Friday, March 30, 2007

The Shield -TV Crack

There is no better block of television than FX's The Shield (back this Tuesday April 3) and when those 10 episodes are over, Rescue Me kicks in. I am a late comer to The Shield. Christmas of 2005, my friend Dennice got the first season on DVD, which was the start of her addiction. She then rented all available seasons over the break. I never want to get into new shows as I think I already watch too much. Dennice lent me her season one and my addiction began. The Shield is TV Crack. I joined Netflix just to watch it and when they didn't have Season 5 (it wasn't out yet), I went into withdrawal. I wouldn't look at anything on the net that might give away one piece of the plot for the already broadcast season 5. The DVD just came out, but luckily iTune had it up before then and I've been downloading a few shows a week. TV just doesn't get any better. Forget about the Sopranos, which has lost a lot of it's shine the past few seasons. The Shield has the best writing and acting. The show is violent, so it's not for everyone. These are cops you know you should hate, but they get the bad guy and that really is their goal anyway. If they have to play dirty to make a few bucks to send their autistic kid to a special school, so be it.

Forest Whitaker is beyond creepy as Kavanaugh, the IAD cop who will go to any extreme to nab Vic for killing a fellow cop, for which he was already cleared. After watching him, I will never accept gum from anyone I barely know again. This show has me emotionally drained. I'm up to episode 7 which I hope to watch tonight. I will catch up before Tuesday. Dennice is insisting that I watch the final episode with her, which means it must be outstanding. Season 6 will be 10 episodes. According to the series creator, Shawn Ryan, Season 7 will start taping in June and when that airs, that will put an end to my addiction. Most people don't even know what channel FX is on their cable system. Make the channel a favorite and watch continuous good drama from now until the end of the summer.

PS for those who watch the show, I just found this little piece of trivia, CCH Pounder plays Claudette. The CCH stands for Carol Christine Hilaria.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Willie Nelson Spring Water? All Night Chemists more SXSW


The last time Len, Brandon and Andy played SXSW was with Thisway. With over 1500 bands and 16,000 people descending upon Austin, the conference has grown by leaps and bounds. 6th Street, the home of one music club after another, makes Ludlow St look small in comparison. Police close the street off to all vehicles and music can be heard coming from every doorway and alleyway too. ANC played a tight set the first night of the festival at the Troubadour. The band benefited from good sound and a great performance. Everyone agreed that they were the best vocals and performance that were heard that evening. Apparently bad sound and ultra volume were rampant among most of the clubs the first night.

24 hours earlier the band booked a show on the just assembled Willie Nelson Spring Water Solar Powered Stage. Willie and Spring Water seems like an oxymoron, but you have to admire his commitment to helping the earth. The stage was set up, like so many other stages in a parking lot, 2 doors down from the famed Waterloo Records. Watching people hang their heads out of passing cars to hear the music, just summed up the fact that anyone, anywhere could hear music in Austin last week. You could listen to free music from 11am to 2am and probably get free food and drinks if you hit the right parties.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

All Night Chemists @ SXSW



The skies were finally bled dry and the masses hit 6th St last night. Two great live acts graced the same stage last night @ the Troubadour: All Night Chemists played a great set (Open rocked as always) before the Benjy Davis Project closed the evening. Benjy hails from Baton Rouge. Clowns was a standout. Great song!

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Soggy SXSW

It started raining at 1pm and let up for about 15 minutes. This was enough time for me to make it back to the hotel after grabbing lunch at Nueva Onda. Besides myself & Brandi Shearer, having dinner at The South Congress Cafe was David Byrne. Tomorrow is the official start; my first show is Brandi @ Moonshine Patio 303 Red River @ 1pm. Also checking out The Cliks at 4:20pm and All Night Chemists @ The Troubadour Saloon 305 E 6th St, 11pm.

Monday, March 12, 2007

SXSW Revisited

Tomorrow I'm off to Austin for music's biggest conference SXSW. I haven't been to it in over 7 years. Last time I went there were about 800/900 artists/bands. This year there are over 1500. It's almost doubled in size. I'm looking forward to seeing some great music: All Night Chemists, Brandi Shearer, Patty Hurst Shifter, Ari Hest the list goes on, eating good food and seeing many people I just don't see on a regular basis.