vain, selfish & lazy.

Saturday, May 27, 2000

I think Fred looks like Prince.
-Michael Daddino | steal this link! | discuss

Bipolar is a weblog. And a journal. On the same page! As someone who can't design worth a damn, I'm easily amused by stuff like this. He says that today is the "day of hate" (it's not), and calls that harridan Tanya Headon's I Hate Music as 'puzzling', which is a great way to describe it, really.
-Tom Ewing | steal this link! | discuss

Love Manatee: a little-known factoid about Fred - he is known as the 'manatee of love'. I urge all readers of Steal This Blog! to buy a copy of this beautiful, beautiful, print, that they might hang it above their computers, look upon it, and think of Fred every day.
-Tom Ewing | steal this link! | discuss

Friday, May 26, 2000

I am Pen-Pen. Hear me roar.: this is one I was going to put in Blue Lines, except Blue Lines is a serious weblog about matters of high philosophical import (and tube adverts), and Pen-Pen is....well, a large plush penguin. Also including him in Blue Lines would mean coming out about my own plush toy habit, which I can confess in Steal This Blog! in the knowledge that nobody reads it. Except Fred on Monday. Damn!
-Tom Ewing | steal this link! | discuss

maura dot com: let the linking begin. I think this is one of the best stream-of-consciousness/journal sites I've seen. I came across it because the writer wanted to participate in the Pop Music Focus Group (which rules from on high), but browsing through it this afternoon I was struck by the quality of the writing - really good vignette-style pieces, not giving too much away - and also by the intelligence behind it, which is dare I say it somewhat rarer in the world of the personal weblog. Check for instance the 17th May entry.
-Tom Ewing | steal this link! | discuss

feeling patriotic: scrapped the old design -- it reminded me too much of easter, and with memorial day on monday, summer has unofficially arrived. the red, white and blue is now up to honor those who fought for this country's freedom. and there's nothing else to read into it, honest.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

it's going to be a long weekend, folks: what was it i was saying about regrets? and i thought i told you that you couldn't come out until the weekend!

anyway, as he said, that was tom. a number of you know him, i'm sure. those of you who don't, tom gave me my first "break," as it were, allowing me to pen articles for his freaky trigger site, and then cruelly withholding them from being published. he's also the "force" behind blue lines, which is a blog for brits, mainly, and nylpm which gives links to music-related thingies and has been lacking in original content for some time now. when he's not blogging, he can usually be found face down on the bar at the local pub or at the breast chronicles. tom will be the one whose name shows up as "tom ewing" under his posts. he'll also be the one spelling things funny.

for the record, i do not like smog. in fact, my hatred of smog is legendary throughout the realm. also, i qualified for who wants to be a millionaire again last night, so let's see if today is my lucky day to get a callback.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

It's Friday afternoon, and I've already visited two pubs. I foresee at least another two in the not too distant future. The pub is a cornerstone of British social life - somebody on the alt.fan.momus list (an American, naturally) compared them to 'sports bars', but unless you go into a hideous Wetherspoon's-style shed, nothing could be further from the truth. If you live in London, you might well want to have a look at Pumpkin Pubs. Ignore the primitive layout - this is the best and most passionate pub review guide on the web, even if its range is a bit limited currently. It treats pubs with the respect they deserve, rather than just reducing them to a set of dates and amusingly-shaped horse brasses. Go there forthwith!
-Tom Ewing | steal this link! | discuss

Hello. I'm Tom, as you almost certainly know since a lot of you come here from my blogs anyway. Fred has some kind of licence to lounge around like an idle tomcat on a media mogul's time, and he's taking full advantage of that. The only reason he's letting me use his 'blog in the meantime is to get more hits, and who am I to stand in his way? You'll be able to tell which my posts are because they'll have capital letters in them. In the meantime, here's a site dedicated to one of Fred's very favourite bands.
-Tom Ewing | steal this link! | discuss

a question of soul: or several, rather, raised by tom over on nylpm. all of this was inspired by both the pitchfork review of common's like water for chocolate and tanya headon's butchering of what's going on on ihm.

