Barack Obama in Cleveland on Monday
1 Comments Published by Kate on Wednesday at 2/28/2007 02:38:00 PM.
I finally found the footage I was looking for on YouTube. In this section, he deals some tougher domestic issues. Note what he says about education and alternative energy - where's the money coming from? I think the crowd (I was in it, near the stage) at the rally would have gone for almost anything he said.
Labels: Obama
Lily Allen complains about media images of rich women (since it's Victoria Beckham, specifically rich pop stars) and her own inability to afford an apartment. The story of course is being taken as an attack on Victoria Beckham. Congrats Lily, you got the ball rolling on a press disaster. (source)Next time, maybe she should try Paris Hilton....
Lily Allen - Nan, You're A Window Shopper
Then, there's also that whole mess with Lady Sovereign and Allen's daddy. Thank goodness for Amy Winehouse, a singer who kicked her bad party girl habits and still manages not to get into spats with other pop stars... gotta love that girl. Though I mainly love her for the music.
Lady Sovereign - Love Me Or Hate Me
Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good
Bonus:
Camille - Jolie Bruine (awesome French pop)
Labels: Amy Winehouse, Camille, Lady Sovereign, Lily Allen
Ted Leo - How do you live with the living?
4 Comments Published by Kate on Tuesday at 2/27/2007 11:57:00 PM.
I've been listening to the upcoming Ted Leo & the Pharmacists album Living With The Living, coming out on March 20th (pre-order) and can't remember the last time I had this kind of initial reaction to an album from a band I knew as well as I know TL&P.It's exactly what I would have expected.
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists were never pretentious. I think of the band's sound, and the straightforward power-chord-based guitar, the impossibly fast vocals, everything that screams "Ted Leo" - everything is still there. What's different? The introductions lack the more low-key draws of 2004's Shake the Sheets that built to the climax of a first verse, which inevitably led to an overwhelmingly energetic chorus. As a result, the songs are more monotonous, and feel less like the build up to an explosion. Sure, the content of the lyrics is more sophisticated - "Sons of Cain" attempts a grand metaphor, comparing Cain's journey to Ted Leo's own personal journey to sing out. He gets away with it, but there's a sacrifice: the catchy factor.
I don't mean to drag down the album. While not nearly as good as I'd like it to be, it's not a disappointment - a rare phenomenon for successful bands not built on experimentation. So I say, download it, buy it - you'll get what you were listening for, but not much more.
(MP3's finally taken down by request)
Tour dates:
3-1-07 & 3-2-07 San Francisco, CA
3-4-07 Stanford, CA
3-28-07 Philadelphia, PA
3-29-07 Washington, DC
3-30-07 Carrboro, NC
3-31-07 Atlanta, GA
4-01-07 Orlando, FL
4-02-07 Miami, FL
4-04-07 Baton Rouge, LA
4-05-07 Houston, TX
4-06-07 Dallas, TX
4-07-07 Austin, TX
4-09-07 Tempe, AZ
4-10-07 San Diego, CA
4-12-07 & 4-13-07 Los Angeles, CA
4-14-07 San Francisco, CA
4-16-07 Portland, OR
4-17-07 Seattle, WA
....there are more tour dates posted in the mid-west, you'll have to look them up yourself......
The band's website
----------------------------------
Meanwhile, Barack Obama was in Cleveland yesterday, and I went to see him. His stump speech was good, nothing out of the ordinary, although very populist in nature. Plus, I GOT TO SHAKE HIS HAND!
Nothing will shake my resolve to work for McCain in the primaries, though....
Labels: Obama, review, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, tour
This year's oscar winner: The old person
0 Comments Published by Kate on Monday at 2/26/2007 12:17:00 AM.
Melissa Etheridge won? Now you can laugh at me in the face.Admittedly, her performance at the Oscars was thousands of times better than the recording, but the recording was not up to standard.
I don't take issue with "Dreamgirls" not winning, because the soundtrack sounds very little like actual Motown music (something I listen to a lot), and hey, they already won one award for best supporting actress.
