New Video from Pain

The new Pain video for "Have A Drink On Me" Taken from the album "Cynic Paradise". These guys are industrial metal musical project from Sweden. Led by frontman Peter Tägtgren, whose idea was to fuse metal with techno influences, this is a bit of a different sound for them. I guess it's their drinking anthem so to speak.

Now Showing

Funny People

The Plot: When seasoned comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler) learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship inspires him to take a relatively green performer (Seth Rogen) under his wing as his opening act.
My Thoughts: It's directed by Judd Apatow and stars Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler and Jonah Hill... so what else is there to know? It's hard to tell from the previews if it's going to be really, really funny or just funny... but it will be entertaining either way as it's rated R so it's bound to be pretty filthy, as if you'd expect anything less from Apatow.

Aliens in the Attic

The Plot: In Maine, a group of teenagers must protect their vacation home from the aliens who have taken over the top floor of the dwelling.
My Thoughts: This actually looks like a pretty cute, fun little family film. The aliens look great. With G-Force and Ice Age all still in the theaters, there's plenty of family stuff this Summer for sure.



The Collector

The Plot: Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.
My Thoughts: There's been a lot of buzz on this film as director Marcus Dunstan wrote all 3 Feast films and 3 of the later Saw movies with Patrick Melton, also the co-writer on this. Another plus... Andrea Roth (Janet Gavin on Rescue Me) is in it and I so love her. The preview looks excellent also. I'm sold.

Beer Summit Scores

So Barrack Obama was bartender in a "beer summit" for a racially charged case that he hoped would be a "positive lesson" in a national dialogue on race. Personally I think that's a fantastic idea, but what I really care about was what beer they were drinking.

Barrack Obama - Bud Light... Seriously? The most powerful man in the free world just doesn't like taste and enjoys peeing a lot? Or is he just trying to be "everyman", since it is the most popular beer in America? Either way, his score from me is 3/10. I expected better. He's a big Chicago guy, why not a Goose Island brew? Pathetic. I would have suggested a Diamond Bear Presidental IPA personally.

Henry Gates - Sam Adams Light... Well, he did go with a better brewery as I have a lot of love for Sam Adams brews, but another light beer? What is it with light beers? Less filling, less calories... but the sacrifice is flavor. However, I'm giving this racist loudmouth a 5/10 for the effort. I'd have suggested a Sam Adams Summer Ale for him (and his mama).

Joe Biden - Buckler... Oh for the love of... a non-alcoholic beer? Did he wear panties to this summit also? Just have a glass of water sissy boy, leave the beer drinking to the men. Score for you... 0/10.

Sgt. James Crowley - Blue Moon... Well, it is from Coors, a macro brewery, but at least it's a good Summer beer and good flavored at that. Very well played Sergeant Crowley, you score an 8/10.

Your winner... the American people, beer lovers and Blue Moon sales reps.

Metallica Keeps It Fresh

Metallica played "Suicide & Redemption" the other night (July 27th) in Copenhagen, Denmark. It's the first time they've played the instrumental off of Death Magnetic live that I'm aware of. I love how the crowd "sings" along at one part. Awesome.

Did I mention I'm seeing Metallica again in December?

Yadi Gets ESPN Cover

Here's the new ESPN the Magazine cover with Cardinals' catch Yadier Molina on it. Below that I posted a pretty cool video about the cover shoot also. The story is called "Yadier Molina Knows Squat" and I'd link it here, but it's for ESPN Insiders only so unless you are one you better pick-up the print copy to read about baseball's best catcher. Well maybe you are an "ESPN Insider"? Well lah-tee-dah Mr. Big Time! Go read it online between your tea and crumpets!

It's nice to see the 2008 Gold Glover and 2009 All-Star get some more accolades. In the article there are a series of quotes from Jorge Posada, Brian McCann and Victor Martinez that echo the sentiment: The Cardinals’ catcher is the “best behind the plate.” He changes games with his cannon of an arm.

Naked Women Love Guitar Hero 5?

