This Bird Is Fly

Morning!


Still sick, throat's raw as I write this so I take great satisfaction in being able to communicate without wincing. But enough complaining from me, let's get on to it.


Having written for several days about movies and music, I want to switch it up. However, as I have tried to explain before, books are hard for me to write about beyond a surface level. I think part of the problem is the personal nature of the mental process involved in interpreting the material and constructing a world in your head as you go. At times I find myself asking "Am I reading into this incorrectly, or missing the point?" while just moving ahead in doubt. This is not always the case, though. In particular today's subject is an author and book that I felt an instant and easy connection with as I read it. I speak of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood.

Murakami is an author whose work I was introduced to by a friend, who basically tossed me one of his books, saying "Try it, I think you'll like it." He was absolutely right. That book, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, is a post for another day, as it is such a dense and unusual text I would need greater preparation to do a proper column on it. Regardless, I loved Murakami's style and choices, despite some of the cultural disconnect or what might literally be lost in translation.


He had not always been a writer. Having been a student and working at a record store, he opened a coffee house/bar establishment with his wife, which they ran for several years. Despite no major career or experience of which to speak, Murakami simply started writing one day, one word in front of the other. Turns out he was incredibly talented. Who knew? Almost immediately he was met with critical success and decent sales. Through the years he kept writing, penning more than his share of fantastic and engaging novels. Eventually he created what has been descried as the Japanese equivalent of Catcher In The Rye, his book Norwegian Wood. Based loosely on his own experiences at university in Japan, the story is of a young man named Toru Watanabe and the love and loss he experiences in the 60s, during his time as a student.

It would feel too divulging or expository to simply tell you the plot of the book in any great detail. To do so would be an act of pointlessly revealing developments I feel would benefit the story by unfolding naturally and organically, which they absolutely do throughout the course of the book. Instead I would like to impart some of the feeling I connected with while reading it. It's a sad and nostalgic book, one where Murakami goes to great length to not only construct the scene through time and space but through the feel of the moment - that indescribable, intangible sense of longing and loss that you feel when you know something is important. Those moments in life where you can feel it in your chest, a feeling that something you want to hold on to is happening. Norwegian Wood is basically filled with that quality. I recall reading just the first few passages of the book and thinking "Okay, I get this." I had read other books of his and considered whether or not I was comprehending the intent or meaning of the material, but this I got. This book I understood. Absolutely I can see why this book made Murakami a legend overnight. To further explain this idea, take a look at this page about the concept saudade, which has no English equivalent. I think it hits the nail on the head.


Of course, what would a successful and popular book be without the requisite movie adaptation? According to press releases the book has been translated into film and completed and screened, to the horror of purists everywhere. Not having had a chance to see it, I don't think it would be the worst thing. Par example, take a look at a poster for the adaptation:

I would wager that it represents some of the feeling of the book. It certainly looks wistful and emotional, full of heavy emotion. Good lord, I write that and wonder about my own tastes. But I digress.


This book is wonderful, a real piece of literary gold that moved me. Through the growth of the characters and the reality of the scenery and setting I really got attached to the plot and all that unfolded. I would highly recommend you take a look. Kindle, Nook, whatever, pick up some version of this awesome novel and give it a chance. You will not be disappointed.

Still Sick

Alright friends and neighbors, I'm still fighting the bug. Cold medicine can only do so much for a man and I'm feeling tapped.

So what do I do whenever I'm feeling empty and rundown?

Same thing every time - I highlight some art that I love and let it speak for itself, thereby letting me rest my head and giving props to a deserving artist. Today is no exception and I want to put the spotlight on a local artist who I stumbled across this summer in Uptown.

Lolamade Monsters are the work of Laura Holewa, who had a stall at the awesome yet all-too-short Uptown Farmer's Market, located at 29th and Colfax. Quick side note if you live in Minneapolis - support this Farmer's Market next summer! It was a fantastic place to get fresh veggies and meats at great prices, locally grown, without having to head all the way downtown. Okay, back on track. Her stall was simple and straight-forward, letting her work put it's twisted and most endearing foot forward. Laura's creations are bright and vibrant little monsters made of clay, absolutely bursting with personality. Here she is on Twitter and Facebook, as well as her space site on Etsy. Check out her awesome clay monsters.

Look at these things! How can you not love them? It was fortunate for my own sake that I had no cash with me when I first found her spot at the Uptown Farmer's market or I would have spent way more than I could afford on her devious little creations. I would love to fill a whole shelf with these monsters. 


