longest road

dear project leader:

this alien appreciates the many music blogs that offer evaluatioin MP3s of new music releases. but he often finds a track playing on his itunes for which he has no recollection of its origin, and so credit cannot be given.

case in point:



longest road (seadmau5 remix) - morgan page

lovely record...nice electro biz going on, nicely paired with a female singer who seems to be uncredited (at least, not credited on his website).

no glissando

listening to "hold" muzak -- the attention retainer, as it's called -- and the carpenters' "yesterday once more" ("every la la la") comes on with swelling strings and glissando-ing piano. the entire population has impenetrable emotional responses to carpenters records, so no embellishments are needed to push our buttons...am i right?

somebody told me

this alien adores this lyric:

well somebody told me
you had a boyfriend
who looked like a girlfriend
that i had in february of last year

saltzman

dear project leader:

this alien asks: what do this group

and this group

have in common?

this man:

jeff saltzman, who produced the killers hot fuss is producing blondie's next album. this is very, very good news, as this alien loved, loved hot fuss.

info and photo credit for saltzman: http://rednightwrits.blogspot.com/2009/10/recording-next-blondie-record.html

livescribe pulse smartpen

dear project leader:

this alien has something new:

terror incident

dear project leader:

this alien remembers a few years ago when someone attempted to blow up a plane with a device in his footware; hence, he was given the name, "shoebomber".

this alien wonders which of the following might be applied to this week's suspect:

pantybomber
crotchbomber
cockbomber
boxerbomber
masturbomber
thighbomber

...or any others.

holmes

dear project leader:

this alien was shocked, SHOCKED, at how much he liked sherlock holmes, which, based on the terrible previews, he hadn't even intended to see.

the previews gave it something of a wild wild west vibe (thanks, will smith, for wrecking a perfectly good tv show with cinematic overdose); instead, it was fairly sophisticated, and allowed viewers to think their way through.

true, some of the critical plot points were apparent from the start, but that's a minor quibble. there was one device in use twice early in the movie, that could well have been utilized more: holmes internally analyzes how to respond to a given situation, and then the audience watches the effect in real time.

the device allowed viewers to get into the character's head in a unique manner, which carried the viewer through some of the not-quite-as-well-thought-out bits.

robert downey jr is not reliably entertaining to this alien, and jude law barely even registers; but both were more than adequate.

cinema 2009

dear project leader:

this alien feels that year-end compilations really bring home the fact that i missed several movies this year.



but you know what they say, "a year not having seen rene zellweger onscreen is a good year, indeed."

that is what they say, right?

certain age

dear project leader:

this alien is ashamed to admit he has been watching, "men of a certain age" on TNT (they know drama, or something). never a fan of ray romano, but liked watching "everybody loves ray", curiously enough. but "men of a certain age" doesn't dwell exclusively on romano; rather it fairly evenly divides time among the three main characters: divorcing dad, car salesman family man, and peter pan syndromed temp-job-working actor.

it's not really "sex and the city" for middle-aged guys...more like, "existence and the suburbs". that the three characters all have "real jobs" is refreshing...none are writers, or working actors, or in advertising, or any other typical TV-show jobs that nobody in the real world has. and all very definitely have problems. it's the problems, though, that make the little victories so gratifying. and each character seems to have his moment...after several moments that are far less satisfying.

owen, the car salesman's storylines are particularly follow-able (played by andre braugher). he's dragged through all sorts of humiliation by the owner of the car dealership, who happens to also be his father. owen finally wins big car sales one month...the viewing audience is ecstatic!...but still, his father screws him over. owen's big moment, though, made the comedown 1) real and 2) bearable. we know owen will still make it.

this alien will keep watching.

Vatican awards self 'unique copyright' on Pope • The Register

dear project leader:

this alien might be breaking copyright law...of the vatican state. he doesn't care.

Vatican awards self 'unique copyright' on Pope • The Register

impossible

dear project leader:

this alien ran across this song on MTVU today...the alien thinks it has appeal. is he alone in thinking this?



impossible, shout out louds


I don't want to feel like I don't have a future.
I don't want to feel like it's an end of a summer.
Let's not fall back to sleep like we used to.
I don't want to wake up knowing I don't have a future.

