End Of January 2011 Media Intake

The Tick Vs. Season One (1994-95)
Thanks to cheap Amazon prices, I recently picked up the DVD sets of the first two seasons of what might have been my favorite childhood Saturday morning cartoon. I quickly and promptly made it through season one of The Tick over the span of about two days, and it ruled. Every character, hero and villain, is charming and funny, and the jokes are so dry. Way over my head when I was a little kid, but I'm coming to understand why my dad enjoyed watching this with me so much. I think my favorite episode was and still is The Tick Vs. The Tick, followed by The Tick Vs. The Uncommon Cold. My favorite villain is easily The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight, and my favorite minor heroes are Carpeted Man and Captain Mucilage. Zipperneck and The Human Ton + Handy are also brilliantly hilarious villain ideas
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East of Eden - John Steinbeck (1952)
My longtime bud and more recently boss Abbott has always raved about John Steinbeck's East of Eden as his favorite novel since I can remember. I finally got around to reading it this month, and for the most part it did not disappoint. This incredibly complex and epic story was amazingly written, and the way the characters are developed and the events unraveled is virtually untouchable. I even loved the completely unredeemable characters. Early on in the book, after the event of a birth of twins, I had it set in my mind how I wanted the book to finish. Unfortunately, as appropriate and Steinbeckesque as the ending is, I was a bit bummed out by it. Still, East of Eden is one of the better novels I have ever read.


Shopgirl - Steve Martin (2000)
I am thankful that I was able to read this novella by Steve Martin in one sitting during the second half of my shift last night. The two main characters are somewhat interesting, but the minor ones are moreso. The events and interactions that occur are mostly intense but pretty dull as well. The most appealing thing about Shopgirl is the way it is written: the narration and dialogue really do sound like words that would come out of Steve Martin's mouth, whether it be during a performance or what I always imagined would be his regular vernacular.

A Few More Things To Be Really Excited About In 2011

This week has packed quite a punch for me with exciting news about things coming out in 2011. Let's talk about it.

- REAL BRAID REUNION, FOR REAL. The influential and best midwestern, mid-90s second wave emo (or post-emo or whatever) band has decided to maybe not tour, but to write, record and release a new album. This is unbelievably awesome, and I don't have any doubts in my mind that the record will be fantastic. You can read about this here and here. If this new record is half as good as 1998's perfect Frame and Canvas, I will be completely content. I haven't been this excited about a music release since In Rainbows.

- NEW FEELIES ALBUM. Coming April 12th via Bar/None Records, titled Here Before. The great 80s jangle pop band returns with their first album since 1991's Time for a Witness. Pitchfork has posted an MP3 of the album's second track, "Should be Gone," here. I haven't gotten to listen to it yet, but according to Bravender, it is real good.

- POSTHUMOUS DAVID FOSTER WALLACE NOVEL? The other night I was just browsing on the interwebs and decided I would read about DFW on Wikipedia. Then, I discovered plans for a posthumous publication of an unfinished novel of his titled The Pale King. Seems like no one tried to finish it or touched it too much aside from an editor, so that's great news. According to the Wikipedia article, "The novel portrays IRS agents working in a Midwestern office attempting to overcome the 'intense tediousness' of their jobs." Seems underwhelming coming from the same guy who write Infinite Jest, but it is also supposed to be structured as a mock memoir, which should be interesting. I am so pumped for this.

- SUPER BOWL. The Pittsburgh Steelers vs. the Green Bay Packers. That just rules. Of course, I'll be rooting for Pittsburgh very hard, but would not be offended by a Green Bay victory.

Oh yeah, and also, two more 2011 albums that are ruling me: Lemuria's Pebble (Bridge Nine) and Minks' By the Hedge (Captured Tracks). I'll talk more about those a bit later, though.

Books Read in 2010

I thought it would be fun in a nerdy way to share the list of books/graphic novels/comic collections that I read in 2010. This was a big deal to me as I had a mission to read 50 books, not including graphic novels, within a year. I succeeded, and had I included graphic novels, I would have completely murdered that goal.

Anyway, for shits and giggs, here are two lists documenting every book I read in 2010, in the order that I read them, and along with the rating (out of five) that I gave them on my new favorite "social networking" site, Goodreads. Most of these were first time reads with the exception of the Rowling, Salinger and Tolkien books.

