Almost Hiatus

Going online has always been overrated, but it has seemed especially boring the last few weeks or so. If there is anyone out there who still reads this blag, I am sorry to you for the scant posts. I have ample material, all of which comes from my brainstorming sessions in the shower, but little time or energy to do anything about them.

Besides, I began teaching this week, so my entries will get scarcer and scarcer until they are so scarce as to be considered valuable (a philosophy to which I do not subscribe, as it happens). I have several options for fixing this problem, one of which you already saw with the excellent guest posts by my friends Marc and Brian. I can also post the health care debate happening over at phorum, with the participants' permission of course, or I could just post photographs I have taken of flowers.

But what I think I will do instead is write very quick reviews of some of my summer interests in music, film, and literature. In other words, I will do exactly what I have been doing in the past. I am only going to choose the books, movies, and albums that I feel like saying something about. If ye want more recommendations, just ask.

Books:

Coraline: I read the graphic novel, which was so scary that I experienced catharsis midway through the book. Unfortunately, catharsis made me disappointed in the ending. It is like when you are too full to finish a delicious hamburger, and the last bit, although good, is an afterthought. After the double punch of Coraline and The Graveyard Book, I am beginning to think Gaiman may be the greatest storyteller around for children. Correct me if I am wrong: not writer or thinker, just storyteller.

The Verneys: This is a big book about a family that kept meticulous records of their involvement in all the major historical events in 17th-century Britain. It was tremendously interesting, but I am pretty sure that was only because I cared. I am sure you don't.

Movies:

17 Again: Zac Efron preaches abstinence in the movie, but all the ladies who watch the movie want anything but to abstain with him. Heck, even I started to like like him by the end, or at least until he turned into Matthew Perry. This movie is surprisingly enjoyable, but this does not mean Mark should rent it and then blame me for making him watch it. Here's another thing that is embarassing to me, but kind of interesting: Zac Efron's skill set--dancing, strutting, basketball, hitting on friends' moms--is similar to what mine used to be, or so I thought. I was good at all of those except for basketball. I think that is why I like his movies so much: he is what I thought I used to be, but wasn't.

District 9: Now, I am no huge fan of the movie Signs, but remember how cool it was when they hinted at what the aliens might look like in that movie as they scrambled across the screen? They squandered all their promise when they just allowed an alien to sit in front of the camera at the end, but for a time, Signs was a great movie. I think of this because District 9 gave me a similar reaction--I thought at first that I was going to watch a subtle film that discreetly revealed its secrets bit by bit. However, by the end, we were left with a man in a transformer suit blowing up Nigerian crime bosses' heads and fighting a South African MMA champion. A big disappointment.

Albums:

I am only going to review three albums because they are the only ones that I have that were released this year, and they are poppy, which makes them fun to recommend. I would recommend my classical titles but that would just be annoying.I am ordering the new pop albums I have been listening to from best to worst, the worst being still worth the price and effort.

Neko Case--Neko Case's "Middle Cyclone" is the coolest album of the year, I think, at least until Yes comes out with its 43rd. Here's the thing: I don't care about lyrics as much as I should, at least for being a snobby reader, but the first song on "Middle Cyclone" is about a tornado that loves a human. And the third song is about how animals, even in Sea World and the Zoo, will kill you because you are human and they are not. My kids can't get enough of either one of these songs, and they know the words by heart. I know it is trendy to like Neko Case, but I am trendy and this album is amazing. Besides, I feel better about myself because this album hasn't gotten the same buzz as her previous albums, so I am still bucking trends: it is far superior to her other records, which are far superior to other people's records. By the way, if I were to list my biggest female voice crushes, these would be my top five: Neko Case, Gillian Welch, Bjork, Portishead girl, and Kelly Clarkson.

Andrew Bird--I don't really like Andrew Bird. I respect his music but he doesn't have the hold on me that he has on some of my friends and hip ladies. I didn't really like his new album for a while either, because I find him too precious. But my friend Marc give me a fantastic mix with a song called "Tables and Chairs" by Bird, and I was strangely drawn to the song and subsequently redrawn to the most recent album, called "Noble Beast." "Tables and Chairs" is not on his new album. "Noble Beast" is a fun piece of work, even though the lyrics are too often about parsnips and astronomers. There is a great little piece of pop in a song called "Masterswarm" when Bird sings about going to the hospital and being scanned and the doctors finding a little man inside of him. It is one of those musical moments when things come together, like the very end of Yes's "Nous Sommes du Soliel." I guess I like Andrew Bird now.

Animal Collective--I am not really an Animal Collective guy--they seem unfocused and scattered to me, but their new ablum, "Merriweather Post Pavilion," has one song on it that might be the song of the summer. It is called "My Girls" and it conveys more musical joy than a hundred B-52 albums. Maria likes to dance to it, and I like to think of my brother John during it because he has three girls in his house and the sentiments, except for the part about not caring about fancy things, remind me of him.

With that, I am going to focus on the new school year. If I post again in the next week, that would be awesome.