{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}
{for May's edition of What I'm Hearing, click here}
Summer months are traditionally good ones for mega pop hits to patrol the radio airwaves, washing out last year's music and replacing it with something fresh to dance to in the warm weather. May saw some of that, with the new Eminem album, Passion Pit and the Kid Cudi mixtapes. But as June comes to an end and we look towards July, it appears that more of that trend will be upon us shortly. While June's iPod update didn't match May's in quantity, it had everything it needed in terms of quality. 67 songs, over 10 artists, multiple genres. Enjoy!
Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.: After "Boom Boom Pow" came out, the Black Eyed Peas ran it into the ground on radio stations, talk shows, award shows and clubs. In fact, as new and futuristic as the song sounded originally, I wouldn't hesitate to say that it has been thoroughly played out at this point, and that was before the album dropped. While the album title stands for "Energy Never Dies," I'd actually argue that it stands for the end of the Black Eyed Peas as we know them. When they first hit the scene in 1998 with Behind the Front, the Peas were an unheard of group making fresh hip-hop. The songs walked that line with hints and traces of pop, but for the most part stayed true to form until they were joined by Fergie in 2003 for their Elephunk release. This addition drew them further away from hip-hop, and now, on The E.N.D., all traces of the group the Peas were are gone. Hip-Hop now forms one of the most minute sections of their music, with pop, dance and electronic taking center stage. But it's almost too much. Will.i.Am's production is amazing, but also fails to bring any sort of coherent thread to the album. He has no problem proving he can do these various genres and mimic them well, but there seems to be no ability to integrate them into an album that makes sense together. For the most part, I wasn't a fan as the album just tries to do more than it can, but "Meet Me Halfway," utilizing a fantastic dance beat and actually showcasing Fergie sounding like a vintage Madonna, is a bit of 80s meets 2009 fantastica. Don't Sleep On: "Rockin' The Beat," "One Tribe," and "Meet Me Halfway."
Camp Lo, Stone and Rob Caught on Tape: Camp Lo has had a rough time of it. After their 1997 release, Uptown Saturday Night, the possibilities for Camp Lo appeared limitless. Their flow was good, the beats were steady, and the retro 70s feel of their songs put them in a niche market of hip-hop of their own. The popularity was growing on college campuses, and then, nothing. While they've had a few releases since, they were sporadic and failed to capture the attention of listeners. They've now returned on a new label with Stone and Rob Caught on Tape, and the sound they bring with them is far different from what listeners of Uptown would expect. The beats are more current and the duo takes on a bit of a harder edge in comparison to the milky flow they used to use. While the long hiatus could have killed the style, Camp Lo has come out on this one slightly changed, but not showing the kind of disconnect from previous music that Black Eyed Peas have. Don't Sleep On: "Diamon Crookz," "Gotcha," and "Ticket 4 2."
k-os, Yes!: When the album begins with "Zambony," k-os's intent is clear. A female voice asks, "Do you have any idea of the chaos you have caused around here? Nobody knows what you're doing!" To which a man responds, "That's exactly the way I like it!" And if his musical career is any example, the anonymity, chaos and ability to make whatever music he wants is exactly what he wants. There are a lot of great unknown acts out there, but I don't think there's a single one with the kind of track record combined with anonymity that k-os has. For those that haven't heard, k-os is from Trinidad by way of Canada, turned to vegetarianism by age 8 and was raised by parents who are Jehovah's Witnesses.
For the rest of this review and the other music I've been listening to this month, click here.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
10 Things to Think About on a Friday
What a crazy crazy week. I took Monday easy and watched a movie, but Tuesday got out to play ultimate (a bummer of a loss) and got to see the Giants finish up stomping on the A's in the Bay Bridge series in Oakland. Before the game, E and I went 3-1 on the Beirut table (beating the one team we lost to in a rematch) and afterwards, he, Dolanite and myself took a trip over to the 7 Mile, where I actually did some karaoke, which, if you know me, is rather shocking. Of course, it wasn't as awesome as seeing Dolanite get serenaded in Spanish by a guy singing Mexican love songs. Now THAT made my week! Of course, it's only Friday, and it's Friday of Pride weekend in San Francisco, no less, so this week is really just getting started. But before you go getting your groove on at Lollipop, your march on at Dolores Park or your dancing on at the Civic Center this weekend, here's 10 things to think about this Friday afternoon.
1) I have mixed feelings on this. This week I saw images for the first time of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Alice is one of my favorite childhood stories and by far my favorite of the Disney movies, so it worries me when they hand it over to Tim Burton. Don't get me wrong, the guy is out there in a mad genius type of way, but I really thought he butchered his remake of Willy Wonka, and that was live action to begin with. There's no telling what he'll do in transferring Alice in Wonderland to live action. The pictures do look stunning though.
2) Gotta love the Republican party. They make a great show of being about family values, marriage and the sanctity of life. Yet then they turn around impede gay marriage, divorce heavily, support the death penalty and run off to do very non-marriage and family value like things. Take Governor Sanford for instance. The man, while taking a 2 week break from his wife so they could strengthen their marriage, instead flies down to Argentina to have an affair. The confusing part? He spent the time they were supposed to be thinking about each other sleeping with another woman, and his wife still said, "He has earned the right of forgiveness." Regardless, I can tell you that Governor Sanford was thanking his lucky stars that his week of shame came the same week as.....
3) Because they always come in threes, we had to watch the passing of three prominent entertainment industry figures, fittingly from the television, movie and music worlds respectively. The week started off with Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's longtime sidekick and Publishing Clearinghouse man passing away. For 30 years he played sidekick on the Tonight Show, and as part of that stint would have to move down on the couch to let the guests sit down. Well, it wasn't two days later that he did have to move down on the couch for Logan Run's star Farrah Fawcett who lost her well-documented battle with cancer. Of course, knowing that they always come in threes, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I didn't know it would be the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, from a sudden cardiac arrest. The man who revolutionized music and dancing and brought generations together had faced hard times in recent memory, but his videos, recordings, music and dance moves will never be overshadowed by what happened at the end. While it was strange, Michael's career created memories and connections that cannot be replaced. Over 50 Million albums sold, including Thriller that contained 7 #1 hits.
4) Of course, MJ's passing brings up another interesting question...that is, what happens to the 50% share of the Beatles' song catalog that he owns? I've always been unclear on what Apple owns vs. what MJ owned, but this article does a great job of explaining the difference between owning the songs and owning the performances.
5) The not-so-good news for stars continued this week on other fronts as well. Turns out Michael Madsen, star of Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and countless other films is flat out broke. Actually, broke is when you have no money...Madsen owes a ton of money. The best part? He makes $50,000 A MONTH and still can't get it together. You have any idea how much you could do on 50k a month?! Another confusing thing. He's been in a ton of Quentin Tarantino movies, and yet owes Tarantino $1,000,000. Aren't the directors supposed to pay you?
6) In tales from Darwinism, this lovely lass was found breastfeeding her child while drunk. You know, there's a lot of things I enjoy doing while I'm drunk, but the idea of an infant toddler biting the hell out of my nipples isn't one of them.
7) We've heard quite a bit about the martyr, Neda, from Iran who was shot during the riots protesting the presidential election. But what did you really know about her?
8) Speaking of that election, news today shows that a cleric from Iran wants to execute the leaders of the protests to set an example. So much for fair elections. But I'm very glad to see Obama speaking out on it.
9) As if one Jar Jar Binks wasn't enough, now we apparently have Transformers from Michael Bay's new piece of shit movie who are racially stereotyped. Good show.
10) And finally, a quote I thought was spectacular from Michael Jackson that fits the theme of Pride weekend: "If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with."
Cheers and take care.
1) I have mixed feelings on this. This week I saw images for the first time of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Alice is one of my favorite childhood stories and by far my favorite of the Disney movies, so it worries me when they hand it over to Tim Burton. Don't get me wrong, the guy is out there in a mad genius type of way, but I really thought he butchered his remake of Willy Wonka, and that was live action to begin with. There's no telling what he'll do in transferring Alice in Wonderland to live action. The pictures do look stunning though.
2) Gotta love the Republican party. They make a great show of being about family values, marriage and the sanctity of life. Yet then they turn around impede gay marriage, divorce heavily, support the death penalty and run off to do very non-marriage and family value like things. Take Governor Sanford for instance. The man, while taking a 2 week break from his wife so they could strengthen their marriage, instead flies down to Argentina to have an affair. The confusing part? He spent the time they were supposed to be thinking about each other sleeping with another woman, and his wife still said, "He has earned the right of forgiveness." Regardless, I can tell you that Governor Sanford was thanking his lucky stars that his week of shame came the same week as.....
3) Because they always come in threes, we had to watch the passing of three prominent entertainment industry figures, fittingly from the television, movie and music worlds respectively. The week started off with Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's longtime sidekick and Publishing Clearinghouse man passing away. For 30 years he played sidekick on the Tonight Show, and as part of that stint would have to move down on the couch to let the guests sit down. Well, it wasn't two days later that he did have to move down on the couch for Logan Run's star Farrah Fawcett who lost her well-documented battle with cancer. Of course, knowing that they always come in threes, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I didn't know it would be the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, from a sudden cardiac arrest. The man who revolutionized music and dancing and brought generations together had faced hard times in recent memory, but his videos, recordings, music and dance moves will never be overshadowed by what happened at the end. While it was strange, Michael's career created memories and connections that cannot be replaced. Over 50 Million albums sold, including Thriller that contained 7 #1 hits.
