stalking: part deux.

I seem to be obsessing over people a lot lately (probably because I have work I should be doing, but end up being bored instead). I feel like I'm on my way to making a "Greatest Hits of Elizabeth's Internet Stalking". I've moved on from Andy Rooney and on to Phil Elvrum, who I've been stalking steadily for over three years now. I'm a flip-flopper about which of his musical incarnation's is my favorite, starting with Mount Eerie, back to The Microphones, then back and forth again. I'm not really sure where I lay at the moment, but I do know way too much about Mr. Elverum. In the interest of sharing, I'm going to give you the highlights of my obscure Phil Elvrum knowledge.

Somehow I just found out that he made a ridiculous cartoon-a-day calendar in 2005, called Fancy People Adventures. I'm not sure if he still keeps making these cartoons or not, but let's just say that although Phil is a musical genius, comedy is not his forte. Some of the comics are pretty funny though. More than anything, they made me love him more just because most of them are horribly awkward, and that's something I can always appreciate.

As someone who would love to know Mr. Elvrum's favorite foods, books, or brands of toilet paper, it takes a lot for me to find something of his to be too obscure to appreciate. In my quest to know about every detail of his life, I found Headwaters. It's a book (you can download the pages) and CD (and songs) that Phil wrote/compiled as "an attempted explanation" of The Microphones album, Mount Eerie. The CD, which contains songs from which Elvrum found inspiration, was the most entertaining. Along side songs by Little Wings, Julie Doiron, and Neil Young, he includes not one, but two songs by Bubba Sparxx. Yeah. I don't even know. The whole thing is a little too self-important for me, and, to be perfectly honest, is pretty boring.

P.W. Elverum & Sun, ltd. is "a family-run poem printer/record label/souvenir vendor in Anacortes, Wash., U.S.A.", which is also the brain child of Mr. Elverum. Along with Mount Eerie, the label boasts Thanksgiving, Woelv (composed of Phil and Geneviève Castrée, his wife) and D+ (my favorite of his other musical endeavours). The site sells all of Mount Eerie's releases, as well as a few odds-and-ends, such as Mount Eerie pts. 6 & 7, a book of surprisingly artful photographs taken by Phil himself, or Dawn, a reproduction of his "Winter Journal" from time spent alone in a Norwegian cabin, and each book is accompanied with a CD of music specifically written for it. I can't lie, I want them both. The weirdest/coolest thing sold in the store is Fog Movies Live, which is essentially a "home-simulation" of a Mount Eerie concert. I want that too...

The only other Phil-related item that I really want/want to see is the documentary, Wise Old Little Boy. The film follows he and Kyle Field (of Little Wings) around on their 2002 tour. Other than that, I can't say I know a whole lot about it, except that I've heard it's kind of slow. That said, I still want/need to see it.

Okay, well, I don't really know that this post really had a point. I wrote it just so I could talk and obsess about Phil for an hour. Basically: kinda weird guy, really great music, I care too much.

Andy Rooney.

Andy Rooney has slowly become my favorite person in the world. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I've had an obsession with him for pretty much as long as I can remember, mainly because I can't believe he's a real person. Some of his "revelatory observations" are so appallingly obvious that it's hard to believe sometimes. The best example I can find is where he says, "I think I’ve noticed one cosmic change in what people are doing. It is my observation that people are carrying more stuff than they used to." He actually said that. On television. Where he's paid to say things like that. The piece could only be called, "Andy Rooney on Carrying Things", and one would think that while 60 Minutes uses Andy for a 'lighter' ending to the show (I guess), they might want him to say something that doesn't sound (and look) like it's coming from your paw-paw. I'm not asking for anything of serious journalistic heft, just something a little more interesting, perhaps? I already know that people read books.

Similarly, I've developed a fanatical devotion to @Andy__Rooney on Twitter. He (I'm always hoping it really is Andy) hardly ever posts anymore, but the previous posts are hilarious. Examples: "Lately, I've been sleeping all day and staying up all night. Sometimes I read; mostly I sit an an old upright chair and stare at the wall." Followed by, "They're amazing, walls. They hold up the roof, but they're also handy for hanging pictures. I like that." You can't beat that.



My hands-down, all-time favorite Tracey Ullman skit is one involving her as Andy. I can't explain it, you'll just have to watch it to understand it's hilarity.

playlist of the week.

The weather is icky. I'm basically stuck at home until I have to hang out with family later (which will be epic, I'm sure). So instead of doing what I should be doing, like all my late homework or finally getting around to cleaning my room, I'm doing this. Playlist of the week. I've been listening to a lot of "older" stuff on my iPod that I all but forgot about. I say "older" because none of it is actually old, just stuff I (feel like I) haven't listened to in ages. So here is a worthless list of random music I've listened to this week, possibly never to be listened to again, who knows.

Veni Vidi Vici - Black Lips (I've had the chorus stuck in my head all day)
Beast That You Are (Side A) - Pocahaunted (a seriously good song. download it.)
the latter half of D+'s self-titled album pracically on repeat (that includes Book, Heatherwood, Jaywalker, etc.)
Edan's album, The Beauty and the Beat (kinda like psychedelic rap?)
random Kasabian songs that I haven't heard in forever (Shoot the Runner being one)
No Trust - The Black Keys
and a great deal of John Lee Hooker

Okay, enough useless procrastination. Time to take a nap.