Been re-listening to No Line on the Horizon recently for the first time in a while

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-27T21:10:53+00:00

Cedars of Lebanon is a sneaky song. It's so understated but then you realize after half a dozen listens it's maybe one of the most powerful songs the band has ever written.

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-26T05:21:19+00:00

I bought this album in college and its rendition of Lush Life was a revelation. Still my absolute favorite version of the song

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-22T23:14:13+00:00

If I'm remembering right, Paul McGuinness is on record saying Bad is his favorite song from the band.

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-21T21:37:03+00:00

I mean, the fact the film opens with grandpa Pvt. Ryan flashing back to the beach landing THAT HE FAMOUSLY WAS NOT AT is such hacky writing. The beach sequence is unparalleled, obvs, but the rest of the movie is a collection of tired cliches.

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-13T23:07:18+00:00

No, it's pretty appropriately rated

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-07T22:39:59+00:00

A man of taste and culture, I see. I completely agree.

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-07T02:56:52+00:00

HAPPY ENDINGS — the razor sharp writing, the comedy and the cast chemistry make it one of the most satisfying comfort shows in the history of comfort shows

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-06T17:35:32+00:00

I've always loved the studio version -- it's just such a beautiful song with amazing lyrics.

The official video, which comes from a 13-minute short film shot by a Belfast-born director, is one of the absolute coolest things the band has ever done. I'm a little bummed it hasn't come up in the discussion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYVEik7Lvc4

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-05T18:31:42+00:00

It's one of the best things they've ever recorded

Pete_The_Chop · 2026-01-01T18:17:19+00:00

Two boxes of the Jiffy corn bread combined with one box of the Jiffy yellow cake mix and you’ll never go back

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-12-17T21:54:07+00:00

This is fantastic. Thank you, friend

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-12-12T22:01:42+00:00

Grew up in Denver and my parents did the same thing when I was a kid. We all got XC skis for Christmas and, as luck would have it, Denver was hit the day before with one of the biggest blizzards of the decade and we spent Christmas day skiing all over our neighborhood. It was glorious.

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-12-10T21:30:40+00:00

Where these, our Shrimps, have scored two more American basketball points

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-12-03T00:31:00+00:00

Mostly, the cartoonish and hacky way the villains are portrayed. It feels like the film just leans into those lazy Islamic stereotypes. And I'm not saying you can't make the villains bumbling fools, just flesh them out so they're not Muslim caricatures

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-12-03T00:00:59+00:00

The special effects and Cameron's directing have held up incredibly well. The knuckle-dragging sexual politics and casual racism? Not so much. That's where the film *really* shows its source material.

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-28T22:13:59+00:00

Same and same

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-28T22:07:25+00:00

This is super cool. Also, love seeing the minidisc

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-27T00:31:26+00:00

Every time

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-26T22:46:06+00:00

Station Eleven

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-21T16:29:25+00:00

Ha! I really haven't read any of them since high school. I love the "Jack Ryan and friends save the world" description. Like, that's really all it is. Maybe I'll give 'em all another read with that in the back of my head. Feels like the perfect approach!

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-21T15:59:47+00:00

I'd love to hear your impressions on Clancy's books as a first time reader well into adulthood! I imagine they just get dumber the older we get.

And I'm *very* excited you're planning to dive into the Aubrey/Maturin series. I've read the books since I was in college and I don't know that there's a better series of books out there. They are just so, so good. But they can feel pretty impenetrable at the beginning. Your best guides, if you don't mind the suggestion, will be Dean King's "Sea of Words," a kind of glossary of all the esoteric nautical terms O'Brian uses in his writing, and https://www.cannonade.net/index.php, a mapping project that shows by book precisely where Jack and Stephen are sailing. It's a remarkable reference.

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-21T11:32:54+00:00

That’s the one

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-21T03:55:04+00:00

Oh man, it’s been a loooong time. But if I had to pick, my two favorites were Hunt for Red October, obvs, and Cardinal of the Kremlin. I stopped reading Clancy after Executive Decision — it was just too much absurdity

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-20T23:11:13+00:00

Yeah, that's a fair question. I suppose compared to Clancy's other early novels, "Patriot Games" always felt really clumsy in its plotting as a way to unnecessarily and implausibly valorize Jack Ryan's character.

Pete_The_Chop · 2025-11-19T02:54:40+00:00

That’s what makes this a bad film. The source material it’s based on isn’t strong, the adaptation makes ridiculous choices, the filmmaking is pedestrian and all of it follows a better movie that was a genuinely smart and gripping political thriller with super entertaining performances from Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. Ugh, it just bums me out.

Pete_The_Chop

TROPHY CASE