I woke up (actually came to) this morning to the news” Beastie Boys Adam MCA Yauch Is Dead at 47″. This is heartbreaking. The Beastie Boys were amoung the biggest innovators of our generation. With the passing one of music’s biggest stars, I thought I would check in on one of music’s biggest hacks.

…and yes Leif Garrett is still alive, but it looks like he still isn’t working. When it comes to musical originality and innovation, Leif Garrett is the contrary. Leif’s biggest hits were The Beach Boy’s “Surfin USA”, Dion & The Belmonts “Runaround Sue: and Paul Anka’s – Put Your Head On My Shoulder. Leif is nothing but a heroin pumping glorified karaoke singer. Talent? I think not. Read the rest of this entry »

Where to begin? From Carvel Ice Cream parody “Cooky Puss” to “License to Ill” and on to “Paul’s Boutique” and beyond the Beastie Boys have be pioneers in American entertainment. The Beastie Boys rocketed to stardom with the rock-rap hybrid hit “Fight For Your Right To Party”. Not only did the song become an instant hit on Mtv but became the blueprint rock-rap music for years to come. Read the rest of this entry »

OctoMom Nadya Suleman finished her first day as a porn star on Thursday. According to TMZ the directors said OctoMom was a natural and she fit right in with the other porn actresses. In this adult flick OctoMom Nadya Suleman will be stripping down nude but will not be having sex..so to speak. Read the rest of this entry »

Marvel’s The Avengers is a very expansive – “big” – film for the viewer to take in. Big in the sense that director Joss Whedon (a writer for the Roseann TV show, and co-writer of Sigourney Weaver’s Alien:Resurrection, as well as the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, of course) to supersize the world he creates, and has enough sense to realize what a mess putting too many stars into one picture can potentially be. So he drops the ingredients into this cake’s batter with fine pacing and quality intrigue. The script is adult, not talking down to the viewers, and lines like “His secrets have secrets” from Tony Stark (Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr.) speaking of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), are indellible. The Avengers Initiative, Nick Fury’s plan, would actually be a better title for the film, or even Avengers Assemble, which may have been the working title, though I guess the actual title is “Marvel’s The Avengers”. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night on American Idol, the five remaining contestants sang songs from British Pop era and songs from the 60’s era. An interesting choice that if given the right song choice, could really help a couple of these guys. Of course, the opposite is just as true as the wrong song choice could be devastating at this point.

This week, we were treated to the musings of guest mentor Little Steven Van Zandt (lead guitarist of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and Silvio on The Sopranos), as he helped guide our young idols through their paces. Between his mental sparring with regular season mentor Jimmy Iovine and his spot on comments to the contestants, Little Steven proved to be one of the best guest mentors of the season. Please bring him back soon. He was a joy to watch and listen to. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week’s episode ended with the grotesque birth of a shadow-like monster, one of the rare moments of obvious magic in the series. The monster didn’t waste any time after being birthed to go ahead and take out Renly, leaving Westeros with one less King vying for the throne. Brienne’s anguished screams during Renly’s death were heartbreaking, but the speed at which she dispatched the knights that streamed into the tent to attack her helped remind us that her grief didn’t blunt her fighting edge.

The episode was packed full of plenty of other stuff beyond the opening act of regicide. To me, this felt like one of the busiest episodes of the season, maybe even of the series so far. Read the rest of this entry »

You have seen them on the heads of pro athletes, celebrities, and urban commuters. These stylish headphones with the bright red lower case “b” on them. Beats by Dr. Dre headphones are quickly becoming the must have accessory for the audiophile. We needed to find out what makes these headphones so sought after so we gave a pair a run for their money.

The look: When we liberated the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones from their box you could instantly see you are dealing with a high quality piece of equipment. The headphones are made out of lightweight aluminum, held together by what looks like steel rivets. Despite the heavy metal look of the headphones, Beats by Dr. Dre are light and very comfortable. The ultra padded ear cups fit nicely over the ear cutting out most outside noise. If you do need to monitor the room, each cup is on a swivel. Read the rest of this entry »

Sony’s PS3 version of Nintendo’s popular Super Smash Bros. Brawl, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, has debuted, and GameTrailers has posted a rundown of what to expect from the game.

Let us know if you’re interested in a Smash Bros. type game on the PlayStation 3. Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone that follows this blog knows I am a huge fan of Brossard Picks. Since reviewing these sonic monsters in this column, I have become a devotee. Brossard Picks give me rich clear tones and unsurpassed control with my picking. Since using them, I have actually noticed my picking becoming cleaner and more accurate (this is also due to a bit of right hand focus on my playing lately). Read the rest of this entry »

Holy cow! You guys have easily made this my best month ever despite the fact that I was gone for a week to Washington D.C. and wrote no new posts during that time (minus a pending photo spread of Port City Brewing in Alexandria, VA). In thanks for your dedication and in apology for that pesky thing called “life” getting in the way of craft beer reviews, I’m breaking something extra special out of the cellar today! All the good vibes I’m feeling call for no less than to break out a bottle of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout. Read the rest of this entry »

This week is another bountiful podcast as the crew has a surprisingly long discussion about this week’s Gaming Flashback, Make Trax. The guys also discuss 1990′s kids shows like Reading Rainbow and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? The contest winner for a copy of Magicka is also revealed, as some magical books are discussed. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night on American Idol, the six remaining finalists had the rare privilege of not only being allowed to sing songs from the Queen catalog, but they also kicked off the show with a pretty impressive Queen medley with Queen drummer Roger Taylor and lead guitarist Brian May. Yeah, if you can’t tell, I’m a huge Queen fan (I guess we can get that out of the way now. I’ll even go one step further and tell you, in full disclosure, that Freddie Mercury is my all-time favorite vocalist. Just so you know where we’re all coming from).

