Hello,
It's kind of a slow time in the music world right now, so I don't have much today. As has been well documented several places there will be a fourth judge added to "American Idol". Her name is Kara DioGuardi. She was written songs for many people including Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Pink and Carrie Underwood. (I mention Carrie Underwood any time I can.) The "AI" producers are saying the fourth judge adds an extra flavor to the show. That idea is based on some of the inter-national "AI" series and how well a 4 person judging panel works there. I am all for adding an extra judge, but please get rid of Paula and Randy. Kara and Simon should just be fine. When was the last time Paula had a coherent thought and I am tired of Randy's standard five phrases. Why do we need judges at all? If we absolutely have to have judges lets minimize their impact. Let's put the spotlight on the singers and music, which is most people watch the show anyway. Have you ever heard anyone say they want to watch "AI" for the judges? I thought not. I would prefer to hear each performer sing the full song, not some chopped up 90 second version. Let Ryan Seacrest handle all the non-performance stuff. But please, please, please get rid of Paula and Randy.
B.B. King released his latest CD on Tuesday, it is titled "One Fine Favor". To be honest I was a little disappointed in this CD. The intent of the CD was for him to get back to basics. I took that to mean he would playing some of that blistering Chicago 50's blues. Theres's not too much of that, but there is a lot of realitively mellow music. The producer he was working with was T. Bone Burnett. Burnett was the mastermind behind the Robert Plant and Allison Krauss "Raising Sand" CD. I wish King would have picked a producer who would insisted on more of that blistering blues music. In my opinion Buddy Guy's "Skin Deep" is still the best blues CD of the year.
Other rock news: AC/DC's new song is available to stream at rs.com. It's called "Rock N Roll Train". I was surprised with how good this song is. I am looking forward to excellent CD's by both them and Metallica if the lead singles are any indication of the quality of the music. I also welcome both of them back because we need some rock in this lame era of crap-hop music. Speaking of great rock music, here's a band you need to check out, Eon MegaHertz. They RAWK! and you can get two of their songs free at rcrdlbl.com. Definitely check them out. If you are wanting to be on the cutting edge for hot music, now is the time to jump on their bandwagon. On last.fm they only have 582 listens so far. Also I very excitedly went to NBCOlympics.com to check out the performance by Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page from the 2008 Closing Olympics ceremony. However the version they have has horrible sound. It is so bad I could only listen to it for a few seconds. They blocked people on youtube.com from showing their own versions.
A couple more notes I know I have mentioned this before but Whitesnake has a live double CD titled "Standing In The Shadow Of The Blues" that absolutely rocks. I have enjoyed it on Rhapsody a few times. When I get the money I am just going to be buying it. There is a new band out called Scars on Broadway, they have two of the musicians from System Of A Down. Scars on Broadway rocks, I think they are a much better band than System Of A Down.
Finally a quick review of some movies I have seen Comcast On Demand recently. First "Mannequin" the 80's classic starring the incredibly hot Kim Cattrall. It is so typical of 80's movies, it has the cheesy synth music. Also the storyline is cheesy and I was surprised how much sex references and innuendo it has. From my rememberance of the first time that I saw it, I remember it as being fairly chaste. I was wrong on that. It is an okay movie and has a few laughs. Second "Thunderheart" the movie starring Val Kilmer. Kilmer plays a half-Indian FBI detective going back to the reservation to confront his true identity. If that sounds terrible to you, you are right. Overall a pretty stupid movie. (Although I do have to give a shout out to Val Kilmer for his performance of Jim Morrison in the "The Doors". He played Jim Morrison with great charisma and captured the essence of Jim Morrison.) Last but not least and definitely not best either. Third "Blown Away" starring Tommy Lee Jones. This was an okay movie but one thing about it really made me laugh. Jones character is from Ireland, so the makers of this movie worked in U2 music. I guess that was suppose to add a air of legitimacy to the whole Irish angle. However it doesn't. I am fine with movies playing all the U2 they want though. The makers of this movie only did it for money reasons, not due to artistic impulse.
Now my friends I am actually working at a temporary job Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So my next blog entry probably won't be until Monday. So if you miss my blog I will leave a list of some great CD's to enjoy. These CD's are in no particular order. 1) "Skin Deep"- Buddy Guy 2) "Back In Black"- AC/DC, 3) "Appetite For Destruction"- Guns N' Roses 4) "Pyromania"- Def Leppard 5) Any CD by Led Zeppelin, even "Coda" 6) "Vs."- Pearl Jam 7) "Taking The Long Way"- The Dixie Chicks 8) "Accelerate"- R.E.M 9) "Like A Virgin"-Madonna 10) "Graceland" by Paul Simon and 11) Greatest Hits by the Doors. That is a fantastic line-up of some of the greatest music of all-time.
Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend and drive smart, themusicaddict
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Love Is Free But the Shirt is $30.
Hello,
I didn't know if I should title my blog the title I gave it or "Papa Please Don't Bring Your Floozie To Town". I decided to go the positive route. What my alternate title refers to is the four morons that sat in front of us at the Sheryl Crow concert last night. They were four drunk dorks- two males and two females- who ruined the concert for anyone near them. They danced horribly, drank to excess and invaded everyone's personal space, while the other two guys and girls felt her up. One woman in particular in this group was completely out of control. She apparantally was the sexual object for the other three freaks. It was a really terrible display of vulgarity and stupidity. I kept on hoping that security would notice but they never did. I don't even know if they would have done anything. However their behavior crossed over the lines of good taste. Please don't bring your bedroom behavior into the public. Please, please when you go to a concert be respectful to those people around you. Be appropriate in physical intimacy in public events, especially with children around. Everyone is there to have fun time, but your being jerks ruined it for a lot of other people. After the concert was over the 3 other people hopefully left the drunken female idiot behind.
Other than that terribly distracting nonsense the concert was fantastic. The weather was perfect. Our seats were great, other than the morons in front of us, and we were able to see the artists well. The sound was pretty good and the performances were great. I mean I hate focusing on it, but everything else about the concert was perfect except the drunken dimwits.
The first artists were the Jamaican Reggae legends Toots and the Maytals. They played 8 songs in their 40 minutes. They started off with "Sitting In The Summer Sun". That is a typical of their music and reggae in general. It's a funky reggae song. Toots have been playing since the mid 60's but they don't have many well known songs. He claims they were the comes who came up with the word "reggae". I don't know if that's true, but they play it very well. They seem to acknowledge their all unfamiliar songs by doing a couple of covers. They covered The Kingsmen "Louie, Louie" and they also covered John Denver's "Country Roads". Substituting "West Jamaica" for "West Virgina" in the chorus. Overall they were pretty good for an opening act. Although they are a pale comparison of Reggae legend Bob Marley. I kept on wanting to yell out for them to play some Bob Marley, but that seemed to be inappropriate.
After a short break it was time for the 11 song, 55 minute set of James Blunt and his crack band. They came on stage in very dapper dress. They mixed up songs from both of Blunt's CDs. He started off his set with a song that I was not able to pick out the title. It is a good song though, a proper introduction to the music of James Blunt. (See full setlist below.) Some of the highlights included "Carry You Home" which Blunt called "a really miserable song". Other highlights included "Goodbye My Lover", "Same Mistake" and set closer "1973". He also sang one of my all-time personal favorites by anyone, "You're Beautiful". I know a lot of people have tired of this song, but for some reason I never did. That is just a perfect pop song. I finally had insight on one of his songs, "So Long Jimmy". I could not figure out who he was singing this song to. He is an avowed heterosexual, in fact he has quite the way with the ladies. So I didn't think he would be singing this song to a guy and I have never heard of a girl named Jimmy. Then the lightbulb came on and I realized he was singing it from the girls point of view and it was directed at him- Jimmy.
James Blunt and his band were fantastic. About halfway through his show he jumped down in front of the stage and then ran out into the audience slapping hands with several people. That seemed to be completely spontaneous as security was caught completely unaware. Hopefully they have recovered from the shock they gave him. Again the only downside of his set were the 4 idiots in front of us who came in the show about halfway through his set. It's too bad that they are going to be one of the prevailing memories of this otherwise fantastic night. I think concert venues need to set some kind of standards against idiot behavior. That being said if you get the chance to see James Blunt do it. He is very good.
James Blunt setlist
1) ""
2) "Wisemen"
3) "Carry You Home"
4) "I'll Take Everything"
5) "Goodbye My Lover"
6) "One of the Brightest Stars"
7) ""
8) "You're Beautiful"
9) "So Long Jimmy"
10) "Same Mistake"
11) "1973"
After only about 20 minutes it was time for Miss Sheryl Crow and her crack band to take the stage. Crow ripped through 18 songs in 100 minutes. Like Blunt she rocked out on many of her more mellow songs. To start Sheryl Crow took the stage by herself with only her acoustic guitar. She sang a song off her new CD "Detours" called "God Bless This Mess". (See full setlist below.) The band then joined her for the rest of the night with "Shine Over Babylon". That is one of the 7 songs she sang from her new CD, "Detours". The third song is what lead to the title of this blog entry. She sang "Love Is Free". A shirt bearing that sentiment was selling for $30. Then she sang three of her bigger hits: "Leaving Las Vegas", "Strong Enough" and "I Can't Cry Anymore". Other highlights included "Motivation", a song which she said about all the new, famous people there are now. That includes people famous for nothing, she name checked Paris Hilton before tearing into the song.
For her next song, which she desribed as one of her favorite songs, she sang Cat Stevens "The First Cut Is The Deepest". She sang that with James Blunt. She sang some new songs and another classic and then she sang the lowlight of the night for her. She sang the very slow and boring "Weather Channel". That song killed the momentum of the concert. However a rockin' version of "If It Makes You Happy" reignited the concert and the crowd. She closed out the main set with "Soak Up The Sun" and "Love Is A Winding Road" before leaving the stage. She took the traditional 5 minute break as the crowd urged her and her band to come back for more. She then sang "All I Wanna Do" in which she name checked Salt Lake City. We responded with enthusiastic response. For her final song of the night she brought Toots back on and they covered Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". She urged everyone to download his CD.
Overall a fantastic set with many highlights. Her new CD is fantastic which added to overall quality of her set.
1) "God Bless This Mess" Crow sang all by herself
2) "Shine On Babylon" The band comes on at the start of this song.
3) "Love Is Free"
4) "Leaving Las Vegas" Extended jam with audience participation
5) "Strong Enough" Slowed down version.
6) "I Can't Cry Anymore" tagging on "I Can See Clearly Now" in an extended jam
7) "Motivation" a rocked out version
8) "The First Cut Is The Deepest" duet with James Blunt
9) "Favorite Mistake" rocking version of this song
10) "Gasoline" with a tag of a Who song
11) "Detours" (Paper Thin Heart)
12) "Weather Channel" This song was the lowlight of the night for Crow and her band. An extremely slow and boring show.
13) "If It Makes You Happy"
14) "Out of Our Heads"
15) "Soak Up The Sun"
16) "Everyday Is A Winding Road"
Brief break, then encore
17) "All I Wanna Do"
18) "Higher Ground" a Stevie Wonder cover sang with Toots
Other notes if you would like you can see the setlist and a picture of her performing last night at her website sherylcrow.com. She did not run out into the audience unfortunately. She briefly mentioned the adoption of her son Wyatt and her battle and victory over breast cancer. However there was no mention of Lance Armstrong. She also didn't sing her song that best describes her relationship with Armstrong "Diamond Ring". She also hilariously introduced her band members and that they were from local Utah cities before admitting they weren't. Overall a great performance by Sheryl Crow and her band only to be marred by the drunken dimwits in front of us. Also Sheryl Crow's new CD is very good. I would also highly reccomend both CD's by James Blunt.
I would also like to thank my Mom for buying my ticket, that was awesome. I would also like to thank Tim, Dad, Justin and Mom for being such good company. Also a personal shout out to the Head Coach of BYU's Men's Basketball team, Dave Rose. It is good to see the coach with such great taste. Don't worry BYU will be just fine without Trent Plaisted. I promise that really was not my beer. That stuff even smells bad.
Tomorrow I will be back will a regular blog entry including news about adding a fourth judge to "AI" and my opinion of that. Peace, themusicaddict
I didn't know if I should title my blog the title I gave it or "Papa Please Don't Bring Your Floozie To Town". I decided to go the positive route. What my alternate title refers to is the four morons that sat in front of us at the Sheryl Crow concert last night. They were four drunk dorks- two males and two females- who ruined the concert for anyone near them. They danced horribly, drank to excess and invaded everyone's personal space, while the other two guys and girls felt her up. One woman in particular in this group was completely out of control. She apparantally was the sexual object for the other three freaks. It was a really terrible display of vulgarity and stupidity. I kept on hoping that security would notice but they never did. I don't even know if they would have done anything. However their behavior crossed over the lines of good taste. Please don't bring your bedroom behavior into the public. Please, please when you go to a concert be respectful to those people around you. Be appropriate in physical intimacy in public events, especially with children around. Everyone is there to have fun time, but your being jerks ruined it for a lot of other people. After the concert was over the 3 other people hopefully left the drunken female idiot behind.
Other than that terribly distracting nonsense the concert was fantastic. The weather was perfect. Our seats were great, other than the morons in front of us, and we were able to see the artists well. The sound was pretty good and the performances were great. I mean I hate focusing on it, but everything else about the concert was perfect except the drunken dimwits.
The first artists were the Jamaican Reggae legends Toots and the Maytals. They played 8 songs in their 40 minutes. They started off with "Sitting In The Summer Sun". That is a typical of their music and reggae in general. It's a funky reggae song. Toots have been playing since the mid 60's but they don't have many well known songs. He claims they were the comes who came up with the word "reggae". I don't know if that's true, but they play it very well. They seem to acknowledge their all unfamiliar songs by doing a couple of covers. They covered The Kingsmen "Louie, Louie" and they also covered John Denver's "Country Roads". Substituting "West Jamaica" for "West Virgina" in the chorus. Overall they were pretty good for an opening act. Although they are a pale comparison of Reggae legend Bob Marley. I kept on wanting to yell out for them to play some Bob Marley, but that seemed to be inappropriate.
After a short break it was time for the 11 song, 55 minute set of James Blunt and his crack band. They came on stage in very dapper dress. They mixed up songs from both of Blunt's CDs. He started off his set with a song that I was not able to pick out the title. It is a good song though, a proper introduction to the music of James Blunt. (See full setlist below.) Some of the highlights included "Carry You Home" which Blunt called "a really miserable song". Other highlights included "Goodbye My Lover", "Same Mistake" and set closer "1973". He also sang one of my all-time personal favorites by anyone, "You're Beautiful". I know a lot of people have tired of this song, but for some reason I never did. That is just a perfect pop song. I finally had insight on one of his songs, "So Long Jimmy". I could not figure out who he was singing this song to. He is an avowed heterosexual, in fact he has quite the way with the ladies. So I didn't think he would be singing this song to a guy and I have never heard of a girl named Jimmy. Then the lightbulb came on and I realized he was singing it from the girls point of view and it was directed at him- Jimmy.
