Video - Radiohead - "Everything in its Right Place"

Here is one final video from the Radiohead concert on 3/7/12.

Video - Radiohead - Frank Erwin Center, Austin TX

Here's a video I shot of Radiohead performing "Paranoid Android" at the Erwin Center, Austin TX. March 7, 2012. (see previous blog for complete review)

Radiohead in Austin!

Radiohead is one of my "bucket list" bands. A band that I've always wanted to see live, but for some reason or another, I've never been able to. They were one of my favorite bands during the late 90's and early 2000's. They had their first big single, "Creep", in 1993, but I didn't start to really like them until the release of "OK Computer" in 1997. "OK Computer" is a classic. One of the greatest albums ever. After that I bought "The Bends", which is another classic, almost at the same level of "OK Computer." With these two albums, I was hooked.

After "OK Computer", Radiohead had a lot of great songs, but, in my opinion, no great albums. Starting with "Kid A", they became much more experimental, focusing more on electronic music than creating solid rock songs with melody. Although I still continued to buy their albums, my interest in them began to gradually decline. ("Kid A" is probably my favorite from their post 90's material, "Hail to the Thief" my least favorite).

I tried to see Radiohead live once before when they were on tour to promote "Kid A" (around the year 2000 or 2001). I was living in California at the time, and the show was at the Hollywood Bowl. I waited outside Tower Records in Long Beach to try to get tickets. The show sold out in minutes. No tickets for me. I waited around, assuming they would add another show, but they didn't. Then I tried Ebay, but people were asking insane prices for tickets. I figured I would just try to catch them another time.

So...12 years later, I finally saw Radiohead live. Honestly, though, I wish I had seen them 12 years ago. The excitement had died down a little for me. The show at the Frank Erwin Center was good, but for me was also a bit disappointing. The band primarily focused on songs from their newest albums, ignoring their classic, late 90's work (with the exception of the last song, "Paranoid Android.")

I admire Radiohead for not just going out and playing their "greatest hits" to please the masses. Sure, I would have been happy, but I can understand that bands need to grow and keep creating new music, or else they will just be a nostalgia act like The Rolling Stones, The Who, and...yes, even Roger Waters.

Although they barely touched upon my favorite songs, there were some highlights for me. The four songs they played from "Kid A" sounded great live (Kid A, The National Anthem, Idioteque, and Everything in its Right Place). From the newer albums, "Nude" and "Give Up the Ghost" also have a new appreciation from me. And then, finally, at the very end, they gave us a classic from "OK Computer." I just wish there had been more.

(Pictures: 1. The Frank Erwin Center. 2-5. Radiohead. Yeah, I know the pictures are blurry and kind of suck, but those were the best. Obviously I need a new camera.)

Deeper Into "The Wall" - Pink Floyd Immersion Box Set

The death of the CD will be upon us soon. Just like 8 track. Just like cassette. Just like vinyl. Most people (including myself) now listen to their music in the digital format. It's cheaper, it's easier, and it's much more convenient. I like having immediate access to thousands of songs right at the click of a mouse. If I want to hear five different songs from five different bands, I no longer need to dig out the albums, take them out of their sleeves, and stick them on a turntable. Or (if I have a cassette), fast forward to the song I want to hear. In this regard, digital has the clear advantage. Purists, and grumpy old people, will complain about "the death of music", but these people just need to get with the times.

The music industry realizes that sales of physical CD's are soon going to be non-existent, so now, in a last ditch effort to make some money, they are putting out some pretty cool box-sets from major artists. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and my personal favorite, Pink Floyd have recently put out new remasters of old albums, with tons of rare, unreleased material.

Pink Floyd put out what they call "Immersion" box sets of their best three albums: "Dark Side of the Moon," "Wish You Were Here," and "The Wall." Each box includes the original, remastered album, and several additional discs with live tracks and demos. They both include DVD's and Blu ray discs of videos and concert footage.

The price is a bit steep. Over $100 for each box. Although now you can get "Dark Side of the Moon" for 50% off at Amazon. Since "The Wall" is my favorite Floyd album, that is the only box set I have purchased so far (I will likely get the other two when the price comes down).

"The Wall" includes 7 discs. 2 discs for the remastered album. 2 discs of the remastered "Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81" 2 discs of "demo recordings" and a DVD of videos, concert footage, documentaries and interviews.

