Monthly Archive for October, 2007

TV Wrapup – Week 44 2007

Published
by
neal
on October 31, 2007
in TV
. 0 Comments

In case your Tivo fucked up, the AudioShocker crew has this week’s TV highlights:Weeds

30 Rock – returns 11/08

Dexter - Lila drops trou, Dex confronts someone from his past, and Deb is the most paranoid woman ever. Then again, she was engaged to a serial killer.

Weeds - Mary-Kate is gone, Doug spills the bongwater, Andy continues to get in trouble, Nancy nearly cuts a bitch, and huge spoiler: Conrad catches another case of Jungle Fever.

Scrubs - Does anyone really care after last week’s abysmal premiere? We quit this show.

House - The patient is a mirror, House thinks 13 is hot, Kal Penn hates hot tubs, Foreman won’t leave, no one gets fired, and Cuddy has a nice rack.

Heroes - Horn Rim gets gangsta, Hiro steals a kiss, Nikki looks hotter than last season, Peter has to save the world again (big suprise), and did we mention that Sylar is basically the world’s biggest super-asshole?

How I Met Your Mother – Ted is a pornstar, Jon Cho gueststars, and Lilly stress-shops. Robin and Barney kind of ride the pines this ep. Not a stellar episode, but way better than last week.

The Boondocks – Stinkmeaner returns from Hell and takes over Tom’s body while Grandad discovers Myspace. ‘What’s really good?’ Not this episode. Special appearance by Ghostface Killah. Homie does WAY to many cameos.

To summarize: Jon Cho, Kal Penn, and Ghostface were all on TV this week – could life get any better?

Podcast Episode 005 – Spider-Man Dat Ho

Published
by
nick marino
on October 30, 2007
in Comics, Movies, Music, Podcast Episodes and TV
. 0 Comments

The fun never stops as we Spider-Man dat ho with Justique, Neal, and Nick talking up Hurricane Chris, TI, Belanova, Nelly, Sean Kingston, The Darjeeling Limited, Across the Universe, Avatar Book 3 Chapter 6, Casanova #10, Black Panther #31, Messiah CompleX #1, and mucho more.

 
 AudioShocker #5 [52:27m]: Play Now | Download

Wyclef’s Sweetest Girl Ain’t Sweet at All

Published
by
neal
on October 29, 2007
in Music
. 4 Comments

I don’t know how I forgot about this, but Wyclef has a new album coming out next Tuesday – The Carnival II. I’m sure you all remember The Carnival and the great tracks like Guantanamera and Gone Till November. The album was an instant classic, but Clef has not had a commercial success like it since.

By calling it the Carnival II Wyclef is betting a lot on this album and it shows. The album features guest spots on 11 out of 14 tracks. That said, they do include some heavy hitters: T.I., Shakira, Paul Simon (wtf?), Will.I.Am, etc. The first cut, Sweetest Girl has been out for a couple weeks now.

The best way to describe Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill) is Gone Till November II but with Akon shamelessly repurposing a Wu-tang hook, and an truly unimaginative verse by Lil Weezy.

I’ma tell you like Wu told me: Cash rules everything around me
Singing dollar dollar bill yall – dollar dollar bill yall – dollar dollar bill yall – Akon

Yea. That just happened. Additionally, Weezy can’t write a punchline for his life. There is no bite to his rhymes, just that acidic voice. I even heard a remix of this over an Old Wu beat with Raekwon – still no good.

I’m not trying to be harsh – but I know Wyclef is a better artist than this. Clef, we were all pissed that the Fugees reunion was a bust, but making crappy music is not going to help! I hope the rest of the album turns out better. I really want this to be a good album. Look for a full review once I get my hands on the disc.

Comic Pick – Week 43 2007

Published
by
nick marino
on October 26, 2007
in Comics
. 0 Comments

Casanova #10Ahhh the sweet, sweet aroma of a good issue of Casanova. It’s like fresh, delicious coffee for people that don’t really drink coffee but instead read comic books. It’s nutty with a dash of sweet and a full-breasted flavor that rubs your eyeballs in images that scream so loud they practically make noise.

Don’t believe me? Go pick up Casanova #10 and tell me I’m wrong. It’s the AudioShocker comic pick of the week. And this was a good week too. My perennial favorite series, Black Panther, came out with issue #31 this week. Plus there’s an issue of Tales of the TMNT I haven’t even read yet (I never read that book in time to give it top picks… sorry TMNT… I really do love you). So Cass had some decent competition to reach the top spot.

But this sexy issue breezed right by without any extra effort. These great issues of Casanova are life affirming and remind me why I read comics. Thank you Mr. Fraction and Mr. Moon for another outstanding installment of your insane sequentials.

Hendrix – Live at Monterey

Published
by
neal
on October 25, 2007
in Music
. 0 Comments

Hendrix - Live at Monterey

Ugh. The idea of yet another Hendrix album is not appealing to me. Don’t get it twisted people, I love Jimi. But talk about beating a franchise to death. Yes this is another live performance disc. If that bothers you than just stop reading this now. Bear in mind though, he did fire up his axe for the crowd.

