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Useless Things Need Love Too

Useless Things Need Love Too

Monthly Archives: January 2015

In a World or: The Less Desirables Movie Review

31 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Movie Review

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Tags

Don LaFontaine, In a World, Joe Cipriano, Lake Bell, Mark Elliot, Netflix, The Less Desirables

Salutations™!!

The Less Desirables Movie of the Week is In a World.  Eugene and I, along with our Official Guest, Phillip Oakley of Common Giant, discussed how Eug and I are in the VO (that’s voice over for the layperson) business.  We do commercials, plugs, imaging, corporate presentations, etc.  We do that.  And the discussion was lively, as always; we don’t do light and fuzzy.

In a World humorously presents the dilemma of the VO industry after the passing of the “Voice of God,” Don LaFontaine.  LaFontaine’s signature line was “In a World.”  So when a movie company chooses to relaunch the phrase to accompany a new trilogy that closely resembles the “Hunger Games” series, the search is on to find the next torch bearer for it.

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“In a World” ©2013

Lake Bell plays Carol Solomon, a struggling and frustrated voice coach whose father, Sam Sotto (played by Fred Melamed) is a famous VO artist who was in league with and a contemporary of LaFontaine.  Carol is always living in the shadows of her father as he turns his efforts on his protégé and friend, Gustav Warner.  Gustav has a VO job that he can’t make because of laryngitis.  Carol is friends with the studio engineer and he asks her to do a temp track (just to fill the spot for editing purposes).  The director of the spot is so taken with her work that she offers her other work.  Of course, she doesn’t tell her father and Gustav loses out to Carol on several other jobs although he doesn’t know who it is, only that it is a woman.

When word gets out that the “trilogy” is looking for someone to revive the famous phrase, Sam bows out so that his friend Gustav can get it.  Carol is also persuaded to audition for the part.  Gustav throws a party and Sam talks his daughter into going because he likes to make high profile appearances.  Not knowing who is who, Carol and Gustav hook up.  Gustav finds out that night that Carol is the woman that has been his competition of both regular and the coveted phrase job, he continues to pursue her, not knowing it is his mentor’s friend.  Gustav tells Sam that he found out that the party goer was his competition and that they did all this wild and wooly stuff in bed.  Sam finds it humorous.

At a dinner, it is revealed that Carol is the mystery woman vying for the job and the one that Gustav is bragging about.  Sam is livid, both at Gustav and Carol; he is quite dismissive of her. He then throws his hat into the ring for the phrase, hell-bent on beating both the loud mouthed younger man he’s been mentoring and his insolent daughter (how dare she, right?).  Then it’s a mad rush for all three to get the part.  Now, I’m not going to tell you what happens, you’ll have to find that out for yourself.  Of course, everything that I’ve said wasn’t ruining anything, it’s out there on the surface.  How it goes down, and all the subplots, well,  that is for you to see.

I saw In a World in the theater, a/perture Cinema, The Less Desirables Official Movie Sponsor, with The BCPF. I think that my love of the VO industry made me like this more than I was supposed to. Two of my favorite VO artists, Joe Cipriano and Mark Elliot make cameos (LaFontaine is my VO idol).  Everything about the film intrigues me as I know way more than I should about the industry.  All but actually getting to hang in those circles.  I can keep striving, through.  Anywhat, it’s a fun comedy and I do recommend seeing it.  It is streaming on Neflix, which is where I watched it.

The film was directed, written and stars Lake Bell.  I rate it a 3.5.

What are your thoughts on it?  Send me a message, drop me a line, Facebook me, Tweet me, whatever, just let me know how you feel.  As always, feel free to suggest a film that you’d like me to review or argue about.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I just want to give you my card. I’m not a vocal coach anymore, but I would make an exception for you because you sound like a squeaky toy. And I don’t mean that in a bad way.” – Carol (Lake Bell), In a World (2013)

Standing at the Gates of Perturbed or: Go Hawks!

30 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Blogging, Life as We Know It, Rant

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Beastmode, Bill Belichick, Deflategate, Marshawn Lynch, New England Patriots, NFL, Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl, Tom Brady

Salutations™!!

Sunday is the “big game” number ex elle eye ex.  Can we still not use Super Bowl?  I don’t know.  I guess I won’t say Super Bowl in case.  No more Super Bowl for the rest of this post, fingers crossed and everything.

