March 01, 2010

Family(minusGirl)Reaction: Lovely Bones

I didn't go see this b/c of an irritation I had with the book. Reading how much my parents liked it made me decide to check out showtimes...and it's already left Chicago completely. Must not have done that well, but as you can read below, they thought it was great.

DadReaction: Did not read book. Thought it sounded too creepy. Must say though: this movie is transcendent. You're really upset at the start and it takes you on a journey of reconciliation that's so odd, so unusual--I thought, anyway--i just don't get why only Tucci got a nomination (for a NOTHING part). Peter Jackson must wonder what he has to do anymore. I mean, King Kong was the movie of the year when IT came out. Not that this one is tops, but c'mon, guys, it's so well done, so unusual, so powerful, it deserves a nod. A lot of the movie was the kid, though--really good casting. But everybody was good.

MomReaction: Your Dad would put it in the top 10 of the year. I liked the way it used horror movie techniques, music that makes you think something is going on, anticipation, really well and it was never a trick, something did happen. I also thought that you went from something that tore your heart out and then saw redemption--hard won. The family did get back to being able to love each other and live, even though something terrible had happened. And the bad guy was identified and died in a very fitting way. The between world was very interesting too.

This movie was complete. It expressed real pain and hurt as well as love, abiding love. And it had a depth that nothing else I saw this year had. So, much as I loved Julie and Julia and Avatar and Inglorious Bastards, I think this had everything they had and more. It was at a completely different level. I think it was too bad only Stanley Tucci got nominated. Although it would be fair to call this an ensemble. Peter Jackson deserved a nomination.

And the setting/background, and special effects ( maybe the category was visual effects) deserved mention in nomination. Your dad just mentioned adapted screenplay as well. Mark Wahlberg was as good as I've ever seen him, lots of emotional depth and even a kind of beauty. Maybe even Susan Sarandon as best supporting actress.

Posted by Duff at 12:52 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Flicks, MomReaction, Recommending

February 28, 2010

Sci Fi: Black and White, by Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge

A superhero novel. Reads like a comic book except, you know, there are no drawings and there's lots of text. Two young girls, schooled at the same superhero "academy", now diametrically opposed. Flashes back and forth between their current conflict and their school days.

Lots of fun. Go Jet! Go Iri! I want to be their #3.

Posted by Duff at 03:46 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

February 06, 2010

YA/Fiction: Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Powerful book. Told in a long reveal, it takes a while to know what's truly going on, although as an adult I had a pretty good idea (would kids jump to the right conclusion? I don't know).

A lot of nice metaphorical work throughout the story, mirroring the evolution of the main character (particularly in the conception of the tree, and in the naming/recognition of a certain character).

I'm interested to check out her other books, looks like she's written a ton of stuff.

[Apparently there was a movie (Lifetime?) of this, but when I used this book for my media mini-study in my middle school curriculum class, the people in my small group who had seen it said it wasn't anywhere near as good as the book. Why had they seen it? Oh that class is chockfull of undergrads. Bunch of 22 year olds who apparently watch Lifetime teen movies! Heh.]

Posted by Duff at 09:31 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

January 23, 2010

Fantasy: Lonely Werewolf Girl, by Martin Millar

This book is fantastic. The characters are hilarious and deep and interesting and quirky and the plot is both silly and serious and there's love stories and friendships and fights and just so much to love.

There were two small things that I felt were a bit surprisingly ... dropped off at the end (lacking sufficient explanation as to their closure). But that did not stop me at all from loving the ending the rest of the characters get.

Kalix is a fantastic character. I would be sorely tempted to use that name for my firstborn, were there going to be one (there isn't).

Highly recommended from me to you. (Recommended to me by someone on Flickr after they saw I had read and enjoyed The Good Fairies of New York.)

Posted by Duff at 10:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

January 22, 2010

Fiction/Mystery: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson

Read in October. Since I've been doing reviews in any old order...I'm almost caught up!! Yipee!!

Also known as Book 3 of the Millennium trilogy. I am SUCH a huge fan of this trilogy. I picked up book 1 on a whim. Blew through it like a crazy person. LOVE. Then I was so excited in Dublin last February to find book 2 already out there. Loved that one just as much. As SOON as book 3 was released in the UK, I ordered it from amazon.uk because HELLO I could NOT wait.

And it was completely worth it.

These are dark, nasty, sadistic books. They are also exquisitely plotted with seriously intelligent, persistent, strong and attractive (in more than one way) characters. They are entertaining and deep and completely fascinating and honestly it is so hard to get anything else done when you are reading them because you just do NOT want to put them down.

So bummed that there will be no more books by this dude (he died shortly after turning in all three manuscripts to his publisher) because they are some of the best books I've read in years.

Stieg Larsson and Tana French: revolutionizing the SMART mystery category. These are so far above genre books. Truly literature. Truly fantastic.

Posted by Duff at 11:04 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

YA/Fantasy: Liar, by Justine Larbalestier

Yay thanks to Stephanie for sending me this for my birthday, because she knew of my love for Larbalestier's Magic or Madness trilogy.

This was SOOOO different than those books. And SOOOO GOOD. Such deeply written characters. Tangible emotions. Poignant. Sometimes funny. Very affecting.

As you move from section to section in this book, you get absolutely turned around. Fantastic.

Posted by Duff at 10:56 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

YA/Fiction: The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean

Our challenge book for October. I can't remember what led us to pick this book; I know we (or I) read about it somewhere.

We both LOVED it. It doesn't hurt that we're both South Pole/Antarctic junkies and have already read lots of books on the topic/subject/area (including great books by Sara Wheeler! "Terra Incognita" and "Cherry").

Sym is so smart and fantastically imaginative. It's one of those books that, rather than having an unreliable narrator, it's a narrator who doesn't know everything but as she figures it out, the revelations start coming out fast and crazy and the whole world changes before your eyes. Her obsession with Captain Titus Oates is both humorous and touching.

There's some really sad stuff and some really amazing stuff and you are just ROOTING for certain things to happen...

Fantastic.

Posted by Duff at 10:46 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 09, DadReaction, Readin', Recommending

YA/Fantasy: Midnighters (Books 1-3), by Scott Westerfeld

A(nother) series by the guy who writes Uglies, Pretties, whatevers. I had read his stand-alone Peeps (but not the Uglies, Pretties, whatevers).

1: The Secret Hour
2: Touching Darkness
3: Blue Noon

These books are great. Our world...but with an extra hour that happens at midnight that only a select few are "awake" in. A band of losers whose common ground is the midnight hour, when it turns out they have a few special skills of their own.

I really loved these. I loved the members of the group (particularly Dess). I LOVED all the wordplay (fantastic!). I loved how the slithers seemed related to something deeply dark and ancient. I loved the transformation of the group and how their relationships changed.

I am really going to regret that I read most of these from the library. Definitely buying up the set when I have income again!!

Posted by Duff at 10:34 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

SciFI: Mother of Storms, by John Barnes

A loaner from Anne, who's been borrowing all my books!!! ;) Hee hee just teasing. It came with the recommendation that it's one of her all-time faves so I was excited to delve in.

Totally wicked modern sci fi basically detailing a (slightly into the future but mostly "our") world falling into catastrophe set off by one tiny thing. It's so freaking BECAUSE IT SO COULD HAPPEN. I mean really the entire time you're reading it, you think "this is ENTIRELY plausible and it is FREAKING ME OUT!" Lots of characters in different storylines with loose connections; like the Robert Jordan books in that if you don't like certain characters, you just hang in there because the ones you like will have another chapter shortly...

Really entertaining. Really scarily plausible.

Posted by Duff at 10:13 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

January 17, 2010

Big Screen: Four Flicks at the Chicago Film Festival.

Ah, the CIFF. One of my very favorite things about living here. So easily accessible. The previous year I saw 15 flicks there. (I KNOW! NUTS!) The year before, six (one, two, three, four, five, six). This year, I was busy with school and skeered to spend much money so I only saw four. And three out of the four were FANTASTIC. So I was extra happy I made good choices!!!

SPY(IES) [ESPION(S)]
Super! Sexy! Sleek! The main dude looked like a French Patrick Dempsey. Loved this movie. Believed in the frustrations and the attractions. Very nicely done.

Love and Savagery
The one of the four that I didn't think was great. It was beautifully filmed (in Ireland, where it's set, I presume) but the storyline and most of the acting were really below par. Particularly compared to the others.

Girls on the Wall
A documentary about girls in an IL juvenile facility who put on a musical/play for their families / guardians / etc. based on their own stories. So good. Really intimate look at their lives. There are so many places one's life can go wrong. So many times the wrong choice can turn into a terrible mistake. And then there are the ones who fight and fight and eventually rise above that. Really powerful.

Fish Tank
Kinda hard to watch. Super yicky subject. Super fantastic (FANTASTIC) acting. I think this one is now being released wider (saw a review of it in EW) and I highly recommend seeing it. I mean, the subject matter is tough. But the acting is so good. And there's a lot to like here. It really tied me up emotionally. And the main dude, Michael Fassbender, was also fantastic in "Hunger" that I saw last year (and he also plays the Scottish soldier in "Inglorious Basterds"). Dude has fantastic RANGE.

Posted by Duff at 04:07 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

Big Screen: Whip It!

So much fun!! I loved it just as much as my dad did. Sucks that more people didn't see this because you really missed out on one of the most fun evenings at the movie theater all year. ALL YEAR, PEOPLE.

Loved how un-Juno-like Ellen Page was in a role that could have felt very similar. Loved her interactions with her parents; loved the teams, the camaraderies vs. the rivalries. Loved the music and the boy. LOVED IT.

Posted by Duff at 04:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

January 12, 2010

Mystery/Thriller: Evil at Heart, by Chelsea Cain

Third in the series (two,one).

These books are so fucking horribly sick and twisted and yicky and soooooo fucking good. A twisted pleasure.

Posted by Duff at 01:43 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Short stores: White Time, by Margo Lanagan

If you use that search bar over on the right and type in Lanagan, you will find this is an author I adore, this book no less than the rest. Some of these take place in that middle ages/medieval-ish type fantasy land and some are very, very modern. And my very favorite was "Wealth" which I have read over and over both because it's fantastic and because it feels like it's part of the same world as Hunger Games.

Posted by Duff at 12:48 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

January 04, 2010

Big Screen: District 9

Yes, it's a little ridiculous to be writing about this now when I saw it back in September! And anyone who wants to has seen it already. I'm just trying to whip through things and close out Snip PROPERLY for the year although why I feel I MUST do that, I really can't say.

Anyway.... it was a really great movie. Effects were great, acting was great, intense storyline, very satisfying. My #2 movie of the year. (Hurt Locker was #1.)

I'm so pleased there is quality sci fi being made again. There's just nothing like seeing it on the big screen.

Posted by Duff at 01:36 PM | E-Mail | Comments (1) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

Fantasy: The Good Fairies of New York, by Martin Millar

Bought on a whim.

Really hilarious, irreverent, charming.

Posted by Duff at 01:19 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

December 25, 2009

My Very Favorite Song Today

"I Won't Be Found" - The Tallest Man on Earth

Hear it here in its original and daytrotter versions (the daytrotter is the one I put on repeat). (Found via this post on Fuel/Friends, my all-time favorite music blog.)

Posted by Duff at 11:02 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

December 24, 2009

Big Screen: The Young Victoria

Quite lovely.

I feel like I've seen a zillion movies about Elizabeth so it was nice to visit with a different monarch for a while. Emily Blunt was fantastic.

And I loved that she got to have a love story (and not a salacious one), even if it that meant I cried through a lot of it. Very nice interplay between the couple.

Posted by Duff at 04:17 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

December 22, 2009

Fantasy: "Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire" both by Suzanne Collins

Another fantastic duo, I would recommend these just as highly as the Kristin Cashore books, but note that they are very, very different.

The dystopian universe here is almost Dickensian in its shadings (although with fewer of the finer details) and it definitely makes you, the reader, long for escape for these characters, for survival, for even just the littlest bit of hope.

Unexpectedly cruel with odd kindnesses. And, as in much YA, some growing up and self discovery along the way.

An adventure of endurance... You'll want to block off a day for these as you will find yourself unable to do anything else.

And if you've read the story "Wealth" in Margo Langan's "White Time" collection, it almost seems like they come from the same world. In fact, I drove myself insane for an entire afternoon trying to figure out where that story was from as they felt so much of a piece.

Posted by Duff at 07:37 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fantasy: "Graceling" and "Fire", both by Kristin Cashore

I absolutely loved these books; they sucked me right into their world and I didn't really ever want to leave. (A third book is being written.... Wahoo.)

A world where people have "talents" or "graces."

Graceling: a novel of growing up, of standing one's ground, of discovering the hidden layers, of coming to know oneself.

Fire: a different sort of animal, a story of someone already grown but not always allowed to grow, already knowing oneself, but coming to better know others.

Lyrically written, they both made me cry at points. They both made me yearn.

Note: Fire is a prequel but I'd say DEFINITELY read it second as it gives away something that you want to figure out more slowly as you read Graceling.

Posted by Duff at 07:23 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

December 04, 2009

Big Screen: Up in the Air

Even though I am waaaay behind on movie reviews (which is odd considering I haven't even seen very many this year, I'm going to tell you about last night's flick anyway! I'll get all caught up on Snip over my "winter break." I'm sure you were concerned heh...

So last night I saw the new Clooney movie (I believe it's set to come out 12/25 [per IMDB] but I have connections...)... It was a really good solid flick. My friend Steve is calling it, at this point, his #1 of the year. I don't feel quite as strongly as him, but I did really enjoy it.

As Jason Reitman movies are (Juno, Thank You for Smoking), it's chock full of dialogue and witty interplay. Clooney is really charming for a character with some very fucked up ideas about how to live life, and the interplay with Vera Farmiga is pretty great.

It's quite bittersweet and the ending is either really sad or sorta hopeful depending on which members of our group you ask. We all enjoyed it. We also enjoyed that they credited someone as playing "Makeout Dave." I plan to introduce myself as Makeout Carolyn in the future. Hahahaha.

I oddly happened to be with a group of people who mostly have not seen "The Departed"* and was really weirded out the whole movie by how different Farmiga's face looked from her (awesome) performance in The Departed. Lo and behold, she was pregnant (or had just been pregnant?) during the filming. That must've been a body double in the one, fairly gratuitous, random look at her nekkidness.

*I didn't think those people existed. Watch The Departed. It's good!

Posted by Duff at 08:17 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

October 18, 2009

Big Screen: Hurt Locker

Wow. Just...WOW. If you only go to one movie this year, make it this one. (If you go to two movies, make it this one and District 9.)

Really breathtaking filming in how much it puts you right into the minds and hearts of these soldiers and into the insane tense unknown world that is this war right now. There were so many scenes where I was on the edge of my seat...and the choice NOT to explain everything, and NOT to tell you whether something that appeared dangerous really was as dangerous because they went away and never saw the resolution of it... So good.

Well-acted, well-directed. Tour de force. This is brilliant filmmaking. And some other piece of crap is going to win the Oscar for Best Picture and I'm going to keep telling you: Hurt Locker is the movie that should win and that you should be watching and talking about and watching.

If I was going to send out my Christmas packages this year (which most likely I won't be due to lack of any income), this is the movie I would choose.

You may be a little paranoid after seeing it the first time. And the second. You may be noticing every car that's weaving on the streets, and every passerby who looks at you and then seems to signal to someone else across the road, and every window that suddenly closes right as you walk by it... But it's so worth it.

[I liked it so much...I accidentally reviewed it twice! Turns out I told you about it months ago already!

Posted by Duff at 12:26 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

October 08, 2009

Fiction: The Death of Sweet Mister, by Daniel Woodrell

Woodrell's later book "Winter's Bone" was one of my very favorite books read in 2007 and I've finally gotten around to reading one of his earlier works.

This novel has a similar focus on a downtrodden, lonely teen in a harsh poverty-struck landscape. But this book is a LOT creepier than Winter's Bone and you are not (at all) left with the same sense of hope. That's not a denigration / more of a gentle warning.

Lovely lyrical rhythm to his writing. But woah to come to that end...

Posted by Duff at 10:34 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

September 16, 2009

Fantasy/Mystery: "Cry Wolf" and "Hunting Ground", both by Patricia Briggs

I've talked a LOT about Patricia Briggs here, all of whose books I love, particularly the Mercy Thompson series.

These books take place within the same universe, concentrating on events in Bran's pack instead, particularly his son Charles. While I think they discussed the concept vaguely in the Mercy books, these books also focus on Anna, who is an "omega", a sort of "powerful submissive" who can stand up to alphas in a way no other wolves can.

Just as with the Mercy books, the action is great, the romance is great, they feel very real and believable and oh my god I cannot wait for her to write another one!!!!!

Posted by Duff at 11:01 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

July 28, 2009

DadReaction: Harry Potter #6

The BEST Potter movie. Some very nice moments, stunning scenery, great visuals.

[He kept it short, knowing I am not a Potter Person.]

Posted by Duff at 10:05 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Flicks, Recommending

July 26, 2009

Big Screen: MOON

First of all, god I am so glad space movies are back. With Sunshine a couple years ago and now Moon, things are looking up for space movie lovers like me.

