Author Archives: Duff

Snip: Explained. (a.k.a. “How. To.”)

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You can sort by category (listed in the right column on both the main snip AND category pages but not on individual entry archives or at least not until I get around to fixing that):

“Best of” is a monthly (and will be yearly) report mostly on what I liked, with random personal high & low lights for my own (lack of) memory’s sake.

“Currently” is what I’m reading/watching/listening to currently, whether I like it or not.

“Recommending” means something in that post is recommended, although not necessarily the subject piece.

” ” ” of the Day” could be ANYTHING.

If you only want to read movie (and a few TV) reviews, and not every mention of movies, pick category “Watchin.” (For any/every mention, pick “Flicks.”) (For any/every TV mention, pick “TVTVTV.”)

If you only want to read book reviews, and not every mention of books, pick “Readin.” (For any/every mention, pick “Books.”)

For everything music related, pick “Tunes.” For my opinions on (some) music, pick “Listenin’ ” (some sub categories will also appear, such as sounds like, lyrics, and albums, but others will NOT such as concert reviews). For only concert reviews, pick “Live.” Album reactions only pick “Albums” (although that’s fairly new so there isn’t that much there). “…SOUNDS LIKE…” and “Lyrics” are also music categories (self explanatory, no?).

“Rags” is when I go through magazines and make notes to myself on books/movies/tunes to remember, etc.

“Podcasts” don’t really get listened to anymore but maybe they will again.

“Versus” only has one post right now, with four draft posts I’ve never finished. It’s your classic spy vs. spy situation.

“Remember” are really notes to self. As are “Lit quotes” “Movie quotes” and “Food.”

“Letters” are written by me, to people I have a beef with, generally.

“Cha-Ching” reports on non-US change that somehow makes it into my change bucket.

“Too Good to Delete” are a few old posts from when I used to write random personal things on this page. And generally “Lists” tend to be random personal factoids as well (or lists of things I don’t want to forget and can never figure out where I put them so now they stay here).

Anything else should be fairly self explanatory.

Paste 30 Sampler, a girl (song-by-song) reaction.

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Overall feeling: More on the country, folksy side of things than some of their discs. No songs I absolutely can’t stand (woot). Generally diggin’.
Track by track:

  • “We’re from Barcelona” I’m from Barcelona: pop-y and fun.
  • “Can’t Stop” Ozomatli: OK. Kinda weird.
  • “Everyone Gets a Star” Albert Hammond Jr.: Monotone vocals. Cool sound. But not a fave.
  • “Nowhere Warm” Kate Havenick: For the Sarah McLachlan/Beth Orton/Jem lovers out there. Pretty voice.
  • “Four Winds” Bright Eyes: Very country.
  • “Memories of Home” Umphrey McGee: Even more country.
  • “Remember Me” Zach Brooke: Country, but more up, with a real driving beat.
  • “With You” Stars of Track and Field: Synth/electronic. Wistful. Pleading.
  • “Soft Aslyum (No Way Out)” Grant-Lee Phillips: Soft. A little droan-y. I tend to like his stuff, even though I’ve never listened beyond random singles that come my way.
  • “Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning” The Innocence Mission: Real Suzanne Vega feel to it.
  • “Blue Jeans Pizza” Moe: Jazzy sounds. Very goofy falsetto vocals.
  • “A Good Start” Maria Taylor: Spooky, layered beginning. Nice lyrics!
  • “Gulf of Mexico Fishing Boat Blus” Bruce Hornsby & Ricky Skaggs: Feels like bluegrass.
  • “Trans Am” Nathan: Female vocal? Sweet. But feels a little frantic.
  • “Happy” Martin Sexton: Very sharp, distinctive edge to the lead.
  • “Save Myself” Willy Mason: Lyrics vs. music feels disconnected. Droan-y.
  • “Come Undone” Jackson Water: Can’t tell if the lead vocal is male or female but love the thick, rich tone to it. Anthemic feel.

There ya have it.

In concert: Manu Chao

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Hard to say what was the issue here (the mixing boards? the mikes?), but the sound was the worst of probably any show I’ve been to in the last few years: really really bad, completely distorted, lyrics indecipherable, everything muddled together.

In addition, the Aragon was the fullest I’ve EVER seen it, main floor completely full all the way to the back. Air conditioning on minimally at best, if at all. Everyone covered in sweat, what seemed like over half the males in the audience took their shirts off and some of the female audience came as close as they could without getting thrown out.

Pretty miserable evening. I went home early and listened to the CDs instead. Better sound, better surrounds. Much more enjoyable.

Big Screen: Helvetica

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Really charming and engaging. First half sways you one way: “Helvetica is so awesome! Greatest font ever!” Second half sways you in the opposite direction: “Helvetica is an evil tool of capitalism! Evil!”

Interviewees are both enigmatic and completely entertaining. Totally enjoyable flick!

Netflix: Mr. Fix-It

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Really really bad movie. But I knew it would be — only rented it for the Angel eye candy. I love the color of his hair here. That’s what I was going for the last time but there’s way too much blonde in mine currently.

Rolling Stone #1028 (Amy Winehouse cover)

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You know, I bought Amy Winehouse‘s album a long time ago, before it came out in the US, but I’m not sure I’ve ever listened to it. I remember starting to once and not being in the mood… Gotta find out what all the fuss is about. Didn’t read this interview, but there are a couple really nice B&W photos in it.

