Yoyo. I hooked this up on Serato. Runs through the record and also includes some exclusive Paten Locke beats that you won’t hear anywhere else. Dopeness. Please spread the word if you’re digging it!

Download/Listen to the Megamix NOW

621 // November 27, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving! It has been a very relaxing and yet eventful past few days. Hubbie and I have escaped the city as of earlier this week, and have enjoyed some fresh mountain air. Along with a couple of personal friends who joined us, we had a huge turkey feast on Thursday with his family and gave thanks to not only each other, but those we could not be with on that day.

I also had some time to shoot some new labels I created for Crooked Keg. Their brand-new Scarecrow II Pumpkin Ale was a huge hit among the guests up here, and was quickly gone before the day was out.

Oh, and I have to mention that the fresh mountain air must be the remedy for the common cold or bronchitis. Mom joked that the ill used to be sent to the mountains for any respiratory illness… and she might be right. For those concerned, I am feeling 100% better than I have been the past two weeks! We went on a short hike today up Mayflower Gulch (12,415 ft) just south of Copper Mountain, and had nothing but clear lungs, blue skies and beautiful weather.

I have so much to be thankful for, and I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

Continuing my interview with the second half of Cheyenne based The Smart Set. (Click here to see part One)
These are my questions as responded by the second half. Some answers may be similar as they both answered them individually.
If you would like to listen to The Smart Set please visit their Myspace page here. http://www.myspace.com/thesmartset

A few questions with Dillon Petrillo from The Smart Set

What are your names and what do you do?
My name is Dillon Petrillo – guitar/vocals
How did you guys meet?
We met in junior high and started hanging out in high school when we were both in an improv group at our high school. Near the latter of our high school time, we were both heavily involved in the local music scene. We’ve been close friends ever since.
How did you guys come about forming the band?
This summer both of us were forced to move back to cheyenne and live with our parents. We had been discussing starting a band for a long time, but Cade was living in Laramie and I was in Fort Collins. When we both moved back to Cheyenne, we thought “what the hell. let’s start something up so we both don’t go insane.” and so it became.

Style

What style of music do you play?
I would say that our style is post-punk, pop. We draw a lot of influence from older groups such as the Pixies and the Talking Heads, as well as newer indie acts.
What do you do that makes you …well you?
I think what makes us “us” is a combination of our individual inspirations as well as our joint inspirations. Cade brings a dancy, modern indie, aesthetic to the songs which I think compliments my grungy, formulaic, pop style.

Name origin

Where did the name The Smart Set come from?
The name the smart set came from an episode of This American Life, where a girl was talking about a club she had as child with her stuffed animal collection. The name of the club was “The Smart Set”
Why are guys only a two-piece band?
We are only a two person band because … I think that’s all you need. I don’t know. I really like both ends of the spectrum. I like stripped down, minimalist groups and solo acts, and large orchestral groups. I think it was after we saw Liam Finn perform at Monolith that we decided that we could do it and still sound good.

Working away

I noticed you guys have played Laramie County Community College a bit this semester, how did that come about?
We were invited to play the battle of the bands and I guess the people involved with the student activities committee liked us and asked us to come back.
Do you have any releases that are are available?
We have a five song E.P. called “Tito Loves E.P.” that is available. However, you can currently only get it from us personally.

Playing Soon

Do you have any upcoming shows?
On the 10th of December, we are playing a set with our good friends The Photo Atlas at Surfside 7 in Denver. We don’t have anything lined up before or after that, but hopefully we can get something soon.
What is in The Smart Set’s future?
Come January, we will be relocating to San Francisco, where we hope to expand the Smart Set word and hopefully go on a tour in the spring or summer.

Dillon crashed. Alex tandemed with Ted. It was cold.

I stood by them for a minute but was bored with talk about how crashing is cool because of not caring and something about overs. I went and played with dogs instead.

Dillon, Texas. Pueblo donde el football es una religión. Donde cada viernes unos héroes vestidos de azul dan una muestra del poderío de sus lugareños. Un lugar donde es fácil vivir siendo un héroe. Un pueblo donde perder significa pasar de ser adorado a ser marginado. ¿Te interesa esta descripción? Continúa leyendo.

El pueblo de Dillon es prototípico del estado de Texas. Camionetas, gorros de cowboy, industria ganadera, grandes casas separadas entre sí en mitad del campo y vecindarios carentes de padres de familia que han ido a combatir por su país a Irak. Retrato acertadísimo y realista. No hay que olvidar que el estado de Texas es mayoritariamente republicano. De hecho, George W. Bush (G.E.P. = que gobierne en paz allá donde esté) fue gobernador de este estado en su paso previo a ocupar el sillón de la sala oval. Desde luego, es un lugar donde te encantaría vivir si fueras un tipo al que sus cualidades físicas le hacen ser alabado cada viernes noche por todos tus vecinos. ¿Qué te parecería si te dijera que en este pueblo los policias no te multarían por exceso de velocidad si hubieras hecho un buen partido? Hasta ese punto llega el poder del football en este pueblo de texanos 100 %.

Lo que más me gusta de este pueblo es que representa perfectamente el sueño americano. En este caso, personalizado en el football, decenas de jóvenes cada año defienden los colores de los Panthers (nickname del equipo de football de Dillon) con la esperanza de utilizar este escaparate como trampolín para alcanzar sus sueños. No es raro encontrar entre sus componentes a niños que van desde un joven negro que trata de conseguir una beca universitaria para poder llegar a ser profesional y dar un futuro a su familia, a un chico cuyo única expectativa que de él tiene su hermano es que sea una estrella de football si antes no ha dejado embarazada a cualquiera de las chicas que pasan por su cama, pasando por el chico ideal al que todos aman, tiene la vida perfecta de puertas hacia afuera y que parece haber nacido para ser un ídolo a seguir (gran quarterback, familia acomodada, guapo, novio de la jefa de cheerleaders… ).

Leyendo hasta aquí, pensarás que Friday Night Lights es una serie estereotípica sobre el mundo de los adolescentes y el fútbol. Craso error, amigo/a. Jamás des nada por supuestoe n FNL porque te equivocarás. Por ejemplo, ¿crees que por todo lo dicho el puesto de entrenador de los Panther es de tanto poder como el de gobernador del estado? Podría parecer que sí, que es muy sencillo ser el entrenador  del equipo puntero de Texas y que además te facilitaría una posición social privilegiada. Ni mucho menos. Es precisamente una carga que es difícil de llevar en Dillon. Tal vez en otro pueblo no sería tan nociva, pero estamos en un lugar donde el fútbol es una religión y, por tanto, el entrenador es constantemente enjuiciado, subido a los altares y bajado a los infiernos. Sin motivo aparente. Tan sólo es una marioneta del pueblo que busca que sus plegarias sean escuchadas. Cada persona en Dillon se cree un coach mejor que el actual y debe de hacerse oír criticando al coach cuando toca y alabándolo (cuando toca, aunque más esporádicamente).

Dillon nos proporciona una posición privilegiada para ver desde la perspectiva de personas que viven aisladas en su autoproclamada grandeza y que no ven más allá del resultado del partido de cada viernes. Personas que se amparan en la doble moral para tapar todos sus trapos sucios, que pueden haber engañado públicamente a su esposa y con ello haber roto a su familia y ser la comidilla del pueblo pero que no por ello tienen reparo en ir al estadio de los Panthers cada viernes, a seguir con una tradición que es más importante que su propia familia. “Ganad y todo irá bien” parece ser el mensaje que quienes van a ver el partido cada viernes envían a los miembros del equipo. Por deducción, el contramensaje es que si pierden, esa semana en el pueblo será mucho más difícil que lo habitual para todos, comenzando por el entrenador y los jugadores.

Sin duda, en un lugar de doble moral tan dicotómica, rizar el rizo sería que los planes del equipo no salieran como se espera, que el equipo pierda y que por el camino queden afectados miembros del equipo. No pasa nada, en cuanto los Panthers vuelvan a ganar todo se habrá olvidado. Más exactamente, todos se habrán olvidado de quienes han perdido en esa batalla, de quienes se han quedado por el camino, de quienes ya no pueden hacerles disfrutar enviando un buen pase o logrando un touchdown en el último segundo de partido.

Debéis de descubrir por vosotros/as mismos/as la delicia que es disfrutar de la historia de Dillon, de los problemas que se le presentan a Eric, a Smash, a Riggins, a Tyra… Debéis aprender plano a plano de la aventura de enfrentarse constatemente al enemigo que te ensalza, de luchar por salir adelante de familias desestructuradas, de cumplir con el objetivo que te han marcado tus padres en la vida, de salir de la desilución que siente tu entorno por quien ellos consideran un “quiero y no puedo”. Todo eso es FNL y, en menor medida, es una serie de fútbol.

Para mí, FNL es una serie de emociones, personajes con los que nos hemos identificado en algún momento de nuestra vida pasada (o venidera en un futuro), de esfuerzo y de lucha contra uno mismo y contra el entorno. Todo cobra un valor excepcional en esta localidad. Cada paso avanzado es un pequeño logro que no todos son capaces de lograr. Porque, en cualquier otro sitio, la vida sería mucho más fácil. No lo olvidéis.

Continúa leyendo los artículos sobre FNL con motivo del Bloggers Day y descubre lo relacionado con su música, su ambientación, la pareja Taylor… ¡y mucho más AQUÍ!

Holy Guacamole

Episode 3 of DillonAteThat.com TV -this one is conveniently enough a promo for my soon to be released album with Paten Locke, “Studies in Hunger” Available 12/8/09 on Domination Recordings. Buen Provecho!

Hello!
Hope everyones well!

During my surfing on the internets today i came accross illustrator Chuck Dillons blog, As well as freelance illustrator Chuck is also an art teacher, and during his teacher career he has compiled characatures of some of the stereotypical students he has came accross of the years,
It does sound quite a nasty thing to do but looking through them all i think some are bloody hilarious and so true to the kind of people i see around college.
Out of his characters i think i fit into the Loner/Alien student catagorie, here’s me!
If only there was some facial hair it would be a spitting image

For more check out his post here, definately worth a look!

nx

Burritos for Ma Dukes, Uncle Herm & Illa J

“Dilla Day in the A – 10/24/09″

Peace to everyone in Atlanta who made it out for “Dilla Day in the A” – a celebration of the life of musician James Yancey, aka J Dilla. Starting in the morning with the Lupus walk, to the afternoon with the “Dilla’s Dream Camp” workshop for ATL’s youth, to the highlight of the night at “The Bench” where ATL’s finest MCs repped HARD for Dilla. Illa J tore it down backed by DJ Rasta Root, Ma Dukes Yancey was in the building and dancing her ass off! It was a beautiful thing. The next day I was honored to kick it with them and do what I do on the food tip. Buen Provecho… (BTW the beat for this video is an unreleased J Dilla beat which I used at the Dilla Tribute show and has Ma Dukes’ seal of approval – holla!)

New Brunswick, Jersey native , Mike Bruno releases first full length album, available now on itunes.

I don’t know whether to be happy that FNL hast 11 more episodes to go before season 4 is over or be miserable.  If this were any other show I would be worried that it won’t be able to convery everything it wants in 13 episodes, but it’s not any other show.  It’s Friday Night Lights so bring it on I say.  

