The most interesting part of the album, as a whole, is the amount of piano.

On one such piano driven track, "Wood & Fire," the chorus contains a harmony, reminiscent of 70s southern rock.  And somehow the melodious track flows seamlessly into straight-up post-hardcore, complete with the heavy guitar that Thrice is known for.  

The album ebbs and flows with an uncanny smoothness.  

It's great album with an excellent title/ending track, on which Teppei absolutely rips it up, making up for a noticeable absence on much of the album.  A

If you pay attention to politics (and you should, whether you can vote or not), you know that there's a big fuss over this thing called health care.  

It's undeniable that some kind of reform is needed (when is it not?), but people have been getting mighty hot under the collar about President Obama's proposal.  The concept of 'universal health care' is ideal, no?  Everyone gets taken care of and we're all happy.  But, this is the ideal and not the real.  Like anything in this world, there are pros and cons to this idea.  Plus, we're pretty damn broke right now and this stuff is expensive!

This is where I'm going to stop.  If you want the politics, you can read these articles (you can start with this one and this one, and remember that nothing is ever unbiased).

Now let's turn our attention to Whole Foods Market...

On August 11th, CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods, John Mackey, wrote an article for the Wallstreet Journal.  In this article, Mackey offers 8 tips for health care reform.  A few of the suggestions come from the health care plan that Whole Foods uses to cover their employees who work over 30 hours a week.

But Mackey's article has upset some of his Whole Foods customers, who are now boycotting the store.  

Fine, this is America and the market system is built upon consumerism; businesses that people support will flourish and businesses that don't make money fail.  Such is Capitalism.  

What this whole journal has been leading up to is the quote of one disgruntled ex-Whole Foods shopper, Christine Taylor (sorry, I had to do this).

In the ABC article, Taylor said, "I will no longer be shopping at Whole Foods.  I think a CEO should take care that if he speaks about politics, that his beliefs reflect at least the majority of his clients."

Whole Foods Market is not a representational body.  You are not its political constituent.  Whole Foods owes you nothing but food.  And it's fine if you wish to boycott the store for its CEO's political views, but we're dealing with food.  If you want political representation, you've got a congressman for that.  Whole Foods will represent your needs for organic, soy yogurt, not healthcare.

But you know, as long as we're headed this direction, I'd probably be a good thing to demand education reform from Apple.  But I shouldn't joke, because knowing them, they would. iLearn, here we come.

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In an interview with MTV, Vanessa Hudgens mentioned that she would like to play Janis Joplin because she's just so amazing (Joplin, not Hudgens).

I'm not trying to hate, but let's be real, Janis would be rolling in her grave if she knew.

At least 'Nessa knows she looks nothing like Janis... so thankfully, her chances of ever getting that role are slim to none.  But, just for good measure, let's see a side-by-side.

Yep.  Nothing alike.

Plus, isn't Janis Disney unapproved?  I mean, the woman was a crazy drug addict from Beaumont, Texas (shout-out to my family, hi guys!).  Although, 'Nessa's most recent batch of nudie pics are also not mouse-friendly (seriously, girl, keep it to yourself).  You've had your naughty pictures exposed via internet twice now.  Remember, no clothes, no camera.  You'd just be tempting fate otherwise.

Also, your voice is too smooth.  Have you even heard Janis Joplin?  For that matter, can you name one of her songs other than "Piece of My Heart?"  Can you name the band she was in?  

But since I'm picking on her, I might as well pick on a few other people.  MTV also reports that Pink, Zooey Deschanel, and Renee Zellweger are in talks for separate Joplin biopics.  

I would die if Pink got the role.  Seriously, no.  I'm begging you, Hollywood, please don't.

And as much as I love Zooey (because who can resist those blue eyes) I'm not sure she's got it in her to play Joplin.

I'm also on the fence with Zellweger, yet it's easier to imagine her as Joplin than any of the aforementioned ladies.

Here's to waiting to find the perfect actress (yes, actress, not musician) for the part.

...and in news that is just too ridiculous to be made up, The Royal Opera House is creating an opera in which the libretto will be comprised of Twitter messages (further mixing my emotions about whether Twitter is the devil's work or ingenious).

(Warning Twittering may be hazardous to your health)

You, too, can get in on this zaniness by sending your messages to @youropera on Twitter (I'm tempted to create an account of my own). 

The New York Times reports that the music will be a mix of familiar opera and new music composed by Helen Porter.

Although no cast has been reported, the opera will run from September 4-6 at The Royal Opera House.  Too bad for us on the wrong side of the pond.  Perhaps they'll YouTube it?

After inventing the solid-body guitar in 1939, he designed the famous Gibson Les Paul in the early '50s, came up with various techniques for recording and performance, including overdubbing, delay, and multitrack recording, and won two Grammys.  He played with Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby, before serving in the military for a year.

But for those who didn't know, now is a good time for a lesson in music history.  Les Paul's solid-body guitar changed music.  In either 1940 or 1941 (around age 25) Les Paul (born Lester William Polfus) attached strings and two pickups to a piece of wood with a guitar neck.  Dubbed "the log," his makeshift guitar sustained notes longer than any other guitar at the time.  The solid-body guitar is now the standard in the rock world.

"You could go out and eat and come back and the note would still be sounding," said Paul.

But other than his eponymous guitar, Paul contributed to modern music by experimenting with recording techniques.  He found that super-speed could be achieved by recording at half speed and playing the results at normal speed.  And his 1948 hit "Lover" was made by using multilayer recording, allowing Paul to be a one man ensemble.  

