Books, Music, Movies

It has been a LONG time since I have talked about anything other than Emily. The easiest way to get started on something new is to just do it! So I will start by talking about what I have been reading, listening to and watching for the last few months.

BOOKS

I have read a couple of books over the last few months.

An Army at Dawn The War in Noth Africa, 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson. This is about the U.S. Army in operations in North Africa - Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The style is historical narative and is is a very interesting and compelling read. He makes a very good case that the North Afican campaign was critical for the U.S. Army's success throughout the war. Without this valuable experience any attempted invasion of Eurpoe would certainly have failed. A good book covering a forgotten chapter of U.S. military history.

Rommel as Military Commander by Ronald Lewin. This is an older work on Rommel but it was written by someone who fought in North Africa against the Germans. It was originally published in 1968 and makes no reference as to the importance on the ULTRA intelligence on Allied operations. It could be that the book was written before this information was made public. The effect is that the Allied generals who faced Rommel seem much more able than they actually were. It is clear that if Rommel had had the intel that the Allies had he would have succeeded in conquering North Africa and the Middle East.

I am currently reading The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. More on this book later.

MUSIC

Mule Variations by Tom Waits. All I can say is Wow! I had heard of Tom Waits and probably even heard some of his work but I never had a chance to listen to him. This album is amazing! I am not even going to try to review this because I can't think of anything intellegent to say. Good stuff!

World of Glass by Tristania. OK, I am pretty igonorant when it comes to this band. I know they are from Europe and probably Scandinavia but I am not too sure. This is a great metal album and yet so much more. The style is very gothic with oparetic vocal parts mixed in with death vocals. Very powerful guitars are a driving force throughout the entire disk. I really like this!

Lightning to the Nations by Diamondhead. I had heard of this band long ago, I think a freind had a compilation of metal bands. When I first heard Metallica in the mid-eighties I had no idea home much of an influence Diamondhead was. I finally got a copy of this disk and I was surprised to discover that Metallica have already rerecorded almost the entire album!. Think they are short only three songs. The guitar tones are definately the inspiration for Metallica's early sound. All in all a very cool CD.

MOVIES

I have seen a few movies over the last few months and I cannot remember most of them. I remember seeing the new King Kong, mostly because we saw it in the theater. That is not true, I remember it becasue it was very good! A lot of people told us that it was too long and slow but I thought Peter Jackson did a great job. The entire move has an authentic 1930's vibe.

Antoher movie I really liked was The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy. I am a big fan of the Douglas Admas books but I am no fanboy. I thought this move was really well done. Very funny and captured the spirit of the book.

A movie I was really looking forward to seeing was Serenity. Everyone I know who saw this movie just raved about it, so naturally I couldn't wait. When I finally saw it I was...er....disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it was a good movie but I just don't think it lived up to all the hype. It is certainly better than the Battlestar Galactica remake!