Author: Matthew Eilar

Just a dude with a stereo, a computer, and a brain.

'Meh'st Week Ever, January 25th

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1. OBUSHMA!
obushma2. Photo Clichès

Somebody missing the point.
Somebody missing the point.

3. Mr. Rogers was a badass.

6. He was genuinely curious about others. Mister Rogers was known as one of the toughest interviews because he’d often befriend reporters, asking them tons of questions, taking pictures of them, compiling an album for them at the end of their time together, and calling them after to check in on them and hear about their families. He wasn’t concerned with himself, and genuinely loved hearing the life stories of others.

And it wasn’t just with reporters. Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec’s house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host).

On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver’s home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.

4. High speed cameras:


5. Satellite photos!
dccm20jan2009-9701
6. Funny unique phrases:

Fensterln: German for climbing through a window to avoid someone’s parents so you can have sex without them knowing.

7. Pretty interesting daily routines of famous people:

Erik Satie

On most mornings after he moved to Arcueil, Satie would return to Paris on foot, a distance of about ten kilometres, stopping frequently at his favourite cafés on route. According to Templier, “he walked slowly, taking small steps, his umbrella held tight under his arm. When talking he would stop, bend one knee a little, adjust his pince-nez and place his fist on his lap. The we would take off once more with small deliberate steps.”

When he eventually reached Paris he visited friends, or arranged to meet them in other cafés by sending pneumatiques. Often the walking from place to place continued, focusing on Montmarte before the war, and subsequently on Montparnasse. From here, Satie would catch the last train back to Arcueil at about 1.00am, or, if he was still engaged in serious drinking, he would miss the train and begin the long walk home during the early hours of the morning. Then the daily round would begin again.

Roger Shattuck, in conversations with John Cage in 1982, put forward the interesting theory that “the source of Satie’s sense of musical beat–the possibility of variation within repetition, the effect of boredom on the organism–may be this endless walking back and forth across the same landscape day after day . . . the total observation of a very limited and narrow environment.” During his walks, Satie was also observed stopping to jot down ideas by the light of the street lamps he passed.


‘Meh’st Week Ever, January 25th

Matthew EilarLeave a comment

1. OBUSHMA!

obushma2. Photo Clichès

Somebody missing the point.
Somebody missing the point.

3. Mr. Rogers was a badass.

6. He was genuinely curious about others. Mister Rogers was known as one of the toughest interviews because he’d often befriend reporters, asking them tons of questions, taking pictures of them, compiling an album for them at the end of their time together, and calling them after to check in on them and hear about their families. He wasn’t concerned with himself, and genuinely loved hearing the life stories of others.

And it wasn’t just with reporters. Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec’s house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host).

On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver’s home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.

4. High speed cameras:

5. Satellite photos!

dccm20jan2009-9701

6. Funny unique phrases:

Fensterln: German for climbing through a window to avoid someone’s parents so you can have sex without them knowing.

7. Pretty interesting daily routines of famous people:

Erik Satie

On most mornings after he moved to Arcueil, Satie would return to Paris on foot, a distance of about ten kilometres, stopping frequently at his favourite cafés on route. According to Templier, “he walked slowly, taking small steps, his umbrella held tight under his arm. When talking he would stop, bend one knee a little, adjust his pince-nez and place his fist on his lap. The we would take off once more with small deliberate steps.”

When he eventually reached Paris he visited friends, or arranged to meet them in other cafés by sending pneumatiques. Often the walking from place to place continued, focusing on Montmarte before the war, and subsequently on Montparnasse. From here, Satie would catch the last train back to Arcueil at about 1.00am, or, if he was still engaged in serious drinking, he would miss the train and begin the long walk home during the early hours of the morning. Then the daily round would begin again.

Roger Shattuck, in conversations with John Cage in 1982, put forward the interesting theory that “the source of Satie’s sense of musical beat–the possibility of variation within repetition, the effect of boredom on the organism–may be this endless walking back and forth across the same landscape day after day . . . the total observation of a very limited and narrow environment.” During his walks, Satie was also observed stopping to jot down ideas by the light of the street lamps he passed.


LOST Tidbits

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The season premiere reminded me of a couple of things that I found while browsing the World Wide Web.

