Tuesday, June 30, 2009
True Blood
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Well, I just got into True Blood and it's excellent! Intriguing storyline, well-written characters, lots of laughs... it's just thoroughly entertaining. First Six Feet Under and now this? Alan Ball knows what he's doing. And the cast is perfectly cast. Rutina Wesley as Tara is my favorite. Sassy, stubborn, smart yet vulnerable, she is always a riot. Ryan Kwanten's Jason is like a young, dumb, sex-crazed George Bush. And Lois Smith as Gran is simply adorable. If you are looking for a great summer show while most of TV languishes in reruns and truly awful reality programming, check this show out. I'm four episodes in and I'm absolutely hooked, though I'm also absolutely pissed at who seems to have just ended up dead at the end of the episode I just watched!
Posted by soft rock star at 9:11 PM
I'm Goof Enough, I'm Smart Enough, And Just Enough People Like Me
Well it took long enough. It's hard to believe over half a year has passed since I cast my vote for Al Franken. And now, he's finally Senator Franken. I love that Minnesota has voted a pro wrestler and a comedian into office. Why are we so crazy? Well, we aren't really all that crazy. We just realize that career politicians can't seem to do anything but argue, waste time, take money from lobbyists and have affairs. So why not give someone else a try. At the very least we'll be far more entertained. What I thoroughly enjoy is that each times these men were elected they BOTH defeated Norm Coleman... a man who couldn't be more disingenuous, Yes, given the choice we'll generally take an entertainer with a brain and a desire to serve than a faker with an agenda and a desire to sound important but say nothing. Congrats Al. Now go do something useful.
Posted by soft rock star at 9:02 PM
Sunday, June 28, 2009
beautiful people
In Saint Paul we have Comcast cable and compared to the cable here in Columbus, it really sucks! We don't get a lot of great channels like BBC America, MTV Hits (which play, get this, music videos), Current, and Logo. So when it's TV-time we've been basking in tons of new (to us) programming :) One such show is the English comedy Beautiful People. It's based on the memoirs of Barneys creative director Simon Doonan. Full of eccentric yet lovable characters and quirky, over-the-top recollections of Doonan's life growing up as an awkward, yet self-assured boy in 1997 England, the show has been called ""a sort of camp, working-class British Arrested Development" by UK newspaper, The Guardian. It's laugh out loud funny and has thankfully been green-lit for a second season. There are only six episodes so far so what better time to get yourself hooked! If you have Logo it's on every Tuesday night and the episodes are posted at www.logoonline.com as well.
Posted by soft rock star at 9:49 AM
Saturday, June 27, 2009
the end of the world
Every once in a while you hear a new artist who wholly and completely apes the sound of someone else. OK, it might be more than every once in a while, haha but regardless, I will say that most of the time I don't particularly enjoy the artist or their music doing the copying because they aren't as talented as the artist they so clearly are influenced by. This is usually borne out most in the lyrics. Good lyrics always enhance a great melody. Sophomoric ones always ruin one. And you don't necessarily know until you hear it. You just know when you do because you can't help but avoid paying attention to them since they are so glaringly bad. But there are exceptions. One is Matt Alber. I came across a video for his song "End Of The World" last night that gave me goosebumps. Alber clearly wants to be Rufus Wainwright. Stylistically, thematically, dramatically you name it... this is a song you can totally envision Wainwright singing. Alber and Wainwright sound EXACTLY the same and Alber's inflection, tone and phrasing are dead ringers for Rufus.
But the song is SOOOOO amazingly good that I absolutely don't care. If you are going to ape someone else's sound you could do a lot worse than Rufus Wainwright. Sweepingly beautiful, achingly crushing and hair-raisingly good, I am nearly brought to tears when Alber's melancholy voice soars to the heavens at the end of the chorus. It's dramatic, heartbreaking and stunningly good.
So you get a pass on this one Matt Alber. Kudos for writing a song I have to believe Rufus would have been happy to have written and performed himself.
End of the World - Matt Alber
Posted by soft rock star at 5:08 PM
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Two Movie Gems
I recently saw two movies that I really enjoyed. I can't believe I had never seen the 1989 film Lean On Me. It's a movie about a high school that hires a new principle to clean up the horrible it has become and raise their test scores before they are shut down. Morgan Freeman and the entire cast were excellent in an emotional, highly charged movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. Morgan Freeman is really one of my favorite actors. His performances are always so effortless yet so powerful. This movie is certainly a showcase for Freeman at his best. And his scenes with Robert Guillaume were electrifying. 
