Saturday, August 29, 2009
I Know What I Like, I Like Fritos
Who has the #1 album in the country? Why, it's America's Favorite Country Cheeseball, Reba McEntire! You know, the woman whose TV series inexplicably lasted six seasons? The woman who can make a two syllable word four syllables with her phrasing? And, my personal favorite, Fritos celebrity spokesperson and chip-eating advocate? How, with all the music that exists in this country does a 54-year old woman with no lips and a fashion sense that looks as fresh as 1987 have the #1 selling album in the country? I guess it's because country music fans haven't quite figured out how to find their music for free on the internet, lol. Congrats Reba. Your fans can grab a big bowl of corn chips, an extra large tube of mascara, and enjoy your "spotty (New York Times), "pedestrian" "desperate" (Slant), "almost unlistenable" (9513) 25th studio album. You'll, no doubt, bring the cheese. Posted by soft rock star at 10:18 PM
Friday, August 28, 2009
Cake Is Delicious
Most people who know me well know that I like cake. And when you come across a good piece of cake, well, that's worth blogging about. I believe I had the best piece of chocolate cake I've ever tasted today. It was a birthday cake Meridith's co-workers got for her at a place on High Street called Piece Of Cake. They make fancy cakes much like the Ace Of Cakes show. It turns out they make ridiculously tasty cakes too! Well, I don't know that I can speak for any of their other cakes (though I do intend to take steps to be able to speak for many other types of their cake, haha), but this was mind-bogglingly good. Piece Of Cake, you have a new fan.
Two other things of note today... the rain! Holy smokes has it rained today. Thunder, lightning, prolonged, torrential downpours. At least 3.5" of rain so far. The other is the Twins signing two new pitchers on the same day and apparently in the mix to some degree on two more. The Twins management never tries this hard. Granted, they aren't signing dazzling pitchers, but they are doing more than just bringing up pitchers from the farm that clearly aren't ready to pitch in the majors. Who knows what it really means. But it's making following the team a bit more interesting... as long as they keep winning like they have been the last 10 games.
Posted by soft rock star at 11:16 PM
Thursday, August 27, 2009
World's Greatest Dad
We stumbled on a new movie on TV the other night that has just come out in theaters (well, one theater to be exact... I have no idea how big a release is planned). It's a black comedy written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and starring Robin Williams. I know, it sounds like a real winner right there. Well, the truth is it's really quite good. 
Strange, awkward, filthy, funny, touching and sad at different times, it's a very entertaining, original movie. I enjoy Robin Williams the most in these sorts of movies where he is funny but not manic. He may not be easy to look at but he can be a great dramatic actor when he wants to be and one scene in particular brought me to tears. If you can find it, it's definitely worth checking out.
Posted by soft rock star at 7:36 PM
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sen. Edward Kennedy (1932-2009)
The death of Edward Kennedy has pretty much put an end to an era of American politics. The three brothers who dedicated their lives to public service are all gone. And Senator Kennedy's contributions to public life are undeniable. The third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history, he was best known as one of the most outspoken and effective Senate proponents of progressive causes and bills. In fact, it's said that no other single person had more of an effect on social change in this country in it's history. Causes like the minimum wage, worker safely, health care for the jobless, family leave, pension protection, affordable housing, equal opportunities for woman, access to buildings and transportation for the handicapped, programs like Meals On Wheels that help the elderly stay independent, federally funded program for people with HIV/AIDS, health insurance for lower-income children and tax breaks to encourage the development of medicine for rare diseases... all of it happened because of his passion and influence. What's so interesting about it to me is that no Republican would ever be given credit for these things. These are Democratic issues. Issues that help the minority and in turn, make life better for everyone. Was the man a saint? Of course not. He had plenty of personal demons to wrestle with and showed some poor judgement in his youth. But no one is perfect. Did he leave the world a whole lot better than how he came into it? Absolutely. And that's all you can hope for. It's sad that the Senate no longer has a voice of bipartisanship and compromise, of passion and experience, that Kennedy possessed. When you see Democrats and Republicans alike genuinely sing the praises of someone and the work they did, you know you've lost something special. Hopefully his life's work has and will continue to inspire others to work on the behalf of those who don't have a voice and to make a difference.
Posted by soft rock star at 9:42 PM
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Probably Jinxing Things But...
I haven't blogged about the Twins recently because, well, there has been no reason to. The promise of a good season has never been realized. First it was erratic pitching, then it was losing player after player to the DL (including three of their five starting rotation pitchers) and the Twins have basically hovered around .500 all season. It's been a disappointment since there are so many talented players on this team. I'd lost interest lately when the team fell six games under .500. I'm not getting my hopes up now, mind you, but it has been fun this last week seeing the team win some games. These are games the team should be winning. And it's a lot of scrapping by (which is almost always the Twins way), fighting from big deficits and clinging to one-run leads. But they are winning (six of their last seven and five-in-a-row) and with the White Sox losing four-in-a-row and Detroit not pulling too far ahead, the Twins still find themselves in some sort of contention.
