Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Slicing Up Eyeballs (and Eardrums): 05.01.07


A weekly (Tuesdays) list of what I'm doing with my eyes and ears (and thumbs?). It is by no means a comprehensive list – just of the moment. If something strikes me between Tuesdays I'll update here – so check back throughout the week.

And be sure to check the Tuesday Track Player over there on the right left for the week's featured cut.


Magazines:
Finally found time to devour the lastest iss (May 2007, 15.05) of Wired. Pick up a copy to check the annual Rave Awards honorees – 22 “innovators, instigators, and inventors” – it's an interesting group covering the spectrum, from pop-culture to politics, and technology to design.

Books:
Still in the midst of re-reading Snow Crash. Every page reveals a different piece of very prescient visionary thinking from Mr. Stephenson. [See also SUEB(AED) 04.17.07. – Ed.]

I've got a backlog of stuff I'm looking forward to though. Here's what's on top of the stack:

After Dark, the latest from prolific Japanese author Haruki Murakami. I haven't read any of his previous work but am looking forward to seeing what the hype is all about. [Technically not ‘on top of the stack’ as it's pub date is 05.08. But I have pre-ordered it. – Ed.]
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah. Saw him on The Daily Show and the soft-spoken, exceedingly polite gentleman talking with Jon Stewart was hard to reconcile with the drug-fueled, AK-47 toting child that is said to inhabit this memoir.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die..., Chip & Dan Heath. Gotta stay on top of my game. So, occasionally you gotta read one of the ‘hot’ books-of-the-moment. Though by the time I get to it, the moment may have passed. We'll see.

If anyone's read any of these and has some thoughts, let me know.

Movies:
I got nothin'.

Music:
Another album I've come late to. A Weekend in the City, Bloc Party's latest. Their first, Silent Alarm, is right up there with Arctic Monkey's debut as one of my favorites of the past couple of years. But, for some reason, I wasn't ready to dive in on this one. Anyway, my brother, Diego, gave it the ‘go ahead’ about a month ago and so I finally picked it up – but I didn't start spinning it. Then, on Monday I'm driving in to work and Hunting for Witches comes on Left of Center (Sirius) – but I don't realize what I'm hearing – and I think to myself, “This sh*t is fookin' hot!” and I look at the display to find – it's BP. And that's why Hunting for Witches is this week's Tuesday Track.

TV:
Heroes, Sopranos, Entourage, The Office, 30 Rock. That's all I can tell you.

Video Games:
Again, I got nothin'. I'm as disappointed as you are. You can still game after you're married, right? Right?

2 comments:

Sanity said...

Why oh why has The Sopranos been such a disappointment since, well, the 4th season on really? This is the way he is going to go out? This is the denouement of the ostensibly best thing to ever happen to television? I think Michaelangelo has been upgraded from D-Bag status.

Unknown said...

"The guy who writes the Sopranos makes Michaelangelo look like a douchebag"
– From the SNL parody promo for teh Sopranos (sometime around Season 2-3?).

Can they come back from the precipice of douchbaggery in the next few episodes? I don't know. It's been a good run. I will miss 'em. But not too much.

What I really wish is that HBO would resurrect Deadwood.