4) Of course, MJ's passing brings up another interesting question...that is, what happens to the 50% share of the Beatles' song catalog that he owns? I've always been unclear on what Apple owns vs. what MJ owned, but this article does a great job of explaining the difference between owning the songs and owning the performances.
5) The not-so-good news for stars continued this week on other fronts as well. Turns out Michael Madsen, star of Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and countless other films is flat out broke. Actually, broke is when you have no money...Madsen owes a ton of money. The best part? He makes $50,000 A MONTH and still can't get it together. You have any idea how much you could do on 50k a month?! Another confusing thing. He's been in a ton of Quentin Tarantino movies, and yet owes Tarantino $1,000,000. Aren't the directors supposed to pay you?
6) In tales from Darwinism, this lovely lass was found breastfeeding her child while drunk. You know, there's a lot of things I enjoy doing while I'm drunk, but the idea of an infant toddler biting the hell out of my nipples isn't one of them.
7) We've heard quite a bit about the martyr, Neda, from Iran who was shot during the riots protesting the presidential election. But what did you really know about her?
8) Speaking of that election, news today shows that a cleric from Iran wants to execute the leaders of the protests to set an example. So much for fair elections. But I'm very glad to see Obama speaking out on it.
9) As if one Jar Jar Binks wasn't enough, now we apparently have Transformers from Michael Bay's new piece of shit movie who are racially stereotyped. Good show.
10) And finally, a quote I thought was spectacular from Michael Jackson that fits the theme of Pride weekend: "If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with."
Cheers and take care.
Friday, June 19, 2009
10 Things to Think About on a Friday
It's been a busy week. I started it with great results from the exam I took last month, followed that up with two great nights of ultimate frisbee (my first week of two nights since December, a great book club meeting where we talked about Augusten Burroughs' A Wolf at the Table, and dinner with Grandma. Of course, that's just in my life, and doesn't even come close to scratching the surface of the insanity people are out there perpetuating on a daily basis. And here we are once more at the weekend, where celebration and other manner of ridiculosity will become commonplace. But before I saunter out of my cubicle or you take your pants off in your office, here's 10 things to keep your mind occupied before the chow whistle blows.
1) Wanna win $50,000? You can, as long as you can beat this teenager who won the Texting Championships. She only sends 12,000 a month.
2) Obama is stepping in and enacting rules that will require the government to offer Federal benefits for employees in same-sex relationships. However, I have to agree that these steps, while significant, stop far short of what we should be doing for our fellow citizens.
3) This guy came out of nowhere this week to claim that he was the man who disappeared as a child 54 years ago. Guess he should check with his real family first...he failed the DNA test.
4) The new iPhone 3G S came out today. I'll wait for my free upgrade, and use the OS 3.0 for now, but for a full review of the new phone, check this out.
5) Last week, I talked about the upcoming Iran elections, and you have to have lived under a rock to not have heard about the aftermath this week when the country fell into protests and the results are being disputed. You add in a government crackdown on media coverage, and you have a situation not many people can understand. Who do you trust? How about the people on the ground. Apparently, while the revolution may not be televised, it most certainly will be Twittervised, as the US State Department requested Twitter postpone a scheduled maintenance so Iranians could continue tweeting about protests. And, in a show of support to help blanket Iranian tweeters from secret police, people started changing their locations and timezones to Iran this week to confuse people looking at Twitter for arrest purposes.
6) Disappointing film news...incredibly talented actor and Academy Award winner Sean Penn has needed to back out of several films he had committed to in order to work on things with estranged wife Robin Wright Penn. Good luck to them, and I hope they fix it soon, we need him in more movies!
7) Like nudity? What about male nudity? What about Bruno? Well wait no more, here's Bruno in the flesh on the cover of GQ.
8) Remember when a phone was just a phone? Well now it's a canvas for artists as well. Check out these iPhone produced images using the "Brush Strokes" painting application.
9) Will the real Mrs. Doubtfire please stand up? How about this guy, who over the last 10 years or so has impersonated his dead mother in order to receive social security and rent benefits to the tune of $100k? Which crime do you like more? This, or a former professional cyclist getting arrested with 200lbs (yes, I said pounds) of pot?
10) Finally, some things from the Twitterverse that made me laugh this week:
a) "Just caught a couple in the stairwell at work, they were either fighting or dry humping. I've never seen them before so I can only guess." - @dolanite
b) "Oh, nature. I can think of about a million better ways to inform a lady that she is not pregnant. A nice fruit basket would be lovely." - @yowhatsthehaps
c) "That white sun dress leaves little to the imagination. Now entering imagineering phase." - @ahugeproduction
d) "I've got a special half-price offer for ex-friends and lovers today...I'll meet you halfway, as long as you get your 55% done." - me
That's it folks, enjoy your weekend and remember...the grass may not be greener on the other side, but it's very likely to taste a little different.
1) Wanna win $50,000? You can, as long as you can beat this teenager who won the Texting Championships. She only sends 12,000 a month.
2) Obama is stepping in and enacting rules that will require the government to offer Federal benefits for employees in same-sex relationships. However, I have to agree that these steps, while significant, stop far short of what we should be doing for our fellow citizens.
3) This guy came out of nowhere this week to claim that he was the man who disappeared as a child 54 years ago. Guess he should check with his real family first...he failed the DNA test.
4) The new iPhone 3G S came out today. I'll wait for my free upgrade, and use the OS 3.0 for now, but for a full review of the new phone, check this out.
5) Last week, I talked about the upcoming Iran elections, and you have to have lived under a rock to not have heard about the aftermath this week when the country fell into protests and the results are being disputed. You add in a government crackdown on media coverage, and you have a situation not many people can understand. Who do you trust? How about the people on the ground. Apparently, while the revolution may not be televised, it most certainly will be Twittervised, as the US State Department requested Twitter postpone a scheduled maintenance so Iranians could continue tweeting about protests. And, in a show of support to help blanket Iranian tweeters from secret police, people started changing their locations and timezones to Iran this week to confuse people looking at Twitter for arrest purposes.
6) Disappointing film news...incredibly talented actor and Academy Award winner Sean Penn has needed to back out of several films he had committed to in order to work on things with estranged wife Robin Wright Penn. Good luck to them, and I hope they fix it soon, we need him in more movies!
7) Like nudity? What about male nudity? What about Bruno? Well wait no more, here's Bruno in the flesh on the cover of GQ.
8) Remember when a phone was just a phone? Well now it's a canvas for artists as well. Check out these iPhone produced images using the "Brush Strokes" painting application.
9) Will the real Mrs. Doubtfire please stand up? How about this guy, who over the last 10 years or so has impersonated his dead mother in order to receive social security and rent benefits to the tune of $100k? Which crime do you like more? This, or a former professional cyclist getting arrested with 200lbs (yes, I said pounds) of pot?
10) Finally, some things from the Twitterverse that made me laugh this week:
a) "Just caught a couple in the stairwell at work, they were either fighting or dry humping. I've never seen them before so I can only guess." - @dolanite
b) "Oh, nature. I can think of about a million better ways to inform a lady that she is not pregnant. A nice fruit basket would be lovely." - @yowhatsthehaps
c) "That white sun dress leaves little to the imagination. Now entering imagineering phase." - @ahugeproduction
d) "I've got a special half-price offer for ex-friends and lovers today...I'll meet you halfway, as long as you get your 55% done." - me
That's it folks, enjoy your weekend and remember...the grass may not be greener on the other side, but it's very likely to taste a little different.
25 Books You Should Read
As an English Lit major and avid reader, one of the questions I get most often is, "Do you have any books you would recommend?" Um, about 200, but what kind of book do you like? Everyone has heard of and maybe even read some of the "classics," and we all of course have a similar background when it comes to fundamental classroom books like Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mockingbird. However, regardless of the status given these books, I think they fall far short of what I would consider "required" reading, and often fall far short of giving readers an opportunity to discover and enjoy various types of fiction.
In comes this list. I've compiled 25 books that span from straight classics to futuristic Science Fiction and represent what I feel to be the best of what I've read. In some cases I've included multiple suggestions for an author, or a similar book by a different author to provide diversity and a wider range of options. I've tried to be brief where possible with my descriptions, and asterisks next to titles mean that the books is close to or over 1,000 pages. Whether it's due to style, content or the influence a particular book had over a period, these are the books and authors I consider must-reads, and they're listed here in no particular order. Enjoy!
2) Middlemarch, George Eliot - Don't be fooled by the name. Most people hear "George Eliot" without ever realizing that he's a she. While all of her work is excellent, Middlemarch is a full-fledged social examination of Victorian era England. What is so powerful about this book is that Eliot takes multiple perspectives by focusing on various characters within the society and then examining the way they interact. Eliot's idea is to use "lenses" in order to shift perspective and the result here is a novel that forces the reader to start using a variety of lenses to view the world around them.
3) Ishmael, Daniel Quinn - While Rand works with the notion of "second-handers," Quinn's premise is centered around "takers" and "leavers" in an effort to explain the human condition and debase the notion that we are the pinnacle of evolution. Through educated dialogue between a man and a gorilla, Ishmael works through history and the "accepted truths" of our society in order to provide an idea that things not only can be changed, but in order for the world to survive, they must.
4) Les Miserables*, Victor Hugo - Set in Paris in the early 1800s, Les Miz follows an ex-convict, Jean Valjean, as he attempts to do good in the world despite the fact that his criminal past continues to haunt him. By focusing on an ex-convict and other destitute characters, Hugo creates a backdrop through which he explores religious, political and social issues while simultaneously questioning the ties that bind us.
