Wed. Nite Masculine, Red-Blooded Male Blogging (pour Thers)

Oh yeah.... enjoy....

Une revue pour Thers

Via the NY Post -

March 22, 2005 -- BACKSTREET'S back.

Ten years since the boy band hit big and five since they went MIA, The Backstreet Boys played the first of a two-show engagement at tiny Irving Plaza last night.

For a band that at the height of its popularity was able to sell millions of albums and fill stadiums, this club gig was an unexpected way for them and their fans to mark their comeback bid.

The vocal quintet's original lineup of Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Howie Dorough was intact at this nearly two hour gig. where the Boys blurred the lines between bright pop and bump 'n' grind ballads.

The BSB harmonies were crisp during a set centered on a greatest hits program that also included a few new tunes that were getting a road test for an upcoming album.
The guys looked good and sang well, especially when they were covering their strongest songs like "I'll Never Break Your Heart," "Show Me the Meaning Of Being Lonely" and of course "I Want It That Way."

What last night's concert illustrated was no matter how cheesy a band's reputation is, tight harmony never goes out of style. (Hear that, Thers? You and your Motorhead.....) Clearly Backstreet is a band that has continued to work at its craft.

The white dinner jackets the band used to wear were dusted off for a few tunes but for most of the show the guys looked casual in unmatched street clothing. Their look and their sound projected a welcome musical maturity.

Like the Boys, the kiddies who were their devoted core followers were also older and a little wiser, having developed a taste for less bubbly pop.

That was clear when the Backstreeters played a terrific new tune called "Weird World." There were still a few love ballads that could send a grown man into sugar shock, but those were rendered with a restraint that said the Boys were now extracting passion from the words and their fans were now old enough to know the power of lusty desire.

Since the stage at Irving is so small, the band's famous footwork was more than a little strained, yet they still had enough dance fever to move in formation with practiced hand jive. What the band lacked five years ago when they took their long break they have regained, which is a sense of fun.

Although this band will remain a guilty pleasure to many, and more than a little cheesy to any self-respecting hipster, the fact is this is a band that's gotten better, albeit a little grittier, with time.

Yeah, grittier... that's a word... you could use...

Your WTF?!? Moment for the Evening

BACKSTREET BOYS OFFICIAL TOUR DATES

March 21
Irving Plaza - New York, NY
March 22
Irving Plaza - New York, NY
March 24
Avalon Ballroom - Boston, MA
March 25
Electric Factory Ballroom - Philadelphia, PA
March 26
Cultural Center - Scranton, PA
March 28
House of Blues - Chicago - Chicago, IL
March 29
House of Blues - Cleveland - Cleveland, OH
March 30
9:30 Club - Washington, DC
April 4
PromoWest Pavilion - Columbus, OH
April 5
State Theatre - Detroit, MI
April 6
The Rock Club - Pittsburgh, PA
April 8
The Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
April 10
Roberts Orpheum Theater - St. Louis, MO
April 12
Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie - Dallas, TX
April 14
Earthlink Live - Atlanta, GA
April 15
House of Blues - North Myrtle Beach, SC
April 16
Maymandi Auditorium - Raleigh, NC
April 18
The Norva - Norfolk, VA

I.. I... I don't even know how to feel about this. God, I don't know if you can hear me... but whatever we did, we won't do it again !!

Monday Nite Cabin Blogging - Two Out of the Gate

My dream is to to get a little place on some land and live a peaceful life, away from the trappings and demands of this modern world. Just a couple dogs and Mother Nature, a little garden, hiking, skiing, the occasional trip to town for supplies, peace and quiet and my own Life. I hope it's not too far off, so I'm window shopping in the meantime.

Here are the first candidates for Monday Nite Cabin Blogging. Click on the pics for descriptions and more pics.


This candidate sits on 25 acres near St Marie, ID. I like the fact that it's in the woods and there's a creek running thru the property.


This cabin sits on 60 acres of Montana mountainside. 60 acres!

Everyone's a critic of the critics of the critics. Wait, that's me!

Deconstruction is hard... it's hard work.

Via Norwegianity.com, we find this scandalous bit of nosey bloggery.
http://www.bigbrassblog.com/2005/03/thin-skin-of-technorati-testosteroni.html

For those who don't know Atrios, I'm not him. Nor am I receiving any contingent commission from him. In fact, his blog isn't even on my wee list of blogs here or on the other site that I have. (two blogs, what a country!)

So, what's the damned deal? A guy can't write a little blog on a scrap of the internet on his own terms now? I love the Daily Show as much as the next person and I thought it was pretty cool that Atrios has been mentioned a time or two. (even though he hasn't coughed up that Jon Stewart autograph he promised me for watering his plants when he was in Jamaica that week)

But back to the the point - it's a blog. "Blog" shouldn't even be a word yet, much less a point to pin your views of someone's character on. Hell's bells, let the man sleep once in a while! Atrios hasn't volunteered to be the Voice of Reason for America any more than Michelle Malkin or Ann Coulter have. Wait... bad analogy.... Anyhoo - he's one person, he doesn't have contributing contributors who contribute contributions to his blog. (That's professional blog speak, for those of you new to blogs and blogging.)

