Month: June 2008

Turbo Boost Probably Not Included

When I was a kid, my dream car was KITT.  Who wouldn’t want a car that can jump over other cars, drive itself and talk back to you?

A few months from now, I can plop down $270 and bring my childhood dream close to reality with a Knight Rider-themed GPS unit, featuring the voice of KITT, William Daniels.

From autoblog.com:

The Knight Rider-themed GPS unit has voice prompts recorded by the one-and-only William Daniels, the original voice of KITT, and asks cordially “Hello Michael, where do you want to go today?” when powered up. The LCD display is also flanked by a series of red LEDs reminiscent of KITT’s nose-mounted lights.

It’s a cool idea, but I won’t be getting one. I’ve never really had a need for a GPS unit.  Although, if it could give an ’04 Civic turbo boost and a molecular bonded shell, I might have to re-think that.

King Tom

Attack of the Gives-You-The-Runs Tomatoes

The Civee and I went to have lunch at a nearby place we frequent.  One of their specials on Sundays is usually a BLT with Chicken Lemon Rice soup.  But today, it was different. The Chicken Lemon Rice soup was served with a “Bacon and lettuce sandwich.”

Ew.

If you’ve been to a restaurant or grocery store recently, you may have noticed a lack of fresh tomatoes on sale or used in dishes.

Turns out, some salmonella-tainted tomatoes grown in two states have made some people sick and started a nationwide scare resulting in most food merchants ceasing the use of fresh tomatoes all together.  But the FDA lists 46 states, countries, or provinces that are sources of safe tomatoes.  Regardless, most vendors are overreacting and pulling tomatoes from everything for fear of being sued by someone who just happens to get an upset tummy and decides to place the blame on the store or restaurant being irresponsible.

While at lunch a few days ago, I was talking with someone in the produce distribution business. He said the problem wasn’t in the tomatoes, but in the way restaurants handled them. If there’s some e. coli or salmonella on a fruit or vegetable, it can be removed by washing it.  But a lot of places don’t wash their produce properly.

So for the next few weeks, until all settles down, things at restaurants will taste different. The true victims of this outbreak are those of us who enjoy fresh tomatoes.

 

King Tom

A Red Album Review From A Weezer Fanboy

The problem with new Weezer albums is that they are almost always compared by reviewers to the group’s previous efforts.

Reviewers often make up for their lack of creativity or unwillingness to move on with life by mentioning the band’s other efforts, previous bassists or frequent hiatuses. Unfortunately, this takes focus away on what the reviewer is supposed to be doing (reviewing a new album) and places it on the fact that the reviewer is living in the past.

So here it is, a commentary on Weezer’s recently released album, Weezer (2008, a.k.a The Red Album) that keeps mention of certain issues to a minimum.  And by the way, we’re not talking about the roody-poo ten-track CD that was issued. As far as I’m concerned, The Red Album is the 14-track “bonus/deluxe” edition.

After a listen to The Red Album, three words come to mind: bold, fun, rock.

For a band that has, in the past, perfected the 2.5 minute power pop song, this album is adventerous. This album features longer songs, increased use of synthesizers and other instruments, and different songwriters/lead singers throughout its 14 tracks. However, the most bold of all moves, especially for a band whose lead guitarist can shred, is the total lack of guitar solos.  But the beauty of that move is they’re not missed. These songs throw a lot out there. Case in point, The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn), showcasing about ten different musical styles, all united around a common theme in five minutes. Or Dreamin’, another five-minute gem which takes a light pastoral break in the middle of the rock.

On the surface, the two aforementioned songs aren’t emotionally deep.  The lyrics of TGMTEL are essentially five minutes of rock star posturing from Rivers, set against different genres of music. Not every track needs to whine with emotion. Weezer has succeeded in making quality rock that’s fun to listen to and sing along with.

This is not a lightweight album. If it’s emotion you’re looking for, consider The Spider or Pig, where Rivers contemplates his morality and place in the universe. There’s also Pat Wilson-penned Automatic, which he calls “family rock.” Or, probably the deepest song on The Red Album, The Angel and the One, a soaring number that just builds and builds before a long wind-down, much like the most underrated song on The Beatles’ self-titled album, Long, Long, Long.

The Red Album contains a lot of reflection, something you’d expect from Rivers, who a) wrote Pinkerton and b) meditates for fun. But not all of this introspection is in angst.  Most of it drives the music and ties into the fun aspect mentioned earlier. Consider the album opener Troublemaker, where Rivers sings of his childhood wishes to be a rock star (complete with reference to that awkward phase in ’99), or Pork and Beans, where he discovers he’s just fine with himself.  The introspection is all over the album, just not how you’d expect it.

In recent interviews, Rivers has expressed an interest in expanding himself musically and lyrically. No longer content with “generic” sounding songs, he’s mixing up arrangements, and even starting to write music from the perspective of other people. One of the unexpected gems of the album, Miss Sweeney is a good example of this. The song, about a boss who has some strong feelings for his assistant, features Rivers doing some quasi-rapping in the verses, followed up by big strong hooky rock for the choruses.  Listening to the verses, you wouldn’t think the song would amount to much, but as a whole, Weezer really knocks this one out of the park.

With all of this considered, you really can’t compare Red to any of the other Weezer albums. Band collaboration has increased exponentially. There are different songwriters and even singers.  The band is in a different place when it comes to promoting the album and allowing their fans to hear what’s been produced along the way. As I’ve mentioned previously, it’s an exciting time to be a Weezer fan. And this is the perfect album for that time.

King Tom

Where's Hideki?

For the past six seasons, the Yankees have had a dependable, professional and productive Japanese import–Hideki Matsui, an outfielder who has been a steady contributor to the team.

Ten years ago, the Yankees had another Japanese import, their first (if you’re not counting Kats Maeda), also named Hideki, but he wasn’t really dependable, professional, and was only productive in short spurts.

Hideki Irabu made his first appearance as a MLB player in July of ’97 after the Yankees acquired his rights (Along with Homer Bush) from the Padres. There was a lot of build-up and media frenzy during the acquisition and Irabu’s stint in the minors. While he impressed in his first game against the Tigers, he quickly fell apart and went back and forth between the minors and the big leagues.  A lot of news stories around the time focused on the fact that Irabu was rude, couldn’t cover first base and had a straight fastball.

Believe it or not, in the early months of the ’98 season, Irabu was the teams’ most dependable starter. In a year where injuries threatened the team early on, he kept a sub-3.00 ERA through July, and didn’t lose his first start until May 30.

Starting in late ’98, Hideki turned back into a pumpkin and floundered throughout ’99 before being dealt away to Montreal, in a deal where Expos management must have thought they were getting Cy Young.

The New York Times recently checked in on Irabu, who still lives in the U.S. and is in the restaurant business in California:

Irabu, who was out of the country and could not be reached for comment, now enjoys relative anonymity. He lives with his wife, Kyonsu, and two children in a three-bedroom home in the hills of Rancho Palos Verdes, about 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. In his current hometown, the difference from Manhattan or Tokyo is as easy to spot as the horse trails that run alongside many of the streets. His main chore is checking in on a pair of Japanese restaurants he has invested in. “He has a good life,” Nomura said.

As for the restaurant business, “one day he called me and said he was buying a udon shop,” Nomura said of the Japanese term for noodle. The fast-food shop was open for about a year, but closed late last year despite what neighbors in the industrial neighborhood of Gardena said was a brisk lunch-time business. Nomura said Irabu sold the business, but has two other restaurants, although he is not involved in their day-to-day operations.

One thing about that article- in the picture, Irabu is wearing a long Yankees jacket- in the middle of July. And that summer was hot, and now that I think about it, he was always wearing long sleeves.  Thing is, that summer, in New York, Irabu t-shirts were everywhere.

And as mentioned on his baseball-reference page, I still own two of them.

King Tom

The Greatest Video That Never Got Any Play

Weezer, “performing” The Greatest Man That Ever Lived.  This was actually produced by MTV, but it won’t air on the station, because, you know, they don’t show videos anymore.  And don’t look for it on VH1 Classic either, because they can’t fit it in between their 200 airings of Spinal Tap this month.

I’ll have a few words to say about the Red Album this weekend.

King Tom

iHate iTunes

Like a sucker, I signed up for iTunes for today’s release of the Red Album to get access to the bonus tracks and ticket pre-order access that was promised to those who pre-ordered it through Apple’s infernal software.

I’m just glad I wasn’t the only Weezer fan out there who got this message while attempting to download the album this morning:

itunes message

I know Weezer likes to take some time in between albums, but this is ridiculous!

I also went around in search of a physical copy of the album. Target was sold out. Barnes and Noble was sold out and was charging double Target’s price.  And a few other places didn’t have it yet.  I’ll have my thoughts together on the awesomeness that is the Red Album soon.

King Tom

How To Use A Magical Island

Ben in the desertFor the past four TV seasons, the survivors of the crash of Oceanic 815 have been stranded on an island.

We don’t know much about the island. But we know it’s a special place. It was home to some culture which built a statue honoring a being with four toes. A nineteenth-century slaving ship somehow landed in the middle of the island. People with life-threatening diseases and disabilities have been healed once they’ve stepped foot on the island. And sometimes around 40 years ago, the DHARMA initiative built a series of stations to harness the powers of the island to conduct “silly experiments.”

Continue reading “How To Use A Magical Island” →

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