1. The top 5 conservative characters on LOST

A slightly tongue in cheek article about why LOST should be Karl Rove’s favorite show. An exerpt:

2. Locke: John Locke is the most mystical character on TV. He’s constantly insisting that the Island has brought him there for a reason – and that there’s a grand scheme underlying everything. He believes in miracles – and after surviving an eight-story fall, regaining the use of his legs, and healing after being shot through the abdomen, he has a point. He’s explicitly labeled a “Man of Faith,” as opposed to Jack Shephard’s “Man of Reason.” And he’s proved right, time and again. John’s also a tough guy. He signed up for a wilderness hike while he was paralyzed. He slaughters boar in his spare time. He stares down smoke monsters. He teaches ten-year-olds how to throw knives. His motto: “Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t Do.” As opposed to the liberal motto: “Please Give Me Your Money.” So think of him as Rick Warren meets Bear Gryllis.

2. This two part interview of Naveen Andrews would never air on American television.

LOST: Season 5 Premiere

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“Because You Left” “The Lie”

Wow…  I have been waiting a long time for this premiere, and the opening was the most exciting reveal since the first episode of season 2. Other critics have stated that this is the best since the pilot episode, but I think that it’s even better. The pilot had no expectations, no rules to break. This season has a lot riding on it, and it looks like it’s going to deliver.

The writers have talked about the difference between viewers invested in the mythology of the island (DHARMA, the Hostiles, Widmore, four-toed statue) and those looking for character (more love triangles!). I am definitely one of the former, and I am very happy to see that this season, there is going to be a lot of focus on the island backstory. The reveal of Pierre Chang was honestly the last character that I was expecting.

It looks like LOST will follow the trend of last season by making the show even more Ben-centric, something that excites me very much. Also, the introduction of new characters has been more smooth since the Nikki/Paolo debacle, and we have met a couple of them in these two episodes.

Some notes:

I am liking Hurley more in this season than I have for a long time. His desire to escape from everything island is interesting to contrast with others who are more physically and personally powerful, but at the same time are more chained to the power of the island.

I hope Frank Lapidus stays in the story for the rest of the season. He was not used very much last season (probably a bad sign), bu the writers have done a very good job keeping the new characters interesting.

Is Locke dead? Methinks not.

It seems like every character has their moment of badassery. I am glad to see that Sun is finally getting hers.

Are the British soldiers related to Charlotte?

Is it too easy to say that Mrs. Hawking is Faraday’s mother? The physics connection is a little obvious.

Monday Thoughts

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Today I attended an introductory class taught by one of my friends on Magic: The Gathering. I cannot say that I am interested in pursuing it as a hobby, but I was impressed by how much he and his friends knew about the rules and conventions of the game. I was also impressed by Wizards of the Coast’s ability to basically print money and siphon kid’s money away one $15 deck at a time.

The other thing of note today was that I watched the Obama Inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial that happened on Sunday through HBO’s webcast. Although I was intrigued by the strange choices of “special guests” (Steve Carrell and Jack Black in particular somewhat distracted from the history that they were reading by, well, being themselves), holy cannoli, there was some godawful music. There were signs of disaster from the very first performance when Master Sargent Caleb Green messed up the national anthem because he couldn’t hear the orchestra. The performers may look cool on the steps of the monument, but the logistics were not set up for good musicianship. In many cases, the performers were many yards away from their backing musicians, and there was no way that they could see them.

Aside from that, there was some terrible musical kitsch. Jon Bon Jovi, apart from being a completely irrelevant musical figure, absolutely murdered “A Change is Gonna Come.” Josh Groban sang a horrific version of “America the Beautiful.” The attempt to “update” the song failed for the same reason that it does when Protestant megachurches add rock accompaniment to hymns; the strict cadence of the hymns does not go well with the rock and roll beat. I laughed as Sheryl Crow and Will.i.am just ignored Herbie Hancock’s strange departure from the key signature in “One Love.”

In fact, the surprise standout of the concert, I thought, was Garth Brook’s abbreviated versions of “American Pie” and “Shout.” I know it was a cold day, but he was the only performer that looked like he was ignoring the cold and actually having fun.