"The War" Preview / Honoring Local Veterans

I don't usually blog about work here, but I'm making an exception for this. For all of you folks in the area, I'd like to invite you to a special free screening at the Tivoli in Chattanooga on Tuesday, Sept. 18th at 6:30pm. You'll see an hour-long preview of the new seven-part Ken Burns documentary, The War, which begins airing on WTCI on Sept. 23rd.

In addition, I've produced five short pieces honoring some incredible World War II veterans that live right here in the Tennessee Valley. These will precede the preview of The War. Be sure to tell friends & family to join us. We want a packed house!

Papa John's has a Korean website.
And I think they have a different 'papa' judging from the little video that loops on the site. Great jingle at the end too.

We just got done watching the amazing documentary Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt on Sundance Channel. You don't have to know a thing about Townes to enjoy this film. But you'll sure feel like you know a lot when it's over.

New episodes of Frisky Dingo just started on Adult Swim.
If you missed the first one, you can watch here.

One of the oddest collaborations I can recall and yet I'm anxious to hear how this one turns out. T-Bone produced. It's out October 23rd.

Photosynth

Once in a blue moon, Microsoft comes through with some technology that's just indescribably cool. The latest? Their Photosynth online demo. Just go play around with it. And apparently there's now a plug-in so you can use this with Firefox.

Great Commercial

This commercial's been around for a long time. Just saw it again tonight by chance and had to post it.

You learn something new every day. For instance, did you know that there is a National Toothpick Holder Collector's Society? Their convention is in Chattanooga this weekend and we ran into a fraction of the organization's 700 members on a cruise aboard the Southern Belle. Friday was our fifth anniversary so we stepped out on the town (and on a watercraft on the river adjacent to the town).

A Love Supreme

Two things led me to this post. The first is a lunch spot I've been to a few times in the last month. Every time I go in there, they're playing John Coltrane.

Second is iTunes and their 'blue note' sale. Now, part of this sale is Coltrane's "Blue Train", which is a great record and you should probably get that one too, if you have the means. But...if you don't have "A Love Supreme" (I know, not a Blue Note recording but it's still on sale) and you have any interest at all in jazz, you need to just go ahead and pay the $8 at iTunes and get it now. Listen to the whole thing through the first time, then listen as you like. And if you can find the record at a used store, even better.

Wow...I never thought I'd say this, but Dick Cheney was
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.



*thanks to Boing Boing.

If you have HBO and you've decided not to watch Flight of the Conchords, you should know that you're wasting your money. The clip below is from a couple episodes back. Jemaine appears to Brett in a dream as David Bowie. Enjoy.

I don't know what to say...just watch.
(thanks Taj)

...then, in case you missed it... watch this.

As I took this photo on the way back from Alabama today, I imagined myself playing The 25,000 Pyramid.

Nipsey Russell: "Alcohol...Gasoline...Explosives..."

Shaun Townley: Uh...things that should never be sold together?

(DING, APPLAUSE)

Nipsey Russell: Yes!

Two videos you've probably already seen

Without the internet, we would miss so much in this world that we're now privileged enough to experience. I submit two very odd, yet very compelling videos for your viewing pleasure. If you haven't seen them already, I predict you will...everywhere. Thanks to Canon and Boing Boing for introducing them to me.


"Thriller" performed by inmates at a prison in the Philippines


A young man named Martin Leung playing the entire score of Super Mario Brothers on the piano

Ryan Adams was included on my 'best of 2004' list. I'm a fan. His latest record, Easy Tiger, is quite good as well. If you're a fan too or you're interested in hearing more, try this live show from just last week. You can download the whole thing or select a few tracks from the internet archive.

Extras & Rescue Me

I know I'm late to the game on this one, but we JUST got HBO for the first time and I'm really enjoying catching up with Extras. I'd seen most of the first season and I'm thrilled with the second. The CPMs are way up. Oh, sorry, that's cringes per minute.

Also, this season of Rescue Me started a few weeks ago and it's as good as ever. Unbelievably funny scene this week with Tommy & Janet seeing a marriage counselor.

Transformers...ROLL OUT!

I'm planning to see Transformers this weekend. If you've got a notion to do the same, be sure to read John Swansburg's article over on Slate.com about the original animated Transformers movie which also includes a link to the music video for Stan Bush's "The Touch" video. Is it me or does he look a bit like Viggo Mortenson with a wig?

