Crab If You Need It

OK, that is a bit of an obnoxious version of that song. Unfortunately it is the only version available (at this time) on YouTube. Anyway, one of my more favorite shows has it's premiere tonight. That's right! It's the drama and excitement of Alaskan crab fishermen on Deadliest Catch. The OFOMOL hates it and doesn't see the appeal, but I love it. I think it is due to the fact that I have a fascination with seeing how we can push our bodies physcially and mentally. The show also illustrates that in the 21st technology-driven era, there are still things that are done the way they have been for years.

A couple of new links I've added:
Pop Songs 07
This is a spin-off of Fluxblog. The curator of both, Matthew Perpetua is taking the time to analyze every song in the R.E.M. catalog. What a concept! It'll be interesting to get his take on some of the more obscure songs.

WaiterRant
This is an old one, but I just found it. As the title implies, it's a waiter ranting. But its not just him bitching all the time. He's got a nice writing style to his posts. He was in the priesthood at one point in his life which adds a touch of humanity and understanding to his posts. It serves as a guidebook for us, the consumers/customers, and how we should (or shouldn't) behave in a restaurant. Its one of those blogs that you can just waste a couple hours reading post after post. As we're approaching Good Friday, here is a nice post for all us guilt-ridden Catholics out there.

The Drop Dead Dream, The Chosen One

I've been listening to this song a lot recently. I've had Sam's Town for awhile and I can tell you that I've enjoyed it. For whatever reason though (well, I saw the video) the song stuck with me.

A couple of new links I've added. Confessions of a Fanboy is a music blog I found earlier today. He recently wrote about the producer for R.E.M.'s new album and pretty much echos my feelings on what they've done in the post-Bill Berry era. It looks like he's got some good commentary over there. Second, I've added German Joys to the list because for some reason I have an inkling to all things German. Speaking of which, here is a list of 20 things to keep in mind while visiting Germany. These are pretty much dead-on.

Well for those swimming folks out there, the 12th Fina World Championships are happening right now. Since the US is so smitten with swimming, chances are you probably haven't missed the races since they're constantly being broadcast. (note: extreme sarcasm). Anyway the legend that is Michael Phelps continues to make his case as the Greatest of All Time. I've got two races below, the first his is 200 Free in which he beats the "unbeatable" record of one Ian "the Thorpedo" Thopre. Notice his fly kick off his walls -- he gains so much distance by just doing that. The second one is his 200 Butterfly in which he breaks his own world record by over a second and a half. Be sure to watch the "world record red line" on that one. Side note: I kinda like the non-English announcers





The last race I'm including is the Men's 400 Free final. Watch first and then I'll comment:


Park had an amazing last 50. I've never seen someone make up so much distance at that part in a race. It was crazy ridiculous.

Alright, time for Lost. Are they ever goign to get off this island/figure it all out? Seriously.

Let's Begin Again

First off I must say a very nice birthday to the OFOMOL. Her birthday was yesterday and make a holiday I could care less about (St. Patrick's Day) something worth celebrating. Even though we're an ocean apart she's ever-present with me.

For whatever reason I wasn't very tired last night. It was around 1:15 and I was ready to kick it when I decided to click through the channels one more time. I flipped to VH1, saw Eddie Vedder and immediately knew what it was. Call it fate because I turned to the channel right as he was beginning his induction ceremony for R.E.M. into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum. Needless to say I was psyched.

Mr. Vedder had some nice words to say about one of the most respected and influential bands of all time. Yes I am biased, but I believe this to be true. The band helped to user-in the age of college radio in the 1980s. They toured incessantly during their first five years (and albums) to establish a fan base that would help make them one of the biggest bands of the 1990s. They have always done things their way and, while earing millions of dollars, have had creative freedom to make the music they want.

Yes these guys are nearing (or in Peter's sake, have reached) 50 years old but they are still rocking. That is one thing that I've always enjoyed about them. The last time I saw them (2003) I was amazed at their enthusiasm and the energy they had I would expect from bands half their age. Most people know them from their Out of Time and Automatic for the People days. These albums are more subdued then earlier albums and causual fans peg them as the "Everybody Hurts" band. Both albums have some great songs, but are not indicative of their catalogue as a whole. They can play the quiet ballads but also can put energy into their up-tempo rockers. Its a nice dichotomy that few bands can do. One a side-note, it was really nice to see Bill up their with the band and he looked like he was really enjoying himself.

They were lucky enough to be inducted the same year at Patti Smith. Smith's Horses was one of the albums that had a major impact on young Peter Buck and Michael Stipe. Stipe and Smith have a tight friendship and she even sung on E-Bow The Letter (one of their most underrated songs) off of 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi. R.E.M. with Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye put on a great rendition of The Stooges Now I Wanna Be Your Dog. This was probably an endorsement of The Stooges to be inducted into the Hall. Be sure to check-out Peter at the end:



I'm happy for the band. Even though their last couple of albums (Up, Reveal, Around the Sun) have not done so well commercially or critically, the band is working on a new album. I believe that the band has one more blockbuster in them. Am I asking for an album that sells 10 million? No. I'd just like to see the band have mainstrem success one more time so that their music can be exposed to a new group of fans. After everything they've done for the music world, they deserve it. I'm also hoping for a "return to rock" album that strays away from the acoustic mindset from their last couple of albums.

In closing, I'll do my best to rank their albums. Everyone always asks me what my favorite is. I've always dodged this question because I've never wanted to pigeonhole myself, but I think it is about time to rank them.

First Tier
Murmur (1983)
Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)
Automatic for the People (1992)
New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
These are all must-have albums. Murmur is the legend that started it all. LRP may be my favorite album as it has a nice ratio of rockers to ballads and initiated in the band's political messages via song. AFTP captures the band at their commercial and critical peak and is one of the few "perfect" albums of all-time. NAIHF is probably their most underrated album.

Second Tier
Reckoning (1984)
Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
Document (1987)
Monster (1994)
These albums lost a bit from the first tier. Each one has its moments, but each also has a song or two that just is a step below the rest of the album. Fables is an album that many folks would rank lower but beneath the surface the album offers a lot. Monster also gets a bad rep but an album I think has really endured in the 13 years since it has been released.

Tier 3
Green (1988)
Out Of Time (1991)
Around the Sun (2004)
These albums have songs that are great and memorable but contain a lot more of filler and throw-away songs. Initially I hated ATS but it has grown on me and I do like a fair amount of the songs on the album. The problem is the songs I don't like, I really don't like.

Tier 4
Up (1998)
Reveal (2001)
These two albums I listen to the least. They are difficult albums to listen to. They are also the first two albums in the post-Bill Berry era. The band has talked about how hard Up was and that they really rushed into recording it. They are not bad albums per se, but compared to the level of the previous 12 albums here...these are the low marks. That being said, below-average for R.E.M. is still better then a majority of the stuff out there.

I congratulate those who reached the end of this post. Most of my faitful readers are familiar with my fixation with R.E.M. and by enduring this post I promise that any future R.E.M.-related material will be considerably shorter.

Don't Call it a Comeback

*Tap Tap* Is this thing on?
Its been awhile but I'm still here. I thought it might be a good idea to do some catching up. I'll try to keep it short, but my most die-hard readers know this won't be the case. First things first, I'm starting something new. As the title for all my posts come from a song lyric, I thought I'd put up a video for that song. This may not always work as sometimes I use obscure songs, but I'll do my best. Today you are treated to LL Cool J. That's Ladies Love Cool James for my readers not in the know (ie Mom and Dad).

I survived my first training trip as a coach. This went as smoothly as I could have hoped. The weather, the pools, the hotel...all got thumbs-up from the athletes. Oh yeah, the kids also trained their butts off. I was more then pleased with everything. We all had a great time and I know we're looking forward to next year.

Sadly I had to return from Florida but then I spent 10 days in Germany with the OFOMOL for Christmas and New Years. We had a wonderful time together. The weather was a little colder then I expected so I had to pick up a new winter coat while I was there. Yeah, I'm the dumbass who didn't pack one. As my old winter coat was 5 years old, I was in the market for one. I was able to pick up a nice European jacket -- one with the removable fleece liner. Its also in orange and black, very apropos for my job. Of course the saleswoman immediately tried to get me to buy the one for 300 Euros. Nope, sorry. Anyway, we're in a nice department store in downtown Dresden and go to check out. Since I'm travelling I'm carrying limited cash and use my debit card for other expenses. Well, this store does not take credit cards. How does this happen? I mean, McDonald's takes plastic thesedays. But over in Europe, its a little different. How are you supposed to cater to travelers like myself? Fortunately the OFOMOL covered it and I owe her. Hopefully the dollar doesn't lose any more value to the euro.

We took a side trip to Prague between Christmas and New Year's. What a beautiful city! We had a nice hotel right off the metro. The great thing about Prague is that it wasn't destroyed during WWII so the buildings are still preserved in their original state. It's also pretty cheap. We had a couple of really nice meals. For example, for $30 (thats in US Dollars, not Czech Koruna) I had a shrimp cocktail, main course, cup of tea, and a sprite while she had two glasses of wine, and a main course. Quite a deal. I also enjoyed that they spoke english there, so I was able to order things and talk with the merchants. Speaking of merchants, there are all sorts of shops for tourists to spend money. A lot of these places are pretty small. But you know what you can do? You can use a debit/credit card to pay for stuff. Now there is a concept that other places could adopt! I got to try some Grog -- rum, hot water, and sugar. The Czechs like to put a lot of rum in there. As it is a hot drink, you want to keep it warm, but the level of alcohol can limit this. I took it like a man and drank it up. I doubt I'll be having one of those again.

The visit to Europe was great. This was my first Christmas away from my family and even though her family doesn't speak English, I had a great time with the OFOMOL and her family. They made it feel like home.

Monday was a both a good and bad day. tOSU played what is, IMHO, their worst game in the Jim Tressel era. It was the first time that he was out-coached. The team look flat, they fell behind and didn't know how to respond. Whatever game plan (offensively and defensively) they had didn't work and the team wasn't able to adjust to what Florida had schemed. Anyone who followed them realizes this game isn't indicative of their season. 12-1 with a 2nd trip the BCS Championship game in 5 years is quite an accomplishment. Tressel will be back and will be hosting a crystal ball yet again.

As for the good news, well guess which band will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum? Yes, R.E.M.!!!!! Like it was ever a question. One of the cool things is that Patti Smith (who heavily influenced all members of the band) is being inducted too. The other inductees are Van Halen, Grandmaster Flash, and the Ronettes. I'm looking forward to the traditional all-star jam. That should be fun. Its also curious as to who will induct the band. I mean their influence is profound and there is a laundry list of artists who could induct them. As good of music as they put out, their influence is equally parallel. They were leaders of the 80s college-rock/indie circuit. They put out an album a year from 83-88 and supported this with constant touring. This lead to their superstar status of the early-mid 90s. Bands these days look at them both musically and what they stand for. Yes I am a biased opinion, but this is truly worthy of everything they've done over the past 27 years.

Alright, hopefully I can get back on the horse and be a little more regular in this new year.