That said, this is so different than most space movies, being that there is basically one dude in this movie. No big crew of lonely astronauts and their inevitable small-living-space conflicts. No scary aliens. Just Sam Rockwell at his (insane, quirky, bizarre, disturbed) best.

Really unique story. Really nicely filmed. Really creepy, in the best (and not too scary) way.

Posted by Duff at 04:47 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

July 21, 2009

Current favorite song: "Deja Vu" Eminem

[Truly you lose something just reading these words and not hearing the beat. It's a great song.]

Sometimes I feel so alone, I just don't know,
Feels like I've been down this road before
So lonely and cold, it's like something takes over me
As soon as I go home and close the door
Kinda feels like deja vu
I want to get away from this place, I do
But I can't, and I won't,
I say I try, but I know that's a lie, 'cause I don't
And why, I just don't know

Posted by Duff at 09:01 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Lyrics, Recommending, Tunes

July 17, 2009

Short stories: Emerald City, by Jennifer Egan.

I read Egan's (fairly) recent book "The Keep" right before I moved all my book thoughts over to this page (see it right at the top of the old readin page), but I think this collection was published well before that novel.

I thought these were great. Unexpected and tense. The main characters are often in moments of conflict or deception. Very different from each other. And all very finely detailed.

Posted by Duff at 06:02 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem

Our June challenge book.

We both just TOTALLY loved this book. So much fantastic word play. Great plot, nice details on the L.I.C./BQE area of NYC. A completely original take on this type of book, just takes it to another level.

As DadReaction put it: you know, I usually don't enjoy bizarre narrators but I really--EAT ME, MINNAWEED--like Lionel--and the unlocking of the Tourette's experience is just dazzling (like when he talks about the environments that calm him). Balmslim. Slamkill. Allmiss. Really good.

Also (GR here again) reminded me of the character Adah from Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible (a great book and to my mind by far the best Kingsolver book).

Posted by Duff at 05:37 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 09, DadReaction, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: The Dart League King, by Keith Lee Morris

As with City of Refuge, bought after reading about it at the Tournament of Books.

I really didn't have that much an idea of what to expect, and this book just got better and better as it went along. As each chapter unfolded, you realize the story is actually about something completely different than you were expecting. Expertly drawn small-town dramas, this all felt so familiar and so real.

It really takes talent to make you care about characters that are in many ways not very attractive people. Loved it!

Posted by Duff at 05:19 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

SciFi: "Wanderlust" and "Grimspace" both by Ann Aguiree

I can't remember now if I read about these somewhere or if I just came across them in the bookstore but I loved them! Ann Aguirre may be my next go-to sci fi writer (after Patricia Briggs and Elizabeth A. Lynn).

A female space pilot who navigates faster-than-light ships telepathically through "grimspace". An intergalactic corporation whose monopoly may be coming to an end. A hot mystery man. Mmmmmm.

These books were a lot of tightly plotted fun with sassy dialogue to boot. I really hope there's going to be another one in the series!!! (In the meantime, I have bought another book by Aguirre with a different setting/heroine.)

Posted by Duff at 05:15 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

July 15, 2009

Big Screen: Hurt Locker

F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C.

Best movie you will see all year. Now get your damn butts out there to see it so it makes enough money to get wider distribution and maybe, just maybe, be shown in the teeny town theater near my pops who really, really wants to see it.

It was one of the best war movies I've EVER seen. And I have seen a LOT of war movies.

Yeah, I know I'm behind and I usually like to do these things in order. But better out of order than not at all, right? I'll try to get to the rest soon.

Posted by Duff at 09:16 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

July 08, 2009

Songs I Forgot About But Am Loving the Shit Out of This Morning

• "I Think I Love You" The Guggenheim Grotto
  
• "Communist Love Song" Soltero
  
• "Don't You Think It's Time" Bob Evans
  
• "I Remember" Chris Brokaw

In the order in which they appear on "Mariko Made Me, Spring '07" one of my favorite playlists. If I love you, you might already have a copy of it. If not, it can't hurt to ask. (And by ask I mean beg, steal or borrow. Or offer something in trade.)

Posted by Duff at 07:52 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Mixes / Playlists, Recommending, Tunes

June 29, 2009

Favorite Song of This Monday Morning

Pete Yorn "Social Development Dance" (from his new album "Back & Fourth" that I really, really like)

And when we kissed it was electric
A chemist made us for each other...

There’s something missing in us
We long to make it whole
Though it never feels like it
I know you have it all
I know you have it all...

I heard you were staying up north with a friend
And that your hair was falling out
I tried to find out what had happened to you
I googled you in quotes, got no results
I never learned how you had died
But I knew how you had lived...

Posted by Duff at 10:51 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Album, Listenin', Lyrics, Recommending, Tunes

June 16, 2009

DadReaction: UP!

Well, we have another summer where the most realistic humans are in CARTOONS!!! They do an intro montage on the life of this old couple and your jaw drops at the sheer sadness of time, time passing, frailty, as the kick off to this fantasy!!!

ALSO: The fantasy/adventure really rocks. Could NOT take kids to the flick. Much scarier than Drag Me To Hell. NO EXAGGERATION. :)

[bold = mine. he cracks me up.]

Posted by Duff at 10:54 AM | E-Mail | Comments (1) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Flicks, Recommending

June 06, 2009

Fiction: Eureka Street, by Robert McLiam Wilson

Bought in Dublin.

Really liked this book. Set in Belfast. Two down-n-out friends. Chuckie Lurgan, protestant, and Jake Jackson, catholic. They're so scruffy and downtrodden, one would have to call them anti-heroes. It's sarcastic and crass and rough and funny and unexpected. Very enjoyable.

Posted by Duff at 11:36 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: Little Bee, by Chris Cleave

LOVED it. My third favorite book so far this year (preceded by #1 and #2).

I thought his previous novel was good: intense and unexpected. But this book just went to an entirely higher level. Completely swept me away.

A British woman crosses paths with a young African girl. And then we hear how their story started. And nothing was ever the same again. Really lovely.

Posted by Duff at 10:12 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: City of Refuge, by Tom Piazza

Bought after reading about it at the Tournament of Books (where it made it to the final round but lost to Toni Morrison's latest).

There are really three storylines here: Craig and his middle-class white family; SJ and his lower-class black family; and the historical facts of Hurricane Katrina. They pretty much trade off chapters throughout and in the beginning of the book, I definitely found the "fact" chapters a bit distracting; taking me away from the action to just recite numbers. But toward the end of the book, I found them a welcome emotional relief; a way to ground yourself in the reality of how many people this actually happened to.

I thought it was a great book, perhaps made more weighty by being woven in to such a recent past. The characters and their struggles with moving on vs turning back felt very real to me.

Clearly Piazza loves New Orleans, and continues to struggle with the thought of his city in destruction. Huffencoopers, have you read this yet? I think you'd love it.

Posted by Duff at 09:45 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

April 12, 2009

Fantasy: The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan

Soooooo good.

I bought this after reading about it on John Scalzi's blog.

Tactile and intense. Made me cry on the El train. I felt like I was in Mary's head. I could barely put it down.

Wow, what a book. Spring 2010 is tooooo long to wait for the next one! Too long!

Sure, you won't be able to read it without thinking of M. Night Shymalan's The Village (a movie most people hated but I loved mostly for Joaquin's quietly brooding performance. That scene where they're on the porch? Sigh.), but just put it out of your mind as the similarities are only circumstantial.

Posted by Duff at 01:47 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fantasy/Mystery: Bone Crossed, by Patricia Briggs

Book #4 in the Mercy Thompson series (see Book #3 here).

This series continues to get better and better. The Mercy/Adam relationship continues to evolve. The mysteries/dangers in these books are intriguing, well plotted and satisfying. There just isn't anything NOT to love.

You should be reading this series.

Posted by Duff at 12:53 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Short Stories: Antarctica, by Claire Keegan.

A Dublin purchase (Irish author) from my favorite Dublin bookstore: Hodges Figgis.

These stories were really good. But they're not happy go lucky. Intense moments. Sad lives. With unexpectedly large catalysts.

"Sisters" was my favorite. And "Passport Soup".

Posted by Duff at 12:40 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

April 07, 2009

Big Screen: Sunshine Cleaning

Very enjoyable. Certainly the most worth seeing of the movies I've seen recently. And I think it would stand up to higher standards as well.

While it's being marketed as another psuedo comedy, as with indie peers such as Little Miss Sunshine and Juno, it's really a much deeper movie than that. Much more concerned with the little miseries of our day-to-day lives and how much greater an effect the bad things have than the good.

In other words, you take one small step towards improving your life, it helps a tiny bit and then just one little bad thing happens and KABAM you are five steps backwards. A very realistic look at that place of struggle between "doing OK" and "not really doing OK at all" or "barely hanging on" where so many people are stuck. It was so topical and seemed very true to that moment (moreso really than Little Miss Sunshine in fact).

Amy Adams and Emily Blunt were believable as sisters not just in appearance but in attitude and we both really enjoyed it. Although T did ask on the way out: How many movies with "Sunshine" in the title are these people going to make? And are they all going to have Alan Arkin as the dad? :)

Posted by Duff at 08:09 AM | E-Mail | Comments (1) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

March 13, 2009

Poetry: For All We Know, by Ciaran Carson

Bought in Dublin, baby. An Irish poet my Dad introduced me to a few years ago when we were trading packages of "here's some of my books you should read" recommendations, and I read (and told you about) one of his translations when I was home for Christmas a year ago. I was so excited to go into Hodges & Figgis (a GREAT bookstore in Dublin), stroll over to the irish authors section, and find a HUGE selection of his stuff. It was hard to choose what to buy!!!

I chose this one and I think I did well. A collection in two parts, a man and a woman, a story told, and then retold, mirrored from one part to the next, intertwined with other events. I read it several times over several days, and still want to go back for more. Certain images and themes repeat over and over again, with different details ringing in your head. Little moments, expanded, then contracted, then expanded. These were lovely poems and my regret is I didn't buy another book of his when I had the chance. I'll be searching out more, you can count on it.

(For those of you poetry scares off, these were very accessible. Readable even without pondering of the deeper layers, and the repeat images, and then connections tethered and severed...)

Posted by Duff at 12:26 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Short Stories: Delicate Edible Birds, by Lauren Groff

I enjoyed her debut novel last year. Then I got one of the stories from this book in my One Story subscription (which I highly recommend you treat yourself to. It's cheap, it's good, and it's just one story. EVERYONE can make time for one story!!). I was so excited to see this collection come out and not one bit disappointed. Very, very good. Better even than her novel! My second favorite book of the year so far. Such an impressively wide range of characters and timeframes and situations and... And really, I cannot recommend these stories highly enough. They were all completely individual (sometimes a problem in short story collections), and completely engaging, and original, and UNEXPECTED. I'm in awe.

Posted by Duff at 12:22 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Mystery: SweetHeart, by Chelsea Cain

The follow-up to HeartSick, already out in paperback in Dublin, YAY! Just as totally fucking CREEPY and TWISTED and DARK as that one was. And just as damn good. Eeeeck!

Posted by Duff at 12:15 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Mystery/Thriller: HeartSick, by Chelsea Cain

So incredibly creepy and gross and horrible and UNPUTDOWNABLE. Do not read this at home, alone, at night, in the dark, in a creeky house. I warned you.

Really horrible and icky and TOTALLY ENTRANCING.

If you like Hannibal Lector-type stuff, well, this kept me entertained even moreso than those. Freaky!!!

Posted by Duff at 11:16 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This book was just outright fantastic. FANTASTIC!!! Highly recommended.

An epistolary novel (sigh. I have such a weakness for those!) relating the story of young writer who finds herself corresponding with a group of Guernsey natives, learning of their experiences during the German occupation. Charming, poignant, moving. It's romantic and sad and just really really lovely.

Best book I've read this year, hands down (and although I read it in January, I still think that now in March when I'm finally telling you about it).

Posted by Duff at 11:06 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

March 08, 2009

Wrapping It Up: Favorite Books 2008

My Favorite Ten Books of 2008 Were:
(in chronological order of my reading, with links to my Snip reviews)

• Native Guard, by Natasha Thretheway (poetry) Unlike any poetry I've read before.
  
• The Complete Stories, by David Malouf (stories) My fave Aussie writer. He can write from ANY viewpoint.
  
• The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff An excellent first novel.
  
• Lush Life, by Richard Price This guy can write dialogue like no one else.
  
• Dark Roots, by Cate Kennedy (stories) Another Aussie. Succinct but intense.
  
• The Likeness, by Tana French Follow-up to one of my favorite books from last year. So.Damn.Good.
  
• Dead Boys, by Richard Lange (stories) Engaging, unexpected and truly original.
  
• Iodine, by Haven Kimmel Possibly her least accessible book. Dark.
  
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson Spooky pasts. Dark and twisted.
  
• Tender Morsels, by Margo Langan So good. Poignant and brutal at the same time.
  

And if you'd like to hear more ruminations on things I read last year, you can check out the full year-end wrap-up post over here.

Posted by Duff at 05:22 PM | E-Mail | Comments (1) | Permalink | filed under Best of..., Books, Lists, Readin', Recommending

March 03, 2009

RIP Bill Holm.

A Minnesotan and a Icelander.

A poet. An essayist. 2008's McKnight Distinguished Artist of the Year.

Author of one of my favorite travel/experience books EVER!!!: Coming Home Crazy.

And Barton Sutter sums him up poetically: "Tis also a gift to be complex and ornery / with a house full of music / cigar smoke and whiskey / and Icelandic sagas / preserved by farmers / for nearly a thousand years."

Posted by Duff at 10:22 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, R.I.P., Recommending

February 07, 2009

Fiction: Black & White, by Dani Shapiro

A very intense book about a messed-up mother/daughter relationship with lots of cool photography stuff to boot. I doubt anyone with knowledge of 20th century photography can read this without thinking of Sally Mann's photographs. (However, while Mann shot all three of her children, the photographer in the book concentrates only on the one daughter.) It was sometimes a tough read (my overly enhanced Piscean empathy gets me way too involved in fictional conflicts!), but I thought it was completely engaging and I may have stayed up until 3 a.m. finishing it. Really loved it.

Posted by Duff at 08:48 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fantasy: Tender Morsels, by Margo Lanagan

Soooooo good. I've recommended short stories by Lanagan to you before (here or here), and I believe this is her first novel. I will be eternally in Marrije's debt for introducing me to such a great author.

This is earthy, dark, bitter, spiky, sexy and tactile. It's also sweet and loving and tender at times. The bad is often quite brutal, often in metaphor, and the good is quite poignant.

I was a little surprised it was classed as YA. Certainly the fairy tales of our/my youth flirted with just as much danger. But I don't remember them being as powerful. Perhaps if I re-read them today, I would find myself gripping the book like an anchor and crying through chapters as I did here. But I doubt it.

So Good!!!

Posted by Duff at 08:31 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

December 28, 2008

Big Screen: MILK

Soooooo good. Outstanding performances. Sean Penn is just as good as people are saying but I was especially impressed by James Franco. At the end, they show the actors vs. the real people they were portraying? And holy crap the casting and styling on this movie were just PITCH PERFECT. Really well done, poignant and moving, but funny and crass at times as well. Not that I know much about Harvey Milk, but it seemed they were very true to who he was, and those funny quirks that make up a person.

And then you come out of the theater and think "So where are we with gay rights now, in 2008, some 30 years later? Well, let's see. We just outlawed gay marriage in a shitload of states, including some where it was already legal. That ain't a step forward." And then you feel even MORE depressed than the movie may have already made you over an untimely death.

What a Fucked Up World we are living in.

Posted by Duff at 12:30 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

Fiction/Mystery: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

Really entertaining. In the beginning the focus is split and I started to wonder when the two stories would come together, but the payoff when they did was pretty great. Dark and twisted, totally intense mystery. Loved how it was finally figured out. So many well-drawn characters and spooky pasts to think about. Very cool.

The title is a bit of a misnomer. That person exists, but the tattoo is very little to the point. But that may have been picked by the publisher as apparently Larsson died shortly after turning in this manuscript (and two others).

Posted by Duff at 11:42 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

December 23, 2008

Lyrics of This Shitehole Day

It takes more than fucking someone you don't know to keep yourself warm.
-Frightened Rabbit "Keep Yourself Warm"

Yes, from this album.

Posted by Duff at 09:21 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Listenin', Lyrics, Recommending, Tunes

Best Album I Wasn't Listening to Until Now

So back in June, I started listening to this song "Backwards Walk" by Frightened Rabbit that was on a Paste sampler. By August, I had become officially obsessed with it; thus its presence on my Dragon*Con mix.

Yet somehow I kept forgetting to check out anything else by this band. WTF is wrong with me? Then a week or two ago, I start, as is my usual December pasttime, reading through all the year-end lists so nicely compiled by Large-Hearted Boy. And I start seeing Frightened Rabbit everywhere... And I look at my iPod and wonder "Do I have anything by them? Why Yes. OH? THIS IS THEIR SONG!?!" And then they popped up on Heather's (Fuel/Friends) year-end list and I knew I had to get my lazy butt in gear.

