matthewlane.net

damien jurado live

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:12:00 +0000

here's a couple of videos i found on youtube of damien jurado's performances of 'last rights' and 'abilene' at the doug fir in portland, which i recently attended with close friends kim and stephen. it was a beautiful show and i wish there were more videos, including his band. he comes through town every few months it seems and i highly encourage anyone who gets a chance not to miss seeing them in person.

hagee vs. wright

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:26:00 +0000

i will vote...

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:11:00 +0000

I am voting for a president that will end a war - based on proven lies.
I am voting for a president that fund programs which prevent the decision of abortion to even be needed.
I am voting for a president that has a plan to give health-care to the working poor.
I am voting for a president that will promote life though education.
I am voting for a president that will approve funding for prenatal benefits to pregnant single mothers.
I am voting for a president that has a foreign policy that is not skewed by oil and greed.
I am voting for a president that has a foreign policy shaped by living in Indonesia, having close family in Kenya.
I am voting for a president that chose a Vice President with strong Foreign policy experience instead of... well...
I am voting for a president with the goal of ending our dependency on oil.
I am voting for a president will promote programs that will better steward the earth and creation.
I am voting for a president that will promote hope and sacrifice.
I am voting for a president that will offer tax breaks to those that make under $228,000.
I am voting for a president that will offer tax breaks to small businesses and businesses whom DON'T move overseas.

I am not voting for a president that uses false lies of fear to get elected.
I am not voting for a president that is motivated by greed.
I am not voting for a president that promises to appoint a judge that will reverse roe v. wade only to turn it into a states issue. As that will not end abortions anyway.
I am not voting for a president that chooses an ill prepared, ignorant vice president for reasons of sensationalism.
I am not voting for a president that chooses violence first.
I am not voting for a president who has an antiquated foreign policy that has gotten us into this mess.
I am not voting for a president whom condemns abortion, while in the same breath promotes the death penalty and war.
I am not voting for a president that authorizes a trillion dollar war, but voted twice against the State Children's Health Insurance Program (one of the largest support programs for pregnant women and poor children, which would have provided health care to an additional 3.2 million children and continuing coverage for the more than 6 million children already dependent on the care.)
I am not voting for a president that voted for deregulation of banks.
I am not voting for a president that was 1/5th of the Keating five.
I am not voting for a president that has decades of experience - being part of the problem.
I am not voting for a president that is offering a bigger % tax break to those making over $2.5 million, than those making under $18,000.
I am not voting for a president that offers tax breaks and loopholes to companies moving overseas.

I have voted republican since I have been able to vote.
For the first time, I will vote differently.

I will vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden on November 4th, 2008.

(thanks to teresa, the writer formally known as flyingwaitress, for allowing me to repost this)

foreclosure angel

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:19:00 +0000

an eye for an eye will cause the whole world to go blind

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:32:00 +0000

a conversation with anne lamott

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:29:00 +0000

black cab session: damien jurado

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:10:00 +0000

damien jurado and bandmate jenna conrad perform "last rights" in the back of a london cab for black cab sessions.

damien jurado releasing "caught in the trees" 9/9

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:54:00 +0000

damien jurado's new album is out on the 9th and i couldn't be more stoked. you can preview it on his myspace page here, if you still do that sort of thing. we can't all be anti-social networkers i guess. damien jurado is my favorite solo musician, but now accompanied for the past couple of years by an incredible band under the same moniker. the new sound is great, still keeping in tradition with his own modern folk acoustic/rock style, and continuing to develop his always amazing songwriting craft. i can't wait to see them on friday at the doug fir lounge in portland. make sure to download or pick up a copy of "caught in the trees" when it comes out this tuesday. you can also hear the first single, "gillian was a horse", at the top of my playlist to the left. enjoy.

man on wire

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:48:00 +0000

watched an amazing movie tonight, man on wire. inspiring, moving, and beautiful. not inspiring enough to make me want to walk a tightrope between two sky scrapers, but definitely enough to make me recommend others see him do it. and maybe try it. here's the trailer. good luck.

pretty sure my blog is turning into a vlog. but, more importantly... what?

donald miller interview

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:13:00 +0000

here is an interesting interview with don miller a few hours prior to his benediction at the dnc.

robert downey jr. trashes the dark knight

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:18:00 +0000

don't get me wrong, i loved both the dark knight and iron man, but robert downey jr. (iron man)'s recent comments regarding the dark knight are hilarious. the guy has an admirable set.

