death, blood, birds, & elves

my dad alerted me to this http://www.simonhoegsberg.com/we_are_all_gonna_die/slider.html
photo project called "We're All Gonna Die" by a Dutch artist. it's 100 meters long. it's pretty awesome.

i took a trip to Ocean Springs, Mississippi the other day. i've decided i really like Mississippi. we went to the new exhibit at the Walter Anderson Museum. Walter was AMAZING. i wish i was insane & brilliant like he was. here's a sweet bird painting of his:


in my bookbinding class i made a bird accordian book for a special friend.
this is the cover


and these are some of the pages




i also recently took a trip to Athens, Georgia with M. it was quite a bloody trip, between the bloody lip, coughing up blood, and bloody-ing up the hotel room. deceptively innocently drinking champagne and talking on the phone before the massacre:


we also saw Elf Power and Vic Chesnutt. i wore a bird in my hair. which, along with my green ankle boots, made me look like a woodland creature. or an Elf, if you will.


M & i think A.R. is a hot Elf


and Vic is amazing

crying with laughter

my new favorite activity is watching hour upon hour of Two & a Half Men. it's HI-LAR-I-OUS.

the theme song & ADORABLE intro gets me every time


so does the "Oshikuru" theme song written by Charlie, a jingle writer


i have 3 favorite scenes & they are so funny they make me literally cry with laughter.

1. at about the 9 minute mark- when Charlie, Jake, & Alan are dressed up as the Flying Monkeys


2. when Jake yells "SQUAB!" & the spaghetti flies in the air- about 1 minute in


3. BEST OF ALL, when Charlie & Alan pretend to be gay. i can't find my favorite part of the episode, but this is pretty funny, especially when Alan says, "Back off sister, I caught this fish!" around 28 seconds.

"woah, i'm in trouble boys/a Southern Alabama kid's in trouble"

Mobile, Alabama roots


whenever i am about to leave the South, i start going all sentimental & relishing all those great things about the most misunderstood & underrated section of the country.

these are some Southern foods i've been into lately: cheese grits, FRIED okra & pickles & green tomatoes, ranch dressing.
mmm, want some?


and my favorite Southern cities & towns are: Mobile, AL, Fairhope, AL, Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN, Chapel Hill, NC, Winston-Salem, NC, Oxford, MS, Gainsville, FL, Pensacola, FL, New Orleans, LA, Atlanta, GA, Savannah, GA, and OF COURSE, MOST OF ALL... Athens, GA. the loveliest place in all the world.
see, these great boys are from there

my favorite places in Athens are: the 40 Watt, the Grit, THE GRILL, Caledonia Lounge, Secret Squirrel, the Globe, Transmetropolitan, Schoolkids, WUXTRY, and all the hilly back roads just outside of downtown.

i made a "Best Of Athens" mixtape, but that's for another time. so here are my Top 40 Bands/Musicians From The South!! not in order:

1. r.e.m. (GA)
2. the dB's (NC)
3. buddy holly (TX)
4. roy orbison (TX)
5. everly brothers (KY)
6. pylon (GA)
7. b-52's (GA)
8. let's active (NC)
9. love tractor (GA)
10. the squalls (GA)
11. flat duo jets (GA)
12. the silos (FL)
13. vulgar boatmen (FL)
14. jay reatard (TN)
15. dolly parton (TN)
16. otis redding (GA)
17. 13th floor elevators (TX)
18. guadalcanal diary (GA)
19. vic chesnutt (GA)
20. whiskeytown (NC)
21. OLD 97's (TX)
22. steve earle (TX)
23. justin townes earle (TN)
24. pine hill haints (AL)
25. jim white (FL)
26. swimming pool q's (GA)
27. daniel johnston (TX)
28. james & bobby purify (FL)
29. congo rebellion (FL)
30. the right angles (AL)
31. big star (TN)
32. bonnie "prince" billy (KY)
33. neutral milk hotel (GA)
34. of montreal (GA)
35. olivia tremor control (GA)
36. circulatory system (GA)
37. oh-OK (GA)
38. elf power (GA)
39. music tapes (GA)
40. the box tops (TN)

the coolest Southern gal!

ROY ORBISON

Roy Orbison is probably the coolest guy ever. i mean, just look at those shades.



and the coolest scene of any movie of all time is when Dean Stockwell & Dennis Hopper sing Roy's "In Dreams" in Blue Velvet.



also, he sang the truest lyrics to describe love that i've ever heard in my life, in 1989's "Mystery Girl."

a love so sharp
cuts like a switchblade to my heart
words tearing me apart

love hurts! it's also the greatest! thanks Roy.

Old Year/New Year

2008 was pretty sweet. the last day of it & the first day of 2009 were spent in Athens, Ga. we saw Of Montreal. they rubbed blood on us & played a full set of covers, highlights being "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "American Girl" by Tom Petty, and the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn't've Fallen In Love With." it ruled, a lot.