James Blunt and his band were fantastic. About halfway through his show he jumped down in front of the stage and then ran out into the audience slapping hands with several people. That seemed to be completely spontaneous as security was caught completely unaware. Hopefully they have recovered from the shock they gave him. Again the only downside of his set were the 4 idiots in front of us who came in the show about halfway through his set. It's too bad that they are going to be one of the prevailing memories of this otherwise fantastic night. I think concert venues need to set some kind of standards against idiot behavior. That being said if you get the chance to see James Blunt do it. He is very good.
James Blunt setlist
1) ""
2) "Wisemen"
3) "Carry You Home"
4) "I'll Take Everything"
5) "Goodbye My Lover"
6) "One of the Brightest Stars"
7) ""
8) "You're Beautiful"
9) "So Long Jimmy"
10) "Same Mistake"
11) "1973"
After only about 20 minutes it was time for Miss Sheryl Crow and her crack band to take the stage. Crow ripped through 18 songs in 100 minutes. Like Blunt she rocked out on many of her more mellow songs. To start Sheryl Crow took the stage by herself with only her acoustic guitar. She sang a song off her new CD "Detours" called "God Bless This Mess". (See full setlist below.) The band then joined her for the rest of the night with "Shine Over Babylon". That is one of the 7 songs she sang from her new CD, "Detours". The third song is what lead to the title of this blog entry. She sang "Love Is Free". A shirt bearing that sentiment was selling for $30. Then she sang three of her bigger hits: "Leaving Las Vegas", "Strong Enough" and "I Can't Cry Anymore". Other highlights included "Motivation", a song which she said about all the new, famous people there are now. That includes people famous for nothing, she name checked Paris Hilton before tearing into the song.
For her next song, which she desribed as one of her favorite songs, she sang Cat Stevens "The First Cut Is The Deepest". She sang that with James Blunt. She sang some new songs and another classic and then she sang the lowlight of the night for her. She sang the very slow and boring "Weather Channel". That song killed the momentum of the concert. However a rockin' version of "If It Makes You Happy" reignited the concert and the crowd. She closed out the main set with "Soak Up The Sun" and "Love Is A Winding Road" before leaving the stage. She took the traditional 5 minute break as the crowd urged her and her band to come back for more. She then sang "All I Wanna Do" in which she name checked Salt Lake City. We responded with enthusiastic response. For her final song of the night she brought Toots back on and they covered Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". She urged everyone to download his CD.
Overall a fantastic set with many highlights. Her new CD is fantastic which added to overall quality of her set.
1) "God Bless This Mess" Crow sang all by herself
2) "Shine On Babylon" The band comes on at the start of this song.
3) "Love Is Free"
4) "Leaving Las Vegas" Extended jam with audience participation
5) "Strong Enough" Slowed down version.
6) "I Can't Cry Anymore" tagging on "I Can See Clearly Now" in an extended jam
7) "Motivation" a rocked out version
8) "The First Cut Is The Deepest" duet with James Blunt
9) "Favorite Mistake" rocking version of this song
10) "Gasoline" with a tag of a Who song
11) "Detours" (Paper Thin Heart)
12) "Weather Channel" This song was the lowlight of the night for Crow and her band. An extremely slow and boring show.
13) "If It Makes You Happy"
14) "Out of Our Heads"
15) "Soak Up The Sun"
16) "Everyday Is A Winding Road"
Brief break, then encore
17) "All I Wanna Do"
18) "Higher Ground" a Stevie Wonder cover sang with Toots
Other notes if you would like you can see the setlist and a picture of her performing last night at her website sherylcrow.com. She did not run out into the audience unfortunately. She briefly mentioned the adoption of her son Wyatt and her battle and victory over breast cancer. However there was no mention of Lance Armstrong. She also didn't sing her song that best describes her relationship with Armstrong "Diamond Ring". She also hilariously introduced her band members and that they were from local Utah cities before admitting they weren't. Overall a great performance by Sheryl Crow and her band only to be marred by the drunken dimwits in front of us. Also Sheryl Crow's new CD is very good. I would also highly reccomend both CD's by James Blunt.
I would also like to thank my Mom for buying my ticket, that was awesome. I would also like to thank Tim, Dad, Justin and Mom for being such good company. Also a personal shout out to the Head Coach of BYU's Men's Basketball team, Dave Rose. It is good to see the coach with such great taste. Don't worry BYU will be just fine without Trent Plaisted. I promise that really was not my beer. That stuff even smells bad.
Tomorrow I will be back will a regular blog entry including news about adding a fourth judge to "AI" and my opinion of that. Peace, themusicaddict
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Top 5 Olympics Moments
Hello,
Today's blog will be dedicated to my Top 5 favorite 2008 Beijing Olympic moments. I apologize in advance as all 5 moments involve USA athletes. I recognize other countries had great Olympic moments as well, but these five moments are extremely compelling. Before I get to my top five, here are some honorable mentions. The Japanese Women's Softball team knocking off the American women 3-1 to win the gold medal. Earlier in the competition the USA had defeated Japan 4-1. This sport had been so dominated by the American women that it has been eliminated from the 2012 Olympics.
Other honorable mentions: Both the USA Men's and Women's Basketball gold medal teams. The women absolutely dominated and have now won the last four Olympics gold medals. The USA's Lisa Leslie is the first athlete in Olympic history to win four consectutive gold medals in team sports. Meanwhile the men were challenged by an extremely tough Spain team, who also have some tremendous athletes. I can clearly see why Spain was the defending world champs. However the USA reclaimed the top of the men's basketball world.
Now here are my Top 5 favorite Olympics moments:
5) USA swimmer Dara Torres, at age 41, winning two silver medals in her fifth Olympics. Not only has she retired twice and made comebacks but she also had a baby two years ago. What an amazing and inspirational story to those of all ages. I am not going to count her out of swimming in the next Olympics either. Dara you rock!
4) USA Men's Water Polo, in their last international competition they placed in 9th place, the competition before that they finished in 11th place. So what did they do in this Olympics? They beat the powerful Serbian team to advance to the gold medal game. Ultimately they lost to the world champions Hungary, but the fact they finished in second place is pretty amazing.
3) USA Women sprinter Sanya Richards. She had a disappointing 3rd place finish in the Women's 400 meters. She was passed by two people at the end of the race. She learned from that experience and she battled back strongly. The USA was in second place in the Womens 4 X 400 relay when Richards received the baton. She was the final runner for the USA and she was several feet behind the Russian Federation runner. With a will and desire that she was not going to be losing this race, she caught up and passed the Russian runner to claim gold for the USA. It was a powerful and amazing leg of the relay. I don't know what it is but Sanya Richards has just something very special about her, she has an inner spark that lights up her whole person. She is polite, well-spoken and a comptetive and powerful runner. Although I do have one thing to say to Sanya Richards. If you are going to attempt to sing the USA's national anthem, you really want to learn the words. Also a shout out to the USA Men's 4 X 400 Relay team. Not only did they win but they broke the 16 year old Olympic record. They beat the second place team by 3 seconds, which is an eternity in that race.
Here are the two most emotional and goose bump giving performances:
2) USA Men's Volleyball and Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon. The day before competition even started some crazed Chinese citizen in an apparanent act of random violence attacked and killed Hugh McCutheon's father-in-law. His mother-in-law was also seriously injured in that attack. (Afterwards the Chinese citizen jumped to his own death. It is a terrible tragedy, but it is hard not to feel for the Chinese citizen and the terrible things going on in his life.) McCutcheon left his position as the men's volleyball head coach to be with his family. He missed the first three games and only at his mother-in-law and wife's urging did he come back as the coach. In a dramatic final the USA Men went on to defeat Brazil to win the gold medal. (NBC, in their terrible Olympics coverage did not show the event live. Instead it is going to be tape delayed today at 6:00pm. I am thinking that the gold medal ceremony may be another of the top moments of the Olympics.)
1) USA Mens's swimming: Jason Luzak swimming the race of his life in the Men's 4 X 100 relay. He caught up by one almost full body length in the final 50 meters. Also in winning that gold, the Americans knocked 4 full seconds off the world record. Luzak also beat his personal best by one-and-a-half seconds. Both are dramtatic reductions in such a relatively short event. Not only did the Americans win gold, but that preserved Phelps in his 8 gold medal quest. That was the event that the French said they were going to "smash" the Americans. If Luzak hadn't pulled ahead to win that race, that would have changed the whole tone of the Olympics and Michael Phelps' Olympics. If you are ever wanting to see some incredibly inspirational video, watch this. An advance warning you will be having goosebumps. You can watch it at NBCOlympics.com.
Tonight are the 2008 Beijing Olympics closing ceremonies. I will not be watching them but they should be amazing. Michael Phelps, Leona Lewis and Led Zeppelin's lead guitarist Jimmy Page are all making special appearances.
I will be back Tuesday. I need to look for a job in the morning and I am going to see Sheryl Crow in concert tomorrow night. Have the rest of a great Sunday, themusicaddict
Today's blog will be dedicated to my Top 5 favorite 2008 Beijing Olympic moments. I apologize in advance as all 5 moments involve USA athletes. I recognize other countries had great Olympic moments as well, but these five moments are extremely compelling. Before I get to my top five, here are some honorable mentions. The Japanese Women's Softball team knocking off the American women 3-1 to win the gold medal. Earlier in the competition the USA had defeated Japan 4-1. This sport had been so dominated by the American women that it has been eliminated from the 2012 Olympics.
Other honorable mentions: Both the USA Men's and Women's Basketball gold medal teams. The women absolutely dominated and have now won the last four Olympics gold medals. The USA's Lisa Leslie is the first athlete in Olympic history to win four consectutive gold medals in team sports. Meanwhile the men were challenged by an extremely tough Spain team, who also have some tremendous athletes. I can clearly see why Spain was the defending world champs. However the USA reclaimed the top of the men's basketball world.
Now here are my Top 5 favorite Olympics moments:
5) USA swimmer Dara Torres, at age 41, winning two silver medals in her fifth Olympics. Not only has she retired twice and made comebacks but she also had a baby two years ago. What an amazing and inspirational story to those of all ages. I am not going to count her out of swimming in the next Olympics either. Dara you rock!
4) USA Men's Water Polo, in their last international competition they placed in 9th place, the competition before that they finished in 11th place. So what did they do in this Olympics? They beat the powerful Serbian team to advance to the gold medal game. Ultimately they lost to the world champions Hungary, but the fact they finished in second place is pretty amazing.
3) USA Women sprinter Sanya Richards. She had a disappointing 3rd place finish in the Women's 400 meters. She was passed by two people at the end of the race. She learned from that experience and she battled back strongly. The USA was in second place in the Womens 4 X 400 relay when Richards received the baton. She was the final runner for the USA and she was several feet behind the Russian Federation runner. With a will and desire that she was not going to be losing this race, she caught up and passed the Russian runner to claim gold for the USA. It was a powerful and amazing leg of the relay. I don't know what it is but Sanya Richards has just something very special about her, she has an inner spark that lights up her whole person. She is polite, well-spoken and a comptetive and powerful runner. Although I do have one thing to say to Sanya Richards. If you are going to attempt to sing the USA's national anthem, you really want to learn the words. Also a shout out to the USA Men's 4 X 400 Relay team. Not only did they win but they broke the 16 year old Olympic record. They beat the second place team by 3 seconds, which is an eternity in that race.
Here are the two most emotional and goose bump giving performances:
2) USA Men's Volleyball and Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon. The day before competition even started some crazed Chinese citizen in an apparanent act of random violence attacked and killed Hugh McCutheon's father-in-law. His mother-in-law was also seriously injured in that attack. (Afterwards the Chinese citizen jumped to his own death. It is a terrible tragedy, but it is hard not to feel for the Chinese citizen and the terrible things going on in his life.) McCutcheon left his position as the men's volleyball head coach to be with his family. He missed the first three games and only at his mother-in-law and wife's urging did he come back as the coach. In a dramatic final the USA Men went on to defeat Brazil to win the gold medal. (NBC, in their terrible Olympics coverage did not show the event live. Instead it is going to be tape delayed today at 6:00pm. I am thinking that the gold medal ceremony may be another of the top moments of the Olympics.)
1) USA Mens's swimming: Jason Luzak swimming the race of his life in the Men's 4 X 100 relay. He caught up by one almost full body length in the final 50 meters. Also in winning that gold, the Americans knocked 4 full seconds off the world record. Luzak also beat his personal best by one-and-a-half seconds. Both are dramtatic reductions in such a relatively short event. Not only did the Americans win gold, but that preserved Phelps in his 8 gold medal quest. That was the event that the French said they were going to "smash" the Americans. If Luzak hadn't pulled ahead to win that race, that would have changed the whole tone of the Olympics and Michael Phelps' Olympics. If you are ever wanting to see some incredibly inspirational video, watch this. An advance warning you will be having goosebumps. You can watch it at NBCOlympics.com.
Tonight are the 2008 Beijing Olympics closing ceremonies. I will not be watching them but they should be amazing. Michael Phelps, Leona Lewis and Led Zeppelin's lead guitarist Jimmy Page are all making special appearances.
I will be back Tuesday. I need to look for a job in the morning and I am going to see Sheryl Crow in concert tomorrow night. Have the rest of a great Sunday, themusicaddict
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Hello,
Happy Saturday. Just a personal update before I get on to the blog. As you know my recent difficulties with corporate America, specifically Manpower and UTA. UTA really stuck the knife in my back. Through some dubious thought process, my chances of getting a job with them are slim. Not only that but UTA has told Manpower that I was released for cause. So now Manpower told me if I get released again for "cause", they won't find jobs for me anymore. I'm trying to find a permanent, full-time position on my own so that I don't have to rely on anyone else. Manpower has treated me much better than UTA has though. I talked with Lori at the Ogden Manpower office about 15 minutes yesterday. She was very nice to me and found me a two day job next weekend. It's not much, but it is a lot better than nothing at all. (I will never work with the Salt Lake Manpower office ever again.) Okay enough of my complaining.
Just a little more complaining about NBC's terrible coverage of the Olympics. Again out comes the ugly face of corporate America. The greedy, numbers-driven pursuit of the almighty dollar. I woke up at 6:15am to watch two gold medal games involving the U.S.A. women, in volleyball and basketball. The volleyball match was suppose to start at 6:00am but I couldn't find it anywhere on TV. The gold medal women's basketball game was suppose to start at 8:00am MST. Indeed it did but nowhere is it on TV. I found out it's coming on a hour later, at 9:00am, it's going to be tape-delayed. Meanwhile the womens volleyball game will be on at 3:00pm this afternoon MST. That's 9 hours after it started in real time. Unfortunately by then it will be old news. The USA Women Volleyball team was crushed by the powerful Brazilians 3-1 in sets. Meanwhile the USA Women are crushing Australia in basketball. Let's skip watching both of these games to protest the greediness of NBC.(Does NBC stand for Not brains, crap?) Congrats to the men's baseball team, late last night they beat Japan 8-4 in the bronze medal game. That's a pretty good showing for a team only bringing minor leaguers. Baseball does not use a "Dream Team". (That was yet another game I could not find on TV anywhere.
Later tonight the Men's Volleyball team will be playing for gold. Nowhere do I see it on the schedule. Also the USA men's basketball team kicks off at 12:30 am Sunday morning. Hopefully I can watch that tonight. I would like to see the Redeem Team get their redemption. Yesterday morning I had turned on to watch the USA men's semi-finals basketball game, their game against Argentina. Guess what was on. Ping Pong, there weren't even any Americans in the match.
I now really am on to music. Yesterday I listened a lot more to my beloved Rhapsody. I listened to that Jonas Brothers CD again. It is titled "A Little Bit Longer", it is a very good CD. "Video Girl" has to be one of the best songs of the year. I also listened to the new Buddy Guy CD "Skin Deep". For those of you who don't know, Buddy Guy is a blues legend. I love blues and have listened a lot to Muddy Waters (who is the best), B.B. King, Robert Cray, Son House and Stevie Ray Vaughn. However this is my first experience with Buddy Guy. This is a fantastic, blistering blues CD, the kind of blues I love so much. The songs are great, the singing is great and the guitar work is fantastic. Just like blues is suppose to be. These are 12 blistering blues tracks. Later this year B.B. King is releasing a CD full of old style blues, I am looking forward to that as well. (Currently I am having problems with the 'net so I can't listen to Rhapsody right now. If it was working I would be listening to Buddy Guy right now. Instead I am listening to a lot of the great blues that I have in my iTunes library.)
According to rs.com there are some hot CD's coming out this fall. I have already mentioned some of these. The following are CD's that I was not aware of being released this fall. Remember all these CD's release dates are tentative. The artists include U2 (yeah!), Beyonce (we'll see), Dr. Dre and Jay-Z (yawn), Pink (yeah!) and the Killers (we'll see). Besides U2 some of the artists I am looking forward most to are David Cook and the Black Eyed Peas. The Peas last two CD's have been fantastic. Finally what could be the biggest CD of the year, Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy". There has been a tentative November release date set for "Chinese Democracy". Though according to rs.com that's "in case the band decides to put it out". I think the article meant if Axl decides to put it out. You may want to start building your underground shelters. If that CD comes out that definitely means the world is coming to an end.
One of my least favorite musicians is the incredibly lame Kid Rock. (Or as one of the members of Motley Crue call him Kid Pebble.) He has a current "hit", remember the word hit does not mean quality. The song is "All Summer Long". Blender magazine calls it a "lazy", he samples the classic Lynryd Skynryd's "Sweet Home Alabama". Kid Pebble's version is weak. In a funny twist Kid Rock does not allow his music on iTunes. So what has happened is a band called the Hit Masters has made their own version of Kid Rock's song and released it on iTunes. As of this morning their mock version of Pebble's weak sample of Lynryd Skynrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is #6 on the iTunes singles chart. I love how that has worked out. Also check out the Hit Masters glorious and intentionally cheesy video for that song. (Thanks to Blender.com for the information.)
In other iTunes news, China has blocked iTunes in China. Apparantally there is a Tibeten sympathetic media Chinese citizens have been downloading. It is a CD or video of some kind. (Thanks to Business Week.) I am sad to see hosting the Olympics haven't changed any of China's draconian ways. Other tidbits: Jack White and Alicia Keys are working on and will record the song for the new James Bond movie. The new Bond movie is "Quantam of Solace", out this fall. Also Dido is giving out a free MP3 from her upcoming third CD "Safe Trip Home". The MP3 is for the song "Look No Further", one of the album tracks. Get it at didomusic.com soon, it is only available until September 7th. It is not one of her best songs and you can clearly tell it is a Dido song. It is good to have her back.
Time magazine is wondering what the 2008 Song of the Summer is. To see the videos for the following songs go to time.com. Anyway here are their 10 finalists and these are in no particular order. Two of the best are Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" and Rihanna's "Disturbia". Both are very good songs, although "Distubia" is no "Umbrella". Other songs include Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", Pussycat Doll's "When I Grow Up", Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" and Estelle's "American Boy". Even though that last song features Kanye West it is still good, it actually has a groove. Then Time playing to the hip-hop culture lists three non-threatening and absolutely terrible songs. They are Lil' Wayne's "A Milli" (huh), the video is mainly made to show off his body. That's fine if it was a Rihanna or Alicia Keys or someone that is attractive. The ninth song is Usher's "Love in This Club" (yawn). Then the worst of the worst, the crap of the crap so to speak. It is T.I.'s "No Matter What", which includes the incredibly imanginitive lyrics "yo, yo, yo". (I think the T.I. stands for totally inadequate.)
So out of those the four best songs are by the ladies, not that the men provided much competition. My favorite four songs are the songs by Katy Perry, Rihanna, Leona Lewis and Estelle. Out of those four songs my favorite song and the 2008 Song of the Summer should be Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl". Although I think that is about the 7th or 8th best song of the CD.
Upcoming, Monday night is the Sheryl Crow, James Blunt and Toots and the Maytalls concert. I will be giving a full review of it Tuesday or Wednesday. Also upcoming reviews of the new Scars On Broadway CD. This band has some of the members of System of A Down in it. I will also be giving a review of the classic Paul Simon CD, "Graceland".
I should be back tomorrow. I am hoping to be up late tonight cheering on the USA men and women in the Olympics, that is if NBC does not screw it up. themusicaddict
Happy Saturday. Just a personal update before I get on to the blog. As you know my recent difficulties with corporate America, specifically Manpower and UTA. UTA really stuck the knife in my back. Through some dubious thought process, my chances of getting a job with them are slim. Not only that but UTA has told Manpower that I was released for cause. So now Manpower told me if I get released again for "cause", they won't find jobs for me anymore. I'm trying to find a permanent, full-time position on my own so that I don't have to rely on anyone else. Manpower has treated me much better than UTA has though. I talked with Lori at the Ogden Manpower office about 15 minutes yesterday. She was very nice to me and found me a two day job next weekend. It's not much, but it is a lot better than nothing at all. (I will never work with the Salt Lake Manpower office ever again.) Okay enough of my complaining.
Just a little more complaining about NBC's terrible coverage of the Olympics. Again out comes the ugly face of corporate America. The greedy, numbers-driven pursuit of the almighty dollar. I woke up at 6:15am to watch two gold medal games involving the U.S.A. women, in volleyball and basketball. The volleyball match was suppose to start at 6:00am but I couldn't find it anywhere on TV. The gold medal women's basketball game was suppose to start at 8:00am MST. Indeed it did but nowhere is it on TV. I found out it's coming on a hour later, at 9:00am, it's going to be tape-delayed. Meanwhile the womens volleyball game will be on at 3:00pm this afternoon MST. That's 9 hours after it started in real time. Unfortunately by then it will be old news. The USA Women Volleyball team was crushed by the powerful Brazilians 3-1 in sets. Meanwhile the USA Women are crushing Australia in basketball. Let's skip watching both of these games to protest the greediness of NBC.(Does NBC stand for Not brains, crap?) Congrats to the men's baseball team, late last night they beat Japan 8-4 in the bronze medal game. That's a pretty good showing for a team only bringing minor leaguers. Baseball does not use a "Dream Team". (That was yet another game I could not find on TV anywhere.
Later tonight the Men's Volleyball team will be playing for gold. Nowhere do I see it on the schedule. Also the USA men's basketball team kicks off at 12:30 am Sunday morning. Hopefully I can watch that tonight. I would like to see the Redeem Team get their redemption. Yesterday morning I had turned on to watch the USA men's semi-finals basketball game, their game against Argentina. Guess what was on. Ping Pong, there weren't even any Americans in the match.
I now really am on to music. Yesterday I listened a lot more to my beloved Rhapsody. I listened to that Jonas Brothers CD again. It is titled "A Little Bit Longer", it is a very good CD. "Video Girl" has to be one of the best songs of the year. I also listened to the new Buddy Guy CD "Skin Deep". For those of you who don't know, Buddy Guy is a blues legend. I love blues and have listened a lot to Muddy Waters (who is the best), B.B. King, Robert Cray, Son House and Stevie Ray Vaughn. However this is my first experience with Buddy Guy. This is a fantastic, blistering blues CD, the kind of blues I love so much. The songs are great, the singing is great and the guitar work is fantastic. Just like blues is suppose to be. These are 12 blistering blues tracks. Later this year B.B. King is releasing a CD full of old style blues, I am looking forward to that as well. (Currently I am having problems with the 'net so I can't listen to Rhapsody right now. If it was working I would be listening to Buddy Guy right now. Instead I am listening to a lot of the great blues that I have in my iTunes library.)
According to rs.com there are some hot CD's coming out this fall. I have already mentioned some of these. The following are CD's that I was not aware of being released this fall. Remember all these CD's release dates are tentative. The artists include U2 (yeah!), Beyonce (we'll see), Dr. Dre and Jay-Z (yawn), Pink (yeah!) and the Killers (we'll see). Besides U2 some of the artists I am looking forward most to are David Cook and the Black Eyed Peas. The Peas last two CD's have been fantastic. Finally what could be the biggest CD of the year, Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy". There has been a tentative November release date set for "Chinese Democracy". Though according to rs.com that's "in case the band decides to put it out". I think the article meant if Axl decides to put it out. You may want to start building your underground shelters. If that CD comes out that definitely means the world is coming to an end.
One of my least favorite musicians is the incredibly lame Kid Rock. (Or as one of the members of Motley Crue call him Kid Pebble.) He has a current "hit", remember the word hit does not mean quality. The song is "All Summer Long". Blender magazine calls it a "lazy", he samples the classic Lynryd Skynryd's "Sweet Home Alabama". Kid Pebble's version is weak. In a funny twist Kid Rock does not allow his music on iTunes. So what has happened is a band called the Hit Masters has made their own version of Kid Rock's song and released it on iTunes. As of this morning their mock version of Pebble's weak sample of Lynryd Skynrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is #6 on the iTunes singles chart. I love how that has worked out. Also check out the Hit Masters glorious and intentionally cheesy video for that song. (Thanks to Blender.com for the information.)
In other iTunes news, China has blocked iTunes in China. Apparantally there is a Tibeten sympathetic media Chinese citizens have been downloading. It is a CD or video of some kind. (Thanks to Business Week.) I am sad to see hosting the Olympics haven't changed any of China's draconian ways. Other tidbits: Jack White and Alicia Keys are working on and will record the song for the new James Bond movie. The new Bond movie is "Quantam of Solace", out this fall. Also Dido is giving out a free MP3 from her upcoming third CD "Safe Trip Home". The MP3 is for the song "Look No Further", one of the album tracks. Get it at didomusic.com soon, it is only available until September 7th. It is not one of her best songs and you can clearly tell it is a Dido song. It is good to have her back.
Time magazine is wondering what the 2008 Song of the Summer is. To see the videos for the following songs go to time.com. Anyway here are their 10 finalists and these are in no particular order. Two of the best are Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" and Rihanna's "Disturbia". Both are very good songs, although "Distubia" is no "Umbrella". Other songs include Coldplay's "Viva La Vida", Pussycat Doll's "When I Grow Up", Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" and Estelle's "American Boy". Even though that last song features Kanye West it is still good, it actually has a groove. Then Time playing to the hip-hop culture lists three non-threatening and absolutely terrible songs. They are Lil' Wayne's "A Milli" (huh), the video is mainly made to show off his body. That's fine if it was a Rihanna or Alicia Keys or someone that is attractive. The ninth song is Usher's "Love in This Club" (yawn). Then the worst of the worst, the crap of the crap so to speak. It is T.I.'s "No Matter What", which includes the incredibly imanginitive lyrics "yo, yo, yo". (I think the T.I. stands for totally inadequate.)
So out of those the four best songs are by the ladies, not that the men provided much competition. My favorite four songs are the songs by Katy Perry, Rihanna, Leona Lewis and Estelle. Out of those four songs my favorite song and the 2008 Song of the Summer should be Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl". Although I think that is about the 7th or 8th best song of the CD.
Upcoming, Monday night is the Sheryl Crow, James Blunt and Toots and the Maytalls concert. I will be giving a full review of it Tuesday or Wednesday. Also upcoming reviews of the new Scars On Broadway CD. This band has some of the members of System of A Down in it. I will also be giving a review of the classic Paul Simon CD, "Graceland".
I should be back tomorrow. I am hoping to be up late tonight cheering on the USA men and women in the Olympics, that is if NBC does not screw it up. themusicaddict
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Back To Music!
Hello,
I am back and feeling a little bit better than yesterday. I am still jobless and looking for a new permament, full-time job. It seems my Corporate America Sucks blog has hit a nerve, as I have about 8 more hits than I did yesterday. 1 hit per day is a lot for me so 8 is a considerable amount comparatively. I know I am not the only one who hates the monstrosity of corporate America. Unfortunately corporate America is not an oxymoron, although it is moronic.
Enough of that now back to the world of music. (Ironically a business destroyed by corporate America. Traditional record companies are sinking like rocks.)I have heard a lot of good things about The Jonas Brothers' new CD. In fact I have heard so many good things I am listening to it myself. Currently I am listening to their new CD on Rhapsody. It is titled "A Little Bit Longer". Since I am not 13, I don't know what their hits are. I am just listening to it. I'm sort of surprised but the Jonas Brothers have sort of a Def Leppard feeling to them. Their lead singer even sounds a bit like Joe Elliot. After listening to the whole CD, they rock a lot more than I expected. Not exactly what I expect for a Disney band. Not every song is good on this CD, "Lovebug" is a little sappy. Overall it is a good CD. I particularly like the songs "BB Good" and "Video Girl". I know most people would wonder why I am listening to the Jonas Brothers, not only that but actually admitting it. As I have previously mentioned I like all kinds of music. I don't care what it is, who it is or where it comes from.