1. "is the idea of 'soul' - whether as genre or innate musical quality - actually preventing critics from appreciating the breadth of music being made by black artists?"

yes for all of the artists struggling beneath the radar of the mainstream. i think our culture has dictated the musical roles of black and white, and as such, a lot of artists who are doing something besides what we expect are not getting noticed. considering the love affair that critics have with soul music, artists like macy gray are getting heaps of attention because they're "bringing back" the old sound, whereas someone like kelis who is pushing the envelope has now disappeared into the void of the one-hit wonders. unfortunately the great many purists out there (who i believe i can safely say are mostly black), artists who deviate from the norm are going unnoticed. one wonders what kind of response someone like prince would receive today if he was making albums like dirty mind. would it be up to the alternative media to champion him? i don't think the problem is so much with white critics as it is with black critics, though in fairness it should be mentioned that magazines like vibe have become more eclectic.

2. "is the constant insistence by critics that albums by black people be 'soulful' itself a ghettoizing position?"

to be honest, i don't see this attitude coming from your critics: this more sounds like the opinion of close-minded music fans. maybe you've just read more reviews than i have, but i'm not sensing this, really. reviews that would bemoan the lack of soul in the music usually came in reponse to artists who were trying to be soulful; i've never read a review of, say, living colour that complained, "oh, i wish they were more soulful!" also, the reviews that really just served as soapboxes for a reviewer to reminisce about the times when music had real soul have fallen by the wayside in this "nu-soul" era.

3. "do the words we sling around as critics have more implications and societal weight than we perhaps think?"

depends on the critic. ;) i personally don't think that critics such as you or i, or any critic without a large readership, has much impact at all. and it's also arguable what societal weight critics like eddy, christgau, or marcus have when you consider what percentage of the population even knows them. perhaps as our thoughts weave themselves into mainstream culture we find where our influence really lies. as the beast called "public opinion" subsumes our ideas, the way people think is changed.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

summer hours: one of the nice things about working where i do is this thing called "summer hours." providing there's no work to preclude you from leaving, we're allowed to leave at 1:00 on fridays from memorial day weekend until labor day. pretty damned cool, no?

this week, i'll essentially be out for four days with the memorial day holiday on monday. as it stands, i'm already annoyed that i can't update over the weekend. so, in order to keep things interesting, i'm recruiting a crack team of bloggers to do whatever the hell they want with this page while i'm away. i may live to regret this decision, but it could be fairly interesting.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

"RUSSELL! CROWE!": the funniest thing i've read this month, period.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Thursday, May 25, 2000

rip him to shreds...: ...where i tear apart my own writings! how unusual that someone would pick apart their own writing, but i feel i'm ripe for it. it's very painful to do this because this means i actually have to read my writing, and as far back as i can remember, that's never happened (yes, i'm in dire need of an editor). i'm not sure what the block is, but something will not permit to read my own writing with ease; perhaps i'm just too self-conscious. so let's have a go at me, then!

1. i need an editor. - yes, it's true. i'll occasionally pick up on little grammatical mistakes and correct them; in fact, should i note them, i'm overly persistent in making sure that they're absolutely correct. i only notice these errors in passing, though, not as a result of thoroughly reading one of my pieces. in fact, i'll only read one of my pieces when someone else mentions them, because often, they're better-educated about what i wrote than i am!

2. my vocabulary is terribly limited. - i find myself using the same words over and over again (offenders that come readily to mind are "brilliant" and "gorgeous"). i used to have a strong vocabulary, i swear! where it wandered off to is anyone's guess. i still know the meaning of a lot of words, i guess i just either forget or am unsure as to how to incorporate them into a piece. in the words of lisa simpson, "i'm losing my perspicacity!"

3. i should use more humor. - personally, i feel that i'm a humorous individual. i mean, hey, i crack myself up all of the time! i know i'm not alone because even non-family members appreciate my sense of humor. how come, then, my writings are always so stolid and so painfully serious? i'm not sure myself, and many times when i try to use humor, it comes off really forced.

4. the writing should be better thought out. - i admit that everything that gets put up here is totally off the top of the head with no preparation whatsoever. some of it turns out alright, some of it...eh. one thing i notice is that, if i get distracted (which seems to be often as i digress more than anyone this side of eddie izzard), i'll lose track of where i am and write a sentence that has very little to do with the paragraph it's found in. i've been thinking of getting a notepad or something and committing thoughts to paper as they come to me, but we'll see if i ever follow through. going back to high school, at the least, the day before a paper was due, i'd plop down in front of the computer and just start letting the words flow. i guess i'm not one who's much for preparation. also, i notice that there's a lack of deep thought in much of what i write, just a lot of blind flailing about, desperately trying to latch onto some sort of point, and in the end i throw out every hackneyed cliche imaginable.

5. more about the music, please. - as far as my music essays are concerned, i don't nearly talk enough about the actual music itself. much of my essays are comprised of conceptual hoo-hah -- paragraph after paragraph of things that have nothing at all to do with a single note of music. it's ironic as one of my major complaints about a lot of music reviews these days is a lack of focus on the actual songs, and now i seem to have fallen into the same trap as i often disappear up my own ass or into my own bellybutton talking about peripheral issues and jumping to unfounded conclusions. my d'angelo review might be the most recent occurrence of that.

hmmmm, that's all i can think of for now, but if you can come up with any more, please send them here. will i learn anything from this? i hope so, but one never knows. thankfully, i wasn't too hard on myself -- i suppose i leave that up to all of you. ;) at worst, this was a nice pre-emptive effort that'll make any future slings aimed in my direction less hurtful, because i'm very, very sensitive, you know.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

yes, jerwin...: we pals again, even though i notice that your eye is wandering! *flounces off*
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

see new oasis guitarist's freshly-trimmed locks!: oh, how the kids laughed the other day when they saw matt deighton, noel's touring replacement, and his spinal tap locks. well, kids, laugh no more! because i'll be damned if he doesn't look just a bit like robbie williams! which will probably lead a drunken liam (is it redundant to call him "drunken"?) to punch him out...or not, based on the way he pussed out of that fight.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

more on mp3s and the downfall of western civilization: an interesting article from the village voice on a report from the sanford c. bernstein and co. investment research group which spells doom, doom! for the music industry and, especially, brick-and-mortar record stores if mp3s go on unabated.

the answer that a number of people within "the business" have come up with is to "migrate" to the internet (wow, i wonder how much that genius is getting paid?) in my opinion, no one is doing it better than tvt records. when a single comes out by a group like xtc, they offer you the ability to download it in mp3 format. however, the song comes with an installer and the program will only allow you to play the song five times before it essentially self-destructs, but it also gives you the opportunity to buy the song and/or cd. as part of the deal, you have to fill out some information for statistical purposes (nothing too personal). you can not upload or save the file to a cd because of the way it's encrypted -- all you'll get is a very warped version of the song. they also offer downloads of full albums for free which will disappear after thirty days. the big companies should be taking notes.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

question: please forgive a novice blogger for asking this. we have power bloggers, yes, and we know this because we have a tally. but who exactly are the "popular bloggers"? i use this term in quotes because the way that it's presented on other blogs it's as if they were some mythical troupe rumored to live in a bunker beneath the swiss alps. i'd guess that riothero and barbelith and, now, probably the breast chronicles would be included in that bunch, but who else?

and if you think this is just a pathetic attempt to boost hits, you're only half-right.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

EMINEM - THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP
it's hard to determine who's more disturbed: slim shady or marshall mathers. honestly, i never listened to the entire slim shady album -- i'd heard all i needed to in the singles. eminem was one of the most hyped members of the underground, and having heard some of his early tracks, it was easy to see why: he has a wonderfully perverse sense of humor, he's excellent at constructing complex rhymes, and he has one of those voices that are just born to make hooks, e.g. sadat x or slick rick. however, his major label debut seemed patched together to capitalize on the success of "my name is..."; it looked like we had another ras kass on our hands, an immense talent who disappointed when moving out of the underground.

the slim shady persona was that of an obviously troubled individual, but he was a caricature, a cartoon. if by entitling the album the marshall mathers lp, eminem intended on giving you a glimpse of what the real person is like, God save us all. three million or so records later, eminem is back and, i'm glad to say, is better and worse than ever (better musically, worse psychologically which makes for a better album, but not a better person, and since i don't have to live with him, i prefer the former) -- the dreaded sophomore curse is nowhere in evidence here. when most artists who emerge from obscurity and are launched into the spotlight release their second album, it's often the one where they denounce fame and stardom and talk about how it's ruined their life. eminem, as i'm sure you're already aware, is not like most artists. his new-found celebrity brings an evil glint to his eye, as he relishes the idea of using the soapbox he's been given to be as bad as he wants to be.

