This little piggy... - 04-30-2009
There's been more shocking reports about this swine flu than actual facts. It seems the news wants nothing more than to scare the crap out of us. Luckily, there are some outlets that will post important information regarding this eventual pandemic.
CNN has posted a very good FAQ on what is really going on. Hopefully, it can answer any and all questions you have on this flu.
Monday Music Review - Depeche Mode - 04-27-2009
Artist - Depeche Mode
Album - Sounds of the Universe
Sounds of the Universe is grandiose, atmospheric, and classic. From the very beginning, Depeche Mode make sure you know they mean business. Many other bands have adopted the keyboard/guitar stylings that DM made famous, and recently many bands have attempted to pull that 80's synth sound out and make it new again. Well, the band that created a genre is back doing what they do best, and teaching all newcomers a big lesson.
This album is filled with more bleeps, blips, and chirps than any they've released in 15 years. Martin Gore's obsessive eBay collection of 120 different synthesizers and keyboards help create a layered, spacey sound that is impeccably managed and produced.
The first song, "In Chains", takes full advantage of the analog synths and other vintage weaponry. Resembling the opening of Van Halen's 1984, "In Chains" voluminous 1:20 intro moves into a bluesy, dreamy number with a lot of complexity. At seven minutes in length, it's one of DM's longest numbers to date, and this opus moves from various tones to create a dramatic sound off for the rest of the album.
The first single, "Wrong", is a natural extension to DM's singles collection. It has just about everything: catchy chorus, pop-ability, and fabulous but simple lyrics. It is sure to be a favorite to many Mode fans, as it is a dark, grungy art piece.
Dave Gahan's voice is superb throughout the album, and, like Playing the Angel, he contributed a few of his own songs to SOTU. Since the departure of Vince Clarke from Depeche in 1981, Martin Gore has been the de facto songwriter, but over the last five years Gahan's dipped his toes in the song crafting water. Songs like "Hole to Feed" and "Come Back" are tremendous, and he is really coming into his own as a songwriter. "Hole to Feed" is passionate, and the chorus is a real groove of guitar and keyboard that is rare to successfully blend. "come Back" may be the weakest song on the album, but its blues riff is reason enough to listen in.
And, like many other albums, Gore sings a few of his own tracks. Normally, these songs are throwaways, but on this album they work extremely well. "Little Soul" is reminiscent to his vocal works from Black Celebration, and the lounge act "Jezebel" may be one of his finest vocal performances to date.
There are many terrific songs here. "Miles Away/The Truth Is" is a phenomenal club/dance number with Gahan channeling his best Elvis impersonation in some areas. "Peace" is a track that is so out of the ordinary, it is hard to even explain its simplicity. Part chant and part gospel number, the song is reminiscent of "Shouldn't Have Done That" from 1982's A Broken Frame. "In Sympathy" is mellow and pop driven, similar to "Dream On" from Exciter. It's another minimalistic number, but the small tweak is the carefully placed effects, all the while showcasing Gahan and Gore's ability to sing a perfect duet.
"Fragile Tension" and "Perfect" are two other songs that are true Depeche. With a dark but hopeful attitude, these songs wrench emotions out from melodies and hefty beats. The dark tone that has been ever present in their music is revisited here as well, and the mix of spacey sounds and bleak but optimistic lyrics plays on each other tremendously.
They've been around for thirty years, and if this album is any indication, there's no slowing down. They are one of the most influential bands of the New Wave era, and prominent new bands like The Killers, Coldplay, and Keane attribute their sound to DM. Their music is larger than life, and Sounds of the Universe is no different. The universe officially has a sound.
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe -
Download - "Wrong", "Miles Away/The Truth Is", "Perfect", "In Chains"
Photo of the week - 04-24-2009
In the 'thirty seconds of fame' category, Susan Boyle won the hearts of millions of YouTubers this week. With her voice, not her looks...
