Artist of the Month

This week I am choosing the artist of the month for February and it is (drumroll please)*bddddddddddddddddd* the Cherry Poppin' Daddies!


For those of you who didn't attend a junior high or high school dance in the late 90's the Cherry Poppin' Daddies were one of the front-running bands during the swing revival of that time. With the expert use of ska, pop and swing they exploded onto the scene with "Zoot Suit Riot". The Daddies are based out of Oregon and were found and lead by Steve Perry (not the Journey front man). Though once popular they, like many bands with hits during the swing revival, have pretty much fallen into general obscurity, they released an album as late as 2007. Throughout the month I will look at a different song each week starting with their only hit "Zoot Suit Riot".

Zoot Suit Riot

Recorded for their 1997 Album Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, "Zoot Suit Riot" is one of the most memorable songs of the late 90's swing revival and is one of the best known and beloved songs of the decade.

The song is about the zoot suit riots, if you weren't aware, of the 1940's in Los Angeles. Like some of the lyrics suggest, sailors from the Navy were given leave to go into the city while their ships were stationed in the area and fights and scuffles broke out between the sailors and the Mexican nightclub customers known for wearing their "zoot suits", which were big lavish suits with flamboyantly bright colors and matching hats. Most of the time the fights were about or over women.

Who's that whispering in the trees?

It's two sailors and they're on leave.

Pipes and chains and swingin' hands.

Who's your daddy? Yes I am.

The drum solo to start the song preps you for the swing vibe which is pulled into full swing with the blaring horn section. Throughout the song the piano and horns create a dancing atmosphere that makes you want to get up and dance to the beats of drummer Tim Donahue. Altogether, it's a very well written song with great music and the catchy lyrics and stunning vocals to go along provided by Steve Perry.

All this, and more, is why I have named the Cherry Poppin' Daddies the Artist of the Month of February

Puff the Magic Gold Medal-winning Olympic Swimmer

Editor's Note: After talking to my friend K-Wal I have come up with the perfect defense for Phelps and everyone else involved. "It's weed. It's college. It happens."

So there's this guy who won a couple gold medals, or whatever, at this thing called the Olympics at some point during the summer. Not sure if you heard about it or anything but this man, Michael Phelps, is kind of a big deal in certain parts of the universe. Somebody decided to take a picture of him while he was hitting the bong at a party and BOOM! The media goes crazy!

The picture below compares Phelps, the infamous bong picture and my friend K-Wal. This picture could be either one of these guys.


Seriously, I understand why some people care, but he's still young. He's a 23! he's still up for parties and doing stupid things, and I say who cares. I know, I know. He's a role-model for today's youths and an All-American icon and so on and so forth but he's still a young guy. The picture could be of anyone that slightly resembles Phelps, but he had the balls to come out and say, "yes that is me". That takes a lot. Where other people (like Roger Clemens) keep denying things that we know as true, he came right out and was honest. Isn't that a good thing? Isn't that a value to teach children? Fess up when you make a mistake, apologize and move on. I believe so.

I guess it is best left to the word's of Seth Meyers from SNL on 02/07/09.

Clip of the Week

Each week, I plan on picking a clip from a TV show or commercial or anything I find funny or entertaining.

For the first Clip of the Week I thought this SNL Digital Short was great...cause it's on a boat! Mother f*cker!

Baseball and Steroids

I remember the day Mark McGuire broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record. I remember when Barry Bonds one-uped Hank Aaron for career home runs. I remember these things. These were not just about baseball. Everybody seemed to wait on the edge of their seats for the next homerun. And what did these feats have in common with each other besides being some of my childhood memories? Steroids/HGH and other performance enhancers. Sosa, Bonds, McGuire and now...A-Rod.

It doesn't surprise me that A-Rod used steroids. In fact back then, in 2003, it was kind of difficult to imagine he wasn't using them. He went from a skinny rookie with the Mariners to a bulked up home run hitting Ranger, and only after he left Texas he started to slim down to a more "natural" bulk with the Yanks. The difference is visual in both person and looking at the stats. He was always a good hitter hitting a fair amount of homeruns, but, like Barry Bonds, he went from a normal amount to a huge amount in a little time.

Again, I'm not surprised to hear A-Rod tested positive for steroids in 2003. There were no penalties for testing positive at the time. They tested him, and many other ball players, to see if testing for steroids was something they should make manditory. Of course players are going to do everything they "legally" can to give themselves an edge. And as long as steroids were "legal", certain players would be, and did, using them to get the edge it took to hit those homeruns and become that power-hitting bat in the lineup.

So, I say it's no surprise that A-Rod used steroids, but it's still a disappointment. That year, he won the AL MVP award and hit the most homeruns. The question is, without the steroids, would he still have done so well at that time in his career, which would ultimately land him on the Yankees with the biggest pay-day at the time. But this raises up the steroid case again. Should players who have used steroids, or other performance enhancing drugs, be allowed to continue playing? Should they be allowed in the Hall of Fame? Should they're accomplishments still be recognized even if they were "on something" at the time? If so, should there be an asterisk next to their names and accomplishments? More than anything the biggest question is what has this done to baseball?

