In brief
- Movie: “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.” I’m not a big fantasy fan, but of course I read the books when I was a teen and was quite into them before I rejected all things elvish and runish. So, the story isn’t really the thing that’s going to hold me here, but I had read so many things about how incredibly well-realized the film was, and I had to see it. It’s true: this is the Golden Age of Cinema. If you can imagine it, you can put it on screen and make it believable. My memory of the books is completely overtaken by the satirical book “Bored of the Rings” — when the Balrog was about to appear, all I could think of was that book’s description of the dreaded sound of “dribble – dribble – swish” as a creature appeared in a shirt with the mystic word “Villanova”: the fearful Ballhog.
- Music: The Clash, “Sandinista!” Still as complex, interesting, provocative as it was more than 20 years ago. Some of it fails, some of it is brilliant, none of it is a mess. Snuck into my consciousness last weekend, when I woke with a sudden and nearly inexplicable desire to hear “Charley Don’t Surf.”
- Magazine: If I had gotten my subscription to Bicycling magazine sooner — say, last fall — we might have known about the bicycle lawyer when we really needed one. (However, his website seems to have slipped a cog, so to speak.)
- TV: Trio is showing Late Night with David Letterman, vintage 1983-1986. These shows are hilarious, as good as I would have remembered them if my memory hadn’t been clouded by the last ten years of slavery to formula, celebrity ass-kissing and boring bits. On one show, the entire first half of the show was presented by Larry “Bud” Melman, whose wooden delivery and inability to read of the cue cards is worth the price of admission alone. Putting a camera on a monkey on roller skates is also an excellent idea. And Dave seemed like he might have actually been enjoying what he was doing. Now the show is just too painful to watch.
- Book: Still going through “Summerland,” but it’s been a busy week, you know?
- Website: Dave Barry’s weblog, if only for its connection to some fascinating Flash Japanimation.
Today, I’m going for a run. Dammit!