Miscellaneous

Hello,

I'm still living high off the amazing Pearl Jam concert on Monday night. What an amazing show it was. The musicianship was amazing and Eddie was in great voice that night. Eddie seemed to be in a good mood and the whole band acted like they were having a fun time. Pearl Jam resumes their tour tonight with two nights in Universal City, Ca.

At the concert the other night, I heard someone say that Pearl Jam actually might have a #1 record. I laughed at that preposterous thought. Pearl Jam isn't Miley Cyrus or some rappers, they aren't the type of band who have #1 CD's. I was very surprised when reading ew.com this morning about the top CD's of last week. Indeed "Backspacer" was the #1 record. I still find it hard to believe. Thanks to ew.com for the following:

"We’re in the full swing of fall now, with plenty of new releases hitting shelves most every week. Leading the pack on the latest Billboard 200 chart is Pearl Jam’s Backspacer — the band’s first album to hit No. 1 since 1996’s No Code. After catching flak from some fans for striking a retail deal with Target for Backspacer, Pearl Jam ended up selling 189,000 copies in week 1, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s not a bad number, but it’s a good bit less than the 279,000 that their previous record put up in 2006. Make of that what you will.

Random bits: U2 is the new Rolling Stone cover, the article is about their big tour that just arrived in America. I listened to the new Paramore CD this morning (thanks Rhapsody!, I'm still waiting for "Backspacer"). Their new CD "Brand New Eyes" is pretty good. I'll have to listen to it a few more times to form my true opinion of it. I also listened to the new super group Tinted Windows. (Usually when I think of tinted windows I think of the line from Run-D.M.C. The lyric is "Tinted windows don't mean nothing, they know who's inside.") Tinted Windows released their first CD in the early summer. The following is not a misprint, this super group features current or former members from Hanson, Cheap Trick, Fountains of Wayne and the Smashing Pumpkins. Rhapsody labels their music as power pop, I would have to agree.

Again due to my work schedule, I'm delayed watching "Mad Men". I finally got around to watching it last night. It was another good, not great, episode. It seems the shows writers are setting up both Don and Betty to have affairs. I'd really they would rather not. I'm so over Duck now, please have him go away. That's especially after the most unbelievable hook up in "Mad Men" history, Duck and Peggy please. What's next Bert and Roger's daughter? Don signed a three year contract, seemingly the least pleasant thing he has ever done. Ah to have such a rough life as Don Draper!

It's also good to have "Cold Case" back, another great show with another less than believable hook up. I'm glad it was renewed for this season.

I listened to Madonna's new double greatest hits CD, "Celebration" today. Yes I listened to all 37 songs. She's always been one of my favorites, but I'd forgotten how many good songs she has. After listening to Rhapsody for a few hours, I was ready for something different. I started listening to Pandora now. For the musical choice I typed in Paramore. Pandora is playing songs based on that selection and other songs I'm giving thumbs up to. The song Pandora played first was Paramore's "CrushCrushCrush", possibly their best song. Another song Pandora played is "Go Ahead" by the band Fireflight. A song I had never heard of before or even a band I have heard of. That's a pretty cool song though. Other songs they have played is the All-American Reject's "Move Along", Flyleaf's "Breathe Today" and Fall Out Boy's "Thanks Fr Th Mmrs". (My Fall Out Boy confession: it's only recently I found out that Pete Wentz is not the lead singer of FOB. He's only the bassist. Other than the J. Geils Band this is the only band I know of that doesn't feature the lead singer as the main dude.)

themusicaddict

Pearl Jam kicks ass!

Hello,

Last night was the Pearl Jam concert in Salt Lake City. They kicked some serious butt. Most things don't live up to my self created anticipation. Pearl Jam lived up to it though. I only have one complaint about the concert which I will get to later. This is only the second time I've seen them live, the first time I think was back in November, 1995.

Ben Harper and Relentless 7 were the opening act. I'd like to say hi to the Ben Harper fan I met last night, she's a big Ben Harper fan. I tried to write a set list for them but I'm just not familiar enough with their music for it to be complete. If you would like to help me fill in the blanks, either e-mail me or post a comment to this blog. Ben Harper just seems to be a cool down to earth guy. Although I was getting a bit nauseous when he was talking about the "Pearl Jam community". Ben Harper said he's related to former Utah governor, George Dern. He was neither a Mormon nor a Republican and still was elected in the heavily Mormon, heavily Republican Utah.

According to his wikipedia site: "George Henry Dern was born in Dodge County, Nebraska on September 8, 1872. He was a successful politician, mining man and business man. He is probably best remembered for co-inventing the Holt–Dern ore roasting process, as well as his tenure as United States Secretary of War from 1933 to his death in 1936. He also served as governor of Utah for eight years, from 1925 to 1933. Dern was a progressive politician who fought for tax reform, education and social welfare. He was an exceptional public speaker who was able to captivate and entertain his audience, whether they are Progressives, Democrats or Republicans". Dern actually has a pretty impressive resume, for more info check out his wikipedia site.

Anyway I digress Ben Harper and Relentless 7 played an 8 song set, which was just about perfect. They played for about 45 minutes. I thought their first song was never going to end. However "Boots Like These" did eventually come to an end. That was one of the two highlights of the night of them for me. The other highlight was the third song they played, "Shimmer and Shine". They didn't unnecessarily jam on this song. They played the rock song straight ahead. This is probably my favorite song of theirs on their new CD.

Other good songs included "Rock and Roll Is Free If You Let It". After 7 songs the apparently non relentless Relentless 7 left the stage. Ben Harper accompanied himself on guitar. He sang the heartbreaking song, "Walk Away". Thanks to lyricsfreak.com here are the lyrics:

Oh no
Here comes that sun again
That means another day
Without you my friend

And it hurts me
To look into the mirror at myself
And it hurts even more
To have to be with somebody else
And its so hard to do
And so easy to say
But sometimes
Sometimes you just have to walk away
Walk away

With so many people
To love in my life
Why do I worry
About one

But you put the happy
In my mess
You put the good times
Into my fun
And its so hard to do
And so easy to say
But sometimes
Sometimes you just have to walk away
Walk away
And head for the door

We've tried the goodbye
So many days
We walk in the same direction
So that we could never stray
They say if you love somebody
Than you have got to set them free
But I would rather be locked to you
Than live in this pain and misery

They say time will
Make all this go away
But its time that has taken my tomorrows
And turned them into yesterdays
And once again that rising sun
Is dropping on down
And once again you my friend
Are nowhere to be found
And its so hard to do
And so easy to say
But sometimes
Sometimes you just have to walk away
Walk away
And head for the door
You just walk away
Walk away

Ben Harper and Relentless 7 set list September 28th, 2009

1) "Boots Like These" (confirmed title) A very catchy melody but it did go on for a tat bit long.

2) "Save My Soul" (guessed title)

3) "Shimmer and Shine" (confirmed title) The best song of their set.

4) "Rock and Roll Is Free If You Want It" (confirmed title) Just don't still their music!

5) ?

6) "Caught in the Dream" (guessed title)

7) "Can't Run Away From Fate" (guessed title)

8) "Walk Away" Ben Harper accompany himself on this very slow and mellow song.


Pearl Jam played two hours and 10 minutes, in which they crammed 27 songs into their set list. Eddie was in a good mood tonight, including allowing a marriage proposal in the band's first encore. This was the first time Pearl Jam played in Salt Lake in 11 years. (Let's not wait so long again.) Eddie was in a good mood the whole night. He directed comments most of the night to some kids in or near the front of the stage.

I mean no offense to members of the Pentecostal faith, but I felt like I was at a Pentecostal revival. The music was rocking, and the spirit (of rock and roll) took over and I waved my arms in the air. I just got into the performance not caring how dorky I was looking.

The band was in peak form tonight, really bringing passion to their playing. (Some of their bootlegs it's obvious Pearl Jam is just not into the show.) They were ready to play and all members acted like they enjoyed themselves. Their set list wasn't the best, but the energy they played with made up for that. Pearl Jam played 6 songs from their new CD, "Backspacer". They also played many of their classics and a few covers. (I was really hoping the last song of the night was going to be "Rockin' In The Free World".)

Pearl Jam roared on to stage at 8:55pm. They kicked some butt. Let's get my one complaint out of the way. A lot of Pearl Jam's lyrics are hard to understand, even after hundreds of listens. What that means there isn't as many songs to sing along with as I would like.

Pearl Jam opened off the concert with two shortened versions of "Of The Girl" and "Breakerfall". They continued the momentum with "Hail, Hail" and "Severed Hand" and then Eddie said "Good Evening". They then played the first of six "Backspacer" songs of the night, "The Fixer". The band caught their breath and Eddie talked to the crowd. He talked about how this was the first time in 11 years that Pearl Jam has appeared in Salt Lake. He noted you could go through high school, college, get hired and fired in 11 years. He also pointed out some kids in the crowd saying they weren't even born the last time Pearl Jam came to Salt Lake. He talked to these kids throughout the whole show. He also did a shout out to Ben Harper.

They continued the show with "Low Light", one of the few mellow points of the night. They then followed that with one of their lesser songs, "Marker In The Sand". For their next song they regained their momentum and roared back with "Even Flow". They truly kicked butt with Michael McCready playing a blistering solo which included him playing the guitar behind his head. That was definitely one of the highlights of the night. It was time for the second song from "Backspacer", another too mellow song, "Unthought Known".

Then time for more sing-alongs as Eddie counted off the intro to "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town", another one of their best songs. (This song features one of my favorite lyrics, "Memories like fingerprints are slowly raising". This song was another highlight of the night. They then went back into their higher gear and played "Given To Fly" with people were screaming out the "fly" part of that song. The audience was having a great time and it appeared the band was to. Next up was "Immortality" with a mini-jam. Next then sang "Satan's Bed", this is the song that has the chorus in which they sing, "Already In Love". They finished off the first part of the show with "Amongst The Waves", "Do The Evolution" and "Blood".

