Afishionados,

Well, just another exciting day for me today. You know, the usual stuff: wake up early, drive to school, attend class, drive to Indiana, hang out with Missy Higgins again… Yep, just the usual for me.

I don’t think I look half as retarded in this photo as I do in my first photo with Missy. Of course, I didn’t have to drive five hours this time to see her, either, so I wasn’t nearly as tired as before. Still, I think I rarely take a good (or even decent) photo, but I think this one came out pretty well. Plus, Missy is the attractive one in the picture, and everyone’s eyes will be focused on her and not me, anyway. Besides, her expression in this photo is positively adorable.

Missy’s traveling with two other bands right now and her spring tour debuted in Indianapolis, Indiana tonight. Thankfully, Missy got to play first in the queue. Unfortunately, the other two bands had to play as well, so her show was much shorter than the last five times I’ve seen her. I expected this going in, but her performance, as always, was top notch.

Immediately upon finishing her act, Missy headed straight to her huge, black tour bus. A small group of us had to pry her (nicely, of course) from the bus and beg her to sign autographs and take photos. I think there were only 6 or 7 of us altogether. Obviously I don’t know Missy personally (despite my best efforts and six concerts later ;-)) but she still comes across as very sweet, innocent, caring, well-rounded, and extremely down-to-earth person. She is also one of the most shy people that I have ever met. Missy wasn’t upset or mad or anything about the guy knocking on the bus’ glass and asking her to come out (and no, it wasn’t me that did that).

Unlike the concert in October, I worked up enough courage to actually say more than two words to her. I told Missy that she was my favorite musician ever and that I loved her music. I also thanked her for touring the USA and confessed that I’ve driven to see her in concert each and every time that she visits. Missy simply smiled, waved to me, and said, “Well, see you the next time, then!” And with that, she climbed back aboard her bus and was gone.

Afishionados,

A shameless plug for my brother tonight because I think he deserves it. My brother, Narrow Dweeb, was in the market for a didgeridoo but discovered that affordable ones are $70+ in the catalogues. The cheaper ones are made from PVC piping and not wood.

So, what is a desperate ex-Marine-gone-Army-Reservist to do? Buy some PVC pipe and a heat gun is what! Yes, Narrow Dweeb has been making his own didgeridoos and playing them on his college campus because he’s crazy. He also has a talent knack for leaving me didgeridoo voicemail messages. At least, I think it’s him because I don’t know any Aboriginal Australians.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, are just a few of his didgeridoo creations. They sound just as good as the real (wooden) ones but look a lot cooler. Especially the flying tiger version, which is my favorite so far.

If this one has a model number, it would be “P-40″.

This one is also quite good and looks a lot like wood after some sanding, staining, and branding. I think it came out nicely.

Here’s a close up look at the “wooden” didgeridoo. It looks great!

I think it people are willing to pay $70 for a didgeridoo that my brother should sell them. I know at least one person who would like to see a Darth Vader or Halo 3 didgeridoo… But I… I mean “he” shall remain nameless.
:-X.

Afishionados,

Chicago was short but awesome! I got into town around 1 P.M. Chicago time, had lunch, took a nap, then hitched a free ride downtown in plenty of time to see Missy Higgins perform at Martyrs’. Last year, I found out by simple luck that Missy Higgins was performing in Seattle. That concert was excellent and I had a great time. I spent the entire evening standing about 5 feet away from Missy as she sang for about an hour and a half.

The concert in Chicago blew that one way out of the water. The concert was sold out even before the show started. The venue was still a hole in the wall, but the Chicago crowd was a lot more lively than Seattle’s. I think Missy liked the Chicago crowd, too, because she spent a lot of time giving background info on her songs and joking with her fans. She even extended her stay and played a handful of extra songs because people were enjoying the concert so much. The show felt much more intimate than last year’s. Missy doesn’t have a single song that I don’t like, but she does have some that I enjoy more than others. And as far as my favorites, Missy played ‘em all :-).

I borrowed my mom’s camera for the trip, but I didn’t take it to Martyrs’, which worked out just fine because it was far too dark inside to take any good photos and flash photography was prohibited. Thanks to MySpace, I got a bulletin from Missy that said she’d also be playing a free gig at the Borders bookstore in the heart of downtown Chicago. Since I didn’t know this when I planned my trip, I hadn’t planned on going. But since I drove myself, I quickly readjusted my schedule.

