Schwarzenegger + Avion = BFFF
Something called AMC Hollywood Icon: Arnold Schwarzenegger is featuring Paul's song "Pop Music United II" somewhere. Round-trip overseas airfare for everyone, on him! (No seriously, it was a tiny amount of money.)
Speaking-of cool news, he also heard a song by his old friend Shana Levy (of Let's Go Sailing) on a Radio Shack commercial today. He hopes she make out better than she did. (But being that she's already had a couple on Grey's Anatomy, he's sure she's doing okay.) Kudos to you Shana.
Speaking-of round trip airfare, Paul is also considering spending the money he's been saving, that was supposed to go toward another album. (Do you know it costs around $10,000 to independently press and promote a record? And that's if you have access to free studio time?)
He's considering spending what savings he has flying to teach at orphanages for a month in Kibera, Kenya's largest slum.
So wish him luck if he decides to do this, especially as:
a) he'll probably need tons of injections
b) the programs he's looked at online are probably all scams, in which case he will end up as poor as the people he was trying to help
cool!
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Update: Paul has learned that James Njuguna of the Fadhili Helpers program in Kenya was killed last week. Rest in peace, James.
Ndio, na fahamo Kiswahili
Boring update: Paul is now studying Swahili. (It goes: Car, Swahili. Walking, Japanese.) Soon he'll be ordering nyama choma at sushi restaurants, angering everyone.
Also, those of you checking in frequently may have seen our entry: "Is There a God? The Surprising Answer!" We removed it for being too heavy, but we may repost it one day. It turns out we can prove there definitely is or isn't!
Have a good day. (Maisha marefu.)
wait, what album are we on?
Did we ever finish Fibromyalgia EP? Paul is losing track, and as usual is going 15 directions at once. The band has been busy doing stuff and Paul has been busy doing other stuff. Well, Par Avion will schedule a pow-wow about it and decide what's up, and whether it's time to release it on iTunes. (Also, that's pronounced "sheh-jool," British style. Classy.) And if you can't wait, email us and we'll see if we can hook you up.
Speaking of which (sort of), Paul is working on new songs, from his own EP in progress, name TBD.
So send us your name ideas. Maybe he'll name the new solo EP after you, or your girlfriend, or cat, or cat-girlfriend, or whatever you're into. Though that last one is weird.
On stage with U2 ... (sort of)
Some of you may have been following Paul's attempt, on behalf of the ONE Campaign, to have Los Angeles declared a "City of ONE" (see pic).
So it was nice that several of the volunteers, including Paul, were unexpectedly asked to go onstage during the live worldwide U2 concert webcast at the Rose Bowl, wearing masks of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition politician of the National League for Democracy in Burma.
Anyway, take a look at the re-broadcast when it's up, and about 90 min. into the show (after "Walk On"), you'll see Paul with other ONE members on the stage wearing a mask that looks like this:
... and probably looking cold and like his feet hurt.
Well, here are some of his crzappy phone pics from the show:
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This fun night definitely seems a fitting way to kick-off Paul's desired sabbatical from all things, as he goes back to the things he loves best: cheesemaking, reading, quantum mechanics, studying languages for no reason, and occasionally, with increasing frequency, relaxing.
Oh, and support ONE. It's cool.
xo, p a
October 15, 2009
UFO haircut and the Shocking Truth about Barbara Albert
BARBARA ALBERT IS HORNY TONIGHT. Or at least, that's what my latest spam source is telling me. And it's in all-caps, so you know it's true. So feel free to call Barbara, if you were hesitant before, 'cuz now's probaby a good time.
Hey, have you ever seen the child Joni Mitchell had with Cat Stevens?
You'll wish we'd never asked that question when you see these great pics of Paul, courtesy the very talented Andrew Oliveros (www.andrewoliveros.com):
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Maybe we'll set up a way for you to vote for your fave soon, because we plan to put them on a t-shirt, shoe and bubble-gum line. Paul likes the batshit-crazy smiling ones the best, 'cuz he's usually frowning in pics.
Japan-a-mania! It was easy to learn Japanese hiragana, but now Paul is struggling to make sense of "but yet (topicmarker)japanese understand(respectful) not," which is how you say "I don't understand Japanese well." (Oh those Japanese.)
