Stuff We Like This Week: October 30 Edition

Stuff We Like This Week: October 30 Edition

Oct 30

In an effort to combat our occasional…okay, okay, near-constant negativity, we give you a regular feature full of nothing but love — Stuff We Like This Week. Appearing every Friday, SWLTW will recap the things that have set our little nerdly hearts aflame within the past seven days.

Jeff: So, I should pick something scary this week, right? Because it’s Halloween? I like The Blair Witch Project. Not because it’s scared me ever since the first, horrifying time that I saw it (though it was a good scare), but it was the first toe in the pond that later became less expertly occupied by games like Majestic or the new past few years’ glut of videogame, movie and TV tie-in ARGs. The movie didn’t just make a movie; it created a backloaded mythology that you weren’t really sure was fake until after the fact. It’s something that other movies have tried and never been as successful with (think Cloverfield, with its cool but not very immersive viral videos).

But because that’s not the only thing I’m into this week, let me switch gears and talk about Joe Casey. He’s one of the most ambitious, innovative writers in comics today and I don’t know that he gets the cred he deserves. Which might be because his work — due to that very ambition and energy — can be inconsistent. When I pick up a new book of Casey’s, I’m not sure if it’s going to be Gødland or Automatic Kafka or his jarring run on Uncanny X-Men. But no matter what, I’m willing to at least give it a look.

It took me awhile, but I finally sat down with Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance, by Casey and Chriscross, and it is without a doubt the best mini I’ve read from DC this year and, if it weren’t for Final Crisis, last year, too. It’s got this sense of pop kinetics to it that really just grabs me and made me read all 6 issues in one sitting with no break. Love it, and recommend it to anyone that may have been on the fence about it.

Matt: This week, the dead rose…from my iPod! MUAH-HA-HA-HA-heh.

Out of nowhere, I found myself on a John Lennon kick, suddenly wanting to hear some of his mid-seventies solo records. I’m a huge die-hard Beatlemaniac but I’ve often had a hard time getting my head around the solo Beatles; I have affection for some of their towering brilliant work, like George’s All Things Must Pass or Paul’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (yes, I know it’s new; it’s just that good).

First I gave Rock ‘n’ Roll a spin, and it was pretty much exactly as I expected — a strung out, booze-fueled tear through classic rock tunes with tons of Spector lather and this uncomfortable edge. Lennon even screeches the ballads like he’s trying to exorcise a demon.

Walls and Bridges, however, really tripped my trigger. Produced by Lennon, it still has a Spector feel; so much of his solo work is fully influenced by Spector’s sound, even when he wasn’t directly involved. But the songwriting is strong, the production is focused, and Lennon explores the realms of the past and his dreams in equal measure. Brilliant stuff, although I don’t think you need me to tell you that, since the record came out over thirty years ago and I just heard it for the first time on Tuesday.

Sarah: As soon as Just Jenn posted a picture of the Hello Kitty Tokidoki iPhone case, I was in googly-eyed love. And yes, a little worried about being perceived as “a biter” (friend Megan’s term for someone who constantly bites others’ distinctive style), but the overwhelming cuteness was just too much. I practically bolted over to the just-opened Hello Kitty Three Apples exhibit and snagged my own. And it’s a good thing I did, because Jenn texted me the next day with devastating news: they’re sold out! Dang!

That said, the Three Apples exhibit still has a ton of greatness to offer. Hello Kitty art! Hello Kitty history! A Hello Kitty cafe that serves Hello Kitty tea! You better believe a return trip is already on my agenda.