The Walking Dead

With Season One concluding this evening, I posted my thoughts on Facebook. I'll re-post them here.

okay, here's my problem with the walking dead: for the overwhelming majority of the series, nothing happens. and when nothing happens, the show becomes a character study. and the problem is that they haven't spent nearly enough time making me care about these characters.

there are maybe four characters i care about. i know the writers (well, now, former writers) knew they couldn't spend too much time characterizing them because they didn't know if they'd be renewed for a second season, so that's their main goal next year: give us a reason to care about these people.

there are moments of incredible tension and scenes that are beautifully written and/or shot, but the overall package seemingly falls flat. it's a shame, really, because the show should be so much better than it is.

the characters need something to do. simply surviving isn't enough to make an ongoing drama interesting. with a clear goal in mind, characters would have purpose and (probably) become more interesting.

Three Observations

1. Family Guy is really, really not funny anymore. I just watched an episode (featuring David Lynch!) and it was just stupid. Poor Family Guy.
2. Subway no longer serves Swiss cheese. What the hell?
3. People in the south (at least Virginia and West Virginia) in places of public service (notably Subway and other restaurants) really are nicer.

Instrumentals are Fundamental

Yesterday's post featured an instrumental song, Ronald Jenkees' "Guitar Sound," as my summer mix's bonus track. I've noticed over the years that one thing I've really become a fan of are instrumental tracks. So here's my pick for my favorite instrumentals (not including any techno, trance, house or the like, anything on soundtracks or scores; I feel that's a little like cheating for this purpose):

• "Guitar Sound" by Ronald Jenkees -- Youtube sensation turned Rock Band Network artist, Jenkees' signature song is an awesome keyboard piece reminiscent of, well, guitar sounds.

• "Elegia" by New Order -- Chilling. Haunting. I heard it in an Academy Award-nominated short ("More" by Mark Osbourne), then again in Pretty in Pink.

• "Pruit Igoe" by Philip Glass -- Another song I caught in a movie a ways back: the definitely-worth-a-watch Koyaanisqatsi. It later popped up in Grand Theft Auto IV, too.

• "Buster Voodoo" by Rodrigo y Gabriela -- Two friends of mine love this duo (who started out in a metal group!), but it wasn't until this track came to the Rock Band Network that I bothered to give them a listen. I'm not too familiar with their other stuff (outside of the album 11:11), but what hooked me should hook you, too.

• "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers Band -- Any guitar parts by the Allmans are beautiful. The seven-plus minutes "Jessica" provides is certainly no exception.

• "Shambala" by the Beastie Boys -- I love me some Beasties. But hearing this piece laid perfectly in the third season finale of Breaking Bad made me love it even more.

• "Moby Dick" by Led Zeppelin -- On my first run through, how could I possibly forget my favorite Led Zeppelin song? Catch the 20 minute live version off How the West Was Won.

• "YYZ" by Rush -- The second track on this list off of Guitar Hero II (hello Jessica!), I forgot it on my initial run-through. Whoops!

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As far as soundtracks and scores go, however, definitely check out anything by:

• Angelo Badalamenti (especially scores associated with David Lynch Films)
• Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight, True Romance)
• Don Davis (the Matrix films)

Also, the Beastie Boys have a few entirely instrumental albums (The In Sound From Way Out! and The Mix-Up, which are great) and Christopher O'Riley has great original pieces and also entire albums dedicated to covers of Radiohead and Elliott Smith.

I'm sure I've missed tons of stuff, but this is what I've come up with after a brief glance through my music library.



(For some reason, no matter what I try, "Shambala" disappears from the widget. Here it is.)

Summer Mix 2010

A friend asked me to make her a playlist featuring songs by artists she probably didn't know. Here's the outcome. Some of these artists are way bigger than others, but my hope is that anyone can find (and will like) at least ONE song on here they'd never heard before. Most of the stuff is new-ish (or new to me), but a few tracks I've had kicking around on my computer for a few years.

1. The Books - I Am Who I Am
2. Neon Trees - Sins of my Youth
3. Urban Barnyard - Cock Fight!
4. Yeasayer - Madder Red
5. A Fine Frenzy - Electric Twist
6. Gossip - Heavy Cross
7. CSS - Jager Yoga
8. Endeverafter - I Wanna Be Your Man
9. Wolfmother - California Queen
10. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Little Girl (feat. Julian Casablancas)
11. DangerDoom - Old School (feat. Talib Kweli)
12. MiniBoone - Devil in Your Eyes
13. Hideki Naganuma - Oldies But Goodies
14. Cee-Lo Green - Fuck You
15. The Hood Internet - Crazy Hold Out (Nicki Minaj vs. Washed Out)
16. (BONUS INSTRUMENTAL TRACK) Ronald Jenkees - Guitar Sound

Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws

This can't be real, can it? I think it is. It's just that good.



"You yell ghost, people go, 'Hmm? What?' You yell ghost shark, and we've got a Goddamned panic on our hands."

Phosporescent Foliage

I fell in love with a band.

Neon Trees.

Chalk up another victory to Rock Band for introducing me to yet another artist I love. (The number here is too high to count.) Three songs off their debut album came out last week, and I can't stop listening to them on my computer or in my car, and I can't stop playing them in the game.

So yeah, go listen. Here's a great song, "Sins of My Youth," as performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The Walking Dead

It's Halloween recipe time!

1 part 28 Days Later
1 part Left 4 Dead
1 part AMC goodness

Simmer over medium-low heat for 6-8 months, stirring occasionally. When October 31st approaches, dish should be just about done. Uncover at 10 p.m. and enjoy the goodness.

Ten Things I Learned About Movies After Watching Ten Movies in Four Days

Here are the ten movies I watched:

Bonnie and Clyde
Fido
Hoosiers
How to Steal a Million
Jimmywork
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Bone Collector
The Island
The Producers
Young Frankenstein


The ten lessons I learned:

1. I'll never like sports movies as much as I should, because either way it could end -- the team wins or loses -- has become cliche.
2. I'll take Butch and Sundance over Bonnie and Clyde any day of the week.
3. Movies based on Alan Moore comics that he puts his name on aren't as good as ones he keeps his name off.
4. Mel Brooks is pretty good, but I prefer Woody Allen.
5. I've seen him in a lot of things, but I can never remember Luis Guzman's name. Maybe I will now.
6. For as many movies as I like him in, Denzel Washington has found his way into quite a few mediocre movies.
7. Zombies are awesome in the 1950s, whether the movie came out in the 1950s or 2000s.
8. Shooting in black and white does not automatically make you artsy; it can make you look cheap.
9. In terms of pretty, stereotypical female stereotypes in Michael Bay movies, ScarJo's acting blows Megan Fox's out of the water.
10. Michael Bay may not know plot, but he sure can film exciting sequences. (Okay, I knew this one already.)

How Did I Become a Cavs and Vikings Fan?

I stumbled upon this passage in a Bill Simmons article:

Question No. 11: What was the funniest thing you've read about the World Cup this month?

I liked Michael Davies' take on England's demise: "Americans will never completely understand how crap it is, most of the time, to be English. We might have cute accents and be good at cocktail parties. But we are mostly losers." That slayed me. England's fatalistic, self-loathing, S&M-style attitude toward its national team tops Buffalo Bills fans, Minnesota Vikings fans or even Cleveland fans.

What did I get myself into?

Live "Blogging" the film DAYBREAKERS

I've had a hard time getting into movies lately. I don't know why. It's a big time commitment, I guess. Either way, I've had three films from Netflix for three weeks now: Daybreakers, Pirate Radio and Shutter Island. Whoops!

I just popped in Daybreakers and already saw two things I wanna note somewhere. So here we go!

-- Attempt at a cheap scare before the credits. Eh.
-- WORST special effects I've ever seen to open a film. Cool opening idea, though.
-- Willem Dafoe's in it? That's right. Gotta watch Antichrist still.
-- Credits seem TV-ish and I don't know how to better describe them.

And that's it. I'll come back later.