I’m Loving This "Angels" Instead

9 Apr

Memo to David Archuleta: This is how “Angels” is supposed to be performed. Not the way you did it last night on American Idol. Granted, you had a smaller crowd to sing to than Robbie Williams does in this clip, but you damn near drained the song of any emotion and made it sound pretty limp. “Angels” is a bigger song than you could ever sing. It’s a fantastic song, and a great song choice — but not for you. Just watch as Robbie sings it in front of thousands and thousands of people, and listen as they sing along with him. Look at the passionate response he gets, and the way he engages a crowd that large. You could never do that, David. I hope you’re voted off this week. And if not this week, then next week. Or the week after. You shouldn’t win this competition. You’re overrated. You always have been. And maybe after you’re voted off, you can use the time to find a personality. When you’re not singing, you just stand there with your goofy grin and not much else. I don’t like you, David. I want you off the show.

Sincerely,
Martin

Sweet!

7 Apr

Free ice cream and Opening Day at Fenway Park — what could be better? To celebrate the start of home games over on Yawkey Way, J.P. Licks is giving away free ice cream all day tomorrow, Tuesday, at every one of their locations. Woo hoo!

In Fact, It’s a Gas

6 Apr

As with the recent U2 3D film, Shine a Light is a document of big-time performers that must be seen on a very big screen.

This film of two 2006 performances by the Rolling Stones at New York’s Beacon Theater does more than just demonstrate why the Stones are such a legendary band; it also, ahem, shines a light on the men in the band, giving us insights into why they’ve stuck together all these years.

Director Martin Scorsese is a huge Stones fan; he uses a song by the band in most every movie he makes. In fact, in recent interviews, Mick Jagger has joked that Shine a Light may be the only Scorsese film that does not include “Gimme Shelter” in its soundtrack.

Point is, this is a guy who knows his subject. Continue reading →

Honey, I’m Home!

6 Apr

If there’s one thing I learned this weekend during the move, it’s that I, Martin Lieberman, am quite good with the spatial relations.

You see, all was going pretty well Saturday morning. Other than some early-morning mist, the rain mostly held off. The elevator in my building was on the fritz, but somehow it worked until the last load had been brought down, and then it died.

The movers got to me a little bit later than expected, but it gave me some extra time to take care of some last-minute packing I didn’t do the night before. So it was all good.

But when we got to my new place and started to unload the truck, my couch wouldn’t fit through the apartment door. The movers tried multiple ways of fitting it through the door, but none worked because the doorway was too thin, the stairway was in the way, and the sprinkler system was inches too low from the ceiling.

They were giving up, and the couch was going to have to go down in my storage unit; I would have to buy a new one. Continue reading →

Cincinnati Music Factory

6 Apr

Sometimes local news is so random. Like this early-morning broadcast on channel 12 in Cincinnati. I’m sort of happy they don’t do stuff like this here in Boston … although it would be awesome if VB, Doug, or Cindy busted out some moves one morning on the F0X 25 morning news. Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, I present this clip. (Thanks to EW.com’s PopWatch for the heads up.)

Movin’ On Out

4 Apr

One last post before I pack up my computer here at 110 Babcock — or simply “The ‘Cock,” as someone called it last night. The apartment is pretty empty; other than furniture and books, most everything else has been moved to my new place. As expected, packing has been a fun experience; I’ve found all kinds of stuff I hadn’t seen since I moved in (old photos, a bag full of Louis, etc.) and taking a week to move in gradually before the actual movers came has turned out to be a great idea.

After more than six years in one place, it’ll be a real adjustment to have my life centered elsewhere, but I’ll be fine (of course). There’s a lot I’ll miss about this building (the location, mostly), but in the end, I’m very happy to be moving on (thank you, violin players and noisy, insensitive neighbors and price-gouging management company). In fact, it gives me immense pleasure to know that I’ll be going out with a bang — my movers are scheduled to arrive at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Now, you know how I feel about noise on Saturday mornings when I’m trying to sleep late. But after all these months of tolerating the violins and the flutes and the pianos and the loud talking and smoking outside my window and the late-night phone calls next door and the smelly cooking and all the shoes left in the hallway and the rude neighbors who don’t hold the door open when you’re right behind them and the heavy-footed upstairs neighbors and the folks who park their minivan next to me and don’t know how to open doors without hitting my car and the side doors being propped open, etc. etc. etc., it only seems right that I disturb my neighbors for a change. So, goodbye 110. I’ll miss you. (But not too much.)

