Tag Archives: truth

kanye or kan-nay

  By Sarah | November 26, 2010 - 10:12 pm | Findings, Rants
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Perplexed by his new record’s popularity and in complete misunderstanding of Pitchfork’s 10.0 (highest possible) rating, I cannot help but follow the press like a word vomit obsession. I cannot control it, it just comes out. Like out onto your own moving car with everyone you know watching, into a trashcan, or all over your face. Kanye, like vomit, seems to get uncontrollably everywhere. He is an attention whore, tweet factory and all around strange man.

It was Dre who told me not to hate him just to continue my status quo. It was Shai who gave me the GOOD Fridays (and yes I listened to them and enjoyed them for a short while) who helped me consider him as more than just his douchey-ness. After receiving the album for free and listening to it two and a half times all the way through I can say that it is grand, over the top, histrionic, over-produced, arguably layered too much, features a lot (too many?) of big acts (credited and not) and well, is very good. Although I don’t know how I feel about a favorite Pitchfork’s Poptimist columnist Tom Ewing comparing My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

See I’ve always hated Kanye West. And the level of thought I have given this man lately, quite frankly, scares me. I’m not sure I understand his popularity. OK, he’s a good producer. But is his popularity due to Jay-Z’s friendship? (Amazing Terry Gross interview.) The whole Peter Rothbart ‘gatekeeper’ idea is swirling about in my head (thanks Morg). Do we like him because we’ve been told this record would be great? Or is it actually? Also, I do not sympathize in the loss of his mother. She died during an elective cosmetic surgery (THERE, I SAID IT.) But I figured I would share this almost obsession and these ideas with you to see what you think. I am trying to write every day and since moving to DC have totally lost my passion (if there was any, it’s now gone) for politics and have completely thrown myself back into round-the-clock music obsession. Reading about it, writing about it and fervently, discussing it like word vomit. In a nut, I promise to be around more, only if you will.

To keep it short: recently fell into a co-worker’s personal music server with (this is the exact number: 1414 gigs) a lot of music. If you want any, you know what to do. Also, rediscovering my indie white suburban roots: I’ve completely fallen in love with Pavement (perhaps because of Malkmus to Lou Reed like qualities–Riley if you haven’t yet, listen to this band), Pinkerton, and decided I don’t miss college after an anticlimactic evening at a Georgetown show of Best Coast (I know, please don’t say it- inquire within for story, or just check back in a day.) Also Jack White is now ranking as a Jeff Tweedy all-timer (essay to follow as well) and is officially confirmed that I would do dirty nasty things to him.

To keep it short: will be around more, writing more as I’ve forgotten about this outlet and promise to not let our beloved ‘cant fall to the wayside. We need people who can say what everyone else is thinking and I volunteer. Also, if you’re reading this Riley: please accept my facebook friend request. Four months is a long enough wait.

binge with me-

  By Sarah | September 15, 2010 - 6:56 pm | Findings
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Men we love (and hate.)

Not only is Jon Stewart on the cover of New York Magazine, he has a new book coming out.

I love the New Yorker. I love it even more when my roommate steals them from her office (they were gonna be thrown away anyways…) and brings them home for me. This edition has a great profile of Mark Zuckerberg. After reading it, and seeing the full commercial for the new movie coming out on October 1, the Social Network, I’m into the story. It’s fascinating and probably one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) stories of our generation.

Also, I love Woody Allen. I know one person who doesn’t. My sister Kyle. She’s crazy for it. I didn’t know he has a new movie coming out. Did you? The photo there makes him look old. I didn’t realize how old he is. I guess the reality is he looks older than he is. That doesn’t make me love him less. What does is the fact that he’s married to his adopted daughter.

Life without music. It’s disgusting. Well, I’m assuming it would be. Last Monday I challenged myself to one week sans music just on my commute to and from work. Glad to be re-reading The Bonfire Of The Vanities, I’ve been too deep into Tom Wolfe to miss polyphonic beauty. It has led to incredible strangeness in my life. I do not recommend this but I do recommend lending yourself to a personal challenge. What else are you doing?

What’s with this? Living in a major city and using public transportation every day (and as a commuter) has made me an angry person. It makes me hate people. Which I know is rancid. But I sleep at night. Very well.

Music note: new favorite. Check out The Morning Benders.

i lied

  By Sarah | July 28, 2010 - 4:20 pm | Findings
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I lied to all of you, who listened, but who doesn’t lie? We all do it. I had a good reason.

GOT A REAL JOB! Sirius XM Satellite Radio…living in DC, working FULL time in DC, benefits, a pay check. It’s like the real world, only better. The reason I haven’t been here in a while is I signed a contract that my dad explained to me that anything I do write or say belongs to them. Although the contract did really use the words “intellectual property” I talked to my friend Ross at work whom I heard had his own website, and it turns out that I can have a personal blog only if I don’t give away company secrets, innovations or the like. As soon as I found out I couldn’t blog, I was disappointed and sad- thinking of many, many things I could have been blogging. But here I am! And I’m EMPLOYED!

