Synapse to synapse (How my mind works, Green & umbrellas)

Sometimes I think my mind (perception?) works like the Internet, maybe. Is it the same for everyone? I don’t remember it always being like this. It jumps from one idea to the next, often I can barely keep up. From one related concept to another. Like… stream of consciousness, free association or I dunno what. The ideas just branch out infinitely, like that Chemical Brothers video, you know, “Let Forever Be”? @ some point this became my reality. I just almost always associate things, involuntarily & immediately. Usually words, lyrics, images, things I’ve heard/read. Stuff ppl have said (well-known ppl or just ppl III know). My memory’s good, which helps.



The other day I went to this place ppl call Plaza Borges with my friend Martin. It was really green. So right away I thought
- “Green”, the Dandy Warhols
- “Green machine”, Apples in Stereo
- “For Reverend Green”, Animal Collective
- "A certain shade of green", Incubus etc etc etc...

Green is my friend Sofi’s fav color, I remembered. & in 1st year of Uni, we had to make a collage describing ourselves. She had cut out the words MUNDO VERDE (green world) & put them near the center of hers. I’m pretty sure there were also jungle leaves & a photo of Charly Garcia (maybe el Flaco Spinetta too?) but I could be wrong about that. Nyssa liked green too, but yellow better.

Green was my House @ school. See, @ my school here (a private, Catholic, all-girls) in Buenos Aires, the English department divided students into Houses, like I guess the private schools do in England. In Harry Potter, Hogwarts has got Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw & Hufflepuff. We had the Green, Blue, Red & Yellow Houses. Each had a patron saint. Blue: St Thomas More, Green: St Bede (who the hell?). Don't remember the others.

I enjoyed being in Green House as I always favored the color, still do in fact. My most comfortable pair of Chuck Taylors are green, FYI. I’ll think of my House mates such as Lucy A & Ceci D, both of whom I still really care about. Blue was pretty nerdy, IMO. I think the best grades ("top marks") usually went to Blue or Green. Cali was in Yellow. No offense but as far as I remember, Yellow tended to be fairly mediocre…am I wrong?

All this came up bc today the internet said Paco was listening to “Son of Mr Green Genes” by Frank Zappa. The next track was “Little Umbrellas”. Right away this orchestral-sounding line played in my head

♫ Just when I thought that my vista was golden in hue

one thousand umbrellas opened to spoil the view ♫

It's from one of my fav songs off Skylarking by XTC, recommended by Romo in 2006. The others are “Ballet for a rainy day” (which reminds me of ppl who paint -Pool, Consu L, Daniel Dubois, Kata, etc- bc it has this line: I push my paintbrush to conjure a new world as this one is slowly washed away) & “The man who sailed around his soul”.

See what I mean? But there was also

- “Preparen sus paraguas”, Fantasmagoria from the Clearence EP, which possibly my VERY fav song by them (”La Laguna”) is off
- “Under my umbrella”, Incubus...BEFORE Rhianna's! One of the last tracks from the album “Morning view”, the last album of theirs I really loved.
- Well of course the Rhianna song, although I h8 it. EHH EHHH…NO THX. Not even after the Manic Street Preachers covered it. I do recall NRS had the chorus line as her MSN name though. Only I remember these things, right?

So, it’s mostly got to do with music. But not exclusively. I also thought of how Jime P (schoolmate) had an umbrella with Tweety Bird (Looney Tunes) wearing a raincoat on the handle. "Mary Poppins", "Singin in the rain" (one of my fav movies), Gene Kelly "walking down the lane with a happy refrain", the girl from the salt I grew up eating in the States...



...how Laurita forgot her umbrella the night of that party on Altolaguirre (what a night that was...in my life, anyways), how I forgot my umbrella @ Lucinda's bday last year, the same night I met someone who didn't know who "Rock the casbah" was by (I couldn't believe it either).

If I hear something about the subway I’ll think things like “Subterranean homesick alien” by Radiohead or “Subterranean homesick blues” by Bob Dylan. When riding the Deutschebahn across Germany I thought “Train in vain” by The Clash & “Strangers on a train” by Lovage, although I knew there was a film of the same title. I haven’t seen, although Tute mentioned it when we talked a lot. I did seen “Stranger than Paradise”, the Jim Jarmusch movie, though. Richie had recommended that one. Esteban really likes Jim Jarmusch. & I saw a photo of Sol S with him (JJ) once. & so on…& so on…& so on.

