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a_technicality
Hey,

I recently wrote some highfalutin stuff about All Eternals. Criticism welcome, sock it to me plz:

[afterallitcouldbeworse.blogspot.com]

Hey,

I thought this was great. Sorry to be first responder two weeks on! Stick around.

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Wild Creature
i added an old one that wrote a while back about the Sir Arne's Treasure show at the Castro Theater.

WC - funny typo!

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John Vanderslice with his axe slung over his shoulder, churning out chords and notes, grinding them out. The skins are covered by Jason Slota, he is hitting him hard...

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Johnp

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Wild Creature
i added an old one that wrote a while back about the Sir Arne's Treasure show at the Castro Theater.

WC - funny typo!

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John Vanderslice with his axe slung over his shoulder, churning out chords and notes, grinding them out. The skins are covered by Jason Slota, he is hitting him hard...

yikes, thanks for pointing that out, as i am pretty sure Jason will be eading that!

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

[sadyoungcardinals.blogspot.com]

new, fanastic read is up on Sad Young Cardinals right now. On Sweden and its Orphans. By Jots. Check it out.


Also, submit your own.

thanks JOTS!

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

JOTS. Good fucking work.

So I think I've after much deliberation decided to do the latest Mountain Goats album. I plan to maybe do others at a later time, but I feel like this is one appropriate for me to write about right now. Fresh in my mind, and I think I have an idea of what sticks out to me in it, and what I might do with it.

Provisionally, I'm thinking I'll call it Becoming Your Future's Past (or Reading what we can from "All Eternals Deck" ) .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2012 01:45AM by What Rough Beasts.

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What Rough Beasts
So I think I've after much deliberation decided to do the latest Mountain Goats album. I plan to maybe do others at a later time, but I feel like this is one appropriate for me to write about right now. Fresh in my mind, and I think I have an idea of what sticks out to me in it, and what I might do with it.

Provisionally, I'm thinking I'll call it Becoming Your Future's Past (or Reading what we can from "All Eternals Deck" ) .

I like it. I hope you submit it. Will look forward to reading it.

I'm also hoping someone at some point will take on the Alpha Couple. I'm going to do it myself at some point, if someone else doesnt. it will just take a lot of time with a lot of songs to do.

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

I don't think it fits in this topic, per se, but i read Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf" yesterday and it struck me that the toxic relationship portrayed in that play is almost exactly like the kind of toxic, heavy-drinking, self-destructive relationship that i imagined the alpha couple have.

Has JD ever cited this as a source, or was there no influence?

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let's get dressed up in costumes and dance by the bar.

I have no word from any sort of official source on the Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf connection but that's always been the first thing that comes to mind for me re: the Alpha Couple.

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betamax
I don't think it fits in this topic, per se, but i read Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf" yesterday and it struck me that the toxic relationship portrayed in that play is almost exactly like the kind of toxic, heavy-drinking, self-destructive relationship that i imagined the alpha couple have.

Has JD ever cited this as a source, or was there no influence?

Marijuanaaaaaaaaaaa

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We belong dead.
[www.last.fm]
[sordidalley.blogspot.com]
[popwreckoning.com]
[blog.kexp.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2012 12:43PM by fever.

fever, i understand those words, but the ordering of them renders the sentence gobblidook to me!

What is it you want me to do?

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let's get dressed up in costumes and dance by the bar.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2012 04:32AM by betamax.

I was very high when I typed that. I meant I wanted the order of the alpha songs, and I will work on the essay, though I can probably find it through google.

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We belong dead.
[www.last.fm]
[sordidalley.blogspot.com]
[popwreckoning.com]
[blog.kexp.org]

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fever
I was very high when I typed that. I meant I wanted the order of the alpha songs, and I will work on the essay, though I can probably find it through google.

There was a forum thread about it: [www.mountain-goats.com]

just a reminder to all, submissions still being accepted. nay, may i go i step further, and even say they are being solicited.

hey pretty mama, come on by and write me up an essay.

that is my essay solicitation. with intent.

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

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Wild Creature
I'm also hoping someone at some point will take on the Alpha Couple. I'm going to do it myself at some point, if someone else doesnt. it will just take a lot of time with a lot of songs to do.

I'm trying to suss out a loose story framework for the Alphas for my own personal interest and taking notes as I do. Once I feel like I have a better handle on it I'd be happy to write an essay about it, I love finding and supporting links in a text, motifs, all that jazz.

The problem I'm running into is that I can't seem to find solid agreement on which songs belong in the series. I know it obviously includes the songs with "Alpha" in the title and Tallahassee, but beyond that I don't see any consensus. I believe what I'm working with right now is actually a list you posted, including songs like Soft Targets, Letter from a Motel, Going to Dade County and more.

Still, the more songs I look at outside of that list, the more I'm inclined to make arguments that they could be part of the Alpha series as well. While obviously doomed relationships are a broad theme, there are motifs like peacocks and decaying houses specifically referenced in Tallahassee that also appear in other songs which seem very Alpha to me. Or maybe I'm just grasping at straws, and John likes to use decaying houses to describe failed relationships as much as Elliott Smith liked to use drug addiction to describe dependent relationships.

I think I'm going to start with the universally accepted songs in the Alpha series and then use the lyrics there (as well as the Tallahassee website and liner notes) to branch out and suggest that there are many more songs that could easily be about the Alphas as well. If there's anything you think I should look at specifically I'd appreciate the guidance

Haven't posted here in a long time but this is a great project and I'd love to get involved. I've got a couple of ideas knocking around and could do more than one.. would kind of like to write about Tallahassee. Would also like to write about JD's increasing use of film imagery/references (Only Existing Footage with the Extra Glenns, for example, and the Michael Myers, Liza Minelli, Charles Bronson stuff)... also, this is maybe more for the references thread, but 'Minnesota' quotes a Spenser sonnet directly. That might be worth a look. I'm kind of spinning my wheels here but anything and everything - I'm game

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The Recognition Scene - reviews and other writing

hey richardob -- great to see you on the forums again. the film imagery essay idea sounds awesome. send in an essay whenever you can. i will either make comments if you want, or if you're not interested in comments, i won't! hopefully, SYC will be getting an essay in the next few months on the recent MGs/Anonymous 4 collaboration, but other than that, there is nothing in the queue coming up.

on that point, anyone who wants to write something, please send it in and we'll put it up -- free editing services if youre interested. There are almost enough essays to put together an actual paper back book, which we will likely do, although that is not likely to happen before the end of year, and perhaps not til early 2013.

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

WC, I'm pretty sure I have something to write about Matthew 25:21, or possibly TLOTWTC as a whole, but I'm no writer and I get the feeling it might revolve around the majority of a particular post I made back in the day.

If I can think of an angle to approach the subject matter from I might give it a try, but don't stop the presses on my account. I'll probably flake - I don't think I've written an essay for the best part of 20 years...

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"You know it is, it really is."

I would really like to do one of these, even though i didn't even write many essays when i was in college, and have been out of that for a while. as such it may end up more freeform as i've been more used to formatting my thoughts into message board posts, but i was a decent writer at one point (high school) so i feel i may still be an ok one now.

i'd have to think longer and harder to decide what exactly i want to do, but i'll definitely not be overlapping with anything you already have, as there are so many wonderful releases that haven't been covered yet

only thing is, there are some songs that i love to death but still have no real idea what they are about so i'd feel super unqualified to cover them

perfect reading at work while i wait for my boss to take time out of his busy schedule to give me my next task...

if anyone has any poetry they'd like to submit, Mr Darnielle is the guest editor for The Mays XX this month.

[www.varsity.co.uk]

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The theme this year is “strangeness" and the deadline for submissions is this Saturday, 31st March.

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I've got big plans. ◊ Talking Blanket ◊ Yay, Butts! LOL!

New essay up on Sad Young Cardinals, and wow is it incredible!! Takes the whole thing to a whole new level of literary comparative analysis!! I hope you read it and enjoy.

[sadyoungcardinals.blogspot.com]

And please! Submit your own essay. This is starting to get really interesting.

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

Now that's what I'm talking about with these essays. Nice work.

yes, i'm halfway through this new essay (i like to take my time) and i'm really, really digging it.

totally my kind of jam.

raspberry-orange.

just read the Get Lonely review and i'm so fucking happy that i finally have somewhere to point all the stupid naysayers to show them how wrong they are about that album

fever, that was yours right? thank you thank you for writing about it so beautifully. its an album that i didn't really like at first (perhaps influenced by the naysayers, and i think i was bored by wild sage the first time i heard it live...HA) but when i finally got to a dark and lonely enough place it was there to be heard through fresh ears. i can't count the number of times i cried myself to sleep listening to this album but even though i'm not in that place anymore myself, certain songs still never fail to make me cry, even if i just think about the lyrics. its very hard to pick favorite or least favorite mountain goats albums since i pretty much love them all by now but this one is surely near the top just for sheer emotion and cohesiveness