Posts Tagged ‘music’
A while ago I worked in the Locations department of VH1’s Hip Hop Honors. Our job was basically to coordinate the coming and going of various trucks and tour buses so that traffic continued to flow on the street and all our vehicles had places to park and/or unload. This meant that I was outside, sitting on 35th street in New York City for 10 days straight.
As I sat stagnantly and waited for trucks to come or go, the world around me was constantly buzzing. I began to really feel like a part of the city. I began to see the same people coming and going every day, walking to and from work in their own little world. Occasionally, someone would stop and ask what was going on and why we had half the street coned off. Local vendors would stop to chat, some in a vain attempt to befriend us in hopes that we would allow them to park in our section of the street.
Over time, I began to love the constant hum of the passing traffic and almost started longing for that unique brand of New York street stench.
… almost
I felt like a part of the neighorhood, like I was sitting on the stoop with my friends, chatting with my neighbors. For me, New York became a living, breathing being. It had soul, it had character, it was alive. I could see it, I could feel it, I became a part of it.
I was 35th street.
Few cities actually achieve this. I have lived all over the US and have only experienced this in small instances in certain cities before this show. It happens most often while I’m listening to music. I felt it once while listening to Dropkick Murphys in Boston. I felt it again while listening to Tupac in Los Angeles. As cliché as it is, I feel it every time I drive down the Las Vegas strip listening to Frank Sinatra.
Certain cities have it, while others don’t, but I’m not sure what “it” is. I want to call it character, but there’s more to it than just that. What is it about these cities that spawns so many great artists and artistic movements. What about Seattle spawned the grunge movement? Why did gangster rap explode in Los Angeles? Why is East Bay punk different from East Coast punk?
I see it often in local restaurants and shops. They have a certain flare. You can taste it in the food; you can see it in the people. I can’t explain it, but the second I enter these cities I can tell whether they’ve got it or not. Some cities just don’t have it. I’ve decided I will never settle down in one of those cities. I’ve lived in a few of those places before. They seemed to suck the life out of me like some soulless monster trying to fill a deep void.
I’m not sure what the point of this little post is; I have no theories, just thoughts. Maybe it comes with age. Maybe some cities are just too young. I’ve never lived there, only visited, but Austin seems like a city that will have it in force some day. They’ve definitely got at least a part of it. Maybe it comes with art. Maybe a city needs a solid community of artists to truly attain it.
I think that might be it. I think it has to come through the art in the community. If the art is substantial or of any merit, the community it came from will most likely gain the same merit. The only common thing I see in those cities I lived in that just didn’t have it, was a lack of a good art scene. They had very little good music, few galleries, and no cinema worth anything. They did not support their local artists and I’m sure the artists just left, before the city sapped them of any character they may have had. I know artists in some of these cities, and they complain about that very thing almost daily.
This may be some sort of microcosm for any society. This may be the very thing that every society must have in order to survive. Maybe society needs art. Maybe art is what gives a society its life; its soul. I’m sorry to go religious on you, but I’ve heard it said that art is man’s attempt at recreating the divine. Maybe without this connection with the divine, society as a whole will fail.
Maybe I stayed up too late.
Tags: art, Articles, artists, big-cities, film, food, hip-hop-honors, music, new-york-city, people, society, stoop, trucks
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So, after a year and a half or so of living in Las Vegas, I’m moving once again. It’s weird. I’ve moved a lot in my life, but for some reason, this time feels different. I feel like Hugh Grant’s character in About a Boy, like every day, every activity in which I involve myself is broken up into smaller units of time, which units I’m slowly running out of. It’s not that any unit of time is any more precious to me than it usually was before I decided to move, more that I’m a lot more aware of these units these days.
Taking a shower: 1 unit.
Going to work: 16 units.
Hanging out with friends: 5 units.
Microwaving Chimichangas: 1 unit.
Reading: Not enough units.
Watching movies: way too many units to count.
