Beneath The Outer Shell

a funny thing happened the other day in the while i was driving to see "Sunshine" for the third time...yeah third!

i gave the other songs on the latest Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist a good working through in my ears and directly my mind. something actually clicked and i have a new feeling towards the bitter review i gave to half the album the day it was released...a month ago today.

the other songs i didn't like stood out and blew me away, after i let go some initial negative feelings and reactions. this happens all the time...just ask my friends. the songs in question...as sadly as that is now, are as follows:

That's The Way (My Love Is)
Starz
Neverlost
Come On Let's Go
For God And Country
Pomp And Circumstances

that's half the album. and i loved to skip those songs since day 2. i would occasionally force myself to listen to them, but it just never worked. i hated them and thought that they ruined the, otherwise fantastic, album.

the album is so different than anything they have done before. they reinvented their sound a bit...bare with me...just try and think back when YOU first heard that distortion used in Chreub Rock when Kennedy debuted the music video on MTV back in...(before the internet was really useful) 1993.

well, that sound is far gone and the good thing i've realized is that Billy Corgan loves to NOT sound like Smashing Pumpkins. if they wanted, they could have released many Siamese Dream's. Corgan did write 40 songs for the "Siamese Dream" recording session, which is just a 13 song album. that's a lot of songs for an album session if ya ask me. so my point is that ya gotta get used to the newly reformed sound of the Pumpkins with every album. it's not always easy for me. case in point.

here are some of the lyrics from the other side of "Zeitgeist":

ya know...there are sci-fi movies every year that come to the big screen. most of which are either sequels themselves or are in line for "going to have a sequel soon". occasionally, there is a film that almost definitely will NOT have a sequel. most of these are easily forgotten. ummm, remember "Red Planet"? well, unfortunately, i do. point made.

but now, "Sunshine" falls into the category of "will never have a sequel". for that reason alone, it's got to be a bit more intriguing than Matrix 4, Star Wars 9, and Harry Potter 12...right?

"Sunshine" is a GREAT science fiction film made by the director who did the perfectly crafted "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later".

from the opening scene, to the familiar space suits themselves, to the overall tone and psychedelic feel to the movie...i couldn't help but keep thinking of Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" and Ridley Scott's "Alien". "Sunshine" clearly doesn't hide the fact that those 2 movies are behind some of the ideas in this film..and that's actually a great thing.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" has been my all time favorite sci-fi film simply for the dramatic realism Kubrick always nails with his movies. "Sunshine" re-creates that trippy tone throughout the film. the only drawback may be a bit of "overload" with the storyline, but overall the movie is too cool to miss if ya ask me.

"Sunshine" is about, as i try not to delve too deep as to not give away anything, the sun and the fact that it dieing...the sun is in danger of completely burning out. there is an ice age on earth and there is yet but only one hope for all of mankind. a spaceship with a special BIG bomb attached to it. the bomb and ship are on their way to the sun to drop off the "payload". the expected result is that the bomb will sort of jump start the sun and allow it to continue burning as we see it today. the crew plans on returning home years later.

there are so many cool scenes and intense emotional sequences that i find it hard to narrow the list down to a few to tell you about. one of my favorite scenes is where the crew gets their first look at the planet Mercury as it scrolls across the sun. it's a beautiful scene with perfect music and is shown at just the right pace. it gave me chills BOTH times i saw the movie. in fact as i write this...i'm itching to see the damn movie again. [checking the movie times right now]

that reminds me...the sun itself in the movie is one of the highlights that continuously keeps the movie in the amazing category. it's hard to describe, but the special effects of the sun make it look as real as you could imagine the sun looking...especially when you are so close. the sun turns out to be big a beautiful character itself. this is even more clear after watching a number of crew members who have a deep, and sometimes disturbing fascination with the sun. some even fantasize about dieing in pure sunlight. this movie is kinda disturbing in a very awkward way.

there is a LOT of drama in "Sunshine" and the 3rd act of the movie is kinda filled with a lot of "WTF's". HOWEVER, i have seen this movie twice now and even with a hectic and ridiculous end sequence, it's STILL a really good movie. to put it simply, i HIGHLY recommend this film to anyone who thinks the idea is somewhat intriguing. or if you liked "2001", or "Alien" and you are in the mood for a movie that takes itself VERY seriously..."Sunshine" is definitely for you.

psychedelics recommended...but not essential

go ahead and laugh...i know you want to. i do at least. i've bitched quite a lot about my so-called favorite band...a Chicago based group quarrelled by troubles since the beginning. some call them The Smashing Pumpkins...others choose the original name, Smashing Pumpkins...and still other hard core freakazoids like to stick with the shortened: The Pumpkins.

so yeah, they sold out a long time ago. the band that is. it's hard to find a kickass band that never did sell out OR never will sell out. maybe Sunny Day Real Estate, but they are long gone. damn.