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©Seattle Seahawks, NFL

So the ever-cheating Belicheat and Tom Shady will be going against a team near and dear to my heart, the Seattle Seahawks.  This game makes me more nervous than last year.  Last year I just wanted the Seahawks to do well.  This year I really want them to win.  They don’t have to win big like they did last year, but just win.  One point is as good as a thousand points.  Just win.

I’m not going to go into a long winded discussion about why and who and how and look for this or look for that.  I just want the Seahawks to win.  I’m predicting that they do with a score of 21-17.

One thing though, can we please, please, please stop using the word “Gate” after anything suspicious or controversial?  “Bountygate,” “Spygate,” “Gamergate,” “Nipplegate,” “Bridgegate,” “Monicagate (Zippergate, etc),”Weinergate,” and the list goes on.  I like to think that, in some ways, I’m part of the “media.” I do news and lifestyles podcasts. I write, sometimes, for an online newspaper.  I blog about food and events.  I’m media.  But, it’s the media’s stubborn insistence on using the suffix “-gate” on anything controversial that won’t let it die.  The original “gate” came from the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. It wasn’t the Water Hotel where shite went down. Stop using that crap.  It’s annoying and it dumbs you down.  It’s not funny anymore. There’s no use for it. Stop.  Your credibility, at least to me (who probably means nothing to any of those using it), is going down the toilet.  Please, I beg of you, stop.

Anywhat! Go Seahawks! Go Richard Sherman, make Shady “mad, Bro!” Let Marshawn “Beastmode” Lynch say nothing off the field and run over everyone on the field.  Let Russel Wilson show that he’s the best QB of the 2012 draft (and deserving of another MVP award). GO! GO! GO! Win that Super Bowl (oh wait…)

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The ball shall be made up of an inflated (12 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds) urethane bladder enclosed in a pebble grained, leather case (natural tan color) without corrugations of any kind. It shall have the form of a prolate spheroid and the size and weight shall be: long axis, 11 to 11 1/4 inches; long circumference, 28 to 28 1/2 inches; short circumference, 21 to 21 1/4 inches; weight, 14 to 15 ounces.” – excerpt, NFL Rule Book, Rule 2: The Ball, Section 1

The Man Who Ate the Town or: A Foodie’s Job is Never Done

29 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Uncategorized

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Salutations™!!

As if it weren’t enough that I do this blog every day and annoy the bejeezus out of you, Dear Reader, did you know that I do a food blog as well?  I use the term “do” very loosely because, although I have done two updates in the last week, it was July of last year that I did the last update.

TMWATT

From the Facebook page

The name of this food blog is called The Man Who Ate The Town: A Food Blog.  I do this with my lovely wife, The BCPF, and it started as a restaurant review vehicle. I fancied myself a restaurant reviewer, and I think I do a fairly decent job of it.  But, writing isn’t just sitting down to put stuff on “paper.”  I have to think through my reviews and truthfully, at the time, I was a bit lazy.  The 3-5 reviews that I did, I think I did ok with it.  But, without being the dork that sits with a note pad, sometimes it’s difficult to remember exactly what The BCPF and I each had.  It was enough to deter me from even writing anything at all.  That’s not fair to the restaurants, really.  Not that I think my reviews are going to do anything of mention, but any constructive criticism is helpful to the restaurant’s managers and owners.  Good reviews?  Who doesn’t want that?  Seriously.

I, wanting to become more involved in the foodie culture in this area, after all, we do a foodie podcast, started thinking about the direction it was going and which one I wanted it to go to. Heck, the last restaurant review that I wrote (Augustine’s), was on here which isn’t a food blog, but a lifestyles blog.  We tout Tart & Tangy Triad as “Food News & Views.” So, why not do an extension of that and make TMWATT about the same thing!? We’ll even do some cross-branding (as we do with all the brands that we’re involved with) between this blog and that one.

So that’s what we’re doing.  We hope you enjoy it.  We’ll try to update at least once a week.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel (THIS ONE)…
Scorp out!

—
“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” – George Bernard Shaw

Henley and Stripes or: Not Much Else (RS pt 12)

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Music Review

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Tags

Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Jack White, Rolling Stone, Steely Dan, Talking Heads, The Modern Lovers, The Who, Top 500 Albums of All Time, White Stripes, Wu-Tang Clan

Salutations™!!

