Yet Another Reason Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters Rule

I was trying to decide whether to write about the latest housing news (actually a "victory" for the good guys!), or a charity golf tournament that I would actually like to play in (for more than the beer and free hotdog).  Then I came across a story I had to comment about.

By now, it should be no surprise that I have a bit of a thing for Foo Fighters and their fearless leader Dave Grohl - seen here in full caveman rocker mode.    Well it seems that someone finally sought fit to spread their hilarious tour rider out to the interweb, courtesy of smoking gun.  I hope this doesn't turn out to be fake, because I have seen a few different versions of it at different sites, but given what I know about Dave Grohl and the band's general sense of humor, it seems legit!!

This is a masterpiece of Tour Rider journalism.  It is sarcastic, pays homages to the excesses of 70's Rockers, contains hilarious coloring book pages and some valuable lessons on roadie hygiene and the pitfalls of "sweaty meats". 

Each band member takes a funny turn at teaching the venue catering staff some great tips and makes it fun to learn by providing mazes, puzzles and band image clip art to color!  Just so we know that Foo Fighters haven't lost their edge, they also require a rock-band-worthy amount of alcohol!  What are the guys and their guests drinking? Lots of the usual suspects Coors light, Guinness, Corona, local microbrews, wine and champagne, Jager, Crown Royal, Sky Vodka and mixers.  Regular guy drinks (if regular guys are getting hammered before they go on!)  I also like that they request that the family room be "near, but not necessarily next to the band room".  The whole thing is also sprinkled with random gems like "Chewbacca did not get a medal at the end of Star Wars, which is a travesty!" 

Basically, I've got my ticket to the show at Nationwide Arena in September and can't f'***ing wait!!  The new album, Wasting Light, is an instant classic.  It is recorded old school and sounds incredible.  Their best offering yet and that is hard to do.  Full album review coming soon, I just can't stop listening to it long enough to write about it yet.  

Peruse the excerpts of the Tour Rider including the hilarious Catering Visual Enhancement and Activities in addition to the written excerpts linked above.  It is a great look into the life of a touring rock band and provides unique insight into the minds of the one of the biggest best rock-bands out there. It is also comforting to know that my favorite band is also one of the cleverest.  LONG LIVE FOO!!!

Still reaching for some good news about housing? Here it isn't!

I just finished reading another article desperately seeking good news on the housing front.   The other day, there was one about the fact that "new build" building permits for May were up from year ago.  I can attest to that as a local builder has ramped up construction on the final phase of my subdivision after about a six year standstill.  That's decent news, although I really can't see the benefit of putting more new homes into the marketplace in most cities right now.  

Today's article began by boasting how foreclosure notices fell to their lowest level since 2006!  What they are measuring is the required default notice that is sent by the bank at the beginning of the foreclosure process.  If the bank does not send this notice out, it can't proceed (in most jurisdictions) with the foreclosure.   If anyone thinks this is good news they are not thinking straight.  What this is a strong indicator of is that the Banks (B of A, Wells Fargo, etc.) have had to grind their foreclosures to a halt in some places.  I have had more than one client tell me that a representative of their Bank told them that "After further review, the Bank has decided that it is not in their best interests to foreclosure on your home."   This is after my client have not paid their mortgages in over a year.   It is no longer worth it to the bank to foreclosure because they don't want to own the home and can't sell it if they did.  This is now causing urban blight and other problems in certain cities and is guaranteed to affect the housing market negatively for quite a long time.

Sorry about this depressing topic, but if no one talks about it, it will NOT go away.  Feel free to leave a comment with your well thought out solution to the whole mess!!

Next entry will "upbeat"...back to music maybe, it makes everything better.!

h.d. Official Album Review - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Welcome, have a seat, get you i-pods, ear buds, headphones, CD players, walkman out and put in the new Beastie Boys album - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two.   If you push play at the end of this sentence you should be able to read this review and finish both it and the album at the exact same time.  

