R&B Jesus has risen

There have been all kinds of great videos posted from Europe in the last week proving that D'angelo is back and bad as he ever was. While it's not much to look at, the sound quality on this one from Paris is great.

Sofia quote of the day: Santa

Me: I'm proud of you and I'm going to go tell Santa you've been a good girl.

Sofia: He already knows.

Rapping in a British accent: Mikill Pane

It always sounds so cool and intellectual, even when the lyrics consist of tales of farting in a movie theater. I guess that should be "theatre."



Thanks to the Umbro web site's music player for the tip-off.

The Almighty Tanya Morgan: You & What Army

Tanya Morgan hold a special place in my heart as the group that reignited my love of hip-hop music after years of apathy.

I think it was 2006 when their album Moonlighting was heralded by that evil Bachmann basher, Questlove, as one of his year-end favorites. That co-sign was enough for me to take a listen and what I heard instantly connected with me. Von Pea, Donwill and Ilyas were smart, funny and funky... just like me. What!

Five years, a slew of Tanya Morgan and solo albums and EPs later, they're still trying to carve out a spot for themselves in the music industry, but their art hasn't suffered in the struggle. They continue to grow artistically, even if they're shrinking in number. Ilyas has left group -- a fact that is played out in a really clever (and pretty damn heatbreaking) skit in the intro to "You & What Army?"

It won't be the same without him, but it doesn't have to be. Von Pea and Donwill are two creative cats and they're moving forward with more high quality hip-hop. No, no. Don't believe me. Listen to it yourself. It's free, Emmer Effer:


Like it? Go to their bandcamp page and buy a T-shirt. I'm putting one on my Christmas list.

"That's a bunch of bull, like Jordan in a steakhouse."
-- Donwill

Sofia quote of the day

This came tonight while Sofia was chomping on a cherry Starburst candy cane:

Sofia: Mami's the boss, right?

Me: Yep.

Sofia: Mami's the boss because she says she's the boss, but God is the real boss, right?

Me: Who told you that?

Sofia: Nobody. I just believe it inside my head.

Where does she get this stuff? Not from home.

Sofia quote of the day

Watching the Thanksgiving parade: "That's cool that the Kool-Aid man showed up."

Good News/Bad News

Good News: We actually had chocolate sauce in the fridge to spruce up that remaining vanilla ice cream.

Bad News: It was really just "chocolate flavored syrup."

Good News: It's a "fat free food."

Bad News: The "best by" date on the bottle said November 10.

Good News: Still smells OK.

Bad News: That's actually November 10, 2007.

Good News: Tasted just fine.

Bad News: Tasted just fine.

Good News: Purchased for less than $2 sometime during George W. Bush's second term, Publix brand chocolate flavored sauce survived the worst economic downfall in decades and is still yielding great returns.

Bad News: None. It's all upside.

Getting out of the funk with The Original 7ven

The last couple of months haven't been the greatest and I've been struggling a little to get back to my amazingly upbeat self. Tough times like these call for the right music, and the way I see it, you have two choices: 1) You can dive head first into your pity party with something whiny and sorrowful, and most likely British; or 2) You can try to pull yourself out of the funk with a double dose of the funk.

I didn't think I was quite ready for Option 2, but like a funkin' miracle from above, the Minneapolis branch office of The Adjustment Bureau saw fit to reunite the original seven members of The Time after 21 years to record a new album that makes me smile, dance and laugh every single time I play it.

My friend Prince tried to stomp his pointy heels all over my comeback and theirs by not allowing them to use their Prince-given name, The Time. But just as Prince's other revered side project, The Family, did this year when they regrouped and recorded their own new music under the name fDeluxe, The Time just moved forward and renamed themselves "The Original 7ven."

Although Prince wrote and basically recorded all of the songs on their first three albums, the seven members of The Time were -- and still are -- talented musicians in their own right. Jimmy Jam (keys) and Terry Lewis (bass) wrote and produced a million hits after Prince fired them and they're responsible for producing most of the new album; Morris Day is coolest, most pimping and self-deprecating frontman in the world, not to mention a funky-ass drummer with enough personality in his voice to pull off any line; Jerome Benton is the greatest hype man ever, always stealing the show; Jesse Johnson is an amazing guitarist and should be a household name (Quad Cities, U.S.A., represent!); Monte Moir, who wrote Janet Jackson's "The Pleasure Principle," can play the Minneapolis sound's signature keyboard lines like nobody else; and Jellybean "Don't Be So Mean" Johnson is the drummer in one of the tightest live bands ever to do it.

With all of that said, if they had never recorded this new album, Condensate, their legacy might have been misinterpreted as solely the best band to play Prince songs. Condensate disproves that argument.

While the new music still adheres to the template Prince set out for them in the early 80s, Condensate is slick, funky and really adventurous music for fans of the genre, not to mention way more fun than anything Prince has released in a long time. They don't take themselves too seriously, just the music.

Don't be tempted like I was to judge the album by 30 or even 90-second snippets. There are funky little surprises around every corner that show off their musicianship and make for a great listen all the way through. Also, go to Best Buy and get the CD with special DVD documentary featuring the guys telling their own history. It's really well done and kind of sweet (Morris delivers another classic Morris line when, describing his normal childhood growing up in Minneapolis, he says in his Mr. Day voice, "A new bike for Christmas and shit like that.")

And if this song -- the greatest social media jam ever written -- doesn't pick you up, put a little hop in your step and make you feel like dancing, you might as well just retire and go to bed:

Netflix abandons Qwickster

I just got my e-mail from Netflix saying that they've decided against the Qwickster thing. As a man who took the Netflix Instant Queue Challenge and won, I feel like I'm qualified to say this is a good move.

