A Slight Change in Plans

It seems that I will not be attending lucha VA VOOOOOOM this October. Yes, I was excited, and some might say giddy. It seems something else has arisen to take its place. Oct. 25 the Twilight Singers will be at the House of Blues. For the second time this year the Twilight Singers have performed at the same time as Lucha Va Voom. Anyway, Dulli will always beat out Masked Mexican Wrestling. I'm just hoping they perhaps play one of the new Afghan Whigs songs they will be recording for the retrospective. I can't believe they are getting back together to record new songs. Even though it's only two, it's awesome! If you are in town and want to go to the concert let me know.

Ramblings

You may have noticed I changed the template...again. I don't know how long this will last. It will probably change once Blogger has it so you can alter the html on the new Blogger beta. I'm intrigued by the tags you can add, and other things that won't fit in this template. Till Blogger makes html editing available there's this.

This blog has recently passed the 7,000 hit mark. I want to do something for all you regular readers out there, but don't know what. I'm taking any suggestions.

The next book I'm going to read: The Boy Detective Fails.

Why hasn't Rhymefest's debut album "Blue Collar" become a hit? There are at least 4 radio hits on that record. It's received solid reviews. It has Kanye West collaborations. Yet, I still haven't seen a video. The album isn't in the Billboard Top 100. There's been absolutely no radio play. I'm completely baffled by this. Has it simply not been promoted well? It's the second best hip-hop album of the year behind Ghostface Killah's "Fishscale."

Rhymefest - "Devil's Pie"

This past Saturday I woke up at 7:00 am to watch my Tottenham Hotspurs take on Everton. 7:00 am! On a Saturday! Spurs lost 2-0, and yet it still seemed worth it. It's scary how well I've taken to this whole soccer thing. I'm actually bummed that I have to wait two weeks till the next match. I also got my official jersey in the mail today. It's just sheer enough to show off my nipples. Begin your taunts...now.

When I was kid, I once went to a petting zoo or something in South Carolina. It might have been simply a farm that let you pet dirty animals. The point is that there was a goat who clearly didn't like me. Every time I turned my back on him he tried to ram me (mark it). Twice he got me. Once he actually sent me to the ground. I kept trying to avoid him but he'd always find me. I'd go to the other side of the lake thinking I'd lost him, and then "baaaa!" I'd turn around to see that stupid goat charging straight toward me. I've never wanted to kill an animal more in my life, well except for the dog that attacked Anne Marie.

Have you experienced The Sound and The Fury yet? I highly suggest you look, listen, and read.

I was easily persuaded to join some friends for a little fantasy football. I of course missed the draft because of work. It's one of the problems you have when everyone else lives on the east coast. The fantasy football gods shined down on me though. For missing the draft my team isn't that bad...as long as nobody gets hurt.

I saw Invincible, and enjoyed it. It's another solid sports movie. I thinks it's more of an accomplishment to screw up a sports movie. You hear me Oliver Stone?

Apparently, the Afghan Whigs are getting together for four songs that will be on their upcoming retrospective released by Rhino records. I normally would be very hesitant any time a band gets back together to record songs for a "best of." Yet, I'm pretty certain it will work out this time. Why shouldn' t it? It's still Dulli writing songs in the same vein he always has. Maybe they are just reworking some old songs. I guess this means the Sept. release date has been pushed back.

In the debate (?) between loft or house, I've always voted loft. After seeing some of the writer's houses though, I've maybe changed my mind. Naah. Loft.

I saw a promo on HBO for a special about the cursed history of the Cubs. I'm so excited! Soon everyone will as sick of hearing about the Cubs woes as they were about the Red Sox. Ben Affleck narrated HBO's Red Sox special. I've been trying to think who could be Chicago's Ben Affleck. I'll watch this special, but I will feel dirty afterwards.

Ramblings (Hiatus Edition)

When I agree to work over hiatus I expect it to be easy going and relaxing. This past week has proven to be anything but that. This of course means I'm now really behind on the show bible. And I mean really behind.

Hey look the Cub's hitters are pressing. That or Dusty has implemented a clubhouse rule that requires them to see only 3 pitches at the most per at bat. Where would we be without old man Maddux and the kid Marshall? I know many will say that Prior and Wood will be coming back soon, but come on. I think it's best if the Cubs look at Prior and Wood as gravy. If they come back and pitch well, great, but don't plan on it actually happening.

A couple Twilight Singers items: First of all, emusic.com has a bonus track available for free download. I really like the track. They haven't rocked this hard on a chorus in some time. In fact it's one of the few tracks that sound like their concerts. They always rock their songs a little harder live, and that's how this track sounds to me. Secondly, Youtube.com has become a daily minefield of goodness. There are 25 music videos and live performances by the Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers on there. Some of them are even from The Afghan Whigs really early stuff that I haven't seen in ages. There's tons of other great sports and music stuff on there you just have to search for it.

Ladies, is your boyfriend/husband's birthday coming up? Perhaps your anniversary is in the near future? Maybe you are getting married soon and want something special for that special night? Let me offer this advice. All those embarrassing unmentionables your friends got you that one weekend that you still can't really remember what happened? Toss them out. That frilly and lacy crap stores keep trying to pawn off on you is worthless as well. All you need is this:
And if it's his, all the better. This came out much racier than I intended. I just wanted to say there is something very attractive about a woman in a white oxford shirt. I apologize.

For those wondering if you should buy MLB: The Show or MLB 2K6, the answer is MLB: The Show. 2K6 is awful. More on this later.

My next big week is the second to last week of June. Lucha Vavoom is returning to the Myan! FlavaD and I got ringside tickets this time. We are going on the 20th if you are in town, and want to see one of the greatest spectacles in your life. Also, after Nacho Libre hits the multiplexes that same month, it's gonna blow up! The next night. I have tickets for the Twilight Singers concert. I haven't had a back to back night of genius like this since…I had a girlfriend. That sounds dirty too. I didn't mean it that way.

Has anyone seen the Wes Anderson American Express commercial?

Finally, I stole this idea from Kerri. This is perhaps one of the most nerdish ways to be pompous, but screw it. I made a quiz about myself too. I also don't think its half bad. 90 percent of the answers I believe can be found in this blog, but study ahead of time people. No cheating. We are on the honor system here. Take the quiz here.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Hitting all my favorite links and blogs this morning, I came across this from summerskiss.com. All I have to say is that it's about time that someone got on the ball and put together an Afghan Whigs anthology. I couldn't be happier that Rhino is actually doing it. The genius move on their part is the DVD. Most Afghan Whigs fans have everything they released. So why would we want an anthology? If this DVD is footage from concerts, then fans won't hesitate. To really make the DVD perfect, Rhino should also include the MTV 120 minutes episodes where they took over the show particularly the 1993 show with Donal Logue. That show was genius. I wish I had Tivo back then. I also hope they do a nice remaster, and please don't leave out stuff from the Congregation album. A nice bonus would also be some songs from Up In It, and Big Top Halloween. I would go on, but I realize I'm in the minority on this.

Don't Forget the Alcohol!

You know that thrill you get when a song from one of your favorite bands is showcased on one of your favorite TV shows? To make it even cooler they don't use a single, they use a remix from an artists EP. That happened last night when the remix of "Rebirth of Cool" by the Afghan Whigs was used in last night's episode of "Rescue Me". The song comes from a covers EP titled Uptown Avondale. I don't know what the thrill is when something like this happens. Maybe it's an (unneeded) confirmation of cool of your favorite band. Perhaps it's just seeing two favorites of their respective media forms seamlessly blended together. It's probably just because it was an unexpected surprise. I've said enough already in this blog about Dulli's greatness, so let me throw in a little about Rescue Me. If you haven't seen the show, you absolutely should. It's easily one of the best shows out there right now. It's quite a feat when you can create such a despicable character in Tommy, yet have the audience still sympathize with him. Outstanding and very funny show.

Bits O' Music

It's now time for a little grimey R&B with your rock n' roll. This song comes from former Afghan Whigs guitarist Rick McCollum and his group Moonmaan. This song could fit nicely in the "Black Love" era of the Whigs. It's got that smokey R&B swagger from the straight intro lift of The Spinners "I'll Be Around" to that McCollum wha wha sound. They don't have an ablum out yet, just this demo and two others at their website. Being an Afghan Whigs fan, I'm really looking forward to a full album.

Moonmaan-Chain Your Soul

If you are an artist or artist representative being featured on this blog and want me to take down a song, let me know, and it will be removed from the server immediately.