American Idol: Boys bleat blah

Here's my recap of Tuesday night's episode of American Idol and the top 12 boys performing.

phillyBurbs.com: American Idol: Boys bleat blah
"Tuesday’s episode of American Idol continued this season’s penchant for the craptacular. Most contestants turned in performances that were far from Idol-worthy. Only beatboxer Blake Lewis, who had a great song choice and oozed style, and Justin Timberlake clone Chris Richardson, impressed the judges with any semblance of charisma."

McG back on American Idol duty

It's that time of year: American Idol is back.

This is my third year blogging about Idol.

And each year it keeps getting worse.

If you want to read about my misery as I chronicle America's favorite TV show, check out my AI blog: American Idol phillyBurbs Style

SST Records reissues on the way?

Saw a cryptic one-line mention in Mojo (the one with Ian Curtis on the cover) that some reissues were scheduled from SST Records.

No word on which artists and/or releases this would include.

Does this mean that we'll finally see a legit reissue of the Black Flag 1982 demos as a bonus disc to "My War?" One can only hope.

Greg Ginn must be sitting on some pretty killer Blag Flag studio outtakes and/or live tracks.

Meanwhile you can still buy a Black Flag skateboard for $55 at the SST Records Superstore.

SSTSUPERSTORE.COM: Black Flag skateboard

Joy Division LPs & reissues

I picked up Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures" and "Closer" on vinyl this week.

Thanks to Anthony at Tequila Sunrise Records for a good deal on those.

I read in Mojo that the above mentioned records along with "Still" are to be re-issued on CD later this year, each with a bonus live disc.

No word on whether any of the bands demos or stray tracks not on the "Heart and Soul" box set will surface.

Artificial Peace discography?

I'm listening to this Artifical Peace discography that I downloaded a few months ago. Wow, it's great!

Can't even remember how I came across it. Sounds like it's a CD rip.

Does anyone know where to get a hold of this on CD or vinyl?! Or what the deal is with this release?

Articial Peace on MySpace.com

New Kylesa album is great

Wow. I picked up the new Kylesa album, “Time Will Fuse Its Worth” a few weeks ago.

Took me a few spins to get into it, but I’m digging it. I’m usually not a big fan of the two-drummer genre, but the addition has been a positive one for Kylesa.

I really dig the way Kylesa blends metal, grind and punk with the focus on making loud and heavy music. Loads of time changes and I hear some psychedelic guitar sounds in there as well.

One of the best songs from the album, “Where the Horizon Unfolds” has a video, which you can check out here:

McG talks American Idol with Alex Bennett

Here's my call this morning to the Alex Bennett Program to talk about American Idol and Iraq war spending.

MP3: McG talking Idol, Iraq with Alex Bennett (entire call)

(The reference to sitting in diapers is to Lisa Nowak, the astronaut who drove 900 miles in a diaper to kill her romantic rival for a space shuttle pilot's affections.)

NOTE: Just like life, Sirius satellite radio is uncensored. If you're in the office, use headphones!

Edited version of the call with just the American Idol stuff is here.

As you may know, I'm a regular caller into the Alex Bennett Program on Sirius Left 146.

Calling in each morning is one of the few things that makes my hour commute to phillyBurbs.com tolerable.

This morning I phoned in to talk about the billions of dollars "missing" in Iraq.

Instead Alex and I ended up rattling on about American Idol for several minutes.

Kabobs and vinyl

I was in Philly over the weekend.

My pal Shash took me to a great restaurant, Kabobeesh. It’s an authentic middle eastern food joint with a blend of Afghan, Pakistani, Turkish, Indian, Iranian and Bengali foods.

I had the Chicken Resham Kabob, which is spiced with their house seasoning. It came with a side of veggies and the biggest piece of naan I’ve ever laid eyes on. Price is right too – about $10 per person for an overly generous portion. I’m a fan!

I stopped by Tequila Sunrise records to trade in some vinyl I had collecting dust in the attic. Got a nice $25 store credit, which I put towards an original pressing of Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew.” Also picked up Miles’ “Get Up With It” on vinyl as well as The Urinals’ “Negative Capability … Check it Out” on CD.

I hadn’t traded in vinyl in quite some time, as usually I can eBay the stuff. But this was a lot of records that didn’t sell on eBay, but wasn’t exactly dollar-a-record fare either. I really like the clean design and sparse layout of Tequila Sunrise. It reminds me of the Philadelphia Record Exchange during its glory days.

Only thing Tequila Sunrise could use is a rack for select new releases, but other than that, it’s a great store with a small, but quality stock of new and used vintage punk, electronic, avant, jazz and super weird out-there music. I’ll be headed back there soon.

UPDATE: Heard back from Anthony at Tequila Sunrise with the following info:

"i still have to build more record bins, which will tighten the place up a
bit, but should enable me to have a proper new arrivals section/selection.

i try to direct customers to check the my space updates for new arrivals when possible (which usually go out thursday night/friday morning, but also on tuesdays mornings as of late) before coming in. i try to give a pretty good run down of new titles in stock with descriptions, albeit terse in
many cases, but i've been expanding them."

Nice!

Trailer: Keeping the Peace

You'll see a lot of familiar Delaware faces and locations in the movie trailer for Keeping the Peace.

The film chronicles Michael Berg's run for Congress in 2006. I'm proud to say I voted for Berg.

Michael Berg's son, Nick Berg, was beheaded in Iraq in retaliation for prison abuses carried out by U.S. soldiers.

McG's pet therapy on hiatus

I'm currently taking a break from doing pet therapy at Tilton Terrace and Hillside in Wilmington.

After a year, I felt like I needed a break. Plus I'll be pulling my hair out until the end of May, writing about American Idol.

Here's a nice article about the Faithful Friends 'Just Fur You' pet therapy program that I participate in along with Jazz, Augie, Kitty and of course, Kelly.

delawareonline.com: Meet Leo, the therapy dog