Frightened Rabbit "The Midnight Organ Fight" = best album of 2008 that I didn't listen to until December. And I totally regret that. But at least I'm listening to it now. It's damn good.

Posted by Duff at 08:39 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

November 16, 2008

Big Screen: Quantum of Solace

Heart-pounding. Exhilarating.

Maybe a few too many scenes with his shirt on though. "Honey, it has blood stains on it. Let's just take it off. Hmmm, yes, that's better."

Posted by Duff at 11:15 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

November 12, 2008

Favorite Song of this (Typically Shite) Afternoon

"I'm Not Over" Carolina Liar

(Thx, Sil.)

Posted by Duff at 03:25 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

November 11, 2008

DVD: Street Kings

Solid, enjoyable, super violent (a + to me) good cop/bad cop flick. Great performances from both Keanu and Forest Whittaker, and lots of interesting bit players I wasn't expecting, such as Adrian Corbett very effectively playing slime (would you have expected that of "Aidan"?) and Chris Evans also very impressive (first time I've ever thought he was actually ACTING in a movie and not just sort of playing himself or "any guy"). (And FYI "House" fans, Hugh Laurie is also present.)

I can only guess why this didn't do well in theaters (was it even in Chicago for a whole week?): it's one of those "been done" stories. Very reminiscent of Training Day, among (many) other movies.

Connected DadReaction: Similar to what Dad has reported back about the latest Ed Norton/ Colin Farrell flick "Pride and Glory". Good flick, good performances...but may suffer from the fact that it's not a "new" story.

Posted by Duff at 04:44 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

DVD: Green Street Hooligans

So.Frakkin.Good.

Admittedly I only watched this so I could determine if the Hottie from Sons of Anarchy is actually a good actor or not. Fortunately the answer is YES.

Also? This movie is AWESOME.

Elijah Wood = also good. Bar conversation/friend scenes = great. Fight scenes = soooo well done. Revelation of "The Major" = super.

Totally compelling. Couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

Posted by Duff at 04:39 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

October 22, 2008

My Evening with Kevin Smith / Big Screen: Zach and Miri Make a Porno

7:30pm - Already in line for Zach and Miri an hour from now (ridiculous).

7:31pm - But turns out pomegranate jelly bellies are addictive. So there's that.

7:43pm - This is worse than the Battlestar lines at Dragon*Con. And no twins here to keep me company.

8:35pm - Oh shit Kevin Smith is actually going to be here!!

[Viewing Zack and Miri Make a Porno]

10:31pm - Kevin Smith Q and A is making me very happy!

10:37pm - Someone just asked "Kevin, did George Lucas step on your balls about Star Whores?"

10:43pm - Kevin Smith used to be a Front Wiper. I do not jest. [Until Harley Quinn's birth when a nurse told him he should be doing it the other way!]

10:47pm - His next movie* is so bleak "it makes Dark Knight look like Beverly Hills Chihuahua."

11:12pm - Rosario Dawson was supposed to play Miri. [They moved the timing of filming and that made it conflict with "Eagle Eye" so they had to find someone else relatively last minute. But Elizabeth Banks is actually perfect in it (my opinion AND his) so it worked out great. Per Kevin: "She really grounds the movie."]

11:24pm - Kevin Smith's all-time fav porn title: "Jerk my cum crayon and color me white."

*Next movie = Red State. Described as him finally finding a way to talk politics. A political horror film. Not funny at all. Having trouble finding financing.

Explanatory:
At Chicago Film Festival to see Zach & Miri. Often there are directors and/or actors who take Q&A afterward but it's generally noted in the program. This one didn't say so but surprise surprise. So sad my dad couldn't be here to see this!!! If you don't know: Kevin Smith LOVES doing Q&As. If you've ever listened to a SModcast or watched one of his An Evening with Kevin Smith DVDs, you can pretty much imagine how a) awesome and b) funny this was. And also how insanely comfortable he is talking about any and/or every personal detail of his life.

Other random quotes that I didn't actually twitter:

Ben Affleck on viewing Jason Mewes' nude scene: "You realize Mewes is just one pump away from full liftoff, right?"

Personal note to Ben from me: Are you just maybe kinda jealous because Jason Mewes is so smokin hot in this movie? [I'm so not joking. Skinny and his hair all clean cut? And damn those shoulder tattoos are AWESOME.]

After talking about Red State and saying "Sorry for bringing the whole room down", someone started their question with "Not to bring the whole room down again" and KS yelled "So Don't!" and tried to move on. Turned out the dude wanted to ask him about the whole "how're you doing on your diet thing?" [What a dick.] KS wasn't necessarily "happy to" but he, in his usual brutally honest way, did respond and chat about it. But the best part was when he pointed out "You know, some skinny motherfucker always has to point out how fat I am!!!" And the whole audience looked at the questioner disapprovingly! Ha!

And the movie?
Lots of fun. Totally crude and nasty and gross. And soooooo funny and very sweet and romantic. Honestly, the last five minutes, even with the Dutch Rudder jokes, were so touching. YAY!!! [And I don't even like Seth Rogen.] Also Darryl from The Office? is HYSTERICAL in this. Brandon Routh was a total Tom Cruise doppelganger. So much so it gave me a little doubletake each time. A great night at the movies. The flick alone made me grin like an idiot. And then Kevin Smith's appearance just sent the evening over the top.

*Bliss*.

Posted by Duff at 08:53 AM | E-Mail | Comments (1) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Random Quotes, Recommending, Watchin'

October 12, 2008

Fiction: Iodine, by Haven Kimmel

If there is one author I would want to be, if I were an author, it would be Haven Kimmel. I've read and loved her previous novels (here and posts from June 26, 2004 and April 13, 2004 on this page) AND her nonfiction/memoirs (here and the post from April 24, 2005 on this page). When I saw a new Kimmel in the window of the bookstore on the way home, there was no question I was stopping to buy it, regardless of my many grocery bags.

This one is a bit darker than you may be expecting. While her lead characters are often girls in crisis...generally they are girls finding a way out of it. This book is about a girl who may not even know she's in it. But we the reader certainly do.

While Trace and her haphazard life sucked me in just as powerfully as Kimmel's other characters have in the past, this was a more distressing read and a very intense one. Academically somewhat dense, with rampant literary "nods", and mentally unsettling.

If you liked Sharp Objects or My Sister's Continent (April 16, 2006 on this page), I think you will find a way in to this book. But it may be a tough read for the faint of heart.

Posted by Duff at 02:33 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Short Stories: Dead Boys, by Richard Lange

This was our September challenge book and it was so nice to be reading short stories again after slogging through the Musil in August.

These are not happy times stories. Someone in every story is lost (physically, mentally or emotionally), or lonely, or angry, or ... or they've come to the end of what they can handle or find their way around.

For some characters, their searching leaves them in a better place than where they began, but never the perfect place. But for some, the story's end is further down a road they never should have been on in the first place.

Really engaging. Unexpected. True and original. Unlike stories you've read before. In a very gritty down to earth way.

Posted by Duff at 02:17 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin', Recommending

October 02, 2008

Twiggy Teens cover Fleet Foxes.

And it's sooooo goooooood.

Posted by Duff at 05:31 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

Dangerously Sad, Beautiful Song

Head yourself on over to Fuel/Friends and check out the Ryan Auffenberg song she posted yesterday.

Ouch.

If I start crying at work this morning? So.Not.My.Fault!!!

Posted by Duff at 08:59 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

September 28, 2008

In Concert: Great Lake Swimmers

I've been waiting a long long time to see this band. As I may have mentioned.

What can I say, a month later when I realize I never wrote this up? They're Canadian. They're in that whole current vein of mountain-y lookin' men (Sea Wolf, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver); except that unlike those bands most of the singing is done by just the one dude. (And they have more albums out, been around a bit longer.) Their songs are lush and dark and deep and layered. And lovely. Did I mention lovely? :)

I thought the crowd was a bit more idiotic than normal; I would make such a great bouncer as I would escort people out for yelling stupid things and being morons and talking too fucking loud during quiet songs. Perhaps that shall be my next career (if you haven't heard, I may be on the lookout for one).

They sounded gorgeous. I'd go see them again in a heartbeat.

Posted by Duff at 06:40 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

September 22, 2008

Big Screen: Tropic Thunder

So hilarious. Brilliantly satirical.

Two things alone are worth the price of admission:
1) The fake previews, ESPECIALLY the RDJ/Tobey Maguire one; and
2) Tom Cruise's performance. He deserves a fucking Oscar for that. I thought I was going to start crying, I was laughing so hard watching him during the closing credits. The boy may be totally and completely insane, but you've got to give someone credit who's willing to put it all out there like that.

If you need to know more, you can re-read the DadReaction to this flick.

Posted by Duff at 05:49 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

September 21, 2008

I am now officially obsessed with Mumford and Sons.

They were absolutely brilliant live last night. Here is their myspace and here is their profile page on Raw Rip and if you sign up for Raw Rip you get 10 free downloads so you can download all five songs they have posted there.

Lovely british boys. Lovely!

Posted by Duff at 10:33 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

September 09, 2008

Fighting the end of summer like a toddler you're trying to put down for a nap.

Pick yourself up a copy of Shwayze because this is summer lovin' music of the best kind.* Windows rolled down, sand between your toes, cruisin', stereo cranked. Totally ridiculous rhymin' lyrics ("Light 'er up, light light light 'er up, like it's 1985 and we're high as fuck"), bouncy bouncy beats. This would also be perfect rollerskating music. Just so you know.

Reminds me of what is probably my all-time favorite summer* song "More Bounce in California" by Soul Kid #1.

It's true what they say: sometimes a girl just wants to have fun.

*Or it is TO ME which is all I am concerned with isn't it.

Posted by Duff at 02:27 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Lyrics, Recommending, Tunes

August 22, 2008

Getting PSYCHED for Monolith.

I know, I know, I'm getting so old and cranky, I seem to mostly regret festivals afterward....but I just couldn't resist the lineup for this one PLUS the bonus of visiting Colorado friends, staying for free, drinking beer, playing with puppies... Yeah yeah yeah.

Anyway, one of the BIG reasons to buy a Monolith ticket is to see The Avett Brothers, who technically I SHOULD have already seen since I had tickets to their House of Blues show in Chicago (least favorite Chicago venue) but I blew it off during a horrific w-0-r-k week.

Check out the video Alicia posted and the live performance Heather posted and I mean... OK so maybe they're a little more country than what you usually listen to? But they are also maybe a little more awesome than what you usually listen to. Yay yay yay! Can't wait!

Posted by Duff at 07:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Recommending, Tunes

August 21, 2008

Fantasy: The Hob's Bargain, by Patricia Briggs

Another - typically as you might expect from who the author is - completely entertaining, engrossing fantasy novel.

Dear Ms. Briggs,
Every book of yours I read just breaks my heart a little bit more than the last one. The characters are so enticing; smart and funny and strong and so many other things that you wish people were in your real life. I just want their stories to go on and on and on...
Seriously,
I want to marry Kith, do you know a real him for me?,
Duff.

Posted by Duff at 12:38 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Letters, Readin', Recommending

August 17, 2008

In Concert: She & Him

Oh yeah, baby, this was a GREAT show. [Minus the opener. I've decided not to say much about openers unless they were really good. My advice in this case: Don't get there early if you're going to see these guys.]

Zoey Deschanel has *such* a lovely voice and she can really open it up much more than you'd guess from the album. It's also got a very distinctive edge to it which really lends itself to this country/folky type of tune. The full band sets often felt like a throwback to June Carter or Patsy Cline. But when she and M.Ward did some one-on-one stuff, it had a more modern feel. Equally entertaining either way, I really liked when they did some harmonizing/trading vocals back and forth. I haven't been able to get into his solo stuff, but I though his voice worked well in counterpoint to hers.

The kind of show you just come out of HAPPY. So happy that you wind up drinking and talking and drinking and laughing and drinking [and eating mini corn dogs and doing karaoke] and getting home with only a few hours to go before the alarm goes off? Perhaps.

If they are coming to your town, they come very highly recommended.

Oh! and they played two new songs that were both really great! Yay!

Posted by Duff at 03:31 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

Mystery/Fiction: The Likeness, by Tana French

Wow. Soooooo good.

A follow-up of sorts to her debut "In the Woods", taking the #2 character from that book and putting the focus on them (and I hear an auxiliary character in this book will be the focus of her third).

Really intriguing mystery, characters that become sooooo real... The descriptions are rich and thick, and the emotions are layered and tangled.

French has just written two of the most interesting, and unusual, mysteries out there.

Posted by Duff at 03:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

August 12, 2008

Current Favorite Album: My Morning Jacket "Evil Urges"

Wow, this album is just great. I wasn't going to buy it, given my lukewarm (or less than) feelings for "Z", but Mariko sent it to me anyway and dang, girl, if this isn't the ONLY thing I want to listen to right now.

Some of it is crazy funkalicious and totally Prince-worthy (or perhaps Michael Jackson when he was good). Other bits are more sexy soul Marvin Gaye jumping in. And there's even some Southern Rock influence ("I'm Amazed"). It's jazzy and funky and I'd have to say downright spirited. Love it. LOVE IT.

And if you haven't bought yourself a copy of Jim James covering "Goin' to Acapulco" off the I'm Not There soundtrack, I'd highly recommend that as well. Him crooning that onstage at the bizarro funeral; his voice just blew me away.

Posted by Duff at 05:22 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

August 05, 2008

In Concert: Earlimart

It's almost dangerous seeing a band you like this much at a tiny place like the Hideout. Dangerous like you might accidentally touch them or start raving about how awesome they are and do they need groupies because you could quit your d-a-y-j-o-b at ANY TIME. (No, I didn't. Ask or quit.)

Mentor Tormentor kept me under its dreamy seduction for many, many months. The new release Hymn & Her is a bit subtler. Sparser in arrangement, tauter.

Comfortable stage banter, lovely harmonies, introspective lyrics. What a wonderful evening.

Note: Opener billed as "Peter & the Rabbits" was actually "The Office" a much buzzed-about Chi-town band. And they were good!

Posted by Duff at 09:49 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

August 04, 2008

Big Screen: The Dark Knight

I liked it a lot, it definitely lived up to the hype for me, which these days is almost harder to do than to just make a decent movie.

• Loved Bale despite his (as always) weird gray all-the-same-length-across the-top front teeth. He continues to invest this character with an amazing sense of grim grief. It was just etched onto his face from scene 1.

• Loved Heath Ledger. Loved. Outstanding performance. Certainly worth the praise it is getting. No question. On the one hand, it makes it even sadder that he's dead now; just think what he could have done. On the other hand, to go out on the back to back performances of Brokeback and this? Wow. Talk about going out on a high note. Overall the performance just blew the fucking top off, but I have to say his mannerisms when he visits Dent in the hospital were just pitch fucking perfect. And when he walks out and is waiting for that last explosion? The move he makes with his arms there? Oh, Heath.

But I thought the last half hour dragged, too much time setting up the Two Face character. If he lived to be the villain of the next movie then it would make sense to me. But since he didn't, it made it feel long. I thought they could have edited some of that down. Yes, I understand that bringing him down was certainly one of the Joker's goals, but I thought the whole bit with the bombs on the ships just lagged. Didn't need it, we already KNOW the things that pointed out to us (or we should) and it just seemed like wasted time. While neither Iron Man nor Wanted made me get shifty in my seat, the last half hour of this had me really feeling the time. There was stuff they could've cut (and I think should've). Coulda been a little tighter.

That said, still tremendous. Super dark and delightfully so. Really a tour de force in the sequels department; takes the first movie and ratchets up quite a few notches. The additions of Ledger and Gyllenhaal really sent it over the top. Kudos. I've seen it twice already, I wouldn't be reluctant to see it again. But then that's nothing new for me and good movies; I am a repeat big-screen viewer and proud of it.

Posted by Duff at 05:10 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

August 03, 2008

Fiction: Absurdistan, by Gary Shteyngart

Mindblowingly fucking hilarous. Truly comedic. Completely non-PC, an equal opportunity satirist taking on everyone/thing. Smart and sarcastic, yet willing to show a softer side on occasion. Brilliant.

In the tradition of "Confederacy of Dunces", but I enjoyed this more. Takes it a few steps further, less bitter, more fun. And in addition to the narrator and (anti-)hero Misha Vainberg, the author himself plays a bit part in this book (from afar), the emigre writer "Jerry Shteynfarb" author of "Russian Arriviste's Hand Job" [Shteyngart wrote "The Russian Debutante's Handbook"]. Poking fun at yourself equally as to others = always fertile ground for hilarity.

This is in no way one of the funniest quotes in the book, but it's emblematic of the general tone: "We give these American schmendricks a map of the world and say, 'Point to the general area where you think Congo is located.' Nineteen percent point to the continent of Africa. Another twenty-three percent point to either India or South America. We count those as correct answers, because Africa, India and South America all start out wide and then taper off at the bottom. So, for our purposes, forty-two percent of respondents sort of know where Congo is."

So the book. Yeah. It's really crude, and often gross, and TOTALLY AWESOME.

Posted by Duff at 11:18 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

July 24, 2008

My Dad.

