ELECTRIC DREAM MACHINE

1/30/09
As some of you may know, I create "films" with my friends Charlie, Jase and Ian (with Chris sometimes making a guest appearance to attract ratings during sweeps). Any of you who have seen those films might call them "less than good." I'd like to say that we strongly disagree with you, but with almost all of them, we are mostly in agreement.

Every other film of ours is a flop artistically (with all of them being flops business-wise of course since we make $0.00 off of them). We can't really act all that well (with the exception to that rule being Charlie) and for the most part our plots are mostly pieced together by ourselves while we are in the process of post-production on the film.

1/27/09

     Dan Brown is an accomplished writer, whose novels "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" both really suck but somehow became movies. Wait, no that's a different Dan Brown. This Dan Brown goes to Kansas University and enjoys wondering about the intricacies of life. If he's not eating ice cream then he's not breathing and if he's not breathing then odds are he's dead. He's a great guy and he'll be the first person to vouch for that.

1/22/09

Scrubs hit a bit of a sophmore slump this week. And by slump, I mean had one episode that wasn't omgawesome. "My Saving Grace" was full of laughs (inteferon sounds like a robot that always gets in people's way), but somehow had an ending that felt empty and unfulfilling. Just like that. Courteney Cox was gone. She had not been that great at all anyways so her leaving is a good thing. Now we can let the show progress with no more distractions from a character with the depth of a puddle... and not a puddle so large that a manatee lives there. The "everyone hide in the closet" bit was a little too outlandish for me but this kept the realism of seasons 1-3 for the most part.

So the episode wasn't perfect, but it was still better than season 6 and 7.

My Happy Place was amazing. Classic Scrubs.  The Todd finally came on the show this season and was more funny than he's ever been. The Dr Cox and Turk plot was full of great parts and led to a satisfying conclusion with Dr Cox letting Turk believe that he trusted (but still watching him secretly). Janitor and Ted's plot was also quality stuff too.

The main course of the episode was JD and Elliot trying to help Kelso find a new place to hang out besides Coffee Bucks. That morphed subtly into him thinking they were still dating, finally talking about things and dating again.  JD and Elliot are finally together and it was handled in a mature, non-cheesy, non-Ross & Rachel way. Can't wait to see more of them together. Loved the ending montage with them holding hands. So different from their wild, sexual flings before. Glad to see these characters have evolved and finally become mature. I'm willing to bet that JD and Elliot are 100X less annoying to watch than Jim and Pam are as a couple.

The thing I loved about both episodes (and about the first 2 episodes as well) is how perfectly they are leading to the show's ending. Every episode seems to have a purpose in advancing these characters' storylines, which is not something I can say for season 7 at all (the triviality and pointlessness of some episodes being one of the things that drove me nuts). The potential in each character's storyline seems to be being fully utilized this year. I can't wait till we get passed all the "cast sitouts" and we hit the last few episodes which have the whole cast in them and are incredibly important, according to Bill Lawrence (the show's creator).

My Saving Grace: 7.5
My Happy Place: 9/10

- - -

Celebrity Rehab: Sober House 

Review by Aaron Isaacs

      I’m sitting on the couch, half asleep, staring at the television.  After a few minutes of searching, stay on VH1, because this channel shows programs that require the low level of brain activity I am willing to exert in this near hypnotic state.  The show that pops up is Celebrity Sober House, or maybe it’s just called Sober House.  It is the sequel to the show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which I vaguely remember watching over the summer. 

      The premise of Rehab was to follow celebrities as they quit doing drugs.  I remember none of the American Idol rejects, or has-beens, who were supposed to put the Celebrity in the title of the show.

      Sober House is the next step in sobriety for these F-listers.  Instead of living in a supervised rehab facility, our participants are put in a house in California and told to stay sober.  Dr. Drew, who hosted the first two seasons of Rehab, tells us that he will not be present in Sober House.  The Doctor has been the co-host of the radio call-in-show Love Line for twenty-five years, which is probably how he got the gig hosting Celebrity Rehab. Drew tells us, “I will not be their babysitter in this show,” in a voice too monotonous for radio. His absence makesSober House feel like The Real World.  He talks for a couple more minutes about how his absence from the show, which starts to sound more and more like Real World’s “this is the story of seven strangers…” speech. 

