Category: Entertainment

This weekend I got around to seeing Hostel, by Quentin Terrantino. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but I will say that it was a great movie. Filmed almost entirely in Europe, the scenery is as authentic as it is beautiful, and the “cultural divide” between the American viewing audience and the European style is really interesting.

Quentin did it again – produced a movie that kept me greatly entertained, and showed off some damn good scenery. And, some hot girls. 🙂

I’m not the biggest religious guy around, I tell people I’m a non-practicing Catholic. Non-practicing because I don’t actively celebrate my faith with the community and as I get older, I tend to believe less and less of the whole package. I was brought up Catholic, but as I got older, my viewpoints changed and so did my beliefs. So, there I am. A non-practicing Catholic. Anyway, that’s not the point of this thread. The point of this thread is the “farting preacher”. 🙂

Did you ever get up early on a Sunday and watch those rediculous evangelists preaching about God? These are the guys that touch peoples foreheads up on stage, and boom, you’re cured of your debilitating disease, or your money problems or gone, or whatever. Nice stuff to think and say to someone (positive reinforcement), but the problem is thousands of people believe these guys, and believe they have a direct connection to God.

Well, just when you thought it couldn’t get any more rediculous, someone took these shows and made a masterpeice out of them. Click on the link below, and you’ll be brought to one of my favorite Farting Preacher eposides.

Farting Preacher #4

For all of the other mini video clips of the “Farting Preacher”, click here on this Google Video search link.

I’m sure I’ll get some hate mail or whatever on this, or may be someone will tell me God will strike me dead. Well, I believe God has a sense of humour about things, so right now, she’s laughing. 😉

During my college years (circa 1994) ,I let go of some of my musical roots and branched out to other types of music. Don’t get me wrong, my parents did a fine job. I have specific memories of listening to the Beatles on trips to New England or to Virgina when I was 4 or 5. Memories vivid enough that I remember my place in the car, remember the songs played (Let It Be, Paperback Writer, etc.). It would have been 1979 or 1980 at this point, thankfully, I do have what seems to be a saved memory for those times. That being said, my parents besides liking The Beatles also turned me on to Anne Murray, The Eagles, Stevie Wonder, and a host of classical music. Anyway…

In college, with newfound friends and interest, I was able to develop a fond affection for many different types of music, both groups/bands I hadn’t even heard of before (311, Rusted Root, Morphine, Dave Matthews Band) and groups/bands that were famous but I choose not to listen to in high school for whatever reason (The Black Crowes, Led Zep, Billy Joel, etc.). That was the beauty about college — so many people, so many interests. Arguably, between school work and sleep, there wouldn’t be enough time in the day to fully explore a given person’s musical interests in great detail.

Being a big fan of the Dave Matthews Band since late 1993, I began to see a few shows. My first show of theirs was at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, in very late August or early September of 1994. It was indeed a great show, and upon coming home from that show, my following of DMB had started.

I began to do a little research on this thing called “The Internet” in 1994 about the band, and I was able to stumble upon quite a bit of excellent information about the band, even in the primative Internet world of 1994.

Upon reading more and more about them, I found out that they – like many other “jam bands” – allow the taping of their concerts. You couldn’t plug directly into the soundboard, but you could setup what equipment you had, and make an audience recording. I was so energized by this notion, that I began to actively search on how I could receive copies of concerts that people have recorded.

At this time, the Internet was a common household name. Music was not downloaded like it is today – there was no such thing. Hell, in 1994 recordable CDs were not common at the end-user level due to their cost. Instead, people collabortaed together on the Internet in a place that still exists called “Usenet”, where you could post your list of shows you have. This list would be posted in a newsgroup (similar to a web-based discussion board) where anyone else reading that group could view your list. If you had something that someone wanted, the person would contact you. If you found something from his or her list, you would do a trade. Between 1994 and 1998, I probably traded over 100 concerts and triple that amount of actual cassette tapes. You would physically take blank tapes, copy the shows the person wanted, and in good faith would mail them to the person expecting to get your shows in return. In the time I spent trading this way, I was only burned for about 10 tapes and $20 in postage. Pretty low, given the odds, I would say.

I got so into tape trading, that I decided to make a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for the alt.binaries.bootlegs newsgroup where lists were posted. I relinquished control of this FAQ several years ago due to my own time constrants, but the FAQ still exists (and is currently updated), and older versions that I had created can still be found at the same website. The URL is: http://www.ambfaq.cjb.net

It’s crazy to me to look back at my revisions – 10 years ago – and see that my hard work is still there, and still used frequently.