Here is a story on Jame Franco, Freaks & Geeks alumni and all around stoner, bad ass, genius, and handsome man. I read the beginning of it and it is your basic magazine profile. Everyone’s famous columnist (or the growing favorite, shall we say) is David Brooks. I guess there is going to be a lot more of New York Magazine here on this blog, despite the fact that I am now living in DC (!!) I read this WHOLE one and its a good profile, background and its prominent. Check her out.

Everyone knows that Angelina Jolie is hot. Vanity Fair‘s last cover was of her and I bought it, bored and stuck in Buffalo at the moment, to read the cover story. Needless to say she is shooting a new movie with everyone’s favorite, Johnny Depp, in Venice, Italy.

I’ve been hearing about this band, Best Coast. Here is a link to download just an EP of new tunage. I just turned it on and it sounds like a rip off of the Beach Fossils. Or everything might start sounding the same. CHRIST. I feel bad liking both….

I missed you, blog. There is more to come. Don’t worry. Oh and Riley, send me your address: I owe you money. Also, Maureen Dowd is a bad ass.

Seinfeld, Steinbrenner and Dowd

  By Sarah | July 14, 2010 - 9:27 am | Findings
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We all love Seinfeld, that’s agreed upon. Also, most of us love baseball. And to some, yesterday was a sad day with the loss of George Steinbrenner. Luckily one of my favorite ladies who appears on this blog once and a while took a whack at it on this lovely Wednesday.


Maureen Dowd is a cold, powerful woman whose intensity and intelligence surpasses her sweet, sensitive side. She has great  red hair and sharp red lipstick to match. Her lips are usually pierced with a smurky smile (see sample photo.) She’s written Are Men Necessary: When Sexes Collide and gave nicknames to Bush and Cheney over the years as “W.” and “Big Time” respectively. She won the Pulitzer for her columns on the Monica Lewinski and Clinton years. Also, she was just featured in this month’s Vanity Fair with A Girl’s Guide to Saudi Arabia. You can see a small piece of her article here. So, basically she’s a bad ass.

Check out her chronicles of Steinbrenner and Seinfeld and don’t be afraid to lurk around her page and read her past contributions. They are usually all pretty terrific.

Nothing Beats Bourdain’s Candor

  By Riley | July 11, 2010 - 9:06 am | Quotes
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I’m planning to see Anthony Bourdain speak in a few weeks.
“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It’s healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I’ve worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold. Oh, I’ll accommodate them, I’ll rummage around for something to feed them, for a ‘vegetarian plate’, if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine.” From Kitchen Confidential, p. 70.

If he comes to a city near you (which he probably will), check him out.

mmmmm… vegetables

  By Sarah | July 10, 2010 - 8:13 am | Findings, Food & Drink
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Most of you, our readers, are meat eaters. Which I am fine with. Sometimes people apologize to vegetarians for eating meat in front of them, or preparing it around them, but there is no need to apologize. As long as you don’t force it upon me, we’re good.

But I am going to propose a little something to you. First of all, check this out.

GOOD magazine did 10 Best Foods for Your Looks. Notice, none of these are meats. One of them is fish. Providing you with natural vitamins to fight the evils of the world, fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oil and walnuts (my favorite nut, note) can do things for you that you never thought they could (if you had thought about it.)

Here is what I’m proposing. If you aren’t a vegetarian, I am not asking you to never eat meat again. Try a week of it. Remember our friend Nate Scull? He made a New Year’s resolution to be a vegan and it stuck since. So who knows what can happen. If you refuse to not not eat meat, then just go without it for a week, see how you feel. People like my grandmother are baffled at what the other option is if there is no meat involved. Let me tell you, there’s plenty. Give it a whirl, try something new. No pressure.

Also, if you like making fun of TWILIGHT, read this. It’s hysterical.

it’s not news, it’s commentary

  By Sarah | July 3, 2010 - 8:35 am | Rants
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Someone once said that, but I can’t remember who. CNN and FOX News talking heads (plus many more) are not reporting news, they are providing commentary. Never forget that.

If you haven’t read this, DO IT NOW (I know it’s long, read the first page and you’ll see why he was fired.) More importantly, if you haven’t heard of it whats. wrong. with. you?

I hate those people who use the offense claiming that people have never served their country like so-and-so. It’s bullshit. This is a voluntary war. Yes, we would all be a little, OK a lot more, pissed off it there was a draft, but it doesn’t look like one is happening anytime soon.

People are giving Hastings guff about on- and off-the-record reporting. The fact that he hasn’t served his country like McChrystal did and none of them are sure what to do with the fact that a music magazine broke such a story like this. I know I hate Rolling Stone, and  I still do. And I still hate Jann Wenner. But something like this usually doesn’t come along, ever. I give it to him. But maybe just this once. Let’s see what else he can do.

