Concert Review: MUTEMATH!

Photo provided by my sorry excuse for a camera phone.


”Mute Math, Mute Math, Mute Math!”

Those words were almost indefinitely chanted at 8:00 PM on Sunday, October 18th at the House of Blues in Chicago, IL on N. Dearborn St. It’s right by the Chicago River and Michigan Ave., if you have no idea where Dearborn is located.

This was my first experience at the H.O.B., and will most definitely not be my last. After my 21st birthday (June 6th of next year) will it be even better.

After I waited in the long snake-like line outside, and after the conclusion of the opening act, As Tall as Lions, an alternative-indie rock band from Long Island, New York, the House of Blues had turned into a much tighter crowd as the audience anxiously approached the stage for Paul Meany and his New Orleans-natives to begin. Although, I do say, As Tall as Lions was surprisingly entertaining, and I can definitely see the similarities to Mute Math, and why they would ask them to open. I may even download some of their material, but we’ll leave that for another day.

After the 15-20 minute intermission that seemed to go on for fortnights had finally ended, MUTEMATH (or Mute Math as some spell out) opened their act with "The Nerve". A single off their newest sophomore album, Armistice. Which was actually a shock to me, since I thought they’d open with "Backfire" (the first track on their new album, which they also played on the Late Show with David Letterman). Either way, it didn’t even matter which track they opened up with since every one is even better than the next.

During the duration of the concert I had to hold onto both my winter coat and hoody, but that was a minor burden upon such an epic musical event. Scratch that, it was an epic music experience.

Mute Math played the majority of their material, and covered every song that I intended on listening to. I was quite pleased.

"Clipping," "Typical," and "Burden" (extended version) were the highlights of the regulation concert. "Typical" is the single from their first album. You know, the one with the backwards music video. You don’t?.. Well, YouTube it then!

And, let me add, the drummer, Darren King, is beyond good! He’s simply amazing! His stage dive off a bass drum raised up by the crowd only compounds that aforementioned statement.

Also, Greg Hill (the guitarist) and Roy Mitchell-Cardenas (the bassist) were outstanding. I’ve never really paid attention to their work during various YouTube videos online. So, seeing them in person for the first time was a sincere treat. Roy was most entertaining during his upright bass solo. And, Greg had some sick synthesizer parts alongside his amazing guitar work.

Finally, the encore, which was by far the best part!

They ended with a mash-up of their ever-popular instrumental single "Reset" and "Stare At The Sun." It was truly an experience worth experiencing. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My body went into some sort of out-of-body experience.

You’ll just have to wait until their next album tour, and see for yourself. I know I’ll be there again!

Movie Review: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Please note: I have not read any of the Harry Potter books (although, my mom did read the first one to me). That's how long the series has been around. And, what an impressive series it has been.

The Harry Potter series has brought us many endeavors. It has tried to make us laugh. And, has tried to make us sad. It has even given us a bit of a fright. And, in my opinion has been pretty successful.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince takes us to the sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And, with that comes a more mature cast pretending to be a more hormonal group of witches and wizards. I've heard people continually complaining about the hormones and "lovey-dovey" scenes. But, honestly, it doesn't really bother me. I expected it. And, it could've been a lot worse.

As a movie, this is by far the best Harry Potter of the series. Director David Yates, known for his British television work, proved himself worthy to work with the Harry Potter series which makes me feel a lot better about the upcoming two-part seventh Potter film (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), which will be ready in 2010/2011. Yates also directed the last Harry Potter film (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), which in my opinion was the weakest film of the first five. Although, maybe I should rewatch the entire series cause its been awhile.

Not only has the director shown us a realistic Harry Potter fantasy world with the top of the line CGI, but the acting has improved dramatically over the years. I really believe that Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe could have an acting future outside of Hogwarts. They really brought the two characters alive, more so than the last five films. With that being said, my expectations of the final film installment of the J. K. Rowling's books are set high.

This Potter has also shown some mad coin by earning a record $22.2 million worth of midnight screening last Wednesday. That brings its total domestic earnings to about $107 million after its first three days.

the nuzzo news' rating: 4.5/5 Stars

More Harry Potter Six reviews at TrailerAddict.com.

I also want to mention another upcoming fantasy film series that may have some potential to fill some theatres.

Director Chris Columbus, who directed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, returns with Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. An upcoming fantasy/adventure film, which is an adaptation of The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan.

The Lightning Thief will be released on February 12, 2010.

Here is the teaser trailer:

Entertainment: "E" on CoCo

The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien becomes an even more favorite show of mine each and every time I watch it. If you're not familiar with The Tonight Show or Conan O'Brien, then you're more than missing out.

Last night's episode (July 7) was another great one. Samuel L. and "E"! C'mon!

So, with the most exciting up-and-coming premiere of Entourage's sixth season, Conan interviewed his fair share of the Entourage cast. Kevin Connolly, who plays "E" on the show, presumably was the last one before the start of the sixth season.

Gary Busey plays a game called "Tickle and Pee"?!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, and for an exclusive clip of the sixth season, Entourage...

Check out the video from last night:



And, be sure to check out the sixth season of Entourage on Sunday, July 12th on HBO (or the internet).

Entertainment: "Entourage" Is Back In Black

I'm not sure what that means, but it's a catchy title nonetheless. I guess they wear blacker suits...(?)

Anyways, it's been awhile since I've even seen a new Entourage episode. And, I won't have to wait much longer. Entourage returns to HBO on Sunday, July 12 at 10:30 PM.

Not only is Entourage President Barack Obama's favorite TV show, it's one of my top favorite shows of all-time.

If you've never seen Entourage, you're truly missing out.

