Anyways, the film got me thinking about my own childhood, and the parallels I saw between myself and the child in the movie [also named Max, ironically enough. For those not in the know, which is most of you, my real first name is Max, Philip is my middle name!]. I didn't have many friends as a kid, and was a hardcore science and nature nerd. [still am!]. I spent most of my time roaming around our property, which was around 75 acres in suburban New York 40 miles from Manhattan, I didn't grasp the magnitude of our fortune to have this in our family until I was much older, I just assumed every kid had a huge yard to run around in and build forts, but that's another story. Anyways, I was known as THE kid in the neighborhood for building crazy forts and swings and ziplines in trees and stuff. I think though the other kids sensed my social awkwardness and low standing on the elementary/middle school pecking order, they had a sort of unspoken respect for me based on my sheer fearlessness at jumping out of trees on homemade devices of the sketchiest nature.
We had a huge Norway Pine begind our house next to the Barn which must have been close to 100 feet high if not more; I think I measured it once at around 115; anyways, I climbed within 5 feet of the top several times, and remember being able to see what felt like forever [this is Long Island we are talking about; it's pretty damn flat.] I could see the north and the south shores just barely on a clear day. Up there, the main branches had receded into a bushy nest of young branches and green pine cones, and I felt like I was being pushed up into the sky; swaying in the wind on spindly sticks 100 feet up. Any wonder I've taken up rock climbing so intensely later in life?
The movie made me want to climb trees again, to jump in a pile of autumn leaves on the corner, to wolf howl in the movie theater through the closing credits, to live without fear or regrets or questions, just in the moment. I realize I am already doing this more than many people; but it's a struggle to balance "the real world" with "the world of the mind." When the boy, Max, returns home after his adventure with the wild Things,it is exactly like when he ran away outside, and you get the impression the author's message is that the journey really was one of his imagination, which is the point. Anyways, It made me miss my mom [can't wait too see my family for X-Mas!], sailing small wooden boats on the coast of Maine this past summer, and climbing! Thankfully all 3 of those things are integral parts of my life and hopefully will continue to be so.
Here I am with 2 of my best Sailor's from this past summer in Maine, Jacob from Germany on the right, and Tanner from New Hampshire on the left. Great kids! I miss Maine!
9/19/2009:
More good new music I've listening to lately.... The following has got me smiling consistantly:
1.) Raphael Saadiq's 'The Way I see it". What a great album. It really is surprising that given Mr. Saadiq's soulful, classic voice, neo-soul motown-meets-nu jazz beats and accessable sound he doesn't have a billboard hit to his name, but maybe this is a good thing, given what tends to happen to good artists once they reach this level of acclaim. Raphael Saadiq has been in the game since his early days with "Tony, Toni, Toni!" in trhe late 60's and early 70's, and has quite the impresswive discography to his name, furth credit to his polished yet raw sound and great live sets.
2.) German DJ Siriusmo's "The Univited Guest." Short but killer EP with several superb instrumental tracks. Reminiscent of the best of Institubes or Ed Banger.
3.) Early Productions by The Neptunes..... yah I'm talking about the shit they did before they started producing the likes of J.T and Snoop.... check out 03's "The Neptunes Present.... Clones" for a sample of their distinctive catchy/hot beats and overall smooth sound.
4.) Japanese DJ and producer Shingo Sizuki has released a very impressive debut album recenlty, featuring collaborations with west coast heavyweights Moka Only, Blu, and Thirdiq, in addition to a number of bangin instrumental tracks. Some of the best instrumental hip hop I have heard in a long time. looking forward to a follow-up Mr. Sizuki!
5.) The new Cassius album, "Youth Trouble Speed Cigarretes", though only 4 or 5 songs long, features some fantastic tracks that rank of there with anything on '15 Again", including the title track, "Y.T.S.C", and "Almost Cut My Hair." Almost like Phoenix meets Ratatat meets The Rapture..... except better than that would be.
6.) Mark Farina's Mushroom Jazz series has always been good, but unfortunately never that consistent, often straying into mediocre jazz takex on elevator music. His latest, however, Mushroom Jazz 6 [along with the previous fifth volume] are refreshingly packed with instrumental and remixed takes on songs but underground hip hop acts like Strange Fruit Project, Pete Rock, and Thes One of People Under The Stairs. The production my Mr. Farina is great as always, and the overall cohesion and feel of the album is a lot more solid, making for an enjoyable listen from start to finish.
7.) So a few years ago, Cincinatti DJ and recordhead extraordinaire Boom Bip decided to get together with Super Furry Animal's Gruff Rhys [what a name huh?], and the result was Neon Neon, an albeit short-lived but awesome project which yielded the album "Stainless Style", a shameless rip-off of some corny 80's nostalgia, but with standout tracks like "I Told her on Aldernann" or "Raquel", who cares? You'll be magically transported back to 1986, and it's guarenteed to put a smile on your face. Pick up this album if you have not!!
8.) Trippy, slightly video game-ish Norwegian electronica: That's right, there's more than just Lindstrom, Prins Thomas, and Royksopp: Check out Skatebard [missing the little 'o o' above the a, but you get the idea] as well as Trentmoller, for the type of surreal music you could see coming out of a cold, desolate gray land filled with mystical trolls, waterfalls, and H&M wearing young people who look like supermodels.
9.) You know how sometimes you get really intensely into an artist and then kind of hit a plateau and lose interest to where you hardly listen to them at all anymore? Then 6 months later they come on your Ipod on shuffle and your like "damn! this is great!!" That's kind of how i feel about Tennessee's indie-electro group 'VHS or BETA' . I saw them play at Club Congress, my favorite bar in Tucson, AZ when I lived there in spring of 07.' I bought pretty much everything they made and loved it. Then forgot about them for a year or so. No I'm remebering how good they are. Check them out!! "Bring on the Comets" and "Le Funk" are particularily great.
So that concludes my rave on random music I find enjoyable.
something I've been thinking about lately is a sort of "Best of Boulder" list; albeit very subjective, but I think based on a fair amount of research and personal experience. Ah, whatever, enough justification, here's my best of Boulder list ,a a work in progress:
Best coffee:
I was going to say this was a tie between the Trident Cafe in the Trident Bookstore and 'The Cup', but then I realized I was being to cubjectively weighed my the atmosphere and overall ambience and not judging based soley on coffee quality, in which case it's pretty tough to beat downtown's Amante Coffee. Their pastry's are pretty damn yummy too.
Best Place to watch 30-something singles awkwardly [or not so awkwardly] break it down on the dance floor: The B.Side Lounge. They occasionally have great music in the small, intimate backroom stage too. Their house DJ is generally pretty clutch [yeah, I just said that.] too.
A great place to either start of end an evening of drinking in Boulder.
Best place to mingle with bro's, hipsters, homeless people, and the occasional old guy: The Sundowner [aka the scumdowner] Saloon. This palce get's lauded as a "dive bar", but obviously in Boulder there is no such thing as a true Dive Bar, at least on Pearl, so we have to settle for this. Given, the beer is pretty cheap for Boulder standards, and the music is generally ok, this can be a pretty fun place to get moderately drunk on a Thursday night. Beware, though.... it's always packed.
Best Record Shop: Bart's Record's and Cd World on Pearl. You will find some true eccentrics, diggers, and recordheads at this place, along with a great, dedicated staff who is passionate about music and helping you find that obscure early 80's Radiohead LP that no one else has ever heard of. Ok, so I digress, but seriously, Bart's is awesome, as are their prices [geberally], and if you can relax your upper lip a bit and buy CD's in addition to all that trendy vinyl, there are some killer deals to be had, especially is the used sections. The upper floor vinyl area has a great selection with a lot of rare stuff at reasonable prices; do expect to pay a premium though for "hot" new releases by "it" artists for the Boulder hipster set; ie the latest LCD Soundsystem or Hop Chip album.
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