Jack Johnson - 08-15-2008 Sandstone Amp, Bonner Springs, KS Show Review

This is going to be a review of both the show and my time helping Volunteer with The Surfrider Foundations "Rise Above Plastics" campaign at the show on 8-15-2008 at Sandstone Amp in Bonner Springs, Kansas.
So the day started out early getting to the venue 1 1/2 hours before the gates open to help out volunteering for the Surfrider Foundation to talk about Rise Above Plastics to ask people to take the Plastics Pledge and to educate them on how to reduce the number of plastics they use by getting reusable bags instead of plastic ones and to get a reusable bottle for water instead of buying bottled water. There are many options out there from bags at the store to other options like Chico Bags to use. There are many websites that give out great information on this topic, so just do a search or link through the ones in my text.

THE PLEDGE

I commit to do my part to rise above plastics and protect the world's oceans, waves and beaches from plastic pollution. I will do this by:

- Using reusable bottles for my water and other drinks. By using just one reusable bottle, I will keep 167 single-use plastic bottles from entering the environment.

- Using cloth bags for groceries and other purchases. For each reusable bag I use, I will save approximately 400 plastics from being used.

- Recycling the plastic bags and bottles I already have. For every thirteen plastic bags I don't use, I will save enough petroleum to drive a car one mile.

So now getting back to my time volunteering. I met up with Elizabeth Willes, from the San Diego Chapter of The Surfrider Foundation. She is the one coordinating the effort on the whole Jack Johnson tour for the summer. I stopped by to see them at Alpine Valley and ended up helping out in Kansas as a result. There were to others that volunteered with us that were really awesome people as well. I didn't to put there names in here as I haven't asked them if it was ok, but I did post the picture of all of us meeting up with Jack before the show.

One of the cool things is that if Jack has time, he likes to come out before the show and meet and take pictures(I'm the one on the left) with the volunteers. So we all had the opportunity to meet Jack and get a picture as a group, it was pretty cool. Jack was a very mellow dude, wearing his typical green Sprout T with jeans and flip-flops. That was really cool of him to do. The whole Village Green thing is pretty awesome and he really does a great job getting the word out to people through this. I hope he will continue to do this on future tours.

For the first 15 minutes or so when the gates opened, people were more concerned with getting into the front GA section as there was going to be a 5,000 person limit. So after that people started coming up and asking a lot of questions and taking the pledge to reduce plastics.

At first I kept thinking that I'm going to fumble over my words, but it all just started to flow. There were a lot of questions about things like "What can I do to help" answer is simple - stop buying single use plastics and use reusable bags at the store. Stop buying beer, soda and water in single use bottles. It's better to buy them in cans if you are going to buy them ast all. Personally I buy beer in bottles and take my empties to a recycling facility. People asked about the Great Pacific Ocean Trash Vortex which I've linked an article on it. All sorts of stuff came up, but the overall feeling was of support and many already started doing their part.

At the end of the Village Green area, Zach Gill put on a little show for the fans around 6pm as a warm-up. He sang a couple of songs from his new cd Stuff that just came out on Brushfire Records a couple weeks back. I highly recommend it. After the third song, Jack Johnson joined him to play three more songs, which included Family & Girl I Wanna Lay You Down, which is a song he sings with his other band Animal Liberation Orchestra that he plays with when he's not playing with Jack. It was pretty cool to hear. I only saw part of it since I was volunteering.

Afterwards, Zach came out and signed posters and cds for people and I had a chance at the end of his signing to ask him to take a picture and chatted a minute about his new cd. It was pretty cool. It was kind of funny not seeing him with his signature hat on. Very nice guy and a great entertainer, he really does add that little bit to Jack's performance that makes it just that much better.

So we finished up out time volunteering and we really did meet a lot of interesting people and it was a great experience volunteering and helping out. I would certainly do it again at any show in Kansas City regardless of what band it was. Just getting the word out about Rise Above Plastics is helping every little bit it can.

So my wife, who happens to be 8 1/2 months pregnant and my daughter, who is almost 2 1/2 came out to the show to see Jack play. My daughter will not take a nap unless we are playing the Curious George Soundtrack that Jack did with a bunch of his friends including Zach Gill, G. Love, Ben Harper & Matt Costa. I would pick it up if you don't have it. Kid or Adult, it really is a great CD.

So we went up and sat in the grass and Jack came on ans started it off with Hope and into Taylor. My daughter was excited about hearing Jack sing. She clapped her hands and spent most of the time sitting up on my shoulders looking out to see Jack and hear the songs. She was really happy to get to hear Upside Down, that got her fired up. She recognized it right away and bounce up and down to it. She really had a blast.

I tried to keep track of the setlist, but was having so much fun playing and dancing with my little one that I lost track sometime about 10-12 songs into the show. Still I did my best to keep track of the songs at least. So my setlist listed below will be out of order and it ends at the first song of the encore. I will make updates as I see a full setlist pop up.

The crowd was pretty cool. Some people tried to keep from blowing smoke at my daughter and we did move around a bit to avoid it. A lot of other folks we just having fun saying Hi to my daughter and playing around with her. She was fired up and then just before the encore she crashed big. So it was time to go. Fortunately I had already seen Jack on this tour at Alpine Valley, so it was alright to depart.

Jack and the band really played some good stuff and had some fun out there and the crowd was really into it. It was a sold out show with some 18,000 fans there. Great place to see and hear a show if you get there early enough to put yourself in a good spot.

Jack keeps doing amazing things on the stage and off. I really respect him as an artist because he's a good guy and really does do his part and uses the music and concerts as a way to educate people on the issues of the environment. I think it's great, he's not preaching politics but just asking people to do their part and get involved however you feel like.

Great show again. If you can make a JJ show this tour, please do. Many are sold out, but if you can get out there and see it and stop by The Village Green do it. Don't forget to stop at Surfrider and take the Pleadge.

Setlist - Subject to Updates and Correction:

8-15-2008 Sandstone Amp Bonner Springs, KS

Hope
Taylor
Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
Sleep Through the Static
Go On
Mother and Child Reunion
Do You Remember?
Flake
Upside Down
Bubble Toes
Wasting Time
Where Do the Children Play/Fall Line(w/Zach Rogue & Neil Halstead)
Constellations
Breakdown
Banana Pancakes
Same Girl
Family (Zach Gill Song)
Staple It Together - with some rap from bass player
If I Had Eyes/ Time Is On My Side
Good People

Encore:
All At Once
Times Like These
Gone
Home
Angel
Better Together

The full setlist is now in order thanks to Ryan Hoyt who recorded the show and it can now be found at 08-15-2008 Bonner Springs, KS Live On Archive.org . Download it and have a listen, you will enjoy it and I'm happy to be able to play it over again.

Cheers!
Dave P.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe Movie Review

Scully and Mulder are back in this new installment of The X-Files. Probably one of the most successful shows on television has decided to come back with another movie to carry on it's legend. Fortunately they brought back David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson to play their roles again. Many of us fans have been waiting a long time to see another X-Files. Chris Carter is once again directing as well as writ ting this feature film.

This film isn't like the previous one, there is no black ooze and the conspiracy of aliens isn't a part of it. This is back to some of the old originals that deals with some strange occurrences that lead them to call Fox Mulder back into the FBI to help them solve the case. Mulder was a wanted man and this will give him his freedom. The story starts off with an FBI agent getting attacked outside her home and a strange priest leads the FBI to a buried arm that is connected to the disappearance of the agent.

Billy Connolly plays Father Joseph Crissman, a former priest who was convicted of child molestation and now lives in a halfway house to help heal. He gets visions of the woman and leads the FBI to an Arm and then eventually to a whole series of body parts to open up a really strange case.

Amanda Peet plays agent Dakota Whitney, who is fascinated with the works of Fox Mulder and brings him back into the game. Hip Hop star Xzibit plays Whitney's partner Mosley Drummy. So no smoking man or other mystery men in this one, just pure strange stuff and a hunt ot find the missing woman.

Without giving too much away all I can tell you is that Mulder and Scully are in a relationship at the start of this film, you will have to see it to know where it goes from there.

This one has some good twists and turns and keeps you thinking through out. Mulder and Scully were awesome as always and Chris Carter once again put together a good film. Even Skinner makes an appearance as well.

Check this one while it's still in the theaters if you can.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

Dog Waste Composter - Make or Buy One!

There are two ways to go about the process of having a dog waste composter/septic system in your back yard. One way is to make one yourself and the other is to buy a product like the Doggie Dooley, which comes in several different sizs based on the amount of dogs you have.

