57 Channels and Only This Is On - 8/11/12

Quote of the Week: Life is cheap in prison, Vicente and I'm a very rich man. (J.R. – Dallas)

Song of the Week: God's Gonna Cut You Down – Johnny Cash (Dallas)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Canada Blames: I played soccer all throughout my youth, was a referee in college and watch every American match in the World Cup, Olympics and other random friendlies, and I do not remember anyone call a goalie for holding the ball too long, seen a couple warnings (apparently the Canadian goalie was warned by the assistant referee previously), but never actually called. It is so prevalent that the networks usually aired replays while the goalies stroll around the box for a minute or two before getting rid of it. It is kind of like a travel in basketball where you have to take an extra step or five to get called (I had to laugh when Chris Paul actually got called for it not knowing NBA superstar rules do not apply in international basketball). For the record, the rule is six seconds and the goalie held it for over ten before the penalty was called. But it is silly for Canadians to complain because it is a rarely called foul because it would be telling a judge you should have not have to pay your jaywalking ticket because cops rarely write anyone up for it. And if that is not enough to keep you Cunucks from complaining, please watch the video of Melissa Tancredi stomping on Carli Lloyd’s head which went uncalled. It was poetic that the Americans ended up winning the gold medal on that very head of Lloyd.

Preview Picture of the Week:


Falling Skies: I have to wonder just how Pope knew of Maggie’s deep dark secret. Why exactly would she tell her former captor something like that if she did not want to share with someone else?
You can download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Weeds: It is a shame that Andy got himself a new show already on NBC this fall because I would have been up for an Andy and Doug, My Two Dads style spin off.

Pretty Little Liars: Did they really need to introduce yet another guy who looks just like every other guy? When Erza’s brother showed up on screen I was trying to figure out if that was the dude who ended up hosting the party or the one guy who was in the secret fight club. It turns out neither. Now usually when talking about Mr. Fitz(Gerald) I make a Better than Ezra reference, but instead suggest Aria take the advice of Steve Miller and take the money and run. That family is bad news.

But the big news was the introduction of The BetrAyal which will happen at the end of the season. Despite the stylization it is unclear if The BetrAyal will turn out to be “A”, just a member of “The A Team” or just a someone forced by “A” to betray the Liars, or just a random betrayal. ABC Family even set up a suspect tracker where Paige is currently in the lead with 34%. Conspicuously absent is my leading contender for the new A in Allison and my new favorite character CiCi. Since I am hoping that the BetrAyal is by one of the Liars, I am going to predict Aria will be doing the betraying. Her name does start with an A.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Tracks from the Attic – The Lumineers (Noise Trade)

Deal of the Week: Hip-Hop Classics for 2.99: Amazon went for some classic rap albums for their deeply discounted albums this week including A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, and Nas.


New Album Release of the Week: Just Tell Me That You Want Me - Tribute To Fleetwood Mac

New DVD Release of the Week: Shaft [Blu-ray]

Video of the Week: Wait, Coach Taylor helped kill Osama bin Laden? I guess that makes sense.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Boss, Friday at 9:00 on Starz: For the three of you that have Starz, the second season of Boss returns later this week. The first season was weirdly frantic and I could not turn away. For those that do not have Starz, t5he first season is available on Blu-ray and DVD, you can check out my review here: One Necessary Evil Leads to Another until One Day You Can’t Differentiate Between What’s Necessary and What’s Merely Expedient.

Around the Tubes - 8/10/12

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Treme, Go On, Dallas, Grimm, Evancho: Music of the Movies, Sons of Anarchy, Nelly Furtado, H+, US Soccer, Hard Time, Lena Dunham, The Avett Brothers, Black Entertainment magazine, and TruTV.

- Treme is set to return to HBO on Sunday 9/23 at 9:00 and here is your first look at the third season.


- Missed Go On after the Olympics? Head over to NBC.com to watch the entire premiere for free.

- For those who cannot wait to see what happens next after the Dallas finale, which was seen by 4.3 million viewers, you will only have to wait until January to see what the Barnes family has for the Ewing’s.

- Grimm is getting an early start Monday, a day after the Olympics closes and if you need to a refresher, you can download the all new Grimm EBook for freen on iTunes. And of course prior to Grimm will be new reality series Stars Earn Stripes.

- Premiering tomorrow on PBS (check your local listings) is Jackie Evancho: Music of the Movies where the twelve year old will be singing My Heart Will Go On, Some Enchanted Evening, and many more.

