I saw “Iron Man” last night and since I don’t have a lot of time this weekend, I’ll sum up my review in two words…
F’n awesome!
Seriously, I thought it was better than any of the “Spider-Man” movies.
And definitely stay THROUGH the end credits…if you are a Marvel Comics fan, you will love the bonus scene.
Well, today is THE day! “Iron Man” opens with advanced screenings starting tonight (May 1) at 8 p.m. Of course, I have tickets for the 8 p.m. show at a nearby theater.
Between my waiting for this movie since childhood and the positive reviews, I am REALLY psyched to see this film.
And what makes it even better?
Since there are spoilers involved, I’ll put the rest after the jump…
Continue reading ““Iron Man” day is here (spoilers included)!”
The Baskervilles are a Harlem, N.Y.-based pop act that I first discovered some time ago through Pandora. I just found out that the Baskervilles have a new CD, “Twilight,” coming out June 3, 2008, on Secret Crush Records…and you can listen to the entire CD by visiting their Web site.
Here is an excerpt from their bio:
Harlem-based indie rock quartet, Baskervilles, are no strangers to 60s pop and 70s Sire new wave and it’s evident on their newest album, Twilight, produced by the legendary Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Pavement, Birds of Avalon). And though Baskervilles draw on the past for some inspiration, their songs are infused with buoyant and modern pop sensibilities. The result is one of the finer strains of music likely to brush its melodic tentacles across your eardrums this year. The band consists of Rob Keith (vocals, guitar), Stephanie Finucane (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Chirstoph Gerozissis (bass) and Craig Van Orsdale (percussion, vocals)…
…Drawing on classic pop influences, Twilight is an album for fans of proto-punk bands like Talking Heads, Roxy Music, and Blondie as well as contemporary acts such as Belle & Sebastian, Apples In Stereo, and the Shins. There’s no denying that Baskervilles and Twilight are here and now.
I haven’t listened to the entire CD yet, but I do love the sound of the Baskervilles. This band released its first CD in 2004 and put out an EP a year later, so they have been around for a while. Hopefully, “Twilight” will bring the Baskervilles to a much wider audience.
Here is a free MP3 of “Caught in a Crosswalk” that you may also listen to below. Enjoy!
Well, this week, “Iron Man,” the movie I have waited for most of my life, finally hits the big screen. Directed by Jon Favreau (“Zathura,” “Made”), “Iron Man” is based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name — and my favorite character in the Marvel Universe.
Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, the billionaire defense contractor/playboy/genius who initially creates the Iron Man armor to escape his captors in Afghanistan and then refines the suit in order to defeat those using his technology for evil. Jeff Bridges plays Stark Enterprises executive Obadiah Stane, who becomes the main rival to Stark/Iron Man when he builds his own armored creation and takes on the name of Iron Monger.
Gwyneth Paltrow portrays Virginia “Pepper” Potts, Stark’s assistant, and Terrence Howard is Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes (who will go on to become War Machine in future installments of the “Iron Man” saga).
I am so pumped for this movie. I was a big fan of the comic book as a kid (and even in later years), and the footage and early reviews I have seen are making me even more excited about it. I actually have tickets to one of the 8 p.m. shows on Thursday, May 1, so I will be seeing it a day before its official May 2 opening.
Also, I love the “Star Wars”-esque poster.
Anyway, here is one of the early reviews…
Above is a video Mike Doughty shot for the song “Fort Hood” from his latest CD, “Golden Delicious.”
The song, which borrows its chorus from the musical “Hair,” is named after the base in Texas that has suffered the most casualties during the war in Iraq. On his blog, Mike Doughty asked fans to post the video wherever they could…
Bex Schwartz directed this video for “Fort Hood.” We made it together, without the record company, because we wanted to get a message out there, about young people whose bodies and minds are still being damaged in Iraq.
Actually, by posting it here, and making it available on YouTube, and embeddable, we’re bumming the record company out. They liked it when we showed it to them, and wanted to coordinate a whole marketing and radio campaign about it. We were going to wait, and let them do their thing, but I watched the primary last night, and hearing Obama and Hillary snark at each other while this terrible nightmare is still going on, I realized I didn’t want to wait.
