Movies, Books and Music
Movies: Promised a friend I would see The Devil Wear's Prada if she would buy the vodka tonics it would take to get rid of the headache after the movie ended. Pirates seems to be a polarizing movie - Rolling Stone gave it a respectable 3-star review while Entertainment Weekly dropped a D+ bomb on it.
Quick rant on movies. A ton of folks I know keep saying "If I'm paying $10 to see a movie, it better not be an hour-and-a-half." This is totally ridiculous. Same argument I hear about albums ("If I'm paying $15, goddamnit, it better not be a 45-minute album). I'm a fan of brevity. If it's an awesome album that's only 40 minutes long (read Hole's Live Through This or virtually any album by The Beatles and Rolling Stones in the '60s) - I'm buying it. Unfortunately, studios are taking note - hence the length of Superman Returns, Pirates and even Cars. If I'm looking at my watch after the second hour, I'm no longer thinking I'm getting my money's worth. I'm thinking how much longer is this damn movie going to last.
Books: Just finished Thomas Frank's excellent What's the Matter With Kansas? Regardless of your political affiliation, it's essential reading for these screwed up times where people routinely vote against their own economic welfare in favor of empty Biblical rhetoric. Next up on my 'to read' list - Douglas Coupland's JPod. I've read lukewarm reviews, but I've also read it's a fun summer read.
Music: iPod mix of the day...
"Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings (live)" - Lucinda Williams *****
"Untitled Song For Latin America" - The Minutemen ***
"Deep Six" - Mark Sandman ** (Morphine singer rapping)
"My Only Friend" - The Magnetic Fields *****
"Helicopter" - Bloc Party ***** (Have the urge to play an XBox racing game for some reason)
"The Big Come Down" - NIN ****
"Radio/Video" - System of a Down ****
"So Called Friend" - Uncle Tupelo *****
"Never Believe" - Ministry ****
"Sky's the Limit" - The Notorious B.I.G. *****
"Oh Well, Okay" - Elliott Smith ****"
The Girl I Can't Forget" - Fountains of Wayne **** (finally, a shuffle song I haven't heard before)
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" - Johnny Cash *** (sorry, Cowboy Junkies does this song so much better)
"Rub 'Til it Bleeds" - PJ Harvey *****
"Spring Summer Feeling" - Jill Scott ** ("It takes more than diamonds to woo me" - deep)
"What More Can I Say" - DJ Danger Mouse ****
"Hangwire (live)" - Pixies ***
"The Big Country" - Talking Heads **
"Green Peppers (remixed by Anthony Marinelli) - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Band ***
"Kid Gloves" - Fountains of Wayne ***
"Plastic Bird" - Galazie 500 ****
"December 4th" - DJ Danger Mouse *****
"In This Temple, As in the Hearts of Man" - Sufjan Stevens ** (not too much to it)
"Over the Hills And Far Away" - Led Zep ****
Quick rant on movies. A ton of folks I know keep saying "If I'm paying $10 to see a movie, it better not be an hour-and-a-half." This is totally ridiculous. Same argument I hear about albums ("If I'm paying $15, goddamnit, it better not be a 45-minute album). I'm a fan of brevity. If it's an awesome album that's only 40 minutes long (read Hole's Live Through This or virtually any album by The Beatles and Rolling Stones in the '60s) - I'm buying it. Unfortunately, studios are taking note - hence the length of Superman Returns, Pirates and even Cars. If I'm looking at my watch after the second hour, I'm no longer thinking I'm getting my money's worth. I'm thinking how much longer is this damn movie going to last.
Books: Just finished Thomas Frank's excellent What's the Matter With Kansas? Regardless of your political affiliation, it's essential reading for these screwed up times where people routinely vote against their own economic welfare in favor of empty Biblical rhetoric. Next up on my 'to read' list - Douglas Coupland's JPod. I've read lukewarm reviews, but I've also read it's a fun summer read.
Music: iPod mix of the day...
"Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings (live)" - Lucinda Williams *****
"Untitled Song For Latin America" - The Minutemen ***
"Deep Six" - Mark Sandman ** (Morphine singer rapping)
"My Only Friend" - The Magnetic Fields *****
"Helicopter" - Bloc Party ***** (Have the urge to play an XBox racing game for some reason)
"The Big Come Down" - NIN ****
"Radio/Video" - System of a Down ****
"So Called Friend" - Uncle Tupelo *****
"Never Believe" - Ministry ****
"Sky's the Limit" - The Notorious B.I.G. *****
"Oh Well, Okay" - Elliott Smith ****"
The Girl I Can't Forget" - Fountains of Wayne **** (finally, a shuffle song I haven't heard before)
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" - Johnny Cash *** (sorry, Cowboy Junkies does this song so much better)
"Rub 'Til it Bleeds" - PJ Harvey *****
"Spring Summer Feeling" - Jill Scott ** ("It takes more than diamonds to woo me" - deep)
"What More Can I Say" - DJ Danger Mouse ****
"Hangwire (live)" - Pixies ***
"The Big Country" - Talking Heads **
"Green Peppers (remixed by Anthony Marinelli) - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Band ***
"Kid Gloves" - Fountains of Wayne ***
"Plastic Bird" - Galazie 500 ****
"December 4th" - DJ Danger Mouse *****
"In This Temple, As in the Hearts of Man" - Sufjan Stevens ** (not too much to it)
"Over the Hills And Far Away" - Led Zep ****
posted by TransformerGeek at 2:14 PM
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