Montana-Mania

It's been awhile now since the whole Hannah Montana thing has been out of hand. Yesterday we received a Wal-Mart sales circular that not only validated this opinion, but re-enforced it and propelled the fad to absolute RIDICULOUS proportions.

An entire 4-page sales advert of Hannah Montana shit. Nothing else. Just Hannah Montana merchandise. Hannah Montana has taken over the largest super store in the United States. How did she do it?

I've seen a few of the "Hannah Montana" shows on the Disney channel. Don't ask me why. But they weren't too bad for entertainment geared to pre-teens. Miley Cyrus is a cute gal and it's unique that she's the daughter of a country singer who had a couple of big hits in the early 90s. There's nothing altogether special about the music or even Cyrus' voice, but it's no better or worse than the stuff Britney Spears and Christina Aguilara made their fortunes with.

I just don't know. You'd probably have to ask someone who's about 30 years younger than I am if you really want to know how she has risen to such prominence.

It could be worse. At least it's not Marilyn Manson or Nine Inch Nails...although, come to think of it, they might make for some very entertaining fare (as long as it's not on VH1).

Hannah's harmless. That's the key. Parents don't feel like they're letting the kids watch something inappropriate. I don't suppose they are.

The only thing that's inappropriate, as I see it, is the mondo-marketing blitz that Disney has rollin', all aimed directly at children who are of an age where it's normal for them to carry on and on and on until they get what they want (especially when it's at the "Everyday Low Wal-Mart Price"). Stuff is gonna get bought, that's understood. Lots of JUNK (Hannah Montana Sticker Card Pack, only $1.97) as well as some items that could very well prove useful (Hannah Montana Slumber Tote w/Sleeping Bag, only $19.96).

I was too young to remember the product onslaught from the first wave of Beatle-mania, but I imagine it was something like this (in fact, it was worse, from what I've read, with hotels selling one square inch strips of linen taken directly from the beds that the Fab Four slept on). And I'm not going to get all high-and-mighty by saying, "Well, that was THE BEATLES! They actually had talent!" (even if that happens to be the truth).

But anyhoo, here's a list of just a few of the great, essential items you can find at Wal-Mart. Just look for the ever-expanding "Hannah Montana aisle", located just to the right of the Bibles and inspirational books:

~~Hannah Montana Gift Bag
~~Hannah Montana Comforter
~~Hannah Montana Cake of 24-Ct. Cupcake Cake
~~Hannah Montana Napkins
~~Hannah Montana Toothbrush
~~Hannah Montana Girls Guitar Bag
~~Hannah Montana Denim Capris
~~Hannah Montana 4-Pack Socks
~~Hannah Montana 3-Pack Underwear (I think I'll get me a pair of those. Just kidding)
~~Hannah Montana Glasses Frames
~~Hannah Montana Pop Star Electric Guitar
~~Hannah Montana Denim Handbag
~~Hannah Montana Paper Dinner Plates
~~Hannah Montana Watch


In the words of a classic Bruce Springsteen song:
"Some day we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny"

Actually it's pretty damn funny NOW.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Wal-Mart circular will be of some use, though. The front cover is pretty much a glossy poster of Hannah (with the recognizable Wal-Mart logo at the header). I'm going to cut it out and pin it the wall next to my 13 year old son's bed.

He DESPISES Hannah Montana (I did mention that he was my SON, and not a daughter, right?).

I can't wait to see his reaction! This is gonna be FUNNY!

Simba Limba Fur-Kid

Simba. Simba Limba. Simba Limba Lou. Simba Limba Louie. Limba. Louie.

Our pomeranian, Simba, was given his name by my son, who was, no doubt, influenced by how much his mane resembled that of the "Lion King"'s chief character. Then it went through an odd metamorphosis, and I admit, it was all my doing.

But it didn't stop there. My wife, for reasons unbeknownst to me, began to call him Fur-Kid. Which soon became Furry. Which, in turn, became Fur-Fur. She uses all of these interchangably with each other as well as with the Simba mutation.

I most often refer to him as "the dog".

When he was given to us about 7 years ago I was against the idea of having a dog. It wasn't so much that dogs were too much trouble to keep...but a lot of love gets invested in a pet, and more often than not they begin to be considered as "one of the family".

With all the love that these critters get showered with it is only natural that their masters grow attached to them to a great degree. It is a strong bond, not quite as strong as family ties, but up there in that realm.

So, the death of a pet is a traumatic experience of sorts. If you've ever had a pet...as a child, or maybe later in your life...then you know what I'm talking about. It's heartbreaking when you lose one.

That's why I didn't want a pet. I dread the thought of going through with that again. Once was enough.

The intention was to give our son a pet dog to call his own. And Limba is HIS dog, for all intents and purposes. However, he became very attached to my wife, as she had more time to spend with him than my son, who was off doing something new every time you turned around to look for him. She would not say that Fur-Kid is "her dog"...but she's the one that he pines for when they are gone.

As for me...I resisted becoming attached to Louie for a long time. Years, though he slowly but surely grew in my affections. Now I'm sure I would be in tears if he were to die on us. Not only that, but I think it would be even harder for me to see the way it would affect my wife and son. I do not look forward to that day, I can assure you.

Simba hasn't died on us. But he has been sick for a couple of weeks now. Pretty bad sick, I would say. Two different vets have given us two different diagnoses. Pancreatitis (I think it's called) was one opinion. I don't even know what the other vet said. They took some of his blood for analysis so I imagine we'll know more tomorrow or the next day.

Seeing him like this makes me realize how important he has become to me and my family. He is a very good dog, though he gets loud and rowdy when visitors show up. He's very protective of the wife and son. And he's a cute little fellar.

I have a feeling that, when he does pass away (hopefully several years from now), I will have changed my mind about the drawbacks of having a pet. That memories of him will bring back good thoughts instead of sorrow that would cause me to never want to have a pet again (although, for different reasons, I won't want another).

It's just like Bill Shakespeare said, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."

Today he seems to be feeling a little bit better, so hopefully that "lost" part won't come into play any time soon.

Neil Young: "Greendale"

Neil Young has made some great albums. A few classics, even.

He has also made some shitty ones. Real stinkers

"Greendale" is firmly entrenched in the latter category.

Peter Gabriel: "Peter Gabriel" (second album)

I always thought it was cool how Peter Gabriel chose to name all 4 of his first solo albums after himself. No specific titles, not even a numerical designation, such as “Peter Gabriel 1”, “Peter Gabriel 2”, and so on. Just his name in a recognizable font in the upper left corner of the album jacket (“Security” was given a name only because David Geffen insisted on it, but you won’t see the title on the original album artwork---just the name, which is like a logo). Besides the music, the only difference between the four was the aforementioned cover art and the record labels (Atco, Atlantic, Mercury and Geffen in that order). Almost as if each album was a new edition of a magazine…same title, different contents.

The second album (designated as “Scratch” by the label) is probably the weakest of these initial four . It would be easy to say this is a “transitional” album and blame it’s weaknesses on that. It is a transitional album, but then again all of his albums have been transitional in many ways…the first being a (successful) attempt to break free of his “Genesis styling”. The third, perhaps a (successful) effort to rise above the negative reviews the second one received. And the fourth being a conscious attempt to move past the “progressive” tag, into new, previously uncharted (by ANYONE) territory . Again, successfully, I might add.

So what makes “Scratch” the least successful of them all? It’s not the musicianship, which is very solid throughout. It’s not Gabriel’s vocals, which always impress. And it’s not the production, even though it is thin by today’s standards (actually, it was kind of thin as judged by the standards of it’s day, but it was almost as if that was the way he planned it…I can’t really explain why…it’s just the impression I always had).

So that leaves us only one thing for which we can find fault in the record: the songs.

Not that they are all substandard…indeed, none of them could be considered “substandard”, in my opinion. Gabriel has not released an album with anything that wasn’t worth listening to. But “Flotsam & Jetsam”, “Perspective” “D.I.Y.”, “Animal Magic” and “A Wonderful Day in a One Way World” come close. And that’s almost half of the album right there. Decent playing and a few good lyrics amongst that lot, but none of them rises to the standard I expect.

A few do rise above that level but don’t quite reach the goal: “White Shadow”, “On the Air”, and “Mother of Violence” straddle the line between good and great. The latter, especially, has some lyrics that are quite profound

The cream of this crop are “Indigo”, “Exposure” and “Home, Sweet Home”. “Indigo” is a melancholy examination of a relationship gone bad. Robert Fripp (who produced this album) makes his presence known in “Exposure”, an almost minimalist piece that sports only two lines …“Exposure” repeated throughout and “Space is what I need, it’s what I feed on”. And that may be the key to “Scratch”. The production sounds thin because there IS so much space left alone throughout the album. It’s relatively uncluttered when compared to the rest of PG’s oeuvre (side note…Robert Fripp recorded the song and released it on an album called “Exposure” not too long after this one came out. It’s actually a very good version, possibly better than Gabriel’s. The album itself is good, too.). As for “Home, Sweet Home”, I give it the 2 thumbs up because it’s just so funny. It’s the dark-humored tale of a man who is forced by an unplanned pregnancy to marry. His wife’s dissatisfaction with the relationship, in a turn that can only be described as “extreme”, kills herself, jumping out of the window with their baby in tow. The insurance money comes in, but he thinks of it as “dirty”, so he goes to the casino planning to lose it all. But he wins, so he takes the money and buys a nice home iu the country (“with an antique carved oak door”. Ha!). A nice bit of wicked fun to close out a serious album.

All in all, Peter Gabriel’s second record is a good one. Fans who weren’t disillusioned by his decision to record as a solo artist (and the resulting album that was nothing at all like Genesis) will enjoy it. That said, it is only essential to the completist. Of which, I suspect, most Peter Gabriel fans are.

"The Bucket List"

Very, very good movie. Hilarious but still poignant. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are at the top of their game. I suggest seeing it in a theater as opposed to waiting for it to come out on DVD. The visuals during the last half of the movie are stunning. Director Rob Reiner has done an excellent job here. He's come a long way since "Meathead".

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Steve Hackett: "Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited"

I kinda feel bad about saying I listened to this. Usually I won't post an album here unless I've heard all of it, or maybe all of it except for a song or two (especially when said songs are big hits or personal favorites that are permanently etched in my brain).


But I skipped through about half of this. Listened to 30 seconds or so of each song in the second half and then hit the "skip" button.

Because it's wretched.

Basically, in case you didn't know, this album is ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett's re-workings of some of the better Genesis tunes of the 70s. It sounds like a good concept, but no, it's a terrible disappointment.

Oh, it has strengths...the audio quality is stellar. Hackett's playing is sublime, showing more technique and prowess picked up since his days with the band. The title track, "Watcher of the Skies" is awesome.

I guess they placed it at the beginning of the album so listeners would maybe hang around just to see if anything else is as good.

Nothing is.

I could cite a few issues I have with "Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited", but I only want to focus on one: the vocal stylings on "Dance on a Volacano" and "The Fountain of Salmacis". Both songs feature a deep, low register spoken word instead of actual singing. It sounds more like a death metal grumble, only with better enunciation so you can understand the words. It will make you long for the original. Even the most hardcore Phil Collins hater would beg to get him back in the vocal chair after hearing this awful take on "Volcano".

The supporting cast is stellar, including Tony Levin, Bill Bruford and and John Wetton. But it only goes to show that you can have great musicians and great songs but still wind up with a crappy record.

If it had not been Hackett I would have shrugged this project off as a bad Genesis tribute album. I expected more from him.

kill time, waste space, two birds with one stone

Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A: Pizza Hut Ranch...but that's the only ranch I like. If I'm not at Pizza Hut I'll settle for Italian.

Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A: I guess I'll say Sonic because it's the only one in town and those Java Chillers are killer good.

Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A: Probably Rudolpho's mexican in Cushing.


Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A: It all depends upon the service. I wouldn't want to try and average it out.


Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
A: Pizza

Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A: Italian sausage, pepperoni, black olive, green pepper, lots of cheese and extra sauce, pretty much your typical Supreme minus the mushrooms.


Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A: Butter and grape jelly

Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A: Right now it's the front page photo logo from my blog "The Time Killer". My screen saver is photographs of Sigur Ros.

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A: 3

BIOLOGY

Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A: right

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A: Like ticks, you mean? :)

Q. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A: A set of stereo speakers I was retiring...it's not so much that they were actually too heavy, but hoisting them on top of the dead refrigerator in the garage (their new home) was back breaking.

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A: No, actually.

BULLSHITOLOGY

Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A: Hell no. I wouldn't be able to sleep at all the night before.

Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
A: Bill Gates

Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
A: I just can't seem to make ANY color work for me.

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A: A bug or two, though I imagine in some countries they are considered quite the edible delicacy.

Q. Have you ever saved someone's life?
A: When I was a kid I got my dad out of bed soon after a bad extension cord started a fire beneath it. So maybe. I was pretty young though, so it may have been a dream.

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A: I think so. This developmentally disabled guy I worked for got my attention just as a car was about to run into me.

CASHOLOGY

Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A: Under a few conditions. The guy cannot be a candidate for uglyperson.com. He cannot have cracked, bleeding lips. He must agree to leave and never come back after the kiss (kisses, if the offer is a Benji per kiss). He must also understand that he will not be experiencing the joys of my tongue and that if he attempts to demonstrate the joys of his own tongue I will personally cut it out of his mouth. The transaction will take place in the presence of only three people...myself, the guy I'm gonna have to kiss, and the guy who's paying the piper. Two if the guy who wants my kisses so bad is the same guy who is shelling out the dough. In other words: NO ONE ELSE MUST KNOW. If this stipulation, a paramount one, is breached I will have the right to terminate the existence of all parties involved (myself excluded). And finally, if someone else offers me considerably more money for the same favor, I will laugh at your paltry hundred dollar bill. However, the new client must be aware that all the conditions placed upon the original transaction will remain in place with no significant deviations.

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A: Hell, no. I worked too hard mastering the D chord (and it's countless variations) to take anything less than $200,001 for one of 'em.
Just kidding. It would take at least a couple million...It's not as if I play the guitar much these days, but 200 grand is chump change.

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A: I think I could restrain my creative impulses for that amount. Especially in light of the fact that you can count the number of people who read it on one hand (and MY hand at that).

Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A: Depends on the magazine, I guess. The last time I posed nude it was for some Car & Driver type affair, and I'll never do that again. Christianity Today, perhaps.
JUST KIDDING, FOLKS!!! (It's only a magazine, folks...it's not as if I were going to portray pre-Fall Adam in the new Rod Parsley Illustrated Seed Faith Promise Keeper Worship Study Bible [annotated by internationally recognized Bible scholars including Benny Hinn, Morris Cerullo, John Hagee, Paula White, Creflo Dollar, Paul Crouch plus many more]. I was asked to do it by Parsley's people but it offended my tender sensibilities. They begged me to be a part of the project, so eventually I wound up accepting the role of one of the lepers Jesus heals. The photo shoot is next week and they tell me the time spent with the make-up artists will be the toughest part of the job, but at least I won't have to be naked. I will, however, reconsider depending on who they find to play Eve).

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A: Funeral costs are much higher than that, so no.

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A: Why don't you make that same offer to our military personnel in Iraq? They don't have the luxury of the choice. And they deserve more than that for being ordered to do just that when, under any other circumstances, their answer to the question would be the same as mine: no.

DUMBOLOGY

Q: What is in your left pocket?
A: Nothing. Not even lint.

Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: I thought it was going to be the worst movie ever made, but I laughed my ass off when I saw it. It even made me laugh a couple of times after that when I saw bits and pieces of it on TV. So, yeah, it's a good movie.

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: Shitty carpet.

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: it's much more hygienic to stand when you're pissing in the shower. And if you sit, how are you going to get your ass cheeks really clean? (Ha!n Betcha never thought of that, did ya?)

Q: Could you live with roommates?
A: Probably not. unless they were rich, generous, female, extremely attractive and clinically diagnosed as sex addicts with no boyfriends.

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A. One. It gets the job done.

Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A: It was a few months ago. Meeker cop says I didn't completely come to a halt at the town's one and only 4-way stop. I tend to doubt his assessment, as he was right there in plain view...I'm sure I saw him, so why wouldn't I stop? I'm just as paranoid of cops as the next guy. But, alas, he did pull me over. I got off with less than a warning, for some inexplicable reason. I think he was probably looking for drugs. I guess it's a good thing for me that he didn't ask to look in my left sock.
Just kidding?

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: A spirit rider.

Lastology

Q: Last Friend you talked to?
A: I talked to Aubrey via IM Messenger just an hour ago.

Q: Last person who called you?
A: My wife.

Q: Last Person you hugged?
A: My motto is "Drugs, not hugs".

FAVORITOLOGY

Q: Number?
A: The last one.

Q: Season?
A: The season of the witch.


CURRENTOLOGY

Q: Missing someone?
A: I can't say that I am, actually. Does that mean there's something wrong with me?

Q: Mood?
A. Pre-anxiety contentment.

Q: Listening to?
A: What else? Sigur Ros. Right now it's the "()" album but just before it I was listening to a CD of various downloads I got from their website. I need to check back there and see if there are any new ones.

Q: watching?
A: Letters appear on a screen in tandem with my fingers pressing buttons with corresponding letters printed on them.

Q: Worrying about?
A: I admit it...I'm a tad worried about our dog. He's been pretty sickly the last couple of days...and this is EXACTLY why I swore I'd never have another pet before we got him. Not that it was my choice...but you know how you get attached to the cute bastards.

RANDOMOLOGY

Q: First place you went this morning?
A: The bathroom.

Q: What can you not wait to do?
A: Spend my money when I get it.

Q: What's the last movie you saw?
A: "Rush Hour 3"...I fell asleep halfway into it, which means either it wasn't much of a movie or that I was a lot more tired than I thought I was when I began watching it. I hate Chris Tucker, though.

Q: Do you smile often?
A. Only when I'm alone.

Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: I'm not "un-friendly". I'm just not really in the market for new friends just now.

Bose on-ear Headphones

I did something last week that I thought I'd never do...

I spent $200 for a set of headphones. Bose on-ear headphones, to be exact.

Now, that's a big wad of cash to drop for something for which I have never, in the past, paid anything more than $50. But I heard them at a listening station in a Target store some months ago and I was sold. I knew then and there that I wanted.these Bose suckers. The sound quality is just so far ahead of any I've ever heard (of those made for home use as opposed to studio headphones). The bottom end, which most inexpensive models simply can't reproduce, is satisfactorily prominent with these. For that matter, the entire spectrum of sound is reproduced exceptionally well on this model.

I know that Bose offers a model that is a little better than these, the noise canceling model they advertise on television. Those were designed almost exclusively for people who ride in airplanes a lot, though it is little wonder that they would also be very well suited for any listening situation. They're about a hundred dollars more than the ones I've just purchased. I'd like to have a pair of those but two things go against it:

1.) 200 bucks is more than enough to spend on headphones, especially when you consider:

2.) The extent of hearing loss that I deal with means I'm lucky to hear what I hear in the 200 dollar model...I somehow doubt that I would even notice the difference between the two. Maybe I'm wrong...if that is the case, please refer back to #1.

It has been said many, many times that when you upgrade your stereo system you will certainly hear things in music that you never heard before. I've found this to be true, but especially so with this set of Bose headphones. I listened to Sigur Ros' "( )" album last night and there was all kind of nuance in those songs that I had missed. I thought I had mined those soundscapes thoroughly well, but surprises were abundant and I doubt I would have ever heard them without these new phones...

...which means that the two hundred smackers was money well-spent. I came to that conclusion before I heard the Sigur Ros disc, but that's the one that brought it home to me. The SR "Heima" performance DVD sounds great, too.

So, to wrap it all up...if you love music enough to part with a couple hundred bucks on an item that can be purchased at Wal-Mart for 1/8th of the cost (albeit remarkably inferior in quality), you will be impressed with these Bose headphones. There are a couple of models they offer in this price range...the tri-port model seems to have a fairly comparable sound quality for about 40-50 dollars cheaper. But for over-all comfort and fidelity I think it's worth the extra money to go with the on-ear model.

Unless, of course, you've got $300 to invest...at which point I'd say "Do what you gotta do."

[Update 5/25/10: The set of Bose headphones I bought at this time lasted a little over a year before breaking down. Most likely this happened because I used them so often. I bought another pair a couple of months later, when I could afford it. That says a lot, IMO, about how pleased I was/am with the sound quality of these phones.]

Red House Painters: "Songs For a Blue Guitar"

A good friend from the RS.com Castaways board mentioned that he had wanted to listen to Red House Painters' "Songs for a Blue Guitar" but that he couldn't find his copy. And thus I felt compelled to respond in this fashion:
Glenn, if it turns out you've acually lost your copy of "Songs for a Blue Guitar" just let me know and I'll give a package to the local mail carrier and instruct him to get the process started in which it will find it's way over many state lines, eventually turning up at your doorstep and into your CD player where, within the first ten minutes of it's duration you will have sobbed a melancholy tear with "Have You Forgotten" and then rocked out slowly but effectively to the repetitive strains of "Make Like Paper".

As you proceed into the album you will no doubt be impressed with Mr. Kozelek's fine guitar playing and introspective lyrics, not to mention that honey-soaked voice. You may well be put in mind of Nick Drake on a couple of songs, at which point you'll smile and consider that there could be lots worse legendary icons he could sound like INSTEAD of Drake...that guy from Quiet Riot for instance.

Maybe you like cover versions, maybe not...either way you might still like "All Mixed Up" (though I don't) or maybe even the YES classic "Long Distance Runaround" (which I do like, in spite of or maybe because of how radically he's re-done it). But beware after this point...be on the lookout for one of the worst covers Mark's ever done, the sprawling, laughable "Silly Love Songs" (in which "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is, at one point, suggested in the music though not the lyrics). If your CD player has a remote you will save the trouble of having to get up and push the "next track" button. If not, you would still do well to hit that button, despite the effort expended.

You could just shut the thing off when you get to that point, but then you'd miss the album's beautiful closing number, "Another Song for a Blue Guitar".

But I forget...you have likely only misplaced your copy and I'm sure that all I've said here is old news to you.

But did you know THIS? "Songs For a Blue Guitar" is not really a Red House Painters record? There may be one of the RHP guys playing on the album (I think it's the drummer) but most of the musicians were people that MK invited to play on this, which was supposed to be his first solo album. 4AD had not been happy with the stuff (hard to imagine, though I guess it does veer away from any resemblance to "the 4AD sound") so Mark left after fulfilling his contract with the release of "Retrospective" (with it's second disc of outtakes, demos, etc...Glenn, if you don't have that one, let me know. It's not really a "must-have" but there are a couple of nice things on it, including a great outtake of "Uncle Joe", an acoustic guitar version of "Mistress" and a couple of unreleased songs).

So, anyway, with the 4AD contract terminated, with Kozelek and Ivo parting on more-or-less amicable terms, "Songs For a Blue Guitar" was offered to several labels. It eventually wound up on a subsidiary of Island called Supreme Records. At this point, starting out anew, Kozelek made the decision to use the Red House Painters name instead of his own. His reasoning was sound---it probably wouldn't be a good idea to attempt a solo break-out at such a transitional period. Best to just see how things went.

But they went badly. The bigger label didn't give the kind of promotional support needed to expose the material to a new audience. Even if it had it wouldn't have made too much difference because the parent label (Island) was bought out, folded into a major conglomerate (I think it was WEA) and the whole thing practically slipped off the map. Kozelek had an RHP album completed by the time all this shit hit the fan ("Old Ramon") but they held it back, not wanting to drop it into the cesspool that their record deal had turned into.

"Old Ramon", as I'm sure you know, was released a few years ago when they landed a decent deal (I can't even tell you, off the top of my head, what the label was). But by that time MK had already put out one solo CD (ep, actually, "Rock 'n' Roll Singer") with another soon to follow ("What's Next to the Moon"). The RHP stuff was very good, but didn't exactly stray too far from their signature sound.

The solo material, though, was a different story. For the most part entirely acoustic (singer/guitar), it showed Kozelek's strengths in an entirely re-cast setting. The John Denver influence came to the forefront (a strange combination, John Denver's early musical stylings with the testosterone fueled lyrics of AC/DC's late front man, Bon Scott). He went on to release two very good live albums in this style, and somewhere in between all that he formed what may well be the crowning glory of all he's ever done, Sun Kil Moon.

I never would have thought I would like SKM more than RHP. The first few times I listened to their debut album, "Ghosts of the Great Highway", I was less than impressed. But persistance definately paid off with this one. It grew on me in a big way until eventually I found myself in that conundrum where I had to break down and admit that he'd outdone just about everything else in his career.

...It would appear that I've entered into territory that is not only trivial history, but is also the kind of trivial history that anyone who even halfway likes this music is already well aware of. And so I apologize for the rambling and will proceed.

"Rush Hour 3"

If asked, I would gladly write a review of "Rush Hour 3". I might even write one even if I wasn't asked (which would be the more likely scenario).

But I won't. I fell asleep about halfway into this third installment of the wildly popular Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker vehicle. I closed my eyes for a moment and the next thing I knew the end credits were rolling. The blooper reel was just beginning, so I roused myself sufficiently enough to enjoy it (gotta love blooper reels).

But the movie was, IMO, a dull affair. The first couple of "Rush Hour"s had their charms. The second was particularly good, so I had reason to hope that the 3rd would be atypical of the downward trend in quality normally inherent in sequels. But this one (at least the first half of it) just didn't have what it takes...to keep me awake, that is.

Maybe I was just tired. That could have been it. There's always the chance that it was a slow starter, and perhaps I should give it the benefit of the doubt. But I don't like self-referential jokes and I don't much care for Chris Tucker. He plays this character in what can only be described as an outdated stereotypical model of "the hip Afro-American cop". He's a 21st century model of "little black Sambo". No doubt he's playing it up for the yucks...it's not as if Don Cheadle would be appropriate for the role. I have to wonder, though, if that schtick is worth overhauling for 3 movies...

I don't think I'll watch it again, maybe pump myself up with a few cans of Monster and try once more. I should have just passed it by for another "non-sequel" movie...

...but right now there are just too few new release DVDs that look to be worth investing a couple of hours into.