Are you even serious thinking  I could do that?  As an aside, I have no desire to help increase i-tunes bottom line; HOWEVER, choose your favorite media site and actually buy the album.  There is something wrong about just downloading music for free - the artists get some of the money you spend and you get their music and extras.  So download this album and you also get the 30 minute version of Make Some Noise video.

Hot Sauce Committee Part Two is either a return to or an homage to the early Beastie albums and is a reminder as to how Beasties can own the rap world basically whenever they choose to!  It starts off with one the first releases and one of the highlights with Make Some Noise...Classic BB theme of challenging sucka MC's.  They are dropping throwbacks to License to Ill all over this track culminating with the proclamation that we gotta "Party for the MFing Right to Fight!"  Non-Stop Disco Power is the first of a few trance-like synth lines backed by Funky Drummer Space Rap.  OK is next and one my favorites it is basically Robot Sex Music with the robots excited chorus of  "Sex is going on in my head" - at least that's what I heard!??!  Say It is a tour de force for Mixmaster Mike.  He also goes off in Long Burn the Fire another strong lyrical song containing "the proof is in the pudding and the pudding's in my pants..I think you've heard me rap, now watch me dance."  NOW WHAT, SON!!...errrr, sorry.

Other strong tracks follow with Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament.  This song disarmed my hypothalmus with its sick, sedating, wah synth and high-hat pacing.   Here's a Little Something is a dance anthem BBoy style harkening back to the To The 5 Boroughs album.  Pop Your Balloon is a clever,fast-paced, nasty rap.."Built for speed like a Tour De France bike!"  and "Aint no sunshine when Mike D's Gone!"   Sprinkled throughout are a few short tracks that sound like vocal exercises for the boys - but they are entertaining and have great names like Funky Donkey!!
 
If you're a big fan, watch the 30 minute Make Some Noise video.  I've seen it twice as it really fills in some of the gaps and answers a lot of questions from the short version that we were all thinking about.  Weren't we?  Anyone?  OK, here is my stream of consciousness summary - A celeb walk-thru funfest with an acid trip, lots of 80's Drug Use and Will Ferrell cowbell outtakes.  This video portrays a day in the life of BB immediately following the party depicted in the fight for your right video.  It ends with....a Back to the Future Dance Off the dissolves into a urination Golden Shower battle involving Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Jack Black as the future Beastie Boys, peeing on Elijah Wood, Seth Rogen, and Danny McBride as the younger BBoys.  Can't make that stuff up!  Hilarious and a testament to the broad fan appeal of the Beasties.

Overall, five stars - a must have for fans and a definite BUY if you are cool.  Let me know what you think about the review or the album.

Music is what life sounds like. - Eric Olson

OK, it's hard to find a quote about music that doesn't sound trite and hasn't been repeated a million times.  I went with Olson because this is one of the shortest quotes I could find and he had obviously thought about this subject for a long time before he came up with this gem!  I couldn't write this blog without including regular entries about music - what's new and cool, who everyone should listen to at least once, something obscure or something the doesn't work for me.

My favorite kind of music is --------------- anything that is good.  Classic Rock, Metal, Hip Hop, Reggae, Classical, 70's Soft Rock, it barely matters what genre if it's smart and has soul and originality.

Take this song that you might be familiar with: 

Its as good as it gets and so far ahead of its time I don't know how he came up with it - we'll just assume drugs for now, the point is this is a great song no matter what music you like.  Hendrix is just one in a series of geniuses that were able to make music that touches millions of lives.

As a pretty stoic guy, "expressing myself" isn't the first thing on my list of things to do. For me music is an emotion.  Music bring emotion to the room.  It takes you back to how you felt at a specific moment in time.  It uplifts, angers, saddens, delights, invigorates and exhausts.

I leave you with another quote.  As a lawyer, I was surprised and impressed to see several quotes about music by Oliver Wendell Holmes  .  Quite the jurist and apparently "got it" about music.

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons.  You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes