Saturday, February 21, 2009

New U2 album?

Anyone heard it yet? It's streaming at a few places online.

Overall thoughts: It's not this much-hyped reinvention they've been promising. Although, it's probably difficult enough to do that once in a career, much less twice. Besides, it's impossible to ever expect another Achtung. No one could live up to that.

The good news: Get On Your Boots is the worst song on the album. I was hoping this would be true. They have pulled this rope-a-dope in the past. Discoteque kind of threw everyone off and was definitely one of the weaker songs on Pop. Who chooses singles for these guys?

The bad news: Bono's lyrics just continue their downward spiral that started back w/ Zooropa. In the past I've been able to overlook a lot of them; for the most part I don't hear the words, I just hear the voice as another instrument. But there are some real steamers on this record. So much that they pull me out of my moment of enjoyment and make me say, "did he really just say that? Dang."

Overall, I like the record. We'll see how it stands up after several listenings. Other than Beautiful Day, ATYCLB really soured with me. I hardly ever go back and listen to that record. And HTDAAB really grew on me. I wasn't so impressed when I first bought it, but it's worked its way into a regular rotation.

Thoughts?

Friday, February 20, 2009

This Place Is Dead

Where the white people at?

Friday, February 13, 2009

My Dream Last Night

Adam, Scott and I were in the airport taking a trip. There were loads of missed connections and stuff before we finally got the the hotel. That's when Scott opens his suitcase and takes out a tiny dog. Adam and I had to take care of it while Scott went to a bar and got drunk.

The End.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Wiki-tastic

Earlier this week I was reading through the Wikipedia entry for The Doors (it's better not to ask why, lest ye submit yourself to a rant against rock and roll idolatry and the taste of popular culture).

Meanwhile, imagine my amusement as I read this entry for The Doors second album, Waiting For the Sun. (Check the red text>


(For the record, the second #1 single for The Doors was "Hello, I Love You").

Really? Had they released "Suck Kunal's Balls Like A donkey On Friday" as a single, I might actually start to like this band. Needless to say, this is a prime example demonstrating the vulnerability of a wiki, especially the extremely popular, and often cited-amongst-students, Wikipedia.

I took the screen-cap immediately because I knew there was no way it would last too long and I needed to have proof. It had been changed less than 3 hours later. However, the editor had changed it to "The Unknown Soldier," again, an incorrect wiki-fact. For a while, I considered just watching this event transpire to see how long it actually took before the information was completely correct again. Well, I made it about 3 more hours before my librarian senses got the best of me and my responsibility to the Internet took over. I logged in and corrected the entry myself.

The one thing I hate more than The Doors is mis-information posing itself as fact on Wikipedia.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Chase

We updated Chase's youtube page.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Chaseylou1

There are ABBA and Crue references contained within.

She and Isaac's band will reign supreme someday.

Their first album will be titled "Greates Tits"

Thursday, January 22, 2009

.

Hope you are all well. I don't have much news to report other than I survived the layoffs we had here the other day. 1850 people company wide. Seven percent of the entire workforce of Clear Channel. Amazing.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

New President - new blogs.....

Hey just checking in on everyone... What movies has everyone seen that are currently out? I say, Doubt is awesome....some of the best acting I've seen.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Check out this picture taken in Chicago...


This was near my friends apartment! Crazy! Yes that was the street caving in.....

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Metalheads Only



http://www.amazon.com/Fargo-Rock-City-Odyssey-Dakota/dp/0743406567

I know this book is several years old at this point, but how did I miss this? Has anyone else read this, and if so, why didn't you tell me about it. If you haven't read this book, you need to read it now. Bump it up in your queue, I don't even care.

Check it out!

Here is a video I was a producer on for a local band.....I like it....Some of you may have seen it. Let me know what ya think. And we are in the final editing stages for a video comedy short I've been working on...i'll send it soon...

I keep getting an error when I try to embed it....so here's the youtube link....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F65c6kaidU


oops - nothingto see here...blogger having errors

http://www.star987.com/main.html

If you click that you can see a little Josh pop up and tell you about something dumb

In other news...

