Old Union Art Project

Hey blog. Still reeling (get it) about the Oscars, don't worry. But my late night contemplations (really it was more like early morning) regarding Boots Riley has adequately motivated me to share parts of a final project from a class I took last semester called Economics and Literature. I made 60's inspired advertisements for union membership. These pictures are cropped really badly. Prepare yourself.

Some inspo:

Think Jenny Holzer truisms, Guerrilla Girls advertising, mandatory workplace compliance posters, and vintage thought-provoking ads. 

Ok I lied. This first one clearly isn't about union membership. It's meant to loosely explain minimax- a decision making rule. Look really close if you want to read an attempt to explain this concept but from the point of view of someone really trying to sell it to you.

 Union girls are It girls. That's it.

This one was my favorite!! The next ones are a little less vintage ad inspired and more similar to Guerrilla Girls/Jenny Holzer.

Words borrowed from Jenny.

This one is very clearly inspired by GG! I love how their work directly asks audiences to engage and contemplate <3

#savetheunions I'll revisit this eventually I think. For now thats it. Bye blog.

oscarrrrrrssss

 Sup blog I was accidentally watching the red carpet instead of the live broadcast of The Oscars. Also I think my A key is a little sticky. Yikes. Anyways I'm going to follow along and type up some live reactions. I'll never get to experience the joys of a live Twitter type thing (#permanentlybanneddontknowwhy), so this is the best I can do. If anyone happens to be reading this please sound off in the comments I love talking about movies xoxo. 

Conan's doing his whole monologue thing. I started about 6 minutes and 30 seconds in. Let me get this out of the way quickly- I did NOT care for One Battle After Another, and don't think it should win any awards, with the BIG exception of Teyana Taylor for Best Actress.

Michael B. Jordan 6 7???

I'm so over the Leo DiCaprio of it all.

This (Conan) is a Harvard trained comedian btw.

Oh my god Josh Groban????? This is great. Giving Monty Python?? Pause that was a crazy ending to his monologue. 

I LOVE Zoe's necklace. Also thinking about the stage design- I think SAG Awards had a better stage design, the screens were exceptionally integrated, and the whole thing was super clean and bright. 

Wait wasn't super expecting that. Is Amy Madigan married to Ed Harris? I LOVE how fast Teyana jumped up. I'm glad we're moving towards more proper horror representation. That IS Ed Harris! has he ever won an Oscar?like supporting or something for Truman Show maybe? Preditions: 0/1

Oh! Conan that Trump-theatre-naming joke was nice. WOW Jane Lynch! I bet she's selling the same product that Larry from Night at The Museum sold at the beginning of the sequel. 

Will Arnett and Channing Tatum is lowkey a horrible combination. I would NOT want to be stuck at a youth football game between these guys. I'd like Arco to win. Nice story- I've seen people compare it to a French Ghibli or something? Ok word KPop Demon Hunters- orchestral/rock version of Golden is lowk fire though. Wait I like the guy on the far right's coat. Okay Arnett we get it- I'm all with ya lets not freak out the audio engineers pls. I don't have any clue for animated short. I guessed 'Retirement Plan' because I liked its poster the best. Predictions: 0/3 Colm Feore! Canada!

Obviously 'I Lied to You' was going to be amazing. BRITNEY HOWARD OKAY!!!!! This feels just like the movie omg. MISTY COPELAND WOW! Honestly the live performance was more overwhelming than the film version(s)- whooooooo directed this stage performance? How many people are in the orchestra behind the stage omg

If this duo isn't presenting costumes... My guess is Frankenstein. Wouldn't be shocked if it was Sinners, it's Ruth E. Carter of course. !!!! Predictions: 1/4 THE LITTLE EDIE TO MY BIG EDIE HAHAHAHA Omg I was about to say that these costumes were super similar to 'Crimson Peak' and it was ALSO HER! Frankenstein again is my guess. I have absolutely no eye for hair and makeup. Ok word 2/5. 

