The Eagles Are Coming, The Eagles Are Coming!

I was gonna try not to get too excited about this news, but then I figured, what’s the point? Might as well start saving my spot in line now.

Wrapping Up

As I’ve been sitting at my computer finishing up my Christmas shopping, I set up a playlist in iTunes for all the albums I own from this past year, and what I’ve discovered in retrospect is this: As musical years go, this one didn’t blow me away. I saw a lot of great live shows*, but as for album releases, meh. I’ve been looking over other folks’ year-end lists, which range from the tragically hip to the simply tragic, but barring one album, there’s nothing that screams “classic”. That said, I didn’t have much trouble coming up with a top ten for ’07. Here’s 2 through 10 in no particular order:

Wilco, Sky Blue Sky

Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

The Shins, Wincing The Night Away

Bloc Party, A Weekend in the City

Aesop Rock, None Shall Pass

Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha

Galactic, From the Corner To The Block

The National, Boxer

Kings of Leon, Because of the Times

And the easiest decision? The hands-down, no-contest, numero uno? I’m probably one of the few people who paid for it, and it’s been worth every penny.

Radiohead, In Rainbows

A few more Honorable Mentions:

Cabin, I Was Here EP
Ted Leo & Pharmacists, Living With The Living
Neil Young, Chrome Dreams II
Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
Elliott Smith, New Moon

*Of all the shows I saw this year, Neil Young was my favorite, simply because I had waited so long to see him and it was still an amazing show. Bloc Party and Wilco were also highlights. What follows is an in-order list of every artist I saw live in 2007: Elvis Perkins > My Morning Jacket > Béla Fleck & the Flecktones > Adem > Badly Drawn Boy > The Noisettes > Bloc Party > Hot Hot Heat > Snow Patrol > Rush > Wilco > Everything Absent Or Distorted > The Broken West > Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band > Clap Your Hands Say Yeah > Das EFX > Kings of Leon > Editors > The Decemberists, > Black Rebel Motorcycle Club > Cake > Nina Storey > Little Ones > Meese > Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s > Ian Ball > Lords of the Underground > Art Brut > Spoon > The Flaming Lips > The Awkward Stage > Lavender Diamond > The New Pornographers > Crown City Rockers > Blackalicious, > Pegi Young > Neil Young > Jason Collett > Feist. Whew.

Hello Moto

1. Hot for Teacher… Van Halen
2. Have A Drink On Me… AC/DC
3. Have Mercy… Loretta Lynn
4. Hard to Handle… The Black Crowes
5. Hotel Yorba… The White Stripes
6. He Lays In The Reins… Calexico / Iron & Wine
7. Hunger Strike… Temple Of The Dog
8. Hail Hail… Pearl Jam
9. Holland, 1945… Neutral Milk Hotel
10. Hurry Tomorrow… Los Lobos
11. House Of Cards… Radiohead
12. Half A World Away… R.E.M.
13. Headfog… Jeep
14. Half Light… Athlete
15. Hallelujah… Ryan Adams
16. Hey Jealousy… Gin Blossoms
17. Hurt… Johnny Cash
18. Hurricane… Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
19. Harriet's Got A Song… Ben Kweller
20. Handle With Care… Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins
21. Hello.........Goodbye… Sean Watkins

Warmup Act

One of the few reasons I still enjoy seeing a movie in the theater is the previews. As I’ve talked about in the past, I’m always fascinated to see how the editing houses try to condense two-hour fims into two or three minutes. A well-executed preview can really amp up my anticipation for a movie (I still think Garden State was the most successful example I’ve ever seen in this regard), and conversely, a bad one can make me lose all interest. One of the best parts of this time of year is that the studios have started up the marketing campaigns for the movies they hope will be next summer’s blockbusters, and I’ve got examples of the good and the bad. I’ve already mentioned my love for the Iron Man preview, but beyond that, what I’ve seen so far this season either has me counting down the days with childish glee...

....or making me think the filmmakers might as well have flushed their $150 million+ budget down the toilet. Yikes. Good luck recouping your money on this one. I haven’t seen anything that looked this bad since I suffered through the first 10 minutes of Buckaroo Banzai.

Misc.

It’s been a while since I last posted, and to be honest, I’ve been debating whether to give up on the blog entirely. I haven’t made up my mind yet, but I think for now, I’ll just continue to post when the mood strikes, and not worry about how long it takes me to come back to it. After all, it’s not like the internet is going anywhere.

For now, here’s a few things I’ve been enjoying lately:

• Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon — An instant classic of an adventure novel, written in the vein of Sir Walter Scott or Robert E. Howard. I started and finished it on the plane ride home for Thanksgiving. Thoroughly enjoyable read.
• Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson — Eerily prescient cyberpunk novel that influenced everything from The Matrix to Heroes. Also a great read.
• The World Without Us, Alan Weisman — A well-researched and interesting look at what would happen to the Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. Unfortunately, our legacy would mostly consist of all the plastic garbage we’d leave behind.
• the audio/video page on Andrew Bird’s bowloffire.com — All kinds of cool live stuff and remixes.
• Jerusalem, Steve Earle — The more Steve Earle I listen to, the more he becomes one of my favorite artists. I just recently downloaded this anti-war album he released in 2002, and sadly, the themes are still way too current.
• classic Christmas music — From Charlie Brown to the Chairman of the Board, they just don’t make ’em like they used to.
• Automatic For the People, R.E.M. — 15 years later, this is still an incredible album. “Sweetness Follows” has popped up in my playlists several times lately, and it especially crushed me with its greatness.
• The Jungle Book 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition — This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, so I Netflixed it this weekend. Disney did an incredible job with the remastering. The movie looks gorgeous, and I was happy to discover that I still knew the words to all the songs. My neighbors, on the other hand... probably not as happy.
• the performances of Scarlett Johannson — I never thought I was much of a fan, until I realized recently that she starred in six of the top ten movies in my Netflix queue. In the past few weeks, I’ve watched Scoop, Girl With A Pearl Earring, Match Point, and Lost in Translation, and I have to say, there’s something indefinably sexy about her that I find kind of mesmerizing. I’m having trouble deciding whether it’s her voice, her lips, or most likely, some combination of the two. Plus, she does voices on Robot Chicken, so she’s got serious nerd points. And hey, Woody Allen seems to love her. (Then again, he also loved his adopted daughter who was half his age, so maybe old Woody’s not exactly the best measuring stick.)
• the Iron Man preview — Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect choice for Tony Stark, and I love that Jon Favreau refuses to overuse CGI. If the movie is half as good as the preview, I’ll be happy.

Adaptation

I’ve said it before. No Country For Old Men is a great book. Now, thanks to the Coen Brothers, it’s an equally excellent movie. Both are bloody, violent, and not for the squeamish, but as I said in my review of the novel, the violence never feels out of character to the story. The film stays pretty faithful to the book, but the Coen Brothers manage to inject their particular brand of dark humor into the story. The cinematography is gorgeous, especially the shots of the landscape, which is such an important part of all of McCarthy’s books. It’s no different in this film, as the movie immediately establishes place, opening with shot after shot of the Texas plains in all their stark beauty. Throughout the movie, the quality of light made me feel as if I was standing in El Paso or along the Rio Grande, and that I could almost smell the grass and dust. I was definitely sucked in, and I wasn’t the only one. It was pretty incredible to sit in a packed theater that was completely silent for minutes at a time, only to hear the whole audience gasp as each character met their ultimate fate. Keeping an audience watching with bated breath is an impressive feat (especially these days). Javier Bardem is deservedly getting all the press for his turn as cold-blooded killer Anton Chigurh, but Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin give excellently understated performances as well. I won’t be at all surprised to hear a lot more about the film come Oscar time.

As an interesting aside, I couldn’t place the actress who played Brolin’s wife, even though she looked incredibly familiar. Thank goodness for IMDB. Turns out it was Kelly MacDonald, the Scottish actress who played the schoolgirl Ewan MacGregor hooks up with in Trainspotting. Lass does a pretty convincing Texas/white trash accent.

Old Man

Neil Young at The Wells Fargo Theater. I’ve missed a lot of Neil Young shows in my day, and for a lot of reasons. I missed a couple because I was out of town. I missed at least one because I was too poor to afford tickets. I skipped one because I was going through a stupid and short-lived “I’m so tired of Neil Young” period. And there were at least two where the scalpers got all the tickets before I could. In between, tinnitus and an aneurysm (and let’s face it, the slow march of time) threatened to end his career. But tonight, 18 years after falling in love with his music, I finally got to see Neil Young live, and it was completely worth the wait.

In six days, Young will turn 62, but you never would have known it tonight. Splitting his show into two sets (solo acoustic songs followed by electric stuff with a full band), he managed to bookend his career, mixing some new songs from Chrome Dreams II with some of his earliest work. The acoustic stuff sounded fantastic: Just Neil, switching back and forth between one of the multiple guitars he had onstage, his harmonica, and his piano. At one point, he even broke out a banjo. There were a couple songs I didn’t recognize, but the majority came from the early days. He kicked off with “From Hank to Hendrix,” from Harvest Moon, and headed backwards from there through an eleven song set, incorporating three tracks from his classic album Harvest (including the highlight to close out the acoustic set, an amazing version of “Old Man”).

After a short break, Young came back to the stage and ignored his near-senior citizen status by bringing out his band and cranking the electric, tearing through several new songs plus some old gems like “The Loner,” “Cinnamon Girl” and “Tonight’s the Night”. I was well pleased to hear some personal favorites, “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” and “Winterlong”, and of the new stuff “Spirit Road” held up pretty well against the classics. The band, comprised of players from various stages of Young’s career, sounded really tight, and Young doesn’t appear to have lost a step either, still stomping his way around the stage during his solos.

“Old Man” and “Cinnamon Girl” alone were pretty much worth the price of admission, but for an artist who’s released so many live albums throughout his career (I can think of seven off the top of my head), I wasn’t sure Young could possibly bring anything new to some of his old favorites. Thankfully, I was wrong. I was impressed with how clear his voice was, even over all the distortion in the electric set. For a guy in his 60’s whose nickname is “Shakey,” he sounded incredible. And hearing the songs live with my own ears (as opposed to a recording) brought a whole new level of depth to each one. I picked up on some lyrics that I had never been able to make out on his recorded stuff, which is a testament both to his sound guys and to the acoustics in the Wells Fargo Theater. And I gained some new respect for a few songs like “Oh, Lonesome Me,” from After the Gold Rush, a track I usually skip over when it comes up on my iPod. After hearing it live, I’ll have to revisit it.

