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Adam Curtis–The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear (2004) (Wholphin, Vols 2, 3 and 4)

Posted in Adam Curtis, Airlines, Brent Hoff, Demons, Funky Web Sites, History, Lawrence Weschler, McSweeney's, Political Humor, Politicians, Russia, Technology, The Power of Nightmares, Threats, Violence, War, Wholphin, Wikipedia, WMDs on July 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

powwer[WATCHED: June 2009] The Power of Nightmares

This is a film, not a book.  But I found it so fascinating that I had to say something about it.  I have to say it again, this series was truly amazing, and I encourage everyone to watch it.

The Power of Nightmares is a 3 part documentary, totaling about 3 hours.  It was created by the BBC in 2004.  The underlying theme of the film is that politicians have begun to resort to fear in order to achieve their desired aims.  Where in the distant past, politicians offered hope and future fulfillment, nearly all campaigns now try to scare you into voting for them.  (This was before Obama, and may explain the popularity of Obama’s campaign).

The premise of the series is that the rise of the radical Islamist movement (including al Qaeda) and the rise of the American Neo-Conservatives not only parallels each other but actually supports each other.

This documentary is well researched and, obviously, controversial.  It has, to the best of my knowledge, never aired in the U.S. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 2] Infinite Jest (1996)

Posted in Big Books, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Dave Eggers, David Foster Wallace, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gangsters, Hawaii Five-0, Hüsker Dü, Hill Street Blues, Infinite Summer, Meta, Postmoderism, Set at School, Suicide, Technology, The Who on July 2, 2009| 7 Comments »

jestSOUNDTRACK: HÜSKER DÜ-Zen Arcade (1984).

zen arcadeWhen I was younger and more amused by things like this, it amused me that Hüsker Dü’s first three records were a live album an EP and a double album.  They just couldn’t put out a regular old LP?

It also amused me that they put out a song on this disc that was almost as long as their EP and was even almost as long as their Live record.  Such was the difference of Zen Arcade.

In reading about it lately I have learned that it is sort of a concept album (Someone even called it the Quadrophenia of 80s punk).  I gather I simply never paid enough attention to the lyrics to realize that (although it does explain “Hare Krshna”).  There’s also a lot of talk about how influential this disc was.  That may also be true, although I can’t say for sure.

Perhaps the most notable thing is how the disc is not just straight punk. Up to this point the Hüskers had released fast, straight ahead punk.  Distorted guitar and often screaming vocals.  And indeed, Zen Arcade starts off that way “Something I Learned Today” is a classic Hüsker Dü pop punk song.  It’s got a cool opening bassline and super distorted guitars, and yet its got a sing along chorus.  And “Never Talking to You Again” continues Grant Hart’s streak of great catchy punk.  This one includes acoustic guitar, though, just to break things up a bit.  It’s with Track 5 “Dreams Reoccurring” that you know things are going to be very different this time around.  This 2 minute song is full of reversed guitars sounds and all kinds of weird tape mixing.  It’s quite trippy and unlike anything else that the band had done.

As we near the middle of the disc, “Whats Going on Inside My Head” and “Masochism World” are absolute punk vocal shredders (so you know they’re not really going soft).  As the disc ends, “Turn on the News” plays around with recorded Newscasts, not a new concept, but new for them.  And then, of course, the final track, “Reoccurring Dreams,” a reprise of “Dreams Reoccurring” that goes on for 13 minutes of squalling feedback and demented solos (with a cool, if disconcerting, guitar motif).

One of my favorite facts about the disc is that it was all recorded in one take (except for, as the liner notes point out, 2 tracks that started too fast) and there were no overdubs.  It was mastered just as quickly so that the whole thing to about 85 hours to make.  It’s amazing that anything done that quickly can be that good.  But such is the case of this disc.  There’s a clunker or two in the mix, but how could there not be with all that energy bouncing around?

[READ: Week of June 29, 2009] Infinite Jest (to page 151)

After Reading the Infinite Summer site, I see that I got at least one thing wrong.  Mario is in fact not Hal’s younger brother, but is Hal’s older, but not oldest, brother.

I ordered 2 copies of IJ for our library since we did not have any (!).  I’ve been sneaking peeks in the second copy which has the above cover.  And an intro by Dave Eggers, which I enjoyed.

Also, when I dropped my old copy, a whole bunch of small squares of paper fell out: notes that I took the first time through.  I started to look at them but it revealed too much so I stopped.  I’m going to try and read this as purely as possible.

So, surprisingly (or perhaps un-) new characters are coming fast and furious in week two, (up to page 151). (more…)

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Periodical: Rolling Stone

Posted in Books about music, Canadian Music, Comedians, Concept Albums, Consumerism, Essays, Film & TV, Music, Political Humor, Religion, Rolling Stone, Technology, War, WMDs on June 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

rsI began my Rolling Stone subscription a few years ago when I bought something at Best Buy. The subscription was a bonus gift of some sort. The choices were pretty lousy and I didn’t even want Rolling Stone, but I figured what the heck.
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the magazine.

I suppose no one has to be told what Rolling Stone is like. Or so I thought, because here was me, being surprised by this most mainstream of magazines.  I mean, I’ve seen the covers for years, and I knew they liked sex, drugs and rock and roll, but there’s more under the covers.

I have quickly learned my favorite sections and the ones I don’t even bother looking at.

Skim the letters. Maybe there’s a worthwhile addition.

The first main section is the “news” of the last two weeks…usually a concert or a new album or some such. This one happens to focus on American Idol, so, I skipped right past that nonsense.

The Hot List is 5 things that impress them since last issue. I usually like 1 of the 5.

I never read the Smoking Section, but Breaking is usually about an indie band that I heard about a few months earlier.  RS finally catches up and I can read a bit more about them. The In the Studio section is worth browsing to see who’s due for a new disc.

The Random Notes I feel is meant to be a big deal, with “insider” photos and blah blah. I skim it but little more than that.

And then the issue proper starts. (more…)

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My Great Depression: Ten dispatches from the near future (Harper’s, June 2009)

Posted in Anachronisms, Barack Obama, Ben Katchor, Ben Marcus, Colson Whitehead, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Rees, Dilbert, Dystopia, Garfield, Get Your War On, Harper's, Hüsker Dü, Jamaica Kinkaid, Kevin Baker, Minnesota, Ruben Bolling, Sherman Alexie, Short Story, Simon Critchley, Technology, The Family Circus, The Replacements, Thomas De Zengotita, Tom McCarthy, Tom the Dancing Bug on June 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

hapersSOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981).

sorrymaSince I’ve been talking about The Replacements so much, it made me want to go back and listen to their stuff.  The Replacements are the quintessential band that “grew up” or “matured” and for better or worse sounds utterly different from their first album to their last (a span of only nine years!).  In fact, I don’t imagine that there are too many people who would enjoy all seven of their discs.  One suspects that if the band themselves were given a copy of their All Shook Down disc in 1981, they would have smashed it.

So this was their first release. It has 18 songs in about 30 minutes.  That’s pure hardcore, right?  Well, not exactly.  Even though the songs are short and fast and quite sloppy, there’s something about Paul Westerberg’s voice and delivery that makes these songs seem not quite hardcore.  He enunciates!  And you can understand him most of the time. And, maybe this is a better indicator: there’s parts to these songs, it’s not just breakneck pacing.  They also have song titles that belied how good their song writing would become.  Like: “Shiftless When Idle.”

In fact, “Johnny’s Gonna Die” isn’t fast at all.  It shows what the kind of songs that they would eventually write: literate and moving indie rock.