This is his book.

Posted by Duff at 09:33 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, DadReaction, Recommending

July 17, 2008

Big Screen: Wanted.

Sooooo much fun. Completely exhilarating! Great trip to the movie theater. Very different from Iron Man, but just as completely what I am looking for in an action movie. My two favorite movies of the year so far. No fucking doubt about it.

I LOVED IT. Dad LOVED it. Nipper loved it. Michelle liked but didn't love it. The Chicago Reader hated it (prompting this response from Michelle: Damn! I liked it a little more than that dude. Who apparently doesn't understand the difference between REALITY and a FUCKING MOVIE.).

Where it suffers in comparison with Iron Man:

• The underlying mythology isn't as strong. With Iron Man, it's very clear why he decides to do what he does, what's driving him, it makes sense in a very cause-and-effect way. When he sits in front of the press and says "somehow we've become comfortable with zero accountability" it's like a jolt to your (any actual smart, responsible person's) heart, a direct attack on the fucked up situation of today. With Wanted, it's more smoke and mirrors. A very "In the Name of the Rose" or "DaVinci Code" type background. I mean, that's fine, except that no one ever questions "who's running the loom?" No one ever wonders who's in the background pushing the buttons? The assassins committed to this society BELIEVE the loom is doing it all on its own? (Although in other ways, this does work for me. That whole "secret society buzz" has a very comic book feel to it, so I think it works in the movie, I just think it doesn't work AS WELL as Iron Man's themes.)

• The situation isn't as personal, or it technically should be, but it's not presented that way. While RDJ's character in Iron Man is in many ways someone living a life who just doesn't care, when he does begin to care, it's very personal. His name on the weapons, his legacy, etc. In Wanted, McAvoy sort of falls into things with an extreme lack of knowing what's really going on. Things eventually become personal, but not at first, and they become personal via lies and misinformation that creates a kind of distance from any emotional effect. In other words: Iron Man becomes a MORAL QUEST. Wanted is about a gang of slaughterers. Fun, but kinda sick. Iron Man engages you on another dimension. As my Dad put it: It's probably not good to kill people you don't even know.

• The Hero's Glamour Factor. While RDJ's character may not be on the moral highground to begin with, he's not a frustrated loser working a shithole job and getting blindsided by his best friend either. He's a little easier to fall in love with in that "beginning of the movie, suck you in, make you want to watch him" way. Much as I love Bright Abbott dearly, oh, man, I hated seeing him be the swindler of McAvoy.

Where it SHINES in comparison to Iron Man!!:

• Hello, four words: Female Fucking Action Hero. Jolie* is just as much a focus as McAvoy, or any of the other assassins (even moreso). As Dad points out, "she is a MAJOR part of this movie, her part is outstanding and she's outstanding in it." Whereas in Iron Man while Gwyneth Paltrow is actually good (a rare enjoyment of her on my part), and has great chemistry with RDJ, her role is soooooo sidelines. And very retro, the female "secretary" role, even with sass is STILL the female secretary role. I mean, she goes to the final confrontation in 5-inch spiked heels to stand on the sidelines and shriek in distress. She's good when she's in it but she's so auxiliary.

• The Sets, particularly the Factory. While they make sense in the storyline, Iron Man's modern office buildings and desert caves don't really do as much for me as the sets in Wanted (although RDJ's house is pretty cool). The textile mill/factory is really majestic in a way, I LOVED all the car chases through the El structures and the stuff on the El itself (I love you, Chicago! You're so pretty!). And the train scenes at the end with his dad? And when Jolie drives her car onto it! VERY COOL!

Where both movies are GREAT:

• Effects, effects, exhilarating effects. Even my Dad who is not generally fan of CGI bullet fights (Peckinpah and Walter Hill did it better, OLD SCHOOL, and he will happily talk your ear off about it), even he loved the "fight" scenes in Wanted. How about the final showdown at the textile mill, where McAvoy is picking up other people's weapons as his way to reload? AWESOME!

• Wit, sarcasm, banter. Both movies have enough of this to be interesting BEYOND the effects and the drama and the Super Heroness of it all. Comic relief so you don't become bogged down by the horribleness of some of it.

• The "training" scenes. RDJ in his laboratory with his robot helpers and McAvoy gettin' schooled by Jolie. Like the scene where he's trying to grab the shuttle? And then when he finally does? All done with nice touches of humor.

I could go on (and on...) but believe it or not, I actually have something else to do right now. Shocking!

Need I even say it? Highly recommended. (BOTH)

*And if you enjoy Jolie in this, I recommend you check out Mr. & Mrs. Smith (which I LOVED a ridiculous amount!) as well as the two Tomb Raider movies, because she is great in these mixes of physicality/sass/sex/etc.

Posted by Duff at 02:30 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

July 16, 2008

Recommending Random Sampler Singles

For those three of you who are always asking me for new singles to check out...HERE YA GO.

Paste 39:

• "Love During Wartime" The Main Drag
  
• "Sweet to Mend" Heirloom Projector
  
• "Ships" Tyler Ramsey"
  
• "Fine Line" Little Big Town
  
• "The Story of Benjamin Darling Part 1" State Radio
  
• "Coat Check Dream Song" (Live version) Bright Eyes
  

Paste 40:

• "California Girls" The Magnetic Fields (another song of theirs is also a favorite this summer)
  
• "Gravedigger" Willie Nelson
  
• "Shout" De Novo Dahl
  
• "Angel" Joe Rathbone
  
• "Hot Romance" Parlour Steps
  
• "Sing Along" Virginia Coalition (I've been loving this song for awhile now)
  
• "Ghosts of Goodbye" Ford Turrell
  
• "Goodnight" Zox

Paste 41:

• "The Silence Between Us" Bob Mould
  
• "Strawberry Street" Lili Hadyn
  
• "Bye Bye Bye" Plants and Animals
  
• "Punches" by Collin Herring
  
• "Meet Me by the River" Matthew Ryan vs. the Silver State
  
• "I Got a Thing for You" Jim Bianco
  
• "Changing Your Mind" Bob Schneider
  
• "Goodnight Girl" The Nadas
  
• "Old Song" AM

Paste 42:

• "Sing Again" Chris Walla
  
• "Buildings & Mountains" The Republic Tigers
  
• "Nobody Knows" Keaton Simons
  
• "Antarctica" The Weepies
  
• "Rebel Side of Heaven" Langhorne Slim
  
• "Shooting Star and the Ambulance" Pete Francis
  
• "This Girl" Jordan Zevon
  
• "I Keep Faith" Billy Bragg
  
• "Better Things" South
  
• "She Held My Hand" Steven Delopoulos

Paste 43:

• "Graveyard Girl" M83
  
• "Be With Me" Foy Vance
  
• "My Only Offer" Mates of State
  
• "Get on With It" Val Emmich
  
• "Mystery" Ashleigh Flynn
  
• "Late Last Night" Robby Hecht
  
• "Standing Bird" Love Psychedelico
  
• "Jessi Jane" The Whipsaws

And if you need reference points*, we've got:
"Right Hand on My Heart" The Whigs ...sounds like... Springsteen! "Ghosts of Goodbye" Ford Turrell ...sounds like... Ryan Adams! "Bye Bye Bye" Plants and Animals ...sounds like... Arcade Fire! Or Ravens & Chimes! "I Got a Thing for You" Jim Bianco ...sounds like... Joe Cocker! Or Tom Waits! "Old Song" AM ...sounds like... Josh Rouse! "Nobody Knows" Keaton Simons ...sounds SASSY like... Jason Mraz! "Open Fire" Sara Mac Band ...sounds like... The Dixie Chicks! "Standing Bird" Love Psychedelico ...sounds A BIT like... The Dixie Chicks as well! "Jessie Jane" The Whipsaws ...sounds like... Lynyrd Skynrd!

* Note that ...sounds like... is a very loose term that may mean actually SOUNDS LIKE or may mean rather mean "reminds me (and no one else) of".

Posted by Duff at 11:20 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under ...Sounds Like..., Listenin', Rags, Recommending, Tunes

July 07, 2008

Fiction: Lush Life, by Richard Price

A bday present from Carla who must've seen me mention it here. ;)

Price does such a good job of sucking you into each character's point of view. I kept changing who I was rooting for / who I thought was guilty / who deserved a serious smackdown. He is also just brilliant at maintaining the main plotline while also delving into all the little conflicts going on in the substories around it. Every character, every story, every little grouping of people is fully fleshed out and palpably human.

And the dialogue? Holy crap, no wonder they make this guy's books into movies. The dialogue is just spot-on in every scene.

Combine this great book with Minty's recent Coney Island and Mermaid Parade photos and I was missing NYC something fierce for a week there.

Posted by Duff at 05:10 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: Life Class, by Pat Barker

I really, really canNOT understand the reviews for this book: all of which seem to compare it unfavorably to her earlier Regeneration trilogy and some of which I just find ludicrous ("Tellingly, many critics mentioned as their favorite character one with little more than a walk-on—the real-life artist, teacher, and surgeon Henry Tonks, whom they hope to see more of in a sequel". What? NO.).

I didn't think the first half of the book was "slow" as so many have said / I thought the first half was about a bunch of very unhappy people, some of whom are actually happier when the war comes (second half) because it gives their life some direction they hadn't seemed to be able to find before it. Life does move slower when you're unhappy, don't you know.

I loved the descriptions of the art in this book; I could *almost* see the paintings in my mind and I really wish most of them existed. (Similar to how I felt about the paintings in Siri Hustvedt's "What I Loved".)

I found it moving and insightful and while it does continue to crack me up that so many contemporary British writers are often to be found writing about WWI and II (because there just haven't been any conflicts in the world since then, right?) in a way you don't find quite as often on this side of the pond, I think Pat Barker is (and continues to be) one of the best.

Posted by Duff at 05:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

June 28, 2008

Favorite Singalong Songs of the Weekend

Alright, Okay - Ryan Auffenberg

The Ground that We Stand On - Hawksley Workman

Swoon.

Both via Fuel/Friends, my fave music blog.

Get 'em while the gettin' is good.

Posted by Duff at 11:01 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

June 23, 2008

Fiction: The Farther Shore, by Matthew Eck

I'll go back to my initial reaction: Welcome to the new generation of war novelists. Tactile and gritty and completely engrossing.

A bombed-out Middle Eastern city. An isolated military unit. Sand and desert winds and sweat and dehydration and confusion. The byplay between fear and confidence.

While it is what every good war novel is...it is also something of its own. Highly recommended.

Posted by Duff at 05:24 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

June 12, 2008

In Concert: Sea Wolf

This show was sooooooooooooo good. Dramatic and intense and thick and layered. Cascades of sound. LOVED it. I listened to almost nothing but this album all of December and most of January; I was so happy to hear it live.

Other than the 6'2" dude in front of us wiping out (passed out? fell? who knows?) -- and causing me to fear for my safety in my summer dress up chunky high sandals (like if he falls any closer to me, I might break an ankle trying to get out of his way!) -- and then being carried out by his friends in a big commotion it was a great night.

And bonus: the hilarious byplay between the tattooed, muscle-y lead guitarist (as opposed to lead vocalist) and the skinny, 12-teen bassist. For ex., every time the bassist had to shake the tambourine, the lead guitarist would keep looking over and smirking at him like "Ha ha young'un', you're stuck with the tambourine!" I thought I might be imagining the whole thing but then TL leaned over and said "Are you catching the teasing going on up there?" Oh yeah, it made them even cuter.

Posted by Duff at 09:19 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

June 09, 2008

Fiction: War with the Newts, by Karel Capek

Our June challenge book.

Really sharp political/societal commentary. First section is really rollicking fun. Second and third, a bit darker. Sometimes very sad.

Poignantly predictable, in a way, given world history now in 2008, but probably less predictable and more predictive in its time (first published in 1936).

Loved it.

By the way, Capek is the dude who came up with (created? originated? whateva!) the word "Robot" (in his play R.U.R.). This is also the first book to cause some random stranger to come up and talk to me on public transportation IN MY LIFE and given that I have 5 yrs in Chitown and 13 yrs in NYC reading on public transit every work day, that's saying something.

Posted by Duff at 04:37 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, Readin', Recommending

May 28, 2008

In Concert: The Long Blondes

per my drunken Flickr review:
Kicked Ass.
Openers sucked.
Venue was empty.
Crowd was weird.
Band Rocked.

Highly recommended that you see them live. Some songs almost a combination of Berlin (swoon) and early Madonna. Really great. Would love to see them again with a bigger crowd.

Posted by Duff at 08:51 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

Big Screen: Redbelt

A David Mamet script PLUS Jujitsu? Come on now, people, you can't go wrong with that one. Really compelling interesting story. Really cool fights (woot).

A lot of good performances here (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen (unexpected), Alicia Braga), including one from Emily Mortimer (whose character undergoes one of the biggest transitions), and a really great one from Max Martini (yum), whom you may recognize from The Unit.

I'll tell you what. He, Dean Winters and Tahmoh Penikett need to do some kind of brothers/mafia/cops movie together. Ah, that would be wonderful.

Posted by Duff at 08:26 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

Big Screen: Iron Man

A full Family Reaction even featuring the extremely rare MomReaction!! (No, we did not see it together.)

DadReaction: Eye popping effects, but with a lot of character. And not so effect heavy that you lose the humor as in some action movies. Downey is really great here. He's a stronger character as an actor and so much more entertaining than, say, Spiderman. Christian Bale brought a lot of grimness to Batman but Downey is very funny, lively and self deprecating. Really uses his wise ass attitude so well here, and it makes the idea of a superhero movie so much cooler. His and Paltrow's characters attraction feels very real, even though it's an under the table sort and they dance around it. Jeff Bridges was good too.

MomReaction: There's a really topical social edge to this movie about collateral damage and what you do to the world, what weapons do to the world. They don't hide behind the story: War is bad. Guns are bad.

GirlReaction: Fanfuckingtastic. Everything you could want in an action movie AND MORE. Lovedlovedloved it.

Posted by Duff at 08:22 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Flicks, MomReaction, Recommending, Watchin'

May 24, 2008

Fantasy: Dragon Blood, by Patricia Briggs

Burning through fantasy in the offhours while reading this month's challenge book.

The follow-up to Dragon Bones. Equally rewarding, if not more so for getting to spend more time with these characters.

She's currently my favorite fantasy writer and I cannot recommend these (and the Mercy Thompson books) enough.

Posted by Duff at 05:17 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fantasy: Dragon Bones, by Patricia Briggs

Burning through fantasy in the offhours while reading this month's challenge book.

I've recommended her modern day fantasy to you before. Now I can highly recommend her more traditionally set (you know that whole medieval-type, middle age-sort of world that so much fantasy is set in; similar to the worlds of Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, among others) fantasy as well.

LOVED this book. Absolutely loved. In love with Ward, with Oreg, completely sucked in by the myth and the magic. Beautiful. Some kinda icky torture (physical and psychological), that just makes you care even more deeply about these characters. Wow.

Posted by Duff at 05:14 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: Belong to Me, by Marisa de los Santos

The second in a (somewhat loose) series about Cornelia (and, now, Teo). I liked the first book, but didn't love it. I LOVED this one.

Less Claire in this book, although still importantly part of it. Dev was a great character, scenes with him really shone.

Easy, natural conversational tone that just sucked me right in, I could barely put it down. Laughed with it, cried with it. Ouch. Friendships, families, what makes them, what breaks them. Many similar themes to the earlier book. But, in my opinion, much better written and handled. Definitely a step up.

Recommended.

Posted by Duff at 04:29 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

May 14, 2008

Album: Jesse Malin "Glitter in the Gutter"

I've mentioned this album a few times (here, here, and the single here) but in case you weren't paying attention...

Great lyrics, insistent rhythms. Sometimes plaintive, sometimes demanding. A little Springsteen feelin' (he even sings on a track). A little Eagles soundin' (particularly the chorus of "Aftermath": "Standing on the corner, watching people walk on...") and he definitely has a little Southern Rock twinge to him (listen to his pronunciation when he sings "From the desert to this love-stained town, I still find comfort in the underground..." in "NY Nights"). He's a bit more rockin' than the average dude on my "melancholy boys" playlist...sometimes a bit more mad. ;)

Two to three months later (March purchase) and it's still in pretty constant rotation. It'll take something seriously magical to knock this out of my 2008 Top 10.

Posted by Duff at 09:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

May 06, 2008

Big Screen: Leatherheads

Beautifully filmed in lovely golden light. Completely charming. If you haven't already, you'll fall for George Clooney all over again. His Girl Friday-type snappy dialogue. Laurel & Hardy-esque physical comedy. Great soundtrack. Really lovely.

Ditto everything my dad said. Highly recommended.

Posted by Duff at 03:01 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

May 02, 2008

Cover of the Day...and Some Other Recommendations

"I Should Have Known Better" - She & Him (Zoey Deschanel & M. Ward)

Beatles done alt-country style. Sweet. Zoey D = the next June Carter Cash?

Other singles (but not covers) I'm diggin':

• "She Loves Everybody" Chester French
  
• "Tick of Time" The Kooks
  
• "Roadway Hymn" La Rocca
  
• "Heart of Mine" Peter Salett*

*So I've been rewatching Keeping the Faith lately. So what. You SHOULD be too.

