The latest

After having dinner with our homies the other night I thought I should post periodic updates on the blog of the latest movies, music, and books that I'm into . There was a point that I would post brief reviews of things I had read or watched, but I haven't done that in a while. So thanks to our friends (shout out to the Bel-town Crew!) for the inspiration for this post.

Books

-Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman - After reading (and posting) about Gaiman's Sandman series I picked this series of short stories on a whim. Fair warning several stories in this collection are quite sexually graphic. However, what I liked most about it was that Gaiman tells adult versions of childhood fairytales. These are fairytales without happy endings or told with a darker twist. The stories were short and very fulfilling so it made for good reading when I was constantly picking up and putting the book down.

-A Murder of Quality by John Le Carre - Growing up I heard a lot about John Le Carre from my parents and recently I saw a preview for the film version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which reintroduced him in my mind. This was the first and smallest John Le Carre book I found so I started with it. Unlike the bulk of his writing, which is spy novels this was a murder mystery. It was very interesting and flowed well. The plot was simple and straightforward, but that allowed me to focus on Le Carre's writing style. The style is methodical and detailed, which also allows the suspense to build as one feels they are there.

-The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA by Joby Warrick - I heard about this on the radio and it's the next book on the horizon. The title is pretty self explanatory, but the book is apparently exhaustively researched and tells the story in greater detail than the CIA report of the event that left 7 agents dead.

Movies

-Whip It - We just saw this last night and it was a good movie. It was a standard feel good lighthearted movie with a happy ending about a girl, Ellen Page, who gets into roller derbies.

-Black Swan - This is the ballet movie with all the press from last year. The plot was very strange and the movie was a bit slow. Natalie Portman, however, killed it with her performance. I love Natalie Portman and this is one of her best performances that I can recall.

-Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest - A documentary about the legendary hip hop band. From what I hear it is good for non hip hoppers as it has a good humanistic angle also. The soundtrack is a throwback to the 'golden era' of hip hop so I'm excited for this.

-Harry Potter - The last Harry Potter was the best in my opinion. Well that is the last two. This movie felt incomplete and I think that is because it was. It together with the first part was one movie that had to be split at some point, but that aside the two movies together are the best of the series. They are both dark and intense serving as the perfect final showdown.

Music

-Thievery Corporation - I'm excited to see this duo in concert again. I don't know how to explain them. They span a wide variety of genres: dub, acid jazz, Indian Classical, hip hop, Middle Eastern, etc. They have a rotating group of singers and musicians on stage with them as they perform with a lounge groove.

-The California Honeydrops - My old coworker heard this group at a bar and said they were good. I have to look into them, but I'm sold when I saw that they are into R&B, gospel, New Orleans jazz, and blues.

-Esperanza Spalding - The first jazz musician to win a best new artist Grammy. I listened to some of her stuff when she got her Grammy last year and I'm intrigued. She is coming to town and tickets are 20 dollars, which is enough to get me in the door.