Martyrs’ probably had two or three hundred people there. It was packed pretty full and it was hot as hell. Borders, on the other hand, was a completely different animal. Only 30 or 40 people showed up for it. And guess who had the frontmost seat directly in front of Missy :-D?

The Borders gig started at 12:30 P.M. I showed up at 11:00 to grab a good seat and some coffee. My chair was literally two feet away from Missy’s piano. I was even closer this time than I had been in Seattle. This may not sound so amazing to people not familiar with Missy Higgins, but consider her audiences in Australia: Typically 4,000-12,000 people at $65+ a pop. Here’s a photo of the Live Earth concert that was held in Australia. Missy performed here, so you get the idea.

I killed the time by chatting with the guy who set up her equipment. Unfortunately, I never got his name, but he was very friendly and I know he was from Perth. We prattled on about Australia and Australian musicians, and he reinforced the idea how insanely lucky I was to be so close to Missy at a free “concert”. Since I don’t live in Australia, I don’t think I can fully comprehend how popular she is over there, but I like to think that I can, at the very least, appreciate it.

Me, looking very tired from getting up at 7 A.M., driving to Chicago for an 8:00 P.M. concert, not going to sleep until 2:00 A.M., and getting up at 8:00 A.M. to see Missy at Borders. Holy crap.

Around 11:40, Missy came out to finish setting up her keyboard and guitar. By this time, there were probably 10 people (most of whom were at the concert the night before) waiting for the event to start and Missy was kind enough take some photos with us. So, it seems that crossing my fingers paid off after all.

The Borders event was, of course, a much shorter show than the Martyrs’ concert. But it really felt like a private party and Missy was there just to entertain us, and only us. She didn’t even have a playlist, she just took requests for songs off her new album from her fans (I managed to sneak in a request and Missy played it. Woo!)

After about 30 minutes, the show switched to an autograph signing. Convenient that I brought my CDs with me. I jumped in line fast enough to be third.

I was nervous when I talked to Missy, but she’s a very cool and down-to-earth person and seems like a really easy person to get along with. I can only imagine how much money she’s made since she started singing, and I’m glad that she hasn’t gone the way of the “American music star” and let all her fame and fortune go to her head.

As she signed my CD covers, I told her she was my favorite singer and more than worth the 5+ hour drive to see her. And then she looked at me like I was crazy and asked, “You drove 5 hours to see me? Where are you from?” I thanked her for her awesome performance at Martyrs’ and told her I’d drive back to Chicago in a heartbeat if she ever came back to sing, which resulted in a very Australian, “No worries”¹ and a “Thanks so much!”.

I’m sorry if this seems like too much rambling, but it’s been a very fast 48 hours and I’m completely burned out from driving for 10 of those 48 hours. I’ve probably bored most of you, but I think I really wrote this post for me. I’ve seen Missy Higgins live three times now, and each time keeps getting better and better. I’ll never forget my (too short of a) trip to Chicago, and I’ll never forget the concerts or the opportunity I’ve had in just getting to sit down and talk to Missy Higgins. It’s been one of the greatest experiences of my life, and means the world to me.

I took 51 photos at Borders, but I kept the flash off as to not annoy or distract Missy while she sang. Here are just a few that I thought turned out especially well. I also want to say that the guitarist in the green shirt (Ben Edgar, also quite good) is also very cool. He, too, thought I was crazy for driving 5 hours to see Missy.

¹ This phrase translates to “No problem” for any Yanks not familiar

Afishionados,

I haven’t had a “real” vacation for a long time, and so I’ve decided to take a few days and head to Chicago. It’s going to be a fast trip, but it’s going to be better than the last time I was there because there will be no Navy boot camp involved this time. And this time there are Australians involved!

My favorite musician in the world is Missy Higgins. She’s from Australia and something about her songs and her voice just gets to me. She’s not well known in the USA and I prefer it stay that way, because her tickets are so much cheaper as an “indie”. I saw her last year in Seattle and she was great. Thanks to a MySpace bulletin, I saw that she was coming to Chicago. After I bought a ticket and booked a hotel, I saw that Missy’s actually playing two venues. Awesome! Hopefully I’ll get to see her twice, because she doesn’t come to the USA as often as she tours Australia. That’s that plan, anyway. I’ll even keep my fingers crossed for an autograph or (gasp) a photo.

