2 + 2 = 5.

1) AIR (with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra) live (9/26/04).
I know, I wrote about it already, I just need to point it out again. I'd waited so long to see AIR live and to see them in that venue, in such a special context... it made my week.

2) The Star Wars Trilogy DVD set.
I will always hate the "Jedi Rocks" sequence and much of the fussy CGI additions, but I've made my peace with the "special editions." I'm just thrilled to finally have these movies--looking the best they ever have, sounding fantastic--on DVD. Plus that Empire of Dreams doc is excellent. (Highlight: getting to watch footage of Darth Vader speak before they dubbed in James Earl Jones.)

3) Checking another Master of Cinema off the list.

Somehow, I made it through four years of film school without seeing films from, among others, Fellini, Kurosawa, Bergman, Ozu, Fassbinder, Tarkovsky, Bunuel, Godard, Truffaut, Lang, Powell & Pressburger, and on and on. (Yes, I could have been more pro-active in my renting habits, but seriously, I think I could have used a screening of Ikuru instead of Witness.)
Anyway, the point of this is: I have taken great joy in digging in and exploring these insanely brilliant filmmakers on my own. This past weekend I saw Shadows-- the first Cassavetes film I'd ever seen. At first, I found myself fighting his sloppy/raw aesthetic but by the time Tony started hitting on Lelia, I was in awe and ready to start gorging on Cassavetes' work.

4) SMiLE.

No, it's not made up of the old Beach Boy outtakes. No, Brian is not in the prime of his talent. But at long last the album has been completed and it's finally available. And that's reason enough to celebrate.

5) Pitchfork's slam of Eminem's "Just Lose It."
They call him a troglodyte. Huh huh.