You also get a lot of "swag", much of it totally unnecessary. It has two booklets filled with pictures only. No essays or any written material whatsoever. You also get reproductions of concert tickets and backstage passes, a poster, a Gerald Scarfe print, 3 marbles (!), a scarf, and coasters for your drinks. I would have gladly passed on the marbles, scarf, and coasters for a reduction in price for this set. Totally freakin' unnecessary. Take out most of the "swag" and you've got about a $50 box set here.

As for the music....not much more can be said for how great the album is. It's a masterpiece. I can't really tell much different from this new remaster compared to the 1994 remaster, but that's just me. The demos are the real treasure here. There are 64 in total, starting with Roger Waters home demos, David Gilmour home demos, and then full band demos. Many of the songs are radically different. Some of the demos ended up on future albums. Here, you get the Pink Floyd version of "Sexual Revolution", which would end up on the Roger Waters solo album "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking." And "Teacher Teacher" would become "The Hero's Return" on the next Floyd album "The Final Cut." For me, this is the best part of the box set.

The DVD is a major letdown. Apparently, Pink Floyd filmed several performances of "The Wall" in concert at Earl's Court in London in 1981. On the DVD, you get a mere one song from that performance (The Happiest Days of Our Lives). The 50 minute documentary, "Behind the Wall", shows numerous clips from that concert as well. The quality looks pretty good, so why not just include the entire show? What they have here amounts to a tease.

So there you have it. Is it worth $100? No, not at all. I think by Christmas of this year, you will see this one at half-off as well. So unless you are really into marbles and coasters and scarves, just wait a while.

Another Day Out with Kyle

Since I now only work on the weekends, it leaves me with a lot of free time during the week. I try to set aside at least one day a week where I take Kyle out somewhere. He's only got about six months left before he starts Kindergarten, so I suppose now is the best time to have some bonding with him.

This week we went to The Blanton Museum of Art (the best museum in Austin, in my opinion), and the Capitol building. When we were looking at contemporary art, Kyle made me laugh by saying "Look at that scribble scrabble!" (see picture above). I couldn't have said it any better. Some of the pictures indeed looked like "scribble scrabble."

He made me laugh again when we were in the Capitol building. When I told him we were inside the Texas Capitol, he said "Is there a lower-case building?"

As Bill Cosby used to say, "Kids say the darndest things"

Review - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3-D

Last night I took my daughter Sara to see "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" on the big screen in 3-D. It's my least favorite of the "Star Wars" series, and I don't particularly like 3-D movies. Actually, I try to avoid 3-D movies if possible, preferring the 2-D version instead. But...this was a rare exception. I was curious as to how they would do "Star Wars" in 3-D. I also wanted Sara to have a chance to see "Star Wars" the way I saw it when I was a kid, and maybe she would feel some of the same magic I felt when I was her age.

We saw the movie at the local "Alamo Drafthouse" theater. I was later surprised to find out that the movie was completely sold out. I was expecting a small crowd. Not a sold-out crowd. The place was packed with Star Wars geeks.

The 3-D was pretty good, but not great. There were no mouth dropping "WOW" moments. There were very few moments of objects coming out at you. Even the "podrace" scene, which seemed to have lots of opportunities for cool 3-D tricks, didn't really impress me much.

The movie still had all the same problems as it did back in 1999. It was obviously aimed at small children, yet the story was far too convoluted for them to follow. Taxation on trade routes and blockades? Senators arguing in committees? How is a 6 or 7 year old going to understand all that? Then you've got Jar Jar, one of the most annoying characters ever created. It turns out, though, the kids love Jar Jar.

"What was your favorite part of the movie?" I asked Sara. "Was it the Obi Wan/Darth Maul fight scene?" (in my opinion, the best part of the movie)

"It was when Jar Jar's tongue went numb." Sara replied. "He's so silly."

So there you have it. Maybe George Lucas knew what he was doing after all. My daughter loves Jar Jar and all his wackiness.

From what I have read, Lucas plans to release a 3-D version of each "Star Wars" movie for the next 6 years. Which means we will have two more inferior films to go before we get to the classic, "Episode IV." I'd like to see that one again on the big screen, but I think I'll probably skip the next two.

Fighting For Freedom!! ... (of speech)

Just when I start thinking that nobody is actually reading my blog, I suddenly receive not one, but TWO emails threatening legal action against me for something I have posted. Both came within the same week.

I assumed if anyone complained about the content of my blog and threatened legal action, it would have been from the small group of individuals whom I have trashed over the years: Julie Jo Thompson of Hess, Lilliane Salazar of Wi-Fi Link, my brother's wife, or even my sister. But no. Instead it comes from something I wrote 4 years ago on my first blog.

