This is How We Balk on the Moon

Now I understand if you already have lost trust in me, as I’ve totally bombed when it comes to updating. I thoroughly believed that I would be able to fit in at least one entry per week, even with adjusting to a new land and preparing to shoot a short 16mm film (more on this in about 110 words). It would not be out of place for the common reader to expect at least this much output, and yet, your expectations, so far, have gone unfulfilled.The only good that comes out of us this appalling blogging (ugh) is that it is a touchstone in the creation of a unifying theme for this entry. Expectations, whether of Dickens’ stature or not, simply cannot be expected to be actualized. Unless we’re discussing a new Bronson Pinochet TV series- then you can expect with all of your heart that it’s going to be out of the park.I guess I purposedly didn’t mention that I was going to be studying abroad in Prague until mid-December in my first entry, as I didn’t envision this to be a blog devoted to this excursion, hopeful that this will be a lengthier endeavor than just four months. But anyways, through my college, American University, which some consider a frontrunner for third best school in Washington DC which lacks an African-American or deaf majority, I am in Praha to study at FAMU, the world-renowned film school.The school is responsible for the schooling of basically every important contributor to the Czech New Wave, such as Milos Forman, Jiri Menzel, and Vera Chytilová, among many others. It’s amazing to watch Closely Watched Trains, which has steadily become one of my favorite films over the past year and a half, and have the Director of Photography Jaromir Sofr be in the audience with you, as he teaches at FAMU now. The history at this school and standard of excellence consistently astounds me, and it’s hard not to be inspired to produce a meritorious product while matriculating here. Plus, there is a bar in the basement of the school that has one of the cheapest half-liters of Budweiser Budvar on tap that I’ve come across thus far.As for the city itself, I find it’s really hard to explicate what is so appealing already about the place. I’ve been reading friends’ blogs who discuss their study abroad experiences so far, and what I read is usually the same: that it’s an amazing place, that they are having the time of their life, etc. And to be fair, I could easily say that and mean it, and I’m not knocking my friends who write the aforementioned bit. It is an overwhelming and truly blithesome venture to just make it to another place and be able to live, no matter if there is a language barrier or any other roadblocks. The everyday interactions and challenges faced, big or small, make up my time here, and I could never remember/detail these for you, especially those that occured in my first three weeks here. However, I could tell you the little facts about the city that I have found out so far; that I’ve never seen so many dogs (and so much dogshit) on the streets, that Smažený Sýr is the real currency here, that there’s a little bakery on the corner of my street that has perhaps the best smell I could ever ask for at eight in the morning when I walk to class. These start giving a slight indication of what my life is like here, but I’m not sure what context to put them into- yet. Maybe that’s what the city is about, figuring out what to do with it’s greatness, but I will spend a lot of time in this blog trying to figure it out, as best as one can in less than four months’ time.Right now, I often just feel exhilaration at being in a different place, having to create a very different state of mind, where I can’t expect people to speak my native language, where I can’t expect anyone to understand my Drew Cool For School sweatshirt, where I can’t expect ladies to throw a smile my way even if I look fly and fresh to death. I just have to be buoyant and let the proverbial Czech waves take me, a feeling laid to sound very well by Guillemots on “We’re Here” (a title which always reminds me of this animated gem) from from last year’s “Through The Windowpane.” The band treads a line that could easily delve into a Coldplay-sounding shitshow, yet almost always impressed me greatly, and while “We’re Here” isn’t as wow-inducing as “Trains to Brazil” or “Made Up Love Song #43″, it still gives the impression of a wonderous magic carpet ride, if Aladdin was trying to score some indie punani. Guillemots- We’re HereWhen it comes to expectations, I also found myself recently stung by actually believing that Kanye West would produce something unlike his last two albums with Graduation. I have never had an opinion that Kanye was ever anything more than a weak emcee at best, but I have always tipped my bowler towards him when it comes to his producing skills. For some reason, as he has been propelled into mythical music status, his personality and ego have started consuming anything they touch, leading him to become one of the most hard to stomach celebrities I can think of. Someone else has already concocted a list that highlights a few reasons why his self-aggrandizement is a bit too much, but more importantly, he has placed himself as the savior of not only hip-hop but of pop music, or more likely, human beings. I have come to believe that a new album by him will feature great production on half of the songs and maybe two or three songs with any semblance of enjoyable rhyming. I figured I would get around to hearing the album when it came out, content to not expect much from it, but once again, many music review websites championed him, and my interest was piqued. Reviewers said that this new album was different, that he had matured and was a consistent rapper now, but sadly, there is not much difference between what he’s spitting on Graduation and The College Dropout.At times, even his production work falls flat like “Barry Bonds” or “I Wonder,” which another music blog rightfully said sounds like the music you would hear over the closing credits of a late-90s Japanese RPG. And Lord Sam Cooke, is he still sometimes unbearable to listen to on some cuts. Admittedly, when he succeeds, it is generally pretty golden, such as “The Glory” or “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” but how many times can I hear “louis Vuitton” featured in every other line? Of course, I also could deal without ever hearing Chris Martin on another rap song, and “Stronger” is still as much of an abomination as it was four months ago. To me, he has had a miniscule growth rate as a rapper since “Through The Wire,” perhaps the last time he was likeable, and the huge annoyance that his real-life personality more and more becomes is now more and more present in his raps, and that’s not a good thing. He does have an extreme predilection for now saying “dykes” in his raps, which seems weird coming from a guy who is public about his crusade to eliminate homophobia in the rap world, but it actually seems more weird than offensive, sort of like Wes Anderson’s usage of handjobs as a status symbol in Rushmore.Maybe, judging from that example, I hold him to a different standard because of his ego and musical status, as some of my favorite rappers drop homophobic, misogynistic, and incredibly egostical comments in all of their rhymes, and yet, I still support them. So I guess I respect the fact that he is one of the most popular artists in the world now and he is trying to improve and include new elements in his music, as compared to a, say, 50 Cent, a laughable foe. If anything, I have to give him credit for giving us two tight music videos this year:I do have to wonder what my expectations will be, and if I will be burned once again by them, when his fourth album comes around (most likely titled GRE Status).Of course, after seeing a grandfather and his grandkid nailing some ollies on a shoddy halfpipe in the south Cesky Republiky, what else is there to expect from this life?Sincerely,Drew R.