David.

Went to a house show last night to see David Bazan play. It was a living room packed with forty people, David Bazan and a second guitarist playing with a few pedals and a miniature amp. I would be lying if I said it wasn't one of the best shows I have ever seen. I felt the same way afterwards that I feel when I see a really depressing movie that is incredibly well done. Except in this case, the elements weren't on a screen being acted out by rich folks in California. This was real. This was intense.

When I think of David Bazan a few things immediately come to mind. 1. his intense struggle with faith/lack of faith in God (meaning the Jesus of the bible) 2. His deep love and appreciation of music 3. That he is undoubtably one of the greatest songwriters from our generation. I think it was really hard for some people at the show to enjoy the music. Understandable as their are eternal implications at stake. Apart from his songwriting I think he is also one of the best poets of our generation. If it werent for his delicate and effective storytelling, his songs would not evoke such a strong emotional reaction from people. It seems that everyone who disects his music has an opinion about it. A fairly strong one at that. Not an opinion about whether the music is good or not, but about the specific struggles referenced in his lyrics.

One thing that has always bothered me is the lack of introspection and time committed to thoughts about life after death in our society. By our society I mean America. It just so happens that I spend most of my time in three areas that speak of death frequently. Financial planning, church and art. And that is strangely comforting. If there was a bright spot of the show last night (besides the riveting music) it's that nobody left that house without considering what they believed about God. And although it didn't line up with my own beliefs, it encouraged me to be the same way.

Fun.

Fun, the band that is. And fun they are. Described as a "Pop Symphony" which is an incredibly fitting description. Members include Nate Ruess, formerly of The Format, Andrew Dost of Anathallo and Jack Antonoff of Steel Train. That should be reason enough to check them out. They are hard to guage from listening to one or two songs as their entire cd sort of swoons and swells. I have no doubt they will perform with a full symphony some day (including of course all manner of brass instruments). And it will be beautiful... and fun. "Fun" seems like a silly name, but I have used that word 5 times in this post while listening to their music, and I am desperatetly trying not to break a smile on this gloomy, frigid winter day.

Freestyle Rapping?

Yes, you caught me red handed, from time to time I freestyle rap while driving in my car. What is it with driving anyways that elicits such a response? I have never tried freestyle rapping any other time, except for that one time at michaels house with 5 or 6 other people, and that was just a mistake. Other than that though, it's just me and my car, rapping away.

When I picture that scene, as if I was having an out of body experience watching myself drive and rap, it is rather embarassing. The worst part is I am probably wearing a tie half the time.

The whole thing plays out like the first scene of Office Space. And maybe the drum of the engine helps me syncopate. The trees rushing by and the big blue sky above, spitting lines with the best like rhyming words is my only love, ego getting crushed as other cars drive by, when they look in dismay at my shirt and tie, but the beat can't stop as the words still come, I won't quit I won't stop till the song is done.

The Great Pet Debate!

Ok, Sean White posted a story about a particularly capable dog on his blog and used the story as the basis for his claim that "dogs are better than cats". I posted a rebuttal on his page, but thought I would post it here for the thousands of people who read this blog to debate. This is obviously a classic debate and quite an emotional one, especially for people who think that dogs and cats should not be consumed. A stance that I don't particularly agree with, as a marinated dog kebab can be quite a treat. But, that's niether here nor there. The debate at hand is which animal is better, not if pets in general are dumb. I think most people, whether consciously or subconsciously, already know the answer to that. Regardless, here is my rebuttal to Sean's post.

Ok, your argument has a gaping hole. We are dealing with a spectrum here. In my experience, cats fill a much narrower scope on the spectrum. What is the spectrum? It looks something like this:
Stupid ———-*———-*———-*———-Cool
The stars (*) have broken up the spectrum into quartiles. Cats generally occupy a position in one of the two middle quartiles. Some would argue cats can only occupy the quartile closest to “stupid”, but evidence shows this is an argument that is not backed up with statistical proof. The majority of cats are somewhere inbetween stupid and cool. Some err on the stupid side, some err on the cool side. It is very rare however to find a super cool cat or a super stupid cat. Dogs however fall all over the spectrum. Because of this there are many dogs that are way cooler than the average cat. However, there are MANY dogs that are way more stupid and annoying than the average cat.

