Bass Players

Recently I was having a conversation with an intellectual about bands and who makes the bands "cool". We decided that in order to make a band "cooler", the band member must not increase the overall average "suck" of the band. Lead singers have the most influence on the band. They are usually the face of the band, and they are obviously the voice, so they are what we normally associate the band to be like. Next comes the lead guitarist. Their killer riffs and shredding abilities can attract or repel our ear juices to their sound. A close third would be the drummer. If you haven't dreamed of banging the hell out of some drums in front of a sell-out crowd, you are kidding yourself, cuz everyone has had that dream. They are the designated "badass" of the band. Now where a band usually meets it's weak spot is the bass player. Usually these guys or gals are softspoken 'whoevers' who sit in the shadows on the side of the stage while everyone else is rocking out. The bassists usually increase the "suck" of the band more than anyone else. But you know what I was thinking? I went to the Weezer concert, and their bass player, Scott Shriner, freaking kicks ass. He is about the coolest bass player there is. He sang a bunch of the songs when River's voice was going out, and when he sang "King" he freaking rocked the place. So Weezer is so freaking awesome in part because their bass player does not increase the "suck" level of Weezer, he freaking decreases it. In fact, the only other bass player I can name is Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He also decreases the "suck" of the Chili Peppers. Okay, I can also name Mike Dirnt from Green Day and Mark Hoppus from Blink-182. Both good bassists as well. But if you are going to be a bassist that I have heard of, you aren't gonna be someone that increases "suck". And Scoot Shriner is not an increaser of "suck".

Weezer

Although it has been over a month since I saw the most rockinest show ever, I have finally decided to blog about it. Man this concert was radgidelic! Some crappy local band opened and played for about a half an hour. Then Angels and Airwaves did their thing for another hour or so. Even though I don't really know any of their songs, they still rocked the house and put on a good show. Their light show went haywire for a while, but they kept things a goin' and did a good job at it too. So kudoos to Angels and Airwaves. Then the anticipation began. Holy crap, I can't put it into words. Through the previous two acts I hadn't moved too much. Than it happened. The tale tale opening to "My Name is Jonas". Holy crap the whole place erupted. I started yelling and screaming and jumping around. Man they were freaking awesome! I sang along to just about every song, which left my voice horse by the time it was all over. They sang all the classics: 'The Sweater Song' with special guest Tom Delonge from Angels and Airwaves, 'El Scortcho', 'Greatest Man That Ever Lived', 'Say It Ain't So', 'Dope Nose', 'Hashpipe' and many others. The sweetest part of the whole night was when the crowd lifted a man in a wheelchair into the air and held him there. Rivers and Pat were like, 'sweet', and I was like, 'sweet'. Rivers voice was going in and out so other members of the band sang some of the songs, which I actually didn't mind at all. In fact, I kinda liked it. Rivers was interactive with the audience, as was Pat when he sang his song 'Automatic'. So if any of you two people who read this blog ever get the chance, I would highly recommend going to a Weezer concert if you get the chance.

Ragin'

I just got done listening to Rage Against the Machine after a long days work. You know, Rage just soothes the soul, especially after a shitty day of work. Any song that ends with shouting "F@#* you I won't do what ya tell me!" over and over again will instantly relieve any anger or built up pressure you may have been suppressing throughout your day. Sometimes people are douchebags. But you can't tell them. You can't let them know how selfish, retarded, stupid, or even how ugly they are. This is why I do something I call 'Ragin' at the end of some days. Ragin' consists of driving in your car or relaxing in your room blasting RATM and singing along. Rage is always singing about some kind of injustice in the world, why not sing along and add all the injustices that have happened to you and let the power of music ease your burdens? We can't all write our own songs with the word genius of Zach de la Roca or shred on the guitar like Tom Morello can, but when I am rockin' out and Ragin', I feel like they wrote certain songs just to describe how my life sucks sometimes. By the way, Zach's new stuff with "One Day as a Lion" is not that great. I mean, the lyrics are still pretty cool, but he just isn't the same without Tom. That guy does some crazy stuff on his axe. Anywho, if anyone still reads this blog, try it sometime and see if it doesn't help you vent all of the things that you have been holding in for who knows how long.

Scorcher

I went and saw Tropic Thunder yesterday morning. Then I went and saw it again last night. It was pretty freaking hilarious. Jack Black plays "the comedian" playing a serious role for the first time in his career. Saddened that people only think he's funny because of his farts, he turns to drugs to satisfy his insecurities. And while the actors are dropped in the middle of nowhere to film a war movie, his drugs run out and he has trouble dealing with his withdrawals, to say the least. Ben Stiller is an over the hill action star looking to get his career back on track after a horrendous performance in the drama, "Simple Jack". His commitment to the movie remains well after it is clear to the other actors that things have taken a serious turn for the worse and they are dealing with real drug dealers instead of hired Viet Cong locals. Robert Downey Jr. is one of my favorites in this film. The perennial allstar, Academy Award winning, philosophical acting genius who is well known for literally becoming the characters he plays, Downey's character, Lazarus, gets surgery to turn his skin from black to white to play the role of an African American sargeant. It is hilarious listening to him try to talk like a black man from the south throughout the movie. Even after he is convinced the movie has turned into reality, he never breaks character. Tom Cruise plays the financial backer of the film, Les Grossman. I think Cruise had a fun time playing the vulgar, eccentric, self-assured billionaire. You could see it in his eyes. He got to say things that most of us would love to say to the jerks we see every day but don't have the balls to say it. Things become hilarious when you see Cruise as a balding, overweight, extremely hairy middle-aged CEO berating the director of the film for his inadequacies as a film maker. All in all I thought this was a good movie with some hilarious parts in it. It kept me laughing even though some of the things said were deeply disturbing, the fact that I knew they were not serious made it okay in my head.

