Saturday, November 20, 2010

Musics

Last night's show I went to was very good. First up was Koo Koo Kangaroo, who kinda stunk and didn't really play music so I won't really talk about them. Next up were Suburban Legends, a band I saw 5 times in 07-08 and hadn't seen since. SL really steered away from a ska sound in favor of more disco-dance oriented music with their last 2 albums but it seemed they were back. The songs I didn't recognize I enjoyed a lot and I'm looking forward to whatever new music they'll have soon. In no order, here was their set:

Come Back Home
Hey DJ (Opening Song)
High Fives (Closing Song)
Bright Spring Morning
Just Can't Wait to be King (Lion King song)
3 or 4 songs I didn't recognize

Next were the Aquabats! I had never seen them before but always wanted to. You could tell that the crowd was pumped and the band did not disappoint. They only got into one battle on stage, scientists from the National Aquarium attacked them for killing their sea monkeys and starting to play a new song. A lot of The Aquabats! songs I don't really like, but they seemed to only play ones I like so it was perfect. In no order, here was their set:

Fashion Zombies! (Opening Song)
Nerd Alert!
Look At Me (I'm a Winner)!
Super Rad!
Red Sweater!
Captain Hampton and the Midget Pirates!
Martain Girl!
Pool Party! (Closing Song)
Pizza Day!
Lovers of Loving Love!

Finally was Reel Big Fish. I've seen them many times, so this time I just sat back and watched the set. Overall it was very good. With Reel Big Fish, I know what I'm getting so it was right at my expectations. Here is their set in no order:

Good Thing
Ban the Tube Top
Brown Eyed Girl
Monkey Man
Another F.U. Song
(They started to play Cannibal but then went into Beer)
Sell Out (Opener)
Trendy
She Has a Girlfriend Now
Snoop Dog, Baby
Beer (Closing song)
241
Everything Sucks
S.R. (Reggae, Punk, Death Metal, Country, Disco)
Kiss Me Deadly
The Bad Guy
Your Guts (I Hate 'em)
The Set Up (You Need This)
Thank You for Not Moshing
I Want Your Girlfriend to be My Girlfriend Too

Overall, very good show.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

2010 MLB Awards

The awards so far haven't been too upsetting, but I still need to weigh in on some of the results.

Silver Sluggers are all fine.

AL Gold Gloves
C: Joe Mauer
1b: Mark Teixeira
2b: Robinson Cano
3b: Evan Longoria
SS: Derek Jeter-OK, as a Yankee fan even I know this was stupid. He is awful at defense, but his fielding % was so high cause he doesn't make errors on balls he doesn't get to, and late throws aren't errors. BUT, since it's voted on by the league, not the writers, you can only blame the AL coaches and managers
OF: Carl Crawford
OF: Ichiro Suzuki
OF: Franklin Gutierrez-ok, Brett Gardner should have gotten one, he led the AL in dWarp
P: Mark Buehrle-If he didn't win it last year I'd say this was bull shit, but he did so he didn't just win it from his opening day play

NL Gold Gloves
C: Yadier Molina
1b: Albert Pujols
2b: Brandon Phillips
3b: Scott Rolen-Ok, I guess if Derek Jeter's corpse can win so can Rolen's. But trust me, if he didn't hit out of no where this year he'd not win it
SS: Troy Tylowitzki
OF: Michael Bourn-Yeah, I know he's fast but is he really that good at defense?
OF: Carlos Gonzalez-Offense wins Gold Gloves
OF: Shane Victorino-Ok, offense and past years success
P: Branson Arroyo-Sure, why not

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay-Yes, he deserved it without question. But NOT ONE anti-Phillies writer voted this year? I mean even one person didn't vote for Mauer last year

NL Rookie of the Year: Buster Posey-Sure, he's a good white catcher.

AL Rookie of the Year: Neftali Feliz-Who wasted votes on Austin Jackson?

NL Manager of the Year: Bud Black-Correct!

AL Manager of the Year: Rob Gardenhire-OK, it's not quite as bad as Mike Scioscia winning last year, but Washington, Francona, and Maddon all had better cases

AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez-While I'd have no objection if CC or Price won, this was the right choice.

Still to come....

NL MVP: This should be Pujols but I have a feeling voters won't want to give it to him 3 years in a row because they're self richous. Votto was very good, but I'll take Pujols over him any day.

AL MVP: There are 3 correct choices for this. But one is a Yankee, one is an alcoholic who is on a non-playoff team, and one is a born-again Christian who kicked his nasty drug and alcohol habits. Guess who will win?

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Arrested Development

It's been a while since I did a post on my favorite TV shows (or any post for that matter), and I know I said I was going to do one for all of my favorite past and present shows, but that won't be happening. To resume I'm going to do a post about my favorite TV show of all time, "Arrested Development".


Now I wasn't sure if the readers of this (believe it or not, I have found out people do read this thing...) would be fans of the show already, or if they had never seen it and/or didn't love it. I wasn't sure if I should use a picture that captures the general nature of the show for the new fans, or do one that hardcore fans of the show appreciate. I decided to do one of each. First is a general picture from the first season. Later, will be a picture that out of context will make absolutely no sense what so ever. However, if you are a fan of AD, I hope the picture below will make you laugh as hard as I did just looking at it.

For new fans...


And for the already existing fans...



Now trust me, if this picture looks like something 100% abstract and absurd you're right. And yes, it is exactly what it looks like, a man and a puppet in a recording studio.

"Arrested Development" had "3" seasons. The first season has its moments of craziness, but overall is a pretty believable story. Season 2 starts the same but then switches to some more ridiculous plots. Season 3 is as unrelateable and absurd as possible....and that mix is what I love about the show. I love it when because it was relatable and I love it because it was so outrageous that there is no way it could ever happen. You need to give the show a try to appreciate that, and it is easy to get turned off. Here's all I ask; watch the first season as quickly as possible. One right after the other, but finish out the whole season. If you are liking what you saw, move on. If not, well it's certainly not for everyone but I still would suggest trying season 2 as well.

All that being said, let's get into what these posts were really about...

Brief Plot Synopsis: The opening credits say it all. "Now the story of a wealthy family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It's Arrested Development".

Good Episode for Beginners: "Pilot", "Top Banana" (Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2)

Favorite Episode: If I had to pick one, "Let Them Eat Cake" (Season 1, Episode 22)

Fox cancelling "Arrested" has led me to boycott the network with the exception of Baseball and a few other things (Malcolm in the Middle" finale, NJ bank robber on "America's Most Wanted" come to mind). There really isn't much I can say to convince people to watch it besides just give it a try. Introducing it to at least 3 or 4 people has led them to LOVE the show as much as I do. And yes, if you don't "get it", you're simply not smart enough to "get it" (yeah, I said it). If you like the subtle humor in shows like "The Office" and "Scrubs", you'll love "Arrested Development".






COME ON!






Video for the veterans