http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Sat, 30 Apr 2005 22:30:05 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. 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Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/04/30/223005.php Eric LindholmConcert review: Elvis Costello and the Imposters play the Borgata Casino, Atlantic City, April 23rd.Elvis Costello burst onto the stage in Atlantic City last week and launched into his first song - track #1 from his debut album "My Aim is True" - "Welcome to the Working Week." If it was meant to invoke EC's punk years, the effect faded away as Elvis segued into a series of songs from his latest CD, "The Delivery Man" which are more down-tempo and country-oriented.While Costello worked through his vast song catalog with a lot of vigor, the concert seemed oddly stunted as if an awkward transaction was being completed. Elvis had almost no banter for the audience and after his normal show closer of "Pump It Up" he never left the stage and just followed-up with what can only be called a "rolling encore."Then it was done and the lights came up. Um...OK. Good night. Music28868@blogcritics.org Sat, 30 Apr 2005 22:30:05 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/09/03/223300.php Eric Lindholm"Newjack" is an extraordinary piece of undercover journalism. When Ted Conover was denied permission to follow a recruit through the academy for correction officers, he applied. After two months of training, Conover (like almost all new COs) was sent to New York's infamous Sing Sing prison.With an unprecedented viewpoint into the American penal system, Conover often drifts unnecessarily into social commentary. However, his account is gripping, but without a trace of humor, and often depressing. It's clear that corrections officers are prisoners of sort - except they go home at night. Conover notes that at the heart of the job, correction officers (by the way, never referred to as "guards") are charged with the unenviable position of denying men their freedom. Books19443@blogcritics.org Fri, 3 Sep 2004 22:33:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/02/06/223207.php Eric LindholmLike God, there's something...ineffable?...about the CBS drama "Joan of Arcadia." The show follows the trials of an average teenager (Amber Tamblyn) who must complete certain "missions" for God, who often appears to Joan in various everyday forms.Typically, "God" simply tells Joan to do a certain something: e.g. "join the debate club" and the ultimate purpose of the mission presents itself. But more often than not, these tasks reveal a final outcome that only the Supreme Being could possibly understand.Example: In one show, Joan is ordered to take a burnout student to the prom. Showing kindness to an outcast student? Nope. Through a series of circumstances, it's discovered that the troubled teen had been on the cusp of a Columbine-style rampage; one that had been averted by Joan's intervention. His life is ruined...but numerous lives are spared in a future seen only by the Almighty.My feeling is that "Joan of Arcadia" is a hit because (like the example above) it touches upon the nature of God and the heart of spirituality. On another level, there's this suggestion by "God" that we have free will and the good and evil in the world is of our own making. So, like Joan, we should try just a little bit harder and everything will fall into place. Video12481@blogcritics.org Fri, 6 Feb 2004 22:32:07 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/12/18/214557.php Eric LindholmYou know "lounge" music. You've heard it in the silky smooth vocals of Dean Martin and Mel Torme in the background of movies set in Las Vegas. Think "Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin and you're tapping your toe to the swing of a vodka martini. Now the people who put together the Ultra-Lounge series have compiled the best of the holiday season in a collection they call "Christmas Cocktails."If you're exhausted with the standard Christmas fare, try the gentle horns of Peggy Lee's version of "Winter Wonderland" or the campy instrumental "Holiday on Skis." My fave is "(Everybody's waitin' for) The Man with the Bag" by Kay Starr. Kick back with Christmas Cocktails and it will be in heavy rotation for your holiday season. Music11096@blogcritics.org Thu, 18 Dec 2003 21:45:57 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/11/15/003951.php Eric LindholmConcert review: Belle and Sebastian at the Calvin Theater, Northampton, MAThe music of Belle and Sebastian, like Steely Dan, is difficult to categorize. It's Welsh-folk-pop with a smidge of flutes, horns, cellos and violins. They run the gamut from upbeat foot-tapping songs to a bone-slow ballads. Thus, in their Northampton concert the Smith and Hampshire College kids weren't sure how to react from song to song. The result was a tentative audience that wasn't sure whether to mosh or groove.But it was all good: Belle and Sebastian is a remarkably talented group (they're not a duo - the name comes from a French children's book) playing multi-layered tunes with a multitude of instruments. The lead's vocals were clean, if distorted by a heavy UK accent. I was most pleased when they played an upbeat song and invited some locals onto the stage to dance in the shadows. After the "dance" song, one of the locals suggested another danceable song and Belle and Sebastian did a quick regroup to perform the song that was obviously not on the original set list. As it turns out, it was one of my favorites - "Womans Realm" - from their last CD.If I have one minor quibble, it's that B&S seemed to play a LOT of songs from their new CD "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" which I hadn't picked up yet. (I like to be marginally surprised by a group's new material when I go to a concert). As a result, there were only a handful of songs I readily recognized, but that was OK.All in all, it's hard not to be impressed by such a diverse and talented group. When Belle and Sebastian unleash the soaring swing of a violin or the deep growl of a trumpet, it's a tribute to the tradition of music. Music10140@blogcritics.org Sat, 15 Nov 2003 00:39:51 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/24/205322.php Eric LindholmSay what you like about J.K. Rowling: at this point, she could pretty much scribble a crayon drawing of a bespectacled boy onto cardboard and it would still sell a gazillion copies. Instead she churned out 870 pages in this latest installment of the Harry Potter season.I stress the word "churned" because Harry Potter 5 lacks a