Dad! Tom Cruise won't come out of the closet!

Seven Things I Think I Think

1. This NCCA Basketball tournament has got me going bonkers. I’ve already forsaken the fine people in Nevada and Wilmington Area of North Carolina. And damn that San Diego State. How did they blow that game against Indiana. It’s always amazing to me, how these basketball teams go unnoticed the whole year, only to have strangers from all over the country cheer for them to help them win their tournament pool. And what is up with Adam Morrison clubbing himself over his head with the basketball. What a weirdo, and what an awful mustache. And let me say this, he’s no Larry Bird. No matter how he shoots.

2.Scientologists are really getting out of control. Isaac Hayes, a Scientologist!?!, and longtime show member voicing the Chef quit the show, saying he could no longer tolerate its religious "intolerance and bigotry. To top it off, a controversial episode of "South Park" a mocking outspoken Scientologist Tom Cruise was yanked abruptly from the schedule Wednesday. Get this, hollywoodinterrupted.com said Thursday that Cruise threatened to not promote "Mission: Impossible 3," the upcoming summer blockbuster, if the offending episode ran. Comedy Central is owned by Viacom, as is Paramount, which is putting out the film. I'm sure grand wizard John Travolta is flying around in his plane putting a hex on Trey Stone and Matt Parker.

3. Wow, I’ve been to a lot of really good concerts lately. Mogwai, which is one of the most amazing live bands on the planet, was as expected unreal. They played a bunch of new tracks from their stellar new album Mr. Beast. Including the best titled song ever, Glasgow Mega Snake. They did however play in what could be one of the worst venues in NYC, the Avalon. Which many formerly know as the Limelight. Yes, that Limelight. You can follow them around on tour too, here.. I was a little worried when the googlemap had them in the middle of the ocean. But all seems ok now. I managed to see Film School 3 times over the span of last week as well. The first time I saw them, they were fantastic, playing in front of a thin crowd at Bar 13, as part of the Shout! party. Then, they had their gear and van stolen in Philly a few days later. As a result, their next two shows almost a week later in NYC, didn’t quite sound right as they had to piece together some equipment to play. The 2nd night at the Mercury did sound pretty good though. They kill it live, adding lots of emotion and really rocking out. I have to say, my biggest disappointment of last week, was Preistess opening up for Early Man. Wow! Talk about bad. It’s uninspired dirty corporate rock. I guess it’s what corporate stiffs at their label think of as risky and challenging music with a potentially huge audience. Or as I like to call it, the Queens of the Stone Age effect.

4. What the hell is Jay Leno apologizing for. Has anyone seen this. Apparently a viewer was upset at the talk show host poking fun at Cheney about shooting his friend in the face when Leno jokingly compared the VP’s hunting accident to Gerald Curry, a lawyer who's traumatic ordeal in 2003 resulted from a gun-happy antagonist outside of a Los Angeles courthouse. To make things worse, Leno displayed news footage that was videotaped of Gerald Curry cowering behind a tree to prevent receiving a fatal injury. Not everyone saw the joke as being humorous, and Jay Leno called personally to apologize to Wendy Brogin, who is a friend of the lawyer, following her written complaint to the comedian. My thought is, why is he not apologizing to his viewers for still being on the air and keeping the truly best late night host(sorry Dave) Conan O’Brian away from the job he’d be best at. Shame on you Jay Leno.

5. Pelican is hitting the road with the Deftones and Mono. Yeah a weird pairing right. No genius, it's two separate tours. The Deftones dates are part of the Taste Of Chaos tour. Seems like it could be a pretty good tour for those guys, well sort of. I mean, they play in front of large crowds, mostly comprised of hot topic mall rats that might have a tough time getting into the avant post rock instrumental of Pelican. The Taste of Chaos tour, also features Thrice, Dredg, and As I Lay Burning, Bleeding Through the Horse of the Wolf. Or whatever that last band is called.

