Saturday, May 14th, 2005

Saved

Some thoughts on Saved!, which I watched a couple nights ago – it’s not really as satirical or offensive to Christianity as the indignant would have led me to believe. It’s actually a pretty standard high school comedy, the whole born again plot device is pretty superficial. Mandy Moore’s character is really the only one really worthy of scorn, and that’s got more to do with being an uber-bitch than any religious persuasion. All in all it was mildly amusing but was really let down by the heavy-handed moralizing at the end. I don’t care about the pro- or anti-Christian message, but I do prefer things to be presented in a slightly more subtle manner…

Random observations – I found it really strange that the Christian rock band at the prom were playing The Replacements’ “We’ll Inherit The Earth” at the Christian high school prom, and Jena Malone and Mary-Louise Parker were the cutest/hottest mother-daughter combo, like, ever.

The two holes in Columbia’s otherwise excellent Bob Dylan remasters collection are finally being filled. The eponymous debut album Bob Dylan and the seminal The Times They Are A-Changin’ will be getting the fancy-pants redo come June 21. I’m glad I’ve been dragging my heels on getting Times, I do like the sound quality of the remasters. There’s also volume seven of The Bootleg Series slated to come out on August 16 and are rumoured to contain studio outtakes from ’61 to ’66, but no one’s really sure at this point. Dylan’s hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota will also be renaming the street he grew up on in his honour (symbolically, anyway – it willl officially remain 7th Ave).

Defamer is reporting that hell has frozen over and that Fox has actually renewed Arrested Development for not one, but TWO full seasons. I want to believe, but…

Got a little giveaway I’m running – the first five people to shoot me an email (frank AT chromewaves DOT net) will get a pair of passes to The Good Life show next Tuesday (May 17) at The 360. It’s also worth noting that the head honcho of The Good Life’s label, a little outfit called Saddle Creek, may well be in town that night since his own band is playing the next night… What am I getting at? Hmm. Austin’s Zykos are opening things up – I saw them at SxSW this year, they were pretty good. So yeah, if you want to go to this show, mail me, yo. Update: Passes all gone. Thanks for playing.

Some shows – Toronto’s finest space cowboys, The Frontier Index, play show at the Horseshoe June 24 to celebrate the release of their debut album on Rainbow Quartz June 28. The UK’s Maximo Park are at Lee’s Palace June 14 to pimp debut album A Certian Trigger, which is coming out domestically on May 31. We’ve also got (Smog) on August 8 at Lee’s (the brackets are silent) in support of A River Ain’t Too Much to Love, out May 31, and Pretty Girls Make Graves are at the Mod Club August 25, well, just because. Tickets for that one are $12.50.

Blogpoly!

Check it out – I’m big in Holland! (scroll down). I am assuming this article says nice things and is not calling for some sort of boycott. Thanks to Herman for sending me the link.

np – John Vanderslice / Life And Death Of An American Four-Tracker

By : Frank Yang at 9:27 am
Category: Uncategorized
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  1. timothy says:

    i couldn’t possibly understand any of that article (except the false assertion that you are either american or focus on american music) but i thought it was fun to read a few sentences aloud.

    aan de bloggen burger!

    go arrested development!! the gossip queen kristin has edited her story a few times under pressure (some form Defamer), but now she seems to be sticking with a full season renewal.

  2. ChildeRoland says:

    It’s a quite lengthy article about the world of blogs (what they are, what they do and what people think they will do). You’re being listed in the list of "popular music" which is a bit odd given your (if I may add, great) taste in music. Anyway, you have nothing to worry about.

  3. j breitling says:

    We just watched Saved last weekend and we all had the same reaction to the Mats song. My friend even asked me a the credits rolled, in total serious, whether Westerberg had intended the song to have some sort of religious overtone. Wierd. Funny movie, but like you said, not as antagonistic to evangelicals as I sort of hoped it would be (sorry evangelical readers).

  4. Frank says:

    Eigenlijk te slecht dat – ik hoopte eerder dat het een vraag aan wapens was en dat de Nederlanders tegen me zouden stijgen. That’d is pret, it’d me te doen iets geeft.

    Houdt u van amercan muziek? Ik houd van Amerikaanse muziek. Niet u houdt van Amerikaanse muziek, baby.

  5. claire says:

    1. thanks for the arrested development heads-up. 2 seasons? dare to dream…

    2. thanks for the portastatic heads-up.

    3. i am glad to hear that you acquired a copy of ‘flip your wig’. not like i know you, or knew you were looking for it, but it is good to know that one more person has gotten to discover that record. the best songs on there are essential. and i never use that word.

  6. ChildeRoland says:

    Quite a cryptic message, Frank. Nothing wrong with stirring some shit up with the Dutch people tho.

    And yes, there’s some great music around.

  7. david says:

    We lived one summer in Holland when I was growing up, but most of the language escapes me, except for "historische liveopnames," which means the coolest guy ever, I think.

  8. shoma says:

    Not being Dutch I have no idea what you wrote a couple comments ago, but strangely I now have the urge to listen to some Violent Femmes … am I wrong?

  9. foxymoron says:

    Is that a Culkin in the wheelchair?

  10. Frank says:

    that is indeed macauley culkin. He was pretty good.

  11. RSL says:

    I’d seen <cite>Saved</cite> when it was still in the theaters, and I just found it so friggin’ uneaven. The middle part [where the characters stopped becoming characatures of fundy youth] was really good. But when they re-converted the characters into mere conveyor belts for the new agey "I’m okay–You’re okay" philosophy it seemed to me [quite ironically] the very thing the directors/producers poked fun at the Christians for in the first third of the film.

  12. Eva says:

    Here’s the need to know:

    1)Elsevier is a somewhat right-wing magazine, sort of like Time.

    2)You’re listed as an example of a blog about "popular music", and "Americana" is whatever THEY think the music you’re writing about is.

    3)Well…the article is a little negative about blogging in general, but you come off very well, being a "topical" blogger.

    Some good bits: It quotes a history/media/culture professor saying "Even a monkey can start a weblog" Another snippet: "Blogging: is it a blessing or a curse? In any case, it’s a fad."

    And "The question is if aside from egotripping, any social effects can be expected from the blog fad. Opinions vary."

    But then: "But maybe it will later appear that blogging at the start of the 21st century unrecognizably changed politics and media." followed by some examples of blogging as journalism.

    And then the part that is most inetersting for you: "(So) Blogging is much more than just spraying digital graffiti on the virtual bathroom stall door. Yes, roughly 80 percent of blogs are a cute diary or a pretty family album. But the rest functions as a useful medium for a broader group than just family, friends, and fans of the blogger. These can be sites aimed at one particular topic, created by people who want to be part of a community of interests on the internet."

    The list of links were text-boxes/frames in the printed article, and the categories listed are "amusement", "religious", "popular music", and "politics"