I guess that's the theme of this commercial? I'm not really sure. I do know that naked women can sell me about anything but they might want to, I dunno, show the actual game? Nah.

And the last 10 seconds of this commercial just ain't right. *shudders*



Oh, and for the record, here is the final tracklist for Guitar Hero 5 which hits stores on September 1st.

New Additions:

* 3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"
* Arctic Monkeys - "Brianstorm"
* Blink-182 - "The Rock Show"
* Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"
* Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American"
* Johnny Cash - "Ring Of Fire"
* Megadeth - "Sweating Bullets"
* M?tley Cr?e - "Looks That Kill"
* Muse - "Plug In Baby"
* Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
* Queen & David Bowie - "Under Pressure"
* Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
* The Killers - "All The Pretty Faces"
* The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"
* TV On The Radio - "Wolf Like Me"

Previously Announced:

* A Perfect Circle - "Judith"
* AFI - "Medicate"
* Attack! Attack! UK - "You And Me"
* Band Of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"
* Beastie Boys - "Gratitude"
* Beck - "Gamma Ray"
* Billy Idol - "Dancing With Myself"
* Billy Squier - "Lonely Is The Night"
* Blur - "Song 2"
* Bob Dylan - "All Along The Watchtower"
* Bon Jovi - "You Give Love A Bad Name"
* Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)"
* The Bronx - "Six Days A Week"
* Bush - "Comedown"
* Children Of Bodom - "Done With Everything, Die For Nothing"
* Coldplay - "In My Place"
* Darker My Love - "Blue Day"
* Darkest Hour - "Demon(s)"
* David Bowie - "Fame"
* Deep Purple - "Woman From Tokyo ('99 Remix)"
* The Derek Trucks Band - "Younk Funk"
* The Duke Spirit - "Send A Little Love Token"
* Duran Duran - "Hungry Like The Wolf"
* Eagles Of Death Metal - "Wannabe In L.A."
* Elliott Smith - "L.A."
* Elton John - "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)"
* Face To Face - "Disconnected"
* Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"
* Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc."
* Gov't Mule - "Streamline Woman"
* Grand Funk Railroad - "We're An American Band"
* Iggy Pop - "Lust For Life (Live)"
* Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes To Midnight"
* Jeff Beck - "Scatterbrain (Live)"
* John Mellencamp - "Hurts So Good"
* Kaiser Chiefs - "Never Miss A Beat"
* King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"
* Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire"
* Kiss - "Shout It Out Loud"
* Love and Rockets - "Mirror People"
* My Morning Jacket - "One Big Holiday"
* Nirvana - "Lithium (Live)"
* No Doubt - "Ex-Girlfriend"
* Peter Frampton - "Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)"
* The Police - "So Lonely"
* Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde - "Bring the Noise 20XX"
* Queens Of The Stone Age - "Make It Wit Chu"
* Rammstein – "Du Hast"
* The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"
* Rose Hill Drive - "Sneak Out"
* Rush - "The Spirit Of Radio (Live)"
* Santana - "No One To Depend On (Live)"
* Scars On Broadway - "They Say"
* Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You"
* Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
* Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"
* Spacehog - "In The Meantime"
* Sublime - "What I Got"
* Sunny Day Real Estate - "Seven"
* T. Rex - "20th Century Boy"
* The Sword - "Maiden, Mother & Crone"
* Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak"
* Thrice - "Deadbolt"
* Tom Petty - "Runnin' Down A Dream"
* Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "American Girl"
* Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
* Weezer - "Why Bother?"
* The White Stripes - "Blue Orchid"
* Wild Cherry - "Play That Funky Music"
* Wolfmother - "Back Round"

New Video From The Used

Here's a pretty cool video from The Used. Apparently their lead singer is killing pedophiles who troll the Internet. Sweet! The song is "Blood On My Hands".

Hump Day Funnies

Juke Box Hero, Got Stars in His Eyes

This kid absolutely rocking the heck out of Foreigner's "Juke Box Hero" makes me smile. Little dude really gets into this thing. Move over Lou Gramm.

Evander Holifield vs Horse

To generate interest in boxing, which is losing ground to UFC and wrestling, Evander Holifield will box a horse for heavyweight title.


Evander Holyfield To Box Horse For Heavyweight Title

Guess Who's Back?

Well, not yet. But on Sept. 27th the best show on TV, "Dexter", is back on Showtime. This cool preview for the new season has popped up online so check it out. John Lithgow has joined the cast playing a serial-killer and Dexter is now a happily married man with a new little Dex. Should be interesting.

Cards Need to Reload

I'll be in St. Louis this coming weekend to see my team, the new look STL Cardinals, play. But in the meantime my favorite AA baseball team, the Springfield Cardinals, comes to town tomorrow night to play so I'll be out at the park for the next 3 nights seeing what's left of the ravaged Cardinals' farm system. Oh I loved the trades they made and all 3 guys they've acquired lately (so don't get me wrong as I'm happy with the "win now" philosophy and sort of in shock that they're going for it) but they've totally raped the farm system. Don't believe me? Check this out.

According to Baseball America, going into the season here was the top 10 prospects in the organization and what's up now:

1. Colby Rasmus, OF — playing for St. Louis (.259 - 11 HR - 34 RBI)
2. Brett Wallace, 3B — traded to Oakland for Matt Holliday
3. Chris Perez, P — traded to Cleveland for Mark DeRosa
4. Jess Todd, P — traded to Cleveland for Mark DeRosa
5. Bryan Anderson, C — injured
6. Clayton Mortensen, P – traded to Oakland for Matt Holliday
7. Daryl Jones, OF — AA Springfield
8. Jason Motte, P — playing for St. Louis (3 wins - 4 losses - 5.70 ERA)
9. David Freese, 3B — AA Springfield
10. Pete Kozma, SS — AA Springfield

Yeah, that's going to make it really tricky to make next year's top 10 I'm guessing. 4 guys got traded, 2 are with the big leagues, 1 is injured and that leaves 3 of the top 10 for the whole minor league system... all at Springfield. That makes it convenient for me to see them all in one place I guess.

The cubbard isn't bare though. Who's next? Maybe...

* Jarrett Hoffpauir, 2B - AAA Memphis (.295, 11, 37... only struck out 19 times this year)

* Allen Craig, 1B/OF - AAA Memphis (.286, 14, 49)

* Tyler Green, SS - AAA Memphis (.277, 6, 20... 19 stolen bases)

* Royce Ring, LHP - AAA Memphis (5-1, 2.29 ERA)

* Adron Chambers, CF - A (advanced) Palm Beach (.297, 1, 34... 12 triples, 19 SB)

* Trey Hearne, RHP - AA Springfield (10-3, 3.06 ERA)

El Hombre Lobos

Here's a very cool, very original band called Eels that played on Jimmy Kimmel Live the other night. This is their song "Tremendous Dynamite". If you're not familiar with these guys, you should check out their CD "Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. I". It spans the first decade of the stuff with singles from all their albums and a DVD featuring music videos and such. You'll be happy you did, they're a great band.

Sunday Funnies

Heads Up!

Sometimes I just can't think of anything to post, so I fall back on the ole faithful "idiot walking into glass and smashing his face, then acting like nothing happened" video. The best part of this one? The sound of this doosh doing his vertical faceplant. Beautiful.

Another Hardcore Superstar Video

Yet another video of a cool song from Swedish sleeze rockers Hardcore Superstar, this one for the title cut of the new CD "Beg For It". Go buy this CD if you haven't already. Or download it. Or whatever the kids do nowadays.



Here's the video for "Into Debauchery" as well.

New Movies... 0 for 3

This weekend looks like a perfect opportunity for me to go see a couple of films from the last month that I've missed, because of the 3 new ones coming out I see nothing special. One is for the kiddos, one is formulaic date movie and one is formulaic creepy kid film. But what the hell, let's have a looksee:

G-Force

The Plot: A specially trained squad of guinea pigs is dispatched to stop a diabolical billionaire from taking over the world.
My Thoughts: This actually looks pretty cute. Disney movies like this are never a bad way to spend a little time out of the house with the kids. You might also be playing this repeatedly around the holidays I have a feeling.



Orphan

The Plot: After their unborn baby dies, Kate and John Coleman (Farmiga and Sarsgaard) decide to adopt a child as a hopeful way to bring some joy and normalcy into their lives. Esther (Fuhrman), a 9-year-old orphan, captivates the couple, and comes home to live with them, though a strange sequence of events follows Esther's arrival, who's angelic façade might mask sinister intentions.
My Thoughts: C'mon, hasn't this creepy kid thing been done to death? And just last year we had Joshua, which looks extremely similar, and also The Orphanage. At least let a few years pass. I'll wait on the DVD thanks. I'm sure adoption agencies will love it though.



The Ugly Truth

The Plot: A macho morning TV show correspondent (Butler) makes a bet with his love-challenged producer (Heigl): If his tips on how to land and keep a guy don't work, he'll quit the business. But while he coaches her through a fledgling romance, can he avoid falling for her, and vice versa?
My Thoughts: Katherine Heigl is super hot and for the ladies there's Gerard Butler, but I'm guessing the ladies are all that are going to want to see this predictable looking chick flick. Do you think they'll get together in the end somehow?!?! Oh it's just too dreamy to fathom! *puke*

How The West Was Drunk

Just try and tell me these cowhide koozies aren't the greatest invention since... well... since the beer pouch maybe.

You can buy these little guys right here for the low, low price of $15 and they say they'll keep your brew at 40 degrees or below for 35 minutes, and look damn cool doing it. They also go on to say they're "structured with cutaways at the base so you can easily flatten the lil' suckers and stick 'em in your back pocket and then you're off to the rodeo/tractor pull/mullet toss... or wherever a freebird like yourself may roam."

Sold!!



For the record, they also have them to cover your iPhone and iPod.

Southern Brand Company Store

Note To Breweries... Can It!

Sheesh. When the Summer started and I got the boat all ready to go out on and soak up the sun and fun I never really considered how tricky it would be to drink decent beer. What I mean is that I don't want to take bottles out, for obvious reasons, and I still like to drink beer that doesn't taste like flavored water. Sounds so simple. It's not. Sure I've had my share of Bud Light Lime or Miller Chill or Bud Light to quench a bit on the hot days but c'mon, I'm talking about real beer. Good beer. The closest I could find was the imported from Mexico beer, Tecate, in cans around here. It's a drinkable cervesa, but far from a good craft beer.

And why not put it in cans? They’re the most recycled beverage container and they’re infinitely recyclable and because of their light weight, cans are less fuel-consuming to ship. So the taste? The aluminum is coated with a a water-based coating so the luscious liquid never touches the metal. Oh, and they fit in the koozy better. Plus, if you drop one all the barefoot people don't bitch about pulling little shards of glass out of their feet all day. Lastly, with limited trash space on the boat and sometimes as many as 6 or 8 people... empty bottles would complete overload us. Crush the cans when done and presto... up to 100 empties in a trash bag with ease!

Finally last year though, New Belgium Brewery in Colorado started putting an old friend, Fat Tire, in cans. Sadly I never saw them here last year at all, but I finally found them here and it's been my staple lake beer ever since. I am forever in dept to them for their greatness and I'm sure they distribute these here now specifically to keep me stocked up. Don't worry, I am. Did I mention cans fit perfectly in the little beer crisper they put in the bottom of fridges?

There's another awesome brewery out of Colorado (ever notice most of the good breweries are there?) called Oskar Blues that was really the first craft brewery to embrace the wonder of canned beer and they have an awesome line-up of cans. Sadly, the nearest place I've been able to find them is about 5 hours away. Perhaps a big road trip to stock up is in store soon. I've only tried one of them, Dale's Pale Ale, but it was quite tasty and just to have more options would be nice. They also have Old Chub (Scottish strong ale), Gordon (strong ale) and Ten FIDY (Imperial Stout). I love their motto as well... Oskar Blues: saving the world and your taste buds at the same time. Awesome.

Lastly, Breckenridge Brewery recently introduced Avalanche Ale, easily one of my favorite beers ever, in 12 oz. aluminum cans. I think it's only going to be local around, you guessed it, Colorado! Those bastards get everything. The quote from someone at the brewery in their press release even said "Whether its boating, camping or concert-going, we put Avalanche Ale in cans so that our customers could take their favorite brew with them wherever they go." My question is just this... what the hell took so long?

When will every brewery jump on this bandwagon, or boat? I'm going to begin my email writing campaign so by next Summer if you see a bunch of cans added, you can thank me.

Other canned beer options that don't suck:

* Heineken

* Guinness

* Fuller's London Pride

* Young's Double Chocolate Stout (I know they have this in cans, but I haven't seen it anywhere... excellent beer for the record)

* Boddingtons

Harry Potter and the Almighty Dollar

Well the Transformers may still be dominating overall at the box office, but Harry Potter is giving them a run for their money it looks like. In just 7 days, the new Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has taken in $413,457,914 worldwide. That's a pretty awesome number for a 7-day haul, but it's still a ways from the $766,361,084 has taken in world wide since it's release 4 weeks ago. Could be interesting if Potter has legs.

Here's the domestic box office Top 10 for 2009 now:

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $367,614,540
2. Up - $280,774,310
3. Star Trek - $253,359,387
4. The Hangover - $238,206,804
5. Monsters Vs. Aliens - $197,556,095
6. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - $179,259,846
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - $177,457,914
8. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - $172,081,582
9. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - $157,622,050
10. Fast and Furious - $155,064,265

For the record, the last couple of Potter films have topped out around $290 mil domestic. With the good reviews and nothing of a real threat opening this coming weekend, that shouldn't be too tough for Half-Prince to beat. In fact, Sorcerer's Stone and it's $317 mil take could be in danger as the top grossing of the series. We'll see I guess.

I'm doing better at least in my Summer movie watching.. I've gotten off my butt and went out to see 4 out of the top 10. Hooray me. Hey, I've been busy this Summer (to say the least).

Movie Review: The Haunting In Connecticut

Synopsis: After a family is forced to relocate to, you guessed it, Connecticut for their son's health, they begin experiencing supernatural behavior in their new home, which turns out to be a former mortuary.

So you get the good ole "based on true events" stamp on this one, which immediately led to believe that it's completely fictional. If you do any research on the back story of the Snedeker family, on whom this is based, you'll see pretty much everybody involved admits as such. I read the book In a Dark Place quite a few years back and found it to be an excellent haunted house type tale though, so I thought this film might have a chance to be good. Unfortunately, I found it to be a letdown.

It starts out with some creepy promise during the set-up, but then just falls into way too many haunted house movie cliches and relies on jump-scare tactics and special effects. I also found the dialogue to be pretty week and it made it seem like the actors were all doing poorly, which maybe they were. Lastly, what I probably liked the least, was that the story had some potential but they gave away too much too soon, which really sucked all the suspense out of it. This is probably why they relied so much on the jump-scares. I was intrigued but so early on they gave away so much that a kindergartner could have figured out what was happening, and so it became anticlimactic.

What's to like? Well, it's creepy and the jump-scares are good at least. A lot of this is due to a good score that helps build some scenes well and sets a nice tone. The movie looks good as the cinematography is top notch I thought, as are the make-up and visual effects, which helped provide some really good scary images.

Overall, it's not a total disappointment and might be good for a rental on a dark night when you feel like getting a shock or 2, but it could have been so much more, given the source material and budget. So I suggest you go read In A Dark Place (by Ray Garton) for some good creepiness, it doesn't disappoint (whether it's true or not).

5/10

2 Tough Women Break New Ground

If you'd have told me a few years ago that I could even get excited about a women's MMA bout I'd have called you a liar. I've come a long way, as has the women's side of the sport. Now Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg will make history as the first women to headline a televised MMA event, August 15th on Showtime, and the match-up is one everyone's been waiting for. Especially me. Not just because I think Gina is smokin' hot either, but because this is gonna be a helluva fight between 2 great fighters.