03-17 Dayton, OH - Hara Arena *
03-18 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom *
03-19 St. Paul, MN - Roy Wilkins Auditorium *
03-21 Fargo, ND - Civic Memorial Auditorium *
03-22 Lincoln, NE - Pershing Center *
03-23 Kansas City, MO - Kemper Arena *
03-25 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium *
03-27 Fresno, CA - Selland Arena *
03-28 San Jose, CA - Event Center at San Jose State University *
03-29 Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena *
03-30 Long Beach, CA - Long Beach Arena *
04-01 Salem, OR - The Pavilion at Oregon State Fair *
04-02 Everett, WA - Everett Events Center *
04-04 Billings, MT - Casey's Golden Pheasant
04-05 Fargo, ND - The Aquarium
05-08 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place #$
05-09 New York, NY - Avalon #%&
05-10 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church #%
05-11 Washington DC - Black Cat #%
05-13 Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle #%
05-14 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn #%
05-15 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn #%
05-17 Orlando, FL - The Social #%
05-19 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds #%
05-21 Houston, TX - Walters #%
05-27 San Diego, CA - Casbah %^
05-29 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour %^
05-31 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall %^

Theres is a nice review of Pelican's The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thawon PItchork too. Though I still think Australasia was their best work. And, they certainly are no Isis or Mogwai. But really, come on, who is?


6. So, I hear baseball was invented in the United States. Apparently, someone forgot to tell the USA baseball team that they are supposed to be better than everyone else. They utterly embarrassed the United States baseball program in the World Baseball Classic. Randy Winn was playing left field for the team. Randy Winn!!! We lost to theMexicans, Koreans, Canadians, and barely escaped the same fate against Japan, albeit on a very questionable call. I mean, this isn’t soccer or hockey, we’re supposed to be good at this. The saddest part is they played guys that aren’t even in the Major Leagues. They played guys that play in some third rate league in Juarez, Osaka and Incheon. Sadly, the only good thing about this, is that Jeter, A-Rod and Caveman will return to the Yanks sooner than later.

7. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are about to release their new album, Show Your Bones on March 28th. I have to say, upon hearing the first single, Gold Lion, I was totally convinced this was a Siouxsie and the Banshees B-side. The entire album feels very different from "Fever to Tell". It retains a lot of the bands rawness and Karen O’s brashness, but adds a silky layer of polish. The drumming is crisp. The guitars, in tune and heavier in the mix. They funny thing is, on half the songs on this record, I hear classic alternative and pop songs. It’s like Karen and Co. decided, “you know, I really love “Staying Alive”, can we somehow work the melody into this song.” Or, “I love Th’ Faith Healers, can we work a similar sounding chorus into this song.” That is ultimately the most disappointing part of this album. Alan Moulder’s fantastic mix, apparently can’t help them write better songs. Or their own for that matter. Unoriginal, uninspiring.

Listening Pile
Editors’ song, “Munich” is the free download of the week at iTunes. This is two really good tracks(including the Goldfrapp) out of the last 4 or 5 that are not some bad god rock or corporate singer songwriter. This is the single from their upcoming US debut, The Back Room, which comes out here in the US next week. There is a halfway decent review of the album here , as well as the Film School and She Wants Revenge. It’s good stuff, check it out. They say this, "Lights" is a miniature emotional tour de force where soaring, U2-inspired guitars collide with mopey sentiments. "Munich" runs with that inspiration, but from there, the album starts repeating itself and the returns start diminishing. It's never bad, but a great setup needs a great punchline.” And you totally have to read what they say about She Wants Revenge.

Also, while I'm at it. That song, "In The Sun" originally penned by Joseph Arthur, and reworked with Michael Stipe, sounds great. Stipe and several special guest (including Chris Martin, Will.I.Am, and Justin Timberlake), all reworked the song and have made it available on iTunes to help the victimes of Hurrican Katrina. I'm thinking Senor Stipe should start a relationship with Joseph Arthur, where he writes the tracks and Stipe just does the singing. As those last few R.E.M. albums have been tragic. But really, there's a great story about Stipe's work with the Mercy Corps here