Whos the birthday boy?

Post by **bio** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:00 am

Happy brithday Miftah!!

Rocketdork · Post by **Rocketdork** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:50 am

Yep, Happy B-Day...

Call your Mom...she did all the work, you just showed up for the party...

Post by **miftah** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:04 am

Thanks. There was a 16 oz. Ribeye and a late viewing of the Departed last night. And next weekend, my girl bought me tickets to see Social Distortion with She Wants Revenge and Placebo, so I'll get to that. Very exciting.

Making to 34 wasn't so hard. I don't know what Jesus' problem was.

jc · Post by jc » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:53 am

Ooooh that'll be a great show. Happy B-day man.

Post by **eddiecanuck** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:41 pm

miftah wrote:Making to 34 wasn't so hard. I don't know what Jesus' problem was.

Probably wasn't as good with people as you are.

mudflap · Post by **mudflap** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:48 pm

miftah wrote:Thanks. There was a 16 oz. Ribeye and a late viewing of the Departed last night. And next weekend, my girl bought me tickets to see Social Distortion with She Wants Revenge and Placebo, so I'll get to that. Very exciting.

Making to 34 wasn't so hard. I don't know what Jesus' problem was.

Happy B-day kiddo...

What did you think of The Departed? We saw it on Friday night.

Deater · Post by **Deater** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:56 pm

Happy Birthday Miftah. Though I don't know you personally, I will allow you unlimited access to the peanut butter and jelly time all day.

Post by **bio** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:56 pm

I remember 34.

I turned 34 on the day that my current employer interviewed me (and later that day offered me the job).

And thus began my slip into the abiss.

moe flam · Post by **moe flam** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:30 am

Happy B-Day! Great present to see SD, let us know how it goes. I'd love to see them again, its been about 10 years. They have that quality where you hear one of their songs for about 3 seconds, and say "hey, that sounds like Social Distortion!."

Post by **miftah** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 12:37 am

mudflap wrote:What did you think of The Departed? We saw it on Friday night.

It was sorta diluted Scorsese. It wasn't among the best that he's ever done, but the thing with Scorsese is that even the least of his work is 100X better than what most directors call cinema. But this film isn't among the least of his work - it was just missing a little of the momentum his films usually sweep you up in. It had it, it just let go of it a little early. But he finally got Leonardo to act, which apparently isn't easy. And the action was pretty great too. Oh, and this film cements a suspicion I've had a lot lately: I love Alec Baldwin. With the right roles, he could have a full-scale comeback in motion.

And for those wondering, I'll make sure to let everyone know how the Social Distortion show goes on Sunday. I saw She Wants Revenge open for Depeche Mode in spring, and they were sort of underwhelming live. And I also found out they were sort of promoted by Fred Durst and that gave them the scent of mook. And I've never been a big fan of Placebo's records, but their live show is lauded in England, so I'm hopeful for a surprise.

Post by **miftah** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:05 pm

So, my addendum re: the show.

Placebo were alright. Their performance and the musicianship were outstanding. The only problem is that their catalog lacks any lasting impact. Their songs are vapor and given to be forgotten as soon as they end.

She Wants Revenge shouldn't bother with trying to play live. Contrived and at times embarrassing. As thin as the songs are on record, they appear hollow and pointless in concert. Everything that bugged me about them before only began to grate on me this time. Though its nice that someone wants to keep the spirit of '83 alive, they don't remind me of Depeche or any of the pioneers of that era. Instead they sound like knock offs of third-generation also-rans like Red Flag and Real Life, only even more diluted. Making reference to a girl masturbating or expressing her masochism is hardly daring or even remotely controversial. Its merely the means for a lot of the Black Cotton Mafia to drape their fantasies on. If either the band or its fans were to actually enter a BDSM club, they'd need therapy for years afterward. When they finished the show with a crowd participation sing-along of "Tear You Apart" I was literally embarrassed for them. Maybe if VNV Nation were to cozy up to Fred Durst, they could have a radio hit too.

Any authenticity I was missing in She Wants Revenge, I found in spades in Social Distortion. If you know the band at all, you know what they delivered. What She Wants Revenge attempt in their intentionally depressing music and fail, I genuinely find in SD. An uptempo rock song like "I Was Wrong" will literally move me to tears, because I've been there and I know he knows what he's talking about. I really wish the show would have been on their own, though, and in a bar with a good solid 21+ policy because the high school punks were virtually unendurable. I know you have to encourage the kids to dig good music and because of that, I tend to forgive their transgressions. They're gonna be amped-up little monkeys. But damn, this band is good enough to sit and watch, and that was a little hard to do while the young bucks were knockin' racks. Good to see them such a draw and you could tell they made a lot of new fans that night.