Homeroom Teacher

art by jaut, photo by tena

"you're about as useful as a homeroom teacher". i don't know why i thought about that line, or what it's supposed to mean, but i thought i would share it with you.


since my workload has been barely a simmer as of late, i've had a chance to catchup on the 100's of movies and books that are taking up space on my walls and on countless lists. some highlights are pedro almodovar's talk to her which plays with gender roles as well as the inherent imbalance that exists in relationships, whether it be imagined or real. almodovar paints a beautiful picture in his movies and brings in completely random characters to share his ideas. everything was great except the ending which didn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie's unpredictable nature , but i guess the allusion was setup earlier in the movie.

ingmar bergman's scenes from a marriage seems like a companion piece to richard linklater's before sunset/sunrise, but since i'm only through the first 3 episodes out of 6, i 'll have to share my complete thoughts at a later time, but so far, it's an interesting take on people relating to each other in a marital form and what people struggle with in this supposed life long commitment. like before sunset/sunrise, it's pure dialogue driven.

as far as books, i've read jonathan lethem's as she climbed across the table which, now thinking about it, is similar to bergman's scenes from a marriage in that it explores in the inner workings of a marriage, but this book brings in physics and opens up thought as to what makes people devote, what leads them to stray and what overall, brings about hope in realistic and unrealistic forms. although it's not on par with his excellent motherless brooklyn, it's a good novel.

murakami's sputnik sweetheart was a good look into the japanese culture of relationships which is quite similar, it seems, to western ideas. maybe it's the same all over the world, but i'd like to think that approach and perspective change with the culture. as far as the book, it was a nice read and it didn't have that sci-fi murakami trademark until the end. it's your basic boy loves girl who loves another girl story. easy.

the last book was chang-rae lee's native speaker. an amazing book. i could relate to it on many different levels for obvious, and not so obvious reasons. it conveys the korean culture perfectly, but what also what resonated with me about this work, was the quality of writing. i haven't read anything this convincing and perfectly layed out since jefferey eugenides' middlesex. it's pretty disheartening to read because i know i will never be able to write like that. read it.

here's a collection of singer-songwriters
some old, some new
some, not even released as of yet.
checkitout.....

Fink - If Only - finian greenhall is on ninja tune records. home of hip-hop, downtempo greatness. how did an acoustic driven artist get on the label ? well, he used to be a downtempo artist, and on the last 2 releases, he has gone back to his roots. no, that would be electronic based. he's changed, or sorta gone back. this album distance and time was produced by andy barlow who was one half of lamb.

Adele - Hometown Glory (Live) - she's 19 with a jazzier whinehouse type of voice. soulful, bluesy and powerful. her debut release comes out in january on XL which is home to radiohead and m.i.a. not disney made.

Sia - Lentil - vocal gymnastics aside, probably the most bluesy, soulful voice in pop music today. this track has minimal musical backing which shows off her greatest asset. this tracks is from her new album which should be out in january.

Petracovich - Telephone - jessica peters based out of san francisco has that sunday afternoon voice. not the, let's go hang out with the drum circle in golden gate park type of sunday, but the let's hang out on bernal hill type. support local musicians.

Chris Garneau - Black & Blue - off of berkeley's absolutley kosher label, home of pinack, xiu xiu and others. garneau's voice seems like it's always on the brink of cracking and then it soars into conviction. "catch my difficult" - a great line.