Chris Gerard in the Metro Weekly ranks it as her best album:
"It’s not an album of easily digestible pop songs and it requires repeated listens to “get.” ... Give it time, let it unfold, and you’ll be ready to jump into the fire by the end of the journey. Pele is always hungry."
Reluctant Tori fan Charlotte Richardson Andrews in The Guardian:
"While Alanis Morrisette and Liz Phair were trying to hitch a ride out of Guyville, Amos was razing the patriarchy to the ground, serving up vampiric ex-boyfriends to Pele, the Hawaiian fire goddess rumoured to enjoy man flesh. ... What I found were taboo-smashing gospels, potent with passion, trauma, pleasure, destruction and female power manifested in a thousand different ways."
Michael Tedder (the rare straight male fan) writing for Stereogum:
"Boys For Pele is an album only a rock star would make. It’s way too long, often wildly self-indulgent, and designed to dazzle you with its virtuosity. This, of course, is also what makes it great."
And Chris Gerard again for PopMatters:
"Some of it makes no sense in a literal fashion, but is meant to evoke feelings and thoughts through a word, or a sound, or a flash of imagery. Boys for Pele is a journey, one fraught with elemental human impulses. It’s a catharsis that’s harsh and beautiful and strange and bedeviling and contradictory, but never for a moment less than authentic."
Joyful Salad
On NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, Glen Weldon shared his four secrets to weight loss (80 lbs in a year!): 1) Grueling Exercise, 2) Joyless Salads, 3) Self-Loathing, and 4) Denying yourself everything that makes life worth living. Sound advice. I find most salads to be joyless, and I avoid them as often as Lorelai Gilmore does. However, I wanted to share this delicious kale salad from The Pioneer Woman. It involves a fair amount of cooking for a salad. What makes it joyful? 1) lardons, 2) caramelized red onions, 3) sauteed mushrooms in a red wine reduction, and 4) goat cheese (the grocery store was out of chevre when I went, so I picked up some feta instead—which I prefer anyway). The kale itself is not cooked, but instead stripped from the stalks. Ree Drumond did not instruct me to massage the kale which apparently is de rigueur, but whatever. The dressing is a basic balsamic vinaigrette. I am not as in love with kale as the rest of America supposedly is, but this is one tasty salad! (Weight-loss not guaranteed.)
Fosse Fists
Speaking of which, Elise, Andrea, Alissa, and I are each pursuing some weight-loss goals for the first three months of 2016. (Down 3.5 lbs since last week!) Our weekly weigh-ins aren't always successful, like that time we went to Sizzler instead of doing yoga. Last Friday we did a Pilates-based weight-loss workout followed by matwork sans mat on a hardwood floor (I bruised my coccyx). And then we drank red wine--for our health! Elise and I are now really into Cline's Ancient Vines Carignane. So good.
The Reading Life
I finished several books in January including A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (shortlisted for the National Book Award) which is both very long as well as a generous and devastating portrayal of friendship and love. I knocked out a couple of graphic novels starting with The Sandman: Overture (which I got for Christmas) which is an illuminating look at the events that happened before the first issue. It really makes me want to reread the entire series, and ain't nobody got time for that! I also finished the second trade volume of the new Ms. Marvel series which continues to be an enjoyable YA comics series. And I started a few books including Ruth Reichl's food memoir My Kitchen Year, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States ("Ev’ryone give it up for America’s favorite fighting Frenchman!") by Sarah Vowell and The River of Doubt, which a patron recommended to me.
Whisting to the Fullest
I also finished last month's book club selection, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. (Confession, I did not finish the book until after our meeting. Shame!) The book, universally adored by the SLFS staff, was my first Murakami. I was not expecting the novel's elastic realism, but it was still enjoyable. We had a lively discussion whilst eating brunch at the Oasis Cafe. (For next month's selection, we chose The Myth of Sisyphus, and reading it reminds me why I was not a philosophy major.) We then headed to the SLC Library where we attempted to play a hand of whist, though we did not get very far before I had to leave...
Golden Globes
...because I had a Golden Globes party to attend! Sam hosted, and we all dressed up very snazzy. [There would be a picture of us except Sam totally dropped the ball here.] The show itself was fairly mediocre this year, but the party was fun. We (or at least Sam and I) booed when The Revenant won Best Picture. Ugh. And then some us drank too much bubbly. And in Sam's words, "The best part about the golden globes was Leonardo's reaction to Lady Gaga bumping into him, Lady Gaga winning for AHS, and Brie Larson winning for Room. That is all."
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Perhaps the most emotional part the awards show (which happened in the first five minutes), was Rachel Bloom's win for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. And so I went and watched the show, and it is wonderful. Rebecca (Bloom) gets most of her life advice from butter ads and occasionally breaks out into song. What' not to love? The Daily Beast writes, "There is near universal consensus that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has a terrible title. There is also near universal consensus that it’s an excellent show. Only one of those things is true."
Cineasts
Sam and I (and sometimes others) continued our quest of watching Golden Globe and Oscar nominated films. We saw Spotlight, which would probably be my pick for Best Picture (even though Brooklyn is still my favorite), but it may not be flashy enough to win. Carol is a gorgeous film that I didn't quite love, but I would like to see it again. (I often want to love Todd Haynes films more than I do.) I sweated my way through The Revenant (the theater was SO hot), and no one in the group except Quinci liked it. And finally we saw The Big Short which is a fairly oddball movie. Overall, the crop of Oscar films this year isn't my favorite.
Will & Grace
Since Kristen and I ended our Buffy Night Fridays, there has been a hole in my heart. That hole has recently been filled by Will & Grace Nights with Elise (well, we've only had one night so far). We have started with Season One (not necessarily my favorite) and some of the late 90s references are dated, but it's still fun.
Car, Travel, and Money
I got my car fixed (and I still don't know how much it cost. eek.) and now it runs much better. Yay! I added another $500 to my Paris fund. Yay! And Lillian and I finally booked a hotel for PLA in Denver in April. Yay! Now we just need to hope that my car can make the trip to Denver and back. *fingers crossed*
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