There are some really basic steps to building your own that I have found on many websites and they are all the same:

1. Take and old garbage can and drill a dozen or so holes in the side.
2. Cut out the bottom (A keyhole saw works great for this.)
3. Dig a hole in the ground, deep enough for the garbage can.
4. Toss some rocks or gravel in the hole for drainage and position the garbage can so it's a little higher than the soil level.
5. Place the lid on top (you might want to paint it with something like Dog Waste Composter.)
6. When you scoop some poop, put it in the hole and sprinkle in some septic starter (available at hardware stores) and add some water.

They typically take about 24-48 hours to start to break down and from there you can add daily and it should hold it's own. You also want to consider the location for this contraption. Don't put it close to a garden or in a wetland, also keep it away from any water sources if you are on a well system. Outside of that, once you get the thing started, it's no more plastic bags or smelly garbage cans.

The second product the Doggie Dooley comes in different sizes. The 3000 that I talk about here is for 2 large dogs, that's what I have. Basically it's all set to go, you just need to dig the hole, add water and septic powder and you have you system ready to go.

From what I have read and what I have seen it sounds like the septic bacteria is environmentally safe, so you really aren't harming anything, just make sure it's not near food sources or water sources. You still don't want environmentally friendly bacteria to get into your food and water. It may not be bad for the environment, but not so good for you.

Just think of all the plastic bags you will no longer be using and the garbage guy will be happy that when he opens your cans, they won't stink horribly anymore.

Do your part and start with simple solutions

Alter Eco - The So Far Series Review - The Good & Bad

Alter Eco is one of the first shows I saw on the new Planet Green TV station. This is a Discovery Channel station and focuses totally on being "Green". I found the first episode of the show to be pretty interesting. The though that Adrian Grenier was doing his part of being green was pretty cool. Here's a guy who is spending extra money to completely remodel this house in the Hollywood Hills to make it totally "Green".

So based on that episode I thought it was really cool that Adrian utilizes the show to talk about all the stuff he's going to do on his house as well as some really cool ideas that his friends explore. The friends are Boise Thomas who is into finding ways to do things green, Darren Moore, who owns his eco-remodelling company called Ecovations and Angela Lindvall, a fashion model who runs a non-profit eco friendly company called Collage.

So the show really focuses on the three friends and the cool things they do to help out people from many different companies. Yes, there's a lot of advertizing plugs, but all for good reason. Like when they put some sort of converter on the Paul Frank bus to get it better gas mileage or they went to Sheperd Fairey's house to help build a nursery and brought a mobile food unit to his office to feed the people. Those along with making a nice compost bin for a family with limited space. Some pretty cool stuff is done by the three of them.

So the three of them are the backbone of the show and really Adrian Grenier and Rick Byrd play small roles in the show, but not nearly as effective as the other three. Adrian shows up in the first episode and then every once in a while he makes an appearence. Rick Byrd is on each episode, at first I thought he was a goofball and a bit annoying, but he grows on you that's for sure. By the later part of the season he seems to have loosened up and is a pretty cool dude. Seeing that the show hasn't even finished airing it's first season and Big Rick already has the house for sale. What's that all about, bought for something like $1.2 million and selling for $3.5 million after all the work. Claiming it to be LEED certified Platinum - and the first and only of it's kind in Los Angeles. Maybe it really is LEED Platinum, but what documentation is needed for that to be proven?

Here's a Link to Alter Eco Dundee House to see that it is the place. It says that the owner of the house is Rick Byrd not Adrian Grenier, so what's the story? I still think that the show has a lot of value added to it, by the things they do to the house as well as the things the other three do out on their adventures. Not sure what is up with the whole selling of the house and was it always the plan or did it just work out that way.

Personally if Rick Byrd is really building and promoting LEED homes, that's pretty cool and I regardless of his profits, he's still doing something good in the end.

Still outside of that little BS move on the show, I would love to see Darren, Boise & Angela continue on with or without the others as they really seem to put a lot into the show and really were the stars. I don't know where all the ideas came from, but the different things they did really make you start to think about some of the things you can do.

I like the episode where they went to Cochella and show all the cool art and green ways of making things. I think they should catch up with Jack Johnson and the Village Green area at each of his shows when they are out in So Cal in the near future. I know Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews and others are doing something like what Jack is doing, but Jack really speaks well to it and has some awesome folks out at the shows. Some local farmers and green groups as well as some others like Surfrider Foundation and the Rise Above Plastics Pledge to elimate the use of plastic bags and bottles, a good cause in my book.

So certainlly check out this show and see all the cool stuff that you can do and places around LA you can visit. I would love to see it continue on in the future, no need to spin off as a star having his house built maybe as much as Rick has a new project and the crew is going to team up to help get it done and during the episodes, continue to do the little things they do.

Excellent show!

Chico Bags - Great Reusable Shopping Bags

With all the talk about plactic bags and what we need to do to get them banned all over the World, here's a great solution to use, Chico Bags. The Chico Bag is pretty awesome, it folds up into a small little sack with a clip that you can leave in the car, clip to your cart and use.

These are nice durable bags that can be used over and over. They run $5.00 per bag or if you get them on the web, if you buy 4 you get the 5th one free. They come in a whole mix of colors, Green, Pale Green, Red, Mango, Brown, Black, Blue, Pink, Purple and the Earth edition. Check them out on the web at http://store.chicobag.com/.

They also have a zero waste program and will accept any of your old reusable bags which they will recycle. They use them to make rugs and other cool things. Check out that website and pick some awesome bags up.

There's a good link to a cool blog called The Bagmonster Blog as well. That's worth checking out at http://bagmonster.blogspot.com/

Do your part and reduce your use of plastics.

Jack Johnson RAP Surfrider Membership Pack

So for those of you who are fans of Jack Johnson and support environmental causes, here's a great opportunity for you. You can join the Surfrider Foundation and along with that get Jack Johnson's new CD "Sleep Through The Static" and two other really cool items, a 1 Liter SIGG bottle and a black tote bag with the Rise Above Plastics/Jack Johnson 2008 Tour logo on it. All this for $45 which includes the one year membership to The Surfrider Foundation and you don't even need to live near the ocean to join. You just need to support what they are about and help out in any way you can or just be informed.

I lived lived in San Diego County for most of the last 12 years with a brief stint out on the New Hampshire coast as well. So even though I recently moved to the middle of the United States and as far away from every ounce of saltwater possible, I still have my membership and will continue to follow what goes on with the organization.

Over the years, The Surfrider Foundation has done a lot to get involved in the local communities and the government to make sure that things are happening for the good of the ocean. They are currently heavily involved in a couple of big campaigns including one to save Trestles, which is an amazing surf break in the far north end of San Diego County. Just up past the Nuclear Power Plant at San Onofre, Trestle could be in danger of it's surf break and much more because Orange county and the Toll Roads system want to extend the Toll Road all the way down through the area. Honestly there is no reason to continue the road and hopefully they will fight the good fight and win.

The other big campaign is for "Rise Above Plastics". This is to get everyone to realize the cost of every plastic bag or bottle they use and throw out and how to educate people on other options to use. There are more than just plastic bags and bottles, but these two along make up for a large portion of death and destruction of our environment. Over 1 million sea birds and over 100,000 sea mamals die because of plastics each year from suffocation and ingestion. Plastics never really go away, but just shrink and becore little pellets of pollution.

Jack Johnson has teamed up with The Surfrider Foundation and this summer they will be talking about Rise Above Plastics at each of Jack's concerts. They are part of the Village Green that Jack going on from the opening of the gates until he comes on stage. There are many other organizations involved as well, you can check them out at Jack's website www.jackjohnsonmusic.com.

There's a great blog that is run by Elizabeth of the Surfrider Foundation's San Diego Chaper you should check out as well at http://riseaboveplastics.blogspot.com/.

So please sign up for this great deal, it's only $45 and you get some cool stuff, here's the website link and more info:

http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/store#9960

Package Includes:
1) Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through The Static" CD
2) RAP (Rise Above Plastic) SIGG Water Bottle (1 liter)
3) RAP (Rise Above Plastic) Black Tote Bag
4) Surfrider Membership

Surfrider Membership Includes:
- 1 year’s worth (6 issues) of Surfrider’s award-winning publication, Making Waves
- Discounts at a growing number of retailers and restaurants
- Surfrider Membership sticker
- Surfrider Chapter contact and volunteer information

The Surfrider Foundation (www.surfrider.org) is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide.

If you have any questions in regards to your membership please contact us at membership@surfrider.org.

Neil Halstead – Oh! Mighty Engine – CD Review

Neil Halstead is one of the latest editions to Jack Johnson’s Brush Fire Records Label. Neil is currently a member of the band Mojave 3 and was previously a member of the band Slowdrive. He currently lives in Cornwall, England near the coast. He’s a surfer and fits right in with the mellow relaxed sound like the rest of the Brushfire crew. I haven’t listened to Rogue Wave yet, but even G. Love’s grooves, ALO & Zach Solo are all in line with what seems to be how Neil is.

