Madness?

I got to see the mash-up DJ Girl Talk perform live in Iowa City last night at the IMU Ballroom. In a word, the show was insanity, packed wall to wall with people and speakers with enough bass to rattle the foundation of the building.

Personally, I found it a great experience to see Girl Talk live. Many criticize him as a "lazy" musician who doesn't know how to make his own music, so he just mashes up others' tracks. I personally dare any critic to try doing what he does (for three minutes, let alone for two hours) and then tell me that he is somehow lazy. In his two hour show, GT didn't go out of sync or apparently make a mistake once, which is quite the feat for any DJ.

Poison Control Center opened for the DJ. They were good, but were little beyond typical indie rockers from Ames. Too much screaming for their type of music, in my opinion. Still, I was impressed by them and their lead vocalist who had an uncanny knack for audience participation.

I also managed to get some videos out of this as well, and I'll post the links to them once they are posted...

much respect,

josh

PS: To see more (cooler) pics from the concert and an article that I wrote about the concert, click HERE to visit the KRUI Blog.

I overslept...

Damn, G. I hit that snooze button one too many times. My apologies for not posting for so long, but things have been hectic recently. While writing and creativity are always first and second in my life, the blog sometimes has to take a backseat to other, more pressing issues that I've got facing me. I don't intend upon ending the blog anytime soon and I'm thinking that after this little hiatus I'll be a bit more refreshed when it comes to my writing.

Just yesterday, I had the profound pleasure of taking part in an on-air interview with hip-hop journalist, activist, and Media Assassin Harry Allen. He's long been one of the most outspoken (and well-spoken) advocates of hip-hop music. You can listen to the entire interview here. I was honestly surprised by Harry's demeanor. For someone who is so courageously outspoken and who holds such firm opinions when it comes to hip hop, he was one of the most cordial and non-confrontational people I've ever met, in addition to one of the most eloquent.

It's also been a good week for film watching (or just staying out of the shitty Iowa weather in general). In my Film Analysis class we watched Brian Singer's "The Usual Suspects" as well as Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead." Drastically different movies, both awesome on their own levels for entirely separate reasons.

It was my first time seeing "Usual Suspects," and although I absolutely loved it, I would have loved it a lot more if I didn't already know the ending. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it yourself, but the ending to this film is among one of the most widely talked about in the history of film. If you don't know who Keyser Soze (the bad guy) is already, don't ask anyone who has seen the movie. I've learned that most times they won't hesitate to tell you, assuming you've already seen the movie. This was what happened to me, which is kind of a shame. I was not at all shocked by the twist ending, but I can say that it was orchestrated incredibly well and I'm genuinely impressed with the directing ability of Singer.

"Evil Dead" was also a first for me. For those who don't know, this is the über-gory indie horror film that launched the careers of director/producer Sam Raimi (who directed the Spiderman series) as well as Bruce Campbell (Bubba Ho-tep, Burn Notice, some of the more recent Old Spice advertisements). While it's beyond the realm of could be considered campy, it's a genuinely great horror film. Don't watch it if you're not a fan of the gore, otherwise this film is a must for anyone who likes movies, even if only for ironic reasons.

much respect,

josh