The Best of Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen - DVD - UR

Byron Allen. I'll be honest, I had never really heard of him till I got this dvd. And as a comedian I will say he has a couple really funny jokes. And the idea is solid as well, get a bunch of comics together and let them have a round table discussion. Good idea, but unfortunately bad execution.
The comedians are funny, but unleased is a wrong word for it. You can tell the show is carefully (and considering some of the comics they have on there, i.e. Dane Cook for one!) edited. The comics all use very PG language and keep their jokes tame.
Also the discussion never breaks out into anything even remotely non politically correct. They talk about Bush once. But in general every episode talks about plastic surgery and dating.

The show has an excellent premise. But unfortunately it should have been called Comics Leashed.....  Not recommended.

RATING 2 of 5 stars.

PS: Just a quick note.  Starting this Friday, 8/2/13, all my posts will be made on Fridays.  Thanks and happy days all.

Ragu Fresh & Simple Smooth Pasta Sauce, Traditional Tomato Basil, 13.5-Ounce Pouches (Pack of 6)

It's rare when a product comes along in life where we get to have easy mixed with good. Yet here is another example. The sauce is easy to use because you can get it hot and ready even faster than you can cook the noodles. But now comes the problem. This is one of the most bland sauces I have ever tasted in my life.

It's called a tomato basil sauce. I taste the tomato, and thats it.... I'm pretty sure nothing else is in it at all. Literally. You could grab a can of tamato sauce and get the same effect.

It's just as easy to heat up a jar of regular spaghetti sauce. And you don't have to sacrifice taste. Now to me that seems like a better deal.

Save yourself some money and don't purchase this mediocre concoction.  

RATING: 1 of 5.

Lush - Spooky (Music)

Welcome back to the Opinion Company.  Yes I'm well aware no one at all is probably following this anymore.  Oh well, I'm going to start sticking new reviews on here.  And by reviews I mean they can be anything at all.  Hopefully you guys will enjoy it.  So let's start it all up again.

Lush - Spooky (Music)

The debut album of Lush. The cd was weird for it's time. And it still sounds weird and out of place now. But I'm not actually in any way demeaning the cd. That's actually one of the things I love about it. It's in many ways a timeless album. Think about how much music you can easily class which decade it came from. Or figure out what style it is. Lush worked hard to defy that. Oh sure, you know it's pop. But not Britney Spears pop. It's rock, but not Guns N Roses rock. It stuck between genres. And now has come to be called "Shoegazing."

And in case you're wondering, Shoegazing means bands who came from the late eighties, and reached it's height in the mid nineties. They played a brand of alternative pop rock. It was heavily effects laden. Lush were at the forefront of the movement. While the style has mostly died out, it's not done yet with a new crop of "nu-gaze" bands like Autolux. But anyway, what about this album?

Solid cd. Lush were still growing into their sound like wearing a shirt a bit too big. So sometimes the sound gets away from them. A good example would be the song Tiny Smiles in my opinion. But other songs they were able to nail, such as Covert, For Love, Superblast!, and my personal favorite Untogether.
Yes the shoegazing era is gone. But Lush left us with some very memorable records. Such as this moody gem.

RATING: 3.8 of 5.

Like Water

This is a review for the book, Rainwater by Sandra Brown.  I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.  http://www.amazon.com/Rainwater-Sandra-Brown/dp/1439172773/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

I have never read a Sandra Brown novel before so I din't know what to expect. I was happy to discover a novel with a lot of rich meaning and a nice story.
The book takes place in the depression era (1934 to be exact) where a hard working woman named Ella Barron struggles to take care of the tenants of her boarding house while dealing with a 9 year-old son with a severe case of autism. The novel begins with a new boarder moving in by the name of David Rainwater.

From there the novel follows an interesting path dealing with issues such as racism, bigotry, poverty, and even finding love when you have given up on it. The novel isn't a deep soul searching revelation by any means. But with fleshed out characters, exciting scenes, and triumph in the face of natural pains and the evil men do, the novel is a very satisfying read. Two thumbs up.