This 2008 solo recording of Halstead’s was partially recorded at The Solar Powered Plastic Plant in L.A. and the rest from his home in England. This CD to me is one of those that you throw on while driving along in the car or just kicking back on the porch at night looking out at the stars.

There’s a little Nick Drake feel to part of it in style but not as dark. Overall it’s a pretty mellow CD, but has some really nice tones, the acoustic guitar and piano mix is nice in some of the songs. Neil has one of those calming type voices in song.

I really like this one and look forward to going back and hearing some of his older stuff to see if it’s as good or is the same style.

Neil describes his style as “Nylon Rock” whatever that means. Neil is said to like his beer and his surf. Two of my favorite things.

Check this one out there are a lot of nice mellow tunes on it for those hot summer days ahead.

Track Listing:

Oh Mighty Engine
Elevenses
Little Twig
Witless or Wise
Paint a Face
Always the Good
No Mercy For The Muse
Sometimes The Wheels
Queen Bee
Spinning for Spoonie
A Gentle Heart
Baby, I Grew a Beard
New Whites and Brights (iTunes Bonus Track)

Kung Fu Panda - Late Movie Review

I actually saw this one a little earlier this summer, but never wrote a review of it. I would start by saying that I would not recommend taking a 2-3 year old to this unless they are OK with violence and scary tigers. My daughter freaked out at the opening scene and the scene of Tai Lung the Tiger breaks out of jail. But over that age, I think they would be fascinated with the opening scene and the breakout.

Jack Black plays Po, the panda who wants so bad to be a Kung Fu master. But he's just is a overweight, clumsy panda who works at his families noodle restaurant. He is obsessed with Kung Fu and the Furious Five who are Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. They have all been trained by Master Shifu. So one day Master Oogway sends for Master Shifu to tell him it's time to select the chosen one.

Po hears about the selection of the chosen one and makes his way up the mountain to the palace to see what's going on. He wants to be a Kung Fu expert, but his father wants him to take over the family business. Po gets there and is locked out.

After desperation sets in he tries to lights some fireworks off to get him in and it works only to land in the center of the ring and be chosen by Master Oogway as The One.

So goes the story, which you will have to go and see to know the rest. I will tell you that it was quite an enjoyable film to see and had it's funny moments. I did like this one and was looking forward to seeing it for a long time.

I would certainly recommend going to see this one, it was entertaining, not much on the violent side and was funny.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

The Dark Night - Movie Review

Dark Knight is the latest installment in the Batman Series wrtitten and directed by Christopher Nolan. Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman again as well as Gary Oldman as James Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox . There's a new Rachel Dawes played by Maggie Gyllenhaal taking over for Katie Holmes - not sure what kept her out of this one except that maybe that freak of a husband of hers wouldn't let her be in it. The Dark Knight also introduces to the latest incarnation of The Joker played by Heath Ledger in one of his final roles before dying. A few others to mention are the new DA, Harvey Dent played by Aaron Ekhart and Eric Roberts as Salvatore Maroni.

This was certainly a darker and more violent version than the first one. It was pretty intense from the start to the end. Heath Ledger did a great job as The Joker, probably the best one of all the incarnations to date. He was very intense and they did a great job writting his part. He certainly has some good plots to foil Batman and Gordon through out the film. I can't say that it was certainly an oscar nominating performance, but he really got into the role and made everyone a little scarred of him.

I think they did a great job with the plot and really thought out the tricky situations that needed to be played out. The interraction between Batman and The Joker was fantastic.

It was funny that they made no effort to hide that Gotham was actually Chicago, showing the Tribune Building, the River and the underground street and the skyline as well as Navy Pier. I think at one point they even used the actual Chicago street names.

Without giving anything away I can say that is really was a dark one and the outcome wasn't typical Hollywood for the most part. I will be interested in seeing where they will go from here with the loss of Heath Ledger, will they use a new Joker or will they just change up the villian. Hopefully they change up the villian to The Riddler or Catwoman. Only time will tell where they will go with the next story.

Great performance by all in this one and a great writting job by Christopher Nolan. I would highly recommend that you go out and see this one.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Zach Gill – Stuff – CD Review

Zach Gill is currently out on the road with old friend Jack Johnson. Zach joined up with Jack to add a little flavor to the band. It’s certainly a good add between the backing vocals, the keys and dancing, he is an entertaining person. I was quite happy to hear that Zach would be releasing his own cd called Stuff on the Brushfire Records Label.

The first stuff I heard of Zach and still remains some awesome stuff is his work with ALO, Animal Liberation Orchestra. They have put out a couple of cds and continue to perform as a band in between his time he works with Jack. There’s a whole group of great artists on Brushfire these days and Jack Johnson certainly does his part to promote them well.

Zach certainly is one of those guys who is really diversified in the styles of music he plays and plays well. The first song off Stuff is Family. This song is a collaboration with Jack and has a great beat and sound to it. This was also pre-released early so it’s been out there for a bit. It has a good soulful sound and is a great start to the new cd. Don’t Touch My Stuff has a nice reggae beat to it. He really has a mix of songs on this one. Obviously a lot of mix between keys and piano throughout, but Zach’s voice give it some soul. Even the instrumental track Lizard’s Bridge has a nice mix of instruments with some drums, bongos, piano etc.

Probably my favorite tracks on this cd are Back In the Day & Family, but the rest sound great. It’s hard to compare him to anyone as he really mixes it up. Bettina is an upbeat tune followed by a mellow tune Small. He mixes it up from some ragtime, to sound of The Band, Bruce Hornsby and much more. Handyman gets your feet really tapping. Overall this one is really a delight.

I picked this one up at iTunes for $9.99 and Amazon has it for $9.49 as a download as well. Certainly pick this one up and go see him with ALO or Jack Johnson if you get a chance. He’s very entertaining.

Track Listing:

Family
Don’t Touch My Stuff
Watch Them Grow
Back In the Day
Battina
Small
Handy Man
Poseidon’s Navel
Beautiful Reason
Fine Wine
Lizard’s Bridge
Long

Brett Farve Should Stay & Ted Thompson Should Go

The whole Brett Farve thing has gotten way out of hand. The bottom line is the guy wants to play football and he's clearly the best Quarterback that would be on the field. Why is Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy pulling this bullshit move trying to keep him away?

If Farve is the best and you want to be successful, why walk awy from a green and golden opportunity? Get the guy on the field and let's win ourselves another title. It's been a long time in the waiting and we need to see one sooner than later.

If Aaron Rogers is meant to be the starting quarterback of the team, then let him go up against Favre and prove he's better. Even if Favre doesn't come back I would say that the Packers organization needs to consider the removal of Ted Thompson as it's General Manager. He and McCarthy have done a poor job of dealing with this whole situation and someone needs to pay the price.

The whole talk about them filing a complaint against the Vikings because Farve talked to them, COME ON! I really would hate to see him go there, but if he's friends with the guy, why can't he ask his advice?

Even though Brett has a part to play in this for actually retiring and then coming back. I think he has every right to do so. He has a couple good years left in him and he really should be allowed to play them out.

I think if he ends up getting traded I will be really dissappointed in the Packer organization for allowing this to happen. Why not have your best out there? Do you not want to win? Here's a thought - we all know Farve doesn't play well in the extreme cold weather, why not play Aaron Rogers for those games and let Favre do the rest.

Rogers is an untested quarterback as he hasn't started a single season match for Green Bay and has played very little. You want that over someone who will lead the team to victory for sure.

Don't get me wrong, I will always be a Packer fan, but I still don't like how this situation has been handled.

Ted Thompson - Let Favre back and please resign. Mark Murphy really should consider the same as well. You both obviously don't want to put your best team on the field this coming season.

Counting Crows - iTunes Live from Soho - Review

Counting Crows recently release an iTunes exclusive live performance Live from Soho. This is an 11 song set, not sure if it's the whole set or just selected for iTunes, but they certainly picked a good mix of tunes to play on this one. Not only a few from the new cd, but also some of the classics like, Richard Manuel is Dead, Angels of the Silence, Long December and Rain King.

There are sevel officially release live: New Amsterdam - Live at Heineken Music Hall February 6, 2003, Across A Wire: Live in New York. There are also some good quality bootleg recordings such as 2007-07-01 Open Air Festival in St. Gallen Switzerland and 2007-10-19 Blender Theater New York. I know there are other really good ones, but these are a few I have found. I've heard that there will be official live recordings from the tour being released like the Rat Dog, Allman Brothers and many others do. If that's true, it will be nice for the fans.

