last post for the day...i promise! Chris Cornell new song, "Long Gone"

I've always been a huge fan of Chris Cornells' voice, but this song, "Long Gone" is definitely worth some more attention! I hope you enjoy it...

Long Gone - Chris Cornell

New band to check out...Jump Into the Gospel

Check out Jump Into the Gospel website which has some cool songs. Really enjoying "Flagship". Let me know what you think...

http://jumpintothegospel.com/

Heath Ledger - Vanity Fair (August 2009)

Vanity Fair in next month's issue (August 2009) has an article on Heath Ledger and online they have a slide show and thought I'd share... The images are from an article they wrote on him and some outtakes, and my memory serves me correctly - I still have the original issue in my collection somewhere!


I can't wait to see the last film Ledger worked on, but sad to say that he didn't get to complete it. He plays Tony in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell shared the remainder of the role to complete the film.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/08/heath-ledger-portfolio200908

No Doubt Concert Review (opening acts Janelle Monae first & then Paramore)! @ PNC Bank, Holmdel, NJ

I’ve been a fan of No Doubt since “I’m just a Girl” was released and made a huge impact on myself and on the kids in my high school. I might not love every song on every album, but there is a lot of great material from this band and I really wanted to see them live on stage and I know a few people who have seen them in the past and loved their performance and said that Gwen is crazy on stage and I'm glad to say the band and the openings were totally awesome! So when I heard they were touring in the summer I searched their schedule and realized that they were going to perform at the PNC bank and I was like that’s a great place for the summer and unlike other venues in the NJ/NY area, PNC uses Live Nation so it took forever to finalize the dates of when the tickets would be on sale, but eventually they were on sale and luckily I was able to get good seats.

If anyone reading this is from the NJ/NY area would know that we had monsoon weather around 6:30pm on Friday night, June 26, and that was the time I and a friend were just parking the car at the venue and so we stayed in the car until the rain died out a bit. We trooped it to the entrance which was confusing because of the weather and we were hungry so we grabbed a pretzel each and then went for drinks and at this point, we already heard Janelle Monae on stage and so we finally were walking to our seats and we got to see her close her set which the crowd seemed to have enjoyed her performance.

And after about 15 minutes or so… Paramore backdrop was shown and the audience started screaming and my friend turns to me making a smart statement questioning whether there were more people here excited to see Paramore than no doubt and I told her there definitely might be. I know I came to see No Doubt but having Paramore open was a very cool bonus and let me tell you they did not disappoint. The lead singer, Hayley Williams seems so tiny from our seats, but was rockin’ it… and she was a total rock chick and thought their performance was really great. They came out and started off with their hit “Misery Business” and it was a total crowd pleas er, majority of the audience stood up and sang along, some to the chorus and others to every word. Hayley mentioned they were away for a while making a record and it’s finally done and so they played a new song, “Ignorance” which is scheduled to be the first single to be released sometime in July off the new album, Brand New Eyes, which should be released in September. Then they moved onto other hits, like “CrushCrushCrush”, and “When it Rains”. And then they performed another song off their upcoming album, “When the Lines Overlap” and then to another hit “That’s What You Get”, and “Let the Flame Begin” and lastly performed “Decode”, which was off the soundtrack from the hugely successful film Twilight and they actually dedicated that song to Michael Jackson.

I’m actually curious to hear their past full albums and their upcoming album… I had downloaded a few songs in the past but I don’t own a full album, but will definitely give it a try… and will be happy to see them again live if they go on tour for their upcoming album. The entire band was fun to watch and I really enjoyed the show!

http://www.imeem.com/paramore

And finally our main attraction, No Doubt got on stage and opened with “Spiderwebs”. The stage was very clean and sleek all in white and the actual band themselves were dressed in white and black and screen behind them had some videos of the band, which was very cool. They sang hits after hits, such as, "Underneath it All", "Excuse Me" and very quickly moved onto "Ex-Girlfriend". Gwen Stefani then started shaking the hands from the first few rows and the audience had some signs and she began to read them and actually started signing autographs and then stated, “I have to go, I have to go”. During “Simple Kind of Life”, when Gwen sang, “I always thought I’d be a mom” the crowd went crazy and Gwen lit up the place with her great smile and moved onto “Bathwater” before departing the stage and the rest of the band fooled around and before you knew it Gwen was back on stage, wearing grey and black sparkly short suit and started singing “Hey Baby”, then “Running”, “Different People”, “Don’t Speak”, “It’s My Life” and then “I’m Just a Girl” which was the highlight for me – you never forget your first and that was the first song I loved from them!

