Day: February 1, 2009

Smoke gets in her eyes

Vaguely disappointed by The Ruby in the Smoke, which I just finished watching. The acting’s quite good, and there are some really nice moments, but it just doesn’t hang together very well. There are moments of rushed exposition, when we discover how things actually happened, often straining credulity and happening much too quick. The commenter who called it “a bit frantic” wasn’t at all wrong.

Still, it was interesting to see the future Doctor Who, Matt Smith, in action for the first time. He’s actually not at all bad — nor is Billie Piper. The IMDB user comments are much less kind about the sequel, but this way okay. Not remarkable, but okay.

January in song

If you’ve been wondering — and I’m sure you have been — what my monthly mix of tunes for January wound end up being, wonder no longer:

  1. “Elephants” by Rachael Yamagata
  2. “Never Going Back” by the Lovin’ Spoonful
  3. “Angry Any More” by Ani DiFranco
  4. “Tombstone Blues” by Richie Havens
  5. “The Valleys” by Electrelane
  6. “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Taken by Trees
  7. “Souljacker, Pt. 1” by Eels
  8. “Wild Is the Wind” by Nina Simone
  9. “Mattis and Maia” by Maia Hirasawa
  10. “Jack of Diamonds” by the .347’s & Waylon Jennings
  11. “Good Night, Irene” by Dr. John
  12. “Dounia” by Rokia Traore
  13. “String Bean” by Every Good Boy
  14. “People Got a Lotta Nerve” by Neko Case
  15. “Sleepy Tigers” by Her Space Holiday
  16. “Emanicpated Minor” by Ani DiFranco
  17. “Ulysses” by Franz Ferdinand
  18. “America” by the Indelicates
  19. “On My Side” by Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons
  20. “The Hope that House Built” by Future of the Left
  21. “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence and the Machine

This is what the start of 2009 sounded like for me. As always, one-on-one CD trades are welcome if you’d like to tell me what the month sounded like for you.