This one was totally unexpected and an absolute delight. My enjoyment of movies like this may be tinted by the relationship I had with my grandma and how much I miss her, but if you can't be moved by a movie like this you have an important piece of your heart missing. The performance by Joan O'Hara (who died the same year the movie came out) was mesmerizing. There is a twinkle in her eyes that is hypnotic. And her line about only seeing the world clearly at the end was heartbreaking. Watching a cast full of gifted, older, character actors is always such a treat. And this movie has some truly great ones. Very moving, wonderfully acted and thoroughly enjoyable, I love sweeping yet simple movies like this.
Posted by soft rock star at 8:42 PM
r.i.p. michael jackson & farrah fawcett
Celebrity deaths come in threes and with the passing Ed McMahon the other day and Farrah Fawcett this morning I expected a third, but I certainly didn't think it would come quite so soon, and that it would be Michael Jackson. I don't have much respect for him as a person (I do believe he was a pedophile), but there is no denying his genius as a songwriter and performer and he was a true pop icon. That can't be taken away from him or diminished. I liked a lot of his songs and had purchased his music. And his performance and music influenced countless performers after him. So it's a shock that at only 50 he is gone. His name will always be connected to weirdness and scandal, but he'll always also hold a place as one of the most beloved and important pop music icons the world has ever known. 
I have less to say about Farrah Fawcett. She was on Charlie's Angels and some various movies. She seemed kinda ditzy and I'm not sure she made any huge difference with her talent (I hope that doesn't sound too harsh, I just didn't ever see much of her work.) But there is no denying her influence when it came to her looks. And in her day she was a stunner. I understand how she was the penultimate poster on the wall of teenage boys the country over. Though I'm not sure that's much of a legacy to leave, I understand why her death made headlines and I wouldn't have ever wished the kind of pain she went through in the last years of her life on anyone.
So rest in peace pop icons. This celebrity death trio was a doozy.
Posted by soft rock star at 8:27 PM
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Hypocrisy Your Name Is The Republican Party
Infidelity has no political affiliation. Scandal seems to tear through both parties, well, just about every month. Today is was Republican Governor Mark Sanford admitting to infidelity. What I hate is how Republicans spew their sanctimonious drivel about family values and how above the fray they all are when it comes to having loving families that 'do the right thing,' who fear God, and who love throwing stones whenever they see people who don't fit the mold of the perfect family. Until, of course, their affair is revealed, at which time they usually deny, lie, and cover up until the evidence mounts to such a large degree they can no longer pretend they are perfect and beg for the public's forgiveness. It's the hypocrisy that I hate. It's bad enough to hurt the people closest to you in such an overwhelmingly painful way. But to condemn others when they live a life you don't agree with (whether it be single women who choose to have a family on her own, a gay couple who loves each other and wants to be married, or a couple who chooses to have children and not be married) all the while deceiving your own 'loyal' wife and 'wonderful' children just wreaks of hypocrisy.
No one is perfect. People make mistakes. And what happens in someone's marriage is their own business. But to judge others about the way they live their life, while you are secretly doing something you publicly condemn makes me angry. And it just seems to keep happening. Nice work Gov. Sanford. It's politicians like you that make people hate politicians.
Posted by soft rock star at 9:01 PM
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
icedream indeed
I had Indian food for the first time in years tonight. It was absolutely delicious but I ate too much and actually threw up a little bit in my mouth when I got home (tmi, right?). Everything in moderation I suppose. Indian food isn't generally the most asthetically pleasing food, but it sure is tasty once it lands in your mouth. It probably didn't help that I ate dessert afterwards. Some of the crew wanted Peach milkshakes at Chik Fil A. We don't have this fast food chicken joint in Minnesota so this was my first time stepping foot in one. I was talked into ordering a small 'icedream' cone and gosh darn it all it was all kinds of yummy. I'm definitely a fan. Smooth and creamy but not heavy, it's really more refreshing than it is rich and I enjoyed that. So thank you Chik Fil A. I'll choose to believe that throwing up in my mouth was something you need not take any credit for.
