Semi-Pretentious Recommendations While Procrastinating on My Readings for Midwestern Lit
Recommendations Musical
Zoe Keating--Gorgeous multi-layered cello strangeness. It is atmospheric and grand and unnerving--and also wordless, which makes it invaluable typing/reading music.
K’Naan-So hey, it turns out that I don’t actually hate rap as a genre. K’Naan is proof that clever, wise, catchy hip-hop is not an oxymoron. He grew up in war-torn Somalia, and his work adeptly criticizes the type of glorified violence found in mainstream rap. Oh, also, he's ridiculously talented.
Recommendations Literary
World War Z-- Fictional oral history of a large-scale zombie outbreak. I can't make it sound as good as it is. Well-researched, thoughtful, psychologically convincing, and except for the existence of zombies, shockingly plausible.
The New Kings of Nonfiction--When nonfiction is good, it is really, really good. This is a collection edited by Ira Glass of This American life, so you know it's quality. I especially liked “Six Degrees of Lois Weinberg” and “The American Man At Age 10”.
Shades of Grey--Jasper Fforde's latest, about a dystopian society where one's social standing is determined by the ability to perceive color. Also, there are systematic purges of advanced technology, and it’s illegal to make spoons.
Recommendations Culinary
This carrot cake--I tripled it, substituting really shitty bulk pancake syrup for brown sugar because we were out of the good stuff. It still worked! Astounding.
Also, this cake, sweet Jesus, this cake. Barbara, you get a million points.
And on a rare non-cake-related note, sweet potato oven fries. Sweet potatoes in general are the king of root vegetables, can there be any doubt?
Not Strictly a Recommendation At All, But...
Here is a tune co-written with my friend Carolyn--she penned the lyrics, I did the melody. It’s about the powerful appeal and the undeniable danger of traveling to Canada. The video is worth watching just for her delivery; she completely sells it.
Finished months ago but never posted here until now: an attempt at a steampunk folk song, about an army captain’s gradual transformation into a cyborg.
And here's a song written for my Astronomy class, describing the evolution of the Universe, and also why the Universe would be a crappy boyfriend. The song covers 13.7 billion years of history, and I should perhaps caution you that its running time is only slightly shorter. (Apologies to those of you who have already heard all of these. I'm working on new stuff, just, you know, not very quickly.)
And Finally, An Open Request For Further Recommendations
Read any good apocalyptic fiction lately? Heard any decent lushly orchestrated baroque pop? Seen any TV shows featuring a close-knit ragtag group of misfits working against tremendous odds to undermine an evil empire? (What can I say? I know what I like.)
Seriously though, at the risk of sounding like a poorly-disguised alien trying to pass as a college-age blogger, what sorts of entertainment have you been consuming and/or enjoying lately?
Zoe Keating--Gorgeous multi-layered cello strangeness. It is atmospheric and grand and unnerving--and also wordless, which makes it invaluable typing/reading music.
K’Naan-So hey, it turns out that I don’t actually hate rap as a genre. K’Naan is proof that clever, wise, catchy hip-hop is not an oxymoron. He grew up in war-torn Somalia, and his work adeptly criticizes the type of glorified violence found in mainstream rap. Oh, also, he's ridiculously talented.
Recommendations Literary
World War Z-- Fictional oral history of a large-scale zombie outbreak. I can't make it sound as good as it is. Well-researched, thoughtful, psychologically convincing, and except for the existence of zombies, shockingly plausible.
The New Kings of Nonfiction--When nonfiction is good, it is really, really good. This is a collection edited by Ira Glass of This American life, so you know it's quality. I especially liked “Six Degrees of Lois Weinberg” and “The American Man At Age 10”.
Shades of Grey--Jasper Fforde's latest, about a dystopian society where one's social standing is determined by the ability to perceive color. Also, there are systematic purges of advanced technology, and it’s illegal to make spoons.
Recommendations Culinary
This carrot cake--I tripled it, substituting really shitty bulk pancake syrup for brown sugar because we were out of the good stuff. It still worked! Astounding.
Also, this cake, sweet Jesus, this cake. Barbara, you get a million points.
And on a rare non-cake-related note, sweet potato oven fries. Sweet potatoes in general are the king of root vegetables, can there be any doubt?
Not Strictly a Recommendation At All, But...
Here is a tune co-written with my friend Carolyn--she penned the lyrics, I did the melody. It’s about the powerful appeal and the undeniable danger of traveling to Canada. The video is worth watching just for her delivery; she completely sells it.
Finished months ago but never posted here until now: an attempt at a steampunk folk song, about an army captain’s gradual transformation into a cyborg.
And here's a song written for my Astronomy class, describing the evolution of the Universe, and also why the Universe would be a crappy boyfriend. The song covers 13.7 billion years of history, and I should perhaps caution you that its running time is only slightly shorter. (Apologies to those of you who have already heard all of these. I'm working on new stuff, just, you know, not very quickly.)
And Finally, An Open Request For Further Recommendations
Read any good apocalyptic fiction lately? Heard any decent lushly orchestrated baroque pop? Seen any TV shows featuring a close-knit ragtag group of misfits working against tremendous odds to undermine an evil empire? (What can I say? I know what I like.)
Seriously though, at the risk of sounding like a poorly-disguised alien trying to pass as a college-age blogger, what sorts of entertainment have you been consuming and/or enjoying lately?