Last 10 were pretty decent, let’s see how this one shapes up!!

#390 – Elephants by White Stripes. You can’t watch any sporting events without hearing “Seven Nation Army.”  There’s a reason, too.  It’s a great tune.  “There’s No Home For You Here” just tears into you from the get go.  Then it slows down to allow you to breath (the first slow point in the album) before it stands you up and punches you square in the face, again.  Jack White, like him or not, is a good song writer and this album proves it.  According to an interview in Guardian, Jack says that the production of the album was done completely without computers or editing software with all the equipment being from 1963 or prior.  Meg takes over on “In the Cold, Cold Night” and showcases her haunting velvety voice.  I love the squirrel story behind “Little Acorns.”  I love the snark and sharpness of “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine.”  In “It’s True That We Love One Another” Jack and Meg do a trio with Holly Golightly (yes, that’s her real name-ish).  Kind of some weird love triangle, which if you consider the “Whites” it’s a whole bunch of weirdness to begin with.  But this song, is hilarious and well written.  I dig it and the album!  Good stuff.

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“The End of the Innocence” by Don Henley

#389 – The End of the Innocence by Don Henley.  When this came out in 1989, I knew right away who was playing the piano on the title track.  That sound is Bruce Hornsby. No denying.  The song itself is a reflection of the world at that time.  Lots of Reagan and lots of crap.  Armchair warriors (Oliver North, etc.).  A deeper song that itinitially exhibits.  I researched it to see how it pertained to that time after listening a couple more times recently. Deep.  “The Last Worthless Evening” is a song about yearning.  Despair for loves lost and comfort is what I hear, but it could be more elaborate than that, considering who wrote the song, and for whom.  The rumor is Michelle Pfeiffer. Who knows for certain, but some of the evidence stacks up when you hear his account.  “New York Minute” is another favorite of mine from this album.  Henley is a great story teller. It tells how things can change in the blink of an eye, it’s here and gone, or in a New York Minute where everything happens even more rapidly.  “The Heart of the Matter” was a song that I did in a band when I was fresh out of high school with a friend of mine who is unfortunately no longer with us.  All in all, this album is top notch and when you research how many guests there are on this – I mean, really!? Axl Rose!? – it was a great co-op and has quality to show for it, too! DIG x∞!!

#388 – The Indestructible Beat of Soweto by Various Artists. Um… Well.  I’m a bit perplexed.  It’s cool, I think. A shload of South African musicians doing their thing.  It’s certainly different. I’m wondering if the “Rooney Rule” was put into action just to have something on the Top 500.  I don’t mean that racist, but really it ranks higher than a Beatles album, many other great albums on this list.  Is it really Top 500 material?  I would say “who am I to judge?” but, really, that’s why I’m taking time to do this critique and I say, no, I don’t think that it is.  I think they just picked something to appeal to everyone.  Sometimes, political correctness gets in the way of truth.  It’s good for what it is, but I don’t think it belongs here.  I mean no offense if anyone chooses to take some with this.  Just stating my opinion. For the record, I did listen to the whole thing.  It ended up being background for other activities, but I did listen. I like Peter Gabriel and this sounds like it could be included in some of his world music stuffs, if that helps? Didn’t really dig, or did I?  I don’t know.

#387 – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan. Well, it’s pretty much what I expected: lots of blaring curse words and use of the dreaded “N” word for no real reason.  Asked in the second song: “How do you like me now?” I don’t. It’s just a long conversation about themselves with “music” scattered throughout.  I don’t get it.  I struggled through it, but somehow made it through… because that’s what I do. This is just hard to listen to.  Do NOT dig.

Pretzel_Logic_album

“Pretzel Logic” by Steely Dan

#386 – Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan. I love Steely Dan.  Starts off great with the radio hit “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”  After that, yes, it’s Steely Dan, but most of it isn’t my favorite bit of SD stuff.  “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” is ok and “With a Gun” is a right fine song.  I like that one. “Charlie Freak,” too.  I thought I was a bit disappointed with the output, but it ended righteously.  Overall, it’s ok, but that doesn’t turn me away from Steely Dan, just know that this album (which I own) isn’t my favorite of theirs, but hey, it’s not Wu-Tang Clan. Dug, moderately.

