Swingin' Party

Now that I am actually posting my "Monday Weekly Recommendations" on a Monday, after this week I am going to switch it to Sunday since I have Sundays off. And seeing as how the first 2 began with my top 2 movies, it's only fitting that the next three end my top 5 list of movies, and then be prepared for some change-ups, curve-balls, spittin' tobaccy or whatever the hell baseball terms people use as euphemisms. Here we go:

Movie: Jaws
You had to see this one coming. As anyone who has ever taken even so much as an introduction to film class can tell you, this film is the ultimate example of how music enhances film. Watch the opening shark attack scene with the girl in the water, turn it on mute once she starts swimming, and see how fulfilling of an experience it is. This film also stars two actors from my top two movie; Robert Shaw in The Sting and Roy Scheider from The French Connection. Both highly under-rated actors, especially Shaw who was an exceptional writer in his own right as well. Even if you have seen this movie (and you have) watch it one more time for me.

Music: The Replacements - Tim
There are few records that can be called perfect, and we can argue about those some other time, but Tim is perfect. Start to finish, you can't skip a track. Most casual music fans may know of the song "Bastards of Young", which of course is a great song, but the ballads are the real shining moments. "Here Comes a Regular" and my own personal favorite, "Swingin' Party". The Replacements helped build the hardcore scene before they became a platform for Paul Westerberg's solo career, but there's no going wrong with this record. It's almost impossible to not like at least one track off this record.

Book: Carl Sagan - The Demon-Haunted World
Subtitled as "Science as a Candle in the Dark", this is an amazing book written by the man who wrote Cosmos and the Pulitzer Prize winning The Dragons of Eden. He also wrote one fiction book that was turned into a movie, Contact. The Demon-Haunted World is the perfect book for any type of skeptic. Sagan doesn't try and prove that God doesn't exist, he just asks you to ask questions on both sides of the question. He delves into UFO's, aliens, witchcraft, religion, and the decline of scientific study in our public school system. This book is a requirement for any fan of science, philosophy, skepticism, astronomy, wicthcraft, religion, or anything unexplained and buried within the unknown world.

-B
if being afraid is a crime, we hang side by side

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