They thanked the crowd and the band went backstage, but Gwen interacted again with the audience and finally left to meet up with her band, but in reality to change clothes again. We stuck around and they finally got back on stage for a 3song encore! Adrian came back in a tutu and Gwen with another costume change (as predicted) and performed a very chill "Rock Steady" and then Paramore and Janelle Monae came on stage and they were all jamming together and then they stepped away and No Doubt closed the show with "Sunday Morning" which was a great end er…just a fun pumped up song!

I've been to several rock concerts and I must admit this entire concert was definitely in the tops for me. I suggest anyone who has a chance to see them live - go, check them out and have fun! I don't recall now if it was Gwen or Hayley, but one of them said a great line, "this is the best summer concert to be at" and i must agree!

http://www.imeem.com/nodoubt

The Proposal – So much fun to watch!!!

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are extremely enjoyable to watch onscreen together! The Proposal is such a good fun film to watch whether with a bunch of women or just a double date – the guys will laugh at this film as well!

Walking into this film, I was well aware of the two main actors and of course Betty White from all the praise she was receiving for her performance as Reynolds grandmother. But I was delighted when Craig T. Nelson and Mary Steenburgen, portraying Reynolds parents and Malin Akerman (27 Dresses & Watchmen) playing Reynolds ex-girlfriend, appeared onscreen.

Bullock has not wanted to do a romantic comedy for a while now but when she heard Reynolds was in and realizing its not a typical funny romance movie, she decided it was worth being a part of and I’m SO glad she did. Oh and the naked scene was hilarious and Bullock and Reynolds chemistry is undeniable…funny, funny film! My girlfriends can’t wait to watch that scene again in slow motion…just a real classic scene!

This is a great summer film just for some simple laughs and to have a good time… I walked out of the theatre wanting to watch it again and again – can’t wait until it’s released on DVD. Go watch this on big screen – definitely worth it!

Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway --- New Photos of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland...

I've been wanting to post these pics ALL DAY! I'm so excited about this film, which should be released sometime next year.

Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors and Anne Hathaway is very cool, and also Tim Burton's wife Helena Bonham-Carter is also in this film. Depp is playing the Mad Hatter, Hathaway is the White Queen and Bonham-Carter plays the Red Queen. The make-up looks amazing...what do you think?

George Harrison - Let It Roll: Songs of George Harrison

I literally can still remember the first song I heard by George Harrison and not being aware that he was one of the Beatles (I was very young). The song was, “Got My Mind Set On You” and it was so catchy and I would constantly sing along to it. At that time, I was an avid watcher of MTV with Adam Curry and constantly watching VH1 and VH1 classics or VH1 Pop-Up videos and it was just a great, great song. And it literally has been one of those songs that I hear and it takes me back and I can remember watching the video and thinking how odd is this but yet so damn cool.

This past April, George Harrison received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in LA and shortly after, it was announced that a compilation album was in the works and would be released in June 2009. Of course, this announcement was bittersweet but I personally was excited to be able to grab all of his greatest hits and as a bonus the CD would be accompanied by unreleased photos of Mr. Harrison himself.


The album is a collector’s dream, songs like “What is Life” (another favorite of mine), “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)”, “My Sweet Lord”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “This is Love”, and “Isn’t It a Pity”.

George Harrison is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted twice; as a member of The Beatles and as a solo artist. Besides being part of the legendary group The Beatles, he was legendary in his own right and so many continue to hear one song that stands out to them and will feel exactly the way I felt the day I heard his song for the first time! And I just wonder what other songs he would have been so graciously enough to share with us if he had been around today…

Great collection of music – if you’re a music lover, definitely have to own this!!!

Black Eyed Peas, "The E.N.D." – Album Review

Black Eyed Peas must have wanted to release a great album since they have not released anything in a few years and honestly, that’s exactly what they have done. They have released a fun album for the spring and summer and it’s the perfect album to cruise down the shore with. Very fun beats and certain songs have the catchiest choruses and even the versus can be funny.

This album is heavy on electronic beats with hip hop feel – its very cool album and it’s simply fun to listen to and makes you want to dance and it makes you want to drive faster along the coast. All members of the group have been busy, some got married and others are filming movies but all continuing to be involved with music and I guess the break apart made the difference. This album sounds like it was a blast to make and fun to join and reunite to do this album. The group seems to have a real connection among one another which shows in the music and its just really enjoyable.

So definitely pick it up for the summer bbqs or summer drives to the shore!

Album Review -- Jonas Brothers, "Lines, Vines and Trying Times"

Jonas Brothers have released a few albums within the past few years, however, this is the first album I’ve heard fully and I’m probably going to say it’s a good thing but a bad thing as well. I haven’t seen their progress within a full length album, but certain songs you can hear that they are attempting to gain more adult credit but trying to stay pop enough for the teenager girls that completely adore them. They definitely give it a good try, I mean, they have some great respectable artists, such as Johnny Lang and Common featured on songs, and oh yeah, and I almost forget Miley Cyrus is on one song too.
There are a lot of songs that have a Motown thing going on and the two songs that I truly enjoyed are the more low key songs, "Black Keys" and "Turn Right", which were both written by the youngest Jonas, which I think he stands out the most. The bonus track, "Keep it Real" is pretty fun.

This album is not bad and obviously they are getting older and being in the position they are in – they can start testing out the waters and play with ideas and I just hope they continue to expand their music inhibitions. We have all seen that people who start in the pop world can gain respect from the best of us (Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera). If you are a fan already, definitely grab this album and check it out. If you are a music fan and are curious because you have enjoyed one or two of their singles (like me) – try it out, maybe you will be surprised.

The Hangover movie review - funny movie, worth watching!

This movie is going to make Bradley Cooper (Failure to Launch)! He is the complete standout in this film… with his honey colored sleeked hair and with his nice suits or clothes that fight just right. And that’s not what sold him…that’s just a bonus! The real reason he stands out because he was actually really humorous and so easy to watch him and of course the cast with him were just great!

Just a quick recap, Justin Bartha (Failure to Launch also) is getting married and his friends who consist of Cooper, Ed Helms and his future brother-in-law played by Zach Galifianakis; whose character is a very odd man; go to Las Vegas for one night of fun and gambling. Each character have their own issues in life, whether they are not mentally stable, or have issues with marriage or can’t realize when their loved one is a total fake. But they are all determined to have a great night with the boys and show Bartha’s character a good time before he gets married. Fast forward to the next morning and not of them can remember what happened throughout the night and oops, the groom is now missing as well. So they have to retrace all their steps from the previous night and come to some odd realizations that are completely surprising but oddly enough, pretty funny. Heather Graham is also in this movie and I won’t spoil who she plays in the movie, however, obviously, you know there is a baby involved (well, if you saw the trailer). I got nervous in the first hour, there was a point were it looked like it was going kind of slow, but it was a small bump in the road which lead to a funny movie.

I have included the link for The Hangover website, go to video and watch the trailer and TV spots. The movie, rated R, is funny and certain random acts were shown which triggered my memory of yes; this is a rated R film. Definitely worth watching when you get a chance!

http://hangovermovie.warnerbros.com

Prom Queen by Lil Wayne

Ok so I've always thought Lil Wayne made every song he was featured in better - something about his raspady voice. Anyway, his last album Carter III - had so many songs that were just damn good between the beats, the lyrics, just really great! After the success of that last album, he began recording another album, called Rebirth, which will be released sometime towards the second half of 2009. During the beginning of this album, he decided he wanted to make a different album, more of a rock album; so he learned how to play guitar and a few months back he was Saturday Night Live and there he was playing the guitar. An article in Rolling Stones, he stated that this next album might not be as popular as Carter III but at least he isn't going to do the same thing back to back and no one else right now is doing what he is doing.... so here is the video for the first single, Prom Queen (which was released probably over four months ago). I was surprised how his voice goes well with the guitar...enjoy! Oh yeah, let me know what you guys think about this.

Prom Queen - Lil Wayne

Uncle Kracker, new single, "Smile"

Uncle Kracker hasn't released an album in over 4 years, but in September he plans to release an album, but on his website it has the first single off that album. Check it out....

http://www.unclekracker.com/