Now, I’m going to make the jump to 2005….hold on. 😉

Welcome to the Internet. The land of cable modems, high speed connections, always-on availability, and the freedom of free information. Trading isn’t commonly done anymore the way it was. Peoople will still send what’s called “B+P” (Blanks and Postage) to new people that don’t have any shows for trading, but the common way to trade these days is something called “The Bit Torrrent Network”. Let me explain…

Check out http://www.dreamingtree.org

Confused? Don’t be. As a user goes to a concert and records it, they offer it for download. This website facilitates the searching and downloading of the DMB concerts. You’ll need a Bit Torrent client (I like a program called Bit Comet), and then you’ll need to download the “.torrent” file for a specific show. Over a few hours, you will have downloaded the whole show most likely in one of two formats; FLAC and SHN. Both are LOSSLESS audio compression formats, unlike MP3. DO NOT convert a FLAC or SHN to MP3….instead, convert to WAVE and burn to a CD.

FAQ’s at each website will do a much better job of explaining things then I can do here, so I will only offer the links. Good luck, and happy listening.

Thank to Dave Matthews, and the Dave Matthews Band for allowing live audience recordings, as well as continously outperforming themselves year after year.

Links:

The Dreaming Tree (www.dreamingtree.org)
www.etree.org
What is the Bit Torrent Network?
Bit Comet

I had the great pleasure of once again seeing my favorite band – The Dave Matthews Band – perform this past Saturday, December 10th, 2005 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden (MSG). Undoubtedly, the best show I was ever at, both for seats and quality of the show.

The best part about where I live compared to where MSG is located, is that I drive 5 minutes to the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), get on a 46 minute train ride, and I’m at Penn Station, which is located directly below MSG.

The show was awesome. Played for 3+ hours, great songs, a great sound, and a great crowd. The crowd – especially the peeps around us – were really into it. They were probably on mind-altering substances, but none the less, they were very respectful and very into the show, which made it for a great experience for me, and I’m sure for them.

I’ve seen probably 14 or 15 DMB shows over almost as many years (1993-present): Philadelphia, PA in 1994 (first show at the Mann Music Center), New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia thru the 1990s and early 2000’s, and my two most recent shows – Hershey PA in June 2005 and Saragota Springs, NY in July of 2005. All have been great shows, but my choice of seats has gotten steadily worse over the years, like a cruel joke. My first show, I was almost dead center 16th row or so. Perfect seats. Since then, Dave has moved to venues with larger capacities and with my luck and my “quick fingers” with www.ticketmaster.com has not proven to be that great. 🙂

Anyway, I had ordered these tickets for the 12/10/05 show in NYC for me and my girlfriend. I was up early that initial day, and of course the show was sold out after about 5 minutes, but I managed to snag our two tickets. We were able to get two seats “behind the stage”. I though “gee, that’s gonna suck, but at least we can hear him and see him on the video”. I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a total loss.

As it turns out, these were the best seats I ever had. Our seats were indeed behind the stage, but there wasn’t much to the stage. I was within spitting distance of Carter’s drumset, and I was about 5 rows too far away to shake Dave’s hand as he left the stage at the end of the concert.

And on top of that, we had “Row A” in our section, so I was able to snag (if I wanted) every beer guy that walked by. However, 3 hours worth of $6.75 Bud bottles sort of puts a damper on the buzz, but who cares. I think I spent close to $40 on five 12-oz Bud bottles that night. Gotta love it.

If you ever looking for a concert to see and you don’t know these guys, give them a listen.

A few people have asked me privately given the review of Dukes of Hazzard, who I would have cast for the 2005 movie. And here are my answers:

• “Bo and Luke Duke”; John Schneider and Tom Wopat (original cast)
• “Daisy Duke”; Catherine Bach (original cast)
• “Uncle Jessie”; Willie Nelson
• “Boss Hogg”; Danny Devito
• “Rosco P. Coltrane”; James Best (original cast)
• “Cooter Davenport”; Ben Jones (original cast)
• “Enus Strate”; Sonny Shroyer (original cast)

Notice the only member I replaced was Boss Hogg and Uncle Jessie, and that’s only because Sorrel Brooke and Denver Pyle are both dead.

Why make a Dukes of Hazzard and not have the original cast? If you think about it, it’s pointless to remake this show into a movie and not use the original cast.

They could have made a “reunion” movie; Bo and Luke have been gone from Hazzard since 1985, and Boss Hogg has cooked up a plan to loot Hazzard and all it’s resources. They would come back, fight for Hazzard, and it would have been a great movie.

