Spanish Anger

Hello Peoples,

so, I am in Spain now, getting in touch with my roots and doing some work here… It’s a good place to be in the summer. The beach is litterally within spitting distance and the weather is fucking amazing.
I am also usign the chance to rediscover some of my spanish bands.
I can’t lie. I hate 95% of the music this country produces. It’s crap/dancey/cheesy with no depth.
But I do have a band that I like pretty much every song they make. They’re called Los Planetas and hail from Granada, Spain (it’s in the south, for those who care). I guess they are brit-rock influenced, but with a Spanish flavor. They’ve been my favorite spanish band for a few years now. (favorite song = Mejor que Muerto).

I discovered this song that I inmediatelly loved. The lyrics are fantastic. So much so I felt compelled to translate them. It’s the angriest break up song I have heard. Almost makes me sad that I probably will never get to sing it to anyone… Check it! (translation below).

Los Planetas – Pesadilla en el Parque de Atracciones
Quiero que sepas que ya me esperaba
que esto ocurriera y que no pasa nada
Que solo me da la razon y que he estado aprendiendo
de cada momento que he estado contigo
Y pienso aplicar contra mis enemigos
tus tacticas sucias de acoso y derribo
Que tambien he sacado algo bueno
de todo este enredo
Y quiero que sepas
que espero que acabes colgando de un pino
cuando veas lo imbecil que has sido
cuando veas que lo has hecho fatal
Y que quiero que sepas
que ha sido un infierno estando contigo
Que el infierno es lo mas parecido,
te pareces un poco a Satan

Quiero que sepas que me he acostumbrado
a tus putas escenas de “ahora me largo”
Largate ya de verdad que seria una suerte
si no vuelvo a verte en los proximos años
Por mi que podrias tirarte de un tajo
que ya lo que hagas me trae sin cuidado
Si me pongo a pensarlo un momento creo que lo prefiero
Asi que ya sabes que espero que acabes pegandote un tiro
Cuando veas lo imbecil que has sido
Cuando veas que lo has hecho fatal
Y que quiero que sepas que ha sido un infierno estando contigo
Que por poco no acabas conmigo
pero soy dificil de matar
Y que quiero que sepas que ha sido un infierno estando contigo
Que el infierno no es tanto castigo
Te pareces bastante a Satan
________________________________

Los Planetas – Nightmare at the Amusement Park

I want you to know that I already expected
This to happen, and that it’s alright,
This only proves me right, and shows I have been learning
The whole time I have been with you
And I plan to use against my enemies
Your dirty “seek and destroy” schemes
So at least I got something good out
Out of this mess
And I want you to know
That I hope you end up hanging from a pine tree
When you realize how stupid you’ve been
And you see you’ve done a terrible job
And I want you to know
That it’s been hell being with you
Hell is the closest thing
You look a bit like Satan

I want you to know that I’ve grown used to
Your fucking “I am going to leave you” scenes
So leave already! I would truly feel lucky
If I didn’t see you in the next few years
For all I care you can jump off a cliff
I don’t give a fuck what you do…
Actually, when I think about it, I prefer you to actually go for it
So you know I hope you end up shooting yourself
When you realize how stupid you’ve been
And when you see you’ve done a terrible job
And I want you to know that it’s been hell being with you
That you almost finished up with me
But I am hard to kill
And I want you to know that it’s been pure hell being with you
Hell is not quite as bad a punishment
You look a lot like Satan.

Important World Cup information

So, the Soccer World Cup has finally started.
And I say finally because I know many of you are excited about it.
Me, even though I am spanish and it’s inconcievable for most people, I don’t give a crap about soccer.
Don’t get me wrong… I just don’t like watching any sport. I enjoy playing occasionally, but sitting around watching people run around just doesn’t appeal too much to me.

NEVERTHELESS, I know some of you like it, love it, and may even want to go to Germany for some games. If you do, I am here to help. Please pay attention to the following signs:

apparently germans are recommneding people to sit down to go #1.
I know it’s better ’cause your chances of splashing (or even missing the target) are basically eliminated… But if anybody thinks that I (or most people for that matter) are going to go to some bar, watch soccer, and go sit down to pee, knowing that we would be sitting on literally hundreds of harmonically united pee stains, well… it’s just not going to happen.

Sometimes the second situation (the two bottom images) is more likely, but the advantages of this method are right now being investigated by other germans with labcoats and square glasses…

This concludes this post. And I give you no links, ’cause you didn’t eat your fucking veggies last nite.

This is just too good to pass (gas?)

Ladies and gentlement, without further ado, I introduce the Gas Eaters:

That’s right. Gas Eaters. And yes, that type of gas.
You thought no one would ever come up with a good concept to stop your friend and his “pull my finger” secret strategies, but now, thanks to Under-Tec, you will no longer fear chemical warfare.
And the good thing is that it’s only 9.95 (plus shipping and uh… “handling”), so if you can afford a can of beans, you can (should) buy one of these.

Customize your world___ Part deux?

Justin should be happy about this one… Converse has now (and I don’t know how long they started) a design lab in which you can design your own Chuck Taylors online. It’ll be great for ShoeGazey-ers so at least they can see something new and possibly colorful when they go to shows.
So go ahead, get creative. The best design wins something or other. Or they post it on the page. Or whatever.
What? Don’t come looking for answers, man… Get your own!

I love self-employment

Yeah, yeah… I know everyone and their mother is going to post in their respective blogs about how much freaking snow we got (27″ in Central Park, according to one of those worthless local news people… This reminds me, I should do a post of how HORRIBLE local news are). Anyway, yeah, lots of freaking snow… I went around my neighborhood and took some unimpressive pictures with my unimpressive camera. Pat, do your thing.

Anyway. I love it. I love this snow event because it coincides with my recent decision (and action) of becoming self-employed and to celebrate, me and my good doctor-on-vacation are going snowboarding for the day tomorrow. This is the reason why I wanted to be self employed. Granted I work a LOT more now, but at least I have the liberty of doing things my way and using my time to my advantage… Hence, snowboarding on a work monday. Yeah! So what if it’s only Mountain Creek?? Beats picking you ass in your cubicle, no?

Sigur Ros – The Theater @ MSG

Last night I had, once again, an experience I can only describe as almost crapping my pants, as I was, for the seventh time in my life, honored to watch Sigur Ros perform live.
And what a show it was…

The sound was impecable. Jonsi’s voice soared through the place as Orri’s drumming made the heart of everyone present in the hall skip a couple beats just so it could sinc with the base drum. The whole band was in perfect harmony, with Amina and the brass band adding the perfect touch to their delicate build-up that lead into gargantuan sounds that seemed projected from musicians as big a Jonsi’s shadow in that picture…

If you have never seen Sigur Ros live, trust me, you owe it to yourself if you have ANY interest in music. It’s chills running through your body during the whole show. And just when you think you’ve been treated to an incredible 2-hour show (including one encore), the band comes out (2nd encore) to play Popplagio (the song they have been finishing their shows for the last few years with) and you just have to sit there and keep quiet, ’cause nothing could ever break through that explosion of sound. There is an awkward moment after the band finishes with that song in which you don’t know if you are allowed to talk ’cause it feels like it’s all been said… But then you realize you have crapped your crackerpants and you have to run home to change (and hopefully shower). It’s probably for the best.
Thanks to HalfCracker for the pics and to Julie for introducing me to the band 5 years ago. They will forever live in my heart as one of the best bands in my life. View more of the pics taken from our incredible seats at Halfcracker’s flickr site.

She doesn’t know that I left my urge in the ice box…

Mr. Neal and I had the priviledge of running into Interpol frontman Paul Banks Saturday morning at 5 AM in front of my apartment on a drunken night… He was cool and I, under the unique position of my Spanish upbringings, could test the theory of his fluency in Spanish (he is totally fluent).

However, this encounter, fun as it was, posed this new question in my mind… Is it really a good idea to talk to people whose art you admire??
Consider the dangers:
I love Interpol. I really do… The are one of my favorite all time bands. Up there with Pink Floyd, Sigur Ros, and other freaking amazing people…

But what if Paul had been an asshole, the biggest asshole there ever was (he wasn’t… he was very nice and took some pictures with us and talked for a bit, very polite, very nice, but still, the point of this post is valid). What if the person that sings to your heart was the biggest idiot ever? Would that not make you feel weird next time you hear ‘Leif Erikson‘? Would that not take away from your overall appreciation of the band and the music? Is it really worth it losing the appreciation you have for someone’s art?? It’s a very tricky situation… I would not want anyone, not Paul Banks, not Jonsi, to take away from the love and the feeling I get when I hear their music…

With this in mind… Should one approach artists when you run into them? Even if they are just coming out of the deli as you walk in? It seems to me that there is more to lose than to gain.

What if you talked about the meaning you had given to a seemingly obscure song and the person who wrote it tells you you are wrong and tells you that in reality when he talks about “our love is a pony” he is really talking about how horse poo stinks??

It’s one of those tricky things, ’cause who can resist approaching one of these people and let them know how much better they make our everyday meaningless existance?
Just one of my retarded reflections… Then again I may just be drunk…

But this is not going to stop me from screaming “WHAT UP PAAAAUL!!” when I see Interpol live…