TRON: Legacy

I was exchanging texts with a friend who went to see Tron: Legacy the other day to see her thoughts. What I was looking for was a thumbs up or a thumbs down.  Turns out the move was good...but what really got my interest going was the fact that she went to see it in one of those theatres with the D-Box seating.

Not familiar with D-Box? Well, neither was I until a few months ago. Basically, think of it like this. Did you ever go to Disneyland and get on one of those rides where the seat moves in sync with the screen....yeah...it's like that!

So now I'm totally excited for a movie that's a follow up to a childhood favorite...and I get to overpay ($20)  to view it in 3D and have it be almost like a "ride".

Kinda Excited....

That sucking sound...

That sucking sound you hear is the existence of all music leaving my life! Well, not really. But, for some reason I have only been listening to one cd on repeat for the last two to three weeks. What album has my attention you may ask? (and thank you for asking)

 Rilo Kiley's "More Adventurous" is that album....and for some reason it's been the perpetual soundtrack for my life over the last few weeks.

I wake up in the middle of the night thinking I hear these songs. I probably dream with these songs as background noise. Now, I don't fall asleep with the album on which is the strange part.  But, for some reason. I can't get over the vocals of Jenny Lewis.

The album starts off with the upbeat "it's a hit" and runs right into the mellow "does he love you?" For some reason I can't listen to this song without laughing at the line "...and he's going out to California" Mostly because of the delivery of the work California by the brother in The Wizard (which also featured a young Jenny Lewis)

From there we rock it back up to "portions for foxs" and then it's Blake Sennett's haunting vocals on "Ripcord". Which is leads into the sultry voice of Jenny again on "I never".

Now we start hitting my favorite tracks on the album. "The Absence of God" and "Accidental Death" 

Toward the third or fourth refrain of the song you get the line,"All of your failures are training grounds". Which is a good line to remember. As you move forward in life your failures will help shape you as much as your victories..if not more.

"Accidental Death" deals with the little events that change you in large ways. One of the "accidental deaths"  mentioned in the song title deals with a young man killing a deer by accident. While this situation it was an actual accidental death...the song really deals more (IMHO) with the incidents throughout your life that define who you are and who you will become. Be they straight-forward though out plans...or the accidental ones.

By this point you should be seeing a pattern emerge. I know I did...

"More Adventurous" is by far the stand out track on the album for me though. While it is, upfront a love song...I hear more. To me it's more of an anthem to pick yourself up and move forward. Take what you had and let it lead you to what you will have next. Take what you've learned and grow.

The album rounds out with "Love and War (11/11/46)" which has my favorite line in the whole album, "when my gramdpa drank, fell and broke his face in two when the cops arrived he exclaimed I fought in World War Two!"  Not sure what the deal is with that line for me...but I always hit that line when singing along in the car. (what can I say...still a dork at heart).

"A Man/Me/Then Jim" a truly depressing song, at first glance, about going back to a high school friends funeral after he has committed suicide. The song opens with the line, "had one friend in high school recently he hung himself with string His note said, 'If livin' is the problem, well that's just baffling.' " Really, it doesn't get much happier from that point. You think it may become a song about revelations and seeing the good in a bad situation...but, not really. But, again Jenny's voice gets me every time.

The final track, "It Just Is" really kinda raps the mood of the second half of the album. "And this loss isn't good enough, For sorrow or inspiration, It's such a loss, For the good guys. Afraid of this life. That it just is

Cause everybody Dies." Take it at face value or take the whole album as an up and down trip through...well sorrow and inspiration.

All together you get an album that makes you sing along, think, mist up, get a little depressed, get lifted up a bit. Find hope and sorrow. Examine you life and past loves. All done without being to pretentious and in your face. No one is screaming at you...in fact even while helping us discover the obvious flaws we all face in our day to day lives...it's done with a sweetness through Jenny Lewis. (who right now is pound for pound one of the best singer/songwriters out there for my money...with Neko Case a close second or even tie for first!)

