July 4, 2006
MUSIC
Dashboard Confessional
Chris Carabba certainly understands his audience. Not only is he selling his new record Dusk and Summer for just $10 bucks but if you show your student ID when you buy it at lousy Best Buy, you get it for $7 (you will have to convince the cashier of this, though). Dashboard isn’t something I would normally run out and buy from a store, but I thought it was a cool idea. Note to the record industry: people will buy CDs if you offer them at a reasonable price.
The Cardinal Sin
Also hailing from the Windy City, The Cardinal Sin share the same raw sound and intensity as early Alkaline Trio. I was so immediately drawn to their music when I heard them on purevolume that I work tirelessly to track down their first full-length Hurry Up and Wait. I couldn’t find it at any of my usual locations so I ended up buying it off of half.com. Other than the outstanding Eye Opener, there aren’t really a lot of standout tracks, but it’s a really solid album.
SPORTS
World Cup Soccer
Though I suffered some mild depression when Holland lost to Portugal (once again), the World Cup is still exciting – and I’m not even a soccer guy. Who says you can’t be thoroughly entertained by 120 minutes of scoreless action? I’ve got tickets for the Real Madrid vs. Real Salt Lake exhibition in August, but it looks like the great David Beckham may not even be making the trip thanks to his injury against Portugal.
BOOKS
An Ordinary Man
If you haven’t seen Hotel Rwanda, you should. If you have seen it, you should read An Ordinary Man, the autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, the man on whom the movie was based. Rusesabagina explains how and why the Rwandan genocide went down, including sectarian violence, corrupt politicians and outsiders who were unwilling to stop it from happening. Though it the book was based on the 1994 events it couldn’t be more applicable to current conflicts.
TELEVISION
VH1’s Supergroup
Without going into an entire dissertation, here’s why only has-been celebrities should be on reality TV shows. Though you get the mega-exposure that you had (or always wanted to have) when you were in your prime, you also always kind of end up looking like an idiot.
Sebastian Bach was so incredibly cool when he was in Skid Row. Now he may be the whiniest, most annoying TV personality on the planet. Even my sister, a die-hard Bach supporter, has given up on the show because he is so annoying. “He has officially ruined the ‘rock on’ devil horns," she says. But it does make for great television.
If you can get over the embarrassingly awkward moments of Bach telling the PR team that he has a top 20 hit (“I Remember You” on the newest Monster Ballads CD), him crying about his dad or drunkenly telling Anthrax’s Scott Ian that he loves him and that he'll never play with another guitar player (um, they are going to be in a band together for 12 days), you'll be glued.
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