Don't Stop Believing

Yay, TV is back amongst the subjects discussed on this blog! And yes, I'm on the "Glee" bandwagon. Who doesn't love to watch other people indulging in the joys of show choir? The dialogs are also often hilarious. I am presently waiting for it to start. After a so-so third episode, last week's episode was very strong. The scene between the poster gay character and his dad was pretty powerful, and the Quinn pregnancy thing is seriously messed up. Also, there was a pretty great moment in the episode, which starts a bit after 1:32 in the video embedded below:

I might comment on tonight's episode later. On another note, the soundtrack to Where The Wild Things Are is now streaming online, and I'm loving it. Of course I do: it is, after all, Karen O! The movie looks like a real tearjerker... I'll be waiting for it!

That Time

I went to see Regina Spektor last Thursday at the Metropolis. It was a pretty great concert. Little Joy opened, they were cool. Regina was onstage for approximatively an hour and a half, but it felt longer, perhaps due to the nature of her songs. This is by no means a bad thing. She had three musicians with her: a drummer, an Asian violonist and an Asian cellist, who were awesome :D They stayed onstage for the first part of the concert, and after that it was only Regina and her piano or her guitar. In the first part of the concert, she played "Eet", which was one of the better moments of the concert. "On The Radio" was also awesome. She took out her aqua guitar for "Bobbing for Apples" and "That Time". "Après Moi" made me want her to sing in Russian far more often. For "Poor Little Rich Boy", she had a wooden chair next to the piano and was hitting on it with a stick all while playing. We thought the stick would break, but it made it. The encore was so great. She played "Samson", "Us", "Fidelity", "Hotel Song" and "Love, You're a Whore". I was waiting for "Hotel Song" during the whole concert and I finally got it! "Love, You're a Whore" was a country-like song, very fun. She played 23 songs in total, and the only song from Far that she didn't play was "Genius Next Door". Here is the complete setlist:

The Calculation

Eet

Folding Chair

Ode to Divorce

Machine

Laughing With

One More Time with Feeling

Blue Lips

Two Birds

On The Radio

Dance Anthem of the 80's

Bobbing For Apples

That Time

Après Moi

Poor Little Rich Boy

Wallet

Human of the Year

Man Of A Thousand Faces

Encore:

Samson

Us

Fidelity

Hotel Song

Love, You're a Whore

Your Honor

I saw The Reader and it was pretty good. However, I find it hard to believe that the main character's teenage experience would have such an important impact on the rest of his life. This movie made me think, here is yet another movie on what Jews went through in the Second World War, and it still is as horrible as ever. They are perfectly entitled to their anger, but for how long can they get away with it?

Temptation

I've read Trainspotting and I loved it. The book is pretty different from the movie, as the story does not focus around Renton and involves many other characters. To read this book, you have to be prepared to reading English written in the Scottish accent. I enjoyed reading about the lives of those petty criminals, seeing them deal with depression, learning about their views of the world and finding myself agreeing with them. The book, written by Irvine Welsh, is also really funny at times. 

The Calculation

I saw The Time Traveler's Wife last night. It was really, really TRAGIC. Eric Bana was kind of dull at the beginning, but he got better towards the end. The movie was surprisingly short, considering the length of the book.

Eet

CDs I've listened to recently:

Battle for the Sun by Placebo: Placebo came into my life at a time when I needed that angst. Upon hearing their last CD for the first time, my first reaction was: "Jeez, this is bad music!" There are some pretty cool songs on there, though. I find one of the singles, "For What It's Worth", supremely annoying. The song "Battle for the Sun" is as repetitive as it is addictive. 

Far by Regina Spektor: The first time I heard this CD, I liked its middle portion the best, and I didn't find any of the songs as catchy as her previous ones, say, for example, "Better". However, I know find the first half of the CD to be very strong. I love "Eet", "Machine" and "Laughing With". "Folding Chair" is a nice, happy song. The highlights of the second half of the CD are "Dance Anthem of the 80's" and "One More Time With Feeling".

Spinnerette by Spinnerette: Lots of catchy, interesting songs. Simply put, a good listen.

Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper by Julian Plenti: Julian Plenti is the side project of Paul Banks, Interpol's lead singer. His songs are really... interesting. What can I say? That's what they are. Of all of the songs on the CD, "On the Esplanade" is the only one that doesn't really do much for me.

Wonderful Night

Books I read while I was on my trip:

Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson: Craig Ferguson is easily my favorite famous person. In my opinion, he is way more than a late-night talk-show host: he is a genuinely smart, decent, and knowledgeable person, and he has exactly the sense of humor I am looking for. Perhaps because I like him so much, I am biased, but I sincerely loved his book. It is a novel with four main characters, and it talks about everything from love and religion to Hollywood. It is a bit confusing at first, but it is worth it. It is a hilarious book and an interesting thought pops out every two lines.

White Teeth by Zadie Smith: This book was really hyped up in 2000. I couldn't get past the first part (there are about six parts to this book). It is not that funny nor that interesting. The book is about the lives of some individuals in London, some of them being foreigners.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers: A very contemporary non-fiction book. There were loads of instructions on how to read the book at the beginning of the book. Unfortunately, towards the beginning, the author tells us those instructions are unnecessary. I decided to listen to him. Therefore, I did not understand much of the book. Perhaps I am just not smart enough. The books tells us how the author had to take care of his brother after both their parents died from cancer, while attempting to create a magazine at the same time.