Impossible. Your love is something I cannot remember.

I don't want to spend another day in this city.
I woke up thirsty, it's hard to go back you know.
Let's not fall back to sleep like we used to, do you remember?
I don't want to wake up knowing I don't have a future.

Impossible. Your love is something I cannot remember.
And there's a first time and a second time, you've got to hold on.
Did you know it could happen to you?
Your love is something I cannot remember.

I don't want to see the same pictures all over.
And I've been standing on the same spot now since it's been over.
'Cause someone promised me a new chance, yes you promised.
I don't want to wake up knowing I don't have a future.

Impossible. Your love is something I cannot remember.
And there's a first time and a second time, you've got to hold on.
Did you know it could happen to you?
Your love is something I cannot remember.

You are just like your mother, I'm just the same as the others.
Do you believe everything they write in all those magazines?
Stay out of love until you're ready, stay out of it 'cause it scares you.
You'll still find your love outside the public library.

I know it could happen to you.

take warning

dear project leader:

this alien wonders if sailors took warning.

avatar

dear project leader:

this alien fell in line and saw avatar this weekend. he also rewatched star trek at home while wrapping xmas prezzies, which vibrantly underscored what he found so lacking in avatar: characters he could care about.

first, avatar has gorgeous, superbly executed images. no doubt about it...this alien could look at this movie over and over again. but after the first 7 hours or so, the spectacle overwhelms, bombards the viewer.

in the end, avatar tells a story that this viewer didn't want to see: bad, bad capitalist humans pillage other worlds for mineral riches. the final showdown is so very, very lengthy, when everyone knows exactly frame-for-frame what will happen, that an hour could easily have been cut, and nobody would have noticed.


so then, star trek is all about people actually learning lessons, caring about each other, blah blah blah, in relatively sparse settings (relative to sci-fi blockbusters, that is) just so the characters become the focal point. and wraps up rather efficiently with enough humor that one doesn't feel he's been driven out of the theater, hit over the head with a big bad club of learnin.


this alien understands that at least one of his readers will disagree. and so it goes.

santa ana

dear project leader:

this alien hates santa ana weekends, when the desert winds blow in from the east, creating crazy-ass allergy symptoms in this one. most difficult: one gets so sleepy from feeling sick like this, but the coughing increases when one lies down.

pity me.

almost

dear project leader:

this alien thought is was funny when wired magazine wrote that an asteroid "will almost hit earth", as it buzzes by "just 18,300 miles" away. 18,300 miles? does that even register?

but then he saw the animated rendering of what it would look like, from the asteroid's POV...yikes, that IS close!

hurts

dear project leader:

this alien had never heard of the track, "wonderful life" by HURTS till about three weeks ago, when it suddenly showed up on several blogs' end-of-year best lists. awesome synthpop moper (which is what we all adore, right?) with a great big rhythm section and classic echo-y keyboards.

this alien wishes all records were just like this.


wonderful life, HURTS

league

dear project leader:

this alien read that human league are getting back in action, having signed a new record deal. it's all i ever wanted.

Illegal Sunday MadMixMustang – From The Heart Of Glass

dear project leader:

this alien adores this mashup of blondie and philip glass...

Illegal Sunday <br />MadMixMustang – From The Heart Of Glass

scrub

dear project leader:

this alien is a fairly big fan of the tv series, scrubs. there have always been things about it that don't set well, but for the most part, great characters, silly-yet-interesting storylines, plenty of long-running jokes. one of the more appealing aspects has always been the not-quite-straight, just-this-side-of-irritating relationship between turk ("cocoa bear") and JD ("JD")...adorable!

so, the series looked like it was cancelled twice, first by NBC two years ago, then again by ABC last year -- with an episode completely suitable for a series finale. but no, it came back this year as scrubs: med school wherein the most implausible setup is the basis of the "new" series: the 8th year doctors and their mentor now serve as faculty for a neighboring medical college / teaching hospital.

half the cast is new (med students), and many of the characters from previous seasons are moving on...after having a few minutes to explain why they're no longer written into the script, oddly enough.

