The Good Wife (season 2 thoughts)

(Spoilers: Season 2 ahead)

I should probably wait, I only have 4 episodes left to go in the second season. I could wait to express my thoughts then, but I can't wait.

The Good Wife is one of the most incredible TV shows in history. The first season was brilliant, and I never thought the second season could best it. After all, the more episodes I see, the more attuned to its nuances I become, the more famliar with its tricks I am and the harder it gets for the show to surprise me, or catch me. And yet the second season is twice, maybe three times as good as the first. The episodic punch takes a back seat to the amazing storyline. The depth of the protagonists takes center stage here and each individual is illuminated with considerable depth and nuance. And a truly impeccable ensamble cast of frequently recurring guest-stars puts together one of the richest worlds I've seen portrayed in drama. It's just wonderful.

The question of Alicia's morality or lackthereof continues to startle and progress. The last couple of episodes actually had them defending the good guys for a change.... almost. In the latest episode, our Lockhart/Gardner crew discover that the company they're in legal battle against has been embezzling its assets, but they can't bring it to the police because then those assets would be frozen and Lockhart/Gardner won't make any money.... so Will Gardner extorts money from the company by threatening to bring criminal charges. Weirdest thing is, nobody even said anything about it. Nobody was like "So hey um, we're extorting this company. This is way illegal."

Lockhart/Gardner has done countless things in the grey area of the law, small bending of proper conduct here and there. They've also wantonly represented murderers, and drug kingpins, and benefited from the criminal activities of other people. Not to mention they've horribly misled and screwed over people in ways that are completely legal, as lawyers sometimes do. But they've NEVER done anything so transparently criminal before, nothing so unobtusely against the law. And so I'm sitting here wondering..... is this eventually going to 'come to a head' and meet some sort of conclusion? Or, are our heroes simply going to be 'the badguys' for the whole show? Am I watching The Sopranos now? Is Alicia Florrick the new Walter White?

On the romantic side Alicia still doesn't seem much inclined to either of her potential suitors. That would be great if she was secretly a lesbian, though it's unlikely. As it turns out, Kalinda slept with Peter long ago, which is pretty messed up. She must have just done it for political reasons, which begs the question of how many other people has she slept with? This will probably be the final nail in the coffin for Peter, unfortunately, but even worse I hope it won't ruin Alicia and Kalinda's relationship. Again Kerry plays the good samaritan, going to bat for Kalinda when she'll probably never reciprocate his feelings. I adore that FBI agent that keeps trying to seduce Kalinda, hopefully they'll get together someday. I wonder if Kalinda is holding off on getting together with her because she's with the FBI, or because Kalinda is timid about her feelings.

Will's casual sex partner, who initially only served to make Alicia jealous, has turned into a full-fledged serious girlfriend with a decent amount of depth and romance -- one who I (and I think the rest of the audience too) am rooting for! Which is great. They could be setting us up to let Alicia finally try to make real amends with her husband Peter. Or.... they could be lining duck in a row so that when Alicia and Will finally get together, we won't even be able to enjoy it because they'll leave a Pompeii of emotional destruction in their wake.

I never thought I'd see Eli Gould have a love interest. It's a shame it didn't work out, although understandable. Under normal conditions all hope would be lost, but with the brilliant consistency of recurring characters in this show, I actually think they might get a third chance (she's had two episodes about her already!). He deserves a nice girlfriend, aside from Kalinda he's probably the coolest character.

I also liked how they cut out the big issues early. I was expecting the Lockhart & Gardner VS Bond, and the Kalinda VS Blake battles to make up the season's climax. But instead they concluded those storylines with about 8 episodes left, and brought in new controveries. Clever, keeping us on our toes. Wouldn't be surprised if the end of the State's Attorney election came around with a couple episodes left.

I guess that's enough for now. See you next time!

The Good Wife

While I absolutely hate how my taste is ever-changing, never knowing what I'll be interested in next month, having to repeatedly reinvent myself as my entertainment interests morph, having to perpetually succumb to an errant muse... At least it can be pretty funny sometimes, the tangential paths my interests take.

I believe it was exactly a year ago today when I watched my first episode of The Good Wife, strictly because the episode featured Miranda Cosgrove. At the time I wasn't interested in drama, so it was a fleeting experience. But now I've been powering through the series. I'm a handful of episodes into Season 2, and only a handful away from Miranda's episode!

The Good Wife is fast becoming one of my all-time favorite dramas. I haven't watched a drama in such rapid succession since Dawson's Creek. It presents the perfect balance of episodic punch and ongoing story to make it effortlessly enthralling. And its moral nuance makes shows I used to think were cool like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit look like a puddle of putrid milk, with their one-dimensional storylines and characters which are invariably caricatures of the most obvious stereotypes: the concerned father, the repressed mother, the sleazy criminal, an intern could write superior characters. And character development? There is none. o.e But back to a show that's actually good...

(Spoilers: Season Two ahead)

Season one was fantastic and I'm loving season two even more so far. Season two is making palatable things that repulsed me in season one, which is pretty darn impressive.

I absolutely couldn't stand the Will/Alicia romantic pairing in season one. And I still feel like for her to cheat would negate so much of her character, so much of what she did in season one (not that it wouldn't necessarily fit very much in line with where she's been going lately). At first Will just seeemed like an obsessive creep, a nuisance. But in season two Will seems to be getting a better wrap, he's being shown with other women and you can see what a catch he really has been all along. When the Childs deposition leaks and Will acts as Alicia's attorney, that scene was just awesome. Will was acting so powerful and protective. I still don't think Alicia should cheat but I can now get onboard for a hypothetical post-divorce relationship for them.

The Kerry/Alicia stand-off has been well-played thus far. Kerry was always sort of going back and forth on my "is he good or is he bad?" meter, but at this point I think it's safe to say that he's genuinely a good person. I can't think of anything he's done that is even in the legal grey areas that our 'heroes' frequently stalk. I'm really hoping he gets back to Lockhart/Gardner someday. But I digress. Alicia & Lockhart/Gardner of course win most of their cases but I don't think Kerry cares any less about genuine justice, he appears to care more. His assertions to Alicia that she is a bad person could be his attempt to psych her out and hurt her, but it's just as likely that he's being sincere. After all, what he's saying about Alicia is pretty much true.

Speaking of, Alicia's descent into the grey areas of the law has been very intriguing, and I feel like the intention behind it is to show you that this is exactly how it happened to her husband Peter. Peter Florrick starts out as this apparently corrupt guy, this borderline villianous figure and then through the series his profile has increased bit by bit. Then you see Alicia take the same path. She starts out as the steadfast moral compass, but then she, in her own words "grows up," she has to deal with real world circumstances. First it's just "sometimes helping people means being less than forthright, skirting the law a bit." Then it's "sometimes a lawyer has to help set free a murderer or a drug lord who isn't secretly innocent, and that's just part of the job. The justice system depends on mutual representation, right? My kids have to eat, right?"

Through Alicia you see how Peter must have fallen into the darker roads while always maintaining a genuine desire to do right. Still, I'm not sure WHY they're having us empathize with Peter, when it seems like Alicia is destined to leave him for Will. Are they just trying to make it hard on us? Make us understand the difficult position Alicia is in? Will Peter drop off the series if Alicia leaves him, or will he maintain a role like Kerry?

The ONE thing I don't like about this incredible season this far is... Kalinda's little feud with the in house supersleuth incurred from the merger with new firm partner Derrick Bond. It seems childish and unnecessary, very uncharacteristic for such a zenlike and intelligent character as Kalinda. I know from last season's director commentaries that in season 2 they're trying to dispel Kalinda's appearence of infalibility and expand on her character more, which is fantastic. But I don't understand her angle here, she's going to go berserk at this guy and yet she doesn't stand to lose anything? It's not like Lockhart, Gardner & Bond are going to fire one of their supersleuths, there's no need for the two to compete. Unless she's in love with Alicia and she feels that the new guy is relieving her of the role she has in Alicia's life. But I very highly doubt that. Love seems like the only angle that would cause such erratic and seemingly unnecessary action. If she's in love with the new guy then that's a major disapointment, I'm under the impression she's a lesbian. But I guess time will tell!

Now I'm off to watch some more...

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Like all things, I stumbled on this book in a random tangential way. I noticed an article about its impending movie recreation on a film-news website while reading about a new contract Jennette McCurdy had signed. It seemed intriguing enough to me that I went out and got it. Besides, I've had such good luck with books this year.

Now, unlike most of the books I read this year (The Hunger Games, Good Moon Rising), Miss Peregrine's is not quite an unfettered masterpiece. But it's another entry into that beautiful genre of sci-fi/action/romance like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, and I'm very glad I read it. I can't go around expecting every book to be born of pure indelible ether, after all. A good book is still a good book, and future installments could get even better.

It's an interesting story that presents an intriguing sci-fi world, with lovable characters and a couple decent twists. In contrast to The Hunger Games (where I could have done with far less romance), the saving grace of this story was its romantic content, an adorable coupling I found fairly genuine and sweet. I hope we see much more of it in the next book(s).

Also, Miss Peregrine's tackles the concept of science fiction inter-generational (stunted growth) dating far more cleverly than does Twilight. Instead of a creepy 100 year old vampire trolling highschools for teen girls, Miss Peregrine's 88 year old Emma has the excuse of having been isolated in de facto confinement since she was first a teen. It's heavily hinted that all the children, no matter how many years they've lived, retain the mental age that coincides with their youthful appearance.

As far as the sci fi and action elements go, something feels just a smidge 'off' about it. I can't tell if beneath this story there's a richer mythology, or if the author is just making things up as he goes along. Hopefully in a few years, the succeeding books will prove that Ransom Riggs (can that really be his birth name?) had every stroke planned out in the most immaculate detail like the impeccable work of JK Rowling. I look forward to future installments.

Flawless TV Blocks

I know I already did something exactly like this. But last time I was focused more on crafting a palatable, sustainable home network. It would work well IRL but it was a little messy on paper, too many twists and turns. I value simplicity above most things. I wanted to go back and do some definitive programming blocks. No alternating slots, nothing but the five star shows, the ones you can show 5 times a week. Also threw together some weekend blocks at the end... y'know, for those shows that are good enough to show two times a week.

Each block is headed with a loose timeframe and the type of programming encased within....



FLAWLESS TV BLOCKS
----


Early Morning Action Cartoons


X-Men: The Animated Series
ThunderCats (2011)
Gundam Wing
Dragon Ball Z (first 3 seasons)
Dragon Ball Z (first 3 seasons)
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender




Midday Sitcom Block


iCarly
Victorious
Shake It Up
Life With Derek
Everybody Hates Chris
Reba
Reba
Victorious
iCarly




Nighttime Adult Cartoon Block


South Park
South Park
Futurama
Futurama
The Boondocks
The Boondocks
Beavis and Butt-head
Daria




Deep Night Drama Block


The Good Wife
Dawson's Creek
Breaking Bad




WEEKEND BLOX (SAT & SUN)
------



Early Morning Sitcoms


Good Luck Charlie
Wizards of Waverly Place
Friends
Roseanne





Morning Dramas


Gilmore Girls
Glee
Being Human
Being Human
The Sopranos




Midday Adult Cartoons


The Simpsons
American Dad
Family Guy
Metalocalypse
Frisky Dingo
12 oz Mouse
Aqua Teen Hunger Force




Evening Sitcoms


ANT Farm
Jessie
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
What I Like About You
George Lopez
Awkward




Deep Night Anime


His & Her Circumstances
Berserk
Neon Genesis Evangelion

-

Epilogious note: Certain shows (The Simpsons, Family Guy, Seinfeld), are good enough for a weekday slot, but are simply so extensively overplayed that showing them five days a week on my station would not be palatable.

Taylor Swift at Heinz Field, 6/15/11

It's taken me nearly six months to find the proper words with which to describe the rather bit of fun I had at the Taylor Swift concert I attended. Not that I've been working on writing this all that time, but rather that until now, the event was so fresh and vivid, writing about it appeared simply unnecessary, as though it would dumb it down. I saw a number of great concerts this year, and I may get around to describing the rest, but the best was clearly this.

Taylor Swift w/ Needtobreathe, Randy Montana and Danny Gokey at Heinz Field
June 15th, 2011, Pittsburgh PA


SETLIST


1. Sparks Fly
2. Mine
3. The Story of Us
4. Our Song
5. Mean
6. Back to December (incl. Apologize and You're Not Sorry)
7. Better Than Revenge
8. Speak Now
9. Fearless (incl. Hey, Soul Sister and I'm Yours)
10. Last Kiss
11. You Belong With Me
12. Dear John
13. Enchanted
14. Haunted
15. Long Live


16. Fifteen
17. Love Story

I'm about to gush uncontrollably for a handful of paragrphs, but it's not hyperbole, nor is it even the result of fanatical appreciation (prior to this show, Taylor wasn't even one of my first tier favorites, the concert is what made me into this much of a fan).... That night at Heinz Field with Taylor Swift was one of the most magical experiences of my life. It's the kind of thing I am liable to reminisce over for the rest of my days, that's how beautiful it was. But let's backtrack a moment...

For this concert I went alone, resolved to assuage some of the self-conciousness that had dogged me at the Miranda Cosgrove concert (which I attended with a good, but rather uninterested friend). The choice worked out perfectly. Having someone with me, even if they had been a great friend and a big Taylor fan to share the experience with, would have drawn attention away from the subtle magic of the venue. To avoid congestion from city traffic, I arrived to (and later left) the venue by taking a nicely-sized brisk walk along one of Pittsburgh's majestic rivers, a perfect primer and coda to an electric night.

