Spiderman 3 came out on DVD yesterday, and while the reviews of it were extremely mixed, the film slammed me hard in the chest. I came home and immediately wrote the following column in a fit of inspiration, which printed in the Mercury last Spring. So, in case you missed it first time around, here again is my Spiderman column.

Like anyone else who lived through it, I will never forget the day terrorists attacked America on September 11, 2001. It replays over and over in my mind like a film reel, sitting in my 12^th grade English class watching the horrific events unfold live on television.

I felt a collective chill rip through the room as the first tower collapsed into a terrifying storm of rubble tumbling to the streets of Manhattan below. We froze in our seats, our minds scrambling for something to say, anything to make sense of the horror. It was the only time I ever heard a silence so loud.

Months later, many of us were still reeling from that day and the politics which followed. We became tangled in a web of pain, sadness, confusion, fury and vengeance. But above all else, we were lost. As a nation, we needed a hero, a resounding symbol of hope and strength to pick us up and dust us off. An athlete, a singer, a political leader, a family member, a teacher, God—anything or anyone to hold the torch high for us as we soldiered through our darkest hour.

For me, and many others, it was Spiderman who came to the rescue. That May, he came swinging through theatres and spun a web in our hearts. He donned a sleek patriotic outfit of red and blue while defending New York City from every doom it faced, whether it was a gang of easily dispensable bank robbers or a jacked-up bipolar madman armed with pumpkin bombs.

But it's not even the cunning heroics which make Spiderman the man for us to look up to. It's his unrelenting bouts with growing up, love, work, school, friends and family that have made him so genuine and endearing to us. Sure, he's got superhuman strength and can see things before they happen, but he's still a man who faces down the same demons we do.

Unlike the typical Supermen and Batmen, Peter Parker is a college student who struggles for work as a freelance photographer while living in a dilapidated city apartment where he barely makes rent. Not to mention, the thing which stirs him most is his complicated but unrequited love for a girl, Mary Jane Watson.

In high school, he was the uber-dork of the class before he transformed into the perfectly capable Spiderman who could climb walls and swing across the New York City skyline like a schoolyard jungle-gym.

Surely the details are different, but there's a little bit of Parker in all of us. Maybe we haven't been bitten by radioactive super spiders and given such awesome power, but we all try to make sense of what we have been given. And we all struggle to grow up and deal with the curves life throws us, like 9/11 for instance. Or maybe the death of a family member, like Parker's uncle Ben.

Thus, it isn't hard to understand life as Spiderman because a lot of us already are Peter Parker. Sure, he's got superpowers, but his superhero weakness is a greater vulnerability than kryptonite—he is just a guy. He is as capable of love as he is of hate, as capable of making mistakes as he is doing the right thing. I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like me.

And the evil-doers which Spidey battles throughout his three movies hold this idea up just as well. The likes of Doc Ock (from Spiderman 2) and The Sandman (Spiderman 3) become just as endearing as ol' Spidey himself. These villains are shown as good-natured people at heart but become demented by bad circumstances and lose sight of themselves in their own madness. This happens to Spidey himself in Spiderman 3 as fame and love go to his head, turning him into an arrogant headspun jerk fueled by hatred and vengeance, not unlike his foes.

These movies show there is a monster within all of us. And when we feed ourselves with anger and revenge for the troubles we face, we lose sight of what matters to us most. That's why these movies were so important for us in the wake of 9/11, and continue to be. If we let disasters batter us, we end up becoming the demons we try to shake off.

But more importantly, these movies show there is a little hero in all of us as well. One person can make a difference if they choose to, but they have to choose to. Bad things will always happen to good people. Wearing masks and possessing super talents is not what transforms one into a hero, but making the most out of what you've been given and knowing how to forgive even the baddest of bad guys is what makes one a real hero.

Maybe most people haven't read as deeply into Spiderman as I have. But over these past five years, these movies taught me a great deal about dealing with the tragedies of life and moving on. About happily swinging through life from one moment to the next while trying not to get tangled in one of life's unfortunate webs.

And if I ever do get stuck, a web-slinging slickster comes along and helps me out by reminding me how much the two of us are actually alike, even if I don't got sticky silly string flying out of my wrists.
--by Chris March / cmarch@pottsmerc.com

TUNES: Muddy Waters / blues classics
FILM: Hostel 2, Trainspotting

Don't forget to pick up The Mercury tomorrow for a chance to win some Police tickets! (more details here)

If you need more convincing, here's a video from this past summer's LiveEarth when The Police took to the stage with some pals to perform "Message In A Bottle." And by pals, I mean John Mayer on guitar and Kanye West jumping in to awkwardly add some freestyle to the classic anthem. Kanye seemed a bit out of place, but otherwise, pretty slick stuff. Enjoy!

In honor of the tickets we're giving away to see The Police (look in Time Out on Thursday or the Sunday paper to win), the top 5 for this week will be our favorite 5 Police songs to groove to here in the Scene & Heard office. And believe us when we say it was darn hard to leave "Mother" off this list.

The Top 5 Police tunes
5. Synchronicity I - if this fiery tune doesn't get you charged, you're probably a turtle stuck on your back. That, and completely lame.
4. Roxanne - no one felt bad for uh... hookers till this song broke the group into the limelight
3. Deathwish - a barn burning groovefest of punky awesomeness.
2. King of Pain - self-martyrdom and pity never sounded so gorgeous. Or awesome!
1. Message In A Bottle - too anthemicly powerful to not top the list. Sounds as relevant now as it did when Reagen was president. Relate it to love, or politics, or life in general, and it hits home just as hard.

