Miscellany

Nice weather here today (the humidity's finally gone), so it's inspired me to clean. Here's a few items I've been meaning to post:

My friend Todd used the power of the blogger to get a press pass and has been covering the Chicago Air & Water Show, which took place over the past few days in the Windy City. Because of his stellar coverage, Todd's blog, MyFlightBlog, was mentioned on The Chicagoist, a site devoted to covering events in and around Chicago.
UPDATE: The Chicagoist piece got the attention of GridSkipper, which is part of the Gawker blog family. Pretty nice exposure for "Todd".

I'm looking forward to the upcoming release of The Brothers Grimm, which appears to be another typically warped film from director Terry Gilliam. To mark his latest film, I've decided to revisit his entire filmography (or all that's available on Netflix) in chronological order: Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Jabberwocky; Time Bandits; Brazil (the director's cut, not the butchered studio version); The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen; The Fisher King; 12 Monkeys; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; and finally, Lost in La Mancha, which is not technically a Gilliam film, but rather a documentary about his disastrous attempt to film a movie about Don Quixote. I decided to skip Monty Python's The Meaning of Life because Gilliam only directed a portion and not the entire film. I'm curious to see how this goes. I couldn't finish Time Bandits the first time I tried to watch it (of course, I was 13), but I loved Fisher King and 12 Monkeys.

The Ingram Futbol Club of Arkansas is trying to get the Guinness Book of World Records to recognize them for playing the longest game of soccer ever. Call me a traditionalist, but I think Guinness should stop accepting staged events like this. It's one thing if you're playing a game with unlimited overtime and it goes on that long, but when you set out to break the previous record and know exactly how long you need to go to do it, it kind of seems like cheating.

October is shaping up to be another great concert month for me. Not only do I have back-to-back nights of U2, I've now added Nickel Creek and Son Volt shows the following week. Speaking of Nickel Creek, their new album, Why Should the Fire Die?, debuted at #1 on the Independent and Internet Sales charts for the week of August 9. Paste has an interview with the trio, and positive reviews are coming in from the Nashville Scene, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, and a quickie from the Chicago Tribune.

I'm all over this. The Lord of the Rings exhibit is coming to Indy. Pretty much anything that was built, forged, sewn, or designed for the movies will be represented. I've decided to attend in street clothes, since I don't want to overshadow the actual costumes. I ain't tryin' to dis my man P. Jack. Unfortunately, not all Ringers are so respectful, so I'm expecting a crowd of hobbits and elves.