Yes, she is inspiring, and her surprise performance on "Britain's Got Talent" shocked the entire world, but come on, I've seen bag ladies that are less unkempt! Anything that would come out of her mouth would be a surprise.
Summer Movie Preview - August - 04-19-2009
Rounding out the summer months, August has a few items of interest:
August 7th Weekend - G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra - With cartoon-to-live-action flicks like Transformers doing well, G.I. Joe's big screen treatment is sure to rack in the numbers. Ray Park (aka Darth Maul) is Snake Eyes, which should be entertaining in itself.
August 14th Weekend - You may not have heard of District 9 as of yet, but it's because the film plot has been kept tightly under wraps. The centers around displaced space aliens living in a small district in South Africa. Much like Cloverfield last year, District 9 has a huge viral internet campaign. Google it.
August 21st Weekend - Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino's first movie since Kill Bill has people talking. Starring Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, the movie takes place during WW2 and Raine's mission is to hunt and kill as many Nazis as possible. This looks to be the feel good movie of the year.
August 28th Weekend - Rob Zombie brings us another installment of Halloween, while the British flick The Boat that Rocked (starring Philip Seymore Hoffman) brings us pirate DJ's in the summer of 1960.
There you have it, the summer of 2009. Stay tuned for fall/winter '09 previews in the next few days.
Tax Story - 04-16-2009
We have all heard about the Recovery Act that was passed by Congress and signed into law by Obama, and part of this act represented a Federal Income Tax decrease for most Americans. In lieu of the 'tea party' protests yesterday, where Americans rallied against higher taxes, I wanted to share a story that might make people think differently.
As some of you are aware, I'm a business consultant that helps companies build better strategies in their HR and Payroll departments. A lot of times this means discussing big picture ideas with CEO's and CFO's, and sometimes it means having a dialogue with an employee in an organization. Such was the case yesterday.
I visited a client of mine yesterday, and the VP of Finance informed me that there was an employee who was upset with her paycheck, and was specifically concerned with the amount of Federal Income Tax being withheld. I was asked to look into the issue to determine the correct course of action. I sat down and reviewed the employee's paychecks from 2008, first quarter of '09, and the most recent check that was given to her. This employee makes about $700 biweekly ($350/week) as a part-time janitor. She has some pre-tax deductions, taking their taxable Federal wage to about $640. I sat down and began doing the tax table math on this person's check to see if it was indeed out of the ordinary.
What I found, much to the employee's surprise, was a dramatic change in the person's net pay (for the better). Applying the federal tables of 2008 to $640 of biweekly wages with a filing status of married, no exemptions represents a $33.23 federal tax withholding. Applying the new Recovery Act tables, the withholding is now $3.42. 'Surely this is too low!' the employee claimed, 'I'm going to owe a lot at tax time next year!'. Not so. Indeed, this person is keeping approximately $30 per pay, or $775 this year. They were extremely happy that I shared this calculation with them.
There is relief happening, and even though it's not a large, lump sum check (like the one we received last year), it is significant. For someone that takes home approximately $550-600 per pay, an extra $30 goes a long way. This is happening all over the country, as most Americans are experiencing larger net paychecks. Even my net pay was increased by $40 per month. And although that difference isn't enough to make anyone a millionaire, it's enough to help pay bills, buy groceries, or even go out to dinner for an evening. With rising costs in almost every good and service around, that money will go a long way.
Summer Movie Preview - July - 04-14-2009
July 4th Weekend - For the first time in years, July 4th weekend falls flat in the movie department. The big movie will be the next installment of Ice Age (yuck), but hopefully Public Enemies, a mob movie starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, will take precedent. Two blockbusters for Bale this summer, and one last year? He should keep up those tirades!
July 10th Weekend - Bruno, the Ali G inspired character by Sacha Baron Cohen, hits. They've already slapped it with the killer NC-17 rating, so it should be interesting to see what happens here.
