Manual Comics

So yesterday I stumbled across this great indie comic book website called Manual Comics. Which features some very good eComics(that's what he calls them). After going thru most of the stuff on the site I come to realize that the creator of these comics is actually a bartender at my favorite bar here in Hoboken, NJ called Louise & Jerry's. I do remember at some point him saying that he draws but I had no idea how good he was, boy was I surprised when I found his site and saw some of his work. So, if you have a few minutes to spare I highly recommending you go check out Manual Comics.


On a side note why is it that everything slightly associated with the internet or computers has to have an e or and i in front of it? You got the iPod, eMac, eCards, eComics, iRiver, iTunes, eMail, etc.....? Ok that's my not so rant for today, just like I said go check out Manual Comics, run don't walk there but don't run if you have a pencil in your hand you might poke your eye out.

Monk-E-Mail

Have you ever wanted to send someone a message in the form of a talking chimp, well than I have the site for you. Career builders Monk-E-Mail lets you send a message to anyone you want in the guise of a talking chimp. You can either pick from a pre-recorded message, type your own message or even record your own message via phone. What more can someone ask for in life.

Stop monkeying around and go check it out now and go bananas!

Who is Meany•Quinn?

Who is Meany•Quinn, The weekend warrior? Well I don't know for sure but he does like to skateboard and goes bowling. He also has a penchant for haikus.

Meany•Quinn

*DISCLAIMER*Meany••Quinn is produced by a friend of mine and he didn't pay me to plug Meany•Quinn I did it out of the goodness of my heart, so go check out Meany•Quinn!

A Pittsburgh web series

So about a couple weeks ago I got an email from this guy Erik asking me to pimp this web series that he stars in. Well since I'm such a nice guy here I go. The web series that he stars in is called Something to be Desired, which is shot in Pittsburgh and is currently in its 4th season and puts out a new episode every Monday. Its about a group of deejays at a made up radio station and features their exploits. I honestly have to say that I haven't even watched it but Erik asked so nicely for me to plug it that I couldn't resist and also I had some time to waste. So with that said if you have some time to waste also, check out Something to be Desired, and let me know if it is really something to be desired.

If you have a product, website, blog or anything else that you would want me to plug/link on my heavily trafficked blog(note the sarcasm) feel free to email me. Also a small donation(see sidebar for info) for me doing so would be greatly appreciated anything from a quater up to a million dollars would be greatly appreciated, although a donation isn't required for me to plug/link your blog but it would be nice. If you do send a donation along with your request for me to plug what ever it is that you want me to plug, don't necessarily expect a favourable review just because you sent me a donation. If I don't like your whatever it is, I won't lie, but like they say there is no such thing as bad press.

Plagiarism: an experiment

So my experiment of plagiarism blogs is over. The 3 blogs that I had plagiarised this week actually got twice as many hits than my original blogs usually do. I'm not sure if it had to do with the subject matter or just the fact that they were better written than mine usually are. What ever it was it was an interesting thing to do and it was a time saver, so if your pressed for time and don't now what to write just plagiarize someone's blog, hell feel free to plagiarize mine.

A plagiarised blog about The Black Keys

So as I've already done in my 2 previous blogs, this week I'm going to try a little experiment and not post any original blogs, instead I will plagiarize other people's blogs. You may ask yourself why I'm doing this, well you see my blog doesn't get any hits/visitors what so ever. I think yesterday I only got 1 hit on my blog and that was probably me checking my blog to see if I had any visitors(yes its a vicious circle). So my experiment is to see if it's my subject matter, my style of writing or is my blog just plain not interesting, so why should people bother visiting it and waste their time here while there are millions of other uninteresting blogs out their to visit. Also another reason I'm doing this is that I just don't have the time to keep on writing my own blogs this week(how do all you people do it?) so this is also a practical matter on my part.

So let the experiment proceed......

The Black Keys

The Black Keys released their latest album Magic Potion yesterday. It's right in line with Keys' albums of the past and just as good. It's do-it-yourself-lo-fi-hard-driving-blues-rock. It's their first album for Nonsuch Records. The Keys continue to garner critical acclaim, a growing fan base (which I will always be a part of) and recognition from their peers. They've opened for Beck, Sleater-Kinney and Radiohead, played Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Music Fest, and their music seems to be making its way into the commercial mainstream a little more each year. Two white boys from Akron, Ohio putting out some of the best blues-rock around. They do their forefathers and influences (John Lee Hooker, Cream, Jimi Hendrix) proud. The Black Keys' MySpace.

