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Stuck In My Head 2.17.2012

2012-02-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

Heat of the Moment
by Asia

I never meant to be so bad to you
One thing I said that I would never do
A look from you and I would fall from grace
And that would wipe the smile right from my face

Do you remember when we used to dance
And incidents arose from circumstance
One thing led to another we were young
And we would scream together songs unsung

It was the heat of the moment
Telling me what my heart meant
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes

And now you find yourself in '82
The disco hot spots hold no charm for you
You can concern yourself with bigger things
You catch a pearl and ride the dragon's wings

'Cause it's the heat of the moment
The heat of the moment
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes

And when your looks are gone and you're alone
How many nights you sit beside the phone
What were the things you wanted for yourself
Teenage ambitions you remember well

It was the heat of the moment
Telling me what your heart meant
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes

It was the heat of the moment
The heat of the moment
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes

Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment...

More on "A Different Kind of Truth"

2012-02-16T14:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes an album does grow on you.

When I first listened to A Different Kind of Truth, I was fairly underwhelmed. The elements were all in place, but I also felt like the songs were lacking. I still stand by that assessment, and I think the album is getting a lot of praise, not for being a great album, but for not being a terrible one. The most rational and clear-headed review I've read so far is Chuck Klosterman's. I think he's smart enough to have figured out how to process the fan's excitement that this album exists at all, and the facts of what the record actually is.

It is not perfect, and it's not a "return to form." Anybody who says that is too caught up in their own, personal, need for it to be a return to form. However, what it does present is what Van Halen is right now. Dave can't be the Diamond Dave of 1984, his solo career represents a, slowly sliding downhill, embarrassing testament to that fact. Eddie spent too many years crafting less jaggedly adventurous rock with Sammy Hagar (not a criticism - I am a fan of all eras of Van Halen, but Sammy was more of a classic songsmith than Roth will ever be). They can't just put all that away and be 20 again, and to want or expect them to is unfair to them, and yourself as a fan.

The problem, I think, is that they try to do just that, at points. I am still disappointed at the re-use of demo songs from the late 70's. I am. I'm far more interested in what the band can create today than how they can re-purpose songs and riffs that weren't good enough (for whatever reason) to get on an album more than a quarter of a century ago. I also can't shake the real feeling that the need to re-use old material speaks to a deep fissure in the band. Of course, it's Van Halen, there's always deep fissures and drama, but...even for all the cash you're gonna rake in, you can't get in a room and hack out some songs together?

All that is prelude to saying that I do like the album more than when I posted my first impressions. I don't love it, and there's a very long swath of songs at the midpoint that really drag, but I've reassessed by initial feeling that there were no hooks here. Sometimes I feel like Eddie would like to have some of those big, sweeping choruses that Hagar did so well, and Roth is simply uninterested, as well as just not having the voice for that kind of thing. The music and vocals sound a little at odds, but that tension can be interesting. Again, it's Van Halen right now, artists who's grown and evolved. When that's acknowledged, cool stuff happens.

There are several really good tracks, and at least one excellent one. "Tattoo" is still a really poor choice for a first single, but it's grown on me. "She's the Woman" maintains the energy and drive, which leads into "You and Your Blues," which is the first really good track on the record. "China Town" works for the most part, and "Blood and Fire" kicks some ass.

Then we get into the stretch where they lose me. "Bullethead" is just awful (I stand behind my initial assesment "Van Halen for idiots"), "As Is" kinda rocks, but also has this sense of meandering, "Honeybabysweetiedoll" is dull, "The Trouble With Never" (I agree with a critic I read...somewhere - a much better album title) feels like leftovers, and "Outta Space" has one of those "clever" lyrics that just pains you the more you listen to it. Let me be clear, these are NOT bad tracks, but neither are they exciting. I think Klosterman hits the nail on the head when he says some stuff here (especially this section, for me) feels like a conscious reproduction of what used to be organic.

Things get back on track with "Stay Frosty," which is clearly one of Chuck K's "conscious replications." It's the "Ice Cream Man" track, in tone and execution. It's also highly energized and fun, so I'm OK with it. The real keeper on the record, however, is the following track, "Big River," which is just epic. It's the one point you can hear, then point to and say, "they still can do it, and make it feel fresh." Sadly, after that track, "Beats Workin'" is really anti-climactic.

There's general things I can go into a well. There are tracks that feel like Roth solo material, and I think that can go right back to the fact (that many people have run into the ground) that Michael Anthony's backing vocals are sorely missed here. Other than that, Wolfgang Van Halen acquits himself well. Eddie is on fire on most tracks, and Alex is as solid as ever. The problems that I have with the album have nothing to do with musicianship.

I'm sure I'll get hate mail for this review. That's fine. As I've blogged about before, I point out a few weaknesses, and suddenly I "hate" the album, or movie, or whatever. I don't. I certainly don't hate A Different Kind of Truth, I quite like it, but I think the people spouting off with "it's like 24 years never happened" are deluding themselves. This is a solid album, which, if we're honest, is probably more than we could ever have expected. I'm just used to more than solid from Van Halen.

Top Tracks:

Big River
You and Your Blues
Blood and Fire
She's the Woman

Now, Why is He Cool and Metallica Sucks?

2012-02-15T15:53:00.000-08:00

Dave Mustaine, frontman of Megadeth....

Just endorsed Rick Santorum for President.

People should forgive Lulu on this factor alone. That's just an ill-considered artistic move.

The Specter of the Receding Hairline

2012-02-14T13:57:00.000-08:00

Always asserts itself after a haircut.

Always.

Now, I am not vapid enough to think this is some sort of disaster. No, not completely. It will be if I ever get to that "island of hair floating in the middle of my forehead" stage. THAT would be too much. Far, far too much. Me, I'm aiming for the "gliding in gracefully" method of Bruce Willis.

Still, it is an adjustment. I've always harbored the idea of growing my hair long again. The slight, but insistent, retreat of my follicles makes that problematic, at best, and totally ill-advised at worst. All the advice says to go shorter when dealing with this issue. It's advice I think I'm going to have to heed.

At least I know other people have dealt with it....And Neil Peart still has his hair...

I Think I'm Going Bald
by Rush

I looked in the mirror today
My eyes just didn't seem so bright
I've lost a few more hairs
I think I'm going bald

I think I'm going bald

Seems like only yesterday
We would sit and talk of dreams all night
Dreams of youth
And simple truths
Now we're so involved
So involved with life

Walk down vanity fair
Memory lane everywhere
Wall Street shuffles there
Dressed in flowing hair

Once we loved the flowers
Now we ask the price of the land
Once we would take water
But now it must be wine
Now we've been
And now we've seen
What price peace of mind

Take a piece of my mind

My life is slipping away
I'm aging every day
But even when I'm grey
I'll still be grey my way

Gigantour 2.10.2012

2012-02-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I noticed that Megadeth's package tour, "Gigantour" was set to play the Aragon this past Friday night. The line-up was intriguing, with Megadeth headlining, of course, Lacuna Coil and Volbeat were on the bill. The band that really sparked some interest, however, was Motorhead.

I've seen Megadeth up close and personal, same with Volbeat, and Lacuna Coil was a non-starter, as far as I was concerned. However, I had never seen Motorhead, and, while the band tours constantly, I know Lemmy was in his 60's. How many more chances will I get?

Probably a few. The guy seems to have Keith Richards-level survival skills.

Anyway, going to the show was a relatively last-minute decision. The tickets weren't terrible, coming out to less than $20 for each band, and that seemed reasonable. The show was, overall, a good time, even if there were some major disappointments.

First up was Lacuna Coil. I had very little experience with this band, other than knowing they were in the Evanescence realm. Which is fair, same sort of vibe, female singer for the soaring melodic parts, and a guy for the more metal/rhythmic stuff. Either their set was amazingly short, or my tickets were wrong as to when the doors opened. My understanding was that doors were at 6:30, and when we got inside, maybe about 6:40, they were already playing, and wrapped up about 7:00.

Not a terrible band, but also not very distinctive. One of those groups who's technically pretty solid, but I didn't get a lot of energy or passion from. Of course, opening acts almost always get the shit end of the stick, and I often catch a whiff of desperation. No one is here to see you, probably, and you have to try to make the best of it. Lacuna Coil didn't impress, but they certainly didn't embarrass themselves.

The next act, Volbeat, I had seen before. My friend Shea is a booster of the group, introduced me to them, and took me to a show at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago's West Loop. I'm fond of the group, and each time I see them, I become more of a fan.

Their sound is a mash-up of metal and rockabilly, and was once described to me as "Johnny Cash fronting Metallica." That's REALLY simplistic, but not wholly inaccurate. It's cool that their songs can go from true downstroke metal riffage to something not wholly alien to a country tune. They're a band I could never call "one note," and somehow they also keep it all sounding unified. I'm also quite taken with Michael Poulsen's vocals, which are in that Cash-Baritone range. I like the way he attacks a vocal line, and there's a true sense of joy in their performances. They give a lot, in terms of energy, and pure positive attitude. A high point.

Next up was Motorhead, and their frontman, who has actually earned the right to be called "legendary," Lemmy Kilmister. Motorhead is no-frills rock. There was little on stage except large amplifier stacks, and some flashing lights. A couple of smokestacks erupted a couple times later in the show, but the band seemed unconcerned with flash, and more with volume.

Frankly, it was almost impossible to understand what Lemmy was saying most of the time, with his permanent rasp and deep accent. Guitarist Phil Campbell (who's been with the band 28 years) took turns with Lemmy thanking and encouraging the audience. The setlist was tight, with pretty much every song I wanted to hear, with the exception of "Deaf Forever," a personal favorite. In short it was a set very much like the band itself, concise, exciting and powerful. The only stumble I can point to is a drum solo that was ill-advised for a fairly short set (an hour and a half, at most).

As Motorhead left the stage, there was some sense we were waiting for the "main event." A large drape was pulled across the stage, and set up for the headliner was underway. I've seen Megadeth a couple times before, and they tend to give an impressive show.

Unfortunately, Friday night was not.

There were apparently some sort technical problems, which were obviously upsetting frontman Dave Mustaine, and maybe that was the undoing. Still, I found it extremely frustrating that the show stopped dead between each song. The stage would go dark, and the entire band would exit, regroup (I guess), then return to the stage for the next song. It left the evening with a hurkey-jerky sense of pacing. I'd get up to speed on a song, and then end up waiting for the next to start. A frustrating experience for an audience, and maybe for the band, as well.

It was for Mustaine, anyway. The rest of the group, Bassist Dave Ellefson, Drummer Shawn Drover, and Guitarist Chris Broderick, seemed to be in top form, and handling whatever was going on with aplomb. I have to guess it was a vocals issue, because Mustaine's vocals were almost nonexistent in the mix. That's a major pet peeve for me. No, live vocals are almost never clear and pristine (especially with this type of intense music), but I hate it when you can't really even tell if the guy is singing, or not. It was that bad.

Not to mention the REALLY ill-considered idea to bring Cristina Scabbia, from Lacuna Coil, up to duet with Mustaine on "La Tout Le Monde," a song I love, that ended up being a disaster. Bad idea, badly executed.

What's frustrating about this is that the band was tight and executed a really great setlist. I have to chalk this up to a tech issue, I saw them in a much crappier venue, Sokol Hall in Omaha way back in the mid-90's, and they killed it. Sound was terrific, and the show cooked. I have to assume that something was just completely FUBAR'd on Friday.

Overall, a great night of metal. At the very least, I can now say I've seen Motorhead. On the flip side, I have to say I saw Lacuna Coil.

Setlists:

Lacuna Coil:

Our Truth
Upsidedown
Fragile
Kill the Light
Trip the Darkness
Spellbound

Volbeat:

A Warrior's Call
Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood
The Human Instrument
Sad Man's Tongue
Hallelujah Goat
Who They Are
Fallen
The Mirror and the Ripper
Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza
Still Counting
Raining Blood (Slayer Cover - snippit, Intro Only)

Motorhead:

Bomber
Damage Case
I know How to Die
Stay Clean
Over the Top
The Chase is Better Than the Catch
The One to Sing the Blues (Drum Solo)
Going to Brazil
Killed by Death
Ace of Spades
Overkill

Megadeth:

Trust
Wake Up Dead
Hanger 18
She-Wolf
Foreclosure of a Dream
Dawn Patrol
Poison Was the Cure
Head Crusher
A Tout Le Monde (with Cristina Scabbia)
Public Enemy No. 1
Who's Life (Is it Anyways?)
Guns, Drugs & Money
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells

Encore:

Holy Wars...The Punishment Due

Stuck in My Head 2.10.2012

2012-02-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

In honor of the show tonight, one of my favorite Megadeth tracks...Even if I think it's a "Stuck in My Head" repeat.

Even if I must admit being more excited about seeing Motorhead.

Almost Honest
by Megadeth

I lied just a little
When I said I need you
You stretched the truth
When you said that you knew
Just can't believe it
There's nothing to say
I was almost honest, almost

Living alone, can't stand this place
It's four in the morning and I still see your face

I was nearly pure
When I said I loved you
You were semi-sincere
You said I'd bleed for you
We were kind of candid
Now you're gone away
You were almost honest, almost

Living alone, falling from grace
I want to alone but there's just empty space
I can't face tomorrow, now you're not coming back
Walked off in the night and just left me the tracks

I question your call by the tone of your voice
I know I should hang up but I don't have a choice
It happened that night when you told me to go
Don't ask who's to blame, I don't know

Almost, almost honest
Almost, I was almost honest

The New Motto for the Hayoth Project

2012-02-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

Progress is being made. Ideas are percolating. I wish I could just go home and play guitar tonight.

"Every Dirty Job That Comes Along"

2012-02-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

There's talk of re-making Death Wish. The film's never been a personal favorite, and, honestly, the moral stance the film takes is so extreme that not even Charles Bronson's personal charisma can take my mind off the fact that Paul Kersey is a stone murderer. Not a killer, mind you, a MURDERER. There is a difference, and Kersey is as much scum as the criminals he targets and eliminates.

Which is not to say that I think it shouldn't be re-made. Joe Carnahan is attached to direct. In both Narc and, reportedly (I'm seeing it tonight), The Grey, he's shown a real talent for taking "macho" subject matter, and peeling back the layers. It's that kind of mindset that could make Death Wish into something interesting, an exciting film that also doesn't become "violence porn." It's the same problem that continually bubbles up when people try to adapt The Punisher. The main character is insane, horribly violent, and, in my opinion, works better as an antagonist.

Some friends and I were discussing the implications of remaking Death Wish, and I began to think about the film that, in my mind, is the true masterpiece of "victim's rights" from the 1970's. A film that takes the ideas that Death Wish smothers under a moral quagmire, and presents them in a much clearer light. A film that presents a powerful lead character who is anything but insane.

I'm talking, of course, about Dirty Harry.

The 1971 film has long been held up as an example of right-wing/fascist propaganda and fantasy. Now, I'm not stupid enough to try to argue that Harry Callahan is some sort of flower-waving liberal, but to try to boil down the character in those terms is ignoring what is actually presented in the film. (I'm going to limit my comments to the '71 original, the sequels, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool, all have their charms, but lack the complexity of our first meeting with Harry) Sure, Eastwood presents a character who is very much in the "alpha male, get things done" range, with no time or patience for political correctness, but he is not a fascist, nor is he a man who revels in violence...

...But he is very good at it.

Filmmaker John Milius (who worked on the script for Magnum Force) describes Harry Callahan as "a hunter," as evidence (being a gun enthusiast) he points to Harry's chosen weapon, the .44 Magnum. The Magnum is a hunting firearm, and, like most hunting weapons, is designed to cause massive damage. The target goes down, and does not get up. Proficient, skilled, hunters are not interested in cruelty, or prolonging the process, but in ending the hunt.

Harry's first response is also not to kill, if given the opportunity. He enters situations with the goal to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, with the minimum damage to life and property. No question that Harry puts more value in minimum damage to innocent life first, but, especially when we first meet him, his is not bloodthirsty in the slightest. Take the opening bank robbery sequence where we truly first see who Harry Callahan is:

It's important to note a a few things about this scene. First, Harry does not fire first, and does not fire until after shouting "halt," and being fired upon by one of the gunmen. Second, once a gunman is incapacitated, he feels no need for further violence, and bluntly makes it clear to the injured gunman that any further violence is HIS choice. The entire "do you feel lucky?" speech is Harry's tongue-in-cheek "drop the weapon, and you don't have to go out of here on a slab," because, again, against popular perception, Dirty Harry does have a sense of humor.

No one else on Earth could make a sweater vest look cool.

Then, of course, you get the clicking of the hammer on the empty cylinder. Harry is an excellent hunter. He knows his weapon. He knows it's empty, and the gunman's weapon is in his own hand. The situation is resolved, the danger is past. Our perpetrator has made the choice to not escalate the violence, and Harry is absolutely fine with that. So much so that he indulges in a bit of dark humor. There's even a sense of camaraderie, a "hey, pal, nice try, but I'm just better than you."

The other interesting element, which unfortunately comes before this clip, is watching Harry enter into this situation. He's eating lunch. He sees the robbery begin, and asks the guy running the place to call the police and report a robbery in progress. He then, flat out, hopes that "the cavalry will get here in time." Which, of course, they don't.

What's amusing about this scene is how all of the fascist fantasy theories about Harry Callahan inherently use evidence of his enjoying, being drunk with, his power as an authority figure. In fact, Harry resists acting in almost every case (In fact, all five Dirty Harry films open in a similar manner). He just wants to eat his goddman hot dog! Eastwood, and director Don Siegel (who I must not forget, as he does fantastic work, here), continually place Callahan as the everyman, with a particular set of skills that are useful in certain situations.

There's a running gag in the film about why people call him "Dirty" Harry. Ultimately, Harry himself says it's because he "get's every dirty job that comes along." There's an online review I read, where the writer says he always thinks of Harry as a plumber. An average joe who ends up doing crappy jobs that other "regular" people don't want to deal with.

"The face of a choir boy"

Now, like all good drama, there is a change in Harry, a change that hardens him. The change is instigated by the Scorpio Killer, played with much relish by Andrew Robinson. Scorpio, it's worth noting, is obviously inspired by the Zodiac killer (still an active investigation in San Fransisco while the film was being shot in the same city), and the Manson family, and I always find it interesting that, even with Robinson going for broke in his performance, Scorpio is arguably less flamboyant than the real-life killers he's based on.

Robinson, as an actor, was really an inspired choice. Siegel reportedly chose him because he had an innocent, "choir boy" face, building in a dichotomy right from the get-go. That dichotomy is also reflected in the costuming choices, military boots with a peace symbol belt buckle. There's a lot of material that suggests Scorpio might be an unhinged Vietnam vet. While that creates an interesting depth to the character, the real point is how he impacts, and reflects, Harry.

Scorpio drives Harry over the edge. Scorpio is so sadistic and sociopathic, that Harry cannot help but be affected by him. His callow regard for human life, and the system's inability to move quickly an decisively enough to contain his rampage, is too much for Callahan. We're treated to several scenes of Harry visiting his superiors, or the Mayor, to give reports, and delivering bon mots like the following:

The Mayor: All right. Let's have it.

Harry Callahan: Have what?

The Mayor: A report! What have you been doing?

Harry Callahan: Well, for the past three quarters of an hour I've been sitting on my ass in your outer office waiting on you!

The case comes to a head for Callahan when Scorpio takes a teenaged girl hostage, and buries her alive. He taunts the authorities with a deadline before her oxygen supply runs out, and she dies. Harry is chosen to deliver a ransom (another "dirty" job), and he's viciously attached by Scorpio.

Scorpio: No, don't pass out on me now cop! No, no, no, no, no. Don't pass out on me yet, you dirty, rotten oinker! Do we understand each other? You better answer me, if you want to know where the girl is. Okay? Now listen... I've changed my mind. I'm going to let her die! I just wanted you to know that. You hear me? I just wanted you to know that before I killed you!

Harry, with some fast action by his partner, gets away, but now knows that Scorpio operates on such a level that no payoff is going to pacify him. Callahan tracks the killer to his workplace, a football stadium, where he intends to get the girl's location from Scorpio.

The case pushes him to actions that the film itself, in the cinematography, will not ally itself with. You can find the scene on YouTube HERE (I am not able to embed it). As you watch that scene, notice that Harry is as far gone as Scorpio. The taking of the girl has completely driven him over the edge, and he cares about nothing but attempting to save her live.

Harry beyond reason

One of my favorite camera moves of all times occurs when Harry steps on Scorpio's wounded leg, and begins, yes, torturing him for the girl's location. A helicopter shot, the camera moves up and back, further and further away from Harry and his victim. We side with Harry, we want him to save the girl, but we don't want to see what it takes to get that "dirty" job done. The audience, as society, is uncomfortable with the idea that, in these extreme circumstances, Harry deemed Scorpio's rights unimportant when placed against the life of an innocent girl.

What drives that point home is the committed performances on display, and the sharp writing. Watch the scene. Harry says almost nothing save, "where's the girl?" We see Scorpio wailing about his rights. Literally saying, "I have a right to life," while the girl he kidnapped slowly loses hers.

Then? Smash cut to the girl's lifeless form being lifted out of the ground. Bruised and naked, she is hauled out of a dirty hole.

So the film unspools a real moral quagmire. Harry has gone over the line, in hopes of saving an innocent life, but failed. Does an innocent life justify torture? Does the fact that the victim was not saved change how you feel about the act? The whole structure of the editing, and how Don Siegel directed the scenes, asks these questions. Harry and Scorpio are both held at arms length by the film. They are both unsettling.

Yet, also consider that the character the audience shares viewpoints with most often is, in fact, Scorpio. Not only sharing viewpoints, but staring down the barrel of a gun with him. We target innocent people along with Scorpio, and even witness one of his murders from that viewpoint.

The film operates on two levels, on one it's an entertaining crime/detective picture, executed with precision and power by Siegel and Eastwood, on another it's questioning, or at least uncomfortable, with it's protagonist's actions. Harry does what needs to be done, without question. Scorpio is such a dangerous, sociopathic, nihilistic villain that virtually no argument can be made for allowing him free. Even as Harry goes father than we expect him to, or can fully condone, and certainly farther than the more staid, pure authority-figure action heroes of John Wayne, for example.

However, by basing the character on such high-profile, and very recent at the time, true-life criminals, the film doesn't give you the "oh, that could never happen" easy out. Zodiac was threatening specific races, and claiming to target school buses full of children. The Manson family had slaughtered a house full of innocent people. In the face of such horrible, utterly random, acts of violence, the questions posed by Dirty Harry can't easily be ignored.

