I'm not ashamed!

I admit it. When I first felt the urge to buy this album, I was embarrassed. After feverishly searching through the racks at the store to find their lone copy (and being ridiculously excited when I did), I fervently wished for a self-check out station. I felt like I needed to justify my purchase to the clerk.

But no more! I am proud of the fact that I own the soundtrackto Christopher Guest's film A Mighty Wind, and I don't care who knows it!

The eighteen tracks on this disc are all original, excepting "Start Me Up," which is a Rolling Stones song (and, incidentally, the only track that I skip almost every time). I don't know much about the folk music of the '60s, but I'm told that the rest of these songs are near-perfect parodies and homages to such groups as The Kingston Trio and The New Christy Minstrels. At any rate, they're great songs, ranging from one of the best love songs ever ("When You're Next to Me," which, if it's possible, is actually going to wear out on my CD), to the bizarrely historical ("Skeletons of Quinto"), to war protests ("The Ballad of Bobby and June"), and everything in between.

The New Main Street Singers definitely have the most cheesy songs on the album, but even if you don't like their lyrics (the hilarious "Good Book Song" is one of my favorites), you've got to admire their tight harmonies and all around good musical production. The Folksmen are their polar opposites, as evidenced in the two versions of "Never Did No Wanderin'," both of which are enjoyable in different ways. But my favorite group is Mitch and Mickey. I'm only slightly embarrassed to say that were there entire Mitch and Mickey albums available, I'd buy them.

Plus, one of the songs on this disc, Mitch and Mickey's "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," was nominated for an Oscar. So, hey, I'm not the only one.

Buy this album. Embrace your inner faux-folk enthusiast!

The fedora, the whip...

Is there a cooler movie character in all cinematic history than Indiana Jones? I think not. Or if there is, he's pretty high up on a very short list.

Okay, while Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may not have been all we hoped it would be, it does have one big thing going for it: it makes you nostalgic for the original trilogy.

All three of these movies are great. Well, okay--two of them are great and one of them is a little questionable (Temple of Doom, I'm looking at you), but even that one has some redeeming qualities. Quotable, funny, well-built--and that's just the star! (I kid, of course, but Harrison Ford is extremely charismatic in this role, and nice to look at to boot.) Action, adventure, romance, comedy...throw in a little science and a little of the supernatural, and you've definitely got something for everyone.

This is a set of films everyone should own because they're worth seeing again and again (especially The Last Crusade, which is my favorite--you just can't beat the combination of Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. Though Raiders of the Lost Ark does run a close second). And unlike another trilogy featuring Harrison Ford which shall remain nameless at this time, these films have not been "remastered" (read: screwed up) with "enhanced" (read: over-the-top) special effects.

And now, I leave you with a song.

I ate too many.

Homemade cookies are the best, I know. And my family makes some pretty darn good ones. But if you're in a rush or just don't feel like baking, give Albertsons chocolate chip cookies a try.

Mmmm, so good. They have that really soft, somewhat grainy melt-in-your-mouth texture. And a lot of chocolate chips, but not so many that you're not getting any cookie. And I've been told that they're really good warm, so you could pop them in the microwave for a few seconds.

Did I mention that they're really good? They break apart easily, but don't worry, that's okay--there are no calories in the small pieces, only in whole cookies.

For those of you who brought homemade cookies to the party tonight, don't be offended by this post! Your cookies were awesome. But people can't buy them, now can they? At least not yet...

Enchanting

If ever in your life you've enjoyed a classic Disney animated movie, you need to see Enchanted. This movie manages to poke fun at many Disney/fairytale conventions (talking animals, wicked stepmothers, love at first sight) while telling an original and adorable new story at the same time.

The casting is brilliant. Amy Adams plays Giselle with delightful cartoon innocence. And James Marsden, in addition to being very, very pretty, could not possibly act the role of Prince Charming (sorry---Prince Edward) any more perfectly. Even actors that I personally do not generally care for, like Susan Sarandon and Patrick Dempsey, are wonderful in their roles. The three original songs are also quite entertaining; in particular, the lyrics to "The Happy Working Song" are hilarious, and if the big production surrounding "That's How You Know" doesn't make you smile, well, you might not know how. To smile, that is.

I love how Disney can make fun of itself. I wish the bonus features on the DVD (all actually worthwhile, by the way, excepting the music video easter egg which I actually skipped through as I'm not a Carrie Underwood fan) included something that points out every movie they've referenced. While watching it with my mom tonight, we picked out references to Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, Lady and the Tramp, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid. And who knows what we missed.

If this review sounds a little like gushing, it's because it is. This is really a lovely movie. And look, I can't be witty all the time. The pressure!

First and better

Before there was Twilight there was Sunshine.

Wow, that sounds all metaphorical and poetic. But I'm being literal! Sure, Stephenie Meyer's vampire series is flying off the shelves. And hey, it ain't bad. Meyer writes well with an easy-to-read style. She's just not (and I'm preparing for the hatred that's sure to come my way for saying this) the best storyteller. What I mean is, she writes 100 pages of plot in 500 pages. Throw in 300 pages of swoon, and I'm starting to get bored. (Yes, I've read all three, and yes, I'll read the fourth. I'm hypocritical, I know.)

But Robin McKinley's infinitely superior Sunshine is, well, infinitely superior. McKinley's style is equally easy-to-read, the characters are better developed, and the plot is a bit less juvenile. Not that that's necessarily a flaw in Meyer's books, since they're young adult lit to begin with. I'm just saying, if you want something in the same vein that's a bit more...well, interesting, check out Sunshine.

Unlike the Twilight series, the supernatural is so seamlessly a part of Sunshine's world that no one is shocked to find vampires or werewolves or zombies or wizards or anything. And it's all presented so nonchalantly that you might not even be aware you're reading a fantasy/science fiction book until you make yourself stop and think about it. And the main character, who narrates, speaks so conversationally that you feel like she's in the room with you, telling you a story.

On second thought, maybe I can be literal and poetic at the same time. Sunshine was first, and brilliant. Twilight came later, and was a little, well, dimmer.

Pardon Our Errant Punctuation

As promised (?) in the very first post on this blog, I've become an Amazon.com Associate, which means I've implemented links to Amazon pages where you can buy the stuff I'm rambling about and earn me a teensy bit of cash.

For some reason, these links are causing extra spaces between the end of the linked bit and the next bit, whether it be a word, a comma, or an astrophysicist. (I don't know, I'm sorry.) In any case, it's annoying.

Until I get it figured out (which may be never), please just, er, skip the extra spaces. Mentally.

For the nerd in all of us.

I don't care who you are or how much you profess to hate Shakespeare. Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothingis made of awesome. If you hate Shakespeare and see this movie and still hate Shakespeare, then...well, then you can continue to hate Shakespeare, but our relationship may become strained for at least a few moments.

Okay, so the opening slow-motion sequence is extremely corny. And the Busby Berkeley-like closing scene is a bit much. But in between, there's so much to like! Kenneth Branagh is utterly charming as Benedick, and Emma Thompson's Beatrice has such a combination of wit and heart that it causes you to write cheesy sentences like this one. Keanu Reeves, who was born to play Ted in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, seems like he's dying to say "Dude!" in most of his scenes, but still, you have to give him credit: unlike Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet, you get the feeling that he at least understands what he's saying.

I love this movie. I love Shakespeare in general, but I'm not just praising him blanketly. Frankly, some of his plays suck (I simply cannot abide The Winter's Tale, for instance). But this is not one of those. This source material is simply wonderful, and this adaptation is, I think, accessible to nearly everyone.

And so I leave you. Adieu: be vigitant, I beseech you!