Best score: I named it - Babel.
Meanwhile, Al Gore's final word on the fact that he is absolutely NOT running for president was hilarious.
This year's Oscar nominations for best song are: Dreamgirls, dreamgirls, and dreamgirls.
Sad, huh? The two other nominations, Melissa Etheridge's "I Need To Wake Up" and Randy Newman's "Our Town," just aren't going to make it.
While I could argue merits of having three songs from the same movie, I'd rather just say: What is Melissa Etheridge doing on this list? First of all, when I saw "An Inconvenient Truth" that song ruined what could have been a substantially more poignant moment in the movie by over-sentimentalizing it. Secondly, it's a country song. All bets off, we know immediately the reason it got on the list at all is because the folks over at the Academy want to show that they know what down home "real americans" listen to, the reason it's in the movie. Please, save your patronization of everyone who's doesn't live in LA for a different occasion.
Melissa Etheridge - I Need To Wake Up
The Oscar nominated scores are usually more honest, thank goodness. Babel, admittedly, is my favorite score of the five nominees, but The Queen, while more traditionally classical, also has me crossing my fingers. Not that it would kill anyone if Phillip Glass won.
NPR gives samples from Notes on A Scandal, Pan's Labyrinth, The Good German, The Queen, and Babel.
My general prediction about who's going to win it all: Babel
....meanwhile, Hank Stuever wonders about the film industry's need to make itself look concerned about issues of world poverty, genocide, war, etc. His case in point: Babel.
----------------------------------
And I'm Pop-Conscious
Britney's Meltdown from Pink is the new Blog
Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" video...it's kind of hard not to love it, because she's such a crazy wacko....
Sad, huh? The two other nominations, Melissa Etheridge's "I Need To Wake Up" and Randy Newman's "Our Town," just aren't going to make it.
While I could argue merits of having three songs from the same movie, I'd rather just say: What is Melissa Etheridge doing on this list? First of all, when I saw "An Inconvenient Truth" that song ruined what could have been a substantially more poignant moment in the movie by over-sentimentalizing it. Secondly, it's a country song. All bets off, we know immediately the reason it got on the list at all is because the folks over at the Academy want to show that they know what down home "real americans" listen to, the reason it's in the movie. Please, save your patronization of everyone who's doesn't live in LA for a different occasion.
Melissa Etheridge - I Need To Wake Up
The Oscar nominated scores are usually more honest, thank goodness. Babel, admittedly, is my favorite score of the five nominees, but The Queen, while more traditionally classical, also has me crossing my fingers. Not that it would kill anyone if Phillip Glass won.
NPR gives samples from Notes on A Scandal, Pan's Labyrinth, The Good German, The Queen, and Babel.
My general prediction about who's going to win it all: Babel
....meanwhile, Hank Stuever wonders about the film industry's need to make itself look concerned about issues of world poverty, genocide, war, etc. His case in point: Babel.
----------------------------------
And I'm Pop-Conscious
Britney's Meltdown from Pink is the new Blog
Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" video...it's kind of hard not to love it, because she's such a crazy wacko....
Labels: Oscars
Since I can safely assume all my old readers left in the 4 or so months since I took a break from blogging,
........no one's going to read this
Or download...(what everyone else and their mom is posting)
Of Montreal - Suffer for Fashion
Andrew Bird - Plasticities
Bloc Party - The Once and Future King
I'll be back with more substantial posts in the near future, I promise.
In the meanwhile, feel free to listen to me 6 am on Mondays (east coast time) on WOBC, which you can webcast here.
........no one's going to read this
Or download...(what everyone else and their mom is posting)
Of Montreal - Suffer for Fashion
Andrew Bird - Plasticities
Bloc Party - The Once and Future King
I'll be back with more substantial posts in the near future, I promise.
In the meanwhile, feel free to listen to me 6 am on Mondays (east coast time) on WOBC, which you can webcast here.
Labels: Andrew Bird, Bloc Party, Of Montreal
Give TGH a thumbs up!
