| All Music All the Entry |
[Jun. 20th, 2008|02:42 pm] |
I like the new Coldplay album quite a bit, especially second single "Viva la Vida."
"Chinese Democracy" is actually pretty good, amazingly enough (torrents widely available).
Falco "Re:Loaded" is my favorite mashup album in quite some time.
There are quite a few other excellent mashups out there right now, though, so by all means, do _not_ search for "SF Bootie" if you do not want to find any of them.
and
Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" (which, is that menstrual in meaning?) is going to be one heck of an annoying song of the summer should that come to pass. I far prefer the idea that "Viva La Vida" will overtake it, preferably very soon. |
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| Leona Lewis and the Venture Bros. |
[Jun. 6th, 2008|06:47 am] |
For whatever reason, I really like the Leona Lewis single "Bleeding Love". It reminds me very much of pre-"This Fire" Paula Cole, which was fairly excellent stuff.
Also, should you have lots of money to spend/waste (and by this I mean that I did and thus did this myself), there is a set of, no kidding, 14 Venture Bros. Shirts available for the low low price of only $250.00 available here:
I can not imagine this will go over well when my wife reads this, but there one has it. It was, alas, a no-brainer, and I will not be spending any money on Amazon this month (or next, and perhaps the one after it). |
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| 30 Rock is the new Arrested Development |
[May. 15th, 2008|01:45 pm] |
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I figured this out in the season finale when Alec Baldwin says "Rome wasn't built in one day" and the Christian fundamentalist politician says "You have no proof of that!" in the deep background. Easily the funniest smart show that isn't on cable (which is to say it is still not South Park) |
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| South Park |
[May. 15th, 2008|01:37 pm] |
Yeesh! It is exactly like the Simpsons was in their best seasons, which is to say about 14 seasons ago. They take a basic premise and then just go 14 worlds of weird away in whatever digression Trey feels like. The episode that precipitated this, by the by, is "Britney's New Look" which feels just so so wrong on so many levels. That a paparazzi would recognize that Kyle is not Britney by saying "She doesn't have a camel-toe" is, um.
That there are "Frankenstein" and "Wicker Man" references within 5 minutes is absolutely amazing. Trey is much smarter than people realize - perhaps the smartest person working in television. Keep in mind that, like Sorkin with the "West Wing", he writes the damn thing himself.
Except as regards smartest people working in TV, see above. |
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| Music Update |
[Apr. 24th, 2008|09:30 am] |
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I know it's been um, 17 weeks, which tells you exactly how enthusiastic about the song I have most loved since Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" - and it is another pop track. I know that my level of estimation will take a beating for this, but the track is "Little Miss Obsessive" by Ashlee Simpson. In all fairness I love it profoundy probably because of the Timbaland production which is beyond incredible. My heavens, though, is it wonderful. I haven't listened to a song on repeat this often since "Possesion" by Sarah McLachlin back about 12 years ago. That is interestingly because with the exception of "Never Dream Alone" I really don't like the album very much. |
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| Harry Potter five movie-wise |
[Dec. 22nd, 2007|10:56 am] |
So it is better than the book which is interesting and kinda great (incidentally the only of these films to be better then the source material other than Cuaron's entry at about book three which was fantastically weird enough to be different than the book, if not better). I think, maybe, hiring a no-name director, er, David Yates, was the best thing this series could possibly do because, let's face it, J.K. Rowling's ideas and characters were always miles better than the prose.
I kinda hope Yates directs the last two. There is a lot of difficulty, in terms of even if this episode has people standing on boxes next to Daniel Radcliffe in order to make hime look smaller which is kinda silly for 15 year olds which I have cousins that were 15 and were about 7 inches taller than me, they need to make 20 year olds look like 16 year olds. I'll let that one go.
I can say that I think the concept of "Tonks" and as her appearance in the film, there is no such thing as more sexy than that with the exception of my wife, of course. Holy Smokes.