Like I said, still under the weather, so today's post is shortened. Tomorrow should be back to form. Also, I wanted to give a quick thanks to the massive influx of traffic for the write up on Analog Heart, I appreciate all the feedback on that underrated piece of music. Nice to know so many people already had the drop on it!


See you tomorrow, friends and neighbors.

Childish Antics

Continuing in the theme of TV/music duality, I present another post on something that deserves bigger press.

Behold, Mr. Donald Glover! 

Mr. Glover is the actor who plays Troy on the absolutely fantastic Community. He also does stand up, was a writer for the unparalleled 30 Rock and starred in the indie hit Mystery Team, produced by his comedic troupe Derrick Comedy. All of this is only secondary to today's column, though, as the thing I want you to know about (aside from the awesomely funny things he acts in) is his musical endeavors under the moniker Childish Gambino.

 I had seen Donald on Community and found him to be incredibly funny. So when I saw he was on the Nerdist podcast last spring I was surprised to hear him talk about his music career in addition to his comedy and acting. Conveniently they played one of his songs, the grandstanding 'Hero', at the end of the episode. I was really surprised by what I heard and sought out his blog (I Am Donald, where he posts his music, things he loves and videos of his material, NSFW) and downloaded his songs. Apparently professional acting, stand up and writing for one the funniest shows on TV wasn't enough to scratch the creative itch for Donald, since he has been rapping and making music since his teens. Having released an album titled 'Sick Boi' (after his rap crew), a pair of surprisingly good self-produced mixtapes (I Am Just A Rapper 1&2), and another album, 'Poindexter', he established a style and voice for himself that stands out from the crowd. After the excellent but brief mixtapes he released one after the other, last year he put out an entire album, 'Culdesac', for free. It's available here, check it out. 

One of the most charming and fun things about his work as a rapper is his use of so many indie samples to construct his beats and songs. Hearing him rap over Grizzly Bear changes the whole tone of the original song, 'Two Weeks', for me. I actually prefer it with the Childish Gambino vocals on top. It's a positive and energetic take on the oddball song. Sleigh Bells have been used to super-rad effect, as well. I have to wonder what the New York duo think when Childish Gambino starts rapping over the massive opening drums of 'New Prince'. For an interesting effect, he leaves the original vocal track on the entirety of 'Infinity Guitars', so the Sleigh Bells singing sounds like it's always been in the background. For me it takes a bad ass song and makes it more bad ass.

Often times when you get a comedian or actor making music it comes off as contrived or diluted, more like a vanity project (I'm looking at you, Billy Bob, Keanu and Russell). Not so with Glover. Here was a young guy sounding passionate and displaying an intelligence and wit that you rarely see in mainstream hip hop, let alone someone who isn't grinding away at it as their only career. This was just one of many gigs for Donald and he was handling it better than a lot of his contemporaries. The energy and intensity he brings to his music feels much more natural and easy than some of the forced bravado you come across in modern hip hop - it's strange to find yourself surprised to hear someone enjoy what they're doing for a change. That's the great thing about Glover doing this - he does it for the love he has for music, not to become successful, instead of the other way around. 

Take just a short trip through Google and you'll soon see more than a few comparisons to Lil Wayne's delivery and Kanye's swagger. While these comparisons aren't far off the mark in some cases, I still feel like Glover has his own voice, so long as he doesn't spend his time boasting about all he's accomplished in life. Then again, what is hip hip with out the occasional bragging, right? Any kind of success, especially in the public forum, takes a confidence and self-assured nature on even the smallest level. When you are given free range to write about your life, especially in a field where boasting is so common (some would say integral), it's going to come up. Hopefully your ability as a wordsmith can overcome the crutch that is bragging for bragging's sake, which inevitably comes across as empty talk. Regardless, the tone with which Glover raps is great - listen to Culdesac and the mixtapes enough and you really get a larger sense of not only who he is but how he sees himself in the world. Happy to have found success, he continues to grind away solely for the joy of it and sounds phenomenal doing it.

Using both live instruments and a great array of samples to record Culdesac, Glover created an album whose tones and feels change from song to song, allowing for a variety of styles to shine. However this musical schizophrenia prevents any one of these styles from really having an enduring opportunity to shine. It's an album that's both amazing and beguiling for this very reason - you hear this great song, like 'I Be On That' and then the next song can be such an abrupt shift in style that you get frustrated everything is so different. An amazingly well crafted opener, Different, starts with just a sparse, repeating piano and military drums, Glover rapping about feeling different or isolated. It's a fantastic way to start the album, if only the rest of the tone followed suit in such an intensely introspective manner. But the style changes, as the next track (the previously mentioned 'Hero') starts with blaring, bombastic horns and Glover starts to rap about his success and accomplishments. Down the line, the smooth and sultry 'So Fly' follows the light and indie-ish 'Got This Money', furthering the strange combinations of tone. 

