Elegant Elephants Eclipse Eccentric Equestrians

1. Everything Is Everything…Phoenix
2. Easy Lover…Phil Collins & Philip Bailey
3. Empty Arms (alternate version)…Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
4. El Salvador…Athlete
5. Emily Kane…Art Brut
6. Either/Or…The Ocean Blue
7. Early Morning Rain…Paul Weller
8. Every Part Of Me…Sam Roberts
9. Easy on Yourself…Drive-By Truckers
10. Everyday I Love You Less And Less…Kaiser Chiefs
11. Everything We Are…The Shore
12. Eple…Röyksopp
13. Easier…Glen Phillips
14. Emaline…Ben Folds Five
15. Everytime…The Samples
16. Eleanor…Low Millions
17. Every Morning…Keb’ Mo’
18. Everybody Wants To Rule The World…Tears For Fears
19. Everybody’s Stalking…Badly Drawn Boy
20. Everything In 2’s…Better Than Ezra
21. Electrolite…R.E.M.
22. Even Here We Are…Paul Westerberg

Working-Class Hero

It’s been a good week for my soccer teams. The US Men romped their way through the Gold Cup group stage, looking better and better through each of the three matches they played to set up today’s quarterfinal against Panama. The Yanks have scored seven goals so far through six different players, and the US defense has yet to allow one. In their last match against El Salvador, they didn’t even give up a single shot on goal. Dominant, but against some of the smaller countries in the Gold Cup, not entirely unexpected.

On the other hand, what was unexpected was DC United defeating the New York Red Bulls last Sunday behind a hat trick from midfielder Ben Olsen. Benny entered the league back in 1998 as a speedy winger/forward and serious offensive threat, although more often than not his speed and youthful energy resulted in him running around like a chicken with his head cut off. But a couple of serious ankle injuries forced him to change his game. Since his return, Olsen reestablished himself as a hard-nosed defensive midfielder. He may be slower than in his youth (who isn’t?), but he learned to read the game much better, and by the ripe old age of 28 had become a veteran leader for United. He’s also become a fan favorite (and a personal one of mine—I proudly have his jersey hanging alongside my Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna replicas) for his passion and his tough tackles, but nobody expects much in the way of goal-scoring from Benny. Happily, this surprising offensive outburst put the spotlight squarely on Olsen, as he was honored with both MLS Player of the Week and Goal of the Week for his third strike, an absolute blinder of a half-volley from 25 yards (scroll down to Goal of the Week and chose Week 10). It’s nice to see a blue-collar guy like Ben on the receiving end of a lovefest like the one he’s gotten this week, because his role on the field is often a thankless one. Many writers have been quick with praise, but the one that sums it all up best for me is this thoughtful and heartfelt post from Dan Loney. As DC’s Screaming Eagles supporters group likes to sing, we love you Benny, oh yes we do.

UPDATE: Despite no goals from Ben, DC won again last night, defeating the Chicago Fire 3-1 to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games.

Second Chances

After all the uproar over the way The Sopranos series finale ended, I decided to give it a little time before I talked about it. I’ll admit, I called bullshit when it ended. Maybe I wanted closure, but whatever it was, that abrupt cutoff rubbed me the wrong way. (And for that matter, so do all the reviewers who have referred to it as a “fade to black.” There was no fade, people. If it had faded, nobody would have been saying that they thought their cable cut out.) But, not wanting to be hasty, I let my thoughts stew for a few days, and tonight I rewatched the episode, and I felt better. While the ambiguous ending still bothers me, I was more comfortable with it this time around. No matter what theory you subscribe to (the black screen signifies Tony’s death, or the whole episode was Tony’s dream and the black screen was him waking up, or Tony lives, but all the suspicious characters in the restaurant were there to signify the paranoia he has to live with for the rest of his life), the final scene was a masterful piece of filmmaking. Sure, there were some ragged cuts, but as a whole, it was a strong episode. And really, any viewers who endured all the long delays between seasons and tangential plotlines that never went anywhere shouldn’t be surprised that they ended up with the TV equivalent of blue balls. I can live with all that.