The open air stadium treated me to a picture-perfect summer evening with just the right warmth, the right measure of softly meandering wind, to conjure up all those wistful feelings of formative summers spent as a youth, when the world seemed alive with wonder. But instead of inspiring ideas of lost innocence and regret, as those wistful summer winds most often do, I was instilled with a sense of glory, because the event I was engorssed in was -- for once -- worthy of those lost summer days, typified by Taylor's set-closing Long Live, an indellibly brilliant ode to the very experience we were all in the midst of living.

The setlist was pefect, even better than I hoped. With enthralling hit after hit after hit, it felt like the first time I saw the great Tom Petty. Except instead of reiterating past glories the umpteenth time like Tom, Taylor was in the midst of her very first victory lap. Undeniably at the peak of her powers, more culturally relevant than anyone in her field, playing all of her newest material, touring her greatest album yet made, still vital and alive and meaning it, this was Taylor's first outing after she had soured to the summit of Earth's good graces with her career-defining Fearless album and tour. It was almost like seeing Pink Floyd tour Wish You Where Here in 1975, or witnessing Nirvana tour In Utero in 1993.

Like In Utero, Speak Now repeats the basic formula from its preceeding masterpiece album, but transfuses it with a wealth of newfound maturity and nuance. There's no question, Fearless boasts Taylor's best few songs. But Speak Now is a stronger, smarter, more consistent album throughout: featuring her most arresting lyrics and her most divine instrumentations. Plus it rocks the hardest, making for the best live experience. Which means it's pretty amazing we got to see her play nearly every track, plus the best of Fearless.

The show featured a total of 5 tracks from her two hit-packed previous albums, even though she could have easily and reasonably spent more than half the show recapping their biggest cuts. That means we got 12 of the 14 songs from Taylor's new album -- this is how a hungry young artist works, they don't dwell on last year's triumph. We got to see Speak Now done as powerfully as the band will ever be able to play it. Many of these incredible album cuts may never be seen again in concert, and I feel privileged to have recieved them. A sprawling, ferocious extended rendition of the pounding 'Better Than Revenge,' all the symphonic punch of 'Haunted' tapped to fill a football stadium, the tender textures of 'Dear John' enhanced with firework firepower... plus an earnest, solo ukelele version of 'Fearless,' it was an expert set.

I look anxiously forward to going back and seeing Taylor's shows year after year, as I have with Tom Petty. And while by 2020 I'm sure I'll be about as sick of hearing You Belong With Me and Fearless as can be (despite these being two of the best songs ever made), I can't wait to see all the incredible album cuts from Taylor's next albums. And I can't wait to complain about how boring her Greatest Hits setlists are in 2030, if she goes that route (and while I'd prefer she didn't, she will). I want to be there to witness it all. I can't wait to become an enduring part of this phenomenon, because this phenomenon may have become an enduring part of me.

Top 5 CD-Rs of 2011

I was raised on rock music, and in rock music the album format is of crucial importance. To this day how my brain interprets music is based around the album mindset, except that what I listen to is increasingly culled from a variety of sources rather than strictly from standard albums. So I've gotten into the habit of putting together definitive mixes that end up feeling and acting to me as though they were real albums.

2011 has been far and away the most lucrative year for music in my life, and that applies to CD-Rs & mixes as well. Here are just a handful of the mixes that have been most important to me this year.


#5 Raps

1. Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin') -- Dr. Dre feat, Jewell, RBX, Snoop Dogg
2. Let Me Ride -- Dr. Dre feat. Jewell, Ruben
3. Who Am I (What's My Name?) -- Snoop Dogg
4. Gin and Juice -- Snoop Dogg
5. The Next Episode -- Dr. Dre feat. Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg
6. Still D.R.E. -- Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg
7. Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang -- Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg
8. Tha Shiznit -- Snoop Dogg
9. The Day the Niggaz Took Over -- Dr. Dre feat. Daz, RBX, Snoop Dogg
10. Only God Can Judge Me -- 2Pac & Rappin' 4-Tay
11. Holla at Me -- 2Pac
12. Wonda Why They Call U Bitch -- 2Pac
13. Life Goes On -- 2Pac
14. Caught in a Hustle -- Immortal Technique

I'm not the most dedicated rap fan in the world, but I'm extremely passionate about the material that hits me. While most of this year was spent on exploring very recent pop music, I also had a soft spot for older g-funk rap. It's not a very diverse set but it's excruciatingly badass and combines, with a few notable omissions, most of my favorite rap songs of all-time.


#4 Pop 6: Dark Billboards


1. Skyscraper -- Demi Lovato
2. In The Dark -- Dev
3. Pocketful of Sunshine -- Natasha Bedingfield
4. Intuition -- Jewel
5. On The Floor -- Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull
6. Shots -- LMFAO feat. Lil Jon
7. Promiscuous -- Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
8. Electric Feel -- Katy Perry
9. Livin' The Vida Loca -- Ricky Martin
10. I Wanna Go -- Britney Spears
11. Friday -- Rebecca Black
12. Hold It Against Me -- Britney Spears
13. Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites -- Skrillex
14. Stay Here Forever -- Jewel

There have been so many great additions to my Pop series this year. This humble little collection I threw together to soothe my boredom when a new work schedule added a lot of walking to my routine, ended up gathering some of the the best songs I've ever heard: year-end classics Skyscraper & In The Dark, Nelly Furtado's magnum opus Promiscuous, and Jewel's beautifully sentimental Stay Here Forever, one of my favorite love songs.


#3 Mockingjay


1. Revolution Is My Name -- Pantera
2. American Flag -- Cat Power
3. Love The Way You Lie (piano) -- Rihanna
4. Straitjacket -- Alanis Morissette
5. Life Eternal -- Mayhem
6. Il etat une foret... -- Gris
7. The Fletcher Memorial Home -- Pink Floyd
8. Posession (piano) -- Sarah McLachlan
9. Glittering Blackness -- Explosions In the Sky
10. Fix a Heart -- Demi Lovato

I adore each of my three playlists inspired by the incredible Hunger Games series, but Mockingjay is the clear superior. It really captures the essence of the book's slide into disruption, madness, and psychological fatigue, while commanding an all-star cast of bands (considering none of them had to agree to be featured here).


#2 Annie On My Mind (Soundtrack)


1. Candlelight -- Imogen Heap
2. Super Bass -- Nicki Minaj
3. Again & Again -- The Bird & The Bee
4. The Best Day -- Taylor Swift
5. On The Radio -- Regina Spektor
6. In McDonalds -- Burial
7. We Are Broken -- Paramore
8. Fearless -- Pink Floyd
9. Thrasher -- Juniper Tar
10. Endorphin -- Burial
11. Brick By Boring Brick -- Paramore
12. All The Way to Heaven -- Melissa Etheridge
13. Misguided Ghosts -- Paramore
14. Fearless -- Taylor Swift

I felt Nancy Garden's all-time classic romance Annie On My Mind deserved a movie rendition so much, that I made up an imaginary soundtrack for it myself. I imediately couldn't stop listening to it, as it perfectly painted the novel in my head scene by scene, as well as culling several of my favorite love songs.


