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August 23, 2006
taking advantage
discarded luggage in Golden Gate Park
So i stopped drinking about 4 months ago. at first it was weird, cause i had to get used to not hanging out with my friends at the bar, which i had been doing a lot. but lately i've been really pleased with it, because since i don't really go to bars anymore, i've started to really take advantage of all the other stuff there is to do in the city. I've been going to art openings, which there are a ton of every weekend. it's nice in a way for me, because i've never taken a proper art class in my life, so i don't find myself doing any heavy-duty comparision or analysis of the art like my friends who'd been to art school do, i just try and appreciate it. if a piece of art elicits and emotional response from me, makes me think or makes me inspired, then it's great, otherwise i go look at the next piece. i'm the happy neophite.
I've also been seeing shows again. On monday of this week i saw A Silver Mount Zion, and it had to have been the best show i've seen in years. They had this amazing mass of sound rising into the upper reaches of the Great American Music Hall, and at times i would just close my eyes and feel it reverberating off of the ceiling and everyone. They played these 20 + minute songs, and it's hard, because so much tension builds up with all the intricate swells of instruments, that when a song ends everyone visibly deflates, shakes their legs out, and then braces for the next sonic wall i guess i could call it.
Then last night i saw the Mountain Goats at Amoeba for free. I like that he calls his band the Mountain Goats, plural, even though it's just him on guitar.
And tonight I saw Don Caballero, which i wasn't too crazy about, but afterwords i rode over to the Edinburgh Castle and saw Irvine Welsh read from his latest book. if you don't know who he is, he's the author of Trainspotting, as well as a bunch of other books. I've read all of his books, at first because of Trainspotting the film, but then because i was so taken with the manner in which he writes. he manages to put the words down as they sound in thick scottish accents, and at first it's very confusing and difficult to read, but once you get it, it's really fun. I think reading all his books and definitely helped me in communicating with Scots and Irish folks i've met on my travels.
The last news, i started my internship today at On The Fly Films. They're a small production house, and if the first day is exemplary of what my internship will entail, then i anticipate learning a ton of new programs and skills. today i did a rough cut of a voice over using their ProTools editing suite. I'd never played with ProTools, but after today i felt like i was starting to understand the interface alright. Plus i watched as Dylan, the principle editor, went through and "sweetened" my rough cut, using all kinds of audio filters that i hadn't understood before, but that i have a better idea about now. I'm pretty pleased, even though my eyes hurt after staring at a computer screen for 6 hours.
Tomorrow i might go see the Mathew Barney film at the MOMA, or i might go climbing at the gym, since i just got a new membership. Then Friday is an early morning Marin Headlands ride with my ex-roomate and friend Simon and Raphael from Brooklyn, then more internship, then my first Critical Mass in ages. After that, more art galleries, then maybe house parties.
Life is really good right now. Hope it's the same for you.
Posted by bendan at August 23, 2006 11:02 PM
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