Lucky Strike

To quote Deaner, "I've never seen more gangley dudes without girls in one place in my life. Remind me not to come here on a Saturday night."

-- Posted From My iPodPhone

It's a Setup

I understand the view of some of the neocons here, but I think they really miss the point of what's happening when they go on The Daily Show. Jon Stewart generally does treat his guests with respect (even the real buffoons), but this comes after he typically murders them during the opening segment (though not usually on the same episode...unless you are Jim Cramer).

However, a quick scan of the tags (or so conveniently organized on the Comedy Central Daily Show site) gives you an idea what Stewart says about these guys when they aren't sitting across from them:

Bill Kristol

Newt Gingrich

John Bolton

Mike Huckabee

Am I saying that Stewart is a dishonest broker when having the conversations/debates? Not necessarily. He does ask questions and admit when he's wrong. He doesn't shout down guests and tell people that they are a disgrace to their deceased parents. But he does gives his audience plenty of background on these characters before they come on the show.

I mainly think it's because he's smarter than them (or more accurately, is more interested in letting reality/the facts dictate his opinions) and is able to outmaneuver them because of a lack of idealogical rigidity. Stewart certainly falls on the political left and is clearly an Obama fan, it's not like watching HuffPo TV or something.

Solo Releases from Dan Auerbach & Patterson Hood

Been a little longer than I would have liked since I posted some music, so let's get back to business, shall we?

In the process of looking for some kind of theme to link any songs that I like together, I realized that I have recently been listening to 2 solo albums released by the lead singers of 2 bands that I happen to really like. Up first, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.

The Black Keys are a nasty, old school, crunchy sounding blues-rock band from Dayton, OH. Just 2 guys, and they make a lot of beautiful, beautiful noise. Dan Aurbach does much of the singing and song-writing, and it's clear on his solo album, "Keep It Hid" why that is the case. Auerbach's solo work reveals a more thoughtful and slightly softer side of the musician, but it's no less stellar. For some reason, this solo release did not get a ton of press - despite a decent critical response - which was surprising given The Black Keys recent rise, due largely to their collaboration with Producer/DJ/wunderkind Danger Mouse on their most recent album "Attack & Release." This is the opening track on "Keep It Hid" complete with the slight country-influenced sound that seems to color 75% of the music I listen to.

Dan Auerbach - Trouble Weighs A Ton

Next is Patterson Hood, lead singer of The Drive-By Truckers. They've been around for quite some time, and are right in my musical sweet spot - classic- and country/southern-influenced rock, but I have to admit to only recently getting into them. Patterson Hood has ventured out for 2 solo albums, and this track comes from his second, "Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs)," which is quite good. Definitely worth checking out. Some crunchy (there's that word again) guitars and a solid twang to his voice, along with a pretty unapologetic and non-revisionist look at Southern life and history in his lyrics. There's definitely a bit of Camper Van Beethoven sound to Patterson - and to the Drive-By Truckers - which is never a bad thing.

Patterson Hood - Heavy And Hanging

This is Satire, Right?

I laughed my ass off at the closing shot (the guy in the wheelchair should be auditioning for SNL!).

Funny People and Grill's Favorite Lazy Idiot

I saw Funny People yesterday and quite liked it. It's been getting some fairly bad reviews for being too serious and not "Apatow" enough and containing some fairly blah acting performances. But I think it's been unfairly criticized. This, apparently, puts me in the same camp as Grill's favorite lazy idiot, Ross Douthat. (His commentary can be found here). I'll save my general feelings about the movie until the bottom, but first, a little bit of a response to what he had to say...

First:

"No recent movie has made the case for abortion look as self-evidently awful as "Knocked Up," Apatow's 2007 keep-the-baby farce."

REALLY?

I find it hard to take anything he says seriously after a comment like that. A "keep-the-baby farce?" While I think it was pretty ridiculous that that movie mentioned abortion once (because clearly anyone in that situation - ESPECIALLY a reporter in Hollywood - would at least broach the subject), I have a hard time believing that was an intended purpose/message of the movie (i.e., "keep the baby"). In fact, I would go so far as to say that Apatow likely left out that discussion specifically to appeal to a large portion of this country who would have written it off on principle if that discussion had gotten to direct, serious or graphic. To take the fact that they did keep the baby, which - as you know - like DROVE THE PLOT OF THE ENTIRE MOVIE and suggest it was a sign of social conservativism is (to take grill's line/complaint) both quite lazy and reeks of backwards rationalization/reasoning.

More goodies (baddies?):

"Tolerate a much more abortion regime" (emphasis mine). Posted without comment, but with nausea. (Which I guess means I posted with comment. So sue me).

"We wring our hands over stem cell research." We do? Who are the "we" here, exactly? Know your audience, at least a little, even if you are the conservative op-ed voice at the Times.

Douthat uses this all as support of his argument that, "we’re conservative right up until the moment that it costs us," and again, I think I will ask: who are the "we?" America? Because I'm not in that camp, and - judging by our most recent election - I'm certainly not alone. In fact, I would argue that people are liberal up until the moment that it costs us. Last time I checked, it's generally more expensive to be a liberal, what with our paying for more services, higher taxes and everything else that we get accused - somewhat rightly - for doing.
< /Douthat criticism>

Onto the movie itself:

As I said, I really liked it, although I'm still feeling pretty deflated about it, which is how I was feeling when leaving the theater. It paints a pretty gray picture of everything, which I think is probably a more accurate depiction of many aspects of life and relationships than what usually gets shown to us in movies, but that doesn't generally leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside. I think the fact that the movie descended into something of a Greek Tragedy in the second half was actually kind of refreshing. Yes, it was a little schizophrenic, but I think that life and relationships (especially marriages) are all over the place and clearly full of conflicting feelings and situations, and the movie did a good job of giving that feeling. Coupled with the fact that the first half was legitimately hilarious, and I genuinely liked the movie.

On the other hand...

I thought that Seth Rogen kind of sucked (he's just not a good serious actor...his idea of acting appears to be making lots of different uncomfortable faces to convey various emotions), and I also thought that Jason Schwartzman, who I generally like, was pretty thin. BUT, Adam Sandler was fantastic, and while I think many people will probably think that Eric Bana's character was supposed to be fluffy and despicable, I actually thought he was pretty good and redeeming [ducks lightening bolt].

My biggest gripe about the whole movie was the big fight between Leslie Mann & Eric Bana. That she slipped into that Aussie accent annoyed me so much. What the hell was the purpose of that? Was that her suddenly standing up to him, when she never would before? Was she trying to throw something back in his face? It just struck me as totally out of place and unnecessary. She was finally, although somewhat misguidedly, revealing her true feelings and yet it came across as trying to get a cheap laugh.

And speaking of Leslie Mann: I found it pretty clear that Apatow is madly in love with his wife...the way that he shoots her is pretty intense. Lots of closeups and very flattering lighting. While she did a serviceable job, I don't know that I needed all of that. Then again, it's not about me.< /disjointed criticism>

Bill Maher Gets It Right

So occasionally he goes a bit overboard and gets too extreme in his viewpoints for my liking, but more often than not, I find my opinions aligning fairly closely with Bill Maher's. This op-ed piece on the Huffington Post does a pretty nice job with things. And note, this is not completely partisan, he calls out members from both sides of the aisle for their ignorance/stupidity.