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RANTS-N-RAVES
The World According to Scott
This is the section of my site that is strictly reserved for my opinions, my beliefs, and whatever I feel like talking about at the moment. It's updated generally on an almost daily basis, so check back to see what the most recent things on my mind are.
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In a recent issue of Spin magazine, there's an excellent article on the history of Pearl Jam. I've read & re-read it several times now, until it felt like it all soaked in. The online version of the article on the Spin web site is the same article, only better, because it contains even more detail. I really, really enjoyed reading both versions of this article. The way it's set up, it's kind of an "oral history" of the band, as told by the people that lived through it (the band members themselves, their friends, their management, & other Seattle bands). It was so cool to read it & hear all the minute details that you'd never known before. I remember vaguely hearing "Alive," twice in the spring of 1992, before it really sunk in - once on MTV's old Saturday night standby for metalheads, "The Headbanger's Ball," & once more in a bar in Syracuse, NY called Hungry Charlie's (I ended up working there as a DJ for about 4 months in 1994, but that's another story for another time). The first time it really hit me, was one night when we were out at the bar we always went to in Potsdam, NY (where I went to school) called McDuff's. I'd been drinking quite heavily that night, & just remember being in the downstairs of the bar & hearing this song just ROARING out of the sound system at me: "Oh, I, Ohhhh, I'm still alive...." That really sunk the hook in me & I HAD to buy the album. That was a fairly exciting time for music, because all of the sudden, there were all these new bands coming from the same city & they were ALL good: Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone (posthumously), Temple of the Dog, Screaming Trees, & Mudhoney are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head (please note that some of these links are not "official" band sites, but they should at least give you can idea who each band was). It was kind of sad in a way to see the whole Grunge thing eventually turn into nothing but fodder on a Behind the Music special. Looking back almost ten years ago now, it's weird to think that a scene & its music that seemed so vital, so new & exciting at that time, would just burn itself out so quickly. In any case, I'm done waxing nostalgic for the time being. If you're a Pearl Jam fan, & are like me, & enjoy knowing all the trivial details there are to learn about a band you really like, check out the history of a band that's still around & still matters.
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Outside of the building where I work, there will be construction going on for roughly the next 2 - 3 years on a new Engineering building called Duffield Hall. When it's all said & done, it's going to be a big attraction for potential students who will be interested in Electrical Engineering here at Cornell. They've installed a web-cam so you can watch the progress of the construction. Take a look.
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Here's a good review of Jurassic Park III that actually makes me want to go see the movie. But then again, I'd read good reviews for A.I. too & I HATED that.
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According to Rolling Stone, Suzanne Vega is supposed to be releasing a new album come the end of September. Her first two records (Suzanne Vega & Solitude Standing) are among two of my all time favorite albums. Most everyone remembers her from the single "Luka," released back in the fall of 1987 off of Solitude Standing, or the remixed version of "Tom's Diner" (originally an acapella two minute song from the same album that was remixed & set to a dance beat by a British group called DNA). Her haunting lyrics & dark melodies off those two albums are extremely vivid & beautiful. Some of her later albums didn't appeal to me as much, but the lyrics were still definitely her point of view. Maybe this new album will be worth checking out. Her song "Marlene on the Wall," off of Suzanne Vega, always makes me think of Kathryn because it was one of the songs I put on the very first ever mix tape I made for her back in 1991 when we first were starting to get to know each other. _________________________________________________________________________
Here's an article that wonders why attendance as well as profits are down for this summer's crop of movies. What do I think? My guess is that the public, being faced with astronomical ticket prices are starting to become more selective. Just because a movie has a great trailer & a big name cast, does not necessarily mean it's going to be a great movie. Millions of dollars are spent on special effects, but the one key element that seems to be continually forgotten is that in order for a movie to be entertaining, as well as induce repeat business & have staying power, it HAS to have a good story with characters you care about. How can Hollywood keep churning out movies that are so weak on plotlines, & continue to wonder why their business is down? I love going to the movies & always have. But, I really hate feeling that disappointment of knowing that you wasted not only your money, but your time as well going to see something that completely sucks. Let's hope Hollywood learns a lesson here & gives us something worth going back into the theater for.
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This weekend marked my first excursion to our local Solid Waste Removal Treatment Plant, more commonly referred to as the dump. Since we're in the process of moving (for the LAST time I might add), I am going out of my way to find & throw out any & all things that we do not need. The way the system at the dump works is this: you pull up, they weigh your vehicle, you drive up to where you unload, back in, & literally just throw all of your crap onto an already huge pile of junk, drive out, they re-weigh your vehicle, & charge you some many cents per pound. The cost is very minimal, & it's super convenient. For someone like me who goes on a rampage to throw out every possible item prior to a move, this place is ideal to dispose of unwanted accumulated crap that seems to multiply when left unobserved in basements, garages, & closets. The Ithaca dump rules!
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Since Napster seems to be on the outs & is also supposed to be turning into a pay service, I've recently started using AudioGalaxy. This is another file-sharing service that you are able to download MP3 files from. Granted, this one seems to work a little slower, but it's still very efficient. I really dig the whole concept of being able to read about an artist or song, & then be able to hear it before you buy it, or just burn it onto a CD. Check it out.
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Got an email today from one of the new PhD students in the program that I work with. His name is Doug Chan & he is spending his summer working at Texas Instruments in Dallas, TX. He's taken a bunch of really cool pictures of the city & where he works, as well as quite a few shots of where JFK was assassinated as well. Take a look at them here.
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Caught the first hour of Night Visions last night. Not a bad show, sort of a Twilight Zone for the 21st Century, featuring Henry Rollins as the new Rod Serling. Considering all the other bilge that pass themselves off as TV shows, this is a step up. It's supposed to run for the summer, so check it out while you can.
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It would seem that P-Daddy (otherwise known as The Artist Almost Known as an Inmate) is making statements that could be deemed as samples of stupidity. It appears that this big mouth clown made a sweeping statement that his new album contained "no samples" of any other songs on it. (If you've heard any of this moron's "original" music, you'd know that he's made a career out of sampling almost entire melodies from other artists' songs & passed them off as his own. Not that I'm against it myself, but I think sampling a portion of a song is okay, but not almost the entire song ITSELF.) Turns out Poof-Doody actually DID sample other artists' songs on his new album, but changed his original statement saying he didn't sample any HIT SONGS that were well known. I guess this would be only be considered a lie if the songs had charted & sold, huh? And maybe this idiot didn't really have anything to do with shooting anyone, that is unless they were someone famous, or well known right?? Who knows, maybe he'll get lucky & another one of his friends will get shot, so he can capitalize on their death & make another hit record out of it to save the downward spiral known as his recording career.
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I have to say I don't agree with the Emmy Nominations. While I do think The Sopranos is a great show, I watched every episode this season, & really didn't think that it stacked up against previous seasons (in all honesty, I think the first season was the best, & it hasn't been quite as good since). My point being, I don't think the show deserved to nominated for 22 Emmys. The West Wing racked up a none-too-shabby 18 nominations, & I think they are much more deserved. From the season premiere, all the way to the season finale, I really thought The Sopranos was weak this time around. But, now that the show has become so popular, it doesn't matter if it's good or not, because people will watch it anyway. How typical. It always seems like the shows that are actually very good & continually challenge their viewers, are the ones that end up getting cancelled, so the networks can make way for inane, pointless sitcoms.
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Justice - the scumbag who threw a dog into oncoming traffic on a highway after a traffic dispute with another driver received the maximum sentence today in court: 3 years in jail. Personally, I say let the punishment fit the crime. This guy should be thrown into oncoming traffic on the same highway, & we'll see how he fares.
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Well, well, well... it appears that the "evil" file-sharing Napster has kissed & made up with both Metallica & Dr. Dre after sniping at each other in the press & in court for the last year or so. If you've been following this at all, Napster was legally forced to shut down its file-sharing systems until they complied with a judge's ruling that they implement the proper software to keep its users from sharing copyrighted music (Napster's have been unavailable for over a week now, & no one is exactly sure when they're going to be back). I'll be curious to see where this all goes in the future, since Napster is supposedly going to return as membership type of site, where you'll have to pay to use its services. If it could be as good as it was before it all went bad, I honestly believe it'd be worth maybe $20.00 or so a month. But, if it's anything like it was over the last several months, it won't be worth $.02. We'll see where it goes...
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For fear of cursing our luck, I haven't really posted anything about it yet, but I will now. WE ARE BUYING OUR FIRST HOUSE!!!!!! Click here to check it out. These are two pictures I downloaded off the real estate web sites that had it listed, so the car you see in the driveway is not ours. If all goes as planned, we are supposed to close at the end of this month, & move in the first week of next month. This has been a very long, drawn out process for us. I have the patience & attention span of a gnat, so this has been extremely difficult for me to have to endure waiting this whole thing out until the end. We're both really excited, as this will be the first time we've ever owned our own home, as we have been renting various places for the last ten years. We have made a habit of moving, it would seem- this move into our new house will make Lucky Move #10 in the last ten years... Ugh, just the word "moving" makes my stomach & head hurt. Oh well, the consolation is that this will be the LAST TIME we EVER do this. Now we will be entering a whole new world, one where if something goes wrong, it's OUR problem. And you know what? I really cannot wait.
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Well, we made the dreadful mistake of going to see the much-hyped movie A.I. Good God, what a waste of time & money. Kathryn hated it as well - see what she posted in her "What's On My Mind" section of her web site here to see what she thought as well. I must admit, I was taken in by all the pre-release press & had been extremely intrigued to see this. I could go on & on about how 2-dimensional the characters were, or how long & boring the film was, but I will spare you & sum everything up very simply with this: if this movie didn't have Steven Spielberg's & Stanley Kurbrick's names attached to it, no one would care about this movie. The tag line for this waste of time was, "His love is real, but he is not." What it should have been was, "The hype is real, but the story is not." Suffice to say, this movie sucked in a HUGE way.
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There is an excellent new show on HBO now called Six Feet Under. It's a show about a family-owned & run funeral home in Pasadena, CA. The show was created by Alan Ball, the brilliant writer who penned what has to be one of the best movies in the last two decades, American Beauty. If you're a fan of that particular movie, then it will come to you as no surprise that Six Feet Under is equally as dark & clever. The dialogue is priceless, & the characters are great. The premise of the show begins with the father of this dysfunctional family dying, & we are left to watch his wife, two sons, & daughter pick up the pieces of their lives together. In particular, I enjoy & identify most with the character of Nate, the oldest son of the three children in the family. He's 35 years old, & has made the decision to return home after escaping his family & hometown to Seattle where he's spent the better part of his adult life. He's starting to come to grips with who he really is, & how he fits into his family. I think this is a great show, & applaud HBO for again pushing the envelope & continuing to challenge their viewers with another excellent original series such as this. If you're interested & maybe haven't been watching, visit the Insider's Guide to get the synopsis on each episode so far.
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There's a new show premiering on Fox tonight called "Night Visions" & the main reason I'm interested in it is because it's being hosted by Henry Rollins. (For those of you who may not know who Rollins is, he began his career as lead vocalist for one of America's seminal punk bands, the mighty Black Flag, & then later for his own band, the aptly titled Rollins Band. Rollins also is infamous for his spoken word concerts & albums, as well as the many books he's written & published, along with his own publishing company 2.13.61. He has also acted in a number of movies as well. Rollins has personified the D.I.Y. punk ethic for the last twenty years or more, & shows no signs of stopping. But, I digress...) To give you a better idea of what the show is about, this description is taken directly from the show's site: "Each week, a new character will be subjected to the unknown tortures of their own mind. The vignettes play upon basic human fears, but are sure to linger in memory long after the credits roll." Sound interesting? If Rollins is not only endorsing it, but is also hosting it, that's a fairly hefty endorsement as far as I'm concerned. I'll let you know what I think after I see it. _________________________________________________________________________
Hmmm... it's been a while since I've posted anything. Haven't felt like I've had much to say in the last month or so, & now I find myself here approaching mid-July & STILL haven't posted anything. Time to get off my lazy but & get back to ranting again. I'm sure you've all missed me. Heh, heh, heh...
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