The Increasingly Dismal Job Hunt

I have applied to no less than 30 different jobs this month. There have been three replies so far. (All unwanted--stuff from shady-sounding "home and life insurance" and sales marketing places. One marketing company was featured on a couple of blogs, stating that the company was scamming prospective employees.)

There was one legitimate response. There was an initial interview with someone from their PR and a senior VP at a communications company. There was even a second interview with a potential supervisor. I was beginning to believe that I had the job. But according to them, to quote the letter I received in the mail, "while we were impressed with your credentials and presentation, we have decided to continue our search." I noticed they posted the job position earlier this week on a couple of job sites. They are apparently still searching for that someone. This is a search is for an entry-level position, by the way. They are not looking for someone to run the company. Granted, I believe they overlooked me because it would have been a lengthy commute, but I had considered relocating. I have applied to a few jobs around the country last month. Canada is even in consideration.

New(ish) Band to Check Out: Brother Ember

Band: Brother Ember
Genre: Rock/Indie Pop

The track below, "Twisted Sermons", is one part rock 'n' roll, one part country, one part pop and all parts exciting. There is no genre to pigeon-hole this track, or the band (according to the Facebook page, they create "indie-ish pop", music), which works to their advantage. Brother Ember consists of three musicians from three different parts of the country--Nashville, Texas, and Chicago--each with a lively music atmosphere.
Even though they have formed the band just a few months ago, Brother Ember have begun making their mark on stage. Their next concert takes place on Groundhog Day (February 2) at Gallery Cabaret in Bucktown. The jazz trio Nonpronto will also be performing. The show is free, so there is no excuse to miss out on a rising band.



P.S. Gallery Cabaret also has a "Two-Hour Comedy Hour", which takes place before the show. If you enjoy comedy, check it out. If not, then just grab a beer or two and pick a good spot for the show.

Stuff from HitRecord

A few months ago, I signed up as a contributor to hitrecord.org, an interactive website created by Joseph Gordon Levitt (yes, that Joseph Gordon Levitt.) People can create pieces of arts and release it onto the world. Some people use others' work and remix it (create a different piece of art). For example, a poem can inspire a painting or a short film. A painting can inspire a poem or a story.

Here is a selection of some of my contributions to hitrecord.org.

FLASH FICTION #1
Summer party, swimming together in pool.

FLASH FICTION #2
Lost: Little Black Lab Named Charlie.

5x5: The Five Best New Songs to Show Off What 2013 Has In Store for Music

Yo La Tengo Fade

One of the greatest bands in the history of indie rock has returned with a top-notch album, Fade, their first collection of new material since 2009's Popular Songs. They recently performed two of their tracks on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon", the opening track/single "Ohm" and a simple yet elegant rendition of the album's finest track, the intimate and beautiful "I'll Be Around."
After nearly three decades of entertaining the (not-so-big) masses, Yo La Tengo is still on a roll, with no signs of slowing down. Fade clocks in at 45 minutes with 45 seconds (45:45) but the time flies by, ending too soon.

A Bunch of Thoughts on Oscar Morning

This is my strange version of Christmas morning. For some reason, I slept through my alarm clock and missed the live annoucement on TV. Then I had to drop off my sister at school and was stuck in traffic. But while I was in the car, I came up with some thoughts about all of this. Here we go.

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER finally boasts an Oscar nominee, even if it's one who never shows up for the reunions.

5 Surprises for Oscar Nominations

Every year there are always a couple of surprises when the Oscar nominations are announced, whether someone is snubbed or someone locks a nomination at the 11th hour. Last year, Gary Oldman earned a Best Actor nomination for the skillful and slow-moving Tinker Tailor Solider Spy (it took this long for him to earn any recognition for his talent) while Tilda Swinton was not nominated for Best Actress for the creepy We Need to Talk About Kevin. Here are five possible surprises that could occur tomorrow morning.

Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt-Looper

In this bizarre and innovative sci-fi thriller, a ''looper'' (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) must hunt down his older self (Bruce Willis), who decides to kill the one they call the "rainmaker", a man who wreaks havoc in the future and sentences him to death. Emily Blunt is the mother of this future-evildoer, a smart and observant boy who resemblances Damien from "The Omen." As the single mother trying to raise her child in a good home, it's not easy, since she is terrified of what he is capable of.

