Thanks to Patrick for posting this amazing link. I won’t say anything more for risk of ruining the surprise.

With my fantasy football winnings (regular season champion, yo!), I picked up Rock Band for the Xbox 360. What a great purchase that’s turned out to be. Over the holidays, we put bands together a few time, and it’s always a blast.

My favorite moment came when Amy, singing Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” belted out, “I’m a cowboy… on a seahorse I ride….” She’s getting new glasses soon.

With singing, drumming, guitar and bass, everyone can have fun with Rock Band. Check this video out from Conan O’Brien. Halfway through he does the Beastie Boys as Edith Bunker. It’s priceless!

Being such a big fan of his bands Superchunk and Portastatic, it’s great to see Mac McCaughan telling the man what’s up about important issues like non-commercial radio and net neutrality. Tell it like it is, Mac!

The latest “discovery” in my continuing search for MP3s I can pay for is eMusic. While I really like it, eMusic is sort of a mixed bag in the online music world – half subscription service, half store, providing a strange experience at first.

Most subscription services give you unlimited access to a large library of DRM-ed tracks which all expire when you close your account. eMusic, on the other hand, is a subscription service that lets you download a limited number of non-DRM, totally standard MP3 files that are yours to keep even after the your subscription ends. You pick a service level, like $10/month for 20 songs or $25/month for 100 songs. That’s about $0.25 song – pretty amazing considering that other services tend to charge around $1.00 per song.

eMusic’s catalog tends toward the indie, which while great for me might not suit everyone (I’ve certainly found tons of music I like.). The quality also might not please audiophiles – VBR targeting an average of 192k. My only gripe is this: if I have 9 songs left on my account and I grab a whole album of 10 songs, I’d like to be able to complete the album at my currently monthly song rate of $0.25. It’d be great if the library were more vast, but that will come with time.

All in all, I love eMusic, and I’m sure I’ll be a long-term subscriber. I love buying music, I love doing it cheaply, I love generating no plastic waste or needless shipping, and I love getting standard files that will play forever.

Moreover, and my real reason for writing: if you think you might like it too, let me know. If I refer you and you join for at least a month, we’ll each get 50 free songs! That’s like four free albums. What more could you ask for? :D

Whether you’re a fan or not, go and buy or download the new Radiohead album immediately. Why? Because doing so will help decide the future of how you get your music. Do you want to continue to pay needlessly inflated prices to unnecessary corporations? Do you want to collect more useless plastic boxes? Do you want to marry one company’s devices via their locked-down file format?

Or would you rather pay a reasonable price directly to the artist for a simple, open file that you’ll be able to play on any device, forever? That’s exactly what Radiohead is offering. The album they released today, In Rainbows, is offered directly from their website as a zip file of standard MP3s. The price is definitely reasonable… whatever you decide to pay. Pay nothing, pay $1000, pay anything in between. I “voted” with about $7, because I know that’s way more than they’d by selling me a CD through a label, and it’s way less than I’d pay in the same situation. You can also pay nothing and try the album out. If you like it, pay later. Or don’t.

As far as the music itself is concerned, I’m far from disappointed. I’m a fair-weather Radiohead fan. While The Bends and OK Computer are among my favorite albums and belong in some epic rock hall of fame, the rest of their library varies from really good (Pablo Honey) to intolerable (Amnesiac). This is largely a result from their tendency to vary style and experiment. Each albums tends to have its sound, from poppy rock to noisy techno art school nonsense. In Rainbows is a nice blend of all those soundscapes, and it’s already my third favorite album of theirs after one listen. They had certainly earned my £3.48 by about track 4.

I hope Radiohead’s experiment is hugely successful. The big labels have ignored consumer demands for way too long, and their preference for litigation and prosecution over innovation is disturbing. They’ve had plenty of opportunity to lead the way with non-DRM music. If In Rainbows is successful, they’ll be forced to change their ways or ride them in to the ground.