Posted by soft rock star at 10:31 PM
r.i.p. ed mcmahon
Ed McMahon was at his best sitting alongside Johnny Carson. He was the perfect sidekick. I always loved his hearty laughter and good nature. Since the demise of the Tonight Show (and yes, I mean demise... that was a rough 17 Leno-filled years), it hasn't been particularly pleasant watching Ed poke fun at himself on D-list shows, seeing him shill products in embarrassing commercials, and seeing news stories of his financial problems, but I';; choose to remember the classic episodes of The Tonight Show that were made all the more funny for Ed having been a part of them. You are correct sir!
Posted by soft rock star at 10:15 PM
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Well, here I am in sunny, humid Columbus, Ohio. After days of packing (ugh), moving (double ugh) and cleaning (uber ugh), I hit the road. I'm sure not many people embark on a 12-hour road trip at 8pm on a Friday night, but I did. Here were my observations (things I learned or was reminded of on my excursion). Did you know that Beloit, WI is the "Gateway To Wisconsin"? Did you know that Indiana is "The Crossroads To America"? Apparently they are. Thanks to an uncharged iPod, I had to listen to commercial radio (gasp!) for 8 hours and I will say this... commercial radio loves Nickelback and any band/artist that sounds like Nickelback (Shinedown, Daughtry, David Cook), Jesse McCartney (heard every single from his latest CD), and I have heard more than my fair share of Beyonce's "Halo" 3Oh!3's "Don't Trust Me" and Katy Perry's "Waking Up In Vegas" for one day (or in some cases, for a lifetime, haha). Also thanks to the Killers for reminding me that I'm not a fan of songs where the singer sings one note the entire verse. "Mr. Brightside" somehow isn't nearly as good a song as I remember it being.
In Indiana, apparently it's OK for you to push your friend's stalled car by just pressing your front bumper against their back bumper and driving 45 miles and hour on the shoulder. Interesting. I love how when you cross the border from Wisconsin into Illinois, the road immediately becomes rougher and clearly more poorly maintained. The irony is, while IN Illinois, you'll be forced to stop at at least a half dozen toll stops to donate money to their imaginary road fund. Don't expect to get your meal quickly at Burger King if you order the Veggie Burger, especially in a small town where they probably make them once a week at most... but at least you know it will be made 'fresh.'
So there you go. My third road trip to Ohio is complete although this time I'll be staying a little longer than the two previous times. I know trips to Cedar Point, Cleveland and Cincinnati are in the offing. And I already enjoyed a meal at Bob Evans (which I wish we had in Minneapolis). Otherwise I've arrived, I'm settled in and I'm ready Ohio. Dazzle me.
Posted by soft rock star at 1:51 PM
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Goodbye Teflon Monster
I went to what may be my last ever Twins game at the Metrodome tonight. Bryan and I caught the Twins-Pirates game and even with me there Bryan kept his winning streak in tact. He's never seen the Twins lose in the over dozen games he's been to over the years. And tonight was no exception. The Twins won 8-2 with Perkins just off the disabled list and Mauer collecting four more hits and raising his batting average from .414 to .429. He is red hot. I've seen a lot of great games at the dome. It gets a really bad rap and frankly it's a piece of crap stadium: uncomfortable seats with no leg room, a giant baggy in right field and a cover that fly balls get lost in (which has certainly been to the Twins advantage over the years... it certainly was tonight!). But I've experienced such good times there. Seeing game six of the 1991 World Series with my mom is my definite highlight. So in a way I'll miss ya dome. But I look forward to the new stadium next season too :)
Posted by soft rock star at 12:02 AM
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Poll The Twin Cities Can Be So Proud To Be On
For all the positive surveys the Twin Cities land on (health care, education, quality of life, fitness) the one survey our tourism board can't be too thrilled to have landed near the top of was Reuter's Road Rage list. The survey looked at 25 metropolitan areas, and placed New York at the top of the list (not surprising), followed by Dallas/Fort Worth in the #2 spot and Detroit, Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul rounding out the Top 5. I'm not surprised at all. Drivers here are awful. Everything from illegal turns, turns on red, cutting across multiple lanes of traffic, tailgating, merging at the last minute... you name it people do it. Just driving in rush our traffic once here will boggle your mind and piss you off. And it's not just the driving itself, it's the immediate angry, expressive reaction to someone else's driving that people show so freely here.
A lot of folks try to spin "Minnesota Nice" into a positive thing. I don't think it is. And you'll see none of that fake, surface level friendliness on the road here. People's true nature's come out when they drive and it's not pretty.
Posted by soft rock star at 11:38 PM
Monday, June 15, 2009
You Won. You Can Stop Overacting.