      Celebrity Rehab was a terrible show, but it had a point and a goal.  It shows us what rehab is like, even viewers as dull as the targeted audience could come away from each episode with something they’ve learned about addiction.  Also, if someone is addicted to drugs, they could be inspired to go to rehab when they see their favorite 70’s sitcom star could do it.  Despite it being a shameless reality show, full of manipulative editing to make things seem more dramatic, I can respect what they are trying to do.  This is the first time, to my knowledge, that rehab has gone mainstream.  It was informative, and even inspiring.

      Sober House is a reality show as much as Rehab was, but it lacks Rehab’s substance.  In the episode I saw, the former Guns ‘n’ Rosesdrummer shows up high on heroin on the first day. Most of the episode is spent following him as he attempts to talk to people, wanders around, and makes faces at the camera.  By the last fifteen minutes, he is severely tweaking out, and even has to vomit because of how much heroin he’s taken.  His belongings are searched, and a tinfoil tube with is found.  The drummer had been smoking heroin with this tinfoil. I, assumedly like most people, did not know that one could smoke heroin through tinfoil.  While the former show taught us about quitting drugs, this show teaches us about different ways to take heroin.  The people who run the house do not know how to handle this situation, so they call Dr. Drew.  Drew decides to go to the house, even though he said he was not going to do that.  Dr. Drew and the house supervisors emulate a football huddle, without touching each other, while they decide how to handle this situation.  Heroin drummer goes unpunished, except he has to spend the night at one of the supervisor’s house.  The only thing we can gather from him is a new way to take heroin.  None of the other characters even get screen time!

      The only other noteworthy Celebrity in this show was an adult film star named Mary Carey.  The reason I call her noteworthy is not her line of work, it is because I remember her from the first season.  The only thing I remember was Dr. Drew telling her that she will have to quit doing pornography if she wants to stay sober.  The only problem is, her exposure on VH1 probably gave her video sales a boost.  So she becomes torn between staying sober and making easy money.  Also, she would not be on CELEBRITY Rehab, if it weren’t for this career choice.  If anything, Celebrity Rehab had a negative impact on her struggle with sobriety.  She, however, makes the show more marketable.  For viewers who do not know who she is, she serves as a pretty face to look at.  For those who are familiar with her, she attracts people to watch because pornography is taboo.   Nobody knows much about who makes it.  Nobody knows how she acts.  To them, it’s like watching an alien, or a dog with rabies.

      This show is clearly crafted to get people to watch, not to help the participants.  The way these two characters are shown does not help their sobriety.  They are being treated like celebrities, when really they should be treated like addicts.  When it comes to other television shows I don’t like I can just change the channel.  This show compels me to watch because it deals with real people who need help.  I will wind up suffering through the entire season because I want the characters to beat the odds and get sober.

1/21/09

The WTF blog entry signifies that I will post about whatever the fudge I want to on Wednesday. It adds spontaniety and a spark to my blog, in case this format becomes a bit too monotonous. This week, for the WTF entry, I decided to take the WTF acronym and create a more positive meaning for it.

WEEZER'S TOP FIVE

5. Across The Sea (Pinkerton, 1996)
An ode to fanmail from Japanese school-girls. The song is sung with enough honesty and emotion to make you feel slightly uncomfortable. The lyrics are personal enough to the point where I actually feel like I shouldn't be listening ("I wonder how you touch yourself at night" Rivers confesses). A page from Rivers' diary with a big rock band soundscape, the focal point of which is a rusty, but show-stealing selection of guitar melodies, solos and effects.

4. No One Else (Blue, 1994)
Rivers has been known  to research what it is that makes the perfect pop-rock song. His findings sure have given him plenty of hits, even in 2008. One absolutely faultless pop-rocking tune slipped under the radar and was never given a single release. That tune is "No One Else", the catchy track about Rivers' old girl who he does not have the courage to face. "And if you see her, tell her it's over now". The guitar cries with emotion during the solo section, saying everything that Rivers is too reserved too. One of those songs with the perfect structure and arrangement for what they're trying to accomplish. 

