To Mark Hessey for The Last Samurai DVD. Tom Cruise with a sword? Hot.
In the movie, I mean. Probably a bad idea to let him carry a sword in real life. Wouldn’t want him going around lopping off the heads of Hollywood starlets for taking Motrin to combat cramping or some such. Not only would that be unseemly, but I believe that Brentwood has zoning ordinances that prohibit the display of heads on pikes—and those laws still, for the time being, supercede the intergalactic imperatives that L. Ron beams into the minds of his personal chittering Ewoks.
Thanks also to Paul McKay, for the 3 CDs: Poor Little Critters on the Road, the Knitters; Sin City: The Very Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers; and The Best of the New Riders of the Purple Sage. I’ve really been getting into the Cosmic American music / alt-country you all have recommended—and without you, bands like The Knitters or Uncle Tupelo or Whiskeytown, etc., would have never crossed my transom.
In fact, just yesterday I traded for some Wilco and a couple of Emmylou Harris CDs.
So thanks to Paul, and thanks to the rest of you for the recommendations.
Note: I’ll be recording “Blog Week in Review” with Austin Bay later this afternoon (Neo-neocon will be the other guest; and I’m hoping she’ll briefly pyschoanalyze me, so that I can figure out why I keep dreaming that I’m Keith Partridge), and I have to run out beforehand and take care of some personal business involving sporting goods and violently exploding power rods.
In the mean time, please enjoy the work of the guestposters. And for those of you who are relatively new to the site, I guess today is a good day to highlight a few things from the pw archives, like the Martha Stewart Chronicles, the “red pills found beneath the sofa cushions” series (you have to work at that one, but there is, somewhere in there, a storyline, I think—though I could just be imagining it), and the protein wisdom interviews, which features such luminaries as Noam Chomsky, Ted Kennedy, Madonna, Ann Coulter, Jacque Chirac, Ted Koppel, a certain slab of man beef, and more.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy, say, gumbo.
Brentwood apparently doesn’t have any ordinances against attempting to cut off someone’s head, though.
Yeah. It’s the HOA violations that drive them BATTY.
Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks, dude.
The Byrds’ old “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” is good too.
SB: deep95
What the hell is wrong with you people? I enjoy the political commentary, but these constant Byrds references are just too damn much!!! Jeeezzzussss!!!
Best be careful, there, Jeff. It’s one short step from Emmylou Harris listener to wife-beating Christianist.
Unless that was the goal in the first place, in which case, welcome, Brother!
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TW: Isn’t that special98?
I was starting to feel that way too Jeff; that coupled with the footprints found on my sofa each morning, made me decide it was best to get that DVD out of the house! Enjoy it
Cruise is hot, no sword needed.
Love that movie. Cruise mastered the sword really well for an american! and with both hands.
Congrats.
I hope you enjoy Last Samurai for its great music and cinematography, rather than for its unconscionable and overt love of the slave system that was feudal Japan, and conversely its overt vilification of Western Civilization.
300 is such a breath of fresh air, thematically.
Xenophon,
I also found “300” to be thematically interesting, not to mention it’s unique cinemagraphic style.
Perhaps the movie will help educate some of the public about the centuries long cultural conflict between Persia and Western Civilization.
Most Americans don’t realize that the Persians attempted to destroy western democratic society in it’s embryonic stage, well before the birth of Jesus Christ or Muhammed. The relatively recent religious conflict of Islam vs. Christendom is just icing on the cake.
Anybody seen Zodiac yet? That looks like precisely MY TYPE of movie.
Jeff, I was thinking about gifting you an iTunes season of America’s Next Top Model. It’s cycle 8!
Jeff,
I saw Zodiac last week, and I recommend it. It won’t be Fincher’s most remembered movie, but he did an excellent job capturing late 60’s/early 70’s atmosphere. A lot of directors go over the top in trying to re-create a period. Fincher went the opposite and more effective route; it was very subtle.
I dunno where I was when the Americana was getting recommended, so I apologize in advance. But I would refer you to some of the recent blurbs I’ve done on Danny & Dusty (and related bands), the Jayhawks and the Mekons. Links to free samples there. I would also hat tip Son Volt (Jay Farrar from Uncle Tupelo) and Golden Smog (Tweedy of Wilco with ex-Jayhawks and members of Soul Asylum).
Also, it shouldn’t take psychoanalysis to figure out why you dream of being Keith Partridge.
hey Jeff, speaking of thanks and your kind of movie, we watched Three Days of the Condor tonight. very entertaining. I probably wouldn’t have come across it if you weren’t always mentioning it.
One to check out, if you haven’t: Holy Modal Rounders, or Stampfel and Weber.
Psychedelic folk/bluegrass is the best description I can come up with. Think Strawberry Alarm Clock meets Bill Monroe.
The Emmylou Harris/Mark Knopfler disc All the Road Running is a masterpiece. Check it out…and if you enjoy it take a look at the Notting Hillbillies w/Knopfler and Van Morrison’s new album of Hank Williams style country and western music, Pay the Devil. Of course the above works are more old school country than alt.country but don’t let that stop you, the Knopfler/Harris disc is especially kick-ass.