Another New Disturbed Video

Here's a pretty cool video for Disturbed's song "The Night". It's got a sweet horror movie vibe to it and I think it's the best video off their latest CD yet. Personally I just love the solo in this song (around the 3:00 mark) too.

Disturbed "The Night"

From Bump n' Grind to Daily Grind

Yuck. Gotta go back to work today. Helluva time in Vegas though; probably my best trip there ever. Met some awesome folks and had loads of fun. Sometimes I wish I were more for putting material not suited for children on this blog as there were a couple of crazy occurances, but I guess some things that happen in Vegas do stay there. I do have some pics (G-rated) and other ramblings to come later probably.

I got to the airport early yesterday and the plane took off a bit late so I was basically sitting idle for around 7 hours straight between the airport and the total flight. I can barely remember the days of just reading on those occasions. Hell I never even got bored. I read my book, surfed the net and played on my laptop, emailed and texted with my Blackberry and listened to music, played Sudoku and Chess and watched Family Guy episodes on my iPod. Technology makes traveling so much less boring.


New stuff to spend Vegas winnings on this week:

* Guitar Hero: Metallica VG... X360, WII, PS3 (see more here)

* After Dark Horrorfest DVDs (8 films... see here for scoop)

* The Answer ~ "Everyday Demons" CD (Irish rock group opened AC/DC's U.S. tour)

* Burn Halo ~ "s/t" CD (fronted by former Eighteen Visions singer James Hart... listen here)

* Queensryche ~ "American Soldier" CD

* Silverstein ~ "A Shipwreck In The Sand" CD

* Keith Urban ~ "Defying Gravity" CD

* Slumdog Millionaire DVD

* Seven Pounds DVD (Will Smith flick)

* Marley & Me DVD (cutesy dog movie that I didn't see, but I read the book)

Hail Jimmy!

I'm sitting in the airport in Vegas waiting on my plane, surfing the net, blasting metal on the iPod and something needs to be said. Crocs are just ugly. Nobody, but nobody, has ever or ever will look good in them. "Oh but they're so comfortable!" Yeah, walking around in my boxers is really comfortable too. Just stop it.

So after a rousing start to the weekend hoops betting (2 for 2 on Friday) I went 0 for 2 on Saturday (thanks for missing a wide-open lay-up at the end Mizzou!) and 1 for 2 yesterday. Pitiful. I would bitch more but my new favorite human on the planet, Jimmy Johnson, won the NASCAR race and I tossed a $20 on him as 12-1 odds went off. I love you Jimmy. I thought the odds were high considering Jimmy and Jeff Gordon OWN Martinsville.

Sunday Funnies

Sin City Fun

I wasn't comfortable with 2 of the games last night, but I did bet on UNC to cover and Louisville to cover and cover they both did. Easily. That pretty much paid for my first night in Vegas, which is good because I spent a lot I noticed this morning.

I went to Sin City Brewing right after I checked-in and tried out some of their beers and then went to Pour 24 in New York, New York. Met a couple of lovely locals there and we ended up running around all night, concluding at a dance club call Rok Vegas at NYNY. Fortunately one of them had some connections so we didn't have to wait in line or pay the $20+ cover, but how about $6 for bottled water and $18 for a vodka/Red Bull. Yikes. Earlier we had dinner at Gonzalez Y Gonzalez, an excellent Mexican restaurant and we also hit a dueling piano bar and had a bunch of laughs. It was a great day altogether.

Today I'm taking Mizzou (+5.5) and Pittsburgh (-2) to cover. I like UConn to win I think, but the way they tend to handle free throws late I think Mizzou can keep it under 6. We'll see. I'll be sitting in ESPN Zone drinking beer and eating wings for the games probably. I'm also planning on hitting Tito Ortiz' Team Punishment store in Hooters casino and I've got tickets tonight for Monster Circus at Hilton.

Where The Wild Things Are Trailer

This looks like it's going to be a whole lot of fun. Like everybody else, I read this book growing up so I'm sure the movie will take me back a bit. Unfortunately we have to wait until October 16th, but from the trailer, it looks like it will be worth the wait.

Maurice Sendaks classic book Where the Wild Things Are comes to the big screen in an adventure tale for every generation from director Spike Jonze.

Love Free WiFi, Hate Security Checks

Made it to the airport and as small as the Little Rock National Airport is, at least the security checkpoint is usually only a few minutes. I hate having to stick everything in those bins and kick off the shoes and stuff, but it's not nearly as annoying as it is in the bigger airports where you have to wait 30-45 minutes just to do it, like in Denver the other day. Good thing I was drunk then. Almost. Today, the time it took for me today to get from check-in to terminal... 5 minutes. Beautiful.