For those of you in the know, be sure to do a forward roll for old time's sake as you listen to this one.

Erin and i just figured out why the week seemed so long. Wednesday was a tease.

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30 Years

I'm thirty today. Which means my sister Heather is thirty today as well. I know there's that whole thing about how you're not supposed to tell a lady's age or ask a lady about her age or something along those lines, but hey...too late.

Too many memories to recount, too many stories to tell so I'll just say this: There are very few people that I love and respect as much as my older sister.

Happy birthday Heather Shea.

Don't Stop Believin'...Ever

There's been a dim chatter in the media recently about the use of the song "Don't Stop Believin'" as the last thing you'll ever associate with The Sopranos. If I'm not mistaken, the same song was the 'theme' of "Monster", that film I didn't see with Charlize Theron in makeup where she won the Oscar but the person who did her makeup didn't even get nominated. Maybe it was another Journey song they used, I'm not sure.


There was a time years ago, when I'd be riding in a car with someone I didn't know very well and a Journey song would come on the radio and I'd chuckle and say "Journey" in a tone often associated with Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan. Journey was an automatic subject of ridicule, despite the context. And I played along, like a sheep.

These days, I find my confidence in my musical appreciation is much stronger and I'm proud to admit that I like Journey. I'm not sure if it's pure nostalgia or if it's simple pleasure centers in my brain interacting with the irony neurons strengthened during my college years. Perhaps, it's just good music from a bygone era that my heart will no longer allow my mind to ridicule. Whatever it is...it rocks. So don't be surprised if you're in the car with me, you hear that bass line that I taught myself to play a few years back, and you hear me confidently ask "would you mind if I turn this up?".

I'm not sure WHY this is as funny as it is, but I can't stop watching it OVER and OVER and OVER again.

Do Not Taunt Föm

Micro-bead-filled Föm pillows have unusually large tags filled with warnings. Reminded me of SNL's Happy Fun Ball, a classic.

On the Road

Hello there. This is a truly mobile blog post. I'm cruising down 81 South through Virginia as I type this. It's Dad's turn at the wheel of the 22 ft. rental truck. I'm not sure if we'll make it all the way through to Georgia tonight. It'll be pretty late. Erin and Matthew are safe and sound at my folks' house waiting for all their stuff to arrive. It's been a very strange fortnight and I've been continually reminded of the love and support that's helped me and my family through so much over the years and for that, I'm grateful beyond expression.

directed by Mikael Håfström!!!

I was just watching TV and an ad came on for the new film 1408 starring Sam Jackson and John Cusack. At the end, you hear the disembodied trailer voice say: "directed by Mikael Håfström". Can ANYONE tell me why they make a point to tell you that this fellow directed the film? Has ANYONE ever heard of Mikael Håfström??

I can understand "directed by Martin Scorsese" at the end of an ad for The Departed. That could certainly persuade a person to see the film, but Mikael Håfström? My only conclusion is that the studio's trying to build name recognition for the guy because they believe he has potential to be the next Scorsese. I think it's a fairly new phenomenon. I've noticed it over the last five years or so, I guess. Does anyone else have a theory about why this is done?

Obama on Faith & Politics

I just finished listening to Barack Obama's keynote address on faith and politics at a Call to Renewal conference in June of '06. It's worth a listen, no matter your political beliefs or faith. If you'd prefer to read it, click here.

This is fun...and nerve-wracking.
I thought I'd get 'em all no problem.
I missed THREE.
**Erin only missed two.
Add a comment. Let me know how YOU did.

Head

If you're my age, you're familiar with The Monkees from the incessant re-runs that plagued Nickelodeon in the 1980s. What was I supposed to do? Play outside?

Anyway, TCM played their film oddity, Head, in the middle of the night. Curiosity won and I TiVo'd it. A few fun facts: Terri Garr is in it, but her name's spelled Terry. Also, Zappa's in it for like 15 seconds. Very odd. The film was co-written by Jack Nicholson with director Bob Rafelson. The two made Five Easy Pieces together a couple years later. Toni Basil (Hey Mickey!) choreographed the thing, and there's a section of the credits where the names and roles are spelled backwards.