Ultimately, Callahan's treatment of Scorpio backfires. The girl is dead, and because of his brutality, evidence is ruled inadmissible, and Scorpio is set free. Harry is called on the carpet for his actions, and stymied by his superiors and the District Attorney. They all know this man is a killer, and will kill again. The system has to let him go. The unspoken truth is that it's not just "the system," but Harry's own actions that have brought us to this place.

I like to think that some of the pure rage that flows out of Callahan during the final act of the film is guilt, as well. It's certainly directed at Scorpio, and the system in general. Harry, I think has to be aware that what he did contributed. Maybe deep down, but I think he does. He doesn't regret it, as a life was on the line, but that guilt is there.

Scorpio kidnaps a school bus full of children. The Mayor falls back on paying the ransom, but Harry, of course, has other plans. The climax, as the entire film, is taut and exciting, with Harry separating Scorpio from his hostages, then pursuing him through a gravel pit. Eventually, the two square off, and Harry intones a familiar speech...

One of my favorite things about Eastwood's performance is how we get to revisit that speech, and see how the Scorpio case has changed Harry Callahan. If you watch the two deliveries back to back, you see a man who's had his faith burned out of him. He can't trust the system, and the self-reliance he's always had has proven to be the one thing he can rely on.

Even with that, again, Harry gives Scorpio the out. He's removed the young hostage from danger, and Scorpio is separated from his weapon. The message is the same as the first time we heard the speech, "you can walk out of here, if you want." The difference is, it's no longer a game.

The loss of faith is driven home by the final shots of Harry trowing away his badge. The system which he had been part of is proven to be flawed, and Harry is left without much to believe in, but himself.

Now, listen, Harry Callahan is a fictional character, and no one here is suggesting that the Bill of Rights ought to be tossed out. I, personally, feel it's doubtful that would be Inspector Callahan's stance, either, if he were a real guy. Harry, in a moral sense, hews very closely to the film noir characters that have been around this entire century. Yes, he makes decisions that are questionable, but the film more than acknowledges this fact. However, what Dirty Harry, and many detective/crime films dramatize, in a manner with a primary goal of entertainment, is that every cop in the world must struggle with the same questions Harry does.

Police, for all intents and purposes, a public servants there to do the "dirty jobs" that most of us don't want to deal with. Hell, most of us balk at jury duty. Yet, here is a whole group of people asked to make extremely difficult decisions on a daily basis, and, yes, risk their lives doing it. Harry mentions many times that Scorpio enjoys killing, but, in the final moments, Harry himself does enjoy putting an end to the serial killer. Both men, a policeman and a soldier, impacted by the "dirty jobs" they do for our society, and damaged by them.

Van Halen - "A Different Kind of Truth" First Impressions

2012-02-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

So, I got up this morning and, first thing, downloaded the new Van Halen album A Different Kind of Truth.

Now, you may wonder why I would do this, as I've been pretty vocal about my fears for this "reunion" and album. I've also been up front about my lack of enthusiasm for the material that's been released so far. Frankly, the reason I've been disappointed is that I hold Van Halen to a pretty high level. I am a fan, and have been a fan of every version of this band. I don't indulge the Hagar/Roth/Cherone bitchfest/battle, because I feel like all the version of the band brought interesting things to the table. Yes, I have personal preferences, but I certainly don't think that my favorite era should be everyone's, or that it makes the other eras irrelevant.

So, when I began my trek to work this morning, I cranked up A Different Kind of Truth on the headphones for a first listen. What I'm presenting here shouldn't be considered an in-depth review, but my basic reactions. I'm sure to listen to this album a lot more, have further thoughts, but right now, this is where I'm at.

First, the good. The band sounds good, production is crisp, and everybody's pulling their weight. Assuming Wolfgang actually played bass, and Eddie didn't pull a Mike Anthony on him and do the parts himself, he acquits himself very well. Alex, for all of his medical problems, sounds just as powerful as ever.

Eddie delivers on 15 years of waiting. The guitar is on fire, and he's playing his ass off. Roth's abilities have slid, the voice ain't what it used to be, I don't think anyone can claim otherwise, but he amps the charm and the attitude and pulls it off. It's clear this is a group of musicians that can do what they want, when they want...

Which leads us right to the bad. The material. I can't think of a single track on this album that even approaches a "great song." OK? High-energy? Moments of greatness? They're all there, but they don't coalesce into a powerful whole. Trying to look at it objectively, "Tattoo" probably comes the closest, and, to my ears, it's just on the dull side. "Bullethead," in particular, sounds like "Van Halen for Morons."

At this point, it seems the band is all but admitting these tracks represent re-workings of demos and discarded tracks from the early 80's/late 70's. I can't help but feel this was a huge mistake, and I also can't help but wonder if the band couldn't stand to be around each other long enough to actually write new songs. Almost every track feels more-or-less like a half-baked version of one of their classics, making the entire affair feel like the worst kind of reunion project. All the parts are there, but the spark? The magic? I haven't found it yet.

I will keep looking for a while. My opinion has been know to change, sometimes radically, as I spend more time with an album.

Real Steel - Blu-Ray Review

2012-02-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

Real Steel is a film that I wanted to see, but slipped through the cracks this past Fall. I generally like Sci-Fi and Boxing movies, and I find Hugh Jackman in really engaging presence. The film has all three, and there were generally good reviews from critics I respect, so I thought it was worth a chance.

The thing you always have to bear in mind about films like this is that they are derivative. Hell, Richard Matheson's short story, Steel, that was the basis of this movie, was already adapted as a Twilight Zone episode. Real Steel liberally lifts from any of a dozen boxing films, from The Champ to Rocky. Hell, the last 2-3 minutes of the movie feels, if it isn't outright, like a shot-for-shot "homage" to the final moments of Stallone's 1976 masterpiece.

So, often, and maybe this is copping out on my part, I approach films like this mainly wanting to see if the tropes are executed well. When a film is pretty up front about what it is, and I think Real Steel is VERY up-front about it, saying "it's silly" is a non-criticism. It's a movie about robots boxing. There's more than a few silly bits, and it operates on broad emotional levels. That's by design, and if you don't like that sort of thing, stay away.

It's like when you watch a play or film which is clearly and unapologetically melodramatic (which certainly applies here, as well). If the cast or director apologizes for, or seems embarrassed by, that for even a second, the project is doomed. You have to play it full-out, and with total conviction. Otherwise, you're giving the audience license to dismiss your story, because you already have.

For the most part, Real Steel rides the line very well. Jackman is great, as is Dakota Goyo, as his estranged son, Max. It's really Max's film, and Goyo carries important scenes with grace and wit. I felt for both characters, and I was rooting for them to come to understand each other.

The effects are, well, effective, with a mix of CGI and real, on-set anamatronics. Director Shawn Levy handles everything with a lot of grace and style. The robot fights, for example, put the Transformers movies to shame. Mainly because Levy pulls back enough so that the fights don't just become machinery slamming into each other. There's a strong sense of tactics, and, even, more important, a feeling that actual damage is being done (Sugar Ray Leonard was a consultant on the film, and I believe did some motion capture work - it shows). The film never strays very far into making the 'bots more than tools, but you get a strong sense of exactly how much damage these things take.

Atom, our star fighting robot, is a bit of wonderful design work, nowhere near as anthropomorphized as some of the other robots we see, but the featureless face allows us to project many emotions. It's the same sort of response I've seen in neutral mask acting exercises. While the film doesn't really go there, there are a few quiet scenes where you wonder what might be going on behind those glowing, blue eyes.

I should also mention that I'm a near complete sucker for stories where men who feel they've lost some elemental part of themselves find the courage and strength to reach for it again. That element comes into play quite heavily in the last act of the film, and I have to admit it got me. Yeah, I wiped away a couple of tears. Jackman plays it beautifully, as do Goyo and Evangilene Lilly. A less assured film might've replayed a line of dialogue from earlier, but the performances say it all. It was a nice moment.

I'm not going to sit here and make a case for Real Steel as a "great" movie, but I will make a case for it as a very entertaining one. It's sweet-natured, exciting, and well-executed family film.You could do much, much worse on a rental.

I do have to say, when we see Charlie's (Jackman) first fighting 'bot, early in the film, it bears such a striking resemblance to a Rock-Em, Sock-Em Robot, I had to laugh. Yeah, the film could've been a movie version of the game, and maybe at some point, it was, but who cares. I had a good time with it.

"Live Or Die On This Day"

2012-02-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

The Grey is, without question, the first great film of 2012. It is terrifying, compelling, thoughtful and exciting in equal measure, and features a lead performance by Liam Neeson that ranks with his best work, ever. It's also a real return to form for Joe Carnahan, who's surpassed his first, brilliant, feature, Narc, with this one.

John Ottway (Neeson) is a sharpshooter for an Alaskan oil company. His job is to bring down any wolves who might threaten the workers as they service the rig. Of course, he's good at his job (naturally), but Carnahan makes a point to show us that, even as he ends these animals, he does feel some bond with them.

It's a bond he doesn't seem to share with any other human soul. We see him enter a company bar, a voice over setting up a rather dark view of the men who would take such a God-forsaken job, in such a God-forsaken place. He's also haunted by visions of his wife, who has left him, and will never be returning. Ottway is in suicidal despair, a state of mind the film makes vividly clear. He struggles to find a reason to live.

Carnahan, as a born action director, knows exactly how to set up this man in broad strokes very, very quickly. We understand Ottway within 5 minutes of the film beginning. I am reluctant to describe Carnahan that way, however, because The Grey is not an action film. It is a meditation on manhood, and mortality, and that facet of the film asserts itself with a bravura plane crash sequence, where Ottway and a group of riggers go down in the Alaskan wilderness. The crash is entirely though Ottway's eyes, and it's terrifying. When the fact that any of the men survived the crash, "slamming into the ground at 400 miles per hour," is described as a miracle, you cannot question it.

What follows is a survival thriller the likes of which we really don't see anymore, as a aggressive pack of wolves begin to prey on the crash survivors, and Ottway attempts to lead them to some sort of safety. Scanning the internet, I've seen much hay made of the "realism" of the wolf pack we see here. Here's the way I look at it, the wolves (accomplished via anamatronic puppetry and CGI) are as real, terrifying, and as effectively utilized within the framework of the film, as the shark in Jaws. You never question them, because the film is just too fucking good. What you think after the fact, is irrelevant.

Caranahan shoots the wolf attacks like a horror film, and in several cases left me gasping for air. The direction is so effective, makes the deaths so visceral, combined with the fact that Carnahan, as a screenwriter (along with Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, upon who's short story Ghost Walkers, the film is based) understands that if we know the men before somethign happens to them, it will hurt more. It's no slight praise to say that every man who goes down in The Grey, it hurts.

Which is not to say the secondary characters are completely three-dimensional, they're not, but they're also there to reflect on Ottway. It's Ottway's story, Ottway's journey, and the best thing that happened to this film was when Liam Neeson stepped in for Bradley Cooper, who was originally cast as Ottway. Note: I have no problem with Bradley Cooper, per se, but this role needed something that he doesn't have, but Neeson does. Neeson looks, immediately, like you would imagine Ottway to look, and carries himself in a way you'd imagine that man would. He's a man who's traveled hard, long roads, lived to tell the tale, but come to a place where he doesn't want to go on.

I can't tell you how much I loved Neeson in this. He hits every note perfectly, and carries the ball all the way home. I can speculate, as an actor, how much of his own life he drew upon, but, whatever he did, the flashback sequences with his wife are particularly powerful. If that's Neeson drawing on something, or me projecting what I know about him, I do not know, and, frankly, it doesn't matter. It works, beautifully.

At this point, I do have to discuss the ending, because I think, thematically, it's astounding, and extremely moving. I do not want to give spoilers, so I'll just make this a clear as I can...

Anyone who wasn't satisfied with the ending of this film was, and is, a goddamn moron, and apparently utterly oblivious to the well executed thematic content. The way this story is told, the questions it asks, the important conflicts that Ottway is grappling with, are all answered and resolved in the final moments. Powerfully resolved. I had tears rolling down my cheeks. The answers are all in the poem that Ottway's father wrote:

Once more into the fray

Into the last great fight I'll ever know

Live or die on this day

Live or die on this day

That said, the marketing of this film could've been better. It sold the film on imagery that represents about 1% of what happens in the film. It's an exciting, suspenseful movie, but (even bearing in mind my own jokes about this) it is NOT a film about "Liam Neeson punching wolves." It's also been lumped, very unfairly, into the string of action thrillers that Neeson has recently been involved with. Again, the ad campaign didn't help, but be prepared for a film much more meditative, and much more disturbing and cathartic than you might expect.

It's a LONG way to the end of the year, but I expect The Grey will find a place on my 2012 top ten list.

Stuck in My Head 2.2.2012

2012-02-02T10:53:00.000-08:00

I was on the train this morning, and my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of my professional future. Where I'm trying to go, what I'm trying to do, and who I want to rely on for those things. It's been weighing on me, and anybody who knows me knows that, when something weighs on me, it can be like carrying the weight of the world. I drive people nuts with it.

Thing is, I've been asked, repeatedly, about my professional life, "when was the last time it made you happy?" The truth is...talking about on a consistent basis...It's been so long ago I can't remember it. It's been "one step forward, two steps back" for so long, and I feel I have to work so damn hard for something exciting to happen for me, that I'm just tired.

I was listening to the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Raising Sand album, mainly because I wanted something soothing, and this track started. It was one of those "Springsteen moments," as I call them (because it happens extremely often with The Boss, in my case), where a song just encapsulated everything I was thinking and feeling.

Plus, the video is really cool, and T-Bone Burnett is actually in it.

Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
Performed by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Written by Don Everly and Phil Everly

Some sunny day-hay baby
When everything seems okay, baby
Youll wake up and find out youre alone
Cause Ill be gone
Gone, gone, gone really gone
Gone, ga-gone, cause you done me wrong

Everyone that you meet baby
As you walk down the street baby
Will ask you why youre walkin all alone
Why youre on your own
Just say Im gone
Gone, gone, gone
Gone, ga-gone, cause you done me wrong

If you change your way baby
You might get me to stay baby
Ya better hurry up if ya dont wanna be alone
Or Ill be gone
Gone, gone, gone
Really gone
Gone, Ga-gone
Cause you done me wrong

More Watchmen

2012-02-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

Apologies to anyone who doesn't know anything about the 1986-1987 comic book mini-series/graphic novel Watchmen. It's a seminal comic book work by writer Alan Moore, and artist Dave Gibbons. Along with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, it heralded a new, more adult, comic book style and readership. The characters and concepts of the series have never been revisted.

So, after a whole hell of a lot of rumors, the other shoe has dropped.

I'm sure there's going to be a ton of teeth-gnashing over this. "How DARE they do that to Alan Moore," and all that shit. The fanboy desire and ability to be offended by something is powerful and deep. I mean, even if we acknowledge that it's the "greatest graphic novel of all time..."

(which, personally, I think was bestowed mainly because it falls into the superhero genre that Fanboys are comfortable with - I'd probably pick A Contract With God, or some other Will Eisner work, Jeff Smith's Bone, or even David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp, but that's me)

...it's just a comic book.

I mean, we think nothing of Superman or Spider-Man being re-interpreted. We expect Batman to have continuous adventures, at varying levels of quality, and, in fact, I'd argue it's completely out of character for Batman to just quit fighting crime. These characters, superheroes, are from the pulp, serialized fiction tradition, a tradition that Moore lifted from liberally in crafting the original story. Hell, almost every, single Watchmen character has elements taken from the characters DC Comics bought from Charlton Comics, and were intended to be the original stars of the series. Moore didn't create in a vacuum.

All that said, you are dicking around with what is widely regarded as the greatest superhero story of all time. It's almost a no-win situation for everyone working on this project, except DC Comics, as a publisher. The books will sell, without a doubt, even if it's just so the fanboys can grouse about "spending $3.99 for that!"

(Oh, for damn sure these will be at the highest possible price point.)

The creators involved, however? Man, even if they have a good idea, and it's executed perfectly, it'll read as a disappointment. Even a "great" comic will be going up against an original that's "genius." If they ape the style of the original, they'll be crucified for not being original. If they aggressively set out on a different path, they'll be crucified for not respecting the original work. That's a shitstorm of expectations and fears to navigate.

The good news is that DC came up with a pretty damn fine team to take a stab at it. There are people involved who's work I will ALWAYS buy.

Rorschach by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo
The Comedian by Brian Azzarello and JG Jones
Minutemen by Darwyn Cooke
Silk Spectre by Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner
Doctor Manhattan by J Michael Straczynski and Adam Hughes
Nite Owl by Joe Michael Strazynski, Andy Kubert and Joe Kubert
Ozymandias by Len Wein and Jae Lee.
There will also be a single issue, Before Watchmen: Epilogue, featuring the work of various writers and artists, and a Crimson Corsair (a Pirate tale that will also be a back-up feature in the other titles) story by Len Wein and John Higgins.

Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner are on my "favorite comics artists working right now" list. So, Minutemen and Silk Spectre will be must-reads. J Michael Straczynski runs hot and cold, for me, I'll buy Nite Owl, because I love the character, but Doctor Manhattan is a maybe, despite how much I like Adam Hughes art. Azzarello has proven to be consistently interesting, and I love both characters, so Rorschach and The Comedian will be likely. Ozymandias? *shrug* The Crimson Corsair stuff I could also care less about.

Ultimately, one can only speculate about what we're going to get, and how good it might be. I will say, it's a smart move to do prequels, as trying to follow Moore's original story's ending would be ridiculous, and in some cases impossible. They've also tapped the right people, I think. Cooke's sensibilities seem tailor-made for a Minutemen Story. Azzarello's dark, noir sensibilities are right in the track for Rorschach and The Comedian.

Of course, Alan Moore is not happy. Alan Moore hasn't been happy with anything involving DC comics for a very long time. Which is his right, but I begin to tire of his continual objections, which flare up, understandably, every time DC or Warner Brothers try to exploit the properties he created and published via their company. He's refused to accept payment, or credit, on the film adaptations of V for Vendetta and Watchmen.

He has a principle, and I get that. More power to him, but I also feel like his hyperbole about "draconian contracts" is a little stale. My understanding is, if DC stops printing Watchmen, it reverts to Moore and Gibbons. VERY few creators could get that kind of deal in the 80's. I'd bet a lot of creators would've loved that deal in the 80's.

At that time, the idea that a comic book would still be in print 25, or even 5, years later was unheard of. Nobody thought Watchmen would be as big as it is, they took a risk in publishing it, and, apparently, Moore's mad it wasn't JUST successful enough so that he could exploit the characters himself (even if that's just reprinting the original book), but DC wouldn't want to continue to publish it?

They paid Moore for the work, and (I believe) continue to pay him residuals, because the book was a success. They try, every time, to give Moore credit, and pay him, when the properties are exploited in other mediums, but Moore refuses. Alan Moore is not Siegal and Schuster, here.

That said, I'm not 100% sure I don't agree with Moore that this Before Watchmen project just simply shouldn't exist. Even if Cooke, JMS, and Azarello have cooked up something spectacular (I have faith that Darwyn Cooke, in particular, would not put his name on something he didn't believe in), it's highly unlikely to ever be a classic. Much like Scarlett is often nothing more than a curiosity read for fans of Gone With the Wind, Before Watchmen will probably always been seen as an attempt to exploit a property. To make more money by putting more product on the market. It makes sense, and I'm not one to begrudge anyone making a living.

However, I'm always ready to be proved wrong. I guess we'll all find out in the summer.

What Goes With Shark?

2012-01-31T14:23:00.000-08:00

From time to time, I'll have "movie nights" at the apartment.

Yeah, contain your shock at that one....

Recently, I set up a special event for a screening of Jaws with some folks who've never seen it. Yeah, I know, heathens, but we're trying to fix it. I mean, yeah, even my big TV and surround sound aren't going to compare to actually seeing it in a theater with a screaming audience, but we do what we can.

It's no joke that I find Jaws to be one of the greatest movies of all time. It's a truly brilliant melding of Roger Corman-style sensibilities with a absolutely awe-inspiring talent that emerged, almost wholly formed, out of Spielberg with this picture. It's fun, brilliant, and important cinema all in one fell swoop.

Genius.

But what do you co-program with genius? The idea is that we'll watch two, or maybe three, films. I've done "trilogy nights," which are a sheer blast, and easy to set up. (Unless you're doing Lord of the Rings, or The Godfather, or the whole 6-film Star Wars cycle, then you run into some serious time crunch issues) This time, I'm just thinking 2 movies, any third would be picked on the fly.

Do you do an "Early Spielberg" evening? Follow up Jaws with the even more assured, and personal, Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Take the opportunity to show how The Beard uses the audiences expectations from Jaws to amp up the alien visitations, imbibing them with a dread that is masterfully turned in the final act? Not to mention the watching how Spielberg evolves even over just a couple of years.

Or do we co-program a film along similar lines? I'm not talking about one of the cash-grab rip-offs, like Tentacles, or Piranha, or even Kingdom of the Spiders. (I'm not often into bad films...It's gotta be very specific conditions. After one of the best films ever isn't it.) Perhaps an equally great film with a similar "predator" motif, where the makers used their skills to the fullest audience-manipulating glory?

Yeah, maybe Ridley Scott's Alien. There's certainly similarities, the monster preying upon our cast, picking them off, one by one, until the final confrontation.

Or, perhaps, take a bit more meta approach to it? How about "brilliant films who's reputations are tarnished by weaker sequels?" I could co-program Rocky. I admit, Rocky has done better in the sequel game. Rocky II, III, and Rocky Balboa are all at least watchable, and sometimes brilliant in their own way. Jaws is the only Jaws film worth anyone's time. Trust me. Still, in both cases, there is a tendency to discredit or diminish the original because of the existence of sequels that strain credibility.

It has the advantage that I think both of those films are sheer genius.

Of course, along those lines, how about "second films of the beard twins?" I could offer up American Graffiti, George Lucas' second feature film, to go with Spielberg's. (THX-1138 and Sugarland Express being their respective firsts) That would be counter-programming at it's finest, and again, they're both great films.

AND you'd have the Richard Dreyfuss connection...Could even be a triple-feature with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Hmmmm.....

Really, when it comes right down to it, the best double feature would be a film I don't even own. Spielberg's 1971 TV movie, Duel. (It was released theatrically in Europe, and ultimately in the US as well...after Jaws struck box office gold) The Beard has been pretty clear that many of the techniques that made Jaws work so well started in Duel. (He even goes far enough to point out the titles of both films have 4 letters.) They certainly share the "behemoth hunts the everyman" theme. I think Duel is quite good, but it's no Jaws.

Ultimately, it's gonna be the pick of the people in the room, but I love trying to come up with interesting films to watch together.