Opening Night

4 Apr

Forget what I said the other day: This is opening night for me. It’s the first time a Red Sox game is starting in the 7 p.m. hour, when I can actually watch. Those early-morning Japan games and then the late-night Oakland ones just didn’t count if I couldn’t really watch them. So now that baseball is on and I can actually see it, it’s like the season has just started. Woo hoo! Go Sox!

A Parting Gift

4 Apr

Awwwww … how sweet. On my last day in the apartment, as I’m packing up and throwing stuff out, feeling happy and relaxed and having fun, I’ve been blessed by my neighbor with yet another flute recital. How did she know that’s exactly what I wanted? I guess since it’s 4:45 in the afternoon I don’t have a very good reason to make her stop (other than my perpetual annoyance and her seemingly uncurable lack of courtesy and the fact that I can hear it even when I go outside — and the fact that the building managers have asked her and her roommate to stop practicing their instruments in the building not once but twice), so I guess I’ll just let her play. And I’ll even join in the fun by blasting my music really loud and seeing how she likes it. Everybody gets something! Hooray!

The Right Stuff? Not Really.

4 Apr

You already know how I feel about the New Kids on the Block — ahem, sorry, NKOTB reunion. When they appeared on The Today Show this morning, tons of fans went crazy. I was driving around listening to Kiss 108 and that’s all anyone was talking about. (Sure, I know, there’s an ulterior motive there, but there were all kinds of stories of people driving hours to see them at a club tonight, and digging out all kinds of old NKOTB paraphernalia, etc.). Now, maybe it’s because I grew up in New York and not here in Boston, but I tell you: I just don’t get why this is such a big deal. I can appreciate wanting a favorite group to reunite, but not if it’s a teen pop group. I mean, look at those guys in the picture; I don’t really want to see them try to recreate their glory days all these years later. I don’t want to hear Joey Mac stretch his voice to reach the high notes in “Please Don’t Go Girl.” They’re grown men. I actually feel sorry for them having to do this — especially Donnie Wahlberg, who has tried so hard to get some credibility in recent years with his acting. How can we take him seriously again after this? Seeking a reality check, I asked a 30-year-old woman at Newbury Comics this morning if she was excited about the reunion, and she told me, “I lived through it once. That was enough.” That seems to be how I feel about it, except I skipped it the first time around.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/23953971#23953971

Past Meets Present

2 Apr

It’s been a week since I bought my condo and I’m somewhere between halfway and two-thirds of the way moved in. I’ve been packing up and making daily trips over, dropping off breakable and easily-movable items — partly to make it easier for the movers (who come early Saturday morning) and cheaper for me, and partly because I just can’t wait to live there full-time. All my CDs, most of my clothes, just about my entire kitchen and bathroom … it’s all there. I’ve run the dishwasher a few times, I’ve done one load of laundry, and I’ve even done some cleaning. In short, I’m doing everything all according to plan and so far it’s working out just fine.

There’s lots to like about my condo, but I have to say, one of my favorite things about it is the boiler room. Yes, you read that right. You see, I bought a place in an older building that’s been rehabbed, refurbished, redone, etc. All the amenities are modern and new and clean. And yet, in the boiler room there’s a pretty cool bit of history on one wall, where all kinds of former residents wrote their names. Some of them dated their signature, and the years go as far back as the 1930s and ’40s. The most recent date I saw was 1987. And being a sucker for nostalgia and stuff like this, I just find the signatures give the building a lot of random, hidden, unexpected charm. It’s really impressive that over the years, and despite extensive renovation, these names have remained on the wall. Perhaps it’s because I’m not alone in appreciating this aspect of the building. One day I’ll have to sign my own name on one of the bricks. For now, though, I am eager to share in the history of this place I’ll soon call my home.

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