Issue 67

News: A few of my favorite things: The Book.
I have recently started work on a book which will start off as a list of my favorite 100 films, albums, and Books, plus my 33 favorite television series. Each entry will cover a page's worth of my thoughts on each of the items on the list, although in some cases where two consecutive items are very much related (like when I do Sufjan Stevens' albums Illinoise and The Avalanche or both film versions of Lolita), two entries will be combined into one page. Currently, I have 180 items out of 333 listed so far. The film section of the book will feature new versions of the reviews of many of the films I have reviewed on my blog, and some which aren't even on the blog, including some well-known classics, and some films which are either critically panned (Glen or Glenda?), didn't do well in the Box office (DEBS), or were just too obscure to merit a DVD release (David Holzman's Diary). The Albums section of the book, while heavily oriented towards Classic rock from 1960s-1980s (for Chicago readers, asically what you can expect to hear from WDRV), there is very much else on the list (including things from the 1955 Glenn Gould recording of Bach's Goldberg variations to Serge Gahinsbourg to John Coltrane to the Original soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou.) The Books section of the book will feature novels (like the ubiquitous Catcher in the Rye), as well as plays, books of essays, and even some holy books (like the KJV Bible, Koran, and Book of mormon, which will be merged into one entry). Finally, the Television series section will include many different series from All in the Family to Roots to John Safran vs. God to Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Band Name of the Day: The Christmas Massacre. Yesterday, I passed a house with my mother and we noticed that there were many Christmas figures still on its lawn, and she noted that it looked like a "Christmas Massacre"

Film Reviews of the Day: Pump up the Volume. In this film Christian Slater plays a teenager who becomes a Pirate Radio Shock Jock and wreaks havoc on the town he lives in including several people commiting suicide obstensively due to his broadcasts and also humiliating the powers that be of the high school he attends (which has some of the highest SAT scores in the state, and also one of the highest rates of expulsion, which are related.) Ultimately, the FCC closes in on him as they locate his signal and he loses his voice disguiser.

She's Gotta Have It. Spike Lee's first feature film, which hasn't been released on DVD yet, which tells in a pseudo-documentary style the story of one woman and her struggle to choose between the three men she loves: An immature jokester (played by the director himself), an vain male model, and a controlling intellectual.

Quote of the Day: "It's your right to do as you wish. It's my right to take no part in it"
______________Dominique Francon, The Fountainhead.

Link of the Day: The Million Dollar Homepage: Space rented out on a site with a 1000x1000 pixel grid for $1/pixel