Heroes of Science

I recently read about an soon-to-be-released movie titled The Fall. I was immediately interested for a number of reasons. The trailer makes it clear that visually it is quite stunning. Some descriptions of it call it a combination of Pan's Labyrinth, Big Fish, and the comic version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (far far superior to the movie). And the lead is also the star of a tv show I enjoy a great deal, Pushing Daisies.

The movie appears to follow a band of five heroes (at least in a story-within-a-story structure). Which brings me to what may be my favorite part: one of the heroes is Charles Darwin. I just think that is a fantastic idea; I just haven't come up with the proper cliched action-hero catchphrases for the good doctor. "You've been naturally selected... for an ass-kicking!"

It also doesn't hurt that the score to the trailer is one of my favorite pieces of music, the second movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony. Supposedly Schubert and Wagner thought it was the greatest piece ever written.

Car Dance

We drove out for lunch at work today, as well as running some errands for Halloween. Earlier in the day Sarah and I had chatted about the show Pushing Daisies. The show is... unlike most anything else on tv. It is saccharine-sweet.... you could become diabetic watching it. But it is also visually stunning, the writing has layers and layers and layers of clever asides and references, and it tackles issues of morality and mortality with subtlety. Well, subtle for network tv. It's been called a "forensic fairy tale," since it has murder mystery, romantic, comic, and fabulist elements.

One particular element of the most recent episode caught my attention, and was the reason it came up at work. One line of dialog ran "You don't need a birdhouse. You can build a birdhouse in your soul" (trust me, it made sense in the context of the show). Fans of the band They Might Be Giants will immediately recognize this from the second song on the 1990 album Flood. So over the commercials, I can't help but hum the song. And when the show comes back, two of the characters (both played by talented Broadway songstresses) are singing that very song in the backseat of a car on the way to visit a windmill. Students of literature will find two more layers here: The name They Might Be Giants comes from a George C. Scott movie of the same name, about a man who thinks he's Sherlock Holmes and solves murders. But the term originally refers to Don Quixote, who tilted at windmills because "they might be giants."

The point, beyond the cleverness of the writing, is I've been a fan of They Might Be Giants for many years now. And as Sarah, Zina, and I drove to lunch, and the conversation continued, I mentioned I had all of their albums on my iPod there in the car. Naturally, the song was quickly queued up. And we ended up singing along with it. I never sing when other people are in the car... but I always sing when I drive alone (and with some songs, I do the car dance). So that was something interesting and new.

And speaking of music, I want to recommend, again, the Avett Brothers album Four Thieves Gone. I especially like "Talk on Indolence," "Distraction #74" and "Matrimony." It's like a punk band that grew up in Appalachia. And if you like punk, can I interest you in some choir music? The Blue Ribbon Glee Club is a group in Chicago that does a Capella covers of Fugazi and The Clash. Check out the live version of the Pixies' "Where is My Mind."

Nutmeg

A pretty full day yesterday, and bittersweet. John & FilthyWife hosted a going-away party for Meg, who leaves for California early Monday afternoon. It's exciting, and I'll get to see her in January, hopefully. But it's never fun to watch your friends leave town.

It was a fun party, which John & FilthyWife are known for. Jane made cookies, which goes a long way with me. We watched the Michigan-Iowa State game, since John, Megan, her boyfriend Rich, and various others there were all Wolverines. Low key, good crowd. John is in a band, and very knowledgeable musically, and after the game he recommended a great band, the Avett Brothers. I went straight home and downloaded their song Talk on Indolence. Followed by the rest of the album. John called it "punk-folk." If that sounds intriguing, check it out.

Other folks got Meg nice going away gifts - Jane made her a scarf with a built-in pocket. I feel bad I didn't, but I don't like to think about it when my friends leave, so I rarely show the foresight to make those kind of nice gestures. Besides, I will see her again relatively soon.

I don't need instructions on how to Rock

I was invited to go with Abby, Sarah & Paul, and some of Abby's friends to an Alison Krauss and Union Station concert last night up at the Merriweather Post Pavilion. I had never been there before, and I was very impressed. It was a great place to see a show, and we lucked out and the weather cooled off to comfortable conditions.

Beyond the general excellence of the show and the very easy manner of the band, fun and relaxed, there were three elements of the evening that deserve special mention. Least significantly but still intriguing, on the drive home we saw a DeLorean on the beltway. This was of particular interest to me, since I just read that a small company in Texas acquired the rights to begin very limited production on new DeLoreans. And that should make anyone who grew up watching Back to the Future very happy. Gigawatts!

Secondly, [story not suitable for minors or the easily offended], there was the drive up to the show. The sights were not nearly so welcome. On the Beltway, along the side of the road, there was a car pulled over. Next to the car was an unfortunate individual. This person was completely naked, and in the process of relieving themselves. Not even in the woods - out in the open, with a not insignificant number of people driving by. I am certain that something went catastrophically wrong to bring this about. But it was still one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen on the highway.

Lastly, I spent a goodly portion of the night sharing some of my trademarked worthless trivia. Most apropos was "Did you know that Alison Krauss is married to Elvis Costello?" And no one did. And there is a reason no one knew this: it is not true. I was confused, since Krauss and Costello worked together on the Cold Mountain soundtrack, and Costello is married to jazz pianist Diana Krall. So my powers failed me, I am embarrassed to say.

For all that, the show was the complete highlight, and I recommend both the Merriweather Post Pavilion and Alison Krauss if you have the opportunity.

Party Like It's 1999

Almost 1999, anyway. I had tried to make some CDs to listen to some music in my car, but the old CD player in my trunk doesn't like to read homemade CDs. It has given me trouble in the past. I finally decided to give up and get a portable mp3 player. I know - I must be some kind of Luddite, right? Totally - machines are the work of Lucifer. Now I have to go home and churn butter for 10 hours.

So I found that Apple offers refurbished items at reduced prices at their online store. So I got a 2GB player for almost half-price. I'm also going to get a super-cheesy cassette adapter so I can output to my car stereo easily. I'll be Rockin' like Dokken. Except more so, because Dokken never rocked. So now I've caught up with the latest thing from 4 years ago.

On the home front, I came home the other day to a bit of a surprise. Someone went to town on the bushes and hedges around the house. There was a lilac bush that was quite nice. Now... not so much. It's pretty much gone. I hope it was the property management company, or the landlord. Otherwise, I've got to worry about roving bands of topiary vandals. Chilling.