Follow the Leader

I didn't think I wrote particularly articulately* about movie #5 and, since I want to do the final four justice, I think I'm going to take a day off from my top 10** and follow-up on a few entries that I wrote recently, plus toss out a couple unrelated bits.

* You can admit you're impressed by the pairing of those two words.

**Also, while I'm thinking about it, I'll say that, aside from my top 2 movies, my top 10 is in a fairly malleable order. Did I really like Zombieland more than The Road? It's tough to say. Maybe think of it more like my nominees with two winners.

Bon Iver - I named Blood Bank my top album of 2009 and, searching around iTunes the other day, I realized there were two Bon Iver songs I didn't have ("Wisconsin" and "Bracket, WI") and I promptly corrected this mistake. Nobody makes music quite like this. So emotional and raw. So great.

Contra - I watched Vampire Weekend on MTV's Unplugged yesterday. They were fine, and I'll see them live when I get the chance, though aside from Chris Tomson (drums) they really don't seem like they'll be that compelling of a live act. But, anyway, there were also some interviews spliced into the program and the members, particularly Rostam Batmanglij (and no, that's not a typo, he actually has the word "batman" in his last name) talked about how they really focused on doing something different from their first album and even resisted some of their songwriting inclinations. This is, to me, a double-edged sword, obviously it's good that they want to challenge themselves and make an album distinct from the first one, but I thought it was illuminating in that Contra does seem very intentional. It's often an inevitable side-effect of becoming successful that bands start to think a lot about what they should do, and it changes their songwriting. Instead of being uninhibited and writing what comes naturally, they try and write what they think people/critics want to hear. Again, Contra's a really good album, but it's designed and calculated in places and it doesn't ring true for me the way their debut did.

The Saints - I don't have much to add to the analysis of the Superbowl, but for the record, the interception was way more Manning's fault than it was Wayne's. Drew Brees has become one of my favorite non-Boston team athletes. What a guy. And here are two great videos relating to Brees and the Saints:


A NO bar reacts to the Porter interception.

Brees teaches his pre-game chant to a bar full of fans in NO.

Rachel Maddow - I've never written about her, or politics for that matter, but if you want to make yourself angry and have 10 minutes to spare, check out this video on the ridiculousness of the GOP in regard to the stimulus.

Cooking My Family - Also, my roommate Lauren is working on a cookbook and is also interested in photographing food. Check out what she's up to over at cookingmyfamily.blogspot.com. I've eaten all these dishes and they were all delicious and, apparently, in return I have to occasionally write about them on her blog. Stay tuned for that.

That's all for now. An easy day in Blog Land.

Back tomorrow with #4.