Tiger! Tiger!

We’ve got a couple big shows this weekend, but before that check out Shawn’s recommendations!

Movie: BASEketball

This movie is written, and stars the Creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. If you’re into potty humor,dick jokes, and raunchy dialogue, then you will love this movie. The day it was added to “Netflix” was one the greatest days of my life. It tells the story of two best friends as they invent a sport thats a mixture of both Basketball and Baseball, and take it from the driveways to the Arenas. I have seen this movie at least 50 times, and still laugh just as hard every time. If you’re ever bored one day, and have Netflix. Be sure to check it out.

Album: Dude Ranch

In high school Blink-182 was my favorite band, and this album was always my favorite. I went back and re-listened to it the other day, and yep! It’s still one of my favorites. Every song on this album rules, you cannot write a better album opener than Pathetic, and I’m Sorry is such a great closer. The album is very well written and flows really well together. I could really relate to this album lyrically in High school, and I think thats one of the reasons I love it so much. It’s like going back to 11^th grade every time I listen to it.

Show: Prison Break

Mix Macgyver and 24 and what do you get?…Prison Break! This is the most intense show you will ever watch, seriously! Every episode is 43 minutes of non stop badassery. The show is about Michael Scolfield, who breaks his brother out of Prison, cause he was going to get executed for a crime he didn’t commit. The first season deals with Michael breaking his brother out of Prison, and then the next 3 seasons is all about them taking down the people who framed him. There is a lot more to it then that, but thats the quick summary. The acting is great, and the writing is amazing. You never know whats going to happen next, and every episode ends in a cliff hanger. Just watch the first episode. you won’t be disappointed.

Book: To Kill A Mockingbird

This book takes place during the Great Depression, and is told through the eyes of 6 year old Scout Finch, and takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Albama. The first part of the book deals with Scout and her brother Jems fascination with their reclusive neighbor Boo Radley. Then the majority of the 2^nd part of the book revolves around Atticus finch(Scouts and Jems father) who is a lawyer. Decides to defend a local black man who is being accused of raping a white women. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the man is innocent. He still gets convicted and sent to prison. A black man getting wrongly accused, and having a unfair trial was not uncommon back then. Racism and Racial injustice were a common part of life in the South back during those times. Even though his book is fiction, A lot of what happens was modeled after events that happened in the Authors(Harper Lee) life. It’s a great book, and a great Social commentary of the time period.  

Throw on your relaxed fit jeans and crack open your Bud Lite, because this week’s recommendations come from our resident dad, Corey. So turn Sportscenter off and go grab your reading glasses.

Book: Rainer Maria Rilke “Letters to a Young Poet”

It’s been over 100 years since Rainer Maria Rilke wrote these letters to an individual seeking input, or guidance, or answers, or something from him. And I think that these letters can still help anyone doing the same - seeking, that is. Rilke doesn’t claim to have the answers in the collection, rather it reads as thoughts on someone capable of love, and who seems to have a desire to help. You will gain something different from a piece of literary writing each time you approach it, and what I found in reading this piece at the point in my life during which I approached it was exactly what I needed. For that reason (in addition to my opinion of Rilke having a beautiful way of putting together a thought) I feel like this is what I want to suggest to people to read. 

Besides,how cool would that be if someone as big as him just come into your life and told you that you’re a wizard. 

Album: Bad Religion “The Empire Strikes First”

I’d originally intended to suggest Madi Diaz’s “Ten Gun Salute” in my recommendation this time around, as she deserves your attention, and she deserves oodles of success. However, I’m going to go with a record from 2004 that I think deserves more attention - Bad Religion’s “The Empire Strikes First”. Greg Graffin is an individual I look up to a lot for his educated insight. This record is Bad Religion at their finest… fast and interesting drums, loud guitars, solid vocals, driving bass, and intelligent lyrics. Also, Sage Francis makes an appearance on the track “Let Them Eat War”, which is a track about the inextricable connections of war and economics. 

