So, at the start of this year I stated that I was excited about Repo! The Genetic Opera being released on DVD. Just check out this posting. Well, tonight, I got a chance to watch the movie, and I must say that it far surpassed any expectations that I have.
Let me start by saying that two degrees in music has me to the point that I appreciate operas, musicals, and the such. So, with that out of the way, let me start by saying that this will definitely be a film that will become a cult classic. It has some fantastic music, and almost reminds me of Jesus Christ Superstar at times.
There are some surprisingly big name stars in it, and of course I’m talking about Sarah Brightman. That’s a name that brings some real musical legitimacy with it. She’s got some chops. Oh yeah, and the waste of space which was Paris Hilton was on it. Don’t let her keep you away from the film, it’s only a minor role.
The story is almost a Shakespearean tragedy at times. Everyone has a back story, and they are out to get one another. Or at least so it would seem. There is a great deal of depth and hurt in these characters, and the events that started them in play all around the birth of a baby seventeen years earlier. It’s tremendously compelling to watch these intertwined lives.
I think the biggest thing to get around is the post-apocalyptic future when a massive rash of organ failures occurred. Then it was GeneCo that stepped in and provide replacement organs, which people could finance. My best advice is to just give the movie a chance. It would be one that would be easy to pass over simply by the name alone. It is a fantastic piece of work that is worth you time (especially if you love cult classics).
This is a great film, dear reader. Take the time to check it out. (However, there might be some others out there who disagree with me. I mean I actually have meet some people who like Jumper.)
So, it seems like zombies are all the rage, and not just on my blog. Don’t believe me, then check out this story. For those of you who don’t want to click on the link, than I’ll just summarize it. Hackers near Austin, Texas, got into the Department of Transportation digital road sign and changed it to read “Zombies ahead.” I know this is short, but I just had to share it because it made me laugh.
Some time last week, I heard Phil Maymin, associate professor of finance at New York University, on NPR discussing a theory he has about the changes in the stock market impact musical preference. If you want to read up on it, check it out here. Basically, the article says that during times of economic prosperity the most popular songs have lots of beat variance. When the economy is bad, songs with less beat variance are all the rage.
So, what does he mean by rhythmic variance? This means that if you were tapping your foot to a song, you wouldn’t have to change if there was little beat variance. Just one steady beat and you’re cruising. On the other, a high beat variance would mean changing the rhythm of the song up during it. Basically, it’s all about the rhythmic complexities of the song, but there is not relationship to tempo.
The examples that Dr. Maymin used in the interview were Lady GaGa’s Just Dance and John Legend’s Ordinary People. Lady Gaga’s has a steady beat that just keeps going. On the other hand, Ordinary People is peppered with different syncopations and beat changes. Both have their appeals, and both have been popular.
This is pretty interesting stuff. I’ve been pretty ingrained into music. Alright, enough to have two degrees in it, but this is really intriguing stuff. It makes sense, when the market is unstable, people look for stability in their music. And, when the stock market is stable, then bring on the variation. I’m not saying this is the gospel truth, but it certainly makes for some interesting discussion. Music definitely reflects the times, and this is a crazy way.
I’ve always heard that the economy impacts what kind of music gets made. During economic prosperity, the big musical acts tend to be canned pop. Examples Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, Brittney Spears, and all of those other prepackaged group from the late 1990s. However, when the economy is bad, then it is the singer song writer who is all the rage. Look at the recession of the early 1990s and Nirvana was the biggest band there was.
Oh well, dear reader, let’s just hope that high variance music becomes all the rage in a few weeks.,,
Dear reader, I want to start by assuming that if you are reading this, you are aware of social networking sites. To take it one step further, I’m willing to wager that you are on at least Facebook. (On a total side note, it just goes to ask the question: “If He’s Not That Into You is making a myspace reference as though it is a new thing, how long has it been sitting on the shelf?” Translation: Stay far away from this movie, and I mean far…)
Well, on Facebook, all the rage right now is to list 25 random things about yourself, and tag you friends. Everyone seems to be doing. Personally, I’ve been tagged in two in the last 24 hours, and numerous more before those. It looks like the problem is so bad that the CDC could weigh in any day now. It could tear the world apart, as people sit around, unproductive, trying to think of 25 random things about themselves.
