Safe As Milk

Emma Bunton is hot. I’m a simple guy (obvs.) and a pretty girl that sings will get at least a single listen from me. Imagine my surprise when that pretty girl makes some damn fun pop songs! And when I say pop I mean in a swinging-’60’s-London-by-way-of-2005-Hollywood sort of way. It’s definitely candy pop music but this is hitting me just the right way. Plus she’s pretty.

Crickets Sing for Annamaria is probably the swingingest of the bunch. It’s got horns, electronic beats, vibraphone, some samba shuffle and a sing-along quality that I really should have caught onto back at the beginning of the Summer.

Serenity, in case you don’t know, is the big-screen continuation of the short-lived sci-fi-Western Firefly.

I Netflixed the whole run of Firefly over the last month or so and I can heartily recommend it to anyone who likes a good Western. I was skeptical the first couple of times I had it recommended to me because I don’t like watching science fiction on tv. I think it looks hokey and if I think it looks hokey I get distracted by how dumb it looks no matter how well-written or well-acted. A tv show budget just isn’t big enough to make decent-looking aliens.

Firefly succeeds first, for me, because there are no aliens in dumb costumes to take me out of the story; everyone is basically descended from “Earth-That-Was”. Second, Firefly is different because it’s way more Western than it is science fiction. Yes, it’s set 500 years in the future and yes they have lasers and spaceships but the broad storyline could easily be set in Wyoming of the 1800’s. Setting it in outer space is a really smart little trick.

The show is funny and scary and well-built and you’ll enjoy it if you like that sort of thing. I, for one, am geeked to this movie. I may even go alone!

We hit the 1000 comment mark here at Safe As Milk yesterday.

That’s a lot of people, me and Ethan included, who took a minute to say something back.

That’s pretty cool.

Thanks.

Ethan and I are picking games again! We’re both sitting at .500 for the season. It’s kind of silly because we do disagree on some games each week, we’ve just been splitting them. Anyway, on to the Friday Afternoon Quarterbacking!

San Diego at New England
Patriots - In this space last week, I picked the Pats to lose. But After reading Mike’s analysis, I changed my pick in our Yahoo Pick’em Pool. This week, I’m starting with picking the Pats. This team keeps losing key starters and I think it will catch up with them. They’re not going 15-1 this year. But I still don’t believe in the Chargers. They looked very impressive against the Giants, but I’ll need another month to know if that’s an accomplishment. San Diego has a bottom-10 defense. NE has a top-10 defense, a clear coaching advantage, and home field. I’m looking for Tom Brady to have a huge game against a suspect Chargers secondary. Patriots here as well. Unless Brady or Dillon gets hurt I can’t see betting against them. They’re bound to lose a couple of upset games but the smart money has to be on the Pats week after week. I think the Chargers’ whipping of the Giants last week was more about exposing an overrated defense than the awakening of an offensive juggernaut. I’m curious to see how the loss of Rodney Harrison affects the Patriots defense, too

Minnesota at Atlanta
Falcons - Which up-and-down team to go with? Here’s a hint: what happens when the #1 rushing attack hosts the #30 rush defense? If you said, “Mayhem”, congratulations! Please proceed to Game 3. Statistically these teams are even and the Vikes certainly have a clear advantage at QB. But the Vikes are on the road and I have a hard time saying with a straight face, “The Vikes are obviously back. Did you see them beat up on the Saints?” This should be a fun game to watch. I, for one, am totally buying that the Vikings are back (Disclaimer: I just traded for C-Pep in The PRF). Mewelde Moore opens up the passing game for Culpepper and as long as Mike Tice keeps that in the front of his mind I think the Vikings will win. I haven’t forgotten how bad Mike Vick made the Vikings look 2 years ago but he’s too dinged up to do it again. Vikings win a fun one.

Dallas at Oakland
Raiders - I wrote an entire paragraph predicting the Cowboys and I just deleted it. The Raiders have the higher-ranked offense, the higher-ranked defense, and have done it against a higher caliber of opponent (Dallas opponents: 4-4, Oakland opponents: 6-3). Collins is still kind of erratic (54% completion) but has 6 TDs and 0 picks. Norv Turner is a very sound game-planner and playcaller and with Collins-Jordan-Moss, he has the players to execute. And don’t forget how much Randy loves the Cowboys. I like the Raiders at home. Bombs away. I don’t see one team having a huge advantage over the other in this game at all. I see it a lot closer than Ethan but I’m not sure who comes out on top. Seriously, I have no idea. I’m going to choose the Cowboys because I think that in a close game you have to go with the better coach (but it could easily be the Raiders on the Moss factor alone).

49ers - What a slap in the face to Mexico City. The city has repeatedly sold out NFL exhibition games staged in its 100k+ stadium. So, their first regular season game is between two teams that combined for 8-24 in 2004. Nice. I bet Tags & Crew are kicking themselves for not scheduling a Saints game down there… Might be fun to watch, though. These teams are 31st and 32nd in Points Allowed. I like the 49ers here, because their offense actually score (8 TDs this season, compared to ARZ’s 2). Josh McCown was pretty mediocre last year and I don’t expect a lot of improvement against SF’s surprising pass rush (11 sacks, 3rd in the league). The good news is I that should get plenty of sleep Sunday night. The bad news is that this game between two of the worst teams in the league will be a 49ers blowout and not even worth reading about on Monday morning. The Cardinals are bad. Also, the turf at the field where they usually play these Mexico City games isn’t really built for gigantic football players so the games end up getting sloppy after halftime. Look for Plan on reading about a low-scoring 49ers victory.

“My Name Is Earl” is a damn funny new show on NBC, Tuesday nights at 9. It stars Jason Lee in the titular role and it’s about a guy who discovers karma after he gets hit by a car right after he hits a lottery for $100,000. While he’s recuperating he decides to try to undo all of the bad things he’s done in his life. He makes a list (totally worth checking out) of all his wrongs and starts working through them one by one. Needless to say, highjinx ensue.

We’re big Jason Lee fans at our house based on his work with Kevin Smith so “..Earl” was going to get a couple of episodes to win me over. Turns out the pilot was funny enough to earn a Season Pass based on the excellent use of physical comedy and Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock. If they ever show it again you should check it out.

Earl’s brother is dumb and very funny. See?

And this guy looks like he fell out of an Eric Collins self-portrait. Sweet!

I’ve been listening to The Coral for what seems like forever even thought it’s only been 3 years. It’s nice when a band puts out an album (or more) in a year. Their newest album, “Invisible Invasion” is another solid one but I’m not in love with it like I was with last year’s “Magic and Medicine”. if you’re new to the band, I’d honestly recommend that one over the new one. Invisible Invasion has some great songs and is fun to listen to but Magic and Medicine is all great from start to finish. I played the hell out of that thing last year.

“In The Morning” is my fave on the new album. It’s got a nice little…xylophone(?) that kicks off from the beginning and really keeps the song light the whole way through. It’s very much about the morning.

Fact: I love funk music.

It makes me dance, which may not be the best thing for innocent bystanders but when a raw groove is blasting out of the speakers those bystanders are the last thing on my mind. Texas Funk, from Stones Throw sister label Now Again, has been endangering folks in my immediate area for the last couple of weeks.

‘I Turn You On’ is the first track on this album and it gets the party started in a hurry. It’s chock full of the horns, jumpy organ, and guitar/bass groove that make this kind of music so damn fun to listen to. It’s also representative of what the rest of the album sounds like. If you dig it I highly recommend seeking this cd out.

This is the domestic release of the compilation that came out on Jazzman records back in 2002. You should really look to find the domestic version because it comes with a lengthy and informative essay from DJ Shadow (who is 99% responsible for my funk-love).

I love Shepard Fairey as much as the next guy but this is one of the funnier Obey Giant spoofs I’ve seen.

In our poll asking where your gaming console is located, reader DigitalFirefly included a photo of his setup which he has conveniently located in a bathroom closet right across from the most important seat in the house.

[Via Joystiq.]

“No Ghosts” by Aaron Burtch

Another fantastic Tiny Showcase print is up and as of now there are still a bunch left for sale. Hustle and get one, willya?