MUSIC: Play me the blues

MUSIC: Play me the blues

Busy busy busy. Besides, y'know, work, and trying to do a large review you should see sometimes next week, we're also getting ready for our ever-expanding mega yard sale set for a week from Saturday. So if you're passing through Southwest Oregon July 15, be sure to stop by! Say you read the blog and I'll give you a dollar discount. Unless it's on expensive stuff.

In lieu of original content, though, let me point you toward an interview I got to do this week with blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite, who's playing a free concert here next Tuesday. Always a pleasure to interview someone like Mr. M, who was gracious and eloquent on the phone, unlike his stumbling interviewer. Charlie's from Mississippi just like much of my family is so we had lots to talk about. He still wouldn't let me join his band, though. Anyway, if you're interested, go read my Ridin' with Charlie Musselwhite interview here.

Additionally, if you want to see the more refined version of my Superman Returns review (as opposed to the kind of rambling notes I posted last week), go hither. I'm still of two minds about that movie – flawed success, perhaps? worthy failure? – but it definitely tried to be ambitious, which you can't say about a lot of Hollywood summer movies.

Have a fine weekend!

LIFE: A berry good time was had by all

LIFE: A berry good time was had by all

...Good lord, I feel like I ate my way through Independence Day. My folks came up for a visit for a few days and to visit their #1 grandson, and there was much eating of food, hiking, playing and so forth. One of our favorite things to do a couple times each summer around here is berry picking – we're in a big agricultural area and there's tons of strawberry, marionberry and blackberry farms, not to mention our absolute tops, blueberry picking. Took Peter out with my folks Monday for some berry pickin' adventures. This year's crop was the best we've seen in the 4 1/2 years we've lived here – huge, bright berries, falling right off the bushes. Then we stopped and bought pies at a local fruit stand. Hoo-ha!

So of course I made blueberry pancakes for our July 4 breakfast. And between my folks and I we've got about 10 pounds of berries to use in coming months. Berry-licious! The diet starts again next week.

MUSIC: Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint, "The River In Reverse"

MUSIC: Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint, "The River In Reverse"

I'm a big Elvis Costello nut, but I do get a bit leery when I see he's collaborating with other people or trying out a new genre. I love his variety and omnivorous musical mind, but it doesn't always pan out into fine music. Sometimes, it's fab, like his country-influenced "King of America" or his smoothly cool Burt Bacharach duets CD. Then sometimes you get an album like 2003's limp "North," toothless lite-jazz noodlings. He's even apparently put out an opera CD – and sorry, I'm not that dedicated.

So I didn't rush out and buy Costello's latest, "The River In Reverse," the day it came out. A collaboration with New Orleans R&B legend Allen Toussaint, I wasn't sure about it. I'm ashamed to say I wasn't really familiar with Toussaint (whom I learned is the man behind classics like "Working in the Coalmine") and didn't want to waste time on a pointless Costello side project. I apologize, Elvis – it's a great CD, your best since 2002's "When I Was Cruel."

Costello's worked with Toussaint before, on EC's venomous classic "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" from 1989's "Spike." Costello apparently approached Toussaint last year at some benefit concerts for Hurricane Katrina victims and Costello whipped out a little song for the duo, "The River in Reverse." It was written and debuted in a show the same day, and led the men to to decide to try an entire album together, dedicated to the revival of New Orleans. (Here's a little more on how the album came to be.)

Costello does a lot of things wonderfully, but "he's got soul" isn't something I normally think of him. Yet "The River In Reverse" is packed with a warm Mississippi Delta soul, awash in the ghosts of New Orleans. It's got a soul that doesn't feel forced or faux-ironic, and a battered optimism that's truly appealing. I'm not real familiar with Toussaint, I admit, but he's a terrific collaborator for Elvis, with his fluid piano lines and the loose swing his songs have (about half the songs on the CD are Toussaint's compositions alone, about half joint works, and a couple of Costello solo works). The music has the groove of a jam, but the discipline of solid songwriting backing it up. The men are kindred spirits, balancing each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Throughout "River," a celebratory tone flows. It's not ignoring the recent devastation in the Big Easy, but it's looking back wistfully and what was and what hopefully will be one day again, in songs like "On Your Way Down," "Broken Promise Land" and more. There's certainly anger to be found about how muddled the human disaster was – "there's a place where words mean nothing or much less," Costello sneers in one tune – but Toussaint's lively arrangements balance out Costello's darker instincts. One of the disc's best songs is "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" which features Toussaint on lead vocals and bounces under a kicky bass line, punchy trumpet and organ. "What happened to the Liberty Bell I heard so much about?" Toussaint sings in a snappy couplet about the government's flubbed response to Katrina, "Did it really ding-dong? It must have dinged wrong / It didn't ding long." Sure, sounds silly written down, but trust me, it's a cool song.

"Tribute" albums often are more well-intentioned than truly good music. But by gently evoking the ideas and legends of New Orleans centered around some ripping fine tunes, "The River In Reverse" does the Big Easy proud.

Have a good 4th of July, all, I'll be visiting with the parents and back sometime next week with more posts.

MOVIES: "Superman Returns"

MOVIES: "Superman Returns"

...It may be a bit silly, but I admit, there's nothing quite like hearing John Williams' awesome "Superman" theme music blasting into a movie theater for the first time in 19 (!) years, ever since I saw the god-awful "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace" in a theater with about six other people back in 1987.

Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" is the Man of Steel's first celluloid outing since then, of course, and if it isn't quite a total home run, it's solid entertainment and a pretty great spectacle. I'm not sure how well it'll do at the box office - it could catch on, or it could be seen as too cerebral and slow – but it more or less works. Some thoughts (Spoiler Warning, of course):

The good:
Like I said, that John Williams music is wonderful to hear again, and might just be my favorite movie theme ever. The whole movie is a deep thematic sequel to "Superman: The Movie" and "Superman II," and it's nice to see Singer paying respect to the godfather of the current superhero movie genre.

First off, some of the action in "Superman Returns" is absolutely spectacular – a dazzling plane rescue sequence in the beginning that had me holding my breath with tension; a series of incredible can-you-top-this feats of catastrophe prevention; any scenes with Superman flying, executed with stunning grace and majesty by Singer. Naturally, it's all a quantum leap above the effects in the 1978 film. You get your summer movie big-bang money's worth from this one, I think.

And overall, I'm down with Singer's approach to the material. Just like in his "X-Men" movies, he's respectful and utterly serious to the characters and story. There's a depth to "Superman Returns," with its lingering themes of alienation, fatherhood, truly adult love and hero worship. They aren't all developed perfectly, but this movie tries, and that elevates it to the higher echelon of comics flicks like the "Spider-Man" and first two "X-Men" movies or "Batman Begins."

Brandon Routh, I wasn't sure about before I saw this – he looks too formless and bland in still photos, I think – but he's a very solid Man of Steel here. He plays Kal-El darker, more stoic and restrained than the late Christopher Reeve, who always had a nice kind of twinkle in his eye, but it serves for the story this movie is trying to tell. I don't think Routh's Clark Kent is quite as successful, but the Kent side of his personality really got the short shrift in screen time anyway.

Kevin Spacey has been on most people's short list for Lex Luthor, and I think he's a fantastic choice here. He chews the scenery mercilessly, homaging Gene Hackman's performance but also turning this older, embittered Lex into more of a cruel, amoral thug. The dead steely glare in Spacey's eyes nicely fits this version of Lex, a madman whose plot in this tale is really quite insane and apocalyptic. At first I thought that was a gaping plot hole (not to spoil too much, but how is Lex's new land going to be valuable to anybody if it looks like Mordor-meets-South Dakota?), but now I can almost see that's the point. Lex is stone cold crazy here, and the rest of the world doesn't even quite get that.

