Casey Calvert

Hawthorne Heights (If Only You Were Lonley, Original) Music Poster Print - 16" X 24"
$5.99
This original poster is for the album If Only You Were Lonely. It shows the group in the middle and "Hawthrone Heights" at the top. At the bottom is a promo for the DVD "This is How We Are" and above that is for two books, also by Hawthorne Heights. This poster measures approx. 16" X 24" Hawthorne Heights is a pop punk/hardcore band with members JT Woodruff, Matt Ridenour, Eron Bucciarelli, Casey Calvert and Micah Carli. Their albums include The Silence in Black and White and If Only You Were Lonely, and the DVD This is Who We Are. Popular songs include Ohio is for Lovers, Niki FM, Saying Sorry, Pens and Needles.

Calvert Casey: The Collected Stories (Latin America in Translation)
$22.95
It's quite a tragedy that Casey never completed a novel before committing suicide. This collection of his works (some translated into English for the first time) is an amazing taste of his burgeoning style. Casey was a friend of Virgilio Pi���era and Severo Sarduy, so I was eager to read these stories. He created tight worlds that convey much in their brevity. Stand-out stories for me include "Homecoming" (where a man returns to Cuba where he's arrested and tortured for unknown reasons), "The Execution" (similar to "Homecoming" where a man is arrested for a crime he didn't commit, and yet he never speaks a word in his defense), and "Piazza Margana" (which is a brilliant love story in the style of Pi���era or Poppy Z. Brite). Some stories are difficult to fathom, and yet it's evident the potency Casey had in his writing, especially when writing about his Cuban heritage and his ambivalent sexuality.

If Only You Were Lonely Version B
$13.99
Um...I think these guys are good, but they have to decide what genre they want to be. Are they trying to be emo, screamo, metal? I'm confused.

All the songs sound the same. The only ones I recognize when I have my iPod on shuffle are "Dead in the Water" and "Decembers".

The songs all have the same theme. They need to vary a little bit.

Their voices are soft. This clashes disasterously with the screaming. Either they should stop singing so softly, or stop screaming.

-That was a lot of negative stuff, but there are good things too.

Their music is good. Not too harsh, not too mellow (except for Decembers).

The reason I think their songs are all about the same thing is because they are trying to tell a story. The pictures prove that.

Their music is good to put on when you're writing a story or dark poetry (like I do). It's also good to put on when you're mad and just want to drown out the world (again, with the exception of Decembers. It's just too painfully mellow and slow. cough-they-sing-about-butterflies-cough)

...My final overview is, if you can find it cheap, buy it. I'd say under five dollars would be reasonable. You only need one version of it. I don't know why you'd buy two. But whatever. I'd wait for their next one anyways to judge them. They still have room for improvement.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

I avoided this film when it came out because I couldn't believe Casey Affleck was an actor to watch. Well, I am proud to be eating humble pie and admitting that he is a tremendous talent along with director Andrew Dominick, Brad Pitt, Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider, Sam Shepherd, Allison Elliot, Garrett Dillahunt and the rest of the cast.

Many have complained that the film is slow and it is, but it's a beautiful meditative slow, where every frame is like a gorgeous photograph. And they are, since they were shot by Roger Deakins probably the best cinematographer alive. The music is haunting and evocative. The dialogue is poetic and of the era. Very rare for this day and age. Heck for any age. It's not a shoot'em up and anyone who needs that fix when they watch a film, well, stick with Tranformers. This is a film about real people in real life situations where the moral isn't about winning or getting the girl but the price of fame and the caprice of the public. I'd say the movie almost bears comparison to The Godfather with The King of Comedy mixed in. The sense of dread and loss the director and editors created was awesome. It's just powerful.

It was overshadowed by both No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood when it came out in 2007. But I think it's the superior of the three. It's definitely one of the best films I've ever seen.