Books, Music, and Movies

This has been a pretty good weekend for media in my world. I was able to finish reading my current book, watch a good movie I have never seen, and I got a new CD.

The book: For Christmas, I got one of the books I wanted. 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America. I am not sure if it is part of the title or not, but (and Al Franken is #37) is also on the cover. I really enjoyed this book. I was actually surprised by the content. This is the first (but not to be the last) book I have read by Bernard Goldberg. He starts the book by pointing out that this is his list, so he can put whomever, for whatever in his book. He then moves onto different groups of people who are screwing things up. The America Haters, the Media, the race and class warriors, and others. Then he gets to the list. There were only a few people that I was expecting to be on the list present. There were a lot, a lot of university presidents and professors. No one is safe, although most everyone is from the liberal left. His reasoning behind putting people on the list, had to do with damage that said person has done to help murder the true America. It was a fast, good read. Pick it up. If you know me, you may be able to borrow it.

The movie: Friday night I was eating dinner and surfing channels. I ran across the IFC, because on occasion, they have some pretty decent movies. I was pleasantly surprised as I found one of those types of films. It was called Buffalo Soldiers. This is not the Danny Glover film about black soldiers in the civil war. This was something altogether different. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Specialist Ray Elwood, a supply guy stationed in Germany who has all the black market hookups, and cooks heroin under his barracks, and sells mop and glow to the Ukrainians. Things start to get out of control when opportunity leaves them with an Army truck full of weapons, which they promptly steal. About that time, a new First Sergeant arrives, played by Scott Glenn. He and Phoenix have some differing points of view about how soldiers should spend their off time. It was funny, well made, and really enjoyable. There is a real aire of truth to a lot of the stuff that goes on in this film. Whoever wrote this has been an enlisted member soldier. If you get a chance, watch this. I will be adding it to my collection A.S.A.P.

The Music: So, at the beginning of December, I finally shelled out the bucks, and ordered myself a copy of Iraq Unplugged (I did a post about this a while back, and you can also get there from the "support this music" link on the right). January 9th came and went, but still no CD. I was a bit bummed, so I sent an email using the address provided by my pay pal receipt. A day later, I got an email back from one of the artists that made the CD. He apologized, and told me that I somehow fell through the cracks, and that they would send my CD out right away, and would also include some complimentary copies. Well, this morning (even though it was a holiday, it still was there) I retrieved my package from my mailbox. They made good on their promise, and sent me three copies of the CD! I rushed home, slapped it into my player, and spent the next hour on my ass listening to a fascinating, gritty, heart-felt album. Every single song on this album is dripping with passion and the kind of experiences that only a soldier who is deployed can have. Songs on this CD were all made in a studio in Baghdad, just down the road from Saddam's Republican Palace. I am really glad that I got this CD, and would have waited several more months for my copy. I am happy to support these guys, and may even buy another copy or two in the near future. If you have a few extra bucks laying around, you should send off for your copy right now.