It's been a while since we last joined you in progress here at the D - real life and all its trappings - but since we last spoke(RJD2? Are you here??) my beloved Toronto Blue Jays have won 11 of their last 14 games including this past weekend's four-game sweep of the lowly KC Royals, my fantasy-baseball team still has a winning percentage of .448, good for fourth of six in the league, and summer is upon us here in lovely metropolitan Ottawa, Canada. Hope this finds you well!
A much-anticipated Oliver Stone production called simply W, profiling the presidency of a certain Bush(not the senior one), has pulled in a good casting call to portray US vice-president Dick Cheney: actor Richard Dreyfuss(Mr. Holland's Opus, among others) has been tapped for the role. Josh Brolin will play the President, with Mission: Impossible's Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice and James Comwell as Bush Version 1.0. The Daily Show's Rob Corddry will portray former White House press secretary Ari Fliescher, and I'm excited for this movie. [Paste]
Speaking of quality films, if the mid-'90s atrocity Space Jam soured you on Michael Jordan on the big screen forever, maybe you wanna hold up a second - director Spike Lee(Inside Man, Malcolm X, etc) is making himself a documentary about the best player ever to stalk a basketball court(arguably, but just barely). The NBA is helping out, kicking in footage from 2001-2003, MJ's last two years in the league following his initial retirement and subsequent comeback.
One of my all-time favourite bands are having their album produced by a pop-punk prince: Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus will be behind the board for New Found Glory's next album, their first full-length since jumping ship from their major-label home last year. They put out an EP with Boston's Bridge 9 Records; no word on who will release the new album. But we do know that Mike will own it. It would seem NFG are perhaps making a return to their hardcore roots, as they're going on tour to the UK this fall with Set Your Goals, Crime In Stereo and Four Year Strong. Good bill. [punknews]
XXXChurch has lost out on a Myspace Impact Award, which would've pulled down ten large for the organization - the winner? Mike Park's Plea For Peace outfit, a worthy champion. The annual award honours those who make a positive impact on the community at large. Congratulations!
It's with no small sadness we bring word of the demise of Toronto's Cursed, old friends of the D - we used to go hang out with the band at SAW in downtown Ottawa six-seven years ago, but sadly, the band called it quits last week after having almost everything they had stolen from them while on tour through Europe. To the scumbags who did it: you'll get yours, a-holes, in the end. To Cursed: thanks for the years, brothers. I still remember well the band playing SAW(cap. perhaps 75 people) years ago, and being told by the soundman to turn everything across the board dowwwwwn - they were simply too damn loud. It was excellent.
A mother of a classic pop-punk tour has been announced: Lagwagon will hit the bricks this summer with Only Crime and MXPX. If this doesn't come to Ottawa, I'll go to wherever it is.
Check out the long-awaited new single from Shai Hulud! It's called 'Misanthropy Pure,' the title track to the new album, and the video is over here. You're welcome.
They broke up in 1995, but not before a teenaged future sweetdisaster chief became a fan: Big Drill Car are doing a couple of reunion gigs in Huntington Beach, CA this summer. How 'bout that.
Not to leave things on a sour note, but I'm compelled - the first live concert I ever saw was contemporary-Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman, in 1996; Chapman has sold a ton of records, won a ton of awards from the Christian scene and the secular side, and remains one of the pillars of my early musical education. Last week his youngest daughter was killed in the driveway of their Tennessee home in a horrific accident, and the family, needless to say, is distraught. Maria was five years old, the youngest of the three Chinese children Chapman and his wife have adopted from that country. In lieu of flowers or well-wishing(thought prayers are very much in order), please think about making a donation to the adoption agency the Chapmans founded a few years back. Thanks.
Posted by mike at May 26, 2008 10:44 PM