Read/Listen/Watch/Rent

READ: World War Z by Max Brooks

If you ever read Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (one of my favorite books ever) then you are familiar with an oral history. It's a narrative told by the people who lived the story. In this case, the story is of World War Z, or, the war with the zombies. It sounds weird, and this is way more "Downfall" then it is "Shaun of the Dead", which is great. The seriousness of the book and the topics adds a credibility to the story. Honestly, I listened to the audiobook, which i recommend, because it is like a BBC broadcast or an ep. of This American Life. You get the story of the greatest tragedy in the history of the world by the people who lived it and made the decisions. Great book, don't let the "oh it's about zombies" get in the way. This is a book about humanity and reaction.

LISTEN: Fun

I am most def. late to the party when it comes to fun. The band, made up of members from Steel Train, Anathallo and (of course) The Format, is a delicious bit of pop rock, well, fun. I was a devout follower of The Format, and perhaps it was there demise and the subsequent rise of fun that turned me off them, but I get it now. I saw them in concert at Veisha last year and it sunk in. I gotta thank Nick for letting me know about them and for somewhat pounding them in my head (we listened to the cd on repeat from Iowa City to Chicago in 2009). I can't wait to hear what comes next from these guys. Below is the song "The Gambler", which Nick kept insisting I play at my wedding. However, I thought he was talking about Kenny Rogers, so we played that song instead. My mistake. (Click "View Original Post" to see video if you are reading this on facebook. Who am I kidding, no one is reading this. You suck Patrick.)


WATCH: The Larry Sanders Show

When I was a kid we didn't have HBO, so I had no exposure to this amazing show from the 90's. Larry Sanders, a late night talk show host in competition with Leno and Letterman is brilliant. This show is like 30 Rock meets Curb meets Entourage 15 years earlier (and Jeremy Piven has much less hair). Judd Apatow was a writer on it, yeah he was. And it stared Garry Shandling and Jeffrey "George Bluth" Tambor. What more do you want? How, each show has guest stars like Robin Williams, Danny Devito, Alec Baldwin, Bob Saget, Seinfeld, John Ritter, David Spade and Vince Vaughn playing fictionalized version of themselves. This is to the 90's as Arrested Development is to the 2000's. The first 4 seasons just got added to Netflix Instant, so go watch it. You will laugh your ass off. Here is a great clip featuring a svelte Vince Vaughn.


RENT: Moon

Moon. Watch it. It's on Netflix, you probably already have it in your que. Watch it. You will like it. That is fact. Sam Rockwell is one of my favorite actors, and he should have an oscar for this no doubt. It's a perfect movie. Trailer is below.