Now people are looking at some of the feats accomplished by men like Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens and just don't see the same ball players we watched in awe just a few years back. Ten years ago, if someone told me McGuire, Sosa or Clemens wasn't going to be in the Hall of Fame I would have laughed at them and pointed out the amazing things they had done over their career. But now? Now I would agree and say that, even though they did such remarkable things, they did not do them to the best of their natural ability, but to their enhanced unnatural abilities. It's a sad day for baseball to see a player, even one I no longer like, who could possibly become the greatest homerun hitter in the entire world, never mind the MLB, not make it into the Hall of Fame because of steroids. And even though I still like some of those players who admitted to steroid use, baseball has been violated by the men who "loved" the game.

Greatest Show on Earth!

There you have it folks! The Super Bowl XLIII Champion are the Pittsburgh Steelers after a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals! And if you're not from Pittsburgh then I'm guessing you don't give a crap, and thats ok, because neither do I. As soon as the Patriots, and my beloved Jaguars, were out of the playoffs I've been rooting for the Cardinals. Not because I like all their players. Not because I like Arizona. Not because I thought they could do it, but because I thought they couldn't. I thought they didn't stand a chance of making it past the Falcons! Nevermind making it to the Super Bowl. But congrats to them anyway. Great team but just couldn't get it together enough to beat Big ben and the Steelers.

As great as the Super Bowl was, the commercials are what I was most interested in. No, I'm not one of those people that watches just the commercials. I love the game of football, but a game between two teams I really don't care for either way just doesn't matter. In all, the commercials were good. Being a movie buff I loved seeing the previews for Year One, Transformers 2, the Will Ferrell comedy Land of the Lost, Fast and Furious, the Dan Brown novel adaptation Angels and Demons, and Dreamworks Monsters vs. Aliens. I also enjoyed many of the other commercials like GoDaddy.com, the E*Trade baby, Hulu, the Bud Light meeting, the Coca-Cola heist and the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head Firestone commercials but my favorite (and runner-up) are posted below.

I guess I just really enjoy the physical comedy and the way all the guys take the pain like a man and our comforted by a cold beverage. The only way I would have liked this commercial more is if it was a beer commercial with the guys having a nice Budweiser afterwards. I give it a 4 out of 5. But this one by Teleflora takes the cake...

Talking flowers are always humorous, but insulting flowers that rip a girl apart on Valentine's Day and tell her "No one wants to see you naked", well that's down right hilarious. The reaction in her face makes it all worth it especially when the other office workers walk away except for Gary> Gary, most likely the office creep, tries to cheer her up but comes off as creepy anyways. It was effective in making me remember the funny commercial, and now I even know where to get good fresh, hand delivered, non-boxed flowers if I want to get a girl flowers. 5 out of 5! Thanks Teleflora! (this blog is not brought to you by Teleflora but sure wishes it was so I could make some money off of it)

All in all, it was a nice night with plenty of hard-hitting football action, humourous commercials, good trailers for movies I will lost likely see and like and a good dayoff from my life of sitting around and doing nothing!

Artist of the Month of January

Each second Wednesday of the month I will select an artist, either an old-beloved artist/band or a new one no one has heard of, or atleast very little people have heard of. As it's January, almost February, I want to get a quick one out there to test out my idea.

Aerosmith

Being a Boston boy, I feel it's only right to name Aerosmith as my first official Band/Artist of the Month. The band's of the 70's were about rockin' out and having a blast and Aerosmith epitomizes that 70's lifestyle that the Eagles once said is like living life "in the fastlane." "The Bad Boys of Boston" include Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford, Joe Perry and the ever recognizable Steven Tyler. With blues-based hard rock songs like "Same Old Song and Dance" Aeromsith burst on the music scene in the early-to-mid-70's. Other songs I recommend listening to: the first Top 40 song for Aerosmith "Sweet Emotion", the ever popular and always amazing "Walk This Way", the hauntingly beautiful "Dream On", the 80's-tastic "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" which always makes me think of Mrs. Doubtfire , and my personal favorite "Love In an Elevator". With hits like those, and many more, it's no wonder, to myself atleats, that I pick them as the first artist of the month.

Let's Try This Again, Shall We?

Ok! So I didn't do a very good job of keeping up with my blogging at all, considering my last entry was in the first couple months of 2008, but I plan on changing that very soon. I think I'll stay away from stuff like "Guitar Gods" and go in a new direction. I'm not sure what the direction is yet, but as soon as I know, whoever happens to be reading this will know as well. Alright, that's that. Here's my second first-entry, we'll see where I go from here.