#1 Pop 4: Accelerating Horizons


1. Whip My Hair -- Willow
2. 21st Century Girl -- Willow
3. Tonight I'm Fucking You -- Enrique Eglasias
4. Fuck You -- Cee-Lo Green
5. Till The World Ends -- Britney Spears feat. Ke$ha & Nicki Minaj
6. Piece of Me -- Britney Spears
7. S&M -- Rihanna
8. What's My Name -- Rihanna & Drake
9. Thriller -- Michael Jackson
10. Billie Jean -- Michael Jackson
11. Beat It -- Michael Jackson
12. Who Says -- Selena Gomez
13. Never Say Never -- Justin Bieber
14. Grenade -- Bruno Mars
15. I'm Coming Home -- Diddy feat. Skyler Grey

While there are a few cuts I ought to have axed, this is probably the single strongest Pop collection since the original "Immaculate Pop, Volume One." With year-end bests like Selena's greatest accomplishment to-date Who Says, and the indelibly cool all-star Till The World Ends remix, 2010's greatest hits Fuck You and What's My Name, and a trio of the legendary Michael Jackson's primary jams, I sometimes wonder if I should have called it "Immaculate Pop, Volume Two."


Honorable Mentions: Dance Ether 1, Dance Ether 2, & Dance Ether 3


Over the year I made a trio of discs featuring the most jaw-droppingly siq extended dance club remixes by my favorite artists. There are some truly incredible remixes out there, in fact most of my favorite Lady Gaga tracks are on these collections rather than any of her standard albums. However, each individual mix is merely decent. If I put together the best songs from each into one mix, it would easily have made the list.

The New ThunderCats

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Pop 7: Liberation Jingles

Well, it's here! The seventh volume of my now-mamoth series where I cull great odds and ends pop tracks which I run into randomly through my daily life (often at work, on TV or on the radio). With this being the fifth volume of the year, I suspect I'll take a chill pill and wait a bit before the next one.

Pop 7

1. Hollaback Girl -- Gwen Stefani
2. Daughter -- Pearl Jam
3. What the Hell -- Avril Lavigne
4. I Don't Want to be a Bride -- Vanessa Carlton
5. Hair -- Lady Gaga
6. Criminal -- Fiona Apple
7. Lights (Bassnecter Remix) -- Ellie Goulding
8. I Know What Boys Like -- The Waitresses
9. White Wedding -- Billy Idol
10. Smile -- Avril Lavigne
11. Superman -- Taylor Swift
12. Here We Go Again -- Demi Lovato
13. Love You Like a Love Song (Dave Aude Club Mix) -- Selena Gomez
14. Criminal (Single version) -- Britney Spears

Named it "Liberation Jingles" after I realized I had unwittingly stacked the set with a variety of songs featuring empowerment themes: romantic liberation in What The Hell, I Don't Want to be a Bride, and I Know What Boys Like, and interpersonal liberation in Daughter, Hollaback Girl and Hair. I almost called it "Year of Pop" since this will be the last edition of the Pop series I make in 2011, which has been the year of pop for me. But I didn't want to cap it off as though 2012 won't necessarily be another incredible year of pop in its own right. Also, in preparation for my 2011 year end lists I've been looking into a lot of the highest rank albums I've missed out on. I get the best albums in full, but sometimes only one or two fantastic tracks will habitate an otherwise unnecessary album, so several of those tracks wound up here. They make up more than half the album, actually.

Top 25 Neil Young Guitar Solo Songs

As you know, more often than not I prefer succinct, immaculately paced pop songs. No filler, no meandering. And I'm not much of a guitar head.... but Neil Young is the exception. Neil's the one guy whose guitar jams send me to another plane of existence. The longer, the slower, the more meandering the better! I saw an article detailing the top 10 Neil Young guitar tracks, and it was a pretty crumby list, so I decided to try my hand at it myself. Here are the top 25 best songs you need to listen to if you're looking for the venerable Neil Young's guitar pyrotechnics.

25. T-Bone

-- This 9 minute f-all existential jam from 1981's Re*Ac*Tor annoys many with its unrelenting repetition, but it also provides a bed of mashed potatoes for some meaty guitar solos that a Crazy Horse fan will love.

24. Last Dance

-- This bleak rocker from the 1973 Time Fades Away tour provides pounding sensibilities to mimic the drudgeries of daily life. It also provides an agitated and unhinged Neil with his chance to channel all of his anger from this hazard-prone tour into siq guitar grooves.

23. Ten Men Workin'

-- This rambunctious opener from 1988's This Note's For You became a guitar solo highlight when Neil hit the road with a rocking bluesy band in '87 and '88.

22. World on a String

-- Simple and short, this little rocker from 1975's catharsis-charged Tonight's The Night simmers in just the right way, providing one of shortest, sweetest, and undeniably tastiest little solos of Neil's career. It may be dirt cheap but it's damn satisfying.

21. This Note's For You

-- This 1988 2-minute title track turned into a blazing extended firestorm when the band played it live, thankfully being released in a live version on the 1993 "Lucky Thirteen" compilation.

20. Peace and Love

-- When Neil hooked up with Pearl Jam for 1995's Mirrorball, the prime results were smooth, spacey headjams and this track embodies that kind of guitar glory about as well as any.

19. Goin' Home

-- Neil scrapped the 'Toast' album in favor of 2001's Are You Passionate? But one track made it into the production cut -- this untouchable jam ranks as the last true new Crazy Horse track released in ten years! And yes it's as good as you'd imagine it.

18. Scenery

-- This long, slow burning cut from 1995's Mirrorball with a stark riff and a loose atmosphere is possibly that album's finest track and an unprecedented guitar haven which is sure to send you flying by the end.

17. Cinnamon Girl

-- This archetypal hard rocker from 1969's Everybody Knows This is Nowhere introduced the world to Crazy Horse and to Neil's most ingenius technique: the "one-note" guitar solo. It's not a sprawling jam like Crazy Horse excels in, but as far as succinct rockers go this is Neil's all-time best.

16. Loose Change

-- 1996's Broken Arrow gifted Crazy Horse fans with the most guitar-oriented album Neil has ever made. Loose Change exemplifies the style with a plodding, serenely shimmering lucidity full of guitar goodness and a 9 minute runtime.

15. Slip Away

-- This ethereal jam, also from Broken Arrow, takes you farther above the clouds than the rest of the already atmosphere-orbiting album. Neil's punctuated riff and lingering licks transport me into a cosmic pool hall on a night out half-way between reality and dream.

14. Fuckin' Up

-- 1990's Ragged Glory returned Neil not only to the pique of the cutting edge (the uninhibitedly noisy album, praised by punk guru Steve Albini, effortlessly predated the breaking of grunge to mainstream audiences) but to the guitar rock fervor he had been beloved for through much of the 70s. This disillusioned cut burns with X'er cynicism and handles some of Neil's most timely solos.


