Hang Ten Sunday 7/7/19 (Patreon)

Cowabunga freakazoids,

That's right, ten things to review, ponder, gaze upon, and consume. This is your makeup for the last two High Five Fridays I missed. If you're in DC, Raleigh, Nashville, or Atlanta for the DSA convention we are going to be performing live with The District Sentinel and The Trillbillies! 7/28 - 8/5. The guys and gals and non-binary pals tee were a hit! We raised a lot of money for Mozaic. So far not recording is pretty nice but I'm always working, that won't stop. This week has been brutal with the live show last Friday, comfest, the 4th, and all the shit I did this weekend. I am ready to relax. I also kinda wanna talk shit into a microphone again....

• Hot Rats by Frank Zappa - Frank Zappa is a figure that people think of as some goof-off that makes bad noise but they refuse to investigate! There is a lot of material out there but Hot Rats to me is his best creation. I love the acid-fried jazz on every part of this record. Dive in to thick layers of groove and calamity. Give it a shot even if you think this is just a guy who sings about turds. 

• Power windows are too much luxury - “I really appreciate your show. Maybe I shared this before but some of your stuff – like when you’re finally grown up and you go to buy your own car and you insist on buying a car without power windows and everyone looks at you sideways but you have just been in too damn many Chryslers and Pontiacs in the middle of August with long-since broken window motors and you KNOW it’s just not worth it, it’s not a convenience in the long run – that stuff is a real reality we pretty much never see or hear from “”online”” – at least if it’s not coming from you two. 

P.S. They finally got me. Bought a Subaru with power windows a few years ago and the driver-side actuator went out. The replacement is ready to go in this weekend, if I can find the time!”

• Stick Sunblock - I keep one of these in my purse all summer long. There is nothing better than this. The stick makes it easy to put on kids faces and you can't really over-do-it on the larger areas. They can be pricey, but they are long lasting. I suggest hitting up the clearance aisles at discount stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross, Nordstrom rack, etc. to find the best price. Also try shoplifting them.

• A Routine Is Never Permanent - It usually needs to change faster than you think. I'm susceptible to the horrible maximum-productivity-culture idea that there is a master routine to life and that if I just got my shit together I could be "normal ". I have spent the last year in pursuit of habits that make me happy and it has been totally worth it. The struggle for me now is how to rebuild more quickly when it all falls apart. I develop a good wake-up system for a couple weeks, and then I blow it off for a few. Once summer got here all my rules about wake-up routines and self care went out the window. I have a million things I "would like to do" every day but they will never all be completed. THAT'S FINE! I'm not a failure because I didn't floss my teeth or write in my journal or workout 7 days a week. Every day isn't the same, and the days when I have my productive morning and I'm firing on all cylinders will eventually come, but that's not going to be all the time. I'm going to focus on establishing a new routine with a few activities (workout, journal, meditate) that make me happier instead of sitting around sad that I'm not sticking to my old routine.

• The Square  - This is a movie for people that consider themselves 51% - 100% a Brett vs a Bryan. It starts with a simple premise of spoofing modern art in spectacular fashion. It's also an uncomfortable movie about a successfully shitty guy who is the head of a modern art museum. The narrative does a wonderful job of not celebrating or admonishing him though, and while there is a heaping helping of cringe, there is very little winking at the camera . The shots and colors in this are framed incredibly well. Immediately after watching The Square, other movies seemed to have camera work that was 'chasey', they were constantly following the dialog and telling you the story. The Square does a wonderful job of setting the table and allowing you to watch. Some of it is very in your face but a majority of it is just visceral outsourced yuppie cruelty. I will leave you with this nugget,  the cover of this movie features a scene you will never forget, and the director of the movie invited the millionaire benefactors of an actual art museum to be a part of this incredibly shocking scenario. The actors thought they were dealing with hired professional extras, the millionaires had no idea what was going to happen, and then the guy who did all the mo-cap acting for the King Kong movies, Terry Notary (going into the Terry HOF), gets unleashed on this dinner party as a man pretending to be an out of control ape, pushing their boundaries of erudite politeness. It's a moment that was reminiscent of "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie". It's bonkers.

• ZenScreen -  This is the app I use to make sure I'm never going to have a posting meltdown online. You install the Zenscreen VPN on your phone and give it the power to shut down your internet and access to social media. Texting and phone still work. There are 4 different ways it will help you stay off the phone. You can set a daily limit, let it put you on break when you're checking too much, shutoff internet for the first 20 minutes in the morning, and you can set a bed time. I have found that it provides a prompt for me to think about my phone use and how much time I want to be spending on there. Instead of bypassing the break I make do, I find something else, and it's always more enjoyable than scrolling. 

• Sudan Archives - Nont For Sale - This will be a closing song soon. My wife turned me onto Sudan Archives. As soon I looked her up and saw she was a flutist on Stones Throw records I was all the way in. EVERYTHING she does is incredible. Just get on streaming and press play. Layers of sound and incredible word play. Don't sleep on it. Her song Oatmeal is just incredibly beautiful. It's a declaration of care and love that penetrates my soul. Oatmeal is such a vital part of my daily existence and the way she offers it in this tune feels like the pure loving-kindness you'd find in the teachings of the Buddha. 

• Frozen Biscuits - I do not consider this or the poppin' biscuit dough to be the real thing. It's great for veggie pizza and cinnamon rolls in a pinch but It's not a biscuit. I have been buyin the frozen biscuits from the grocery store and they're just like the ones you get at a fast food restaurant. I know I should learn to make them but there just isn't anyone southern enough in my life to teach me, and Pinterest is a joke for that shit. If you aren't in a Yankee state and you have a recipe I would take a look. 

• Shin Godzilla - The best Godzilla movie in a long time. It  has a great retro style and spirit that makes for a charming and enjoyable experience. Godzilla is introduced into the scenario as a completely hapless creature laying waste to everything. The bureaucracy fails to save anyone, the Geo-political struggle gets stressed to the breaking point, and this Godzilla monster is not sleek or camera ready. This Godzilla is a creature fighting for its own existence among the inhabitants of Japan. Like if Clifford the big red dog were to actually frolic through a major metropolitan city, with absolutely no concern for the buildings, vehicles, and people. There is a moment halfway through where I covered my mouth because that level of destruction was just unimaginable before seeing it here. This is not a giant kaiju battle movie but it will leave you feeling a thousand pounds heavier with thoughts of catastrophe. It's brilliant and dark and poignant and kitschy. See it.

•  Windjammers - My dad used to work 4 ten hour shifts a week, with Fridays off. He would pick me and my sister up from school on Fridays and take us to the arcade. There was 1 Neo Geo cabinet at my local arcade and it had a good rotation of games over the time I was there. This is the game that I pined over after I moved away from childhood arcade. I got roms for my computer later on but it just was never the same. This new Switch version of the game is emptying all the nostalgia reserves in my brain. It's pretty fuckin dope y'all.

Hope y'all enjoyed this. You can find all the rest of my recommendations and boo shit right here. 

- Brett