I won’t have a computer with me, but I will have access to email, so anyone in the Chicago area who wants to buy me lunch, I’ll be waiting to hear from you.

In a completely unrelated note, I got new glasses. They’re completely round, and I like ‘em. Harry Potter, John Lennon, and Steve Jobs: Eat your heart out.

Afishionados,

A Borders bookstore in my neck of the woods featured a CD that caught my attention this afternoon. The nice thing about Borders is that 1.) It’s never crowded because nobody shops at the mall that it’s in since a newer and larger mall is 10 minutes away and 2.) You can preview tracks of all the the CDs they sell on computer kiosks within the bookstore.

The album was “Twenty-three”¹ by Tristan Prettyman and, after listening to a couple songs, I ended up buying it. I imagine the CD was featured because she’s opening for Guster in Seattle tonight. In any event, I like her “folksy acoustic-ness”.

I didn’t pay much attention to the CD case at the store (who does, really?) and just bought it like I’ve done a million times before with a million other CDs.

While I’m the happy owner of an Apple MacBook, I use my iPod with my Windows PC because it has a bigger hard drive, all my songs are already on my PC, and I don’t want to spend the time moving all my music over to my Mac.

Anyhoo, I inserted Tristan’s CD into my PC in hopes of importing it as an AAC file into iTunes. Once the CD drawer closed, I waited. And waited. And waited some more, watching iTunes and looking for the CD icon to appear so I could start the importing process.

The CD never showed up in iTunes. Instead, I was greeted with a warm and fuzzy copyright notice agreement in glorious pop-up flash animation form.

The notice said something like “In order to play this music on your PC, you must agree to the following:

1.) You must give to us, Virgin Records, your first born child on Halloween night at precisely 12:01 A.M.
2.) You must provide two forms of I.D.
3.) You must submit a urine, stool, and semen sample. All at once.
4.) You must disclose the location of Iraq’s WMDs.

“WTF is this?” I thought to myself. “Is this software CD or a music CD? I just want to listen to it in iTunes, dammit!!!”

Of course I had to agree to the licensing agreement, else the CD wouldn’t even show up under “My Computer”. Even after agreeing, the CD would not show up in iTunes. Instead, the album plays in its own Flash-based CD player. Once again, “WTF” ran through my mind.

I tried to manually locate the song files on the CD but Tristan Prettyman is a sneaky little devil, as she hid them from me. Curses!

I had never seen such crazy shit with a music CD before. Upon closer examination of Tristan’s CD case, I saw that it emphasized the fact that the album was, indeed, copyprotected. On the back of the CD, in the finest print perceptable to the human eye, was this:

Tristan must like rules and regulations because her CD case goes on to list even more stipulations: (Ironic, since she’s an independent and emerging artist and I would have figured she’d want people to be able to hear her sing.)

What the hell, Tristan? You’re all but unheard of, yet your CD is harder to get into than the Pentagon. And it’s not even compatible with the iPod! I would expect this sort of thing from Metallica or Rod Stewart, but not you. This really hurts my (one and only) feeling.

Hmmm… According to the graphics of anality, I am permitted to arrow the contents of the disc over to my Mac, so long as I am running Mac OS 8.6 or higher. Seeing as how Mac OS 8.6 came out in 1999, I’m pretty sure I meet and exceed that requirement. For you, Tristan, I’ll give it a whirl.

I slipped the CD into my MacBook and within moments it showed up in iTunes, downloaded the track names, and was imported as AAC. Awesome.

In reality, I imagine Tristan has very little (if anything) to do with the copyright protection that plagues her otherwise good album (she just has assholes for bosses and that’s not necessarily her fault, is it?). For the Windows inclined, Tristan has a forum on her official web site with a link to a thread about circumventing the copyprotection of her own CD using third-party software right on her front page.

Therefore, I hold the greedy corporate suits at Virgin Records responsible for this pointless annoyance. You and the rest of the record industry can suck it. No one is going to buy your music if they can’t even use it easily. Let this be a lesson to you, bitches. Oh, and thank you for being clueless about Macs. Without your ignorance, I might never have been able to listen to the CD that I paid for.

