Pink Floyd's Live 8 Reunion Set

Hello,

Since I can't find one video that has all the the songs the reunited Pink Floyd performed at Live 8, here's 3 of the 4 songs in one place:

Part 1: "Breathe":



Part 2: "Money":



For some reason I can't find Part 3 of this concert, which is the song "Wish You Were Here". I love that they specifically dedicated this song to Syd Barrett. Although they kicked him out of the band without telling him. Later he showed up to the recording studio to work on Pink Floyd's second album and was left out in the waiting room.

Part 4: "Comfortably Numb":



Here's the complete audio:



themusicaddict

"The Wall": Where Is The Next Great Concept CD?

Hello,

I've been drifting through the world of the amazing Pink Floyd lately, especially their classic CD "The Wall". When will we have the next classic concept album? Don't get me wrong, I love both "American Idiot" and "21st Century Breakdown". However neither one is in the same league as "The Wall". I know that many think of concept albums as pretentious pieces of work. Frankly they may be right, however when they work they can be amazing.

I've been reading just a bit of the following book and I find it's very interesting.

"Tearing Down The Wall: The Contemporary Guide to Decoding Pink Floyd - The Wall One Brick at a Time" by Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff 

Nemcoff writes about how not a note is wasted on "The Wall", even the 17 second intro which is just silence. 

Here's the two parts of "In The Flesh" without the 17 second intro that's silence. These two parts of this one song contain much of the grimness of "The Wall". The death of Pink's father is alluded to in Part 1 plus the cry of the lonely baby. In Part 2 of "In The Flesh" is another of Pink's delusions, he fancies himself the leader of a fascist state. The language is harsh and brutal stereotypes and slang are used to describe various groups of people.  



"Comfortably Numb" is also from "The Wall". This may be the greatest song from this CD, it also may be Pink Floyd's greatest song and is definitely a Top 100 all-time song:

But this isn't a blog about "The Wall", I've already written that blog a couple of times. This is a blog about where the next great concept album will come from. Honestly off the top of my head I can't think of that many previously great concept albums. 

Thankfully we have the Internet and I went there and looked for ideas. Here's a quick list I found, I've compiled this from various websites. For instance, both Classic Rock and Paste magazines websites. This in no way is intended to be a complete list.

1) "The Wall", "Wish You Were Here" and "Dark Side of The Moon"- Pink Floyd

2) "Tommy" and "Quadrophrenia"- The Who

3) "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars"

4) "Red Headed Stranger"- Willie Nelson (I'm currently listening to this album.)

5) "Seventh Son of A Seventh Son"- Iron Maiden

6) "Ok Computer"- Radiohead

7) "Thick As A Brick"- Jethro Tull

8) "2112"- Rush

9) "Suburbs"- Arcade Fire

10) "Illinois"- Sufjan Stevens

11) "Kilroy Was Here"- Styx

12) "Operation Mindcrime"- Queensryche

13) "American Idiot" and "21st Century Breakdown"- Green Day

14) "Pet Sounds"- Beach Boys

15) "The Black Parade"- My Chemical Romance

Just off the top of my head, here's my top 7. Consider this list to be extremely fluid:

7) "The Black Parade"- My Chemical Romance

6) "Kilroy Was Here"- Styx

5) "Illinois"- Sufjan Stevens

4) "Operation Mindcrime"- Queensryche

3) "American Idiot"- Green Day

2) "Dark Side of The Moon"- Pink Floyd

1) "The Wall"- Pink Floyd I don't know how anyone can question this.

Also since I'm writing about Pink Floyd, I want to give a plug to probably their most famous tribute band. Australian Pink Floyd is a great band, not just tribute band, hitting all the same notes of the original Pink Floyd. The Australian Pink Floyd lead singer even sounds like David Gilmour. 

themusicaddict

Harbaugh Picks Kaepernick & Other Sports Thoughts

Hello,

Jim Harbaugh announced this past Wednesday that he had decided to go with Colin Kaepernick as the 49ers starting quarterback for this week's game. Of course the 49ers are playing the Rams, so for this game the starting quarterback doesn't really matter. The 49ers would easily win that game with either qb playing. But how will this play out going forward? I understand what Harbaugh is doing. But he's taking a big chance with this high risk, high reward decision. What happens if Kaepernick gets injured, has not starting destroyed Alex Smith's confidence? Is there a division in the locker room about who should start?

We won't know if this is the right decision or not until the end of this season. But Harbaugh had better hope this works. Choosing the player with potential is pretty much how Jerry Jones runs the Cowboys. How has that worked out for him? Of course this is a much different situation and probably either quarterback will do well enough. But if Kaepernick bombs will that decision take some of the shine off of Harbaugh? With this decision he leaves himself open to people questioning him. Also how far does Kaepernick have to lead the 49ers for people to consider this experiment to be successful?

Alex Smith has been a solid quarterback all season and did get the 49ers to the NFC Championship game last season. Remember Smith is only out of the lineup because he was injured.

Smith did lead the 49ers on this very big drive:



Smith also looks pretty good here:



Smith had a good, but not great NFC Championship Game, he did his share for the 49ers to win. And if Kyle Williams doesn't have those two very bad plays in the NFC Championship Game, who knows what happens? For the most part Williams has been a good player for the 49ers. He's been injured and is out for the rest of this season. He will be missed.

I hope Harbaugh is making the right decision. I would love to have a team to cheer for in the Super Bowl once again.

The Honey Badger has announced that he's declaring for the NFL Draft, which is bad news for the Dallas Cowboys. Why do I consider that bad news for the Cowboys? Because Jerry Jones is an idiot. He long has decided to draft flash and potential over common sense when picking players. He picks that over high class and durable players. That's why the Cowboys have more than their share of head cases and injury prone players. Sometimes some of Jerry's picks are both head cases and injury prone.

It almost seems inevitable that the Badger will end up with Dallas, almost as certain as Josh Hamilton ending up with the Yankees.

Jerry you also need to hire Sean Payton for your pathetic team. It's time to end the mediocre Jason Garrett era.

Gene Chizik has been fired by Auburn University as their head football coach. Karma is now coming after those people who perpetuated one of the biggest scams in NCAA history, the 2010 National Championship Football title. Karma is catching up with Scam Newton, look how bad the team that he now plays for is.  Insert your own joke about the Tigers having a bigger payroll than the Panthers. Scam had a decent game in his last game, but that was against the injury depleted and the quitting on the season Eagles.

One more quick NFL note, tonight's game between the Saints and the Falcons look like it will be a good game. I should cheer for Atlanta to win, as a Saints loss will increase the Cowboys chance of making the playoffs. However I just can't do it.

Congrats to the Wizards for finally winning their first game of the season. My condolences to the Trail Blazers for being the team that the Wizards broke through against.

Happy Birthday to Vin Scully, 85 years young. Quite simply, he's one of the greatest baseball announcers ever. He's truly the gold standard!

The Atlanta Braves signed B.J. Upton to a 5 year- $75 dollar contract. I'm not sure how I feel about that. He's always been a decent player, but I'm not quite sure if he deserves that much money. I wonder how things will be different for the Braves with Chipper Jones retiring?

Out of all the magazines I read the best writing is found in two magazines. Those magazines are Sports Illustrated and Esquire. The July 9th and 16th combined issue of SI was full of great writing. It's the Where Are They Now issue which has Earl Campbell on the cover. I remember watching Campbell play when I was a kid. I mostly remember his massive thighs. Football players also seemed to be a lot tougher back then.



Anyway the article about Earl Campbell by Lee Jenkins is a great article. Those big hits did eventually catch up with Campbell. However he seems to be doing about the best he can do now. He still looks like he can knock most men on their butt.

Other great articles in that issue include L. Jon Wertheim's article about Shawn Kemp and Chris Nashawaty's article about "Bull Durham". (I would love to see a WATN article about either "Field of Dreams" or "The Natural".) This is one of the greatest scenes in any movie ever:



Just like the ending scene in "Where The Red Fern Grows", the above scene gets me every time.

Other great articles in the SI Where Are They Now? issue:

1) Ted Keith's article about John Paciorek.
2) David Epstein's article about the amazing Ben Helfgott, what a remarkable man.
3) Rebecca Shore's article about Greg Louganis.
4) Phil Taylor's article about Reggie Jackson is also a great article. Jackson is a very interesting person. I always have had a great amount of respect for him, although he killed my Dodgers so many times.

Thanks SI for another interesting issue.

themusicaddict

What's That Choking Sound?: Lakers Lose to Pacers at Home

Hello,

The two teams I'm currently cheering to lose are the Dallas Cowboys and the L.A. Lakers, for vastly different reasons. I love the Cowboys, but hate their direction they are going. I'm cheering for them to lose in hopes Jason Garret gets fired and that this team gets blown up. Jerry Jones status quo just isn't working. With the Lakers I just hate them and have hated them forever. I especially hate them now as they have so many annoying players. A team that has both Ron Arrest and Dwight Howard? Eww! Other than hard core Lakers fans, how cannot everyone else hate them?

As a Lakers' hater I love looking at the stat line for their game last night. Kobe Bryant had 40 points, but it was on 12 of 28 shooting. As always he also had plenty of free throws. Bryant did end up with a triple double, he also had 10 rebounds and 10 turnovers! But no one can ever question whether he wants to win. Too bad he's on the same team as Dwight Howard.

