Dead Post

Lots of important deaths around the world (see below). Not that there is not death every day, but when it is people that you have become familiar with, you start to realize that death is inevitable. As they say, the only thing certain in life is death and taxes. But I disagree, not everyone has to experience taxes, but it is absolutely true that everyone will die. Death can touch us in ways that we could never know, and that can be both beneficial and detrimental. Nonetheless, we should be able to learn from death. Did you realize that from the time Terry Schaivo's feeding tube was removed until she died, more than 200,000 people around the world died from starvation? It seems that this one death over shadowed a more important problem in the world.

As Edward Norton says in Fight Club, "On a long enough timeline, everybody's survival rate is zero."

Street Cred

• Comedian Mitch Hedberg dies at age 37 of a drug overdose.
• Johnnie Cochran dies at 67 of an inoperable brain tumor.
• Terry Schaivo dies at age 41 of her husband being really, really creepy.
• Side boobs galore! Heidi Klum, Jennifer Ellison, and Jessica Alba.

Thanks goes out to the Superficial and Thighs Wide Shut for making this post bearable. Read these websites and you will be funnier by approximately 14%.

I'm Now Sad

I'm an idiot so I lost a good post about Bruce Springsteen. Hopefully I'll feel up to doing that one again sometime. Here's some news to up my street cred.

• The Governator got really fat. (courtesy of My Blog is Poop)
• LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A. will be touring together. And they're coming to Chicago. Commence excitement.
• And Lollapalooza will be only in Chicago this summer. No acts yet, but the rumors are enticing.
• The most recent episode of the Gary Benchley saga is available. Here is the beginning. And here is the rest. Interesting story, not sure if it's true. Cool, nonetheless.
• Brandon Flowers of Killer's fame is really mad. He thinks the Bravery are derivative of them. Hopefully New Order doesn't ever hear the Killers or we could be seeing a serious synthesizer fight. (courtesy of Pink Is the New Blog)
• Too bad Hillary Duff doesn't really look like this. (courtesy of the Superficial)
• Here is a real picture of the beautiful Angelina Jolie. (also the Superficial)

Today is Grood

Today is shaping up to be one of the best music days in a while, and only because of two releases I have been waiting months for: Beck and the Bravery

For sure the Beck one should be good, since it has been all over the internets for a couple of months, and "E-Pro" is a pretty good single. Very "Devil's Haircut" era Beck. And I'm guessing that the Bravery won't be bad, either. Their EP was pretty good, and Rolling Stone gave it three stars, which they seem to give every indie rock band that everyone already likes. Not bad for being together all of one year. That's less time than the Feedback Whales, but I bet they have the chance to practice a lot more often than we do.

In other Trey news, I got the Dish Network at home, so that's terrific. And with the DVR I can double my mind numbing television intake. By far the best channels are Fuse, MTV2, and VH1 classic. And strangely enough, we get Sirius satellite radio too. That means I can enjoy classic 60s rock through the smallest speaker ever invented which just so happens to reside in my room TV. Fuse just had Queens of the Stone Age on 7th Avenue Drop, which is their preview of new CDs show. They played all new songs except for "Go With the Flow," which is one of my favorites. And even though they don't have Dave Grohl, they still rock really hard.

World News Today (and some from this weekend)

Jennifer Aniston filed for divorce from Brad Pitt. What a terrible present to receive as an Easter gift. (courtesy of the Superficial)

A lot of tabloids think Britney Spears is pregnant. I just think she's fat again. (courtesy of Stereogum)

Ashton Kutcher does his best to negate any improvements to racial relations brought about by the classic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. disclaimer: I saw this movie, laughed, and it was number one at the box office.

Hollywood loves these guys!!! (registration required)

For Nick: From 10 Things I Hate About You: Larisa Oleynik

Happy Beatster

As we prepare for a short break for the Easter holiday, we must turn our attention to what is really important.

Beats.

The LCD Soundsystem album is really, really awesome. Even beats aficionado Pat Murphy agrees with this, and he lives and breaths beats. Here's the thing though, it's not all beats. As much as it is based on electronic music, there is just as much punk flair to the songs. Ergo, a rock fellow like me can really get on board. At only $15.99 from Tower Records, the two disc set is a near essential. The first disc is all new material, while the second is all of the old singles, such as the amazing "Losing My Edge" and the phenomenal "Yeah." (Which takes the Usher song of the same name to the cleaners)

Around the Earth

Anna Nicole Smith is literally crazy. The guy she jumps on, while virtually topless, is Silverchair's Daniel Johns. I wonder what happened to Silverchair. (courtesy of goldenfiddle)

I really like this guy's columns. Check out his archives.

More beats: Basement Jaxx release Singles. Pitchfork gives it a 9.5.

Rolling Stone has pictures of my favorite band!!!

Ultragrrrl pet project Louis XIV gets 3 stars from Rolling Stone, who are about 3 months behind the buzz.

You've Been Pimped

Is there only a small amount of people who like Pimp My Ride? (Myself included) The thing that kills our little Pimped out group is the last catchy thing that X-Zibit does where he pulls out a special treat for the unsuspecting Pimpee.

"I talked to your friends. They say you're having trouble with the ladies, so I got you some Spanish fly and some roofies. You've officially (pop shirt shoulder) been Pimped!"

It seems so illogical the weird things that they put in to those cars. Why would anyone need a bowling ball rack while driving? Who knows. Another good part is the white kids reactions to their ghetto hoopties. And X to the Z's "check out this guy" face when he sees something really messed up on the old ride.

Good news:
The new White Stripes album is done!

And Radiohead start their next one.

Jessica Alba is indeed beautiful. (courtesy of Thighswideshut)

Chuck Klosterman (author of the terrific Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs) is making another guest appearance on the Sports Guy's site.

And of course a safe, happy bon voyage goes out to Julie on the eve of her Florida trip.

Things I Don't Get -- Volume 1

Bono
Sure he may be the head of a tremendously successful long-lived rock band, but he is so full of himself I just can't get in to them. From everything I have heard, the only song I particularly like is "Sunday Bloody Sunday." And the only reason I like that is because it makes me want to dance. It's especially rediculous to me that Bono was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Sure he may preach about Ireland, but he didn't actually dismantle an atomic bond. Lastly, U2 preach that they are a "punk" band at heart, yet they make something as melodramatic as All That You Can't Leave Behind? And then they sell a song and themselves to the iPod? Commercialism is something that the punk world has always professed to abhor, yet secretly need. The Sex Pistols were conceived as advertising for a clothing store. The Ramones made a movie. Nonetheless, U2/Bono - I just don't get it.

I Love Music

Music is pretty much the best thing in the world. It won't lie to you, tell you you're stupid, or give you a 76 out of 220 on an organic chemistry test.

Last 5 iPod songs (via shuffle)
1. Little Room - the White Stripes
2. Eight Days a Week - the Beatles
3. Shadowplay - Joy Division
4. Between Love & Hate - the Strokes
5. Riding On a Railroad - James Taylor

This is why I love music, and particularly the iPod. You never know what's coming but as long as it's good, it's all good.

I Love Technology

Now that my computer works again for the first time in 5 months I can use it. Yay.

Long Time, No Blog

No drinks since Jan. 30.
219 Lbs.

May be starting a record label, may not. Friend and fellow former first basemen Jeremy Eisenberg has started Half Empty Records. Knowing Jeremy, this should have really cool and weird music. Best of luck.