I Guess We'll Just Have To Adjust!

So excited for this movie.

UPDATE: Apparently this trailer premiered on Ellen's show? Holy crap, first Kanye, now Where The Wild Things Are. Ellen is getting all the exclusives.

Arguably The Greatest Of All Time

Amazon's music blog has been doing these Top 100 lists this year. So far they've done four: 100 Greatest Debut Albums, 100 Greatest Romantic Albums, 100 Greatest Singer-Songwriter Albums and 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time. I haven't poured over them all just yet but I'm sure as with any so-called "definitive" album list, there will be no shortage of debate over the rankings, inclusions and exclusions. Without delving too deeply, here are a few quick thoughts:

- How can Elliott Smith's Either/Or rank significantly above both Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville and Neutral Milk Hotel's In An Aeroplane Over The Sea on the Singer-Songwriter list but on the Indie Rock list it gets edged out by those two albums? It doesn't make much sense. I can understand how The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs might be less romantic than the Postal Service's Give Up, despite 69 being a better Indie Rock (or overall) album because great albums aren't always romantic. But I don't get the disparity between the Singer-Songwriter category and Indie Rock category. Do you see what I'm getting at?

- My quick scan didn't pick up on any albums that were featured on all four lists. A few albums and/or artists were featured on three lists though. Postal Service, Liz Phair, um, maybe that's it.

- Several albums on the Romantic list have multiple songs that aren't very romantic. Are those albums really among the 100 Greatest? When trying to set the mood I don't think Usher's "Yeah!" or "Throwback" would be a good choice. Am I alone here?

- The Debut list has a decent number of hip hop albums, which is nice. The funny thing is that for all the declarations of Notorious B.I.G. as the greatest rapper of all time, and one who has only two proper albums to his name, Ready To Die sits beneath Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt, Kanye's College Dropout, and Eric B. & Rakim's Paid In Full.

- Speaking of Kanye, the writers/editors took a nice little jab at 808's & Heartbreak by claiming it was eligible for the Singer-Songwriter category had it been a better album.

All in all, whatever. I love lists and music and these are semi-interesting, conversation-worthy pieces. I'm just glad Tha Carter III didn't sneak it's way into all four lists somehow.

HAA!!!

Okay, this video is kind of mean but in defense of whoever made it, the Ying Yang Twins are essentially cartoons. Sure, those guys are somewhat difficult to understand but at the same time, do we need funny subtitles to make this any funnier than it already is? I think no. I remember seeing this Cribs episode back when it aired. At first, I thought it was weird and hilarious. After the show was finished, I had the unexpected urge to walk around saying, "haa!!! and "ahh!!!" all the time. With or without the subtitles, just watch, laugh, and generally be confused. HAAA!!!

1nce Again

And another post of my favorite songs at the moment:

Beirut - My Night With A Prostitute From Marseille


The-Dream - Rockin' That Thang Remix (feat. Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross & Ludacris)


Neko Case - People Got A Lotta Nerve

Sound Off

Here are the highlights and analysis from last night's MLS season opening game. I don't normally watch MLS games but it seems that every year, people are trying to hype the league (rightly so) and entice fans. I've been reading most of the league previews over the past week or so and it seems like this is a big year for the MLS even with Beckham on a year-round timeshare. Some interesting things about Seattle in particular (I think):

- The expansion team, Seattle Sounders, without their designated player (ex-Gunner/
Swedish superstar/male model Freddie Ljundburg) beat last year's MLS Cup runner-up on opening day. Yes, it's only one game, it's still Week 1 and anything can happen in soccer, but a 3-0 victory is saying something. With a proven winner and last season's coach of the year, Sigi Schmid at the helm, this team could be going places.

- The Sounders are co-owned by Drew Carey. I remember seeing him in interviews and on ESPN a while ago, talking about how he was drawn to soccer and about the MLS' popularity. It doesn't surprise me that he grew interested enough to purchase a team. What is a bit surprising is that he has big plans for the club. Well, it's not surprising that he has "big plans" part but the actual plans are ambitious. He wants to run the team based on how some top flight European clubs are run, with Presidential elections and more fan input on how the club is managed. I think this is a good thing. It may be new and different for Americans, myself included, but the sooner the MLS embraces certain aspects of European football, the sooner the MLS will become a more respected league. That will lead to an increase in the level of play, and high profile players might come to the league while they still have plenty of gas left in the tank. Speaking of which...

- I admit, it is a little exciting that 21 year-old Fredy Montero is in the MLS. Sure, he is only in Seattle on loan but this marks one of, if not the first time that a young, foreign player has chosen to come to the MLS in his prime. (Just take a look, most of the foreign-born MLS stars are in their 30s and while they can dominate this league, they aren't in their primes anymore). Montero supposedly had interest from bigger clubs in La Liga but he ended up on The Sounders, which is a definitely a good thing. Last year, he co-led the Colombian league in goals and judging from last night's performance and his 9 goals in pre-season, I don't think he's letting up.

- The MLS seems to be taking a very smart approach to league expansion. Already, I would say The Sounders are a success. There is clearly a market for soccer in Seattle and after losing the Sonics, there is definitely a hole in Seattle sports that The Sounders can attempt to patch up. They have already sold more season tickets than most MLS teams average in total attendance. On top of that, the league is "starting" traditions for the club and for the league itself with the Heritage Cup (which celebrates the NASL) and future rivalries with Vancouver (co-owned by Steve Nash!) and possibly Portland.

Ah, so there's that. It's all mildly exciting, something worth noting. The MLS is growing and it's gotten to the point where I care to watch and read about it every so often. This could very well be due to my renewed and growing love for soccer but it's also a testament to how much the league has developed over the years. There is still no way I will support the MLS in the same manner as I follow the EPL, La Liga and more recently Serie A, but staying in tune peripherally is better than nothing.

In Your Face, Just For Kicks

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Duel Of The Iron Mic

I kind of want to see this, even though there's a real possibility that it might make me crazy.