(For the week of Sept. 17 to Sept. 23)***
"My biggest fear in life is to be average." - M. Night Shyamalan, writer and director
"Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment." - Steven Covey
|- MUSIC -|- BOOKS -|- VIDEO -|- CULTURE/TECH -|- POLITICS -|
If you are listed below, Thank you. Second, please feel free to use the button below on your own site for picks this week. Right click this image to get the URL. gif listed first, jpg second. If you link the image to your winning post that would be even better.
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MUSIC: Matt Freelove's picks of the week
REVIEW: Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow by Cian Traynor, Sept. 17
Cian Traynor deconstructs Devendra Banhart's new album, and finds that a more polished production does not equal a reduction in artistic quality.
Stupid CD Copy Protection - Switchfoot Responds by Tim (No other name) , Sept. 22
Tim brings to light a disturbing trend in CD protection that can only hurt both artists and their fans.
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BOOKS: Pat Cummings' picks of the week
Review: Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy by John Zorabedian, Sept. 21
John brings Girls Gone Wild, Xena, Desperate Housewives, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer into his review of a book on the rise of the "raunch culture" and the mainstreaming of pornography. A worthy topic, well-treated by his review.
Review: Hollywood Animal by Joe Eszterhas by Ashok K. Banker, Sept. 22
Ashok's reviews always incorporate literary allusions, even when he doesn't name the source. His review of the autobiography of Eszterhas - the "Great White of Hollywood screenwriters" - is no exception. Take his invitation to swim with the sharks, or at least, to read about it.
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VIDEO: Joan Hunt's pick of the week
The 57th Emmy Awards, Various authors, Sept. 21
A collective pick for Blogcritics Emmys coverage. Apparently more of us care about the Emmys than we let on. Maybe it's appropriate, considering that television is often our main weapon against boredom. Or perhaps it's because we look to TV to provide us an escape from real life, which is often fraught with various unpleasant or difficult moments. No matter why we like television, more than a few of us have shown a fair amount of scorn for awards shows. You wouldn't know it by the number of posts related to the 57th Annual Emmy Awards.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
Color me chuffed. Thanks vm Pat.
2 - Chris Beaumont
Thank you, Joan!
Has a brother/sister combo ever made it to the Picks in the same week before? :)
3 - Temple Stark
The DNA tests are still out.
4 - Lindsay Beaumont
Thanks, Joan!
5 - Al Barger
Thanks for picking my Clinton analysis, and special thanks to Shark for his poem in comment 129. I made a whole little separate article of it. That Clinton scares the bejesus out of me!
Also, I particularly second the choice of Schannon's "Voice of God" article. Outstanding choice.
Then again, I've got my own ideas about the voice of God.
6 - Joanie
Congrats to both of you!
7 - LegendaryMonkey
Congrats to all the picks!
8 - Scott Butki
Congrats, everyone. Are the weekly picks indexed somewhere?
9 - Scott Butki
"My biggest fear in life is to be average." - M. Night Shyamalan, writer and director
Someone let M. Night he should be getting
afraid right about now.
10 - Mark Schannon
Thanks Lisa. If I ever figure out how to talk to God, I'll put in a good word for you. Although it hurts to be serious, it is an honor & I appreciate it.
After much sturm and drang, I got the pic & a link on typepad although it's not as pretty as I'd like. I thought blogs were supposed to be easy, lol.
11 - Mark Schannon
Just read Al Barger's comment & his blog. Thank you, sir, for your kind remarks.
However, you don't seem to allow comments on your blog, so I'll have to leave them here.
Ayn, oops, sorry, God said she'd given America everything it needs to defend itself--but she hasn't given us the brains to do it wisely. There was a very disturbing series of articles in the New York Times Magazine one or two weeks ago--since you have to buy the articles in their archives, I can't even get the correct issue.
Anyway, it's not how we defeat terrorism, but how & the Bush folks, at least according to this article, have been playing right into Osama's hands.
By odd coincidence, I started reading Sheehan's "A Bright & Shining Lie," realizing I'd neve read it. The parallels between Vietnam & Iraq are very disturbing. We never seem to learn any lessons.
Enough said...this ain't the place for debate.
12 - DrPat
Misery loves company, Lisa -- I wrote the piece to share my pain with readers who could mourn with me. Thanks for the nod, but I wish I had never had this news to write about...
13 - Bennett Dawson
Thanks Lisa! I hope the news from NASA continues to be good news.
14 - Al Barger
Mark, my "voice of God" column is also here at Blogcritics with an open comments section. CLICK HERE
You are of course welcome and encouraged to leave comments there, though there might likely be some columns of mine better for foreign policy type criticism. Perhaps THIS ONE.