A MUST HAVE!!!

Virginia Coalition is probably the best jam band that has yet to hit mainstream. If you enjoy O.A.R. or Dave Matthews Band at all you will love Virginia Coalition. They have opened for O.A.R. before and I would go as far as to say that they are even better live than O.A.R. They met in the early 1990’s and released their first album 1998. The album I chose to review is probably my favorite live album (quite a compliment coming from a DMB enthusiast). It is a two disc album that was recorded live in Washington D.C. and the quality is amazing and the best part is it actually sounds better than their studio CDs! The music is amazing. The band consists of

• Andrew Poliakoff – lead vocals, guitar, percussion
• Paul Ottinger – keyboards, percussion, vocals, bass guitar, guitar,
• Jarrett Nicolay – bass guitar, banjo, guitar, vocals
• Adam Dawson – drums

They are the definition of a jam band with lyrics that doesn’t always make the most sense but with a great use of percussion, key boards, instruments, and vocals. The songs are almost all fun and relaxed. The best part about the album is it includes songs from all of their previous albums, and arguably the best ones from them. The hit song “Green and Grey” is the best song on the album. It has the best jams, and is the most fun song on the album. The album consists of a cover of “Lean on Me” which is very well done, more instrumental involvement than the original version. Other songs to look for on the album are “Places People” “Mason Dixon”and “Walk to Work”.

I recommend visiting their website to see if they are coming near you because they typically perform at small values and tickets are cheap. I was fortunate enough to see them at the beginning of the summer of 2008 and tickets were 20 dollars and I got to stand front row. It was one of, if not the, most fun concerts I have been to. The album does a great job catching the energy that is present at their concerts.

Overall:  8/10     A MUST HAVE ON YOUR IPOD!!!

Best Songs: “Green and Grey” “Lean on Me” “Walk to Work” “Places People”

Similar Artists: O.A.R., Dave Matthews Band, Pat McGee Band

One Down Fall: Some songs sound the same and some jams are mediocre

Unfortunately there are no good quality videos or streams of this album, but I highly recommend the download on itunes, and if you only get one song definitely get “Green and Grey”

Try this link to listen to green and grey, it should work: http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Green_And_Grey/3184163

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Brian Flaccus • 2009 • Hollywood, CA

Much more on the way! CiG : )

YUMMY!

So…I feel like I’ve neglected my blog for awhile now. So…I’m just going to post something useless to make me feel better about being a slack ass. Here are some of my favorite DMB quotes…I plan on getting to every song eventually. This is just how they popped up one night while listening to my iPod. Here goes…

1. Little Thing: “but I walked away about ten paces and I was thinking ‘damn…….that girl was fine’”
2. Grace is Gone: “one drink to remember and another to forget, how could I ever dream to find a love like you again”
3. Recently: “some people like to drink, and some don’t. some people like to smoke a fat one, some won’t”
4. Cry Freedom: “the future is no place to place your better days”….AND “hands and feet are all alike, but fear between divide us” (actually…this whole song has a lot of meaning and I love it very much…and do believe it is THE BEST lyrics DJM has ever written…I know…bold statement. But just listen)
5. So Damn Lucky: “this frozen heart, and screaming wheels, does that screaming come from me?”
6. Pig: okay….this whole song is amazing…so….this was really difficult. But I’m going with, “wash out this tired notion, oh, that the best is yet to come, cuz oh while we’re dancing on the ground, why think of life when your gone”
7. Why I Am: “still here dancing with the groogrux king, we’ll be drinking big whiskey while we dance and sing, when my story ends it’s gonna end with him, come heaven or hell, I’m goin’ there with the groogrux king”
8. You and Me: “take what you need and we disappear”
9. Still Water: “sad eyes, sad eyes, where you going with that confidence?”
10. DDTW: duh…after still water…”Upon these poor souls, I’ll build heaven and call it….home”
11. Say Goodbye: Riss hearts this song… “and this desire, she’s creeping up heavy” and, “turn this good thing all the way up to the best”
12. Funny: “somebody’s heart is broken, it becomes your favorite song”
13. Dive In: “one day, do you think we’ll wake up, in a world, on it’s way to being better and if so, can you tell me, how?”
14. PNP: “no need to bear the weight of your worries here, let them all fall away”
15. Grey Street: “she feels like kickin’ out all the windows, and setting fire to this life, she would change everything about her using colors, bold and bright, but all the colors mix together….to grey”
16. LITHOG: “save your sermons for someone that’s afraid to love…I’ll be right here lying in the hands of god” AND “if you never flew why would you cut the wings off a butterfly”
17. Bartender: “bartender please, fill my glass for me. With the wine you gave Jesus that set him free after 3 days in the ground”
18. Sleep to dream her: “wish I could bend my love to hate her”…or…”sleeps to dream her…beg the night just to see her”
19. Stay or leave: “remember when we used to dance, and everyone wanted to be, you and me, i want to be too”
20. Light life me up: “she feels swallowed up…”
21. LLD: “and sleep I would inside your mouth” AND “and you weep, lover lay down, cuz it’s over…”
22. What you are: “so you pray down on your knees mother fucker, you can’t tell god what you want, rain. Love. No god’s not an man, no god’s not a man”