REGULAR OL' BOOKS

(1) Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman (Jan., 4/5)

(2) The Adventures of King Midas by Lynne Reid Banks (Jan., 3/5)

(3) Animal Farm by George Orwell (Jan., 5/5)

(4) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (Jan., 3/5)

(5) It by Stephen King (Jan., 4/5)

(6) Post: A Look at the Influence of Post-Hardcore - 1985-2007 by Eric Grubbs (Jan., 4/5)

(7) Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger (Feb., 3/5)

(8) Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger (Feb., 3/5)

(9) Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger (Feb., 4/5)

(10) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (Feb., 5/5)

(11) The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (Feb., 3/5)

(12) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (Mar., 5/5)

(13) The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (Mar., 5/5)

(14) The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (Apr., 5/5)

(15) The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (Apr., 5/5)

(16) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (May, 4/5)

(17) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (May, 5/5)

(18) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (May, 5/5)

(19) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (May, 5/5)

(20) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (May, 5/5)

(21) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Jun., 5/5)

(22) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling (Jun., 5/5)

(23) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (Jul., 3/5)
(24) REAL Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book by Robert Hamburger (Jul., 2/5)

(25) The Giver by Lois Lowry (Aug., 3/5)

(26) The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Aug., 3/5)

(27) 33 1/3: The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka by Mark Richardson (Aug., 3/5)

(28) Holes by Louis Sachar (Aug., 2/5)

(29) Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (Aug., 4/5)

(30) 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King (Aug., 2/5)

(31) American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (Sep., 3/5)

(32) The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve (Sep., 2/5)

(33) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (Sep., 3/5)

(34) I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Woolfe (Oct., 3/5)

(35) The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon (Oct., 4/5)

(36) Exile by Blake Nelson (Oct., 3/5)

(37) Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup (Oct., 3/5)

(38) Nellcott is My Darling by Golda Friend (Oct., 2/5)

(39) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Oct., 2/5)

(40) The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (Oct., 2/5)

(41) Naked by David Sedaris (Oct., 3/5)

(42) The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Nov., 3/5)

(43) Atonement by Ian McEwan (Nov., 2/5)

(44) Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Nov., 2/5)

(45) The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (Nov., 3/5)

(46) Manstealing for Fat Girls by Michelle Embree (Nov., 3/5)

(47) Slowly Downward by Stanley Donwood (Nov., 3/5)

(48) Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver (Dec., 2/5)

(49) Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (Dec., 1/5)

(50) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Dec., 2/5)

GRAPHIC NOVELS/COMIC COLLECTIONS

(1) 100 Bullets Vol. 5: The Counterfifth Detective by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 5/5)

(2) 100 Bullets Vol. 6: Six Feet Under the Gun by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 4/5)

(3) 100 Bullets Vol. 7: Samurai by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 4/5)

(4) 100 Bullets Vol. 8: The Hard Way by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 5/5)

(5) 100 Bullets Vol. 9: Strychnine Lives by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 4/5)

(6) 100 Bullets Vol. 10: Decayed by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 4/5)

(7) 100 Bullets Vol. 11: Once Upon a Crime by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 4/5)

(8) 100 Bullets Vol. 12: Dirty by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 4/5)

(9) 100 Bullets Vol. 13: Wilt by Brian Azzarello (Jan., 5/5)

(10) Bone Vol. 1: Out From Boneville by Jeff Smith (Jan., 4/5)

(11) Bone Vol. 2: The Great Cow Race by Jeff Smith (Jan., 4/5)

(12) Bone Vol. 3: Eyes of the Storm by Jeff Smith (Jan., 5/5)

(13) Bone Vol. 4: The Dragonslayer by Jeff Smith (Jan., 5/5)

(14) Bone Vol. 5: Rock Jaw, Master of the Eastern Border by Jeff Smith (Jan., 4/5)

(15) Bone Vol. 6: Old Man's Cave by Jeff Smith (Jan., 5/5)

(16) Bone Vol. 7: Ghost Circles by Jeff Smith (Jan., 5/5)

(17) Bone Vol. 8: Treasure Hunters by Jeff Smith (Feb., 5/5)

(18) Bone Vol. 9: Crown of Horns by Jeff Smith (Feb., 5/5)