That she [SPOILERS} dies [SPOILERS] in the last volume really makes me bitter about the series.
She was easily my favorite character, not just in the series but possibly ever in fiction and so for her to die regardless of precedent* was unfair.
I love you and goodbye for a long long time.
*Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary are the obvious "this" - women sin and then the die, except Tonks _didn't DO that_. It counts as an unfair character death similar to Wesley in _Angel_. Which Joss admits would not have happened should the show have not ended.
Again, Love. |
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| Hip Hop Covers by people you wouldn't expect |
[Nov. 8th, 2007|06:09 am] |
Or maybe you would if you knew the people involved. I'm referring to the excellently weird covers of Baby Got Back and Straight Outta Compton by Jonathan Coulton and Nina Gordon respectively.
As I've now listened to these a bunch a times whilst linking etc, and I'm sorry that the latter is a link to a youtube video, but I can't find a legal link, I like that latter very much more than the former. Nina Gordon, however, just sort of turns my crank, so your mileage* may vary.
Oh, and also, I can't not edit this to include the awesome Alanis cover of My Humps, which is just a really funny video, as well as kinda a great version of that song. Mind you, I'm seven months late on all of these, I think.
Kisses.
* I was considering attempting to change the culture as it were by moving mileage into millage, which is much more likely of a phrase for me, but everybody would almost certainly think I just suck as a speller. In any case - all future usages here mean that you millage may vary, spelled exactly correctly as such. |
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| Tegan and Sara - The Con |
[Jul. 28th, 2007|09:55 am] |
Yeah, The Con is at least as good as you expected it to be, which isn't much, but it is fucking great, so there is that for you.
I watched Oliver today in its entirety for the first time in at least 20 years (I suspect the total is closer to 29 or so) and it is really pretty god-damn awesome in a lot of ways.
How the cynicism of it missed me the first couple of billion times around I am not sure (similar to how I missed the greatness of T.Rex previously though heaven knows I had listened to it previously). But it is great, forgiving Ron Moody's performance as Fagan as both unspeakably villainish and also Jewish. That part does bother me a fair amount. But, his "I think I better think it out again" is funny as all get out if one can just assume that he's a jackass villain as opposed to a stereotypically Hebrew one, which he is, and which my father pointed out, only Mel Brooks is allowed to make fun of at this point. This is fair, though unfortunate, humour-wise, as genocide does precede humour.
I am depressed thinking of this, but I did think about Joss Whedon's observation (though should the writer of this observation find this blog, I am more than happy to correct as I adore all of Angel's writers and know them name-wise) about how memorizing Rogers and Hammerstein's lyrics for lawyers was a brilliant idea both in terms of having, no doubt, observed it, and in practice.
Last thought: "The Con" really is great on a lot of different levels.
If you've ever like Tegan and Sara's work previously, jump onto this album, I think, and you shall be pleased. It is goofy/weird and it has synthesizers, which I admit is strange, but I _love_ it. |
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| Musical musing |
[May. 25th, 2007|07:12 am] |
This morning (from about 4:45am) was spent listening to music and thinking on it, and I really don't have any real revelations, though I do think that Paul Simon is, if it is possible, under-rated as a lyricist. Boy, are the lyrics on "Bookends" very good from beginning to end.
But a revelation of sorts, though not self-generated, alas, came when I stumbled upon the video for "Set the Fire to the Third Bar" discussed here earlier by Snow Patrol and Martha Wainwright. For reasons having to do with falsetto voices, I assumed Martha Wainwright would be, perhaps, cute. In fact she is not cute - she is hot. That is interesting in my opinion.
Also, she is either _very_ tall, which is to say slightly taller than I am, or there is some interesting camera trickery going on because Gary whatever from Snow Patrol is, according to Wikipedia, at least, 6' 4" and she comes up above his chin.
Edited later to add. More musical reasearch done. I kinda like Rufus more now that I've listened to more of his songs. His "Across the Universe" cover is fantastic*; better than the Fiona Apple one; and he has decent song-writing skills. We shall see how this musical detour goes . . .