Best Supporting Actor

Erza Miller-The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Though the story is about Charlie (Logan Lerman), a painfully shy high school freshmen struggling with himself and society, the highlight of this remarkable film was Patrick, portrayed by the promising and entertaining Ezra Miller. As the lone-out guy in circa 1991 Pittsburgh, Patrick does not let his sexuality define him and refuses to be pushed around by anybody.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Judd Apatow-This is 40

Comedy is the underdog as few have been nominated (and literally a handful of people winning for comedic fare). But the first two pages of Apatow's insightful script should be more than enough to recognize his talent for storytelling.

Best Picture
Amour

The most surprising film from Michael Haneke's canon is this painful and unsentimental look at a elderly couple as the husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant) cares for his wife (Emmanuelle Riva, who just might earn an Oscar nod for Best Actress), after she has been paralyzed from a stroke. Few foreign-language films have been nominated for Best Picture, so it's chances at the top prize are very slim. But possible.

Best Picture
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

This won't happen at all, but this was my favorite movie of 2012, (and yes, I have seen Lincoln, Les Mis, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, etc.) and I can't wait until it's out on DVD, so I can buy it and watch it over and over.

Best TV Performances of 2012

This year was a nonstop parade of suspense and surprises on television. A child pageant participant and her family took the country by storm, allowing increasingly-trashy TLC to document and exploit their lives. People condemned them and TLC for programming like this to exist while others (including mega-fans Anderson  Cooper, Rosie O'Donnell, and several friends of mine) were entertained and fell head over heels with Honey Boo-Boo and her family of misfits. (And for brief moment, that little teacup pig.) Even people who were already in the spotlight excelled in reality TV. The (now sadly late) singer/entrepreneur Jenni Rivera managed to not only have a successful reality series for herself but also one of her daughters.

     One of the funniest podcasts was adapted for TV, as the surreal adventures of Scott Aukerman's "Comedy Bang! Bang!" were visualized for IFC. On Comedy Central, the sketch series "Key & Peele" became an instant hit thanks to the duo's outstanding performances--and their most popular segment, President Obama and Luther, the Angry Translator. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein returned to "Portlandia", introducing us to new faces and other quirks about the Northwestern paradise. Sitcoms didn't do too shabby. The most talked-about (but strangely not the most-watched) comedy series of the year was Lena Dunham's "Girls", which sparked controversy and conversations from the messages boards on AV Club to daytime chatfest "The View", as well as in coffeehouses, bars, classrooms, and text messages across the country.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus continued her sitcom streak with "Veep", winning rave reviews and her third Emmy Award. "Louie", "Parks & Recreation", "30 Rock", and "Happy Endings" kept hitting it out of the ballpark week after week with its go-for-broke craziness, pathos humor, and engaging characters and one-liners.

     But the biggest TV event of the year was the debauchery that was Presidential Election provided so much entertainment that the debates should be packaged and submitted for consideration for next year's Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Reality Programming. The elections took a toll on everyone from the president to us, the viewers. Even people who didn't watch TV were attacked, thanks to Facebook, pop-up ads, the billions of emails sent by the Obama camp, etc. Watching TV shows online was a hassle, since a banner for a candidate was likely to appear at some point during last night's "Once Upon a Time" or "The Colbert Report."

     The presidential candidates may not appear on this list but a couple of souvenirs from the Election have made it onto this list, recognizing the best performances on TV this year. For the first time, comedy 
performances outnumber dramatic performances. There is a fictional vice president and a real-life vice presidential contender. A woman whose job is to cover up mysteries and scandals and a man whose obsessed with solving them. We will go behind the scenes in the nation's capital, the private quarters of Downton Abbey, and a weird little shop in Gravity Falls.

The rest of the list: Best Songs of 2012

The rest of the Best Songs of 2012.

11-Carly Rae Jepsen | Call Me Maybe

12-Best Coast | The Only Place | The Only Place

13-Kelly Clarkson | Stronger | Stronger

14-Cults | Abducted | Cults

15-Frank Ocean | Thinkin' About You | Channel Orange

16-Jack White | Love Interruption | Blunderbuss

17-Empires | Can't Steal Your Heart Away | Garage Hymns

18-Trailer Trash Tracys | Candy Girl | Ester

19-Alex Clare | Too Close | The Lateness of the Hour

20-Nicki Minaj | Starships | Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

21-Florence & The Machine | No Light, No Light | Ceremonials

22-Imagine Dragons | Radioactive | Night Visions

23-The Lumineers | Ho Hey | The Lumineers

24-Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo | Let's Go

25-tUnE-yArDs | Bizness | W H O K I L L

26-Sophie Ellis Bextor | Revolution (Federico Scavo Radio Edit)

27-Ed Sheeran | The A Team | The A Team

28-Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen | Good Time

29-David Byrne and St. Vincent | Who | Love This Giant

30-Imagine Dragons | It's Time | Night Visions

31-Cloud Nothings | Stay Useless | Attack On Memory

32-Neon Trees | Everybody Talks | Picture Show

33-Adele | Set Fire to the Rain | 21

34-Rihanna | Where Have You Been | Talk The Talk

35-Garbage | Man on a Wire | Not Your Kind of People

36-AWOLNATION | Sail | Megalithic Symphony

37-Emeli Sandé | Next To Me | Our Version of Events

38-Cat Power | Cherokee | Sun

39-Katy Perry | Part of Me

40-Civil Twilight | Fire Escape | Holy Weather

41-Calvin Harris | Feel So Close | 18 Months

42-Flo Rida featuring Avicii | Good Feeling | Wild Ones

43-No Doubt | Settle Down | Push And Shove

44-Alicia Keys featuring Nicki Minaj | Girl On Fire | Girl On Fire

45-Skrillex featuring Sinah | Bangarang | Bangarang EP

46-Psy | Gangnam Style | Gangnam Style

47-Hunter Hayes | Somebody's Heartbreak | Hunter Hayes

48-M.I.A. | Bad Girls

49-Muse | Madness | The 2nd Law

50-Class Actress | Weekend | Rapprocher

51-Beach House | Myth | Bloom

52-Grouplove | Itchin' on a Photograph | Never Trust a Happy Song

53-Adele | Skyfall | Skyfall Soundtrack

54-The Walkmen | Heaven | Heaven

55-Justin Bieber featuring Big Sean | As Long As You Love Me | Believe

56-Metric | Speed the Collapse | Synthetica

57-Nas | Daughters | Life is Good

58-Breathe Carolina | Blackout | Hell Is What You Make Of It

59-Miike Snow | The Devil's Work | Happy To You

60-Ne-Yo | Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)

61-Stars | The Theory of Relativity | North

62-Jack White | Freedom at 21 | Blunderbuss

63-David Guetta featuring Sia | Titanium | Nothing But The Beat

64-Bloc Party | Octopus | Four

65-Taylor Shift | We Are Never, Never Getting Back Together | Red

66-Santigold | Disparate Youth

67-Mumford & Sons | Babel | Babel

68-The Wanted | Glad You Came | The Wanted

69-Frank Turner | Reasons Not To Be An Idiot | Last Minutes and Lost Evenings

70-Young the Giant | Cough Syrup | Young the Giant

71-Pink | Blow Me (One Last Kiss) | The Truth About Love

72-Emperors | Be Ready When I Say Go | Stay Frosty

73-Kimbra | Settle Down | Vows

74-Midnight Youth | Who Says You're Free | World Comes Calling

75-Duck Sauce | Big Bad Wolf

76-Miguel | Adorn | Kaleidoscope Dream

77-The Vaccines | Teenage Icon | Teenage Icon

78-Fiona Apple | Every Single Night | The Idler Wheel...

79-Now, Now | Thread | Threads

80-Beck | Looking for a Sign | Jeff, Who Lives at Home Soundtrack

81-Saint Motel | Puzzle Pieces | Voyeur

82-The Wombats | Jump Into The Fog | The Wombats Proudly Presents...This Modern Glitch

83-Azealia Banks | 1991 | 1991 EP

84-Karmin | Brokenhearted | Hello

85-JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound | I Am Trying to Break Your Heart | Want More

86-Silversun Pickups | Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings) | Neck of the Woods

87-The Decemberists | One Engine | The Hunger Games Soundtrack

88-Martin Solveig | The Night Out

89-Say Anything | Burn A Miracle

90-Shakira | Addicted To You

91-Two Door Cinema Club | Sleep Alone | Sleep Alone

92-Sleigh Bells | Comeback Kid | Reign of Terror

93-Kylie Minogue | Timebomb

94-Kayne West featuring Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz | Mercy

95-Pitbull | Back In Time | Men In Black 3 Soundtrack

96-Coldplay | Charlie Brown | Mylo Xyloto

97-The Weeknd | House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls

98-The xx | Angels | Co-exist

99-Foster The People | Don't Stop (Color on the Walls) | Foster The People

100-Ladyhawke | Black White & Blue | Black White & Blue

101-The Shins | September | Port of Morrow