Nope, not because they've been playing games for over three weeks now.

It's because I finally found the time to watch Major League last night! Ah, how that makes me pine to have more announcers like Bob Uecker (as opposed to the likes of Joe Morgan or Tim McCarver, who announce the game with all the grace of Lennie from Of Mice And Men).

But one of the best lines came from the DVD extras, when Chelcie Ross (who played aging pitcher Eddie Harris), spoke to Uecker at one point during the filming, who asked "Was that you down there hurling? Absolutely inspirational! It made me want to hurl myself."

Play ball!

From the first time I heard Santa Monica, I have been a fan of Everclear.  Ever since then, I've followed the rock trio closely.  Through their careers, they've put together some great albums along with some hit songs.  And that's one of the things I've always liked about them.  They weren't just about creating great songs, but also creating great albums that were really worth your money.

I'm going to take a some time to rank these albums (leaving out the "Greatest Hits", of course) as I have enjoyed them over the years:

1. Sparkle and Fade - The album that introduce me and most of the world to Everclear.  Sparkle and Fade really showed off the storytelling abilities of lead singer and song writer Art Alexakis.  The entire album is filled with raw emotion and pain.  Even as a kid growing up in the comfy arms of suburbia, it gave a glimpse at life surrounded by dysfunction and despair.  While Santa Monica being the most popular track on the album, and Heartspark Dollarsign being the second-most-likely to have heard song, I was really more drawn to some of the other songs on the album, like The Twistinside and Strawberry.  All in all, the entire album is great, and really is a treat to listen to as a full album.
2. So Much For The Afterglow - If you had somehow managed to miss Everclear's Sparkle and Fade, their follow up So Much for the Afterglow was almost impossible to miss.  Their first three releases off the album, Everything to Everyone, I Will Buy You A New Life, and Father of Mine all shot up the charts and into public awareness.  It was definitely a strong follow up to Sparkle and Fade, keeping much of the same tone and attitude.  This album was a bit more polished, but managed to hold on to the essence of Everclear.  Again, the album is a gem as a whole, but in particular it contains some of my favorite Everclear songs, including Normal Like You, Amphetamine, Sunflowers, and the instrumental El Distorto De Melodica. 
3. Songs From An American Movie, Vol. 2: Good Time For A Bad Attitude - This album was the second in a pair of themed albums that the band put out in about six months in 2000 and 2001.  While the first album was a bit "happier", Bad Attitude brought back the Everclear attitude at a time I was afraid they were falling away from it.  Highlighted by When It All Goes Wrong Again, Overwhelming (originally an Art Alexakis solo project that he decided was a better fit for the band as a whole), and another instrumental piece in Halloween Americana, Bad Attitude kept the Everclear train chugging along.  Though it's focus changed from the dregs of life to commenting on the messed up things they saw around them on their rise to fame.  While not being as deep and hard-hitting, it was perfect fodder for my teenage and twentysomething angst.
4. Slow Motion Daydream - By the time 2003 had rolled around, I was pleased to discover that Everclear was releasing another album.  It had been rumored that the Songs From An American Movie compilation was going to be the band's last release together, so getting more new material was definitely a bonus.  Even more of a bonus is the fact that Slow Motion Daydream contains one of my favorite Everclear songs: Sunshine (The Acid Summer).  Sunshine breaks the mold of the majority of Everclear songs and reflects on "kids being kids" and is rife with nostalgia towards the freedom of youth.  While I'm now in my late 20's, Sunshine always brings a smile to my face (much like the Fresh Prince's Summertime).  Also included on this album is the smarmy and hilarious Volvo Driving Soccer Mom, How To Win Friends and Influence People, and New Blue Champion.  While some of the tracks are a little less distinctive, this album is actually very much in the mold of Everclear's first two major releases.  A few great songs, followed closely behind by a cavalcade of very good songs.  After nearly a decade, the band had stuck to its guns, creating as much good music as they could.
5. World of Noise - Let's jump back in time to the band's first release.  World of Noise can be summed up in a single word: raw.  While the both the lyrics and instruments can both be a little rough, songs like Fire Maple Song, Nervous and Weird, and The Laughing World showcased glimpses of what the band could/would become.  So while World of Noise is not Everclear's best work, it was a great start and was enough to take them to the next level.  While this albums is a little more rare, being released under the independent Tim/Kerr label, I did manage to snag myself a copy shortly after the release of So Much for the Afterglow.
6. Songs From An American Movie, Vol. 1: Learning How To Smile - By the time Learning How To Smile was released in late 2000, Everclear's popularity had peaked.  While the album's AM Radio and Wonderful were pop hits, the band appeared to be losing some of it's edge.  It could still be seen in Wonderful, Here We Go Again and Now That It's Over, but much of the album seemed to reflect the "good place" that Alexakis had found in his life at the time.  While I realize this was done intentionally (since Learning How To Smile was designed to be the "feel good" album of the two-part compilation), I just didn't enjoy it as much as their other efforts.  That's not to say that I didn't like it, but I was left with higher expectations after previous two efforts.  Oh yea, their cover of Brown Eyed Girl is something I still find embarrassing, since I wasn't a fan of the song in the first place, so that brings the album down a notch as well.
7. Welcome To The Drama Club - I'm not even sure where to start with this album, but it doesn't even compare with any of the band's earlier releases.  Following 2003's Slow Motion Daydream, the guys of Everclear decided that they had made a good run and to pursue other interests.  A year later, Alexakis, who had become a workaholic with his music after he had been able to kick his pervious drug adictions, decided to continue Everclear with the permission of former members Craig Montoya and Greg Eklund.  After adding four new members, the "new" Everclear released Welcome To The Drama Club in 2006.  While underneath the stylings of the new members you can still hear the basis of the melodies that I have associated with Everclear for the past decade and a half.  It's not awful, but it's just not the same.  Also, it unfortunately produced one of the singly most offensive music videos to go along with it's first single, Hater, which nearly prevented me from listening to any more of the album.  Thankfully, it appears to have been replaced by this less offensive video, even if it isn't any good.

Over the years, Everclear has produced a lot of excellent music, and Alexakis is striving to continue doing that into the future.  Next month, the new quintet is releasing an album of various cover songs dubbed The Vegas Years.  While I don't think cover songs have been the band's strength, maybe the new assembly can pull it off.  After all, the band may have sparkled and faded, but Alexakis is striving to make it a slow fade.

Last night, they held the 50th Annual Grammy Awards as The Recording Academy  tried desperately to hang on to it's last shred of relevance...

...and then it all flew right out the window.

I have to admit that it's been a long time since I found the Grammy's relevant.  Heck, I found MTV's VMAs more relevant until 10 years ago when they threw the awards away for a teenage popularity contest (I'm pretty sure this year Hannah Montana will win every VMA).  My interest in the show is so low that I probably would have watched the completely worthless Pro Bowl first.

It's not just that the show is boring, but the Academy has continued to show that it is unable to keep up with the evolution of music over the past two decades.  Major awards go to one hit wonders, half of the nominated songs and albums you've probably never even heard, and many of the winners are simply the most popular artists (especially in the Rock category, as the most popular artists seem to be the only ones the judges have even heard of).

Looking at this year's nominees and winners, it seems like some kind of bad joke.  Amy Winehouse taking home five awards for one average song (and I'm being kind calling it average...I think it's awful).  Telling that to one co-worker today, I was told, "Well, she has a beautiful voice."  That's great, but the award is called "Record of the Year", not "Has A Pretty Voice".

And how many people even knew Herbie Hancock was still making music?  I haven't heard anything from him since "Rockit" back in the 80's.

And the Foo Fighters, whose 2007 release pales in comparison to some of their past works, won the "Best Rock Album" over Daughtry, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen and Wilco.  Heck, I can list at least four other album releases from last year that were better than the "Best Rock Album" and weren't even nominated (Paramore - Riot!, Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight, Hard-Fi - Once Upon A Time In The West, and The Bravery - The Sun And The Moon).

Even Feist, who provides the music in those divinely irritating Apple ads these days, received several nominations.

So, as The Recording Academy desperately searches for relevance in a continually diversifying world of music, they just can't seem to get it right.  Next year, turn off the crap they call a show, and turn on your favorite tunes.  Even if nobody else agrees, go ahead and enjoy what you like best.

Are you a Last.FM and BlogCFC user who doesn't want to bog your site down with  bulky flash applications, but still display the music that you love?  Well, then Last.Played is the BlogCFC Pod for you.  Easily display the song information and album art for the music you have most recently listened to, and even generate income by linking to Amazon product pages!

Last.Played Homepage

Mostly, this was just a fun little project to create something I wanted, and I hope others can make use of it as well!

The Gibson Robot -- It tunes itself!  To more than one key!  I can't even think of a way that it isn't a great idea!

Update: Here's another video of the guitar in action.

For a while now, I had been anticipating the release of Guitar Hero III for the Wii.  I had played demos of the prior versions in the store on the PS2, but my PS2 has done little more than gather dust the last few years, so I decided to hold off on buying the special controllers and everything.

However, last week the waiting ended, and I'm very happy to say that I wasn't disappointed at all.  Guitar Hero III has a great set list, is easy enough to pick up and play on beginner difficulty, but ramps up difficulty enough to push players to their limits.  I'll admit that I'm not great so far, but after coasting through most of the songs on easy, I found the medium difficulty to be quite a step up.  In some ways it's aggravating, but what fun would it be to breeze through all the songs?

Just like I thoroughly enjoyed Frequency and Amplitude, the titles that made music-based gaming popular in the first place, I am very enthralled with Guitar Hero III.  I've found myself losing hours at a time playing the game as I continue to tell myself "just one more song".  And I haven't even tried the online gaming yet!

If you're up for playing some, feel free to drop your friend code below and maybe we can thrash together!

Well, since my computer decided to die on me Friday night, I'll be using my trusty Yahoo Radio personalized station to keep up with the Powell's (and Dye's too). My first 15 from this morning:

1. Everclear - Here We Go Again
2. Weird Al Yankovic - Dare To Be Stupid
3. Local H - Bound For The Floor
4. Foo Fighters - Lonely As You
5. Guster - Amsterdam
6. Genesis - Small Talk
7. Anterior - Dead Devine
8. Fatboy Slim - Drop The Hate
9. The Cranberries - Ode To My Family
10. Cinder Road - Get In Get Out
11. Smashing Pumpkins - Mayonaise
12. Goldfinger - 99 Red Balloons
13. Jars of Clay - Crazy Times
14. tobyMac - In The Air
15. Outkast - Love In War

A little bit different from my usual fare (when compared to my Last.FM profile), but an interesting list none the less.

The past few weeks, I've been spinning a lot of songs from the soundtracks for the first four Tony Hawk Pro Skater games. While it does bring back fond memories of sitting around in dorm rooms with the guys taking turns as we tried to beat some of the near impossible tasks set forth by the game, I have to admit that most of the music is just awesome in general.

Seriously, I could just listen to most of it for hours; and the funny thing is that I probably couldn't identify 75% of the artists without my iPod in front of me. (Honestly, I had no idea that one of the songs I really liked was by Xibit, who became That Guy Who's On "Pimp My Ride" Because His Albums Don't Sell, But He's Funny To Watch.) It's like the game developers said "I don't care who it's by, we're just going out to find really good music that fits the game." What a novel idea!

After all, there are few things that can kill a game faster than a bad soundtrack, and few things that can lengthen the life of a game than a great one.

Playing along with Jason Powell's "Do The Shuffle" game, here's my first 15 songs from my music player (today it's my personalized LAUNCHCast station Yahoo Music Jukebox while I'm at work):

1. Phantom of the Opera - The Music Of The Night
2. Bill & Gloria Gaither - My Journey To The Sky
3. Dave Matthews Band - So Much To Say
4. Stellar Kart - Angels In Chorus
5. MoZella - Can't Stop
6. Smashing Pumpkins - To Forgive
7. Filter - Take A Picture
8. Jars of Clay - Flood
9. Nirvana - Come As You Are
10. Carman - Give Thanks
11. Steve Taylor - Cash Cow (A Rock Opera In Three Small Acts)
12. The Wallflowers - From The Bottom Of My Heart
13. Korn - Word Up
14. Fort Minor - Remember The Name (Instrumental)
15. People In Planes - If You Talk Too Much (My Head Will Explode)

Last week I was driving around, and Johnny Cash's latest release (from the archives, of course) came on the air. Called God's Gonna Cut You Down, I was listening to it, and suddenly I began to wonder why I knew most of the lyrics. Then I heard a line, and I suddenly realized where I had heard it before. The lyrics are very similar to Moby's Run On. The lyrics aren't exactly the same, but they're close enough to recognize. Look for yourself.

Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down

Moby - Run On

But in the end, I have to say I really like them both. Kinda following in the vein of my last post, but this case wasn't so obvious at first.