(19) Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar (Mar., 4/5)

(20) Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb (May, 4/5)

(21) The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book by Bill Watterson (May, 4/5)

(22) Hellboy Vol. 7: The Troll Witch and Other Stories by Mike Mignola (Jun., 3/5)

(23) Hellboy Vol. 8: Darkness Calls by Mike Mignola (Jun., 3/5)

(24) Hellboy Vol. 9: The Wild Hunt by Mike Mignola (Jun., 4/5)

(25) Hard Boiled by Frank Miller (Jun., 3/5)

(26) Powers Vol. 1: Who Killed Retro Girl? by Michael Brian Bendis (Sep., 4/5)

(27) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1 by Alan Moore (Oct., 4/5)

(28) Top 10 Vol. 1 by Alan Moore (Oct., 4/5)

(29) V for Vendetta by Alan (Nov., 5/5)

(30) Top 10 Vol. 2 by Alan Moore (Nov., 4/5)

(31) Smax by Alan Moore (Dec., 4/5)

(32) The Forty-Niners by Alan Moore (Dec., 3/5)

(33) The Dark Knight Strikes Again Vol. 1 by Frank Miller (Dec., 4/5)

(34) The Dark Knight Strikes Again Vol. 2 by Frank Miller (Dec., 3/5)

(35) The Dark Knight Strikes Again Vol. 3 by Frank Miller (Dec., 4/5)

(36) Y: The Last Man Vol. 1: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughn (Dec., 4/5)

(37) Y: The Last Man Vol. 2: Cycles by Brian K. Vaughn (Dec., 5/5)

(38) Y: The Last Man Vol. 3: One Small Step by Brian K. Vaughn (Dec., 4/5)

(39) Y: The Last Man Vol. 4: Safeword by Brian K. Vaughn (Dec., 4/5)

(40) Y: The Last Man Vol. 5: Ring of Truth by Brian K. Vaughn (Dec., 5/5)

(41) Y: The Last Man Vol. 6: Girl on Girl by Brian K. Vaughn (Dec., 5/5)

NFL Conference Championships/Super Bowl XLV?

Here is another blog post where I make a fool of myself again with some more football predictions. This coming Sunday hosts two huge games. obviously, in the AFC and NFC championships. These will be both fun and stressful to watch, as in each game I feel passionately for one team and strongly dislike the other (at least this season).

Before I get on with my picks, I want to draw attention to this: a post I made on Super Bowl Sunday last year. You can go ahead and ignore all the bold and idiotic claims I made regarding Super Bowl XLIV (New Orleans vs. Indianapolis). You can also please ignore the fact that at the beginning of the 2010 season, I predicted Indianapolis and Green Bay play in the Super Bowl, and then midway through the season I changed my mind and decided it would be Pittsburgh and the New York Giants. But, in that Super Bowl post from last year, if you would kindly read the final paragraph, you will see that I picked Pittsburgh to play Green Bay in this year's Super Bowl. Just saying/bragging/hoping.

Oh, and the picture above is not any indication of how I think a Super Bowl that featured Pittsburgh and Green Bay would necessarily go down. Again, just saying.

Anyway, here we go!

AFC Championship
This will be quite the physical brawl as two of the NFL's best defenses square off. I cannot imagine Mark Sanchez doing what he did last Sunday against the #1 defense in the league. The Jets may have beat Pittsburgh in the regular season, but if I have my facts right, Troy Polamalu wasn't even playing (and he is the glue that holds this defense together, apparently). Regardless, this shouldn't be a statistically pretty game, and should be very close, and if Pittsburgh doesn't shut Rex Ryans fat mouth, I'm gonna be pissed.
Final score: Pittsburgh Steelers over New York Jets 20-17

NFC Championship
I don't hate the Chicago Bears nearly as much as I do the New York Jets, so my soul won't be crushed if they win. But boy do I love the Green Bay Packers with Aaron Rodgers at the helm. So much so that I think I am ready to call them my #2 NFC team after the Detroit Lions (which, admittingly, is probably only because I have to say that having grown up in Metro Detroit). Anyway, this game should be real good, and I stress the SHOULD, because, to paraphrase my friend Eric Gallipo, of all the teams left, the Bears are the most likely to let the game get out of control (though, don't get me wrong, I'd love to see that happen to the Jets). This could be another great defensive match, but I think it's more likely that the Packers D make a fool of Jay Cutler than the Bears to keep Rodgers in check the way he's been playing this month (his performance against the Atlanta Falcons last Saturday has to go down as one of the greatest by a quarterback in the playoffs of all time). I think he might tear Chicago apart.
Final score: Green Bay Packers over Chicago Bears 27-17

