The Christmas Review

Well, my laptop went tits up a couple weeks ago. Thankfully, it was still under warranty. Two motherboards, one CPU, and one Video Card later, we are up and running today. So, I would just like to take a minute to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas.

I got some sweet swag for the holiday. My loot tally included a DVD of Rambo, a copy of A Farewell to Arms, a copy of The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemmingway, a Copy of Soul by Seal, a copy of Neon Bible by Arcade Fire, and some clothes and cash.

The Protomen

I'm a storytelling enthusiast. One of the most interesting ways to tell a story is the Concept Album. I guess that's why I'm one of the few people who think MACHINA was one of the Smashing Pumpkins' better albums.

In 2007, the metal band The Protomen released their eponymous debut album. It is a concept album that takes the form of a rock opera based on the Mega Man video game. The band is completely engrossed in their tale, touring the nation in their "protobus" and stopping in various cities to do shows, or "battles". The band wears masks to show the character they are singing as. Mega Man is known in Japan as "Rockman", and this band shows you why.

The album paints a picture of a dystopian future where the people are oppressed by Dr. Wiley's army of robot masters. The first track, "Hope Rides Alone" is a Prog Rock track that establishes the background to the current story. Dr. Light labored to build a machine that could over throw Dr. Wiley's regime. In the year 200X, he hits a breakthrough, and builds Proto Man. A powerful robot designed to cut through the robot army. An epic battle against Dr. Wiley's army ensues. Proto Man fights valiantly, but in the end, as the denizens of the city look on, Proto Man is overwhelmed. As Proto Man dies, humanity fails to attempt to save him, looking on as Dr. Wiley orders the coup de gras.

The next track is "Funeral for a Son". A slow instrumental track that represents Dr. Light burying Proto Man, whom he had invested 12 years in his creation.

"Unrest in the House of Light" has a kind of Johnny Cash feel to it. Dr. Light had gone on to build a new robot in the mold of Proto Man. His name was Mega Man. Now Dr. Light is faced with the difficult task of explaining to his new "son" what happened to his brother, and why he refuses to let Mega Man attempt to finish the fight of Proto Man. Dr. Light is bitter about the Kitty Genovese-esque actions of the people of the city.

"The Will of One" is a rock song that noticeably incorporates the old school Mega Man 8-bit theme. Mega Man explains to Dr. Light that he's going to go fight Wiley, against Light's wishes. Mega Man refuses to leave the humans who are unwilling to help themselves to their doom. He also wishes to avenge the death of his brother. As he contemplates the situation, he notices that someone has defaced Proto Man's gravestone with the phrase, "Hope Rides Alone".

"Vengeance" is another fast paced rock song, where Mega Man smashes through Dr. Wiley's forces with ease. As he cuts a swath towards Dr. Wiley, his last defender steps forward from the shadows to challenge Mega Man.

The pace slows down for "The Stand (Man or Machine)". Dr. Wiley's final defender steps foreword. Revealing himself to be Proto Man, thought dead. Proto Man explains why he chooses to stand against humanity. Like Dr. Light, Proto Man is bitter about the apathy of the people that he gave everything to fight for. No one is willing to fight for themselves, expecting a "hero" to step forward and save those who would not save themselves. Mega Man is forced to choose between fighting his brother, or forsaking mankind.

"The Sons of Fate" is probably the heaviest song on the album. Proto Man and Mega Man face off against each other. Proto Man castigates the people for their inaction, as they call for Mega Man to destroy his brother. As the music slows, Mega Man finishes off Proto Man, and defeats Wiley. As the crowds praise Mega Man as a hero, he looks down upon the remains of his brother, and distraught by his actions, turns his back on the people.

"Epilogue: Due Vendetta" is a fast, hard, and heavy track that doesn't really have any bearing on the story.

All in all, the album is an impressive showing for an indy band. The mastering could really use some tightening up, and the guitars and vocals have some harmony issues, but, for me at least, the audacious concept makes up for it. I'll give it an 8/10.

Really illustrating both the feel of the story The Protomen are telling, and the atmosphere of the band live, are the two music videos they've released.




