Tuesday, May 31, 2005
nothing ever quite leaves. you're just a big overstuffed file folder, really. everything i've ever seen or thought just gets stuffed into my thigh or my back. and then something resonant happens and i say, "ow! my thigh! my back!"
Saturday, May 28, 2005
i'm in philly again. everyone's still asleep. i could write about substantive things, but instead i'll inform you that i just took two "which star wars character are you?" tests, and i was YODA in both!
this is strange, because, when we discussed this last weekend, we decided i was either C3PO or the Emperor. hmm....
,
this is strange, because, when we discussed this last weekend, we decided i was either C3PO or the Emperor. hmm....
| Which Star Wars Character Are You? Yoda You are wise and a great leader. Just because you are small doesn't mean you don't have a lot of oomph behind it.
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| Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. |
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
THIS WEEKEND, MATT, KEVIN AND I WATCHED ALL SIX STAR WARS MOVIES IN EPISODIC ORDER. IT TOOK 18 HOURS.
And I know it's stupid to wax philosophically on some low-brow commercial Hollywood blockbuster movies, but when you spend 18 hours on anything, you can't help but think about it a lot.
Episode One is a terrible film. I nearly walked out when I saw it in the theater. Jar Jar Binks is an incredibly racist character. I always expect him to burst out, "Massa! I don't know nothing bout birthin' babies!" Terrible.
BUT. I actually LIKE Episodes One-Three MORE than the originals. The original films were spectacular for their internal logic. They were tight. They were economical. The storytelling was superb. The characters were hilarious. The non sequitors masterfully executed. But they weren't really about anything beyond themselves. I always found their simple-minded distinction between Good and Evil pretty loathsome, and often blamed them for contributing to the moral cheapness of American culture.
And that's why I like these new films. In a way, they CRITIQUE the originals. In the old movies, the Jedi are an absolute good. The Dark Side is an absolute evil. But in the scrolling intro to Episode Three, we read, "There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere." The philosophical ramblings of various Jedi masters are often clearly misguided. The masters fight over interpretation and meaning. Their dogma is figured as clearly fallible -- clearly overcompensating against natural human emotion. Yoda says self-evidently dangerous things like, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to The Dark Side." The ascetic moralism is crippling and anti-humanist. Its chasteness is not cleanliness but spiritual death -- the kind of self denial that leads priests to pederasty and unrefined Buddhists to vacancy.
And so, when the Emperor talks to Anakin about acting on his feelings, you can understand the appeal! The line between good and evil begins to blur, simply because the "good guys" are trying too hard to be perfect. And so the over-reaction against dogmatic perfectionism is objectivist hedonism.
By the end of these movies, while we're clearly siding with the Jedi, we no longer revere them as pristine messengers of truth and goodness.
On a non-spiritual level, the films also rather lucidly discuss conflicts of governance. Whereas, in the original movies, the Republic was seen nostalgically as obviously superior to the Empire, we now see that they are just different shades of the same evil. The Republic is never taken over by the Empire -- it willingly forfeits its power to a charismatic executive. We see how democracy can self-destruct under the strain of its own hugeness, its complexity, its messiness. And so we understand Anakin's desire for simplicity when he proposes a dictatorship. We do not agree, but we understand. Even Natalie Portman's character admits that their democracy is failing. That doesn't mean it should be replaced by totalitarianism, but the admission of difficulty is important, especially in a world where democracy is being heralded as the easy cure to all global strife.
Film critiques have complained that Lucas is trying to have it both ways -- lambasting the absolutism of the Bush administration through the Darth Vader story, but also insisting upon the absolute good and evil of the Jedi and Sith. But their critique is hypocritical, because, if they believe in shades of grey, if they believe in complexity, then they should allow this film-maker to acknowledge moral relativism while at the same time having faith and hope in the existence of goodness. Their critique reveals their own absolutism.
Blah blah. I'm not being coherent about this. But I didn't set out to be. If I wanted to, I could probably elaborate more and rearrange my thoughts into something essayistic, but my energies are probably best spent elsewhere.
I can't believe I watched those movies for 18 hours. I can't believe I enjoyed it as much as I did.
love
dan
And I know it's stupid to wax philosophically on some low-brow commercial Hollywood blockbuster movies, but when you spend 18 hours on anything, you can't help but think about it a lot.
Episode One is a terrible film. I nearly walked out when I saw it in the theater. Jar Jar Binks is an incredibly racist character. I always expect him to burst out, "Massa! I don't know nothing bout birthin' babies!" Terrible.
BUT. I actually LIKE Episodes One-Three MORE than the originals. The original films were spectacular for their internal logic. They were tight. They were economical. The storytelling was superb. The characters were hilarious. The non sequitors masterfully executed. But they weren't really about anything beyond themselves. I always found their simple-minded distinction between Good and Evil pretty loathsome, and often blamed them for contributing to the moral cheapness of American culture.
And that's why I like these new films. In a way, they CRITIQUE the originals. In the old movies, the Jedi are an absolute good. The Dark Side is an absolute evil. But in the scrolling intro to Episode Three, we read, "There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere." The philosophical ramblings of various Jedi masters are often clearly misguided. The masters fight over interpretation and meaning. Their dogma is figured as clearly fallible -- clearly overcompensating against natural human emotion. Yoda says self-evidently dangerous things like, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to The Dark Side." The ascetic moralism is crippling and anti-humanist. Its chasteness is not cleanliness but spiritual death -- the kind of self denial that leads priests to pederasty and unrefined Buddhists to vacancy.
And so, when the Emperor talks to Anakin about acting on his feelings, you can understand the appeal! The line between good and evil begins to blur, simply because the "good guys" are trying too hard to be perfect. And so the over-reaction against dogmatic perfectionism is objectivist hedonism.
By the end of these movies, while we're clearly siding with the Jedi, we no longer revere them as pristine messengers of truth and goodness.
On a non-spiritual level, the films also rather lucidly discuss conflicts of governance. Whereas, in the original movies, the Republic was seen nostalgically as obviously superior to the Empire, we now see that they are just different shades of the same evil. The Republic is never taken over by the Empire -- it willingly forfeits its power to a charismatic executive. We see how democracy can self-destruct under the strain of its own hugeness, its complexity, its messiness. And so we understand Anakin's desire for simplicity when he proposes a dictatorship. We do not agree, but we understand. Even Natalie Portman's character admits that their democracy is failing. That doesn't mean it should be replaced by totalitarianism, but the admission of difficulty is important, especially in a world where democracy is being heralded as the easy cure to all global strife.
Film critiques have complained that Lucas is trying to have it both ways -- lambasting the absolutism of the Bush administration through the Darth Vader story, but also insisting upon the absolute good and evil of the Jedi and Sith. But their critique is hypocritical, because, if they believe in shades of grey, if they believe in complexity, then they should allow this film-maker to acknowledge moral relativism while at the same time having faith and hope in the existence of goodness. Their critique reveals their own absolutism.
Blah blah. I'm not being coherent about this. But I didn't set out to be. If I wanted to, I could probably elaborate more and rearrange my thoughts into something essayistic, but my energies are probably best spent elsewhere.
I can't believe I watched those movies for 18 hours. I can't believe I enjoyed it as much as I did.
love
dan
Sunday, May 22, 2005
yesterday, cheese on bread turned into a five piece. i now play tamborine and shaker, and occasionally guitar. it's fun and challenging. we tried out our makeshift rearrangement at the rotunda. it didn't suck! i was very happy. sammy from nyu is in town, so she came down with her friend laura and told us about her very advanced hip-hop tastes from when she was 8 years old. me and katherine were very impressed. also met some cool ohioans, in town to see nine inch nails. the best kind of ohioans indeed!
then we stopped by jj's housewarming party and saw everyone i've ever known ever.
oh and the "hair' tribute friday night was rad. prewar yardsale singing "aquarius.' it was meant to be.
more c.o.b. stuff today. i love my friends.
xoxo
dan
then we stopped by jj's housewarming party and saw everyone i've ever known ever.
oh and the "hair' tribute friday night was rad. prewar yardsale singing "aquarius.' it was meant to be.
more c.o.b. stuff today. i love my friends.
xoxo
dan
Friday, May 20, 2005
Thursday, May 19, 2005
i feel the touring bug soooo bad. it itches. scratch me!
i love new york. it's home. but i need to go somewhere and come back. constantly.
i cannot believe we're playing the hard rock cafe in montreal. that is so hilarious. whenenver something like that happens, i just think about me and sara in her dorm room, being bored, writing dumb songs... the contrast never ceases to crack me up.