Here's more about the show from Entourage.com:

"HBO presents Entourage, the hit comedy series executive produced by Mark Wahlberg that takes a look at the day-to-day life of Vincent (Vince) Chase, a hot young actor in modern-day Hollywood, and his entourage. He's brought with him from their hometown in Queens, NY: manager Eric, half-brother Drama, and friend Turtle. The series draws on the experiences of industry insiders to illustrate both the heady excesses of today's celebrity lifestyle, as well as the difficulty of finding love and success in the fast track of show biz. Now that the boys are getting used to the perks of stardom, Eric, along with superagent Ari, keep Vince's star rising while making sound decisions for a long-lasting career in a world of fleeting fame.

Adrian Grenier ('Drive Me Crazy,' 'Hart's War') stars as Vince. Kevin Connolly ('Antwone Fisher,' 'John Q') plays Eric, Vince's closest confidant who's learning the rules of the business as he tries to help Vince make the right choices and keep his trajectory aimed high. Kevin Dillon ('The Doors,' 'Platoon') plays Vince's half-brother Drama, whose own acting aspirations have been eclipsed by Vince's success. Jerry Ferrara ('Grounded for Life,' 'Leap of Faith') plays Turtle, the house manager, who's always up for a good time. Jeremy Piven ('Old School,' 'The Larry Sanders Show') plays Ari, Vince's aggressive, high-powered agent, who clashes with Eric over his client's decisions.

Also appearing in ENTOURAGE are Debi Mazar ('Goodfellas,' 'The Tuxedo') as Vince's publicist Shauna and Rex Lee as Lloyd, Ari Gold's much-maligned assistant."

Entertainment: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen;" Does It Have Any More Than Meets The Eye?

This isn't an official movie review, cause I haven't actually seen the film in it's entirety as of yet. But, I do in fact work at a movie theater. I'm employed at the Starplex Cinemas in Normal, IL (if you were interested in knowing). So with my part-time job, I have some knowledgeable intel on the matter.

It seems like most people either like the film, find it mediocre, or for the few that loved it: liked it more than the first. I fall some where in between. From the three 30-minute segments that I've seen on my breaks; I wasn't too much more impressed than the first Transformers movie. I could tell that their budget was a little bigger, so a few things were tweaked to make it more enjoyable. For example, in the first film, the camera footage was way too shaky during the action scenes and they fixed that. It also seemed like they upped the anti in the CGI department. And, I will admit, there was some more hot Megan Fox scenes. But, it seemed like they tried way too hard to do that for the audience, and it most definitely worked.

But, even with those two improvements and more, it just didn't do it for me.

The cons of Transformers 2 just barely out weigh the pros of the first one. One thing that I noticed was, one of the antagonist Transformers' (also known as decepticons) Starscream's voice wasn't the same. I don't know, it just didn't sound the same. Meh, besides that puny pet peeve of mine, the acting was nothing more than "B-Budget." Every time someone engaged in a conversation, I nearly clenched my teeth. And, please, please, if there's a Transformers 3, avoid any and all romantic scenes. Okay, fine, with this Hollywood market there must be at least one. But, just one. Maybe two could slide. But, from what I saw so far in this new Transformers, there was way too much kissy-kissy, and not enough Transformy-formy (sorry, that was bad). And, I'm not even going to begin talking about the plot of the film. "What plot? What story?," you say - exactly my point.

Here's what the professional critics thought, from TrailerAddict.com Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Reviews.

Overall, my unofficial the nuzzo news' movie rating is 3/5 stars.

As a movie it deserves a 2/5 Stars.

But since those pesky transforming alien robots are so awesome/cool, I give it an extra star for shits (no giggles).

So, what do you think of the film?

This article is also featured on Failurisms.net, under the Humanities section.

Breaking News: What's Up With My Sidebar?

So, I've been using Google Chrome for quite some time now. And, let me tell you, it's a great program. Similar to Mozilla Firefox (still my favorite web browser), it can tab windows, speed up download speed, and provide that simplicity that most enjoy. But, for some odd reason, it doesn't play NinjaVideo files or display my blog's sidebar. Yeah, for some reason it hides the sidebar or just doesn't how it. I have no idea why. Download Google Chrome

Entertainment: "True Blood"

At first I was turned off by the idea of a show revolving entirely around the idea of a vampire. But, how I was mistaken. True Blood is not just about vampires; it gives the viewer another view on topics such as: religion, racism, philosophy, and love.

I have four episodes left to watch, and cannot wait to continue on to the newly aired season 2.

The first season received critical acclaim and won several awards, including one Golden Globe.

True Blood will give you action, sex, blood, and violence like you've never seen before.

And, it even dips into some really funny comedy.

I highly recommend checking it out for yourself.

About the show from TrueBlood.com:

"Thanks to a Japanese scientist's invention of synthetic blood, vampires have progressed from legendary monsters to fellow citizens overnight. And while humans have been safely removed from the menu, many remain apprehensive about these creatures "coming out of the coffin." Religious leaders and government officials around the world have chosen their sides, but in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps, the jury is still out.

Local waitress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), however, knows how it feels to be an outcast. "Cursed" with the ability to listen in on people's thoughts, she's also open-minded about the integration of vampires — particularly when it comes to Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a handsome 173-year-old living up the road. But at the service of Bill's less virtuous vampire associates, Sookie is drawn into a series of catastrophes that will put their love to the test.

The latest hit series from 'Six Feet Under' creator Alan Ball, 'True Blood' delves into the meticulously-crafted world of novelist Charlaine Harris. Described by the Emmy®-winning Ball as "popcorn for smart people," the first season of ‘True Blood' caused an overnight sensation — and the new installments only build on his colorful cast of supernatural misfits."