It'd be a slight slap of hypocrisy across your cheek if, I, Mr. entertainment blogger for the Merc, didn't make some kind of mention about Hollywood's recent eclipse over Royersford, with Mr. Peter Jackson bringing some camera lenses and Mark Wahlberg around and all. And I'm not much of a slapper. so...

Obviously, I'm talking about the current filming of Peter Jackson's adaption of Alice Sebold's acclaimed novel, "The Lovely Bones." Everyone around here has been abuzz with star shock and hatin' on the closed roads. But dude, the guy who made "Meet The Feebles" is right down the road! I guess he also made some lauded trilogy adaption of the Lord of the Rings too, which kind of makes him the new George Lucas. But I don't know if you ever saw that or not.

Besides "Clerks 2" taught us, "There's only one return, and it's not of The King. It's of The Jedi."

Anyway, in case you for some reason didn't know, Royersford is swarming with a little slice of Hollywood. But it won't last long, because the film crew is then off to New Zealand for filming next year. The film itself won't hit theaters until March of 2009, so sit tight Bones fans.

But, our sneaky photographer/videographer John Strickler somehow managed to grab some footage of the film being shot. So why wait till 2009?! The video is on www.pottsmerc.com if you missed it.

Speaking of Strickler, I have to tip my hat to him for the concept of the Boyertown Bear Hunt, which was a resounding success. BUT! I'd like to share with everyone that he and I were years ahead of the huntin' bears curve. Before I was even in Kindergarten, I went on a photo run with him to a local golf course where a real live furiously savage bear had run amuck onto the greens. So, while the two of us are now ineligible to win the prizes, we were hunt bears when you were still in diapers. Well, I was too, but I was hunting bears IN DIAPERS!

Remember my post last week about local electro-rock upstarts, Inner Party System, playing in Pottstown at the firehouse? Well, less than a week later, they've been named Spin Magazine's Artist of the Day, which is a bit of a big deal for a little band coming right out of Berks County.

And here's a fun fact for ya! If you were hip enough to be one of the many local ravenous fans of Thirteen Over Eight years ago, before they disbanded, Inner Party System is singer Pat Nissley's next foray into the world of popular music. And while the groove-oriented electro rock spizazz is a bit stylistically different, the furiously fevering heart of the songs are the same.

Read what Spin had to say about our local heros! You can also get yourself a snazzy little mp3 from "The Download EP." They're currently working on their debut for Stolen Transmission, due next year.

First The Police. Then Van Halen. Then The Spice Girls. Then Led Zeppelin...Seems everyone in the music world is making amends these days, don't it? Well buckle up for this one.

Now THE JACKSON FIVE are possibly reuniting for a tour in 2008, Michael included. No joke, read MTV's report on it and see what Jermaine has to say about the possibility of it. Crazy!

Not to mention, Jacko has reportedly been working on a new record with Will.I.am. 2008 is shaping up to be one for the books, isn't it?

This week's Top 5 Tuesday is a run through the holiday-themed movies that we just can't get enough of with each and every year that passes by. Heck, sometimes we pop these babies into the TV when we need to cool off in the sweltering months of summer. And while there are some of those classic yuletide movies that we certainly overlooked (Like "It's A Wonderful Life"), we're talking about the ones we can't let a single Christmas go by without watching. And if "A Christmas Story" wasn't the most devastatingly overrated movie ever televised, it might have had a shot. But honestly, it's kinda lame. Keep the change, ya filthy animal.

