Areovox - hailing from the NYC, these guys put together some solid tracks.
have a listen:
Rewind 2001-1
1. Don't Fade Out
2. A Million
3. Beat You Up
4. Could've Been A Contender
5. Home
The Skyhighatrist EP
Running on Empty
Take Me Apart
3.06.2005
a quickie...
2.25.2005
things that go bump in the night...
so there we were, just after the release of Full Collapse, Thursday was coming to town and opening for Rival Schools at the Echo Lounge in Atlanta, GA what feels like an eon ago. my reasons for going were twofold: firstly, i loved the album Full Collapse and was pretty much ga-ga over Thursday at the time. secondly, i also loved Quicksand and wanted to see the most recent incarnation of that splintered line up.
as expected, the live performance of Thursday was sublime and explosive all at once. i've only had a few live show experiences like that in my life (one of them being Sunny Day Real Estate at the Masquerade another lifetime ago). i was equally impressed with Rival Schools, but apparently the rest of the pre-pubescent crowd was not as the place was half-empty for their set.
i now get around to the point of this post...the band that played before Thursday was a little known outfit called The Ghost. i was extremely impressed with the energy and poise that they showed on stage, enough so that i bought their first LP This is a Hospital on the spot. i listened to it over and over for months to come. as you can see on my sidebar, i just bought their sophomore effort and am equally impressed. i would definitely suggest that you check them out:
Diffuser
Banished and Loving It
here are more mp3's from Some Records:
Innaway - Wild
The Exit - Let's Go to Haiti
The New Transit Direction - Survival 101
Rival Schools/Onelinedrawing - Take One For the Team
Hot Water Music - Radio Free Gainesville
Beyond - One Kind Word
2.23.2005
so there we weren't...
so i just haven't felt like updating much recently. i'm not sure why.... i found some good music and wanted to tell people about it but actually finding mp3's and writing about it has seemed like a chore in my head ... and i didn't want that. however, now i am ready to begin again. as before, several random things before the music:
- i have switched to Firefox ... and i love it, the more security warnings i hear about IE the more grateful i am that i took the leap.
- in the vein of being horribly behind the curve, i have also discovered download managers (i use this one), and am now getting music without even thinking, i just have to look at the screen and it starts getting stuff for me ... well, not actually, but close. it will work with Firefox if you make sure to add-on FlashGot.
- in the same spirit, but this time in the vein of being "un-hip", i am completely addicted to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 .... another reason i have not updated my blog, i only have limited free time...what do you want from me?
- a new episode of The West Wing comes on tonight. i'm a little apprehensive about it because in the previews it shows Josh and Toby fighting and i'm not sure i want to see that...
- also, my "high speed" cable modem service sucks ass, sometimes it just stops delivering a connection while i'm in the middle of something ... like trying to play poker on-line ... then it will reconnect 30 seconds later and i will get kicked off the table where i was playing for taking too long and lose my money. sidenote: some of the people that play poker on-line are just straight up mean, a little trigger happy with the "abusive vote" that gets you kicked off. i tried to explain what was going on with my connection, but no ... goodbye beaner.
anyway, here is some music:
Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start - Internet EP
*(buy other stuff)
01. out to get me
02. dear erica
03. are we seeing this?
04. i'm growing out
05. track 5
The Lionheart Brothers
the pole dilemma
feed me eden
the sun in my eyes
Japancakes (from Athens, GA)*(buy)
The Waiting (live on KVRX in Austin)
i'm done for now, but i'm back...
2.07.2005
help...?
so i've spent quite a bit of time trying to work this out for myself, but if anyone out there knows anything about HTML language and can tell me why the "contact me" line on the left of the screen there is all by itself....i would be forever indebted...
2.06.2005
better late than never...
so apparently, when one starts a blog it has to be updated regularly or you get chastised because people now expect you to post and will stop reading if you don't. this may or may not be true....but i feel like i should post when i feel the urge to do so and not just force it for posting's sake.
anyway...
a couple of random things to share before going on with the music portion of our programming:
1. if you haven't seen Hotel Rwanda yet, then do so....it will literally kick your emotional ass. Don Cheadle is incredible in his role and his supporting cast is astounding in their portrayal of the people caught up in this tragedy. go and see it at your local movie theatre and then go here and read about how the same thing is happening in the Sudan...
