Vans Warped Tour

Hello,

My oldest boy is trying to convince me to take him to the Vans Warped Tour, it will be in Salt Lake a week from today. The most well known band is Paramore and from what I can tell they are the only half decent band.

Thanks to my friends at Spotify I've been listening to music from some of the bands appearing there. Here's my quick ratings of the bands so far. Devil Wears Prada: a lame screamer band, Grade F. Middle Class Rut, thankfully not a screamer band but also not very good. Grade: D. Asking Alexandria: more screamers, F. August Burns Red, less of a screamer band and a bit more quality. Grade: D

Attack Attack, yes another band of screamers, Grade: D-. Bad Rabbits, weak dance music. Grade: D+. Not the best band ever but a nice change of pace after a bunch of screamer bands.

Big Chocolate: Spotify has no music listed for them, my son assures they have music available on youtube.com. I'll take his word for it. Big D and the Kids Table: they play ska music. They are a little better than the previously mentioned bands, but still not great. Also they have two songs where they say the F-bomb several times. Grade: D

Every Avenue, finally a band that has some good music. By far the best band I've heard by far. They even have a good song that I've heard before and is on my iPod. Grade: C This is "Tell Me I'm A Wreck":



themusicaddict

Shut up Kobe, Whatever happened to Poe?

Hello,

Kobe Bryant is the latest NBA idiot who claims he's thinking about playing overseas during the NBA Lockout. I only call him an idiot because I wonder does he really think he's fooling anyone? Kobe Bryant is expecting to make $1,000,000 a month if he plays for Turkey's Besiktas team. If this deal actually works out and the NBA remains on a lockout Bryant and Deron Williams would be teammates. That would be a pretty impressive guard line. However I think that Williams has about a 10% chance of playing in Turkey and I rate Kobe having about a .001% chance.

The upside for Besiktas is very obvious, but what's the upside for Kobe? He'll make up to 1 million a month. Oh I'm sure his agent is whispering in his ear that he can increase his global brand by playing in Turkey. More importantly though is what's the downside for Kobe? He could suffer a major injury and jeopardize the $25 million he's scheduled to earn with the Lakers this season. Also He'll be living in Turkey, instead of LA, which will cut him off from many endorsement deals. I'm guessing his wife doesn't want to live in Turkey either. Maybe he can buy her another $4 million ring? Kobe I'm not believing you for a second that you'll actually play in Turkey. It's just another professional athlete that needs to be in the spotlight.

Kevin Durrant is also talking about playing overseas. Kevin, you are a great player and seem like a good person. So please come out and deny that you are considering going overseas.

Whatever happened to Poe? She had some pretty good songs in the 90's and then faded completely away. Here are some of her songs:

"Angry Johnny"



This is her most popular song at napster.com but I don't remember hearing this song back in the day. "Haunted":



This song isn't for everyone and it's definitely NSFW:



My favorite song of hers is titled "I'm Not A Virgin". The best video on youtube the embedding is disabled by request. So here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqe6Wpq3ZD8

I went and saw "Captain America" the other day with some of my kids. It was okay. In this year's summer of crap it was one of the better movies I've seen. That's more of an indictment on the the complete lack of quality in movies this year than on how good "Captain America" is.

I saw yesterday the score on Rotten Tomatoes for "The Smurfs" movie was 0 stars. With Neil Patrick Harris I expected a lot more than that. But that does look like a stupid movie, I've been dreading it since seeing previews for it last summer. I'm hoping that's one I don't have to go see with my kids.

Also the reviews are in for the new Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig movie. That's "Cowboys and Aliens". The movie is called a disappointment, that's no surprise to me. That looks like a stupid movie, I can't even get through the trailer. With those two actors and Jon Favreau directing one would think it would be much better.

Last night on Comcast On Demand I watched the first "Major Leagues" movie. I haven't laughed that hard in I don't know how long. That's an extremely funny movie, especially the first half. The love story is a bit sappy, although Rene Russo was quite hot back in the day. Also the movie fell into all the worst cliches that a sports movie usually succumbs too.

themusicaddict

Free agency questions

Hello,

Today is Day 3 in NFL free agency. There have been multiple rumors of teams signing or cutting players. To me there has been some very strange moves. As of this point I would take any free agency signing with a grain of salt. Free agents can't officially sign with their new teams until Friday. While most of these moves will be finalized tomorrow, you just never know.

To me the strangest free agency moves happened in Seattle. I'm not sure what Pete Carroll is thinking. The Seahawks let long-time quarterback Matt Hasselback leave via free agency. Next the Seahawks went out and signed Tavaris Jackson. He was the Vikings under performing quarterback for 4 years. He signed a contract for two years and $8million. The first move is a little puzzling, the second move is extremely puzzling. I wouldn't have given Jackson a 6 pack of Diet Coke to sign with my team. Remember he's the same player who couldn't even beat out the old and decrepit Brett Favre last season. (BTW: Brett please don't sign with the Eagles or anybody else.)

The Seahawks then signed the solid wide receiver from Minnesota, Sidney Rice. Rice signed to a 5 year, $41 million dollar contract. I don't understand why you would pair such a mediocre quarterback with such a great wide receiver. It's like putting bald tires on a Ferrari. Also there were rumors that Seattle might sign former USC quarterback Matt Leinart. Fortunately for Seattle that signing didn't happen, the Seahawks lucked out there. It seems Leinart was going to sign with Seattle until they signed Jackson. Leinart told Texans coach Gary Kubiak that he wanted to sign with a team where he could start. Come on Matt you know you can't go back to USC :) I know that Leinart looks like a quarterback. He should have his own commercial where he says "I'm not a quarterback, but I played one on TV". I wouldn't want a team of mine counting on him. (Thanks to texanspost.com.)

Dearest football gods: yes Reggie Bush should be playing for a Florida NFL team this season. However he's suppose to be playing in Tampa, not Miami. The Bucs whiffed on Bush and as of right now almost everyone else. I'm not sure what Tampa's free agency plans are, I assume they have some. They appear to be sitting on the sidelines while all the best players are being snapped up by other teams. Tampa Bay is in a unique position in that they have about $50 million dollars they have to spend by the end of the season to meet the minimum amount agreed to in the new CBA.

The Bucs will resign linebacker Quincy Black to a contract, probably on Friday. It's a 5 year and $29 million contract. That's their big move so far. Come on Tampa Bay you need to sign a player that will get your fan base excited. Black or first round draft pick Adrian Clayborn isn't that player.

I've generally been pleased with Dallas' free agency moves. Letting Marion Barber and Roy Williams go were no brainers. Williams has been a bust since he signed. He's not a very good player and was whiny. Barber seems to have the heart of a champion, but he's used up his body a NFL running back. Of course, the fear is that one of these players will come back and hurt the Cowboys. But I'm glad Dallas will take their chances. It's time for Felix Jones, Miles Austin and Dez Bryant to step up.

Also the older I get and the more I learn about football, the more I learn how important having a great offensive line is. I'm glad Dallas' #1 free agent target was to resign their own free agent Doug Free. (Free needs to change his name to Doug Anything But Free after signing a 4 year-$32 million dollar contract.) I'm glad that Dallas resigned Kyle Kosier and are thinking about resigning Marc Columbo at a reduced price. Also Dallas' #1 pick was Tyron Smith from North Carolina. I'm glad the Cowboys actually filled a need in the draft rather than going after a flashy player.

themusicaddict

What the hell does this mean?

Hello,

Due to not enough money I've been working on selling my former house on a short sale. I've been getting all sorts of things in the mail or via e-mail. I received a notice yesterday but I'm not really sure what it's trying to say. A piece of paper came with the notification yesterday. In "1984", the novel by George Orwell, he talked about doublespeak. When I read the below notice I was reminded of Orwell's doublespeak.

This is what the paper says verbatim:

"Notice is hereby given that despite any reduced payment arrangement agreed to by the Beneficiary, the Beneficiary does not intend to instruct the Successor Trustee to defer giving the notice of sale and completing the foreclosure beyond the earliest time legally allowed, unless the Beneficiary specifically agrees otherwise in writing."

Huh?

thepuzzledmusicaddict

Bob Dylan

Hello,

The May 26th, 2011 Rolling Stone featured Bob Dylan on the cover. The article was about his 70 greatest songs. Originally when I saw that cover, I thought to myself "please". I also thought he might have 3 or 4 good songs but he's one of the most overrated musicians ever. (Kurt Cobain is without a doubt the most overrated musician ever. If it wasn't for the 5 minutes of punk fury of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", would we still remember him? No! One amazing song does not a genius make.)

This blog started out as a way to mock Bob Dylan. But before I did that I did some research. I have very little Bob Dylan on my iTunes, so I went to my friends at Spotify. They don't have a large selection of Bob Dylan either. Thankfully I've kept my napster.com account active. I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan songs on napster.com last night.

I actually might even buy a Bob Dylan Greatest Hits CD.

This is the one I would recommend for us Bob Dylan novice's to buy, his 1983 Greatest Hits. Or if you are feeling rich and don't mind some filler you can buy The Essential Bob Dylan. You could probably pick up a Greatest Hits collection at Wal-Mart for $5.