Another stat line I like is Ron Arrest's stat line. The man is such a thug and they must be scared to cut him, who knows what he's going to do? Arrest was 1-8 from the field, including 1-5 from 3 point land. Really everyone must be scared of him, who's letting him shoot 5 three-pointers? To keep up his 1 for ?theme, Arrest made 1-5 from the free throw line. He's a notoriously poor shooter.

Hilariously the Lakers only shot 53.5% from the free throw line. Howard continued his horrendous free throw shooting. He only made 3 of 12 shots from the line, again I don't understand how a professional basketball player only makes 25% of his free throws. Howard is only making .478% of his free throw shots this season. Also he grabbed 8 rebounds, meaning he was out rebounded by Bryant. Granted Kobe has heart and cares a lot more about winning than Howard does.

I don't know what the +/- stat shows, if it even shows anything worthwhile. Each player has a + or - indicating how his team did in terms of score when that specific player is on the court. The Lakers were outscored by 9 points with Howard on the floor, which seems to happen a lot. Since Howard is much more about himself, than his team, he doesn't always get back defensively as quickly as he should. So when he's on the floor the other team gets a lot of easy baskets. Howard goes for the flashy play, the kind that will be on ESPN. but he's not so good with the basic play. George Hill made the winning basket over the out stretched hand of Howard. Again he's so incredibly overrated.

Also in the games final two minutes Ron Arrest and Dwight Howard missed a combined 4 straight free throws.

Speaking of someone I've never understood that received so much love is the slow, stiff Pau Gasol. Other than complaining, what else is he good at? Gasol only made 2 of 9 shots last night, dropping his season shooting percentage to .423%. You can bet the Lakers will trade him, that is if they can find someone to take him.

Obviously this team will be a lot better when Steve Nash finally gets back. They won't have to rely on Darius Morris (who?) to play point guard minutes. He missed all 6 of his shots from the field and the Lakers were outscored by 16 points when he was on the floor. Again I don't know if that stat has any significance, but getting outscored by 16 points when a certain player is on the floor can't be good.

The Lakers are now 7-8 and third in the Pacific Division, they are only 2-3 under Mike D'Antoni. I still can't believe the Lakers passed up on the opportunity to rehire Phil Jackson, he of the 11 NBA titles. Instead the Lakers signed D'Antoni who was decent in Phoenix, but not very good in New York.

The Lakers play two more games at home and then go on a 3 game road swing. I'll be cheering for the Nuggets and the Magic in the Lakers' next two games.

themusicaddict

"Friday Night Lights" Season 1, Lady A's "Baby It's Cold Outside" (Updated 11/28/12)

Hello,

This blog is for all of you who are sick of all my frustrated with the Dallas Cowboys blogs.

Thanks to my friends over at Comcast, I was able to watch the first 8 episodes of Season 1 of "Friday Night Lights". Comcast has a new feature called Stream Pix, it's a pretty cool feature. For only $5 a month Stream Pix gives access to many great classic TV shows and movies from the past. This isn't something I can't afford. However recently they allowed Comcast subscribers a free sample. They had season 1 of "Friday Night Lights" as one of the offerings.

Over the last few days I watched those first 8 episodes. All I can say is how did I miss this show when it was first on? The show is about football for heck's sake. I have no idea why I didn't give this show a chance at least.

Things I love about those first 8 episodes. Both the story telling and actors are amazing. And I have a big time man crush on Coach Taylor. As his quarterback Matt Saracen says about himself, he was stuck between doing what's right for the team and what's right. Coach Taylor has to do the same thing, except he has to do that for the whole team. I especially love the tough decision he had to make about Reyes. Reyes was a key defensive player, a player Taylor can ill afford to lose. Taylor needs every good player he possibly can get. Taylor's job is on the line, even though it's only his first season as coach. Unfortunately Reyes got angry and let that anger get the best of him. He beat up a student who mocked the football team.

In small town Texas, high school football is big time. As seems to happen in regards to football players, many thought that Reyes would get a pass. Again the whole doing the right thing for the team vs. doing the right thing. Clearly Reyes was in the wrong. Taylor and the devil, Buddy, went to the prison to talk to Reyes. Reyes lied about the incident to Coach Taylor. It was only after Matt Saracen went to Coach Taylor that Taylor learned the truth. Then in a very gripping scene Taylor kicked Reyes off the team. That's just one example of many of this show's great story telling touches.

Another great storyline is about the disabled athletes that are at Jason's rehabilitation center. "FNL" doesn't belittle them or their disabilities. These characters don't feel sorry for themselves, they also prevent Jason from feeling sorry for himself. Jason competes just as hard in the wheelchair sports as he did on the football field. As Jason's roommate says to him (paraphrasing) "Just because we are cripples, doesn't mean we have to accept crumbs."

Of course Taylor has more input from others than he wants. The angel on his shoulder is his lovely wife, Tami. The devil on his other shoulder is Buddy Garrity. Taylor balances all these competing interests very well. This balance creates many of "FNL's" defining moments. Truly it has Clear Eyes. Full Heart. Can't Lose. (They're right to not want Romney to use that phrase any more, that's not apt for politicians to use.)

The lovely Minka Kelly (just one of the many beautiful women in the history of this show):

Minka Kelly plays Buddy's daughter. She's stuck between the injured Jay and the rugged Tim Riggins. Wherever you are Minka Kelly I give you permission to eat several cheeseburgers. Kelly was named Esquire's 2010 Most Beautiful Woman.

"Friday Night Lights" is one thing I love, another thing I love is Christmas music. Here's one of my favorite Christmas songs. I love this Lady Antebellum cover of "Baby It's Cold Outside": (I love Hillary Scott's voice.)



themusicaddict

The TIme Has Come To Say Fair's Fair: Jerry Jones Must Go!

Hello,

Yes, I'm writing about the deterioration of the Dallas Cowboys once again under the ownership of Jerry  Jones. Jones' terrible decisions have taken the shine off of what once was a great Cowboys organization. Not that Jerry Jones had been popular with Cowboys fans for the last several years, but the hatred has kicked up another notch. As the hatred continues to build, people are getting more and more desperate. Some people are hoping that Jerry Jones will die sooner than later, even joking about sending in Seal Team 6 to take him out.

Part of the reason why all the hate is building against Jerry is because he is so visible. He clearly is the face of the franchise, or some would say the facelift of the franchise. Whenever the Cowboys are on TV, he's shown several times a game. He's also interviewed after games and even has a twice weekly radio show. Twice weekly? To hear Jones? Also Jones is the master of blowing smoke up people's butts. He's always spinning things positively, even if he has to lie to do so. It's a very corporate America strategy. But also in corporate America they are constantly talking about metrics. The only metrics that supports how good of an owner he is the amount of money he makes. By any other metric Jones has failed miserably as the Cowboys owner.

Speaking of spinning things positively even though that doesn't tell the whole truth. The Cowboys are playing on Sunday Night Football this week, they've lost 8 or 9 straight Sunday Night Football games. Jason Garrett spins this as they won their first game this year, it was on a Wednesday. He says that counts as a Sunday Night Football game. Again Garrett continues to be either clueless or disingenuous, either way he needs to be fired.

Now obviously I would never support the death of an owner of a professional sports team, at the end of the day it's just sports. And Jerry Jones is the legal owner of the Dallas Cowboys and within the law he can do what he wants with the Cowboys. For some reason he has chosen to run the Cowboys into the ground. Clearly he could care less about how successful the Cowboys are on the field as we are making him a very rich man.

But as fans we can make an impact as well. However in order to have a noticeable effect, fans would have to be coordinated. Stop buying any Cowboys merchandise. We are heading into the Christmas season so this could be hard. But if Cowboys merchandise sales are much less than last Christmas, then that would send a message. Also people need to stop going to the games. The Cowboys play again on national TV again on Sunday night. They play the even more pathetic Eagles in a game that NBC can't be happy about airing. Some people have even called to flex the Cowboys-Eagles out of the game. If a game is flexed, the Cowboys-Eagles would be moved to the afternoon or morning. Then another game would be moved into SNF. That probably isn't going to happen though.

I hope that the Cowboys game doesn't get moved and that many Cowboys fans decide not to show up for this game. I would love to see the cameras sweep the stadium and show a lot of empty seats. I'd also love to see fans with brown paper bags on their heads and thousands of fans of their opponent. Also any time Jones is shown on the big screens, I ask the people that do show up to boo loud and long. Any non-violent action that people can do they should do.

Other ways people are trying to change things in Dallas. One person is petitioning the White House for relief. Some are organizing Facebook campaigns to get rid of Jerry. See below.



I've modified one of the lyrics of the greatest 80's songs ever, "Beds Are Burning". I'm applying these lyrics to the current state of affairs for the Dallas Cowboys.

The time has come to say fairs fair
To pay the rent
To Pay our share

The time has come to say fairs fair
A facts a fact
It belongs to us
Let's take it back

How do we sleep while the Cowboys are burning?

Cowboys fans must create an "Uprising" against the idiocy of Jerry Jones ownership:



I'm guessing the band members of Rage Against The Machine wouldn't like me co-opting one of their songs. My apologies to them, but this song applies perfectly to what Cowboys fans need to do. The lyrics repeat "No more lies" over and over again. Although most of this song doesn't apply to something so unimportant as football, those three words apply to the current Dallas Cowboys owner.



Some fans are so angry, they are even going to the White House's website to seek relief. Although the idea is ridiculous, the idea is to have the federal government remove Jerry Jones as the Cowboys owner. This goal is for this petition to get 25,000 signatures by December 23rd, 2012. As of 1:35 EST  the petition has 2,186 signatures. However the signatures are adding up quickly. This petition should easily reach it's goal, possibly by the end of this month.

