Alrighty, so up to this point, I've mostly been all about re-capping my favourite TV shows. But tonight that's all gonna change as I introduce you to a new feature I hope to run about once a month: Jill's CD Review.
That's right, folks. I'm not all about TV shows. I actually listen to music once in a while.
This past month I went on a bit of a CD-buying binge - in fact, I picked up 4 CDs in one day.
The big winner from that day's puchases?
That would be the 2005 10-song disc Extreme Behavior by a band called Hinder.
Pretty much everyone has heard the song "Lips of an Angel" on the radio in the past month or so. If you haven't, you've been living under a rock. It's a slow, romantic ballad with a bittersweet premise: the dude's whispering on the phone to his ex-girlfriend, and his new girlfriend's just in the next room, and it's so obvious that he still loves the ex and wants to be with her, but he's afraid to mess things up with the new girl. You know how it goes. It's an awesome song, as far as I'm concerned - definitely the biggest highlight of the entire album.
But there are other great songs. The only other track to garner any radio-play is "Get Stoned", a grungy sort of loser anthem. I like it, but it's not my favourite. After listening through the entire CD for the first time, my initial favourite after "Lips of an Angel" was a song called "Homecoming Queen". It's catchy, it's up-beat; a very radio-friendly sound, all about how the popular girl in high school didn't end up being much of a success once she hit the real world.
Then there's track #6, my current favourite, which is a slow song called "Better Than Me" with the haunting refrain: I really miss your hair in my face/ And the way your innocence tastes/ And I think you should know this/ You deserve so much better than me. I always like it when a song makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. It happens very rarely. "Fix You" by Coldplay, as I've mentioned in a previous Blog, did this to me. I can now add "Better Than Me" to the list. Plus, it's a really dramatic song to just belt out when I'm driving alone in the Rav.
Overall, it's one of my favourite CDs of the past year, and it firmly cemented me as a fan of Hinder. They're a band that looks like Fallout Boy but sounds more like Default. Edgy rock, a lot of anger, a lot of regret, a lot of begging for forgiveness. Lead singer Austin Winkler is all about the raw vocals that crawl in under your skin and make you think & feel. Visually, he's not so appealing - not a bad-looking dude, but his hand movements in the video for "Lips of an Angel" annoy the hell out of me. Other than that, I have no complaints. Guitar-heavy alt-rock with catchy melodies and choruses that encourage singing along. This one comes highly recommended by me!
Pick it up if you like: Default, Nickelback, Theory of a Deadman, 3 Doors Down
Instant Hits: "Lips of an Angel", "Get Stoned"
Skip-able Tracks: "How Long", "Room 21", "Shoulda"
Jill's Picks: "By the Way", "Bliss (I Don't Wanna Know)", "Better Than Me", "Homecoming Queen"
Rating: 3.75/5
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Wednesday, November 1, 2006
The Golden Couple Go Their Separate Ways
Well, I declared the Senators' slump officially over, so of course, they have officially begun a new slump. And I hate talking about my team losing, so I won't talk about it at all.
What has been troubling me for the past few days is the news of a recent Celebrity Split. It happens all the time in the fickle land of Hollywood, and usually they don't shock me. But for some reason, this one did.
Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillippe are kaput.
Before Ryan & Reese were married, they were individually two of my favourite actors - with him starring in White Squall & I Know What You Did Last Summer, and her break-out performances in Man in the Moon & Fear. Then came a little movie called Cruel Intentions, with Ryan in the role of Sebastien, opposite Reese as the lovely Annette. I was about 15 when that movie came out, and there was no cooler movie to go see than Cruel Intentions for teens that year. It helped a lot that Ryan was the hottest thing since sliced bread.
I remember seeing Reese on The View around the time that Cruel Intentions hit theatres, doing a promotion for her new flick, when the ladies asked if it was true that she was dating Ryan Phillippe. Reese smiled shyly, admitted that, yes, indeed, she had fallen in love with the handsome Phillippe, and that not only were they going to be married, they were also expecting a baby. At that moment, Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillippe became one of my favourite celebrity couples.
Since then, Ryan & Reese did get married and added a daughter, Ava, now 7, and a son, Deacon, now 3, to their family. Reese became one of Hollywood's darlings, starring in the Legally Blonde movies and Sweet Home Alabama. Ryan sort of took a backseat to his starlet wife, mostly taking marginal roles in forgettable movies. Over the years, there were rumblings of trouble in paradise for the young couple. Rumours were that Ryan was a bit disgruntled that Reese's career had skyrocketed while his had fizzled.
Then came the year 2005. Reese starred as June Carter in the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line. Ryan also finally found himself a niche in a critically acclaimed movie called Crash. Both movies were up for Academy Awards; both Ryan & Reese were finally in the spotlight together again for the first time since Cruel Intentions.
When Oscar night rolled around, it was Reese who won the individual award of Best Actress for her portrayal as Johnny Cash's future wife. Ryan wasn't left out in the cold, though - Crash won the coveted Best Picture Award. It seemed the couple was finally on a level playing ground, with no more animosity between them regarding their own personal success in Tinseltown.
Following her Best Actress win, I saw Reese on Oprah, telling the talkshow Queen that Ryan had been so helpful in turning her into June Carter. Reese claimed to have no singing abilities at all, and credited Ryan with helping her learn the songs, especially the duets, which he would practice with her by singing Joaquin Phoenix's lines. She said that for weeks afterwards, Ryan and the kids ran around the house singing "Jackson" and "It Ain't Me, Babe". It sounded like the perfect family to me.
So yes, it did come as a bit of a shock to me this week when news broke that the Golden Couple had officially separated. They've asked for privacy, to protect their children, who they are both still completely committed to, and the separation has been declared "amicable". If that's supposed to comfort Ryan & Reese fans, it didn't work on me. It doesn't give me the warm & fuzzies. It bothers me that they've gone the way of Cruise & Kidman, Pitt & Aniston, Lachey & Simpson (tee hee hee...) Does nobody ever stay together these days?
I thought Ryan & Reese had lasting power. I can't think of a more cute couple. And for seven years, they were a couple that I idolized. And now, they are no more.
*sigh*
When the Sens start losing, all my world goes to crap, doesn't it?
What has been troubling me for the past few days is the news of a recent Celebrity Split. It happens all the time in the fickle land of Hollywood, and usually they don't shock me. But for some reason, this one did.
Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillippe are kaput.
Before Ryan & Reese were married, they were individually two of my favourite actors - with him starring in White Squall & I Know What You Did Last Summer, and her break-out performances in Man in the Moon & Fear. Then came a little movie called Cruel Intentions, with Ryan in the role of Sebastien, opposite Reese as the lovely Annette. I was about 15 when that movie came out, and there was no cooler movie to go see than Cruel Intentions for teens that year. It helped a lot that Ryan was the hottest thing since sliced bread.
I remember seeing Reese on The View around the time that Cruel Intentions hit theatres, doing a promotion for her new flick, when the ladies asked if it was true that she was dating Ryan Phillippe. Reese smiled shyly, admitted that, yes, indeed, she had fallen in love with the handsome Phillippe, and that not only were they going to be married, they were also expecting a baby. At that moment, Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillippe became one of my favourite celebrity couples.
Since then, Ryan & Reese did get married and added a daughter, Ava, now 7, and a son, Deacon, now 3, to their family. Reese became one of Hollywood's darlings, starring in the Legally Blonde movies and Sweet Home Alabama. Ryan sort of took a backseat to his starlet wife, mostly taking marginal roles in forgettable movies. Over the years, there were rumblings of trouble in paradise for the young couple. Rumours were that Ryan was a bit disgruntled that Reese's career had skyrocketed while his had fizzled.
Then came the year 2005. Reese starred as June Carter in the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line. Ryan also finally found himself a niche in a critically acclaimed movie called Crash. Both movies were up for Academy Awards; both Ryan & Reese were finally in the spotlight together again for the first time since Cruel Intentions.
When Oscar night rolled around, it was Reese who won the individual award of Best Actress for her portrayal as Johnny Cash's future wife. Ryan wasn't left out in the cold, though - Crash won the coveted Best Picture Award. It seemed the couple was finally on a level playing ground, with no more animosity between them regarding their own personal success in Tinseltown.
Following her Best Actress win, I saw Reese on Oprah, telling the talkshow Queen that Ryan had been so helpful in turning her into June Carter. Reese claimed to have no singing abilities at all, and credited Ryan with helping her learn the songs, especially the duets, which he would practice with her by singing Joaquin Phoenix's lines. She said that for weeks afterwards, Ryan and the kids ran around the house singing "Jackson" and "It Ain't Me, Babe". It sounded like the perfect family to me.
So yes, it did come as a bit of a shock to me this week when news broke that the Golden Couple had officially separated. They've asked for privacy, to protect their children, who they are both still completely committed to, and the separation has been declared "amicable". If that's supposed to comfort Ryan & Reese fans, it didn't work on me. It doesn't give me the warm & fuzzies. It bothers me that they've gone the way of Cruise & Kidman, Pitt & Aniston, Lachey & Simpson (tee hee hee...) Does nobody ever stay together these days?
I thought Ryan & Reese had lasting power. I can't think of a more cute couple. And for seven years, they were a couple that I idolized. And now, they are no more.
*sigh*
When the Sens start losing, all my world goes to crap, doesn't it?
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