Hello,
With having today off I have plenty of time to write. Today I'm writing from my family's house. I have been here since Saturday night and my wife, the kids and I have been mostly having fun. My wife and I continue to mostly get along. We are both working hard to make it work, but it still is a work in progress. Then again that is how all marriages are.
On to the music: According to both ew.com and rollingstone.com when Guns n' Roses "Chinese Democracy" finally comes out, it will be exclusively sold through Best Buy. (Yeah, they have a store in SLC.) Other news about that CD, a song from it plays over the end credits in the new Russell Crowe movie "Body of Lies". The song is titled "If The World". However this track does not appear on the "Body Of Lies" soundtrack. (Thanks to both rs.com and ew.com.) So that hopefully puts us one more step closer to "Chinese Democracy". I'm still holding on to hope for this CD to actually see the light of day, no matter how unwarranted it may end up being. As usual Guns 'n Roses official website remains mum on this and almost everything else. gunsnroses.com really needs to be upgraded, they have a terrible website.
Other news: Robert Plant has officially came out and said there will be no Led Zeppelin reunion. According to his website, "Robert has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years." Plant currently is on tour with Allison Krauss promoting their CD "Raising Sand". (Thanks to rs.com.)
If you want to see something interesting CMT has been running repeats of their own awards show. One of the award winners is Robert Plant and Allison Krauss. That is a surreal experience for him and the viewer. It would have been nice to see them perform as well. Although there were scinillating performances by Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw/ Faith Hill. My dream tour would be if Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Sugarland all toured together. They could call it the Hot Babes tour. Carrie Underwood is one of the best and most accomplished alumni of "American Idol".
Other news: The Oprah book club continues on with "The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle", it currently is ranked #10 in books on amazon.com. It trails 3 of the "Twilight" books and also an official biography of one of my heroes, Warren Buffett. I have not had much chance to read it since I have had it. Lately reading time has been spare and there are so many good books out there. I also have been reading the excellent book, "Crazy '08" by Cait N. Murphy. This is about the historic 1908 season which is the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.
Speaking of baseball playoffs, they start Wednesday. Unfortunately two of my favorite teams play each other in the first round. L.A. goes to Chicago to start the best-of-5 series with the Cubs. Also Boston goes into the playoffs playing the best team in the American League, the Angels. Other sports news: two of my teams had a rough weekend. Dallas lost at home to the hated Washington Redskins. #1 USC traveled to Oregan St. and was stunned 27-21.
A couple of other quick notes before a homage to one of my all-time favorite actors. It has been announced that Bruce Springsteen will be the halftime entertainment for the Super Bowl. No "wardrobe malfunctions" need to apply. Both Run-DMC and Metallica have been nominated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I think both are deserving of that honor.
Last and certainly not least, Paul Newman died this past weekend at the age of 83. He is one of my all-time favorite actors. ew.com has a picture portfolio of 30 of his best movies. From that I took a list of some of my favorite Paul Newman movies. This list is in chronological order. Paul Newman was a fan of the work of Tennessee Williams, as am I. He played a part in many of the movies adapted from Williams' plays. One of his first big movies was "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", a Williams play, in 1958. He then starred in "The Hustler" which is absolutely a great movie. He also performed in both "Hud" (1963) and "Cool Hand Luke" (1967). His next significant role was in the great and hilarious "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) starring him and his buddy Robert Redford. That is probably one of the greatest endings in the history of movies.
He then was in 1973's "The Sting" and 1977's "Slap Shot". This is one of the funniest movies ever made, with the hilarious Hansen brothers. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you really need to. It currently is on Comcast On Demand. The language is terrible, if you can get past that you will have a great time. As he aged gracefully he then starred in 1981's "Fort Apache The Bronx", 1981's "Absence Of Malice" and 1982's "The Verdict". He also was in 1986's "The Color of Money".
He directed 1987's "The Glass Menagarie". Another movie adapted from the plays of Tennessee Williams. This is one of the best written stories of all-time. Newman directs it like a master. Joanne Woodward, John Malkovich and Karen Allen all play significant roles. It is one of those endings that is fantastic but sad. This is another movie you need to see and also read the play from which it comes. The story is based on Williams' life. He also was in 2002's "Road To Perdition" adapted from the graphic novel of the same name. He and Tom Hanks are fantastic in this movie. He then played a role in "Empire Falls" adapted from the excellent Richard Russo novel. I haven't seen this movie yet, but I would like to. His final role was a part in "Cars". After that he effectively retired. He said he wanted to do one more movie with Robert Redford but that obviously didn't work out. Rest in Peace, Paul. I extend my condolences to his family and all those lives he touched.
He was more than just an actor, he was also a philanthropist, a race car driver plus many other things. I once saw him when I was on vacation with my family in California.
On that sad note, that is all I have for now. themusicaddict.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Go Cubs!, Upcoming CD's
Hello,
My life has been very busy. My wife and I continue to work through our issues. That is a work in progress but it's going well. I have been able to spend a lot of time at home with my family lately. That has been fun. However it is also crazy as we have 4 kids and my beautiful wife babysits 3 of her nieces. So having 7 kids 12 and under here at one time can be a little chaotic. Overall things are going well. I have nothing to complain about. I also like being home when I can as I help with the kids and the housework as my wife is plenty busy.
Here's some music news. In the world of sports I am a Cubs fan. They just clinched the best record in the National League. One of the Cubs Hall-of-Famers Ernie Banks, a.k.a. Mr. Cub, asked Eddie Vedder to write a song for the Cubs. Vedder spent his formative years in Chicago and is a big Cubs fan. So he complied with Banks request. The result of this is the song "All The Way", which is now available to purchase at pearljam.com. You have to create an account to get the song. A couple of minutes of work and 99c and the song can be yours. I am a bit biased but I think it is a pretty good song. The song was recorded live. The Cubs need all the help they can get as it has been 100 years since they last won a World Series. Go Cubs!
I am not sure if this is even worthy of a blog note but here we go. In the no duh! category Clay Aiken has announced he is gay. Why did he think he had to make that official, that is obvious. That's like Lindsay Lohan announcing she has trouble controlling her impulses or Brittani Spears announcing she hasn't been the best mother. Let's see what else are we going to hear. Here's some potential headlines if the obvious keeps on being announced. Motley Crue likes women! Snoop Dogg likes to smoke marijuana! Dolly Parton has big boobs. Paula Abdul has given up on being coherent. Simon Cowell loves himself! Randy Jackson has the smallest vocabulary of any adult in the world? Here's a personal one: I love my wife and kids very much!
Rolling Stone has a very nice feature about 50 CD's coming out this Fall and Winter. Some of these CD's look good like Pink, David Cook, AC/DC, Tom Morello aka The Nightwatchmen, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson and The Killers. Also at this website you can listen to some of the music from some of these upcoming CD's. Unfortunately there is a lot of crap coming out as well. Brittani Spears is releasing her new CD on her birthday, December 2nd. Isn't that special! I will try to differentiate between the quality and the crap for you. There still is no official word on the long gestating Guns 'n Roses "Chinese Democracy". It would take an out of body experience to figure out what exactly Axl is doing, assuming that he knows. The next U2 CD, rumored out to be out this fall, has been now pushed to Spring '09.
A very nice person bought "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" for me and I have started reading it. So far so good. It looks like it is going to be a very interesting novel. I am hoping it is a novel I can completely get lost in.
Finally in sports, this is the last week of the regular season for Major League Baseball. If you have any interest at all, now is a good time to start watching. The playoffs start October 1st with the World Series starting on October 22nd. I am cheering for the Dodgers, assuming they make it, Boston and the Cubs. After making the playoffs for I think 12 straight years, the Yankees are not going to the playoffs this season. In fact, they just played their last game ever in historic Yankees Stadium.
After having 4 easy days the next 3 days will be 10 days of work each day. So I probably won't be blogging again until Sunday. Have a good weekend, themusicaddict
My life has been very busy. My wife and I continue to work through our issues. That is a work in progress but it's going well. I have been able to spend a lot of time at home with my family lately. That has been fun. However it is also crazy as we have 4 kids and my beautiful wife babysits 3 of her nieces. So having 7 kids 12 and under here at one time can be a little chaotic. Overall things are going well. I have nothing to complain about. I also like being home when I can as I help with the kids and the housework as my wife is plenty busy.
Here's some music news. In the world of sports I am a Cubs fan. They just clinched the best record in the National League. One of the Cubs Hall-of-Famers Ernie Banks, a.k.a. Mr. Cub, asked Eddie Vedder to write a song for the Cubs. Vedder spent his formative years in Chicago and is a big Cubs fan. So he complied with Banks request. The result of this is the song "All The Way", which is now available to purchase at pearljam.com. You have to create an account to get the song. A couple of minutes of work and 99c and the song can be yours. I am a bit biased but I think it is a pretty good song. The song was recorded live. The Cubs need all the help they can get as it has been 100 years since they last won a World Series. Go Cubs!
I am not sure if this is even worthy of a blog note but here we go. In the no duh! category Clay Aiken has announced he is gay. Why did he think he had to make that official, that is obvious. That's like Lindsay Lohan announcing she has trouble controlling her impulses or Brittani Spears announcing she hasn't been the best mother. Let's see what else are we going to hear. Here's some potential headlines if the obvious keeps on being announced. Motley Crue likes women! Snoop Dogg likes to smoke marijuana! Dolly Parton has big boobs. Paula Abdul has given up on being coherent. Simon Cowell loves himself! Randy Jackson has the smallest vocabulary of any adult in the world? Here's a personal one: I love my wife and kids very much!
Rolling Stone has a very nice feature about 50 CD's coming out this Fall and Winter. Some of these CD's look good like Pink, David Cook, AC/DC, Tom Morello aka The Nightwatchmen, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson and The Killers. Also at this website you can listen to some of the music from some of these upcoming CD's. Unfortunately there is a lot of crap coming out as well. Brittani Spears is releasing her new CD on her birthday, December 2nd. Isn't that special! I will try to differentiate between the quality and the crap for you. There still is no official word on the long gestating Guns 'n Roses "Chinese Democracy". It would take an out of body experience to figure out what exactly Axl is doing, assuming that he knows. The next U2 CD, rumored out to be out this fall, has been now pushed to Spring '09.
A very nice person bought "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" for me and I have started reading it. So far so good. It looks like it is going to be a very interesting novel. I am hoping it is a novel I can completely get lost in.
Finally in sports, this is the last week of the regular season for Major League Baseball. If you have any interest at all, now is a good time to start watching. The playoffs start October 1st with the World Series starting on October 22nd. I am cheering for the Dodgers, assuming they make it, Boston and the Cubs. After making the playoffs for I think 12 straight years, the Yankees are not going to the playoffs this season. In fact, they just played their last game ever in historic Yankees Stadium.
After having 4 easy days the next 3 days will be 10 days of work each day. So I probably won't be blogging again until Sunday. Have a good weekend, themusicaddict
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Things to stay away from, book news
Hello,
As promised I am back, still not a whole lot going on in the entertainment world. There are two things I want to warn you away from. The first is "The Good German" starring George Clooney and Tobey Maguire. Clooney is one of my favorite actors and I usually quite like the movies he makes. However I could only watch about 20 minutes of this movie before I gave up on it out of boredom. Also how does Tobey Maguire still have a career? He has to be one of the wussiest and least talented actors currently. I wish someone would explain to me why the three "Spiderman" movies were so popular. I watched all three and was hugely disappointed in them. Now Christian Bale, there is someone who can play a superhero convincingly.
Another thing to stay far from is "The Gemini Division", it is a TV series on NBC. There are four epiodes of it on Comcast On Demand. I was hoping I would find a good show and then I would have a few episodes to watch. That's what happened with "Mad Men" but not with this show.
Also a couple of quick reviews of movies I have seen on Comcast On Demand. The first is the Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes movie "We Own The Night". It is an okay movie, but not as good as I thought it would be. However Eva Mendes is looking spectacular in it. Also I watched "The Hard Way" starring James Woods and Michael J. Fox. The premise is a very funny. It is about a grizzled cop showing a Hollywood big shot around for a couple of weeks so the big shot can understand the life of a cop. Of course as the cop explains this isn't something you can get a feel for in two weeks. I don't think I need to tell you who plays which role. It is a very similar story to "Tropic Thunder".
Taylor Swift has her new song out, it's coming from her new CD "Fearless". The name of the song is "Love Story", it is currently the #3 song on the iTunes Top 100. This is a very good song. If the album is as good as this song, she is going to have another smash on her hands. Her next CD will be released on 11/11. The promotional pictures for this CD are making her look a lot older than she is. She is a very attractive young lady. By the way if you have not bought her first CD yet, I would urge you to go buy it. It is one of the best CD's released in the last few years.
Other music info: I went to Rhapsody to listen to the new Metallica CD on Wednesday. However I couldn't listen to the full album, you can only listen to 30 seconds snippets of each song. That is not a very good sample when many of the songs are 6 minutes plus. I am going to see if I can listen to the whole CD on lala.com sometime soon.
Oprah will officially announce her new bookclub selection today. The title of the book is already public knowledge. You can even see it on Oprah's official website. It is "The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle" by first time author David Wroblewski. I hope it is as good as she is hyping it. I have read a lot of good reviews of this book. However the reviews seemed to be mixed on amazon.com. Right now on amazon.com it ranks 61,973 overall. Usually what happens when a book is announced as an Oprah bookclub selection it leaps into the Top Ten. I am surprised it hasn't started moving up the amazon.com bookseller list yet, I predict by tonight it will be #1. Also be prepared this is a 576 page mammoth of a book. Long books are my favorite. If they are really good you can stay in them for a long time. Typically they aren't something you can knock out in one sitting either. (Other than "Happy Potter" or "Twilight" fans of course.
Also while reviewing information on amazon.com I saw that Dennis Lehane has a new book coming out on September 23rd. The name of the book is "The Given Day". Lehane is one of my favorite authors, he has written many good books. However his best book is "Mystic River". If you have not read this book, you need to read it as soon as possible. It is a great, great book. One of the those books that is very hard to put down.
I started reading the Guns n' Roses biography Wednesday night. It is called "Watch You Bleed", written by rock author Stephen Davis. So far I am not very impressed with it. It's not as well written as "Hammer of the Gods" or his Doors book. Another book I want to read is "Boys Will Be Boys" by Jeff Pearlman. You can read an excerpt of it on espn.go.com. This book is about the Dallas Cowboys teams of the mid-90's. Some of the best football teams of all-time and also some of the most colorful. To back that up espn.go.com just named the Cowboys the #1 team of all-time.
Well that's about it. Ironically I have "Edgar Sawtelle" on hold at the library. So when I get it I will read the first little bit and let you know if it lives up to the hype. You can actually read the first chapter at Oprah.com. I am not sure the next time I will be back. Have a good weekend, themusicandbookaddict
As promised I am back, still not a whole lot going on in the entertainment world. There are two things I want to warn you away from. The first is "The Good German" starring George Clooney and Tobey Maguire. Clooney is one of my favorite actors and I usually quite like the movies he makes. However I could only watch about 20 minutes of this movie before I gave up on it out of boredom. Also how does Tobey Maguire still have a career? He has to be one of the wussiest and least talented actors currently. I wish someone would explain to me why the three "Spiderman" movies were so popular. I watched all three and was hugely disappointed in them. Now Christian Bale, there is someone who can play a superhero convincingly.
Another thing to stay far from is "The Gemini Division", it is a TV series on NBC. There are four epiodes of it on Comcast On Demand. I was hoping I would find a good show and then I would have a few episodes to watch. That's what happened with "Mad Men" but not with this show.
Also a couple of quick reviews of movies I have seen on Comcast On Demand. The first is the Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes movie "We Own The Night". It is an okay movie, but not as good as I thought it would be. However Eva Mendes is looking spectacular in it. Also I watched "The Hard Way" starring James Woods and Michael J. Fox. The premise is a very funny. It is about a grizzled cop showing a Hollywood big shot around for a couple of weeks so the big shot can understand the life of a cop. Of course as the cop explains this isn't something you can get a feel for in two weeks. I don't think I need to tell you who plays which role. It is a very similar story to "Tropic Thunder".
Taylor Swift has her new song out, it's coming from her new CD "Fearless". The name of the song is "Love Story", it is currently the #3 song on the iTunes Top 100. This is a very good song. If the album is as good as this song, she is going to have another smash on her hands. Her next CD will be released on 11/11. The promotional pictures for this CD are making her look a lot older than she is. She is a very attractive young lady. By the way if you have not bought her first CD yet, I would urge you to go buy it. It is one of the best CD's released in the last few years.
Other music info: I went to Rhapsody to listen to the new Metallica CD on Wednesday. However I couldn't listen to the full album, you can only listen to 30 seconds snippets of each song. That is not a very good sample when many of the songs are 6 minutes plus. I am going to see if I can listen to the whole CD on lala.com sometime soon.
Oprah will officially announce her new bookclub selection today. The title of the book is already public knowledge. You can even see it on Oprah's official website. It is "The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle" by first time author David Wroblewski. I hope it is as good as she is hyping it. I have read a lot of good reviews of this book. However the reviews seemed to be mixed on amazon.com. Right now on amazon.com it ranks 61,973 overall. Usually what happens when a book is announced as an Oprah bookclub selection it leaps into the Top Ten. I am surprised it hasn't started moving up the amazon.com bookseller list yet, I predict by tonight it will be #1. Also be prepared this is a 576 page mammoth of a book. Long books are my favorite. If they are really good you can stay in them for a long time. Typically they aren't something you can knock out in one sitting either. (Other than "Happy Potter" or "Twilight" fans of course.
Also while reviewing information on amazon.com I saw that Dennis Lehane has a new book coming out on September 23rd. The name of the book is "The Given Day". Lehane is one of my favorite authors, he has written many good books. However his best book is "Mystic River". If you have not read this book, you need to read it as soon as possible. It is a great, great book. One of the those books that is very hard to put down.
I started reading the Guns n' Roses biography Wednesday night. It is called "Watch You Bleed", written by rock author Stephen Davis. So far I am not very impressed with it. It's not as well written as "Hammer of the Gods" or his Doors book. Another book I want to read is "Boys Will Be Boys" by Jeff Pearlman. You can read an excerpt of it on espn.go.com. This book is about the Dallas Cowboys teams of the mid-90's. Some of the best football teams of all-time and also some of the most colorful. To back that up espn.go.com just named the Cowboys the #1 team of all-time.
Well that's about it. Ironically I have "Edgar Sawtelle" on hold at the library. So when I get it I will read the first little bit and let you know if it lives up to the hype. You can actually read the first chapter at Oprah.com. I am not sure the next time I will be back. Have a good weekend, themusicandbookaddict
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Billy Ocean, Metallica
Hello,
I bet you never thought you would see both of those names in the same title. They only have two things in common that I can see. One, they both have made some great music, and they both were fantastic in the 80's. The 80's, also known as easily the best decade for music. I was thinking about this last night at work as I need to use my mind for something. In the 80's we had all that great new wave music, we also had all that great funk music. Some enduring bands started then like U2, R.E.M. and Motley Crue. Then near the end of the 80's Guns n' Roses burst on to the scence with "Appetite For Destruction". Eighties music is all over the place in ads, on the radio and being ripped off by current musicians. What a great music decade.
Just a random collection of music from that decade, U2's "With or Without You", R.E.M's "Stand", The "Pretty In Pink" soundtrack, Bananarama's "Cruel Summer", Paul Hardcastle's "19", Jan Hammer's "Theme from 'Miami Vice'", Herbie Hancock's "Rockit", Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science", Run-DMC's "It's Tricky", Spandau Ballet's "True" etc. etc. etc. I could go on forever. I know I have written about this before but what a great music decade.
First a lot of music news. The reason I mentioned Billy Ocean because I have been listening to his greatest hits a few times the last couple of days. His is a greatest hits collection where every song is either good or great. He has slow beautiful ballads ("There Will Be Sad Songs", "Mystery Lady", and "Love Zone"). He also had uplifting, dance songs ("Caribbean Queen", "Loverboy" and "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car"). So that CD encapsulate a lot of great things about 80's music. I also have been listening to the Stevie Nicks greatest hits CD and she has a lot of great songs on it as well. However she had added a bunch of crappy songs on it, overall it kills the CD as an entity. Stevie, sometimes less is more. However the most padded greatest hits CD is by the Motels. Their "Essential Collection" has 15 songs on it, but only 4 or 5 of them are good.