There must have been something in the water in 1981 in Minnesota.  Hüsker Dü, the other amazing punk outfit out of Minnesota (referenced in the ‘Mats song “Something  to Du”) also put out a blistering live hardcore record in 1981 called Land Speed Record (17 songs in 26 minutes, listed as 2 tracks on CDs because they don’t pause in between songs).  Like the ‘Mats, Hüsker Dü wouldn’t recognize their later incarnations in 1981 either.  And why are The Replacements abbreviated as The ‘Mats?  I don’t know.

But this ‘Mats record is the kind of sneaky record that can get you to enjoy punk even if you don’t think you like it.  There’s something so fun about Sorry Ma, that you don’t really notice that it’s all done so fast.

[READ: May 22, 2009] “My Great Depression”

This essay collection is tough to catalog.  Do I include all of the authors in the title of the post, do I pick selected ones, or just go with none.  Yes, go with none.

Harper’s asked ten authors/artists to send stories from the near future, after the economic collapse of the country. All of the pieces are three columns or less, and some are more enjoyable than others. (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–Cat’s Cradle (1963)

Posted in Books about writers, Concept Albums, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Death, End of the World, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Gods, Kurt Vonnegut, Lavender Diamond, My Brightest Diamond, My Morning Jacket, Natural Disasters, Political Humor, Religion, Robyn Hitchcock, Sci-fi, Smarty Pants, Technology, The Decemberists on June 2, 2009| 1 Comment »

catsSOUNDTRACK: THE DECEMBERISTS-The Hazards of Love (2009).

hazardsI first played this disc a few times without really listening to it, just to get a feel for it.  And I was surprised by how heavy it sounded.  The harshest moments of the disc really stood out to me, and I was quite surprised, as I think of the Decemberists as more folky than this.

But when I finally sat down and listened, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the disc overall.  I have yet to understand the complete storyline (the lyrics are printed in a near impossible to read size and color, so I’ve had to rely on what I could pick out.)

The disc is a concept album.  It tells the story of  Margaret who falls for a shape shifting creature of the forest and, I think, their offspring as well.  There’s a jealous forest queen involved, and, of course, the Rake–although I’m not exactly sure how he fits in–but more on him in a moment.

In addition to some “celebrity” guest vocalists (Robyn Hitchcock and Jim James of My Morning Jacket sing backing vocals), for the first time on a Decemberists disc, Colin Meloy doesn’t sing all of the lead vocals.  The two women characters’ parts are sung by two singers I don’t know: Becky Stark (of the band Lavender Diamond) and Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond).  And when the queen (Shara Worden) sings, she’s pretty angry. She creates one of the harshest sounds I can think of by the Decemberists.

Interestingly, that song, “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid” also contains one of the most beautiful passages that the Decemberists have done.  “The Wanting Comes in Waves” part of the song has an uplifting chorus, a wonderful melody and a beautiful sing-along.  Meanwhile, the “Repaid” part has some harsh, angular guitars and when the Queen repeats “repaid!” for the third time, the hair will stand up on your arms.  (Of course, the song then repeats the beautiful part once again…phew…and it is reprised at the end of the disc, because how could you NOT include that passage again?).

This record also features the catchiest song about infanticide that I know of.  “The Rake’s Song” rocks, and yet as you’re singing along to the simple but catchy chorus of “Alright, Alright, Alright,” you realize that the Rake has just killed all of his three children so that he can have a life as a free bachelor again.  (Revenge does come at the end).

And that revenge comes in one of the 4 versions of the title song.  What starts as a simple folky ditty (in Part 1) “singing, oh ho, the hazards of love,” morphs (in Part 2)  into a rocking track, then (in Part 3) a track with a children’s choir (my least favorite track on the disc–it works with the story, but I don’t care for the kids voices, really) and (finally) a haunting epilogue.

This is The Decemberists’ most striking album to date.  It is a bold attempt to alienate just about everyone, and yet I believe they have pulled off something just shy of a masterpiece.  The harshness of some of the songs still makes me a little uneasy (at least when listening with the kiddies), but the rewards are ample, and they really do fit perfectly with the plot.