5. Fred Claus - entering at the fifth spot, mostly because it's new this year. But it's got the makings of a great, thanks to Vince Vaughn.
4. Home Alone - We aren't sure what it is. The physical humor? Lil' McCulken? It might be that it's one of those movies that captures what it's REALLY like to be a kid (even if we didn't all know how to set up a blow torch). Or maybe it's the magical comedy team of Stern and Pesci? But whatever it is, it keeps us here at Scene & Heard coming back for more every year, which kinda makes us like Harry & Marv.
3. Christmas Vacation - The one and only classic! Sit down with your whole extended family after Christmas dinner and watch this. You'll find yourselves labeling each other "Uncle Eddie," "Clark," and reciting the national anthem. Play ball!
2. Home Alone 2 - Yes, Home Alone is THAT good. So good that the SEQUEL is number 2 on the list. Arguably better than the first, but try arguing that New York is less Christmas-y than Illinois, and it's like arguing that Chevelle are more classic rock than The Stones. And obviously, that's just stupid. Plus Kevin's house of traps is abandoned this time, leaving room for twice the amount of carnage he can get away with.
1. Charlie Brown Christmas - it refreshes you with the heart and soul of Christmas, every time you watch it. You feel like it's changed you as a person every time after you've watched it.

I'm a bit of a music magazine junky. No secret there if you've by some odd chance seen my cramped living quarters.

But I've spent the past few weeks pouring--and repouring--through the pages of Rolling Stone 1039, which is the third of 3 commemorative 40th anniversary issues this year, and also one of the greatest volumes of anything I've ever read to do with anything. Frankly cause it has to do with everything I care about, which is more than just music and the entertainment world.

There are in depth interviews with everyone from Al Gore to Jon Stewart to Kanye West to Dave Eggers, right on down to the fella most responsible for the internet (I'm not talking about Gore). And they all discuss where we--as a people, as a country, as a world, as a community--are all going, in terms of politics, technology, music, and more. I have literally re-read some of these pages over and over again, to throrougly instill the hope beaming from between the words crammed into this massive issue. It's a very warm read that molds a wonderful sense of future and purpose out of a present that gives us little reason to. It makes optimism of pessimism. Silver out of dust. Rock out of air.

But the one quote I'd like to lift comes from the man who reached from out of a set of headphones when I was 16, grabbed me by the spine and shook my head into the colorful whir of rock and roll--Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. The quote is nothing spectacular, but it's one that reached from off a magazine page and said, "Yeah dude, I know."

"We need music, and we need it good. I took it very seriously. There's a side of me where music will always send chills up my spine, make me cry, make me want to get up and do Pete Townshend windmills. In a lot of ways, I was in a minority when I was young. There are people who go, "Oh, that's a snappy tune." I listen to it and go, "That's the greatest f cking song ever. That is the song I want played at my funeral."

Amen.

It's that time of year again..

December means more to me than holidays. It also means end-of-year lists, and you can bet we'll be compiling all sorts of such. I welcome any and all input with these lists. Maybe I missed the best album I never heard? What are some tunes that completely deserve to be considered on the shelf of this year's finest? I wanna see what you got up your sleeves!

With Thanksgiving over, people are doing one of two things today. Either battling through grueling Black Friday sales lines in stores, or laying around the house watching Christmas movies (I'm looking at you, sister).

But you don't have to fall into this trap. There are going to be plenty more sales, plenty more miserable grueling lines, and plenty more days in DECEMBER to watch Christmas movies. Put the coupons down, put the leftover potato filling back in the fridge, put the remote away, because Pottstown has a sweet little rock show at the Firehouse tonight. THIS is what you should be doing on Black Friday.

Reading's Inner Party System will be headlining a whopping feast of a bill at the North End Fire Hall. These guys recently signed to Stolen Transmission Records (which is one of those labels that will send them up to Island Records if they take off really well in the underground) and have been making quite a name for themselves in every corner of the country with their lightning-fueled dance rock.

But it's worth coming out even without the big local headliners. Jersey's magnificent The High Court will also be tearing up the fire hall walls with their amp-crushing blend of gritty rock. They spent the summer with a stint on The Warped Tour and also put out their latest full length, "Puppet Strings."

Also billed are Vanna, Therefore I Am, 74 Green Lights, and more TBA. See you there?

