INCIDENTAL FAILURE.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The National, Jaguar Love.

Tonight The National will be at the House of Blues. I will be in attendance. I like The National, but haven't gotten a chance to give a dedicated listen to the album I have.

If I can swing it, I'd like to leave the show at the House of Blues (which starts at 8) in time to catch Jaguar Love at the Beauty Bar. Jaguar Love is yet another post Blood Brothers project (to join the ranks of Head Wound City, Soiled Doves, Neon Blonde, Past Lives...) made up of Johnny and Cody from Blood Brothers, and Jay Clark from Pretty Girls Make Graves. Johnny Whitney is playing a piano and singing. Cody Votolato is on both guitar and bass, and Jay (who was the shit in Pretty Girls) is playing drums, bass, and keyboard. This sounds interesting. It must be nice when your popularity in your previous band(s) can afford you all these one time, one album, one giant headlining tour projects. It's yet to be seen whether or not this band is more than just a recording project. They're on tour right now in the US and heading to Europe in June with plans to continue through the summer. Some of their shows will be opening up for Queens of the Stone Age, but they have a bunch of headlining gigs too. They have a 3 song EP set for release next Tuesday, June 6th on Matador Records, and a full length on the way called "Take Me to the Sea," slated for late August. The Matador website has an mp3 of "Bats Over the Pacific Ocean," from the full length available for download, here. I listened to it, and like it. It's much more rhythmically straight forward than the last couple of projects for Johnny, but his familiar vocals (screech included) go well with a more driving and upbeat accompaniment.





The rest of the the Blood Brothers (Jordan, Mark, Morgan, and orginal Guitarist Devin Welch) are also in a new band called Past Lives. They've played out in Seattle already, and are booked to play the Che in Sept. They kind of remind me of Kill Me Tomorrow.



Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Bomb ass Memorial day Weekend Shows.

Thursday, May 22nd our brothers from different mothers The Fever Sleeves and Hostile Combover will be playing at Bar Pink Elephant. Recognize!

Friday, May 23rd, will be Cullen Hendrix's (The North Atlantic, Dirtbag's Delight) last show with Pen and Ink before he moves to Texas to be all educational n'shit. They play with The Donkeys and Derek Papa at the Ken Club. Also fans of now defunct The North Atlantic should delight to find that Jason Hendrix and Jason Richards have teamed up with a third Jason (Clark) and a Jeremy to form Big Science in Chicago. Very exciting.

Saturday, May 24th. at Chasers. Batwings presents our very dear foreign friends from down Mexico way, Lipstick Terror, and Maniqui Lazer. They are both from Mexicali, the capital of Baja California. It's a major city of more than a million that is about 10 miles south of the shit town of El Centro, where each member of Batwings all grew up. They bring with them Anavan, and Attractive and Popular. Anavan is from Los Angeles. Attractive and Popular are from Arkansas. Both bands are former GSL bands, and both play really fun elecro-hardcore shit. They all fucking bring it. This is a big deal! I implore you, check these bands out!
CHECK THESE BANDS OUT!

Cat Dirt had this to say about seeing Lipstick Terror in their hometown of Mexicali...

and this ->

"I've been meaning to see Lipstick Terror for some time and I wasn't dissapointed. They very much fit in with the los angeles smell centered experimental vibe. It's basically hardcore with bandanas and a key board. From Mexicali? High concept if you know what I mean. Undeniably they had the crowd going. Take a note music industry- lipstick terror is your official scene opening band for your show in Mexicali. They know it, though. Expect bandanas. Some of the spirit of born against, if you know what i'm talking about. But there's no melody."

and this ->

"I want to book a show with Lipstick Terror in San Diego. Hard to find a venue. I think I may be Lipstick Terror's biggest fan."

Batwings will be playing with Lipstick Terror and our other Mexicali powerhouse buddies Cancer Bullet in Mexicali on Saturday June 7th, and again on Sunday June 8th in San Diego at Kadan.

-Sebastian

Sd Reader quotes A.C.I.F.

