What Is The IRL Thinking?

Today, IRL rookie driver Paul Dana (30) died today after a very serious two car collision. This happened in the practice run of the Toyota Indy 300. The Rahal Letterman Racing team pulled its other two drivers- Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick from the race which is still scheduled to go on. The other driver, Ed Carpenter, was awake and alert in a Florida hospital.

Carpenter crashed into the wall and his car eventually stopped in the middle of the track. As other cars avoided him, Dana hit dead on going in the vicinity of 200 mph.

As a NASCAR fan, this brings up memories of the late Dale Earnhardt, who was killed in a crash on the final turn at the Daytona 500 on Feb 18, 2001.

Why is the IRL going to go ahead and have a race today? This is a very serious tragedy for the sport. Also, the IRL, who banks off Danica Patrick's popularity and is waiting to see her get a win, is continuing despite the team's pullouts. A few hours is not enough time to allow mourning. An ESPN radio broadcaster said the IRL should wait at least a day before going on, something I fully agree with. If they take the time, they will most definately receive less ridicule, but if they don't, expect heavy criticism by the sports media.

Movie reviews coming soon.

A N&R First

I have been straying for a little bit, but it is time to talk about music once again, afterall, the site is called Nicotine & Rock. I received an e-mail Wednesday night about a newly signed talent (2004) named Brandi Carlile. From what I have seen, this is someone who is a musician to the core. Unfortunately, I didn't have too much time to see much more about her, but I have some mp3s for you readers to check out.

"Fall Apart Again"
http://redmusic.com/downloads/Brandi_downloads/FallApartAgain.mp3

"What More Can I Say"
http://redmusic.com/downloads/Brandi_downloads/WhatCanISay.mp3

"Throw It All Away"
http://redmusic.com/downloads/Brandi_downloads/ThrowItAllAway.mp3

I have previewed the mp3s and will say they are not bad. If you are a fan of acoustic, chill music, with harmonized vocals, this is perfect for you. Brandi is currently on tour now, her website has more info- www.brandicarlile.com.

Code Green

Happy St. Pattys Day!! It's that time of year when everyone needs to pull out a Flogging Molly CD and play some celtic punk rock. Peter Griffin once said, "Let's drink til we cant feel feelings anymore." His head is in the game.

Have fun and drink responsibly.

It's Only Rock-N-Roll

While reading my NY Post newsletters, I stumbled across an article involving the writer of the Pink Floyd classic The Wall.

Roger Waters [writer] is scheduled to play Tel Aviv this summer. He was noted to have criticized the security fence being constructed in the West Bank to protect against terrorist attacks. Waters agreed to perform after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip.

However, a group of "Palestinian" artists has written to Roger Waters asking him to cancel his concert. Sliman Manour of the Palestinian Association for Contemporary Art said, "How can someone who wants to look like a leftist in the world - fighting against the Berlin Wall, for open borders and for love between people - come to Israel while they are still building their wall and hold a musical event?"

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As far as I know the Berlin Wall and the West Bank fence are two entirely different things.

The truth was that East Germans did not like the Communist controlled society. They saw the West had more economic opportunity and political freedoms, and as a result, many left for the West. The East was economically threatened due to a heavy loss of labor. To prevent any further loss, the Berlin Wall was constructed, by East German troops in 1961. The migration numbers went down drastically. The Berlin Wall essentially trapped people longing for freedom under a Communist system.

As far as I know, the West Bank fence was built to protect Israeli citizens from terrorist attacks, not trap people. Any good leader knows that National Security is vital to the existance of its nation.

I hate the fact that these so called "artists" are trying to make this political. If Waters wants to perform, then he has every right to do so.

Hey "Palestinian artists"- Just SHUT THE F*** UP!!

Wipe Out!

We have imagery!!

New post soon.

For Grunge Fans (And 90s Mainstream)

I've been hearing a ton of Soundgarden, Cornell solo work, Mother Love Bone, and Temple Of The Dog, and am thinking about buying these albums. Any advice?

The Man In Black And The Academy

On Tuesday I bought the movie Walk The Line because I heard from lesser music aficionados that it was a decent movie. After watching the cinema, I thought the movie kicked ass, plain and simple. You don't need to be a fan of Johnny Cash or his music to be entertained by this film. From what I have heard, Joaquin Phoenix had to learn how to play the guitar for his role. He also had to sing in Cash's stylings. Both were done very well. Resse Witherspoon's portrayal of June Carter Cash was also great. Walk The Line did fairly well in the Golden Globes, but did not fare too well in last nights Academy Awards. The only award taken was by Resse Witherspoon for best actress. To close: if you want to be entertained, check this movie out.

Now on to the Academy Awards- I am concerned about where these are going. There were only 3 songs up for an award- all of them were performed on stage. In my opinion, all three were terrible. One of them was a rap/hip-hop song called "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" for the movie Hustle And Flow. Somehow, this song won. As I have said before, rap does not constitute as music. Was the academy smoking something when they chose this as best song?

You've Come A Long Way

In the annual listing by Pollstar (trade magazine), Starland Ballroom was ranked the #4 selling concert/nightclub in the WORLD!! It has beat out big names including the Hammerstein and Roseland Ballrooms, the Electric Factory (PA), the Avalon (MA), and many House Of Blues spots.

Starland sold 207,000 tickets in 2005- 50,000 more than in 2004, the inaugural year. This is more than every spot in the NY Metropolitan Area and then some (as stated before).

Hey, not too shabby for a 3000 person venue hall, essentially in the middle of nowhere. On April 15 of this year, it will be even better thanks to the new smoking ban in public facilities in all of NJ. Now we won't die of emphazima just by walking into the place.

KEEP ON ROCKIN STARLAND!!