May 2005 Archives

The Man Who Stole Ewan McGregor's Charisma

... and that makes Jimmy Smits the new... Billy Dee Williams?

TWOFER NOT MO BETTER

Although he gets a big piece of it wrong, Tierney's column last Monday in the TIMES cites SKL's book on the web page. While we're linking to Tierney, I can understand why the NYT wants to replace Safire with a convserative voice, but why TWO conservatives voices (ex-urbanist David Brooks?) Doesn't he already have a swelled head?

CLICK. HERE. NOW.

Huge list of bootleg sites.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Larry McCurtry in the NYTM: "What do you get when you clear brush? You get a photograph of yourself with a chain saw and a cowboy hat..."

Oh, yeah: Skype me [triley60].

LINGWEENIES ARE THE NEW PANSY HAWKS

Merriam-Webster's Top Ten Faux Words

GOOD FIT

Richard Linklater signs to produce Fast Food Nation...

This is a good example of a strong film nearly bleached out by its precious New Age score. It's worth seeing, but the neat script tidys things up perhaps too much, and it casts a shadow of self-importance offset by Cheadle's mournful expression. Can a critic complain about a literate script that doesn't quite live up to its ambitions?

If were an arts editor I'd have my music writer dive into the two scenes where pop music surfaces as a theme that goes beyond racial taste. The opening car-jack sequence has Ludacris decry rap as "the white man's weapon...," which will send us back to his CDs searching for "niggahs" and such. And the Merle Haggard scene near the end where Ryan Phillippe betrays his better nature. What are these songs? My hunch is they were far more effectively interwoven with the script than the larger score, probably even chosen by different ears.

WELLSTONE'S SEAT

After boldly predicting the doom of podcasting, I hereby post Air America's podcast feeds, our last best hope.

YEAH, PORTIA DE ROSSI MARRIED THIS GUY

David Cross reviews for Pitchfork:

Give a listen to Turndown Service, the forthcoming album by DotCom.com. Hopefully this foray into the electronic sector of the British no-fi/wi-hi scene (with apologies to Dr. Reverend Billy) is only a temporary diversion and not a full-fledged career move for Bix Xhu and friends. With a nod to early Creatures via the Monks, DotCom.com manages to wrench what little empathy one might have for the entire British working class (nothing you wouldn't find at an "Alive With Pleasure" show) and sashays it right up and down Trafalgar Square.

"Who didn't flush the toilet...?"
"Upstairs or downstairs?"
"Why don't we flush the sky?!

THE SOUND OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY TUMBLING INTO THE SEA

Directory of mp3 Sites

WHICH QUICKLY LED ME TO

This mp3 blog roundtable on the redoubtable etc... (more roundtables)...

From David Corn in Huffington:

...Yes, we all know how much McClellan and the White House are addicted to truth and honesty--especially when it comes to the war on terrorism. Seems to me that with a few slight amendments McClellan's remark might also apply to another institution that got an even bigger story wrong:

"It's puzzling that while Bush and the White House now acknowledge that they got the facts wrong, they refused to retract the war. I think there's a certain presidential standard that should be met and in this instance it was not."

BORED? 50 iPod Uses

CAN LUCAS EVEN SPELL ALLEGORY?

My 7-year-old is dragging me to this. But I'm betting this gives more pleasure. Even QUOTE OF THE MONTH: "Break me a fucking give..."

"Making sure nobody walks in LA," Jiffy Lube, Santa Monica

WHO KNEW?

Los Angeles supports TWO classical radio stations: KUSC and KING ...

AND NOW, THIS

About time...

Caught Thom Anderson's sprawling LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF with a full house last night at the restored Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, and while I admired its slew of ideas, and the wicked dry narration (Encke King), it's too long by at least half and the organization is a mess. The clips are choice and daring, but it lacks a STRONG, cohesive point of view.

"Just think, you could be governor someday..." Gold's Gym, Pasadena

S F/J says it better than I'm inspired to. Ghost of Tom Joad Part DEUX (with a bullet). NEBRASKA works better as metaphorical Bush critique than the title song. Although, word from California is that star-studded shows are stunning, including solo piano "Incident on 57th Street"…

2005 LIST (IN PROGRESS)

Neko Case, TIGER HAS SPOKEN (Anti-)
Petra Haden, THE WHO SELL OUT (Bar-None)
Ivy, IN THE CLEAR (Nettwerk)

REISSUES

Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet, COMPLETE MERCURY RECORDINGS (Hip-O Select),
Toots and the Maytals, TOOTS IN MEMPHIS (Hip-O Select)

STIFFS

Aimee Mann, THE FORGOTTEN ARM (Superego, and how)
Bruce Springsteen, DEVILS AND DUST (Sony)

QUEUED

Beck, GUERO (Interscope)
The Killers, HOT FUSS (Island)
Garbage, BLEED LIKE ME (Almo Sounds/Geffen)
New Order, WAITING FOR THE SIRENS' CALL (Warner Bros.)

Hedy Lamarr (Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler), b. Vienna, 1913
"… And so she came west, perhaps as beautiful as any woman ever filmed, but nearly stunned by all the things being said about her, and by her extensive limits as an actress." — from David Thomson's BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF FILM (third edition), p. 414.

Three lists for Rock Snob's Dictionary's "real" and "snob" formats, which makes more and more sense as you work on it:

REAL FAVS (changes daily, no particular order)

1. BLONDE ON BLONDE + BASEMENT TAPES + BEFORE THE FLOOD + LOVE AND THEFT, Bob Dylan (w/Band etc)
2. LET IT BLEED, Rolling Stones
3. BAND OF GYPSIES, Hendrix
4. STAR TIME, James Brown box
5. MOONDOG MATINEE, The Band
6. PLASTIC ONO BAND, John Lennon
7. NEBRASKA, Bruce Springsteen
8. JACK JOHNSON, Miles Davis
9. THE COMPLETE BEATLES AT THE BBC (Great Dane), Beatles
10. SIGN O' THE TIMES, Prince

SNOB SUBS (fixed for all eternity)

1. TIME OUT OF MIND, Bob Dylan
2. SOME GIRLS, Rolling Stones
3. TROUT MASK REPLICA, Captain Beefheart
4. AIRPORT BACKGROUND HUM, Brian Eno
5. LOVELESS (aka MASSIVE ANAL BLEEDING), My Bloody Valentine
6. THE MILLION-DOLLAR QUARTET, Presley, Cash, Perkins, Lewis
7. BITCHES BREW, Miles Davis
8. IMPERIALIZED BEDROOM MELODRAMAS, Elvis Costello
9. BORN IN THE U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen
10. SIGN O' THE TIMES, Prince

FANTASY COVERS ["Title" (Original), fantasy version]

1. "A Man Needs A Maid" (Neil Young), pj harvey
2. "Our Lips Are Sealed" (Go-Gos), Sleater-Kinney
3. "Change Partners" (Steve Stills), Melissa Ethridge
4. "Love For Sale" (Cole Porter), Marie Osmond
5. "White Wedding" (Billy Idol), Martha Quinn (early MTV VJ)
6. "Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell" (Iggy Pop), Britney Spears
7. "The End" (Doors), John McCain (courtesy Robert Smigel)
8. "Baby Got Back" (Sir Mix-A-Lot), Clay Aiken
9. "Stoney End (Laura Nyro), Chrissie Hynde
10. "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" (Nancy Sinatra), Belinda Carlisle

Bruce Springsteen on VH1's Storytellers