Stuff I Like Lately

1. The "Once" movie and soundtrack. Yes, I know this came out last year but I have kids and I don't get out much. Read about this great, modern-day musical and then, if you're intrigued, check it out.

2. The Audacity of Hope by presidential candidate Barack Obama. I'm about halfway through and I'm really enjoying this read. My leanings are probably more democratic than republican, but I have always (at least since I've had enough sense to put some thought into it) been registered as an Independent. I like Barack so much that I've temporarily registered as a Democrat just so I can vote in the primaries. I will switch back to Independent, however, because no party is a good fit for me.

3. The movies "3:10 to Yuma", "The Bourne Ultimatum", and "Charlie Wilson's War". All of these are very good, though very different films. I've seen each of these movies for the first time in the last two weeks or so--one on a rare date night with the wife and the other two as rentals. One thing that connects all three is moral ambiguity. The cowboys of Yuma, the CIA agents of Bourne, and the politicians of Charlie Wilson are all imperfect people trying to deal with other imperfect people in an imperfect world. Some come through this moral haze better than others.

4. The Calvin & Hobbes 10th Anniversary Book by Bill Waterson. When I get sick I stay in bed and read comic strip collections, usually The Far Side or Calvin & Hobbes. I got the stomach flu this weekend and so I spent my recovery day reading this treasure for about the 15th time. This particular collection is special because it includes notes from Waterson about how he got started, his influences, background on the characters, and insight into particular strips. I love it.

And one thing I didn't like lately:

1. The movie "Superbad." I watched it all the way through and, though it had its moments of hilarity, but I found myself really turned off by the constant obscene humor. It left me with a very bad feeling after watching it. Jerry Seinfeld was once asked why he didn't use foul language in his routine and he responded by saying that anybody can say curse words and get an easy laugh, but it takes a lot more work and effort to get laughs while being clean. To me, this is what made "Napoleon Dynamite" so original. It was gut-bustingly funny (if you enjoy off-beat humor) and yet didn't have to resort to the easy laugh of being obscene. My review of "Superbad": super bad.