M.I.A. tickets

I bought two tickets to see M.I.A. in concert here in Denver! I can't wait. Maria & I are abouts tah get our socks rocked off. Be there or be square.

10 Questions with Au Revoir Simone, for Earthbound fans

Today's blog is very special. I remember a time when Earthbound was a blog that offered something to the world. It had a reason for living. I've decided to give all of my loyal readers another interview. Remember "10 Questions"? I interviewed members of The Cure, filmmakers like Eli Roth, vegan superstars like Sarah Kramer and up and coming stars like Zooey Deschanel. In the honor of those fun interviews I thought I'd give you an interview from the vaults. A lost "10 Questions" with a bonus 11th question. It's with a wonderful band named Au Revoir Simone.

Au Revoir Simone is made up of 5 essential elements. 3 cute girls (Erika, Annie & Heather), drum machines, and keyboards. They released their first full length record in 2007 called The Bird of Music and it's awesome! Shortly after it was released I fell in love and had done this interview. They're based out of New York and I really love them. This interview was with 2/3 of the band Annie & Erika.

for more info on Au Revoir Simone visit: aurevoirsimone.com

10 (Well 11) Questions with Au Revoir Simone

1. Your music makes me happy, it’s like soundtrack music. Do you write songs that sound uplifting on purpose or do they just come out that way?

Erika: Well, thank you! I think probably playing music with each other makes us happy and so its comes out in our songs. I think we all have a romantic vision of life and we try to express that.

2. I’m sure you’re sick of this, but can you clear up the whole David Lynch connection? I read somewhere that you were on his new record label and then somewhere else that you played a show together. Can you sort out the gossip?

E: We were paired up with David Lynch at a literature meets music event at Barnes & Noble in Union Square in NY. We were so delighted to meet him and have an opportunity to perform for some of his fans that night and have become friends since and also performed in Paris as part of his first retrospective art exhibition. But we are not on his record label.

3. Sad Song is an excellent pop song from beginning to end. Did you realize the strength of that track right away or did it take a while?

Annie: Well, the song arose from some very strong feelings I had when I was writing it, and continue to have to some degree to this day, even sometimes tearing up when we play it live, so I personally realized its strength from the beginning, if only how it relates to my own life.

4. You girls are so cool about interviews. Can you predict the magic number when you say “okay, that’s enough”?

E: not sure what you mean by magic number, but I’ve always like the number 14.
Annie: Any more than 2 questions relating to information easily available on our press release drives me nuts!

5. Speaking of interviews, on my side of the interview process it’s difficult because you’ve been asked a lot of things. The whole, “where did you get the name, how did you meet, what’s you favorite band, etc.” How about this… What’s a question you’d like to be asked (and then go ahead and answer it)?

A: What are your hobbies? Well, I like to cook and read and garden, but my favorite thing to do is lie in bed on Sunday mornings with the New York Times crossword, a cup of tea, and some warm toast, but then I get the bed full of crumbs and get itchy.

6. Out of the three of you, who has the best sense of fashion, really?

E: we are all unique flowers.
A: I think that question can be interpreted in too many ways, I mean, is it better to be the one wearing sneakers because your sense of fashion promotes the longevity of your feet or is it better to be the one wearing heels because it makes your butt look better, or is it better being the one not spending much on shoes at all because your sense of fashion allows you to save money for other things, such as retirement or a house?

7. Have you ever considered buying keytars?

E: Only for a moment. I think it would be difficult to play
A: Yes, but much like the headset microphone, as useful as they are, I would still feel silly wearing them.

8. I read that the band formed after meeting on a train. That’s such a great story and it would make a great music video! Trains and boats seem to bring out a creative vibe, would you agree?

E: yes definitely! and I always come up with melodies riding my bike as well.

9. Were you all in college when the band formed? If so, what were you studying?

E: we met post-college. but i studied art, design and writing.
A: I studied women's studies and media criticism, but was working organizing volunteers at a nonprofit organization.

10. Deciding on an album cover can be a tricky thing. I am very careful with my album covers because the image I present is an extension of my music. Your cover for The Bird of Music is great, it has this whole 70s thing going on. The odd thing is that your sound is made up of keyboards and drum machines so why the 70s image?

E: We like the photo and it has a nostalgic look to it. Our songs also feel nostalgic I think.

