Thursday, November 29, 2007

Current Rolling Stone Cover.....

The other day I passed a news stand and I noticed the current issue of Rolling Stone displayed. As I walked by the news stand and looked at the cover of the current issue of Rolling Stone.....I wondered why NYC-Irish writer Malachy McCourt and Willie Ames of "Charles in Charge" and "Eight is Enough" fame were on the cover of Rolling Stone along side Robert Plant!? Then when I received my issue and upon closer inspection I realized that it's not Malachy McCourt and Willie Ames on the cover with Robert Plant...it's Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones!!






Malachy, Willie, Robert Plant and Jason Bonham, are reuniting to do a tribute show to Atlantic records founder Ahmet Ertegun in London next week and there is all sorts of talk about a reunion tour. With these major reunion concerts these days I don't get excited as much as I used too, unless someone gives me tickets I don't think I would shell out four hundred bucks to see the surviving members of Led Zep plus Jason Bonham. Seeing indie shows is what gets me these days, if Malachy McCourt ahhh I mean Jimmy Page joined the Cold War Kids on stage for a song at the Mercury Lounge then that would totally excite me!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

More pics and a write up from the Philly show and Casey Calvert



Sorry I'm not all that tech savy as of yet to put all the photos from a show into one blog entry, I must be showing my age!! Anyhow as I mentioned yesterday the show was really amazing. I know I keep saying this but Jesse is a real fucking rock star, he is the real fucking deal!! The playlist consisted of songs mainly from "Glitter in the Gutter" a few from "The Heat" and "The Fine Art of Self Destruction" and he did brilliant covers of the Clash's "Death or Glory", Neil Young's "Pocahontas" and "Helpless" for which he enlisted the help of the audience to help him sing the chorus, as you can see in the second photo from the top in the last blog entry and the Replacement's "Bastard's of the Young". Mr. Malin's version of the later can be found on "Glitter in the Gutter".

Besides sounding awesome he has great stage presence and can really command that stage! And the way he performs and his personality and presence really make you feel that he loves what he does and loves his fans and makes the experience of seeing Jesse Malin live into that of a personal one for all involved.


On sad note there was another rock and roll passing over the weekend. Casey Calvert from the Emo band Hawthorne Heights, he was 26 years old and the cause of death is unknown pending an autopsy. I'm not all that familiar with Hawthorne Height's music but this is a really sad story, this kid was way too young to die and I really hope that the cause of this kid's death get isn't the rock and roll excesses i.e. drugs!! Either way this story is a very sad story and my sympathies to his family, friends and band mates!

Photos from the Jesse Malin show in Philly





Sunday, November 25, 2007

"I'm Not There", Jesse Malin and Quiet Riot

Today I went and I saw the Todd Haynes film "I'm Not There" which is a character study into the persona of Bob Dylan.

The Dylan physique and persona is played by six different actors you have the young black vagabond blues child, tiny troubadour (played by Marcus Carl Franklin), The egomaniac actor consumed with fame (played by Heath Ledger), the reluctant protest singer turned born again preacher (played by Christian Bale), the grizzled old western outlaw (played by Richard Gere), the musician that just wants to make music and not be made into something he is not.. a voice for his generation (played by Cate Blanchette) and the young poet (played by Ben Whishaw).

Many of the supporting characters are people who were key in the life of Bob Dylan. Michelle Williams plays an Edie Sedgwick like character named CoCo, Julianne Moore plays a Joan Baez like character named Alice Fabien and Charlotte Gainsbourg plays Heath Ledger's long suffering wife a character no doubt based on Dylan's real life wife Sara Dylan. There is one female character named Mona that is a constant thought all the film. And there are also lots of cool cameos including Richie Havens, Kris Kristopherson, David Cross as Alan Ginsburg, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and the guys from My Morning Jacket. Unlike bio pics about Jim Morrison and Edie Sedgwick no one is miscast in this film. And it's nice to see unknown actors cast along side known actors. What is really amazing about this film is having the known actors really go outside themselves and play characters in this film that they would normally never play in any of their other films i.e. Cate Blanchette and Richard Gere.

The story of the physiques and persona's all meld into one and tell the life and lyrics of Bob Dylan. Bob's story and inspiration is told in a very interesting way that's different and more refreshing then the average bio pic and the performances are incredible, I wouldn't be surprised if half the cast and Todd Haynes were nominated for Oscars come this up and coming March. Not only are the performances brilliant but also visually this film is stunning, many of the key scenes are Dylan lyrics come to life.

As of now, "I'm Not There" is playing at one theater here in New York City The Film Forum. I'm hoping soon it will be in wide release, because this film is a serious must see not just for Dylan fans but for everyone!! If you weren't a Dylan fan before, after you see this film you will be!! "I'm Not There" is sooooo worth the $11.00 and all the hype!!

Tomorrow I will have pictures up and posted from the Jesse Malin show in Philly from last Tuesday. The show was an acoustic show and it was just Jesse and his keyboard player. And as always he was brilliant. He is a rock star in every good sense of that word!!

11/26/07:

I just read that the lead singer from the 1980's metal band Quiet Riot, Kevin Dubrow was found dead in his apartment over the weekend. The cause of death is unknown and he was 52 years old. "Bang Your Head" and Quiet Riot's version of "Cum on Feel the Noise" are on my all time top guilty pleasure songs list. I remember the video for "Bang Your Head", Kevin Dubrow was in a straight jacket in a padded room with a metallic mask very much like "The Man in the Mask" and I recall him being interviewed on MTV and he was totally balding and a bit of a loud mouth.....very Spinal Tap. Then a few years ago, I was watching a "Where Are They Now" special on VH-1 and Quiet Riot was part of this special and the special showed recent footage at that time of a reunited Quiet Riot playing a nudist camp somewhere in Alabama and Kevin was totally rockin' what looked like a wig that you would wear on Halloween if you were going as an 80's heavy metal dude or if you were a televangelists wife! Anyway very sad he was young!! RIP Kevin Dubrow and thank you for the good guilty pleasure songs and all the Spinal Tap like moments!!

Oh.... pictures from the Jesse Malin show in Philly will be posted first thing tomorrow.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Just a few things...

I'm very excited, because tomorrow evening my sister and I will be seeing Mr. Jesse Malin play at the Tin Angel in Philly. From all that I have read it sounds as if this show is going to be acoustic, he did an acoustic set back in Sept at the Mercury Lounge which I saw and it was really amazing. Not only is he brilliant musically but his stage banter between songs and the way he introduced songs was really charming and funny. A great live act all around. There will be pictures and a write up on the show next week.

Onto the next subject.... yesterday I saw the film "Gone Baby Gone" this film marks Ben Afleck's directorial debut. The film takes place in Boston and is about a young private investigator (played by Ben's brother Casey Afleck, who I think is so cuter and a much better actor then his brother!) who is asked by an the aunt and uncle of a missing three year old girl to help find the girl and talk to people who might know something but don't wanna speak with the police. The missing girl's mother is a troubled woman who has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and in a nutshell and without reveling the entire plot, Casey Afleck's character uncovers the truth about the case. The film is good...not great but good, at times it seems like Ben was reading the direction and screenwriting for dummies book on how to make a film, cause it seemed like he used every possible plot device and every possible shot that you would use in a drama suspense film. At times the film seemed looped together and there where holes in the plot. Morgan Freeman, Amy Madigan and Ed Harris also star in the film and everyone gives great performances but the script is a little shotty. And one thing I noticed is that Amy Madigan as she gets older is really starting to look an awful lot like Marianne Faithfull!!
The general consensus is don't waste your $11.00!

Onto the last subject.....I read this story on CNN.com and it really got me upset! When I was a kid and I got into altercations with my friends my mom would always say work them out on your own, but if I went too far with in one of these altercations my parents would always step in and say hey you can't do that!! And I thank god I had parents who were parents!! This story just proves that certain people no matter how old they are never grow up!!

From CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/17/internet.suicide.ap/index.html

DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Missouri (AP) -- Megan Meier thought she had made a new friend in cyberspace when a cute teenage boy named Josh contacted her on MySpace and began exchanging messages with her.


Teen's parents say she thought she had made a friend through the social networking web site MySpace.

Megan, a 13-year-old who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, corresponded with Josh for more than a month before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he had heard she was cruel.

The next day Megan committed suicide. Her family learned later that Josh never actually existed; he was created by members of a neighborhood family that included a former friend of Megan's.

Now Megan's parents hope the people who made the fraudulent profile on the social networking web site will be prosecuted, and they are seeking legal changes to safeguard children on the Internet.

The girl's mother, Tina Meier, said she doesn't think anyone involved intended for her daughter to kill herself.

"But when adults are involved and continue to screw with a 13-year-old, with or without mental problems, it is absolutely vile," she told the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, which first reported on the case.

Tina Meier said law enforcement officials told her the case did not fit into any law. But sheriff's officials have not closed the case and pledged to consider new evidence if it emerges.

Megan Meier hanged herself in her bedroom on October 16, 2006, and died the next day. She was described as a "bubbly, goofy" girl who loved spending time with her friends, watching movies and fishing with her dad.

Megan had been on medication, but had been upbeat before her death, her mother said, after striking up a relationship on MySpace with Josh Evans about six weeks before her death.

Josh told her he was born in Florida and had recently moved to the nearby community of O'Fallon. He said he was homeschooled, and didn't yet have a phone number in the area to give her. Watch Megan's parents say she swooned when she received an affectionate note from 'Josh' »

Megan's parents said she received a message from him on October 15 of last year, essentially saying he didn't want to be her friend anymore, that he had heard she wasn't nice to her friends.

The next day, as Megan's mother headed out the door to take another daughter to the orthodontist, she knew Megan was upset about Internet messages. She asked Megan to log off. Users on MySpace must be at least 14, though Megan was not when she opened her account. A MySpace spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.

Someone using Josh's account was sending cruel messages. Then, Megan called her mother, saying electronic bulletins were being posted about her, saying things like, "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat."

Megan's mother, who monitored her daughter's online communications, returned home and said she was shocked at the vulgar language her own daughter was sending. She told her daughter how upset she was about it.

Megan ran upstairs, and her father, Ron, tried to tell her everything would be fine. About 20 minutes later, she was found in her bedroom. She died the next day.

Her father said he found a message the next day from Josh, which he said law enforcement authorities have not been able to retrieve. It told the girl she was a bad person and the world would be better without her, he has said.

Another parent, who learned of the MySpace account from her own daughter who had access to the Josh profile, told Megan's parents about the hoax in a counselor's office about six weeks after Megan died. That's when they learned Josh was imaginary, they said.

The woman who created the fake profile has not been charged with a crime. She allegedly told the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department she created Josh's profile because she wanted to gain Megan's confidence to know what Megan was saying about her own child online.

The mother from down the street told police that she, her daughter and another person all typed and monitored the communication between the fictitious boy and Megan.

A person who answered the door at the family's house told an Associated Press reporter on Friday afternoon that they had been advised not to comment.

Megan's parents had been storing a foosball table for the family that created the MySpace character. Six weeks after Megan's death, they learned the other family had created the profile and responded by destroying the foosball table, dumping it on the neighbors' driveway and encouraging them to move away.

Megan's parents are now separated and plan to divorce.


Aldermen in Dardenne Prairie, a community of about 7,000 residents about 35 miles from St. Louis, have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment. It could come before city leaders on Wednesday.

"Is this enough?" Mayor Pam Fogarty said Friday. "No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's something, and you have to start somewhere."