Some sad news the keyboardist for Pink Floyd, Richard Wright, passed away a couple of days ago. He was a co-founder of Pink Floyd along with Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Syd Barrett. His most famous co-writing credit is "Us and Them", one of the most relaxing and beautiful songs of all-time. That is one of the key songs on "Dark Side of the Moon". Unfortunately Syd Barrett died a couple of years ago as well, after battling mental illness. So that leaves us with only two original living members of Pink Floyd. Both Roger Waters and David Gilmour, who joined later, are still making music but not together.
"American Idol" news: auditions were going on in Salt Lake Tuesday and Wednesday from the original 6,000 people that showed up. These hopefuls were singing in front of producers. The three idiots, Randy, Paula and Simon, will be in SLC Thursday and Friday. They will be with new judge Kara D. If the contestants make it through them they will get the golden ticket and invited to Hollywood. I am looking forward to Season 8 of "AI", I just wish they would dump Randy and Paula before starting it. Has Randy ever said something original and has Paula ever said something that is intelligient? Please Randy and Paula go away.
We now know when the Season 7 David's first CD's will be out. David Archuletta's first CD will be out on November 11th and Mr. Cook's CD will be out on November 18. EW has a poll currently running asking whose CD will you buy. Currently 51% say they will buy Mr. Cook's CD and 39% say they will buy little David's CD. 9% will buy neither and 7% will buy both. I still haven't heard any music off David Cook's CD, the first single from little David's CD was surprisingly good. That song, "Crush", is currently #10 on the iTunes Top 100 songs.
I don't plan on picking on little David anymore, but he is not truly indictitive of the singing talent of people from Salt Lake City and surrounding cities. The Mormon community places a strong emphasis on music. Many kids grow up singing, playing instruments and dancing. I have heard many other people that sing a lot better than little David from the Salt Lake City area. Don't be surprised if a few people from Salt Lake City break through into Season 8's Top 24. From last season two of the Top Six contestants were Mormons, David Archuletta and Brooke White. Although White is from Arizona.
Along with those two CD releases, the most attractive of the "Idol" contestants released a CD yesterday, that would be Kristy Lee Cook. The CD is titled "Why Wait" and the cover picture is her sitting on a horse. I wonder if it is that barrel horse that we heard so much about last season. I haven't had a chance to listen to it. The next new CD I plan on listening to is the new CD by Metallica. Speaking of Metallica they are on the next cover of Rolling Stone promoting "Death Magnetic".
Other significant CD releases. "Funhouse" by Pink will be released on October 28th. The lead single off that CD is "So What" which is a angry song directed at former husband Carey Hart. So in the video who plays Carey Hart, Carey Hart does. I thought that was interesting. "So What" is currently #1 on the iTunes Top 100 list. Also on October 28th Bloc Party's new CD comes out. A CD I am looking forward to is Taylor Swift's second CD which will be released on November 11th. The lead single is "Love Song", which currently is #2 on the iTunes Top 100. I have already mentioned the release dates of the David's CD's. There has been no official word about the long gestating "Chinese Democracy". The most realistic date for that CD is "when hell freezes over".
Here's a quick review of two Comcast On Demand movies I have seen recently. I saw "Hart's War" starring Colin Farrel and Bruce Willis. It's sort of a disappointing movie. A movie that isn't that old but it is aging fast. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could watch "No Country For Old Men" starring Tommy Lee Jones. Javier Bardem stars in the movie, he plays the bad guy with a very demented intensity. I was left wondering what the ending meant though. I highly reccomend Cormac McCarthy's book of the same name. That is a very good kick butt novel. He writes dreary novels but he is a great writer. I also reccomend to read his "The Road" which also has been made into a movie. It will be out this winter. Rarely the movies are as good as the book.
I was able to borrow "Watch You Bleed" by Stephen Davis today. I'm going to hopefully start reading it today. It is written by the great rock writer, Stephen Davis. Also Oprah Winfrey is announcing her new book selection this Friday. I watched her preview of it on her website and she has me excited. I am just hoping it is not a lump of crap like that lame Eckhart Tolle book she has been blathering on about the last too many months. Tolle is one of these new agey philosphers that pop up for awhile before fading into obscurity. I hope he fades soon and I wish people would stop falling for this nonsense over and over again.
I will be back Friday. Have a great day, themusicaddict
I bet you never thought you would see both of those names in the same title. They only have two things in common that I can see. One, they both have made some great music, and they both were fantastic in the 80's. The 80's, also known as easily the best decade for music. I was thinking about this last night at work as I need to use my mind for something. In the 80's we had all that great new wave music, we also had all that great funk music. Some enduring bands started then like U2, R.E.M. and Motley Crue. Then near the end of the 80's Guns n' Roses burst on to the scence with "Appetite For Destruction". Eighties music is all over the place in ads, on the radio and being ripped off by current musicians. What a great music decade.
Just a random collection of music from that decade, U2's "With or Without You", R.E.M's "Stand", The "Pretty In Pink" soundtrack, Bananarama's "Cruel Summer", Paul Hardcastle's "19", Jan Hammer's "Theme from 'Miami Vice'", Herbie Hancock's "Rockit", Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science", Run-DMC's "It's Tricky", Spandau Ballet's "True" etc. etc. etc. I could go on forever. I know I have written about this before but what a great music decade.
First a lot of music news. The reason I mentioned Billy Ocean because I have been listening to his greatest hits a few times the last couple of days. His is a greatest hits collection where every song is either good or great. He has slow beautiful ballads ("There Will Be Sad Songs", "Mystery Lady", and "Love Zone"). He also had uplifting, dance songs ("Caribbean Queen", "Loverboy" and "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car"). So that CD encapsulate a lot of great things about 80's music. I also have been listening to the Stevie Nicks greatest hits CD and she has a lot of great songs on it as well. However she had added a bunch of crappy songs on it, overall it kills the CD as an entity. Stevie, sometimes less is more. However the most padded greatest hits CD is by the Motels. Their "Essential Collection" has 15 songs on it, but only 4 or 5 of them are good.
Some sad news the keyboardist for Pink Floyd, Richard Wright, passed away a couple of days ago. He was a co-founder of Pink Floyd along with Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Syd Barrett. His most famous co-writing credit is "Us and Them", one of the most relaxing and beautiful songs of all-time. That is one of the key songs on "Dark Side of the Moon". Unfortunately Syd Barrett died a couple of years ago as well, after battling mental illness. So that leaves us with only two original living members of Pink Floyd. Both Roger Waters and David Gilmour, who joined later, are still making music but not together.
"American Idol" news: auditions were going on in Salt Lake Tuesday and Wednesday from the original 6,000 people that showed up. These hopefuls were singing in front of producers. The three idiots, Randy, Paula and Simon, will be in SLC Thursday and Friday. They will be with new judge Kara D. If the contestants make it through them they will get the golden ticket and invited to Hollywood. I am looking forward to Season 8 of "AI", I just wish they would dump Randy and Paula before starting it. Has Randy ever said something original and has Paula ever said something that is intelligient? Please Randy and Paula go away.
We now know when the Season 7 David's first CD's will be out. David Archuletta's first CD will be out on November 11th and Mr. Cook's CD will be out on November 18. EW has a poll currently running asking whose CD will you buy. Currently 51% say they will buy Mr. Cook's CD and 39% say they will buy little David's CD. 9% will buy neither and 7% will buy both. I still haven't heard any music off David Cook's CD, the first single from little David's CD was surprisingly good. That song, "Crush", is currently #10 on the iTunes Top 100 songs.
I don't plan on picking on little David anymore, but he is not truly indictitive of the singing talent of people from Salt Lake City and surrounding cities. The Mormon community places a strong emphasis on music. Many kids grow up singing, playing instruments and dancing. I have heard many other people that sing a lot better than little David from the Salt Lake City area. Don't be surprised if a few people from Salt Lake City break through into Season 8's Top 24. From last season two of the Top Six contestants were Mormons, David Archuletta and Brooke White. Although White is from Arizona.
Along with those two CD releases, the most attractive of the "Idol" contestants released a CD yesterday, that would be Kristy Lee Cook. The CD is titled "Why Wait" and the cover picture is her sitting on a horse. I wonder if it is that barrel horse that we heard so much about last season. I haven't had a chance to listen to it. The next new CD I plan on listening to is the new CD by Metallica. Speaking of Metallica they are on the next cover of Rolling Stone promoting "Death Magnetic".
Other significant CD releases. "Funhouse" by Pink will be released on October 28th. The lead single off that CD is "So What" which is a angry song directed at former husband Carey Hart. So in the video who plays Carey Hart, Carey Hart does. I thought that was interesting. "So What" is currently #1 on the iTunes Top 100 list. Also on October 28th Bloc Party's new CD comes out. A CD I am looking forward to is Taylor Swift's second CD which will be released on November 11th. The lead single is "Love Song", which currently is #2 on the iTunes Top 100. I have already mentioned the release dates of the David's CD's. There has been no official word about the long gestating "Chinese Democracy". The most realistic date for that CD is "when hell freezes over".
Here's a quick review of two Comcast On Demand movies I have seen recently. I saw "Hart's War" starring Colin Farrel and Bruce Willis. It's sort of a disappointing movie. A movie that isn't that old but it is aging fast. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could watch "No Country For Old Men" starring Tommy Lee Jones. Javier Bardem stars in the movie, he plays the bad guy with a very demented intensity. I was left wondering what the ending meant though. I highly reccomend Cormac McCarthy's book of the same name. That is a very good kick butt novel. He writes dreary novels but he is a great writer. I also reccomend to read his "The Road" which also has been made into a movie. It will be out this winter. Rarely the movies are as good as the book.
I was able to borrow "Watch You Bleed" by Stephen Davis today. I'm going to hopefully start reading it today. It is written by the great rock writer, Stephen Davis. Also Oprah Winfrey is announcing her new book selection this Friday. I watched her preview of it on her website and she has me excited. I am just hoping it is not a lump of crap like that lame Eckhart Tolle book she has been blathering on about the last too many months. Tolle is one of these new agey philosphers that pop up for awhile before fading into obscurity. I hope he fades soon and I wish people would stop falling for this nonsense over and over again.
I will be back Friday. Have a great day, themusicaddict
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Happy Sunday!
Hello,
I just wanted to check in real quickly. A personal note: after a rough patch and a seperation with my wife things are looking up. We still have a long ways to go but at least we are heading in the right direction. Also my wife is taking care of her nieces this weekend which means I have been taking care of our kids this. That has been good and we have had a lot of fun. We were able to go to church today, I am glad whenever we can do that.
Sports: my teams are rolling, BYU killed UCLA 59-0 yesterday. Also my alumnus, Utah, and another one of my favorite college teams, USC, both rolled yesterday. Also one of my favorite baseball teams, the LA Dodgers, is on a terrific roll. After losing 8 in a row to some really crappy teams, they have won 12 of their last 13 games. It is looking like they have a really good chance to make the playoffs. So that would be three of my teams in the playoffs. It is shaping up to be a great sports time this Fall for me.
Music news: not much is going on. Apple's much hyped iPod announcement wasn't that excting. They basically are making moves to differentiate the iPod from the iPhone. The iPhone had been cannabalizing iPod sales. Metallica's new CD, "Death Magnetic" came out this past Friday with generally positive reviews. It is a CD I want to buy once I get some money.
Even though I had a three day weekend, I have been incredibly busy with so many other things. Things should be settling down tomorrow. I go back to work and should be able to post soon. If not Monday or Tuesday then Wednesday for sure. I have Wednesday off from my job. I will be back with a lot better and more informative blog by then. Have a great week, themusicaddict
I just wanted to check in real quickly. A personal note: after a rough patch and a seperation with my wife things are looking up. We still have a long ways to go but at least we are heading in the right direction. Also my wife is taking care of her nieces this weekend which means I have been taking care of our kids this. That has been good and we have had a lot of fun. We were able to go to church today, I am glad whenever we can do that.
Sports: my teams are rolling, BYU killed UCLA 59-0 yesterday. Also my alumnus, Utah, and another one of my favorite college teams, USC, both rolled yesterday. Also one of my favorite baseball teams, the LA Dodgers, is on a terrific roll. After losing 8 in a row to some really crappy teams, they have won 12 of their last 13 games. It is looking like they have a really good chance to make the playoffs. So that would be three of my teams in the playoffs. It is shaping up to be a great sports time this Fall for me.
Music news: not much is going on. Apple's much hyped iPod announcement wasn't that excting. They basically are making moves to differentiate the iPod from the iPhone. The iPhone had been cannabalizing iPod sales. Metallica's new CD, "Death Magnetic" came out this past Friday with generally positive reviews. It is a CD I want to buy once I get some money.
Even though I had a three day weekend, I have been incredibly busy with so many other things. Things should be settling down tomorrow. I go back to work and should be able to post soon. If not Monday or Tuesday then Wednesday for sure. I have Wednesday off from my job. I will be back with a lot better and more informative blog by then. Have a great week, themusicaddict
Monday, September 8, 2008
Apple iPod Announcement 9/9/08
Hello,
Just a personal update, last Friday I started working at my new job. I am working at RB's in Woods Cross, Utah. It is a job right up my alley. Also I was able to hang out with my two oldest kids at a minor league baseball game Friday night. (Thanks Dad!) That was fun although my kids were more concerned about fighting over toy baseball caps than the actual game. Also I was able to spend most of Saturday with all 4 of my kids. I played with my youngest kids and watched football and baseball with my two oldest boys. It was a good sports weekend for me as Dallas, BYU and the U. of U. all won. In baseball both the Dodgers and the Red Sox had good weekends. Both the Dodgers and the Cubs are in first place with the Red Sox closing in on first place.
