opinions of questionable value for ray

garmin roadrunner 201
it's a gps pedometer you wear on your wrist. great for tracking how far you've really run and how fast. it's increased the length i run substantially since i can no longer fool myself. for example, what i used to be certain was a 4 mile run was more like 2.5 (!) it's also given me swift kick in the butt when running half marathons as i found out i was hitting mid run lulls and slowing down. result? faster halfies all around. there's a newer, cooler version but this one is good enough for me.


little miss sunshine
dear lord almighty was this funny. just about the only comedy i've seen in a long time that was worth the time and $$$. nearly as good as whiling away boring conference calls with engrish.com.

zappos.com
i like my dress shoes to have a little edge to them. not a lot, but a little. an exceptionally pointy toe, a little different color, a cool pattern in a place you wouldn't normally expect one, etc. it's damn near impossible to find this in a store without paying $300+, which is outrageous for men's shoes to me (but a cheap pair of jimmy choo's, ironically). zappos is the place to be my friend. easy, fair prices and huge selection. found my ben sherman sherbourne's there and i'm a happy camper. i don't plan on going back into a shoe store in search of dress shoes again.

fat freddy's drop
brilliant gem of band that has thus far been criminally overlooked. they fall somewhere b/w reggae and jazz. fave tracks are "hope", "roady" and "little ones". no live shows in the us apparently (uk band) and it's hard to find their stuff (offline at least). i found "based on a true story" at amoeba.

ipod mini
who needs a nano anyways? this little sucker is good enough. i still don't see why i need anything more than a monochrome screen on my mpg3 player and 4GB. and i easily have 60GB+ of music. step off the ipod treadmill.

the illusionist
not an incredible story but really well cast and played. ed norton and paul giamatti were fantastic. i was expecting very little and was pleasantly surprised.

mike doughty
he's the former front-man for soul coughing. some ppl will know them as the band who did the song "super bon bon" and "circles" which both got some airplay on major radio stations. he's been described as "street poet" more than a vocalist and i think that's not too far from the truth; his lyrics are wacky/abstract but insightful and unexpected. he doesn't take himself nearly as seriously as saul williams and ursula rucker who i like but let their opinions get in the way of simply creating something enjoyable and fun (prolly not their goal). he recently joined dave matthew's record label, RTO, and released an album of mostly older material called "haughty melodic". not sure how much more he'll do (he's been in and out of rehab for a heroin addiction), but the album is worth picking up if you like "alternative" rock and enjoyed soul coughing.

just checked, he's opening for the barenaked ladies. perfect for irene :-)

nobody knows
eerie little japanese flick about a mother who progressively abandons her kids. a little slow (i feel asleep in the middle, but i almost always do), but well worth it. beautiful and disturbing at the same time. there's a few scenes that still sort of haunt me and it's been months since we watched this on dvd.

lyrics born
the man is unstoppable. if you see something he's done, buy it. he does a large number of collabs (r.l. burnside, tommy guerrero, z-trip, etc.) and his tracks are nearly always the best on the album. oh yeah, he's a hip hop star from SF on the quannum label which is also host to blackalicious, lateef, and other rock solid underground players. he's moody in concert (i don't think he likes LA much) but he's still fantastic. joyo velarde, his female vocalist and girlfriend, is top notch. he's playing LA next week with cut chemist and has a new live album out on 10/31.