Arise! Arise! Arise! Live, friend, live!

Merry Christmas

briangotback@msn.com — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:49:28 GMT

Last Christmas, trying to impress my "now girlfriend" who was then my "not yet girlfriend", I made a Christmas mix CD. But the catch was that I included some Christmas parodies on it that I wrote, and performed with my friend Brayan. Since a year has passed from my recording of this, and since it's Christmas time, I thought I'd share this with everybody because I'm quite proud of them.

Charlie Brown: http://fuckyousam.com/sounds/charliebrownskit.mp3
A Christmas Carol: http://fuckyousam.com/sounds/christmascarolskit.mp3
Charlie Brown, Epilogue: http://fuckyousam.com/sounds/charliebrownskit2.mp3

(you are never getting the song I covered. ever.)

Asceticism

briangotback@msn.com — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:00:23 GMT

True Brian Factoid #29:

You know those couples who have a list of celebrities they're allowed to sleep with without getting in trouble with their significant other? Well, I have a list like that, only it's for smoking weed. And the only person on it is Willie Nelson.

briangotback@msn.com — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:12:16 GMT

True Brian Factoid #27:

If you believe that passive voice is never acceptable, we can never ever be friends. Also, I might physically harm you.

You think I'm joking...

briangotback@msn.com — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:04:16 GMT

Went to the hospital last Sunday with food stuck in my esophagus, and had to get an EGD (for all you med. school types) and a biopsy of my esophagus. Well, results came back and I have a condition called Eosiniphilic Esophagitis. Not a big deal but I've gotta have another EGD or two, and hopefully I will be better soon.

briangotback@msn.com — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 09:14:22 GMT

True Brian Factoid #26

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will grow up to be a cat lady.

briangotback@msn.com — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:37:05 GMT

True Brian Factoid #25:

I am actually just a cranky old man.

Things I Have Learned This Week:

briangotback@msn.com — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:51:56 GMT

Without a Computer, I:
1) Get ahead on my readings.
2) Go to sleep at normal times (1-2 is normal to me, okay?).
3) Have experienced this morning thing I hear so much about.
4) Am ten thousand times more productive on everything in life.

You'd think I would've figured this out in the last, oh, decade or so.

briangotback@msn.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 07:33:11 GMT

Today, after taking my final on race in Latin America, I took a long afternoon nap in which I dreamt that I was back in the lecture hall retaking my final. Only this time, Hitler was sitting in the chair next to me explaining how the extremism of his Nazi eugenics policies caused many Latin American countries to abandon their policies of "whitening" and positive eugenics.

When I woke up I thought to myself "I think I am ready to finish college now."

History Quote of the Month.

briangotback@msn.com — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:02:20 GMT

"He writes the worst English that I've ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on the line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it. It drags itself out of the dark abysm of pish, and crawls insanely up the top most pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle. It is balder and dash."

This is a quote from...
a) the past, criticizing Warren G. Harding's speeches in an epicly 1920s way.
b) the future, angrily sprawled across the front of my soon to be turned in twenty page paper on Notchininga's map of 1837.

... or at least that's how I hope it will happen, should it happen.

briangotback@msn.com — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:24:29 GMT

Me and My Computer: A Dramatic Re-Enactment of the Last 6 Months of Our Relationship.

:has head:
:points gun at head:
:has no head:

fin.

briangotback@msn.com — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:08:46 GMT

we might live: happy birthday!
briangotback: oh thank you.
briangotback: i just condensed like ten seasons of married with children.
we might live: that is the saddest birthday i've ever heard of

Favorite Albums of 2008.

briangotback@msn.com — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:02:46 GMT

I have been surprisingly short on time this past month, so no write ups. I'm sure this is saddening news.

30. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
29. Isol/Zypce - Sima
28. Nomo - Ghost Rock
27. The Bottecellis - Old Home Movies
26. Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
25. Cex - Dannibal
24. Little Teeth - Child Bearing Man
23. Inara George with Van Dyke Parks - An Invitation
22. Ponies in the Surf - See You Happy
21. Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
20. Frances - All the While
19. Chris Schlarb - Twilight and Ghosts Stories
18. White Hinterland - Phylactery Factory
17. Studio - Yearbook 2
16. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
15. Duchess Says - Anthologie Des 3 Perchoirs
14. Deerhoof - Offend Maggie
13. Blevin Blectum - Gular Flutter
12. Andy Dixon - The Mice of Mt. Career
11. Cadence Weapon - Afterparty Babies
10. Giraffes? Giraffes! - More Skin With Milk-Mouth
09. Dosh - Wolves and Wishes
08. Pwrfl Power - Pwrfl Power
07. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
06. Jaguar Love - Take Me to the Sea
05. The Dead Science - Villainaire
04. Sun Kil Moon - April
03. Sigur Ros - Med Sum I Eyrum Vid Spilum
02. Antn Hrkwk - Mutually Assured
01. Mount Eerie - The Dawn

I don't, even though they probably deserve it.

briangotback@msn.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:52:15 GMT

True Brian Factoid #23:

Whenever I'm at a party, I get the insatiable desire to cock block every guy there.

Baby Stockbroker.

briangotback@msn.com — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:01:49 GMT

True Brian Factoid #20:

Attaching the word "baby" to the beginning of a noun instantly makes said noun ten times funnier to me.

Prob. an unfair comparison...

briangotback@msn.com — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:07:11 GMT

True Brian Factoid #19:

I secretly compare myself to Jim Halpert an unhealthy amount.

And he always looked so stupid too...

briangotback@msn.com — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:31:11 GMT

Alone in a cold room at four in the morning, a young boy comes to the grave realization that he might have inherited his father's "air drumming" gene.

Skinny arms a-flailing, he contemplates god's cruel sense of humor.

briangotback@msn.com — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:01:02 GMT

Did any of you Hacienda Heights people hear about this news?

That's a pretty big thing to have happen right next door.

WEIRD.

briangotback@msn.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:32:20 GMT

I swear to god somebody just sent KUCI a fake letter from the Zodiac Killer.

There are probably a few things you should know to fully grasp the full weirdness of all of this. First off, in case you didn't have an encyclopedic knowledge of me, then you should know that I have an incredible amount of interest in the Zodiac Killer to the point where I've even named my new musical project after the dude. And in case you don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of serial killers, the Zodiac Killer killed at least five people in the bay area during the late 60s/early 70s. What's very intriguing about him, however, is that he sent numerous letters to police and the SF Chronicle taunting them with his activities, sending them cryptograms that supposedly revealed his identity and using trademark symbols/art and taunting language. Also he was never caught. Here is a selection of confirmed Zodiac letters.

Anyways, fast forward to this morning. I am opening mail for KUCI because that is my new job there as of a few weeks ago, and something catches my eye. Amidst all the cds and packages and stuff is a letter addressed to KUCI from KUSF (a radio station in San Fran):

Like immediately I went "HOLY SHIT THOSE ARE THE ZODIAC SYMBOLS!" and my little nerd bones went a quiver. It was weird because, just peaking into the letter before opening it I saw the "N" part at the top and went "Who would draw us a picture? How weeird. But how cool would it be if this was from the Zodiac..." and then I open it up and wouldn't you know it those symbols are there. It was just a weird cross section of surreality that hit me, like "how big of a coincidence is it that I of all people, somebody who follows the case like weekly, and who has a musical project called Zodiac Killer would get this copycat zodiac killer letter." I wasn't even excited about the prospect of it being real - it very obviously isn't (the handwriting isn't even close) - I was more extremely intrigued about what this was all about. So I looked:

First I looked at the website, http://www.mynoisyplanet.com/philhahn, and found nothing there. So I went to just http://www.mynoisyplanet.com/ and found nothing, so it obviously wasn't a typo of some sort.

Then I went to the KUSF website, and started checking their website for any sign of "Zodiac," "Set to Magnetic North," or really anything. I didn't find anything.

There is that email address there, and I'm incredibly intrigued to email it just to see what happens. I mean, it's very Zodiac Killer in style just in general, but it also made me think "Hey maybe this isn't one of my friend's doings. First of all, I don't think a whole lot of them knew I was now taking up the mail opening responsibilities, and also, who would create an expensive and crappy aol account just to prank me?" So if I email the person and get a response, I'll be sure to post it here.

So then I went to the Zodiac Killer message boards (a place I secretly frequent) and found out that in the past couple of weeks that . Granted, it's in North Carolina, but it gives this whole thing a great deal of intrigue.

