Ben Harper has gotten a bad rap of ripping off other artist. But in actuality, ever artist out today is derivative of older groups. And in most cases those groups have stolen music from other people. Unlike other artist, at least Harper steals from the best blending The Rolling Stones and Sly and the Family Stone which can be found on his latest album, Both Sides of the Gun.
The title could allude to the double album, split into a more rocking disk and a mellow one even though with both disks clocking in at just over a half an hour, it could have fit on one. This does cause problem as the mellow disk does seem to drag on at times and could have benefited by having an upbeat song in-between them to break up the monotony of the first disk especially with the instrumental Sweet Nothing Serenade which is stuck in the middle of it.
That’s not to say there are plenty of great songs on the mellow version. And with all the great band Harper is influenced by, it seems like his good friend Jack Johnson has rubbed off on him on the mellow disk but takes it a step further with a few orchestral arrangements. The first three songs here are heartbreaking, but still have a grandiose vibe to them. Reason to Mourn sound like he took something from his recent collaboration with the Blind Boys of Alabama also with the standout track of the first disk, Crying Won’t Help You Know.
But the upbeat disk is by far better than its predecessor. This one starts off with the Middle Eastern inspired Better Way, that doesn’t even lose its appeal when Harper goes into a weird screaming bridge. That song starts off a string of anti-war songs, that’s none more blatant than the early Stones sounding Don’t Talk about Murder While I’m Eating and Gather ‘Round the Stone with lines like old men who send children off to die in vain.” The war isn’t the only thing Harper is angry about as the post-Katrina effort gets addressed on Black Rain starting the song off with the straight-forward lyrics “You left them swimming for their lives down in new Orleans.” The title track goes off in a funky Sly-style diversion by way of Jimi Hendrix and deals with the social issues that would make both proud.
Song to Download - Gather 'Round the Stone
Both Sides of the Gun gets a ![Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebDZ0qqwOVKMZj7oFSUe8Hm3ax54U9Hp1fThJPgiddTyzcdwx_5SV6E3b7hkKyxbaDiym4COmUXT2YJnsKCUjBHI_a2xZtNoY7qFQRslP5AGO5gLkJwn2ZbO0wIF80ycbKrgPPA/s400/small_high.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
Well I finally got to see Veronica Mars
last night thanks to it being preempted last week due to the Cavs game and as always it was worth the wait. At first I thought it was just going to be a recap episode after the massively long “Previously on” segment. For those keeping track at home, it clocked in at three minutes. Unfortunately by the time I saw it Lost (download The Whole Truth) had slowly slipped from my mind so the Toss Up this week may suffer creatively from it. It only furthers my assumption that I should re-watch Veronica Mars before or after Lost.
Good to See Again
Lost: The weird looking dude from the last Sun/Jin-centric episode and he apparently is no longer courting the American chick.
Veronica Mars: Cliff is back as Logan’s “If you can’t afford an attorney” attorney and apparently he will soon be in the market for an “I’m with Stupid” T-shirt (what, not an I (Heart) Beaver one).
Winner: Veronica Mars
MIA
Lost: Hurley, Claire, Eko, the crazy French Chick.
Veronica Mars: Jackie, Weevil, Madison
Winner: Veronica Mars
Wizard of Oz Reference
Lost: Dorothy’s uncle may or may not be evil (get it, Henry Gale).
Veronica Mars: Jane laments, “There’s no place like Heidi’s.”
Winner: Lost
Shady Character
Lost: We are not sure whether Henry is evil or not but his breakfast conversation makes it clearer.
Veronica Mars: Vinny VanLowe, back from Mexico got thrown out of yet another bar for stalking.
Winner: Veronica Mars
Bad Vegetables
Lost: When Sun doesn’t follow his command, Jin rips out her garden.
Veronica Mars: Dick assumes Aaron has slimmed down in prison thanks to all the tossed salad (okay Dick really crossed the line with that one).
Winner: Lost
Duped
Lost: Ana Lucia may or may not have been duped by Dorothy’ uncle by leading her into a trap.
Veronica Mars: Beaver may or may not have been duped by inverters eagerly willing to dump real estate that will fall outside of Woody’s proposed cooperation plan.
Winner: Lost
Assumptions
Lost: Jin assumes the kid I his.
Veronica Mars: Dr. Griffins assumes that Logan will stop seeing Hannah in exchange for repealing his testimony.
Winner: Veronica Mars
Rivalry
Lost: In the battle of not letting the other get the upper hand, they unknowingly let Ana Lucia go search for the balloon that could turn out to be a trap.
Veronica Mars: After competing against each other for years, Keith actually gives Lamb some information that hurt his client, Terrence Cook. Lamb then proceeds to gloat and presumable listen to more Big and Rich.
Winner: Lost
Miscommunication
Lost: When Sawyer and Bernard congratulates Jin on being a daddy, he for some reason hears them speak backwards (doesn’t creepy Walt speak backwards too?)
Veronica Mars: When Logan asks Hanna if she wanted to come over to the Neptune Grand all she hears is “Let’s have sex.”
Winner: Veronica Mars
The Downside of Thinking
Lost: Well nothing really, I just wanted to type…
Veronica Mars: Thinking makes Kendall’s breasts smaller.
Winner: No contest
The first new Toss Up in over a month is tainted due to the Cavs game. Both shows both had interesting storylines, but neither really holds up to the respective shows best episodes. On Lost it looks like we will have another baby on our hands. Although at the rate the show goes, it won’t be delivered until season eight. I find it interesting that almost everyone thinks the father is Jin and the island gave him some super-sperm. Granted we will have to wait a couple years to see if it’s actually a black baby, but here’s my theory; Sun, wanting a baby to help transition to her new life in America, got artificially inseminated and brought along a home pregnancy test to see if it worked. This would fall in with her telling Jin she’s never been with another dude (although is Jerry Spinger taught me anything, woman lie about who the daddy all the time) and would explain why she would think to ask Sawyer for the test because she knew there was one on the plane.