I never expected the Decemberists to venture into prog rock territory but since they embraced it fully, they really pulled it off.  I do still need to get in and read the lyrics though, just to get all the details straight.  (They are legibly printed here).

[READ: June 1, 2009] Cat’s Cradle

This is the first “well-known” Vonnegut book I’ve read (not counting Slaughterhouse Five, which I’m going to re-read soon for the first time in fifteen or so years).  I’d heard of this book but never knew what it was about.  And, boy, trying to summarize is pretty tough.

Why?

Because Vonnegut invents an entire new religion and a fictional island on which to practice it.  And his characterization of the whole thing is so complete, that it is utterly believable.  And that’s only half the book.

So, let’s try this: John, the narrator decides to write a personal biography of Felix Hoenikker, the Father of the atomic bomb. Okay, so we know we are on somewhat fictional ground, and yet it is sort of based in reality.  Fine. (more…)

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Charles Carney and Scott Grass–The ACME Catalog: Quality is Our #1 Dream (2006)

Posted in Charles Carney, Consumerism, Funny (ha ha), Looney Tunes, Psychostick, Radio, Scott Grass, Technology, Violence, WSOU 89.5 FM--South Orange, NJ on May 19, 2009| 2 Comments »

acmeSOUNDTRACK: 89.5 WSOU.

souThis station is one that I used to listen to quite often back at my old house.  It comes from Seton Hall University and it is an excellent resource for heavy metal.  I haven’t tuned them in in about five years, and I was delighted to hear that they are still around and still rocking.

The set that I listened to the other day was even heavier than I expected.  In particular, they played a thrash song called “Caffeine.”  The chorus was something like, “Caffeine, caffeine, caffeine in my coffee.”  It then slowed down as the buzz wore off, but then took off again.  It was funny and thrashing and brought me back to my high school days.  If anyone knows who it might have been, let me know.

For the longest time I never knew why the station was called Pirate Radio.  I thought it was some attempt to sound bad-ass, like they were illegal.  Then, I realized that Seton Hall’s mascot is a Pirate.  Well, there’s that cleared up.

[READ: May 15, 2009] The ACME Catalog

Sarah got this for me for Christmas back in 2006.  Somehow, it made its way out off the basement book shelf, and we enjoyed looking through it again.

This book, which you can’t tell from the title, but which you can from the cover, is a collection of products that Wile E Coyote has looked for or ordered in his pursuit of the Road Runner.

If you’re a fan of old Looney Tunes cartoons you’ll appreciate the humor of being able to order Do-It-Yourself Tornado (only $65.95) or Foot Springs (on closeout for $5.95) or perennial favorite the Fake Hole ($5.99). (more…)

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Periodical: Esquire

Posted in Authors, Barry Sonnenfeld, Books about music, Books about writers, Chuck Klosterman, Dudes, Esquire, Film & TV, Food, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Military, Music, Politicians, Religion, Sex, Short Story, Technology, Video Games, Violence on April 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

esquireI don’t recall why I started getting Esquire. I think it was because I got some kind of discount magazine subscription card. And since Sarah gets lots of women’s magazines, I thought I’d try a men’s one.

I’ve been quite delighted with it since I subscribed. And one thing that I like about it is that I don’t feel compelled to read everything in it. I enjoy the letters, although my favorite part of the letters page is the “Context-free highlight from a letter we won’t be running” which always contains a random sentence or two from a letter. This sentence is always weird and it’s awesome to imagine what the rest of the letter contained. An example: “Our prime minister is pretty harmless, but he licks his lips a lot when he speaks.”

As the Man at His Best section starts, I enjoy “The Vocabulary” which defines the words they will introducing in the section. And of course this section has The Rules, a randomly selected number assigned to a rule that should be followed. Example: “Rule No. 815: Of the clocks in the house, the coffeemaker is the least likley to be accurate.”