How was the movie? Well, I watched it primarily in fast-foward and I'm pretty sure I didn't miss much.

Knocked Up

If you enjoyed The 40 Year-Old Virgin, you'll probably love Knocked Up as much as I did. It's a very funny comedy from the same director, Judd Apatow, and actors Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, and other funny folks. I just looked at the box office numbers for Friday night and it looks like it's doing very well. About three quarters as many screens as Shrek and it's grossing more so far. There's an abundance of memorable scenes & supporting characters. Let's just say I'm really glad our obstetrician wasn't at a bar mitzvah in San Francisco when Erin gave birth to Matthew.

Converting Sugars into Hydrogen

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Sounds promising, no?

Here's the full report on the research at the Public Library of Science.

Doc, can I get a prescription for oxycodone? I have island withdrawal.

If you didn't see the Lost finale, that headline ain't gonna make much sense. Stop reading now.

The wife can confirm that I called the flash-forward within the first hour. So many answers and even more questions. Who died? Who's waiting for Kate? Who else made it off the island besides these two? Why was Jack's beard graying on the island and jet black in the future?

Unbelievably good television, folks. And let's take a moment to mourn our favorite washed-up (on the beach) rockstar, Charlie.
Honestly, I almost shed a tear.

Cell phones

I've got a pretty normal cell phone, I think. It takes pictures & video. It didn't cost anything when we got it because we renewed our contract with Cingular (sorry...the new AT&T). I've been hearing for years that cell phones are the future and I'm just starting to believe it. I'm discovering new things I can do with it all the time. I recently downloaded the mobile Gmail application which has been working pretty well. I can check my email just about anywhere and my phone doesn't notify (annoy) me with emails when I don't want them like an expensive Blackberry would. I can twitter and blog text from my cell, which I had never done before. I've gotta test whether I can take a picture with my phone, then post it to the blog. Maybe this weekend.

Studio 60 isn't coming back next season. I'm bummed.

This is pretty cool. I was in the subway station at Forest Hills in Queens this morning and snapped this picture on my phone. It's remnants of a poster for Three Kings that have been there presumably since the film's release in 1999, buried under other posters.

Rating Reasons

Every now and again, the NY Times runs clever little explanations of the ratings of some theatrical releases. Check out this one:
"28 Weeks Later" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Rabid zombies feast on living flesh, which causes their potential victims to utter an occasional obscenity.

St*@k in a box!

I debated even posting this because I think giving Donald Trump any more screen-time is a morally questionable enterprise, but I passed this giant display poster at the mall today and had to bring your attention to Trump Steaks. Apparently he found something that he owned that he hadn't put his name on yet. Something he thought he could sell that he had yet to declare "the world's greatest".

You walk into Sharper Image and they have one of these "distinctive" black and gold "presentation" boxes that they ship the steaks in. These are the colors that let you know you're receiving elite beef. The prices are ridonkulous. Anyone buying these steaks is paying $200 to say "hey, you know, Donald Trump eats these steaks!".

online photo editing with Picnik

I've been using a site called Picnik for a month or so to make some simple edits to photos. They've just added some nice features and I think it's going to start catching on. Read their blog here and give it a try here.

Love the Colbert. Love the "better know..." series of interviews. This is one of the funnier ones I've seen. Guam.

If you have your own brand of beef jerky...you might be a redneck

I've been trying to place Kristen Wiig since I first saw her on SNL. I think she's one of the great underrated talents on the program. She was extremely funny in a Michelle Dison sketch this weekend.
I checked IMDB and found out she was on the Joe Schmo Show, an extremely odd and addictive show that I watched a few years back.

**Note: the link to the SNL video has been removed, so don't bother trying to see it.

Efficiency

I'm starting to believe that as the last century was obsessed with excess, in this century, we will only benefit from a dedication to efficiency. Wanna take some small steps that can make a big difference in your home? Home Depot has devoted a portion of their site to Eco Options. Some good suggestions here for conserving energy, water, and more.