1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 4:38
2. Blowin' In The Wind 2:49
3. The Times They Are A-Changin' 3:16
4. It Ain't Me, Babe 3:37
5. Like A Rolling Stone 6:10
6. Mr. Tambourine Man 5:29
7. Subterranean Homesick Blues 2:21
8. I Want You 3:08
9. Positively 4th Street 3:56
10. Just Like A Woman 4:56

While I don't think he has 70 great songs, I do think he has 14 very solid songs and here they are. I'm following Rolling Stones Top 70 list. The number is where Rolling Stone ranks the song as voted on by music insiders.

The first two songs aren't on Rolling Stone's Top 70 songs, but I feel they definitely should be.

"Outlaw Blues":



"I Want You":



45) I've lived this song from both sides. I love the commentary attached to this video at youtube. "It Ain't Me Babe":



39) I really like this song "Hurricane":



While the song is not 100% accuracy as Dylan took some poetic license it was one of the things that helped Ruben Carter get free. This is from Rolling Stone:

"It took eight more years before a federal district court judge in Newark, N.J., finally overturned Carter's conviction, insisting, "The extensive record clearly demonstrates that the petitioners' convictions were predicated upon an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure."

Or, as Dylan had sung ten years earlier:

"How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game."

Here's the trailer for the movie starring the great Denzel Washington:



28) "Times They Are A Changin":



25) "Knockin' On Heaven's Door":



Of course the above song became one of the most popular songs in Guns and Roses concerts back in the day. (Do you remember when Guns 'N Roses was actually relevant?)



Here's the sloppy, boozy sing along version of GNR's "Knockin On Heaven's Door". Keep an eye out for Spanish lessons with Axl.



24) Of the several videos I looked at for this song, sadly this was the best sound. The very seductive "Lay Lady Lay":



20) "Blowin' In The Wind":



16) I'm going with a cover on this song, I really like Lucinda Williams version. "Positively 4th Street":



13) "Subterranean Homesick Blues":



8) Here's another cover, this version is by the Byrds. "Mr. Tambourine Man":



Here's Rolling Stone's Top 5 Greatest Bob Dylan songs:
5) No doubt that this is a classic, "All Along The Watchtower". No doubt Jimi Hendrix sings the ultimate version of this song:



4) "Just Like A Woman":



3) "Tangled Up In Blue". I don't hear what makes this song a classic.
2) "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". I don't understand how this is considered a classic either.
1) "Like A Rolling Stone":



Here's the Rolling Stones version:



themusicaddict

Ridiculously Hot Katy Perry, Tampa Bay's Bright Future, Great Songs

Hello,

Here's some eye candy to start off your day. Katy Perry is looking ridiculously hot here. She looks amazing as a blonde. If you can wear a smurfs dress and still look fantastic, then you are a gorgeous woman. I expect any day now she's going to dumping her husband Russell Brand.



After 132 days of greed and stupidity, the NFL Lockout is finally over. Now that it's done I'm hoping that we no longer refer to it. I don't ever want to hear the following terms ever again: lockout, Collective Bargaining Agreement, lawyers, NFLPA, Jerry Jones or greed.

Speaking of Jerry Jones his Cowboys are $13.9 million dollars over this season's salary cap, yes before it even starts! Thanks Jerry Jones for being such a great GM. Not! Some of the bad contracts the Cowboys have include deals with Roy Williams, Marion Barber and Tony Romo.

I know that Romo is the starting quarterback, but is he really worthy of the $9 million dollars he's slated to make this year? No. If you don't follow the Cowboys closely and just look at his stats you probably think I'm crazy. But I'm not crazy as I've been a Cowboys fan since Roger Staubach and Tom Landry roamed the sidelines. Romo is prone to turnovers and poor decision making Having turnovers is one thing but a lot of his turnovers are dumb. For instance, he likes to throw the ball into to tight of coverage. The result is too many interceptions. He also doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes. How long until the Cowboys fall out of love with Romo and they can get a real quarterback?

As in MLB, in the NFL I have more than one team that I follow. In the NFL I also cheer for Tampa Bay and San Francisco. After Tampa Bay had a good season last year, I expect great things from them this year. With the new CBA, they have to spend a lot of money to meet it's guidelines. Listening to Mike and Mike this morning, the thought was floated that possibly both Reggie Bush and Nnamdi Asomugha could both end up in Tampa Bay. I know that's probably a fantasy, but I enjoy thinking the thought. Asomugha is the most coveted player in NFL free agency now. He's going to make himself a lot of money and some team very happy.

Meanwhile the NBA enters it's 26th day of their lockout. If both sides are having talks I haven't heard anything. Just like the NFL they aren't having any urgency. Unlike the NFL I think their negotiations are going to be a lot contentious. Also there will be games missed in the regular season. Some people think there might not be an NBA season at all. I highly doubt that the players will break long before they get to that point. I'd like to see NBA players go on an extended break, I just don't want to hear every detail. Let me know when the two greedy sides agree to a new deal.

A'mare Stoudamire is the latest player flirting with playing internationally. I would love to see him go and not come back. He of the shot knees is going to jeopardize his NBA career to play for several million less than he's making in the NBA? That doesn't factor in very lucrative endorsements. Please, A'mare isn't going anywhere. There are several NBA players that are dying for some attention, that's his motivation in bringing this up. Out of all the major NBA players threatening to go overseas, the only one I think is sincere is Deron Williams. I still would be very surprised if he plays overseas this year.

Literary notes: Doesn't this sound like a cool book idea? From an EW review, "the story of a girl who reinvents herself each time she moves". That's the description for the book titled "What Happened To Goodbye? by Sarah Dessen.

With the amazing success of Steig Larsson's Millenium trilogy (aka "The Girl Who" books) people keep on wanting to find "the next Stieg Larsson". Who can blame them? I love Mikael Blomqvist as a character. He fights for what he believes in, exposes those who should be exposed and he's a very likable guy. Although I don't think every woman in the world desires him. Also who can forget Lisbeth Salander, she's one of the greatest characters ever created in fiction.

One person mentioned who many claim may be able to fill his void is Henning Mankell. His main character is Kurt Wallander. Mankell wrote about 10 books with this character. However Mankell says he's not going to write any more Wallander novels. I only read one of his books, "The White Lioness", but I wasn't terribly impressed. It was okay but it was wasn't as good as Mankell's reputation would suggest. When I finished reading it I didn't want to read any more in the Wallander series.

Now a new name being added to that list is Jo Nesbo. I look forward to reading one of his books. However he already has one big strike against him. His main character's name is Harry Hole. Harry Hole really? He couldn't have come up with a better name than that. In a serious piece of literature I wouldn't ever have a character who's last name is Hole. There's nowhere to go but down with a name like that, no pun intended.

Also Justin Cronin's "The Passage" has been out in paperback for a couple of months now. If you haven't read it yet, you need to pick it up. It's a great book, with some of it set in Utah. The first book was written with the idea in mind it would be a series, the second book is tentatively scheduled to be released next year.

Here are some great songs for your listening pleasure:

Ministry's "New World Order":



The following video will be offensive to some. James was obviously the original super freak his whole life, but he came up with this incredibly catchy song.



MC Hammer stole from "Super Freak" to create this song:



A slightly oddball selection, but a great song from a great movie/play. This is "High Flying Adored" sung by Antonio Banderas and Madonna. This is from the fantastic "Evita":



A typically bizarre 80's video:



This is a song that will get you up and going from Wolfmother:



All-American Rejects "Swing Swing":



Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher":



I love, love this song.



The above song is dedicated to those of you going through a break up. I know you won't believe it but it gets better. This is how you will feel in a few months.

Sail on, down the line
About half a mile or so
And I don't really wanna know ah
Where you're going
Maybe once or twice you see
Time after time I tried
Hold on to what we got
But now you're going
And I don't mind
About the things you're gonna say
Lord, I gave all my money and my time
I know it's a shame
But I'm giving you back your name
Guess I'll be on my way
I won't be back to stay
I guess I'll move along
I'm looking for a good time

Sail on down the line
Ain't it funny how the time can go
All my friends say they told me so
But it doesn't matter
It was plain to see
That a small town boy like me
Just I wasn't your cup of tea
I was wishful thinking
I gave you my heart
And I tried ot make you happy
And you gave me nothing in return
You know it ain't so hard to say
Would you please just go away

I've thrown away the blues
I'm tired of being used
I want everyone to know
I'm looking for a good time
Good time
Sail on honey
Good times never felt so good
Sail on honey
Good times never felt so good
Sail on sugar
Good times never felt so good
Sail on

themusicaddict

NFL Nonsense Finally Over?, Black Veil Brides

Hello,

It sounds like the NFL nonsense, some called it negotiating the new CBA, is finally over. That 4 1/2 months that negotiations went on was excruciating. That's not because there was no football, it's because hearing all the labor minutiae was boring. Other than the Hall of Fame game, which is nearly meaningless, being cancelled there has been no loss of games. The NFLPA is scheduled to have a press conference at the time I'm writing this. Thankfully they officially announced this greed fest is over. They also announced a schedule of when free agent moves etc. can start being made. Thank goodness football is back and labor peace is here. Also I'm glad the CBA is for 10 years and so we don't have to deal with this for that long.