Someone do it. If no one does it, I will, as soon as I can get around to making a few million.

Well, Mr. Ben Jones (Cooter) was right. (See my blog entry below “Ruining the Dukes.” I had normal expectations before seeing this movie, but I was eager to see it none the less.

I finally did get to see it this past Sunday, and while it wasn’t a total letdown, I was disappointed. I’ll try and explain what I mean, and #1 is the “most important”.

1. No Cameos. Before going into the movie, I knew that none of the surviving members of the original series were not asked to be a part of the new film. I don’t know any self-respecting fan of the show – especially when you are creating a movie about it – can came to the decision not to have the original cast members come back for even one scene. Sure, the original cast for Boss Hogg and Uncle Jessie have passed on, but the others still remain.
2. Improper Casting of the Duke Boys; Remember that season of the Dukes where John Schneider and Tom Wopat had contract disputes, and “cousins” of Bo and Luke were brought in to fill their roles? Remember how you felt, and how you feel after watching reruns on cable? That’s what it felt like when I got to the movies and saw Johnny Knoxville and Sean William Scott as the Duke boys. Don’t get me wrong – I like both of those guys in other films/tv they have been in, but as the Duke boys, it was disheartening to see something as fake as their acting. As for Uncle Jessie’s character, Willie Nelson played a fine role. He was cast properly.
3. Improper Casting of Boss Hogg and Roscoe P. Coletrain: If you think for a minute Burt Reynolds was a good choice for Boss Hogg, you’re sorely mistaken. Boss (J.D.) Hogg and Roscoe were a comedy team – it was almost like Laurel and Hardy, and I’m sure I’m not the first person to make that comparison. Those two characters from the original show were a comedy show within themselves. How one could cast Burt Reynolds and M.C. Gainey as Roscoe needs to have their head examined. Again, great actors – loved Gainey in “Breakdown” w/ Kurt Russell and also loved nearly every movie Burt Reynolds did, but their performance in the Dukes of Hazzard was poor. The original comedy duo of Boss and Roscoe were not evident and sorely missed.
4. Great casting of Jessica Simpson for Daisy! 🙂
5. Sex, Drugs, and the Confederate Flag; Boy did the producer/director miss the boat here. First of all, there was sex (not shown) and implied drug use in the movie, neither of which I disagree with, but it didn’t fit the show. It’s just simply factually incorrect. In addition, the rebel flag on the roof of the General Lee in this movie was a focal point for racism. There was a scene in the movie where Bo and Luke drove the General to present-day Atlanta and wound up in the ghetto someplace, and 20 black guys surrounded the car and had something to say about the flag. The directors played the racism card. And, if you know anything about U.S. History, the Confederate Flag (Southern Cross / The Confederate Battle Flag / the Navy Jack / etc – whatever you want to call it), has nothing to do with racism. That flag is/was a symbol of regional pride and heritage. That flag traditionally represented the South’s resistance to Northern political dominance, and only did it become racially charged during the Civil Rights Movement.
6. Enus. Close, but no cigar. Again, missing the comedy trio of Boss Hogg, Enus, and Roscoe.
7. Flash was there, but it isn’t too hard to get a basset-hound to show up at the set and say nothing, is it?

Those are the things I found generally wrong with the movie. Now, what did I find that I really loved?…The car chase/stunt scenes. There was plenty of great action involving the General Lee, a modified 1969 (and 1970 in the original series depending upon the episode) Dodge Charger. This car, by far, was then and is still the star of the show. In the previews I watched late this past Spring, I assumed a few stunts I saw were computer generated. I was happily mistaken, as in the ending credits they showed a “bloopers” scene, and the jumps they did were in fact real, and done with real cars. It is for this reason, and this reason alone that I could recommend this movie to you. If you’re sa long-time Dukes hardcore fan, you’ll be disappointed in the movie in the grand scheme of things. Seeing Jessica Simpson and the General Lee made this movie a lot more watchable.

I beg someone — in a few years, please make a sequel. This time, please do it right and get a better cast, and get some of the original people back to do this movie justice.

That guy on the left there looks like he’s watching an IMAX movie. That’s just how good it is. 🙂 You haven’t been to the movies yet if you haven’t seen an IMAX show. What is IMAX, you ask? Well, check out their homepage www.imax.com, but in short, it’s the biggest, most technologically advanced movie theatre around. Up to 8 stories high, with all sorts of crazy sound-systems and video, the movie screen wraps around the theatre, so peripheral vision is seeing part of the movie too.

