Author Archives: Duff

Big Screen: Once

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Painfully earnest and sincere. Very sweet. Some pretty songs. But I found myself wincing sometimes and didn’t quite fall for it, although my co-viewer completely DID. She felt it was just to the acceptable side of being too saccharine. I thought it was right on the line. It didn’t go so far over that I couldn’t watch it, but it was teetering right there on the edge.

T: “I’m going to buy the soundtrack RIGHT NOW! I loved it!!! Didn’t you?”
Me: “Um…. it was PAINFULLY sincere. Really, really earnest.”
T: “So you didn’t LOVE IT!! I LOVED IT!!”
Me: “No, I didn’t love it. I thought it was sweet.”
T: “You didn’t love it????? I LOVED IT!!”

Fantasy: “Ghosts of Albion: Accursed” by Amber Benson & Christopher Golden

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So apparently there was an online BBC series that began the story of these characters; however I did not find that you needed to have read it to understand and enjoy what goes on here. Two siblings find that on their grandfather’s death they have been appointed the “Protectors of Albion,” mystical defenders of England. 19th century London, feels very Dickensian in its descriptions, but set in Jane Austen’s society world. Ghosts of some of England’s historical heroes (Lord Admiral Nelson, Lord Byron) are their helpers, as well as a vampire (yay!), and Protectors from other lands. Very engaging and personable. So many well-rounded characters, you’re sure to find someone you want to root for. I’ve already got the next in the series waiting in my pile!

(Yes, it’s THAT Amber Benson.)

Fiction: “An Invisible Sign of My Own” by Aimee Bender

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I really haven’t read many people Aimee Bender can be compared to. As when I read some of her short stories in 2005, her writing is not so much “fantasy” as “writing set in the normal world with fantastical elements.” This novel has less of those elements than her short stories do, yet it has the same overall feeling to me.

Mona is a numbers person. Obsessive compulsive, but not in the typical way, and perhaps beyond that. Tender and moving, sad and sometimes scary. Yet ultimately hopeful. Your heart breaks for this girl, with her worries and her need for control and her unwillingness to accept the happy… I would have happily kept reading about her long after the last page.

Best Late-Night Burrito EVER.

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On Ashland, just south of Division (less than a block), there are THREE places called La Pasadita. Apparently they are owned by three different brothers. They all have a very similar dive-y look.

You want the side of the street with two (the west side) and you want to go to the one that’s further south, and you want to order the steak burrito (and then if you’re me you want to have someone with you to split it with because it is GINORMOUS and you’ve already had way too many calories of beer before you got there anyway) and then you are ready to die and go to heaven because you’ve just had the best burrito of your life.

p.s. this was the second time this burrito has blown my mind. I had to make sure the first time wasn’t just a drunken fantasy before I recommended it. oh my buddha, it was even better the second time.

In concert: The Fray.

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Huh, I guess I never told you about this one and I forgot to put it on the list too. I’ll have to fix that tonight.

Not sure why I bought these tickets. If you only have two decent songs, even if they are REALLY good (which I do think those two songs are, and you know them if you watched Grey’s Anatomy), you’re really a fairly middle of the road band. No shame in that, maybe your album/tours shouldn’t have happened until a bunch of better songs on down the road. I realize the industry is not run for long-term success, it’s their fault more than the band’s I’m sure. Years from now, they could be a good band. Right now, not so much.

Opener: OK Go. Third time I’ve seen them. Technically they are the better band but I guess they haven’t made as much money. A much calmer set than their usual. No dancing. But sounded good.

Banterwise for both bands: Dudes. What is up with constantly telling the audience about how they are different/better/worse than the previous night’s audience? a) who fucking cares about the idiots who came to last night’s show? and b) to us, this is the ONLY concert. Tonight. You/Us. That’s it. You should pretend that too.

À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…

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Making: I’m doing the quilting on Mariko’s quilt. And pretty much nothing else.

Reading: Finally breaking into my Mark Helprin stash with “Freddy and Fredericka.” It’s got a good dose of irreverence and I am quite enjoying it.

Watching: I finished Buffy and Angel…and then I started all over again, but much slower this time (only one a day!). Also just rewatched season 1 of Bones: the Emily Deschanel/David Boreanaz commentary on disc 3 is a LOT of fun. I don’t usually listen to those on movies, but I got into them on Buffy (although on Buffy, they give away MAJOR MAJOR plot points from future seasons. You’ve been warned. My dad, sadly, was caught unawares by a couple of doozies).

Listening: I bought a boatload of new music in the past couple of days and am just slowly making my way through it. So far the White Stripes “Icky Thump” is really rockin’ out.

Lonely lyrics, with a bit of hope.

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I just want to feel / something more than this;
I just want to have / all the things i miss(ed?);
I just want to learn / all there is to know;
I just want to hold on to / all that I let go.
I don’t want to let you down.
I don’t want to let you down.
I don’t want to let you down, let you down again.
I just want to sing / every single song;
I just want to fix / everything that’s wrong;
I just want to be / safe inside the love;
I just want to give and give and give / enough to fill you up.
I don’t want to let you down.
I don’t want to let you down.
I don’t want to let you down, let you down again.
And I’ve been walking the universe and waiting for worlds to align;
Until I heard your exit wounds were healing better than mine.

–“Exit Wounds” Shane Nicholson

Album: Shane Nicholson “Faith & Science”

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If you were a boy singer, would you be insulted if I told you your album was super super pretty? I mean it in a good way!

I saw Nicholson open for Kasey Chambers last year(?or the year before?) and really liked him. He’s often compared to Crowded House/Neil Finn. I really didn’t hear the similarities that much on the previous album, but on this one there are indeed a few songs that I have to stop and think “Wait, who am I listening to?”

If you need music to ROCK you, this might be too soft for you. But if you generally don’t like the quiet boys, it’s more upbeat than that (i.e., not as melancholy as, say, Damien Rice).

Fave songs: “All the Time in the World,” “Always Be on Your Side,” “Watch Her Go” and “Exit Wounds.”

Paste 31 Sampler, a girl (song-by-song) reaction.

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Overall feeling: The Hold Steady book-ends label this one more “rock” than anything else but there is a bit of variation.

Track by track:

  • “Massive Nights” The Hold Steady: This isn’t my favorite Hold Steady song (or album). But you can never go wrong starting off a mix with a Craig Finn rant (which is how I think of their songs).
  • “Been There All the Time” Dinosaur Jr: I love the plaintive, pleading tone of the vocals, not what you expect in a rock song. Can I be a part of you? … Can I be there all the time?
  • “Killing Him” Amy LaVere: Total change in musical mood. Quiet, speakeasy feelin’.
  • “Die Die Die” The Avett Brothers: Crystal clear lyrics/vocals, the music is very much in the background. The harmonies here crack me up.
  • “Get It On” Grinderman: Back to (heavier) rock. Demanding, insistent.
  • “Diamond Ring” Joseph Arthur: Love this song. Love him. Is he single? I’ll be his diamond ring.
  • “Lay Your Head Down” Keren Ann: Pretty enough. But not really doing it for me.
  • “Gor Det Nu” Dungen: Headbanger’s ball mixed with old Rolling Stones.
  • “Baby’s Romance” Chris Garneau: Ooooo, I like this. Very soft and tender.
  • “It Must Have Happened” Mary Chapin Carpenter: How long has it been since I listened to MCC? Her voice isn’t how I remember it (deeper? gruffer?). Not really doing it for me here.
  • “Big Drag” Limbeck: Very thinly layered verses. Sparse.
  • “Passenger Song” Great Lake Swimmers: I love everything they do. Thick, dense, low sounds. Lovely.
  • “I’ll Be Rested” Mavis Staples: Very goofy xylophone-ish sounding beginning. Her voice is amazing.
  • “Don’t Let Go” Pacha Massive: Dance beat. Shake that ass. But the vocals are not living up to the music’s promise of liveliness.
  • “Man Overboard” Kristoffer Ragnstam: Another goofy beginning. Spoken word/rappish feel. Think “The Streets” or “Just Jack.”
  • “Rest Your Weary Mind” Elizabeth Cook (with Bobby Bare Jr): Lil bit of country. The male vocal is very Johnny Cash (yum) but the female is too contrasty for me / almost operatic.
  • “Life Is Beautiful” Vega4: Knew this song from a TV show. Slowing things down. Sad and melancholy. Sounds a lot like Snow Patrol (which is a good thing in my book).
  • “V Neck Sweater” The Greyboy Allstars: Jazzy feel. Nice beat! Groovin’.
  • “If I Were You” Chris Knight: Quiet and contemplative. Twangy, yet kinda sweet.
  • “Kite Song” Rosie Thomas: Slowing things waaaaay down. I like her stuff sometimes, but not consistently, and this one is kinda makin’ me sleepy. Doesn’t seem to belong here.
  • “Stuck Between Stations” (acoustic) The Hold Steady: And we’re back to Craig Finn. I love the lyrics of this song. But the speed with which they are ranted totally(!) makes me think of REM and back, back, back in the day…