Now on to the music, I apologize this is going to be a short blog. Today is the first of four straight days that I will be working. First of all my prayers and wishes go out to those who are or were in the pathway of Hurricane Ike. I understand this hurricane may hit Cuba's capital, Havana. Also in three more days it will be the 7th anniversary of 9/11. Let's all take a moment to remember all those that died that day. Can you believe it has already been 7 years since that historic Tuesday morning? I still remember many of the awful thoughts and feelings from that day. I highly reccomend watching "United 93". This will just give you the smallest fraction of an idea of what it was like being on the receiving end of the attack that day.
Now on to happier stuff. First of all I made a mistake when talking about "Mad Men". I had said that it had won two Emmys, instead it actually won two Golden Globes awards. Also new episodes of "Mad Men" are on Sunday nights on AMC. You can catch all this season's, season 2, previous episodes on Comcast On Demand. The season 1 DVD is out now. Last night instead of watching MTV's Video Music Awards I watched "Takin' Care of Business". This is the James Belushi and Charles Grodin film. It is a pretty mediocre movie, with a very unbelievable story. The most unbelievable thing in the movie is that the Cubs win the World Series! Although that is something I very much would like to see. The last time the Cubs won the World Series was 1908, 100 years ago exactly.
Finally I am big Apple Inc. fan and I also love their iPod and Macs. Tomorrow Apple is making a big announcement regarding their iPods. Most people think it will be a dramatic announcement as many companies are beginning to sell MP3 players. Even Dell is working on bringing a MP3 player to the market. There are many MP3 players but very few good ones. The iPod rules and Apple will make a big announcement about what they are going to do to keep it that way.
Have a good week, themusicaddict
Just a personal update, last Friday I started working at my new job. I am working at RB's in Woods Cross, Utah. It is a job right up my alley. Also I was able to hang out with my two oldest kids at a minor league baseball game Friday night. (Thanks Dad!) That was fun although my kids were more concerned about fighting over toy baseball caps than the actual game. Also I was able to spend most of Saturday with all 4 of my kids. I played with my youngest kids and watched football and baseball with my two oldest boys. It was a good sports weekend for me as Dallas, BYU and the U. of U. all won. In baseball both the Dodgers and the Red Sox had good weekends. Both the Dodgers and the Cubs are in first place with the Red Sox closing in on first place.
Now on to the music, I apologize this is going to be a short blog. Today is the first of four straight days that I will be working. First of all my prayers and wishes go out to those who are or were in the pathway of Hurricane Ike. I understand this hurricane may hit Cuba's capital, Havana. Also in three more days it will be the 7th anniversary of 9/11. Let's all take a moment to remember all those that died that day. Can you believe it has already been 7 years since that historic Tuesday morning? I still remember many of the awful thoughts and feelings from that day. I highly reccomend watching "United 93". This will just give you the smallest fraction of an idea of what it was like being on the receiving end of the attack that day.
Now on to happier stuff. First of all I made a mistake when talking about "Mad Men". I had said that it had won two Emmys, instead it actually won two Golden Globes awards. Also new episodes of "Mad Men" are on Sunday nights on AMC. You can catch all this season's, season 2, previous episodes on Comcast On Demand. The season 1 DVD is out now. Last night instead of watching MTV's Video Music Awards I watched "Takin' Care of Business". This is the James Belushi and Charles Grodin film. It is a pretty mediocre movie, with a very unbelievable story. The most unbelievable thing in the movie is that the Cubs win the World Series! Although that is something I very much would like to see. The last time the Cubs won the World Series was 1908, 100 years ago exactly.
Finally I am big Apple Inc. fan and I also love their iPod and Macs. Tomorrow Apple is making a big announcement regarding their iPods. Most people think it will be a dramatic announcement as many companies are beginning to sell MP3 players. Even Dell is working on bringing a MP3 player to the market. There are many MP3 players but very few good ones. The iPod rules and Apple will make a big announcement about what they are going to do to keep it that way.
Have a good week, themusicaddict
Thursday, September 4, 2008
NFL starts, pennant races
Hello my good friends,
Things are looking up for me. My wife and I have reconciled a bit and things are going a lot better with her. My job starts tomorrow, It's not much but at least it is something. I am going to go hang out with my two older boys at a Triple A play off baseball game. I will be able to see my other two kids Saturday. So things are heading in a positive direction. As long as things are going in a positive direction I will be happy.
Another thing making me happy is that the NFL starts tonight. For me it is a who cares game: Washington vs. The New York Giants. I am still in shock the Giants won the Super Bowl. I think and hope they are going to be horrible this year. My team is the Dallas Cowboys and I also cheer for Tampa Bay. In Dallas I am really nervous about them, a lot of people are picking them to win the NFC. When that happens there is no way to go but down. I would prefer my beloved Cowboys sneak up on people. Plus the other thing that makes me nervous about the Cowboys is that they have one of the worst coaches ever, Wade Phillips. A coach that can turn a winner into a loser very quickly. Even if they win the Super Bowl I am still hoping this is Phillips last season.
Also with about 25 games left in Major League Baseball the pennant races are heating up. It's a long story so I won't explain but I have 4 teams in MLB. Three of them have a chance to make the playoffs. Two of my teams are almost assuredly going to make the playoffs, the Cubs and the Red Sox. My other team, the Dodgers, are really struggling, but they are playing in a very mediocre division. The pennant races are always exciting. Also college football is in full swing, this is one of my favorite times of the year.
Not much going on in the music world still. U2 announced on their website that they have hit a strong songwriting vein and would like to continue working on that. So their CD that was suppose to come out this year is being pushed to 2009. Bono said he wants 2009 to be U2's year. I am still hoping that 2008 will be Guns n' Roses year. Speaking of which, Velvet Revolver is still looking for a singer. The one that seems to be the favorite is Royce Langston of Spacehog. However Slash does not seem to be fully sold on him. He said he is looking for a hard rock singer. In a comment attached to the story they suggested that maybe they should get Sammy Hagar. There are several problems with that idea. First of all I don't know if either Velvet Revolver or Hagar would want that. Also Hagar is about to hit 60, how long is his voice going to last? I have a suggestion. Someone kick Axl's ass and have him take the lead singer of Velvet Revolver. They then can change their name to Guns n' Roses and we can have a full reunion. I know, it will never happen, but a guy can dream.
Also last night I watched "Rocky V", it was not as bad as I expected it to be. Not that it is a classic by any stretch of the imagination. But it is good enough, a good video movie. Also last night I watched another episode of "Mad Men". I was not overly impressed after watching the first three episodes. But I thought a lot about those episodes yesterday, I just kept on thinking about all the cool storylines. The show would not leave my mind. I did notice there is a little more connection from episode to episode but the episodes are still mostly self-contained. The Season One DVD is out and I would like to see the episodes from the first season. That would fill in some blanks for me.
That's about it. I am working tomorrow and I will be watching sports all weekend. So I will be busy the next seven days at least. I am going to try and squeeze at least one blog in this weekend and at least one or two early next weekend. Also hopefully I will find out some more exciting news. have a good weekend, the music addict
Things are looking up for me. My wife and I have reconciled a bit and things are going a lot better with her. My job starts tomorrow, It's not much but at least it is something. I am going to go hang out with my two older boys at a Triple A play off baseball game. I will be able to see my other two kids Saturday. So things are heading in a positive direction. As long as things are going in a positive direction I will be happy.
Another thing making me happy is that the NFL starts tonight. For me it is a who cares game: Washington vs. The New York Giants. I am still in shock the Giants won the Super Bowl. I think and hope they are going to be horrible this year. My team is the Dallas Cowboys and I also cheer for Tampa Bay. In Dallas I am really nervous about them, a lot of people are picking them to win the NFC. When that happens there is no way to go but down. I would prefer my beloved Cowboys sneak up on people. Plus the other thing that makes me nervous about the Cowboys is that they have one of the worst coaches ever, Wade Phillips. A coach that can turn a winner into a loser very quickly. Even if they win the Super Bowl I am still hoping this is Phillips last season.
Also with about 25 games left in Major League Baseball the pennant races are heating up. It's a long story so I won't explain but I have 4 teams in MLB. Three of them have a chance to make the playoffs. Two of my teams are almost assuredly going to make the playoffs, the Cubs and the Red Sox. My other team, the Dodgers, are really struggling, but they are playing in a very mediocre division. The pennant races are always exciting. Also college football is in full swing, this is one of my favorite times of the year.
Not much going on in the music world still. U2 announced on their website that they have hit a strong songwriting vein and would like to continue working on that. So their CD that was suppose to come out this year is being pushed to 2009. Bono said he wants 2009 to be U2's year. I am still hoping that 2008 will be Guns n' Roses year. Speaking of which, Velvet Revolver is still looking for a singer. The one that seems to be the favorite is Royce Langston of Spacehog. However Slash does not seem to be fully sold on him. He said he is looking for a hard rock singer. In a comment attached to the story they suggested that maybe they should get Sammy Hagar. There are several problems with that idea. First of all I don't know if either Velvet Revolver or Hagar would want that. Also Hagar is about to hit 60, how long is his voice going to last? I have a suggestion. Someone kick Axl's ass and have him take the lead singer of Velvet Revolver. They then can change their name to Guns n' Roses and we can have a full reunion. I know, it will never happen, but a guy can dream.
Also last night I watched "Rocky V", it was not as bad as I expected it to be. Not that it is a classic by any stretch of the imagination. But it is good enough, a good video movie. Also last night I watched another episode of "Mad Men". I was not overly impressed after watching the first three episodes. But I thought a lot about those episodes yesterday, I just kept on thinking about all the cool storylines. The show would not leave my mind. I did notice there is a little more connection from episode to episode but the episodes are still mostly self-contained. The Season One DVD is out and I would like to see the episodes from the first season. That would fill in some blanks for me.
That's about it. I am working tomorrow and I will be watching sports all weekend. So I will be busy the next seven days at least. I am going to try and squeeze at least one blog in this weekend and at least one or two early next weekend. Also hopefully I will find out some more exciting news. have a good weekend, the music addict
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Labor Day Weekend leftover blahs
Hello,
It's a slow time of the year in the entertainment world. A quick personal note, yesterday I found a job. Good news: I found a job. Bad News: It only pays $8 a hour and it is not the safest environment in the world. Unfortunately I can't worry about those two things as I have a family to support. Of course I will be looking for another job but at least this job will bring in some money. I will be making $8 a hour more than hanging out at my parent's house is the way I look at it.
Unfortunately not too much news. In the upcoming Rolling Stone, Chris Rock, Tina Fey and David Letterman are all on the cover. It includes a big story about one of the funniest men alive, David Letterman. (Also Rolling Stone has what they are claiming is the first review of Metallica's "Death Magnetic".) Last night, thanks to Comcast On Demand, I watched three episodes of "Mad Men". This AMC original series has won a couple of Emmys and received a lot of praise. It is an okay TV show but a bit overpraised. I was surprised by how each episode is self contained. The characters are the same but the storyline does not continue from show to show. It is a lot better than most things on TV right now though.
Vanity Fair magazine has a few free MP3's each month. This month they have three really excellent tracks that I would reccomend you add to your collection. The section you are looking for is one-third of the way down the vanityfair.com main page. There is a link that says Lisa Robinson's "Hot Tracks". The three best of the six songs are 1) "The Show"- Lenka 2&3) "Whatever It Takes" and "St. Isabelle"- The Nightwatchman. The Nightwatchman is actually Tom Morello, lead guitarist for both Rage Against The Machine (again) and Audioslave. He calls himself The Nightwatchman when he is doing his solo work. These two songs come from his upcoming CD, "The Fabled City". His first solo CD was surprisingly mellow. He promises this second CD is more rocking. These tracks bear that out.
Also for what it's worth: amazon.com has over 1,000 free MP3's. Before you race over to their site and check it out let me give you a warning. A lot of the free MP3's are by tribute bands, only a few of the songs are from the original artists. There are some songs that are worth getting but it will require some work from you.
I hope I have some more exciting information tomorrow. themusicaddict
It's a slow time of the year in the entertainment world. A quick personal note, yesterday I found a job. Good news: I found a job. Bad News: It only pays $8 a hour and it is not the safest environment in the world. Unfortunately I can't worry about those two things as I have a family to support. Of course I will be looking for another job but at least this job will bring in some money. I will be making $8 a hour more than hanging out at my parent's house is the way I look at it.
Unfortunately not too much news. In the upcoming Rolling Stone, Chris Rock, Tina Fey and David Letterman are all on the cover. It includes a big story about one of the funniest men alive, David Letterman. (Also Rolling Stone has what they are claiming is the first review of Metallica's "Death Magnetic".) Last night, thanks to Comcast On Demand, I watched three episodes of "Mad Men". This AMC original series has won a couple of Emmys and received a lot of praise. It is an okay TV show but a bit overpraised. I was surprised by how each episode is self contained. The characters are the same but the storyline does not continue from show to show. It is a lot better than most things on TV right now though.
Vanity Fair magazine has a few free MP3's each month. This month they have three really excellent tracks that I would reccomend you add to your collection. The section you are looking for is one-third of the way down the vanityfair.com main page. There is a link that says Lisa Robinson's "Hot Tracks". The three best of the six songs are 1) "The Show"- Lenka 2&3) "Whatever It Takes" and "St. Isabelle"- The Nightwatchman. The Nightwatchman is actually Tom Morello, lead guitarist for both Rage Against The Machine (again) and Audioslave. He calls himself The Nightwatchman when he is doing his solo work. These two songs come from his upcoming CD, "The Fabled City". His first solo CD was surprisingly mellow. He promises this second CD is more rocking. These tracks bear that out.
Also for what it's worth: amazon.com has over 1,000 free MP3's. Before you race over to their site and check it out let me give you a warning. A lot of the free MP3's are by tribute bands, only a few of the songs are from the original artists. There are some songs that are worth getting but it will require some work from you.
