Hey, what do you know, I'm literate.

There is something about living in a large house with just two other individuals that fosters a good environment for reading. I've lived in the house for just over two weeks now, and I am already incredibly accustomed to the absolute silence at night. Coming from an ever-noisy student apartment complex in a college town to a suburban residential neighborhood, I wasn't prepared for just how quite it would get at night. None of us living here are students or have occupations that require anything of us at night, so after about 9 p.m. we begin winding down. We may watch some television (praise DVR!) or play some video games or something like that, but eventually the TV gets turned off and people start heading to their rooms for the night. For me, this provides a perfect opportunity to read, something I haven't done much of in the past two years since graduation. Living with five other guys in a small student apartment didn't really foster the right environment for reading. But all that has changed.

I've recently finished two books about music. Not serious music criticism or anything, really just a series of essays/chapters about specific songs and either how those songs tie into the authors' lives or some ruminations on life generated by the songs. The first book, Love is a Mixtape by Rob Sheffield, takes a look at specific mixtapes Sheffield made throughout his life and how they became a part of his life and relationship to his deceased wife. The second book, Songbook by Nick Hornby, isn't built upon such a tragic loss, but it is full of genuine emotion and wit, something Hornby has always successfully incorporated into his writing. I read Songbook once back in 2005, very shortly after I returned from my mission. Hornby had written a line that has stuck in my mind, a credo, as it were, for how I've tried to approach music. It's found in a chapter in which Hornby explains how he's begun listening to music that, at earlier stages in his life, he would never have loved or been able to truly appreciate. He's come to understand how foolish it is to worry about anything other than the actual music. Too often we worry about an artist's genre or being too cool for certain kinds of music, and Hornby realizes just how limiting such thought is. He concludes with this awesome statement: "You're either for music or you're against it, and being for it means embracing anyone who's any good." Amen.

I'm not going to go any deeper into my ideas about musical appreciation or anything. I just wanted to share this awesome quote with the hope that it will ring true for fellow music lovers (and I know there are some of you out there reading this). That's all.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Attention all who read this blog, if there be such a person or persons:

You should contribute some of your hard-earned money (or some of your not-so-hard-earned money, if you're that sort) to the major motion picture Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. If you really want to be awesome, buy the six-volume comic from which the movie was adapted, read it as quickly as possible, and then go see the movie.

I must add as a disclaimer that if you did not grow up in the video game era, you may not enjoy the film so much. I hate to put a generational limitation on the film, but a lot of the film's awesomeness comes from the way it incorporates video game references and elements into the story and visual approach of the film. Nonetheless, anyone with an open mind and fun sense of humor should find plenty to enjoy in the film.

I decided on a whim one day in July to buy the first two volumes of the comic. I completed the first volume in less than an hour and then proceeded to read the next five as quickly as circumstances would allow. I was hooked and could not wait for the film. As is my tendency when I love something, I began recommending the comic to those I thought would enjoy it. My roommate Jared was the first to read the books after me. Then three others, Mr. and Mrs. Jones and fellow Sparksian Andrew Pass, read the entire series during our road trip to and from Portland to see the final two performances of Joanna Newsom's most recent U.S. tour. They were all hooked, just in time for maximum anticipation of the film's release.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the film other than to say it was a very good adaptation of the comic, despite the limitations of adapting a six-volume comic into a two-hour film. There were some story omissions that I wish hadn't been omitted, a few character back stories that couldn't be told, and a few favorite punchlines that didn't make the screen, but overall I was pleased with the film. Edgar Wright, unsurprisingly, did a great job directing and continues to impress with his eye for impressive visuals. I don't know that the film is quite as good as Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, but it is definitely one of the better films of the year. Not as affecting as Toy Story 3 or as mindbendingly (new adverb alert!) awesome as Inception, but Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was definitely as entertaining as any film released thus far this year.

Oh yeah, the character of Ramona, played by the talented and beautiful Mary Elizabeth Winstead, reminds me of Kate Winslet's incredibly memorable portrayal of Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Any film that reminds me of Eternal Sunshine is automatically cooler in my book.

So in summation, contribute your money to a deserving film and do your part to encourage Hollywood to keep financing interesting and unique projects, allowing talented directors like Edgar Wright to make the films they want to make.

FIN