I write all this and it sounds harsh, but I really do think what he's doing is fantastic, if for no other reason than his passion for it. Here's someone who is doing just fine (he's actually terribely funny) but makes all this awesome hip hip just because he loves it. On top of that - it's totally free. He puts it all online, on his blog, along with remixes and material his fans submit using his beats or accapellas. There's also a new mixtape coming up and from the track he's previewed it sounds like he's only getting better. Hopefully he won't get sidetracked with one of his other 30 careers first. Check him out. 

Analog/Digital

Definitely sick. To take my mind off it, here's a post about another underground album, but one with a strange history. Full on pop culture confessional, readers.

David Cook was my favorite contestant (and winner) of the divisive phenomenon that is American Idol. While initially drawn in by my better half, I remember seeing the dude do an amazing reworking of Lionel Richie's Hello and thinking "Okay, this guy's special, he's not like anyone else I've ever seen on this show." I know what you're thinking - a cheese ball 80's ballad, how could it be any good on a singing competition? Check it out for yourself. He wasn't some precocious show-tune belting teenager with a heartbreaking story (as is often the case on that show) but an actual musician taking full advantage of the rule change that allowed contestants to play instruments. Over the course of the season he continued to show amazing talent for reworking well known songs and making them his own, from the insipid (making Mariah Carey's 'Always Be My Baby' into a phenomenal ballad that works even better from a male perspective) to the impossible (covering the legendary 'Eleanor Rigby' and making it into a fresh, heavy rock version) to the transcendent (turning 'Billie Jean' into a moody and haunting tale of betrayal). He finished the season with a moving rendition of the excellent 'World I Know' by Collective Soul. No joke, this guy was a breath of fresh air on the show, made all the better by upsetting the shoe-in David Archuleta, whose youthful exuberance was all but guaranteeing him the crown. Dude barely even looks like your typical Idol contestant:

So, Cook wins and releases a good, but rushed, album, as is typical of the Idol machine. You give the winner a mobile studio (for endless tour and press obligations) and a stable of collaborators (presuming the contestant either has no songs or natural writing ability) and churn out a record to capitalize on their name as quick as possible. Of course I say all this with admirable derision, as Cook's self titled release does feature some great songs, among them the single 'Declaration' and the lurching and massive 'Bar-Ba-Sol' to name a few. Here's the trick with David Cook, though - he already had a fantastic solo record out and couldn't sell it. Midway through his run on the show it had come to light that Cook, like many of the contestants that year, had a long musical career already. Having formed the band Axium (releasing four albums) and splitting off to form the successful Midwest Kings (putting out six records), Cook eventually wanted full creative control of the music he was making and wrote a whole album and released it under his own name, calling it Analog Heart. 

The album was received incredibly well in his home state of Oklahoma (gaining several awards for album of the year in Tulsa and online sites) and showed him to be a strong, creative writer with a distinct voice and style of playing. It really does deserve all the praise it received. Recorded, produced and released in Tulsa, Cook relied on former band mates, friends and trusted engineers to craft his sound and the results paid off. Released in musical wasteland that was 2006 (the death of the album and the rise of the hipster), it was a hidden gem of an album that the Idol execs pulled from Amazon & other online stores because of supposed fairness issues. Interestingly other contestants were allowed to have their albums available during the competition but Cook was not. In the press he remains very genial about the whole affair, but you have to wonder what the impact would have been if they just let it go. Only a minimal amount of searching online lead me to a genuine copy of Analog Heart and I was genuinely impressed with how great it sounded.

All this cloak and dagger business aside, the album is fantastic. It's the rare guitar-driven album that still feels passionate and relevant, a modern singer-songwriter who doesn't come across as incredibly niche or purposefully obtuse. Cook has a skill for heavy yet melodic tunes like the album opener 'Straight Ahead', whose title almost acts as a signpost for the lack of gimmicks the listener will be subjected to. The songs are left to speak for themselves. The track 'Searchlights' would feel completely at home on Alt Nation or terrestrial radio - it's a building, living song with a chorus that build every time it repeats. By the finale it's a wall-to-wall anthem. Lighter affair like the genuine and melodic 'The Truth' still have their weight and crunch to them, but allow for a sense of intimacy to them. Hands down, though, the stand out track is 'Don't Say A Word'. The guitar immediately hooks you with it's staccato riffing over distorted chords, leading into heavy and riffing verses. The chorus is irresistibly catchy and crawls into your head like any professionally crafted song could. It stands out among the album as an early indicator of what Cook was capable of. 

Seriously, this album is a hidden gem of pop-culture side-stories. Here's this talented musician, hard at work on his own great album. He accompanies his brother to American Idol and not only is corralled into auditioning but somehow works his way to the top, almost through happenstance and sheer talent rather than executive meddling (weird, right?). He then gets said album barred from sale, releases another album, and then never really mentions the initial one again. I love the secretive nature to it, this undiscovered thing that was kept from the public, tracking it down was a great way to hear what an artist could do when left to his own devices. Cook is currently putting the finishing touches on his second post-Idol album and I'm really hoping its as good as his previous efforts. Fingers crossed, let's see what he can do.

Dischord

Feeling funky today, kids. One of the joys of working in an office is the sharing of germs. Hopefully the sickness and ensuing medicine won't make me too groggy but I'll try to get this written as quickly as I can, regardless, so forgive any cold/flu induced delirium.

I spent yesterday's post writing about a guilty pleasure, so I figure why not keep a good thing going? Today's post is about a piece of music's forgotten lore, Garbage's self titled debut album. I only use the term guilty pleasure here, though, because of the fact that it seems to be largely forgotten by the quickly shifting focus of our collective media-memory. I suppose there was also the stigma of being in a small town where it was considered unusual to like music that wasn't country or any kind of oldies, but that's really beside the point. Rather than bore you with my own tales of growing up in the middle of nowhere I'll settle for telling you about this awesome and neglected album that deserves more attention and respect. 

A sekrit favorite band of mine over the years, Garbage has origins that belie the typical 'friends jamming in a garage' story we've all heard so many times. Formed by a collection of veteran producers in the early 90s, the band was essentially a passion project for all involved, creating demos of their material in the spaces between regular production work. Butch Vig, whose work and reputation I've written about before, started the group with fellow Smart Studios producer Steve Marker and longtime mutual collaborator Duke Erickson, of the groups Spooner and Firetown. Rather than rob their own coffers for remixing other people's work, the three kept the material they were recording for themselves, all while keeping an eye out for a unique voice to compliment the sound they were creating. They found it in Scottish singer Shirley Manson, who left her own floundering career in the UK (mildly successful acts Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie and Angelfish) to audition for the group. Having made a good impression, she was welcomed to the fold and the group set to work on what would be their first album, written and recorded largely in Wisconsin. 

The self titled album was an unexpected success. Riding in on the post-grunge alternative wave, Garbage had a refreshingly pop sound that brought the group widespread acclaim with massive radio hits like "Stupid Girl" "Vow" and "Only Happy When It Rains". By the mid 90s the country was tired of the dreary, angry tunes that had swept the 80s away. Grunge was on its way out, strange things were coming in. Pop punk was making huge waves with the likes of Rancid and The Offspring, Oasis released their career-defining What's The Story Morning Glory, and (good god) Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morrisette came out that year, if that's no indication of the change. See what happened? Kurt Cobain died and took a lot of the self-loathing attitude with him, apparently. I wince at typing that, but the fundamental shift in popular music just a year after his death is remarkable. Radiohead released The Bends, No Doubt put out Tragic Kingdom, The Foo Fighters' excellent (and also under appreciated) first album debuted. Man, crazy year. In the midst of it, Garbage came out swinging with music that feels like it wasn't just written but designed from the ground up to catch you off guard. Almost lost in the sea of amazing music released in 1995, their debut album instantly clicked with my musical tastes, both fitting into them and expanding them. 

The whole record is a fantastic piece of buzzy, edgy pop music that I still thoroughly enjoy today, 16 years later. Having veteran musicians backing the sultry Manson, it's no surprise the album has such a polished and fully realized sound, all buzzing guitars and thumping percussion. The bass bubbles just under the surface on every track. From the agressive and pushy album opener "Supervixen", to the throbbing "Heaven Is Wide", the songs breathe with their own lives. "Queer" was my bumping and humming intro to trip hop. The power-pop of "Not My Idea" punches you right in the ear. I remember hearing it at 13 and being amazed at the strange sound - a total shift from the angry grunge I loved but not the insipid pop on the local radio stations, it was a bizarre hybrid of the two. "Vow" has an disorienting intro of guitars flying from one headphone to the other, leading into a crunching chorus of crazy catchy chords. The single "Stupid Girl" is heavy disco drums and a leaping bass line, covered by a light and hooky, jangly guitar line over the top. Through all this Manson coos and growls, hisses and snaps. Never sticking to a single style, she gives every song her all, the passion of a band's make-or-break opportunity going to full throttle. The album ended up selling over 4 million copies and starting the band down their twisting path of group tensions followed by uneven, if at times amazing, follow-ups. 

This album, while a mega seller, gets little to no love today. Sure, you hear one of their early singles on the radio once in a blue moon but it seems to be one of those albums that came, made a big impact then faded into the woodwork all too soon. It really deserves another listen, I'm sure it's in your itunes or kicking around your cd collection - put it on and see what sold in 1995. It's phenomenal.

Re-re-revisted

Welcome back to the work week and if you're observing it - Happy Valentine's Day. To alleviate what is no doubt a total overload of hearts and chocolate today's post is not relevant to the holiday at all.

You may remember this column I wrote a few weeks ago about my love for fan edits and how they can give a fresh take on familiar territory. I mentioned toward the end of it that I had just picked up the entire Matrix series on Blu Ray and would be offering my thoughts on how it had aged and what it was like in light of the edit. What I found was about what I expected, although there were a few surprises as well. 

I was bonkers for the series as soon as it unfolded. I remember being so excited upon receiving a VHS of the first movie as a Christmas gift. I relished seeing the sequels in the theater, controversial reception or not. What was fun about this recent viewing of the series was the novelty of a new format and a renewed interest in the movies, as almost ten years had passed. It turns out The Matrix still holds up incredibly well - even after it has been endlessly parodied and ripped-off by every diluted iteration of science fiction and action movies. In fact a great deal of the first installment is so intelligent and well made that I don't think the Wachowski brothers had any idea they would have the impact they did. Not unlike Red Letter Media's side-splitting take on the Star Wars saga (that George Lucas' own hubris was his own downfall, essentially) the underdog status of The Matrix and it's out-of-left-field success are what brought such critical acclaim. It was almost inevitable that the sequels would turn out to be so transparently indulgent and over the top - you have a runaway, unexpected success and you follow it up by further indulging what you assume to be the best instincts that got you there in the first place. Again, my Apologist nature for defending flawed media rears its head. 

But I digress. 

What I found to be of particular highlight was watching the movie through a new format. Home viewing in the late 90s was a different beast, especially when I went off to college. I never saw the first movie in a theater. For me The Matrix was a private, basement movie that was only seen on VHS and TV screens only slightly larger than today's pc monitors. Perfectly satisfactory for the time but not ideal for really appreciating what you were seeing. Furthermore, having owned it on VHS right before DVD became the norm defeated the possibility of double dipping. So I waited for the right time. The transition, then, to the hi-definition of Blu Ray on a great, big, wide-screen TV was astounding. It honestly felt like I was watching a new movie. Details I had never seen jumped out, tones and movements were totally fresh - the energy and detail was amazing. This movie was so smart and well done that I wondered how I had gone so long with out watching it just for kicks. I guess it becomes like living in a tourist city - you're around a thing so much that it becomes humdrum. Everyone parodied it and copied the aesthetic that it stole the essence of what was already a pastiche or homage. Watching it ten years later with renewed clarity gave the movie a chance to breathe. I would definitely watch it again, if my Netflix cue wasn't overflowing. 

The sequels...they're more of a curiosity. My article on fan edits definitely was prescient to the movies at hand. As I stated earlier, the two movies (Reloaded and Revolutions) were filmed back to back and the story they tell is a single, overstuffed tale of multiple developments and confusing twists. I thoroughly enjoyed them in the theater but hadn't really gone back to watch them in earnest in quite a while. This lack of motivation to revisit them may have been the first sign they weren't as engrossing as their predecessor. Seeing the fan edit that removed most of the 'fluff' of the movies (all of the material outside the titular matrix) significantly warped my recollection. Seeing them now, unadulterated in glorious hi-def really made the differences apparent. While I was still engaged by the philosophical concepts put to good use (which greatly expand on the original's themes of identity, self, karma and reality) I was much more aware of how massively fleshed out and drawn out the movies became. Some sequences, to be candid,  absolutley killed the momentum. I wanted to see these movies for heady mind trips and visually astounding kung-fu and gun fights, not political discourse on how to defend a drab colony of unhappy people from flying robots. That has too be one of the most unusual sentences I've typed in a half-hearted defense of a guilty pleasure. 