13. Love To Burn

-- One of two heavy rocking, 10 minute love-themed jams from Ragged Glory, Love To Burn slides fluidly across a terrain of crunchy licks that are bound to stick in your head.

12. Drive Back

-- Hidden among the many gems on Crazy Horse Mach II's debut album, 1975's Zuma, Drive Back contains without question the most ferocious riffage Neil has ever committed to disc. Though initially very short, on the much praised Zuma live tour, the song took on new dimensions and approached epic jam status.

11. Dangerbird

-- This slug-paced fuzzy anti-social proto-grunge cult classic from Zuma was also home to insane live jams, most notably c/o a 13 & 1/2 minute version from the 1997 live album Year of the Horse.

10. Tonight's The Night

-- Though this eerie bleak title track from 1975 wasn't initially a guitar favorite, it's become a jam classic ever since then, as Neil consistently brings it out to at live gigs in order to groove on its dark emotion, inspiring powerful licks. It has a presence on almost every Crazy Horse tour.

9. Rockin' In The Free World

-- Neil's hit anthem from 1989's Freedom doesn't boast a 10 minute jam but what it does boast is some of the best, most inspired and possessed anti-solos of Neil's career that I just can't help but to freaking adore.

8. Big Time

-- The opener from the guitar-based Broken Arrow offers up contented lyrics and cascading solos for a good 7 minutes. It pretty much exemplifies latter-day Crazy Horse with unparalleled build-up and lingering, illustrious passages.

 7. Change Your Mind

-- 1994's Sleeps With Angels may be Neil's slickest and coolest album. The album's centerpiece is this sprawling, foggy midnight exercise in pure electric emotion, boasting expertly crafted solos that seem to carry you through the wee hours of the pitch black morning by pure ethereal osmosis. The band jams at its finest here and racks up the longest studio runtime in Crazy Horse jam history.

6. Love and Only Love

-- The second of two Ragged Glory's love-themed jams recalls more closely the guitar god mastery of Down By The River in its simple marauding chord progression and indelible licks. Live it absorbs even more biting electricity as the destructive 1991 Weld version will show you.

5. Southern Man

-- While 1970's After the Gold Rush was largely a soft, folky affair, Southern Man rages and boils over with some of the most immaculately catchy, tasty, spider-crawling guitar solos of Neil's career. Neil's early forays into guitar mayhem contained a special spark of fury that makes them indelible.

4. Down By The River

-- What more really needs said about this iconic Everybody Knows This is Nowhere jam? It's a jam like no other, the guitar goes places no other guitarist ever has, in history, period.

3. Like a Hurricane

-- From 1977's American Stars N Bars, this perennial favorite is perhaps Crazy Horse's signature song. The windy barrage of sweet juicy licks flows from home off into a dream. The 14 minute live version from Weld is likely my favorite, but every version of this song is freaking fantastic.

2. Cortez the Killer

-- This, Zuma's ultimate track, is the song that proved Crazy Horse, despite the loss of Danny Whitten, was still a formidable beast. The lengthy instrumental intro alone stands as one of the greatest achievements in guitar history, with its beyond immaculate, note-perfect ascension and foreboding atmosphere.

1. Cowgirl in the Sand

-- The final track on Crazy Horse's debut album, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, is unparalleled in its gorgeous supremacy. From the unstoppable cool of the unassuming, almost tribal intro into it's fiery emergence and all-time great ferreting guitar army, it's not just Neil's best guitar track, but his best track, period.

There are plenty of honorable mentions, though!

Five Essential 'Deluxe Edition' Tracks

With the recent release of three simultaneous singles from Taylor Swift's deluxe edition of Speak Now, I  figured it was time to take a look at this inescapably widespread phenomenon.

These days, I'm convinced that the 'Deluxe Edition' may literally be obligatory. I can't even think of any full-lengths that don't get the deluxe edition treatment anymore, even if the deluxe setup only includes a lackluster prize like a 'Making Of' or a couple music videos.

Whether you get the deluxe edition or the regular edition just depends on how big of a fan you are. Can you live without hearing those extra 5 tracks? If you're a casual fan, the answer is clearly "yes." After all, those are just songs they didn't consider good enough for the actual album, right? They're outtakes, filler material that would have been junked in the age of 45 minute vinyl records, right?

But more and more, I'm becoming convinced that labels are hiding some highlights from the album's better half on the expensive version. Not that anyone would be foolhardy enough to cripple an album for the sake of the deluxe edition -- you won't find anyone slipping "Mine" or "Till The World Ends" onto Disc 2. But it's increasingly common to see deluxe edition tracks becoming the fourth or fifth singles in an album's bid for chart success, thus confirming that some of these tracks are ranked higher than the standard album's lesser works.

I'd personally estimate that when you have deluxe editions with new songs (not just remixes or extras), you're bound to find at least one song on the deluxe edition that's better than at least the worst few songs on the standard album. So here are a few of the true gems that casual fans have been missing out on.


#5 Broken Glass -- Matt Bennett (Victorious Soundtrack)

This preposterously devilish ode to the wonders of broken glass (written in-universe as Robbie's idea for a song to entertain children) is only available on the iTunes edition of the Victorious Soundtrack. Set to a jaunty piano tune and propelled by an uninhibited Matt Bennet, a variety of uncouth and highly dangerous activities are praised in succession, befitting the playfully grim and brutal comedy of Victorious which never fails to surprise me.


#4 Untouchable -- Taylor Swift (Fearless)

Taylor might be the master of the deluxe edition, consistently beefing up her extended albums with material that should really have been incorporated into the standard edition (at the expense of lesser tracks). Untouchable is especially a loss to casual fans, as its slow burning enthralling mystique conjurs the ghosts of some of rock and folk music's greatest moments. It's eerie and groovy and beautiful, and it's criminal that a lot of fans will never know it exists.



#3 Beautiful Mess -- Miranda Cosgrove (Sparks Fly)

Miranda's debut "full-length" only ran at 25 minutes to begin with, so it was obligatory that a beefier deluxe edition accompany it. All the bonus tracks are pretty good but only Beautiful Mess would rank among her top 5 accomplishments thus far. The always eclectic Miranda channels late-90s r&b gods Destiny's Child on this indelibly cool, slick icey ballad about unrequited love. Comparing the loss of love to a tear in a new dress seems a bit brash to me (maybe because I'm a guy??) but the jam is so gorgeously smooth that it less than matters.

 
#2 Forever & Always (Piano Version) -- Taylor Swift (Fearless)

The standard edition of Taylor's breakout hit record features a rockin' electric version of this sweet ballad, which falls into mediocrity next to more powerful jams like the fierce The Way I Loved You. But this tender, thankfully under-produced, Sarah McLachlan-channeling ballad drips with the embers of pure emotion and ranks unabashedly as one of Taylor's greatest songs. It's easily my favorite piano track Taylor's done and it makes me crave to see her do an all-piano album.


