No post next week as we're heading out of town for a week in Myanmar. I was reluctant to going there for two reasons: it is gonna be roasting hot and the whole genocide thing. Betty really wanted this one and whatever the boss wants.
Music has been good lately. A new Meat Puppets album came out recently and more Meat is always a good thing. It's called Susty Notes an is worth a spin.
Was coaxed out last Tuesday to see Masego.
Last night was another appearance by local star Yufu Chen and a bunch of us went down for it. Here are the photos...
There are none cause we all missed it. All the info showed that Yufu was the headliner, there were two bands and the show was from 8 - 10:30. Experience tells all of us that our act would go on a bit after 9p so we meet up for drink and head over only to see the man himself walk out of the club all sweaty and he tells us they are done. I've missed bands a couple times before due to being late (most famously to the Ramones twice in the same summer as their set was 30 minutes long and the folks I went with were slow ass bitches), but have been to hundreds/thousands of shows and cannot recall a miscalculation like this. Can't even blame a language barrier as there were fluent speakers in our midst and as we are breaking it down after, they are still unsure what happened. The other band was Taiwan reggae...including the sad Chinese violin. Gag me.
Coming up the Tuesday after we get home from Myanmar is a band I have been in love with making their first appearance in Taiwan. Busan, Korea's Say Sue Me. Can count on one had the acts I love that have been to Taiwan since we've been here: Dinosaur Jr., Kraftwerk and Yo La Tengo. Say Sue Me will be the fourth (in 7 years!) and have high hopes for that night. I have been diving deep on them and in reading some interviews, have been turned onto some other cool Korean bands like Dabda, The March Kings, 3Volt and Genius. The sound of most of those is 90's indie throwback and if they are 25 years behind the times, that fits me just right. One of my favorite Say Sue Me songs turns out to be a cover of Genius' 'One Question'. The Say Sue Me version is poppier while this original version is as dark as night. Love it.
It is also a great time of year as the sports wasteland after the Super Bowl ends next week with both the Opening Day of baseball and Opening Bounce of Australian Rules Football. Good times for yours truly.
In my continuing efforts to be a supportive parent and trying to appreciate the art of dance, went to a showcase at the school of the IB programs seniors dance pieces. The IB students choreograph dances for their senior project and recruit dancers to perfrom them with Babdydoll being one. I watched about 10 dances and before each, the choreographer will talk about the piece and give their inspiration for the movements. Words, a book, some experience in a desert...things like that, but when they were being performed I just cannot understand how the movemnts relate to the inspiration. You could tell me that they were inspired by The War of 1812, watching paint dry, or seeing their cat have an epileptic fit and I'd believe it. B-doll was quite good but am not comfortable with how the dudes put their hands on her.
Finally for this week, have to address the college admission scandal. We all know this crap goes on but the extent that this group of adults went to get their kids in schools is stomach turning. Is funny how this story resonated with everyone on some level. I'm at the kids school a lot and interact with a bunch of the staff. I've mentioned how that school is posh and position themselves within that world as an elite prep school. Most of the teachers hate it, but there is a not insignificant section of the community that sends their kids to tutors from early elementary school and to college facilitators and SAT prep boot camps as they approach High School. Learned a new term for an old scheme from this whole thing...when a parent donates a ton of dough to a school and gets their kid in based on that, the school justifies it by calling it "Institutional Advancement" Not gonna debate the ethics of any of that cause while I find it ugly, it is legal. In talking to many at our school everyone suspects that some families may be going further than simply pushing/torturing their kids. As for the kids themselves, their view of the scandal was "you can do that?" and view the revelations as a road map.
It is also a story that crosses generations. I ask Babydoll if she know this Olivia Jade character and of course she does. She knew her mom was some actress, but she doesn't know Aunt Becky and why would she. Lori Loghlin is 53 years old., just like me, so ancient history. Full disclosure...I never watched a single episode of Full House but of course knew of it and absolutely found Lori Loughlin super sexy. Great hair and had a bod that appealed to my senses, but there was something about her eyes that lent an air of crazy. Always trust the eyes. Takes a certain kind of monster to raise a certain kind of monster, but who would have thought it would be Aunt Becky? Anywho, it was a great opportunity to have a conversation about how shitty "people" can be at any age and about how one needs to be careful about the types of celebrities or role models one spends time following. This little piece of shit off of the steaming pile of crap was a perfect example of how awful the "influencer" culture is. In the Fyre documentary, they document how they paid that Kendall Jenner 250K to push it on her social media. You saw the crap that Miss Olivia Jade has spouted I'm sure. On one hand, sorta feel bad for these kids being outed for the spoiled idiots they are if they weren't aware of the behind the scenes shenanigans, but then you see how ugly their souls are... I pray that this adds a nail to the coffin of this little influencer cultural detour and hope that this will help B-doll choose her clicking more wisely.
One more 'finally' for this week...I am giving up my crusade against the word 'pride'. I feel no differently about it and can prove that 95% of the time people are using it to take credit for others accomplishments, but people seem to get really offended when I call it out. From now on when I hear it, will just roll my eyes in silent disgust..
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