Next Verse, Same as the First

2012-01-31T09:06:00.000-08:00

It's amazing to me, looking back, that my first two CDs, I "released" them within two years of each other. The first Hourglass 34, was SIX YEARS ago. I was fairly prolific at the time. I still am, to a point. I have a backlog of lyrics, riffs, and other such nonsense. What I haven't been able to do is get those riffs and lyrics recorded in a way I am happy with.

This was brought home last night. I have about seven tracks in various stages of development. I listened through all of them last night, cringing all the way. Guitar tones that just do not mesh, bass that doesn't cut through, robo-drums (a fact of life I have to live with, at this point) that stand out too much. Blah, blah, blah.

So, in my grand tradition of burning my ships to motivate the crew....I'm ditching all of it, and starting from scratch. I have good stuff here, I just need to focus it, speed some of it up, and streamline what I'm doing. I also have to build a one-song-at-a-time work ethic. Right now, I have so many tracks, all in different stages of completion, or non-completion, and I can't even remember where I am with them. I feel like I've allowed myself to get lost in trying to get as much material going as I can, instead of just seeing each through until I'm happy, THEN moving on.

I have a lot of material. Thankfully, I've actually become a lot better at writing things down in a way where I can remember and execute them again, if needed. I was horrible at this with my first two CDs of material. I have tracks I recorded for those that would probably take me hours to figure out how and what I played.

Which is just stupid, seriously. What kind of an idiot am I?

Other things learned from the review:

I do not need so much distortion. Yeah, I have a few "metal-ish" tracks, that can benefit from a rather extreme thrash-style distortion setting, but most of this is heading for a more 70's hard rock vibe. That's begs for a warmer tone, with balls, but also not so brittle. It's not so aggressive.

Maybe go back to lighter strings. I've been playing with strings starting with an .11 on the high E. This is a pretty damn heavy string gage. I also do not de-tune the strings. At first, I liked the almost acoustic-feel that gave my Les Paul. Listening back, however, I think maybe it's too much. The Les already has a rather beefy tone, and the heavy strings push that even further. I may change my mind about this, but I think, before I start back into this stuff, I'll re-string with .10s or .9s.

Think about parts and dynamics. It's a hold-over from my 8-track recording days that I try to slam through the entire song in one take, one tone. I do not need to do this anymore. I have 24 tracks, I need to stop being afraid to use them. I also find myself at times thinking "how will I ever switch those tones live?" Which is dumb. The odds that I'll ever play this stuff live are pretty slim, if I'm being realistic, so I should work for the recording, and deal with the live situation if it ever actually happens.

Spend more time working with what my equipment can do for me. I have an amazing home studio unit. Mastering tools, editing, on-board effects, and I probably know how to use, effectively, about 50% of it. I need to work on that, because it'll only make me sound better, in the end. I need to take an afternoon, and just watch my instructional video all the way through, again, take notes, and treat it like a class. It'll only make things better.

Have confidence in my material and abilities. I was pretty amazed that most of the stuff that REALLY bothered me, when I reviewed this stuff, was technical. My vocals could benefit with some effect processing, my tone choices were not the best, but what I was doing worked pretty well. The stuff I've written also held up to my original gut reaction that it was some of my best writing, ever. Yeah, I could spend some time on melody lines, but it'll help to have complete backing tracks to work with.

I do confess some disappointment in this turn of events, personally. Mainly because, if I'd done what I did with my 8-track, and just hashed out a song, all the way through, right off the bat, I'd be further along now. That first track wasn't supposed to be a keeper, but a way to learn the whole process of putting a song together. If I'd done that with the Tascam, I'd probably have 4-5 completely finished track now, rather than 7-8 halfway finished ones.

At the end of the day, I know this CD is going to have duds on it, and I know it's not going to sound as good I I want it to. The drums, alone, assure that. However, I have all the tools, and material, to create something better than what I did on the last two disks, and that needs to be my goal. If I can make that adjustment, I'm sure I'll start seeing headway, rather than where I've been, feeling overwhelmed and stuck.

Stuck in my Head 1.30.2012

2012-01-30T16:01:00.000-08:00

Cynical
by Extreme

Today don't look so bad,

Compared to tomorrow.
If time is all we have,

Then we're living on borrowed.
Yesterday's for fools who try to remember.
The good old days weren't always that much better.

Cynical.
Well, I ain't nothing but a Cynical.
It don't take much to be a Cynical.
All you need is love.
All you need is what to be a...

And whatever you do,

Someone's done it first.
Though it's sad but true,

This is just another verse.
If you can't take it with you, then what's the use?
I never saw a you-haul being pulled behind a hearse.

Looks like my brighter side has gotten a bit darker.
I must have stepped over my 4-leaf clover.
'cause someone drank my half-filled cup of water.

Stuck in My Head 1.27.2012

2012-01-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

I was listening to Motorhead this morning, and realized Lemmy and crew do everything AC/DC does, but better.

(Yeah, waiting on the hate mail for that one)

Deaf Forever
by Motorhead

Stoneface dog, swirling fog, gates open on the dark dark night
Standing stone, skull and bone, dead witness to an unseen fight
Beat the drum, beat the drum, beat forever on the endless march
Stricken dumb, Cut and run, someone is screaming and the sky is dark

Sword and shield, bone and steel, rictus grin
Deaf forever to the battles din

March or croak, flame and smoke, burn forever in eternal pain
Charge and fall, bugle call, bone splinter in the driving rain
Horses scream, Viking dream, drowned heroes in a lake of blood

Armored fist, severed wrist, broken spears in a sea of mud

Sword and shield, bone and steel, rictus grin
Deaf forever to the battles din

Deaf forever, Stone Deaf Forever

Mother earth, mother earth enfold you in her cold embrace
Sinking down, killing ground, worm crawling on your cold white face
Win or lose, nought to choose, all men are equal when their memory fades
No one knows, friends or foes, if Valhalla lies beyond the grave

Sword and shield, bone and steel, rictus grin
Deaf forever to the battles din

Deaf forever, Stone Deaf Forever

Sword and shield, bone and steel, rictus grin
Deaf forever to the battles din

Deaf forever, Stone Deaf Forever

2012 Oscar Nominations

2012-01-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

*SIGH*

Remember when expanding the number of Best Picture nominees was supposed to allow "wild card" films that maybe had more public appeal? It's a stupid reason to expand the field, honestly. Yeah, I thought The Dark Knight was the best movie of 2008, and I would have liked to see it nominated. That said, I also wasn't offended that it wasn't, and No Country for Old Men was an equally amazing film.

Still, I sit here looking at this year's nominees, and...how predictable. Anyway, some comments on the major categories. I'm not going to get into "Best Sound Design" and all that, because discussing that sort of technical category is really not that much fun.

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Ok, first off....How the hell is Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close on this list? The film is currently "Rotten" at rottentomatoes.com, and I've seen it on quite a few "worst" lists this year. Of course, we all know why. It's Oscar-bait, big stars in an "important" movie with a precious little boy dealing with the aftermath of 9/11. It's a "powerful story" Oscar checklist, and the Academy bought in, no matter the poor reception. I felt much the same way about The King's Speech (which was the "historical drama" Oscar checklist), except that film was actually good (if not really the "best picture"), and this one, well...it isn't winning shit.

Outside of that, I really have no huge problem with this list. The Tree of Life is probably more divisive, but less cloying. I really wish the Academy had stepped up, ejected EL&IC, and brought it up to a full 10 with Drive and Warrior.

Who I want to win: Hugo, all the way.
Who will win: I have a sinking feeling The Artist. (I liked it a lot, but there are better films on this list)
Possible Surprise: The Help (How guilty are you feeling, Hollywood?)

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Hmmm. Dullsville. They're all traditionalists (yes, even Malick), and Hazanavicius, in particular, the whole point was to do nothing new, at all. In the last few years, we've had great, audacious, visual directors, who can still make their films about character and story. Aronofsky, Fincher and Nolan are all overdue for an Oscar (I'm still pissed off that Nolan didn't even get a nomination for Inception). Granted, Nolan and Aronofsky didn't have films this year, and Fincher's was a remake. So, this is what we have. Points to Marty for grabbing a hold of the 3-D technology, learning how to do it right, and using it in ways that make sense artistically and thematically.

Who I want to win: Scorsese
Who will win: again, sinking feeling about Hazanavicius
Possible Surprise: Malick (he's a true artist, and he's due)

Best Actor
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Let's be crystal clear; Oldman better win this fucker. I liked all the other performances here, that I've seen, which is all but one, but Oldman was amazing as George Smiley. Not only that, but the guy more than deserves the recognition for his entire career. It's hard to fathom he's never been nominated, let alone won.

Who I want to win: Oldman
Who will win: I'm sinking again, about Dujardin
Possible Surprise: Bichir (he got nominated out of left field, who knows?)

Best Actress
Viola Davis, The Help
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

How much does the acting branch love Meryl Streep? Lots. Really, the lady deserves it, outside of Mama Mia (which was in no way her fault), I can't think of a single embarrassing project or performance (Shut up about She-Devil). I think we also have to acknowledge that Rooney Mara's inclusion is more indicative of the weak slate of female roles this year, rather than the role itself. I'd also say that Viola Davis and (reportedly) Glenn Close gave terrific performances that overcame weak scripts.

Who I want to win: Davis
Who will win: Streep
Possible Surprise: Williams (Not much of a surprise)

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

First off, how about that Jonah Hill? It's a well-earned nomination, and it'll make people forget The Sitter. He'll never win, but still. My favorite thing here is the inclusion of Nick Nolte from the overlooked Warrior. It's a great film, and you should make time to see it. Even with the, again, inexplicable Von Sydow nomination (maybe he's great, I don't know, still...48% ROTTEN), this is a really competitive category.

Who I want to win: Nolte
Who will win: Plummer
Possible Surprise: Branagh

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

This one is kind of a done deal, for me. As much as I'd like to see Melissa McCarthy win for a big comedy role, and as much as I enjoyed Bérénice Bejo and Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer is taking the golden man home. She wants it, and the performance was good enough (again, better than the material) that the acting branch will want to give it to her.

Who I want to win: Spencer
Who will win: Spencer
Possible Surprise: McCarthy (People do love her. Who knows?)

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
The Descendants
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

There is a lot of worthy work in this category, with one exception. The Ides of March just simply added too much to Beau Wilmington's play Farragut North. What was a fairly tight little drama about politics really not being about policies, at all, became side tracked into talking about how worthy the candidate is, and ultimately told a story we've seen several times before. Otherwise, nothing but good stuff here. From taking the dry facts and figures of Moneyball, and turning them into a moving story, to distilling a novel that defines "sprawling" into a taut couple of hours with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Who I want to win: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Who will win: The Descendants
Possible Surprise: Moneyball

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
A Separation

Nice to see Margin Call get a nod. Sometimes, I really get the idea that these writing categories become the "throw a bone" categories. There's a damn good chance The Artist will take this, but I also wonder about the Bridesmaids nomination. It makes this one a very, very tough call.

Who I want to win: Bridesmaids
Who will win: The Artist
Possible Surprise: Bridesmaids

Best Music (Original Song)
"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets
"Real in Rio" from Rio

Man, I bet there was cheers in the office when the Rio song got nominated, and then tears when they saw who they were up against. The sheer lack of nominees also shows that the new song nomination process just doesn't work.

Who I want to win: "Man or Muppet"
Who will win: "Man or Muppet"

Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The is the one technical category I'll delve into. Mainly because the rapid evolution of the industry has taken this category to the point where it is very, very close to being a performance one. The simple fact that there were calls in many groups (and not just VFX artists) for Andy Serkis to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his motion-capture performance as Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Never mind that Caesar was the main character, clearly the lead role, in the film. With the exception of Hugo, all of these nominees featured major characters who were, at least partially, CGI creations.

Now, I don't know if I'm completely on board with the idea of a motion capture performance being nominated, at this point. The reason is simply that, at this point, even the best motion capture work is being interpreted and manipulated by animators for the final result. It's likely that, at some point (maybe soon), the actor's performance on the set will drive, completely, the resulting animation. Much like how an actor learns to use and manipulate a make-up appliance for his performance. The make-up is created by someone else, but the actor is using it to drive his performance.

Right now that is not the case. The methods of recording the actor's work, as a guide to the animation are improving, but the animators, ultimately, are taking, or leaving, what they want. There is no doubt, of any kind that Serkis was a HUGE part of Caesar, as he also was of Gollum and King Kong, but, at this point, the process is, and the characters are, just too much the result of many hands for me to stand behind rewarding one of them.

All that is preface to saying that the Rise of the Planet of the Apes team did the most exceptional work this year, by far. Ceasar was a living, breathing personality that we followed through the story. We identified with him, we felt for and with him, and he carried the film. Both Serkis and the effect team deserve the win for that.

Who I want to win: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Who will win: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Possible Surprise: Hugo

It's Really a Question of Money

2012-01-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

I saw this blog shared on Facebook, and it made me want to respond. Madame Noir's post: Why Are We Expected To Line Up For Red Tails But Not Pariah

Go ahead and read it. It's worth considering.

Now, some folks out that might say that I'm in no position to comment on this, because I'm a white male. Fair enough. However, my response to that is that I'm a pretty aware, socially liberal guy who's always happy to see any minority get any sort of representation on screen. Especially when it's not in an exploitative or stereotypical way.

There is, however a number of things about Madam Noir's post I have trouble with, and which, right up front, I have trouble with having seen neither Red Tails or Pariah, yet.

First off, why is it a competition? These are two very different films that attempt to provide positive images of African Americans in very different ways. Why does Madam Noir feel the need to create some sort of feud here, even if she preferred Pariah, or found it more personally resonant? Why can't both do well? Of course, what she also kind of rushes past is that "doing well" is a vastly different thing for each of these pictures.

Red Tails has to be a labor of love for George Lucas. He, personally, ponied up 58 million dollars to make the film, 35 million dollars to distribute the film (Fox is the listed distributor, but would only handle the film if Lucas paid costs himself), and additional marketing costs. The total is somewhere in the range of 100 million dollars of his personal fortune in order to get this film in theaters. The costs are studio blockbuster big, but Red Tails is, technically, the most independent feature in theaters right now.

Does Lucas want to make money? Of course he does, and he's taking the steps he feels he needs to in order to A) gets butts in the seats, and B) make his money back. He couldn't get studio support, to offset his financial risk, because he wanted to make a big-budget, action-adventure blockbuster with a black director, black screenwriters, and an all-black cast.

"Mr. Star Wars" couldn't get a studio to take a risk on a picture like this. How could Spike Lee? Or John Singleton? Or any African-American filmmaker with an idea, and a desire to get something grand and epic on the screen? Lucas had deep pockets, and made it happen all on his own. Those other guys could not make that happen.

Pariah, on the other hand, according to this fundraising website, had a budget of 350 thousand dollars. Or, that was the goal, anyway, it may be less. The film was purchased by Focus Features at the 2011 Sundance film festival, and along with that, writer/director Dee Rees made a deal to develop another script for Focus. I can't find actual sale price for the film, but seeing as how there was a bidding war, I'm willing to bet Pariah's backers, and Dee Rees, walked away with at least a bit of profit almost a year before the film even opened.

That is absolutely awesome. It's a victory, and I'm very happy that Rees will now have the opportunity to continue to make her voice heard. By making a good film, she assured her ability to do that. Everyone should be inspired by that.

The point being, these films have hugely different goals, and hugely different scales on which to compute their "success." The question Lucas is raising is along the lines of "why can't Spike Lee get the studio backing to make a 100 million, or even 50 million dollar film?" Spike Lee can probably walk into any studio with a 350 thousand dollar script and get a deal, because the studio can see the profit potential, but at a certain level, a certain budget, the perception of profit goes away. Lucas is trying to prove that's not the case.

Studios and distributors will take a chance on a low budget, up-from-the-gutters film like Pariah, because, historically, audiences will turn out for it. Executives can point to Precious, or Do The Right Thing, or Boyz in the Hood, and say, "this is what we can expect in business from a 'black' film." Lots of hay is made about racism in Hollywood, but, when you come right down to it, it's about money.

Tyler Perry is a success for one reason. It's not because studios and executives think he's the be-all, end-all, in terms of talent, or because he strikes them as "safe." It's because he always makes films for a certain price, and they make a certain amount of profit. The studio could care less about his "christian values," or the color of his skin. He makes them money, period.

Ultimately, that's why Red Tails, and it's success or failure, could have a greater impact on the future of African-American filmmakers than the success or failure of Pariah. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of either film (and, again, I've seen neither), but with expanding the idea of what a viable "black film" is.

Let's be honest, how many films have we seen about a black kid, living in a slum with abusive parents, gang violence, and struggling for redemption? Quite a few. How many have we seen where a group of young black men become heroes of World War II? Only one I can think of.

A Book Well Worth Reading

2012-01-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

I kinda stumbled onto this book just surfing around amazon.com. The cover was very striking, and being a great admirer of Eastwood, I thought, "what the hell?" Let me say that taking the time to read Conversations with Clint: Paul Nelson's Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood, 1979-1983 was one of the better chances I've ever taken.

The book consists of transcriptions of taped conversations between Paul Nelson, who had been Rolling Stone's music review editor, and Clint Eastwood. These were intended to produce a Rolling Stone cover story, a story that was scheduled, re-scheduled, and ultimately, cancelled. The project apparently (I can only go by what's in the material presented within the book) fell victim to Nelson's OCD tendencies and writer's block.

As a person who finds Eastwood brilliant, in almost every facet of his career, this book is truly like candy. I finished it within two days. Nelson clearly views Eastwood as a true artist, as well. Personally, I can't imagine anyone seeing The Outlaw Josey Wales and not understanding that Eastwood, both in front of and behind the camera, is something special.

The discussion is fairly rambling, but has been edited into a chronological format, based on Eastwood's career. They touch on the Leone westerns, Dirty Harry (Nelson even bought a Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum, he loved the film so much), Eastwood's directorial debut Play Misty for Me, the Harry sequels, Every Which Way but Loose and it's sequel, Bronco Billy, etc, etc. It's a nice snapshot of Eastwood in his period of (arguably) greatest success, but before he was embraced by the critical mass as a true force. A transition that, really, didn't happen until The Unforgiven in 1992 (man, so long ago).

What's truly interesting is seeing how clear Eastwood's vision was of how to do things, even then. His clarity on art, and his own expression, really ought to be envied. There's a particularly wonderful conversation where Warren Zevon joins Eastwood and Nelson, and they delve into the only Dirty Harry film Clint directed himself, 1983's Sudden Impact. There's a bit of bemoaning at the fact that the ending of the film, which deals with Callahan encountering a woman (Sondra Locke) systematically murdering the group which had raped her and her sister years earlier, leaves the audience with many, many questions about capital punishment, justice and retribution, would never be seriously considered. Never, because it's a "dumb action movie."

To be fair, despite spawning the most well-known Dirty Harry catchphrase ("Go, ahead. Make my day."), Sudden Impact is a lesser Dirty Harry movie. Very, very, very 80's, the villains feel even more over-the-top and ridiculous than Andrew Robinson's intentionally "all the way" (and terrifying) performance as the Scorpio killer in the 1971 original. Harry had also moved beyond what the original film was, a tough-minded detective film, into a sort of mythic caricature. Eastwood was climbing a big hill to try to re-inject some of the moral uncertainty that Dirty Harry absolutely wallowed in.

I could go on for hours about how Dirty Harry is anything but the "fascist pornography" that some of the Left like to pigeonhole it as. That's for another blog. Although, Eastwood himself makes many of the same points I would in this book.

What becomes clear is that, at a time when it wasn't fashionable to do so, Eastwood knows that the only criteria he can have about doing a picture, or not, is his own taste. Every movie he's done, be it Firefox or Honkytonk Man, were because he liked the material. He's driven by story, and believes in the primacy of that as a reason audiences respond to a film.

In any case, Conversations with Clint is an amazing read for anyone who'd like to get a little further inside the mind of a filmmaker who clearly is now, and I think was then, a master of his craft.

Stuck In My Head 1.20.2012

2012-01-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

A little different today...an instrumental.

I've had the honor of watching Eric Johnson play twice. Once was at an "Experience Hendrix" concert, and he only played Hendrix tunes, the sound wasn't great, and I was in the balcony.

But I saw him in the mid-90's at the Ranch Bowl in Omaha. A bowling alley with a bar/concert venue attached. It was really stunning to see him about 10 feet away. The guy is just a master of tone, and his fretwork is unreal. A true genius.

Cliffs of Dover
by Eric Johnson

This is Suddenly a Much Better Day

2012-01-19T08:28:00.000-08:00

Springsteen's new album, Wrecking Ball, due on March 6th.

Already pre-ordered? Oh, hells yes. I love the cover, much more than the Working on a Dream artwork. (Did I say I want to buy a Telecaster? I REALLY want to buy a Telecaster...) Of course, that was a hopeful record, and I have more than a sneaking suspicion this album is going to trend darker.

The first single, "We Take Care of Our Own" has dropped, too. (video below) Lyrically, anyway, I think it backs the "darker album" impression. It seems to follow the Springsteen "tension between the tone of the lyrics, and the tone of the music" formula. Classic E-Street sound, with one exception...

No Clarence.

No Big Man.

No sax at all, to my ears, on first listen, which seems appropriate. I can't lie and say things won't be different without him there on the albums and in the concerts. It's tough, but neither am I feeling that I want Clarence's passing to be the end of the E-Street Nation. That would be a crime, because this band is still one of the best on the planet.

Different isn't bad. It's just different. Rest In Peace, Big Man...I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot of tributes to you during the upcoming tour.

Update:

Here's our Track list:

1. We Take Care of Our Own
2. Easy Money
3. Shackled and Drawn
4. Jack of All Trades
5. Death to My Hometown
6. This Depression
7. Wrecking Ball
8. You’ve Got It
9. Rocky Ground
10. Land of Hope and Dreams
11. We Are Alive

A special edition of Wrecking Ball will also be available including exclusive artwork and photography and two bonus tracks:

12. Swallowed Up
13. American Land

Some thoughts: I'm a little surprised to see (I'm guessing) studio versions of "Land of Hope and Dreams" and "Wrecking Ball," previously released pretty widely with live versions.Yet another version of "American Land?" I would guess it's the full E-Street band version that closed all the shows for the last couple of tours. It's cool, but...hey, I've already got that version on the "Live in Hyde Park" Blu-ray.

2011 End of Year Wrap-Up

2012-01-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

Well, it's finally come to a point where I can't put it off any longer. There's still a film or two I'd like to have seen, but we're almost 3 weeks into the new year, and I think I've pushed it too far. So, without further ado...

