THE FOUNTAINHEAD

I first started getting interested in Ayn Rand through the video game Bioshock, which was very much influenced by other books that I loved.  Among the list of influences that the makers drew up, was The Fountainhead, and it occurred to me that Fontaine, a main character in the videogame was a play off of the book's title.  

All that aside, I started reading the book, and I was interested almost right away, even though the story is pretty drawl in the beginning.  Howard Roark, the protagonist of the book, is made to be the perfect human being, the perfect man; this is not only in appearance, for he carries his built, redheaded, body with the utmost of confidence, but he is completely engrossed with his own ideals, and no one else's.  He is the sole drawer of his own type of architecture, and believes that no other "old" or classic style of architecture should be mixed with any other, and that every building material has its own use.  Howard Roark struggles to develop true emotion in the few buildings that are built, and through this, its full potential.  This character is what interested me most in the book; Howard Roark is an architect who never folds against his beliefs, even when it costs him bankruptcy, jail time, and his love. 

The book goes on to describe the struggles of Howard Roark and his ever standing thoughts and ideals.  I cannot even begin to describe the true greatness of this book, although I wish I could; Ayn Rand develops her own brand of philosophy, called OBJECTIVISM, which states that "reality exists independent from consciousness; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; and that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness." I believe this to be overly depressing at a point, but I have to stress that even though it is pretty doleful, the story and language of THE FOUNTAINHEAD is incredible.

I have to add that, this being her first large novel, she focuses on Howard Roark's reactions and life, due to the public, while her second novel (her magnum opus), Atlas Shrugged is quite the opposite (although dealing with many of the same themes); Atlas Shrugged tells the story of the public and the change that happens though the world due to John Galt.  You do not meet Galt until the third part of this 1168 page book. 

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #19.

THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH.

Folk folk folk folk flipping folk. I'm going to folk you in the butt. This dude rock and rolls so hard that you're going to get an aneurism. This is some of the greatest modern folk music i've ever heard. The guys name is Kristian Matsson direct from Darlana, Sweden, which is a complete mindfuck after you hear him because he seriously sounds like a heavy smoking american war veteran. His music has the honest, authentic beauty of a lot of the folk revival music of the 60s. I'm not going to say early Bob Dylan, but, early bob dylan. And the chords he uses are much like the pallet of Nick Drake, if you feel me. Go listen to it you nazi. 

DARLANA

keezur.

Food. Pt. 2.

Spring break a time for the beach some might say. Nay my friends. There can be other places. I spent my part of my spring break in the great city of New York. Where cultures collide, mix, and mash together in one big mess of bustling boroughs and tall buildings. 

Everyone who goes to the city has there special places that they enjoy going. The park, uptown, downtown, midtown, etc. But me, I like to spend my time in Little Italy and China town. Odd? Yes. But the FOOD. My god, the food is indescribable, well some of it.

I spent my three days in the city walking around the market places of these parts of town. Thats where you find the best of the best of foods, as something Andrew Zimmern. These foods are  not served to you in a restaurant, not served to you on a platter, but served to you by a the hands of the people who make the food or create or catch the food themselves.

Now i know i just said the best of the best foods are not found in restaurants, I was right. Jelly Fish anyone? Duck feet? Yes duck feet. Es Cargo? (i know its french but we stopped in a french restaurant.)They are very, very hard to describe. Jelly Fish is like when you first bite into a pickle and you get that crunching sound, that is what it is like to bite into jelly fish with EACH bite. Every bite is crunch, crunch, crunch. But you would never expect it, because its flimsy and wiggly. Not exactly the greatest thing on the planet. But if you are daring enough try it. Duck feet, BLECH! It showed up on a plate, and i took a look at it and saw D.U.C.K. Feet there. It looked like they just cut it off and put it on a plate. But they were slimy and smelly. They were real hard to cut and they tasted horrible. I actually have no idea how to describe them to you. But my mother says that they would taste better if they were fried, but they were disgusting and should never be consumed. Es Cargo is french for snail. It was actually a decent delectable delight. Though you can't, CAN NOT, think about what you are actually eating or else you wont be able to get it down. I suggest you try Es Cargo at some point in your life.

In Little Italy there is just an indescribable amount of AMAZING cheeses, breads, pasta, oils, chocolates, ANYTHING you can think of is just amazing. I went into this little italian deli and found an assortment of cheeses and meats. They had sausage links and salami galore. I, loving mozzarella, bought 2 huge like chunks? or balls? I don't know what to call them but they were the most delicious giant balls of cheese EVER! perfectly salted and everything. Mmhmm. Then we went to think other little deli thats been open since the late 1800's that had the most amazing italian bread and other deli meats. Nothing beats the taste of anything from those places.

