THE CORPORATION
 
See this movie: although it's long and one-sided and verges on information overload, it makes a shrewd, intelligent case against corporations by simply presenting a frightening amount of evidence on how damaging and dangerous they are to everyone.  As it moves from a tapestry of generalizations to in-depth reporting of specific cases, it successfully emphasizes the human cost of making "the bottom line".  This movie tells us what's wrong with the system, but unlike Michael Moore's films, it gives us some concrete ideas as to how to go about fixing it, even if the solutions are only the first miniscule steps.
 
*****
 
My computer at work is infected.  Whenever I use my Yahoo e-mail, various pop-up screens appear telling me so.  The most disturbing one features eight cartoon bug-like figures.  A week of receiving this pop-up screen at least three or four times daily passed by before I looked at it closely enough to realize that these cartoon bugs are humping each other!  Ewww.  I can't figure out how to get rid of it--I've scanned my desktop for viruses repeatedly and none of those pop up.  I guess it's better than getting unwarranted pop-ups of bare-breasted women and deep, red, raw vaginas, but not by much.
 
I've found two songs I can't stop playing.  "Your Cover's Blown" by Belle and Sebastian is the featured attraction on their new Books EP.  NME called it the "Bohemian Rhaspody" of twee-pop.  I don't think it has any resemblance to Queen's operatic kitschfest; it's more groovalicious early '80s post-disco, suitably picking up where "Stay Loose", the new wave-influenced last track on Dear Catastrophe Waitress left off.  That is, until it shifts into a cross between "Paint It, Black" and "Pipeline" halfway through.  Then, it returns to sounding like Chic/Blondie circa "Rapture", but with a renewed emphasis on the rhythm guitar.  Although it seems unlikely and foreign on the first go-around, by the fifth or sixth listen it reminds you both of the melancholia of the band's earlier recordings and the buffed-to-a-shine pop goodness of their recent work.  Brilliant, and I can hardly wait to see what they'll do next.
 
The other song is "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone" by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, from the album Hearts of Oak.  An even better Thin Lizzy tribute than Belle and Sebastian's "I'm A Cuckoo", this bouncy, scrappy ode to The Specials has a killer riff, resounding, air guitar-ready chords and not a hint of the ska sound (but all of its attitude).  When people ask me why I don't listen to commercial radio anymore, I just want to play them this, because it practically radiates the wit and genuine heart that I just can't find in Hoobastank or Maroon5.