McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

Kicking Television—Wilco Live in Chicago
If possible, the Ghost Is Born songs sound even better on this live CD.

Making "The Shining"
When Vivian Kubrick was 17, she made a documentary about the making of the film her dad was then shooting. The result is fascinating, full of candid moments and illuminating details. Plus, the interviews with little Danny are supremely charming. (This documentary is an extra on the Stanley Kubrick Collection DVD of The Shining.)

Taking stock
We're talking physically and mentally. Every so often it helps to know the exact quantity of SpaghettiOs Sliced Franks in the cupboard as well as the state of your psyche.

Brad Mehldau Trio, Day Is Done
OK, third time we're recommending Brad Mehldau and his piano trio, and it would be logical to wonder if we're just going to recommend everything he does. The answer is yes, as long as the music is this good. There's a new drummer who rocks, or swings, or whatever jazz drummers are supposed to do. When the rhythm section kicks back in after the piano break during "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," your heart will skip a beat.

Shea butter
It's a hand-soap flavor. Surprisingly pleasing. No joke.

The Who's "Boris the Spider" as a children's song
You can kick "Free to Be You and Me" to the curb. "Boris the Spider"? That's the gig. Fun deep bass, catchy refrain—the kids go nuts with it.

Not driving
Granted, it wasn't until I elicited a hippie lady's ardent gratitude by wearing—disingenuously, I guess—a Cars-R-Coffins T-shirt that I was really shamed into giving it up entirely, but even driving infrequently can feel great, like not eating meat for a week.

"Willie Deadwilder"
This is an 18-minute Cat Power song, which does not bode well. And the music basically repeats itself 20 or so times. But somehow this is my very favorite song of the moment.

Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards
I don't even have to mention this to anyone who's been paying attention, but this guy is a tremendous player, and a uniquely strange individual, and seemingly a sweet guy as well. And he's only a week older than Dwyane Wade.

Laguna Beach
Kristin visited old flame Stephen in San Francisco a few episodes ago; she stayed, chastely, in a hotel. He responded, while dropping her off, by handing her an empty Chinese-takeout container found (planted?) on the floor of his truck and gruffly suggesting that she throw it away. Ineffable gestures like this one abound. Why watch The O.C., really?

The Real Life of Sebastian Knight by Vladimir Nabokov
Every chapter includes an absurd tour de force of some sort, as when the narrator circumvents his reluctance to disparage a man's face by brazenly slapping a weird mask on the guy for several pages—a great idea and a nested recommendation to writers everywhere.

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
Granted, by now I can believe it. But still, this is by far my favorite margarine-type product of all time.

The TV spots for Jarhead
Haven't seen the movie, haven't read the book, but this trailer is so good it needs to be taken on its own as a freestanding work of art. Highlights include the bumping military-gospel-hip-hop cut, Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard's chilling talking heads, Jamie Foxx diving into the fray with supertitles announcing his Oscar nomination hovering over him, and several subliminally brief shots of women screaming or laughing. A+

LYRICS FROM SONGS I LIKE LATELY

THE GREATEST
Cat Power

Once I wanted to be the greatest
No wind or waterfall could stop me
And then came the rush of the flood
The stars at night turned you to dust

Melt me down
To big black armour
Leave no trace
Of grace
Just in your honor
Lower me down
That corporate slob
Make a watch
For a space in town
For the lack of the drugs
My faith had been sleeping
Lower me down
In the end
Secure the grounds
For the later parade

Once I wanted to be the greatest
Two faced, sad little rock
When things I couldn't explain
Any feelings
Lower me down
In the end
Secure the grounds
For the lack of the drugs
My faith had been sleeping
For the later parade

Once I wanted to be the greatest
No wind or water fall could stop me
And then came the rush of the flood
The stars at night turned you to dust

Recorded near the southwestern corner of Tennessee with session men named "Flick" and Teenie, this song is Chan Marshall's Dusty in Memphis moment-- an indisputable union of voice and style. Her whispery creaks find solace within the track's natural impressions, swept along by lazy strings, pitter-pat drums, and wafts of guitar. Never forced, the sound rises like long shadows on a lonely weed-cracked sidewalk. Still, this is Cat Power. The song title is brilliantly misleading, a set-up for images of uncanny tragedy. "Once I wanted to be the greatest," she muses. "And then came the rush of the flood/ Stars at night turned you to dust." Hidden somewhere between the song's eloquent sway: There is no easy way down.

FOUR STRONG WINDS
Ian Tyson

Think I'll go out to Alberta,
Weather's good there in the fall.
I got some friends that I can go to working for,
Still I wish you'd change your mind
If I asked you one more time,
But we've been through that a hundred times or more.

Four strong winds that blow lonely,
Seven seas that run high,
All those things that don't change, Come what may.
If the good times are all gone,
And I'm bound for moving on.
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.

If I get there before the snow flies,
And if things are going good,
You could meet me if I send you down the fare.
But by then it would be winter
Not much for you to do
And the wind sure can blows cold way out there

Four strong winds that blow lonely,
Seven seas that run high,
All those things that don't change, Come what may.
If the good times are all gone,
And I'm bound for moving on.
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.

