The holidays are here, and I have yet to step foot in an established retail store, brave a "door buster" sale, or even think of buying people the perfect gifts that would suit them. You see, I'm one of those impossible people to buy presents for, and on top of that, I'm a bit of a doomed perfectionist. Ad to that the fact that I live on a limited budget. So every year I always set myself up for failure around the holidays with this dilemma: If I can't afford the gift I want to get you (which, take my word for it you'd love it) you probably wont get anything. I'm not much for giving the gift of gift cards or certificates. Thankfully my wife keeps me real, and makes me realize that you can give nice thoughtful gifts that don't cost a fortune, just a little creativity and thoughtfulness. So we end up making a lot of gifts, and these often tend to be better received than an impersonal gift card (although as an admitted P.I.T.A. to shop for, I actually like gift cards).
Anyway, I happen to live near a fantastic library, and am able to peruse lots of great books, Cd's, and DVD's that I never would have access to (without having a large expendable income). As I have mentioned before, I am a father of two wonderful children, one 2 years old, and one nearing 3 months. I find it hard to devote any time to any task that isn't family related now, as my energy is quickly used up after the kids are put to bed. I may have around an hour or two to read or watch a movie, at the end of the day. I'm not griping. I love my family, and I know that this is just temporary. But as anyone with young children will tell you, sometimes you just want a break and have an adult activity. My own little fantasy involves quietly reading a book for more than 10 minutes. Sounds like an easy task, but believe me, it is not. I can hardly make it through movies without falling asleep, so imagine getting all quiet at the end of the night after a full day at work, wrangling an obstinate toddler into a bath (who also takes forever to get to sleep), and cracking a book. Yep, no matter how compelling, snooze city.
So perhaps I can make some of you more literate moggers interested in some of these great finds that have appeared on my radar, that I have had a chance to properly peruse, but have no business in giving a worth while review (yet). Go forth and litterate yerselfs, if you know what's good for ya...
Long Way Back - by Brendan Halpin
This one I am actually in the process of reading, by Mog's answer to Nick Hornby (I say this with reverence), Brendan Halpin. I'm even about 100+ pages into it. How so you say, the toilet (mind you this wasn't just one or two sittings, no further details necessary, really). I believe the bathroom is one the top places to actually receive information. I am not trying to make this a coprophilic matter, nor am I trying to attach any of my unorthodox behavior for enjoying literature to Mr. Halpen's novel. After saying this I assure you that all puns and scatological references are not intended.
Long Way Back is a sublime look at both religion and musics purpose in our lives , which is my kind of fiction really. The book has is a wonderful exposition on mans relation to god through religion interspersed with wonderful references to classic (not to be confused with "Classic") rock tracks and minutiae. The main character, Francis a devout Catholic has been touched by both God and Rock 'n Roll at an early age. This relational juxtaposition might seem to be contradictory for most, but in Francis it is never forced (at least yet). It isn't his faith that is tested by his devotion to Rock, but rather tradgedy that tests his beliefs. Will he find his salvation through the back catalogue of rock n' roll? I guess I will see, but like I said, being part way through this book does not a review make...
The Great Funk: Falling Apart and Coming Together (on a Shag Rug) in the Seventies by Thomas Hine
Thomas Hine refers to the 70's as a "Slum of a Decade". I was born in 1976, so I'll take his word for it, even if disagreeing a little bit. I do believe that the 70's was one of the most musically diverse time periods in the history of recorded music, but Hines book is more about the over all look, feel, economic, social, political, color and style of the decade (which I would have to agree would stand somewhere between Mog brown and Avocado green). The book looks to be a wonderful look back on the style and thinking that took place in a rather depressing time in our nation. It's chock full of visual references of magazine ads, catalog pages, newspaper clippings and photos that will have you wondering why we ever thought brown polyester suites with large lapels and Earth shoes, were ever a good idea.
The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgeman
You'll know him as either the "PC Guy" from Apples Mac vs. PC Ads, or as a correspondent from The Daily Show. What John Hodgeman has compiled is a volume expounding upon his expertise in..well...just about everything. Think of it as an Almanac for the post Internet generation, whenever that is or whenever they will be born. The book is a hysterical collection of out right lies presented in a convincing written volume of knowledge. Think of it like if the Onion went into the Almanac business, and rather than having a slew of writers, had just one person write it. For anyone with a warped sense of humor, this is a great read.
The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan
I live in a vegetarian friendly household. I myself am not vegetarian, but my wife has been since birth and we made the decision to raise our children that way. Leaving them to choose what and how they want to eat at a later date. The idea behind this isn't to make them think that there is a correct way to eat, but rather to help them make good food choices through out their lives. So far there are very few vegetables my son does not like, so this has been a good decision on our part so far. We can only take them so far with this to a certain age when they can make these decisions on their own, but with an obesity epidemic looming over this country we figure having some information is better than none.
This book is not about being vegetarian though, as Mr. Pollan is a former Executive Editor of Harper's Magazine, and this is more of a natural history of our current industrialized food chain. It's both eye opening and scary, how far we've removed the natural elements from farming practices. At one point of the book, Mr. Pollan attempts to follow a bushell of corn (about 55 pounds of corn, off the cob, since you asked) from field to the market. I learned of this book from the ever fabulous Terry Gross and ??Fresh Air?? on NPR, so I'll include this link so you can have a listen to her interview of Mr. Pollan and to further entice towards you to this compelling read.
Brothers and Boys Rocking The Bleeps and Bloops (The Music)
I have some of you moggers to thank for turning me on to some great music this year, so I extend my thanks in mini review form by talking about a few of the bands you guys turned me onto.
Felice Brothers - ??Tonight At The Arizona?? (thanks Kate!)As much as I hate to make the X band meets Y band equation, I will default to it for the sake of brevity. Think Dylan and The Band meeting ??Let it Bleed?? - ??Exile?? era Stones with a little Gram Parsons thrown in. Good music about being down and out, drunk, and running from the law.

Junior Boys - ??So This Is Goodbye??Bleeps + Bloops + Earnest or heartfelt lyrics and 80's pop music sensibilities = good. Enjoyable beats and sampled hand claps that sound like they were made by an 808 or old sampling keyboard.

Beulah - ??The Coast is Never Clear?? (thanks Zenpop!)Zenpop posted one of his posters with a song by this elephant 6 group, that I was unaware of. This is good multi-textured catchy rock music with horns and keyboards. I stuck the whole album on our shuffle with a mix of other songs, and each of the songs worked their way into the mix beautifully.
Justice - ??Cross??What's up with those French? To me they seem to have cornered the market on how to make dancey, fun, electronic music that pulls from so many different sources yet sounds brand spanking new. I love this album's energy, and haven't gotten tired of it yet.

Aesop Rock - ??None Shall Pass??One of the best hip hop albums I've heard in a while. The beats and music are well constructed and Aesop's flow is impeccable. This might be his best yet (and a promising look at the future of Hip Hop).

DVD's:
Lawrence of Arabia!http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Lawr5.jpg" />There are few movies I can think of where every scene hang as a painting in a museum. ??2001: A Space Odessey?? is one of them, and this may be one of the few others. Not only that it's a great little primer into the formation of the countries in the middle east (but by no means a last word). Watching Peter O'Toole's portrayal of T.E. Lawrence, I realized this world is lacking true scholars like this. For being British, this guy knew more about the middle east, it's landscape, and it's history than probably all of our Executive Branch combined. But it also shows what foreign interests in other peoples lands often leads too. Still compelling, still pertinent today.
??Network??I have mixed feelings about this one. It's Sidney Lumet, and it's damn good. But there are some wobbly parts that don't hold up or just come off as dated. The Faye Dunaway/William Holden May-December romance is awkward, and I never really believe that they are as passionate for each other as we are supposed too. But it's probably necessary to break up the very great speeches by Peter Finch and the over all political intent and message of the film. Screen writer Paddy Chaefsky's view on media is a mixture of McLuhan meets Chomsky but as ridiculous as the Faye Dunaway's programing for the UBS network sounds, is it really that weird in a world of "Date My Daughter" or "Wife Swap"?