3. Perfect Situation (Make Believe, 2003) FIRST VERSION
The Rivers Cuomo from Pinkerton is not dead, he's just sleeping. That is what this song from the controversial Make Believe album seeks to prove from the opening guitar solo. The production is devoid of any "live" feel and feels very desolate and empty.This only serves to strengthen the song even further. Rivers opts not to add any vocals over the chorus, instead adding a cry of desperation and sorrow. Probably the most lyrically relatable song Weezer's ever made for me.

2. Pink Triangle (Pinkerton, 1996)
The story of a boy who falls in love with a girl who is, in fact, a lesbian. Been there, bro. Well, no I haven't. But this song's lyrical, vocal, and all other execution is just perfect enough to make me feel like I have. I love everything about this song, but the guitar is the star throughout the whole thing, not just during the solo or chorus like some Weezer songs. It moans along with Rivers as he cries "When I think I've found a good old fashioned girl, then she put me in my place" The highlight of the song, and the album, is the triple tracked guitar solo, which continues to blow my mind every time I listen to it. 

1. Only In Dreams (Blue, 1994)

1/20/09

1/19/09

Album:

Jellyfish - Spilt Milk
This album is absolutely timeless. As each track weaves its way into the next, I sometimes forget that this album was released in 1993 by a band on the brink of destruction. This album feels more like a classic rock band (The Beatles, Queen) at the top of their game creating the masterpiece for which they'll be remembered.

This album has vocal harmonies that would make Freddie Mercury proud. Envious, in fact. In fact, the vocal work, on this album oftentimes sounds like a fusion Freddie Mercury and Brian Wilson's (The Beach Boys) .  Really, the whole album is very reminiscient of Queen, with its ability to change dynamics at the drop of the hat; piano stabs transition into a hard-rocking stomp on the second track "Joining a Fan Club" which was preceded by a lullaby simply titled Hush.

It's really this album's ability to retain a sense of child-like wonder while still sounding totally honest that fascinates me the most. Sebrina, Paste and Plato is one part the tale of a classroom having lunch, two parts love song, 1 part random heavy riff, one part majestic orchestral fanfare outro. All in two minutes flat.

With its dopey but classic keyboards, expertly composed orchestral parts, laboured vocal harmonies and catchy melodies, and fantastic vocals, this album is already a winner. But with all the innocence and beauty, does it find time to kick ass? With all the throwbacks to 60s and 70s rock, does it find a way to sound "non-dated?"

I'll answer both those questions with a song title: All Is Forgiven. This song would mesh in so well with our current rock radio scene. If Dave Grohl was singing on this track it would be a hit faster than you could say "Monkey Wrench". The song has a passion and an energy that can't be contained from the get-go as it throws musical punch after punch whether it's the angered, intense vocals or the rough and violent guitar.

This album is an eccentric mess... but not at all unaccessible. Check it out, because with its organic, one-take sound and the way it wears its feelings on its sleeve, it manages to evoke something that most music today can't: genuine human emotion.
A

From now on, Electric Dream Machine will be a well-oiled weekly machine that covers a gamut of topics. Each day will have a specific theme that I will follow.

There will be:
Music Monday (Music reviews, or lists)
WTF Wednesday (a miscellaneous entry which could be anything),
TV Thursday (Will mostly be used to review the new episodes of TV that I watch throughout the week but also will be used to talk about TV shows I love that I wish were still on the air and what have you)
Film Friday (Can be posting my own films or even just reviews of films)
Saturday = BREAK

Michael Rowland - The Clutch of the Crutch (Unfinished)

So, for the last few years Scrubs has been going through the motions. It always seemed to be JD, the perpetual man-baby prancing about the hospital and guffawing with his butt-buddy Turk. When this series began its seventh (supposedly final) season with a string of weak episodes, it began to appear like the show would never get back to its old quality-level.

Then something strange happened... they actually started developing characters. Kelso was being forced out, JD was growing up, and him and Elliot were getting closer and closer. Things were happening. It was looking like Scrubs could end with dignity.

Then NBC canceled it, leaving the show in limbo with no sense of resolution whatsoever. But maybe the show was too long in the tooth to end right. Maybe this was a blessing and a curse. Scrubs wouldn't tarnish its legacy with a sub-par season and finale.

