July 1, 2009
“ As soon as we feel that the writing we are contemplating matters, our defensive system kicks in, and our fear that we can’t think well enough raises its ugly head. We are wrestled to the ground by the fact that we are trying to matter.

Eric Maisel, in The Art of the Book Proposal (via) (via sarahspy)

Probably going to be a stream of these writing-related quotes while I fight with this book.  Which I hate or love depending on the day minute.

(via anthonyking)

And I am going to recoil from how much I identify with these quotes as I struggle with my first attempt at crafting a solo show (and reminding myself it’s for the art, not the fame. Believe me, if I had the capacity to do anything for the fame I’d be much better off.).

June 30, 2009

Here’s a video I wrote for UCBComedy.com. Directed by Will Hines, starring your favorite UCBT friends.

This script was conceived during a session of deep meditation, at a high altitude, upon the question, “What is comedy?”

May 20, 2009
On location in Times Square, shooting a bit I co-wrote with Craig for “The Edge with Jake Sasseville.” (Jake is the guy in the blue t-shirt and dark button-down, looking to his left at a tourist you can’t see who just collected as many coins as he could from random strangers to win tickets to the musical 9 to 5.)
On location in Times Square, shooting a bit I co-wrote with Craig for “The Edge with Jake Sasseville.” (Jake is the guy in the blue t-shirt and dark button-down, looking to his left at a tourist you can’t see who just collected as many coins as he could from random strangers to win tickets to the musical 9 to 5.)
May 15, 2009
The plant in this picture was declared officially dead today by me. It was purchased at Pearl River in SoHo and accompanied me through my horrible, five-year “career” in the fashion industry. Thank you, plant. For your services, you will be carried off to a landfill in Staten Island.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Propagandhi - “Ska Sucks”
How To Clean Everything, 1993 
Ska Week, Day #4 

I’ll let Canadian punk band Propagandhi have the last word about the ska revival. They should generally have the last word about everything.
May 14, 2009
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Reel Big Fish - “Sell Out”
Turn The Radio Off, 1996
Ska Week, Day #3

California ska band Reel Big Fish scored their biggest hit with “Sell Out,” the first single off their second album. The song came out towards the end of third wave’s moment in the mainstream spotlight. Or maybe the ridiculousness of this single ushered in the idea that the ska revival had become a ridiculous parody of itself. It’s one of those moments of musical irony where a band appears to be making fun of something that they are in fact actually doing.

May 13, 2009
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

songsthataregood:

Fugazi - Life and Limb
(The Argument)

There are good bands, and there are bad bands. There are good bands that had bad spells, and bad bands that made inexplicably excellent albums. There are bands that started out bad, and got better, and bands that started out great, and fell to dishonour and mediocrity. And then there is Fugazi, that started out as one of the best punk rock bands in America, and got better and better, and then better, and by The Argument was the best band on the planet Earth and surrounding galaxy. It is probably a good thing they have not made any songs since then, because it may have resulted in a vortex of goodness that destroyed us all

I agree that this is a great song from a great album, but I do not agree that it’s a good thing Fugazi went on hiatus.

benjaminapple: Frusciante requests a low-five, Ross denies, Faas enjoys. I took a camera to Harold Night last night for the first time in ages. It’s distracting to be looking at a viewscreen during a live show, so taking pictures is a sacrifice not often worth making. Scootch @ UCB Harold night, May 12 ‘09. Scootch FTW! Also, Faas: get off MySpace!

benjaminapple:

Frusciante requests a low-five, Ross denies, Faas enjoys. I took a camera to Harold Night last night for the first time in ages. It’s distracting to be looking at a viewscreen during a live show, so taking pictures is a sacrifice not often worth making. Scootch @ UCB Harold night, May 12 ‘09.

Scootch FTW!

Also, Faas: get off MySpace!

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Mephiskapheles - “The Bumble Bee Tuna Song”
God Bless Satan, 1995
Ska Week, Day 2

Mephiskapheles was hugely popular among serious fans of third wave ska (the movement that gained popularity in the 90s and was heavily influenced by two-tone ska, which I guess you could call second wave), but didn’t reach—and probably weren’t interested in reaching—the heights of mainstream popularity like The Bosstones and other bands we’ll be covering this week. But if you were a DJ at your college’s radio station in the 90s, you played this song a lot—especially if you were me.

If you want to be reminded about what websites looked like in the late 90s, check out theirs. It’s vintage.

May 12, 2009
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - “The Impression That I Get”
Let’s Face It, 1997
Ska Week, Day #1

What the fuck, let’s do ska week right? For a brief, dark period in the late ’90s ska surged into the public consciousness in the same way that punk did in the early 2000s and emo has now: terribly and in no way representative of what the genre actually was. But there were some bands, like the Bosstones, that were making good music before the trend and just happened to go along for the ride. Where are they now, you ask? My guess is that after appearing in the movie “Clueless,” Dicky Barrett & co. said to each other, “Oh my god, we just appeared in ‘Clueless,’ what the fuck are we doing to ourselves?” and retreated to a Boston basement to try to rehabilitate what was left of their souls. Also, they went on hiatus in 2003.