5) Tess of the D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy - Say "Charles Dickens" and people will automatically think either Great Expectations or "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," from Tale of Two Cities. But say "Thomas Hardy" and see how many blank stares you get. While often regarded well for his work in poetry, Hardy's novels also provide one of the most overlooked talents in Victorian-era literature. Hardy's prose is poetry. In this novel, the story follows Tess, a young woman who faces the hardships and pitfalls of an extremely patriarchal society, and puts forward questions of social classes, sexuality and morality.
6) Dombey and Son*, Charles Dickens - Forget Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. While these novels are good, in my mind they fail to capture the talent and breadth that Dickens possesses as an author. Dombey and Son was published in the serial novel format (a chapter released at a time) and spanned close to two years. It follows the Dombey family through both wealth and poverty while examining issues of child abuse, family ties and arranged marriages. The characters, as most of Dickens' are, are well-fleshed out and easy to either care for or despise.
7) Animal Farm, George Orwell -While this book is short, poignant and an intriguing reflection on the human condition, it is consistently overshadowed by 1984. The book takes place on a farm where animals come to take over the show and poses the question: Just why do we think we're so much better?
8) Infinite Jest*, David Foster Wallace - This book is not for the faint of heart, but it represents one of the best novels I have ever read in any genre. Wallace was a literary genius, adept at exploring various styles, ideas and themes in one of the widest collection of voices I've ever seen in an author. Infinite Jest is a book about addictions, and through the nearly 300 footnotes Wallace creates to give the stories more context, it becomes an addiction to read and decipher. Centered mainly at an upper-echelon tennis academy and a halfway house for recovering drug addicts, the book takes place in a time where American consumerism has led to subsidized years (no more 2009, just The Year of the Whopper) and a pollution problem so severe that a portion of Canada has been appropriated for dumping purposes, a place called The Great Concavity. Daunting in size, this book is worth every page. Wallace died in 2008 when he hung himself. For a more digestible version of him, try Broom of the System.
9) Life of Pi, Yann Martel - When a ship sinks in the Pacific ocean and leaves Pi on a raft for 227 days with a tiger, he must examine his own ideas of faith, humanity and spirituality. A touching and uplifting story, it has the added benefit of an ending that leaves the reader questioning their own interpretation of the text.
10) 100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - A look at a town and the people in it over the course of an unknown period of time. Marquez looks at history, time, and romance while incorporating hints of magical realism. Through the course of the book, the residents of the town and the members of the family become lenses with which to view the other, and Marquez succeeds in making you care about them all through their struggles and the places they find their nostalgia. Love in the Time of Cholera is also exceptional.
11) Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - Another Victorian-era author, Austen brings a more female-centered perspective than Hardy and Dickens. In this novel, a group of sisters must set out to find situations that will provide them with security after their father dies and the estate reverts to his male heir. Social intrigue, romantic interaction and the subtlety of both within the time period make this a fantastic read.
12) The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester - When Gulliver Foyle is marooned in deep space and left for dead, he becomes a man bent on revenge. By changing his identity, skill set and material means, he embarks on a mission to extract it. Fans of The Count of Monte Cristo will enjoy this one.
13) The Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle - The issue of immigration and specifically illegal immigration has been a hot button topic for many years now. We often talk about the way the two societies have become entwined, with people from Mexico coming here for physical labor of various sorts in order to send money home and citizens exploiting this illegal labor in order to have cheaper commodities. In this novel, Boyle places an illegal immigrant family in the ravine behind a house in a gated community and then puts the two on a collision course that forces questions of morality and ethics between these two disparate socioeconomic groups.
14) Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card - Widely regarded as one of the best Sci-Fi books of all time, and certainly one of the most popular outside of traditional Sci-Fi readers, this one follows Ender Wiggin, a child soldier in an Army being trained to protect Earth from alien invasion. A page-turner in every sense of the word.
15) Revolutionary Suicide, Huey Newton - In the 60's, the Civil Rights movement was coming to a crescendo and African-Americans were sick of the treatment they had been subjected to in the century following the abolishment of slavery. Out of Oakland, CA came the Black Panthers, a group known for "Power to the people," and carrying guns, they also provided community outreach in an attempt to improve the condition of their lives. In this book, the Black Panther's founder talks about his upbringing, road to social enlightenment and the steps that formed the party while looking at inequality and injustice within the established government and social systems. Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver works as a good companion piece and different perspective from another Panther.
16) Glamorama, Bret Easton Ellis - Some people swear by American Psycho, but I think this is the strongest novel of Bret Easton Ellis. while Psycho concentrated on capitalism and consumerism, Glamorama turns the microscope on obsession with beauty and celebrity. What starts out as a humorous and shallow narrative turns odd and violent quickly as the main character, a supermodel, is exposed to a terrorist ring. In one chapter, Ellis describes a plane explosion in fantastic and disturbing detail, and at the end, as with Psycho, leaves you unsure as to where to draw the line between actual events and figments of the characters' imaginations.
17) Stranger in a Strange Land or Time Enough for Love, Robert Heinlein - One of the most prolific Sci-Fi writers, Heinlein wrote risqué and socially experimental novels that sought to question the parameters society has been constructed on. While the passage of time has made some of his theories and thoughts seem sexist, when they were written they sought to provide greater female sexual liberation than was allowed for at the time. Stranger in a Strange Land is seen as the cult classic Sci-Fi and follows Valentine Michael Smith, a human born on Mars and raised by Martians who returns to Earth. The ideas of free-love, water brothers and "grokking" were adopted from this novel for the counterculture and hippies of the 60's. Time Enough for Love follows the story of Lazarus Long, an Immortal, through centuries of his life, creating a 700 year long span to examine humanity, culture, morality and love.
18) Minor Characters, Joyce Johnson - I'm not much of a Beat-era fan, and I certainly don't understand the mountains of praise heaped on Kerouac's On the Road. To me, the lack of coherence and the random and drawn out scribblings of a man don't make for impressive reading. However, what I did find impressive was this book for the very different perspective it offers. Joyce Johnson was Kerouac's girlfriend and Minor Characters provides a different view of him and a completely different perspective on the Beat Generation from one of its rare female voices.
19) Perv - A Love Story, Jerry Stahl - Incredibly funny, Stahl is the subject of the Ben Stiller movie Permanent Midnight as well as the creative (albeit heavily drug-addled mind) of the 80s TV show Alf. In this one, he looks at childhood romantic ideas and sexual development through the eyes of a teenager trapped in Pittsburgh in 1970 who strikes out on the road to join the waning moments of the Summer of Love in San Francisco. Stahl writes like Woody Allen talks, and the book walks the fine line between black-as-night humor and humorous horror.
20) A Room of One's Own, Virgina Woolf - A thoughtful and incredibly important piece of Feminist literature that puts the female author's point of view into perspective. By speaking about the need for the same types of space and privacy afforded to men, Woolf brings the condition of writers like Jane Austen, George Eliot and the Brontes into greater perspective.
21) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, A Scanner Darkly, Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick. Dick is often regarded as one of the grandfathers of Sci-Fi. In addition to A Scanner Darkly (Robert Downey Jr.), he also wrote Total Recall (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Minority Report (Tom Cruise.) The Man in the High Castle works on the premise that the Germans and Japanese won WWII, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was turned into the movie Blade Runner (Harrison Ford.) At the moment I'm reading one of his called, Dr. Bloodmoney or How We Got Along After the Bomb, a book centered around a bombing disaster in the Bay Area. If there's one drawback to Dick's fiction, it's that he often starts with great ideas and fizzles out towards the end of the book. He's just not a closer.
22) The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove - Christopher Moore. Generally, I'm not much of a fan of comedy books, but I've enjoyed every book I've read by Moore including Bloodsucking Fiends (a vampire love story set in San Francisco) and The Island of the Sequined Love Nun. His comedy utilizes everyday people in everyday situations that are faced with supernatural events or characters. In Lust Lizard, a small California town is thrown into chaos when the town psychiatrist replaces all of her patients' prescriptions with placebos and a sea-beast that exudes a pheromone comes out of the cove and tries to mate with things like a gas truck. Hilarity ensues.
23) The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart. A man decides to make his life as random as possible by making decisions based on the roll of the dice. As he becomes more addicted to the dice, his life slowly spirals out of control (or into control depending on your point of view.) This book looks at the decisions we make, the choices we take and the fundamental problem with relinquishing control that we all face.
24) Crash, J.G. Ballard. Not the Academy Award winner, the one that turned into a Holly Hunter movie about people who get sexually turned on by car accidents. I'd also recommend Empire of the Sun (turned into the Steven Spielberg/Christian Bale movie from the 80s about a British kid in an internment camp in WWII Japan) or Concrete Island, where a man is stranded between portions of a freeway.
25) Great Apes, Will Self. A man wakes up in London to find that the entire world is run by apes. He's looked at as insane as he struggles with the idea that he is actually human and the world has been turned upside down. Better than Planet of the Apes in that it's set in modern times, not post-apocalyptic Earth.
In comes this list. I've compiled 25 books that span from straight classics to futuristic Science Fiction and represent what I feel to be the best of what I've read. In some cases I've included multiple suggestions for an author, or a similar book by a different author to provide diversity and a wider range of options. I've tried to be brief where possible with my descriptions, and asterisks next to titles mean that the books is close to or over 1,000 pages. Whether it's due to style, content or the influence a particular book had over a period, these are the books and authors I consider must-reads, and they're listed here in no particular order. Enjoy!
1) We the Living, Ayn Rand - When people think of Rand, their first thought usually goes to one of her two doorstop books, Atlas Shrugged or Fountainhead, and often the result is trepidation - "They're over 600 pages!" But We the Living is the closest to an auto-biography that Rand ever wrote and is far more accessible while doing much less preaching than the others. Following a young girl in post-Revolution Russia, the book looks at social struggle, class warfare and love in a way that is both melancholy and uplifting. Don't get me wrong, I love both Atlas and Fountainhead, but something about We the Living gets me with every read. It also offers one of the most compelling arguments against religious belief systems I've read.
2) Middlemarch, George Eliot - Don't be fooled by the name. Most people hear "George Eliot" without ever realizing that he's a she. While all of her work is excellent, Middlemarch is a full-fledged social examination of Victorian era England. What is so powerful about this book is that Eliot takes multiple perspectives by focusing on various characters within the society and then examining the way they interact. Eliot's idea is to use "lenses" in order to shift perspective and the result here is a novel that forces the reader to start using a variety of lenses to view the world around them.
3) Ishmael, Daniel Quinn - While Rand works with the notion of "second-handers," Quinn's premise is centered around "takers" and "leavers" in an effort to explain the human condition and debase the notion that we are the pinnacle of evolution. Through educated dialogue between a man and a gorilla, Ishmael works through history and the "accepted truths" of our society in order to provide an idea that things not only can be changed, but in order for the world to survive, they must.
4) Les Miserables*, Victor Hugo - Set in Paris in the early 1800s, Les Miz follows an ex-convict, Jean Valjean, as he attempts to do good in the world despite the fact that his criminal past continues to haunt him. By focusing on an ex-convict and other destitute characters, Hugo creates a backdrop through which he explores religious, political and social issues while simultaneously questioning the ties that bind us.
5) Tess of the D'urbervilles, Thomas Hardy - Say "Charles Dickens" and people will automatically think either Great Expectations or "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," from Tale of Two Cities. But say "Thomas Hardy" and see how many blank stares you get. While often regarded well for his work in poetry, Hardy's novels also provide one of the most overlooked talents in Victorian-era literature. Hardy's prose is poetry. In this novel, the story follows Tess, a young woman who faces the hardships and pitfalls of an extremely patriarchal society, and puts forward questions of social classes, sexuality and morality.
6) Dombey and Son*, Charles Dickens - Forget Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. While these novels are good, in my mind they fail to capture the talent and breadth that Dickens possesses as an author. Dombey and Son was published in the serial novel format (a chapter released at a time) and spanned close to two years. It follows the Dombey family through both wealth and poverty while examining issues of child abuse, family ties and arranged marriages. The characters, as most of Dickens' are, are well-fleshed out and easy to either care for or despise.
7) Animal Farm, George Orwell -While this book is short, poignant and an intriguing reflection on the human condition, it is consistently overshadowed by 1984. The book takes place on a farm where animals come to take over the show and poses the question: Just why do we think we're so much better?
8) Infinite Jest*, David Foster Wallace - This book is not for the faint of heart, but it represents one of the best novels I have ever read in any genre. Wallace was a literary genius, adept at exploring various styles, ideas and themes in one of the widest collection of voices I've ever seen in an author. Infinite Jest is a book about addictions, and through the nearly 300 footnotes Wallace creates to give the stories more context, it becomes an addiction to read and decipher. Centered mainly at an upper-echelon tennis academy and a halfway house for recovering drug addicts, the book takes place in a time where American consumerism has led to subsidized years (no more 2009, just The Year of the Whopper) and a pollution problem so severe that a portion of Canada has been appropriated for dumping purposes, a place called The Great Concavity. Daunting in size, this book is worth every page. Wallace died in 2008 when he hung himself. For a more digestible version of him, try Broom of the System.
9) Life of Pi, Yann Martel - When a ship sinks in the Pacific ocean and leaves Pi on a raft for 227 days with a tiger, he must examine his own ideas of faith, humanity and spirituality. A touching and uplifting story, it has the added benefit of an ending that leaves the reader questioning their own interpretation of the text.
10) 100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - A look at a town and the people in it over the course of an unknown period of time. Marquez looks at history, time, and romance while incorporating hints of magical realism. Through the course of the book, the residents of the town and the members of the family become lenses with which to view the other, and Marquez succeeds in making you care about them all through their struggles and the places they find their nostalgia. Love in the Time of Cholera is also exceptional.
11) Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - Another Victorian-era author, Austen brings a more female-centered perspective than Hardy and Dickens. In this novel, a group of sisters must set out to find situations that will provide them with security after their father dies and the estate reverts to his male heir. Social intrigue, romantic interaction and the subtlety of both within the time period make this a fantastic read.
12) The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester - When Gulliver Foyle is marooned in deep space and left for dead, he becomes a man bent on revenge. By changing his identity, skill set and material means, he embarks on a mission to extract it. Fans of The Count of Monte Cristo will enjoy this one.
13) The Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle - The issue of immigration and specifically illegal immigration has been a hot button topic for many years now. We often talk about the way the two societies have become entwined, with people from Mexico coming here for physical labor of various sorts in order to send money home and citizens exploiting this illegal labor in order to have cheaper commodities. In this novel, Boyle places an illegal immigrant family in the ravine behind a house in a gated community and then puts the two on a collision course that forces questions of morality and ethics between these two disparate socioeconomic groups.
14) Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card - Widely regarded as one of the best Sci-Fi books of all time, and certainly one of the most popular outside of traditional Sci-Fi readers, this one follows Ender Wiggin, a child soldier in an Army being trained to protect Earth from alien invasion. A page-turner in every sense of the word.
15) Revolutionary Suicide, Huey Newton - In the 60's, the Civil Rights movement was coming to a crescendo and African-Americans were sick of the treatment they had been subjected to in the century following the abolishment of slavery. Out of Oakland, CA came the Black Panthers, a group known for "Power to the people," and carrying guns, they also provided community outreach in an attempt to improve the condition of their lives. In this book, the Black Panther's founder talks about his upbringing, road to social enlightenment and the steps that formed the party while looking at inequality and injustice within the established government and social systems. Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver works as a good companion piece and different perspective from another Panther.
16) Glamorama, Bret Easton Ellis - Some people swear by American Psycho, but I think this is the strongest novel of Bret Easton Ellis. while Psycho concentrated on capitalism and consumerism, Glamorama turns the microscope on obsession with beauty and celebrity. What starts out as a humorous and shallow narrative turns odd and violent quickly as the main character, a supermodel, is exposed to a terrorist ring. In one chapter, Ellis describes a plane explosion in fantastic and disturbing detail, and at the end, as with Psycho, leaves you unsure as to where to draw the line between actual events and figments of the characters' imaginations.
17) Stranger in a Strange Land or Time Enough for Love, Robert Heinlein - One of the most prolific Sci-Fi writers, Heinlein wrote risqué and socially experimental novels that sought to question the parameters society has been constructed on. While the passage of time has made some of his theories and thoughts seem sexist, when they were written they sought to provide greater female sexual liberation than was allowed for at the time. Stranger in a Strange Land is seen as the cult classic Sci-Fi and follows Valentine Michael Smith, a human born on Mars and raised by Martians who returns to Earth. The ideas of free-love, water brothers and "grokking" were adopted from this novel for the counterculture and hippies of the 60's. Time Enough for Love follows the story of Lazarus Long, an Immortal, through centuries of his life, creating a 700 year long span to examine humanity, culture, morality and love.
18) Minor Characters, Joyce Johnson - I'm not much of a Beat-era fan, and I certainly don't understand the mountains of praise heaped on Kerouac's On the Road. To me, the lack of coherence and the random and drawn out scribblings of a man don't make for impressive reading. However, what I did find impressive was this book for the very different perspective it offers. Joyce Johnson was Kerouac's girlfriend and Minor Characters provides a different view of him and a completely different perspective on the Beat Generation from one of its rare female voices.
19) Perv - A Love Story, Jerry Stahl - Incredibly funny, Stahl is the subject of the Ben Stiller movie Permanent Midnight as well as the creative (albeit heavily drug-addled mind) of the 80s TV show Alf. In this one, he looks at childhood romantic ideas and sexual development through the eyes of a teenager trapped in Pittsburgh in 1970 who strikes out on the road to join the waning moments of the Summer of Love in San Francisco. Stahl writes like Woody Allen talks, and the book walks the fine line between black-as-night humor and humorous horror.
20) A Room of One's Own, Virgina Woolf - A thoughtful and incredibly important piece of Feminist literature that puts the female author's point of view into perspective. By speaking about the need for the same types of space and privacy afforded to men, Woolf brings the condition of writers like Jane Austen, George Eliot and the Brontes into greater perspective.
21) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, A Scanner Darkly, Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick. Dick is often regarded as one of the grandfathers of Sci-Fi. In addition to A Scanner Darkly (Robert Downey Jr.), he also wrote Total Recall (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Minority Report (Tom Cruise.) The Man in the High Castle works on the premise that the Germans and Japanese won WWII, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was turned into the movie Blade Runner (Harrison Ford.) At the moment I'm reading one of his called, Dr. Bloodmoney or How We Got Along After the Bomb, a book centered around a bombing disaster in the Bay Area. If there's one drawback to Dick's fiction, it's that he often starts with great ideas and fizzles out towards the end of the book. He's just not a closer.
22) The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove - Christopher Moore. Generally, I'm not much of a fan of comedy books, but I've enjoyed every book I've read by Moore including Bloodsucking Fiends (a vampire love story set in San Francisco) and The Island of the Sequined Love Nun. His comedy utilizes everyday people in everyday situations that are faced with supernatural events or characters. In Lust Lizard, a small California town is thrown into chaos when the town psychiatrist replaces all of her patients' prescriptions with placebos and a sea-beast that exudes a pheromone comes out of the cove and tries to mate with things like a gas truck. Hilarity ensues.
23) The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart. A man decides to make his life as random as possible by making decisions based on the roll of the dice. As he becomes more addicted to the dice, his life slowly spirals out of control (or into control depending on your point of view.) This book looks at the decisions we make, the choices we take and the fundamental problem with relinquishing control that we all face.
24) Crash, J.G. Ballard. Not the Academy Award winner, the one that turned into a Holly Hunter movie about people who get sexually turned on by car accidents. I'd also recommend Empire of the Sun (turned into the Steven Spielberg/Christian Bale movie from the 80s about a British kid in an internment camp in WWII Japan) or Concrete Island, where a man is stranded between portions of a freeway.
25) Great Apes, Will Self. A man wakes up in London to find that the entire world is run by apes. He's looked at as insane as he struggles with the idea that he is actually human and the world has been turned upside down. Better than Planet of the Apes in that it's set in modern times, not post-apocalyptic Earth.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Should You Like the Memoir
{the following is a reprint of a blog post for my book club blog, Radical Period Queer Period}
So we just got done with reading A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father and we'll be meeting to discuss it, but in the meantime, I wanted to shoot off a few suggestions for other books you might like if you enjoyed this one, following the non-fiction, memoir type account.
- This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff
- About a Boy, Roald Dahl
- Ryan White: My Own Story, Ryan White
- A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace
- Go Ask Alice, Anonymous (Although there is significant debate as to the veracity of this book in its current "non-fiction" form.)
So we just got done with reading A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father and we'll be meeting to discuss it, but in the meantime, I wanted to shoot off a few suggestions for other books you might like if you enjoyed this one, following the non-fiction, memoir type account.- This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff
- About a Boy, Roald Dahl
- Ryan White: My Own Story, Ryan White
- A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace
- Go Ask Alice, Anonymous (Although there is significant debate as to the veracity of this book in its current "non-fiction" form.)
Cyber Punk
{the following is a blog post written for my book club blog, Radical Period Queer Period on 6/5/09}
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For those of you who have heard the term "Cyber Punk" or are intrigued by tales wrapping the ordinary idea of the internet with the theory of explorable cyberspace, I've got something for ya. This is also good for anyone looking for a digestable Sci-Fi book to check out before we delve into July's book, Stranger in a Strange Land.
William Gibson is often regarded as the creator of the idea behind cyber punk, and he's a prolific author with a number of incredible novels to his credit. His most well known, his first, is called Neuromancer. I've just finished reading Virtual Light and Mona Lisa Overdrive, both of which are short, fast-paced and intriguing to read. I recommend 'em. Cheers!
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For those of you who have heard the term "Cyber Punk" or are intrigued by tales wrapping the ordinary idea of the internet with the theory of explorable cyberspace, I've got something for ya. This is also good for anyone looking for a digestable Sci-Fi book to check out before we delve into July's book, Stranger in a Strange Land.William Gibson is often regarded as the creator of the idea behind cyber punk, and he's a prolific author with a number of incredible novels to his credit. His most well known, his first, is called Neuromancer. I've just finished reading Virtual Light and Mona Lisa Overdrive, both of which are short, fast-paced and intriguing to read. I recommend 'em. Cheers!
A Smattering of Thoughts
{the following was originally posted for my book club blog, Radical Period Queer Period. on 5/3/09.}
After a few months and some arduous reading, I finally finished Infinite Jest this afternoon. This left me with a handful of thoughts, ranging from good to bad and ecstatic to downright sluggish. The good news is that I'm done with it. 981 pages of main story and close to 300 pages of 9pt font "Notes and Errata." It's a workout to even carry around. Of course, the bad news is that I'm done with it...upon second reading, I'm convinced that David Foster Wallace is one of the most gifted writers I've ever read with an ability to craft multiple stories and inject raw observations beyond any author I've experienced.Good news? I bought the first two books on the list today. Bad news...it cost 30 bucks. Good news is that that's only the cost of three drinks on a Friday night. Not to mention the fact that both of them combined feel like a magazine in my hand compared to the last read.
I've included photos of the covers, in case anyone is interested in identical texts. Though, my assumption here is that I'm the late purchaser and everyone else is halfway done with the book already. The Ishiguro is a Vintage International edition and the Burroughs book is Picador. An interesting site here comparing various editions of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land for anyone intrigued.
It's interesting the relief I feel at finishing one book and trepidation apparent in starting another. Not just now, but in general. Being so wrapped up in one author's vision, committed to his or her story then abruptly changing to a new voice, texture and pattern of ideas. But I think the current shift scares me a bit more. Infinite Jest isn't a book, it's an experience that wraps the reader in layer upon layer of narrative and philosophy, constantly prodding for the question of, "What more?" I picked it up to re-read following the sad news that Wallace had committed suicide by hanging himself. Now as I close it, I feel a bit like I'm leaving a friendly voice in those pages, abandoning the tale back to the silence of new fiction that perpetuates itself in his death. Incredibly verbose and introspective, Wallace has a style that is in contrast to any I've read. Opening Never Let Me Go, I find the excitement of a new book and a new book club, while also feeling the fear that it will in some way be a fictional let down. I don't share these as positive or negative, merely my thoughts on a new text.
And with that, I embark on Ishiguro, for better or worse.
John 21:25 "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." - The Bible
John 21:25 "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." - The Bible
No wonder people never agree on religion!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
10 Things to Think About on a Friday
Hot diggity, what a week! While I did quite a few fun things this week, one of them stood out to me the most...on Wednesday I got back out and played ultimate frisbee for the first time since trashing my ankle on a trampoline back in December. Felt good to be out again, and I'm looking forward to my SF league starting next week. I also had a bit of a late night with Papa G and Spooky doing a 7 mile run (if you don't know, you better ask somebody!) and found out that there's possible termite infestation in our apartment (more to come on that as the situation develops.) For now though, put everything else out of your mind, and rather than pounding coffee shots at your desk to keep you awake, here's 10 things to think about on a Friday.
1) Good news everyone! Comedy Central has seen the demand, and they're coming with a supply of brand spanking new episodes of Futurama for 2010. Only 990 years to go before we catch up with Fry.
2) Very interesting to me that the son of Joe Money, Nick Montana (no, not Hannah Montana's brother you dolts) would skip a chance to play at USC or his Dad's alma mater, Notre Dame, to go play for a Washington team that went something like 1-11 last season. If you want to be SC's punching bag, Nick, be my guest...
3) On the USC front, they finally announced today the progress being made in the investigations into allegations of impropriety in the athletic department. The potential scandal (no current word from the NCAA or Pac-10 on actual results) has already prompted the resignation of basketball coach Tim Floyd.
4) The Iranian presidential election is underway as we speak and there's hot debate as to whether or not Ahminedjad will be able to hold onto his position in light of the gender issues and questions of morality that have come into play. As a friend of mine pointed out on his GChat status, "Americans were stupid enough to elect Bush twice, I don't imagine the Iranians are much smarter." Of course, let's not forget...Bush was only actually elected once.
5) For once, there's a politician who is unwilling to borrow more money when there's already debt. Of course, I never thought I'd be saying "Good Move" to Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger, but I like the fact that he's forcing a discussion and resolution rather than just mortgaging more of our state's future for high interest loans. Of course, I might feel differently when CA services stop disappearing, but let's fix it right.
6) As anyone who has read 10 things before knows, I love it when fact and fiction mirror each other. Think the drug tunnel in Showtime's Weeds was a bit far-fetched? Think again.
7) Any 49ers fan can tell you we've been waiting for a crazy, no-nonsense, back to the grind football coach for years. Looks like we've found him as it was announced today that apparently Mike Singletary brought rookie Top 10 draft pick Michael Crabtree to the brink of tears in mini-camp. Think that made him cry? Wait til he starts trying to catch passes from one of our quarterbacks!
8) I loved the Golden Girls on tv, and I love Beirut, so why would I not love one of the Golden Girls (Betty White) playing Beirut?!
9) Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, one of the pioneers of download for free albums and fan interaction through social websites is hanging up his keyboard. Apparently, there's just too much hate out in the world for the original Pretty Hate Machine.
10) Finally, as I did last week (and probably will from now on), here are some of the more amusing tweets I've read recently:
a) The Crazy Temp was crying in the kitchen.Yes, I asked her what was wrong. This thing I did, asking her. VERY VERY BAD. - @dolanite
b) "'Nora is single because she's weird and says funny things. And because I'm seven and almost as tall as her.' --one of my campers." - @Norasha_nya
c) "In the unlikely event that I'm sober or not mauled by a bear this weekend, i will have a good talk with myself." - @LuPacolypse
That's it from this end folks, have a great weekend, and keep in mind...behind every great man, there's a great woman saying, "Don't you have something better to do? Go away."