This is why most people avoid The Tony's.Posted by soft rock star at 12:44 AM
Drag Me To Hell
Earlier this week I saw Drag Me To Hell. It's been getting phenomenal reviews although it hasn't been doing all that well. My theater only had seven rows! But the room was pretty full. Anyway, I don't want to give anything away, but the movie was a great mix of genuine scares, horror and fear blended with over the top, ridiculous moments that, although sometimes graphic and gross, were laugh out loud funny.
I was really into horror movies in high school. My best friend and I rented them almost every weekend. So I've seen a lot of bad horror movies. There are a lot of them out there. But this was definitely not bad. Wildly entertaining from start to finish, I can easily recommend this one.
Posted by soft rock star at 12:12 AM
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Who's An Idiot? That'd Be Me
Ever felt like someone is trying to tell you something? I left to go see Metric play tonight and got onto the 94. Usually that's a straight shot of 3-4 lanes of freeway right to downtown Minneapolis. Well not so much tonight. The entire freeway was closed! Detour up 280, which is also completely torn up. One lane each way and traffic directed up the off ramp at one point where they have a bridge removed and are rebuilding it. But the detour didn't end there. Up 35W they send you, not just North of where I wanted to go be completely in the opposite direction! So I decided to get off on 36 and find the first exit. I did just that and of course the first time you can turn around they have a no u-turn sign. I did it anyway and got back headed toward town. Got onto 7th and low and behold, more construction. Three lanes? Nope. Just one. Once I got past that, the car in the lane I needed to be in was literally driving 5 miles and hour. After two blocks of driving more slowly than I could have walked it, I got into the parking ramp. It's a narrow, awkward ramp with tight turns and small spots. After getting around the first, there was an open spot. But I would have had to back up and maneuver around to get into it. So I decided to find the next one. But there wasn't another one for what seemed like 10 levels. I got so high I figured it might be easier to head back down the other side and park there. Little did I know I was heading down a one-way up ramp, lol. Luckily no one was coming. Finally got a spot and headed down to street level. When you get to the main floor you can go two different ways and I rarely remember the right way to go. Did I this time? Of course not! So I got to walk an extra two blocks.
Honestly, none of this got me particularly upset. I was still on time and I've learned (for the most part) to let all these little things roll off my back. I just found it interesting that so many things were happening to make me feel like I wasn't supposed to see this show. As I got the front door of the club I could hear a roar from the crowd, indicating the band was just going on. Score! I reached into my pocket for my ID. Uh oh. That doesn't feel like my ID. Not my drivers license anyway. No, I had grabbed my credit card and my GYM ID! Ugh. No ID. I couldn't believe it. I've never done that before. So it was a Metric-less night for me :( Now, I never would have known why I was getting the feeling I wasn't going to see this show, but I did find it interesting looking back that these things happened. I do really believe that if we could tune in to our intuition more effectively, we'd see that sometimes we are being told something, if only we'd just listen. In this case I was being told I was an idiot for not paying closer attention to what cards I was grabbing! Oops.
Posted by soft rock star at 11:21 PM
Pet Shop Boys "King Of Rome"
I finally gave a full listen to the new Pet Shop Boys CD after tiring out on the wonderful "Did You See Me Coming" which I heard in advance and played many, many times on my iPod. Well, I gotta say, the whole CD was a bit of a letdown. Except for the song "King Of Rome" which I cannot stop playing. I like a song that creates a strong mood and it's accomplished in spades here. More downtempo than the rest of the CD yet still somehow epic, the song is somewhat cinematic and tinged with melancholy throughout. Neil Tennant's voice glides and soars just like it did 25 years ago. I was listening to the song while driving past downtown Saint Paul today and there was something sort of magical about the flow of cars on the road alongside the skyline. The Pet Shop boys have made some great music over the years and this one definitely joins my favorites list.
King of Rome - Pet Shop Boys
Posted by soft rock star at 12:56 AM
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Peaches Come From A Can They Were Put There By A Man In A Factory Downtown
Just gave the new Peaches CD I Feel Cream a listen last night. I've never really known how to feel about Peaches. Some great beats but I find the subject matter of her songs a little sophomoric sometimes. I know it's tongue and cheek and I know she's trying to push buttons but I don't find it particularly risque or envelope-pushing. I'm certainly not offended or charmed. Regardless I don't dislike her. I'm just not sure I get her. The CD itself gets a little samey after a while but there are some solid beats and some great songs. "Billionaire" (for as Lil' Kim-crass as it is) is fun as is the trance-like title cut. But my fave is "Lose You." It may be the most straight-up, straight forward dance song on the CD and it doesn't seem to have a drop of sarcasm, double entendre or purposeful smarm. I think that's why I like it, besides just being a catchy as hell song with a great beat.