Some people are turned off (and conversely, others turned on to) by Bad Religion as they immediately assume them to be an “anti-religion” band, which isn’t the case. It’s more about using religion as an archetype for hierarchical systems which allow for oppression. So. Either way, I think it’s important to consider the systems which you’re a part of (whether you like it or not) and whether you’re okay with the way they operate. This record gives some solid insight on this subject.

Movie: Food, Inc.

I had a lot of trouble deciding on a movie to recommend. Not because I don’t watch movies… on the contrary. I love movies. But I also tend to love movies that I don’t consider GOOD movies. I like good movies, too. But more often, I want to watch something that I can just sort of turn my brain off for.

However, this movie isn’t one of those movies. This is an important movie. It has an agenda, but more than that it has information. You should know where the food you’re putting into your body comes from, and from there you should make a decision about whether or not you think that’s okay. You need to know what the vote you place every day - the vote of your dollar - is going to support, and you need to decide if that’s okay. This is a good launching point for that. Educate yourself. Also, it’s not painfully boring like some movies like this can be. It also doesn’t rely on shock value as much as similar movies. So. Yeah. Watch that. 

Welp, we made it all the way through one round of Tiger! Tiger! Recommends. Scott’s back up again to kick off round two!

Album: Mineral - EndSerenading

I first heard this record quite a few years back and really didn’t think much of it. Fortunately I kept the files on my iTunes, because it is now one of my favorite albums. For some reason I decided to revisit this past fall and have since been listening to it at least 3-5 times a week. Often times I find myself sitting in a trance while listening to this. The emotionally descriptive lyrics and way the songs progress into a giant climactic payoff just pull me in every time. By the time the vocals in “Unfinished” kick in I’m screaming along at the top of my longs. I’m not a huge 90’s emo aficionado, but I’d definitely say this is one of the best records of that era.

Movie: Young Frankenstein

This is my favorite movie of all time. At least I think it is. I’m no movie buff and a good comedy is always the most entertaining to me. Mel Brooks puts a comedic spin on the classic Frankenstein story with this movie and Gene Wilder puts on an absolutely amazing performance. The jokes rarely come easily in this and you really have to be thinking to catch a lot of them. I think that’s why I love it so much.

TV Show: King of the Hill

In my opinion, King of the Hill is one of, if not, the greatest cartoon of all time. Too many people I know dismiss and don’t realize how brilliant a work of satire it is. The worst part is that most of those people then go on to praise Family Guy. Let’s get real here…Seth Mcfartlen isn’t worthy of licking the scum from between Mike Judge’s toes. I’m still bitter that KOTH was cancelled and in its place was a third peace of Mcfartlen crap. Anyways, back to KOTH…the show is just amazing. Like Young Frankenstein, it takes a mental investment to really get all of the jokes. It’s not necessarily a laugh-out-loud funny, but rather an “Oh, I get it…” type of funny. I think it’s absolutely brilliant.

Book: Last Words by George Carlin

This is George Carlin’s posthumously released autobiography and gives a giant insight to not only his rise to comedic greatness, but also a look into his personal life. If you’ve seen his stand up then you know that George Carlin has always had a unique, yet very insightful look on life. In this you can see where a lot of his views and beliefs really took shape. In addition, it’s also displays how hard and trying it is to make it in the performing arts. Being a visual artist (my term) is no easy feat and definitely not for everyone. It takes so much determination to gut it through. I admire that a lot in people. Carlin is no different. 

Hey all. I know we’ve been busy promoting the Aubrey Plaza video, but we didn’t forget about our weekly series. This week’s recommendations are from Kam.

MOVIE: THE DARK KNIGHT

I don’t really know where to begin with this movie. Everything is just so well done. From the opening scene to the very last one, it’s perfect. I guess we can get the obvious thing out of the way and talk about how good Heath Ledger is. He really just envelopes the character and is extremely convincing with his role. His performance is by far my favorite of any villain ever. One other thing I dig about this movie is how batman realizes he doesn’t have to be a hero all the time. He is “whatever Gotham needs him to be.” He saves his city in a different way than most other super heroes by taking the blame for something he didn’t do. This movie is probably my favorite for countless more reasons. I could watch it every week and not get tired of it. Go watch it right now, even if you have seen it. You won’t regret it.