First encore: Pearl Jam played 6 more songs in this encore. They first played one of their more obscure songs, "Bee Girl". Eddie said that song was written "over a bottle of wine and a microphone". "Bee Girl" featured Jeff Ament. Eddie brought up a couple of guests from the audience. A local restaurant owner or manager, Greg, proposed to his girlfriend Rachel. Eddie said, "by the power invested in me, I'm going to sing a song". They were then given a special seat as Eddie serenaded them with another new song, "Just Breathe". They left the stage with Eddie wishing them good luck on their journey. Ben Harper came back on the stage and joined Pearl Jam for "Red Mosquito". Next was "Daughter" with the tags of "Sympathy For The Devil" and "W.M.A." They closed out their first encore with "Supersonic" and "Spin The Black Circle". The audience was roaring along with the "Spin, spin" part of the song.

For the second encore Eddie dedicated the Ramone's song "I Believe In Miracles" to Johnny Ramone. That truly is one of the greatest Ramones song. They followed that with "Crazy Mary" which included an extended jam. It's one of my all-time favorite songs of any band. It's a rarely played song and I was very excited they played it. Then Eddie sang the very cathartic "Alive". I do wonder how he sings that song with all the memories associated with it. Eddie referred back to the kids in front of him. He gave them permission to skip school in the morning, but for that one day only. He also dedicated the night's "last song" to the kids teacher. Mike McCready played the opening notes of "Yellow Ledbetter". That song probably closes about 90% of Pearl Jam shows. I was hoping they would close with "Rockin' In The Free World", but no complaints after the rocking night.

Pearl Jam only played 9 of the 28 songs on my Pearl Jam dreams set list, but that's okay. Overall one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen and I have seen a lot of great bands at their peak.

The band was in fantastic form all night. The three guitarists, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, were all in kick butt mode. The drums were very ably manned by the excellent Matt Cameron and Boom Gasper played the keyboards with frenetic energy. Eddie played the guitar as well on several songs. Pearl Jam is not just Eddie Vedder, although he does seem to get the bulk of the credit. Hopefully we'll see you soon again Boom, Stone, Jeff, Eddie, Matt and Mike.

Set 1

* Of The Girl
* Breakerfall
* Hail, Hail
* Severed Hand
* The Fixer
* Low Light
* Marker In The Sand
* Even Flow
* Unthought Known
* Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
* Got Some
* Given To Fly
* Immortality
* Satan's Bed
* Amongst The Waves
* Do The Evolution
* Blood

Encore 1

* Bee Girl
* Just Breathe
* Red Mosquito
* Daughter
* Supersonic
* Spin The Black Circle

Encore 2

* I Believe In Miracles
* Crazy Mary
* Alive
* Yellow Ledbetter

"Red Mosquito" featured Ben Harper.


themusicaddict

Merry Pearl Jam Day!

Hello,

Welcome to Salt Lake Jeff, Boom, Stone, Mike, Matt, Eddie and all your support crew. Thanks for coming and please kick some butt tonight!

Today is the day that I've been counting down for the last several weeks. PEARL JAM!!!! I lost my tickets. Thanks to the E Center Box Office, Ticketmaster and my Madre for helping me be able to still go.

I'm listening to the opening band's new CD. That band is Ben Harper and Relentless 7. The name of the CD is "White Lies for Dark Times". This is more guitar rock than Ben Harper usually plays. It's pretty good, there are some really good songs on this CD. I particularly like, "Why Must You Always Dress In Black" and "Shimmer and Shine". I look forward to seeing them tonight as well.

I'm going crazy not being able to listen to "Backspacer" yet. I even googled around the web and the best I can find is 30 second snippets of each song. (Surely there's some place on-line I can check out the full version of "Backspacer".) I even downloaded limewire but that was a waste of time.

The college football rankings are the most searched topic on Yahoo! With 4 Top 10 teams losing the rankings were in for a big shakeup. Florida still ranks at #1, although I keep on wondering when are they going to play a real team? 2) Texas and 3) Alabama. It's good to see Boise State jump to #5, although I'm sure national sports "experts" are complaining about it. They have played a comparable schedule to Florida. USC also roared back into the Top Ten, jumping from #12. 8) Oklahoma, the first team BYU beat this season. #11 TCU jumped all the way from #15. I hope they keep their BCS hopes alive until they roll into Provo on October 24th. BYU has some revenge to exact on the Horned Frogs. BYU beat the previously unbeaten 3-0 CSU Rams and dropped in the polls? Utah should have also moved back into the Top 25 after beating the BCS conference team Louisville.

There will be a review coming tomorrow night of tonight's Pearl Jam concert.

themusicaddict

Happy Pearl Jam Eve (for me at least)

Hello,

T-1 days until Pearl Jam roars on stage at the E Center in West Valley City, Utah. I'm ready to rawk! Last night Pearl Jam played their last concert preceding the Utah show. It was a good set. But I wish they would play less songs from "Backspacer" and more classics. They played 7 songs from the new CD. No "Elderly Woman", "Jeremy", "Crazy Mary" or Leaving "Here". ("Leaving Here" is my current favorite Pearl Jam song.) They did play one of my favorite rarities though, "Red Mosquito". That is a song made to play live.

Last night's second encore ruled. They played "Do The Evolution", "Not For You" (with a "Modern Girl" tag), the anthemic "Black" and "Porch". They closed out their set with traditional closer, "Yellow Ledbetter" with a Star Spangled Banner tag. To make that second encore nearly perfect they should have closed with "Rockin' In The Free World".

I think their set list tomorrow will be fine, but I wished it would be more like they were on the Japan leg of their 2003 tour. They played some very amazing shows there.

College football: Utah won but lost stud running back Matt Asiata for the season with a torn acl. A torn acl is one of the worst things an athlete can hear. Good luck in a quick recovery Matt. Utah was still able to beat a BCS team, the Louisville Cardinals 30-14. That helps both the Utes and their conference. They also should get back in the rankings following their victory. #19 BYU also cruised to a victory after scoring 21 points in the first quarter. BYU is now 3-1 and should crush Utah State Friday night. USC welcomed their stud freshman qb, Matt Barkley, back and they also welcomed victory back. Although USC didn't dominate as much as I predicted. #8 BSU and #15 TCU continued their roads to playing in a BCS bowl game. TCU still has to play Air Force, Utah, BYU and Colorado St. so their road is a lot tougher than Boise State.

College football question of the day, FSU went into Provo and scored 54 points and looked like national champions. Yesterday they scored 7 (7?) points. Seriously how does that happen. FSU didn't play Florida, Alabama or Texas, they played South Florida. So called directional schools usually can't play.

The Dodgers clinched a spot in the upcoming playoffs. Boston is also knocking on the door of the playoffs. As usual the only the Cubs will go to the playoffs if is they buy a ticket. The most surprising team is the Atlanta Braves. They have completely caught fire. They've won 13 of 16 and have rallied to within 2.5 games of Colorado in the NL Wildcard. Just three weeks ago they looked like they were completely out of the playoffs. Will they now make the playoffs, probably not. But this is why you keep on fighting as you never know what may happen. (Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for inviting me to Atlanta when they lived there. That's how I fell in love with the Braves.)

Have a great day, themusicaddict

Pearl Jam -2 days

Hello,

Yesterday I was listening to the 2003 Pearl Jam concert in Osaka, Japan. Pearl Jam had just finished playing "Wishlist" (one of their best songs) when they launched into a 5 minute "Improv". They played some lame, extended jam that meandered for a few minutes and finally mercifully died. Please Pearl Jam no improvs in Utah. I know it's boring to play the same song night after night over several years, but those jams usually suck the energy out of a concert. Speaking of boring I take 50 calls a day, call after call with very little if any break in between. I survive it so I know you can too. Just a request from your #1 fan in Utah.

RHAPSODY ONLY TWO DAYS UNTIL THE BIG CONCERT, WHERE IS "BACKSPACER"? STEP UP TO THE PLATE!

Although Rhapsody I do appreciate you having the Pearl Jam bootlegs available. I'm able to listen to some songs they are playing in recent shows and getting familiar with them. I was able to listen to "All Night", a song they played on September 22nd. That's a pretty cool song. Last night's set list from Vancouver was much better than the second Key Area show. They played many should be played every concert classics. Those songs include: "MFC", "Even Flow", "Rearviewmirror", and "Alive". They even played the infrequently played "Love Reign O'er Me", "State of Love and Trust", "Alive" and "Betterman" including a "Save It For Later" tag. They also played "Last Kiss". Judging by it's infrequency being played in live shows, it seems they had disowned that song. There's a part in that song where it mellows out and drums come in and it sounds really cool. It's about the 2:40 mark, but it sounds a lot cooler in my car with the speakers blasting than from my computer.

Pearl Jam plays in Portland tonight, and then their next show is in Salt Lake! Whoo hoo! Please please please play "Elderly Woman", "Even Flow","Crazy Mary", "Rockin' In The Free World" and "Big Wave". "Big Wave" is a song I've never heard before today but it's a pretty cool song. It's on their June 27th, 2008 Hartford, Conn. bootleg. That was another night they played a bunch of quality rarities.

There are some intriguing college football games today. 3-0 CSU goes into Provo to play #19 BYU. I'm hoping BYU will learn from last week's lessons and thump the Rams. I also cheer for teams that BYU played or will play. Oklahoma has a bye today and Florida St. is getting stomped by South Florida. South Florida? I'm not really cheering for Tulane, they are a lost cause. They will be lucky to win a game this season at all.

