This is my personal page.
Below you'll find information about
the music I'm listening to,
the movies I'm watching, and
the books I'm reading.

Music

Here's a list of the 25 CDs (or compositions, whichever is most appropriate) that I've listened to most recently, starting from the most recent. (Last updated: November 23, 2008)

1. The Undertones - The Undertones

2. Marvin Gaye - Live at the London Palladium

3. Morton Feldman - Durations 1, performed by the Ensemble Avant-garde

4. Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question, performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

5. Charles Ives - From the Steeples and the Mountains, performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

6. Marnie Stern - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That

7. Deerhunter - Microcastle

8. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

9. The Rolling Stones - Singles 1965-1967

10. The Rolling Stones - Singles 1963-1965

11. Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks, Vol. 4: Fillmore East, February 13-14, 1970

12. High Places - 3/07 - 9/07

13. DJ /Rupture - Uproot

14. Milton Babbitt - String Quartet No. 2, performed by the Composers Quartet

15. Elliott Carter - String Quartet No. 1, performed by the Composers Quartet

16. Charles Ives - Three Places in New England, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

17. Pierre Boulez - Piano Sonata No. 3, performed by Paavali Jumppanen

18. John Cage - Seventy-Four, performed by the American Composers Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies, conductor

19. Black Flag - Six Pack (EP)

20. Milton Babbitt - Piano Concerto, performed by the American Composers Orchestra, Charles Wuorinen, conductor, Alan Feinberg, piano

21. Alban Berg - Chamber Concerto, performed by the Ensemble InterContemporain, Pierre Boulez, conductor, with Daniel Barenboim (piano) and Pinchas Zukerman (violin)

22. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles

23. Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

24. Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike

25. High Places - High Places

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Film

The column at left lists the films I've seen most recently in theaters; the one on the right lists those I've most recently watched on DVD or video. For each film, I include my rating (out of four stars). Clicking on a title will take you to a web page about the film.

My Ten Most Recently Watched Theatrical Releases (Last updated: October 11, 2008) Body of Lies (***) Burn After Reading (***) Tropic Thunder (**½) Mongol (***) The Dark Knight (***½) Vicky Cristina Barcelona (***) Hancock (**) Get Smart (**½) The Animation Show 4 (***) Iron Man (***)

My Ten Most Recently Watched Films on DVD (Last updated: November 15, 2008) The Chocolate War (***) Chan Is Missing (***½) Dawn of the Dead (***½) Pumpkinhead (**) The Cars That Ate Paris (***) The Animation Show 3 (***) Dan in Real Life (**½) Breaker Morant (****) Inland Empire (***) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (***½)

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Recreational Reading

These are the 10 books I've read most recently for enjoyment and not (at least primarily) for research or teaching. (Last updated: July 4, 2008)

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz

2. Songs of Love and Grief, by Heinrich Heine (English translations by Walter W. Arndt)

3. The Protestant Crusade, 1800-1860: A Study of the Origins of American Nativism, by Ray Allen Billington

4. The Puttermesser Papers, by Cynthia Ozick

5. Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard

6. The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith, by Alan Wolfe

7. This Is Your Brain on Music, by Daniel J. Levitin

8. BUtterfield 8, by John O'Hara

9. Earthly Powers: The Clash of Religion and Politics in Europe from the French Revolution to the Great War, by Michael Burleigh

10. The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth