Big Monday Night Football matchup tonight - Philly and Dallas! GO EAGLES!
Thoughts and prayers go out to our brothers and sisters in the Gulf Coast area, particularly cities like Houston and Galveston, Texas, as Ike finishes its damage and goes wherever storms wind up. To donate, either time or money, head to the Red Cross website or whatever your personal organization of choice is. But do something, even if it's just prayers.
The mayhem of Darkest Hour just took a hit: guitarist Kris Norris is out, leaving nothing but a terse statement: "Well, I'm not in the band anymore; see it how you want. Let's do no press statements, let's do no bullsh*t, let's just leave it what it is - I'm not in the band anymore, that's all. See you if I see you. I'm actively pursing some producing routes and any band that might want a guitarist, feel free. I haven't [put] off music totally, not just yet." Mike Carrigan was announced earlier today as Norris' replacement; Carrigan filled in with DH on their recent Thrash and Burn tour. The band will record their next album this fall with Brian McTernan - so it will sound doooope. Best of luck to Kris! [pastepunk]
Hot on the heels of my finishing Jeff Chang's masterful Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation(buy), another hip-hop book is coming down the pipe for me! Michael Eric Dyson, no slouch of an author himself, will curate a book about Nas' Illmatic record, an album that changed hip-hop in 1994, when Nasir Jones was all of nineteen years old. Born To Use Mics: Reading Nas' Illmatic wil analyze the entire record from an intellectual perspective. Dyson is a professor at Georgetown University, and previously wrote a book about Tupac called Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur. I'm super excited to get this one January 9th of next year. [Paste]
Former Saturday Night Live castmember and all-around hilarious dude Al Franken has followed in the foosteps of Jesse Ventura: he's made the jump from professional entertainer to professional politician. Franken won sixty percent of the vote in a recent Minnesota election to clinch his spot on the Democratic ticket; he'll run against the incumbent this fall. Go Al!
In a not-very-related story, Tina Fey is hot, even when she's impersonating Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on SNL. Also, an actor/comedian Michael Phelps is not, as proved by his stint hosting SNL over the weekend. The Olympic uber-champion was about as wooden as it gets - certainly a far cry from Peyton Manning's awesome skit in which he beaned little kids in a United Way commercial spoof. Stay in the pool, homeskillet.
An update on Ye: rumours persist that Kanye's new record 808s & Heartbreak will hit stores December 16th - coincidentally, just in time for this here. Funny, that.
I still haven't seen the damn movie: rumours of a sequel to The Dark Knight have been shot down pretty much across the board...until one of the stars, the venerable Michael Caine, kinda-sorta confirmed the most persistent one to MTV.com: Johnny Depp as the Riddler, and Philip Seymour Hoffman(OMG) as the Penguin. Even though I've not made it out for this first film, I'm already making plans to attend that one. Hoffman has in fact denied rumours he was ever spoken to about the role when asked by reporters last week at the Toronto Film Festival.
Check out a new tune called 'The Grey Man' from one of our faves here at the D, Copeland. New album next month! [punknews]
More book news: renowned music journalist Michael Azerrad will assist Bob Mould of Husker Du write his autobiography for publication in 2010. The book is untitled, due out that autumn.
From our brothers and sisters in the faith over at jesusfreakhideout.com: talk about a band that I initially didn't think much of, but have grown to truly love and respect - and not just due to acquaintance. The left coast's Demon Hunter are putting out a documentary in November called 45 Days, which will include three discs, a doc about the band and their fans, and a live set from Nashville. I will purchase this item. [JFH]
Every Time I Die performing at Urban Outfitters? Kinda. Singer Keith Buckley's side gig Finale can be seen here doing a song at an outlet in Buffalo. That is odd. By the way, ETID and Stick To Your Guns will be in Ottawa in November. [absolutepunk]
Third Eye Blind(!) are having a remix contest around their new record. They're still not as relevant as they were in 1997.
In relevant news, Deftones are hard at work on their next record, and posting updates every Friday! The first one is already up.
Eagles are up six points heading into the half!
Posted by mike at September 15, 2008 10:23 PM