The boy listens

Matthew's now fourteen months old and he reached what, for me, was a huge milestone on his fourteen month birthday. He was holding his toy fish. It's mouth opens wide to swallow another fish. I suggested to him that the fish should eat the small soccer ball he got recently. I said 'get the ball. put it in the fish'. He listened, turned, grabbed the ball, opened the fish's mouth, put the ball in, and closed the fish's mouth. Such a dream come true. You tell the boy something specific and he understands enough of the words and what you're asking and does it. Later I told him 'put the book back in the box' and he did that too. You have no idea how thrilled I am. 14 months of feeling like I'm talking to myself are finally over.

Influences

I was telling my friend Taj about the new Kings of Leon record last week. It's a good record. I'm convinced the second half is better than the first, but I told him I thought it sounds like they've been listening to the Pixies and U2 quite a bit since they made the last one. It's still got that Kings sound, but they're expanding what they're doing in very specific ways. Well I got a chuckle this evening when I came across their "artist playlist" on iTunes. Among the "many songs that have influenced us over the past 2 years while writing and recording our new record" are a couple of Pixies tracks and, you guessed it...a song by U2.

Vonnegut

Heard at the office today that Kurt Vonnegut died. Cat's Cradle was one of my favorite books when I was in high school. He was a great writer and a fascinating guy. Pick up one of his books if you've never read him. The story collection Welcome to the Monkey House is great too.

Memory is a funny thing...

The internet's ability to spark nostalgia never ceases to amaze me. Check out this video. I want a show of hands (comments will do fine, thanks)...who else remembers this?

The Battlestar Galactica season finale was kind of crazy. Did anyone else see it?
I can't decide whether it was a "wow that was awesome" kind of crazy or a "did Colonel Tigh just quote Dylan?" kind of crazy. Crazy, nevertheless.

Watching a bit of Sesame Street this morning with Matthew.
Who did they cast as Snow White?

Amy Sedaris.

A woman best known for playing Jerri Blank on Strangers With Candy.

I knew there was a reason I loved Sesame Street.

Just a reminder for all you commuters out there. If you're not subscribed to the This American Life podcast, you're missing great radio. www.thisamericanlife.org

Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall 1971

If you're like me and you adore "After the Goldrush" & "Harvest", you're going to love the immaculately recorded "Live at Massey Hall 1971". It's just Neil, a guitar, a piano, and some of his best songs: Helpless, Old Man, Tell Me Why, Cowgirl, Needle, and much more.

For my money, the most notable track is #7, a "suite" that includes A Man Needs a Maid and Heart of Gold. The relationship between the two songs was never clear in my mind, but I'm now convinced their proximity on "Harvest" is not coincidental. Keep in mind, this performance is before the release of "Harvest", so these songs change a bit by the time they hit vinyl for the first time and Neil makes a point at the beginning of saying he's got a few new songs for the crowd. Little did they know they would be hearing classics for the first time, revisited over thirty five years later on this incredible recording.

Some Thoughts on Downloading Movies

Anyone who knows me knows I love TiVo. It's changed the way I watch television 100%.
It may be changing the way I rent & buy movies as well. TiVo has teamed up with Amazon.com to provide a way for movies to be rented or purchased online and watched on the TV in your living room.

Movies are bought online at Amazon.com and then sent to your TiVo where the film appears in your "now playing" lineup just like the shows you tape. It takes a while to download to the TiVo, but I'd say about as long as it takes for me to go the video store, so what's the difference, right?

Video quality isn't quite as good as a DVD and there are no extra features. My copy of Talladega Nights cost $14.99 but as part of a promotion for the service, I actually paid nothing for it. Mickey got his DVD copy of Talladega Nights for a couple bucks cheaper so the prices obviously have to come down a bit for the service to really catch on. The selection isn't great at this point either, but I expect it will improve rapidly. It's amazing how quickly the film download market has filled out.

I was also pretty satisfied with downloading movies from iTunes (two actually, Rattle & Hum & Errol Morris's amazing documentary, The Thin Blue Line) and from xbox360's online marketplace (Nacho Libre...I think I fell asleep?). All three of these services have pluses and minuses, but I fear Apple's attempt to link the Mac and the TV will fall flat for those of us who already have two TV bridges (TiVo & xbox).

To sum up...the services are pretty good but it comes down to three things:
1) Ease of use
2) Quality of Content
3) Cost

Snowshoeing

I grew up in Georgia so I've never had any need for snowshoes. Until this weekend I had a vague notion that they only really existed in black and white photographs and that they were worn by men with huge mustaches. We hiked near lake Mohonk in New York and it was quite beautiful. This photo is from the top.

