Anyone else see this or know anything about it? It’s a new version of Michael Jackson’s Legendary pop album, Thriller, pumped up with unreleased content, remixes, and more. Upon first glimpse, it looks fantastic. Why shouldn’t it? The original/remastered Thriller is easily in my Top 7 Albums of All-Time; and this Thriller has even more supposed goodies attached to it. However, this latest release of Thriller has not struck me as a necessary addition to my collection. Such a deluxe anniversary edition of Thriller should be in my proverbial shopping cart, but it’s not. After reviewing the track list, I have much of the additional content–including the songs, “Carousel” and “Someone in the Dark”–on my remastered version of Thriller, and the content on it I’m missing is mainly remixes featuring modern pop acts that I don’t really like much. I gave ‘em a listen on Itunes; and for the most part, I think they bring the songs down–even the one I like the best, featuring Akon (who I usually loath) is an echo of the original track’s glory. So, I’m just not interested in the album. It has a new track from Michael himself, but I can buy that solo on iTunes.

So, that’s established–No new Thriller for CC. BUT the idea of the album brought up a follow-up question. This 25th anniversary edition of Thriller–the greatest selling album of all time–features new artists including Kanye West, Akon, Fergie, and Will.I.Am. As such, are we supposed to then believe that these are the modern pop counterparts to the 1980s popgod that WAS Michael Jackson? Follow-up question. Would a purchase of Thriller 25 validate their involvement in a project of which they are arguably, unworthy? I mean, hey, like what you like. Listen to what you want, but should these musicians really be on the same album as the King of Pop, and should they be on his most popular album, at that?

Personally, I think they bring the album down. Now, I didn’t just write off these artists based on their past work; I gave them a chance on this album. I even LIKE the 2008 version of “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” with Akon and might purchase it, but the Fergie and Will.I.Am tracks do nothing for me. Sadly, nor does the Kanye one, and I really like Kanye. Again, I GAVE THEM A CHANCE, I DID; but I didn’t dig what they brought to the table as a whole. Frankly, I’m guessing the only reason they’re featured is in order to get those youngsters born after the Bad and Dangerous era to buy the album. To be honest, I’m 90% certain it’s going to work.

Frankly, I’d love to support this new Thriller album, but because of the above observation, I don’t think I can or, rather, I don’t think I will. I can listen to or buy whatever I want, and so can you, and I encourage you to do so. If you DON’T have Thriller, and this album has exposes you to its power, then great. If you like the remixes better, that’s cool, too. I disagree, but I support you in liking what you want to like. I’m no elitist. I am just not feeling these new artists or their “updated” mixes (again, less the Akon version of “Wanna Be Startin Something”, which is “good”, not “great” but “good”). Furthermore, the bulk of the other extras I already have on the 20th anniversary remaster of Thriller , so this new one, Not worth it to me. Not this time. How bout you?

I thought it’d be good to put up the track list of the Deluxe Edition of Thriller for those who had not seen it. You get 31 tracks on CD + 4 legendary videos (the normal edition has less). I have no need of this new album. But you might, and if you do, more power to you. Please hit me up with a commment:

1 Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
2 Baby Be Mine
3 The Girl Is Mine
4 Thriller
5 Beat It (Single Version)
6 Billie Jean (Single Version)
7 Human Nature
8 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
9 The Lady In My Life
10 Vincent Price Excerpt from “Thriller-Voice-Over-Session”
11 The Girl Is Mine 2008 (Thriller 25th Anniversary Remix) [feat. will.i.am]
12 P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008 (Thriller 25th Anniversary Remix) [feat. willi.i.am]
13 Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008 (Thriller 25th Anniversary Remix) [feat. Akon]
14 Beat It 2008 (Thriller 25th Anniversary Remix) [feat. Fergie]
15 Billie Jean 2008 (Thriller 25th Anniversary Remix) [feat. Kanye West]
16 For All Time (Previously Unreleased Track from the Original Thriller Sessions)
17 Billie Jean (Long Version)
18 Voice-Over Intro / Quincy Jones Interview No. 1
19 Someone In the Dark
20 Voice-Over Intro / Quincy Jones Interview No. 2
21 Billie Jean (Home Demo from 1981)
22 Quincy Jones Interview No. 3
23 Voice-Over Intro / Rod Temperton Interview No. 1
24 Quincy Jones Interview No. 4
25 Voice-Over Intro / Voice-Over Session from “Thriller-Voice-Over-Session”
26 Voice-Over Intro / Rod Temperton Interview No. 2
27 Quincy Jones Interview No. 5
28 Carousel
29 Voice-Over Intro / Quincy Jones Interview No. 6
30 Billie Jean (Underground Mix)
31 Thriller (Instrumental)

