The more I do this, the more I read through the weekly choices and selections and get a feel for the diversity of voices that are assembled within this digital Big Tent, I get reminded again and again what a remarkable place this is.
With that briefest of brief preambles out of the way I give you this week's best as brought to you by the editors of Blogcritics.org.
Music
Music Editor: Connie Phillips
CD Review: Carlos Jimenez, Arriving, by John Owen (Jan. 4)
John Owen offered up three reviews this week, but this one stood out. He takes an in-depth look at this artist, the album, and the jazz flute in general. He gives a full and complex review and offers up a bit of history to the instrument and the genre.
The Friday Morning Listen: Devendra Banhart by Mark Saleski (Jan. 6)
Mark always delivers great tidbits in his weekly column, but this week's edition was especially enjoyable as he examines an artist who had to grow on him.
Books
Books Editor: Warren Kelly
Mr. Kelly did not make a selection this week, so I'm going to slide in a pick here by a true class act, Blogcritics.org Editor Natalie Bennett:
Book Review: Duel: A True Story of Death and Honour by James Landale by Natalie Bennett (Jan. 4)
A tale of Scottish dueling and family history reviewed and laid out in a rich and uniquely British voice? Yes please, and I'll take milk with my tea as well, ta:
The reader can imagine a Prussian aristocrat shuddering with horror at the scene and the class of the opponents. But now it was that the two men had to meet on that muddy field the next morning.
TV/Film
TV/Film Co-Editors: Alisha Karabinus and Joan Hunt
The American Family Association Questions The Book Of Daniel by swingingpuss (Jan. 4)
A new year, a new controversial show on TV - that's the name of the game. Except that The Book of Daniel is likely to be less objectionable that watchdog groups would like to have us believe. However, the good news is that their outrage draws attention to the show and provides greater publicity than NBC could have ever planned. Or did NBC plan it that way? Swingingpuss looks at the show and the reasons the America Family Association is up in arms.
Do Comedians Have A Point of View? by Tony Fiqueroa (Jan. 6)
Tony jumps into the Bill O'Reilly vs. David Letterman pool with both feet. I don't think he bothered to test the waters first, but that did hurt him one iota. Included in this article are portions of the transcript of the encounter, including some of the best lines heard on TV in a long time.
Article comments
1 - alpha
I thank you, my plumber thanks you, the mechanic thanks you and we can hardly wait for the check to arrive.
Alternatively, what happened to those neat little "Pick of the Week" boxes? That would suffice.
"Google Cooking" was not, perhaps, my most serious effort but it is fun. So is working with Lisa as an editor.
2 - swingingpuss
My humble thanks for bestowing this grandiose honor. Can I have the "Pick of the Week" sticker so I can stick it on my 7-Eleven cashier booth?
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
If that does come back, I move that it be a giant thumbs up.
4 - Mark Saleski
gee, thanks.
but honestly, i made the whole thing up.
;-)
5 - Bennett
The Hot Topic Gang sends thanks to Lisa for her obvious intelligence, good taste, and razor sharp perception in picking our column this week.
:-]
Thanks!
6 - Aaman
Bennett, you should be sniffing some Space Dust soon, hoping for a good post on the same
7 - Bennett
Will do Aaman, I received it just before hitting the road on Thursday AM. Thanks for the reminder!
Also, New Horizons is set to launch next week. Live web-video of the launch is a sure thing, and I'll do up something with a link.
Cheers!
8 - Matt Paprocki
I'd like to nominate this one for next weeks picks:
9 - Shark
[Shark -- looking pretty spiffy in his Levis, cowboy boot, and tuxedo --stops wolfing down free hor d'oeuvres and chugging cheap champagne long enough to get up out of his squeaky metal folding chair and slowly walk to the stage in a silent, empty auditorium.]
Thank you, thank you. I appreciate this honor, and I'd like to thank God, my parents, my high school English teacher, our esteemed editor Mr. Berlin -- and especially Mr. Eric Olsen -- for providing us the opportunity to ply our trade in this empty cavern -- and to all of you who've supported me over the years.
Oh... and I want to... oh...
[Shark gets tearful -- tries to buck up in case someone takes a photograph -- then realizes his tux shirt has slipped off his shoulder -- exposing a nipple]
[Cassette tape of loud orchestra cue begins to drown him out]
10 - Michael J. West
Sorry so late on making this selection, but I can't wait another second to nominate this piece for a reader's pick.
Mark Schannon, in the space of thirteen paragraphs, covers seemingly all of the nuance and shades of gray that exist between the two dominant sides of the political divide. It's honest and, dare to believe it, surprisingly nonpartisan.
11 - Shark
I'd like to nominate A Moment Frozen: Ten Hours Old by Trinket.
A short beautiful essay about a photograph, a child, and a memory preserved. This is an example of the kind of personal writing style that initated the blogging revolution we now enjoy.
Trinket (and another BC veteran Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti) consistently demonstrate that with talent -- personal thoughts and memories can be elevated to art.
12 - Tony Figueroa
I’m thrilled just to know that people are reading my stuff.
Thanks again.
13 - John Owen
Wow... So someone from time to time is actually reading what I write? That's gonna cramp my style... it's so liberating to assume that my words are for an audience that is purely theoretical!
By the way. I have to give a big nod to Stephen V. Funk's review of American Primitive, Vol. II from Jan. 13.
As Elvis Costello once (apocryphally) said, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture." In his review, Funk in his way resorts to a tactic I myself have used in the past, abandoning reason, wit, and urbane deployment of metaphor and analogy in favor of wild hand-waving and interpretive Alvin Ailey acrobatics on the page. Of course, this tactic only works when the music you are writing about has touched you so deeply that mere words cannot do justice to the occasion.
Although Funk, being a more together cat than I am, never actually loses his mind. Instead, his review encapsulates as best it can the electrifying and completely indescribable energy of the very old and strange 78s collected on American Primitive, Vol. II. Moreover, his review made me really, really want to listen to the set, and that's the ultimate test.
14 - alpha
Since "Digital Cookery" was chosen as a Pick of the Week, I am allowed to pass the torch for another story for the week ending 1/17. After trying hard to decide between three posts, I finally decided on "Pro-Life or Anti-Sex" of January 14 by Elvira Black.
It was not the most original (this is an on-going as well as emotional controversy) and, though well-written and coherently thought-out; it doesn't hit you over the head. Still, it is a fine post that is also an excellent rebuttal to a post by John Bambenek "Number of Cases of "Child Rape" Covered Up by Planned Parenthood in Illinois Remains Steady in 2004" which suffers seriously by not agreeing with me.
However, I really chose this post as a performance: both the writing and the moderation of comments. She answered critics, thanked commenters, found good things to say whenever possible and attempted to keep the thread on a fair and thoughtful rather than personal track. A Blogcritics strength is the comments make each article interactive. Elvira used and guided that firestorm to make her article, the Bambanek post and the comments one long conversation. Kudos.
15 - Aaron Auzins
I'd like to nominate:
Gamecube Review: Mario Party 7 written on Jan. 13, 2005 by Matt Paprocki. It's one of the most current games reviewed for the week and provides great insight on a series going nowhere.
16 - Eric Berlin
Congrats to all the pickees again!
17 - swingingpuss
I'd like to nominate- this post by allendrury
I hope I met the 17th deadline....thanks for giving us the oppurtunity to nominate our favorite post
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