Posted by Duff at 10:05 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under " " of the XXX., Flicks, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

April 13, 2008

Short Stories: The Complete Stories by David Malouf

The March selection in Dad's and my reading challenge. I had read a few Malouf novels so this was one of my suggestions.

LOVED it. [Both of us did.] Had no idea going in, but the dude is a MASTER of the technique and these are certainly some of the best stories I've ever read, and probably the best overall collection. [Dad might not be QUITE as nutty about them as I am.]

Seems he can write from any angle, any point of view: young boy, middle-aged woman, loner, popularity queen, happy, sad, criminal, just. The atmosphere is rich and vivid (and reeks of Australia, I could feel myself there again). The language is thick and layered and sensual [reminded Dad of D.H. Lawrence stories]. Really beautiful. In many stories, a BIG event has taken place "offscreen" (never to be known), with the focus on the human reactions and following chain of effects.

My favorite stories were: "Every Move You Make", "The Domestic Cantata", "Sally's Story", "Great Day", and "A Traveller's Tale".

Highly recommended.

Posted by Duff at 02:42 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin', Recommending

March 18, 2008

Recommendation.

I didn't even realize that Anthony Minghella was the director of one of my favorite guilty pleasure films and yes although I do love The English Patient (one of the rare combinations where I love both the film AND the movie) and yes I thought Matt Damon was great in The Talented Mr. Ripley but no that's not what I'm talking about.

Mr. Wonderful. Rent it. It's sweet and funny and Matt Dillon is completely irresistible in it and William Hurt is as icky as ever and it's got New York City and bowling and big Italian family scenes and (sort of) karaoke and all kinds of good stuff. And I have already seen it oh 78.9 billion times. I'd happily watch it again tonight.

Posted by Duff at 03:59 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending

March 06, 2008

America the Beautiful

There's so many people doing Blurb books these days, it's hard to keep up. Some I've discovered via Flickr, some via the blogs, and some just by browsing the Blurb bookstore.

You haven't seen America until you've seen it like this: Tiff's Big Ass Road Trip.

Really great photos of rocks and waterfalls and cemeteries and insane asylums and fall leaves and glaciers and abandoned boats/houses/castles and...lots more.

Posted by Duff at 09:21 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Art, Recommending

In Concert: Griffin House

When I saw him in November, it was at Old Town, which while a lovely place to see people with great acoustics has a bit of a formal tone, it being a music school and all. This time he played Schuba's, a casual hole in the wall, ready-for-raucousness joint, and the difference between this night and that one was how comfortable and casual he seemed on stage, how much fun he seemed to be having. Bouncing around the stage, yelling at people to dance, making sassy comments, more stage banter and more relaxed. Both nights the sound was equally good, the songs were wonderful and I loved it. This time, HE was having more fun.

Sassy, smart, sweet, and, as I may have mentioned, h-o-t hot.

By the way, Steph, so sorry you weren't there, he played two new songs. One: "Colleen" ("a song written to make you blush!") all sexy-sassy and another "Run to Me". Wow. Can't wait for the next album to come out!!!

MK commented he had a Springsteen vibe going on. The feel of the show reminded me of Bob Schneider. Either way, awesome.

Posted by Duff at 08:11 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

In Concert: Bon Iver

I had only heard three of Bon Iver's songs before this show, but "Skinny Love" is such a beautiful lovely piece of music that I would've bought tickets based on that one alone. He's a bit rougher in concert (as many people are), but also a bit more atmospheric, his voice and the music swirling around above you. Getting great harmony support from two backing dudes. Haven't heard falsetto used this much or this well since probably Jeff Buckley, and I never really fell for Buckley the way my other friends did.

Small intimate show at Schuba's, really great place to have seen him. Everything sounded just beautiful. Often quite sad and heartrending, but beautiful.

Posted by Duff at 07:43 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

March 05, 2008

Big Screen: Cloverfield

Totally fun, exhilarating monster movie! Kind-of reminded me of "Signs" / one of those "you think it's going to turn out to be psychological or Blair Witch-y but No! There are actual monsters! Yay!"

Now that I've seen it, I think the EW review was way off-base. The video backstory totally sucked me in and made me care about these characters. Very effective use of mostly little-known actors. Great New York destruction scenery. Thrilling, scary, (occasionally gross,) and awesome. I loved it. (My dad did too.)

Posted by Duff at 10:56 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

Fiction: "The Good Soldier Svejk" by Jaroslav Hasek

The February book in Dad's and my reading challenge.

Eastern European classic, Dad bought it years ago based on a Kundera recommendation. Total farce, hilarious comic novel. Bumbling anti-hero, a miserable idiot...or is he? Really a lot of fun to read. The never-ending "Well that reminds me of" stories and the contretemps...just indescribable. We both loved it. Humbly report, sir...

Somewhat in the tradition of Don Quixote or Tristram Shandy, although Svejk is a bit more self aware than DQ.

Posted by Duff at 10:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin', Recommending

Fantasy: "A Princess of Roumania" by Paul Park

Bitter, dark, magical and mysterious. Couldn't put it down!

Fans of Justine Larbalestier or Margo Lanagan would like this, I would think, although Marrije said she couldn't get into it the first time around.

Posted by Duff at 10:13 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

February 14, 2008

Fantasy/Mystery: "Iron Kissed" by Patricia Briggs

This is book #3 in the Mercy Thompson (mechanic, shape shifter) series and I am just LOVING these books. Loving, I tell you. (I told about the first and second ones last year.)

The mystery is a little bit closer to home. The relationship situation comes to more of a head. Things are fiercer and gentler all at the same time (the mutual realization in the car was just handled so so right) and I'm just chomping at the bit to read more, more, more about these characters. Not a false note anywhere. Now where will the final decision take her? Write the next book soon please, Ms. Briggs, because these three are going to be threadbare by the time that one comes out and I'm ready for it now!

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Short Stories: "You Must Be This Happy to Enter" by Elizabeth Crane

I've told you about this author before. She was in my favorite books of 2006 and you'll find brief reviews of her two previous collections if you search for "crane" on this page.

This collection shares some qualities with the previous two (her writing is still "breathless" and "exhilarating" as I mentioned there). Some of the stories still feel like they take an experience and just pinpoint EXACTLY how it feels: as if she reached right into your life and wrote down for everyone what you were thinking but couldn't put into words.

But I think there's an evolution here as well (and I mean that in a good way). They're less in a girls' world (or one girl's world in the case of the second collection) but more "a girl out in the world" if you know what I'm sayin. There's some spot-on societal criticism (the reality show digs are priceless!). There's a bit more fantastical-ness than there was before (I'm thinking of "Manny" and "Blue Girl", they feel imaginative in a different way). There's a letter that is, indeed, all the best things you would want to say to an yet to be born and/or adopted child. And there are relationshps that, while being just as insightful as in her previous collections, have some sense of growth, some sense of "who you are, even while in a relationship, that is not defined by that relationship" in a way I didn't notice before.

When you're reading someone who's published 30 novels and been well chronicled and gone through their different paths to the road they're on, it's a different feeling. You know "oh now I'm reading from THIS time in her writing" or "oh yes this is when she tried out THIS". It's not quite as revelatory as when you're reading someone who's early on in their writing career, still somehow fresh and new, and you start thinking "hey, wait this feels....different. this feels....further on." Years from now, I think I'll look back and say "oh yes, the third book. That was a different place. A new path." Or, an evolution. For this reader, anyway.

I particularly LOVED "Donovan's Closet." And "Blue Girl." And "Promise" just leaves me completely heartbroken with the beauty of it. But again, in the good way.

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February 09, 2008

Poetry: "Native Guard" by Natasha Trethewey

LOVED this book, a Christmas gift from my Dad who saw her read once at the UND Writer's Conference.

The first section is poems about her mother. They're elegaic and beautiful. There's love mixed with frustrating memories. There's grief. Really wonderful.

There's a section of poems that imagine things from the point of view of the (unfortunate) black soldiers in the Civil War. They're unexpected and insightful. A history you or I could never experience, fully come to life. Wow.

And in the last section she explores her own history, mixed in to her parents' lives, as a child of two races in a disapproving world. Returning home, both physically and emotionally. Remembering, and now understanding in a different way.

Really, really lovely. Highly recommended.

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January 10, 2008

Wrapping It Up: Best Movies 2007

1. Grindhouse
2. Juno (and here and here as well)
3. A Mighty Heart (Knocked down a notch by Juno, but really great and I wish more people would have seen it.)
4. No Country for Old Men
5. American Gangster
6. Control
7. Blackout
8. In the Valley of Elah
9. The Bourne Ultimatum
10. Gone Baby Gone (In retrospect, and in comparison to others, this movie moved further up the list than I originally felt)

But there were lots of other movies I enjoyed as well, and you can read more about that here.

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January 08, 2008

Wrapping It Up: Best Books 2007.

My Favorite Six Books of 2007 were:

• "Winter's Bone" by Daniel Woodrell (fiction)
  
• "Love Is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield (memoir/music)
  
• "The Used World" by Haven Kimmel (fiction)
  
• "Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work" by Jason Brown (short stories)
  
• "Remainder" by Tom McCarthy (fiction)
  
• "Freddy and Fredericka" by Mark Helprin (fiction / really, really funny)

But there were lots of other books I enjoyed as well, and you can read more about that here.

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January 04, 2008

Big Screen: Atonement

Beautiful.

Breathtaking.

As faithful to the book as possible, given that it's a film (is that not self explanatory?). Great performances. Nostalgically lovely to look at (1940s. Ah.). As (momentarily) romantic and sexy as can be...and then as heartbreaking and painful and... And it's really that good. Cee thinks so too. As she points out, the "incidental" music...is just great. The staccato typing? Wow. The back/forth juxtaposition to resolve disparate points of view? Done so well.

And by the way, the book? ALSO THAT GOOD.

Keira Knightly. James McAvoy. Joe Wright (director). Well fucking done.

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December 19, 2007

Fiction: "Incendiary" by Chris Cleave

Very intense! A stream-of-consciousness letter to Osama (yes the Bin-Laden one) from a (lower?) middle class wife who lost her son & police officer (bomb defuser) husband to a terrorist bomb blowing up an Arsenal/Chelsea match...which she feels even the worse about as she was having sex on their couch with someone she met in a bar (on a "my husband is off defusing a bomb and I am insanely nervous and when I am insanely nervous I go have sex with strangers" evening) when the bomb went off. She winds up going a little crazy and getting involved in some messed up situations, some beyond her control, and throughout it she continues her commentary, directed to Osama.

She starts the novel thinking if she tells him about her sweet, sweet boy that he killed, maybe he'll just stop bombing things...and ends it in a very different place.

The sentences are long and breathless and meandering (they felt like something Elizabeth Crane or Megan Stielstra would write), the emotions are hot and present and flustered, and it all feels very, very real.

Blew me away, in more ways than one. Wow.

I think some of the social class commentary was perhaps lost on a non-Brit reader; there are a few places where I thought "and I bet THAT adjective is explaining to someone EXACTLY what position she's found herself in but it's not something we say here so it's not really doing that for me." But that did not denigrate my enjoyment or the content at all.

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Fiction: "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennett

The Queen (of England) comes upon a lending library...and starts reading..and it changes her entire life.

This book was an absolute delight. Clever, funny and thoughtful. An excellent treatise on the many things reading brings one.

Slim book, huge margins, huge print. It's a quickie. Really enjoyable.

She'd never taken much interest in reading. She read, of course, as one did, but liking books was something she left to other people. (emphasis = mine)

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December 18, 2007

Big Screen: Juno

I loved it. Yes, as funny as the previews made it look, but really so much more than that. Heartbreaking and bittersweet and some really lovely, deeply sincere moments.

I tried to keep my expectations low considering several much-hyped indie flicks this year that I did not feel were all they were cracked up to be (Waitress and Knocked Up, I'm talking to you). This surpassed even my more optimistic hopes.

I'm impressed. Strong performances, lovely soundtrack. Thumbs fucking way up.

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December 17, 2007

Wrapping It Up: Best Gigs / Best Tunes 2007.

Since I have already gone to all the concerts I'm going to in 2007, I'm sure you want to know which were my faves.

My Favorite Live Gigs This Year:
1. Gomez. Amazing show. But they're low on everyone's 07 radar since they didn't put out an album this year.
2. Travis. So much fucking fun in concert.
3. The National. Just as beautiful as the album.
4. Polyphonic Spree x2. highest energy show you'll ever see.
5. Ben Harper x2. He's amazing.
6. Griffin House. He's hot.
7. The Decemberists. So polished.
8. Midlake. Bewitching.

I have also finished my overall favorite music of 2007 list, which I'm sure is a) far more detailed than anyone could ever want, and b) pretty obvious if you've been reading this site all year. Enjoy.

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December 05, 2007

Modern Commandments.

Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip "Thou Shalt Always Kill" may just have usurped Jonathan Coulton's cover of "Baby Got Back" as my most beloved single. Seriously. Fuel/Friends has the video here and their myspace lets you listen to the song although not download it. Waah.

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December 03, 2007

Short Stories: "Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work" by Jason Brown

Very intense set of stories; it took me a while to realize they were all taking place in the same town, with some recurring characters in the background (references to the same basketball coach, for example).

Subtle and quiet feeling, but the quiet before the storm. Emotionally brutal, sometimes breathtakingly so. Really, really good.

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In Concert: Griffin House

I've mentioned Griffin House a few times in the past (here or here), most recently here, so I was psyched to find he was opening for Over the Rhine the other night.

Better than I could have possibly imagined. A little less twangy in person than some of the stuff on the albums: more "songwriter" or folk-pop than country. Gorgeous sounds, great lyrics accompanied by an adorable smirk on the funny ones, nice stage presence. Cool sense of family and history and heartache and comfort. Really, really enjoyable.

And did I mention he's H-O-T, hot. Yum.

p.s. yes I did run into him in the lobby and yes I did touch his arm and tell him he was lucky he played my favorite song as his encore or I would have... "Killed me?" he said. "Gone out of my mind!" I replied. ;)

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November 15, 2007

Selected Sampler Singles - Paste #35

New (to me) Songs/Artists I'm Diggin:
"None Shall Pass" Aesop Rock (1)
"Our Friends Appear Like the Dawn" Bodies of Water (4)
"Beloved" Minnie Driver (5)
"Bad Graces" Diego Sandrin (7)
"One Man" Eulogies

New (2) Songs by Old Friends:
"Car Crash" Matt Nathanson (3)
"Rumors" Josh Ritter (3)
"Trouble" Over the Rhine
"Black Out on White Nights" Sage Francis (6)
"Darlin' Do Not Fear" Brett Dennen
"Hamoa Beach" (Live) Gomez

from Paste #35.

1-Hmm, I bought this album but not sure I ever listened to it.
2-Or new when the magazine came out...months ago! :)
3-I am diggin' these two big time this year. Lots of great stuff by them out there.
4-Very Polyphonic-Spree feelin'.
5-This song is really kind of surprisingly beautiful.
6-Very atmospheric background. Unusual for rap.
7-Nice and sparse, simple seeming, but pretty unusual lyrics.

Posted by Duff at 03:21 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Rags, Recommending, Tunes

November 12, 2007

Nonfiction: "A Field Guide to Getting Lost" by Rebecca Solnit.

Hard to know how to classify this book. Not really 'travel' although she does go a few places. Not really 'memoir' although there are memories discussed Maybe: Philosophical musings from a personal viewpoint?

Regardless, I loved it. Completely engaging. Calm, yet intense underneath. Asking tough questions. Pondering, considering, studying.

The important thing is not that Elijah might show up someday. The important thing is that the doors are left open to the dark every year.

Not a book about religion, although that quote uses it. But certainly a book about personal belief, personal musings. I really don't lead this kind of contemplative life. But it was an inspiring read.

The chapter "Abandon" about her friend Marine really reminded me of "Truth and Beauty" by Ann Patchett, a memoir about Patchett's friend Lucy, another soul in trouble.

Don't be surprised to see me reading a LOT more Solnit in the days ahead.

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November 05, 2007

Quote of the Day.

“I’ve always been a sucker for sad songs. I can listen to nothing but Slowdive records and be a pig in shit, so I naturally gravitate to writing those kinds of songs,” Bridwell says. [click quote to go to full Harp Magazine interview; link via DJBV.]

I've got nothing but good things to say about the new Band of Horses "Everything All the Time.""Cease to Begin" [doh]. I find the album totally entrancing and it's one of my favorites of the year. But admittedly their songs are not super upbeat. Like their lead singer, I'm more than happy to listen to sad songs and wallow.