I’m sorry I had to wait 18 years to see Neil Young live, but I’m glad I caught him on a good night, and at a great point in his career. I would have been really bummed if I had waited that long only to find him a shadow of his former self. He may be heading into the twilight of his career, but he still puts on an incredible show. He’s become comfortable with his status as elder statesman, but not so comfortable that he’s willing to just rest on his laurels. How many other artists can say they’ve stuck to their guns and remained relevant and prolific for 40 years? At this point, when most of his still-active peers are simply cashing their checks on greatest hits tours, Young is cementing his legacy by continuing to put out albums worthy of his name that have some fire behind them. He’s not just making music to extend the brand (cough*Rolling Stones*cough), he’s doing it because he still has music to make, and that comes through in his live shows. It was clear to me last night that he still cares a lot about these songs, and I got the impression that if he ever stopped caring, he wouldn't be touring anymore. Ultimately, that passion is why people will still be listening to his music long after he’s gone. Almost 30 years ago, Young first sang, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” Happily, he no longer has to worry about either one. Which means I might actually get to see him again someday, and make up a little more for all those shows I missed.

UPDATE: Set list here.

Get Older

I can’t decide which bothers me more—the fact that I was in Bed Bath & Beyond for more than 5 minutes this morning, or the fact the in-store music system was playing Feist’s song “1,2,3,4” (recently made famous by an iPod Nano commercial). I doubt anyone would ever consider Feist edgy or controversial, but the realization that music I would pay for and download is now apparently acceptable for older ladies doing their Saturday morning shopping is a little sobering.

For a lot of years now, I’ve felt like I’ve been pretty plugged in to current pop culture trends, but as I prepare to enter my final year in the coveted (by advertisers, anyway) 18-34 age demographic, I’ve realized that my need to be on the cutting edge is starting to fade away. At this point, I’d usually rather listen to music by artists I know I enjoy than someone I feel like I should listen to because everybody’s buzzing about them. That’s certainly not to say that I’m giving up on new music—just that I’m a lot less concerned about being the first one to discover it. That’s why I let some of those music blogs in that list over on the right do the legwork for me. I mean, it’s totally possible that Animal Collective and The Besnard Lakes are the dopest shit to happen to music since LL Cool J’s momma told him to knock us out, and maybe by this time next year, I’ll even believe that. But in the meantime, I’ll be just fine with the latest Neil Young, thanks. Speaking of getting older...

I guess what it comes down to is that I’ve passed the point of needing to constantly search for new and better music. I finished shaping my tastes. I know what I like, and I’m OK sticking with it. Even if that means I end up humming along with a bunch of grandmothers to the Feist song in Bed Bath & Beyond.

Glorified G

1. Get Funky… Teenage Fanclub
2. Good Weekend… Art Brut
3. Girlfriend In A Coma… The Smiths
4. Girls Who Play Guitars… Maxïmo Park
5. Get Out Of The City… Ivy
6. Gamble Everything For Love… Ben Lee
7. Geography… The Judybats
8. Get It Faster… Jimmy Eat World
9. Go Walking Down There… Chris Isaak
10. Get Lucky… Heatmiser
11. Get Off My Cloud… The Rolling Stones
12. Get Older… Matthew Sweet
13. Ghostriders… The Rewinds
14. Gladiator Heart… The Connells
15. Glasgow Mega-Snake… Mogwai
16. Go With The Flow… Queens of the Stone Age
17. Going Mobile… The Who
18. Glory Of True Love… John Prine
19. Good Vibrations… The Beach Boys
20. Grab It… Dinosaur Jr
21. Gravity Fails… The Bottle Rockets
22. Greg’s Last Day… The Starting Line
23. Gyasi Went Home… Bedouin Soundclash
24. Ghosts… Ted Leo / Pharmacists
25. Golden Slumbers… The Beatles

Rainbow Bright

Radiohead have made a masterpiece. Radiohead have changed the face of music. Radiohead have betrayed their fans. Radiohead have made their best album since OK Computer. Radiohead have lost it. This album is amazing. This album sucks. This album puts me to sleep. This album is so good, it makes me want to cry.

All of that comes from reading hundreds of initial comments on Stereogum this morning. The first impressions are pretty sharply divided on Radiohead’s new album, In Rainbows, released today as a digital download. But you know what? It makes me really happy that everyone has different opinions, and that they are all just as new as the music. Radiohead only announced that this album would be available ten days ago, so we haven’t had time to be innundated by 273 reviews, the band on the cover of every music and pop culture magazine out there, and scores of reviewers, columnists and bloggers telling us what a massive success/disappointment this album was going to be. In the absence of a push by the marketing machine, I got to come to the album fresh and form my own opinion, free of outside influences, and that was a pretty nice feeling.

So what is my opinion? Brilliant. I’m currently on my fifth listen, and what I’ve found is a gorgeously textured album, definitely worthy of being placed alongside OK Computer and The Bends as one of my favorite Radiohead albums. This disc finds the band in excellent form, creating a more organic and mature rock sound—the experimental electronic beats and squawking guitars of Kid A and Amnesiac have been toned down by acoustic guitars, piano and strings, and the result is a surprising marriage of styles that, in some places, veer dangerously close to pop songs. Some tracks even have a bit of an upbeat feel, which for Radiohead makes them the equivalent of bright and sunny. Is this a kinder, gentler Thom Yorke and Co.? If so, I like it. “15 Step”, “All I Need”, “Reckoner”, and “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” are all highlights for me, but my favorite song is “Faust Arp”, a beautiful string-laden ballad that is reminiscent of both the Beatles and singer-songwriters like Nick Drake or Elliott Smith.

