Finished listening to Chuck Palahniuk read his book 'Choke.' Wow, definitely my coolest download yet from audible.com. A hilarious book about pathetic people. Recommended!

Having made room on my 'audible otis' player, I decided to download some music to it. What a concept! Anyway, it turned out to be a good idea. Loving the songs again made me love the albums again, and it's all a big rediscovering great music thing! The albums I've been listening to include Tori Amos' Scarlet's Walk (which is growing on me), Tom McRae's brilliant eponomously titled debut, Elbow's Asleep in the Back (worthy of Coldplay-like acclaim), and David Kitt's The Big Romance (quirky, melodic, wonderful).
I've also finally gotten around to ordering the soundtrack to Elvis' incredible 1968 NBC comeback special. Yay Elvis!

Hmm, non-jazz music can be good too.



Books - finished Ridley Pearson's Chain of Evidence and Mary Higgins Clark's We'll Meet Again (don't mock me!!!). Started Greg Iles' The Quiet Game. I love intelligently written thrillers that can be suspenseful and still have something to say about politics, humanity or religion. In this way Greg Iles is up there with John Connolly and Dennis Lehane.

Movies - Lovely and Amazing was great. A painfully perceptive film about love and life and marriage. Catherine Keener is excellent as always. And apparently Jake Gyllenhaal was cute. I've missed having access to great indie movies. Yay for Netflix. If it would only take less than a week between movies! Wanna know what's in our rental queue?

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Liam

Notorious C.H.O.


Hidden Agenda

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

Pumpkin

CQ

The Cotton Club

Mo' Better Blues

Chelsea Walls

Drawing Flies

The Evil Dead

24 Hour Party People

Ordinary Decent Criminal

Y Tu Mama Tambien

Simone

Bread and Roses

Scotland, PA

Divine Trash

Strictly Sinatra

The Real World: New York

Tart

Dazed and Confused

Signs

I'm the One That I Want

Highway

Enigma

The Shield: Season 1: Disc 1:

Monument Ave.

Donnie Brasco

Thelma & Louise

Dogtown and Z-Boys

Guinevere

The Cat's Meow

No Such Thing

The Corruptor

Metroland

Croupier

and over 100 more. So there should be much more movie distractions in the coming year(s).

Finished 1984 by George Orwell and Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding, both of which were brilliant but in very different ways. Started Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce and Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde which I believe I shall consider likewise.

Listening to Billie Holiday, Damien Rice, Kate Rusby and mix tapes of genius!

Watched Blood Work which was disappointing, especially considering that the writer and director are currently adapting one of my favorite books - Mystic River by Dennis Lehane - for the screen. Also rewatched Barbershop which is fun. I'm straight, dog!