Now, dear reader, I’m not necessarily one to embrace trends, but I thought I would go a different direction. So, here are 25 random things (with a few about me put in there):
“Scientists have discovered that the feeling experienced when we are tickled causes us to panic and is a natural defense to little creepy crawlers like spiders and bugs. That same ticklish feeling sends us into a state of panic and elicits a response of uncontrollable laughter if a person tickles us.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
“The modern bikini was invented by a French designer in 1946. It was named after Bikini Atoll, the site of US nuclear weapon tests a few days earlier in the Marshall Islands, on the reasoning that the burst of excitement it would cause would be like the nuclear device. Between 1946 and 1958, twenty three nuclear devices were detonated at Bikini Atoll. One detonation on March 1, 1954, codenamed Castle Bravo, was the first test of a practical hydrogen bomb. The largest nuclear explosion ever set off by the United States, it was much more powerful than predicted and created widespread radioactive contamination.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
“Typically, a water tower’s tank is sized to hold about a day’s worth of water for the community served by the tower. The average sized water tower can hold 1 million gallons of water. If the pumps fail, the water tower holds enough water to keep things flowing for about a day.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
“During the filming of Fight Club Brad Pitt chipped his tooth , but waited to have it capped until after filming because he felt it added to his character.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
So, here’s my first personal answer: I love the children’s show Phineas and Ferb. I probably love it more than my children.
“Rob Zombie’s first job in the entertainment field was as a technician on the children’s TV show “Pee Wee’s Playhouse”.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
“The musical group Dexy’s Midnight Runners, who had a hit in the ’80s with the song “Come on, Eileen,” got their name from a drug reference. “Dexy’s” refers to the pill Dexedrine, more commonly referred to as Speed. Since Dexy’s keep their users up all night, they were dubbed ‘Dexy’s Midnight Runners.’” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
“A three minute song stored in a 128kbps MP3 file, if saved on punch cards, would require a stack of cards five feet nine inches high.” (
“Pablo Picasso’s full name was “Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruiz y Picasso.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
I read the most random series of websites, news sources, etc. to stay on top of all of the random pop culture stuff that I report on.
“Raw kiwifruit is rich in the protein-dissolving enzyme actinidin, which is commercially useful as a meat tenderizer but can be an allergen for some individuals. This enzyme makes raw kiwifruit unsuitable for use in desserts containing milk or any other dairy products which are not going to be served within hours, because it soon begins to dissolve milk proteins. This also applies to gelatin based desserts, as well, as the actinidin will dissolve the collagen proteins in gelatin very quickly, either liquefying the dessert, or preventing it from solidifying.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
“During the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, sausages were associated with the Lupercalia festival. The early Catholic Church outlawed the Lupercalia Festival and made eating sausage a sin. For this reason, the Roman emperor Constantine banned the eating of sausages.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
“In Fascist Italy under the regime of Benito Mussolini, political dissidents were force-fed large quantities of Castor oil by Fascist paramilitary groups. Victims of this treatment would experience severe diarrhea and dehydration, often resulting in death. Sometimes when the blackshirts wished to make sure that the victim would die rather than simply be badly disabled, they would mix gasoline with the Castor oil. It is said that Mussolini’s power was backed by ‘the bludgeon and Castor oil.’” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
“The numbers ‘172′ can be found on the back of the U.S. $5 dollar bill in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.” (Random Facts and Worthless Trivia)
It still amazes me that anyone is actually reading this stinking blog.
“Odontophobia is the fear of teeth.” (Random Facts)
“Cats sleep 16 to 18 hours per day.” (Random Facts)
“Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.” (Random Facts)
“The first person selected as the Time Magazine Man of the Year – Charles Lindbergh in 1927.” (Random Facts)
I think the meds are working, now if I could just get to sleep.
“On the new hundred dollar bill the time on the clock tower of Independence Hall is 4:10.” (Random Facts)
“There are 10 human body parts that are only 3 letters long (eye hip arm leg ear toe jaw rib lip gum).” (Random Facts)
“The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache.” (Random Facts)
“The three best-known western names in China: Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.” (Random Facts)
I can’t believe that you’re still reading this.
I would like to thank Random Facts and Worthless Trivia and Random Facts. If there was something on the list that you a link in, it was most likely taken (i.e. stolen verbatim) from them.