#385 – Love and Theft by Bob Dylan.  Released on September 11, 2001, the first song, “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum,” at least, is pretty cool.  Ol’ Bob’s voice has gotten a bit strained and even more rough than it used to be. It’s almost like a bad Tom Waits imitation.  Not horrible, and the songs are well written, but it’s somewhat sad to hear him singing like it’s painful.  Then, a few songs into it, the mood changes and it’s 12-bar blues mumbo jumbo that, as I have mentioned several times, turns my stomach, literally.  I don’t mind the jazzy blues stuff, like “Floater (Too Much to Ask),” but the 12-bar blues, I can’t stand. The more I listen to this, I’m thinking it was put on the list just on Dylan’s name alone?  I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s not better than some of the albums that have rated lower.  I don’t think this is one of the “greatest of all time,” not by a long shot! Didn’t dig.

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“A Quick One” by The Who

#384 – A Quick One by The Who. I don’t know how the critics liked this one, the sophomore album by The Who, but upon the first little bit, I really like “Boris the Spider.”  That’s great production right there. Very nice!  Now, after that, it gets a little sketchy.  Some decent stuff, but not a lot of “striking” stuff. Some of it, too, makes me scratch my head in a “what in the wide world of sports is this!?” manner.  “Cobwebs and Strange” at least gets its name right. “Don’t Look Away” is good ’60s rock and roll, though.  “A Quick One, While He’s Away” is a 9 minute song.  I don’t know many 9 minute songs that I actually like; I think it’s my attention span to blame.  This 9 minute song isn’t bad, but I don’t really care one way or another. This album certainly utilized that “Happy Trails” duh-da-duh duh, duh-da-duh duh (think Van Halen’s version) riff a lot.  What’s this?! The Batman theme song? Why yes, yes it is. Okay, then. Now, here is a good song: “Happy Jack.” I really like that song, and “My Generation/Land of Hope and Glory.”  All in all this album, to me is a bunch of fluff.  It started off good, but had a long bout with drag until the end. Somewhat dug.

#383 – More Songs About Buildings and Food by Talking Heads. Two sophomore albums back to back on the countdown.  I hope this one is better than the last.  It’s funky. It’s David Byrne.  A weird one, him.  That’s okay, though. I like weird.  Brian Eno is co-producer, so that just adds to the weird.  I like “With Our Love” and it’s funky disco-esque stylings.  “Artists Only” is magical and I like that.  In truth a lot of this album is pretty good, but nothing that I’d say I’d go back to listen to much of.  I have Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites and as much as I talk about greatest hits albums on here, I do like them for what they are at least supposed to be: all substance and no filler.  I just don’t think they belong on this countdown.  My point is, comparing this to that, I’ll stick with that. But, this is nothing I can say with “bad.” I love the marching of “Stay Hungry.” It’s energetic and funky. With the addition of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River,” it’s not a bad album at all, really.  Just not my thing.  Dug.

#382 – The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers. Some early punk, this.  Not the “in-your-face” kind of punk but the laid back, take no regard for the critics kind of punk. I can’t put my finger on what this reminds me of.  Something that came later.  I’ll think of it once I post this, I’m sure.  “Astral Plane” is a good one as is “Old World.” Somewhat minimalist, which is a good thing.  You don’t want to “over do it.  Apparently, Pablo Picasso was never called an @$$hole, at least according to the song.  I can see that, PP was pretty cool. I’m not sure that I like the odd and curious “Hospital.”  I can definitely hear a Velvet Underground influence, which does kind of diminish its appeal to me as I think VU is a complete waste of time. I’ll catch heck for that, I’m sure.  I wonder if this album wasn’t recorded in the order it is on the track listing because it seems to get tired as it goes on.  At one point the lead singer, Jonathan Richman seemed to bargle through his lyrics.  I couldn’t understand what he was saying at times.  Meh. Started ok and then lost me. Why is this on the “greatest of all time” list?  Dug, I guess.

