Artist of the WeekToulouse LautrecWhat do you get when you mix a crap load of absinthe, inbreeding, and raw artistic talent? French artist Toulouse Lautrec. A post-impressionist painter in the same ranks as Van Gogh, Cezanne and Gaugin, Toulouse-Lautrec’s subjects were often members of the licentious underbelly of Parisian society–a community he knew all too well. Before dying of complications due to alcoholism and syphilis in 1901 at the age of 36, Toulouse-Lautrec created 737 canvases, 275 watercolours, 363 prints and posters, and 5,084 drawings. Some of these posters, paintings, and prints are currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Book of the WeekCatcher in the Rye“I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all.  Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me.  And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.  What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them.  That’s all I do all day.  I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.  I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.”

If you read it between the ages of 11 and 14, Catcher in the Rye probably had a big influence on your formative years. Pioneering the genre of teenage angst, J.D. Salinger gave us Holden Caulfield, a sarcastic, troubled 16 year old you can’t help but identify with. Salinger died last week at age 91, and unfortunate as it is, his death gives us the chance to reminisce about the book that once held our breath as we recognized ourselves so clearly in the mind of its main character. Movie of the WeekGattacaGattaca isn’t your typical science fiction film. Set in the not-so distant dystrophic future, liberal eugenics is the norm and genetic engineering determines social class. While science provides the backdrop for the story, what sets this under-rated piece of cinema apart is the sheer amount of detail that contributes to the thought-provoking theme of discrimination and human preservation. Visually, the sci-fi atmosphere sets the backdrop for the story and creates a tapestry of cinematic art. The soundtrack is nothing less of phenomenal. Gattaca truly proves that there is no gene for the human spirit.Album of the WeekLow End Theory, A Tribe Called QuestThis is the first hip-hop album I ever bought and to this day remains in my top ten.  One of the amazing things that will strike you about listening to this album is how different it sounds from anything being produced today, mainly because of it’s reliance on simple beats consisting of only drums, bass, and vocals.  This basic production style emphasizes the continuum of black music by drawing direct comparisons to earlier jazz movements.The other striking thing is that the smooth vocals of Phife Dawg, Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Mohammed deliver their positive, and oftentimes funny message, without using any profanity.  Released in 1991, this album sports waist deep roots and truly typifies the golden age of hip-hop.