So, I believe that I have completed the Random 25 things, with only five of them being about me. I guess I am a trend whore, but hey, that’s entertainment.
So, this seems to be a first to me, but I am about to do a movie review. Typically, I have stuck with music, pop culture, etc., and I suppose this would fall under the pop culture realm. This movie is one that I feel like I need to do a public service announcement on. So, here it is (and I revamped it from the 80s):
(I shutter to even put the link in for fear that you might look at it.)
So, I got in the mail today from my online movie service, and thought surely it can’t be that bad. It was the longest 88 minutes of my life (except for perhaps the movie 88 Minutes). This is the type of movie where, as Peter Griffin put it best, that you wanted to hide in a panic room over.
My first clue should have been that Hayden “Can’t Act His Way Out of a Paper Bag” Christensen is the lead of the movie, and he was acting against Billy Elliot himself, Jamie Bell. (On a side note, that’s a great movie, but Jamie was a kid then.) I still haven’t forgiven him for what he did to Anakin Skywalker (Christensen that is). That’s right, I’m a Star Wars dork, and I don’t care who knows it.
Stay far way from this film! There are plot points that are unresolved, there is pointlessly introduced back story, and characters that are introduced that serve little to no point. I mean the mother was an obvious Deus ex machina. (they must have kidnapped Diane Lane’s kids to get her in this movie.) I’m not even sure if I should be scared of Samuel L. Jackson’s character or laugh at him.
I will save you from the obvious jokes about the movie (but I’m glad I was on the first floor). Let’s just on a five star scale, I would give it a 1/2 star. Stay away, stay far away. This will be time of your life that you will never get back. On a side note, I was warned by my brother about it, but I didn’t listen. STAY AWAY FROM JUMPER, that is unless you are going to listen to Thrid Eye Blind’s song by the same name. In that case, it’s okay.
That’s right, it’s back on television, and it’s awesome. Don’t think I’m excited about it, just check out this post. After see the first episode in about eight months, it was awesome to get back to the characters. Kudos to the writers, it was definitely exciting, and hey the act was alright too. I’m just excited about getting to find out some answers.
Who knows, maybe they’re all dead? Maybe the island is purgatory? Maybe they are in some strange sociological experience? I’m savoring every minute of it. It is an incredibly complex story with lots of subplots, and I think it serves as proof that you can have a hit show that actually forces watchers to pay attention. Tonight I told my wife that I might start keeping a Lost journal to keep up with everything.
Just thought I would throw something out, because the first episode of the season is awesome! So, until next time, dear reader, keep watching…
It looks like the landscape of children’s television is going to change. For those of you who can remember it, The Electric Company was one of the greatest shows on public television in the 70s. It was cultural relevant, hip, and just all around awesome. I know that this sounds funny, but it was one of those landmark shows that was beloved to all who watched it. Heck, you might have seen some start of some acting careers on it.
Well, it looks like it is coming back to television. Just check out this article about it. So, it looks like it will be an updated version of the original. I’m going to reserve judgement until after I’ve actually seen. I mean, how valid could my opinion be without see it myself? It will be interesting to see if this has the same impact as the other one. They already have some famous musicians, actors, etc.
I’m keeping it short today, but mostly because I rambled on yesterday. So, until next time, dear reader…
Yeah, as you can tell from the mere title of this entry, dear reader, I had a bad day. It was one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad kind. (Let’s see if you get that reference!) Okay, so perhaps that is a little too melodramatic of a statement. Let’s mellow it out and say that today wasn’t in the Top 5 Most Awesome Days of All-Time (T5MADAT for short).
Now, let me start this off by saying that today is truly a historic day for the United States, and I am completely thrilled about the new President, Barack Obama. Nothing in Washington, DC had anything to do with my day (or at least that I know of). I mean hey, this isn’t a political blog after all.
Since, that’s out of the way, let’s begin. This day started off like any other: I woke up late, my wife got the kids dressed, I did my best to help and not get in the way. You know, that kind of stuff that become common place in our house. Got to work, and then it all went down hill from there.
It snowed today (even if only for a little bit), and I like any other “responsible” adult had to go to work. This never happens in Memphis, and when it does, it doesn’t stick around for long. Typically that time is measured in hours instead of days. So, while others got to go outside and play, I was stuck being responsible and giving back to society. I saw some great pictures of my kids playing in the snow, and I completely missed it.
For the record, being an adult sucks! I would love to take naps and have snack in the middle of the day. I suppose I could do it at work, but I’m pretty sure I’d get fired. Also, don’t think that I’m just some kid straight out of college that has been in the workforce. I’ve been there and seen what it’s like. Lest we forget from an earlier postthat I am a member of the AATS (American Association of Thirty Somethings).
From there, the fun just kept on happening. I burnt my hand on a popcorn popper, and that was for work. And for the record, I don’t work in a movie theater, but they don’t pop their own popcorn anyway. In the afternoon, I had to deal with TPS reports, or their equivalent in my world. Meetings, blah, blah, blah. That’s right, I just blah, blah, blah’ed my own day.
Okay, so now that I’ve actually written it out, it doesn’t seem that bad. Thinks for taking the time to read about my bad day, even if it was only bad in my world. Now, let me also say, from my greater awareness, there are lots of other people who would gladly trade places with me. If this is the worst of my days, I’m doing pretty good. But what can I say, dear reader, I really wanted to play in the snow…
I’ve been reading a lot of different blogs recently, and I’ve begun to notice some trends. It’s interesting that when you read a lot about music blogs, etc. you see people talking a lot about music that they love. People will go on and on (as if being paid by the word) to express their love for whatever piece of music. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of hate out there to, but it seems like I’m feeling the love.
Personally, I was thinking about going the exact other direction. I want to know an album/song that you hate. Not just that it’s bad music, because that is easy to hate. Actually, I want the opposite, I want it to be music that everyone else loves, but you seem to hate it.
So, here are the rules:
Post answer in the comments section.
List the song/album and artist.
Give a brief reason why you hate it despite everyone else’s love for it.
To answer some quick questions, this is all original thought (and not some crap taken off of face book). Extra points for songs that you hate yourself for liking. I know that there are people reading this blog, and now’s your chance to express your opinions. I’ll start by giving you mine.
Personally, I hate Nickelback. The album/song is anything they’ve written. I defend this as my hate because millions of people seem to like/love them, but I just can’t seem to find any of them. These guys of sold a ton of albums. I just can’t get past the trite lyrics and the non-original guitar parts. If this is supposed to be one of the best selling rock groups of this decade, then why does their music suck?
So, there’s an example of an answer, it would be mine. Let me hear your’s, because I all know that you have them. The question is: are you brave enough to say what music it is that you hate?
So, until next time, dear reader, keep the comments coming.
Now, before I start into any of this, I want to take the time to salute the group Operation: Safe Community. Their mission is to help drive down crime and domestic violence in the Memphis/Shelby County area (or as I like to cal it: home). The group represents a major initiative working together through multiple organizations. The goal of Operation: Safe Community is to “make Memphis-Shelby County one of the safest communities of its size in the nation by 2011.” I got that from the introduction of their strategic plan.
Don’t think that good ole Memphis has anything to worry about? Well, look at this link for 2008 and this one for 2007. Look at it, we were 14th and 8th on the most dangerous list respectively. So, dropping six places is doing all right. So, I applaud the work that Operation: Safe Community is doing. Their hard work will make this city safe, I have no doubt about it.
Now, with all of that being said, it is a truly sad statement on the city of Memphis (a city that I love), when public service announcements have to be given to remind folks to “Chill. Not Kill.” Don’t believe me, just follow the link and then play the video in the upper right corner.
Kudos for the Operation: Safe Community to tackling the problem head on and saying what needs to be said. It is just sad that what I have always considered to be a 10 Commandment type code has to be reinforced through a public service announcement. I mean would it make a difference if we rolled Chuck Heston (or Mell Brooks for that matter) down from the mountain to deliver the speech?
Well, I guess you couldn’t have Chuck Heston do it because he’d want to give out more guns, and we need gun crimes to decline. So, here’s to you Mell Brooks.
Twitter math: (random tweet)+(random, unrelated product mention)="@(insert name) Hey, did you hear (product) is (crazy positive statement) 12 hours ago
Just started watching Miracle at St. Anna. Man, it's got a really exciting first four minutes. Let's hope it all stays that good. 1 day ago
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