In A Loop, There is no Finish line.

I’ve got an hour til my next class, let’s see if I can fill the page with something interesting shall we?

The Zombieland review I wrote turned out to be my most consecutively successful review to date. Meaning that it hasn’t had the most views at once but, the most sustained views over the course of a few days. I mention this because I wasn’t expecting at all for the review for this little movie to get so much attention. Much like I was expecting the movie to get so much attention and success either. I’m not going to chalk up the entire success to the creation of my one blog but, I do think the early viewings and subsequent reviews for the movie helped it out of obscurity. So in that respect I pat myself and other bloggers on the back.

Meanwhile outside of my anonymous internet life, I’m trying to do what I can to pass my latin class, and so far it’s a bad joke. Hopefully soon my genius will erupt and I’ll be writing sonnets in Latin but, until then the stress of worrying about failing is going to have to do me some service.

Swung by Nana’s house on Saturday with E and Y, they enjoyed themselves I think, It was nice introducing Y to Nana, my father and my uncle, maybe next time she’ll meet everyone else. We ended up watching “Taken” with Liam Neeson and I’ve been wondering if I should write an overdue review for it but, if I don’t what I want you to take away from this post is that I love Neeson and I love him even more after seeing him pummel 3/4 of France in this movie. We also watched “The Family That Preys” and I didn’t hate it, its more simplistic Tyler Perry crap but, the acting wasn’t bad and Kathy Bates was really enjoyable to watch the entire time. The ending was sad and it made me sad because of E’s situation with his grandfather and that furthermore gave me more ammunition to write in my play.

Did I not mention this in some other long winded and mostly ignored post? I have to write a single act or Multi-act play by the end of this semester for my Playwriting class. Not much of a challenge considering what that means, In Junior year of high school I wrote the school play during spring break and that was some forty pages so I probably could do this.

I’ve also chosen a story I’ve been pussy footing around writing for a little while now, in fact that’s how this blog started; as “The New Serials” where I was supposed to get some writers together to write serials on the blog and my first one was going to be this story but, again, I got lazy and never went more than two steps with it. So instead I’m going to write it as a play for this class.

Its essentially how I see the situation of E’s father dying going if things continuing the way they are now. It’s nothing profound and nothing really that personal but, it’s an interesting story that has a lot of grey areas and no real answer. Thats what makes it so easy right? No answer, no profoundness, why would anyone want to write or read it?

I’m probably not being too in-depth about the scope of it but, I honestly couldn’t sit here much longer and go into details about something I’m going to write, it feels wrong #1 because no one is probably reading this entry #2 if you are reading this entry you’ve closed the window before getting to this part #3 if you’ve gotten to this part you don’t give a crap about my play and #4 I was never good at promoting my own products. I have the frame of mind that if it comes from my being then its not that amazing because I don’t think that I’m that amazing of a person, though I will acknowledge I have a good deal of skill in some areas.

My relationship with E is moving in a direction. That’s the best way I can describe it, its going and its going somewhere but, where, why and when it’ll get there are harder answers to deduce. He’s going through a lot of crap right now and he doesn’t know how to deal, he keeps it quiet but, then after a small amount of time he totally shuts down, he panics and implode and on top of the mess he’s gotten into already with school, money and his home life it’s not the best thing to totally slow down on the fast track off of disaster. I made the ultimatum that he seek some professional help from the counselor at our college and naturally at first he gave me the proverbial finger about it but, then came to and went anyway. Now we’re awaiting his appointment and hopefully a shift back into the success he can achieve.

He’s embarrassed by going, and I don’t know where he’s learned this sense of shame from but, there’s no reason to be upset with having to talk to someone when stress has got you mired into a stale state. When I was in high school I went to a counselor once a week for free and I wish the option was opened to me again in the same way. His first response to me question is that he was “not crazy” and I was sort of shocked by the simplicity of his assumption, either someone taught him not to think or somewhere down the line he just forgot how to.

Either way he’s going and I can’t go in there with him and make him be cooperative. So I just have to cross my fingers and hope that he gets the help that he needs as a soon as possible so he can focus on the things that really matter in the end.

I started talking to H again too, I know none of you really know who that is but, this is now somewhat of a dialogue between my typing self and reading self where as I can imagine another being saying:

“Why did you start talking to H again?”

Oh because I was bored and I didn’t feel like keeping the barrier between us any longer. I really like him despite the fact that we’re exes we seem to really get each other in an odd way. His presence is thoroughly enjoyable and I love just thinking of him.

“Don’t you think you might get into the same situation with liking him and straining your current relationship”

Well if there was anything I proven to be in the past its irrationally forgiving. If that situation arises I’ll simply have to deal with it again, and this time I’ll have the previous experience to refer to.

“Won’t you be jealous if he starts dating someone”

See above.

“What about D and that whole thing? how are you going to juggle having potential feelings for D, H and E?”

Well surely only one can win and like I always say: people have a funny habit of showing you their real colors very early on. I can create a fantasy world in my head but neither H and D ever seem to take the initiative to make anything happen and since I’m already with E and I love him very much nothing is going to come of anything. Less some bruised egos.

I guess I’ve run the course of my thought process for this entry but, I want to leave with a few things I’m really looking forward to in the near and not so near future.

Money: My check should arrive in a week, thank God!

Final FantasyVII: Advent Children Complete: didn’t even know this existed til this morning but apparently its a longer more complete version of FFVII:AC so I want it!

Tekken 6: Don’t get me started, the greatest fighting game franchise in history is coming back with an action packed story driven game, This is the one I feel I’ve been waiting for.

24: New season in January, bout time been Bauerless for a little while now.

FF XIII: Looking forward to owning them all and playing them all.

That’s it, thanks for reading or not reading or whatever it is you do when you come to this page, just keep on coming.

I’ll leave you with my latest Upload on Youtube, it’s Cuban Slide by the Pretenders Live at the Capital theatre.

Early Review: Zombieland

Remember: Cardio, Twinkies and Bill Murray is the King!