I hope I have some more exciting information tomorrow. themusicaddict
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Taylor Dayne, Thompson Twins
Hello,
I hope you had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. I had a pretty good one. I worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday as a Coke merchandiser. They are the ones that keep the shelves stocked with all the Coke products- from pop to Dasani water. That was the hardest I have worked in quite a long time and my body is still feeling the effects. Also I am seperated from my wife and I was able to spend time with all four of my kids over the weekend. So even though they can be a little out-of-control it was very fun. My youngest boy Dylan always makes me feel good, he likes to hug and kiss me. He also tells me he "lugs" me. We played Super Mario Brothers, read books and enjoyed my Mother's fantastic cooking. So we had a great time. I am living with my parents while my wife and I are struggling through this seperation.
Enough about me, now on to the music. Yesterday I rediscovered the great 80's music of Taylor Dayne. I had forgotten how good she was. Here are some of the titles of her several mid-80's classics. They include "Don't Rush Me", "Tell It To My Heart", "I'll Be Your Shelter", "Love Will Lead You Back", "With Every Beat of My Heart" and "Heart of Stone". So if you haven't heard any of these songs for awhile it is time to check her out again.
Also another one of my favorite 80's bands is the Thompson Twins. Some of their several great songs include "The Gap", "Lies", "In The Name of Love", "Love On Your Side", "Hold Me Know", "Doctor, Doctor", "You Take Me Up" and "King For A Day". Those are 8 great songs. What a great band!
Another music note, you can listen to all of Brian Wilson's new CD "That Lucky Old Son" at usatoday.com. Click on the life section and you will see it. Also this weekend marked the beginning of college football season. My mighty Cougs crushed Univerity of Northern Iowa. My alma mater the University of Utah beat Michigan in Michigan's stadium 25-23. My other favorite team USC flew out to Virginia to crush the Cavaliers 52-7. Anyway the reason I bring this up is because the new AC/DC song was playing last night a lot during the UCLA-Tennessee game. "Rock and Roll Train" playing during a college football game seems appropriate. It is actually quite a good song. I am looking forward to when their new CD comes out on October 20th. I have been reading a history of AC/DC. It's called AC/DC "Maximum Rock & Roll". It's quite a good and enjoyable book. It is fun to follow a band from their roots to being superstars and then whatever happens after that. I am looking forward to the new Guns n' Roses biography "Bleed Like Me". It is already out in bookstores, but I am waiting on a copy from the library.
Now on to a couple of serious matters. Please let's leave Sarah Palin and her family alone. If you don't know, she is John McCain's Vice Presidential candidate. Ever since it has been announced she will be McCain's running mate, all these details have come out about her life. I am not going to discuss any of the allegations or rumors. Let's just leave her and her family alone. Let's concentrate on her political skills and views, nothing else. In an extreme touch of class, Obama has called her family off limits in terms of the Presidential race.
Also I was glad to hear that Hurricane Gustuv turned out to be rather wimpy once it landed in America. I am glad that the lessons of Hurricane Katrina seemed to have been followed fairly well. It seems the mandatory evuacuation went well. Now please completely fix and make safe all the levees. (The only time I want to be thinking about "When The Levees Break" is when I am listening to the excellent Led Zeppelin song.) Even though it looks like the worst of it has passed, let's keep New Orleans and the surrounding area in our prayers until everyone has returned home safely. Also I was glad to see that the New Orleans Saints will go on with their normal home game Sunday. To me that is a sign of the toughness and perserverance of the area.
Thanks for reading, I should be back tomorrow. themusicaddict
I hope you had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. I had a pretty good one. I worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday as a Coke merchandiser. They are the ones that keep the shelves stocked with all the Coke products- from pop to Dasani water. That was the hardest I have worked in quite a long time and my body is still feeling the effects. Also I am seperated from my wife and I was able to spend time with all four of my kids over the weekend. So even though they can be a little out-of-control it was very fun. My youngest boy Dylan always makes me feel good, he likes to hug and kiss me. He also tells me he "lugs" me. We played Super Mario Brothers, read books and enjoyed my Mother's fantastic cooking. So we had a great time. I am living with my parents while my wife and I are struggling through this seperation.
Enough about me, now on to the music. Yesterday I rediscovered the great 80's music of Taylor Dayne. I had forgotten how good she was. Here are some of the titles of her several mid-80's classics. They include "Don't Rush Me", "Tell It To My Heart", "I'll Be Your Shelter", "Love Will Lead You Back", "With Every Beat of My Heart" and "Heart of Stone". So if you haven't heard any of these songs for awhile it is time to check her out again.
Also another one of my favorite 80's bands is the Thompson Twins. Some of their several great songs include "The Gap", "Lies", "In The Name of Love", "Love On Your Side", "Hold Me Know", "Doctor, Doctor", "You Take Me Up" and "King For A Day". Those are 8 great songs. What a great band!
Another music note, you can listen to all of Brian Wilson's new CD "That Lucky Old Son" at usatoday.com. Click on the life section and you will see it. Also this weekend marked the beginning of college football season. My mighty Cougs crushed Univerity of Northern Iowa. My alma mater the University of Utah beat Michigan in Michigan's stadium 25-23. My other favorite team USC flew out to Virginia to crush the Cavaliers 52-7. Anyway the reason I bring this up is because the new AC/DC song was playing last night a lot during the UCLA-Tennessee game. "Rock and Roll Train" playing during a college football game seems appropriate. It is actually quite a good song. I am looking forward to when their new CD comes out on October 20th. I have been reading a history of AC/DC. It's called AC/DC "Maximum Rock & Roll". It's quite a good and enjoyable book. It is fun to follow a band from their roots to being superstars and then whatever happens after that. I am looking forward to the new Guns n' Roses biography "Bleed Like Me". It is already out in bookstores, but I am waiting on a copy from the library.
Now on to a couple of serious matters. Please let's leave Sarah Palin and her family alone. If you don't know, she is John McCain's Vice Presidential candidate. Ever since it has been announced she will be McCain's running mate, all these details have come out about her life. I am not going to discuss any of the allegations or rumors. Let's just leave her and her family alone. Let's concentrate on her political skills and views, nothing else. In an extreme touch of class, Obama has called her family off limits in terms of the Presidential race.
Also I was glad to hear that Hurricane Gustuv turned out to be rather wimpy once it landed in America. I am glad that the lessons of Hurricane Katrina seemed to have been followed fairly well. It seems the mandatory evuacuation went well. Now please completely fix and make safe all the levees. (The only time I want to be thinking about "When The Levees Break" is when I am listening to the excellent Led Zeppelin song.) Even though it looks like the worst of it has passed, let's keep New Orleans and the surrounding area in our prayers until everyone has returned home safely. Also I was glad to see that the New Orleans Saints will go on with their normal home game Sunday. To me that is a sign of the toughness and perserverance of the area.
Thanks for reading, I should be back tomorrow. themusicaddict
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