New tunes: KT Tunstall “Drastic Fantastic” coming out in September. I really liked her first album although I didn’t think she was very good live.

New York-band The National. People keep mentioning them.

Voxtrot. Do I already own this? Have I listened? I’m drawing a blank.

Another little blurb on Rie Rasmussen and Angel-A (just mentioned in EW also). They like the visuals of Rasmussen and of Paris (the city), and suggest it could have been magic as a silent film.

Netflix: Rumble Fish

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Wow, I think it’s been 20 years since I’ve seen this movie. Sometimes you just need a little Matt Dillon in your day.

It’s beautifully filmed in B&W with lots of cool shots of clouds and reflections and the coloring-in effect of the fish is really before its time, isn’t it. Although technically an 80s flick, it feels like a 50s/70s combination given the sock-hop feel of the stylin’ combined with the general 70s vibe, particularly Laurence Fishburne’s look. The fight scenes are very coolly choreographed. Diane Lane was just as gorgeous then, was she not? Same year, same director, same author, and some of the same co-stars (Lane, Tom Waits) as “The Outsiders” but totally different feel. As with many movies from back in the day, lots and lots of people you don’t realize are in this just popping out of the woodwork.

Other Matt Dillon recommendations: “Mr. Wonderful” (so cheesy but one of my favorite movies EVER!), “Singles” (!!), “Drugstore Cowboy,” “In & Out.” (And he is quite powerful in “Crash” but I’m hesitant to recommend it as people are always yelling at me about how wrong I am and much they hate that movie.)

Not recommended: “You, Me and Dupree,” which I randomly caught on cable last night while pin-basteing (and then BREAKING my quilt frame, but that’s a-whole-nother story). One of those “wow, I can’t believe these actors are in this horrific movie” experiences.

Fiction: “Single Wife” by Nina Solomon

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Pretty intriguing premise: Grace’s husband vanishes on what she assumes is one of his regular “missing for 3 days, returns like he’s never been gone” jaunts. So she keeps up appearances, pretends he’s at work, or traveling, messes up his clothes to fool the cleaning lady, lies to her/his parents, etc. Yet this time, it’s not three days or three weeks or…

Yet not only does her deception seem to be working incredibly well, others report citings of Laz, or emails. Is he really gone for good, or…

A lot of good stuff in here — plus it’s a good New York/Chicago book with lots of landmarks and reminders from both cities.

Big Screen: Knocked Up.

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Hilariously, raucously, side-splittingly funny = Yes.

Offensive, gross and sometimes downright icky, and I’m not referring to the scatological humor but rather the male/female relationships and general ideas about women you cannot help but get from this(ese) movie(s) = Also Yes.

I’ve sort of lost my patience for these male fantasy movies where the boy and his friends are nearly the lowest level of human possible (other than being cute, I guess he could be all that this boy is AND be ugly, that would be lower), yet the prettiest girl in the room falls for him. Oh, of course! And the very few (very FEW) things he eventually does to make himself even somewhat acceptable after the initial breaking off, the girl isn’t even aware of when she decides “Yes”.

There’s a lot more I could say about this, but really: why bother. (You can email me if you really want to know.) That really isn’t a world I’m interested in living in.

I feel pretty much the same way about this movie as I felt about “Waitress”: Great performance by the lead actress. But pretty disappointed by the flick overall.

In Concert — Double Feature: The Maccabees / The Noisettes

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I had actually bought The Maccabees album the other day when I was wandering Virgin and it was playing in the store but I hadn’t gotten around to listening yet, so it was a pleasant surprise to find they were playing before The Noisettes. The lead singer has an amazing voice, despite his bizarre stage antics. My friends were postulating various illnesses/handicaps/etc., but I think it was more a case of nerves / nowhere to put his hands. Maybe he needs something to hold while he’s on stage. Someone give that boy a tambourine! They’re being hyped as the next Franz Ferdinand/best new British band/etc. etc., which as you know can often spell a band’s downfall trying to live up to the hype (Arctic Monkeys?) . Based on their live performance, I have to think these guys have a chance: they were polished and together, none of the odd gaffes you often see in a band’s early tours. And they sounded great! Interesting lyrics, rockin’ guitar licks. Have finally started listening to the album post-show: Thumbs Up for “Colour It In”.

While equally compelling in concert, musically The Noisettes are an entirely different ball game. I’ve been racking my brain all morning trying to think of others to compare them to. Thrashing, yelling, jumping = super super high energy, loud, badass performance. I’d call them “punk” before anything else. (And in an odd coincidence of timing, one of their songs was on The Sopranos finale!) Here’s a review and this one describes the lead singer as “Billie Holiday on PCP.” A lot of fun but I don’t spend a lot of time listening to this album since a) I’m not going to the gym these days (I think it’d be perfect workout music) and b) stuff that is this high energy feels very POSITIVE to me and you know I’m all about the negative.

[p.s. and this site has a photo from the same concert.]

Opener: The Reds and the Blues. Nothing that inspiring, but definitely unforgettable. Come on, when was the last time you saw a bassoon on-stage in a rock band?