Paul- that is not a blazer that is a cardigan at BEST. Also Anna wants to know why your hair is grey but you look young. I think Marty Supreme has GOT to win for casting. I'd love to be a casting agent someday- how do people even get started in that job?? Didn't love that speech... omg PTA can't believe I got an Oscar before you! Hope you get one tonight xoxo! 2/6

'It's a tie we're going to get through this together' Kumail thank you for handling this so well. I guessed 'Two People Exchanging'! Does that count for half? A whole point? I'll say 3/7 I guess. TIMMY SHADE!!

Kieran babe tuck in your wallet chain. I'm very passionate about Stellan winning this. Anna thinks that Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein looks like Gotye- specifically this pic:

Well Sean Penn really phoned that one in. Hope that isn't indicitive of a OBAA sweep. At least they're making up on time? 3/8

I bet Pedro Pascal told Chris Evans to try glasses when they were in Materialists together. They're working. It better not be OBAA. Did RDJ just say 'Tanning Chatum'. 3/9  Sentimental Value for the win on this one. Welp. Happy to be wrong on this one though- first win of the night for Sinners! Woo! 3/10. I have a lot of complicated feelings about OBAA winning for adaptation- too big of a fan of postmodern literature to let this one slide unfortunately. 

Rest in peace Tom Stoppard (thank you for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and also Brazil) and the woman who did the costumes for the original Tron, and also Diane Keaton. And also Robert Redford. I'm sorry about what's happening to Sundance. 

So I think I'm going to quickly have to come to terms with the idea of a OBAA sweep. This is difficult. The one thing that could possibly explain this is that there is just too much swag coming out of the Bay Area (looking at you, Alysa Liu). 

Pedro's glasses are distracting from the awkwardness of this bit. I think I first knew Sigourney Weaver from her role as Sigourney Weaver in 'Finding Dory'. Production Design should be Frankenstein. Finally- some normalcy. 4/11. Avatar was an easy guess. 5/12.

Honestly all of the documentaries are great choices- I'd like All the Empty Rooms. Big tears if it wins. Aw man. 6/13. I'd like to see Mr. Nobody win. That would be an interesting speech I think. Ok nice here we go 7/14.

Original Score! Should be Sinners- win #3 for Ludwig? BOOM!! 8/15. F1 or Sirat for Sound. Why not. Let's all just get crazy there's only an hour left. That was a deserved win! Cars make lots of sounds. My car sure does. 9/16.

Editing! Come on Marty Supreme. Well. Not a horrible loss. 9/17.

Cinemetography! I think Train Dreams. Still very happy with this!! This is an AWESOME!!!! OUTFIT!

BOOM BOOM BOOM JAVIER BARDEM!!!!!! THANK UUUUUUUU! I think The Secret Agent. I'd be exceptionally happy with Sentimental Value or Voice of Hind Rajab though. Excellent!! 9/18 Neon is in a solid place to become the new indie darling (a la A24) production company. Hopefully they don't get too commercial. Boots Riley's upcoming release 'We Love Boosters' will be a test of this! Very excited to watch that full campaign that Neon has promised, as well as the movie itself. Yay!

So Golden totally has to win Best Original Song, but I Lied To You was EASILY the best live performance. 10/18.

How much do you think A24 had to pay to get Zendaya and Rob to present the award for BEST FREAKIN DIRECTOR?? I would like for Joachim Trier to win this- it'll be PTA I fear. Okay fine deserved. But I think it has to be a little bit of a career Oscar you know- this certainly was nawwwwt his best. Did Fiona Apple ever date PTA? I know that there's the whole Tarantino story but I feel like there could be a similar one for him too. 

NOT in the mood for this Adrian Brody. Michael B. come on!!!!!! YAY!! Well deserved omg. 11/19. 

This is Jessie's award duhhhhhhhhh. 

Moulin Rouge reunion <3 So happy you divorced Keith Urban Nicole. Okay so my official guess is Bugonia but it could literally be anything at this point. I HOPE its not OBAA. I think I'd be happiest if it was Sentimental Value or Sinners though. 

Wow. Revisiting this after a long contemplative night. I see you, and I appreciate you PTA, but in all honestly this Oscar should've been for Magnolia. A little scared to see how the film bros take this win. Also, how did Mickey 17 or No Other Choice not get nominated for literally anything. Quite upset about that! 

I do have Boots Riley's upcoming 'I Love Boosters' to look forward to though. This is Neon's chance to prove itself!!

Ok cya later. This Oscars was interesting!

February Albums of the Month

 Wow. Two posts in ONE day??? This may never happen again. Here are all the albums I listened to in February, and some brief notes about them. These aren't all new listens, and there are a few recent releases as well. I'm pretty particular about how I listen to music (always striving for active engagement <3333) and figured it would be easy enough to put on here. I promise to not paywall any of my trivial thoughts, looking at you, Pitchfork.

'Kind of Blue'

Miles Davis

'Assembly'

Joe Strummer, The Mescaleros

A compilation album I listened to in preparation for International Clash Day. Loved the inclusions of songs I already knew, but really liked Love Kills! 

'No Love Deep Web'

Death Grips

Listened to a lot of Death Grips this month, I don't think this album is my favorite, but still enjoyable!

'Calling Out of Context'

Arthur Russell

Another compilation! Such an underlistened, influential artist. Before performing 'Psycho Killer', David Byrne shared kind words about Russell, and explained how he contributed to the song. 

'Lonerism'

Tame Impala

CLASSIC! Probably my favorite Tame Impala album. The first half of the album is a generational run. 

'Reign of Terror'

Sleigh Bells

Another consistent entry in their catalogue! I don't think it could ever beat 'Treats', but there are a few nice standouts in here, like 'End of the Line'. Sleigh Bells is fundamental to my Gen Z 'indie sleaze' repertoire.

'Adventure'

Television

'Sun'

Cat Power

Manhattan is obviously the best (and most well-known) song from this album, but I think I only really thought about her cover records! When I was in Italy over the summer I saw some posters for her upcoming concert of solely Bob Dylan covers.

(not an album just a pic of the posters in Verona)

'Bloom'

Beach House

Is this the most popular BH album? Maybe its Depression Cherry. This one is still great though- second or third favorite! The Hours and On the Sea are MY SONGS!

'We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic'

Foxygen

(Wait help what happened to the line spacing)

That title was a bit of a mouthful. This is a fine album for its time. I just saw a TikTok earlier today about a bad experience/troubling story about this band. Am I out of the loop? I can go without listening again if need be. I'm not that dedicated to Foxygen.

The Modern Lovers- s/t

An insane, lengthy (yet tight) debut. I think Richman's laid back confidence about his style and writing makes this an incredibly approachable (but still abstract enough) album that still holds its weight today. Going to choose a lot of obvious favorites:

Roadrunner (first heard it in School of Rock that I watched when I was like 8)

Astral Plane

Old World (this was one of my songs of the month I think)

She Cracked

Government Center

Shout out Jerry Harrison and Cameron Winter.

'Imaginal Disk'

Magdalena Bay

Modern classic. Saw them in December. I mix all the songs up and was desperately trying to figure out which one went 'kitty cat, kitty cat oh oh'. Took a few hours, lots of singing, and a Reddit search to realize she is NOT saying 'kitty cat', and the song I was thinking of was Tunnel Vision. Bought the CD almost immediately after that whole debacle. The website is so worth exploring too!

'Last Splash'

The Breeders

These are cooooooooooooooooool girls. Thrifted this CD. Divine Hammer is my fav. 

'So Much Country 'Till We Get There'

Westside Cowboy

Newish EP release! I don't know a lot about this band, but annoying hip and up to date music lovers will probably get a kick out of this. I want to try to compare this to Black Country, New Road, but I need to be honest for a sec and admit that I have literally never listened to one of their songs all the way through. 

'GT Ultra'

Guerilla Toss

My first GT album. This is eccentric music that won't be for everyone!

'Moon Safari'

Air

Watched a live concert version of this album while studying. I LOVE to listen to this while doing schoolwork!