Yesterday I was fortunate to catch a free, early screening of the new horror/comedy movie: Zombieland.

Normally I wouldn’t ever consider seeing a zombie movie but, zombie comedy seem to have a special place in my heart.

The first odd thing about this movie is that it had a strange appeal to me. I’m not a zombie lore fan at all. I mean I HATE zombies, they scare me, they disgust me and for some reason there’s a small part of my mind that thinks they are real. However Zombieland painted a pretty funny picture in its trailer (which is viewable at the bottom of this post) and I was very lucky to obtain free tickets to the showing last night.

The movie opens up with the explanation that there are rules to surviving Zombieland but, in terms of it’s actual originality it also sticks close to other horror and comedies of the past. There’s no denying this movie is akin to the wonderfully funny “Shaun of the Dead” and has the humor of recent blockbusters like Superbad and anything else Michael Cera has been in. In fact its not a far off thought that perhaps the main character “Columbus” was originally intended to be played by Cera, that being said Zombieland is a very enjoyable movie!

Jesse Eisenberg plays the main character “Columbus” with a neo-nerd humor that has (as before mentioned) been made very popular by Michael Cera and his films but, Eisenberg does add something new, he’s funny, he’s awkward but, he also is particularly likable and in the chaotic world of Zombieland Eisenberg plays up he’s involuntary loner attitude with the twist that it is actually what has kept him alive for so long.

Along the way he meets the wildly different ‘Tallahassee”‘ played by Woody Harrelson. ‘Tallahassee”‘ plays a very antipode character to ‘Columbus’, he’s angry, violent and totally unafraid of the zombie invasion that has taken place, He also has a strange but, humorous obsession with Twinkies and the ongoing gag of finding twinkies in the film is one that’s used just enough to be funny but, not enough to be obnoxious. Harrelson is both funny and somewhat of the action hero in this film and fans of Harrelson will get what they’ve known he’s had for years and those not too familiar or fond of him should see the great comedic timing Harrelson has had for years.

The two get together and meet “Wichita”  and “Little Rock” played by Emma Stone and Abagail Breslin respectively. The two female characters are the most cunning in the movie, their ‘bitches’ by nature but, they’re insanely entertaining to watch especially in their interaction with the other characters. “Wichita” acts as “Little Rock”’s sister and their relationship to each other is that of the cliche protector and protected but, their serious nature as deceivers add something to it. Stone is great as the dead pan “Wichita” eventually and obviously becoming the love interest for ‘Columbus’. “Little Rock” is a product of our time several jokes in the movie poke fun at her young age as not knowing who Willy Nelson is and having to explain the complex relationship of Hannah Montanna’s fame to the “Tallahasse”.

The movie is fun and funny and, for me, had some scary moments. Any person who has seen any zombie movie before knows how this movie is going to move, it’s from obvious issue to obvious issue but, Zombieland isn’t trying to be drastically different from any other zombie movie, it’s just trying to be better. And with good writing, great actors and a hilarious cameo by the “King” Bill Murray Zombieland is bound to be a hit when its release on October 2.

Non Sunt? Veriatis Et Periculum?

It’s 12:46 on a Thursday afternoon and my mind is shooting with one big problem.

I don’t know how I got duped into taking a Latin course but, I now find myself sitting in an hour and forty minute class wondering if I’m ever going to catch up to the current knowledge base.

It’s not a fun thing to feel stupid, I almost want to jump out the window and scream. This makes my appreciation for stupid people a lot less too, I don’t see how they can live with themselves. One session of that class and I feel like ending what’s left of my wretchedly horrible and unintelligent life. It’ s not that I’m getting it, I’m just not getting it fast enough, we cover so much in class so fast, its barely audible at some point. With all sorts of strange exceptions and rules I don’t know if I’ll ever catch up. Even worse the other  people seem to be getting it pretty easily too. It’s almost if I’m a part of this elaborate hoax to mess with my psyche…

Either way I don’t have a choice but to get it and to get it soon. I have a test next class so Its time to nut up or shut up. I can’t stand that term but, it’s the only one that came to mind that wasnt too cliche.

Other than that my classes aren’t too bad, there’s always that one class that has to be the bad apple and keep me from sitting back and cake walking this entire semester and this time it’s latin. Justice and Society isn’t much of a problem, I’m able to think creatively and write well so I shouldn’t be too hard pressed to get some answers and knowledge out of it. Bible as a text is a simple excercise in memory and repetition, laid back class not too much to think about. God, Joseph, Mary, Jesus, the usual suspects. And finally Playwriting which doesn’t seem to be an issue at all, all I have to do is write fiction…is that a cinch or what? at the end I simply need to have written a one act play or a multi-act play. I have til December so that shouldn’t be an issue at all, the hardest part is starting.

Concert season is over and I don’t know what or when the next concert will be, through the grace of selling and Mia I was able to go to the concerts we got through in the summer. I didn’t review them all because I got lazy but, we attended Distant Worlds: The Music of Final Fantasy in June and Hall and Oates in Brooklyn in August right before the Pretenders in Central park. Both the shows were great in their own ways. Distant Worlds was like a dream come true, over ten years of playing Final Fantasy and I got to enjoy my favorite element of the games live with a spectacular orchestra. I hope to go back if they come to the NYC area (which seems like something that they would be already doing but, no word yet) there’s a lot still to feel from the music and a lot of different pieces they could still do. Hall ad Oates was just plain fun, Daryl Hall and John Oates have been some of my musical muses for so long and they still can put on a great show. It was an outside event with great weather so it was just an all around good experience in totality.

There’s always something about coming back from a concert that’s depressing though, back to real life, things always seem to get real murky when you don’t have anything planned for the near future. I’m happy to be back in school but, I could honestly do without the stress of worrying about failing another class. Latin is scaring the bejesus out of me and I really don’t have anyone to help me figure it out, despite someone who said they knew but, turns out they weren’t that well versed in it.

