The Smith Westerns, a Chicago band reviewed quite positively in the Maroon this past April, were named the fifth best band of 2010 so far by NME this week. Go team!

"They swagger, they croon about 'the kiss of love,' and they are really good," the Maroon wrote in April, in an upbeat concert review that came out four months before NME's endorsement, which placed the Smith Westerns just behind too-cool kids Sleigh Bells (#4) and Best Coast (#1).

Put perhaps more succinctly and intelligently, but definitely also belatedly: "Their debut album is a raucous, uninhibited romp of a record that is run through with the energy of youthful abandon and bored callous rebellion," NME said.

The Maroon's foresighted review did receive some negative feedback from the campus community that helpfully pointed out the Smith Westerns' ties to the U of C (having played at Summer Breeze before, and apparently other gigs), but as the Smith Dubs (as they are affectionately called, maybe) have not indicated anything to the contrary, one can pretty safely assume they took the campus newspaper's constructive criticism to heart, earning the Dubs their place on the decreasingly-relevant music magazine's half-year list.

UPDATE: Srsly tho, kidding.

UPDATE, THE SECOND: An early interview with the then high-school aged band, as referenced by commenter 11 (Thanks 11!). Note that their mainstream recognition did not come until after the Maroon covered them. Coincidence? I think not! Wait no I think it is a coincidence. Obvs.

The nominations for the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced Saturday evening, and there are more than a couple authors among them associated with the University of Chicago.

The most rented movies on Netflix in Hyde Park last year were critically-acclaimed Oscar contenders, according to data released by Netflix and aggregated by The New York Times, with Slumdog Millionaire topping the list in both the neighborhood's zip codes.

Slumdog was the third most rented movie across the U.S. last year, according to the data.

Here are the five most rented films in each zipcode

60615:

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Doubt
3. Milk
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Rachel Getting Married

60637:

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Doubt
4. Milk
5. Burn after Reading

The northern-half of Hyde Park favored Twilight a little more than did the southern-half: it was the 11th most rented movie in 60615, while it was only the 12th most popular in 60637.

Just to the north of Hyde Park, Bronzeville, area 60653, liked the 2009 Best Picture winner, as well:

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Doubt
4. Tyler Perry's the Family that Preys
5. Changeling

Twilight came in 17th.

Now that spring has sprung, I can't think of a better time to spend some time outside of the dining hall and try a hand at making your own food. Warmer weather lends itself to picnics, which I think are made all the better by homemade food. Not to mention that above-freezing temperatures make it easier to lug groceries back to your place. If you're not sure what to cook and want some inspiration, here's some of the best food blogs out there. (Also, let me just say that foodnetwork.com, while probably the most popular food Web site, is vastly inferior to these and, frankly, quite confusing.)

Foodgawker: A great site that updates almost overwhelmingly often. I swear, every time I check it out (which is at least three times a day) there's at least a couple new posts. The site's individual posts have pictures of each dish and a small caption describing them, and each pictures links to its recipe. However, sometimes the Web sites they link to are in foreign languages. But this is definitely my favorite food blog.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: For those of us who don't have access to or can't afford gourmet ingredients, this site is very helpful in finding yummy things to cook. Be warned though that many of her recipes aren't very diet-friendly. Yet it seems that lately she's been eschewing butter-saturated cinammon rolls for vegetable and pasta dishes. Her recipes are also very instructive, with both detailed written instructions and step-by-step photographs.

Food Porn Daily: Definitely a foodie's food blog. All it is are pictures of really, really good looking food. Admittedly, though, some of the close-ups of stews and seafood are, well, quite unappetizing.

Cooking By Numbers: So you go to your kitchen to grab some food, only to find that your fridge is a barren wasteland, save for half a jar of mayonnaise and a bottle of ketchup. Go to Cooking By Numbers, check the boxes indicating the food you have in your kitchen, and watch the Web site work its magic. It will give you as many options as it can as to what you can make. The Web site looks like it hasn't been updated since the late '90s, but it works well. Some of the recipes can be a little odd though. For example, I'm not sure how good a ketchup and mayonnaise quiche would be.

PRIDE 2009, Q & A's annual celebration of the queer community, takes place all this week with everything from "Queer Bowling" to a drag ball in the offing.

Don't miss:

A screening of Tal Como Somos (Just As We Are), Judith McCray's compelling 2007 documentary about gay Latinos living in America. (April 23rd, 7 p.m. at 5710 South Woodlawn)

A performance by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Magdalen Hsu-Li, whose music has been compared to Ani DiFranco's solo work. (April 23rd, 6 p.m., for more info contact mtlee@uchicago.edu).