My biggest problem with the finale is what David Chase has done to the Sopranos’ legacy. The word genius it being attached to his name an awful lot in reviews of the finale. But here’s the problem with that: Leaving the ending up to the viewer’s imagination is not the mark of genius—it’s a cop out, plain and simple. Why else would Chase have fled to France to escape the blowback? Honestly, I think all these people conferring genius status on Chase are just as disappointed as the rest of us, and I don’t care how many wild theories and allusions to existentialist European cinema they throw around to cover it up. Maybe some of those things are true, but I highly doubt it. Ultimately, what we’re left with is this: The Sopranos changed the game when it came to what TV could be. It should go down in history as an incredibly complex and cinematic show which, coupled with some bravura performances from the cast (Edie Falco in particular), raised the bar for everybody else in the television industry. Instead, all people are going to remember is a caricature: Lots of violence, a gimmick ending, and a Journey song. And that’s what really disappoints me.

British Invasion

Bloc Party at the Ogden Theater. It’s a rare thing when a band’s performance can pull you up out of a down mood. Luckily, thanks to a surprising opening band and a well-managed, high energy set from the headliners, this show did just that.

I was feeling lazy and tired and really not in a concert mood tonight, and the idea of standing sober in a hot crowded room with a bunch of hipster douchebags just wasn’t all that appealing. But since I’d already missed one chance to see Bloc Party last summer, I wasn’t about to pass this show up. So I sucked it up and Doug and I headed for the Ogden. We arrived during the first song of The Noisettes’ set, and as opening bands go, I was pleasantly surprised. Kind of a combination of Blondie, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the White Stripes, only more punk and fronted by a really sexy British girl. They ripped through six or seven solid songs, then turned over the stage to Bloc Party.

As it turned out, this show was being recorded (I assume for the tour DVD), so there were cameras all over the place. Bloc Party came out and played a smart but short set (about 75 minutes in all). I didn’t really feel cheated, though, because all their big songs were in there, and they managed the setlist very well. They started strong, mixed slow and fast songs throughout the set, and finished strong. Unlike a lot of bands I’ve seen recently, Bloc Party never gave the audience the chance to get bored, and their energy was infectious. By the time they were three songs into their set, I had completely forgottten about not wanting to go to the show and was clapping, dancing, and singing along. Even the unfortunately high level of air drumming from the idiot next to me didn’t bother me too much. Lead singer Kele Okereke (above) did a good job of keeping the crowd engaged without playing too much of the cheerleader, and the band played off the crowd very well. I hope the recording is released to the public, because this was a show worth seeing again. (Besides, I’ll admit it. I’d love the chance to see myself in the crowd.)

As best I can remember, this was the setlist:

Song For Clay
Positive Tension
Blue Light
Hunting For Witches
Waiting For The 7.18
Banquet
Where Is Home?
This Modern Love
The Prayer
Uniform
So Here We Are
Like Eating Glass

ENCORE
I Still Remember
She’s Hearing Voices
Sunday
Helicopter

Thanks to Blog Party for helping me piece it together.