While down in the hatch, everyone’s ready to convict Dorothy’s uncle, but Ana Lucia gave him one last chance to repent and he did so by drawing a map to his balloon. But his “You’re lucky I’m not evil” speech pretty much confirms that he is indeed evil. Doesn’t it?
While on Veronica Mars yet another presumable throwaway character, Jane, pop ups again to be Wallace’s surprise girlfriend and now even got her own episode last night. It really these little things that makes the show great. I’m mean if Dick, who was originally brought in so Logan would have someone besides Duncan to talk to, can make it into the credits; you never know when a past supporting character will show. Hey there may just be one that shows up next week. Unfortunately Jane’s sister, run away bride reminded me of the Anthony Anderson episode from last season. But second rate mystery of the week aside, the writing made up for it. The tossed salad comment aside, I really loved how the oldest money in Neptune is from the eighties.
There were plenty of season long plot points addressed in the episode. First we saw the first on screen meeting of Aaron and Kendall who seem to joining up. In return for providing her more capital, it looks like Kendall will be setting up Duncan by taking some hair out of his shower drain. During the on-set visit, Rob Thomas mentioned there would be a crucial scene in the shower that didn’t involve people taking a shower. I thinking this may be it. And speaking of Aaron, am I the only one that believes him when he says he didn’t kill Lilly Kane? And while I’m asking question, does anyone else think Beaver may have join Big Dick in exclusion soon because his land trust may go south soon?
Now back to this season’s mystery, I’m still convinced Woody is behind the crash. He had the means to plant the explosives in his own hanger and his with incorporation plan; he still stands to profit from social segregation that the bus crash sparked. Also sparking social segregation was the murder of Felix and I beginning to wonder if the two big mysteries of the reason are connected. Chris Rock once theorized that George Bush sent the white girl to Kobe’s room and killed Lacy Peterson to keep people’s mind of the war. Could Woody be using this technique to keep the population’s mind off of the incorporation plan?
This week Veronica finally confronts Logan about his new girlfriend leading to the great, “You’re cute when you’re jealous” line. But even when Logan seems to get what he wants out of the relationship, her dad changing his testimony, he seems to be conflicted especially after Hannah “Logan’s a great guy” speech to her mother. But I still think Hannah will soon have a WWE type swerve to screw Logan over in the end.
Next week Lost promises not one, not two, but five, count ‘em five can’t miss moments and from the preview, some look to be Ana Lucia’s army finding a balloon and Locke getting caught behind the safety door. The question though is, after so many anemic episodes this season, why stuff all the can’t miss scenes in one episode? Then next week Veronica Mars goes back to campus where she may or may not run into someone from her past and some cousins who, like Dick and Beaver, know something about family members that make shady real estate investments. And if my memory is correct, I believe this is the episode where Rob Thomas said the show will start getting really, really good. Of course that’s opposed to the really good this season has been already.
Also, if you have some questions for Rob or Jason Dohring, you need to e-mail me (ScooterKSU@aol.com) by Tuesday at 8:00 EST and maybe I'll ask them your wquestion during my teleconference with them.
Teddy Geiger had a great marketing plan; before his first album, Underage Thinking was ever released, he got himself on a re-accruing role on a new show, playing basically himself, a new singer-songwriter looking to break into the business. Unfortunately for Geiger, the show, Love Monkey, was quickly canceled after three shows, a good month before the album was even released.
When I first saw Geiger on Love Monkey, my first thoughts on his character were "Wayne is actually played by a singer, Teddy Geiger, basically a John Mayer rip-off. This is a problem considering not even John Mayer wants to bite his old style." Well after listening to his album, I realized I was wrong on that account, he doesn’t bite John Mayer, he actually more of a Gavin DeGraw clone with more of a piano driven, pseudo-soul sound whereas Mayer is more of a blues retread.
But the main different between DeGraw and Geiger is the songwriting. DeGraw, and Mayer for that matter, can write songs that people of all ages can relate to even if they were written about a certain time in his life. Geiger’s songs on the other hand are very Middle School which will most likely limit his fan base which could grow out of him within years. Nowhere is this more evident than the lamely title track where the sixteen year old dreams of an adult time thus proving the assessment that youth is waited on the young.
Another negative is his voice. Going for the blue-eyed soul like DeGraw, Geiger stretches his voice too far while reaching for notes which is okay for the opening track, These Walls, but it gets old quick and fails even worse when he goes into falsetto later on the album. When he does tone things back, the songs are much better like on Try Too Hard and A Million Years. Hopefully Geiger grows up like he hopes he does by the next time he starts another album.
Song to Download - Try Too Hard
Underage Thinking gets a ![Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCbHfExiuXqojow1zxkBUX6j-9BHg9IyrfzqR77jnja2Xq6dbv-7iiqMFzp_UKXGcUF9FyAHqCkNxa5uitXa5Xu2Q1OboN9-TLjsaeI1a2eoGLORU4vkTQ54l1C-_cZyn81QHyQ/s400/small_guarded.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
Well it’s been two days since Veronica Mars was supposed to air, but thanks to LeBron James, I still have to wait. And it isn’t having to wait that makes it bad as I didn’t bother me too much when the show is in repeats, it’s knowing that everyone else has seen it and I haven’t yet. To pass the time until I get to see the latest episode I have a bunch of Veronica Mars news. But first, for anyone interested in participating in my fantasy baseball NL Only league, drop me an e-mail, ScooterKSU@aol.com. We will be having a live draft this coming Tuesday, at 9:00 PM EST. You don’t need to be there to play as a computer will make your picks for you.
Also this Tuesday I’ll be participating in a Teleconference, technology willing, with Rob Thomas and Jason Dohring. I know I didn’t ask for questions when I went on the set, but that’s because I had an overabundance I thought myself, and even though I still have more questions, I will be accepting questions from my readers. Just drop me an e-mail with anything you want to now. But please no dumb question because I prefer the dumb questions to come from my own head. Also if you want to ask something like “How was it like working with Santana” or any other Matchbox Twenty questions, please check this post out - No, Not That Rob Thomas.