At 1:54 EST, the petition has 2,328 signatures.
At 2:28 EST, the petition passed the 10% mark on the way to the needed 25,000 votes. It's now at 2.524 signatures.
At 4:22 EST, the petition has 3,645 signatures.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-jerry-jones-gm-and-owner-dallas-cowboys/Jnlqsjl6?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

Updated: The above petition has been removed from this White House website. But there are plenty of other petitions at that website.

Would you like to commiserate with other like minded fans? Well then, here's a Facebook group for you:

https://www.facebook.com/OccupyValleyRanch

Cowboys fans, take the power back!

themusicaddict

"The Walking Dead" Episode "When The Dead Come Knocking"

Hello,

I like reading recaps of my favorite shows on other websites. (I highly recommend the often hilarious recaps at ew.com. They recap about 15 different shows.) But I also know if they run too long I tend to get bored and usually don't read the whole recap. Based on that, I try to keep my recaps relatively short.

As "The Walking Dead" heads to it's mid-season finale on December 2nd, this show continues to be amazing. Sadly the inevitable Prison-Woodbury clash looks like it's on it's way. Honestly I don't watch this show for human vs. human battles. I'm much more interested in humans vs. zombies, so I'm a little disappointed in that. Although I was pleasantly surprised that it only took one episode for Rick's group to find out about Woodbury and then to start scouting it. In the past it seemed like it would take 4 or 5 episodes to make the journey.

(Quick tangent: In "Revolution" the brother is captured by the militia and I read that would take 10 episodes to resolve that storyline. 10! That's crazy! Slow and boring story development like that is one of the main reasons I stopped watching "Revolution". And I haven't missed the show one bit. Tonight is it's fall finale. I'll be interested to see what the ratings are and if NBC will even bring this bad show back in the winter/spring.)

Is it too much to ask for the prison-Woodbury showdown storyline resolved in the mid-season finale? It would be great to see the end of the Governor storyline by the end of next week's show. That storyline has run it's course. For future reference, all I want to see is the adventures of Rick's group and how they continue to deal with the zombie apocalypse. They can add all the new characters they want, that needs to happen to keep the show fresh and exciting. But if I want to see human vs. human drama I can watch almost any other show. I don't know why zombies are so fascinating to me, but they are.

But other than minor quibbles like that, "The Walking Dead" continues to live up fully to it's potential. "When The Dead Come Knocking" was another great episode. One thing I really like about this show is how they use music to add to the intensity of each episode. I'm not sure what instrument that was making that thumping sound at the end of the episode, but that was a very nice touch. It added a very ominous feeling to the show. I think that "Lost" and "The Walking Dead" are the shows that use music the best in adding a vibe to their shows.

Anyway here we go: after a slight bit of mistrust, Rick's group accepted Michonne. From what the TV viewer knows about her she'll be a welcome addition. I think she can be trusted, but I'm not sure why they trust her so quickly. They don't know anything about her. When she appears at the fence this is the first time they've seen or heard of her. However relatively quickly it seems she was fully accepted into their group. Also Axel and Oscar seem to have been incorporated into their group, more people is exactly what Rick's group desperately needs. They are quickly running out of people.

Maggie and Glenn have been captured by the Governor. Rick, Michonne, Oscar, and Daryl went off to scout Woodbury. The only people left at the prison are Carl, Carol, Axel, Beth, Hershel and Judith, Rick's baby. I have a feeling that things really bad are going to happen at the prison while Rick's group is gone. Will Tyrese save the day for them? (For more info on Tyrese, see below!)

Merle is interrogating Glenn trying to find out where his camp is. He tries the soft sell, then beats him When those methods don't work Merle lets a zombie loose on him. Glenn has really come into his own as this show continues on. Glenn escapes the chair he's bound in and kills the zombie. Glenn is no longer the sneaky, ex-pizza delivery boy. He's a full on zombie assassin now! He may be kicking some human butt in the next episode as well.

The governor goes to interrogate Maggie, she also has become a butt kicker extraordinaire. She's smart enough to know when the Governor is playing good cop. She's also tough enough to not be intimidated by the Governor even when he forces her to strip. She retains enough of her goodness to cover herself and refuses to allow herself to stoop to his level. If you're going to mess with a daughter of Hershel, Maggie isn't the one you should pick. (Speaking of Hershel's daughters, I hope that Beth and Carl don't get together. That would be more than a bit creepy.)

Sometime this show relies a little too much on the convenient zombie gambit. But that didn't happen in this episode. It's good that when they head to Woodbury, they still run into a zombie horde. With literally billions of zombies left in the world, they will be constantly running into them. Although I'm not sure why they don't kill zombies when they can, like the lady zombie walking on the side of the road. Also the whole hermit living in a cabin by himself for over a year is completely unbelievable!

What is the red zone and why are there so many zombies there?

Rick and his three are surveying Woodbury. At the same time the governor is going to send out a small group to scout the prison.

At ew.com Robert Kirkman already said that a fan favorite from the comic book will be showing up in the December 2nd mid-season finale. Will it be Tyrese? I sure hope so. He would bring some much more muscle to Rick's group. Tyrese is also a cool character and a potential love interest for Michonne. At least in the comic books those get have some intimate encounters. How would they incorporate Tyrese into the show. I can almost guarantee that he'll come to the rescue of someone, but who will that be?

I won't be writing about Milton and his experiment with Mr. Coleman. That sort of seemed pointless. Also Sarah Wayne Cailles name continues to show up as a star of the show. Cailles plays the annoying Lori in the show. Hers was the only name that showed up of people no longer alive on the show. I so hope that this doesn't mean there will be any flashback scenes or a sign that she will be in the show in some form in the future. Also I'm glad they finally named the baby. Lil' Asskicker is now known as Judith. Thank goodness they didn't saddle the baby with the name Lori.

themusicaddict

BYU-Utah Rivalry Day!, BYU Shows Their Jabari Parker Style

Hello,

Yesterday was rivalry Saturday in college football. Many long-time traditional rivals played against each other. Many of the most intense rivalries were on display yesterday. Teams played for everything from pride to the possibility of playing for the National Championship. These rivalry games included Alabama-Auburn, USC-Notre Dame, the other USC-Clemson, Florida-FSU, Georgia-Georgia Tech.

However there was one rivalry game that didn't happen yesterday, because it was played earlier in the year. In this era of fracturing conferences and pure, unadulterated greed many great things are going away. One of those things is BYU-Utah playing each other in November. Having the whole season build up to that one final game was always fun to follow. Now that the teams aren't in the same conference, they no longer play in November. Having the game in September just isn't the same.

In fact this rivalry game has become so unimportant to the Utes that they decided to take a two year break. The Utes are bowing down to their Pac 12 overlords in who they schedule. There will be one more BYU-Utah game next season at Lavell Edwards Stadium and then the "rivalry" will take a break for two years. If two teams don't play every year, can it still be considered a rivalry?

Instead what did the Utes and Cougars do on rivalry day? Utah didn't even play on rivalry day, they played the day before. The Pac 12 is trying to manufacture a "rivalry" between Colorado and Utah. A concept that's so ridiculous on so many levels. The two teams hardly played each other until they were in the same conference. Also while Utah has been a good team for many years, Colorado football is a joke. They won all of one game this year and were destroyed by most teams they played. Clearly Utah didn't consider it as a rivalry as they they slept through the first 3 quarters. However Colorado is so embarrassingly bad, that Utah turned it on in the fourth quarter. Utah scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.

Then with BYU being an independent, other than Utah and Utah State, BYU doesn't have anyone that really could become a rival. Certainly not NMSU, a team they crushed yesterday 50-14. BYU was so underwhelmed by their competition that they even trailed at one point. However then BYU, led by third string quarterback James Lark, rolled to the easy victory over the Aggies.

In a much more exciting thing for Cougar Nation, BYU opened their arms to Chicago high school basketball superstar Jabari Parker. He's the nation's #2 recruit and he's included BYU on the 5 schools he's still considering attending next season. Parker is a member of the LDS Church, which is the only reason he's even considering BYU. Which college he goes to isn't the only decision he's facing, he's also considering going on a LDS mission. Even if he does decide to go to school, he'll probably only play one year. Many think it's highly likely that he'll then jump to the pros. Yes, he's that good.

"Jabari Parker Style":



While I'd love to see Parker end up in Provo, even if it's only for one year, he should only do what's best for him. I'd urge Jabari and his parents to put a lot of thought and prayer into coming to a decision. Also Jabari you should go where you want to go, not where other people want you to go. Good luck on making the right choice for you.

themusicaddict

TSO Rocks Salt Lake City

Hello,

Last night I was able to go to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra on their annual Christmas tour. This tour is "The Last Christmas Eve" tour. Yes, this is the setlist for the Peoria concert this year. But from the notes I kept it seems the setlist was close to, if not exactly, the same.

Overall TSO put on a pretty good concert. Their set featured many of their great songs. The singing and musicianship are amazing. The narrator was great, his deep voice sharing with us the tale of the lost Christmas Eve. Sometimes the sound was too loud and that deep voice hurt my ears.

The light show was also amazing. Coordinating the music and the lights to create a complete rocking experience. Really my only complaint about the lights is that they were often shown right into the eyes of the audience. Once in a while is okay, but as often as TSO did it, it became punishing. They really should significantly tone that down.

But overall I would give the concert a solid B+ and I'd highly recommend you see them in concert. TSO not only rocks, but they bring the Christmas spirt with them.