Here are some more shots of the letter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

To be continued....

briangotback@msn.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:06:54 GMT

Last night I decided to record my radio show just because I haven't in a while. It's not as smooth as I imagined it but few things ever are.

Playlist

1. The Botticellis - Old Home Movie - Old Home Movie
2. Why? - Simeon's Dilemma - Alopecia
3. St. Vincent - Paris is Burning - Marry Me
4. Jens Lekman - Sipping on the Sweet Nectar - Night Falls Over Kortedala

5. Animal Collective - Water Curses - Water Curses EP*****
6. Son Lux - Break - At War With Walls and Mazes*****
7. SJ Esau - Frustrating - Small Vessel*****
8. Oh Astro - Hello Fuji Boy - Champions of Wonder

9. Fujiya and Miyagi - Ankle Injuries - Transparent Things
10. Built to Spill - Temporarily Blind - Keep it Like a Secret
11. Dosh - Wolves - Wolves and Wishes*****
12. Caribou - She's the One - Andorra

13. The Books - A Little Longing Goes Away - Lost and Safe
14. The Wrens - Boys, You Won't - The Meadowlands
15. Shearwater - The Snow Leopard - Rook*****
16. Grizzly Bear - Lullabye - Yellow House

17. Olafur Arnalds - Fok - Variations of Static*****
18. Air France - Collapsing at Your Doorstep - No Way Down*****
19. Sun Kil Moon - Blue Orchids - April*****
20. Gastr Del Sol - Bauchredner - Camoufleur

21. Boredoms - 77 - Rebore, Vol. 0
22. Fuckbuttons - Bright Tomorrow - Street Horrrsing*****
23. Out Hud - My Two Nad's (Dad's Reprise) - S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.
24. Mu - My Name is Tommi - Afro Finger and Gel

25. Tim Fite - Line By Line - Fair Ain't Fair*****
26. The Dismemberment Plan - You Are Invited - Emergency and I
27. His Name is Alive - When You Fall for Someone - Xmmer
28. Bill Frisell - Cloud Probability - History, Mystery*****

29. Shellac - End of Radio - Excellent Italian Greyhound
30. Slint - Good Morning Captain - Spiderland

31. Matt Baldwin - Rainbow - Paths of Ignition*****

This Post Has a Lot of Creativity

briangotback@msn.com — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:03:49 GMT

briangotback: easton wanna play a game.
hyperion3001: of?
briangotback: this is a game where i give you a picture and you give me an artistic interpretation for that picture. how you do that is very flexible, as you can write a short story, draw an accompanying picture, write a poem, or write a few sentences about how you think this picture came about/what the characters in the picture are thinking/etc.

Easton:
briangotback: here is your picture:

briangotback: im really interested in seeing a response to this one.

Easton's Response:
On The Strand, a bitter and windswept midwinter's eve
The conflagrations of the continent in full dress
Chaos garbed and wanton willing they marched
To the irregular drumming of their fear-gripped hearts
What force of strength in finite men did such ideals
Wrought in the halls of justice inspire?
Or did their mercy in the smithing flame catch
Smoldering and flaring to their eye's carbon black
So in terror of their brother's transformation
Did my nation rise up to meet this erstwhile foe
Once so easily placated by ambition and greed
Now driven by irrepressible, unconstrained cruelty
But I was wise, my friends
I do not cross the seas to perish in their marshes
In their cobbled streets channeling the blood
Of my fathers and sons into the hungry fields
I do not bend to the call of the martial horn
Eager to set into straight lines and firm corners
The intractable vanity of all human enterprise
From which there is no bodily escape
Do you wonder then that I chose this aberration
This most ancient and mythic metamorphosis?
When at that yearning moment of rebirth
I ceased forever all emotions of shock and despair
There is now only this blind and relentless curiosity
To gaze upon the workings of eternally unresolved folly
To observe with indifference the avarice
Of your impoverished souls.

hyperion3001: its a napoleonic tabby
hyperion3001: i might do an accompanying Pharaonic Abyssinian

Zhubin:
briangotback: anyways, here is your picture:

Zhubin's Finals Week Response:
Zopwx2: he never thought it end up like this
Zopwx2: he had a good job
Zopwx2: a wife and kids
Zopwx2: but he just couldnt stop stealing things from peoples garbage cans
Zopwx2: and one day his bad habits caught up with him
Zopwx2: and his life fell into a deep shame spiral
Zopwx2: utnil he ended up on the steets
Zopwx2: addicted to crack
Zopwx2: giving bj's for scraps
Zopwx2: the end
Zopwx2: also lol @ url

Vivian:

Vivian's Very Expected Response:
new batteri: a haiku!

watch out! barked the dog,
as he laid there in the flowers.
paws up! it's spring time!

