Anne Frank, Tall Bikes, and One Clean Duck

Yesterday was the UMass Motor Sport Clubs' annual car show. The cars were okay, I guess, but my favorite part by far was the modified tall bikes. They don't look too safe or convenient, but boy are they cool.

Before I went to the car show I walked the campus pond. There was this duck freaking out, trying to clean itself. Luckily I had my video camera on hand, capturing most of his ridiculous antics.



There is about a week left of solid classes and I am pretty happy about that. After giving it much thought, I have decided to stay an extra semester so I can successful fulfill all of my academic requirements without going completely crazy. This means I won't be signing up for online courses this summer; something that may have posed some difficulty if it were placed on top of my already hectic plans.

This is an exert from my high school sketch book. I probably drew this when I was 16, maybe 17. I was, and still am, a big fan of the accessories and affectations of the classic American homeless man. There's a guy that hangs out on Main Street that recently lost his leg. Now he walks around with crutches, mumbling and yelling at people.

Speak easy,
Neil

Today's Playlist:
Orality In The Fourth Dimension

This is a playlist of my favorite narrative songs, or songs that tell a kind of linear story. Most of them have a beginning, middle, and end, but a few of the songs on the list are a little less obvious (although they still have a story with multiple characters). Although, I suppose you could make the point that every song has some sort of story to tell.

1. Flight of the Conchords - Nothin' Wrong (Folk The World Tour)
[A man kills his wife and chops up her body...it's actually a really funny song]

2. The Streets - It Was Supposed To Be So Easy (A Grand Don't...)
[After running errands, a man returns to find a house full of friends and 1,000 quid missing]

3. Clarence Carter - Patches (Patches)
[A boy deals with many losses as he grows up working on the family farm]

4. The Decemberists - A Cautionary Song (Castaways and Cutouts)
[A woman prostitutes herself to the local sailors to feed her children]

5. Ben Folds - Fred Jones Part 2 (Rockin' The Suburbs)
[An old man is laid off from his job after 25 years]

6. Nickel Creek - The Lighthouse Tale (Nickel Creek)
[A tragic love story told from the point of view of a lighthouse]

7. Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (Come On, Feel The Illonoise)
[The true story of a man who dressed up as a clown and proceeded to rape and murder young boys]

8. Death Cab For Cutie - Styrofoam Plates (The Photo Album)
[A man copes with the death of his deadbeat dad]

9. Bright Eyes - Amy In The White Coat (Noise Floor)
[A girl is sexually abused by her father and falls into a deep depression]

10. Neutral Milk Hotel - Two Headed Boy (In The Aeroplane Over The Sea)
[A cryptic song about dancing and getting intimate with Anne Frank]

11. M. Ward - Chinese Translation (Post-War)
[A man travels across land and ocean to find the answers to some of life's most difficult questions]

12. Say Hi To Your Mom - As Smart As Geek Is Chic Right Now (Ferocious Mopes)
[A group of robots are accidentally given brains and are subsequently killed by a scared security gaurd]

Note: This list ended up being more depressing than I thought it would.

Bluish

Today, on my way back from the library, a duck almost flew into my face. It was flying right toward me and then, at the last moment, turned skyward and missed my head by about 2 feet. For some reason I wasn't scared of being hit, although, now that I think about it, I probably should have been.

This evening I helped one of my friends film a short film for one of her classes. We shot on this hill overlooking campus, which was an absolutely amazing view. The guy that owned the property came out and told us that we were trespassing, but said we could still film in his yard. If I were living next to a college campus I would probably put up chicken wire. The process of film making made me really excited about buying a video camera. When I get my tax money back from the government (assuming that my brother did my taxes) I plan on getting a halfway decent video camera.


Fun Fact: Approximately one quarter of the United States’ homeless population are war veterans.

Speak easy,
Neil

Pins, Bright, Black and Poor.

Yesterday I was walking through the center of Amhest. A homeless man was standing across from the Souper Bowl (a soupery with a terrible name and equally terrible logo). He asked me if I wanted to donate money to a school for poor children. At the time I was properly headphoned and holding a Reese' peanut butter cup in my hand. Normally I try to pretend that they are not there, something that is significantly easier to do when no one is around. I gave him fifty cents and he said "every bit counts". Afterward, I felt guilty. Like I had invested in the suffering of the soul of someone else.

Sometimes I wonder if the popularization of credit cards and debit cards has an effect on the homeless population. Digital transactions result in changeless pockets. If people have no change then they can't give it to the homeless. What do they do then?