2. on a whole different note, go and see Sideways, as well. another spectacular movie. i'm not gonna say much except that i can't believe that Paul Giamatti was snubbed by the Academy and Thomas Haden Church will still, to me, always be "Lowell" from Wings or "Ned" from Ned & Stacey (which also included Debra Messing pre-Will & Grace).
3. it's snowing in Denver and i can't get the heating to come on... the irony is that my landlord was just here yesterday and i told him that we weren't having any problems with any of our systems or appliances....sigh.
4. check out M83, they are French and it is good...however i cannot find any mp3's to save my life. thus continues the questioning of how the "other guys" do it...i guess being just slightly behind the curve doesn't help.
5. i finally got "Gigantor" repaired, that's my 32" TV...i know you expected something larger with that name, but size is relative since i've been using a 19" TV/VCR combo ever since the big boy broke. anyway, now i can watch the WPT how it was meant to be viewed, with life size cards. speaking of which, there is a WPT marathon on the Travel Channel today, so i will wrap this up soon.
here are some choice tracks for this cold and dreary day:
old:
Knapsack - Cellophane * (buy)
The Promise Ring - Why Did We Ever Meet? * (buy)
Cap'n Jazz - Little League * (buy)
The Gloria Record - Tired and Uninspired * (buy)
new:
My Hotel Year - Everyday * (buy)
Cruiserweight - This Ain't No Beach Party * (buy)
Her Space Holiday - Through the Eyes of a Child * (buy)
(also...go here for some exclusive HSH remixes)
Boom Bip - Last Walk Around Mirror Lake Boards Of Canada (remix) * (buy)
"this is the winter of our discontent"
1.26.2005
a scary post...
if no one reads the comments then you will not understand this...it really doesn't matter though, just thought i'd try to be humorous.
here are some versions of the song you were speaking of, my dear:
The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (video)
The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (John Tejada Remix)
Iron and Wine - Such Great Heights
Rilo Kiley - Such Great Heights (live in DC, 10/10/04)
and another really good remix:
The Faint - Worked Up So Sexual (Death Cab Mix)
much love and until later...
1.20.2005
and please welcome...
as you may have noticed, there is a new contributor to the blog... his name is Keeva and he is a dear friend. we will be hearing from him shortly... i think.
1.19.2005
a random whine mid-week...
so on my travels back into the world of blogging, i've been checking on some of the people that inspired me to do this in the first place.
i found an incredible line on *6ize:
"Do you have that disease… that sickness?—the one where you need, you desire, to discover something new, something that lifts you up above the muck for a moment or two. I’ve had it for years—although the yearning is no longer as strong as it was when I was eighteen. No, I am not referring to drugs, but it is a chemical reaction, some strange union between mind and body when you listen to music that touches you."
as i read it, i realized that this is me, i have this illness and i've had it for that long, and, no, it is not as strong as it used to be, but it is still there... residing somewhere beneath the piles of manila folders on my desk, beneath the failed attempts at budgeting my money and not having anything left to buy new, or even old, music, the reason that i started this thing... to explore, find, and share music. i would disagree slightly in that i don't consider it a sickness, more like a privilege...some people just don't care, and that is more disturbing to me than anything else.
yet, somehow...it all gets lost, somewhere between trying to stay in shape, eat healthily, and the inevitable reality shows that i get embarassingly sucked into. i want to post everyday and find all of the coolest and hippest music, i just can't...but i really want to...can't. it's not a lack of desire or knowledge, just a complete lack of energy and, dare i say it, motivation. i want to be able to hang with the "indier than thou" crowd, but i never will. do i surrender to this, do i shut down and commute to my office...forever? i guess this also applies to the other things that i used to care about a lot more than i do now...politics, issues, the power of debate, and the intoxicating energy of people doing "something".
