Arabesco
We got up and then Brandon, Angie and Tiger came over for brunch, like we had planned last night. Angie was making pumpkin pancakes, and I made eggs with parsley, cilantro, tomato, cheese and almonds. We had mimosas also (of course).
After brunch, we watched this movie "Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story" that Brandon had gotten from Netflix. Several months ago, while exploring on Wikipedia, I had come across this phenomenon of 'song poems,' which is where people would respond to an ad in the back of a magazine that would say the company was looking for 'songwriters.' The person would send in their lyrics, and then for a fee, a company would set the words to music and make it a song. Usually the ad would make some claims that they would also distribute the song and try to make it a 'hit,' but in reality they were just churning out these songs non-stop and making money from the poor saps who thought they were going to be the next big songwriter. Although, most of the people who did it were really just happy to hear their words as a 'real' song.
Anyway, the documentary was absolutely fascinating. Not only did it focus on the heyday of the song poem industry, which was back in the 60's, but they also took a look at some current song poem writers and the people who make them into songs. There was a really interesting guy named Rodd Keith who made a lot of song poems and used a Mellotron a lot in them, but he ended up killing himself by jumping off the Santa Monica Blvd. overpass onto the 101 Freeway. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes quirky stories about the fringes of the music industry.
After the movie, Dylan and I headed down to Santa Monica because we had tickets to a show called "Arabesco: Dancing Men of Arabia." We got there really early because Dylan had remembered the start time incorrectly, so we had an hour to kill in Santa Monica. We had a groupon to use at Border Grill, but when we tried to go there it was right by the promenade so parking was impossible. We decided to just find a dive bar and hang out. The first one we saw was this place called "The Speakeasy" which sounded cool, but it was decidedly not. It was a really long, wood-paneled bar that was too bright for a bar and very clean smelling - not that I mind clean smelling bars but I guess I'm just so used to the 'bar' smell. The bartender was an older Scottish lady. It just didn't really have any ambiance or anything cool going for it, and the drinks were overpriced. We looked up other bars on our phones and decided to head over to a different bar after one drink. The next one we went to had been called Nocturnal Lounge or something when we looked it up, but when we got there it was called Trip, which I had actually heard of before. Rough Dutchess plays there and I think Shitting Glitter might have played there with them without me when I was in Kansas. Anyway it was a much better vibe but by then we just had time for one drink before heading back to the show.
Highways is a performance art space that usually features queer artists. We had been there once before with Von, Amy, and Brandon for some lesbian event.
The "Arabesco" show was fun. It was sort of like male belly dancing. It had a loose plot about two westerners who are wandering around Arabia and are taken under the wings of a couple of native men who seduce them through their dancing. It was very entertaining and interesting, and definitely messed with stereotypes and people's ideas about the men of the middle east.
After the show, we went back to Border Grill for dinner. It was a little similar in decor to Street, which is the restaurant Susan Feniger owns in Hollywood where I've eaten many times. Border Grill, however, is obviously more of a Mexican food place. It was really yummy!
When we got home we were pretty wiped out so we didn't end up going anywhere else.
Hello 2010, goodbye junk!
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 196
Dresden Dolls Promo CD.
After brunch, we watched this movie "Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story" that Brandon had gotten from Netflix. Several months ago, while exploring on Wikipedia, I had come across this phenomenon of 'song poems,' which is where people would respond to an ad in the back of a magazine that would say the company was looking for 'songwriters.' The person would send in their lyrics, and then for a fee, a company would set the words to music and make it a song. Usually the ad would make some claims that they would also distribute the song and try to make it a 'hit,' but in reality they were just churning out these songs non-stop and making money from the poor saps who thought they were going to be the next big songwriter. Although, most of the people who did it were really just happy to hear their words as a 'real' song.
Anyway, the documentary was absolutely fascinating. Not only did it focus on the heyday of the song poem industry, which was back in the 60's, but they also took a look at some current song poem writers and the people who make them into songs. There was a really interesting guy named Rodd Keith who made a lot of song poems and used a Mellotron a lot in them, but he ended up killing himself by jumping off the Santa Monica Blvd. overpass onto the 101 Freeway. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes quirky stories about the fringes of the music industry.
After the movie, Dylan and I headed down to Santa Monica because we had tickets to a show called "Arabesco: Dancing Men of Arabia." We got there really early because Dylan had remembered the start time incorrectly, so we had an hour to kill in Santa Monica. We had a groupon to use at Border Grill, but when we tried to go there it was right by the promenade so parking was impossible. We decided to just find a dive bar and hang out. The first one we saw was this place called "The Speakeasy" which sounded cool, but it was decidedly not. It was a really long, wood-paneled bar that was too bright for a bar and very clean smelling - not that I mind clean smelling bars but I guess I'm just so used to the 'bar' smell. The bartender was an older Scottish lady. It just didn't really have any ambiance or anything cool going for it, and the drinks were overpriced. We looked up other bars on our phones and decided to head over to a different bar after one drink. The next one we went to had been called Nocturnal Lounge or something when we looked it up, but when we got there it was called Trip, which I had actually heard of before. Rough Dutchess plays there and I think Shitting Glitter might have played there with them without me when I was in Kansas. Anyway it was a much better vibe but by then we just had time for one drink before heading back to the show.
Highways is a performance art space that usually features queer artists. We had been there once before with Von, Amy, and Brandon for some lesbian event.
The "Arabesco" show was fun. It was sort of like male belly dancing. It had a loose plot about two westerners who are wandering around Arabia and are taken under the wings of a couple of native men who seduce them through their dancing. It was very entertaining and interesting, and definitely messed with stereotypes and people's ideas about the men of the middle east.
After the show, we went back to Border Grill for dinner. It was a little similar in decor to Street, which is the restaurant Susan Feniger owns in Hollywood where I've eaten many times. Border Grill, however, is obviously more of a Mexican food place. It was really yummy!
When we got home we were pretty wiped out so we didn't end up going anywhere else.
Hello 2010, goodbye junk!
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 196
Dresden Dolls Promo CD.
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