I am reading this right now



It's really good so far.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Scott, this one's for you

I was browsing some Netflix recommendations tonight and came across this:



It's part three in the series. I didn't even know there was a part 2!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

What Are You Reading?

What are you reading right now? I've personally got three books going right now, but I'm always interested in what the Country A-K crowd is reading. I learned about Skipped Parts, Youth in Revolt, and several other of my favorite books from suggestions on this blog.

Front View


In case you were wondering, my "in progresses" are The Ten Cent Plague by David Hajdu, New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Of the three, Nick and Norah's is the most fun. It's sort of a high school High Fidelity. I haven't seen the movie, but the book is entertaining. New Moon is what it is. The sequel to Twilight. I'm having some difficulty getting through it, but I'm almost done. I hear its the worst of the four. I got the other two for Christmas, so I have some reading to do. The Ten Cent Plague is a look back on the role the comic books played in American Culture. It is the true story that The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is based and is an almost parallel book to Men of Tomorrow.

Up next is The Coffee Trader by Davis Liss and then maybe Heavier than Heaven by Charles Cross. Then I'm open for suggestions.

Still wondering about the release of Black Tooth Grin though. That's been on the Amazon wish list for a while now. ;)

Friday, December 26, 2008

I hope you all had a good holiday.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Everyone left.....Merry Christmas!

Hey guys......so I hope you guys are still checking this....since it seems to be kinda slow these days! Well it's -4 with a windchill of -30 here, sounds warm and lovely......anyone wanna come to Chicago???? :)

Merry Christmas everyone.....I'm sure this blog will pick up after the new year!!! Lots of top 5 lists to come and music, TV, movies to chat about! See ya!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Chinese Democracy?

Who has listened to Chinese Democracy? I gave it another whirl today and I have to say that I actually like it a whole lot. My expectations were about zero to begin with, but I think it is a pretty damn good album.

My hesitation obviously lay with the absence of Slash. Izzy left during the Use Your Illusion days and I'm not sure Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum were ever the heart of the band anyway. The only members from back in the day are Dizzy Reed and, of course, Axl Rose. The title track was the first I heard quite a while ago and it did nothing to excite me about the pending release.

But, since I pretty much still hold Appetite and Use Your Illusion I and II in high standing, I felt I owed it to myself to listen to the new offering. My conclusion... Axl is GnR. I've never been a huge fan of Velvet Revolver. They are OK, but just not my thing. But, Axl proved that he is still able to rock on without Slash.

Other stuff in the last year I think is pretty much fantastic... Alkaline Trio's Agony & Irony. Honorable mentions on that CD are Calling All Skeletons, Help, and I Found Away. Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. I won't even begin to pick my favorite song on this album, but I will say that Keep the Car Running and Intervention got me hooked. I like the new Rise Against and was pretty excited to see the Toadies reunite. Plus, Rise Against got Zach Blair and the Toadies got Doni Blair. I guess I won't hope for a Hagfish reunion anytime soon.

Friday, December 12, 2008

The Blog's Not Dead

No!!! I just got here. The Blog can't be dead. However, I do read the blog through an RSS reader, so its harder to see comments than posts.

No responses to the Youth in Revolt post huh? I figured someone would have something to say about that.

As for presents, I'd say this year has been tough. I haven't come up with good ideas for anyone. I think part of the problem is that I haven't seen anyone in forever since I was out of the country for the better part of the year. Also, times are just tough on everyone right now. DIY projects are always a good idea, but they take time. Check out CRAFTzine and Instructables for some neat ideas.

Hiccups are aweful!!! I'm always afraid that they will last forever too. I don't like them to begin with, but anything over a minute is down right annoying. And they always comes at the most inopportune time right?

Who likes Bacon Salt? Anyone here other than me think this is one of the greatest discoveries of the year. Zac, remember when we lived off of 45th street? I think I ate bacon at least once a meal and sometimes in between. Not the most healthy way of living, but I sure did enjoy it.