the new characters are cute and interesting enough, but the returning characters are suddenly UNBEARABLE. JD tops the list as the most, MOST agonizingly character since baby-talk jack from will & grace (normal-talk jack was great...baby-talk jack...ugh). always baby-talk, always trying to play pal-teacher, never comes down to earth, and is even more the "girl" in his crush on turk.

this alien never thought he'd sour on the JD-cocoa bear couple. after four episodes (so far), this alien isn't so sure he can keep watching anymore.

old days

dear project leader:

back when this alien was a club kid club uncle, he loved, loved this song. it still sends a little bit of a shiver.


someone (like you), ascension

ooh. that was a long time ago.

cage

dear project leader:

this alien made a mistake at work today. as it turns out, having made the mistake was a good thing, because we now know how to resolve that mistake if it ever happens again.

that's what this alien keeps telling himself.

not homo

dear project leader:

this alien has no connected simian line...he must not be homo, after all.

lightning

dear project leader:

this alien was a huge fan of the lightning seeds records in the 80's. last year, he found that he / they recorded an album recently...still doing what he / they were doing twenty years ago, just as well.


i still feel the same, the lightning seeds


My world was so wonderful
Anarchy from Rome to Hull
I was born for this
All I want is this
At seventeen, I used to play guitar
I never knew I could dream so hard
And though it feels like it was yesterday
And though my heroes have got overweight
I’m still waiting for the world to change

My life was like a fairy tale
Lydon roared and Roxy wailed
I was born for this
All I want is this
And since those times you know I’ve had some fun
I’ve been happy with the things I’ve done
But I can’t resist
And sometimes I think of this

Coz there’s a little piece of me
Somewhere in my memory
I love the world for being strange
And times have changed
But I think I still feel the same

There’s a little piece of me
Somewhere in my memory
I love the world for being strange
Times have changed
But I think I still feel the same

And there will always be anarchy in my heart
I hope that the end for me will live up to the start

word

dear project manager:

this alien wonders why so many people use MS-Excel for task lists containing nothing more than text.

once more with video

cover

dear project leader:

because this alien loves covers of his favorite songs:


heart of glass, nuuro

war criminal

dear project leader:

so all this news about the inquiry into starting the iraq "war"...everyone seems shocked, SHOCKED, that bush/cheney/blair may not have thought there were WMDs in iraq; rather, they just wanted to go in and blast hussein.

how does this come as a surprise to anyone? did anyone really believe we were going in because of some WMD threat?

really?

80's

dear project leader:

this alien, for so many reasons, misses the 80's.

xmas

dear project leader:

this alien is justifiably boasting that his xmas shopping is pretty much complete. now to get these things out in the mail on time...something this alien is almost never able to do.

nothing can stop us

dear project leader:

The Sound of Arrows - Into the Clouds (Music video) from The Sound of Arrows on Vimeo.

you're welcome

natalie portman's eyebrows

dear project leader:

this alien saw brothers today (tobey maguire, jake gyllenhaal, natalie portman's eyebrows, and a bitter little girl with chubby cheeks). it was actually pretty good...this alien stayed awake the whole time, though much of the audience seemed distracted. maguire's character was absolutely insane (as the previews showed); this alien could hear several members of the audience wondering how they could get PTSD so they could lose 50 pounds, too...maguire was breakably thin. gyllenhaal's character wasn't quite as endearing as the viewer was supposed to believe.

portman's eyebrows did their weird "upset face" thing where they're completely flat from the outsides to about the last 3/8" inside, when they suddenly bend STRAIGHT UP her forehead.

and poor mare winningham (from st elmo's fire), already playing a grandma-wife to sam shepard.

the part (also in the preview) where little girl blurts out that mommy and uncle were having an ongoing sexual thing wasn't quite believable to this alien. but maguire's big bag of crazy was totally believable. this alien thinks toby is not going to be confronted anytime soon, for fear that he's carrying a fire poker in his back pocket.

note: the lighting in several scenes was...shaky. like the guy holding the reflector screen was shivering. odd.