Lose You - Peaches
Posted by soft rock star at 12:05 AM
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Horsing Around
OK, I'm not usually this cruel (at least not publically) but it's my blog and anyone that knows me well knows that I think Sarah Jessica Parker looks a little horsey. OK, a LOT horsey. Family Guy has had plenty of fun at her expense and I just stumbled upon this website tonight. Needless to say there was some pretty hearty laughter. I'd feel worse if it wasn't so brilliantly presented. I guess it goes to show you that you can lead a horse to water but not all the makeup and hair styling in the world will make it not still look like a horse.
Posted by soft rock star at 11:10 PM
Friday, June 5, 2009
That's Classic: Kim Wilde "You Came"
In France she was known as the "Brigitte Bardot of Rock" and she scored more UK hits in the 80s than any other English female singer, yet most people in the U.S. probably only know Kim Wilde from her #1 cover of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1987 and to a lesser degree, from her breakthrough 1981 debut youth anthem "Kids In America" (which was a huge hit in the UK but just a modest one here). But my favorite Kim Wilde song is "You Came" (which just missed the Top 40 back in 1988). It's 80's synth-pop at it's very best. Catchy as all hell with a stick-to-the-brain melody, swirling synths, hand claps and fantastic beat, it's actually the most played song on my iPod between this original version and a more guitar-based cover she did in 2006. I suppose that should somehow embarass me but it doesn't. I just can't get enough of it. Actually, the whole CD it comes from, her sixth CD,Close, is pretty damn good. Sure, it's cheesy, but songs like "Love In A Natural Way" (with it's soaring chorus) and "Never Trust A Stranger" (with it's driving, buzzing electro-beat) get me every time. I'm a sucker for tasty cheese. The only dud, strangely enough, is actually the first single from the disc, "Hey, Mr. Heartache." It's a song so forgettable that she didn't even include it on her greatest hits CD. But the rest of the record is golden and ends with a beautiful, moody cover of Todd Rungren's "Lucky Guy." The duel guitar harmonies is something you certainly don't hear much outside of hair metal(for good reason) but it works perfectly here.
I've included "You Came" and "Lucky Guy" here.
You Came - Kim Wilde
lucky guy - kim wilde
Posted by soft rock star at 11:00 PM
Thursday, June 4, 2009
RIP David Carradine
I can't say I was a 'fan' of David Carradine but I certainly remember watching reruns of 'Kung Fu' on the weekends growing up and he always seemed to pop up here and there over the years, most notably the Kill Bill movies. He seemed like an interesting character and, well, supposedly dying from auto-erotic asphyxiation gone too far certainly contributes to the 'interesting character' tag. I'm not sure there is a more embarrassing way to be found. It certainly gives your family, friends, and fans a peak into a whole other part of your life they didn't know about! Oh well. I hope it was worth it! haha.
Posted by soft rock star at 10:04 PM
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
You Have 1,298 Days To Live! Just Thought You'd Like To Know
Did you know that Earth has an expiration date? Yes, it's Dec. 21, 2012. That's when life as we know it will end. Who says? The ancient Mayans predicted it, Chinese sages wrote of it and many Christians say it's foretold in the Bible. Go ahead, Google 2012, search for it on YouTube and learn. Or buy "The Complete Idiot's Guide to 2012," now in bookstores. You could wait for the movie; "2012" will be in theaters this fall. Basically, our days are numbered -- to 1,298 to be precise -- because a convergence of factors will result in the destruction of Earth: Extreme solar activity will peak just as Earth's protective magnetic shield is weakening, and there will be an alignment of planets that happens only once every 640,000 years. To top it off, the highly complex and accurate 5,000-year Mayan calendar comes to an abrupt end on winter solstice 2012. It all adds up to bad business for our planet. I hope you can commandeer a rocket ship to the moon or, perhaps a more economically feasible option: make your peace with God before then. At the very least now you have a timeline for getting to those episodes of that buzz-worthy TV show you felt compelled to Tivo but are never in the mood to actually watch.