Overall the Soho Recording is a good one. The mix of songs is good, the versions are nice as well. Adam tells little stories about some of the songs as well in between playing. It's a nice intimate sounding concert. The almost 10 minute version of Rain King is a good way to finish it off as well. Even if Rain King is played every night, I still love it.

I don't have a lot more on the date of the recording. I didn't read the desription on iTunes, I pretty much just dowloaded as soon as I saw it. Still I would put this on the list of things to pick up for sure.

Track List:

Blues Run the Game
Richard Manuel Is Dead
Angels of the Silence
A Long December
Washington Square
On Almost Any Sunday Morning
When I Dream of Michelangelo
You Can't Count On Me
Le ballet d'or
On a Tuesday Morning in Amsterdam Long Ago
Rain King

U2 - Live In Paris 1987 - Music Review

This live recording from the Joshua Tree Tour was originally released as a DVD as part of the Joshua Tree Super Deluxe Edition released November 20, 2007. Now they have released the audio version of the record on iTunes. The concert was performed at Hippodrome de Vincennes in Paris, on July 4 1987.

Personally I would highly recommend purchasing the Joshua Tree Super Deluxe Edition as it has 2 cds the second is all unreleased material and then the DVD. You can link to it here to see what's all part of it. Sure you have Rattle & Hum, but it's not a full show, it's a documentary.

I have always wanted to hear a full blown official live recording from The Joshua Tree Tour. I have a great recording of the Chicago show from 04/29/1987 at Rosemont Horizon, but it's still a bootleg. Now we have a full blown live audio show from this tour. The DVD is also amazing, but this is cool because I can throw it in the car and hear it as well as at work on the iPod.

I still think of all the tours I've seen, this one was by far the best. It's been great seeing them on the various tours such as The Zoo Tour, Pop Mart, Elevation and The last one they did, but nothing compared to the energy and the way they played on the Joshua Tree Tour.

Even though I had listened to them in the early years and they toured, this was really my first opportunity to see them in concert and I think The Joshua Tree has always been one of my favorite albums ever made.

The Paris show has some great tunes on it, you get a mix of the classics and the new songs from The Joshua Tree. In those days they still ended the shows with "40" as well and I always am happy when they walk off the stage and the crowd sits and sings for about 10 more minutes, the best finishing song for sure.

I highly recommend picking this one up from iTunes, it's just awesome to hear U2 live from this tour.

Tracklist:

1. I Will Follow
2. Trip Through Your Wire
3. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
4. MLK
5. The Unforgettable Fire
6. Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Exit
8. In God's Country
9. Electric Co.
10. Bad
11. October
12. New Year's Day
13. Pride
14. Bullet the Blue Sky
15. Running to Stand Still
16. With or Without You
17. Party Girl
18. "40"

Foo Fighters - Kemper Arena 07-19-2008 Concert Review

The Foo Fighters played the Kemper Arena to a good size crowd, but not nearly the size of the crowd in London last week. Still after cancelling the Red Rocks shows because of Dave Grohl being sick, I was happy to see that he was on his way to recovery. Last night

This is only the second time I've seen the Foo Fighters play live. Last year they opened up for The Police at Dodger stadium and put on a fantastic set, but it was short and didn't have the full affect of what I saw last night. After seeing that amazing performance, I keep thinking to myself, why have I never gone to see them before. Fourteen years and most of those I lived in California, I had plenty of opportunities and never did see them. Still last night was amazing and I will certainly see them again.

I had told a friend of mine that I thought I was too old to be going to a Foo Fighters concert and standing on the floor in GA. He laughed and said that Dave Grohl is the same age as you, if he's not too old to play, you're not too old to be there.

So I went and stood about 25 feet back from the stage and it was fantastic. The sound that close was loud, but not bad. Supergrass opened up and put on a good performance. I was looking forward to the Foos so I really wanted them to get off the stage.

Dave Grohl came out on fire and finished off the show that way as well. The guy has so much enery and he really is rough on his vocal chords, I'm suprised they haven't worn out more on him. From the start with Let It Die and into The Pretender the whole band was on fire. Pat Smear would join them from time to time and then depart for a bit and come back out. Times like These was amazing as well as Learning to Fly. They did a fantastic version of Young Man Blues, which The Who jammed out on Live at Leeds.


Taylor had an amazing jam in the middle of Stacked Actors, it went on an on and was awesome all the way through.

The band later played an acoustic set out on a stage at the opposite end of the arena. We all on the floor made our way over to hear them jam out some good stuff. Dave was very talkative through the whole thing and and one point was calling some dude with a yellow shirt and two beers in his hands the Bumble Bee girl from the No Rain video Blind Mellon did. He told he'd meet up with him and go to the titty bar after the show. Later he invited some other kis he splashed with water as well. He was just having fun.

The acoustic set was great, they played Skin & Bones, My Hero, Everlong and a few others. Taylor even sang one of the songs.

They finished off Everlong on the main stage and jammed out a few other tunes, All My Life and Monkey Wrench before taking a break. After the break the encore was awesome. Starting off with a nice version of Big Me and jamming out the rest of the night with The One, Generator and finishing it off with Best of You.

Fantastic performance overall. There was so much energy flowing through the band and the fans were great all night. If you get a chance to catch them on this tour I would highly recommend it. The were awesome!

They also have a great website at http://www.foofighters.com/ it even has a community page and chat sessions. You can find links to live recordings and some video as well. It's worth checking out for sure.

SetList:

Let It Die
The Pretender
Times Like These
Learn To Fly
Long Road To Ruin
Young Man Blues
Breakout
No Way Back
Stacked Actors
Cheer Up, Boys

acoustic set

Skin And Bones
My Hero
Marigold
Cold Day In The Sun
But, Honestly
Everlong

electric

end of Everlong
All My Life
Monkey Wrench

encore

Big Me
The One
Generator
Best Of You

Support Rise Above Plastics!

There's a great blog that I learned about from http://www.surfrider.org/ when I was at the Jack Johnson show last month at Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI. It's called Rise Above Plastics and deals with the issues pertaining to all sorts of plastics including bags and bottles. Check it out at http://riseaboveplastics.blogspot.com/.

You can take action and pledge to reduce the amount of plastics you use each year. The pledge is part of the Surfrider Foundation and can be found at Rise Against Plastics Pledge Link. There's some good information out there on both the blog and the pledge. There are over 1 million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals that die each year due to either ingestion or entaglement with plastics.

Plastics that you toss out will sit in landfills and blow around and do more damage than you could ever imagine. What can you do to help besides taking the pledge? There's a lot you can do. Even the smallest things like making sure to recycle your plastic bottles and take your plastic bags to the grocery store to be recycled. To go beyond that you can do more extreme things like buy reusable cloth bags that you take with you to the store instead of taking a plastic bag. The other option is to stop drinking bottled water or soda and buy a SIGG or Klean Kanteen type bottle or even a new Nalagene bottle. You can use them over and over and you won't be wasting plastics and having them end up in landfills and other places.

Jack Johnson is even selling shopping bags and SIGG water bottles on his tour to help the cause. Check out the picture of the SIGG 1 liter bottle. Plus he has the Green Village where you can learn all about everything from composting to info from Surfrider Foundation. There's a lot of good educational things that you can learn and there is a big variety of people who attend Jack Johnson shows. He's entertaining and is doing a good thing in trying to educate people about the environment. Check out Jack's tour dates on his webpage www.jackjohnsonmusic.com.

You just need to step up and do your part to help save our environment and help make things better for our kids and so on. But also remember to educate others and pass the word along.

There's some great links to articles and some good information on what you can do to help on the website. So I encourage you to please check it out! http://riseaboveplastics.blogspot.com/

Get Smart's Bruce & Lloyd - Out of Control - DVD Review

This straight to DVD spin-off from the new Get Smart movie was release on DVD a couple weeks after the film hit the theaters. I haven't seen the new Get Smart movie yet, but plan to see it this weekend.

Masi Oka (Hiro on Heroes) plays Bruce and Nate Torrence plays Lloyd. The two are the techies from CONTROL. Basically they make all the cool spy stuff for 86, 99 and the rest.

This is a story about Bruce and Lloyd and their attempt to do some field work to cover up a little mess they created. I honestly don't think I laughed a single time watching this one. My guess as word gets out the people will probably stop buying this one on DVD. It really has no redeeming quality and pretty much blows from start to finish.

My recommendation is that if you really want to see this movie, run over to Blockbuster or RedBox and rent it. I don't think it's worth paying $14.99 for it. It's not funny, the plot is relatively lame and there wasn't anything to hold it together.