Granted I tried to watch the sequels as close together as possible, to further the notion that it's actually one 4.5 hour sequel, which would be draining and too long regardless of content. I can't watch the original trilogy of Star Wars straight through, let alone what are already view as flawed, if niche, films. Still, seeing them in their entirety in this eye-catching format was refreshing. The distinction between theatrical experience and home viewing is eroding with every passing upgrade and I have to admit I am quite enamored with watching a movie at home where I can - 1. pause when I please 2. have a cocktail 3. wear some quality headphones (I live in a condo) 4. not be interrupted by other people in the theater. I probably sound like I'm fussy and you're probably right for thinking that. But with these concessions in mind, the experience, though wearing towards the end, was still enjoyable and worthwhile. I'm still happy I shelled out for the whole set, especially for the bargain they go for now.

I'm sure from the mixed signals I'm sending in this post it doesn't really come across as the strongest endorsement of the trilogy. I haven't even touched on all the crazy bonus features or the phenomenal universe-expanding Animatrix. I suppose the driving point of today's post is that, while the sequels are definitely flawed films, I still love this whole series, warts and all. From the groundbreaking first installment to the satisfying and insightful climax that sees the concepts through to their logical conclusions, it still is a heady, intelligent set of movies. Even the fact that the third installment spends a fair amount of time dwelling on men yelling as they fire machine guns at CGI robots (my nerd self questions my own skepticism here), I find myself enjoying it all the way through. My inner nerd still obsesses about the philosophical implications put forth - man's relationship to machines, whether love exists solely as a concept or as a word, does agape love mean more than society. I love that the commentary tracks for these movies have both critics who disliked them and philosophers that loved them, to allow you to create your own triangulated take on what unfolds. It's this sprawling amount of extras that still reels me in.


See all that? That's my Apologist side coming out again. I'll let the movies speak for themselves. At this point you either love them or hate them. Either way, I'd say take another look, just to see what they look like now.

Short and Simple

Hello kids!

Like I thought, today was a busy and frenetic day, resulting in no proper post. I do feel bad about it, no doubt. My own life is interfering with my ability to post consistent, quality content. That doesn't mean I can't put something up, though. I just won't ramble on for 1000 words without a clear vision. Low time means low volume, as it is.

So what's a short and simple rave about something I love and think everyone needs to know about? 

Easy, Breville's Panini Press!

A gift from some very kind and thoughtful people, this piece of magic will absolutely change the way you cook. Whether or not you love a good sandwich (but who doesn't love sandwiches? WHO!?) this thing will make you want to live off of nothing but breads and cheeses. I can't even tell you how many meals I have made that involve only pumpernickel-rye bread, Gruyère and a little olive oil. Okay, there's typically some red wine in there as well, but it pairs so well!

It's so easy and simple to make unbelievably fantastic food with the Panini Press. It's like an over-sized Foreman Grill and I mean this in the best possible way. Throw the sandwich in, give it a couple minutes and presto - a delicious little dinner. Your options are limited only by your imagination. This morning, I may or may not have tried to make a panini with an egg in it...

You can do other things in it besides sandwiches. I have tried burgers but the ensuing clean-up was a bit more than the pay-off in my mind. Regardless, this is an excellent addition to any kitchen. While not a bargain by normal definitions, I feel like it's worth the price of admission. If you, like any sane human, enjoy the "adult's grilled cheese" as my friend Sam calls them, give it a whirl.

Tomorrow brings another normal week. Content should come back to more of a consistent, quality level we've all grown accustomed to. I appreciate your patience for these truncated updates. Stick around, I'll see you tomorrow!

Light Hearted Night

Evening!

Tonight I'm doing an early Valentine's celebration and you probably are too. So here's a light and  easy post of some of my favorite web comics that will be good for a laugh. If you have no V-Day plans, screw it! Here's some links to make you laugh and feel better!

First and foremost, XKCD is one of my favorites. Insightful and witty, you can expect lots of math and coding related jokes with a fair amount of acerbic wit.

The Oatmeal is another fantastic site with less frequent but amazingly funny material. Anything from fresh takes on air travel to advertising and why your cat is trying to kill you.

Penny Arcade are legends on the web. Known mostly for their work in the medium of video game critique and praise, they have  a storied and amazingly charming backlog.

Looking for quick bites of insanity and absurdist humor? Check out Toothpaste For Dinner and their sister sites, Natalie Dee and Married To The Sea. They all have independent if equally skewed senses of humor.

Like I said, short but sweet update with lots of love for amazing web comics. These sites are all well known in their respective fields, but the more love they get, the merrier. Give them a read and see what strikes you as funny. Something in there will, I guarantee.

Tomorrow may be another truncated post, depending on what I can get accomplished with another project. Stay tuned and check back in on Sunday night!

Warm Fuzzy Viewings Trois

Cold, quiet days here in Minneapolis. Makes the brain slow down. It's always dark this time of year, although the sunlight increases by tiny increments each day. How do you fight the monotony? It's a weeknight, you're exhausted, you can barely muster up the motivation after work to make dinner. What's to be done? 

You turn off the lights, crawl into bed and take in another Warm, Fuzzy Viewing. 

Today's entry is another one of many stellar Simpsons episodes. Mountain of Madness first aired over 14 years ago, during the series' eighth season, in what some consider to be the end of the 'Golden Era' of the show - just after the astoundingly good run of seasons 4-6, but just starting the season that gave us the fan-infuriating Frank Grimes. Personally I feel this is still in a good phase of the show, and arguements have been made on the internet about how what that magical, untouchable era constitutes and how it collectively is pushed forward with each passing year. As the show grew from its initial roots, fans said season 4 was too wacky and season two had the most heart. Back when season 7 was airing, it was the third season people claimed to be the best. When Homer went into space as an astronaut it was only season five! What I'm struggling to express here is that the show quickly became a source of insanity and fevered online debate. No matter the nerdly anger about perceived dips in quality, I still love it no matter the percieved quality changes. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but this particular episode was never a stand out, either. It was a middle of the pack offering, broadcast February 2nd, 1997, set in both winter and containging a hidden passage of sorts.   

Regardless of my Apologist stance on the Simpsons and my unwavering fanboy status, today's Warm Fuzzy Viewing is Mountain of Madness. One of the rare episodes that contains snow but not Christmas, it starts of with a fire drill that takes much longer than it should.

Mr. Burns: Is it supposed to take this long? What's a good time for a mass evacuation of the entire plant?
Smithers: 45 seconds.
Mr. Burns: And what's our time so far?
Smithers: I don't know, sir. This stopwatch only goes up to 15 minutes. 

Eventually Homer makes it out and barricades the door behind him, trapping his panicking coworkers. After the rest of the Nuclear Plant's crew has made it out (a great unspoken gag here being the broken second floor window, a couch having been thrown through it) Burns declares their ability to work together atrocious. A team building exercise is to be held on Mt. Springfield. It will be a pairs' race to the top, with the last team to arrive being fired. The Simpson clan drives up for the exercise, their car careening around the frozen parking lot like a pinball until it comes to a stop in the middle of the lot. Soon they get down to business at hand.

Burns: "This will be an ardous climb, one of the most grueling tasks man can...Simpson, did you bring your family?"

The Simpson clan head into the park's informational cabin to waste the day and the Nuclear Plant's team pairs off. Through the requisite twist of fate, Home is partnered up with Mr. Burns and Smithers is left on his own. Apparently Burns felt Smithers had "been a bit of a pill, lately." The teams start their journey and the adventure begins. Soon after the race starts, however, Burns uses a bit of wordplay and charm to convince Homer they should use a snowmobile to speed to the top, as it is Man using the best of his skills to cheat if possible. They beat all the other teams and arrive soon after.

Mr. Burns: We have several hours before the others arrive, let's say we get comfy. (turns on the fuse box) Now we have electricity. (turns on the gas) This propane tank will supply us with heat. And this doorknob, properly turned, will allow us access to the cabin. 
Homer: No going through the window for us!

As they sit back and relax before the buffet spread out before them (Burns: "From the highest pharoh to the lowest serf, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?") they toast to their success. The vibration of the glasses clinking sets off an avalanche, unfortunately, and Burns and Homer find themselves trapped in the cabin under tons of snow. Dementia quickly sets in and the pair descend quickly into madness, each creating snowmen for company. Their imaginations seizing control, they become paranoid and agressive. When Burns threatens Homer, he taunts him with "You and what army?" and immediately imagines an army of angry snowmen behind Homer. He panicks and screams "Stay back! I have powers, political powers" which Homer promptly sees as snow-versions of Mao Zedong, Abraham Lincoln, Ramses, Ghandi and Teddy Roosevelt. It's an inspired bit of lunacy, this cabin fever.

Somewhere around this time Lenny and Carl arrive on scene to find...nothing. They muse that maybe the cabin "was a metaphor, to find a better place inside all of us." Carl disagrees. "Nah, they said there'd be sandwiches." Figuring out something is amiss, Marge, a mountain ranger and the kids head out into the mountain forest to dig them out. 

As far as WFVs go - we have the snow/avalanche, we have a secret space (the cabin) and Homer attempts an escape tunnel. Not the strongest candidate for a WFV but it's a great episode with two strong elements that qualify this one.

Who will survive and what will be left of them? Will Homer and Burns tear each other to pieces? How does a rocket cabin fit in? And do the employees no longer get sandwiches? Tune in to find out!

