Sucks and Rules 2

Sucks: Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood -- Out Louder (Indirecto)

In typical MMW (and now MSMW) fashion, this album opens up with a rip roaring track. The last album "End of the World Party (Just In Case)" had no redeeming characteristics, while the album before it "Uninvisible" consisted of the title track (good song) and every other track (crap). The new album "Out Louder" has the track "Little Walter Rides Again", a rocking guitar jam that promises great things that the rest of the album can't deliver on. MSMW spend the rest of the album rehashing tired hippie jazz cliches, and the album falls flat. The biggest plus to the album is that the CD book is printed on 100% recycled paper. Unfortunately, aside from the covers (by Peter Tosh and the Beatles) the material is built of recycled or rehashed MMW material shifted around to fit in a jazz giant in Scofield, and the album isn't nearly as good as it could be.
























Rules: Peter Brotzmann, Joe McPhee, Kent Kessler and Michael Zerang -- Tales Out of Time(Hatology)

If you see the names Brotzmann and McPhee, run (don't walk) to wherever the two titans are. This release isn't new (it is from 2004). However, since I just bought the album and since McPhee is playing with The Thing at the Hideout in Chicago in two weekends, I will give the album a thumbs up.

The program is a mix of standards, originals and free ballads. The originals are composed by McPhee and Brotzmann, and the standard is a Mingus-derived "Blessed Assurance" that features Brotzmann honking while McPhee arpeggiates and Zerang and Kessler provide an intricately textured rhythmic support under the beautiful chaos.

Mo Money, Mo Problems

Above is the look of ecstasy and joy that comes from being named the father of the little bundle of money...err, joy Dannielynne. Congratulations on your success, and may I never hear the name Birkhead or Anna Nicole in the news ever again.

In real news, a throng of protesters loyal to Moktada al-Sadr demonstrated against American occupation in Iraq on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. Unlike Americans, Iraqis have in fact discovered the fringe benefits of free speech and the right to demonstrate. Like Americans, they will also learn that President Bush is not listening.

The L.A. Times reporter Borzou Daragahi wrote a tremendous story detailing the last 4 and 1/2 years the reporter has spent in Iraq. He details the trials and tribulations spent by a reporter working to tell the stories of Iraqis in the war zones and inform the public in the United States. With everybody overly critical of MSM (mainstream media), it is good to see evidence of the value of real journalists who do news work for the public good (i.e. not bloggers and not the pundits).

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced today that Iran plans to produce nuclear fuel on an industrial level, drawing sharp criticism from opponents of Iran's nuclear ambitions. President Ahmadinejad claims the materials will be used for energy needs and not weapons. That remark has been considered the biggest bomb (all puns intended) since Don Imus became a women's basketball commentator. Last week's hostage issue was the number one story of this week according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, keeping the focus on Iran.

On the other side of the Axis of Evil, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson enjoyed a tour of the U.S.S. Pueblo, a naval vessel captured by North Korea in the 1960s. Richardson, who is also a Democratic candidate for President, described the presentation as unpleasant propaganda, much the same way that Rupert Murdoch describes the movie "Outfoxed."

In trade issues, the United States has filed suit against China because of alleged widespread piracy of American movies, music, books and software in the country. This is a terrible move, as without $2 copies of Hollywood blockbusters available at bodegas worldwide, I will probably never pay to see another film again.

Media news leads with the Don Imus developments. Imus is an ancient out-of-touch relic of a radio host who called the Rutgers women's basketball team some very unkind, racist names on his CBS show. He was called to the mat by Al Sharpton, who has an interesting racist history of his own, and defended his comments to Sharpton and a senator, whom Imus referred to as "you people." The Rutgers team agreed to finally meet with Imus after issuing critical statements. Soon, Imus and his 1950s shtick should be right where they belong, off the air and locked inside a ranch where nobody has to listen to him or see his hideous hair.

While on the subject of old men with incredible hair cuts, it is nearly impossible to pass up the Phil Spector murder trial. Spector, one of the legends in recording whose influential career includes writing and recording scores of hits with every girl group ever in the 1960s and a number of rock and roll legends with his famous Wall of Sound, has been accused of murdering actress Lana Clarkson by blowing her head off with a shotgun. Clarkson has appeared in many television and film roles. The specter of Spector's craziness should make this trial the most fun since the glove didn't fit.

Sports news involves the new sheriff/commissioner Roger Goodell bringing the pain to repeat offenders in the NFL. The first two to go down were Adam "Pacman" Jones (full season) and Chris "Felonyman" Henry (8 games). Cleveland Browns fans are desperately trying to get coach Romeo Crennel, center LeCharles Bentley and quarterback Charlie Frye to go somewhere and get arrested immediately so they can start over again from scratch.

Finally, in bizarre news, the L.A. Times profiled 94-year-old John Rodriguez, California's oldest prisoner. The article states that his chances of parole for murder are slim, but even his past record is hardly enough to disqualify him from military service. Hopefully I'll see you in Baghdad, buddy.

Why I Watch Fox News

There are many reasons to watch Fox News. They have the best ratings on cable, so you are only doing what everybody else is doing. Unlike other news outlets, they are fair AND balanced. They also have the No-Spin Zone with expert commentary from Bill O'Reilly, the fortuitous news fusion of Cicero and Aristotle who delivers the truth straight from the source.

Their best feature is Dr. Gregory Rutecki on the "Weekend Live" program as the resident expert on transplant ethics Sunday afternoon. The good doctor has been cited in previous posts (and he also might be a distant relative). Enjoy the all to brief video link below.

Greg on Fox News

The Burgundy Room (and other things)

Pre-Easter dinner with the parents (I had school work to do on Sunday) took place at one of Dublin, Ohio's top end wine bars. Believe it or not, the small town has a plethora of restaurants that includes two wine bars because of the Memorial Golf Tournament that takes place their every year. The town has both the Wine Shoppe Bistro (which I did not visit this time, although their olive, cheese and wine selections are always divine) and the Burgundy Room (which I did visit).

The Burgundy Room has a location in Columbus' Short North, which is a trendy area with no shortage of yuppies and a rather vibrant late-night, weekend bar crowd, as well as a location in Dublin. The menu and wine list at both locations are similar if not identical.

The restaurant features American and Mediterranean-style tapas that can be matched with wines. The waiter James (or Jimmy, depending on whom you asked) was rather knowledgeable about the food and beverage, receptive to vegetarian inquiries and engaging to speak with during the course of the meal.

My vegetarian appetizer was vegetable spring rolls with a sweet and sour/ soy dipping sauce and soba noodles. The entree was portobella ravioli in alfredo sauce.

The cocktails and matched wines were tremendous. The most pleasurable wine was the Orin Swift the Prisoner, a California blend of zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, petit sirah and charbono. It featured ripe berry fruit with striking undercurrents of tobacco, pepper and plum, providing a perfect match to the earthy richness of the ravioli.

The pictures are below in the Picasa link.

Burgundy Room, Mischa and 40 West

There are also random assorted pictures of sweet little Mischa dog posing for the camera and a few shots of some mayhem at 40 West Lincoln, resident Otterbein party house. If you're in town, stop by and tell them I sent you.

Star of India

If you need vegetarian, few cuisines can compete with the Indian subcontinent. Star of India, which won the best ethnic food in Athens News' Best of...issue, has spicy vegetarian options to spare.

Afternoons feature a buffet with multiple vegetarian menu options. The chutneys are all flavorful. Nan, a soft puffy bread baked on the inside wall of a clay Tandoori oven, is available in many flavors. The vegetarian samosas are enormous and delicious. The paneer pakora and the vegetable pakora are both also great starters. The vegetable pakora and samosas are available as a combination appetizer platter.

My entree for the evening was a spicy chickpea curry with basmati rice. It was sneaky spicy and very good. There are eight or nine vegetarian and vegan options on the entree menu. The rice pudding was thin and more sweet than spicy. Star of India is BYOB.

Check out the pictures in the Picasa link below.

Star of India

Sucks and Rules

Sucks:

Going to the refrigerator before lunch and discovering your insulin is frozen.









Rules:

Akron/Family



"Meek Warriors"
featuring the
incomparable
Hamid Drake
(Young God Records)

When Satire Bites, Bite Back

With times more trying then ever, Americans need to find more outlets for relaxation. Leave it to our leaders to find a way to smile with pain and pitfalls surrounding their every move.

It only took $400+ billion and 60,000 casualties for the Washington Post to figure out that there was no connection between Hussein's Iraq and al-Qaeda. In other startling news, the Post also determined that the world is round, that the pope is Catholic and that Elmer Fudd will never catch that rascally rabbit.

America is planning to release the five Iranian diplomats it captured in Iraq according to a New York Sun report. The gentlemen will be sent back with specific instructions not to take over Iraq until after the United States abandons the country.

The military went on another of its strong recruiting efforts. Corey Andrew Powell, an openly gay man, was approached by the U.S. Army because of a resume he posted on Career Builder. After inquiring sarcastically about whether gays were allowed to serve in the military, Powell received back caustic e-mails that included remarks in the incendiary all caps format that read: " YOU ARE DEFINITELY UNQUALIFIED, NOW TAKE YOU GAY SELF SOMEPLACE ELSE WE DO NOT TOLERATE GAY PEOPLE LIKE YOU IN ANY PART OF THE MILITARY." and " YOU HEAD OF FTO THE GAY LAND OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO MORALS AND GET RID OF YOURSELF. PERSONALLY I THINK BEING GAY IS DISGUSTING AND IMMORAL." That was definitely not an Army Strong response.

In Somalia, European diplomats were investigating allegations of war crimes levied against participants in a battle between Somali and Ethiopian forces in the capital city of Mogadishu. President Bush plans to step in and lend assistance after he conquers Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Sudan. He also might take time to eat lunch before he jumps into the fray.

In the great United States Florida is beginning a policy to allow all felons but " convicted murderers, sexual predators and 'violent career criminals'” to vote in upcoming elections. The sex offenders, while they can't vote, help showcase Florida's commitment to rehabilitation for criminals in their fancy housing facilities for offenders under causeway bridges. At least the Bush White House will have somewhere safe and democratic to go in 2009.

On the other coast, the L.A. Times forecasts drought and Dust Bowl-like conditions in the Southwest because of global warming. This means that by 2050, Los Angeles will not only seem like the shittiest place on Earth; it actually will be the shittiest place on Earth. At least you'll be able to keep track of the change with the Christian Science Monitor's handy dandy Global Warming Web site.

Big automotive business is struggling in Detroit, which has prompted billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian to bid for the Chrysler portion of the German Daimler Chrysler. Reports indicate he is paying one-eighth what the German company paid for the automaker. I don't know how you say "I'll take that disaster off your hands while you slink away into the sunset" in German, but I'm sure Kerkorian's translators have that covered.

Baseball season brings the story of Creighton pitcher Pat Venditte, an ambidextrous pitcher who gets batters out throwing right handed and left handed. Chances remain that Venditte could strike out Reds outfielder Adam Dunn right handed, left handed or merely by kicking the ball in the general direction of home plate. In Cincinnati, the town is in need of better pitching after the Wild Thing Vaughn performance of Mayor Mark Mallory.

Desecrating all that is sacred is part of the music business. However, let me be the first to say that the plan for Oasis, the Killers, the Kaiser Chiefs, the Fratellis and Razorlight to record a tribute version of the Beatles' magnum opus " Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a bad idea. Oasis already tried being the Beatles once...and failed. Let poor John and George rest. What's next, Carrie Underwood and Clay Aiken re-recording "Billie Holiday Sings"?

New Stupid Features

There is an insane amount of ridiculous search parameters entered into the YouTube bar and the News Wire bar on the right of the page. Consider them thrill rides to enjoy when my prose gets boring.

News You Can Lose

Tony LaRussa probably wishes the police had left him in jail after getting swept by the Mets in his season opening series. You probably wish I had been put in jail after break, but unlike LaRussa, even the Man (or the Mets) can't keep me down.

The superstar story of the last week has been the 15 sailors taken hostage by Iran. Recently, they were released. Iran realized if they were going to torture and kill anybody's military, these choices would be limited to the United States and France based upon evidence that both countries are full of people who are easy to hate.

The news behind the news points to mounting evidence that the U.S. is waging soldier-for-hire war with Iran while they also might be responsible for the British sailors being captured in Iran. If you are going to lose, you might as well lose big, and a war with Shi'ite Islam might be the next great step. I guess the quickest way out of Iraq might be straight through Iran.

In order to make sure the entire Middle East burns to the ground so that it can be built again from scratch, the U.S. is planning to arm Saudi Arabia and other "allies" against the newly-minted Axis of Evil opponent Iran. Israel is fighting this move. My suggestion would be move the Western Wall to China and move back after Bush is finished with his master plan.

On the domestic front, Barack Obama is rolling in the Benjamins since he has raised $25 million in campaign funds. My suggestion would be to spend it on ads to air during "American Idol" and then announce run away favorite Sanjaya as your Vice Presidential candidate before Hildo and Eddie the Ambulance Chaser get any ideas.

Murder and mayhem return to HBO next week when the Sopranos return to New Jersey. The show will wrap up. Afterward, the big question will not be what loose ends weren't wrapped up but where will any actors from New Jersey whose names end in a vowel ever find work again?

Media matters include the best news coming out of Indonesia. Playboy editor Erwin Arnada was cleared of indecency charges today. At least one can be confident that they can buy smut over the counter before the death squad executes them.

Of course, the favorite media darling is the story of freed journalist/blogger/anarchist/activist/independent media icon Josh Wolf. Wolf was imprisoned for over seven months for refusing to turn over footage of a G8 summit protest in San Francisco. His status is a hot potato topic that courts and journalists are all too happy to avoid defining. The future of media will either be a Constitutionally protected mass media collective or a Constitutionally protected all-inclusive collective of information. Stay tuned.

Billionaire Howard Zell bought the Tribune Company. Finally, somebody with billions of dollars can buy my team, spend money on them and lead them to glory in a way that a "gum company and a media conglomerate" (according to Mr. Downey) could not.

In real sports, former wide receiver Darryl Stingley died early this morning in Evanston, Illinois. The 55-year old was paralyzed by a devastating hit in a pre-season football game by Jack Tatum. This event was credited with changing the way football is played, although it certainly had no impact on the Cleveland Browns actually winning Super Bowls before or after the fact.

Billy Donovan put the Gator chomp on Kentucky today when he announced he is staying at Florida as head basketball coach. As long as he doesn't start coaching football, baseball, cricket, rugby or hockey, I'm sure Ohio State will have a shot at winning a championship in something over the next few years.

Barry Bonds is still hitting home runs. This is good for my fantasy team, but bad for everything else baseball related.

Finally, check out the Onion's article on David Ortiz and Jackie Robinson. Hilarious! He doesn't get it like Griffey.

The arts and odds and ends bring up the rear. Keith Richards is adamant that he did not snort his father. Dad will qualify as the only powder Richards didn't put up his beak.

Finally, I guarantee that if you get arrested for drunk driving, you do not A). want to be a municipal official, B). be in a bikini, and C). be a man.

All Good Things

Since it was the end of my trip to Chicago, I decided to go all out for the last evening. So I bought a Saleen S7 and outraced the cops speeding down Lake Shore Drive sipping on Cristal out of Cartier crystal flutes and throwing gang signs in my rear view at the suckers eating my dust.

Actually, that last sentence is a complete fabrication. When I walk past automotive dealers that sell $555,000 automobiles, however, the insane lottery fantasies I have start going off. On the way to dinner, I walked past a car dealer that was selling a Mercedes SLK McLaren alongside Bentlies (if that is in fact the plural of Bently) and Ferraris. It was an interesting lot to stumble across on the way to dinner.

My lovely dinner companions Krysta and Nikki met me at Dudley Nieto's new regional Mexican joint Xel-Ha. Nieto was the original chef at Adobo Grill back when they were a good restaurant with atrocious service (as opposed to now being a bad restaurant with atrocious service). The menu features half traditional Mexican dishes with a twist and half Yucatan specific regional dishes. There was one vegetarian selection in both the Pan-Mexican and Yucatan appetizers and entrees.

The drinks were ridiculously good. There was a surprisingly tangy red wine apperatif that is in the photographs. There were numerous variations of margaritas also captured in digital form.

The food was interesting if not spectacular. The regional cuisine is always markedly different from the cookie cutter Mexican food available at Chipotle. Huilacoche and black bean quesadillas were interesting foils to one another, with the earthy notes in the huilacoche being contrasted by a faint smokiness in the beans. The main dish consisted of a number of vegetables like squash and eggplant served aside a stuffed mild chili pepper.

The food was very good, but the best suggestion in this price range would probably be Frontera Grill, Topolobampo's cafe restaurant.

The rest of the pictures are of the crew running around to Danny's in Bucktown later that night. I also witnessed some Irish-themed marathon before I left. Check the pictures below.

End of the Trip

There is also a small chance I start reviewing music and going back to my previous bitter political sarcasm soon. Stay tuned...out.