after the opening psa, eminem kicks off the proceedings with the comical (we hope) "kill you," which features a simple chorus of "bitch, i'ma kill you" and is bolstered by a sing-songy voice adding, "you don't wanna fuck with shady, cos shady will fucking kill you." it honestly is funny, but you, like me, may not agree upon first listen. the more you listen, though, the more you find that it fits in perfectly on this (usually) delightfully over-the-top album. "usually" is used to qualify because there's an exception (and, oh!, what an exception) in the grisly "kim," the prequel to "bonnie and clyde" from slim shady. it's harrowing -- utterly engaging and unlistenable at the same time; the fact that it hasn't caused a firestorm of controversy should be cause for alarm, and it's certain to split listeners. whatever your thoughts on it, credit should be given to eminem for creating something so provocative and powerful -- call it the aural equivalent of the blair witch project ("oh, it couldn't possibly be true...could it?").

standouts abound on this album: the goth-hop of "the way i am" which is eminem's apologia; current chart hit, "the real slim shady," with its video game soundtrack and pop culture references aplenty; the deep bassline and hilarious puffy-baiting on "i'm back"; the introspective, though unfortunately homophobic, "marshall mathers" with its spare backing of vibes, keys, drums with an echoey cymbal, and a buzzing guitar that ends the song (dre's new trick, it seems). the strength of the production, mostly helmed by dr. dre, should not go by unnoted -- it takes a person with eminem's star power to keep from playing the background to the stirring beats on display. it's been said before, and it should be said again: dre exists on another level when it comes to hip-hop producers. no one has his musicality or his arranging skills; he knows when to keep the beats minimal and when to let the funk flow.

of all the bizarre and surprising things found on the mmlp, none is more astonishing than learning that eminem possesses a social conscious. "stan," featuring dido of faithless on vocal duties, has the sighing atmospherics (!) and the breezy acoustic guitar (!) of a ballad (!), and possesses lyrics that should be studied by every young mc out there. many people i've encountered tell me how overrated they think eminem is as a lyricist: listen this song and find yourself slack-jawed. the first several verses are letters from a fan of eminem's named stan. with each new letter, stan becomes more and more troubled, taking eminem's lyrics to heart, until he finally commits unthinkable atrocities. the last verse is eminem's reply which belies his image and shows that he is just human at heart; unfortunately, it arrives too late to help anyone involved.

things peter out towards the end of the album with too many cliches and stereotypes coming to the fore. still, the mmlp is a thought-provoking and uncompromising work that demands your attention and one that suggests a wide-open future. we're confronted with many contradictions, namely an eminem who doesn't give a fuck and an eminem who does. or is it marshall who cares? or is it slim shady who doesn't? it gets very confusing, but after listening to the album, you get the feeling that eminem wouldn't want it any other way.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

why won't regis call me?: i'm vaguely annoyed that i didn't receive a call from the millionaire show yesterday, despite, once again, answering all the questions right in the first round. last night, i failed to qualify on the last question because i did the reverse of what the question asked by arranging the musical artists by birthplace moving east instead of west. this irked me the rest of the night. interesting, no? ;)

i should add that they've added a new input question, and that is, "are you male or female? answers are merely gathered for statistical research." uh HUH. they do allow you to not answer, which is effectively another way of saying that you're a guy. could explain why we're seeing more and more females -- i'm sure everyone remembers regis' slightly unnerving call for women and minorities to call in -- then again, it could just be that more females are calling in. myself, i'm waiting for the ethnic background and income level questions: it's like filling out the census. how fun!
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Wednesday, May 24, 2000

about me: for anyone who wants to know more about the mystery man behind this blog, look to your left!

that is all.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

you're breaking my heart: for those who are concerned, the pictures i've placed on this website are five and three years old by now, both were scanned by my girlfriend. currently, i'm 22 and will be 23 in september, so when i refer to my "younger" days, i mean about ten years ago. so nyeah. ;P
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

on making a living: jerwin makes another good point over on his blog (guess what the first was! ;)). i've mentioned who i work for before, so i'm not going to get into it again because of the corporate crunch i experienced previously.

often i think about how i'd like to be on the editorial side as i read magazines and realize that i'm better at writing than a lot of them (and certainly my taste trumps theirs!). my heart lies in being creative, and though i really don't much mind what i'm doing currently, i can't see much of a future in it. this is exactly why i'm appreciative that i have an outlet with this blog and that, for whatever reason, probably because they think i'm a stud puppy, people seem to like what i do here.

i can't complain too much, i guess, because i obviously have a lot of free time on my hands, but still. my problem is that i never focused when i was younger; i let my interests dissipate and became quite good at a lot of them, but not good enough, i guess.