Videos on DVD
1 Billie Jean
2 Beat It (Digitally Restored Version)
3 Thriller
4 Billie Jean (Live)

Last year, I talked about how Delicious Rubio’s Fish Tacos are. Today, I will speak on Rubio’s Crispy Shrimp Tacos. They, too, are delicious.

I recently stumbled across this video of Quentin Tarantino’s run-in with a dude carrying a video camera. Just watch it for a second before reading what I have to say…
WARNING: This video contains profanity.

The news story under which I found the video was titled, “Quentin Goes Berserk” (I have not linked to the story, because I don’t want them getting hits). Of course, seeing this video, I have no idea where that headline comes from. Frankly, QT is not going “berserk”. He’s barely past “flustered.” In fact, he’s pretty much acting like a normal guy. If I were standing in a cold, snowy mess trying to enjoy a warm cup o’ joe, and a stranger came up to me and just started filming me, I’d be less than relaxed. Then, if said stranger ignored me when I asked him what he was doing, I’d get frustrated. Then if I pushed him away from me, and he kept coming, I’d be even more upset. THEN if after I again pushed him away a second time, he challenged me to hit him, I’m not sure I’d have the self-control to walk away. I’d probably get medieval on him like Hulk Hogan on the Iron Sheik (yeah, I’m talking merciless beating, here, ending with a leg drop).

Frankly, I think QT handled himself very well. He didn’t go “berserk”. He reacted like most average persons would and even restrained himself. The whole “berserk” headline was just a ploy to get people to read the article, and they sure suckered me into it, but let me go on record and say that this is was no celebrity freak-out. This was just a guy reacting to harassment; and frankly, he showed himself to be a controlled person. Agree? Let me know in the comments section!

Song of the Post “Rush” by Talib Kweli from the album, Quality

Listening to this song as background fodder makes pretty much anything you do more epic. I was just watching online ABC News videos about the 2008 Election, and I saw all the candidates waving and being cheered while this song echoed in the background. I now see the Election in a whole new light, or should I say, a whole new fire and flame.

Song of the Post: “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce, from the Album, “Inhuman Rampage”.

Last Night, I played “Eruption” by Eddie Van Halen on Itunes for my wife. She was impressed and asked who my favorite guitarist was. I said Mark Knopfler, particularly because of his solo at the end of “Sultans of Swing”. We then compared Knopfler against Van Halen, and she and I both conceded that Valen Halen was playing something more complex. However, I said I still like Knopfler more, even though I couldn’t make an argument for why he was objectively better than Van Halen. I don’t know if he is. I’m no guitarist. So, I open it up to you. I call from the stage for help, asking “Who is considered the better guitarist, not musician, but guitarist of Mark Knopfler and Eddie Van Halen?” and “Why”. Help me out, readers. Help me out.

Last night I dreamed that my friends Dave Weigel, Phil, and myself were discussing music. We were talking about Michael Jackson’s best cover song, and we decided it was “Keep on Loving You”, as performed by REO Speedwagon. Oddly, in the dream, I thought the song was originally sung by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and when I awoke form my slumber I felt like an idiot for my mistake. However, upon further reflection, I now even feel more stupid for feeling like an idiot in the first place–particularly for three reasons:

1) Michael Jackson never even covered that song.
2) I’m not really a fan of REO or BTO.
3) It was a dream, so it’s not like I could act consciously and sensibly in the first place, so I can’t feel responsible for thinking an REO song was BTO.

So, anyway, that was my morning….Oh, and my wife and I spent a fair amount of time discussing songs that we had stuck in our heads. Mine was Jack Black’s impromptu “The Night Laura’s Daddy Died” from High Fidelity, and hers were the aforementioned, once I sang it for her, as well as the opening 12 or so bars from Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”, which ironically is also sung by Black in the film School of Rock.

I just had a mini-twix candy bar, and it was delicious. Not good. Delicious. I never thought about it before today, but you know what, I really like Twix. This combo of sugary delights is truly one of my favorite candy bars, and I salute the creators of Twix for their contribution to the world. I love Twix so much, I have decided to jump into a Mad-TV-David-Allen-Greer-Maya-Angelou-Esque-Poem.

TWIX!
Oh Twix,
Sweet. Crunchy. Delicious. Nutritious!
May I, eat thee?
What honors bestowed within my lips.
These teeth thank you for your sweet contents
–Caramel and Crunch, united together in a chocolate tent–
I would camp with you, Twix.
You are a treasure to the gods and ecstatic dance upon my palette.

Twix, May all your days be filled with joyous rain from the clouds of loving charity.

Twix.

If you share my love for Twix. Shout it out in the Comments.

Listen to “Eruption” from the album, Van Halen. I just hit it up on Itunes, and it is an epic, boner-inducing electronic guitar solo that has the power to make planets explode. Listen and learn to appreciate that which you hate, then you will have true peace in your heart, and harmony will flow out of you like a river.

Rubio’s fish tacos are delicious.

That is all.

Song of the Post: “All the World Envy” by Chris Botti, from, Night Sessions

You know what. Men have dreams. Attainable dreams. I’m not talking about winning a dozen Oscars. Men have no control over that. That’s for the fates to decide. I am talking about goals or experiences. These are self-motivated and driven goals like getting 10k into an IRA before reaching 35 or completing a Marathon. For some men, these aspirations reach beyond being “goals”, they become “dreams”. Something that someone wants to achieve not only for a short term goal, but a lifetime achievement or memory for the ages, at least for that person. This could be an experience (to go to Japan), possession (to have a pool), or whatever (to eat shark meat). There are tons of humble dreams people have, and I encrouage each of you to accomplish yours. As for me, I have a few, and here’s one.

You know what one of my dreams is, really. It’s to be part of a weekly “Movie and Dinner” group. What would this entail? Well, it could be a few things. First and foremost, it would utilize the Dinner and movie combo appropriately, meaning that it would feature the movie first, with appetizers, then Dinner after. During dinner, the movie would be discussed. The format and guidelines would be open to debate, but I think it’d be awesome to do something like this. If I had this dream come true, and I had a 6-10 people comit to this, then here’s what I would do.

Schedule
6:00 - Arrival and Movie Intro
6:30 - Appetizers and the movie
9:00 - Dinner

Here are some various guidelines (not concrete, open to discussion)
1) The hosting home where the movie is watched changes week-to-week and the host picks the movie ahead of time. The host then intros the movie and why he/she felt it’d be a good film to watch together and discuss. The film is not open to debate. It’s the host’s choice.
2) The hosting home is responsible for the food and drink during their evening. They can do take out Chinese or cook pasta or whatever.
3) The last week of each month is going to the theatre together, then going out to eat afterward to discuss it. The movie is chosen by whoever was supposed to host that night.

I realize guidelines might seem stringent, but they are with purpose. They would allow for the following:

1) No time wasted deciding what to watch.
2) No stress on one particular person to always host and provide snacks and drinks.
3) Routine allows people to make this a part of their life, and routine makes people become comfortable and accustomed to making the event part of their regaular week-to-week schedule.

Sure, dinner would be late one night a week. And yeah, I get it, people would be hungry for a time, but the thing is, I think this could really work and be alot of fun. I’d love to get together with friends once a week to watch a film with meaning and purpose, discuss it and learn. I’d love to turn the hobby of film-watching into a meaningful time with others. It’d be the best.

I don’t know if this could ever happen in my life. I don’t know if I have enough friends interested in doing a deal like this with a rotating host and people wanting to watch meaningful films, BUT I think it’d be a wonderful experience, at least for a year or so. I can’t imagine how amazing it would be to do this as just a part of my life for a while. If the dinner segment could be recorded into a podcast, that’d be cool, too. If you have a group of good friends interested in movie, couples or singles or whatever, I encourage you to take advantage of my dream and then e-mail and thank me for the idea.