Entertainment Part Deux

This is a follow up from my last post about entertainment. More specifically, it's about some of the music I listened to and what I'm listening to now.

First off, an album that I downloaded twice (the first time I purchased it, I left it on Laura's

computer... the second time, it landed into mine):Come O Spirit! Anthology Of Hymns And Spiritual Songs Volume 1. So... We apparently purchased this album a year or so and then again this January! In any case, we actually sing many of these during the many of the services of the church we attend here in Philadelphia. What gets to me with many of these hymns is how well the tunes (the musical arrangements) are matched to they lyrics. I think there's a lot of good theology here and it seems to be heart-felt from the singers' perspectives... a least I'd like to think that it is and does. There's nothing really showy about how they perform, and in many areas there really seems to be a minimalist approach to the music - but the music and the words work to really encourage my soul. You can also find the chords to the music (for free) by going directly to the source at Great Comfort Records.

Another album I've really enjoyed over the past year is The Apples in Stereo: Travellers in Space and Time (type is theirs', not mine). I've written more in depth review on amazon.com (you can check it out by clicking here), but my first sentence from that review really sums up what I think about it by saying, "In a musical world of emotional opining and slow beats, this album tends to stand as a breath of fresh air for me." The Apples remind me a little of the Beatles in electro-pop fashion. That may be hard to swallow (or believe) - but again, it is my opinion that they're pretty nice.

Other albums worth listening to (though, not worth writing about right now as much has already been said about them) are Sufjan Steven's Age of Adz and his EP, All Delighted People in addition to The Decemberists' The King is Dead.

Actually... I will comment on the last album.

I haven't been able to stop listening to it. It is lyrically rich and while keeping the storytelling short and interesting. If you haven't purchased this album, you probably should...

Look and Listen

Here are some things I've read and listened to lately. You can check out my reviews on Amazon, but I'll say a short bit here about them.

Music

I'll start here because there's only one thing I've reviewed lately

(I'm listening to something else that I will definitely be reviewing soon also).

Freelance Whales is my new favorite band. I take them as a kind of mashup of qualities that I really enjoy in other bands and singer / songwriters (Postal Service, Sufjan, Fleet Foxes). You can download their current album on Amazon (11.99 as a CD), Weathervanes, for six freakin' bucks. Seriously, this is worth far more than 1.5 units of whatever expensive coffee crap you're buying today. You can check my review on Amazon

by clicking here. I honestly cannot stop listening to them.

Books

The Other Wes Moore

Amazingly, the day I finished reading this book, I heard an

interview with the author on NPR. This is a crazy (true) story about two guys named Wes Moore. One of them ends up behind bars for life, the other becomes a Rhodes Scholar. Even more amazing, they pretty much grew up in the the same socioeconomic strata... even starting out in the same neighborhood in Baltimore.

This book is incredible - Wes Moore (the author) writes with such clarity and does nothing to sensationalize the type of environment he and the other Wes Moore grew up in. I think it's easy for most of us to be insulated to the travails that many folks in a poorer America go through. We are often baffled as to why anyone would be attracted to the drug life and make it out to be a matter of a life hopeful of ill-conceived gains (think Freakonomics). Wes Moore makes a case that it's a lot more about finding something, or some people, to belong to. You can read my Amazon review by clicking here (you might have to search for my name - CTRL+F and type my name; for Macs, Command+F and type my name).

Street Shadows

This is another Memoir about a kid who essentially escapes the drug life within the ghettos of

Chicago to eventually become an English professor. I don't know why I've been so into these types of narratives lately, but they're really affecting me. This is also a good read. If you were going to read one of the last two books mentioned, I'd pick up The Other Wes Moore, but this is still definitely worth reading.

I think this books gives light to the sort of hurdles some folks have to jump to get out of the cycle of poverty. The writer of this book grew up in a much different way than Wes Moore, however. Both of his parents were with him throughout his life. I think both may have had masters degrees - but the writer still got caught up in some of the drug culture.

Again, pick this book up. You can read my review by clicking here.

Bourbon

This is a fun book full of recipes and history about... Bourbon. I think that there is definitely some content in this book that you wouldn't necessarily find on the net (say, by looking for recipes). But if you don't drink... or aren't interested in making mixed drinks with Bourbon... then don't pick this up. You can read my review here.

Book Review.

I have opinions. This is one I posted on Amazon tonight.

Street Shadows (book)

Recent Amazon Reviews (Jan 5, 2010)

I felt like it was the best thing (but not the compulsive thing) to list a date as it seems I've used a very similar title before.

Sometimes...I review stuff on Amazon just because I can. I can be strange in that way. I'll have you know, however, that I never review something that I don't own. Thanks to Amazon for giving me a place where I can let my undoubtedly helpful reviews be known to the world.

So, to take a breather for the evening (because I'm admittedly already exhausted by this Obsessive experiment) - here are a few things that I've reviewed recently and one thing that isn't recent, but seems to have a somewhat legendary status (out of three hundred reviews, it's one of the three spotlighted on the product...)

A Forizzle Frying Force
(Cuisinart Chef's Classic Fry Pan) My review of a frying pan.

Read it for the Subplots
(Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger) A nice book I read "recent"...

They Are Spoons
(Oxo Good Grips Soft 6-Piece Measuring Spoon Set, Black) They are measuring spoons...and they apparently make some people (who are not me) very angry...because those people don't know how to wash dishes very well.

For the Happiness it Brings
(Panasonic ER421KC Nose and Ear Hair Trimmer, Wet/Dry, Lighted) One of the best investments I ever made. The ladies love a clean inner nose...