The new MP3 store from Amazon delivers a perfect modern music retail experience, at least as I’ve imagined it over the years. I like buying my music, but I don’t want more CDs – chunks of plastic that do nothing but sit on a shelf. I like iTunes, but I don’t want DRM, and I don’t want to be limited to one device. Buying MP3s is the perfect solution, and Amazon provides a fantastic user experience to boot.

You first install a small application on your machine. Then you simply browse the extensive online library. Songs are reasonably priced, usually lower than $0.99. Better yet, full albums are usually priced from $7.99 – $9.99. When you find what you like and click to buy it, the Amazon Downloader automatically puts it in your designated music folder, nicely organized, and adds it to iTunes or Windows Media Player if you like.

While they don’t yet have the selection that iTunes offers, at 2.3 million songs and climbing they have tons. The files are high quality (~256Kbps, VBR), standard MP3s. I bought several albums there this weekend, and the whole experience has been incredibly pleasing. I love knowing that the music I paid for will be easily playable on whatever device I happen to have in the future, and I love that iTunes finally has a powerful competitor.

I finally had the pleasure of a Fountains of Wayne concert on Sunday. Originally slated to open for Joan Jett at the State Fair, they ended up playing a free show when she canceled. They’ve been one of my favorite bands since the first time I heard they’re infections “Radiation Vibe.”

They played a very tight set featuring almost all my favorite songs (“Girl I Can’t Forget” was probably wishful thinking anyway). Unfortunately, there were quite a few silly frat boys in the party who knew nothing of FoW except for their huge hit single, “Stacy’s Mom” – a great 80s/The Cars tribute. They kept yelling “Stacy’s Mom” throughout the show, going so far as to chant en masse.

Eventually, they played it, and the crowd went nuts in a big pogo party. It was actually a really cool scene, very excited crowd, great music, my sweet sugar on my arm. It was then I noticed the American flag waving through the smoke machine in the distance behind the stage. It cemented it all together for me.

Anyway, the moment the song ended, about 30 of these plaid short/Abercrombie wearing dudes just filed out, missing the best song of the night – “Radiation Vibe” with a medley of 80s classic over the guitar solo. What a bunch of lame-os. I was immediately a reminded of the Homer Simpson moment below, which you know I love especially at tcob.com.

This article on Joystiq illustrates exactly how I’ve grown to feel about the Wii since I picked one up in January, and frankly what I suspected before I tried them: the Wii Remote is a cheap gimmick. They just don’t provide nearly the level of control that they’d like you to think. Take Wii Bowling for example. At first, you pick it up, and you get the feeling that you’re bowling like a pro. You can aim wide right and spin the ball left with a flick of the wrist, curving it in for big strikes. But if you aim wide left and spin left, it still curves right! Try that swing with no spin from wrist flicks. It still spins! With Wii Boxing, there’s no control at all. You just flail your arms like a maniac. Swinging the remote in Zelda makes Link swing the sword, but there’s no connection with how you swing it to what Link does on the screen. It’s barely separated from pressing a button.

The trouble with all this, and the reason the Wii is selling like mad, is that at first, it does seem like you’re in control. Games are immediately fun. You get really excited and run out and get yourself a Wii (like I did). The problem is that once you get to know the games, you realize that the control is an illusion. This makes the games much less fun.

I hope “real control” is something they can provide in future Wii games, but if not, I predict a lot of Wiis collecting dust, like mine is.

I’ve always liked Dance Dance Revolution a lot, so when it came out for the Xbox 360, I had to get it immediately. Today as I was playing, it occurred to me that I could use the dance pad to play other games. I fired up Xbox Live Arcade, and sure enough, I was playing Ms. Pac Man with my feet in no time! I scored a whopping 800 points, but I can see a future here. Say goodbye to those last ten pounds!

I eagerly jumped on the Wii bandwagon on Friday, luckily finding one through a coworker after a month of looking. It’s a neat system. I still haven’t been able to tear myself from World of Warcraft long enough to get in to Zelda, much to my surprise, but I’m rather addicted to Wii Bowling. I enjoy the baseball as well. The Tennis is fun, but I’m bothered by the degree to which swinging the Wii Remote differs from actually swinging a Tennis Racket. Perhaps I’ll get over it, but I think it points to what I like about bowling and baseball, swinging the Wii Remote in those games more closely mirrors the actions of those sports. Nitpicking. It’s all fun.

At any rate, here’s my Wii number: 5012 2052 7255 1322. Pop it in, and so far you can get my Miis of myself, Amy, Nina, and Dylan.

For many years, Very Bad Things reigned as the single worst movie I had ever seen. Tonight, we have a new champion! A hardy congratulations goes out to Hard Candy! What a nauseatingly terrible film. Beautifully shot, well acted, and just stupid beyond belief.

You know what, no discussion of worst movies ever made can be had without mentioning The Devil’s Advocate.

I was trying to relate this story the other night at poker, about how a woman was in a “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest, and I left out the part that they had to drink 8 ounces of water every 15 minutes. Amy and I want a Wii as much as the next person, but that whole competition has Darwin Award written all over it. I’m surprised more of those people didn’t die. That radio station is screwed!

In what may be my geekiest admission, I just hit level 60 in World of Warcraft. It only took me 17 days, 17 hours, and 45 minutes of playing time, spread out over the course of a year and two weeks. Woo-hoo!

It’s strange. When I first downloaded the demo of the game over the holidays a year ago, I didn’t think I’d like it: I don’t like RPGs, and I generally don’t like fantasy. WoW is just fun. And so addicting!

Now to get started on those thank-you notes…

Other than the great coffee-shop shows by my friend the incomparable Kevin Taylor, I haven’t been to many concerts in the last year or two. My jar of First Avenue ticket stubs was starting to get pretty dusty. So I was excited when Amy and I had a chance to see Rhett Miller play there on Friday night.

He certainly didn’t disappoint. He played a dense, rockin’ set for over two hours with only a minute or two of break near the end. Rhett is such a great performer: excuberant, enthusiastic, and energetic… and he doesn’t miss a beat or kick or expression if a string or guitar strap breaks. I got to hear all my favorites from his last two albums, not to mention those from the Old 97′s.

I first experienced Rhett Miller’s music when he was the opening act at a Tori Amos concert I was dragged to a few years ago. With just a mic and an acoustic guitar, he demonstrated all the aformentioned talent along with great pop hook and impressed me immediately. I even bought the disc at the show – a rare event. Not sure what else to say. Rhett Miller just strikes the perfect balance between power pop and alt country with clever, witty, and heartfelt lyrics that never lack from inventive wordplay and allusion.

Anyway, go see Rhett when he’s in your town. Until then, spin The Instigator and The Believer until the laser breaks.

It’s about time! One month after its release and countless trips to Target, Best Buy and who knows where else, I finally hooked up an Xbox 360, thanks to Ian Drake’s notification service and Circuit City. Happy Festivus!

Despite claims and other such rumors, I still have no Xbox 360, the toy I’m getting myself for Festivus.

Holy moly, is sudoku like crack. I just finished my first “evil” puzzle. It only took me forty minutes (eh, on the fourth try). It’s 1:30 AM, and I’m struggling to not do “just one more…”

Holy smokes is Kung Fu Hustle a good movie. It manages to have and be everything (action, comedy, romance, noir, mystery, fantasy, flashbacks, dance numbers, serious, and silly) all wrapped up in to one, and it’s still an excellent and beautiful film. It’s like The Matrix crossed with Casablanca, sprinkled with a few classic Saturday morning cartoons. Add it to your Netflix queue immediately!

The nice Alpine deck I bought only a year and a half ago went belly up last week after a gradual decline over the summer. Frustrated but in dire need of a new car stereo with some sort of iPod connectivity, I hit Best Buy.

It seems that all the major manufacturers (Kenwood, Pioneer, Alpine) have iPod adapters for their nicer decks, but quite frankly, they all suck! They’re super slow, and they all provide a far less usable and enjoyable interface than the iPod itself. It’s great that they power the iPod, but it would be so easy to duplicate the iPod control with a knob and a couple of buttons.

