Diggin’
Music: It’s been a long and arduous task getting through the 700+ songs included in the SXSW torrent but I’m getting there. AA Bondy is a favourite at the moment and I also enjoyed Pigeon John. Alongside these, I’m really enjoying a retreat to 2004 with the Futureheads’ great debut album and the new tracks released by The Breeders and the entire new albums by Drive-By Truckers, Mountain Goats and the umimpeachable Nick Cave.
Film: Busy on this front, trying mainly to catch up on notable films I missed last year. I really enjoyed Into The Wild despite any rose-tintedness on show by Sean Penn. I liked In the Valley of Elah much more than I did the pompous and weak Crash. I also utterly adored A Mighty Heart in which Angelina Jolie gives a shockingly brilliant performance. The moment when she breaks down after she finds out her husband’s fate cuts through any emotional defence you could ever put up.
TV: The Wire. Oh, The Wire. The greatest show ever to grace television comes to an end this week and all of you who haven’t watched yet, shame on you. Shame. On. You. I also took in the first ever episode of Deadwood again and was reminded of its brilliance. Lost is still great and the Desmond episode ruled. Mostly it’s been America’s Next Top Model though since cycle 10 started. If The Wire is the greatest show of all time, ANTM is the greatest reality show.
Books/Comics: I liked Then We Came to an End by Joshua Ferris but found is somewhat disappointing. I’ve just started Michael Chabon’s Yiddish Policeman’s Union and I’m absolutely loving it so far. I’ve not really taken in too many comics except for Achewood which as always, I adore.
Other: Today we fried portobello mushrooms in a garlic butter sauce topped with pepper, salt and chilli garnished cheese. This was accompanied by peppadew peppers stuffed with feta cheese. Divine!
Diggin’
Music: Well, I’ve not got my iPod back although upgrading is in the works when money stops being a barrier, so music has been back in this week. I’m actually really loving Jukebox by Cat Power after being a little unsure on the first couple of goes round. ‘Silver Stallion’ is magnifique. I’m really enjoying ‘Falling Slowly’ from Once in the run up to the Oscars and supremely hope it can take the gong. Lil Wayne is great, Atlas Sound too, and new Mountain Goats songs are living up to previous form. John Darnielle must be closing in on finally receiving the acclaim he deserves.
Film: I watched Margot at the Wedding this week and, to be honest, didn’t really enjoy it too much. It had moments of barbed cynicism to enjoy, but mostly everyone was too unlikable to identify or empathise with and you were left with no one to cling to.
TV: Battlestar remains great and heating up towards the climax of its second season. We’ve been re-living Indecision 2004 from The Daily Show with its dream team; Stewart, Corddry, Bee, Carell, Helms and Colbert. Also America’s Next Top Model, the greatest reality TV show of all time, is back! Partnering it on our UK watching night is My Dad is Better than your Dad, the most ridiculous prime-time thing I’ve seen for a good long time. American children are unstoppably either horrific or lovely. No middle-ground.
Books/Comics: I finished The Looming Tower this week which was all kinds of fascinating in recollecting the formation of Al Qaeda and the lead-up to 9/11. I’ve also recently received the ninth volume of Powers which was a nightmare to get hold of in this country. Bendis is a fine comic-book dialoguist but Powers’ strenght is in the storytelling. I’ve also been loving Achewood even more as I become accustomed to the characters.
Other stuff: It’s been a podcast week and my favourites right now are The Economist’s socio-political discussion, Slate’s election coverage, New Yorker fiction and Pop Candy comic book writer interviews. The other thing is cookies from Waitrose, their choc-chip biccys are just astonishingly lovely, melt-in-your-mouth kind of lovely.
Diggin’
Music: I’ve been listening to quite a few records in the last two weeks, helping me to sleep while Betty’s in San Francisco. While making shelves last week I listened to Awesome Color’s self-titled record. They’re a collective from Ann Arbor and strictly adhere to the musical heritage of the town by referencing liberally from the first three Stooges LPs. I’ve also fallen back in love with a host of female singer-songwriters, notably Laura Nyro and Nina Nastasia. On the other side of the coin, I’ve been very much enjoying early Murcof micro-house productions and am currently obsessed with any version of ‘Into The Mystic’ I can find.
Film: It’s been a good time for films but one has towered above the rest. There Will Be Blood ranks right up with the finest American movies I’ve ever seen, a brutal and bleak exploration of capitalist roots and the making of a nation. Daniel Day Lewis is good enough that many other actors may feel giving up could be a good route. Michael Clayton was dense and intelligent, I would expect nothing less from the low-key stable of Clooney. Oddest was Slipstream, the very-little-seen directorial debut of Anthony Hopkins which was utterly baffling until its final reel and honestly, I really liked it. It’s score on Rotten Tomatoes is terrible but it seems like many just were upset that he referenced David Lynch, after they’d recognised this, they put on their protective helmets and prevented themselves from liking it. Or they just hated it. Either way, it deserves more praise than its getting.
