Clearinghouse

I try to blog at least once a week, which isn't that often, and so what happens is I'll have a rambling post full of all sorts of thoughts and events. But I kind of like it.

I don't think I wrote anything about Warren Ellis' Crecy one-shot before, did I? Well, it's a very entertaining, well-researched, funny history of a relatively forgotten battle. I know Ellis has a good range, but this reminded me more of something Garth Ennis might do. Exquisite art on this as well.

Started reading a juvenile book to my kids called Operation: Red Jericho, which is about a brother and sister in 1920 coming into the care of their seafaring uncle, who is head of a mysterious organization. The author and publishers have spared no expense, binding the book with an elastic band to serve as a bookmark, and inside there are all sorts of facsimile letters, clippings, sketches from the brother, and foldout maps and diagrams. It's a lot of fun so far.

After soccer and dance, I made them quesadillas for lunch, sneaking in some feta and fried pancetta crumbles amid the usual Mexican cheese blend, and they dug it. For dinner we had some frozen chicken dish with an interesting gorgonzola/cilantro sauce, and on the side I added some pasta and fresh bread. I'm very full.

Finished The Jack Kirby Collector Vol. 1 and it made me feel good. I don't know how you can put that book down not loving Jack Kirby, or not wanting to read some Kirby right after.

I downloaded the I'm Not There soundtrack the other day--the iTunes version has three bonus tracks. This is for a new film about Bob Dylan where a number of different actors portray Dylan in his different phases/guises, including Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett. The soundtrack features a number of big names covering Dylan songs ranging from obscure to famous, though they avoid most of the very biggest ones. When the artists are backed by bands other than their own, they're backed by either Calexico or the specially-formed house band, The Million Dollar Bashers, featuring members of Sonic Youth, Wilco, Tom Verlaine and John Medeski. Let me put it this way: I download a lot of music, and I was really disappointed that I had forgotten to bring my iPod home from work, as it meant I couldn't listen to it Friday. I rarely want to listen to new cds that frequently, but there really are hardly any bad tracks here. Oh, Eddie Vedder's "All Along the Watchtower" is unnecessary, and Karen O's vocal on "Highway 61 Revisited" is really annoying, and Jack Johnson makes "Mama You Been On My Mind" as boring as any Jack Johnson original, but I liked almost everything else. Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Iron & Wine, Stephen Malkmus and Sonic Youth stood out (and a couple of these had more than one track to work with), but I was pleased with artists I didn't really know as well, like Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Bob Forrest, Masony Jennings and Mira Billotte. Also, the oft-bootlegged original version of "I'm Not There" by Bob Dylan and The Band is included at the end.

I read PostSecret, a wonderful, destined-to-be-a-gift-book classic, which features postcards people have sent the editor that contain a secret they've been holding on to. It can be something amusing--one guy gets a parking ticket, sees the car next to him has one as well, and switches the tickets, so that his gets paid by the other guy and the other guy's ticket gets sent in as a postcard--or more often than not, something sad involving loneliness, bad relationships, bad memories. There's a world of hurt around us, and somehow seeing what these anonymous people are going through is cathartic for a reader, and hopefully for them as well. I loved one where a woman had prepared half a dozen secret postcards, but instead of sending them, she put them on the bed in the morning for her boyfriend to see, and later that day he showed up at her work to propose. That's pretty awesome, whoever she is. I had to read the book in one sitting, and it put me in a mood where I had to reach out to someone I still care a lot about, for better or worse.

In fact, it's been a weird last few weeks on the romantic front, but I'll be smart for once and not get into it in great detail. Suffice it to say, at this time I've found not one but two women who like me, and yet I'm determined not to settle for anyone who doesn't make me feel like the person I reached out to tonight made me feel.