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November 01, 2007

Live Via Podcast

If you're not a concert-going freak like myself, but sometimes think "I wish I could hear these guys in concert," then you might want to check out the KEXP Live Performance podcasts as well as NPR: All Songs Considered which recently has had a couple great live shows, such as The National, which was very similar to what I heard them do in concert (other than the live energy and the fact that you would have to turn a podcast up very VERY LOUD to have it be like being there in concert). KEXP had Band of Horses recently which I was psyched about since they are playing Chicago two nights in a row and I AM WORKING BOTH NIGHTS so I can't go. Stupid j-o-b, always interfering with my real life priorities!!! One of them (um, yeah, I can't remember which! Bygones) did an Okkervil River live podcast recently that was good, too. It was a much more raw show - more like dudes playing in a smokey bar than in a concert hall - a bit rough and tumble, and a few too many fans in the audience that wanted to make their presence known ("I love you, Will!" that's great, moron, a) shut up and b) what about the rest of the band. geez. have some respect). There's also a pretty long interview with aforementioned lead singer/writer/etc. Will at the end. I'm going to see Stars tomorrow night and I think I have a pretty good idea how cool and atmospheric their show is going to be after listening to their podcast with interview (KEXP or NPR? can't remember!) where they talk about how much more important they find it to set up a real stage show/presence now that they're playing to larger crowds.

So, in conclusion, if you can't make it out to shows, or you can't manage to get tickets the way I can here in Chicago (something I haven't really gotten over, there are very few shows here where I haven't been able to if I wanted [there is the rare show where I decide I just can't go and then don't try to buy them], and the only two I really remember are ones where I was an idiot and forgot that the tickets were on sale...), both NPR and KEXP are posting pretty solidly representative live podcasts. So you can go to the concert in your own living room or on your ipod on the El train. Woot. Check what they've got available for September/October and you should find all the ones I mentioned (as well as others).

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October 24, 2007

Selected Sampler Singles - Paste #34

New (to me) Songs I'm Diggin:
"The Underdog" Spoon (not new today, but this sampler is where I first heard it)
"White Dove" John Vanderslice
"Put a Penny in the Slow" Fionn Regan (folksy, rolling guitar)
"Better People" Xavier Rudd (oh man this is so reminding me of something but I just can't quite put my finger on it...)
"Parsons White" Phonograph
"Black Skies for the High & Mighty" Wrinkle Neck Mules (straight up country)
"Postcard from Kentucky" Rocky Votolato
"Oh Mary Don't You Weep" Mike Farris (can I get a witness?)
"I Believe" Peter Searcy (anthemic)
"If You're Gonna Leave" Emerson Hart (melancholy)
"Run" Renee Stahl (a little like Eliza Carthy)

Old Friends:
"Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe" Okkervil River

from Paste #34.

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October 23, 2007

Mystery/Fiction: "In the Woods" by Tana French

It would be a big surprise to me if this novel isn't in my Top 10 at the end of the year. LOVED IT. Really good. Sucks you right in, keeps you spellbound, and I stayed up way way way past my bedtime finishing it as I was close enough to the end I just couldn't go to sleep without finding out what happened!

Two murder detectives, close friends, draw a chilling case with very few reliable leads. And it seems it may be related to a case from years past, of three children disappeared into the wood, two gone forever, one returned with no memory of the events. That returnee being one of the two aforementioned detectives.

Told first person from Rob (Adam)'s point of view, extremely seductive stream of consciousness. As the case becomes more and more personal, his life gets more tipsy turvy...

Everytime I picked this up, I just wanted to sit and read for hours on end. Excellent!

(p.s. When I saw this in the bookstore, I couldn't remember where I'd heard of it. Then I realized it was in Jessica Jernigan's "recommended" column. )

Posted by Duff at 09:43 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

October 19, 2007

Chicago Film Festival: Control

Dir: Anton Corbijn
Actrs: Mostly fairly unknowns (Sam Riley = awesome!!), with Samantha Morton as Deborah Curtis.

A biopic of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division, the remaining members of which became New Order after Curtis' suicide. Based on the biography written by his wife, Deborah. Reading up on details in various places, sounds pretty true to events, with some scenes/dialogue obviously imagined due to lack of other people in the room.

Corbijn is protesting in interviews being known only as a "rock photographer" although I'd say the skills of a rock photographer add greatly to the filming of this story. Regardless, it's beautifully filmed in black and white, does a good job of showing the extreme bleakness of the surrounds, where they grew up, Curtis' mental and emotional bleakness. Pondering whether either a) the side effects of his epilepsy medication made him not take the medication thus leading to more (and more?) epileptic fits on stage or whether b) he was indeed regularly taking it leading to more and more depression, paranoia, etc. The scene where the drugs are prescribed and the extreme lack of medical knowledge at the time around epilepsy was pretty scary. (Is it better now? One has to hope so.)

If not for Curtis' suicide, you feel like you could be watching a movie about the early Stones or the Beatles. The music business was such a different animal, even in the late 70s when JD was getting their start. You see the evolution not only of the band, but of their manager and record company.

Some of it is just maddening, particularly the events that appear to lead directly to his suicide. Basically couldn't handle being married and a father at his young age (they got married at 17 or 18, had a kid around 22, suicide at 23), was involved in at least one extramarital affair, (although I think the movie may have trimmed out other affairs for time), but prospect of wife divorcing him over him a) being unfaithful and b) stating to her that he doesn't love her anymore! makes him completely despondent. Yet, he's having an affair, so... Classic case of digging one's own hole, yet his mental state left him completely unable to handle it or face up to his own actions. Interesting to see events in his life tied to songs writtenly shortly thereafter ("She Lost Control" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" particularly).

Great acting here. Actors playing the band play the music themselves. If you liked Ray for Jamie Foxx's incredibly Ray-like interpretation, or Walk the Line for a similarly incredible performance by Joaquin Phoenix, you should see this. Although Sam Riley's voice is much higher than Curtis', the band does a more than credible job of interpreting the songs and it all feels very, very real. Thought Riley did an incredible acting job, as well as Samantha Morton playing his wife and Alexandria Maria Lara playing his other love Annick (she's breathtakingly gorgeous).

In my own "rock history", given that he committed suicide in 1980 when I was whatever, fucking young as shit, I knew the music of New Order much better, became a huge fan thanks to my friend Pete freshman year of college who was the first person to play New Order for me, as well as The Replacements, and so many more bands that certainly owe some musical debts to Joy Division. Even today, bands like The National, would their lead have considered a rock career without having heard similarly low-voiced Ian Curtis, one has to wonder. Curtis was a big Bowie fan early on, there are lots of other bands up and coming alongside them (the Buzzcocks, hilarious bit in the film about the name; The Sex Pistols), and watching the movie just made me need to go home and sit down in front of the stereo...

New Order site lists showings around the country. Go! Highly recommended. Might want to bring kleenex.

Posted by Duff at 09:20 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

October 11, 2007

Have I mentioned

just loveloveLOVING the new Band of Horses album?

Oh, Yes, I have. I do. Yes.

Posted by Duff at 10:07 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

October 08, 2007

Chicago Film Festival: Blackout

Dir: Jerry LaMothe
Actrs: Mostly unknowns (to me) but a few familiar faces such as Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Saldana, and Saul Rubinek.

This movie was EXCELLENT. Completely compelling. I turned in my ballot with a 5 and I hope it gets a major distributor. Excellent even though the print we watched had a HUGE time code along the bottom of the screen (blocking about the bottom fourth of the screen) and no credits at the end.

Focuses on the New York City blackout of August 2003*, details the events in one Brooklyn neighborhood, particularly focused on the tenants of one apartment building and the workers at one hair salon. (Based on true events from the blackout, but believe the specific particulars are fictional.)

Really really great. Great acting, great pacing, great suspense, great passion and concern... Loved it. Both thumbs way up.

*hello, I was there! that was my last night in New York and I wound up sleeping on a couch in Manhattan unable to even get to my apartment in Queens!, and walking up and down many sets of stairs in complete darkness, and going for a very scary walk on the dark streets trying to find Amy...

Posted by Duff at 10:20 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

Fiction: "The Used World" by Haven Kimmel

Just as insightful and heartbreaking and tender and comic and genius as you should expect from a Haven Kimmel book. A story of three woman, connected and disconnected in ways only known to one of them. Spirituality, and friendship, and family, and love. And pain, and guilt, and when can one forgive, and when is forgiveness off the table. Small-town America, with all its aches and pains. And particularly the pangs of those more worldly who live in it.

Quite, quite lovely. Kimmel is an automatic "buy in hardback" for me at this point.

Posted by Duff at 10:01 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

September 26, 2007

Death and Faith.

I got an email from a friend telling me her Dad died, and it reminded me that Madeleine L'Engle died recently and I've been meaning to recommend a specific book of hers.

While I dearly dearly love the Wrinkle in Time books, and there are a few of her adult fiction books I enjoyed also (A Small Rain, A Severed Wasp), my all-time favorite L'Engle book is from her "Crosswick Journals" 'set, Vol 4. Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage.

A large part of the book is about her husband dying of cancer, and her struggling with her faith to "make sense of" or deal with that without falling back on either the nonsensical "why god why" or the equally (to believers in the concept of Free Will) nonsensical "God must have had a reason." (In a world operating under Free Will, God is not a puppet master.)

It was a really lovely book and helped me when I was dealing with a death that hit me particularly hard, given the specific circumstances.

I reread the Wrinkle in Time books a few years ago during Harry Potter mania, to reconfirm that I did still love them even though I didn't love (what I tried of) Harry Potter. They are more like both C.S. Lewis (faith-based fantasy) and Phillip Pullman (lovelovelove), and Meg and Charles are very beloved characters (by me and, of course, many others).

RIP Madeleine L'Engle.

RIP Papa Auta. I am sad I'll never meet you when I finally make it to New Zealand. Your daughter has been such an important part of my life.

Posted by Duff at 05:46 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, R.I.P., Recommending

September 24, 2007

Netflix: Eulogy

This movie is HILARIOUS. Side-splittingly funny family farce. Along the lines of The Royal Tennenbaums, but less dark (despite it being funeral-focused). Ray Romano and Hank Azaria are funny, as expected, and Debra Winger is really funny, playing against type. Loved it.

Lots of completely inappropriate, non-PC humor, which is really the best kind, right? Everyone knows that the only gay relationships that work are between people of the same height. Or Azaria having told his daughter (Zoey Deschanel, so sweet) that her mom died when she was young "from being a social worker who cared too much." (Turns out she was actually a porno actress.) Too funny.

Posted by Duff at 06:52 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

Nonfiction: "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer

subtitle: "A Story of Violent Faith". KC gave me this for Christmas and it's proably something I would not have bought on my own. But daaaammmmmn is it good. Following several crimes committed by Mormon "Fundamentalists" (those who have broken away from the "mainstream" LDS Mormon church), it goes through the history of Mormonism itself, the philosophy of many of the breakaway sects, interviews with current members of regular Mormonism, fundamental Mormonism, as well as "apostates" (excommunicated members), and members who ran away from it all (Run! RUN FAR!!!!!).

It is incredibly researched and extremely well written and I could barely put it down long enough to go to sleep at night. Completely compelling reading about crazy, scary people. Extra kudos to Krakauer for including the rebuttal from the LDS Mormons (who aren't really the FOCUS of the book anyway) and going through it point by point to either acknowledge errors or alternately say "Nope, I am right on that."

Extremism in any area of life (religion, adventure, etc.) is not necessarily something I'm interested in, but it's so well written, it was well worth reading.

Posted by Duff at 11:54 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

September 17, 2007

Big Screen: In the Valley of Elah

Intense and sad, and yet a very quiet movie. Things happening beneath the surface for many of these characters. A couple things about the mystery that I felt weren't explained quite right / didn't sit quite right. But makes its point quite well: the war isn't just happening "over there." The soldiers bring it home with them.

And if you were paying attention at the beginning, the message at the end is very clear: We are a country in distress. No doubt about it.

Really great performances by Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon. And a couple of the "unknowns" playing the soldiers really did well in their parts. Very impressive filmmaking.

Posted by Duff at 09:21 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

September 11, 2007

Fiction: "Day" by A.L. Kennedy

A war veteran finds himself acting as an extra in a film about the war...and finally finds himself back in a place he understands. A place where he can finally come to terms with his war experiences, his regrets, his hopes...

What an amazing book. Just as Kennedy's last novel "Paradise" took me so much into the mind of the alcoholic main character that I could practically taste the alcohol on my tongue, this book brings you into a completely different world, yet just as fully. Alfred's experiences in the war (WWII, by the way), and the bonds he formed then, and the emptiness he's felt since...

I found it extremely powerful and moving. It's the third Kennedy I've read, the third I've loved. To think that the same author could write so movingly on such different themes...truly awe-inspiring. She ranks right up there with Pat Barker and Ann Patchett for me -- three of the greatest living authors of our time.

Posted by Duff at 09:32 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

In Concert: Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals

What an amazing show. Blew me away. Can't really put it into words. Ben Harper's amazing voice, and his truly remarkable guitar skills, and his completely awe-striking mastery of so many musical styles... His band is polished and professional but can still rip it up. There were loud rocking moments, and rollicking funky moments, and Marvin Gaye sexy moments, and quiet heartbreakingly beautiful moments. They're promoting their new album "Lifeline" (with possibly the most lovely title song of any album in recent history) and I think it may be their best one yet. Highly recommended, both the album and the show.

Posted by Duff at 09:27 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

September 04, 2007

Big Screen: The Bourne Ultimatum

Fan-fucking-tastic. The car/and other transport chases were awesome, the fights were breathtaking. Loved it.

Posted by Duff at 09:50 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

August 29, 2007

Wow, Earlimart is bewitching me.

I'm listening to the new Earlimart "Mentor Tormentor" while I am trying to catch up on book reviews tonight, and this album is completely entrancing me. It's so lilting and melodic and calm yet building. The vocals are lovely. Wow. What a pretty album!

I've mentioned their previous album ("Treble & Tremble") to lots of people and just gotten a blank stare. I listened to that one quite a bit, but I don't remember there being as many male/female trade-offs in the vocals. There's a folksy, country twinge to this band, but they're less rhythmic than most country, and the harmonies feel thicker/stronger (and more pop) than most folk.

Now I wish I would have bought tickets to see them (tomorrow at Schuba's) but I know I really don't have the energy anyway (and I knew looking at my calendar, I wouldn't, which is why I didn't buy them when they went on sale a few months ago). Eh bien...next time.

For now, I will turn off the lights and listen to this loveliness and dream myself into another world...

Posted by Duff at 08:45 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

Fiction: "Run" by Ann Patchett

Since this book doesn't come out until October in the US, I was very excited to stumble upon it in Belgium. It's not that long of a read (it didn't even last me the entire plane ride from Brussels to Philadelphia), but it was a really rich, satisfying read that has stayed with me since.

One of my favorite reading "things" is when unrelated books you read in short periods turn out to be thematically linked; they become a matched set to me / a good "pair." As with "The Buffalo Soldier" which I read a week earlier, this is a story of racially-mixed adoption (white parents/black child(ren).

What truly makes a family? What makes a mother? How important are the physical links? Do the emotional ones replace them? Can your hopes and dreams for other people ever STOP hindering them / stop hindering your relationship with them when they don't work out?

This was just really lovely. I think I've now read all Patchett's books. I'm on the bandwagon. Leading the parade. They're all really different than each other; they've all got at least one breathtaking, beautiful moment. This book had several. Run, Kenya, run...

Posted by Duff at 08:34 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: "Seven Types of Ambiguity" by Elliot Perlman

Technically this was my vacation reading but since I didn't want to carry it on the plane with me on the way back, I didn't finish the last few pages until a few days after I got back thanks to the luggage screwup.

Ginger loves this book and had recommended it to me several times. Finally she just sent me a copy. Wow. Somewhat like another book I read recently, or a movie like "Memento", as each chapter unfurls, something takes you by surprise. Yet UNLIKE say the current show "Damages", the things that happen unexpectedly MAKE SENSE and are not blindsiding you. You weren't expecting them, or you might not have predicted them, but it's one of those books where things unfold in such a neat way... You have to keep reinterpreting your previous conclusions as you go.

Carrying the torch of a love long lost can lead one to do things you wouldn't expect. Yes? No?

It's a big, thick one. It takes a bit of time. But it's worth it.

Posted by Duff at 08:29 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

August 27, 2007

SModcasts: Side-Splittingly Funny

If you found Clerks, Clerks 2, or Jay & Silent Bob to be just downright fucking hilarious, then these podcasts are for you. If you like the "Evening with Kevin Smith" DVDs, these podcasts are for you. If you can sit through 45 minutes of really blatant grotesque sex and slime talk, these podcasts are for you. I had to download them for my Dad, Kevin Smith's biggest fan, and after hearing his rave reviews of SModcast #2, just started listening to them myself.

Too dangerous to listen to on the El because other passengers think you are a freak when you bust out laughing over what's playing on your ipod. These would brighten even the darkest horrible days. So funny.

Posted by Duff at 07:41 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Podcasts, Recommending

August 09, 2007

Fiction: "Taft" by Ann Patchett

I think this was the only Patchett book I hadn't read yet. What the hell was I waiting for? (Woman needs to write me something new!) I LOVED it. The lead character's voice totally sucked me in. His longings and his fears and his reality... It all rang true. His tenderness and his sometimes hesitations... The atmosphere at Muddy's. The rain. Palpable.

A great book. I think she's one of the best writers out there right now, and in terms of female writers, she's right up there with Pat Barker and A.L. Kennedy. Would love to see something new. Just talked to my pops, she DOES have a new book out!! "Run". Heading to the bookstore now!!