A marvelous overall look to the film, dark but not "Batman" dark, with an art-deco Metropolis and a snazzy Daily Planet newsroom I'd love to work in.

The kid. I know many fanboy types are turned off any time a kid is featured in one of "their" movies, but I actually thought Lois Lane's son was a smart addition to the story and played by a refreshingly genuine child actor.

The final confrontation between Luthor and Superman is jaw-droppingly brutal and intense, and delivers a powerful punch. (I admit though I feel like Luthor doesn't get the comeuppance I feel he truly deserves at the film's end though.)

The just OK:
Sorry, Singer, but Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane is a huge misstep. She's adequate, but rarely more, and lacks the husky lived-in sexiness of Margot Kidder's Lane. Obviously this isn't a straight sequel to the old movies, but still, how are we supposed to believe this doll-faced cherub is a hard-charging reporter? Bosworth just looks too young, and lacks the spark a Rachel McAdams or Rachel Weisz might've brought to the role. She does have a nice chemistry with Routh, though.

I like the notion of Superman leaving Earth for five years and dealing with the ramifications of coming back, yet the movie sometimes left me wanting more. Why exactly did it take five years? What did he see? There's almost another movie or something to be had from that story point alone. And the way Clark Kent kind of just slipped back into his old life after five years' away seemed a bit too simplistic.

The bad:
Singer is a fine director, but his ambition nearly derails the movie a couple times. It sometimes feels like a director's cut. It's too long by about 15 minutes, and takes a little while to get going. He lays on the Superman-as-Jesus metaphors far too thickly, to the point where it begins to feel artless and forced. (Although the movie's final scenes, featuring a badly wounded hero, were terrific.)

And while I love the old "Superman" movies, there's part of me that feels "Returns" errs a little too much toward being a remake rather than a total reinvention. Beside recycling the theme music, resurrecting Marlon Brando, the carved beauty of the Fortress of Solitude and even several dialogue lines from the original, the overall plot bears an awful strong resemblance to the first "Superman" movie (Superman vs. Luthor over some world-shattering real estate scheme). It's a good movie, but if there's a sequel I'd like to see them strike out in an entirely new direction.

Jimmy Olsen. Sorry, but this kid has only worked for me in the goofy 1950s and 1960s comics.

If Krypton crystals grow in water, why doesn't the Fortress of Solitude surrounded by ice take over the planet?

Despite the movie's flaws (and really, I can't think of a comics movie that's been flawless), I do find that I keep thinking about "Superman Returns." It sticks in your head, and Singer's visual imagery feels timeless and powerful. The first superhero has a movie that nearly lives up to its potential.

LIFE: Stop the presses

LIFE: Stop the presses

Geez, some days I wish I worked at a gas station. It's a truism in newspapers that whenever someone essential in the newsroom goes on vacation, all hell breaks loose. Since my city editor is gone all week and I'm running a newsroom of 28 people, I feel like I've been at ground zero all week. Breaking news, breaking news, breaking news.

Since Monday, we've had – 2 drownings in local rivers and lakes, one of a 5-year-old boy; a terrible freak accident that killed an off-duty cop; and the start of an attempted murder trial for the school shooting we had here earlier this year. Egad. Happy news, where are you?

On the bright side, I did get to see "Superman Returns" last night and quite enjoyed it. Will try to post some thoughts in next day or so as the chaos fades.

Sweet Spider-heaven.

The Spider-Man 3 teaser is here!

Yeah, it's Superman's week and all, but man, "Spider-Man 3" looks cool. I was a little wary of them trying to cram at least two, maybe three villains in this one (Sandman, Venom, and Harry Osborn) but I've got pretty high faith in Sam Raimi after the very good part 1 and downright superlative part 2. If they can make the comics' rather convoluted Venom backstory into something that works, it could be fantastic. Summer 2007 suddenly seems a long time away...

