Anyone who goes on Facebook regularly (and has some friends) knows the recent fad of the Top 25 Lists? Writers have become infatuated with making fun of it. All I know is people love lists and love making lists. Grocery lists, to do lists, top movies lists, top music lists. Lists, Lists, Lists. Slate's article is called "Charles Darwin Tagged You in a Note on Facebook."
Time has one called "Facebook: 25 Things I Didn't Want to Know About You" with in itself contains a list. How ironic. My favorite in the Time article has to be #6 (probably because of my Anchorman love):
"6. When I finally told my now fiancé that I liked him (as in, liked him liked him), I drunkenly gave him the Anchorman line, "I want to be on you." He had only seen the movie once and had no idea what it was from."
I saw an excellent band named Beirut last week at the BAM. This band of musical gypsies led by trumpet-playing, vocally blessed twenty-something Zach Condon was joined for half by the Vassar Orchestra. It was quite a beautiful place to see a performance. It wasn't just your regular musical performance. The space made it special and added to the complexity of the sound that you wouldn't get at your standard music hall.
While the set could have been a bit longer, it exuding the beauty and excellence that didn't necessitate it. The crowd was hushed which was continually noted by the band. It was as if the audience treated this as a performance and not just any other concert and I must agree. It wasn't the best show I've ever been too but it was poignant, pleasant and something I'd like to recreate over to and over again if I could. Stereogum has a more in-depth review and some photos.
This followed up a show I saw by the genius violinist & whistler-extraordinaire Andrew Bird at Carnegie Hall the week prior. Obviously, the sound was amazing. Actually I'd say it was extraordinary and incomparable (even from my second to last row seating). I'm not sure if it was because of the seating but the sound was just perfect, all-encompassing, which made up for the inability to really even see the show. BrooklynVegan has the set list, no good pictures though. They are pretty strict about that at Carnegie; it's quite nice to not see flashing lights are aren't from the stage lighting.
I am quite a big Doves fan. Their album Lost Souls are on a small list of the my writing albums, albums that I seem to be able to write and write often too. Well Filter Magazine has some details on their new album, Kingdom of Rust.
As a Yankee basher, nothing has made me happier than A-Rod' revelation that he is a cheater. I love it. Slate has an interesting article, "How baseball can usher out the A-Roid era."
An Israeli Supermodel Politician? I say genius! (Newsweek)
Time had another good article called "Competence: Is Your Boss Faking It?"
Tom Cruise & Denzel in a movie together directed by Cronenberg? (Hollywood Reporter)
Brett Ratner says new Beverly Hills Cop to be a "Hard R", it better just have a great Eddie Murphy in it. (Firstshowing)
I've also been reading some books. Here's my favorite quote out of one of them, Thornton Wilder's "The Bridge of San Luis Rey":
"Style is but the faintly contemptible vessel in which the bitter liquid is recommended to the world."
Hope you had a grand old Memorial Day weekend, where old men remember what BBQ's are for and put on stupid aprons to cover their guts as they grill up a large collection of flesh.
Been a bit busy lately. Saw a couple of great shows including brass chaos and beauty of Beirut. Here they are on Jools Holland with a penultimate example of their musical wizardry:
And here's a new unreleased track that I can't wait to hear when it's released called "The Shrew", which can best be described as a bull fighting marching song minus the mariachi, make sure to check out the amazing horn blowout in the last third, a awe inspiring sight to see even from this awful angle:
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I saw the overhyped Indiana Jones and The Overcrowded Geriatric Hospital of Belief Suspension. I think the title says it all. I was never a huge fan of the series besides Raiders but hopefully this one can put a nail in Indy's coffin. Although I doubt it since the film brought in over $300 million dollars worldwide on it's opening weekend.
Then later in the week, I went to Union Hall in Brooklyn and saw a Swedish band on their first US tour named the Mary Onettes (pronounced like Marionettes). They have a early 80's Cure feel that is exhibited best in "Lost" and the live video below for "The Void":
After one of my compatriots bought a round of drinks for the band (thanks Alex), we chatted up the pleasant guitarist named Henrik. It turns out they are form the same town in Sweden as Jens Lekman and I'm From Barcelona, two of best live acts out there. I've blogged both prevously so I won't go into their greatness here.
The Mary Onettes debut self titled album is quite good and is worth a listen. Pitchfork thought so too. Some might recognize a few of the tracks as I've old they were featured on Grey's Anatomy, which usually picks better songs than plot lines from what I remember. A perfect album for a beautiful spring drive. Here's a video of "Pleasure Songs":---
In other news that I actually did read...
Sydney Pollack has passed after a battle with Stomach Cancer (BBC). Famous for directing Tootsie, Out of Africa, as well as working as an actor in films like Eyes Wide Shut. May I recommend one of his older works that I saw in film class a few years ago? Starring Jane Fonda in a dance marathon, it has one of my favorite titles ever, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
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There will be no Back to the Future IV. (Cinematical)
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Fernando Meirelles (director of one of my all time favorite films, City of G-d) is getting mixed notices for his new film Blindness, a bleak film about contagious blindness spreading across the world. It opened this year Cannes Film Festival. The trailer is available here. I'm still very hopeful.
On the other hand it looks like Woody Allen's latest film, Vicky Christina Barcelona, starring Javier Bardem, Penelpoe Cruz and Scarlett Johansson, is quite enjoyable, if not only for the previously reported menage a trois sequence.
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I can write about other things besides movies and music. I just choose not to for the most part. I finally finished the soon to be Coen Brothers' adapted novel "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon.
It tells the story of a bizarro/alternate universe where the Jews lose Israel in 1948 and are instead given a strip of Alaska to call their own. It's an Jewish Alaskan Shtetl detective story. The story itself was very interesting but some of Chabon's writing can be too artistic, bridging too many humorous Jewish metaphors that interrupt the flow of the story. That said, it should turn out to be one heck of a movie.---
I love Mario Kart Wii! That's the real reason why there's no blogging time left. Mario Kart and working on a script about this man:
He's a mass murderer of class and courtesy in Northern New Jersey. His given name is Guts. You can call him... El Big Boy!