I feel like this whole performance just lacks the passion of the studio recording. Does that sound a little backwards? About half the tracks are from Are You Experienced. High and lows after the jump… Continue reading ‘Hendrix – Live at Monterey’

Blog (re)Design

Published
by
neal
on October 24, 2007
in Behind the Scenes
. 0 Comments

As you may have noticed, we’ve been doing a little renovation around here. I want to keep things simple, so I’ve been playing with the K2 theme. K2 is the evolution of the default WP theme Kubrick. I think it looks cleaner, and you can actually read the header now.

I have also been helping my friend Kirsten ‘The Kitchen’ Carleton with her delicious food blog Yumbrosia. We used the Falling Dreams theme by Razvan Teodorescu, but it needed some modifications. Kirsten thought the original theme was too wide, not red enough, and disliked the sidebar and header. Easy peasy! Next up? Figuring out how to remove the hover/popups.

If you have suggestions for us, or think you could do better (I am new to blog design) – please let me know!

Email me at neal@audioshocker.com

The Darjeeling (should have stayed in) Limited (release)

Published
by
nick marino
on October 24, 2007
in Movies
. 1 Comment

The Darjeeling Limited

Let me be honest with you: I think this movie sucks. I caught a free screening last night and damn am I glad it was free. I would have been pissed if I payed to see it.

The story follows three wealthy, eccentric white American brothers as they travel to India in hopes of a “spiritual” journey. If the spiritual journey thing wasn’t trite enough for you, I promise it gets worse. All they end up doing is going on a self-indulgent rampage that reaffirms their insecure, awkward, and unattractive personalities.

The Indian characters mostly merge together in a sort of tasteless way. There’s a pervasive feeling of disrespect for India, its culture, and its people that’s often accompanied by Wes Anderson’s weak attempts to show the grandeur of the country as “strange and foreign.” The whole thing feels ignorant. Hopefully I can get Justique post her thoughts as well. She had some interesting things to say.

Podcast Episode 004 – The Justique Cometh

Published
by
nick marino
on October 23, 2007
in Comics, Movies, Music and Podcast Episodes
. 3 Comments

Justique brings some much needed estrogen to the AudioShocker as she helps Neal and Nick discuss Angie Stone, Jeru the Damaja, Me’Shell NdegÈocello, Radiohead’s In Rainbows, The Heartbreak Kid, Why Did I Get Married?, Avatar Book 3 Chapter 5, Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D, Batman Year 100, Amir Chitra Katha comics, The 99 #1, She-Hulk #22, Black Panther #31, Foolkiller MAX #1, and much much more.

 
 AudioShocker #4 [53:04m]: Play Now | Download

Comic Pick – Week 42 2007

Published
by
nick marino
on October 19, 2007
in Comics
. 0 Comments

The 99 #1How do you pick a winner when there are so many good choices? Really, I think it would be Mighty Avengers #5 by Brian Michael Bendis, Frank Cho, Jason Keith, and Dave Lanphear. But they’ve set such a ridiculously high standard for this Ultron story arc that their outstanding quality almost seems average.

Then there was Marvel Adventures The Avengers #17, a surprise hit that features the Marvel Adventures Universe introduction of Vision. The story used Storm as a sort of beginning and end to the tale, so you know I was hooked. On top of the amazing art penciled by Ig Guara, the story by Ty Templeton offered up some interesting perspectives on artificial intelligence and the creation (and modification) of life.

Ahh but there was also The 99 #1 from Teshkeel Comics. The story (written by Fabian Nicieza, drawn by John McCrea, and conceived by creator Dr. Al-Mutawa) tells of young adults and children who come into contact with Noor Stones, thus releasing super powered potential. The book smacks of teamwork and diversity. That means they found my soft spot. It’s like an even more international re-imagining of everything the X-Men concept does right. There’s a free preview issue of The 99 online (I still have yet to read it). I know it’s only the first issue of the American version of this series, but it seems rich with potential. For that reason, The 99 #1 is my comic pick of the week.

And I didn’t even read Justice League of America #14 yet by Dwayne McDuffie! The guy’s on a roll and I can’t wait to see what happens. What a great week for comic books…

Podcast Episode 003 – Manchester Bridge is Dead

Published
by
nick marino
on October 16, 2007
in Comics, Movies, Music, Podcast Episodes and TV
. 2 Comments

How do you Superman dat ho? We found out and we’re telling you exactly how to do it. That, and Kelly Clarkson, Weeds, Fantastic Four, Avatar Book 3 Chapter 4, Captain America, Mighty Avengers, Manchester Bridge, Kevin Michael, J Lo, The Boondocks, Punisher War Journal, and much much more.

 
 AudioShocker #3 [37:16m]: Play Now | Download