Author Archives: Duff
À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…
Making: Focusing on Friendship Star blocks this week. With the hope of maybe possibly finishing those before I die…
Reading: I’m sorta lazily reading a magical mystery “Storm Front” by Jim Butcher while I am also devouring the trade paperbacks of the Runaways comics (just in time to read the new ones being written by Joss Whedon!)… I’ve read a lot of great books recently, I wanted a little breather while I am still running over them in my mind…
Watching: Summer season finales (The Closer, yay; Rescue Me, starting to bore me; Saving Grace, so much better than people realize; Damages, I don’t love it that much) and obsessing over Season 1 of Friday Night Lights (yeah NOW I’m obsessing. Before? That was nothing!) before the season 2 premiere on October 5. Now I actually have a happy reason to be home on Friday nights. Yay!
Listening: Lots of new stuff on my plate, but also really on a “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter” kick today. He’s bringing all sorts of other folk to mind (first song Bob Dylan, “Right Moves” makes me think of Bob Seger [especially the chorus!], some songs Bruce Springsteen, some Leonard Cohen)… Rollicking, good humored, meandering… I’m enjoying it.
Album: Kanye West “Graduation”
I really like this, I think there are some quality songs I will be listening to for a while… BUT. But.
Ou est the joy, Kanye? The thing I really, really loved about his previous albums was the FUN. The sense that he was smiling the entire time he was rapping. When I saw him in concert, I thought “damn this kid is HAPPY.” I mean, maybe not as crazily silly-ily happy as, say, Lupe Fiasco, but still. There was a real joie de vivre about the whole thing.
On this record, even on the songs with positive, peppy lyrics, I feel like he’s got this “I am very purposeful” look on his face. A “hey, this is serious, I’m not joking around” tone. Like he’s just not having as much fun. 🙁 I know he feels like he’s got something to prove; there’s the “who will sell more” battle with 50, and the reviews that all say “he gives his best stuff away! his albums aren’t as good as the stuff he does for other people!” … but maybe he needs to not care about that, you know.
I still like it, I’m still listening. But I don’t LOVE it the way I did the previous two.
In Concert: Midlake
I’ve talked about this band a few times (here, here…) Really enjoyable show. Dense, thick, layered, atmospheric sound, with layered vocals on top. On some songs all five dudes were singing at once! Smooooooth, seductive and sometimes shimmery. Loved all the stuff from the current album, and the new song, think they’ve really found their groove with multiple vocals and a ’70s feel; didn’t like the ‘older’ stuff as much.
The vocals have a very CSNY feel, but with more piano, more atmosphere in the background. T. was reminded of the Eagles, but I don’t think there’s as much twang, and Midlake’s harmonies are much better (as were CSNY’s as well). These guys do NOT sound like they are from Texas…
GirlReaction Tested and Approved.
Here are some companies where I have gotten either a) great product or b) GREAT customer service when the product wasn’t what I wanted:
- Zappos.
- Boden. (lovelovelove)
- Eddie Bauer.
- Sundance. (mostly jewelry)
- Garnet Hill.
I am on a bit of a spending spree right now, actually buying clothes which is something I seriously almost never ever do (CDs, books, movies = All the time!! Clothes? Very, very rarely). It’s very refreshing to look in my closet and think “Hey! I DO have something to wear!”
First Impression of the new Rogue Wave!
Rogue Wave: “Asleep at Heaven’s Gate”.
Um hello = LOVE IT. Listened straight through twice so far. Can’t even be bothered to try the other albums I bought last night, because this sooooo pleasing. Oui, ça me plaît beaucoup. Love it.
Last Night’s iTunes Purchases
Albums:
- Kanye West “Graduation”
- Rogue Wave “Asleep at Heaven’s Gate”
- Meiko (thanks to Byron for the recommendation…see 9/6 entry)
- Tricot Machine (if Alison‘s listening to it, it must be good…)
Singles:
- Shiny Toy Guns “Le Disko” (you’ve heard this on a commercial, where they throw their cell phones at each other and the cell phones cut through their clothes…)
Fiction: “Day” by A.L. Kennedy
A war veteran finds himself acting as an extra in a film about the war…and finally finds himself back in a place he understands. A place where he can finally come to terms with his war experiences, his regrets, his hopes…
What an amazing book. Just as Kennedy’s last novel “Paradise” took me so much into the mind of the alcoholic main character that I could practically taste the alcohol on my tongue, this book brings you into a completely different world, yet just as fully. Alfred’s experiences in the war (WWII, by the way), and the bonds he formed then, and the emptiness he’s felt since…
I found it extremely powerful and moving. It’s the third Kennedy I’ve read, the third I’ve loved. To think that the same author could write so movingly on such different themes…truly awe-inspiring. She ranks right up there with Pat Barker and Ann Patchett for me — three of the greatest living authors of our time.
In Concert: Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
What an amazing show. Blew me away. Can’t really put it into words. Ben Harper’s amazing voice, and his truly remarkable guitar skills, and his completely awe-striking mastery of so many musical styles… His band is polished and professional but can still rip it up. There were loud rocking moments, and rollicking funky moments, and Marvin Gaye sexy moments, and quiet heartbreakingly beautiful moments. They’re promoting their new album “Lifeline” (with possibly the most lovely title song of any album in recent history) and I think it may be their best one yet. Highly recommended, both the album and the show.
Big Screen: 3:10 to Yuma
Really a funny movie. Very entertaining but very silly, and a lot of holes that can be poked in the plot afterward. Weirdly my parents went to see it the same night (600 miles away) and said the same thing: entertaining and satisfying but very silly. Dad says it made him remember how some Elmore Leonard stories just go overboard into crazy silliness.
Russell Crowe is quite saucy and fun, and Christian Bale is so earnest and moral that you kinda want to slap him upside the head, or upside his weird, stereotypically English, filed to the exact same length across the top row, gray teeth. Yes I have a thing about teeth and his drive me nuts.
And for you Serenity/Firefly fans, Wash has a pretty big part and he’s great in it! Yay! [And the dude who played Sam Phillips in “Walk the Line” is in this as well. He has a somewhat creepy resemblance to John Ritter in this role….]