Keep an eye out for a young Sarah Vowell

58. "Man in the Sand"
This is an odd documentary. It's kind of a film about the life and legend of Woody Guthrie. It's partly about Billy Bragg following in the footsteps, figuratively and mostly literally, of Guthrie. It attempts to give some perspective on the making of "Mermaid Avenue," a collaborative album between Billy Bragg and Wilco. It doesn't do any of these things well.

I read Greg Kot's book about Wilco a few years ago. He mentions an interview with Jeff Tweedy about these sessions. The Chicago band was taken aback by an extremely large American flag on the wall of Bragg's Dublin's studio. They thought it was odd that an Irishman was proud of a country he never lived in. The flag is in nearly every scene shot in Ireland.

Billy Bragg fans will eat this shit up. Woody Guthrie fans will call Billy Bragg a cheap impostor but proceed to eat this shit up. Wilco fans, which includes me, will argue that Tweedy should've done this project alone (which couldn't have happened because Bragg asked Wilco to join him) because he wrote the music to "California Songs" and that's much better than anything Bragg did. Wilco fans will also think, "Wow, everyone in that band has aged quite a bit in 10 years."

The documentary and albums (the first album came out in 1998 to critical acclaim so a second volume was released in 2000) exist because of Guthrie's daughter Nora. She comes off as an idealistic hippy that probably wants to sleep with Billy Bragg. But what do I know? I didn't grow up around Bob Dylan.

"I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" is a much better documentary.

Welles deserves the acclaim

57. "F for Fake"
Orson Welles visual essay on fakery is the last film he ever saw completed. It is unlike any other film. It is quite a feat.

The first hour of "Fake" is about the world's best art forger, Elmyr, and the world's most well known lying writer, Howard Hughes 'biographer' Clifford Irving. The last half hour is about Picasso and the woman that scammed him into painting twenty-two portraits of her and got to keep them. One of these stories is fake.

It's difficult to give anything away about this film. It's non-linear, uses footage from a different documentary, has magic tricks and features narration and commentary by the film's director, co-star and editor, Orson Welles. The film is like the conversation you wish you had in philosophy or art class about art or philosophy. In a way, the film is just pure fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously and features some of the most important artists of the 20th century. A wonderful film that is definitely not for everyone.

Heroin addict, alcoholic, deadbeat dad 'artist'

56. "Imagine"
I watched this John Lennon biography because Phil Spector is in a few scenes. It was not worth watching.

Unless you're a big Lennon fan and haven't seen or read "Anthology," there's no reason to watch this documentary. It does nothing but cater to the Lennon legend. He's tortured and great and childlike and a jealous guy and an artist and saves lives and doesn't believe in Beatles. It's all been said and seen and is boring and self-serving.

A New York Times reporter interviews Lennon about his billboard campaign. He says he has saved lives. The reporter calls him on being full of himself. The should have ended the film.

There are tits in the first scene for no reason

55. "Lethal Weapon"
He is getting too old for this shit.

For the other three people that haven't seen this film, let me give you some story notes. Mel Gibson is a suicidal cop with a loaded gun, a lethal weapon so they say. Danny Glover is a veteran cop who is getting too old for this shit. The two become partners. The two have to bust a drug cartel that happens to have some of Glover's old Nam buddies as middlemen. Shit goes down.

The film is dated. Besides Gibson's mullet, the cars, dialogue, film stock and music scream 1987. Those are the bad parts. Gary Busey is the great part. A henchman for the main smuggler, Busey is krazy, where Gibson is just crazy. He lets his boss burn his arm to set an example for another drug dealer. He has horse teeth. What more could you want from a villain?

I did not enjoy "Lethal Weapon" as much as I thought I would. Maybe it's the 500 parodies that I've seen.

I hate him! I love him! He's a scoundrel! He's a saint! He's crazy! He's a genius!

54. "Citizen Kane"
Preface: I'm writing this within an hour of seeing the film. I'm going between this and reading three reviews/critiques of the film in addition to some history. Be warned that this thing will probably be all over the place.

I've finally watched the greatest film of all time.

At 26, Orson Welles created his masterpiece. Coming off the success of his "War of the Worlds" radio play, he had complete control over his directorial debut. This did not happen again in his career.

I've known about this film, the history and the stature, since I knew that film was an art form. I knew that "The Simpsons" parodied the story of Kane when Mr. Burns yearns for his childhood plush bear 'Bobo.' I had a feeling that I had heard the song about Kane sung by a chorus line (I had, the White Stripes used to sing a verse or two at live shows). In other words, why haven't I seen this thing before? The only reason I can think of is fear, the fear that I won't understand the praise.

I do understand the praise. The cinematography alone makes it ground breaking. The story structure is still interesting. Welles' performance as Kane is probably taught in any self-respecting acting class. The audio is realistic and scary, specifically in scenes in Xanadu.

I do not completely understand why this is the greatest film of all time.

If I saw this film at 1941 and understood why Hollywood did not want to see a film that in any way resembled William Randolph Hearst, I might consider this the greatest film of all time.

Do I not think it's #1 because so many films have borrowed techniques that Welles created?

After seeing this and "The Lady From Shanghai" I see Welles love of mirrors and will probably steal some shots he's used.

Of the films on the AFI Top 100 Films list, I would say that "Singin' in the Rain," "It's a Wonderful Life" and "High Noon" should be moved to 1, 2 and 3. I would also add "The Thin Man," which isn't on the list, to number 4. "Citizen Kane" would be in the top 10.

I have a feeling that "Kane" will become more resonant the older I get. The idea that someone my age wrote (with Herman J. Mankiewicz) the greatest film of all time, lines that resonate today, lines about aging that only a dumb youth could stumble upon, makes me think there's something I won't understand till I'm on my deathbed.

Like I've been doing since I was thirteen, I'm once again looking to Roger Ebert to explain to me what I think I understand.

Holy shit, I watched 5 films in 14 hours

53. "My Man Godfrey"
William Powell is the epitome of what a man should aspire to be, classy, quick witted, intelligent and, perhaps most importantly, carries himself with an air of respect that he knows he deserves. I want to be William Powell.

In this 1936 classic Powell plays a bum who becomes a butler but is from a well to do family. Whatever. It doesn't matter. The point is Powell gets to play the character that George Clooney has been trying to embody since his early years on "Roseanne." The man is a gift to cinema.

It's not as good as "The Thin Man" series, but it's pretty damn good. Since it's now public domain there's no excuse not to watch this film.

The thing with Manson is distracting and sad

52. "King of California"
A remake of sorts of "The Tempest." The film stars Evan Rachel Wood as a 16-year old that has lived on her own for the last two years. She's dropped out of school, has no friends and works at McDonald's. Her father, played by Michael Douglas, is coming home from a mental institution. Once back he begins to search for gold. I'll leave it at that.

Michael Douglas is a great actor and Evan Rachel Wood is getting better with each picture. A solid piece of work.

Watch "King of Kong" instead

51. "Word Wars"
Either I was oblivious to the popularity of documentaries, which I doubt considering my illustrious job history working in theaters and video stores, or the genre has increased exponentially in the last ten years. A search on Netflix in the documentary section will give you titles on seemingly every topic.

"Word Wars" follows four Scrabble players on their quest to become the National Champion. There's the incoming champ that practices Thai Chi, a neurotic white man in his late 30s that probably has Aspberger's, a part-time comic and an African-American that hates the white man and lives in a Baltimore ghetto. This isn't like the cast of "Spellbound."

The production value is reminiscent of a high school science video.

So-so.

The poster is magnificent

50. "The Motel"
When reviewers say that a film "looks like an independent film" they're referring to flicks like "The Motel." The dialogue is sparse, the lighting is dim and the location is rural.

Did you see "Chuck and Buck" and like it? You'll probably like this. Did you see "Me and You and Everyone We Know" and think it ushered in a new form of cinema? You'll love this.

The casting was spot on. The emotional tole the 13-year old protagonist endures is believable and identifiable. Though the film is only 75-minutes, it does have a slow pace.

It was good. Not life changing or worth watching twice, but a good, solid indie film.

Julie Delpy is a talented lady

49. "Two Days in Paris"
Julie Delpy's 2007 film is wonderful even at 6am.

Delpy (who stars in, wrote, directed, edited, produced and scored! (I think that does deserve an exclamation.)) and Adam Goldberg are a couple who are spending two days at Delpy's Paris apartment after two weeks in Italy and on the way home to New York.

The film is all about the dialogue in a wonderful "Annie Hall" way. Goldberg bitches for the majority of the film and Delpy confronts many French stereotypes. If either of those things turn you off, avoid this like the plague. If not, watch this film. It's realistic (Delpy's real life parents play her parents in the film), beautiful, funny and smart.

I liked when they fought

48. "Semi-Pro"
A Will Ferrell B-Sides movie. Better than "Blades of Glory." Not nearly as good as "Anchorman." Is Ferrell playing the same character again? Kinda. Will your girlfriend like this movie? Probably not.

ADD or drugs

47. "Meet the Robinsons"
Kelsey wanted to see this film because the trailer showed a dinosaur that said "I have a big head and little arms." That is a funny line, so we rented the film.

A Disney film about an orphan who wants to see what his mother looks like. He is science obsessed and keeps his roommate up doing his experiments. For an upcoming science fair he submits a machine that lets you look back at memories you no longer remember. This is when the villain comes in and the film picks up. Till this point the film follows the typical Disney formula. Once the protagonist goes to the future things get a little nutty. There's no good way to describe what happens without giving away too much, so I'll just say that the director has ADD or enjoys psychedelic drugs.

This film will not be considered a classic and will not influence kids to become scientists. For a $1 rental from Redbox, it's worth it.

Demi Moore has aged well

46. "One Crazy Summer"
This is an awful movie. A decent cast can't save awful writing and a pointless, meandering plot. The only reason I didn't turn it off is because I started doing multiple tasks. Even as background it was disappointing.

If you search 'stiff' in google images you won't see the cover

28. Mary Roach "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers"
While "Stiff" is an excellent book about a subject that everyone ever can understand, it is not full of side-splitting laughs. Professional reviewers are liars or
have awful senses of humor.

The book is about what happens to cadavers that aren't buried or cremated. Dissection, crash test dummies, fertilizer and more possibilities each get their own chapter. Roach interviews multiple experts in their respected field for each section. By the end of the book the idea of being chopped up or liquefied isn't as disturbing as it once might have been. In a way, an excellent summer book.

You don't hear Ozzy's voice

45. "Iron Man"
A superhero movie does not have to stand on its own. It has years, decades of history behind it. The director can tell as much as he wants (I say he because to my knowledge, a woman has not directed a superhero movie in the last 20 years) of the origin. Therefore, there will be gaps. For example, how did Tony Starks' father start his company? Why would a billionaire playboy continue to perform his own experiments without a team of assistants? Why would a weapons company have to perform demos on enemy territory? Why do I care about these things when shit blows up?

"Iron Man" is an excellent superhero movie. It preaches but not too much. Robert Downey Jr. is an excellent Tony Stark. It's believable that this guy fucks a lot of random women and drinks a lot of random scotch. The suit looks good and the effects are wonderful. All in all, I understand all the praise it has received. But give me "X-Men 2." Wolverine cuts some guys tendons! That shit was bad-ass.

Column 1 "I've Been Watching Too Much TV"

I need a new job. Or cable. Something different. I'm running out of stuff to watch on Hulu and Netflix and haven't been able to sit down and watch anything on free television for months. The television is on if I'm home, but I can't pay attention. Some new show on NBC about teenagers taking care of kids is on. I'm half-watching. I'm also talking for my friend on Gmail and applying for jobs. I might be overstimulated and underwhelmed.

