Please Stop Looking

Puff Daddy must be relieved now that he no longer holds the record for using the worst sample ever when he stole The Police’s Every Breathe You Take for his I’ll Be Missing You song. That title now belongs to Pras, formally know as the other dude in the Fugees, who recently sampled U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For in his obviously titled Haven’t Found. When I first heard the song it started off with the unmistakable guitar riff, but then a weird base line kicks in and then a women’s voice starts singing that surely isn’t Bono. The lyrics are also chaotic in that Pras and the chick trade verses where Pras’ are more political while the chick sings about relationship. Seriously, pick a subject and stick to it. I you don’t want to waste your money, you can see the video of free here.

In other horrible music news, I would like to let all the girls out there know, despite recent songs that say otherwise, if a few times you’ve been around that track, you are, by definition, a Hollaback Girl.

Now Watch Me Rise Up and Leave

A couple days ago, I posted my Coldplay review and mentioned that the new album was more of the same. The reason they will never (at least not right now) reach U2 status is because they haven’t evolved unlike U2 who changes from album to album. When you stick to a signature sound, you set yourself up to be Pearl Jam with grunge. Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains were good, but then the radio filled up with knock offs like Bush, Candlebox and many other bland copy cats. Recently I’ve heard some bands have their own Coldplay songs (Oasis – Mucky Fingers). Well let me introduce you to the first Coldplay cover band, Embrace. Will they play Alice in Chains to Coldplay’s Pearl Jam or are they more of a Bush.

Granted the Coldplay comparison does stretch it a little. I was first introduced to Embrace by some one who compared them to Coldplay. Aside from being British and mellow, emotional music, there really isn’t much in common musically aside from Gravity that takes off the signature Coldplay guitar crunch (and coincidently was co-written by Chris Martin). With the multiple layered music and danceable tracks, The Stone Roses might be a better comparison.

On their latest album, Out of Nothing, Embrace shine whenever they go for the layered vocals/choral approach to songs such as Ashes and Someday. The added layers give a sense of grandeur that seem to be missing from today’s pop landscape. The slower songs, such as the title track, do bring down the album a little bit as they don’t pull these types of songs off like Coldplay. Luckily, most of these songs do change tempos to make the songs better.

Song to Download – Ashes

Out of Nothing gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Musings From the Back 9 vol. V

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Big Head Barry and the Monsters Update

It's been a while since I've blasted my favorite oversized melon, but the latest Bonds story is a good one (or bad depending how you look at it). In Tales from the White Sox Dugout, former White Sox Ron Kittle tells how he approached the Giant's slugger with a couple of Bonds' game-worn road jerseys, asking him to autograph them for an auction for Kittle's charity for children with cancer:

I paid about $110 of my own money for them, so they could be auctioned off at the golf outing. I did that all the time for stars like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Derek Jeter and Roger Clemens. When I tell them how their autographs help the cause, every player gladly signs - with one exception. I walked up to Bonds at his locker in the Wrigley Field visitors' clubhouse, introduced myself and said, "Barry, if you sign these, they'll bring in a lot of money for kids who need help." Bonds stood up, looked me in the eye and said, "I don't sign for white people." If lightning hits me today, I will swear those were his exact words. Matt Williams and other Giants were in the room and they heard what Bonds said.
You can check out Bonds' response here - Bonds blasts Kittle for racist quote attributed to Bonds.

In related Big Head Barry news, his trainer is in the news again, check out what he's up to - Anderson didn't receive a plea deal.

In more uplifting sports news, The Cleveland Browns recently donated $300,000 to nine local schools that were in danger of having to cut all extracurricular actives. It's nice to see they are putting the money they took back from Kellen "I'm a soldier" Winslow Jr. into a good cause. The NFL then added another $200,000. Apparently the Browns realize what our government doesn't that "Kids are gonna act a fool, when you cut the programs for after school?" But I guess it doesn't matter to them as long as No Millionaire is Left Behind.

We on Award Tour - 2005 MTV Movie Awards

Typically the best award show, MTV Movie Awards was last night. But could it overcome the horribly unfunny Jimmy Fallon? First, let me judge the commercials that led up to the show. First there was the Chewbacca one, not so funny as I could care less about celebrity coupling. Then there was the Maria Full of Grace short. This was I actually did find funny but I have a feeling that 95% of the MTV demographic have never even heard of the movie. But when it comes down to it, neither were as funny as the one Fallon did a couple years back for the VMA’s when he said “You would make out with me in front of my doorman when I said ‘This is Natalie Portman from Star Wars, what to watch me make out with her?’”