Those poor Lions just can’t catch a break.  First they get trounced in their first game, then the coach in their words “quits” on them, and finally their school turns against them.  Which is ironic considering how unlike the Dillon Panthers, the East Dillon Lions appear to be one rung above the marching band.  I have to admit after coming from a town where even the PeeWee Football coaches are psychotic about the sport it is refreshing to see that football players have it just as hard as the rest of us.  And if you live in East Dillon even harder.

The thing I admire the most about this show from strictly technical viewpoint is the fact that other than that small misshap in Season 2 when they pratically shoved Santiago Herrera down our throats the producers have slowly introduced new characters into the fold.  Maybe they thought we would accept them easier that way, maybe not.  And even though Season 4 has been all about change they are still holding true to the way they introduce the new characters.  As with our old favorites, the new characters are not what we first perceived them to be.  Vince a troubled young man from what I can only assume to be the poorer section of Dillon first appears as a petty criminal who uses his running skills to get away from the police instead of the opposing team.  However in this episode we learn that not only does he see a life beyond East Dillon, but we also learn that he takes care of his drug addled mother.  These aren’t stand out moments in the show, just meer glimpses into the other side of life in Dillon, Texas. 

On the other side of the spectrum we have All American good ole boy Luke Cafferty whose entire life is the Panthers.  In the first episode we saw him for all of 30 seconds which was just long enough for him to defend Julie and make excuses for JD.  If you chalked Luke up to a throw-a-way character well in After The Fall you and I were proven wrong once again by FNL and it’s abilty to tap into the talent of previous lesser known actors and actresses.  Because the scene where Luke broke down in front of our favorite principal and for all intent and purpose begged for his life or more importantly the life that he knew showed all of us that this was a character to expect alot from.  So by the time he showed up at the end and in support of his new team burned his Panthers T-Shirt we knew a new favorite had been born. 

Now you would think with new characters coming in and beloved ones growing up and on that we would be forced to watch a show that no longer resembled our favorite little show that could.  But come on people this is FNL!  You know they wouldn’t do that to us and sure enough so far they are not failing to disappoint.  Ok sure Tyra and Lila aren’t back yet but I have it on good authority they won’t be missing for long.  As we watch Tim learn to live in the ordinary we get to watch as Matt discovers his potential to be more than second string.  Along the way they will both struggle with the job of living and unfortunately we won’t be able to see Matt the whole time but I have faith that when we finally are faced with goodbye the writers will serve him with just as much justice as they did Smash and Street when they went on to their lives.   I have a feeling true loves and new teenage nymphets aside our boys will be just fine.

Ok so on to some of my favorite moments of After The Fall:

Tami letting Joe McCoy know exactly who ran things in Dillon and it wasn’t the two of them.  Go Boosters!

Our favorite booster of all showing us that loyality to the Panthers and to his friend don’t always go hand in hand.  I want more Buddy!

Landry letting Coach know exactly how disappointed he and the rest of the team were of him.

Coach Taylor having to deal with the fact that he may not having a winning team, but they were his team and he wasn’t going to abandon them.

Virgil “Big Mary” Merriweather enough said.

Anything with the Riggins boys.  I for one am grateful we didn’t have to say goodbye to Billy.

“East of Dillon”

October 28th, 2009

“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts…”

In the very first episode of Friday Night Lights, a “can’t lose” football team became a longshot. When Jason Street went down on the field, ending up paralyzed, the Panther football program went from being a contender for State to being a rudderless ship with a rookie quarterback at the helm. The arc of the show’s first season was watching Matt Saracen become a leader in his own right, someone who would eventually deliver a State championship to the people of Dillon, Texas even when nobody really gave him a chance.

What allowed that team to come together as it did was that surrounding Matt Saracen was not only a collection of great players (Riggins, Smash, for all of their faults) but also a football culture that bred success. Panther Football was not only just the players involved, or even the inspired coaching from Eric Taylor, but a community that rallied behind its team because there was nothing else they wanted to do on a Friday night. That culture, that once seemed so far away for Saracen while throwing footballs through a tire in his driveway, has given the football program substantial financial support, and bureaucratic power in the form of lobbyists like Buddy Garrity. While some of the elements of Panther football were political and thus avoided by Eric Taylor (and, as a result of our appreciation for his character, maligned by the audience), they were parts of the team that provided a solid foundation. “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” is as much a construct of years of success as it is about the players or the words themselves, a fact which becomes increasingly clear in “East of Dillon.”

What becomes clear in this fourth season premiere is that the first season wasn’t an underdog story at all, but rather a story of a team recapturing glory that never really left them but for those brief moments when all seemed lost. The story of the East Dillon Lions, handicapped by a biased redistricting that we were once on the other side of, is a true underdog story because this team has nothing. Not only are they handicapped by the inexperienced nature of its players, but they are also crippled by their lack of that community surrounding them – they don’t have lobbyists, they don’t have an experienced coaching staff, and they only have a few storefront signs to bring them together.

All they have is Eric Taylor, a true underdog whose only weapons are his coaching ability and the words (and the emotions behind them) that inspired the Panthers to victory for three years. With them, he needs to build not only a football team but a community around it, the equivalent to Noah’s Ark more than a texas high school football team. “East of Dillon” establishes this challenge, and tells us two things: Eric Taylor is going to make this work, and the people who are going to help him are slowly lining up to be a part of it.

And I’m already in the stands to enjoy the result.

As the new East Dillon Lions are crowding around Coach Eric Taylor, one of the players notes to Landry that the Coach sure can talk, “like some dude from an infomercial.” This is not, of course, our opinion of Eric Taylor: we know him as a skillful orator, one who can turn around a game at halftime with the sheer power of his words, so to equate him with someone selling something for three easy payments of 19.95 plus shipping and handling feels wrong. However, it isn’t entirely wrong, as at this point he really is someone who’s putting his heart into selling something that there isn’t an audience to receive. East Dillon football will have a following because it is a high school football team in Texas, but it is a team that hasn’t existed for quite some time and, more importantly, is a team that will pale in comparison to the town’s shining hope, a faster and more talented team by default in the Dillon Panthers.

Much of “East of Dillon” is spent establishing just how different life on the two sides is, and sort of preparing us for the fact that we, like Coach Taylor and like Landry, are likely going to be spending more time East than we are West. With Tami as Principal, it’s not as if we’ll be abandoning the Panthers entirely, but our interest lies in the Lions, and much of the interest we currently have in the Panthers is likely to shift with time. When we meet a decent human being who plays for the Panthers, Luke, who tries to stop J.D. from bothering Julie at a party, my immediate reaction is that he’ll eventually become part of the Lions. When Julie going to West Dillon becomes a point of contention for parents, her decision to follow her friends to East Dillon is all but inevitable. The show’s epicentre has always been Panther Football, but that is about to change, and this episode is about convincing us that this is the right thing to do – J.D. becomes awkwardly inappropriate when sober and pathetically petty when drunk (which actually fits with his previous experience with drinking), his father has become more annoying that Buddy Garrity ever was (his satisfied smile during the parents’ meeting riot was disgusting), and Wade Aikman becomes a golf-cart riding power freak who we love seeing played with by Tami with the coin toss (designed to keep her away from the Lions game). I don’t think there’s any viewer who feels as if there’s any reason, dramatically, to stick with the Panthers.

But yet we can still empathize with those who are not so quick to make that decision. Based on the condition of the school, we can’t entirely blame Tami for being a hypocrite in hoping her daughter will stay at West Dillon, as she wants what is best for her daughter’s education. And considering that the Panthers have a substantial stadium and a real chance of winning, can we blame anyone for feeling like that is the better use of their friday night, especially when it’s been part of their falls for the past number of years? The parents’ resentment, and the town’s shunning of the Lions, is not entirely surprising, but it puts us as the audience on the wrong side of many of the show’s characters. This creates an ideal underdog scenario where, with Taylor at the helm and the entire town against them, we want them to succeed for more reasons than just the tendency for people to support sports teams down on their luck.

The episode spends more time on those broad elements than it does on individual players, as the Lions are still largely an assortment of random characters we’ve yet to really meet. We got our introduction to Vince early on, running from the Cops and thus running right into a “Cops and Jocks” program as a running back; it was a rote introduction, but considering what else the episode had to accomplish I was impressively attached to the kid by the time the episode came to an end. And we, of course, know Landry, and can use his starting position as a sign of just how bad the team around him is (as funny as that scene with Matt was, it was also kind of true to how the show was using Landry’s character in the football setting). But at this point, we still haven’t met the Quarterback, Olsen, which tells us one of two things: either he’s going to get replaced by someone with more personality in time (perhaps the backup from the Panthers?), or else the show is simply waiting until next week to tell us more about him. I’ve stayed low on spoilers this season, so I’m sure there’s been something in casting, but it definitely raises some questions about how this team will come together.

And, just so we’re clear, it will come together, although the show is taking it at a very smart pace. There is nothing more hard for a coach than effectively quitting, but Taylor’s decision to end the absolute rout when his players are bruised and beaten to the point of being unable to stand is the right choice for the show’s arc. To rush the characters to some sort of miraculous victory would have felt false: it made sense for Saracen to save the day in the pilot because it set expectations he couldn’t meet, therefore creating considerable conflict in the weeks ahead, but here the Lions are entirely without expectation and rightfully so. They are not good at the game of football, and their problems go beyond nervous jitters to fundamental inexperience. But you can see in them, in that moment as they sit telling Coach Taylor that they’re all good to go even when they’re clearly not, that this game has made them Lions in a way that the Panthers are Panthers. This doesn’t make them a good football team, but it has made them a team, and one that can begin to grow from the ground up in the weeks ahead.

The other major threads of the episode were the false swan song of one character and the actual swan song of another. For Tim Riggins, going off to college was supposed to be his dream, but with Lyla Garrity gone off to Vanderbilt and his ability to sit through Homer non-existent, he abandons college in order to return home to Dillon. What he finds when he comes home, of course, is that the old Tim Riggins has died: his brother has moved on with a wife and his baby on the way, he no longer has football to stabilize his life, and outside of picking up cougars in bars he really has no more purpose in Dillon than anyone else. However, Tim returns to Dillon not because anything in particular drew him there but because that is his home, the place where he wants to be. It was all he wanted, to be able to come home, and yet he finds that it’s not the same place he left only a month previous and that he’s going to need to adjust to its changes.

However, both because of his situation and because he’s still listed in the show’s main credits, one senses that he will be able to do so. Tim has trouble motivating himself more than he has trouble fitting in, and as we saw when he was bunking with the Taylors he is capable of fitting in so long as his actions are not misinterpreted. He’s a slick kid, and you feel as if his struggle with Billy is not that Tim has no place in his life (Riggins’ Rigs feels like something Tim could easily be a part of) than rather that Tim needs a life of his own so as to separate their two paths. Billy is right to be frustrated with Tim’s refusal to stick with College, just as Tim is right that he in some way never wanted any of it. We can say all we want that he should follow off to college because many of us have university educations, but the reality of a town like Dillon is that not everyone leaves, and that not everyone can be like Smash Williams or Jason Street in finding lives outside of its borders. The episode using Tim smartly, both depicting his struggle with both Homer and Billy and helping introduce a new character (the cougar’s daughter, who turns out to be the anthem singer for East Dillon) who perhaps too omnisciently raises questions of the character’s identity – Taylor Kitsch is great in this role, so having him back full time is great.