'For Emma Forever Ago'

Bon Iver

I like this one just fine! I've never been a huge Bon Iver person. 

'Kid A'

Radiohead

Threw this on while studying! I'm not a die-hard Radiohead person, but I like enough of their stuff! My favorite Radiohead-related experience was when I took my mom to a showing of the original silent/black and white version of Nosferatu that was synced to this and Amnesiac. Crazy cool.

'And in the Darkness Hearts Aglow'

Weyes Blood

Words cannot express my intense connection to this album. It feels weird to even try. 

'Mercy'

John Cale

UGH!!! He's still got it! Please listen to this theres also a Weyes Blood feature <3

Jacqueline Taieb- s/t

'Teen Dream'

Beach House

'Titanic Rising'

Weyes Blood

Please refer to previous Weyes Blood entry above. 

'Sorry to Bother You'

The Coup

I saw Sorry to Bother You the movie with LaKeith Stanfield a long time ago, and absolutely loved it (side note im SO looking forward to Boots Riley's upcoming film, I Love Boosters). I did NOT realize that the screenplay also spawned this album. So good. If you're in the mood for something narrative driven, political, and with plenty of kazoo features (Your Parents' Cocaine) this is for you. 

'Heavy Metal'

Cameron Winter

Listened on CD while Anna and I played Fortnite. Classic Thursday night. 

Little Joy s/t

Ok for transparency's sake I thought this was Mt Joy. It was not. I was still very happy though! This is the only album from the band, featuring Fab from The Strokes.

'More Songs About Buildings And Food'

Talking Heads

Unrelated, but I got the 'True Stories' album (used of course) on CD this month. The Big Country will always make me cry. Other favorites include Thank You for Sending Me an Angel, Warning Sign, The Girl Wants to Be with the Girls, Found a Job, and Take Me to the River. 

'Heaven or Las Vegas' 

Cocteau Twins

'Wild is the Wind'

Nina Simone

'Entertainment!'

Gang of Four

'Vertigo'

Wand

I love Wand. I heard some of their songs for the first time in the Khyber Pass Pub in Philadelphia on my 21st birthday last year. Alicia and I had king cake, and I bought my first drinks there. I also ended up going home with two identical stickers, featuring a stupid looking possum with a baseball hat. I put one on my school binder, and the other on my pink waterbottle. Except, the little part of the sticker where the hat floats above its head didn't lay flat on the water bottle, so I tried to cut it off. I overshot it and lobotimized my possum. Sorry buddy. Anyways, this is a pretty recent (2024) album, and frontman Cory Hanson has been active lately too- his 2025 release 'I Love People' was stark and cynical, and was one of my favorites of last year. Smile is totally the standout here. There are some GREAT live versions on YouTube.

'Songs of Leonard Cohen'

Leonard Cohen

'Stories From the City Stories From the Sea'

PJ Harvey

Do you think her and Fiona Apple get along? What's that dynamic like?

'Fox Confessor Brings the Flood'

Neko Case

I listened to this pretty passively while at work. I think she is supposed to be performing somewhere down here soon. 

'Hot Fuss'

The Killers

Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine is one of the most insane album openers ever. This whole thing just sounds like they're from Vegas, you know?

'The Apple Tree Under The Sea'

hemlocke springs

2026 debut album! I've liked that one song since it went super viral a few years back. This was nice! I'm excited to see where she'll go from here!

'Beats and Breaks From the Flower Patch'

Kitty Craft

I'd love to get the scoop on the cover art for this. Is it an original drawing? Painting? Old print or something?

'Blame the Clown'

Twisted Teens

Another 2026 release and another interesting album cover! I like it, but I have a lot of questions. Mainly- this has GOT to be the singer from Parquet Courts right?? Maybe I'll listen again. Something feels unresolved.

'My Days of 58'

Bill Callahan

2026 release! I liked it! Not as obscure as 'Reality' but still sonically interesting! I get him and Tim Heidecker mixed up sometimes. 

'Doolittle'

Pixies

67

I feel a little bad about ending like that, but I have nothing else to say.