Rating: 1/2 out of 5

Hancock - Movie Review

Hancock is the new Will Smith film coming to theaters on 07/02/2008, Fourth of July weekend. The film was originally written by Vincent Ngo and was modified by Vince Gilligan to fit it into the Hollywood market. The film was directed by Peter Berg, who also directed Friday Night Lights, The Rundown & The Kingdom, he also had a career as an actor playing in a lot of B movies. I think Aspen Extreme was probably the best movie he was in :-)

Hancock is a superhero with a bit of a twist. He's a sloppy drunk superhero who really doesn't give a shit about being what he is. He feels alienated because he is the one and only superhero. He can't relate to anyone, so he drinks a ton. When he does rescue people he does it without any regard to public property and cost the taxpayers about $9 million. Now everyone in Los Angeles wants his head. So after saving Ray Embrey's(Jason Bateman) life, he sees an opportunity to change things around for Hancock. Ray is a PR executive that has been trying to get companies to promote giving unsuccessfully so this becomes his ticket. Rays wife, Mary, is played by Charlize Theron. From there I will just say the story goes.

I thought the movies did a good job of pushing the limits with it's comedy and has some really good action scenes. The movie starts off very funny and has you laughing for the better part of the first 40 minutes and then it changes a bit, but still holds some comedic value after. I really enjoyed the film and even though they made some major changes from the original script, I think they did it right.

I've read a few of the critics reports and many gave it ** to **1/2 for the most part. For me it was better than that. I really enjoyed it for the full 92 minutes.

Rating: 4 out of 5

John Mayer - Where the Light Is - Live in LA - CD Review

This live performance captured December 8, 2007 at the NOKIA Thraetre in Los angeles, CA is a mix of three styles of John Mayer. Starting off with Accoustic, getting into the Trio of John, Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino and the a set with his full band. This is the audio only review. I will add comments once I've seen the DVD.

The first set of music is just John playing an acoustic guitar. It's a nice set of 5 songs including Neon, Stop This Train, In Your Atmosphere, Daughters & Free Fallin. The version of Daughters is really nice, but the whole set is actually pretty good. There's some nice guitar work and some good tunes including a little TP & The HB song Free Fallin'. John Mayer does a nice mellow version of it.

Now we get into the Trio set with John, Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino. Obviously we are going to hear more of the bluesy sid eof things. It starts off with Everyday I Have the Blues that has a good sound and a nice little solo jam in it. It really shows that John isn't just a pop singer, but that he can pull out some other styles of music.

I saw John play a few years back right before he did the Trios set and cd. He was playing with a couple other artists and he played a few of his pop tunes and then he spent the next 30 minutes sing blues and jamming. So that was about the time that I realized that he had a lot more talent than just being a Dave Matthews type pop singer.

This blues set has 8 songs all with some good jams and bluesy beats. I really likes the song Out of my Mind, it was a good jam. I liked the comment John made "Let me first say how wonderful it feels to know that we just launched into slow blues and 7,000 people in LA went nuts. All is not lost." Just a nice little quote showing that people appreciate the change in style. He finished of the set with Bold as Love from Jimi Hendrix and played a really nice version of it with a sweet jam, just like Jimi used to. Now I'm not saying he;s better than Jimi was, but the kid does have talent.

Third set brings out the whole band and kicks off with Waiting on the World to Change. Certainly a little different than the acoustic and blues trio, but still Mayer has some good flavor in the songs he chose for this section. There's something nice about listening to all the flavors. John does show that he's really a stron artist with all the styles of music. I'd say he sounds a bit like ave Matthews in the full band set, but distiguishes himself with all the styles of music he plays.

This really is a nice live performance and I look forward to watching on DVD later this week. I would certainly recommend picking up the cd for sure and why not the DVD as well since they both are running $9.99 at Best Buy and Amazon as well. This is a great set, pick it up. Actually This week 7/01/08 Target has a limited edition version cd/dvd combo with extra material on the dvd for $17.98, but will be $24.98 once the sale is over.

Disc Tracklisting:

Acoustic Set:

1.Neon
2.Stop This Train
3.In Your Atmosphere
4.Daughters
5.Free Fallin'

Trio Set:

6.Everyday I Have The Blues
7.Wait Until Tomorrow
8.Who Did You Think I Was
9.Come When I Call
10.Good Love Is On The Way
11.Out Of My Mind
12.Vultures
13.Bold As Love

Band Set:

14.Waiting On The World To Change
15.Slow Dancing In A Burning Room
16.Why Georgia
17.The Heart Of Life
18.I Don't Need No Doctor
19.Gravity
20.I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
21.Belief
22.I'm Gonna Find Another You

The Incredible Hulk - Movie Review

The Incredible Hulk is back and with a whole new cast. Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner, Liv Tyler is Betty Ross and William Hurt is General Ross and the director is no longer Ang Lee, but now is Louis Leterrier. So lots of change and a totally different take on the story.

This one was certainly action packed from begining to end. Starting off in the Favelas of Rio, where Bruce Banner is working on a cure and staying out of the public eye. Until one day they find him and the chase begins.

Without giving the story away I will say that it is action packed from one end to the other. There are little hints of the past with a clip of Bill Bigsby & cameos of Lou Ferigno and Stan Lee as he does in all the movies. The graphics were exceptional and it keeps you on edge from the start to the finish.

I like the new cast and the new direction. The end leaves it open for a sequel tied to another blockbuster Marvel Comic. So go see it and enjoy!

Rating: 3 1/2 of 5

Jack Johnson - 06/21/2008 Concert Review

Jack Johnson at Alpine Valley on 06/21/2008 was a fantastic show. The place was pretty full. I was expecting there to be maybe 15,000 - 20,000 for the show, but there was way more than that attending this one. When we arrived just before 7pm there was hardly a place to sit on the grass and people had to just start packing it in.

I took a little tour of the All At Once Community area to see a little more on how Jack was using the tour to help promote the awareness of things to do to be better to the environment and a little more Green, if you know what I mean. There were some interesting topics including one group who had all the information on which candidates voted which way on all the different environmental bills. They didn't try to sway your vote, just inform you of the issues and how people voted. They were trying to register voters as well which is always good when you have a big mixed crowd at a show.

Some of the other groups talked about growing food and reusing materials as compost. How to compost in general and how to basically be able to sustain without relying on outside resources. That was interesting to hear. Surfrider was there to talk about ocean polution, especially plastic shopping bags and plastic bottles. From all my years of surfing the beaches in San Diego and fishing off the coast in boats, I can tell you there is a lot of junk and runoff waste that goes into the ocean. I'm surprised that we haven't killed everything off. There were more things to see as well. Check out surfrider and become a member even if you don't live near the coast http://www.surfrider.org/

The one thing that dissappointed me about the venue, was that Live Nation was using #6 plastic cups that were clear and could have easily used #1 plastic cuos to recycle. Outside of the All At Once Community there really wasn't much awareness for the environment. People were throwing #6 Plasitic cups in the recycle bins which can't even be recycled. People outside were also throwing their cans and bottles in the trash bins, not the recycle bins. That kind of stuff annoyed me.

We did carpool ourselves, 6 all came out and I felt good that we did our part, but we still parked in the regular spot because the area they had for carpoolers of 4 or more in a car was filled up.

Mason Jennings came out about 7:30 - 7:45pm not really sure. He put on a good performance, but didn't find him to be an outstanding singer. I thought he was just an average folk type guy. That's my "Idol" judging.

I was thinking Money Mark was supposed to come out and play, but around 9pm or so, Jack came out and started playing. So not sure if Money Mark played earlier or outside, but all I saw him do was a song with Jack during the show. - Update 07/01/2008 - Money Mark did come out and jam prior to my arrival at the show. With Traffic and walking, I guess I missed it.

Jack started off with Hope, Taylor, Flake and really sounded good. We were up in the grass and even there he sounds clear as can be. We certainly couldn't see him. but the screens were up and you could catch a bit from those. I would have thought Alpine would have had bigger screens, but they did the trick.

Jack seemed really in tune with the crowd, playing is usually mellow surfer way and really was awesome. Some of my favorites of the night were Upside Down into Bubble Toes. Also I was digging Banna Pancakes and Good People. He did Times Like These, but I need to figure out where in the set it went.

Overall it was a great time and Jack once again put on an amazing show and really was impressive. I would really love to see him and Ben Harper get back together for a couple of shows, switching off and jamming, playing some together. That would be sweet.

If you get a chance, Jack will be back out touring in August. For those in the UK he's heading over in July. Check out http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/ for all the info on tours, news and the All At Once Community. Also check out his myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/jackjohnsonmusic to catch a little audio if haven't heard his music before.