Since Thanksgiving is the holiday that puts some heft around our waists, I decided to have a fattened up version of our Top 5 Tuesdays, with TWO Top Fives. How's that for a second helping? First, I thought it'd be appropriate to run through the top five things we're thankful for here at the Scene & Heard headquarters. But then I also wrote up the top 5 raddest songs to ring in your Turkey Day with. Enjoy!

Top 5 Tunes To Mix With Your Turkey Scarfin'
5. Ben Folds / You To Thank - This song about bitter thank yous makes us give thanks for artists like Ben Folds who balance warm sentiments with teenage bitterness like equals.

4. The Beatles / Cold Turkey -you can't go wrong with The Beatles or turkey. Put the two together and you got a great song that isn't about Thanksgiving to listen to on Thanksgiving.
3. Sugar Hill Gang / Apache (Jump On It) - All we're gonna say is "Tonto! Jump on it! Jump on it!" and dance around like ridiculous drunk middle aged folk at a wedding, because that's what this song does to people. We're not sure what it's about, but they name drop Indians like whoa! And you can't have Thanksgiving without our native brothers.
2. Vince Guaraldi Trio / A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Theme - This time of year is worthless if you aren't digging out the Charlie Brown specials. And the music makes it all the better.

1. Crosby Stills Nash & Young / Find The Cost Of Freedom - Short, sweet, and near- perfect. There is nothing inherently "Thanksgiving" about this acoustic ditty, but it is so rich and earthy and genuine that it makes you feel how the original Pilgrims may have felt--right at home, while trying to figure out a whole new strange world. It's one of my all-time favorite tunes. Ever. Try the live version from "4-way Street" for full effect of hearty awesomeness.

****

Top 5 Things Scene & Heard Is Thankful For

5. All this talk about Led Zeppelin possibley reuniting for a big world tour next year.

4. Legacy Midnight Wit

3. http://www.hypem.com/

2. Cate Blanchet's remarkable role as one of the 6 Bob Dylans in "I'm Not There"

1. music (it's the one thing that guarantees I'm not alone in whatever I'm going through)

And of course, thankful for those who are reading this too. I wish you the warmest of Thanksgiving wishes, with all kinds of thanks and giving and food and music and booze, which are all the makings of a great day. Enjoy it folks.

Do you think a good ol' fashioned mohawk is kinda intimidating? Well a little more than 2 dozen football players from Easton Area High School thought so, which is why they elected to cut their heads into the famously 'punk' hairstyle for the seasonly traditional game against their rival, Phillipsburg, NJ.

And for good reason. They play FOOTBALL where their whole objective is to sike out their competition. And some mean-looking shorn heads say more than snide comments about one's mother. Am I right?

Yet these football stallions were faced with the option of cutting their hair or facing suspension, as per school district policy. Talk about school spirit?

Let's back up. Let's have a quick history lesson on the mohawk. The name comes from a New York Indian tribe and was reportedely fashioned by Indians all up and down North America throughout the centuries. Plus some airborne American soldiers adorned them in WWII for the same reason these football players wanted to--they meant business.

Not to mention, Mr. T. is THE man and a great role model for children. (remember when he gave up his mass of gold chains to charity after Hurricane Katrina?)

It originally came to represent a symbol of striking fear into the hearts of the wicked, which sounds kinda football-esque to me. Yet these tacklin' kids are just gonna have to settle for "your momma" jokes now.

This also takes me back to the "Liberty Spikes" haircut debate. Why should that hairstyle be banned from school? It might make the kids look weird...but, you do realize they look like the STATUE OF LIBERTY? Right?! Now, if they're bringing torches into schools, thats another thing. But we're talking about hair and freedom of expression here. Unless they're expressing something very foul and flagrant...which a pointed hair cut isn't doing unless they add some drastic context to it...it should be allowed. Especially if only for rallying up some good old-fashioned tribe spirit for a stinking football game. Sheesh.

