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 None of those methods have worked for me, most of the information on those websites is terribly out of date.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