"My whole thing is that I saw ‘The Dark Knight’. I feel like I’m dumb because I feel like I don’t get many things that are so smart… and I’m like, ‘That’s not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.’ I… still can’t tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character, and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I’m like, ‘I get it. This is so high brow and so f–king smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.’ You know what? F–k DC comics. That’s all I have to say and that’s where I’m really coming from."

"You know, you’re never too old to burn your bridges because I believe I have offended everyone. I think I’ve got a couple more. ‘I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it’ is my favorite phrase I’ve ever coined."

donald miller's prayer at the dnc

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:10:00 +0000

cameron strang, founder & editor of relevant magazine (a publication i have written for), was actually asked to lead the prayer originally, and agreed, but later decided to request don take his place (as he explains here). miller is my favorite author (blue like jazz, of course) and a fellow portlander. the video below is the coverage of his prayer from the dnc (a short portion of the audio was lost during it's broadcast).

the office

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:31:00 +0000

well, i moved into my new office on friday and am very much enjoying it. it was a bit overwhelming at first, not sure if i would be able to get over being surrounded by stoic white walls instead of buzzing coffee machines and friendly baristas. but, i'm quickly getting used to it, and more importantly getting a lot more done. also, i can actually hear my clients on the phone now. now you would think baristas can't get enough of my lively presence and would prefer i work in their line of sight from open to close, drinking cheap coffee and thinking to myself how much of a genius i am for using their establishment to profit from the internet. but actually, they probably just kept wondering to themselves when the quiet guy was going to stop playing with his computer and get a girlfriend. well, i have news for you baristas... i don't have a girlfriend yet. but i do have an office. thanks, in part, to you. and she'll do for now. i will still be stopping by to do my writing, however, so don't worry. you can still count on me as that depressing fixture to your monotonous days.

i <3 neil young

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:28:00 +0000

new daydream creative design

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:47:00 +0000

just completed the new website design for my multimedia production company, daydream creative. you can check it out here. this would be "version 3" since it's initial launch a little over a year ago. now just need to start adding more work to the other areas of the portfolio. hope to start working on some music videos again soon, as well as shoot a lot more photography. just a matter of finding the time, as the design portion of the business is the only source of income at the moment and extremely time consuming.

the dark knight

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:32:00 +0000

bad ass. completely and utterly bad ass. packed house. enthusiastic crowd. couldn't ask for much more. it both lived up to the expectations set by the first and exceeded them, in my opinion. that's how it's done. christopher nolan will undoubtedly go down as one of the great directors of this generation. and i believe heath ledger has an oscar nomination for best supporting actor on the way next year -- and not out of pity. the guy gave a perfect performance as the joker. i can't wait to see the record breaking box office results.

jumper sucks

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:52:00 +0000

so, yeah, it sucked. i was really hoping for more from doug liman (swingers, bourne identity) and thought the concept actually looked like it had some potential to be fairly cool. but, i was wrong. as i watched, i realized something about the difference between good movies vs. bad. you're only as good as your talent. hayden christensen is not someone who will go down in history as one of the better actors, by any means. let's face it, george lucas discovered him, he's a pretty face, and i haven't liked him in anything outside of his portrayal of the implied bob dylan in factory girl. but, in reality, that was only because bob dylan is so fascinating as a character/person/whatever. perhaps why it was possible to use an array of completely different actors to portray him in i'm not there.

anyway, off subject. i'll say it again, jumper sucks. no substance, no good vs. evil, but more like lesser evil vs. greater evil (which was oddly unsatisfying for me, given some of my perspectives). just a lot of not-so-neat special effects and one dimensional "cool" guy characters. cool being completely subjective, of course, and in fact not really cool at all. more sort of the "i don't express emotion" kind of cool. not human, basically. anyway, i love some big hollywood movies, like iron man (which swingers writer/star john favreau directed) in more recent memory. but, without textured characters and story, any movie will ultimately fail. no matter the style or genre. jumper falls flat on it's face after a very ambitious dive from... well, a hollywood sound stage. because, they sure as hell weren't on location.

welcome to my new website

hi@matthewlane.net (Matthew Lane) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:58:00 +0000

this is the place where i'll be posting my work, updates on whatever, and links to stuff. word up.