2. NBA Finals: For a moment there, I thought my Miami-in-seven prediction was going the way of the Heat, but Dwyane Wade came out of nowhere to assert some Jordan-esque carry-the-team-on-his-back heroics to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and put his beleaguered batch back into the hunt with the Mavericks, followed by a Nowitzki meltdown last night that tied the series back up. I was right-on in recognizing that Dampier and Diop would need to control Shaq, which they did in the winning games, but O’Neal finally came through in Game 3 with two clutch free throws and Game 4 with some domination around the paint, something he’ll have to continue to do. Like I said, a Miami veteran would have to represent come crunch time and one did in Gary Payton, but a lot more are going to have to step up (Alonzo Mourning seemed to come alive in Game 4) for the Heat to make my pre-series pick come true. —RT
3. David Ford, I Sincerely Apologise for the Trouble I’ve Caused (Independiente/Columbia): Even before the Brits came into power at Columbia, this scruffy U.K. singer/songwriter/one-man band was being touted for big things as the most intriguing troubadour to come along since Damien Rice and Conor Oberst, but with even more of a feel for solid bursts of melodic rock. He’s kinda like Chris Martin meets Bob Dylan, with a little CSN-era Neil Young thrown in for good measure. It’s an arty affair, but never strays from accessibility, as exemplified in the home-made videos for the self-lacerating “I Don’t Care What You Call Me” and the corrosive socio-political critique of “State of the Union,” which wouldn’t be out of place on either Young’s own Living With War or Dylan’s Highway 61 and can be viewed at www.david-ford.com. On the black-and-white “Union,” Ford plays each part in turn as they feed back on endless loops, a single take that ends with him walking out the door of his one-room studio into the bleached-out sunlight. Don’t know if this will translate to the Colonies, but it’s undeniably powerful, with expletives not deleted. —RT
4. Elan, Together As One (Kingsbury/Interscope): Who would have thought that two of the great-white-hope reggae toasters would be a pair of Jews? The Hasidic, Ashkenazi, East Coast Matisyahu now has his Orthodox Sephardic equivalent in an
5.
6. Deadwood (HBO): This down-and-dirty western for highbrows is The Sopranos plopped down into a late-19th century gold rush town in the
7. www.419eater.com: Stands for the number of different Nigerian Internet scams that this site has succeeded in reverse-scamming by providing full details on how to engage these grifters in an endless series of counter-moves one step ahead of being detected. Stuff like, have them hold up a sign that says, “My Semen Stains,” or tattoo themselves “An Idiot,” and e-mail you the JPEG. Don’t know if I want to take up too much time indulging requests for my bank account number so I can have $36 million placed in it, but the idea that someone is making life miserable for these shameless con men is comforting. What’s less comforting is knowing that there are people out there still falling for this stuff. I knew of one woman who had to retrieve her grandfather from traveling over to
8. Artie Lange Roast on The Howard Stern Show: The Sirius drop-offs still piss me off, but it’s worth it to hear unbridled Howard and his stock company these days. While one wag correctly suggested Stern’s satellite audience is the only thing smaller than his penis, he devoted almost five full hours to the roast of the affable Lange, its preamble and its aftermath, a mesmerizing blend of scabrous insults and scurrilous racial, ethnic and sexual put-downs. Nothing was sacred, with political correctness and social taboos blasted away, as well as any restrictions on language, topic, observation or opinion. Isn’t this what we fight wars for—freedom of expression and language, the ability to express our deepest fears and darkest desires in public without shame, recrimination or legal action? (Fuck the FCC.) All Lenny Bruce did was die for our sins on the toilet with a needle in his arm. Howard Stern gets to make Robin cackle all the way to the bank for the next five years to the tune of $125 million, while we guffaw along with them… He’s living the American dream for all of us. —RT
9. Maggiano’s: Yeah, I know it’s like Steve Carell taking a business trip to
10. Gripe of the Week: Even I do it on the occasional lazy, hazy, crazy summer day in the ultra-casual Valley, slipping on my flip-flops to pick up orange juice at Von’s or return a video to Blockbuster. And, of course, I don’t mind seeing a pretty woman’s feet—as long as her second toe isn’t larger than her first—but I draw the line at men wearing rubber sandals in public. Not that I stare at men’s feet, but the very idea kinda gives me the willies. I used to think it was endemic to the SoCal laid-back lifestyle, but now when I go to New York, I see lotsa people of both sexes wearing shower thongs, and it freaks me out to think just a thin slab of rubber is all that’s between that person’s feet and the collected grime and dirt that accrues on a Manhattan sidewalk. Maybe I’m being neurotic, but it just makes me cringe. —RT
CALENDAR
Friday, June 16th
11:00am
Vans Warped Tour 2006 Featuring NOFX, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Saves the Day, Cartel and many others @ Germain Amphitheatre, Columbus, OH
6:30pm
Grant Park Music Festival @ Millennium Park in Chicago: The nation's only remaining free, outdoor classical music festival featuring a professional orchestra and chorus, the Grant Park Music Festival, has been serenading appreciative audiences for more than 70 years, and summer 2006 looks to be a stellar season.
