue Alert***
2. Do you keep some type of planner, organizer, calendar, etc. with you, and do you use it regularly?
I have a Palm Pilot that I a use regularly. It's been malfunctioning alot lately, so the fact that it hasn't gone sailing out of a window yet is amazing.
3. Would you say that your desk is organized right now?
My writing area is a shambles of post-it notes, index cards and red-marked pages. My art studio - well, we need not even go there.
4. Do you alphabetize CDs, books, and DVDs, or does it not matter?
CDs are alphabetized. Books are divided by subject. DVDs are categorized by genre.
5. What's the hardest thing you've ever had to organize?
Going today to see Apolo ranks right up there. Travel thousands of miles to see Pearl Jam, no problem. Go a few miles up the road to see Apolo, problems of NASA-like proportions.
I wish I was a disease, a disease called love and peace...
I wish I could spread to every person in the land. I feel it won't happen without you and me, it will take you and me and more than me it will take you. It starts with two, then becomes ten, then ten thousand, then ten million, then becomes the truth, the future and the truth...ready for the truth, come on truth, sing for the truth.
-- Ed's free association at the end of "Green Disease", Buffalo
Of all of the shows on this leg, I will go on record as saying Buffalo blew them all away. I got to see some old friends from upstate on this night, made a few new friends and even ran into an old friend from San Francisco when I got into the venue- we stood slack-jawed staring at each other, unbelieving. LOL! (Cue "It's a Small World.") There seemed to be a fair amount of tension before the show began, the bad taste of Long Island lingering from two nights ago. But once the lights went down and the opening notes of "Love Boat Captain" hit the air, the crowd was on its feet and they didn't sit for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes. There was an electric charge running through that place and the band felt it too. Big smiles from all of the guys, leaps (okay, I've never seen Stone leap...) The beginning of the second encore saw Ed switch out the Bush mask for a Bill Gates mask which was duly serenaded by him and his trusty ukelele with "Soon Forget.":
Counts His Money Every Morning The Only Thing That Keeps Him Horny
Locked In A Giant House That's Alarming
The Townsfolk They All Laugh
Sorry Is The Fool Who Trades His Love For Hi Rise Rent
Seems The More You Make Equals The Loneliness You Get
And It's Fitting He's Barely Living A Day He'll Soon Forget
That's One More Time Around And There Is Not A Sound
He's Lying Dead Clutching Benjamins Never Put The Money Down
He's Stiffening We're All Whistling A Man We'll Soon Forget
There were five songs in the second encore - surely the evening was over. Ed re-emerges and announces that the venue has a time ordinance and the fines are pretty steep for exceeding it. Well, fuck it, Mike McCready had offered to pay the fine tonight and we're kicked through the goalposts with the opening strains of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" to start a third encore. "Yellow Leadbetter" not only closed out the night, but closed out my voice. I literally had sung and screamed myself into silence. I just started to get my voice back last night. Consider that silence an early Christmas gift from me to you. State College - Stone Sings, Film at Eleven
The last show of this leg. The crowd was up, but Buffalo put this college cow town to shame. It was a notable show for a few reasons. First, it was the longest show they have ever played - three and a half hours. Seriously, I don't know how they do it. Secondly, the "Daughter" tag was AC/DC's "Highway to Hell." Third, they opened the floor to requests from the crowd. There was quite a vocal contingent for "Mankind" which meant Stone had to step to the mic, which he did, and he hit it out of the park. Now for the piece de resistence - "Satan's Bed" was requested and they acquiesced. They have not played this song in eight years (for reasons well known to PJ fans.) Well, I give Ed brownie points for trying, but here is a sample of his rendering that night:
(Note to anyone unfamiliar with the song - he is SO far off the mark, I damn near wet myself laughing...)
i've never lived in satan's bed
you know that if i had that shit don't come off
i shit and stink and then i pet animals
model role model oh somethin'
ah fuck
you know that if i had that shit don't come off
i shit and stink
i'm real join the club
lacamasaycamamsaycamalamacama
model role model throw some models in blood
get some shit to stick so they can look just like us
i shit and i stink
i'm real join the club
Oh, there's more, but I'm doubling over just reading this. "..and then I pet animals"? WTF?! I was crying, I was laughing (soundlessly) so hard. I was sad to see it all end, but there's the next leg (and at the rate they keep adding dates, this could go into the fall.) Oh, and by the way, you folks in Mexico City are getting screwed. Can you say "kickback"? I doubt the band knows how outrageous those prices are. Jeez, you may as well fly to the US and see them. Or feed your family for a month. Damn.
Don't know that one. Used to know that one, put it away. Uh, kinda know that one. See, this democratic thing can get really, (a sign is thrown onstage) really messy. Alright, if this has a song on it, we'll have to play it. If it says "Fuck Me, Eddie," I'm not gonna do it. And the winner is: "Thanks for the music, please fuck me." I said I wasn't gonna do that. Some people, they just always want a little bit more. Wait, wait, before I say "no" I should see what he looks like.
-- Ed, asking for requests last night in State College and getting more than he bargained for
Leg one has ended. Were Buffalo and State College worth the trip? I have blown my vocal chords. I haven't been able to utter so much as a peep all day. (To some, a voiceless Crash is like manna from Heaven...)
I'll do a full wrap up tomorrow. Now, who's going to pay the fine for me going past my curfew? Stop sippin' on the Haterade and help a girl out...;-)