I'm under no illusions that if by some miracle the Twins made the postseason they wouldn't be at a monumental disadvantage against the other teams that get in. But it's nice to see them not just rolling over and playing dead. That's the one things the Twins never do. I just hope next year they find a way to play better in their new stadium. They are going to need more than pitchers with 5.00+ ERAs, power hitters whose bad back keeps them out of games left and right and .200 batting 2nd basemen.
Posted by soft rock star at 10:59 PM
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Raveonettes "Last Dance"
Danish duo The Raveonnetes are about to return with their fourth CD, In And Out Of Control. Their Ronettes meets The Velvet Underground sound has always been an intriguing one and after hearing the new CD myself, I can say this may be the one that introduces them to their widest audience yet. It's certainly deserving. The first three songs are just incredible. One of them is the first single, "Last Dance." The song isn't quite out yet, though savvy radio listeners might hear it on specialty shows at alternative radio any day now, but thanks to somebody already posting it on imeem, here it is for your listening pleasure!Last Dance Demo - The Raveonettes
Posted by soft rock star at 10:33 PM
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Inglorious Basterds
Although I liked Grindhouse and the Kill Bill movies I had no real desire to see Quinten Tarantino's new movie Inglorious Basterds. The previews just didn't make it look good to me. But I'm really glad I saw it. It was a great movie. It was such a clever idea to take a factual event (WWII) and put a fictional spin on it. Being a Tarantino movie I kept expecting something horrendous and gory to happen at any second and was pleasantly surprised at how so many of the scenes ultimately unfolded. I was on the edge of my seat throughout most of the movie. 
The acting was flawless too. At times poignant, at times frightening, at times funny. Brad Pitt was enjoyable but by far, the best performance belonged to German TV actor Christoph Waltz. I love when directors find a largely unknown, but obviously talented, actor to play such a pivitol role. They don't carry any baggage from previous roles and can really bring a realism to the part that someone you've seen before just can't. His portrayal of Col. Hans Landa (perhaps Tarantino's most fully realized character yet) was absolutely Oscar-worthy and if he doesn't get a nomination he'll be robbed. Definitely will be on my personal Top 10 for the year.
Posted by soft rock star at 9:33 PM
Friday, August 21, 2009
Liars The Lot Of Them
It seems like every week or two another kernel comes to light about the brazen disregard for the law, dangerous views, and pompous decision-making that went on during the Bush administration. I've never made any secret of my lack of respect for Bush. The man was (and is) an idiot whose inability to articulate himself off the cuff in any coherant way, plus his ridiculous commitment to never admitting he could ever be wrong, when it couldn't be more clear he was, proved that. 
Much to our country's detriment, Bush surrounded himself with even more dangerous people... intelligent men with dangerous views. You can't argue that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, and to a lesser degree, John Ashcroft, ran the show while Bush was in office.
Today's new info was former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's 
assertion in a new book that he was pressured by other members of Bush's Cabinet to raise the nation's terror alert level just before the 2004 presidential election. Ridge says he objected to raising the security level despite the urgings of former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and then-Attorney General Ashcroft, when no evidence existed to raise it, other than to scare the public into voting for Bush again. Well, it worked!
I'm not sure Tom Ridge is blameless here. Maybe he's just trying to distance himself from the sinking ship. But I certainly believe these men had no misgivings at all about their decision to raise the level for no other reason than an election.
It's just really sad that this, and so many other decisions, were made during those eight years that, I'm sure these men would claim, were done for the country's best interest. I just don't think you should have to so knowingly and boldly lie to the public in order to 'win.' If you are so sure you are right why do you have to lie to get there?
Posted by soft rock star at 10:50 PM
Amazing Picture
MSNBC has been posting the best of their Picture Of The Week profile from the last 10 years and this one in particular stood out for me. It's breathtaking and devastating all at once. Just wanted to share it.
Posted by soft rock star at 2:33 PM
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tornado In Town
Jesse called today exclaiming that things had gotten 'biblical' outside and the power was out at the office and there were trees down in the neighborhood. Turns out a very rare tornado touched down right in Minneapolis with no warning at all. And the majority of the damage was right along 5th Avenue. The nearby indie record store, The Electric Fetus, had some windows blown out and damage to their roof. It's just so odd to see the streets that you drive every week littered with big, beautiful trees that were standing just moments before. 
I don't remember a time in recent memory that a tornado hit so close to downtown and to have it hit right there near work? Nuts. Glad I wasn't there at the time! And I'm glad no one was hurt and that homes and businesses were not damaged worse than they were. Now someone get the power back on so the kiddies can get back to work! haha.