Here are some of my favorite songs of the night:

"Faith Noel": I love how TSO can take a traditional Christmas medley and rock it out:



I don't know how to describe it, but I especially love what I call the steps in the music. What I mean is how the songs climb and drop like they are on steps. "Wizards In Winter" is probably my favorite TSO song:

"Christmas Dreams":



"Christmas Nights In Blue":



"Siberian Sleigh Ride":



Seriously people don't be a Grinch, enjoy this amazing time of the year. "What Is Christmas?":



Yes I'm serious, don't be a grinch! Open your heart a little and let the Christmas spirit envelop you. "For The Sake of Our Brother":



"Wish Liszt" (Toy Shop Madness)":



"Back To A Reason: Part 2":



"What Child Is This?":



"Christmas Canon Rock":



"A Mad Russian's Christimas":



"This Christmas Day":



"Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo":



themusicaddict

Jerry Jones Thanks For Causing the Cowboys To Suck So Much!: A History of Puppets (Updated 11/23/12)

Hello,

Update: The Cowboys are getting destroyed at home, they are losing to the Redskins 28-3 at halftime. Dez Bryant has committed a fumble. Tony Romo played decent today, but he did end up throwing two interceptions. He's pretty consistent in throwing interceptions in big games. But Romo is playing behind a terrible offensive line, so it's going to be a struggle for him. But the worst part of the Cowboys today is their defense. Supposedly the strong part of the Boys, they've given up 28 points to the Redskins already.

Jerry it's time to make changes, starting with your idiot GM and head coach!

Come on Washington, score another 4 touchdowns in the second half. I think 56-3 would be an appropriate summation of the coaching of Jason Garrett.

The Cowboys made a rather impressive comeback but still came up short to fall to 5-6 on the season. One of Garrett's weaknesses raised it's ugly head today again. Garrett called 62 pass plays, 62! Dallas only gained 35 yards on the ground. Dallas only rushed the ball 11 times. It makes things a lot easier for the opponent when they know most plays are going to be passes. By comparison yesterday Washington had 28 passes and 30 rushes. A much more balanced attack, which makes the offense that much more effective. Of course the Redskins have a much better rushing game as well.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Of the many great things about Thanksgiving, one of my favorite things is not needing to go to work today.

Now on to football. One of Jerry Jones' worst hires, and he has had several, was when he hired Wade Phillips. The 3.5 years Phillips was in Dallas was an extremely painful time to be a Cowboys fan. That is in spite of the Cowboys going 13-3 his first season and later the Cowboys even won a playoff game. (Looking back now with all the crap that has gone on, that playoff victory looks all the more amazing and improbable.) After the Cowboys were crushed in the middle of Phillips' fourth season, Jones finally fired his puppet. Phillips, who allegedly is a defensive genius, eventually got a job with the Houston Texans as defensive coordinator. The Texans have been a pretty decent defensive football team, but today their defense is as solid as Swiss cheese. Halfway through the 4th quarter, they had given up 31 points. Well who would have guessed that? Anyone that was a Cowboys fan through his torturous time in Dallas. It seemed Phillips' defenses were humiliated on a weekly (or is that weakly?) basis. Phillips team eventually gave up on him and Idiot Jerry thankfully fired him after 3.5 seasons.

Unfortunately Idiot Jerry replaced one puppet with another puppet. This time Jerry hired Jason Garrett, a man who had no head coaching experience. The highlight of Garrett's resume was being an ineffective coordinator. Well that and he agreed to be Garrett's puppet. So very little surprise to anyone that Garrett has been a disaster as a head coach. Garrett falls in love with the pass too easily, he has time management issues and isn't a leader of men. His most annoying trait though is how he's always so positive, even though he has let down his team time and time again.

Jones poor decisions continue to doom the Cowboys. He continues to ruin one of the greatest and most successful sports franchises with his horrific decisions. The Cowboys have become complacent with their culture of mediocrity. That's with Jones putting his ego and poor decision making above the Cowboys being a truly great team.

I say this as a frustrated lifelong Cowboys fan, I hope the Cowboys get destroyed today by RG3 and the Redskins. Jones is so stupid and continues to stick by his current puppet, Red J, in spite of his lack of common sense decisions. Jones and Garrett deserve each other, but why does it have to be with my team? Other teams fans use to hate Cowboys fans, now they feel sorry for us.

I would love to see the Redskins win by 4 touchdowns today, that hopefully will slap the Cowboys out of their current culture of mediocrity. It's way past time for a knowledgeable GM, a quality head coach and a proven winner in quarterback. Right now the Cowboys are 0-3 in those categories.

Go Redskins!

themusicaddict

49ers Roll!, BYU Football, Blue Jays: The Next AL East Power

Hello,

After watching the frustrating Cowboys barely beat a bad Browns team, I was glad to watch part of last night's 49ers game.  It's refreshing to see a great NFL team play like it should. San Francisco looked great last night as they steamrolled the Chicago Bears 32-7. That was even with a back-up quarterback, albeit a very good back-up quarterback. Colin Kaepernick was 16 of 23 for 243 yards. He threw for 2 touchdowns and had 0 interceptions. He also had a quarterback rating of 133.1, which is great for his first NFL start.

Meanwhile for the Bears did you know that Jason Campbell was still in the NFL? The way Campbell played last night, it seems likely that he won't be in the NFL for much longer. How crucial is it for a NFL team to have a solid backup quarterback now? Especially when Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch are still in the NFL. Although Batch was probably enjoying being a third string quarterback. He picks up a nice check and doesn't have to do much. How confident would you be if your backup qb had to actually play. Kaepernick is probably the upper limit of what a backup quarterback can do, whereas poor Nick Foles is probably the lower limit.

Of course it makes a difference having a few days to prepare to play. Maybe it's not such a bad idea to have packages for other quarterbacks on your roster. Even just a few plays a game can help a qb when he actually has to play a significant role.

How should a head coach look on the sideline? He should look composed, like he's in control and he knows exactly what he's doing. That's exactly how Jim Harbaugh looked on the sideline last night. There was no panic in his mannerisms. He was aware of the play clock, what his team was doing and everything else a head coach should be aware of. It's obvious he knows what he's doing and that's not just because the 49ers went to the NFC Championship game last year.  Harbaugh has been successful every level he's coached at. He was hired because he knows how to win. Not that this matters, but he even looks like a head coach.

Unlike Jason Garrett who was hired because Jones likes him and thought he had potential. Let's be honest Jones also thought he could control Garrett, he knew that Garrett would be his puppet. Of course that's a stupid reason to hire someone. But that's how things work in Jerry's delusional world. As I was watching Jason Garrett the other day in overtime, I thought he was going to poop his pants. He looked that scared. I never get the sense that he knows what he's doing.

Also the Blue Jays-Marlins trade has finally been approved by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. The Blue Jays were able to add Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio. The Blue Jays also signed Melky Cabrera to a 2 year- $16 million contract. I realize that Cabrera is coming off a 50 game suspension. I also realize that not only did the Giants not falter, but they thrived after his suspension. However Cabrera is another bat to that lineup, which will make the Blue Jays tougher. That's going to make the AL East even tougher this upcoming year.

The Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Rays and now the Blue Jays? All in the same division?

Now on to my favorite NCAA Football team, the BYU Cougars. After losing to San Jose State, BYU drops to 6-5 on the season. The part of the game that I watched was ugly. Riley Nelson was atrocious again, I can't wait until his career at BYU is over. I plead with Bronco Mendenhall to give one of BYU's underclassmen quarterbacks a chance to play. I'm still irritated that Taysom Hill was in one play too long and got injured. Meanwhile at Utah their quarterback of the future, Travis Wilson, is getting plenty of experience. Nelson is what he is, which isn't a starting quarterback at BYU.

And as for all the rumors about BYU going back to the MWC: um as I fan I beg BYU not to go back. I know that the Mtn. Network has gone away and thank goodness for that. But I just don't see any upside for BYU to be in that conference again. Yes I realize that increases BYU's chance of being in the BCS, but I'm not caring about that as much as I use to. The BCS is only about greed and has nothing to do with football. There's a reason BYU left the MWC and I quite like them being an independent.

I'm glad BYU AD Tom Holmoe tweeted out Saturday night that BYU needs to be better in football. Ain't that the truth? Getting a real quarterback will help a lot. BYU can't allow itself to be in a position where there starting quarterback is either a Jake Heaps or a Riley Nelson like player. One can see how well that worked out. If possible Holmoe and Bronco Mendenhall need to determine if the offense was less than impressive because of the offensive coordinator or the players. Obviously having a quarterback that's up to BYU's normal level will make everyone look better.

themusicaddict

When Did Taylor Swift Become So Gorgeous?

Hello,

When did Taylor Swift become so gorgeous?:

themusicaddict

11/19/2012: The Cowboys Continue To Struggle

Hello,

Following the Cowboys loss to the Falcons, Dallas fell to 3-5. They stayed on the road and played the Eagles, a team that no one realized how bad they were going to be. The Cowboys struggled against Philadelphia before winning 38-23. While the score looks good, it wasn't a blowout because of the Cowboys offense. The final three scores were two defensive touchdowns scored against a rookie qb, Nick Foles, playing his first significant game time. That same rookie was playing behind an offensive line where four of their projected starters missed the game due to injury. Also the Cowboys returned a punt for a touchdown. The Dallas offense only scored two touchdowns the entire game.