While I can instantly pull to mind dozens of memories of dogs jumping on my, licking me, barking at me, growling at me, pooping around me etc. etc. I can only recall a few select unpleasant moments with cats. On top of that, cats have the ongoing advantage of being much easier to care for. The only argument I can see you winning is that the coolest dog is much more able minded and able to help than the coolest cat, so much so that their increased abilities make it worth the big responsibility of owning a pet that is much more intensive to care for and clean up after. But that percentage is certainly smaller than the uppermost quartile and probably in the range of less than a percent.

Inglorious Bastards.

Every once in awhile you see a film that makes you laugh at things you really shouldn't be laughing at. Inglorious Bastards is such a film. I'm not commenting on any beliefs or representations or suggestions presented in the film as it does deal with Nazi Germany. That is for each viewer to sort out. I am simply saying, from a technical standpoint and based on my own preferences for a movie, the film is absolutely amazing. Quite probably in my top ten ever. I think most everybody reading this blog has already seen it, but if you haven't, then you should. A fair warning, it is rather graphic and comical at the same time, but somehow it works.

Cornish Game Hen.

Yeah, cornish game hen. An appropriately titled post dont you think? You see, a couple years back I bought a pair of cornish game hens when they were on sale at meijer. But, the game hens were frozen and I never got around to cooking them. I think they somehow ended up at my parents house in their freezer. And I still think about that pair of hens from time to time. How I never cooked them, how good they might taste with a citrus glaze and a side of redskin mash. And this, the cornish game hen, has come to represent my tendency towards procrastination. There, I said it, I procrastinate, which is why I did not write a post about procrastination sooner.

Cornish game hens is just one item on a long list of other procrastinate objects (I know "procrastinate objects" doesn't make sense, but it sounds cool). It's not always the case that I don't do something because I am procrastinating. Sometimes I don't have the time, or money, or good looks to participate. With that in mind, here is a list of things I thought about doing and have never done. Maybe this is my "bucket list", if bucket lists were cooler and not in reference to that average movie.

-Traveled to Europe
-Bought a kegerator (seriously, I need one, no not for parties either, for myself)
-Gone on a survival trip (another one, the first one was great)
-Had a good blog
-Written a story (longer than a page, and worth reading)
-Traveled to the moon on a penguin (just seeing if you are still paying attention)
-Seen Sigur Ros live

Ok, I can't think of anything else. Although that bucket list kind of sucks and could probably be accomplished in one long weekend. I will have to think through this more. Maybe a nice meal of roasted bird would spark my memory, but that will probably never happen.

In All Seriousness...

Ok, I'm a pretty jovial guy. I like to "poke fun" as much as the next Tom, Dick or Jer. But this post is to address a fairly serious matter. And I don't want anybody to think this is just another silly blog post that is a waste of your time.

You see, for years now, I haven't really had a nickname. When folks address me they might say Jeremy, Jerry, Jer, cool guy, Jason (an accidental mix of Jeremy and Mason), Dude, Mister, Guy, Buddy, Sucka, Killa, Busta, Crazy, Ghostface Killa.... You get the idea, it's all over the place and its causing a bit of an identity crisis for an aging hipster such as myself. I need to be firmly rooted in my identity. As Stella would say, "I got to get my groove back". And as easy as that sounds, I can't focus on my "groove" when every lay person around the village is calling me by a different moniker. Ok, let me put this in terms that you can understand. I need a new nickname.

I realized this fact when I was at the local hardware a couple of months ago buying lots of things that tough guys buy. You know, a saw, some nails, a couple planks of pine, some random fiberglass, a couple safety cones and a few mints at the cash register. And then, right as the cash register guy says "see you later Jeremy", Areosmith's hit single Amazing comes on and Steven Tyler sings "It's amazing...with the blink of an eye you finally see the light...when the moment arrives that you know you'll be alright". That's when I had it. My new name will be Jeremazing. It's absolutely perfect. Not only that but I googled it, and found this page on youtube. You might notice that the new URL address contains my new nickname! With that said, I'm sure you see the value in this post and feel that you have not wasted any of your time.
-Jeremazing

I'm drinking coffee.

I titled this post "I'm drinking coffee" because I am and that is wierd. I think it marks some sort of quarter life crisis for me. Like I feel the need to be addicted to something that claims the power to "keep me going". Food is no longer enough, sleep won't cut it, I need something more, something powerful, something expensive! Ok, the coffee was free (thanks Jan), but still, I find myself liking it. Anyways, I find myself stressed lately. And probably some for the obvious reasons, but also a lot for wierd reasons. I find myself being pulled in a lot of different directions and I want them all.

Just this week I started thinking about possibly getting an MBA. Just me typing that sentence is odd. I feel like there is somebody somewhere who just won a million dollars because he made a $1 bet when I was 12 that I would never even entertain the idea. And oddly enough, the idea is really growing on me. It makes sense. A lot of sense. And I can't figure out why. Yet, I love painting and writing music and I feel even now that I can't keep up with it all. All I need now is 2 cottages, 4 boats and 8 coffee makers by the time my mid life crisis hits to make it all official. Some people can handle it all, I can barely keep my lawn mower going. I will have to hire somebody just to buy coffee for me full time.

In reality, I probably just need to be better with my time, keep an organized schedule and start "planning" my time better. But although this post probably comes off as complaining, that is not the intent. I am actually super excited. I have a beautiful wife, a great job, an amazing church, and tons of people that I am around constantly. I find it interesting that Jesus started his ministry in his 30's. Not that being thirty meant the exact same then as it does for us now, but I imagine there are a lot of similarities. I can feel the temptation starting to creep in of wanting to "build" something. That is the time Jesus chose to start a public ministry challenging everybody to destruct their little kingdoms and give up everything for the gospel. Christ's words are continually taking on new meaning and His ministry at age 30 has never made more sense to me.

Suggestions?

So, Chris Olsen and I are working on booking the next band to play at Riv. We have some ideas and have made some contacts but I just wanted to see if anybody had any suggestions for who they would like to see play. At this point, we are just putting all of our energy into having Celine Dion play, but that would mean we would have to make Riv into a casino and build a stage approximately 27 times the current size, so logistically we are running into some issues. I am racking my brain for anybody in the same ballpark as Celine, but obviously am coming up blank, so your help would be much appreciated.

The Difficulty

On the new and noteworthy music front, you should check out Ra Ra Riot. Ra Ra Riot is a band from New York that was formed in 2006. Their progress in a little over 2 years is rather remarkable. If you like Vampire Weekend, you will like these guys, but be careful to draw too many similarities on first listen.

In other news, the difficulty album is being duplicated right now. This should mean an early September release. If my memory serves me right (which it probably doesn't) I think we started seriously thinking about recording sometime last fall. So, I will be happy to see this little project reach it's end.

Revolutionary Road

So, I am in a bind. I am trying to figure out how to do a movie review without actually giving any information. In general, I hate movie reviews, especially when the entire plot is discussed. If it's a crappy movie, then I don't care, but if it's a great movie, a movie review is horrible. It's like reading the last page of a book. But a good movie is so much more rewarding if you are taking a chance when you watch it. All I will say about Revolutionary Road is that you need to watch it. Please watch it and then let me know what you think. It does star Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet, so this is basically Titanic 2. There, now will you go see it?

Good Grief!

The title of this post has nothing to do with this post. Other than the fact that I think "good grief" is slowly fading away from the english language and I don't want to see it go. If people said "good grief" more, than some of their other language would be more powerful. Here is a list of instances where "good grief" might be an appropriate expression:

Tripping over a crack (assuming you don't actually hit the cement)
When the car in front of you doesn't notice the light is green
During a downpour (assuming you are inside looking at the rain)
When you are trying to eat very hot pizza (but only if you succeed in not scorching your mouth)
When the pen you are using isn't working properly
When you hear a funny joke on tv that is slightly dirty (but you must chuckle while saying it)

I think I have displayed here the versatility of the phrase. Don't limit the expression to these instances, this is just a start. On second thought, maybe this post is appropriately titled.

Recent Stuff.

So, I'm still painting away, getting ready for a show I have at the end of the year. It almost feels imaginary at this point, like these paintings are just going to sort of get lost and never see the light of day. Anyways, I have been trying some new things lately and been having fun with it. Here are a few recent paintings.

Gina M., the sun and a box O' doughnuts.

One of my favorite galleries, one that I have never been to, is the Alan Stone Gallery. I think it's in New York, but I can't be sure, their site is really all I need. Check out their long list of artists, their is some really amazing stuff. Anyways, while I am generally drawn to very eclectic modern art, I have a real soft spot for realist paintings. One of the best realist artists I have found is Gina Minichino. I mention the Alan Stone Gallery because that is where I first saw her work. Although it is realism, her paintings supplement my love for modern art as well because she has done a whole series of still life paintings of junk food. I have included a few of my favorites below.

So, the question is, would you hang a doughnut painting on your wall? My response is a resounding yes! Of course, I will never have that opportunity. But, I tend to think doughnuts and cheese balls can be just as beautiful as a morning sunrise. Sometimes, while I am watching the sun come up, all I can think about is how good a doughnut would taste.

A quick lesson.

A fantastic instructional video.

Mr. Jesse

For those of you who don't know my brother in law Jesse Den Herder, he is a wonderful guy to be around as well as a really talented graphic artist. He is one of those artists who does it all. He has re-branded many companies, created a really succesful board game and painted everything from canvases to skate decks. He has a really fresh and clean style that still feels warm and real. Check out his blog and his portfolio.

I was lucky enough to get a limited print poster from "The Hurricane Poster Project" that Jesse designed after taking a trip to New Orleans during the hurricane clean up.

Something new.

Ok, I have been posting some of my older work. But I can't help myself. Time to post something new. I worked on this piece last weekend. It was a fun one. I just kept playing with it until I liked it. It is fairly bright and I tried to add a bit of depth that isn't the easiest to see in the photo.

In other news, congrats to the Mosley's on birthing a child. This post is dedicated to the new Mosley. Even though the baby won't understand the intense honor I have bestowed upon him.

Vampire Weekend? The answer to that question is yes!

I have been enjoying lots of new music lately. Mainly thanks to emusic.com. A lot of these bands weren't necessarily appealing to me on first listen. Most of the music sort of grew on me. Which I find lends itself toward longevity. I don't get tired of it as quick. Here are some of the bands I have been into as of late. Vampire Weekend, Pedro the Lion, Beirut, The Great Lake Swimmers (new cd out March 31!), Bon Iver, The Everybodyfields, Anathallo, Okkervil River and The Welcome Wagon.

Yeah, some of these bands have been around forever, but some are new. Enjoy!

Mr. Sufjan and his posse.

So Joel Thiele showed this me this last night. Yes it is free to download and yes it is a Sufjan Stevens hip hop project. Ok, Sufjan can only take credit for part of the underlying beat tracks. None the less, it gives a white guy like me an excuse to listen to hip hop. Not that I need an excuse. I have been known to freestyle in my car from time to time. And by freestyle I mean make up words to a beat.

Beginnings...

I need a new blog. I need an art blog. This is BLANK. I have been using Live Journal for a couple of years now. It was outdated when I started the blog. It is ancient now. I almost preferred it's simplicity. But, here we go. As this is the beginning, please enjoy the painting below.

This painting is as simple as it gets. But it means a lot to me. I painted this out of necessity. I refused to buy a cheap print for the kitchen wall in our current house which we bought a little over a year ago. I went to the store, bought a canvas, and painted it with left over latex paint we had after painting the walls. There are no particularly redeeming qualities about it. But it definitely liberated me in many ways.

So this is your encouragement. Find a BLANK canvas. It doesn't have to be a literal canvas, just something you can paint on. Gather any old paint or markers or pencils you have lying around and make something. If you have never tried this before, or if this inspired you to try it again, then post a picture or a link here.