but enough bitching out of me.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

serial killer...or stud puppy?: when one speaks of my appearance, that's what it boils down to. when i first read it, though, i thought it said "sick little puppy," and i wondered, "whatever does he mean?" i thank jerwin for the link AND the compliment. it's comments like this that make me regret taking down the picture but now that i've gone "legit," i guess i can't do things like post pics or, say, link to the breast chronicles. but if i get, oh, ten e-mails asking me to put the photos back, i'll do it.*

*by ten e-mails, i mean one e-mail from ten people, not one ardent fan mailing me ten.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

dude...kick ASS!: this link comes courtesy of the good folk at public blog. it's the commercial for timex's new i-control watch...directed by tim burton! and you can see it here.

speaking of tim burton, does the fact that he's directing the planet of the ape remake excite you as much as it does me? oh, i can just see those costumes now.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

XTC - WASP STAR (APPLE VENUS 2)
finally, we have the second volume of xtc's apple venus set. so is wasp star the "rock album" they threatened us with? no, not really. the only differences between this volume and its predecessor are that there are no orchestras (though there are smaller ensembles) and that there are no ballads. so, essentially, we're dealing with your standard xtc album here.

i may be doing the band a disservice by using the word, "standard." to clarify, a "standard" xtc album is one that is blindingly brilliant in spots, contains a clunker or two, features several songs from colin moulding, has andy partridge getting on your nerves once or twice, and leaves you with a smile on your face when you're finished listening. are we clear? good.

once again, andy gets the lionshare of tracks on this record, and we find him in three modes: hopeful, spiteful, and ribald, often on the same track. with hopeful, we get songs like "stupidly happy" which may be the least complex thing they've done in twenty years, riding a stones riff with a tune that doesn't vary too much from its main melody, and "we're all light" which basically plays like an extended pick-up line and has production that sounds like new jack maestro, teddy riley, circa 1992.

when andy gets spiteful, he writes things like "wounded horse," so named because he's beaten this one AGAIN AND AGAIN. it sounds like it came out of the same session that produced "your dictionary," but where i thought "dictionary" was saved by its beach boys-styled production, "wounded horse" just goes on listlessly with the louche sound of lennon's tracks from the white album. dating partridge means you may eventually become a subject of such a song -- take solace in knowing that he doesn't sell many records. the altogether lighter "playground," which opens the album, finds andy nursing wounds dating back to his school days. it's a marked improvement over "wounded horse" with its often clever lyrics and production devices, though with a chant courtesy of partridge's daughter, i could understand if this one grates on you.

he doesn't get any more ribald on the album than on "my brown guitar," a vaguely psychedelic slowie that reminds you that this is the same man that penned "pink thing." (if you're keeping count, euphemisms for penis on this album include "bike," "brown guitar," "pin," "yardstick," and "riding another man," from "wounded horse.") it works fine on first listen, but this eventually becomes, along with "wounded horse," one of andy's patented ways of annoying the hell out of you.

colin moulding, as mentioned earlier, gets in three tracks, and they're all winners. i wouldn't mind hearing a whole album of his stuff, truthfully. with his three tracks here and "fruit nut" and "frivolous tonight" from av 1, moulding, with his pastoral concerns and overall englishness, has evolved into what paul mccartney would be if his talents didn't go up in a cloud of pot smoke. "in another life," which may be the finest thing on the album, is a charming tale (not a euphemism in this case for "solid but unspectacular") of a long-married couple trying to reignite the passion in their relationship; "boarded up" is a bluesy lament about the slow death of moulding's hometown (and one perfect for tom's english tape); and "standing in for joe" is another charmer about watching over a buddy's girlfriend for the weekend and eventually taking his place. moulding's music is so intimate that you believe that he wouldn't care if no one heard it but him; you sense such joy from his recordings, whereas with partridge, sometimes you get the feeling that he's just compelled to make music by things beyond the love of the craft.

but i won't be too hard on andy, because he delivers three absolute gems to close out the album. earlier, i said he was in three modes on this album -- a correction, there are four, and the fourth mode is called "the awe-inspiring." "you and the clouds will still be beautiful" is a gorgeous love song that sounds like steely dan, but is actually good; "church of women" finds andy at his peak both musically and lyrically and features dazzling chord changes and instrumentation; and "the wheel and the maypole" is beyond description. it's really two songs linked together, the first has a awesome, vaguely menacing chorus that gives you chills, and the second is pure frivolity, swirling about with glee. moments like these make you forgive all of his shortcomings.