Kyle:
(Note: Title of picture is wisdomcat.jpg)

Kyle's Response:
(Note: Kyle hates cats)
If I were so fucking wise, I'd have figured out a way to not have some fuck put me in a) these fucking stupid clothes, and b) the fucking snow. I'm a cat. I live inside. I don't give a shit about you. If there was some way I could open my own fucking tin of cat food, I'd gladly eat it off your raped and mutilated corpse. That's how much you fucking mean to me. Your blood is my placemat for all I care. Your mothers will weep when they see what I've planned for you. 'Oh lookit my precious little mister all dressed up for play.' Fuck you. If I had thumbs, I'd gouge your eyes out and piss in the sockets. Do you know what happens when cat urine isn't cleaned up? It turns to ammonia, fucker. You know what ammonia is going to feel like dribbling down your optic nerve, fucker? That's what I think of you, cat people. Fuck. You.

Erin:
briangotback: here is your picture:

Erin's Response:

Emily:
briangotback: here is your picture:

Emily's Response:

briangotback: hahahahahahahah.
briangotback: ahahahhahashaa.
briangotback: it is amazing.
to the mews: i tried covering the hands with paws
to the mews: but it was too hard

Sam:
briangotback: anyways, here is your picture:

Sam's Response:
http://www.fuckyousam.com/scubadog.mp3

Thanks to all who helped me make a post where I had to put in zero effort! I appreciate it.

briangotback@msn.com — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:09:02 GMT

True Brian Factoid #13:

Boy oh boy do I hate sleep!

briangotback@msn.com — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:45:16 GMT

I just spent the last hour coming up with a shoddy list of "human principles" that I've accumulated over the years through contemplation. This list is purposely vague, partly out of outright tiredness and partly because I'd like to give myself wriggle room should I want to explain myself on these (which I might do eventually, when it's not 4:30 or so).

Eight Empirical Observations About Humans That Shape My View of the World:
1) The mind is the most pragmatic mechanism in the world.
2) Humans refuse to fit into any predictable systems.
3) Empathy helps solve the problems that human rationality creates.
4) Never underestimate the breadth of human fallibility, nor the potential of human greatness.
5) Logic always pays exception to emotional need.
6) Self-regulation is the key to maturity.
7) Love is prioritizing another's well-being over ones own.
8) Altruism, in its truest definition, can only occur in matters concerning love.

Also this list is subject to re-shaping and elongation, as this is mostly in its infant stage and could use a few more perspectives and little more cleaning up.

briangotback@msn.com — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:03:31 GMT

Well, that was pretty anti-climactic.

briangotback@msn.com — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:34:17 GMT

The partisan trench warfare, unheard of levels of ethical misconduct, cronyism, jingoism, and rhetorical mudslinging of American politics had created such an incredible cynicism within me that, in order to restore my sanity, I needed to take a drastic action - I've ignored it. The humanitarian side of me just couldn't stand straining over the fact that innocent people were hurting, their civil liberties being stripped, their constitutional rights melting away, solely because our once proud political machine had aged and hit a groove of unhealthy decline. So, over the past several years, my once overwhelming interest in American government and politics had dwindled to the point where I wouldn't read any news stories in months, where I stopped frequenting the political forums and blogs I'd once frequented, where I'd essentially changed my perspective of the world from "What can I do to correct the wrongs in society?" to "Do what you can to affect people on the individual level." My ability to change the world was much smaller with each story of injustice. My hope and my enthusiasm dwindling as the years went by...

But one person has changed all of that for me. One person has reminded me that the tides of change start on the individual level, and that America can very well be fixed if it just has the right people leading it. One person has really re-ignited my energy and my enthusiasm towards politics (I mean look at all this billowy language!) so much that I've temporarily lifted my ban on talking about politics to write this post.