Beachboys_smile_cover

“Smile” by The Beach Boys

#381 – Smile by The Beach Boys. Never have I been a Beach Boys fan.  This isn’t swaying me.  Give me The Beatles any day.  This is kind of crappy to me.  Again, I know I’ll get hell for it, but this is nothing more than background noise to me.  I hear the harmonies and I appreciate them, but there’s nothing really memorable here.  And to think that it got a lot longer than the original mess that this is, scares me.  Again, there’s nothing wrong with it, but nothing that stands out to me that I couldn’t hear done ten times better on a Beatles album.  It does get credit from me as one of the few “compliation/anthology” albums that I’ll listen to for this list.  At that, I’m only listening to the first three “movements” and not the bonus content, etc.  I don’t hate it but don’t care to ever hear it again.  The one bright spot was “Good Vibrations.” I really dig that song. The rest…? There will be plenty of Beach Boys later in this list, I’m sure. Luckily, plenty more Beatles, too.  Meh.

So for this leg, it started with 2 great albums, Henley and White Stripes and then flowed forth eight examples of mediocrity or, gasp, full-on crap!  Let’s hope the “next ten” goes better than this.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“And I thought of all the bad luck,
And the struggles we went through
And how I lost me and you lost you
What are these voices outside love’s open door
Make us throw off our contentment
And beg for something more?” – Don Henley, “The Heart of the Matter” from The End of the Innocence

You Look Evil in That or: Tintype Hype

27 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Blogging, Life as We Know It

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Giles Clement, Hoots Roller Bar

Salutations™!!

I had a lot of options for Silent Sunday this week, already, but I hadn’t received my scan of this picture, yet.  This was taken at Hoots Roller Bar by Giles Clement.  It’s taken by projecting the image (via an older camera complete with accordion piece between the lens plane and film plane and all that) onto a piece of lacquer-treated metal.  The result is a darker, detailed-splattered impression upon the lacquer which makes it look classic and old; kind of like from the Billy the Kid era or something.

I wanted to look like an old outlaw or weathered something from “back in the day.”  The BCPF did hers as well.  We don’t have hers as of this writing, but it’s coming. I’ll probably take the opportunity to present that to you, as well.  Anywhat, this is what the end result came to:

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Where’s the “Wanted” information? Photo by Giles Clement

 

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—

“Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.” – Robert Frank

Rambling Made Easy or: The First 100

26 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Blogging, Life as We Know It, Rant

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Salutations™!!

blogging-for-business2

Photo ©hubspot

In all my pre-writing and scheduling frenzy, I totally missed the fact that I have posted 100 blog posts now.  That number is somewhat misleading because before I moved to WordPress as my platform I used to blog over on the Google platform known as Blogger (and still have a blog on that platform for something else, more to come later).  This is the continuation of the 2 years or more of periodic blog posts I made over there. I did copy and repost a few of my old ones onto this new platform but never did anything with the old ones, in general. However, I’d still say I’m only up to about 140 at the most because I just didn’t post often enough before.  I never felt I had anything I wanted to say or anything that anyone would want to hear.  I feel that has changed as I get great feedback, from multiple platforms, from you Dear Reader(s) and I know you at least have an opinion, good or bad, about my writings rantings.

I’ll admit the majority of my blogging has come in the last (almost) 3 months thanks to Kristen Daukas making me aware of NaBloPoMo.  I really do thank her for that.  I have rekindled my love for writing.  I’ve had Useless Things Need Love Too (yes I know there should be a comma after Love, but I’m a rebel like that) for several years now and it was meant just to be a rant space for whatever mindless things I wanted to talk about.  It has pretty much stayed that way, but I have expanded to include a lot of other things.  I can still spout and I can rant, but I do movie reviews, music reviews, restaurant reviews, life reviews, talk about travels that I and my wife, The BCPF, take, friends, business, happenings, and more.  It’s really turned into a lifestyle blog and I like it that way.  I hope you do, too (see that comma works, it does).

So happy 100+ for me and happy reading on to you and until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“There will never be a replacement for that ongoing physical contact. But I don’t think blogging is meant to replace the face-to-face of friendships and meetings. Blogging is a way to keep in touch with a larger group of people on an ongoing basis, in a more efficient way.” – Indra Nooyi

Silent Sunday or: The Math Before the After

25 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Life as We Know It, Podcasting

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Finnigan's Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen, The Less Desirables

Salutations™!!

Last night, as I talked about on Friday, was The Less Desirables Post-Holiday/First Annual Fifth Anniversary Party.  We had a shload of people (well, 32 not counting Eugene and myself) come and the party was great. Food, drinks, friendship, near-debauchery, all kinds of things were flowing as was fun and frolic.  In all that magical mayhem, I forgot to snap any pictures of the whole crowd.  I’m a gooey-goofy goober, I guess.  But some did get some and I’m only going to share one, because that’s what I do, leave you wanting more, in every instance, including silence (or the lack thereof).

AmandaScorp

An Idiot Amongst Us, a Contemplation of Reality by ABrown.

Thanks to AB for supplying the pic! And thanks to Finnigan’s Wake for being gracious hosts and to Angela for never leaving our glasses empty unwillingly.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Friends are like windows through which you see out into the world and back into yourself… If you don’t have friends you see much less than you otherwise might.” – Merle Shain

Don’t Stop Believin’ or: The Less Desirables Movie Review

24 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Movie Review

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Arnel Pineda, Deen Castronovo, Don't Stop Believin', Jonathan Cain, Journey, Neal Schon, Ross Valory

Salutations™!!

The movie of the week for January 21 was Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey. As you may expect from the title, it is about the band Journey.  Journey gets a lot of crap but, you know what? I dig them. I dig them the most.  I don’t really care for the old, old Journey; the pre-Steve Perry Journey.  But once Perry showed up, they were great.  I liked them.  I liked them with Steve Augeri, too.  He sounded a lot like Perry and that worked for them.

I’ve grown to like them even more as an adult and throughout adulthood.  Good rockin’ tunes and nothing to be ashamed of.  This film, though, is not really about Journey, the band.  It’s about the current lead singer, Arnel Pineda.

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Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey

Pineda, 47, is a Filipino singer who was discovered via Neal Schon’s late night YouTube obsessing.  He was looking for a new singer and this was his find.  He and Jonathan Cain, the keyboard player, contacted Arnel and asked him to come do the audition thing.  Just like in the film Rock Star he didn’t believe it really was them calling.  He tried out and made it.  There’s no spoilers in that.

This is a documentary, or close-up look, at Arnel being in the band and how he’s handling it, how the rest of the band handles it and how he lives with his new-found celebrity.  He showed that he is a genuine, humble and hard working guy.  He takes his position very seriously and loves being in Journey.  It also shows his relationship with the other guys in the band, and they are really fond of him. Cain, really takes charge of conditioning Arnel and really is the musical director of the band, even though it’s always been Schon’s baby.

Arnel, when speaking, seems to have a little trouble with the language, which is totally understandable, but when he sings, it’s darned near perfect.  He’s energetic and has great stage presence.  The film briefly touches on all the other band members, including Deen Castronovo and original Journey bassist, Ross Valory.

I thought this was a great documentary and even made sure that I recommended it to Eugene on Netflix.  It was directed by Ramona S. Diaz and was released in 2012. I’m giving the film 4.5 Stars.  Watch it for yourself and see if you don’t love it, too.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit, he took the midnight train into the night!” – “Don’t Stop Believin'” (Cain, Perry, Schon) from Escape (1981)

Happy Post-Holidays and All That Jazz or: Let’s Have a Shindig

23 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Podcasting

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Cammie Collier, Colin Allured, Finnigan's Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen, Foothills Brewing, Lee & Susan Terry, The BCPF, The Less Desirables, Triad Music Festival, WSNC

Salutations™!!

08c6c-tld

The Less Desirables

This Saturday is the Annual The Less Desirables Post-Holiday Party.  This year is a little bit different; it’s also the Fifth Anniversary Party of TLD, or as we call it The First Annual Fifth Anniversary Party (thanks, The BCPF!). We’ll talk more about the anniversary aspect next week when it’s closer to the actual anniversary.

The shindig starts at 7pm at Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub and Kitchen, 620 North Trade Street, Winston-Salem.  In the past we’ve had musical guests but this year, we’re going to just let the pub’s sound system be our guide.  When we’ve had band’s, artists, etc. we’ve had complaints from the other side about not getting to come over and listen and from some of the guests (and one of the hosts) that it was just too loud and hard to have conversations and, truly, it is a party, not a concert.

