The Earth-Toned Pill

I've never been a huge fan of Jean 'Moebius' Girard's work (if for no other reason than the fact that I came to his work later in life), but I am quite fond of his character designs and storyboard work for the failed Jodorowsky film adaptation of my favorite book, Dune.

The picture above is one of his fantastic character designs for the film of the character Liet Kynes, the Imperial Ecologist of Arrakis.

Check out this page on DuneInfo.com for more of his excellent work on this unfortunately doomed project.

The Sardukar and the Baron Harkonnen in particular are great!

I tend to have pretty wide-ranging tastes when it comes to music in general, but I have always felt a deep connection with certain songs or pieces that I've heard over the years. One of the most recent tracks that really struck a deep chord with me was the music playing in the background of Casino Royale during the 'shower scene', where Bond (Daniel Craig) is comforting his female companion Vesper (Eva Green) after he brutally whacked a couple guys in a stairwell right in front of her. Here's the scene:

This piece of music prompted me to post a few of my favorite music pieces, mostly things that I've heard over the years and fell in love with or songs that remind me of friends and family. Hope you're ready, because here it is:

• 'Vesper' from the Casino Royal Soundtrack
• 'Reunion with Gurney' from the Dune Soundtrack
• 'So Far Away' by Crossfade
• 'Molossus' from the Batman Begins Soundtrack
• 'Brooklyn Heights (1)' from the Gangs of New York Soundtrack
• 'DARE' by the Gorillas
• 'Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg' by Richard Wagner
• 'Theme/Credits' from the 'Timeline' PC Game
• 'Singing in my Sleep' by Semisonic
• 'The Tractor Factory' from the Enemy at the Gates Soundtrack
• 'High Roller' by The Crystal Method
• 'All These Things' by Harry Connick Jr
• 'You Are The Pan' from the Hook Soundtrack
• 'My Way' by Limp Bizkit
• 'They Say Vision' by Res
• 'The Wheat/The Battle' from the Gladiator Soundtrack
• 'Boys of Summer' by Don Henley
• 'Bette Davis Eyes' by Kim Carnes

Out of all these, my favorites probably still remain Meistersinger (listen closely at about 3:15-3:40 into it) and Reunion with Gurney (@56 seconds into it). Meistersinger in particular is probably still the only piece of music that had me in tears from start to finish when I experienced it live over at Stetson University several years ago. By the time the piece hit the climax at around 3:30, I was crying like someone just stole my birthday and was in love with it ever since. Even now though, I can't entirely explain why I felt such a strong upwelling of emotion at that time. All I know is that it was an amazing feeling, like a huge well of emotion deep inside just blew out and covered my entire body.

Hopefully one day I can hear it again in a live setting!

What are your thoughts?

The the spirit of High Fidelity's love of lists, here are my top 5 favorite books that I like to re-read from time to time:

1) Dune - Frank Herbert

A masterfully-written book, chock full of awe-inspiring locations, deeply intriguing characters, and a meticulously crafted universe. Herbert's difinitive sci-fi masterpiece that I regularly re-read.

2) Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein

Although considered one of Heinlein's so-called 'juvenile' novels, Troopers (to me) remains one of his most interesting and accessible scifi adventure stories. It helps that I like his take on future politics, and it's interesting to me how the novel fits in with the period in which he wrote it.

3) Soldat - Siegfried Knappe

There is lots of material out there on the German military during WW2, but none as interesting as this 'from the inside out' look at a specific German soldier's journey from teenage recruit to decorated general staff officer captured in the rubble of Berlin by the Soviets. A great personal perspective on the war.

4) Guns of the South - Harry Turtledove

I've always been fond of alternate history topics, and this is Harry 'master of alternate fiction' Turtledove's crowning achievement. The plot is interesting and the characters come to life before your eyes with suprising results.

5) Fatherland - Robert Harris

Another alternate history tour-de-force, featuring a victorious Nazi Germany during the 1960s where a burned-out police detective stumbles on the greatest atrocity of the 20th century. With this one, you can just feel how scary a place this world would have been had Nazi Germany still existed.