Now on to some crap. Comcast On Demand let me down by having "Single White Female" available to watch. What a terrible movie! This is the worst lighting I have ever seen in a movie, apparantally they had to save money on the electric bill. I also have never seen so much gratitious nakedness. The story is stupid and predictable and the movie is about 30 minutes long. Also the villaness is stupid. She kills a main character by hitting him in the eyee wilth the heel of her shoe. He falls down to the floor with the shoe stuck in his eye. Yes, it is as stupid as you think it would be. I think that was suppose to be frightening and intense. Nope! If you have the choice of drinking a bottle of liquid Tide or watching this movie. Drink the liquid Tide. It will be a lot less painful, quicker and have a lot less long-term effects.
Also in the non-shocking news of the day. The Big Foot supposedly found in Georgia was been found out that it is a hoax. Really! The big news would have been if the story is true.
Thankfully I was able to see a good movie yesterday to wipe out some of the long-term scars of "Single White Female". It is the Brendan Fraser "Journey To The Center of The Earth" flick. Okay it is not the greatest movie ever. But it is a fairly good story with some amazing special effects. The underground ocean is a sight to behold. Fraser is good and so is the hottie in the movie. It is one of these 3-D movies that Hollywood keeps on trying to get to catch on. That aspect of the film worked as well and I really enjoyed the 3-D. I will give you a warning though, the cost of the 3-D glasses is added on to the regular movie price. One adult and 3 kids to see the matinee of this movie was $30.75. It was worth it and your kids will love it.
Here are some upcoming CD releases. I got all the following dates from amazon.com. They are easily one of my favorite websites overall and particularly for enter- tainment related merchandise. I'll list these in chronological order. Remember dates are subject to change and consider all dates tentative.
1) Brian Wilson: "That Lucky Old Son" This will be released September 2nd. In case you don't know Brian Wilson is the former lead singer and the main songwriter of the Beach Boys. If you are unfamiliar with their music you really need to check them out. 2) Metallica: "Death Magnetic" September 12th, 2008. Now be careful with this CD release date. Most CD's are released on Tuesdays, but this CD will be out on a Friday. 3) September 23rd, there are four CD's of note coming out that day. A) "Time The Conqueror"- Jackson Browne B) "Live in Gdansk"- David Gilmour. Gilmour is a crucial member of the fantastic rock band Pink Floyd. C) "Seven Lives, Many Faces" Enigma. (Enigma's music is one of the few highlights of "Single White Female")D) "Only By The Night"- Kings of Leon. 4) Jennifer Hudson: self-titled release date is September 30th, 2008 5) AC/DC "Black Ice": It will be released October 20th. This is one of those CDs that is only going to be available at Wal-Mart in terms of physical locations. It will be available on a couple of websites as well. This is their first CD in 8 years. They are then going on tour to support it.
Other further out release dates: In the greed category, on October 7th Tim McGraw is releasing his "Greatest Hits: Volume 3". I really hate when these type of CDs are released, there are too many greatest hits CD's. This does not necessarily mean it is Tim McGraw's fault. It might be McGraw releasing it to fulfill a record contract. It almost might be the record company trying to squeeze as much money out of Tim McGraw as possible, one of the most successful current musicians. (I think it would be funny if it included the Taylor Swift song "Tim McGraw")
One more date David Archuleta's new CD will be out November 4th. As of yesterday it was still untitled. Also his new song "Crush" is the second highest debuting song in the past 18 months. It is #2 on this week's Top 40. It trails only Rihanna's "Distubia". "Crush" is a quality song, it has a bit of a rocking vibe. A side I did not know Archuleta had until I heard this song. There still is no word on when David Cook's first post-Idol CD will be released. Also no word on a lead single yet.
One final note. Did anyone else see that dramatic game this morning between the U.S.A. and Brazil women in soccer? This was an amazing and hard fought game. Brazil has the world's best female player, Marta. She is absolutely incredible. Somehow the United States was able to keep her in check, although she did have several acrobatic shots. Carli Lloyd scored the only goal in the game in extra time. Other Olympics news: I have to tip my hat to the Japanese women, they defeated the U.S.A. women in softball. An amazing upset, this might be the biggest upset of the entire 2008 Olympics. The United States have won the last three Olympics, all their matches in this Olympics including beating Japan earlier. In men's basketball, the United States plays Argentina in the semi-finals tomorrow. They are playing at 8:15am MST. Go America but good luck to all contestants.
That is it for now. I should be back tomorrow, after I watch the men's basketball semi-finals of course. I also have to find a job. themusicaddict
I am back and feeling a little bit better than yesterday. I am still jobless and looking for a new permament, full-time job. It seems my Corporate America Sucks blog has hit a nerve, as I have about 8 more hits than I did yesterday. 1 hit per day is a lot for me so 8 is a considerable amount comparatively. I know I am not the only one who hates the monstrosity of corporate America. Unfortunately corporate America is not an oxymoron, although it is moronic.
Enough of that now back to the world of music. (Ironically a business destroyed by corporate America. Traditional record companies are sinking like rocks.)I have heard a lot of good things about The Jonas Brothers' new CD. In fact I have heard so many good things I am listening to it myself. Currently I am listening to their new CD on Rhapsody. It is titled "A Little Bit Longer". Since I am not 13, I don't know what their hits are. I am just listening to it. I'm sort of surprised but the Jonas Brothers have sort of a Def Leppard feeling to them. Their lead singer even sounds a bit like Joe Elliot. After listening to the whole CD, they rock a lot more than I expected. Not exactly what I expect for a Disney band. Not every song is good on this CD, "Lovebug" is a little sappy. Overall it is a good CD. I particularly like the songs "BB Good" and "Video Girl". I know most people would wonder why I am listening to the Jonas Brothers, not only that but actually admitting it. As I have previously mentioned I like all kinds of music. I don't care what it is, who it is or where it comes from.
Now on to some crap. Comcast On Demand let me down by having "Single White Female" available to watch. What a terrible movie! This is the worst lighting I have ever seen in a movie, apparantally they had to save money on the electric bill. I also have never seen so much gratitious nakedness. The story is stupid and predictable and the movie is about 30 minutes long. Also the villaness is stupid. She kills a main character by hitting him in the eyee wilth the heel of her shoe. He falls down to the floor with the shoe stuck in his eye. Yes, it is as stupid as you think it would be. I think that was suppose to be frightening and intense. Nope! If you have the choice of drinking a bottle of liquid Tide or watching this movie. Drink the liquid Tide. It will be a lot less painful, quicker and have a lot less long-term effects.
Also in the non-shocking news of the day. The Big Foot supposedly found in Georgia was been found out that it is a hoax. Really! The big news would have been if the story is true.
Thankfully I was able to see a good movie yesterday to wipe out some of the long-term scars of "Single White Female". It is the Brendan Fraser "Journey To The Center of The Earth" flick. Okay it is not the greatest movie ever. But it is a fairly good story with some amazing special effects. The underground ocean is a sight to behold. Fraser is good and so is the hottie in the movie. It is one of these 3-D movies that Hollywood keeps on trying to get to catch on. That aspect of the film worked as well and I really enjoyed the 3-D. I will give you a warning though, the cost of the 3-D glasses is added on to the regular movie price. One adult and 3 kids to see the matinee of this movie was $30.75. It was worth it and your kids will love it.
Here are some upcoming CD releases. I got all the following dates from amazon.com. They are easily one of my favorite websites overall and particularly for enter- tainment related merchandise. I'll list these in chronological order. Remember dates are subject to change and consider all dates tentative.
1) Brian Wilson: "That Lucky Old Son" This will be released September 2nd. In case you don't know Brian Wilson is the former lead singer and the main songwriter of the Beach Boys. If you are unfamiliar with their music you really need to check them out. 2) Metallica: "Death Magnetic" September 12th, 2008. Now be careful with this CD release date. Most CD's are released on Tuesdays, but this CD will be out on a Friday. 3) September 23rd, there are four CD's of note coming out that day. A) "Time The Conqueror"- Jackson Browne B) "Live in Gdansk"- David Gilmour. Gilmour is a crucial member of the fantastic rock band Pink Floyd. C) "Seven Lives, Many Faces" Enigma. (Enigma's music is one of the few highlights of "Single White Female")D) "Only By The Night"- Kings of Leon. 4) Jennifer Hudson: self-titled release date is September 30th, 2008 5) AC/DC "Black Ice": It will be released October 20th. This is one of those CDs that is only going to be available at Wal-Mart in terms of physical locations. It will be available on a couple of websites as well. This is their first CD in 8 years. They are then going on tour to support it.
Other further out release dates: In the greed category, on October 7th Tim McGraw is releasing his "Greatest Hits: Volume 3". I really hate when these type of CDs are released, there are too many greatest hits CD's. This does not necessarily mean it is Tim McGraw's fault. It might be McGraw releasing it to fulfill a record contract. It almost might be the record company trying to squeeze as much money out of Tim McGraw as possible, one of the most successful current musicians. (I think it would be funny if it included the Taylor Swift song "Tim McGraw")
One more date David Archuleta's new CD will be out November 4th. As of yesterday it was still untitled. Also his new song "Crush" is the second highest debuting song in the past 18 months. It is #2 on this week's Top 40. It trails only Rihanna's "Distubia". "Crush" is a quality song, it has a bit of a rocking vibe. A side I did not know Archuleta had until I heard this song. There still is no word on when David Cook's first post-Idol CD will be released. Also no word on a lead single yet.
One final note. Did anyone else see that dramatic game this morning between the U.S.A. and Brazil women in soccer? This was an amazing and hard fought game. Brazil has the world's best female player, Marta. She is absolutely incredible. Somehow the United States was able to keep her in check, although she did have several acrobatic shots. Carli Lloyd scored the only goal in the game in extra time. Other Olympics news: I have to tip my hat to the Japanese women, they defeated the U.S.A. women in softball. An amazing upset, this might be the biggest upset of the entire 2008 Olympics. The United States have won the last three Olympics, all their matches in this Olympics including beating Japan earlier. In men's basketball, the United States plays Argentina in the semi-finals tomorrow. They are playing at 8:15am MST. Go America but good luck to all contestants.
That is it for now. I should be back tomorrow, after I watch the men's basketball semi-finals of course. I also have to find a job. themusicaddict
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Corporate America sucks!
Hello,
I come to you with a full heart. Yesterday my life was going okay although I have had some struggles recently. My wife and I are seperated but we are working through things. I haven't been able to find a "real" job. I also have started counseling to help me deal with everything. But yes my life was going relatively okay. I still have my faith that sustains me, I have a wonderful wife and great kids. I also have outstanding parents, a great brother, sister-in-law and nephew. So compared to some other people things are pretty good. My family and I are struggling right now but there seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel.
That is until about 1:10 yesterday when my life went to crap. I had yet another demoralizing thing happen. I found out the temporary job I have been faithfully working had been pulled out from under me. Monday I woke up and worked about 7 hours for Utah Transit Authority (UTA) through Manpower. I had a normal work day, I did all aspects of my job to the best of my ability. I went home and relaxed, having no inkling that I would be receiving some very demoralizing news very soon. Tuesday morning I woke up and I worked on some home projects and had a good morning. I had been e-mailing the boss I have a good relationship with. I was going to go in and pick up my schedule for the next three weeks. I was going to do that and then go to work. She was a great boss and always e-mailed me back quickly. When she hadn't e-mailed me by 11:00 I e-mailed her again. I thought it was wierd that she hadn't e-mailed me back. I didn't put too much stock in it, I thought she just might be sick or on vacation.
I went and ate lunch and started getting ready for my work day. About 10 minutes before I was going to leave I heard from Manpower. They informed me that my project with UTA had just been ended. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut, I could not believe it. Manpower said they tried to contact me about 10 times previous to the time when they got hold of me. Of course they blamed that on me. They said they dialed my cell phone, I don't have a cell phone. They finally got hold of me about 10minutes before I was going into work. The official reason I was given for the "project ending" was because I was trading shifts and not communicating properly.
Of course since this is Corporate America, I did not have the chance to explain my side of things. I did not trade shifts, as a favor to two people I picked up their shifts that they were trying to cover. These shifts may not have been covered otherwise and they might not be covered now. Both people I picked up shifts from told me they would let our supervisor know. My second "problem" was about my supposed lack of communicating. After I had taken those two shifts, UTA sent out an e-mail about not doing that anymore. They also explained the policy. That was fine with me. There was nothing on the e-mail about them wanting a confirmation that we had read the e-mail. So I didn't respond to that e-mail. I am sorry I am not a mind reader and did not know I was suppose to respond. Again I am sure UTA probably sees that as my fault. In corporate America it is rarely the companies fault.
My main problem was that there was someone at UTA who did not like me, she will remain nameless. I will refer to her as Miss X. Miss X didn't have the courage to respond to my phone calls or e-mail. Her supervisor did, her name is Cherice Day, and she is a completely class act. She at least had the courtesy to explain UTA's position in a very nice and honest way. I pointed out to Cherice that these claims against me I considered bogus. From verbal and body language I surmised that Miss X, for whatever reason, was just looking to get rid of me. I am not sure what I did to her. But by her body language I could just tell she did not like me. Since she was the prototypical Corporate America Drone I did not like her. I didn't say that to any of the other employees. Other than her not being able to remember my name one time and her embarassing me at a meeting I had very little to do with her. I always dealt with the other supervisor, who was always nice and supportive, just like a supervisor is suppose to be. So Miss X I hope you feel good about putting my family more in a financial crisis.
In one day on some bogus, spurious "problems" I went from making $2000 a month to no income at all. I also did not have the chance to reply to the charges. I was just let go. Through Manpower technically the UTA project ended for me, although it didn't end for all Manpower employees. Of course in the Corporate America CYA atmosphere the project ended. They did not officially fire me so that they do not have to pay unemployment.
I think my biggest issue was I hadn't played the corporate game. That is more about kissing butt rather than doing a good job. I did everything I was told other than picking up shifts. I'm sorry I did not remember all the policies from 4 months ago. Essentially I got fired (which is the more accurate term, I don't care what B.S. Manpower or UTA says) for working extra shifts. I did everything I could to fulfill the requirements of the job. I usually worked all 6 days each week, my availability was from 8:00am to when the trains stopped running at night at 1:30am. That was my given availability. Although a few times I was given shifts earlier than my availability and I still worked most of those.
I tossed and turned last night, couldn't fall or stay asleep very well. I was worrying about my families already dire financial situation. I knew that this was not a permament job. I had been told it was possible to work until November on this job. I had been using my off time trying to repair my marriage. I also was trying figure out my personal problems I have and resolving them. Finally I was trying to find a permament full-time position. So that plan went to crap last night.