Something cool for the Veronica Mars faithful who would like to show their love for the show, here’s a way how that the good people at UPN sent along to me and if you are interested, drop me an e-mail and I’ll send along how you can do this:
If you videotape you and your friends watching Veronica Mars, you may get a chance to see yourself on national TV!
UPN is offering its dedicated Veronica Mars bloggers a great opportunity to have your 15-seconds of fame! Every week, get a group of friends together for a Veronica Mars viewing party and shoot some video of your event. The tape can include anything you want: sound bites of your friends talking about their favorite characters, you saying why you love Veronica Mars, or a group shout-out to your friends and family in your hometown. But keep it clean, because your tape could end up airing on UPN during an episode of Veronica Mars!
Every week starting in April, tune in to Veronica Mars on UPN to see if your party is chosen as the featured party that airs during that week’s episode. Even if your party doesn’t make it on UPN, make sure to check out UPN.com to see if it is online.
Creativity counts and don’t forget to express why you are the biggest Veronica Mars fan. This is an excellent opportunity to convert your friends into Veronica Mars fans!!!!
Please keep in mind that if your video is broadcast on TV, it will need to be brightly lit and the audio will need to be clear. Also, in order to ensure that we can use it, the video can’t include any copyrighted materials, such as logos on clothing, music or television programming playing in the background, or signage, like posters, paintings, photographs, and etc.
The featured parties will run during a commercial break and UPN’s producers will be editing your footage into an on-air promo, so the tape only needs to be a few minutes long. Finally, depending on your home video camera, VHS, mini-DV or DVD are best.
In order for UPN to be able to use your tape on air or on UPN.com, you and all of your friends at the party need to sign releases and provide a current photograph of each of you so we can identify who everyone is.
Again e-mail me for more information, Now more Veronica Mars news straight from UPN:
Veronica Mars is moving back to Tuesday nights!
We wanted to let you know that UPN announced today that they are moving Veronica Mars back to her original time period on Tuesdays at 9 PM. Starting April 11, tune in to UPN on Tuesday nights to catch all new episodes of Veronica Mars through the season finale on May 9. Repeats will air on Wednesday nights at 9 pm ET/PT for the first couple of weeks.
The hope is that more people will be able to tune-in to Veronica on Tuesdays. So, tell all your friends that there are no excuses now not to watch Veronica Mars!
Okay as egocentric person I am, I’m somewhat weary of this only because it will mess with my weekly Toss Up between Veronica Mars and Lost which is built around the two shows sharing the time slot. Oh well. I will continue this for the reminder of this season and may also tape Veronica Mars and watch it again either before or after Lost to have both shows fresh in my mind when I thin up Toss Up categories and will continue to post the Toss Up on Thursday. And my last Veronica Mars news is the press release for next week’s episode, not that it means much to me considering I haven’t seen last week’s yet:
VERONICA AND WEEVIL WORK TOGETHER TO BRING FELIX’S MURDERER TO JUSTICE, ON "VERONICA MARS," WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5 ON UPN
Recurring Guest Stars Steve Guttenberg ("The Poseidon Adventure")
and Tina Majorino ("Napoleon Dynamite") Return
"Plan B" -- Weevil enlists Veronica's help to finally prove who killed Felix and bring that person to justice, on VERONICA MARS, Wednesday, April 5 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on UPN. John Kretchmer directed the episode from a script written by Dayna Lynne North.
Meanwhile, Logan wins an essay contest and gets to intern with Mayor Woody Goodman (guest star Steve Guttenberg) as his Honorary Deputy. Also, love is in the air at the Sadie Hawkins dance as sparks fly between former couples.
One non-Veronica Mars story, apparently that wasn’t the only thing I missed Wednesday as Kari, the chick in my preseason poll of America’s Next Top Model whom I most wanted to have dirty, dirty sex with, was voted off. Since I didn’t know she was voted off until today, I didn’t get a chance to participate in the weekly teleconference with the most recent castoff to ask if she wanted to hook up sometime. Oh well. Here is my revisionist pick for girl I’d most like to have dirty, dirty sex with, Joanie Dodds (cue up Preacher’s Daughter). Picture courtesy of UPN:
And cue up It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday for one last look at the fallen Kari, picture also courtesy of UPN:
We are almost a week away from opening day so that means it's time for fantasy baseball time and I'm here to help you out with your draft. So keep in mind these rules in mind when ranking the available players.
Rule #1 - The Hellboy Rule - Or the avoid people with big heads rule. With the new steroid testing put into affect, it would not be wise to draft anyone, who in previous season, were drafted based on their power. Their numbers will decrease (or will be suspended). Look what happened to Giambi when he went of the Clear. So I would avoid every one caught up in the recent scandal. The only exceptions to this rule would be Jason Giambi who somwhow recovered last year after everything that went down and Pudge Rodriquez. All catchers put up low numbers anyways so it’s a coin flip on them anyways. Rule #2 - The Ron Artest Rule - Do not draft anyone who could possibly be suspended for the entire season. Unfortunately I did not abide by this rule during my fantasy baseball draft. That was waste of a third round pick. The baseball equivalent of Artest would be Milton Bradley. Granted Bud Selig doesn't have the grapefruits of David Stern so killing a fan might only some one only a half season suspension, but that is still a lot of games to be missing. Rule #3 - Don't Follow Trends - It happens every year, some one takes a catcher early, then the next ten picks end up being catchers. There are only three quality catchers (Lopez, Posada, and Varitek), so if you don't get one of them, wait until the later round and pick whatever is left. No catcher can make much of an impact plus they take a lot of days off. On the opposite side of the spectrum, make sure you get a good closer before they run out. Last year I had to trade some offence to get a closer because I waited too long to draft a quality reliever.
Rule #4 - The Ken Griffey Jr. Rule - Do not draft a player who is injury prone. Yet every year some one inevitably drafts Griffey saying he will be healthy and return to his Seattle days type dominance. Sometimes it goes well, but the May, Griffey will come up limp running down to first, and the team who picked him will be unmercifully mocked for the rest of the season.
