Happy New Year!

Though Sunday was officially the start of the lunar new year, it's never too late to say "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!"

This year is extra special because it's the Year of the Dog (me), so we'll see what unfolds. Though according to the fortune teller, next year is actually my year...

Here is a photo from the weekend, taken in the midst of our Saturday homemade chili-cheese dog fest (that's why we look so happy), our little "snack" before the real Têt meals began. Kyle is featured in a very adorable and festive outfit:

And here's another of him eating his li xi (that's the lucky money you get in the red envelope... silly Kyle):

Update on Colin Meloy/Laura Veirs

Just as I was regretting having to miss this Saturday's Colin Meloy show at the Birchmere, I get word that through the wonders of technology, NPR will be broadcasting the show live on their website as part of their Live Concert Series and offering it up for download shortly thereafter. Pretty sweet if you ask me! In other web-awesomeness, you can also download Iron & Wine and Calexico's 9:30 club show from back in November.

Isn't it crazy to think a time actually existed when there were live shows and you had to be there to know what went on and hear that rare performance of your favorite song? Sigh... Another story for the grandkids, I suppose...

Ohhhhprah...

Just two weeks after Oprah came to James Frey's defense on Larry King Live in what appeared to be a career-saving phone call for him, Queen Ope invited him on her show today and, in a surprising move, gave him his second live television whooping in front of millions of viewers. Only this time, she didn't hold back. Ok, Frey's appearance on Larry King wasn't pretty either... but come on, King didn't really know what was going on, it seemed like he was reading cue card questions... and after all, he hadn't even read the book! Oprah on the other hand, gave Frey a serious lashing, like a mommy putting his son in the corner. And indeed, Frey looked like a boy who'd just gotten a spanking and was getting grounded for the rest of his writing career.

Oprah came out and said she felt "duped" and "embarassed" in what was basically a cover-your-ass move by Harpo after she realized it was a mistake to so quickly and easily overlook the "truth" in her initial defense of Frey and his lies. It was really a sight to see, Oprah in her scary element on that stage, and her studio audience-- who not long ago were the ones on their feet pumping their fists for him-- moaning and gasping after Frey's meek defenses and cheering after Oprah smacked him down. Yikes.

Anyway, I did think it was a bit of a cheap shot for Oprah to do what she did. Clearly she got busted by someone after she made that Larry King phone and had to quickly do something to restore her Book Club cred. But still, you have to wonder if Frey knew what he was getting into. I imagine he was probably thinking "Yay! Oprah saved me.. now she's inviting me back so we can have a party on her show!" That much was apparent, as he seemed (once again) ill-prepared for her direct accusations and blunt questions.

So while book sales looked good after Frey's Larry King appearance, it'll be interesting to see how they hold up after she-who-directs-book-sales said her piece today.

In a completely unrelated observation, Oprah's hair looked quite lovely today. I'd post a picture if I could find one. Update: Ah, here we go...

One more for January 24.

While swimming in a sea of chick-music enthusiasm last night, I forgot about another great music release for tomorrow. Before Colin Meloy ruled as head Decemberist and was a dorky college student in Montana, he was in a band called Tarkio. Now, riding the waves of the Decemberists' fame, Kill Rock Stars is releasing a compilation of 2-disc set of the entire Tarkio catalog, entitled Omnibus, which promises to be as delightful while possibly more folky/acoustic/underproduced than what we know the Decemberists to be.

As a sampler track, I'll post a link to the first song I heard from Tarkio. Being the scholarly and well-read English major that he is, Colin Meloy penned a song called "Tristan and Iseult," which, as the upcoming major motion picture tells us, can also be spelled Isolde. Incidentally, the theme for that movie is a completely different song performed by Gavin DeGraw. Oh well. Here's your Tarkio preview. I'll have more to say once my pre-order comes in. Amazon.com says they only have 3 left in stock!

Tarkio :: Tristan and Iseult

In unfortunate news, I'll be missing Colin Meloy (with Laura Veirs opening) at the Birchmere this weekend (Têt -- Vietnamese New Year -- takes precedence over all!), so I guess listening to this new CD will have to make up for it. And as I'm slowly beginning to feel a concert void in my life, I'm still looking for that first good live show to properly kick off 2006...

Sneak previews.

In honor of a couple albums coming out this Tuesday, I'll post a couple links to some great new tracks. The first is one of those all-star indie collaborations off Jenny Lewis's new solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat. The track features Ben Gibbard, Conor Oberst and M. Ward, and if it's any indication of the rest of the album, it should be a good one.