NBA let's hope you learn from the NFL's stupidity.

With football back I look forward to another underachieving season by the Dallas Cowboys. That will be followed by Jerry Jones making excuses why they suck so much. As usual he will deflect the blame from himself. Like Mark Cuban has done, it's time to get someone in the GM position who knows what they are doing. Jerry you've clearly shown you don't know what you are doing, please fire yourself as GM. It would also be good if we didn't see you in front of the camera 24/7.

Also I'm hearing some rumblings of Brett Favre possibly signing to play with the Eagles next season as Michael Vick's backup. Brett please do not come back! Everyone is sick of your constant comeback attempts. And as bad as you played last year, should you really attempt another comeback? Brett just say no please, stay home in Hattiesburg. It's always good to know when it's time to hang 'em up. You've already hung on one season too long, how much more do you want to tarnish your reputation?

My 15 year old son is really digging Black Veil Brides right now. I'm listening to them on Spotify right now and they are okay. This is one of their better songs and I love their mid-80s Motley Crue look in this video:



Since I'm your friend, I want to warn you away from a horrendously bad movie. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is a disaster. The movie stars and wastes Matt Damon, a great actor. The gorgeous Gwynneth Paltrow is also wasted. Paltrow is also a fine actress. "Ripley" was directed by Anthony Minghella, the director of "The English Patient". That's one of my favorite movies of all-time. In spite of those positives "Ripley" is still terrible. The only thing that could make this movie is if it had been longer. Already it was at least a half-hour too long. I especially hated Ripley sort of getting away with killing half of this movie's cast. It's one thing to outsmart the police when you are brilliant, but when Freddie Freeman figures out what's going on? What the hell? I know he was acting but I hated how simpering Matt Damon played both characters near the end of the movie.

After watching that yesterday afternoon, I hoped greedily for another excellent episode of "Falling Skies". However this might have been the weakest episode of the whole season. It was a fairly boring episode and also insulted my intelligence. I hate movies or TV series where aliens invade and humans decide to turn against humans to gain advantage. It's a very bad idea in this show, because it seems the kids are being turned into skitters. Maybe the skitters don't have a way of reproducing? So all Clayton's people were buying themselves was some time and not immunity. Once the skitters get what they want they will at least kill all the adult humans.

Have we figured out if the skitters or the mechs are in charge yet. They are working together but how willingly are they doing that?

What the humans have to do to win this war is to band together as close to 100% as they can and then systemically destroy the skitters one by one. Also if the skitters have no way of reproducing, the humans can't let their kids become skitters. Especially when the kids turn into something like what Rick is. The former harness kid seems to be still sympathetic to the skitters. I would call him a spy but he's being too obvious to be a spy. I get the sense that he would go back to the skitters gladly if he had the choice.

It will be interesting to see how the final 3 hours of "Falling Skies" season plays out. I hope the producers answer some questions but at the same time create new questions. When I think about this show during it's off season I'd like to think about all the delicious possibilities of what could be happening season 2. I don't want it to be like "The Killing", every time I think about that show I just get mad. I hated the ridiculous ending, especially when they've dragged on the Rosie Larson case way too long already. I also hate the writers and producers who actually thought that ending was a good idea. That was one of the worst endings ever. I wonder how many episodes of Season 2 I'll watch before I stop watching "The Killing" altogether. I guarantee there won't be a season 3 of that show.

Funny line from the May 20th, 2011 Entertainment Weekly, "Dear writers of The Killing. It's called The Killing, not The Raining. Let's speed things up." (I wonder what EW thought when the season 1 finale was over.)

themusicaddict

Utah's Pioneer Day, Pirates Are Stumbling, Great songs for peaceful Sundays

Hello,

Today in Utah is Pioneer Day it's the 164th anniversary of Brigham Young and a small group of Mormon pioneers reaching Salt Lake Valley. The following is taken from wikipedia.org and it's a good explanation of the significance of that day for me and many other Utahans. I've edited the three following paragraphs a bit to make it look it better.

"Pioneer Day (also called the Day of Deliverance) is an official holiday celebrated on July 24 in the U.S. state of Utah, with some celebrations in regions of surrounding states originally settled by Mormon pioneers. It commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. This is where the Latter-day Saints settled after being forced from Nauvoo, Illinois and other locations in the eastern United States. Parades, fireworks, rodeos (regrettably), and other festivities help commemorate the event. Similar to July 4th, most government offices and many businesses are closed on Pioneer Day.

In addition to being an official holiday in Utah, Pioneer Day is considered a special occasion by many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). On Pioneer Day, some Latter-day Saints walk portions of the Mormon Trail or reenact entering the Salt Lake Valley by handcart. Latter-day Saints throughout the United States and around the world may celebrate July 24 in remembrance of the LDS Churches' pioneer era, with songs, dances, and pioneer related activities.

While the holiday has strong links to the LDS Church, it's a celebration for everyone. That is regardless of faith and nationality, who emigrated to the Salt Lake Valley during the pioneer era, which is generally considered to have ended with the 1869 arrival of the transcontinental railroad. Notable non-LDS American pioneers from this period include Episcopal Bishop Daniel Tuttle, who was responsible for Utah's first non-Mormon schools (Rowland Hall-St. Mark's) and first public hospital (St. Mark's) in the 19th century. The Intertribal Powwow at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City honors the rich cultural heritage and contributions of the area's American Indians, helping Utahns to gain a deeper understanding of the region's history." (Thanks to wikipedia.org.)

The Pirates have run into a bit of trouble, they've lost 3 straight games. St. Louis thumped the Pirates in Pittsburgh yesterday 9-1. In a cool note both teams played in Negro League uniforms. The Pirates are now 51-47 overall, which is a remarkable record for them this late in the year. Although since their team has had some success this season, it's hard not to be a bit disappointed by a 3 game losing streak. As I write this Pittsburgh is battling with St. Louis. I'd really like Pittsburgh to at least win today's game. (Pittsburgh was able to come back and beat St. Louis 4-3 in 10 innings.) As of now Pittsburgh is 3rd place in the NL Central, but only trail the first place teams by a game. They still have a lot of say in the NL Central race.

Boston is on a roll, and it looks like they are going to win today. (Boston did win today, beating Seattle 12-8. Poor Seattle, they've lost 15 games in a row.) As of games ending last night Boston was 61-37, the second best record in MLB. They trail only the Phillies and their amazing pitching staff. Philadelphia is 61-37 overall as their pitching staff has been as advertised. The Red Sox are just an offensive juggernaut and it would be a scary thing if they added Carlos Beltran to their team before next Sunday's trade deadline.

Meanwhile Atlanta is 59-42, the fourth best record in MLB. Yet they are only the second best team in their division. They trail the Phillies by 5 games. To show how dominant the Braves have been, they lead the NL Wild Card by 5 games. Atlanta plays Cincinnati on Sunday Night Baseball. It looks like Philadelphia is going to win today, it's very crucial for the Braves to match that tonight.

I won't mention the Cubs and Dodgers too much, let's just say they are less than mediocre.

With today being Pioneer Day and with me being very much a Mormon my thoughts have been turned to those brave Pioneers. The Pioneers dealt with a lot in getting to Utah. Not only that but today is Sunday and my music is much more mellow than what I usually listen to. In other words I'm not listening to Black Stone Cherry today.

I was especially moved by this song when my iTunes played it this morning. This song is called "His Hands" written by Kenneth Cope.



An old school classic, George Jones "She Thinks I Still Care":



My favorite George Jones classic, "He Stopped Loving Her Today":



I'm not a big fan of Kenny Chesney, I think he's rather full of himself. I saw his concert once and he was more impressed with himself than anyone else was. I also haven't seen one artist appear in their own videos as much as he does. That being said he had many great songs at the start of his career. Of the 16 songs on his first "Greatest Hits" collection, I gave 15 of those songs 5 stars. There are truly a lot of great songs on it.) Here are some of his songs that have struck a cord with me today. This is Chesney's "That's Why I'm Here":



Chesney's "Me and You":



"I Lost It", watch out for the "great" acting at the start of this video:



"What I Need To Do":



The great Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December":



So this blog won't be a complete downer, here's a couple of great songs by Tim McGraw:



This is Tim McGraw's "Illegal". This is a great song, but be careful before you click on some of the parodies of his songs.



themusicaddict

R.I.P Amy Winehouse, Spotify invite given away

Hello,

Someone has requested the extra Spotify invite that I had and I forwarded it on to them. I hope it works for him. Spotify is pretty damn cool, I'm rocking out to Black Stone Cherry's "Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea" right now. What a great CD and it's currently going through the car test. I will let you know if it passes, I'm sure it will.

Wow! I just read the news about Amy Winehouse dying at the age of 27. Although an amazing talent she was never able to overcome her demons. Although I never got the sense that she was trying to overcome them. Her song "Rehab" was about a conversation she had with her producer Mark Ronson.

She joins the amazing musicians who have died at age 27. These guys could make up a pretty great band. She joins the Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, the amazing Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin. Although Kurt Cobain was 27 when he died, he does not belong in the above's company. They have a pretty rocking band, but need a drummer. For those of you who are wondering the greatest drummer of all-time, John Bonham, died at the age of 32.

Here are just a few of Amy's amazing songs:

This is my favorite Amy Winehouse song:



"Rehab":



"Back To Black"



"Me and Mr. Jones"



themusicaddict

First come, first serve Spotify invite, Black Stone Cherry, Finale of themusicaddict's bookclub

Hello,

I tried multiple ways to get invites for free Spotify memberships. A few days ago I received an invite from Spotify themselves. Since then I've used and enjoyed Spotify very much. This morning I received an invitation from Chevrolet and their Sonic car promotion. Obviously I don't need it and will forward it gladly to the first person who leaves a comment. While there are no strings attached, there are also no guarantees that it will work. I don't know if this invite will work for anyone else since it's tied to my e-mail. If it doesn't work for you please don't contact me, because I don't know what else can be done. F.Y.I. This is an USA invite, I doubt it will work for another country.

I've used Spotify for at least 30 hours over the 5 days I've had it. I've noticed the commercials are coming more frequently now. I still don't want to listen to the new CDs by The Black Angels or the horrid Tinie Tempah though. Since the commercials are only about 30 seconds long and introduce new music, I don't find them that annoying yet.

I would like to thank my brother for alerting me to a couple of songs. This is Black Stone Cherry's "White Trash Millionaire" (I love the Lady Gaga reference in this song):



Right now I'm listening to Black Stone Cherry on Spotify (I love Spotify). I'm listening to their new CD "Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea". So far all their music I've listened to has been very good. Once I listen to the CD a few times a review will be forthcoming. I wonder if this CD would pass the car test? Could they be a new great rock band to fall in love with? From now on I'm just going to blame it on the boom boom :) This video isn't for everyone.



The other song he suggested is The Rival Sons "Pressure and Time", my brother notes it as a Zeppelinesque song. This was one of the free songs that was available from iTunes a couple of weeks ago and it quickly found a home on my iTunes.



Both the NFL Lockout and Frank McCourt divorce/bankruptcy/any other reason he can be in court dramas both go on. At this point I'm just done with both and won't be having any more updates unless something truly significant happens. Although I was very pleased with the Delaware judge's decision yesterday. From espn.com: "A Delaware judge on Friday rejected the Los Angeles Dodgers' proposed $150 million bankruptcy financing plan..." (Thanks to ESPN) This seems to be just one step closer to the Dodgers getting a real owner.

I finished reading the good "The Lonely Polygamist" by Brady Udall last night. This was my July book club selection. If you have any suggestions for the August book club, please leave a comment. If no comments I do have several books under consideration.

I'd definitely recommend that you read this book. Your opinions on polygamy are irrelevant, just read this book and enjoy. Here are some thoughts. First of all I expected Udall had written a book mocking polygamy. Not only did he not write that book, he wrote with a very sympathetic view of polygamy. He especially wrote with a sympathetic eye to the family members that tend to get lost in these large families. Udall was very effective in making us feel for the plight of the hilarious Rusty and lost wife Trish.

Why did Udall write the family patriarch, Golden Richards, being so dumb and dishonest? Especially when he seems to get away, even benefit, from it. I didn't things would work out in the end for Golden. I predicted the members of this family would be fine though. The ending of the book shows Udall's sympathetic eye to polygamy. That's not how my life has worked out. I don't recall a time where I was dumb or dishonest and benefited from it.

What was the purpose of Raymond the ostrich being a relatively frequent character in this book? Also why was the Barge, a giant disgusting couch with all sorts of bodily fluids, featured so prominently? What was Udall trying to accomplish with what seems to be such trivial details? I have a few theories but what are your theories?

Other questions: What do you think about the revelations of Golden's first wife Beverly? What did you think of the new Golden after he figured out a few things? What did you think about the fates of Huila, Ted Leo and June?

themusicaddict

Don't You "Dare!", NFL CBA drags on, "I Don't Believe In Love"

Hello,

I've been divorced over a year and I'm not really interested in dating at this time. For me any downside heavily outweighs the upside. Of course, I think a lot of that will go away when I meet someone who does for me what this song is about:



Currently this mostly is how I'm feeling about love, relationships and dating. It's frightening how close this song feels how I feel about dating right now and also this song kicks ass!



Thanks to my friends at Spotify I've been revisiting some of those CD's that are considered 80's classics. These are CDs that I loved back in the day or CDs listed on Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 100 80's CDs. On Rolling Stone's Top 100 list, the Human League's "Dare!" is listed at #78, which I feel is a very generous rating. Especially with it higher than such great 80's CDs as George Michael's "Faith", John Mellencamp's "Scarecrow" and Tom Petty's "Full Moon Fever".

The Human League's "Dare!" would never be on my Top 100 80's CDs and it certainly isn't a classic. I love much of the 80's synth driven music. But the synth driven music on "Dare!" is very similar to the synth driven music that haunts most 80's movies. (Perhaps the best example of this is the hilarious "Better Off Dead". Great movie, terrible music.) "Dare!" wasn't even a record I owned back in the day and have no interest to own now. There are 10 songs on this CD featuring one decent song and one certifiable classic. The other 8 songs range from the horrid "I Am The Law" to a few songs that are interesting and have potential. But a classic, a decent song, a few interesting ideas and some crap does not a classic make. Here are the two best songs from this CD.

This song isn't as good as I remember. "Love Action (I Believe In Love)"



Now here's a true classic: "Don't You Want Me"



Interestingly the two good songs are the 9th and 10th songs on the CD. Back in 1981, if I would have bought this, I would have bought it on a record. (CDs didn't really go mainstream until the mid to late 80's.) I would have listened to the first side of the record for a few minutes before I decided I wasn't interested. I wouldn't have heard the two good songs if it was just the record.

The NFL Lockout continues to drag on. (The only thing that has dragged needlessly on longer is the Rosie Larson murder on "The Killing".) One good thing about the CBA the way it is now is that there would be 10 years of labor peace. We wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense until 2021. Although some people in the NFLPA camp now are wanting an option to opt out after 7 years. But if an opt out is taken there would be a penalty.

I love how the NFL voted on accepting the new CBA. Then they seemingly intentionally put the pressure on the players. That's fine but it seems the NFL tried to sneak in a couple of things that hadn't been discussed. Rightfully the NFLPA said now we are going to look at this before we vote on it. The NFLPA also has to recertify it's union, which they want to not rush.

Things will probably resolve themselves quickly, although it would crack me up if they didn't. If things work out quickly both training camps and free agency will begin Wednesday. ESPN's Adam Schefter is saying that may be the "busiest" day in league history. It should be frenetic, crazy and fun.

One side effect of the NFL Lockout is the cancellation of August 7th's Hall of Fame game. Although I think that isn't such a bad thing, because only the most hardcore fan even watch that game. I love football, but I don't know if I've ever watched a minute of the Hall of Fame game. I typically don't start watching the NFL until the regular season.

As this drama goes into it's 129th day of the NFL Lockout, the NBA's lockout stays safely in the background. The NFL's lockout is expected to be easy compared to how the NBA Lockout could be. Speaking of which I love all these NBA players talking about going and playing internationally for a fraction of what they would make in the NBA. Deron Williams might go overseas, it seems like he's thought it out. He would make less than 1/3rd of what he would make playing for New Jersey.

However Kobe is not going overseas, who does he think he's kidding? He already has so many miles on his body and what would winning an international league title mean to him. I doubt it would mean much. I believe he'd much rather have another NBA Title. I expect he realizes playing internationally would hurt his NBA title chances. Yes, I understand Kobe's Dad played internationally, but he was a much less talented player than Kobe.

We all see what this is, this is a negotiating tactic by the NBA players to pressure the NBA. However it seems the NBA owners are invested in the lockout until the players make huge concessions. Playing internationally with an opt out clause doesn't scare NBA owners.

Dwight Howard, who must have the lowest self-esteem in the NBA, says he's considering he might go play basketball internationally. I hope he does, I'm sick of him being in the news all the time. He always seems to be whining about something. He wants respect and people's love, but whining is not the way to get either. Like Allen Iverson I'd love for him to go into the witness protection program i.e. go and play in Turkey. Of course, now Allen Iverson would be lucky for anyone to pay him to play basketball.

Other great songs:

What a great song, but what a horrendous performance. They look like are mocking 80's musicians but they are being serious. This is an example of unintentional comedy. This is Q-Feel's "Dancing In Heaven":



If you are feeling a little tired, here's some music to wake you up. The Black Keys are one of the most unappreciated bands currently working. This is one of their better songs "Oceans and Streams":



With the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, the following song may be out of date. This is Dio's "Egypt (The Chains Are On)":



Here's another 80's rock classic, Def Leppard's "Photograph". And if you are wondering what or who this song is about, Joe tells you.



themusicaddict

More about Spotify, Clayton The Magnificent

Hello,

Spotify continues to impress. I've heard about the free Spotify that there's a limit on the amount of music I can listen to. I've also heard most of the first people in the U.S.A. to sign up for free Spotify will have unlimited listening. It seems I belong in the second group because I haven't had any issues with playing anything I want, for how long as I want. The only issue I've had with Spotify isn't their fault. Sometimes where I work with their erratic internet connection Spotify stops playing. Other than that it's been one of the very few things that actually lives up to the hype.

I answered my own question from yesterday about how to keep continuous play for a specific artist. In the search box: type in the artists name. That brings up three tabs: overview, biography and related artists. The overview tab is the default tab. Stay there and Spotify lists all their CDs in chronological order. It also lists their singles and any soundtrack or other various artists CDs they may have appeared on. Click on the random button in the bottom right corner and one can listen to all of an artists songs to your hearts content. If you choose random play, go to play queue and it will tell you what order the upcoming songs will be played in.

Besides listening randomly you can listen to the tracks straight through, both play in continuous play. When you listen to an artist's music straight through pick a CD and first Spotify plays all the songs on that CD and then automatically starts playing the songs on the artist's previous CD.

Anyway what I've been doing with my Spotify listening is revisiting 80's classic CDs. I listened to Madonna's "Like A Prayer" yesterday. That still holds up very well. With full disclosure I'm a huge Madonna fan, especially her 80's music. 2011 Grade: B+

This morning I listened to Janet Jackson's "Control". It doesn't hold up as well as "Like A Prayer". "Control" is a feast or famine CD. It has 6 amazing songs, when you look at the track listing you'll know what songs I'm talking about. Then there are three songs that are mediocre at best. "You Can Be Mine" is an absolute clunker. 2011 Grade, because of the 6 great songs, B.

Right now I'm listening to Prince's "1999". It's a fairly decent CD. This CD starts off with and is anchored by "1999" and "Little Red Corvette". Without a doubt those are two classics. However the next few songs vary in quality. "Delirious" and "Let's Pretend We're Married" are half-decent. But "D.M.S.R." is a forgettable, vulgar track. However many of the songs have something to recommend them. This also is a very danceable record and no one can deny the funkiness of Prince. 2011 Grade: I'm a bit uncertain, either a B or B-. Prince was so amazing back in the day. Why isn't there someone as good now releasing music? They don't make dance music like they use to.

Sports: Many people think the NFL Lockout is going to end today. I don't have an exact count but I think it's about 132 days the NFL has been in lockout. The players were suppose to vote on the new CBA yesterday. However they didn't have a complete CBA to look at, it looks like their vote will take place today. It's also expected the owners will vote today, it seems they have the votes to agree to the CBA. Any lingering issues seem to have been resolved. The NFL should reopen for business as usual as early as tomorrow.

In the Dodgers' Sad Summer of Frank good news for the Dodgers has been rare. However there have been a couple of very bright spots for the Dodgers. Along with Matt Kemp, there also has been Clayton Kershaw, aka Clayton the Magnificent. He had another strong outing last night, holding the defending World Series champ to 0 runs. The Dodgers offense continues to be pathetic and they only scored one run. LA must lead the league in 1-0 wins because of their mostly sterling pitching staff and weak offense. Anyway Kershaw went to 11-4 on the season. He only allowed 3 hits in 8 innings. Kershaw struck out 12 Giants, he leads the MLB with 167 strikeouts. If he could pitch everyday the Dodgers would be contenders. (Thanks to espn.com)

It does crack me up that the Dodgers fired their hitting coach Jeff Pentland. It's not his fault that team can't hit. The Dodgers are sorely lacking for talent. If you really want to help the Dodgers, fire Frank McCourt!

With me working about 56 hours this week, I haven't been able to exercise as much as I usually do. However I did exercise this morning, I was reminded of some great songs. Here are a selection of those and other great songs.

Soul 2 Soul's "Back To Life":



In this video look how young The Edge is. U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" Live at Red Rocks:



Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff":



Although the video is a bit weird, I'd forgotten how great this song is. Madonna's "Express Yourself":



Green Day's "Letterbomb":



And a great Incubus long I didn't feature yesterday, "Circles":



I'm not a big Aerosmith fan, especially after Steven Tyler's disastrous "AI" run, but I do like their song "Jaded". I especially like this video as it features the teenage Mila Kunis.
Currently one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood.



themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Bookclub, Spotify and the NFL CBA

Hello,

Although it's been a very busy week for me, last night I found several minutes to read. I continued reading my July book club selection. It's Brady Udall's "The Lonely Polygamist". I've read to page 427.

I'm trying not to give away any plot points here, that's why there's vague wording for the next few sentences. More questions: When Golden Richards was fired from finishing building The Pussycat Manor he went home. What do you think about the person that tagged along unknown to him in his Airstream? How will Golden be able to explain that to his 4 wives? If he's able to get himself out of trouble, how will he do that? Will his stowaway be his and his families salvation or will that person be the straw that breaks the camel's back?

I also enjoy following the adventures of his 11 year old son, Rusty. He's hilarious. He's trapped in a lifestyle he doesn't like and he uses his full imagination to both escape and break up the monotony. He also physically escapes several times.

This book definitely passes the one more page test. I look forward eagerly to reading the final 170 pages and finding out the answers to the above questions. I also hope things work out for Golden Richards, his four wives and 28 kids. That's a sign of great fiction is that I care about the characters. Although they aren't real I have become temporarily invested in their lives. Although Richards seems to let himself be subject to whims of fate and wives, for the most part he's a good guy. I really like him, but in no way do I envy him. He's wishy washy, has too little of a backbone and has too many wives. If Jay Z wrote a song about his lifestyle, it would be called "10,000 Problems".

I continue liking Spotify. Although I do have a question if anyone can help me. I've figured out nearly every way to listen to music on Spotify. However when I type in a name in the search box, let's say Alabama, the search brings up all their songs. So far I've only been able to figure out how to listen to their songs one at a time, there's no continuous play. However if I pick an album and push play, there's continuous play until all the songs have been played.

One thing about napster.com I didn't like is when I play a double CD, it just plays the first CD and then stops. Sure it's easy just to start the second CD playing, but I prefer the music to play until I stop it or ALL the songs have been played. I like when I play a double CD on Spotify it plays all the songs from the double CD.

Commercials are played every few songs on the free Spotify. For the most part they aren't very annoying. They are no more than 30 seconds long and are usually about cool things about Spotify or are plugs for bands that have music on Spotify. Although Spotify I would love if you have other bands besides the Black Angels plug their music.

So far I've liked the Spotify playlists they have recommended. One playlist they suggested that I don't like is the nominees for this years Mercury Awards. I guess this isn't on Spotify, but the people who pick the Mercury Awards nominees. I listened to several songs by the bands they nominated. Besides Adele, every other band is terrible. On this playlist there are a bunch of crap songs. Nominated, and terrible, bands include PJ Harvey, Elbow, Everything Everything, Ghostpoet, Katy B and Metronomy. Two bands that particularly suck from this list are James Blake and Tinie Tempah. Tempah is a very lame and vulgar "rapper". I have no idea why people like this sort of music. You can skip all those songs by those bands. I thought there would be at least a second band I'd like. But no, Adele is the only musician I like.

Also this morning on Spotify I listened to R.E.M.'s "Life's Rich Pageant (Deluxe Edition)". I'm a fairly big R.E.M. fan so I liked it. However it probably isn't for everyone. I do think we can all agree on the greatness of the following song.

This is R.E.M.'s "Fall On Me":



I also listened to Incubus new CD "If Not Know, When?" this morning. When did Incubus start playing only wimpy music? I mean it sounds like Incubus and it's clearly Brandon Boyd singing. However where's the muscle that's in older Incubus music? When did Incubus become Coldplay? What happened to the band that had all these classic songs?

"Wish You Were Here":



"Nice To Know You":



The language to the following video will be offensive to many. "Megalomaniac":



"Pistola":



"Southern Girl"



"Nowhere Fast":



As I write this player reps from each of the 32 NFL teams are learning about the new NFL CBA and are set to vote on it today. People are talking about this deal like it's a sure thing. Sports commentators have already turned to talking about how frenetic the free agency period is going to be. Teams will have 3 days to sign their own players and then after that, the remainder of the 400+ free agents are going to be up for grabs. It should be very exciting.

Right now it seems the only thing that can delay the new CBA is some of the named plaintiffs in the legal case at the center of this lockout are saying they want extra benefits. However a lot of that is a case of who do you believe.

I listened to ESPN radio driving home last night and that guy was talking about the winners of the NFL Lockout. He suggested it was the owners. I would have to agree with that. However I think the real owners are the lawyers who wrote this. I don't even want to know how much the legal fees are in this whole NFL lockout. And likewise in the Frank and Jamie McCourt divorce, the only winners are the lawyers. I hate lawyers.

themusicaddict

Spotify, NFL Lockout All But Seems Over

Hello,

I continue to play with and listen to Spotify. It's very cool. Spotify has 15 million songs available, it would be very hard to find a song that they don't have. I'm now listening to the band called needtobreathe, which is the opening act for Taylor Swift on her current tour. needtobreathe is a very good band and I think they will be a great opener to Taylor Swift. I think needtobreath could have a Lady Antebellum type career. That should be a great concert. Now if we can get Swift to sing all of her hits, not just her newer hits.

One thing I don't like about the free Spotify (as my Mom says "beggars can't be choosers") is what happens when I lose connection to the internet. When that happens I also lose the ability to listen to Spotify. At my job the internet connection is very erratic. However if you have Premium Spotify, which is $9.99 a month, one can listen to Spotify offline. That allows you to listen to a total of up to 3000 songs. That's a pretty cool feature. For me when Spotify isn't connected to the internet I can just listen to iTunes.

It sounds like the NFL Lockout is all but wrapped up, with the NFL opening for business as soon as Friday. There are still a few minor things to work through, but those seem to be almost a certainty in being quickly resolved at this point. Once the NFL opens for business tentatively NFL teams will have 3 days to sign their own free agents. After that it should be a complete free for all as any free agent can sign with any team.

I'm glad the proposed length of this new CBA is 10 years. As much as I love the NFL, it seems both the owners and players still take us NFL fans for granted. I was hoping this lockout would be extended, costing the loss of at least a few regular season games. More importantly that would cost both sides money. That seems to be the only thing that gets their attention. It would be nice to see both sides learning to appreciate their fans more. I predict there will be things the NFL does to "thank" it's fans but I believe that will be just lip service mostly.

While I wanted the NFL to go on an extended lockout, I only wanted that half-heartedly. I'll be glad to have the NFL back and be able to watch games Thursday nights, all day Sunday and Monday nights.

Of course, with me being a life long Cowboys fan, it will be another disappointing season for me. The Cowboys will either start out well and then falter as they traditionally do. Or the Cowboys will just suck from the start as they did last year. At least there's no Wade Phillips to be seen on the Cowboys sideline. No Phillips is a tremedous consolation. Tony Romo will have nice numbers, but never seem to be able to get the big win. I don't think it's coincidental that the Cowboys played better last season after Romo was injured. Too bad his backup, Jon Kitna, will be in a wheelchair and on oxygen soon. (It sucks getting old.)

Speaking of Tony Romo, NFL.com's Warren Sapp says "I don't think he has the potential to raise his game." I agree so much, Romo will put up big numbers during the regular season. But since I'm in a charitable mood, I'm putting mildly here, he will under perform in the postseason. That is if Dallas makes the postseason. It's been several years since Romo and the Cowboys have lived up to what us Cowboys fans expect.

Speaking of lockouts, I think that the NBA lockout

One final sports note, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in first place all by themselves in the NL Central. They lead both St. Louis and Milwaukee by one-half game. Pittsburgh hasn't broke under the pressure yet. I predict the NL Central will be a two team battle between St. Louis and Pittsburgh, I just feel that Milwaukee is very vulnerable. I do wonder if the Pirates are going to make a move to help them this season. Either that or let this young term learn about pressure to be better suited for future postseasons. Go Pirates!

themusicaddict

5 days to Spotify! Enjoying Now

Hello,

I've written a lot about Spotify over the last few days and my journey and frustration in being able to even get an invite, let alone even using it. I waited 5 days, which is a long time in the days of the internet. After an 11 hour day I came home and checked my e-mail and I finally received an invite to Spotify! Of course I immeadiately I downloaded it and started listening to it.

The first song I listened to on Spotify is the great Frank Sinatra's song "New York, New York". To paraphrase that song for Spotify. If Spotify can make it here, they can make it anywhere.



The first song I've discovered is this fairly cool song. This is "U.S.A." by Lovex:



I'm listening to the playlist they created for American users. That playlist so far has been fairly good, although there's some rap music. It's easy to skip songs though. It took me a bit to figure out certain things, but Spotify has been very user friendly. They've also automatically imported all the songs and playlists from my iTunes to Spotify. I have about 1700 more songs in my Spotify iTunes playlist than I do on my actual iTunes. I also can sync Spotify to my iTunes. I haven't done that yet and probably won't.

For now I'm just playing with it, but I will give you updates as I go along. I'm giving Spotify an A++ grade. For things in entertainment I'm a notoriously difficult grader.

One thing I'm noticing is the music is all the same volume. On iTunes I've got music from multiple places and multiple editions so the volume varies wildly. On Spotify it's the same volume each song. That's awesome.

Since I'm using the free Spotify there are some limitations. After about 10 songs I heard my first commercial. It was a 10 second plug to upgrade to Spotify premium for "only" 9.99 a month. If I had more discretionary money I would definitely upgrade. Other features about the premium membership is you can listen to it on your phone. Also if you lose internet connectivity you can have up to 3000 songs from spotify saved on your phone.

theveryhappymusicaddict

Disappointing WWC Final, Spotify Update: Not really an update

Hello,

Welcome to blog #900 of themusicaddict.

I watched nearly every minute of the USA-Japan Women's World Cup Final today. In a hard fought match between two very equal teams, Japan won in penalty kicks. The USA played well enough to win, but just couldn't close down Japan when they really needed to. The penalty kick phase was a complete meltdown by the USA. I don't want to use the word "choke", but they definitely looked like their male counterparts.

Now I will be the first to admit it that I don't understand a lot of soccer strategy. Also I'm not questioning Pia Sundhage decision making process. Forgive me for being totally clueless. I have a couple of questions. First of all, why did Pia pull out the exquisite Megan Rapinoe? She had been one of America's best players all tournament and also the most fun name to say.

Why was Shannon Boxx, who hadn't scored all tournament, the first American to take a penalty kick? Next up Carli Lloyd, who also hadn't scored any goals in the entire World Cup. She wasn't even close on her penalty kick. She was followed by Tobin Heath, who had just barely entered the game. No surprise that none of those three scored. Why wasn't the USA's leading scorer Abby Wambach first for America followed by Alex Morgan, Lauren Cheney and Heather O'Reilly? Wambach was the fourth person taking a penalty kick and she scored, but by then it was too little too late. I know Hope Solo is an amazing goalie, but one can only expect so much from her.

Spotify update: There really isn't one. With the Chevy Sonic promotion, they said the free Spotify activation code should be out in three days. It's been one day so far and I still haven't heard anything. Today is also the fourth day I requested that code from Spotify themselves and I still haven't heard from them. I check my e-mail a few times each day.

This is from endgadget.com about the Chevrolet Sonic and Spotify collaboration:

"Still waiting for that Spotify invite? If you're hip on getting some Chevy Sonic-colored spam, you can snag another ticket in the invitation raffle: the carmaker recently declared itself Spotify's "exclusive automotive advertising partner." What's this mean to you? Chevrolet is doling out Spotify invites to the first 150,000 folks to request info about the upcoming Chevy Sonic. The automotive firm goes on to toot its own horn, bragging that the mere mention of its automobiles in countless country and rock songs qualify it for the partnership. Could this be the start of a beautiful, music streaming, friendship? We certainly wouldn't scoff at a generation of Spotify-enabled Chevys. Hit the break for the official press release, and conjure up some conjecture of your own."

I hope I'm worthy of one of those 150,000 invites, even though I could care less about the Chevy Sonic.

This is what slashgear.com says about Spotify: "First of all, your quickest in may well be a woman by the name of Amanda Rose. She’s a cool cat associated with Spotify that’s also somehow landed the name @amanda on Twitter. Strange how things like that turn out. All you’ve got to do is ask her for an invite via her Twitter if you like, or better yet submit your name via email to this page right here: http://www.spotify.com/us/amanda/. They’ll hook you up real quick. But perhaps not quick enough, if you know what I mean.

(themusicaddict note: I submitted my e-mail at this address at 9:30 EST Sunday, July 17th, 2011. I'll keep you posted.)

The following instructions come from a brand new good friend of ours who informed us of this method via Google+. He (or she!) preferred to remain anonymous, but we’ll just call her Jane Plank. Sound planky enough for an aka? Now for these instructions. This is your way in!

1. Go to http://daveproxy.co.uk/ and point it at Spotify.com. This will tell Spotify that you’re literally sitting in England right now, sipping tea.

2. Spotify is already fully open in the UK, so you’ll be able to sign up for an account just so long as you’re able to find a legit UK zip code. Simple stuff!

3. Sign out, get out of DaveProxy and all that, you wont need it anymore, and head to the US version of the site – aka just go back to Spotify.com. Here you’ll be asked if you want to sign up for a premium account, and you do, almost, instead you want to find that message that says you’ve already got an account and want to log in. Do it.

4. Head back to the homepage, just straight up spotify.com, and hit the “continue to Spotify.com” link.

5. Click your username in the upper-right hand corner, edit profile, and change your country from “United Kingdom” to “United States.”

6. Pow! Right in the kisser. Aka you’re now able to download the Spotify desktop app and get to rocking and rollin! So much rock to be rolled!"

(themusicaddict note: I tried this and it didn't work for me.)

According to slashgear.com as of late Sunday night 28% of people responding to their poll say they are using it right now, whereas 26% of people are still waiting for the free invite. 11% of responders are using the premium or unlimited Spotify options.

Spotify you better get on the stick. My blog usually receives about 40 to 50 page views each day. Today my blog received almost 300 page views. So the interest is there. But pent up demand can only last so long before it fizzles out. Many people will realize they lived without Spotify this long and can continue to live without it. Cold showers and a lack of satisfaction can solve almost any problem. I'm still very interested in Spotify but in a few days if I don't get satisfaction I'll get in the metaphorical cold shower. Then it will be the time for the "let's be friends" speech.

themusicaddict

Go United States at Women's World Cup 2:45 EST!, Spotify Day 4

Hello,

Welcome to blog #899 of themusicaddict. This is just a quick blog as I only have a little bit of time.

I mainly wanted to write this quick blog to remind everyone that today is the final of the Women's World Cup in Germany. It's going to be a battle between the USA and Japan. Again other than predicting it will be a hard fought match, no predictions here. It will be a battle between two evenly matched teams. I hope it isn't quite as dramatic as last Sunday's USA-Brazil match. I don't think my heart could take that.

Like ESPN has been counting the days of the NFL Lockout and probably will be doing the same thing with the NBA Lockout, I'm going to start counting the days it takes to get free access to Spotify. Today is Day #4 in the Spotify count.

themusicaddict

"Where The Red Fern Grows", Still Waiting on Spotify

Hello,

I watched the classic movie "Where The Red Fern Grows" with two of my kids tonight.

It ends with this tear jerking quote. "But someday if God is willing I'd like to go back and walk again in the hills I knew as a boy and I'd like to touch the heart that's carved in an old sycamore tree that says Dan and Ann and I'll look for that sacred spot by the river where the red fern grows." (That quote gets me every time.)



IMHO this is one of the greatest endings in the history of movies. Although I'm now 44 years old and knew how this movie ends, it still makes me cry. That's the magical ability of such great storytelling.

If you've never seen this movie, check it out. Also watch it with people you love.

The wait for Spotify continues. This past Thursday morning I first went to spotify.com and submitted my e-mail address. You either have to get an access code from a friend or Spotify itself to start listening to their much hyped website. That activation code hasn't come yet. I've googled my way around the internet and I've found websites that promise ways to get Spotify. For instance, a website called Klout allegedly was giving out the code. It seems there was such a great demand that the demand crashed Klout's website. There's also a lot of BS to go through to get the invite code from Klout. For me it wasn't worth it.

There are websites that say they can give access to joining Spotify for free. None of those methods have worked for me, most of the information on those websites is terribly out of date. Chevrolet and their new Sonic car are giving out free activation codes within 72 hours allegedly. I signed up for that promotion Saturday night. I'll see how effective that is. I had to agree that I will let someone from Spotify and Chevrolet contact me. I've become very good at saying "no" and caller ID is a life saver. Also readwriteweb.com had 300 invites available, but those went very quickly. In addition a band named the Black Angels are doing a free show sponsored by Spotify. At their concert Spotify is giving out activation codes. The show is Monday night at Mercury Lounge in New York somewhere, Brooklyn? (I'm listening to music on napster.com from The Black Angels right now. They are okay.)

I understand that Spotify is trying to create urgency and excitement about their USA launch. They are very successful at that. But how well will this strategy look a year from now? Right now they could be pissing off those who would be their biggest fans later. And even though the free version of Spotify sounds cool, there are still a lot of restrictions on it. Since I haven't been able to use Spotify yet, all I can go by is word of mouth. Or in this case word of internet. Some of the early free activation codes were for unlimited music. However most of the free activation codes are for very limited amount of music. I've read both 2.5 hours a week and 20 hours a month. I don't know how correct either of those numbers are.

All of Spotify reviews I've read have been extremely favorable. It's competitors: After I listened to Pandora for several hours I was burned out. That's been my experience every time I've listened to Pandora. It's great for the first few hours. Many people love it's music genome idea. While that may have some advantages, I think that is also Pandora's biggest weakness. I did discover a great song by Reliant K called "Sadie Hawkins Dance". However the band is only okay. They have two or three good original songs. But most of their good songs are covers. I quite like their cover of Justin Bieber's "Baby". They rock that song.

I also have a membership to napster.com. It's pretty cool and it only costs me $5 a month. It has saved me more money from buying crappy music that comes heavily hyped. Most of those band suck, as hype is a trick to cover up crap. For instance, I wish I'd had a membership before I bought Mars Volta "Frances The Mute". It would have only taken me a couple of minutes to know that I didn't buy that CD. It's very rare I want to listen to a song or band etc at napster.com that it doesn't have. Example: the only Def Leppard music they have is the new live CD "Mirror Ball".

I will keep you updated with my Spotify experience, or as of right now lack of Spotify experience. I'd love to hear what kind of experience you have had with Spotify so far or your frustrations if you are also shut out.

themusicaddict

I Want My Spotify!!

Dearest Spotify,

Back in the 80's one of the slogans for MTV was "I Want My MTV". That was when they played videos and didn't show the idiotic "Jersey Shore" though. Now it's the 10's, still waiting for a better name for this decade, now I want my Spotify! I submitted my e-mail about 24 hours ago and still haven't received the official invite. You probably want to get me access asap as my blog reaches ten's of people each day :)

While waiting on the invitation from Spotify, I've been listening to Pandora. Last night I listened to what I titled "Mambo #5" radio. Today I'm listening to "new music" radio. This is a very cool song I heard this morning:



themusicaddict

Spotify, Spotify Come Out To Play (Updated December 14th, 2015)

There use to be a picture here of the gorgeous Brooklyn Decker that violated Google's Ad Sense policy. Someone must have complained as the picture had been there 4 years without any comments. I got rid of the cover of her 2011 SI Swimsuit Edition- she was looking crazy beautiful. Below I have posted a picture of the lovely Miss Decker circa 2015. You're welcome.

Hello,

For those of you who didn't get enough of Brooklyn Decker at the awful ESPY's last night, here's another picture:



Two pictures of her improves the look of this blog. More blog improvement below.

Spotify debuted in the United States today and I want to tell you how cool it is. However when your are poor, some might say cheap, like I am I want to check it out free first. There's a free option with Spotify, however you have to receive an invitation. I submitted my e-mail address to them this morning, now about 14 hours later I still haven't received the e-mail invite.

14 hours in internet time? That's crazy long. That's like 6 months in regular time. What's taking them so long to reply? I do have an extensive iTunes library and a membership with napster.com. As of right now I can listen to nearly any song I want on a moment's notice for a very small amount. However I want to try out the new toy, the new free toy.

I'm not a big Pandora fan. For me, my experience has been I type in a song or an artist but within a few songs its playing music that I don't like. (Tonight I started Pandora with "Tubthumping" and it devolved to The Baha Men's "Best Years Of Our Lives". Huh? Eventually it played a really crappy song "Sweat" by somebody called Inner Circle. Huh again?) I have been less than impressed by Pandora so far. I like having control over what I want to hear.

That's generally why I don't listen to the radio. Although Pandora at least has very few commercials. Thankfully it doesn't have lame DJ's or traffic reports though. I listened to about 10 songs on Pandora. Again I started off my listening with "Tubthumping" and after that either 60's or 90's songs were played? From the 60's "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", "Johnny B. Goode", "Do Wah Diddy". From the 90's Sugar Ray's "Fly", "Love Shack", "Mambo #5" and Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven".

Some sad news: it seems on the 121st day of the NFL Lockout a new CBA deal is imminent. What's the impetus you ask? Once the NFL starts missing preseason games they are losing $200 million each week of the preseason. Greed started this situation and greed is going to end this labor strife. As usual lawyers leave the happiest. I've heard the deal is anywhere from 7 to 10 years, at least we won't deal with this nonsense for a long time.

Shows you don't have to waste your time watching. "Bones" was pretty disappointing, I had heard a lot of good things about it. It didn't live up to all the praise I had heard about it. I watched a few episodes on Comcast On Demand and I wasn't overly impressed. A show that's similar, but much better, is the great "Rizzoli and Isles". Angie Harmon is still gorgeous and she has the sexiest voice ever. She has great chemistry with her fellow cast mate Sasha Alexander. Alexander is kind of attractive in a hot nerd girl sort of way. I mean that as a compliment.



I saw one episode of "Alphas" and I think that's enough. It felt like several shows thrown together. It felt a lot like "No Ordinary Family" with a little "Heroes" and "FlashForward" thrown in. Do you notice the commonality between those three shows? Yes, they have all been cancelled. Also in "Alphas" 90 minute premiere episode, it had up to 5 consecutive minutes of commercials. The only reason I know that is by fast forwarding the show. I bet close to half of the 90 minute running time was commercials. If you want to watch a cool show for nerds, I recommend "Falling Skies". I'm really liking that show, I look forward to seeing it each Sunday night. That's one of the few shows that's appointment TV for me. Although I still watch it on my DVR.

Also skip "Franklin and Bash". It's for those of you that thought "Married With Children" was too complex.