January 2011: The Month Of "D"

This month, January 2011, there are four bands with names that begin with the letter "D" who are releasing albums that are very good to just about perfect. It is an exciting month for music, and here I am, about to talk a little bit about these four albums.


Deerhoof Vs. Evil - Deerhoof (Polyvinyl, 2011)
With the recent signings of Deerhoof and Vivian Girls, the Polyvinyl Record Co. seems to be trying to make some sort of hipster comeback. This is awesome. After the wonderful guitar onslaught that 2008's Offend Maggie brought, I've been anxious for the next Deerhoof LP. After my first couple of times through Deerhoof Vs. Evil, I was a little disappointed. "The Merry Barracks" has some brilliant moments (mainly in its guitar chime towards the end), and the album's opening two tracks, "Qui Dorm, Nomes Somia" and "Behold a Marvel in the Darkness," almost rival the best tracks from Offend Maggie ("Offend Maggie" and "Family of Others"). Almost. The sounds throughout are considerably more varied than Offend Maggie and 2005's The Runners Four, thus having more in common with Milk Man (2004) and Friend Opportunity (2007). Thankfully, this new one is still very much a Deerhoof record, as the beautifully quirky melodies, chimey retro guitars, driving bass and Greg Saunier's insane drumming are all still there. Deerhoof Vs. Evil is already easily growing on me.


Kaputt - Destroyer (Merge, 2011)
I've gone on quite a journey with Dan Bejar's Destroyer since 2008's disappointing (though not terrible by any means) Trouble in Dreams. 2009 saw the release of a couple ambient songs in the Bay of Pigs EP, and last year there was the Archer on the Beach EP, which featured two even more ambient tracks that were way over my head. Also in 2010, I revisited Destroyer's Rubies (2006), and discovered that it is one of my favorite albums of the past decade. So, I was very interested in the 2011 release of Kaputt, which comes out of the gate with a fantastic and surprising sound that is subtle, smooth and sexy. There's not a song that's less than good in the whole lot. The chord progressions are painstakingly simple and brilliant and Bejar's signature crooning is just as awkward and somehow enjoyable as ever. Substituting acoustic drums with drum machine is an intriguing and appropriate decision, and the additions of sexy saxophone and flute are welcome ones, as weird as that may be. "Bay of Pigs" shows up again as Kaputt's closer, and it just might be the record's best track. I am very much looking forward to spending more time with this one.


Emergency & I (Vinyl Reissue) - The Dismemberment Plan (Barsuk, 2011)
The Dismemberment Plan's seminal 1999 masterpiece, Emergency & I, gets the vinyl treatment for the first time, and now that I'm pretty seriously purchasing vinyl, I couldn't be more excited. The album is just about perfect and still sounds fresh and completely unique 12 years into its existence. The vinyl reissue features perhaps their zaniest track, "The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich", from the split EP with Juno, as well as a few b-sides that I've never heard before. I cannot wait to hear what "A Life of Possibilities," "Spider in the Snow," "The City," "Girl O'Clock" and "Back and Forth" sound like on vinyl.


Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics - Ducktails (Woodsist, 2011)
I haven't necessarily loved anything Ducktails' Matthew Mondanile has released (aside from absolutely everything I've heard from his main band, Real Estate) until I heard some of the songs from his just released third full length, Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics. His previous releases are predominantly ambient and formless lo-fi psychedelic soundscapes that often times were quite beautiful. Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics is much different in the sense that it basically sounds like a druggier Real Estate with drum machine instead of live drums. Obviously it is very early to make this claim, but as of the middle of January, I think this is my favorite album in 2011 so far.

Six Films Recently Viewed For The First Time

Right back atcha all quick-like.

For the non-profit agency that employs me part-time, I job coach on Mondays at a Family Video in Canton. They have a lot of previously viewed DVDs on sale for $2. Sometimes I purchase some. Here comes a list of five of those that I recently watched (and another movie that my friend Whitney rented), along with what I said about them via Facebook.

Art School Confidential (2006)
Written by Daniel Clowes, directed by Terry Zwigoff
Dark, weird, pretty funny. Malkovich is masterful as a pretentious drawing and painting professor.

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
Written by Joshua Malkin, Randy Pearlstein and Ti West, directed by Ti West
Hilarious and totally disgusting. Very cool style, film looks surprisingly good. The first Cabin Fever is one of the greatest gross out horror films I've ever seen. This one, albeit still totally good, lacked a little bit, even in the gore sense... which is crazy.

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2002)
Written by Michael Petroni and Jeff Stockwell, directed by Peter Care
Meant to see this long ago. Good coming of age film. The animated scenes were fantastic. Was completely shocked by the ending. I have a huge crush on Jena Malone.

Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
Written by Jared and Jerusha Hess, directed by Jared Hess
In spite of the recycling of types of characters from Napolean Dynamite, Gentlemen Broncos was insane and funny. It dragged in places, and a lot of the story and characters were forced, but there were enough hilarious, bizarre and uncomfortable moments to make watching this quite enjoyable.

Observe and Report (2009)
Written and directed by Jody Hill
Very dark, very funny. I cannot deny that Seth Rogan is one of my absolute favorite actors and dudes around.

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Written by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggars, directed by Spike Jonze.
Finally saw it! Beautiful both visiually and emotionally, but still not quite as amazing as I was hoping for.

Y: The Last Man

Y: The Last Man (Vertigo, 2002-2008)
by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra
For around the past month, I've been reading a comic book series collected into ten trades called Y: The Last Man. I borrowed the series from my great buddy Matt Rickle, who has never led me astray. Needless to say, it ruled.

The gist of the story is a plague hits the entire earth, killing every living male mammal on the planet with the exception of Yorick Brown and his current pet monkey Ampersand. Most of the ten books focus on the two companions' various journeys and misadventures trying to discover the source of and solution for the plague with the mysterious government agent 355 and the brilliant and sometimes equally as mysterious Dr. Allison Mann.

I'm not going to get too detailed, as there is a lot of ground to cover with a lot of subtleties and twists that I'd rather not spoil. I will say that, while not perfect, the entire series is nothing short of fantastic. Not the best comic series I've ever read, but still, damn amazing. If you consider yourself my friend, and feel that you can trust my judgment without many specific details, then just do yourself a favor and read this ASAP. It opens perfectly, has plenty of peaks and very few valleys and ends beautifully and emotionally (which, is very appropriate for this blog). To be honest, a specific occurence in the final book seriously made me cry. I may be a baby, but you better read Y: The Last Man if you haven't already.

The Future/2011 Intro

Heya, pals! How'd you like my 2010 year-end list? No comments, huh? Well, I'm over it.

2010 is over and done with, thank God. Time to move on to 2011.

Things will be different, technically and emotionally, here at Emotional Drumming 2K11. I'll probably be posting even less due to having two jobs instead of zero now. I'm giving up the Twitter reviews, since I haven't had the time to emerse myself in new music quite so much since this past September. Plus, I think I'm finally of the opinion that I'd rather focus on the tons of old(er) music I've discovered and am interested in than this trivial new shit. Not that I won't listen to new music, because you know I will, just not so intensely.

I sort of want to make this blog a little more interactive too? That's touchy because there aren't too many people I like to argue about things with over the internet, and I definitely don't like doing that with strangers. Alas, I hope there is more of all of that this year.

Regardless, I think I'm going to try and make the blog even less official and perhaps even less organized than it is. A good friend of mine, name of Brian LaBenne, started a new blog where he just talks about various pieces of media/art/pop culture/whatever that he consumes, and I really like that idea (you can go to that very blog by clicking on his name a little ways back). I think at times I want to put that sort of twist on this blog, so I'll try to talk more about baseball and books and movies and video games. You know, other things that I like aside from music and football. And, also, all of this, assuming that I some how have the time for it all.

Lastly, no promises, but I still intend to finalize and post some sort of list of my favorite records from the past decade. I know at this point it's really late, but I don't care.

To the future! And another, more interesting post instantly!