A girl on the show just locked herself in a bathroom and cried.

I remember a woman on a talk show crying. She had a baby. A live one. That she had to take care of. She was looking, well, not looking, but making sure that a gentleman that did not want to be the father was in fact the father. He was not. She cried some more.

The girl on the show that locked herself in the bathroom will take care of a child that is not her own. She will "learn a lesson." I need to learn a lesson. I still haven't changed the channel.

Earlier this week I watched four local news half hours from the same channel. I do not remember one story. I was ridiculed by my girlfriend. "Why would anyone watch local news when they could read the newspaper and get twice as much information in less time?" She did not know I had watched four local news half hours.

Since I work in a high school I share the schedule of a high school student. This means that I have some time from June to August to watch horrible television and contemplate the meaning of life. Rather than do anything productive, I'll stare with dead eyes at whatever glows at me. For better or worse, this does not include cable television. This limits what I let soak in. Since I don't have a child and am not that interested in cartoons, I'm stuck with 'classic' reruns (think "The Monkees"), court shows, talk shows, local news and game shows. I'll always watch local news. I'll sometimes watch game shows.

Today's news had stories on a shooting in Humboldt Park and other topics. I don't remember the other topics. I remember the shooting in Humboldt Park because I read about it. Will this make me stop watching the news? Probably not. It's better than the court shows.

"Merv Griffin's Crossword" is a new game show. Contestants are read a clue and see how many letters are in the answer. Simple. I enjoy this show. If this show constituted it's own network, I would watch. It would be on at all times. I can easily ignore the show and easily slip back in.

I should develop a new hobby.

I was never a Scrabble fan. I've played three games in the past two weeks, easily doubling all previous games of Scrabble I had played. I'm starting to like it. That might be work as a new hobby. I know there's a new Scrabble game you can play on-line. It's educational, right?

Baseball cards and comics filled most of my down time as a child. Maybe I could get into those again in a way that won't cost me a ton of money. Maybe I could collect cards and comics and not be extremely overweight and single.

The stock market could solve this. I'm thoroughly confused by the thing and have some interest. I'll listen to the NPR show about the stock market, the one hosted by Ty Risdol (sp?), and understand about half of what's said. I could make a lot of money. I could make enough money to buy all those cards and comics I had as a kid. I could make enough money to buy the network that airs "Crossword."

Maybe a new career is the way to go. A hobby might be too much. A new job will get me out of the house so I can avoid television all together.

Something not in the arts would be ideal. Maybe law would work. Sure, I don't want to be a lawyer and have no desire to go to law school, but there's a lot of money in that field. I could ski down mountains of cocaine! I could represent evil doers that have mountains of cash! I could buy a mountain!

Construction work runs in the family. Something with metal and a 5am wake-up call. My grandfather liked it enough to do it but not enough to do it past 60. He was always tired but somewhat happy. He was also buzzed on Old Style.

Bartending every night seems to be the answer, at least for now. I'll be too tired to wake up before noon, make enough money to play the stock market, be surrounded by drugs and lawyers and spend what little I'll make on baseball cards and comic books. Win-win.

It's funny when they get drunk

44. "Heavy Metal in Baghdad"
Yet another example that Vice does have something positive to offer. (Read their issue devoted to the Appalachians. It's the best single issue of a magazine I've read.)

This 2007 documentary follows the only heavy metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda. The group formed during the Saddam regime, played a few shows, played a few more shows during the beginning of the war and haven't been able to play much since 2005. The bands practice space is destroyed by a missile, band members move to Syria and by August 2006, it looks like Acrassicauda is no more. The other members flee Iraq and start over as refugees. It looks like the band has a future. The guys from Vice help the band record a demo. The band is happy, but poor, beaten and cold (literally). The post script offers no glimmer of hope.