Read more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20071118-9999-1s18gallery.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohawk_hairstyle

http://www.blueblood.net/bb_73.html

current music: I'm Not There official movie soundtrack

current film: HOOK

Bored? Then go download some KISS albums.

The only reason for Gene Simmons and company to keep donning KISS' iconic black and white face paint is to cover up their wrinkling faces. I say this because Simmons recently told Billboard that fans shouldn't expect the group to reconvene in the studio to lay down any new tracks in the near future. Why? Because he's tired of everyone downloading his music, and there is no FINANCIAL motivation to work up some new rock anthems with half the world stealing his music.

FINANCIAL MOTIVATION?! Forget the fact that he's made millions and millions on merchandising and ticket sales in the past. Forget the fact that the world is still singing his songs or even interested in some old guys making some new rock music. He went so far to say that when the downloading wave began, labels and the government should have swept in fiercely and taken away the homes and cars of the kids downloading. My God, this man's head has gotten bigger than that darn tongue of his.

What do you think? Is he out of bounds?

Engineers in Japan have created "Melody Roads," which are roads that play music through your car like a tuning fork when you drive over them.

No, I'm serious.

To understand these roads, think about driving over a rumble strip on the highway, but instead of a steady whir, the rumble sounds like a song we all know. Picture this, you're driving down 422 and suddenly your car starts shaking to the melody of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir." Awesome!

But this could cause all sorts of problems too. If I come across any roads rumbling to the beat of some Nickleback tunes (or worse, THE MACARENA!), you can bet I will do everything in my power to avoid such a road. I'll ride my bike instead if I have to.

What songs would you put on your roads? I wanna hear some My Bloody Valentine (because they are polishing off their long-awaited first album since 91's gorgeous "Loveless," plus they're way too complex to even think about as something being covered by some paved grooves on an interstate. Pull it off, and I'll hug you.) Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" would be rather appropriate too.

Just think about the publishing bucks bands/labels will make off these roads if they actually take off anywhere.

Read up on these Melody Roads right here.

The new official "I'm Not There" theatrical trailer has finally surfaced.



Musician biopics are usually pretty cut and dry. Some young musical prodigy gets famous, falls in love, gets married, starts a family, then plummets into a pitfall of drugs and money problems, nearly loses it all, but then reconciles and wins the girl back and proceeds in becoming a legend. Something like that.

But the biopic treatment for Bob Dylan isn't the same song and dance. Which makes sense because there really is no separating the fact from the fiction with an artist who has worn a whole closet of different masks throughout his life. "I'm Not There" looks like one of the most promising films set to sweep through theaters this fall. Limited release on Nov. 21. Scope a scene from the film below.

Tony Phyrillas, our in-house political columnist/star blogger/closet Hillary Duff fan, found some pretty interesting pictures of The Duffster yesterday. He caught her wearing some POTTSTOWN threads? Yeah, no joke! Maybe she's close pals with Taylor Swift? All these pretty young songbirds are putting Pottstown on the map. Look out Los Angeles!

Perhaps it's time Tony and I open a local music venue to house these starlets, because they obviously want to play some poppy little ditties for us! Any ideas for a good venue name? What about the Blogiseum?

If you've been in a Best Buy recently, you might have noticed that they've taken away some CD shelf space. Why? Because there's more people buying Guitar Hero than CDs these days. And you can't blame them. Sales continue to plummet to new terrible depths, month after month. Of course, this doesn't mean MUSIC itself is going away. With downloading, it's likely that MORE people have MORE music than the big selling days of the 90s. But with less people actually putting money up, it makes me curious.

What was the last actual CD you bought in a store for full price? I don't care if it was Limp Bizkit in 1998.

Personally I've been getting lots of music off eMusic lately. (40 songs for 10 bucks a month, not bad and not naughty by government standards) But I bought a hard copy of Jimmy Eat World's latest, "Chase This Light" the other week, and it's excellent if you're into that whole "blisteringly poppy and extremely heartfelt" which I definitely have a soft spot for.

We don't follow much country music here in the Scene & Heard office, but why the heck didn't anybody tell me that this Taylor Swift chick is from WYOMISSING!? (not to be confused with the American Idol hack, Taylor Hicks) She's apparently one of the hottest things in country music these days, which sure ain't a bad feat for a little 17 year old.

Man, when I was that age, I was working at McDonalds and hanging out at diners. I didn't even like coffee yet, much less have a platinum-selling smash CD. Of course, I'm not exactly a prodigy that was blessed with her silvery gorgeous voice. But I do have something in common with this little songbird, and that's being raised around here.

Turns out she went to The Wyndcroft School as a little one here in good ol' Pottstown before her parents took her to Nashville for her to pursue her music career, which obviously paid off.

Catch her tonight on the 41st annual Country Music Association Awards at 8 pm on ABC. Rep Pottstown for us kid! Show the world we can cough up more than just ol' Daryl Hall.

Here's what's going on in the music world.

Even though The White Stripes had to cut off their tour this fall because of Meg's "acute anxiety," they've reportedly reconvened in the studio to cut some new tunes. No word yet on where those will be turning up in the future.

Weezer's new record is reportedly in the can and should be ready for release in early 08.

The British press says Pete Doherty has been caught doing heroin on film, yet again, only 2 weeks after completing a court ordered drug rehabilitation program. Trainspotting anyone?

There is a Nirvana biopic in the works, and Universal has purchased rights to the band's ENTIRE catalog for use in the film. They must have had some bucks to throw around, yes?

Who's been following all the Radiohead news lately? Turns out about 62 percent of the people who downloaded Radiohead's "name your price" version of the new "In Rainbows" didn't pay a cent for it. But all the money that people did pay goes directly to the band, with no label middleman, so they still probably made more money already off this record than any of their previous releases. Plus, you have to take into account that some people are waiting for the higher quality official release early next year to actually put some money up for it.

AND DON'T FORGET TO PICK UP THE PAPER TOMORROW FOR ANOTHER SHOT AT WINNING TICKETS TO THE POLICE CONCERT NEXT WEDNESDAY IN PHILLY!

Hopefully you dug out V For Vendetta last night. ("Remember, remember the 5th of November") But now we're here on American local election day, and that can mean a lot of things. It means you get to vote in "the only poll that matters," as they say. It also means the end of all those wretched signs that dirty up the beautiful fall scenery this time of year. But here at the Scene & Heard office, it means we're digging up our favorite breaking-the-system records and wailing away all day long to rusty guitars and out of key singers, singing along to songs about letting freedom ring and stickin it to the man. Dig it! It's top 5 Tuesday! These records are the ones you NEED to get fired up at the man when the man steps on your toes.

5. Nine Inch Nails / Year Zero - This album paints a haunting picture of a future where everyone is under complete control and censorship from a government out of a control, with a leader who "signs his name with a capital G."...
4. Against Me / New Wave - The sound of fire on a record, one of the sharpest releases this year.
3. Dead Kennedys / Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death - The one and only classic. The song "Police Truck" has the ability to round up armies.
2. Rage Against The Machine / Rage Against The Machine - When this album came along in the 90s it re-tightened the fists of an aimless generation that had gone somber thanks to grungey Nirvana rock. The only reason this record doesn't make the number one is because it directly led to crap like Limp Bizkit who employed the same energy, but had nothing to say. Rage, however, had a lot to say.
1. The Clash / The Clash - The late Joe Strummer was arguably one of the most important songwriters of the 20th century. The Clash's songs weren't as anti-political as they were pro-use your voice, change the world, make it a better place...which is what the HEART of punk is, as opposed to the image. This album is where punk began to take that shape.