The homeless people, the people that are ignored, sad, sick, and lost, always remind me of a poem that I read once. I was able to find it online (thanks to Google).

_______

Mantis by samuel charters

Mantis! praying mantis! since your wings’ leaves
And your terrified eyes, pins, bright, black and poor
Beg — "Look, take it up" (thoughts’ torsion)! "save it!"
I who can’t bear to look, cannot touch, — You —
You can — but no one sees you steadying lost
In the cars’ drafts on the lit subway stone.

—The ungainliness
of the creature needs stating.

And your terrified eyes, pins, bright, black and poor

"The mantis opened its body
It had been lost in the subway
It steadied against the drafts
It looked up—
Begging eyes—
It flew at my chest"

… "it is harmless," he says moving on—You?
Where will he put you? There are no safe leaves
To put you back in here, here’s news! too poor
Like all the separate poor to save the lost.

One feels in fact inevitably
About the coincidence of the mantis lost in the subway,
About the growing oppression of the poor—
Which is the situation most pertinent to us—

Here, stone holds only seats on which the poor
Ride, who rising from the news may trample you—
The shops’ crowds a jam with no flies in it.

_______



Speak easy,
Neil

c'est triste, n'est-ce pas?

Yesterday I had class and then hung out with friends. By the end of the night I was at Katie and Sarah's house, off campus, and was unable to catch a bus. This resulted in a severe lack blog yesterday. My intention is to blog daily, even when I have classes or work or friends to occupy my time. In order to make sure I keep on top of this, I have decided to post something embarrassing every time I neglect my blog. Without checks and balances, everything would fall apart. Sarah recommended that I should talk about my love for the O.C. and Gossip Girl. It is true, I really enjoy watching these shows and have never missed an episode. When it comes down to it, Lev always dismisses my opinions because of my affection for Gossip Girl. I don't hold it against him.

At the bus stop this morning I stood next to a homeless man. A pleasant African American fellow wielding a big white bucket (to drum on), a kazoo in a harmonica holder around his neck, and a glittering purple cape. He even asked me to straighten his cape for him! I couldn't help but notice that he kind of smelled of plastic, although that could have been his bucket.

Before I delve into my "Contemporary Gentleman" list (which I will post next week), I would first like to backtrack to the late 1770's. There you will find a chubby bifocaled man with a quill in his hand and hope in his heart. I am talking about Benjamin Franklin. Although he did not follow a lot of his own advice, he still proved to be one of the first great thinkers in American history. Mr. Franklin brought forth a list of virtues that one ought to live by.

The first virtue that BF wrote about was "temperance". This means that one ought not eat to dullness, nor drink to elevation. It is important for us to practice this kind of self control in our lives. For more virtuous advice from our founding fathers check back tomorrow.

While spending time in Moldova I heard that their homeless people live underground. There are large cracks in the concrete that are large enough for people to climb through. Underneath the city there are large pipes that transport hot water throughout Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova. I'm really glad they have a warm place to sleep because the homeless people that I saw there were some of the most downtrodden I had ever seen.


I really like when you spend the night in a different house. When you get home you can't help but notice that your clothes smell different. The French have a word for the residual smell of something. The word is sillage.

Here is a video of what dorm life is like in Moldova. The guy in the middle with the grey shirt and black sleeves is Alex. He stood up for me the day I got to Moldova. I wasn't supposed to be spending the night in the dorm and he got me in the building as his guest. There was a chance that he could have been kicked out of the building for harboring me. I found that people over there, at least the young people, were very polite and helpful.



Speak easy,
Neil

Today's Playlist:
Funny Farm (or music to accompany the voices in your head)

1. Animal Collective - Peacebone (Strawberry Jam)
2. The Fiery Furnaces - Nevers (Bitter Tea)
3. Man Man - Black Mission Goggles (Six Demon Bag)
4. Sufjan Stevens - Belly Button (A Sun Came!)
5. Tim Fite - Thought I Was a Gun (Fair Ain't Fair)
6. The Paper Chase - Said The Spider To The Fly (God Bless...)
7. Dresden Dolls - Girl Anachronism (Dresden Dolls)
8. Sufjan Stevens - Siamese Twins (A Sun Came!)
9. Neutral Milk Hotel - Marching Theme (On Avery Isle)
10. Radiohead - The Gloaming (Hail To The Thief)
11. The Robot Ate Me - You Don't Fill Me Up The Same (On Vacation Vol. I)
12. Modest Mouse - The Devil's Workday (Good News For People...)
13. Tom Waits - God's Away On Business (Blood Money)

P.S
This video is too funny to go without mention.