I hope if I get money soon to see Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings again, it appears they’ll be playing in the Starland ballroom in Sayerville NJ in December. I went to the Starland Ballroom back in 07′ I think to see the Pretenders and It was a great venue but, it was too out of the way to get to, we couldn’t meet the band because the last train back into the city was leaving only a few minutes after the show ended. All in all it wound up being a tiring experience and I vowed not to do it again, but with nothing going on elsewhere what choice do I have?

My laptop…malfunctioned for lack of a better word, and I haven’t been writing Tekken, usually at this point I’m either convinced that I’m not going to continue or have forgotten the story in general. Tekken isn’t the same though, I still know what I want to say and I still want to say it! I can only hope that the money will come through quickly and that the expenses to fix it won’t be much. potientally I have a grant coming from CUNY this week (though I thought It’d come last week) that I’d probably use for a game or something, then in mid October I should get the remainder of my financial Aid which should pay for that expense and the unfortunate issue I’m having with my Ipod (which I’m considering just throwing away and getting a new one). I hope not but, think that I’ll incur another major expense between now and the arrival of my financial aid, that’s the luck I sometimes have with these kinda of situations.

That reminds me my best friend is supposed to deliver $50 to me for some work I did….

Anyway I hate neglecting this blog but, then only feel like I should type when I have something profound or worthy to say. The problem is at least prohibiting and at most an oxymoron. Occasionally and by that I mean rarely do I think I have something profound to say and then if I do I even more rarely feel the need to express it to anyone else. As much as other people insist that I am, I really feel I’m not an interesting person, though if you’ve managed to get this far in the blog entry then you must have some slight feelings otherwise.

I won’t even get into the depressed chasm I was in yesterday about not having a a band, I’ll just say I felt like the lowest person in the world.

I want to try to add  feature to this blog about music but, everything I think of is self righteous like my take on a style or band of music or something like that. I’m not one to expose people to new musics because admittedly my own range is acute and often borderline on the obscure but then also tends to be the very popular. We don’t really need another blog telling people the wonders of Michael Jackson’s music career do we?

I will mention my youtube page though it has the complete collection of the videos I post up. Most are Pretenders rarities that I’ve made available to the internet community whilst trying to outwit the greedy record industries.

Also I want to leave a video I encountered from a friend, it’s a cover of Beyonce’s Crazy In Love and I was absolutely floored by it and I hope you are too.

Review: The Ettes, American Bang, Juliette Lewis

Grity, Sexy, Glamorous Rock

Irving Plaza

09/19/09

The simple joys in life are sometimes few and far between. We all live real lives; work, stress, boredom and the obligations we’re attached to can often make a sincerely good night out almost impossible to identify and even worse rarely accomplished.

But there’s something about music that seems to break that pattern and music live  in one of the greatest cities in the world; NYC only furthers that sentiment.

Last night had all the right ingredients for the great show it turned out to be; fair weather, good venue, great sound system, nice fans and three talented artist to share the experience of live music with.

At 9:00pm the first of three acts went on stage: The Ettes. The Ettes are what rock and roll is made out of. Their the fundamental core of the slightly aloof but, always caring glare that rock music embodies. Fronted by ‘Coco’ a small and very polite front-woman who on stage doesn’t need to strut and dance around to keep ones attention. From the moment she takes the mic in hand or here telecaster you know she has something to say and whether you want to or not you’re going to hear it. The Ettes music is punctuated by her distinct style of singing and the driving groan of some raw and energetic bass playing. The fuse of the crunching rhythm and her innocent sounding but, sneering delivered voice is a paradox in itself. The songs rage and the addition of a drummer who is merciless only makes the primal rage that more real.

The greatest thing about the Ettes is that their not something you couldn’t see, not on stage. They are the kind of band that seems to have just arrived from practice in their garage and are doing it from memory. There’s somewhat of a reckless abandon that makes the listener wonder: ‘did they just mess up? Or was that just something clever’. Odd time changes, feedback in strange places and possibly, a missed note. Either the Ettes are doing it all by luck or they’ve got it down better than most and I’d place my bet on saying it’s the latter for sure.

With just enough time to enter back into reality from the Ettes, American Bang set up on stage and began, what could only be described as, the purest or rock sets. This wasn’t my first experience with American Bang, they had opened for the Pretenders in January this year. There’s something about this band that is just damned sexy. Four guys from Nashville putting on a show that is just rock and roll; full of the tumultuous emotions of life, the hypocritical mind thoughts of the average person and the ever present struggle to just get it right. American Bang simply gets ‘it’.

Mainstream music keeps going on about things not real, a fantasy world we strive to live in but, this is about the world we do live in and what it means to be apart of it as an imperfect being. American Bang is not sentimental about it at all, they rock out all the varying emotions with a dash of swagger that makes them look like experts but, with a dose of vulnerability that makes them look like they still don’t understand the complexities of average life. That sometimes, the mundane is the most perplexing conundrum. All that being said they’re also amazing because they’re drop-your-camera-and-holler good. They differ from the Ettes in that they have a musicality that is more matured, they know how to put a nice sounding song together. Something that could get stuck in your head, but it’s never something you could simply hum, that driving bass, the pounding drumming and the raw realness of Jared’s voice implore you to get up and do it as good as them or at least with that amount of energy.

It also helps that these aren’t four guys who are bad to look at. Often the musical experience is akin to sex for me. Not that it’s physically as pleasing or something to that effect but, its because when you see an artist live, their either going to stand on stage and get naked in front of you or hide something from you. If they’re doing ti right, you should leave the show feeling as if you’ve seen them in their most powerful, vulnerable and enjoyable moments and if they’re doing it wrong, you feel as if you don’t know what they are. American Bang did it right. They’re so open on stage with it all, they hold nothing back, they stand on stage and let it rip. Their incredibly sexy because they give it to the audience in the purest way, there’s nothing pretentious here about their act, you can see it in their eyes, they’re still four guys from Nashville, just now they’re playing music for you. They’ve got the perfect balance of energy, knowing just when to pull it back so it doesn’t become something else. If the Ettes were a great example of raw ‘new’ rock, American Bang is the perfect example of fine tuned, understated rock. The kind of rock that can declare the hardest of heartbreak then make a offhand comment and go back to playing hard.

