Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The Mix
This past Sunday saw the official release of The Mix, my grad program's zine-ish type publication that came as a special insert in the local newspaper, The Post Standard. Here is my official page, which you should also all take note is page number 4, which makes it the second article in the thing. Oh yeah, baby! Front of the magazine!
Monday, September 18, 2006
wasted weekend
I went to the Inner Harbor today with Jon Ross to see a Dave Matthews cover band and a Sublime cover band to review for the Newtimes. I'm not really much of a Dave Matthews fan, and the Sublime band basically sucked. Here is my review:
Title: Just Plain Bad
Sunday was an ideal day to spend at Syracuse’s Inner Harbor. The sun was shining, the temperature was pleasant, and any native would recognize it as possibly the last nice day of the year. You would think it would be the perfect day to see a couple of bands covering songs by two popular and relatively summery-sounding acts.
You would be wrong.
Well, halfway wrong, that is, as the opening band, “One Sweet World,” a Dave Matthews cover band, actually wasn’t too bad. One Sweet World was extremely faithful to the original songs, and even included a saxophone player (who had four different types of sax to choose from) and a violinist.
Lead singer Anthony Iglesias did an admirable job evoking Dave Matthews’ gentle voice, but couldn’t quite reach the high-pitched plateaus Matthews manages. His voice was also a bit scratchier than Matthews, and the signature syllabic emphasis was a bit off at times, but overall it was a valiant try that mostly succeeded.
The best thing about One Sweet World was undoubtedly its violinist. Though all the musicians were clearly talented, the mere existence of the violin gave this band something extra. Because so many of the Dave Matthews Band’s songs include unique and conspicuous violin parts, it is essential that a cover band have a decent fiddler.
If you are a fan of the Dave Matthews Band, One Sweet World will not disappoint. Their set, though, was nearly two hours long, which is highly unusual for an opener. And after One Sweet World’s last song, a Dave Matthews-esque rape of Jimi Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower, it felt like the show should have simply ended.
The headliner, Sublime cover band “Badfish,” started out with Garden Grove, an appropriate start, as it’s the first track off of Sublime’s self-titled album. There were no turntables, though, so it sounded decidedly different than the original. In addition, unlike Sublime’s Brad Nowell, the vocalist didn’t enunciate enough, making it unnecessarily difficult to understand the lyrics.
The singer continued this near-slurring of words throughout most of the songs, which just worsened the slow speed at which they were played. The short, quick Same in the End wasn’t played nearly as fast and enthusiastically as the original, completely losing the frenetic, fun sound it’s supposed to have.
Perhaps the worst offense was their version of the immensely popular Wrong Way. The original includes a trombone, but Badfish instead incorporated a mediocre alto saxophone. The trombone’s speedy and lively solo was completely lost, being replaced by a sub-par saxophone attempt.
Somehow Badfish has become a nationally known group, and the audience was certainly enjoying themselves, with plenty of people dancing and singing along (though by then, it could have simply been the influence of copious beer). But to this Sublime fan, they were truly nothing special. You’d be better off popping in one of their CDs with the volume turned up.
Title: Just Plain Bad
Sunday was an ideal day to spend at Syracuse’s Inner Harbor. The sun was shining, the temperature was pleasant, and any native would recognize it as possibly the last nice day of the year. You would think it would be the perfect day to see a couple of bands covering songs by two popular and relatively summery-sounding acts.
You would be wrong.
Well, halfway wrong, that is, as the opening band, “One Sweet World,” a Dave Matthews cover band, actually wasn’t too bad. One Sweet World was extremely faithful to the original songs, and even included a saxophone player (who had four different types of sax to choose from) and a violinist.
Lead singer Anthony Iglesias did an admirable job evoking Dave Matthews’ gentle voice, but couldn’t quite reach the high-pitched plateaus Matthews manages. His voice was also a bit scratchier than Matthews, and the signature syllabic emphasis was a bit off at times, but overall it was a valiant try that mostly succeeded.
The best thing about One Sweet World was undoubtedly its violinist. Though all the musicians were clearly talented, the mere existence of the violin gave this band something extra. Because so many of the Dave Matthews Band’s songs include unique and conspicuous violin parts, it is essential that a cover band have a decent fiddler.
