MUSIC

I was disappointed with DCFC's Plans. That's the problem sometimes with high expectations. Maybe it didn't help that I was finishing a book in bed while listening to it. But I think I only looked up at tracks 4 & 9, and then it was done. It's a bit flat, has very little of THE ROCK that I miss. It's not terrible, but it doesn't really leave much of an impression. I don't know. I should give it a few more listens, maybe I'll like it better.

Recent additions to the Great Albums of 2005 so far include Mary Timony's Ex Hex, Bloc Party's Silent Alarm Remixed (admittedly based on bias) & Sigur Ros's Takk. Takk was a surprise: less somber, more alive, with more experimentation with instruments and arrangements. Hurrah.

I also really like Snoop Dogg's R'nG, and am considering listening to the new Ludacris next (though everyone says his last album was better). Almost had Julia convinced I was now hip-hop when she got in my car and Gift of Gab was playing.

VIDEO

I recently finished God of War on PS2, which I think is the best game I've played in a while. The graphics and movement are just terrific, and the blood/gore/violence/heaving breasts didn't hurt. Great ideas abound, particularly for stages (at one point you are killed and sent to hell, and you have to fight your way out! Outrageously fun) and scenarios (stuff towards the end, which I won't spoil for Quark's benefit).

I also recently finished the race portion of Burnout 3, the game that came closest to convincing me to get a PS2. Actually, it was just this morning that I finished, after 2 grueling Grand Prixs that were 4 races each. I finished at a little past 3AM. It was very rewarding, but super damn difficult. I was cursing like a sailor, punching the floors, scaring Neva and Mittens.

Still, I'm glad I'm still nowhere near the level of obsession some players have (even among people I know). And then there's this poor bastard, who keeled over dead (heart failure at the age of 28!?) after playing video games for 50 hours straight. At least he finished his game.

BITS

I didn't realize it had been over a month since I last updated. Wow. Where does the time go?

Someone got to this blog by looking up information on Ma'am Beni's poetry reading last night, but the search words he/she used were "Benilda Santos Conspiracy." I henceforth submit that The Benilda Santos Conspiracy is a great band name.

Check out Michel Gondry's video (20MB) for Michael Andrews's cover of "Mad World." This is old, but I only saw it recently and it's awesome. As usual, for Gondry.

Is this serious? I hope so. It would be so interesting if he actually won. And in this crazy world, who knows…

Goldie answered a survey and this brought a smile to my face:
"THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. get prosecuted for something that is 100 percent driven by truth and my beliefs yet wrongs society at the time then get praised for it after"

Check out The Onion's Michael Bay article. (or should that be Michael Bay's Onion article?)

MORE MOVIES

Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

A new trailer for Fernando Mereilles's The Constant Gardener

Anand Tucker's Shopgirl. This is especially of note for me, because it's his first film since 1998's Hilary & Jackie (which I LOVE). One of the things I actually asked Frank Cottrell Boyce (who wrote Hilary) when I got to interview him in Scotland last year was why Tucker hadn't done a film since then and he replied that unfortunately every project he was developing didn't push through for one reason or another, so I'm glad to see him back. This is the adaptation of Steve Martin's novel, by the way, adapted by Martin himself and starring him as the elderly gentleman whose love interest (the shopgirl in question) is twentysomething Claire Danes. Shouldn't Woody Allen have directed this? Don't mind my snark, it's actually a good trailer, with great music up until DCFC's "The Sound of Settling" kicks in (not that I don't like that song, it's just that everything before it was good and unknown to me, and a known song kicking in can sometimes deflate things). Maybe I should read the book first.