lot of the fun and wonderment of the previous books. Remember the thrill when Harry kicked off his Firebolt in pursuit of the Golden Snitch? For reasons I won't fully reveal, that's largely missing from this book. Harry the 15-year-old is moody and sullen most of the time and hopeless with his potential girlfriend Cho. Rowling tries too hard to give the characters further dimension, but at the same time we're served a formula Harry Potter story. (Mystery, peril, conflict, victory).Harry Potter 5 is a good but if you've read the previous stories, it's a book of obligation rather than pure enjoyment. Books9490@blogcritics.org Fri, 24 Oct 2003 20:53:22 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/03/231253.php Eric Lindholm"Welcome Interstate Managers" was purchased on a whim from Amazon because Fountains of Wayne was one of those bands with a good buzz. Right away, I was sucked into the simple jangling guitar of the opening track "Mexican Wine" and its careless sing-song lyrics."I used to fly for United Airlines Then I got fired for reading High Times"This was followed by the "Future So's Bright I have to wear Shades" for the 21st century: "Bright Future in Sales" and the fabulous "Stacy's Mom" about lusting after a MILF.The infectous melodies and sharp lyrics stand aside a staggering musical range from the quick-tempo "Little Red Light" to the neo-ballad of the wonderful "Hackensack" to the acoustic "Hey Julie".Seriously, this CD instantly made my Desert Island disc collection and I'm planning on getting the rest of the Fountains of Wayne collection. Hell, I might even get a fountain from Wayne (New Jersey). Music8902@blogcritics.org Fri, 3 Oct 2003 23:12:53 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/09/05/224522.php Eric LindholmIn case you didn't know, Warren Zevon has a terminal case of cancer - a year ago his doctors gave him a couple months to live. It would appear that the singer/songwriter has spent the last 12 months, working on pure will, adrenaline and morphine, to finish what is likely to be his last recording: "The Wind."If I could interject: there's a powerful-strong urge to pan Zevon's dying effort if only to set this blogcritic apart from the music crowd, who have universally proclaimed "The Wind" as a great work. Boy, I'd love the publicity. But I can't do it in good conscious: "The Wind" is a great CD.First thought: It's surprisingly light-hearted and easygoing. You can see Zevon laughing along with "background singers" Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, Dwight Yoakam, and Billy Bob Thornton. Jim Keltner and Don Henley take turns on drums. Except for a small (intentional?) crack on "Prison Grove," Zevon's vocals are strong and passionate and he appears to make a kind of spiritual resolution on a cover of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heavens Door." But then, a couple of tracks later, Zevon cries: "Why stop now? Let's party the rest of the night!" in a raucous sendup that embodies everything that rock and roll stands for.Don't buy "The Wind" because you feel bad for Warren Zevon. Forget that. Buy it for the purest reason of all: great music from a great musician and, above all, a fun ride. Music8149@blogcritics.org Fri, 5 Sep 2003 22:45:22 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/08/12/221558.php Eric LindholmDisclaimer: I have two boys. Disclaimer: Christina Hoff Sommers is on the staff at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. Conclusion: None of that matters.Why? Although sociology and human development can be a slippery science, with ill-defined objective goals, Ms. Sommers has written a book of surpassingly convincing evidence that boys are being shortchanged in our American educational system.I was tipped off to this book after reading an article in Business Week about "The New Gender Gap." It seems that the "weaker sex" now occupies a greater claim to the educational supremacy than the boys; girls are swelling the honor roles while remedial classes fill with testosterone. Ms. Sommers lays out the case against unequal treatment with such dispassionate and methodical procedure, you might mistake her approach for a scientist proving the speed of light. But the conclusion is inescapable: boys have suffered - and continue to suffer - under a system that has shifted advantage to girls.In a broader frame, Sommers presents an education system soaked with political correctness and gender politics that should alarm men and women alike. In that sense, "The War Against Boys" should trouble the parents of girls as well as boys. A powerful polemic for our times. Books7541@blogcritics.org Tue, 12 Aug 2003 22:15:58 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/07/19/235622.php Eric LindholmWriting a science-type book for general consumption is a tricky endeavor. Too technical and you lose the layman audience; too pedestrian, and the scientific audience fades. There's a lot to like in Henry Petroski's "To Engineer is Human" but this book takes off on tangents that are meant to illuminate, but only serve to exasperate.The main thesis of the book is that engineering failures can teach us how to build better bridges, buildings, and machines. Petroski shines when he sticks to this theme, as he does in compelling detail over the Tacoma-Narrows bridge collapse, the skyway in the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel, and the failure of the de Havilland Comet aircrafts in the mid-1950s. These accounts are rich in detail and reveal the highly specialized skill of forensic engineering, or, figuring out what went wrong.But Petroski strains the reader's patience by belaboring the point in long passages about the roles and responsibilities of engineers to learn from mistakes and strive towards better designs. This is abundantly obvious throughout the book - why beat the drum over and over? Further, the author seems intent on showing his literal side, quoting mythology, Robert Frost, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. The purpose of these passages seem tenuous and forced.As a final nit-pick, the paperback version I picked up had a photo of the space shuttle on the front and I was expecting a forensic report on what was arguably the worst engineering failure of the last 50 years. But the book was published before the 1986 disaster and there's only a glancing review in the "Afterword" section of the 1992 version that I picked up. In sum, the book would have been better suited to a long magazine article in "Scientific American" sans the moralizing. Books7059@blogcritics.org Sat, 19 Jul 2003 23:56:22 EDT