It’s really wild, and I haven’t been to one in a long time until the other day. Definitely renewed my interest in that stuff. I believe the title of the show I saw was a movie from James Cameron, called “Aliens of the Deep”, which showed in great detail life at the bottom of the ocean (3,500 meters deep), and how this life (that exists w/o photosynthesis) might be how life is like in cold oceans on planets and moons of these planets in our solar system.

Definitely check it out, and for a list of the theatres closest to you, click on the link below and do a search.

IMAX Homepage

Yeeeeeehaww!

If you haven’t already heard, the big screen version of the popular 80’s TV hit “The Dukes of Hazzard” is ready for release on 8/5/05 by Warner Brothers. The action sequences look good from the previews I’ve seen, and it appears the 1969 Dodge Charger – aka “The General Lee” – is back in full effect.

Then, today on CNN, I see an link to an interview with Ben Jones, who played Cooter on the show. The article is titled “Dukes TV Star: Don’t See the Movie”.

As I read the article, it looks like Warner Bros. never consulted with nor wanted anything to do with the original cast members of the TV show when filming the movie. Here’s what Ben Jones said:

“Basically, they trashed our show. It’s one thing to do whatever movie they want to do, but to take a classic family show and do that is like taking ‘I Love Lucy’ and making her a crackhead or something. From all I have seen and heard, the ‘Dukes’ movie is a sleazy insult to all of us who have cared about the ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ for so long. Unless they clean it up before the August fifth release date I would strongly recommend that true blue Dukes fans hold their noses and pass this one up.”

While I can’t pass it up, I wish things were different. I was expecting (hoping) for some cameo appearances, but that doesn’t appear to be a reality at this point.

If anyone was wondering what Ben Jones has been doing since ~1985 after the Dukes went off the air, Jones was elected to Congress in 1988 as a Democrat. He lost his bid for a third term in 1992 after his district was redrawn. He owns Cooter’s Place, a “Dukes” memorabilia shop in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

And, I will add that Warner Bros. is a division of Time Warner, as is CNN. What else do they own besides AOL. 🙂

Anywho, it remains to be seen what happens with the movie, but I’m hoping it’s not a total let down. Don’t see it?? What the heck? Mr. Jones, you need to understand something. As a kid growing up, one of the most influencial things I remember as a 5 year old, is turning on the TV on Friday nights at 8pm and watching The Dukes of Hazzard. Attempting to not see this movie woiuld be an excercise in futility. Regardless of your personal opinions of how WB might have ruined the good image of the show, I think we deserve to give it a fair chance, and then make our own opinions. Hell, I might even agree with you.

Well, today’s news isn’t so hot. Tony Blair is trying to figure out who caused London’s bombings, the U.S. Gulf coast is getting pounded buy a category 4 hurricane, and my local Baskin Robins is out of Rocky Road.

People, it’s a joke, relax. Lighten the hell up. Hurricanes suck, so do bombings, but the best you can do in life for anything is laugh.

So, about 2 weeks ago, I had the great privilege of seeing Lewis Black for a second time. Put simply, the man is a genius. He might deny that if you told him he was, but he has a way of rationalization that very few people have. We’re stuck in our little bubble, and he is outside the bubble looking in, telling us in many funny ways, to wake the hell up for fucks sake. 🙂 I suggest anyone out there who likes to laugh, constantly questions authority, and has no idea why our government does what it does, go see Lewis Black.

I’ll give you a little excerpt of the night I saw. Lewis started talking about how he was invited to speak in front of many, many members of Congress, the House, and other politicians – including the President – at a function in D.C. this Spring. He wanted to do it, but unfortunately, he was going to be speaking in front of audience whom he despised.

A call came from the White House to his publicist, and the White House called to be reassured that Lewis wouldn’t say anything that “made fun of” the current administration.

When Lewis heard this info, he wondered how the hell he was going to perform 5 minutes of a show. 🙂

He was told that the President was going to be there, and after he heard that, he began to figure out ways on how to fill an hour of jokes while completely avoiding his own standup routine as he has nothing but utter hatred for the current Administration, and he is not afraid to communicate it in his shows. 🙂

As he spoke to us that night, he said that as he was contemplating what to say about the President, CNN announced that the Pope had passed away. The White House informed him soon after that the President would not be attending the event at which Lewis was supposed to speak at. Quoting Lewis, “It was like the Pope died for me. He sacrificed his life, for mine.”

It was then a little while later when the White House called again, stating that in lieu of the President coming to the comedy night, V.P. Dick Cheney would be attending.

And Lewis replied, “And that’s when I realized the Pope knew I was Jewish.”