11. Have the three of you discussed ideas for the next album? What can we expect?

E: Yes, we all have the wheels turning but we have to see how it all forms together this winter and spring before we can put any of it into words.
A: Accordion!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mormons don't mess around

(photo provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Maria and I went to this amazing art exhibit today called From Durer to Rembrandt: The Renaissance of Faith in Art. Now, at first you might think, "Eric's writing about another art show, dang, get a life." If you did think that then you are partially correct. I am writing about another art show, but this one was unlike any other I've ever been to in my long & and well-traveled life. I've marveled at Manet in France, Loved Lichtenstein in Germany, Wowed over Whistler in England and even pondered Pollock in New York, but never, I mean never ever, have I experienced a mind-blowing show featuring the giants of art history within a Mormon church. Yes, you heard right, a Mormon church. Now, I have nothing at all against Mormons, it's just that when I think Mormon I don't think A+ world-class art exhibitions. Man alive was I wrong. It was free (well, you had to reserve tickets online) and it was amazing. Here is the back story...

Shawn Merriman, a very successful private investor from Denver, decided to buy a really amazing Rembrandt etching on e-bay 5 years ago (funny, I've often considered doing that same thing). Anywho, flash forward 5 years and a massive amount of money later. Merriman is now the owner of a well established art dealership and also the owner of one of the finest private collections of Renaissance prints in the United States. Being a member of the Mormon church, he felt he needed to share his collection with Denver. I'm not going to lie, I was shocked that this show was exhibited in a Mormon church and guarded by volunteers (although they work in law enforcement). Seriously, the Denver Art Museum would have thanked their lucky stars to have hosted a show of this importance. The problem is, like everyone who was there today with me, nobody could have ever imaged the magnitude of this show without seeing it with their own eyes. I am so thankful that Merriman is sharing his collection with the public, I wish major museums would give works on paper more attention.

Rembrandt, The Hundred Guilder Print, c. 1647-49

The show included 200 prints (etchings, woodblocks, etc.) by artists like Rembrandt, Rubens, van Leyden, Durer, and many others. As you can see from the image above, the Mormons don't mess around. When they put on an art show, they mean business! The collection of Rembrandt etchings alone could have been a show worth national attention. Even Timothy Standring, a curator for the Denver Art Museum, was in awe. As great as all this was, I have to mention one tiny thing. The Mormons have a very unique way of hosting an art exhibit.

Maria and I showed up like the punctual people that we are at 11:24 on the dot. We were greeted in the church by very lovely high school aged volunteers. They handed us a free exhibition catalog, which was very generous, and then directed us to some random room down the hall. We sat down in a room with about 40 other people while classical music soothed our souls. We were then greeted by another volunteer that instructed us to head towards the chapel. Strange, yes, but not too strange. We were seated in the chapel and another volunteer gave us an overview of what we were about to see. It was very pleasant, especially since most people don't happen to be art historians like Maria and myself. Next it got a little more bizarre. They dimmed the lights, shut the doors and turned on a film. The film was another overview of the show, but with images and a very religious description of what we were about to see. It said things like, "As you look at these masterpieces of the past, image what it would be like to remove Christ from the cross." I have to admit, they meant well, but it was a little intense. What-ev's I didn't care what I had to do, as long as I got to see some Durer woodblocks! It was well worth the wait. The show blew our minds, we were there for 2 hours and it felt like 5 minutes. I loved the approach to experiencing the prints. The volunteers provided a magnifying glass for everyone to closely examine the etchings. I can't imagine what the show would have been like without it. I noticed things I would have never seen. The smallest details that were essential to the overall biblical story. I can't believe we were allowed to get that close to the works. MoMA would have shot us dead on the spot. These prints were top of the line. A set of Durer prints even once belonged to Princess Diana and had been in royal collections for the last 400 years. Yikes! Thank you Shawn Merriman for sharing your collection, it was amazing!

Find of the week!

Maria and I went out today with no real goal. We were driving around the city when we saw a cool shop called Hooked on Glass. I actually know the owner, but I hadn't stopped in to see the store yet. Maria and I entered only to find a goldmine of 20th century decorative arts. There is dinnerware by Russell Wright, Eva Zeisel, some Fiesta and Franciscan sets, just to name a few things. We were having so much fun looking around when we saw it, sitting right beside an awesome Herman Miller table, the lamp that was meant to be in our home. As you can see in the photos, it's a sweet little 60s atomic lamp that gives off a beautiful glow. It was pretty dirty so Maria and I cleaned it up. I replaced the old dingy bulb with a Reveal full spectrum bulb and BANG, ZOOM, ZING!!!! It's awesome and it looks great on our 60s credenza! What a find.

What happened to the pager?

