Heart to HAERTS

I've lately become obsessed with the song & video for HAERTS' "Wings". You can check it out by clicking here. This song perfectly captures the Midwestern Buck magic of my youth. When I showed it to my brother Jordan, he said: "It's like I already know this song. Like it exists inside me." Exactly.

Funny thing is, I went online yesterday to whip up this blog post, and when I went to YouTube to grab the hyperlink I stumbled upon *another* video version of this song. While watching it, I thought: A) It's fan-made, and B) It really captures the essence of the song but its narrative enters a whole different strange terrain than the other video. After sleuthing a bit online, I *think* it's actually the 1st version/interpretation of the band's video! Though HAERTS' self-titled debut was only recently released, various EPs have appeared over the past couple years as the band's promoted itself and worked on the full-length album. By cracky, the shoe-string budget on this must be because they were waiting to land a bigger studio deal and/or music label; I give them credit for scrambling together, hmm, maybe a couple or few thousand dollars and producing such a weird, beautiful story. You can watch this version here. Notice the parallels in tone and filmic style between the two takes? And is it just me, or is part of the 2nd, newer version from the point of view of the ladybug?

I'd say HAERTS is the indie-pop lovechild of HAIM and Chvrches. That about sums things up. It's catchy music -- the deep, nostalgic, melancholic-yet-uplifting kind of catchy that dances inside your blood.


p.s. While at first seemingly unrelated for this blog post, I think this news story from World of Wonder meshes nicely with the vibe of HAERTS' "Wings" and certainly speaks to my relationship with my brothers and our time living in the Midwest. Plus, we spent our formative years in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where the annual international ice sculpture contest took place. Very random and very wonderful! My family has terrific memories of wandering all bundled up amongst the sculptures on the shore of the lake, the Riviera's boardwalk - the smell of cotton candy and popcorn -- just steps away.

The TP25 Challenge

Twin Peaks first came into my life in seventh grade. I was lucky enough to catch the pilot episode; I remember being nervous in the back of Dad's car as he drove us from his apartment in Chicago back to our home in Wisconsin. But we made it in time, and I plunked myself down on the old gray futon, and got lost in the show's special magic. Mom was out on a date with John Brady, and she's told me that she remembers being in the bar with him and glancing up at the TV and thinking, "Oooh, this looks so spooky! I wish I was home watching this instead...." It's been my favorite show ever since; I've gotten loved ones to watch it (*some more than once); been to the festival in North Bend; indirectly/partly moved to the Pacific Northwest for grad school because I'd been lured by the Douglas Firs and sycamores and fog and owls. My writing room is decorated in part with Twin Peaks art; these pieces form a tapestry alongside my mannequins, dolls, other artwork, carousel horse lamp; antler-eared lamp-boy. Even Gage, my third grade Cabbage Patch Kid, hangs out here.

2014 was a (bloodied) banner year for Twin Peaks, and things are only going to get crazier and more fantastic from here. First the Blu-Ray release with Fire Walk with Me's 90 minutes of deleted scenes gave us goosebumps (or is that owlbumps?). Then David Lynch and Mark Frost announced they'd be bringing Twin Peaks back for a third season, which will pick up 25 years later. Fan dreams (with or without mention of that chewing gum you like) came true! Cooper literally dreamed about the future and now we get to see how his dreams play out! Showtime is airing the 9-episode season, Frost and Lynch are writing every episode, and Lynch is directing every one. Plus, Mark Frost is writing a book about the lives of the Twin Peaks characters, released sometime this year, that will bridge seasons two and three of the show. Sigh. Swoon. Joy.

Special thanks goes to Welcome to Twin Peaks (www.welcometotwinpeaks.com) for their infectious TP updates, and to Charlie Eadie and Mary Hutter, dear friends I met at the Twin Peaks festival. You all keep me in the loop.