The video for "Hope Rides Alone" really drives home the atmosphere they're trying to construct.




This is the video for "The Will of One", and it's a recording of a live concert. Complete with the Mega Man helmet.

Both Videos can be found in higher quality at the Protomen's website.

The Beer is a Lie! Part Deux!

Later during AT, with only the tune up for the Battalion FTX and the FTX itself to go, brigade decided to give us another break. They scheduled a concert for us in the remains of a quarry.

The remains of the quarry was a nice natural amphitheater. We were told beer would be for sale, and we bought it, again. The lie, that is, not the beer. Instead, all they had was energy drinks for sale. Real smart, it's 108 degrees at noon, and they want to trap us for several hours with no water and only pure caffeine to drink? Do they want us to die from heat stroke? Fucking idiots.

Anyways, the event kicked off with a comedy show. Each company got a shot at making people laugh. Alpha Company came out and bragged about how they smoke their joes, and provided a demonstration, involving a rucksack, rifle, and loincloth. Sadly, they weren't joking. We share a tent with Alpha company, we've seen them do this. It's like watching the monkeys at the zoo. That didn't engender laughter so much as nervous silence.

We were up next. We fell back on the old standard of mocking our superiors. We had the BC complaining about not meeting his salute quotient, the CSM bitching about the water not being ACU pattern, goose stepping OCs executing infantrymen with impunity, and the TOC, complete with spinning plates and circus music. Hilarity ensued.

Charlie Company tried a stand up act that actually got the hook. Delta company just fired their crew served weapons. No one was impressed. HHC has a 1st Sergeant Mishra. He's SF, Ranger, and Airborne. HHC then converted Chuck Norris Facts into 1st Sergeant Mishra facts. There was mild laughter.

Bravo Company won that competition. Then came a break dancing competition between the lieutenants. So that's what they learn in OBC. We had a flyby from an Apache. And then they kicked off the concert. After a rousing rendition of "America, Fuck Yeah!", a local Idaho Rock band, The Unread, kicked off. They were pretty good.

The Unread were followed by Miss Tammi, who I swear had to be here solely as a favor to her brother, Major Reese. She embarked on the worst lip syncing this side of Milli Vanilli. She went through the usual sex songs that are the standby of any female rapper. I wonder what Major Reese thinks of his sister now?

After Miss Tammi, the headliner kicked off. The Sammus Theory, a band from Arizona, named one of MTV's best upcoming bands. These guys were real good. I mean, REAL good. A mosh pit quickly forms. An Army mosh pit is the most violent mosh pit known to man. Rank goes out the window. I laid out Delta Company's CO, and had Bravo Company's 1SGT elbow me in the kidneys. I watched a 1LT and SSG go head to head like a pair of bighorn rams. It was awesome.

The band was great, despite some technical difficulties. Hard Rock. Loud, fast, and energetic. The mosh pit kicked up so much dust, we could barely breath, I can't imagine what it was like for the lead singer.

That night the band slept in our tent, and rode out on the convoy with us for the next mission. After the mission was over, we let them burn out some blanks on our weapons. It was kind of funny watching a band used to playing on top of blaring speakers plug their ears as someone fires a 240B. The guitarist compared it to sex, and lit up a cigarette.

They were great, autographed my CD, and regaled us of stories of some of the bands they've toured with. Apparently Everclear are a bunch of cunts.

Bitter:Sweet - Drama

Bitter:Sweet is a sweet Trip-Hop duo. The vocals are done by Shana Halligan, and the production and composition is done by Kiran Shahani. Shahani is best known for his work with the LA based Trip-Hop group Supreme Beings of Leisure, and that influence bleeds through noticeably. It's a good thing.

Bitter:Sweet's 2006 debut album, The Mating Game, was featured on Gray's Anatomy, Lipstick Jungle, and The Devil Wears Prada. Following up on that success, they released their sophomore effort in June 2008, entitled Drama.

Drama is a stylistic album that uses Trip-Hop styling, supplemented by jazz melodies. There's a heavy emphasis on swing jazz, light jazz, and lounge jazz. One track is actually a waltz. It lacks the melancholic overall feel of other Trip-Hop groups. It crops up on a couple tracks, but for the most part, it's very upbeat. Halligan has a very sultry voice, that is complemented by the styling of Shahani.

The mastering is tight, but with a distinctive lo-fi feel to the instruments. It evokes a smokey lounge, straight out of some noir film. The album doesn't really vary its pace up until the last song, which slows down dramatically. The track changes are unremarkable, just the standard end, blank air, start, setup. There's no cross fading.

The album is 13 tracks, and 42 minutes long. My favorite tracks were "Drama", "A Moment", and "Drink You Sober". It's a nice ambient feel, very close to Supreme Beings of Leisure, Bjork, or Portishead. I'd give it a 7/10, and if you liked any of the aforementioned artists, you'll love this album.

Lifeline

In 2007, Ben Harper released his 8th album, Lifeline. Though the album artist is technically Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, like so many other bands, it might as well be called Ben Harper and the Generic Backup Band. Make no mistake about it, this is Ben Harper's vision, and no one else's.

The California native grew up on a steady diet of blues music, earning his fist big break by going on tour with the legendary Taj Mahal. Harper learned well under Mahal's tutelage, becoming an accomplished guitar player and vocalist. He released his first album, Welcome to the Cruel World, in 1994. His musical style and vocal range are very similar to Eric Clapton. Harper has found much success in Europe and South America, particularly Brasil, where his collaboration with Vanessa de Mata, "Bea Sorte/Good Luck" spent several weeks on top of the Brasil Top 100 tracks.

Lifeline was recorded on analog in one week in a studio in Paris. The Album garnered a 73 on Metacritic. It's 11 tracks, and 40.8 minutes long. It's a mellow alternative rock album with definite blues roots. It's not rigidly attached to that formula though, "Needed You Tonight" definitely is more of a gospel song than anything, and "Paris Sunrise #7" is a gorgeous acoustic instrumental. The lyrics are well thought out, and work well into the framework of the songs.

There are times where the short recording time does stand out, as there are some minor mastering issues, but nothing compared to my last review. If anything, the slight looseness on the album enhances the blues feel, making it seem almost more personal, like he's playing from a seat across the living room from you. However, while it enhances the slower songs, the more upbeat tracks do suffer slightly from it. Another factor of the recording blitz is the strain it puts on vocalists. On the final, title track, Harper's voice has lost significant range and tone. But these issues are really nothing major, just me nitpicking.

My favorite songs on the album are "Fight Outta You", "Younger Than Today", "Heart of Matters", and "Paris Sunrise #7".

You should give the album a listen, regardless of your taste in music. If you're a fan of blues music, like Eric Clapton, B.B. King, or Taj Mahal, or a fan of Soft Rock, like Jack Johnson, America, or The Eagles, it's certainly worth it to buy this album. I'm giving it an 8/10.

No Age - Nouns

I recently got my hands on the new album by the band No Age, Nouns. No Age is an experimental rock band, based in LA, and signed to the label Sub Pop.

Sub Pop is known for working with artists like Death Cab for Cutie, Flight of the Conchords, Hole, Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Soundgarden.

The album as a whole is pretty short, burning through 12 tracks in just over a half hour. The whole album has a very unprofessional, garage band type sound to it. Mike static and amp feedback is left on the vinyl, and often overpowers the songs themselves. The album is also very unbalanced aurally, with some very high pitched tones, but minimal bass to balance it out. There's quite a bit of overdubbing done, to make up for the fact that the band only has two members. Nouns pulled in a 78 on metacritic.

The first track, "Miner", is fast, dissonant, lacking in any bass whatsoever, and the lyrics are very difficult to make out.

"Eraser" is a little more coherent. The high strung guitars still drown out most of the lyrics.

"Teen Creeps" has an annoying feedback in the background that hurts my ears.

"Things I did when I was Dead" features a specifically engineered dissonance, generated by taking the same vocal track, and layering it twice, the second time a split second behind the first.

"Cappo" is the first track that I found genuinely listenable. The drummer is actually fairly talented.

