Inglourious Bastards- What are we supposed to think Quentin?

As I looked to escape my tiny North End street which was hosting St Anthony's Feast (the last feast of the season for this famous Itallian neigborhood) I thought why not check out the new Tarantino flick as named above. I called up my buddy Adam who too was trying to find away to get out of the house without it involving alcohol (who ever goes out for just one?) and he swooped me up in his sliver Toyota pick-up. As I exited onto street level I found myself in a swarm of tourist dressed in Red Sox shirts (the I love NY version of Boston pride), local teens on bikes and double parked cars. Once inside his truck we hit a U-ey and were at the Loews Boston Commons in minutes. The movie itself felt much like a Cohen Brothers movie (I mean this as a compliment. The Cohen brothers are not only some of the best filmmakers at it today but ones that also consistenly push the envelope of storytelling and character development) . It is packed with unusual characters that are allowed to develope through scenes that run longer (sucessfully I might add) than most holywood movies would allow. The black humor that pulses through this movie left me with some guilt as I find nothing funny about war, Jews, Nazi's or death. None the less I found myself laughing and cheering at moment with everyone else in the theatre. While Brad Pitt is featured as the face of this movie it is Christoph Watlz in the part of Col. Hanz Landa that is very much the lead of this movie and certainly puts in the best performance. I have to say Tarantino really is excellent at using music. There are several moments where the choice of soundtrack and cinematography had me in a trance like state, following every beat and movement without a thought in my mind. There is an especially memorable scene that features the female lead, Melanie Laurant and the young Nazi hero Daniel Bruhl that is beautifully executed. Brad Pitt is to be comended for his performance. I have noticed when he tries to step outside the persona of Brad Pitt it usually feels like he's acting. The results are no different here but his Sgt. Slaughter rendition is so over the top that he is the perfect caricature for this flick. I never felt bored during the movie I can say but it also didnt ramp up the way you might desire (on a side note I just saw The Hurt Locker and I found myself ducking and turning in my seat throughout the movie), This movie could have delivered a little more suspense but it kept me curious and that is to be valued in this day from a featured film. The other interesting part of this movie is that the audience in many ways is tricked into watching a foriegn film. While less than half the movie in my estimation is in subtitles there are certainly more words to read than most American films. In many ways this is great as I know I have found myself avoiding many foriegn films due to the lack of desire to read. It wasn't bad at all and in many ways reminded me of how little of human comunication truly is based on the use of words. Adam and I spoke about the movie as we left. He had enjoyed it quite a bit and felt that Tarantino had employed enough of his signature to leave his fans fulfilled in this latest instalment of his work. I felt much the same way. The characters were there, so was the music. The shots were excelent and dark humor as well. But I was still slightly uneasy about the subject matter (again, war, Jews, Nazi's and Death) but I applaud Tarantino for setting his movie amid this period and risking all that is to be gained and lost. I did my best to comment on this movie but give away nothing that might take away from your experience of the movie. I did not read the reviews before I went to see this (nor have I since) and am curious to see what others may answer or add to what I took away.

Hits From The Bong All Day Long

 CA pushing the limits
http://www.guerillaunion.com/smokeout/

 Also The Cronic Re Lit From The Vault. Who is the artist?
http://deathrowmusic.com/home.html
http://deathrowmusic.com/contest.html
http://deathrowmusic.com/remix_contest/contest.html

Off That

http://allhiphop.com/stories/multimedia__music/archive/2009/08/24/21908375.aspx

Are We Really Off That??

Jigga aka Jay Z aka your to fuckin old to be calling any shots any more..... Listen, I love you but who are you to be tellling us we are officially"off that"? We may be, but your pushin the game to a whole nother level. I don't want hip hop to be ties and suits, cummerbunds and boutonnieres...
Instead, Hey Jay how about just sticking to rhymes, and slaying rappers witch you were so good at during one point in your career(Jim Jones, Jaz-o, Nas, Game---all slayed..). Don't put us on another planet yet tempt us to what hip hop could be...... And should be... MR. BeemOne

RIP DJ AM

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/28/dj-am-found-dead-in-new-york/