LIFE: Hot hot hot

LIFE: Hot hot hot

Whoo-ee, it's been hot 'round these parts. Temperatures right up around 100 last few days, which is on the "oh my god" side for our corner of Oregon. Fortunately we beat the heat by heading to a local riverside haunt Sunday afternoon (where you can examine the colorful local folk and count their horrible apparently self-applied tattoos). Then Monday, which I had as my day off, we fled to the oh-so-fine Oregon Coast, specifically the Coos Bay area. Amazing how a mere 70-80 miles west, the temperature can be a good 25 to 30 degrees cooler. We hung around the very scenic Cape Arago area west of Coos Bay, one of our favorite spots, which has some fine beaches surrounded by rugged rock formations. Here I help Peter develop that incredibly important manly skill of building, and then smashing, sand castles:

It was strange to realize that just might be our last trip to that particular part of the Coast. At just a hair over two months until we leave Oregon for New Zealand, I'm starting to realize we might just be doing some things "for the last time." I'm really glad we got in our fine John Day camping trip a couple weeks ago because that was on my list of things to see before leaving Oregon. But Oregon is an extremely cool place with so many sides, and there's still so much I want to try and do again and only a limited number of free weekends remaining -- we have to visit our favorite coastal haunt of Bandon again, of course, and do the Eugene Saturday Market another time or two; by gum we simply must go to the big city of Portland one more time and visit Powell's and all that jazz...

And then there's all the things we've NEVER done in Oregon in our 4+ years here and it's starting to look like we won't get a chance. Never really spent much time in Salem, Oregon's capital, or visited the Oregon Caves National Monument deep deep in the country past Grants Pass (which doesn't allow kids under 4 in most of the caves). Never made it to the far, far reaches of Oregon like Baker City, Ontario or Hell's Canyon. We've done about 75% of the coast but I always wanted to go to Tillamook and visit the cheese factory there. Only been to Corvallis, home of Oregon State University, once, and that was just driving through. Ah well... it's 96,000 square miles of space to see, after all. And who knows, we might well be back someday...

MOVIES: 'We are … The Three Amigos!'

MOVIES: 'We are … The Three Amigos!'

Man, I saw this for $7.99 at Fred Meyer yesterday and couldn't resist picking it up. "Three Amigos!" may not be the best movie ever made, but by gum, it's a charming and funny little romp, one I've always had an unaccountable minor fetish for. I actually saw it in the theater when it came out, exactly 20 years ago now. It's not one that'll be mentioned in the obituaries of Steve Martin, Chevy Chase or Martin Short, but for my money it's a lot funnier than many of the movies those three have made solo.

Why "Three Amigos"? It's basically a poor fifteenth-generation riff of "Seven Samurai" (which is ripped off so often it's practically its own genre). Poor village hires strange gunmen to help defend them against evil bandits … except in this case, the gunmen are actually three deluded, out-of-work Hollywood silent-film actors who think it's all a show. Of course, in the end, the bumbling actors become real-life heroes, the village is saved from the evil El Guapo, and so forth.

I'll be straight – "Three Amigos" isn't really a good movie, but watching it on DVD last night, I still laughed a lot. Director John Landis can't figure out if he's making a comedy or a lighthearted action flick like his "Blues Brothers", but oddly enough, Chase, Martin and Short have a real chemistry together. Martin's the wise-ass self-deluded amigo, Chase the moron, and Short the sensitive man-child. A pretty darn great Martin overshadows Short and particularly Chase, who'd just started to morph into the arrogant, couldn't-care-less personality that eventually ended his career.

There's a nice surreal sense of humor in the movie, and several lines that never fail to crack me up ("You shot the Invisible Swordsman!"). It's the wacky moments that stick, like the laconic Mexican bartender (who is played by an actor with the name of, I kid you not, Fred Asparagus. Why couldn't I be named after a vegetable?) or the Amigos doing an impromptu dance number to "My Little Buttercup." And as the menacing El Guapo, Alfonso Arau has a sleazy wit and knows what the word "plethora" means.

Curiously, at one point the movie was considered for Martin, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, which would've been a very different movie – probably better, certainly more unhinged. But I admit to liking "Amigos" just the way it is, not trying to be the world's most epic comedy, but just a simple, kind of sweet diversion.

I leave you with this from Steve Martin's Lucky Day:
"In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face. For some, shyness might be their El Guapo. For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us. But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be *the actual* El Guapo!"

Words to live by.

ETC.: Link-a-rama!

ETC.: Link-a-rama!

Nothin' but links!

Here I stumbled upon a very nice article that explores my old hometown of Oxford, Mississippi, and its musical and literary heritages. Great to see old favorites of mine like Blue Mountain, Beanland and The Kudzu Kings getting a shout-out.

Ever wonder what it'd be like to meet one of your idols? San Francisco Chronicle writer Steven Winn got to meet John Updike, one of his and my literary lions in this life. Here's an excellent piece about what it was like to meet one of America's finest living writers, who knows more than 10 of me put together.

I'm a member of The Cult of Klosterman, that fine pop culture sex-and-death-obsessed scribe Chuck Klosterman. He's one of my top-five pop culture writers these days and I found a most excellent interview with the man over here in a Colorado newspaper, revving me up with excitement for his August collection of columns and reviews, bearing the classic rock-esque title of "Chuck Klosterman IV." I can't wait!

Classic movies it's OK to hate, according to The Onion A.V. Club, which apparently only thinks classic movies started being made after 1970. And it's so edgy to bash the original "Star Wars", ain't it? Still, agree with 'em on "Shawshank Redemption," which I never quite understood all the fuss about – the novella is much better and a lot less sappy. And I have to agree on "The Big Lebowski" – in my humble way, I consider "Raising Arizona" a far better Coen brothers comedy.

Do you have the Perfect Penis? Egads. Work-safe post, but it'll still scar your mind.

Long Box Dave looks at Marvel Vs. DC, that crossover clash comic from the late 1990s that was a tremendous disappointment to all of us who always wondered who would have beaten whom. Dave tells us who REALLY would have won in Superman vs. Thor, Batman vs. Captain America, etc. And read the comments. Man, Dave gets lots of comments. (Beware: If you are not a nerd, you will be after reading this.)

ETC.: Deep Thoughts

ETC.: Deep Thoughts

It's the first day of summer and my brain is cooked already. Incapable of longer coherent posts, so here are things to watch, hear and read as you lie on the beach or carpet or what-have-you.

WATCHING "Entourage" co-star Jeremy Piven as Hollywood agent Ari Gold may just be my favorite character on TV. Just finished watching Season 2 of the HBO comedy on DVD and Piven, dammit, should have an Emmy for this stuff. He makes Ari a compelling, complex bastard, a standout among a superb cast. Watching his meltdown against boss Malcolm McDowell at the end of Season 2 was fantastic teevee. The rest of the show's pretty swell too. I only wish us poor HBO-less folk didn't have to wait a year or so to see the now-airing Season 3 on DVD.

LISTENING to Bob Dylan "Live 1975" (The Bootleg Series Volume 5). Yep, still on my dedicated (some, wife Avril, would say obsessive) Bob Dylan kick, and got a copy of this recently, a fantastic souvenir of Bob's rollicking "Rolling Thunder Tour." From the very first track, a fiery, stomping take on "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," it's tremendous stuff, with an amped-up, rocket-fueled Dylan sounding more passionate than I've ever heard him before.

READING James Kochalka's Superf*ckers #3 from Top Shelf, the latest issue of his extremely sick and twisted take on superheroics. Imagine an extremely talented, Tourette's-afflicted 10-year-old doing a scatalogical superteam comic. It's disturbing, gross and hilariously funny stuff. Neon-colored and brutal satire.

LAUGHING at the things a toddler says. Peter's most recent curious statement, which can sound quite bad out of context:
"There rice on my penis!"

Ah ha ha.