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Look out for the Tripod!

An assortment of photos from the Grand Opening of the Seattle Art Museum's Sculpture Park. Which at the moment is more sculpture than park...

posted by Jason | 3:17 PM
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A Qualitative Assessment of Visual Data

My favourite four films of 2006:

4. The Departed - Probably the most fun I had at the cinema this year was watching this one. Scorsese goes back to his bread-and-butter crime genre and delivers a crazy, gritty story of cops and robbers and robber-cops and Boston.

3. Children of Men - After seeing this one, I'm willing to designate Alfonso Cuaron as the best Mexican director of the bunch out there (and Emmanuel Lubezki as one of the best cinematographers around.) This dystopian nightmare was a bit hard for me to get a grasp on early, but by the end I was really enthralled with the insane uniqueness of this story, its world and its characters.

2. United 93 - Another nightmarish look at the fight for life that, unfortunately, is based in fact. Of all the wrong turns and cliches that this film could've taken, I was stunned and impressed that it didn't take any. Truly heart-wrenching to sit through, but equally unforgettable.

1. Marie Antoinette - Coppola must be Italian for 'Great Director' or something. (Note to Roman and Francis: Get back to work!) I was captivated by just about everything in this movie. Obviously.

posted by Jason | 11:23 PM
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Mooninites Unite!

'We are the Mooninites and our culture is advanced beyond all that you can possibly comprehend with 100% of your brain'

posted by Jason | 10:19 PM
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Aural Pleasure, Y'All

At first, I thought choosing my favorite five albums of this past year would be a bit difficult due to a lack in quantity. But after looking through the albums I listened to from the last year, that were actually released in the last year, I came up with these solid five. (Though I still think it was somewhat of a down year):

5. The Loon - Tapes 'N Tapes
It actually took me a while to check this album out, but once I did I realized I had been enjoying a number of these songs on KEXP for the last six months. The disc reminds me in a number of ways of Malkmus's stuff. Anyways, these Midwest fellas hold up Kanye's assessment of the area: young and restless.
Give a Listen: Insistor

4. Ships - Danielson
Daniel Smith, and his famile and cohorts, make the kind of crazy, ear-bending, unique music that takes a good while to get friendly with and then a good while longer to get outta your head. This album feels like Sufjan if he had a musical nervous breakdown (note: Don't expect the vocals to in anyway mirror Sufjan's smoothness, either, though he does help out on the album along with a host of others.)
Give a Listen: Ship the Majestic Suffix

3. Everything All The Time - Band of Horses
An incredibly solid and lush first album from some Seattlites that aptly displays feelings of loneliness and carthasis without being sappy. In fact, the sprawling dynamics that litter the album make it a perfect disc to kick back and enjoy any night with.
Give a Listen: The Funeral

2. Writer's Block - Peter, Bjorn, and John
I just discovered this album a couple weeks before the new year, but it quickly found found heavy rotation in my apartment. Definitely the best pop album I've heard this year, these english-singin' Swedes craft an album full of catchy dittys that all hold their own unique enjoyment to explore.
Give a Listen: Young Folks

1. Ys - Joanna Newsom
I don't think there's any musician in the world right now like Joanna Newsom (though I'm sure that could be easily disproven.) Her plucky, squeaky voice may offset at first, but soon draws you into a wonderfully rich world of star-gazers, talking animals, and that gorgeous harp of hers. A modern siren who's song I don't mind being enraptured by for hours on end...
Give a Listen: Stardust and Diamonds


(Alternate 1.) The Best Party Ever - The Boy Least Likely To
Alright, this album actually came out in '05 but wasn't released in the states till this last year. A crazy cacophony of childlike circus pop that, ironically, deals with death and disappointment. Brilliant from start to restart.
Give a Listen: Be Gentle With Me

posted by Jason | 10:57 PM
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