Posted by Duff at 06:01 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: "Remainder" by Tom McCarthy

Very cool and mysterious book. Really takes you a place you're not expecting. Man severely injured in an accident he can't even remember receives an 8 million pound settlement. The way he sets about spending the money...is not anything you could ever dream up. Wow. Intricate and extremely plotted, the general evolution of his plan was quite spell-binding. I really didn't want to put this book down.

Ultimately I felt this was a book about control, with the main character the boy version of the girls from, say, "An Invisible Sign of My Own" or "Sharp Objects".

Posted by Duff at 05:43 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

July 31, 2007

Current Favorite Band: The National.

I am so in love with this band right now, I can barely talk about it without getting choked up!

Stay out super late tonight
Picking apples, making pies
Put a little something in our lemonade
And take it with us...

The fact that I had never listened to them before Boxer, their AWESOME current album, just goes to show that no matter how much music you listen to, and how many magazines & blogs you read, and how much you think you are paying attention, there is always something GREAT that slips past your radar.

As the summer went by, I kept picking up random mentions of them everywhere (as i mention here) and then Paul mentioned them as well, and I got home, listened to maybe three of the iTunes 35-second samples, and I was ALL IN. Just like that.

The lead singer's voice is soooo deep and melodius and just downright BEWITCHING. You don't even want to hear anyone else sing after that, all other voices sound so thin. The music is thick and densely layered (you know I'm not a fan of the sparse). Great lyrics. Great mood. Wow. I'm bowled over!

I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain.

I am going to see them live in NovemberSeptember! [Doh!] and I CANNOT WAIT!!

Highly Recommended: "Boxer"
Also recommended: earlier album "Alligator"
Although a lot of the reviews are calling the new one a departure, I felt it was more of a logical progression.

You might need me more than you think you will.

Posted by Duff at 10:30 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

July 11, 2007

Album: The White Stripes "Icky Thump"

So in the past, I have always thought "naw, I don't think so" when a new White Stripes album comes out. Then a few weeks after its release, I start hearing it everywhere and loving it. Then I finally buy it and it becomes completely indispensable to my listening ears. So this time, I bought it right away. Good idea -- 'cause I love it! I mean I LOVE it EXCEPT I HATE "St Andrew (blah blah)". That song just grates on my ears and in fact I believe I will DELETE it from iTunes altogether when I get home tonight so it never accidentally starts playing! Hate. Love. It's always a fine line!

Actually I love this album so much that I think I may finally have found my new AC/DC. You know, that one band in a genre you never ever listen to but you just love that one band so much you listen to it constantly? Because THIS album to me is not rock. It's HARD rock. Metal, almost. I mean, seriously...it rocks. It's loud and sassy and all BEAT and GUITAR and hello is it not hard rock to you?

As close to listening to Headbanger's ball as I will ever be, EXCEPT of course AC/DC "Back in Black" which I did in high school (and still do) listen to full-on over and over. Hello if you went to high school when I did, you young folk, there is no way you didn't know all the words to at least three songs on this album, whether you liked it or not. And it's certainly the only hard rock I was interested in then. (And OK, during high school, I was willing to make out to Whitesnake, but I wouldn't listen to it otherwise.)

So there's two recommendations for you: White Stripes "Icky Thump" = THUMBS UP. AC/DC "Back in Black" = in my all-time Top 10, no question. (Whitesnake = only during heavy petting.)

Posted by Duff at 11:12 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

July 08, 2007

Fiction: "Freddy and Fredericka" by Mark Helprin

I bought this book some time ago and found that I had three Helprin novels on the shelf and had yet to read anything by the man. I'm so glad I finally did as this novel was really lots of fun. Tale of two bumbling oafs in the Royal Family sent off to "conquer America" and stop embarrassing themselves. In the tradition of comedies of manners, or Tristam Shandy. While the subjects, and many of the periphery characters, are soundly mocked, there are also beautiful, poetic, descriptive passages as they make their way through America...very hard to resist a road trip after this one!

There are so many funny moments, and there is also a very tender love story as the Prince and his wife finally come to know each other. There are also a lot of really funny "Who's on first?" moments, particularly when they meet up with politician Don Knott. "Are you x(whatever)x?" "No, I"m not." "No, I'M Knott."

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Posted by Duff at 12:01 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

July 03, 2007

Big Screen: A Mighty Heart

Just completely beautiful and entrancing. Jolie is wonderful (and understated) as Marianne Pearl, and Marianne's humanist message comes through loud and clear. Great performances by many unknown actors as the various Pakistani policemen and other journalists. Totally heartbreaking and gut-wrenching, particularly since you know the outcome going in / you're just waiting for the worst.

2nd best movie I've seen this year. Highly recommended. But bring kleenex!!

Posted by Duff at 09:31 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

June 28, 2007

In concert: Bishop Allen !!!

Yay! I've been trying to see these guys for ages and it's just never worked out. They do quirky, melodius, good-natured pop with fun lyrics and great harmonies.

They put out 12 albums last year, a 4-song EP for every month except August, which had 13 live songs instead. And they were lots of fun in concert!

Are they playing near you? GOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Posted by Duff at 06:38 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

June 25, 2007

Dad Does Movies Too.

My dad had a few days off this week. He went to the movies.

Waitress: He liked A LOT. But as we discussed how he liked it and I kinda didn't, everything he mentioned he liked was a very specific Keri Russell moment. So maybe he liked the film because he liked her so much (and because he was on vacation, he felt that was a contributing factor) whereas I really liked her but was ultimately disappointed that the rest of the film didn't live up to her level.

Pirates 3: He liked it better than the bad reviews (and hello the third movie of anything is going to get slammed, no?). He loved Pirates 1 but thought Pirates 2 was only OK. He said anyone who liked Pirates 1 will like this one as well, some fun stuff. And Keith Richards is great (he is KR's biggest fan).

Mr. Brooks: It's a mess of a movie, there are like seven different (and pretty much unconnected) plots. But there were enough things worth seeing in it that he thinks it's a shame that probably no one will go to it because every review will say "this thing is a mess." He said yes that's true BUT he really enjoyed the Kevin Costner/William Hurt conversations, among other things, and that there are enough enjoyable things that you wouldn't regret going to it.

We were also talking about our recent DVD watches and whether or not to watch the "extras" or "commentaries" and whether or not they're stupid.

He recommends the extras on two specific movies:

Gosford Park: commentary by the screenwriter. Completely entertaining, gives ALL KINDS of extra information, etc. Talks alot about the screenwriter's aunt who was living during that time of changeover from British "realm" to hello welcome to the real world, etc. Very cool.

A History of Violence: commentary by director Cronenberg. Said it was so interesting and compelling that it made you want to watch the movie again right away!

Does not recommend extras on:

Goodbye and Good Luck: commentary by director Clooney [and co-author?I think?]. Said it's totally lame and laughable and doesn't fit the tone of the movie AT ALL and makes you forget about how serious and welldone of a movie it was.

Posted by Duff at 06:09 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under DadReaction, Flicks, Recommending

Fiction: "An Invisible Sign of My Own" by Aimee Bender

I really haven't read many people Aimee Bender can be compared to. As when I read some of her short stories in 2005, her writing is not so much "fantasy" as "writing set in the normal world with fantastical elements." This novel has less of those elements than her short stories do, yet it has the same overall feeling to me.

Mona is a numbers person. Obsessive compulsive, but not in the typical way, and perhaps beyond that. Tender and moving, sad and sometimes scary. Yet ultimately hopeful. Your heart breaks for this girl, with her worries and her need for control and her unwillingness to accept the happy... I would have happily kept reading about her long after the last page.

Posted by Duff at 09:54 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

June 22, 2007

Best Late-Night Burrito EVER.

On Ashland, just south of Division (less than a block), there are THREE places called La Pasadita. Apparently they are owned by three different brothers. They all have a very similar dive-y look.

You want the side of the street with two (the west side) and you want to go to the one that's further south, and you want to order the steak burrito (and then if you're me you want to have someone with you to split it with because it is GINORMOUS and you've already had way too many calories of beer before you got there anyway) and then you are ready to die and go to heaven because you've just had the best burrito of your life.

p.s. this was the second time this burrito has blown my mind. I had to make sure the first time wasn't just a drunken fantasy before I recommended it. oh my buddha, it was even better the second time.

Posted by Duff at 12:21 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Food, Recommending, Remember

June 13, 2007

Netflix: Rumble Fish

Wow, I think it's been 20 years since I've seen this movie. Sometimes you just need a little Matt Dillon in your day.

It's beautifully filmed in B&W with lots of cool shots of clouds and reflections and the coloring-in effect of the fish is really before its time, isn't it. Although technically an 80s flick, it feels like a 50s/70s combination given the sock-hop feel of the stylin' combined with the general 70s vibe, particularly Laurence Fishburne's look. The fight scenes are very coolly choreographed. Diane Lane was just as gorgeous then, was she not? Same year, same director, same author, and some of the same co-stars (Lane, Tom Waits) as "The Outsiders" but totally different feel. As with many movies from back in the day, lots and lots of people you don't realize are in this just popping out of the woodwork.

Other Matt Dillon recommendations: "Mr. Wonderful" (so cheesy but one of my favorite movies EVER!), "Singles" (!!), "Drugstore Cowboy," "In & Out." (And he is quite powerful in "Crash" but I'm hesitant to recommend it as people are always yelling at me about how wrong I am and much they hate that movie.)

Not recommended: "You, Me and Dupree," which I randomly caught on cable last night while pin-basteing (and then BREAKING my quilt frame, but that's a-whole-nother story). One of those "wow, I can't believe these actors are in this horrific movie" experiences.

Posted by Duff at 11:44 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

June 05, 2007

Fiction: "Pippa Passes" by Rumer Godden

Un petit roman about a young ballerina who goes to Venice and blossoms. Sweet and light. But pretty inconsequential.

If you are interested in reading Rumer Godden, an author of some renown although you don't hear much about her these days, I highly (HIGHLY!!) recommend instead both "In This House of Brede" and "China Court" both of which are easy to obtain, in my experience, at any decent-sized used bookstore.

I've told you this before, but FYI the author is the namesake of Bruce & Demi's child.

Posted by Duff at 05:18 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

June 02, 2007

Fiction: "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon

One of those detective stories where the detective is such a slack-ass drunken messed-up dude that you spend half the time worrying about him rather than the mystery (think John Rebus/Ian Rankin).

Takes place in an alternate US where the Jewish refugees from WWII were all settled in Alaska but the district is about to revert to Alaskan control and they will be homeless.

There's rabbi-led Jewish mobsters, chess games, long-standing friendships and broken-up relationships, and bad fathers, and unhappy sons. It's a detective novel with a philosophical treatise buried in the heart of it. Once I got past the first chapter, I really couldn't put it down.

If you loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (and how could you not? That's a GREAT book!), you will surely find this book wonderful as well.

Posted by Duff at 08:14 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Music/Memoir: "Love Is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield

This book sounded so much up my alley that I was wary of it at first. Then I read this review and I KNEW I didn't have to worry about being disappointed.

An elegy to his dead wife. An elegy to the music they discovered and loved together. A tribute to so many bands, some disbanded, some moved on. A foundation for his future. A hopeful look ahead.

The writing is lovely, the music discussions are wonderful. I'm now obsessed with checking out bands I never listened to at the time (Big Star, Pavement), and revisiting ones I did listen to but haven't in ages. I'm replaying mix tapes from high school and college and thinking about old friends and breakup songs and drinking songs and roadtrip songs....

I loved it. LOVED it.

This joins "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby and "The Wishbones" by Tom Perrotta as my favorite music books.

Posted by Duff at 07:57 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending, Tunes

May 10, 2007

Bonus!

If you buy the new Travis album "The Boy with No Name" (and why the fuck wouldn't you? that should really say "WHEN" you buy the new Travis album), you should know that if you buy it on iTunes: you get two bonus tracks! And I am LOVING one of them so I'd say booyah, go for it. More on this totally awesome I am lovinlovinlovin it album later.

Posted by Duff at 07:17 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

April 22, 2007

In Concert: The Decemberists

Fifth concert in seven days, I was super tired by the time this one rolled around, so made sure we got there early enough to get seats. But then the Decemberists started and I forgot all about my tiredness, and the sonic assault I'd just been through, and the travails of the week. They were Tony the Tiger great. Great! SO GREAT!!!

Amazing stage presence, every song sounded gorgeous, some better than what's on the albums. Consummate musicians, clearly good friends. The right amount of serious versus goofy. Great lyrics, great atmosphere. I am officially in love with Colin Meloy if I wasn't already.

One of the best shows of the year. And they're playing a free show in Chicago July 18 if you'd like to crash at my place.

Posted by Duff at 09:51 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

April 13, 2007

RIP Kurt Vonnegut.

His appearance on Jon Stewart last year was one of the funniest things I've ever seen and fortunately for us, you can watch it on the web. In addition, here's the list they refer to in that interview.

He never lost his edge. He never stopped saying the same simple message over and over: War = Wrong.

Can you claim to be well-read if you skipped "Slaughterhouse Five"? I think not!

Who knows if this is accurate, but on Wikkipedia, they cite his own grading of his books, and here are the four he graded highest: "The Sirens of Titan"; "Mother Night"; "God Bless You, Mr Rosewater"; and "Jailbird".

Posted by Duff at 07:15 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, R.I.P., Recommending, Remember

April 02, 2007

Fiction: "Winter's Bone" by Daniel Woodrell

Wow. When Tod Goldberg and Bookslut both recommend the same book, I figure it must be good. I had no idea it would be THIS good. Blown away.

Ree Dolly searches for her father, raises her brothers, protects her mother, takes a beatin'...

Powerfully sad. Powerfully hopeful. Amazing. Soooooo good.

Posted by Duff at 12:30 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

March 21, 2007

Stories: "Black Juice" by Margo Lanagan.

Short stories by an Aussie but sent to me by Marrije since I couldn't find it when I went to Oz.

Some of the most unusual stories I've ever read; one is first-person narrative from the viewpoint of an elephant! All take place in one of those "kinda middle ages/or medieval" fantasy worlds but seem more real than sci fi/fantasy. Reminded me a little of Aimee Bender and how her stories can seem perfectly normal with one random fantastical element (the dude's head is an iron! or, her potatoes grow into babies!).

Really loved these.

Posted by Duff at 10:41 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

March 16, 2007

Current "Song I Can't Get Enough Of"

"Don't You Think It's Time?" - Bob Evans

Sweet, rolling melody. Wistful lyrics.

Don't you think it's time?
Time for easing doubt.
Time for reaching out.
Time to open up your eyes.

You've been on my mind,
Oh you've been on my mind...

Posted by Duff at 10:09 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Lyrics, Recommending, Tunes

March 11, 2007

Fiction: "Black Cat" by Martyn Bedford

Bedford wrote one of my very, very favorite books "The Houdini Girl" which for a long time I thought was his only book; as it turns out, he's very hard to find in the US and in fact I bought this one in the UK.

Mysterious and spooky. A "dowser" (which I would have called a "diviner" but not sure if that's a UK vs. US thing or just a "depends where you heard about it" thing). A myth hunter. A climber. A reporter. A strange quest. A connection made, and then broken.

Really entrancing and beautiful. Some brutal bits. Lovely.

Posted by Duff at 02:58 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Big Screen: The Lives of Others

The German flick that won the foreign language Oscar.

Really, really good. About secrets and trust, and oppression and cohersion. About a sad lonely man who finds himself making unexpected decisions. About figuring out the game. When is one a pawn, and when is one the chess player?

Sad. And bleak, that deep grey institutional graffiti-ed bleakness that you may recall from old books or films you haven't seen in a long time about that particular point in German/world history...

As my dad says frequently, "I miss the Cold War."

Posted by Duff at 02:51 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

March 08, 2007

So Beautiful It Hurts.

Great Lake Swimmers went and released a new album without telling me, can you believe the nerve? Good thing I was dicking around in iTunes trying to find a place to throw money. (Weirdly the release date is reportedly March 27 but since I bought it on iTunes several days ago and it's playing on my iPod RIGHT NOW that is obviously wrong.)

Ongiara is beautiful. Just fucking beautiful.

Posted by Duff at 09:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

March 06, 2007

Tonight's Soundtrack

Hefty doses of "Neon Bible" the awesome new album from the Arcade Fire. Molly, you're right, I LOVELOVELOVE "Intervention" (damn, an organ entry gets me every time!), I also love "Windowsill", love the lyrics of "Ocean of Noise" and oooo "The Well and the Lighthouse" I like that one too. The only track I'm feelin' iffy about is "Antichrist Television Blues" which sounds a lot like Bruce Springsteen to moi.

I'm alternately listening to Neon Bible's 11-songs with a one-song breather in the middle: "Communist Love Song" by Soltero (MP3 linked here), which is making me happy and breaking my heart at the same time (and ain't that just the trademark of truly great songs). It starts out slow, but ends up all in a rush...

If you would stick up for me
In the face of great adversity,
Know that I would do the same,
Know we are the same.

If you would stick up for me,
Speak kindly and poetically,
You can be my personal
Ambassador to the world.

And if you're ever less than certain,
I will be your Iron Curtain.
I will be your Berlin Wall,
And I will never fall.

Posted by Duff at 06:50 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Lyrics, Recommending, Tunes

March 05, 2007

In Concert: Ben Kweller. GOMEZ (!!)

I cannot see Ben Kweller without thinking of Leif Garrett. He's a better musician, but he's got the same hair, and he's got a total 70s poppy sound. He was just as enjoyable as at Lollapalooza even though the mix seemed off (his vocals were LOUD compared to the rest) and the place wasn't very full as he started pretty much right on time (what's up with that. crazy, eh.).

As to Gomez.... Gomez was AWESOME. I have told you a zillion times how much I loved their album last year ("How We Operate"). Seeing them live, you know it wasn't a fluke. Swapping between three leads, great guitar playing, intense moody songs, as well as lighter-hearted fare. Lovely. Really lovely. They've got such interesting (and interestingly different) voices; the harmonies were really great. Highly recommended.

Posted by Duff at 05:07 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

February 25, 2007

DVD: United 93.

I was very reluctant to see this movie...until my Dad hit me over the head with a [metaphorical] 2 x 4, reminding me that the director is awesome...(An earlier flick "Bloody Sunday" is another brilliant piece.) My dad went to it in the theater and recommended it at the time but I never got around to it.

A bunch of the air traffic controllers PLAY THEMSELVES in the movie. Hello, that fact alone should tell you how authentic it is. Really interesting to see how played things out / how the different air traffic centers had to try and piece together what was happening / how the military was trying to piece together what was happening / how the day slowly came together in people's minds.

You're ultra hyperly aware of the whole "hindsight being 20/20" thing the whole time you're watching the film, of course, as knowing the outcome of that day makes even the most innocuous "random people making phone calls at the airport" scenes seem foreboding. Great use of background music in this flick; just enough to set you on edge.

Very powerful. Very moving. Not cheap. Not exploitive in the least. Highly recommended. But, yes, intense. Not for the faint of heart.

Posted by Duff at 12:10 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

February 09, 2007

First Impression of the New Fall Out Boy!

LOVE IT!! Totally sing-alongable. Definitely a little dash of Queen (or My Chemical Romance, hahahaha) thrown into the previous mix of punk/rock/anthem/boy tunes. So far, haven't heard a song I haven't liked.

Posted by Duff at 09:37 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

February 01, 2007

Fiction: "The Eternal Footman" by James Morrow

The third in the trilogy of God's demise that I have told you about several times now.

Not as funny as the previous two / a lot more doom&gloom (appropriately so). Darker, nastier, but more hopeful, in the end? Tough call. Black and sarcastic. And while not as funny as the first two, still pretty damn funny.

Morrow's a genius. And there are still more books of his to read, oh happy day. And here's an interview just chockful of information.

Posted by Duff at 08:06 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

January 29, 2007

DVD: The Warriors.

What a truly, truly great fucking movie and how have I never seen this, given that one of Walter Hill's other movies is one of my top-10 movies of all fucking time?

Loved this. LOVED. Loved the Baseball Furies, and the Lizzies, and the Orphans, and the crowds and the drama and the creepy creepy creepy bottle-tapping taunting. Loved the rollerskating, overall wearing farmboys who get their butts kicked in the bathroom at Union Square. Loved the "West Side Story" feel to some of the "running down dark streets, hoping not to get our faces beaten in" scenes. Loved the stuff on the trains. GO WARRIORS GO! RUN! Loved the DJ's mouth. And her sass. Loved. (She is also in my favorite movie mentioned above. Hello!)

Crazy realization while watching the extras: Oh shit! Now that they're showing him 30 years later, we see that Ajax is....the Richard guy Kim Catrall's character was hooking up with on Sex&theCity! NO WAY!!!

Posted by Duff at 07:41 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Flicks, Recommending, Watchin'

January 25, 2007

2006 Leftovers.

So you may remember me offering up a list of "albums other people had in their top 10s that made me wonder..." as part of my overall 2006 music report. As you SHOULD have expected, I went out shortly afterward and bought all of them, except one that I haven't been able to track down either on iTunes or in physical stores (Hello, Camera Obscura, do you really need to be that obscure?). Here's how I feel about them at this point.

Really REALLY Like:
Ghostface Killah "Fischscale" - great fucking album. GREAT.
James Hunter "People Gonna Talk" - jazzy. awesome. cannot believe it's a skinny white dude singing. close your eyes and you'll be thinking it's Solomon Burke.
Jim Noir "Tower of Love" - Beatlesque goofy love lyrics, Beatlesque sounds. Happy!
The Rapture "Pieces of the People We Love" - I kept reading about this one and forgetting to buy it. Idiot! They're this year's (2006's) Franz Ferdinand/etc. (hello Michelle, that's a note to you [not you, Michele G.!]. I know you get mad when people don't tell you about albums you would like!)

Like (Perhaps a Lot) But Not Top 10ers:
The Mountain Goats "Get Lonely" - this is really quirky and sometimes very quiet & one-man-bandish. But it grows on me more and more.
Josh Ritter "Animal Years" - I don't think it's QUITE that amazing. But I like it. Solid songwriting and musicianship, interesting lyrics.
Neko Case "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" - I really enjoy this album, but I don't find myself wanting to listen to it over and over. Best in separate doses. Don't think she's quite as compelling as, say, Cat Power or Rosanne Cash, two people who albums DID make my list (see link above).
Lily Allen "Alright, Still" - This is a super fun album. She's the British PINK!!! But I don't listen to it that often...because sadly I am an old lady now and its subject matter is a little juvenile. Good lord, did I just say this is too young for me? Oh sad day.

Like Well Enough:
Destroyer "Destroyer's Rubies", Dresden Dolls "Yes, Virginia" and Silversun Pickups "Carnavas" - These albums are all very redolent of Smashing Pumpkins to me and all have similar sounds to my ears. Dresden Dolls is a little Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs with the girl punk feel. Destroyer I liked, but don't get an urge to listen to. Silversun Pickups I like the best of the three, but is so Pumpkin-ish that it doesn't have a standout/recognizable on its own sound to me. So they're all fine, but I only put Silversun Pickups on the Pod and I probably won't be listening to these much.

Didn't Like:
TI "King" - just not the kind of rap I like, I guess (it's not Ghostface Killah, that's for sure). only two songs I outright enjoyed.
Grizzly Bear "Yellow House" - I will try to give this one more listen JUST IN CASE. But first impression was "Eh? No thanks."

Haven't Listened to Yet:
Birdman & L'il Wayne "Like Father, Like Son"
Lupe Fiasco "Food & Liquor"

Have Not Yet Found ANYWHERE:
Camera Obscura "Let's Get Out of This Country" - no idea where I found the single which I bought ages ago, but haven't been able to find this album on iTunes (only their previous one which I already have) nor at Tower, nor at Virgin...

Posted by Duff at 10:55 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

January 24, 2007

First Impression: Shins "Wincing the Night Away"

Like it. LIKE it.

Edgier / less positive and bouncy than their previous outings. More of a downer (more what I like, really). Not until about "Red Rabbits" (song 6) does it start to bounce...and then only momentarily. Don't get me wrong: I love the Shins, bouncy or not. The general feel of this one is less that way.

p.s. and "Girl Sailor" ...SOUNDS LIKE... the Smiths (and Morrissey)! Bonus!

Posted by Duff at 08:33 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under ...Sounds Like..., Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

January 13, 2007

Au Musée: David Hockney "Portraits"

At the National Portrait Gallery (London). One of the best art exhibits I've ever seen (and I've been (dragged sometimes) to Many).

Really truly amazing; blew us all away. Portraits in oil, in acrylic, in pen, in crayon, in charcoal, in photo. Different styles, techniques, formats. Sitters repeating throughout the years; you can see how their relationships to Hockney change and grow, how they themselves change and grow.

What an amazing artist. If you can't get to London, the exhibition book is well worth the price (I paid 35 pounds, so about $70).

Posted by Duff at 02:57 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Art, Live!!, Recommending, Travel

Theater: Pirates of Penzance

A Chris Monks production. The pirates were dressed as '50s mobsters. The Major General's daughters looked ready for yoga (except for Mabel, of course). Performed at a very small theater in the round (the Orange Tree in Richmond [outside London]), but masterfully filling the space with movement and sound.

Really well done: well acted / well sung. Well updated: the present day politics inserted into "For I Am a Major General" were hilarious and the ending ("For We Love the Bard") was just perfect.

Loved it.

Posted by Duff at 02:49 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Theater, Travel

Theater: (Tom Stoppard's) Rock 'n' Roll

Great, great show. Worth the trip to London all on its own.

Dominic West is great. The rest of the cast is compelling. The music (functioning as scene breaks) is a thrill to hear (as loud as if you were hearing it live). The story unfolds as the characters' lives do. Written based on a conversation with Vaclav Havel about a rock band dissenting (in their own way) under communism: the Plastic People of the Universe.

Pink Floyd fans will enjoy the Syd Barrett side story (my mom didn't know who Syd Barrett was of course).

Really well done.

Posted by Duff at 02:47 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Theater, Travel

Fiction: "Blameless in Abaddon" by James Morrow

One of the funniest books I have ever read in my life. If I had underlined every phrase I thought was funny, there would be ink on every page, in almost every paragraph.

The second part of a trilogy that began with "Towing Jehovah." Exploring a world where God's dead body is the hot topic. Incredibly funny, culturally aware, poking fun at every race, age, religion, and stance.

Particularly loved the bits written from the Devil's point of view: The one thing he got wrong was my age. While poets commonly produce their best work in their thirties, and mathematicians typically tend to burn out in their twenties, miscreants tend to be late bloomers. Hitler didn't get around to invading Poland until he was fifty. Ceausescu got the hang of atrocity only after turning sixty-four. I am an eternal seventy-two.

Highly recommended.

Posted by Duff at 02:41 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

January 02, 2007

Best of...2006

Best CDs: I already posted an extensive list of my favorite tunes from 2006. My top 3 albums were Gnarls Barkley "St. Elsewhere", Gomez "How We Operate" and Golden Smog "Another Fine Day."

Best Gigs: I saw a lot of great shows in 2006, including Lollapalooza. Trying (desperately) to narrow it down, I'd say the two tied for "funnest" were Gnarls Barkley and Beck (hello, puppets!). The best was Joan Baez. And runner-up was The Raconteurs on December 30. Sadly I did not keep a list just by 2006, but you can see a (supposedly) comprehensive list of what I've seen live here.

Best Books: [Limiting myself MOSTLY to books published and read this year, as opposed to all the books I read this year.] The best NON fiction books I read this year were "Guests of the Ayatollah" by Mark Bowden and "The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion. The best novels I read were "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell, "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn and "Towing Jehovah" by James Morrow [that one was not pub this year]. The best short stories I read were "In Persuasian Nation" by George Saunders and "When the Messenger Is Hot" by Elizabeth Crane (not from this year either). The best poetry was "Strong Is Your Hold" by Galway Kinnell. You can view the entire list of what I read here and you can read my last mini-reviews here (reviews will be posted to Snip from now on).

Best Films: By far, the best film I saw this year was "The Departed". For drama, I also highly recommend "Inside Man" "The Queen" and I personally loved "Marie Antoinette". For a smaller film "Come Early Morning" was very well done. For comedy "Scoop" and "Clerks 2" were both quite funny, in their own ways. "Casino Royale" was the Best Bond, perhaps ever. And "The Prestige" was a good movie about just how horrifically awful human beings can be. So you'd have to keep that in mind, should you choose to see it. There were other movies I liked also.

I'm pretty good at not going to movies I can tell I'm not going to like, in my old age. I'd have to say "Last Kiss" (yuck) and "Match Point" ("Scoop" is so much better!) were my least favorite movies in the theater this year and "The DaVinci Code" was about how I expected: not good, but not as bad as I had heard. Average. Middling.

For Keanu lovers like myself, there wasn't a damn thing wrong with "The Lakehouse." You can see the whole list of what I saw here or you can view Snip by category "Flicks"; although I oddly forgot to write up a LOT of the concerts I saw, I pretty consistently reported back on movies.

And I've already seen my first movie of 2007 although I haven't written it up yet. Soon! :)

Posted by Duff at 09:25 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Best of..., Books, Flicks, Recommending, Tunes

November 17, 2006

Currently Recommended Reading.

Towing Jehovah, by James Morrow. Sci fi with a religious focus (but you don't have to BE religious to understand the references/jokes/etc.).

Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn. A murder mystery and psychological thriller-type novel, but very much literature rather than "just genre fiction" as some would pejoratively say (probably including me).

To hear more, you can check today's entry on my readin' page. I guess at some point I should move book reviews over here, or post separately after each read, or something, but who knows when/if that will happen. And because I want to "Be Like Jen", I am also posting pictures of recently read book piles on Flickr when I update the readin' page. And yes, I am clearly insane and do way too much stuff in way too many places on the Web. Indeed.

Posted by Duff at 04:31 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

September 29, 2006

KEXP: The Long Winters (8/14)

This is a great podcast. The performances sound good and the banter between the lead and the emcee is just pure hilarity - they've obviously known each other for a long time. If you're a fan of this band, then you need to listen to this! I may have just been convinced to buy their (his, really) new album!

Posted by Duff at 08:28 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Podcasts, Recommending, Tunes

September 26, 2006

Random Recommendation: Scissor Sisters

Good for dancin'. Workin' out. Being happy. Smiling. Bouncing.

Super high-energy. In concert, similar to Gnarls, they suck up the crowd's energy and spin it back out times 10,000.

Their new album came out today: if it's even half as fun as their last one, it'll surely be worth my while. And yours!

Posted by Duff at 02:07 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

September 13, 2006

Have you ever heard anything as gorgeous as this?

Get yourself Joseph Arthur's cover of "There Is a Light that Never Goes Out" (Smiths). Swoon.

And if you like melancholy girls as well as melancholy boys, go get Imelda de la Cruz "Noise, Noise, Noise" which is quite the lovely album. We have a mutual friend and I can't thank him enough for giving me this. Love it.

Posted by Duff at 07:21 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

September 01, 2006

Recommendation.

Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz died this week.

If you haven't read it, I can personally highly recommend his Cairo trilogy: Palace Walk; Palace of Desire; and Sugar Street. I also liked Midaq Alley. Last year I read The Dreams, which was wonderful, although very, very different from his earlier works; a different kind of 'thoughtful.'

Like many intelligent writers who don't let politics or religion determine the content of their fiction, he has been reviled by Islamic Fundamentalists, blasted with blasphemy charges, and was even stabbed nearly to death by one some years ago (in the early 90s I believe).

Fucking Idiot Fundamentalists - they're destructive in every country now aren't they INCLUDING OUR OWN.

Posted by Duff at 08:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, R.I.P., Recommending

July 11, 2006

Today I am here to tell you that Matt the Electrician is fucking HILARIOUS and AWESOME.

He opened for Bob Schneider last night.

Here are some examples of his awesomeness:

• He covered Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield, with a mid song monologue about his Hell's Angel uncle basically beating him up for going to a Rick Springfield concert.
  
• And how beaten up he would have gotten had he bought the only T-shirt they were selling at the concert, a pink tanktop!
  
• He played a song about high school & drinking (prefaced with "This is a true story"), that highlighted things such as Strawberry Hill Boone's Farm and Colt 45. I was only sad that he didn't mention Mad Dog 20/20!
  
• He did several songs on a teeny tiny banjo!

Laugh out loud funny at times. Serene and thoughtful at others.

His blog and tour schedule and discography, etc., can be found here. The blog is sometimes very minimal, but has its own moments of brilliance, such as this:

How funny is he? I love him! Go see him! Great show!

p.s. yes, Bob Schneider was also FANTASTIC but y'all must know about him already...

and p.p.s. you can also buy Matt the Electrician albums on iTunes. seriously. I checked! :)

Posted by Duff at 02:11 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Live!!, Recommending, Tunes

April 27, 2006

New Singles Recommendations.

• "All My Life" DJ Harry (from Wallace/Jackie's makeout scene on Veronica Mars)
  
• "We All Lose One Another" Jason Collett (from the worst show I watch which I am too ashamed to admit to either here or here)
  
• "Waiting for You" Ben Harper
  
• "Reason to Mourn" Ben Harper (looooooove)
  
• "Hands" Mrs. John Soda
  
• "Shuffle Your Feet" Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (hmmm, seem to like every song of theirs I try...)
  
• "I Love a Man in Uniform" Gang of Four
  
• "Bom Bom Bom" Living Things
  
• "Speeding Car" Imogen Heap
  

Posted by Duff at 02:29 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

April 14, 2006

I've never heard of Renee Geyer before.

But hisher cover of Crowded House's "Into Temptation" is really, really awesome.

It's from She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn. Picked up by both Me and Mariko in Australia, but of course.

Crowded House = I can never get enough.

Posted by Duff at 07:02 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Listenin', Recommending, Tunes

February 21, 2006

Just My Style.

Rosanne Cash "Black Cadillac." Turgid and moody, thickly layered, questioning. Love it.

Posted by Duff at 07:13 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Album, Listenin', Recommending, Tunes