Crazy Idea? Apparently not.

Years ago I had an idea that must have sounded crazy at the time. If we're looking for renewable energy, why don't we harness the energy we exert every day just by walking down the street? I figured some genius out there could design a system beneath the world's sidewalks that could channel the energy exerted from foot traffic to power grids all over the world.

Well, I don't know how I missed this, but apparently there are folks working on a very similar project right now. It's called the Pacesetter's Project and it's happening in the UK. You can read more about it here and here.

Super Freak

All you folks out there with CMT are really lucky. You'll get a chance to see the entire episode of Crossroads featuring Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs on Saturday night at 9pm.

Because I live in New Jersey and have a subscription to a cable system that doesn't believe that anyone in New Jersey would be caught dead watching country music on television, I've got to settle for this AWESOME video of the duo performing Super Freak. Yes. The Rick James song. Don't miss it.

Pan's Labyrinth

We saw Pan's Labyrinth this weekend. It was fantastic.

Further evidence that I know absolutely nothing...

Ghost Rider made over 44 million this weekend.

Free Music

I was telling someone the other day about free content to fill up their iPod.
There's plenty of it out there if you know where to look. Here's a few places to try:

1) iTunes always has free tracks. They change them periodically. Some are good. Some are not. But hey, they're free. And it's not just music. There's often free television shows and short films as well. Just poke around. What do you have to lose?

2) archive.org
The live music archive has some great artists, both widely and slightly known
including Jack Johnson, Los Lonely Boys, & Infradig. These are bands that are known as "tape friendly". They don't tend to get upset (or litigious) if you record live shows and pass 'em around. Just beware the sound quality varies GREATLY from recording to recording.

3) Subpop Records is doing something pretty amazing. They're giving away a few unrestricted MP3 files for most of their artists. And these aren't the filler you'd expect. They're the choice tracks from some of their most well-known artists like The Shins. You like their new single, Phantom Limb? Don't buy it on iTunes. Download it for free. Other artists include Sleater-Kinney, The Postal Service, Wolf Parade, & Iron and Wine. I recommend The Great Salt Lake by Band of Horses.

4) KEXP Song of the Day podcast gives you a new song each day from some artists you'll know: Death Cab for Cutie, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and some you've never heard of. Who knows....maybe you'll find your new favorite band.

5) Even better, in my opinion, is the KEXP Live performances podcast. You get up to 40 minutes of live music from acts like Beirut, M. Ward, Jose Gonzalez, Billy Bragg, and one of my favorites, Drive-By Truckers.

6) Myspace is another place to go. Some artists, like Jason Harrod, offer free downloads of a few of their songs.

7) Finally, go to the pages of the artists themselves or their labels. Great bands like R.E.M. and Sigur Ros make free MP3s available on their sites. If you go to Anti, you can download SEVEN Tom Waits MP3s absolutely free, including three great tracks from his latest, the amazing three-disc set, Orphans.

Musical Boy

Love this video of Matthew. He's watching tv and wants to play along with the music so he picks up the ukelele and gives it a try.

Steve Jobs on selling music online

Remember about a week ago when I posted about how the record companies build restrictions into the music files they sell online, yet their biggest money-maker in history, the CD, was an unrestricted digital format?

Well, Steve Jobs (Apple's CEO) released a very interesting letter today along those lines. Here it is.

Frisky Dingo

I mentioned the adult swim show Frisky Dingo back in November after I saw two episodes and noted how funny it was. Well, the season's ended (13 episodes) and althought it's certainly not for everyone, I have to recommend it.
Watch a few interview snippets with the main character, Killface, for an idea of what this show is like.
Episodes are on iTunes, xbox live marketplace, and youtube for all you webbed kids out there. Enjoy.

Unrestricted Digital Music Sales = $

I read a story in the New York Times a couple of days ago that said some of the major labels are considering selling unrestricted MP3s online.

Seems to me it's a no-brainer. The major labels had unbelievable success the last time they decided to sell digital music without a padlock. They're called CDs.