Then we had to sit through the pre-show which was a half of hour of watching Nicole Richie and Fat Joe (and fat is being nice, he should be known as Morbidly Obese Joe) hit on the people they were supposed to be interviewing. I’m so glad to arrive early for that.

There were three shorts throughout the night. The show opened with one of the worst ones of all time with the unfunny Jimmy Fallon being picked up by Batman who turns out to be some one who is somehow not even funnier than Fallon, Napoleon Dynamite. The skit didn’t make sense because, like everyone else, I haven’t seen Batman Begins. Next we have the Star Wars parody. Again not funny, maybe because they were making light of the darkest scenes in Star Wars history. Last we have the Fallon-free Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson sketch. Not their best work bust still funnier than anything Fallon did all night.

As for the musically performances, we start of with Eminem doing what he does best, making fun of pop stars, then transitions into a medley of two of his worst songs ever. Is this guy seriously in his thirties? I have no comment of Mariah Carey’s performance as I switched over to watch Vanilla Ice’s performance on Hit Me Baby One More Time. Then we get a special performance by Yellowcard during The Breakfast Club tribute. Can we pass a law forbidding them from ever singing Don’t You (Forget About Me) ever again please? And while we're at it, can we please ban all "punk" bands that sound more like the Backstreet Boys than The Clash? The last performance is by the Foo Fighters who are basically a hit-or-miss band. I have to say that song was a miss.

One band we didn’t see was Nine Inch Nails who pulled out after MTV found a picture of George Bush to be too offensive. So let me get this straight, Jackass – Not offensive; Letting Jimmy Fallon fondle Sandra Bullock – not offensive; Having Eminem perform as song where he obsesses over an under aged girl’s butt – Not offensive; Picture of George Bush - Offensive. Um, OK, if you say so.

We also get two new special awards as it seems that the Lifetime Achievement Award and Best New Director Award are no longer as we now get the some sort of “Generation Award” for Tom Cruise. They really got rid of the Lifetime Achievement Award for this? Did MTV just create this award so they could have a reason to have Katie Holmes and Cruise on the stage at the same time? Then the cast of The Breakfast Club were apparently awarded the Stanly Cup. I’m sure the hockey fans were glad to finally se it again. Maybe I’m too young, but I never got the appeal of the movie or any John Hughes’ movie. I guess you had to be in high school in the eighties or a girl to appreciate them. And lets be honest, the only reason why this movie got the award was because they wouldn’t be able to get Sean Penn, Nicholas Cage, and Jennifer Jason Lee to get back together for a Fast Times reunion.

As for my predictions (If You Can Dodge a Wrench, You Can Dodge a Ball) I voted for a measly four of the fourteen awards. I didn’t do much well predicating as I only got six correct. Looking at the winner’s list, it looks like I severely overestimated the nerd population. I thought they would come out and have Spiderman 2 sweep the awards they were up for. Instead the D&D crowd instead voted for their own personal bio-flick Napoleon Dynamite. I already stated my conspiracy theory about Napoleon being produced by MTV studios, so I won’t go into that again.

Funniest acceptation surprisingly goes to the biggest surprise winner, Dustin Hoffman (seriously, does anyone who watches MTV see Meet the Fockers?), who rightfully put Eminem in his place. As for the most boring speech, that goes to Lindsay Lohan who warns us to watch out for the paparazzi. Um, OK, thanks for the tip. Granted the only reason she won was because most of the votes were taken before her magical disappearing breast trick, otherwise Rachel McAdams, who is pretty hot for a Canadian, would have made it a clean sweep for the night. While I’m talking about The Notebook I finally got a look at the dude from The Notebook, the dude everyone was comparing me to this winter, for the first time, and I see no resemblance. Not to mention, sadly no one who looks like Rachel McAdams had jumped on me during that time. Oh well.

For those keeping track, that would be three bland MTV Awards shows in a row. Here’s a suggestion to MTV, through tons of money at Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle for this year’s VMA’s.

I See You've Painted Your Soul

There has been a plethora of young singer-songwriter of the fairer sex to come along lately that almost makes you wish the return of the Lilith Fair. There was the eclectic pop of the group Eisley, the introspective pop of Anna Nalick and the quirky country-pop of Kathleen Edwards. You can now add Missy Higgins to this group. Higgins is already a star in her native Australia who is now trying to join the like of INXS and Midnight Oil with some American success.