Quick Thoughts

This video is RAD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KxjVlaLBmk

If you live near Boston why not? Roof top?
http://features.waaf.com/contests/alice_in_chains_bbq.php

Looks Wicked (Johnny's Find)
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810064790/video/15127381

Out of Seattle and tearing it up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMuJ56FwPw

Shows I will be at
AIC (The Moore)
KISS (The Key)
Puscifer (The Moore)
Wolfmother (The Paramount)

The Eagle Has Landed

Well as most of you know by now Michael Vick made his preseason debut last night. For information on his performance please see espn.com. What I find more interesting is the varying opinion of whether or not Michael Vick should be allowed to play and whether or not he is a role model. I can remember growing up and looking up to sports players. My friends and I used to arrive hours before the game to get autographs of our favorite players. Ironically it was not our favorite players that would take the time to sign our baseball cards, gloves and caps. There are only so many Pete O'Brien autographs with "John 3:14" scribbled underneath that you can collect before you start to think what the hell is up. Why weren't our role models around to sign autographs for their biggest fans?. Charles Barkley was the first one to really come out and say it. Nike put together a commercial featuring him and his tough guy persona proudly stating "I AM NOT A ROLE MODEL." It seemed kind of cool and rebellious at the time (it wasn't adults who were lining up to buy his shoes). Years later I agree he is no role model but I marvel at how many athletes have turned out to be worse. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term role model as "a person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others." In those simple terms everyone is a role model since we all play a role and have the opportunity to influence imitation in others. I look at the "steroid era" with quite a bit of sadness. It is not sadness for what the players have done but by the way they have chosen to hide what they have done. From Big Mac, to Sammy Sosa, Raphael Palmero, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and of course Roger Clemens. They have all lied and then lied again in an attempt to cover up the secret they held from their fans. If they would have come out and admitted it and taken responsibility we would have forgiven them and moved on. I don't mean admitted it like Alex Rodriguez though. Someone who's vein attempt to appear sincere and honest accomplished neither. Even before the admission of steroid use came off as insultingly insincere. He should have never been a role model the moment he told Seattle it was not about the money but the opportunity to win and then turned around an signed with Texas for a quarter of a billion dollars. Many cannot fault him for not passing on that amount of money but I ask in retrospect do we not see the flaws to this type of thinking. It was as symbolic as Greek Mythology or the Bible. A young man with all the gifts in the world is lured away from a home that loved him by money. It was a deal with the devil where he chose to sacrifice the chance to win and ended up playing somewhere hot where losing would be eternal. A fable he has become, one to warn your kids about every night before bed. After all of this I almost want to celebrate someone like Michael Vick. An individual who made some atrocious decisions in life and has been stripped of everything and been forced to start over from scratch. I do not know whether the punishment has fit the crime but there were very few things left to take away from Michael Vick when all was said and done. The one argument I hear from his enemies is that they could have taken away football. To this I agree, you can take away football but why? Do we not want to rehabilitate people so that they can do some good in this world and their community? What do we gain by taking away all of the money, dignity and 18 months of life from a man and then releasing him in only to push him further to the brink? When I think of this argument I think of insurgents in places like Iraq and more importantly today Afghanistan. People with little hope have very few options in life. When they have everything taken away from them we do not win. We lose because they become far more dangerous than they ever were before. What happens to Vick if we take it all away? Maybe he ends up in Virginia with the same bad news crew he was running with before. And maybe due to his poverty and his fall from grace he is caught in the same place so many others with no future to hope for end up. Back in jail or in the dirt. Here, starting today and everyday moving forward we have someone who has been to the bottom and who seems truly grateful for another chance to make it to the top. So for now this Eagle has landed, but let us hope, for everyone's sake, he once again can fly.

crack heads given a choice....... Lets see uhhh...

