"Food, Inc." is a very well-done, well-intentioned, informative film, and if you've done any sort of reading about the American food system over the past five years, you don't need to see it.
The movie functions as sort of a "greatest hits" of food issues; the film is composed of several segments, each one detailing a different problem. (America is run by corn! Monsanto is evil! Animals are treated badly!) This scattered approach is both its strength and weakness; it'd be an excellent first exposure to these matters for anyone who isn't aware of these issues, but it's much more likely that those who are seeing it are already quite into this stuff and won't get much more out of it. About half of it is pretty much just The Omnivore's Dilemma in movie form, complete with Michael Pollan interviews and a visit to Polyface Farm, and the other half covers the intellectual property issues that were already covered in more detail in The Future of Food. There's also some stuff about how terrible fast food is, featuring Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. To its credit, the film does conclude with steps you can take to help solve the problem, but it basically boils down to "Buy organic" and "Shop at a farmer's market."
Despite this seemingly negative review, I think Food, Inc. would be a great introduction to these matters for the unaware, but if you've seen/read any of the above materials, it's probably not worth your money to run out and see it. However, if you need a refresher on how fucked up things are, by all means, check it out.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Surprise! Your Food System is Unsustainable
Monday, June 22, 2009
What Else is in the Teaches of Peaches?
Last Wednesday, I was lucky enough to see Peaches perform at the 9:30 Club here in DC (an excellent venue, I must say.) It was awesome. Click through for my review (containing NSFW language, but hey, no one's looking at your screen that closely.)
As the lights dimmed around midnight, a song began playing over the loudspeakers - it was Peaches singing "I Touch Myself," which while extremely obvious, was still highly amusing. She then ran out and performed two songs from her excellent new album, "I Feel Cream," and asked the crowd, "Are you ready to get fucked in the ass by Peaches?!" The crowd responded enthusiastically. This set the tone for the night, and if you're more uncomfortable than amused, then this probably wasn't the show for you. BUT I LOVED IT. Here are some other awesome things that happened:
- While singing "Operate" (the one from Mean Girls!) she crowd-surfed while holding a digital camera, even standing up on the hands of audience members.
- During "Mud," she ran around the balcony of the club, periodically stopping to straddle the railing.
- At the start of "Talk to Me," her latest single, she announced she had cousins in DC. Two ladies in bikinis and Cousin Itt wigs came out and performed a disinterested dance while Peaches shouted, "Why don't you talk to me?" at them. It was awesome.
- "Fuck the Pain Away" was the last song of her main set, naturally, and she started it by standing on the bass drum of the drum set and saying "I want you all to look at the peach!" A light in the vaginal area of her bodysuit then began to blink rapidly. She then deep-throated a drumstick before angrily banging on a cymbal during the song.
- Oh yeah, there were like, 4 encores too. She expressed how "hardcore" the audience was before telling us it was the longest show she had played all tour. Holler.
So yeah, it was a pretty fantastic show. She played material from every album, and even songs like "Rock and Roll" which didn't impress me much in their studio incarnations were good fun live. She's definitely not for everyone, but if you can handle over-the-top and over-sexualized, get thee to a Peaches show.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Off With Your Head
I was not really a Yeah Yeah Yeahs (YYYs hereafter for brevity's sake) fan upon hearing "Date with the Night," the band's first single. In fact, I kind of hated it. I can handle screamy and abrasive, but to me, it was, "Look at how screamy and abrasive we are!" without anything interesting about it. I had written the band off when I heard "Maps," which went a long way toward rehabilitating them for me, but I considered it mostly a fluke and continued to mostly ignore their output.
This began to change, however, when I heard a review of the new YYYs album, It's Blitz!, on the NPR show Sound Opinions, in which the hosts each gave it a "Buy It" ranking (their highest mark). The song clips intrigued me, so I sought out the album, and whoa do I love it.
It's Blitz! shows a dancier, calmer, more vulnerable side to the band that is instantly becoming after the borderline obnoxious swagger of their past output. There are a number of surprisingly affecting ballads, in which Karen O. shows off the yearning and likability we first saw in "Maps." The best of these is "Hysteric," which is so successful in winning you over that you don't really notice the cliched nature of lines such as "You suddenly complete me." (Close second: "Runaway," which is propelled by an aching piano line and moody synth strings.)