is it worth the money? definitely (this means you, tom). wasp star showcases both moulding and partridge at their most english since mummer, but, as an american, this detracts nothing from the delight i've received from this album, and i can only imagine it will enrich the experience for english listeners. it's arguable that no group has been as good this far along into their career, and my doubts that emerged when listening to "i'm the man that murdered love" about the group's future have all but been vanquished. partridge and moulding have presented a lesson here for all aging rockers: the apple venus set should be subtitled, "how to age gracefully." start taking notes now.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

GLADIATOR!: the post over at pearls reminded me that i never spoke my piece about this movie. there were two poor reviews that i've seen for gladiator: pearls nails one with roger ebert; the other was from the village voice who wrongly compare it to titanic (in richard harris alone you had more better actors in gladiator).

yes, the dialogue is often poor, but it's never really embarrassingly bad. besides, russell crowe has such presence in this film, that he could make the phonebook sound vaguely threatening. this movie is about action, and boy, does it deliver! the whirling opening battle, despite probably bringing back bad memories for those whose stomachs were turned by the blair witch project, accurately captures what one might imagine it to be like in the middle of a fierce war. the fighting just gets better and better from there.

at first, like ebert, i thought the digital effects looked rather poor, but i do believe they got better as the movie progressed and i eventually found myself swept away by the visuals. (he also goes on and on about how the visuals pale in comparison to titus: he sounds like the film elitist who's annoyed that no one went to see the artier film, but are going in droves to see gladiator.)

if you're looking for depth and meaning, you really won't find it here. but if you're looking for the summer movie, you'll get it in gladiator. as peter travers said in rolling stone, this is the movie the "thumbs-up" was invented for, despite ebert's protestations. the huge opening-night audience we saw it with clapped twice during the movie: once at a pivotal scene, and once at the film's end. it's exactly that kind of movie -- by the closing, you feel like you are in that colosseum, and that kind of escapism is rare commodity in today's world.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

new look: well, you'll notice that i've changed the look of the site. i like this sleek, clear design better, and i hope you do too. i apologize to those of you who keep seeing this blog pop up on the update screen, when all i've done really is tinker with the site. there will be actual content today, i promise.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Tuesday, May 23, 2000

new installment of the soul decade: some of you may have first encountered my writing on tom's fab freaky trigger site. well, after much delay, a new installment of the soul decade, my top 100 singles of the 90s, is up and available for perusal. i guess this means i should start working on the next batch.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

hanson fans of the world unite...: though, given our average age of 11 and that we're predominantly pre-pubescent girls, i doubt we'll be taking over anytime soon (and, oi! those first-week sale numbers indicate that we're not as large a group as i had hoped). over on uber.nu, andy embarrassingly confesses his love of hanson.

i say, andy don't hide your head in shame! hanson is great. in fact, i currently have both "this time around" and "runaway run" on my playlist (the latter will hopefully propel the flaxen-hair boys back to the top)...of course, i also have a mandy moore in their somwhere, so. i was skeptical of "mmmbop," but "where is the love?" hooked me. in my review of "this time around" from week 1, i go into it a bit further. to summarize, the guys (did i say "guys"?dear me, they've grown up right before our eyes) have an immense gift for the "hook" and they're endearingly earnest. when they sing, there's no pretense involved -- everything is coming from the heart, so you can forgive the occasional clinker line. i say that there's room in all of our hearts for hanson and spacemen 3; lionel richie and can. hmmm, maybe that's just my heart, though.

as far as his other "confessions" go: 1) understandable. 2) now you should've written something about this, forget hanson. 3) perhaps more than we needed to know. 4) up until recently, i watched it daily. 5) i used to watch it, but stopped after san francisco. 6) "comedian" is right. 7) see number 6. 8) i do too, but that's cos she reminds me of my girlfriend. oh, and there's nothing wrong with eminem, at least not with his new album, which i'll get to soon.

thanks to jejune.net for pointing this one out.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

where ARE you?: hi, i'm right here. work beckons today so i haven't had a chance to say anything. so what's new? nothing much, really. i'm listening to the new eminem album currently, and i plan on buying the new xtc at lunch. eminem is sounding pretty good so far, a review is certain to follow. i have high hopes about the xtc album, though tom has his doubts.

speaking of tom, i want you to go here, and vote for the cardigans. i can not live in a world where kid rock is deemed worse than the damned cardigans.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Monday, May 22, 2000

13. mr. smith goes to washington - dir. frank capra
definitely not one for the cynical viewer out there, mr. smith represents frank capra's idealism better than any movie in his oeuvre. for the titular lead, capra returned to his old favorite, jimmy stewart. in order for this movie to work, capra needed someone who believed in the story as much as he did. had any other actor played mr. smith, it would certainly not be on this list and most likely would've been forgotten by history. jimmy stewart, my favorite actor, gives the performance of his life in mr. smith (high praise, indeed). for anyone who wants to know what exactly acting is all about, put on the filibuster scene and rewind as many times as necessary. on a side note, if i hear anyone refer to jimmy stewart as "the tom hanks of his day" one more time, i will....well, i haven't figured that out yet. but it'll be bad, rest assured.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

back to the movie countdown...:
14. 2001: a space odyssey - dir. stanley kubrick
this is probably the movie i love most when i'm not actually watching it. to be sure, it is filled with tedium - the opening monkey scenes and the "wigging-out" effects near the movie's end are only the most obvious examples. beyond those flaws, though, you have a movie that inspires awe and astonishment to this day in many who see it ("many" because some can't get by the monkey parts). having been raised in the post-star wars era and still being fascinated by this film, i can only imagine the effect it had on audiences in 1968. as a visual storyteller, kubrick still remains unsurpassed (indeed, to this viewer, the visuals were the only good thing about eyes wide shut).
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

your favorite band sucks: there's a new feature on freaky trigger that's bound to make tom more unpopular than he already is. he's employed the diabolic skills of that firebrand tanya headon to slag off everyone. she's taking no prisoners, and it's getting very personal. i hear she hates bob dylan. good for her!
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

good monday morning to you: hi again, everyone. well, what miserable weather we had this weekend. basically, we stayed indoors of the duration of it, painting a room and renting a couple of movies. what movies? here, let me give quick reviews.

boys don't cry - dir. kimberly peirce
let it first be said that hillary swank deserves every accolade that's been thrown her way for her portrayal of brandon teena. when you near the end of the movie and see her as a girl for the first time, it's quite stunning because swank was that convincing as a boy. chloe sevigny also proves her mettle, showing that angelina jolie, at the least, should've finished third in the oscar voting (btw, catherine keener should've taken home that best supporting actress trophy).

that said, this was a very fine, harrowing movie that was certainly not the feel-good movie of 1999, though you do feel that all that transpired was not in vain. the quiet nebraska town where the events take place remind me of the dead-end town in the future bible heroes' "lonely days" ("nothing good is on tv, no one falls in love with me...and there's nowhere else to go but crazy, so we go"), where there's nothing to but chase bats and bumper-ski. the story, without revealing too much detail, reminds me of springsteen song, like something from born to run that ends, literally, in nebraska. it's a movie that will most definitely move you, and it's one you aren't likely to forget anytime soon. highly recommended.

the other movie we rented was...
the end of the affair - dir. neil jordan
the movies were as bleak as the weather, yes. ;) i should make it known that graham greene is one of my favorite novelists, and that his the third man is the basis for one of my favorite films, so i had high expectations for this one. unfortunately, i think i like this movie more for the film that it isn't instead of the film that it is. it has many strong qualities: an excellent story, punctuated by greene's patented sharp dialogue; lavish direction by neil jordan; and beautiful cinematography. however, i believe that its weaknesses are glaring.

ralph fiennes, normally a very good actor, doesn't seem to quite express the rage required for the lead role, understating things a bit too much. where i feel that we should know where his character stands, he expresses ambiguity -- one is never quite sure if he truly loves julianne moore's sara, or is just jealous that he can't have her (if this is the point, then my apologies). also, jordan's adaptation is too obvious, leaving little surprises for the end.

i did enjoy this picture, really. i'm just disappointed in the final product as i feel it could've been a great picture instead of merely good. i'm a hopeless romantic, myself, so i was near tears at the end, even though i did see it coming. definitely recommended as a date movie and as something to do while trapped indoors by tempestuous weather. other than that, unless you're a fan of jordan or greene, you may want to pick out one of the films from a very fine crop that's now available at your local video store (i recommend the straight story, my favorite film of 1999).
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss