Author: Andy Labis

Rock Spectacle

Artist: Barenaked Ladies
Listenability Scale: 80%
Released by: Reprise Records
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

I can now finally say that I have been at a show that is on a live CD. See, it was my virgin time seeing, or even hearing Barenaked Ladies, and they say “we’re recording this for a live CD.” I’m thinking to myself, “Self, yea right, I’ve heard that so many times and no one ever seems to come out with that ‘live’ CD.” Well, they weren’t lying. I’m checking the Barenaked Ladies newsgroup and see someone post a notice about a new CD, and that it will be a live CD. I’m saying “Cool, I wonder if any of it will be from the show I was at?” Sure enough, some of the songs bring back those memories of my first time – at a BNL show that is.

Excited, I find the CD, head home, and this time I find myself a little bit more familiar with the style of the band, but my disappointment comes as I realize that five (I stand corrected (thanks Cindy!): four are from BoaPS, four are from Gordon, three from Maybe You Should Drive) of the eleven tracks are from their previous CD, “Born on a Pirate Ship,” and although they add a little bit more to the songs, personally I was looking forward to more of their older material. I was also looking forward to little more of that spontaneity that a Barenaked Ladies show seems to portray, the things like the set of Chicago (the group) songs like when they played in Chi-town, or the Prince cover, or, well, I think you get the point.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like the CD, probably a little more than “Born on a Pirate Ship,” mostly for the fact that it does exude some of that energy from a live show and has some of my favorite songs from BoaPS, but being the new fan, and the cheap fan, that I am, (my BNL CD collection now ranks at two – BoaPS and Rock Spectacle) I was hoping for more than five (alright, four) songs I already knew.

The CD does throw in some of the local flavor of a show in the story of the lady and the Briar Street Theatre from the Chicago show and Uncle Elwin from the Montreal show. I will say that, for a brand new fan, the CD does a great job at spanning the musical variety of Barenaked Ladies. From the bouncy feel of “Hello City” to the great voice of Steven Page during “Break Your Heart” and one of my new favorites “What a Good Boy,” someone new can get a real feel for the band. I guess my problem is I became a fan at the time of the recording and not before or after. But, I do finally get a CD with “If I Had $1,000,000” and the next time I’m at a show I’ll be able to sing with everyone else, although I don’t think I’ll bring any macaroni and cheese.

I guess sometimes there are royalty problems in putting covers on a live CD, and maybe that’s the reason for leaving those off, but I think it does hurt “Rock Spectacle’s” chance at showing someone who has never been to a Barenaked Ladies show the real feel of a concert – which is what I think a live CD should really do. The recording is crisp, the voices are mixed well, and all in all the CD ends up in my higher rotation line-up, but, well, I guess just but.

Oh yea, “Rock Spectacle” is also interactive. Yep, pop the baby in your double-speed CD-ROM player and you get their version of BNL TV and KBNL – “Weird Music for Weird People.” I will say this, it does give the viewer a little inside into the twisted nature of the band, and I’ve been following the “Abs of Lard” segment for way too long. It’s cute, and fans will probably get a kick out of seeing it, but, and this is strictly a personal feeling, I think they should have done one of two things with the interactive part: 1) Scrap it all together and put more music from the shows on the CD. 2) Scrap the BNLTV and KBNL – save it for the next one, but add more live video from the shows. And that is my opinion on that.

All in all, on the listenability scale, the only song I can live without is “These Apples” so in those terms the CD rates a 91%. But, being a live CD, I think it misses a notch in doing it’s job, so we’ll knock some percentage points off and give it an 80% on the Entertainment Ave! listenability scale.

That’s it for this one, I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!

No Substance

Artist: Bad Religion
Listenability Scale: 65%
Released by: Atlantic Records
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

Punk has always had a way of sending a message in two minutes, and Bad Religion has always been pretty good at it. I don’t know if hard core fans will like “No Substance,” but for me punk has always been about driving guitars and catchy tunes, and “No Substance” gives that. Sure, you’ve got your fill of angst and political messages, hell, with songs like “Shades of Truth,” “The Biggest Killer in American History,” “Raise Your Voice,” and “Victims of the Revolution,” what could you expect, but as much as about a message, what would punk be without the guitar riffs, and Bad Religion does that on “No Substance.”

I’m not a big fan of punk, and actually prefer it when it’s non-political, but this one wasn’t as bad as I feared. I’ll give it a 65% on the Entertainment Ave! listenability scale.

That’s it for this quick review! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Would you buy a reusable, plastic Starbucks cup?

I try to be environmentally friendly sometimes. I mean I don’t go crazy, and don’t really think recycling helps us all that much thanks to when Penn & Teller had a show called “Bullshit” and did an analysis of recycling, but I still have my green bin on garbage day and will keep my underwear until they fall apart. Okay, the latter part might be just because I’m a guy, but I’m also a guy that likes a Starbucks’ coffee, and I’m also a guy that thinks as much as Starbucks touts the “environmentally” friendly line, I also know they are a business, and a business has got to always find new sources of revenue. On their latest front is this promotion where you can give them a dollar and they will give you a plastic cup for your coffee instead of the paper one they normally give you. The magic thing about this cup is that you can reuse it, they will give you ten cents off of a cup of coffee if you come in with it, and they will even clean it for you. Here’s the thing, I want to know who actually ends up using this cup over the necessary ten times in which to make your investment worthwhile, especially when sure, it looks like a sturdy enough plastic cup, but will it survive ten, normal days of travel, as opposed to a sturdy, travel coffee mug that you can probably use for years unless you accidentally put it on top of your car and drive off with it rolling down the street behind you. And fine, you can say that if you use it just five times that you are helping reduce landfill waste somewhere, but really, is it worth the trouble especially as you are carrying this plastic cup with you all day, trying not to break it?

Fine, I’ll get off of my rant as you can probably guess I won’t be adding to Starbucks’ bottom line with the purchase of their plastic cup, but I plight: Would you buy a reusable, plastic Starbucks cup?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

 

Should “The X Factor” Bring Back Britney Spears?

I’m a fan of “The X Factor.” I’m not sure why, but probably because I end up being a fan of most music shows, and fine, I’m a fan of Simon Cowell.  Oddly “The X Factor” hasn’t been able to catch hold here in the States, being topped by “The Voice” it seems this fall, and lots of people will blame the mentors, with Britney Spears seeming to get some of the blame this time, but I’m blaming a lot of it on the editing of the show itself, and way, way, way too much on the “Let’s visit with our contestant’s lives” montages.

The stories the past few days mostly, though, have to do with rumors that Britney is out, mostly because Simon didn’t find her wacky enough to bring in the ratings, that and the fact that behind the scenes she was really quite a pill to work with. I don’t know if I’m buying any of that, but I do have to say that it was the “mostly reserved” Britney that we were treated to, although she does have some of the best facial expressions out there for TV. As a mentor she wasn’t bad, heck, her contestant nearly won, but she lacked some of the confrontational fire I think people were hoping for.

Me, I’ve always been a fan of Paula Abdul, and I know, that reality show ship has sailed for her, but in terms of TV wacky, she was some of the best. I can’t say I’ll miss Britney if she does get the boot, but I will miss her scrunching face as she didn’t think an act was up to par.

And so I plight: Should “The X Factor” bring back Britney Spears?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Have You Ever Been to “Second Life?”

The other day I noticed an advertisement on my website for the site “Second Life.” Sure, the question might be “Why did I even notice a banner ad on a website?”, but I did. The thing is that it brought back memories of when I had a presence on Second Life. Okay, first, what is Second Life? I guess the easiest way to explain it is that it is a virtual world where you create a character that “lives” in this world. You can meet people, sell things, buy property, and just kind of “live” in your own little world. The thing is that it’s graphical, meaning your character looks like a person and your house can look like a house and you can gather in the local bar and “talk” to people. Back a few years I was DudeOnTheRight Mannonen, or something like that in the “world.” I owned a pretty big parcel of land that I was looking to transform into a virtual “Entertainment Ave!,” complete with a Movie Theater where you could sit and watch episodes of “Stu and The Dude Reviewing the Movies for You!.” It was kind of cool, but a lot of work to add as a sister location for Entertainment Ave!, and for the most part I didn’t have the time to maintain it.

Eventually I sold my land and closed my account, but the banner ad did make me remember nights of sitting in front of my computer, safe from the scariness of the real world, building a “life” that was different. Neat, but time consuming, and always making me wonder why I just didn’t go out to a bar and meet some real people.

The ad did trigger some memories, and so I plight: Have you ever been to “Second Life?”

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Did You Break Any of Your New Year’s Resolutions Yet?

I’m not big on New Year’s Resolution anymore, now I have goals. Okay, that’s pretty much the same thing, but it sounds better when you don’t reach a goal rather than break a resolution, I think, because once you break that resolution you can throw it away and just give up, whereas if you have a goal you just get back to continue reaching that goal, unless, of course, you made a goal like “I won’t smoke another cigarette in 2013,” then you smoke a cigarette, in which case that goal is shot.

My 2013 goals are similar to my 2012 goals, things like losing weight, saving money, exercising, and reading more, and since it’s only the first couple of days of 2013 I’m still pretty good with my 2013 goals. Sure, if I had lost all of the weight I wanted to lose, saved all of the money I wanted to, and set up that exercise plan I wouldn’t have the same goals this year, but alas, it’s a new year and the same goals, so I guess my main goal should be to actually finish my goals of 2013.  With that, and since maybe you made resolutions instead of goals, my daily plight is: Did you break any of your New Year’s resolutions yet?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Did You Get Drunk on New Year’s Eve?

It’s going to be an early night for me this New Year’s Eve, and not because I’m drunk. Yes there was a glass or two of champagne, but mostly it will be because of getting up at 4 AM this morning, and my wife having to work. I probably could have taken a nap, but missing the ball drop isn’t the worst thing about falling asleep early, it’s missing the Chicago party coverage with Janet Davies and Marc Giangreco on ABC 7 Chicago. It’s so much fun poking fun at the people in the crowds and, even knowing how hard they are working, how dorky the coverage is. Oh well, we DVR’d it so there will be some TV viewing in the morning, and although not hung over, I’m sure I’ll feel like I slept like crap mostly because of our dog, Milo. I’m guessing the first morning of 2013 will start like the last morning of 2012, with Milo waking us up wanting his breakfast.

And with that this first plight of the New Year is simply: Did you get drunk on New Year’s Eve?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Brave

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:35 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

Brave
Movie Stats & Links
Starring: The voices of: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Craig Berguson
MPAA Rated: PG
Released By: Disney / Pixar
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Kiddie Movie: Most definitely, especially the girls.
Date Movie: Good for snuggling with your honey, or for some quality family time.
Gratuitous Sex: It’s Disney/Pixar – come on.
Gratuitous Violence: Cartoon-style.
Action: Some chasing and a little scariness.
Laughs: The triplets are very mischievous.
Memorable Scene: I liked when we found out what happened to the triplets when they at the magic cake.
Memorable Quote: Nothing stands out.
Directed By: Mark Andres, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell
Cool things about the Blu-ray: The Ultimate Collector’s Edition has tons of extras, some techinical, some related to story-telling, and some related to the look of the movie. There is also the 3-D version of the Blu-ray, an extra disc of Blu-ray extras, a DVD version, and a Digital Copy for you to take on the go.

I know Pixar movies are generally good for the entire family, and sure, many a times they are more boy friendly than girl, but girls, you have now received your Pixar treatment, and it is great. Here’s the thing, though. Whereas many of the “boy friendly” movies end up with “objects” relating the stories of life, for example, “Cars,” “Toy Story,” and “Monsters Inc.,” for the girls we get “Brave,” a wonderful tale that the boys might enjoy but a mother and daughter should love together, and instead of something girly, say a flower patch or cute horses in the lead roles of the characters, for this one we go back to human characters, (Okay, there is a divergence into the lore of a bear, and a Momma Bear as it would be, but let’s move on,) yet maintaining that Pixar cartoony goodness.

Let’s get to the story.

We are in the Highland of Scotland, back at a time when bows and arrows, swords, and clubs were the weapons of choice and castles were the line of defense. Enter Merida, the daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor, and her three little, mischievous brothers. Merida is a free spirit, wanting to determine her own fate, but her Mom has her own beliefs on how Merida should live her life. So, while Merida is teaching herself to shoot arrows and ride horses, Elinor is trying her best to instill being the Princess Merida is supposed to be, and eventually take a husband from the other clans as is the custom and tradition. As the suitors line up and Merida begins to enter full rebellion mode, Mom is none too pleased, Merida and Elinor have a big fight, Merida thinks she has found a path to get her way thanks to a witch, and, of course, Merida learns a huge lesson that she should never trust a witch, especially when Merida herself is in the throws of anger.

