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Archive for the ‘reseña’ Category

hell’s duality: Platoon (DVD)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , , on September 28, 2007| Leave a Comment »

Oliver Stone’s brilliant 1986 film on the grunt’s war in Vietnam had a lot to work with: a controversial subject well placed for dramatic effect, brilliant acting from his three leads (Dafoe, Berenger, and, yes, even Sheen), some stunning visual images (more on this in a moment), and the superb employment of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. The result is a movie that must rank in the top three of the 1980s and, to boot, one that is impossible to characterize cleanly as an anti-war movie (No one will suspect it of being pro-war.) (more…)

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cactus is our friend: Girlie Pop

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on September 27, 2007| Leave a Comment »

In the mid-nineties, London’s Sunday Times ran an excellent CD club with the most eclectic offerings imaginable. One of them was Girlie Pop, which presented hits by a larval-stage Madonna, P.P. Arnold, Marilyn Monroe, The Shangri-Las, The Dixie Cups, Betty Everett, Maria Muldaur, Lesley Gorre, Fontella Bass, The Shirelles, and Lulu. (more…)

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and she’s beautiful to boot!

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , , on September 27, 2007| Leave a Comment »

This album is for Jaci Velasquez an extraordinary achievement. In it she emerges from the status of a managed star-in-the-making to that of a young woman who really sings. Mi Corazón uses the hit ‘Como se cura una herida’ as its title track, giving Jaci an opportunity to hint at things to come. (more…)

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telling stories: Ryan Ahlwardt, I Can See Forever

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on September 26, 2007| 2 Comments »

Ryan Ahlwardt’s deep roots in four-part men’s music down at Indiana University show up even in a thoughtful-pop album like I Can See Forever. It’s there in the capacity and control of his voice even when it flits near the limits of his natural range. (more…)

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because you’ve got better things to do: Quicken Medical Expense Manager

Posted in paterfamilias, reseña, tagged , on September 26, 2007| Leave a Comment »

This year I initiated an HSA with a high deductible insurance policy and an FSA. I threw myself into this particular lunacy on the grounds of liking the idea of people taking responsibilty for something that costs society (you ‘n me) as much as medical care does. I’m still glad I did, but man does it get complex! (more…)

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mediocrity has its virtues: Bicycling magazine

Posted in paterfamilias, reseña, tagged , on September 25, 2007| Leave a Comment »

Publications like Bicycling practically define narrow-casting. Aimed at a modest population that throbs with interest in their shared pursuit, a magazine like this one has to meet elevated expectations and yet recruit enough advertisers to pay the bottom line and maintain an accessible price.

The result is almost doomed to be something of a hybrid. (more…)

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managing the information explosion: Old Testament Abstracts

Posted in denkschrift, reseña, tagged on September 25, 2007| Leave a Comment »

A peculiar joy mixes with the horror of realizing how daunting it is to keep up in the field of biblical studies as one peruses the thrice-yearly publication called Old Testament Abstracts. Published by the Catholic Biblical Association, Abstracts is a very handy tool for keeping abreast of the literature in a highly specialized field and making decisions about which abstracted publications to pursue and which dogs are better left to sleep. (more…)

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what they died of: The Lady Killers (The Sunday Times Music Collection DVD)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on September 25, 2007| Leave a Comment »

Back in the 90s, London’s Sunday Times flogged a music collection on a week-by-week-delivery basis at a ridiculous loss leader price. The results were magnificent overall.

One of the disks in the collection’s ‘Contemporary’ genre was titled The Lady Killers. It is an uproariously eclectic collection of tunes, held together that they’re all sung by blokes. Fronted by a photo of the bare-chested and youthful Rod Stewart, rarely was there ever a strong argument for obligatory waistcoats. The Victorian Age seldom seemed so allluring. (more…)

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startin’ to learn: Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Greatest Hits 2

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , on September 25, 2007| 2 Comments »

Ah, Bob, Bob, Bob, you do it so well.

Rock-and-roll troubadour of the male soul, there is nobody quite like Bob Seger for a night at home after some manly task has been accomplished. (more…)

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pure grace: Point of Grace (1993)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , on September 24, 2007| Leave a Comment »

This oddly named female band opened their Big Career with this eponymous 1993 release. It was of course not all that they would become, but it was an audacious start. (more…)

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