Pig in a blanket
Time for another update on my assiduous media consumption. Anime, Songs, Films, Tech - oh my! I even wrote a poem (about Trump). In German. Two points for using assiduous.
Le Sserafim - Pureflow Pt.1; aespa - Lemonade; NMIXX - Heavy Serenade. Three of the biggest acts in K-Pop dropped their comebacks in May. That’s why you get to read about it in June. Because I had other things to do. Also, I didn’t listen to every album until a couple of weeks ago. But good. I listened. Basically - here’s what I have to say: Pureflow Nr. 1, Heavy Serenade Nr. 2, Lemonade Nr. 3.
Let me explain. Le Sserafim just have the smartest production team, leaning into indie pop while keeping the connection to K-Pop alive. With Lemonade, aespa tried to recapture the Supernova moment, but ventured too far into a dumbed down EDM vibe. It feels like I’m seeing american roidy dudes on the dancefloor in Vegas when I listen to some of the tracks. Heavy Serenade is just a continuation of NMIXXs’ journey into patchwork songwriting. I swear every song feels like it was written by ten people. Well, not every song, but a couple. Their vocal prowess evens it out, surpassing both other group’s talent. IMO. If you’re new to K-Pop, Pureflow Pt. 1 is a good bet, if you’re a stan you’re going to buy ten copies of every album anyway. Enjoy!
IrvineJUMP! on PBS.fm. Weird radio show about old (80s-90s) dance music on PBS.fm. Makes me feel like I’m back in my room, playing Amiga games while not doing homework. Good times. But it’s not just chart bangers - actually not at all - but more like obscure finds and B-sides you might never have heard of. Presented by a very knowledgeable host, who’s been doing this for decades. You’ll learn a lot, about music and the artists that made it.
Project Hail Mary. A movie I watched with whatshis name a real human being driver goddamn what’s his name. Starred in Blade Runner. Anyway, don’t care, didn’t finish it. Thought this was a hard sci-fi film about space exploration, but was sorely disappointed when aliens popped up. Cute aliens, that dance. No thanks, njet. Turned it off.
Obsession. A movie I didn’t watch, but want to. Looks cool, but all the ~sites~ didn’t have it. At least not in something watchable. No indian gambling ad high quality shit. If I can’t hear people mumble in Hindi, what is movie watching even about.
The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue. The album that is playing as I write this. Never got into the Stones’ later stuff, by that I mean after Goats Head Soup. Is good. I like it.
Jujutsu Kaisen - Season 2. Is this the best Anime, or what?! Holy shit, the animation technique is out of this world. The story telling - Chef’s kiss. It’s like I got so used to shitty Isekais, I forgot how high-level Anime can be. I think season 3 or 4 is out now, but I’m still catching up. How the action scenes are followed by quiet contemplative scenes where you can hear the cicadias chirp, or the rain fall… incredible. But talking about shitty Isekais - you know you want it - check out The strongest job is apparently not a hero or a sage, but an appraiser (provisional)!. Yes, that is the full title. It’s Isekai, baby. And a pretty standard one, ugly to look at but well executed. It says slop on the tin, and there’s slop inside. Enjoy!
Zeekr 7GT. A station wagon made in China, about to debut in Europe in July. Features and price put it miles above the competition, so it will be interesting to see how much it wipes the floor with our treasured European car industry.
Cattle Decapitation. I’m still listening to this shit.
Heidegger. Started a lecture series on Heidegger on Youtube. By Hubert Dreyfus, a very gifted explainer. I forgot his first name, and googling led me to a reddit thread where they bash him. So… I mean you gotta start somewhere. Dreyfus isn’t wrong, maybe he neglects some parts of Heidegger’s philosophy. But come on. What do you expect from a teacher, at some point you gotta go out and venture for yourself.
Frye and Berlin. Continued my listening of Berlin’s series on Romanticism, as well as Frye’s reading of the Bible. Look at previous blog post if you want to know what I’m talking about. Or go searching yourself lol I’m really good at this. Anyway, the Bible.
Isaiah 6:
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Six-winged angels burning people’s lips with coal. Yeah, these Seraphim are nasty.
The poem I talked about. Wow, that got long. Didn’t write these media posts for a while. BTW, here’s the poem I wrote two weeks ago. It’s about Trump. It’s in German. Already finished another one, maybe I’ll upload it later this month.
I didn’t proofread this, but it’s poetry so are there rules anyway?
Das Schwein in der Badewanne
Die Frauen schreien auf im Rosengarten
Das Schwein hat einen kleinen Harten
und sitzt in seiner Badewanne
Die Elektroden an seiner Stirn
Die Aktien kullern
Das Schwein rechnet
Die Männer pullern
und der Verstand nächtigt
Wie viele Raketen fliegen
wenn sich die Gedanken biegen
Und das Schweinchen Burger leckt
Vergessen auf dem großen Bett
“Bin ich der Klügste?”
Nein
“Bin ich der Größte?”
Nein
“Was bin ich denn?”
Ein Schwein
Und so vergeht der Ruhm der Welt
Ein Reich steigt, das andere fällt
Dem Schwein, dem ist das ganz egal
Seine Büste steht bereits im Regal
Hast Du nichts zu essen?
Kein Problem!
Kannst nicht tanken?
Dann wirst du halt gehen
Das Schwein und seine Lumpen-Bande
Plündern die Staats-Kasse alle
Zerstören, wüten, und verdrehen
Dein Verstand bleibt reglos stehen
Und so sitzt das Schwein im Bad
Die Elektroden funken den ganzen Tag
Jede Laune beeinflußt die Welt
Die im Dunkel wartet
auf dass sich alles erhellt