As it goes, thanks to Merida’s desire to find her own destiny, we get to learn the full story of Mor’du the Bear who is responsible for Fergus having a peg leg, both Merida and Elinor get to learn about the bonds of mother and daughter, and as this is a Pixar/Disney movie, everyone lives happily ever after.

As a story goes, “Brave” is a nice little tale about the challenges a mother and daughter face, and how sometimes it takes both sides to bend a bit to see the love of the other. It’s also a Pixar film, and that means fun, which it has tons of. The animation is awesome, especially the detail that they are now able to do in terms of scenery, shading, color, and just making the movie look fantasticker than when we were blown away by “Toy Story,” so combine the great story and the great animation and we easily remember why, whenever there is a Pixar movie coming out, we are excited. Like I said before, however, this is a story really geared for the girls. I’m not saying the boys won’t like it as it does have lots of action and a fun brawl between the clans, but whereas the boys and dads could relate to the togetherness of “Cars,” there’s much more of a motherly love bond between Elinor and Merida and the mischievous boys are just that – mischievous. It’s a solid 4 stars out of 5 for “Brave.”

Now, as far as the Blu-ray offering the Ultimate Collector’s Edition gives you tons of extras to keep you learning new things for hours. Me, being the tech dork that I am, I wanted more of extras like “Wonder Moss” and “Brawl in the Hall,” two of the more technical extras, but if you want to know how the Pixar team researched all things Scotland, there are lots of featurettes like “Brave Old World” and “Merida & Elinor.” You also get looks into the various animals involved in the movie, explanations of some of the more mystical aspects to the film, a look at scenes that were shortened, changed, or eliminated, and your commentary-type stuff. And as this is a Pixar movie, there is a cute little short called “La Luna” about how the moon changes shape, and a longer look at “The Legend of Mor’du,” the bear that eventually brings the movie full-circle.

Tons of extras, a 3-D Blu-ray if you’ve got the TV for it, a Digital Copy so the kids can take it on-the-go, and the “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” shows how a nicely packaged Blu-ray can be well worth the extras instead of just throwing useless things in the set just for the sake of being there.

All in all a lot of fun with a lot of the extras you would expect and the “Brave” set is another feather in the cap of the Pixar legacy.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Will You Go Shopping on Thanksgiving Day?

Just in case you haven’t looked at a calendar lately, I thought I would remind you that Thanksgiving is in two weeks. It will be a day for family, for giving thanks, for football, and now a day for shopping it seems. The crazy day always used to be Black Friday, with wonderful stories of people being thankful they were able to trample over their fellow man to save $5 on a TV, but now we get to get our shopping on one day early, or at least it gives the women something to do while their men have fallen asleep in front of the TV with some post-Thanksgiving Day drool dripping down their chin.

The last two years we’ve been able to get all of our day-after-Thanksgiving Day shopping done online, with one year scoring a great deal on a drill and Christmas tree, and the other year it was a TV, but this year there is crazy talk of actually going to a store that is having a Black Friday deal so I might be forced to do some trampling. but we’ll see. The thing I do know is that I won’t be going shopping on Thanksgiving Day, ever (Okay, ever is a mighty long time, so I should probably state “I don’t think I’ll ever be going shopping on Thanksgiving Day”), but I plight: Will you be going shopping on Thanksgiving Day?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Do You Think Hillary Clinton Will Run for President in 2016?

As this year’s Presidential Election is now over, it’s not too early to start thinking about 2016, is it? Sure, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is poised for greatness in a few years if he wants it, what with the way he seems to be handling things after Superstorm Sandy, and wouldn’t he look sweet in the jacket that says “Chris Christie – President” on it? But the big question on most pundits minds, or at least somebody’s mind, is what will Hillary Clinton be doing in four years. She’s supposed to leave the office of Secretary of State, which means she’s going to be forced to spend a lot of time with Bill. Sure, they look happy when they are together, but do you notice that it isn’t very often? And also sure, didn’t Bill look like he was having fun running around the country stomping for Barack Obama? Imagine the good times he can have out there campaigning for Hillary?

I’m guessing that in the next couple of weeks the stories will all be about “Can Barack Obama do this?” and “Can Barack Obama do that?”, but I’m thinking that sometime before 2013 the first solid names will be launched in terms of candidate for President – 2016. With that, do you think Hillary Clinton will run for President in 2016?

That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!