The Sound of White is a polished album with soothing melodies and lush arrangements that will bring up comparisons to Sarah McLachlan. Higgins has a signature sound here on the album, but the song are diverse that that the album is worth repeat listenings. Higgins strong point is her songwriting. From deep (I see you've painted your soul into your guard) to longing for romance (I’ve tried cutting the rose, letting you go, but you’re still the only one that feels like home).

Song to Download – Ten Days

The Sound of White gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

All that Noise, All that Sound

One of the best bands of the new millennium is Coldplay. With their first two albums, they were posed to battle U2 for the “Greatest Band in the World” title, a title that U2 has held for most of the last 25 years. Parachutes was a good introduction with mellow grooves, just something to sit back and relax too. It also set up what has become the signature Coldplay sound. Then with A Rush of Blood to the Head, they perfected there sound of crushing guitars and piano strings. X&Y could be the make or break album.

We got a taste of what the new album will sound like with Speed of Sound, the first single that has been out for a while (one critic said it sounds like Clocks but without the passion). Sadly, that is about the best we will get to hear on the album. X&Y is, in essence, a step backwards from A Rush of Blood to the Head almost as it was the missing link between Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head.

It is pretty simple what is to blame in Coldplay’s slide, the recent marriage of lead singer, Chris Martin to Gwyneth Paltrow. It’s been clinically proven that one’s skills get deteriorated by dating or marrying stars. Case in point, Andre Agassi, he was ranked number one in the world, then marries Brooke Shields and starts losing in the first round. And how many rock star careers has Winona Rider destroyed?

So what we get on X&Y are songs about new love. One song sappier that the first. The best of these songs is Fix You. A song about trying to fix any problem your girlfriend has no matter how hard the problem is. Had they stopped there, it would have been good for the album but then we have to sit through others relationship issues like What If?, Talk, A Message, The Hardest Part, and Swallowed in the Sea.

The standout track is the hidden closer, Til Kingdom Comes. A song the band originally wrote for Johnny Cash’s American Recordings V, but unfortunately Cash died before recording it. On a side note, I cannot recommend American Recordings I-IV enough. Coldplay ended up recording it for themselves, so what you get is an old-school county song with Martin bringing out a rare baritone voice.

In the end, if you liked their first two albums, most likely you will like this. Hopefully on the next album, they experiment a little more maybe even try a couple more songs like Til Kingdom Comes.

As an after word to this review, I caught a MTV special with Coldplay performing the songs off the album. I caught it about halfway through, but what I heard was more passionate than what was on the album. Maybe instead of comparing them to U2, Dave Matthews Band might be a better comparison as their studio albums never sound as good as their live shows.

Song to Download - Til Kingdom Comes (Hidden Track)

X&Y gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Welcome to the Jungle

To commemorate the release of the XBOX version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I thought I would whip out a review albeit for the Playstation 2. (As I type this out on Microsoft Word, I find it very interesting that XBOX makes it through spell check yet Playstation doesn’t. Isn’t that taking it too far Bill?) Keep in mind I currently hovering around 70% after playing since January so I do not have a full review as the finish can sometimes make or break a game. There is nothing worse than spending a lot of time on a decent to good game only to have a lackluster ending (*cough Star Wars: Bounty Hunter cough*). But I do have a good feel to the game as I have been playing it for almost half a year.

Just like the recently reviewed Desperate Housewives (scroll down one entry), I avoided the Grand Theft Auto series as all the review for GTA3 all revolved around the ability to have your way with a hooker only to kill her and get your money back. Not necessarily my idea of fun, but anyways. Then the ads for GTA: Vice City came out. I’m sure we all remember the Miami Vice look-a-likes strolling around with explosions going of in the background and slick cars flying through the air to the sounds of A Flock of Seagulls’ I Ran. I have to admit I was excited as a child of the 80’s and a lover of anything from the decade. But then I remembered the whole hooker thing. Then I came across the soundtrack to GTA:VC featuring such great 80’s artist as Michael Jackson, Bryan Adams, Laura Branigan, Twisted Sister, Night Ranger, and my personal favorite, Lionel Ritchie. And that just a tip of the iceberg as they about fifty songs that you were able to listen to while driving around Vice City. I even found myself at my destination and I wouldn’t get out of the car because a certain song was on the radio. As for the gameplay, there were many entertaining missions that you go on all different from each other. Although I could have done without the RC missions.

So when I was offered a free copy of GTA: SA (thank you Promosquad, check to your left for a link), I jumped at it. The game this time is set in the early 90’s in a state that resembles California. Yes, there is a state to roam around, not just one city. In fact, the three major cities in the state all seem as big if not bigger than Vice City. In San Andreas, you start out in Los Santos, a Los Angeles type city and Grove Street is your own personal Compton. Next own your journey is San Fierro is a take on San Francisco equipped with hills, a winding street, and a lot of alternative lifestyle hangouts. The last place you will travel is Las Venturas which is the alternative universe version of Las Vegas which basically in California anyways. And that not it, there is an extensive rural element to San Andreas too that is about three times the size of the three major cities combined including a desert, a dam, a mountain, a secret military base, and a couple small towns and farm areas.

The music was the big part of GTA:VC, so it’s only right to start there. Since we are set in the early 90’s LA off-shoot, gangsta rap takes center stage on the radio station Radio Los Santos with eight songs by N.W.A. or N.W.A. alumni. The other major music of the time was grunge and that is put on Radio X with songs by Helmet, Rage Against the Machine, and Alice in Chains. For soul, turn to CSR and you will get contemporary music from En Vogue, Boyz II Men, and Bell Biv DeVoe, with you DJ as voiced by Michael Bivins of BBD and New Edition.

Unlike GTA:VC, SA has a few classic stations too. Playback, with your DJ voiced by Chuck D, features old school rap from Chuck’s Public Enemy, Gang Starr, and Biz Markie. Bounce FM plays classic funk tracks with your DJ, The Funktipus as voiced by George Clinton where you will hear the sounds of Rick James, Ohio Players, and The Gap Band. K-Rose is the country station for when you are traveling around the boondocks. K-DST brings you some classic rock from the likes of Tom Petty, Billy Idol and what classic rock station wouldn't be complete without some Free Bird? And the music is brought to you by none other than W Axl Rose. And quite frankly, he shouldn’t quit his day job of being a recluse. Rounding out the dial is a dance station, a Reggie station, and some talk radio. So the music is not as good as Vice City, but it will keep you entertained, even six months in.

The guest DJ’s are not the only known personalities in the game. First and foremost is Coach Carter himself, Samuel L. Jackson as Officer Tenpenny, a cop so mean that he makes Officer Krupke look like a dancing sissy. His sidekick, Officer Pulaski, is voiced by Chris Penn. I’m sure you all remember him as the hick Kevin Bacon taught to dance in Footloose. The face of the counter-culture, Peter Fonda, plays, of course a hippie who has a distrust of the government (granted my generation best knows him as Bridget's dad). James Woods plays a government agent. Fresh from his True Hollywood Stories, Charlie Murphy makes a funny, albeit short cameo. David Cross from Arrested Development is telecasted as an uber-nerd. Ice-T, The Game, MC Eiht and members of the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. not surprisingly are cast as ganstas. For the females, they brought in the C-list with Debi Mazar and Bijou Phillips who makes a rare appearance without taking her cloths off.

As for the missions, there are many that closely resemble those that are found in Vice City. Luckily they are only two RC missions here (at least as far as I gone), but the bad new that one of them is the hardest mission ever. Ever. EVER. It took me about a week to finally complete it. It was so excruciatingly painful, I skip watching Arrested Development for a couple weeks because the sound of David Cross’ voice, who is featured in the mission, sent me in to a crazed frenzy. You cannot fully comprehend how horrible this mission is until you play it.

There were some improvements in the game over Vice City as I mention earlier, the massive scale of the state. The biggest change though is that CJ can swim. I could never understand how some one on an island was unable to swim. Also CJ has the ability to climb over walls and such, this comes in handy throughout the game. CJ also has the ability of stealth, stealing a page out of Sam Fisher’s playbook. And since we are roaming around a state, you have the ability to steal airplanes and fly them. And in case you want to bail out of you plane mid-flight, you can strap on a parachute and glide down without becoming a pancake on the sidewalk. Bicycles also make their appearance as a mode of transportation as well as a special “vehicle” that you will steal from the government that I won’t spoil for you.

There is addition that I'm not fond as GTA moves to The Sims territory. I have never understood why anyone would want to play a life simulator why they have there own like to control. In GTA:SA, you must make sure CJ eat or you will eventually lose some health. Also, there gyms you can go to add some muscle mass or just lose some pounds because if you eat too much, CJ slows down and you can't jump as high. There is also a way to increase your sex appeal by getting tattoos, new cloths and new hairstyle of which includes every hair cut a black man has ever worn, I'm partial to the Bobby Brown-Gumby look, and even some they don't use like the Elvis pompadour.