- If you follow Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter on Twitter, and the show returns with a bigger rating than season four, you could win a trip to Los Angeles to watch a future episode with him and the cast. Head over to SutterInk.blogspot.com for all the details.

- Swagger New York recently sat down with Nelly Furtado and talked about how Odd Future is the new Nirvana and why she chooses Timberlake over Bieber in the battle of Justins.

- Do not look to the big screen for Bryan Singer’s (X-Men: First Class) next project, instead head to YouTube for H+ about a futuristic online series, where the human race is hardwired to the Internet starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Alexis Denisof.

- The American women Soccer team took home gold yesterday and they may have Brendan James to thank because they used his song The Lucky Ones for a pregame and when the singer found this out he created a video to root them on including a live performance of the song, check it out on YouTube. In other US Soccer news, check out the op-ed about the team on TakePart.com.

- When Hard Time returns next Tuesday at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel, the new season will begin with two “Best Of” episodes then twelve episodes on Las Vegas’ Detention Center.

- In The New Yorker this week, Lena Dunham recalls the heartbreak of her first love.

- Gap recently launched it6s fall Shine campaign with help from The Avett Brothers, check them out below:


- In the August issue of Black Entertainment magazine, President Obama sits down with Editor-in-Chief Derek T. Dingle for an exclusive Q&A to address the needs, concerns and criticism from the black community.

- TruTV just released their fall television schedule and here it is:

Killer Karaoke – New series premieres Friday, Oct. 19, at 9:00
South Beach Tow – Season 2 premieres Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 9:30
Operation Repo – Season 10.1 premieres Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 10:00
Ongoing Series
Lizard Lick Towing – Mondays at 10:00
Hardcore Pawn – Tuesdays at 9:00
Storage Hunters – Sundays at 10:00

Don't Call it a Comeback vol. VII: Eric B and Rakim

It seems like once a week I am listening to my iTunes library and I hear a song that makes me go, this artist really needs a comeback. So I thought I would start a new feature here on the 9th Green highlighting an artist that really needs to reenter the public consciousness. The only criterion is that the artist hasn’t had a legitimate hit in over a decade.

Due for a Comeback: Eric B. & Rakim

Biggest Hit: Paid In Full


Last Hit: Juice (Know the Ledge) (1992)

Where Are They Now: DJ Eric B. released a solo album shortly after the duo split but has been relatively quite ever since. Rakim has released three solo albums, none of which were released by Aftermath even though he was signed to the Dr. Dre record label for a couple years, the songs of which stay sealed in a vault somewhere. He has also been featured on tracks from Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, and, um, Shaquille O'Neal. Rakim (without Eric B.) was honored by VH1’s Hip Hop Honors in 2006 and the duo was a finalist for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year but was ultimately not selected.

Why the World Needs am Eric B & Rakim Comeback: Rakim is widely viewed as the greatest lyricist of all time and even to this day can rap miles around hacks of today like Rick Ross and Lil Wayne. Their debut Paid in Full had its twenty-fifth anniversary last month and according to Rakim he is hoping to rerelease the album later this year which would include new tracks with Eric B by the end of the year. Hopefully that leads to a full album.

Bullets Don't Seem to Have Much of an Effect on Me Darlin'

When the Dallas reboot was announced, much like every other reboot, I found it unnecessary. Sure the original invented, or at the very least perfected the nighttime soap back in the eighties. It also created the best whodunit ever in the history of television (or so I am told, the original was a bit before my time). But it would come back a relic and would have to compete with more cerebral modern day soaps like Revenge.

It did not help when Dallas came back it returned focusing again on the very eighties plot of the hunt for oil and tried to bring it into the present with buzz words like fracking and alternative fuels. And where Revenge focused on hunting down the people responsible for the death of someone, the big struggle at the heart of the new season of Dallas was once again land. It also did not help that the signature character from the original started of the season in an almost catatonic state in a nursing home.

But once J.R. Ewing rose from his chair, put on his ten-gallon hat, and sharpened his eyebrows, things got started with double crosses (and triple, and quadruple) coming at a furious pace. And things did not slow down as J.R. and J.R. Jr. tried to outmaneuver each other and Bobby to get control of Southfork and the oil underneath it. With J.R. losing his fastball and J.R. Jr. not picking up the slack, thankfully Assistant Director Skinner stepped in as a worthy antagonist tormenting ex-wife Ann and blackmailing Sue Ellen for political favors. And tonight he will be looking for other kinds of favors from a member of the fairer sex. And all that manipulating led us to the final.