If you are a fan of the Dave Matthews Band, One Sweet World will not disappoint. Their set, though, was nearly two hours long, which is highly unusual for an opener. And after One Sweet World’s last song, a Dave Matthews-esque rape of Jimi Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower, it felt like the show should have simply ended.
The headliner, Sublime cover band “Badfish,” started out with Garden Grove, an appropriate start, as it’s the first track off of Sublime’s self-titled album. There were no turntables, though, so it sounded decidedly different than the original. In addition, unlike Sublime’s Brad Nowell, the vocalist didn’t enunciate enough, making it unnecessarily difficult to understand the lyrics.
The singer continued this near-slurring of words throughout most of the songs, which just worsened the slow speed at which they were played. The short, quick Same in the End wasn’t played nearly as fast and enthusiastically as the original, completely losing the frenetic, fun sound it’s supposed to have.
Perhaps the worst offense was their version of the immensely popular Wrong Way. The original includes a trombone, but Badfish instead incorporated a mediocre alto saxophone. The trombone’s speedy and lively solo was completely lost, being replaced by a sub-par saxophone attempt.
Somehow Badfish has become a nationally known group, and the audience was certainly enjoying themselves, with plenty of people dancing and singing along (though by then, it could have simply been the influence of copious beer). But to this Sublime fan, they were truly nothing special. You’d be better off popping in one of their CDs with the volume turned up.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Project Runway
I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY BROUGHT BACK VINCENT AND ANGELA. Those two couldn't design their way out of a paper bag. And Vincent is clearly psychotic. Everything he makes "gets him off." Ew. Like I really want that image in my head. I don't like the fact that they brought anyone back, but they could have at least brought back Alison. Other than her awful paper dress, her designs were sublime.
In other news, Yom Kippur is coming up in a couple weeks, which means I get another three-day weekend. Which means I can try to go to NYC again to see Mike and Susan, and hopefully it will work out this time. Jetblue has plane tickets for that weekend that cost less than a Greyhound, so I really want to go. And I need to buy the tickets asap because the price goes up the closer you get to the date of travel, but I couldn't get in touch with either of them tonight. Why is it so difficult to reach these two?? I miss New York City! This was the first summer in four years that I didn't go there, and for the past two years, I've been getting myself down there at least twice a year. Well at least I'm guaranteed to be there in January for the arts journalism immersion course. And I'm hoping to additionally go there a few days earlier than the rest of the class to celebrate New Years Eve. I have never celebrated New Years-EVER-even though I want to pretty much every year. So this year had better be the exception, damnit!
In other news, Yom Kippur is coming up in a couple weeks, which means I get another three-day weekend. Which means I can try to go to NYC again to see Mike and Susan, and hopefully it will work out this time. Jetblue has plane tickets for that weekend that cost less than a Greyhound, so I really want to go. And I need to buy the tickets asap because the price goes up the closer you get to the date of travel, but I couldn't get in touch with either of them tonight. Why is it so difficult to reach these two?? I miss New York City! This was the first summer in four years that I didn't go there, and for the past two years, I've been getting myself down there at least twice a year. Well at least I'm guaranteed to be there in January for the arts journalism immersion course. And I'm hoping to additionally go there a few days earlier than the rest of the class to celebrate New Years Eve. I have never celebrated New Years-EVER-even though I want to pretty much every year. So this year had better be the exception, damnit!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
hooray for free speech
I just finished writing my first brief for Media Law on the Times v. Sullivan case. As much as I've been whining about this class and how boring it is, that actually wasn't so bad. And I SUPPOSE I like learning about first amendment stuff when you get right down to it. If I intend to be a journalist, then I should probably know the laws that directly affect me anyhow. Hopefully we will get to all the sex and obscenity stuff soon, though, because that should be extra fun. And lord knows I have lots to say regarding "obscenity." Like maybe the fact that it's completely subjective? A couple hundred years ago, showing your ankles was considered obscene. Now 13-year-olds walk around with their thongs hanging out the back of their pants and Abercrombie & Fitch ads are practically soft core porn. Granted, I don't particularly enjoy seeing either of those things, but why is that okay, while a naked breast is DOOM! Shield the littles ones' eyes! Not a breast! Not the thing they ATE FROM FOR A YEAR.
The FCC is full of crap and unconstitutional, if you ask me. It's called a v-chip, people. Or you could always, you know, TURN THE TV OFF!
Yeah...
Anyways! I also voted today. Go me. I love voting. I vote for any little thing I can- school board, comptroller, all that stuff where no one really knows what the position actually entails. It's good stuff.
The FCC is full of crap and unconstitutional, if you ask me. It's called a v-chip, people. Or you could always, you know, TURN THE TV OFF!
Yeah...
Anyways! I also voted today. Go me. I love voting. I vote for any little thing I can- school board, comptroller, all that stuff where no one really knows what the position actually entails. It's good stuff.
Thursday, September 7, 2006
interesting day
Today I went to a talk given by George Cham, the creator of the webcomic, "Piled Higher and Deeper." He was a grad student earning his PhD (like 10 years ago) in some form of engineering, but ended up drawing this comic about how much grad school sucked and now making the comic, and doing talks and such, is his full-time job. So basically this guy spent years being miserable in grad school, only to end up with a "job" completely unrelated to his field of study. Wow, am I ever happy to be in a one-year masters program on a subject that I completely adore. Although I have to say, he was pretty damn funny. Plus he was kinda cute and there was free food afterwards.
When I walked home from the bus stop later, I was listening to the Talking Heads song, "Don't Worry About the Government," and I definitely danced the entire four blocks to my house. It was great. I seriously couldn't help myself. It's SUCH a good song. I think it's going to have to be my new favorite by them.
I made a very fattening quiche (mmm, creme fraiche) for dinner tonight after eating a couple of those mini-quiches at the George Cham thing. Then on Project Runway, the contestants were in Paris. It was a French-filled evening. I miss France so much. I can't even begin to explain how jealous I am that my parents are there right now and I'm not, especially since they're currently in Veules-les-Roses (it's in Normandy), which is my favorite place to be in the entire world. Even more than New York City. It is the most charming, most French town you could possibly see. There are houses with thatched roofs and cows everywhere. And the ocean is spectacular. The water is pretty cold (though I always go swimming anyways-how could you not??), but low tide is incredible. The beach at high tide is all big rocks, which are not so comfortable to lie or walk on, but at low tide sand stretches for hundreds of feet. The beach is also encapsulated by these incredible white chalk cliffs, so you can hike along the edge of the cliff in one direction and come back along the beach during low tide.
Oh and one more thing before I quit procrastinating and do some real work: When I was walking my dog this afternoon, a middle-aged couple passed by me, and the man had a big red and green parrot perched on his shoulder-like a pirate! It was like, "Well, there's my dose of surrealism for the day."
When I walked home from the bus stop later, I was listening to the Talking Heads song, "Don't Worry About the Government," and I definitely danced the entire four blocks to my house. It was great. I seriously couldn't help myself. It's SUCH a good song. I think it's going to have to be my new favorite by them.
I made a very fattening quiche (mmm, creme fraiche) for dinner tonight after eating a couple of those mini-quiches at the George Cham thing. Then on Project Runway, the contestants were in Paris. It was a French-filled evening. I miss France so much. I can't even begin to explain how jealous I am that my parents are there right now and I'm not, especially since they're currently in Veules-les-Roses (it's in Normandy), which is my favorite place to be in the entire world. Even more than New York City. It is the most charming, most French town you could possibly see. There are houses with thatched roofs and cows everywhere. And the ocean is spectacular. The water is pretty cold (though I always go swimming anyways-how could you not??), but low tide is incredible. The beach at high tide is all big rocks, which are not so comfortable to lie or walk on, but at low tide sand stretches for hundreds of feet. The beach is also encapsulated by these incredible white chalk cliffs, so you can hike along the edge of the cliff in one direction and come back along the beach during low tide.
Oh and one more thing before I quit procrastinating and do some real work: When I was walking my dog this afternoon, a middle-aged couple passed by me, and the man had a big red and green parrot perched on his shoulder-like a pirate! It was like, "Well, there's my dose of surrealism for the day."
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