Posted by soft rock star at 9:34 PM
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Laura Veirs - I Like You
Laura Veirs first came to my attention in 2005 with her Year Of Meteors release. Veirs writes very introspective, literate, almost mythical songs that call to mind artists ranging from Joni Mitchell to Leonard Cohen, Rufus Wainwright and fellow Portlanders the Decemberists. I've culled two tracks from her Meteors album here and one, more uptempo song from her 2007 album Saltbreakers. Her voice, her lyrics, her knack for crafting a great melody and the feeling she conjures with her music, especially the more mellow stuff, makes her an artist I really enjoy listening to. I hope you will too.Magnetized - Laura Veirs
Dont Lose Yourself - Laura Veirs and Saltbreakers
Through the Glow - Laura Veirs
Posted by soft rock star at 8:37 PM
Monday, August 17, 2009
Buttermilk Biscuits
Jared's mom made her buttermilk biscuits tonight for dinner. Couple that with Smuckers Cherry Preserves and I'm tellin' ya, that is a little piece of heaven right there. I could eat those every day. Smothered in butter? Topped with honey? Or the aforementioned preserves? There isn't much better. That is all.
Posted by soft rock star at 11:19 PM
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Julie & Julia
I have fond memories of seeing footage of Julia Child's cooking show. She was one of those one-of-a-kind personalities that was just so engaging to watch. We saw Julie & Julia this weekend and Meryl Streep did an uncanny job of capturing Julie Child's essence not to mention the voice and look. I found myself smiling and laughing each time she was on film. I'm not sure there is a better actress working today. The awards and nominations for her body of work are well deserved. The movie was enjoyable, but I have to say, it's Streep that makes the movie as she has done so often in the past.
Posted by soft rock star at 11:18 PM
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Squirrel Ham
I read this story in the Minneapolis paper a couple days ago. Apparently a local couple were vacationing in Banff National Park in Canada last May. Just before their camera clicked on a timer, a curious squirrel found its way into the frame. It's an adorable picture.
Posted by soft rock star at 8:15 PM
Friday, August 14, 2009
District 9 = Awesome
Just saw District 9 today and I definitely think it lives up to the hype. It's amazing it only cost $30 million to make (at least in comparison to what the typical summer sci-fi/action movie costs). It's a smart, engrossing, interesting, emotionally gripping film that definitely made me feel more strongly than anything else I've seen recently, certainly this summer if not this year. Sharlto Copley is absolutely excellent in the lead role, and knowing he's had no major acting experience makes it even more impressive. And the way they made you feel for the main 'prawn' and his son, though they speak no English, heck no human language, and have no facial expression other than their eyes was remarkable too. 
I can't recommend the movie more highly and I sure hope the American public can handle a little intelligence with their action and go see this film. While movies like Transformers and GI Joe can be entertaining, it's nice to actually feel something for characters in a movie... even an action-filled one. Movies that function on many levels are always so much more satisfying and District 9 certainly accomplishes that.
Posted by soft rock star at 8:36 PM
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Temper Trap "Sweet Disposition"
If you've seen 500 Days Of Summer you will recognize this song from a couple pivitol scenes in the movie. It starts out quietly... atmospherically and builds to an amazing, pulsating crescendo with a hook so monster-sized I have had several days when I simply could not get the song out of my head. The band is from Melbourne, Australia but is now based in London and my guess is you're going to be hearing a lot more about them very soon if you pay any sort of attention to new music. Posted by soft rock star at 8:47 PM
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Carol Channing Is Insane (Person Of The Week)
There has never been, nor will there ever be another entertainer like Carol Channing. She is absolutely insane... and therefore ridiculously entertaining. One of my favorite moments in her storied, bizarre, delightful career is her turn in the generally terrible 1985 TV version of Alice In Wonderland. It's over-the-top, campy, and mind-bogglingly odd. It should simply terrify lost children, which of course makes it all the better that it's in a children's story and was on network TV. I love it!
Thank God for Carol Channing.
Posted by soft rock star at 8:59 PM
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Visit From The Dad
My dad and stepmom were in town the last couple days visiting on their way from their home in Florida to Minnesota. It was great seeing them and having them meet Jared's parents. We got to spend some nice time together eating meals at Bravo and Northstar, showing them a bit of the city and visiting the Park Of Roses. We made a great meal tonight (mashed potatoes, fried chicken (which I didn't eat), biscuits, corn, beans, and mac 'n cheese). It was so good. I hadn't seen my dad since January and my guess is I won't see him again until Christmas. It would be that way regardless of where I live with him being down in Florida but it's so weird to think about how you see someone every for so many years and then you see them just a few times a year. I guess that's just part of life and getting older.
Posted by soft rock star at 9:41 PM
Saturday, August 8, 2009
That's Classic: Spymob "Stand Up And Win"
Years ago, even before the Neptunes officially released their CD, I heard Spymob's Sitting Around Keeping Score. The band had been signed to a major label and, like so many bands, were subjected to mounds of red tape when the label downsized and the people who championed their signing to begin with were let go. With no one at the label who cared about them their CD was shelved. The band was luckily able to get the rights to their own CD back and eventually caught the ear of Pharrell. The band began backing the Neptunes on their live shows and finally got their CD released, though once again, they pretty much got f'ed when it came to promotion. The CD is ridiculously melodic and the lyrics are thoughtful and far above your average throwaway pop. I wish more people had heard it. Here's one example of the catchiness that is (or, I suppose, was Spymob).Stand Up And Win - Spymob