Louisville travels to play the now unranked Utes. Hopefully Terrance Cain learns from his mistakes of last week and the Utes can squeeze out a victory. Pray for the Cougars, I'm speaking of Washington State. They are going into USC to play a very motivated USC team who has something to prove. They also have their stud freshman quarterback back. If USC is not up by 5 touchdowns at halftime I would be very surprised. Of course I have not been very good with my football predictions so far this year.

Initially I did not give positive reviews to Whitney Houston's "I Look To You" or U2's "No Line On The Horizon". I have listened to both again and have changed my mind a bit. Both of them are starting to grow on me. I have a hard time resisting the charms of Whitney Houston's magnificent voice. Houston's CD has such great songs as "Million Dollar Bill", "Nuthin' But Love" and "I Didn't Know My Own Strength". I'm starting to think both are very good CDs, certainly not their best though.

Have a great day, themusicaddict

Pearl Jam Countdown 3 days and counting

Hello,

Last night's drive music was the March 6th, 2003 Pearl Jam show in Nagoya, Japan. That was a night of rarities, very cool rarities. These songs include "You Are", this is a very cool song, a non Pearl Jam sounding song. Other cool rarities they played include "Light Years", "Green Disease", "Save You", "Bu$hleaguer", "Down" and the song from "I Am Sam"- "You've Got To Hide Your Live Away". They also played classics such as "Rearview Mirror", "Alive", "Crazy Mary" and "Spin The Black Circle". Also as they should they closed out the concert with "Rockin' In The Free World". They also played 27 songs that night. I would love for a similar set list in Salt Lake.

That was a great show that night, a show that was not so great from at least the set list. They played a lot of songs from their new CD, which is fine. However I haven't heard many of those songs yet, thus I'm not familiar with them. Songs that one knows usually are better live. I lack the means to buy their new CD. (Come on Rhapsody step up to the plate on "Backspacer".) 7 of the 27 songs were from "Backspacer". Other than that they played many songs that are not some of their better songs. For instance, they played "Faithfull" (yawn), a song they rarely play in concert justifiably. They also played "Sometimes" a blase mid-tempo song. They continued the theme with "Present Tense", although this song starts to show some life once it gets near the end of the song.

Interspersed with these dreary, mid-tempo songs there are still some butt kicking songs. Songs such as "Why Go", "Lukin" (a less than one minute shot of punk rock), "Go", "Black", "Spin The Black Circle", "Do The Evolution" and "Porch". Those blast of energy songs were just two few in their September 22nd, 2009 Key Arena 2 show. Honestly I'd be disappointed if they played a similar set list in Salt Lake.

Songs they didn't play on the 22nd that I really hope they play in SLC: "Jeremy", "Elderly Woman", "Rearview Mirror", "Even Flow", "Crazy Mary" (this song is hardly played live anymore), "Corduroy", "Leaving Here", "Save You", "You Are", "Not For You", "Rats" and "Love Reign O'er Me". Also Pearl Jam can skip "Yellow Ledbetter", that's probably their most played live song. I'm tired of that song. The song they should close out all their shows with is "Rockin' In The Free World". Especially the version of that song they played on February 9th, 2003 in Brisbane, Australia. That's a great song to have ringing in ones ears driving home.

Cut and paste this link to read one of the coolest sports stories of the year. http://arkansasvarsity.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=992976

A couple of nights ago I watched one of the greatest movies of all-time. A movie that has aged well, its the hilarious "Fast Times At Ridgemont High". Phoebe Cates knew how to rock a red bikini. Sean Penn is hilarious as Jeff Spicoli, one of the greatest characters in modern movies. I was watching him playing that role and thinking who would have believed he would play Harvey Milk 26 years later. I bet Harvey Milk never had pizza delivered to his high school class.



This is a message to the super group Them Crooked Vultures, you've had a lot of praise for your early lives shows and you have set up a tour. Now you need to release a CD. I want to hear what all the hype is about. Your first show featured 80 minutes of music, I know you have enough music to make a CD. No word yet whether they are even working on a CD or not. There is no release date set either.

I've been reading the excellent "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman" by Jon Krakauer. When he came out of high school he was only offered scholarships to three schools. One school was San Jose State, which he didn't want to go to because of it's lack of tradition. He was also offered a scholarship to BYU, but he didn't think he would fit in with their straitlaced ways. As he was a drinker, he was correct. He ended up going to play at Arizona State, lucky for them. Being a humongous BYU fan I thought that was very interesting.

I'm not sure when I will be back. Have a good weekend, themusicaddict

"Mad Men" rules

Hello,

I finally was able to watch the most recent "Mad Men" last night. This had to be one of the top two or three episodes in the 2.5 seasons of the show. Who would have ever thought the riding lawnmower Cosgrove brought into the office and their new boss Guy would interact with each other in such tragic consequences? Don has made it through six episodes of the season without sleeping with anyone including his just giving birth wife. I think Matthew Weiner set up the story arc that Don Draper would be more mature this season. Poor Joan, she really did not pick the right guy. First of all he rapes her in the Sterling Cooper offices then he's not born to be a surgeon in the big city. How is she going to get her job back at Sterling Cooper now, it should not be too hard as she is indispensable. At first I thought Joan was just a minor character, but after last night I now realize how important of a character she is.

What does it mean that Roger Sterling was not on the restructured organizational chart of leadership? Also the annoying and whining Pete Campbell had the line of the night, "If we get any more promotions, we will be answering phones" upon seeing the new organization chart. This show is going to have many interesting moments throughout the rest of the season. We are already halfway through Season 3.

Now on to the promised news about Pearl Jam's dedication to Michael Jackson following the later's death. On August 18th at London's O2 Arena, where Micheal Jackson was set to do his 50 show comeback, Pearl Jam played a cover of Michael Jackson's "Ben" and tied it in with their own song "Rats". "Rats" features a line about Ben, "Ben, the two of us need look no more". Who would ever thought there would have been a Pearl Jam and Michael Jackson connection? (Thanks to Spin and twofeetthick.com for the source material.)

Pearl Jam 5 days and counting!

The most searched for item on Yahoo! was Pee Wee Herman. He sat down with Jay Leno the other night. Pop culture recycling continues, when is the Samantha Fox comeback going to begin? What is Shaun Cassidy doing, where is Leif Garrett and what are the Bay City Rollers and The Knack doing? (The Knack actually were a great band, I'm not sure why they flamed out. Hmm that sounds like that could be an upcoming blog topic.)

According to the Knack's wikipedia.com site The Knack are currently locked in a lawsuit against Run-DMC. They claim that Run-DMC stole the guitar riff from their first big hit. "The lawsuit alleges that the defining guitar riff from "My Sharona" was used without permission in the Run DMC track "It's Tricky" from their 1986 album Raising Hell". That's absolutely hilarious, I just don't hear it. (Thanks to the Knack wikipedia.com website.) The Knack are still performing occasionally. They are all in their mid-50's so it's probably too late for them to launch a full scale comeback. If you want to hear all the potential The Knack had, get their debut CD "Get The Knack".

I'm now listening to The Knack's "Get The Knack" on Rhapsody. What a great CD. I remember it being a classic but it's even better than I remember. Not bad for a CD released in 1979, near the end of the Disco era. (Now if Rhapsody could only get Pearl Jam's "Backspacer" on their site.)

themusicaddict

Hello,

Welcome to another exciting edition of my blog, it's full of excitement and surprises! (sort of)

Let's start with the most exciting news first. BYU Basketball Coach Dave Rose (who I saw at a Sheryl Crow concert last year) is cancer free. "Rose said in a news conference Monday that the results "came back normal," meaning that his body has no signs of the cancerous tumor that was removed from his pancreas and spleen in June at a Las Vegas hospital." Rose says, "I feel great. The doctors are extremely confident that we are right on top of the situation. They removed all the disease, and it has not returned. It doesn't show any signs of returning right now, and so we have scheduled for [another] scan six months from now, so we are I guess going on how I feel. And I feel great. I [have] good energy, good strength." (Thanks to Sltrib.com.) Good luck Coach Rose. (For those who follow this blog, Rose is also battling pancreatic cancer.)

There's a lot of new music out now: In the following order the song, the artist and themusicaddict quick rating. This is a ranking from 1 to 5 stars. 1) "Cowboy Casanova"- Carrie Underwood 4 of 5 stars. She's looking amazing in the picture. 2) "Meet Me On The Equinox"- Death Cab For Cutie 3 of 5 stars 3) "Doesn't Mean Anything"- Alicia Keys 3 of 5 stars. She's another amazingly gorgeous woman! 4) "We Weren't Born To Follow"- Bon Jovi 4 of 5 stars. This sounds like late 80's Bon Jovi. Depending on your perspective that could be good or bad. However I quite like this song. We need bands still playing rock. 5) "Happy"- Leona Lewis 3 of 5 stars 6) "Again"- Flyleaf 4 of 5 stars. I had one song credit left, this is the song I chose to buy. I'm glad Flyleaf is back.

Pearl Jam news: Pearl Jam kicked off this leg of their tour with a 28 song show in Seattle last night. According to Spin magazine, they kicked some butt. They play in Seattle again tonight. themusicaddict is in full countdown mode, as less than one week from today I'll be rocking out to Pearl Jam live. Pearl Jam has also taken over Paste magazine. That's the hype but it turns out to be pretty lame. Honestly it's not even worth looking into.

Spin magazine features Pearl Jam on their newest issue. On the cover of the October Spin, "At Home, At Work, And At Play With A Band Recharged". Unfortunately I still haven't been able to listen to their new CD, "Backspacer". I'm too poor to buy it. My beloved Rhapsody doesn't have it available, come on Rhapsody what is up with that? I found out this morning that myspacemusic had the CD available before "Backspacer" was released. Unfortunately that is no good to me. I am excited that Pearl Jam is selling bootlegs of their live shows. I plan on buying the Salt Lake bootleg when I can afford it. I really have enjoyed listening to the bootlegs from Pearl Jam over the past several years.

