|
Shmuel's Soapbox: Now available in bite-sized Weblog McNuggets! Archives Index Idol Annex Booklog Blog feed (LJ) Comment feed |
Friday, December 08, 2006 So, long story short, I was away for a business retreat last night. Left yesterday morning, got back this afternoon, having had no access to my e-mail in the interim. And not incidentally, I use my e-mail to see if I have any voicemail. Based on the evidence, last night, circa 6:30, somebody broke in through the side door of my apartment, turned on all the lights, and then left without taking anything, or even disturbing much. The only hypothesis I can think of that comes close to making sense is that somebody broke in (probably using a crowbar or something), did a very quick look around, and then got spooked or called away and ran off. The good news is that my landlady's fine. She's in her eighties, and now I'm nervous about leaving her alone in a couple of weeks, when I'd planned to go to New York for a few days. We'll see. Honestly, even if they had run off with my stuff, that wouldn't have been the end of the world. I don't own anything particularly valuable. Though the brand new LCD monitor was right out in the open, so... well, it's bizarre, that's all I can say. Bizarre. Thursday, December 07, 2006 8:03 AM: Holidailies Triolet V Alas, I'm running way behind, And now I have to go. This recent break was not designed-- Alas, I'm running way behind! I can't escape the daily grind; It pays the bills, but woe! Alas, I'm running way behind, And now I have to go. (It happens every year...) Sunday, December 03, 2006 11:30 PM: CD Review: Straight Outta Lynwood Weird Al has put out another album, and I'm happy to report that it rocks. This is not a surprise in itself. I'm a fan of Weird Al; it's to be expected that I'd like his new stuff. The surprise is in what's turned out to be my second-favorite track on the album, surpassed only by the instant classic "Don't Download This Song." That second-favorite track is "Trapped in the Drive-Thru." Before this album was released, my opinion was that Al needed to stop putting really long songs on his albums. "Albuquerque" was cute the first time, "Genius in France" was pushing it. Both were conveniently located at the end of their respective albums, so they could be ignored after the first couple of listens. Enough was enough. I also would have been of the opinion that "Trapped in the Closet" wouldn't provide much potential for parody, as it was already about as far over the top as it could get. That's pretty much the only reason why it's gained popularity among people who aren't otherwise R. Kelly fans; for many, it hits that elusive sweet spot of so-awful-it's-perfect. Small wonder a theatre in my area has midnight screenings of the full video cycle every few months. And so we have "Trapped in the Drive-Thru," an eleven-minute song taking on an impossible parody challenge. And it is brilliant. Rather than trying to compete with the absurdity of R. Kelly's convoluted plot, Al applies the same level of melodramatic histrionics to a completely mundane activity. It works. Though I suspect it's more effective if you've seen at least some of the original videos (so, umm, thanks Pam. All is forgiven). Third place for me is probably "White and Nerdy," and the rest of the album's pretty good too. The album is a Sony DualDisc: CD on one side, DVD on the other. I'm not fond of the format, nor of the company, but I had to have it; I'm just not ever putting the thing into my computer. Anyway, the DVD side has videos for all of Al's original (non-parody) songs on the album, and video footage of Al and company in the recording studio. If you're a fan, that last item is worth the price of the album in itself. Comments by HaloScan. |
Contact Archives Index |