Maybe that’s it. Maybe I have become Hugh Grant’s character in About a Boy, only not so British, or man-whorish. Maybe I’ve successfully become an island here in Las Vegas and this move is disturbing the peace on my tranquil little island. Most of my friends are now married, so at most I see them once a week, and my family lives a few thousand miles away, and I guess I’ve become a little too well adjusted to this island life. I do what I want when I want to do it, only associating with the people I’ve chosen to associate with. This move threatens to put an end to all that. I may actually have to leave this hip little island getaway. That is not something I’m looking forward to. Seriously, you should check it out sometime, it puts that island in Pinocchio to shame, mostly because my guests don’t turn into donkeys at the end of the day. A few of them might feel like a jackass, but that’s their own doing. Luke’s Magical Island assumes no responsibility for any feelings of jackassity that may occur as a result of your stay.
What’s most interesting to me is the way people react when they find out I’m moving. First, they ask where I’m moving to. I tell them New York and their eyes light up as they ask, “The city?!” I just smile and nod and they say something like “That’s so cool,” or “Wow!” or “I’ve never been to New York, I’ve always wanted to go,” each of which is followed closely by “So does that mean I can stay at your place when I visit?” To most people, it’s like New York City is some magical place from the movies and TV shows that instantly catapults any resident of that city into some strange category in the upper echelon of society. I’ve been to the city. Sure, it’s cool, but it’s not echelon cool. It’s just an island full of people living as islands. I guess that’s kind of cool.
I don’t think the island thing is really the answer. I mean really, if I can live as an island here, it’ll be a lot easier over there. So why does this move feel so weird? Maybe it’s because it’s the first time in my life that I’m moving somewhere completely foreign, not really knowing anyone in the area, and having no idea where I’m going to live or specifically what I’m going to be doing. That should make me scared, but it’s not fear I’m feeling. I know it’s the right move, it’s the right time, and I’m sure it’ll work out. I’m not scared. Maybe I should be, but I’m not. I can’t even convince myself that I am. It all just feels weird.
Maybe it just means I’m finally entering the “adult” world. Maybe that’s it. Las Vegas is kind of a transitional place. Most of the people I know out here are in that transitional phase of their life between college and career. Maybe this weirdness is just the feeling that comes with leaving that phase behind. Maybe this is the feeling of “growing up.” Maybe this is the feeling of actually becoming an island. Whatever the case, I’m not getting on any stages with strange little boys to sing “Killing Me Softly.”
Tags: about-a-boy, Articles, growing-up, las-vegas, moving, music, new-york-city, simon-and-garfunkel
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The other day, I was watching an old episode of Dinner for Five, which is a show on IFC hosted by Jon Favreau (Swingers and Elf), where a group of actors, producers, directors and/or writers get together and just talk about whatever, whether it’s old gigs they worked on, or why the Yankees suck. Anyway, I don’t remember who was on the other day, but they were talking about the old film legends like Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart, and Clark Gable. They mentioned that there aren’t really any stars like that around today, stars who have such a commanding presence that it goes beyond the screen. That got me thinking, it’s true, but why?
One of them said it was because nowadays, you rarely see film actors that start on the stage. Most of them never set foot on a stage during their career. I don’t know if I buy that. That may be true, but what does the stage have to do with an actor’s screen presence. Hardly anyone goes to the theatre anymore. I would argue that if anything, starting on the stage could hurt an actor’s screen presence these days.
I watched an Elvis impersonator the other night and had a blast. His name was Trent Carlini, he went all out, he may or may not have become my hero. It’s still under review. Apparently, he had a hit record in Europe by the time he was 17, but decided he wasn’t doing what he loved, so he quit and dedicated his life to the King. We wondered what it was that made someone do this, and then wondered if there were any stars big enough today to warrant future impersonators. Sure, you’ve got the old guys, like Neil Diamond, Wayne Newton, and Michael Jackson, that already have impersonators, but will any of the new stars have impersonators? Is anyone big enough?