sooooo, miss lacey langston had a fabulous birthday dinner at a BBQ steakhouse in times square. we were the only table of glammed-up queers in the entire joint. i was resident scruff-muffin, as is the growing trend, fievel-hat and all. joe had a killer tophat, and justin had this frilly thing sticking out of his shoulder, like a glamorous goiter. i sat next to a boy i used to notice in college. i think my friends and i just called him "red-haired boy." i was always convinced he was straight, so it was pretty funny to meet his boyfriend. funny to meet him, too!
last night preston of sewing circle played a rad set at sidewalk. he has a great song about pod corn. "POD CORN! NO ONE IS GROWING POD CORN!" it's oddly moving.
ack. i'd write more but i gotta go.
kisses
dan
i love new york. it's home. but i need to go somewhere and come back. constantly.
i cannot believe we're playing the hard rock cafe in montreal. that is so hilarious. whenenver something like that happens, i just think about me and sara in her dorm room, being bored, writing dumb songs... the contrast never ceases to crack me up.
sooooo, miss lacey langston had a fabulous birthday dinner at a BBQ steakhouse in times square. we were the only table of glammed-up queers in the entire joint. i was resident scruff-muffin, as is the growing trend, fievel-hat and all. joe had a killer tophat, and justin had this frilly thing sticking out of his shoulder, like a glamorous goiter. i sat next to a boy i used to notice in college. i think my friends and i just called him "red-haired boy." i was always convinced he was straight, so it was pretty funny to meet his boyfriend. funny to meet him, too!
last night preston of sewing circle played a rad set at sidewalk. he has a great song about pod corn. "POD CORN! NO ONE IS GROWING POD CORN!" it's oddly moving.
ack. i'd write more but i gotta go.
kisses
dan
Monday, May 16, 2005
have you ever passed someone on the street who you haven't seen in over a year, and you realize you're wearing their pants?
***
a lot of things have been happening, but mostly i'm just glad i went to poker night at andrew and shannon's house tonight. could have been a crappy evening. but it wasn't.
more soon. so much happening.
love
dan
***
a lot of things have been happening, but mostly i'm just glad i went to poker night at andrew and shannon's house tonight. could have been a crappy evening. but it wasn't.
more soon. so much happening.
love
dan
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
friday: the cd release party was so warm and sloppy. justin and lacey hosted with a big stuffed dog. i told them they could do whatever they want, so they just brought lots of props and presented them. it was totally perfect and dumb and joyous, which was exactly what i wanted. gina did a dreamy, low-key set, with an amazing cover of "billie jean." i'm still listening to her album every day. i haven't been this obsessed with an album since i was like 18. the TRILAMBS were the highlight of my evening (no offense to anyone else). it was the first time they did a full set. it was surreal and disgusting and benign and wholesome and pristine. i think they are my favorite band in the world. justin was like "where did THOSE girls find THAT guy?" and i was like "he's THAT one's brother!" they invited me to sing on "window." i love to sing, "I WANNA MAKE LOVE TO YOU! LIKE YOU WANT IT BAD! I COULD BE YOUR PRETTY MAMMA, BABY! YOU CAN BE MY BABY'S DAD!" although i always sing "dad" flatly. dream bitches were tight and classic. yoko didn't use her distortion pedal, which i think was a nice touch for the intimate environment. they played "modern art gallery," which i knew would happen when i saw "MAG" on their set-list. they rocked it, too. and i really like yoko's new "men can get breast cancer" song. it reminds me of tom green's, "check your testicles for testicular cancer" song. then the o'debra twins RIPPED OPEN A BIG GAPING VAGINA IN THE FABRIC OF SPACE-TIME. their set was terrifying. miraculous. hysterical. my whole body hurt from laughing. justin almost jumped off a building. if the trilambs are my favorite band, the o'debs are my favorite "act." they could change everything. and then i went on. i felt really good during the songs, though i think my banter was just inexcusably stupid. ah well! all in all a successful cd release. next nyc solo show: DAN FISHBACK AND THE FAGGOTS. i can't wait. total rock.