Anyway, here's IMPORTANT, NEED TO KNOW INFO. (see it's in caps, so it's true) about how to get a UFO haircut using fencing swords:
finally, dylan at the palladium was great. paul even bought a t-shirt. ::home alone face::
xo, p a
We still think Paul looks like someone we've seen before in this pic, and it's driving us crazy. Could it be the great Richie Havens? Or the somewhat creepy kids' book author Shel Silverstein?
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Scary! (Or maybe we just have too much time on our hands!) We'll let you know if we figure it out!
much love, p a
October 7, 2009
show cancelled + pixxx
yes, quasi-tragically the show is cancelled; long story. actually it's a short story, but it's boring.
Random updates: you'll notice paul isn't tweeting as much. This is simply because he hates the internet, and finally was like, "hey, why am I doing this." He still tweets occasionally, but he tends to delete them right afterward, so if you want to read them you will probably have to check to check his twitter every 8 minutes, which we don't recommend, not that you would.
Anyway, paul has been contemplating going on a bit of a sabbatical lately. For those of you less collegiate-ly inclined, this means a period of doing nothing and pretending to be doing something deeply meaningful. (both paul's parents are college professors, so these comparisons are bound to crop up from time to time.) for paul, this means things like cheesemaking, piñon incense-burning, looking forward to going home to new orleans for xmas, learning to read and write in hiragana for no apparent reason, being unnaturally into fall, wondering whether to rent the wicker man or local hero, cider, occasional cat jamborees and dark, disturbing stuff. Not really dark or disturbing stuff, obviously we just threw that in there to offset the cloying cuteness of cat jamboree. unless you're into dark stuff, in which case let's pretend it's true. hey, no prob. but mainly, avoiding "real" work (office, etc.) as much and as long as humanly possible, which is an honorable profession in and of itself. (other times paul thinks maybe he should reverse course entirely and get really into the lakers, or do something so completely out of character it defies all logic.)
anyway, we still have pics coming, but the band is going to sit them out, as zachary will be out of town. so they will be only of paul. we'll post them if they're shame-free enough, otherwise you will have to trust us that they looked great. love, pa
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p.s. here's some info. on the pataphor for fun
September 29, 2009
show coming up
Show
Friday night, October 23rd
Silver Factory Studios
915 Mateo St Los Angeles, CA 90021
There will be a runway fashion show that same night, so come, it's a steal for 8 bucks
September 15, 2009
neil, the furniture elf
Sorry this is o.t., but the truth must be told (courtesy a. ceci).
if you live in L.A., you may have caught a glimpse of Neil, the terrifying Leeds furniture elf!
August 21, 2009
write-up in college news
here's a thoughtful write-up in college news, a superb publication ...
addendum: "stand up, be a man" is now on itunes.
August 13, 2009
lhit big woods
random update. paul wants you to know everything he knows about life, he learned from little house in the big woods, which he is reading. which could also be the title of an unsuccessful, and possibly libelous, self-help book. the book would contain a lot of goofy stuff; as people are fond of pointing out, paul is after all into a lot of really goofy stuff. but the main idea would be: "the only reliable happiness is magical moments you create yourself. you really can't trust anything external (cars, money, success) to bring happiness." that would be the first sentence in the book, and probably the last sentence, b/c there's no point in writing such a book, when all that's needed is that one idea, if you think about it. if you want to paypal him some $ to buy candles and more cheesemaking supplies, it's welcome anyway. although he has a normal job and doesn't need any money, so he's just kidding. instead, just have a nice day and spend the money on something nice 4 yourself.
August 7, 2009
in spring, plant hydralisks and more hydralisks.
news, news. we have a show at silver factory studios on sunday (see "shows"), so come, only $8 and there will be some other bands, we think.
also, andrew cut his hand, so you may get to see him bleed to death.
other extremely crucial news: paul has a good time in ecuador, you can see a pic of one of the shruken heads he brought back, here.
we got an email today saying we'll be on isgoodradio.com's "Dr Groovy" show, Monday, Aug. 10 at 7 PM. So that'll be fun.