Movies

Movies are my bread and butter with this blog. I love movies, all kinds of films, but I also confess, I am a real fan of films that never forget that entertainment is part of the equation. I deeply admire films that have things to say, while also making me clap and cheer. I'm a populist.

The Best

10 - Captain America: The First Avenger

A good, old-fashioned, feel-good action film. What was most heartening about Joe Johnston's film was the deep understanding of exactly who Steve Rogers/Captain America is, and why the ultimate physical change into a super-soldier was only releasing a hero that was already there. Johnston's perfect execution of a film of the 40's should be no surprise, after all, this is the man who made the sadly underrated The Rocketeer. Chris Evans absolutely nails a role that could so easily have spun out of control.

9 - Crazy, Stupid Love

Romantic comedy can so easily become embarrassing. It's so painful when you see stories cobbled together from other movies, with a "new twist" that really amounts to zilch, and a cast that you just know are there because their agent told them they needed to up their Q-rating with women. It's almost a shock when you see one populated with real characters, and the complications (while still a little coincidental) stem from the characters, rather than needing to engage a plot point. Steve Carrell, and Ryan Gosling are fantastic, and matched point-for-point by Julianne Moore and Emma Stone.

8 - Win Win

I love watching Paul Giamatti. I just do, there's something utterly compelling about the way he inhabits men on the verge of utter destruction. The way he can play a man doing despicable things, but put enough soul and heart in his eyes that you see why he has to. Here we find him as a near-destitute lawyer engaging in a scheme to embezzle money from an aging client, and then surprisingly finding himself a surrogate father to the man's grandson. It sounds like soap-opera, tear-jerker claptrap, but Giamatti finds the anchor to allow us to believe, and root for him to start healing not only the boy, but himself. Newcomer Alex Shaffer also shines as the boy.

7 - Moneyball

The last thing I expected to happen during a movie about applying mathematics to baseball was for me to start crying. This was the last 2011 film I considered for this list (saw it yesterday), and I was really unprepared for how emotional I got about it. Brad Pitt shines as Billy Beane, and Jonah Hill finally distinguishes himself as something other than "that fat kid that likes to draw penises." I've seen some criticisms about the events that this film dramatizes as "making baseball about computers," but I think the film makes a hell of a point that those computers, and the different mode of thought they pointed to, allowed players who had been deemed "useless" to shine again. Personified so well by Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteburg. Well done, made me want to read the book and learn more.

6 - The Guard

The film on my list I'd guess you are most likely not to have seen. Really, it lives and dies on the amazing performance by Brendan Gleeson. He is, simply, extraordinary. He inhabits Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a small-town Irish cop, who loves his dying mother, as well as prostitutes, isn't above letting a few things slide, but also knows the score in his town better than anyone. Gerry is content, he's set up a comfortable existence for himself, but with the arrival of FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) events begin to close in, and conspire to drive Gerry to make a choice, and take a stand. Brilliantly funny, wonderfully acted, and also deeply moving.

5 - Warrior

I'll fight for this one. It's not a rip-off of The Fighter. It's not a do-over of Rocky. It stands on it's own as a story of a damaged family and how, even years after the fact, love can run deep, and be displayed in the strangest and most unexpected of ways. There are at least three powerhouse performances here, Nick Nolte as patriarch Paddy Conlon, and Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy as brothers Brendan and Tommy. Hardy, in particular, is a force of nature in this film, his objective is set, and he simply smashes his way right to it. It's breathtaking, and I found myself, again, marveling that this is the same actor that played Jean-Luc Picard's clone in Star Trek: Nemesis. Absolutely thrilling to the final minutes.

4 - The Trip

I haven't laughed more in a theatre this year. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon travel across England, enjoying elegant meals (ostensibly for a magazine article), and driving each other crazy. The film itself is culled from a BBC television series, which I hope, eventually, gets a US release in some form, because I'd like to see more. Ultimately, I'm going to tell you to see it because it's drop-dead funny., but it also contains volumes about friendship, jealousy, family and relationships. Plus, they both do pretty wicked Michael Caine impressions.

3 - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

You want to know when you're watching a really good period film? If somebody told me Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy had actually been made in 1979, I'd believe them. Wonderful performances all around, anchored by the amazing Gary Oldman as George Smiley, a gripping spy yarn that hangs on watching people do their jobs really well. No explosions, no sensationalism, violence that it truly horrific, and a personal story that reverberates to engulf the entire world. In many ways, that is the coolest thing in the movie. Seeing how tiny choices affect and alter the massive game of chess that was the cold war between the East and the West.

2 - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

There was a part of me that said, "you can't do that. You can't put that at number two, not that high." I moved it down , I moved it up, I thought long and hard about it. It doesn't matter that it's a remake/reboot of 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (although, technically, I think of it simply as a prequel to the 1968 original). It's one of the best experiences I had in a theatre this year, and, yes, that might be partly because I wasn't expecting it. Andy Serkis does tremendous motion-capture work as Caesar, the hyper-intelligent Chimp that will eventually lead an escape of his brethren. That's actually one of the things I most loved, the ultimate goal of the apes here is really not much more than crossing a bridge, while other factors swirl to show the mounting forces that will, ultimately, change the world. It's sharp, forward-thinking franchise building, all while actually making a point about treatment of animals, class warfare, and any number of other allegorical subjects. Terrific blockbuster filmmaking.

1 - Hugo

Ah, Marty, you glorious softie, you. Nothing I've seen this year approaches the beauty of what Martin Scorsese created with elegant GCI, and subtle, precise 3-D. It's immersive and never jarring, the train station where Hugo lives is full of life, and seems to swirl around us. Even beyond the technical artistry on display, Hugo is such a huge-hearted love letter to early cinema, and the great Georges Meilies, in particular, that the idea that Scorsese is pushing the medium seems absolutely correct. (I can imagine that Melies would've absolutely flipped at the idea of 3-D). The performances are exquisite, the story simple but emotionally gripping, with a clear plea for the love and protection of art. It is, simply, everything I love about film.

Close, but no cigar list:
(No particular order)
War Horse, X-Men: First Class, The Descendants, The Artist

I Know I'm Gonna Kick Myself For Not Seeing It

Every year there's a film I just, somehow, fail to see that, when I do see it, I just kick myself for hours. The Hurt Locker is a great example from the past. If I had seen that film when I put together my 2009 list, It would've likely been number one, but I hadn't.

Drive

Love Ryan Gosling. CByrd wanted to see this, being a huge fan, but, knowing that the film was far more violent than the ad campaign let on, I kind of waved her off. Of course, some idiots also got the idea it was some sort of The Fast and the Furious clone, and think that's a reason to sue. (God help us) I always figured I'd see it at some point, but I didn't. I'm certain it's very, very cool, and I look forward to the Blu-Ray.

The Worst

As I usually say each year...I try not to see bad movies. Occasionally, I do, and I'll spotlight that/those films here. Otherwise, I take this space to point out movies that actually got made, people invested money in them, a studio said "yes, let's put this out!" and our world is poorer for it.

One last thought; Green Lantern has lots of problems, but anyone who thinks that was the worst movie of the year, needs to be held down to watch a Martin Lawrence film on a loop for 12 hours.

Season of the Witch (Nic Cage, as you've always wanted: in a LOTR wanna-be)
No Strings Attached (Portman and Kutcher in a casual sex comedy..and she doesn't get naked!)
Justin Beiber: Never Say Never (**hurp**)
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (Who wanted this film? WHO?)
I Am Number Four/Beastly (If we put this kid in two movies that come out within 3 weeks of each other, he'll just automatically be a star, right?)
Red Riding Hood ("From the Director of Twilight" **double hurp**)
Sucker Punch (Zach Snyder's "vision" means cribbing from every anime he's ever seen)
Arthur (You, sir are no Dudley Moore, or even Liza Minnelli)

Jesus, I can't even go on...this is too depressing.

Music

The fact is, I don't listen to a lot of new music. I don't. I prefer older artists, and that's pretty much the way it is.

The Best

10 - Mastodon - Live at the Aragon
At the heart, it's just a live performance of their last album, but I found it quite exciting to listen to. Yeah, in some cases it exposes a certain weakness, vocal-wise, but I admire that the band is willing to let that just hang out there, and not try to "fix" it.

9 - Jeff Bridges - Jeff Bridges
For me, just a fun album to listen to. Bridges has a nice, understated delivery, and the "What a Little Bit of Love Can Do" single is really catchy and fun. A comfort album, I admit.

8 - Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style
Ah, Boston Irish punk rock. Infectious in it's power and energy. Picked it up mainly for the "Peg 'o My Heart" duet with Springsteen. Very, very glad I did. Too much fun.

7 - Black Country Communion - 2
A huge improvement over the first album, which seemed a bit too calculated and manufactured. With the second disk, I feel the band itself taking the reins from producer Kevin "Caveman" Shirley, and it's a good thing. Much more organic and natural.

6 - Chickenfoot - III
Seasoned players having a good time together. That's what the first album was, but now they've upped their game for the sophomore release. More cohesive, better lyrics, and Michael Anthony just comes alive on bass after years being in everyone's shadow. One of the more fun albums to listen to this year.

5 - Rush - Time Machine: Live in Cleveland 2011
Did y'know I love Rush? I'm not sure if I've made that, y'know, clear to folks. Simply it's a terrific live set from one of my absolute favorite bands. The boys are playing spectacularly, and they do "Marathon!!"

4 - Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
I really missed the boat on the Foo Fighters the first time around. It's only in the last few years that I've really grabbed onto them. While this isn't my favorite Foos record, it's a damn fine album. Yeah, yeah, recorded analog...

3 - Black Label Society -
The Song Remains Not The Same
I am a huge Zakk Wylde fan, but I've alwasy had a hard time with the Black Label Society records. I think, as I've moved beyond my "all metal, all the time" days, I've really longed to hear him experiment more in the Pride & Glory southern rock and Book of Shadows acoustic vein. Well, here we have BLS re-cutting acoustic versions of some of their tracks, as well as a few really nice covers. (Zakk Wylde sings "Bridge Over Troubled Waters?" Who knew? Well, I did, but that's beside the point.) A welcome return to this sound.

2 - Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy - Live in Stoke
I have a great love of Slash. I think he's a solid rock guitarist, not flashy, but committed to groove and bringing some power with blues-based riffing. You can't argue that much of the greatness of Appetite For Destruction came from his guitar work. Here's a live set with his solo touring band, featuring Myles Kennedy, who's fast becoming one of my favorite vocalists. There's nothing new here, but it's a solid live album with a lot of talent involved, recorded well with a lot of great songs. I've spun it a lot since it's release.

1 - Mastodon - The Hunter
Mastodon came out of nowhere for me a couple of years ago. I had written them off as yet another "cookie monster vocal" metal band, but, with Crack the Skye, I started to see more vocal progression, and I liked it a lot. What I can happily say is that The Hunter continues the evolution. It's a stripped-down album, no large concept, just a collection of truly killer tracks. The playing is impeccable, the production clean a crisp, and the songs offer a wide range of feels and styles. Everything from the southern-rock style "Curl of the Burl" to the elegant (I almost want to compare it to Pink Floyd, but that doesn't quite fit) "The Creature Lives."

Most Disappointing

Anthrax - Worship Music & Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events

In both of these cases, the bands were returning after some strife and personnel shake-ups. In both cases, I wanted to really like these records, but now, months later, I can't say that either one of these records has made any real impact with me. The Anthrax release, in particular, just dies on the vine in my opinion, and I'm fairly baffled by the year-end kudos that some folks have heaped upon it. Dream Theater was a case where I couldn't, personally, even tell that any change in line-up had happened, at all. Sadly, DT was as hit-or-miss as they usually are with me. (I still love Falling into Infinity more and more). I wanted to be wowed, and I just wasn't.

Favorite Single

Easy. "Curl of the Burl" off Mastodon's The Hunter. It's, literally, the only song this year that, upon first listen, I sat up and said "I want that album."

Books/Comics/Reading Material

Generally speaking, 2011, with my fantastic birthday present of a Kindle, represented a re-awakening of my desire to read. I have been inhaling books since I received the Kindle. Now, relatively few of them were from 2011, so this section is going to be kinda sparse. I hope, now that I've, once again, been schooled in the joys of digital media, I can have a more up-to-date reading list in the future.

The Best Books

4 - Zombie Spaceship Wasteland by Patton Oswalt

Patton Oswalt is "my" comedian. His observations and humor are aimed right at me. This is a very slight book, it was a quick read, but it was also a book that I identified with and found moving and hilarious. It's not great literature, but it's a book that felt like a reflection of my life. Others might completely write it off, but this is my list.

3- It's So Easy (and Other Lies) by Duff Mckagan

I simply trust this book more than any of the unauthorized bios that have come out about Guns 'N Roses, and I think Duff just has a clearer picture of what went on than Slash. Mckagan presents a pretty clear picture of who he is, and how he got there, the work he had to do on himself to make it turn out as well as it has. It's a rather inspiring book. He comes off as sweet, hard-working and loyal. The kind of book that makes you feel you sat down with a friend and shot the shit.

2- Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human by Grant Morrison

A truly odd book, but also a book that asks us to believe as fervently in the power of our superhero myths as the author does. Morrison is a believer, and he lays out a history of comics concurrent with his own beliefs about alternate worlds and the power that they can exert over our own. It's heady stuff, hard to swallow, but I also don't think Morrison overly cares. His platform is to, basically, say that these characters are designed to show us how to be better people, they can still do that, and will always do that, as long as we get the hell out of our own way and believe in them. Not necessarily as "real people," but as concepts and symbols. It's a powerful statement.

1- Life Itself: A Memoir by Roger Ebert

It was pretty easy to come up with the book that moved me the most this year. Don't be put off by the fact that much of the material in Life Itself started as blog entries, because Ebert's expansions and explorations of the concepts that started in the blog are truly moving and wonderful. As his body has become less able to express for him, Ebert's skills and talent as a writer have exploded. This book left me in tears several times, and laughing out loud even more often. His insights have only grown sharper, and his ability to convey those insights is truly astounding. I marvel at this man's life, and I hope that, when my twilight years approach, I can look back and see as much as Ebert does. Sadly, I doubt that will be the case. A must read.

Comics - An Overview

Warning: I am mainstream publisher-centric

DC Comics

2011 will probably, at least for the foreseeable future, be known as "The Year of the New 52." DC comics took the aggressive step of rebooting it's entire line of books, cancelling every title, and restarting with 52 first issue titles. Some series showed little upheaval (Green Lantern, the Batman titles), while others were torn down to the foundation and rebuilt (Superman, Wonder Woman). It was such a massive undertaking that I think people don't give Dan Didio and the company enough credit.

Yes, there were some duds. There were titles replaced with less than stellar results (All-Star Western is a fine book, but Jonah Hex was brilliance on toast), but, overall, the team managed to reinvigorate the line, and spike interest, in terms of sales. People act like a few non-starters in a field of 52 is a unacceptable failure rate. It isn't.

Sure, some things are still playing out. I still don't really have a handle on what Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's Justice League is going to be like, and Grant Morrison's Action Comics is just grinding, as far as I'm concerned. That's OK with me when Scott Snyder is kicking ass and taking names over on Batman. I'm willing to let the stuff play out, and see what the long game is.

Of course increased attention leads to increased criticism. I get utterly perplexed when Catwoman, a character and title that's almost entirely about sexual repression (Batman's) is suddenly "over the line" by doing exactly what every creator has done with the character since the 1940's. Yeah, they took it further with an actual sexual relationship between Batman and Catwoman, but still.

DC did make an attempt to expand the character roster, with, for the first time in a long while, titles headlined by characters of color. It remains to be seen if Mister Terrific or Blue Beetle will hold up in sales enough for that to last, but, if they don't, is that DC's fault? Or is it the fault of the fanbase?

At the end of the day, the New 52 really has to be seen as a positive move. I don't really see any downsides, other than in fanboy grousing about how they changed Red Robin's costume, or whatever. I endured months of that Batman: Incorporated "James Bond Batman" stuff, deal with it.

Oh, Batman: Incorporated is coming back? Great.

Marvel Comics

Don't they just make movies now?

I kid, but, truly, the only moves on Marvel's part that really excited me this year were the death of the Ultimate version of Peter Parker, his being replaced by Miles Morales, a *gasp* half-African-American/half-Latino kid, and Mark Waid making Daredevil great to read again.

Really, there is no under-selling what Brian Bendis pulled off with Ultimate Spider-Man. He gave Peter a hero's death that felt so very, very right, and introduced us to a new kid, who we quickly became enamored with. Not in the least because his entire desire to become Spider-Man (I won't go into origin details) stemmed from his respect and admiration of Peter Parker. We feel an intimate connection between Miles and Peter that makes the passing of the mantle feel right. What might've seemed cheap and exploitative at the announcement was justified when we actually read the books.

And how much shame I felt over the pure racist bullshit that bubbled out of fandom over this? More than I can even deal with sometimes. Aren't we supposed to be the inclusive ones?

We also had Mark Waid beginning a run on Daredevil that's the first time I've enjoyed the character in years. With his artist Paolo Rivera, he's made Daredevil FUN again, and tied him into the Marvel universe in ways that feel organic, and also cement DD as a power player. The only complaint I have is that I didn't want to pick up another title.

Oh, and Marvel put Steve rogers back in the Captain America suit again, where he belongs.

Just in time for the movie...amiright? Amiright?

Stage Left Theatre 30 For 30 Program

2012-01-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, my "home base" as an actor is Stage Left Theatre, here in Chicago. This season marks Stage Left's 30th year of producing in Chicago. There are very, very few companies in Chicago that can say they've been continuously producing since 1982.

Like every small theatre, Stage Left cannot rely on ticket sales alone to make ends meet. We rely on private and public grants, as well as donations from our patrons. For our 30th anniversary, we've launched an online fundraising program that will last the entire year. Our goal is to raise $30,000 during our 30th season.

That may seem like a lot, but our goal is to reach out to 1,000 of our patrons, and supporters of our Ensemble (yes, I mean friends and family) to donate $30. For many of my readers, and much of my family, coming to Chicago to see one of our shows is not an option, so here is a way to support my work, and my company, from anywhere, for less than what you'd spend for a night out for dinner and a movie.

If you'd like to support Stage Left, and our work, please visit our 30 for 30 website.

Stuck in My Head 1.13.2012

2012-01-13T12:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my buddy, Dave, posting a video on my Facebook page, I am in a complete Zakk Wylde zone today...

Between Heaven and Hell
by Zakk Wylde

Dying to live
Living to die
Ain't no hellos here
Nothing but goodbye
It's like singing a song that cannot be sung
It's like having to end, child,
what's yet to have begun

Hey, hey, hey now
Where I am at times I just can't tell
Hey, hey, hey, now
I'm lost somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

All that you know and all that you knew
In the end, child,
tell me what's it all mean to you?
Don't forget just who and where you are --
You can spread your wings, son
But don't you spread yourself too far

Hey, hey, hey now
Where I am at times I just can't tell
Hey, hey, hey, now
I'm lost somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

Movies I've Seen Lately

2012-01-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

This Blog should not be confused with the still-to-come "Best of 2011 Blog." That is in progress. It will come sooner, rather than later. I have one more film I want to see before I start making declarations, and it's coming from Netflix today. I expect to have the year end wrap-up done early next week.

However, in preparation for that, I have seen quite a few movies recently, as well a revisiting some older favorites on Blu-ray/DVD. Here's the last batch I saw in the theatre.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Amazing. When I was very young, I watched the BBC mini-series version on PBS, staring the great Alec Guinness as George Smiley, as well as the sequel, Smiley's People. I believe I detected a wink from our new Smiley, Gary Oldman, to Guinness in some vocal inflections.

The film deftly smashed down a truly sprawling, epic novel (the mini-series was 7 hours, to give you a sense) into 2 hours of full-on tension and spycraft. I have come to a place where I love watching films about people who do interesting jobs exceptionally well, and this cast, comprised of almost every interesting English actor working today, shows us exactly that. No, there's no action "set pieces," no sex, the violence is anything but sensationalized, but what it does have is a gripping sense of what it must've been like to work in intelligence during the cold war. A ripping thriller.

The Descendants

I have much love for George Clooney. In so many ways, he represents all we have left of the "old school" movie star. He's unabashedly glamorous, undeniably cool, and refuses to let his popularity make his choices of projects for him. You know that whatever you see him in, it's because he wanted to do it, not because some studio head, or some agent told him it would be "good for his career."

Clooney is as good as he usually is in The Descendants, which is very good. It's another low-key role, but that's what Clooney does. He's not a scenery-chewer, he's a leading man. the fact it's low-key doesn't take away from the truth, or honesty, he brings. The film is beautifully shot (Omaha's Alexander Payne), well acted across the board (the whole cast is great), but, ultimately, I've seen a lot of these "family in crisis" films. You know, where the absentee parent, at the most stressful time imaginable, has to step up and actually be a parent. It's a terrific film, but the familiarity of the beats knocked it down a few pegs, for me.

Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Yeah, yeah, everyone hates Tom Cruise. That's a damn shame, because he's a hell of a movie star. Personally, I have no problem with his personal beliefs, because, flat-out, they're none of my business. When he makes a good film, I will step right up and say so. Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol is a good, but not great film.

What I can report is that Brad Bird (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant, Ratatouille) makes a pretty triumphant debut as a live-action filmmaker. There are action sequences here that rival any other film you'll find. The sequence with Cruise's Ethan Hunt dangling on the outside of the world's tallest building is with the admission alone, it's so well executed and effective. Simon Pegg gives good comic relief, and Jeremy Renner shows his action chops. Sadly, the film doesn't completely mesh, so as to go from "exciting good fun" to "great movie."

War Horse

I'm a HUGE fan of the play. While Steven Spielberg brings every bit of his populist talent to bear on this story, and crafts a film of powerful imagery and emotional hooks, I couldn't help but find myself missing the intimate nature of the stage production. Part of me really wishes I hadn't seen the play, because I know that Spielberg's handsome film would've hit me even harder. (I was still in tears, make no mistake)

War Horse is Spielberg in full epic mode. Gone With The Wind-style sunsets and the whole nine yards. I'm sure plenty of people will call it sentimental hogwash, but where else are you supposed to go with a young adult book, narrated by a horse, no less? In my mind Spielberg has caught the perfect tone, and while I feel the wider canvas of film diffuses the intimate focus that the stage version had, this is still a fine adaptation.

The Artist

I have to be honest, if I was going to pick the biggest disappointment of the films I've recently see it would be The Artist. That may seem a very negative comment, but I had very high hopes for this film, a pastiche of silent film. Sure, it's gorgeous, it's fun, and downright funny. I also feel like it overstays it's welcome a bit. I couldn't help but find myself fighting to no nod off at times.

