tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89205490043760533632024-03-14T14:14:44.461-04:00A Sweet, Young ThingThis ain't my first time at the rodeo.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-28945249329145019762010-04-12T15:34:00.002-04:002010-04-12T15:35:14.601-04:00Wistfulness.<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v44/lcronk/?action=view¤t=wistfulness.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/lcronk/wistfulness.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-33020790788320963052010-04-08T09:58:00.008-04:002010-04-08T11:17:16.018-04:00Whither, blog?Hey, guys. It's been six EPIC months since I updated. In order to bring you up to speed, I have created this sweet visual aid. Apologies for the occasionally too small text.<br /><br /><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v44/lcronk/?action=view¤t=update-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/lcronk/update-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-50364319435176360192009-11-03T09:52:00.006-05:002009-11-03T18:56:16.772-05:00The Finer Points<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7BzryNXxOQCPOu7bnMosRe0ZoSST5JQpxkWkgUQ8LzZccOQYNtD10XyovOA96ewR7brG0eqyKDXiHl9s-GyJWGZiMbO6G93TiNn5Z9g4nNvMeSYv_UpbKbRRpgUUpAzXPoFyDShiEi8k/s1600-h/MyPicture.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 357px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7BzryNXxOQCPOu7bnMosRe0ZoSST5JQpxkWkgUQ8LzZccOQYNtD10XyovOA96ewR7brG0eqyKDXiHl9s-GyJWGZiMbO6G93TiNn5Z9g4nNvMeSYv_UpbKbRRpgUUpAzXPoFyDShiEi8k/s400/MyPicture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400030441203498882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Readers, I have been up to no good, as evidenced by this alarmingly attractive picture of me in my Halloween homage to Fay Wray.*<br /><br />Halloween was magical. I sprayed the roomie with glitter, and he went as a Twilight vampire. Complete with exposed chest and floppy daguerreotype <em></em>hair. The ladies loved it.<br /><br />I'd love to hear what you went as for Halloween! Is it wrong that I have already outlined my costume for next year?<br /><br />Next on this girl's docket- eating myself silly at Thanksgiving.<br /><br />*Yes, I am wearing a giant gorilla hand.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-28423889622565342752009-10-30T10:48:00.002-04:002009-10-30T10:48:38.997-04:00Happy Halloweekend!<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" width="100%" height="80"><param name="movie" value="http://8tracks.com/mixes/57691/player_v2"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="FlashVars" value="bg_color=_000000"><embed flashvars="bg_color=_000000" src="http://8tracks.com/mixes/57691/player_v2" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="80" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object>Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-49460396738352096592009-10-16T12:54:00.017-04:002009-10-16T16:03:35.460-04:00End of 2009 To-See List (Fox Searchlight Heavy)It's no secret that I have always loved movies. I was raised on a wind-battered plain near Lake Michigan, and I spent my winters huddling under blankets in two pairs of socks, renting videos and sipping hot cider. I live in Atlanta now, so I don't have the excuse of long, cold winters anymore, but I remain hopelessly addicted, and I am very excited for a number of movies coming out in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">nearish</span> future.<br /><br />1. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129445/">Amelia</a> - Mira Nair - 10/23<br /><br />I am a story person more than a performance person, but despite that I cannot think of better casting for the lead role in this biopic. Hilary Swank has the horsey features and acting chops to play this girlhood hero of mine. On topic-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">iche</span>, If you haven't read Jane <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Mendesohn's</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">I Was Amelia Earhart</span>, I highly recommend it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcjJ343-0PSvcDiArTeOkypWBdnVgsMAx0EOinw2Pas_p14WIs8ZnicPYkwreIwxK1WBJ-ewGFRVBzBkk2LrKFj3a37wG9Y3LGPlW4INQDF75EooC6gkkWwz-FNHPAWfGATCyyFdtiMUj/s1600-h/gentlemenbroncos_io9.flv.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcjJ343-0PSvcDiArTeOkypWBdnVgsMAx0EOinw2Pas_p14WIs8ZnicPYkwreIwxK1WBJ-ewGFRVBzBkk2LrKFj3a37wG9Y3LGPlW4INQDF75EooC6gkkWwz-FNHPAWfGATCyyFdtiMUj/s320/gentlemenbroncos_io9.flv.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393276337022042722" border="0" /></a>2. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1161418/">Gentlemen Broncos</a> - Jared Hess - 10/30<br /><br />Let's just say I am always receptive to a certain brand of goofy humor, and I am quite sure that Gentleman Broncos, a movie about writing bad science fiction, will satisfy. Who doesn't like those yellow-brown Napoleon Dynamite aesthetics? Haters.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362478/">The Box </a>- Richard Kelly - 11/6<br /><br />There's room for debate, but Donnie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Darko</span> is one of the pivotal films of my generation. As an improvisation on Suburban teen themes, it was brilliant, unexpected, and gratifyingly funny. After that, Richard Kelly made not one but two completely unwatchable <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">shit show</span> films (Domino and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Southland</span> Tales). I am giving him this last chance to win me over.<br /><br />The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">titular</span> box contains a button- if a person chooses to push it, he or she will receive a million dollars- and effectively take the life of a stranger. Despite Cameron Diaz's starring role, I am intrigued.<br /><br />4. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432283/">Fantastic Mr. Fox</a> - Wes Anderson - 11/25<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6MRfJ5pWUk3FdXbuDZs2QmGXwIswhKpVHmM4DQ-0bejx70uU1eHVL_oFzPVhzhugwyfi4FmvHzFOJmcJbjxye-I2A5gsu3ENEuOyQd3LbTguUsDZ2zO1FKV5O8GVeaKS_7JSPMF9jQdDh/s1600-h/The-Fantastic-Mr.-Fox-movie-image-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 142px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6MRfJ5pWUk3FdXbuDZs2QmGXwIswhKpVHmM4DQ-0bejx70uU1eHVL_oFzPVhzhugwyfi4FmvHzFOJmcJbjxye-I2A5gsu3ENEuOyQd3LbTguUsDZ2zO1FKV5O8GVeaKS_7JSPMF9jQdDh/s200/The-Fantastic-Mr.-Fox-movie-image-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393269332396129666" border="0" /></a><br />When I first heard that Wes Anderson was doing a stop-motion animated film based on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Mr._Fox"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Roald</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Dahl</span> classic</a>, I was less than excited. I thought I wanted more of his usual brand of whimsical, melancholic, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Tenenbaum"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Salingerian</span> family drama</a>. That was before I felt the vague disappointment of The Darjeeling <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Limited</span>. With that behind me, I am more than excited for this movie. I'm delighted in advance.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0XfC8GJ-xRC3syXIv57-OTsz0eTLgbMTXNp27qutNp7HB8-EMSWV4giv6JzbG13CB3i5Zy9PzlB1OTdMlV7xo73jhbwqu1yzRr_flKlFR-baouxIK3c9Q9UVo8dLe8h5wgR8CulvEq2P/s1600-h/road.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0XfC8GJ-xRC3syXIv57-OTsz0eTLgbMTXNp27qutNp7HB8-EMSWV4giv6JzbG13CB3i5Zy9PzlB1OTdMlV7xo73jhbwqu1yzRr_flKlFR-baouxIK3c9Q9UVo8dLe8h5wgR8CulvEq2P/s320/road.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393270254772711218" border="0" /></a>5. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/">The Road</a> - John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Hillcoat</span> - 11/25<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Road</span></a> is my favorite novel set in a post-apocalypse, because instead of expansive views of a demolished world, it takes the impact of a collapsed culture in microcosm. I am excited to see how this film scales the story of a father and son who journey to try to find a new life outside of a freezing husk North American civilization.<br /><br />6. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380510/">The Lovely Bones</a> - Peter Jackson - 12/6<br /><br />After typing the above, it's funny to relate that in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovely_Bones">this adaptation</a> project I am excited for a grand Jacksonian vision. I think he'll do great with this story of a murdered girl who continues to observe the grief and recovery of her loved ones on Earth years after her death. And I have a fatal weakness for <a href="http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/mark-wahlberg-talks-to-animals/727504/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Marky</span> Mark</a>.<br /><br />It's a great season for movies, I think. I didn't even mention <a href="http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=where+the+wild+things+are">Where the Wild Things Are</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1234548/">The Men Who Stare at Goats</a>. It's definitely a fall to winter line-up I can get behind.<br /><br />But how about I close this up with a rant on the one movie being being released this season I will definitely not be attending?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870984/plotsummary">Antichrist </a>- Lars von Trier<br /><br />I hate everything Lars von Trier touches, but I sat through Breaking the Waves, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Dogville</span>, and Dancer in the Dark for the sake of cultural literacy. I think he's self-righteous, unfocused and shallow. His films are tantrums that point a vague accusation towards a general injustice by forcing an audience to watch women being tortured. Antichrist would probably provide me even more evidence, but I don't think I could make it through the entire thing, because it sounds like another wretched display of everything I dislike about the way he sees (and judges) the world.<br /><br />From <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">l'Agence</span> France-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Presse</span>, via <a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/05/27/dear-lars-von-trier">The Slog</a> -<span style="font-family:lucida grande;"> <span style="font-family:georgia;">"</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Cannes entered the final straight on Saturday with more controversy over </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><strong style="font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia;"><em>Anti-Christ</em>...Lars <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">von</span> Trier's film </strong><span style="font-family:georgia;">was declared 'the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world' by an Ecumenical Jury, which....was so shocked by Von Trier's film—</span><strong style="font-weight: normal; font-family: georgia;">which closes with a shot of a clitoris being sliced off with rusty scissors</strong><span style="font-family:georgia;">—that it felt the need to award a special 'anti-prize.'"<br /><br />Hey, Lars man, why you even got to do a thing? </span><br /></span>Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-25890728158193544212009-10-06T11:01:00.022-04:002009-10-10T19:19:58.468-04:00Top 10Louis and I have recently been locked in conversation/debate regarding the recent <a href="http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7710-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-20-1/">Pitchfork list</a> of the top 100 albums of the 2000s. The thing about lists, in my opinion, is that when they get longer than a top 20, the order and rank mean less and less. Is 83 really any better than 82? Am I really expected to consider the relative merits of numbers 148 versus 149?<br /><br />That's why this girl is sticking with a <span style="font-weight: bold;">Top Ten Albums of the 2000s, Love It or Leave It Edition</span>. These are my ten favorite albums released during the past decade, every number counts, and it's a heartbreak to leave out some worthy contributions. That is how a list ought to be.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Be on your toes and you might spot:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Midwestern bias! A weakness for concept albums! White guys with guitars!</span><br /><br />Regardless, I hope you'll write your own top 10- it's a fun project.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 10</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Dismemberment Plan - Change</span><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqF8q3-M58rBkEtnokzgzN4_0Mfu6tai4AbcSmfnPvxx19ZPOlbxqvHKKl8zDJT8ZqL1HOmo9YkICwoTt_USrv7TYSV0lu_Dq8CzvFc4QBdKSorAr6eOY0X_nso1CaknvVW8MC3lAPnBp/s1600-h/change.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqF8q3-M58rBkEtnokzgzN4_0Mfu6tai4AbcSmfnPvxx19ZPOlbxqvHKKl8zDJT8ZqL1HOmo9YkICwoTt_USrv7TYSV0lu_Dq8CzvFc4QBdKSorAr6eOY0X_nso1CaknvVW8MC3lAPnBp/s320/change.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390265498856736546" border="0" /></a><br />There is a parallel universe where even at 26, my hair is Super Grover blue, my nose ring is sparkling, and "Time Bomb" is still my personal anthem. Meanwhile in this dimension, it's still one of those songs I like to shout along with and slap the dashboard to. Change is such a reflective album- the last the Plan would ever put out- it showed a kind of maturation while maintaining a wholly appealing angsty sensibility. It's loud, powerful, and lyrical- a timeless album which will always be one of my favorites.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 9</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8j-JjhM6pGAkUgbee24zDpWqHg-ifiHF-m827UBQ2-ZKyLHWBRoQtCgpjkHGGo6lChaTlQBRUbTRFT9aJibE5jJgSV5u6r0yTvnn-1e9MGnZfuQCnLK6qti-Y6CJ4jQzLx2h4A9DhRrni/s1600-h/twin+cinema.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8j-JjhM6pGAkUgbee24zDpWqHg-ifiHF-m827UBQ2-ZKyLHWBRoQtCgpjkHGGo6lChaTlQBRUbTRFT9aJibE5jJgSV5u6r0yTvnn-1e9MGnZfuQCnLK6qti-Y6CJ4jQzLx2h4A9DhRrni/s320/twin+cinema.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390265812393452530" border="0" /></a><br />For sheer, bouncy, mob pop, this Canadian collective is my go-to choice. Twin Cinema is laced with joy, gorgeous vocals, and tremendous percussion. It's a whirling dervish of an album, and every song is gold. And Dan Bejar, you stole my heart the day I bought this cd at Criminal Records.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 8</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It in People</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMQRpA-STW-6lqvSPkydged6n7GlGX-VxZmeyAUT3cwD3ahhG_wyjmoW34V_To2W-dB0bl2peYtiQvYMbJ4BwT-EjNyg1tWvhWpE0e37RLpeSiJkj6n6x9pe2gY4OjH0ZDtsVHUKeE7YR/s1600-h/album-you-forgot-it-in-people.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfMQRpA-STW-6lqvSPkydged6n7GlGX-VxZmeyAUT3cwD3ahhG_wyjmoW34V_To2W-dB0bl2peYtiQvYMbJ4BwT-EjNyg1tWvhWpE0e37RLpeSiJkj6n6x9pe2gY4OjH0ZDtsVHUKeE7YR/s200/album-you-forgot-it-in-people.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390266218697034338" border="0" /></a><br />I know, I know- more Canadians. Get used to it. When I grow up, I'm going to move to Montreal, eat fresh bread, live billingual, and room with Leslie Feist. Broken Social Scene was a revelation to me in my first year of college, and I would dance by myself in my dorm room in front of my goldfish. My E-Mac's speakers at their maximum, the songs didn't play so much as shimmer into the air. It is one of those albums everyone can agree is great, so let's leave it at that. If you haven't listened to it, you need to, and you also need to crawl out of the indie rock bunker you've been living in for the better part of a decade.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 7</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cursive - Domestica</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQH4NcssgpI12JIHzovCsgx_oTd0QiGZXM56FHi958OD5_MAWK029PPRd5WkUBACF-auP9RmUjy9E0I-1frb6cDV731AUaNWbyQqkJQIfbWnLhOzTxI1_B6HUSTeSV_SJVsEAJKjvjd9RD/s1600-h/Domestica.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQH4NcssgpI12JIHzovCsgx_oTd0QiGZXM56FHi958OD5_MAWK029PPRd5WkUBACF-auP9RmUjy9E0I-1frb6cDV731AUaNWbyQqkJQIfbWnLhOzTxI1_B6HUSTeSV_SJVsEAJKjvjd9RD/s200/Domestica.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390266855259413586" border="0" /></a><br />Domestica is one of the great concept albums. It is the only record I feel truly captures the anxious and harrowing pain of domestic turmoil. It's an intelligent, examined, and terribly sad record. Domestica hits its stride with "The Martyr" where distrust is a refrain, "Sweet baby, don't you cry/ your tears are only alibis." Tim Kasher, the lead singer of Cursive, throws his gravelly voice into the wound, and in 9 songs takes you through a relationship to its bitter end, what I consider one of the great break-up songs of all-time, "The Night I Lost the Will to Fight." It is, from its opening, a explosion and a catharsis, and it leaves you feeling empty when it is gone. "I need a catalyst/to rekindle the flame/that once burned within these fists/where defeat remains."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 6</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The National - Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcSLy5XrgwxoFUh2pl4rFVxmY1ql2SXgIJcamRiH1iHgdpm0vzn8GUaeQ9twS9F60t-hfJ4jTycUJ_-Y2KT3YRehoV9hFvr1-xGFBWejdXcdkyjXRQdLaY2E4WxWfapJ6t_wo59Bu5mJVT/s1600-h/The+National+-+Sad+Songs+for+Dirty+Lovers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcSLy5XrgwxoFUh2pl4rFVxmY1ql2SXgIJcamRiH1iHgdpm0vzn8GUaeQ9twS9F60t-hfJ4jTycUJ_-Y2KT3YRehoV9hFvr1-xGFBWejdXcdkyjXRQdLaY2E4WxWfapJ6t_wo59Bu5mJVT/s200/The+National+-+Sad+Songs+for+Dirty+Lovers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390267156003366354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am an unrepentant fan of The National- I love the Smog-esque vocals, the pushy beats, and the ambiguous lyrics. Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is a brilliant, cohesive, and occasionally creepy record. I would argue that the worst thing about indie rock is that bands so often do exactly what you expect them to do- Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is full of little hiccups of dirge-y, dour sound that surprise.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 5</span><a style="font-weight: bold;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoeGZ5yamnElRfQn51ISs16m7Z4J7I07b3ZjSze9Rn8lyMl8mtffSQXKbNMCKoixcY3ClgUCnLU1YHoUeMVaE6XEiGr8k1jqJEcGZj5PhtWzZU6FwkFZyFvNITEOWhBP2WzN4hdf1gCbz6/s1600-h/Kid+A.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoeGZ5yamnElRfQn51ISs16m7Z4J7I07b3ZjSze9Rn8lyMl8mtffSQXKbNMCKoixcY3ClgUCnLU1YHoUeMVaE6XEiGr8k1jqJEcGZj5PhtWzZU6FwkFZyFvNITEOWhBP2WzN4hdf1gCbz6/s200/Kid+A.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390267419642226642" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Radiohead - Kid A</span><br /><br />Ok, I know I'm ranking it low, but it's a transformative, gorgeous, painfully good record. Thom Yorke is a genius, and Radiohead is the greatest working band of our time. That sounds begrudging, but it's not. If I didn't have Kid A on this list, I would feel like a phony.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 4</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Arcade Fire - Funeral</span><a style="font-weight: bold;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsO2PbTj87808kshxYVJt5P7FKvzqOjFUIJY91v-H8QZC-PmmGN-ih4rHlR7d4hJhr1KA254uulMfJilTPZ7-amz0A2W0pRaZ8hw9PXbhIFG-jsdM6I6XF3KVHtd0tgx8xmUltqCOi_ayt/s1600-h/arcade-fire-funeral.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsO2PbTj87808kshxYVJt5P7FKvzqOjFUIJY91v-H8QZC-PmmGN-ih4rHlR7d4hJhr1KA254uulMfJilTPZ7-amz0A2W0pRaZ8hw9PXbhIFG-jsdM6I6XF3KVHtd0tgx8xmUltqCOi_ayt/s200/arcade-fire-funeral.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390272420978576930" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Funeral hit me in the gut the first time I listened to it. The lyrics are beautiful, but it's all those lush layers of instrumentation and sound that make it remarkably distinct. There is something so youthful and poignant about the music of Arcade Fire, the way their voices earnestly soar over trumpets and accordians.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 3</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sufjan Stevens - Illinois</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikD7OMfQ9vm1DFZkPKjfCooL-KWeDnTsuFaM8FRzRgZnTKwNBWTtQg1JufYdepdHb5bLVXh52nOdYLPH8SAfZUBfI7-9OgMYWG6Rf1cj-feMLYliIsi8FnqVoatOM1qbsNZV7C3kIwgKhn/s1600-h/illinois.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikD7OMfQ9vm1DFZkPKjfCooL-KWeDnTsuFaM8FRzRgZnTKwNBWTtQg1JufYdepdHb5bLVXh52nOdYLPH8SAfZUBfI7-9OgMYWG6Rf1cj-feMLYliIsi8FnqVoatOM1qbsNZV7C3kIwgKhn/s200/illinois.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390268528399616946" border="0" /></a><br />Sufjan Stevens is an angel brought to earth to sing the prettiest songs. Illinois is a wonderful exploration of the Land of Lincoln, and while everyone waxes fervently and rightly over "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." and the hallelujah chorus that is "Chicago," it is a record so laced with gems as to be ostentatious.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 2</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cat Power - The Greatest</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvGrL-k0EHVkdTA5tdwmGRAdrjuwjI8Rdlur1qjwu7SRBMwL9-PEFmu8HaZQTJ0YsfIFBVTGhjmOj2LO5vaEY8U2X1RjXlcXZmg0qSWQInCUuRNZhbHqmQBXLw1EhX0Ec9sCV4Qvj7Ghu/s1600-h/1205612701_cat_power_early_mini_jpg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwvGrL-k0EHVkdTA5tdwmGRAdrjuwjI8Rdlur1qjwu7SRBMwL9-PEFmu8HaZQTJ0YsfIFBVTGhjmOj2LO5vaEY8U2X1RjXlcXZmg0qSWQInCUuRNZhbHqmQBXLw1EhX0Ec9sCV4Qvj7Ghu/s200/1205612701_cat_power_early_mini_jpg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390268924563570354" border="0" /></a><br />If you know me, you knew Chan Marshall had to make my list and make it high. It is her voice, low and breathy, that makes her one of the great artists of the early 21st century. There is a nostalgic tone to this record with its jazz influences- it sounds like you could have unearthed it in a thrift store and had Cat Power all to yourself. The sad wistfulness of her lyrics breaks hearts when she opens and intones, taking on the persona of an aging pugilist, "Once I wanted to be the greatest/ no wind or waterfall could stop me." Because, what Cat Power gets that I don't think any other modern performer has tapped into is that for all the days a girl feels invincible, there is a corollary day when she is sure she will never feel that way again. Cat Power writes music to feel vulnerable to.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number 1</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4wXDEaw3xbKxb4c6r9_2nzeOqJkuc9V_2leS9u_VOh1-mDJkh53hZqZPAaTgSwyQ8l6GNM3norSOATDGJfyHhUk4QlXGyxx9kK7fyVjZwgPEXkYZrhI8gMWRzRBnZcxPEI8I-kDK3wea/s1600-h/yankee+hotel+foxtrot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 139px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht4wXDEaw3xbKxb4c6r9_2nzeOqJkuc9V_2leS9u_VOh1-mDJkh53hZqZPAaTgSwyQ8l6GNM3norSOATDGJfyHhUk4QlXGyxx9kK7fyVjZwgPEXkYZrhI8gMWRzRBnZcxPEI8I-kDK3wea/s200/yankee+hotel+foxtrot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390270311658606690" border="0" /></a><br />Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is Wilco's magnum opus, an album so inspired and intricate that I have listened to it for years the way some scholars study Moby Dick. I am serious. I think this album is perfect. There are worlds inside of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot- boozy country lounges where fliddlers play, monuments to dead ideals, cities of lost voices. There are secrets inside it to unravel. Jeff Tweedy's musical vision is expansive and precise, and it is realized fully in Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" height="80" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://8tracks.com/mixes/51765/player_v2"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="FlashVars" value="bg_color=_000000"><embed flashvars="bg_color=_000000" src="http://8tracks.com/mixes/51765/player_v2" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" height="80" width="100%"></embed></object>Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-18365732357510668362009-09-21T21:46:00.002-04:002009-09-21T21:50:23.517-04:00My new favorite crafting website.While I have been loyal to craftster for many years, I have recently become a <a href="http://www.oneprettything.com/">One Pretty Thing</a> convert.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-80421110743404417322009-09-21T19:27:00.010-04:002009-09-21T21:38:11.780-04:00Après moi, le déluge.<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbuxgCb-qzBnPnLmysI6hodtfG-S69KJzVwK3j1LySlgGrXWa_ZFb9CaWbFIscoxaRaxE_ELjfwFhoarSBem-mZAUSMAejtNimFq7o_rCZsIjWAe5cXiilLUVUmLid0sNf-CGSDfF49Vey/s1600-h/8535_142355242623_500167623_3065719_3648328_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbuxgCb-qzBnPnLmysI6hodtfG-S69KJzVwK3j1LySlgGrXWa_ZFb9CaWbFIscoxaRaxE_ELjfwFhoarSBem-mZAUSMAejtNimFq7o_rCZsIjWAe5cXiilLUVUmLid0sNf-CGSDfF49Vey/s320/8535_142355242623_500167623_3065719_3648328_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384067662692695778" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">Photo Credit - Susan Emily Neal Dye</span><br /></div><br />You may have noticed my city is <a href="http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2009/09/21/aerial-photos-of-atlanta-floods/">a little more "tis"</a> than<a href="http://www.teambuildinginc.com/images_cities/Atlanta.jpg"> "ta"</a> today. The Downtown Connector is under water, and I hope that the governor is happy his <a href="http://www.wdef.com/news/governor_sonny_perdue_prays_for_rain_in_georgia/11/2007">prayers</a> for rain have been so enthusiastically, if so unpunctually answered.<br /><br />In times like these, I turn to the kitchen for entertainment. I had just made my way through a rough week- my dog got sick, I had more work than I could handle, and it had been gray for four or five days straight. Wet and cold after work, I made my trudging way in my waterproof boots to Publix, and decided to take on a challenge I had been gearing to take on later in the fall- the cornish hen. I picked up ingredients to really do justice to the bird, and to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies- indulgent, I know.<br /><br />Let's just say, it went well.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzt12niLT_hyBNxkCY3ZP9Q5aQgqGEba_fYEGZeN8p0xb9bNWu7zf2zyw0dWTIfKyLKTFjziKOIinTAOMnL4sJvARctftBYlRHNa_0DiSVE6Mu7VuKQLhld7kojptbmcp1dxoD4rlqV14/s1600-h/DSC00836.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzt12niLT_hyBNxkCY3ZP9Q5aQgqGEba_fYEGZeN8p0xb9bNWu7zf2zyw0dWTIfKyLKTFjziKOIinTAOMnL4sJvARctftBYlRHNa_0DiSVE6Mu7VuKQLhld7kojptbmcp1dxoD4rlqV14/s320/DSC00836.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384083577892146626" border="0" /></a>I started by drying the birds, stuffing them with lemon and rosemary, seasoning them lightly with salt and pepper, then brushing a little olive oil on them for color. Then, I put them in a 450 degree oven to cook for about a half an hour.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5zVNIQklV1UjgYxa-apNLV-XyMVCtZ3qOkb8L_UcrLUdGOwTPSNyW3E3zpt04CAxGLV2TmHeoT3F5FiqKtCjru1q-19ScuAVwGvEvGBFmKGryR76GIHUIfAPB89tCvfnYZMYkIh_P4o45/s1600-h/DSC00839.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5zVNIQklV1UjgYxa-apNLV-XyMVCtZ3qOkb8L_UcrLUdGOwTPSNyW3E3zpt04CAxGLV2TmHeoT3F5FiqKtCjru1q-19ScuAVwGvEvGBFmKGryR76GIHUIfAPB89tCvfnYZMYkIh_P4o45/s320/DSC00839.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384084224388131026" border="0" /></a>I made a glaze of sweet vermouth, quartered garlic cloves, and a couple stems of rosemary.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF18GQtCyDCRhyfVFguJBsIYwKUl28tTbZ2vstYwaevK0kaBg9eVou87bxz0jNQTG-zSflFM4YJkoMf8YX58eb8Shl4xfglbOEawompzTHWCo5xMVZEekLUHzX7LkE7W8-kKDLPyB2E2EP/s1600-h/DSC00841.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 339px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF18GQtCyDCRhyfVFguJBsIYwKUl28tTbZ2vstYwaevK0kaBg9eVou87bxz0jNQTG-zSflFM4YJkoMf8YX58eb8Shl4xfglbOEawompzTHWCo5xMVZEekLUHzX7LkE7W8-kKDLPyB2E2EP/s320/DSC00841.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384084607152395810" border="0" /></a>After the birds had cooked, I pulled them out and basted them, then put them back in the oven to roast for another 10 minutes. They came out with a beautiful color, a deliciously flavorful skin, and tender meat. I served them with mashed potatoes and peas.<br /><br />It may sound ridiculous, but my perfectly cooked cornish hens made me feel invincible, and by the time Louis got home to share them with me, the rain had subsided. I felt like I had won.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-41686674265421697252009-09-06T03:43:00.006-04:002009-09-21T21:37:55.134-04:00Your Lady of the Overdue Flickr Updates<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/asweetyoungthing/sets/72157622262591820/">Check it.</a><br /><br />The series of photos below details the progress of the most delicious pie I have ever made. Components: 1. Brown sugar cashew crust, 2. Lemon Custard layer, 3. Fresh blackberries.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoc4j_fYvCuJupkh8ubBr9D28vOGGVmBZsuMF31PoqBsgq7rxUwDd1YG_EdYA-9MDvyi81LUKlk8WApHkyxGhxWkTJio14f3-eCIqR_Vksau8191cdNeeyQLY1NgYcuRjNCvmhbh5DZbdi/s1600-h/custard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoc4j_fYvCuJupkh8ubBr9D28vOGGVmBZsuMF31PoqBsgq7rxUwDd1YG_EdYA-9MDvyi81LUKlk8WApHkyxGhxWkTJio14f3-eCIqR_Vksau8191cdNeeyQLY1NgYcuRjNCvmhbh5DZbdi/s200/custard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378257751699769474" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaeLbvE4LIjwmsZzqMSzi-kva-4ly48JG0fNb53E7KpEXeNDePBimfrAb4HClQgakeo95rSmrgWo5LGOocifTodjP84YAovufAuizGcyRTncJYHx2U41b8ZpCcfaKHpGrIuXOImHYS78W/s1600-h/custard+and+fruit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPaeLbvE4LIjwmsZzqMSzi-kva-4ly48JG0fNb53E7KpEXeNDePBimfrAb4HClQgakeo95rSmrgWo5LGOocifTodjP84YAovufAuizGcyRTncJYHx2U41b8ZpCcfaKHpGrIuXOImHYS78W/s200/custard+and+fruit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378257986960420002" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLJMK3Xx-daXraptueIbnsZwDSqyD9dZZMw6vZFUdkQ30TPH9UbbAKcCzB9PjGIpVC-kt9of4cdMuqplkv3TuXoVaalGsRrhpUZ9VlrDFvCou3BjRzfzbyPoT2fEEoj-DsbMZhu6hSPBB/s1600-h/slice.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLJMK3Xx-daXraptueIbnsZwDSqyD9dZZMw6vZFUdkQ30TPH9UbbAKcCzB9PjGIpVC-kt9of4cdMuqplkv3TuXoVaalGsRrhpUZ9VlrDFvCou3BjRzfzbyPoT2fEEoj-DsbMZhu6hSPBB/s200/slice.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378258067031684290" border="0" /></a>Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-47323928985933924472009-09-01T15:00:00.001-04:002009-09-01T15:03:00.323-04:00Build your own horse.<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HILp4VyEi6g&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HILp4VyEi6g&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Available at a <a href="http://www.clockworkrobot.com/">Clockwork Robot</a>.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-70398337537027636382009-07-29T11:04:00.019-04:002009-07-30T08:13:56.638-04:00Your girl on the run.This may be the busiest summer of my life- which isn't saying much, of course. I remember when I first entered high school and my mother first insisted on summer jobs. I languished in a hair salon for 30 hours a week for four years- getting my hair chopped and colored and reading gossip magazines. I was the receptionist and shampoo girl, and my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">disposable</span> income went towards <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">cds</span> and chocolate milkshakes, trips to Chicago and too tight tops at the mall.<br /><br />My college summers were much in the same lackadaisical vein, and retrospectively, I think that treating them as a luxury, a lazy one, was the right call. Good job, young me.<br /><br />These days, I am the picture of responsibility. My job eats 45-50 hours of my life each week, and I have started to get overly excited about things like clean laundry and my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Netflix</span>.<br /><br />But your girl has been having a series of adventures this summer, what started with a jaunt to Colorado for my brother's wedding will climax* with a road trip through Maryland and Pennsylvania in two weeks.<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" height="80" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://8tracks.com/mixes/39083/player_v2"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="FlashVars" value="bg_color=_000000"><embed flashvars="bg_color=_000000" src="http://8tracks.com/mixes/39083/player_v2" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" height="80" width="100%"></embed></object><br /><br />To prepare for lengthy periods in the car with Louis, I have placed a few holds on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">audiobooks</span> at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">everyone's</span> favorite city library. I'm talking about Atlanta-Fulton County.<br /><br />You are no doubt wondering about my choices. I won't keep you waiting any longer.<br /><br />1. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Douglas-Adams/dp/1415922551/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248887560&sr=1-7"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Hitchhikers</span> Guide to the Galaxy</span></a> - Douglas Adams<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFmlLQTe3CpBzI5IkQuPE_pwnOZU2aKN79uSdqQ1BXRy6hbE1JHc9bcPyyNbJaitwh2akXQH3Tj9Gcpc9wkn5D7ZMEbh6z43FrmXuLuNnLaCTV3jOedNgnjwRcKAKbMyk0Yo_HHDZ25YK/s1600-h/Hitchhikers_Guide_box_art.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 179px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFmlLQTe3CpBzI5IkQuPE_pwnOZU2aKN79uSdqQ1BXRy6hbE1JHc9bcPyyNbJaitwh2akXQH3Tj9Gcpc9wkn5D7ZMEbh6z43FrmXuLuNnLaCTV3jOedNgnjwRcKAKbMyk0Yo_HHDZ25YK/s200/Hitchhikers_Guide_box_art.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363918162727515378" border="0" /></a><br />A classic that Louis hasn't gotten around to reading- and a particularly good audio recording as I recall. I am excited to rekindle my crush on Ford Prefect- he's one <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">frood</span> who really knows where his towel is.<br /><br />More than that- this series <span style="font-style: italic;">is </span>summer to me. I have never been one for reciting lines from the Simpson's or 30 Rock. It's not my thing. But I can, on-cue, give you a number of my favorite parts of any of these books. I am that hopeless <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">fangirl</span>, and I have read every scrap of paper that Douglas Adams ever wrote.<br /><br />2. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Summerland-Michael-Chabon/dp/1565117212/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248889009&sr=1-1"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Summerland</span></span></a> - Michael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Chabon</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7A5DAIg2JafxGwbRMpwbzbVp0uqtmDT5w76y3k9bCgIskncJqIpBERnhwQR6umg-mjtKx3rxJoTwr1VJznD-VtwLER7po43BmvgEHJHuwkhbjPJal3lCOiutBbjFBC8hp_usXjhd0bipk/s1600-h/theWindUpBirdChronicle.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7A5DAIg2JafxGwbRMpwbzbVp0uqtmDT5w76y3k9bCgIskncJqIpBERnhwQR6umg-mjtKx3rxJoTwr1VJznD-VtwLER7po43BmvgEHJHuwkhbjPJal3lCOiutBbjFBC8hp_usXjhd0bipk/s200/theWindUpBirdChronicle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363920078220071234" border="0" /></a><br />Don't judge- I am not some lit <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">scenester</span> who has thrown in with the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Chabon</span> groupies. It just sounds so promising, doesn't it? Epic YA fantasy that gets American where Narnia just turned so damn English. Baseball's better than Cricket. No <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">diggity</span>, no doubt.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wind-up-Bird-Chronicle-Complete-Classics/dp/9626344180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248889032&sr=1-1"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wind Up Bird Chronicle</span></a>, or <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-Dark-Haruki-Murakami/dp/0739343068/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248889052&sr=1-3">After Dark</a> </span>- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Haruki</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Murakami</span><br />It's a question of if we need 27 hours of entertainment or just 5. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Murakami</span> will fill the bill either way.<br /><br />I am more excited for the drive than I ought to be- a veteran of long drives west in my family's minivan- the road trip holds that cliched romance for me. I'll give you a report on my frolicking when I return.<br /><br />* <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Seksi</span>.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-67961816711263811472009-07-23T12:32:00.004-04:002009-07-23T12:39:32.013-04:00Shaq and a Panda<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg410BDg2xiKnAKT6l0hJr1IHCqiTBIFwzbVUzpenNIXq7h6d5HfZc8YrtO7_UX95Y2lib448xji3YLrqJwG3rkLAPGzmnGpav-4INKCs1CXfZRo36lx8rrRRCX4GaoF0x9raDSaP_7__cP/s1600-h/shaq-holding-a-panda-23358-1247858719-9.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg410BDg2xiKnAKT6l0hJr1IHCqiTBIFwzbVUzpenNIXq7h6d5HfZc8YrtO7_UX95Y2lib448xji3YLrqJwG3rkLAPGzmnGpav-4INKCs1CXfZRo36lx8rrRRCX4GaoF0x9raDSaP_7__cP/s320/shaq-holding-a-panda-23358-1247858719-9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361694608378556834" border="0" /></a><br />Oh noez!Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-20079692086866836712009-07-19T00:18:00.006-04:002009-07-21T15:20:29.028-04:00Sweet and LowdownYou may already know I was a cat person. For two decades, I Bond-Villained- reclining on my daybed with Midnight at my side and a library book on my chest. I was that girl, that cat lady in training. I would have sniffed dismissively at your golden retriever, sneered at your labradoodle. I would have fiercely argued kittens over puppies, and made the case for purring over licks. From the ages of 8-13, I spent the bulk of my $5 weekly allowance on cat treats at Valpo's Pet and Hobby.<br /><br />Midnight was magnificently spoiled and fat for all of my youth. Flecks of orange and brown ran throughout her black coat. She was a smug, demanding, green-eyed creature - a pretty cat who knew she had it good. Most importantly, she didn't like anyone but me. Not my family or the rest of our menagerie. She was all mine, and she slept in my bed while I grew up. From kindergarten to my high school graduation.<br /><br />And during the summers, in college, she would return to my side. I would dangle my legs out my window, smoking secret cigarettes, and she would sit on the sill next to me.<br /><br />I thought, that first year out of college, of bringing her to Atlanta. By then she was an old cat- she had skinnied, shrunk. The decision to keep her at home, where she had always been, made sense to my family and me. Dating my way through a series of boys with allergies, I went out and adopted the most cat-like dog of all time, my dear Penny. And then I realized I was a dog person. That I liked the bounding, unconditional joy of puppies. That I was no longer sleek or secretive. It was then that my heart committed the real betrayal, and that is, I think, when Midnight finally gave up on me.<br /><br />When I would go home on my own for holidays and visits, I would make a point of spending time with her, but she was over me by then. Desperate for any attention. Our old confederacy broken, we were old friends who had once been better.<br /><br />She died this morning, and my mom buried her in the backyard. All our childhood dogs long dead, I realized only today that Midnight was some last tether to my enchanted, pretentious, cat-centric girlhood. I miss her now, more than I had for years. Of course, my grief is also selfish- you know, it is Margaret I mourn for.<br /><br />But really, kitty, I miss you the most.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrO5FahHbUWROKQK-yilMpaBc-4Ga44KoKq0s5fheQPbUDe02tj0twR69bwrunv6wRsURn9uNyLsyFb37BQI_idl05mbVjQvthF_qQB7CfSJUtQ6r_D8vAXurb9vriHH3K3wJTlhwe95W/s1600-h/Midnight.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrO5FahHbUWROKQK-yilMpaBc-4Ga44KoKq0s5fheQPbUDe02tj0twR69bwrunv6wRsURn9uNyLsyFb37BQI_idl05mbVjQvthF_qQB7CfSJUtQ6r_D8vAXurb9vriHH3K3wJTlhwe95W/s320/Midnight.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360956014906420994" border="0" /></a>Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-58948599785069145852009-06-28T15:17:00.008-04:002009-06-29T07:44:22.112-04:00Harlequin Presents: Lindsay's Horrified AmusementFact: In the summer, I like to sit outside, eat dried apricots, and read trashy romance novels. I pick up paperbacks at thrift stores, and read them over the course of hot, leisurely afternoons.<br /><br />Harlequin, one of the leading lady smut providers, has some of the more terrifying and hilarious series options. For instance, they have a whole set of books featuring <a href="http://www.eharlequin.com/store.html?cid=600"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Nascar</span></a>. And <a href="http://www.eharlequin.com/store.html?cid=225">Harlequin <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Intrigue</span></a> fulfills all your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">dangeromance</span> needs. As a dabbler with no particular loyalty, I can appreciate this specialization within the genre.<br /><br />But. What. Is. This. And. This?!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5jJYf7Lbx2K4ptWjz6cScXjToQeGbcPl5_A39O0_5-wD_J4wwh9yxujo-5PCng9EnmiP5WsHNOdL38AmHy7qj4h-OPgm0Vch-jguQ_UVJSvqHVqa0m-URPhgHkbr9RGKK_NBuAIUA4Wv/s1600-h/51Rs9LCe1IL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW5jJYf7Lbx2K4ptWjz6cScXjToQeGbcPl5_A39O0_5-wD_J4wwh9yxujo-5PCng9EnmiP5WsHNOdL38AmHy7qj4h-OPgm0Vch-jguQ_UVJSvqHVqa0m-URPhgHkbr9RGKK_NBuAIUA4Wv/s200/51Rs9LCe1IL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352464679621179186" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcQsuyDPRXqkFk0ugbUVMpJU7ZC2XNFrNQlYOnO-lP_MFu2PEtcTFRohXaawlwyyip35Fd_vDF2Ul4mKbIapa9Nlepi6N8TzFFaPmazPmcnakxN_INiardZPu-EAhPLw4si9kpbfJQax9/s1600-h/416omrIF6WL._SS500_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcQsuyDPRXqkFk0ugbUVMpJU7ZC2XNFrNQlYOnO-lP_MFu2PEtcTFRohXaawlwyyip35Fd_vDF2Ul4mKbIapa9Nlepi6N8TzFFaPmazPmcnakxN_INiardZPu-EAhPLw4si9kpbfJQax9/s200/416omrIF6WL._SS500_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352464801231033314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Unexpected Babies? Pregnant Mistresses?<br /><br />Harlequin, there are no words. There is only me making a sound that is best transcribed as ewughgllagh.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-89397889189887118822009-06-23T08:43:00.007-04:002009-06-23T13:30:19.754-04:00The Era of the ReceptionistAs an inveterate couch potato, and queen of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Netflix</span> night in, I'll confess what I find most compelling as a viewer when I watch older movies and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">tv</span> is the way film reflects its time. Film gives you sly insight into the society that produced it- the society it was produced for- through dialogue, settings, and characters.<br /><br />Seeing the new Star Trek movie turned me back to the original series*, and watching a few episodes recently made me more aware than ever of a standard character in film and television in the Sixties - the receptionist.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFi_64DW2wlrjOGG6DRJ5LeEmh1eH6QVtis3oZpSFonCZ2dXpRe50A5QnFYjdFDwgym8WRum8Ob8467uSy9ijbFE8N0sF2kVq7etDGnYfBKhuagItZgaYqkAT-Zxkb-1iIz6HMSk5Fkqa/s1600-h/Uhura+4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFi_64DW2wlrjOGG6DRJ5LeEmh1eH6QVtis3oZpSFonCZ2dXpRe50A5QnFYjdFDwgym8WRum8Ob8467uSy9ijbFE8N0sF2kVq7etDGnYfBKhuagItZgaYqkAT-Zxkb-1iIz6HMSk5Fkqa/s320/Uhura+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350504778724536882" border="0" /></a>Star Trek reflects, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/weekinreview/10itzkoff.html">as many have noted</a>, the American optimism of the 1960s. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry">Roddenberry</a>, who created the series, played to America's newly launched fascination with space travel, and carefully wove in themes of cooperation between most races** and nationalities. You can't watch Star Trek without remembering it first aired in 1966- a year after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_rights_act">Voting Rights Act</a> passed.<br /><br />For all that optimism- starry-eyed and interstellar- when it comes time for the band of space pioneers to boldly go where no man has gone before, they still need someone, a woman, to answer the phone. It winds up being the series' only black character, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Uhura</span>, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0629667/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Nichelle</span> Nichols</a>.<br /><br />I don't mean to imply that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Uhura</span> has no value or charm. However, her character is a perfect example of the mores and modes of the Era of the Receptionist- even in that time's wildest imaginings of what the future would be, women wound up sitting alone at a desk on the ship in case someone called while the landing party<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1eFdUSnaQM"> fought lizard creatures</a> on a desert planet below.<br /><br />But the Sixties were also a sexy time- between JFK, the Rat Pack and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0000007/">James Bond</a>, the dominant cultural expressions of male sexuality took a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">defin</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabDleB1AFKnsGVWvkHQ3ttOdk1KsbI0TEed4b_xHtkoxpCws2cojWepBpimiK8jeqwyUdxeKtvFokv89ZX5-kBmq1mwjubvpn7lGvNhRFPOF3IGLJkvXdc8g6N7oV49M9auVoGkh7juOD/s1600-h/moneypenny-maxwell.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabDleB1AFKnsGVWvkHQ3ttOdk1KsbI0TEed4b_xHtkoxpCws2cojWepBpimiK8jeqwyUdxeKtvFokv89ZX5-kBmq1mwjubvpn7lGvNhRFPOF3IGLJkvXdc8g6N7oV49M9auVoGkh7juOD/s320/moneypenny-maxwell.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350545712052348098" border="0" /></a><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ite</span> swing towards the playboy. James Bond, a spy in her Majesty's Secret Service, is a man's man. His missions are inevitably dangerous, but he is always their equal. The bad guys are really bad and have names like <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20159002_20159106_20240550,00.html">Dr. No</a>, but he always takes them out. The international <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">hotties</span> are always reluctant at first, but he wins them over. He drives fancy cars and carries silly <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_9HOuSZaDY&feature=PlayList&p=7F7C690BA297B9D0&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=11">gadgets</a> that are conveniently useful for exactly the scrape he gets into every movie.<br /><br />But what would James have done if Miss <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Moneypenny</span>, played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0561755/">Lois <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Maxwel</span></a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0561755/">l</a>, were not there to take his messages while he was out saving the world and pulling the Iron Curtain down one Russian seduction at a time? Office administrators were the unsung heroes of Glasnost.<br /><br />Both <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Uhura</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Moneypenny</span> are good receptionists- dedicated to their posts, loyal to their superiors. However, it's fun to flip back to 1960 and the birth of the Era of the Receptionist for a very different portrayal in Hitchcock's eternal classic, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Psycho</span></a>. If Trek reflects the exuberance of the space race and Bond offers us a Cold War seduction, <span style="font-style: italic;">Psycho</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">illumes</span> a time of domestic desperation.<br /><br />Marion Crane, as portrayed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001463/">Janet Leigh</a>, the film's initial protagonist, is a receptionist in love. She works at a real estate office in Phoenix, Arizona, and does occasional quickies during lunch with her boyfriend, Sam. The two want to marry but cannot because of Sam's crushing debts and ongoing alimony payments to his ex-wife.<br /><br />Marion, earning a receptionist's wage, cannot hope to use honest means to better her circumstances. Unstrung and anxious, she snatches one of those iconic Benjamin-filled briefcases from her office, and drives away from her steno pad and rotary telephone, into the sunset to start a new life with her financially liberated beau.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1AcVm1Se-If22yPOWF9-haaNafPc3Rtc0qFax4XZ9dUh8LojF1ZrQQ05WUbmueH9UIq9LTEg2NuGMUy3hIt5GnSxiWq8RkzmBEXWHalkKG4JV0gJ8A8pYV_zbLOLttMYdJ_jCK9Dup_R/s1600-h/Marion+Crane.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1AcVm1Se-If22yPOWF9-haaNafPc3Rtc0qFax4XZ9dUh8LojF1ZrQQ05WUbmueH9UIq9LTEg2NuGMUy3hIt5GnSxiWq8RkzmBEXWHalkKG4JV0gJ8A8pYV_zbLOLttMYdJ_jCK9Dup_R/s320/Marion+Crane.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350547305097399474" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Of course things don't end well for Marion. Just as she decides that stealing will not actually solve her problems and resolves to return the money, she is stabbed to death in a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoQ6Jc9PyCI">shower</a>, and dumped in a swamp with the briefcase now lost to everyone.<br /><br />Marion is an interesting foil to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Uhura</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Moneypenny</span> in several regards- she is self-interested and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">sexualized</span> in ways they are not. She only receives a half an hour of screen time, but for that period she is the focus of <span style="font-style: italic;">Psycho</span>, and her choices determine the plot of the film. She is also the only fully realized woman of the three- and she is cut short.<br /><br />In receptionist, as with nurse or stewardess, one finds a truly gendered term and position. In the Era of the Receptionist, the jobs available to women were limited- the roles women could play influenced the roles actresses received. Interestingly, playing a good receptionist and being a good receptionist reaped similar benefits- I am sure that Nichols and Maxwell both looked forward to steady paychecks and regular work. In a time when playboy culture celebrated and degraded the bombshell, the good receptionist could look forward to coming back for another installment while Bond girls and alien babes were disposable.<br /><br />In recent incarnations, both <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Uhura</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Moneypenny</span> have been fleshed out, an effort to revise their histories and give them souls. It's still satisfying to watch their original forms though- to reflect on how far we've come, and to give credit to the ladies who answered the phones so that I wouldn't have to.<br /><br />* Nerd Alert!<br />** Pesky <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Klingons</span>.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-29540307544703846362009-06-17T10:14:00.005-04:002009-06-17T10:24:13.604-04:00Fallen Princesses<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuM9kij3LXvH0DWzCvEzPPxZ_y2V9l5SUXyQksgcgnSloiLGQGh2zEc9xsfs17AysclJiQlqurqqqm_k3Az8VBSdcz2UOdZrPPXytUUuIGm2A6dAXhrfW714elrPgR7YoOkERq6tO1XRlP/s1600-h/fallen+princesses.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuM9kij3LXvH0DWzCvEzPPxZ_y2V9l5SUXyQksgcgnSloiLGQGh2zEc9xsfs17AysclJiQlqurqqqm_k3Az8VBSdcz2UOdZrPPXytUUuIGm2A6dAXhrfW714elrPgR7YoOkERq6tO1XRlP/s400/fallen+princesses.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348300364183518898" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/11918">Dina Goldstein</a> disenchants your Disney.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-41639901377695350072009-06-01T18:18:00.004-04:002009-06-01T18:20:58.060-04:00Unexpected and Wonderful<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWP379Lt9CVtZ0d1mursdrJz71qUkItepZmV1FCGNMKdWfvWe8hxs2M84TmQalle5awaSLwU7cOct-CiVCctTzctZYtsVN0FojLLmJA0g1t2wCd4QOSQYxgTlsvH8fdBXdCLES3hcUNXmx/s1600-h/963788.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 245px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWP379Lt9CVtZ0d1mursdrJz71qUkItepZmV1FCGNMKdWfvWe8hxs2M84TmQalle5awaSLwU7cOct-CiVCctTzctZYtsVN0FojLLmJA0g1t2wCd4QOSQYxgTlsvH8fdBXdCLES3hcUNXmx/s320/963788.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342487537912538386" border="0" /></a><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.severija.lt/pirmas.php?skyrius=&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;kurinys=687247&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lapo_nr=1">Severija Incirauskaite-Kriauneviciene</a> cross stiches your cars and pans.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-19912070934557963782009-05-26T18:57:00.004-04:002009-05-26T19:00:34.527-04:00Separated at birth.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHIo7qJ2425FwBbKmpm5XVtZAU3Xl6B6eWqeUo7G4F3iw0EvsMzRmULSB4EWEzZ85qKWCHWoRGMck_vFyGeG7KSVpuCCTPioyrKMwXiNDn4GukNqUqZBuw-7C-386lYJeIshr_QyrfB7e/s1600-h/pic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHIo7qJ2425FwBbKmpm5XVtZAU3Xl6B6eWqeUo7G4F3iw0EvsMzRmULSB4EWEzZ85qKWCHWoRGMck_vFyGeG7KSVpuCCTPioyrKMwXiNDn4GukNqUqZBuw-7C-386lYJeIshr_QyrfB7e/s320/pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340270663362052594" border="0" /></a>Zydrunas Ilgauskas grinds your bones to make his bread. Go Cavs!Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-40257524224442527532009-05-26T09:45:00.023-04:002009-05-26T14:12:27.282-04:00Your girl begs the question.It's a morning when I am happy with my country as a whole. I am still employed- I am not panicked. I even remembered to bring a packet of hot cocoa with me for breakfast when I biked off to work. And President Obama picked a thoroughly qualified female candidate for the Supreme Court. When she gets in, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15sotomayor.html?_r=1">Sonia Sotomayor</a> will be the first Latina to hold a spot on SCOTUS.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8R8oFtTy74hcHuDuqn6cUBfq9cT0IgqMtYGy7XQf1fLg-c_iY3-4aWXpSoc0P7FxEHX-m0mPC_DQNNFW9CXcUrBAsvVEfH2wIWVbvR6vlrBHn9kZyPCZ28hznY7q7Qaly-faAhoVmGp9P/s1600-h/sonia-sotomayor-photo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 311px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8R8oFtTy74hcHuDuqn6cUBfq9cT0IgqMtYGy7XQf1fLg-c_iY3-4aWXpSoc0P7FxEHX-m0mPC_DQNNFW9CXcUrBAsvVEfH2wIWVbvR6vlrBHn9kZyPCZ28hznY7q7Qaly-faAhoVmGp9P/s320/sonia-sotomayor-photo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340136093765519762" border="0" /></a>She's got an amazing story. The child of Puerto Rican immigrants, Sotomayor grew up in a housing project in NYC. She knew she wanted to be a judge when a diagnosis with childhood diabetes turned her attention to Perry Mason. So she got into Princeton, and then into Yale. She's got brains, background, and balls.<br /><br />Given that, I hate to nitpick. There is diversity in this choice, and there is reason to it, though it shows little bravery on the President's part. Sotomayor has an activist streak that scares Wendy Long- which I find endearing, even if it isn't enough of an activist streak to truly excite me. She's a solid pick, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/magazine/31court-t.html?src=twt&twt=nytimespolitics">a moderate with a loyalty to the appointing executive's party</a>, but that has been the formula of late.<br /><br />She's another Ivy League educated Federal Appeals Court Judge from the Northeast. <p>This makes nine judges that are from the Federal Appeals Courts, seven from the Northeast, and eight law degrees from Ivy League schools, mainly Harvard. John Paul Stevens went to Northwestern, and he is the oldest of the appointees. Excuse me for observing, but this is beginning to look like something of a club.<br /></p> <p>I don't want to harp on education. It is wonderful to have brilliant, educated people in positions of power. However, questions of money and influence come into play when it comes to graduate study in law at these institutions. I do not want to see the Supreme Court closed off to those who have experience outside of the appellate courts, or those who, for whatever reason, may have elected to study at some of the great state law programs or outside of the top right corner of the country.<br /></p><p>Diversity means more than the obvious, and I am happy with what Judge Sotomayor will bring to the court. I mean, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/01/us/baseball-woman-in-the-news-strike-zone-arbitrator-sonia-sotomayor.html">I'm a baseball fan</a>. She's got an excellent attitude to bring into a decidedly male dominated judiciary. I guess I just wanted to go on the record, and say that I hope the next choice takes better advantage of the opportunity to be a little radical, a little activist, a little nontraditional as I am sure we have not seen the last of Obama's SCOTUS appointments.<br /></p><p>For now, I'm just going to revel in Wendy Long's <a href="http://judicialnetwork.com/cgi-data/press_releases/files/98.shtml">pain</a>. And yes, I will take my first democratic appointed judge in 14 years now, please.<br /></p>Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-69706902356513405382009-05-21T12:59:00.004-04:002009-05-21T14:17:31.521-04:00Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys.<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" width="100%" height="80"><param name="movie" value="http://8tracks.com/mixes/27879/player_v2"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="FlashVars" value="bg_color=_000000"><embed flashvars="bg_color=_000000" src="http://8tracks.com/mixes/27879/player_v2" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" width="100%" height="80"></embed></object><br /><br />Sometimes, you get into musical moods. I would argue that a mix, particularly the mix you make for yourself, is lazy listening. The way a hits or singles record allows you to listen to just what is popular, the self-made mix is all dessert and no broccoli.<br /><br />Broccoli is good for you!<br /><br />But sometimes, it's important to indulge. So, if all I want to listen to today is country and country influenced indie pop, that's what I'm gonna do. Enjoy. This is all I've been listening to all day.<br /><br />And just for kicks:<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" width="100%" height="80"><param name="movie" value="http://8tracks.com/mixes/27885/player_v2"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="FlashVars" value="bg_color=_000000"><embed flashvars="bg_color=_000000" src="http://8tracks.com/mixes/27885/player_v2" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" width="100%" height="80"></embed></object><br /><br />Have you ever fallen in love with a cover? I have.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-80082864154888643132009-05-12T11:50:00.011-04:002009-05-25T10:49:46.186-04:00Oh, the empathy.President Obama says he wants his Supreme Court replacement to have "empathy." According to conservative pundits, we'd all better watch out!<br /><blockquote>"Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, speaking on <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/03/senators_leahy_and_hatch_on_this_week_96318.html" target="_blank"><em>This Week</em></a><em>,</em> warned that if a jurist were to show empathy, 'politics, preferences, personal preferences and feelings might take the place of being impartial and deciding cases based upon the law, not upon politics.' In an opinion piece in the <a href="http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/04/opening-of-a-sorry-chapter/" target="_blank"><em>Washington Times</em></a> warning that Obama is poised to be the 'first president to make lawlessness an explicit standard for Supreme Court Justices,' Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network saw empathy as a kind of temporary insanity that so distorts a jurist's vision as to make it difficult "to uphold the federal judicial oath to dispense justice impartially." Over on Fox News, <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/10/reliable-sources-obamas-search-for-empathy/" target="_blank">Sean Hannity</a> warned that empathy is the first step toward "social engineering." And in a delicious Freudian slip, <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_20090507_5499.php" target="_blank">Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama snorted</a>: 'I don't know what empathy means.'"<br /><br />Snatched from <span style="font-style: italic;">Slate</span>, <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2218103/">"Once More Without Feeling"</a> by Dahlia Lithwick<br /></blockquote>I think that, cutting through the hysteria, what is basically in play here is a fear that Obama will choose an activist, liberal judge. I doubt he will, much as I would love to see that. Souter, a liberal leaning moderate judge will, in all likelihood, be replaced by another of that mold. But, in wake of two Bush administration appointees and a bench that had more viciously political 5:4 splits then had been seen at any point in its history, a moderate will merely maintain the status quo. What many Americans may not realize is that such political polarities as we have experienced in my time as a voter are not common in the Supreme Court.<br /><br />They may also not realize that the most liberal and most senior member of SCOTUS, John Paul Stevens, was appointed by a <span style="font-style: italic;">Republican</span>, Gerald Ford. Souter, another who votes with the "liberal bloc" was appointed by George Bush Senior. They are the last, I worry, of a kind of judge whose understanding of law was not dominated by the party of the president appointing them.<br /><br />What has happened to the courts? When did judicial activism become unspeakable? It is clearly meant to be one of those balances between branches of government, and yet, Chief Justice Roberts sees his role in the system as merely that of "a referee"*. If he wanted that job, he should have stayed out of the appellate courts. When Justice Stevens says, "Including myself every judge who’s been appointed to the court since Lewis Powell** has been more conservative than his or her predecessor. Except maybe Justice Ginsburg. That’s bound to have an effect on the court." He is not exaggerating. The court does not need a moderate- it needs a progressive, for the sake of balance, because neither of my favorites, Stevens or Ginsburg, are young. Empathy is a good start, but it's not enough. Conviction and the strength of will and character to wield the incredible power of the bench for the right reasons is.<br /><br />So, empathy doesn't sound so bad to you now, does it, Wendy Long.<br /><br />* His words, not mine.<br />**1971, President NixonLindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-90412180501939067442009-05-06T11:27:00.011-04:002009-06-02T16:35:04.330-04:00Your girl has a bad case of SCOTUS.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1M9zGaB3uhq2jLL35PqGSeiWhNk_UnFX4f5eFKnxwNHPf1lvIILGJEuFU9wpKuN31vz6bSXJEqwtJNA-fHfReFUhJY0W1G7dIwZrg-xFUuf0xxGRgQO3HLEi3hXiU_P5JcE-5SljTH7y/s1600-h/supreme+court.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1M9zGaB3uhq2jLL35PqGSeiWhNk_UnFX4f5eFKnxwNHPf1lvIILGJEuFU9wpKuN31vz6bSXJEqwtJNA-fHfReFUhJY0W1G7dIwZrg-xFUuf0xxGRgQO3HLEi3hXiU_P5JcE-5SljTH7y/s400/supreme+court.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332758938681316962" border="0" /></a><br />Your favorite pandemic may be the Swine Flu, you trendy scenester you. You may have a personal weakness for SARS or a historic crush on Small Pox or the deadlier Spanish Flu. I'm not going to fight you if you come down on the side of the Bubonic Plague, classic as basic black.<br /><br />That said, these diseases are not for me. I have caught a bug all my own, and let's be frank, all I want to do is read about the various possibilities in line to replace Justice Souter* in the Supreme Court when he retires this summer. SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States, has long been an object of interest for me. I can offer no clever explanation of the origin of my chronic interest in the goings on of the gavel wielding. Sorry if the blog posts about the bench have become too much, but if you come back after the confirmation hearings, odds are on there will be a post or two about zombies or pies.<br /><br />That said, there are resources on hand for those similarly afflicted. I tend to stick with <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/">SCOTUSblog</a>, which is no nonsense and gives concise updates on <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/category/orders-and-opinions/">arguments and opinions</a> as they are delivered. <a href="http://underneaththeirrobes.blogs.com/">Underneath Their Robes</a>, a gossip site about the federal judiciary, is a girltalk confection, a kind of Perez Hilton for the judicial groupie. <a href="http://abovethelaw.com/">Above the Law</a>, a similar site that I like less, has a <a href="http://abovethelaw.com/2009/05/atl_poll_who_should_replace_sc.php">leaderboard</a> of potential Souter replacements. Sonia Sotomayar is leading there, and she's a reasonable choice. You know me, so you know I'm rooting for Kathleen Sullivan, a professor of law at Stanford who has presented amicus curiae to the court in the past. She's a big lesbian, an equal rights activist, and wrote the book I studied in my con law class in college. She could keep my beloved Bader Ginsburg company. I would be perfectly happy with Elena Kagan too.<br /><br />Here are three opinion articles I've read recently about the Hopefuls:<br />Slate ran an article about the <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2217714/">prejudices facing single women</a>.<br />Daily Beast reported on a<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-04/fat-judges-need-not-apply/full/"> big, fat problem</a>.<br />Vanity Fair presented an <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2009/05/the-case-for-appointing-anita-hill-to-the-supreme-court.html">awkward reunion</a> option.<br /><br />* I will miss him.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-57583218824810315092009-04-30T14:25:00.010-04:002009-04-30T21:34:53.674-04:00Ladies, I salute you.Maira Kalman's<a href="http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/?scp=1-spot&sq=Maira%20Kalman&st=cse"> blog</a> is one of my favorite parts of the NYT. It's half comic and half diary, and Kalman's observations and ideas are presented in a beautiful, artful way. <a href="http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/may-it-please-the-court/">This latest entry</a> made me tear up a little, and wish I could be more. You may recall my admiration for <a href="http://justasweetyoungthing.blogspot.com/2009/04/judicial-oversight.html">Ruth B. Ginsburg</a>- a significant portion of this entry is devoted to her. Most poignant is this frame.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHaBgfwIssgV3MPBMcJxoMI6oL2DfdPmQeVrEjR83PHZsuRaZOdL-jvtgyYwEty55woPV2G47AOcOIzXJTrOBA0798GSaCCK2yiNPEmWirI1egslSvf_YA8uHu5-f_xTWm5VUzLBJLfRN7/s1600-h/Ladies,+I+salute+you..jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHaBgfwIssgV3MPBMcJxoMI6oL2DfdPmQeVrEjR83PHZsuRaZOdL-jvtgyYwEty55woPV2G47AOcOIzXJTrOBA0798GSaCCK2yiNPEmWirI1egslSvf_YA8uHu5-f_xTWm5VUzLBJLfRN7/s400/Ladies,+I+salute+you..jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330560975260246578" border="0" /></a><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Taken from The New York Times, credited to Maira Kalman.</span></blockquote><blockquote>"I return to court to hear Justice Ginsburg speak to law students. And in answer to the question, 'How does it feel to be the only woman on the court?' she answers simply, 'lonely.'"</blockquote><br />In other, important news, it's my dad's birthday. <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Happy day to you, Stephen Raymond Cronk.</span> I love you, and you are the best principal I know.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-38074746676304017092009-04-28T10:08:00.012-04:002009-04-28T12:33:28.824-04:00Not So New Music Tuesday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMXLrCFQ1163BNxx7IfAyT1ziPX9HgkScx8ctM3DNk5eB9niYYnnJ4ScSy31QsufMRY0cNkDXsh0incUQjgEkBWLzraUXvIGxy-lZ5jv76Tk7_4XYXmvT5mtTrEPiPE20xYgC5DFxHmwK/s1600-h/viviangirls-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMXLrCFQ1163BNxx7IfAyT1ziPX9HgkScx8ctM3DNk5eB9niYYnnJ4ScSy31QsufMRY0cNkDXsh0incUQjgEkBWLzraUXvIGxy-lZ5jv76Tk7_4XYXmvT5mtTrEPiPE20xYgC5DFxHmwK/s320/viviangirls-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329746189118417666" /></a> Ok, I know I am the last person on earth to get around to listening to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Girls">Vivian Girls</a>. You can judge me lightly or you can judge me hard, but friend, I cannot say when I set this record down and forgot about it. Everyone was so hot over these ladies in late 2008, and I had/have a pretty vicious case of Overthosebrooklynbandsitis.<br /><br />Looking for something to listen to today, I felt remiss in my duties, and I decided it was time to give the <a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12286-vivian-girls/">Vivian Girls' self-titled debut</a> the benefit of a Tuesday. Because, as Amy Granzin over at Pitchfork offers, "They deflect the knee-jerk criticism the most effective way possible: with an armful of kick-ass songs." Two handfuls is more like, and so with ten songs that clock in at under 22 minutes, this album just seems so... manageable.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Listening #1</span> I have something to confess. I love a good short story, and I fell in love with <a href="http://www.quickfiction.org/">flash fiction</a> and <a href="http://www.creativenonfiction.org/brevity/index.htm">nonfiction</a> a couple years ago. I fritter away my hours reading stories of a thousand words or less. Punk and post punk appeal to me when the music has that same vigor, force, and precision- <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqQLwINA6pE">Mission of Burma's Vs.</a> will always own a part of my heart. In this respect, the Vivian Girls are a little frustrating, because in the first half of their album they evoke this very well, before tepidly embarking on two lackluster, three plus minute long, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbxxkwBQk_o">Shirelles</a>-esque*, doo-wop influenced pop songs. <br /><br />You are at your best when you keep it under two minutes, ladies. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Listening #2</span> On their myspace, the Vivian Girls describe their sound as "Punk / Shoegaze / Surf" - they certainly have elements of those things, but I just can't get into it. The best of their songs is probably "Wild Eyes"- which is heady and short and evokes the Shangri-Las in a way I appreciate. I will be on the look out for their sophomore effort, to see how these musicians refine their sound and work out their intentions. In the interim, I am going to shelve the Vivian Girls in favor of a post punk/early girl groups Tuesday playlist line-up. <br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,28,0" width="100%" height="80" ><param name="movie" value="http://8tracks.com/mixes/23287/player_v2"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="FlashVars" value="bg_color=_000000"><embed FlashVars="bg_color=_000000" src="http://8tracks.com/mixes/23287/player_v2" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="80" allowscriptaccess="always" ></embed></object><br /><br />* Listening to the Vivian Girls makes me realize how badly I want to collect <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy8_38U3xLU&feature=related">doo-wop era girl groups</a> on vinyl.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8920549004376053363.post-39117430398056933092009-04-23T23:24:00.016-04:002009-04-24T09:13:42.230-04:00I'll never own a Kindle.April 22nd was Book Day. What a thing. A magical thing. Here's a late survey in celebration of the best kind of print material. <br /><br />1) What author do you own the most books by?<br />Neil Gaiman, closely followed by a five way tie between Margaret Atwood, Italo Calvino, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, J.D. Sallinger and Virginia Woolf.<br /><br />2) What book do you own the most copies of?<br />I have two copies of <span style="font-style:italic;">Franny and Zooey</span>, the one I read as a kid and wore all to pieces and the nicer copy I got at the used bookstore recently.<br /><br />3) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?<br />Florentino Ariza. But I think it's more that I want to be in love in the way Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about love. <br /><br />4) What book have you read more than any other?<br />Maybe <span style="font-style:italic;">Lonesome Dove</span>? Oh, and <span style="font-style:italic;">Ender's Game</span>. I like to reread books that make me feel like a 13 year old boy.<br /><br />5) What was your favorite book when you were 10 years old?<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Number the Stars</span>. I had a fixation on all things Holocaust right after I went through my Egyptologist phase.<br /><br />6) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?<br />I know this may get me slapped, but I really did not like <span style="font-style:italic;">Dead Until Dark</span>.<br /><br />7) What is the best book you've read in the past year?<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Bone</span>! Hands down.<br /><br />8) If you could tell everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Baron in the Trees,</span> by Italo Calvino.<br /><br />9) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?<br />If you mean read to completion, Thomas Mann's <span style="font-style:italic;">The Magic Mountain</span>. But after three passes, I still haven't managed to finish <span style="font-style:italic;">Underworld</span>, Mr. DeLillo.<br /><br />10) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?<br />The French. Bovary's my biznatch. Boudelaire's my boy.<br /><br />11) Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer?<br />Shakespeare.<br /><br />12) Austen or Eliot?<br />Austen.<br /><br />13) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?<br />Well, I don't do biographies or autobiographies, and sometimes, I choose to ignore major award winners and Sallie Tisdale's advice. <br /><br />14) What is your favorite novel?<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Baron in the Trees</span> by Italo Calvino. See #8. <br /><br />15) Play?<br />"Baby with the Bathwater", Christopher Durang<br /><br />16) Poem?<br />How about top 5- in descending order- <a href="http://vmlinux.org/~ilse/lit/berrym.htm">"Dream Song 14"</a> by John Berryman, <a href="http://www.graywolfpress.org/Related_Content/Book_Excerpts/Excerpt_from_What_Narcissism_Means_to_Me/">"What Narcissism Means to Me"</a> by Tony Hoagland, <a href="http://fleursdumal.org/poem/116">"La Beauté"</a> by Charles Baudelaire, <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/122/31.html">"Spring and Fall: To a Young Child"</a> by Gerald Manley Hopkins , and the clear favorite <a href="http://plagiarist.com/poetry/2427/">"On Living"</a> by Nazim Hikmet.<br /><br />17) Essay?<br />"A Room of One's Own"- you saw it coming.<br /><br />18) Short Story?<br />"Hands" by Sherwood Anderson from the perfect <span style="font-style:italic;">Winesburg, Ohio</span> or "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" by Stephen Crane. <br /><br />19) Non-Fiction?<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Goedel, Escher, Bach</span> by Douglas Hofstadter.<br /><br />20) Graphic Novel?<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Sandman</span> by Neil Gaiman.<br /><br />21) Memoir?<br />*tumble weeds pass* I only like to read my friends' diaries, the more embarrassing the point in adolescence, the better.<br /><br />22) History?<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Affluent Society</span> by John Kenneth Galbraith<br /><br />23) Mystery Or Noir?<br />Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot ftw.<br /><br />24) Science Fiction?<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Farnham's Freehold</span>, Robert Heinlein<br /><br />25) Who is your favorite writer?<br />When I read Italo Calvino, I feel like he wrote just for me.<br /><br />26) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?<br />William T. Vollmann. I despise gloomy self-indulgence, and I will fight it to the last. <br /><br />27) What are you reading right now?<br />I'm in the final throws of <span style="font-style:italic;">The Wordy Shipmates</span> by Sarah Vowell.Lindsay Cronkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13875847675155499527noreply@blogger.com0