BC Magazine Editors’ Picks: February 5 through February 11

Once again, our editors are on hand to answer the question you're all asking: What was special about BC last week? Here it all is, from soup to nuts. Well, from music to gaming, anyway.

Read on, and remember that there's plenty more where that came from.

 

MUSIC

From Music Editor Connie Phillips:

Tom Johnson has been looking at the best Overlooked Alternatives of 2006. In this column, Overlooked Alternatives: 2006 Spotlight, Part 4: The Best of the Rest, he wraps it all up with a look at those peculiar nuggets that don't really fit anywhere else.

In Music Review: A Date With John Waters, Jon Sobel takes a very candid and entertaining look at the traditions of Valentine's Day and how it relates to this album.

Benjamin Cossel asks the question What Do You Do When Nashville Isn't Making "Real" Country Music? and solves the problem with some solid new "Old Country" solutions.

From Asst. Music Editor DJRadiohead:

My suggestion to all of you is to subscribe to Mark Saleski's Friday Morning Listen. Not only will you be treated to a great read, you're likely to hear about some music and artists you never knew existed. Take this week's look at Sex Mob.

There are seemingly century-long gaps in between them, but The Mondo Project's Hot Topic columns should never be missed. This installment tackles the age old debate about selling out.

Check out this review of Bruce Hornsby's box set by one of our newer writers, Peter Chakarian.

From Asst. Music Editor A.L. Harper:

So elegantly stated it could have been Elton John's eulogy. Or maybe it is. Read Nick Deriso's beautifully sad One Track Mind: Elton John – "Come Down in Time".

Ray Ellis announces "And the Best Rock Song Ever Written is… No! Not That One!".

BOOKS

From Books Editor Natalie Bennett:

I'm not, it might be said, in the demographic for graphic novels – well perhaps I'm being stereotypical there, but I think of them as being mainly a young, male preoccupation. But some great reviews on BC Magazine lately have made me think I'm missing out on something. Among them was Blake Matthew's review of American Born Chinese, which makes the work sound both sophisticated and challenging, while also accessible, adjectives that might also be applied to the beautifully structured review. But importantly, while Blake tells us a twist that holds three individual tales together, he doesn't give it away – an all-too-frequent lapse of some reviewers.

There's a temptation in picks such as this to always focus on the sexy stuff – the fiction and the fascinating non-fiction (and you can tell from my reviews I find history particularly fascinating). But lots of us read books sometimes, or even always, for practical information, and you'll also find a lot of excellent reviews of this type of book
on BC Magazine. This week I was taken by Adam Jusko's review of What Got You Here Won't Get You There. Adam explains "if you're like most people, you've got one, two, maybe three of Goldsmith's handy Twenty Habits That Hold You Back". This was a review that left me musing on some of my own bad habits, not that I necessarily intend
to change them…

From Asst. Book Editor Gordon Hauptfleisch:

"Domestic bliss it is, without the domesticity," Claire Carroll amusingly writes of the cushy ways and means of the author of To Hell With All That – Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife: "While it is seductive to conjure visions of a Domestic Renaissance and a return to all things baked and beautiful, it is hollow advice from the mistress of the house when one is not doing those things oneself." Such blissful ignorance is wittily and effectively portrayed throughout Claire's review, and my maid, gardener, and personal organizer agree.

As someone interested in the local history and lore of each place I live or visit, seeking out the regional books and periodicals, I have an appreciation for Ed Rust's evocative and colorful magazine overviews of three regional titles, Vermont Life, Georgia Backroads and Delaware Beach Life. It's also a good way to live vicariously and imagine — as Rust illustrates a true tale from the life of George Tecumseh Sherman — a Southern belle telling me, "Your eyes are so cold and cruel. I pity the man who would ever become your antagonist. Ah, how you would crush an enemy!"

TV/FILM

From TV Editor TV and Film Guy:

Tell me, who are you? (who are you? who, who, who, who? )
Tell me, who are you? (who are you? who, who, who, who? )
'cause I really wanna know (who are you? who, who, who, who? )
'cause I really wanna know (who are you? who, who, who, who? )
Chris Beaumont on… yeah, you guessed it, Dr. Who.

Diana Hartman takes a cold, hard look at Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" and how it differs from the average reality TV show. And, it does differ, in some dramatic and crucially important ways.

From Film Editor Lisa McKay:

Interweaving some background info on the life of director Michel Gondry, Patrick takes a journey through The Science of Sleep and discusses the autobiographical elements that make it a truly personal work of art. 

You don't have to be a baby boomer to appreciate George Dvorsky's insightful look at the '50s classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still. Discussing the political climate that fertilized films like this during the dawning of the cold war era, George makes a case for this film's continued relevance.

 

CULTURE

From Culture Editor Diana Hartman:

The title says it all. In Alzheimer's: Tips on Understanding the Disease and its Limitations Joanne D. Kiggins compassionately reveals the often ignored side of Alzheimer's (the caretakers) to those who may have overlooked the intensity and demands of caring for others.

Anil Menon listened in as Sam Harris (The End of Faith) and Reza Aslan (No God But God) debated religion. Part review and part opinion, Menon asserts his points with an almost delightful clarity in Reason and Religion: Odd Couple Redux.

POLITICS

From Asst. Politics Editor Mark Schannon:

The Temperature Also Rises by Selwyn Duke is a very funny satire that, by the end, has you shaking your head wondering if this guy isn't on to something important.

GAMING

From Gaming Editor Ken Edwards:

Writing the Unwritten Rules of Online Gaming by Graeme Smith — Rule #1: Read this article.

SCI/TECH

From Technology Editor Daniel Woolstencroft:

We've all seen the ads: "Hi: I'm a PC! And I'm a Mac!" but what's the reality like? Boldly going where one or two PC users have gone before – but as yet no Blogcritic has written about it – Bruce Kratofil dips his toe in the pool of Mac and lets us know what the water's like, in the first installment of Can a PC Guy Become a Mac Guy?

In other news: George Dvorsky is worrying about The Perils of a Digital Life – and anyone with a Second Life should probably take note: could this be the shape of things to come?

Finally this week, Diane Kristine handily gives us some Cool Tools for Blogging Fuel.