It’s really sad to see what Kirk Cameron has become, if only because “Growing Pains” was one of my favorite sitcoms as a kid. His extremist Christian views have rubbed many the wrong way, and the folks at Funny or Die have joined forces with a bunch of his former child star brethren to respond to Kirk’s hurtful comments about gay people in the best way possible-with humor. Child Celebrities Opposed to Kirk Cameron (AKA CCOKC…pronounced “cock”) is a hilarious [...]
American Idol Season 11 – And Then There Were 7
My San Jose homeboy Deandre is no longer on this show. So I won’t have that hometown rooting interest anymore. But it doesn’t matter. I didn’t think he was performing at the level he needed to as with that falsetto, he was really a one-trick pony. When DeBarge is right up your alley and you don’t kill that DeBarge song, I’m not sure what other songs are there for you to kill. Tonight, joining me blogging the show is none [...]
Roundball Soundoff 4/4/12: The Home Stretch
It’s the final stretch, lets take a quick look at what’s going on around the league: Tankapalooza 2012 has begun. This is the time of year players sit out with mystery ailments, random D-league players all of a sudden get huge minutes and teams try really hard to look like they are trying without really trying. So far Golden State is 1st in the league in playing below their potential to try and get a high draft pick. It’s real tight [...]
So You Want to Be a Music Critic: An Insider’s Guide
I started doing album reviews for Cavalier magazine back in the summer of ’66, my first being a review of Velvet Underground and Nico’s Banana Album, written in the form of a brief adventure story about a man whose plane crashes in the woods, who fights off a boar with an Italian penny loafer. The buxom blonde he hoists into the sunset is supposed to be emblematic of Nico’s contributions, though how exactly I can’t remember. You know what they say [...]
music / New Releases / pop culture / Pop Music / Release Dates / rock music / The Viewfinder / Videos
The Viewfinder: Tenacious D “To Be The Best”
I am probably one of the only people who considers The Pick Of Destiny one of the greatest movies ever made (Yep for the soundtrack too) so it’s no surprise that I am jumping for joy at the announcement of a new album and video from The D. To be fair, “To Be The Best” is more of an album teaser than an actual single but that’s okay because Jack Black and Kyle Gass never fail to entertain (Again, I [...]
music / New Releases / pop culture / Pop Music / Release Dates / rock music / soul music / Support Good Music in 2012 / Videos
I Read AP’s “100 Bands You Need To Know In 2012″ So You Don’t Have To.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year again. No, not Christmas! It’s Alternative Press’ annual “100 Bands You Need To Know In ____” issue and once again, you have all dodged a bullet by letting me read and re-read and re-read this issue to cull together the very best of the so-called “best”. Anyway, here’s who I thought were the standouts for 2012: Kerretta: Who the hell are these guys and how the hell did I not know about [...]
Dave Rullo Presents: Aging Hip Replacement #39
I saw an interesting article the other day about 50 albums turning 40 this year. The list is astounding—one look and you see masterpiece after masterpiece, all released in the same year. You also see something that never happens anymore, bands releasing more than one album in the same year. It used to be commonplace, bands like The Eagles, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and so many others regularly released multiple albums in the same year and they all [...]
The Singles Bar: Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend”
One thing that’s sort of amazing to me is that, with all of the accolades and internet buzz and fan mania that’s happened with Justin Bieber, the kid’s only really released two albums. Of course, the industry loves to milk teen sensations for all they’re worth before their bubble bursts (see: Hanson & New Kids On The Block,) so there’s already been the acoustic album, the remix album, and the Christmas album. That said-it looks like there is some legit [...]
The Idiot Box: Community: “Contemporary Impressionists”
Egos can be dangerous things. Inflated, they can make us forget how connected and indebted we are to the people we love. Bruised and shattered, they bring us crashing back down to the glaring reality that we aren’t perfect, flawless, or even close to ideal. The tough part is that after floating so high above such a difficult reality and suddenly finding ourselves back in the middle of it, it can take a while to catch our bearings. We suddenly [...]
Pass the Popcorn: “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone”
Documentaries that chronicle the rise, triumph, and inevitable fall from grace – and redemptive coda, if one is available – of an influential artist are often tricky propositions: VH1′s “Behind the Music” series pretty much cornered the market on this plotline early on, and subsequent efforts to subvert the formula either need to be either particularly innovative in style or to boast an interesting enough story to distinguish themselves. Take last year’s Pearl Jam Twenty, for example: an exemplary documentary, [...]
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