Even looking at each song I can't say why my musical fancy has been stuck on this album...but it is slowly rising up the ranks for my top album of MY year (even though it was released in 2004). I must again point a thanking finger at my musical guru Ryan. Brother man you have pointed me in the right direction more often than not...and Rilo Kiley is right near the tops of the "Thank God he told me" list.

The Song of life...

The music that you're drawn to can say a lot about who you are or what mood you're in at any given time.


Fact is, if you’re depressed you may chose to listen to a more somber tune. Hence the continued popularity of The Smiths! (not hating..just usually a go to for me when it been a bad day!)

When you're having a good day you may tend to listen to more up-beat tunes. Why bring down a good day with a depressing ditty about love lost and chances missed. That’s usually why I steer clear of country as a rule of thumb. With only a few exceptions.)

This topic hit me last night at the gym when I decided to hit shuffle instead of using the same old workout mix. A series of completely non-workout type songs came on and seemed to click for me.

It got me thinking, "if your mood can push you in a certain direction when choosing music...does it also change your outlook on the songs you hear that you didn't actively choose?

Or at least does it make you think differently about those songs?"

Case in point: Garth Brooks--Unanswered Prayers. Always been a favorite of mine. Catchy, tells a story and makes a pretty good point. Not really a workout song one that would usually get skipped at the gym...and given your personal mood sometimes downright un-listenable.

Last night while riding the stationary bike it got me thinking...not sure why really. Maybe I'm in a place right now that seems better than where I was last year. Maybe it was a moment of clarity when the song made sense. But in that moment I couldn't have chosen a better song.

It's like listening to a song that you've heard a 1000 times only to finally figure it out. Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" springs o mind. I'd sung along with that one for years without seeing how truly dirty it was. You know Catholic girls growing up much to late and all!!

I guess sometimes you're just not in the right frame of mind to truly hear a song. Or maybe your mind isn't open enough to let the song speak to you.

To paraphrase the late comedian Richard Jeni...why is it that when your going through a rough breakup that every radio station on the dial is "All Love Songs All The Time"? Sappy crap that makes you want to stick your head in the oven!!!

It comes down to perception, plain and simple.

As a music lover it's amazing that a song you want nothing to do with one day, can speak to you a short time later. Kinda like how those around us draw us into the gravitational field of music likes and dislikes. If it wasn't for friends and loved ones I'd have missed out on the likes of: Gram Parsons, T.Rex, New Riders of thePurple Sage, Mumford and Sons, Tinie Tempah, Jenny Lewis, Rilo Kiley, Jack Johnson, Ryan (not Bryan) Adams....and a myriad of similar artists.

Granted I'd have found some on my own. But some would have remained unknown (Parsons) or disregarded (Johnson--even though he's in my iTunes library for a few songs and I've owned CDs in the past!). That's the joy of music. You may think you have a song or artist figured out until something changes in you or your life to open you up new possibilities and ways of thought.

Don't pigeon hole a song or artist because you hated it or didn't get it at some point. There's always the opportunity for a comeback...if you just give it a second chance.

To end I'll throw you a wise word from Jenny Lewis, off her album (with the Watson Twins) Rabbit Fur Coat..."you are what you love, not what loves you back." Sometimes those things that you love will rub off on those around you and change their perceptions of life. But only if they are open to a little change. So don't be ashamed of those things you love...be it music, art , literature. Share them! Be proud of that part of you that drew you to those things! Most importantly...be open to new things. You may surprise yourself!

Truth in music.

Growing up a child of the 80's/90's I seem to be more drawn to the music of my parents generation.  Partially because it's truly what I grew up listening to and partially because since I was little I tagged along with my father to his part time job as an oldies DJ (even going so far as to follow in his footsteps later in life).

"Oldies" (or what I consider as oldies '50-'79) are where the music truly lives.