You never know who you'll meet on the subway

If you keep your eyes peeled in New York, you're sure to meet some really interesting people. I was half-way to the office Tuesday morning and noticed Jack McBrayer sitting across the way. He plays Kenneth the page on 30 Rock. He's an actor that a few of us have really been enjoying in recent years. He was also in Talladega Nights.

I introduced myself and told him how much I enjoy the program and that judging from IMDB we were both born in Macon, Georgia. We had a quick chat before my stop came. He was very nice and patient with me. Turns out he's got family near mine in Georgia. Such a small world.

Castle In The Clouds

The long-awaited Ash Valley record is now available!

I'd heard bits and pieces before now but listening front to back is the way to experience the album. It's a thematically articulate, sonically complex record. Mortality, family, passion, regret, faith, sin & redemption.
This ain't Fergalicious, folks.


You can order it online at www.myspace.com/ashvalley. Just scroll down a bit 'til you see the album cover. The great thing is you're given two options to purchase. Order a physical CD using PayPal (it's easy), or download your tracks at Digstation if you just can't wait to hear it.

Runnin'

Every once in a while I get the urge to do something about my weight. I've tried excercising, eating sensibly, all the things people do, but nothing extreme. Each time, I trail off. Once I got injured and couldn't run for a while and once I healed I didn't start up again. Little things can really get a person off-track.

So, here I am, turning 30 in June, and I'd really like to get healthy. So, I've started eating better and I'm running in the mornings. I really enjoy running. I used to run every morning before high school, I think my sophomore year. It's great. I just got the nike+ system and I'm excited to use that to keep track of my running.

I've also found a couple of free websites that folks might find helpful. I know people have made resolutions and sometimes the smallest things can really help.

The first is fitday.com. You can track your activity and diet online there for free. It'll let you know how many calories you've consumed and how many you've burned in a day. You can also work toward a goal weight over a period of time and it'll track that too.

The second is mapmyrun.com. You enter a starting point on a google map and then mark the points in your run and it calculates the distance for you down to a tenth of a mile. I ran today and came back and mapped it and found out it was 1.8 miles. I had no idea I'd gone that far! I'll use the nike plus in the next couple days and probably post a brief review of that technology.

Walkin' on Christmas

Well, it wasn't a Christmas miracle, but it certainly felt like one. After a few weeks of starts & stops, wobbles, falls, & half-steps, our boy finally walked! And on Christmas day to boot. Born on Valentine's, walked on Christmas. This kid just likes to make it easy for Dad to remember important dates.

Merry Christmas to All!

We're really excited about our first Christmas with Matthew. I was at the mall with him today getting some last-minute shopping done. We're planning on making some cookies for Santa tomorrow after church. I bet he eats them all!

Free Christmas Tunes From Jason Harrod

I wanted to make sure to tell you about a couple of great Christmas songs Jason Harrod recorded and is making available for free at his site. If you're not familiar with his music, be sure to poke around on his site. You'll find samples of the music there and if he's playing in your neighborhood, be sure to go. You'll thank me.

You can download O Come, O Come, Emanuel here and
God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen here.

Okay, there's more to the story...

The last post was about this new BMW commercial. You can read the post. Then be sure to check out www.n64kids.com for more information. Wow.

BMW commercial

There's a BMW commercial I just saw for the first time tonight, I don't know how new it actually is, but it features a home video of a kid opening a package on Christmas morning and he's extremely excited about what he's received...something called an "UberRoboto" from what I can see (it's the top picture). The BMW ad is essentially suggesting that you'll be excited as this kid to receive (or to give) a BMW to your loved one for Christmas this year.

NOW, here's the interesting thing. The video of the kid opening his gift has been on the web for a long time (bottom picture). Probably millions of people have watched this video on YouTube. There's even parodies of it. It's just plain funny seeing how excited this kid gets. But he's not excited about an "UberRoboto". It seems BMW bought the rights to use the home video footage in their ad but found it necessary to change the gift from the actual Nintendo 64 that the kid was so excited to receive. So you've got a company, I assume, buying the rights to use the home video, but then hiring special effects folks to re-touch it. Wild.

Best Medley...Ever

I'm on the subway and this fellow starts to sing. He's got his tip jar, his cane, he's ready to go. Really enthusiastic, he begins...

Chestnuts roasting...on an open fire...