As for the whole “changing the face of music” mess, check out this business plan. Radiohead is not signed to a label, so they released the album today as a digital download, only available through their own website. You could begin pre-ordering as of October 1, and get this: each buyer got to choose how much they wanted to pay for the download. There was a blank field in the shopping cart on the website, and you could type anything in... even a zero. (I paid about $12—actually 6 pounds, because they’re English—because I like Radiohead and I figure I would have paid that much in the store for a CD.) At the same time, the band also made available a special edition box set with a second disc of music for 40 pounds (about $81). If you pre-ordered the box set, the cost of accessing the download today was included. And finally, the band plans to do a traditional CD release sometime early next year. So basically, Radiohead may have figured out a way to work around the inevitable leaking of their album (or at least make a little money off it) by doing it themselves. Sure, plenty of people probably paid nothing to download it today. But there are also probably a lot of people like me who felt comfortable giving money to a band they know they enjoy in exchange for new music (huh, how about that?). And with no record label and no distribution structure to support, whatever people do pay goes straight into Radiohead’s pockets. It’s interesting to see a band that has taken a strong anti-consumerism stance in the past now work the system so deftly. By setting it up to get the music out to as many people as possible early on (and ensuring it’s a superior product), eventually, enough of those people will cough up money for the CD or special edition after hearing a digital version that the album will make money. Or at least, that’s the idea. We’ll see if it works, but if the rumblings that other bands (Nine Inch Nails and Oasis, for starters) are looking into trying the same thing are true, there must be something to it.

Dead Like Me

I never really considered myself a Jim Jarmusch fan, partly I had never seen anything other than the excellent Ghost Dog, but also because his movies always seemed to be a little too much sitting-around-and-talking-about-existential-stuff for my taste. But recently, when one of my daily music blog reads, An Aquarium Drunkard, posted a few songs from Neil Young’s spooky score for Jarmusch’s 1995 film Dead Man, I decided to give more of Jarmusch’s work a shot. I’ve been on a big Neil Young kick lately anyway since I finally scored tickets to see him live, so based on the strength of what I’d heard of his soundtrack plus a vague memory of some good reviews from back when the movie was released, I was intrigued enough to add Dead Man to the top of my Netflix list.

A lot of times when I get “artsy” movies from Netflix, they”ll collect dust for days or weeks until I’m in the right mood to watch them. Today, however, I decided to watch Dead Man right away, and sometimes, it’s all about timing. Apart from a stellar cast (Johnny Depp, Lance Henriksen, John Hurt, Billy Bob Thornton, Gabriel Byrne, Alfred Molina, Crispin Glover, Robert Mitchum, and an excellent performance by Gary Farmer as the Indian named Nobody), what appealed to me was the sparseness and the “less is more” approach to Dead Man. Jarmusch shot the entire movie in black-and-white, and he captured some incredible landscapes and images as the characters travel across the West. The black-and-white was a terrific aesthetic choice, as it not only lent an Ansel Adams quality to the setting, it also brought out an impressive amount of character in the faces of the actors—there’s a reason photographers still shoot in that format. On top of the gorgeous cinematography, add a very limited amount of dialogue (something I usually appreciate when handled well) and Young’s sparse and haunting guitar, and this movie felt like a complete package. Stark but beautiful, violent but with purpose, and just a tinge depressing but in a meaningful way. I don’t know if it’s the approach of cold weather or the fact that I’m more appreciative of western landscapes now that I live out here, but every shot of dead trees and snow-covered forests hit me in the right spot. Tomorrow, I’m heading over to my local record store to see if they have the soundtrack, but based on how I feel after watching it, I might have to look for the DVD as well.

Just for Fun

Now that I’ve moved and live too far away to walk to work, I spend a lot more time in my car than I used to, so I’ve found myself searching for CDs to listen to while driving. Since I haven’t made any alphabet mixes lately, I decided to go back to my old habit of making a mix every month or so of what I’m currently listening to. It can be anything new or old, just songs that have caught my attention over the past few weeks. Here’s what I came up with this time:

1. Baltimore to Washington… Woody Guthrie
2. Come On Hard… Gin Blossoms
3. The Weight of the World… Editors
4. Crash… The Ocean Blue
5. Car Crash… Matt Nathanson
6. Catch… The Cure
7. Places… Blue Merle
8. Jolene… Dolly Parton
9. The Night Starts Here… Stars
10. Dance With Me… Cabin
11. Twenty Four Hours… Athlete
12. Gravedigger (Live)… Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds
13. Be My Escape… Relient K
14. Carolina… Josh Rouse
15. Words… Doves
16. Ohio… Damien Jurado
17. Ragoo… Kings of Leon
18. The One I Love (Live)… Liz Durett
19. Someone to Love… Fountains of Wayne
20. The Bleeding Heart Show… The New Pornographers

Standing on the Mountainside

I spent the past two days at Red Rocks taking in the inaugural Monolith Festival, and other than some sore legs, I’d call it a rousing success. The festival had five stages (the main Red Rocks stage plus four smaller areas), and over the course of two days, I saw 19 bands. Having been to a few festivals in my time, I was pretty impressed with the efficient timetable by which the bands’ sets were staggered (and the fact that everyone basically stuck to it), especially since this was the organizers’ first shot at this. Over the two days, I caught bits and pieces of a lot of performances, but here’s who I stayed to watch play more than one song:

FRIDAY
Everything Absent or Distorted
The Broken West
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Das EFX
Kings of Leon
Editors
The Decemberists
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Cake

SATURDAY
Nina Storey
The Little Ones
Meese
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Ian Ball (of Gomez)
Lords of the Underground
Art Brut
Spoon
The Flaming Lips

Whew. When I look at that list, it’s no wonder I’ve been so looking forward to chilling on the couch today.

After hearing so much about them, I was really looking forward to seeing the Lips, and they didn’t disappoint. They put on a great show (although I could have done with a little less speechifying from Wayne Coyne) with smoke, lasers, confetti, streamers, and dancing aliens and Santa Clauses, and were a great way to end the two days. Kings of Leon were definitely the highlight for me, but I was impressed by The Broken West and Ian Ball (who did some great covers and solo versions of Gomez songs), really happy to finally get to see Margot & TNSAS, and had my interest piqued enough that I’ll try to see Editors and BRMC in a different setting. It was also very cool to discover some great Denver-area bands (Everything Absent..., Meese, Cat-A-Tac, Nina Storey)—there’s a pretty solid music scene developing out here. Overall, this was a great festival experience, and hopefully, next year’s will be just as good. Parking was a breeze, it was easy to move between stages (as long as you don’t mind climbing stairs... lots of them), the food and merch was fairly reasonably priced (although they could use some more variety in the food department next year), the lineup of artists was solid, and of course the setting couldn’t be more amazing. I’m already looking forward to seeing next year’s announcement.

As a side note, I was really pleased to see woxy.com as a sponsor of Monolith. As I’ve said before, WOXY was the local college radio station in Oxford, OH (where I went to school) for many years, and turned me on to a lot of the music I still love today. Through a series of strange events, WOXY was forced to go internet-only, and has twice been snatched from the jaws of bankruptcy. I talked to one of their DJ’s, Shiv, about the happy fact that they’re still in business, and we reminisced about Oxford. Then he gave me a free t-shirt (rather appropriately, the graphic is a phoenix emerging from the ashes). Sweet.

Overrated

Thinking back over the past few weeks, there seems to be a theme to the pop culture I’ve absorbed: too much hype. The most pleasant experiences were the things I wasn't expecting anything from.

Slan, A.E. Van Vogt. Apparently, this novel is an important part of the sci-fi explosion of the mid-20th century. Maybe so, but maybe readers had lower standards back then, too. Yikes. Thankfully, the genre has progressed quite a bit since those days. While the alienated-mutant-on-the-run-from-human-authorities theme was pretty familiar (having been repurposed many times since, most noticeably as the basis for the entire X-Men mythology), the writing was so stiff and stilted that I barely made it through the book.

Little Children. Why did the critics love this so much? It was creepy and disturbing, the narrator was jarring and disruptive, and there wasn’t much likeable about any of the characters. Guess that’s reviewer-code for “edgy” and “gritty performances”. Well, the Oscars can have this one.

National Treasure. Nicolas Cage in a Jerry Bruckheimer production. Two guys that are emblematic of everything wrong with Hollywood. Of course they’re making a sequel. It was good to shut my brain off for a couple hours, I guess, but that’s definitely all I got out of this.

American Dreamz. This spoof of reality singing shows one was actually decent, although there were probably some inside jokes I missed because I’ve never watched American Idol. Given that tradeoff, however, I was happy to miss some of the humor. And seriously, why does Chris Klein keep getting roles?

Blades of Glory. Will Arnett gets the funniest line of the year: “Not only did we embarrass Marky Mark, we let down the Funky Bunch.” The movie was stupid and silly, but sometimes stupid and silly is all you need. Besides, who cares if the movie was any good? Jenna Fischer in lingerie! If I wasn’t on Team Pam before (which I was), I sure as hell am now. Yowza.

Superbad. Not as funny as all the hype, but still good for a lot of laughs. Michael Cera (of Arrested Development fame) is going to be hurting when he grows out of being able to play the awkward teenager, but for now, he’s got that role locked down. And of course, Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow continue their hot streak.

And speaking of those two, September 25 is now looking like the most geektastic day of the year, and Apatow and Rogen are involved. Not only is Halo 3 finding its way into the hands of millions of gamer geeks that day, but Knocked Up hits on DVD. Something tells me Seth Rogen may be celebrating by playing a little Halo himself. (And by something, I mean the fact that I played an online game of Halo 2 with someone I’m 99% sure was him recently.) On the other hand, he’s a big Hollywood star, so he’ll probably celebrate with coke and hookers. Hookers who play Halo. Or something like that. That’s what I would do, anyway.

Wilco at the Fillmore Auditorium. And now we get to the pleasant surprise. I’ve always had a hot and cold relationship with Wilco’s music, but I saw them in Columbus, OH about 8 years ago on a double bill with Matthew Sweet. I was there for Matthew, but I remember Wilco putting on a pretty solid show. So I knew they were capable performers, but no memories from that Columbus show could have prepared me for the show they put on Saturday night. The lineup of the band has changed somewhat over the years, and they seemed a lot more willing to rock out, putting two and three guitars to work on songs that are definitely more mellow on the albums. Plus, not only is new lead guitarist Nels Cline an amazing player, smoothly handling a wide range of styles from Neil Youngish to Brian Mayesque, he’s got the showmanship thing down, too. I had a great time, so much so that I finally gave in, went home and hit iTunes to fill in the gaps of my Wilco collection. And now I know I’ll enjoy it all.