"Keechie" is an okay ambient piece, but it really seems like someone just decided to tape a band's warm up session.

"Sleeper Hold" is a pretty good song. They have solid tempo variance. But the lyrics are a bit repetitive.

The lyrical delivery on "Errand Boy" is really bland. But the guitar work is decent.

"Here Should Be My Home" is dissonant, and the lyrics gradually get buried by the guitar work. It almost seems like the guitarist and lyricist are going through a spat over who's the most important member of the band. It's kind of cute, in a high school garage band sort of way.

"Impossible Bouquet" starts off with a strained amp static noise in the background that really bothered me. It spoiled the song for me, which is a shame, because the string work on the guitar is good.

The cleanest song on the album is probably "ripped knees". Even including the last minute which is just a few guitar chords on a badly tuned amp.

The last track is "Brain Burner", it has the most audible lyrics of the album.

In the end, most of Nouns is noise, and combined with the repetition, it shapes up into an audio assault on your eardrums. I finished listening to this album, and shortly thereafter developed a nasty headache. The image I got while listening to the album was of a couple of high school kids trying to emulate the overdubbing style that made Billy Corgan famous, only to completely forget that it only works if the layers are sonically distinct.

Perhaps you might enjoy music like this, but I do not. It's not Metal Machine Music cacophonous, but you can see it from here. I really can't recommend this album to anyone. I'm giving it a 3/10.

A Flash Full of Wing Wong.

I woke up on Saturday morning with what seems to be the beginning of a sinus infection. Well, shit. However, my friend Mike had a "surprise" birthday party, and it was my job to get burgers to the barbecue, and I'd be damned if I would let there be a barbecue without burgers. That's just unamerican. Salt water gargles do miracles for cleaning up the throat.

So off I go to Fred Meyers, to purchase 34 burgers and 32 buns. Stupid packaging disparity. I rolled up to the house, and dropped off the food with Sarah, and we got the party preparations set. There was pizza, chips, hot dogs, hamburgers, dirt cups, beer, and lots of other good stuff.

When Mike arrived, the festivities started in earnest. Thanks to the decent weather, we set up shop outside. I played a game of outdoor beer pong. It's a whole different animal outdoors, accounting for windage wreaked havoc on everyone's shots. Fortunately, I'm used to dealing with windage, so I played pretty well. We got the grill fired up, and soon the scent of formerly frozen beef patties crackling over a charcoal flame wafted throughout the yard. I put together a nice cheeseburger, with colby jack, lettuce, horseradish sauce, mustard and ketchup. Delicious.

Nick had brought over his full Rock Band setup, drums, bass, guitar, and mike. Everyone had snapped up the instruments, and as soon as I walked in, I got pegged with the vocals. I made it through the songs I knew pretty well, In Bloom, The Hand That Feeds, Creep, all went well. The songs I didn't know... Not so much.

Andy unveiled his new toy. A 3 foot long blow gun. We had a field day with that one. We shot pretty much everything we could spare, and even popped each other with the blunt tipped slugs. It was fun, in a sadistic sort of way.

Forrest Gump came on TNT. I love that movie, and believe that it is possibly the best movie of our generation. There's so much innuendo that I never picked up the first time I saw it.

After some of the party drew to a close, we headed over to watch the acapella show. The ladies of UO opened, and were pretty damn good. The Divines, the OSU womens group, went on next. As much as it pains me to say it, I think the Ducks did a better job. Outspoken, the OSU mens group came up, and did an excellent job. acapella shows, by their nature, are a little campy, but Outspoken embraced it. Their rendition of Life is a Highway was superb, marred only by the feed cord accidentally being pulled from the mike, making it sound like someone had been shot.

After the show ended, Mike came up with a crazy idea. It was 11PM, and we were going to a hot spring. Serena rolled in with her mom's minivan, we piled the eight of us in, and we were off before we really understood what happened. Half of us didn't have bathing suits, and shamed the other half into ditching theirs. It was pretty dark out, starlight only, so we really didn't see anything. But hey, skinny dipping in a sulfur hot spring is always fun. We passed around a bottle of cheap red wine, and played the stupid games that inevitably happen when you mix nudity, alcohol, and steam. Truth or Dare, yippee. Fortunately, things didn't get too inappropriate or uncomfortable. We played two rounds, and I picked truth once, and dare once. For truth, I got asked if I ever wished I was shorter. I certainly wish I had a more standardized body type when it comes to buying clothes. And for a dare, I was challenged to hop into the spring above us, which was much hotter, and occupied by a couple that was getting a little *ahem* friendly. Good for them, I just hope that the sulfur killed off anything that got released.

As we were trying to get back to the bench from the spring, Serena turned around with Mike's camera, and FLASH. Well, there goes my modesty. Thank God for my Brazilian side. On the ride back, we discretely checked which pictures were appropriate, and which weren't, and deleted the one's that didn't spare someones dignity. The others were kept for posterity, and no, they will not be posted here.

Mike drove us home, and the rest of us slept in the most uncomfortable positions possible, we made it back in town just before five AM, and began the frantic race against time to get everyone back to their homes, and more importantly, beds, before the sun rose, and screwed up any chance at sleep. It was so worth it.

Two new singles.

Here's two new singles that have been recently released that have caught my interest.

The first is "Handlebars" by Flobot.



Flobot's an indie hip/hop group from Colorado, who just released their new album, Fight With Tools. The song has a feel that's kinda like Eminem meets Cake. It's a little odd. But it's got a very interesting message. The song is about the progress of ambition, from the carefree days of a child bragging about the little trivial things of childhood, all the way to being a member of a government who's decisions can save or kill millions of people. It's kind of a sentiment I can agree with. It seems like not so long ago that being able to do trivial things like ride a bike without using the handlebars was the most important thing in the world. Now, I have a job that gives me the power of life and death over anyone who winds up in my AO.


The other single is "Inside the Fire" by Disturbed.


The Video is a little jarring... Be warned.





The song is sung from the perspective of the Devil, lecturing the boyfriend of a girl who committed suicide. It's a dark song, with a very dark video.


Disturbed's new album, Indestructible, comes out in early June. It appears to be more of what makes Disturbed a great Heavy Metal band. Driving bass, frantic guitars, and good vocals. Hey, don't fix what's not broke.

Gnarls Barkley

As I mentioned earlier, I picked up the two Gnarls Barkley albums about a month ago. Here's the overdue review.

Gnarls Barkley is the collaboration between Cee-Lo Green, and Danger Mouse. They play mostly a Neo-Soul type style. It's somewhat nostalgic, bringing up shades of late 70s soul music, but with a distinct modern twist. Very similar to Lauren Hill and Macy Gray, only with male vocals. They burst onto the scene in 2006, with their debut album, St. Elsewhere.

Released on May 9th, 2006, St. Elsewhere was praised by critics for its innovative production techniques. Very similar to Danger Mouse's previous work on the Gorillaz album, Demon Days. St. Elsewhere has a rating of 81 on Metacritic. Popmatters named it the best release of 2006, and it took home the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. The first single, Crazy, won the Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.

The thing that struck me about the album is that there aren't any truly bad tracks. I think Transformer is a bit garish, but it's not unlistenable. The album hits the high points on the way in, with Crazy and Smiley Face, and out, with Storm Coming and the Last Time. The production value is great. Another great thing about this album is that it's very concise. It doesn't waste sound or time. None of the songs break 4 minutes in length, and as such, the album doesn't wear out it's welcome. Some of the songs could be better if they were longer, but I'd rather have a song too short than too long. St. Elsewhere is definitely worth buying.

Gnarls Barkley returned in March of 08 with their sophomore effort, The Odd Couple. The Odd Couple doesn't have the consistent energy of St. Elsewhere. It starts out very strong with Who's Gonna Save My Soul, Going On, and Run, at the 2, 3, and 4 slots respectively. However, it lacks any other marquee tracks. Would Be Killer is just painful to listen to. This step back is marked by the album receiving a 76 on Metacritic. The album is by no means bad, but it fails to live up to the expectations established by the masterpiece it followed. The production seems a little sloppier, and that may be due to the album's rushed release, due to it being leaked onto the internet. It still has the punctual feel that has come to epitomize the group, though.

What do you listen to?

Well, I'm still retagging my iTunes library. Only 1,405 more songs to go. Yay. :(

Anyhow, listening to all this music reminded me of a pretty sweet website I frequent. It's called Last.fm.

Last.fm is a music database that uses a program called audioscrobbler to track what it's members listen to. It also has a social network aspect to it as well. What website doesn't these days?

To get plugged into Last.fm, just visit their site, and download the audioscrobbler program. Then, download whatever plugin matches your preferred music player, in my case iTunes. Set it up so that Audioscrobbler starts when you start that player, and listen to your music. The Audioscrobbler program also comes with an Internet radio player that lets you surf songs via genre or similar artists. It's a pretty sweet deal.

One of the cool things about this site is the way you can share your charts of who you listen to. You can break it down by your most recently played tracks.


Your most played tracks.


Your most played artists.


They also have flash based charts.





They even have image based charts for your top albums.

For those of you who are on Last.fm, feel free to add me as a friend. Here's my profile.

The Exception to the Rule...

The rule is that I don't like country music. It wasn't always so, but between the time I spent living in Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia, I just got sick of it. I just grates my ears now.


The exception is Johnny Cash. I think a large portion of my affinity for the Man in Black comes from the fact that he seems so much more real than anyone else in country music. He sings with the feel of a man at the poker table, making his bets, and counting his demons. In particular, his American Series of records, are just amazing.


One of the things that Cash did so well was to take a song that's been played out by other people, and remake it into something that's completely his. Danny Boy, Hurt, Personal Jesus, Rowboat, Rusty Cage, One, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Desperado, and many other songs, were all initially performed by other artists. However, Cash made them his. His style. His voice. His soul.


The song that I think most illustrates this is his treatment of the traditional gospel song "Run On". Here is the song being sung in the traditional manner, by none other than Elvis Presley.


It's a fairly upbeat, evangelical song. Note the emphasis is on the "Go Tell". It's a song from righteous people, for righteous people. Well in line with Presley's Pentecostal upbringing.


Here's Cash's take.


Completely different. It's a clap-stomp rhythm that speaks of a darker place. The emphasis shifts from "Go Tell" to "God's gonna cut you down". Far from the Pentecostal evangelism of the original, Cash brings out something more puritanical. Simply put, Cash puts the brimstone back into the song. The song is no longer about the righteous exhorting each other towards evangelism. It cuts out the middle man, it goes from a song about evangelism, to an evangelistic song, warning the sinners of the vengeance of an implacable God. He even changes the name from "Run On" to "God's Gonna Cut You Down".


It's that kind of power that allows me to enjoy Cash's work, despite being sick to death of the genre.

Caña Son

Salsa music has undergone many evolutions over the years. One of the incarnations that's with stood the test of time is Son Cubano. It dates all the way back to the 16th century, but really came into it's prime at the turn of the 20th century, and was a major mover and shaker up until the 1950s. Since then it's still been performed, but other forms of salsa have become popular. However, the influence of Son music is still seen in modern salsa with the 3-2 Son clave which forms the backbone of most modern salsa music.

Oregon has a very active Salsa scene. Among them is a band called Caña Son . Specializing in Son Cubano, the band released their eponymous debut album a few months ago. I bought it at a performance they had at Platinum during early November. While I was retagging my iTunes library, I decided to review the album.

Caña Son is a 10 track album that checks in at just under a hour of the best Son Cubano you can get without violating the embargo. The production value is phenomenal. The vocals are varied, and clear, and the clave is easy to pick up. It's great to dance to or just to listen to.

As I mentioned earlier, I saw them live a few months ago, and they were one of the best Salsa acts I've ever seen. Only Conjunto Alegre came close. They have samples of their music up on their Myspace page. If you like Salsa, Ethnic Music in general, or just want something new and upbeat to listen to, check them out. You can get their album, and general information at their website. You can also find their album at the iTunes Store.

Interesting Weekend.

Well, as usual, my Friday night was occupied at Latin X Night, at Platinum, the best Cuban Salsa party on the West Coast. Another habit of mine, is getting together with some of my fellow Salsa dancers and having a fun dinner before we hit the club. This time, our delicatessen was Block 15, a new pub and brewery that had opened recently.

We got thrown into the game room, because the place was crowded enough that we weren't going to get a table for a group our size for a ridiculously long time. But it was fine, we got to watch AFV on the boob tube, and there weren't a bunch of people shuffling around our tables. We were also gifted with an inexplicable visit from the "Birthday Fairies." Even though it wasn't any of our birthdays.

One by one, we shuffled over to the bar, and placed our orders. I bought a pint of their Nebula Oatmeal Stout, and ordered a Barbecue Burger, which they said would be brought to me in the game room. I got back to the game room, and my friend Rob saw me fumbling with my debit card, beer, and receipt, trying to cram it back into my wallet. Rob was amazed that I somehow had gotten my card back. Apparently, he was somehow conned into opening a tab. Despite the fact that he doesn't drink. Here's where the meal got real entertaining.

The waitress comes in with a Barbecue burger, and asks who ordered it. Rob, Tristan, and myself all simultaneously say "I did!". Eyeing each other warily, we wrapped our mind around this oddity. But to be fair, it was a really good burger. It sounded much better than the "hand spanked" turkey burger. We gave Rob the first burger, because he ordered first, and the rest of the food came in one quick burst, so other moments of weirdness were averted.

After we finished eating, we went over to Platinum. As usual, we got there a little early, and I helped set up. Simona was having some trouble formatting the projector that splashes giant pictures of previous parties on a wall. Being as it hangs from the ceiling, I can work with it easier than others can.

Afterwords, Rob and I played a game of pool. I'm not a great pool player. Rob's easily better than me, but he was a little off his game, so I managed to take him down to the 8 ball. To be honest, I'm just glad I didn't wind up bleeding during this game again. I guess I'm getting better. I went over to the bar and got myself a rum and coke, and Mike challenged Bill and me to a game of Cutthroat.

For those of you who don't know the rules to cutthroat, the idea is you get three players. You divy up the balls between the three players, high, middle, and low. The goal is to knock every one else's balls in. Whoever has the last ball on the table is victorious.

I was high, Mike was Middle, and Bill was Low. Mike's a pretty good player. I sank one ball and Mike sank three. Then Bill ran the table on us. Turns out Bill helped pay his way through college playing pool. I never had a chance.

I drank some more, talked some more, and generally just waited for the night to ramp up. About 9:30, I get a call from Mercer. He wants me to come over and hang out before the NFL Draft. I love football, and the draft is practically a holiday for me. But I was already entrenched here. So I passed on the offer, I was going to hang out with them during the draft, so it's no big deal.

Tori showed up, and tried to get me to play another game of pool. No thanks, I'm putting my masochistic side away for the night. So we talked a little, and drank a little. Then there was a real surprise. Mercer's girlfriend, who I never had pegged as a salsa dancer showed up with some friends. I waved her over, and introductions were made and pleasantries exchanged. So she introduced me to her friends, Chelsea, Ashley, and Kira. Apparently they were taking Mike and Simona's class at OSU, and dragged Shevelle along for the ride. It's great that she was willing to get out and try something new. So I got her started, and taught her the bare bones of how to dance salsa.

One by one, I danced with each of them. They each had their strong points, but I enjoyed dancing with Kira the most. She was tall, had good rhythm and experience, and was insatiable when it comes to dancing. Even when I was tired, she was ready to go. I was impressed.

Mike was DJing the night, so that meant a lot of meringue, timba, and reggeton. Shevelle was real meek. She spent most of the night sitting at her table. So I started setting her up with some of my friends who I know are skilled, yet understanding leads. I hope she had fun and comes back next time.

We danced into the wee hours of the morning, until Platinum decided to kick us out so they could go home.

The next day rolled around, and so did my hangover. But I pay it no mind, for Saturday was the first day of the NFL Draft! That magical day that sees every football team born anew, in preparation of the rapidly approaching football season. I had my hopes that the Eagles would revitalize their red zone offense through a big bodied WR. With that dream fluttering in my head, I called up Mercer, and caught a ride over to Jon's apartment to watch the magic unfold.

