Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Still Got It:Boz!

I just saw this again and couldn't resist. Might help that I finally hooked up speakers too. This is how you do it.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Winter Blahs, could be worse....

u could have this:


I put up a link to David Byrne's journal, always good to check from time to time. If you scroll down there's some pretty interesting takes on the "support the troops" argument. Promise to throw down some more soon.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Too Soon: DJ


So, as requested, a mention of the untimely passing of Dennis Johnson at age 52. The reason for the slight delay was not because of the trade deadline, but because of the reaction I had. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't, nor am I now, a Huge Celts fan. But growing up in upstate and following basketball at that time you couldn't help but know each player by name, as well as the Lakers. But what really struck me was the age at which DJ went down, and I began lingering on my own mortality. Hence my obsession with mid-life crises at the moment. Now I have no reason to believe I won't go on far past my sixties, but a thing like this, for some reason, puts ones life into perspective. Anyway Bill Simmons has the best tribute to DJ which I will try to link. Meanwhile I'll be drifting........

Click the simmons link top right.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

"With You Always"

The way things have been goin lately, I just don't know...until I found THESE:




You've Had a long drive my son, let's take a break to enjoy a cold beverage.....

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Travesty


Let's hope my earlier plea in defense of melo will result in an injury so that David Stern can redeem himself for not appointing Z Bo to the All Star team. There are only five players averaging 20 and 10. Only one is not an All Star. Zac. Zac is # 8 in double doubles this season. Memet Okur is 25.And in all other statistical categories it falls the same 8 vs. 26. Absolutely ridiculous and should not be taken sittin down by fans of both the Blazers and the NBA in general. A joke! When D Wade went down tonight, I thought 'If only he was in the West' there would be an open spot for Zac. But then, of course, he returned to single handedly hand it to the Blazers in the 4th.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Still Got It:...dr.dog??


First Impressions are everything, and upon the first muted dry drumfill of dr. dog's 'easy beat', i fell hard for the dog. The jaded hater of all new music had something to crow about in the way all these blowhard youngsters were crowin' bout their clapyourhandssayeahs, and tapes n tapes (boring).

Expectations Level:yellow

CMJ, i get the live dr. dog experience and am totally floored. The mercury lounge hadn't been slammed so beautifully before, not even by me (i tried). They one upped what was my new favorite album in the live setting with the sick presence of co singers scott (lead guitar) and toby (bass). Taking what on a first listen may seem like mellow pop and makin the shit rock to heights not felt since the days of real music see:60's ,70's. I mean you got your harmonies, both vocal and semi hollow axe, the drum sound of the 'wet towel' variety, tasty keys and bass, whats not to love?

Expectation Level Orange:
5 shows, one in-store and one EP later here we are. We All Belong. The new album. Well, like the English Leather Stetson Axe body spray old spice guy said, you never get a second chance at a first impression. Now I've got Ideas, pictures, memories, expectations. Stupid expectations. First listen didn't go so well. I was at work, unfair. I expected the higher fidelity and tried to not let it get in the way. 'Easy beat's 4track like fidelity was one of what i thought were dr. dog's assets. I remember talking to Scott in Austin about his dream of recording then playing it thru a boombox. set a mic up to the boombox and have that be the final mix. We All Belong doesn't sound exactly like that. The songs didn't jump out at me now. Kinda blended together. The horns and strings are cool, and don't intrude but i'm not being blown away here.'Aint it strange' and 'die,die,die' from the recent EP seemed to stand out as the front runners, with 'worst trip' coming next, a song i had also heard before. Not good. I was thinking they should have included 'fuck it', an older seemingly live only song ("sometimes u do, sometimes u don't...fuck it"), just so i could enjoy something else i was familiar with. ech. i was not being fair to anyone involved at this point.

Try again. Get home hit the couch. nothing is changing for me. Trevor Solomon's voice echoing in my head " the new record is awwwwwwesome....it's gonnnnnaaaa beee huuuuge..." I want to beleive you! I go play shuffleboard thinking the sophmore slump (not including 'toothbrush' just because) has struck again. Bummerchusetts.

New Day. try again. Like Rob Dylan said:"the tydes they are a changin'"
"A dog from the past started barkin" Here we go! I'm feelin it and not because I WANT TO. The production is cleaner but not distracting, not Nigel Godrich-y, or Friedmanesque. That ole trebbly bass is there jumpin and divin all around. The strength of 'Old Ways' is revealing itself to me now. It feels good.'Keepin a Friend' is a chuggin taught cousin to Easybeats' "wake up'. Does not supercede but gets the job done. The dog let their hair down by 'Girl', opening it up, and retaining the raw sound in this new environment. This one's gonna slam it live, I can tell.

The strength of We All Belong is definately in its side B. 'Worst Trip' is euphoric with its bursting horns and sah-weet dual guitar lead outro. 'Die die die' showcasing Toby's just soulful enough voice, still shines from it's first appearance on Takers and Leavers. The title track closer brings it back home with a nifty bridge/breakdown showcasing the horns and strings. I predict the live interpretation can possibly take the coda to even new heights with guitars in their place.

We All Belong can't be Easy Beat. I'm sure it never tried to be. That's ok. The expansion of dr. dog, as their publicity team might try to explain it, is not a failure. They could have given the same treatment to the EB songs, with similar results. But in the grand scheme of things the songs are stronger on EB. Thats not to say that We All Belong is weak by any means. It's getting better by the day in fact. Who knows how I'll feel in a few weeks. I'll reserve further judgement for the live experience in the next month or two. Will have a full report then.

To hear for yourself: http://www.weallbelong.net/index.html

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

MVP


"Let me hear y'all think Rexy aint so sexy, and let me guide you through the purple rain... "

What we learned:
Everyone said the Bears couldn't do it, and were right.

That Bill Cowher still got it. 15 minutes before kickoff said do not kick to Hester!

Beard combovers are funny.

That I was 17 weeks off on Dominick Rhodes having a great game (fantasy bust=XLI MVP fo reals)

Billy Joel should start drinking again.

Phil Simms should be water boy for his son and never call a game again.

CBS shouldn't let Andy Rooney be in charge of Super Bowl stats. It was almost halftime til they revealed, what everyone in the room had assumed, was the first ever opening kick off return for a touchdown in super bowl history.

That 'god the lord etc' is a major buzz kill in any press conference.

And why prince is the MVP:

He made the foo fighters slightly listenable.
Shredded major boards.
Only person to EXCEL in the wet conditions
Once he got everyone talking bout the aunt jemima doo rag, had the presence of mind to toss it away
shredded MAJOR boards.
One upped Janet Jackson in the flowing curtain sequence
SHREDDED MAJOR BOARDS!

Friday, February 2, 2007

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

How Can the League's LEADING SCORER, NOT make the All Star Team?????!!!??!!