Don't get me wrong I am a huge fan of contemporary/modern music. Which is a term that makes me laugh since David Bowie on the 1977 Christmas special with Bing Crosby stated that he sang "modern music". To quote Bing, "modern music is marvelous, some of it's really fine." I like a wide variety of current music...From Tori Amos to Duffy, from The White Stripes to Rilo Kiley, from Lady Gaga to....well Gaga gets her own category!

But, the wealth of music from my parents era is where my heart lies. The Kinks, The Beatles, The Animals, The Doors, Herman's Hermits, The Grass Roots, Bob Dylan, Iron Butterfly, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, The Alman Brothers, Crosby Stills Nash (& Young)...etc.

I always laughed at my dad when he would ask me growing up if I could see myself listening to Ice-T when I was his age. For a long time I said the answer was yes...and still do think so to a point. But, lets face it "Cop Killer" isn't going to have the same lasting impression on music fans as "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

I don't see myself grooving to "Firestarter" by Prodigy the way I may still rock out to "People are Strange" by the Doors.

Is it too much to think that Lennon/McCartney will have a richer impact on music than Chris Brown or Miley "I still can't believe your Billy Ray's Daughter" Cyrus? I don't think there are many people who can argue the Brown/Cyrus point of the argument. 

The other issue with today's music not having the same impact on future generations is that is borrows so damn much from the past. Now, it's not a new thing to take from those who came before you...but lets face it...there are people (I have talked to them) who think "Helter Skelter" is a Motley Crue original. If you're nodding yes to that last statement...back away from the blog and pick up the "white album" by The Beatles.

You can't listen to a rap station without hearing a sample of Michael Jackon, Smokey Robinson or others. Hell, Wu-Tang sampled the Beatles "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" and Jay-Z hooked "Five to One" by the Doors.

Nothing other to really at to this topic right now...just had some time on my hands and a thought in my head. Time to listen to some Beatles...Hmmm---Something or All you need is Love?

WWMD?

WWMD? WWMD? What would MacGyver Do?

What's the way to find the answer to some of life's toughest questions! All you need to do is be ready with a Swiss Army knife, duct tape and maybe a pack of matches.

Violence was always a last resort and never involved a gun. Granted that man made a lot of crap blow up over the years.

I always wondered what it would be like to look at a room and say, "well, if I can get that block of ice to melt into the lock by heating it up with a light bulb and a section of molding then the ice will freeze in the lock and expand. Once that happens the lock will pop open and we'll be free!"

In reality I am more likely to just sit down and wait to die! Or possibly try to beat the door down with whatever happens to be lying around! Never been a fighter myself. Never really been put in a position to find out what would happen.

But, enough about me...back to MacGyver. For a guy who always preached doing the right thing I wonder how many times during the course of the series that Mac could have been arrested for breaking into a building or office or destroying property. I'd also like to know what the final death toll was on the show?

Granted most of the deaths were at the hands of others...I'm guessing it was fairly high.

Speaking of killers and MacGyver...name me one TV bad guy who was better at being bad than Murdoc! I dare you. Michael Des Barres was fantastic in the role of the impossible to kill hit man. FYI--glad to see he's still getting some high profile exposure. (he's white haired guy on the boat in the new Nikon commercial with Ashton Kutcher)  I was always shocked that when they did the final two TV movies they didn't bring him back for some kind of closure for the character.

Now, as I'm almost done re-watching one of the few shows I liked as a child/young adult that has remained a favorite (or as I like to say hasn't suffered from Thundercats Syndrome) I now have to look for something else to take up my lunch hour at work. I think I should find an older show...or maybe a cartoon....but I'm not sure which is worthy of my lunch hour viewing.

Some of the finalists though are: the cartoon Beetleguise, Lupin III (yes I like Anime...get over it), Dr. Who (new not old) maybe the A-Team.....suggestions?

I'm not a Hoarder...I just save a lot.