I also stopped in this one, i guess it was a specialty food shop because they had jars upon jars of CRAZY delicates from China. Most of it was in chinese but there was one thing in a jar that I remember I could tell what it was. It was a shark fin that was being sold for $2,000 dollars. Incredible that anyone would even buy it.

You don't always have to go to the nicest places to get good food. Explore be daring, its safe to eat in little dirty shops along the street. You'd be surprised what you will find. And now I leave you with these parting words once again. Food. The Worlds Past Time. Eat Foods, try new things, put your stomach to the test.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #18.

NO AGE.

This band is seriously rockalock. Hailing from smelly Los Angeles. The two piece is the illegitimate child of the DIY movement of years past. Its a fully realized merge of garage punk and noise and its fucking beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. GOD I FUCKING LOVE THEM. AH. It has so much energy its so great yak yak yak. 

THINGS I DID WHEN I WAS DEAD

keezur.

SHOW CITY VOLUME # 1.

HOT CHIP

Saw them last night at the Fillmore. There's never been a band to go so wikki wild live before ever. Its not even that they dance around a lot, because the don't. They have too many guitar bass and keyboard duties to attend to. But somehow, they get the whole crowd dancing so hard that you start to get a hemorrhage in your head. I don't know how it happens. Its wild, go see them as soon as possible. 

CHIPZ.

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #17.

HUSKER DU.

"Most uplifting band of all time." I read that in a book somewhere. No I didn't, thats not true. Husker Du was a hardcore punk band from Minnesota throughout the 80s. The albums I have, Zen Arcade and New Day Rising will rock the shit out of you. Think like, the energy of Don't Stop Believin' but actually good songs. Thats Husker Du. Go listen and blow your fucking head off. 

DU. 

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #16.

MAN MAN.

WILD WILD band. These guys are from Philidelphia and make stuff that is very reminiscent of Tom waits.  Not copying him. Just paying homage to him. Like, Tom Waits obsessed grindcore.  No, not like that. That doesn't even exist. They're just a great band that employs the use of action figures, dogs barking in bathtubs, and fireworks to achieve a sound that is very unique and very catchy at the same time. Not many musicians can pull that off. 

MAN MAN.

keezur.

Alkaline Trio Artwork?

  
                           
Maybe you know of them, maybe you don't. But I was just listening to some of the new Alkaline Trio and I found that Matt Skiba, the lead singer/ guitar, does artwork. I found his pieces to be interesting. And I thought I might share them.

Food.

I have to say, Food, the greatest 'thing' to ever exist. Me, being who I am, love eating food. I find eating very, very fun. Usually when I it becomes a bonding experience. I usually eat with my family and my family LOVES sushi. It is very, very good. If you have no tried sushi i suggest you must try it. Though if you are allergic stay away. No one wants to get sick. 

But that brings me to my next point, TRYING NEW FOODS. WOO! nothing more exciting than trying new foods. If you have every watched the show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer. HolyMoley! Now that guy is living the life. He gets paid to travel the world, AND EAT! He travels all over to different countries in search of the, well you guessed it, bizarrest foods. He has a stomach like no other person alive. He has eaten everything from 1,000 year old eggs in Japan (which that was actually the only thing that he could not actually eat, so maybe he doesn't have the iron stomach. But at least we know he is human) to 3 month old rotting shark in Iceland.

Now this guy has been such an inspiration to me. He makes trying new things fun. I know that sounds corny but he has. Now every time i go out to eat anywhere i will try something new. For pretty much my whole life i have never eaten fish until recently. Now I LOVE it, any kind of seafood I eat. I actually just as MonkFish liver the other night, and I loved it. It was very, very good. And I always look forward to trying new and disgusting sounding foods all the time. I usually go for the worst sounding things on the menu.

Food. The Worlds Past Time. Eat foods, try new things, put your stomach to the test.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #15.

JAY REATARD.

FATTEST MUSICIAN IN THE WORLD. Just kidding, he's not that fat. But, he is ugly and thats half the reason I love him. Jay Reatard has been making awesome shitty music for this side of a almost a decade, starting with his first band called The Reatards to his current solo album called Blood Visions. Its all rock, its all garbage, and i love it. Go listen. 

^OH SUCH A SHAME.

JAYJAY.

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #14.

M83.

These guys go BUCKWILD. MAN, I've been saying that a lot. M83 is a synth led band from France. They ball hard. I've heard a few people describe them as "music for an imax theatre" or something to that effect. Its definitely true. Their sound is huge. I can't even think how they could get so big a sound. It hits you in waves in most songs and just gets deeper and deeper. Most bands with this sort of direction become background music after a while, and that is barely true with this band. Listen to them, okay?

America.

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #13.

FELA KUTI.

"THe only true revolutionary in music."

Thats not true. Thats not even a quote but it sounds right, right? No seriously, though. Fela Kuti is amazing. While some musicians were singing for peace and unity in the western world. In Nigeria, Fela was getting stomped out by oppressive government soldiers for trying to elevate the standard of living of his people. WHILE making incredible music, i can't even describe, just watch the video.

ANIKULAPO

keezur.

The Tough Alliance

Not the best videos but this Swedish duo's music is blowing my mind. The band members Henning Fürst and Eric Berglund own the record label Sincerely Yours and have released three ep's and 2 full length albums.

SoME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #12.

SHINKI CHEN.

You can't begin to understand how much i love this. Just look at the cover. Look at it. Shinki Chen was part of a post-war japanese psychedelic rock contingent going on during the early 70s. He is known by some as the "Japanese Hendrix". That is not true, he does not resemble Hendrix in any way. But, I love him. Compared to what bands we're doing in the states at this time this is exponentially more burnt and depressed and I can not even think why. I can't understand the language. I don't know. They're all perverts if you ask me.

SHINKI.

keezur.

FILMZ. VOLUME 4.

TAKEAWAY SHOWS: YEASAYER.

If you think its weird that I'm writing this much about video stuff that FUCK OFF.

HAH. JOKE.

No seriously, though. If you don't have a feigning interest in THE TAKEAWAY SHOWS already than I suggest giving a serious look through their catalogue. BUT, this isn't as much about the show as it is the band. I've talked about Yeasayer before on here. I liked them a lot for a while and their stuff got tired to me and I decided to label them as "okay".  In Vincent Moon's (The director of The Takeaway shows, look it up on your own time) arrangement of 2080 Yeasayer really shows their ability to groove and their affinity for music. The song features, in the impromptu takeaway shows fashion, a piano accompanied with all the other members filling in their instrument parts with their voices, the exception being the drummer who uses a set of keys hitting a beer bottle for percussion. Theirs a sort of surprise in the video so i wont' spoil it. Just stop playing beyblades for ONE MINUTE and watch this video. Please.

YEASAYER

keezur.

FILMZ. VOLUME 3.

CARDIEL.

ViceTV is running a series on the life and times of John Cardiel. He is the burliest man alive. Everything ever caught on film of him is burly. He is so burly that he broke his spine and fixed it himself. That is not an exaggeration. This is the manliest documentary of all time if you do not watch it you are not a man and dishonor all of manhood. Man.

ALL HAIL CARDIEL.

keezur.

keezur.

Caroline Rose

CAROLINE ROSE is someone I would like to think of as a good friend.  She has been writing music ever since she took up the guitar in seventh grade, and has been playing music live in Westhampton Town for the past three summers.  She has recently been recording a demo, and I am now in possession of it.  I love it, it reminds me of summer.  I am not saying this just because she is my friend, I am saying it because its really really, honestly good.  

She spends her time going to Wellesley (college) in just outside of Boston; and she has vivid dreams of having a relationship with the one and only satan.  

myspace

if you want the rest of the EP, just message me at losjellybones. 

FILMZ. VOLUME 2.

THUMBS UP.

If you haven't checked out the VICE TV site yet you really, really need to. Its chock full of funny, shitty shows about nothing. This show is the cream of the crop, and coincidentally the shittiest. It features Dave and Harry, the (self professed) "two worst Koreans to ever", hitchhiking from Los Angeles to Miami. Hillar-ious. The thing that really strikes me about this show is not the gambling misadventures, train hopping, intense racial issues, or  Dave and Harry constantly describing themselves as "chinamen", but just the fact that it is still possible to hitch across the United States. In the breaks in the show from the funny parts you get bits and pieces of the enormity this genuine American adventure.  I don't know, its really great. Go watch it. And if you don't like it theres this show Shot by Kern all about a porn photographer, you fucking pervert. 

VBS.

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #11.

BOWERBIRDS.

I really like these dogs. They're the first good band that I know of from Raleigh, NC which I can't see being a haven of culture and music. They're lead by an accordion and have vocals and lyrics with a great amount of syncopation, which gives them a really super lo-fi jazzy sound. The lyrics are all about the environment which sounds like a drag on paper but it isn't preachy or any crap like that.  Give them a listen they're really great.  Most of their EP is on their myspace.

BOWERBIRDS.

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #10.

 SHOCKING PINKS

.

THIS band is mega sick. New Zealand band on DFA. They have some pretty good ideas.  The hit song they have is called Emily and its really catchy. The bass is really great and their sound bounces back and forth from noise-style drum and bass and catchy as hell synthpop. I like them they're super. 

SHOCKING PINKS

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #9.

CASTANETS.

Castanets. Castanets. Castanets, Castanets. I really like that word. Say it out loud. Its nice. Castanets are nice. He's a lot darker than I expected him to be. The cd I've been listening to for the past two days is called Cathedral. Its very well produced with lots of great little sounds. Feedback on guitars, Toy Piano, great organ. I really like it. As far as genre goes he's basically dead-on psych folk. Which isn't a bad thing. Its just a great cd listen to it and decide for yourself. Okay?

Castanets. 

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #8.

ROLLING STONE DIGITAL ARCHIVE.

This is the most amazing thing ever and that is not remotely an exaggeration. If you've ever had even a slight or passing interest in music you need this. Think of a band, or artist, or ANTHING. And look it up and its on here. There is a Rolling Stone article about it. ITS ONLY 80 BUCKS. Go buy this I don't care who you are.  GO. BUY IT. I SHOULD SELL THIS. THEY SHOULD HIRE ME TO SELL THIS.

ROLLING STONE DIGITAL ARCHIVE.

keezur.

SOME GREAT MUSICS VOLUME #7./+CRAFTS.

LITTLE WINGS/KYLE FIELD

This guy is great. His name is Kyle Field and he's some kind of surfer. Pro surfer or amateur surfer? Who cares. He has great art and his music project Little Wings blows me away. His art first off is all pen and ink drawings with these sort of stucco house colors like salmon and pale blues. It has a lot of nice little critters and faces. I really dig it. And his music project is really great. Its mostly acoustic and lo-fi stuff, very little of it has much of a recording process to it. He has a shaky but fluid voice and in the song I really like, "Look At What the Light Did Now", he has these Brian Wilson-esque harmony parts that are awesome. Just listen to it, look at his art. Its mega sick awesome. 

LITTLE WINGS/ KYLE FIELD.

keezur.

+CRAFTS

BWANA SPOONS.

Bwana Spoons is truly amazing. I had heard about him a few months ago from those shoes (pictured above) in some magazine but after a friend leanne showed me flyer for a gallery show hes having in the city just the picture on the card blew my mind. The concepts he uses are extreme but still very approachable. It reminds me of this old X-men episode where Wolverine was riding this whale through space. Never mind. He's versatile, He's a pretty serious toy designer and he did those shoes for Dekline that are great. I really dig a lot of his stuff and he has a show going on at Giant Robot in the city that i think YOU should check out.

keezur.

NEVETS.

STEVE is now part of the KEEZUR blog family.

He only eats pig products and is the master of all things discotheque.

RESPECT.

keezur.

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

upon considering Earnest Hemingway for my "psychological profile" final project (for psychology) I was astounded with the fact that I have not read any of his books; I was also astounded that he was overly masculine because his mom dressed him up like a girl when he was little, but w.e. we all have weird parents.  I am proud to say, after school I quickly drove to my local library (from which I just received an ADULT library card prematurely).  I then took out "The Old Man and the Sea", a book of short stories (both by hemingway) and a biography of him.  Hemingway adopted his father's outdoors-man hobbies of hunting, fishing and camping in the woods and lakes of Northern Michigan (as you can see by his beard).  He biased his writing on the quote "use short sentances. use short first paragraphs. use vigorous english. be positive, not negative"; and his early works sold surprisingly well.  This success elicited some crude and pretentious behavior from him, even in these formative years of his career.  For example, he began to tell F. Scott Fitzgerald how to write; he also claimed that the novelist Ford Maddox Ford was sexually impotent.  The book "The Old Man and the Sea" in which I am almost a third through with, won the pulitzer prize in 1953.  Sadly, Ernest Hemingway committed suicide in his cabin in Ketchum, Idaho; after an attempted suicide in early '61 destroyed his memory.  Hemingway is one of the most prolific writers to grace the 20th century.  He went out with a literal bang when he rested the barrel of a shot gun to his forehead the morning of July 2nd. 

Huoratron

This electronic/grincore band from Finland has the hardest hitting beats combined with extreme electronic instrumentals. Most instrumentals sound like they're being played through an Atari with some effects added. Definitely one of the better bands I've heard lately. Videos of Huoratron make the live performances seem almost to intense to be real. Huoratron is signed to New Judas, along with Obi Blanche, Pets on Prozac, and others; definitely a good record label.

HOURATRON