MOST importantly, paul thought he lost some cedarwood oil he bought last week, but he found it. pretty messed up.
and paul posted a picture on his twitter of the tattoo beard he wants, but with naked ladies swimming in it
review in sentimentalist magazine (nyc) ... are we as good as Nirvana? hell yeah! no? oh.
sentimentalist mag is a super-hep NY magazine. (maybe we'll use that for a lyric line.) the kind cool people read. so obviously, we've never heard of it. but it does exist, and it's still super-cool.
(if you don't believe us, check out the silversun pickups / grizzly bear [though we're not sure who they are, we've heard of them] interviews in the same issue. can you feel the hep?)
anyway, here's a nice review they posted of us. the kindly reviewer actually read the lyrics, which roxx. (paul is making the "home alone" face.)
"You can’t deny the irreverent, lyrical prowess of lines like 'Like all rastas are looking for Jah / Or our fibromyalgia'. Before you brush off this act as pop tarts, just pay some attention to their nuances.
"Bouncy choruses, wit, charming melodies, bold guitar bits and even a few Nirvana-isms (check out the intro and phrasing on 'Art School Dropout') make this band standout for more than their quirky appeal and clever rhyme schemes."
You'll note we edited the above for length, and also to remove reference to a certain musical act beginning with "W".
We write one (!) song with a W-esque big muff lick*, and we're doomed to comparisons for a term, apparently. Anyone notice that none of the other songs sound remotely similar? Well, Sentimentalist mostly did (notice), so merci.
Aanyway, they also tagged the article under "Nirvana."
Obviously we don't sound much like them, either. But, you know, that doesn't suck.
*for the uninitiated, big muff is a type of fuzz pedal. so we didn't mean to sound dirty. .. but wasn't that decently amusing? no? oh well.
July 11, 2009
defiler
so we have a creepy new song. paul think it's creepy anyway, even though he's the one who made it that way, so it's his fault. everyone else seems to like it fine, so his instincts must be inverted as usual.
it'll probably go on the fibromyalgia ep in progress.
we want to call it "sex vacation" (which is kind of what the song's about, as in "a vacation from sex" -- as opposed to, say, a sex cruise -- they have those, right?) or "defiler" (because it kind of sounds like "slayer," and who doesn't like slayer, right?). or we could cop out and call it "a working model," except paul is sick of songs about models. (nothing personal, friendly models.)
anyway, here's the link:
"defiler " - listen
paul wanted to set up a poll, so you could pick the title. only he has to be honest and say he's just too lazy and tired to deal with it. but if you come visit us on myspace or facebook, leave us a comment telling us what you think we should call the song.
July 8, 2009
cheesemaking redux
paul's going out of town to ecuador for a couple of weeks. so he won't be able to make his first blue cheese 'til he gets back.
in the meantime, we have some reviews coming in sentimentalist magazine, and in college news.
oh, also paul cut his hair, so he no longer looks like a hippie. he's going to start wearing dockers.
did you know terrans are a lot harder to beat that protoss when yr zerg? "the more you know."
the elvis costello bio is great, but paul hates him now. have a good couple of weeks.
buy us at barnes & noble + pics
we're happy to be on the new Under the Radar Magazine Sampler with some Sub Pop and Merge bands.
so if you want, run out to Barnes & Noble / Borders for a copy of the one with Jarvis Cocker on the cover, and get a code so you can download it. if you don't, don't worry, the world will remain mostly unchanged.
we have some new pictures from yudi echevarria and others here
we look like we're from the Sears catalog, c. 1975-1995
we're playing silver factory studios again july 31 , hurrah
June 12, 2009
fri. june 26 @ silver factory studios
we're playing a fashion show with shiloe. it's been a few weeks, hope we don't suck.
we also have a photo shoot on june 20th with yudi echevarria
friday non-aromatherapy therapy:
June 5, 2009
Under the radar mag
Under the Radar Magazine's Sampler, vol. 9, will feature "Art School Dropout" with some Sub Pop bands. It's coming out in July. We think you have to buy the next magazine and get a code to download it.
We're tired of cylons. Bob Dylan: Essential Interviews is great. And Paul got a brie-cheesemaking kit.
Anyway, you can also listen to the track on myspace.com/paravionmusic
Raw milk is hard to find.
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Idea for a hamburger/wings chain called "Peacoxx." Like Hooters, only with men wearing thongs.
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