So this last month Hoarding has popped up everywhere! CSI, South Park, Internet stories...Which, if you are obsessed with the train wreck that hoarding can be for other people, is a good thing.

I am transfixed with watching this disease overtake people. I understand that it is a problem that in most cases is out of the persons control. But, it still boggles my mind.Thankfully, I am only exposed to it in the extent that I watch shows like: Hoarders, Hoarding: Buried Alive, and ANY other show dealing with the subject.  I don't know what it is that draws me in..but the pull is there.

I liken it to the guy who slows down and rubbernecks the accident on the freeway and is enthralled with the destruction, but at the same time is also thankful that it didn't affect him or anyone he knows.

Personally, it acts as a catalyst to get stuff cleaned around the house. I can't remember the last time that I watched the show and didn't then run to the fridge to check expiration dates or do some laundry. Or, as of late, box up cd/dvd/books to sell.

There was a time where my DVD collection was a source of pride. I would have conversations that went:

Other Guy: "Oh, I have the most movies of anyone I know!"
ME: "Give me some numbers! I have 700 movies and over 130 seasons of tv shows!"
Other Guy: "Bet you don't know everything you have!"
ME: "Try Me....I may not be able to name every movie from memory. But, if you ask if I have something I can give you a yes or no!"

Since the obsession has really hit an upswing I have greatly reduced the amount of DVD's that sit on my shelves. For the most part a movie has to be a personal favorite: my Kevin Smith collection, or something that I paid way too much for: any Criterion DVD in my collection. Others are slowly moving out in favor of picking up credit at either Zia Records or Bookmans.

Granted I am slowly replacing the DVD's with Vinyl LP's. When you look a the space issue it's a lot less. Plus, those actually get used and are an investment. If you think I am rationalizing a new "hoard" I say it's a collection of treasures...not a hoard!!

So, for me this show is a catharsis of sorts. Until I started watching I never noticed that I had a ton of crap just sitting around my room taking us space and acting as a constant reminder of how much money I have spent wasted over the years.

While it sucks to think that something you spent so much money on is being sold at less than a fraction of the price. I have to feel like it is a little liberating for me to detach from those things. Now I know a day will come when I think "man I really want to watch that crap fest that was The Dukes of Hazzard staring Johnny Knoxville" only to find that it was "sold" ages ago. It's a good thing. I mean I've watched a few Bluray's over the last 6-8months but the last DVD I remember watching was "The Salton Sea" with Val Kilmer.  I actually made a special run to Zia's to grab that gem...and that was back in July!

Which brings me back to the point. Hoarders...the train wreck that I can't stop watching.

Reality TV to me is just so much low cost crap (read hear Survivor, American Idol and for you old school few...Temptation Island). Every now and then you do get a compelling reality show like Hoarders, Hoarding: Buried Alive or Intervention that can entertain while opening dialogue on a tough subject.

While I mock and laugh while watching...I also realize that it is a serious problem. I mean how could it not be if you have an emotional attachment to your pets shed hair, 3 year old pumpkins or a front room full of old newspaper clippings?

Even writing this make me want to clean something!! Guess I'll do the dishes when I get home. (plus I think we are running out of usable forks!)

"Life moves pretty fast...."

If you can finish that quote correctly ("...If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.") Then you are either just plain awesome, or you grew up in the 80's and are familiar with the works John Hughes, more specifically "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".

I had a conversation with a friend the other day about the great things about growing up as a child of the 80's. I tend to think that the decade gets a bad rap!

Yes there were some horrible trends that are hated by many: Shoulder pads, Members Only Jackets, Mini Skirts, and some that were loved by many....slap bracelets, mini skirts...and....uh....ok, I give.

Movies ran the gambit of...

