Beltmann

I'm saddened to learn that your family is experiencing this very painful time. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. When my brother died last year, I took comfort in the enduring memories of him, the shoulders of loved ones, spiritual faith, and music (especially yours). I also found some degree of comfort in literature, which contains the wisdom of civilization, advice written across the centuries to us and those who come after us. Eric Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant To him who in the love of nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language;

True. On those same grounds, I teach several Lincoln pieces as significant American literature.

A sharp 14-year-old girl agrees to meet her chat room pal, an older man, but the story reverses our expectations: She drugs him, ties him up, and plans an awful torture regime to punish him for being a potential pedophile. (I know what you're thinking... does it involve castration? Why, yes, yes it does.) That makes it sound like a teen-movie version of Death and the Maiden or Takashi Miike's Audition, and it does contain a similar vein of sadism, but it also contains a surprising sense of humor: When the dude's family jewels go crunching down the garbage disposal, it's both cringe-worthy

It's not easy, likable viewing, but it is brimming with glaring Outback skies, surprising intelligence, committed performances, and complex moral turnabouts. It's among my favorites of the year.

Anyone else catch M. Ward playing "Chinese Translation" on Craig Ferguson last night? I set the DVR and just watched now. Sounded and looked good, but I was personally a little disappointed in the song selection, since Ward played "Translation" on Letterman a few weeks back. I had been hoping for something fresh.

That show is really growing on me.

Banlieue 13 / Pierre Morel / France / 2004 Set in a bombed-out Parisian barrio of the near future, this swift, hyperactive actioner sparks to life in the weird juxtaposition of greasy urban rubble and some of the most graceful stunt choreography of recent memory. The plot

I should have included that one, too.

For me, a little Sufjan goes a long way. It is unlikely that I am going to buy this.

At this point I'm just adding to the mountain, but wow, that's a beautiful baby. Congrats, Judy! Both Stacy and I are thrilled for you guys!

That's been my impression as well.

Hornby's Fever Pitch, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and the collected works of Pauline Kael, Jonathan Rosenbaum, and Thomas Hardy.

Happy Birthday, St. G!

AM: Box Full of Letters / It's Just That Simple BT: Sunken Treasure / Why Would You Wanna Live MA1: Hesitating Beauty / She Came Along To Me ST: Via Chicago / My Darling MA2: Someday Some Morning Sometime / Black Wind Blowing YHF: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart / Reservations AGIB: Handshake Drugs / I'm a Wheel That was hard.

I just listened and.. say, why didn't I ever notice that before?

Same here. My wife is always a little baffled when I fess up to really liking these guys.

Happy Birthday, Kev. Thanks for being a great friend.

I suspect that you will love The Son--if you do, then follow it up with L'Enfant! I seem to be in the minority about Little Miss Sunshine. I liked it, and thought several sequences were laugh-out-loud funny, but overall it still felt like it was working overtime to affect smart comedy--its characters felt like characters, not people, and its sitcom routines felt recycled from every other warm-hearted, idiosyncratic

That's how I feel. At the time Nirvana meant a lot to me--I still remember what I was doing when I heard about Cobain's death--but these days my tastes have moved in other directions. That said, I definitely think the songs hold up reasonably well, even when separated from all the cultural baggage, and I'd much rather listen to Nevermind or Unplugged in New York than anything by Pearl Jam.

Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass I dig it.

Local band that features one of my former students on guitar and piano. He dropped by my classroom today after school to hand deliver a copy.

Yeah, he's best known for his animation innovations. While it incorporates some (pretty damn creepy) stop-motion, Little Otik still relies more on live-action than anything else I've seen by him. He also emphasizes the fable's psychological aspects, downplaying the horror for long stretches. I haven't seen his Faust, and didn't care for his version of Alice (but if you like surreal stuff you might dig it). There's also a collection of Svankmajer short films out on DVD that's worth checking out.