The first issue comes from what an anonymous poster left in the comments section of my blog entry, "Why Taiwanese Women Like Foreign Men." (update 5/14/13: That blog entry was deleted when I published my first book.  That blog entry is now in the book.)  "Anonymous" wrote a meandering comment about Taiwanese women picking up foreigners in the bars and pubs of Kaohsiung. He mentioned a few names of women "to be aware of", using their English name, not their real, Chinese name. One particular gentleman didn't like it, and sent off this email to me (I'm deleting the name of the woman in this email):

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Perhaps I was mistaken to think that your blog was attempting to present an intellectual argument about the interrelationships between Taiwanese women & western men. It appears you are only interested in propagating sensationalist banter.

Ms. (X) is a close friend of mine & the complete rather than half-story as posted on your blog was well known to me long before I became aware of your posting. The same person who posted anonymously on your site also posted similar comments in the San Diego Reader. I have since written to that person, who happens to be the wife of the person who cheated my friend & knowing her legal accountability for those comments, has promptly & graciously removed them within 2 days of my request.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2011/jun/14/travel-kaohsiung-taiwan/

If I was to publish that I met your wife in a bar & she propositioned me to have sex, then that would be slanderous unless I could prove the same?

I strongly suggest that you remove references to my friends name.

If I was to publish the full details of the other side of the story this would cause extreme embarrassment to Mrs. B, who has already suffered immeasurably due to the immoral behavior of her husband. Alternatively, I could file a legal suit in Taiwan which would include a demand for removal of the references & damages.

You are a married man & possibly a parent. I appeal to your better judgement to correct the injustice that has been presented on your blog.

Thank You

Paul R. Gannaway

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I made my own comment later, stating that I can only delete comments, not edit them. Not only that, but I have a rule that I don't censor anyone. I publish all comments here, no matter how good, bad, banal, stupid, crazy, or obscene they might be. The only comments I have ever deleted were spam. I used to get bombarded with spam when I allowed people to comment without moderating.

Obviously, I wouldn't allow something that goes too far (racist, hate speech, for example), but I've never seen that on either of my blogs. I didn't particularly like this guy using my wife in his example of slander, but I guess he's trying to make a point in his own "sensationalist" way.

I realize some people would just delete the comment at the first sign of any controversy, but for me it's a matter of principle and of Freedom of Speech. What "Anonymous" wrote, in my opinion, had some merit. It presented another opinion to the topic. Other people have since presented opposing arguments. One side claims that the women are the problem. The other side claim the men are the problem. The argument has balance.

The second issue was far less controversial. It was about a photo that I used on my follow-up entry: "Why Taiwanese Women Like Foreign Men (Part 2)" I wanted to find a photo of a mixed couple, and I didn't want to use yet another picture of me and my wife, or David and Pi Chi. So I used a wedding picture that a Taiwanese woman sent me back in October of 2004. It wasn't personal, I just thought the picture was appropriate for the topic.

Well, apparently her husband didn't appreciate the photo being used. He then fired off this email to me the very next day (grammar and spelling mistakes are his, not mine):

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I am letting you know as of 1/30/2012 10:20am central time the phone you are using on you blog -"Grace%2BWedding%2B3.JPG" is a private photo that you have taken for your personal use on your website. You are being informed that you must cease and desist from using this photo and remove it from you site or future action will be taken against you. Do not take this lightly. I have already reported this abuse to google and will have your site shut down if you continue to violate this privacy issue.

Neal Goodacre

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This was his very first email to me. Angry and confrontational. If he had just asked me nicely I would have likely removed it right away, since the picture wasn't that important anyway. I could easily find another one.

So, I caved in on this one because it wasn't my personal photo. It was a photo that was emailed to me by his wife 8 years ago. Maybe I had a right to use it. Maybe not. I probably could have left it up for years until Google asked me to take it down. But I decided to be nice about it, even though this guy showed a serious attitude problem.

If anyone would like to read that old blog entry and offer their opinion, I'm open to all comments. My wife thinks I did the right thing by taking the picture down. She also agrees that I should leave the comments as is, since, like I mentioned, the legal, Chinese names were not given anyway. That would be like me getting upset over someone writing "Chen Dafoo was a crappy English teacher. This is a name you should be aware of." "Chen Dafoo" just happened to be my Chinese name when I was living in Taiwan. I honestly couldn't care less.

I guess the bottom line is, people really need to lighten up.