Remember when I said, pay attention, what else could you be doing? This moment is kinda like that.

among other things…twinkies

  By Sarah | June 9, 2010 - 1:30 pm | Findings
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I had to eat a Twinkie once. Actually, I was forced to eat one. I said I had never had one. I ate it and I haven’t had one since. It was gross. Ninth grade: Human Biology. Mrs. Russell was using a Twinkie as a metaphor to the structure of a bone in the human body. Yes, we all know that the bone isn’t quite as soft as the dessert, but it was a nice analogy between the two structures. Every time Twinkies come up I always think of that. I guess it worked.

So why this? Well, GOOD magazine as always is providing us with incite. If you are trying to eat healthy, which you should be, maybe you can still be eating Twinkies for there are only seven, yes SEVEN, ingredients in them. And there’s quite a picture show to go along with it. Mary just informed me that during World War II there were food rations and there was a shortage of bananas, so the filling became vanilla creme instead of banana cream and has stuck inside ever since. Now there’s your fun fact of the day.

When people tell me that they use Pandora I usually scoff and then question their motives. Let this be a small reminder as to why you shouldn’t be selling your CDs, vinyl or cassettes (yes, people still use and need those tapes.) Not only does this story scare me as a radio jock, but it makes me want to smack people into being able to find their own music instead of having it just handed to them. Does anyone remember music magazines and radio?

Last but not least (at all) READ THIS. It will blow your mind and maybe scare you a bit.

the links are actually great- read them.

  By Sarah | June 5, 2010 - 7:09 am | Findings
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I saw Conan O’Brien in Atlantic City with my dad. Everyone seems to be talking about Reggie Watts, his opening act, but I’m not sure why. All he does is curse. Granted he is a wonderful voice chameleon, but there was no content in his act. Sure he plays (or played?) with Soulive but that doesn’t make him great. I had never seen Conan’s Walker Texas Ranger clip reel thing-y. I’ve also never seen my dad laugh as hard as when Haley Joel Osment told some old folks that he has AIDS. Conan was incredibly funny as was his writer Damon Cole who did stand up. But I wish O’Brien wouldn’t complain, they DID give him $32 Million Dollars. Some people have things to say about it. They also said this. I look forward to the TBS show coming soon (fall?) because I like Conan, but I do agree, he needs new material.

I have one on my fridge. 10 bucks!

Everyone should be outraged at the new Sex and the City movie. In addition to the fact that Sarah Jessica Parker is still not remotely attractive, its full of let downs. I saw the first one- it was decent (and always on HBO, just like I presume the second will be) but I can’t bring myself to spend over two hours watching this movie. Absurdities are going on! Abu Dhabi is a city where women can’t show their faces because of shame, meanwhile these four already rich women go there, no doubt to help promote Western to Eastern commerce (meanwhile it was shot in Morocco), and flaunt their bodies. They should be spending their $10 million costume budget to build a school for women or a hospital for rape victims. I’m sure you have not heard of this book. My mother and sister Kyle are both reading it. The stories mom shares with me are disturbing- even to a true crime and devout nonfiction reader. People say that it wouldn’t be famous just for Sheryl WuDunn’s name. Nicholas Kristof (the awesome NYTimes columnist and WuDunn’s partner) helped it get to where it is now. Let me just rant a bit…. Women are still being killed every day and murdered and raped, in our own country (I don’t want to even talk about the rest of the world.) All it takes is that fact my mother taught me when I was in junior high school: 1 in 4 women in their life will be raped. Lesson: BE FUCKING SAFE. Okay, I’m done.

see what i mean....

It’s the 50th anniversary of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. (Truman Capote’s best friend. Some say he wrote it….I love a good unknown fact.) I was supposed to read it, according to Mrs. Stass’ 9th grade English class, but never finished it. I just watched the movie. We all know the conversation about it in Almost Famous in the opening scenes (I should really re-watch that movie. It’s been almost six months- too long.) I’m a chapter in. My dad had a Borders coupon and I now have a beautiful hardback copy of it. One of many summer projects: tackle fiction and novels. Only the good ones: Catcher in the Rye (something I’ve never been able to get through, I just could never stand it) and The Great Gatsby. Read it in 10th grade with no appreciation. Other goals: get down to the bottom of high school teachers assigning books for shit-head high school kids who have no concept of time, history, culture and have no appreciation for the literature forced on them.

Comedy Central bought syndication rights to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Monday nights, for two hours-I think. Hilarity ensues. Also, I FINALLY read Russell Brand’s memoir, My Booky Wook. It took me probably no more than a day. Who’s in? I know, he’s a strange bird. But he’s been through a lot. Brand can actually write and I’ve always been fascinated by him.

Most: it’s Ithaca Festival. If you’re here, let’s stuff our faces. If not- shame. I got all excited to see Jon Hilton play bass in his band on the commons last night with Kelley, only to find out he’s in CA doing god knows what. Unknown hits from the Birds and b-side Beatles songs would be better with the self-deprecating Hilton. Either way I still knew all the words while straight Ithaca-festers followed Terkel’s advice, my favorite line of the day, “Take off…or tighten up your Tevas!” Ladies and Gentlemen, that is EXACTLY what happened. I wish I had a photo.