Corporate America it's not what you know, it's whose ass you kiss. So Miss X. I hope you feel good about putting my family in this situation over some spurious allegation that I did not have the chance to refute. That is part of the reason I started a blog. I was hoping to turn my love of music into a blog and job so that I could support my family. I then would not have to play the Corporate America game. I don't do well in the Corporate America world, as I don't play all the kiss ass games. I just go in, try to do a good job, be nice to people and try to be 100% honest. That is not good enough in Corporate America.
So I will be back tomorrow with my regular blog. I am going to spend the day trying to pick up some pieces of my life. I plan on spending time with my family, try to find a job and hopefully begin to recover from this near debilitating blow.
themusicaddict
I come to you with a full heart. Yesterday my life was going okay although I have had some struggles recently. My wife and I are seperated but we are working through things. I haven't been able to find a "real" job. I also have started counseling to help me deal with everything. But yes my life was going relatively okay. I still have my faith that sustains me, I have a wonderful wife and great kids. I also have outstanding parents, a great brother, sister-in-law and nephew. So compared to some other people things are pretty good. My family and I are struggling right now but there seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel.
That is until about 1:10 yesterday when my life went to crap. I had yet another demoralizing thing happen. I found out the temporary job I have been faithfully working had been pulled out from under me. Monday I woke up and worked about 7 hours for Utah Transit Authority (UTA) through Manpower. I had a normal work day, I did all aspects of my job to the best of my ability. I went home and relaxed, having no inkling that I would be receiving some very demoralizing news very soon. Tuesday morning I woke up and I worked on some home projects and had a good morning. I had been e-mailing the boss I have a good relationship with. I was going to go in and pick up my schedule for the next three weeks. I was going to do that and then go to work. She was a great boss and always e-mailed me back quickly. When she hadn't e-mailed me by 11:00 I e-mailed her again. I thought it was wierd that she hadn't e-mailed me back. I didn't put too much stock in it, I thought she just might be sick or on vacation.
I went and ate lunch and started getting ready for my work day. About 10 minutes before I was going to leave I heard from Manpower. They informed me that my project with UTA had just been ended. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut, I could not believe it. Manpower said they tried to contact me about 10 times previous to the time when they got hold of me. Of course they blamed that on me. They said they dialed my cell phone, I don't have a cell phone. They finally got hold of me about 10minutes before I was going into work. The official reason I was given for the "project ending" was because I was trading shifts and not communicating properly.
Of course since this is Corporate America, I did not have the chance to explain my side of things. I did not trade shifts, as a favor to two people I picked up their shifts that they were trying to cover. These shifts may not have been covered otherwise and they might not be covered now. Both people I picked up shifts from told me they would let our supervisor know. My second "problem" was about my supposed lack of communicating. After I had taken those two shifts, UTA sent out an e-mail about not doing that anymore. They also explained the policy. That was fine with me. There was nothing on the e-mail about them wanting a confirmation that we had read the e-mail. So I didn't respond to that e-mail. I am sorry I am not a mind reader and did not know I was suppose to respond. Again I am sure UTA probably sees that as my fault. In corporate America it is rarely the companies fault.
My main problem was that there was someone at UTA who did not like me, she will remain nameless. I will refer to her as Miss X. Miss X didn't have the courage to respond to my phone calls or e-mail. Her supervisor did, her name is Cherice Day, and she is a completely class act. She at least had the courtesy to explain UTA's position in a very nice and honest way. I pointed out to Cherice that these claims against me I considered bogus. From verbal and body language I surmised that Miss X, for whatever reason, was just looking to get rid of me. I am not sure what I did to her. But by her body language I could just tell she did not like me. Since she was the prototypical Corporate America Drone I did not like her. I didn't say that to any of the other employees. Other than her not being able to remember my name one time and her embarassing me at a meeting I had very little to do with her. I always dealt with the other supervisor, who was always nice and supportive, just like a supervisor is suppose to be. So Miss X I hope you feel good about putting my family more in a financial crisis.
In one day on some bogus, spurious "problems" I went from making $2000 a month to no income at all. I also did not have the chance to reply to the charges. I was just let go. Through Manpower technically the UTA project ended for me, although it didn't end for all Manpower employees. Of course in the Corporate America CYA atmosphere the project ended. They did not officially fire me so that they do not have to pay unemployment.
I think my biggest issue was I hadn't played the corporate game. That is more about kissing butt rather than doing a good job. I did everything I was told other than picking up shifts. I'm sorry I did not remember all the policies from 4 months ago. Essentially I got fired (which is the more accurate term, I don't care what B.S. Manpower or UTA says) for working extra shifts. I did everything I could to fulfill the requirements of the job. I usually worked all 6 days each week, my availability was from 8:00am to when the trains stopped running at night at 1:30am. That was my given availability. Although a few times I was given shifts earlier than my availability and I still worked most of those.
I tossed and turned last night, couldn't fall or stay asleep very well. I was worrying about my families already dire financial situation. I knew that this was not a permament job. I had been told it was possible to work until November on this job. I had been using my off time trying to repair my marriage. I also was trying figure out my personal problems I have and resolving them. Finally I was trying to find a permament full-time position. So that plan went to crap last night.
Corporate America it's not what you know, it's whose ass you kiss. So Miss X. I hope you feel good about putting my family in this situation over some spurious allegation that I did not have the chance to refute. That is part of the reason I started a blog. I was hoping to turn my love of music into a blog and job so that I could support my family. I then would not have to play the Corporate America game. I don't do well in the Corporate America world, as I don't play all the kiss ass games. I just go in, try to do a good job, be nice to people and try to be 100% honest. That is not good enough in Corporate America.
So I will be back tomorrow with my regular blog. I am going to spend the day trying to pick up some pieces of my life. I plan on spending time with my family, try to find a job and hopefully begin to recover from this near debilitating blow.
themusicaddict
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Jennifer Love Hewitt lives,
Good Sunday to you,
Thankfully Jennifer Love Hewitt lives, though I wish that show of hers would die. Speaking of impressive women, Dara Torres is two-time silver medal winner in this year's Beijing Olympics. Congrats Dara. She is the oldest person to medal in a swimming event. Swimming is a sport only for the tough. Congrats Michael Phelps on winning every event you entered. He won 8 gold medals and set 7 world records. Of course some of his events were individual events and some were relays. So congrats to the whole USA Swimming program for having such a solid organization.
Here's a review of "Tropic Thunder" starring Robert Downey Jr., Ben Stiller and Jack Black. This movie certainly has it's highlights. Downey Jr. has his second solid performance of this summer. Obviously he excelled as the man in "Iron Man". In "Tropic" his character is a method actor who has a radical pigment implantation surgery so that he will become black. He plays this character in the movie within the movie. His character is great and his acting is fantastic.
Unfortunately where he excels the rest of the movie falters. For one thing it is too long and formulaic. It is suppose to be a parody but it is too close to being a serious movie that the parody does not work very well. Jack Black's character is sort of lame, a one joke character. Ben Stiller as an actor was okay. His "Simple Jack" parts were pretty funny. Ben Stiller as the director still has a lot to learn. Unfortunately this movie did not live up to my hopes, but it was 100 times better than that lame "Wanted". (Every time I think about that movie I cringe for how stupid it was.)
Songs rockin' my iPod: 1) "Blame It On The Rain"- Milli Vanilli 2) "The Bad Thing"- The Arctic Monkeys 3) "The Stand"- The Alarm 4) "Back 2 Good"- Matchbox Twenty 5) "Machinehead"- Bush 6) "Bad Day"- Daniel Powter 7) "In The City"- The Eagles 8) "I'll Be Alright Without You"- Journey 9) "I Would Die For You"- Prince 10) "Hey Nineteen"- Steely Dan 11) "Fallen Angel"- Poison 12) "Seether"- Veruca Salt 13) "Old Chunk O' Coal"- John Anderson 14) "Changes"- 3 Doors Down 15) "Driveby"- Neil Young 16) "Rock N' Roll"- Sheryl Crow
My schedule this week is crazy. I am working as many hours this week as if I had a "real job". So my blogs will be hit and miss the week. themusicaddict
Thankfully Jennifer Love Hewitt lives, though I wish that show of hers would die. Speaking of impressive women, Dara Torres is two-time silver medal winner in this year's Beijing Olympics. Congrats Dara. She is the oldest person to medal in a swimming event. Swimming is a sport only for the tough. Congrats Michael Phelps on winning every event you entered. He won 8 gold medals and set 7 world records. Of course some of his events were individual events and some were relays. So congrats to the whole USA Swimming program for having such a solid organization.
Here's a review of "Tropic Thunder" starring Robert Downey Jr., Ben Stiller and Jack Black. This movie certainly has it's highlights. Downey Jr. has his second solid performance of this summer. Obviously he excelled as the man in "Iron Man". In "Tropic" his character is a method actor who has a radical pigment implantation surgery so that he will become black. He plays this character in the movie within the movie. His character is great and his acting is fantastic.
Unfortunately where he excels the rest of the movie falters. For one thing it is too long and formulaic. It is suppose to be a parody but it is too close to being a serious movie that the parody does not work very well. Jack Black's character is sort of lame, a one joke character. Ben Stiller as an actor was okay. His "Simple Jack" parts were pretty funny. Ben Stiller as the director still has a lot to learn. Unfortunately this movie did not live up to my hopes, but it was 100 times better than that lame "Wanted". (Every time I think about that movie I cringe for how stupid it was.)
Songs rockin' my iPod: 1) "Blame It On The Rain"- Milli Vanilli 2) "The Bad Thing"- The Arctic Monkeys 3) "The Stand"- The Alarm 4) "Back 2 Good"- Matchbox Twenty 5) "Machinehead"- Bush 6) "Bad Day"- Daniel Powter 7) "In The City"- The Eagles 8) "I'll Be Alright Without You"- Journey 9) "I Would Die For You"- Prince 10) "Hey Nineteen"- Steely Dan 11) "Fallen Angel"- Poison 12) "Seether"- Veruca Salt 13) "Old Chunk O' Coal"- John Anderson 14) "Changes"- 3 Doors Down 15) "Driveby"- Neil Young 16) "Rock N' Roll"- Sheryl Crow
My schedule this week is crazy. I am working as many hours this week as if I had a "real job". So my blogs will be hit and miss the week. themusicaddict
Friday, August 15, 2008
Bigfoot lives!
Hello,
Okay I don't really believe Bigfoot lives. Two people who have been hunting for the mythical, elusive Bigfoot claimed they've found a Bigfoot corpse in Georgia. They even have a picture of it and it looks pretty realistic. However it is not hard to manipulate a picture now days. Also my favorite thing about this story is the finders claim they have Bigfoot's DNA and that will prove he is Bigfoot. What are they going to compare that to to show that it is actually Bigfoot? I beleive this story as much as I believe Dick Cheney or Karl Rove have a soul. It's fun to talk and read about though. The two Bigfoot "finders" have a press conference in Palo Alto, California today. That's in the heart of Silicon Valley. I think the more likely news from this press conference is some new cool related computer program. Yes, I think this whole thing is a stunt.
Okay moving onto reality. Speaking of mythical and elusive creatures, supposedly a leak of the new Guns N' Roses track "Shackler's Revenge" was on the internet yesterday. I don't really believe there are leaks, these are just ways the record company uses to increase interest. Another word for it is advertising. (Hey maybe they can announce they have the Loch Ness Monster secure in a secret, extremely big swimming pool.) Okay now really moving on to reality. I apologize I started off my blog with three mythical creatures: Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster and Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy".
Right now I am using my beloved Rhapsody account listening to the N.E.R.D. CD, "Seeing Sounds". I am not really a big hip-hop/ rap fan, indeed isn't rap music an oxymoron? However I do like N.E.R.D. As with their first two CD's this is a pretty solid CD. N.E.R.D. is an acronym for no one ever really dies. They are lead by Pharrel Williams, known more for his producing work with the Neptunes and by himself. My only complaint is the extreme vulgarity of some of their lyrics. Thankfully Rhapsody has the edited versions.
Also as you have noticed I have two widgets on my blog, both from rollingstone.com. One has updated music news and also a widget for my favorite rock band Led Zeppelin. Check them both out if you are interested. With me working near 40 hours a week, I am not going to be able to post everyday.
Some quick notes: Lenny Kravitz has denied the rumor that he is joining Velvet Revolver. And for all fans of Slash and the boys, I say thanks Lenny. I think at this point that they need to go with an unknown lead singer, like Journey did. They also need to get someone with no ego. In other news: goombah.com has its 15 tracks it is highlighting today. As usual there are some good tracks to download, especially since the price is so good. My favorite song of the highlighted songs is the song "Night Vision" by the band Passenger. This reminds me a lot of James Blunt only a lot more funky. Even if you don't like James Blunt, check it out. Also my condolences go out to the family of Shaft, Isaac Hayes. He passed away the other day. Many people credit him for all his work and influence of bringing more funky, danceable music to the forefront.
Early this morning I finished reading the fourth and last of the "Twilight" series "Breaking Dawn". As with the first three books this is a good book. Although I do think it is the weakest of the four. In the last couple hundred pages Meyer goes away from her winning formula of Bella and Edward. She then focuses more on all these other characters she hasn't written about previously or not at all. She's trying to lead to a big climactic finish that doesn't really feel in tune with the rest of the story. Also Meyer claims this is her last "Twilight" novel, but she left a lot of loose ends. I predict she will be writing at least one more of this series. According to rs.com she is working on a rewrite of "Twilight" written from Edward's viewpoint. She felt his character is "misunderstood". She's also working on a sequel to her other non-"Twilght" novel, "The Host". She also has some other ideas she is working on.
I have written about my admiration for my fellow 41 year old, Olympic swimmer Dara Torres. At the USA tryouts she qualified for three events but chose to only race in two at the Olympics. One of her races happened on August 10th. She and her relay partners captured the silver in the freestyle relay. Her other event began today. She is racing in her specialty the 50 meters freestyle. Today were the heats, tomorrow is the semifinals and Sunday morning about 9:15am she will be going for the gold. Also I would just like to mention the USA's Men's Basketball Team. They are so fun to watch. I hadn't realized how good Dwayne Wade and Lebron James are. If you want to check them out they play at 6:00am MST tomorrow morning. It is worth getting up early for.
Songs rocking my iPod: 1) "Supermodel"- Jill Sobule She's the first singer who sang a song called "I Kissed A Girl" Although her song and Katy Perry's song are completely different. 2) "Estranged"- Guns N' Roses Back when Guns N' Roses were vital and relevant. 3) "Suffragette City"- Poison I know David Bowie sang the original. However both versions are great. 4) "Driver's Seat"- Sniff 'n' Tears. A lost early 80's classic. 5) "When The Levee Breaks"- Led Zeppelin 6) "If You Can Afford Me"- Katy Perry 7) "She's Out of My Life"- Michael Jackson 8) "Spirits In The Material World"- The Police 9) "Hey Baby"- No Doubt 10) "Rock N' Roll, Hoochie Koo"- Rick Derringer 11) "Wasting My Time"- Default 12) "Bodhisattva"- Steely Dan 13) "Manic Depression"- Jimi Hendrix 14) "No Cars Go"- The Arcade Fire 15) "Bohemian Rhapsody"- Queen 16) "I Would Die For You"- Prince and 17) "On The Dark Side"- John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.