Looking forward to a possible 7^th GTA, may I suggest a late 70’s New York type city. At your disposal are music that range between punk and disco. You can also implement a Studio 54 type club, a Son of Sam type character, a blackout, and can fill the game with the type of people who were regulars at Studio 54 (Warhol et. al.). Leave your suggestion for a new GTA in the comments section.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Desperately Wanting

I tried to avoid Desperate Housewives for a long time. The more the Oprah crowd talked about it around the water cooler, the more I wanted to avoid it. Then I heard one of my heroes was going to be on the show. Yes Shaft himself was going to show up on Wisteria Lane, and since Shaft is one bad... (maybe I should shut my mouth), I had to check it out. What I found was a disturbingly entertaining show. First you have Lois Lane turned single bubbling single mom. The producer of Sports Night turned overwhelmed mom. The creepy chick who used to live at Melrose Place is now a Stepford wife. And of course, what show today isn’t complete without a token hot chick. I wonder if the executives at ABC during pilot season go, “yeah that a interesting show, but do you think you can add a token hot chick?” Now if the other channels would only do this.

So it turns out that dead chick’s husband has hired Shaft to find out who was blackmailing his wife. (Ironically the last lime I saw the dead wife was on Everwood where she played… the dead wife. Typecasting anyone?) This got me a little interested, not quite as interesting as the token hot chick, but anyways. But that is just one of many mysteries on Wisteria Lane. Unlike Lost, some of the mysteries were solved by the finally. Some with better results than others. It was interesting how they intertwined the two biggest questions together with why did the one chick commit suicide and who exactly is the plumber dude.

Then there were the mysteries that went unanswered, first and for most, what was the gay homosexual, also imported from Melrose Place, big secret that he talked about with his dad. The easiest answer of that he had another family was shot as he quit his job where he does a lot of traveling. My only other guess is that he swings both ways or they will drop that plot line all together. My other big problem was the introduction of the black family. Why did they show up only to accomplish nothing to the storyline? Either hold them off until next year or tease us with something that will have us guessing all summer. Watching them just move in was boring.

The biggest glaring problem I had with the show was with Paul Young. At first he concocts a great plan to hide the dead chick that his wife killed under the pool. But once his wife kills herself, he decides to move the body from a place where no one will find her and instead throws the bode and the and the wood box that it is in into a lake. Has he never seen “Will it Float?” on Letterman? Both wood and bodies float.

Looking forward to next season, I think it’s pretty safe to say it will turn out that Dana is the plumber’s kid (or at least the plumber will think so). The black family will have some deep dark secret. Susan will fumble around a lot. The Melrose Place dude will have the same problem his wife did as Mr. Mom. Edie will hit on the black dude. And hopefully if the token hot chick starts showing her pregnancy, they bring in another token hot chick to replace her.

Desperate Housewives 1x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. It also won a STA.

Guys (Dramatic Pause) Where are We?

So what happens when an orphan, a drug dealer, an evil lawyer, a hobbit, the F.B.I. Assistant Director, an inmate in a wheelchair, a gay-basher turned gay homosexual, a surfer chick and Jay Leno get on a plane. Well if you sprinkle in some token hot chicks, you'll have one of the most talked about shows in recent memory. (Bonus points to anyone who guesses who's who. Leave your guesses in the comment section with the character and the show/movie.)

The first episode of Lost rivaled that of a big budget, a plane crash, an enormous monster, an exotic location and of course, the hottest token hot chick on TV today. It was compelling enough to become an instant water cooler topic. We all debated what the monster was, who would be the first to die, and where exactly where were they.

Then the show moved into its "Back-story of the Week" format where we learned that Kate was a wanted woman and that of course raised more questions. What exactly did she do? From there, we saw flashback from each of the main characters, so more than others. We saw some that were absolutely shocking (Locke was in a wheelchair). We saw some that were easy to predict (Boone and Shannon are siblings by marriage and have hooked up). We saw some that were funny (Hurley's bad luck).

By the time the finale rolls around, everyone is more confused than Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton in the celebrity spelling bee. But since the producers are so nice, we get a glimpse of the monster. Umm, it’s just black smoke. We are supposed to be scared of that? Well at least we get to see who the Others are. But that turned out to another let down as they looked like extras from Deliverance. If they force Hurley to squeal like a pig in his underwear next season, I will never watch the show again. So after the Other signaled that they have selected a new pope, they hop on their boat to pick up Walt. But I thought they were supposed to use white smoke for that, but anyway.

