Media Nugget

Bubble & Scrape

Sebadoh
Bubble & Scrape
1993

Sebadoh is generally synonymous with Lou Barlow's beautifully wrought anthems of love and longing, yet it's the juxtaposition of those mostly mid-tempo songs with Eric Gaffney's breakneck blasts of chaos that makes Bubble & Scrape so special. Jason Loewenstein completes the equation, stepping up and delivering songs that somehow complement both his bandmates. Unfortunately, Gaffney left the band after Scrape and Barlow and Loewenstein gradually merged their songwriting styles into a more cohesive, but less interesting sound.

Out of Sight

Steven Soderbergh
Out of Sight
1998

Soderbergh's adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel is clever, sexy, and truly shines when it asks its superbeautiful actors (George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez) to play awkward. Clooney's a prison escapee who should be doing just about anything to avoid Lopez, a federal marshal. Yet, in perhaps the movie's most touching shot, spotting her from inside a departing motel elevator, Clooney inexplicably raises his hand and waves. Of course, Soderbergh's talent has always been bringing odd characters to life -- the kind more likely to sit beside you in a movie theater than flicker up on the screen.

Tell Me About It

Carolyn Hax
Tell Me About It

Standing out against the ever-growing crowd of advice columnists, Carolyn Hax dispenses wisdom for the under-30 crowd in The Washington Post's "Style" section every Friday and Sunday. In both her newspaper columns and her online chats, she delivers no-nonsense advice with a dollop of humor, often adopting the voice of the advice seeker. Yet, perhaps most impressive of all, Hax's ruthless pragmatism allows her to deftly avoid any hint of moralizing -- an approach that readers on both sides of 30 are likely to appreciate.

Liar's Poker

Michael Lewis
Liar's Poker
1989

Michael Lewis, author of last year's The New New Thing, offers a sometimes hilarious, sometimes shocking tell-all about the "Big Swinging Dicks" at Salomon Brothers during the torrid 1980s bond market. The madness of Wall Street is clearly on display here and, like a car wreck, it's both frightening and fascinating at the same time.

Shadowland

k.d. lang
Shadowland
1988

Producer extraordinaire, Owen Bradley originally created the Nashville sound by supplementing traditional strings of steel with the catgut of violins, and ivory of the piano. He came out of retirement to revisit some of the high points of country music on Shadowland. The velveteen vocal cords of k.d. lang, the self-professed reincarnation of Patsy Cline, truly do them justice, evoking memories of AM country radio and the jukebox at the all-nite diner.

42 Up

Michael Apted
42 Up
1998

In 1964 Michael Apted made a television documentary called Seven Up -- a conversation with a group of 7-year-old schoolchildren from all strata of British society: rural and urban, black and white, East London orphans and public school swells. Checking back every seven years, the filmmaker created Seven Plus Seven, 21 Up, 28 Up, and 35 Up. The latest installment finds the group smaller in numbers and greater in years. They deal with their own children growing up, parents dying, goals met or dreams recalibrated, all with vitality still intact. It's a powerful testimonial to the transforming power of friendship and, ultimately, to the value of the examined life.

The Complete Plays

Joe Orton
The Complete Plays
1963-67

As seen in the film Prick Up Your Ears, the short life and violent death of Joe Orton makes a fascinating story in itself. But his true legacy is this collection of seven plays. From the early radio script The Ruffian on the Stair to the masterful farces Loot and What the Butler Saw, Orton displayed a rude wit and keen ear for dialogue that prompted one London newspaper to dub him "the Oscar Wilde of Welfare State gentility."

Girlfriend

Matthew Sweet
Girlfriend
1991

There's nothing better than a perfect pop song, especially when it comes along at the perfect moment -- like a miserable January morning in Detroit when you're crawling through rush-hour traffic and a gem like "Girlfriend" crackles over your cheap car radio. The air seems warmer, the traffic looks lighter, and the day feels like it could turn out to be a victory.

Pee-wee's Playhouse

Pee-wee Herman
Pee-wee's Playhouse
1986-91

Like Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Pee-wee's Playhouse was an award-winning children's show. But this short-lived series was so inventive and unusual that it captured the hearts of kids and adults alike. With a bag of tricks that included puppets, cartoons, and giant underpants, Pee-wee managed to strike a balance between wide-eyed innocence and winking innuendo. The show was abruptly cancelled in 1991 after Herman (a.k.a. Paul Reubens) was arrested for indecent exposure in a Florida movie theater.

Japan at War

Haruko Cook
Japan at War
1992

America's conflict with Japan in World War II is often distilled into two events: Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. This remarkable oral history gives us a detailed picture of a society that experienced the war in all its enormity. The stories include those of children who built bombs without knowing it, starving mothers who sent rice to their sons on the front, journalists imprisoned for reporting the war truthfully. Together, they form an incredible account of a nation's people torn asunder by a war of their own making, told in their own words.