Jon, Mercer, and Brian are all Cowboys fans, so there's some bad blood between us when it comes to football. There was also a Seahawks fan, a Raiders fan, and a Randy Moss fan.

Things got more interesting the closer the draft got to our teams. The Raiders pick at 4 was a foregone conclusion, it was also fantastically stupid. The Eagles came up at 19, and following a report from Sal Palantonio that the Eagles were going to make a catastrophically stupid move, trading up to take tackle Jeff Otah, we prepped the room so that I could safely vent. Opened the door, and moved all breakable objects from my path. Thankfully, the trade never happened. In fact, Otah was still on the board at 19, and we traded down in order to not draft him. Which just goes to show that the media will never know what the Eagles are going to do. I was happy.

That brought up the Cowboys, picking at 22. My Cowboy fan friends wanted their team to draft a corner from the University of South Florida named Mike Jenkins. What they got however, was hilarious. Roger Goodell walked up to the podium, and announced "With the 22nd pick in the NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select... Felix Jones, Running Back, University of Arkansas."

Before he could even say the kid's name, the room I was sitting in exploded into a burst of noise, movement, and anguish. A beanbag chair went flying and another chair got flipped. Mercer ran out the door that I was expected to use when the Eagles picked, Jon sprinted upstairs, and I'm not really sure where Brian went. Understanding their pain, I went to go pick up the pieces. I found Jon in the hall, with his shirt pulled over his eyes, as if not looking at the broadcast could convince him that what he had seen had not actually occurred. Brian found his way back on his own, but Mercer was still outside. So I went to go get Mercer. He was muttering to himself about how Marion Barber's gonna want 60 mil now, and he's probably right. But with Mercer, I couldn't help myself from toying with him a little. So I brightened his day a little by reminding him that the Cowboys still had the 28th pick. Then I taunted him a little, "And DeSean Jackson's still on the board...".

The Cowboys wound up trading the 28th pick to move up to take Mike Jenkins. And the Eagles, using the pick they got in the trade with Carolina, took DeSean Jackson. Well, that came back to bite me in the ass. Oh well.

I'm not a fan of the Eagles draft this season, but I trust the front office to make the right decisions. It's been a long weekend, and I have a long week up ahead, so I can't dwell on the draft too much.

Getz/Gilberto

Premier among Brasil's contributions to the international music scene is Bossa Nova. The six years from 1958 to 1963 produced over a dozen Jazz Standards, making Bossa Nova one of the most influential jazz movements, despite its brief duration.

Getz/Gilberto is the Magnum Opus of the Bossa Nova movement. Of the dozen or so Jazz Standards to rise from the Bossa Nova movement, three are found on the eight tracks of this album.

Traditionally, Bossa Nova is played with an unaccompanied guitar and vocals. However, Stan Getz, an American saxophone player from the "Cool Jazz" movement of the 40's and 50's, took an interest in the sound. He met with Joao Gilberto, guitarist and creator of the Bossa Nova beat, and Antonio Carlos Jobim, a famed songwriter from Rio de Janeiro. Together they worked out a fusion of Getz's saxophone skills and Gilberto's deft touch on the guitar that was unlike anything before it. They spent two days recording this album, and played their way into music immortality.

Getz/Gilberto took the world by storm. At the 1965 Grammy Awards Getz/Gilberto won Album of the year, Best Engineered Album, and Best Jazz Instrumental. The first single, "The Girl From Ipanema", won Record of the Year. To put the significance of winning Album of the Year and Record of the Year in 1965 into perspective, The Beatles released their American debut that year.

Getz/Gilberto is the perfect music for enjoying your leisure time. I often put it on when enjoying a good drink or meal at home, entertaining guests, or reading a good book. The three tracks that went on to become Jazz Standards, Girl From Ipanema, Desafinado, and Corcovado, are particularly sublime.

I recommend this album to everyone, regardless of their being a jazz aficionado or not. All people can enjoy its relaxing, tropical quality.