The performances are exquisite, with complete fidelity to the style being used. Jean Dujardin is quite hilarious in the lead role. The script is witty, the supporting turns amusing.

I think the main problem, for me, is that the 30's/40's, while I admire the hell out of the craft on screen, are not MY "golden age" of Hollywood. For me, it's the 70's. I'll take The Godfather, Easy Rider, Bonnie & Clyde, or Taxi Driver over any of the films of the silent or early talkie era. Your reaction to The Artist may depend on your feelings. I certainly saw more people walk out of this film than any other this year (only 3, but still). That said, it's beautiful and well worth seeing.

Van Halen Give Us a New "Tattoo"

2012-01-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

*sigh*

I love Van Halen. I have loved Van Halen for many years. Even during the darkest times, when I felt like loving that band was akin to enabling an abusive relationship. Fourteen years of nothing, after an album that I actually liked, but most people didn't. All we really got in that time was three new tracks with Sammy Hagar for a greatest hits package.

Then, David Lee Roth comes back, Michael Anthony gets kicked to the curb, and replaced with Wolfgang, Eddie Van Halen's son. There's a big reunion tour in 2007-2208, that sells well, and everyone's excited.

Then...more crickets. Album in the works. Eddie needs surgery on his hand. Tours scheduled. Tours cancelled. Rumors of album finished. Rumors of fights over mixing. Blah, blah, blah.

Then, finally, a video on van-halen.com (still, even now, the absolute worst website for a major, "active" artist, ever. Led Zeppelin has a better website.) announcing an announcement on Jan 10th. I have to tell you, this thing going on now, announcing that there will be an announcement...LAME.

Anyway. Long story short. Single and video on Jan 10th (along with tickets on sale for the tour), and a new album, ultimately announced as titled A Different Kind of Truth, on February 2nd.

I'd like to tell you I was excited. I can't tell you that. In fact, I just had a sinking feeling. Maybe that was unfair, but it was my gut reaction. I've learned to trust my gut.

So, it's the 10th, and the single, Tattoo, was released today, with a video. Apparently, they're not going to go iTunes exclusive with the single. I've listened to it several times.

Here's the deal. It's not a BAD song, it's just a dull one. (It's also, apparently, a re-working of a demo from the late 70's called Down in Flames, that, frankly, is a better version.) It's exactly not the sort of track they should've released to hype the fans for a new album. There was a comment on a message board, "I wanted Van Halen at 10, this is Van Halen at 5." I think that's about as apt a description as I can come up with. The real problem is, I don't know that Van Halen, with Roth, has a 10 anymore.

It reminds me of the last go-around with Roth, that produced Me Wise Magic (which is just OK) and Can't Get This Stuff No More (which just kinda lies there). Tattoo just doesn't feel like it has much drive. I described it, right off the bat, as "this song/clip reminds me of a 80-year-old man in a Ferrari. He's cruising around, feeling like he's the coolest cat on earth, but he's in first gear, going 40 on the freeway."

A huge part of that problem is just Roth. He's become a walking parody. You're almost 60, dude, there has to be some modulation between the "Diamond Dave" routine and a rest home, and you just, can't, find, it. The gags are old, and you can't fall back on your voice, because it was never there to begin with.

Say what you will about Sammy Hagar, but the reunion tracks he did with Van Halen in 2004, It's About Time, Up for Breakfast and Learning to See, while not the greatest Hagar tracks, blow all of this stuff out of the water. That's pretty simply because Hagar, and I'm not getting into the debate about which albums were better, here, is far beyond Roth in terms of technical ability. Hagar is a vocalist, Roth is a personality, and the problem there is that when the personality get to be a parody of itself, you have a problem.

My profound hope is that the other twelve tracks on this disk display more energy than what they chose to show us right out of the gate.

Stuck in My Head 1.9.2012 - My New Theme Song.

2012-01-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

I've heard this song a million times, but I was listening to a version on a Jimmy Page with the Black Crowes Live CD I found at a used shop yesterday (It's not the same version available on Amazon, apparently it was an earlier internet-only release. It looks like the same tracks, but a different order). Great CD, but this track kicked my ass on the train this morning.

Something about the lyrics really clicked with me. I'm gonna try to learn the riff sometime soon, because I think this has just become my theme song.

Oh Well
Performed by Jimmy Page with The Black Crowes

I cant help about the shape I'm in
I cant sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Oh well

Now, when I talked to God I knew he'd understand
He said, stick by my side and Ill be your guiding hand
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Oh well

Eddie Trunk Interviews Joel Peresman

2012-01-04T11:56:00.000-08:00


The suspended round section? THAT'S the Hall of Fame.

On December 19th, Eddie Trunk had a very long interview with Joel Peresman, the CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

(The link takes you to part one of the interview, with links available foe the other 14 parts)

First off, I certainly see where Mr. Trunk, his listeners, and buddies who stop by, are coming from. I'm VERY vocal about the fact that Rush hasn't been inducted. I think we're closer than we're not.

Yet...What a stupid interview.

Eddie Trunk

First off, I think Trunk and his buddies have a severe misconception of what the Hall of Fame is. The Hall of Fame exhibit, itself, is simply a video presentation and a series of (admittedly cool) lighted glass plaques with the names of the inductees. There isn't a display of each inductee. There's a general museum, with relics and memorabilia, which is about the history of Rock, and then, in, literally, a separate building, is the Hall of Fame. Many of the Hall of Fame inductees have very limited display items, and a ton of non-Hall of Famers have lots of material on display.

Trunk says he refuses to visit the museum, so I guess that makes sense.

Joel Peresman

Second, frankly, the viewpoint (understandably) is so skewed toward hard rock he doesn't seem to comprehend that there are many, many other "rock fans" who have their own favorites. Favorites that they'd fight tooth and nail to get in, too. Frankly, the backhanded jabs at Laura Nyro show nothing but ignorance, and the same elitism that Trunk spends a lot of time trying to turn back on the nomination committee.

I also take issue with Trunk's dismissive attitude toward acts like Madonna and ABBA. Yes, they are from the dance end of the spectrum of music, but they are also within the realm of "Rock and Roll." Early Rock and Roll, your Elvis, your Chubby Checker, your Little Richard, was all about getting the kids to move, to get out on the dance floor. To not see that dance music, even disco, as well as rap and hip hop, are part of the evolution of that, is just being insular and over-focused on his own interests. It's elitism, but elitism for what trunk considers the "non-elite."

The fact of the matter is, music is a wide and deep river that is filled with artists who have contributed and influenced others. In a room with 35 different people, who all have, yes, personal opinions about who is deserving, to think that those people should conform to your, or anyone's, viewpoint, is ridiculous. The job is to cast as wide a net as possible, and try to, eventually, snare and honor everyone who's deserving.

I am basically rabid with the fact that Rush should be included. It's STUPID that the band with more Gold or Platinum albums than anyone, save the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, who is cited by musicians (including Hall inductees) in multiple genres as an influence, who has continued making interesting, not to mention popular, music for almost 40 years, cannot seem to even get nominated for induction. That's a crime.

I think KISS probably deserves to be in, but I also think they've permanently damaged their legacy with Gene $immon$' rabid pursuit of the almighty dollar. Musically (I'm gonna say it), their contribution is dubious. I am not saying the music or the musicianship was bad, but it also was fairly derivative. I don't think anyone, including the members of the band, could argue otherwise. Yet, they were vastly influential in terms of image and marketing. I think I see why the nomination committee would have difficulty with how to handle them.

Deep Purple? Yes, absolutely, but who? Hasn't about 1500 musicians been in that band at one point, or another? Iron Maiden? Yes, eventually. Judas Priest? Sure.

That said, let's look at a list of what I consider heavy metal/hard rock/progressive rock acts that are already in the Hall of Fame:

AC/DC
Aerosmith
Black Sabbath
Cream
Genesis
The Kinks
Led Zeppelin
Metallica
Pink Floyd
Queen
Rolling Stones
Van Halen
The Who

Add to that Alice Cooper and Guns N' Roses going in this year. Can anybody truly say that any of the acts Trunk is campaigning for really deserve to be in before any of those groups? Should Iron Maiden be in before Van Halen? Or Metallica? I'd say no. Should ANY of them have been in before Black Sabbath? Absolutely not. (Though Ronnie James Dio should've gone in with Sabbath.)

You can argue about KISS and Rush, I think, but, to be fair, Rush should follow Pink Floyd. Genesis? That's a toss-up.You can also argue that it's too soon for Guns, but they did have a VAST impact.

Trunk acts like NO hard rock/progressive/metal acts are getting inducted. That's simply not true. Two acts this year alone. Trunk's, and his listener's, real issue is that the HOF inducts people from other genres over the metal acts he'd like to see in. That's not really a valid issue, it's a matter of taste, and the Hall has to serve a lot of different tastes.

To snark on Jon Landau (the head of the induction committee), and by extension Bruce Springsteen (who Landau manages - Yes, I am a Springsteen fan, as well as loving Progressive, Metal and Hard Rock), because you think he has an agenda, isn't helpful. It's also not supported by any facts. The answer isn't to change how the voting is handled (for Christ's sake, do not make a public vote out of it), but to continue to work to make the induction committee as diverse as possible. Trunk would still gripe, because that would mean people who don't think like him would get in with people who do.

Oh, and don't believe Trunk when he says he doesn't want to be on the induction committee. I could almost hear him salivating. The funny thing is, if he did get on it, he'd be exactly what he decries, a member with an agenda. The only difference is it'd be HIS agenda.

The End of Year Blog - Delay Announcement

2012-01-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

Hiya, faithful readers.

This is a note to let you know that the Pracht end-of-year, best & worst blog is in process. I am actively working on it (really). However, there's a couple more things I wanna try to see first, as well as a book I wanna finish.

I hope to have it up by early next week. I promise it will be comprehensive and worth the wait.

Have I ever let you down?

I Don't Get It

2011-12-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

I'll bring up Mississippi Queen by Mountain, which is, IMHO, one of the great guitar songs of all time. It was also a pretty big hit.

And people just stare at me...

So odd.

Mississippi Queen
by Mountain

Mississippi Queen, you know what I mean
Mississippi Queen, she taught me everything
Way down around Vicksburg, around Louisiana way
Lived a Cajun lady, called the Mississippi Queen
You know she was a dancer, she moved better on wine
While the rest of them dudes was gettin' their kicks
Go an' get your partner now I'm gettin' mine

Mississippi Queen, if you know what I mean
Mississippi Queen, she taught me everything
This lady she asked me, if I would be her man
You know that I told her, I'd do what I can
To keep her lookin' pretty, buy her dresses that shine
While the of rest of them dudes was makin' their bread
Go an' get your partner now I'm losin' mine

You know she was a dancer, she moved better on wine
While the rest of them dudes was gettin' their kicks
Go an' get your partner now I'm gettin' mine
Ohhhhh Mississippi Queen

You Can't Fix Everything

2011-12-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

You can only be yourself, and love yourself.

The Fixer
by Pearl Jam

When somethings dark
Lemme shed a little light on it

When somethings cold
Lemme put a little fire on it

If somethings old
I wanna put a bit of shining on it

When somethings gone
I wanna fight to get it back again.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

When somethings broke
I wanna put a little fixing on it

If somethings bored
I wanna put a little exciting on it

When somethings low
I wanna put a little high on it

When somethings lost
I wanna fight to get it back again

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

When signals cross
I wanna put a little straight on it

If there’s no love
I’m gonna try to love again

I’ll say your prayers
I’ll take your side

I’ll find us a way to make light

I’ll dig your grave
We’ll dance & sing.
What's saved, could be one last lifetime!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

It's My Last Day At Work

2011-12-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

So, as usual, I leave you with Springsteen Christmas cheer! Even more cheery with the knowledge of a new album and tour in 2012!!

Sad, because...RIP Big Man. You will be missed.

Merry Christmas!!

Oh, and BTW...that is about the only Christmas song I can stand...

Stuck In My Head 12.22.2011

2011-12-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

I have been on such a Zeppelin kick, lately. This is one of my favorite Zep riffs....

The Ocean
by Led Zeppelin

[Count-In: John Bonham] - "We've done four already but now we're steady
and then they went: One, two, three, four"

Singing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain.
Hitting on the moonshine, rocking in the brain.
Got no time to pack my bag, my foots outside the door.
Got a date, can't be late for the high hopes hailla ball.

Singing to an ocean, I can hear the ocean's roar.
Play for free, play for me and play a whole lot more.
Singing about the good things and the sun that lights the day.
I used to sing on the mountains, has the ocean lost its way.

Oh Yeah...

I don't know

na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na

Sitting round singing songs 'til the night turns into day.
Used to sing on the mountains but the mountains washed away.
Now I'm singing all my songs to the girl who won my heart.
She is only three years old and it's a real fine way to start.

Oh yeah.

It sure is fine.

Blow my mind.

When the tears are going down.

Yeah, Yeah.

Oh so good.

"In a World Where I Feel So Small, I Can't Stop Thinking Big"

2011-12-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

I feel small.

I feel insignifigant.

I feel lost. I feel alone. I feel betrayed. I feel redundant. I feel like an asshole. I feel selfish. I feel passed-over. I feel like a failure. I feel it slipping out of my control. I feel every mistake I've ever made. I feel the ground giving way under my feet. I feel strong. I feel weak. I feel brave. I feel frightened.

Sometimes, I am certain I feel too much. Sometimes I feel like there's so many conflicting things in my heart and in my head that I may go crazy. I'm sure lots of people feel that. We are all creatures of feeling.

But, sometimes, I wish I could stop. Sometimes I wish I could embrace my inner Vulcan, put aside all of these stupid emotions, these useless fears, and just push through with logic and rational thought.

But it's never that easy, is it? Fulfillment is never just about us, what we can make happen, but also about what trust others put into us. What trust others are willing to place on us, what faith they have in our abilities. Sometimes, I hear the voice in my head that sees all too clearly that precious few people are really willing to bank on me. That, often correctly, reminds me that trust is a foolish endeavor. That being selfish is the only way to ever possibly move yourself forward.

That, my friends, makes me sad. It makes me sad, searching for an environment where one will be challenged, supported and nurtured, then, time and again, feeling themselves left behind, and left out. Life confirms, over and over again, that to trust is foolish, teamwork is a dead end.

I find myself, in times like these, turning to music more and more often.

Caravan
by Rush

In a world lit only by fire

Long train of flares under piercing stars

I stand watching the steamliners roll by

The caravan thunders onward

To the distant dream of the city

The caravan carries me onward

On my way at last

I can’t stop thinking big

On a road lit only by fire

Going where I want, instead of where I should

I peer out at the passing shadows

Carried through the night into the city

Where a young man has a chance of making good

A chance to break from the past

The caravan thunders onward

Stars winking through the canvas hood

On my way at last

In a world where I feel so small

I can’t stop thinking big

Stuck In My Head 12.20.2011

2011-12-20T14:03:00.000-08:00

Broken, Beat & Scarred
By Metallica

You rise, you fall.
Your down then you rise again.
What don't kill you make you more strong.
You rise, you fall.
Your down then you rise again.
What don't kill you make you more strong.
Rise, fall, down, rise again.
What don't kill you make you more strong.
Rise, fall, down, rise again.
What don't kill you make you more strong.
Through black days, through black nights,
Through pitch black insights.

Breaking your teeth on the hard life a'coming.
Show, your, scars.
Cutting your feet on the hard earth a'running.
Show, your, scars.
Breaking your life, broken beat and scarred.
But we die hard!

The dawn, the death, the fight to the final breath.
What don't kill you make you more strong.
The dawn, the death, the fight to the final breath.
What don't kill you make you more strong.
Dawn, death, fight, final breath.
What don't kill you make you more strong.
Dawn, death, fight, final breath.
What don't kill you make you more strong.
They scratch me, they scrape me,
they cut and rape me.

Breaking your teeth on the hard life a'coming.
Show, your, scars.
Cutting your feet on the hard earth a'running.
Show, your, scars.
Breaking your life, broken beat and scarred.
but we die hard!

Breaking your teeth on the hard life a'coming.
Show, your, scars.
Cutting your feet on the hard earth a'running.
Show, your, scars.
Raiding your soul in a hard luck story.
Show, your, scars.
Spilling your blood in a hot sun's a'glory.
Show, your, scars.
Breaking your life, broken beat and scarred.

We die hard
We die hard
We die hard

You Can't Escape It

2011-12-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

Meltdown last night.

Over fucking Christmas cookies.

Well, that's silly. It was Christmas cookies, and the cleaning I have to do, and the stress of in-laws coming, and my own self-critical nature. Not to mention a creeping sense of professional dissatisfaction. I do not feel at ease right now, and it exploded like a faulty pressure cooker...

As I am want to do.

Sometimes I really hate myself. I mean, everyone has those feelings, but sometimes my disgust with myself burns like phosphorous. Sometimes I feel like everywhere I turn is a reminder of my own failings and failures. Usually, I can put on the brave face, give it a self-deprecating joke, and soldier on. Other times, my Bruce Banner just gives up the go, and all I want to do is SMASH SOMETHING!!

I dunno. Normally, I don't have the "Holiday Blues" that I hear others talk about. I have no expectations about this time of year being so joyous and special as to be upset or depressed when it's just the end of one year, and the start of another. This is the shit we were put here to deal with. Game on.

Yet, I am also not dealing with said shit very well, right now. That's not even a "Christmas deal," honestly, but a "Mark's ending the year unsatisfied" deal (as usual). It's ridiculous, too. At the VERY LEAST, I appeared in the lead role (and I think I did it pretty damn well) of a show that I will always consider one of the high points of my career. I worked with a lot of people, in that show, and others, that I, flat out, treasure the time I got to spend with them.

I'm a winner. Objectively, I know this. Yet I don't feel like a winner.

I worry about that, because, as you can see from the blog I linked to above, this is becoming a recurring feeling. I work, work, work, I'm terrified not to work, because work begets work, and I have this sinking suspicion that my work is just getting worse, instead of better. What do you do with that? How do you box that up, put it away, and move forward?

I swear to God, sometimes I wish I had been born in the past somewhere. Someplace where you simply had no time to decide if you were "fulfilled," or not, because you'd be scrambling to simply survive. I imagine hunting and foraging, and knowing that when you brought home that boar carcass, and your family ate, it was a good day. Simple, straightforward markings of a successful day...you survived it.

A time when to could settle a dispute not with words and negotiation, but with steel and blood. How simple that would be. If you failed, you were gone, and there was no need to live with your failure. Except in some afterlife, and who knew what that was, exactly? There's something lizard-brain appealing about that to me. "Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women."

Yeah, it is childish, kinda nuts, but, damn...Living on your wits and strength in a environment where that was all you needed? No more questions about "is this what I'm supposed to be doing with my life?" No second guessing of decisions, because, if you made the wrong one, you're dead. No guilt, because you did what you needed to do to survive.

Yes, I would miss the comforts of modern life, decent health care, etc. Thing is, if I never had them, I wouldn't. Modern me wouldn't last 10 seconds, but modern me never would've existed.

I also probably would've had a whole load of different gripes...Ah, well..

Oh. My. GOD!!

2011-12-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

I cannot wait six months...

I cannot wait six months...

I CANNOT WAIT SIX MONTHS!!!

Hugo

2011-12-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

I don't want to speak too soon, but I think I saw the best film of the year over the weekend...

Martin Scorsese's Hugo is a triumph, a beautiful, exquisitely crafted, heartfelt love letter to Paris and the movies themselves. It's also on the very short list of movies in which I feel the use of 3-D is not only appropriate, but absolutely thematically justified. I'd add on top of that that Scorsese is on the short list of filmmakers (a list that, really, has only one other member, James Cameron) who actually took the damn time to learn how to shoot and execute 3-D correctly.

Of course, it's Marty Scorsese. The film was going to be beautiful, but he's also grasped what so many others do not (no matter how much time Cameron's spent talking about it). You have to blow out the colors when shooting in 3-D, you have over-light, because the process itself saps the brightness of the picture. Scorsese gets it, as well as 3-D best use, in adding depth to the image. As Hugo travels around the walls of the Paris train station, Scorsese allows steam and various mechanical props to hover between his camera and actors. Through this we feel the claustrophobia and isolation of Hugo's life.

There's other elements that make the use of 3-D absolutely fitting, as well, but I kinda hate to give it away.

Based on the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Hugo (Asa Butterfield - now cast as Ender in Ender's Game) is a Orphan who worked with his now-disappeared uncle maintaining and winding the clocks in the train station after his father's death. Now Hugo is alone, continuing to work on the clocks, while stealing what he needs to survive form the station shopkeepers.

He meets Isabelle (Chloe Moretz) who is under the charge of the station toyshop proprietor, Papa Gorges (Sir Ben Kingsley). Together they try to solve the mystery of an automaton that Hugo's father (Jude Law) had found and was trying to repair. The machine is designed to write, and Hugo is convinced it will reveal a message from his father.

It's a simple story, but with lots of room for Scorsese and screenwriter John Logan to build the world of the station. We see the lives of the shop proprietors in exactly the right amount. They feel real and full and vibrant, without derailing the story. Sacha Baron Cohen does truly fine, subtle work as the station inspector, obsessed with hunting down the orphans and urchins that scamper through the station. What could've been a fairly one-note, slapstick character grows deeper and deeper as we follow the story.

There is a turn the story takes that has been fairly openly discussed, but, frankly, I feel like the reveal is one of the joys of the film. If you want to know, a quick internet search will reveal it, if you want to know. Frankly, it reduced me to tears, and the film continued to build on the feeling exqusitely as it played out.

In moments, you will realize why Scorsese would be interested in, and so, so lovingly craft this story. You see why 3-D is such a wonderful, touching choice. Most of all you begin to realize that Hugo may be one of Martin Scorsese's most personal works of filmmaking. It's beautiful on almost every level, the work of a master craftsman with a deep investment in the subject he's bringing to life.

I have no doubt that Hugo will be lodged firmly in my top ten for 2011, and, right now, it's the one you have to beat if you want the top slot. Absolutely, deeply and wholeheartedly recommended.

We're in Play Reading Mode on Damen Ave.

2011-12-15T15:32:00.000-08:00

So, the blogging has been a bit slower.

Yes, it's that time of the year when my theatre company starts looking at shows to slot for our next season. So, that's a list of anywhere form 15-20 plays to read, of which I usually am assigned about 4-6. Of course, being someone who likes to know what they're talking about, I try to read all of them

This year, however, the timetable is very, very tight. Our first discussion meeting is Sunday evening. I've completed my assigned scripts, and now it's a matter of figuring out which ones I want to add to my read list. I'm, personally, very invested in what happens with our '12-'13 season, so I'll giving it some extra effort.