According to yahoo.com Angie Harmon is the #1 newsmaker: "Actress Angie Harmon is hosting a celebrity shoe auction in New York and sending her baby daughter through an obstacle course to raise money for charity. 9-month-old Emery Hope is among the babies crawling through a terrain of mock mountains and ski slopes Tuesday while their moms bid on shoes signed by celebrities including Tori Spelling". (Thanks to Yahoo! News.) Although I do have to call Yahoo! out a bit, Tori Spelling is a celebrity? Really?

Books: Oprah's new book was announced last Friday. It's "Say You're One of Them" by Uwem Akpem. Usually her books sail to the top of the amazon.com bestsellers. There has been a bit of a backlash against this book. With it's stories of child prostitution and slavery, a lot of people are turned off by the subject matter. As of this morning it was only the #13 bestseller at amazon.com. (The number 1 best seller very predictably is Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol".) That same disparity shows up at my local library. I'm on the waiting list for both books. For the Akpem book, I'm number 8 on the waiting list. For Brown's book I'm number 132 on the waiting list. Due to Oprah's influence there are 650,000 available copies of this book published. I usually like Oprah's selections, I'm going to give the book a shot.

The book I'm reading now is Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman". It's a biography of Pat Tillman who turned his back on $3.6 million to enlist in the military following 9/11. It's an amazing story so far, I'm about 35 pages in. Krakauer is critical of the the Bush administration and how they handled this whole situation. That includes using Tillman for propaganda, a role he was uncomfortable with. This book's contents are still relevant to the events going on in Afghanistan now. I recently read an article in an April, 2009 Time issue about Afghanistan. Reading both at the same time helped with filling in blanks with the bleak situation in Afghanistan. The main theme of both is we can't afford to mess up again in Afghanistan. Some people contend that once the Soviet Union left Afghanistan and then America cut them off completely that was the genesis of the 9/11 attacks. We gave millions of dollars in weapons to those who once were our "friends", but now are our enemies.

Last and definitely least. Jerry Jones please, please fire Wade Phillips. This man has no business being an NFL head coach. How many underwhelming seasons do we have to have him as head coach? (Mike Shanahan does not have a job now!) There's a reason this man has never won a playoff game as a head coach. As a defensive coordinator, he is the man. As a head coach, he is most definitely not the man! You and I Jerry aren't getting any younger, I'd love to see the Cowboys relevant again sometime in my lifetime.

Enough ranting for one day. I should be back tomorrow with more info about Pearl Jam, including their tribute to Michael Jackson after his death. themusicaddict

College Football Week 3 Disappointments

Hello,

Before yesterday's games there were 5 non-BCS schools in the Top 25. Those teams were BYU, Boise State, TCU, Utah and Houston. Those five teams were set up to be BCS busters. Yesterday the balloon popped for two of them. After 18 straight home wins, BYU was crushed under the weight of it's expectations and Florida State's suddenly unstoppable offense. This game looked like the glory days for Florida State and the horrible days of BYU's defense. As of now Boise State, TCU, Houston are the three schools who can be BCS busters. Boise State probably has the best chance as they have beaten their two toughest opponents of the season already. TCU still has to play Utah and BYU. Houston didn't play today and next week play the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Utah had a whole bunch of streaks broken yesterday. They had won 18 straight games, 9 straight road games and 5 straight games against BCS schools. They are going to have to rebound with Louisville coming to town. Their quarterback, Terrance Cain, is obviously a very gifted athlete. Now he needs to make the next step in becoming a great quarterback. Continuing the streak theme USC lost to a conference opponent for the fourth year. That stat may seen innocuous, but it isn't as they beat everyone nearly everyone else. Washington is a much improved team but they still should not beat USC. USC's stud freshman quarterback Matt Barkley could not play this game as he's battling an injury. Backup Aaron Corp played and it's very obvious why he is the backup. The 110 passing yards that USC had was the fewest for a USC team in the Pete Carroll era. Fortunately the Trojans get a breather this weekend as they play the Washington State Cougars.

Although I was cheering against his Washington Huskies, congrats to Coach Sarkisian for a dramatic improvement in UW's fortunes. The former BYU quarterback now has two victories under his belt. UW won a grand total of 0 games last year.

Boston and the the Dodgers continue rolling towards the playoffs. Both looked at one point vulnerable. Both have gained a bit of separation though between them and the teams chasing them. It should be an interesting post season.

Two Pearl Jam notes: First Pearl Jam releases their new CD Backspacer" today. It's available in physical stores today exclusively at Target. You can also buy it at iTunes and pearljam.com. I plan on listening to it via Rhapsody tomorrow, I have to work today unfortunately. Nick Krewen's review in thestar.com gives this CD very good praise. He tentatively dares to even call Pearl Jam "optimistic" on this CD.

The most searched for person on Yahoo! today is Amanda Seyfried. Currently she's playing opposite Megan The Fox in "Jennifer's Body". On that same list is Pearl Jam at #5. According to antimusic.com:

"Here it is again: (Surfrider) In celebration of their 25th Anniversary, the Surfrider Foundation is honoring actor David Chokachi, and the members of Incubus and Pearl Jam with the organization's prestigious Keeper of the Coast Award. The Surfrider Foundation's 25th Anniversary Gala, hosted by Mark Hoppus from Blink-182, will take place at the California Science Center's Wallis Annenberg Building in Los Angeles. In addition to the presentation of the Keeper of the Coast Awards, the evening will include a live art auction, and a special performance by the rock supergroup Camp Freddy.

The coveted Keeper of the Coast Award is presented only once every five years to those celebrities who have made significant contributions towards helping the Surfrider Foundation fulfill its mission of protecting and preserving our world's oceans, waves and beaches."

Have a good day and enjoy some "Backspacer" for me. themusicaddict

College Football Week 3

Hello,

There's a whole bunch of intriguing games today. First #7 BYU welcomes Florida St. and Bobby Bowden to Provo. Bowden has the second highest wins as a college football coach, trailing only Penn State's Joe Paterno. My alma mater #18 Utah goes to Oregon to play Oregon. Utah has the longest win streak in the nation, they have won 16 in a row. They will be tested today though. USC travels to Washington to play the Huskies, a team desperately trying to recapture their glory days. Washington is led by stud quarterback Jake Locker. He's an amazing player, USC is going to need to contain him. I think USC will win this game in a rout, but Washington could keep it close for awhile.

Last but certainly not least, although it might be least when the game is over, is the Florida-Tennessee game. Brand new cocky Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin got into Knoxville and started making wild accusations. He accused Florida of illegal recruiting without any basis for the charge. Their conference, the SEC, actually reprimanded him for his comments. He also said he was going to sing "Rocky Top" all night long after Tennessee beat Florida. Let me set the stage for you. This game will be played in Florida's home stadium, affectionately called The Swamp. Florida is 2-0 and have beaten their first two opponents by the score of 118-9 and it could have been worse. Also Florida will be extremely motivated today, I don't think they were motivated against the first two schools they played. Florida has also won two of the last 3 National Championships. Their starting quarterback Tim Tebow has won two Heisman awards and could win again this year. I think this game will be over by halftime. (Please Coach Mendenhall if BYU gets the chance to play Florida, say all the right things please.)

The Tennessee-Florida, Utah-Oregon, and USC-Washington games all kick off at the same time, 1:30 MST. Make sure your remote has fully charged batteries:)

Great songs worthy of your hard earned money: 1) "I Didn't Know My Own Strength"- Whitney Houston 2) "The Fixer"- Pearl Jam 3) "Evacuate the Dancefloor"- Cascada. Paramore's new song "Ignorance" is also available. It's okay although it's a little derivative of their second CD. They need to expand a bit from that sound.

With only 9 days until Pearl Jam is playing in my hometown, I've been working through their bootlegs that I own. I want to highlight one of them. The show they played in Nurnberg, Germany on June 11th, 2000 was outstanding. I'm not sure why but the drums are really distinctive that night and that added another butt kicking element to that concert. It didn't hurt that they started off the concert with "MFC", "Habit", "Cordurory", "Breakerfall", "God's Dice", "Animal" and then closed out that amazing stretch of songs with "Nothing As It Seems". After playing "Dissident", they then played four classics in a row. Those 4 classic songs were "Even Flow", "Given To Fly", "Wishlist" and "Alive". Wow! Later in the show Eddie Vedder laughs at himself when he makes a mistake on the lyrics of "Rearview Mirror".

Enjoy Talk Like A Pirate Day! themusicaddict

Fall Sports, "The Lost Symbol"

Hello,

Happy Constitution Day! What is Constitution Day you ask. According to the Ludingtion Daily News: "Constitution Day commemorates the vote taken on Sept. 17, 1787 by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to approve the adoption of the United States Constitution". (Thanks to the Ludington Daily News.)

I love Fall, it's one of the best times of the year for both sports and weather. The weather has been cool but not too cool. Pro football just started and college football is in full swing. In MLB the pennant races are in full swing. With only about 20 games in the season remaining, all the pennant races are pretty much wrapped up. Last night I watched the last third of the amazing Red Sox-Angels game. Boston defeated the Angels 9-8 in historic Fenway Park on a bloop single by Alex Gonzalez in the bottom of the ninth. I was chewing my fingernails last night, which is a sign I'm very nervous. This is probably a playoff review, these two teams are very likely to play each other in the first round of the playoffs. This was a game with big pitches, big hits, rallies (the Angels scored 7 of their 8 runs with two outs), lead changes, intensity and a bit of controversy. An amazing game especially since both teams pretty much have their playoff positions already decided.

