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What I've been...
Listening To
Rent Movie Soundtrack: A good effort. Nothing is too glaringly different from the OBC, which is a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because it bodes well for the completeness and faithfulness of the movie. It's bad because there's no major reason to own this if you already have the OBC (which is superior, overall, imo). Rosario Dawson does a pretty good job with Mimi, although her voice is more sultry and doesn't have that desperate-crack-addict sound that to it that Daphne Rubin-Vega brought to it. I'm looking forward to how it works on-screen. I did miss Freddi Walker's Joanne, though. Tracie's not bad, but her voice just didn't have much character. Very generic, imo. I also thought Taye Diggs' Benny was rather toned down compared to the OBC. Not sure if it's him or the direction. The rest of the cast sounded great.
Rent Movie Soundtrack: A good effort. Nothing is too glaringly different from the OBC, which is a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because it bodes well for the completeness and faithfulness of the movie. It's bad because there's no major reason to own this if you already have the OBC (which is superior, overall, imo). Rosario Dawson does a pretty good job with Mimi, although her voice is more sultry and doesn't have that desperate-crack-addict sound that to it that Daphne Rubin-Vega brought to it. I'm looking forward to how it works on-screen. I did miss Freddi Walker's Joanne, though. Tracie's not bad, but her voice just didn't have much character. Very generic, imo. I also thought Taye Diggs' Benny was rather toned down compared to the OBC. Not sure if it's him or the direction. The rest of the cast sounded great.
Wearing Someone Else's Clothes (Jason Robert Brown): I was really looking forward to this, because I absolutely SWOON over the Lauren Kennedy CD of JRB's songs, but this one doesn't click with me at ALL. I'm not sure I can explain why. There was just an overall "same-ishness" to the songs, even when they weren't similar. I found myself imagining in a couple places how the songs would sound with different intrumentation or someone else singing or different emphasis on certain phrases, and overall I preferred my made-up versions. :) No idea if this is a reflection of JRB-the-songwriter, JRB-the-performer, or the production of the CD itself.
Evita (OBC): Been meaning to pick this up for a while, but it was always too expensive. Finally splurged. "Evita" and "Jesus Christ Superstar" were big favorites of my dad's when I was growing up, so I got to know and love them very well. Mandy Patinkin and Patti Lupone really shine on this album.
Reading
A Dark Way to Glory (Chaz Brenchley): Still loving this series, but this third volume was the first time that I think the U.S. publishing format hurt my enjoyment. (The Outremer books in the U.K. were published as three volumes. Each volume was chopped in half for a total of six shorter books in the U.S.) There just wasn't enough that happened in this volume, and I'm guessing it feels that way because it's only the first part of the original Book 2.
A Dark Way to Glory (Chaz Brenchley): Still loving this series, but this third volume was the first time that I think the U.S. publishing format hurt my enjoyment. (The Outremer books in the U.K. were published as three volumes. Each volume was chopped in half for a total of six shorter books in the U.S.) There just wasn't enough that happened in this volume, and I'm guessing it feels that way because it's only the first part of the original Book 2.
There and Back Again (Sean Astin). When I saw Sean's Q&A at GenCon several years ago, I was really impressed with his thoughtfulness (in regards to giving-thought-to-his-answers), and the book was pleasantly interesting and candid, I think. I most enjoyed his thoughts on the movie industry and his mistakes and successes along the Hollywood roller coaster before landing the role in LOTR. Many of the actual LOTR anecdotes were stories I'd heard elsewhere, so I wish that there had been more never-heard-before stuff, but there was enough new material to keep it worthwhile.
Fruits Basket Vol. 9 (I think...the one with Ayame on the cover): Gah! I've been spoiled on some of the MAJOR things that have happened in recent Furuba chapters in Japan, but it's still striking to get to some chapters in the English books that start to reveal major twists beyond the anime. What was Shigure doing with Rin at the end?!? Oh, I know he's eviler than you'd expect, but I don't want him to be *evil* evil. And the start of the whole Kyo's fate reveal...squee!
I gave in to my convention urges and signed up for AnimeUSA in November, and also sent in my usual Ohayocon registration. Yay! Oh, and if anyone's reading this in Northeast Ohio and interested in art, rpg's, or just genre-y stuff, check out Con on the Cob. I'll be helping out with the anime/movie room, and it should be a fun, laidback sort of weekend.
I've got a programmy sort of urge right now to create a cool little application that'll catalogue my anime stuff - everything from Totoro plushies to keychains to the more normal DVD and CD's. I'm going to try to get the hang of PHP for it...should be interesting. :)