Is There Anybody Out There?

...where we came in

There's nothing I love more than a good value deal on a CD/DVD and my local Sam's just supplied me with a great one. Thhe special editon of Pink Floyd's Is There Anybody Out There?, The Wall Live 1980-1981. Comes with two cd's and a very nice booklet with interviews with the band members and staff about the live shows. This lovely set usually costs $50, but Sam's had it for $20, so how could I refuse. I'm a live music fanatic, and a huge Pink Floyd fan.

Well first the booklet. It has a bunch of really cool pictures from the live shows showing the building of the wall during the show up to its destruction at the end. Candid photos from backstage, and diagrams of the stage design are also thrown in. The interviews give a lot of really good insight into creating the show and the hardships of it.

Now onto the music. Now let me first say I'm a big fan of when artists will improvize and change things up from the way they sound on the album. There is some improvizing on this, but don't expect it to be radically different. Due to all the visual effects, pre-recorded parts, and epicness of the show, improvizing was very limited for The Wall. The major differences mainly consist of slightly extended guitar and keyboard solos. Who knows, had the wall been performed more than only 29 times they would have tried experimenting more. This being said, this album is probably best for hardcore Floyd fans. As I said, I'm a live music addict, and The Wall was one of rock's most important and epic tours, so I had to have it, even if it isnt radically different from the album. That doesn't make it bad though, I had always imagained The Wall being perfect for a live setting, which it is.

Well what are the standout songs from the show you ask. Well my favorite at the moment has to be Run Like Hell. It's a bit longer than the album version (7.22 min to 4.25 min) and has the band really cutting loose. Roger's spoken intro to the song alone makes it worth listening too. If you're a Pink Floyd fan who doesn't really want to buy the whole set, I definately recommend you at least get this song off Itunes or someone who has it.
Other stand-outs for me include In The Flesh? (which should open every concert by anyone), What Shall We Do Now (a song which was cut from the original album), Comfortably Numb (the one song where David Gilmour would get to improvize during final solo), and Outside The Wall (you couldn't hear roger's vocals very well on the original album)

Ok there is one key flaw with this release, and it has been pointed out by numerous other Floyd fans. The Wall live show was as much a visual experience as it was a musical one. The band members in the booklet reflect this sentiment as well. So why was a dvd of one of the shows not included? The last few shows at Earl's Court were filmed for use in The Wall movie, and occasionally bootlegs of these filmed scenes appear on youtube. It would have only made sense to include a dvd of a show with this set. Oh well, it will probably show up on a dvd sometime in the future, but ultimately I think it not being included prevents us listeners from fully experiences the performances (well to be honest I think you would have had to have been there to fully experience it, but yet get my point) A key example, The audience erupts when David Gilmour kicks off his first verse in Comfortably Numb, but what leads to this is the fact David is singing and playing his solos from on top of the wall on a crane. This image of David on top of The Wall is famous, and ever since I saw a video of it on youtube, it automatically comes to mind when listening to the live version of the song. Now I am glad that they chose to release a complete Wall live show on cd, but I do think that a dvd should have been included to complete the experience.

Ok final verdict. Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live is for hardcore floyd fans, live music junkies wanting a piece of live music history, and for huge fans of The Wall in general who want more of it. Now if you don't fall into one those categories, never fear. Itunes offers 30 second samples of each song, and youtube is filled with videos from the live shows, so you will able to judge whether or not its worth buying the whole album. Oh and also there is a cheaper regular cd version of the live show that doesn't come with the booklet and nice package, so be careful and make sure you are getting the version you want. I strongly recommend the special edition package although I had obstained from spending $50 on it for a long time till I found the $20 version.

Also let me make it clear that Is There Anybody Out There? is NO replacement for the regular Wall album. You should def listen to it first, as it captures the spirit of most of the songs best (in the flesh and run like hell being exceptions)

hmm thinking about it now, this year is the 30th anniversary of the original The Wall album. Hmmmmm do i smell a possible live show dvd/and or remaster of the oringal album?
One can hope :)

hey isn't this...

Happy St. Patrick's Dayyy!!!!/ and or GREEEEEN DAY

I still haven't decided how i should celebrate this lovely St. Patrick's Day, but I thought I'd post some videos that would be appropriate :D

This first video never gets old. still one of the funniest things ever









and of course what would GREEN Day be without some slime :P


I wish you all a very Happy St. Patty's Day

Watchmen

I have been debating on whether or not to see Watchmen, since well before it came out last week. I'll admit I have not read the graphic novel yet, but i do plan to in the near future if i have time. I did consider reading it before the movie came out, but I knew if I did that I would probably just end up complaining about how it wasn't like the book, so I opted not to. Ultimately I saw this trailer for Watchmen last week while at the theatre seeing the new Friday The 13th and I was sold. I'm a sucker for a great movie trailer, no lie.


Well I went to see Watchmen last night and I have to say I verrrrrry much enjoyed it. Now I'm not gonna go into a full length review of it, since the story has sooo many layers and what not, it would take me too long, and I'm much to lazy on sundays to do that. I will say though that it had a fresh and interesting story, that kept me completely engaged. Now since I don't want to write a normal review, I'm just gonna write some random thoughts about the movie.

1. Zack Snyder gets called a "hack" very often, especially on the imdb message boards. I will say though that the guy deserves credit for actually getting the thing made. They've been trying to turn the graphic novel into a film for the past 20years, with most claiming it was "unfilmable". Also the guy did an enjoyable remake of Dawn Of The Dead, which I never thought could done.

