dating

Checks And Balances (Ryan Andrade interview)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

After some much needed time away from the lab these past two days, I’ve had something of a breakthrough. I realized that not every solution calls for immediate action, dear readers. Sometimes an opportunity will present itself at the last moment, and allow you to regain balance taking you towards the direction you should be headed. Want an example?

Okay. For instance, dating is hard.

It truly does take a lot of time, effort, and energy to go out and meet new people. And if you put all of your willpower into your dating life, the rest of your life kinda falls by the way side. Which quite frankly won’t win you any points with romantic interests in the long run. Unless they too are running into life obstacles and are themselves overwhelmed. But living that way will lead into a whole host of different problems, and likely a messy finish. It’s better for you to have your own shit together (or are at the very least regularly working on your goals), and make some time to pursue romantic relationships. As things move along, you’ll find that the quality of dates you have improve because you can spot red flags in potential mates earlier in the courtship.

But what the heck does this have to do with timotheories or even artist interviews?

Good point dear readers. Well, a lot if I’m being perfectly honest. Creative professionals are not exempt from the challenge of maintaining balance in their lives. I might even argue that it’s more difficult for them to do this because there are less obvious resources available about how to start an art related business then there are for other commodities. Artists have to deal with intellectual property issues, and a considerable amount of ignorance on the value of their work.

Which is exactly what today’s interviewee strives to clear up. His uncanny ability to work his own interests into all facets of his life are a great example of what we should all be doing in order to find and maintain balance.

Ryan Andrade is a journeyman welder who loves the arts. He’s made the time to pursue a post-secondary education while earning a trade and travelling in from Ft. Saskatchewan on an almost daily basis. His down-to-earth mentality of working and keeping things technical without getting hung up on explanations of his art or worrying about what it means, allow him to keep up with the work.

I think you too will enjoy what he has to say about the theme of balance and what he does to follow his own heartbeat. I’m gonna take a note from Ryan and stop right here. I’ll let the interview speak for itself.

And as always, if you want to check out more timotheories interviews or the Cross Talk series please visit our YouTube channel.  And please, please, please share this post and of course subscribe to both the blog and channel!

Now let’s get down to business – Ryan doesn’t have much in the way of social media at the moment. So please send an email to timotheories@outlook.com and I’ll get in contact with him for you.

Lastly my sincerest thanks to Ryan for being rad, real, and ready. See you tomorrow with an album review that’s features an angel and probably my favourite one of the year.

Tim!

Never Change (Descendents, Hypercaffium Spazzinate review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

If I were ever to write a personal ad for music, it might look something like this.

Man seeking a band, must have a sense of humour, honesty, authenticity, and ferocity. Experience with bullshit, but zero tolerance for it preferred. Please apply within.

I hope there are some souls out there that can answer the call.

 

 

 

Descendents – Hypercaffium Spazzinate
released July 29, 2016
********* 9/10

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The Descendents are an American punk rock band which formed in 1977. It wasn’t until 1980, however, that they really became punks and a major player in the LA scene. This was when Stevenson brought on his school friend Milo Aukerman as the lead singer. The Descendents have released a total of seven studio albums now over their 24 year plus career, and the current lineup includes singer Milo Aukerman, guitarist Stephen Egerton, bassist Karl Alvarez, and drummer Bill Stevenson.

A lot of people will tell you that Milo Goes To College (from 1982) is their best, but I will whole-heartedly disagree. Their last album, Cool To Be You, was released in 2004 and holds up amazingly well, with all of the energy and unique perspective that the group always brings to the table.

This energy is what has influenced a plethora of pop punk and skate punk bands and especially some of my personal favourites – Blink 182, NOFX, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, The All-American Rejects, and The Offspring.

But let’s talk about Hypercaffium Spazzinate. It’s what you’re here for after all.

These gents play the kind of punk rock that transcends the typical limitations of the genre because while they do enjoy some of the simple chords and hooks, the content is always quite intelligent and relevant to where they are in the current lives. That and those chords evolve over each song, taking tracks into some more epic. For instance, Limiter is one of my favourite tracks and a song about Aukerman’s son, who is taking medication and which Aukerman believes is limiting his potential for success in life. It starts simply enough, but watch the melody progress along, it’ll take you by surprise.

They continue to mix a perfect blend of irritation about certain elements of life with a quality of sound that hasn’t been lost due to age. They even address this legacy with self-referential tracks like No Fat Burger and Beyond The Music. Asking you to reflect with them and also laugh at how their problems may have changed, but they still complain in the same ways.