Seriously.... Seattle time to quit being passive and put the damn hammer down

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009760820_diversion28m.html

Hip hop beefs

Eminem vs. Mariah Carey( below)?? Is this what hip hop beefs have come to? If so, I'm out...... No, actually this is one of the better beefs hip hop has seen in years. At least Eminem comes out with fire under his ass, comes out like he wants to make the hottest bitch in his class look like the whore he got to first. Either way the energy is there... I guess I am sick of all these recent so called rap beefs (50 cent vs. Rick Ross, Method Man vs. Joe Budden, the renewed beef of Ja Rule vs 50 cent?) They all go in the same way. Somebody has more fucking money, more guns, more goons, more bitches, more bling than the next. What every true rap fan wants is a lyrical battle. let the music do killing, the murdering. I won't use "back in the day" but lets understand where this has gone and stand up as fed up fans.... MR. BEEM



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZxPxdZugc8

Fuck n Bad ASS...& Free - Seattle

Last night was easily one of the best musical experiences that I have had. If you did not hear the sounds of golden grunge over the Seattle airways the last couple of days then you missed the fact that 99.9 & 107.7 the end were giving away tickets to see one of the sought after Seattle shows in a long time. A chance to see a private show with Alice in Chains going acoustic.

This had all the ingredients to go down in the books. We lined up outside of the EMP around 6:30 and when the name checker gave us our wrist bands (Yellow 21+, red for entry) he said your going to want to keep these on even after the show is over...interesting.

Upon entering the EMP we all cattled our way to the Sky Church. There was a line near the front and I thought it was for drinks and as I got closer I realized that was the stage, SHIT MAN! This place was tinny. Just before the show a man in a red jersey came on stage and said "take one" so we new it was being filmed. They busted out 5 great classics that the crowd of around 300+ sang along with every word.The music sounded perfect.

Brother
Got Me Wrong
Rooster
No Excuses
Down in a Hole

Security was starting to clear a path near us so we knew something was up. After the last song Jerry said "we are going to try something kinda fun, follow us". So everyone followed out of the EMP, around the Space Needle and through the carnival rides in the direction of the laser dome. The whole time walking along side the band. I took some time to go up to Jerry and say hi. I had my jersey on from playing in the fantasy foot ball league with him last year. He said "cool you were in the league last year, right on." By that point the Seahawks Blue Thunder Drum section just kicked into gear escorting us the rest of the way into the party.

Inside the laser dome it was open bar (beer & wine) and all you can eat food and the best part about it was the band was hanging out with everyone. At least 1/3 or the crowd was friend and family. I had moments to talk with each AIC member individually and also met the commish from last years FF league. Everyone was in great spirits. Meg went around and maneuvered autographs from each band mate on her entry laminate & I had Jerry sign my Jersey. As soon as the vultures saw I had a Sharpe Jerry's happy face turned placid and my Sharpe took awhile to get back to me. When Jerry handed it back he gave me the look of don't do that to me again.

Getting nice and lubed by this point we sat back and got the monster treat of getting to hear the whole new album, Black Gives Way To Blue, from beginning to end. This is one great fucking album. Songs 6, 7, 9 & 11 left marks in my brain that I will never forget & Check My Brain is already a classic. Here was the track listing. I want to thank AIC for making this night Fuck n Bad ASS.

1. All Secrets Known
2. Check My Brain
3. Last Of My Kind
4. Your Decision
5. A Looking In View
6. When The Sun Rose Again
7. Acid Bubble
8. Lesson Learned
9. Take Her Out
10. Private Hell
11. Black Gives Way To Blue

More Pics Here
http://www.kisw.com/An-Evening-with-Alice-in-Chains/5095729http://www2.1077theend.com/photos/gallery/1239

Jack White

On another note I won entry to a private Dead Weather show last week and they ripped one open something fierce. There was a 1/25 chance of wining an all expenses paid trip to Nashville to hang with the man himself at his record store (Third Man Records)....I was selected as that person. You will hear about it when I am done.

I will stop pissing in your breakfast as soon as my heart beat slows down.

LAUNCH

This is the first of many entries that we will discuss music, food, sports, news and whatever we feel like. I (Jesse Howard) have recruited 3 others to start this adventure and I have no idea if they will follow. Like any new entity we will start small and grow to include others to blog and interview. The others invited go by the names of John Hurson, Josh Howard & Orion Gousie. Beyond being knowledgeable and brutally honest these individuals have expressed interest in this type of venture. I hope we can keep this blog populated & interesting every day. Until next time.