What the hell is up with pancreatic cancer? Patrick Swayze died a couple of days ago. Yesterday Myles Brand, President of the NCAA, passed away of pancreatic cancer. Other celebrities who died of pancreatic cancer include Randy Pausch, Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster), Michael Landon, Jack Benny, Donna Reed, Rex Harrison and Richard Crenna. Also Steve Jobs has fought a very public battle with pancreatic cancer. Although Jobs and Apple have tried to limit the publicity as much as possible.

I was going to show a recent Pearl Jam set list, I went to pearljam.com and their last concert was August 28th. They are currently taking a break and their next concert isn't until September 21st. They play two shows in the band's hometown Seattle, play in Vancouver on September 25th, Portland on September 26th. Then two days later they'll play Salt Lake City. Thanks for visiting, I hope your visit is a pleasant one.

Books: Jon Krakauer's new book, "Where Men Win Glory : The Odyssey of Pat Tillman" is in at the library for me to pick up. Whoo hoo! However I'm 212th position for Dan Brown's new book, "The Lost Symbol". Both books were released on Tuesday. For "The Lost Symbol's" first days of sales, it sold over a million copies. I've seen one review for this book so far. It's from the New York Times and it's a rave. (Thank goodness I was worried this book might have been a clunker.) When one has a project that was as successful as "The Davinci Code", almost everything that follows it pales in comparison. I hope "Symbol" is as intense as "The Danvnci Code". My only fear is that the whole book takes place in 12 hours. Just like "The DaVinci Code", there probably will be too many things happening in to short of a time to be realistic. Other than that I look forward to reading the 528 page behemoth.

Pink opened her concert tour a couple of days ago in Seattle. (Seattle is getting a lot of great concerts right now. As my kids would say, "Lucky".) Her 20 song set comes with costume changes, elaborate sets and many of her own great songs. She also does covers of songs by Queen ("Bohemian Rhapsody"), Led Zeppelin ("Babe I'm Gonna Leave You") and AC/DC ("Highway to Hell"). I saw her in concert when she was just starting out and she was pretty good and had a lot of energy. Check her out if you can afford it in this tough economy.

Let's save our environment, themusicaddict

R.I.P. Dan Seals

Hello,

I feel really out of it and not a very good musicaddict. I'll explain: I have several subscriptions to magazines but not enough time to stay current on them. I read them in chronological order and I'm usually a few months behind. I was reading through the April 10th, 2009 Entertainment Weekly last night. (The uber talented Jennifer Hudson is on the cover. Stay strong Jennifer!) While reading it I discovered that one of my all-time favorite country music singers died. Dan Seals, 61, died of complications with cancer on March 25th, 2009. This was the first I heard of it.

I saw him in concert several years ago and afterwards the person I was with wanted to go talk to him, so we did. He was very approachable and shook hands. Someone tried to hug him, but he said his lawyer said he couldn't hug women. The woman still hugged him and he seemed a bit surprised. He seemed to be a class act. It's sad to me that such a great singer and songwriter died with only a passing note in Entertainment Weekly. R.I.P. Dan.

Seals was probably more famous for his songs sung with England Dan and John Ford Coley. (They should not be confused with Seals and Crofts.) Their hits included "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight", "Love Is The Answer" and "We'll Never Have To Say Goodbye Again". Among his solo country songs are many great songs. These include "My Old Yellow Car", "Addicted", "Bop", "Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)", "One Friend" and "Three Time Loser". He also had many other great songs. (Thanks to Dan Seals Wikipedia page.)

Linda McMahon has quit the WWE (who can blame her?) as their CEO "to seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd." (Thanks to Yahoo! News.) Other than being used to dealing with blowhards, I'm not sure what qualifies her to being a politician. Look what happens when we have unqualified politicians, see Bush, George W.

I enjoyed last night's episode of "Mad Men". Betty's father died the last episode and in this episode her new baby was born. Clearly a circle of life plot point thought of several months ago. There was also a surprise appearance made by her father. What is going on with all these mental issues that Betty continues to have? Is she going to have a breakdown, especially with Carla quitting? The Brit bosses continue to restrict the ad men of Sterling Cooper. I can clearly see a big explosion coming soon. That'll be an issue all season and probably have something to do with the cliffhanger. Also what is Duck Phillips up to? He can't really think that Pete Campbell is that good at his job. Neither Don or Sterling Cooper will miss him if he quits, however it would be a big mistake for Campbell. I look forward to all the twists and turns through the next 8 episodes.

Finally what is with all the characters telling Don Draper he has such a great life. I know that he does, but what point is the "Mad Men" writer trying to make? Other than a brief encounter with a stewardess, Don has been on his best behavior. What is up with Sally's teacher calling Don at home, it seems she had other things on her mind other than offering an apology. She has been in two episodes, obviously she will not be a fleeting character.

mrsmusicaddict and I watched the very clever "Duplicity" last night. This is not the best movie ever, but it's an enjoyable movie. A pretty good story with a very satisfying end. Julia Roberts and Clive Owen were also very good.

Here's a funny, low budget video I think you'll find entertaining.


Speaking of entertaining, the gorgeous Megan Fox is back with a new movie "Jennifer's Body". This movie is out September 18th. She's also the newest cover subject for Rolling Stone. Megan's middle name should be the.



This issue also features the Fall Album Preview and a Q and A with Paramore's own Hayley Williams. This looks like this will be a really good issue as they also have a feature about one of the all-time country music greats, Merle Haggard.

(Thanks to Rolling Stone.)

Flyleaf is finally releasing their second CD. It's called "Memento Mori" and will be released October 29th. Their self-titled debut CD has some of the best rock songs from the last several years. Be careful as their first CD will kick your butt. Enjoy!

Pearl Jam info coming next blog, themusicaddict

New Music Review, Rhapsody rules!

Hello,

Thanks to Rhapsody, I've been checking out new music today. Earlier this morning I listened to Nelly Furtado's new CD "Mi Plan". This CD was just released today and it's an all Spanish language CD. Furtado is just the latest of many people to make Spanish language CD's. She follows other such artists as Christina Aguilera and Shakira. This CD is a good mix of upbeat and slow songs. No song particularly stood out but overall it's an enjoyable CD. It would've been even better if I knew Spanish. Although I did understand what she was singing when she sang "silencio" and "tonto". I've been called a "tonto" many times in my life:)

The second CD I listened to was Jet's "Shaka Rock". The first time I listened to the CD I thought it wasn't very good, but on my second listen it's started growing on me. I particularly like the tracks "Seventeen" and "She's A Genius". This isn't the greatest CD, or even the greatest Jet CD, but I think it's worthy of your hard earned money.

The next CD on my list was the Arctic Monkey's "Humbug". What an appropriately named CD. It doesn't have any joy like their earlier work. Where's the happiness of "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor". It's just one dreary song after another dreary song. Is this suppose to be their serious CD? If so, they accomplished their goal as it's seriously boring. The single "Crying Lightning" is a mediocre, mid-tempo janky song.

I know you are dying for Michael Jackson news. The trailer of the movie of his rehearsals, "This Is It" was first shown at Sunday night's VMAs. You can watch the trailer at this website: http://www.thisisit-movie.com/. It looks okay, I'm wondering how exciting they can make this. It just shows him rehearsing with no audience to feed off. The two week run begins October 28th. If a lot of tickets are sold I'm sure they are going to extend it's run. I'm not exactly sure what their strategy is with this, but you can start to preorder tickets September 27th.

Nine Inch Nails allegedly closed out their touring career with a 3 encore, 38 song set at LA's Wiltern Theater. (I sort of agree with my brother about concerts. The band should just come out and play their set, without the encore nonsense. Just don't tell him Pearl Jam typically has two encores at their concerts.) The three hours featured many of their songs over their long career. Nine Inch Nails had a good run, but by far their best CD was their first CD "Pretty Hate Machine". For more about this concert and to see pictures go to rollingstone.com. (Thanks to rollingstone.com.)

Rhapsody I love you, but why don't you have "Pretty Hate Machine" available to listen to. They do have a live Nine Inch Nails concert available though and I'm enjoying it right now. The concert kicks into high gear when they are performing songs from "Pretty Hate Machine" and flags on most of the other songs. I saw them back in the day and I was not impressed. I was even less impressed that they brought Marilyn Manson along with them. That was when he just started out.

Condolences to the family of Patrick Swayze. Swayze died at the age of 57 yesterday after losing a battle to pancreatic cancer. (That's a vicious form of cancer that also has attacked Steve Jobs and "The Last Lectures" Randy Pausch.) I was never a big fan but Swayze seemed like a good guy. I haven't looked at pottery the same since "Ghost" and Demi Moore. (BYU aren't the only Cougars that I like.)

I renewed my Rhapsody 30 day membership today, it's free through mycokerewards. I went there to renew it and while there I saw a reward that looked very cool. It was a prize that said something about getting $20 free music from iTunes. I didn't read the details, I just went straight to getting the prize. (I had alarm bells ringing in my head that this deal is too good to be true, but I still continued forward.) Here's the catch and it's a very big catch. To get the free music you need to buy a $55 t-shirt. That coupon entitles you to a $15 discount on this $55 t-shirt. Still $40.00 for a t-shirt is a bit expensive. What's so cool about this shirt? It features one line from a classic rock song. It's obviously overpriced. They have a quote from Nicki Hilton as a celebrity endorsement. Um, okay!