There were a lot of flaws that could be found in the writing. During Sayid's second flashback, it's been well documented that terrorist that are strapped with explosives do not detonate the bombs, they are led to believe they do but are followed and some one else does it just in case the suicide bomber gets second thoughts. Also how could the explosives expert, Artz, explode after picking up one stick but the people that don't know anything about it can carry six sticks threw the jungle without incident? Not to mention, why has no one mentioned that Locke is no in a wheelchair. I’m sure some one noticed he was in a wheelchair before the flight then being carried onto the plane by the flight attendants. These little details bug me a little everyone and a while and takes me out of the story.

The bigger problem though is the amount of unanswered questions that each episode leaves such as (my theories are in parentheses):

What did Kate do that was so bad that her mom is scared of her? (Eco-terrorist blamed for the death of an oil tycoon.)

How did Locke get in the wheelchair? (Complications to surgery.)

What is the monster? (A specter.)

What is the hatch to? (A submarine.)

What happened to Rose? (She went looking for her husband around the island.)

Why did the fortune teller change his mind about Claire keeping her baby? (The fortune teller didn't change his mind. There is no couple in LA. He saw another castaway's future and made Claire get on that flight.)

Who was Ethan Rom and why did he want Claire? (One of the others looking for the chosen one.)

How did Claire escape someone who could capture two people at one time? (She didn't escape, she was let go after it was realized that her child wasn't the chosen one.)

How did Jack single handedly beat up Ethan Rom after be beaten like a red headed step child days earlier? (Ethan let him win.)

Why would Sayid hook up with Shannon after being so close to finding his true love? (I, personally forget about any past loves if I had a chance with Shannon.)

What's with the number? (Just a way to connect everyone and everything.)

What did the French chick say to Hurley to calm him down? (Haven't a clue.)

Why did Claire name here kid Aaron? If she lost all her memory, what could the significance of this be? (I think the writers screwed up.)

What do the Others want with Walt? (He can control the monster.)

What will happen to Michael, Sawyer & Jin? (They will float back to the island and will discover the other survivors like Rose's husband and Michelle Rodriguez.)

What will Jack and company find down the hatch? (Boone, Ethan Rom, the marshal, Scott and anyone else who died.)

Why is a flight from Australia carrying so many non-Australians? By my count there is only one Australian that we have met, Claire. (It's an American show. Added 6/7)

What was the secret Locke told Walt in the pilot? (I'm not sure I really want to know. Added 6/9)

I’m sure I’ll think up of more questions so check back later. Also leave any of you theories or questions in the comment section.

Lost 1.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. It also won two STA's.

I Carry the Madness Everywhere I Go

Let me take you back to the mid-nineties, a time when Rock and Roll bands rules the radiowaves (including the recently reviewed Better Than Ezra) and there was no bigger band at the time as the Gallagher brothers of Oasis. It didn't hurt them that sibling rivalry was as entertaining (or sometimes more entertaining) than the music. But around the third album, the luster of the band wore off and they started to put out mediocre album one after another with the song Stop Crying Your Heart Out being the one bright spot in recent memory.

Mediocrity continues with the release of Don't Believe the Truth. But for a band that who unapologetically rip-off the Beatles as on this album they steal from other English bands. A Bell Will Ring sounds like a Rolling Stones song. Lyla sounds like something The Kinks might have done. The Stone Roses get the Oasis makeover on Turn Up the Sun.

Oasis even borrows from a newer band as Mucky Fingers takes from the signature Coldplay crushing guitars. They even get some influences from across the pond with the 60's garage rock of The Meaning of Soul. Part of the Queue percussion sound particularly reminiscent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Breaking the Girl.

But Oasis shines when they stick to what they do best, and of course that lifting Beatles music. Love Like a Bomb and Guess God Thinks I'm Abel both fit the bill. The Noel takes over sing duties on The Importance Of Being Idle also fits in that category. But the highlight of the album is the closer, Let There Be Love, the first time I'm aware of where the Gallagher brother actually share vocal duties on the same song.

The album starts off with the lyrics, "I carry the madness everywhere I go." Too bad its not the same kind of madness that put a single of the brother on the English charts so many years ago. That is the Oasis I wish would come back.

Song to Download - Let There Be Love

Don't Believe the Truth gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

She Don't Like Cocaine

Back in the early nineties, I listened to nothing but hardcore gangsta rap. For me, the more offensive the better, N.W.A., Ice-T, I listened to it all. I had a few buddies that I would trade tapes with, as one of them had a cousin that worked at a record store and would hook us up with the new releases. Then one day in 1991, one of those friends handed me a tape with a guitar on the cover. Since I trusted the guy (coincidently, he's the same guy I talked about during Dave Matthews Band Week), I gave it a listen.

What I heard on that album changed my life. The album, Eric Clapton's Slowhand, starts off with the rock staple Cocaine. I'm sure there is nothing more endearing then hearing a kid repeat, "She don't like, she don't, she don't like... cocaine" over and over again as I did back then. And this song has even kept me off drugs because if she don't like cocaine, then I don't. Granted, it wasn't until a few years later that I found that Eric Clapton was quite found of the white powder back in the day.

Following Cocaine is the school dance, wedding, girl's dorm staple, Wonderful Tonight. It is, still, to this day the best song to play if you need to a little help with the ladies. I have yet to meet a female that doesn't swoon the moment the first guitar lick comes on. And the SCB commercial with playing Wonderful Tonight and the dude repeating the line, "she's wondering what cloths to wear" is just pure humor.

The rest of the album is filled with equally great songs. All the songs were great lyrically and sonically with some classic guitar riffs and solos. The album also covers the musical spectrum from strait ahead rock to blues to power ballad and even throws in the danceable Lay Down Sally to boot. We also get some female lead vocals on a couple tracks leaving Clapton to focus on what he does best, play the guitar.

Back in my youth, I didn't even realize that they made any good music before I was born and Slowhand changed all that. But Slowhand change all that. After Clapton, I quickly discover other "classics" such as Marley, Petty, Steve Miller, and Hendrix, among others and constitute a majority of what I listen to today. So for its life changing moment, Eric Clapton's Slowhand is June's induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

3 1/2 Minutes, Felt Like a Lifetime

One of the very few bands that I own all their albums (of artist that have released three or more) with new material is Better Than Ezra. All their pervious albums still get heavy rotation in my CD player and on my iPod. Today marks the release of their fifth studio album, Before the Robots.

The album starts off with three sing-alongs that BTE is best known for, Burned, Daylight, and A Lifetime. A Lifetime is actually a holdover from their 2001 album, the sadly overlooked Closer. The version on BTR speeds things up a little, and rocks a little more than the original. It also includes the line that has bugged me for a while, "And that R.E.M. song was playing in my mind. Three and half minutes, felt like a lifetime." Looking through my somewhat extensive R.E.M. library, found that Let Me In off of Monster clocks in at 3:28 and At My Most Beautiful off of Up finishes at the 3:35 mark. Monty Got a Raw Deal, The One I Love, and Find the River are all close also and might fit the song. (Keep in mind that A Lifetime ends at 3:26.)

Another BTE trademark is that they take some chances and that is found in Its Only Natural, Special, and Juicy. Juicy is the best, a danceable song that is accompanied by a falsetto voice and a driving bass line that make you realize what a modern Bee-Gee's song might sound like is they listen to Devo or Violent Femmes.

American Dream is the best written song on the album telling the story of a few people that haven't achieved the American Dream yet. In this Red State/Blue State time, the lines, "I'm a little bit rebel, I'm a bit patriot. I can see both sides of the coin" probably describes most of America while our government is littered with fanatics on both side of the fence. A Southern Thang lives up to the bill as a southern rock song being that the band is from New Orleans. The song also takes a little of the melody of the David Essex classic, Rock On, during the chorus. They even namedrop the King of Delta Blues himself, Robert Johnson in the song.

Song to Download - Daylight

Before the Robots gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Memorial Day Salute

I have been a huge John McCain supporter for a while now and last year he wrote a book, Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life, that I have recently finished reading. McCain, with help from Mark Salter, never exactly answer the question directly, instead they explain by example, profiling different people from all part of life that have exhibited courage. This also helps McCain avoid writing a self help book listing how you can live a braver life.

McCain most obviously starts with a type of courage he has the most experience, those of which he saw first hand in Vietnam. But since this is not an autobiography, Special Forces master sergeant Roy Benavidez is the first person of courage that McCain talks about. His helicopter was shot down after a mistake, many of his comrades were wounded. Benavidez then helped everyone onto the helicopter meant to rescue them to the point where he collapses and presumed dead.