DEAD MAN’S WILL
Iron & Wine

Give this stone to my brother
Cuz we found it playing in the barnyard
Many years ago

Give this bone to my father
He'll remember hunting in the hills
When I was 10 years old

May my love reach you all
I locked in myself and buried too long
Now that I come to fall
Please say it's not too late
Now that I'm dead and gone

Give this string to my mother
It pulled the baby teeth she keeps inside the drawer
Give this ring to my lover
I was scared and stupid not to ask
For her hand long before

May my love reach you all
I locked in myself and buried too long
Now that I come to fall
Please say it's not too late
Now that I'm dead and gone

O SAILOR
Fion Apple

I'm undecided about you again
Mightn't be right that you're not here
It's double-sided, cause I ruined it all
- But also saved myself, by never believing you, Dear

Everything good, I deem too good to be true
Everything else is just a bore
Everything I have to look forward to
Has a pretty painful and very imposing before
O' Sailor, why'd you do it?
What'd you do that for?
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards

O' Sailor, why'd you do it?
What'd you do that for?
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards

I have too been playing with fifty-two cards
- Just cause I play so far from my vest
Whatever I've got, I've got no reason to guard
What could I do, but spend my best

O' Sailor, why'd you do it?
What'd you do that for?
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards

O' Sailor, why'd you do it?
What'd you do that for?
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards

And after waiting, fighting patiently on my knees
All the other stuff tired itself out first, not me
And in its wake, appeared the touch and call
Of a different breed
One who set to get me wise, and got me there
And then, got me

And what a thing, to know what could be instead
Oh, what a blessed curse; to see
It took the agenda from its place in my bed
Made a merry paramour of me

O' Sailor, why'd you do it?
What'd you do that for?
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards
O' sailor, why'd you do it
What'd you do that for
Giving me eyes to view it
As it goes by the boards

TONIGHT I’LL BE STAYING HERE WITH YOU
Bob Dylan

Throw my ticket out the window,
Throw my suitcase out there, too,
Throw my troubles out the door,
I don't need them any more
'Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you.

I should have left this town this morning
But it was more than I could do.
Oh, your love comes on so strong
And I've waited all day long
For tonight when I'll be staying here with you.

Is it really any wonder
The love that a stranger might receive.
You cast your spell and I went under,
I find it so difficult to leave.

I can hear that whistle blowin',
I see that stationmaster, too,
If there's a poor boy on the street,
Then let him have my seat
'Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you.

Throw my ticket out the window,
Throw my suitcase out there, too,
Throw my troubles out the door,
I don't need them any more
'Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you.

ROMULUS
Sufjan Stevens

once when our mother called,
she had a voice of last year's cough.
we passed around the phone,
sharing a word about oregon.
when my turn came, i was ashamed.

once when moved away,
she came to romulus for a day.
her chevrolet broke down,
we prayed it'd never be fixed or be found.
we touched her hair, we touched her hair.

when she had her last child,
once when she had some boyfriends, some wild.
she moved away, quite far.
our grandpa bought us a new vcr.
we watched it all night, we grew up in spite of it.

we saw her once last fall,
our grandpa died in a hospital gown.
she didn't seem to care,
she smoked in her room and colored her hair.
i was ashamed, i was ashamed of her.

RAZOR BLADE
The Strokes

Razor blade, that's what I call love
I bet you pick it up and mess around with it
If I put it down
It gets extremely complicated
Anything to forget everything

You got to take me out
At least once a week
Either I'm in your arms
Or I'm at your feet
I know exactly what you're thinking
You won't say it now
But in your heart it's love

Oh, my feelings are more important than yours
Oh, drop dead, I don't care, I won't worry
Let it go

Oh, the razor blade
Wish it would snap this rope
The world is in your hands
Or it's at your throat
At times it's not that complicated
Anything to forget everything

He would never talk
But he was not shy
She was a street-smart girl
But she could not lie
They were perfect for each other
Say it now
Cause in your heart it's loud

Oh, my feelings are more important than yours
Oh, drop dead, I don't care, I won't worry

Sweetheart
Your feelings are more important of course
Of course
Everyone you wanted
Everything that we would take from them
I don't wanna know, I don't wanna know
Tell me, tell me, tell me

Oh, don't, okay

In a small far room the bed is set
With trinkets all surrounding
Yet lone it rests, so dry it sets
With souls aside abiding
There moves legs warm and close inside
No, no leg braces a hello
And pictures on walls where paint is lame
Where sinks are friendly running

Reflect, reflect metal cast
My toe has long been swollen
My knees are blue, my eyes are too
My love has not forgotten
Will come, will come, o he will come
And make me have a baby
Then I foresee we all, us three, will ride and all together

The hills have eyes, their trees have lives
Disjointed like a hero
No saga told, no things unfold
To make the ride much finer
The length is fine, his hand in mine
Does someone hear our chatter
A lover's laugh, a bleeding calf
A dog out in the harbor

PICTURES I AM CONTEMPLATING BUYING