I'll be back Sunday with a review of the movie "Tropic Thunder", information about a band called the Faint. Also I hopefully will be celebrating Dara Torres' gold medal. I will also be highlighting a singer named Charlotte Sometimes in one of my next couple of blogs. I am listening to her. I think she is a lot better than the much more acclaimed Duffy. Happy weekend, themusicaddict
Okay I don't really believe Bigfoot lives. Two people who have been hunting for the mythical, elusive Bigfoot claimed they've found a Bigfoot corpse in Georgia. They even have a picture of it and it looks pretty realistic. However it is not hard to manipulate a picture now days. Also my favorite thing about this story is the finders claim they have Bigfoot's DNA and that will prove he is Bigfoot. What are they going to compare that to to show that it is actually Bigfoot? I beleive this story as much as I believe Dick Cheney or Karl Rove have a soul. It's fun to talk and read about though. The two Bigfoot "finders" have a press conference in Palo Alto, California today. That's in the heart of Silicon Valley. I think the more likely news from this press conference is some new cool related computer program. Yes, I think this whole thing is a stunt.
Okay moving onto reality. Speaking of mythical and elusive creatures, supposedly a leak of the new Guns N' Roses track "Shackler's Revenge" was on the internet yesterday. I don't really believe there are leaks, these are just ways the record company uses to increase interest. Another word for it is advertising. (Hey maybe they can announce they have the Loch Ness Monster secure in a secret, extremely big swimming pool.) Okay now really moving on to reality. I apologize I started off my blog with three mythical creatures: Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster and Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy".
Right now I am using my beloved Rhapsody account listening to the N.E.R.D. CD, "Seeing Sounds". I am not really a big hip-hop/ rap fan, indeed isn't rap music an oxymoron? However I do like N.E.R.D. As with their first two CD's this is a pretty solid CD. N.E.R.D. is an acronym for no one ever really dies. They are lead by Pharrel Williams, known more for his producing work with the Neptunes and by himself. My only complaint is the extreme vulgarity of some of their lyrics. Thankfully Rhapsody has the edited versions.
Also as you have noticed I have two widgets on my blog, both from rollingstone.com. One has updated music news and also a widget for my favorite rock band Led Zeppelin. Check them both out if you are interested. With me working near 40 hours a week, I am not going to be able to post everyday.
Some quick notes: Lenny Kravitz has denied the rumor that he is joining Velvet Revolver. And for all fans of Slash and the boys, I say thanks Lenny. I think at this point that they need to go with an unknown lead singer, like Journey did. They also need to get someone with no ego. In other news: goombah.com has its 15 tracks it is highlighting today. As usual there are some good tracks to download, especially since the price is so good. My favorite song of the highlighted songs is the song "Night Vision" by the band Passenger. This reminds me a lot of James Blunt only a lot more funky. Even if you don't like James Blunt, check it out. Also my condolences go out to the family of Shaft, Isaac Hayes. He passed away the other day. Many people credit him for all his work and influence of bringing more funky, danceable music to the forefront.
Early this morning I finished reading the fourth and last of the "Twilight" series "Breaking Dawn". As with the first three books this is a good book. Although I do think it is the weakest of the four. In the last couple hundred pages Meyer goes away from her winning formula of Bella and Edward. She then focuses more on all these other characters she hasn't written about previously or not at all. She's trying to lead to a big climactic finish that doesn't really feel in tune with the rest of the story. Also Meyer claims this is her last "Twilight" novel, but she left a lot of loose ends. I predict she will be writing at least one more of this series. According to rs.com she is working on a rewrite of "Twilight" written from Edward's viewpoint. She felt his character is "misunderstood". She's also working on a sequel to her other non-"Twilght" novel, "The Host". She also has some other ideas she is working on.
I have written about my admiration for my fellow 41 year old, Olympic swimmer Dara Torres. At the USA tryouts she qualified for three events but chose to only race in two at the Olympics. One of her races happened on August 10th. She and her relay partners captured the silver in the freestyle relay. Her other event began today. She is racing in her specialty the 50 meters freestyle. Today were the heats, tomorrow is the semifinals and Sunday morning about 9:15am she will be going for the gold. Also I would just like to mention the USA's Men's Basketball Team. They are so fun to watch. I hadn't realized how good Dwayne Wade and Lebron James are. If you want to check them out they play at 6:00am MST tomorrow morning. It is worth getting up early for.
Songs rocking my iPod: 1) "Supermodel"- Jill Sobule She's the first singer who sang a song called "I Kissed A Girl" Although her song and Katy Perry's song are completely different. 2) "Estranged"- Guns N' Roses Back when Guns N' Roses were vital and relevant. 3) "Suffragette City"- Poison I know David Bowie sang the original. However both versions are great. 4) "Driver's Seat"- Sniff 'n' Tears. A lost early 80's classic. 5) "When The Levee Breaks"- Led Zeppelin 6) "If You Can Afford Me"- Katy Perry 7) "She's Out of My Life"- Michael Jackson 8) "Spirits In The Material World"- The Police 9) "Hey Baby"- No Doubt 10) "Rock N' Roll, Hoochie Koo"- Rick Derringer 11) "Wasting My Time"- Default 12) "Bodhisattva"- Steely Dan 13) "Manic Depression"- Jimi Hendrix 14) "No Cars Go"- The Arcade Fire 15) "Bohemian Rhapsody"- Queen 16) "I Would Die For You"- Prince and 17) "On The Dark Side"- John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.
I'll be back Sunday with a review of the movie "Tropic Thunder", information about a band called the Faint. Also I hopefully will be celebrating Dara Torres' gold medal. I will also be highlighting a singer named Charlotte Sometimes in one of my next couple of blogs. I am listening to her. I think she is a lot better than the much more acclaimed Duffy. Happy weekend, themusicaddict
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The Olympics rock!
Hello,
I'm still basking in the moment of a thrilling finish at the Olympics in the 4 X 100 Men's Relay. The USA team beat the field in the 4 X 100 Relay in one of the most amazing finishes I have ever seen. France, their chief competitor, had come into the Olympics saying they were going to "smash" the Americans. In one of the most antcipated finals in this year's Olympics, America just barely touched the wall before France for the gold. If you haven't seen this race yet, go to NBCOlympics.com and watch it, it is amazing. (You may have to add a plug in, but that is very easy.) Not only did America win the gold but they knocked 4 seconds off the world record, which their B team had just set 15 hours earlier. America only beat France by 8/100's of a second. Other news so far Michael Phelps is 3 for 3 in the 8 events in which he is going for gold for. He's going for his fourth gold in prime time tonight.(Maybe France should get one of those invisibility cloaks that I have read so much about it. Be careful not to "smash" the invisibility cloak though. Oh yeah they are not very good at smashing things.)
I will now write about music. Here are some songs for you to check out by the great band The Donnas. They are a rock band of all girls and they rock. The drummer is a turbo and a powerful drummer. I have been fortunate to have seen The Donnas live in concert twice. They kicked butt. My favorite CD of theirs is probably "Spend The Night". If you get one of their CD's I would reccomend that it be that or "Gold Medal". Although "Bitchin" is good as well. Here are 10 songs I would highly reccomend to add to your collection or at least check out. From "Spend The Night" highlights include "It's All On The Rocks", "All Messed Up", "Not The One", "Pass It Around", "Please Don't Tease" and "I Don't Care (So There). From "Gold Medal" the highlights include "Don't Break Me Down" and "The Gold Medal", that is appropriate in an Olympic year. From their newest CD "Bitchin'" highlights include "Bitchin", "Wasted", "Tonights Alright" and "When The Show Is Over".
Some short notes: For those of you David Archuleta fans, his new single "Crush" is now available for purchase at iTunes and I am sure several other online music stores. For frequent readers of my blog (there has to be at least one of you, right?) you know that I was not a big fan of Archuleta on this last season of "American Idol". However I really do like this song.
One of the most anticipated movies of the summer is finally being released tomorrow. It's the Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey movie "Tropic Thunder". It's a parody of war movies. In "Tropic Thunder" Robert Downey plays a black man. His role in this movie earned him the most recent cover in Rolling Stone magazine. Also there is a major star making a surprise appearance in the movie. If you don't know who it is, I am not going to spoil it for you. I also have read you want to be in the theatre for the movie previews. Anyway the movie is out tomorrow. This movie is either going to be a great and hilarious movie or it is going to be a horrible disaster. I can't wait to see which.
Speaking of movies "Twilight" is coming out on December 12th. I have been a big fan of the books, but I am a little wary of the movie. Some of the actors who are playing the main characters look totally different than I expected and not for the good. Some of the main characters are suppose to be vampires and werewolves and some of these actors appear very wimpy. In spite of my wariness I plan on seeing the movie. I finished reading the third of the Twilight novels last night "Eclipse" and immeadiately started reading the fourth and last of the series, "Breaking Dawn". I have read the first 100 pages of that so far and I am enjoying it very much. The author, Stephenie Meyer, is a very good and enjoyable writer. Although on these books I think you will really like them or will not be interested.
As I previously mentioned I am going to be seeing Sheryl Crow in concert. She will be in concert two weeks ago from last night. I have listened to her new CD "Detours" and I think it is fantastic. There are a lot of songs dealing with her relationship with Lance Armstrong, apparantally a bitter breakup. There are a couple of songs on there that she could have left out, but over all "Detours" is pretty good CD.
I checked out her website and it is sort of lame. I was looking for her concert setlist and I wasn't pleased by its brevity. She usually sings between 17 to 19 songs at each concert, I guess that is not terrible. That being said I am really looking forward to seeing her in concert. At some shows she is singing with James Blunt on "The First Cut Is The Deepest" and at other shows she is singing with Toots Maytal. She also has an official youtube.com channel which has 19 videos of her live in performance. Along with her hits she also sings Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" and Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine". (She really rocks out on both. A girl after my own heart.) That makes me want to see her even more in concert.
For this concert she does have two opeining acts which I think is a bit excessive. One of the opening acts is James Blunt who sings one of my favorite all-time songs, "You're Beautiful". I think you probably know enough about him. The other opening act seems a bit out of place, they are Toots and the Maytals. So I won't be completely surprised by them I have been listening to them on Rhapsody. (Thanks Rhapsody!) Toots and the Maytals are currently touring behind a greatest hits set titled "Pressure Drop: The Definitive Collection". Rhapsody calls their music "Rock Steady". It is a more upbeat, almost danceable reggae mix. So they should be an enjoyable opening act as long as they don't overstay their welcome.
I will not be back again until Friday, currently I am working a lot of hours at my job. However Friday I have the day off. I am looking for things to write about for that day. Maybe a review of "Tropic Thunder" or Breaking Dawn". I probably will be reccomending some music from goombah.com. Have a good week. Even if you are not a sports fan I would highly reccomend you check out the Olympics, they are enjoyable. You never know when you will see history being made. themusicaddict
I'm still basking in the moment of a thrilling finish at the Olympics in the 4 X 100 Men's Relay. The USA team beat the field in the 4 X 100 Relay in one of the most amazing finishes I have ever seen. France, their chief competitor, had come into the Olympics saying they were going to "smash" the Americans. In one of the most antcipated finals in this year's Olympics, America just barely touched the wall before France for the gold. If you haven't seen this race yet, go to NBCOlympics.com and watch it, it is amazing. (You may have to add a plug in, but that is very easy.) Not only did America win the gold but they knocked 4 seconds off the world record, which their B team had just set 15 hours earlier. America only beat France by 8/100's of a second. Other news so far Michael Phelps is 3 for 3 in the 8 events in which he is going for gold for. He's going for his fourth gold in prime time tonight.(Maybe France should get one of those invisibility cloaks that I have read so much about it. Be careful not to "smash" the invisibility cloak though. Oh yeah they are not very good at smashing things.)
I will now write about music. Here are some songs for you to check out by the great band The Donnas. They are a rock band of all girls and they rock. The drummer is a turbo and a powerful drummer. I have been fortunate to have seen The Donnas live in concert twice. They kicked butt. My favorite CD of theirs is probably "Spend The Night". If you get one of their CD's I would reccomend that it be that or "Gold Medal". Although "Bitchin" is good as well. Here are 10 songs I would highly reccomend to add to your collection or at least check out. From "Spend The Night" highlights include "It's All On The Rocks", "All Messed Up", "Not The One", "Pass It Around", "Please Don't Tease" and "I Don't Care (So There). From "Gold Medal" the highlights include "Don't Break Me Down" and "The Gold Medal", that is appropriate in an Olympic year. From their newest CD "Bitchin'" highlights include "Bitchin", "Wasted", "Tonights Alright" and "When The Show Is Over".
Some short notes: For those of you David Archuleta fans, his new single "Crush" is now available for purchase at iTunes and I am sure several other online music stores. For frequent readers of my blog (there has to be at least one of you, right?) you know that I was not a big fan of Archuleta on this last season of "American Idol". However I really do like this song.
One of the most anticipated movies of the summer is finally being released tomorrow. It's the Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey movie "Tropic Thunder". It's a parody of war movies. In "Tropic Thunder" Robert Downey plays a black man. His role in this movie earned him the most recent cover in Rolling Stone magazine. Also there is a major star making a surprise appearance in the movie. If you don't know who it is, I am not going to spoil it for you. I also have read you want to be in the theatre for the movie previews. Anyway the movie is out tomorrow. This movie is either going to be a great and hilarious movie or it is going to be a horrible disaster. I can't wait to see which.
Speaking of movies "Twilight" is coming out on December 12th. I have been a big fan of the books, but I am a little wary of the movie. Some of the actors who are playing the main characters look totally different than I expected and not for the good. Some of the main characters are suppose to be vampires and werewolves and some of these actors appear very wimpy. In spite of my wariness I plan on seeing the movie. I finished reading the third of the Twilight novels last night "Eclipse" and immeadiately started reading the fourth and last of the series, "Breaking Dawn". I have read the first 100 pages of that so far and I am enjoying it very much. The author, Stephenie Meyer, is a very good and enjoyable writer. Although on these books I think you will really like them or will not be interested.
As I previously mentioned I am going to be seeing Sheryl Crow in concert. She will be in concert two weeks ago from last night. I have listened to her new CD "Detours" and I think it is fantastic. There are a lot of songs dealing with her relationship with Lance Armstrong, apparantally a bitter breakup. There are a couple of songs on there that she could have left out, but over all "Detours" is pretty good CD.
