“Tighten Up”

Love it. Great song, too.

Seen any good music videos lately?

If you have already read the first two books in the The Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, you will still want to read Mockingjay to get answers to all of your questions. But don’t expect to love the book. Mockingjay is no The Hunger Games.

[Spoilers Below]

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Look to the ant, thou sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,

 which, having no guide, overseer or ruler,

 provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.

-Proverbs 6 (more…)

There died a myriad

And of the best, among them,

For an old bitch gone in the teeth,

For a botched civilisation.

                     -Ezra Pound

AMC appears to have scored another hit with its new series Rubicon.  If you haven’t been watching, it might be a good idea to start now and avoid having too far to catch up.  This show is similar to Mad Men in one way: it moves at a languid pace.  Some have complained that the pace is too slow and is making the show dull.  But for those who like puzzling out the intricate webs of this story as it spins its twisty way through intrigue and murder in the intelligence community, nothing could be more engrossing.  The pacing of this show is deceptive because it can lull you into thinking that not much is happening, but the beauty of the show is in the details and the small clues, which are actually revealed in quite rapid fire fashion. (more…)

Arcade Fire is one of those bands that you have to see live to truly appreciate.  There is an enormous number of people on stage during their performances and those people are doing things that are often not immediately recognizable as music.  They play instruments like the Hurdy Gurdy.  They bang on random stuff.  They make long wandering trips into the audience. (more…)

I recently emailed a group of various friends and asked them to send me a song from a movie soundtrack. I was surpised that no one sent me this song.

It’s only one of the most recognizable pop songs connected to a movie. It was Simple Mind’s biggest hit in the U.S. In fact I bet a lot of people would be hard-pressed to name any other songs they did. I wouldn’t be surprised if the band hates it, though. They didn’t write it.
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Ok, so who’s going to win? A lot of great dances happened last night and some interesting revelations along with some interminable and sappy blather from the judges. Here’s my rundown, followed by my prediction: (more…)

OK, we’ve not done an “other shows” for a while. I have to admit that USA has been pushing out the shows of late. They’re all of about the same quality. Good, but not necessarily great. Still, they are often better than what’s on the main networks.

Royal Pains started last year and I gave up on it after a few episodes. Covert Affairs I have been watching. It’s a “bit” more realistic than the typical spy show (i.e. Burn Notice) but still hasn’t quite found it’s vibe. (The way that say FX’s Justified found it quickly) I’m still watching but I’m not committed. Most of these shows really depend upon good guest actors who manage good chemistry with the leads. When it works, it really works. When it doesn’t you start really noticing all the imperfections in the show.

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As federal agents prepare a grand jury case against Lance Armstrong (a dubious undertaking, from a legal standpoint, on many levels) several questions must be asked. The outcome of the investigation may lead to the downfall of one of the greatest sports stories (and athletes) in the history of the world, or it could lead to the complete exoneration of a legend who will then deserve an enormous apology from his many doubters. More likely, it will lead to some sort of messy place in between those two things. Wherever it leads, it will cost an enormous amount of money and time and will be unlikely to change much about sports, cycling or improve the public perception of either. With all that in mind, Andrew Corsello may be on the right track when he pleads with Lance to just stick to his story, regardless of the actual facts. (more…)

And you thought you were done with Lost posts…

So Aint It Cool News is reporting that the Lost sequel that is on the finale DVDs answers a lot of questions.

(Spoilers ahoy) (more…)

I finally got caught up on past episodes (last week’s performance above) and watched the Top 4 as it was broadcast. I really thought this was going to be the finale, but I guess we still have another week. I’m not sure why we have a finale with 3 people when last season the finale had 6 (I guess because we have the all-star format), but to me it seems like the finals should have at least 4 contestants. (more…)

When I was young and poor I never purchased singles. I mean who really did when vinyl went away and tapes and CDs were the dominant format for music? But now that I have an iPod I find myself purchasing single songs all of the time. Sure, I purchase albums at iTunes or Amazon still but it sure is nice to just get that song you gotta have for 99 cents. Anyway, here are a few of the singles I have purchased recently:

Broken Bells – The High Road (I caught this collaboration band on Jimmy Kimmel one night and had to get the song)

Carolina Liar — I’m Not Over (This band may be a one hit wonder but I like this one hit.)

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So You Think You Can Dance and the Dizzyfeet organization put together a National Dance Day on Saturday with events in different cities. If you’ve been watching the show, you know about it–Napoleon and Tabitha choreographed a hip hop routine for everyday people to learn.

I went down to the LA event on Saturday to take pictures–I go downtown a lot just to take pictures anyway, so when I realized it was going on, I knew where I’d be heading! Napoleon and Tabitha were there to walk the crowd through the routine a couple times, then they put on the music and everybody DANCED!