Corgan and company will be playing 2 shows in the ATL...one on October 30th, and the next on the following night...October 31st, 2007...also known as Halloween.

seeing the Smashing Pumpkins on Halloween night has been a bit of an out-of-reach fantasy of mine for a while. now, they are gonna play at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Halloween night, and i'll be damned if i'm gonna miss it.

so, did ya know there are MANY MANY websites (like over 10 at the least) that offer a marketplace for people who like to buy tickets for popular concerts and then sell them at a much higher price for an inflated greedy profit to over-obsessed fans like myself? if ya thought ebay was it, you're dead wrong...and you're paying too much.

the last time i spent this much for a concert ticket was when i saw David Gilmour play at the Rosemont Theatre in Chicago last March..it was awesome...i had a front row ticket...VERY front row for the anticipated second half Pink Floyd setlist. i saw David Gilmour and Richard Wright play "Echoes" prefectly and other top notch badass Floyd songs, and they were maybe 20 feet away from me as i was able to prop up my arms on the stage itself and stare off into an oblivion at the laser lights. it was worth the BIG price tag. i still get chills when i think back at those 2 David Gilmour shows i attended.

so, the Smashing Pumpkins ticket i was able to find is in the Fox Theatre's, "Pit" section...the impossible-to-get-a-ticket-to area people always dream about when they visit the Fox. if you have a ticket that says row A...it means you have a front row seat BEHIND the pit section. the "Pit" is literally just a handful of folded chairs clumped together directly in front of the stage.

the face value of my Fox Theatre "Pit" section ticket is $102. PLUS the service charges. yep...once again, that was FACE value (thanks again Corgan!). well, the fact is that the concerts did sell out in a few minutes, and i bought my ticket just the other day. funny, i bought my ticket from a guy in Detroit.

so, lets just say i payed MORE than the $102 cover price...double to be precise, BUT the catch is that i will be literally only a few feet from the stage, VERY close to the new HOT bass player (Ginger Reyes...see picture above), and definitely close enough to spit on Billy Corgan :)

side note: i realized years ago that it's MUCH easier to buy tickets to a concert if you are located in any state OTHER than where the actual concert will be held. i lived in Alabama one time (don't hold it against me) and was easily able to buy tickets to a Radiohead show in Atlanta, whereas all my friends in Georgia couldn't get through. i banked BIG time and sold one of my tickets for triple what i payed for it. hmmmm...karma sure is a bitch!

so working at a hip costume shop has it's upsides...and downsides.

thanks to the final Harry Potter waste of trees in hardback coming to bookshelves in less than a half hour (eastern time), i get a lot of people at work who walk in and want Harry Potter hats, Harry Potter glasses, Harry Potter magic wands, Harry Potter ties, and Harry Potter bowel movements.

i love my job and i love the customers. but these special edition Harry Potter geekazoids walk in and tell you they wanna dress up like: Sirius, Regulus, Rubeus, and Morpheus...ohh wait, that's "The Matrix"...pardon me, i forgot my puberty at the door.

these people are not regular people...see, they EXPECT you to know EVERY character in EVERY book.

and when, today for example, an obnoxious woman produces a picture of what appeared to be a scruffy homeless man i used to see walking around in Waikiki...i was at a lost for words when she noticed my blank look and said, "It's Sirius!". hmmmm, okay...well, i know it's serious! the homeless in America is a serious problem if ya ask me!

ever heard someone say the following: "I don't dream". that statement is one of my favorite pet peeves and always gets me in a tizzy. EVERYONE dreams! the problem, of course, is that we just don't remember them. EVERYONE dreams around 100 minutes per night...assuming you get more than 100 minutes per night of sleep.

well, i just woke up from one of the most brilliant dreams i have ever had. brilliant because of the seriousness i felt in it and so-called logic involved, which in aftermath is not THAT remarkable.

so, i will try and give you the details...without even writing it out, i can tell you this synopsis will not be as long or exact as i want it to be (they just never are):

i was sitting in the back seat of an SUV...and my girlfriend (in the dream) was next to me. she was just a pretty brunette faceless entity. a friend of hers' is driving, and another friend of hers' is in the front passenger seat. we are just driving, with apparently no destination. i'm just kinda blanding in and out of giving attention to the current conversation taking place in the car between the 3 women. at one moment, when i'm not giving my complete undivided attention, i hear the girl sitting in front of me mention something that caught me completely off guard.
this is where the brilliance of the dream began.

she started to say that every tire on every car made in the world "opens up" with just the right finesse...and i mean literally opens up, with a hinge which opens the face of the tire like a swing door. inside that door, there is a small password protected safe. ya with me still?

according to her, INSIDE this password protected safe of EVERY tire on EVERY car is a good collection of the drug Ecstasy. just sitting there, in the safe, in the tire...a bunch of Ecstasy tablets. 4 tires = 4 separate collections of Ecstasy tablets. there is even a gyroscope-like device that is also installed to make sure the contents of the tires don't get bumped around too much.

well, i heard the girl in front of me start talking about this, and i immediately call "bullsh*t!" i mean it was pretty strange, yeah? so after not believing her claim and a few "prove it" comments from me, the driver stops the car, and the woman in front of me steps out and walks to the front right tire. i stay in the car for some reason and watch her from my backseat. sure enough, i see the tire swing open like a door, and i hear some electronic buttons being pushed...she quickly opens and closes the safe door, and then the tire 'door'. she gets back in with a handful of Ecstasy pills. my jaw hits the floor. i start thinking of all the cars i have owned, driven, rented, and borrowed, and think to myself, "geesh...i passed up on SO many free drugs!"

i started to ask over and over again..."what's the password?" i would never get a full answer, but was told every tire on every car has a different password. "is there a special secret password that works on every tire? not a skeleton key, but rather a skeleton password?" then my girlfriend next to me says that there is a universal password...and it fills every digit in the 11 digit password device.

the password?

"It Begins Now"

(i find the fact that i was able to count letters in a phrase so well in a dream pretty cool)

i just couldn't believe it. now, apparently, because i was such a sceptic, the woman passes the pills all out to everyone, EXCEPT me. and before ya know it, they are all gone, aside from a large pink wafer tablet in an overly large zip-lock bag. there were different types of Ecstasy in every tire...not just a universal one. i wasn't interested in a the pink wafer...in fact i was more interested in gathering a bunch of them to sell and make lots of money. i was having thoughts of going to parking lots and stocking up...eventually getting enough to where i won't have to work for the rest of my life!

i started to ask more and more questions...like, "what's the catch?" for which the following comment is made, "well, you can't take too many pills from the tires at a time because they will know" and you can't open the tires in pubic all the time because it's too risky..."they will see". i quickly ask, "who is they anyway?" i don't get an answer to that one, and the answers to all my other normal questions also fail to receive an answer. i began to get pissed...actually i began to have a manic episode where i just want some answers to the basic questions one would ask after watching a woman open a tire, enter a password, and come back with a handful of Ecstasy tablets! this leads nowhere, and i began to fight (verbally) with everyone in the car over the basic "WTF'S" of the situation.

we arrive home, which is my childhood home back in Marietta. my car is parked there, but the women had installed such fear into me with the fact that "they" will see me or know...i'm at a lost for what to do. i was told it would be okay to open the tires during night...maybe with a flashlight, but to still be careful. a few more verbal confrontations ensue and i get all rilled up even more.

then?

i woke up.

today, i woke up early. i have been anticipating this day for quite a while...for over seven years actually.

today, Zeitgeist, the 7th Smashing Pumpkins album hit the shelves.

now i have had my issues with this release since i found out there were numerous different versions of the album to come out...one version for Target, one for Best Buy, one for iTunes, and countless others on Amazon. genius marketing one may think? a blindly direct rip-off of devoted fans if ya ask me. i have been reading blog entries and online boards for weeks now from hardcore Pumpkin freaks who plan on buying the album two or three times...JUST so they can get a few extra tracks.

the funny thing is, i use to be that kid. back in high school and throughout college, i was notorious for dressing like lead singer Billy Corgan and owning ANYTHING and EVERYTHING Smashing Pumpkins related. hell, i even made my own long sleeved "Zero" shirt, popular during the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness era. if you saw me in my little 1980's Red Toyota Celica zooming around my college town of Carrollton, Georgia...you more than likely heard the LOUD drum and bass thumping and screechy voice of Billy Corgan (and sometimes mine) blaring through the rusted metal. if you knew me back in the day, and you heard the words Smashing Pumpkins..you thought of me.

and then, fortunately, i grew up and expanded my taste in music to include favorites other than "that really cool b-side on that one extremely rare colored vinyl". damn...it was like Dorothy opening the door from black and white into full color reality.

today, i only bought ONE version...and that's all i intend on buying. in today's world of FREE crap you can find on the internet, i think their lucky enough i spent the $15 at Target.

so yeah, the Target version has the title track included, 'Zeitgeist'...it's one of the best songs on the album, and sounds like old school Smashing Pumpkins. it's Billy Corgan and an acoustic guitar. one of my favorite combinations.