Not that anyone cares…but if you do…I will continue this list in the future.

Duffy?

I was listening to the Dave Matthews Band’s new album “Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King” recently and noticed that one of the songs is called “Spaceman.” Hey, that’s the title of a song on The Killers’ “Day & Age,” I thought.

As these sorts of things are wont to do, pretty soon this observation led to the idea of imagining a space-themed album. I started jotting down the space-themed songs I was aware of, coming up with seven.

I talked to my brother a few minutes ago. He hosts a radio show on a college radio station and tends to like to theme his shows. I asked him if he knew any space-themed songs and got him hooked on finding songs for me. He rattled off a bunch, including many I hadn’t heard of, and one that should have been totally obvious to me.

He suggested I do some research on allmusic.com, which I did, plus I googled “songs about space.” Turns out there’s been quite a bit of work done on listing space-themed songs. An especially good list is at HobbySpace.com.

Here’s my list for an album I’d call “Out of This World”:

1. “Space Oddity” by David Bowie

2. “Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Peter Schilling

3. “Spaceman” by The Killers

4. “Spaceman” by Dave Matthews Band (the Spaceman only gets a mention)

5. “Satellite” by Dave Matthews Band

6. “Astronaut Dreams” by Peter Mayer

7. “Camping by the Sun” by Peter Mayer

8. “One More Circle” by Peter Mayer

9. “Planet Earth” by Duran Duran (This is the song that should have been obvious to me ’cause I was a Duranie in my youth.)

10. “Rocket Man” by Elton John

11. “Interplanet Janet” by Lynn Ahrens (Schoolhouse Rock rocks!)

12. “Rapture” by Blondie

Got any favorite space-themed songs you’d add to this album? (It could be a multiple disc set, you know.)

#200 – Dave Matthews Band – “Crush” – (1998)

At just over 8 minutes for the album version (there is a 4.5 minute radio cut), this is, I believe the longest song on the list – and probably the most “flute-heavy.” It’s long, jazzy, and with its super-relaxed vibe, probably the definitive Dave Matthews song. I was just barely able to squeak it onto the list; therefore there wasn’t room for its Before These Crowded Streets CD-sibling “Stay (Wasting Time)” – even though it’s easily one of my DMB favorites.

Have had the song Funny the Way It Is by Dave Matthews Band stuck in my head for days now.   These guys have some awesome songs.   This has to be one of their best and the video is very cool to boot.

..

Alright, so I have decided to blog more. Why, you might ask? Could it be that I have something interesting to say? No, not particularly. Perhaps I am embarking on some sort of quest/journey that could be interesting/informative? Nope. Do I plan on posting pictures of cute animals? Maybe, I can’t really say a definitive no. Is it because I have nothing else really going on in my life right now? Precisely.

So…how to begin…

I am going to borrow from one of my favorite movies of all time: High Fidelity (staring John Cusack and Jack Black, check it out). No, I am not going to display Cosby sweaters or chronicle epic breakups of my past. Rather, I am going to delve into the world of ALL TIME TOP FIVE lists. It is a pretty much epic game that is played in one form or another when getting to know a new friend/group of people/significant other/potential significant other until you find out Savage Garden is in their ALL TIME TOP FIVE musical artists.

So come along my friends, it’ll be fun, and perhaps give you a better sense of who I am (although then we’d have to discuss whether or not we are defined by our likes and dislikes, but I digress…).

**DISCLAIMER** I reserve the right at any time to change/edit any information on any and all subsequent ALL TIME TOP FIVE lists. This is helpful for new arrivals and my scattered memory. Thank you.

And so, without further ado, here is one of my most difficult lists to compile.

ALL TIME TOP FIVE MUSICAL ARTISTS (in no particular order)

• Ryan Adams
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Pink Martini
• Lyle Lovett
• TIE between Dave Matthews Band and Oasis

Alright, I cheated with the tie, but its my blog so boo. Other front runners in this category include Ray LaMontagne, Kings of Leon, Ray Charles, and Bon Iver, among others…

So what do y’all think? Like the new format? Yes/No? Don’t care? No one is reading? Ok, fair enough.

PLEASE feel free to comment with your own ALL TIME TOP FIVE-ers or any other ideas for lists you’d like to see.

Stay classy and thanks for stopping by.

– A N I –

“I eat too much. I drink too much. I want too much. Too much.”  DMB, Too Much

2012 the movie arrives in theaters next week. I’m no expert on the whole 2012 phenomenon. However, I can see pretty clearly that something’s got to give. Whether it’s the end of a beginning or the beginning of an end, looks to me like we need some kind of shake up to rock our world.

We’ve become exceedingly greedy. The word “enough” should be pulled from our vocabulary because, in reality, it doesn’t exist. In our minds, there’s never enough…of anything. How much food does it take to maintain an obese nation? Too much.

How much money does it take to buy and shop and order and download and install and construct and fill up every corner of the natural world with cheap plastic, asphalt, concrete and steel? Too much.

How many of us care that entire forests are disappearing, wild animals are endagered, oceans are dying,  and people are starving? Not so much. There seems to be no governor on the human machine. We follow our leaders’ lousy examples and fiddle while Rome burns. Those who shout out, Enough! are muffled by the mainstream media’s penchant for what’s popular.

Like so many others, I’ve been afflicted with too-much-itis. But I don’t believe it’s too late to turn away from too much. I am re-examining my lifestyle, my choices, my “needs vs wants.” Maybe, if we all wake up to the fact that too much is not too good, then 2012 will usher in a new era – one of caring for others and all of life. One that breeds contentment.

Yo i think i have your dress shoes in my car. I must have accidentally taken them

Da, mă doare vremea de afară. E frig şi plouă. Vântul te taie, hainele tremură pe tine. E al naibii de urât afară. Şi n-am chef de nimic. Cred că e astenie de toamnă. De fapt e astenie de frig. Sau alergie!

Mă simt ca o babă. D-aia morocănoasă.  Lasă-mă în pace. Doar 5 minute, că dup-aia îmi trece.  Al naibii frig.. mi s-a cuibărit în oase!

Ete şi o piesă care îmi place…aşa…în ton cu vremea care mă doare!

Since 90 percent of our readers hail from the great town of New Milford, Conn. (and the other 10 percent have heard one of us ramble about NM), we’re going to introduce a new fixture to The Lost Generation – Great New Milford Rivalries. In the next few weeks, we’ll examine all the heated rivalries that occur within the confines of New Milford. We ask you, the reader, to vote on whose side you’d take in each match-up.

Lenny’s vs. Jimmy’s (Barbershops)

The Breakdown: New Milford is a big town. In fact, based on area, it’s the biggest town in Connecticut. But, for whatever reason, New Milford only has two barbershops – and they’re 200 feet down the road from each other. Lenny and Jimmy – two middle-aged men who give mediocre haircuts – have been in intense competition since any self-respecting New Milford citizen can remember.  They share the same parking lot, they share the same prices, and, many times, they share the same customers.

Jimmy: Vinchenzo – that’s his real name – is a sweet, old Italian man who cuts hair with gentle precision. He provides a very comfortable atmosphere for the customer and also has the leg-up on Lenny in the experience department. Jimmy also has gumball machines, a service that Lenny does not provide. (Note: Lenny sometimes has cookies. They’re not homemade, though, which sucks.)

Lenny: What Lenny lacks in ability, he makes up for in convenience. As opposed to Jimmy’s frustrating staircase, Lenny has a small ramp that provides easy access into the barbershop. There is one wrinkle, though:  the customer must walk up the ramp on the way out, a dilemma that has angered many New Milford citizens over the years.  Once the ramp is defeated, however, the Lenny’s customer has much easier access to Railroad Street than a customer at Jimmy’s.

So if you see my header and read my about you will realize that I love the guitar but suck at it, and am kinda lazy about it. I read an article this am about Dave Matthews (who I was already a fan of) and he pretty much has the same attitude about his playing (although he admits to being lazy and about his playing, he dosen’t suck!) So I am kinda re-finding DM in a different light.

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND | SOUNDS.

The fourth season of “Dexter,” the critically-acclaimed Showtime drama that chronicles the life of a serial killer who works for the police force, is heating up.

Quite frankly, things are getting a little crazy in season No. 4.

But not as crazy as the fucked up characters who we’ve come to love over the past couple of years.

Here’s a brief countdown, from 8-to-1, of the most psycho characters – I’m talking clinically insane, should-be-locked-up-in-a-mental-institute-psycho — to ever appear on Dexter.

10. Vince Masuka, blood spatter analyst

Masuka is more “weird” than he is pyscho. The little Asian is far and away the most perverted character on the show, which leads to some awkward interactions with the female employees on the police force.

9. Frank Lundy, FBI

The writers  did us all a favor by killing this old bastard last episode. Lundy, a senior citizen with a thirst for catching serial killers, has arguably the worst game in the world. It’s a wonder this guy ever got laid.

8. Deborah Morgan, Dexter’s sister

Deb fucked Lundy. That’s enough to merit a spot at No. 8. She also swears more than any girl in the world and likely has an eating disorder.

7.  Miguel Prado, Dexter’s “friend”

The co-star of season three, Miguel became a little too close to Dexter and went off the deep end himself. He went on a killing spree towards the end of the season and, unless Dexter took care of him first, Miguel was ready to murder his “best friend.” Luckily, Dex got to him.

6. Harry Morgan, Dexter’s father

Most parents teach their kids table manners. Harry taught his to be a serial killer. Thus far, Dexter has lived his life by Harry’s insane code of rituals and rules and a whole bunch of psycho bullshit. Now that’s what I call good parenting.

5. Sgt. James Doakes

Doakes is only person in the world crazy enough to suspect that Dexter wasn’t simply a quiet family man. Unfortunately, that got him killed, but we still got two seasons of “Fuck you’s and you’re a fucking creep” out of Doakes. Here’s a brief compilation of Doakes’ finest moments, highlighted by his announcement that a blood-filled motel room is Dexter’s wet dream.

4. Lila, Dexter’s sponsor

God, she was hot. Sadly, however, she was out of her fucking mind. After Lila briefly turned Dexter into a sex addict (which was funny), she became over-the-top obsessed with him and eventually tried to burn down his house while Dexter, Cody and Astor (Rita’s kids) were inside it. Luckily, Dexter and Cody survived. It sucks that Astor did, too, because Rita and Dexter are now paying the price.

Note to Rita: I know the early-teen years are tough. I have two younger sisters of my own. You just have to take the lumps now and eventually they’ll blossom into smart, beautiful young women. Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

3. Dexter

Yeah, he looks like Tom Brady, but no matter how you slice it, Dexter is out of his mind. The guy gets off on killing people. It’s as simple as that. Dexter has probably killed around 30 people thus far in the show and, despite raising a family, he shows no signs of slowing down.

2. Rudy, “The Ice Truck Killer”

How insane was Rudy? First of all, he had an elaborate plan to bring Dexter close to him by seducing Deb. Creepy, but O.K.  Once Dexter realized Rudy was his brother, things got a little dicey. Rudy fully expected Dexter to kill Deb, and was genuinely pissed when Dex politely declined. Oh yeah, he also had some weird prosthetic limb fetish.

1. The Trinity Killer

I’ll just let you watch this.

For those of you that haven’t seen:

A Connecticut man has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of University of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard.

Deron Freeman told the Associated Press today that his client, John William Lomax, has been arrested and booked on murder charges. Police said they would make an announcement later today to discuss what they have described as “significant developments.”

We’re not sure what the exact evidence is yet, but, assuming he is convicted, this bastard will probably get pretty hefty sentence. But is the 25 or 30 years he’ll get enough? Not at all. It’s only fair that every UConn student — there’s like 16,000 of them — get the chance to kick Lomax in the nuts before he’s incarcerated. Clearly, if the judge administered that punishment, Lomax would not survive. So that brings us to this question…

Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney