20 Down, 32 to Go

Book: Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac 

Album: None

I read this book really fast.  I think I started it on Sunday and was done with it mid-flight Wednesday. It was very enjoyable.  Kerouac showed the dual nature that I seem to have: a desire to be alone in the wilderness and be out with my friends at parties.  The Buddhism in the story seemed a little thin, he never really explained what the various ideas and terms meant.  Yet, I think the book would have lost momentum if Kerouac explained each school of Buddhism.  Overall, it was a fun, fast, and entertaining read.

Since I read the book so quickly I did really listen to an album or anything that captured the mod of it.  I have various songs that I listened to a fair amount during the time I read it, so here they are:

• Flying Lotus - Roberta Flack
• Madlib - In Jah Hands (Dillas Lament)
• Miles Davis - So What
• John Coltrane - Giant Steps
• Charles Mingus - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
• Chitti Babu - Ragam: Kharaharapriya

19 Down, 33 to Go

Book:  Consider the Lobster - David Foster Wallace

Album:  Shake the Sheets - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

I bought this book the day he died.  I started reading it roughly the same week.  Consider the Lobster is an extremely entertaining book.  "Big Red Son" made me howl with laughter.  The stories on 9/11 were interesting.  "Up, Simba" was fascinating to compare McCain 2000 v McCain 2008 v Obama.  "Consider the Lobster" has made me no longer eat lobster and makes you question the decency of killing another living creature.  There was only one story I couldn't get through: "Authority and American Usage".

Ted Leo writes great albums.  They are fun, entertaining, political, and everything else.  He is one of Rock n Roll's few populists.  He attempts to appeal to everyone through hard work and good songs.  This is my favorite album by him.  To me it is as consistent and well done as London Calling or This Years Model.   If you don't have it, go buy it today!

Couple of Old Shows

So I don't have much.  I have a couple of old shows that I have meant to post for a while.  I am an intern on the BU radio station.  Its kind of funny because I know as much about hosting as the people who actually "host" the show.  One show was from election day, the other was from a couple weeks before that.  Anyway here they are:

Calling Old Friends - Defiance, Ohio 
Motion Of The Ocean - Fake Problems 
Thanks, Bastards! - Mischief Brew 
In a Cave - Tokyo Police Club 
New Wave - Against Me! 
The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem 
The Inquirer - The Loved Ones 
Sir Bang (Bounce) - Madlib* 
Savior - Rise Against 
(Fork and Knife) - Brand New
Mash - J Dilla*
Stay Free - The Clash 
Chesterfield King - Jawbreaker
Kiss Me Deadly - Generation x 
Heavy - Oh No*
Breakdown - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 
Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady

Election Day

Banned in D.C. - Bad Brains 
Ready to Fall - Rise Against 
Louisiana - The Loved Ones 
Buckeyes - MF Doom*
Something I Learned Today - Hüsker Dü 
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana 
Cliché Guevara - Against Me! 
Tape Hiss (Dirty) - Madlib*
Bastards Of Young - The Replacements
Great Expectations - The Gaslight Anthem 
Workinonit - J Dilla*
I Got Your Number - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly
Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady
Boxcar - Jawbreaker
American Idiot - Green Day