American Bang is one of our premiere bands today. Put down Fall Out Boy and Greenday turn off, Gym Class Heroes and Incubus, American Bang is where the real music is at and they will prove it to you everytime.

So it’s time For Juliette Lewis, whom I’ve also already seen and also from opening the Pretenders on their tour. I’m already aware that the experience I’m about to have is going to be different than that of American Bang and the Ettes. Lewis is anything but, understated, raw, new Rock. She and her band are a well polished machine that has to be seen to believe, and thats no exaggeration.

Lewis is a firecracker, her energy is endless, from start to finish she’s strutting, jerking rigidly and berating her audience with her sharp vocals. Juliette is full of this energy that is awkward to watch, akin to the humorous and odd dancing of Elaine Benes on Seinfeld but, that’s the good thing! Her awkwardness makes for a show thats +1, the music is there (and I’ll go more into in a moment) but her spectacle of simply loving being on stage is enough to ensure a good time already. You like that she’s wierd in ways because in all actuality a lot of us who love music are wierd ourselves. All three bands served as a reflection of the audience, if it was the Ettes raw and nonchalant rage or American Bangs sexual but, introverted expression of life or finally Juliette Lewis’ awkward screaming and dancing expressing, want, need desire and disgust its all somewhere we’ve all been to before. Lewis knows how to play her angle, she doesn’t pretend to be musical at all. She’s a frontwoman with a voice but, she knows that her role is to keep the energy going in front of this band that is essentially on fire the entire time.

Juliette Lewis offers a paradox that only someone in music could do: Lewis is the most expendable part of her band, yet if she weren’t there it wouldn’t be the same at all. Her voice isn’t the ‘best’ (though it’s not bad either) and she doesn’t play an instrument but, her ENERGY is like the fifth member of the band. She’s a smart enough woman to surround herself with a band that knows what its doing so that she may be able to get off with doing her thing the best she can, and if one didn’t exist the other wouldn’t be as interesting.

There’s not much else I can say about Lewis, as I prefaced this section you have to see it to believe it. Her energy is truly only rivaled by that of Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and even then it’s a totally different sort of energy.

Here are a few outstanding points:

Maria aka ‘pony’ from the Ettes is a terrific drummer, she has to be mentioned again and again she has something about her that is undeniable. She literally reminds me of the muppet: ‘Animal’ of The Muppets. Her hair is flying around and she is an (with the most respect and she knows this) animal on the drums.

Irving Plaza: if you ever get the chance go see a show there, its small fun and loud. That and Highline Ballroom are the two best venues in NYC

American Bang totally nice guys, thanks to Jared and Ben especially for treating us so nicely after the show.

Juliette’s band is amazing, go see this band they are furious and unrelenting like Juliette herself.

In closing I’ll say most of all, I enjoyed American Bang Juliette and the Ettes aren’t far behind though. I’d suggest if these bands were coming to your town or city to seriously consider going, disappointment is certainly not in order.

The Ettes: B

American Bang: A

Juliette Lewis: B+

Review:The Pretenders with Juliette Lewis and Cat Power.

The Pretenders Take No Prisoners

August 10, 2009

NYC, Summerstage

Monday August 10th 2009 is quite possibly going to go down as the hottest day in NYC in 2009. The meteorologist cautioned everyone: ‘If you don’t have any place to go please stay inside’. The sun began doing it’s damage as early as 9 A.M. but, we did have some place to go, for three months we had watched these tickets trying to use our long dormant powers of clairvoyance to see if weather was going to get in the way of our show, and nothing short of a hurricane was going to make us miss the Pretenders return in Central Park in over thirty-years.

We came early to take advantage of the General Admission status of the show, arriving at about 12:20 to a show that was going to start at 6. the heat was already beginning to beat down on us but, even being all alone on a line unobscured by any shade we knew that something felt different about this show. A few quick notes, the band did a sound check, which we heard, and they sounded in great form, it was a preview albeit much more subdued of what we would hear later.

Summerstage was pretty prompt, we were in the venue at 5 P.m. and Juliette Lewis took the stage at around 6 P.M.

For the sake of the show I’m going to go over Juliette Lewis and Cat Power’s sets in a paragraph or two each, find the Pretenders after them.

Lewis and her band (which she did not introduce) gave a solid show full of energy, she channeled the attitude of Tina Turner and Janis Joplin in her performance and her band was severely on point in their skill. However great Lewis was it all seemed ‘too’ exciting as some point, the energy on stage was constantly blasted into the audience and her fireball attitude was fun but, didn’t seem to command the audience but, rather give a fun spectacle (this probably had something to do with the lady GaGa-esque outfit she was sporting). At one point Lewis jumped off the stage and into the crowd (proceeding to crash right into me and give me a face full of breast sweat) to dance with an excited fan, it was great BUT, my eye stayed on the band who relentlessly worked through the heat with such precision and expertise because truly, if Juliette had just any band she would not sound as good as she did yesterday and one shouldn’t take that as a bad thing, picking the right musicians is part of being a great frontwoman/frontman and Lewis proved she knows how to pick em’ (a sentiment that will only build until the end of the show). And I don’t often do this but, in the off chance that he or someone who knows the lead guitarist of Lewis’ band: Thank you and GREAT job, the only thing lacking from them was their NAMES, they were great and he was extremely gracious. She did mention that she was going on tour in October: Do It!.

Cat Power: I have to preface this with the extension that I REALLY loved Cat Power, please keep that in mind as this review might come across a bit seething. Cat Power is a great artist in her own right but, why in the world is she sharing a bill with the energized Juliette Lewis and The Pretenders? Her vocal skill is slightly unbelievable, she has the ability to literally sing anything and make it interesting and engaging, she’s also (as objective as this may seem) a very good looking woman, her brief, nervous smiles to the audience when someone would wave at her were almost somewhat apart of the show. Again the band was pretty amazing, whereas Lewis’ band was young and forceful, this band was sage like and expertly knew when to push it and when to pull it back. The fusing of cover songs with their unique style makes every song an exciting adventure waiting to happen. But again her mellow style between the two sets was SO out of place it really killed the mood Lewis had created not too long before but, everything would work out for the better…

With the sun finally going down under the horizon, the night sky began to make its clear appearance, the heat subsided, the humidity relented slightly as well, and  then whatever bit of calm Cat Power had ushered over us was broken instantly.

