X-men III

Is that what it's called? Can't tell from all the special effects. Never cared for comic books but this movie will kill 2 hours of your life in a fun way. It's absurd and fun and violent and stupid all at the same time.

Sunny Sunday

Went a-ridin' this morning on my new used bike and took some photos. That's the ocean or bay off the tip of Cape Cod.

Summertime livin's easy...

The upstairs is home for the next 4 months. Got to love that clear blue Cape Cod sky. 60's today. Great running weather.

E.F. and the song for today

E.F. are the initials of Kentucky's politically-neutered, morally-bankrupt idiot governor, indicted yesterday on 3 misdemeanor counts. I was putting Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" on my iPod today and this title caught my eye. (P.S. If only he had been indicted a few days before the Kentucky Derby where he appeared on national TV...)

There is obviously no connection between this song written decades ago and current events but it makes for a nice coincidence nonetheless.

The Fletcher Memorial Home (Waters)

Take all your overgrown infants away somewhere
And build them a home, a little place of their own.
The Fletcher Memorial
Home for Incurable Tyrants and Kings.

And they can appear to themselves every day
On closed circuit T.V.
To make sure they're still real.
It's the only connection they feel.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Reagan and Haig,
Mr. Begin and friend, Mrs. Thatcher, and Paisly,
"Hello Maggie!"
Mr. Brezhnev and party.
"Scusi dov'è il bar?"
The ghost of McCarthy,
The memories of Nixon.
"Who's the bald chap?"
"Good-bye!"
And now, adding colour, a group of anonymous latin-
American meat packing glitterati.

Did they expect us to treat them with any respect?
They can polish their medals and sharpen their
Smiles, and amuse themselves playing games for awhile.
Boom boom, bang bang, lie down you're dead.

Safe in the permanent gaze of a cold glass eye
With their favorite toys
They'll be good girls and boys
In the Fletcher Memorial Home for colonial
Wasters of life and limb.

Is everyone in?
Are you having a nice time?
Now the final solution can be applied.

Neil Young: Living with War (continued)

Picking up where I left off...

These are just first impressions, subject to change on repeated listening. Hear it free at Neil's site. Being a huge Neil Young fan, I am constrained to compare new work to previous work. That's because Neil sets a high standard, so he is compared against that high standard.

Track 4: "Shock and Awe"
Great opening guitar. Interesting use of "back in the days..." to refer to events 2 and 3 years old. A trumpet solo!

Track 5: "Families"
Nice beat. OK. Love those driving guitars that seem to be the musical glue of this album; sort of a tempered "Ragged Glory".

Track 6: "Flags of Freedom"
A nod to Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" at the end of the verses with "flags of freedom flyin'". Then there's a reference directly to the song from 1963. Harmonica solo continues the Dylan homage.

Track 7: "Let's Impeach the President"
Neil needs to tell us what he really thinks instead of being so poetic. yuck yuck. Actually, these lyrics are a bit too literal for my taste. Plus, his singing in unison (no harmonies I mean) with the 100-person choir seems to be simplistic sounding.

Track 8: "Lookin' for a Leader"
Now he's boring me!

Track 9: "Roger and Out"
A slow song. OK. Nothing great.

Track 10: "America the Beautiful"
The choir sings the traditional song. Nice to end on a patriotic note.

I noticed this CD is #3 on Amazon today. Not bad for an old hippie.
Overall, it doesn't blow me away. I bet these songs will sound great live on the upcoming CSNY tour though.

Bob Dylan on XM Radio

As DJ, not musician. I'm listening to Bob's second show of "dreams, schemes and themes" right now. This week's theme: Mothers, for Mother's Day. The first show's theme was Weather. The show is called Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour.

At the risk of premature hyperbole, it's the best radio show I've ever heard. First, a reclusive legend is actually talking to his audience. Second, his rap is a terrific blend of music history, poetic tangents and humor. Third, it's delivered in his trademark gravelly voice and he sounds like he's been a DJ all his life. Finally, the music is a capaciously eclectic blend of Americana that covers all genres and eras.

Those of us worshiping Dylan as an artist now can praise him for another reason.

iPod progress

With 4 days until The Summer of Bob, when I will be separated from my CD collection by 1100 miles, I am putting as many selected CD's and songs as possible on my iPod, a 30G model procured recently.

iTunes tells me I've loaded:
4634 songs
13.1 days (of continuous music)
17.14 GB

Thank You for Smoking

This film is just too cute for its own good. I'd pass on recommending it because its tone is inconsistent--one minute it's a farce and the next something else serious and unrelated.

When the Katie Holmes character drops her papers to the floor (I'm not kidding) after her affair with Nick Naylor is outed on TV, I cringed. And Tom Cruise was not even in the vicinity.

More offensive and hackneyed is the way they use Nick's teenage son (a terrible actor by the way) as the precocious know-it-all with more intelligence and common sense than his slick father. I gagged at the scenes where son beats father at the game of "figuring life out". Bleccch.

Film trailer

There's an unusual and intriguing trailer for "Marie Antoinette" starring Kirsten Dunst. I guess because it won't be released until fall there is no dialogue. Just visuals and music. The intrigue comes from visuals that are classic period shots but the music is from New Order. It's pretty amazing to witness even if one-dimensional.

Summer Storm

A coming-of-age foreign film that falls flat on almost every aspect. Don't waste your time. I must say the opening credits were the highlight, with a great song, terrific slow-motion visuals, odd composition and titles that zoom and fade. It's a shame the rest of the film stunk.

Friends with Money

I had to see this film because I like the work of Catherine Keener and Frances McNormand. They do a good job here as does Jennifer Aniston, who is surprisingly good.

The whole film is a bit tedious with handheld cameras trying (straining?) to give an independent film, cinema verite vibe to this slice of life drama/comedy. I think it's interesting and probably worth recommending but the whole thing meanders to the point of being too evasive about the causes and results of all the characters' endless foibles and idiosyncracies.