And thank you Southwest Airlines for not charging for bag check! Still one of the stupidest ideas any airline ever had. Just put the price on the freakin' ticket already.

While I'm praising the LR airport, I should mention it's great that they have free wi-fi all over this terminal. Until you sit in an airport that doesn't you won't appreciate it enough. I'm looking at you Memphis.

For the record, I parked in Lot W today... for "winner".

I warmed up by picking last night's 4 games against the spread... went 2-2. Kissin' the sister. Perhaps tonight I can do a little better for real.

Blue October on Kimmel

Somehow I neglected to mention that these guys had a new CD out this week. It's called "Approaching Normal" and to make up for it here's Blue October performing "Dirt Room" on Jimmy Kimmel Live:

A Few Funnies For Your Thursday

Cool Puppet Video

Check out this really cool video for "Save Me" from Royal Bliss (who I'll be seeing Friday night). Love the song. The video seems like something Tool might come up with.

About The Video:

Famed Los Angeles street artist and master puppeteer Eli Presser has lent his unique talents to the video Save Me from Capitol Music Group / MRV Music artists Royal Bliss. The video, directed by Presser and Greg Edgerton uses a life-sized puppet specifically constructed for the shoot which took place in the Mojave Desert under less than ideal conditions of 110 degree heat and 40 mph winds. The post-production on the video took an excruciating 4 weeks due to the challenges of frame-by-frame removal of the puppeteers used to operate the puppet.

Book Review: Becoming The Natural

Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage
by Randy Couture (Author), Loretta Hunt (Contributor)

Synopsis: Becoming the Natural is the remarkable story of one of the world's most gifted and dedicated athletes -- a born fighter whose skill and showmanship have helped to lift mixed martial arts out of the shadows and into the mainstream.

I've already read Chuck Liddell's book, Iceman (review here), so I figured I'd check out one of my other favorite fighter's biographies. I'm glad I did as it's a great insight to his life. He starts from childhood and talks about his absent father then begins to get into his wrestling career and Olympics attempts and finally the early days of the UFC and his history with it. There really aren't any surprises if you've followed his career, but on the more personal side things he opens up about some of his relationships with women and his children. He also covers the business side of his life, from his gym to getting endorsement deals, which I found enlightening and interesting.

He's had enough longevity in his career to have seen a lot during his travels and many big fights to have plenty of stories to tell to fill up a book and keep it interesting. There's some great stuff about his dealings with Dana White, which are pretty entertaining and makes you feel a bit like an insider to hear.

The bottom line is he's just a genuinely likable guy that's hard not to root and he narrates this book in a way that feels like you're sitting across the table just talking to him over a few beers. He admits mistakes and doesn't make excuses, stays humble and never really talks trash about other fighters. It's a bit more detailed and better written than several sports autobiographies I've read. It's a great read for UFC or especially Couture fans.

8/10

Most Alienating Airport

Business Week ranked Prague's Kafka International last in customer satisfaction due to long delays, bureaucratic employees, and overall oppressive atmosphere.

Tell Me Who is Watching

Ok folks, for the last time, the "Geico money song" isn't Michael Jackson it's Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me". All us old folks know that. Rockwell (Kenneth William Gordy) was an 80s R&B dude on the Motown label. Michael Jackson guests on the vocals and is most notable in the chorus. How do you get a megastar (in the 80s at least) to guest on your record? Rockwell is the son of Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr. And for the record, Rockwell had another hit with a song called "Obscene Phone Caller". And that's one to grow on!


Lots of good new stuff out today, but no new Rockwell CD... sorry:

* The Venture Brothers Season 3 DVD

* Quantum of Solace DVD (reviewed here)

* Bolt DVD (animated Disney film staring Miley Cyrus and John Travolta)

* Mastodon ~ "Crack the Skye" CD/DVD

* Papa Roach ~ "Metamorphosis" CD

* Shooter Jennings ~ "Bad Magick: The Best of Shooter Jennings and the 357's" CD

* Pearl Jam ~ "Ten: Legacy Edition" CD/DVD

* Cruefest 2008 DVD

Movie Review: Dead in 3 Days

5 best friends since childhood all receive the same text message on their high-school graduation day: "In three days you will be dead!", but they believe is a stupid joke from as odd schoolmate. However, when one of them is found dead the group realizes that it is not a prank and it's seems to be related to a tragic incident from their childhood.

Sound familiar? Well, that's because it is. It's the same set-up and execution as many horror films through the decades. It's part Friday the 13th, part Pulse and part I Know What You Did Last Summer. The only things different about this film are that it's set in Austria with German dialog and the kids aren't all Hot Topic models. Otherwise, it's just deja vu all over again. It's full of clichés and a monkey could figure out who the killer is once any helpful info at all is revealed.

Still though, it's not horrible. The fact that the kids are pretty "normal" and not all spoiled rich jerks (American suburbanites?) makes it a bit more enjoyable as you can care about them and what happens. The scenery and setting are fantastic and the film is well-shot and acted. It's entertaining at least accept for a few parts where it drags a bit. It's got a few good thrills, a little suspense and some gore.

As with most of these films too, there are many questions how a killer would be able to pull off the majority of the things this one does, physically as well as just things like how the killer would even get all the kids cell numbers to begin with.

But this film is far from awful I thought, just far from anything original as well and it's pretty forgettable. Horror fans who have seen it all before might enjoy the ride down a familiar road in a different culture.

5/10

Saturday Nights Alright For Rockin'

I went out to The Village in Little Rock Saturday night for a big night of 4 bands... 3 locals and headliner Black Stone Cherry. When I'd first heard Black Stone Cherry was back in town I was all over it. I'd already seen them multiple times and they're one of the best live bands I've found in a long time. Then I heard my favorite local band (with a record deal so I guess they're not really local anymore) Bombay Black was opening so I was really hyped up. Then on Friday I heard through the grapevine (the Internet) that Little Rock's Go Fast was added to the bill. Well, that's cool, I like them, but figured it would cut into Bombay Black's set time but still... 3 bands is a good Saturday night. I get to the venue and find yet ANOTHER f'n band has been added. I can't remember their name but I'd never heard of them before. No doubt Bombay Black's set would be even shorter and the night would get longer. Oh well, I'd sat around the house most of the day Saturday so I was hungry for some rock. 4 bands, let's do it.

I found some people I knew and pretty much chatted through the first 2 bands and got a couple of beers. I got there as the openers were almost finished anyway, as the show kicked off pretty early.

Bombay Black came out and I'd made my way to the pit area for a bit more up-close action. I've seen Bombay Black probably about as much as I've seen any band ever, so it all feels really familiar, yet somehow they keep changing things up. They're alway changing the set list around and usually have new songs or covers thrown in the set. Never boring, they've always got good energy on stage.

So tonight they kill the lights and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" comes blaring out of the P.A... only to have Rob begin hammering the drums along to the song. For the record, few beat the hell out of the skins like Rob McCauley. The place was going nuts by the time the other guys made it on stage and joined in for a crowd friendly sing-a-long. Cool way to start the set... and Eric yelled "She's just in it for the ride!" as they kicked off their set with "The Ride", the first track off their Pyscho Magnet CD. They debuted a new track that I can't remember the name of, but I remember liking it and it having a big, catchy hook and chorus. I look forward to the new CD last this year. They did play my current favorite by them, "The Last Time" and they closed the set with Sammy Hagar/Steel Dragon's "Stand Up (and Shout)" and my only complaint on the night for them would be what I expected going in... they had to really cut their set down to like 30 minutes or less it seemed. Oh well, not their fault and I'll see them again soon (and often).

I've talked about Black Stone Cherry so many times in my blog folks gotta be sick of them. So go back here and read this show review (with pictures!) if you must. I'll just give a quick rundown of this night's set, as there were some changes since I last saw them several months ago.

They started they same way with the now classic "Here comes the raaaain!" intro from "Rain Wizard" and they looked every bit as active and hyped as they do every time I see them. They had 90 minutes on this night so I expected some different songs and got them. John Fred Young did get his wild drum solo, without sticks at times even, and they played their "hits" package.

They also added a rippin' cover of Marvin Gaye's "Heard It Though The Grapevine" and Hendrix' "Voodoo Child". Odd choices, but they made them their own. Creedence Clearwater Revival actually used to cover "Grapevine", so maybe that's where that inspiration came from for that as these guys know their southern roots.

An interesting tidbit... I was talking to Ty, bass player for Bombay Black, during the BSC set and told me he used to work sound for The Kentucky Headhunters, which included John Fred Young's father and uncle. He's known him since he was a little rocker. I thought that was pretty cool and it also sort of made us both feel old I think.

So anyway, another high point is that during "The Key", the Young comes out from behind the drumkit and lead singer Chris Robinson took over the sticks while he blasted away on a harmonica. The jam lasted several minutes and was really rockin'. It seems all these guys in the band are very musically inclined, with Robinson and Young handling mulitple instruments throughout the night.

Here's what I think the set list was:

* Rain Wizard
* Backwoods Gold
* Blind Man
* Ghost of Floyd Collins
* Hell Or High Water
* Please Come In
* Soul Creek
* The Key (w/long jam)
-- drum solo --
* Lonely Train
* Peace Is Free
* Heard It Through The Grapevine
* Maybe Someday
* Voodoo Child

Don't hold me to that, but I'm pretty sure I got everything there. Another awesome set from these guys. I'm ready to see them again already.

Sunday Funnies