The Pretenders came out looking good and wasted no time and began the title track from their new album “Break Up The Concrete’, the band was loud, audible and utterly masterful in their performance, with few words between the songs the band blasted into “Message of Love’ from their second album Pretenders II.  The pounding of Martin Chamber’s drums filled Central Park with a primal rage that Central Park hadn’t seen since before it was paved over by man and was inhabited by the beast that are, now, long gone. Chrissie Hynde sounded great, as she always does and appeared to be in a great mood but, it wouldn’t be long that she would prove a point. Earlier in the show a radio jockey talked to the audience and erroneously announced the band as “Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders” (something I must admit annoys me to some degree, the band is one unit), but, the band, after the rockin’ performances of Pretenders’ ‘Kid’ and Break Up The Concrete’s ‘The Nothing Maker” ( A song Hynde announced as being about a guy we wouldn’t see at parties, in a magazine, in the audience…”Well you just won’t see him”) would pull out the new scorcher “Roselee” and James Walbourne would show that this isn’t just Hynde’s show.

I can only put this in a crude way but, If you were in NYC last night and you didn’t catch the band last night you have failed yourself. Anyone who was there will understand what I’m speaking of, James Walbourne’s solo on “Rosalee” was akin to multiple orgasms, his relentless beating up of his guitar over the back beat of Martin Chamber’s steady but, always unpredictable drum beat was like watching a musical miracle take place. The energy Juliette Lewis had was all in that one solo, all the strutting, jumping and dancing in the world would not begin to scratch the surface of the pure mastery of Walbourne’s solo. It was good sounding and melodic, it was dirty, it was animal, it was sexual, it was right and wrong all at once and the audience needed a collective cigarette afterwords.

At the completion of his solo the band took pause to let the audience regain their composure, as a whole the audience could have possibly exploded due to all of the expelled energy of total and utter satisfaction to what can never, EVER be described in words. Languages of the world will never catch up to last night but, for now, I try.

“Rosalee” was followed up (forgive me if the order is incorrect) by another song off of Concrete “The Last Ride” which Hynde dedicated to a man who “started a secret society, so I probably shouldn’t even be talking about him but, he saved millions of lives”, Hynde again, switched to acoustic while Walbourne switched to a Paladin and they expertly played the mellow-ish and Dylan-esque rock song.

The band then went into the classic “Back on The Chain gang” an audience favorite, again I can’t explain what happened but, the sound and the sheer energy of the song was enough to satisfy for an entire show!  The band also performed “Angel of The Morning” a song they recorded in the 90’s after Hynde’s guest appearances on the hot-show-at-the-time “Friends”.

I’ve always loved the Pretenders version of “Angel of the Morning” but, could never stand the original, too long, too cheesy but, the Pretenders recorded version has Hynde’s forceful but, longing voice, as if it could get better right? The live performance was pure rock and roll! Her voiced echoed through central park “ohhh baby, baby, BABY, BABY!!!!” pure bliss, for a couple of seconds all felt right within the world.

Another classic: “Don’t Get Me Wrong” came with that great Pretenders expertise, if you’ve seen the band you know what I’m talking about, it’s kind of a departure from the studio version and a new experience live. Let me now mention Nick and Eric Heywood on Bass and Pedal Steel guitar respectively, they were awesome, a perfect back up and Hynde (well in these cases Adam Seymour and Steve bing) knows how to pick them.

“My City Was Gone” was a dream come true, all the country sultry sound and all the rock gritty and sticky nasty attitude that you could ever want. Hynde’s sarcastic and seething line “A, O Way To Go Ohio…” induced smirks and still today sticks the finger at the Regan era Akron, Ohio.

Without pause the band went into 1983’s “Thumbelina”. It starts with line: “Hush little baby, don’t you cry” innocently enough but, by the middle of the song James Walbourne AGAIN completely DESTROYS this song, he’s has now made it impossible for anyone to ever play this song again. Walbourne is the embodiment of a “guitar hero”. It’s a stark reminder that even though as a culture we’re fed The Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana, there still exist this nasty and somewhat rude guitar playing. It’s so good, that it’s almost offensive to watch, the playing Walbourne does is like watching a man having the most furious of sex and the most desperate of fights at once. It almost seems as if Walbourne and his guitar are having the most grave of disagreements and he finally takes charge by (excuse my french) beating the shit out of it and the sound that comes from that is pure animalistic rock and roll. THIS is what rock is and no band today can touch the Pretenders when their into it. In the end of Thumbelina the band speeds up to do a ho-down style end, usually it last all but, ten seconds but, last night Walbourne kept going and going and going! If musical energy could be channeled into usable energy America’s dependence on oil would be completely dismissed, for last night if Walbourne had gone on for another three seconds we all might have died from excitement.

As if taunting us Hynde says after the song “You Want To Rock?”

“Night In My Veins” from 1994’s Last of The Independents was something to behold. Again if you were there you know what happened. Martin Chambers proved with no remorse that he is the best rock drummer on this earth. The Pretenders have been using slightly violent and rough mottos for thier tours. Pirate Radio used the Skull and Crossbones, the Break Up The Concrete staff wear shirts that say: Demolition Crew, and though they aren’t a metal band or death emo or whatever, they live up to those motto’s in EVERY way. Night in My Vein’s could have killed a grown biker and taken his children for ransom. The Meshing of that groove bassline, Hynde’s voice and Chambers non-stop destructive drumming seemed to rip the fabric off of reality. As they got harder and harder the wind began to blow (and this is all literal now) the tarping on the stage was whipping in Eric Heywood’s face, rain came down and it felt like a hurricane was literally going to blow us away OR the band was going to combust on stage. I’ve spoken of this controlled chaos before, where the band seems as if they’re teetering on the edge of just flying off the handles and just breaking down, well this was it to it’s greatest degree, at any moment it felt as if Hynde, and Walbourne would careen off stage and Chambers, Wilkinson and Heywood create an impact akin to a nuclear bomb. All those who witnessed this power now either believe in God or Don’t anymore, because this was the kind of power that shifted axis’.