GOOD: Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Dirty Dancing (if forced to watch at gun point. I.E. someone puts me in the corner.) Back 2 the Future, Goonies, Princess Bride  

     *****UPDATE for the GOOD*****

Big Man on Campus

BAD: Troll, Troll 2 (granted it was 1990 but that close to 80's and being known as one of the worst movies of all time has to count for something) Most of the "Corey" movies (bad but fun), He-Man, Garbage Pail Kids.

Some things tended to walk a fine line between both good and bad: He-Man was an awesome cartoon and a horrible movie, Garbage Pail Kids were great novelty cards and a HORRIBLE movie, Thundercats was an awesome cartoon and on second viewing was a HORRIBLE cartoon.

Music was equal part Epic and Awful: Epic-Def Leppard, Epic-Bon Jovi, Epic-Michael Jackson; Awful-Dexy's Midnight Runners, Awful-Chris DeBurgh Awful-Culture Club

TV I don't even have the strength to go over....All I have to say is The Golden Girls (for the record how you judge that show is how I judge your worth as a person! Not really..*shakes head yes*...not really...*shakes head yes*)

What has this proven? Nothing really. Just got a bug to blog and this was something that I was thinking about. Remember,  "No purpose or vision" should be the new motto of this blog.

Guess who's back? Back again? (the answers not Shady)

Commitment, follow-through, a keen sense of purpose. These are things that are great to have when it comes to blogging.

Commitment, follow-through, a keen sense of purpose. These are things that my blog has a sever lack of!! Not that those short comings has stopped me in the past!

So, it is with a raised spirit and renewed hope that I am going to give this thing the old college try. By college try I obviously mean years 2-5!! Not that evil party first attend class 8th year that damn near killed me! So we will see where this takes me.

I have few plans for this...and fewer promises that anything will even happen. But, it should help me kill a few minutes at the end of my work day. When I'm not reading. (shut up I read books)

Food for thought (and maybe future posts) -- "Should you keep reading a book that at the same time makes you laugh, cry (from laughing so hard) and feel really dirty and ashamed to be able to read...all at the same time?" If the answer is yes...let me pimp the newest Tucker Max book "Assholes Finish First".

So....just dropping in via text to make sure everything still works! Not much to share. It was a lot easier to keep the blog updated when I was working in radio and was just playing music and amusing myself all day!

Oh well!

Creativity...and the lack there of...

Sony announced the other day that they are haulting plans for Spiderman 4 . Instead they are planning for the dreaded "R" word for the series.  REBOOT.

A reboot of the Spiderman series will allow them to start over, start clean, and more importantly -- Re-cast and save money. Guess Toby, Kirstin and Sam Rami will be cast aside for a cheaper option. Somthing that will no doubt get the publicity machine going with new toys, tie-ins, and games.

Not that reboots are bad. Actually, I really liked the Superman reboot (one of the few that did) that just picked up where Superman 2 left off. Dark Knight really got most things right with a darker Batman. So from time to time you can get away with the reboot.

Why is it that Hollywood feels the need to reboot with any major recasting? Look at the James Bond Franchise..James Bond is: Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, George Lazenby, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig ... While each new actor in the series is sort of a reboot it keeps the general feel and storyline of past movies (with the exceptino of Casino Royale being more of a Reboot in the sense of the word). I think that at 22- films that idea has held up well?! Until Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace none of the other bond films were direct sequals of each other.

Which leads me to wonder why the need to rehash old movies and TV series to fill our screens. Maybe it's because we keep filling the theatres. Just look at the list of new movies in the works: The A-Team , Magnum PI, MacGyver (which I sadly can't wait for!!), plus a new Battlestar Gallactica (based on the old series, not the new one), Plus the newer TV show to movie transitions...Sex in the City, The Simpsons, Arrested Development, the rumord Sopranos movie, 24 the moive, CHiP's, a possible move version of The Shield and the list goes on and on.

Let's not forget past stinkers too: The Mod Squad, Starsky and Hutch, Dukes of Hazzard, Miami Vice,...and those are just some of my favorites.