On mjsbigblog.com she has a poll asking for people's opinion on whether Ellen DeGeneres is good for "American Idol". I'm surprised by the poll results. She started this poll on September 1oth and so far it's 1216 against and 1100 in favor of. I don't understand this, I think it's a genius idea. She's going to be an immediate improvement over Paula Abdul. She brings a fan's love of music, which works out perfectly. That's who watches the show. Her perspective will come in nice relief to the three corporate shills on the panel. They seem to know a lot about the music industry but a lot less about music. I'm all for Ellen DeGeneres being on this show. She signed a five year contract, so she's going to be around for awhile. If the show lasts that much longer, it will be on fumes by then. The panel will probably consist of Kathy Griffin, Paula Adbul making a comeback and some other b list star.

A shout out to my friends at condron.com.

I'll be back tomorrow with more about Pearl Jam and a review of "Mad Men". Have a great day, themusicaddict

9/11 remembered, Pearl Jam

Hello,

Would you like to get the free MP3 for Lady Gaga's "Poker Face"? If so then go to Rhapsody.com, the song should be available through the weekend. That's a pretty cool song and the CD is also pretty good. (Again thanks to Rhapsody for being able to listen to that.) Check Rhapsody each non-holiday weekday for a free MP3. They usually have a pretty good choice of songs.

Pearl Jam rocks! I'll be seeing them in 16 days and their new CD comes out a week from tomorrow. That's very rare that a CD is released on a Sunday. The only other CD I can ever remember being released on a Sunday is Guns 'N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy". Many times in concert when Pearl Jam plays "Even Flow" one of the guitarists plays a long solo that sucks the energy out of that song. Of all the bootlegs I've listened to, the best live take of that song is on the February 13th, 2003 show in Sydney, Australia. The songs still kicks ass and the guitarist gets to play a solo. Please Pearl Jam play a similar version of that song on September 28th in Salt Lake.

I've actually had extra time lately but I've been using that time working on this blog and other things so my reading time has been slipping. I'm still about in the same place on "Feast of the Goat" that I've been the last few days. I did receive good news from my library, I'm number 178 on hold for Dan Brown's new book, "The Lost Symbol". Predictably "Symbol" is the top selling book at amazon.com even though it doesn't come out until September 15th. Also out this Tuesday is "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman" by Jon Krakauer.

Other books coming out soon included Edward Kennedy's memoirs and books by Michael Connelly, John Irving, Michael Cricthon, Audrey Niffennegger and Margaret Atwood. (Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" is a fantastic book. You definitely should read it, however skip the movie!) Also if you are interested Oprah is announcing her new book this Friday. I find for the most part she picks very good books. I just hope she doesn't pick "The Lost Symbol", I think that book has enough hype already. Oprah's first book club pick was Jacquelyn Mitchard's "The Deep End of the Ocean" It's an absolutely amazing novel. (Writing about all these great books makes me want to skip work and read all day. Although I would end up watching a lot of college football as well.)

My wife and I watched the Gene Hackmen movie "The Replacements" a couple of days ago. That's a great movie. It's a hilarious football movie, even the non-sports fan (like my wife) liked. Two things I didn't like about the movie is the Gene Hackmen played coach reminds me too much of "Hoosiers" Norman Dale. Also Keanu Reeves is probably one of the least convincing football players in the history of football movies. It looked like he would be lucky to throw the ball 10 yards. Whatever happened to the babe that's in the movie? Where did you go Brooke Langton?

Yesterday was 9/11. I was reminded about all the things I had done that day. I had to work that day, but first I had to drop my kid off at preschool. I worked and it was payday so I went to one of my favorite places Barnes and Noble. I made it just in time as they closed early that day to the horrific attacks. I then came home and watched some of the news coverage and couldn't believe it. Then my Mom and I had tickets to Lonestar at the Utah State Fair. The concert still went on and when Lonestar took the stage, the first song they sang was the National Anthem. After the concert I came home and was in shock for the next few days.

I also thought about where I was when I first heard about the attacks. My mother-in-law called our house and said there was fire coming from Manhattan. When I first turned on the TV, I didn't realize one of the most calamitous events in American history was occurring. I will never forget that day or all the policemen and firemen who risked their lives to save others. I love sports and their heroes it produces. However firefighters, police and soldiers you are the true heroes.

I want to thank all those who have fought for or will fight for our country. Thanks to men who fought on the bloody island Iwo Jima, for those who landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day. That's in spite of the fact many of those men knew they very likely were to die. (For as much of an appreciation of this that a civilian can get, watch the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan".)This is for those soldiers who liberated Europe and the genocidal prison camps of the Nazis. This is for the men who fought in Korea and Vietnam, even if they fought under false pretenses. This is for the brave soldiers who have or are still fighting in either of the Gulf Wars or Afghanistan. This is for the heroes who come home in body bags, missing parts of their body or psyche and for their family members. This is for you who still deal with the effects of that war, those of you who battle with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and Gulf War Syndrome etc. Thank you!!!

9/11 is what inspired Pat Tillman to leave behind a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the army. Bruce Springsteen's 9/11 CD "The Rising" is one of his best ever CDs. Also Neil Young "Let's Roll" is an amazing song detailing what happened on United Flight 93. Also the movie "United 93", directed by Paul Greengrass, is an amazing movie. It simulates the events that were happening at that time in the plane and elsewhere as well as can be expected.



(Thanks to freefoto.com for the picture.)

Thanks again United States heroes, themusicaddict

Spinal Menengits scare

Hello,

With our tenuous financial situation, we are always looking for ways to make money. One way we do this is mrsmusicaddict takes care of two of our nieces. My wife has become the default "Mommy" after their mother passed away about 16 months ago. My brother-in-law drops off the girls in the morning about 7:00 and comes and picks them up about 11 hours later. In between he goes to work. Yesterday one of our nieces came and she was feeling miserable. She loves mrsmusicaddict but she still did not want to be held by my wife. My niece acted like she was in a lot of pain.

With my brother-in-law at work it fell to mrsmusicaddict to take her to the pediatrician. She did and the pediatrician said our niece may have spinal meningitis. To make a long story short, my wife ended up taking our niece to Primary Children's Hospital ER. After everything was said and done I had to miss a day of work to stay home with our kids, while they went to the ER. Thankfully there was no spinal meningitis, only a case of neck spasms. Our niece feels 100 times better today.

I'm very glad she did not have spinal meningitis, according to webmd.com this is the definition: "Meningitis is a term used to describe an inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain or the spinal cord. Meningitis is a potentially life-threatening condition that can rapidly progress to permanent brain damage, neurological problems, and even death". That was a very scary situation and we are all glad things worked out.

Have a great day. I'll be back with a normal blog tomorrow. themusicaddict

Ellen DeGeneres rules!

Hello,

Yesterday the news was announced that Ellen DeGeneres is going to join "AI" as the fourth judge following the auditions. I'm very excited by this decision. Some people are criticizing this decision as Ellen doesn't work in the music industry. Both Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardia work in the music industry and how has it helped their critiques? In fact DioGuardia brings her corporate America music industry mentality to the show. That detracts from the show. Their comments are inane. Kara remember is the one who likes to use "artistry" and "package artist". (What the hell does artistry mean anyway.) At least Ellen DeGeneres will bring some humor, personality and spunk to a show that desperately needs it.

Let's talk about the real issue though, having a fourth judge. It just doesn't work. To make matters worse it takes away time from the people we really want to see: the contestants. The contestants are the only reason I watch the show. A fourth judge is unwieldy and the judges begin to repeat each other when there are too many judges. In my dream world, the producers would dump Kara and Randy immediately. we'd then have a two judge panel of Simon and Ellen. If I never had to hear from Kara and Randy again, that would be too soon.

Michael Slezak, the preeminent "Idol" expert wrote the following on ew.com:

"Chalk me up as one of those people who greeted the news that Ellen DeGeneres is joining the judging panel for season 9 of American Idol with the sudden urge to drive a fork into my thigh and wake up from a strange and horrible nightmare. (Side note: We all do dream about Idol on a regular basis, right? Right.)

Now don’t get me wrong. I adore Ellen DeGeneres. As a comedian, that is. I’ve seen her live in concert twice. I watched every episode of The Ellen Show (her short-lived 2001 series with Cloris Leachman, not to be confused with the groundbreaking sitcom Ellen, which I also loved). Heck, I’d even tune in to something as hein as the People’s Choice Awards if they brought her in as host. But as a permanent replacement for Paula Abdul as the fourth judge on my very most favorite television show? Can I get a “hell to the no” up in here?

If you caught Ellen sitting in as a guest panelist a couple months ago on So You Think You Can Dance, then you probably understand my dismay. Ellen treated the gig like an extended (and extremely strained) standup routine, essentially making the focus all about herself while failing to provide even an Abdullian level of critical feedback. By ignoring her dismal, one-episode track record as a reality-show judge, Idol’s producers once again expose three deadly blind spots that continue to put at risk the short- and long-term health of television’s top-rated show.

1) American Idol is, always has been, and always will be about the contestants. The day the show stops churning out future Carrie Underwoods, Fantasia Barrinos, and Chris Daughtrys — performers who’ve reached superstar status in concert, on Broadway, and on radio — then it simply becomes another cog in the low-stakes reality-television wheel. So why have a fourth judge at all? Why take away precious screen time from the true stars of the show? I don’t know about you guys, but I’d have traded a thousand of Randy’s “for me, for yous” last season for just a few more seconds of singing from Kris, Adam, and Allison. Those kids — the ones who you’d never heard of in January, but whose music you can’t wait to buy in November — are the only A-list talents Idol should be worried about pimping.

2) Until (or unless) Ellen drops the “nice gal” persona, then she will not be representing the “people’s point of view,” which is how she described her Idol role while taping an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show that will air today. People love Simon Cowell not for his taste in Hanes v-neck undershirts, but because he often has the courage to express on national television the exact — and not always polite — thoughts they’re having on their couches at home. Simon Cowell is the voice of the people. And my deepest fear is that in her new role, Ellen DeGeneres will be the voice of a beloved talk-show host and comedian who’s too concerned about damaging her public image to provide the kind of niceties-free feedback that the audience — and yes, the contestants themselves — need and deserve.