Here's a little preview video to help the hype.

Carano vs. Cyborg: Strikeforce MMA on Showtime:


Oh by they way, the dudes will lock it up too. There are some really good fights on the card, including 3 title fights (although I'm hearing Overeem is injured and my not fight?).

* Champ Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez (for Strikeforce world lightweight title)
* Champ Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum (for Strikeforce world heavyweight title)
* Nick Diaz vs. Joe Riggs (for vacant Strikeforce world welterweight title)

Darren McFadden Commercials

I posted the video for the commercial at the bottom of this last year and thought I'd go back and add former Arkansas Razorback Darren McFadden's Super Bowl commercial from this year to the post and re-post it. See now you have them in 1 handy place for your viewing and googling pleasure. Woo Pig!



And here’s McFadden’s Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial for the Nike Throwback Cleat. "Do not attempt". Is that really necessary? Yes, it probably is. It's a sad world we live in.

Get Yer New On

Believe it or not, there are more CDs out than just Michael Jackson CDs. How is he still dominating the charts? Oh I understand that people go nuts when somebody dies, but what I'm saying is how didn't people who supposedly love the guy so much not already have his albums? Hell I'm just what I'd call a casual fan and I had Thriller, Bad, Invincible and HIS-Story (greatest hits). I didn't need to rush out and buy all sorts of stuff. I did add some songs from those CDs to my iPod though that I didn't have on there. Maybe some people are just discovering his music? Whatever. Death is good for the music industry. Sadly that's what it takes sometimes to get people to remember how talented someone is/was, and despite his oddness the dude was mega-talented.

So anyway... new stuff today!

* Lovehammers ~ "Heavy Crown" CD

* Our Lady Peace ~ "Burn Burn" CD (see more here)

* Sugar Ray ~ "Music for Cougars" CD (their first new studio CD in 6 years)

* Stryper ~ "Murder By Pride" CD

* Watchmen DVD (reviewed here)

* Coraline DVD (reviewed here)

* Messengers 2: The Scarecrow DVD (cheesy-looking horror sequel)

Metallica... Here I Go Again

So after searching through the memory banks, ticket stubs and this here Internets, I've decided that I've seen Metallica only 4 times, despite that it seems like many more. I guess I took a pretty long break after seeing them the first time:

May 4th, 1986
Memphis Tennessee @ Mid South Coliseum
Damage Inc Tour with Ozzy Osbourne

They opened the show and frankly, without videos or radio play, all I'd seen of them by that point was some stories in Hit Parader and Circus magazine. I was going to see Ozzy (just after Randy's death by the way) and they came out and blew me away though and I began buying their CDs (albums). But then for whatever reason I didn't see them again until this show:

Aug 3rd, 2003
Irving Texas @ Texas Stadium
Summer Sanitarium Tour with Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, deftones and Mudvayne

It was a massive outdoor, stadium show and it was hot as all hell. It was also an insane day of music to say the least. Not too long after that I caught them (from the floor right in front of the stage) in my city with another band I really like:

May 15th, 2004
Little Rock Arkansas @ Alltel Arena
Madly In Anger Tour with Godsmack

Here's the set list from that night:

Blackened
Fuel
Harvester Of Sorrow
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Frantic
Holier Than Thou
No Leaf Clover
St. Anger
Sad But True
Creeping Death
Battery
I Disappear
Nothing Else Matters
Master Of Puppets
One
Enter Sandman
The Wait
The Four Horsemen

We got the rare playing of "No Leaf Clover" and 2 songs from St. Anger from that set list. I actually had a backstage pass to that show, but only 1, and I had floor tickets and was taking a girl so I didn't go backstage. Had an awesome time though. Then came this show last year:

Nov 22nd, 2008
Little Rock Arkansas @ Alltel Arena
World Magnetic Tour with Down and The Sword

And they played this set list:

That Was Just Your Life
The End of the Line
Creeping Death
Ride The Lightning
One
Broken, Beat & Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Wherever I May Roam
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Blackened
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Die Die My Darling
Whiplash
Seek and Destroy

Another great show with a lot of older stuff, nothing from St. Anger and 5 songs from the newest CD, Death Magnetic.

