Honk!

So I don't have a lot of lurkers....really, very few indeed....but my blog being a good diversion for Rachel is enough to keep using bandwidth with impunity. To respond to her question, I would love to do freelance journalism, but have no clue where to start breaking into it, especially with no formal training or connections.

To celebrate the honking, and the $20 of disposable income I recently came into contact with, I took myself down to the local HMV and found, in the 2 for $25 section, exactly what I was hoping to find: a copy of Once and Revolver (the Beatles album, not the Guy Ritchie film).

I've already posted a review of Once on my Facebook; in a nutshell, it is the single most satisfying musical I've ever seen. It's the right tone, the right length, has no superfluous scenes, the characters are truly identifiable - and its exploration of love and consequence is - and I never say this lightly - beautiful and pure. How often do you see a film that tells the truth about the nature of love? Even after seeing Iron Man, it's still my favourite film seen this year.

If you've never listened to Revolver, you've really missed out. Compilation discs like the "red" and "blue" albums, Past Masters vols. 1 and 2, and Beatles 1 have good songs, to be sure, but I've never been a fan of one-band compilations, because I don't believe there is anything that compares to the pure sonic pleasure of a well-produced album. And Revolver is extremely well-produced. I'm having a hard time describing it; what can I say? It's a great album, it's happy place music (with the exception of track 2, "Eleanor Rigby"...and yet, even that makes me happy, not because my name is Eleanor but because the song is so freakin' good). I owned it once, long ago, and lost it, and am thrilled to be able to listen to it again. Even if you don't like the Beatles, or perhaps naively think you don't like "oldies" - which is silly, as that encompasses such a wide range of styles; are you sure you don't like any of them? - you should listen to this album, start to finish, just once. It's an experience.

I will surely have reason to post again before then, but if you hold on to your hats for two more weeks, this space will have a review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - part of my birthday present! Corey asks me if I want a surprise, I say, well, I told you what I want for my birthday so it shouldn't be a surprise, but if it's something I didn't ask for then I don't want to know, and then he says, I took that day off and I'm taking you to the movies. My husband is odd, and I love him very much.

If all goes according to plan, you'll also have a review of what I actually requested for my birthday, the Batman graphic novel The Long Halloween (which I'm more excited for than Indiana Jones, to tell the truth. I guess I've seen a lot of good movies lately, but have been lacking in books).