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I just watched the top 6 (see above, yes I’m still a week behind) and I’m wondering if my favorite two dances were my favorites because they both had Twitch in them or because they had Lauren and Kent in them. Those two are still at the top for me at this point, but special mention has to be given to Adechike for his lyrical hip-hop routine with Comfort. It was another Nappy-Tabs masterpiece which was very reminiscent of Bleeding Love with Chelsea and Mark a couple of years ago. The only reason that I don’t think it puts Adechike in the top tier is that all the best moves and most of the emotion in the piece came from Comfort(!) She was shockingly awesome. I have to say that I really thought Robert had a great night too, but I just like Kent and Lauren a little better.

It’s partially Susan M’s influence, but mostly the fact that Greg and Jim at Sound Opinions turned me on to Torche’s Meanderthal, but now whenever I go to my local library I hit the CD bins and grab three or four discs that look like they are by metal bands based on the name of the band, the name of the album and album tracks and the cover art. It’s amusing to me (but probably not surprising) how most of the time my assessment is right on. But anyway, the result has been that over the past nine months (and mainly the past four) I have received a random education in 21st century metal (with some not-exactly-in-genre intruders because of the random element)  and the beginning of a personal set of likes and dislikes. Here is a list of capsule reactions to the albums in order of listen.

Torche — Meanderthal (2008): This is the album that started me on the journey. Love the vocalist here. Exactly what I want out of a metal/hard rock album. Pretty decent lyrics. Solid songs up and down the track list. It simply rocks. Standout track is “Grenades.”

Thrice — The Alchemy Index Voumes I&II , fire and water (2007): Fire is better than water. This is epic, ambitious, pretentious stuff, but  it has its moments. Hard rock with prog elements (I don’t know what else to call it) and a bit of rap rock/thrash in places (sorta). Quiet/loud, slow/fast. Stand out track is on disc 1 Fire — “Burn the Fleet.”

The Sword — Gods of Earth (2008): With song titles like “Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians” and “The Frost Giant’s Daughter,” this is your typical D&D-tinged metal band. But I kinda like it. Some of the riffs seem derivative and some of the song structures don’t bring much to the table. But on the longer songs, in particular the aforementioned “The Frost Giant’s Daughter” and the 7-minute long instrumental “The White Sea” you get some interesting structure and movement and some surprising or at least interesting moments. (more…)

Susan’s post on the 70s got me thinking about old music and the songs I used to listen to back then and I ran across old Billy Joel videos that reminded me of his album “Songs In The Attic,” which is a really great album, even if you don’t like Billy Joel much. I used to listen to that album constantly in the 80s, but the songs were mostly from the 70s. The album’s concept was essentially that it was these songs that Joel loved most, especially when he was playing live, and he kept going back to them, like old friends, so he recorded them live to reintroduce them to his audience.

I think we all have songs or albums or bands like that. They’re old, but we keep going back to them and getting them out every few years and reintroducing them to ourselves and our friends and our family, because knowing them is a way of knowing us. What are your old friends?

Here’s one of mine:

(Bear with me, first post. I will grudgingly accept post criticisms.)

This is a musical genre I’ve really enjoyed for the last 5 years or so. Wikipedia describes it as heavy metal with symphonic elements. I prefer the ones with female vocalists with a classical sound, near operatic sometimes.

It started with a haunting ballad from the soundtrack of Daredevil (of all places) and I just fell in love with Amy Lee’s voice. Then a driving duet on the same album, a combination of heaven and hell, with pounding guitars,  angry rap-like lyrics, and Amy’s angelic sound wrapping it up. I was hooked. Since then, I’ve sought out more like it. I find that I’m drawn to the sheer energy of the music as well as the smooth vocals. I tend to steer clear of the growly, “Cookie Monster” vocals, although I’ll make exceptions. Here are some of the bands that have captured my fancy. (more…)

Yet an other entry in my occasional series where I demonstrate how out of touch with modern culture I am by reviewing something that was all the rage long ago but which I’m just getting to. This week I show I am catching up with current events by reviewing a movie that still has posters up at Burger King! Yes, it’s the latest installment in the ever popular (and apparently one of the most profitable) series: Twilight. You may recall I reviewed, only a couple of months ago, the last installment in the series: New Moon. Eclipse is definitely a step up from that film. On some levels.

The biggest problem with book adaptations is that there is so much in the book it is amazingly difficult to make it flow. Instead you get very choppy films that don’t feel organic. This was a huge issue with the previous two installments of Twilight. I must commend the director and producers in that they really solved that this time. Eclipse flows so it actually feels like a real movie. This from a director who doesn’t have a whole lot of experience. Primarily music videos and then the 2007 modest hit 30 Days of Night, a horror movie about vampires in Alaska. (Where one must admit it makes a lot of sense to live during the winter) Some of that background worked pretty well here. The horror aspect of vampires had been lacking in the previous films. While I can’t say they established a sense of dread, at least there was a sense of threat to the main character.