Rule #5 - Draft Multi-Position Players - This will give you more options if you experience injuries or you can plug more players that are on your bench when some of your other players have off-days. This is especially handy if they are eligible at catcher but is an everyday player somewhere else. Unfortunatly the games best multi-position players, Beltran, Pujols, and A-Rod have lost eligbility and are down to one position each.
For those interested in getting beat like a red-headed stepchild by me playing with me in an NL-only fantasy league, drop me an e-mail (ScooterKSU@aol.com) if you want to join. We will be having a live draft Tuesday, March 28th at 9:00 EST.
As for the weekly Toss-Up between Lost and Veronica Mars that usually appears on Thursday, I still haven't seen this week's VM due to the Cavs game last night. I will have that up as soon as I see it, which will be no later than Sunday. For your Veronica Mars fix until then check out the other Bloggers who got an on the site visit in my sidebar especially Ducky who created the greatest t-shirt since "LeBron's Mom Gave Me a Hummer." And even though I didn't post a picture from the set today, you definately want to check out the latest post on my sister site, Scooter McGavin Takes Pictures. I'm sure Dick would approve of it.
Aside from the Grammy’s, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is the most reliable awards show out there today, sorry VMA’s, it’s time to get Chris Rock back on the phone. This is obviously based on performances by the best of the best that get inducted each year and is very watchable no matter how much VH1 edits the show, chopping out performances and speeches.
Although in recent years I’ve worried about the show when the 80’s bands start becoming eligible, and with it’s twenty-five year eligibly rule, that came last year. But with last year being headlined by U2, this year was the true litmus test on how the Hall would treat the lean years. And without any marquee names releasing their first album in 1981 it looks like they went back and inducted some of the second and third tier acts that got lost in the shuffle the last decade or so. And you know it’s a bad year for the Hall when Bono or Bruce Springsteen don’t show up to induct anyone. Here are some more thoughts on this year’s festivities and inductees.
- The show starts off with a Wilson Pickett tribute led by Solomon Burke, granted not as good as the one at the Grammy’s. I hope this becomes a tradition where they do a medley of songs by any inductee that died that year. That would be more entertaining and better send off than the tradition Grammy’s “Those Have Passed” montage.
- Blondie is the first inducted with Shirley Manson of Garbage doing the duty. Unfortunately VH1 didn’t subtitle her like with Sherman Hemsley because I couldn’t understand a word she said except when she said in their career, Blondie did it with no ridiculous demand. Um, how about Debbie Harry refusing some of the original members from playing. That was extremely shady. Speaking of which, after seeing her perform it was easy to see Harry and her music really hasn’t stood the test of time.
- This year’s “Really? They Weren’t in Already” Award goes to Miles Davis. He should have easily been a first ballot inductee. If you don’t have Bitches Brew, then you just don’t like music. The best part of his induction was when Herbie Hancock told a story about, when backing with Miles, played the wrong not and Miles stopped for a second, then started playing again, turning Herbie’s wrong note into a right one.
- Lars and James of Metallica are next up to induct Black Sabbath including the clichéd “We would be here if it weren’t for…” And for some reason Sabbath themselves didn’t play even though they were all there instead Metallica went threw a couple of their songs including Iron Man. Is it wrong that I thought The Cardigans did a better version?
- Sting then came up to induct Herb Albert and Jerry Moss. Um, okay, next.
- Instead of a proper induction, Jann Wenner instead read the letter John Lydon of the Sex Pistols wrote on his thoughts of the Hall. Funny stuff, but they should have still should have given them an actual induction.
- Last in this year was Lynyrd Skynyrd, inducted by Kid Rock, thankfully sans Scott Stapp. The Hall really missed a golden opportunity by not have Neil Young, a multiple inductee and has inducted his fair share of artists, do the honors. With the induction of Lynyrd Skynyrd, it begs the question; can anyone above the Mason-Dixon Line name three of their songs? I have their Greatest Hits album, been two of their shows, and I can’t. Speaking of their live shows, either VH1 cut it down, or that was the shortest version of Free Bird ever at just over ten minutes. Usually that song clocks in at forty minutes in concert.
- Lastly, in lieu of the usual all star jam, at the end, there was the prerequisite New Orleans tribute that no award show could go without this time headed by Elvis Costello and Alan Toussaint. I like how Elvis saying he would not make an ant-war speech, actually made one. A nice Mardi Gras touch was added when the weird dude started throwing stuff into the audience. And the child of the 80’s cynic would ask why did they cover the song from Rain Man, but much like Costello, I won’t go there.
Just a quick programming note about the 9th Green, my usual Thursday Toss Up between Lost and Veronica Mars will be postponed due to my local UPN station showing the Cavs vs. the Bobcats game. Seriously, the Bobcats, it’s not like they are playing the Pistons or Kobe. But anyways. I’ll have my Toss Up as soon as I see the new Veronica Mars which will be no later than Sunday.
In the midst of the HBO free preview and watching the first two episodes of Big Love (scroll down for a review), I forgot all about the return of the guiltiest of pleasures on television Sunday, The Surreal Life. But luckily it is on VH1 so it’s been own about ten times since it premiered and will most likely be on another twenty-five time before the next new episode. Now in its sixth incarnation, this season is shaping up to be the best. And that says a lot considering the last two seasons included the Omarosa vs. Janice debacle and the all time greatest television moment, Mini Me, buck naked, on his scooter, peeing in the corner.
This season’s cast sports arguably the biggest star in the show’s history, token washed up actor Sherman Hemsley that everyone remembers as George Jefferson. Well everyone except token Playboy model Andrea Lowell who had to ask who the tanned guy was. Then there are possibly the most volatile cast mates in former Whitesnake hood ornament Tawny Kitaen and the transgender member of the Arquette clan Alexis. I was on the floor when the doorman asked her/him how it’s like to have Cox in the family.
