I think that I might like this album better if it didn’t sound like a desperate attempt at being The Flaming Lips…who are awesome. There just isn’t enough to make any particular track stand out. I don’t know…I don’t mind it when things sound dated—which I have to take into consideration, because I am listening to this album ten years after its release—but…meh.

Though it gets a bit too “poppy” for my tastes, at times, Devil’s Music by Teddybears is a solid summer choice. The songs are bouncy, catchy, and worthy of a road-trip. Each song flows nicely into the next, without becoming too precious or too indistinguishable. Usually, I’m a bit wary of cameo-heavy albums, but even I can get behind this amount of variety. (Yes, Eve and B.o.B are no real surprises, but even Flaming Lips and The B-52s got on board.)

Here are some standout tracks, for me:

2. “Get Mama a House” (feat. B.o.B) — This is vapid and silly, and I can’t tell if it is making fun of itself and the genre, but it makes me laugh. What can I say? It sounds like typical elecropop mixed with classic rock-anthem guitars.

3. “Rocket Scientist” (feat. Eve) — I need to drive with this. A modernized 60’s mod track.

4. “Devil’s Music” (feat. ADL) — This one has inklings of “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” 30’s swing-esque percussion, and “Bathtime at Clerkenwell.” Honestly though, I don’t know if this one will stand up over time. The chorus feels grating by its second appearance.

5. “Crystal Meth Christian” (feat. The Flaming Lips) — I love this song. The Flaming Lips’ influence is obvious, in a good way.

7. “Cho Cha” (feat. CeeLo & The B-52’s) — This was absolutely the right choice for their first single. It’s catchy and stands out from every other track on the album. It will also be stuck in my head for a while.

I find myself revisiting this cheese again; I bought it for an improvised summer salad. Trust me; eat this:

organic baby arugula
organic blackberries
El Trigal 12-month manchego, grated into large, thin slices
homemade fig vinaigrette (fig paste, high-quality EVOO, white wine vinegar, basil, pink Himalayan sea salt, freshly grated black pepper…all to taste)

Simple and frigging fantastic.

SPOILERALERT

After reading Twilight, I expected a lot more from the follow-up than what I got. I realize that post-relationship catatonia can be difficult to endure, but it was even more difficult to endure 13 chapters about Bella’s heart-hole. Ugh.

On the plus side, Jacob—love him or hate him—has a lot more character development, this time. His personality matches his fate, obviously a stark and calculated contrast to Edward’s (literally) cold-and-distant routine at the beginning of the book. Charlie was also a more believable parent, in New Moon. He showed genuine concern for his daughter, and faltered in his many attempts to help her. Other characters were incredibly shallow/flawed, though. Jane and Alec were intriguing, as were a few of the other Volturi, but they felt like a teaser for another book. They couldn’t stand on two legs if New Moon were the final installment.

The literary techniques were annoying. Romeo & Juliet, required reading in most high school English classes, makes sense as a reference to Edward, Bella, and familial drama, but it’s too easy to see the end of the book, once things actually start moving. (And seriously, if she intends to ruin Wuthering Heights for me too, I’m going to roll my eyes so far into my skull that they get stuck there.) All—yes, ALL—of the transitions were clunky. They didn’t have me on the edge of my seat, going, “ooh, ahh” at the twists and turns. Rather, they left me muttering, “What?! Where the bleep did that come from?” Jacob’s “illness,” Bella’s cliff diving, the mortality vote…all had some element of foreshadowing before they arrived, but they all felt rushed and more than a little contrived/ridiculous.

Yes, I’m still going to read the other books, and I’m glad to know that a)almost no one that I respect liked New Moon as much as Twilight, and b)those same people assure me that it gets better.

I had to retrain my reading, and remind myself that this is a Teen Lit/Young Adult book. The plot was a bit thin, and a little predictable. Any other author could have fit it into a neat little package of about 50 pages or so…but wait, this isn’t a negative review. What makes this book stand out and apart from the classic vampire mythos are the emotional descriptions of a dangerous, hesitant, and young love. It more than adequately captures the tension inherent in the first stages of any relationship, human or not. (In fact, it had me blushing and remembering more than a few distant and tense crushes.) That said, it is not without its share of action sequences, but they are overshadowed a bit by the interplay between Edward and Bella. It’s easy to sympathize with lesser characters as well, because they are all familiar faces when compared with our own experiences. It was a quick, yet satisfying read. I’m interested in checking out the rest of the series, now.

Creamy, delicate, I just can’t get enough goat cheese! Still, this one was tops. The lavender and fennel pollen were subtle, but the perfect flavors to add to this melt-in-your-mouth chevre. Pair it with some nice, artisan honey, walnuts and fruit—I’d go with pears and berries—as the package suggests, or go with some sweet or savory crackers, instead. Toss it in a summer salad with some blackberries and arugala, or use it for crostini. Just eat it, already!

This cheese is a bit nutty, a bit sharp. It’s almost like a flavor combination of a really good, sharp provolone or parmesan, and cheddar. It has a firm, smooth texture, and cork holes, so it has a mouth-feel that is a bit like Swiss cheese. Overall, a nice, simple cheese that went really well with dry red wine.

This is the first time that I’ve read any of Spalding Gray’s work, though I’ve been meaning to do so for quite some time. (I got lucky and snatched up a few books at a local white elephant sale.) He veers wildly between unbridled optimism and sheer despair, with more of the former than the latter, surprisingly. He tells his stories with a candor that is refreshing today, when everyone seems to have something to hide. (…and yet he kept “personal” diaries/journals, too. One can only wonder about their contents.) I admit that some of these early monologues seem a bit underdeveloped, and even flat in some places. Overall though, I really appreciated the dark humor and a tone that is solely his own. I think that this was a good gateway book to the rest of his performances; it has piqued my interest, rather than dulling it. I look forward to reading and watching more.

Creamy, nutty, a bit salty, and a bit sharp…this was a very nice cheese! I definitely needed to find a better wine to go with it, though…something dryer.

This book is disturbingly realistic. Through the screen of teenage, doe-eyed boys comes a hazy recollection of idyllic suburbia, disrupted by tragedy. The girls are elevated to an almost mythological status. Having nearly lived this story through the suicidal tendencies of my graduating class — thankfully, no one succeeded —I think that Eugenides captures the pointlessness, the rubber-necking, and the onlookers’ attitudes with careful attention to both suspense/drama and truth.