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In Rainbows does not blow…
There’s good news and bad news about the new Radiohead album, “In Rainbows.” The bad news is its not as good as “Ok Computer;” The good news is its not as bad as “Hail To the Thief” or Thom’s solo album. If it had been as bad as the two latter mentioned albums, I might have to refer to it as “In Rainblows.” In all seriousness, I like it -which is saying a lot considering the expectations I put on a band like Radiohead. They seem to be the type of band that is full of potential, but sometimes sinks to the lowest and/or laziest common denominator. So when they…
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Iron Man must die!
Iron man must die! Or at least be thrown into the depths of the Universe – fitting punishment considering that’s exactly what he did to The Hulk. Serioulsy though! I am mad at the execs, writers, editors, and everyone else at Marvel Comics. Granted, I have yet to read World War Hulk, so I’m only dealing with the aftermath of Civil War, but to praise outright facism! I’m sorry, this is just plain WRONG! I suspect there’s a method to their madness, but that method might be make Iron Man one of the major heros because the Iron man movie just happens to be coming out in what, six months?…
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Portable Music: Quality vs Convenience
Its interesting how the trends in music mediums go back and forth between quality and convenience. Vinyl, for instance, was (is) a great format – especially if you have the right equipment (12+ band equalizers, decent speakers, et al). Pretty nice quality, but totally inconvenient, especially if you wanted to take your music with you. After vinyl’s hay day, we had 8 tracks, and then cassette tapes. Both formats were convenience, but left much to be desired when it came to sound quality. Then came CDs. CDs were / are wonderful quality, and even a bit convenient, though they do tend to skip and they like to develop nasty scratches.So…
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An open letter to Bono…
Dear Bono, Before I go on with this letter, I want to tell you how much I respect you. You have deep convictions on what you feel is right – and you don’t back down from those convictions. Once more, you use your position as someone in the limelight to further your positions on social justice. You don’t even take political sides. Republican, Democrat, Conservative, Liberal…it doesn’t seem to matter to you. You just want to get things done. Again, I respect you – immensely. Having said all that – I’m a bit frustrated as a fan. I have been listening to U2 for seventeen years now – longer than…
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Berbatti’s Pan – then and now
My first experience with Berbatti’s Pan was maybe five years ago. I won tickets to a show (featuring the now late Eliot Smith), and couldn’t find anyone to go with me. It creaped me out that I would have to go by myself – I had never been to a 21 and over venue. I chickened out at the door, and walked away – thus blowing my chance to see probably one great show. A year or two later, my now favorite band, Over the Rhine, was playing at Berbatti’s. I decided to throw caution to the wind, and went for it. It was everything I expected it to be,…