Of course there are catchier tracks like On Paper, which is a great joke about those of us with well organized portfolios, resumes, and internet dating profiles, but without presence of purpose in person. And of course Testosterone is a modern replacement of the previous efforts to counterattack against the mainstream cool, this time focusing on those who will trample all for career bullion.

And when you listen to Smile, you can’t help but do so yourself. Because these guys are punk rock nerds, and are making exactly the kind of music that we need goofy, clever, and full of heart. This band continues to hit the same notes, but they never seem limited by their sound, it’s an ever-present blend of satire and whimsy.

 

 

 

The Descendents are the kind of musicians you could take home to your mom, but which you could also bring out to party with. They continue to make music at their own pace, and no matter what the call is, they answer it with silly and salty punk rock. Hopefully they keep that shameless halo on their list of special skills.

Tim!

 

Boys and Bikinis, Girls and Surfboards (The Lobster review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Common to absurdist thought are elements of satire, agnosticism, and nihilism.

The art form rose up in the late nineteenth century, with philosopher types like Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Kurt Vonnegut leading the way.

Now if you are looking for some more memorable and mainstream examples of absurdist thought via film, then I’ll happily include some.

Wet Hot American Summer, Eraserhead, The Big Lebowski, all of the different Alice in Wonderland iterations, most Monty Python works, and Woody Allen movies are all great for a short list to help frame the conversation of today’s review.

 

 

 

The Lobster (2016)

Cast: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Ben Wishaw, John C. Reilly, Lea Seydoux, Angeliki Papoulia, Ashley Jensen
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
*technically released on blu-ray August 2, 2016
******* 7/10

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IMDB: 7.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%, Audience Score 69%
The Guardian: ***/*****

Yorgos Lanthimos is a Greek film and theatre director. Known for his experimental projects, Lanthimos has directed five feature length films to date. And so we arrive at The Lobster.

The Lobster is a an absurdist drama with some comedy, set in a universe where single people have 45 days to find a romantic partner or be turned into an animal of their choosing.

Lanthimos does a fantastic job of setting us up within this universe almost immediately. David (Colin Farrell) is a newly-single man that has been dumped by his wife for another man. He is sent to a hotel with other single people to find a partner within a 45 day period. David brings his brother, who has been turned into a dog, with him. As he is checked in, the hotel clerk asks him questions about his history of sexual partners and explains the rules of the hotel.

He makes quick friends with a man with a lisp (John C. Reilly) and a man with a limp (Ben Wishaw), and we learn that the limping man gained his limp because his mother was turned into a wolf and he entered the zoo she lived in to visit but was mauled by other wolves. We also learn that partners must have a distinct trait in common, so the limping man eventually fakes a nosebleed condition so that he can partner up with a woman that regularly bleeds (Jessica Barden).

David decides to pursue the most cruel woman (Angeliki Papoulia) in the place, the one who regular tranquilizes the most single people who have escaped and hide in the forest. As a consequence another woman who loves biscuits (Ashley Jensen), decides to kill herself and David feigns cold aloofness though he is definitely disturbed. The cruel woman agrees he is a match after testing him, but ultimately he fails a second test when she kicks his dog brother to death and David cries.

As a consequence, David is turned in by the cruel woman and will be turned into a lobster for lying, but he escapes and instead turns the cruel woman into an animal which is never revealed to us.

Once in the forest, David stumbles upon the group of loners, headed by a female leader (Lea Seydoux). The loners also have a seriously odd set of rules, and they won’t let people couple up at all. Of course, this is where David meets the short sighted woman (Rachel Weisz) and starts to fall in love.

But I won’t reveal any more, because I think you should watch the movie to enjoy it proper.

Pros: Lanthimos has raised a scathing review of both coupling up and those who live a single life. It refuses to tell you what you should do, but expects you to feel uncomfortable about societal expectations on both ends.

Cons: The ultimate bleakness of the movie is difficult to stomach at first, and admittedly it falls a little flat on the comedy in it’s resolution.

Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes

Points of Interest: The movie is filmed almost entirely with natural light and without make-up. Colin Farrell gained 40 pounds to portray David.

Overall, The Lobster is an excellent conceptual commentary, and it does a great job in the first two thirds to communicate it’s message of the absolutes of coupling vs singledom. For instance, the acknowledgement that faking character traits is wrong, and that masturbation can limit our sex drive to pursue a match is biologically a problem, do a great job of addressing the fallacies of the topic. But when we get to the forest, we aren’t offered humorous anecdotes as much as bitter stoicism.

It’s an interesting movie, but not fully cooked. I might recommend some salad to get a complete meal.

Now before I close out this post, I should make it clear while this movie isn’t perfect, Yorgos Lanthimos is in good company with hi oeuvre of work, and The Lobster is a fine example of his development and his ability to address that which many of us would rather ignore – either by going it alone or following the norm. But that’s just a theory.

Tim!

I Started Singing (Grooveshark VS Rdio VS Deezer)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

How’s your Wednesday been so far dear readers?

Really excellent I hope!

And not bogus either!

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It seems that music is on my mind as of late. So many events happening in the music industry and a cacophony of thoughts in my mind just keep this train of sound moving ever forward. Which is why I’ve decided to roll with it and keep the theme going.

For instance, after hearing about David Bowie’s death, I knew it was important to write a review on Blackstar. I was glad I did because a lot of my decisions for the blog last week and now this week have been inspired by him.

I bought tickets to see The Offspring in March for starters! Then I wrote a post about my grandfather the fighter, an incredible stroke survivor, who is getting on in years – which reminded me of my love of Cracked and it’s media.

Then I wrote a post about keeping it real. Again because of that inspiration. I got a lot of positive feedback on that post too, so I now know that you all appreciate a good kick in the ass every now and again.

Conveniently the movie review for this week was about someone who decided to defy death by wirewalking almost 1400 feet above the ground. Or to put it another way, someone who seemed to have a death wish.

So what the heck am I gonna write about today that will keep this trend going?

Remember a while back when I wrote about the value of ambient noise and music? Especially to inspire and focus your creativity? The link is right here in case you forgot, or haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

Well I wanted to make an admission to you.

I am guilty of loving music so much that I would use streaming services daily to get my fix of old, new, and playlists.

Ever heard of Grooveshark?

Grooveshark WAS an online streaming service owned and operated by a small startup. It started in 2006 and experienced it’s share of issues related to copyright enfringement and DRM because of it’s function.

In case you’ve been out of the loop, the music industry has always had concerns about people “pirating” music. From the advent of the cassette, to the introduction of the compact disc, to the development of file-sharing, and eventually the use of file streaming. Music sharing has been the bane of the music industry for decades.

I can sympathize the position of the labels and businesses who sell the music. They are concerned that they will go bankrupt from sale loss.

But the problem with that attitude is the assumption that because people make playlists, mixtapes, and like, that they will never buy music again.

If that were really true, platforms like iTunes, and services like Spotify and Google Play Music wouldn’t exist. And record stores would go the way of the dinosaur. Truthfully, people enjoy collecting just as much as they do sharing.

The point I’m getting at dear readers is that Grooveshark was one of the oldest music streaming services around that still existed as both a free service and a premium subscriber service which allowed users to upload digital audio, create playlists, search the service, listen to radio stations, and had a music recommendation system.

In brief – it was awesome!

It hit all of my bases because it allowed me to make playlists, save albums, highlight my “favourite” songs, and find new music in a few different ways.

But then the service was sued by EMI, Sony, and Warner after winning a battle with Universal. At the end of April 2015, Grooveshark was shutdown as per of their settlement with those major labels. Or to put it another way, it was the day the music died.

So I had to find an alternate service.

I tried Spotify, Google Play Music, Deezer, and Rdio; finally settling on Rdio after months of disappointment.

I did this because it was the closest thing to fit the build that Grooveshark had developed so well. I was doing really well with it too, I could find most of music I wanted to listen to with some rare exceptions. And they wouldn’t let me access everything, because some of it was “premium” content. I had also accepted that the playlist function wouldn’t be part of my life anymore, but the ad system was killing me, so I begrudgingly decided to upgrade to their premium service this fall.

This was literally at the same time that Rdio announced it was closing down and had been acquired by Pandora. WTF.

So I cried a little, but only a little, because I hadn’t been friends with Rdio as long as Grooveshark. And I got back out into the world a second time, hoping this time it would last. And because I felt wiser.

I am currently still in recovery, but I’ve found comfort in a relationship with Deezer, and don’t tell Deezer this, because I think it’s a little early but I’m even warming up to the idea of a commitment.

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But what about you dear readers – Do you stream music? Do you pay for songs? I want to know about your dating, I mean, listening preferences. I’ll be impressed if you are keeping it analog and going out into the world to pick up your conquests.

Keep this wisdom on ice and I’ll share something cool with you tomorrow. (I may be making a clever joke about the future)

Tim!