Filling out the cast are token washed up rocker C.C. Deville of Poison and the Steve Harwell of Smash Mouth. Also Carol Brady will be dropping by everyday as the house therapist. And as a twist, this season’s token reality star was chosen via a man pageant by the other cast mates. The most notable of the group was former karaoker and Paula Abdul boy toy Corey Clark. I’m actually surprised that with his notoriety VH1 didn’t just put him in the house as no one else was nearly as famous as he was. There was a Big Brother and Survivor alum, neither of which I’ve heard of even though I’ve seen all the Survivors. Then there was Ace of The Real World: Paris. But he was beat out by Tough Enough champion Maven Huffman, who was recently released from his WWE contract that he won on the show.
The first episode was your usual pleasantries of most shows of this type where they chose their roommates and get to know each other, so the claws usually don’t come out until the second episode, and judging by the preview of the upcoming weeks, there will be many claws out this season. Hopefully everyone learns soon to hide Tawny’s shoes from her, just ask Chuck Finley about that. That’s not to say there weren’t any entertain parts of the first episode. In a page out of The Osbournes page book, Hemsley’s stuttering is so bad they had to subtitle him and eventually do it grammatically for an extra laugh. And what could be an interesting development, I’m not entirely sure Maven realized yet that Alexis has the same parts as him yet. And on that note, Alexis propositioning Andrea for the “last ride” before his/her operation was one of the funniest moments on television so far this year.
Verdict: Much like a crack addict, I just can’t stop. Plus I think we are getting closer and closer to our first reality death, whether it be homicide or overdose (who wants to bet either C.C., Steve, or Tawny fall off the wagon during the show, I not all three?) and I don’t want to miss that.
Thanks to the HBO free weekend, I got to check out the first two episodes of their latest series, Big Love which follows a rouge polygamist living in secret with his three wives and seven children. The show stars Bill Paxton (Twister) as Bill, a guy who grew among a polygamist compound but was kicked out as a kid and forced to fend for himself. But instead of going far away from those that booted him, Paxton gets himself three wives who live in consecutive houses and whose backyard is starting to look a lot like the compound he left.
Wife number one, Barb, or boss lady as the others like to call her, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn (Waterworld), is the most stable one in the family, someone that everyone looks up to, so it’s pretty clear she will have a mental breakdown by the end of the season. Then there’s Nicki, number two played by Chloë Sevigny (The Brown Bunny), who, even though she seems to be the most Mormon of the bunch, is addicted to shopping. The latest wife, who seemed to be straight from a sorority house, Margene as played by Ginnifer Goodwin whom I will always remember as Diane Snyder on Ed and seems to get more and more attractive on everything she does.
As for the children, the only one of note is Amanda Seyfried, better know as the late Lilly Kane, as the eldest Hendrickson who doesn’t seem to fond of her living situation with the two extra moms. And she isn’t the only Veronica Mars alum to show up either as she quickly befriend new co-worker played by computer nerd Mac who morphs herself Mormon nerd. Then there’s Beaver, who may be sporting an “I (Heart) Dick” shirt on the show in later episodes because I sensed a in the closet gay vibe from his character as Lilly’s brother’s friend.
And the cast just keeps expanding, as the name of the show suggests, as we also get to meet Bill’s eccentric mom and half dead father who has been poisoned with arsenic. Both Bill and pa finger mom, but it seems pretty obvious to me that it was done by compound prophet Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) who just also happens to Nicki’s father. And to add to the creepy factor, Roman, who’s pushing sixty, has just married a chick who just reached her teenage years played appropriately enough by the creepy chick from The Ring.
Now the thought of a polygamist family would make for good television as it would be three times the laugh, but here is the big problem with Big Love, it’s still a Mormon family. Mormons are really known for being all that interesting. I don’t mean that in a bad way as Mormons are the nicest people I have never met but nice doesn’t make for the best TV. If fact the most interesting part of the show is totally stolen from it’s lead in, The Sopranos, with the Roman extorting his son-in-law out of 15% of all the money he makes. But having The Beach Boys God Only Knows as a theme song is pretty cool.
Verdict: It’s interesting, especially with all the Veronica Mars connections, and Goodwin is captivating, but Big Love is definitely not worth the subscription to HBO to see, but definitely worth checking out the DVD is, or when, it comes out if you don’t already subscribe.
A couple months ago I reviewed Rev Run’s first solo album (see the review - Your Momma's Favorite Rapper), and now it’s time for the other living half of the seminal rap group, Darryl “DMC” McDaniel, to throw his hat back in the game with his first solo outing Checks, Thugs and Rock N Roll. Whereas Run took the safe route, veering not very far from his previous sound, taking the minimalist approach coming in just over a half an hour with no guest appearances, DMC is more adventuress and packs in multiple singers and rappers to help him out clocking in just under an hour.
The album starts off with one of the most disturbing samples in which Puffy wasn’t involved when DMC brings in the dude from Buckcherry and the less glamorous members of Aerosmith to rework Jimmy Hendrix All Along the Watchtower. And if that isn’t weird enough for you, later he brings in Sarah McLachlan to recreate the Harry Chapin classic Cats in the Cradle and renames it Just Like Me. The song must be heard to be believed especially when they go over the top by bringing in the kids choir.
But that’s it for the unnecessary samples even though Freaky Chick sounds a lot like Tone Loc’s Wild Thing. But the guest parade doesn’t stop there though. Kid Rock shows up on the life after death song Find My Way which is dedicated to Jam Master Jay and Joe C. Old school legend Doug E. Fresh shows up on Lovey Dover and new school go to hook singer Ciara lends her “talents” on What’s Wrong. Even though it sounds a lot like Eve rapping on Cold, it’s really Ms. Jade. And his old buddy Rev Run even spits a verse on Come 2gether that doesn’t really congers up images of the good ol’ days.
But the major problem with the album is that DMC’s voice has change dramatically since he last put his rhymes on wax. In the classics days, he had a smooth baritone delivery but here his voice is higher and more nasally. The content is deeper though as if DMC has spent his down time listing to Public Enemy and watching CNN as there more than a few songs dealing with the world today including the many wars that are raging. Unfortunately it’s hard to get past the voice to listen to the message.