Then Bill Lawrence, the man behind Scrubs, announced that the show was getting an 18 episode season on ABC. While most remained optimistic and excited, some felt that this was prolonging and weakening a series whose relevance was already lost long ago.

For the show to return again, it needed to improve. It needed to become real again and have much better writing. It needed to do the unthinkable and become creatively rejuvenated. Its characters needed to become fleshed out, real people again. After years of atrophe, it's a tall order for a show to suddenly become real again. The question is: did Scrubs fill that order last night?

As a huge, huge fan of season 1-3 and a season 7 apologist I can say: yes, it did. From the classic interactions between JD and The Janitor to Elliot and Carla not annoying the Hell out of everyone when they were on screen to JD dealing with a crop of new interns, everything in this episode was funny, some of it was revealing, some of it was important growth for the characters. It was hard to see JD so tired, stressed, and overworked... but it was as if the JD we once knew from seasons 1-3 (who is also my favorite character on any TV show ever) had finally come back. No... it was the JD we once knew. He has returned after being hidden by his own cocky and silly bravado for years now. 

The dramatic elements are all in play, but is the comedy? Again, yes. My Jerks was funnier than any episode from season 6 and 7 and more down to earth than most of season 5. The Janitor was an unstoppable comedic force in this episode as was JD. The Carla and Elliot plot did not deliver a lot of laughs but it was well-done and it succeeded in helping us like Elliot just a little more. Even in the second episode, which is about JD and Turk staying with a patient as he contemplates death and faces his fear of it, there are still plenty of funny moments (honestly, that episode had some of the funniest moments of the night). That episode also had some of the best character growth, as it showed how JD and Turk's innocence, when it comes to death, had been lost forever. They were just two men trying to help another one face his fear of dying.

The cinematography was better, even. Darker and grittier like the first few years.

And the interns? While I would never watch a show full of them, they were a great device to show how far the interns we started watching in the beginning have now progressed and become full grown doctors.

I can't wait for more character development, great jokes, and great emotional moments. I used to be excited for Scrubs every week because I was hoping for an occasional classic episode, but never really expecting one. But this year is different. If this season keeps up the quality level shown last night, it could indeed end up being the show's best season.

So, when I've found myself bored at home (that is, most of the time), I've sometimes come across a show about a total dick who happens to be a great doctor. Well, he's not just a total dick. He's an egotist, a narcissist, and apparently a masochist because he still deals with these people that he supposedly hates.

Of course I speak of Dr. Gregory House, star of my pick for the second most overrated medical drama on TV next to Grey's Anatomy (and when you're up against ER, that's saying something). I can't get into this show at all. The episodes have the same basic formula, which goes a little like this:

Someone's in trouble.
The team tries to figure out what their problem is while House abuses them.
Diagnosis is wrong because of conflicting symptoms.
Repeat the last two over and over again for an hour.
Cheesy moment between a doctor and the patient which is interrupted by something terrible.
House saves the day and gets his jollies off of insulting his cohorts and fellow misfit doctors.

Don't worry, I'm not an idiot who thinks they "copied" Dr. Cox. People who think that are stupid. I just don't like any of the characters or the storylines, or the dialogue. I mean, beyond all that it's really a well-done show, but I just can't seem to get it.

Needless to say, my family loves it and watches it all the time.

Hot 'N Cold: My Favorite and Least Favorite Albums from 2008

The Best of 2008:
Panic at the Disco - Pretty Odd
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
Conor Oberst - Self-Titled
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Margot & The Nuclear So And So's - Animal
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
The Mars Volta - Bedlam in Goliath
Mystery Jets - Twenty One


Honorable Mentions:
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
The Cure - 4:13 Dream
Deerhunter - Microcastle
The Delta Rasa - Self-Titled
Keane - Perfect Symmetry
Ludo - You're Awful, I Love You
M83 - Saturdays = Youth

Disappointments:
Weezer - The Red Album
Kanye West - 808's & Heartbreaks
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping

It's a new year, and I am feeling much better so I will continue posting on here again. I'm sure everyone (Charlie) missed me.