ROTFLMAO

Knocked Up. Judd Apatow is The Man. I love his TV shows and 40-Year-Old Virgin was surprisingly funny, so I had set the bar pretty high for this movie, but I wasn’t expecting to be in pain from laughing non-stop for the last two hours. Literally, every scene is just as funny as the one before it, broken up with just enough pauses to let the audience catch their breath. Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl and Paul Rudd are all fantastic, but as with all Apatow projects, the supporting players steal scenes every chance they get. The best part is, it’s not a one-joke movie. There’s something for everybody here, and the humor is varied enough to carry the entire film—some jokes are raunchy, some sweet, some self-deprecating (Rogen and his roommates have some particularly good running commentary about what sex-starved geeks they are). It’s nice to see a mainstream movie every once in a while that doesn’t insult my intelligence. Plus, the cast list reads like a reunion of previous Apatow collaborators. If you’ve ever seen Freaks & Geeks, Undeclared, or 40-Year-Old Virgin, you’ll recognize pretty much everyone in Knocked Up. Without a doubt, the funniest movie I’ve seen since... well, since 40-Year-Old Virgin. If you haven’t gotten around to seeing Knocked Up yet, cancel your plans for the weekend and head for the theater. It’s worth the trip.

Yo, D

The D mix:

1. Debonair…Afghan Whigs
2. Dashboard…Modest Mouse
3. Dear God…XTC
4. Drive…Incubus
5. Dance Monkey…Sage Francis
6. Dope Nose…Weezer
7. Dancing Days [Live]…Led Zeppelin
8. Dig For Fire…Pixies
9. Directions…Josh Rouse
10. Driftwood…Travis
11. December 4th (Mother Nature’s Son)…Jay-Z vs. the Beatles
12. Don’t Panic…Coldplay
13. Dirty Girl…eels
14. Down With Disease…Phish
15. Dreaming…O.M.D.
16. Denise…Fountains Of Wayne
17. Dim…Dada
18. Don’t Do Me Like That…Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
19. Days…David Bowie
20. Don’t Follow…Alice In Chains
21. Don’t Go Away…Oasis
22. Deliver Me…Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Holiday Road

With an extra day off, I had planned a big post to catch up on all the stuff that’s been occupying my free time lately, but instead I spent the weekend watching the Rapids beat LA in front of a sellout crowd, getting drunk, suffering a bad hangover, and best of all... working. Needless to say, I’m a little worn out from this long weekend, so no pretty pictures this time, just a list. I’m sure you’ll all survive.

MOVIES
Just one, an oldie but goodie: Fistful of Dollars. I had never seen this groundbreaking Western from beginning to end, but spending all day on the couch yesterday gave me a chance to explore the free movie list in the OnDemand menu. When I saw they had a remastered widescreen version of Fistful, I couldn’t pass it up. The movie itself was decent, although I thought both Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa’s samurai masterpiece that inspired FOD) and Last Man Standing (a remake of FOD starring Bruce Willis set during Prohibition) were both a little better in providing motivation for the main character. On the other hand, Clint Eastwood was pretty bad-ass as the laconic but deadly gunslinger, but I kept getting distracted by Ennio Morricone’s eccentric spaghetti western score.

BOOKS
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke. Another re-read I pulled from my shelves recently. Here’s my original review. I didn’t get quite as caught up in the story this time, but that was partly because I was conciously reading slowly to appreciate the richness of the language. Clarke does some amazing things with her words, and more than once, I found myself longing for a return to the days of a more formal approach to the English language. There are some amazingly haunting passages in what is at times a dark and mysterious book, and the payoff was just as good the second time around. UPDATE: Happily, I’ve just discovered that Clarke has a collection of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, that take place in or are related to the world of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and that she is also at work on a sequel of sorts that follow some of the lesser characters from the novel. Looks like I’ll be making a trip to the bookstore tomorrow.

COMICS
The Losers: Complete Series. A gripping and epic international espionage story about an Army Special Forces unit that goes “ghost” after the government tries to kill them. Since everyone thinks they’re dead, they are able to work under the radar to unravel the twisted threads leading back to the mysterious man with CIA ties who set them up. Kinda like the A-Team, only people actually die, and they don’t build some kind of crazy tank thing at the end of every issue. For a story told in comic book form, it was heavily cinematic (both in scope and in the way artist Jock made use of the frames), so it was no surprise to me to find out that a movie is in the works.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 6. More great post-apocalyptic zombie stuff. This story gets crazier and and life just keeps getting harder for the rag-tag band of survivors, much like I would assume the world would be if it was overrun with shuffling brain-chompers.

Spike: Asylum. Buffy’s second-favorite vampire gets tricked into entering an asylum where they claim to be able to “cure” vampires and demons. Predictably, this is not the case, and Spike meets some other wrongly-imprisoned peeps and helps them get free, smashing a lot of stuff in the process. Good solid fun.

Star Wars: Legacy, Vol. 1. It’s 120 years after Return of the Jedi. The Empire has rebuilt itself and formed an alliance with a new order of Sith, who promptly betray the Imperials and take over the galaxy. Now the remains of the Empire, the Republic, and a new order of Jedi (including Luke Skywalker’s grandson, who has a rather rocky relationship with his Jedi heritage) must band together to fight the Dark Side once more. (Hey, I should write cover blurbs.)

MUSIC
Dinosaur Jr., Beyond. Awesome comeback album from the original lineup. J Mascis is a god.
Travis, The Boy with No Name. More mellow Brit rock, less politics than the last album. All good.
Bright Eyes, Cassadaga. Folky, rootsy, kinda mediocre.
Stars, Do You Trust Your Friends? Remixes and cover versions of Stars’ Set Yourself on Fire album, all created by (as the title implies) their friends in other bands.
Explosions in the Sky, How Strange, Innocence. More back catalog post-rock instrumentals from this Texas group.
William Parker & Hamid Drake, Piercing the Veil. Jazzy bass and percussion, with a slightly African slant. Maybe a little esoteric for my tastes. Dad, I’m sending this one your way.
Rush, Snakes & Arrows. Decent, but nowhere near their classic work. It might be time for these guys to coast on their greatest hits.
Adult Swim, Warm & Scratchy. A free mix from the Adult Swim website featuring bands like TV on the Radio and Asobi Seksu. One more reason to love Cartoon Network.

A long time ago (well, 30 years, anyway) in a galaxy far, far away...

WARNING—This post has a higher-than-normal amount of nerd content. Not for the faint of heart.

As you may have heard, it’s the 30th Anniversary of the theatrical release of the original Star Wars—back when it was an unsullied masterpiece, not the bastardized version Lucas pushes on everybody these days. Apparently, there was a big celebration in L.A. this weekend. Lots of geeks in costumes and so forth (see above)—sounds like a lot of fun. Anyway, the anniversary has provided an opportunity for all kinds of random media outlets to jump on the bandwagon—I mean, a History Channel special? Seriously?

But there is one special treatment that has me excited. Robot Chicken is one of the shows in Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup. It’s the brainchild of Seth Green (you may remember him as Scott Evil in the Austin Powers movies) and one of his buddies. Basically, the show skewers the nerdier aspects of pop-culture through short sketches using stop-motion action figures. Sounds weird, I know, but trust me—it’s ridiculously funny. I love the show, not least because they’re usually making fun of a lot of my favorite things and using toys I played with as a kid to do it. Clever. Anyway, Robot Chicken is doing a Star Wars special in honor of the anniversary, bringing their trademark humor to bear on George’s epic universe. It premieres on June 17th, and they’ve got a trailer posted on the website. Hi-freakin’-larious. I can’t wait.

