The Royal Wedding of Prince William & Catherine Middleton

Call it hoopla. Call it silly. Call it a waste of your time. But you know what? I won't.

Most people poo-poo the hype around the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, most citing the fact that "it doesn't mean anything." Yeah, I know: the Royals don't have any real power and they haven't for decades. But it does matter. The Royal Family is a symbol of the once and still (I think still?) great nation of England. They represent the past, future, and present. Maybe more so the past, nowadays, but there is still a sense of pride amongst a lot of English folk, knowing that these two people will one day be the King and Queen of England.

We don't have anything like this in the USA, so it's tough to relate. I spent close to four months in England, and while that's hardly a lot of time, I still believe I was able to grasp at least a whiff of this feeling. You see it in the buildings. The way people act and speak. Maybe I am totally making it up in my own mind, but I feel I get it. As close as I can, I guess.

It matters. For better or for worse, to the English this still means something. It still matters. And you know what? It's also entertaining, and it's a much healthier form of entertainment than wondering whether Lindsay Lohan will be going to jail or not. If you watch the coverage on TV, not only are you going to see a wedding, you're also getting a tour of some of the most historic landmarks in London. Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace - there's a carriage ride through the most historic landmarks in London! If Lindsay Lohan's route to jail took her through Washinton, D.C., the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Ground Zero, and the Alamo, then I'd be watching. But it doesn't and it won't. At least with the Royal Wedding you get to see history, a part of culture that is new and different, and, when it all comes down it, you're watching something that DOES mean something. These people are still influential. They still influence decisions. They still help people. Yeah, they talk about being tampons inside of vaginas, but whatever, we've all said that. We've all wished to be a tampon in a vagina.

And, last but certainly not least, it's a wedding. Who doesn't love a wedding? Nothing makes me happier than seeing two people wed. Though it may seem contrived with all of the media attention and such, I watch to hope that whatever is between Prince William and Kate Middleton is real. I hope the love is real and that the wedding is important to them as two people - not as Royals or celebs, but to two people in love. I think that's part of what life is about, that feeling right there, so if given the chance to watch and take away a little bit of that feeling on a beautiful Spring day, I'll take it.

But of course, the main reason to watch: Kate Middleton is super hot! A fox! Long live the Queen!

So Much To Do!

I was in a conversation with someone at a happy hour yesterday, and I started saying how there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do. Listen to music. Play music. Watch movies. Read books. Write. There isn't enough time! I work. I socialize. I'm always at a loss of how to use my spare time. An album or a movie? Write a sketch or song? I want it all.

But this person looked at me like I was crazy. Like they had too much time on their hands. "Man, I wish I had less time! I do too much!" I was flabbergasted. I thought for sure everyone was in the same predicament as I am. Apparently not.

Every day - right now, tonight, no different - there are 100 things to read, do, watch, listen to. I want to read The New Yorker (which I cancelled today due to lack of time and the guilt I always felt that I wasn't reading any of the articles - phew! what a relief I am not constantly reminded by the weekly issue that I am not reading it enough!); I want to watch a movie on Netflix, because I am paying for it and I want to see more movies and take advantage of this service I have; I download music every fucking second of the day and I want to listen to it all! But I can't. I can't do it all. I have to work and sleep and get drunk. So, in between, I have to sneak this shit in.

My point, I think, is that I am shocked that people don't feel this way. Shocked that a single person doesn't feel this way. Maybe other people are just like, Duh, there ain't enough time so I don't stress over it. Which is logical. And most of the time it doesn't really bother me. But sometimes I'm close to panic attacks, I swear. I got a Roberto Bolano tome next to me, thousands of movies at my fingertips, and tens of albums to listen to and revisit...So much to enjoy - and I'm not even touching upon the goals I want to meet! The songs and screenplays I want to write! The art to create!

I'll just truck along, it's no big thang. I was just shocked, like I said, that this person didn't quite understand this feeling, which I had assumed was a universal truth of the human condition because, I mean, look at all that shit out there!

Enough. Got some shit to do.

Dan is: Doin' shit.

A Game of Thrones

As I watched the premiere of Game Of Thrones last night, a wave of giddiness washed over me. The first three books of this series were a large part of my high school life. Back then, I read science fiction, horror, and fantasy novels like they were going out of style, two of my favorites being The Song of Ice and Fire, and anything by Stephen King. George R.R. Martin's tale was so brutal, sexual, gritty, and intriguing that I couldn't put those three books down. They were epic. I had never read a fantasy series where main characters were killed without mercy and so suddenly. For that alone, I knew that the series was something special.

And then after reading volume three, GRRM didn't publish one till I was a freshman in college, by which point, I wasn't really that interested in reading fantasy novels. I wanted to continue the story, but could never muster up the energy to crack another 700 page tome. Too much time had passed - even though it was only three years or so since I had so voraciously read volumes one, two, and three. I was boozing in college, reading Hemingway. No fantasy for me.

Since then, I've thought about the series, but still have not read that fourth volume. Why? Two key reasons. First, while the story and the characters are top notch, the prose is a bit clunky. Not to be a snob, but for the most part I like to read literature. A book needs to have a solid literary style for me to really enjoy it. Like most fantasy, the writing style was a tad pedestrian. It made reading another SOIAF novel a bit of a bummer.

Secondly, fuckin' A there's a lot of shit to remember. I wouldn't feel confident starting 4 now. I've forgotten everything! I'd need to read 1-3 again, and that's 2,500 pages or something. A lot to comit to, especially from a guy who laments every unread article in The New Yorker.

But as I watched the first episode of the HBO series, I remembered how good it was. SOIAF is so unique, the characters unlike any other series or novel I've read. Hell, the sex scenes alone used to get me off. And that all came flooding back to me as I watched, remembering things I thought I had forgot, knowing my friends had no idea what they were in store for. Granted, episode one wasn't the best hour of TV I've ever watched, but knowing what we are in store for, I could picture this TV series being very entertaining.

Long story short: I am inspired to read the series again and catch up. Will I? Probably not. I see myself struggling with page one of the prologue in Game of Thrones. But I'm gonna try. The story of Dany and her weird brother across the Narrow Sea really made me itch for the novels. I remembered the way Martin conjured that weird nation and its inhabitants, and I felt it again in the HBO series - which is high praise, I think, comparing the excitement of a good read to a TV program.

So let's see. Maybe I'll read it, maybe I won't. But I'm definitely going to continue watching the series. I just hope that people who haven't read the book will enjoy it as much as I am and feel that I will.

Hell, watch it for the tits!

Spring Music

There's nothing quite like that first day when the weather's really, truly Spring. Spring has sprung, my friends: today is that day. And this weather always goes great with music, especially those tunes that pop and make ya feel great, like storming the ramparts or running around or falling in love.

By chance, I found a jam that I need to share. I was listening to a podcast on All Songs Considered where Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear was playing guest DJ. He chose this song "How You Satisfy Me" and it appears in the dictionary as the definition of "bring in the spring song".


I can't get over that organ. What a hook. And the lyric nails what I really love about a good lyric:

1) Simplicty.
2) Directness.
3) About getting/trying to get love.

So crack upon a brew, drink outside, and watch the skirts. To Spring!