#1 Super Bass -- Nicki Minaj (Pink Friday)

How this ultimate jam missed out on the standard release will forever perplex pop music historians. It wasn't a hidden holdover -- this song had to be dragged kicking and screaming before the suits would release at as a whopping seventh single from Nicki Minaj's debut album. It wasn't until such formidable acts as Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez praised the song with the sincerest flattery -- by covering it -- that it was released to charts and it became Nicki's biggest hit. With an immaculate feel good delivery reminiscent of rap classics such as Nuthin' But a G Thang, and a joyously anthemic instrumentation, the song became an instant classic. Nicki's number one greatest song to date? Absolutely without question.

Halloween Movie Marathons

As you *might* have realized, I harbor a deep, pervasive love of television. And over the years, this has translated into a genuine interest in the art of television programming. So, seeing as how it's Halloween-time and all, I figured I would compose the ultimate blocks for all my favorite scary movies, c/o all-night Halloween-weekend horror marathons.

Each night begins with a brutal primer at 6pm (the witching dinner hour), followed by a solid block of theme from 8 until 4am featuring four of my all-time favorite films... one traditional classic, usually one from After Dark's now defunct but gorgeous Horror Fest series, then two from my favorite genre, found footage. Then I took the liberty of affixing each theme with an atmospherically similar episode of the found footage show Lost Tapes, and topped it all off with a non-theme horror flick of a much more light-hearted nature to carry us into the early morning. Except for Halloween, which I decided to make extra-scary...


Friday


6pm: The Company of Wolves
8: Fire in the Sky
10: Communion
12: Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County
2: The Wicksboro Incident
4: Lost Tapes: Alien
4.30: Ginger Snaps




Saturday


6pm: The Gate
8: 28 Days Later
10: Perkins' 14
12: [Rec]
2: [Rec] 2
4: Lost Tapes: Bear Lake Monster
4.30: Pinata: Survival Island




Devil's Night


6pm: Jacob's Ladder
8: Carnosaur
10: Penny Dreadful
12: The Blair Witch Project
2: Eyes in the Dark
4: Lost Tapes: Jersey Devil
4.30: The Craft




Halloween


6pm: Trick 'r Treat
8: From Within
10: Paranormal Activity 2
12: Paranormal Activity
2: Lake Mungo
4: Lost Tapes: Vampire
4.30: Ghostwatch

Enjoy!! Now if only I had my own TV station...

Hunger Games Soundtrack

I had so much fun putting together (and listenng frequently to) my Annie On My Mind soundtrack, I decided I would put together a collection inspired by the Hunger Games, too.

Of course, The Hunger Games series is already being made into actual movies, the first REAL soundtrack will probably be coming out in a couple of months. So I focused more on capturing the mood and themes of each book instead of picking particular songs to accompany particular moments. The filmmakers will take care of that in their own way.

In accordance with the themes of the books, I tried to put together a contrast between hollywood action, and brutal depression with a heavy aspect of biting political satire. I imagine scenes of ironic, almost humorously anthemic gore juxtaposed against more serious scenes where the aftermath is confronted.

The Hunger Games


1. Russian Roulette -- Rihanna
2. The Gunner's Dream -- Pink Floyd
3. Epidemic -- Slayer
4. Kill Everybody -- Skrillex
5. I'll Cast a Shadow -- Pantera
6. Fear -- Sarah McLachlan
7. Out of Hand -- Entombed
8. The Fall of Seven Diamonds... -- Tortoise
9. Cleansing -- Wolves In the Throne Room
10. Masters of War -- Bob Dylan




Catching Fire


1. Welcome, Ghosts -- Explosions in the Sky
2. The Good That Won't Come Out of Us -- Rilo Kiley
3. Postmortem -- Slayer
4. Holocene -- Bon Iver
5. The Post War Dream -- Pink Floyd
6. Skyscraper -- Demi Lovato
7. Swinging the Dead -- DevilDriver
8. Creature Fear -- Bon Iver
9. Innocent -- Taylor Swift
10. Ice (Freedom Sessions) -- Sarah McLachlan




Mockingjay


1. Revolution Is My Name -- Pantera
2. American Flag -- Cat Power
3. Love The Way You Lie (piano) -- Rihanna
4. Straitjacket -- Alanis Morissette
5. Life Eternal -- Mayhem
6. Il etat une foret... -- Gris
7. The Fletcher Memorial Home -- Pink Floyd
8. Posession (piano) -- Sarah McLachlan
9. Glittering Blackness -- Explosions In the Sky
10. Fix a Heart -- Demi Lovato
 

(EXTREME SPOILER WARNING: absolutely do not read the following paragraphs unless you have read Mockingjay, the final game of The Hunger Games series!)

You might see a lot of identical themes (and the same bands) in each soundtrack, but it's the nuances that flesh out each book's.... well, each book's nuances lol! Hunger Games is the most anthemic, full of metal. And the political message is sort of basic, universal but impersonal. Katniss is still just a tool of the capitol at this point, focused only on survival,. Catching Fire is just a haze, Katniss is caught between all of this consternation and she is powerless to do much else than stare into space and try to keep the pain from bubbling over.

Mockingjay is my favorite, it details Katniss's descent into... if not necessarily madness, extreme disorientation. The pain, the losses, the unspeakable horrors she herself has visited upon fellow humans start to overcome her, and while her "side" of the fight wins out, there is no triumph in the soul left behind. While the soldiers celebrate victory, all Katniss sees is a world too damaged and unfair to contain any winners.

Revolution Is My Name would fit perfectly for Katniss's rooftop battle scene when she finally becomes "the mockingjay" in action as well as name, while I imagine Love The Way You Lie for the aftermath of Peeta's second propo. Il Etat Une Foret (the saddest song I know) would accompany the death of Prim, the only person Katniss loved. I imagine Fletcher Memorial Home to play as a dazed Katniss kills Coin and then spends the subsequent days in a hospital bed. Fix a Heart sounds like a good place to end it, it just sort of lingers, not overtly sad but certainly far from happy. Phrases like "I just ran out of band aids" and "you never really can fix a heart" seem to fit Katniss's defeated state down to a T.

The Hunger Games

(Note: This entry does NOT contain spoilers)

The Hunger Games is a modern phenomenon, in a sense it's the successor to Harry Potter in the youth fiction world. But Harry Potter's magnitude is untouchable, and there are no wizards or magic brooms in Suzanne Collins' grim post-apocalyptic dystopia. No happy school days, no quizzes or goofy teachers. And if this world ever had an immutable, wizened Dumbledore-figure to protect the weak from mistreatment, he died decades before our story begins, not six books through it.

The United States is perhaps not even a memory, in its place stands the nation "Panem." A cold and luxury-laden city called The Capitol rules 12 "Districts." Forced into crippling poverty to decimate their ability to revolt, and worked as slaves for the Capitol's benefit, a final cruel punishment is weighed upon the Districts. In order to remind them that they are inexorably and totally beneath the Capitol's absolute power, every year the Capitol takes two children from each district and forces them to compete in a savage battle to the death, where only one survives. Rubbing emotional salt in incurable wounds, the bloodbath is filmed for the entertainment of The Capitol's citizens, and everyone is forced to watch.

