Sunday, January 30, 2005

It has been said

It has been said that I ain't never have talked about music on this here Blog. So I will now.
These days I rarely listen to FM radio. I am addicted to sports talk radio like Extra Sports 690/1150 in the LA area. But when Lee Hamilton or Jim Rome can't keep my interest, I take the agonizing leap to FM radio and pray for gold. Instead I mostly get crud.
I'll try not to be so negative from here on in, but it might not work out that way.
I start with 106.7 KROQ. If it's in the morning I'm treated to a show called 'Kevin and Bean' which is like listening to two 18 year olds talk about the Real World and how cool (insert lead singer of modern rock band) is. They hurt me. If it's not them, it's music. This station plays songs from the last decade by Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Sublime, and The Offspring like they are brand new bands. These bands get played hourly, and they choose only from the top 3 songs of each bands career so you hear the same old songs every day. They then mix in the new music.
New rock today for me sounds overly dramatic, whimpy, full of video game-like sounds, and overall annoying. In the words of William Shatner and Henry Rollins, 'I just can't get behind that.' I liked The White Stripes for about 20 minutes. I saw them live on SNL and I liked it. Then I downloaded some songs and they started sounding all the same to me, that's a turn off. I liked The Killers for about 5 minutes and then realized the the same fact about them. I then saw them on SNL and watched the lead singer sing a song that is supposed to be jampacked with heartwrenching emotion, and he had one hand in his pocket while lightly shaking his body and staring sparingly into the crowd. It sucked, he sucked, they sucked. And what is with these new hipster boy bands wearing pink sweaters(we all know Melondog started that craze back at SU circa 2001) and button down shirts? The ironic nature of these bands is getting old fast and this is part of the problem: new bands today seem to be all gimick, no substance.
Not that music has to bring deep meaning to the table to be good, I'm all for some good old fashioned Rock and Roll sillyness(see The Misfits, New York Dolls, old KISS, The Kinks, Warron Zevon, etc.)
Live shows tell a lotl about a band, and as I watch Conan O'Brien on a daily basis and I watch all the musical acts on SNL, I see these 'rock' bands do nothing more than play their song politely and walk away with an 'I'm shy and unagressive so I'm too cool for you' attitude. It sucks, it's not Rock and Roll, it's whimpy shit. No-one's got balls anymore. It's not grabbing me, not the music or image.
Maybe I'm just an old fart, or I'm too set in my ways, but when I think about music today and I try to compare it to anything maybe it's this generations Hair Metal. They have an image that people can duplicate, they have songs that are mostly run of the mill sap stuff and some 'party' stuff, and they will sell records for a few more years. For us in the 80's, we liked hearing about what the cat dragged in, maybe these days people like hearing about your boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend who had a boyfriend who ate with a girlfriend. Something that may seperate these two genres of music in the future might be the re-play value of it all. I can't imagine 20 years from now Jones Beach Theater being sold out for a new 'Modest Mouse' tour featuring 'Taking Back Sunday.' Then throw in the crowd of thousands in hipster gear while being overweight and cranky, and it just doesn't seem possible.
To finish on a happy note, I do enjoy listening to Indie 103.1. I know, 'Indie 103'. But it is good as they play a good mix of old rock and roll, punk, and newer lesser known rock acts that aren't so generic. They also rarely have DJ's which is a welcome break from the norm. One stretch of show that has a DJ but is quite good is 'Jones' Jukebox', I reccomend y'all East Coasters try a little on-line listening to this station, I know it can be done.
And also, NPR is always a fine FM choice.
That's all I got for now.
Please Note: Some of you out there dig some of the new music, I'm not knocking you, I just haven't been able to dig it.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Updating

I'm lazy and haven't updated in a while. For the two of you who read this, God bless you.

The Mets have added Carlos Beltran, Doug Mientkiewicz, Roberto Hernandez, and some minor league talent since last I wrote of the Mighty Pedro. All of these moves are solid for the Mets. They will be competitive this year, they do not 'suck', so Yankee fans can sitck it you ignorant baboons. That's right.

Carlos Delgado is a punk, have fun in Florida you giant, rich nincompoop.

Does anyone care that our national Magic 8 Ball is telling us 'Signs point to yes' when we ask 'Are we really going to attack Iran, Syria, etc.'?

Wellington, New Zealand, get ready for an influx of immigrating American Democrats(aka:pussies or maniacs)

I'm going to Wrestlemania 21 and it looks like it's going to suck. After this years 'Grandaddy of them all' it may be time to hang up my wrestling watching tights. I got them when I was 8.

Thank you.




Millers Crossing

I saw 'Millers Crossing' last night and it was excellent. This is one of the Coen Brothers finest works. I'll briefly discuss some of what I liked. The story is a noir-ish tale of a gangster who always takes the 'longest way around' to get what he needs, and always clears his own debts, played by Gabriel Byrne. The 'payoff' scene at the end is incredible, it's not a surprise ending or anything, it's just perfect execution. There is also a scene where Albert Finney's character, Lou, has to get out of bed and get to work. This scene is amazing. My last comment involves the Coen brothers film making ability. When you first see Gabriel Byrne's apartment, the way that scene is set up, it has the feel of watching a play as opposed to a movie, which I enjoy. Maybe that was the Coen's ode to 'Death of a Salesmen' as they like to reference their influences in their movies. See 'Millers Crossing', it's a great movie.

Saturday, January 01, 2005

Films and such

I saw 'Napolean Dynamite' the other day and I didn't like it all that much. The part where Rico throws the steak at Napolean's face was funny, and there were other moments that made me laugh a little, but it didn't live up to the hype. The tone of the movie seemed a weird mix of a Wes Anderson movie with a dash of 'Donnie Darko', just not as good as either of them. I couldn't get into the forced nature of the jokes. It seemed to be saying 'here's a guy you should laugh at if he dances, so laugh' and it didn't work for me. I thought Pedro was great. Rico was good too. The Grandmother should've been used more. The story went nowhere. And the wedding that they added at the end of the credits after the movie had become a cult hit had no laughs in it. The character Kip was bothersome. He was funnier as the dorky, lispy older brother. When he changed his style for his internet girlfriend, it was just a cheap 'dorky white guy in hip hop clothes' laugh which is too lame and overdone. On top of it all, the opening credits run way too long, and that's a bad way to start a film. I'd give it 2 of 5 Llamas. Friggin' idiot.

On the other hand, 'Anchorman' is hillarious. If you haven't given it a try, I reccomend it highly. It's an excellent "Tardcomedy."

Other movies I'd reccomend currently:
Miracle
Unbreakable(M.Night's best)
The Incredibles
American Graffiti
Bullets Over Broadway

A TV show I have to reccomend is 'Lost'. Here's a good description of it:
"This baby’s got everything: sci-fi, comedy, adventure, romance, high drama, suspense, violence, mysterious monsters, big twists and great characters."

I dig it, watch it.

Thank you, come again.