As for his "minions", what red-blooded man in his right mind wouldn't want minions? I mean, come on... minions! I'll admit, there are some commentors who will sully up a comment section that Atrios might point to. I'm not one of those commentors. On the other hand, those of us who frequent Atrios' comments sections (open thread or not) get to experience the less than friendly comments left by the late nite Cheetos brigade. Good times, especially for the ladies. The Troll Chow™ folks are getting their money's worth, I can tell you.

Maybe Atrios takes a break once in a while but there are plenty of people having plenty of discussions in those "go" threads. Music, religion, politics, culture, cartoons, jobs, health, civil rights, beer... discussions involving quite a few people who may not have a convenient or comfortable outlet to discuss these issues where they work or shop or live.

Go. Enjoy. Have fun. And people do... maybe something happens, maybe it doesn't. Beats hell out of reading the bible by candlelight, as far as I'm concerned.

Open thread in response to petty threads regarding Atrios' open threads

I used to have open threads. But I'll tell you something: I would only post them in the late evening. Oh, occasionally the early evening, but usually the late evening - or the mid-evening. Just the early evening, mid-evening and late evening. Occasionally, early afternoon, early mid-afternoon, or perhaps the late-midafternoon. Oh, sometimes the early-mid-late-early morning. . . But never at dusk. I would never do that....

Enjoy..

Art is Life is Art

Chalk this one up to complete brain failure on my part. (What's new, right?) Better late than never....

Our good friends NTodd (Dohiyi Mir), Eli (MultiMedium) and Aaron (AKToday) have set up shop at Winding Roads Visual Arts, where you can purchase selected prints of their finest photography. Check it out! I have my eye on a couple prints already - I'm just trying to decide if I can slide the charges thru Corporate Expense before I decide how many to buy. Heh!

NTodd, of course, is the proud and deserving recipient of the 2004 Perranoski Prize for Best Art or Photoblog. Congrats, brother NTodd!

Look for their ad on Eschaton - right side of the page, scroll down a bit. (In fairness to Atrios, I decided it would be best to point to their ad on his site. If I've learned anything from Tom De Lay, it's the meaning of ethics. "Hi-yooohhhh!!")

Another Saturday Nite and I Ain't Got Nobody

But if a guy can't be happy with one of these, well then....

Sure Happy It's Thursday

For the longest time, I've felt that TGIF was getting more credit than it deserves. Sure, it's nice when the work week is over and we can finally head out to drink ourselves legless without having to worry about waking up on time the next morning. The thing that makes it difficult for me is that TGIF just shows up out of nowhere. It's kind of hard to go from the doldrums of working for the Man to the level of frenzied spasmotics of a 7 yr old on Xmas eve overnite. It's too much of a switch for my already overtaxed brain.

So, I've decided to institute Sure Happy It's Thursday into my workweeks. It helps build anticipation so I don't blow my emotional load by 9:30 Friday morning. Not that that's ever happened, as far as any of You know.

Y'see, Sure Happy It's Thursday is a little like Hannukah. No, I don't get that analogy, either, but how often does a Norwegian kid get to work Hannukah into one of his posts?

You're probably wondering how you can use Sure Happy It's Thursday in your place of business, now that I've pointed out the obvious advantages to you. Yes, I did point them out. Ok, whose blog is this? Yeesh... The quickest way to start at your workplace is with a simple e-mail to your colleagues. For example:

"To: Sally, Monica, Kip, Star
Subject: SHIT !!!!

SHIT everybody! Can't wait until TGIF !!! - how bout you guys?

Me"

"Re: SHIT !!!!

No kidding! TGIF seems like forever away! SHIT !!

Kip"

See? Once you've started, you'll improve morale And performance every Thursday in your office. And that can only mean better pay and shorter hours. And isn't that what working's all about?

If Jesus Had a Blog

So, here we are in the battle of good v. evil. My god, the liberals don't worship god and they just want to spread their... not-god stuff around.... or something.....

Well, here's your chance, you liberal hell-hounds, you 7th circle heathans... Post your best poetry or lyrics that show the Uptight Right that we have some spirit in us. Hell, post your favorite verse from the bible. But show some love to the good humans on this brick...

This Just In....

From Eschaton, we find this update on all things OPEC.


"To help stop the surge in prices, OPEC ministers agreed to pump an extra half million barrels of oil a day beginning April 1."


I'll admit that I'm no economist and I don't really understand the entire petroleum industry or OPEC situation. But damn, the folks that manufacture barrels must be making a fuckin' fortune right now. I don't know about you, but I'm calling my broker ASAP.

Swarm

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