Lacking significance through having been overused; unoriginal and trite.
<span class="vcard">Luke</span>
Luke

The Creative Act: A Way of Being

“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”

Was hoping for a few real world examples from Rubin’s illustrious music career, but this is still an inspiring book on the creative process.

Here is something I need to remember:

“Living life as an artist is a practice.
You are either engaging in the practice
or you’re not.

It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it.
It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.”
You are either living as a monk or you’re not.

We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output.

The real work of the artist
is a way of being in the world.”

Also love this:

“Beware of the assumption
that the way you work
is the best way
simply because
it’s the way you’ve done it before.”

Later, he writes of the Ramones:

“Innocence brings forth innovation. A lack of knowledge can create more openings to break new ground. The Ramones thought they were making mainstream bubblegum pop. To most others, the lyrical content alone- about lobotomies, sniffing glue, and pinheads- was enough to challenge this assumption.

While the band saw themselves as the next Bay City Rollers, they unwittingly invented punk rock and started a countercultural revolution. While the music of the Bay City Rollers had great success in its time, the Ramones’ singular take on rock and roll became more popular and influential. Of all the explanations of the Ramones, the most may be: innovation through ignorance.”

Hey, ho, let’s go.

Rest in Peace, Steve Albini

I know there’s “cooler” albums to talk about, but In Utero and Surfer Rosa were profoundly important to my teens, and I haven’t stopped listening to Mclusky Do Dallas since seeing them in San Francisco this past March.

My friend Tom had the good fortune of studying under Albini in the early 2000s and had this to say:

“Steve is one of a literal handful of people that I would consider a role model. In addition to opening my ears to what a good record should sound like, he showed me what a good person should act like. As an impressionable teenager and into my early 20s, he taught me how and why to treat people ethically and how to give absolutely zero fucks about the opinion of people who don’t.”

Some recommended reading:

Steve Albini Shows That Punk Rock Ethics Are Good Business: “If you start from the premise of refusing to be an asshole, then a lot of other decisions kind of make themselves.”

And of course his famous letter to Kurt Cobain:

“I explained this to Kurt but I thought I’d better reiterate it here. I do not want and will not take a royalty on any record I record. No points. Period. I think paying a royalty to a producer or engineer is ethically indefensible. The band write the songs. The band play the music. It’s the band’s fans who buy the records. The band is responsible for whether it’s a great record or a horrible record. Royalties belong to the band.

I would like to be paid like a plumber: I do the job and you pay me what it’s worth. The record company will expect me to ask for a point or a point and a half. If we assume three million sales, that works out to 400,000 dollars or so. There’s no fucking way I would ever take that much money. I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

We’ll always have the music. I suggest you crank it up to 11.

20 Years Ago I Was At Coachella

So were the then recently-reunited Pixies, whom I interviewed.

And Air, also interviewed.

And Tommy Lee, whom I had a drink with in the VIP lounge.

Which is where I also Mike Watt. And Fred Schneider. And Wayne Coyne, who would debut the Space Bubble the next evening.

And Kraftwerk, who I managed to get into a packed tent to see and have my mind blown.

And Radiohead. If you were there, ya know.

And also Belle & Sebastian, Broken Social Scene, The Cure, Erase Errata and a lot of bands I can’t remember or may have missed because I was working and drinking and loving life and completely caught up in the magic.

You Don’t Know How to Drive

If I never share a pixelated meme again, it will be too soon.

But this one is important. Otherwise, it’s gonna be a looong summer.

It’s quite simple, really:

“When most drivers see the first “lane closed ahead” sign in a work zone, they slow too quickly and move to the lane that will continue through the construction area. This driving behavior can lead to unexpected and dangerous lane switching, serious crashes and road rage.

Zipper merging, however, benefits individual drivers as well as the public at large. Research shows that these dangers decrease when motorists use both lanes until reaching the defined merge area and then alternate in “zipper” fashion into the open lane.”

Most well-meaning motorists succumb to “motive misattribution,” “assuming someone’s intentions are evil or misguided while your own are virtuous,” thinking if one zips they they are “a selfish, reckless cheater who cuts in line, when actually, if we all merged one at a time as he had, everyone might get where they were going faster.”

Tell the others.

Brain Scans of Jazz Musicians Reveal Secrets to Creative Flow

As reported in The Conversation:

“Flow, or being ‘in the zone,’ is a state of amped-up creativity, enhanced productivity and blissful consciousness that, some psychologists believe, is also the secret to happiness. It’s considered the brain’s fast track to success in business, the arts or any other field.

But in order to achieve flow, a person must first develop a strong foundation of expertise in their craft. That’s according to a new neuroimaging study from Drexel University’s Creativity Research Lab, which recruited Philly-area jazz guitarists to better understand the key brain processes that underlie flow. Once expertise is attained, the study found, this knowledge must be unleashed and not overthought in order for flow to be reached.

Previous neuroimaging studies suggested that ideas are usually produced by the default-mode network, a group of brain areas involved in introspection, daydreaming and imagining the future. The default-mode network spews ideas like an unattended garden hose spouts water, without direction. The aim is provided by the executive-control network, residing primarily in the brain’s frontal lobe, which acts like a gardener who points the hose to direct the water where it is needed.

Creative flow is different: no hose, no gardener. The default-mode and executive-control networks are tamped down so that they cannot interfere with the separate brain network that highly experienced people have built up for producing ideas in their field of expertise.“

Charles Schulz Drawing Peanuts

“I wish I had a better education but I think that my entire background made me well-suited for what I do. If I could write better than I can, perhaps I would have tried to become a novelist and I might have become a failure. If I could draw better than I can, I might have tried to become an illustrator or an artist and would have failed there. But my entire being seems to be just right for being a cartoonist.”

Recently Read

Two massive tomes I finally conquered: The Stand and The Pale King. Wouldn’t necessarily recommend either but I am glad I read both.

Of course I love reading about movies. After making a list of my favorite (read: not the ones I think are the best) films, I realized two filmmakers had four films on my list: PT Anderson, and one that surprised, Sidney Lumet. I immediately sought out his book Making Movies. It was a bit dated in describing how the sausage is made, but it had a lot of great stories and even better advice, bits that carry over to the creation in any art form.

Shea Serrano’s Movies and Other Things was fun, and made me laugh several times.

After re-watching The Godfather and its first sequel, I picked up the novel, which was fun, pulpier than the films and had an iconic inside cover. After I read Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, which was even better.

Recently finished Mrs. Maisel and wanted to keep living in that world as well, so I finished my copy of Lenny Bruce’s How to Talk Dirty and Influence People and have come to the conclusion that I prefer the fictional portrayal.

And of course I love reading about music. More specifically The Beatles. Read Revolution in the Head, Dreaming The Beatles and 150 Glimpses and loved the different styles and tones of all three, especially the latter.

I did also read, as well as listened to, the Beastie Boys Book and would recommend both. The book’s art and photos are great, but the audiobook elevates the material, and is read by the most absurd cast ever, including Steve Buscemi, Elvis Costello, Chuck D, Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell, Kim Gordon, LL Cool J, Spike Jonze, Rachel Maddow, Tim Meadows, Better Middler, Rosie Perez, Amy Poehler, Kelly Reichardt, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Jon Stewart and Ben Stiller.

A book I read about film and music and television and pop culture junk and how it all ties together was Chuck Klosterman’s The Nineties: A Book.

On Loving God had some great passages and advice, not just for Catholics.

The Swallowed Man was a fun read, the story of Pinocchio from Geppetto’s point of view (from inside the belly of the whale, no less).

“Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” didn’t offer as much insight as I was hoping for, but it was a curious glimpse at an incredibly interesting man.

I don’t really know much about poetry but I enjoyed Rotten Perfect Mouth by Eva HD, whom I discovered after watching a film I did not care for, but the poem hasn’t left me.

TV Reviewed

(Previously on Hackneyed)

The Bear (Seasons 1-2): Second season surpassed the first. The bottleneck episodes, “Fishes” and “Forks,” were probably my two favorite single episodes of a show last year.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Seasons 1-8): Just what I needed. Not quite Parks or The Office, but a solid sitcom from start to finish.

Better Call Saul (Seasons 5-7): Stuck the landing. For my money, better than Breaking Bad, but also surprisingly wrapped up the entire saga perfectly.

Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 12): Of course Larry would invent the “Spite Finale.” A hilarious remake of the Seinfeld ending that everyone hated. And the title? “No Lessons Learned.” Bravo.

Dave (Seasons 1-3): I think ‘Lil Dicky is a immensely talented MC, but I like his show much more than his music.

Euphoria (Seasons 1-2): Prestige trash (compliment).

Frasier (Season 1): It’s not the original, but enjoyable and Grammar slipped back into the role effortlessly.

I Think You Should Leave (Season 3): My friends and I joke about this all the time.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Season 16): Funnier than the last, but I think at the moment their podcast is better than their show.

Jeopardy!: A nightly ritual in this household.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 5): It was always Midge and Susie.

Party Down (Season 3): Solid revival. Not quite as funny as the first two seasons, but this cast is too solid to fail.

Rick and Morty (Seasons 6-7): My last review still stands: “Like most nerdy things, the fan base kinda ruins it, but this show is too funny and too in my wheelhouse not to love. And quite often, it is just as deep as they say it is.”

Saturday Night Live (Seasons 48): More meh moments than classics, but not as bad as they say and sometimes flat-out hilarious. I liked every bit of last week’s episode with Gosling.

South Park (Seasons 24-26): Not at its peak, but still the most cutting satire on television.

Succession (Seasons 1-4): A masterclass in writing and acting.

Ted Lasso (Season 3): Nothin’ wrong with comfort television.

Welcome to Wrexham (Season 2): Fun!

Winning Time (Season 2): Deserved to get cancelled, but I’m still kinda bummed about that.

American Movie, Chris Smith

Re-watched this wonderfully weird film last night and still love it as much as I did 25 years ago, but agree that it now hits different:

“Today Mark Borchardt looks less like an amusing hustler, and more like a poetic and even tragic hero; the living embodiment of unfulfilled dreams. Even that scene with the unforgiving cabinet door takes on a deeper meaning. It’s still funny, but it also summarizes the lives of dreamers like Mark in a single image. The pursuit of something bigger than yourself so often feels like banging your head against the wall. And when you bang your head against a wall, the wall always wins.”