TV: I’ve been entrenched in two shows recently, Oz and Battlestar Galactica. Oz was the seed from which HBO grew into its golden age and is still astonishingly shocking, difficult to watch and thoroughly rewarding. A major review of it will soon come to the site as the inaugural part of a new feature. Battlestar I’m loving but not as much as people would want me to. But I can’t deny its qualities; great acting, three dimensional characterisation and, for the budget especially, jaw-dropping special effects. It’s politics are a little muddy and heavy-handed at times but it’s still a fine work.
Books/Comics: I finished RJ Ellory’s A Quiet Belief In Angels which really lost its way and didn’t manage to finish with the same grace it started with. I’m currently on The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright, a history of Al Qaeda and the reason for 9/11 happening. It won the Pulitzer last year and it’s just fantastically written and utterly fascinating. I can hear the sound of Republicans everywhere not understanding the need for a book on the subject. I just got through the tenth volume of Powers which I’ve been awaiting for flipping ages and I got the Best American Comics 2007 which is just marvellous. Edited by Chris Ware and packed with clever, odd little strips.
Anything Else: I’m really liking The Guardian at the moment, it just seems better than all other papers despite the spelling errors. Also magazines are still piling up and the decisions haven’t been made on what to subscribe too! I’m currently working on three new subscriptions as a frame so maybe you can help me decide. The choices are: The Economist, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, GQ (US Edition), Details, Newsweek. What do you think folks? Is there one I’m missing…
The Second Weekly Dig
As I’m trying to get into the San Francisco wake/sleep cycle I figured I would do a weekly Dig too! Hurrah!
Music: Um… what have I been listening to? I’ve been loving the Juno soundtrack, with its jangly melodies and Kimya Dawson-centric tunes. Especially the beautiful duet between Michael Cera and Ellen Page on their cover of The Moldy Peaches’ Anyone Else But You… Dreamy. On a side note, All The Young Dudes by Mott The Hoople is now my number one ringtone! I’m also adoring anything I can find by Yelle and Office.
Film & TV: I’ve watched Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park which I thought was beautifully shot and acted, with a great cameo by Gossip Girl’s Jenny (Taylor Momsen). Lost is back on US screens, and what an opener it was – setting things up nicely for the next 8 episodes… thank god they went over what happened because I was a little lost (hoho). The inclusion of a character I didn’t think I’d see again made me incredibly happy. I’ve also been watching The O.C season 4 (aka the one where it all went insane) and have really been enjoying the bizarreness of it all. I’d like to see Willa Holland (Caitlin) cast in Gossip Girl – I think she’d fit in nicely. It also made me miss Rachel Bilson & Adam Brody, can’t wait to see Jumper for a little Bilson, but Brody – where are you going to pop up next?? And as a house we’ve been taking in Series 2 of The West Wing. Classic.
Reading: Mostly magazines to be honest. Vogue Paris, Elle UK & US, the UK version of which has employed Chloe Sevigny as their style advisor in a fab move, also am loving their new cleaner subscriber covers. I’m looking forward to doing a bit more reading on my trip…
Anything else? Pop-culture is now my job as well as my hobby so I’m loving every darn bit of all that. Planning my trip has been fun, although a lot of it has been taken care of for me, and now I can’t wait to meet up with the girls at the airport tomorrow and get on the plane to the US! I have a new haircut, so I’m a big fan of Toni & Guy, and the lovely manicurist Aggie who works in my local salon too. Chocolate buttons and clementine slices are delish, as is mango… yum. I’ve seen my lovely parents in the last week and had a lovely walk round town with them as well as a yummy Chinese meal in our local. So everything’s pretty good at the moment.
The Weekly Dig
So instead of just doing Dig thingys whenever I want, I’m going to do them on a weekly basis on Sundays. That’s all the explaining I need to do isn’t it?
Music: It’s been a quiet week on the CHOOON front I’m afraid, despite picking up three new shiny compact discs. I snagged meself copies of Cat Power’s Jukebox, Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut and Black Mountain’s supremely hairy-chinned stoner rock opus In Our Future. I’ve listened to the latter two previously (both v.good hence the monetary outlay) but I’ve yet to take in Chan Marshall’s second cover set.
Film: Again quiet I’m afraid. I recently watched the marvellous Iraq occupation doc No End In Sight which manages to rip all hope away from you and further plunge all viewers into a pit of despair about how utterly bone-headed US government officials can truly be. Good riddance in a year Bush, good riddance. Bill O’Reilly would hate it. This week is to be far busier with Atonement, A Mighty Heart, Cloverfield, Persepolis, 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days, Into The Wild, Rocket Science and Tell No One on the agenda with possible Michael Clayton action.
TV: From the sublime to the utterly pointlessly ridiculous. The Wire remains the greatest socio-political achievement television has ever been blessed by. Clark Johnson as Gus is great but Marlow, damn. That is one cold mofudger. The return of Lost ruled if not quite as much as other season openers have. It pointed towards better potential than ever though. Middling was Burn Notice, a USA series I started this week. Fun but odd in an indefinable way. Worst though was Eli Stone. It looks bad on paper, is worse to watch and leaves an aftertaste of bitterness that far finer shows fall by the wayside. Bloody awful.
Reading: A Quiet Belief in Angels may have the Richudy push but it is a fine novel. The prose in the half I’m through is a little busy at times but the grace by which RJ Ellory tells the story is wonderful. I’m also taking in a boatload of magazines this month as a search for a new subscription. The Atlantic and New Yorker as possibles but right now, after placing Rachel Bilson on the cover, GQ is winning.
Guest Diggin’
So here’s out first guest Diggin’ article, from Rate This Day head honcho John Doree (above). You can check out some of his musical creations at Soundclick right here.
Music
Generally anything that required some degree of thought and effort in committing it to tape. I’m mainly in to electronic music and heavy rock/metal but choice artists at the moment would be Björk, Venetian Snares, Autechre, Xanopticon, Led Zeppelin, Slayer, Camille, Boards of Canada, Mogwai and quite recently I’ve been made aware of the existence of The National and Pony Up. Massive shouts however go to classic rawk, big up the Journey! Toto as well!
Films/TV
I hardly watch films these days thanks partly to rising ticket costs and mainly due to my depressing lack of an attention span. I’m not ashamed to admit that I like rubbish films and my line-up in 2007 proved exemplary: District 13, Transporter 2, Crank, War… What can I say? I like to be entertained. Go watch your black and white thoughtful melodramas, I’ll drink a beer and watch a series of explosions and ridiculous gunfights. Although I can’t write this section without mentioning how No Country for Old Men is possibly the best film I’ve seen since Primer (my current favourite film of all time, please watch both of these, thanks).
There’s so much to choose from TV-wise, although maybe not at the moment due to the writer’s strike. I love a good TV series and America has long been the world’s greatest exporter of well-written shows. Anyone who maintains that Britain has the highest quality output is hideously wrong in so many ways. In particular my current favourites are Battlestar Galactica, The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, American Dad and South Park.
Books
I was introduced to Cormac McCarthy towards the end of last year and I’ve just started my fourth title of his, The Border Trilogy. This man can write, honestly there’s no-one in the same league or even approaching his level. Like my taste in films there’s always a place for adrenaline-fueled popcorn-fests so I absolutely love the work of Harlan Coben. He writes books that are pure crack; chapters only five pages long, twists at the end of every one and a host of characters that are less trustworthy than all the players in a season of 24. I’ll pretty much read any comic that gets thrown my way but for the sake of this article I’ll just say that my favourite author Alan Moore has produced some truly outstanding and in every sense of the word, groundbreaking comics. V for Vendetta is still my favourite graphic novel of all time and I also can’t recommend Robert Kirkman’s series The Walking Dead highly enough. Otherwise my first love is pure science fiction. I’ve been reading stuff about robots and time travel since I was a kid and I don’t think this is ever going to change. I’m currently trying to go through the SF Masterworks series which is a collection of seminal and genre-defining work from the likes of Philip K Dick, HG Wells, John Brunner and Alfred Bester. The series is a great introduction to the world of SF and currently stands at 70 awe-inspiring titles.
Anything Else
I like lists of things so to finish here’s what I’m currently digging: writing reviews of random stuff for my site, my new record player, Oxfam record and book shops, American Gladiators, coffee by the pint, Samuel Smiths pub chain, my housemates, Radio 4’s coverage of the US election, zombies, my new headphones (Sennheiser HD600, yay), dinosaurs, Guitar Hero, dancing the robot to embarrass my friends, Hello Kitty, Tesco Value branded food (it’s quite nice actually), working on a radio show with lovely people and writing music.
Thanks for reading everyone!
John
Diggin’
What are you Diggin’ right now, Sam?
Music: It’s been mostly songs recently due to rediscovering my little ol’ iPod shuffle at work. The only album I’ve really taken in during the last week or so was Nicole Atkins’ Neptune City and it was super. Songswise, I’ve come late to the party by I’m really enjoying the dirty accented pop of ‘The Ritz’ by OFFICE. I am also currently completely in love with Cat Power’s ‘Sea of Love’.
Film/TV: No Country For Old Men was incredible, a perfect adaptation of a great book. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead was also amazing and tragic. TV land has brought me The Wire so I’m forever grateful as it is still just the certifiably greatest TV show of all time. I’m also loving Mad Men still and should finish that over the coming days. Can’t wait for the return of Lost. Also, I am now sockless after losing my foot cosies to charm when watching Juno.
Books/Comic: Hammering through All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy now and it’s yet another poetically rendered masterwork. The man is infallible. The next one up will be some dessert after the steak, a little Harlan Coben me thinks.
Anything else: A glass of white wine is a much cleaner version of taking the edge of than two beers. I recommend Chablis of almost any variety.
Diggin…
What are you diggin right now, Beth?
Music: I have been listening to Charlotte Gainsbourg’s enchanting album 5.55, in preparation for our trip to Paris later this year. It’s gorgeous…
Also the mostly-upbeat stylings of my Xmas present McFly’s Greatest Hits have been on my iPod and I’ve been marvelling about the fact that the American version of 5 Colours In Her Hair is much better than the UK one.
Finally, I’m loving M. Ward feat Zooey Deschanel and their song When I Get To The Border… as linked to by Sam yesterday.
Electricity & Lust 
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