Normally, I don’t comment on the group songs because quite frankly, they suck. This week’s was a rare exception. And not only because they were singing Queen. It was actually very good. It should be no surprise that resident rocker Elise Testone rocked it, and Philip Phillips sounded great during his lines. Joshua Ledet gave the appropriate rasp and soul to his parts, and even Skylar Laine managed to put her spurs up long enough to rock it out. Read the rest of this entry »

Warner Bros. Interactive has announced that the Game of the Year Edition of Batman: Arkham City will be coming out in North America on the May 29 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The GOTY Edition will be released worldwide in September.

The GOTY Edition will include all of the DLC released for the game, as well as the all-new Harley Quinn’s Revenge Pack, which will also be released as DLC on May 29, which will allow players for the first time to play as Robin in the single player campaign. Read the rest of this entry »

Game of Thrones can be a pretty dark show; “Garden of Bones” was probably its most grim episode yet. The battlefield carnage, Lannister torture techniques, Joffrey’s sadomasochistic tendencies, and demon birthings helped remind us that Westeros is a nasty place.

Joffrey’s treatment of the prostitutes sent to him by Tyrion was brutal; I can’t be the only one who looked away when he handed that spiky looking scepter to Roz and ordered her to “use it” on the other girl. Tyrion knows that Joffrey is rotten, but I don’t think he knew quite how psychopathic his nephew really was. He’ll know once Roz reports back to him, and I assume that will make him a little more cautious around the crazy kid. It’s nice that we get to see Tyrion’s noble side, as he protects and covers up Sansa after her humiliation in the throne room. Interrupting Joffrey’s cruelty only made him more angry; he’s still too afraid to challenge Tyrion directly, but you can tell that the two prostitutes are suffering in part because of Tyrion’s nobility.

Meanwhile, Arya and Gendry are in the clutches of the Mountain, who are torturing people to get information about something called “the Brotherhood.” The torturer asking the questions, though, doesn’t seem too interested in the answers; I think he’s more interested in their screams. Arya and Gendry are spared by the arrival of Tywin Lannister. Ever practical, he orders the prisoners to work, and recruits Arya (who he immediately identifies as a girl) to be his cupbearer. While still a prisoner, she’s no longer in danger of becoming rat food. At night, she takes Yoren’s advice and clings to dreams of vengeance, listing off the names of those she wants to kill.

Halfway across the world, Dany and her band come across the city of Quarth. They are denied entry until the city’s leaders can see her dragons. Dany blusters and rages at the merchants, threatening to burn the city down for their lack of hospitality, but she doesn’t let them get a peek at her scaly children. Instead, another foreigner named Xaro invokes some kind of ritual, taking (I would assume) responsibility for Dany and her people while they are in the city. The doors open, revealing a very interesting looking oasis-like city in the middle of the desert.

The episode ends with Davos smuggling the red priestess ashore for some mysterious purpose. They chat about morality a bit. Davos thinks that people can be bits of good and bad mixed together; like a true fanatic, Melisandre asserts that people are either all good, or all evil. They arrive at a cave, where the priestess drops her robe to reveal that she is suddenly very pregnant. As Davos watches in horror, she begins to give birth to a nightmarish shadow creature. We’ll have to wait until next week to see what that creature actually does, but its arrival can’t be a good omen for Renly and his knights of summer.

A few other things:

* I noticed a fair number of departures from the book here; some new characters, some stories melded together or cut short, but it still all seems to work for me. The changes make sense, and are necessary.

* We see the aftermath of another battle, when Robb and his army vanquish another Lannister force. I would love to see a battle scene at some point this year, but I understand that sort of thing is expensive.

* Tyrion cutting down his cousin Lancel’s arrogant attitude was about the only bright spot I had in this grim episode. His wit really makes the show shine.

* A quick note on last week’s episode: The montage of Tyrion telling Pycelle, Littlefinger, and Varys different versions of his plan was really smartly done. It might have been my favorite scene of the season.

John is a TV blogger for Raked and an Entertainment and Sports contributor here at The TMR Zoo. You can follow him on Twitter at @raked_jc

Last week’s Boston Marathon symbolizes the beginning of tourist season here in The Hub. 12 million people will pour through Beantown this year to take in our rich history, scenic beaches, and unparalleled nightlife. For those of you planning a trip to Boston this year I will give you a bit of insider advice. If you are staying in Boston you need not stay IN Boston.

Directly across the river from Boston’s main attractions and minutes from Faneuil Hall is Cambridge’s famed Royal Sonesta. The Royal Sonesta Hotel gives you the best of Boston and Cambridge at your fingertips. Located next to the Cambridge Galleria Mall and M.I.T. the Royal Sonesta is a short walk from bustling Kendal Square. Read the rest of this entry »

Iconic guitar string manufacturer Ernie Ball have developed a new technology in guitar string. Typically I scoff at new string technologies and write them off as fads. This time around, Ernie Ball have developed a real deal innovation in guitar strings, the Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt stings. The new strings are manufactured using a combination of iron and cobalt. This gives the strings a more powerful magnetic field thus producing a bigger clearer tone.

We strung the set of .10 – .46 strings on our favorite demo guitar “Stunt Guitar One”. This Strat is outfitted with a Seymour Duncan P-rails and two single coils. More than enough range of tone to get a feel for these strings. Read the rest of this entry »