These socks, made for outdoor hiking, are all good until you’re left with two big holes where the heels used to be. I walk a lot and my feet are especially hard on socks, but this relatively expensive pair doesn’t last any longer than the cheap cotton ones you buy in bulk at your local discount store.
my rating : 3 of 5
“DJ Quik is in the motherfucking house,” the club or the streets, with an alcoholic drink, trying to put his dick in some sweet black pussy. The title is too specific. This album represents his life of leisure, as fictionalized as it may be, regardless of the time of day.
It’s a fun set thanks to Quik not having lost a step in regard to providing lighthearted lyrics; the most amusing are from Suga Free on Broken Down; over fresh beats. It begins with a banjo; that’s what he says the hip-hop game needs; and ends with jazz instruments.
my rating : 3 of 5
2014
It’s Natural because it’s made from natural ingredients. Milk, cream and sugar are the only ones listed aside from tara gum, which comes from a plant and is presumably used to soften the texture.
What this ice cream lacks in taste; it’s good but not as tasty, certainly not as sweet, as other artificially flavored vanilla brands; it makes up for in being a more natural, thus healthier, alternative.
my rating : 4 of 5
These are only songs of innocence in the sense that they’re safe in regard to album marketing. There’s nothing risqué or provocative here. A glance at the titles suggest the concepts go a bit deeper than your average pop-rock set; the opener is an ode to Joey Ramone; but any one could play in the background of, say, a random product or service ad without raising a public eyebrow. Even the music (production/recording) itself is polished with a lush sheen.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with innocent music, of course. The problem Bono and his band face is that the songs, while certainly not bad, are also boring. At least most are. Not because they’re safe, but because they’re melodically restrained. Iris stands out, but none of the hooks are particularly memorable, let alone catchy. REM’s swan songs had a few gems hidden among all the mediocrity. This U2 album, which, if it isn’t, should be one of their final, has none.
my rating : 3 of 5
2014
“You keep breaking me down,” a falsetto says before continuing with a short series of mostly incoherent shrieks. It’s a classic Prince moment reminiscent of his livelier Purple Rain days. It’s also the only one this Art project has to offer. There’s some nice Kokane-like harmonies happening on Way Back Home and the main melody of the music is a charm, but nothing else even comes close to the twenty-something-second peak of The Breakdown, the full song of which is technically flawed with what sounds like clipping.
Sticky Like Glue from 2010 was (is) one of my favorite Prince songs. There’s no such thing on this 2014 follow-up, which features Lianne La Havas; a girl who, apparently by mere chance, looks like she could be Prince’s daughter; almost to the point of wearing out her welcome. Prince still has a knack for contemporary funk, yes, but it seems most of his good songs are far behind him. Official age? 56 years. Perhaps it’s time to call it quits before he tarnishes his legacy, or at least his discography, more than it already is.
my rating : 3 of 5
2014
![video review : Star Wars [ A New Hope ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/42880-1.jpg)
The opening text, which sets the story “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”, suggests you’re about to watch something silly. What it doesn’t suggest is how entertaining that silliness will be. Star Wars isn’t great, despite the epic intentions of director George Lucas, but it’s a joyride.
The best parts begin during the second half when a ship boarded by the main protagonists; basically the good guys, led by a Jedi named Obi-Wan Kenobi; is pulled onto the enemy’s Death Star space station. They escape but return later with plans to destroy it; an ending that’s a ride in itself.
my rating : 4 of 5
1977
This is only wacky space music during the first song. The rest, with the exception of Fred Schneider’s alien sprechgesang vocals, are quite Earthly. There’s talk of hot summers, bushfires, fast cars, even a Love Shack; all in the name of new wave rock music.
The best song is Topaz, a breezy delight, but the others are fun too. It’s Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson; specifically their melodic, sometimes harmonious, singing; that are the life of the party. Fred and his silly antics serve as more of an odd-man egg-on.
my rating : 4 of 5
1989
“I wanted an album so rugged, nobody could touch it,” Eminem proclaims. If he’s referring to rap albums, this LP might just be that. I’ll say here and now with no hesitation or reservation that Eminem is the best rapper I’ve ever heard. No popular rapper you can think of, alive or dead, even comes close. I might’ve been saying the same about guest Royce Da 5-9 if he weren’t upstaged by a rapper whose comedic wit, clever wordplay and sheer rhyme skills near genius.
There is very little filler in Eminem’s verses. Even when he’s lacing them with unnecessary profanities; the Slim Shady persona is a deviant (white-trash) druggie who aims to offend; almost every two bars are a quality set and many of those sets are classic quotables. Unless he’s cheating it somehow, his creativity is close to amazing. He even does his own sound effects. The beats are also impressive, so the album’s only major drawbacks fall on Faulty choruses and silly skits.
my rating : 4 of 5
1999
audio review : The Marshall Mathers LP ( album ) … Eminem
audio review : Hell [ The Sequel ] ( album ) … Bad Meets Evil
Add this to the endless list of disappointing sequels. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes set the scene for what could’ve been a classic movie trilogy. Dawn, the title of which is just as clunky, kills all hope.
The apes talk too much. The storyline, stitched together by a series of unlikely coincidences, is surprisingly tame and predictable. A hero found alive, a villain on a cliff; this is War Movies 101.
my rating : 3 of 5
2014
The battle judges say it’s Joe Budden, but the real loser is anyone who paid their hard-earned money to watch this overhyped fiasco. Both rappers had months to prepare but neither manages to come-up with anything spectacular, and hardly anything clever or interesting, to say about the other. Hollow’s puberty voice and tough-guy act are annoying, so all the while I’m hoping for him to lose, but he’s generally a decent rapper, so I thought he’d do better than this.
His lamest moment comes during the third (final) round when he stops rapping to play Captain-Save-A-Ho, threatening to beat-up Joe Budden for hitting women, which makes him (Hollow) look like a total idiot. Budden’s lamest moment comes during that same round when the rapper lets crowd booing get to him. “If yall keep booing,” he says, “I will stop rapping completely.” How embarrassing. He should’ve just kept going. It’s not like he was being slaughtered or anything.
my rating : 2 of 5
The Ghostbusters are annoying. Peter’s deadpan humor is particularly eye-rolling, but none are as bad as a nerdy accountant who’s, at one point, possessed by a demon called The Keymaster.
This is a silly movie with a silly plot. The main problem is that it goes for comedy and isn’t funny, nor is it scary; a double whammy that serves as a virtual death sentence for a movie about ghosts.
my rating : 2 of 5
1984
I’m not a fan of Prodigy as a rapper. This book, an autobiography grammatically molded by Laura Checkoway, is better than his verses. That assumes everything portrayed here is the truth. It’s hard to tell. He cries over a girl, which even I consider a sucker move, but doesn’t fear fighting big dudes and getting shot at.
In either case, aside from him occasionally swaying from the story to express his thoughts on race and religion, it’s an interesting read. As far as the concept is concerned though, his life before becoming famous should’ve been limited to the prologue so that he could devote more of the book to the Infamous parts.
my rating : 4 of 5
2011