I’d say the only one that comes close these days would be U2 and Bono, but they’re not exactly new. As far as actors go, the closest you get would probably be Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, or Clint Eastwood, but again, they’re not exactly fresh from the womb. So where are our Beatles, our Elvises (Elvii?), our Clark Gables, our Fred Astaires? Will there ever be another legend like them, or are there just too many competing for that title?
I think I finally found an answer. I woke up today and came out to find my roommates watching VH1’s 100 Greatest Child Actors. I think that’s what happened. I think we know way too much about our stars today. There’s no mystery, their images are shattered with every click of the camera in the hands of the paparazzi. We have cable channels dedicated solely to the worship and fascination of celebrities. You can’t watch the news without hearing about Trump vs. Rosie 2007, or “Bradgelina”s new baby, or why Tom Cruise is clinically insane.
The only stars today that have any sort of mysterious, larger than life screen presence are the ones that stay out of the headlines, like Matt Damon, or Denzel Washington. We are the ones ruining the legends. We’ve turned from worship to priest craft as our hunger for fame has created a multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to the exposure of the deepest, darkest secrets of our most idolized stars. It’s our own fault, we take the stars of today and lift up their skirts (often literally), exposing everyone of their hidden faults.
God is only God because His worship requires faith. It’s the same with the old legends. People didn’t see the actors on screen, they saw an amalgamation of every last character they ever played, making them larger than life. No one knew the actual actors. They weren’t real, only the guy on screen or on the stage was real. They had no weaknesses. They were perfect. If we knew every last weakness God ever had, would he cease to be God?
Tags: Articles, celebrity, dinner-for-five, elvis, jon-favreau, legends, Movies, music
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My name is Luke Stay and I have been without an Ipod for 6 months now.
I still remember the day it stopped working. It was the closest I’ve come to crying in years. I tried to listen to the radio for a while but I just couldn’t take it. I’d rather drive in silence than hear the same songs over and over again. I dusted off my old CD case and my old portable CD player and tried that for a while. I have way too much music to be browsing through CDs in the middle of traffic. I almost killed 3 kids carrying lollipops.
This past weekend, though, it all changed. I had just worked incredibly long hours for two weeks straight, walked into the Mac store on Black Friday, and saw a deal I couldn’t pass up. I will never be without an Ipod again. As my fingers ran across the click-wheel, scrolling through my thousands of songs, my heart was full. It was like I had been reunited with an old friend. I was smiling.
Maybe it was the extra Turkey I had at dinner the night before; maybe it was the Egg Nog I had chugged that morning; or maybe it was the frigid winds of Utah keeping me teetering on the brink of hypothermia, but holding that new 80GB Ipod Video in my hands made me start thinking of all the things in life that made me happy; all the things that gave me that warm fuzzy feeling. So, this Holiday season, rather than list off the things I’m thankful for, I’m going to list off the things in life that just make me feel good inside.
Here they are in no particular order:
- Getting into a sun-baked car on an icy day
- Drinking Kool-Aid from a sippy cup after a rough day
- Finding that song or that movie that fits the moment perfectly
- Standing at the top of a mountain and looking down at what I just climbed
- Finally finishing a project I’ve been working on for years
- A good hug from a good friend
- Falling asleep curled up in my blue loveseat
- Sending people into uncontrollable laughter
- Making a girl smile
- Beating my brothers in Halo
- Putting on a brand new sweatshirt
- Wearing clothes fresh from the dryer
- Wearing a pair of socks for the first time
- That food that perfectly satisfies whatever craving I have
- Sitting by the campfire with friends on a cold night
- Finally getting to sleep in after 2 weeks of sleep deprivation
- Road trips that come out of nowhere
- Singing at the top of my lungs when alone in the car
- Mocking cheesy movies with good friends
- Cheering with friends at a Hockey game
- Hot Apple Cider
- A Steak cooked to perfection
- Running into an old friend I haven’t seen in years
- The first brush with a new toothbrush
Tags: apple-store, Articles, cd, Ipod, music, radio, warm-fuzzies
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