I will say that there is one new movie coming out that I am over the top about seeing. It's a movie that is a follow up to a 1982 Disney movie that I enjoyed as a kid. That movie is: Tron: Legacy .

The original was just that: ORIGINAL. Now, almost 30 years later we get a next chapter in the story. Both a sequel and a homage the original. Most of the original cast is back..which is a good thing. Older, wiser, and better actors too.

Now, I've railed on this before, "there are no original ideas in Hollywood". It's a land of sequels and remakes! But, every once and a while, a new movies comes along and gets things going. For me Avatar was that movie. Not so much for the story, but rather the style and images.  James Cameron is constantly breaking new ground and he's done it again with this film.

According to Den of Geek: "Avatar picked up $48.5 million, bringing its total to just under $430 million in the US and $1.331 BILLION dollars internationally. For those keeping score at home, and you should, because this is getting to be historic. Avatar is the second-highest grossing movie of all time. The top film is James Cameron's Titanic."

In two movies, Titanic and Avatar, James Cameron has a world wide gross of over $3 Billion Dollars.

If you get the change hit up your local IMAX 3D theatre, pay the nearly $15 ticket price and see what a 3D movie should look like. I can truely see the tech that Cameron developed helping to push movie making forward.

Most of what Hollywood is doing right now isn't really original, but it is entertaining. Isn't that really the reason we go to the movies? Escape, fun, an outing with friends or family?

Oh well....atleast 24 is back on TV this weekend! 4 hours over Sunday and Monday..Happy Birthday to me!

As you may have noticed I am now shilling for Amazon. Why not try to make this little cirner of the net make me money. It's a win win situation as I see it.

So should you find yourself in need of a cd/DVD/book/mp3 download how about hooking a brother up and heading to Amazon through this blog.

It won't make me rich...but maybe I can get a few new tunes or flix in the next few months!!

Trying a new feature of the blog.

If all goes well I should be able to blog live from my phone via text.

Should make updates a little more frequent. The above picture is of my
sisters new dog Osiris(Sy for short)

New Year, New me?

Seems that every year we all start off with the grand vision of what's to come. Usually, we see a year of prosperity, hope or change. Most of us make "new years resolutions" that we never plan to keep. I have always subscribed to the thought that "no resolution" is always an easy one to keep.

By setting no goals you have nothing to fail at....you also have nothing to strive for! So, this year I have decided to actually push forward and make the mother of all dreaded New Years Resolutions..

**Lose Weight**

This year seems like an apt time to follow through on that goal. Last year I finally saw what the dangers of an unexpected health problem can lead to. As I said few months back, I had the joy of a detached retina. Granted I should have seen this coming since my right eye was Funked up for the better part of the year before I got it checked out. Along with the retina problem I was also diagnosed as Diabetic(during National Diabetes month of all times).

So getting the old weight issues in check seems to be a good place to start. Lower body weight should help bring the diabetes in check...and stave off future eye related issues.

The real eye opener (sorry!) was the hit this would have laid on my wallet if I had been without Medical Insurance. As of now the cost to me is just over $1,000 had I been paying out of pocket for the whole show then it would have come to nearly $14,000. So, yeah!

Since I made the decision to drop the pounds prior to Christmas I have seen my Blood Glucose numbers drop from being near 300 on a regular basis to down around 130. Which isn't as good as is could be..but is a hell of a lot better than it was. I've also dropped about 8lbs just by cutting back on the carbs/cal. and walking between 1-1.5 miles three times +/- per week. At some point I do plan on trying to ride the bicycle I have...but my ass fell of last time I attempted that one!

So the goals are simple...drop a total of 43lbs, the first 8 of which I mentioned are already gone,(which would bring me to 250) keep the Blood glucose in check...and generally be healthier. Which shouldn't be all that hard given the changes I've made to this point (I do miss my friend Doritos though!)

I can't promise to actually make my goal. But, at least this year I have something to reach for rather than just coast through the year.