Album Finds

I like Mindy Kaling's Things I Bought That I Love. She hasn't updated in ages, which is heartbreaking, because I've always enjoyed reading her posts. In honor of that, I've decided to start a new series as part of this blog where I talk about how much I love something. Every music fan has their favorite places to get stuff. I'm a big fan of Elizagoth in Stratford, Canada. But one of the best places in Lansing, Michigan is Flat, Black and Circular.
I happened to be about a week ago. Although I've been known to buy stuff there, what I like to do best is go through their two shelves of free stuff that's just there to be taken. It's a little like treasure hunting, because you have no idea what good or bad things you're going to find. I found a ton of stuff, but I'm just going to go through a few highlights.

The Carpenter's Voice of the Heart, which was released as their last album after Karen Carpenter died. I really like one of the songs off of it, "Now," which was the last song she apparently recorded.Galaxy 30: 30 Pop, Jazz and Classical Musical Selections.  This is picked up because of the design, which is often what guides me to really great music.  It includes Patti Page's "(How Much Is) That Doogie in the Window," which was always a song that delighted me as a child.  Also included is "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," which is sort of fun.Hamlet.  This appears to be music from the play.  I love Shakespeare, but I was disheartened to see that this was just half of its case, not the album itself.  I'm planning, once I collect enough of these destroyed covers, to put them up in a cool geometric design, so this will be part of that pile.Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die.  I picked this album up because of the name.  Like the Hamlet one, there's sadly no actual album, but it does have this great picture inside of the band.  It looks really cool, and I can see it hanging on my wall somewhere.  It was apparently their best album chart wise.Remember how great...? volume II.  A collection of jazz songs.  So far, I'm loving it.  It's hard to hate on an album that includes Tony Bennett singing "Because of You."  The piano in that song is so beautiful and understated, and then the song totally turns into something upbeat.The Columbia Album of Cole Porter.  Cole Porter is one of those composers I always wanted to get into but never did.West Side Story.  I love this musical, though it's been at least eight years since I've seen it live.  It appears I stumbled upon the recording from the original Broadway cast (not the movie.)  "Something's Coming" is such an underrated song, though like everyone else, I'm enamored of "Tonight."West Side Story's Dynamic George Chakiris.  Continuing on the theme, I found this delightful thing.  He was one of the bigger talents in the movie.Little River Band's The Net.  This one I picked up, again, because it had a cool design.  On further inspection, it also has been stamped by Capital Records for Promotional Uses Only, so on a collector's note, it's even cooler.  There's something very old school about this music.  I like it.The Chameleons UK Tears.  Again, one I picked up because of the design.  It's a wonderful kind of ugly, with this sea green color thing going on. 

Book Haul

So, apparently, haul videos are really big. I'm not much for clothes, but instead, I decided to write about the book haul I got at the book sale today. So here goes, in no particular order:
1. Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher
I'm a huge fan of Young Adult Literature, even though I'm no longer a young adult. I've actually read Crutcher's Ironman, and this looks like a similar story: a young athlete with family troubles, who struggles to watch other people in his life suffer through abuse and who falls in love with a broken, but still fighting, young woman.
2. Londonstani by Gautam Malkani
I once read an essay by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers discussing how you should buy albums every once and a while based on their covers. I've decided to adopt that same approach to books, since it has lead me to some great music. The cover looks like the kind of scribbles you'd expect to see in a teenager's notebook. It's apparently about a group of southeast Asian teenagers living in London. I'm also interested in postcolonialism, and this book looks like a teen version of that. Like other teen classics The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, it looks like different sections are narrated by different characters. Flipping through the book, I see there are mentions of Rude Boys, which bodes well. The book has a slight crease in the backcover, but basically, it looks like I bought it in a bookstore.
3. I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolf
I saw a Jon Stewart once interview Tom Wolf about this book, which is why I picked it up. It's apparently about college girls. Back when I saw the interview, I was still in high school and it sounded fascinating, especially since I was heading to college myself. The diaries and hearing Wolf saying "Wu Tang clan" were enough to make me remember the interview. The book is flawless, like I did actually buy it out of a bookstore.
4. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
I saw the Gillian Anderson movie some years ago, and I always feel bad about seeing movies based on books I haven't read. (I recently fixed this with the book Jane Eyre.) I loved the movie, especially since it seemed so quotable and witty and the ending was ironic, tragic and thought-provoking. I'm hoping this will be the same.
5. Dead Ex by Harley Jane Kozak
I love mystery novels, and since this book's cover had one of those dead body outlines, I knew I had to try to. When reading the back, I discovered it's also about soap operas and the drama behind them. This has to be one of the most delightful combination I've seen: murder and cheese. It appears that I picked up an early copy of the novel, so this is a total score from a collecting point of view.
6. A Concise History of South Africa by Robert Ross
Don't worry: this is the only textbook I picked up. My second major is in history. I'm taking an African history class, and we spent a month on South Africa, which was fascinating. I'm hoping to learn a little more about the place through this book.
7. Three by Flannery O'Connor
My friend Christine suggested O'Connor to me last year, and since this particular book was only 50 cents, I've decided to give it a whirl. This is definitely an older book, since the pages are yellow.
8. A Heinlein Trio by Robert A. Heinlein
I've always wanted to read Heinlein, since he's a science fiction master. The cover of this book is really cool is a psychedelic way. I'd actually like a poster of this original design.
So, that's it everyone. I managed to get eight books for 7.50. (For those of you not inclined mathematically, that's about 94 cents per book.) I'm excited to read these new books (if I ever find the free time to do so), and I feel good about spending my money at the book sale, since it supports the Red Cedar Review, which has been a wonderful organization. I'm so proud to be part of them.