Tomorrow night is the final episode of "Friday Night Lights". I jumped on that bandwagon 4 years late, but this last season I've watched I've really liked. It has some great story lines, great characters and excellent acting. Are the Taylors going to end up in Dillon or where Mrs. Taylor interviewed for the job?

Last but not least in another very tense soccer match, the USA beat France 3-1. Abby Wambach had another header for a goal, which broke a 1-1 tie. Whether the USA wins on Sunday or not, I think that Wambach and Goalie Hope Solo will be the breakout stars. (Yes, I know they've both played for the US Women's Team for a few years. Relatively they have such a small pool of fans they've toiled in obscurity most of that time.) Also scoring a goal for the USA was Alex Morgan.



I thought to myself while watching the match if Morgan scores a goal, she could really break big. Not only is she an excellent soccer player, but as we use to say back in the day she's a stone cold babe.

I think Sunday's USA-Japan match could be one for the ages. The USA has completely dominated the series with Japan so far. But I think Sunday's match will be between two very evenly matched teams. With a earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant issues I predict that Japan will be the sentimental favorite. I don't get a sense who host country Germany will be pulling for. Although I think initially they'll be cheering for Japan. Although the US does have a strong military presence in Germany. I predict something will happen in the match that will swing the cheers for one country. My only prediction about this match is that it will be close and hard fought. I'm just glad I can watch this match. If for no other reason watch it for Abby Wambach, she's really fun to watch play.

themusicaddict

US Wins: The Score Doesn't Indicate How Good France Played.

Hello,

I would just like to apologize for my weak blog yesterday. Usually where I work I have plenty of time to work on my blog. However with a new school quarter coming up I was plenty busy yesterday.

I was able to take today off to deal with some bureaucratic nonsense. I also was busy this morning watching the USA's dramatic victory over France. For those who don't appreciate soccer and rag on it they will never understand how great today's game was. While USA did win the game 3-1, it was much closer than that. At the start of the second half France completely dominated possession but just couldn't quite get a second goal.

Thank goodness I'll be able to watch the Women's World Cup Finals Sunday afternoon. They will either play Japan, who scares me. I watched part of one of their games earlier in the tournament and they are awesome. Or USA will play Sweden, the team that the USA 2-1 in the first round of play. Not only is Sweden very good but they have the best post score celebration.

I may return later with more. I watched the new SyFy series last night. I have some opinions about that especially the ridiculous length of the commercials.

themusicaddict

Home Run Derby

Hello,

I don't about you but I just didn't care a whole lot about the Home Run Derby. I watched a bit last night but I got tired of it pretty quickly.

What did I do last night instead, I watched the mid-80's movie "One Crazy Summer". I admit I was feeling a bit nostalgic for the 80's. And any movie with Demi Moore can't be that bad, can it? Well it actually can. "One Crazy Summer" is a terrible movie. Don't watch it as it's not worth your time.

Although there is a scene that starts at about the 1:02 mark that sums up most 80's movie. This is the scene where Demi Moore is singing a song called "Don't Look Back". Since it's a song in a 80's movie, of course it's a synth driven track. There's a lot of bad dancing. Also for the most part many of these actors went on to do nothing. There are the usual jerk guys and the losers win. Along with seeing Demi Moore and John Cusack there were some other people to see. Booger from "Revenge of the Nerds" is in this movie. The guy that plays John Cusack's friend, George Calimari, looked really familiar. I couldn't figure out who he is. I had to go to imdb.com for the answer. I realized it's Freddy Rumson from "Mad Men". He's terribly cast in "One Crazy Summer", but he's perfect in "Mad Men".

themusicaddict

"Falling Skies", Led Zeppelin 1

Hello,

I'm still on a high from America's amazing comeback win in such dramatic fashion at the Women's World Cup yesterday. I watched "Falling Skies" until 9:00 and then turned over to ESPN, where they showed the amazing highlights again. America's amazing victory is truly goosebump worthy. I usually work Wednesday mornings, but I'm trying to get this Wednesday off so I can cheer on America in the WWC Semifinals against France.

But on the other hand I'm very use to my teams being on the losing end as well. I understand that Brazil is probably hurting a lot. They played a hard fought match and I think they'll win titles in the future. I tip my hat to the hard playing, gutty Brazilian team.

For those of you who are wondering why so much fuss has been made about this match, here are some reasons. 1) It's the World Cup! 2) These are the world's best women's soccer players. 3) That was one of the most exciting soccer matches, indeed sporting events, ever. That's not hype either. ESPN named it to it's Top 10 exciting sports moments as well. In a match where one team was playing short handed scoring on a near second last goal. That was only a couple of things that was part of all the drama in the match.

I thought last night was another great episode of "Falling Skies". I'm really liking this show after a few weeks. Last night the first 50 minutes were taut, but the last 10 minutes was pure filler. I was waiting for the characters to discuss why the skitter was gently stroking the hair of "its" harness kids. I thought that was interesting and wondering why the skitter seemed to feel such genuine emotion for the harness kids. Is it because the harness came from that specific skitter?

I know it sounds weird that I cared about Dr. Glass killing the skitter. I was getting attached to it. Is that why they didn't give the skitter a name to help prevent being attached? There seemed to be some true humanity in it's eyes. I thought the skitter was on the verge of spilling some secrets. I also thought Dr. Glass was getting attached as well. I do wonder how much the skitters are willing participants in taking over the world. I know Dr. Glass had the 24 hour deadline placed on her, but I didn't think she'd be the one to do the killing. (The killing, not to be confused with a very disappointing show on AMC.)

I'm still wondering who or what are putting the harnesses on the kids. Neither the mechs nor the skitters seem to have the ability to install harnesses. Where do the harnesses come from, it seems they could have been part of a skitter's body. Do the harnesses self attach to the back of children? Or was Dr. Harris the one that originally installed the harnesses? That would explain why he knew how to take them off. It could also explain why he survived when Tom's wife died. Did he make a deal with the skitters? If he did though, how did they communicate? What am I missing here?

Did the skitter kill Dr. Harris out of revenge? Or is it because Dr. Harris was possibly a traitor to the skitters? Perhaps that radio static was a skitter leader telling the skitter to kill Dr. Harris if it got a chance. I don't think we can accept Dr. Harris's death at face value. I have so many questions I hope get answered.

Along with reading Brady Udall's "The Lonely Polygamist" and Ted Bell's "Warlord", I've started reading Mick Wall's "When Giants Walked the Earth". It's a biography of the greatest band of all-time, Led Zeppelin. I've read the first 53 pages. So far the band formed, toured under the name The New Yardbirds and started working on Led Zeppelin 1. The mighty Zep made the CD in 30 hours studio time spread over 9 days. Both John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page had a lot of session work at that point. They were very familiar with working in studios. They definitely knew what they were doing, but still it's amazing that they were able to put together such a great CD in only 9 days. It takes Axl Rose that many days to decide on a song title.

Mick Walls also said that only 3 of the 9 songs on that CD were originals so that helped. Led Zeppelin did "borrow" from many other artists on several of their songs. To fulfill a contract and possibly generate some excitement for the new band they did those few tour dates. However a lot of people still weren't very familiar with them. Let's say you are in 1968 England and you hear about this new and upcoming band. They intrigue you enough that you go to the local record store (do you remember those?, if not watch "High Fidelity") and buy it. You have to take it home, you just can't start listening to it in your car on the way home. You get home and put it on your record player and the first few notes comes out at you. What do you think? I think that's a pretty amazing first song.

It's generally not the best idea to buy a CD because the band intrigues you usually. I was very intrigued by Oasis and bought "What's The Story Morning Glory". That was a piece of crap. Thank goodness we live in the internet age. Many times I'm able to listen to a CD on napster.com (maybe Spotify soon enough) before buying it. I would have never bought that craptastic Oasis CD if I had actually heard it before buying.

When one thinks of Led Zeppelin classic songs, "Good Times Bad Times" has to be on that list. Also "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "Dazed and Confused" and "Communication Breakdown". Personally I think that nearly every Led Zeppelin song is a classic. Can you imagine a current band having that many classic songs on their first CD? In fact, here's a challenge question for you, name the last musician that had 4 classic songs on their first CD. Off the top of my head the last band I can think of doing that is Guns N' Roses. I know there will be some argument about this but I think "Appetite for Destruction" has at least 8 or 9 classic songs on it.

In answering my question please do not suggest Radiohead, Oasis, Nickleback, Kid Pebble or any of the other allegedly fantastic modern bands. In fact, of those 4 musicians mentioned, none of them have 4 classic songs by themselves. I'm sure there are probably a few musicians who's first CD has 4 classic songs on it, I just can't think who that would be right off.

Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times":



This is Led Zeppelin 1's track listing.

1. Good Times Bad Times 2:46
2. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You 6:41
3. You Shook Me 6:28
4. Dazed And Confused 6:26
5. Your Time Is Gonna Come 4:34
6. Black Mountain Side 2:12
7. Communication Breakdown 2:27
8. I Can't Quit You Baby 4:45
9. How Many More Times 8:28

themusicaddict