Tuesday, July 12, 2005

On A Lighter Note

Let's do some recommendations here. Just a break from my usual screeds.

Both seasons of Titus on DVD - one of the funniest shows in recent history, so naturally it only lasted two seasons (correction - it lasted three seasons). The first season was excellent and brilliant - some of the darkest comedy around. When one of the lines is, "You knew I was faking my heart attack and you let them shave me???" "I knew you were faking your heart attack and I GOT them to shave you!", well, you're not in Full House/Cosby-ville anymore. Sadly, the second season was kind of uneven, but for thirty bucks this is a great set to get. The first season is worth thirty dollars by itself, in my opinion, so the second is free.

Any System of a Down CD - As I said before, I like this group, but the more I listen the more I like them. It's my opinion that "loud" music - by which I mean stuff that usually falls under the metal category - is the closest to classical music, when it's done well. I know, I know, you're probably laughing hysterically right now, but before you write me off as deaf, go and listen to S&M, by Metallica. In this CD, they're backed by the San Francisco Orchestra and it sounds great - but more impressively, for the most part, the orchestra doesn't have to make new sounds in the music - much of it is transcribing a guitar riff into an symphonic flourish. In other words, they're just playing the music in a different way, not having to start to scratch. System of a Down is like that as well. And in the song Chop Suey (off Toxicity), check out how the same chorus changes meaning as the soing goes by. That kind of verbal play in rare anywhere, much less in loud music.

H.L. Mencken and Edward R. Murrow books - read these and see exactly how far the media has fallen.

And again, if any of these interest you enough into buying them, please use the Amazon link on the side. You won't pay anything extra, and I'll get a small part of the sale. Thanks.

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