E & i post-champagne, pre-Of Montreal:


broken glass: new year's eve aftermath


playing guitar with an extra hand


so anyway, that was 2008. goodbye, year.

now i have some predictions for 2009. what you can look forward to:

COOL PLACES- Savannah, Ga; Memphis, Tn; Oxford, Ms; Gainesville, Fl

COOL VENUE- The Bottle Tree in Birmingham, Al

LEGENDARY BANDS THAT WILL BE COOL TO BE INFLUENCED BY- Tall Dwarfs (and all other New Zealand/Flying Nun people like The Clean, The Chills, The 3Ds, The Bats, etc.), Pavement, Guided By Voices, original Elephant 6 stuff, R.E.M.'s first two albums

FOOD PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LIKE TO EAT- french fries (humble, yet easy to personalize & make more fancy; also, cool in a kitschy and also ironic, these-are-bad-for-me-but-i-don't-care kind of way)

COOL ART TO DO- Bookbinding

COOL ACTIVITY- categorizing all your favorite things in life into structured lists

DRUGS THAT WILL BE IN VOGUE- over the counter medications and the trusty, always readily available alcohol (especial hard liquor and cheap champagne)

COOL THINGS TO WEAR- glasses (preferably ones that make you look like Woody Allen), 80's-ish lace up ankle boots, sunglasses indoors, cropped t-shirts, t-shirts that are too big for you, things that are grey

SOCIAL-Y WEBSITE PEOPLE WILL GET EXCITED ABOUT- Yelp (see mine here! camillaaa.yelp.com)

COOL JOB- not actually having a job but finding creative ways to have enough money to live (i.e. selling cd's & lp's to your local independent record store, selling any items really on Ebay, getting your tax return back, spending your savings, having a birthday/graduating from high school or college or grad school/celebrating a holiday, making bets with people you know you'll win, etc.)

PHILOSOPHY/OUTLOOK FOR THE YEAR- no nostalgia; being more excited about right now & the future than the past, not romanticising the past, not basing new experiences on old ones, making new friends, doing new things, memory loss.

End of the Year Lists: Part Three!

i saw SO SO MANY terrific shows this year, so it's really hard to cull them down into a concise list, but i've never been known for being concise, so here's my Top 20-ish Shows of 2008:

1. The Pogues & Billy Bragg in NYC
2. Justin Townes Earle in Mobile
3. King Khan & The Shrines in Phoenix
4. Circulatory System @ Athens Popfest
5. Elephant 6 extravaganza in NYC
6. Crystal Stilts & Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Bard College (my show, i rule)
7. The Feelies & Shrubs in Brooklyn
8. Jay Reatard & Women in Brooklyn (i broke my finger at this show, i kind of rule again)
9. Old 97's in New Orleans
10. My Teenage Stride @ Athens Popfest
11. Okkervil River in NYC
12. Old 97's in Mobile
13. Fat Planet @ Athens Popfest
14. Robert Forster in NYC
15. Jay Reatard @ the Matador offices
16. Dressy Bessy in Brooklyn
17. Meat Puppets in Flagstaff, AZ
18. Elf Power @ Athens Popfest
19. Dean & Britta in NYC
20. (BIG TIE) Deerhunter in Brooklyn/ King Khan & BBQ in Brooklyn/ Marshall Crenshaw @ a middle school fundraiser in a church in Rhinebeck, NY (!!)/ Bunnygrunt @ New England Popfest

End of the Year Lists: Part Two!

Now, time for the all important Top Albums of 2008:

[Best Reissues]

1. PAVEMENT- BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS
2. R.E.M.- Murmur
3. New Order- Movement, Power, Corruption, & Lies, Low Life, Brotherhood, and Technique

[Best Live/ish Releases]

1. Lou Reed- Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse
2. Belle & Sebastian- BBC Sessions

[Best EP]

1. The Clientele- That Night, A Forest Grew

[BEST BEST!]

1. Old 97's- Blame It On Gravity
2. Robert Forster- The Evangelist
3. Jay Reatard- Matador Singles: '08
4. Okkervil River- The Stand Ins
5. Silver Jews- Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
6. Fleet Foxes- s/t
7. Elf Power- In a Cave
8. The Raveonettes- Lust Lust Lust
9. Magnetic Fields- Distortion
10. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks- Real Emotional Trash
11. Times New Viking- Rip It Off
12. Music Tapes- Music Tapes For Clouds and Tornadoes
13. Pine Hill Haints- Ghost Dance

14. Billy Bragg- Mr. Love & Justice
15. Jonathan Richman- Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild
16. R.E.M.- Accelerate
17. Elvis Costello- Momofuku [E.C. and R.E.M. are kind of only for sentimental/loyalty reasons, sorry boys]
18. Wolf Parade- At Mt. Zoomer
19. Deerhunter- Microcastle
20. Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, & The Amorphous Strums- Dark Developments
21. Shearwater- Rook
22. Justin Townes Earle- The Good Life
23. The Lucksmiths- First Frost
24. Bonnie Prince Billy- Lie Down un the Light
25. Of Montreal- Skeletal Lamping

and to add a touch of excitement to all the boring text, here is Lou Reed performing the incredible "Caroline Says Part II" from the brand new movie version of Berlin, directed by my arch nemesis Julian Schaebel.
enjoy!