I checked out her website and it is sort of lame. I was looking for her concert setlist and I wasn't pleased by its brevity. She usually sings between 17 to 19 songs at each concert, I guess that is not terrible. That being said I am really looking forward to seeing her in concert. At some shows she is singing with James Blunt on "The First Cut Is The Deepest" and at other shows she is singing with Toots Maytal. She also has an official youtube.com channel which has 19 videos of her live in performance. Along with her hits she also sings Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" and Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine". (She really rocks out on both. A girl after my own heart.) That makes me want to see her even more in concert.
For this concert she does have two opeining acts which I think is a bit excessive. One of the opening acts is James Blunt who sings one of my favorite all-time songs, "You're Beautiful". I think you probably know enough about him. The other opening act seems a bit out of place, they are Toots and the Maytals. So I won't be completely surprised by them I have been listening to them on Rhapsody. (Thanks Rhapsody!) Toots and the Maytals are currently touring behind a greatest hits set titled "Pressure Drop: The Definitive Collection". Rhapsody calls their music "Rock Steady". It is a more upbeat, almost danceable reggae mix. So they should be an enjoyable opening act as long as they don't overstay their welcome.
I will not be back again until Friday, currently I am working a lot of hours at my job. However Friday I have the day off. I am looking for things to write about for that day. Maybe a review of "Tropic Thunder" or Breaking Dawn". I probably will be reccomending some music from goombah.com. Have a good week. Even if you are not a sports fan I would highly reccomend you check out the Olympics, they are enjoyable. You never know when you will see history being made. themusicaddict
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Bernie Mac, R.I.P.
Hello,
This is unfortunate what I am writing now but my condolences go out to the family, friends and fans of the very funny Bernie Mac. He passed away yesterday in a Chicago area hospital from complications with pneumonia. Not only is he very funny in stand up but he was great in the movies he made. I absolutley loved him in "Guess Who". He also made significant contributions to the "Oceans" movies. Bernie Mac dead at the age of 50.
I also promised a review of Andre Dubus' "The Garden of Last Days". I finished reading it yesterday. The book does drag a bit near the two-thirds mark, but it recovers its momentum and the ending is fantastic. It's also very sad and poignant. I am not going to even try to describe the story to you, it's hard to explain. All I can tell you it is a great book and you should read it. It is so good I am wanting to read his earlier novel "The House of Sand and Fog".
Also I continue to read the "Twilight" series of books. I am about 3/4ths of the way through the third book "Eclipse". I am really enjoying these books. They are very entertaining and quick reads.
Upcoming: some good things. I am going to go and try to see "Tropic Thunder" this week. If that movie is half as good as it looks, it is going to be great. Also it looks like I will have the opportunity to go see Sheryl Crow and James Blunt in concert. That will be cool. Obviously there will be a concert review of that. Some of my family and I are going to go see that on August 25th.
Also I have mentioned this before but at download.com they highlight a new band every day. They then have at least 1 of their songs free you can download. Today's band they are highlighting is Calexico. I have heard of this band but that is it. There are six of their songs you can download for free, I downloaded all six. So far from what I have heard from them, they sound like a pretty good band. I have discovered a lot of good bands through download.com. It's a free and easy way to discover new music and musicians.
Songs rocking my iPod: 1) "Veronica"- Elvis Costello 2) "Prisoner"- Mariah Carey 3) "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)- Meat Loaf 4)"Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"- Nirvana Although this song is a remake of a Leadbelly classic, it is easily their best song. 5) "Just Might (Make Me Believe)- Sugarland 6) "Kiss From A Rose"- Seal 7) "Crown of Love"- Arcade Fire and 8) "Bungle In The Jungle"- Jethro Tull
That's it for now. I will be back tomorrow. I will be focusing on the music of the Donna's tomorrow. Have a great Sunday, themusicaddict
This is unfortunate what I am writing now but my condolences go out to the family, friends and fans of the very funny Bernie Mac. He passed away yesterday in a Chicago area hospital from complications with pneumonia. Not only is he very funny in stand up but he was great in the movies he made. I absolutley loved him in "Guess Who". He also made significant contributions to the "Oceans" movies. Bernie Mac dead at the age of 50.
I also promised a review of Andre Dubus' "The Garden of Last Days". I finished reading it yesterday. The book does drag a bit near the two-thirds mark, but it recovers its momentum and the ending is fantastic. It's also very sad and poignant. I am not going to even try to describe the story to you, it's hard to explain. All I can tell you it is a great book and you should read it. It is so good I am wanting to read his earlier novel "The House of Sand and Fog".
Also I continue to read the "Twilight" series of books. I am about 3/4ths of the way through the third book "Eclipse". I am really enjoying these books. They are very entertaining and quick reads.
Upcoming: some good things. I am going to go and try to see "Tropic Thunder" this week. If that movie is half as good as it looks, it is going to be great. Also it looks like I will have the opportunity to go see Sheryl Crow and James Blunt in concert. That will be cool. Obviously there will be a concert review of that. Some of my family and I are going to go see that on August 25th.
Also I have mentioned this before but at download.com they highlight a new band every day. They then have at least 1 of their songs free you can download. Today's band they are highlighting is Calexico. I have heard of this band but that is it. There are six of their songs you can download for free, I downloaded all six. So far from what I have heard from them, they sound like a pretty good band. I have discovered a lot of good bands through download.com. It's a free and easy way to discover new music and musicians.
Songs rocking my iPod: 1) "Veronica"- Elvis Costello 2) "Prisoner"- Mariah Carey 3) "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)- Meat Loaf 4)"Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"- Nirvana Although this song is a remake of a Leadbelly classic, it is easily their best song. 5) "Just Might (Make Me Believe)- Sugarland 6) "Kiss From A Rose"- Seal 7) "Crown of Love"- Arcade Fire and 8) "Bungle In The Jungle"- Jethro Tull
That's it for now. I will be back tomorrow. I will be focusing on the music of the Donna's tomorrow. Have a great Sunday, themusicaddict
Friday, August 8, 2008
Sugarland again
Hello,
First things first: The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics starts today. Good luck to all countries, there have been some amazing human interest stories so far. I would like to wish good luck especially to Dana Torres. I'm pulling for her because she is 41 years old, just like me. It's not often you see people my age in the Olympics, especially in such a difficult sport. There will be more human interest stories emerge as the Olympics goes on. I lived in Salt Lake City in 2002 when the Winter Olympics was here. Those were two of the most fun weeks of my life. If you are in Beijing or anywhere near, take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
A couple of book notes: I just finished reading "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" by Ron Hansen. This was later made into the movie starring Brad Pitt. Anyway the book you can skip. Jesse James is killed on about page 200 and then the last about 100 pages is about Robert Ford, who is not half as interesting. One more thing I would encourage you to skip is the Arnold S. movie "End of Days". It is a very formulaic end of world movie. Kevin Pollack is in the movie and I wonderied the whole time why is he in it? He is terrible. (Thankfully this movie is not as bad as "Tomcats".)
After that disappointing book I was going to start reading "Eclipse" the third of the "Twilight" novels. However when I went into my local library I remembered this book I had heard good things about titled "Garden of Last Days" by Andre Dubus. I made the mistake of reading the first several pages of that and then could not put it down. It is amazing and very well written. It's a gritty and intense story like Dennis Lehane's "Mystic River". I highly reccomend both of those books.
Anyway now on to music. Again thanks to Rhapsody I am listening to the new Sugarland CD. I absolutely love Jennifer Nettles voice. Today I am listening to the extended version. This extended version includes a live performance of the 80's classic "Life In A Northern Town". Another highlight of this CD is the song called "Steve Earle", it is very funny. Also while I was surfing the 'net today, I read that the former third member of Sugarland is now suing her former band for 1.5 million dollars. She wasn't kicked out of band, she left because she got sick of the life. She wanted to focus on her song writing. Anyway I would highly reccomend "Love On the Outside" in either version.
Sugarland is going out on tour with two supporting artists. The first is "American Idol's own Kellie Pickler. She is one of the most successful "AI" alumni. The other supporting act is Ashton Shepherd. Shepherd has the great song, "Takin Off That Pain". Their tour starts September 13th in Asheville, North Carolina.
I have been promising this for awhile, but here is a more indepth survey of the great band Motion City Soundtrack. Motion City Soundtrack has released three CD's so far. They are "Commit This To Memory", "Even If It Kills Me" and "I Am The Movie". Based on the number of 5 star songs their best CD is "Commit This To Memory". However all three CDs have a great selection of songs. Here's a list of their 10 best songs 1) "Attractive Today" 2) "Everything Is Alright" 3) "Make Out Kids" 4) "Better Open The Door" 5) "Where I Belong" 6) "Point of Extinction" 7) "The Future Freaks Me Out" 8) "Perfect Teeth" 9) "Capital H" 10) "Fell In Love With You". That last song is probably my favorite song of theirs.
Also today is the day with 15 songs spotlighted by music site goombah.com. As usual there are some good songs and some not so good songs. The most interesting band I heard today is The Smittens. They have three songs available at goombah.com. They are "Gumdrops", a very quirky song that is my favorite of the bunch. The other two songs are "Something Sassy" and "The Interstate". Another two songs that are worthwhile checking out are by a band called Shaky Hands. Their two interesting songs are "We Are Young" and "A New Parade".
Unfortunately I am human and make mistakes, I incorrectly gave you the incorrect title of a movie. I said the movie was "The Third Man", actually the movie I saw was the horrible "The Third Wheel". Avoid it at all costs.
I am working later tonight and all day tomorrow, so my next blog won't come out until Sunday. I anticipate I will be giving a full review of "Garden Of Last Days" then. I am wondering if the ending will hold up with the rest of the book.
Have a great weekend, themusicaddict
First things first: The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics starts today. Good luck to all countries, there have been some amazing human interest stories so far. I would like to wish good luck especially to Dana Torres. I'm pulling for her because she is 41 years old, just like me. It's not often you see people my age in the Olympics, especially in such a difficult sport. There will be more human interest stories emerge as the Olympics goes on. I lived in Salt Lake City in 2002 when the Winter Olympics was here. Those were two of the most fun weeks of my life. If you are in Beijing or anywhere near, take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
A couple of book notes: I just finished reading "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" by Ron Hansen. This was later made into the movie starring Brad Pitt. Anyway the book you can skip. Jesse James is killed on about page 200 and then the last about 100 pages is about Robert Ford, who is not half as interesting. One more thing I would encourage you to skip is the Arnold S. movie "End of Days". It is a very formulaic end of world movie. Kevin Pollack is in the movie and I wonderied the whole time why is he in it? He is terrible. (Thankfully this movie is not as bad as "Tomcats".)
After that disappointing book I was going to start reading "Eclipse" the third of the "Twilight" novels. However when I went into my local library I remembered this book I had heard good things about titled "Garden of Last Days" by Andre Dubus. I made the mistake of reading the first several pages of that and then could not put it down. It is amazing and very well written. It's a gritty and intense story like Dennis Lehane's "Mystic River". I highly reccomend both of those books.
Anyway now on to music. Again thanks to Rhapsody I am listening to the new Sugarland CD. I absolutely love Jennifer Nettles voice. Today I am listening to the extended version. This extended version includes a live performance of the 80's classic "Life In A Northern Town". Another highlight of this CD is the song called "Steve Earle", it is very funny. Also while I was surfing the 'net today, I read that the former third member of Sugarland is now suing her former band for 1.5 million dollars. She wasn't kicked out of band, she left because she got sick of the life. She wanted to focus on her song writing. Anyway I would highly reccomend "Love On the Outside" in either version.
Sugarland is going out on tour with two supporting artists. The first is "American Idol's own Kellie Pickler. She is one of the most successful "AI" alumni. The other supporting act is Ashton Shepherd. Shepherd has the great song, "Takin Off That Pain". Their tour starts September 13th in Asheville, North Carolina.
I have been promising this for awhile, but here is a more indepth survey of the great band Motion City Soundtrack. Motion City Soundtrack has released three CD's so far. They are "Commit This To Memory", "Even If It Kills Me" and "I Am The Movie". Based on the number of 5 star songs their best CD is "Commit This To Memory". However all three CDs have a great selection of songs. Here's a list of their 10 best songs 1) "Attractive Today" 2) "Everything Is Alright" 3) "Make Out Kids" 4) "Better Open The Door" 5) "Where I Belong" 6) "Point of Extinction" 7) "The Future Freaks Me Out" 8) "Perfect Teeth" 9) "Capital H" 10) "Fell In Love With You". That last song is probably my favorite song of theirs.
Also today is the day with 15 songs spotlighted by music site goombah.com. As usual there are some good songs and some not so good songs. The most interesting band I heard today is The Smittens. They have three songs available at goombah.com. They are "Gumdrops", a very quirky song that is my favorite of the bunch. The other two songs are "Something Sassy" and "The Interstate". Another two songs that are worthwhile checking out are by a band called Shaky Hands. Their two interesting songs are "We Are Young" and "A New Parade".
Unfortunately I am human and make mistakes, I incorrectly gave you the incorrect title of a movie. I said the movie was "The Third Man", actually the movie I saw was the horrible "The Third Wheel". Avoid it at all costs.
I am working later tonight and all day tomorrow, so my next blog won't come out until Sunday. I anticipate I will be giving a full review of "Garden Of Last Days" then. I am wondering if the ending will hold up with the rest of the book.
Have a great weekend, themusicaddict
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Rhapsody, "AI" news and best wishes
Hello,
Let's get to the most important thing first. My prayers and thoughts go out to three great entertainers, including two of my favorites. First Bernie Mac is in a hospital with pneumonia like symptoms. There is no clear word on this yet, but some sources saying he is on death's door. From what I have read, only those closest to him really know his true condition. I'm hoping he has at least another good 30 years in him, he is only 50. (I just went to suntimes.com, according to his publicist he is doing fine and should be out of the hospital Monday. This is why you can never trust rumors.) Also Morgan Freeman, 71, was injured in a car accident over the weekend in Mississippi. He apparantally is in serious condition. Although I did read that he was joking with the paramedics who responded to the accident. Apparantally the car he was traveling in flipped several times. (Thanks again to suntimes.com) The paramedics had to use the jaws of life to extricate him from his vehicle. Finally and thankfully she is not in danger of losing her life, but Christina Applegate is battling breast cancer. Good luck with that Christina, I understand that can be extremely difficult to deal with. (I am a guy so I have no clue, I have just heard that it can be devestating.) Good luck and my prayers to all three.