This section also contains the usual line-up of media reviews: books, music, film and TV. These are all short and sometimes I agree and sometimes I don’t, and that’s fine. Usually the books and movies they like are too “butch” for my taste, and that’s a general note about the magazine that I’ll get to shortly.  But the music section tends to introduce me to stuff I don’t already know.

There’s also stuff about food and drink, and I always want to try the food advice, because it’s mostly about foods I try to make, but I never save the pages so I always forget the clever suggestions. (more…)

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Periodical: Geek Monthly

Posted in Arcade Fire, Artists, Authors, Book Reviews, Corporate skewering, Fantasy, Film & TV, Food, Foreign Books, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Futurama, Geek Monthly, Graphic Novel, Magazines, Magic, Music, Smarty Pants, Technology, TiVo, Video Games, Work, Yuck! on April 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

geek1I have a Periodicals page already, but I rarely look at it or update it.  So, over the next few months I’m going to mention a magazine that I subscribe to.  When I’m all caught up, I’ll remove that page.

I was inspired to do this when I got the latest Geek Monthly. I stumbled upon Geek magazine last year when I was gathering magazines for the library’s annual magazine survey.  I really enjoyed it and when I saw the next issue it was a Futurama feature, so naturally I had to subscribe right then and there.

And since then I have not been disappointed.

They have fun geek quotes from famous and non-famous people.  Some short articles about tech gadgets and new products. And an Ask Alienware category for high tech and gaming questions.

geek2They’ve also started a Green section (this latest one has a computer built into a cardboard CPU unit…very cool).

They also have a music section (six album reviews and an interview with a cool geeky person).  This latest issue has a great interview with Will Oldham & The Arcade Fire.

There’s obviously the interview with the cover person (Zach Braff & Nathan Fillion are recent cover stars).  Plus, there’s other film-related articles.  (An interview with Wallace Shawn and an inevitable piece on Battlestar Galactica).  There also usually an opinion piece about a film or TV topic, and sometimes a debate on a subject (Film Adaptations of Books).  There’s also a regular Rant from Mark Altman, and Secrets of a Lady Geek.

As you get near the back, you get film reviews (mostly sci fi & horror, but there’s also some comedies and documentaries), and DVD reviews.   And, of course book reviews (comics and otherwise).

And then you get one of my favorite sections: product reviews.  The Office Arsenal shows awesome gadgets that you can bring to work (sadly I don’t work in an environment where Nerf rockets and Super Soakers would be appreciated.)  But the best part has to be random reviews at the back of the magazine.  Things like: MyGlowKeys, or Van Dorn Gourmets Onion Dip and Bath Bomb, or the thing that’s been making me laugh for days: FX Neo: Hard Minty Eyedrops, which has the hilarious review: “Hard. Minty. Eyedrops.  I can’t think of two more terrible adjectives for something I’m supposed to stick in my eye.  Hot stabby eyedrops?  Grating infectious eyedrops?  Nope, can’t do it.” (more…)

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Trenton Lee Stewart–The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007)

Posted in Adventure, Canadian Music, Carson Ellis, Children's Books, Contests, Corporate skewering, End of the World, Funky Web Sites, Handsome Furs, Mystery, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Sunset Rubdown, Technology, The Decemberists, Threats, Wolf Parade on March 20, 2009| Leave a Comment »

benedictSOUNDTRACK: WOLF PARADE-At Mount Zoomer (2008).

zoomerThis album made many best of lists of 2008.  It is considered a side project of both Spencer Krug (of Sunset Rubdown) and Dan Boeckner (of Handsome Furs).  I’d not heard of either band, but I was very intrigued by this disc and I’m so glad I got it.

Every track has something outstanding about it, be it a cool guitar break (“Soldier’s Grin”)  or a cool keyboard break (“Language City”–which builds to a rollicking climax).  While “Bang Your Drum” has multiple parts, each one weird and wonderful.

“California Dreamer” has  wonderfully sinister soundtrack, with a great rocking chorus. And it’s followed by a surprisingly upbeat “The Grey Estates” (keyboard pop at its best).

The albums ends with the epic “Kissing the Beehive”: a ten minute track with several parts to it.  The first seven minutes just fly by, and then the song breaks down into a quieter feel.

It seems rare that an album comes out of nowhere to me (even if the album didn’t come out of nowhere for people who loved their first release (which I also have not heard) or the two main songwriter’s OTHER projects, but I’m very glad I found this one.  Its frenetic pacing and overall quality made it one of my favorite releases of 2008.

[READ: March 9, 2009] The Mysterious Benedict Society

While you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, you can certainly check it out because of it. I saw this book on our shelves and brought it home calling it The Decemberists’ book.  It was only later on that I realized that the cover (and interior) art is by Carson Ellis, who is, indeed, the primary artist for the Decemberists.

The second selling point was the blurb on the back cover: “Are You a Gifted Child Looking for Special Opportunities?”  How can you not say, “Why, yes, I think I am.” This blurb appears in the book in a newspaper and is the catalyst for the young children (orphans and runaways mostly) who will show up for the challenging test that comprises the beginning of the book. (more…)

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John Hodgman–More Information Than You Require (2008)

Posted in 19th Century, Boston, MA, Corporate skewering, Dip-in Books, Frank Zappa, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), History, Jennifer Toth, John Hodgman, Jon Stewart, Political Humor, Sigur Rós, Smarty Pants, Swedish Music, Technology, The Daily Show, The Sound of Young America, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, Time Travel, Unreliable narrator on March 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »

more-infoSOUNDTRACK: Dungen-4 (2008).

4Vill du tala svensk?

Even if you don’t speak or understand Swedish, Dungen plays music that is pretty universally understood.  The album feels more or less like an all instrumental affair.  There are some songs with words, but they are all sung in Swedish. So, no, I have no idea what he’s singing about, and in that respect it feels all instrumental.

Like the previous discs, 4 feels like a blast from the psychedelic days.  It is trippy, at times loud and raucous, (with some amazing guitar workouts) and even has flutes on a few tracks.

The big difference between this disc and the previous releases is that there’s a lot more piano.  This has an overall calming effect on the music.  And in some ways, I think I don’t like this disc as much as previous ones.

The piano really comes to the fore on track 2 “Målerås Finest” which to me sounds like a a tribute to one Zappa’s instrumentals (it reminds me of “Peaches en Regalia,” although I don’t mean to suggest it’s a rip off at all). “Samtidigt 1 an 2” are the major instrumentals of the disc.  They also remind me of Zappa in that they feels like a snippet from some crazy guitar jam session.  (Zappa releases a lot of  “songs” like this on his …Guitar… albums. On this disc, we’re privy to about 3 minutes of wild guitar solo but since they fade in and then fade out at the end we have no idea how long the jam went on.  The final track “Bandhagen” also feels Zappaeque, but maybe it’s just the staccato notes that Zappa also uses to such good effect.

“Fredag” has a feeling like some of the more otherworldly Flaming Lips songs.  And “Mina Damer Och Fasaner” has a choppy heavy metal sound that really stands out from the disc.

Really there isn’t a bad song on the disc, but for some reason it doesn’t move me quite as much as the others.  I don’t want to bring a negative vibe to the review.  I’m sure if this was the first Dungen CD I had, I’d think it was amazing, I just got spoiled by them.

[READ: February 14, 2009] More Information Than You Require

John Hodgman is a man you will no doubt recognize from the Mac Vs PC ads (he’s the PC). He’s also a contributor and guest on The Daily Show. When this book was released he promoted it on The Daily Show, and on the Sound of Young America. It sounded really funny. And I was delighted that Sarah got it for me for Christmas. (more…)

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