Not that we should be surprised, but Stephen Colbert won't be on the ballot next November when we all go to vote for our next president. He announced this last week on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report when he said he had been turned down by Republicans and the Democrats.

During that episode, he interviewed a guy who lectures on multitasking who said Colbert failed to secure a spot with a political party because he's trying to do too much and isn't focusing on getting elected. If he would campaign heavily and play the whole game, then he'd actually have a shot, despite the immense popularity garnered among young potential voters.

Colbert's response was something along the lines of "think about what that says about our government, that you gotta play the game."

Think about that if you're going out voting today.

Me? I'm gonna hang around and listen to The Clash all day.

The Mercury's Boyertown Bear Hunt kicked off in the paper today, so in honor of the contest, I thought I'd take us back with the YouTube video today. The problem with being a lady magnet as a little tike back in my day is that you were forced to watch this show so much you could recite the whole theme song in your sleep. And it totally cut in on your Nintendo time, but hey, no one said being a ladies man before starting grade school is easy.

South Park is the most important show on television. There's probably about 3 other people out there who agree with such a statement, but hear me out.

Sure, the show is an edgy, often foul and awfully offensive cartoon that feeds on a pretty steady diet of college humor and ignorant flatulence jokes. But that's only the surface of the show. At it's core, it's probably the most socially conscious and politically aware display of entertainment ever. It's not exactly educational, but it is far more intelligent and sophisticated in it's underlying meaning than it lets off to be. Seriously.

Most viewers probably don't even spend a moment thinking about the show beyond it's twisted humor, but I spent all last night philosophizing on Comedy Central's long-running hit show after watching the concluding episode of their recent "Imagination Trilogy."

In this 3-part episode, a secret portal to the world's collective "imagination" (called Imagination Land) is secretly housed in The Pentagon, and all hell breaks loose after a terror attack on Imagination Land unleashes all the bad guys of Imagination Land (including Freddy Kreuger, storm troopers, Jason, The Predator, Darth Maul, The Alien, The Minotaur, Wario, The Headless Horseman, etc) onto the "good guys" part of Imagination Land (which includes Optimus Prime, Jesus, Morpheus, Santa Clause, Popeye, Luke Skywalker, The Flash, a monster from Where The Wild Things Are, a Ninja Turtle, and so on). Perhaps not so ironically, it's one of the most imaginative things I've seen in a while. Meanwhile they poke fun at the government for having no imagination (see episode 2).

And there's goofy sideplots, and lots of ridiculousness themes, but if you look past that to Kyle's touching speech to Pentagon officials planning to nuke the imagination portal towards the conclusion, you'll see the heart of the show. He convinces them that "Imagination Land is, in fact, real" and thus, they can't just simply nuke it to stop monsters from coming out of the portal. He actually makes a convincing point that imaginary characters from popular culture are probably more real than everyday people, because they have helped define people and the world, even if they aren't "real" in essence.

And it turns into a religious waxing of intellectual where the characters question their beliefs and existence, while this little imaginative kid from Colorado explains that real or not, characters from Jesus Christ to Optimus Prime have shaped the world more than government officials could ever dream to. And we've looked to these mythical (or cartoony) figures for advice, for guidance, for light, for entertainment, for ourselves.

Yeah, sure, it's a silly cartoon that most parents would find disgustingly awful, but what else recently has so clearly defined that it doesn't matter who or what you believe in, but that wielding a strong imagination is the only weapon you'll ever truly need. Saying (or warring over) what you believe in is more 'right' than someone else is the most ignorant thing you can do. Whether it be in politics, religion, or a conversation on Star Wars. South Park unveils how stupid people look when they take things far too seriously and that sometimes, all we really need is to laugh at something stupid and disgusting to remind us we're really not that different.

But I don't mean to ram the idea that this show is the smartest show ever down your throat. That'd be defeating my point. I'm just saying it makes me laugh, and it makes me think about the world.