It would have been fine to leave us standing there dumbfounded and drooling but, the Pretenders were not going to take prisoners. Without a break the band pounded into “Precious”, I can’t keep gushing, I sound like a schoogirl, if you’re still unconvinced about the band then you will never be and you’re a total fool. Is that a bit rude? I guess it is but, I mean it, if you’re not convinced that you should go out this VERY second to find the nearest tour date to you and not think twice then I don’t know what to tell you my friend.

The setlist summed up after Precious with:

Boots of Chinese Plastic, the powerfully thoughtful and rough opening Track from Break Up The Concrete

Don’t Cut Your Hair, a song, apparently, inspired by Hynde’s meeting with Willie Nelson in which she proclaims: “From Ipanema to the Copacabana, the monkey’s give their asses for a piece of banana”

Mystery Achievement: The Bobby Womack inspired tune from the first album

-Encore-

The crowd favorite “I’ll Stand By you” All you rockers out there frowning at that…stop. They rocked it out like nobodies business.

The other Crowd favorite: “Brass in Pocket” which got a astounding cheer at its starts (some people couldn’t care less about Walbourne and Chamber’s abilities, they came to hear the one song they knew)

and the show concluded with a massive bang with Learning To Crawl’s “Middle Of The Road”

I don’t know how to say this next part so excuse me if it doesn’t sound coherent.

James Walbourne is the sickest nastiest, most disgusting guitarist I’ve ever seen. He’s so fucking vile and gritty this man should be arrested on the spot! He’s transcended the use of positive adjectives to describe him. His guitar ’skill’ (because that word isn’t powerful enough) is so utterly sick it’s offensive, he’s nearly giving us the finger and gloating about it, If you can honestly come out a Pretenders concert like last night and talk about Brass in Pocket and I’ll Stand By you then you’ve missed it totally. This man is a walking collection of filthy sex and lip snarling grit!

The Grass under which the Pretenders played won’t grow life until the messiah returns or until they reverse the effect by gracing us with another destructive show and confuse the bounds of physics with their skill.

Long Live The Pretenders!

Show Grade: A+ (++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++)

Burning Bored

Did you know that I hated the summer. Its hot and sticky and no matter what I do I can’t seem to get comfortable.

Enough of that.

So I’ve been spending time writing my fan fiction, which I call my novel, its going as well as one can hope right about now. I want to be done with this portion this week but, it may not be a possibility if I can’t get my creative juices flowing again.

There’s nothing going on at all, I’m writing this blog post out of guilt because I’ve been neglecting this page for a little while now. I’m wondering when my friends from college are going to get back to me, I suspect a few may come to the blog every now and then and I know one told me in an email he did (if you’re reading this you know who you are, EMAIL ME) I have a thing for them I suppose, I don’t know if it’s a sexual thing or not but, I hate not knowing that, I want to be clear so I don’t sit here wondering what’s going on in my mind.

I would talk politics but, I don’t want to degrade too much right now. The fact that people are jumping on Obama for calling a stupid set of actions an officer made “stupidly”. It’s not as if he said to send the racist asshole to the lions, He simply stated what is true but, it’s like playground antics, you HAVE to get back you MUST try to knock the knees from the giant by saying he’s insensitive. Suddenly now he’s putting down all law enforcement? Give me a break, if you want something to complain about law enforcement complain about the lax gun laws in this country. Oh and why is Obama offering them lunch now? I HATE that he’s just too nice sometimes, the Gates situation is not that important, it needed attention it got it now it’s over why do we need to have lunch and a beer?

Sarah Palin: for someone who wants to get out of the elite liberal media she keeps making silly statements of “leave me alone” when no one seems to really care any more about her leaving than her getting out. Do I think she should step down? I don’t know her that well she’s probably great in Alaska why is this breaking news? And why is she still taking jabs? Back out gracefully, we’ll see you in 2012 I’m sure.

New York State Senate: you should all be fired.

Sotomayor: I’ve never seen such odd hearings before essentially it was a bunch of white men saying “do you promise not to think like a latino woman?”

I saw Harry Potter, the first one I’ve bothered to see. Wasn’t bad, Wasn’t amazing but, the best this year I’ve seen.

Please read my fanfiction, please please please please!!!!!!!

Here’s the link:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5116268/1/Tekken

Magneto Was Right!

Early I was joking with a friend telling them that I think there needs to be a gay Magneto in the real world. Someone radical enough to stand up for gay rights without any kind of condition. It was really just a light natured, funny idea but, as I watched the news today I saw yet another anti-gay-bias attack, this has been the third attack I’ve heard of this month alone. It seems now that every week there seems to be the same thing happening: someone walking down a street is attacked by a group of people and beat mercilessly whilst being being verbally attacked with gay slurs. I’m not sure why no one seems to be addressing this, it’s important and it needs to be stopped, Sunday was the pride parade and now something like this happens again?

It feels as if the tiny media attention this gets is all one can really expect from the NYC Police department, a department that has been known to abandon fellow gay cops in danger because of their sexual orientation. The mayor doesn’t really say anything about gay…anything cept he thinks we should have marriage but, considering he isn’t in the power to do anything about that his words are pretty much useless.

So what do we need?

Someone who is unafraid to intimidate this homophobic cowards, at this point trying to be nice people hasn’t really gotten us anywhere has it?  Marriage in some states and we’re just now getting some basic rights and the gay community as a whole seems to be OK with these insults?