Anyway...lame excuse for another "Stuck In My Head" Blog....

The Battle of Evermore
by Led Zeppelin

The Queen of Light took her bow and then she turned to go
The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom and walked the night alone

Oh, dance in the dark night, sing to the morning light
The Dark Lord rides in force tonight, and time will tell us all

Oh, throw down your plow and hoe, race now to my bow

Side by side we wait the might, of the darkest of them all

I hear the horses thunder down in the valley below
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon, waiting for the eastern glow

The apples of the valley hold the seeds of happiness
The ground is rich from tender care, which they do not forget, no, no
Dance in the dark night, sing to the morning light

The apples turn to brown and black, the tyrant's face is red

Oh, war is the common cry, pick up your swords and fly
The sky is filled with good and bad, mortals never know

Oh well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow

The pain of war cannot exceed the woe of aftermath
The drums will shake the castle wall, the Ringwraiths ride in black (ride on)

Sing as you raise your bow, (ride on) shoot straighter than before
No comfort has the fire at night that lights the face so cold

Oh, dance in the dark night, sing to the morning light
The magic runes are writ in gold to bring the balance back, bring it back

At last the sun is shining, the clouds of blue roll by
With flames from the dragon of darkness, the sunlight blinds his eyes

Oh, bring it back, bring it back...

Bruce Norris - You May Not Want To Hear This....

2011-12-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

I love this:

(Bruce) Norris does not believe that theatre is a particularly good catalyst for change. "There is no political value in having sensitive feelings about the world. I don't think it generates political action. You go, you watch, you say, 'That's sad,' and then you go for a steak. The best you can hope for is to make people slightly uncomfortable. At least if you take the piss out of the audience, they feel they are being addressed," he argues.

SOURCE

This man is so right. Theatre is not an agent for change. I do believe it can be an agent for understanding, and maybe Norris poo-poos that too easily. Understanding can lead to change, in the right context. I also, strongly, believe it can impart moral lessons, as all storytelling can, but moral lessons are not political statements.

Oh, I know, everyone thinks their own, personal, politics always carry the moral high ground. Here's the difference, morals are personal, politics are institutional. Morals are emotional, politics are intellectual.

Lectures are intellectual, stories are emotional. Please, people, stop writing plays that are political manifestos first, and storytelling second...because nobody gives a shit.

Seriously, nobody gives a shit. Oh sure, the people who agree with you will rally around you, slap you on the back and tell you how brave you are. Here's the secret...you're not brave, you're just another part of the problem.

And what is the problem?

We've worked ourselves into a corner because we've allowed ourselves to become awash in trying to give our work "meaning." We've got tons of kids coming out of theatre school, all pumped up with their desire to re-make the world into a liberal utopia, having been fed that they can do this by doing what they love. How happy and easy it all sounds! I don't have to protest, or run for office, or collect signatures, or do any of that icky work. Yes, you can CHANGE THE WORLD with theatre!!!

No you can't. Sorry to break it to you.

Just a joke...OK, Picard fans?

One of the biggest reasons you can't is because in the last century we have all but given up our place as actual, honest-to-god entertainers in favor of trying to be educators. No one cares about theatre except the people making it. Year after year, production after production, we've receded further and further from making emotional connections in favor of trotting out facts, figures and heavy-handed, blindingly obvious arguments. We've lost our way as storytellers so completely that theatre of a serious bent, as opposed to the cotton-candy bullshit of the Broadway musical, is reduced to lecture.

Research is important, facts are important, but, ultimately, useless for storytelling.

"There are 213,000 victims of sexual assault each year! A sexual assault occurs every 2 minutes!!! DOESN'T THAT MAKE YOU ANGRY!!?!!?"

Well, if you want me to be honest, no. It doesn't. The reason is simple, too. It's just a number. Why don't you, instead of waving numbers in my face, tell me story about a rape victim? Someone who's just living, and trying to deal with the results of what's happened. Why don't you eject the "concerned rape councilor" character, who's a crutch for you to inject facts and figures, which, ultimately, are a billion times less interesting and important than just writing a damaged character honestly, and letting an actor play it honestly.

People, also, do not talk like that.

Well, some people do, but NOBODY WANTS TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THEM. Let alone watch them on stage. They may have to, and there's some drama to be mined in that. The drama however would be in the fact that THESE PEOPLE ARE INSUFFERABLE.

A few years ago, I directed a production of Stop Kiss by Diana Son. I love that play, and I think it's genius. It's wonderfully aggressive about not being profound. It's not about gay bashing, or homosexual awakening, it's about two people falling in love, who happen to be women, and something terrible happens to them. The fact is, that story makes more of an impact because Son just refuses to write a "gay play," but creates characters who act and feel real. Normal people in extraordinary circumstances, who are too busy dealing with their situation to even think about what it means to other people, let alone speaking it out loud.

Stop writing about ideas. Write about people.

Stuck In My Head 12.12.2011

2011-12-12T11:50:00.000-08:00

I'm a big Zakk Wylde fan, and I particularly like his acoustic stuff. Here we have a cover off the The Song Remains Not the Same album...

Can't Find My Way Home
by Steve Windwood (Blind Faith)
Performed by Black Label Society

Come down off your throne and leave your body alone 
somebody must change
You are the reason I've been waiting so long
somebody holds the key
Well, I'm near the end and I just ain't got the time
And I'm wasted and I can't find my way home

Come down on your own and leave your body alone
somebody must change
You are the reason I've been waiting all these years
somebody holds the key
Well, I'm near the end and I just ain't got the time
And I'm wasted and I can't find my way home

Is It Just Me

2011-12-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

Or does the whole "process" around the San Diego Comic-Con this year seem a little...odd?

I mean, in an unheard-of turn of events, I can book my flights to San Diego now, but I can't buy my tickets for the show itself. I COULD book my flight, but I'm sure as hell not going to do that before I know I can go. Now they're saying "pre-registiration" (some kind of ID system) will happen in January.

That better happen fast, because isn't the "hotel day" debacle usually in February?

Now, look, I understand that this is all in an effort to make things work quicker and smoother for everyone involved, and I know a massive convention like SDCC is a logistic nightmare. That said...is adding MORE steps to the process, not to mention pushing the whole thing later, really a proactive step?

Really, they've been putting off open registration for so long now, in the back of my head there's a nasty little voice saying "they sold all the tickets before the 2011 convention was over." I'd never think they did that on purpose, but hell, if memory serves, preview night 2011 sold out before SDCC 2010 was over. I'd hate to see San Diego become a "you go every year, or you don't go at all" convention.

Mainly because I can only go every other year.

Guns N' Roses Indcuted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

2011-12-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Guns N' Roses has made the 2012 induction class for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I could grouse a little about the continued rejection, at even the nominee level, of Rush, but what's the point? It'll happen, eventually, and hopefully the long wait will give them a ton of well-deserved press when it does happen.

I am happy that Guns is getting inducted. I think anyone who'd argue they aren't one of the most important bands of the late 80's/90's is a fool. Just as anyone who'd argue that Appetite for Destruction isn't one of the greatest hard rock albums of all time, not to mention one of the greatest debut albums of all time. The shit kicks, and it still kicks. Play any Appetite track in a bar or club, people get excited.

They are, and always have been a volatile band. There's a real question about what's going to happen at the induction on April 12th. Of course, what the world (and I'm sure the Hall) wants is to see the original five members (Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler) on stage for a reunion. It seems that most of the band would be into it. Adler is very vocal about wanting to play together, even to the point of a full tour (that's not going to happen). Everyone else obviously still gets along, Slash and Duff are still associated (along with Adler's replacement, Matt Sorum) with Velvet Revolver, and Izzy, well Izzy seems to float in and out of everyone's life. "Helping" with songs for Velvet Revolver, for example.

Then there's Axl.

I have a feeling in my gut that, after April 12th, we'll have new footage of the original Guns lineup playing two or three songs. I do. Something makes me optimistic about it.

Axl, however, is the stumbling block. Thing is, I understand why he might not want to do it. I do.

Look, no matter how you feel about it, Axl is out there on the road with a new version of Guns N' Roses that he put together, and seems very committed to. This is his band. Maybe they all are ass-kissing hired guns, or maybe they're part of a cohesive musical unit.

I'll say this, very few people I know who've seen the current lineup will say it's a bad band. In fact many of them praise the musicianship on display, with the perennial "but."

"But it's not Guns N' Roses."

Axl, however, feels it is. He's also spent the last fifteen plus years working with this unit (in one form or another) to create what he feels Guns N' Roses is, now. You can bitch about his attitude, the late concert starts, the album a decade-plus in the making that was so over-ordered by Best Buy that they had it on sale for $1.99 recently.

I'd argue that Chinese Democracy deserved better, myself. It's not a bad album, by any standard. It's not Appetite, and it took far, far too long to put together, those are it's greatest sins. Those were sins, however, the public was ready to crucify the album, and Axl, for.

The Chinese Democracy lineup, and material, are what Axl is doing NOW. If he agrees to the induction gig, goes on stage with the original lineup, and kicks ass, the internet will be aflame. Much like when Led Zeppelin was triumphant with their O2 gig in 2007, the immediate question is, "where does it go from here?"

For Axl, I'm pretty damn sure the answer will always be "back to my band." You thought that lineup had a tough time now, more than twenty years after the Appetite lineup dissolved? Try it the week after the internet floods with video of the "reunion."

That is a no-win situation you can't reprogram the computer out of. The only way out of it is to...just not go. Which would be sad, it'd be disappointing, but I'd get it. So, while I honestly do have this gut feeling that we'll see the original five that night, I also see rational reasons for it not to happen.

Not like that Van Halen debacle in 2007. Where, once and for all, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony proved where the class in that outfit was located. What an embarrassment.

What do do if Axl opts out? The answer toured with Slash, and is working on an album with him right now. Bring in Myles Kennedy with the rest of the original band. There's no better proof of this option than Slash's recent live album, or if you saw the tour. The guy can sing the stuff, and well. He's also extremely charismatic, but also respectful of the history.

Hell, according to Mick Wall, the guy almost replaced Robert Plant. He can step in for Axl, if need be.

In no way am I saying Axl shouldn't be up there, but, if he pulls a David Lee Roth, I'm offering what I think is a good alternative. Not that anyone cares what I think...but I bet it's crossed Slash's mind.

Stuck In My Head 12.6.2011

2011-12-06T15:59:00.000-08:00

Busy day. You can thank reading No Regrets for this one....

New York Groove
by Ace Frehley

Many years since I was here, on the street I was passin' my time away
To the left and to the right, buildings towering to the sky
It's outta sight in the dead of night
Here I am, and in this city, with a fistful of dollars
And baby, you'd better believe

I'm back, back in the New York Groove
I'm back, back in the New York Groove
I'm back, back in the New York Groove
Back in the New York Groove, in the New York Groove

In the back of my Cadillac
A wicked lady, sittin' by my side, sayin' 'Where are we?'
Stop at Third and Forty-three, exit to the night
It's gonna be ecstacy, this place was meant for me
Feels so good tonight, who cares about tomorrow
So baby, you'd better believe

I'm back, back in the New York Groove (repeats out)

Stuck In My Head 12.5.2011

2011-12-05T15:02:00.000-08:00

It's definitely a Monday for me, right now.

It's not that I feel BAD, I just feel discombobulated and a little on edge. Things churning in my head, and gnawing at me. A lot going on, and a lot of places where I'd like, and people would like me to be this weekend.

The Eight: Reindeer Monologues opens Friday. I've directed two of the monologues. The cast is great, and I'm really happy with how it's all turned out. Especially with the two pieces I directed, Hollywood (Ian Maxwell) and Dancer (Kimberly Logan). These two actors have given me some of their best work, and I thank them profusely for it. We also have our "closing" party for Bus Stop that night. Between that I have acting classes, rehearsals, tech, blah, blah, blah...

I'm gonna be happy when things slow down a bit.

Also found out today that Michael Chabon's next novel, Telegraph Avenue, will (finally!) be out in the Fall of 2012. It's been too damn long since The Yiddish Policeman's Union.

But this is a "stuck in my head" entry...

Cigarettes
by King's X

Have you gotten any cigarettes
And have you got anything for me
I no longer know just what I'm saying
Is this how it's supposed to be.
Sometimes I think the pain blows my mind
Pain blows my mind.
Is it june or late september
Is it 1993
Could you help me to remember
Is this how I'm supposed to be
Sometimes I think the pain blows my mind
Pain blows my mind.
Did you ever get those cigarettes
And did you get anything for me
Will you help me to remember
When I fall into the sea.
Sometimes I think the pain blows my mind
Pain blows my mind.

"I Wish I Didn't Know Now What I Didn't Know Then"

2011-12-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

I've always liked Bob Seger. I wouldn't call myself a "fan," and I'm more than aware of his status as "Michigan's B-list Bruce Springsteen." He's at least in the wheelhouse of something I adore.

Oh, come on...there are more than a few similarities.

However, I've always liked his songs, so when I found Ultimate Hits: Rock And Roll Never Forgets, on Amazon, I thought, "what the heck?"

Now, I haven't had time to really ingest the whole thing. I barely got through Disk 1 on the train ride in, but I was just struck by the sadness that runs though almost all of the songs on this collection. Every song seems to be about loss, memory of a time when things were better. Sadness at the core.

Seger was a nostalgia artist at the height of his career. Seriously, every one of his major hits has elements of "you should've seen me when I was young and whole." He was also older than your average "rock star" at his high point. He was born in 1945, meaning that in 1976, when the Night Moves album was released, he was 31. That's kind of amazing. Springsteen was 5 years younger when Born to Run was released.

Not that I'm saying 31 is "old," but in the realm of Rock/Pop music, it kinda is. Also, to clarify, my description as a "nostalgia" artist is only referring to the subject matter of his songs. He seems to have been looking back on better days right from the start.

Night Moves is, simply, an amazing song. The whole song has a sense of melancholy, but also a sense of childish naughtyness:

She was a black haired beauty with big dark eyes
And points all her own sitting way up high
Way up firm and high

I mean, what song can go wrong with such benign, if *ahem* pointed sexual references? Seger, however takes it further, with a clear vision of what the childish groping he's writing about actually is. He effectively mixes the meaninglessness of it with the absolute joy of it, and the all-encompassing teenage need to "keep score":

We weren't in love oh no far from it
We weren't searching for some pie in the sky summit
We were just young and restless and bored
Living by the sword
And we'd steal away every chance we could
To the backroom, the alley, the trusty woods
I used her she used me
But neither one cared
We were getting our share

Just when you think the song will only be a clear-eyed memory of childhood, Seger drops the last verse on us, and it's majestic and shattering, leaving us with the inescapable images of a man who can feel those days of freedom and excitement, but never again touch them:

I woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered
Started humming a song from 1962
Ain't it funny how the night moves
When you just don't seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing in

If this was just one song, I could write it off, but even in his most off-the-cuff, "fun" songs, there's blatant sense that the best days are gone.

Call me a relic, call me what you will
Say I'm old-fashioned, say I'm over the hill
Today' music ain't got the same soul
I like that old time rock 'n' roll

"A Relic?" He was 33!

Of course, everyone, and I think especially every man, always feels like, whatever age they are, is the oldest that anyone has ever been. It's intrinsic in the human experience, I think. No way to escape, but of course, everyone yearns to escape, and Seger goes there, too.

Took a look down a westbound road right away I made my choice
Headed out to my big two wheeler I was tired of my own voice
Took a bead on the northern plains and just rolled that power on

I get that, and I think a lot of folks in my age bracket would, too.

I think I found the Seger "Mission Statement" however, in one line at the end of the first verse of Against the Wind. A line that really encapsulates a lot of what I've been feeling over the last few years, and what I think a lot of people feel as they grow older.

Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Yeah, maybe I'm not a big Bob Seger fan, and I still think Springsteen does a lot of this better. That said, well done, Bob, you've hit the target.

Why Does Anybody Think This Van Halen Reunion Will Work?

2011-12-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Look, I am a fan of Van Halen. I have been for many years. I own all the albums, I listen to them regularly, and I love all aspects of the band's history, Roth, Hagar and even Cherone. You cannot downplay the influence of Edward Van Halen on the guitar, even today.

Yet...This picture fills me with nothing but dread.

And I'm amazed that it makes anyone else excited. Yeah, yeah, I get it, Roth's back. New album with Roth.

It was the same when they launched their nostalgia tour in 2007. I was curious, I'll admit, but I also wasn't going to pay $100+ for seats behind the stage. There was also the issue of Michael Anthony being summarily dismissed, to be replaced by Eddie's son, Wolfgang, because he DARED to, A: want to work, and B: remain friends with Sammy Hagar.

But, see...When I look at videos from the 2007 tour, I see a tired act. I see Roth pulling the same jackass shit he did in 1981, and it feels old. Roth was a superstar of his time, of that moment. I remember when his A Little Ain't Enough album hit in 1991 it was just utterly ridiculous. He, and the album, were openly mocked as Spinal Tap come to life, and this was before the Grunge revolution.

It's one thing to be true to yourself, it's another to act like you're 21, when you're pushing 60. Of course, his core fanbase doesn't give a shit. I tend to believe most of them wish it was still 1981.

Eddie, too, seems a shadow of himself. The 2007 tour was full of embarrassing videos of him playing off time or out of key. I compare those videos to the last time I saw him on stage, in 1998, with Cherone, and it's night and day.

The core point is, there's a lot of people out there who have a lot of energy committed to the idea that this album is gonna be "like 28 years never happened." Well, it won't be. It can't be, and if you want it to be, I'm predicting a lot of disappointment. It'll be The Phantom Menace all over again. It's exceedingly rare that anyone can recapture something that was unexpected and organic the first time.

Plus, they've all changed as artists. Eddie spent 13 years with Sammy Hagar, who had a much more elastic voice, and a wider acceptance of musical styles, than Roth. Oh, Roth lives for "Jump," now, but Eddie had to fight to get any keyboard song on a Van Halen record. I hazard to guess he's less apt to walk away from that wider palate of expression the years with Hagar afforded him.

Roth isn't even "Roth" anymore. The whistlestop scream is gone. He was never much of a vocalist to begin with, but he's even more limited now.

I'm also not down with Michael Anthony being persona non grata. This is no critique of Wolfgang, who's obviously talented. I've seen videos of him working multiple instruments with skill. That said, let's not whitewash how much of the "Van Halen sound" is Anthony's backing vocals, in any era of the band.

The most unsettling element of this entire deal is. really, that it feels all amazingly half-assed. The album has been the center of swirling rumors for almost six months, now. It's finished, mixed and mastered. It's finished except Eddie and Roth are fighting about the vocals. It's finished, but we want a new label deal. (I find it funny that, according to rumor, anyway, Cherone was let go because Warner Brothers records demanded it, and then, when Roth comes back (which is apparently what WB demanded), they jump ship to Interscope (because they're a "hipper" label, which smells like Roth thinking).

I also see a lot of people excited online because, reportedly, the band has put promotion and marketing in Roth's hands. OK, fine, but...what, exactly, outside of the 2007 Van Halen reunion tour, has Roth been successfully involved with promoting, recently? Each of the 4 solo albums he's released since 1991 have met with increasing public apathy. His tenure as a radio host was somethign of a non-starter. He ended up as a Vegas lounge act for a while.

The last year has also been marked with announcements involving the band that are later withdrawn, cancelled, or ignored. With the actual band response being mostly the latter. They were announced to headline the Soundwave Revolution Festival in Australia during the summer of 2011. The shows were promoted, tickets sold, then the entire festival was cancelled. The official line was that a "unannounced co-headliner" dropped out and forced the cancellation. Rumor was rampant that Van Halen dropping out was the real cause. Van Halen public response? Zip.

Then the band signed with Interscope. The news broke, and the ONLY acknowledgement from the band was the above picture. Let's take a look at it again;

Y'know what I notice? Roth's distance from the rest of the band. I've taken enough publicity photos in my time to know that you put thought into what's the focus of your image. The strong choice, and one that any respectable publicist would make would be to put the band, as a unit, in the center of the picture. They are the reason everyone's there. Yet, we see this gulf between them.

Then our latest, the Grammy Awards Nominations concert, and the official announcement that a "reuniting band" would be making an announcement. The Grammy twitter account even gave this hint, 'Who do u predict the reuniting band will be...Does this hint make u wanna “Jump” & “Dance the Night Away”?'

Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it? Other people thought so, too.

Of course, the band didn't show up. And it's left to the Grammy people to make excuses. Not word one from the Van Halen camp, who had to have known those press releases, tweets, and hints were going out. It's utterly ridiculous. It feels smug. It feels condescending. It feels like a band taking it's fanbase for granted.

In short, if the album is "finished," and has been finished for months, then what the hell are you waiting for?

Personally, I'm of the mindset that this album will never come out, the tour will never happen, and that we've seen the end of Van Halen. The internal ego battle between Eddie and DLR will drone on and on, and the delays will continue until the whole thing just dies. I also find myself very much OK with that. I think, at this point, I'd be more excited to see a new group with Wolfgang Van Halen and other musicians his own age. His father and uncle could make guest appearances, or produce the album, but that would be something new and fresh.

Instead of feeling like I'm waiting for the corpse to start rotting.

Stuck in My Head 11.30.2011

2011-11-30T09:21:00.000-08:00

Sister Luck (Croweology Version)
by The Black Crowes

Worried sick my eyes are hurting
To rest my head I'd take a life
Outside the girls are dancing
'Cause when you're down, it just don't seem right

Feeling second fiddle to a dead man
Up to my neck with your disregard
Like a beat dog that's walking on the Broadway
No one wants to hear you when you're down

Sister luck, there's screaming out
Somebody else's name
Sister luck, there's screaming out
Somebody else's name

A flip of a coin might make a head turn
No surprise, who sleeps
Held my hand over a candle
The flame burnin' but I never weep

Sister luck, there's screaming out
Somebody else's name
Sister luck, there's screaming out
Somebody else's name
What a shame

Sister luck, there's screaming out
Somebody else's name
Sister luck, there's screaming out
Somebody else's name
What a shame

I love the alternate versions of the Black Crowes standards on this album (the "Soul Singing" is AMAZING). Something about this song really struck me on the train this morning. Acoustic, bluesy, and I feel like that re-invigorated the band...then, of course, they went on an extended hiatus right after.

Back to the Classroom

2011-11-29T11:43:00.000-08:00

I am taking an acting class starting this week.

Which is kinda freaking me out. I mean, I have taught acting and improvisation to High School students, but other than that, I haven't been in a "classroom" environment since 1994. It's not that I ever felt I had nothing to learn, but I'm a big believer in learning by doing. I've done a LOT of doing in the past, Jesus...17 years.