the idealistic answer is to quit my job, sell my tv, and do whatever it is that i need to do. however, the realist in me kicks in and i get a lecture from Jiminy Cricket about fiscal responsibility and the debts that i have already incurred trying to live a life between claims adjuster and rock star...that and i refuse to miss an episode of The West Wing, it's kind of like being politically engaged and entertained at the same time...and thank god the writing is beginning to get better, i was worried for a little while...this is a subject for another post...
the last concert i went to was on 11/10/04 and featured Minus the Bear, Signal to Noise(can't find anything), and The Detachment Kit....and it was awesome. the next morning, i felt like shit, getting up to go to work and wanting to be on the road with the bands....sigh. the concert before that was...i don't even know...maybe Hey Mercedes or possibly Iron Maiden. i used to go to at least 1 or 2 concerts per week in high school and most of college...and i bought more CD's than that.
i need to do something more, somehow incorporate more stuff into my life...maybe moving will help, i don't know.
there is one thing that has stuck with me though...based on my love for Elliott, i picked up the album Persepctive by By The Grace of God... made up of some members of the afore-mentioned band that i like. at the beginning of the song "Boy and the River", there is a female voice speaking and this is the end of what she says:
"...we only ask that a small peice of your heart be Zapatista, that it never sell out, that it never surrender, that it resist. that you continue in your places and in your means, to struggle forever so that dignity not poverty be the harvest in all the corners of our nation."
this, i feel, i can do. i will hold onto that one piece of me that has always felt a little bit revolutionary, that has never seemed to belong with the rest of me, that always seems to scream a little louder at concerts and equally during the long cold commutes. i will do what i can, where i can, when i can, and however i can. i hope that this is what they were asking of me, it's not much but hopefully one day it will be more.
part of that will be to try to share independent music and combat "corporate rock" as best i can with this blog....it won't be to the extent that others do but i will give what i can of my energy.
humorous sidenote: it turns out that i suck at finding mp3's on the web, how do the other guys do it?
i know that this has gone all over the place and has sounded probably equally didactic and simplistic at the same time. i will end this by saying that i love the fact that i have the freedom to express myself on this thing and that you also have the choice to stop reading if you want.
i also love my wife who is a career woman working 50 hours a week and is singing along with By The Grace of God, i'm pretty sure my dog likes it, too...although he did eat the tortillas that we were going to use for dinner.
it is now bedtime....repeat ad nauseam.
some mp3's:
The Detachment Kit - Ted the Electric
The Detachment Kit - Skyscrapers
Bright Eyes feat. Neva Dinova - I'll Be Your Friend
Last Days of April - I'm Calm Now
1.17.2005
for the love, what is my problem...
so something i have noticed about myself is that if i get out of the habit of doing something it takes a supreme amount of self-discipline to get myself back on track. i have been horribly derelict in my duties as far as this blog goes, the holidays really worked me over as far as motivation goes this year... i ate everything in sight and did not type a word on this thing.
this is the beginning of my effort to get back into this because i really love posting....it also does mean however that i am also trying to eat better which does not put me in a great mood.
anyway, this is supposed to be about music so i am going to post some stuff that i am listening to at the moment and i will actually get back to writing about the music at some point in the very near future.
here is a mix for your ass:
These Arms Are Snakes - Angela's Secret
Other Passengers - Bank
Funeral For A Friend - Amsterdam Conversations
The Notwist - One With The Freaks
Lovedrug - Radiology (live at CBGB's) **stream only**
The Decemberists - Here I Dreamt I was An Architect
Frausdots - The Extremists
Minus The Bear - Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!
12.23.2004
if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all...
i have fixed my comments section so that now anyone (not just Blogger members) can put in (putin, russian president) their thoughts on my thoughts...
12.22.2004
when words fail you...
Explosions in the Sky are an instrumental band from Austin, TX who make music that is a spectacular combination of intensity and relaxation. i would like to say that i have known about this band for the last few years and am now coming down from the mountain of musical knowledge to divulge this to all of you. alas, this is not true at all. in fact, the way in which i found out about them is really disingenuous in itself.....i heard it in a movie. to clarify though, not in the way one usually hears a single song in a movie and thinks..."wow, that's really good, i should see who sings that". they composed and scored the entire movie, song after beautiful song. the movie of which i speak was Friday Night Lights and despite being about high school football (i know, Varsity Blues came to mind for me as well) was actually a really good movie...superb acting and directing. however, under the dialogue and grunts you couldn't help but be swept up by the sheer emotion provided by the song in the background....i've just never felt my heart swelling during a movie...BECAUSE OF THE MUSIC!!!
anyway, links to songs are very difficult to find but if you care to download entire concerts, you can look here, here, or here.... i also found some live tracks, these are from a performance at The Earl in Atlanta on 5.11.03:
1. memorial
2. with tired eyes, tired minds, tired souls, we slept
3. have you passed through this night ?
