Audience...

...and intent.



For most of the time of the time that I have been writing on this thing, I've made it my goal to kind of fluctuate between personal updates about what's going on with me and thoughts about cool stuff and problems as they occur to me. I hope you've had fun with it so far.

On a recommendation from Emily, i went ahead and wrote the tracking code for google analytics into my blog and immediately started spying on the people who are spying on me. I kind of imagine there's an google metanalytics, where interested people can see how often and how long neurotic folks (!!!) spend checking to see who's looking at their blog.

Aside from being an occasional ego boost/crusher, the analytics thing's got me thinking about why i write and who i write for. Is it for me? Is it for all 2-6 of you who intentionally come to this website to read about me and what i think and then wonder why you did it? Or is it for that 11 year old in Melbourne who mistakenly ended up at my blog, thinking that it was written by representatives of Kevtronics Inc, which offers "a variety of specialized computer & electronics services for both residential & commercial applications."

I have no idea, really. It's interesting to think about it though. Having an awareness of the fact that random people from all over the world stumble on my blog even for 00:00:00 units of time makes me a little hesitant to post pictures of myself kissing my dog.

I'm definitely chewing on this.

blah blah,
-kevincarnate

In a total blogging aboutface...

...i bring you a jam.

Thanks to Zoe, for cluing me in to the "Best of Bootie 2009 V.2 Mix," specifically, a mashup of Miley Cyrus and the Notorious B.I.G titled "Party and Bullshit (In the USA)."

THIS,

my friends, should be played at your next party, regardless of who is coming or what the event is for.

I was never a big mashup guy (thought the Girltalk thing was a bit overplayed and all that), but i certainly think they have a place in music and can be great. This is definitely one of those instances of greatness. Not only do the guitar part and the beat sync to near perfection, Hathbanger doesn't include any unnecessary filler samples or coverup beats to compensate for rhythmic imperfections.

Best of all, the all important content of the songs makes them perfect for pairing. Miley's singing about how incredible a party she's never been to in her life is. Biggie's celebrating a party that he seems to live for.

Unfortunately, i've been singing the Miley Cyrus parts to myself nonstop, giving lots and lots of people the wrong idea.

Nodding my head like yeah. Moving my hips like YEAH,

-party in the kta

Even when desperation calls for compassion....

...sinister things lurk.

Haiti's earthquake is incredibly disheartening when understood as the fragility that comes with a colonial history, constant political instability due to internal and external pressure, and almost total dependence on aid and trade from abroad. This idea gets reinforced over and over again when rhetoric like "saving Haiti" gets thrown around the media, even when it is intended to provoke donations from people around the world. In world affairs, the country is made to be a helpless infant adrift in the ocean, constantly falling prey to tempests it cannot stave off.

While Haiti's economic, political, and social problems and the language people use to describe them are issues in and of themselves, they tend to be readily apparent. The frightening thing, then, is considering what we don't see in the context of a relief effort. Learning that millions of dollars have been sent to Haiti via text message is easy.

Learning how staunch free trade advocates would like to use widespread devastation and human suffering to produce profit for the wealthy is a little more difficult. This release by the Heritage Foundation is an incredible illustration of what Naomi Klein has called "Disaster Capitalism," using natural and human disasters to push pro-corporate agendas in poor countries.

Deleted from the Heritage Foundation's original release:

"In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti earthquake offers opportunities to re-shape Haiti’s long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to improve the public image of the United States in the region."

Sinister things lurk.

humbled and hoping,
-kevlar

Everything changes...

...when you love some(love some LOVE SOME)one.

It appears that my favorite musical act in the world has become fodder for the Indie Christian Youth Movement.

In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty much insignificant. And yet, in my current place of physical, emotional, and intellectual stasis, it has managed to make me kinda sad.

I am in no place to speak for a guy who i said "hi" to once and whose music i tend to get a little fanboy about, but this whole thing is really a no win for me.

Either,

A) the Mountain Goats did something really brave by naming all of their songs after parts of the Bible and then sincerely writing music about the conflict between having a pretty messed up go of it in life but finding deep faith in that depth without necessarily being "church-going indie-rock royalty" (as revelife would have it) who have unquestioningly submitted themselves to Jesus as an alternative to the secular madness they've explored in previous work, but they've been pegged that way because they mention stuff that Christian youth can dig.

or

B)They actually are "church-going indie-rock royalty" (as revelife would have it) who have unquestioningly submitted themselves to Jesus as an alternative to the secular madness they've explored in previous work.

It's rampant misrepresentation that shouldn't bother me but does on one hand, a message I'm conflicted about on the other. I should probably buy the record and stop worrying about what people have to say about it. It's a bizarre development regardless of whether or not I choose to do this.

Adrift,
-prosthelytevin

Can you...

...paint with all the colors of the wind?

I am not a movie critic. i hate movie critics. Almost as much as i hate Michael Cera (but not quite as much as i hate Michael Cera). That was my superficial and unnecessary preface to this, uh, discussion of a movie i just saw. i think you can guess what comes next.

Avatar was a terrible movie. Everybody i know who was not a wonky wonk liberal arts nerd (see: everyone i was friends with in college) loved this movie. Visually pretty? Yes. Prettier than District 9? Not really. Rife with thematic elements from District 9? Yeah, pretty much.

400 million dollars was the budget for this film. We could treat half the cases of malaria in the world with that amount.

This, however, is not a relative cost of entertainment versus real problems thing. It is just astounding that a movie that bad could cost 400 million dollars.

Avatar was essentially a computer-rendered combination of: Fern Gully (Awesome movie, btw) and Pocahontas (hence the title of this thing. there is definitely a scene where he owns the earth and still all he'll own is earth until...), complete with the _exact same_ mech robot driven by crazed military commander versus guy coming to terms with his alien identity climax fight scene.



I love a lot of people who told me they liked it for the quiet messages it sent to the audience. I did not have the heart to tell them that the "ecological awareness" and "anti-war" themes were baseball bat subtle. I should note that most of Cameron's message was appreciable given the enormous number of people that will go see this film.



Anyway. Emily and I saw it for free. My first theater hopping experience definitely showed me that crime doesn't pay. On the other hand, the movie we actually paid for, Sherlock Holmes, was very, very good.

There, thorough reason to hate myself.

-kevatar(d?)

It's a new year...

...bros.

And my rez is as follows:

Do more with less.

It isn't nearly as specific as last year, but none of those worked out all that well. I think that's kind of a cool thing about blogs, you can track yer human progress.

I hope you all ate some black eyed peas and greens and ham (or maybe not ham) for luck this year,

-kevty-ten