Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Mr Furious Heartily Endorses…

God knows I've got a backlog of Obama v. Clinton shit to dish, but I don't have time at the moment, and I think I need to mix things up a bit here anyway. Let's "put aside our differences" and "reach out and agree" about what I tell you kicks ass...

'INTO THE WILD' SOUNDTRACK
I gotta stick this in here as well. Very solid album from Eddie Vedder. There are a couple songs from this on the radio that are very good, "Guaranteed" and "Hard Sun," but this is a solid (if abbreviated) solo debut from Vedder start to finish. I haven't seen the film yet, but listening to this album makes me all the more anxious for the video release.

MATTHEW SWEET's "GIRLFRIEND"
Don't know why I picked this album out of hundreds the other day, but boy, what a fantastic flashback. Phenomenal album. Power pop/songwriting at its very best. Sweet put it all together for this breakout (relatively speaking) effort, and never quite repeated the success or quality of "Girlfriend." He had his best studio band working here, featuring the stellar guitar work by Television's Richard Lloyd. there are videos on YouTube, but here is a sample of one of the standout tracks, "Evangeline." (follow the link and click the album art to start the player)


THE SINATRA GROUP
The Greatest SNL Skit Ever. Bar None. "Am I right, Steve and Eydie?" Swing!.

BOB CESCA
Found him at Blondesense, checked out Bob Cesca's Goddamn Awesome Blog! Go! (yes, that actually what it's called) and discovered he writes good stuff at The Huffington Post too.

PAIN AU CHOCOLAT
Trader Joe's is a cool store. Not great for everything, but one thing they excel at is prepared frozen stuff. And nothing is better than Trader Joe's Chocolate Croissants. They are so freaking delicious it is unbelievable. And not too horrendous for you (as compared to, say, a Pillsbury Grand cinnamon roll). Go to TJs now and buy them. You have to put them out to rise the night before, but the next a.m. you throw them in the oven while you make your coffee, and in 20 minutes be ready for the finest baked product your oven has ever given you.

SHRINK WRAP
Yeah, the stuff on you food is nice, but I'm talking about windows. We are freezing our asses off in a ninety-year-old house with old double-hung windows. Supposedly adding up all the cracks and seams on just one of those windows is the equivalent of a six-inch hole in the wall. No fucking kidding. But if you put this stuff on you windows, it makes a dramatic difference. You can tell when you get ready to secure the last corner and all the leaking air is concentrated to that one spot and it feels like goddamn fan. I've been doing this for years in my old apartments in NY and it has been a godsend in our house. Do a good job, and you can't even tell it's there. I prefer the ACE brand over 3M. Cheaper, and the tape is easier to work with.

10 comments:

Noah said...

Please allow me to firmly recommend this.

Wow.

And as for the chocolate croissants, I heartily concur. God's gift to your oven.

Rickey said...

Chocolate croissants, huh? How do they stack up against Rickey's personal favorite from Trader Joe's: the cookie dunkers?

Those magnificent bastards are like crack cocaine for the Rickster...

Mrs Furious said...

You know I love the croissants...
but I must take issue with "be ready for the finest baked product your oven has ever given you"...

maybe normal people's ovens but yours?!? Come on I think you might be glossing over all of the baked products lovingly and expertly crafted by moi!

michelline said...

but I must take issue with "be ready for the finest baked product your oven has ever given you"...

maybe normal people's ovens but yours?!? Come on I think you might be glossing over all of the baked products lovingly and expertly crafted by moi!


I was waiting for this :)

steves said...

I loved Sweet's album. I still listen to it fairly often. Brillant pick Mr. F!

Anonymous said...

Of course I meant normal, mortal ovens...

Mike said...

I bought Girlfriend not long after it came out -- early '92 I'd guess -- and it's remained in pretty steady rotation through the years. Although I think I like it better now than I did then, if that's possible.

Great album.

Missives From Suburbia said...

Sweet's lyrics may be dampening my enthusiasm to name any possible second child -- assuming it's female -- Evangeline. Must discuss with Hubby. Right after I take a cruise over to Trader Joe's for some croissants and cookie dunkers.

E. Broderick Photography said...

Just read "Into the Wild" this week. Finished it last night on my plane home from Louisville. Intense read. Look at the cover. He's wearing a watch. Odd--the author makes a specific reference to the fact that he gave his watch away to the trucker who gave him his last ride. McCandles did not want to know what day or time it was while in the wilderness. He wanted to conpletely abandon such ties with "civilization." Isn't it weird when filmmakers make such obvious oversights?

AmyV said...

Girlfriend is a damn fine album. Damn fine.