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I think we’re a little behind on this, but I just watched the top 7 and had to say that Lauren is definitely my favorite now and Kent is a close second. I wish they would just leave those two together because no one else comes close.

There were some great dances in that show, including Robert and Allison’s dance to “Fix You” by Travis Wall, which was about Travis’s mother:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvGceaFTne8

But my favorite was the Mandy Moore dance to “Boogie Shoes” by Billy and Lauren. I can’t find any video of it, but the episode is on hulu and trust me, it’s cute overload.

I found an interesting iPhone/iPod Touch game that is free today. Tap Studio Pro lets you create guitar hero/tap tap revolution style tap tracks (my term, not theirs) for the songs that are already on your device. You can then play the game with those tracks or search their online database for tracks that other people have uploaded for songs that you already have. Seems like a great idea: you get to use the music that you already like and if people make enough tracks there is the potential to have a lot of replay value. The server just stores the tap tracks, not the songs themselves, so there isn’t any copyright infringement going on. I assume that a tap track that someone created while listening to a particular song isn’t an infringing use.

I tried it out today and found it entertaining. The primary limitation was my own lack of ability to create a compelling track the first time through. I haven’t tried the online features yet, but thought I’d post this while the game is free.

I debated whether to go to this show, because I already saw the Kings in L.A., and they have not put out any new material since that tour. In the end, my love of the Kings got the best of me and I went to the Usana Amphitheater to see what the boys would play. Bottom line: I’m very glad I did.

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Bike racing is not like other sports, and the Tour de France is not like other bike races. In the Tour, there is a long-standing tradition that says you do not attack when your rival goes down, whether he goes down as a result of a crash or a mechanical difficulty. This tradition exists because it is considered poor form to win because of the temporary difficulty of your opponent. The race should be won based on strength and skill and strategy (and other tres importante words beginning with S). This tradition goes double when the rival in question wears the fabled Maillot Jeaune. Thus, the peloton waited for Lance Armstrong when he crashed in previous years and Armstrong himself waited for opponents when they crashed. And Armstrong is not really known to be an especially nice guy.

That’s what makes today’s events so difficult to understand.

Contador was booed as they put the yellow jersey on him at the end of the ride. And this in an area of France that is near to Spain, his home country. You have to work hard to generate that much bad blood.

Contador says he didn’t know Schleck’s chain was off. Schleck says, “my stomach is filled with anger.” One thing’s for sure: the next few days should be very interesting.

*Update: Contador apologized to Schleck and the two shook hands. It’s nice to see this kind of classy move from Contador, who appeared to not only take advantage of Schleck’s misfortune, but also appeared to be lying about it when he said he didn’t know Schleck was having a difficulty. I’m glad Contador acknowledged the mistake and that there will be no continuing bad feelings between these two great riders.

Here is Contador’s video apology:

It’s a classy move, as I said, but it leaves some lingering issues:

First, Contador claims credit for stopping the peloton when Andy crashed on the stage to Spa. Most people think that credit belongs to Fabian Cancellara (holder of the yellow jersey at the time) and Saxo Bank, though it’s obvious that the decision could not have been made without the full cooperation of Contador.

Second (and this is the biggest problem) he throws some blame Schleck’s way for not waiting for him when the field was split on the later stage after the cobblestones. The problem there is that no one, even Contador himself, suggested that Schleck should have waited at that time. Further, there is an enormous difference between the two incidents: Contador hadn’t crashed and had no mechanical difficulty, he was merely caught behind the crash of other riders. The case could easily be made that this was his own fault for not being up front with his team where he should have been. Also (and this is the critical difference), Schleck didn’t attack at that time, the way Contador attacked in the Pyrenees. That makes all the difference in the world, and makes Contador’s apology seem like not so much an apology as a massive rationalization built on half-truths.

Despite that, he did say he was sorry, and I’m glad for that.

A Dream Within A Dream

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

-Edgar Allan Poe

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We are a good way into summer now. The days are long, the children are starting to say “I’m BORED!” and everyone is in need of some fun filled cognitive activities. Enter Ubongo, a game of quick puzzle solving.

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Given that KB is 23 Flavors central I thought I should mention some big news: Dr Pepper is using actual sugar in its products to celebrate its 125th anniversary. So now lovers of the real DP Dr Pepper don’t have to get it shipped from Dublin Dr Pepper. We can just go buy a 12 pack from the grocery store. I suggest stocking up. I’ll check back in with a report once I find some.