Oh nice, The Christmas Song. Everybody likes The Christmas Song. He misses a verse or two, but you forgive him, because he's really into it. He starts to near the end...

Every mother's child...is sure to spy...to see if you want my body,
AND you think I'm sexy, come on baby, let me know!!!

That's a u-turn, my friends. I'm laughing so hard I can't stop.
People around me start laughing too.

And for an encore? The sun'll come out...tomorrow!

Long Song

There's a song on the Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise with a title so long, you can't even finish reading it as it scrolls though on the iPod before the song's 40 seconds end. It's called: Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don’t Think They Heard It All the Way Out In Bushnell.

Good record, if you haven't heard it.

Christmas Spirit...on the Sunset Strip

The wife and I just got around to watching last night's Studio 60. If you missed it, watch it online here and don't miss the last five minutes. It's great television.

Been There

This commercial cracks me up somethin' fierce.

Back to the Future...(now terror-free!)

Okay, this is a strange one. I'm flipping channels and come across Back to the Future, one of my all-time favorites. Erin says "I wonder how many times we're going to see this movie over the course of our lifetime". Agreed. We've seen it a lot and we'll see it again. In fact, it's one of the first movies I watched on TV with my son. He was a few weeks old and slept through most of it.

Anyway, tonight, as I was watching, I noticed a very subtle change in the scene where Marty's writing the letter to Doc Brown that he's hoping Doc will read in the future. In the original film, Marty says:

"Dear Dr. Brown, on the night that I go back in time, you will be shot by terrorists. Please take any precautions that are necessary to prevent this terrible disaster."

In the television version I saw tonight on SciFi, the words "by terrorists" were deleted and replaced by a repetition of the word "please" in an effort to mask it.

I did a quick search online and found that someone had posted the same information on IMDB with an additional note. They even deleted the words from the shot of the letter. I went back to the TV and un-paused it. The scene continues and sure enough, there's the letter with the words digitally removed! The post also details some changes to Doc's death scene and notes the changes were made shortly after 9/11.

Bizarre.

Got up at 5:30am for my first-ever NFL game today in Philly. My buddy Paul is a huge Eagles fan and he introduced me to his world. He took me to the sickest tailgate in the league, Big Ed's Eagle Mobile. You gotta check out the site. It's great. The Eagles couldn't pull it out against the Titans and McNabb's apparently out for the season. I think my southernicity may have jinxed 'em. Now I'm gonna go soak my feet & go to sleep. 

Comic Re(bleep)

We don't have HBO, so I'm watching Comic Relief on TBS. Can we PLEASE get a dump-button operator without lead fingers? I understand trying to bleep the f-word, but when it's done at the expense of the ten words surrounding it, I'm gonna have to say something. I'm missing half the funny here, folks.

This Week's Top Three TV Moments (the two moment edition)

1) How I Met Your Mother's use of the Cheers font at the end of the Swarley episode (watch it on CBS Innertube).

2) Frisky Dingo on Adult Swim. I've seen two episodes now and I'm hooked. Funny. Funny. Funny.

**Only two items this week. Come on, step it up TV folks.

Walk for the Cure

 
We had a great time today at the Race for the Cure fun walk. Thank you so much to all of you who helped us raise money for this great organization. If you didn't get a chance and you'd like to contribute, visit this page. 

Studio 60

Studio 60 is a really good show. I'm telling you this because I'm worried that the viewership needs to increase or the show will be pulled. So, if you're not watching, please start...for me. I don't wanna lose it. Thanks.

BRICK

Saw Brick last night on DVD. The film by director Rian Johnson rewards your patience again and again. I think the less you know going in, the more you'll enjoy it. It's dense, exciting, and beautiful.

Help Us Fight Breast Cancer

My family and I are walking at the end of this month for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. PLEASE CLICK HERE to pledge a bit to help me reach my fundraising goal for this great organization.

Top 3 Things I've Seen on TV This Week

1. Randy singing "Time After Time"

2. Jack watching the Red Sox win the World Series.

3. George L. on The Colbert Report.

Battlestar Galactica

If you don't watch Battlestar Galactica, you should.
I didn't want to get hooked on another show but I'd heard such good things about it, I had to give it a try. I watched the free recap of the first two seasons from iTunes and then TiVo'd the two-hour season premiere. Like everyone says, even if you don't like science fiction, you should check it out. It's a great show.

Matthew Crawls

Let There Be Rock

I got this onesie for Matthew at the DBT show on Thursday in New York. It was a great show. You can find a setlist and a video from the show here at the Nine Bullets fansite.

More Than Meets The Eye...

I love the fact that Peter Cullen will be reprising his role as the voice of Optimus Prime from the TV Series and animated film in the new Michael Bay
movie.

I ALSO love the fact that one of the translations of
"Transformers" somewhere in Asia was: Super God Robot Force

But most of all, I love the fact that THIS GUY is the voice of Optimus Prime.

Another day, several new faces

24 is one of my favorite shows. I've seen each episode of each season and I'm looking forward to the January premiere. Well, the reported casting for this new season is fascinating. James Cromwell, Regina King, Kal Penn, Peter MacNicol, and the very funny Eddie Izzard will appear. Though, I assume Eddie will leave the makeup at home.

FX has done it again

At first I wasn't sure about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The first episode I watched was pretty crude and not hilarious. Funny, but not must-see. Months later, I watched the free episode on iTunes. After that I set a TiVo season pass.

Well, now I've watched the entire second season and much of season one and although it's certainly not for everyone, I'm gonna have to go ahead and recommend it.

That makes three season pass series for FX: Rescue Me, 30 Days, and Sunny.

Chattanooga in the Times

Chattanooga is featured in The New York Times travel section. You may have to register with the Times to get to this page, but it's easy.

This is funny though. The story contains a link to what's supposed to be the Choo-Choo, but actually takes you to a father of three who has a blog. He was clearly surprised by the extra traffic to his site, but handled it with class.
Check it out.

www.theraconteurs.com

The Raconteurs have a great website. Old School.

Look at this bag o' donuts

It seems the web is finally catching up to one of my recent SNL favorites. Watch DeCicco Bros. Unicornery on YouTube if you haven't seen it. I wish I knew why I think this is so funny.

Aquarium

We took Matthew to the Aquarium. I was surprised how much he enjoyed it.

New Music

I've got a couple of songs you should download now.

Angel Snow's Coals and Water can be downloaded here at her Myspace page.

Ash Valley's Grown Over With Moss is here. Their Myspace page is here.

Free Energy?

I found a story on the WIRED News site about a company in Ireland called Steorn that apparently has a new technology about which they make these claims:
1. The technology has a coefficient of performance greater than 100%.
2. The operation of the technology (i.e. the creation of energy) is not derived from the degradation of its component parts.
3. There is no identifiable environmental source of the energy (as might be witnessed by a cooling of ambient air temperature).
The sum of these claims is that our technology creates free energy.

I'm as skeptical as the next guy. They've taken out an ad in The Economist asking physicists to test the technology and prove or disprove it. I'm interested to see how this one turns out.

Boing Boing has a post about lullaby versions of rock music for babies. You can hear Metallica's One here. It's funny, the Radiohead songs sound just like the originals.

Jason Harrod in New York City

Jason Harrod is coming to New York! All you folks in the New York City area who want to hear some good music, come see Jason Harrod play. You'll thank me.

September 8th at 8:00 pm at
All Angels' Church
West 80th Street, New York, NY
212.362.9300
http://www.allangelschurch.com/index.php

Bruno, we'll miss you

I woke this morning to sad news on the radio. Bruno Kirby died of Leukemia. I never saw a performance of his that didn't make me smile. Rest In Peace.

Coca-Cola!!

We're gonna sell this to Coke and make millions.

Motivate!

You know those motivational posters you see in the offices of small businesses and dentist's offices? Well you can make your own now, thanks to the Flagrant Disregard site. I found out about this over on the brilliant site Lifehacker. The picture above is one that i made with a photo I took at Verona Park in New Jersey and a line from one of the great films of the eighties.

Just below the knees

My posting has become pretty infrequent and I apologize. Hopefully I'll do better in the coming weeks. Just wanted to let y'all know that The Shins have updated their site. It's much better.

We're back from Italy and we had a wonderful time. We spent a few days in Poggiorsini with family, then attended the wedding of Licia and Guglielmo. It was beautiful. Then we went to Castellanetta for a day for Matthew's first trip to the beach before flying back.