the husband found the movie very affecting, fwiw.

kings

dear project leader:

this alien was sent a link for a holiday surprise:


we three kings, blondie
get it here

undisclosed

dear project leader:

this alien has been reviewing music and movies and tv he's studied over the past year. one of the album highlights (in a year of great singles, not so many albums) was muse's the resistance.

this alien isn't a longtime fan of muse...he just found them about two years ago (with "supermassive blackhole")...but since then, this alien has been shopping down muse stuff, and most of it is quite good.

so. from the resistance, this track, "undisclosed desires" is particularly good. like the stringy arrangement, and the weird violence-beauty-demon lyrics make a compelling juxtaposition.


undisclosed desires, muse

so hard

this alien adores this lyric:

"i'm always hoping you'll be faithful,
but you're not, i suppose;
we've both given up smoking, cuz it's fatal,
so whose matches are those?"

expectations

dear project leader:

this alien, like everyone else in the world, is intrigued by the upcoming movie, avatar. but he's suspicious of the early reviews coming in, almost all of which go way, way over the top with praise.

in this alien's experience, movies with such buildup tend not to live up. so this alien strives to keep his expectations low.

still...intrigued

the future

dear project leader:

this alien acknowledges that he named "spaceman", by the killers, as single of the year...but he would argue that "this used to be the future", by pet shop boys and phil oakey places very, very high on the list.

he would perhaps create a new category in the list, for GREATEST OUT OF THE BLUE COLLABORATION for 2009, thus giving "future" someplace for a top spot.

coincidentally, this alien saw human league in concert with "the regeneration tour" in 2008...and was fairly impressed. fingers are crossed for a new single or two from mr oakey and the league.


this used to be the future, pet shop boys and phil oakey

postscript: this alien's husband wonders why he has so much pet shop boys on his player...it is not intentional. this alien suspects pet shop boys tracks regenerate on their own.

dear project leader:

this alien's local 7-11 has replaced their outdoor lighting with banks of LEDs...it's surprisingly bright.

kimi

dear project leader:

this alien spent several hours one recent evening trying to purchase today's adorable track, "kimi ni munekyun", by yellow magic orchestra. other than suspicious on foreign mp3 sites, this track was not available for purchase...careless record companies.

anyway, this alien first heard YMO as a young human performing slave labor in the harsh climates / fabulous municipalities of japan. he was instantly entranced, and followed the band for their last couple of albums; then latched onto one member's solo projects, ryuichi sakamoto.

mr sakamoto didn't continue in the same direction as YMO; rather he did a lot of movie scores (merry christmas, mr lawrence), and ultimately settled on jazz and piano solo stuff.

still very interesting, but not YMO. and that's okay. it's worth mentioning, sakamoto did appear in madonna's "rain" video. random.

kimi ni munekyun, yellow magic orchestra

surgery

dear project leader:

this alien's workplace PC was in surgery today...but seemed, at the end of a 5-hour procedure, to be fully recovered. this alien thanks you for the good wishes, etc.

in the meantime, this alien was forced to use an empty workstation too far away from his own desk, and found the arrangement entirely disruptive.

whiteout

dear project leader:

this alien doesn't know why this track was never released as a single off debbie harry's album last year.

debbie harry - whiteout

she assumes an odd "character" (vocally) to sing this one; that would have probably been changed if it was actually a single. (but since nobody except 14-year-olds are played on TV or radio anymore, this alien guesses "singles" aren't really what they used to be.)

she said:

The chorus says it all, but it's about losing the chance of a relationship because the other person is involved with drugs. It's a fairly obvious parallel in a lot of people lives. It was fun to write a really straight-out rock song that had a great sort of punk feel to it.

fantastic mr anderson

If what I think is happening is happening - it better not be.

dear project leader:

this alien went to see fantastic mr. fox today and loved, loved, loved it. all the things one might fondly recall from previous wes anderson movies (well, except for darjheeling limited, perhaps) were present: too-self-aware supporting characters, uncomfortably close close-ups, static and symmetrical graphic layouts, jason schwartzman, layered dollhouse sets...and enhanced with really suddenly-appearing animal behaviors.