RATING 4 of 5

Stone Temple Pilot's Debut Album

This is a review I wrote for Stone Temple Pilots excellent Core album.  http://www.amazon.com/Core-Stone-Temple-Pilots/dp/B000002IU3/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1   I gave it 5 stars out of 5.  Here's why:

Still one of my favorite albums of all time. In 1992 STP realeased this rock gem. It wasn't univerally aclaimed though that's for sure. While fans loved it enough to make it go 8 times platinum the critics dismissed it as just another grunge cd. Well, STP are still around making music, so what you got to say to that critics? Here's a song breakdown:

Dead and Bloated 5.0 Heck of a start to a cd. Scot Weiland's growling lyrics over a killer riff. Was never a radio single, but still gets a lot of airplay even today!
Sex Type Thing 4.9 A strong song condeming date rape. Pretty powerful stuff.  If you find the single for Plush ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000057W1V?SubscriptionId=0QCHRJVSKG6F3BRGBNG2&tag=pbs_00098-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000057W1V ) it contains a swing type version to the song.  Pretty epic...
No Memory 3.7 Cool interlude that leads into....
Wicked Garden 4.8 Strong rock song. Another classic.
Sin 4.7 A very underated song. Weiland is here raging against sin and religion.
Naked Sunday 4.2 Interesting beat. Love the production on this song.
Creep 5.0 STP go acoustic on this one, and it is amazing. You can feel the intensity in Scott's voice too!
Piece of Pie 4.5 Interesting song. Not really in love with it though.
Plush 5.0 It doesn't get any better than this! The music, the lyrics, the singing, the baseline. Everything comes together in this one! Worth buying the cd just for this song!
Wet My Bed 2.5 Throw away track in my opinion. Very short and could've been left off.
Crackerman 5.0 My favorite song on the record! I saw Velvet Revolver play one time and they did this song. So good!
Where the River Goes 4.9 Good long ending song!

54.2 out of 60.0. Pretty awesome. If you don't have this cd but love rock, then you need to get this.  Classic 90s rock at it's finest.

RATING: 5 of 5!

Loves the Sound of Her Own Voice

This review is for the book for "Palimpest" by Catherynne M. Valente.  Audio Book version.
I gave it 1 star.

I found the premise of this book intriguing. Stripped down to the basic, it's the story of four people who end up having spontaneous sex with a stranger and enter Palimpsest. The experience will change their lives forever.... And that's it. There is no other scrap of plot in the whole story.

The only thumbs up I can give echos the other reviewers, Catherynne Valente has a truly musical quality to her writing. She can definitely turn a phrase. And it is a pleasure to read her construction. But it's not enough....

That being said though, that's all she does. Palimpsest is more like a drug trip hallucination than actual story. I'm not really sure she has a plot in mind at all. The problem is that while you at first enjoy listening to the musical quality of the story, you eventually become frustrated when you realize it's not going anywhere.
When I first started listening to it I tried to compare it to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. I figured I would appreciate it for the artistic quality even if I wasn't wowed by the story. But no, it's no Dark Side of the Moon either.

So overall I have to say I am really disappointed in the work. I would love to give it more than a 1 star, but a book has to have a plot that makes it worthy of reading. If not ultimately it ends up being a pretty little piece of garbage. And this is what Palimpsest is.

RATING 1 of 5

Album: Sucker Punch OST*  Artist: Various  Rating: 5 Stars

Amazing cd! Now while there is some previously released material on this album, don't let that discourage you. The remixes are dead on. Here's my thoughts on each track:

1. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - 5.0 Emily Brown, what can't she do? Act, and now sing? Yes she does a heck of a job on this song. A classic reworking that hits on all cylinders.
2. Army of Me (Sucker Punch Remix) - 4.5 Don't get me wrong, the song fits perfectly in with the movie. And the remix is cool.Not vastly different from the original song. Still nice to see it in here.
3. White Rabbit - 5.0 A song about Alice In Wonderland. It rocks. Emiliana Torrini's voice is perfect here. A dreamy rock/pop song.
4. I Want It All/ We Will Rock You (Mash Up) - 1.0 Ugh, this doesn't work with the rest of the cd in my opinion. It's a fist pumping mix of rap and classic Queen. But it sticks out like a sore thumb when compared with the rest of the dreamy rock and punk songs.
5. Search and Destroy - 4.5 Ah here we go. Jumps right back into the album's theme. Good song
6. Tomorrow Never Comes - 4.5 A very memorable song (on the movie it's the train scene/kitchen scene). This song get's stuck in my head every time I hear it. It is not dying....argh! See!
7. Where Is My Mind? - 4.5 Emily Brown sings backup to this song as well. Will stick with you long after the song ends.
8. Asleep - 4.0 Yet a third Emily Brown song! And she rocks this one as well. Slower and haunting.
9. Love is the Drug - 5.0 This song is from the final credits in the movie. And it fits in so well. Once you get done the movie you are kind of in a dark place by what you have just seen. This song is the perfect touch to bring you back up. It sounds like a big grand production. Great song and a great way to conclude the album.

Final Score: 38.0 out of 45.0
Not too shabby! With the exception of song number four this soundtrack doesn't miss a beat. I personally recommend it.

RATING 4.7 of 5