Correct me if I’m wrong but, aren’t all Americans supposed to have the same basic rights from birth? We’ve seen the country try to block rights based on sex and race and those have broken through the barrier with great power but, here are the gay people politely knocking on the door of equality, meekly asking if they can be let in.

Its stupid by all accounts and there’s no real articulate way to express that any better, so I think now is the time to stop playing nice and start playing hardball. Obama has been extremely slow to do ANYTHING on the rights of the LGTBQ people, the other day I saw something that said he declared June LGTBQ month, what  the hell does that mean? When wasn’t June pride month? does he think he’s doing someone a favor by giving us a month anyway? I don’t want a month I want rights and I want a crackdown on Homophobic attacks of all kinds. the Government has been issuing insults to the Gay community for years; saying outright that we as a people aren’t good enough to have the same things Heterosexuals have and no one seems to be mad about that. Its time to get MAD its time to start breaking shit, sorry to say. I don’t condone violence at all but, when everyone is ignoring you and your dying on the side of the road its time to start throwing rocks at cars to get someones attention.

By any means Necessary has to be the new motto for the LGTBQ community, if they don’t want to give us our rights then we have be prepared to take our fist and choke it out of them, in the end if they will not empathize with us then they should truly fear what we may do to prove how serious we are. This country would not RUN without the many LGTBQ people working in its innards and making sure the Heterosexual people can live comfortable fair and legally protected lives. If need be then the Gay community needs to go to those same innards we work in and rip them out one by one and let the machine of injustice slowly die until they’re ready to begin serious talks.

The crippling effect of the blow will force out some terrible opponents but, what can they do to us that they already aren’t doing? They’ve broken our families, denied our health, sold our jobs, belittled our rights. We are a SECOND class of citizens in a country where one can prostitute themselves and their children in perverse manners to entertain and make money.

They think we’re going to sit back and be complacent until we forget we have rights and its time to stand up and show them its the opposite. That we aren’t going to wait a DAY longer for rights. We’ve lost too many people in a battle we haven’t even begun to fight. DEAD gay men and women, tied to trees, beaten, abused, raped, left for dead, abandoned by their fellow man, now its time to strike back so that years from now THEIR children’s children will cringe at our terrible might and then maybe they will begin to take us seriously.

But alas our Gay and Lesbian ‘leaders’ are weak and fearful. They stand under their bosses as lapdogs and take the scraps like sick, famished children. We need them to be put out of their misery and REMOVED from their offices and replaced with people who will not be afraid to look the unmoving President in the eye and tell him that TOMORROW is not insured that the rights of our people must be given today or HE will face an uprising against him so strong that not even his historic win in November will be able to survive the tarnishing glory of our demands!

If they will not give us our rights then we need to TAKE them BACK. We are HUMAN and we have RIGHTS and we will gain them NOW not later and God save anyone who stands in our way!

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/06/29/2009-06-29_slurs_hurled_in_e_side_attack.html

Review: Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen

Where Explosions are as common as...

Oh god, it’s that time of the year again, the sweltering heat, the undeniable urge to run out of the city, the lack of air conditioning and of course the million dollar budget movie with no plot whatsoever.

Fulfilling this years requirement for the latter is Michael Bay’s Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. With critic reviews as scathing as they come in this business Revenge proves to be critic proof, the huge success of the first film and the legion of die hard fans of the cartoon series ensured that this film would be a huge success but, what did that mean for the idea that the movie would be banal and without any REAL substance? It meant of course it was true! Michael Bay is able to take a relatively good story of intergalactic war into a two and a half hour orgy of explosions, kiddie jokes and some off-’colour’ (pun intended) humor. Revenge of the Fallen is a movie that doesn’t try to be any better than a series of high gloss special effects and moment after moment of over the top self righteous explosions.

The action is high paced and never ending making it at least purely a summer action movie and at best an annoying two and a half hours of Shia lawhogivesadamn running around trying not to get killed (probably both in character and as himself) from Michael Bay’s Myriad of explosions.

The story is almost nonexistent, following some crazy idea that Sam (Shia Labouf) has miraculously incurred the location of a hidden gem the Transformers hid in Egypt some umpteen million years ago. All to stop the first Transformer known only known, cryptically, as “The Fallen” (now the name has a double Meaning!) from reactivating a machine that will blow up the sun and give the Fallen energy to do something that is inevitably not good for any of our hero characters and something something something….darkside.

Its amazing how much this film can try to beat out a plot that’s not there, symbols and military units and Transformations that seem like a lego factory has exploded right before your eyes. The film doesn’t take time to pace itself at any point, its gratuitous CGI effected fight scene after gratuitous CGI effected fight scene. Its all fun in the start because the CGI is horribly good but, after two hours of almost non-stop explosions you kinda want a moment of peace and quiet to take in all the chaos Michael Bay has constructed (if one can accuse of him of actually having a plan in this movie)

The acting is…well its Shia Labauf and Megan Fox in the leads so this isn’t going to be Citizen Kane, they’re acting which is good but, not very well which is…bad. Most of their lines consist of screaming the others name  I can imagine the screenplay for this film: “SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!”  Yells Megan Fox “MikaelAAAAAaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” yells Shia, then the biggest Effin Explosion you’ve seen in your LIFE! The supporting actors…support, though they’re useless to the nonexistent story anyway so who really gives a damn?

Despite having a weak story Michael Bay manages to pull out an amazing feat…With almost no story he completely riddles his movie with the most GAPING plot holes this side of 2007’s Premonition. There are stark inconsistencies from the first movie, and then further continuity issues within the film including but, not limited to, characters suddenly disappearing, entire scenarios changing for no reason, and iffy effects. Anyone who can coherently explain the details of this film must be so strung out on Ritalin that even Limbaugh would be in awe.

I won’t go into details but, Revenge of the Fallen isn’t the worst movie ever made, the action is still fun but, not enough to save the film. Its a summer movie and don’t go in expecting to be engaged in a story driven plot. This is Michael Bay’s “Kiss my ass” moment to all of his united nay-sayers, its hard to believe that in this day and age a movie with nothing going on can cost millions of dollars and make it back within a few days, it goes to show you that no matter how sophisticated we get at telling stories, we’re still just cavemen entranced by fire.