But we don’t have Zack Gilford back full time as Matt Saracen, and the show isn’t hiding that fact. Matt has stayed in Dillon for Julie and his grandmother, but we see in this episode that both are in some way starting to fall away from him. He is still a Panther, but only as the delivery boy for Panther Pizza (a particularly demoralizing point from the writers there), and while he is still Julie’s boyfriend he is no longer part of her world. His grandmother’s dementia has yet to cripple her entirely, but here it’s a sad reminder of how far Matt has fallen: she can’t imagine a world where Eric Taylor isn’t coaching the Dillon Panthers, and where her grandson isn’t taking the field as quarterback. While Riggins left behind what he found wasn’t fulfilling in order to return to a life he knows, Matt has resigned himself to remaining in Dillon and is paying the price for it. He goes to a Panther football party and becomes that awkward older boyfriend who gets into a fight with the young jock over a girl, and he’s told at Dillon Tech that he lacks a point of view with his art, something that Chicago never told him.

Perhaps he, like Riggins, would have come back from Chicago after a time, as they too might have felt he had no perspective with his work, but it seems unlikely. His art is a reflection of his world view, and right now his world view is caring for his sick grandmother, losing a connection with his girlfriend, and delivering pizzas to his former teammates. It’s no surprise that his art was better and more meaningful when he was drawing to escape this town, drawing to make something of himself: when he draws now, he is drawing to make the best of a bad situation, one he chose himself at the end of last season against the wishes of many viewers (myself included), and that is not going to result in the most inspirational work possible. If the East Dillon Lions are struggling because they have no community around them, Matt Saracen is struggling because the community around him is not the one he could have had, and that regret deep down is being suppressed by his love for Julie and his grandmother in order to avoid the guilt of having left them both behind had he gone to Chicago. But that’s going to tear him apart with time, and what we see here is someone who is anything but happy, and who for all of his love of both Julie and his grandmother cannot stay in Dillon forever.

The show has always been a complex mediation of sadness and personal triumph, and you can sense the writers want to avoid emphasizing the former point too heavily. The episode features plenty of humour to break up the tragedy of it all, the ramshackle East Dillon Field House looking like a depressing relic of a previous era before being turned into a joke by the raccoon in the locker and Matt getting some nice comic scenes with Julie (“I think we can acquiesce that this is a Panther party”) and Landry (cheering him up by reminding him that he might suck less than the Lions). But what works about this show is that they never hide those moments, pretending as if one joke or one triumph could hide just how long this road is going to be. They also know, however, when those moments wouldn’t even be possible, which is why the East Dillon Lions only make it to half time as opposed to getting their first W of the season.

I knew coming from last season that this was a near perfect setup. When the show was finishing its third season, I and many others wondered where it could go from there: they had already been to State twice, and they had said goodbye to many of the existing characters, and the show was heading towards saying goodbye to Riggins and Saracen as well. However, when the redistricting scenario emerged, and Eric Taylor was assigned to coach the team, and we got that final shot of Tami and Eric on the dilapidated East Dillon field, it all felt legitimately perfect. Here is a chance to return to the roots of the show, starting a football team from the ground up, while having a built-in rivalry and several clear loglines (the first game between the two teams, the chance to meet new players, etc.) ready to go. So when they confirmed that a fourth season was really happening, it was the most I’ve been excited about a season of the show ever (since the second season was tainted in advance by Landrygate).

And right now, it’s living up to its potential by taking things slowly: while we get some sense of the rivalry between the two teams it is largely assumed rather than demonstrated, as the East Dillon team has too many problems of its own to really be concerned about what’s going on across town (note that we never learn how the Panthers did in their first game, leaving it behind as soon as Tami rigs the coin toss). The show knows how much this premise reinvigorates the show, giving it a chance to introduce new characters and return to these key themes of community and the “team” dynamic, but it isn’t rushing into either, and is coupling it with the post-football stories that worked so well last season. It makes for the kind of show that you can’t help but love, one with a clear sense of its own identity but rife with characters who are struggling to say the same – it’s the setup for what might just be the show’s best season yet.

Cultural Observations

• There’s been no question in my mind that Buddy Garrity would end up in East Dillon before long, but the show is smart not to have him rush over. Ever since he began getting pushed out of the way by Joe McCoy last year, it was clear that Buddy’s place at the ear of the Head Coach of the Panthers had been overtaken, but it makes perfect sense that he wouldn’t be willing to admit that. Sitting in that meeting as Tami is manipulated into abandoning her husband’s first game, avoiding her gaze and looking mighty unhappy, or running after Wade’s ridiculous golf cart, Buddy Garrity is no longer a Panther, but he’s still a resident of Dillon and a lover of football, and his skills would be most useful over at East Dillon High.
• Last season, the show dropped a number of characters without much notice, but that was okay since the second season wasn’t nearly as impressive as the first. This year, though, to not have a single mention of Tyra rings false, although it makes sense considering Landry was otherwise occupied being our one familiar face on the Lions. I know Palicki won’t be back this season (I think, at least not except to appear once or twice) due to scheduling issues, but I don’t want the show to ignore her presence as they did Santiago’s.
• And while I don’t like her character that much, I do want them to bring back Minka Kelly’s Lyla at Christmas or Thanksgiving, both to comment on Tim’s position as well as to offer an excuse for more Buddy – we got a mention of her here, but not much more than that.
• The anthem singer (whose I believe was Becky, played by Madison Burge, although I could be wrong) both looks a little bit like Adrianne Palicki from certain angles (as she was walking away from Riggins’ car it hit me) and had the perfect singing voice for East Dillon: good, but not great, reflecting the school’s second-hand status. I loved how Riggins’ walk of shame from her mother’s bedroom was soundtracked by her practice for the anthem, made for a bizarre sequence especially when you realized she was really singing it.
• I’m not entirely sure what to make of Stan Straub, but it’s hard not to appreciate the humour in the role (or, more accurately, the humour in Coach Taylor’s unwillingness to see the humour in the man’s behaviour). He idolizes Taylor in a way that’s more endearing than annoying, and it helped bring some levity to the team’s struggles early on.
• Jeremy Sumpter got a lot of mileage out of playing an immature kid with all of the pressure of the world on him, but he’s now perhaps even better at playing an immature kid with less pressure but just as much insecurity – he still holds a grudge for being pulled from State for Saracen in their emotional loss at state, a sign that being the definitive QB1 for the Panthers has not removed some of his deeper issues – I don’t know how often Sumpter will be around this year, but I think there’s more to see in this character.
• The scene of the Lions sitting in the locker room before the game, their limbs shaking and one of them singing eerily, was like the football equivalent of Death Row, and was brilliantly shot (much like the entire episode) by Peter Berg.
• Edit: I cannot believe I didn’t recognize Vince as (WHERE’S) Wallace from The Wire, Michael B. Jordan – I feel so ashamed.