July 17th - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth installment of the book series, hopes to cash in on summer money like Order of the Phoenix did. It should, without a doubt, prove to be a success.
July 24th - Good luck. Disney's gerbil loving G-Force hits, as does the horror flick Orphan. Looks like Harry will stay #1 for a 2nd week.
July 31st - Funny People. Is there a movie Seth Rogen isn't in this year? He and Judd Apatow will try to revive Adam Sandler's career in the art of making a good funny movie.
Stay tuned for an interesting August!
Summer Movie Preview - June - 04-10-2009
Continuing on from May's bevvy of blockbusters comes a not so packed June. Here's the list of stuff you may wanna check out...
June 5th Weekend - Land of the Lost - Marshall (Will Ferrell), Will (Danny McBride), and Holly (Anna Friel) do a revamp of a classic Saturday morning cartoon. Ferrell and McBride are pure gold, and this should be a grand slam.
Another comedy, The Hangover, hits theaters this same weekend. Although Land will without doubt dominate, this other little comedy looks funny.
June 12th Weekend - This weekend is scarce. Eddie Murphy's new kiddie flick-slash-dud Imagine That debuts, as does Moon, a new Coppola flick, and a Norwegian horror movie. See, bad weekend for movies.
June 19th Weekend - Jack Black and Michael Cera star in Year One, and although this looks like it might be a dud, I'm crossing my fingers. Black, when allowed to do what he does best, is terrific. There's also a chick flick (The Proposal) that's premise has been done a million times (I'm not a citizen, so let's get married so I can stay in the USA! Hooray!). Ugh...
June 24th Weekend - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - We'll see Soundwave, Ravage, Starscream as the new Decepticon leader, and seven, count 'em seven, constructicons that form Devastator. And that's just the bad guys! Oh yeah, Megatron and The Fallen (the big bad in the flick) will also be there. Why this isn't a July 4th weekend movie I'll never know.
Stay tuned tomorrow for July!
Summer Movie Preview - May - 04-08-2009
Summer movies are upon us, and to help you with the maze of movies released, we've compiled a 'must see' list of soon-to-be blockbusters. With the economy in the tank, what better way to forget about your 401k losses and unemployment than sheckling out $10 at the local theater for some unbridled entertainment.
The first in our series of Summer Movie Previews, we start off in the lusty month of May. In chronological order, here are the must-see movies of summer, 2009.
May 1st Weekend - X-Men Origins: Wolverine. There's been a lot of news around the leak of this movie on the internet, a full month before the premiere. This dilemma has movie execs panicking; but it should not deter die hard X-Men fans from watching it. X-Men 3 should be enough of a deterrent. Hopefully, they get this right.
May 8th Weekend - Star Trek. J.J. Abrams is rebooting the franchise, and from the trailer and initial reviews this is gonna be huge. It looks phenomenal, and could be the Sci Fi movie of the summer.
May 15th Weekend - Angels & Demons. What might be Dan Brown's best book, Angels gets the big screen treatment. What will make this better than Da Vinci Code is a better story, the Vatican, and Ewan McGregor.
May 21st Weekend - Terminator Salvation. The Ah-nald blockbuster is back with the first of a new trilogy. Led by Christian Bale, this has the biggest buzz of any summer release.
Now, if you're not into robots killing humans, you can also check out Night At the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian also that weekend. Kid-friendly, but most likely a dud, it's sure to rack up the numbers that weekend as well.
May 29th Weekend - Following two blockbusters like Terminator and Night will not be easy, but two movies will try to unseat the top Memorial Day movies. First up is the new Pixar flick Up, which will be sure to entice old and young alike. I love Pixar movies, but this one has me disinterested.
Also playing that weekend is Drag Me to Hell, Sam Raimi's return to the horror genre. The movie is about a curse, but his name alone should bring the fans.
There you have it. Return tomorrow for June!
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