Culture-ing

Like I said yesterday, no legit posting begets a double session for today. In the first post we're looking at a sekrit favorite movie of mine, Spirited Away.


I had at most a passing familiarity with Anime. Like many who had no interest in it, I viewed it like a lot of people view sushi if they've never tried it - not for me, those that probably like it really love it and it might be okay if I just work up the nerve to try it. Of course I love sushi, having dove headlong into the wonderful world of sushi it was only a matter of time before the same sort of thing happened again. On a friend's recommendation I had picked up a copy of Akira, the prototypical anime production based on the sprawling graphic novel about the aftermath of World War 3 and post-human developments. While I understand a great deal was simplified and simply cut altogether, it was a paradigm shift for me, as I had been a child when it was first released in America and had no exposure to it growing up in rural Wisconsin. When I finally saw it it was like nothing I had seen at that point. Words won't really do it justice here, but suffice to say the themes and imagery, no matter how intense or over the top, were vivid, distinct and visceral. Still, there were some cultural idiosyncrasies I didn't pick up on, so repeated viewings, particularly on a larger TV, really paid off in enlightening what I was seeing. 

I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I found myself drawn more to the quiet moments, the mood of the tension and lulls in action. When the same friend heard this, he said he knew just the movie for me to see - Spirited Away. Trusting the excellent recommendations previously, I once again dove in, picking it up on a whim. I was enthralled by what has turned out to be a personal favorite of mine, a quirky and quiet movie about growing up and letting go, while figuring out who you are. 


Ostensibly a children's movie, it was released to wide acclaim in Japan and picked up for distribution here in the States by my beloved Pixar, whom I feel can do no wrong. By the time I bought the DVD it had already won the second ever Oscar for Animated Movie, was the first Anime movie to be nominated and the only foreign language film to win for Animated movie, ever (this was all right on the box art, lest I dismiss it). The work of Hayao Miyazaki and produced by the always quality Studio Ghibli, the Japanese equivalent of Steven Spielberg or Brad Bird working with their respective Disney/Pixar proxy, it was his first film after a brief break in his career, having already made major success with previous works like My Neighbor Totorro, Porco Rosso and the mild American breakthrough Princess Mononoke. In his home country this movie was a blockbuster, surpassing rival Titanic and grossing over 300 million world wide. In actuality anyone from anywhere else than the US probably thinks I'm wasting my time evangelizing for this movie, but so many of my American brethren have never seen it, so I persist. It was a huge hit and Disney was giving it the push it needed here. It did incredibly well on the festival circuit and was the biggest movie in Japanese history. For it's American release it made 10 million. Yeah. Apparently not much of a market here. 

But while the box office may not have been a fertile ground for Spirited Away, home viewings are a great experience. My friend couldn't say enough good about it. So, expectations high, I watched in silence on a quiet Sunday night in the fall. It was a cool, breezy night and I had my windows open, chain smoking with my lights off. I distinctly remember the bewilderment and awe I felt over the amazing visuals - I'm sure I had a my eyebrow raised the whole time in skeptical bemusement. Start to finish it was an engrossing adventure and just like when I had first seen Akira, Spirited Away was something (no pun intended) completely foreign. I hadn't really seen anything like it. It was quiet and subtle at times, while often displaying some absolutely ethereal and appropriately other-worldly art that teased my brain with it's strange designs and choices. I clearly remember feeling anxious while watching the opening 20 minutes, wondering nervously what would happen to this defenseless but spoiled child who stumbled into a strange and unwelcoming place. I, of course, had no background in any kind of Japanese culture so the idea of the spirit world or bath houses so I assumed there was a danger and permanence to whatever happened. 


Something about the tone or the setting just hooked me and I bought it completely. While I, as a 20 something American, couldn't identify with the precocious protagonist I could certainly understand the terror of being lost in a strange place and feeling abandoned. Part of me thinks that's why Miyazaki's movies are so endearing, just like Pixar's - they may be outlandish or fantastic but they remain, at their core, unmistakably human stories that audiences are able to become invested in.  While I have obviously watched it many times since that incredible initial viewing, any time I have rewatched it has been on a quiet night, most often by myself. It probably sounds strange but it just doesn't feel like a day time movie. 

While I could continue praising this under-appreciated film, it really can stand on its own able legs. It's thoroughly fantastic and enjoyable. After all, look how much I've written without even speaking of the plot. You really owe it to yourself to just take a look, even if you have no interest in Anime in general. Take a night for this bizarre and serene adventure. It's won Oscars! What more could be said?