Some quick "American Idol" notes first. According to ew.com, David Cook in between tour dates, is working with super producer Rob Cavallo on his debut CD. Now if you are anything like me the name of the producer doesn't mean much unless it is Rick Rubin or Bob Rock. But just because you don't know the name, doesn't mean his input hasn't been invaluable. Also if one judges a producer by his body of work, Cavallo deserves his great reputation. One of the CD's he produced is Green Day's "American Idiot". That may end up being the best CD of this decade. So I am quite excited by their collaboration. In the ew.com article Cook is debating whether he should include his "Idol" finale "The Time of My Life". My reccomendation: David please do not include that song, it sucks. It also makes no sense if you are really trying to make a "rock" record.
Also according to ew.com, "AI" producer Nigel Lythgoe is leaving the show, all I have to say is "good riddance". He was one of the the idiots pushing for David Archuletta winning the show, rather than letting the show take its natural course.
Finally Katherine McPhee has remade the 80's new wave smash, "I Know What Boys Like". I could not remember who the original band was and had to look it up on amazon.com. Their name is the Waitresses and their version is 100% better. McPhee's version is sort of hip-hopish and a lot different than the superior original. However if you like it you can buy it for 99c at iTunes music store. (Also who is more gorgeous of the "American Idol" ladies, Carrie Underwood or Katherine McPhee?)
Other music notes: for a limited time you can buy the Katy Perry CD "One of the Boys" at the amazon.com MP3 store at a discount. Currently it is only $6.99. It is well worth the money if you are looking for new high quality music. It includes "I Kissed A Girl" and "Your So Gay". Also there was a recent feature about her in Entertainment Weekly magazine, if you are interested. She seems very grounded and mature for someone only 18 years old.
Thanks to my Rhapsody membership I have been listening to some great new music today. First of all I listened to the new Sugarland CD "Love on The Inside". To be fair I am a big Sugarland fan. This CD is fantastic so pick it up and while your at it get their first two CD's if you don't have them. Another great band is the Brazillian band that I have mentioned before, CSS. They just released their second CD "Donkey". It is great as well. Recently Paste Magazine devoted a whole article to international music and the only band that interested me was CSS. I think they are going to be a big band someday. I also listened to a band that my bro reccomended named The Giraffes, they were okay. I then listened to a band named Muse. The reason I'm listening to them is because Stephenie Meyer cites their music as an inspiration. (From what I have heard I don't understand what in the music inspires her.) She is the author of the "Twilight" series of books. (I have read the first two so far and they are fantastic.) Last but not least I am listening to Yaz who is making a bit of a comeback. Originally they were only together for two years.
Finally a definitive biography of the great band Guns N' Roses has been released. The name of the book is "Watch You Bleed". I have this book on hold at a local library. I will read it when I can get a chance and give you a review. This book isn't out until August 26th. I am excited about this book because it is written by Stephen Davis. Davis also wrote the great Led Zeppelin biography "Hammer of The Gods". In addition, he wrote a great biography of Jim Morrison and the The Doors. It is titled "Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend". Davis also wrote a biography of Bob Marley, the man has qreat taste in musicians. Those four bands are some of the most vital bands in the history of music.
One final thing as you know I am a big fan of Comcast On Demand. That can be a good or a bad thing. Last night it was a bad thing. I had the misfortune of watching "Tomcats". This had to be one of the all-time worst movies ever. It is undeniably bad and has no redeeming qualities. I have a feeling that about halfway through making the movie the actors and directors realized they were making a turd of a movie. It shows. Speaking of waste of time movies, do not watch the show "The Third Man". That movie stars Denise Richards, so I should have known. There has never been a good movie made with Denise Richards or Jessica Simpson in it. Also if a movie has one of the main actors from "Friends", chances are that it sucks. (The only exception to that rule I can think of is "Office Space".)
That's it for now, have a great week themusicaddict
Let's get to the most important thing first. My prayers and thoughts go out to three great entertainers, including two of my favorites. First Bernie Mac is in a hospital with pneumonia like symptoms. There is no clear word on this yet, but some sources saying he is on death's door. From what I have read, only those closest to him really know his true condition. I'm hoping he has at least another good 30 years in him, he is only 50. (I just went to suntimes.com, according to his publicist he is doing fine and should be out of the hospital Monday. This is why you can never trust rumors.) Also Morgan Freeman, 71, was injured in a car accident over the weekend in Mississippi. He apparantally is in serious condition. Although I did read that he was joking with the paramedics who responded to the accident. Apparantally the car he was traveling in flipped several times. (Thanks again to suntimes.com) The paramedics had to use the jaws of life to extricate him from his vehicle. Finally and thankfully she is not in danger of losing her life, but Christina Applegate is battling breast cancer. Good luck with that Christina, I understand that can be extremely difficult to deal with. (I am a guy so I have no clue, I have just heard that it can be devestating.) Good luck and my prayers to all three.
Some quick "American Idol" notes first. According to ew.com, David Cook in between tour dates, is working with super producer Rob Cavallo on his debut CD. Now if you are anything like me the name of the producer doesn't mean much unless it is Rick Rubin or Bob Rock. But just because you don't know the name, doesn't mean his input hasn't been invaluable. Also if one judges a producer by his body of work, Cavallo deserves his great reputation. One of the CD's he produced is Green Day's "American Idiot". That may end up being the best CD of this decade. So I am quite excited by their collaboration. In the ew.com article Cook is debating whether he should include his "Idol" finale "The Time of My Life". My reccomendation: David please do not include that song, it sucks. It also makes no sense if you are really trying to make a "rock" record.
Also according to ew.com, "AI" producer Nigel Lythgoe is leaving the show, all I have to say is "good riddance". He was one of the the idiots pushing for David Archuletta winning the show, rather than letting the show take its natural course.
Finally Katherine McPhee has remade the 80's new wave smash, "I Know What Boys Like". I could not remember who the original band was and had to look it up on amazon.com. Their name is the Waitresses and their version is 100% better. McPhee's version is sort of hip-hopish and a lot different than the superior original. However if you like it you can buy it for 99c at iTunes music store. (Also who is more gorgeous of the "American Idol" ladies, Carrie Underwood or Katherine McPhee?)
Other music notes: for a limited time you can buy the Katy Perry CD "One of the Boys" at the amazon.com MP3 store at a discount. Currently it is only $6.99. It is well worth the money if you are looking for new high quality music. It includes "I Kissed A Girl" and "Your So Gay". Also there was a recent feature about her in Entertainment Weekly magazine, if you are interested. She seems very grounded and mature for someone only 18 years old.
Thanks to my Rhapsody membership I have been listening to some great new music today. First of all I listened to the new Sugarland CD "Love on The Inside". To be fair I am a big Sugarland fan. This CD is fantastic so pick it up and while your at it get their first two CD's if you don't have them. Another great band is the Brazillian band that I have mentioned before, CSS. They just released their second CD "Donkey". It is great as well. Recently Paste Magazine devoted a whole article to international music and the only band that interested me was CSS. I think they are going to be a big band someday. I also listened to a band that my bro reccomended named The Giraffes, they were okay. I then listened to a band named Muse. The reason I'm listening to them is because Stephenie Meyer cites their music as an inspiration. (From what I have heard I don't understand what in the music inspires her.) She is the author of the "Twilight" series of books. (I have read the first two so far and they are fantastic.) Last but not least I am listening to Yaz who is making a bit of a comeback. Originally they were only together for two years.
Finally a definitive biography of the great band Guns N' Roses has been released. The name of the book is "Watch You Bleed". I have this book on hold at a local library. I will read it when I can get a chance and give you a review. This book isn't out until August 26th. I am excited about this book because it is written by Stephen Davis. Davis also wrote the great Led Zeppelin biography "Hammer of The Gods". In addition, he wrote a great biography of Jim Morrison and the The Doors. It is titled "Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend". Davis also wrote a biography of Bob Marley, the man has qreat taste in musicians. Those four bands are some of the most vital bands in the history of music.
One final thing as you know I am a big fan of Comcast On Demand. That can be a good or a bad thing. Last night it was a bad thing. I had the misfortune of watching "Tomcats". This had to be one of the all-time worst movies ever. It is undeniably bad and has no redeeming qualities. I have a feeling that about halfway through making the movie the actors and directors realized they were making a turd of a movie. It shows. Speaking of waste of time movies, do not watch the show "The Third Man". That movie stars Denise Richards, so I should have known. There has never been a good movie made with Denise Richards or Jessica Simpson in it. Also if a movie has one of the main actors from "Friends", chances are that it sucks. (The only exception to that rule I can think of is "Office Space".)
That's it for now, have a great week themusicaddict
Saturday, August 2, 2008
"Wanted", Not really
Hello,
Just time for a quick blog. Hopefully I will be back with another blog tomorrow or Tuesday. It is a busy time in my life right now.
I had the misfortune of seeing the movie "Wanted" the other night. This is the movie starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, both of whom are very good actors. It is about asassains who try to kill people who are bad people. That way they can keep some kind of order in the world. The acting and the action are fine. The curving bullets are cool as well. Morgan Freeman is in this movie so that is a plus. He ust embodys cool so much. Yeah I know what you are thinking, it sounds like a good movie. Unfortunately it is not at all! Now for the bad: the story is stupid and the execution of the story is horrible. This is highlighted by a scene where the main characters are on a train crossing a bridge and for no logical reason someone pulls the emergency brake. That leads to a really dumb sequence. That scene destroyed any remaining credibility this movie had. I wish an assassin would of killed this movie before I saw it. I should have went and saw "Kung Fu Panda". Stupid, stupid, stupid movie. SKIP THIS MOVIE!
David Archuletta's new single was previewed yesterday on a New York City morning show. I was so ready to hate this song, thinking it was going to be more of that mid-tempo crap he sang on "American Idol". I am very surprised to write, this song ain't bad. In fact it is very good. The name of the song is "Crush". I read someone else's review, and he wrote that this "song could have been a hit about 10 years ago". (I am paraphrasing here). I understand what this critic is saying as this song sounds a lot like a 90's song. However it sounds like a good 90's song. No one is more surprised than me when I write this, but I think this song is going to be a hit. His voice sounds the best I have ever heard it. (Maybe that puberty thing is working out for him.) You can link to the song through rs.com. Alright Mr. Archuletta we will give you 15 more minutes of fame. I still can't believe I have nice things to say about David Archuleta. I even listened to the song twice.
Songs rocking my iPod: 1) "Foolin'"- Def Leppard 2) "We're Not Gonna Take It"- Twisted Sister 3) "Nice To Know You"- Incubus 4) "Beat It"- Michael Jackson 5) "Teenage Grafitti"- "The Pink Spiders 6) "B's in Tokyo- The Stars 6) "Bullet The Blue Sky"- U2 7) "How Soon Is Now?"- The Smiths 8) "Rats"- Pearl Jam This is one of their best but most underappreciated songs. 9) "Breakdown"- Daughtry 10) "Holiday"- Madonna I warned you there were going to be more Madonna mentions. 11) "That's What The Little Girls Do" (Live)- The Knack 12) "It's A Hit"- Rilo Kiley 13) "Heaven's On Fire"- Kiss 14) American Music"- Violent Femmes 15) "Punk Rock Girl"- The Dead Milkmen (Happy Birthday Mojo Nixon) 16) "You're Crazy"- Guns N' Roses 17) "Calm Like A Bomb"- Rage Against The Machine 18) "White Lines (Don't Do It)"- Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five 19) "Bodies"- Drowning Pool"- 20) "With or Without You"- U2 21) "Turn To Stone"- ELO and 22) "King of Pain"- The Police
Here's my slogan: Are you addicted? I know it is not very original, I am willing to take any suggestions. Have the rest of a great weekend, themusicaddict.
Just time for a quick blog. Hopefully I will be back with another blog tomorrow or Tuesday. It is a busy time in my life right now.
I had the misfortune of seeing the movie "Wanted" the other night. This is the movie starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, both of whom are very good actors. It is about asassains who try to kill people who are bad people. That way they can keep some kind of order in the world. The acting and the action are fine. The curving bullets are cool as well. Morgan Freeman is in this movie so that is a plus. He ust embodys cool so much. Yeah I know what you are thinking, it sounds like a good movie. Unfortunately it is not at all! Now for the bad: the story is stupid and the execution of the story is horrible. This is highlighted by a scene where the main characters are on a train crossing a bridge and for no logical reason someone pulls the emergency brake. That leads to a really dumb sequence. That scene destroyed any remaining credibility this movie had. I wish an assassin would of killed this movie before I saw it. I should have went and saw "Kung Fu Panda". Stupid, stupid, stupid movie. SKIP THIS MOVIE!
David Archuletta's new single was previewed yesterday on a New York City morning show. I was so ready to hate this song, thinking it was going to be more of that mid-tempo crap he sang on "American Idol". I am very surprised to write, this song ain't bad. In fact it is very good. The name of the song is "Crush". I read someone else's review, and he wrote that this "song could have been a hit about 10 years ago". (I am paraphrasing here). I understand what this critic is saying as this song sounds a lot like a 90's song. However it sounds like a good 90's song. No one is more surprised than me when I write this, but I think this song is going to be a hit. His voice sounds the best I have ever heard it. (Maybe that puberty thing is working out for him.) You can link to the song through rs.com. Alright Mr. Archuletta we will give you 15 more minutes of fame. I still can't believe I have nice things to say about David Archuleta. I even listened to the song twice.
Songs rocking my iPod: 1) "Foolin'"- Def Leppard 2) "We're Not Gonna Take It"- Twisted Sister 3) "Nice To Know You"- Incubus 4) "Beat It"- Michael Jackson 5) "Teenage Grafitti"- "The Pink Spiders 6) "B's in Tokyo- The Stars 6) "Bullet The Blue Sky"- U2 7) "How Soon Is Now?"- The Smiths 8) "Rats"- Pearl Jam This is one of their best but most underappreciated songs. 9) "Breakdown"- Daughtry 10) "Holiday"- Madonna I warned you there were going to be more Madonna mentions. 11) "That's What The Little Girls Do" (Live)- The Knack 12) "It's A Hit"- Rilo Kiley 13) "Heaven's On Fire"- Kiss 14) American Music"- Violent Femmes 15) "Punk Rock Girl"- The Dead Milkmen (Happy Birthday Mojo Nixon) 16) "You're Crazy"- Guns N' Roses 17) "Calm Like A Bomb"- Rage Against The Machine 18) "White Lines (Don't Do It)"- Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five 19) "Bodies"- Drowning Pool"- 20) "With or Without You"- U2 21) "Turn To Stone"- ELO and 22) "King of Pain"- The Police
Here's my slogan: Are you addicted? I know it is not very original, I am willing to take any suggestions. Have the rest of a great weekend, themusicaddict.
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