Seal Clubbing

My wife and I went to hear Seal perform tonight. I say ‘hear’ because we didn’t actually pay to go inside. We brought a blanket and sat on the grass outside the amphi’s fence.

It’s not because I’m cheap. It’s more to do with the principle of the thing. I just don’t think Seal justifies the exorbitant prices they were asking for tickets.

Reading that back I realize that it’s exactly what someone who was cheap would say. Is this what they call an ‘epiphany’? Am I actually cheap? All those times I didn’t do things on principle, was I just being stingy?

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Very Little To See Here

Two new shows–one awful, one not so much. This is me, taking in the summer pilots so you don’t have to.

First up, Rizzoli & Isles.

She’s a tough homicide detective with a raspy voice, an overbearing mother and a history as the target of a serial killer. She’s Detective Jane Rizzoli.

She’s a medical examiner who always wears designer clothes even at a crime scene and who keeps a giant turtle as a pet. She’s Dr. Maura Isles.

Jane? Maura? Are you kidding me? Continue reading

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Should We Hug Or Something?

I thought you’d never ask.

Entourage is back and two episodes in to the seventh season it’s as fun as it ever was. If you’re not watching, why not?

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Interview With Alan Moore

I just read a great new interview with the mage of Northampton, Alan Moore. The full text of the interview is here: http://www.thestoolpigeon.co.uk/features/alan-moore.html.

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Revisiting The Dead

I stayed up far too late last night watching a movie with Son #1. It all started when we watched the latest trailer for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

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Posted in George Clooney, Michael Cera, Movies, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Shaun Of The Dead, Simon Pegg, Son #1 | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

One Day I’ll Never Get Back

I know that it’s the easiest thing in the world to write a bad review of something. I get it. It’s much easier to be snarky and dismissive than to write a positive and appreciative review.

I used to read The Believer, a magazine which makes a virtue of never being snarky or dismissive. I’m just not that virtuous.

The best thing I can say about David Nicholls’ novel One Day is that I read it in one day. I don’t normally read 430 pages in a single day, but it was shabbat and this was the shabbiest thing I have read in a long time. I was racing to finish it and move on. Trite, insulting, easy and dull. Just awful.

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Great Rock And Roll Pauses

I want this blog to be filled with the things that I like to start conversations about. Things that I come across and want to share. Things you might never otherwise find. I’m sure that I’ll never be the first to uncover these things, but I may be the first to bring them to your attention. I would be happy with that.

This is a slide show. A short story in PowerPoint form. It lasts around nine minutes and you need to watch it with the sound on to get the full picture. Nothing rude or scary will happen, but there are snippets of music inside.

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Not Everything Should Be Illuminated

There’s a fantastic episode of Modern Family where Phil’s wife, Claire, sees him on TV at a basketball game and calls him for fun, only to see him check the caller ID and send the call to voicemail. Ouch. How often do we get to see how our spouses relate to us when we’re not around?

This week, my wife went to hear a couple of literary lads speak. I read and enjoyed both of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novels. Everything Is Illuminated was funny and sad, while Extremely Loud and Incredibly Difficult Book Title To Remember made me cry… a lot… which wouldn’t have been so bad except I was reading it on a plane and I could tell the stewardess was getting nervous.

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Posted in Books, Etgar Keret, Jonathan Safran Foer, Modern Family, My Wife, TV | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment