I'm just sayin' (part 1)

I am not normally one to use my blog as a place to whine and moan. I am not usually over critical of books, movies, TV shows, etc. that I don't like. I usually just say it wasn't my thing and move on. Occasionally a film is bad enough to get my ire up, and I'll blast away. You know to avoid those. Usually my reviews are positive, or I say nothing at all. Today I'm going to attempt a couple reviews that are just average. Not raves, but not a total panning.

Let me start with Lacey Schwimmer's new single, Love Soundz. I want to start by saying I have been a huge fan and supporter of Lacey since she was competing on SYTYCD. I followed her because she was from Redlands, and that was my home from 1989-2001. I am also a fan of Lacey's brother Benji (that's him with me in my facebook profile pic). Both these talented dancers are now making their way into music. Lacey appeared late last year in the song Red Cup by CashCash. I really enjoyed the upbeat party dance number, even though it was hiphopish, and I am no hip hop fan. Now Lacey's first solo single is out. It is called Love Soundz, and yes, it is as steamy as you might think with that name. Lacey has had a bit of a reputation as a rebel on DWTS, and that naughty side is definitely at the core of this song. It isn't a bad song, but I'm not sure she needed to go this raunchy. The other drawback on the song is am extensive use of electronic voice modulation. This is a very popular tool of record producers to give an interesting sound to a voice, but can also hide vocal weakness. I really thought Lacey's voice was pretty nice on Red Cup, but there is so much modulation on Love Soundz, I can't be sure. So as far as this song goes, I can't say it is great, but I don't hate it. I will wait for the whole CD to come out. Still love Lacey though.
Moving on to a completely different review. Over the past year I have taken to listening to Audiobooks on my way to work. I am currently listening to INKSPELL, the second book in the INKHEART series. The first book, INKHEART was read by Lynne Redgraves, and she was marvelous. INKSPELL is read by Brendan Fraiser, who is a very enjoyable actor, and he played Mo in the INKHEART movie, so he was a logical choice. And I must say, his storytelling voice as he narrates is wonderful. He reads with appropriate speed if there is some action in the sequence, and very slowly in quieter a more thoughtful passages. My problem comes when he is doing character voices. For most of the characters he has a consistent voice, but for a few he fades in and out of accents and tones. Also in scenes with several characters he sometimes seems to lose which character is talking, and Fire-eater will suddenly be talking in Fahr-heed's (sp) voice. And there are a few voices I feel he totally misses the mark on. The big example...the one driving me nuts as I listen... is the voice of the author/story-teller Finolia. The INKHEART books are particularly European in flavor. The scenes and characters in our world are decidedly European. Finolio is an older Italian gentleman (he is a grandfather) but instead of voicing him as an elder man from Italy, Fraiser gives him the accent of a 20-something Italian street thug from New York. I keep waiting for Al Pacino to come out at slap Finolio around. I am enjoying the story, but wish they had stuck with Lynne Redgraves.

Okay, hope I wasn't too negative...I'm just sayin'...

Steve's Top 5 Top 5's-- #5 top 5 most interesting people of 2009

Rounding out my Top5 top 5's of 2009, with apologies to Barbara Walters for stealing her category, here are my top five most interesting people of 2009.

5) Adam Lambert: I started out not liking him on American Idol. I found him dark and strange. His song choices seemed sometimes very odd to me. What turned me around was his version of Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. He has a very good voice. I still find some of his song choices odd (on his debut CD), and his at times outrageous stage behavior can be disturbing. But he is being true to himself. I'm sure this Idol will be around for a while.

4) Sandra Bullock: A year ago I was asking myself, "what happened to Sandra Bullock, haven't seen her in a while?" I guess that was because she was busy making movies, With three releases this year she is suddenly every where this year, Two hits (The Proposal and The Blind Side) and one flop (All About Steve) have brought Sandra back into the public eye. She has two Golden Globe nominations (For The Proposal and Blind Side) and talk of an Oscar nod. I'm Glad she's back!

3) Lacey Schwimmer: This Dancing With The Stars pro is really interesting to me. I follow her on Twitter and she seems so down to earth and fun, Recently she has gone public with her struggles with anorexia. A very brave step for this rising star. Also she is working on recording a CD, following in the footsteps of Dancing with The Stars pros Julianne Hough, & Derek Hough and Mark Ballas (Ballas Hough Band). Best of luck Lacey!!

2) Taylor Swift: The country music Mega-star has been having a winning year including nabbing the CMA entertainer of the year award, American Music Awards Artist of the year and recently the AP Entertainer of the Year. Not bad for someone who just turned 20 this month.

1) Orianthi: I know I keep talking about her in top 5 list. But if you haven't heard her play, you wouldn't understand. This young woman is absolutely amazing on guitar. She is exploding onto the music scene, and you will be hearing this name for years to come. She has a ton of videos on YouTube, go check them out. Buy her CD Believe today. Buy This Is It on DVD when it comes out next month. You won't be sorry.

Bucket List (courtesy of 2012)

Never before have I really thought about making a bucket list. You know, like in the movie, a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket. I kind of thought it was morbid, and possibly just egging on fate to end your life before you can finish the list. But as I listen right now to Adam Lambert singing the theme to 2012 and I realize that the world will be ending in three short years, it seems an appropriate time to make a list of things I'd like to accomplish in tghe next three years, before the earth turms itself upside down and swallows us whole. So I will post my top ten items, and then keep you all updated as I accomplih them. A lot of these involve celebrities, but I'm sure, once they realize that the world is ending, they'll be willing to help me out....although if any of you have contact with any of them, you might ask them to check out this blog. These are in no particular order.

Steve's Bucket List:

1} Finish writing my novel and get it published. This is a long-time goal, and now the end of the world is just giving me motivation to work faster.

2}Take a guitar lesson from Orianthi. She is the amazing guitarist from the Michael Jackson THIS IS IT movie, and to just spend an hour learning from her would be amazing.

3} Spend a month traveling in England and Ireland. I figure it would take at least a month to find all the historical, but not touristy spots.

4} Star in, or direct a movie with Zooey Deshanel. Maybe my friend Beau could produce it. She is one of my favorite actresses, and I'd love to work with her.

5} Spend a day at the park with just my kids and my parents. Sounds easy enough, but if you understood my family situation, you'd know this is probably the wildest thing on my list.

6} Write a song with Taylor Swift. I'd let her sing it, since my voice would make people pray for the end of the world. plus with her singing it would be a sure hit.

7} Get together and hang out for at least part of a day catching up with as many of my Facebook friends as I can. Since my Toyota friends I can see any time, I won't count those, sorry. So far my total is 1, and another coming next month.

8} Have lunch or dinner with Ashley Greene (from Twilight). Her character is so sweet, and from what I hear, she is too.

9} Spend a month on tour with U2. Maybe get invited up onstage by Bono.

10} Take a dance lesson from one of my favorite Dancing with the Stars pros, either Lacey Schwimmer, Chelsie Hightower, or Julianne Hough.

OOPS I have a #11 too} To see a sunrise and sunset on every continent. Well, could probably skip Antarctica. I'm all set on North America. Lets work on the rest.

So there's the list. Keep watching this sight for updates.