Summer Reading Times!

I've got about two more weeks of teaching until summer vacation.  In my struggle to stay motivated to provide my students with meaningful end-of-year instruction, my mind has wandered to all of the free time I'll have to do some hardcore reading.  So, for the enjoyment of the blogosphere, here are ten books that I'd like to read over the summer.

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: I read this in high school, and I've seen both the Keira Knightley and Colin Firth film adaptations.  I'd like to re-read it for work, because I've picked up an AP Lit class, and this is going to be their summer reading assignment.  I figured it would be a good idea to brush up on my Austen.

2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: This is another one I read back in high school, and since it was my go-to text for both of my AP tests, I feel like it's a useful book for students to break into.  If I finish my list early, I'd like to check out Paranoid Park because it's supposedly a contemporary re-telling of Dostoyevsky's study in Slavic angst.

3. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak: I loved The Book Thief to a ridiculous degree, so I decided to expand my Markus Zusak repertoire.  The premise sounds interesting--a New York cab driver is led around the city by face cards bearing mysterious riddles, though he doesn't know who or what is behind these strange missions. 

4. Dune by Frank Herbert: I started Dune awhile ago and just couldn't dig deep enough to keep going.  But this summer, I'm giving the old boy a serious chance.  And them I'm going to watch the extended director's cut of David Lynch's film adaptation, which for some reason is on very late every Saturday night on BBC America.

5. Sabriel by Garth Nix: I keep hearing good things about this book.  All I really know is that it fits into the fantasy genre, and I like the cover--it hints at some mystery that I'd like to solve.  I'm hoping to use this book to help expand my knowledge of fantasy books, because I'm a nerd.

6. The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen: Occasionally, I think to myself, "You know what, Alex? Most of the books that you read are pretty easy to figure out.  Maybe you should read a book that ties your brain up into knots just for the hell of it." I decided to take my own advice and read this book, which is about a time traveler who bounces throughout history making sure terrible things don't happen in order to protect a Utopian future.  Sounds like a mindfudge.

7. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell: A few months ago, I read an interesting article on NPR about books that were snubbed for this year's Pulitzer Prize, and this book was on their list.  It sounds awesome.  Alligator wrestlers, dark forces, and swamp folk--all things that I find fascinating.

8. Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov: I minored in Russian literature, so it's safe to say that I have a special place in my heart for it.  I read about this book (also on NPR, I think) and it sounded both fascinating and Russian.  Oh, and the main character owns a penguin.  Which would be cool.

9. Jennifer Government by Max Barry: I've started this book twice now, but the timing just hasn't been right.  It's an awesome premise--in a dystopian, corporatized world, people's last names are dictated by who they work for, and mega-corporations engineer mass murders in order to promote new sneakers.  Like Dune I'm going to punch this one in the face by reading it.  Hard.

10. The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism From Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin by Corey Robin: I thought it would be a good idea to include some nonfiction on my list, so here's the one I went for.  I figure with a presidential election coming up, it wouldn't hurt to brush up on my political thinking.

There it is.  Now let's see if I can pull it off without getting distracted by sitting and doing nothing.

Saturday, Feb. 12; Midnight-ish.

1. Fact Checking in Movies Based on Real Life Sucks: While preparing to give a talk in church, I was investigating the story that Paul Brand tells Billy Beane in Moneyball involving Jeremy Brown and his inadvertent home run. Though I'm still not sure if that was a true story or a fabrication of the screenwriters, I had to wade through several reviews that criticized the film for its lack of realism and its departure from the real story. Why in the hell to people do this? Regardless of source material, movies are WORKS OF FICTION. The phrase "based on a true story" does not mean "everything you are about to see actually happened." I'm pretty sure The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had the subheading of "based on true events." I'm not gonna go double check to make sure there was a real Leatherface out there turning teenagers into head cheese. The film industry produces these non-fiction films called documentaries. Maybe you've heard of them? Anyway, these documentaries contain research and facts and all kinds of things that you can nitpick. Leave the movie movies alone and enjoy them with the rest of us.

2. I'm Excited For Season 2.5 of The Walking Dead: AMC was holding a "Walking Dead" marathon today, and I just watched the last episode of the first season. I can't properly express how much I love this show. It's not just because of the zombies and the gore either. It's the dignity with which a zombie apocalypse is treated. In my opinion, The Walking Dead is one of those rare creative forces that takes an idea that's been done several times already (like survivors of a zombie holocaust) and strips it down to its core so we remember why it's cool in the first place.

3. I Had Some Other Crap to Write, But It's Late and I Forgot It: Yeah. Christine came on after The Walking Dead, but it's a movie about a demonic Plymouth. I might play Bioshock until I fall asleep at the controls.

Stupid Games

I found these two games that you can play online, and thought they were pretty hilarious. Unfortunately, they're also extremely aggravating. How I played so much NES is beyond me.

http://hatsproductions.com/organtrail.html

http://abobosbigadventure.com/fullgame.php

Enjoy!

Rough All Over

"I am a greaser," Sodapop chanted, "I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!"

1. The Suburbs by Arcade Fire

2. Feel Good Hit of the Summer by Queens of the Stone Age

3. Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now) by Cracker

4. Friends by Band of Skulls

5. The Fallen by Franz Ferdinand

6. Let's Rave On by The Raveonettes

7. Fit But You Know It by The Streets

8. Honky's Ladder by The Afghan Whigs

9. Sinister Kid by The Black Keys

10. Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi (w/ MGMT & Ratatat)

11. Ain't No Friend of Mine by Mason Jennings

12. Millstone by Brand New

13. Lone Wolf by Eels

14. Ocean of Noise by Arcade Fire

15. Rock'N Roll by The Sounds

16. Right in the Head by M. Ward

17. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I by Them Crooked Vultures

18. Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed

19. You Know I'm No Good by Amy Winehouse

20. Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead

21. White Trash Heroes by Archers of Loaf

Count Blogula vs. 2010: Music

I thought about putting together a list of my favorite albums of 2010, but I soon realized that my list would be the same as everybody else's list. The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, Cee Lo Green, and a bunch of other artists put out some awesome stuff last year. I do want to make mention of Arcade Fire's epic album The Suburbs, because it was so good that I invented a rock opera in my head to go along with it. Anywho, here's a list of some great artists and their great songs that I felt needed some recognition for being cool in 2010. Have a listen, and tell me what you think.

"I Wanna Be Adored" by The Raveonettes

"The Ghost Who Walks" by Karen Elson

"Catch a Fire" by The Bug

"Holidays" by Miami Horror

"Ambling Alp" by Yeasayer

"Threshold" by Sex Bob-Omb

"Black Sheep" by Metric

"Skin Tight" by Scissor Sisters

"When I'm Small" by Phantogram

A Nice Day For a Resurrection

It's been so long that I don't even know what to write about. Do I start with my adventures in television watching with The Big Bang Theory, Dexter, and The Walking Dead? Should I explicate my journeys through the digitally rendered world of Fallout: New Vegas? Perhaps I should bring notable news from the world of comic books (I've been particularly enjoying The Stand, American Vampire, iZombie, and The Heroic Age: Avengers). Hmmm....I could also rant about my favorite albums of 2010 (Chief among them would be The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. Best. Album. Ever). And lets not forget books! I've read some good stuff, such as Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, which was a brilliant retelling of The Big Lebowski as if it was written by William Shakespeare (thanks, Sheree). I might also tell you of the fine foods that I have ingested recently. The Machine Gun sandwich from Bruges Waffles and Fries? Dynamite! And I would be greatly remiss if I neglected the fine films that I have seen (I'm having a difficult time deciding whether I liked The Social Network or Inception best....Quandary!).
I suppose I'll just dedicate one blog post apiece to each of my favorite samplings of awesome that I experienced in the last year.

Until we meet again!

Saturday Morning, Circa 1988

I recently purchased an album by a band called The Go! Team called Thunder, Lightning, Strike. It's a good album, and you can hear a few songs from it courtesy of this playlist. However, when you listen to these songs, I want you to remember Saturday mornings circa 1988. I want you to remember the blurry neon colors that blasted through your pre-satellite television. I want you to remember the chatter of a spoon scraping the last of the Fruity Pebbles from the sides of your cereal bowl. I want you to remember Autobots and Decepticons, the "Sandman" story arc from Ghostbusters, and plastic action figures firing spring-loaded missiles into clear blocks that were never included with the action figure itself. I want you to remember the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and the satisfying ache that took over your thumbs after playing Contra all the way to The Red Falcon's still beating heart. I want you to remember these things while listening to these songs because, at the end of the day, it will make your soul happy.