Good

38. "In Bruges"
The trailer for this film is nothing like this film. The trailer made it seem like "In Bruges" would be a shoot em up action comedy. It does center around someone getting shot and there are a lot of jokes, but the film isn't an action film or a comedy. It's just a good film with equal parts action, comedy and drama.

I saw the trailer once before a film a few months ago. That's all I knew about "In Bruges." The film did not disappoint. Writer/Director Martin McDonagh obviously knew his material and got what he wanted. Colin Farrell created an original character that has the potential to be a cult figure. Ralph Fiennes comes in more than half way through the film and as always, is excellent. Brenden Gleeson plays a entirely believable multi-dimensional hitman. The setting is both bleak and fairy tale like. I really can't think of a way to improve this film. Thus far, it's the best film of 2008.

Did you know Ernie Banks is Mr. Cub?

19. Lew Freedman "Cubs Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Real Fan"
You don't need this book to be a real fan.

The book is advertised as part history book, part quiz. It doesn't do either well. It reads like each chapter was written without much thought of the others. I read that Ernie Banks is Mr. Cub in four separate chapters. While it's not a bad thing to remind that reader that Ernie Banks is loved in Chicago, it's pointless to keep preaching to the choir.

I received this book from a book sale. I read the book in one day. Spending no money and little time on this thing was good enough. I do recommend this thing for children. For a better book about the Cubs, read "The Cubs" by Glenn Stout and Richard A. Johnson.

I dressed up as Gene Simmon's from "Dressed to Kill" at 13 for Halloween

18. Gene Simmons "Kiss and Make-up"
You will never read another autobiography of a musician that barely mentions playing music. You will also not envy Gene Simmons.

The bassist from Kiss is the product of a single parent household. He's never done drugs or drank alcohol. He loves to fuck. He makes sure that you, reader, understand that he loves to fuck and he was raised by his mother without any help from dad. He also loves money.

The book is an easy and quick read. Simmons never takes himself or anything else too seriously. Simmons' "Kiss" is like a pleasant Wikipedia page about something you've always known of but never cared much about. Like Kiss.

Doctor

37. "Leatherheads"
I think I'd enjoy any George Clooney film set in the 1920s.

"Leatherheads" was almost exactly as I thought it would be. It's got a little bit of slapstick, looks great, has a good amount of chuckles and some decent dialogue. Not great but far from bad.

I wouldn't see it again but I wouldn't turn it off.

Time to see "The Good German."

The end of the month

I'll be opening a show for Voodoo Organist and Daniel Knox. Mr. Knox is my favorite songwriter and I'm lucky enough to get to play before the guy. The show is at South Union Arts, a great venue that has yet to be fully discovered. A large neon cross still hangs (the place used to be a church). I'll probably have guests. If no guests, I'll have new songs.

Fetor's next EP will be released in late May/early June.

I've never liked the Rolling Stones

17. Tony Sanchez "Up and Down with the Rolling Stones"
I am a fan of "The Dirt" and most of my friends know this. They understand my vice, my love of rock and roll biographies. They recommend what they've read and "Up and Down with the Rolling Stones" has been highly recommended. I still say "The Dirt" takes the cake.

The author was a friend of the band from the beginning and began to work for Keith Richards once his partner Anita and him needed a constant supply of heroin. Sanchez had access to the band and while it's nice to know who and how certain members slept with other members girlfriends, it gets boring fast.

Maybe you need to be a Stones fan. Maybe you need a romanticized version of rock and roll in the 60s. You need something that makes the Stones important. I do not have that thing.

I stand by my proclamation that "The Dirt" is the only rock and roll book you should read, regardless of your love of rock or roll.

If you happen to live in Chicago

I'm in Fetor. I'm friends with Altgeld Forgotten. They're friends with We Make Thunder. Please show up. I'll show up.

Travel blog!

The Raggaeton is keeping me awake.

Doug and I drove from Portland to Chicago. Not enough happened. We left Portland on Easter Sunday and got back four or five days later. I got sick after the first night. It rained on the parade.

I don't want to live in the country. There isn't much to look at. Sure, the sky goes on for miles, but there are too many billboards featuring fetii (the plural form of fetus?) for my taste.

Idaho sure is vast.

I took too many photos and will post them when I can not sleep.

Not enough girls, girls, girls

16. Tommy Lee and Anthony Bozza "Tommyland"
What's wrong with me? Why did I finish this book?

"Tommyland" is the worst book I've ever read. This saddens me because "The Dirt," the Motley Crue autobiography, is one of the best books I've ever read.

Tommy Lee writes like an excited 10-year old boy. It worked in small doses in "The Dirt." By page 50 of "Tommyland" you want to give the kid an extremely late term abortion.

I can not stress how awful this thing is. It's not so bad it's good, just bad.

I blame myself. I should've stopped by page 20, not suffer through another 200 pages.

They do as they say

36. "No Country for Old Men"
Just like the book, not a word is wasted. The dialogue probably filled about 15 pages of a two hour film. The landscape was a character. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh was brilliant. The lack of music was well-used. There are no problems with this film.

Cormac McCarthy had to write the novel knowing it would become a film. Only one major section is left out but is still alluded to. The inner dialogues of Sheriff Bell make for excellent bookends on the film. The beginning and end are unusual but make perfect sense.

Of the nominations that I saw for Best Picture of the Oscars, I agree with this one taking home the prize.

Money for nothing

35. "Rock, Rock, Rock!"
I watched this because Chuck Berry makes an appearance. It's also funny when it shouldn't be.

Alan Freed is aces with the teenagers. The kids love the rock and roll. The kids also worry about who is going to take them to the big dance. The kids like dances. Alan Freed MCs the dance. This is where most of the performers "Rock, Rock, Rock" and get the kids dancing.

Don't watch this. The poster is much better than the film.

Here's the first verse of the title track

Rock, rock, rock, rock, everybody
rock, rock, rock, rock, everybody
rock, rock, rock, rock, everybody
you rock it and you rock it and you rock it around!

That pretty much doesn't sum anything up.

There are no donkeys in the game

34. "The King of Kong"
Fuck you, Billy Mitchell! Long live Steve Wiebe!

"The King of Kong" is about Steve Wiebe's attempt to break Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong high score. Wiebe does it at his home. The people who say whether or not the record is legit don't think he did it legitimately. Wiebe travels to their home arcade and sets another record there. A few hours later Mitchell announces he has a tape with another high score. The tape screens. Wiebe goes home. It goes on like this for a while. Point is, Wiebe is a normal guy that fell on hard times and used Donkey Kong as an escape. He seems like a loving husband and father and seems to enjoy his job teaching junior high science. Billy Mitchell is an ego maniac with a warped sense of accomplishment. The filmmakers make it easy to root for one and jeer at the other.

Watch this film. I don't play video games and was interested from the start.

The Originator

15. George White "Bo Diddley - Living Legend"
This is the only book about Bo Diddley. This is a shame. One of the founders of rock and roll deserves more than one book. Though Mr. White does his best to honor the man, "Living Legend" doesn't tell the reader nearly enough about the man, the music or his famous beat.

The book has a simple formula. White begins the chapter telling the reader what and how Bo overcame obstacles, lists every artist that used the beat or covered an original tune and closes the chapter with some reassurance that rock and roll will never die. Though the formula gets boring, it's an alright way to read about the legend.

Read this book. Not because it's great, but because you can never know too much about Bo Diddley.

Also, thanks to the book, I learned that Bo Diddley released a song in the mid 90s called "She Wasn't Raped." This is fucked up.

On track

14. Cormac McCarthy "No Country for Old Men"
I haven't seen the film so please don't tell me anything about it.

I was never able to get over the lack of quotation marks. McCarthy doesn't use them. The book has a lot of dialogue. It's a pain.

The story is great. The moral ambiguity was well done. The dialogue, though difficult to read, was short and to the point. My only problem with the book is not the book's fault. Though I haven't seen the film I couldn't help think of the actor's in the film while reading the book.


13. Banana Yoshimoto, Translated by Michael Emmerich "Asleep"
This book was given to me with no description. It made the read better.

I had not read any contemporary Japanese writers until Yoshimoto. I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised.

"Asleep" is comprised of three novella length pieces. Each story uses sleep as a main facet of the story. While this sounds boring, it's not. Yoshimoto doesn't overuse the concept and never ventures into dreamscape.

It's a quick read and I plan to read the Yoshimoto catalogue.

