Some Movies

Watched and enjoyed Food, Inc–the latest in a string of new documentaries on the food (a.k.a “corn”) industry.

Great production values and engaging interviews (including Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma) make Food, Inc a rather more refined product than King Corn–though they’re essentially the same product: corn, corn, corn. The packing plant motif conjures scenes from Richard Linklater’s Fast Food Nation, sans the personal story / drama. If food activism is your thing, you’re sure to enjoy Food, Inc. If you prefer not to think about what’s in your food, may I suggest:

Insomnia (the 1997 Erik Skjoldbjærg original, not the 2002 Christopher Nolan remake) comes off as a tightly directed but dismal thriller. The film would be entirely forgettable–except for being so subtle and well crafted. Divulging the plot (or my speculations about the director’s intent) would be a disservice to any inclined to see it. Suffice to say that it’ll suite your mood if you’re looking for something light and fun–and it’ll suite your mood if you’re looking for something dark and ponderous. Not a common achievement.

Of course, if you’re looking for dark (though not particularly ponderous), you’re best bet is to make it to your local cinema and take in The Road. Imagine a zombie movie, told with all the seriousness of Requiem for a Dream. It’s scary as fuck–and, unlike a zombie film, it’s hard to shake. Check your Panglossean cheer at the popcorn stand and see this movie. You’ll likely regret it–but not in the sort of way that makes you want your money back. Just what you left at the popcorn stand.

Best 41 Albums of the Decade

I’m just going to throw this out there. My goal is sharing and discovery–but if you prefer to create controversy (no, I didn’t forget about Strawberry Jam…), go right ahead!

(*Hint* – One of these albums does not belong. Hrm… I wonder which one!)

Top 20
1. Wilco – Yankee Foxtrot Hotel (2002)
2. LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem (2005)
3. Justice – † (2008)
4. Born Ruffians – Red, Yellow & Blue (2008)
5. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)
6. The Tallest Man On Earth – Shallow Graves (2008)
7. Daft Punk – Alive 2007 (2007)
8. Califone – Roomsound (2001)
9. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
10. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Matt Sweeney – Superwolf (2005)
11. Damien Rice – O (2002)
12. The Decemberists – Picaresque (2005)
13. Elliot Smith – From a Basement on a Hill (2004)
14. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008)
15. Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies (2006)
16. Wilco – A Ghost is Born (2004)
17. Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
18. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium (2006)
19. Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica (2004)
20. Girl Talk – Feed the Animals (2008)

Bonus 10
21. Florence + The Machine – Lungs (2009)
22. The Format – Interventions + Lullabies (2004)
23. The Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas (2002)
24. Gomez – How We Operate (2006)
25. Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (2001)
26. Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter (2008)
27. Built to Spill – You In Reverse (2006)
28. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow (2003)
29. Soulja Boy – Soulja Boy Tell Em (2007)
30. Spoon – GA GA GA GA GA (2007)

Runners Up
31. Kings of Leon – Only By The Night (2008)
32. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
33. TV On The Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain (2006)
34. Sunjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)
35. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)
36. Sunset Rubdown – Random Spirit Lover (2007)
37. Andrew Bird – Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)
38. Ben Folds – Rockin’ the Suburbs (2001)
39. Johnny Flynn – A Larum (2008)
40. Chad VanGaalen – Infiniheart (2004)
41. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin (2007)

some new year’s resolutions

An unordered list:

  • Learn to enjoy the company of strangers
  • Achieve greater levity
  • Smile longer
  • Make new friends
  • Be less self-conscious
  • Share more music
  • Consume less–and better–passive entertainment
  • Live prolifically
  • Be bigger (no, fuck that–be positively huge)
  • Use more profanity on the internet
  • Aestheticize simplicity
  • Drink less
  • Get drunk more
  • Crave healthier things
  • Think more
  • Douse the misanthropy
  • Burgeon with positivity–indomitable, overflowing, and contagious

lyrics are never so profound absent the song

Some lyrics I like:

It’s a simple computation
You take easy conversation
Add erotic exploration, adoration
But when he said, “I love you, girl”
It should have come with a warning.

He said, “I’ve gotta go, go, go, ’cause it hurts to feel
I’m gonna run, run, run like a man of steel
And I could try, try, try
To stay in the fight
But when push comes to shove
We are only robots in love.

Robots in Love – Beautiful Small Machines

They say you have to have somebody
They say you have to be someone
They say if you’re not lonely alone
Boy there is something wrong

I Like What You Say – Nada Surf

Smoking cigarettes more than I should
My hands won’t stop shaking and that can’t be good
I would forget you if I only could
Think about anything else

Slow Dancing – Lucero

Save me,
I can’t be saved, I won’t.
I’m a president’s son,
I don’t need no soul.

All the soldiers say “It’ll be alright,
we may make it through the war if we make it through the night.”
All the people, they say: “What a lovely day, yeah,
we won the war. May have lost the war, but we’ve got a million more.”
All the people, they say.

People Say – Portugal. The Man

And all these memories come rushing
like feral waves to your mind.
Of the curl of your bodies,
like two perfect circles entwined.
And you feel hopeless and homeless
and lost in the haze of the wine.

Then she leaves, with someone you don’t know.
But she makes sure you saw her.
She looks right at you and bolts.
As she walks out the door,
your blood boiling
your stomach in ropes.
Oh and when your friends say,
“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Then you walk, under the streetlights.
And you’re too drunk to notice,
that everyone is staring at you.
You just don’t care what you look like,
the world is falling around you.

You just have to see her.
You just have to see her.
You just have to see her.
You just have to see her.
You just have to see her.
You know that she’ll break you in two.

Sometime around midnight – Airborne Toxic Event