Summer Reading (and Watching and Listening)

In between naps and bodysurfing, I cranked through a lot of stuff at the beach:

Books:
Back in the USSA, Kim Newman and Eugene Byrne. An interesting idea that held my attention for 3/4 of the book, then lost me at the end. This book is a series of short stories that tie together at the end, but the overarching idea is flipping the script of the Cold War: At the end of World War I, Russia peacefully becomes a democratic monarchy in the British vein, while the US is taken over by a Socialist Revolution. The stories largely imagine how well-known Americans and Russians’ lives would have differed, but like many of Newman’s books, fictional characters appear in this world as well (i.e frequent humorous appearances by Jake and Elwood from The Blues Brothers).

The Children of Hurin, J.R.R. Tolkien. A “history tale” from Tolkien’s early days. Having previously read two incomplete versions of this story in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, I was prepared for the fact that this wasn’t going to be The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, but it was nice to read a complete and polished version. Being a Tolkien geek and a completist, I always like to fill in the backstory gaps.

The Devil’s Teeth, Susan Casey. In retrospect, maybe not the the best book to read right before a beach visit, but I had just finished watching Discovery’s Shark Week and wanted more scary fishes. Casey documents her time chasing Great White sharks through treacherous waters off a remote and dangerous group of islands 30 miles west of San Francisco. Non-fiction, but it reads like a good novel. I highly recommend this one.

Lisey’s Story, Stephen King. King just keeps getting better with age. Ever since I read The Green Mile and Bag of Bones, I’ve been convinced that in 50 years, King will be as much a part of the average American Lit class curriculum as Faulkner, Vonnegut and Salinger. Lisey’s Story did nothing to change my mind. King’s ability to interject the supernatural into everyday life just gets better with age.

DVDs:
Summer of Sam. I bailed on this movie after half an hour, but I can’t decide whether it was because of John Leguizamo (who I mostly can’t stand) or if it was just plain bad. Spike Lee is usually pretty hit or miss with me, but I find it hard to reconcile the fact that the guy who made this stinker also made a masterpiece like The 25th Hour.

Undeclared. Another Judd Apatow project, this series was on Fox for the blink of an eye back in 2001. Featuring pretty much everybody from Apatow’s previous series, Freaks & Geeks, Undeclared also has great guest spots from some turn of the century comedy royalty: Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Amy Poehler, and of course, a young Seth Rogen (P.S. I can’t wait to see Superbad), as well as guest directors like Jon Favreau and Jay Chandrasekhar (of Super Troopers fame). Although it’s still unpolished here, that same trademark Apatow sweet/raunchy back and forth is peppered throughout the series. Definitely worth the rental if you like any of Apatow’s other work.

The Host. This Korean monster movie is a perfect example of why sometimes it’s better to just let a movie be a movie and not have to be an “event.” If The Host was made in the US, it would have probably ended up being some giant summer tentpole, and all the whole focus of the movie would have been the overly CGI monster and giant battle scenes. Instead, the monster is mostly shown in brief glimpses, and the movie stays focused on one family’s attempt to rescue a young girl who has been captured by the monster. It’s not often that I’d call a monster movie “sweet”, but that’s exactly what The Host is.

Music:
All good, for different reasons that I’m too tired to write about right now.
Stars, In Our Bedroom After the War
Galactic, From the Corner to the Block
Ted Leo / Pharmacists, Hearts of Oak
Foamfoot, Live at the Troubador 1-8-94
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Live at Radio City
Editors, An End Has a Start

Classic

I just got back from a week in Ocean City, MD, and as much I enjoyed the week of napping on the sand, I was glad to make it home for last night’s MLS match between New York and LA. It turned out to be the kind of game that MLS’s head honchos had to be drooling over when they signed David Beckham: more than 66,000 showed up at Giants Stadium and were treated to nine total goals in a 5-4 New York victory (conveniently in a game between the teams from the two biggest TV markets in the nation). Beckham played the entire game and set up three of LA’s four goals, but LA continued their streak of generosity, bringing in the fans at someone else’s stadium, but then graciously allowing the home team to win. New York took full advantage, using the opportunity to show off their own offensive star power, getting a pair of goals each from Juan Pablo Angel (a less-heralded import than Becks who’s been making a big impact on the field this year) and Jozy Altidore (the latest US wünderkind who turned heads at the recent Under-20 World Cup), as well as a world-class strike from Clint Mathis. As a DC fan, I would have been happy to see these two teams grind each other down to a painful and exhausting tie, but as an MLS fan, this was a fantastic game to watch. Check out highlights here.

Stargazing

46,ooo+ fans showed up at RFK tonight to see some dude named David Beckham finally start earning his paycheck. Shrugging off the distraction of the rays of golden light and choirs of angels that instantly appeared once Beckham and The World’s Most Expensive Ankle touched the pitch, Luciano Emilio managed to score his 11th goal in his last 10 games, and DC United played a solid match to earn the win. Good times.

Coming into this game, United was averaging 17,720 fans a game. So if 5,000 or even (dare we dream) 10,000 of those extra 29,000 fans from tonight decide they liked what they saw and come back for more DC games, this whole Becks experiment may actually be worth something after all.

Best moment of the night: DC’s very vocal and tuneful supporters group the Screaming Eagles had this message for Beckham. Given the amount of prominent display that it got on ESPN2’s cameras tonight, whoever came up with that banner should never have to pay for their own drink in DC again. Hi-larious.

Solid As A Rock

Rush at Red Rocks. At this stage in their career, most bands are either long-retired or playing greatest hits shows in Branson. Rush is one of those rare groups who have managed to continue to record decent new music—nothing earth-shattering, but certainly not embarrassing in terms of their legacy—while still managing to play enough hits to please their fans. Having long ago moved beyond the necessity of an opening band, Rush hit the stage right at 8:00 and played two sets totalling more than 3 hours. The set list was evenly split between the well-known crowd pleasers (Tom Sawyer, Freewill), the new stuff (I don’t know any song names, but it doesn’t really matter as they all sound the same anyway), and most enjoyably for me, some really deep tracks that they dug out for the hardcores (A Passage to Bangkok, Witch Hunt, 4 of the 6 tracks from Permanent Waves). Unfortunately, as great a venue as Red Rocks is, last night the wind was blowing hard and playing havoc with the PA system, but despite some dodgy sound, the show was entertaining, and the people-watching was fantastic (think tons of drunken redneck metal fans mixed with a thousand dorky guys in their 40s air-drumming along with Neil Peart’s solo). It wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, but for a bunch of guys getting closer to 60 than they’d probably care to admit, it rocked pretty hard.

Limelight
Digital Man
Entre Nous
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl
Secret Touch
Circumstances
Between The Wheels
Dreamline

Intermission

Far Cry
Workin' Them Angels
Armor And Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism > Drum Solo
Hope
Summertime Blues
The Spirit Of Radio
Tom Sawyer

Encore
One Little Victory
A Passage to Bangkok
YYZ

F’ed Up

1. Fire Exit… Mitch Hedberg
2. First Try… Tracy Chapman
3. Fingers Of Love… Crowded House
4. Fortress Around Your Heart… Sting
5. Forget About It… Alison Krauss
6. Fire Island, AK… The Long Winters
7. Fake… The Frames
8. Florida Silver Springs… The Impossible Shapes
9. Forty Mile Town… Eric Johnson
10. Fans… Kings of Leon
11. Fake Palindromes… Andrew Bird
12. Four Winds… Bright Eyes
13. Fall On Every Whim… Longwave
14. Flowermound… Collin Herring
15. Four-Eyed Girl… Rhett Miller
16. Friends of P… The Rentals
17. Finest Role… The Samples
18. For What It’s Worth… The Cardigans
19. Fake Empire… The National
20. Find The River… R.E.M.
21. Forever Young… Youth Group

Moviemaking

1. Casino Royale. I watched this DVD again the other night, and my original review holds up pretty well. I was struck again by the grittiness of the film as compared to previous Bond flicks, and also by the fact that even though I knew it was coming, that torture scene still made me cringe.

2. The Good German. Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney have had some pretty interesting collaborations, and while they haven’t all been successful, there’s usually at least something worth taking away from the movie. In the case of The Good German, they attempted to recreate the post-war noir films of the 40’s, with pretty amazing results. The lighting, the camera angles, the use of stock footage, even the dialogue and the way it was delivered were spot on. There were times that I had to remind myself I was watching a modern movie. Clooney and Cate Blanchett were particularly good, but it was a little tough to imagine Tobey Maguire as an asshole who beat his girlfriend (he’s just too nice to have a dark side). The plot was decent, but it was really the achievement in filmmaking that kept me interested in this one.

3. The Simpsons Movie. So, here’s where I stand on the Simpsons. I’m not a regular watcher, and haven’t been for quite some time. I can’t quote chapter and verse like some people I know, but over 19 years, I’ve come to realize that the strength of the show lies in its supporting characters. All the personalities around Springfield add layer upon layer of humor to the show, and as the show has gone on longer and longer, these characters have gotten more and more play. After all, there only so many times you can tell the same stories about Bart, Lisa, Homer, Marge, and even Maggie. So it was a bit of a surprise that the secondary characters remained so, well... secondary in the movie, especially when it came to which characters had relatively big roles (Comic Book Guy, Cletus), which had surprisingly small ones (Mr. Burns), and which had none at all (where were Principal Skinner, Snake, and Sideshow Bob?). But the writers were able to make a sharply funny movie by focusing on the core Simpsons family and keeping the story tight. They could have easily gone off on plenty of tangents along the way, but by keeping the secondary characters in the background, it made me appreciate them that much more when they did pop up on screen. Aside from that, the movie was typical Simpsons—sharp, witty social commentary wrapped around a basic story of Homer doing something idiotic with dire consequences and then redeeming himself (only this time he had 3 times as much time as usual to get things right). The audience at yesterday’s matinee was laughing out loud for most of the movie. Plus, the animation was super-crisp and looked really good. Based on the credits, I would hope so, because it looked like they had more than 1,000 animators working on that thing. I have to admit, I was skeptical when this movie was first announced. I figured they were 10 years too late with this one. But the movie proved me wrong, and I’m happy to admit it. After all this time, The Simpsons have still got it. Cowabunga, dude.

Odds and Ends

1. There’s a trailer up for the new Wes Anderson movie, and not a moment too soon. I think I’ve had my fill of sequels and car commercials masquerading as movies based on toy commercials masquerading as cartoons. More original and quirky, please.

2. I’ve currently got major nerd love for The Venture Bros. DVDs. The show is part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup, and intelligently spoofs old shows like Johnny Quest and the Hardy Boys while working in as many geektastic sci-fi and fantasy references as possible. It’s also got a great retro visual look that I love. Entertainment Weekly recently gave the show some love in their EW 100 issue. Definitely worth checking out.

3. David Beckham finally made his debut in a Los Angeles Galaxy uniform. No confirmation on whether he actually walked on water after the game. I feel no need to add to what’s already been written, but hopefully now the focus can go back to the soccer. There were some great MLS games this weekend that were completely overshadowed by ESPN’s over-the-top Becksturbation.

And In The End...

Well, that’s that. I finished around 2:30 last night, and due to my extreme grogginess, I decided to give it a little time to sink in. Overall, I thought it was a fairly satisfying ending. Rowling was never going to be able to please everyone, and while I did have two big problems with the book, I thought she managed to do the series justice.

First, due to the necessity of following Harry’s storyline, there’s a lot of important action that happens “offscreen”. Because of this, I felt like a lot of the work Rowling had done developing some secondary characters in the past couple of books was wasted. By the time these characters appear in Deathly Hallows, there’s not much left for them to do except make brief cameos in the final battle, and what they do contribute mostly feels rushed and forced. Actually, that‘s the same problem the last couple of movies have had. I guess it was just a matter of trying to fit everything into one book without making it 1200 pages long (not that most readers, me included, would have minded).

Second, the body count is pretty high in this book, and while some of the deaths were surprises, others had been obviously coming since book 4 or 5. The problem is, the more characters died, the less their deaths impacted me as a reader. I understand Rowling’s need to show the severity of the situation, but eventually I lost any sense of shock or surprise when someone else was killed, and by the end, I was simply keeping a mental list of the dead. Also, Rowling knew her readers would be expecting deaths, and she had a bit a fun with fakeouts involving major characters throughout the book (including a big one near the end). Unfortunately, this only ended up adding to the lessened impact when characters actually did die.

On the other hand, Rowling was trying to end an epic series that has a large (and largely young) fan base, so while I may not have agreed with all of her choices, I understand the necessity for many of them. I don’t envy her that task. But most of all, I appreciate the fact that she actually gave us an ending and didn’t go all David Chase on us. I’m not sure I could have handled the final Harry Potter book cutting off in the middle of a sentence.

Hey Now, You’re An All-Star

Sweet Jesus, did I really just quote Smash Mouth? Someone please shoot me now.

So, exciting evening at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, where I attended the MLS All-Star Game. The All-Stars took on Celtic FC of Scotland and won 2-0 on goals by Juan Pablo Angel and Juan Toja, or as I like to refer to them, the Two Juans (say it out loud, it’s funnier). The game itself was fairly lackluster. What was more exciting for me was that I was granted my first-ever media credentials, which let me watch the game from the press box (view: very nice; food: so-so; swag: rockin’) and meet some soccer media types and even a celeb or two. Over the course of the night, I chatted with Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, Allen Hopkins of ESPN, Charles Boehm (who covers DC United for MLSNet.com), and Carlos Machado of Fox Soccer Channel, listened in on an Alexi Lalas interview from 2 feet away, shook hands with Bob Bradley, had a man who I’m 99% sure was Garth Brooks accidentally end up in a photo I was taking, and was within 50 yards of David “Jesus Reincarnated” Beckham!!! (I grant him the coveted three exclamation points due to the insane amount of teenage squealing that followed him wherever he went. Seriously, the only comparison is those early Beatles trips to the U.S.)

Now, most of those names I listed won’t mean much to non-soccer fans, but as a wise friend of mine said earlier, they’re stars to me, and it meant a lot to me that the ones I talked to were so friendly and very cool about me wandering around the press box looking a bit awed and starstruck. Plus, these guys will all be great to know down the line someday when I become art director of the breakout American soccer magazine.

Potter-y

I moved recently, so pop culture has been very secondary, what with all my books in boxes, movies packed away, and Netflix on hold. Luckily I had the foresight to keep my Harry Potter close at hand. Unless you’re one of those “living under a rock” types, you may have heard something about this week’s double-shot release of the movie of Order of the Phoenix (currently riding the momentum of a rather exceptional box-office weekend) and the seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. To get ready, I’ve re-read all 6 books and re-watched all 4 DVDs over the past two weeks, and it’s both interesting and somewhat humorous to see the way the books and the actors have developed along the way. I caught a matinee of OotP yesterday, and it’s definitely the darkest movie of the series. I thought it was pretty well done considering how much they had to cut down the book and cram what was left into a little over 2 hours, and it was an excellent way to whet my appetite for book 7 (which I’m assuming is exactly what the Potter Merchandising Empire was hoping for when they set these release dates). Suffice it to say, Pottermania is in full effect at apartamento del Leister, and it will stay that way until sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning when I finish reading, assuming UPS brings me Deathly Hallows on Saturday as promised by Amazon.

Perhaps you’re saying to yourself, “Wow. Dedicating your Saturday night to the new Harry Potter book. How very pre-teen of you.” And you’d be right. But when it comes down to it, I’d rather give up one Saturday night reading than spend the next week with my fingers in my ears going “Lalalalalala” every time someone mentions Harry Potter. Priorities, people. Priorities. And you wonder why I’m still single.

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.