If you are a fan of the more popular war writer, Tim O'Brien, I think you will particularly enjoy this book. Like a lot of O'Brien's work, Dickey's story is a mixture of flashbacks amidst a harsh war reality that is hard to cope with. Unlike, Dickey's Deliverance (another fantastic book), this book doesn't have a lot of interesting side characters--the main character is on a solo trip behind enemy lines, killing without remorse and sinking deeper and deeper into his thoughts and memories of the wilds of Alaska. Where this book does share with "Deliverance" is a great understanding of nature and how man 'reverts' back to instincts shared with other predators and prey in the animal world when placed in a survival situation. I really enjoyed this book--the language is beautiful and even if it is often hard to be sympathetic to the main character because of his violence, we can understand his state of mind.

This book isn't life-changing or even inspirational--in a good way. I was hesitant initially because I thought the book might work a 'girl-power' angle as Greenlaw is one of, if not the only, female swordfish captains in the world. Instead, it does a fantastic job of describing a world most of us will never know--the inner workings of a fisherman's (woman's) life: the politics involved in pleasing a demanding boat owner and restless crew, the tedious waiting game where instincts and electronics seek the elusive fish many days away from shore, and the excitment of the non-stop work when the fishing is good. It even gives an account of the finances involved including a breakdown of the market price of fish and how it affects everyone's pay. I had no idea of the immense costs each fishing trip takes in equipment, food, and gas. It is a great look at the day-to-day life. Where it falls short is addressing some grander issues such as the environment and the history and future of fishing. Greenlaw does have a few sentences sprinkled throughout and it's clear that from her viewpoint that the environment hoopla about overfishing is overblown and while these statements do make the reader long for more knowledge on the topic, I guess the authenticity of the book is that we get the raw one-sided opinion of a true fisherman (woman) and not some policy wonk. A very good read.

I can't believe this movie was in and out of the theaters so fast that when my friends rented it, I had never heard of it. I also can't believe this movie didn't win any awards--it is unbelievably amazing--the story, the soundtrack, the acting, and the cinematography. I'll leave it to others to describe the movie further, but this really is one of those movies that stay with you for awhile. It is genuinely creepy, surreal, intelligent, original, and an Echo and the Bunnymen song opens the movie...what could be cooler than that?

There is a scene in L.A. Story (Steve Martin also wrote it) where Steve Martin's character traces 'Bored beyond belief' on his foggy window on a rainy day. The theme of living in isolation while surrounded by noise and a busy superficial world, of desperately trying but not being able to connect with anyone is present in both L.A. Story and Shopgirl. In browsing many reviews of both L.A. Story and Shopgirl, it seems the general thought is often that these are interesting, but fluffy work. But if you've ever experienced real depression, have never found true friends or true love, then the scene in his book where the lead character Mirabelle tries in vain to contact her only two 'friends' for company on Thanksgiving, repeatedly taking walks to calm herself and hoping for the phone message light to be blinking when she returns, is more than just an amusing scene, it is a diary. It is funny, how one person's treasure is another person's trinket, but however a reader personally relates to this book, the book is so well written and insightful, I would recommend it to anyone. As others have said, it is a short book, I started reading it in a bookstore as I waited for some car repairs to be done and I was 3/4 done before even taking it home.

Like most of the reviewers said, this album keeps the BTS sound and isn't quite as experimental as their past albums have progressively become. There is a huge difference between There's Nothing Wrong With Love and Keep It Like a Secret. In this album, instead of exploring new sounds, they've really perfected it--the album is gorgeous and each song is multi-layered with several melodies and every time I listen to it, I pick up something new. Phil Ek and Doug Marsch have really mastered the production end of things and I liken Doug to Billy Corgan in the way he approaches the post-production and original songs and lyrics. Of course, the thing that distinguishes Doug from Billy is that Doug is possibly the most amazing guitarist in the rock world in my opinion. This album is so good all the way through. There are a couple of things just to point out--some of the songs have familiar melodies, there isn't as much jamming going on (no 10+ minute songs, all the songs are pretty standard length), and the humor isn't as apparent (remember the last track on There's Nothing.. where they 'preview' their next album?). That said, In Your Mind, Happiness, You Are, and The Weather are among their best songs. I also really like Alarmed--it reminds me of the chanting in "Eyes Wide Shut." :-)

The first thing that struck me about this album is that Wil's voice really sounds good. Whenever I've shared my Wil Oldham/Palace CDs with friends, I always hear the comment that they can't stand the voice (the same comment I've always heard from first time Dylan listenors). I've always enjoyed Wil's voice and the authentic and unpolished records he's made and it is strange but truly amazing to hear Wil's voice sound as technically good as it does on this album. This album also has a lot more accessible melodies than the last couple of albums he has put out and he also includes quite a range of instruments and back-up singers. The entire album is excellent with some songs that are among his best. One cannot stop singing along with "Just to See My Holly Home" or marvel at "After I Made Love to You." Overall, I'd say that this album is made in the style of his earlier Palace albums with much more polish, instruments, and a really good voice--I still like both Days in the Wake and Viva Last Blues better, but this one is damn good.

This album is finally a worthy follow-up to their 1992 self-titled debut, that masterpiece with Bombtrack, Killing in the Name, and Wake Up. de la Rocha's vocals really show some versatility here, we all knew he could scream better than anyone, but on these cover songs, he shows some serious hip-hop and singing skills and a few times he even sounds like he is giving a beatnik spoken word performance. Not to say that most of the tracks don't have that trademark Rage sound that is outrage, rebellion, and anger--the band has never been tighter. It's great that their influences, as evidenced by the song choices vary widely, given that they've carved a niche in the hard, sometimes industrial, sound. The Ghost of Tom Joad is originally an acoustic folk song by Springsteen and Rage has really transformed it in an amazing way. My favorite is the Dylan cover, the last track on the album (but there are two live hidden tracks). What a great way for Rage to go out: covering a song by Bob Dylan, the ultimate rager against the machine.

Johnny Cash's voice does waver at times, sounding even a bit weary, but it fits the song choices on this album very well. I would never have imagined anyone else singing "One" by U2, let alone making it sound so good (and sad). He also covers one of my other favorite artists, Wil Oldham, which blew my mind as Wil is pretty obscure--the song "I See A Darkness" is quite riveting, in fact the entire album is a bit stark and melancholy, so this is definitely not one of Cash's album of praise songs! The trio of songs: "Will You Lay With Me.." "Field of Diamonds" and "Before My Time" is about the best succession of songs I've heard on any album--if there was any doubt of the power of simple songs, stripped down to only a voice and guitar, listen to these 3 songs and be prepared to be stunned. I got the same sense of awe in listening to these 3 songs that I did when I first listened to Dylan doing "Moonshiner." This will be a classic album--I highly recommend it.

The beauty of a miniseries, which can only happen with television, is that you can truly develop a multitude of interesting characters, whereas even the best movie released in a theater is limited by time. Lonesome Dove had a budget of over $20 million--on par at the time with big Hollywood movies--so the production and settings are excellent, although the picture quality leaves something to be desired. I think that this is one of the most engaging movies made. The characters are all so great, each with their own history, faults, personalities, and storylines. Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall give the best performances and it's hard to think of anyone else playing their roles (although James Gardiner and Jon Voight both play Jone's character in later movies). This movie is a thorough enjoyment, especially if one already has an interest in the Old West.

Great new album from Richard Buckner, it seems to have a lot more production on it then even "Since," although not quite as many electic guitars. Several of the songs have a pretty heavy blues influence in it, which I've always liked about Buckner as his sad and downtrodden style of singing fits it well. Even his a cappella "Ollie McGee" reminds me of an old-time blues singer wailing. The guitar playing, as always, is very poignant, especially on the slower songs. The main disagreement most people seem to have with this album is the concept, however, from the musical standpoint, this is an excellent album from Buckner and well worth the 2 year wait for new material. Personally, I probably like "Bloomed" a bit better, but I would have given this album 5 stars (instead of the 4 stars I gave) but the fact that this entire album is one track on the CD and I can't forward or backtrack to a particular song is really annoying... Probably a great way to prevent CDR-burning and an original artistic concept, but still annoying as hell.