Last night I was watching the 1995 electro-cyber filck Hackers. I was reminded of quite a few things from the 90s that I had completely forgotten about. I enjoyed how the film revolved around a bunch of computer nerds. In one scene the main guy, Dade aka Zero Cool, partakes in some weird cyber-mating ritual with the lead girl, Kate (Angelina Jolie aka Acid Burn). She's at this club playing a video game and she has the high score. Dade comes over and, after some playful flirtation, proceeds to top her high school. She's somewhat interested in him now. See, I'd like to imagine that women really look for a computer nerd that can beat high scores on video games.

Anywho, back to the 90s. During the movie there were many lines delivered by the characters that made me realize how far technology has come. I saw this movie when it first came out 13 years ago and I don't remember laughing at the computer talk. Today, however, we do not say things like, "Set your computer to receive a file." I remember when I first saw this film I thought it was amazing that someone could "receive a file". My favorite thing about this film that I had completely forgotten about was a craze that swept the nation and a legion of high schoolers...Pagers.


What ever happened to pagers? Do you remember when you first saw one, when your friend first had one? I do, boy how I remember. All the cool kids had a pager. They said things like, "Where you gonna be tonight?" "I don't know, page me later." Some people got a little out of hand with their pager talk like Mathew Lillard's character Cereal Killer in the movie last night. His pager started beeping and he says, "Bro, I'm blowin' up."

See, everyone who was anyone had a pager. All my friends had one. They were eventually banned from our school because all of the drug dealers used them, so if you had a pager you were a drug dealer according to the cops. Actually that isn't a stretch. I now invite anyone who would like to share a pager story to do so at this time. Everyone remembers them, but everyone has forgotten how much they loved them. Maria told me, "I begged my mom for one." As for me, I actually owned one, but here's the kicker. I bought it from a friend but didn't know how they worked and so I couldn't use it. Apparently you had to pay for a service, who knew? I thought about wearing it just for show. I'll have you know I was lame in high school, but not lame enough to wear a friends pager... just lame enough to buy it.

House II

Today I found one of my all-time favorite movies on DVD. It's called House II and it's awesome. Below is the Wikipedia plot summary.

"Young urban professionals Jesse and his girlfriend Kate, move into an old mansion that has been in Jesse's family for generations. They are soon joined by Jesse's goofy friend Charlie, who brought along his diva girlfriend Jana, in the hopes of being discovered by Kate (who works for a record company). Jesse has returned to this old family mansion after his parents were murdered when he was just a little baby, and he quickly locates a mysterious skull.

Jesse and Charlie decide to dig up Jesse's great-great-grandfather, who is a friendly cowboy zombie that likes to party and talk about how he found the skull with his partner, Slim. Its promise of eternal life and time travel prompted the two cowboys to become eternal villains, with Slim responsible for the death of Jesse's parents. Jesse, Gramps and Charlie must try to keep Slim from getting a hold of the skull, while dealing with the fact that the skull has transformed the mansion so that each of its rooms act as hidden doorways across space and time. The time traveling trio pick up a baby pterodactyl, a caterpillar-dog, and an Ancient Mexican woman about to be sacrificed along with battling various time traveling thugs that want the skull, including Slim.

Eventually, Jesse must face off with Slim in the Wild West, and while he is victorious, Gramps has been mortally wounded and passes away with a final warning about the power of the skull. The film ends with the suggestion that the heroes have decided to use the skull to time travel."

Good show ol' boy, good show!

Today Maria and I went to the show Good Impressions: American Master Prints of the 1920's, 30's and 40's. It was awesome, and free!!! If you live in Denver I highly recommend it. It was from the collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer. I don't know who they are or were, but I can tell you they have an amazing collection of American prints. The show was jam-packed with etchings, lithographs, woodblock, etc. There were some heavy hitters in the show like George Bellows (art historical pun intended), Thomas Hart Benton, John Curry, Edward Hopper, John Sloan, Grant Wood and our very own Vance Kirkland, to name a few. As great as all these were, it was two artists that really stood out and the funny thing is I've never heard of them. The image two the left is called West 42nd Street from 1920 by John Taylor Arms and the print below is called Glow of the City from 1929 by Martin Lewis (if anyone has a Lewis print they want to give me I'll love you forever) Actually Maria hadn't heard of them either and we're both art historians! I know that these images won't do them justice. If you know anything about prints it's that you have to see them up close and personal to really admire the skill and charm. Anyway, the show was amazing and I loved it, I think I'll go see it again soon.