I've never really had that "Great American Hero" type in my lifetime. That passionate visionary, that Martin Luther King Jr., that Franklin Roosevelt, that Woodrow Wilson, that sincerely decent politician who's going to come out of the woodwork when we need them most, and singlehandedly shape this country into shape with his morals and hopeful message. But I swear to god that Barack Obama is that person, and I have to admit that I'm just absolutely entranced with the man. He's my dream politician.

Get out there and vote guys. My cynicism towards American politics depends on it.

It's late, give me a break on my writing.

briangotback@msn.com — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:44:59 GMT

Not in the "this album is so underground nobody has heard of it" kind of way, but in the "this album is criminally uncool/popularly unpopular/downright horrible but i still love it" kind of way. These albums all have some grating quality to them that I find endearing while others find them, well... grating. And there might be a good reason for that, I don't know what the line between guilty pleasure and acceptable kitschiness is anymore.

Most of these albums I've bought at some point in the past, to show just how much I like them.

1. American Music Club - Mercury: Mark Eitzel is by far the saddest motherfucker in my musical collection, and that's saying quite a bit. Mercury just espouses melancholy from every orifice, but does so in a hyper-literate, cinematic way that just floors me every time with its power. This isn't even an album that I consider a guilty pleasure, but rather a lost classic from the nineties that didn't catch on because of how emotional it is. And it's one of my favorite albums of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwledViTXzA

2. Ink and Dagger - Drive This Seven Inch Wooden Stake Through My Philadelphia Heart: Terms and phrases you will find on this bands wikipedia page: Vampire-themed punk band, "vomited on Christmas trees," "infamous for egging Hare-Krishna devotees," pro-vegan moshmetal, "The band My Chemical Romance cited Ink & Dagger as one of their main influences, which is also apparent through their adoption of Ink & Dagger's Vampire theme."

It's quite obvious why me and this band are strange bedfellows, but I feel I'm not (that) crazy for liking them. They do this "cram three minutes worth of song into one minute" type of thing and they pull it off really well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6FsLbnVG0Y

3. Braid - The Age of Octeen: This band was a huge influence for what would eventually become the emo scene in the late nineties, but don't let that sully what was otherwise a fantastic math-rock band. They were catchy, technical, and energetic. They just liked to scream too much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwiU_iTaMp8

4. The Hippos - Heads Are Gonna Roll: The second most intelligent ska-band in history, behind Reel Big Fish in their hay-day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8wTysyRKLY

5. Piebald - When Life Hands You Lemons: This band would eventually go on to suck really hardcore, but thankfully they would go on to release one really, really awesome album before they did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH6mPeGci8E

6. American Football - Never Meant: Alright, so this is emo music in the worst way possible. Like some of the worst lyrics you've ever heard about winter regrets and falling out of love and jesus christ they are horrible. But the music is good, so...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdfhJXV5kgU&feature=related

7. The Promise Ring - Nothing Feels Good: I have no excuses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srU0xhkfIFw

8. Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut: Perhaps the least embarassing of all these mid-nineties Chicago area bands on here, unless "music video production" is the criteria we are going by here because they would consistently win that battle. This album is kind of an anomaly on this list since it actually sold well when it came out, getting them on mainstream radio and mtv for a short amount of time before they eventually fell out of musical consciousness. This band is kinda like the Smashing Pumpkins (especially on YPAA) with moments of Weezer mixed in, but done more artistically and more complexly than both of those two bands. Also, this album is in the RPM section at KUCI, making it by far the most misplaced album in the entire place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KufeianOso0

9. Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle/Greatest Love Songs: Jim Croce's music really should have carried on well beyond his premature death, but for some reason seemed to go down with him. He's about as uncool as songwriters come, but I'll be damned if he didn't make damn fine songs.

I have this theory that if Jim Croce didn't look like an Italian plumber more people would know his name today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZsusLw0XgM

10. Loggins and Messina - The Best of Friends: Kenny Loggins and Jimmy Messina! This is like a musical supergroup!

Anyways, the reason I like this album is because my parents used to play this album a whole lot when I was a baby, and the "House on Pooh Corner" and other likeminded completely gay songs are like a sudden transport into a way more innocent time in my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzW3rb57Ks0

If somebody played House on Pooh's Corner at my funeral I don't think I would be that upset about it.