We left Dallas last week with blood splattering on a pair of teddy bears. And Rebecca and her “brother” were not the only people left in the balance as Bobby crumbed to the floor. Okay, not much of a cliffhanger because they already killed Bobby once, it is not like they would kill him off again, and if they did, it may not even stick again. Rebecca, who became the most interesting character in the second half of the season, was the more curious case. Thankfully you will not have to wait very long at the start of the finale tonight to see how the shootout played out.

With all the double dealing and devious playing, the show does find a way to wrap up all of this season plots in a nice little bow (and a little too nice) with the exception of one, which may be a red herring to misdirect you from what happens to set up the second episode. But that is excused because Dallas saved it biggest reveal for last, a shocker so big, I will not even hit at it to avoid you from spoiling yourself. I will suggest that you have the Ewing family tree handy, especially if you are new to the series. But for those spoiler hounds that just have to know how the season ends, the last sight you see tonight is “To Be Continued”. (After the finale airs I am going to add a very spoilery addition talking about the big twist, so once you watch, return here to see my thoughts).

Spoiler Alert!!! Do not read if you have not seen the season finale.

Wow, I did not see Rebecca turning out being Cliff’s daughter. That reveal had me running to Wikipedia to check out the Ewing Family Tree because I thought that would make Rebecca and Christopher cousins. But from what I understand, they are only cousins by adoption, not blood. And according to Wikipedia, Cliff does have a daughter named Pamela Rebecca Cooper. Still kind of creepy for an uncle to use his daughter to seduce his nephew, blood related or not. What really through me off the scent of Rebecca being related to Cliff, even when she met with his rent boy, was I was convinced that Rebecca was Ann’s daughter (but this is a soap opera, so that is not completely out of the question, Brenda Strong who plays Ann, was on the original series as “Cliff’s One Night Stand”). So I wonder if that was just a red herring or it will play a big role next season. But anything that keeps Assistant Director Skinner involved, I am all for.

Dallas 1.x (or 15.x depending how you look at it) gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can download Dallas on iTunes.

I Remember When We Used to Sit in the Government Yard in Trenchtown

I have never been a fan of bio-flicks. Why would I want to watch a fictional take on someone’s life especially if I was around to witness it firsthand? Why would I want to watch Walk the Line, when I could just spend those two hours listening to Johnny Cash songs? Or watch Will Smith pretend to be Muhammad Ali when I can just watch the documentary When We Were Kings instead? Thankfully no one has made a Bob Marley bio-flick (yet) and with the documentary Marley, the DVD released appropriately released a day after the fiftieth anniversary of Jamaica’s independence, there really is no need for a fictional version of his life.

Like most suburban white youth, I got into Bob Marley in high school where Legend might as well have been passed out at freshmen orientation. It was pure party music that could anyone moving no matter what other genres of music they listened to, and you may even learn something while you dance. While Redemption Song remains one of my favorite songs ever recorded. Like many other artists before my time, I pretty much stopped at the greatest hits (I got about fifty of his songs on my iPod) and really did not know much about his life other than a couple conspiracy theories involving the CIA.

If you are like me, you will definitely want to check out Marley to get the full experience, even the Bob Marley fanatic will probably find something new including a few unreleased tracks including a gospel, piano based demo of Redemption Song recorded with Peter Tosh (which sadly is not on the soundtrack). The documentary, from Kevin MacDonald (The Last King of Scotland), follows Marley’s life from his ska beginnings in Trenchtown, to revolutionary, to his last days fighting cancer. MacDonald got unprecedented access from the Marley family, former Wailers like Neville “Bunny” Livingston, Islands Records founder Chris Blackwell, the former Prime Minister, a couple mistresses, Bob’s first teacher, and eve a singer / janitor at Studio 1 where Bob recorded early material.

Even at two and a half hours, there is not a wasted minute and you may even find yourself wishing it went over three hours long. There are also plenty of features on the DVD. There are extended interviews with Bunny (who busts out a pipe that was made out of a carrot) and another of children’s memory from Ziggy, Stephan, and Cedella as well as clips of people listening to a very rare track called I’m Loose, so rare that it is the first time even some of the closest people to him are hearing it for the first time. There is an 18 minute “Around the World” feature that shows how Marley is celebrated around the globe, even in places you would not expect like Tunisia, India, and Tibet. There is also an audio commentary featuring director MacDonald and Ziggy as well as a photo gallery and theatrical trailer.