Following yesterday's 31-6 loss to the Redskins, the Eagles have now lost 6 straight games. They've dropped to 3-7 on the season and Andy Reid will be fired at the end of the season. Be grateful Eagles fans for one thing. I know it sucks to cheer for a losing team, but be glad that the Eagles will be blown up at the end of the season. Then you can start over and maybe have a much better team going forward. The Cowboys will have the same terrible GM and probably head coach next season and be mired in mediocrity for another year. Of course the Cowboys will label that "progress".

Yesterday the Cowboys struggled to a loss against the woeful 2-8 Browns. The Browns are so bad they couldn't even beat the Cowboys. Dallas' offensive line was pathetic, although Jones praised that same offensive line. Jones continues to show how little he knows about football. Cleveland should have won this game, but the breaks went against them. Dallas was able to pull out the victory with a overtime field goal. Coach Jason Garrett's terrible time management skills and play calling cost the Cowboys as they always seem to do. For the second straight game the Cowboys offense only scored 2 touchdowns.

On Thanksgiving day Dallas will be playing against the explosive Redskins and their stud rookie RG3. The Redskins will play better than either Cleveland or Philadelphia, Washington's offense will score more.

I find myself cheering against the Cowboys now. The worst thing that could happen to this Cowboys team is to finish 9-7 and qualify for the playoffs. Jones will call that progress and it will be another year with Red J. Also the Cowboys will have a mid first round pick and not be able to address their many weaknesses.

Ladies and gentlemen your 2012 Dallas Cowboys! What a terrible time to be a Cowboys fan. Jerry Jones you suck!

themusicaddict

"Catfish" and other MTV Shows, "Last Resort" update

Hello,

I've long mocked MTV for not playing videos anymore, especially in place of some of the stupid TV shows they have. Seriously "Jersey Shore" for instance? How did that show even get made, let alone become a hit?

So no one is more surprised than me that there are three MTV shows that I'm watching now. Last week  was the first episode of "Catfish". It has a similar theme to the movie of the same name. The TV series features the very likable Nev and Max. Like the movie, the series follows the story of two people who meet online. The first episode is about Sunny and Jamison who've developed an on-line relationship. This episode focuses mostly on Sunny and she thinks she has found "the one". Nev and Max dig into Jamison's story a bit and discover some rather large holes in his story. They relate those details to Sunny, but she still wants to meet Jamison. Sunny seems to have suspicions of her own, but she still proceeds. They finally do meet and Sunny is in for the shock of her life.

I like that the show does a follow up on the people we are introduced to in the show. This first episode gave a follow up on Sunny and Jamison a year after they met. While I do like "Catfish", a hour is a bit long. This show would be perfect at 45 minutes long. There are also too many commercials, fortunately on Comcast On Demand I can fast forward through those.

Sadly there are many people who portray themselves as someone else on-line.



So be careful when you "meet" people online, because a person can be anyone they want to be online. You don't really "meet" them until it's in person. Some people take full advantage of being anyone they want to be. Also some people are out to take advantage of others. Remember if someone or something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I also enjoy the show "Underemployed". The show follows 5 friends, their romantic relationships, jobs and interactions with each other. It has a lot of funny moments as well as a lot of heart.

I also enjoy the show "In-betweeners", a show I've written about before. This show reminds me so much of "The Young Ones", a show shown on MTV back in the day. Both shows are so stupid, but yet also incredibly hilarious. I find myself laughing in spite of myself many times.

I highly recommend all three shows to anyone that wants to enjoy themselves and escape temporarily.

Also it was announced this past week that "The Last Resort" has been cancelled. This should come as no shock to anyone who actually has seen it. It had an amazing first episode, but has steadily gone downhill since then. The first 13 episodes will be shown, but then that's it. (Thanks to ew.com.)

"Partners" and "666 Park Avenue" were also cancelled. I never saw either show, but never felt the desire. I'm not surprised that both of those shows were cancelled. Yet somehow the incredibly stupid "Ben and Kate", "Guys With Kids" and "The Neighbors" continue on.

themusicaddict

What I Won't Be Writing About Today 11/16/2012 (Updated 11/18/12)

Hello,

Here are some of the things I won't be writing about today:

The greatness of the "Twilight" movies. Do you realize this lame series has been on the cover of Entertainment Weekly 20 times? EW is one of my favorite magazines and I'm disappointed by this fact.

The greatness of Tim Tebow. I love that some of his teammates are turning against him. Who can blame them? He's been the center of conversation since he joined the Jets, yet he hardly plays. It was obviously the misguided owner who wanted Tebow. Rex Ryan knows his job is on the line, who can blame him for not putting his job in the hands of Tebow. Not that Mark Sanchez inspires a lot of confidence either.

I won't be talking about the Jazz's road prowess. This season they've won one game on the road, that was the triple overtime thriller against the not very good Raptors. And they will probably lose tonight to the 76ers as well. Update: The Jazz did lose to the 76ers, but still were able to go 2-2 on their Eastern road trip. That's a good road swing for the underachieving Jazz. Of course that 2-2 record might say more about the absolutely bad teams they beat.

I'm guessing the 76ers aren't real happy they traded for Andrew Bynum. He's "injured" and will be out a few more weeks. Am I the only that gets the feeling that he would rather do something else than play basketball? But in something that couldn't be made up, now it's known why Bynum had his so-called setback. He was injured bowling, how do you get injured while bowling? That makes me laugh. I think it's more about him not wanting to play basketball and making up an excuse. He's already had his 76er's debut put back 3 times and it looks like this will be the fourth time. He could be back sometime between mid-December to mid-January. That's unless he goes bowling again.

If I was the 76ers, I'd never have traded for Andrew Bynum. He's a lot like Dwight Howard. They both have a ton of talent, but have very little heart. They only play basketball for the money and attention. I still say that neither will ever win an NBA title, neither cares enough about that. I would give a slight exception to that prediction because Howard plays with Kobe Bryant. Bryant may drag Howard to a NBA title. Howard cares so much about winning that he's shooting .505% from the free throw line this season. Of course that's better than the .491% he shot last season.

Amare Stoudemire, please hurry up and come back. Knicks haters are missing you. Stoudemire is another overrated player. Once the Knicks get Stoudemire back he and Carmelo Anthony will be fighting for touches and shots. At that point the Knicks should resort to their losing ways and the world will be right again. The Knicks are somehow 6-1, that's in spite of being out rebounded in 6 straight games. Stoudemire's return won't help them with that.

If I were the Knicks I'd try to unload Stoudemire to some foolish NBA team. I know what you are thinking "but what team would take Stoudemire?" I hear you on that, who wants to pay Stoudemire nearly $20 million for this season? Both of those are good points, but the 76ers traded for Bynum. Also the Bulls signed injury prone Carlos Boozer to an egregious amount of money.

Again I ask my fellow Dallas Cowboys fans to boycott the Dallas Cowboys this week. Dallas should easily win this game, but things don't usually work out the way they are suppose to for the Cowboys. I'm sort of leaning towards the Cowboys losing this game. This team how it's made up is just not very good and there needs to be a big shake up. That shake up needs to start at the top with egomaniac Jerry Jones. (Who's the worst owner in professional sports? Is it Jones, James Dolan or Donald Sterling?)

I also won't be writing about the durability of many of the Cowboys players. It looks like DeMarco Murray is going to miss his fifth consecutive game this Sunday. He missed those critical games at the end of last season and also missed games in college. Also both Dez Bryant and Miles Austin seem to miss more than their share of games. It always feels like they are a minor injury from sitting out a few games. These players have the ability to blind you with their potential, but usually aren't able to play enough to live up to that potential.

I'm not a big fan of Tony Romo, but at least you got to give him the props for being tough. The man played with cracked ribs, for heck's sake.

themusicaddict

The Genius and Alienation of Pink Floyd's "The Wall"

Hello,

I would like to thank the following sources for info in writing this blog. I reviewed the wikipedia.org pages for Pink Floyd, Rogers Waters and "The Wall". I also gathered some information out of Nicholas Schaffner's "Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey".

Now I'm not going to write a whole lot about the making of "The Wall". You can read that from the above sources. Those are much better written than anything I can write.

The impetus of the Rogers Waters alienation behind "The Wall" had been building through their 1979 tour. But the breaking point seemed to happen on July 6th, 1977. That was the final date of that tour, Pink Floyd performed at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. That night Waters noticed a fan that was who he was very irritated by. He directed his performance to this fan. He lured the fan close and then spit in the fan's face. (Thanks To "Saucerful of Secrets".)

"Returning to England, Waters was consumed by the ultimate conceit of his entire career, something that he had been idly fantasizing about for years. In of 'this enormous barrier between them and what I was trying to do, (which) had become almost impossible to clamber over' # (# "Behind Pink Floyd's Wall" by Mick Brown and Kurt Loder, Rolling Stone, September 16, 1982.) Roger vowed that if ever Pink Floyd were to perform another concert extravaganza, it would literally be from behind... a wall" ("Thanks to "Saucerful of Secrets")

Pink Floyd started recording "The Wall" in England in 1978. It was finished in LA. The band had come off that draining tour from a couple of years ago. There was also a lot of infighting in the band, one of the original members even reduced to basically a session musician. Also Pink Floyd was also dealing with the fall out of being scammed out of a lot of money. There wasn't a lot of joy in the recording of "The Wall". It was released on November 30th, 1979.

Like the protagonist in the movie "The Wall" Waters lost his father in World War 2. Roger's father, Eric Fletcher Waters, died at Anzio in Italy. He was declared missing or presumed dead on February 18, 1944. Waters' earliest memory was the VJ (Victory in Japan) Day celebrations. Waters school experiences seemed to be very similar to Pink's experiences in "The Wall" movie. He referred to the administrators as a "regime". (Thanks To wikipedia.org.)

Pink Floyd became big stars, touring massive and dehumanizing stadiums. "Waters was horrified at the recognition that something so personal as his own songs had gradually been transformed into a 'circus and meaningless ritual'". (Thanks again to "Saucerful of Secrets", this book explores Waters alienation much more thoroughly than this blog will.)

Anyway getting to the point of the blog. "The Wall" is without a doubt a masterpiece, but you have to have lived life and faced some personal losses to truly get it. I remember receiving the double album for "The Wall" was a present for what probably was my 13th birthday. I remember opening the album up and seeing Gerald Scarfe's illustrations and being a little freaked out. I distinctly remember the butt on a pair of legs looking down on the ground. As "Saucerful of Secrets" suggest most people probably bought the album because of "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2". (This was before digital downloads.) And that song was probably the main attraction for me. I was young and stupid and didn't have a clue what made this CD so great. Also I thought school was pointless. I cluelessly related to the refrain "We don't need no education". (I don't know if that's an intentional double negative.)

I didn't understand what Pink Floyd was singing about. Needless to say that album didn't get much play after that. I'm not sure what happened to that album, but I wish I still had it. My life continued on with me having few complaints. I was a very spoiled child, but thankfully not smothered by my Mom. I continued hearing songs from "The Wall" as I grew older. I liked a few songs, but I never thought of "The Wall" as a masterpiece. It seemed nearly everyone else did, but I hadn't faced enough of life's trials to completely start understanding it.  It's not because I didn't like rock music, it's because I didn't get what Waters was talking about.

Finally in my mid-30's the genius of this CD started coming through to me. Waters was in his mid-30's when he was making this CD. He had just come off a soul crushing tour that had left him feeling alienated from the public, his band mates and possibly even his music. Now I didn't deal with anything like that. However my life was heading towards some changes. I was nearing both the end of a job that I ended up working at for 17 years. Although I didn't know it at the time, my marriage would be ending about 3 years later. Life seemed to be the same thing every day, but honestly there wasn't a lot of joy. That's no one's fault but my own.

Then over the next few years as those changes actually happened "The Wall" album continued to grow on me. Also looking back now I see that I was building my own wall. I went through a series of unfulfilling jobs, there was a bankruptcy and the marriage ended. Financially broken I moved in with my parents. Then later other things happened. I understood more and more the alienation that Waters was writing and singing about. As I understood that my appreciation for "The Wall" increased. I'm sure that my appreciation for this masterpiece will continue to grow as I get older.

And seriously if you don't have this CD in your collection, it's time to add it to your collection. Don't just get the 2 CD set. You need to get Deluxe Experience Edition. It has some of the songs as they progressed to their final version, live tracks and a documentary. Alienation is a part of life, but you shouldn't be alienated from great music.

This isn't on the originally released "Wall" CD, but it was added for the movie later. Waters referred to "Black 44" and Anzio, which is when and where his Dad died. This song wasn't added to a Pink Floyd CD until a few years later, I can't determine the exact year. This is dedicated to those who think war is glorious. This is "When The Tigers Broke Free":



The ironically named"The Happiest Days of Our Lives":



"Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2":



I like Roger Waters's solo version of "Mother" best. I love the audience participation and the female singer. I would give credit to the woman singer, if I knew her name.



I'm posting this video, because the scene from the movie doesn't leave a lot to the imagination. You could probably guess that by the songs title "Young Lust".



"Hey You": "It was only a fantasy, the wall was too high as you can see. No matter how he tried he could not break free...."



"Nobody Home", "Vera" and "Bring The Boys Home":



Waters was the main person behind "The Wall". David Gilmour's biggest contribution to this CD is the incredibly powerful. "Comfortably Numb":



This is one of the most bitter, self loathing, hate mongering pieces of music ever written, "In The Flesh":



"Run Like Hell":



"Waiting For The Worms" and "Stop":



themusicaddict

What I'm Reading Now "Walking Dead" Spoiler Alert (Updated 11/16/2012)

Hello,

Just a quick update on what I'm reading. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I read the fourth "Walking Dead" comic book collection "The Heart's Desire". I look forward to reading the fifth volume soon, "The Best Defense". I was hoping in that collection it was going to reveal who's on the other end of the phone that Rick answered at the end of the television episode "Say The Word".

I read "The Best Defense" last night and it was good. I love how in some ways the two forms of media are different, but in other ways they are also similar. For instance, Lori is an annoying character in both and I'm cheering for the zombies to get her. It finally happened in the TV series, I hope the zombies get her soon in the comic book. In "The Best Defense" Rick, Hershel and crew are alive and well and at the prison. Glenn and Rick are siphoning gas from one of the cars left behind at the prison. They want to get gas for the generators. In the books they want to get the generators to run, in the TV show they did what they could to turn off the generators. I love subtle differences like that.

Rick and Glenn see a helicopter crash. However the helicopter is attached to a TV station and not a military unit. Michonne, Glenn and Rick go to investigate. (In the comic book Michonne shows up at the prison first, Andrea is already there.) They find the helicopter crash, but they don't find any bodies. What they do find are a lot of footsteps, obviously people had been there before them. Those three go to investigate further, and come across a sign that says that Woodbury is only 1 mile away.

They get near Woodbury and are captured by the Governor's men, although there's no Merle in sight. They are held captive by the Governor. In the TV series his being evil and craziness are much more subtle. In the comic book the Governor is pretty much straight up evil. He hears about the prison and wants to move his camp there. The Governor tortures Michonne, terrorizes Glenn and chops off part of Rick's arm.

In the comic books there's a former NFL player named Tyrese, he hasn't shown up in the TV series yet. However  there's going to be a new character introduced on the December 2nd episode, I hope it's Tyrese. He's a very cool dude in the comic books. In the TV series Rick's gang needs a few more humans. I hope they let Oscar and Axel become part of their crew and that Tyrese joins them too. The show has to find a balance between too many characters and not enough characters.

Speaking of characters the character with the biggest divergence of personality is Dale. In the TV series he's played as a weak, whiny and speechifying person. I was so glad when the zombies finally got him, it didn't happen soon enough. Through the fifth comic book collection he's very much alive. He's also much tougher and just saved Tyrese's life with his ingenuity. Thankfully no lame speeches for him, he didn't whine about Shane and even has a girlfriend.

Unfortunately no further clue who's on the other end of the phone that Rick answered in the TV series. I'm starting to wonder if it's someone from Woodbury? But who would they be? And how did they get the phone number? Certainly they didn't Google it. Hmm. And how is it logical that the phones even still work? Maybe it's someone calling from in the prison itself?

Can I tell you how much I love having both the comic book series and the TV series. The stories are different enough that it's almost like a choose your own adventure series. I don't have a preference between the two.

With the announcement that "Star Wars 7" will be made, I've been completely geeking out about it. I've read every rumor about who'll be involved in the upcoming trilogy. I'm so excited that this series will finally be continued. Yes, I know the first 3 episodes in chronological order weren't very good. And I also acknowledge how difficult it's going to be for the final 3 episodes to live up to the middle trilogy. But I'm so glad they are trying. Those middle three movies are some of my favorite movies ever, especially "Star Wars".

What does that have to do with what I'm reading now? Because as soon as I heard the announcement that "Star Wars 7" is going to be made, I jumped into the so called expanded "Star Wars" universe. Right now I'm in the middle of the first of the Thrawn Trilogy, "Heir To The Empire". The events in this book are 5 years after the end of "Return of The Jedi". It's so good to see what Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, R2D2 and C3PO are up to. But it's also cool to see new relevant and interesting characters. For instance, Thrawn and Mara Jade. And thankfully no Jar Jar Binks in sight.

The particular "Heir To The Throne" that I'm reading is the 20th Anniversary Edition. This has been annotated by the author. He gives a lot of interesting perspectives into the entire "Star Wars" universe.

I'm not very familiar with the expanded "Star Wars" universe. If you have any suggestions of what I should read following the Thrawn Trilogy, I'd appreciate it.

themusicaddict

"The Walking Dead", "Nashville" and "Arrow"

Hello,

The two shows that I have to watch every week are "The Walking Dead" and "Nashville". Both appeal to me in very different ways. Things that I loved about "The Walking Dead's" last episode "Say The Word" include:

1) Michonne, anybody that can kick butt as well as her is awesome. Her character is so much different in the comic books. She's more than just a killing machine. Although different I like both the TV show and the comic books. In the comic books, Michonne is actually at the prison with Rick's group. If we see her again, is that where she's going to wind up?

2) I love that the same story lines usually play out in the comic book and the TV show. Although those story lines may play out through different characters. For instance in the comic book, Rick cuts off Allen's leg. In the show, Rick cuts off Hershel's leg. I love that both can be so different, but yet still so good. One major difference in the comic book, characters are always having sex. There's more sex going on than in "Nashville".

3) Daryl showing his softer side was great. He also is this show's comic relief and doesn't give any of the boring speeches that the other characters are so prone to.

4) What did you think when the phone started ringing? How are the phones able to even work one year into the zombie apocalypse? Who can possibly be on the phone and it be someone who makes sense to the story? I'm dying to know though. In reading a "Walking Dead" recap, they mentioned that a hint of who's on the phone is in the comic books. I read the 4th comic book collection "The Heart's Desire" Sunday night in hopes to find out, but that's not in that specific comic book.

5) The thing I enjoyed the most about this show though is that Lori Grimes is dead. Although seeing Rick's meltdown was a bit unsettling.

