too lazy to title.

Man oh man-Good week. I have been weirdly interested in cooking lately, (although I'm terrible at it) and I am trying to do it a bit more. Fortunately Natalie can cook well, and we are doing it twice a week. It's a welcome change from ramen noodles. I was getting desparate for that change. In fact, no joke, a few weeks ago I mixed together ramen and macaroni and cheese, just so I could taste something different. It was awful. On last Thursday we cooked some really good cajun chicken pasta and Tuesday we made Mexican Crostada. Pretty good stuff. Thanks for the recipes Rita. This week I am choosing the recipe for Wednesday so leave a good suggestion in the comments. Ate anything good lately?

Speaking of good food we went and had Thanksgiving in Cokeville yesterday. There were like 35 people there and it was a huge table and lots of fun. The food of course was incredible too so thanks to those who prepared it. Grandpa told some funny stories afterwards that had us laughing pretty good.

My obsession with little Richard is getting worse. This biography I'm reading is intense. He was a crazy dude-I just read about how as a child he used to have this compulsion to defacate in jars and boxes. He would sometimes wrap up the boxes an give them to people as gifts. Once he did it in his mothers jam jar and then put it back on the shelf like nothing had happened. The town thought he was possesed by the devil. There are some other sad things that happened to him as a boy that are probably too graphic to describe here, but his story is fascinating. He thinks many of his problems have come to him because his one leg is much shorter than the other. Although I don't think it has affected me near as much, I felt I could kind of relate. Walking funny because of my leg did have some sort of an impact on my personality, beleive it or not. It was one of the reasons I got made fun of a bit, and so I had to combat that by making fun of myself. I still have that trait to this day somewhat. Little Richard also kind of invented performance art in rock and roll because he was trying hard to be non-threatening to white people. There was a lot of racism in Georgia and the rest of the U.S., so to get around that he invented the craziest stage act that he could so as to come off as funny. Then everyone else kind of copied his free expression approach. Elvis refers to Richard as the greatest performer who ever lived.

Speaking of great performers, we went and saw the Michael Jackson movie the other night. It was a bit too long, but it was entertaining and kind of sad. Even though at times Mikey was a little over-indulgent in the rehearsals, that show would have been and amazing one. He was all about spectacle. At one point he plans to have a huge bulldozer drive onto stage and stop right before it hits him. Nobody questioned his judgement. It was weird. After watching that I can't stop singing Human Nature.

Ever seen Style Wars? Its a famous documentary about graffiti in New York in the 70's, and its pretty amazing that it even exists. Do yourself a favor and sit down to watch it sometime.

End of the year is coming up, time to start making some lists. And listening to Christmas Music. And figuring out presents for people.

My mom wanted a list of things I might want for X-Mas. Here are a few suggestions.

1. Conquest of the Useless by Werner Herzog.
2. Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys on Vinyl
3. Glitter and Doom by Tom Waits on Vinyl
4. Non-black Dress Shoes (Size 10 or 10.5 or so)
5. Any books by Steinbeck aside from East of Eden, Mice and Men, and Grapes of Wrath

If I can think of anything later I will post it up.

Calvin

Gonzo, L.Welk, Raphanz.

Hi.

Had a busy week but things are calming down now. I am thankful I haven't had to work alot at Village Inn so far. Tonight I do though, 6 to close.

We watched this documentary called Gonzo last night about Hunter S. Thompson. Meh. It was kind of long and boring. There were a few interesting moments though. Maybe I just can't relate because I didn't live his during most of his history, so the outrages he felt don't impact me as deeply. I dunno, probably.

I realized recently how fresh Lawrence Welk can be. Yes I said it. Just watch this.


When my grandparents used to watch that show I never remember anything that cool being on. Usually some boring singer with his band. It was almost like a bad variety show. But this Neil LeVang thing is otherworldly. I love the organ player the most. Looks like he's out of a Hitchcock flim or something. Life is undescribable.

I was reading this earlier today and thought it was pretty funny. Especially if you follow the links. I know I do weird things with my hands but hope they are not this repetitive.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2009/11/11/funny-things-rappers-do-with-their-hands.aspx
I noticed that Kanye always is grabbing his head in mock unbelief too!!
I add one more handy rapper for consideration:

The first rapper there is Cadence Weapon from Edmonton. He's good.

Right, welp. seeya.
Calvin

Christylez, God Warrior, Lambert

I went to a crazy Hip-Hop writing workshop last night with Natalie. We were the only ones signed up so I was a little worried. The name of the guy teaching the class was "Christyles Bacon" and I thought it would be an interesting experience to see what he could possibly say about writing a rap song. Luckily there were more people there than had signed up originally, about 25 in all. The teacher turned out to be pretty cool. I'm not sure I learned much about songwriting that I hadn't already considered, but it was a strange experience, especially to occur at USU. He made us write a song about Aggie Ice Cream and perform it while he beatboxed and a piano player jammed. We wrote a song about getting obese from eating too much of it. It was a major hit.

So many people liked the last wife-swap clip that I figured you ought to see more of the insane people they find for this show. This lady especially has been popular. The clip begins with her getting home after her stint as the mother of another family. You'll get the picture. Shes a God-Warrior.

This lady is the dark-sided one, if anything. I know this is not as flattering as King Curtis is, but theres alot of freaks out there.

I read this book by Elna Baker called "At the New York Regional Singles Halloween Dance". I got it for Nat, but read it in a few hours before I gave it to her. Its an interesting take on trying to be Mormon but also trying to live in the world without being considered too weird. Amongst many other things. Reccommend. Its funny.

Did anyone else see this?

That girl is a killer!!

More Later.
Calvin

Dylan's Christmas, Herb Alpert, Disney Fail.

I have to work at 9:00 tonight. It seems like I've been working alot lately, but that's a good thing, I can use the cash. I am just sick of getting syrup all over myself. I really hate syrup....really anthing that sticky shouldn't be consumed. Speaking of, I have never liked pancakes very much. Way too bready. Seriously, I choked them down as a kid when my mom would make them, but pancakes are straight gross. They are really popular at the restaurant, but I will never understand it.

I was listening to Bob Dylan's Christmas album this last week. I don't care what people say about, its funny. I think the fact that he made it is like a slap in the face of his hardcore 60's fan, and after reading Chronicles I think he knew that. In fact, I bet that making people angry or annoyed was part of the objective. I appreciate people who play jokes for only their own benefit. It has to be important to have your own peculiar sense of humor and do things that cater to it. Dylan definitely does this. Just watching some of those documentaries makes you appreciate his cynicism and how it made him deal with fame.

This weekend I played some music with my friend Russ and recorded some stuff. Maybe we will up it soon to the myspace. He just bought a Nord 3, a Dr. Sample, a Kaoss pad, and Electribe Synth. I think I fell in love with the Nord and Sample machine. It makes sampling so easy. In fact, we spent a while tearing apart some records I got. The best by far to work with was one by Isaac Hayes called Three Tough Guys. Its a soundtrack from some blaxploitation film he did and its great.

I also found some Herb Alpert, Bach, and a few records featuring the organ. We have alot to sift through.


Do you want to see something bizarre?


I don't see how this could happen...

Lates.
Calvin