The GENDERFUCK Drag Ball, featuring DJ Reagonomix and performances by Chicago drag queens. (April 25th, 9 p.m., Ida Noyes 3rd Floor Theater).

Cherrie Moraga, Chicana writer, feminist activist and 2007 USA Rockefeller Fellow, reads excerpts from her new work. (April 24th, 7 p.m., Ida Noyes Cloister Club).

Go to the LGBTQ Programming Office website for event details and more!

Tal Como Somos Trailer

 If you are, like me, anticipating with a queasy mix of dread and excitement the premiere of HBO's "Grey Gardens" with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, a youtube user named PerfectBrody posted the original 1975 documentary in its entirety earlier this week. Check it out before it's taken down for copyright infringement!

Trailer for HBO's "Grey Gardens."

The original "Grey Gardens" trailer.

Now that Doc's "42nd Street Forever" Thursday night grindhouse-fest is over, I've felt that there's a severe dearth of cheesy dialogue and blatantly staged fight scenes in my life. Luckily, today I stumbled upon this gem: The Center for East Asian Studies screens a 1970's Japanese horror film every Friday at noon in Wiebolt 301 as part of their "Mobsters, Monsters, and Swords!" spring quarter film series. You can even bring your lunch, which, frankly, is an improvement over Doc. (Of course, Doc's no eating policiy is understandable.) Before each screening, a Ph.D. student explains the film's background and cultural importance. 

This Friday, they'll be showing Evil of Dracula (1974): "A young teacher arrives at an all-girls school in Japan where he flirts with the students and teaches them about the history of psychoanalysis. No, it isn't a promotional video for the JET program; it's one of the Hammer-inspired vampire films Toho produced during the early nineteen seventies. 'Evil of Dracula' (which was the final film of the Toho cycle) is something of a loose remake of the Hammer film 'Lust for a Vampire,' borrowing the moody production design and emphasis on sexual titillation from its British predecessor. What sets the Toho series apart from their Hammer ancestors is their explanation of vampirism, which is one of the most unusual of all vampire cinemas."

Next week they'll have The Mysterians (1957): "Strange aliens have come to Japan in order to ask for the right to marry Earth women in order to prolong their race. However, when things turn sour Earth's only defense is an alliance between Japan and America and the new weapons they can create together. Like 'Godzilla' before it, 'The Mysterians' uses the science fiction film as a platform for addressing fears about the misuse of technology and nuclear annihilation. However, underneath that attempted message is a confused attitude toward military hardware, which the filmmakers lovingly display in numerous special effects sequences. A colorful mix of disaster film, monster mash and special effects extravaganza, 'The Mysterians' is one of the key moments in the history of Japanese science fiction cinema."

For more information and a full calendar, go to the "Mobsters, Monsters, and Swords!" website.

As I was checking the front page of MSNBC yesterday, the first thing I saw was "Michael Jackson staged to announce comeback." While I first wondered why they would announce his comeback before Michael Jackson did so himself, I later started thinking as to whether this story was newsworthy enough to merit a center spot on the front page. With the exception of the auction at Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson has been out of the spotlight for some time now. According to the article, he will be playing 10 concerts this July at London's O2 Arena, which has hosted acts like Elton John and the Spice Girls within the past few years. After these shows, Jackson says he will retire permanantly from performing.

But, in the eyes of the general public, hasn't he been retired from music for some time now? I can't remember the last time I associated Michael Jackson with his music over his financial and legal troubles. I'm not saying Michael Jackson isn't important anymore, just that he's a part of pop culture for different reasons other than "Beat It" or "Thriller."

And this is precisely why I think this "comeback" will be a spectacular failure. While I think people still appreciate his music, (I know I do.) I don't really think anyone thinks of him as capable to do any of his '80s and '90s hits justice. Whether he is or not, the public views him only as a bankrupt pedophile, not the man who moonwalks and can rock the one glove look. Michael Jackson is so far from his former self both physically and mentally that it simply wouldn't be worth the price of tickets (which I'm sure is incredibly overpriced) to try to pretend like it would be the same as him performing 20 years ago.

Apparently I'm not the only one that shares this sentiment. According to the article, few people showed up after the press conference to try to meet him or get his autograph, and entertainment officials say that fans may be hesitant to buy tickets given his erratic and unpredictable behavior. Yes, it's sad that us younger folks who love his music can never see the true Michael Jackson bust a move and belt "Billy Jean," but he can always live on in our own horrible imitations and Greatest Hits CDs.

Source: Here