Read/Listen/Watch/Rent

READ: Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut

Bluebeard is one of my favorite all time books. The story of avant garde artist Rabo Karabekian in his twilight years, reflecting on his life. Much like all of Vonnegut's books, this is an extremely dark yet very funny book. Rabo, going through his highs and lows and recalling his triumphs and insecurities, is great. It reads like an autobiography, I feel like it's all true. The final art project revealed towards the end of the novel (and Rabo's life) is the most beautiful part of writing I've ever read. Find this and read it.

LISTEN: The Mountain Goats

"It was song number 3, on John's last cd. Gonna make it through this year, if it kills me. And it almost killed me". That's a line from this song by The Hold Steady, which was on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie soundtrack. The first time I heard it, I thought "who the fuck is John?" Well, I went to the old interweb and found out John is John Darnielle, founding member of The Mountain Goats. Before I even listened to his music, I was surprised to find that he had spent sometime living in Ames, Iowa. What are the odds? The first song I looked up, obviously, was Song number 3, on his most recent release. The track titled "This Year". Such a voice and great song, and not at all like The Hold Steady. The songs are so dark and full. Like Daniel Johnston with better recording equipment. Click here to see the song "No Children", which played over the end of Morel Orel (another Adult Swim nod, see how I tie this shit together) and as my friend Aaron pointed out one night, this is one of the most heartbreaking scenes of any tv show. Below, is the video for "This Year" which was my anthem for 2009.


WATCH: Eastbound and Down

Kenny Fuckin' Powers. That is all you really need to know. Or more approraiatly, Danny Fuckin' McBride. He makes this show, and makes me laugh more than anyone else right now. It started with The Foot Fist Way, and then Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder, and now with Eastbound and Down, as a former MLB hothead who gets in his own way. This show is wonderful. Follow K Fuckin' P on twitter here, and you'll find it's worthy of being a "READ" section on my blog. Below is a compilation of The Best of Kenny Powers. You're fuckin' out, I'm fuckin' in.


RENT: The Messenger

This movie came out last year, and I would say that it should have been nominated for best picture. This and The Hurt Locker go hand in hand, where as The Hurt Locker takes you just to the edge and then pulls back, this movie is after you've already fallen. It's the story of 2 soldiers whose job is to notify families when there family members have been killed in action. It is heartbreaking. Like The Hurt Locker, this doesn't politicize the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it just presents the reality of it. Woody Harrelson got an oscar nomination for this, and I think that Ben "Tucker James" Foster should have also. When I finished watching this movie it made me feel very erie about the way of the world, and made me think about the soldiers overseas. What a world.