Friday featuring T-Rex Motivation, Frank Zappa Trouble, & a really rocking compliment

Friday evening, riding the 60 on the way to YES+, looking out the window, I saw a guy in his early 30s wearing a business suit walking down Las Heras wearing those huge headphones. He was dancing more than walking. & he was singing too. He was obviously ROCKING & ROLLING, digging the fact that it was FRIDAY EVENING. I thought about the line “Love the way you walk” from “The Motivator” by T-Rex. It reminded me of this one time I saw a Boy I really liked (in fact, I've never liked anyone so much) from afar, walking down the hall @ Uni. He also seemed to sorta be doing a little dance. I recall his tall frame kinda swaying side to side (or was I hallucinating?), his lovely hair, his jeans, his red All Stars, his backpack. That line playing in my head: Love the way you walk ♪ My ♥ skipped a beat, started racing, my chest filled with butterflies...one or all of the above. I rushed 2 the nearest bathroom & hid. I was probably 19, although the behavior sounds more like a 10 year old’s : P

Got off the bus. “Trouble every day” by Frank Zappa was playing on the iPod.

I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
& when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess
So I'm watching & I'm waiting
Hopin' for the best
Even think I go to praying
Every time I hear them sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' everyday

A girl walked past me on the street. Her t-shirt read HERE COMES TROUBLE. Funny, bc I’d just been thinking about how sometimes I have such a knack (yes, like the band that did “My Sharona” in Reality Bites, the song they dance in minimart. Kata & I used to LOL @ this so much) for geting myself into ~TROUBLE~.

Then during the course, a blonde girl called Cassandra ("Cassandra Gemini", The Mars Volta!) MADE MY DAY by saying “Tenés cara de rockstar” followed by sth along the lines of “Deberías tener una banda o algo. Pero una banda de chicas” (You look like a rockstar. You should have a band or something. But a girl band). That’s like, one of the most AWESOME things someone has ever said to me. I was like “OMG, THX SO MUCH, I LOVE U 4 THIS”, with a Cheshire Cat Grin. Or as we say in YES+: with a Pregnant Hippopotamus Smile xD

On this page, we see a little girl giggling at a hippopotamus. I wonder why…
- “Magic Medicine”, Incubus

Anyways, Richey loved 2 play Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega. I wonder if this game existed when he was around.

Among other things, in recent D-D-Dreams: Dandy Warhols, Danny C, Viktor Dragon

It's like waiting for the ocean to save you from the waves (Oceansize)

Paris, March or April 2008. I was @ indie rock club La Fleche d'Or with a bunch of other Sciences Po Erasmus kids. It had been a fun day. Zsuzi, Hannah & I had checked out the (amazing) Patti Smith exhibit @ La Fondation Cartier then visited the graves of ppl like Julio Cortázar (love) & Man Ray @ the Cimetière du Montparnasse. So @ the club I met a friend of Mathijs from Rumania, Vadim. I thought "Vadim = vampire name!" We were talking about music, he strongly recommended a group called Oceansize, which I'd never heard of before. So naturally I downloaded an album ASAP: "Everyone into position". I like the title as well as the band name.



I (almost) always listen to things ppl recommend however sometimes it can take a while : P I listened to 1/2 the album (which was all that initially downloaded on my Soulseek) @ the time & then just left it incomplete, forgotten. Only recently I "took the trouble" of finding the other 1/2 & giving it a serious listen.

@ times they remind me of Incubus. Maybe Spiritualized? Long songs. Also Finger Eleven (Hi Ksu!), but maybe that's just bc my fav F11 song was "For the ocean". Incidentally, I only heard that album by F11 as well. The song that got my attention from this Oceansize LP is called "You can't keep a bad man down". Here's a live version. I am soOoO busy today. Gotta fly.