The documentary does not give a fair and balanced look at what it's like to be an Iraqi that wants to rock. That's fine. A film like this has a message going in, rock and roll can save your soul. Since rock and roll is not really possible in certain areas of the world, what happens? The film is about what happens to the people who aren't soldiers, who don't pledge an allegiance to anything or one.

For anyone that's ever been in band and has thought getting a show or finding a practice space has been an excuse to quit should watch this film.

It's actually Colbert's first book

27. Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert "Wigfield: The Can-Do Town That Just May Not"
I flipped through this book a few times when it was released and wanted to pick it up but the $23 price tag made me put it down. I found it a few weeks ago at a local coffee shop on sale for a dollar. It's worth somewhere between the two prices.

Wigfield is a fictional town that's less than a mile long, features multiple strip clubs and used tire shops and is the home to a wonderful, colorful cast of characters. The town is going to be destroyed by the city. A damn that was built for no purpose other than to line pockets is going to come down and the tiny little town's residents don't want it to happen. Well, they kinda want it to happen because they'll get some government payouts. But they're not a town. See...I'm giving too much of nothing away. The book is funny. It's easy to hear the voices of the three authors when reading accounts of the fictional characters.

Read the book is you like "Strangers with Candy." I can't promise you'll like the book if you're a fan of "The Colbert Report."

Everything In Its Right Place

I've spend the last two hours looking up recording artists home town.

Kelsey and I went to some garage sales yesterday and found two crates of 45s for $30. I talked the guy down to $23 with a guitar pedal too. I like going to garage sales.

The first thing I do upon receiving a large amount of music is separate Chicago artists from the rest. Then I alphabetize the Chicago acts. The artists that aren't from the Windy City go in their own pile. The artists I'm not sure of make up the largest stack. It is these artists that I'm looking up. I am having a good time. I am thinking about doing a podcast about this kind of thing, researching relatively unknown bands and artists.

I did this with baseball cards. My mom likes to remind me of the time Harry Caray was reading off the Cubs roster while I was organizing my cards. He would repeat certain players names and I would lose track of who would go where (I had an elaborate system for all of my sports cards. Baseball had the most confusing. I would pull the cards of my favorite players, Andrew Dawson, Kirby Puckett, Greg Maddux and Ryne Sandberg, first. Next would come the card company. For example, Topps 88, Donruss, 89, etc. Then the doubles of those cards would go in binders. One for the American League, one for National League. Those would be divided by teams. The triplets of cards would go in shoe boxes to sell to the local card shop or to trade.) After ten minutes or so, I gave up and stomped out of the room.

---

I'm adding another goal to the New Year's Resolution. In addition to the reading of 52 books (on schedule), watching 102 films (slightly behind) and making 6 videos (way behind), I will attempt to post 52 columns on this thingy. A column will qualify as anything I write that's at least 800 words. I'm going easy on myself. The point is to take the things I already write in notebooks and napkins and flesh them out. Should be simple. I've spent too many nights watching episodes of "Friends" and "Will & Grace." I don't like "Friends" or "Will & Grace."

As a kid I never knew he was Cuban, I just thought he was on steroids

26. Jose Canseco "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big"
Sure, it reads like the diary of a 12-year old boy, but is that such a bad thing? Jose Canseco isn't the best writer or guy that talks into a microphone and has someone else write for him, but he does stick to his story. The man's story is simple, his dad pushed him too much, he was never loved as much as he should have been because he's Cuban, he loves steroids, there's nothing wrong with steroids and he is shy. The end. That's the whole book.

Though Canseco doesn't say much, he does make sure that linear storytelling is not present in "Juiced." The book reads like a monologue from a drunk wronged by his job, wife and the heavens. Once again, not a horrible thing.

I don't recommend this book for any non baseball fan. Hell, I don't recommend it to anyone that cares about the steroid controversy. I would recommend it to someone like me, someone that remembers the Bash Brothers, Canseco on the cover of Beckett (the baseball card price guide magazine) and dingers. Canseco hit a whole lot of dingers.

Similiar to quality as "Elephant" by the White Stripes

25. David Sedaris "When You Are Engulfed in Flames"
I take David Sedaris for granted. When asked about favorite books or authors, I never bring up his name or works. I should. Sedaris' newest collection of essays is just as good as his previous work and yet another reminder that he's the best at what he does.

"When You Are Engulfed in Flames" is not as good as "Me Talk Pretty One Day" but much better than "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim." I have no idea why. I laughed just about the same amount through all three works, but found myself connecting more with this one. For example, in the long form piece about quitting smoking, I found myself laughing out loud and proceeded to read a paragraph to my girlfriend. It's that kind of book.

David Sedaris is the writer that everyone thinks they can be. They can not. Augesten Burroughs is a good example. His memoir "Running With Scissors" is more well known, partly because of the feature length film, but not nearly as good. It seems forced in every way. Sedaris does not. His voice is wholly original because he's not the most articulate or beautiful writer. His quips come from experience as an art school grad that poured pudding on his head and called it art. Unless you follow those footsteps, I doubt you'll sound like a member of the Talent Family.

Eminem was in that

43. "Little Black Book"
Kelsey and I watched this the last night in our old place. We watched it because the Internet was packed, the DVDs were in a box and we hate ourselves.

Awful in every way.

I like the cover

24. James Gleick "Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything"
I should have read the post script first. Gleick comes out and says that by the time the paperback edition was printed, it's already out of date. That was printed in 2000.

"Faster" is part history book, part science expose and part personal essays. I enjoyed the chapters on the history of the pocket watch but didn't like the musings on multitasking while waiting for your computer to boot.

The book was good enough to give other Gleick works a shot, but I'll keep in mind that timing is everything.

Oscar approved titties

42. "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
I was hankering for a Philip Seymour Hoffman fix so I rented whatever Redbox had. This is what they had.

With each passing minute I liked the film less and less. The cuts between points of view got annoying. The story telling style was interesting, but it didn't make the film. All in all, a two out of four that wouldn't been a three out of four with 20 minutes less footage.

Oh yea, Marissa Tomei is topless for the majority of her scenes.

Sidenote: I think a work entitled "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead" is actually more interesting than "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

Sidenote 2: I know that the title is taken from an old poem.

A Senator that uses cocaine!

41. "Charlie Wilson's War"
I like Tom Hanks. This is a very controversial statement. Since he's been a mentally challenged, AIDS casuality, I think he's bounced back quite well. After spending a few years in an airport, he's finally back in the good ole' US of A as a good ole' boy US Senator from Texas. The film also stars Julia Roberts in a role that didn't make me want her to retire and Philip Seymore Hoffman in a role that, well, makes you really, really like Philip Seymore Hoofman.

"Charlie Wilson's War" is the type of Hollywood film that makes Hollywood films good. It has a liberal message, features sex and drugs, men cry, women are strong and nothing is really solved. Good film.

SATURDAY

Saturday

Belmont and Clark

23. Don De Grazia "American Skin"
Spending so much time in the Lakeview neighborhood as a teenager definitely made "American Skin" a quick, easy and entirely enjoyable read.

"American Skin" is the story of Alex Verdi, a 17-year old kind-of runaway that stumbles upon skinhead culture at the Punkin' Donuts at Belmont and Clark. Within days, Alex is a skinhead, not the Hitler kind, the other kind, working and living in a punk club. For the first 150 pages of the book I was surprised that this hasn't been optioned for a film. The last 150 pages made it clear why it wasn't.

De Grazia's style is similar to Joe Meno, a fellow Chicago based Columbia College writer. In fact, "American Skin" and "Hairstyles of the Damned" main differences are the South Suburbs vs. the North side and a slightly higher income.

Fucking shit

40. "Soul Food"
Fucking sucks. I can't think of a more lauded film shot in Chicago in the last twenty years.

The Vanessa Williams' character has every right to cut off the rest of the family. She pays bills no one else considers, grants loans to family members knowing she'll never get paid back and uses her connections to get in laws out of jail. She's portrayed as selfish.

The characters aren't fleshed out, the progression is obvious and, though probably not a fault of itself, the dialogue sounds recycled from sitcoms like "All of Us," "One on One" and "Half and Half."

The 10-year old narrator somehow ties together diabetes, the celebration of food, slavery and a cash find in the last scene.

I've had this in my head for years

Daniel Knox is my favorite songwriter that's currently breathing. I've been listening to "What Have They Done to You Now" for a few years. I've wanted to shoot the following video since I've heard it. I was finally able.

Please watch.

I want to believe (that you will get a girlfriend)

39. "Zeitgeist: The Movie"
Oh kids, you're so silly.

My students harassed me for months about this film. I gave in and we watched it for class. It made me sad.

There's a lot of writing on the internet about this "documentary." I used the quotes because, well, it's a piece of shit. Anyways, the film is about how everything is run by money, specifically a few families, 9/11 was planned by, well, that's not exactly clear and Bush's family is no different than Hitler's or Bin Laden's or Hussein's. All the evidence presented is anecdotal, the audio gets louder when "evidence" the filmmakers agree with is presented and, finally, there is no point. A new point is presented every other minute but they're never fleshed out. All in all, the thing is like watching every political You Tube video for 2 hours and believing everything, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff.

Or that's what they want you to believe.

Choir reading

22. Thomas Frank "What's the Matter with Kansas"
Frank makes sense, at least to me. Reading a three year old book about the conversion of blue collar Democrats to blue collar Republicans isn't that revelatory, but I think I have a better understanding why people pull certain levers in booths.

"What the Matter with Kansas" brings up problems with the Democratic party, the difference between Republican "Cons" and "Mods" and, most interesting to this reader, the way anyone could vote against their own interest. Frank doesn't bog the book down with rants against any one party and gives ample respect for everyone interviewed. I especially enjoyed the 60 plus pages of notes to offer ample evidence for each point raised.

Since the book enjoyed some success, a response book entitled "What's the Matter with California" has been released. I will not read this book. I probably should. I know I won't agree with any of it, but if I read one I should read the other. In other words, I didn't need to read "What's the Matter with Kansas." I knew Frank presented evidence to prove points I already agreed with, yet I read it. I can now quote one more piece of literature when talking with my fellow liberal leaning friends about the influence of god on everything in the Midwest.

Give it away

21. Paul Auster "Travels in the Scriptorium: A Novel"
A friend loaned me this book. She told me that as soon as she finished it she threw it across the room in anger. I understand why.

Auster's 'novel' (at 160 pages, it reads more like a novella) is a wonderfully quick and engrossing read for the first 158 pages. Like all reviews I've read, it's the ending that you either love or hate. I'm leaning towards hate. There isn't much to say. I recommend the book with the same warning I received.

The best frontman in rock and roll

20. Jim Derogatis "Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips"
This is how a rock and roll biography should read. Equal parts band history, song writing process, touring anecdotes and album criticism. The only thing better than reading about The Flaming Lips is listening to them or seeing them live or watching the 2005 documentary "The Fearless Freaks." The Flaming Lips sure are great.

Similar to Greg Kot's book about Wilco, "Staring at Sound" was written for slightly obsessed music fans. If you don't care about Wayne Coyne's philosophical beliefs based on his tenure at Long John Silver's or the band's Midwestern work ethic, there isn't much to keep the casual reader interested. This isn't a bad thing per se, but Dero doesn't go as deep as this slightly obsessed would have preferred. To be fair, I'm not sure if I would want to read any more on the Lips. At 272 pages the book left me wanting more, just like "Yoshimi." Any more might have felt like listening to "At War with the Mystics."

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!