ONE MAN CREATES AWESOME

This is exactly what Mike "Awesome", Facundo and I do at shows. And it usually ends up the same way too, albeit with lesser people.



-James

Now playing: Coil - Paint Me As A Dead Soul

"Pressure Cooker"

I was supposed to be part of a short film shoot today, but it was canceled for one reason or another. So, instead, I decided to spend the day in "the city". That is, New York City. I bought the fourth trade (volume) of the great comic "Scalped", bought a book for a dollar ("Warrior King"), and bought two shirts that were on sale (Beastie Boys and Die Hard with a Vengeance). The main reason I went into NYC though was to see a movie.

"But James!", I hear you cry, "You can see movies anywhere you big dummy!" First off, watch your mouth. Secondly, NYC has a lot of movies being shown that aren't being screened in NJ, and sometimes nowhere else in the US except for LA. Have you ever seen a documentary not filmed by Michael Moore or starring a celebrity (Al Gore counts) in a theater before? This is changing gradually, but if I want to see obscure films, documentaries and other off-beat stuff, I go to da big apple OH FUGGHEDABOUTIT.

Anyway, the movie I went to see was "Pressure Cooker".



I saw a poster for it at some point in the last few weeks and learned that it was about some kids learning how to cook in a Culinary Arts class an urban area/school. It follows a class of students for a year, but focuses on three students particularly and the teacher. I love watching anything to do with food or cooking, maybe because my dad's a chef, so I wanted to see it.

I loved it! It was warm, interesting, suspenseful and funny! It was a really nice movie. And as a treat, the directors, a famous chef, a student and the teacher herself were there. It was very nice.

Now, the directors asked for the audience to help spread the word about the film, so that is actually what I am doing. HAH, IT WAS ALL A TRICK. But really, if you can, see this movie. It's special. The website also has a petition to call upon Congress to fund the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act at no less than $1.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2010. What that means is increased funding for technical, career and vocational education. Sign it!

Here's the trailer:



-James

Now playing: Ceremony - You're All the Same

Webcomics: Part 4

I've been rereading some of my favorite comics. As mentioned on the podcast, I've been (and just finished) reading Preacher again, and once I had finished I started rereading Concrete, which probably is my favorite comic of all time.

So, once a week or so, I go through all my webcomics that I read and catch up. Others make sure to read them whenever they individually update, but I like it better this way for some reason. Just taking 45 minutes and going through all these wonderful comics via Webternet.

I got to one and thought, man this webcomic is really REALLY good. I should go to the first one and reread the whole series up to the present! (as opposed to up to the future?) For some reason I never have done this with a webcomic before.

The webcomic discussed is SUPER MEGA, seen here:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Some information from the SUPER MEGA site:

SUPER MEGA was started February 2004. Everything on this site is made by me, Brett Brimmer- AKA "Johnny Smash". I'm 21 years old and in college. I live in Tucson, Arizona.

How I would describe SUPER MEGA is stick figures acting crazy and irrational in a crazy and irrational universe that is very yellow. There is no continuity except for very rare occasions (see: PLANET TO THE MOON storyline) and a few recurring characters such as Funky Man and Head is a Dinosaur.

Usually though the comic just has people saying very ridiculous things to one another. And the dialogue is usually hilarious and very weird. The most recent SUPER MEGA had someone saying, "RONALD HENRY GEORGE YOU'VE TIED TWO BEARS TOGETHER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE". And a few panels later, we do indeed see two bears tied together. It seems that Mr. Brimmer/"Smash" really enjoys the surreal and making it hilarious and thank goodness for that. This is a webcomic that produces hilarity with every new strip.

And the art works! The art totally fits. If I saw this comic with really detailed and colorful art, it would seem like a lot of other non-continuity webcomics. With the stick figures and yellow background, it makes everything seem even MORE weird. And somehow SOMEHOW, the really simplistic facial expressions makes everything seem that much funnier.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

So if you enjoy weird comedy, stories about horses, robots, planets and other stuff, PLEASE check this out. It is super super funny. No relationship drama between characters, no inside jokes, no psuedo-intellectualism, no bullshit. Just a really fun time.

-James

Now playing: Toroidh - V

Episode 22: Marvin Gaye, Applebee's, Two Dudes

Hi hi hi everyone, the We're Friends! Podcast is bringing to you our 22nd episode! What treats and goodies are inside? You'll have to listen to find out! (Note: No actual treats or goodies may be "inside" the podcast)

CLICK AND DOWNLOAD.

We talk about:

Dash not understanding words!
James rereading a favorite comic!
AN EMAIL WE GOT HOLY GOD!!!!
Dudes getting married!

Songs discussed:

The Modern Dance by Pere Ubu - Dash's choice
I Am the Black Wizards by Emperor - James' choice

Click the song title links to listen to the songs and the band name links to learn all about the bands!

Music:

Les Claypool - "Mushroom Men"

ABBA - "Take A Chance on Me"

Gojira - "A Sight to Behold"

The Who - "Happy Jack"

Stuff we want to hear from YOU:

Supermarket stories
Dad Stories
Fast food/restaurant stories
Halloween costume (for a wedding!) ideas for Dash
Thoughts on the chemotherapy article

As always, we welcome and would love you to email us about anything! So hit us at wearefriendspodcast@gmail.com

-Your Friends

How to Listen

I love music. I mean I REALLY love music. So does Dash. So do a lot of you I imagine. Maybe we share some favorites, or maybe you listen to everything I do not. Either way, music's great.

Now, how about the act of listening itself? I don't think about it much, I just hit play and enjoy. I know that sound is actually just vibrations moving through the air and into our ears and that different frequencies determine if we can hear something or not. Like dog whistles and stuff.

Evelyn Glennie is a percussionist, a really good one too. She's also apparently the first full-time, solo percussionist in 20th century western society. - Wikipedia. She's won a bunch of awards for her music and playing. She's also profoundly deaf, I'll let the lady herself explain what that means:

Profound deafness covers a wide range of symptoms, although it is commonly taken to mean that the quality of the sound heard is not sufficient to be able to understand the spoken word from sound alone. With no other sound interfering, I can usually hear someone speaking although I cannot understand them without the additional input of lip-reading. In my case the amount of volume is reduced compared with normal hearing but more importantly the quality of the sound is very poor. For instance when a phone rings I hear a kind of crackle. However, it is a distinctive type of crackle that I associate with a phone so I know when the phone rings. This is basically the same as how normally hearing people detect a phone, the phone has a distinctive type of ring which we associate with a phone.

Now I know what some of you are thinking, "A deaf percussionist?! IMPOSSIBLE." But she does it somehow! So what does this mean? Sure she can, hear and detect what a phone ringing is, but music is full of creativity and rhythm and all sorts of stuff and you have to be able to distinctly hear everything right? Well, maybe "hearing" isn't just something you do with your ears.

She gave a wonderful and insightful demonstration/lecture and I really must implore EVERYONE to watch it, if you're at all like me, you will be thoroughly amazed.



Her wikipedia article.

An essay she wrote about hearing.

-James

Now playing: Klaus Nomi - Cold Song

PS she's really pretty and her accent is super cute and I want to marry her.

diesel.

I'm a fan of Vin Diesel.  I've voiced my support for him on the podcast before.  Recently found this video and wanted to share.  If you've ever wondered what it is I see in this actor then check this out.

His Best Friend Could Eat Your Children Whole

So hey, this podcast is called "We're Friends!" right? So why not a blog post about one guy's friend!

Only this dude's friend is a FUCKING BEAR AAAAHHHHHHH.

Here is the bear, "Brutus", at the table for Thanksgiving dinner. This totally looks photoshopped, but apparently isn't.



The story is pretty neat and cute and can be read HERE.

One of the comments left on the article:

Hmmm, it's friendly now.
It'll end in tears.....

- Marie, Jersey, 29/4/2009 08:09

Hah!

-James

Now playing: Neurosis - Fear and Sickness