One thing I'm not liking about this show is the possibility of a clash between the Governor and Rick's group. It will be like the Civil War, brother against brother. What will happen when Daryl and Merle meet? I read one person say the stand off is "inevitable", oh please no. Also with no one able to nurse the baby, how long will it survive in the world it's in. Formula is something that can go pretty quick. those couple of cans won't last long. Also how long until the baby's loud crying gain the attention of unwanted zombies?

Also unlike "Revolution", when "The Walking Dead" has it's mid season break I'm actually going to miss it. It's hard to believe that after how mediocre Season Two was, that this show has bounced back so strongly.

I'm looking forward to the latest episode of "Nashville" tonight. Tonight's episode is titled "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)". I have no idea what's going to happen. However what I'd like to see includes Scarlett finally kicking Avery to the curb. Avery is a very lame character. I also won't mind the whole political story line going away. That's been so boring. Congratulations to "Nashville" for getting a full season pickup.

Also I finally got the chance to see "Arrow" the other night on Comcast On Demand. I watched the second through the fifth episodes. The first episode was no longer available. "Arrow" is on the CW, so it's not like I'm expecting a whole lot. But still it's a mostly enjoyable show. For the most part I like the characters. I'll definitely continue watching "Arrow".

themusicaddict

I'm Sorry "Last Resort" and "Revolution" But We Need To Break Up

Hello,

Last week I wrote about telling "Revolution" I needed my space. Last night I told "Revolution" it was time to break up. In other words I've cancelled my DVR from recording the whole season. I also broke up with "Last Resort" last night also. Both are intriguing premises, but neither show was able to live up to their potential. "Revolution" has became so stupid. The consensus is that Tracy Spiranakos shouldn't be a show lead. Overall the acting is terrible. Zak Orth, Graham Rogers and David Lyons are the worst offenders. Orth is the least believable computer geek ever, he used to work for Google? Really? Rogers is Robert Pattinson lite. And David Lyons has the roar of a kitty cat.

Also I finally figured out why Billy Burke looks so familiar. He plays Bella's father in the "Twilight" movies. Speaking of bad acting and boring plots, "Twilight" is the king of both. (It seems the people behind the "Twilight" movies took the worst parts of the books and only put those in the movies. Really they couldn't find better actors than Kristin Stewart, Robert Pattinson or Tyler Lautner? I'm so happy these lame people will now be going away. Is "Twilight" the worst series ever made?)

"Revolution's" story lines are getting lamer by the week. Also the villain, the ironically named David Lyons, is one of the weakest villain ever. And the ultimate show killer for me, I just don't care about the characters. I don't even care if some of the "secrets" are about to be revealed. Yawn. This show just has too much going on. There's the whole why did the power stop and eventually there's going to be the revolution story. Too much mumbo jumbo paired with boring actors isn't a winning combination.

This Monday's episode is titled "Kashmir", followed by "Nobody's Fault But Mine". Then there will be one more episode on November 26th. The show will then take a break until March 25th. That's probably the worst idea for this show, because people are going to forget about it. But what do I know, some networks are so desperate that "The Killing" coming back for a third season is being considered.

Obviously both "Kashmir" and "Nobody's Fault of Mine" are also the titles of Led Zeppelin songs. At least "Revolution" has that going for it. According to rollingstone.com the next episode will feature two Led Zeppelin songs. Those two songs are "Kashmir" and "Since I've Been Loving You". It's a tie in with the mighty Zep's "Celebration Day" being released the following day. (An aside I've been rocking out to Led Zeppelin's "BBC Sessions" the last couple of days as my driving music. Clearly some of the most amazing music ever made. Without a doubt, and by a long ways, Zeppelin is easily the greatest band of all-time.)

This is the version of "Kashmir" taken from "Celebration Day":



"Since I've Been Loving You" (Live-1973):



One of the producers on "Revolution" is J. J. Abrams. He said yesterday that he wasn't going to be working on the next "Star Wars" movie. Thank you J. J. for that, your work has been crappy lately.

Sadly "The Last Resort" started out with so much promise. That first episode was amazing. However slowly but surely it has been going downhill and sadly it's become unwatchable. I saw previews of tomorrow night's episode and I thought to myself "lame". When the show stays on Sainte Marino it's okay. However all the "intrigue" going on in Washington D.C. is boring. Sadly the lovely Autumn Reeser and talented Bruce Davison are wasted in that morass. Jessy Schram as the wife of one of the crew members isn't very good in this show. However I enjoyed Schram in "Falling Skies". Of course "Falling Skies" is a much better show than "Resort".

And on the island of Sainte Marino, the stories are better but still lame. Actors being wasted there are Andre Braugher, Robert Patrick and the hot Daisy Betts. Of the two shows "Resort" is better. For the most part the cast is made of people that can actually act. Patrick was amazing in "T2" as the upgraded Terminator model. I also loved Braugher in "Men Of A Certain Age". When "Resort" is cancelled, can they start filming a third season of "Men"?

So I'm sorry, but we really have to break up. Hopefully you'll be able to find someone that can tolerate mediocrity better than me. But hey "Revolution" and "The Last Resort" let's still be friends.

themusicaddict

I Love My iPod!: What Does Your iPod Say About You?, Great Songs (Updated 12/30/12)

Hello,

What do all these songs have in common? (see below)

Yeah I know I've featured all these videos several times, they are some of my favorite songs ever.



The likelihood of Tenacious D having a song this good is minuscule:



"Wonderwall":



One of the all-time classics and some of the best lyrics ever:



I have to admit that I'm over this song now, perhaps it won't be on my iPod too much longer.



The commonality of all these songs is that they all have a comfortable home on my iPod. I threw in the Tenacious D song so everyone wouldn't think the thing in common is that all are 80's songs.

My iPod has 557 songs, those songs are my personal greatest hits. I listen to songs on shuffle, it's great songs back to back to back. A song like Mumford & Sons "Babel" could be followed by Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines" which could be followed by Adele's "Rumor Has It". You get the idea. I love how I can mix eras and genres. That's a good thing for me because I love songs from all over. It's so easy to add and delete songs fitting ones mood. The battery lasts for a few hours and to recharge an iPod is an incredibly easy task. Apple thought of everything when they created the iPod.

"I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor":



Here's a quick look at who the top bands on my iPod are, there are some surprises. Typically the way I add songs to my iPod: I listen to songs on shuffle on my laptop. When it plays a song I really like, I add it to my iPod. For instance, that's how this song was added to my iPod on December 19th, 2012:



I also added this song to my iPod on 12/19/12. This is from what may be the second best rap/hip-hop CD of all time, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill". This is "Doo Wop (That Thing)"



This list is in order of an artist's number of songs on my iPod. I thought Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam would have the most songs on my iPod. I was surprised that Michael Jackson only has 3 songs on my iPod. Nine Inch Nails and Sinead O'Connor only have one song each on my iPod. Unbelievably I don't have any AC/DC at all. What? The number in parenthesis is the number of that artist's songs on my iPod.

1) Billy Idol- (15) "White Wedding":



2) Guns N' Roses- (12) "Mr. Brownstone":



3) The Scorpions- (8) "Lorelei":



4) Led Zeppelin- (7) For some songs I have both the studio and live versions. For instance "What Is And What Should Never Be":



4) Pearl Jam -(7) "Rats":



4) The Knack -(7) The Knack is one of the most unappreciated bands ever. They should've been much bigger. Here are a couple of songs from this great band.

"Your Number Or Your Name":



"Lucinda":



7) Journey - (6) "Lovin, Touchin', Squeezin' ":



7) Madonna- (6) "Rainbow Tour":





7) Van Halen - (6) "Finish What Ya Started":



7) U2- (6) "Red Hill Mining Town":



11) Red Hot Chili Peppers -(5) I don't even consider myself a RHCP fan, but I have 5 of their songs on my iPod. Their cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground"



Bands/artists that have 4 songs on my iPod are Adele, Pink, Pink Floyd, Taylor Dayne, Three Days Grace and Lady Gaga. Also The Ben Folds Five has 4 songs on my iPod, all are from the "Whatever and Ever Amen" CD.

Some obscure songs on my iPod include Rammstein's "Du Hast", "Quarterfly's "All Lies", Poe's "Not A Virgin", New Found Glory's "Summer Fling, Don't Mean A Thing", Nero's "My Eyes", 12 Stones "Open Your Eyes", David Nail's "Red Light" and Bang Tango's "Someone Like You".

Rammstein's "Du Hast":



Poe's "Not A Virgin":



One of my all-time favorite songs, this song is sadly unknown. This has to be an all-time Top 100 song, Meiko's "Boys With Girlfriends":



Bang Tango's "Someone Like You":



12 Stones "Open Your Eyes":



I'm not sure what the songs on my iPod says about me. One thing is obviously I love rock and the 80's. Usually the songs on my iPod are more about the song than the artist.

themusicaddict

Thanks Veterans, All Military Personnel And Their Families.

Hello,

As always just a special thanks to all the veterans who've fought and died for this country. Of course, thanks to all the veterans that didn't die and have been able to build up the greatest country in the world. I also want to thank all the hundreds of thousands brave men and women from all the armed forces who are still keeping America safe. Also thanks to all military families for your sacrifices. (This used to be part of another blog, but that didn't feel appropriate to me.)

themusicaddict

11/11/12: Cowboys Mediocrity & Fool's Gold (Updated 11/12/12)

Hello,

Now on to something monumentally less important. The woeful and terrible Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys were able to beat the run down Philadelphia Eagles yesterday 38-23. (I had to laugh at some foolish Cowboys fans.The Cowboys were able to beat a very bad Eagles team to improve to 4-5 on the season. Some Cowboys fans literally were talking about going to the Super Bowl. Please.) But I'm almost sure that Cowboys victory is fool's gold. This win covered up a lot of stupid plays. Mo Claiborne, he of the extremely low Wonderlic score, had 5 penalties by himself yesterday. As ESPN Dallas pointed out, 6 teams yesterday had less penalties than did Claiborne. Included in his terrible performance, Claiborne had 2 offside penalties. That's a ridiculous penalty for a cornerback to get.

Those penalties by Claiborne were 5 of the Cowboys 13 penalties. Roughly Dallas had 6 offsides (6?) penalties. One or two offsides penalties you can live with, but six? That's just one of the many things that points to how Garrett shouldn't be a head coach, this team doesn't have enough discipline. The Cowboys have been near the top of the NFL for most penalties this whole season.

The Cowboys running game also showed signs of life yesterday by breaking into triple figure yardage. It's possible that DeMarco Murray will be back this week. Both of those things are good. However that brings up several questions. How long will the Cowboys running game be good enough, at least good enough to take the pressure off of Romo? How long will the extremely fragile Murray last? How long will Garrett stick with the running game if it isn't working?

Other Cowboys concerns: the on again and off again Tony Romo. With yesterday's victory Romo continued his amazing November record. His November record is 20-3. (Thanks to Ben & Skin.) Both he and the Cowboys play well in November, but once December arrives both go downhill. As near as I can tell Romo's record in December is 8-13. Obviously all victories or losses aren't because of him. History usually is a pretty good indicator what will happen in the future.

I'm going to break down the Cowboys December last year. On November 24th, Dallas beat Miami 20-19 and at that point were 7-4. I was excited and I thought that even the Cowboys couldn't blow their playoff chances. What ended up happening? Dallas went on the road and lost to the woeful Cardinals 19-13 in overtime. The next week the Cowboys returned home and lost 37-34 to New York. All of a sudden the Cowboys playoff chances didn't look as good. They were now 7-6 with 3 games left in the season. They were going to play two bad teams and then close on the road in New York. Over the years the Giants have dominated the Cowboys. At that point New York was 3-0 in Cowboys Stadium. So Dallas needed to win their next two games, because the likelihood of beating the Giants was slim.

Dallas was able to go on the road and beat a Bucs team that had completely given up. If I remember right the Bucs were in the midst of a 10 game losing streak that caused Raheem Morris his job. Next the Cowboys returned home and were punked at home by a mediocre Eagles team. The Cowboys dropped to 8-7, but miraculously could still make the playoffs. Sarcasm alert: All they had to do was to beat their nemesis the Giants. Going into this game I didn't expect a whole from the Cowboys. They aren't very good in must win games.

Predictably the Cowboys folded and lost 31-14. The Cowboys were haunted by Romo's bad plays, Garrett's bad calls and Victor Cruz's big game. Romo had his usual bad plays in the wrong situations. He was picked off, threw the ball after crossing the line of scrimmage and didn't properly execute a quarterback sneak. The Giants jumped out to a 21-0 lead and pretty much coasted to a 31-14 victory. Both of the Cowboys touchdown receptions were caught by Laurent Robinson, who Dallas let go in the offseason. Although looking at Bryant's, Austin's and Robinson's stats, that looks to be the right call. Of course Robinson is playing with the terrible Jags and their mediocre QB Blaine Gabbert. So take those stats for what they are worth.

Back to yesterday's surprising 38-23 victory, one might think that the Cowboys dominated the Eagles. However they didn't, the Eagles were fighting big odds. First of all the Eagles only had one of their projected 5 offensive line starters able to play in this game. Although the offensive line is unheralded by many fans, it actually is one of the most important parts of a football team. They are the ones that open the big holes for the running backs and protect the quarterback when he's passing. If your offensive line is terrible, it doesn't matter how good a team's other offensive players are.

Again that score is deceiving, because in the 4th quarter the Cowboys scored 21 non-offensive points. They scored two touchdowns on an interception return and falling on a fumble in the end zone. Also Dwayne Harris returned a punt for a touchdown. Take away those three fourth quarter touchdowns and this game is much closer.

Michael Vick suffered a "significant concussion" early in the game. (Aren't all concussions significant?) Who came in to replace Vick, it was rookie Nick Foles. And how did he do? Well he could have been a lot worse, but he could have been a lot better. Foles 22/32, 219 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception. He played a big part in the Cowboys two defensive touchdowns. He threw the pass that Brandon Carr intercepted and returned for a TD. I believe he also fumbled the ball that Jason Hatcher fell on in the end zone.

Now the Cowboys are 4-5 and seemingly have a relatively easy schedule the final 7 games of the 2012 season. Realistically the Cowboys should go 4-3 over their final 7 games. Dallas next three games are at home and they should beat Cleveland, Washington (on Thanksgiving) and the Eagles. However knowing this Cowboys team, I can see them losing to Cleveland at home. Ever since the Cowboys opened Jerry world, they are slightly above .500 at home. Maybe that's what happens when Victoria's Secret is the focus and not football. At that point the Cowboys could be 7-5. Romo should improve to 22-3 in November games and improve to 9-13 in December games.

Realistically knowing the Cowboys and their choking capacity, the above scenario is very optimistic. Even if the Cowboys are 7-5 I'm still not going to believe in them, they've broken my heart too many times. In fact, the Cowboys being 7-5 would be a perfect set up for their annual late season fade. I predict they lose to the Bengals in Cincinnati, the Bengals dominated the Giants yesterday. Dallas will come home and find a way to lose to the Steelers. Then again in Dallas the resurgent and explosive Saints will storm into Cowboys Stadium and probably find a way to win. With the Cowboys less than amazing offense, they can't get into a shoot out. I wouldn't be surprised at all that the Cowboys are 7-8 at that point and out of playoff contention. Then in their final game of the season, a battle of who could care less, the Cowboys will play the Redskins. That game could go either way. Dallas finishes 8-8 and miss the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.

The Cowboys finishing with a 9-7 or 8-8 record and not making the playoffs is probably the worst thing that could happen to the Cowboys. Idiot Jerry would talk about the Cowboys "growth" and praising Garrett for "learning on the job". He would continue praising the Cowboys upside and hype them up so that naive Cowboys fans will think that Dallas will be relevant next year. Then Dallas would finish with about the same record and.............

While exercising I sometimes do some of my best thinking. I realized that if Dallas finishes this season at 8-8, which would be a good record for this bunch, that Garrett's record would be 21-19. Phillips overall record with the Cowboys was 34-22. However 21-19 is the exact same record that Phillips had his final 2.5 seasons. Phillips started out pretty well, the Cowboys finished 13-3 in his first season. But the coach that had never won a playoff game to that point showed why as the Cowboys lost to the Giants 21-17. The Giants have dominated the Cowboys since that point.

The Cowboys lost 3 of their final 4 games of the the 2008 season, including a 44-6 beat down at the hands of the Eagles. The Cowboys didn't make the playoffs that season, which has started a streak of not making the playoffs 4 of 5 years. I say that because the Cowboys aren't going to make the playoffs this year. In the 2009 season the Cowboys finished 11-5 and Phillips' team even won a playoff game. (That will be his one and only playoff win as a head coach, I'd be very surprised if he gets another head coaching job. However people keep on hiring Norv Turner, so who knows?)See if you notice a trend here, the 2009 season ended in a 34-3 beat down at the hands of the Vikings.

In 2010 Phillips' team was terrible and the losses started to mount. He clearly had lost this team. His Cowboys coaching tenure ended with a 45-3 beat down at the hands of the Packers. Garrett then took over the team and the Cowboys went 5-3 the rest of that season. With how mediocre the Cowboys are now, in hindsight that 5-3 record is very surprising. Last season Garrett and the Cowboys were 8-8 and they are 4-5 this season.

Garrett needs to go, he sucks. Another terrible hire by Jerry Jones. One thing that seems to get Jerry's attention is when his teams suffer horrific losses. In my fantasy world the Cowboys will finish the season strong and at least make the playoffs. But in reality I sort of hope the Cowboys lose their last 3 games this season, including a beat down at the hands of the Washington Redskins. Then hopefully that will be the end for Red J and the beginning of the Cowboys return to relevance. But of course Jerry will be doing the hiring, so who the hell knows?

What would I like to see happen the rest of this season. I'd like to see the Cowboys lose enough games that so even Idiot Jerry would fire Jason Garrett. And then paying back Cowboys fans hopes over years of futility, Jones goes out and gets Sean Payton. Hopefully the Cowboys would also get a top ten pick and parlay that and perhaps a draft pick into their quarterback of the future. (Although I'm not real excited about any of the quarterbacks eligible in this year's NFL Draft.) Romo probably hasn't been as bad as I thought he is. However he's proven too many times that he'll never win anything. It's time for Dallas to move on. Let Romo play out the final year of his contract as the rookie has a year to learn. As the season goes on, turn more and more responsibility over to the rookie. Even if it seems the Cowboys have a chance for the playoffs, don't make that the focus. The rookie qb becoming as good as possible should be the focus. If somehow he gets experience in the playoffs, then great.

Also I didn't watch yesterday's Cowboys game as I'm boycotting them until Jones finally gives up being the GM. I urge all Cowboys fans with tickets this week to not go and to let Jerry his failed leadership has severely hurt the Cowboys. Let's get rid of this bum!

themusicaddict