4. your hand in mine
5. the only moment we were alone
here is a description of EITS from Temporary Residence:
"Made up of four soft spoken Texas lads, EITS makes music from the heart, for the heart. Steeped in sentimental melodies and dreamy soundscapes, each song lifts you in the air and carries you away, touching down on Earth occasionally to witness total destruction by way of their walls of cacophonous noise. Layers of chiming guitars become layers of metallic annihilation in the blink of an eye. Total silence to total violence, that's what we're talking about here, kids."
buy their albums here or he re, or, as always, in your local record shop.
12.20.2004
back to the basics....
i've not done a very good job of keeping up with the stated purpose of this blog, of sharing the new music that i find along with the music that i found eons ago that got me here in the first place...
so in this one post i will take care of all of the above by following one band from the "good ol' days" through the present as it's members went on to different projects and expanded and contracted their musical tastes...
Chritie Front Drive was born in Denver, CO in 1993 and consisted of Eric Richter » vocals, guitar: Jason Begin » guitar, vocals: Kerry McDonald » bass, vocals : Ron Marschall » percussion. they put out some 7"s and songs on compilations and 2 LP's, one of which was a compilation of a 12" and most of the 7"s. they hung around for 3 years until disbanding in 1996. during this time they put out some of the most beautiful and emotional music i have ever encountered. the breathy vocals recorded down in the mix exist soley as another instrument and pull you into the songs as your mind stops trying to separate the words from the drenched guitars. the quiet screaming in the background pulls you further in, and as the sound washes over you the instruments no longer exist...it's just a wave that starts in a place that you never talk about and ends when you open your eyes and realize that you had completely forgotten that the world around you existed (that was probably the most emo thing i have ever written). the song "Field" on the (don't forget to) breathe compilation on Crank! Records is, at 3:13, one of the shortest and most completely astounding songs ever to be recorded...unfortunately, something else i can't find a link for...
Dirt
About Two Days
Valentine
as far as i can tell The Blue Ontario consisted of ron and jason from CFD, but even though i own the EP that they put out, i'm not convinced that they actually existed. there is barely any information available on the interweb as far as this project goes: this is old, and so is this and definitely no mp3's avaialble...sad. however, i can say that there are 2 original songs on the EP that definitely bring nostalgia for CFD screaming back and some remixes of songs done by local CO folk. look, if you can find it get it, if not figure out how... also defunct.
information on Antarctica is just barely more accessible than it is for The Blue Ontario. this project boasted eric of CFD and played slow, mellow, electronically-tinged, space slo-core (i'm particularly proud of that descriptor)....and is also really good. i found some stuff about them here and here and, luckily for all of us, some tracks to listen to:
Absence
Full Crescent Crusade
...unfortunately also now defunct, but the EP and LP are still both available at your friendly neighborhood independent record store.
as far as i can tell, the bands from now on are still going...
after The Blue Ontario, ron played drums for ...and guppies eat their young for a little while....here is a song i think he sang back up on:
Parking Garage
kerry now plays in a band called The Mighty Rime. this project is more indie sounding than any other CFD offshoot. a little folky and acoustic, but overall good song structure and writing. not my favorite of the branches of the CFD tree, but definitely worth checking out...look here and here:
Albatross vs. All
Most Drones Die Virgins
after Antarctica, eric went on to form the incredible post-emo pop-core band (now i'm just having fun) the 101. aside from the fun i like to poke at genre labeling, these guys really rock and i enjoy this stuff immensely. maybe because it brings the branches of the tree back toward the CFD sound that i fell in love with in the first place while bearing all new fruit. whatever it is, this is definitely worth the listen and time:
Never In
enough for now...
another great site for research and music.