Gone to the Movies

Here’s what’s been keeping my eyeballs stimulated lately:
The Last King of Scotland. Decent. To be honest, outside of Pan’s Labyrinth, I wasn’t too impressed with any of the Oscar-nominated movies I saw this year, and this was no exception. Forest Whitaker was pretty good as Idi Amin, but I think it’s criminal that James McAvoy gets no play on the DVD cover. He probably had more screen time than Whitaker, and in my opinion, was just as strong in terms of acting.
Spider-Man 3. Boo. As a comic reader and life-long Spidey fan, it hurts me to say that. But this movie was guilty of trying way too hard. One too many villains and two too many plotlines, at the expense of character development. Instead of throwing Sandman in there solely to have 3 scenes to show off the neat tricks CGI can do these days, how about spending a little more time developing the tension between Peter and Mary Jane so that I might actually care whether they stay together or not? And that dance scene? Please. The Venom suit is supposed to turn Peter into a badass, not a gay man stuck in the disco age. What is this, Spider-Man or A Chorus Line? This movie’s lack of quality is sad, but not entirely unexpected. One need look only as far as the X-Men trilogy and the Batman movies of the 90’s to know that the 3rd movie of a comic book franchise is where it all goes wrong. Unfortunately, Spidey 3 is hauling in wagons full of money, so Hollywood will take that as validation to make more crap.
Smokin’ Aces. Speaking of lack of character development... I couldn’t believe so many decent actors (Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Andy Garcia, and even my old pal Affleck) ended up in this glorified music video until I saw that it was directed by Joe Carnahan, who also directed the fantastic Narc. Based on the strength of that film, I’m not surprised so many actors wanted to work with him. But now I can’t understand how Carnahan went from Narc to this mindless muddled shoot-’em-up. A bunch of hired killers are trying to kill Jeremy Piven, who’s holed up in a Lake Tahoe penthouse with a bunch of coke and hookers. (Based on what I’ve heard of the life of Piven, doesn’t sound like much of a stretch.) Something about testifying against the Mob, yada yada, now shoot things up. Obviously, the writers didn’t care much beyond that, so neither did I.
Shaun of the Dead. Lest you think I’m going to trash everything I’ve watched lately, here’s a movie I really liked. It had a bit of everything—comedy, romance, zombies, and British accents. What else do you need? I know this was intended to be a send-up of zombie movies, but it works on so many levels, it goes well beyond simple satire. Like all good movies, it’s built around a solid story. Beyond that, everything else is gravy. Oh, and in between all that other stuff I mentioned, they still managed to get me to care about Shaun and his friends. How about that? Maybe Hollywood can take a lesson from the Brits in the lost art of character development. Now I really want to see Hot Fuzz.
The Wire: The Complete Second Season. I know this doesn’t really fit with the title of my post, but The Wire has been more entertaining to me lately than 90% of the movies I’ve watched in the past 6 months. I was warned that season 2 starts off a little slowly, but I’m still fascinated by the way the show’s writers manage to tie so many disparate threads together into one cohesive whole. I haven’t been this absorbed by a show since the first two seasons of Lost.

Book Smarts

Been doing a little reading here and there lately:The Pale Blue Eye, Louis Bayard. When a cadet is found murdered and mutilated at West Point in the mid 19th Century, the commandant contacts Augustus Landor, a former New York City detective who has retired to the countryside. As Landor begins to dig into the death, he decides he needs a youthful assistant from within the cadet corps, and recruits to his cause a young Edgar Allan Poe. The story cleverly unfolds through letters and journal entries by both Landor and Poe, and rather unsurprisingly, the story takes a markedly Poevian turn before it reaches its climax. Bayard established a clever grasp of Victorian literature with his first book, Mr. Timothy, a detective novel starring Tiny Tim of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. But The Pale Blue Eye feels more fully-realized, and I enjoyed the Poe allusions throughout.

A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole. I pulled this one off my bookshelf one night when I was in the mood for a comedy. It’s been 5 years or so since I last read it, and I had forgotten how wonderfully absurd this novel is. Toole created an amazing cast of misfits, then threw them into the chaotic cauldron of mid-century New Orleans, and the result is a rollicking farce that continually makes me laugh out loud. Every time I read the dialogue of the story’s main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, I always hear it in my head in the voice of Comic Book Guy, probably my favorite of all the secondary Simpsons characters. And I can’t help but think that in some way, The Simpsons writers owe a small debt to Toole’s writing. It’s a shame that Toole took his own life before writing another book. He truly was an amazing talent who was ahead of his time.