Full Discourse Notice: This DVD was provided to me by BHI Impact for review.

I Want My Music Television - 8/6/12

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

Miriam - Norah Jones


Norah Jones continues her path of destruction with what looks to be a sequel (prequel possibly) to her Happy Pill video. Hopefully the trilogy ends better than Spider-Man 3.


Queen of California - John Mayer



I am always a fan of one take music videos (okay, there are a couple obvious cuts here) and it looks like John Mayer is continuing his mountain recluse look at least on screen because after disappearing to the plains of Montana the last couple years after being humiliated because of his high profile relationships, he was quick to be seen with the recently single Katy Perry just a month after his album was released. I wonder what Vegas has for the Over/Under of a Playboy style interview.


Blown Away - Carrie Underwood


You may think to yourself that you may not need a artsy black and white dramatic turn from Carrie Underwood, and after watching this video, you will probably be right. C’mon, if you are going to go back between black and white and color featuring a twister, just go full The Wizard of Oz.


My Oh My - Tristan Prettyman>


I liked the folksy vibe of her first two album making Tristan Prettyman a female Jack Johnson. With that background it is a little weird to see her dancing around in the first video from her upcoming album.

London Olympics Round Up Week 1

This is the first Summer Olympics I have watched in HD and it was well worth the upgrade. It even makes quite boring events like Rowing entertaining because the sight is just so beautiful. The images are so sharp you can even see sweat drip down off a ping ponger’s brow. Who knew table tennis athletes sweat? Apparently they sweat so much they have a towel off break every seven points or so. Here are some other thought on the first week of the Olympics.

- Who would have guessed one of the biggest stories of The Olympics would come from badminton? Sure we see a few athletes ever games booted from competition, but most are for trying too hard with performance enhancers. This is the first time I have ever heard of anyone getting booted for not trying. But four woman’s doubles pairs did just that and got booed then booted by a crowd that paid about $120 American for the match.

- The other big news of the week was Michael Phelps is now the most decorated medalist of all time. It is hard to argue that he is not the greatest Olympian ever even though there is a laughable amount of swimming medal (who knows how many Carl Lewis could have gotten if there was skipping, backwards, and hopping) 100 Meters) kind of like how RnB artists are always the most nominated at the Grammy’s because there is an absurd amount of RnB categories.

- I am sick of Debbie Phelps. There, I said it. They should have had more gratuitous Kate Middleton shots. And how has there not been a Pippa sighting yet?

- Gymnastics was usually when I would take my dogs for a walk every night mostly because I feared if I watched the “Woman’s” I might walk into my kitchen and see Chris Hansen. But I did get back in time for the controversies. I do not have a problem with only two gymnasts from one country in the finals, if you cannot even beat your teammates, then you do not have a gripe.

- But my favorite gymnast story was a Men’s Japanese gymnast who fell of the one thing, putting his country in fourth. His coach then slips a judge a few dollars (which thanks to my HD I am pretty sure were American, which begs the question, why does the Japanese delegation have American dollars in Great Britain), and a couple minutes later (I am not one to complain about tape delays, but if you are going to air it a couple hours later, how about cutting down the standing, and waiting around for scores?), Japan moved up to second. Awesome.


- Of course a couple days after declaring Alex Morgan having the second ponytail ever in the history of the world, she just had to come out for her very next game with her hair in a bun. Her hair magically came down minutes later, but was back up by half time where it stayed. Hurump. Thankfully her ponytail was back to its awesomeness glory for the next game where she brused her knee on the New Zealand’s goalie.


- Forget Destinee Hooker, Dutch swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo has the best name of these Olympics.

- Please note that trampoline is an Olympics sport; baseball is not.

- Speaking of American pastimes not currently in the Olympics, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said this week he hopes that football will soon become an Olympics sport and as the six-four countries needed to be included. As the great Michael Wilbon responded (paraphrasing), “There are only two countries that play football: America and Canada. And we are not entirely sure about Canada.” And considering it currently takes five weeks for the NFL’s twelve team playoff, how exactly does Roger plan to get an Olympics tournament done in seventeen days?

- I really do not understand the controversy of the double amputee running in the Olympics. So what if he gets an advantage from his prosthetics, dude has no legs. Until people start voluntarily amputating their legs to get an unfair advantage, let the guy run. Almost as inspiring but less reported on is the one handed Table Tennis contestant which has to be the second greatest one handed feet since Jim Abbott threw a one-hitter.