Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

Of course, Joni Mitchell is a bit sissy for a fan of hardcore rap. But as a matter of fact I`m not a fan of harcore rap. Therefore singing to an acoustic guitar is no problem for me. Especially if the singer has a perfect voice, perfect melodies and perfect songs. What more can you want? A glass of warm milk.

Imagine a film that features the singer of "Stillwater" and Tom Green. What do you think would come out of it? Not much you say? Damn right you are. Ok, I gotta admit that this film is nowhere near as bad as "Freddy got fingered". On the other hand very few things are (on my factoid only "Son of the mask" and "Dorm daze" received that level of crappy rating). Anyhow, this fellow John Plummer wants to live happily with his girlfriend but it happens that he`s promised his niece to pay for her college, which is a thing he can`t manage because he hasn`t got that much money. So he hooks up with his dorky pal named Duff (played by T.Green) in order to gain some easy money, which can at best be done in the world of crime. Of course this film is a comedy, a silly one as a matter of fact. It has a lot of cliches in it, which also doesn`t make me wonder. Still I would consider this film at least average if there wasn`t for one thing I totally hate in movies because it`s just so lame that you can`t think of anything lamer than it - it`s a man being "loved" (physically) by a dog. Damn is it the most stupid thing that happens in about 50% of stupid comedies! And another one of those things is the stupidity of the main character who rather lets his fiancee think that he`s having an affair than tells her that he`s got this money problem.

BG is considered more than a legend in Eastern Europe and especially in Russia. I`m not so sure whether Vertisnky is also considered that legendary, but on this record BG pays his homage to the legendary singer/poet. The album has very litle music on it, reminiscing some of the old records of Leondard Cohen, only without female backing vocals. Lyrically the record is very strong, and despite the fact that it`s not very entertaining there`s a real charme in the album, genuine poetry is what`s presented on here, and not some "house/mouse" rhyming. My favourite "songs" if they can be considered as songs are "A dog named Douglas", "Half-blood" ("I don`t need a woman/I only need a theme"), "To love silently". A voice and a guitar strumming is all you need to make a heart cry.

The biggest problem of most Weird`s records is the fact that he wants to be a songwriter himself and not just a guy who creates parodies of popular songs. And Alapalooza ain`t no exception. Among he own songs on this album we have "Young Dumb & Ugly" - quite a normal poodle-rock song, if nothing special. Franks 2000`` TV on the other hand is a stupid and boring song about TV - the most popular subject of Weird`s songs. "Traffic Jam" is an 80s novelty song, not particulary good. "Talk Soup" seems to be a cover version of I don`t know what. "She never told me was mime" is useless. And so is "Waffle king". At least the 21 seconds long "Harwey the wonder hamster" is good. Among the covers there are two very good ones - "Achy breaky heartsong" and "Jurassic Park" and one good one - "Bohemian Polka". The rest is forgettable. As a matter of fact, the whole album is forgettable.

Inokentijs Marpls is a legendary Latvian underground band. Surely it`s legendary only in Latvia and only among fans of underground punk music, but who gives a damn about who praises whom. It`s not like in the Bible where Noah begeth another person and another person begeth one more person and blah blah blah so much further. This was the first record the band issued in the format of a compact disk after something like 15 years of existence. I dare not say that all of those songs on the record are very good, I dare not say that the singer of the band has a great voice and I certainly dare not say that the song which features lyrics close to "Oh, your dick is your best friend" is very intelligent. But I dare say that this album has lots and lots of energy. And what more do you need?

A very nice and quiet film about a girl who worked as a maid for Johannes von Vermeer. As a matter of fact this film has very little to do with "Diary of a chambermaid" but I somehow thought it would be appropriate to mention this film right now. Anyhow, Scarlet Jochansen and Colin Firth play the lead roles in this film. You can`t expect too much going on in this film, because the Netherlands wasn`t exactly a very much fun place back in the 16th century. Or at least we`re lead to believe that it was that way. What`s weird about the whole thing is that Mr. Vermeer don`t do no kinky stuff with his maid although a love story surely exists between them it doesn`t end up in hay, on the molbert or somewhere else. The film itself is like an art piece, like a painting. By the way, Scarlet really does look like the girl in Vermeers painting - that`s a huge plus for the film. You probably shouldn`t watch this one in a loud company, but together with your loved one it will be a real treat (by the way, I watched it alone, poor me...).

This film has nothing in common with "Unce Upon A Time In America", which on the other hand isn`t the same film as "Once Upon A Time In Mexico". This film is a story about an Irish family that moves to the States. The family consists of Johnny - the father, Sarah - the mother, and Christy and Ariel - the daughters. Inside all of them carry Frankie - the son who died at the age of five. Christy, the elder daughter, is the central figure in the film, because we partly see everything her way. She believes that she has three wishes from Frankie which will be fulfilled. The family struggles for the parents can`t find work as actors, Sarah is pregnant with another daughter but there seem to be medical problems with the unborn child, and none of them has got over Frankie. They encounter a strange artist named Mateo who becomes very much attached to the family. And then there`s E.T. from the film E.T., who`s also a symbol in the film. The film is a moving one, it`s not about surviving in America or the American dream, of course, it`s about grief, about loss and about love.

Although I never considered myself a big Oasis fan I never hated the band as well. And why wouldn`t I listen to it`s new album? So I did. The album didn`t strike me with any songs that would ultimately become my "anthems of the season" but it proved to be quite a solid one. Songs like "Mucky Fingers", "The Importance of Being Idle" and "Guess God Thinks I`m Able" surely deserve to be recorded by the band that once was considered a very good one. The basic problem of Oasis surely is diversity - an aspect in which the band was never particulary strong. The Beatles similarities are her just as they always were, especially they can be felt on "Let there be Love" - a song about which I`m sure that both Oasis and John Lennon wrote it more than twice before this occasion. "A Bell will ring" on the contrary is a song that I enjoy to the limit.

This film is considered as one of the greatest in the categories thriller/crime. I didn`t really understand why it was supposed to be that good. Ok, we got an unfortunate car salesman who arranges that his wife is kidnapped and a lot of money is asked from her arrogant and rich father. We got Steve Buscemi and another fellow as the kidnappers, whose plans go wrong after they start killing people. We got a pregnant police officer named Marge working on the case of killings very well. We got her private life which is slow and simple just like her attitude handling the case. But we haven`t got particulary much more than that. From a film that`s supposed to be great I require it to be at least very good. But this one didn`t seem like what it was supposed to be.

"The White Stripes" are one hell of a band. Jack and Meg White rock harder than AC/DC in 1973, they are meaner than Slayer after a massive hangover and they have a better taste for melody when Paul McCartney in the 1980s. So they are really good. They are dirty and mean, yet they can be gentle and sweet. On their new album they give you 13 mean songs of rock and roll. In case you wonder what`s the fuss about Satan, let me tell you that the album title is a quote from the Bible where Jesus tells Peter that refusal of sufferings is disobeying God. Still this ain`t a religious record. What`s good about the record is that only a few songs out of it remind me of other stuff by the Stripes (particulary that goes for "The Denial Twist"). The first single of this album which isn`t yet publically available today - "Blue Orchid" is a good song, but certainly not the best on the LP. That probably goes to "My Doorbell", "Red Rain".