This is how we feel

- “If I ever feel better”, Phoenix. Reminds me of Ezequiel bc he was the 1st to recommend the band/album
- “Ringo (I feel like…)”, Custard ***** Check this, it’s very fun & you probably haven’t heard. Nyssa
- “Dr Feelgood”, Motley Crue. Reminds me of Madison bc they covered it a few times I saw them live
- “Dolor + miedo”, Lucas Marti (Dolor más miedo combinan lo que siento) BTW: video directed by Ezequiel
- “I feel a little spaced out (Ando meio desligado)”, Os Mutantes. But the original version in Portuguese is better, I think
- “Once & never again”, Long Blondes (I know how it feels to be your age & feel the world is caving in). Reminds me of Andrew bc we saw them live in Paris XXème
- “The Couples”, Long Blondes (I used to come here to have a good time, but I could feel like this at home). Andrew bc we saw them live in Paris XXème
- “Stellar”, Incubus (How do you do it? Make me feel like you do). Reminds me of Dani
- “I feel fine”, Beatles. Nyssa
- “Feel good inc”, Gorillaz. Tegan
- “Do you feel the same?”, silverchair. Jazzin
- “The way you make me feel”, Michael Jackson. Kelley
- “Electric feel”, MGMT. Agus de Llano
- “Head on”, Pixies (Makes you wanna feel, makes you wanna try, makes you wanna blow the stars from the sky). Esteban

- “How could anybody possibly know how I feel?”, Morrissey
- “No surface all feeling”, Manic Street Preachers (inspired by Richey? Bc he was ; )
- “Feels just like it should”, Jamiroquai
- “Feelin’ so good”, Jennifer Lopez ; )
- “I feel just like a child”, Devendra Banhart
- “Cum on feel the noize", Slade
- “I feel good”, James Brown
- “Me haces sentir”, Turf. Kata
- “La rambla”, Los Perros Salvajes or Los Abuelos de la Nada, dunno (Me siento solo, sin un amor, me siento solo, bajo la rambla estoy)
- “Feeling so strange again”, the Wolfhounds. Richey
- “I feel so”, Boxcar racer
- “Feelings”, Caetano Veloso
- “It feels alright”, Grouper. Eliot
- “Feel it all around”, Washed out. Eliot

Alsooo
- “Joga”, Björk (You don’t have to speak, I feel emotional landscapes)
- “Smells like teen spirit”, Nirvana (I’m worst at what I do best & for this gift I feel blessed)
- “Deeper”, Madonna (All is fair in love she said, think with your heart not with your head). Cali & Tegan, but this song's going to get it’s own post, bc there is a ~story~
- “Comforting lie”, No Doubt (Admission’s so embarrassing, I’m on the verge of tears again). Alyssa Spencer - I wonder where/how she is nowadays
- “President of what?”, Death cab for cutie (Nothing hurts like nothing @ all). Rafael Cosme

Album: “Feels”, Animal Collective
Band: The Feels
Genre: Emo

&&&
“Emotional rescue”, “Mixed emotions”, Rolling stones
“Sweet emotion”, Aerosmith
“Emotion sickness”, silverchair
“Emotion”, Daft punk
“Private emotion”, Ricky Martin ; )
“19th nervous breakdown”, Rolling Stones



Img1: from Nyssa. Img2: Richey's writing, think it came from here

Hora de no ver ("Glass", Incubus)

If I had a dime for every time you walked away,
I could afford to not give a shit
and buy a drink and drown the day
But your pockets, they are empty,
yeah, and mine are times two
So why not make an about face,
and accept the love I send to you?

You're never gonna be content if you don't try
try to see outside your line.
There you go, you did it again!
You act as if there's blinders on your eyes

Should I apologize if what I say burns your ears and stains your eyes?
Oh, did I crack your shell?
When it falls away, you'll see we exist as well

Like a bottle with the cork stuck,
your true ingredients trapped up inside.
Through the cloudy glass we catch a glimpse of you,
I guess the hard shell represents your pride.
Oh, if only it could be different
we could uncover the you you deny.
Between two, a small discrepancy,
one complicates and one simplifies.

TAKE THOSE FUCKING BLINDERS OFF YOUR EYES

So if I had a dime for every time you walked away,
you could bet your bottom dollar that
I'd be filthy rich by noon today
- "Glass", Incubus

This song (& band) was very important in my life circa 2001-2002, a period during which I was lucky enough to see them in concet twice. My 4 fav bands were silverchair, Incubus, Skulker & Foo Fighters. But this post is about "Glass", which I recently realized is (again) really relevant to certain current things & goings-on. Although not necessarily the same way it was the 1st time around. I really need to do an Incubus post.

Also I think from now on instead of providing mp3s to download I'll just post YouTube links. Quicker, easier. Most of the songs are on there anyways. In some cases (namely when the song is playing to videos made by random people) it's best to disregard the imagery part : P You be the judge of that, but know that -unless otherwise specified-, I only endorse the musical content.