saturday: ah, a smooth trip to philadelphia with dibs. we played a house show on beige block, which is a row of houses near penn where students date-rape each other. i got to see all sorts of forthcoming graduates who were sophomores when i was doing anti-war stuff in 02 and 03. they're all moving on to be productive members of society. and i here i am in a band. awesome. we were joined by the inimitable creaky boards, who won over big fans! andrew joined us on "the kiss song," which had us running around the living room with our microphones, chasing each other around the equipment. that boy can tear it up. after the party, we had a slumber party at matt's house, and the boys played video games.
sunday: when i woke up, lance romanec had begun a whole day of talking about records. you should be jealous, because it was awesome. the boys played more video games, and then we had an epic breakfast at carmens, where we debated the important political issues of the day, such as "would you rather eat (as in, consume) a cooked butthole or a cooked penis?" somehow, this didn't make our breakfast any less appetizing. then we bummed around the marvelous, looking at records and comic books, all before going on a wild goose chase, hunting down thrift stores. by the time we realized they were all closed, it was the hour for sara and kevin's housewarming party. their house is very futuristic. it makes me want to live in the future. i got to see my little steven, who i feel very motherly towards. and i met some nice british people, and by british i mean south african, and by south african i mean british. i sampled some fancy beer and ate microwave spinach puffs. after sara and kevin went to sleep, i watched some "murphy brown" on their cable and passed out.
monday: i arose with sara, had cereal, and took the bus to center city. i felt like we were laverne and shirley, going to work in the morning. but my work is in nyc, so i got on the chinatown bus.
tuesday: i had to stay home to wait for a shipment of thingies to arrive at my door. i did booking things. i feel very on top of my game now. i'm psyched about our INDIANA show. it's at the firehouse, which seems to be the raddest place in the whole state.
this summer, man. this is THE summer.
i feel like i'm in "dazed and confused."
also, i did the "which teen girl squad girl are you?" quiz, and it told me i was thomas. gosh!
love
dan
saturday: ah, a smooth trip to philadelphia with dibs. we played a house show on beige block, which is a row of houses near penn where students date-rape each other. i got to see all sorts of forthcoming graduates who were sophomores when i was doing anti-war stuff in 02 and 03. they're all moving on to be productive members of society. and i here i am in a band. awesome. we were joined by the inimitable creaky boards, who won over big fans! andrew joined us on "the kiss song," which had us running around the living room with our microphones, chasing each other around the equipment. that boy can tear it up. after the party, we had a slumber party at matt's house, and the boys played video games.
sunday: when i woke up, lance romanec had begun a whole day of talking about records. you should be jealous, because it was awesome. the boys played more video games, and then we had an epic breakfast at carmens, where we debated the important political issues of the day, such as "would you rather eat (as in, consume) a cooked butthole or a cooked penis?" somehow, this didn't make our breakfast any less appetizing. then we bummed around the marvelous, looking at records and comic books, all before going on a wild goose chase, hunting down thrift stores. by the time we realized they were all closed, it was the hour for sara and kevin's housewarming party. their house is very futuristic. it makes me want to live in the future. i got to see my little steven, who i feel very motherly towards. and i met some nice british people, and by british i mean south african, and by south african i mean british. i sampled some fancy beer and ate microwave spinach puffs. after sara and kevin went to sleep, i watched some "murphy brown" on their cable and passed out.
monday: i arose with sara, had cereal, and took the bus to center city. i felt like we were laverne and shirley, going to work in the morning. but my work is in nyc, so i got on the chinatown bus.
tuesday: i had to stay home to wait for a shipment of thingies to arrive at my door. i did booking things. i feel very on top of my game now. i'm psyched about our INDIANA show. it's at the firehouse, which seems to be the raddest place in the whole state.
this summer, man. this is THE summer.
i feel like i'm in "dazed and confused."
also, i did the "which teen girl squad girl are you?" quiz, and it told me i was thomas. gosh!
love
dan
Friday, May 06, 2005
HOLY SHIT, the new gina young album is AMAZING. i listened to it this morning and went, "this is cool," then i listened to the same track a billion times on the train and went, "this is rad!" then i listened to the whole album again on my trainride back home and sat there crying and making the people around me really uncomfortable. it's been a really long time since an album has done that to me. this record is so dangerous. damn. i need to prepare for my cd release party TONIGHT but i just want to sit and listen to this album.
"SHE'S SO, SHE'S SO ANDROGYNOUS!!!!"
love
dan
"SHE'S SO, SHE'S SO ANDROGYNOUS!!!!"
love
dan
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
- i had mad fun this morning on barnard college radio! djs maia and margaret were super friendly and hilarious. we had deep conversations about quantum physics and i totally forgot i was on the radio. funnest cd promotion activity so far!
- my photo's in time out again today! they said nice things in both the gay section and the music section. i like time out new york - they are nice.
- the village voice is on crack. this is their blurb about my cd release party:
L.A. trio the Trilambs do satirical, gay-positive rap versions of Pet Shop Boys and Madonna songs. One Trilamb is Quincy Jones' grandson. Best thing ever? Maybe. Dream b###hes are a pair of adorable girls singing sweet, twee indie pop songs about being Best Friends Forever. Way better than Pony Up! With Gina Young, Odebra Twins, and Dan Fishback.
for those of you who don't know, the tri-lambs described above are definitely NOT the tri-lambs playing with us on friday! our trilambs are the babyskins and toby goodshank. although i'd really like to see them to satirical, gay-positive rap versions of pet shop boys songs. then again, i don't even know any pet shop boys songs.
- i'm excited about playing gina young's cd release party tomorrow. it's a week of queer release. i'm meeting beforehand with justin and lacey to talk about their illustrious roles as hosts for my party on friday.
- i can't believe the williamsburg redevelopment plan has been approved. it's gonna be so bad. i'm glad i live in astoria, but i feel way bad for all my brooklyn friends. i hope their rents don't go buckwild.
-hooray for the cake shop! brought to you by the owners of the glorious alt.coffee, the cake shop is a new record store/bakery/coffeehouse/rockvenue in the lower east side. cheap coffee, cheap records, cheap admission, friendly people. this makes being a musician in new york so much nicer! i can't wait to play a show there. jeff lewis band played a great set in the basement last night. highlights: "sushi punks" and (after hearing me request it at every show for almost a year) jack's song that goes "summertime comes and i'm coming by, i'm gonna bring - i'm gonna bring MORE MORE EVERYTHING!" i love that chorus, man. i want to learn that song and bring it to the masses. oh and jeez, i saw dufus for the first time. it was really moving. i understand the hype.
back to work with me. if you're my friend, or want to be, write me a letter!
love
dan
- my photo's in time out again today! they said nice things in both the gay section and the music section. i like time out new york - they are nice.
- the village voice is on crack. this is their blurb about my cd release party:
L.A. trio the Trilambs do satirical, gay-positive rap versions of Pet Shop Boys and Madonna songs. One Trilamb is Quincy Jones' grandson. Best thing ever? Maybe. Dream b###hes are a pair of adorable girls singing sweet, twee indie pop songs about being Best Friends Forever. Way better than Pony Up! With Gina Young, Odebra Twins, and Dan Fishback.
for those of you who don't know, the tri-lambs described above are definitely NOT the tri-lambs playing with us on friday! our trilambs are the babyskins and toby goodshank. although i'd really like to see them to satirical, gay-positive rap versions of pet shop boys songs. then again, i don't even know any pet shop boys songs.
- i'm excited about playing gina young's cd release party tomorrow. it's a week of queer release. i'm meeting beforehand with justin and lacey to talk about their illustrious roles as hosts for my party on friday.
- i can't believe the williamsburg redevelopment plan has been approved. it's gonna be so bad. i'm glad i live in astoria, but i feel way bad for all my brooklyn friends. i hope their rents don't go buckwild.
-hooray for the cake shop! brought to you by the owners of the glorious alt.coffee, the cake shop is a new record store/bakery/coffeehouse/rockvenue in the lower east side. cheap coffee, cheap records, cheap admission, friendly people. this makes being a musician in new york so much nicer! i can't wait to play a show there. jeff lewis band played a great set in the basement last night. highlights: "sushi punks" and (after hearing me request it at every show for almost a year) jack's song that goes "summertime comes and i'm coming by, i'm gonna bring - i'm gonna bring MORE MORE EVERYTHING!" i love that chorus, man. i want to learn that song and bring it to the masses. oh and jeez, i saw dufus for the first time. it was really moving. i understand the hype.
back to work with me. if you're my friend, or want to be, write me a letter!
love
dan
Sunday, May 01, 2005
dan: "you should go on a vision quest."
schulman: "i'd get lost."
schulman: "i'd get lost."