There's still some edge to the sound, lest ye be concerned the YYYs have lost their edge. "Dull Life" is yelping and energetic without being grating, and lead single "Zero" is probably the most instantly exciting song on the album. The best track on the album is of this vein: "Heads Will Roll" features Karen declaring "Off with your head/dance 'til your dead" over a thumping disco beat and it's awesome. (This may have to be my new life motto.)
How you feel about this album will probably have a lot to do with what you thought of prior YYYs work. If you're one of those "Date with the Night" fans, you might see this as a cop-out from the band, or even worse, a mellowing with age. However, for me, It's Blitz! is just a refinement of their earlier sound to something more interesting, engaging, and ultimately, more satisfying.
You should probably get it.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Byrne Baby Byrne
On Friday, I was fortunate enough to see David Byrne perform at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. I'm far from unbiased on the awesomeness that is David Byrne; whenever forced to choose a favorite band, I go for Talking Heads, and I consider some of his solo work (The Catherine Wheel, Music from the Knee Plays) to be just as strong as the best TH stuff. Additionally, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, his recent collaboration with Brian Eno, has been in heavy rotation for me since its release. Needless to say, I was pumped.
David did not disappoint me. At this point in his career, Byrne could easily become complacent and just roll out the hits each time he performs, but instead, he continues to reimagine and reinterpret songs from throughout his extensive catalog. A personal highlight for me was the unexpected "My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks)" from The Catherine Wheel, which has been my favorite DB solo song for some time. His interpretation of "Help Me Somebody" from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was fascinating and downright avant-garde. The original recording features the sampled vocals of a raving preacher, but Byrne decided to recreate the vocals himself; his channeling was fascinating and almost unnerving. Additionally, underappreciated TH gems like "Air" and "I Zimbra" were awesome to see live.
Of course, the show wasn't all obscurity. Classics such as "Burning Down the House" and "Once in a Lifetime" were amazing, especially when one considers how many times he must have performed each of these in his life. ("Once in a Lifetime" earned him a loooong standing ovation, and the balcony literally started to shake during "Burning Down the House" due to the vehement dancing taking place.) The new material felt relatively subdued by comparison, but there were still some very strong moments, such as the campfire feel of "My Big Nurse" and the deliberate, playful "Life is Long."
I've focused on the music so far, but it's important to note that David Byrne seems to place a lot of value in putting on a show. The most obvious example is the use of three modern dancers during select songs, who provided a fascinating visual counterpoint to the music. Their strongest moment came in "Life is Long," when they, along with Byrne, spun around and moved about the stage in swivel chairs, emphasizing the song's anti-torpor message. (Although one of them jumped over Byrne's head during "Once in a Lifetime," and that was pretty amazing too.) One of my fellow concertgoers found the dancers distracting, but Byrne himself danced about the stage in his awkward, wonderful way, showing that he still gets into his music after all these years.
Anyway, I could gush on and on, I'm sure, but you get the point by now. David Byrne is awesome. He puts on an awesome show. Spend any amount of money you must in order to see him.
P.S. For another blogger's perspective on the show, including a full setlist, check out The Lone Microphone.
Monday, August 18, 2008
I Have A (review of) Woody (Allen's latest film)
I had the pleasure last night of taking some time out from my stressful weekend of moving to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen's latest film. Being a hardcore Woodyphile, I always make it a point to see his movies on opening weekend if possible, since it tends to enhance my enjoyment. (You know how when you play a song you really like for someone and you can tell they're not enjoying it, so you also don't like it as much at that moment? I'm trying to avoid that.) Anyway, with a few misgivings, I quite enjoyed the film.
A brief plot outline for those who don't know: Two young American women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlet Johansson) are spending the summer in Barcelona (title already explained!) with a relative of Vicky's (the tragically underused Patrica Clarkson). Vicky values commitment and is engaged to a decent, incredibly boring young man, while Cristina is more free-wheeling and driven by passion. They both fall for local lothario Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), an artist, but it's Cristina who ends up moving in with him. Things seem great until Juan Antonio's slightly unhinged ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz) reenters his life.
