Audioscrobbler

Quietly working on new material while I’m waiting to hear back from some people on the possible touring and promotion of “Practical Insanity”. In the meantime I’ve been plotting out my Christmas CD concept and even working on demos for the next non-holiday release called tentatively titled “Dirty White Slave”. Yes, there is a story behind that title, but I’ll hold off on saying anything about until much closer to the actual release date. Expect “Practical Insanity” sometime in the near future.

Another thing I’m excited about is getting into NACA and APCA. I’ve already got one showcase coming up in November and I’m submitting for more this fall through both organizations. At the very least I’ll be making the rounds at college/university campuses later this year and into 2006.

***** (The area between stars constitues an update to the news after it was posted)
I’ve come across a nifty new little site called Audioscrobbler.com I have absolutely no idea what the word scrobbler means, but here’s the idea behind the site. It’s like a cross of Friendster/Myspace and iTunes. You create a little profile, download a small application (plug-in for the music player you use), then proceed to play what music you listen to on your favorite music player on your computer. It keeps track of what you listen to then sends that information to your profile. What happens is you can then find out what your friends listen to, or discover new bands by finding out what other listeners listen to. It will even suggest artists to check out.

I just downloaded this and have been trying it out. I recommend it and hope you’ll play some of my tunes while you are using it.
******

Movie Pick of the Week: Batman Begins. Let me preface by saying that I’m not a huge fan of the Batman series. I always felt that they never picked a great ‘Batman’, and they were never quite edgy enough. Hell some of them were downright dopey. So, I got to attend a special midnight showing of Batman Begins on Tuesday night in IMAX. In a word: WOW. I think they’ve finally stumbled onto a great concept for Batman. Christian Bale made for a great Bruce Wayne/Batman. Liam Neeson was effective as a villain. Michael Cain whom I thought had quite acting was a good Alfred. Katie Holmes, despite her recent publicity stunt with Tom Cruise, wasn’t believable as a prosecuting attourney. And a long lost Rutger Hauer was there, but didn’t seem to make a super effective impact as a kniving CEO. Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman played characters a little of nature but they were good. I felt that overall the story worked out quite well. There were a couple of hokey moments but for the most part it was captivating. The special effects were cool. And Gotham really became a city that felt like Gotham. I’m now a Batman fan, provided they can keep up the level of quality they introduced in this one. I’d recommend this one. And if you get the chance, see it in IMAX.