Subtle reminder. Today’s the day.

Clown Ops, a blog written by a globe-trotting friend of a friend (and frequent commenter here at SaM), closed up shop this weekend. I enjoyed ‘Mr. Jinxy’s’ stories of his travels but I was always impressed with how he was always blogging. The dude was a machine. He says:

“After much discussion in this household I’ve decided to shut down Clown Ops.

Foremost among the reasons why I’ve decided to do this is because I have grown increasingly annoyed with the amount of time I’ve found myself devoting to it.

At first I thought it’d be just a humorous way to keep my wide scattered friends apprised of my various adventures.

Increasingly, however, I have found myself whiling away precious time slumped over my laptop revising with excruciating exactness a post until it sounded and read precisely what I meant to say.

There are so many other things in this world that I enjoy doing that the burden of keeping this weblog constantly updated with fresh and comical additions has become a millstone which I now wish to shed.”

I can totally understand the “burden” he’s talking about. I figure, and I assume Jinxy agrees, that if people are going to bother to go by your site you should give them a reason to be there. Cheers, Jinxy. Good luck and stay safe.

“The Greatest White Liar” by Nic Armsrong and the Thieves would have been an absloute smash in 1965. In 2005 it willl just have to settle for being a terrific rock record. If you’re into The Kinks or the early blues-soaked Rolling Stones then you will dig this record for sure (and you should be into The Kinks and early Stones, btw).

I first heard the first single, “Broken Mouth Blues”, back in March but I only bought the album a month or two ago. It reminds me of 2003’s Truly She Is None Other by Holly Golightly, in that it’s definitely a 60’s rock feel and sound without sounding dated like a lot of these recent garage revival bands. It’s what I imagine those first Stones and Beatles records sounded like when they were brand new.

I want to send you to the link at nicarmstrong.com with the video for “Broken Mouth Blues” but as of this morning, 5.30.05, his site is down due to some bandwidth problems.

So instead I will host and offer “Broken Mouth Blues” until he gets back up and running. This is the single that prompted me to buy the album. It’s really good.

From Oasis’ myspace page:

“Noel sums up the all-new, harmonious Oasis…

”If somebody said to me, in twelve years you’ll be in a band with your brother and two carrot munching geezers who don’t like football I would have said fuck off, I’m not joining the Bee Gees.”

Great quote. But better still, great album. I’ve been listening to Don’t Believe the Truth for about a month now (thank you internet!) and I am very very happy.

I am a well-documented fan (slut) for this band but even I have been able to see how bad their last few efforts have been. The bloated, overproduced, mess of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants is 99% gone here. The only spots that feel like they could use some tightening are parts of “Turn Up the Sun” and the closing 30 seconds of “Lyla” (the first single). I think I have an extended mix of “Lyla”, though, so I’ll reserve judgement until I buy the finished product. And I am 100% buying this album when it comes out on May 31st. It’s that good.

And when I say good I don’t mean that “Don’t Believe the Truth” is a retread of the best songs from Oasis’ heyday. These are new sounds that Oasis is throwing out there. “Mucky Fingers” is a chugging number that drops a one-chord piano part that anchors the whole thing. It’s great. “The Importance of Being Idle” is the best example on this album of Noel going back to writing songs about people, instead of songs about whatever the hell he’s been doing. It’s another strong track on an album full of them.

I haven’t been this excited about an Oasis album since the week before “Be Here Now” came out, when they were riding high on all of the “Morning Glory” singles and the awesome, awesome b-sides. Speaking of, I also snagged the b-sides from the Lyla single with the album and they are terrific songs in their own right, just like an Oasis b-side used to be. One sounds like a vintage Ride song (thank you Andy Bell) and the other would have fit neatly on the “Some Might Say” single.

If you were ever a fan of Oasis you will definitely be pleased with this record.

(Believe it or not, I’m no pirate. I will host these songs for a week or so, for review and evaluation purposes only. I will pull the link if the artist or copyright holder requests it or if I start getting hammered on the bandwidth. Enjoy.)