(not to mention the bollywood numbers here and there.)

this alien looks forward to seeing mr. fox again.

place for us

dear project leader:

this alien likes this song. and it's free. but that's not why i like it.

listen to Reni Lane - Place For Us (RAC Remix) on @hypem http://awe.sm/22ZZZ

the original single is also really good...much better than this RAC remix they're giving out for free.

blondie 09

dear project leader:

new blondie promo pic; old blondie track.



"island of lost souls", from their album, the hunter, which this alien and about 5 other fans bought the first time around. the rock and roll hall of fame says:

June 26, 1982: Blondie’s “Island of Lost Souls” (from The Hunter) enters the Top Forty, where it will peak at #37. It is the thirteenth U.S. single from Blondie’s first go-round as a group, marking the end of their three-year reign as the New Wave’s most successful singles act.

it's a toenail

dear project leader:

this alien bought the monster a bag of treats, which included cow hoofs. that's a toenail, right?

monster loves gnawing on them.

bravery

dear project leader:

this alien is a casual fan of the bravery...listen to and like their music, have bought an album, etc., so i was pretty excited to see they had a new track and album out. the single, "the spectator" is okay. not great. not as engaging as previous releases...maybe it's a video-only song (used in "the vampire diaries", on tv).

as for the new album, stir the blood, here's this alien's initial impressions: album starts out with some good pop-rock stuff, which, by track 3 ("slow poison"), had pretty much sold me on the album. then, out of nowhere, track 4 goes into some sort of manic depressive hostility thing, and the following two songs are either generic or just unappealing.

then, "the spectator," mentioned above. but yay, track 8 ("i have seen the future") comes along to resuscitate the listener with another uptempo synthy bass track. track 9 doesn't really move me so much, but it's passable. "jack-o-lantern man" gets back into the darkness at a time this alien no longer cares to follow you there. in one sitting, this album is a bit tiring with the processed vocals and rambling basslines.

try it out one track at a time, as the first few tracks are fairly appealing.

broke

dear project leader:

this alien wonders, when moses broke the other tablets, were those the ones that had the footnote to "Thou shalt not kill (*except when going to war, chasing down terrorists, or you know, whenever)".

this alien doesn't subscribe to "the bible" or any of that, but he does think killing humans is wrong. why don't the pro-lifers?

wonder

dear project leader:

this alien is working at someone else's office today, and wonders if the small collection of coins left unattended is a trap.

x-post

dear project leader:

this alien is also now on livejournal, under the username thisalien. just because.

reality

dear project leader:

this alien has observed reports of behavior that may cause us to rethink cohabitating with humans on this planet.


"THE 650-POUND VIRGIN": a man who somehow gained 500 pounds in less than 10 years, mainly by locking himself inside his parents' house and eating his life away (while watching the rest of the world live their lives through the living room window).

this alien has to ask: after the first 200 pounds piled on, who kept buying and delivering twinkies to him? not saying the gain wasn't his fault, but one must accept that the guy was enabled by people who WERE willing to leave the house, run down to the 7-11 and stock up on his behalf.


"HOARDERS": one's mother lives a mile away, and hasn't taken anything out of the house in a dozen or so years. ANYTHING. every room of the house is piled with rotting garbage. the bathroom hasn't been cleaned for as many years. mother has asthma, maybe resulting from the decaying cats under the 2-foot drift of trash in the den? or perhaps from the mattress and box springs that literally disintegrate to the touch.

this alien asks once more: after the first year of trash buildup, who didn't hire a haulaway service to clean out even a dumpster's worth of trash, whether mom complained or not?


this alien recommends further observation before proceeding with plans to settle here. but one item for the "plus" column: basic cable is awesome.

world aids day

this alien remembers it was oddly exciting when the first WORLD AIDS DAY was organized. merchandising and media events were released, but outside of the typical communities, it never really caught on. it was a time when people still thought rock hudson was the only person they "knew" who died of AIDS. 

i've known relatively few people to pass on due to HIV-AIDS, so that list runs through my head whenever december 1 comes up on the calendar, noted with a press release or two, but no other real notice. 