It's Fahrenheit 451 meets And Then There Were None. A spiritual successor to Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and the 2001 film 'Series 7: The Contenders.' It's Metal Gear Solid and V For Vendetta, Gladiator and The Giver, with just a sprinkle of Twilight... and a sprinkle of Saw. The Hunger Games is an exquisite mix, a unique thrill, a true original. I don't say any of this lightly, it is genuinely stunning literature. Uncannily both bloodthirsty and pacifist. It is equal parts Hollywood action blockbuster, and scathing Orwellian satire, of an uncompromisingly Juvenalian harshness. While one chapter has me on the edge of my seat grabbing for a bag of popcorn, the next threatens to shatter my fragile view of society and siphon away faith from the materialistic culture we inhabit. Suzanne Collins playfully eggs us into craving the next kill, and then condemns us for the thought, painting a tapestry of ill morals and somehow still managing to come out righteous.

Pop 6: Dark Billboards

Heyoooo. I've been jamming on this for weeks but I forgot to post it. I like to keep track of when I make these things so I know when I became interested in certain artists.

Pop 6

1. Skyscraper -- Demi Lovato
2. In The Dark -- Dev
3. Pocketful of Sunshine -- Natasha Bedingfield
4. Intuition -- Jewel
5. On The Floor -- Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull
6. Shots -- LMFAO feat. Lil Jon
7. Promiscuous -- Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
8. Electric Feel -- Katy Perry
9. Livin' The Vida Loca -- Ricky Martin
10. I Wanna Go -- Britney Spears
11. Friday -- Rebecca Black
12. Hold It Against Me -- Britney Spears
13. Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites -- Skrillex
14. Stay Here Forever -- Jewel

Pretty good set. Probably better than Pop 5 and Pop 2 but not as good as Pop 4 or Pop 1.

This time it's a very dark, mysterious and cool set of songs. Other than the tension breakers, it's nothing but slow paced, moody dance songs featuring bizarre organ riffs and accordion solos and all kinds of spooky things. Decent contrast compared to the bombastic fare I usually go for.

Oh and the "Billboards" thing is a refernce to Billboard Magazine and their weekly charts, because I'm starting to get some of my compi tracks from them. For the first 4 or 5 editions of 'Pop,' virtually every track came from music I hear at work. Where I work features this eclectic playlist and since I hear it 40 hours a week, I get to weed out the really incredible tracks pretty easily. Not only did it inspire my initial interest in pop, but it also was the sole inspiration for my love of Taylor Swift and Katy Perry! Not to mention giving Ke$ha and Miri a good nudge in my direction. Good times, good times, but lately they haven't been playing as much new music, so I've been looking elsewhere. I still owe them a debt of gratitude, though!

Annie On My Mind (Soundtrack)

It's a bit surprising that in nearly 30 years, Annie On My Mind has never been committed to film, to my knowledge. I mean, its place as an all-time classic LGBT novel is virtually unanimous. How cool would it be if they made a movie version of it soon? I would flail so crazy.

I concede that, should a real film version of Annie be crafted, the proper way to bring it to life would be to stay true to Nancy Garden's original. Have them listening to Baroque and Classical, have Annie singing latin opera. It has a timeless dignity to it, befitting such a truly timeless love story.

But I don't know... it could be really great imbued with modern sensibilities, too. Timelessness is admirable, but there's nothing wrong with living in the immediate present, either.

So here's my imaginary soundtrack for the hypothetical film. I'm decently proud of it, to be honest.

Annie On My Mind (Soundtrack, 2011)


1. Candlelight -- Imogen Heap
2. Super Bass -- Nicki Minaj
3. Again & Again -- The Bird & The Bee
4. The Best Day -- Taylor Swift
5. On The Radio -- Regina Spektor
6. In McDonalds -- Burial
7. We Are Broken -- Paramore
8. Fearless -- Pink Floyd
9. Thrasher -- Juniper Tar
10. Endorphin -- Burial
11. Brick By Boring Brick -- Paramore
12. All The Way to Heaven -- Melissa Etheridge
13. Misguided Ghosts -- Paramore
14. Fearless -- Taylor Swift


I can see pretty much the whole film in my head, but I won't bore you with extensive detail. Tried to make the music fun and sentimental, true to the original.

(Warning: spoilers in this paragraph) I imagine the quirky, happy-go-luck tracks (Again & Again, On The Radio, Pink Floyd) accompanying Liza & Annie's various sessions of whimsical make-believe. Candlelight is perfect for their romantic dinner at the french restaurant, and their ferry ride amidst the lights. Burial's atmospheric IDM music is ripe for scenes where the emotion is so powerful that it overcomes words, 'In McDonalds' for good times and 'Endorphin' for the ill-fated run in with Ms. Baxter. 'We Are Broken' seems to fit the heartbreak when they first are forced to understand that some people see their love as deplorable, while 'Misguided Ghosts' fits perfectly for when they're sort of coming to terms with the fact that it's sad but the hate doesn't have to impede their lives. I see Taylor Swift's Fearless as the song that plays at the resolution, when Annie and Liza are reunited, and into the credits.

I want my non-existent imaginary movie to show that Annie On My Mind is a classic, endearing love story for anyone with a romantic soul. Up there with The Notebook and Titanic. I filled the soundtrack up with the music I know and love the best, but I was cautious to emphasize the sentimentality and romance instead of leaning on melancholic ballads, since the whole point of Annie was to show a happy, pure-hearted alternative to the grim perspective of The Well of Loneliness and its ilk. I wanted the soundtrack to hit on all of the classic love-story themes, but to do it in a manner that had character and was fitting for such a unique and genuine novel. I didn't want to reuse any of the songs you've heard in a thousand movies, but to still epitomize the quintessential romance themes.

^^ Threw this up here again because it's just such a perfect cover. It's like they're huddled together in their own little world, lost in pure happiness but also with a bit of foreboding, because of what the world might think of them. I want the imaginary soundtrack cover to be an exact recreation of this, but with the imaginary actors from the imaginary film.

Dream Remix Album

Lord help me, I've slipped into whimsical reverie again. Too much reading! Reading is bad for you, it enhances the imagination...

I'm really into dance remixes right now. Starting to get a grasp on the different types of remixes and my favorite remix artists, so I compiled my ultimate collection of dream remixes. Special emphasis on songs and artists that don't get the great remixes they deserve. Oooh how I wish this album existed!