So that brings us to this year. I've got show tickets (sold out already) and a plane ticket for this baby:

December 5th, 2009
Las Vegas Nevada @ Mandalay Bay
with Machine Head

Sadly, I've got to wait 5 months now, but I'll start getting geeked for it in a few months when the footballs start flying. I mean seriously, freakin' Metallica on a Saturday night on the Vegas strip? The Day That Never Comes indeed.

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Synopsis: As Harry Potter begins his 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he discovers an old book marked mysteriously "This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince" and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort's dark past.

Snogging, drugs, occult and murder... that might sum up the latest installment of the Potter series. Perhaps a more suitable name might have been Harry Potter and the Hormones of Hogwarts. It's definitely moved out of the little kid tales and into a more mature, dark series that features all the little Hogwart's wizards now going to a pub and drinking some brews, trying to "snog" one another and more drugs than a Grateful Dead concert. Oh sure, they call them "potions" but c'mon, my pharmacist makes a lot of potions too. At one point some girl trying to snog Harry delivers some candy laced with PCP or something (they call it a "love potion", but so is tequila) and poor Ron eats it all, then totally trips out. Harry and a teacher save him with, you guessed it, another drug, then they celebrate with liquor... at which point poor young Mr. Weasley nearly OD's. Later, Harry takes a drug and spends the next 10 minutes tripping out as the theater erupts in laughter. There are also whispers and hints of performance inhancing drugs and spells at a certain Quiddich match. The horror! Oh yeah, there are beatdowns and violence a plenty as well too. They should have been an official sponsor of UFC 100.

But enough of all that. Did I like it? Well I am a fan of the movies (never read a single book) and knew that this chapter was supposed to deliver, and it did. There's not an end really but it leaves it sort of where The Empire Strikes Back or the 2nd Pirates of the Johnny Depp left things, just waiting on the sequel. So it felt unfinished but that was expected. It did deliver plenty of magical moments, lots of the special effects you've come to expect and all of the characters millions have paid to see time and time again now grown up enough to show feelings and emotions. At times for me though, it was too much emotion. I could have done with less teen angst and more magic.

Definitely only for the people who have follwed the series, all-in-all it's another fine Harry Potter movie and does what it's supposed to, and that's to set-up the grand finale.

7.5/10

Let's Do Another Week

The weather in Arkansas this weekend was perfect for the middle of July. No humidity, nice breeze... just awesome. I spent a lot of time on my deck and of course I went to the lake on Saturday all day and spent yesterday actually not minding yard work for a change. I also caught a matinee of the new Harry Potter film, which I'll post my review for later today, and a couple of other flicks.

I got tickets for UFC 103 in Dallas in September as well, my 2nd UFC event. They don't even have a main event yet, but there are lots of rumors about a Rich Franklin vs Tito Ortiz fight topping the card, which really gets me pumped. Regardless of the main event, I'm there. Already on the card are Cro Cop, Tyson Griffin, Sean Sherk, Cole Miller (thanks for killing Junie!) and the fights Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick and Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg. Should be an awesome time. I'm taking the Friday off even to make weigh-ins and check out all the fun again.

There's rumors of a December UFC pay-per-view in Memphis as well, so this could be a great year for me attending events, especially considering I've already been to one fantastic Strikeforce event.

To get your week started, how about you check out the video for "Dead Girls Are Easy" from Finnish band The 69 Eyes. Their new CD "Back In Blood" is out Fall via Nuclear Blast Records.

Newest From Our Lady Peace

The Canadian band Our Lady Peace's new CD is out this week and here's the video for the first single from it "All You Did Was Save My Life":

All You Did Was Save My Life


The video, directed by Scott Weintrob was shot in Ancaster, Canada and was released on May 24. Actress Shenae Grimes makes an appearance in the video.

Sunday Funnies