3) Credibility counts — or at least it ought to — when it comes to the judges panel. Which isn’t to say that Randy or Paula (or at this point Kara) necessarily represented a dream team of stimulating, high-minded feedback. Nor is it to say that an Idol judge needs to bandy about terms like legato or crescendo or “package artist” to do his or her job well. But look at the panel on Project Runway, for example. Even when I vehemently disagree with Nina Garcia, Michael Kors, and Heidi Klum, I never stop respecting them, nor do I find myself questioning their credentials, or their ability to spot a shoddy seam or bunky tailoring or an insane crotch. Is it possible Ellen has the ability to separate the Ramiele Malubays from the David Cooks, the Jorge Nuñezes from the Kris Allens? I sure hope so. But based on her SYTYCD performance, I can’t shake the deep fear that American Idol is adding creampuff to the menu when we really need some bitter lemon.

Of course, only time will tell how (and how much) Ellen’s presence on the panel will affect Idol. At the very least, I’m hoping that Simon and Ryan will once and for all ditch their regularly scheduled homophobic banter now that they’ve got a (powerful) lesbian colleague in their presence. And even if Ellen’s Idol tenure yields little more than corny punch lines — “Are you two carpenters? ‘Cause you nailed it!” she blathered during her SYTYCD run — perhaps it’ll awaken a dormant-yet-skilled critic deep inside Randy or Kara. Hey, maybe that’s crazily optimistic, but the alternative — that my very most favorite television show is standing at the edge of a gasoline lake with lit matches beneath its toenails — is simply too much for me to contemplate."

His opinion seems to be the consensus judging by fan comments following this article. I just want to answer his three main points very quickly. Slezak's comments are in parenthesis.

1) "American Idol is, always has been, and always will be about the contestants."

That may still be true partially, but if it's still the case why do we have 4 judges? Why aren't the contestants allowed to sing the full version of the song?

2) "Until (or unless) Ellen drops the “nice gal” persona, then she will not be representing the “people’s point of view,” which is how she described her Idol role while taping an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show that will air today."

I think Ellen is perfect just like she is. If the producers force her into a box, then what's the point of having her on the show in the first place. Let Ellen be Ellen! Her not being involved in the music industry directly I see her as having more of a "people's point of view" than any of the other three judges. Ellen is also a long-time Idol fan so she's aware of the show's history. (Am I the only one who thought that Kara hadn't seen an "AI" episode before last season?) Ellen has had many contestants on her talk show. I think Ellen is a great addition to "AI".

3) "Credibility counts — or at least it ought to — when it comes to the judges panel. Which isn’t to say that Randy or Paula (or at this point Kara) necessarily represented a dream team of stimulating, high-minded feedback."

This is the point I most vehemently disagree with Slezak on. Since when did creditability count on this show? Let me remind you this is the show that has had Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardia and Paula Abdul as judges. If these three were judges in the American court system, they would have been impeached a long time ago. Why do Kara and Randy still have jobs, they suck. Let Kara go back to writing insipid songs and Randy go back to anywhere else.

Many people think that adding Ellen DeGeneres is the moment that "American Idol" "jumped the shark". That's not true, "AI" jumped the shark two or three years ago. This show has been on a downward spiral since then. I think this show has two more years left before it will no longer be on the air.

Two quick sports notes: the USA Men's Soccer Team got a humongous victory yesterday. They went to Trinidad and Tobago and beat them 1-0. (Ricardo Clark, that was an amazing goal.) The USA is now in first place in the CONCACAF region with two more games to play. They still have to play the third and fourth place CONCACAF teams. They play third place Honduras on October 10th. They then welcome the fourth place Costa Rica to RFK Stadium on October 14th. Although the USA is in first place, they still haven't guaranteed themselves a spot in the 2010 World Cup. The top three CONCACAF teams automatically qualify for the World Cup. Go USA!

I'm very nervous for my Dodgers, they have the very hot Rockies on their trail. Colorado has won six straight games and now only trail LA by 2.5 games. Manny it's time for you to start earning that $25 million you are making this season. Boston clings to a slim two game lead over Texas in the AL Wild Card.

Everytime I see the Yankees or Rockies play the more I think they are destined to play in this season's World Series.

themusicaddict

Hello,

mrsmusicaddict surprised me yesterday and took me on a date. We very rarely have money to do anything fun, so this was actually a double surprise. We went and ate at a place we both love, Olive Garden. They are currently running their never ending pasta bowl promotion. For many years I had season tickets to B.Y.U. football games and before the games we nearly always went and ate at the Olive Garden. There's the association of B.Y.U. football, Olive Garden and Fall for me.

After eating we went and watched the movie "Julie and Julia". That's a pretty good movie, if it is a bit long. The story is great, it actually tells two stories. The first is Julia Child's fortuitous rise to a renowned chef. An amazing set of circumstances had to happen for her to become "Julia Child". The second story is about blogger Julia Powell recreating all 524 recipes from the book "Mastering The Art of French Cooking". A blogger turning into a famous writer gives hope to all of us who blog. It's an inspiration that writing is something we could do as a profession. Julie Powell is a much better writer than me. In fact, I'm not a very good writer, but I love writing this blog.

After last week's terrible "Mad Men", I thought this week's episode was much better. In fact, this is one of my favorite episodes in "Mad Men's" three seasons. I'm glad Gene kicked the bucket, I was growing tired of that storyline. He had his moments but I can do without him. I loved how Joan gave Peggy instructions on how to find a roommate. I also enjoyed how some of the admen played a joke on her about her originally very plain roommate wanted sign. Joan remains one of the superstars of this series. That jai alai ad campaign never took off either, I hope that storyline is only for one episode. Also what is the whole point of the Sal is gay storyline? I couldn't care less about his sexual orientation. Sal is easily one of my favorite characters, right up there with the amoral Don Draper.

One of the previews we saw before the movie was for "Amelia", the life story of Amelia Earhart. It stars Hilary Swank. The movie is expected to be released October 23rd. Swank is one of my favorite actresses, her acting in "Million Dollar Baby" was sensational. She certainly deserved the Oscar that year. If you haven't seen "Million Dollar Baby", why not?

Congratulations to Whitney Houston for having the #1 CD in the land. It's good to have the Queen of Pop back. Let's hope her next CD is a lot better.

Good luck to the United States Men's Soccer Team tonight as they play in Trinidad and Tobago. A win will increase their chances dramatically of playing in next year's World Cup in South Africa. A loss could be devastating. American television why aren't these games on TV? After all the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the nation. The USA is not guaranteed to make it, so these games have a lot of inherent drama. I can find a TV listing for Northern Ireland-Slovakia, why not for the USA- Trinidad and Tobago game? Apparently the game is going to be on ESPN Classic which means 7 people can watch it.

The "big" Apple announcement is out and to paraphrase the Bard, it's "Much ado about very little". First of all iTunes 9.0 is out. Yawn! It's a complete redesign and everything is suppose to be easier to find. The iTunes music store wasn't hard to use in the first place. It's an Apple product so obviously it's well designed. It's not like they were replacing Vista. Other changes the iPod nano now comes with a video camera, to capture those very small (or very nano) moments in your life. The iPod Shuffle now starts at $59. There's also a new iPod Touch Lineup, with iPod Touches now starting at $199. Lastly Apple also released a new version of the iPhone OS. (By the way Verizon Wireless, 30 million iPhones have been sold. Just saying.) With the lowering of prices, Apple finally heard about the recession.

But here's the question really on every Apple fan's mind. How did Steve Jobs look? The 54 year old CEO looks extremely skinny, almost frail. He talked about his recent liver transplant and espoused organ donation. He received his liver from a mid-20's car accident victim and said he wouldn't be here without that transplant. The usually prickly CEO reportedly lingered near the front of the stage after his speech. It's good to have you with us Steve.

Have a great day, theapplemacandipodaddict

Apple's big announcement!

Hello,

I don't know if Apple's big announcement is going to come out by the time I'm done writing this blog. Anyway the rumors and people's hopes are all over the place. There is news that the iTablet, halfway between the iPod Touch and a computer, will be released. This is a product designed to be a Kindle killer. Some people are hoping the iPhone will be going to Verizon Wireless. That would be nice for Verizon Wireless as well and the people that work for them. The iPhone should have been on VZW from it's inception. The coolest phone on the best network seems to be a natural fit. Another rumor is the long gestating speculation that the Beatles are coming to iTunes. That would be non-news for me. We will see and themusicaddict will be reporting what exactly the big news is, if there is any. Of course you will know my opinion of that.
Check back for more info.

themusicaddict

Hello,

themusicaddict had a great Labor Day. I only had to work 4 hours and I got paid more than I normally do on a typical Monday. Sweet! I was able to eat lunch with my parents and family and spend a nice relaxing night with my wife. I watched a little of the FSU- Miami football game. I want to see how good FSU is, they are going to Provo on September 19th to play the newly ranked #9 B.Y.U. FSU looks okay, although they didn't win. They have a scary quarterback though, Christian Ponder has both a strong arm and can run. Those are the hardest quarterbacks to contain. B.Y.U. is going to have a spy to make sure Ponder's running is minimized.

My wife and I also watched "Invincible" about the Philadelphia bartender who went to an open tryout with the Eagles and made the team. A very cool movie and also very inspiring story. Although the movie does play loose with certain facts. Overall a very good movie and I definitely suggest you see it.