I’m going to share the two “Lyla” b-sides with you, at least they were billed as the b-sides when I found them online.

“Eyeball Tickler” is an aggressive sub 3 minute rocker that will be amazing live if they play it.

“I Can See It Now” is a Ride song in everything but name. Oasis has never made a song like this. Check it out.

I know, I’m starting to sound like a shill, but the fact remains that the folks over at Tiny Showcase continue to pump out high quality prints of excellent illustrations for very affordable prices. I feel it’s my duty to share them with you.

This week’s artist, Penelope Dullaghan, is donating all of her proceeds to the ASPCA. So when you buy a print you’ll be doing a little good, as well as getting a terrific bit of art.

New releases from:

Gorillaz
Belle and Sebastian (ep compilation)
Stephen Malkmus
Sleater Kinney
and one I’m very eager to hear, The Shout Out Louds

Saw Revenge of the Sith this weekend. Before it, saw some noteworthy trailers.

• Stealth – Someone’s been playing with the Random Plot Generator again, this time with the selector stuck on “previously owned“. The worst nightmare of ace fighter pilots comes true as a super-plane goes nuts and hunts down everyone. Special effects look great, naturally, but there’s no way I will see this. Maybe you will as a summer matinee when you’ve seen everything else. Only, haven’t you already seen this, too? Pass.
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith – And again. This time it’s only a mash-up of War of the Roses and Prizzi’s Honor. Which, frankly, is more than you should probably know about the movie (thanks trailer-makers!). I can think of 3+ reasons to see this movie, though. Pitt & Jolie are equally pretty, Doug Liman makes a good flick, and it has Vince Vaughan in a “small enough” role. Renter, maybe.
• The Chonicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe – Easily the trailer that left me the most excited. This is the perfect time to launch this franchise: post-LOTR and mid-Potter. From what I remember, the Narnia stories are epic crowd-pleasers with built-in parental buy-in (“It’s a Biblical allegory, yo.”). And the trailer looked GREAT. I’ll be following this one.
• Batman Begins – If I didn’t know as much as I do about this movie, I don’t know how jazzed the trailer would make me. No mention of Memento director Christopher Nolan. Batman-heavy preview scenes in a movie about him GETTING to that point. To me, it looked too much like a 2005 remake of Tim Burton’s Batman. I’m still very excited. Excellent director, great cast, smart decisions. But I don’t know that this trailer advanced the cause. Maybe I’m too close to it.
• Fantastic Four – Ugh. This looked flat and uninteresting. I tried to see this through the eyes of a moviegoer who doesn’t know his Von Doom from his Willy Lumpkin. And through those eyes, this looked like a big snoozer. The Thing is probably the most recognizable icon in this movie and he looks rubbery and terrible. Reed’s powers, if you can divine them from the trailer, are simultaneously creepy and boring. Jessica Alba is hot and forgettable. The villian is The Ghost of Comic Movies’ Past. So boring. (They can’t all be Alfred Molina, sigh). Only The Torch looks and feels right. This movie looks like a disaster, far far more “Daredevil” than “Spider-Man”. This movie will be a bomb and spawn a slew of “comic book movies are over” articles. Pass.

Reggie Miller’s career is over.

It’s 1998 all over again, as Google launches their own personal home page. At least they didn’t call it <shudder>MyGoogle</shudder>.

They’re just getting started, but the most promising elements are the ability to add your own RSS feeds (Hello, Joystiq!) and the pledge that it will maintain Google’s spare design. We’ll see, but that would be good. I get Excedrin Headache #543 whenever I have to go to Yahoo.

Gmail users can make with the clicky here. Not a Gmail user? Drop me a line and I’ll send you an invite. I have a bazillion of them. Yes, a bazillion. 50+50+50+50 (and so on)… equals one bazillion.

Courtesy of CNET.

As in, Mega-Lo-Mart’s out of the mail-order DVD business.

Good news, good news. Thanks, Engadget.