Nervous Acid

Eighteen movies inspired by (or stolen from) Shakespeare.

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:32:00 -0400

Eighteen movies inspired by (or stolen from) Shakespeare.: I’ve been reading a lot of Shakespeare lately — really! — and I have to cop to a newfound fondness of the man. Clearly he doesn’t exactly need my endorsement, nor does he need the funked-up Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo + Juliet. But upon finising Henry IV, Part 1 last week, it never occurred to me that Gus Van Sant used the story as a springboard for My Own Private Idaho. Honest Will Shakespeare might have appreciated that. I should probably see it again though.

The Art of Serial Killing. I stopped watching Dexter when my...

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:21:00 -0400

The Art of Serial Killing.

I stopped watching Dexter when my free subscription to Showtime ran out, but if I weren’t pinching my pennies right now I’d go so far as to say it’s worth the monthly fee. Shepard Fairey apparently agrees. Or they just paid him a boatload of money. But probably the former because there’s love in this tagline.

To Speak Ill of the Dead.

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:23:15 -0400

To Speak Ill of the Dead.:

Let this be a lesson to you: If you treat your family like garbage, they will take it out on your obituary and expose your sad life. Says the Aguilar family of their mother:

“Dolores had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.”

That’s gotta hurt.

Sunny Day Real Estate “In Circles” (Live on 120...

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:16:32 -0400

Sunny Day Real Estate “In Circles” (Live on 120 Minutes)

It’s been so long since the first time I saw Sunny Day Real Estate, back in 1994, that I almost forgot just how perfectly imperfect they were before anyone actually cared about them. This clip depicts four kind of dorky kids before they realized they were any good. As soon as they figured out what everyone else already had, they broke up.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-17)

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:35:00 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-17):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr

The Real Reason McCain’s Age Might Matter.

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:47:00 -0400

The Real Reason McCain’s Age Might Matter.:

All joking aside — and I know how hard it is to resist — the fact is, John McCain is old. Seventy-one years old. The Daily Intel has the most sober assessment of that fact that I’ve yet to read. A few talking points:

• Twenty-two percent of Americans 71 and older are affected by mild cognitive impairment, a decline in brain function that causes memory loss and can lead to dementia.

• 35 to 40 percent of older adults have neural deficits that lead to poor decision making.

• Gerontologists and retirement planners have learned that aging brains compensate for cognitive decline by relying on templates of familiar knowledge more than problem solving. This phenomenon, called confabulation, rather than being random, often takes the form of untrue “facts” that make them feel better — giving them what scientists have called “the pleasantness of false beliefs.”

What worries me is not that John McCain is 71. It’s that John McCain will be 72 if he is elected, 76 if he wins a second term, and 80 if he runs through eight years in the White House. Now I love octogenarians — especially cool ones that sing Coldplay songs — but this concerns me on, like, so many levels.

Basement Jaxx feat. Roxanne Shanté “Make Me...

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:54:00 -0400

Basement Jaxx feat. Roxanne Shanté “Make Me Sweat”

If you had asked in 1984, I would have told you that Roxanne Shanté was a superstar — and on my block, she was. Back then we were grade school kids from Queens, and Shanté, a 14-year-old girl who grew up blocks from our school in the Queensbridge Projects, was on the radio with “Roxanne’s Revenge” — which might still be the greatest response record ever. You can’t get much fiercer than Shanté in 2008: She’s currently a practicing psychologist, a vegan, and a legendary rapper with a guest turn on this Basement Jaxx twelve-inch from last year. It’s like I’m gonna be sweating this girl forever.

How to live for free in San Francisco.

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:13:10 -0400

How to live for free in San Francisco.:

Serial evictees are finding new ways of cheating the Bay Area rental market using laws, loopholes, and litigation:

The number of serial evictees operating in San Francisco is hard to add up because they are good at covering their tracks. They have a number of tricks, such as changing their names to dodge background checks, or using phony landlord and work references. Also benefiting them is a state law that requires eviction actions to be masked from the public for 60 days after their initial filing.

One evictee is so litigious that two seasoned attorneys refused to utter his name, though legend has it that he occupied an upscale home in Presidio Heights for years without ever paying the $5,000 monthly rent.

What if Hitler had a Twitter account? This clip explores what...

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:06:00 -0400

What if Hitler had a Twitter account?