MLB looks like it's down to 3 races left. In the NL Wild Card Colorado leads San Francisco by 2 games. In the NL West, the Dodgers lead Colorado by 3.5 games. I'm pretty sure both of those teams are going to make the playoffs. I just don't see San Francisco catching either team. In the AL Wild Card Boston leads Texas by 2.5 games. The way both of those teams are playing it doesn't seem like either team really wants to make the playoffs. Right now with the way the Rockies and the Yankees are playing I wouldn't be surprised to see both teams playing in the World Series this October. There are only about 25 games until the playoffs start!

Another good thing about yesterday, it's only three weeks until Pearl Jam rolls into Salt Lake and kicks some butt.

I continue slowly but surely reading "Feast of the Goat". I haven't been able to read as much as I would like due to time issues. It's a very good book though.

Have a great week, I will be back tomorrow. themusicaddict

B.Y.U. 14- Oklahoma 13

Hello,

Last night was one of the most amazing nights in the history of B.Y.U. football. They went to Cowboys Stadium and defeated a very powerful Oklahoma team 14-13. Yes I know Oklahoma's Heisman winning quarterback, Sam Bradford, only played the first half. (Good luck to Sam Bradford in recovering quickly from his shoulder injury.) The Sooners then had to do the best they can with redshirt freshman Landry Jones. They were also without their All-American Tight End, Jermaine Gresham. In fairness BYU was playing without it's top running back, Harvey Unga. The 1000+ yard rusher from the last two years sat out with a hamstring injury. B.Y.U. also lost starting linebacker Matt Bauman in the first half.

It was still a gritty, hard-fought victory for the Cougars. One of the biggest victories in B.Y.U. football history. I'm afraid this victory will lose some of it's impact as Oklahoma is just not the same team without Sam Bradford. That means they will probably lose a couple more games. B.Y.U. next goes on the road to New Orleans to play Tulane. Knowing B.Y.U. they won't be fired up for this game and will lose. Then on September 19th, they welcome the very young, talented and 18th ranked Florida State to LaVell Edwards Stadium. Go Cougars!

The USA also had a dramatic victory against El Salvador in a World Cup qualifying game. The USA won 2-1 and they are now tied for first in their region standings, they are tied with Honduras. Next the USA goes on the road to play Trinidad and Tobogo, that game is Wednesday.

Other soundtracks considered for my Top 10 Soundtracks of all-time: "Armageddon", "Grease", "Saturday Night Fever", the Danny Elfman "Batman" score, Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains The Same", "Fast Times At Ridgemont High", "City of Angels", "Twilight" and "Under The Cherry Moon" soundtrack which is actually titled "Parade".

Also this past week in a relatively quiet ceremony Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest over two months after his death. R.I.P. Michael.

My drive music of late includes Pearl Jam's "Live On Two Legs", an official bootleg produced by their record company at the time. Although this is a corporate produced live CD, it's actually a pretty good setlist. The song choice is a lot of their great songs, but not necessarily all their "hits". (Pearl Jam does not really have hits, they just have more popular songs.) For instance, this CD does not contain "Alive". Eddie Vedder talking and the solos are kept to a minimum. On their self-produced bootlegs I don't mind Eddie talking. I however hate their lengthy solos. A two minute solo for each musician is long enough.

I also listened to Steely Dan's "Greatest Hits", what a great CD.

Have a great Sunday, themusicaddict

Fukudome is a man not a swear word.

Hello,

Kosuke Fukudome is a baseball player for Chicago Cubs and he's from Japan. Some people seem to be offended by his last name. Political correctness has gone way too far. His name is Fukudome, this is not a nickname, slang or anything else. For those of you who are offended by someone wearing a jersey with his name on it, you need to get out of your bubble. It seems this means that people shouldn't wear their Reggie Bush jerseys either. This is for the ignorant:

"When asked whether he had any interest in the Major Leagues on a television show in the 2006 off-season, Fukudome answered, "It would be a lie to say I didn't. Playing in the World Baseball Classic increased my desire to play in the majors."

Fukudome became a free agent in November 2007. On December 11, 2007, the Chicago Cubs signed Fukudome to a four-year, $48 million contract. Fukudome said in an interview that one of the main reasons he chose the Chicago Cubs over the other three teams trying to sign him to their roster was because he wanted to be the first Japanese player to play for the team. He also thought Chicago had a great Japanese community, and that it was a great place to raise his children.

2008

Fukudome made his Major League debut on March 31, 2008, against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field. He went 3-for-3 with a walk, including a double on his first Major League pitch, and a three-run game-tying home run off Brewers' closer Éric Gagné in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Brewers went on to win 4-3 in extra innings.

After a fast start, Fukudome's 2008 MLB performance faded. After a .327 batting average in April, each successive month reflected less success as Fukudome batted .293 in May, .264 in June, .236 in July, .193 in August, and .178 in September, followed by .100 in the postseason. He ended the year with a .257 average, and a .370 slugging percentage. He hit .251 against righthanders, and .137 when there were 2 outs and runners in scoring position. Fukudome's slide was detailed in a New York Times article.

Nonetheless, on July 7, 2008, Fukudome was voted a starter in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game. Cubs manager Lou Piniella defended him from criticism, and said, "[Fukudome] does such a good job in right field we hate to take him out of the lineup," and further stated the team would continue to give him more opportunities.

After the Game 2 loss to the Dodgers in the NLDS, a reporter asked Piniella, enraged about the loss, about starting Fukudome. Piniella responded, "I'm going to play [Mike] Fontenot or Reed Johnson or somebody else, and that's the end of that story. The kid is struggling, and there's no sense sending him out there anymore." Fukudome managed only one single in 10 at bats in the postseason.

2009

In 2009, the Cubs switched Fukudome to center field, after acquiring right fielder Milton Bradley. Fukudome is hitting .274 with 7 home runs as of July 31. In addition, he has proven to be a patient hitter, leading the team in BB's. In July, Fukudome became the Cubs' leadoff hitter. He replaced Alfonso Soriano, who has been performing poorly in May and June. (Thanks to the Kosuke Fukudome Wikipedia site where I copied and edited this from.)

Are you ready for some football? This past Thursday Utah and Boise State emerged victorious. (Oregan I do think you were too excessive in punishing a player for punching a Boise State player after the game. It's hard to turn off emotion after the heat of battle. That emotion is what makes the college football so great.) The college football season kicks off for most teams today. There are three main games on my radar today, the first being USC-SJSU at 1:30. #4 USC will be starting a freshman quarterback, Matt Barkley. I'm interested in seeing how he will do, that is a lot of pressure on a teenager. If this game hasn't been decided by halftime I will be very surprised.

Then my beloved # 20 BYU Cougars are going to be destroyed today by the powerful #3 Oklahoma Sooners team. That game kicks off at 5:00 pm MST. The game is being played at the new home of the Dallas Cowboys. Oklahoma's starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, won the Heisman last year. BYU's quarterback is no slouch, but Max Hall has a tendency to have turnovers at the absolute worst time. (See Utah-BYU last season.) BYU is a 22 point underdog, I just hope they play with pride and keep the embarassment to a minimum.

Then finally a game I don't really have a rooting interest in, it should be a good game between two teams ranked in the Top 7. #5 Alabama goes into Virginia to play #7 Virginia Tech. Let's hope Alabama plays better than they last season against the Utah Utes in that bowl game. Utah completely dominated Alabama.

Today is a great sports day, we are in a heated pennant race in both leagues. The wildcard races in both leagues could go down to the final day. There are four or five teams that still have at least a slim chance of winning the NL Wildcard. That includes the Cubbies and Kosuke Fukudome. In the AL Wildcard Boston currently has a 2 game lead over the Texas Rangers.

Also the USA's men's soccer team plays today as well. They are playing El Salvador at Rio Tinto stadium in their attempt to qualify for next year's World Cup. They played a bit lethargic against a very determined Mexico National team last month.
Go USA! What a great sports day.

This blog was powered by some hot tunes, including Lipps Inc. "Funkytown" (Long Version).

Enjoy your day, themusicandsportsaddict

(Started September 3rd, 2009, Revised and Revamped March 12th, 2023) Part 1 of the Top 10 Soundtracks of All-Time

Hello, 

When I first started on this list of the best soundtracks of all-time I thought it would be a fun project. However it didn't end up that way. I came up with an initial list of great soundtracks. Then I could only think of a few other worthy soundtracks. Eventually I got bored of the whole project, here's my top 10 Soundtracks of all-time.

I must have written this blog before one could share videos from YouTube, well now I can!! Other than "Purple Rain" at #1 these CDs are in no particular order.

1) "Purple Rain" Soundtrack- Prince Every song on this CD kicks butt. This is virtually a Prince greatest hits CD. The movie doesn't hold up but this CD still does. This would fit right in the current marketplace and be some of the best music available. Any CD that has "Let's Go Crazy" and "When Doves Cry" has got to rock. "When Doves Cry" is one of the sneakiest sexy songs of all-time. All the songs below are performed by Prince and the Revolution.

1) "When Doves Cry":

2) "Let's Go Crazy":

3) "Take Me With U":

4) "Computer Blue":

5) "I Would Die 4 U":

6) "Baby I'm A Star":

2) "Pretty In Pink" Soundtrack- Various Artists A mid-80's collection of some of the best music available at the time. From the Psychedelic Furs title track to Echo and the Bunnymen "Bring On The Dancing Horses" to Jesse Johnson's "Get To Know Ya". Also one of the very few soundtracks that has a Smith's song on it. 

7) The Psychedelic Furs "Pretty In Pink":

8) OMD "If You Leave":

9) Jesse Johnson  "Get To Know Ya":

10) New Order "Shellshock":

11) Echo and the Bunnymen "Bring On The Dancing Horses":

12) The Smiths "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want This Time":

 Enjoy, themusicaddict