Setlist(to the best of my knowledge):

Jack Johnson Alpine Valley, East Trow, WI 6-21-08
9:05pm
Hope

Taylor

Flake

Monsoon >

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Sleep Through the Static

Go On

Upside Down

Bubble Toes > Mellow Mood-(Bob Marley)

Wasting Time

Staple it Together > Whole Lotta Love-(Led Zeppelin)

What You Thought You Need

No Other Way > I Would For You-(Jane’s Addiction)

Constellations

Breakdown

Banana Pancakes

Same Girl

Horizon Has Been Defeated > Mother and Child Reunion-(Paul Simon)

Inaudible Melodies

Good People

If I Had Eyes

ENCORE:

All At Once *

Times Like These *

Living in the Moment *(w/Mason Jennings)

Angel * >

Better Together *

* Jack Solo

Jakob Dylan - Seeing Things - CD Review

I haven’t heard much from Jakob Dylan in about the last 10 years or so since the first big Wallflowers cd with “One Headlight” and “6TH Avenue Heartbreak”. They have been together and producing cd up through 2005, but I have lost track.

Not to go into too much history, but Jakob is the youngest of four children born to Bob Dylan and his ex-wife Sara Dylan. So the talent runs deep in the blood.

The new and first Solo album that Jakob has put out was produced by Rick Rubin. Rubin is certainly a fantastic person to work with. He did all those great Johnny Cash sessions that produced the American Recordings as well as the “Unearthed” box set. Of course he’s done a lot more stuff with everyone from The Beastie Boys, Dixie Chicks all the way to Neil Diamond. So getting time with Rick Rubin certainly means you are going to be getting some of your best stuff brought out of you.

This new project of Jakob’s has 10 songs on it and many are straight acoustic sessions. Many of the song have a similar sound, but it’s a good one. I like the acoustic feel and how it brings out how good Jakob’s voice sounds. It’s certainly not a Bob Dylan acoustic cd, it’s Jakob’s own sound.

You can pick this one up on iTunes for $7.99 which is a really good deal and worth looking into. It’s a good one and worth picking up for sure. I just pulled out an old Wallflowers cd just to jam to a little more Jakob Dylan. Enjoy!

Track Listing:

1. Evil Is Alive And Well
2. Valley Of The Low Sun
3. All Day And All Night
4. Everybody Pays As They Go
5. Will It Grow
6. I Told You I Couldn't Stop
7. War Is Kind
8. Something Good This Way Comes
9. On Up The Mountain
10. This End Of The Telescope

Coldplay - Viva La Vida - CD Review

Coldplay's new cd Viva La Vida comes out next week Tuesday, June 17th and is one of the most highly anticipated releases of the summer according to many different publications. Once thing that Coldplay did do to spark some interest was to give the first single "Violet Hill" away free on their website. From there if you pre-ordered the cd from iTunes you also were able to download the title track "Viva La Vida" as well. So you pretty much could hear the first 2 of 10 tracks a month before the cd came out. I'm sure that others have a pre-sale download as well because I think there were 4 tracks floating around on the internet in the past couple weeks.

After having a first listen, I have to say it's a pretty good cd. I personally think they should have tried to put out 12-14 tracks on it, 10 seems never to be enough. You have 70 minutes of space and yet you are only filling up 45-50 minutes of it. Think Green and fill up the cds that will one day be filling up our landfills.

Life in Technicolor leads it off as an intro mainly. It's an instrumental that could have been done away with as far as I'm concerned. I do like Coldplay and enjoy hearing new music, but an instrumental track doesn't set the mood for me, usually gets jumped right over. Good thing we aren't still listening to cassette tapes.

Cemetaries of London on throught sets the stage of the cd. The songs are relatively mellow, with some upbeat parts. Chris Martin has a nice soothing voice to listen to. Hard to overal compare this cd to anything else. Some of the songs have more of a U2 type beat to them, which isn't a bad thing by any means. "Viva La Vida" is a pretty cool track. I know it's getting loads of radio play these days, but it's probably one of the better songs on the cd. "Violet Hill" is a bit like something from the Beatles. That was the one they gave away free.

Overall, I do like the cd, just feel they could have done a little more to it for the fans. I know recording and all that is tough work, I just think I had set some high expectations of the band this round. It's worth picking up a copy of this one for sure, you won't be dissappointed, you just might want more like me.

Song List:

1. Life In Technicolor
2. Cemeteries Of London
3. Lost!
4. 42
5. Lovers In Japan/Reign Of Love
6. Yes
7. Viva La Vida
8. Violet Hill
9. Strawberry Swing
10. Death And All His Friends

The Alaska Experiment - Discovery Channel - Review

The Alaska Experiment is wrapping up it's short season this coming week with an hour re-visit with all of the volunteers that were involved in the experiment. The Experiment itself was to take 4 groups of people and put them into 4 different situations in Alaska and provide them with some of the necessities and see if they can survive for 3 months.

The timing of the experiment was right at the end of the Salmon run and giving the participants about a good solid month of real winter to deal with. So the key was to stock up on food, firewood and all provisions early as possible as you don't know when the weather will turn on you. Water for some was tought to come by because all the sources froze up and it takes a long time and effort to melt ice and snow for water. They each had a canning system and needed to try to put away as much food as possible. It worked for some and not others. Two of the groups were taken on Moose hunts and Two were taken on Mountain Goat Hunts. So they were given opportunities to get other some meat. The Goat groups both took one home and for the Moose, no such luck. I lived in New Hampshire and tried like hell to find a Moose, they really like to stay in tough locations and are really elusive. I'm not suprised that no Moose were taken down by the volunteers. They did try hard.

The four locations and volunteers were as follows:

Icy Bay, Camp Riou Point(description taken from Discovery.com): Sediment-laden water from the mainland surrounding Icy Bay has built the thick, soggy sands of Riou Point's beaches. The sand is littered with hundreds of uprooted trees and driftwood, ideal for firewood or making furniture. A freshwater stream, which can provide water year-round, is about a half-mile down the beach.

An old fish shack located near the mouth of the bay will be home to the Wise family. The shack is near a pristine beach that will take the brunt of the vicious Icy Bay storms.


The volunteers are from Kansas City, KS(Near The OP where I Live), Dennis Wise is a retired GM worker, who spends some of his spare time hanging out at the Bass Pro shop in Olathe, KS(pronounced O-Lay-Tha) doing canoe and kayak demonstrations and loves to fish. Where else would you want to hang out except maybe at Cabela's :-)

Along with Dennis are his two daughters, Jennifer, 21 and her sister Carolyn, 23, a student at Witchata State University. Both certainly had their issues to work out with each other and with their father. They really seemed to come to gether by the end.They were certainly a fun group to watch, because at the start Dad was giving all the direction and pissing off the kids. By the end they worked together and got things done. I'm sure the editing process had a lot to do with our preception of the family, but I certainly was glad to see them all come along and help get things done.

I don't know if the cameras were just potraying the kids to be a pain in the ass at the start, but between eating all the food at the start wasn't really smart. But maybe they just have been spoiled, who knows. But 3 months will change them.

They unfortunately didn't get the Moose on the hunt, but they did catch a great supply of Salmon and canned it right so even if it drove them crazy, they had the food to survive.

I think it really helped to have the knowledge Dennis did of basic carpenter tasks and of course indoor plumbing. My vote is that if it were only the sisters out in the wilderness they would have been in trouble long ago - like wilking into the cabin. But with Dennis along, they put it together and did a great job.

I really hope that they will be doing some sort of speaking engagement in Kansas, maybe at Pro Bass Shop, Cabela's or Backwoods. It would be interesting to hear their perspective on things and not just what we saw edited on TV.

Camp Back Bay(description taken from Discovery.com): At the back of Icy Bay sits what's known as a "wall tent," a classic shelter used for decades in the Alaskan wilderness. This sturdy, 200-square-foot tent is built on a wooden platform and outfitted with a wood-burning stove to battle Icy Bay's cold, wet conditions. Jeff Frederick and Elizabeth Widmeyer will live in this wall tent.

Volunteers were Jeff Fredrick, 35 from around NYC and Elizabeth Widmeyer, 23 also from the NYC area.

Jeff is a former mountain rescue volunteer and works as a hydrologist and does environmental consulting in the New York City area.

Elizabeth is a waste water engineer and loves to be outdoors. She spent 75 days hiking, camping, fishing and surviving in the Austrailian Outback. Quite an adventurer I would say.

Jeff and Elizabeth have been dating for a short period of time and this certainly may not be the best way to test your future. Then again, it may be the best way to test whether you can stand to be with each other for a long period of time with out others around. It's like moving to a new city where you know no one at all - actually it's not, but that can be challenging as well and I've done that.

So these two go the raw end of the deal, a tent. No cabin for comfort or protection against the creatures of the night. A big old tent. I personally would have told the producers they were nuts. Things didn't go so well for these two. No luck hunting Moose, they only caught a few fish and half the fish they caught was lost in the canning process. To top things off, Jeff's father, who had been ill, took a turn for the worst.

These two had it the hardest of all the groups I would say. They had a lot going on coming into this and you could see a lot of tension build because it seemed like Jeff was really outspoken and tried to basically run things. There were times where I think Elizabeth should have spoke up or stuck a foot up Jeff's ass. Still after all they went through, it seems as though they came together in the end. Seeing the reunion show will tell if the test helped or hurt.

Location: Upper Chitina River Valley, Camp Flower Lake(taken from discovery.com): Roughly two miles from the river in a densely forested area lies Flower Lake. A log cabin overlooks the pristine lake and will be home to Tim, Allan and Jasmine. This area is a favorite hangout of a herd of wild buffalo as well as grizzly bears, moose and wolves.

Tim Wagner, 36, is a computer engineer at HP in Los Angeles, he is staying with two other friends at Flower Lake. Allen Aujero, 40, former computer engineer, living in New Jersey, work as an independent consultant. Jasmine Kung, 26 of San Diego, is a real estate broker, which taking the time off that she did, she would have lost any money in the horrible San Diego market. That I can tell you from experience of finally selling a home in Costal Oceanside after nine months of hell. Maybe I needed Jasmine selling my house.

These three really had a test of personalities. Tim was so laid back, but still had strong opinions of things, where Allen was outspoken, hyper and seemed to think he had the answer to many things. At least that's my take from seeing the segments aired. Jasmine, kind of went with the flow, but seemed to pull her own weight as well in getting things done. She dressed the kill. collected wood, organized and carried as large of a pack it seemed.

These guys were challenged from the start because the personalities. They went out and cut wood, but didn't always cut right and broke their handle on the big saw. Overall they did pretty well getting set up. They are dropped off 10 miles out with a compass and need to find the cabin. From there they are on their way.

Each group has a load of food and equiptment at the cabins. Non of it has protein, but will be needed to sustain. Rice, beans and all that crap will be waiting them.

These guys went through some crazy times on this adventure. They went out and got fish and Tim took down a Mountain Goat. So the food esentials went well for them.

For what ever crazy reason these guys got a bug up their ass and decided to hike up the glacier to visit the last group we will talk about in a minute. They planned on a 3-4 day adventure and showed up about 8 days later. Not the best planning and navagation for these guys. They ended up staying the rest of the trip and leaving the rest of their stuff back at the lake cabin. To me these guys were a little too dangerous to be left out in the woods. Still in the end they made it and all was well.

Camp Hawkins Glacier(taken from Discovery.com): Three thousand feet above the river valley is a trapper's cabin built in the 1950s near Hawkins Glacier; this will be home to Bernice and Greg Pierson. This area is full of rocky terrain, breathtaking views and unique landscapes. The proximity of the glacier will allow Greg and Bernice to use it as a freezer as well as a freshwater source.

Bernice Pierson, 34, works as a personal clothier, but is also an adventure racer. Greg Pierson, 36, is a self-employed concrete mason.

Greg & Bernice have been married for 12 years and live in Huntington Breach, CA, just up the way from my old stomping grounds. Coming from that climate and elevation, they really will be challenged in the process.

Up on the Glacier they are living in a 200 Square Foot cabin, which certainly can be a little closed in. Greg seemed to have issues from the start. On the way up he was hurting and having trouble. It took him 2 days to get a Goat, but he did get one. He was probably a good 30-40 pounds overweight and out of shape on top of not having aclimated to the higher elevation.

Having been married for 12 years, there isn't much to worry about the challenges of living together in closed quarters. But it will take a toll on both of them over the 3 month period. There was one point where cabin fever was really setting in. Greg talked once about seeing some lady at the foot of the bed and then she walked over to the stove. I think I would have headed for the hills at that point. I thought seeing talking monkies when I lost about 4 pints of blood and loads of drugs in me was a trip, seeing things without any of that would put me over the edge.

These guys got a goat and it did make Bernice sick and put her down for a couple days, but she did recover. They did well working together and and really held tight even with all the time in the cabin. The last month was certainly the toughest. The water was frozen and they had to work hard to get water.

They had a bit of a suprise when the Flower Lake 3 showed up at their door. Now they had 3 more people living in their 200 square feet. I personally would have sent the 3 of them back to Flower Lake, but they were kind souls and let them stay right to the end. The rationed food and did what they had to.

Greg and Bernice win the good soul award. I couldn't have done it, especially not with 5 in that little cabin. All in all it was a tough hike out for the crew, but they made it to the drop and headed home to the comforts of toilets and beds and all that good stuff.

I plan to watch the reunion show this week coming up to see how it all went for them and if they had any more insight to things we didn't see on camera and just how amazing it was. Could I do it? I would say yes, but I would want to do a little training before heading out. I might out to Colorado and hike Longs Peak and a couple others. Get my altitude time in as well as work on the survival skills if needed. I have hike mountains in California and they have kicked my ass, but I never gave up once. So for me I would love to be challenged to live in any of those conditions for 3 months and see how it pans out for me. Plus I could do with some more Mountain Hardware gear. I live for their stuff, jackets, gloves, hats, pants, tents and all. Check out their stuff at http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Home.aspx?cc=en-US you can find it at all good retail shops like REI, Adventure 16 and Backwoods.

The show only has a wrap up next week, but check out all the good stuff on the website http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/alaska/alaska-week.html there are journals and backgrounds on the people. I'm sure they will run the series again on a marathon as well as put it out on DVD at some point like they have will Deadliest Catch, Man vs Wild & Everest:Beyond the Limits.

Great stuff check it out if you can, it's well worth the watch. I'm going to do a little research and see if Dennis Wise might be doing any slideshows or talks in Kansas City at any of the local outdoor gear shops, maybe even the one he teaches at Pro Bass Shop. Keeping my fingers crossed and maybe someday I'll get up their myself.

The people during this taping were obviously protected and had some back up in case things went wrong. I would encourage you all to read some of the great books out there on Alaska and what can happen. One book I've always found interesting was Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. The book is great and if you read it, it will make the movie that much better to see. You get a better sense of how Chris lived and the mistakes he made.

Were the volunteers really ever in trouble? Well producer Brian Catalina gives us a little insight on that. "All the volunteers and crew were given homing beacons called EPIRBS so that if they got lost in a whiteout or got disoriented — easy in Alaska — we could find them. The wilderness experts also had high-caliber hunting rifles as emergency protection against predators like bears or wolves. When the volunteers trekked far from their shelters, the experts accompanied at a distance to protect them and the crew. Bear attacks were our biggest worry and a justifiable one, especially in places like Icy Bay, which has one of the largest concentrations of brown bears in Alaska."

Check out the website for sure, lots of great stuff to see and read. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/alaska/alaska-week.html

Burn Notice - Season 1 Review - Season 2 Starts July 10th

USA network's Burn Notice Season One will be out on DVD June 17th. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend picking up the series and watching it before the second season hits the air on July 10th.

The storie starts out with Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) wakes up in Miami only to find out that there has been a burn notice put on him. When you're a spy, getting a burn notice means that you've been officially deemed unreliable by your covert brethren, and that you're no longer wanted in the spy community. So you stay in Miami or pay the consequences.

Michael's goal is to use all of his resources available to find out who did this to him and in the mean time take on some odd jobs to get some cash and help some people out.

The first season of this show was fantastic and I really can't wait to see the second season. The cast of characters is great. Bruce Campbell plays a washed up old agent named Sam Axe, who still is involved and sometimes can even be trusted my Michael. Campbell is awesome in his role and really makes the show. Another one of the great charachters is Fiona Glenanne played by Gabrielle Anwar. She has some affiliation with the IRA and has certain specialties like explosives and picking locks, fun stuff like that. She and Michael are former lovers and she's back to find out why he left her the way he did. It keeps great tension throughout the show. She is the best thing to watch on the show if you're a dude. SEXY! Sharon Gless of Cagney and Lacey fame plays Michael's mother, who is pretty clueless and a real pain in the butt. She is so funny in her role. Like I said, they really put a great line-up together for this show.

The whole season leads Michael a little closer to what he's looking for, just keeping it a little out of his reach. The stories are good and the charachters are great. This really is a must see.

The first season is 11 Episodes. Really 10 with a 2 hour finally, but they put this all together on a 4 DVD set along with a bunch of cool extras and commentary to watch as well. I would certainly pick this one up, watch it and get your DVR ready to tag Season 2 on July 10th. It's awesome.

Aimee Mann - @#%&! SMILERS - CD Review

Aimee Mann has released her seventh solo cd @#%&! SMILERS. The album consistsof 13 original tracks and 3 bonus tracks if you purchase through iTunes. This album brings Aimee back to her style previous to The Forgotten Arm. She has more of a stripped down sound, with a good range coming from simple piano to full band sound of a song like Freeway. Not sure the exact meaning of having a lot of money but not affording the freeway. I'll have to go through the lyrics to figure that one out. Freeway has a nice beat and is a good start to the album.

This album brings out a really nice sound. Aimee has a beautiful voice and it really shines through on this album. Songs like Stranger into Starman have a nice mix of piano and strings. Over all all the songs are a bit different, and carry well with each other. There's a good mix of piano, strings, some synth music, drums, pretty much a little of everything. The final song "Ballantines" is a duet with Sean Hayes complete with barroom piano and trombone section.

The iTunes version comes with with 2 acoustic versions of songs on the cd as well as Lullaby, which is called a B-side song. It's a bit of a alt-country type song. Quite a nice finish to the album.

I really have enjoyed listening to her Live at St. Ann's Warehouse CD from the CD/DVD combo set from June of 2004. I would recommend picking that one up as well if you are ording the new cd.

Track Listing:

1. Freeway
2. Stranger Into Starman
3. Looking For Nothing
4. Phoenix
5. Borrowing Time
6. It's Over
7. Thirty One Today
8. Great Beyond
9. Medicine Wheel
10. Columbus Ave.
11. Little Tornado
12. True Believer
13. Ballantines
14. Freeway (iTunes exclusive accoustic version)
15. Great Beyond (iTunes exclusive accoustic version)
16. Lullaby (iTunes exclusive B-side)

This is really a great cd and worth picking up. You can get it at iTunes with the bonus songs or pick it up on Amazon as always. For more news, tour dates and information about Aimee Mann stop by her web page and have a look http://www.aimeemann.com/

Old 97's - Blame It On Gravity - CD Review

Blame It On Gravity is the first album in four years for The Old 97's and the seventh in a fifteen year career span. This Dallas based Alt-Country band has gone back to the roots on some of these songs. It's a really good mix of rock, punk, pop and alt-country throughout the album.

Produced by Dallas musucian and friend of the band Salim Nourallah, you can tell the care he took working with them to get the sweetness out of them. They really give a good mix of music on this album. It's quite an enjoyable album to listen to.

The band, still comprised of original members Rhett Miller, Murry Hammond, Ken Bethea and Philip Peeples. Even though Rhett has successfully gone out and done some work on his own, it really is great to have the band back together creating some amazing pieces of work.

If you get a chance pick up the CD/DVD combo version. It has a 44 min documentary of the band with some classic live material and well as focus on the new CD.

Track Listing:

1. The Fool
2. Dance With Me
3. No Baby I
4. My Two Feet
5. Ride
6. She Loves The Sunset
7. This Beautiful Thing
8. I Will Remain
9. Early Morning
10. The Easy Way
11. Here s To The Halcyon
12. Color Of A Lonely Heart Is Blue
13. The One

I've been listening to this one non-stop since the day it came out and it just keeps getting better. Be sure to go out and support the band and see them on their summer tour and check out their website for more information at www.old97s.com.

Gavin Rossdale - Wanderlust - CD Review

It's been a while since the good old days of Bush jamming out some great tunes. Since then Gavin Rossdale has formed another band, Institute in 2005 and put out a cd called Distort Yourself. He's married to Gwen Stefani from No Doubt and of course a successful solo artist.

I have to say the Bush years are still the best ones out there. I remember seeing Bush back when Sixteen Stone just came out. They were an electrifying band and really had it together. I really thought we would see them take off into big things.

Rossdale's new cd is really good. Can't Stop the World is a good start really showing the typical Rossdale vocal, going from mellow to kicking in to a good beat. From there you have a mix of tunes on this one. Some Rockin', Some Ballads, but overall a really good sound and it's good to hear him putting out new music.

This album was produced by Bob Rock and has Rossdale working with drummer Josh Freese, guitarist Chris Traynor (also formerly of Bush), bassist Paul Bushnell and keyboardist Jamie Muhoberac.

For updates on his tour and other news, go to http://www.gavinrossdale.com/ he's doing some Mid-West dates in the US in July and maybe we will see that expanding a little.

Track Listing:

1. Can't Stop The World
2. Frontline
3. Forever May You Run
4. The Skin I'm In
5. Drive
6. Future World
7. Love Remains The Same
8. If You're Not With Us You Are Against Us
9. This Is Happiness
10. Another Night In The Hills
11. The Trouble I'm In
12. Beauty In The Beast
13. This Place Is On Fire

Well worth spending the $9.99 to pick this one up from either iTunes or Amazon.

David Cook - The Time Of My Life - Idol Review

So in all of the years of the show American Idol I had never watch an actual season. I always watched those tryouts and the tools who came back every year even though the sucked big time. They must have mental issues or just want to always be known as the complete idiots of the world. Anyways, this year my wife sucked me into the show and I watched it from end to end.

I just moved to Kansas City, MO so for me Blue Springs, MO didn't mean a thing, it might as well have been Madison, WI or something. I come to find out that it's basically a subburb of our little KC town. From the top 12 I knew that David Cook would be the one to beat. Everything about him screamed - I'm the one - the voice, style and versitility he has is amazing. I can't believe it took this show for him to make it. Sounds like he put in some years here in KC working hard at it and new really took off.

At first I never called in a single time because I watched the show after voting on the DVR. Then as it came down to the final 6 or so I started dialing in and getting my David Cook votes in for fear that some dipshit like Jason would win because women thought he was cute or he was the vote for the worst person - who knows.

From week to week David Cook was consistant putting out great sound from Opera, rock, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond and the rest. I personally thought that David A. would win because all the teens voting for him. Personally I saw him as nothing more that a good kid, with a kind heart hanging on the puppet strings of his father. He has no versitility in his going and will do well as a christian singer or something in that nature. I do wish him luck as this was a lot for a 16 year old to go through.

Back to Cook - The man of the hour - the week and hopefully a successful career going forward. I see this guy blowing away the likes of Clay, Ruben, Daughtry, Clarkson and the rest. He has a good heart and doesn't seem like he will et it go to his head too bad. Hopefully he stays grounded and remembers where he came from.

David's cd Analog Heart is great. I think lyrically you can tell it's a start and needs some work, but the voice and arrangemnts are amazing. When they do put it out again I would certainly pick it up if I were you. Plus all those great studio versions iTues sold through the competition are good ones to have.

I wish this guy nothing but success in teh years to come. He was up against some good, some bad and some ugly and really came through.

Foxboro Hottubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!! - CD Review

The new Foxboro Hottubs cd Stop Drop and Roll!!! is fantastic. Basically this is Green Day as a 60's post-punk garage band, just having fun and putting out some good old classic rock stuff. Looks like they changed their name just to do something fun as a side project, but it's still Billy Joe rockin' the lead.

The songs are all relatively short, but awesome. They range between 2-3 minutes a song and keep you going from end to end.

It's well worth picking this one up. amazon has it for like $7.99, last I saw Best Buy was running it at $9.99 and iTunes the same.

Track Listing:
1. Stop Drop And Roll
2. Mother Mary
3. Ruby Room
4. Red Tide
5. Broadway
6. She's A Saint Not A Celebrity
7. Sally
8. Alligator
9. The Pedestrian
10. 27th Ave. Shuffle
11. Dark Side Of Nigh
12. Pieces Of Truth

Rambo - DVD Review - Look Out Fake Plastic People!

Now I'm not really what possessed me to go out and rent this movie on Tuesday, maybe the fact that nothing else was out. Stallone is back, older, more plastic, looking rough and ready to kill any and everything in site.

This had to have been one of the most brutal, bloody movies I've seen this year. I would have to guess that I was watching the unrated edition otherwise this movie needed to be rated NC17.

You know it's going to be brutal when in the first 5 minutes about 100 people are killed, limbs are flying and children are getting killed right in front of your eyes.

The story takes place later after the original movies. Rambo is collecting snakes and running a river boat somewhere outside of Burma. He gets asked by a bunch of church going people including Dexters girlfriend(showtime series), who want to go help the people in the villages. The rebels run crazy and kill everyone and kidnap the Americans. It's up to Rambo to save the day. The blood and guts start flying and the blood is running.

Overall - if you are a horror fan - go see it. If you have a weak stomach forget it.

I love Sly Stallone movies, they are all classic straight to DVD - B movies, just like Steven Segal, wesley Snipes and Jean Claude. How can you pass up the opportunity to see anything by any of these classic actors of our time. Rambo and Rocky made it to the theaters, but would have been just as well off going straight to DVD. I'm sure rental and sales will be great - Blue Ray for sure on this one if you have it. Then you can see fingers and toes hitting the cameras.

Rating 2 out of 5 stars.