The thing is, so much of what I do, how I approach the work is rooted in the script itself. What is this show? What style does it require? How to I best play THIS character in THIS play. I've often found that prescribed schools of thought about acting can get you into trouble. Trying to use "method" in a Shakespeare or Moliere piece is rather counter-intuitive and, frankly, playing against the intent.

This all comes from my early training, of course. The wisdom of Jeff Green, who's acting classes were really all about style work. What is this play? What style does it require? Truly, one of the most important moments of my acting life was playing Valere in Tartuffe with Jeff directing.

I was DEEP in my "fucking Al Pacino kicks ass and I am a Method actor" phase. Jeff had developed a conceit for the rehearsals and production where we had a giant "flower" in the middle of the round playing area. When we moved, we had to stay on the lines of that design, all crosses, all moves were arcs, no straight lines. On top of that, we were in full Restoration dress, with the physicality that requires. Arms outstretched, on the balls of your feet, generally, as Jeff called it, "that poncy French shit."

Well, there I am, all Mr. Pacino/DeNiro/Brando wanna be, bemoaning that I didn't "feel it." So, Jeff made us run my big scene over, and over, and over again. Well into the double digits (my weak memory says 60-75 times). We did it until I broke, stopped thinking, just hit my marks and said my lines, and suddenly (magically, even) the scene worked.

What's really idiotic about my attitude is that I really didn't know shit from shinola when it came to "Method." We, really, had no "Method" training. It was part of the style work we did, but not a intensive course, by any means. My concept of "Method" was watching "Method" actors, and reading a few books.

Honestly, I don't think I ever really had a philosophy of acting until I read David Mamet's True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor. I know, I know, people hate it, think it's stupid, but "speak the words, brave and true" tripped a trigger, for me. It led to a path where what seemed to take so much effort, so much self-inflicted torture, and made it seem not so hard. Trust the play, trust the director, trust the rest of the cast. Listen, believe, and respond.

I sometimes think there's a deep-seated inferiority complex with actors. This raging desire to make what we do harder than it really has to be. Which is not to say I think it's easy, no, no, no, but I think many people try to complicate it so much. K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Stupid. How much time to we spend agonizing over our choices? Trying to find the "right" one?

The trick is, there is no "right" choice.

There's only the choice you make right now, and it cannot be "wrong" if you commit and follow it through. You're living in the moment, right? Then why the hell are you trying to plan out your whole performance in advance? You wouldn't do that in the moment...in real life...would you?

That's all really just me pontificating, now. Take what you will.

So, yeah, starting tomorrow night I'm starting a class in Meisner technique. Now, I'm no expert in, really, any school of acting, other than my own, but my reading makes me feel like this is a school of thought that will work well for me. But who knows? It's been so long since I operated without a character or play to rely on that I am rather scared about it. No, I don't feel I "hide" behind a character, but I have come to rely on the world that the playwright and director have built for me to drive my choices and moment. This is a situation that removes that crutch.

I hope I don't fall down.

Sometimes I Marvel at Frank Herbert

2011-11-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

That's genius, folks. It's true, it's wise, and it's in a book with major plot and thematic elements revolving around giant worms. And people wonder why I say an entertaining story, ripe with allegory, makes a stronger point than any amount of "serious" drama.

So, thanks Frank. I needed it.

Only I will remain.

WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH

2011-11-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

I think I've mentioned here before, I've been alternating reading Dennis Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro series (I'm up to Sacred) with various one-off books. Non-fiction has always been a good palate-cleanser for me, and, lately, that's been rock biographies. It's allowed me to not be overcome with, well, sameness, while reading a single series. On top of that, it's inspiring on both ends, as I've been working on music more, and I've also got a writing project in the detective, neo-noir genre in the embryonic stages.

The latest rock bio was When Giants Walked the Earth, by Mick Wall. It's a pretty comprehensive, in depth exploration of the creation, career, dissolution, and legacy of Led Zeppelin. Now, dear reader, I can't know what your own feelings about Led Zeppelin are, but I can share mine...

When the band came together in 1968, as Jimmy Page's attempt to revive and reinvigorate The Yardbirds (they were actually billed as The "New" Yardbirds, at first), in which he was the last of a epic line of lead guitarists, it was a bit of a watershed moment for rock. The hippy/flower-power moment had really run it's course, and the scene was ready for something new. Page had a concept, a band that would mix the "light and dark," as he called it, the acoustic and electric, the melodic and the powerful. He set out to find the players to bring that concept to life.

Zeppelin, on disk, represents the best of 70's hard rock. Tunes and melodies liberally lifted from blues classics (often without credit, as Wall points out), mixed with John Bonham and John Paul Jones' amazing rhythm section, Page's epic guitar, and Robert Plant's unmistakable vocals. You really can't argue with the greatness of those albums, even if there are limp tracks. Nobody's perfect.

Now, the live Zeppelin, which I freely admit to having no first-hand experience with, and can only judge based on film and album, The Song Remains the Same, as well as the How the West was Won materials, was a beast capable of amazing flights of musicianship, and stultifying indulgences. Yes, yes, John Bonham was (arguably) the greatest rock drummer of all time, or at least his time, but I maintain that no one needs a 45 minute drum solo. I've only watched the full "Moby Dick" drum solo in The Song Remains the Same once, when I saw it in a theatre, every other time....fast forward. Same with Page's unending guitar solo.

I've never been overly into "jam bands," with songs stretching longer and longer to accommodate various solos. As a musician, I can get off on the display of chops, but there's a point where even that loses it's hold on me. It's especially hard for me when the recorded material is tight and powerful.

To sum up; Zeppelin represents the best of 70's rock, and also the worst of it's indulgences.

To Wall's credit, as he was/is actually friendly with all of the surviving members of the band (although Page apparently wan't nothing to do with him since the book's release), he's straightforward about all the highs and lows of the band's career. I think he's maybe too harsh about the rare performances since John Bonham's death, and the breakup of the band. Certainly, the charity concert at the London O2 arena in 2007 has been noted by many as a pretty sterling gig from a reformed band, and Wall just sorta brushes it off.

As you might expect, the book covers a lot of ground. With Wall trying to explore all four band members, and manager Peter Grant, who he (correctly, I think) positions as a major force in all aspects of the band's output. Since he knows all of the guys, and has repeated interviewed them, I felt his observations and conclusions were pretty solid.

His depiction of Bonham, in particular, is interesting. He almost depicts the man as bi-polar, with his epic partying on tour merely a mask for depression over being away from his home and family for months on end. This, tied in with what seems to be a intrinsic need to be what the people around him want him to be. There are descriptions of Bonham misadventures that, with no exaggeration, position the man as almost a monster. Attacking women, drinking insane amounts, and destroying property for seemingly no reason other than loneliness, and the idea that's what expected of him. While Page and Plant indulge in what might be called "normal" rock star hedonism, and Jones, seemingly, removes himself from that scene completely, Bonzo just leaps, head-first, into the deep end.

Wall spends time on Page's heroin use, and the S&M games he liked to play with groupies. Really, however, it's clear he wants to dig into the guitarist's occult beliefs, and his interest in the teachings of Alistair Crowley. There's a long section of the book about Crowley, and what might have drawn Page into that belief system. Pointing out that, unlike the popular perception, Crowley really wasn't a satanist, but more of a pagan, with a belief system that embraced all human weakness as somethign to be explored fully. It's pretty obvious Page was into Crowley, he purchased many of the homes where Crowley had lived and conducted rituals.

"The Hermit" -by Jimmy Page?

Wall takes some pains to not paint the guitarist as some frothing Satan-worshiper, but points out how much of the imagery, lyrics (apparently, you don't have to play Stairway to Heaven backward for it to be "the most Satanic song, ever"), and "jokes" (like the Crowley quotes inscribed in the vinyl of the first pressing of Led Zeppelin III) are tied to Crowley. That Page craved power, the power to make his creative visions manifest.

Now, if you want to get in a twist about that, the book will offer some ammunition for you. (Possibly why Page has now ended his friendship with Wall) Me? I could care less. Good music is good music, and I figure whatever sort of belief you want to have is your business. I got no truck with Scientologists, either.

Although, I was really drawn by the discussion of "The Hermit," the artwork on the inner sleeve of Led Zeppelin IV. It's credited to an artist that apparently no one has ever heard of, is obviously inspired by the tarot and the teachings of Crowley, and Wall begins to make a case that art-school-trained Jimmy Page may have created it himself.

Who knows? Page ain't talking.

There is one annoying thing about Wall's book. He's taken a tactic of writing large sections of the book in second-person "You are Jimmy Page, you've grown tired of session work..." etc. It's a decision that wears out it's welcome pretty fast (maybe for him too, there are far fewer of these asides in the latter half of the book), and leads to wall covering the same information over and over again. I think ever John Paul Jones interlude was about arranging some song for some soul artist. If it felt insightful, it would've been clever, but, alas, it doesn't. Even "inside" Page's head, there's only so many times I wanna hear about how uninspired he was by his session work.

All-in-all, I found When Giants Walked the Earth a pretty decent read. It's well researched and has a lot of information right from the horses mouth, so to speak. If you're a fan, you'll probably want to read it, if you haven't all ready. Wall clearly loves the band, but isn't afraid to speak up about things that disappointed him.

Stuck In My Head 11.23.2011

2011-11-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

Pay Me
By TomWaits

They pay me not to come home
Keeping me stoned
I won't run away
They say it's easy to get
Stuck in this town
Just like Joan
You know I gave it all up for the stage
They fill my cup up in the cage
It's nobody's business but mine when I'm low
To hold yourself up is not a crime here you know
At the end of the world

I kick my foot at the lights
I breathe it in all night
There's a light on a canvas tree
Money from home supporting me

They pay me not to come
I won't eat crow
Ill stay away
And though all roads will not lead you home my girl
All roads lead to the end of the world
I sewed a little luck up in the hem of my gown
The only way down from the gallows is to swing
And I'll wear boots instead of high heels
And the next stage that I am on it will have wheels

So the New Thing I Saw in RAIDERS This Time

2011-11-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

So, I'm watching Raiders of the Lost Ark Sunday night. Happy as a clam.

We're near the end of the film, Indy's rode the Nazi sub to their secret base. He's hiding watching Belloq disembark with the captive Marion Ravenwood...

And all of the sudden, all I can see is the Nazi guard on the right side of the screen.

A guard who apparently had some sort of run-in with...something. He's got a bandage on his head, and one arm in a sling. Yet, he's still got his machine gun. It's really obvious as the shot above begins, but I, unfortunately, couldn't find a screencap that showed it better.When he first walks into frame, the damage is very obvious and clear.

I'm facinated by this now...what the hell was the idea? Did Marion kick his ass? Is it just a dumb joke to put in the corner of the frame? What?

I know it's not just happenstance, or utterly random, or a mistake. Spielberg, at some point, said "get a bandage on his head, and his arm in a sling." I can applaud the random, Monty Python-esque bizarreness of it, if that's the deal, but I'd really like to know if it's that simple.

You Could Say I've Been Waiting For This

2011-11-21T11:33:00.000-08:00

Official from brucespringsteen.net:

Well, things are starting to heat up down on E Street.

A lot of you have been hearing that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will be on tour in 2012. That is absolutely correct. The European dates run from the middle of May until end of July and are being announced this week. Info on the US dates and the World tour dates will coming up shortly.

In addition, we want you to know that the music is almost done (but still untitled), we have almost settled on the release date (but not quite yet), and that we are all incredibly excited about everything that we're planning for 2012. That's all the info we have for right now, but we'll get back to you--real soon.

The first dates to be announced are all in Europe, early to mid Summer. No conflict with SDCC, thank God.

Lots of questions...What's the format of the tour? What's the tone of the album?

How do you replace Clarence? I really hope they bring the throne back out, and leave it empty for him. I feel like that would be fitting.

Time will tell.

Stuck in My Head 11.18.2011

2011-11-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

Ah, let's turn the Wayback Machine to about this time of year, 2009....

New Fang
By Them Crooked Vultures

New fang,
No thang.
Had it made
To parade,
Found a sucker,
Now I want another.

Stand up,
Step aside,
Open wide,
Handing out and on
Until the feelings gone

Want to?
Yes, I do.
Wanna learn,
Taking turns getting carpet burns.

Loose lips,
Lipstick spit.
Come or go,
I think it's both I gotta know.

Sometimes you break a finger on the upper hand,
I think you've got me confused with a better man.
Sometimes you break a finger on the upper hand,
I know you've got me confused...

For a better man.

No slack,
Cadillac,
Couldn't quit,
Gums flap so
Here's your teeth back

Accept
What I left
Far behind in a time
When my mind was like a landmine.

Tailgate,
By the lake,
Too much, too young,
Every button gonna come undone.

Tightrope,
No joke,
Nothing left,
So you go baroque.

Sometimes you break a finger on the upper hand,
I think you've got me confused with a better man.
Sometimes you break a finger on the upper hand,
I know you've got me confused...

New fang, passing over
No point waiting around for

New fang passing over
No more waiting around-ah

New fang, New fang
They can't wait, no-oh

New fang, newwwwww

I love this band, and that album, so much. In a very real way, it/they inspired the music that I've been writing ever since. Great live act, too. Cool all around. I remember having to record this Austin City Limits episode, and being so excited to watch it.

I wish they'd record another album.

RAIDERS Returns to the Big Screen

2011-11-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

Always my favorite Raiders poster

Frankly, the thing I am most excited for this weekend, is that a new restored print (I think it might be digital) of Raiders of the Lost Ark will be showing at Chicago's Music Box Theatre. I LOVE seeing this film in a theatre with an audience, it's just smashing to hear the crowd enjoy the adventure together.

I'm always on the lookout to see "important" films in theatres with audiences. This started, in earnest, when I saw a restored print of Gone With the Wind in an theatre in (I believe) 1998. I had always been "meh" about Gone With the Wind. I respected it for it place in history, the artistry involved, but watching it on TV never impressed on me it's entertainment value.

I was shocked at how incredible Clark Gable is in that film. He's hilarious! It's a performance that just lives by hearing laughter around you. It's never the same in a living room. There's also, truly, no way to understand how incredible the shots in that film are without being overwhelmed by the imagery. The absolute same can be said of Lawrence of Arabia. I still shudder thinking about seeing a 70mm print of that in 1989. Glorious. (I'm not buying that until there's a Blu-Ray)

I'm a purist. Movies are made to be seen in large groups, with overwhelming imagery and sound. It's supposed to be an event to connect with the humanity around you, and revel in how you can all react together to what's on the screen. Yes, yes, I'm very happy technology has advanced to where I can see amazing, film-like presentations of movies I love in my living room. There's a place for that, but that is not where movies live and breathe. Like theatre, we're supposed to be together in watching a movie.

But I digress...

I love this

Star Wars lives in my heart as my favorite series of films. The place where my cinephilia sprang full form as that Star Destroyer rumbled over my head. It lives in a special place nothing else can touch.

But, for my money, Raiders of the Lost Ark is perfect. It's the most brilliant execution of the exact film that was intended that has ever graced the screen. All the elements are exactly right for the style and genre that was being attempted.

The script? Perfect. The cast? Perfect. The filmmaking? Perfect. All the pieces are executed exactly as they should be. No one made a wrong turn. No idea seems shoehorned in, the internal logic is impeccable. It's simply the greatest "popcorn movie" of all time. It's a living example that you can make blockbuster entertainment, and it doesn't have to be dumb.

It also doesn't have to feel utterly preposterous. One of the saddest things, to me, is that we never really got a sequel to Raiders. Yes, Indiana Jones returned, but there's a rough edge, and a realism, in Raiders that none of the sequels ever come close to.

Yes, Raiders is filled with humor, but, almost immediately, the humor began to take over the franchise. The first film was astounding because it WASN'T a cartoon, it felt real. Indy hurt, he bled, and in a realistic way. Yet you could still get comedy out of it, the scene between Marion and Indy on the Bantu Wind is engaging, funny, and yet clear that what Indy has gone through took a toll. With each sequel he bounced back that much more easily.

This too. By Tom Whalen

To be clear; I love all the Indiana Jones films, deeply. I just simply hold Raiders as miles above the rest. Temple of Doom got darker, but also cartoony. Last Crusade and Crystal Skull both play more like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "Road" pictures, comedies first and foremost, rather than adventure films. They all have their great moments, and are entertaining, but they can't touch the original. Not at all.

(And...No, I don't see anything in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that deviates all that far from Last Crusade. They're actually the two Indiana Jones pictures that seem most connected, tonally, to me. You wanna talk to me about the refrigerator bit? Then you have to acknowledge that the fighter plane in the tunnel is as dumb, if not dumber. Yeah, the aliens...I know, but I don't see it as that far removed from the "magic" we see in the rest of the series. Your mileage may vary.)

Long story short, there's a, well, magic, in Raiders of the Lost Ark that many films have tried to replicate, but no one has been able to.

I can't wait to see it again.

Nose to the Grindstone

2011-11-17T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've found myself in a fairly fertile period, musically. I think this can be credited to a few things, one, I'm playing guitar a lot, with Bus Stop performances going on. I'm certainly play acoustic more than I have in a long, long time. That's led me to some nice things, including music for a set of lyrics that have been sitting around for over half a year.

Of course, I have a LOT of lyrics that have been sitting around for half a year. That's a whole 'nother issue.

Second, I just feel inspired. This may come from all the Rock Biographies I've been reading, or the positive energy from the people around me. Either way, it's great. I've just come to a point where I'll play a riff, or a progression, and I'll think "that sounds pretty good," and I'm OK with that. Sometimes I still get caught up in the "make it more complicated" thought process, but not as much as I used to. I'm feeling good about my rhythm playing, even if I can say my lead work could be better. I love putting down a drum beat, and playing over it.

But yes, oh faithful reader, here it comes...

Do you think he has some free time?

God, the drum machine is starting to bug me. I really need to figure out some way to make the drum lines more organic, more connected to the guitar and bass parts. What I'm doing is fine, it keeps the beat, but I'm just not good enough at programming the damn thing to do the cool stuff that's in my head.

It comes down to this, find a drummer (Dave F, where are you when I need you?), or figure out how to do it myself. I've been looking at some electronic kits. I'm not a drummer, but I know I can keep a beat, so it might just be a step up from the machine, but it would be live. Or, I could put everything aside and, y'know, put some time into REALLY figuring out how to program the machine. Either way, I want something MORE...

The reason is simple. I feel really good about the riffs and songs I'm putting together. It's the best stuff I've ever figured out, and with the equipment I have, now, I can make it sound really, really good. So, here's the deal, and I know I've been saying this FOREVER, I am looking forward in the schedule, the time has come to really focus and get this set of tunes done. Make them work, and make them work well.

I may end up shaving the number of tracks I wanted to have down a bit, which seems like a bit of a cop-out, but it'll also get me to "finished product" faster if I say "EP" instead of "LP." At this point, after so much time, I think that's just being realistic. I also think it's time to stop mucking around with the 6-7 tracks I have "in process" all at once. I intend to start from scratch, and take one track at a time, percussion, guitar, bass, vocals, mixing, mastering...then onto the next track.

The honest truth is I'm lost on some of the work I've done before. I can't even remember what exactly I was thinking when I made certain choices. This is a chance to wipe the slate and regroup (Thank God I've been taking better notes about what, exactly, I'm playing), and actually move forward with finished progress to mark my path.

I think I need it.

THE MUPPETS

2011-11-16T11:05:00.000-08:00

Do you like joy?

Jon Stewart started talking about attending a Bruce Springsteen concert with that question. I found it hilarious, because it was true. I could ask the same thing about seeing The Muppets, Disney's 100% well-handled return of Jim Henson's creations to the big screen.

The bottom line is, I think you'd have to be pretty cold-hearted to be of my generation and not be moved by this film. It's chock full of good will and positive energy. Even if you find nits to pick, the overall effort is so energized, and so on-task to the spirit that Henson himself imbued the characters with, that you have to let it evaporate.

I defy anyone to watch the sequence where The Rainbow Connection is fully performed to tell me this film doesn't capture the spirit of the Muppets. Yes, elements are updated, but not changed. Star/co-screenwriter Jason Segel has imagined a history that leaves untouched the "classic" Muppet projects, but sets up a quest/road picture that, yes, sows some seeds of discontent between the old team.

Personally, I had no problem with that. The characters did not become coarse, or stray from the personalities we remember, but they had moved on in logical ways. Fozzie still, desperately, trying to stay in showbiz. Piggy moving into high fashion. Gonzo becoming a plumbing magnate.

Yeah, that last one was odd, but IT'S GONZO. Plus, I chuckled heartily at the gentle dig at fears of "toilet humor" seeping into the proceedings.

There's a number of jokes like that, where Segel, with co-writer Nicholas Stoller, and director James Bobin stick in elements that, I'm sure, fans were terrified might rear up in a "re-invention." "The Moopets," ghettoized, crude versions of our familiar troupe comes right to mind. (Frankly, I'd have liked to see more of them...the idea tickles me so much...a "perform off" with the originals, or something. It also provides a funny celebrity cameo.)

Special kudos to Chris Cooper, who is nothing short of wonderful as Tex Richman, and my friends can thank him when I'm driving them nuts with, "Evil Laugh....Evil Laugh..." Let me just say this...the man can rap. Also, I can't tell you how much loved Uncle Deadly and ESPECIALLY Bobo the Bear as his partners in crime. Bobo SLAYED me in almost every scene. Genius work from Muppeteer Bill Barretta.

I really enjoyed Segel and Amy Adams as our main human protagonists. They were cute, which is pretty much the whole job. There's also Walter, our new Muppet. He, in many ways, drives the story. Just about every original character gets a good bit, or two, but there is a lot of ground to cover. I think Gonzo got a bit of a short shrift.

The new songs, by Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie, are pretty good. I enjoyed all of them, but some of them, specifically Man or Muppet, sound an awful lot like Flight of the Conchords numbers. I'm luke-warm on that show/band, so your mileage may vary.

I also wonder about the Gary (Segel)/Walter relationship. They're brothers, but one is a Muppet? Then Mary (Adams) refers to Walter as Gary's "friend?" Aren't they brothers?

Aw, the heck with it. Long story short, if you were worried about someone coming in and screwing up the Muppets, allay those fears. You can question if it's as good as Jim would've done himself, but it's a loving, respectful love letter to his creations.

One last bit...Thank you, God for Zach Galifianakis as Hobo Joe. Brilliant. Utterly.

Stuck In My Head 11.15.2011

2011-11-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

OK, the "Slash featuring Myles Kennedy" live album Made in Stoke, came out today. I downloaded it this morning, and was enjoying it on the train. This is, as mentioned before, my favorite Appetite for Destruction track, and Slash had put together a really awesome band (they're making an album together now). I think Kennedy just kills this...

