Monday, December 31, 2007

I get geekier every January

Every year instead of making a new year's resolution I pick something new to become obsessed with. This started at the end of 2005 when I was visiting Hastings with a couple friends, and I mispronounced "Martin Scorsese" (SKOR-saes). The ensuing discussion resulted in my realizing that I was REALLY distanced from post-WWII cinema. I just didn't watch movies that much. So my 2006 resolution was to watch as many films as I possibly could. I was renting three films a week off the bargain rack, and checking off titles from the AFI's 100 list like a health inspector at Huddle House. And now I'm a film major, so that should tell you something about the benefits of obsession.

In 2007 my new obsession became music. Oh, I listened to music before that, but not like it was an insatiable god. Honestly, it seemed like kind of a cop-out at the time, because I already listened to music. But when the music I listened to casually became mine, it gained importance I didn't know it could have. Something switched on a whole world in my awareness of the nuances and politics of sound. I started buying Harp and Razorcake magazines, and I started this blog for concert reviews once I moved to Nashville where there was finally a music scene to analyze. I was a radio DJ... for a while (didn't make it to the final exam). Ok, so maybe I didn't take it all the way to temporal dusk, but I can still tell you all about how the Stooges ended up signing with Elektra back in 1968.

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By the way, pick up the new album from I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. It's thick, moving stuff
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So this year, after much deliberation, I've decided that the winner of my affections in 2008 will be: The Graphic Novel. Yes, it is a medium I already have a bit of familiarity with, but thus far it's only been fleeting caresses with (mostly) borrowed books. This year I delve into cult comics like Maus and Sin City as well as artsy shit like Epilepsy and Black Hole. With the Great Escape comic store right outside campus, it shouldn't be too hard to get hold of stuff like this.

Things I will explore for probably less than year:
Eschatology, futurology and the coming Apocalypse
--Because the end of the world is coming, and I'd sort of like to watch.
The books of Genesis, Job and Ezekiel
--All contain great meta-narratives with themes of creation and destruction.
Zombies
--Somehow my knowledge on this subject isn't as extensive as I'm comfortable with.
H.G.Wells
--He was the Isaac Asimov of the century's turn, not to mention a fucking prophet
Hinduism
--I don't know a thing about this religion except that there's an Elephant and an Octopus-lady who get pissed fairly easily.

Happy New Year

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hmm, still doesn't say it allows anonymous comments. But I have found a way in.

And re. your newest obsession, Strange Horizons had an article here with some recommendations that I think might suit you. Also, I can certainly familiarize you with manga, should you be so inclined. (Some of it doesn't suck.)

Happy New Year!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I accidentally double-posted. /fail

And... hey! It'll let me use a nickname now. Awesome.