Just like Prince

12. Paul Hemphill "Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams"
It took almost a year to finish this 224 book. No, it's not dense or full of footnotes or in a foreign language. I just didn't enjoy the prologue. Once I passed the ruminations of the author's childhood with his truck driving, stable, Hank Williams' loving dear ol' dad, I finished the book in two nights.

"Lovesick Blues" is a good read for any casual music fan. An obsessive Williams' fan won't discover any large revelations that explain what could be found by listening to "Cold, Cold Heart" or "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." The story is simple and tragic. Williams had a gift for telling a simple story, was surrounded by women who wanted their piece of the pie, soaked himself in whiskey from the age of 12 and was never at home unless in the studio. Hank Williams was country music's Hemingway, something that isn't lost on the author.

Psycho Killer

33. "Five Minutes to Live" (also titled "Door-to-Door Maniac")
If you have a decent internet connection you should watch this film. I bought it for $1 last summer at Walgreen's, but you can also watch it for free on archive.org.

Johnny Cash plays a killer in this wonderful B-film from 1961. In 80 minutes he kills his girlfriend, plays acoustic guitar and sings to his potential victim, threatens to rape an innocent wife, destroys some porcelain statues and generally terrorizes the suburbs. Hooray!

Watch this film. It's great for every reason a B-film can be great. All of Cash's one liners are all good enough to be tattooed on rockabilly fellas. His pompadour is magnificent. And lil' Ronnie Howard saves the day! Hooray!

Why take on a Boston accent?

32. "The Lady From Shanghai"
I've spent more time reading about the film, Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles than it took to watch the film. Welles made the film in order to fund a play. This shows.

It's hard to not like this film. Rita Hayworth is easy on the eyes and now I have a new found respect for the White Stripes' "Get Behind Me Satan." Orson Welles is a larger than life character that was probably born an imposing figure. But it's hard to understand a film that doesn't care about making sense.

"The Lady From Shanghai" seems like a great experiment. The final scene is legendary for a good reason. But if you never see the film, you're not losing out.

Redbox

31. "Hot Rod"
Damn, Andy. Yes, Queens of the Stone Age does have a cameo, but I don't think it's them playing the 80s power ballad.

It was hard to stay awake. The film is under 90 minutes and I almost fell asleep three times.

I enjoy Bill Hader and he had a few good lines, but, well, I don't know. I don't know.

Not the one with Adam Sandler

30. "There Will Be Blood"
I understand why this is supposed to be a great film. The cinematography is beautiful. The dialogue is sparse yet poignant. The score is inventive and out of place in a good way. Daniel Day Lewis loses himself in the role of Daniel Plainview.

Something didn't add up.

I did not enjoy this film. There was nothing to enjoy. It seems like Paul Thomas Anderson made a film for people to call great, not to enjoy or learn anything. For example, I've never had a desire to see people getting slaughtered yet I learned something from "Schindler's List." I learned nothing from "Superbad," but I enjoyed it. While I wasn't expecting either type of film, I would have liked a coherent story with semi-believable characters.

Chimp blood

29. "MXP: Most Xtreme Primate"
We all lose.

Nothing decent is on television on Sunday afternoons. It's one of the reasons people believe in God. Limited choices.

This thing makes me question my belief in evolution, common decency, the use of racial stereotypes and the right to bear arms. I did not enjoy one moment of this thing, yet I did nothing to change the channel. Sure, I was folding laundry, washing dishes and picking up trash, but that's no excuse. I have a soul and this was tearing it apart.

Why would a monkey snowboard? Why would a sombrero mean someone is from Mexico? Why would an Italian man get his own table with a bottle of red wine and a bread basket at a snowboarding event featuring a team of 10-year old competitors? Why would a snowboard race be in teams of two? Why would a band, Dynamite Boy, license it's songs for this thing?

Who would show this to their children? Who would let their child watch this after reading the back of the DVD? This thing should be used for birth control. If you laugh at multiple sight gags, you're baby makers are permanently removed. If you chuckle multiple times, you get a 10-year shot preventing your seed being spread. If you chuckle once, one year. If you stare at the screen with dead eyes and think about suicide, 6 months. If you turn the thing off and read a book, please, go ahead and breed.

I may be a masochist.