Fitz and the Tantrums

If you get a chance you should absolutely check out Fitz and the Tantrums. Can't stop listening to the EP.

AC

Old 97's

Recently picked up a couple of older CD's by the Old 97's at Amoeba in Hollywood. I've had Fight Songs for some time and listened to it a lot back when, but I'd never gotten fully into them. Then my sister gave me a copy of their greatest hits and I bought their latest. Now, haven't been able to stop listening. Funny how that stuff works.

AC

Murakami

Just reread Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Hadn't read it for about fifteen years. It was one of a handful of his books I read over the course of a month or two after being introduced to A Wild Sheep Chase way back when.

It's amazing stuff. Both mind bending and very poetic about the small moments of daily life. Something to aspire to.

AC

Rufino Tamayo

I thought I'd take a moment to geek out on some of the way-too-obscure humorous touches thrown into the backdrop of Mr. Huggins & Snugglypoo. One of my favorites is the Rufino Tamayo painting just sitting there in the landfill.

At one point, Tres Personajes, which is valued at over a million dollars, was found in a Manhattan dumpster, and it amused me to think that a gaffe like that could be committed twice.

But I also view it as a comment on the subjectivity of art. What does a million dollar painting look like? Personally I'm very fond of Tres Personajes, but if I'd first laid eyes on it at some struggling artist's exhibit in SoHo, a $400 price tag wouldn't phase me in the least.

-DH

Achewood

Achewood is basically the reason the Internet had to be invented. I don’t even know how to express my deep and ever lasting gratitude for its existence. I can't think of another thing I use the internet for that I appreciate more.

The period when I first discovered and read years worth over the course of a few weeks is still seared into my brain. I am particularly fond of Ray and Roast Beef's road trip. And this line – “A turd with a bullet in it ain't 5 O'Clock News Ray"

-AC

Taken

Saw Taken last night. It was strangely satisfying to watch Liam Neeson punch bad guys in the throat. The man has a great voice.

-AC

A Short History of Nearly Everything

I've been reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, which takes the reader through the history of the sciences, recalling what we knew, or what we thought we knew, and when we knew it, in amazing detail. It's left me with three impressions which have somewhat altered my world view.

The first is that we have astounding amounts of knowledge about some things and astoundingly little about other things. We have better maps of the surface of Mars than we do our own ocean floors. I was amazed at the manner in which we continually stumble forward into the accepted assumptions of our time, refining them as we go until we can determine something with enough certitude to stop debating it.

A second revelation is that nobody gets away with anything. Not only does Bryson illuminate the foibles of scientists and scholars in their respective laboratories, he provides many details of their social shortcomings; scandalous affairs, petty jealousies, and attempts to steal credit for other's work.

Lastly, one of the major threads Bryson hangs his narrative on is just how unlikely it is that there could ever be a planet like earth suspended in the right balance around the right star with the right moon and the right chemicals sustaining life like us. And yet, as rare a gem as earth is, life is so amenable to its surroundings, and the universe so vast, there could be billions of planets like ours.

-DH

New Andrew Bird

Ordered the new Andrew Bird CD online the other night. Looking forward to getting it as I have much love for the man's music. Haven't gotten tickets to this tour but saw him at the Orpheum in Los Angeles on the last one. Never seen so many men wearing scarfs in one place. It was comical.


New Mr. Huggins & Snugglypoo up today.



-AC

Introduction

So we've decided to start up a Mr. Huggins and Snugglypoo author's blog where basically we will talk about... pretty much whatever we feel like talking about; how Mr. Huggins and Snugglypoo comes to be, our tastes, worldviews, interests and hang-ups.

They'll be two of us posting here, myself (Aaron) and Dave. Unlike the comic there will be no collaboration. So please consider each of us completely free from responsibility for the other's half-assed opinions.


-AC