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins :: Handle With Care

Cat Power's The Greatest is my current musical fixation, and with good reason. I've had the title track stuck in my head just about every day for the past week, and I really think it's an absolutely perfect track. In case any of you missed it when I previously posted it, here's the link again, straight from Matador, and I'll also post another song for your consideration.

Cat Power :: Empty Shell

Instead of posting the album cover, here's a shot of Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) as she appears on the cover of this month's Harp magazine. Consider it a plug for one of my favorite music magazines that covers so many of the artists I love.

Whoa, look at me and all this chick-music love! I'm surprising myself; maybe 2006 will be the year I add some female singers to my all-time favorites.

Jack Bauer is back!

Whew! I just finished watching part one of the two-day season premiere of the best action drama on TV, FOX's "24." Here's my enthusiastic promotion post to kick off season 5.

I love this show for so many reasons. For the late-career boost it gave to Kiefer Sutherland, who is perfectly cast as the most badass character on earth (or at least on television), Jack Bauer. For the ridiculous ass-kicking sequences in which Jack will single-handedly clear out a room of "bad guys" who are all shooting at him. For the predictability of some parts, e.g. the appearance of "the mole." For stubborn and annoyingly cast characters I can't stand but who are integral to the storyline, e.g. President Logan, as idiotic and unlikeable as they come. For the many unbelievable-but-oh-yeah-its-a-TV-show scenarios, e.g. in season 3 when Tony, after getting shot in the neck and in critical condition, is on his feet at work later in the day (will he pull out another miracle after tonight?) For Chloe and her one-liners, which in early seasons were awkward and uncomfortable, but are now classic quotables. And finally, for that distinctive clock-ticking sound that indicates a commercial or the end of the show and always inevitably induces some kind of adrenaline rush within me, e.g. "ohmygod what's going to happen!?"

In any case, the premiere was well done-- a great way to pull in new viewers with its action as well as its unanswered questions, and just enough to remind old viewers how awesome this show is. In college, this was the one show that could pack my house full of 10 or more people in the living room with an understood "quiet room" rule. There's nothing else like it. A day in the life of Jack Bauer. 24 Hours. After tonight, it's 2 hours down, 2 more tomorrow, and then 5 straight months of weekly episodes. Gotta love the January premiere. Tune in if you haven't yet! It's never too late to catch on...

More on Mr. Frey

And the controversy rolls on... Only a day after James Frey's publisher, Doubleday (a division of Random house), was quick to defend him and his memoir, Random House today said they would offer refunds to readers who purchased the book directly from the publisher. Absurd! Ok, fine, let's say it parts of it were fabricated, that doesn't mean you get your money back! You didn't sign a little agreement that said I am reading this under the conditions that every word is true and if this guy is a Fraud even for a second, I want a refund-- even if the story is great. What's more, the article indicates that Random House told other readers who didn't buy directly from the publisher to try returning their books to the bookstore for a refund! Oh man, Borders and Barnes are going to love this! As a rebuttal to this and other published stories, Random House posted the following on their website:

January 11, 2006
Contrary to erroneous published reports, Random House, Inc. is not offering a special refund on A Million Little Pieces.
It has long been standard Random House Inc procedure to direct consumers who want a refund on any of the tens of thousands of books we publish back to their retail place of purchase, unless they purchased the book directly from us in which case we refund it. Yesterday we had 15 calls to our customer service line specific to A Million Little Pieces and fewer than that today.

Um, I don't get it. Are you or aren't you offering a refund? Either way, it's clear that some people are WAY overreacting to this. Fine, get upset and be disappointed about what's come out, but don't try and get your $14.95 back when just a minute ago this was your favorite book. People are silly. This is all so silly.

