Sidebar Update!

Hey all! I'm back from Christmas vacation just in time for the final Sidebar Update of the year. Hoopla! Let's jump right in.

The current Object of My Affection is Anne Hathaway, and I'm a bit surprised she's never been featured on the Sidebar before. She's lovely as all git-out, with gorgeous brown eyes and an adorable smile, not to mention: she's stacked. That's right, I said it! I'm only human! Sue me. She also happens to be pretty damn talented, equally adept at comedy and drama. Rachel Getting Married is one of my few remaining must-sees of the year in film (along with Gran Torino, Wendy and Lucy, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). And her Saturday Night Live was one of the very few non-Tina Fey/Sarah Palin episodes this year that didn't totally suck from start to finish.

Still reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, but I'm in the home stretch: page 857 (out of 981) (not counting footnotes). I should have it finished by New Year's, just in time to start on my favorite Christmas gift this year: DFW's Consider the Lobster. Damn it's rotten this guy isn't around to write more.

Watching: The Venture Bros. Season 1 DVD. What an endlessly hilarious show! And such a wide range, from elaborate parodies of Walt Disney or Easy Rider to fart and pee jokes. Sharp, funny stuff.

Listening to The Gaslight Anthem's latest album, The '59 Sound (as recommended by Noel Murray -- thanks!), which is kind of a punkier take on early Springsteen story-songs. I almost want to put punk in quote-marks, since the self-described punk band doesn't sound especially "punk" to me, though they do indeed rock hard behind some evocative lyrics. Biggest drawback to me is that the songs start to blend together a bit, with a dearth of big hooks to distinguish between them. But maybe that's just me.

Hating: same monkey. Only 21 more days, praise Jeebus!

And the Lyric of the Moment is from the Refreshments' "Good Year." "It's been a good year for bad days, or a bad year for good days." Indeed it has, folks. 2008 has been the worst year of my life, for various none-of-your-business reasons, and I heartily welcome its demise in a few short days. Here's to 2009 (motto: "It can't possibly be any worse").

Sidebar Update

Before I leave for a few days to visit family in Colorado, I thought I'd leave you with one of my much anticipated Sidebar Updates, which you all know and love so well.

Speaking of Olivia Wilde (which I was last post), she is the current Object of My Affection, because why not? She is lovely as the day is long. Plus she totally kissed a girl in the last episode of House. Sweet!

Still reading Infinite Jest, of course. Page 369. Glad I have a plane trip today to get more uninterrupted reading time.

Watching a lot of Countdown with Keith Olbermann lately. I don't watch much "real" news on TV, mostly I just get it online and watch The Daily Show. But Olbermann's been doing some great stuff leading up to the election. His Special Comments are always essential viewing. Slanted to the left? Of course! But when every other TV news outlet is slanted to the right -- when even CNN can't be bothered to do much more than parrot White House press briefings -- it's a breath of fresh air.

Listening to Unknown Hinson's The Future Is Unknown. Great psychobilly music with a comedic twist, featuring songs such as "Peace, Love and Hard Liquor," "I Ain't Afraid of Your Husband," and "I Cleaned Out a Room (In My Trailer For You)." He's still the best live act I've seen in Austin, and that's saying something.

Hating: same doofus, different picture.

And the Lyric of the Moment, in honor of my impending flight to Colorado, is from Warren Zevon's "Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead."

Time to pack, folks. See you again Wednesday!

Sidebar Update!

Time for the coveted Sidebar Update! And barely a month after the last one! Who says I'm not on the ball around here? You? Well, you're a dirty, dirty liar.

The current Object of My Affection is Elizabeth Banks, whom I can't believe I've never mentioned before on this blog. I've been infatuated with her since her appearance as Betty Brant in the first Spider-Man, but where I really fell head over heels for her was when I discovered what a fantastic comedic actress she was in films like Wet Hot American Summer and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and her guest appearances on Scrubs. (She still wasn't enough to get me to see Fred Claus, though.) She, and Kevin Smith, are currently getting some of the best reviews of their careers for the upcoming Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which is a must-see for me. Smith will actually be here in Austin showing a sneak preview of the film on Thursday, though sadly I'll be at a concert and have to miss it. Dang it! Too much fun stuff at once in this crazy town! By the way, have you seen the movie poster which has been banned in the U.S.? I warn you, it will make your eyes bleed and destroy your moral values:


Shocking! Scandalous! By which I mean: whoop-de-fucking-doo. Canada has no problem with this poster. Canada! Jeez, get some balls, America.

Reading: like I said yesterday, I'm tackling David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. I plan on keeping record of my current page count over on the sidebar, to help humiliate myself into getting through it in a timely fashion. And really, it's not an especially difficult book, or unpleasant to read; it's just the sheer immensity of it which is intimidating.

Watching: nothing is holding my attention quite like the final season of The Shield. Absolutely riveting, brilliant TV. Not to malign Mad Men, which is very fine, but how the hell does that show get a million Emmy nominations while The Shield doesn't get shit? For Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, Forest Whitaker and CCH Pounder to be overlooked in the acting categories is criminal. Seriously, what the hell does Pounder have to do to get the recognition she deserves? As I always seem to say this time of year: if you're nominating Mariska Hargitay for an acting award, you ain't looking hard enough.

Listening: Neil Young's On the Beach, which was recently released for the first time on CD. What a lovely, fantastic album, one I had never before been able to listen to. I was missing out. And the Lyric of the Moment comes from this album as well, from the song "Vampire Blues," which is about the oil industry and rampant gasoline consumerism raping the world. That song is 34 years old. Man, the more things change....

Hating: same jackass, different photo.

Sidebar Update!

Hey, it's time for the beloved (and originally weekly, then monthly, now whenever I get around to it) Sidebar Update! It's only been four months or so since the last Update, so I'm right on schedule.

As always, we lead off with the current Object of My Affection: Maggie Gyllenhaal. Certainly I admired her in The Dark Night, but I've been infatuated with her for a good long while, most especially since her funny, lovely, sexy performance in Stranger Than Fiction. Here's a bonus picture for you to enjoy:


Reading Fred Hembeck's massive Omnibus, as I recently mentioned. This should keep me occupied for quite some time, which is just fine by me.

Watching the first season DVD set of Adult Swim's hilarious Squidbillies. The animation is crude, and the humor is even cruder, often resulting in hideous violence and mutilation, but that's just part of the show's charm. Kind of like Metalocalypse, with country music instead of heavy metal. And more squid creatures.

Listening to Weezer's new album, Weezer (or, as it's come to be known, the Red Album). This is Weezer's third self-titled release. Geez, what are they, in a competition with Peter Gabriel to produce the most eponymous albums? Anyway, this was part of my birthday gift from my sister, and it's quite excellent.

Hating: I give up. There's no one and nothing more deserving of my contempt than the monkey running this country into the ground. So I'm not going to bother trying to find a different target of hatred to put in the sidebar until Dubya is forcibly ejected from the White House next January. For the next five months, President Duh gets the dishonor of remaining under the "Hating" heading full-time. And as a feel-good extra, I've included a countdown timer ticking away his last days in office.

And finally, the Lyric of the Moment is from Weezer's "Pork and Beans," off that new album. Turns out, behind the goofy title, it's a song about rejecting advertising and peer pressure and being fine with yourself the way you are. What a surprisingly sensible message for a pop song!