New CD Releases

Mikaela writes:

The Decemberists have a new album. I’ll buy whatever they produce for at least another 2 albums because they're intelligent, literary, and sound unique. They're gypsy/pirate/nerd music. What could be better?

I was less thrilled with this one, but mostly because it’s lower-key theatrical, which for some will be an improvement. Spin says it’s even more intellectual, but I didn’t get that from listening.

More enjoyable in my mind is the new Gomez album. I’m the worst music-explainer in the world. It’s like Pearl Jam minus the egos and affectations, plus the musical coolness of Pete Yorn, plus quirky/happiness that’s significantly more upbeat than their previous releases.

Neither of these albums supplies the tunes I hum all day. That would be Cinderella. Damn Disney to everlasting hell.

"The Departed"

Maggie says:
Just came back from seeing "The Departed." It's so, so, so good. Incredibly violent and featuring lots of eyes-closed scenes, but still.

SOOOOO good.

Tonight was the first time I've ever watched Leonardo DiCaprio in a movie and not felt like I was watching Leonardo DiCaprio self-consciously play a character. He's amazing here... I completely forgot who he was.

Amazingly cast. High-stakes but incredibly human. Great Boston accents. Funny one minute and bone-chilling the next. Really the heart of Boston: race and class and neighborhoods all rubbing up against each other, worlds away from the Boston people take vacations to see.

Top-to-bottom STACKED: DiCaprio unbelievably good, Matt Damon steely and right-on, Jack Nicholson exactly as you expect him to be (and that's not always a good thing), Martin Sheen making your heart hurt, Mark Wahlberg so acerbic and hardcore you can't wait to hear what he'll say next, and Alec Baldwin a gung-ho sorta-buffoon with some of the movie's best lines...

Go see it. As long as you're not too squeamish.

Random 10

marjorie says...

Inspired by Alterdestiny's Random 10 posts...here are my Random 10 this morning...I could do all music I suppose but I'm feeling expansive:

1. Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris on the album GP: "We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In the Morning" and "Hearts on Fire" ....in my mind these two love songs complement each other perfectly.

2. The advent of Fall: It's cool outside and getting cooler. It makes me think of quilts...and SKIING!!

3. Beautiful vintage quilts: Who can deny the artistry so apparent in these quilts, evident in the quirky individual takes on classic patterns, the complete abstraction employed by some in form and color, the pride of sheer geometric precision found in the piecing, and not to forget the at times awesome and beautiful stitching.

4. Iron bedframes: Stripped of their paint to the metal and burnished with mineral spirits and steel wool.

5. Funny dogs: A certain miniature shaved poodle thinking he's as big as his housemate, the boxer/pit mix who loves her poodle friend.

6. Henry and June: Who knew that I am Anais Ninn reincarnated? LOL. Well, if anything, it shows that humans aren't original...and there's a lot of comfort in realizing that we all grapple with similar issues. I'm thankful for people who take the time to write so that future generations are comforted in this way.

7. Dad: My dad is one of my best friends, and I am so thankful for that. Mom: She is too. I love to see their dedication to each other, not to mention the complete consistency they've shown to me through the years.

8. Ottmar Leibert, Nouveau Flamenco: What can I say? This album is one of my guily pleasures. I know...very guilty.

9. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue: This is the all time best Jazz record...and I know that it redeems me with some of you for number 8.

10. Being a Vegetarian: Has it really been 20 years? WoW.

Damn This Super Star-reader!

Eric Francis divines:

ARIES: It's time for the sex review. Since it's always likely that the S word will be misunderstood, I am referring to the details of erotic pleasure and surrender, including commitment and its relationship to conjugal partnerships. Here is a question: to what extent is money a factor in these things, and why? How does that relate to your ideas about commitment? Forthcoming developments associated with Mercury's retrograde in Scorpio will present you with a series of opportunities to allow pleasure, commitment and economics each to exist independently and for their own sake, not as one unified package. This is a boundary issue: creating healthy divisions between aspects of life that need, at the very least, to be considered separately before they are considered together. It's possible that some relationships will find the process challenging, and if that's the case, it would be wise to define improving communication as a theme of its own.

CANCER: As much as a deep intuitive sense has been calling you in the direction of increased devotion to erotic and creative experience, there have been many other factors that have been getting in the way. It's fair enough to wonder: does it always need to be this hard? I suggest, however, that you not let any adversity or lack of success keep you from trying, and from persisting in your experiments. The history of both art and science is the history of those who tried again and again until they experienced a breakthrough. And many times, the cosmic wisdom of delays and blocks becomes apparent when the timing of positive and unusual developments is noticed for what it is. For as much effort as you've been making, you can trust that at least three times the energy has been gathering behind the scenes, and before too long, it looks set to begin moving all at once.

VIRGO: As simple as you aspire to be, it rarely works. So I suggest you devote yourself to complexity management. It's not really going to be possible to orchestrate the many factors of your life in a linear fashion. Your mind doesn't work like that, anyway. What I suggest you do is let things proceed naturally for a while, but pay particular attention to patterns in the seeming chaos. Certain factors, messages and events will tend to repeat. If something repeats three times, you can figure it's here to stay and that you need a systematic way to address it. Three bits of data in any category; three people in a certain role in your life; three physical spaces to manage; once you get to three, create a minimalist solution, something on the level of a file or a page in a notebook. The key is noticing those patterns. They are precious pictures of what's going on in your mind.