Fletch on Media

I, Fletch F. Fletch, have been doing my usual routine of watching flicks, reading books and listening to music. Here are my shocking opinions:

Music - Most of you have heard Snow Patrol's song "Chasing Cars"(If I lay here...) and like me are probably ready to puke when you hear it. Sure its a good song but it needs a serious break. However, I heard a bunch of music from the rest of the album, Eyes Wide Open and was pleasantly surprised. I've added "You could be happy" to my musical montage on the left if you care to listen. Either way, a good band to check out.

Next, a lesser know band, called Keane. It a British piano band, and I admit their sound is a bit of an acquired taste, but it has grown on me. I inherited a copy of their album Under the Iron Sea, from Kroc and have been enjoying it. I've put a sample song, "Atlantic" on the left.

Movies - The latest comedy I've watched was "Baby Mama" the SNL flick about a woman with a bad uterus (Tina Fey) using a surrogate (Amy Poehler) to have a baby. These two are funny and do a great job. But my favorite part of the movie? Steve Martin. Yes. I actually found something funny from Steve Martin in this decade. He plays a hippie lettuce loving CEO who has no concept of personal space or modesty. I'd say watch this just for his performance.

Another recent viewing was "Ms. Pettigrew Lives for a Day." This didn't seem to get much publicity, but it was a fun and entertaining movie set in London in the 1920s. Amy Adams (princess from Enchanted) was wonderful and plays a 20's gold digger perfectly. BTW, Adams grew up in Castle Rock, CO (10 miles south of me) and was raised LDS. This movie had plenty of laughs, charm and moves at a good pace. Great date night rental.

Books - So I thought I was done with the Twilight SAGA. Until someone leaked a draft copy of Midnight Sun onto the Internet. This book rehashes the first book (Twilight) from Edward's perspective. Meyer was so upset about the leak, she said on her website that she may never finish the project (riiiight...) and that its not what she wants to put out there, with typos, errors, etc. Here is the worst part: I liked it better than all of the other books combined. Sure, it has the same drag as her other books, but not as much. It was very interesting to see Edward reading everyone's mind and going nuts trying to figure out what Bella is thinking, a very common thing for men to do. HAHA!! even the great uber-fantastic Greek god Edward can't figure out what his woman is thinking. Writhe and despair all ye women who read this!! Even though the author hates this, I loved it.


Question - Any of you noticed the great proliferation of "Templar / Female Goddess / Mason / Secrets of Jesus" books that have come out since the DaVinci Code? Here are two that try to capitalize on this new found genre.

The Last Templar - Because I'm not going to recommend this, I'll give the plot away. Hate me if you wish. This is about a modern archaeologist (of course way too hot to be one) and a wounded FBI agent trying to find an ancient Templar relic that proves Jesus was just a carpenter with some good ideas and the Templar's apparently wanted to unite Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Yea. I've basically heard it all before. If you must read a book about secret societies harboring "earth shattering" evidence that Jesus is not Divine, then read the originator, not the imitator.

The Witch of Portobello - After reading The Alchemist, I was eager to read something else from the talented Paulo Coehlo. So I blindly grabbed this. It is written like a documentary, with interviews about the main character, Athena who we are told at the beginning of the book is a witch and died for her practices. It starts out great, but got very tedious with all of its lectures about living life with no rules, calming down, dancing, embracing the Mother, dieting, work, etc. I imagine some people really like the book and more power to them. Way too much new age, let's dance wildly by the fire, get naked, roll in the dirt and stare into people's souls stuff for me. I know some people think I'm just as nuts for following my religion so all I can say is "to each his/her own."