The Perfect Remix Album

1. Super Bass (Passion Pit Remix) -- Nicki Minajs
2. Whiplash (Skrillex Club Remix) -- Selena Gomez & The Scene
3. Face of Love (Freddie Le Grand Extended Club Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
4. Dancing Crazy (Zedd Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
5. Bam (Afrojack Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
6. Sayonara (Noisia Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
7. Shake It Up (Chew Fu Remix) -- Selena Gomez & The Scene
8. Dancing Crazy (Richard Vission Extended Club Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
9. Love You Like a Love Song (Dave Aude' Extended Dub) -- Selena Gomez & The Scene
10. If I Die Young (Armand Van Helden Remix) -- The Band Perry
11. Beautiful Mess (Burial Fix) -- Miranda Cosgrove

I doubt voguing tripped out 2-step/dubstep/garage underground hero Burial would remix a Nickelodeon track (does he even do remixes at all?) but if there's just one track I'd like to hear, it'd be that one. Miri's vocal run that opens Beautiful Mess would be absolutely perfect fodder for a heady Burial track.

Annie On My Mind

Simply the finest romance I have ever encountered. Just finished rereading it and it was yet imbued with as much unspeakable magic as ever prior. No, I'm not much of a literati. But I can without question count this as my favorite book, behind the last few Harry Potter novels.

I probably cried the first time I read it, I think I vaguely remember that. And yet this time... it seemed so much darker than before, somehow. Even though I knew what to expect. I think ignorance was easier to swallow then. Today I've lost touch... with how anyone could be so blind... how an otherwise decent person could be so cruel, so truly evil as to hate love. Sounds freaking naive, doesn't it? Stupid even, for me to say something so childish? Well... I suppose this is "Zenlike Immaturity," after all. ;)

To describe the beauty of "Annie..." would be difficult with words, for its strength exists on the spiritual, or at least the romantic, level. It aptly captures the indescribable wonder of youth, and the purity of love. On the technical front, it's an impressive and inarguably important piece of Young Adult literature. It is unflinching and unafraid, yet never falters from its message that samesex love is not invariably a walkway into sorrow. It remains true to life without resorting to ugliness. Alcohol and cigarettes and sex, these subjects are presented without the slightest negative connotation. Surprising and admirable for a book that's often taught in schools, it treads not by the letter of the law but by its spirit, supporting love and morality without preaching vain adherence to the outdated taboos that riddle scholastic materials.

You might wonder, being a relatively heterosexual male as I am, why most of the couples I favor are gay, be they women or men. It's really pretty simple when you think about it, though. Sentimentality is everything to me. In fiction, lesbian couples and male gay couples are most often portrayed as being more sentimental, more romantic, more ethereal in their love. Occasionally I come across heterosexual romances that are not stifled by stock masculine stoicism. But not often.

I emailed Nancy Garden once. If you are a fan of her or the book, you really ought to drop her a line. The response she gave me was beautiful, saying that I would meet an Annie to my Liza someday. I can't say I'm sure it's true, but life has already gifted me so much more than I ever dreamed possible, especially in my youth, that I can't honestly say I'd mind if I never do. If the best life can give me is good friends and happy times, that is so much more than enough. So much more... than I ever thought I'd receive.

Pop 5: Danceable Summer

1. Shake It Up -- Selena Gomez
2. Trouble For Me -- Britney Spears
3. Love You Like a Love Song -- Selena Gomez
4. Super Bass -- Nicki Minaj
5. Whiplash -- Selena Gomez
6. Oops! ...I Did It Again -- Britney Spears
7. Rolling In The Deep -- Adele
8. Boys (Co-Ed Remix) -- Britney Spears
9. Jumpin', Jumpin' -- Destiny's Child
10. Say My Name -- Destiny's Child
11. Independent Women, Part 1 -- Destiny's Child
12. Again and Again -- The Bird and the Bee
13. If I Die Young -- The Band Perry
14. All of the Lights -- Kanye West

Is it time for a new one already? YUS. Not the most premeditaed pop compi I've ever made, but decently well thought out still. Had kind of a thing for Destiny's Child lately thanks to frequent play at work. Also discovered that Selena Gomez is a pretty great artist. She's prolific like Miri, and while Selena's music isn't on quite that high of a level, it's a lot more modern-styled than Miri's so it's easy enough for me to enjoy.

As far as Britney goes, I remember her from my own youth (e.g. "Oops I Did It Again,") but what I didn't know is that since then she's done a lot of electronic dance pop that's quite up my alley. Figure I ought to familiarize myself since I'll be seeing her live soon.

And.... that pretty much covers it. Named it Danceable Summer in honor of the fact that it's been over a year since the second edition of my pop collections series came out, "Adequate Pop: Summer Fun Edition."

New Horizons in Children's Television

I'm a proud Nickelodeon fan. Over the years, Nick and The Disney Channel have both had their share of decent shows. But over the last half-decade or so, what Nick brought to the table has been so transcendental that my friends and I have come to sort of shun Disney. iCarly, Victorious, and Avatar The Last Airbender are three of the finest programs ever to grace television, and Disney has never authored even one series that can compete.

But Nick has been running on empty for some time now. Airbender is long gone, and for an entire year iCarly has been subjected to mammoth two or three month gaps separating new episodes. Now even Victorious's progression has slowed to a crawl. I've been so desperate for new light-hearted television that I began checking out what Disney has to offer. And to my surprise, it's really good.

The convenient thing about Disney Channel is, they play their decent material pretty much all the time. 2am, 11am, 10pm, you're liable to catch Disney's best show. This is a huge breath of fresh air compared to Nickelodeon, whose best material maddeningly runs strictly in a 5 or so hour block during the afternoon & evening. Nickelodeon's time is segmented by a lengthy "Nick Jr." toddler block in the morning and a lengthy "Nick @ Nite" syndicated sitcom block at night. And during the brief period where Nick runs their A-material, you're just as liable to run into Big Time Rush or Supah Ninjas as you are to stumble upon iCarly or Victorious.

Disney's shows aren't as well-written or legitimate as Nick's greatest work, but they're funny and genuinely better than everything on Nick's unfortunately prominent list of b-material. Shake It Up, ANT Farm, Good Luck Charlie, Wizards of Waverly Place, My Baby Sitter's a Vampire, Hannah Montana reruns.... even Phineas & Ferb is alright, almost everything Disney has is pretty decent, and they air new episodes in a timely manner. By far my early favorite is the hip dance-themed show Shake It Up. Sort of ironic because it's the show Kelley once tricked me into thinking she loved. I think she might secretly dig it. ;)

Avatar: The Last Airbender's Homage to Dragon Ball Z.

Delusional though I may perhaps be, I've long believed that the show's final fight between Aang and Fire Lord Ozai, was partially inspired by Dragon Ball Z's final fight between Goku and Freezer.

The red, fire-scorched desert scenery is very reminiscent to the dying Planet Namek. The finale of the fight contains even stronger shadows of Z. In particular, there is this one moment, when the defeated Ozai lies at Aang's feet, which I definitively believe is an intentional homage.

If I were to take one specific frame in Z that this is the closest to a direct source for the homage, it wold be this.

However, there are several scenes which feature the disgusted Goku turning his back on the defeated Freezer, as both Goku and Aang struggle with the question of what to do about an irredeemable wretched creature, not wanting to kill... but being left with no option.

Now check out the scenery...