Song to Download - Just Like Me
Checks, Thugs and Rock N Roll gets a on Terror Alert Scale.
I really wasn’t planning to write anything today because with a name like McGavin, St. Patrick’s Day is basically a national holiday, add to that it coincides with the NCAA tournaments makes it a double whammy. Not to mention my boys over at Kent State play tonight. But I just had to share something.
My birthday is coming up in the near future so it’s about that time I start receiving birthday cards and I got one that looked very much like one except it was post-marked from San Diego. Now my mother has a cousin who lives in the city but he has never sent me anything before and I’ve only met the guy about three times in my life. So I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it up and this was written inside the card:
Okay, this was uber-cool and totally unexpected. That the star and namesake would take time out of television show to write a thank you letter apologizing that she couldn’t spend more time with us, even though it wasn’t her fault and was summoned away by the director, just makes me (heart) her even more. Now if only her character would hook up with Dick, that would rule.
And one more thing, GO Golden Flashes! Um, nevermind that last part.
Last night we had our first all new Veronica Mars in what seemed like forever, but at least now we have two straight months without a repeat leading up to the finale. The big news from last night was the guest appearance of Laguna Beach star Kristin Cavallari in her first ever acting role, well that’s if you don’t think the reality show is staged. But anyways. And wow was her acting bad. I’m talking Middle School production of Our Town bad. But much like Laguna Beach it was so bad it became entertaining. There was one look she had while in the bathroom that had me falling off the couch laughing it was so overdramatic. (By the way, both pictures in this post are courtesy of UPN/Warner Bros.)
Cavallari played a lesbian, The Attractive Nuisance pointed out for some reason didn’t wear an “I (Heart) Beaver” t-shirt, who is being blackmailed to stay in the closet along with other gay Neptune students. But it was the tricky Cavallari who plotted to out herself so she could walk down the hall hand in hand with her girlfriend while Dick ogled her.
One part of the whole online gay community that I found interesting was the dude who threatened to out people and disappeared was on the bus along with bi-curious Marcos, whixh makes two S.H.I.P.’ers who were on the bus. Being the conspiracy theorist that I am, I wonder if this is coincidental or could this have something to do with the bus crash. After last night you can also add the Indian casino owners to the long list of suspects. But the biggest bit of evidence found in this episode implicated already charged Terrence Cook when Veronica found explosives in the hanger where Terrence keeps his fleet of cars. But the hanger is own by my lead candidate, Woody Goodman.
Then there was Logan, who continued his fake courtship of the uber-cute Hanna who is so gullible she bought his line about why he didn’t want to be seen in public with her and that he didn’t know how her daddy was when he met her. Or Hannah just wants Logan to think she is gullible and she will pull a WWF type swerve when she is called as a witness at Logan’s trail for the defense supposable to sell out her dad only to pick up a steel chair and nail Logan in the back on the way to the stand, ripping off her sun dress to reveal an “I (Heart) Daddy” t-shirt. Oh, and what a classic look Veronica gave when Mac mentioned that Hannah’s dad was a plastic surgeon.
But the highlights for me were the scenes between Veronica and Dick. First Dick “nails” Veronica, “I remember you taller and less uppity.” Then Veronica walks into Dick fantasy by asking him “Could it help if I started making out with my girlfriend in the hallway.” Dick’s “Yeah, obviously” was priceless. Seriously, how long until Veronica sports an “I (Heart) Dick” shirt? Then we get the return of my favorite fringe character Madison. And Corny had a breakout line with “I’m what they call a master bait.” For some reason they brought back last year’s Popsicle Princess, Carmen for a small part. I wonder if this was just the beginning of something. (On a side note, is anyone else a little put off that the last gig this actress had was playing a teacher on Boston Public? So she went from playing a teacher to a high school junior in about three years. Um, okay.) And if there wasn’t already reason enough reason to hate Sheriff Lamb; he’s apparently a Big and Rich fan. Also props to Cavallari for using the pseudonym Rick Santorum to blackmail her gay pal even though it didn’t seem Veronica or the baseball pitcher (or was he a catcher) didn’t seem to get the joke (and if you didn’t either, Santorum is the Republican Senator from Pennsylvania). And there also seemed to be another Arrested Development reference with the Kissncuzn screen name. But the line of the night was Veronica asking the PCH wannabe, “Did you just call me lady?”
For those who wonder why this episode was titled Versatile Topping, here’s the explanation from creator Rob Thomas, “The title of that episode, Versatile Toppings, is an inside joke between myself and Dan Etheridge, one of the producers here. And he used the phrase a couple times around me ‘negotiable top’ or ‘negotiable bottom’ and I misheard him so I kept using the phrase ‘versatile top’ rather than ‘negotiable top’ (Ducky mentioned “it also works” followed by laughter). So when we had a story that combined pizza delivery guys and outing gay students, it became Versatile Toppings.”
Next week there is a potentially scene of the year candidate when Kendal visit Papa Echolls in jail. Conjugal visit possibly? And surely there will be fallout from the explosives and you can bet Veronica will have something to say to Logan about his new girl. And it looks like we will have a first new Toss Up with Lost next week too as it will be back with what looks to be a Jin and Sun-centric episode considering Sun asking for a pregnancy test, which I never leave at home when traveling, in the previews and the repeat last night of a previous Jin/Sun-centric episode. But I’ll leave you with a Veronica only Toss Up from last night’s episode:
Worst Love Life
Veronica: As Dick points out “you dated Logan, he’s nailed for murder, you dated Duncan, he’s wanted for kidnapping. You’re like rich dude kryptonite Veronica.”
Logan: He points out to Hannah that, “My first girlfriend was murdered, my last girlfriend nearly got shotgunned by a PCH’er drive-by. Color me crazy but I see a pattern.”
Winner: Logan
With the Lyrics Quiz falling on the Ides of March I though I would have a Julius Caesar theme about lead singers who stabbed their bands in the back by going solo. As always leave your guesses in the comment section, both song title and artist. If you are correct, I will un-bold the lyric and give you credit. As an added bonus this month, you can get extra points by guessing the group they left behind. If a person doesn’t guess the former band, you can steal the points after, and only after the guess has been made. The person with the most correct lyrics will be added to the Winner’s list on my sidebar. Now on to the quiz:
Hints
25. Former group's songs - Automobile, Express Yourself, Just Don't Bite It
1. If my corpse could talk then I would tell you I was sorry. (Gone 'till November - Wyclef Jean guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - The Fugees)
2. I’ve tell myself too many time “Why don’t you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut?” (Why - Annie Lennox; guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - The Eurythmics)
3. And the wonder of it all is that you just don’t realize how much I love you. (Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton; guessed by Scottage; Bonus - The Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith guessed by The Catapillar)
4. These dreams are tied to a dream that will never die. (Desert Rose - Sting; guessed by The Catapillar; Bonus - The Police)
5. You were my sun, you were my earth, you didn’t know all the ways I loved you, no. (Cry Me a River - Justin Timberlake; guessed by The Attractive Nuisance; Bonus - N'Sync)
6. You wanna stay little daddy’s girl, you wanna hide from the vicious world outside. (Life Is Sweet - Natalie Merchant; Bonus - 10,000 Maniacs)
7. B-A-N-A-N-A-S (Hollaback Girl - Gwen Stepani; guessed by Magnolia; Bonus - No Doubt)
8. Heading into twilight, spreading out our wings tonight. (Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins; guesed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - Loggins and Messina)
9. You come knocking on my front door, same ol’ line you used to use before. (Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty; guessed by Magnolia; Bonus - Fleetwood Mac)
10. My love, there’s only you in my life, the only thing that’s right. (Endless Love - Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross; guessed by Magnolia; Bonus - The Commodores)
11. Mad ‘cause I got floor seats at the Lakers, see me on the 50 yard line with the Raiders. (Gettin Jiggy Wit It - Will Smith; guessed by The Attractive Nuisance; Bonus - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince)
12. Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac. (The Boys of Summer - Don Henley; guessed by Magnolia; Bonus - The Eagles)
13. You could have an airplane flying if you brought your blue skies back. (Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel; guessed by Magnolia; Bonus - Genesis)
14. You should’ve been gone knowing how I made you feel. (Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry; guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - Journey)
15. It’s been three week since you’ve been looking for your friend, the one you let hit it and never called you again. (Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauyrn Hill guessed by The Attractive Nuisance; Bonus - The Fugees)
16. We got a Thousand Points of Light for the homeless man. (Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young; guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus Buffalo Springfield)
17. Caught up in the action, I’ll be looking out for you. Tell me can you feel it. (The Heat Is On - Glen Frey; guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - The Eagles)
18. Just me hold you while you’re falling apart, just let me hold you and we’ll both fall down. (Ever the Same - Rob Thomas (not to be confused with this Rob Thomas); guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - Matchbox Twenty)
19. Ooo baby I like it raw, Ooo baby I like it raw. (Shimmy Shimmy Ya - Ol' Dirty Bastard; guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - Wu-Tang Clan)
20. How could you just walk away from me when all I can do is watch you leave? (Against All Odds - Phil Collins; guessed by Magnolia; Bonus - Genesis)
21. I got the only key to your heart; I can stop you from falling apart. (Let My Love Open the Door - Pete Townshend; guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - The Who)
22. Used to be my homie, used to be my ace, now I wanna slap the taste out your mouth. (Dre Day - Dr. Dre; guessed by Sha Shinzzle; Bonus - NWA)
23. All alone I sit home by the phone waiting for you baby. (Say, Say, Say - Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson; guessed by Sha Shinizzle; Bonus - The Beatles)
24. I was every little hungry schoolgirl's pride and joy and I guess it was enough for me. (Freedom '90 - George Michael; guessed by The Attractive Nuisance; Bonus - Wham!)
25. I make dough but don’t call me Dough Boy, this ain’t no motion picture.
Last week I shared with you my number one burning question for Rob Thomas, creator of Veronica Mars, dealing with the other dude with his name (see No, Not That Rob Thomas), and today I will regale you with the question I most wanted to know about the show, here’s the transcript:
Scooter McGavin: One person that’s been brought up a lot last season and has been brought up once this season; are we ever going to meet Shelly Pomroy?
(Rob Laughs)
Scooter: Unless I’ve missed it, I don’t think we’ve ever seen her except in the background.
Rob Thomas: Shelly Pomroy, now this is a great bit of trivia, Shelly Pomroy is a girl I went to high school with and had a crush on in seventh grade and she dated my best friend throughout high school and remains a good friend to this day and she has a cousin who had work in soup operas and was coming out to LA to make it as an actor. And she called me; Shelly Pomroy called me, and said “Would you mind seeing my cousin if you have anything right for her?” And this was the Purity Test episode, the Purity Test episode we need a cheerleader and said, “Yeah send in your cousin and I’ll meet her.” And that’s Madison Sinclair. Madison Sinclair is played by Shelly Pomroy’s cousin, which is a weird bit of business because Shelly Pomroy is a real person. Shelly Pomroy has been referenced…
Magnolia: Which one?
Rob: Oh which one, which one of the two. Because the first time we cast Shelly Pomroy we didn’t need an actress we just need someone we could make out, the second time we need an actor.
Magnolia: In the pilot she was just an extra sitting in the lunchroom with Duncan and Logan and the camera focused on her, “that’s Shelly Pomroy.” Then she’s a brunette, then there’s also a show where’s she’s making out with Duncan, people didn’t know that was Shelly Pomroy.
Rob: And that’s bad planning on our part.
Magnolia: And then there’s a third one in A Trip to the Dentist where she’s doing the…
Rob: Uh, Straddling Veronica.
Magnolia: How do you explain that, closet lesbian?
Rob (chuckles): Yes.