I love Netflix. They saved my soul from Cockbusters just a couple of years ago, but what's going on? Is it that they have no backbone or are they just great listeners?

It seems like a focus group might be a good idea. Maybe they haven't seen Mad Men? It's available to watch instantly.

If not, I hope they've at least seen this unaired SNL skit from two weeks ago: Web Exclusive: Netflix Apology

Late pass: Breaking Bad

Although it's really depressing, Breaking Bad is my latest Netflix instant queue addiction. That Bryan Cranston deserves every acting award ever awarded for this. Plus, he's got his own website.

Lounge Act with Sofia

A little Sunday morning grunge dance off:

Malcolm Gladwell on sports franchises

Very good article by Malcolm Gladwell on the NBA lockout, the Boston Red Sox's racist past and sports franchise owners who say they lose money.

Read it here at Grantland.com.

Sofia quote of the day

This afternoon, while sitting on the throne: "Daddy, I think we need to take a break from the tacos."

Netflix Challenge: The Final Breakdown

It's all over. Che is done and I even knocked off a few re-adds and automatically added films -- Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun, the awful Goya's Ghosts and the totally awesome Oceans for good measure. I highly recommend Oceans.

I started the Netflix Instant Queue Elimination Challenge back on Aug. 10, 2010, as a way to clean out all the films I was hoarding on the queue, but not actually watching. I vowed to not add any new titles until the backlog was cleared.

Exactly one year and four days later, on Aug. 14, 2010, I was done.

A lot has happened since then, including one very nasty price increase, and I'm glad it's finally all over. Here's a little breakdown of the experience

Total Films: 54

Average Watch Rate: One movie every 6.8 days

First Film: Wonderful World with Matthew Broderick

Last Film: Che was the official end, but Goya's Ghosts was the last to be watched after it somehow sneaked back onto the queue.

Best Film I Hadn't Seen Before: Based on my Netflix ratings, I guess it's got to be Mary and Max, since it was the only one to get the hard-to-come-by 5-star "Loved It" rating. I don't just hand those out, unlike my wife who gives five stars to entire seasons of Roseanne.

Worst Film: I'll Believe You. This was horrible. The only Netflix Challenge film I couldn't finish, despite it featuring Chris Elliott.

Surprise Film: All of the Ramin Bahrani's U.S. immigrant story movies: Goodbye Solo, Chop Shop and Man Push Cart. I had never heard of this guy before, but I'll be sure not to miss any of his movies in the future. No wonder Ebert called him "Director of the decade."

Late breaking Netflix Challenge news

Che is off the queue. The Netflix Challenge is history!

More analysis to come...

OK, this is bullshit

After a long, fun summer away from here, it's time to finish off the Netflix Challenge tonight. No more bullshitting around. You're going down, Che, you two part, 4.5 hour biopic.

In the meantime, I wish I had HBO so I could watch this:

Ep. 75: Clip - Larry on… Pig Parking

It's scary, but I become more like Larry every day.

Netflix Challenge: The Final Countdown

It's been nearly 10 months since I first accepted the Netflix Challenge (Aug. 10, 2010) and I'm proud to say we're down to the final film.

At least I want it to be the final film. I'm not sure what the rule book says about this, but a few films that were initially on the 73-deep queue when the challenge was first issued (Goya's Ghosts, Manhattan Murder Mystery)but then disappeared, have now magically reappeared, while a couple of films that were in the DVD queue (Cold Souls, Tetro) have now popped up in the Instant Queue. Crap.

So, while we wait to convene a bipartisan panel to rule on whether or not the queue is down to one (Steven Soderbergh's four-hour Che) three, or five, here's the breakdown of what we've recently eliminated:

The White Ribbon
Just like director Michael Haneke's previous entry on the Netflix Challenge, Funny Games, The White Ribbon is physically draining to watch. It's also painfully German.



Chop Shop/Man Push Cart
Two great American immigrant stories from Ramin Bahrani.






Broken Embraces
It's hard to go wrong when you get to spend two hours with Penelope Cruz, including a few seconds of bare-chested Penelope Cruz, but this one definitely falls into the Pedro Almodovar-Is-Overrated category. Just not that entertaining.




The Beaches of Agnes
An autobiographical documentary by the really interesting Agnes Varda. I didn't fall asleep once!




A Nos Amours
French awesomeness from the early '80s about a young girl from a dysfunctional family blossoming into womanhood with promiscuous sex. Not sure how the French get away with filming a 16-year-old girl all naked, but they do. It's art.

Here's the trailer in French. It's more fun without the subtitles:




Hounddog
Dakota Fanning in a dark Southern tale featuring Elvis and rape. Why do we put ourselves through this shit?



Just one, three or five to go!

Woody + Owen

Two of my favorites in a movie set in Paris.



If there's one actor that I could stand performing the Woody role in a Woody Allen movie, it would be Owen Wilson.

Doesn't look like it's scheduled to hit Greenville anytime soon.

Raphael Saadiq's Stone Rollin'

While I was a little worried he was just going to retread the Motown sounds of his last awesome album, the new one is so good and a lot more rock 'n' roll than a lot of rock 'n' roll. It's like Saadiq does The Rolling Stones. But again, just like on The Way I See It, Saadiq doesn't just imitate the influences. He uses them as inspiration. And that's why it's awesome. Everybody agrees.



I listened to the album for free all the way to Nashville and back on NPR Music's great album preview feature. Catch it while you can.

Daytrotter has a good live session for free.

Bob Schieffer makes it plain

Have always loved Bob Schieffer and will continue forevermore.