Zeitgeist, as defined in Wikipedia:

Zeitgeist is originally a German expression that means "the spirit of the age", literally translated as "time (Zeit) spirit (Geist)". It describes the intellectual and cultural climate of an era. The German pronunciation of the word is [ˈtsa͡ɪtga͡ɪst].

and that's precisely what the album is about. it's not a concept album, (which i wish they REALLY would do one day) but it's a statement of today's loud culture and the media-influenced mis-directed concerns of American citizens. it's anti war, anti Bush, earth loving, and overall, life fearing...basically it represents many things i do not subscribe to, BUT it's a pretty damn good Smashing Pumpkins album. am i still a blindly biased Smashing Pumpkins fan? well, i use to tell people that if Billy Corgan released a CD of him snoring the night away...i would buy it, love it, and defend it to the grave. and funny enough...i haven't changed THAT much actually.

i was wondering if i should include some of the lyrics and clear interpretations here, but i have already discussed the theme of the album. plus, for me, the lyrics haven't been the most important aspect of this newly reunited Chicago-based band, which (thank god) still has the original drummer Jimmy Chamberlain.

Chamberlain and Corgan actually did most of the production together, which is a change from previous albums where Corgan would strictly work with producers like Butch Vig (Nirvana, Garbage), or Mike Ellis (a.k.a Flood, who worked with The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, and U2 to name a few). this go around, Corgan and Chamberlain either worked alone or with help from producer Terry Date (Deftones), and Thomas Baker (Queen, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Cars, Cheap Trick, etc).

if you think of the overall sound of...lets say The Deftones and The Rolling Stones, mixed in with classic Smashing Pumpkins...you'll have the feel of the new Smashing Pumpkins album. it's a pretty cool combination and the album kicks ass...for the most part.

the first 3 songs flow together perfectly...in my opinion, Corgan has mastered the art of "album flow". however, like other albums, AFTER the FLAWLESS Gish and Siamese Dream, the flow kind of gets rattled by the 6th or 7th song. i yawned once during the 4th song, 'That's The Way', and another during the 6th song, 'Starz'...both of which i think are fillers.

the big surprise and best overall track for me was the 7th song, called, 'United States'. it's a hardcore, hard rockin', psychedelic trip...clearly a 'thank you' to guitar fans like me who have complained that the original guitar driven Pumpkins have sold out. 'United States' is JUST under 10 minutes long, and is filled with ever-changing, catchy guitar rhythms and LOUD mind bending (yet soothing) classic Corgan induced Fender Stratocaster feedback...the song was worth the $15 for me...easily. damn...the song is BAD ASS!

unfortunately, four of the last six songs are somewhat forgettable...not to say that they are BAD songs, but once again, i have to use the word "filler".

Basically, Zeitgeist is a PERFECT half-album. and in today's world of music and lackluster contributions from talented musicians...i'll take a perfect half-album from the Pumpkins any day.

hey, i like watching a big concert for free on the internet just as much as the next guy...hell, we even got to see the long awaited reunion of Pink Floyd a few years back! i don't mind calling a worldwide concert a worldwide concert...when that's all that it is.

but i don't like subscribing to the idea that it's actually helping the planet...or that it is even helping raise awareness.

this argument seems to come up every year, about the Live Earth concerts around the world...spearheaded by the tree hugging, afraid the world will die from global warming before nuclear fallout, Al Gore.

does the concert itself actually do what it can to save the planet?

here are a few points, i got directly from The Daily Mail, one of many websites to list the numbers of what is actually taking place:



{The most conservative assessment of the flights being taken by its superstars is that they are flying an extraordinary 222,623.63 miles between them to get to the various concerts - nearly nine times the circumference of the world. The true environmental cost, as they transport their technicians, dancers and support staff, is likely to be far higher.

The total carbon footprint of the event, taking into account the artists' and spectators' travel to the concert, and the energy consumption on the day, is likely to be at least 31,500 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, who specialises in such calculations.

Throw in the television audience and it comes to a staggering 74,500 tonnes. In comparison, the average Briton produces ten tonnes in a year.

