Tiger! Tiger!

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.