Upon a little reflection, I've decided the most appropriate word to describe the movie is realistic. While many of the events that occur are quite fanciful and even improbable, the reactions of the characters always make sense and seem reasonable. It's almost as if Woody decided to take two standard characters (Vicky and Cristina) and two non-standard characters (Juan Antonio and Maria Elena), throw them all together, and see what happens. Although we may be rooting for one outcome due to the way movies have trained us what to expect, Woody gives us what probably would happen if these events actually did occur to these people. It may not be entirely satisfying, but it also gives us a chance for greater identification with the characters. At the end of the film, can many of us really say that we would have been able to do things differently?
Vicky Cristina Barcelona has been the subject of some awards buzz, primarily for Penélope Cruz and for Woody's original screenplay. Penélope is most certainly deserving of consideration; she is fantastic as Maria Elena, never letting the role slip into the caricature it would become in a lesser actress's hands. I formerly was not a huge fan of hers, but after seeing her amazing performances in Volver and now this, I'm converted. I'm a little less enthusiastic about the screenplay; although the writing is very strong at times, I was somewhat put off by the narration. It was overused and somewhat stilting, and ultimately served as more of a distraction than an enhancement. But obviously, as a Woody fanboy, I'll still be rooting for him to get the nom.
In conclusion: Go see Vicky Cristina Barcelona. It's funny, poignant, and interesting, and along with other recent Woody films such as Match Point, it shows that he's still got new and different stories to tell.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Use Your Words
I love crossword puzzles. SO MUCH. Although my enjoyment of crosswords began in earnest during my freshman year Japanese class when I feigned a shared interest with the constantly-crosswording cute boy sitting next to me, it has since grown into an obsession. (I think my favorite part is the puns.) I've made it a habit to do at least one print crossword a day, but sometimes, that's just not enough. This is why I recently decided to try and find the best source for free online crosswords.
(Disclaimer: I used the highly sophisticated method of googling "crosswords" and going through some of the top results, so this list is by no means exhaustive or perfect. Also, I only tried each site on one day; the quality of each may vary over time. If you know of any great places I omitted, please comment and let me know.)
In no particular order:
USA Today
Being something of a snob, I expected the USA Today crossword to be a)too easy and b) all about celebrities, so I was pleased when I found it to be moderately difficult and nary a celebrity was to be found. Although a few of the clues were perplexing (Clue: XFs, XJs and XKs. Answer: JAGS? Someone explain this to me), this was perfectly fine. The site seems to update daily, but given the alternatives, it's probably not worth it to come here just for the one available daily puzzle.
Best Crosswords
I initially felt that this site would live up to its name; after all, they offer seven (seven!) new crosswords a day in the "competitive" section of the site. But as you might expect, it's a little too good to be true. On the second crossword I did, I was already receiving repeat clues from the first one, which makes me think there's just a giant bank of clues and a computer constructs the puzzles automatically. This site is good for a couple puzzles a day, but I fear that repeated visits would result in a severely diminished challenge.
Washington Post
This might be my top pick. Although the Post's crosswords aren't quite as great as the New York Times, they also don't charge you to play online. (I love you Will Shortz, but I am not paying a yearly fee to do your puzzles.) These are the same crosswords that appear in the paper each day, and the archives go back a week. I would say that these are a bit higher than average on the difficulty spectrum, since even the Wednesday puzzles can be somewhat perplexing at times.
Boatload Puzzles
Too small and too easy. Nope.
WebCrosswords.com
Between this site and the Post, you should never be wanting for an online crossword again. WebCrosswords offers ten reasonably challenging puzzles at any given time, and the hint system is standard when compared to other sites. My only issue with this site is that it doesn't seem to follow the typical difficulty curve, in which Monday is the easiest and the puzzles get harder as the week goes on.
And so ends my brief survey of Online Crossword Land. I was going to examine more, but the offerings seem to get pretty sucky after these. In summary, the Washington Post puzzles are my favorite, with WebCrosswords.com coming in at a close second. Although it's so much more satisfying to actually solve a puzzle in print (and in pen!) these should tide you over. The others are probably skippable. If I've missed your favorite, let me know and I'll give it a try.
Links Contributed By You Guys:
Ellen suggested this link, which itself links to many other crossword sites.