Head over to a baby naming website and suggest naming your baby-to-be Alivia.  Or Jaxon.

Some will applaud your choice and add that Alyveah and Jaxin are cute, too.  Several will sigh, and ask what’s wrong with Olivia and Jackson.

I’ll admit to a few snarky comments about Konner and Mackynzee.  So maybe it sounds like hypocrisy – or blasphemy – to now write that perhaps variant spellings are not the end of the world.

The more I mull it over, the more I think that I may have been wrong to object to spelling variants – at least some of the time.  Here’s why:

10. Good luck determining the original. Which came first, Catherine or Katherine?

It’s a trick question.  The name – like so many – comes from the Greek.  The original wasn’t just written in a different language – it was written in a different alphabet.  K and C are equally valid translations.  If a name predates the English language – and many do – there may not be a definitive version.

In our spellcheck world, it is difficult to remember that widespread literacy is quite new, and standardized spellings are even more recent.  In 1880, Catherine, Catharine, Cathrine, Katherine, Kathryn, Katharine, Kathrine, Katheryn and Kathryne all appeared in the US Top 1000.  Go back far enough and you’ll find people who spelled their own name differently in different records.

Pre-widespread literacy, the spelling didn’t matter.  In the era of handwritten records, it wouldn’t have been possible to enforce a correct spelling.  And now?

It’s a little late.

9. The most popular version might not be closest to the original. So if it isn’t possible to pinpoint the original, why not use the most common?  It will save your child headaches, right?

Maybe so.  Hailey ranked #25 in 2008 – far more popular than Haylee, Hayley, Haylie, Hailee, Hailie or Haley.  But the original version of name is an English surname – making Haley the more authentic pick.  Likewise, Caitlin and Aidan are Gaelic heritage choices – but Kaitlyn and Aiden outrank both.

If Jayden is far more common than Jadon, which is the variant?  And will Caitlin take any comfort in wearing the “most authentic” version when she’s spelling her name for the umpteenth time?

8. Making a heritage choice can lead parents to choose an apparently unconventional spelling. Let’s say you’re of Scottish descent. Isobel might feel like the better choice, even if she’s awfully close to the chart-topping Isabella.

Our son was named after his grandfather Aleksander, born an ocean away in Poland.  That leads to the next point.

7. Honoring a loved one can also encourage parents to make a different choice. Our Aleksander became Alexander after immigrating.  That simpled up our decision.  But what if he’d held onto his k-spelling?

Likewise, what if you’re naming your daughter after one of those Kathrynes from back in the day?  Sure, you could update the spelling.  But you can also argue that preserving the spelling is part of passing on your loved one’s appellation.

6. Does it really do any harm? I’ve often argued that Madisyn sounds just as common as Madison, so why put your child to the trouble of spelling her name every. single. time.  And while I think that’s true, it is also true that Madisyn is just a tiny headache.  The world is filled with people named Alison and Krista, Dillon and Stephen who have survived spelling their names.

You can, of course, go too far.  Maddasihnne, for example, is an exercise in pointless excess.

5. Could it do some good? If you’re choosing an unusual name, it can seem like a kindness to try to Anglicize or modernize your pick.  Zofia is a family name on my Polish husband’s side.  Would we maintain the exotic, vibrant Z of Zofia?  (Technically it is pronounced differently – ZAWF yah – though I’ve met Poles who use three syllables in the US – ZO fee ah.) Opt for the chart-topping Sophia?  Or split the difference with Sofia?

What if you’re naming a daughter after Great Aunt Eithne?  Spelling your daughter’s name Enya might save her some confusion – and still honor your beloved aunt.

4. You might honestly think  a variant spelling is correct. I don’t mean this to sound snobbish.  Television and movies, books and songs often pluck names out of nowhere, and their creators take some license with the spellings.  So if you first hear of Damien in a movie, or Lorelai on television, why would you suspect that the name has another spelling?

Or maybe you hear the name Schuyler.  That’s certainly not an intuitive spelling. The phoentic Skyler or Skylar seems more obvious.  It’s easy to argue that any parent owes their kiddo enough research to know something about a name they plan to bestow.  But, of course, plenty of resources online and in print would list Skylar.  And Damien.  And so on.

3. It could possibly minimize pronunciation issues. Parents sometimes choose Madalyn or Carolyn to emphasize that they want their daughters’ names pronounced with “lynne” at the end, rather than “line” or “leen.”

Doubtless they’re really irritated when their kiddo is called car oh line anyhow.  But it is an understandable impulse.

2. It could fit a family tradition. While it can seem a bit much, some families do opt to use the same letter for all of their children’s names.  Or some might pass on a pair of initials.  While it can lead to oddities like the TLC mega-family’s Jinger Duggar, it can also lead to small variations, like Johnathan to honor a grandfather John, or Dianna – an anagram of my maiden name, something my husband thinks is wildly silly, but I still find appealing.

1.  It has meaning. Yes, this is covered under the two related to family names.  And the heritage choices.  Maybe most of the other ones, too.

You can’t make a name “more unique” by changing the spelling – Ryleigh is too close to the Top 100 Riley to be distinctive on a daughter, and Aydin still sounds common on a son.  Better to choose a less-often heard moniker than to monkey with a popular one.

But there are plenty of compelling reasons to opt for an unusual spelling, from heritage choices to family custom to simply falling in love with the spelling Cristina.

Just remember your reasons, and keep your cool when you receive yet another birthday card for your daughter Christina.  

Landry and Devin, guitarist and bassist for Crucifictorious; image courtesy of twolia.com

So, I’ve been devouring Friday Night Lights recently. I’ve got four episodes left of season three, so don’t tell me what awaits the Dillon Panthers and their surrounding small-town Texas community.

I was pleasantly surprised this weekend while watching season three. I didn’t realize that Crucifictorious, a Christian death metal band formed by Dillon High’s Landry Clarke, was getting a new female bass player named Devin Corrigan. A good female bassist who proved a needed asset to the band, no less. 

As an aside, I have now rewatched the season two episodes where my friend Brea played brainy, metal-fan music geek Jean Binnel. Now that I’ve watched almost the entire series thus far and know its larger context, I can say 1) I really like Jean and think I’d be her friend, 2) I want her to make me a power pop metal mix CD, 3) I think her small part might have been one of the best things about a sporadically brilliant but uneven season plagued by network tampering and the writer’s strike, and 4) Landry did her wrong, even if I like the girl with whom he briefly reunited.

Sorry, couldn't resist posting a picture of music geek Jean Binnel; image courtesy of blogcdn.com

I was also stoked that Devin was played by Stephanie Hunt, a back-up singer in T-Bird and the Breaks.

And I thought it was rad that the girl who seemed to be a too-perfect rebound girl for the recently spurned lead singer was actually a newly out lesbian teenager, as she reveals in “Keeping Up Appearances.” While she does kiss Landry before coming out to him, she does so to make sure of her orientation, perhaps suggesting that Landry is the first person to whom she has come out. I was impressed by a) her confidence in identifying herself as a lesbian, as I don’t imagine too many girls I grew up with felt comfortable owning their identity like that at that age in our small Texas town and b) Landry’s maturity about the situation. The episode ended with the band jamming to The Flaming Lips’ “She Don’t Use Jelly,” which Devin sang to Landry earlier to help him with a broken heart.

The next episode for me is “The Giving Tree,” which seems to focus on Crucifictorious’s first gig with Devin. I’m hoping for a good turn-out. I’d be there. My only hope is that we see more of her, hopefully with a girlfriend to boot. I don’t know if she will be appearing in season four, which premieres on DirecTV this Wednesday, much less the rest of season three, but I like her.

  On Wednesday October 28th Direct TV will begin airing Season 4 of Friday Night Lights.  Those of you who have to wait for NBC to get off their respective asses and wait til next year to watch.  I am so sorry for you guys because I for one will be spending every Wednesday night with East Dillon.  OMG did I just say East Dillon?  Whoa that was weird.  For all of you who have not watched this gem of a show your are missing one of the best acted, directed, produced, and written shows, ever.  And no I am not jsut saying that because I am a fan of the show.  I am saying it because it’s true.  Don’t believe me?  Watch it, go ahead I’ll wait for you to see I am right. 

Ok so I won’t wait, but I’m still right.  The usual reaction I get when people find out that I wath FNL is one of shock because it seems the general public has the impression that it is just another high school football show.  To that I say has there ever been another high school football show?  Yes I know that back in the 90s Ben Affleck starred in a little known show on NBC called Against The Grain but even that wasn’t a high school football show.  So I really would like to know what show these people are referring too and where was I when it was on.  In fact the only football show I remember was on HBO called 1st & 10 and that was definitly not a high school show. 

Now some of you may remember a movie by the same name that was directed by Peter Berg and this show would be a continuation of that movie without actually being that movie.  Instead of Billy Bob Thornton (who did a wonderful job in that role by the way) as the lead character we have the horribly underrated Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor.  And reprising her role as the coaches wife (albeit with a different name) Connie Britton brings a realism that is just not seen on television or hell even movies any more.  Now most shows that feature a high school delegate the adults to background cameo roles that show up only when a lesson needs to be learned, but FNL wouldn’t be the same without Eric and Tammy Taylor.  They are in essence the heart and soul of the show.  When they hurt, we hurt.  When they are frustrated, we are just as frustrated.  Their joys are ours and well you get the point.  Here is a couple that the audience can relate to on more than just a will they or won’t they scenario.  They argue, they fight, and they love better than any couple I have seen. 

   Now like any show that features high school kids FNL has its own cast of diamonds in the making.  Seriously did anyone see Taylor Kitsch coming?  Or could have possibly guessed that Adrianne Palicki would turn, along with the awe-inspiring Jesse Plemmons, a story that had all the possibilty of going horribly wrong into one of the most touching storylines ever.  And who’s heart didn’t break when the perpetual underdog Matt Saracan (played with such heart by Zach Gilford) finally brokedown and yelled at his coach for all the disappointment he had had to endure from the people who were supposed to love him.  Now I will be honest that Aimee Teegarden’s character Julie Taylor irritated the hell out of me, but that was more because I remember being just as selfish and juvenile as she was at fifteen.  FNL also has a way of introducing new characters in such a way that you don’t feel as if they are replacing our old favorites, but instead they are folded into the show so quietly that after a while you feel as though they have been there all along.  That isn’t to say that when a character leaves you feel as though they were never there in the first place, but instead you feel as though that character has just moved on with life as if it were the normalist thing in the world.  And in truth that is exactly the way it is in real life.  People come and go from our lives but for the time that they are there they were important and they meant something. 

  When the lights finally do go out on FNL (and trust me that will be a sad day) Peter Berg,Jason Katims, and yes even NBC can sit back and be proud that even though it was a show that was loved by few it was loved and deserved more than it received.  And although we fans of the show will be sad to see it end atleast we will be able to believe that in some part of the world life in Dillon, Texas goes on and our beloved coach is telling a new crop of football players “Clear Eyes Full Hearts Cant Lose.”

http://vimeo.com/7003124

This just in: Twentieth Century Fox has cast floppy-haired, doe-eyed, Half Dome-nosed Adrien Brody in the lead role…what they’re calling the “Arnie role”…in the upcoming Predator sequel, which is called…wait for it…Predators!

And who said Hollywood was creatively bankrupt?

So, to clarify, you old school fans of John McTiernan’s kick-arse 1987 original remember this…

"Knock knock."

But the new generation of fans, you know those touchy-feely, cry-baby Gen Y’ers?  Well, you welps get this…

"Um, bros? I have an ouchy on my finger, can we take a Rock Star energy drink break?"

That makes sense.

But that’s not the only odd name on this flick.  First you’ve got the director…Nimród Antal.  There’s a moniker that really sells in America.  I’ve already got my eye on this guy, because he directed the upcoming Armored, which comes from a great script by first-time screenwriter James V. Simpson, so if Nimrod screws it up, I just may have to see if he bleeds and if that kills it. (I know that doesn’t make sense, but if you think I’m done with the Predator references, well, then, Dillon, you ain’t got time to bleed. [dying kazoo sound])

Then we’ve got Adrien Brody’s cast mates, a veritable rogues’ gallery of surnames…from Variety…

“Brody will star with Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and Louiz Ozawa.” (Cinematical also mentions that Topher Grace has signed on to the cast, as well.)

No, that’s not a typo…Mahershalalhashbaz Ali.  According to his imdb bio page…”The name “Mahershalalhashbaz” is from the Book of Isaiah (chapter 8; verse 3) in the Hebrew Bible. It is the longest proper name that appears in the bible.”

So his parents are insane.  Got it.

But wait, he’s from Oakland and went to St. Mary’s and NYU.

I take it back.  He’s officially now the coolest thing about this project.

Which is not saying a ton, but hey, it’s something.

Whatever happens, I hope this Maha-marshmallow guy gets to draw his bowie knife and cut a swath across his baby-skinned chest and face the predator at the middle of a massive downed log that crosses an unholy chasm.  And when he dies, and you know he will because he’s a black guy and he’s not a name actor, he unleashes a guttural yell straight from the depths of Hades to make Sonny Landham roll over in his grave. And Sonny’s not even dead, which I know because he plays “Chief Bear” in an upcoming movie (which is probably already out on dvd, let’s face it) named Mental Scars (2009) and he played “Boone Cagle” in the 2007 gem by the name of Disintegration. Didn’t that win Venice?

But hey, let’s look on the bright side; at least they’re not rushing it, right?

“Predators” opens nationwide on July, 9, 2010.  They have yet to begin shooting. I’ll give me the last word…

Looks like Twentieth Century Fox has thrown the fans and us into a meat grinder after cooking up a story about a pianist award-winner.

And in July of 2010, we can tell that to Jim Hopper.

From Berlin, to Duval, to ATL!

So 2 of my best friends in the world, the illustrious Batsauce & Lady Daisey have come to Atlanta to kick it with your boy as we prepare to throw down for this year’s A3C Hiphop Festival. (BTW If you live in ATL and won’t be out at the A3C in East Atlanta Village – YOU LOST!) Heads up – Lady Daisey & Batsauce will be performing Friday Nite at the “Women in Hiphop Stage” & Saturday Afternoon at “529″ for the “Jacksonville / Savannah” Showcase.

Bat and Daze holdin' Dillon's Flatbread

French Baguette, EVOO, Arugula, Avocado, Heirloom Tomatoes, Grana Padano Cheese

Batsauce lookin mad German.

White Bean & Basil Hummus (!!) with Pita Pockets

Late Nite Trader Joe's Pizza w/ Garlic, Tomatoes, Jalapenos, Spinach, & Mushroom

Gettin it crackin! See ya'll at the A3C!

Catchin Culinary Wreck in “The Dec”

Recently I went to The Dekalb Famrer’s Market in Decatur, GA (Supposedly one of the best in the country) to get some necessities for the kitchen (many posts to come from that trip), and decided to eat at the Cafe inside. For those who have never been, all I can say is – you lose. This shit is bangin’! Imagine a supreme buffet line, with everything made from the ingredients in the market. Peep -

The first trip through the line - $8.70

*Curried Lentils

*Red Beans

*Plantains

*Sauteed Zucchini

*Vegetable Lasagna

*General Tso’s Tofu

*Yucca Bread (The BEST!)

Trip #2 - $9.30

*Curried Chickpeas

*Sauteed Brocolli

*Some Little “Flan”ish Dessert

*More Veggie Lasagna, Squash, and Yucca Bread!

Tacos de Paz

There’s really no special meaning for this title. I just be eatin’ mad tacos and I figure that’s peace so bada bing!

El Gringo Loco! Viva La Raza!

*Olive Oil fried Corn Tortillas

*Sauteed Mushroom, Squash, Zuchhini

*Garlic, Onion, Jalapeno Peppers from The Garden

*Finished w/ Avocado, Purple Cabbage

*Fresh Pico de Gallo with Tomatoes from The Garden

* Salsa’s Roja y Verde de “El Rey Del Taco” on Buford Highway, Chamblee, ATL!

Ananas!