I was quoted by name for something I posted here, in the Blurt section of the San Diego reader a couple of weeks ago [here]. At first I was unsure whether or not the writer was trying to be a smartass by referring to me as "Sebastian Ulloa of Batwings." He made a point to say that myself and someone from VVmorgue had both said bad things about Chasers, yet both of our bands had upcoming shows booked there. I know T-bone has been trying hard to shed the old reputation that Chaser's has, so I think that was the point of the piece. My intention was not to talk shit about Chaser's. You can read what I said in its original context here. There was also a mistake in the date that the reader posted about Batwings playing Chasers. They listed us on a show for May 9th at Chasers that we had canceled. Batwings does however have a show at Chaser's on Friday, June 13th with our old guitarist Todd, and his new band, Extinct Animals, and a band called Architect Sketch.


- Sebastian

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

No one belongs here more than you. - A book review.

No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July

Miranda July is a filmmaker, writer, and performing artist. My first exposure to her work was in a short film called "A Shape Called Horse" from an old Kill Rock Stars video compilation that I have on VHS, and then later when she made her first feature length film, Me and You and Everyone We Know, which she wrote, directed, and starred in. She also just did a short film with John C. Reilly called "Am I Someone's Favorite Person?"

My first impression of the book was that it reads a little bit like a Jack Handey book. Jack Handey is the humorist responsible for "Deep Thoughts," "Fuzzy Memories," and "My Big Thick Novel," from which they read excerpts on Saturday Night Live. The one-liners were always these great surreal observations. For example, "
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason." In the same way, Miranda July has a great way of describing these beautifully awkward perverted perceptions of reality. Her characters live in the world filled with all the hidden meanings and things that most people don't see. Probably, because they are not there. We call these kinds of people, crazy people. You know how watching one of Ben Stiller's romantic comedies might make you anxious because throughout the movie you know he's moments away from do something stupid, or fucking something up, like zipping his balls in his fly or setting something on fire? Well, in Miranda July's stories, you're anxious because you know her character's are a page away from doing something really weird, sad, gross, or awkward and depressing. They are really sad yet charming characters, with really awkward yet funny stories, if you can imagine that.

As I read the book, some of the elements therein began to feel strikingly familiar. It reminded me of an almost surreal experience I had as a teenager. When I was a freshman in high school, my by-all-other-measures-insignificant existence came the the specific attention of a girl in the upper class. I believe she was a senior. I didn't know a whole lot about her. I knew she was a cheerleader, and that for some reason or another she decided to take a liking to me. Apparently, it doesn't take much more than that to constitute a relationship at that age. So, just like that, we were dating, or "going out," which ironically has little to do with actually knowing one another, or dates, or going anywhere. We spoke on the phone a couple of times, and from what I remember, the conversations were brief. She was the same age as my older sister, so she knew where I lived. She decided to stop by unannounced on a Saturday morning before she went to cross country practice or something. She was directed to my bedroom where I was still sleeping. She came in and sat on the bed beside me and just watched me sleep. After she woke me, she told me she had been sitting there for 10 or 15 minutes just watching me sleep. Now, "awwwww," this might sound really sweet or romantic, but we had only been "dating" for a couple of weeks. It really creeped the shit out of me. This was the first of many things to creep me out. A couple of weeks later we broke up. So, maybe before we broke up, I might have possibly told some people, that probably knew her better than they knew me, that I thought she was a crazy person. I may have even said I was afraid of her. This is not a nice thing to say about someone you are dating, and for future reference should be considered a mistake. So, when I finally got up the gumption to break up with her, I bore witness to some of the most unnatural, almost painful contortions of reality. She very quickly managed to convince herself that I was just as upset about "breaking up" as she was, that it was for the better, that we would always be friends, and that she knew in her heart of hearts that I was not a person that was capable of having used the word "psycho" to describe her. I was. I did. Truth be told, not only did I refer to her as a "psycho," I told several people that I was afraid that if I broke up with her, she would do something crazy like Misery style, and tie me up and torture me, or sit up on the rooftop of a building at school with a sniper rifle and take out the next girl to talk to me. I really was afraid of breaking up with her. In my own flimsy defense, I was freaked out. She had already given me an incredibly annoying cutesy-wootsey nickname that I instantly hated. She used it at every opportunity, publicly and privately, and I dare not ever repeat it. She wasted no time buying Christmas gifts for me that she was absolutely sure I was going to love. It was like the first week of November for fuck's sake. I barely knew her. We only dated for about three or four weeks, two of which I feared her, and during which we didn't actually do anything together beyond briefly making out a couple of times before she walked home from school, and sharing a handful of brief phone calls. Maybe I'm a prick. Ok, I know I'm a prick, but maybe my deep seeded and irrational fear of commitment started even as far back as freshman year in high school. All I do know, is that the characters in Miranda July's stories remind me of this crazy girl and of my vividly imaginative fear of the fallout of one of my very first relationships.

All of the stories are written in the first person, and if you've seen her movie, Me and You and Everyone We Know, the style feels familiar. The people in her movie do a lot of talking like no one is listening. Many of the conversations are not so much exchanges, but alternating monologues. Like the movie, some of the subject matter in the book is shockingly perverse, but poetic at the same time. It deals with some dark, ugly, and awkward situations with acceptance and light hearted sense of humor. It's fun and sad at the same time.
Definitely a recommended read, especially if you enjoyed Me and You and Everyone We Know. There is a really charming website for the book here.

Here are some of my favorite quotes.

From How to Tell Stories to Children "Inelegantly, and without my consent, time passed."

From Majesty "Get down on your knees your highness, and ask my vagina, that ugly beast." "Let me in, Let me in."

From This Person "Teachers of subjects that this person wasn't even good at are kissing this person and renouncing the very subjects they taught. Math teachers are saying that math was just a funny way of saying "I love you..."


Here's a scene from the movie.

"Fuck old People, Fuck Children, Fuck Peace"

Thank you Alexis, for letting me borrow this book, No, making me read this book.
-Sebastian

Thursday, May 1, 2008

This ought to be interesting.

Did you know that the first Friday in May is always International No Pants Day? This is real. There is, in fact, a day dedicated to "Donald Ducking it." Not only that, there's a website for it at Nopantsday.com, a No Pants Day Myspace profile, a facebook group for No Pants Day Participants, a No Pants athem called Pantless Revolution, and a religion called The Church of No Pants. See for yourself.

Anyway, some friends of mine have decided to celebrate International No Pants day here in San Diego by having a "No Pants Party" at Hamilton's in South Park tomorrow night. Friday May 2nd.

I received this information today regarding the gathering:

"Final​ly,​​ a day of freed​om to ventu​re out of your homes​ and into publi​c feeli​ng just as comfo​rtabl​e in your favor​ite pair of undie​s,​​ or skin,​​ eithe​r works​. We have organ​ized a pants​less get-​​toget​her aka No Pants​ PARTY​!​
at Hamil​ton'​​s Taver​n in South​ Park Frida​y night​​. Nothi​ng beats​ getti​ng tipsy​ in your panti​es and Donal​d-​​Ducki​ng it in your local​ bar! For those​ of you who don'​t know.​.​.


Hamil​ton'​s Taver​n
1521 30th St
San Diego​,​ CA 92102"

The message also came with the reassurance, "note that every​one is REALL​Y not weari​ng pants​ or short​s OR skirt​s.​.​.​we are serio​us about​ this..​. ​it will be fun WE PROMI​SE :)"

I may not be around to witness this, but while I'm not sure I'd participate, I have to admit that I'm curious how this thing is going to go down.

ps - apparently March 14 was Steak and Blow Job Day. Fucking missed that one

Bujwah Art Show in Mexicali

Attention El Centro, Imperial Valley and Mexicali peoples!

My good friends at Bujwah are having an art show in mexicali tomorrow at the Mexicali Rose gallery.



And if you can't make it then, on Monday you can

"Grow Your Stache For The Bujwah Cinco De Mayo Bash!"

@ Tommy's Casino 467 main st,El Centro


Contest:
* Jalapeno Eating Contest
* Pin The Tail On The Donkey
* Best Moustache Contest
* PiƱata

Bash Starts @ 5pm
21+ w/ID

Cold Cerveza * Chips & Salsa * Buenos Amigos

These guys have been my friends for a really long time. They are all hilarious and super talented. If you are around PLEASE show your support. Don't forget your birth certificate or passport, or you'll get harassed at the border.

For more info go HERE.