* If you know a fair amount about music, which is about where I am, then you will particularly like the Gibson Les Paul jangly sound used on the second and third verses. That it is fairly subtle is, in itself, a sort of genius. I guess it is sort of music for people that _really_ like music, or that _really_ liked that song very much. |
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| Stephen Lynch and life in general, I guess |
[Apr. 26th, 2007|06:01 am] |
I'm not entirely certain why I haven't discovered Stephen Lynch before now.
He's funny as hell in a very sophomoric way (the link to Adam Sandler is made explicit by his doing the broadway version of "The Wedding Singer") but the thing is, um, he's a world and a fuckload funnier than Adam Sandler ever is, would be, or can be. He's just really damn funny.
Anyway, obvious link is here but I really strongly suggest instead checking him out on iTunes and in particular, listening to "Lullaby". Which might be my favorite comedy song ever at this moment. |
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| And Now Stephen Lynch |
[Apr. 21st, 2007|05:05 am] |
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I really am amused by Stephen Lynch's "Lullaby", which is maybe the most awful anything (I do mean the whole thing to be very positive, in that it is funny awful, sort of) I have heard by anybody ever. It hinges on "South Park"-like parody, but it digs a fair amount deeper, alas for several "betrayal of trust" sort of reasons. |
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| Note to self: Check again Auf Der Mer's "Taste You" |
[Apr. 21st, 2007|05:03 am] |
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Which, you know, might have been the gem in that particular album, which that album wasn't exactly the Queen Bee's Knees by any stretch, but may have had a song that I overlooked. Hence my now retro posting. Ah - the glory of iTunes. |
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| 24 and Lowe's commercials |
[Apr. 11th, 2007|05:50 am] |
So I think it is safe to safe to say that with the radical character concept shifts that are occurring, 24 is done for the year. They reach this point earlier in some years than in others, but for this year, alas, I am done.
Also, Lowe's ads. What the Fuck? The basic ad setup is similar to the awful SNL sketch in which one neighbor always feels compelled to one-up the person they are talking to. Then the ad ends with the tagline "Everything you need to have the best backyard in town." What the unholy hell is the ad agency thinking? "Lowes: Where dickheads shop!" is a more concise ad-statement. And the thing is I _AM_ Lowe's preferred customer. I have lots of disposable income and a house and a wife that likes me spending money there instead of at Gamestop. So for them to randomly offend me with an ad, though admittedly on 24 which the much more repugnant world-view of which I am getting beaten over the head with, is dubious.
So to conclude. Lowe's used to be in my "ignore category" and have managed to achieve active negativity, and 24 is just plain awful now. |
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| Jonathon Coulton |
[Feb. 23rd, 2007|11:39 pm] |
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So you guys can check him out here in terms of downloading all of his music, more of less. I liked "Code Monkey" a lot. But his cover of "Famous Blue Raincoat" which, um, I'm known to feel affectionate toward those who adore Leonard Cohen, is what makes me like him quite a lot. $40.00 gets you his complete works on iTunes, though you could also just download them from the link above. But I recommend you give him your $40.00, should you have it. What are you other music options? As much as All-American Rejects amuse me, they neither need nor get all that much of your money should you buy two of their CDs, which, same money for half as many songs. |
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| Brief movie reviews |
[Feb. 21st, 2007|09:20 pm] |
Marie Antoinette was pretty good. Three of the old stars, though it would have closed in on four should the third act not taken so very long.
Ghost Rider ekes out a second star due to the commitment of Nic Cage and perhaps Eva Mendes' breasts' which the latter do an amazing amount of work in lieu of a hideous lack of screenplay cleverness. I'm amazed this made it into production with such leaden prose.
Smokin' Aces which is considerably worse than either of the above. Holy shit is it awful. Now mind you, I have moral issues with movies that kill people wantonly, and this movie kills pretty much everybody wantonly; sorry about the spoiler.