2. This movie has one of the best (if not the best) opening credits sequence ever. It shows the evolution of super heros in America and the influence they have in the Watchmen universe on important historical events in the 20th century. It's also accompanyed by Bob Dylan's Times They Are A Changin.

3. They used the wrong version of Hallejuah in my opinion during the movie's main sex scene. Jeff Buckley's and John Cale's versions of the song contain alternate, more sexually suggestive lyrics. Plus they used the least sexually suggestive verses of Leonard Cohen's original version in the movie. Oh well, its a small annoyance that doesnt really affect my overall opinion of the movie.

4. Another comment about the music, My Chemical Romance's cover of Desolation Row is awful.

5. Something unique that struck me after I left the theatre was that not one actor in the film was familiar to me, except for the midget, sorry little person, from Seinfeld. None of the major characters were played by well known actors, which was a pleasent surprise for me. Usually studios want well known actors for a big budget movie such as this. This helps though in ignoring the fact these are actors and focus more on the characters they are playing. That said, the actors cast were perfect for their roles, and I can't imagine anyone else in these roles. My favorites were Jackie Haley as Rorschach and Jeffrey Morgan as The Comedian.

6. Some guy brought his 10 year old kids to see this. WTF, i bet he was regretting that one later.

7. This is not a very upbeat movie. It is incredibly dark and nihilistic in tone, not what you would expect from the average super hero movie. If you thought Christian Bale's Batman had problems, then you better get ready for The Comedian, who is described as "practically a nazi" by his comrades. A pretty accurate description. I actually really like the tone of the movie, and I'm finally glad studios are moving away from the campyier super hero movies, and shooting for something much more real.

hmm I might come back and update this with more thoughts in the future, as the movie has been on my mind a lot today. Can't wait for the dvd.

Galoshhhhhes :)

One constant in my life I'm happy to say has always been a trusty pair of Rain Boots, or as I like to say Galoshes, or to our friends on the other side of the pond Wellies. I have always had a pair to turn to whenever rain poured, mud puddles formed, snow fell, the urge to be pretend to a fireman struck, or just whenever i dang well felt like it or the outdoors needed to be explored. And yes I still have a pair today :)
My very first pair was a small red pair that i loved and would put on allll the time, including when i would watch my fav sesame street song Wet Paint! (refer to one of my earlier blog entries to watch it and see why)
Unfortunatley this pair was thrown away at some point, and the only picture i had of me wearing them disappeared! I shall def put it on here though whenever i find it.

After my classic red ones i went through several black pairs, which served me faithfully :)


When I was in about 6th or 7th grade i remember i wanted to move on from plain black and get some ballin colorful or animal ones, but i soon discovered my feet had since got too big for those galoshes. At the time i guess it was assumed nobody other than little kids would want bright, colorful rain boots. The idea struck me that they should start making them older kids, teenagers, adults, everyone!!! Ultimately though i decided that it probably wouldn't work and I moved on, settling for my plain black ones for Walmart.

Then about 3 or 4 years later I was in Target, just minding my own business, loitering, and as I passed by the shoe section I spied some verrry bright looking shoes. Upon further inspection I discovered that there was an aisle of brightly colored ADULT rain boots!!!! I quickly snatched up a yellow pair and was out on the door, completely elated :D Overnight almost, and leading up to this very moment Adult Rain Boots Popularity has exploded. Online now you can literally find hundreds, yes literally hundreds, of different designs, colors, patterns, anything you want! Now everytime it rains on my college campus I try and count how many different kinds I see. Usually I see more than 10 people wearing them, depending on the level of precipiation for that day, and it always make me smile :) The absolute awesomeness of them plus the fact the idea I had yearrrs ago turned out to be right all add to it.


I've been happy with my yellow ones for the past couple of years now, but I now feel the need to move on to a new pair(s) I hope someday to go to the UK and while I'm there get an authentic pair of wellies, which are the best made rain boots you can buy (wayyy too expensive for me to be ordering at the moment though)
the pair i decided on were these.

They actually had these for awhile in both adult men & women sizes, but they've had to drop the adult male sizes for now though, due to the recession. Hopefully though they will return in the near future though and I can get them.

If anyone has any suggestions for a new pair that I'd might like feel free to suggest some :) and I recommend everyone else go out and get them some of their own! and spread the good word and practical usefulness of Galoshhhhes. and then we shall coordinate an epic puddle splashing expedition, if i actually know you haha.

here's are two sites worth checking for cool ones.
http://www.dllrainwear.com/servlet/StoreFront
www.target.com

goodnight :)

Podcast Shoutout

Over the past year I have become quite caught up in the world of Podcasts and I thought I would do a brief entry here and promote 3 of my fav podcasts.

For fans of cult/horror/random cinema I strongly recommend Mondo Movie and Cinemaslave. Both feature great hosts who have an intense love for film as I have and they always pick out great movies to discuss. So yes, if you are reading this and have a love of film check these out, oh and if you want good discussion about film you should join the forums on both podcasts websites.
(I know cinemaslave joe googles his podcast to see where its being discussed so let me know if you ever find this haha)
http://www.mondomovie.com/
http://www.cinemaslave.com/

On the music front check out NPR: Live Concerts From All Songs Considered. They offer free concerts and who knows, they might offer something you like. For me there was Tom Wait's AMAZING 2 & half hour performance in Atlanta, Georgia last summer. A concert which I was very luck to attend. Other good ones I've recently downloaded from the podcast include The Ting Tings, and Leonard Cohen.
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=15842121

So yeah those are three I really enjoy. I'm currently seeking out more to listen to at the moment, so I'll be sure and update this if i find some more I really like.

I'm also toying with the idea of starting my own podcast, so give me some feedback if you think its worth pursuing.