Music Monday: Mystery

I don't remember where I found this song. But it's good.

Flight Facilities - Crave You

Music Monday: Gaga effect

I like Lady Gaga well enough. Probably more than average probably. But I don't like how people feel compelled to compare every stylized female vocalist to her. She definitely does her thing loud and proud, but people have been wearing odd outfits in over-produced music videos to dance music long before her, and will be doing it long after.

I mention that because a quick review of Zowie might be "Like Lady Gaga, but not as good." Which may be mostly accurate, but does not make this less worthwhile.

Music Monday: Frenchiness

Pirate Heart. That's the name of the little schoolgirl strolling through the doppleganger school. Not what you'd guess eh? This isn't my favorite song of hers, but the video is interesting. My favorite song is this one if you can handle two French songs in a day. I usually can't.

Long Lost Movie Reviews

I saw Moonrise Kingdom last night. Quick thoughts:

Wes Anderson gets to do whatever he wants, which is pretty cool.

He is excellent at provoking nostalgia even for events and places I haven’t experienced.

The first ¾ was very funny. Then it stopped being funny, which was jarring. I’m not saying it’s a tragedy, there was just a precipitous drop in jokes.

The most striking thing about Anderson’s films are the visuals. It occurred to me that not only are they beautiful, but they’re funny. I can’t think of anyone who makes me laugh as often at scenes without dialogue.

Reviews had indicated the child actors were surprisingly not horrible. I’d go as far as to say they were quite good. Their characters primarily required stilted dialogue, but they were effectively endearing.

Mr. Anderson, you’re great, but seriously, you don’t need to throw a topless scene into every movie. He had to work really hard to sneak those breasts in to this one.

All in all, quite good. I was in a theater full of people that were drooling over it, which always leaves mixed feelings for me. It’s nice having crowd interaction, but it was sometimes a bit much.

 Rank:

1.    The Royal Tenenbaums

2.     The Fantastic Mr. Fox

3.     Moonrise Kingdom

4.     The Life Aquatic

5.     Rushmore

6.     The Darjeeling Limited

7.     I still haven’t seen Bottlerocket! I’m a phony.

Musn't Love Dogs

The expression is to let sleeping dogs lie. You may think that these proverbial dogs are sprawled on the ground, but in fact they are telling falsehoods. Homonyms strike again! I’m sure they aren’t lying on purpose, in a plan to stab their best friend in the back and take over the world. There’s no dog espionage going on. But in the end, they deceive us.

And by us I mean you, dog people. Myself, a cat person, live in the truth. The sometimes harsh, lonely truth. As a cat person, you dog people may find my views too biased to warrant further reading. To each their own.

Dogs aren't very good at being ambivalent.  They love love love something, or they want it to be dead, mauled and scattered about the yard.  This gives dog owners a false sense of security.  They have their lovable mutt who adores them for no significant reason.  So long as they provide food, and possibly shelter and some modicum of attention, the dog will worship the ground they walk on.  Such fierce loyalty is often listed as one of the great attributes of the dog, but it just sets the owner up for disappointment.

There’s a place for unconditional love, and that place isn’t Petsmart. The dog’s unwarranted adoration may lead the owner to believe others, even non-canines such as people, should be so easily ingratiated.  They may learn to expect fierce loyalty and undying affection for no discernable reason. And this just doesn’t fly with humans. Unless you’re a celebrity.

To be fair, cats may instill the opposite problem. You can give the world to a cat and have it still remain apathetic. But I think it’s a better message to internalize: that love can’t be bought. It makes the affection so much sweeter when they do deem fit to bestow it upon you. And though to be a truly helpful primer for people the cat’s affection would have to have some consistency, it’s still the better lesson to take home.

So don’t let those dogs lie to you. They’re not showing you how the world works, or how it should work. Relationships shouldn’t be that easy; love shouldn’t be so cheaply bought. Instead learn from the cat. They can be unpredictable and inconsistent, but have their own will, attitude and foibles. And perhaps they only saddle up next to us for our body heat, but it still feels warmer than a dog’s mindless sycophancy.  

Music Monday: Where I've Been

This is a perfectly likable song, but is nothing remarkable. I'm mostly posting it because it's a fun video. As far as I can tell they just put the song over a video of the band members vacationing in Thailand. Way to go the extra mile Pony Pony Run Run.