12.19.2004
the beginning is the middle is the end...
i first saw Avenged Sevenfold on a small stage next to the Drive-Thru Records (not metal...or good, don't click that link...i just wanted to give equal opportunity) stage at the 2002 Warped Tour in Denver, CO. i can't remember which stage it was and i've tried to find out quickly while typing this, but to no avail. My wife (girlfriend at the time) wanted to see somebody playing on the previously mentioned other stage and i had no violent objection because, although i hate to admit it, i did enjoy a couple of their things 2 years ago....but no more. anyway, we got there early and saw on this side stage a band dressed all in black with a lead singer who had slicked back black hair, playing tight, fast, and really good metal. they didn't have a huge crowd put you could tell that they were pouring everything they had into that performance....at 2.30pm on a saturday in july...i was impressed and an immediate fan. i watched, enraptured, as they played an incredible set for the conditions they were in. at one point the kids in front of the stage got into full-on destructive flail mode in front of the stage. security all of a sudden materialized out of nowhere and started to break everyone apart and haul them off, but the lead singer, M. Shadows, started yelling at the security guards to leave the kids alone and let them have their fun....needless to say he lost the verbal fight, but an honorable attempt nonetheless. (sidenote: i saw those same kids later in the day and it turns out that they were the obligatory morons who would mosh to Celine Dion if they felt so inclined...the same kind of idiots who were spit on by Hey Mercedes singer Robert Nanna while moshing at one of their shows in Denver, CO that i attended and subsequently laughed my ass off.....anyway, a story for another time.)
the lyrics have a religious theme to them and some under/over-tones that some people that i know object to and proceed to dismiss them out of hand solely for this aspect of their existence as a band. disappointing, but unfortunately a reality that exists in this scene sometimes and is a result of people who are close-minded about being open minded and avoid any religiously tainted music on principle....although what principle of tolerance they follow i'm not sure.
anyway, a7x (as the cool kids call them), has progressed and put out more music since i saw them and have now been asked to be a headlining act on the 2005 Warped Tour....so congrats to them.
the songs themselves range from the fast and furious grindcore style to the slow and melodic opuses that slowly build upon themselves. there is quite a range here and something for the whole family... enjoy.
a7x:
Eternal Rest
Darkness Surrounding
Chapter Four
An Epic of Time Wasted
go here to buy their stuff and keep supporting local music...spend $5 and go and see some kids pour their hearts out...
i didn't mean to write so much about one band, but i got on a roll and i enjoyed writing this...so there you have it.
12.17.2004
what's in a name...
...and i'm running out of daylight again... this time of year is absolutely insane...
so these bands aren't so much metal in their sound as they are in their names:
...and you will know us by the trail of dead :
"has created quite a career out of mixing chaos and belligerence with intellectualism and melody. They're probably so unapologetic about the heavy influence of Sonic Youth and Unwound in their sound because they truly understand their unbridled ability to entertain. Trail of Dead is noisy and catchy songs, smirking yet sincere, and complete destruction of their equipment and its surroundings- that’s a combination." - www.betterpropaganda.com
...and you will know us by the trail of dead - Crowning of a Heart(demo version)
A Trunk Full of Dead Bodies
hailed from the City of Brothely Love and is now defunct but they had the coolest name ever and made some great music...
A Trunk Full of Dead Bodies - Finger in Your Throat
i have also now decided to make this a "Metal Weekend" so that i can continue venting...
and all things come to an end...
including this week, thank the sweet baby jesus....whose birthday is upcoming.
as you can tell by the lack of posts, this has been a long, arduous, and busy week.
therefore, to vent my frustration, i have declared this "Metal Day" so that all who care to partake may vent along with me.
this band was mentioned to me by my best friend as something he and i might both enjoy, so i went on a search ... and he is my best friend for a reason.