And a special thanks to Tristan Prettyman. I think your stuff is pretty good.

¹Sorry, Anaglyph.

Afishionados,

I love movie soundtracks. Quite often, the music is better than the actual film itself. I’ve selected, for your audible pleasure, a collection of 8 songs that I like from various movies. The majority of these movies aren’t all that great, but something about their soundtracks is superb.

Simply click on the WFSH image above to launch the Radio player and hear the complete versions of all the songs listed below. The player will launch in a new window, and may not work if you have pop-up blockers installed. If that is the case, here is the direct link in case you have to manually open the player in a separate window.

Please note that the player has a scroll button on the right side. You’ll have to scroll down in order to see all the songs listed.

http://www.oldfishandlemonade.com/flash_mp3_player/wfsh.html

I believe that James Horner is the greatest composer when it comes to modern day cinema. His use of choir is the best in the world. My personal favorite soundtrack by him is the Titanic soundtrack, closely followed by Braveheart. Say what you will about the Titanic movie, but Sissel’s vocals are undeniably powerful and it’s in this soundtrack where Horner truly shines. He’s also one of the few composers who can make bagpipes sound good. Because I like him the best, I’ve put Horner first on the list.

1. James Horner - Casper - Casper’s Lullaby

One of Horner’s lesser known soundtracks is Casper. I think this soundtrack is also Horner’s most underrated. His use of piano and choir in this song, the movie’s main theme, is pure magic.

2. Steve Jablonsky - The Island - My Name is Lincoln

I’ve never seen The Island, but I’m willing to bet it’s a flop. Fortunately, this song’s not. I like how the song builds up to the theme and really takes off at the end.

3. Rachel Portman - The Cider House Rules - Main Titles

I enjoyed the The Cider House Rules movie more than the book, and this soundtrack is probably the one I listen to most often. The piano is never intrusive or distracting, and I’ve done some of my best Photoshopping to Portman’s music. If you like her work, I also highly recommend the soundtrack to Chocolat.

4. David Newman - The Mighty Ducks Theme

The Mighty Ducks is not one of Disney’s timeless classics and will most likely be forgotten as time goes on. I feel like this soundtrack, especially the main theme, was wasted on this film and should have been used on something bigger, better, and more powerful. My favorite part is when the “victory theme” takes off around 2:35, followed by the horn solo of the same music.

5. Bruce Broughton - Homeward Bound - End Credits

Another decent children’s movie with a first-rate soundtrack that’s far better than the film. I saw this movie for the first time when I was around 12 years old and I’ve been able to hum the theme ever since. This soundtrack, more than any other, has been stuck in my head more times than I can count and I don’t know why. Unfortunately, the CD has long been out of print and finding a copy for an affordable price is proving difficult (All I have is an MP3 format).

6. Craig Armstrong - Love Actually - Prime Minister’s Love Theme

Any movie with Keira Knightley is worth my time, and Love Actually is no exception. Arguably my favorite “chick flick” and one I watch every Christmas. Only two songs of Craig Armstrong’s are on the soundtrack, and this one is my favorite of the two.

7. Alan Silvestri - The Parent Trap - The Parent Trap Suite

Alan Silvestri’s best music is Back to the Future, but his work on The Parent Trap is top notch. Like Horner, I believe this is Silvestri’s most underrated work (and Lindsay Lohan’s best). The suite features all the various themes used throughout the film.

8. Klaus Badelt - The Time Machine - Godspeed

The Time Machine is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. It’s also one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard. I’m pretty sure the Eloi at the end of the song are saying “We’re glad this movie is over and we apologize we charged you money to see it. In fact, we apologize for making it.”

Hollywood, you can keep chugging out crappy movies one after another. Just make sure that a couple of them have really good soundtracks.

Courtesy of the Concert Ticket Generator

When Peter Jackson was asked to direct Tetherd Cow Ahead: The Movie, he immediately turned it down, stating that “the film is much too complicated and surreal” to be adapted to the big screen. “It’s like The Lord of the Rings, but worse. It’s just too damn big.” Fortunately for fans around the globe, Landon Flanagan stepped up to the plate and brought us the biggest, most spectacular film the world has ever seen. Ebert and Roeper call it “An instant classic” that is “not to be missed unless you have an excuse not to see it”.

The soundtrack to the biggest-budget film of all time is just as huge as the movie. Packed with over two hours of music, it’s being touted as “the must-have CD of the year!” by fans and critics everywhere.

When it was announced that Peter Miller would be doing the soundtrack to his own movie (under the guise of “Perpetual Ocean“), fans everywhere were hesitant. Was Miller trying to save a few bucks by doing his own music? It’s no secret that Tetherd Cow Ahead was overbudget, even before principal photography had begun shooting. (Contract woes with Joey Polanski put great strain on the film early on. Originally, Polanski had refused his now-famous nude rap music scene, where he beat boxes in the buff. Doubtless that the film would not stand where it is today without a pivotal scene such as this.)

Once it was announced that Shakira would come aboard the project to aid Miller in writing the music for his epic masterpiece, the fears of many were allayed. It was a tremendous risk for Miller that ultimately paid off in the end. All three of the songs from the soundtrack featuring Shakira have been #1 on the charts since the album’s release.

“Femmes Fatale” is perhaps the most recognizable and most appreciated of the three. At just over 30 minutes in length, the song is prominently heard during the controversial scenes with Anne Arkham and Jill mud wrestiling to compete for the love of the Reverend Anaglyph. The chorus, sung by Shakira at the top of her lungs, is positively invigorating. The director needed a musical piece worthy of such a scene, and Shakira does not disappoint. A hint of “March of the Reverend” (the film’s central theme throughout) can be heard in the background, and the polka finale (right as Polanski enters at the end of the scene) is unforgettable. “Femmes Fatale” is the longest (and arguably the best) song on the entire album. (The song’s 30 plus minutes length is necessary because the mud wrestling scene was filmed in the “bullet time” style made famous by The Matrix.)

The “Battle of Limericks” is the most controversial song featured in the soundtrack. It’s in this song that Shakira sings and recites the film’s now infamous limericks. On it’s own, the “Battle of Limericks” is little more than pure drivel and pointless banter. A recent review by Simon Cowell (he calls the music “disturbingly unpredictable”) has pushed the song to #3 on the top ten charts around the world, but it is believed by many that this is the only reason that anyone still listens to it.

“Glitch in the System” is the final song that Shakira sings. The song is a duet with Peter Miller and Shakira and is played near the film’s end when the Reverend Anaglyph receives a new kitten. While Shakira herself is reminiscent of a screeching cat, it’s Miller that really makes this song shine and stand out. Surprisingly, the didgeridoos in this song are a real treat and who knew that Miller was a soprano? It’s safe to assume that “Glitch in the System” is the “My Heart Will Go On” of its time.

With sales of the soundtrack to Tetherd Cow Ahead now reaching millions, it’s no surprise that other artists are wanting to record their own renditions of the album’s most popular songs. Rod Stewart’s techno remix of the entire album (at the request of Peter Miller himself) is expected to be in stores by the end of the year.

With the ever-increasing popularity of downloading music from the Internet, the music industry has fallen on tough times. Sales of tangible records are down, as more and more people are choosing to get their music from the web. Is the soundtrack to Tetherd Cow Ahead: The Movie enough to jumpstart weak sales? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: No collection is complete without the music from Tetherd Cow Ahead: The Movie.

☆☆☆ out of Five

Rod Stewart was the “featured celebrity” guest on American Idol tonight and I was reminded of my first (and last) Rod Stewart concert.

First off, and in my own defense, I didn’t pay a dime for my ticket. My mom and stepfather paid for them and forcefully drug my stepsister and myself along because none of their own friends were foolish enough to attend a Rod Stewart concert.

Rod is one skinny motherfucker and he loves to prance. He didn’t dance. He hopped, skipped, jumped, and frolicked across the damn stage. I managed to contain my laughter up until the point he took off his shirt and the ladies in the crowd cheered and wooed. How can you get excited about something like that? I’ve seen photographs in National Geographic magazine of Indonesian people with more meat on them. I still wake up with night tremors on occasion.

I rememember looking over at my stepsister about halfway through the concert and saying, “Unless someone in the crowd is pregnant, we’re the youngest ones here.”