Grading:

Story: C -

Action:  B+

Music: B-

Acting: C

Overall: C-

Skip it if you really can, the ten to twelve bucks you’d pay are better used on buying yourself a train ticket to somewhere where this movie doesn’t exist.

R.I.P. Micheal Jackson

Yesterday We Lost Micheal Jackon…

It hurts me because he was ahuge chunk of my childhood and I know in my heart he served the world in the best way he could. Some of the Hateful comments floating around on the internet have shocked me and I find my fellow human is not even worthy of the breath in my body to bad mouth them.

If only we had spent more time remembering the great things he did instead of the unproven terrible things he did not do.

I feel totally lost right now.

I miss You

and i hope that message floats into the eternal infitneness of the internet and somehow finds its way to its destination.

Stab, Dig, Twist Repeat…

So I’m sitting here listening to all the sad songs I can. Is it therapy? You be the Judge.

It’s funny how as a smart human being I can result to all sorts of emotional and mental torture on myself. I’ve had this guy be hopelessly in love with me for years, it’s all I ever wanted and once I got it I treated it like my bastard stepchild. I had this other guy not give care at all about me and I showed him respect attention and love, I’ve had this other guy tread water somewhere in the middle and I hopelessly threw myself at him. So what’s the result in the end?

The First guy is slowly starting to not feel the same about me, of course

The second guy is happily moved on

and the third guy is in turmoil about in the same love I am with him, just someone else.

It’s a good novel waiting to be written but, it has to take a backseat to the one I’m trying to write right now. I’m just really exhausted, I’ve been to all of these places more than once before. I watched the guy who loves me suffer by my hand, I tried to make it better but, something in me keeps pulling in an adverse direction, perhaps it’s insatiability? Maybe I’ll grow out of it?  I watched the guy who couldn’t care less about me walk out on me like I was never there and that’s no surprise, and I’ve watched the guy in the middle go through everything I go through with him with someone else. Yet I stay there because I care about him and I want to support him, I want him happy but, when he’s so adamant about loving someone else sometimes me virtuousness is beaten into a pulp and left to the side of the road.

Now either you’re saying “you poor thing”, “I’ve been there” or “This is what you get” and depending on your answer the next few thoughts will appeal to you in different ways.

At this point I’m thinking maybe I should really just stop everything. the guy who loves me has come to this wierd acceptance of my faults in these situations, they don’t please him at all but, to him I’m nothing but someone who can’t help but lie and cheat and be lost in someone elses’s sauce. So while it’s endearing that he’ll be there in my imminent turmoil it’s not endearing that  he doesn’t have faith in me anymore. He shouldn’t have faith in me at all, doesn’t make it any much easier.

And sensible person getting punched in the gut would block or move or in some way try to avoid the damage. Not I, I have to get punched in the gut, I have to be the fool to keep listening to stories of him being in love with someone else and wanting someone else, I have to keep letting the knife drive deeper and TWIST. Because somewhere down the line this has become the normal ‘good’ thing for me.

I don’t really feel bad for myself, I could easily end this situation, what upsets me is that I really love(d?) this guy a lot and all I wanted really was for him to feel the same way. We hung out, we talked, we said it to each other but, there was no admission there from him. I said it all he just kind of agreed and got by in ways, and now here I am looking like the fool again. Ignored the one I had for the one I couldn’t have. I didn’t even care if didn’t date, it was not about that, I just wanted him to love me in that way too, so I could know that I don’t keep misplacing my chips but, I guess I was wrong, sure he has feelings for me but, no matter what kind of unconditional love and support I threw at him it wasn’t going to make him love me more. You can dictate that kind of shit you know, it just comes and goes.

Then again maybe I wasn’t ever generous, maybe all my exploits for him were selfish because I wanted reciprocation in the end. I wanted him to take those things and love me similarly, that kind of want for personal gain doesn’t ever work right does it? Its a hybrid of selfishness but, deep down it’s always going to be selfishness isn’t it?

I suppose I come to a point where I’m either going to say I’m going to get over this guy once and for all and accept that there’s no chance for a future for the two of us. You know you dream maybe we’ll be friends and mature enough to understand our complicated situation and live through it with a shrug and a laugh but, I don’t know now I don’t think I’m that good of a person, I don’t think I’ve got the mental capacity to accept that I could spend time actually loving a person for no real reason or possibility of likewise affection. Its as if I built a building and no one wants to live in it, what good is it? might as well tear it down.

“Why are you so focused on this guy? what about the other guy who, you say, loves you?”

Good question my faithful reader(s)

Well, I don’t know to be honest. Its not an ‘I don’t know’ like I don’t know if I love him. I know I love him but, there was never a closure between me and the other guy, so I suppose this is just like residual dust settling and now it’s time to clean up. What’s happening should be closure on the situation, sometimes I wish he would just say “Listen I don’t love you, I like you, you’re cool, but I’m not in Love with you!” as much as that would shatter me into pieces, then it would be final and clear and I could just die a little more and re piece myself over time.

The choice I have now is: Suffer the consequences of watching him love someone else or jettison him from my life. Not an easy choice, which is, in ways, ironic because he’s faced with the choice between two guys that he likes (neither of them myself, ofcourse) and I’m faced with two options about him that’ll either break my heart or break my heart, and he think he has it bad!

As of now it looks like I’m going to Catch the Pretenders at Summer Stage NYC August 10th, that’s good, if the former wasn’t happening I’d probably be doing a dance around the house. I’m sure I’ll be very excited when the time comes.

I’m going to see Distant Worlds: The Music Of Final Fantasy this upcoming Saturday, so that’s awesome, this is something I’ve dreamed about for quite a long time and it’s going to be wonderful.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be on Friday, not looking forward to the film but, I’m going with my Ex-boss / Good friend so I’m happy to be going anywhere with him.

I suppose it isn’t all too bad. I’ll live.

Happy Father’s Day too…for those of you who are and have.