This clip explores what might have happened if there were a Twitter-server overload during World War II. Because nothing gets in the way of the Führer and his tweets. (via)

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-10)

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:58:00 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-10):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr

The best play I've never seen.

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:13:00 -0400

The best play I've never seen.: You don’t have to be a genius to do this math: Last week in Los Angeles, P.T. Anderson directed a “top-secret” performance of vignettes starring Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph — with Jon Brion performing a live musical score. If there were a Tony Award for Best Nonsequitur Line in a Screenplay, he’d have a winner: “When I was little, I used to put Snoopy between my legs and just hump him so hard. I humped him and humped him until his nose broke off.”

The Tompkins Square Park Riots. It’s hard to believe...

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:03:00 -0400

The Tompkins Square Park Riots.

It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty years since the police — and the city that employs them — began their methodical takedown of the Lower East Side. (In spite of what your real estate agent told you, no one called it the “East Village” back in 1988.) Photographer Q. Sakamaki has published a commemorative book on the riots and their aftermath, but if you can’t wait, Gothamist has a preview.

Fair is fair: Democrats are hypocrites, too.

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:57:00 -0400

Fair is fair: Democrats are hypocrites, too.:

John Edwards on Bill Clinton in 1999:

“I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.”

Oops! (via)

Jay-Z feat. Kanye West “Jockin’ Jay-Z” Thank...

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:57:00 -0400

Jay-Z feat. Kanye West “Jockin’ Jay-Z”

Thank God. The last two Jigga albums were bad and better, respectively, so if this is what we can expect from The Blueprint 3 — Oasis diss and all! — then give me a pen because I’m ready to co-sign on it.

A Brief Oral History of Black Metal. Blaash from Bahimiron...

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:39:29 -0400

A Brief Oral History of Black Metal.

Blaash from Bahimiron offers but one suggestion: “Do not answer your door in your underwear — it’s easy to get stabbed, it seems.”

Q: Is Nas Rich? A: Yes.

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:33:00 -0400

Q: Is Nas Rich? A: Yes.:

He’s sold a lot of records on his own, but let’s face it: Nas isn’t exactly 50 Cent in the sales department. Lucky for him, then, that he wrote Will Smith’s “Getting Jiggy With It” — uncredited, of course — which pretty much means he’ll never have to work another day in his life. (That album has sold 10 million.)

Related: Mase and Jadakiss wrote “Mo Money Mo Problems”? And Jay-Z wrote “Still D.R.E.”? Like, whoa.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-3)

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:19:00 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2008-8-3):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr

Santogold feat. Diplo "Right Brigade"

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:46:29 -0400

Of all the new Santogold music flooding the Internet, only one song stands out as above and beyond anything you’ve ever heard her sing — and that’s this totally faithful cover of the Bad Brains’ “Right Brigade.” Of course, it’s not that much of a stretch: Daryl Jenifer produced two albums for Stiffed — the totally OK punk/ska band she shared with McRad/Underdog guitarist Chuck Treece in 2005.

Toby Keith is pro-America. And pro-lynching?

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:06:00 -0400

In 2002, Keith became a millionaire many times over with the release of “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American.” (Sample lyric: “We’ll put a boot in your ass / It’s the American way.”) Now he’s back with a song called “Beer For My Horses” to expand upon his patriotism:

Grandpappy told my pappy back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he’d done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street
For all the people to see

It reminded me of a band called The Klansmen, featuring Skrewdriver’s Ian Stuart. Stuart, a British white supremacist, made a handful of fairly awful rockabilly albums in the early ’90s under the pseudonym “Jeb Stuart” — the first of which he called Fetch The Rope. From the title track:

Them good old boys they kept their trust despite the rising crime
Clean white robes, good strong ropes, they’re just doing fine
Law and order really died, the Klansmen didn’t flinch
If somebody broke the law he was likely to get lynched
I said, don’t give up hope
Fetch that rope

Which is kind of the same thing. (In fact, I feel dirty having to point it out.) But that’s not all: In a bizarre twist, Keith is stumping for Barack Obama.

Pitchfork is stupid, says Amazon.com. As a recent author myself,...

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:56:00 -0400

Pitchfork is stupid, says Amazon.com.

As a recent author myself, I’d venture to say that these user-submitted tags for Pitchfork’s forthcoming 500 Greatest Songs book on Amazon are probably more valuable than a review in Publishers Weekly.