In honor of the cult classic's 25th anniversary this year, I've decided to watch Twin Peaks once again, but for my first time I'll be watching the show in "real time." Most episodes of the show covered one calendar day, with some exceptions -- a couple episodes equal one day, and at one point the show skips ahead a few days. Still, the events in Twin Peaks -- everything from the search for Laura Palmer's killer to Special Agent Dale Cooper's literal and figurative chess game against his brilliant, deranged ex-partner Windom Earle -- take place in about a month. Laura Palmer's body was discovered, wrapped in plastic, on February 24th.

Might you join me? Maybe you can help stir up and crack open the magic of Twin Peaks and part the Black Lodge's red drapes to help Cooper escape back to Twin Peaks or to the White Lodge? I can hear his heels clicking against the zigg-zagged black-and-white tiled floor as he continues to search for his way out....

Here's my viewing schedule:
Tuesday, February 24th: The pilot (or "Episode 0") -- the original U.S. TV broadcast version
Wednesday, February 25th: Episode 1
Thursday, February 26th -- Episode 2
Friday, February 27th -- Episode 3
Saturday, February 28th -- Episode 4
Sunday, March 1st -- Episode 5
Monday, March 2nd -- Episodes 6 & 7
Tuesday, March 3rd -- Episode 8
Wednesday, March 4th -- Episode 9
Thursday, March 5th -- Episode 10
Friday, March 6th -- Episode 11
Saturday, March 7th -- Episode 12
Sunday, March 8th -- Episode 13
Monday, March 9th -- Episode 14
Tuesday, March 10th -- Episode 15
Wednesday, March 11th -- Episode 16
***skip ahead
Sunday, March 15th -- Episode 17
Monday, March 16th -- Episode 18
Tuesday, March 17th -- Episode 19
Wednesday, March 18th -- Episode 20
Thursday, March 19th -- Episode 21
Friday, March 20th -- Episode 22
Saturday, March 21st -- Episode 23
Sunday, March 22nd -- Episode 24
Monday, March 23rd -- Episode 25
Tuesday, March 24th -- Episode 26
Wednesday, March 25th -- Episode 27
Thursday, March 26th -- Episode 28
Friday, March 27th -- Episode 29
Saturday, March 28th -- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, the feature film prequel
Sunday, March 29th -- The Missing Pieces (*the compilation of remastered deleted scenes)

Voila!

In addition to reading Mark Frost's new Twin Peaks novel this year, I'll also be revisiting:
The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, written by Jennifer Lynch, David's daughter
The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes, written/"heard" by Scott Frost, Mark's brother
Mark Frost's The List of 7 and its sequel, The 6 Messiahs -- juicy, supernatural takes on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and what inspired him to create the character of Sherlock Holmes

I'll see you in the trees,
Nathan

Blog "Link"

My email this morning to Scream Factory:

Dear Awesome Scream Factory Maestros,

First of all, thank you for having those psychic, nerdy instincts on the titles fans want to see produced -- you have reached right into our hearts & minds. Pure nostalgic magic.

You may very well be all over these titles for upcoming releases -- and if not, shame on you!

1) Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves -- Angela Lansbury's best role, yes? And I really want to see a crisp, remastered version of that wolf-man getting decapitated. Remember how his head sailed through the air and plunked itself right in that bowl of milk? Better for you than Wheaties.

2) Wes Craven's Deadly Friend -- A robotic Kristy Swanson kills the grumpy "Ma" from The Goonies by whipping a basketball right into her head, which then explodes. 'Nuff said. (I'll talk to my therapist and take my Excedrin, but it seems I have a thing for beheadings!)

3) Link -- the 1986 masterpiece starring Elisabeth Shue, a personal childhood icon who rocked my world in The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting, and Cocktail. IMDB keeps Link's description short and sweet: "A zoology student must try to outsmart a murderous and super-intelligent orangutan." Plus, there's this weird sexual subtext, a la Cat People. You gave us Monkey Shines -- this flick should be next for your '80s killer primate line-up!


More to come later, surely. Oh, and I'm very excited about your Ghoulies release this spring....

Warmest Regards,
Nathan Buck

Quote of the Day

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love."

~Lao Tzu

*thanks goes to Lori for passing this beautiful message along to me....