Failing that, why can’t they at least supply the option of just using the iPod itself as the interface? Just give it power and take the sound. It seems so obvious to me yet they all make it so much work. Finally I’m left with wanting what I had before: a deck with stereo inputs on the back.

This was pretty hard to find when I bought the Alpine, but this time I had a lot of options. Taking a chance, I decided to go with the cheapest one they had: the Dual XDM6820.

I couldn’t be more pleased. The thing does everything very well, doesn’t look ridiculously gaudy, sports a nice UI, and sounds great (to me, but I’m no audiophile). I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to listen to their iPod in the car. Only $99, and much, much better than a tape deck adapter or FM Modulator.

We took in the Guthrie’s new production of As You Like It last night. I’m not sure if it’s because I was so tired (someone in the neighborhood has an ugly, red, debadged Oldsmobile SUV with an overly anxious alarm, and he or she occasionally likes to park it just outside my window), or if I was too distracted by Parisian daydreams, but I can’t say I liked it much.

I was certainly in an enjoyable mood thanks to the company of four young hotties, Vanilla K and the sistas Ryczek – a lovely little doo-wop group who always affords me the luxury of not needing to speak. And the play was mildy entertaining, but the consensus was that it just wasn’t that interesting. As You Like It also suffered from poor continuity and lackluster direction. The musical interludes seemed forced.

And the audience just wasn’t buying it. The climactic, show-stopping musical number featured a Diana Ross-like diva rocking out while chorus members clapped rhythmically in a clear attempt to bait us in to clapping along. I think maybe three or four people joined in. Final bows drew little ovation and none standing (other than to leave).

In its favor, Bianca Amato was great as Rosalind. I’ve enjoyed her Pygmalion and Pride and Prejudice, and she was certainly the diamond in this rough, rough production.

Amy and I saw The Aviator a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. It was beautifully and interestingly shot. Leonardo DiCaprio gave his best performance since What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? – a fantastic movie if you haven’t seen it. Scorsese’s attention to detail and epic proportions were flawless as usual.

Despite all this, The Aviator was also the most boring film I can remember seeing. I can’t exactly figure out why, but I think it boils down to “Who Cares?” With all the biopics in recent years, it’s hard to understand why they keep making them. It would be really hard for the formula of brilliant (artist, scientist, leader) rises to success while succumbing to or triumphing over (alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness, personal tragedy, all of the above) to be interesting after I’ve already seen A Beautiful Mind, Pollock, Basquiat, Frida, etc. It didn’t help that the other characters in The Aviator were flatly presented, nor am I likely to be inspired when the subject was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Kinsey actually kept me involved, but its subject matter was a bit more titillating. On the other hand, Amy took an $8 nap when we saw it. Not sure if she was bored or just really comfortable in those stadium theater seats. Incidentally, my favorite biopic in recent memory is Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown, which was actually a parody of biopics.

… of the dial. Minnesota Public Radio launched a new radio station (KCMP – 89.3 FM) this morning, and it’s instantly everything these Twin Cities have been missing since the brilliant Rev 105 left the air years ago. The Current, as this new station is called, is even better – essentially the same eclectic (don’t say alternative) format, but with no commercials! The station is so good that I’m not even missing my iPod, which is out for repairs after a tragic, locker room plummet. Atmosphere, Wilco, The Replacements, Death Cab for Cutie, Luna… all in the first 45 minutes… does it get any better than this?

I saw the The Triplets of Belleville last night at the Lagoon Theater. This is easily the funniest, most interesting, and most beautiful animated film I’ve ever seen, all with only two or three lines of spoken dialogue. Do whatever you have to do to see this movie. If it loses the best animated film Oscar to Finding Nemo, there is clearly no justice, reason, or logic in those awards. But we already know that. See Saving Private Ryan losing to Shakespeare in Love or the perfect LA Confidential losing to Titanic.