October Review in Performer

Hi all.

Sometimes you get so busy you forget you submitted album reviews to Performer magazine. Then suddenly, there they are. At least, you do if that you is me.

The latest review is of a band called Stuntditch out of Philly. Check it out in the October issue of Performer or right here on the Review page.

The Rationales – The Going And The Gone

It seems like months ago that I reviewed The Rationales debut The Going And The Gone. Probably because it was, in fact, months ago. While I missed the deadline for the August issue of Performer Northeast, the editor saw fit to publish it in the September Issue.  Check it out at that link. I’m also adding it to the Freelance page at the top of the blog where you can see the review in its entirety — along with the other reviews I’ve written.

I got The Rationales album months ago out of dumb luck: the cover looked cool and the album was short, so, I thought, why not. It’s a little more pop than I usually go for, but the album used its hooks to hook me.

See what I did there? So clever, so clever. 

I still throw it on occasionally when I’m taking a quick ride around town. The song writing is pretty solid, as you’ll see in the review, and overall the album just struck a chord with me. The band is Boston-based, so if you’re nearby and you see them playing, let me know; I’ll meet up with you and buy the first round.

The Wilford Strikes Back

Those of you who read this blog from time to time know that I have something of a soft spot for one Mr. Wilford Brimley. In fact, in some ways he’s the father of this blog. One drunken night of using a hand a walrus mustache and talking with a gravely voice about the dangers of sugar has launched something like 60 posts so far.

The inaugural post on the site was my take on a remix of a Justin Timberlake song. Check it out if you haven’t read it: Wilford Back (Remix).

While I haven’t delved into Wilford lately… (Oh god. My eyes. Let me rephrase that.)

While I haven’t blogged about Wilford lately, he’s never been far from my thoughts — as if that surly attitude and bushy mustache could ever flutter from my thoughts.

But today, a Wednesday, he returns. Thanks to Gato Island for this real gem:

Five Cats that Look like Wilford Brimley.

For the love of God, please enjoy.

ChaCha for Jargon

Found a few interesting Websites this morning that I thought would be worth point out.

The first is ChaCha. It’s sort of like Twitter — but completely different at the same time. Instead of using ChaCha to microblog about yourself, ChaCha is there to answer questions. The similarity? Well, I guess it’s that you use your phone to send an SMS message and then something magical and mysterious happens somewhere in the vast expanses of the Interwebs.

ChaCha, incidentally, is the number you text in order to ask a question: 242242. It could be a bot, but when one user asked the question, ‘What’s the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?’ The answer perceived was a direct quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

My initial question was: ‘Who are the Knights who say Ni!’? Not too original, I know, but I was in a Pythonesque state of mind. The response I received was:

“Welcome to ChaCha. Your phone just got smarter. Ask away. Your first answer will come shortly. Std txt charges may apply.”

A few minutes later, as promised, I got my answer: “Knights Who Say Ni! Are a band of knights from the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

Not too witty, but to the point nonetheless.

The other website I found this morning is called The Jargon Database. It looks like a site designed to compete with Urban Dictionary. The latest copywrite on Jargon Database is 2004, so maybe they didn’t compete too well. But, on the upside, I found out what a ‘Groove Digger‘ was this morning. Did you know?

All the basics are there — F.A.Q., contact, and submission. The purpose of the site, as Steve points out, is to provide an alternative for strictly technical or business related jargon sites. And, he hopes, it’ll provide a resource to the blog community looking for a place to link to strange and witty words.

As you might imagine, Jargon Database has nowhere near the number of entries and submissions that UD has, but, if nothing else, it’s an alternative. After all, when I get a daily update from Urban Dictionary defining the word ‘Irregardless,’ I think it might be time to move to a new, different, less mind numbing and soul crushing social dictionary.

I know, I know. Irregardless isn’t a word and neither is a lot of stuff that gets posted on UD. But, honestly, doesn’t that site have editors with brains? Isn’t irregardless quite possibly the stupidest word in existence? If you say “Irregardless of the fact that…” what you are saying is that you are basing an argument on things that are simply made up or don’t exist.

Oh, a quick check proves that the Urban Dictionary community has spoken out on irregardless. Maybe there is still hope for this crazy, online world in which my brain lives.

Still, I’m a little angsty about it.

Pick Your Candidate with the help of the Web

Just came across the site Pick Your Candidate. I found it in sort of a round about way. If you read this blog, you know how much I love my Google Reader. One of the feeds I’ve been subscribing to from the very beginning is David Byrne’s blog. Weird, I know, but also true. He posted a political note this morning — and also a post about a dream he had where he was chased by a rock n roll monster — and I felt I should do the same, minus the rock n roll monster.

Pick Your Candidate gives you a list of 25 issues that the Presidential candidates have weighed in on at some point. Topics from gun control to Iran and Iraq to same sex marriage. With the help of a drop down, you select your personal stance on the issues: support, oppose or unknown. Next, you select how important the issue is to you: minimal, important or key. Then Pick Your Candidate matches you up with politician who most close resembles your views, according to the site.

Apparently I didn’t learn enough about Kucinich. Strangely, I’m OK with that.