I’ve been busy setting up the joint CMU Professional Master program and failed to update the blog. Of course the lack of time meant less reading and more music…
Music
The National – Boxer – simply one of the best albums in the last 5 years, these guys have passed Richmond Fontaine and are getting to the status of Bowie and Reed on my preference list.
Robert Wyatt – Comicopera – the old crazy drunk man did it again, a great album from one of the most interesting voices of pop/rock, even at 62 years old.
Bruce Springsteen – Magic – I must confess I’m not a fan os Springsteen but a friend pointed out his new album which I must confess surprised me with a god set of very nice songs.
Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam – This one is not up to the level (or should I say craziness) of the previous two albums but nevertheless it’s still a great album of one of the most innovative bands out there (those of you that don’t know Panda Bear actually moved from New York to Lisbon Portugal so I might bump into him someday.
The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters – great album from a Scottish band with a strong sound, another one worth considering for the next albums.
Radiohead – In Rainbows – this one got a lot of attention because it was of the first albums from a major band that you could actually download from their website and pay as much as you wanted… anyway it’s a great album, probably more accessible for those that think that OK Computer and Kid A are too much of android paranoia.
Movies
Zodiac – probably one of the great movies of 2007, a movie about a real life serial killer that terrorized San Francisco in 1960s. David Fincher who is known for directing lots of videoclips comes back after se7en (and what a comeback!).
Next – this is not a great movie and it’s here simply because it’s another screenplay from a novel by Philip K. Dick (The Golden Man). The movie looses much of the great story-line of the original novel but nevertheless it’s an entertaining 90mn.
Knocked Up – this is and absolutely hilarious movie, which is already something worth pursuing these days.
Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix – had to take the kids to the movies for yet another Harry Potter movie, not that it takes a lot of pushing to get somebody like me to the watch a story about wizards, but I must confess next time I’ll drop the kids and do something else with my time.
Away from Her – an absolutely touching movie about love, the importance of memory (or loss of it) and the treatment of time.
Books
Thomas Friedman – The World is Flat – I tried not to read this book, never bought the original english version (which is already a bad sign) then bumped into the portuguese translation and well bought it. The book is not bad, I guess it should be useful for somebody who is not already immersed in software engineering, international research, etc. It’s also important to read the book that everybody is talking about, even if it just makes you wonder where the hell were those people living for the past 10 years???
Richard Dawkins – The Selfish Gene – I read this book some years ago and again bumped into the portuguese translation next to the recent edition of “A desilusão de Deus” (please click the link and go and buy this book). It is impressive how great books and even greater ideas are timeless.
Games
Bungie – Halo 3 – well millions bought this one and having played both the original and the sequel I couldn’t miss the last episode of the saga. Great game!
Sierra – World in Conflict – this is one of the best strategy games I’ve ever played, and I’ve just got passed the first initial levels simply because I would compromise my professional life if I gave this one more than a couple of hours… an impressive technical achievement!
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