Failure to Launch : My wife liked this considerably more than I did which is to say that I thought it is cute. Zooey is reliable as always, and it amuses.
More to come eventually. |
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| The Class redeux |
[Feb. 13th, 2007|06:14 am] |
Closing in on the show that I am most interested in watching every week is The Class which is funny in a completely character-based way. There are other shows that I like, but if you gauged how quickly I watch shows from when they appear on my Tivo, I can almost guarantee The Class will win. Part of it is that it does take place in Philadelphia, which is where I grew up, and sort of reside in.
Part of it also is that I really like every single one of the actors now that whomever played "Holly Elenbogen" is gone. And that was a neat trick by the producers, erasing her so thoroughly from the front credits.
In any case, it is the only show from the new season that I've kept watching.
Rules of Engagement is being watched, but, um, gingerly. Can we use more Patrick Warburton is kinda key to that show. It is, sidenote-wise, also, extremely weird to watch Joey and Dawson's exes as lovers. Or maybe it isn't. |
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| Granny's or whatever lame-ish appelation you feel like |
[Feb. 13th, 2007|06:02 am] |
So the Grammies were weak again, but not the way Troy Patterson calls the thing lame, though he's right about a lot of things that were lame about the whole thing. Long and short is that I have a major boy-crush on Justin Timberlake now. He was, um, a trooper, by any reasonable use of the word. The fact that he released the most interesting album of last year by a major artist apparently doesn't count for much with Grammy voters. That he did the two best performances of the night _also_ doesn't count for much with Grammy voters, who, in fairness, did not vote in any sort of time frame to take that into consideration.
I would hate to have been C-Lo Sunday night and have to follow up "What goes around comes around" with a defiantly martial version of "Crazy" in that if it had been before the T-Lake performance 1 it would have been great, but instead ended up as being ordinary. And I say this as somebody that has profound respect for C-Lo in his current incarnation and have seen it live. Gnarls Barkley is awesome live, and should you get the chance, please go see them. |
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| Extras Season II halfway through |
[Jan. 29th, 2007|06:26 am] |
Oh, my goodness.
Have you seen the third episode of Extras yet?
It is maybe funnier for longer stretches than anything since the age of Seinfeld that didn't actually exist, but people seem to think did.
See, I, of course, ended up falling into my self-referential trap the way that I always do, but Extras is closing in on a sort of brilliance that has not been recently seen on television. Or movies. It is something genuinely interesting.
I instruct whatever minions I might have: "Become a fan of Ricky Gervais right now!" He will save you, or at least make you laugh at how stupid we all can be. |
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| Land of Confusion |
[Jan. 29th, 2007|06:09 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Garbage - Vow | ] |
One of the wise-acres at The Onion declared the Arcade Fire's cover of Boys of Summer as missing the point. I assume that they meant that it was sped up fiendishly, which misses the original's point in that it is about nostalgia which, sure as heck, should not be sped up.
But so, I now get the watching of a song that one loved as a kid be betrayed badly, though in this case not by the cover song, which is fine, but by the video which shows what the band _thinks_ the song is about, which is completely totally wrong.
This is the original Genesis video for the song Land of Confusion. It is a genuinely brilliant video should you have watched the Muppets religiously, as I did. It is also brilliant in that it plays with the ideas of the super-power America before the superpower America even existed as such. But so the point, to some extent of the song is that no single person no mattter how hard they try can fix the universe. It is about all of us working together. And deciding that it is time to work together.
This is the Disturbed video of the cover version. And it is directed by Todd McFarlane whom I have gone from respecting to completely hating on in the last couple of years. God, he sucks. But so where to start on how awful this video is?
It posits a super-hero, of course as that is McFarland's schtick, but it then makes him somehow rile the masses even though he is clearly _other_ than the normal people and the symbology is just awful. I can't think about this sharply. It is bad. On levels that the person not steeped in popluar culture will miss, but it is bad on the levels they can see also. And instead it is getting praise. |
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