It’s up at AOL Spinner right now, and soon will be on Stereogum; we’d be humbled and grateful if you guys put it on your profiles; we’d like to get our message out. Thank you.
Thank you, Mike!
OK…I have a few minutes so I just thought I would post some photos and videos from my recent trip with my girlfriend to San Antonio (and Austin), Texas.
To start you out, above is a photo of The Alamo. Here are the rest of the photos.
And here are a couple of videos from the trip. This first one is of the Texas Cavaliers’ River Parade, which is held each year as part of San Antonio’s Fiesta.
The following video is a bit grainy, but about a minute into it, you will start seeing thousands of bats flying out from under their summer home underneath the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin — a nightly ritual during the summer months.
Hello, all! This is just a quick post to say that I have just returned from a brief vacation in Texas. My girlfriend and I spent an extended weekend in the San Antonio and Austin areas. We were able to take in some of Fiesta, which began last weekend in San Antonio and runs through April 27. Also, we were able to spend a day in Austin, where we went on a tour of the Texas State Capitol, watched hundreds of thousands of bats fly out — a nightly ritual — from their summer home under the Congress Street Bridge, and saw Mike Doughty’s Band at Antone’s on 5th Street.
I’ll have some photos and videos from the trip on the ol’ blog for you at some point in the near future.
However, now that I am back in New Jersey, I would also like to share some news about my good friend, singer-songwriter Christian Beach. Christian is playing the Writers in Raritan Showcase tonight at DeCicco’s (10 Anderson St., Raritan, NJ 08869, Map). He will be taking the stage around 9:25 p.m.
But that’s not all! Christian has a bevy of shows coming up over the next few weeks. Here is a listing:
May 3, 2008
Twisted Tree Cafe
609 Cookman Ave
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
9:15 p.m.
May 16, 2008
Klee’s Bar & Grill (Seaside Music Festival)
101 Boulevard
Seaside Heights, NJ 08751
9:00 p.m.
June 18, 2008
Triumph Brewing Co.
“Unplugged Acoustic”
117 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
9:15 p.m.
Please visit www.myspace.com/christianbeach for more information.
Finally, here is video of Christian and his ad-hoc backing band performing David Bowie’s “Five Years” at the Main Man Records Showcase/Record Release Party for “Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie” held at The Brighton Bar in Long Branch, NJ, on March 28, 2008 (because of potential setup problems with the 1970s Yamaha organ Christian usually brings to the gigs, I instead played a cheesy organ sound on my Alesis QS 6.1 synthesizer for this show). Enjoy!
So I just realized the fun that is YouTube playlists…yeah, I know…a little late for a geek like me to figure that out. Anyway, here is a playlist of every performance by my friend, singer-songwriter Christian Beach, that can be found on YouTube. Enjoy!
Oppenheimer has a new CD, “Take the Whole Mid-Range and Boost It,” coming out soon. Below is the video for “Look Up” from the upcoming disc. Great stuff from the two boys from Belfast! Enjoy!
Last month, I wrote about my discovery of the Philadelphia-based homeless running group, Back On My Feet.
Well, today, I noticed CNN.com posted a story about BOMF so I thought I would share that with you here…
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) — At 5 a.m. on any given day, Anne Mahlum could be found running the dark streets of Philadelphia — with homeless men cheering her on as she passed their shelter. But one morning last spring, she stopped in her tracks.
“Why am I running past these guys?” recalls Mahlum, 27. “I’m moving my life forward every day — and these guys are standing in the same spot.”
Instead of continuing to pass them by, the veteran marathoner sprang into action so they could join her.
She contacted the shelter, got donations of running gear, and in July 2007 the “Back On My Feet” running club hit the streets.
The first day, Mahlum led nine shelter residents in a mile-long run. Today, Back on My Feet has teams in three Philadelphia shelters, including 54 homeless members and more than 250 volunteers. The group has logged more than 5,000 miles.
Requirements for shelter residents to join are simple — they must live in an affiliated facility and be clean and sober for 30 days. Members receive new shoes and running clothes, and teams run together three times a week between 5:30 and 6 a.m.
Brian Kelley 