Theme Park Experience

I'll be in Houston visiting my parents this weekend. I have various things to attend to, but I hope to see this exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I saw their Star Wars exhibit back in 2001 and was blown away. I hope for the same experience. For non-Texas folk, Houston is probably not the greatest place to visit this time of year because of its heat and humidity. Interestingly, I never really noticed how bad the heat was when I lived there. I endured three years of summer marching band practices out in the heat with very little problems. Sure, we practiced in the morning, but it was still hot. Now that I'm out of school and won't be visiting a band practice field any time soon, I don't complain about the heat. Instead of complaining about it, I choose to work with it. I rarely go outside for a long time during the day and take walks after 8:30pm during the week. We play kickball at 7pm on Sundays right as the sun is going down. The AC works and if it st...

Whenever people ask me, "Who's your favorite band?," I can't say there is only one. There are several bands/artists that I have really enjoy over the years (like Ben Folds Five, Wilco, Led Zeppelin, Metallica) but definitely one of my favorites is face to face (the pop-punk band, not to be confused with the '80s Boston band, Face to Face). Yes, face to face was mixed in with a ton of pop-punk bands in the 1990s, but they were a cut above. They weren't about toilet humor or playing obnoxiously fast; they were inspiring back in the day and they're still inspiring today. Vocalist/lyricist Trever Keith's voice is big and open; not snotty, childish or grating on eardrums. Plus, what's coming out of his mouth can be understandable today or six months or ten years. Keith's lyrics are often general, non-specific and full of phrases to live by. Lyrics like, "There is someone who knows everything there is to know/There is someone who is too afraid ...

I've only listened to Body of Song a few times, but I think I need to say something: it's great. Yes, the songs have a lot of electronica elements, but they also rock with live guitars and drums. I would say the album's pearl is Mould's voice. I don't think I've heard as much color in his voice in a long time. I don't know if it's because of the vocal effects he put on it, but he sings his head off with a variety of melodies. This is a different-sounding Mould but not a complete makeover. You definitely hear a lot of nods to his work with Sugar on Body of Song , but this isn't rehasing past glories. Mixing the energy of his power pop rock with keyboards and electronica is a welcome change. After my few spins, some of the strongest tracks are "Paralyzed," "Underneath Days" and "(Shine Your) Light Love Hope." I look forward to more spins. -One other Mould-related deal: Pop Matters has a great interview with the man here ...

Superdrag was one of those great bands that made a handful of great albums regardless of production value. Granted, their The Fabulous 8-Track Sound of Superdrag EP suffers from muddy sound quality and less-than-sublime songwriting, but things got much better after that. Regretfully Your's is a solid collection of tunes, including their MTV Buzz Bin hit, "Sucked Out." Recalling Cheap Trick and My Bloody Valentine in spots, Superdrag was honing in on some great adrenalized jangle-pop. Probably thanks to the financial success of Regretfully Your's , Head Trip in Every Key had more production dollars behind it. In return, the album is big, warm and rocks even harder. Showcasing one of the best "roomy" drum sounds I've heard on record (along with Jimmy Eat World's Clarity ), Head Trip is another collection of great tracks. For whatever reasons, Head Trip in Every Key didn't sell like hotcakes, thus delaying the release of Superdrag's third r...

I don't know if it is out of pure minimalism or pure laziness, but I see more and more rock drummers using only one cymbal (in addition to hi-hats) on their kits. Usually, it's just a ride cymbal. To my fellow drummers, I think this is too minimal. Some explanation for non-drummers: drumsets are usually outfitted with a 16"-18" cymbal (called a "crash") that have a rather high pitch when hit. A ride cymbal, usually 20"-24" in diameter, has a deeper, penetrating pitch when struck. For a band like the Flaming Lips, whose material is rich in melodies and orchestration, the drums work best when they are minimally set up. Drummer Steven Drozd pounds his drums and his ride with big, simple beats, thus allowing the guitars, pianos, strings and everything else some room to breathe. But what about all those bands that don't have that many colors in their sound? This is where I throw a flag. I often see this approach in a lot of these newer, garage-y ba...

It's been one week since I watched I Heart Huckabees , but it's still fresh in my mind. Dubbed "an existential comedy," I think that tagline fits the bill very well. Calling the film's tone as "quirky" and "offbeat" is too simple. Funny is funny, even if it's off the beaten path of what's traditionally funny. Like the title of the book my mother uses for her philosophy class, the unbearable heaviness of philosophy is made lighter in this film. The nature of philosophy is not knocked. Rather, it's understandable. I've tried reading philosophy books, but my mind derails off the tracks when I try to remember names and philosophies connected to those names. This may be the case because my mind was conditioned in college to remember the name over the meaning. Thankfully, I Heart Huckabees doesn't throw out a bunch of names and their philosophies. General ideas and concepts are thrown out in simple ways. The acting by all of the ...

I can't believe it, but I finished all 652 pages of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in five days. I'm in the middle of reading other books ( Let it Blurt , Live from New York , Complicated Shadows , Please Kill Me ), but those had to be put on hold. The book is so good: it's evenly paced and there are no major slow-downs. Story-wise, like all the other books, more answers are revealed as more questions pop up. Of course, there are enough clues and hints about where the next book is heading, but there is so much that is up in the air. Rowling has not said anything about when the next book will come out, but if it came out today, I would drop everything and read it. What amazes me is the amount of time that it takes for people to finish reading these books. In the case of Half-Blood Prince , a friend of mine finished it 11 hours. Another friend of mine finished The Sorcerer's Stone in one night. For me, it took me weeks to finish the other books. Since I usually r...