Shallow Thoughts: Goose Island, Chet Faker and Brancusi
December 5, 2014
Shallow Thoughts: Vapid headline grabbing, meandering nothings and a false sense of importance
Black Friday
For many American shoppers Black Friday is a chance to test your sprinting skills in a Walmart. Use of elbows is fair game if there’s only one flat screen TV left on the shelf. My Black Friday tradition is a little bit different, if not also a little bit ridiculous. Every year Chicago brewery Goose Island nationally releases their limited series of beers including Bourbon County Stout and several variants such as this year’s Bourbon County Vanilla Rye. To have a chance at getting a guaranteed bottle (with a one bottle per person limit) of the Vanilla Rye I got in line at a beer store at 7:30 a.m. and stood in the cold for three hours. If you haven’t tried Bourbon County Stout and have the ability to, you need to give it a try! The regular Bourbon County Stout comes in twelve-ounce bottles and clocks in at 13.8% alcohol. It’s a heavy-hitter and a real sipper. With loads of bourbon flavor from the bourbon barrels in which the imperial stout was aged, it is surprisingly smooth for its high ABV. Letting the beer warm up brings out flavors of molasses, dark chocolate and vanilla. I haven’t had a chance to taste this year’s Vanilla Rye yet, but I have high hopes.
Chet Faker
No that’s not a typo. Chet Baker Faker is the stage name of twenty-six-year-old Australian electronic musician Nicholas Murphy. Chet Faker gained national recognition with cover song “No Diggity” that showed up in a 2013 Beck’s Super Bowl commercial. Chet Faker is much more than a cover musician though, and his 2014 album “Built on Glass” is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year. His music is layered, rhythmic and accompanied by strong vocals that cover a wide range. While his album only hit 158 on the US charts, it peaked at number one in Australia. I’m hoping that the popularity he’s enjoyed in Australia carries over here and makes him a household name, because he certainly has the talent and ability to be deserving of the success.
Son of a Gun
For having one of the worst titles I have seen in recent memory, this Ewan McGregor action/drama actually looks pretty fun. In the film McGregor plays a notorious criminal who leads his young protégé on a heist that nets them over $4 million in gold bars. What starts out as a partnership deteriorates quickly, however, because otherwise how could you have enough good gun battles? I’m not saying this looks like a cinema masterpiece, but sometimes you just need to go to a movie that straddles the line of mindless action film without crossing over into Michael Bay territory, and it looks like this film could fit the bill.
Brancusi’s “Bird in Space”
I’ve been saving up for my first Constantin Brancusi, but unfortunately I’m not sure I’m on pace to hit the required $27.5 million needed (the record-setting price for which the original “Bird in Space” sold at auction in 2005). In the meantime I guess pictures will have to do. This sculpture is elegant, graceful and full of energy. I think it will always be one of my favorite sculptures. Here are some different versions of Brancusi’s famous sculpture (including a bronze and a marble cast):