Finnigans_Wake_Logo_2

Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen

So, no musical guests, come out and have a spot of Irish pub fare and have some of the offerings of the 39 beer (and 1 root beer) taps that we dote on every single week.  In addition to the taps they have an extensive bottle list and a liquor selection that rivals any place in town.  They have close to 30 different Scotch Whiskeys so ask for a Scotch List, and enjoy! There’s wine, too, if that’s your cup-of-well, wine! Just about anything you can think of, Scotch Eggs, Fish & Chips, Guinness Stew, even chicken wings (ask me about the best way to eat them [wink]) all the way to the alcohol selections, it’s all here at Finnigan’s.

If you haven’t noticed, we love this place and they’re always really good to us.  We do ask that you eat and drink and make sure you tip your servers.  They’re putting them in the room for our and your benefit, so make sure they are taken care of and I know they’ll take care of you.  All this, again, this Saturday evening (Jan 24.), at Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen at 7 pm until 10 pm.

Foothills-Brewing

Foothills Brewing

If you’re looking for a way to start your day, though, come check out the 4th Annual Triad Music Festival and the Songwriter Spotlight at Foothills Brewing at 11:30p to 2p where I’ll be hosting the festivities featuring my dear friends Lee & Susan Terry along with Colin Allured and Cammie Collier.  Foothills is located at 638 W 4th Street.  Have a pint and a sandwich whilst listening to great musicians do their thing!

Until tomorrow (where you can see me out and about), same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Falling a Little Flat or: Power of the Patriot

22 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by TGBII in Rant

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bill Belichick, New England Patriots, NFL, Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl, Tom Brady

Salutations™!!

So it has happened again.  Bill Belichick or as I like to call him Belicheat has found himself and the team he leads, the Patriots (Suckriots), in a bit of trouble, again. It’s been a couple of things in the past: video taping other teams’ practices and reading signals of other teams.  Whether they did or didn’t, I really don’t remember if they were convicted, it’s just a list that grows further.  Now, they’re being accused of deflating their footballs to make it easier for the Quarterback to throw the balls and easier for the receivers to catch them.  Not only accused, the NFL officials found that out of 12 balls, 11 of them were under the proper inflation weight.

I’ve made it no secret that I don’t like the Suckriots.  I just find it hard to believe that Sean Payton, head coach of the Saints was suspended for a year for encouraging a bounty program against QBs, which although harsh and somewhat barbaric, isn’t cheating; that’s driving, and Belicheat just gets a slap on the wrist and a fine.  He makes a shload of money so fines mean nothing.  Taking a draft pick or two doesn’t matter until next year.

gozw4

Why, yes, Tom, they do.

There has been a call to ban the Patriots from the Super Bowl.  The problem here is, the Super Bowl is set.  Even had the deflation not happened, my favorite anecdote is that the Suckriots would have won had they been playing with bowling balls, the outcome would have been the same as the Colts couldn’t tackle anyone.  You can’t just let the Colts in as “first runners up” because the crowned beauty queen can’t fulfill her obligations.  It just doesn’t work that way.  A part of me wishes they could do that, but it’s just not possible.

And some say that it’s “no big deal,” but I disagree.  Whether or not that it had any impact on this game, it is still cheating.  It’s like saying, well, he only had the answers to 4 of the 10 questions on the test, or he only stole 2 pieces of candy from the store, or he only peeked at hide-and-seek for a few seconds.  Cheating is cheating.  And, what’s to stop them from escalating to something else.  Deflation is the gateway cheat, after all.

I think that after the Super Bowl, Belicheat should be suspended for a year.  Let him coach the big game, they’re there.  But, after that? Kick him out for a year and let’s see if that proves any points to them. I doubt it, as they are the league’s golden boys, but I think fines and lost draft picks aren’t going to matter, nor do any good.

The best scenario for me is that the Seahawks beats them and puts them to bed for this year and then Belicheat is suspended.  That would be best, for me.  What do you think, Dear Reader?  What do you think is the best course of action?  Send me a message and let me know!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…

Scorp out!

—

“When I came in Monday morning, I was shocked to learn of the news reports about the footballs. I had no knowledge whatsoever of this situation until Monday morning. I would say I learned a lot more about this process in the last three days than I knew or had talked about it in the last 40 years that I’ve coached in this league.” – Bill Belichick

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