28 diciembre 2008

No se fíen de los trailers

Normalmente cuando tengo tiempo libre voy al cine. Me gusta ir al cine aunque sea solo, y la verdad es que casi siempre voy así. A veces veo dos películas seguidas. Lo que me gusta de estas fechas es que estrenan muchas películas, no todas buenas pero sí hay buenas películas. Acabo de ver la de The Spirit, no sé, simplemente no me terminó de gustar, será que al ver el trailer me quedé con una idea y a la hora de verla nada que ver, hasta hubo un momento donde me dormí un poco. Bueno, al menos no me arrepiento de haberle visto el lunar y el trasero a Eva Mendes. Otra que igual me decepionó un poco fue la de Seven Pounds, de nuevo, el trailer me vendió otra idea y a la hora de irla a ver nada que ver, pero bueno, las actuaciones de Will Smith y Rosario Dawson estuvieron bien. La otra que sí me gustó, quizá porque iba de simple, fue la de Yes Man, comedia ligera con Jim Carrey junto y Zooey Deschanel. Otra que como que sí y como que no fue la de The Day The Earth Stood Still con Keanu Reeves y Jennifer Connelly. Este año vi creo que más películas que cualquier otro año, tanto en el cine como en la compu. Una de las peores que vi este año fue la de The Happening (El Fin De Los Tiempos) donde no pasa nada. Pero bueno, no quiero hacer reseñas de películas, mejor váyanlas a ver, pero para los que no les importa que les cuenten el final, aquí les dejo esto:

Moraleja: No se fíen de los trailers.

26 diciembre 2008

22 diciembre 2008

Train



Una vista del tren subterráneo. Estación Jackson en la Línea Roja de la CTA. Aquí hay conexiones a otras líneas.

18 diciembre 2008

Ya se siente la navidad



Unas fotos que tomé antier y ayer saliendo del trabajo. Ahí sale el Christmas Tree que año con año ponen en la Daley Plaza aquí en Chicago.

17 diciembre 2008

Post Rock/Math Rock definition

Post Rock/Math Rock definition from Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website.

POST-ROCK:

The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords."

Originally used to describe the music of such bands as Stereolab, Disco Inferno, Seefeel, Bark Psychosis and Pram, it spread out to be frequently used for all sorts of jazz- and Krautrock-influenced, instrumental, electronica-added music made after 1994. Bands from the early 1990s such as Slint, or earlier, such as Talk Talk were influential on this genre. As with many musical genres, the term is arguably inadequate: it is used for the music of Tortoise as well as that of Mogwai, two bands who have very little in common besides the fact that their music is largely instrumental.

The aforementioned Tortoise was among the founders of the movement. After the second Tortoise LP Millions Now Living Will Never Die, the band became a post-rock icon. After Millions... many bands (e.g., Do Make Say Think) began to record, inspired by the "Tortoise-sound" and were often described as post-rock.

In the late nineties, Chicago, Illinois, became the home base of many different groups. John McEntire (of Tortoise) became an important producer for lots of them, as well as Jim O'Rourke (of Brice-Glace, Gastr del Sol and many more). Post-rock began to range from the slow, guitar-based ambience of Boxhead Ensemble to the up-tempo electronica of Stereolab.

Montreal, Quebec band Godspeed You Black Emperor! — later renamed 'Godspeed You! Black Emperor' — brought a political element with anti-globalization movement leanings.

By the early 2000s, the term had started to fall out of favor, while the major artists kept on making high quality recordings. The wide range of styles covered by the term had robbed it of its usefulness almost from the moment it was coined.

Closely related to post-rock is the genre known as Math rock, characterized by more percussive timbres, and more dissonant harmonic gestures.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Post-rock".


MATH ROCK:

Math Rock is a genre that emerged in the late 80's and that was influenced by both the intricacies of progressive and avant-garde rock - King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Henry Cow - and 20th century composers such as Steve Reich and John Cage. The music is characterized by complex structures, angular melodies and constant abrupt changes in tempo and time signature. The name Math Rock is a term that grew out of the Chicago scene and the artists working with engineer Steve Albini in an effort to describe the new style.

The basic building blocks of Math Rock can be traced back to the late 60's and 70's where Progressive Rock artists were making more elaborate compositions than the standard rock bands and were experimenting with song structures. Early Avant-garde groups like Massacre, and artists such as Captain Beefheart and John Zorn were highly influential to Math Rock bands and traces of their music can still be heard throughout the genre. Another big influence to the Math Rock approach was Slint with their album "Spiderland" which showcased many techniques that Math Rock bands will follow in the future. Punk also had significant impact on the sound of Math Rock bands. Other notable influences are: Post-Rock, Heavy Metal, and Jazz.

Although there are Math Rock bands in different countries around the world, most reside in the United States, the Midwest in particular, and tend to be divided by regions: Pittsburgh bands (Don Caballero, Six Horse) Chicago bands (Shellac, U.S. Maple), Ohio bands (Keelhaul, Craw) Louisville bands (June 44, Rodan, The For Carnation, Crain), and San Diego bands (Drive Like Jehu, Tristeza) among others on both coasts. Japan was also an important country in the Math Rock genre with bands like Ruins and Zeni Geva.

12 diciembre 2008

Leisure

Video: Los dientes feos de Magibon (por eso no habla mucho)
Post: Una Sociedad Deprimida por Guillermo J. Fadanelli
Música: Best Jazz 100 de EMI Classics (buscar)
Libro: La Paradoja de James C. Hunter (bajar)

Poesía naca

Perdona mi naqueza
Perdona el desazón
Sólo quiero decirte esta mañana
Que te amo corazón
¡Pipiripipí!

[insertar música ad hoc aquí]

11 diciembre 2008

Chistes simples

Está un burro cruzando la frontera para los Estados Unidos, se encuentra con un zorrillo y choca con él, entonces el zorrillo le dice "I'm sorry", y el burro contesta "I'm burry".

True story from an immigrant to the US: He parked illegally and thought it was okay because the sign said "Parking Fine".

Un español necesita aprender inglés rápido y lee un anuncio en la prensa: "Aprenda inglés en dos semanas". Se dirige a la academia y al llegar llama. Le abre una secretaria y el pregunta "¿Es esta la academia de inglés?" y ella responde "If, if. Between, between".