My tape cuts off there as I believe we reached the wardrobe trailer and the conversation pretty much ended. There were some spots of bad audio so I may have missed it on the playback, but I’m pretty sure that Rob said that the girl named Shelly that dated Duncan early in season one was intended to be the infamous Shelly Pomroy. And while transcribing this I noticsed he totally didn’t answer my original question, but it was an interesting response especially since it involved one of my favorite non-cast member, Madison Sinclair. What can I say; I have a soft spot for hot chicks with attitude problems. Speaking of hot chicks with attitude problems, the good people at UPN/Warner Bros has passed along some pictures of Laguna Beach alum Kristin Cavallari who will be making a guest appearance on tomorrow’s brand new Veronica Mars which I have posted one below courtesy of UPN/Warner Bros and is used by permission. If you want to see more you can check out my new photo blog, the aptly titled Scooter McGavin Takes Pictures. Also below the picture I will print some spoilers that UPN passed along, so avoid them if you don’t want to see them.
Spoiler Alert
Veronica is on the case when someone tries to blackmail the gay students of Neptune High;
Dr. Griffith tells Logan to stay away from his daughter Hannah after he walks in on the two of them cuddling on the couch;
Veronica tries to track down a runaway bride, who happens to be Wallace's new girlfriend's sister;
Aaron Echolls meets with Kendall Casablancas and asks if she can get into Logan's hotel suite;
And Veronica runs into her ex-boyfriend, Troy (guest star Aaron Ashmore), when taking a college tour with Wallace.
Also, Michael Cera (George Michael) and Alia Shawkat (Maeby) of Arrested Development guest star.
It's my favorite time of the year, St. Patrick's Day, my birthday, Peeps (during the occasional March Easter), spring training, Shamrock Shakes, and most importantly March Madness. I'm actually coming off my best outing ever coming in third in the office pool. So I figured I would pass on my college basketball wisdom on to you. Even though Selection Sunday is still a good two weeks away there are a few rules you can abide by every year without having to see the bracket.
Rule #1 - Duke always makes it to the Sweet 16. Remember last week when everyone said Duke was in trouble? But an ACC title run later, Coach K and crew are back on track. Some people may argue that Duke is an automatic Final Four pick every year, and that would be a good bet most years but Sweet 16 is a guarantee when it comes to Duke.
Rule #2 - Never bet on the Big Ten. It's never a good idea to trust institutions of higher learning that can't count and the Big Ten backs that philosophy up. It's always guaranteed that at the end of the first weekend, when they show the breakdown of how the all the major conferences did, the Big Ten always has the worst record. Then everyone questions why they got so many bids, and then the next year they still get 4-6 more bids to the Big Dance. And that means 3-5 more upset points for us. Yeah, one team may make it to the second weekend, but as a whole avoid the Big 10.
Rule #3 - The MAC is always good for a win. As a product of the Mid-American Conference, I am very aware of this rule. Every year the Mac is overlooked and draws a 10-12 seed then knocks off the 5-7 seed (usually an at large bid from an overrated conference) thus racking up the upset points.
The Gonzaga Corollary - To go a step further on Rule #4, always pick any lower Mid Major seed vs. a 4th or lower from a major conference. Most major conferences do not deserve 4 or more bids and prove with early exits from those teams.
Rule #4 - Home Court Matters. College Basketball is the sport where home court/field advantage is most prominent. Yes, I know there is no home court advantage in March Madness because they play on neutral courts, but when you (or your fans) have to travel less than 50 miles to get to get to the game than you are at a distinct advantage. So when you are filling out your brackets pay close attention where the first weekend games are taken place.
Rule #5 - Ask Your Sister. The most important rule even though it discredits everything I’ve said before. Every year guy spend from 6:00 Sunday until 12:00 Thursday mulling over websites, watching Sportcenter, and taking in all the information from all the blowhards and self proclaimed braketologist. But by the time April rolls around, it’s a chick who took five minutes filling out her bracket who takes home the big prize. So if you want to win this year, just don’t over think everything.
Now onto my picks:
Atlanta
Finals: Duke vs. Texas
Upset Special: NC State
Oakland
Finals: UCLA vs. Kansas
Upset Special: Kent State
Washington DC
Finals: UConn vs. North Carolina
Upset Special: Utah St. (Not that I picked them)
Minneapolis
Finals: Boston College vs. Ohio State
Upset Special: Northern Iowa
Final Four
Duke over UCLA
UConn over Boston College
Duke over UConn 83-76
It’s been a good couple months for dance music with songs by Annie and the group formally known as Astaire, Blondfire making songs for the dancefloor that doesn’t absolutely suck, not to mention rock bands like Franz Ferdinand that make song that even I can dance too. Now you can add Goldfrapp to the list of dance artist that you don’t need to be high on ecstasy to enjoy with the release of her new album Supernature. Of and for those that don’t already know, if you need drugs to make music sound good, then by definition its suck, I’m talking to you Deadhead. But anyways.
The album starts off with a double dose of upbeat sons that demand your attendance out on the dancefloor with the thumping (but not the annoying bass kind) Ooh La La and the electric Lovely 2 C U. But the album goes into dance clichés with Ride on a White Horse, a song that gets old quick with its monotone singing and music that overpowers the vocals.
Then, when things get slowed down, Goldfrapp suddenly turns into Portishead on song You Never Know and Let it Take You with poor results. And it seems lie the two song take forever end. The album gets back on track Fly Me Away but it’s really hit or miss after except Satin Chic that has an old time western feel, but of course with a dance twist and the 80’s sounding Number 1. It may be best just to buy the best song on iTunes because there is way too much filler buy the album as a whole.
Song to Download - Ooh La La
Supernature gets a ![Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-iVFV0hXCTSYP16K_V0Rrxp3GqFrtBIJKeTUyQ2LpxZQ9XKHFj6QGtqqa7oxhLadLV8vUj8R84AftD8IKUSfN0u_u0CYDtJwhrpCPN2DBWquAIDv0jbVlhZL0mDFKlPKluGyxw/s400/small_elevated.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