7:30pm
INXS @ The Greek Theatre
8:00pm
Arctic Monkeys @ Le Medley, Montreal
DaMone and The Lashes @ Water Street Music Hall , Rochester, NY
8:15pm
School's Out Tour featuring Trey Songz, Ray J, T-Pain, Dem Franchise Boyz, New Ridaz @ Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City
9:30pm
Nimbus @ CIA in Burbank: Their last show before they go into the studio to work on their new album with producer Rae Dileo.
Saturday, June 17th
11:00am-3:00pm
Community Art Jam:
8:00pm
DJ Quick w/ Mitchy Slick @ House of Blues in
Joe Bonamassa @ Jakes,
10:00pm
Judge Jackson @ B.B. Kings /
Sunday, June 18th
11:00am-4:00pm
Concours D'Elegance on
11:30am
Take Dad to Whist in
12:00pm
KDGE 102.1 EdgeFest featuring Three Days Grace, 30 Seconds to Mars, Buckcherry, Hoobastank, Flyleaf, etc.,
6:00pm
NBA Finals, Game 5 in
9:00pm
Hedwig & the Angry Inch @ The Roxy.
JE-C’S NEW-MOVIE RUNDOWN
Nacho Libre
Starring: Jack Black
Synopsis: A poor friar struggles to make a good meal for the kids at his orphanage. But after a chance encounter with a street thug, it occurs to him that maybe he could earn extra scratch by entering a local wrestling match. Soon his masked alter-ego, Nacho, is born. Can he defeat Ramses, the most popular wrestler in all of
Thoughts: From the moment I saw this trailer, I’ve been dying to see it. Jack Black is always funny, but this one looks like it could be his funniest one yet.
Fast and the Furious 3:
Starring: Lucas Black, Bow Wow
Synopsis: Street racer Sean Boswell is sent to live with his estranged father, a military officer stationed in
Thoughts: Do people really still care about this stuff? I know I don’t.
Other Movies Opening This Week:
Wordplay
The Lakehouse
JE-C’S TOP MOVIES OF THE YEAR SO FAR
V for Vendetta: This is my favorite movie of the year so far for many reasons. It's more than just a comic book adapted for the big screen; it’s a movie that makes a big political statement that we can all relate to these days. Definitely a movie that was slept on and I advise everyone to check it out if you haven't yet.
X-Men III: The Last Stand: If this is the last one, it certainly satisfied my appetite. It had it all, including some incredible action sequences.
An Inconvenient Truth: The most important movie of the year… A MUST SEE!!!
A Personal Note:
Since this is Father’s Day this weekend, I just wanted to wish my dad a Happy Father’s Day. I love you. —Jesse
THIS HITS PHOTO GALLERY IS WANDERING IN THE DESERT
Photographic proof of the weaselfest (4/15a)
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THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
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