CD Review - Seven Mary Three - DayAndNightDriving

Disclaimer: I am a HUGE Seven Mary Three fan. I will attempt to stay objective.

Day&NightDriving from Seven Mary Three is the band's sixth major release and is perhaps the most diverse record the band has produced. The idea behind the title of the CD is that there are a mix of heavy (day driving) and soft (night driving) songs, but the night side certainly gets more of the attention from the quartet.

One thing that has been consistently true about 7m3 is that nearly every one of their songs sounds better live. The first track, Last Kiss, is an excellent example of this. While the recorded version is an upbeat way to start the CD, this one really shines in a live environment with the added energy from lead singer Jason Ross and guitarist Thomas Juliano. Regardless, Last Kiss is one of the best "singles" from the record and has the best chance of receiving radio play.

Laughing Out Loud is a sweet and optimistic song exploring the tension and evolution of a relationship. The music is simple, allowing the focus to remain on the lyrics and story being told by Ross. Like several of the songs on the record, it sounds like something written as a singer/songwriter special, with the rest of the instruments brought in afterwards.

Was a Ghost gets back to "day driving". The crunchy guitars from Juliano are reminiscent of mid-90's Dinosaur Jr. and Ross is closest in this song to the gravelly, growling he used so well on some of the bands earlier releases. A fun song, this is another one that excels live. Excellent lyrics here as well.

60's and 70's Johnny Cash is the best way to describe the music and sound of Dreaming Against Me. The rockabilly guitar and drums, as well as the catchy "Hey, everything's going to be all right" refrain smack of the simplistic sounds Cash used so well. Not exactly a sound that you hear much these days and a lot of fun to have right in the middle of the CD. Interestingly, I could see Cash singing about the same topics that Ross covers in this song.

One of the problems with being a big fan of a band is that you often hear songs long before they are released. This is the case with Hammer & a Stone, which has been circulated widely as a live track amongst 7m3 fans. The result is that feeling of "That's not how that song goes" when hearing it on the record. Once past that, it's easy to enjoy the piano and the guitar effects, in addition to the brilliant lyrics on this song. One complaint with this track is that it sounds like Ross is eating the microphone, which detracts from the "night driving" feeling of the song.

The music in Break the Spell is a bit pedestrian. This is another one that has circulated widely and feels more like Ross wrote this one a while back and the other instruments were brought in for the recording. This one may work better as a solo track. Same goes for You Think Too Much. "Keep your head up because it's never as bad as you think" - nice lyric! But this one of the more forgettable songs on the record. While I'm at it, I would put She Wants Results in the same category. The music seems a bit tacked on to Ross's solo song. The lyrics work really well in this one.

Some more "night driving" with Strangely at Home Here. This song is a trip into the life of a rock and roller torn between dichotomy of the enticing allure of the road and being home with loved ones. Ross manages to find some fun in telling the story as well. This song served as the final tune at the band's 10 year celebration of the release of their debut major label record and the recent record release weekend and has become a fan favorite. Another song that would work very well solo, Juliano adds some excellent guitar work in the recorded version.

Upside Down is the single best song that Seven Mary Three has ever done. As a longtime fan, that is really saying something. The country western guitar sound and the story of coming of age and coming to grips combine to marry nostalgia with the decisions we all make as we go through this life. This is a song that will hold up over time.

Another song where Ross seems to have the mic in his mouth is Dead Days in the Kitchen. This is another one that has been around for a while and is a big favorite. The record is just vocals and guitar, no tacked on instrumentation, which is a great way to hear the song.

Finishing off the record is a song called Things I Stole. Ross's vocals really shine in this song and the guitar hook is fantastic. This is a song that leaves you wanting more, which I think is a great way to wrap things up.

One of the hard things about new records from bands I love is that I have high expectations. I wanted to love this record from the second I put it in but it didn't grab me immediately. After several listens, I've certainly grown attached to several of the songs. But loving a CD shouldn't be so hard, should it? A part of me wishes that Jason Ross had released most of these songs on a solo record. Overall, the record is good and should appeal to a wide variety of fans, mostly those that really enjoy the singer/songwriter genre. Buy the record, give it a couple spins and you will undoubtedly find a few songs in here to love for yourself. Even better, make sure you see Seven Mary Three when they come through your town this summer.

Until next time.

Ace.

I believe...

...it's time for me to flyyyyy, ayayyy. Thanks to the boys from REO Speedwagon for the music.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the trip to the house of mouse. For #2 & #3, this will be the first plane trip. #1 has flown a few times. And, until we pull up to the airport, they will have no idea that we are going anywhere. Until we pull up to Magic Kingdom, I hope they will have no idea where we are going. This is primarily to avoid all the questions but it will also be fun to see the surprise on their faces.

While on the trip, I'll also be checking out a couple of special concerts for one of my favorite bands. I'm very much looking forward to that. And also looking forward to having several days off work!

Things will be sparse around here for a week or so. Behave yourselves while I'm gone.

I'll leave you with a new feature, Ace's Song Lyric of the Day. This one comes courtesy of the social debutantes The Go-Gos:

"Vacation, all I ever wanted
Vacation, have to get away!"

Until next time.

Ace

NIU Shooting - In shock

From CNN.com

"A former student opened fire in a lecture hall Thursday at Northern Illinois University, shooting 21 people before fatally shooting himself. Seven people died, including the gunman."

I've been struggling with how to react after this news. As a current college student, I realize that it would not have taken much coincidence for my name to be among the seven. And of course, your mind goes through what you would have done in the situation. And the professor teaching was a grad assistant. Several of my colleagues are grad assistants who teach classes as well.

The biggest question everyone is grappling with is why. News has just released the name of the shooter so it's only a matter of time before we have a million reporters digging through this guy's history. But, without specific context, one wonders why anyone would do this. Even if a person decided there was nothing left to live for, what causes that leap to make you want to take as many people with you as possible? Especially incomprehensible is the seemingly random vengeance enacted on complete strangers.

Of course this isn't the first time this has happened. Nor will it be the last. Most alarming is the frequency with which these shootings are occurring, particularly on college campuses. I'm left to wonder why this seems to happen so much more in the US than other areas of the developed world. And as a parent and future teacher, I find myself wary. Increasingly wary.

I'm not sure how my perspective on this will change in the coming days as more information is divulged on this particular scenario. But I know that I'm still in shock over how easily this could have happened to me. And feeling incredibly lucky that it did not...

Until next time.

Ace

Horrible

That is how I would sum up the activities of last week.

It all begins innocently enough. The kids go down to bed in a normal fashion. Parents do the same. The kids have taken recently to having "sleep overs" in each other's rooms. Which is fine on the weekends but we don't allow it during the week in the hope they will actually get enough rest and be able to be up and have enough energy for school.

Well, #1 decided in the middle of the night to crawl into bed with #2. This normally would not be a problem. But #2 managed to fall out of bed at some point around 11:30 or so. Kid comes stumbling into Mom and Dad's room crying "I fell out of bed". The better half, sleeping closer to the bedroom door, is woken up and starts to help her. The concerned voice telling me to get out of bed woke me up instantly, knowing that something was wrong.

#2 had a couple inch long gash just under the nose at a slight angle that reached all the way to the lip. It's bleeding, although not terribly. Apparently, the wooden toy mailbox next to the bed packs a mean punch. We immediately got some ice on it and took a better look in the light. The poor kid is pretty scared but stops crying just about immediately once the ice goes on it. It's tough to tell how deep the cut is but there is definitely stitches potential.

A quick call to the doctor and we're told that a trip to the ER is needed. Fortunately, we live less than 10 minutes from the hospital. Unfortunately, the ER there is really more of just an R. Even more unfortunate is my forgetfulness that the next closest hospital, which is about 30 minutes or so away, is a really excellent hospital with a pediatric ER. More on this later.

So, we head to the ER, get checked in and go into the waiting room. About 8 people in front of us. Sweet. We see the triage nurse, who basically gets us a cold pack and sends us back to the waiting room.

We spend the next two hours waiting for our turn to see a doctor. One side note, while we are waiting, there are flat screen TVs everywhere. The 20something guy watching the TV asks if we want to watch the cartoon that has just come up. I tell him no, the kid just likes watching Sportscenter. He switches the TV and some basketball highlights are on. #2 asks immediately if Kirk Hinrich is playing. Young dude is suitably impressed with 3 year old's knowledge of NBA hoops.

After 2 hours, the kid and parent are getting tired, the kid has stopped crying and there are still at least 2 people in front of us to see a doctor. We decide to pack it in and head home for some sleep. Not smart. That done, we get up the next am and head to our doctor's office.

The doctor is unhappy about our decision because apparently, if needed, stitches should be done within 6 hours of the incident. Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if we would have beat the 6 hour mark even if we stayed at the ER. So, doctor cleans up the cut and tells us to go back to the ER to because she thinks we need stitches. #2 is displeased, as is parent.

But, we schlep it over to the ER. Fortunately, the doctor is closer to the other hospital and the pediatric ER is just opening, so we are the first consumers of the day. This helps as we are seen immediately. The nurse here was fantastic, having great bedside manner with the kid. She talks about putting on some "magic paint", which is really a topical anasthetic. That was great. Could have used some magic paint myself.

Then the doctor comes to put the stitches in. This is where things got really painful. In order to do the stitches, the kid gets put in what looks like a sort of sleeping bag with velcro straps. This is to prevent movement while the stitches are being done. Then, a nurse is deployed on each arm and a male nurse with biceps the size of balloons is set to hold #2's head. They start to scrub the cut to prep it for the stitches and the kid is just screaming, turning red, horrible, horrible, horrible! I'm trying to calm things down but there is no calming.

At this point, the doctor determines that more anasthetic is needed. He pulls out the needle. This is also not a popular decision. After much struggling and some poking, he finally gets enough shot up. I wish he would have used the needle on me first. After the shot, things calm down considerably and three stitches are pretty smoothly seamed up. The kid is bought off with an orange popsicle and a Scooby Doo sticker and we're on our way home.

Needless to say, #2 zonked out as soon as the popsicle was gone and slept for several hours after the ordeal. And I got to bed mighty early that night. There were many lessons learned here.

1. I am really dumb for not going to the pediatric ER. This mistake will not be repeated.
2. I am really dumb for waiting 2 hours in the ER and then not even sticking around to get served.
3. I am really dumb because I'm probably going to wind up paying for 2 ER visits even though only one resulted in actual services rendered.
4. I am really dumb.

Enough of my rambling, thankfully the stitches should be dissolved in the next couple days. And the swelling is mostly gone. Hopefully there won't be much of a mark to serve as a great reminder of how dumb I am.

Until next time.

Ace

Let the games begin

I try not to ramble on too much about sports here since that is not the reason I created the blog. But, truth be told, sports (and baseball in particular) are a major passion of mine. My favorite team is the New York Mets, with Boston the squad I pull for over in the American League. Needless to say, I am extremely excited about the recent trade made by the fellas from Queens to pick up Johan Santana (pictured in his Mets jersey from today's press conference).

Santana is considered the best starting pitcher in baseball. The reason he was available via trade is that his prior team, the Minnesota Twins, could not afford to give him the big contract he was going to receive as a free agent after the '08 season. I won't get into all the details of the trade that brought him to New York but it's safe to say that the Mets were pleased to be able to get Santana for the 4 minor leaguers they sent Minny's way.

With Santana signed to a 6 year extension, the Mets become one of the top few teams in the National League with an excellent chance at making the playoffs and perhaps the World Series. And with many excellent players signed for the next several years, a new stadium set to open in 2009 (and provide even more revenue to this revenue earning machine), the future is very bright. While the minor leagues have been depleted by this and other deals, the Mets will have plenty of cash to sink into international free agents and other major league free agents. And next offseason looks like it will have a large haul of talent available for signing.

With only 8 days left until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, it's a great time to think baseball!

Until next time.

Ace

Super Tuesday

I'm a day late but I'd like to wish a hearty happy Bday to my little sister (No, I'm not that big of a jerk, I did speak to her yesterday and wish her a happy birthday). One year closer to retirement kiddo!

Classes continue on. This was a pretty light weak on the homework front. I'm looking at working ahead in the next couple of weeks with a lot of stuff happening on the personal front. My 2 classes are starting to look like they are going to be quite a breeze. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I'm going to get a lot of applicable knowledge out of them. But, that's somewhat the nature of foundation type classes.

The big trip to see the rodent in Orlando is now only a few weeks away. A major change on that front, the family will be travelling via air instead of the lengthy minivan excursion. I think the parents are awfully relieved about that.

Lots of work travel coming up. I'm heading to North Carolina next week for a quick overnight extravaganza. It promises to be full of meaningless nonsense. Unfortunately, they managed to schedule both my days and my night there so I have absolutely no downtime. Ugh. Also heading out to Northern California again in about 4 weeks. Love it! My favorite place on this chunk of rock we live on.

I also saw The Departed this weekend. This is a brilliant cast and a very suspenseful movie. Some of the twists are a little hard to follow but Scorcese did a nice job with this flic and DiCaprio was fantastic. Another similar sort of seedy underworld movie I saw recently was Alpha Dog. Most notably this movie included Justin Timberlake. This was another good movie although the ending was gut wrenching. Supposedly it is at least based on a true story.

OK, gotta run.

Until next time.

Ace