3 Inches of Blood may sound like they belong in the mid to late 80's but this is new and it ... is ... awesome. i listened to speed metal and, dare i say it, glam metal for a little while in middle school and early high school and it still remains my guilty pleasure. i prefer it if new glam metal bands do not take themselves too seriously (hence my weakness for The Darkness) and pretend to be completely un-ironic. although 3 Inches of Blood is a little more metal than glam, with lyrics like "enemies of metal, your death is our reward", i think i can safely say that this band does not pose any threat to irony. please enjoy:
3 Inches of Blood - Deadly Sinners
more to come later today...
12.11.2004
check this out...
Flameshovel Records - based out of Chicago, always known for great music and tight scene, is putting out some incredible music right now. Most notably(for me), their roster includes Make Believe, the rock-out version of the seminal avant-garde post-rock band Joan of Arc, who in itself features Tim Kinsella of Cap'n Jazz and Owls. The label also boasts Chin Up Chin Up whose debut LP, We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers, sold like crazy after it's 10.26.04 release. The label sports bands mostly from Chicago and the mid-west but has expanded to include bands from Portland, OR(The Joggers), Ireland(The Dudley Corporation), and NYC(The Natural History). Here is a brief history/description of the label from the site:
"flameshovel records was born in the fading daylight of the summer of 2000, in order to put out a cd EP for friends judah johnson. originally based between chicago, illinois and brooklyn, new york, flameshovel later consolidated its impressive A&R forces in the ill-noise."
and here are a few selections from their roster:
Chin Up Chin Up - Virginia, Don't Drown
Make Believe - Britt's Favorite
Low Skies - Five's Gone Quiet
The Race - Sinking Feeling
Lying in States - Yep
Ancient Greeks - Ask Me a Question About the Atom
The Dudley Corporation - Stupid
Viza Noir - Regarding Your Pleasure
Judah Johnson - The Silent Treatment
The Natural History - Dance Steps
go here to buy their albums, and support independent music.
also, this is a great site for music research and sample mp3's.
sidenote: Tim Kinsella's brother, Mike, who was in Cap'n Jazz, Owls, and, at times, Joan of Arc, has also put out some great music....Owen, American Football...check that out as well.
later...
12.09.2004
give it the ol' college try...
if you don't enjoy college football, dont read this post...
so let me preface my writing about NCAA football by stating that i am a Georgia fan and subsequently an SEC fan as well. you see, i went to a small school in north Georgia that did not have a football team (Berry College) and so UGA became my surrogate football school. i went to Athens every once in a while to see games and watch games on tv while in Athens....the atmosphere on game days is electric. we got student tickets from friends and then sold them to middle age men who were about 20 years removed from even being mistaken for students but could afford to pay out the ass for tickets.
however, all of this aside, i do appreciate that there is excellent football played in every corner of this country and that the teams that play that football are some of the best in the nation.
anway, proceed with post...
ok, pay attention .... everyone who deserves to go to a BCS bowl game please step forward ... Pitt, where are you going? alright, i get that an 8-3 record and a conference championship are great accomplishments, and not to take anything away from the student-athletes who busted their asses to get there, but the fact remains that the conference in question is the Big East and the record was against teams like Furman and South Florida, and a loss to a (5-6) Nebraska team that could barely bust a grape in a fruit fight this year. there were much more deserving teams that were left out of the BCS picture, such as Cal or Georgia, hell I'd even take Boise State over Pitt, at least they went undeafeated. for that matter, how about any of the 12 teams ranked above them in the final BCS standings that aren't going to a BCS bowl. i know, if you really break it down then you could argue why Texas doesn't belong(what with the whole "changing votes" issue) or even Michigan(being as how Iowa is ranked above them), but those arguments are mostly scholastic and depend a little more on technicalities and interpretation. Pitt is just way out....period.
the conference tie-ins to the BCS bowls are in desparate need of examination, in fact the whole BCS needs to be over-hauled and/or done away with. don't get me wrong, i love the fact that every saturday is like a playoff day, that a team's season can be unmade on any given weekend...it definitely takes the excitement to a level above the NFL. but when it gets to the end of the season and the bowl race ends up like this, you have to wonder if it is actually worth it. let there be a clear winner, a team with an unblemished claim to the national title...
anyway, the Big East is not what it was, but money and politics will assure that they maintain their automatic BCS bid... and continue to keep more deserving teams from the recognition and, to be honest, the payout that they and their conferences deserve. so, having said that and assuming that the Big East champion gets to go to a BCS bowl regardless of record or their standings relative to the rest of the nation, let's at least use some marketing sense in putting together the bowl match-ups instead of just blindly following the tie-ins. as of now the BCS match-ups look like this:
Orange - Oklahoma vs. USC
Sugar - Virginia Tech vs. Auburn
Fiesta - Pittsburgh vs. Utah
Rose - Michigan vs. Texas
as it stands, there are 2 bowls that i would watch, the Orange and Rose(even though Cal should be there instead of Texas).
let's assume for just a second that i actually could have some sway in who goes to which bowl... obviously, as i said before, the Orange and Rose would stay the same. i don't know of anyone who's not excited to see Oklahoma take on USC in what should be a very tight and hard-fought game, and, aside from my stated objection, the Michigan-Texas game will be very entertaining to watch...fans rarely love their teams with the intensity that the Longhorn and Big Blue fans do. however, i look at the Sugar and Fiesta match-ups and just kind of shrug my shoulders and watch with a half-interested resignation. so here is the marketing sense of which i spoke earlier:
Sugar - Virginia Tech vs. Pittsburgh
Fiesta - Auburn vs. Utah
now we're talking!! i would make room on my schedule, invite friends over, and watch with rapt attention as Alex Smith and his Ute's take on a "for real" undefeated major opponent in an opportunity to prove himself, his team, and their accomplishments. talk about a game, you now have a nationwide audience watching to see if Utah can hold itself up against an SEC powerhouse....a regular David vs. Goliath match-up. along with the increase in viewership goes an increase in the price for ad space, am i the only one that sees the economic sense in this? (as this seems to be the only factor that bears any influence on this whole BCS mess)
the Sugar bowl now has at least some regional interest for those who watch Big East football(or used to, at least), the old Big East powerhouse vs. the standard bearer of the new now-decimated conference. one could even put a little bit of a "revenge" spin on it: Virginia Tech left for the ACC(which it proceeded to win) while Pitt was left behind to fight for respect in a conference that barely deserves any.
so there are now 3 bowl games that would draw heightened national hype and, with the right spin, possibly a fourth. with a little common and marketing sense, the bowl season just got a lot more exciting.
i'm just sayin'....
radio killed the radio star...
for anyone who might be in the Denver area at any point there is a new radio station in the game,
1150 AM - Indie Five-Oh(50)
the website does not come up yet but it may shortly. the radio station does and it has sated my desire for something decent to listen to on my commutes. the song selection is great and ranges from old hip-hop(Digable Planets) to new hip-hop(Handsome Boy Modeling School) to old irish folk(The Pogues) then newer stuff(Radiohead) and then some in between. the only hitch for me is that there is no DJ.... so if you don't recognize the song, you have no idea what you are listening to.... which for some might not be a big deal but for me is crucial. however, i'm sure as they gain popularity, and ad space, they will be able to afford to pay someone to perform this service(as it truly is a public service).... i'd volunteer to do it but ... "C.R.E.A.M.".
so, in honor of a new local station ... here are few local bands:
Vaux - Celibate Good Times
Laymen Terms - The CS Games
Against Tomorrow's Sky - Poison Tester
12.08.2004
captain's log, star date "this is awesome"!!
so there we were .... driving toward Scottsbluff, NE for work purposes (something else i don't want to talk about...) in a rental car that had Sirius satellite radio. lo and behold, on the screen appears the name William Shatner with the song title Common People ... at first i was afraid, i was petrified, but as the song progressed i realized that i was listening to possibly one of the best worst songs of my lifetime. the spoken word of William Shatner over a sort of electronic indie rock sound with the requiste beeps and whirrs befit of a starship commander. as the first chorus breaks in, the transition is good enough to make you wonder if there is any possible way that William Shatner is actually singing, but by the second verse you realize that it just can't be ... and it's not. a little disappointing, but still riveting in every aspect.
apparently, the song has been around for a while but i have just now discovered it and wish to share it with you good people (although judging by my empty comments section, i think i'm sharing with just myself...)
William Shatner - Common People
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