just a few people that come to mind:

a property manager at an apartment i once rented. our conversations would be interrupted by him going into a coughing attack while he had to hold his head to alleviate the chronic headache pain.

two co-workers who were a couple. one went out on disability, never returned. the other went out for a short time (in those days being gone less than 6 months was considered a short time); came back having lost a significant amount of weight, but holding up well. disappeared a few months later.

a friend with whom i had similar cultural background. his parents never acknowledged his HIV-AIDS, but instead recorded a voice mail greeting for callers that he had died from "cancer".

ex-brother-in-law, ex-cousins-in-law. they were fortunate enough to have family surrounding them to the very end. family who didn't isolate them out of fear, or out of shame.

club-friends couple, one passed away, the other moved away...not wanting to stay in the same city where he lost his love. even those who didn't die from the then-unmanageable disease disappeared.

of course there were others whose images try to fade from my mind. but then this alien will run into someone from that era, serving as a reminder that we are still here to remember those who have gone.

arrested development vs modern family

dear project leader:

this alien, in an earlier post, made a comparison between ABC's "modern family" and the dearly-departed FOX show, "arrested development". what this alien came to realize while catching up on a few episodes recently is that, while the tone of the two shows is very similar, "modern family" is missing that central character through whom viewers see and relate, a la jason bateman's michael bluth.

this alien's vote would go to "claire", played by julie bowen. she seems the most "normal" of all those in the family.



still, an aggressive clown nailing a confrontation at the gas station...funny!

seagulls

dear project leader:

this alien has been accused of being an unrepentant fan of early flock of seagulls. this alien will not dignify that libelous accusation with a response. but hopes you enjoy the following:



?

old news

dear project leader,

this alien's longtime readers have already seen this...but since i referenced it in the earlier post:

the wrestler

dear project leader:

this alien finally, finally saw the wrestler, starring mickey rourke (thank you, HBO lords). aged pro wrestling star tries to keep on keepin on, both in his professional,and his personal life. the character was so engrossing, that this alien couldn't help but cheer on the guy...much like wrestling fans themselves, watching their favorite player make a comeback in the ring, perhaps.

and "everybody likes a second act", as the humans say.

when the wrestler's life was good, this alien was happy and relieved for him; when things went bad, this alien really felt badly for the guy. that's an engaging character. fortunately, there were enough good times to make the overall bearable.

what wasn't bearable, at times, was the physical brutality. (deli slicers? aaaagh, avert one's eyes! ALL one's eyes!)

cassidy, the dancer friend played by marisa tomei, merits a mention, too. this alien is very off-and-on with tomei in general, but she worked well in this part.

this alien cannot account for having waited so long to see this movie, but he is mightly glad he finally did.

another year-end list: music

dear project leader:

it's near the end of the human's calendar year, so year-end lists appear everywhere. here's a small entry into this custom by this alien:

SINGLE OF THE YEAR: "spaceman" by the killers
cleverly simple sci-fi lyrics, instantly accessible pop tune, great video that starts out weird, but turns into a carnival. it is what pop songs are supposed to look and sound like.

and the public don't dwell on my transmission
cause it wasn't televised

RUNNER UP:

pet shop boys, "pandemonium" (with "can you forgive her" mixed in). this alien cannot stop watching this very, very simple dance video.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: UN by dan black
organic, unique and all electro. every track a winner, with lyrics that instantly create sentimental visuals. this alien hasn't been this in love with an album since cut copy's bright like neon love.

BAND OF THE YEAR: empire of the sun
this alien is impressed with the band's ability to create an entirely new existence in the packaging of their videos, graphics and most of all, music. their sound goes all over the place, like great late-70's AM radio pop music.

this alien only became aware of empire this year, but it turns out they have been big down under since last year. this alien wonders if they will tour in the US soon? if so, i will gladly take on the assignment to report, dear project leader.

year-end lists

project leader:

this alien likes year-end lists. here's Q magazine's best 50 albums of 2010 (via stereogum), with my impressions attached:

↑ = like it
↓ = don't care for it
→ = interested in exploring it


50 Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
49 Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
48 Ian Brown - My Way
↑ 47 Madness - The Liberty Of Norton Folgate
46 Golden Silvers - True Romance
↑ 45 Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band - Outer South
44 The View - Which Bitch?
43 Tinariwen - Imidiwen Companions
42 Mariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx
41 Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
40 Cheryl Cole - 3 Words
39 The Horrors - Primary Colours
38 Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter
37 Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
→ 36 Sonic Youth - The Eternal
35 Pearl Jam - Backspacer
34 White Lies - To Lose My Life
33 Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
32 Paolo Nutini - Sunny Side Up
31 Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
↑ 30 La Roux - La Roux
29 Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
↓28 Bruce Springsteen - Walking On A Dream
27 The Dead Weather - Horehound
→ 26 Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
→ 25 Noah And The Whale - The First Days Of Spring
24 Mos Def - The Ecstatic
23 The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
22 The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
21 Jamie T - Kings & Queens
20 Fever Ray - Fever Ray
19 Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk
↑↑ 18 Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
→ 17 Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
↑↑ 16 Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
15 Dizzee Rascal - Tongue N' Cheek
14 Devendra Banhart - What Will We Be
13 Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
12 Jack Penate - Everything Is New
11 Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
↑ 10 Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
↓ 09 U2 - No Line On The Horizon
→ 08 Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
↑↑↑ 07 Muse - The Resistance
06 Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
05 Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
04 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
↑ 03 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
02 Florence And The Machine - Lungs
01 Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

about the rest, i know nothing.

don't want to

dear project leader:

this alien is a sucker for a soon-to-be-broken-heart-because-i-can't-stop-you-from-leaving song. surprisingly, they aren't quite a dime a dozen. but weezer came out with a good one on their new album, raditude:

weezer - i don't want to let you go

black friday

dear project leader:

black friday: the friday after US thanksgiving holiday, when a majority of laborers have / take the day off and trek to the shopping centers at 4:00 AM for one-day special pricing on two or three undesirable items.

this alien doesn't indulge in the shopping orgy...mainly because he doesn't have the funds to do so (which is not a complaint, project leader). but this alien is impacted, in that his human coworkers DO indulge, leaving him to cover their workday tasks.

this alien does, however, find the event interesting enough to monitor online, seeing which retailers offer what and at what price. nothing so far made this alien regret that he is working-not-spending today.

holiday

dear project leader:

this alien is headed to a quick holiday with the human companion's family.

happy US thanksgiving to project leader! and this alien's US readers!

cursed

dear project leader:

this alien has, as assigned, been following the tweets of blondie founding member and guitarist, chris stein, who relates progress on their upcoming album. ("still in the studio..." as of this posting.)

this alien has developed a deep, obsessive crush on the band; a crush steadily growing over many projects. mainly because of tracks like this one over which to swoon:

blondie - background melody

ko-ke-ko-kooo

dear project leader:

this alien often wakes early when he isn't required to do so.

mika, rain

dear project leader:

this alien listens to this song, RAIN, an awful lot. the single came out this week, though the album, the boy who knew too much, has been out for a while.

track for track, it's a terrific album, even better than mika's first album, life in cartoon motion, which included the single, grace kelly...a song this alien referred to as "that george michael 'freddie mercury' song" until he figured out who the singer / what the title actually was.

mika - rain
mika - grace kelly


Is it really necessary
Every single day
You're making me more ordinary
In every possible way

This ordinary mind is broken
You did it and you don't even know
You're leaving me with words unspoken
You better get back because I'm ready for

More than this whatever it is
Baby, I hate days like this
Caught in a trap I can't look back
Baby, I hate days like this

When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain

More than this
Baby, I hate days like

Is it really necessary
Every single day
You're making me more ordinary
In every possible way

This ordinary mind is broken
You did it and you don't even know
You're leaving me with words unspoken
You better get back because I'm ready for

More than this whatever it is
Baby, I hate days like this
Caught in a trap, I can't look back
Baby, I hate days like this

When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain

When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain

More than this
Baby, I hate days like this
More than this
Baby I hate days like

preaching, not practicing

dear project leader:

this alien asks: what's similar between john edwards (former senator, D-presidential candidate) and carrie prejean (former pageant title holder, conservative political spokesmodel)?

