Boom

There was a commercial for Kia automobiles with OnStar capability that featured a bouncy little number by a Dearborn, Michigan, band called Pas/Cal ( http://www.pascalgoespop.com/ ). Why this was huge, to me at least, was that I met this band exactly a year ago when the entire band and their girlfriends stayed at my loft because they were old high school friends of my roommate. [NOTE: My roommate and I were both born in Dearborn roughly thirteen days apart at the same hospital, but we didn't meet until 1993, here in Chicago, when we were in college] Pas/Cal was to play a weekend show in Chicago last year -- at a place just a couple blocks away from my loft -- the Pontiac Café. I didn't even get to see the gig because their visit was so spur-of-the-moment that I already had plans to see a show elsewhere the night they played (I saw Pelican, and I regret nothing). But they hung out at our place for about 24 hours before returning to Detroit. Fortunately, they left behind copies of their last CD, The Handbag Memoirs, as a sort of gratuity for us for the accommodations (I would've passed on their money, but beer's always good). The guys in the band were all perfect gentlemen, and I keep hoping that they come back this way for another show or two.

I definitely like Pas/Cal's chances of returning to Chicago, especially since they got the plum "assignment" of having a song featured in nationally aired commercials for a major auto manufacturer. And for this commercial to be shown during a massive sporting event like the NCAA men's basketball tournament, on the #1 network, is just huge. Some folks get all pious about bands "selling out" to corporations when they make their songs available for commercial use. While I'm not about to herald this as a golden age for music, the days of sniffing at this as sellout commercialism are over. Musicians need to get paid too, and as long as new bands get ignored by corporate monoliths like Clear Channel, and jacked by major labels if they should get so lucky, commercials are now the new FM radio. Shoot, Pas/Cal stayed at MY HOUSE because a small indie record label like Le Grand Magistery was a little beyond their means in providing the band with a touring budget (though the Chicago show was just a one-off gig in this instance). Pas/Cal certainly didn't write their song "The Bronzed Beach Boys (Come on Let's Go)" for Kia, but if the car company chose to use their song for what I'm sure was a tidy sum, more power to them. I really wonder how may 18- to 34-year-olds immersed themselves in college hoops this weekend and at least once saw the commercial, and asked themselves, or friends, who was responsible for the catchy tune that underscored the power of OnStar. Unfortunately, some would say, this is more effective than anything radio is capable of right now. But somehow I doubt the guys in Pas/Cal are too concerned with this right now. I'd like to think that they're too busy looking into hotel accommodations for their next visit to Chicago. Boys, we'll be sure to leave the light on. http://www.indianapolismusic.net/pics3/pascal/pascal.jpg

ULTIMATELY, I'M NOT SURPRISED: Marvel announced that they are canceling all orders on the second volume of The Ultimates so they can produce enough issues to maintain a monthly schedule. Please tell me nobody out there is really surprised, are they? I will give credit to Marvel for displaying uncharacteristic common sense for the first time since Rob Liefield and Jim Lee's "Heroes Reborn" project was scrapped. Suggestion to comic book editors everywhere: unless you have a respectably sound fill-in artist contingency plan established, do not give monthly title assignments to Bryan Hitch. It seems like the paying customers are the only ones aware of the fact that this guy can only pencil six or seven 25-page books per year. Personally, while I do appreciate what some fans out there admire in Hitch's work, and I did like what he did in The Authority, I find him to be quite overrated. The first thing I thought when I saw Bryan Hitch's pencil work on whatever WildStorm title it was out at the time was that Hitch was to Alan Davis as Phil Jimenez is to George Perez. Not exactly rip-off artists (I'm actually quite fond of Jimenez), but clearly emulating the styles of artist who enjoyed creative success before them. [CAPTION FOR THIS IMAGE: "."

OH, THE E-MAILS YOU RECEIVE AT WORK:
Try this soon, before Google fixes its site (though I assume someone created a very accurate yet comedic error message page): 1) Go to Google.com.
2) Type in (but don't hit enter): "weapons of mass destruction" -- including quotation marks.
3) Hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button, instead of the normal "Google search" button.
4) READ CAREFULLY what appears to be a normal ERROR message. Make sure you read the whole error message. Someone at Google apparently has a sense of humor.

OCCASIONALLY ROCK CRITICS ARE OUR FRIENDS: Every now and then, I take a chance on a CD without having anything to go by save for really good buzz in the rock music press. Ten years ago, this roll of the dice paid off when I bought Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville. To this day, that disc is one of the best purchases I ever made. I'm of a similar mind with the new release from Nellie McKay, Get Away From Me. Lord knows how this nineteen-year-old newcomer talked Sony Music into producing a debut double-album, but the collective chutzpah is to be praised. One thing that occurred to me upon first listen was that this was what I was looking for musically when I bought Whoa, Nelly! by Nelly Furtado four years ago. Nice coincidence that it only took a different spelling of the first name to get something I could finally recommend. If I had one complaint, it's strictly on a personal level, in that I hoped McKay would have displayed a little more vocal range on this collection. Picture the vocals from "Girl from Ipamena," and you have a good idea as to the singing style that flows throughout two discs, ranging from jazz, pre-rock & roll pop, disco, and even rap. Yes, this girl raps, and well, I might add. To her credit, McKay definitely puts a fresh spin on all new material, and I know we'll continue to hear from her long after many American Idol finalists have come and gone.

SAINTS BE PRAISED! Jack Valenti, for 38 years the head of the corporate-enforced Motion Picture Association of America, is stepping down. For years, Valenti has spearheaded archaic policies in movie ratings that have made sexually provocative films unavailable to discerning viewers, while excessively violent tripe is consistently available to the masses. It's under Valenti's watch that we've had laughable ratings for movies like PG-13, and the unmarketable NC-17 for movies that rarely do more than show a flash of cock along with a little bit of titty in a relatively tasteful - that is, adult -- setting. Because of Valenti, Harvard-trained business executives and Yale-educated lawyers have had meetings for the sole purpose of distinguishing between the nipple and the areola, and how long one or the other could remain onscreen to determine a certain rating. It was Valenti's shortsightedness that almost rendered independent filmmakers shit out of luck prior to the last Academy Awards when the MPAA decided to ban screener DVDs for academy voters in a halfhearted attempt at stemming piracy. And since we're on the subject of things that are wrong with Hollywood, Jack Valenti is a name you can remember when you wonder why so much American cinema has been crap in the last thirty odd years. Hollywood studios (the gang of seven: Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Universal, and MGM) wanted to keep things in check and they needed an uber-conservative voice to speak for them. It's no surprise, then, that a former Nixon man got the call. Good fucking riddance. Creative and expressive filmmaking will hopefully see better days with his retirement.

MR. BLUEBIRD ON MY SHOULDER: I'm really liking what I've read in the current run of Wonder Woman, by Greg Rucka, Drew Johnson, and Ray Snyder. The story so far has definitely warmed my liberal heart, while reminding me how intolerant and selfish many Americans are today. If I read it correctly, Diana is pro-life, but otherwise may as well be a card-carrying Democrat. I credit Greg Rucka with finding a solid niche for Diana while keeping her in control of most situations. As much as I loved Phil Jimenez's run on the book, he made Wonder Woman way too vulnerable and whiny in situations involving those closest to her (though I don't blame her character for anything she felt when her mother, Queen Hippolyta, died three years ago). Rucka continued a storyline for Jimenez's run with the ongoing saga on the Silver Swan. The quick backstory on this is that a young lady who Wonder Woman used to live with has been recently corrupted into a deadly enemy of the former Amazon princess. Picture Jimmy Olsen going renegade against Superman. Jimenez made Diana so maddeningly distraught over the cruel fate that befell such a close friend that it was a miracle she was able to subdue her attacker, not to mention arch-nemesis Circe. How Rucka wrote the two's most recent confrontation ( Wonder Woman #200) was definitely something I could better accept. Diana was in way more in control of her emotions along with the situation in general. Drew Johnson's art has had a down to Earth feel steeped in reality that has effectively illustrated Rucka's concept of an Amazon ambassador who just happens to be as powerful as the Man of Steel operating in America. I think this Wonder Woman would translate to the big screen very well. Hope Warner Bros. is paying attention.

You can contact the Reverend at The Reverend