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

This so rings true

The only group of people I loathe are New York hipsters!! God do I hate them!! I want to punch them out when I see them!! Sorry I'm in a really pissy mood today!! Anyhow I found this on a website called turntablebluelight.com and it's the anti-hipster manifesto. It's so right on!! It's by Jan Herndon

http://www.turntablebluelight.com/2006/11/antihipster_manifesto.html


Anti-Hipster Manifesto


Most people go to great lengths to conceal their prejudices, and I’m no exception. Bias, therefore, is often like some gastrointestinal disorder: The only evidence there is of it is an occasional noxious emission you try furiously to deny. But I’m going to confess a prejudice I have, because I am trying, with every ounce of open-mindedness and liberality I possess, to rise above it. Okay, here goes. I’ve always hated hipsters.

Don't get me wrong, some of my best friends are hipsters. Well, one of my best friends is, anyway, and she's a genuinely stylish, innovative, and brilliant person. But as a breed, I've never been overly impressed with them.

And though it seems, er, un-hip to comment on the phenomenon at this late date – when you could fill a moving van with books and articles analyzing every last aspect of hipsterism – I can't help but offer a few hard facts to my messily-yet-perfectly-coiffed brethren.

Ceasing to like something just because everyone else likes it doesn't make you a trendsetter. It makes you an idiot.

Boutique consumerism is still consumerism.

Every time you put on a trucker hat or mechanics' coveralls, somewhere a truck driver or mechanic begins to laugh. And he's not laughing with you.

You can't be a radical in $300 limited-edition Pumas. No, not even if your shirt came from the Salvation Army.

A shitty apartment that your parents pay for is still just an apartment your parents pay for.

Coolness and worthiness are not the same thing. In fact, they're often inversely proportional.

Cheap sentiment always trumps phony intellectualism.

Rednecks look down on you as much as you look down on them. Difference is, a redneck could kick your ass.

There are precious few white people who can sing the blues. You aren't one of them.

If you relate in any way to Chuck Closterman, you have a serious problem.

Appetite for Destruction still rocks. Deal with it.

Karl Marx would not like you very much. As opposed to Che Guevara, who might think seriously about shooting you.

Hysterical solipsism and neurosis are only permissible if you write as well as Dave Eggers. Otherwise, you'd be better off following his example in another way. That's right, sweetie: Tutor a kid.

Way back when, there used to be a little thing known as counterculture. It was founded on not being cool, being in some way an outsider. From Hippies to Punks to Goths, these shat-upon groups ended up producing some really amazing stuff, without the aid of any aesthetically pleasing electronics. Go figure.

Instead of spending so much time trying to identify "the problem" with the world, you might take a moment to ask yourself if you're part of it.

And, finally,

If you hate your well-paid, cushy graphic-design job that much, quit it. Otherwise, shut the fuck up.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Jim Morrison, Joe Walsh and Mickey Hart are all the same person.

Having a very slow day at work (what else is new!) and I went on this really cool website called Seize the Night (link below), this website details conspiracy theories, haunted locations, serial killers and military leaders. While I get creeped out and disturbed reading about serial killers and military leaders and while I think conspiracy theories such as 9/11 being an inside job and the moon landing hoax are kinda stupid and really have no merit. I'm fascinated by conspiracy theories in regards to things like Marilyn Monroe's death, the JFK assassination, Jonestown, The UFO/Area 51 cover-ups, The whole hunting of Bill Clinton but the one that fascinates me the most is the theory that Jim Morrison from the Doors is still alive. While I'm not a Doors fan in the least, that conspiracy theory fascinates me because despite the fact I'm not a fan he was a rock star, and that just shows you the power and impact of music and musicians. Your not a real rock star till some starts a conspiracy theory or urban legend about you!

Jim Morrison died in 1973 at the age of 27 in his bathtub in Paris due to a heroin induced heart attack. And after he died there were all sorts of rumors floating around that he died while snorting heroin at a club and was placed in his bathtub and the other big one was that he was still alive. Supposedly sometime after his death Capital records released an album called "Phantom's Divine Comedy" with a mysterious unnamed band and a lead singer that sounded just like Jim (the Seize the Night website and I've read on music sites, that singer on that album was Iggy Pop)
and supposedly Jim or Jim's doppelganger was seen in LA, San Fransisco and Louisiana years after his death.

But there is a guy who lives in Oregon who is claiming that Jim Morrison is alive and well and working as a cattle rancher in the pacific northwest and is a good friend of his. He has a website (linked below) complete with pictures and if you look at the first picture Jim looks an awful lot like Joe Walsh from the Eagles and then if you look at the second picture he looks an awful lot like Mickey Hart from the Grateful Dead. I'm gonna start a conspiracy theory of my own have you ever seen Mickey Hart and Joe Walsh in the same place!? HUMMMMM!!!!????

Anyway check out the computer morph of Jim's young face into "Jim's" older face. The older Jim looks like a computer generated image!! I totally dig the Village people/Leather Man/Bear Mustache older Jim is now rockin'!!


http://www.rodeoswest.com/




http://www.carpenoctem.tv/cons/

Sunday, November 4, 2007

"The Future is Unwritten"....

Today I saw the Julien Temple documentary all about Joe Strummer lead singer of the Clash, the name of the documentary is "The Future is Unwritten". For all you kids who don't know Julien Temple's previous films include the Sex Pistols movie "The Great Rock and Roll Swindle" and the Sex Pistols documentary "The Filth and the Fury". And for all you people who have been living under a rock or listen to nothing but the Plain White T's and Good Charlotte, Joe Strummer was the lead singer of the Clash one of the greatest front men IMHO and the Clash was one of the greatest rock and roll bands IMHO, he passed away about five years ago suddenly of a heart condition.

Much like the Sex Pistols doc, "The Future is Unwritten" juxtaposes clips from cartoon clips and movies as Strummer himself and friends tell his life story. Everyone is interviewed in front of a bon fire, the reason being towards the end of his life Joe felt that bon fires where a way to bring everyone together and to cultivate creativity. Two of Joe's Clash band mates Topper Headon and Mick Jones are interviewed for the film interestingly enough Clash bass player Paul Simmion isn't. Among the famous people interviewed for the film are Johnny Depp, Matt Dillion, Courtney Love, Bono, John Cusack, Flea, Anthony Kiedis, Jim Jarmousch, Martin Scorsese and Steve Buscemi. With the exception of Flea, John Cusack, Bono and Johnny Depp most of the famous people interviewed for the film either worked with Joe or were friends of his. As much as I love John Cusack, Johnny Depp, Bono and Flea I could have done without them speaking about how much of an influence the Clash and Joe were on them, that to me made it seem like every other documentary about every rock band or rock star out there. That was my only complaint about the film!



The character study that you get through the clips and interviews and in Joe's own words, was a fascinating one to me because Joe really seemed like a guy who wanted to make music with a message and wanted to make a difference in the world and just wanted to be a musician and not let any of the rock star bull shit get in the way. When it did for instance when the Clash began to play large stadiums he seemed to become very agitated about that, because he felt that the audience were his friends, that idea is something that should be embraced by certain indie bands of today. But it seemed later on in life it really seemed as if he grew more comfortable with his place in rock and roll and as he puts it "a punk warlord".

Very sad to loose him so soon and so quickly. I have a list of bands that are no longer that I would have loved to have seen when they were in their hey day, but never did cause a) I wasn't even thought of just yet. or b) I was about six when a particular band or singer was huge and the Clash is at the top of my hey day list! And I'm very sorry that I missed Joe when he came around with the Mescaleros! Because of the fact I was about six when the Clash were huge and they are on the top of my bands that "I would have loved to have seen when they were in their hey day list", seeing the concert footage in this film made it that much more special for me.


All in all "The Future is Unwritten" is a great documentary. It's playing at the IFC center in New York City till November 15th and is airing on the IFC, so worth seeing!!