and answers: both put themselves in positions in which many, many people entrusted the two to represent them. and both hid facts about themselves that, when exposed to the light of day, proved that they shouldn't have put themselves in those positions.

this alien asks: what's different between edwards and prejean?

and answers: edwards knew when to shut the hell up.

for the record, this alien had many, many conservative political figures with recent scandals to use in the "vs prejean" questions above, but chose to select a non-conservative for a little balance. but really...this alien wonders why the conservatives (quite literally) don't practice what they preach?

confidential message to project leader:dfldpoek
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cruising

dear project leader:

this alien is a big fan of cruise vacations for their easy extravagances...but he's never experienced this much extravagance.

yet.

royal caribbean is this alien's favorite cruise line because the ships are so nice. but holy moley.

this alien has been on two royal caribbean cruises (and two norwegians); the larger of the two had almost 3,000 passengers. the oasis and allure, pictured above, carry 5,000 passengers, each.

5,000 passengers. EACH. with 7 neighborhoods onboard. neighborhoods on a ship! this is like intergalactic travel.

see the slide show here. read more about the ships, here. book this alien a trip, anywhere.

"rednecks"

Close Encounters of the Redneck Kind from Marc Bullard on Vimeo.

bad publishing company

dear project leader:

this alien is mad at the music publishing world because he is unable to find a link for the (not live performance) video, "discoball world", by david garza.

the song came out in 1998, and has been on heavy rotation on this alien's (various) player(s) since that time. it's the song this alien mentally dances to with abandonment. ecstatically.

every day i miss the you i used to know
before i let you down
before you let me go
we'd listen to the left side
of the radio

and you were so fine with your train track smile
i fell for your coffee eyes
your half and half
white lies
back around 92
i lost god
i found you
i found you

i found you dancin
with the blissed out brothers
and the dred locked white girls
spinnin like a discoball world yeah
with the extra virgins
and the gold teethed stoners
spinnin like a discoball world yeah

the flowers that we stole from san jancinto
they're in the vodka vases
by the window
i can't forget the date that you forgot me

when you kisses got so vicious

and i fell for your coffee eyes
your half and half
white lies
back around 92
i lost god
i found you
i found you

i found you dancin with the blissed out brothers
and the dred locked white girls
spinnin like a discoball world
yeah, yeah
with the extra virgins
and the laptop loners
spinnin like a disco ball world
yeah, yeah
alright

alright

can i dance with you baby?
can i dance with you? with you

david garza - discoball world

so regulate it

dear project leader:

this alien is devastated to learn that movie popcorn can
make
you
fat.

why do humans constantly make a vice of everything...to ensure it's dangerfun?

adam ant / & the ants

dear project leader:

this alien won't rehash a thousand other online articles re adam and his career and / or life, but report that a previous project to which i was assigned, living on this planet during the 1980's, made the subsequent projects / decades somewhat...disappointing. adam perfectly encapsulated all that was right about the decade's pop:

1. clever characterization
   
2. costuming and makeup just crazy enough to intrigue, yet not require full buy-in
   
3. a catchy, well-delivered, rhythm-heavy sound with
   
4. lyrics that tip to the "IS" end of the "is he or isn't he" scale
   
5. integrity of pop with enough bite to be recalled fondly almost 30 years later.

this alien's "college years" project: of course he'd heard of adam and the ants, but didn't really have the opportunity to view them. (early 80's midwest US media outlets were few, and most were afraid to venture off the shores of the states.) somehow, "friend or foe" hit the mainstream, and then this alien remembered he HAD heard adam and crew for a few years...but always in the back, not foreground, and the search was on to catch up. to really unplug the jukebox.

every record became a favorite and every image studied repeatedly. because there was something there that was so...alien. yet so...embraceable.

it's true this alien is on a different set of tasks now...but popping adam into the player transports this alien to a media era that made a memorable, unrepeatable yet again desired, impression.

(but empire of the sun are making a worthy attempt at repeating that impression.)

adam and the ants - antmusic.