1) Good news everyone! Comedy Central has seen the demand, and they're coming with a supply of brand spanking new episodes of Futurama for 2010. Only 990 years to go before we catch up with Fry.
2) Very interesting to me that the son of Joe Money, Nick Montana (no, not Hannah Montana's brother you dolts) would skip a chance to play at USC or his Dad's alma mater, Notre Dame, to go play for a Washington team that went something like 1-11 last season. If you want to be SC's punching bag, Nick, be my guest...
3) On the USC front, they finally announced today the progress being made in the investigations into allegations of impropriety in the athletic department. The potential scandal (no current word from the NCAA or Pac-10 on actual results) has already prompted the resignation of basketball coach Tim Floyd.
4) The Iranian presidential election is underway as we speak and there's hot debate as to whether or not Ahminedjad will be able to hold onto his position in light of the gender issues and questions of morality that have come into play. As a friend of mine pointed out on his GChat status, "Americans were stupid enough to elect Bush twice, I don't imagine the Iranians are much smarter." Of course, let's not forget...Bush was only actually elected once.
5) For once, there's a politician who is unwilling to borrow more money when there's already debt. Of course, I never thought I'd be saying "Good Move" to Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger, but I like the fact that he's forcing a discussion and resolution rather than just mortgaging more of our state's future for high interest loans. Of course, I might feel differently when CA services stop disappearing, but let's fix it right.
6) As anyone who has read 10 things before knows, I love it when fact and fiction mirror each other. Think the drug tunnel in Showtime's Weeds was a bit far-fetched? Think again.
7) Any 49ers fan can tell you we've been waiting for a crazy, no-nonsense, back to the grind football coach for years. Looks like we've found him as it was announced today that apparently Mike Singletary brought rookie Top 10 draft pick Michael Crabtree to the brink of tears in mini-camp. Think that made him cry? Wait til he starts trying to catch passes from one of our quarterbacks!
8) I loved the Golden Girls on tv, and I love Beirut, so why would I not love one of the Golden Girls (Betty White) playing Beirut?!
9) Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, one of the pioneers of download for free albums and fan interaction through social websites is hanging up his keyboard. Apparently, there's just too much hate out in the world for the original Pretty Hate Machine.
10) Finally, as I did last week (and probably will from now on), here are some of the more amusing tweets I've read recently:
a) The Crazy Temp was crying in the kitchen.Yes, I asked her what was wrong. This thing I did, asking her. VERY VERY BAD. - @dolanite
b) "'Nora is single because she's weird and says funny things. And because I'm seven and almost as tall as her.' --one of my campers." - @Norasha_nya
c) "In the unlikely event that I'm sober or not mauled by a bear this weekend, i will have a good talk with myself." - @LuPacolypse
That's it from this end folks, have a great weekend, and keep in mind...behind every great man, there's a great woman saying, "Don't you have something better to do? Go away."
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Mateo Show and Unity on Union
So we've developed a new thing down here. Whereas most people live in the city, there are a few of us holdouts who enjoy the better weather, cheaper rent, and ease of getting up to the city that is enjoyed by living on the Peninsula. This weekend, I got the best of both worlds.
On Friday night, Hosin, his girl and myself embarked on what has become known as the Mateo (Ma-Tee-Oh) Shit Show. Basically, this involves getting fantastically drunk locally. It's called the "Shit Show" because more often than not, setting out to get fantastically drunk is going to have that result. One of the things we like about it is that because the apartment is in walking distance, no one needs to drive and everyone gets to go big. Of course, one has to be careful to avoid a few things during the Mateo Shit Show: don't whistle at cops, don't start fights with any locals, and in support of that, don't take Hosin to McGovern's...the place is like a personal bottle of aggro for him.
So we head over to Glow first, which, beyond any other bar in downtown San Mateo is the biggest hit and miss. Thankfully, I only see one girl I know from high school, and I save myself the embarrassment I felt last time when I went up to someone I knew just to say hi, only then realizing that I had no idea what their name was. I avoid her. On the walk over, I had ditched my red cup in the bushes to save for later. When we leave, I get it, but find that a caterpillar has decided it wants to spend its Friday night drunk too and is swimming around, so I toss the thing. McGovern's isn't much better...now, I know I said that we avoid this place to avoid any sort of accidental fight, but the prospect of watching something crazy happen is just too intense, so we usually stop by there just to see what's going on.
From there we moved on to what I'm sure will quickly become my new favorite place, if it can ever get any sort of crowd support. Azul looks like a ridiculous Mexican nightclub, complete with flashy blue neon lights that would be just as at home in some coke-fueled 80s Miami Vice style story line. When you go in, it's what you'd expect...high ceilings, a super large dance floor and lots of black and blue decor. Now, I had been here before during my Cinco de Mayo explorations, but what I didn't realize until Hosin found it the other night was that this place has a very very cool outdoor patio/smoking space. If they could fill in the dance floor a little bit more, that and the patio would make it by far my favorite spot in San Mateo.
From there, it's home, but again, on Saturday morning, I'm still faded! I gotta figure out how this keeps happening to me and a way to bottle it up...how many people would like to skip a Saturday morning hangover and go right to Saturday afternoon faded?
And it's a good thing too because Saturday is the Union Street Fair, which is always a stack of debauchery wrapped in a ribbon of ridiculousness. I start out at Nini's where Katie helps me lay down a solid foundation for the day of drinking that lay ahead. Once out of there, I'm up in the city by the time I finish chewing the two brownies I decided would be a good addition to my day. This means that by the time I park and cruise up to Topher and ChengJ's place, my feet are a good 24 inches off the ground. We put down a few more drinks before going to Bus Stop to meet up with Marc, JK, Glass and a few others. Of course, Bus Stop being on Union, the place is packed, and after waiting in line, getting in and getting drinks, Marc and JK decide it's time to leave. We try to get them to stay, "C'mon, we just got here, give us a break," but they're antsy, so they take off. Not very surprising, but certainly less than welcome.
We stay there for a little while longer, one girl deciding that I look more like a barstool than a person, before we head outside. There, we find the Blue Moon beer garden, where shots of Blue Moon are .25 each. I try to buy 8 but the bartender looks at me like I'm nuts. She says one at a time. I say there's no way I waited in that entire line to get one shot of beer. She puts them both down, Topher and I each pound one and she pours more. I hand these to Mike, she pours two more, we take them and move on. About the time we finish, they're looking to close up the garden, so we move along to City Tavern where our favorite bartenders are working. Here, I'm assaulted by a girl I can only think is both psychotic and alcoholic. It starts when she attacks my shirt, claiming to be an Iowa State student and ripping me as a false fan of Iowa. We get into it, she's getting nasty about the whole thing, and then all of a sudden she admits she's not even from Iowa. I disappear out a side door and leave her with Glass, who thanks me profusely when I get back in. But she gets to repay the favor, as she leaves me with Crazy girl who is now talking what I can only describe as gibberish.
She leaves, Glass and I compare notes, and then 15 minutes later she's back, at the bar, sobbing. It's frightening and prompts us all to leave the bar, with Glass going home to pass out and me heading back to Topher's where we eat some pizza and regroup. They're playing cards and it's starting to look like they won't get out of the house, so I put the drinking shoes back on and head down to the Cloud where E is working again. Thankfully this time I don't cause him to almost be fired, and I don't make too much of an ass out of myself with the waitress. I do, however, look pretty damn pretentious as I sit at the door and card someone that E missed, doing my best "hold card out in two hands and look at it from afar" bouncer impression. It's through this time spent at the Cloud that E and I recognize the importance of "being first," and more importantly, the importance of drunk food at 2 am as we promptly hustle over to the crepe stand to end the night.
Friday, June 5, 2009
10 Things to Think About on a Friday
This week was not messing around. Finally into the routine at work, I've figured out how to blog and look like I'm working at the same time. I got back into the movie swing of things, continued to avoid my laundry and got my car fixed. Honestly though, I think I was faded through Tuesday from my Saturday adventures. With a birthday party for a 1-year old (milk keg stands anyone?) and the Union Street Fair this weekend, I wouldn't be surprised if I cruised through Wednesday of next week. But that is then, and this is now, and now is Friday, so before your boss makes you chuck your laptop at them or you go on a ridiculous rampage through the office throwing nerf balls at other employees while yelling, "think fast!" here's ten things you can think about.
1) Lots of speculation this week on whether or not the Bruno/Eminem stunt at the MTV music awards was a collaborative effort or Eminem getting punked. According to Eminem it was the latter. Here's my question...even for a good laugh, would you really want Bruno's ass in your face? I'll have to pass on that one, but I guess it is better than Borat's ass.
2) Sad news yesterday when David Carradine, the star of TV's Kung Fu (Train carefully, young grasshopper) and Kill Bill was found dead in his Thailand hotel room. Of course, it only now has come out that while it initially appeared like it was a suicide, the rope around his neck and genitals might be more an indicator of some asphyxiation play. If that's the case, it's still sad, but at least the man died doing what he loved.
3(00)) Randy Johnson a.k.a. The Big Unit (if you think about the name in combination with the nickname, you wonder how it ever made it past censors) threw for his 300th pitching win yesterday for the Giants. Already a Hall of Fame career, Johnson has a World Series ring and MVP, multiple Cy Young awards and nearly 5,000 strikeouts. Cheers to him.
4) Scary thing that in a world of GPS, radar and constant Facebook updates from anywhere that an entire airplane with 200 people can just disappear with less than a trace. Thoughts go out to the families.