The concert will also generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites.

Moreover, the pop stars headlining the concerts are the absolute antithesis of the message they promote - with Madonna leading the pack of the worst individual rock star polluters in the world.

Supermodel Kate Moss, another profligate polluter through her use of private jets, is producing a T-shirt for the event. Yet, Gore is touting the concerts as 'carbon neutral'. So how can that be?
Let us start with some facts. Worldwide, an audience of around 1,268,500 is expected to attend the concerts - making it one of the largest global events in history.

Dr Andrea Collins, an expert in sustainability from Cardiff University, has researched the impact of such mass gatherings on the environment.

"An event of this size at Wembley - which holds 65,000 at a rock concert, will generate around 59 tonnes of waste," she says. "That is largely composed of the rubbish from food and drink consumption."

She found that a Wembley-sized football match generated an 'ecological footprint' of 3,000 global hectares - an area the size of 4,166 football pitches. This is the amount of bioproductive land required to absorb the C02 emissions produced by such an event.

The concert organisers are preaching carbon neutrality - but isn't that just a guilt-free excuse?
Dr Collins estimates that the global audience for Live Earth will generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste. An extraordinary one million people are expected at the free concert at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach, featuring Lenny Kravitz, Macy Gray and Pharrell Williams.

Other venues including the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg - where Joss Stone is performing - will cater for audiences of tens of thousands.

Live Earth say that they will recycle much of the waste generated. Fine talk, but in fact some of the concert venues are struggling to keep up with their commitments.

A spokesman for Wembley says they only have the capacity to recycle around a third of waste produced - the rest will go into landfill sites.

Travel forms the vast majority of the 'carbon footprint' talked of by ecological campaigners - contributing up to 90 per cent of the environmental 'cost'.

Collins says: "It is patently absurd to claim that travel of this nature doesn't have an impact. Each person attending the event will have to make a return journey to the venue, be it by air, rail, bus or car. This burns fossil fuel - precisely what we are trying to reduce.

"There is also the environmental cost of these artists flying around the world - that is absolutely huge."

Indeed, an audit of the lifestyles of the A-list performers appearing at Live Earth, reveals that they are among the worst individual polluters in the world, as their world tours and private jets billow thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. One hour in a Gulfstream jet burns as much fuel as driving a family car for a year.

The Daily Mail has found that five of the top performing acts together have an annual output of almost 2,000 carbon tonnes. Madonna alone has an annual carbon footprint of 1,018 tonnes, according to John Buckley.

Remember, the average Briton produces just ten tonnes.

The veteran pop singer's Confessions tour last year produced 440 tonnes of carbon pollution in just four months, simply in flights between venues. This does not include the trucks required to transport equipment, the power needed to stage each show, or the transport for fans travelling to each concert.

Rock group Genesis re-formed last year and are in the middle of their European tour. The three-man band will fit their Live Earth performance into a tour of at least 47 locations across the world. Their carbon footprint last year totalled 195 tonnes.

James Blunt, another Wembley performer, completed his world tour of the U.S. last year, racking up a carbon footprint of 195 tonnes.

American band Red Hot Chili Peppers have, like Madonna, flown in to Wembley from the U.S.. They have produced 220 tonnes of carbon dioxide with their private jet alone over the last six months.}



as you can see, this is something to consider and to at least think about when you say to yourself, "this is a great idea for the planet and for awareness!"

...wait, on the other hand, i guess it isn't a bad idea to create awareness when ya think of the actual damage the worldwide event creates, all while preaching that we need to "save the planet."

hmmmm...maybe it's genius after all?

or maybe Al Gore should focus his thoughts on helping his extremely drug addicted son who clearly has been ignored as seen with his constant run-ins with the law, rather than placing himself in the spotlight to do...well, more harm to the planet.

i know the title is a little weird...but you gotta watch this entire video...

summary: jealous rednecks pick on the wrong guy, and payback sure is a bitch

note: there is a LOT of bad language in the video, but if ya can hold out, it's worth it at the end :)

i found this quick 3 minute video from the author of one of my favorite books...here she talks briefly about her book and her life story. Jeannette Walls is her name and her book is called, The Glass Castle. it's just an amazing and quite inspiring memoir about life, the way you choose to look at things, and hope...even in times of severe desperation.

Jeannette Walls came from a poor and highly dysfunctional family and despite every possible problem, she went on to become a celebrity columnist for MSNBC. this is a hell-of-great story! highly emotional and hard to put down.

in the video, you'll find out a little more about her life and story: