This was one of those “man, I’d better read the book before I go see the movie” reads, but really it’s been on my list for a while. It’s a short book, I got through it in 1 1/2 sittings. It’s also a huge book, physically that is. (I’m glad I didn’t try to read it on the recent flight home I took. Not sure it would have fit in my carry-on luggage.)
Frank Miller’s ability to convey violent action and weird nobility is second to none. All of his characters, especially his Sin City characters, are massively flawed, yet adhere to a kind of honor code that guides their actions, even if that honor code is self-serving. The Spartans of “300″ are built purely on honor. They fight for no other reason than because their King orders it. And he orders them to fight to the death mostly because the Spartan laws demand it. But in the end, it turns out the Spartans quasi-victory inspires the entire nation of Greece to beat back the mad king Xerxes. Now, I’m not sure how much of the book is history, but it sure makes a fine story.
This entry is part of the 26 Books project that I’m doing this year.
Next book, “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” by Alison Bechdel.
I’ve been watching the blogosphere’s opinions of top albums of the year very closely, and I find the selections are often spot-on as far as creativity and originality go. But sometimes I see records on the lists that I’ve listened to and know that I probably won’t listen to again soon, if ever. There’s something to be said for “art music,” but sometimes catchiness and singability, not to mention good hooks, are what make music last.
So here, I’ve compiled a list of the albums released in 2006 that will survive the New Year on my iPod and may actually get played again.
Now, without furthur ado, and in alphabetical order:
Beirut — The Gulag Orkestar
This album sounded altogether foreign and yet comfortably familiar at the same time. It was perfectly unpretensious, and is one of my favorite discs all around of the year.
Belle & Sebastian — The Life Pursuit
Honestly, I’ve liked about everything Belle & Sebastian have produced since Tigermilk, so it’s no surprise that this — their best album in years — will remain in rotation for the next year.
Continue reading ‘13 albums from 2006 that I will actually listen to in 2007′
I’m back in the Motherland for a few days over X Men Mas. That’s Indiana to the uninitiated. And all seems to be well. Michelle and I will be in E-town for a few days, then we’ll be heading down to Kokomo. But I’m pretty sure we won’t be getting there fast and we’re going to take it anything but slow when we do get there.
Have I mentioned that I hate air travel? Our flight out of Portland was delayed two hours, which put us in Chicago about an hour after the rental agency where we had reserved a car decided to close. And let me tell you, nerves were racked trying to find a rental car in Chicago at 1 a.m. two days before Christmas. All in all we were traveling from 6 a.m. PST until 4:30 a.m. EST. And we had a direct flight.
But we made it. Can’t wait to do it all over again in a couple of days.
The goose is getting fat…
Did anyone else watch “The Lost Room” on Sci-Fi this week? I gotta say, it was pretty damn good. If you’re the TiVo-ing sort, you should set yours to pick it up; I think it’s being replayed several times this week.
If you’re not the TiVo-ing sort, I’d recommend dropping by your favorite BitTorrent aggregator and finding it there. That is if you’re into Sci-Fi or weird tales in general.
I have no real excuse for my lack of entries for the past 3 weeks or so, other than a recent lack of interest in Web-logging. And I’m still reading “Tropic of Cancer,” but for some reason I keep putting it down and doing other things. (It could be that I still have about 50 hours to go in “Twilight Princess.” Just maybe.) But I also happened to find several graphic novels at the library that I’ve been wanting to read, so I thought I’d throw those in the mix to refresh the reading list. So anyway…
“Pride of Baghdad” is both based on a true story and allegorical. The true story is that some lions escaped from the Baghdad zoo as America bombed the city to smithereens. Vaughan uses this inside world brief to create a fairly rich story about the lions’ glimpse of “freedom,” and what that really meant for them. Henrichon’s artwork is detailed and captures anthropomorphic human (and maybe animal) emotion and expression on the faces of big cats.
If you don’t mind pictures with your novels, I would recommend picking this one up. Or at least renting it from your library.
I’m still reading “Tropic of Cancer,” but I’ll also be reading “300″ by Frank Miller
[This article is part of the 26 Books project that I'm doing this year.]
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