Interesting factoid: They named the band, not as a play on the name of the band The White Stripes, of whom they had not heard when they named themselves but are often compared to, but from inspiration of a schizophrenic artist friend in Akron, who used the term "black keys" to describe things he disliked or people he did not trust.

Older Works:

The Black Keys - Meet Me in the City
The Black Keys - 10 A.M. Automatic
The Black Keys - Have Love Will Travel
The Black Keys - Busted
The Black Keys - Heavy Soul

Rockstar: Supernova, an unoriginal blog

So as I said in my previous blog, this week I'm going to try a little experiment and not post any original blogs, instead I will plagiarize other people's blogs. You may ask yourself why I'm doing this, well you see my blog doesn't get any hits/visitors what so ever. I think yesterday I only got 1 hit on my blog and that was probably me checking my blog to see if I had any visitors(yes its a vicious circle). So my experiment is to see if it's my subject matter, my style of writing or is my blog just plain not interesting, so why should people bother visiting it and waste their time here while there are millions of other uninteresting blogs out their to visit. Also another reason I'm doing this is that I just don't have the time to keep on writing my own blogs this week(how do all you people do it?) so this is also a practical matter on my part.

So let the experiment proceed......

Rockstar Supernova: Week 11

The last week of the season. I hope I haven't alienated too many readers with all these guilty pleasure posts. Next week I'll return to my normal "overlooked artists that I like" kind of posting. :)

As always, mp3s are available at Jeepney Diaries. Check the sidebar for the link.

I had hoped that Zayra or Storm would be chosen for the ex-contestant encore. But as I hinted at in my last post, I'd been told that Ryan was returning.

Ryan Starr: Back of Your Car - It was okay, but nothing spectacular. I still want Ryan to go all Patrick Wolf/Beirut and go for some eclectic piano and brass eccentricity.

Toby Rand: Karma Police (originally by Radiohead) - I think Lukas would have been much more interesting on this song, but Toby did well...for Toby. :p My affection for his original aside, I still think his vocals are too inconsistent for serious songs. He had some nice notes on this one, but not enough to make it great overall.

Toby Rand (feat. Magni): Throw It All Away - As catchy as the song is, I'm already getting a little tired of it. Not sure I could take hearing it on the radio all the time. This was the weakest of the three times he's performed it. Still good, but not as good as before.

Lukas Rossi: Fix You (originally by Coldplay) - Not as good as I thought it would be, The new arrangement in the middle was a nice change, but the beginning and ending vocals were subpar compared to Jim Christian's cover or even the original. And you know I'm not a Coldplay fan.

Lukas Rossi: Headspin - I thought at the beginning it would be boring, but once he hit that high note I really loved it. It's too bad he so rarely uses the full potential of his voice like that. It was great.

Paula Abdul was in the audience?! Well, now we know where Jason Newsted has been getting his happy juice from...

Dilana: Roxanne (originally by The Police) - Now that's the Dilana I knew and loved in the beginning! If only she'd done something like that weeks ago. Going acoustic was risky, but it was a good choice. Having the guys sing backup was a bit much, though, and completely unnecessary. Her voice sounded awesome, very soulful. She seemed to have reclaimed some of her dignity on this one.

Dilana: Supersoul - And then she lost that dignity all over again. I kept thinking "Supersuck", then I switched the channel for a while. I don't know if it's just a bad fit for her voice or simply a crap song in general, but I couldn't listen to it a third time. She should have stopped with "Roxanne".

Magni: Hush (originally by Deep Purple) - His guitar and stage presence playing were great, but the vocals sounded a little off to me.

Magni: When the Time Comes - Meh. I like Magni a lot, but he can easily sound monotonous. Maybe rock is not the best genre for him.

As for the bottom two, I'm only certain that one of them will be Magni. Dilana will probably be the other one at the bottom, with Lukas, Toby, and Dilana being the final three.

I still think the final choice will come down to Lukas and Toby. After last night's performances, I think Lukas is the top runner. But I won't be surprised if Tommy Lee decides that Toby will be a better match for his band.

An experiment on not being original

So this week I'm going to try a little experiment and not post any original blogs, instead I will plagiarize other people's blogs. You may ask yourself why I'm doing this, well you see my blog doesn't get any hits/visitors what so ever. I think yesterday I only got 1 hit on my blog and that was probably me checking my blog to see if I had any visitors(yes its a vicious circle). So my experiment is to see if it's my subject matter, my style of writing or is my blog just plain not interesting, so why should people bother visiting it and waste their time here while there are millions of other uninteresting blogs out their to visit. Also another reason I'm doing this is that I just don't have the time to keep on writing my own blogs this week(how do all you people do it?) so this is also a practical matter on my part.

So let the experiment proceed......

Brick

Rialto Entertainment, 2005, rated M, 110 mins

I must admit to being skeptical when I approached this film: how could filmmakers so young make an homage to classic "noir" cinema that are so far removed from today's popular youth culture. I was very quickly transported by the film's sheer ingenuity, intelligence, wit and grace. It's far from being a set of Humphrey Bogart impressions, and, although it is set in an American high school, it is very far from being a typical high school movie as mainstream Hollywood makes them.

This is instead, a true delight, and as many critics have said, a true original. It is inspired by the writing of Dashiell Hammett and by great "noir" cinema - both old and new, like the Coen Brothers' MILLER'S CROSSING and Polanski's CHINATOWN, with which it holds its own ground very strongly.

Written and developed by a team of young filmmakers - led by writer/director Rian Johnson (his first feature) - over a nine-year period, the film was privately financed and was a true labour of love. Every detail rings true and it is very hard to fault the film's style or its intricate plotting.

The story begins when high school student, Brendan Frye, receives a distressed phone call from his ex-girlfriend who subsequently disappears. A loner with a sharp tongue and savage intellect, Brendan becomes consumed by the search for the troubled girl. The search takes him deep into the world of spoilt rich kids, drug dealers and violent sports-jocks. The plot, which is as complex as THE BIG SLEEP, is exhilarating in its unexpected twists and turns, and the action is constantly laced with genuine wit and humour.

The performances too are extraordinary. In the leading role is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, an experienced young actor from both television (3rd ROCK FROM THE SUN) and cinema, winning awards for his performance as the hustler in Gregg Araki's MYSTERIOUS SKIN. Among the supporting players is Emilie de Ravin, an Australian actress from the hit series, LOST. One of the very few adults in the cast is Richard Roundtree as the school's very worried assistant principal.

The film won a special award for "Originality of Vision" at the Sundance Film festival and has received glowing reviews everywhere. It was enthusiastically received at this year's Sydney Film Festival. I think it is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen for quite some time, so I hope you will make an effort to catch it.

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Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Writer: Rian Johnson

imdb review

Job wasting games

If you hate your job, raise your hand, stand up and scream at the top of your lungs that your mad as hell and can't take it anymore. Well if your like me and don't really want to draw that much attention to yourself than I might suggest you visit this website instead, addicting games. So instead of filling out that expense report or preparing for that power point presentation, go over to that website and play some puzzle games or even better yet shoot kittens out of a cannon.



Also in Rockstar: Supernova news, I think Toby is the front runner and just might win.

MTV VMAs

I don't know about you but I just don't get that excited about the MTV VMAs anymore. I flipped to it a couple times and the only time that it caught my attention was when The Raconteurs where playing but than MTV cut away from them to show backstage scenes. I was like hey what's going on, I guess The Raconteurs were just the house band or something like that. Aside from them I just wasn't interested in any of the other bands or acts that where playing. Now I know you might be saying oh your just some old fart that doesn't like popular music, and I to that would say your about half right. No I don't like the popular music that is featured on MTV nowadays, actually does MTV even play videos anymore? They must because they still have an awards show for them, except every time I click on MTV I see some reality show. Back to the popular music issue, I do like new music but it's just not featured on MTV, aside from Gnarles Barkley. Why can't MTV play stuff like Zero 7, Eagles of Death Metal, Peaches or Death From Above 1979?

Has MTV gotten dated and losing it's relevance? Do bands even need to have videos that are played on MTV? Just look at OK Go as an example, they made a video that was turned down by their record company so they just went ahead and put it on YouTube where it became a hit! MTV isn't the powerhouse in the music industry anymore, what with the internet any unsigned band/artist can have their music reach thousands of people all they need is an internet connection and a MySpace Page.

The one thing that I did catch on the MTV VMAs and gave me a chuckle on was that they had an award for most popular ringtone, I guess that's MTV's way of staying relevant in the world today.

I would love to hear what everyone else thinks.