Rocket Queen
Originally by
Guns N' Roses

If I say I don't need anyone
I can say these things to you
'cause
I can turn on anyone
Just like I've turned on you
I've got a tongue like a razor
A sweet switchblade knife
And I can do you favors
But then you'll do whatever I like

Here I am
And you're a Rocket Queen
I might be a little young
But Honey I ain't naive
Here I am
And you're a Rocket Queen oh yeah
I might be too much
But honey you're a bit obscene

I've seen everything imaginable
Pass before these eyes
I've had everything that's tangible
Honey you'd be suprised
I'm a sexual innuendo
In this burned out paradise
If you turn me on to anything
You better turn me on tonight

Here I am
And you're a Rocket Queen
I might be a little young
But Honey I ain't naive
Here I am
And you're a Rocket Queen oh yeah
I might be too much
But honey you're a bit obscene

I see you standin'
Standin' on your own
It's such a lonely place for you
For you to be
If you need a shoulder
Or if you need a friend
I'll be here standing
Until the bitter end
No one needs the sorrow
No one needs the pain
I hate to see you
Walking out there
Out in the rain
So don't chastise me
Or think I, I mean you harm
Of those that take you
Leave you strung out
Much too far
Baby-yeah

Don't ever leave me
Say you'll always be there
All I ever wanted
Was for you
To know that I care

Axl's current Guns lineup is playing Allstate Arena tonight, and I have to admit I was tempted, just to see it. However when I scored Muppets preview tickets, there really was no contest. Zombie Kermit beats Zombie G'NR every time...

Creeping In Around the Edges

2011-11-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

I was intending to be in a good mood yesterday. That was my plan. I had a rehearsal last night, and I'd scored tickets to see an early screening of The Muppets tonight. What did I have to be grumpy about?

Well, I spent most of the day fighting off a lingering feeling that I was a loser. It's a sensation that I'm quite used to, honestly. That I'm a fool, that these people who claim to like me and enjoy my company, well, I've just somehow fooled them. Ditto the people who actually think I'm talented. It was a gray day. That's probably the best way to put it.

Now I know that my life is nothing to be upset about. I'm healthy and comfortable. Plus, without getting into detail, I also got hit with a pretty solid reminder that things could be much worse yesterday. Life plays no favorites, and we all ought to cherish and value what we have. It makes me feel like a selfish ass to feel like this, in the face of that.

That said, I also have a right to be sad. To let those things around me that nag and pull down on me, well, to let them have their way. I know a hell of a lot of people out there think I'm a downer, even if I prefer to call myself a realist, but, y'know, damn it, I can be light hearted, at times, too.

I don't even really know what it is. The extension of Bus Stop at Raven Theatre being cancelled because Paula Wagner may be bringing it back to Broadway? Probably part of it. I like this cast, and, frankly, the money would've been a nice supplement to my saving for the 2012 SDCC.

I also, and look, I'm not trying to denigrate anybody, but I'm spending time trying to make myself excited about the projects I have on the horizon. I'm still stinging a little from a role I was after, in a interesting production with a company I want to get involved with, going to an Equity actor. Hey, that's the way it goes, the decision makes sense, and I understand why things went the way they did.

But it stings. Especially since I'm finding out a lot of people I really love to work with are going to be part of it. It also leaves me in a position of doing a show which, without a doubt, will be excellent, but in which I have VERY little to do....

Y'know, this is silly.

We all know what my problem is. I think too fucking much. I'm always trying to plan three steps ahead, and it leads me down this path of, not just hoping, but expecting certain things to happen. Of expecting certain events to play out the way I want, and trying to prepare for THAT, rather than preparing myself for when they don't. It's really clear I ought to, y'know, think about preparing myself for disappointment.

Frankly, this probably has more than a little to do with the change to fall/winter weather. We had a long stretch of warmth in October, and now our time has run out, and we're heading into winter, for real.

I'm certain to snap out of it. I know I am. Thank God I'm gonna let The Muppets have their way with me tonight....

Stuck in My Head 11.14.2011

2011-11-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

Supernaut
by Black Sabbath

I want to reach out
And touch the sky
I want to touch the sun
But I don't need to die

I'm gonna climb up
On the mountains of the moon
And find a distant man
A waving his spoon

I've crossed the ocean, turned everything
I found the crossing near a golden rainbow's end
I've been through magic and defied reality
I've lived a thousand years and it never bothered me

Got no religion
Don't need no friends
Got all I want
And I don't need to pretend

Don't try to reach me
'Cause I'd tear up your mind
I've seen the future
And I've left it behind

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW

2011-11-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

I have so many films in my Netflix queue, sometimes I forget why they're there. Right now, however, between episodes of Chuck, I'm in a run of Jeff Bridges films, inspired, I'm sure, by seeing True Grit. Well, right off the beat, I threw in The Last Picture Show, which I hadn't seen for probably 20 years. It'd been so long, I couldn't remember what happened in the film, honestly. Which is actually great, as the film had the ability to surprise me. I would also say, at 20, I don't know that I was old enough to really "get" it.

Bridges was the draw, but the whole cast is quite amazing. You couple that with Peter Bogdanovich's brilliant direction, and the glorious black and white photography, allowing almost infinite depth of focus. Things in the far background are almost as clear as the foreground actors. It created this sense of place and time that was almost overwhelming.

In a lot of ways, it was overwhelming. I have a deep desire to own this film, now, because it made me so very sad. I don't know, maybe it's passing 40, feeling my options narrow, but It was almost breathtaking how much I felt the characters in this picture. The pervasive, almost oppressive, sense of loss. It felt real, and true.

The truly interesting thing is that the film embraces characters of all ages, people of this small Texas town at the beginning and end of their lives. All feeling the loss of something. The through line is clear, loss, and dealing with loss, is a lifetime endeavor. Be it Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Bridges) leaving high school, and finding exactly how limited their choices are, or Ruth (Cloris Leachman) and Lois (Ellen Burstyn) finding how trapped they are in the choices they have made. The high school princess, Jacy (Cybill Shepherd) learning of the sacrifices and compromises to ensure a "good" life.

All this is played out in front of the passing of the town, itself. Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson), who owned the pool hall, the cafe, and the picture show, passes away. Eventually, the woman he left the movie house to can't continue, and closes with a final screening of Red River, with Sonny, Duane and Billy (Sam Bottoms), the local half-wit, the only patrons. The scene is steeped in a true feeling of passing, with only these three boys (one of them oblivious) to reflect on it. You see how the giant heart of Sam, how he cared for the people of the town, and stood in as a surrogate father to the young men around him, can never truly be replaced.

I almost don't have words for the epic performance Ben Johnson gives as Sam. It is awe-inspiring. The Last Picture Show belongs to Ben Johnson, and he got a absolutely deserve Best Supporting Actor Oscar to show for it.

He marched through the film, with the twinkle in his eye of true love for these young men, that can turn to steely resolve when they stray from the correct path. You see the power that even his presence has over them, the pride and joy they take from his company, when he bans a group of boys from his pool hall.

Then, with one beautiful, brilliant monologue, Sam lets Sonny see that even he, too, cannot escape the specter of loss, regret and sadness. I couldn't take my eyes off Johnson, the character that seeps from his face, the life that his squint hints at, as he spoke one of the best film speeches in my memory.

Despite the fact that I know doing movie monologues is a bad idea, I think I may have to use this one. I FELT it, deep down inside, as Johnson spoke the words. It made me think about my own life, and where I am now. I don't think I breathed. at all, during that scene.

That's also the highest honor I can make to Bogdanovich's movie, as a whole. I felt it, I felt like I understood those people, and that time. It tore me up, but the honesty of it all was absolutely enthralling.

Highest Recommendation.

Stuck in My Head 11.11.11

2011-11-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

Ramble On
by Led Zeppelin

Leaves are fallin' all around, time I was on my way
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay
but now it's time for me to go, the autumn moon lights my way
for now I smell the rain, and with it, pain
and it's headed my way
Aw, sometimes I grow so tired
but I know I've got one thing I got to do

A-ramble on, and now's the time, the time is now
Sing my song, I'm goin' 'round the world, I gotta find my girl
On my way, I've been this way ten years to the day
Ramble on, gotta find the queen of all my dreams

Got no time to for spreadin' roots, the time has come to be gone
And though our health we drank a thousand times
it's time to ramble on

A-ramble on, and now's the time, the time is now
Sing my song, I'm goin' 'round the world
I've gotta find my girl
On my way, I've been this way ten years to the day
I gotta ramble on, I gotta find the queen of all my dreams
I tell you no lie

Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear
How years ago in days of old when magic filled the air
'twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, mm-I met a girl so fair
but Gollum and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her
her, her, yeah, and ain't nothin' I can do, no

I guess I'll keep on ramblin', I'm gonna
Sing my song/Sh-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, I've gotta find my baby
I'm gonna ramble on, sing my song
Gonna work my way all around the world
Baby, baby/Ramble on, yeah

A-do-do-n-do-n-do-n-do, my baby/Baby
A-ramble on, baby
A-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-de-do-de-do-de-do-de-do-de, yeah, yeah/
I can't stop this feelin' in my heart
Everytime I feel I will leave, I really gotta part
Gotta keep searchin' for my baby/
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, babe
I've gotta keep a-searchin'for my baby
My, my, my, my, my, my, my baby/
Yeah-yeah, a-yeah-yeah, a-yeah-yeah
My, my, my, my, my, my baby/
Yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah
Ooh, my, my, my-my, my-my, my-my, yeah/
I can't find my bluebird, I'd listen to my bluebird sing
but I, I can't find my bluebird
I keep a-ramblin' baby/ Ah, ah, yeah
I keep a-ramblin', baby/I keep, keep, keep, keep, keep
Babe, babe, babe, babe/
I keep a-ramblin', baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby
My, my babe
Bay-ya-by/A-goodbye, goodbye, a-goodbye, baby
Well, something's wrong

Props to whoever transcribed those lyrics...impressive accuracy.

Art is Not Black and White, and We Don't Have to Agree

2011-11-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

I recently put up my feelings about the Lou Reed & Metallica album, Lulu.

My reaction, as I would describe it, is that it's hard to like, unlistenable in places, but worthy of more thought than, I felt, most people were giving it. I think any project this odd, and, I'll say it, brave, deserves a bit more consideration than was being afforded to it.

Immediately, I was getting reactions like "you love Lulu?!?!?"

No, I don't "love" Lulu.

I think I love Junior Dad, and I might love Iced Honey. Both of those tracks are very interesting, and got stuck in my head. So, yeah, I dug those tracks. My endorsement of the album, as a whole, would be as an interesting experiment that, as experiments often do, fails most of the time.

But, you know what? It IS art. It is an expression of an emotional state. The lyrics can be repugnant, but they're repugnant with a point. The co-mingling of the Reed and Metallica sensibilities apparently was exciting to Reed for this material.

It has to be understood that Lars Ulrich must've been the spark of Metallica's involvement. Lars has grown into a guy who's into artistic expression, with his love of modern art. It's easy to see that putting the band, that he has put so much of himself into, into a box with limited freedom is something he wants to fight against. I think the rest of the band agrees. Who wants to be doing the same thing you did at 20, when you're 40? No artist does.

But I digress....

The point is, how the fact that I find some interesting things on Lulu, that I don't HATE it, suddenly translates to "I love it." Trust me, I don't expect to be popping that CD on all the time. Listening to that kind of record is work, and frankly, most people (including myself) usually don't want music to be work. I get that, and it's a completely valid opinion.

But, well, OK...This is what I'm feeling:

I love Jackson Pollock. LOVE his paintings. If I was looking at "Number 8," just marveling at it (because I would), and some guy came up and said, "y'know, I dig the colors, it's kind of pretty, but my 3 year old could do that," I wouldn't jump down his throat, screaming "why do you hate it!?!!?"

Because he doesn't. He may not appreciate the technique, or the intent, Pollock put into his canvases, but he does like the colors. That's not "getting it," but neither is it hating it.

Even if he did HATE it, walked up, stood next to me, and said "looks like somebody took a dump on the canvas," what's that to me? How does that impact my reaction to it, and why should I care that the beauty I see is completely lost on him? I'm the kind of person who'd be interested in why he feels that way (hence I love reading well-written reviews), but I don't consider that a referendum on if I'm "right," or not.

Of course, I blame the internet, and our world of easy slander. What the fuck, right? They're rich and famous, and don't have a "real job," so I'm justified in saying they suck. Plus, it makes all of us feel better if there's a "right" and "wrong," and we can position ourselves as firmly, without question, on the right side.

Every, single time I think about this subject, I think about when Superman Returns came out. I saw it, I cried at John Williams' Superman Theme during the opening credits, and when I walked out of the theatre I was happy. I thought it was a well-made film, that captured the tone of the character correctly.

I, by no means, thought it was perfect. I felt like it was shackled by the connections Director Bryan Singer wanted to make to the Richard Donner's first film, as well as Superman II. I felt Brandon Routh was a decent actor, who had a good feel for the character, but was hamstrung by the clear direction to "do it like Christopher Reeve."

When I mentioned these criticisms on a couple of message boards I frequented, you would've thought I'd burned a flag. People were raving mad that I had "trashed" the film. Which I couldn't get, because I was always clear to say I liked the movie quite a bit. It just seemed like, and here's the rub, the second I said something that these folks disagreed with, they stopped reading what I was saying. From that point on, my posts were only there to find grounds to say I was "wrong," making them "right."

Now, hell, I'll still defend Superman Returns, but it's become a rather reviled film. I find some of the people who were so mad at me using the very same arguments I did, and proclaiming that the film "sucked."

Hey, everyone's entitled to change their minds.

Still, I wonder how much more communication we'd have, how many ideas might be really heard and considered, if we'd just start applying "I think." Your opinion is just what you think, period. Mine is just what I think. No more, no less, and none of us has a direct line to the universal worth of any work of art. Art is supposed to inspire discussion, but when that discussion ends up feeling like a competition, what's the point?

With that, your moment of zen...Pollock's "Full Fathom Five," from 1947.

Hot Damn, Do I Love This Song

2011-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

AND this band. One of the best new acts out there.

Rush's TIME MACHINE: LIVE IN CLEVELAND 2011

2011-11-09T10:42:00.000-08:00

I saw this in a theater last Wednesday night, and now the CD and DVD versions are available, as well as a Blu-Ray, which is currently exclusive at Best Buy (Though, oddly, the Blu-Ray, alone, is not available on their site). They also have a special edition Blu-Ray that includes a "Rash" T-shirt, similar to what Geddy Lee wears during the show.

It's a great show. I reviewed it when I saw it last July, and my opinion has not changed. Rush is a consistent band, their setlists rarely change during a tour, so the show you get in this set is pretty much exactly what you saw if you went. With an annoying exception, but I'll get to that.

The production here is exactly the way I like to see concerts filmed. The audience is as much a part of the show as the band. Lots of crowd shots, and that helps make the "live show" energy palpable. It's just cool (to me) to see a row of guys air-drumming a Neil Peart fill in unison. The band's fans LOVE them, and love to watch them execute their parts perfectly.

There is a certain element of "been there, done that" here. Rush has put out 5 live albums in the last 13 years, essentially one album for each tour. For hardcore fans, like myself, that's kinda awesome, you get a quality record of the show you saw. Rush, I have to say, is not a band that requires bootlegging of every show you've seen. I caught the Snakes and Arrows tour two times in 5 days, and the shows were identical (save one song). They were great, and I was happy to be there, but...it's not like Springsteen, where I want a record of every show I was personally at, because it's always different.

It's cool to see Marathon in the setlist, and Presto's appearance reminded me how much I love that album, but playing the Moving Pictures album in it's entirety also just replays songs they always play anyway, Tom Sawyer and Limelight have been on all five of those live albums. That's not a criticism, because I'm a fan, and I love having a record of the tours, but...I think I'd have loved the in-process Clockwork Angels album more.

The fact is, it's a live album, and it's aimed at fans, anyway. In that sense, it's exactly what it's supposed to be...

That said.

Where is the I Still Love You, Man video that closed the show? That was a highlight of the whole evening for me. You couldn't have included it as a bonus feature? I can't embed the video here, so follow that link, it's great.

It's a beautiful film, and well worth your time, if you're a fan. It was also incredible on the big screen.

Setlist:
Video Intro (The Real History of Rush Part 2: "Don't Be Rash")
The Spirit of Radio
Time Stand Still
Presto
Stick It Out
Workin' Them Angels
Leave That Thing Alone!
Faithless
BU2B
Freewill
Marathon
Subdivisions
(-Intermission-)
Video Intro (The Real History of Rush Part 17: "...And Rock and Roll is My Name")
Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight
The Camera Eye
Witch Hunt
Vital Signs
Caravan
Drum Solo (Love For Sale)
Closer to the Heart (with new 12-string acoustic intro)
2112 (Overture/Temples of Syrinx)
Far Cry
Encore:
La Villa Strangiato (with polka intro)
Working Man (reggae intro)
Video Outro (Meanwhile..Back in 1974)/Credits

IT'S SO EASY (AND OTHER LIES) by Duff McKagan

2011-11-07T14:35:00.000-08:00

One of the offshoots of my Kindle ownership is real rebirth of my love of Rock biographies or autobiographies. I ate up Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir by Dave Mustaine, and I have a couple others on the wishlist, right now. I've been working on series books recently, specifically Dennis Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro novels (good stuff - LOVE the characters), and the rock books have been good "palate cleansers" between each mystery.

I'm a Guns N' Roses fan. So much so that I've even entertained seeing Axl Rose's new version of the band when they play Allstate Arena next week. Yes, I know, I'm supposed to hate Chinese Democracy, but I don't. Sue me. I do know, in my heart of hearts, that's not REALLY Guns N' Roses. Guns N' Roses was five crazy, committed kids that joined up in Los Angeles and changed the face of rock. They really did, they weren't your run-of-the-mill glam hair metal band. They were something really different, dangerous, and , I really believe they laid the groundwork that allowed for the acceptance of Grunge a few years later.

You can argue the fact. No worries. Just my opinion.

Duff McKagan was there. Guns N" Roses original bassist was actually from Seattle, and part of the punk movement there that eventually morphed into Grunge. He was actually roommates with Mother Love Bone's doomed singer Andrew Wood. McKagan forms the living link between what was happening in Seattle, and the eruption in LA that effectively killed the "safe" glam acts.

As with most people who live in interesting times, and do interesting things, McKagan has put pen to paper and written a book about it, It's So Easy (and Other Lies). Now, I've read Slash's book, I'm really not interested in reading Steven Adler's, and it's unlikely that either Izzy Stradlin or Axl Rose will ever tell their stories. So, really, I feel like, as far as first-person accounts, this is about as good as we're going to get.

I couldn't help but compare Duff's book to Slash's, it's inevitable. Slash spends much more time detailing life as an addict, and there's quite a bit more salacious content there. Duff, frankly, comes off as a tremendously centered guy, but also well aware of how fucking hard it was for him to get there. He's also very aware of his fallibility. He spends time making it clear that he simply cannot, ever, drink alcohol again. Thing is, I think he's far more interested in sharing how he got to where he is now, rather than wallowing in where he was.

Which isn't to say he hides from his past. Oh, no, he does an excellent job of explaining his cycle of addiction. Booze, then coke to bring him back up, then booze to take him back down, rinse, repeat. He did do heroin, not to mention crack, but shied away from injecting. Preferring to place a bit on the end of a cigarette, and smoke it that way.

Then

So, yeah the rock and roll excess is there, and the stories of friends taken way too early. Yet, he spends much more time exploring his own rehab process. "Good pain," as he calls it, bicycling, kickboxing and meditation. He, literally, it seems, exercised himself out of abuse. He even talks about, upon returning to LA after cleaning up, the rumor was he's had a facelift and liposuction. Certainly, Duff is one of those guys who wore his excess on his face. Running sores, and the whole bit.

Now

The transformation is striking, and it's more than just physical. You really get an image of McKagan as a bit of a lost soul. Just in love with the idea of being in a band, and 100% committed to it when it happened. He relates stories of listening to a crowd chant "bullshit," waiting for a show already hours late, with Axl Rose not even in the city. Trying to drown the embarrassment, acutely aware the HIS BAND WAS LETTING THEIR FANS DOWN, in booze, then coke, then boozed. Rinse. Repeat. then berating himself for not calling a band meeting, or making some effort to put things back on track.

Mostly, I got a sense of a guy who's just pretty normal. The book starts with Duff discovering two kids making out a groping during his daughter's thirteenth birthday party. He freezes, and wonders what else the kids might be doing, rattling off a litany of "questionable" activities he's indulged by his teen years. It's an endearing way to begin, and it's only strengthened as we follow him in his work to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Business. He recounts leaving a Velvet Revolver show in a limo, and taking the time to call a professor with a question about some on-line course....

"Duff who?!?" is the instructor's response, and you get the sense McKagan reveled in it.

It's a good read. It reminded me of the Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage documentary, in that Duff really does feel like a regular joe. There may be mythologizing going on here. If anything, it's in the sense that McKagan had goals, be it in Rock and Roll, getting clean and sober, or trying to gain an education, and he applied himself, and worked to accomplish them. It's listening to stories from a colorful guy who did some stupid shit, but now has his head on straight.

That's pretty cool, to me.

I Can't Get Sick, I Can't Get Sick, I Can't Get Sick

2011-11-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

I think I have a cold. Not terrible, but it's there. Itchy throat, stuffy head. The nose isn't running yet, but I feel it coming. Man, I hate this time of year, the temperature swings make me particularly vulnerable to a cold.

Ah, well, what can you do?

It's just poor, poor timing. Shows all weekend, some auditions to sit in on Sunday. I do not need to feel crappy. Bear down, and lots of hot beverages, I guess.

In other news, Bus Stop has officially been extended until January 14th, so I'll be playing Virgil twelve more times. It's nice, the show is fun, and the extra money will be really helpful going toward my SDCC trip. It's the first time, in 20 years of doing this, that I've had a show extended. So, that's cool.

As to Comic-Con, damn, they are taking forever to get registration up this year. It's maddening. It's bad enough that they tend to sell a billion tickets at the convention the year prior. I mean, last time I went, in 2010, all of the full weekend tickets with preview night had sold during the 2009 convention. Essentially, it created a situation where, in order to have a "full" convention experience, you had to go every year.

Thankfully, the convention organizers have acknowledged this, and. apparently, taken steps so it won't happen again.

Of course, we don't know that, since registration hasn't re-opened.

And, now for your audio/video enjoyment, my theme song (or it ought to be):