5) I'm sick and tired of Big Brother. Having police around all the time is what it is, but the proliferation of cameras all over everywhere is starting to have me spooked. Now, not only are they bumping revenue and enforcement with red light cameras, they're working to have SPEED cameras installed on freeways. I always thought there was something oxymoronic about speed limits on a road called a FREEway, but do we really need to have cameras everywhere?
6) In a follow up to my comments on the tragic and needless shooting of Oscar Grant at BART in January, news came down this week that the officer who shot him is being charged with 1st Degree murder. I've seen the video, and the horrific and deliberate nature of it certainly says pre-meditation to me.
7) I had no idea that Jay-Z's last album came out on 9/11. But learning of it, I'm not sure how I feel about his plans to release his next album on 9/11. So should we avoid that day in remembrance or am I simply being too sensitive?
8) Megan Fox is in the latest British GQ talking about how guys are "weak. Like puppies." I don't mind that. What I do care about is the fact that she says she'll be the first person in line to buy a pack of joints when marijuana is legalized. We'll see just how weak I am if she gets in my way when it comes time for that. I'll see you in line, Fox.
9) Would you rather be a ferret or a hamster?
10) To finish it off, how about some of my favorite tweets of the day, either because they were hilarious, disturbing, or hilariously disturbing:
a) From @aimee_b_loved: I bet the world's second-greatest dancing xylophonist cries himself to sleep every night.
b) From @LuPacolypse: looking for brittney spears circus inspired menswear. Any suggestions? Link me please. Need purchasable at SF stores.
c) From @DCDebbie: Whenever the hotel elevator says "going down" I get misty
eyed and remember the failings of an exbf
d) From @phyllisstein: I'd like it if whatever demographic these commercials are supposed to appeal to would kill itself.
e) From me: Highlighters+Numbers=boss"I love to pay people who know how to think."Know how much you pay me to tweet? http://twitpic.com/6ok5o
That's it folks, have a great weekend, and remember, don't kill all the spiders...some of them eat the mosquitoes that bite you!
1) Lots of speculation this week on whether or not the Bruno/Eminem stunt at the MTV music awards was a collaborative effort or Eminem getting punked. According to Eminem it was the latter. Here's my question...even for a good laugh, would you really want Bruno's ass in your face? I'll have to pass on that one, but I guess it is better than Borat's ass.
2) Sad news yesterday when David Carradine, the star of TV's Kung Fu (Train carefully, young grasshopper) and Kill Bill was found dead in his Thailand hotel room. Of course, it only now has come out that while it initially appeared like it was a suicide, the rope around his neck and genitals might be more an indicator of some asphyxiation play. If that's the case, it's still sad, but at least the man died doing what he loved.
3(00)) Randy Johnson a.k.a. The Big Unit (if you think about the name in combination with the nickname, you wonder how it ever made it past censors) threw for his 300th pitching win yesterday for the Giants. Already a Hall of Fame career, Johnson has a World Series ring and MVP, multiple Cy Young awards and nearly 5,000 strikeouts. Cheers to him.
4) Scary thing that in a world of GPS, radar and constant Facebook updates from anywhere that an entire airplane with 200 people can just disappear with less than a trace. Thoughts go out to the families.
5) I'm sick and tired of Big Brother. Having police around all the time is what it is, but the proliferation of cameras all over everywhere is starting to have me spooked. Now, not only are they bumping revenue and enforcement with red light cameras, they're working to have SPEED cameras installed on freeways. I always thought there was something oxymoronic about speed limits on a road called a FREEway, but do we really need to have cameras everywhere?
6) In a follow up to my comments on the tragic and needless shooting of Oscar Grant at BART in January, news came down this week that the officer who shot him is being charged with 1st Degree murder. I've seen the video, and the horrific and deliberate nature of it certainly says pre-meditation to me.
7) I had no idea that Jay-Z's last album came out on 9/11. But learning of it, I'm not sure how I feel about his plans to release his next album on 9/11. So should we avoid that day in remembrance or am I simply being too sensitive?
8) Megan Fox is in the latest British GQ talking about how guys are "weak. Like puppies." I don't mind that. What I do care about is the fact that she says she'll be the first person in line to buy a pack of joints when marijuana is legalized. We'll see just how weak I am if she gets in my way when it comes time for that. I'll see you in line, Fox.
9) Would you rather be a ferret or a hamster?
10) To finish it off, how about some of my favorite tweets of the day, either because they were hilarious, disturbing, or hilariously disturbing:
a) From @aimee_b_loved: I bet the world's second-greatest dancing xylophonist cries himself to sleep every night.
b) From @LuPacolypse: looking for brittney spears circus inspired menswear. Any suggestions? Link me please. Need purchasable at SF stores.
c) From @DCDebbie: Whenever the hotel elevator says "going down" I get misty
eyed and remember the failings of an exbf
d) From @phyllisstein: I'd like it if whatever demographic these commercials are supposed to appeal to would kill itself.
e) From me: Highlighters+Numbers=boss"I love to pay people who know how to think."Know how much you pay me to tweet? http://twitpic.com/6ok5o
That's it folks, have a great weekend, and remember, don't kill all the spiders...some of them eat the mosquitoes that bite you!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Last Saturday, Just for Kicks
When I started Friday afternoon dancing in the Bart station, I had a feeling it was going to be an alright escapade. In the past two weeks as I've settled into a commuting routine, I've come to enjoy the rhythms and motions of the back and forth from the two ends of the line. The coming and going of each train, the off and on at various stations (and people at Glen and Balboa Park are not messing around) and most of all the motion of the car, which I need to fight from putting me to sleep. The mornings or afternoons following a late night are for napping, and the rest is split about 80/20 between books and music. On a good ride I'm getting around 100 pages done, which is a fantastic turnaround from my previous reading diet of 0 pages a day for longer than I'd care to admit.
But in between stops, the music is just low enough to let the wind of the tunnels and the clatter of the trains seep through like an additional instrument. The too-loud phone conversations or murmured parental instructions from a nearby seat are transitory cameo vocals. The people watching is fantastic between reading material choice, wardrobe, make-up application and mental pre-occupations. When I get home, Gavroche volunteers to DD for the evening. I meet some neighbors from down the street for the first time and we're off.
We start in the Marina where we part ways, Gavroche heading off with Vic as I make my way to Topher and ChengJ's place where they're embroiled in a new drinking game they've started called Democracy. It's a mash game of Beirut, Flip Cup and Kings. It's interesting to say the least. When we finish, they head to City as I get over to the Cloud to see E where he's been working for a few weeks now. Now, I'm in a pretty nice cloud by the time I get over there, and the rum and coke I'm handed contains a few promises of more to come. Of course, with E, heated conversations are the norm and before long we're going back and forth. So he's obviously surprised when one of the other workers at the place comes up to interrupt our conversation and ask him why he's holding an underage ID. Now I feel horrible because I feel like I might end up costing him his job due to lack of attention on the door while I engage him in vibrant discussion.
I leave promptly after and head back up the block where the groups of Gavroche and Vic and ChengJ and Topher have briefly merged. It is brief though as most of the group has vastly different ideas of where to go. A stop at Eastside a moment later and after last call it's into the car for crepes. I wake up Saturday morning, in my jeans on the bed, and still buzzed. Gavroche picks me up for Nini's where Katie again surprises me for breakfast, and contributes to the start of a ridiculous Saturday by rolling me out of there with four Mimosas. By the time we get home and get ready, it's time to pack road drinks and we're at Caltrain heading up to the Giants game. For some reason, it takes forever due to some strangely long delays at stops. On our way to the stadium, someone decides to throw something out of their window and damn near soaks Gavroche.
First home game of the season for me, which is odd considering how many games I usually get to in a season. Odder still that I've been to an A's game first. Za hooked these tickets up and we meet up with her in the bleachers before meeting up with Marc who brings down other tickets to get us into the club level where Topher and ChengJ have already made themselves at home. We've got two flasks in the backpack, which beats the hell out of paying 10 bucks for a watered down cocktail. Because we've taken the train, we've already agreed to make it a Mateo Stumble Crawl kind of evening.
After the game, I'm convinced that we need to get on the Express train because it bypasses every station from the city to San Bruno. We get on, only to find out once the doors have closed that the first stop is actually San Carlos. Big win for me. Off at San Carlos and back on to San Mateo, we head back to the house and play a few games of Beirut before heading out. It's on our way out the door that we run into Hosin and Jamie who are coming back from a late dinner, so they join us as we make a tour of bars that are sadly a bit on the dead side for a Saturday night. McGovern's is mildly dead, Mr. Pizza Man isn't any better, and I have to salvage losing 10 bucks to Gavroche (who made me bribe him to go out.)
On to Glow where we cap off the night in fine fashion by deciding to hand me, already going strong since breakfast, more cocktails. Nice show, that, because it leaves us walking home with me whistling. Now, I enjoy my whistling. Especially late at night, on an empty street, at 2 in the morning. Which is all well and good until a cop drives by and thinks I'm whistling at him. He makes a U-turn and drives up to us. "You need a taxi or something, why were you whistling at me?" He's none too pleased with me. I know it's not a good idea to say, "Is whistling illegal?" and I'm only saved from doing so when Gavroche jumps in and tells him, "No no officer, my friend was just whistling, it wasn't at you." He drives away, but it's a close call and gives me another reminder not to backtalk to police officers no matter how innocent your transgression.
So there you have it. A city outing and a Mateo shit show sandwiching crepes, Nini's and a Giants game. Pretty good. Preeeeety preeeeety preeeeety. Pretty good. Obviously from the pictures, I was feeling the sepia and B/W. Up next? Birthdays, Union Street Fair and ideally, soon, a bit more Lake.
Remix Dan the Automator
{for all music related posts, see .Evolving.Music}
While Dan the Automator may not be a household name, he certainly should be. There's not many DJ/Producers that can helm 4 well-regarded projects, make numerous advances in cross-genre mixing and matching, and still remain under the radar. Ask a majority of radio listeners who Dan the Automator is, and my guess is you'll get 70% blank stares. On the other hand, ask those same listeners if they know who the Gorillaz are, and 95% will know and relate their memory to "Clint Eastwood" or "Tomorrow Comes Today." It's the nature of the music industry and the "listen to this new pop" radio society that fans love a group but can have absolutely no clue who makes up that group. So for those 5% and 25% groups respectively, Dan the Automator was behind the Gorillaz.
But that's not all. He was a driving force behind Handsome Boy Modeling School, a hip-hop collaboration with Prince Paul that included guests such as Sean Lennon, Mike D of the Beastie Boys and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto. He served as the producer for Kool Keith (Dr. Octagon) and DJ Qbert's well-known album, Dr. Octagonecologyst. Add to that his credit as the main man behind Lovage, a collaboration between Kid Koala, Mike Patton of Faith No More and Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields, and his full on production of Del the Funky Homosapien's revolutionary concept album Deltron 3030 and you have one well established producer who has worked with some very big names.
Feeling left out because you haven't gotten to collaborate with Dan the Automator? Fret not. Click here for the rest of this post and to find out how to remix one of Dan the Automator's songs.
While Dan the Automator may not be a household name, he certainly should be. There's not many DJ/Producers that can helm 4 well-regarded projects, make numerous advances in cross-genre mixing and matching, and still remain under the radar. Ask a majority of radio listeners who Dan the Automator is, and my guess is you'll get 70% blank stares. On the other hand, ask those same listeners if they know who the Gorillaz are, and 95% will know and relate their memory to "Clint Eastwood" or "Tomorrow Comes Today." It's the nature of the music industry and the "listen to this new pop" radio society that fans love a group but can have absolutely no clue who makes up that group. So for those 5% and 25% groups respectively, Dan the Automator was behind the Gorillaz.
But that's not all. He was a driving force behind Handsome Boy Modeling School, a hip-hop collaboration with Prince Paul that included guests such as Sean Lennon, Mike D of the Beastie Boys and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto. He served as the producer for Kool Keith (Dr. Octagon) and DJ Qbert's well-known album, Dr. Octagonecologyst. Add to that his credit as the main man behind Lovage, a collaboration between Kid Koala, Mike Patton of Faith No More and Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields, and his full on production of Del the Funky Homosapien's revolutionary concept album Deltron 3030 and you have one well established producer who has worked with some very big names.
Feeling left out because you haven't gotten to collaborate with Dan the Automator? Fret not. Click here for the rest of this post and to find out how to remix one of Dan the Automator's songs.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Live Concerts
{for all music related articles, see .Evolving.Music}
While fans will listen to CDs, turn on talk shows and read reviews to get to know more about their band, one of the most important facets of the music industry for any group is the live concert. Not only is it one of the largest revenue streams for artists, above the music royalties (although, if you think about it, this is about as twisted as paying 16M a year to Barry Bonds while a teacher or fire fighter makes under 100k), but it's one of the most seminal ways for an artist to grow their reputation and fan base. Of course, what you hear on a CD that has been produced, mixed, mastered and tweaked by any number of sound professionals isn't necessarily what the group will be able to present during a live performance, so it makes the judging criteria even tougher for listeners.
Take Hip-Hop for example. 75% of all hip-hop shows I have seen are garbage. Rather than fully rehearsing songs, artists will perform the first verse, maybe two of a song before launching into the next radio single. More often than not, the back-up singers are there because the rappers constantly forget lines and need someone to fill in the gaps for them. Furthermore, rather than put on a show that gets the crowd moving and dancing through sheer enjoyment of the music, most artists will constantly fall back on crowd gimmicks, "Put your hands in the air, wave them back and forth," and other involvement tools of that nature, forgetting that if they rip the microphone, the audience will do what it feels, which is way more important than having them wave one finger in the air.
But Hip-Hop isn't the only genre where live performances come up flat. Wide is the range of artists who just can't translate themselves in a live setting in any way that resembles the studio work that they've patched together with the help of numerous technicians and producers. Songs come out unrehearsed, or the band is incapable of reproducing the sound. Even worse is when artists, dealing with personal excess or some sort of stage fright, get completely obliterated with substances on stage and turn into a mess by the end of their set. But who puts on the greatest live act? Is it the group that can seamlessly reproduce their album note for note, or the group that can take something stationary and make it into something much more on stage?
Take for example the Rolling Stones. They've been touring for around 40 years now, and I've seen them in concert twice. While the crowd is into it simply from a historical and pop standpoint, and I think the energy these guys give, even past their prime and middle age is solid, it doesn't come off as anything I couldn't hear by listening to an old recording of theirs. On the far extreme are groups like The String Cheese Incident and Phish, which jam and improv so much in their concerts that one is left to wonder if they even have a CD with tracks on it. But let's not forget consistency. If you go see three shows by a group, a great group will give you three different shows that were all excellent. But some of the best artists happen to be inconsistent on stage. Take Del the Funky Homosapien for example. He might be one of the most talented lyricists and freestylers in rap, but all the times I've seen him, he's hit or miss. Either he's on that night and no one on the stage can come close, or he's not and he fades into the background.
So what makes an incredible live band? For the rest of this article, click here.
While fans will listen to CDs, turn on talk shows and read reviews to get to know more about their band, one of the most important facets of the music industry for any group is the live concert. Not only is it one of the largest revenue streams for artists, above the music royalties (although, if you think about it, this is about as twisted as paying 16M a year to Barry Bonds while a teacher or fire fighter makes under 100k), but it's one of the most seminal ways for an artist to grow their reputation and fan base. Of course, what you hear on a CD that has been produced, mixed, mastered and tweaked by any number of sound professionals isn't necessarily what the group will be able to present during a live performance, so it makes the judging criteria even tougher for listeners.
Take Hip-Hop for example. 75% of all hip-hop shows I have seen are garbage. Rather than fully rehearsing songs, artists will perform the first verse, maybe two of a song before launching into the next radio single. More often than not, the back-up singers are there because the rappers constantly forget lines and need someone to fill in the gaps for them. Furthermore, rather than put on a show that gets the crowd moving and dancing through sheer enjoyment of the music, most artists will constantly fall back on crowd gimmicks, "Put your hands in the air, wave them back and forth," and other involvement tools of that nature, forgetting that if they rip the microphone, the audience will do what it feels, which is way more important than having them wave one finger in the air.
But Hip-Hop isn't the only genre where live performances come up flat. Wide is the range of artists who just can't translate themselves in a live setting in any way that resembles the studio work that they've patched together with the help of numerous technicians and producers. Songs come out unrehearsed, or the band is incapable of reproducing the sound. Even worse is when artists, dealing with personal excess or some sort of stage fright, get completely obliterated with substances on stage and turn into a mess by the end of their set. But who puts on the greatest live act? Is it the group that can seamlessly reproduce their album note for note, or the group that can take something stationary and make it into something much more on stage?
Take for example the Rolling Stones. They've been touring for around 40 years now, and I've seen them in concert twice. While the crowd is into it simply from a historical and pop standpoint, and I think the energy these guys give, even past their prime and middle age is solid, it doesn't come off as anything I couldn't hear by listening to an old recording of theirs. On the far extreme are groups like The String Cheese Incident and Phish, which jam and improv so much in their concerts that one is left to wonder if they even have a CD with tracks on it. But let's not forget consistency. If you go see three shows by a group, a great group will give you three different shows that were all excellent. But some of the best artists happen to be inconsistent on stage. Take Del the Funky Homosapien for example. He might be one of the most talented lyricists and freestylers in rap, but all the times I've seen him, he's hit or miss. Either he's on that night and no one on the stage can come close, or he's not and he fades into the background.
So what makes an incredible live band? For the rest of this article, click here.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Movies of May (6)
May just about crushed me. I had to rebound from the IRS taking their pound of flesh from me, all to turn around, need to find a new job, and then study relentlessly for the CSET. Needless to say, I didn't have time to watch many movies. I'm truly hoping that the month of June can bring me a little more celluloid pleasure.
4: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
15: Quantum of Solace
23: Bender's Game
24: Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
31: Terminator Salvation
4: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
15: Quantum of Solace
23: Bender's Game
24: Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
31: Terminator Salvation
Monday, June 1, 2009
Fire Dancer
The first weekend at the Lake House was a good group of people, but pretty low-key overall. Between P, Madre, myself, Sis, Hessica, Mr. Glass and the new roommate (Sis's, not mine), it was a nice, relaxed (but maybe a bit less partying than I might have hoped for) weekend. However, it was extremely notable for one thing: fire dancing. One of my Sister's old college roommates showed up with her current boyfriend who has been learning how to move around while swinging nunchucks with little balls of fire at the bottom. Both evenings of the weekend, he made use of the new sundeck (imagine a deck like the others, only 10 feet above the water and looking directly out of the cove and into the lake) by getting out on it and putting on a fire show for us. Enjoy the videos!
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