P.S. While working the other day, the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen came in with her mother and grandmother. Holy crap she was smokin'! Tall, slender, asian descent, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. So here I am, reaching out to you beautiful asian girl. If you read this and you were in Costco on 300 west in Salt Lake on August 12, 2008, I would love to take you out to lunch. Don't slap fate in the face and ignore this post script. I am the tall, ruggedly handsome, stand-up comedian/pilot/doctor that helped bag your food after it was purchased. I extend my hand out to you, will you take it. . .?

Crushin'

Here's what I'm spittin': After about four years on top as the undisputed best tennis player in the universe, Roger Federer is about to have his throne usurped by the one and only Rafael Nadal. The weird thing is, I'm okay with that. Rafa has shown that he is as classy as they come, and he has also proven hands down this year, that he is more than equal to the task of taking Roger's place as numero uno. For now. I say for now, because I have in no way counted the Swiss champion out. Pete Sampras, the well known second best tennis player in history, fell off the map once he won his twelfth grand slam title, and he went on to win two more. He did this as an old man. I have complete faith that while Roger has had an off year, he will undoubtedly work harder and have even more desire to reclaim his rightful place on the top of the tennis world. It will not be a walk in the park though. Rafa has worked hard to get where he is, and he will not take things lightly now that he has reached the top of the metaphoric mountain. He has the high ground now, and Roger is going to have to be amazing in order to return to the summit. I do have to say this, regardless of how the year ends, what Nadal has done this year rivals anything that Roger has done. He has made a name for himself, and all the greats of tennis past and present must show him the respect that he has earned, even in their great presence.

Pure Evil

I finally went and saw the new Batman a few days ago. I had pretty hight expectations. Everyone I knew was singing its praises. The commercials and trailers made it look like the action packed thriller I have been waiting for since the Bourne Ultimatum. I knew that Christian Bale would deliver, as he did in Batman Begins. Though the intensity of his "Batman voice" can sometimes be over-dramatic, his overall performance was superb. Definitely the best Batman to date. My main concern when first hearing about the movie was the choice of the actor to play the Joker. Heath Ledger did not seem like the ideal candidate. Then came the first movie trailers. My worries left, never to return. After seeing the film, here is what I have to say about the Joker and Heath Ledger's performance. He was pure evil. He was creepy, he was disturbing. His blatant disregard for human life made him seem like an inhuman evil from an unseen world. His laugh sent chills up my spine and every time he talked, I felt like I was listening to Satan himself. My diagnosis of the Joker: I loved him. I couldn't get enough of his demented outlook on life. For some reason I wanted to see what boundaries he would break next. Ledger literally created an alter ego. It was not the young Aussie actor in that show, it was a being that can never exist in real life, because Ledger played him so perfectly. He was the star of the movie, no matter what others may say. And not just because he passed away before the movie opened. Regardless, my respect for the acting of Heath Ledger has been changed forever.

So I had to kill the guy, and the cops are still lookin' for him. . .

I just saw Kung Fu Panda tonight, and here is my diagnosis: it su---rprised me. I thought the movie was freaking hilarious. Jack Black shows that he can make people laugh to tears even when you can't see insane facial contortions or zaney body movements. He is just a funny guy. I am convinced that Black comes up with half of the things he says while he is chillin' in his casa eatin' a pie and most likely smokin' a doobie. Some of the stuff is definitely toned down to gain the family viewership, but overall I thought that most lines were written in a way that people of all ages would find them amusing. What's more, some of the fight scenes were actually very intense! I know that this is an animated movie starring animals that walk and talk, but they really got quite intense. And the showdown between the panda played by Jack Black and the evil, unstoppable ninja warrior snow leopard delivers as the epic battle one craves for to end the show. The voices of Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu are also in the show, but other than Hoffman, you don't even really notice the others. All in all, it was one of the funniest shows I've seen in the recent past, animated or not.

You may be wandering what is with the title of this blog. I saw a Seinfeld today and Kramer and Jerry are at the movies and see a guy they don't want to talk with. Jerry says, "Act like we're talking." Kramer: "We are talking." Jerry: "Act like it's interesting!" Kramer (overly loud so the intruder can hear): "So I had to kill the guy, and the cops are still lookin' for him. . ." That is what is with the title.