James Frey appeared on Larry King Live this evening to clear the air, but to nobody's surprise, he basically talked around in circles for an hour, never directly admitting "Ok, I wasn't actually in jail for 3 months" or facing up to other specific claims made by The Smoking Gun. Parts of the interview were awkward, namely the fact that yeah, Frey was being called out on fabricating parts of his book, albeit small parts, but it was uncomfortable nevertheless. All things considered, I think Frey handled himself well, particularly with a couple of the things Larry King posed to him. When they were discussing another author whose book had also come under fire, King said, "Oh but he also committed suicide... [awkward silence]... I'm not suggesting that you..." [trails off]. At certain moments I thought Frey wanted to jump across the table and grab him by the throat (I felt a bit of "the Fury" rising). Or at least stop answering the same questions over and over again, then yet again by butt-kissing callers. The best part was at the end of the hour when the show was supposed to be over and Queen of the World Oprah calls the line, cuts into Anderson Cooper 360, and goes live on the air to give her schpeel. You could almost see the Freys (James & his mother) singing Hallelujah in their heads. Oprah's here to save the day. She still loves the book, still thinks it's fabulous even if James didn't exactly drive up on a curb and hit a police officer or whatever else. Oprah gets the last word, and tonight she basically said This book still has my enthusiastic endorsement (read: if by some miracle you haven't heard of this book yet, go out and buy yourself a copy and read it because I said so).

To conclude, I'll say this: I finished My Friend Leonard (not "best" friend, as Larry King mistakenly repeated) today after 2 straight days of reading it whenever I had a free moment. Despite all this brouhaha, I still absolutely love(d) it and highly recommend it. Both A Million Little Pieces followed by My Friend Leonard stand as two of the best books I've ever read, and I only wish I hadn't read them yet so I could start over and be as moved and affected as I was the first time around. Now I can't wait for Frey's next work. Fiction or memoir or nonfiction or whatever he wants to call it.

Sweet Golly Goodness... again!

After reading Apple rumor pages for the past few months, I'd been anxiously awaiting this week to finally hear what Steve Jobs would announce at this week's MacWorld Conference in San Francisco.

After today's unveiling of the new Intel-driven Apples-- and the sleek 1" thin MacBook Pro, to be specific, I am super excited and cannot wait to get my hands on one of them (if only so I can stop being such a poser). MacBook Pro offers up to four times the speed of the PowerBook G4 in key performance benchmarks. The MacBook Pro will also be the first notebook to come with an Apple Remote to use with Front Row, an awesome program that basically converts your computer into a home theater/stereo/portfolio system. It's times like right now that patient consumers are rewarded!

'A Million Little Lies'...?

Only a day after I once again touted James Frey's A Million Little Pieces and its follow up My Friend Leonard, The Smoking Gun reported that Frey may have fabricated and/or "wildly embellished" parts of his story. Reaction has ranged from shock and outrage to shoulder shrugs and "who cares?" The New York Times wrote twice on this issue, first reporting the story, then letting us know that Frey's publisher, Doubleday, was part of the shoulder-shrugging camp (no surprise there).

If the allegations are true, I personally will be disappointed. Sure, I'm still plowing through My Friend Leonard at a remarkable pace, but part of the umph and power of the story is lost on me. Even today, I found myself naturally reacting to events in the book, but then questioning how true to life it actually was. For me, part of what made the book(s) so fantastic was the notion that Frey's life was so dramatic, his story so out-of-this-world that it was better than most fiction. I'm guessing this issue won't ever fully be resolved; Frey will likely defend himself and others will say "fiction or nonfiction, it's still a great book," but it's a shame that the all the hype (which I deemed worthy) and Oprah fanfare and bestseller list stuff will be tarnished over this debate.

Anyway, I'm sure this will all blow over soon. Probably Monday, in fact, when Oprah announces her next book club selection. Hope it's a goodie!

New resolution?

Sorry readers, we're only nine days into the new year and I'm already slacking on the blog. No great excuse, really, except that I haven't been spending much time on the computer. Maybe I should take the advice of one of my "anonymous" readers and adjust my new year's resolution...

What have I been doing instead, you ask?

-Reading: I'm really gettin' into books, you see. Well, I've always been a reader (albeit a slow one), but never one to plow through a stack of books on my nightstand and take time to read for pleasure. The people at work read a lot, too, so it's been a good influence. I just finished a re-read of To Kill a Mockingbird last night, and I really, really enjoyed it. I forgot what a fabulous character/narrator Scout Finch is. One of my literary favorites, in fact, right up there with Holden Caulfield. It's really a great feeling when you read a book that was writen almost 50 years ago in 2006 and realize how timeless and fresh it still is.

Prior to TKAM (as it was known in my 10th grade English class), I finally wrapped up The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which was lengthy, but also a real winner. Whether or not you're into comic books, Michael Chabon does a great job of developing his characters and really roping you into his story of Josef Kavalier and his cousin Sammy Clay, after Josef escapes Nazi-invaded Prague and begins his new 'American' life in Brooklyn. If you don't want to take my word for it, both TKAM and Kavalier & Clay were Pulitzer Prize winners, so someone more important than I am thinks they're worth a read or re-read, too!

Today I finally started My Friend Leonard, which I'd been eager to receive from bn.com. I'm only about 60 pages into it and I'm already hooked! So far it's as good (if not better) than A Million Little Pieces. Then again, it's probably because once you have the background story it doesn't take much for you to invest in the continuation of James Frey's story. This book, after all, essentially picks up exactly where A Million Little Pieces left off.

-Football: Between last week's memorable Rose Bowl and Saturday's awesome (but one we'll want to forget) Redskins win, it's been a great stretch for football. In case you missed the Rose Bowl, or rather, in case you haven't read Bill Simmons' Page 2 column on it, it's definitely worth a read, if not for the pop culture references he manages to sprinkle in, then for his ability to perfectly articulate just what you're thinking. Having the Redskins in the postseason has made it easier to get through the work week, and it's a pretty unbelievable to think that if they actually pull out a win on Saturday against the Seahawks (they'll probably need more than 120 offensive yards to do it...), they'll be in the NFC Championship. The thought of that almost seems wrong, so rather than even go that far I'll just say it's been a great season and we've fared better than any Skins fan could have imagined.

-Movies: In a nutshell, I loved "King Kong" (yes, first hour should have been condensed into 15 minutes, but when I'm paying $10 anyway I'm not really going to complain), could not get enough of the ape-on-dinosaur battles, and though I was only watching out of one of my eyes for the gross bug scenes, I loved those parts, too. (Does this mean I might actually like "Lord of the Rings"???)

At the other end of the movie spectrum, I also immensely enjoyed "Brokeback Mountain." Without trying to sound like a movie critic, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal (moreso Heath-- we all wish we could forget "A Knight's Tale," among others) really gave the performance of their lives. For a movie overshadowed by all the "gay cowboy" talk, this was ultimately a really well-written and beautifully-acted love story. It was touching, and I was moved. And yes, I cried, but then again it doesn't take much (my eyes may have watered for King Kong, I'm not sure).

-Television: The good and bad news is, new TV starts up again this week. As of right now, FOX has my attention, namely for the two day, 4-hour season premiere of 24 next Sunday and Monday. That just has trouble written all over it. On the heels of that, we get to start up a whole new season of entertainment and drama on American Idol on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, though, FOX may have lost me for the O.C. There may have been questions about it before, but with the return of Marisa's sister as the new bad girl on the block, it's clear they've jumped the shark on this one. Check please!

-Music: I've actually been in one of those "blah" moods lately, overwhelmed by the list of artists in my iPod, needing to take a break and possibly re-discover something or find something new to grab my attention. For now, my attempt at that is with the highly-acclaimed Antony & The Johnsons album from this year, I am a Bird Now. From what I can gather so far, this album seems like it will be a hit or miss with people, mainly because "he sings like a bluesy opera singer and switches timbre from masculine to feminine in the space of a breath. " I'm digging it so far, though, for its romantic but also mournful tone. Below I've posted two tracks from the album, one featuring guest Rufus Wainwright. Talk about some power vocalists on that one. Good stuff.

You are my Sister

What Can I Do? (with Rufus Wainwright)

So there's my wrap-up. As you can see I've been very busy. As always, thanks for understanding.

Happy New Year/Hail to the Redskins!

So... it's 2006. Weird. That means ten years ago was 1996. I feel old. Anyway, last night's celebration was fun (went to a party w/ Huan & Molly) considering I generally don't look forward to ringing in the new year, it being the most overhyped and overrated "holiday" there is. That said, if you have low expectations and just go to a party with fun people, you should be ok, as parties with fun people are usually fun anyway, regardless of it being Dec. 31.

Anywho, in other news, if Jan. 1 is any indication of how 2006 will go, things look pretty good. I watched 8 episodes of Sex and the City this morning with Molly, during which we paused for a much-needed McDonald's break. Then, I came home to watch the Redskins "run the table" and complete an improbable 5-game winning streak to end the regular season and launch them into the playoffs! Next, I get to enjoy some of my mom's homemade Pho for dinner. All of this was done in the comfort of my pajamas. No complaints here. My resolution for 2006, as of now, is to get my lazy butt back into shape and into my regular exercise routine, since the Holidays left me plump and sedentary (see above description and multiply by 100).

Cheers to all for a happy and healthy 2006!