I'm finding Zack de la Rocha's new project very enjoyable, in an old slipper kind of way. If you like Rage Against the Machine and long for music similar in cadence and bass line, this hits the spot. I'm not sure that Zack can be involved with a band and not have it be Rage redundant. That's just fine with me though. I'm not looking for anything new from him and I'm liking what I hear. Not every Tool needs to turn A Perfect Circle.
If there is one disappointment it is that it's more of a mini album. Five songs. Five whole songs.
While the album's signature song Wild International is good,
I find myself hitting the repeat button for If You Fear Dying.
You have to listen to it more than 10 seconds, though, to get past the similar bass riff. I promise, they are two different songs. :)
I didn't go into this movie with very high expectations. I really enjoy Meryl Streep and Julia Child, and I have to say I was not anticipating a merger of the two. I can't quite put my finger on the reason for that reaction. It's almost as though I didn't want the magic of Hollywood and mass-marketing to sully these two icons with a forced imitation.
Thankfully, the movie was raised a level by mature writing and much more comedy than I had expected.
POSITIVES:
Stanley Tucci got all of the best lines.
Portrayal of the dirtier side of Julia Child.
SNL clip of a Julia Child imitation of the ilk I remember as a child.
Brought up a new inspiration to read Julia's books.
Meryl's black and white Julia Child's TV appearances did Julia justice.
Sweet love story for both the Julie and Julia characters.
Renewed my interest in blogging. Go figure!
VERY humorous.
NEGATIVES:
Not a lot of tolerance on my part for a Julia Child imitation.
Amy Adam's terrible haircut robbed her of her signature cuteness.
The overt theme of struggle, perseverance, and 'what you believe is your reality' is a turn off for me. Outside of Boo in Monsters, the feel-good music brings out the cynic in me.
I feel a bit uncomfortable commenting on a book I did not read, but that in itself is the reason for this post. I had this book on loan from the library for three weeks and how far did I get? 26 pages. That's right; I made it through the second chapter.
I rarely ever give up on a book, but every time I cracked it open, I fell asleep. Sometimes mid page. I feel bad for my reaction, but I could not seem to bring myself to care. Russell is funny in every other aspect I have seen, but the novice writing and theme of the first few chapters (further slowed by the cultural descriptions at the bottom of every other page) gave me the sense that I had better things to do with my time than tread water with this book. So, for maybe the third time in my life, I took my bookmark out and moved along.
I don't care for unfinished business though, so to placate myself, I've decided to amend my 'to be read' list with a 'to be continued' list. Haha. How's that for OCD behavior? So worried I will forget an unfinished task, I am comforted by lists.
I suppose my reaction and diversion from my usual box-checking nature says enough about my opinion of the literary Brand. In review:
Russell Brand stand-up ------ Disturbing and funny Russell Brand acting --------- Creepy and funny Russell Brand the author ---- Snooze-fest
Reading it for the second time since high school, it didn't seem like the same book. I remember thinking it humorous and strange. I couldn't relate to this poor girl's breakdown. This time I was aware of the author's story and the semi-autobiographical nature of the book.
The writing was poetic and encompassing. I understand why Sylvia Plath is credited with helping begin the 'confessional poetry' genre. The sardonic humor in the first half of the book actually made me giggle out loud, but the second half took a much darker turn and was a bit hard to read.
Her description of planning suicide was like watching a junkie ready themselves for a fix. The right place, the right conditions; I don't think she emoted over anything in the book as much as that mediation.
If it was my tale to tell, it would have been hard to look back at that feeling. It was a bit sickening just to read the recount of someone else. So, the author's suicide after writing this novel makes me think it wasn't the distant reflection the book leads you to believe.
Sylvia Path wrote this book under a pseudonym and a few months after it was published, she committed suicide. She put her head in the oven. That takes balls. It's just my humble opinion, but if you were to do something fast and rash, there wouldn't be time to ponder and change your mind. Jumping from a height, using a gun, hanging; even if you changed your mind, there probably isn't much you can do about it. So laying there with your head in an oven sounds like a serious commitment to me.
How sad.
It was still a good read if only for the imagery and flow of the writing. Makes me think of that Imogen Heap song Let Go because she says 'because there's beauty in the breakdown.'