But this book is not a book about war stories as the story of Angela Dawson is next. Dawson was a mom in East Baltimore who tried to keep drugs and other bad elements out of her neighborhood. McCain also touches on people who fought in the Civil War, Civil Rights activists, athletes, and political prisoners among others.

For anyone who has heard John McCain speak knows that isn't the best orator out there and that translates into his writing style. There were many passages in the book that had to read a couple times to fully comprehend what McCain was getting at. But overall, the message is there and is worth reading, even if you have to read it more than once. One passage that struck me:

People lie because, more often than not, it works. More often than not, lying doesn't attract unwanted public attention, it lets us escape it. For every public figure caught in a lie, many more have avoided public disgrace by lying.
Apparently Tom DeLay and Barry Bonds have taken this to heart and makes you wonder how many Congressmen and baseball players that haven't been caught in their lies.

The book, thought up by McCain's editor post-9/11 when people were afraid to ride elevators of tall building or to get on airplanes, is a good read for profiles of courage on this Memorial Day. Also, make sure you check out the movie based on his other, Faith of My Fathers tonight on A&E.

Why Courage Matters gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends

Veronica Mars is a student at Neptune High School who's best friend, Lilly Kane, was murdered, her mom has jumped town, she has been raped, her boyfriend has abruptly broke up with her, and she's an outcast because her father wrongly (maybe) accused her dead best friend’s dad with being the murderer. And that's just what we learn from the first episode. The next twenty-one episode revolve around Veronica trying to find out why her mom left and where she went to, who raped her, and who killed Lilly. The later of which could have been almost anyone who came into contact with the youngest Kane, and Veronica just happen to have a file on every one of them.

When Veronica's not looking for her mom or Lilly's killer, Veronica works for her dad who is a private investigator. This leads to the mystery of the week, this is what gave the show its comparisons to The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer except all the monsters in Neptune are real people. Some of the better side stories include Veronica thwarting a group of computer nerd who extort money through the internet (The Wrath of Con), she hunts down the person who is posting fake purity tests of other students including herself (Live a Virgin), she tries to catch the students who set her up for making fake ID's (Clash of the Tritons), she find a student accused of making bomb threats (Weapons of Class Destruction), and she tries to keep a student from posting an explicit video of his ex-girlfriend on the internet (M.A.D.).

Along with the great storylines, the show is also has a great cast. Kristen Bell shines as Veronica, who can hit each smart-alic line with ease but can also nail all the emotional scenes that Sarah Michelle Gellar couldn't quite hit as Buffy. And where Jennifer Garner always comes off as slutty in her many undercover costumes, Bell pulls off all her costumes with a cute as button touch to them (which is why Bell is the leading candidate to replace Portman in my top 5). Supporting Bell are Enrico Colantoni, best known as the balding photographer on Just Shoot Me, as papa Mars and a bunch of young actors in the first major roles. Percy Daggs III as Wallace and Francis Capra as Weevil do the best with their roles but I don't think Teddy Dunn pulled off the complexity of Duncan Kane as the season wore on.

The show was sprinkled with the multitude of familiar faces with Alyson Hannigan (Buffy), Joey Lauren Adams (Mallrats), Anthony Anderson (Barbershop), Lisa Rinna (Melrose Place), Paula Marshall (Cupid), Paris Hilton (One Night in Paris), and a double shot of the Home Improvement Boys Zachary Ty Bryan and Jonathan Taylor Tomas all making a cameo or two. Other stars making recurring appearances included Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law) as a movie star/abusive father, Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls) as the most popular girl in school turned murder victim Lilly Kane, and being rescued from the crap that was Napoleon Dynamite was Tina Majorino who played Mac, the computer whiz who helped Veronica on all her digital cases.

Unlike other big shows of this season (*couch* Lost *cough*), Veronica Mars answered all the big questions posed this season: who raped Veronica, where did Veronica mom go, and most importantly, not to mention most shocking, who killed Lilly Kane. Although there are some important questions that will be answered next season like who was Veronica glad to see (my guess - Wallace) and what did Weevil and his boys do to Logan (my guess - he ends up next to his dad). And a question that may not be answered quickly, is Lynn Echolls really dead.

If you happened to miss Veronica Mars, be sure to catch it this summer from the beginning starting Tuesday, June 14 at 9 PM, and then move to its new timeslot the next day on Wednesday, June 15 at 9 PM. Or you can pick up the DVD which is supposed to come out around the start of season two.

Veronica Mars 1x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. It also won three STA's.