In 1952 the Gibson Guitar company hired Les Paul to design a guitar, which are still heavily used today (they were a staple for bands like Led Zeppelin).  

So to a great inventor and pioneer of modern music... thank you.

RIP 1915-2009 [/cut]

Proving there's a little bit of good in everyone and giving further evidence that the ladies of Millionaires might just be misguided musically, Millionaires posted their top 10 movies of all time.

And guess what, they're good (mostly).

The girls covered most of the main genres, horror, musical, cartoon, foreign, and comedy.  I'd say that's a pretty good variety.

Most notably, the girls included Christopher Guest (Spinal Tap) mockumentary Best in Show and Academy Award winning La Vie En Rose on their list. 

Go through their gallery and rank the movies 1-10.

What are your favorite movies? [/cut]

About a month ago, Brody Dalle confirmed that something was going on between Josh Homme (Dalle's husband), Dave Grohl, and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin bassist).  But other than that, Dalle was tight-lipped.

Now, however, the group has a name: Them Crooked Vultures.  At the moment, their website is sparse; the store is empty as well as forums.  And while you'll read that they've released a clip of a song, don't get too excited, because it's about a 5 second clip.  But as a fan of Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stoneage, I have to say please listen.  The song is called "Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I" and it sounds exactly like a mix of Queens of the Stoneage and Led Zeppelin should.  

But we won't have to wait too long to hear full songs from the super group, because they've already played a set after Lollapalooza and it shouldn't be long before they play more. [/cut]

Not all of us were lucky enough to see the "Misery Business" band while they toured with No Doubt, but who needs big arena shows anyway?  Not Paramore, because their headlining tour is going to be played in smaller, more intimate venues.

The tour kicks off in Pomona, California on September 29, which is also the day that their new album, Brand New Eyes, is set to hit stores.

Joining Paramore on the tour are labelmates The Swellers and Paper Route. 

Get ready, because pre-sale ticket will be available August 17th and the remaining tickets will go on sale August 21st and 22nd.  The pre-sale ticket buyers will also be able to pre-order Brand New Eyes, join the official fan group, and gain access to band meet and greets. 

Tour Dates:

9/29 Pomona, Ca     The Fox Theater

10/1 Los Angeles, Ca     Hollywood Palladium

10/2 San Francisco, Ca     Warfield Theater

10/4 Denver, Co     The Fillmore

10/6 Kansas City, Mo     Uptown Theater

10/7 St. Louis, Mo     The Pageant

10/9 Maplewood, Mn     The Myth

10/10 Chicago, Il     House of Blues

10/11 Detroit, Mi     The Fillmore

10/15 Toronto, Ont     Kool Haus

10/16 Montclair, NJ     The Wellmont Theater

10/17 Philadelphia, Pa     Electric Factory

10/19 Boston, Ma     House of Blues

10/21 New York, New York     Hammersteins Ballroom

10/24 Norfolk, Va     The Norva

10/26 Orlando, Fl     House of Blues

10/27 Atlanta, Ga     The Tabernacle

11/1 Nashville, Tn     Ryman Auditorium [/cut]

How do you get your hands on these hot tickets?

It's simple!  Just look through the Win Tickets to Katy Perry- Caption It Contest gallery.  Then choose your favorite picture and TWITTER @buzznet the URL to the image along with a unique caption.

The deadline for your entries is 8/21/09 at 11:59 AM PST.  Don't be late!

Then on 8/22/09 one winner will messaged directly, via Twitter, giving him/her the good news!  But be aware, the winner must have their own transportation to the show.

Show Details:

Katy Perry

with The Bird and the Bee

Saturday, 8/22/09 at 8pm

Hollywood Palladium

But if you don't want to leave it up to luck, you can purchase tickets here.

Go to it![/cut]

Tonight's show was not only a fan appreciation show, but it was also to help the band get ready for their shows in Japan.  However, Gerard looked us straight in the eye and said, "We don't play practice shows."

And boy, was he right.  

If you've never been to the Roxy, it's an intimate club with a fairly small stage.  So for a 5 piece like MCR, who is used to playing the large arenas, this was quite a change of pace but it didn't seem to throw them for an instant. 

The crowd was lively and Gerard drew the people to him like a magnet.  He's an amazing performer, whose passion for performing is obvious.  His eyes cut through the crowd, seeing everyone.  I swear, it seemed like he literally saw everyone.

And yet the performance element wasn't overdone.  The show wasn't too theatrical but it was also never boring.  It hit a perfect balance.

As did MCR's attitude.  While between songs Gerard did most of the talking, saying things like, "What fairy cupcake crap have you been listening to since we've been gone," it never came off as too cocky.  Gerard and the rest of the guys hit a delicate balance of cockiness without it coming off as toolish.  Instead of feeling like THEY were treating US to a show, they made the audience feel as though we were a part of what they were doing.  It really felt like we were sharing a special moment as equals.  

(also, for those of you who can't read Japanese, his shirt says "Mikey f-king Way")

MCR played for over an hour before a three-song encore.  And we were even treated to some new music.  Although it's impossible to tell from the video I took of the new song, it seems like MCR was listening to a little less Queen and a little more White Stripes.  The new song has a distinct garage-rock sound and was quite the departure from anything off of The Black Parade.  It's hard to tell how receptive the audience was towards it, because everyone seemed either very stunned or very attentive.  

Also be sure to check out Bree's MCR @ the Roxy pics![/cut]