legkicks and microphone swinging

Last night we saw Guided by Voices at Pier 54. It was a free show, part of the Electrifying Conclusion tour. It was odd to see GBV at a venue with no alcohol availability. Robert Pollard was pretty rocking, and it's nice to have an old guy who acknowledges that he's old. He did a public service by announcing the song titles, but after emptying the big cooler onstage he reported that "it's hard to remember which song the albums are from."

A while ago, I saw the remake of the Manchurian Candidate. It was scarier than the first one, and I would recommend seeing it. If you haven't seen the original with Frank Sinatra/Angela Lansbury et al, see that one first, because the Demme remake twists it in interesting ways.

I am trying to read The Pity of It All, by Amos Elin, but it is going a little slow. More because of the subject matter than anything else. The book discusses life for German Jews in the centuries before Hitler. It's well written and interesting, but not the kind of book that is easy to pick up and read on the train, etc.