For more details on how to win these tickets, read this.

As some of you may have realized, I'm a royally big dork. Which means I went out and got Guitar Hero 3 immediately yesterday when it hit stores. Although, don't confuse me with the NERDS (see picture) who master each and every track on the expert level of the Guitar-toting video game and actually BUY GUITAR CASES for the controller. I just like being able to rip through "Freebird" and Black Sabbath tunes like I'm a rockstar by pummeling on a guitar with 6 color coded buttons, when in reality I have no talent on a real guitar whatsoever. It's the next best thing and almost satisfies that buried hidden desire of mine to be Keith Richards.

But now that I have the 3rd installment in the series, I'm a tad let down. Of course, I haven't had much time to let it grow on me yet, but the pace of it is a little different, which makes sense since it's been taken over by the guys who made all the Tony Hawk video games. And the music just doesn't seem as ridiculously ripping as the first 2 were. Sure, the tunes are good and certainly varied across a wide spectrum of tastes, but there isn't anything that's made me want to play through OVER AND OVER AND OVER the way The Stooges' classic "Search And Destroy" did on Guitar Hero 2. Although finding Weezer on the set list made me kinda happy, and battling it out one on one with Tom Morello and Slash was pretty rocktastic too.

But regardless of whether the gameplay is good or not, Guitar Hero seems to be the only thing the music business has going for it, doesn't it? And it's more the video game business than the music biz, obviously. Any band NOT wanting to have a song included in a guitar hero setlist is just stupid. I guarantee the game has renewed interest in some bands that were beginning to sink into the sad abyss of yesteryear rock nostalgia. Like, The Straycats, for instance. It's genius, really. Marketing genius, this guitar hero. So good or not, I'm gonna keep shelling out to play more tunes on my guitar. Errr guitar controller that is.

But how much longer till we get some Zeppelin and Beatles on these dang games?? They're starting to pop on iTunes, why not on these silly video games, man?

Well, Halloween rolls around this week, which means we're all pretending to be someone or something else for a day or 2, watching nerve-frying gorefest movies in the dark, and fattening up on mountains of candy. But this guy has the best Halloween idea of all. Enjoy.

You know where all the kids are going these days? Phoenixville. And for good reason. They really have all of these cool little spots that have been popping up in the past few years. It's not a bad little stretch of town, if you ask me.

Coffee houses, books stores, pubs, live music, lots of happy folks. It doesn't get much better than that. (Although any one else catch that Philly's music scene was listed as the "HOT" scene in their recent "Hot Issue?" Bout time they got some props there on South St!)

Anyway, last night, I took in some tunes at Steel City Coffee House and had a smug little time there. It was open mic night, and while it certainly presented some cringing acts, a handful of performers made sitting painfully through the inevitable Dashboard Confessional wannabes well worth it. In fact the guy who hosted was THE MAN.

I didn't even catch the bro's name, but when he started his first set, he goes, "You probably never heard of me, but quite frankly, that doesn't bother me any." And then the dude just tore UP his electric guitar, spitting out all kinds of dirty little licks on his shiny 6 string. Seriously, guy had me banging my hands and feet all over the place. And it was just him, channeling pure unbridled emotion through the strings. No backing. And he covered The Allman Brothers, man. He was like a senior intellectual white blues guitarist fella. And he knew how to pull the trigger on that dang guitar.

Later, some kids covered Eminem's "Lose Yourself" with their acoustics, but they couldn't stop giggling about it and made it more into a joke than a cool cover. Which is a shame because, that song can actually be made into a REALLY awesome cover when taken seriously, especially in a coffee shop. I'm not being sarcastic either. But beforehand, they covered The Beatles "Don't Let Me Down" pretty awesomely.

Then another elder dude stepped up and showed the pupils who the real teachers are. Didn't catch his name either, but he reminded me of Eric Clapton, note for note. From his voice to his style to his lyrics, he was a regular Clapton, and it was awesome. Before launching into his beautifully structured second song, he said "To me, songs are like children. They're a gift." and then dedicated it to all the songwriters out there who try their darndest to sniff out their muse wherever it may be. And while I'm not a songwriter, I was totally sucked into those words he said. It still harped with me and my personal writing and poetry, or just as a listener trying to find a great song that speaks to you louder than the average song.

Or as a little duder from Douglassville trying to find a cool place to hang out on Thursday nights around here. And I'd say I found it.

And the fact that Molly Maguire's is waiting right across the street with great food and a nice selection of beer for the post show hang out doesn't hurt either.

If you're looking for the "Listening In" blog, this is it.

But up here in the control tower of Mercury blogland, we decided that "Scene & Heard" is a much more appropriate (and sleeker) title for the business we deal in. Plus we like when words have two sides to their sword. We have fun with puns, and Listening In didn't really pun things up enough, ya know? So Scene And Heard is the name, and filling you in on all the music, movies, and area hot spots we love is our game. Thanks for listening..

America's beloved Britney is hitting store shelves with her big 'comeback' album next Tuesday, October 30. Is it a coincidence that "Blackout" will be released on Hallow's Eve? Will it be more frightening than all the terror flicks littering the cable channels? You be the judge.

For a while, I was beginning to think it would bomb even worse than K-Fed's (her ex-hubby) awful shipwreck of a rap record. But, I forgot we are all endlessly infatuated with Britney the way we are with Michael Jackson, so no matter how lame her new single, "Gimme More" sounds, it's getting lots of airplay and will probably propel some decent album sales.

I think Britney oddly succeeds in (and has become the princess of) popular culture because she's kinda become this weird demented symbol of the American dream. Even if it's more of a nightmare. Think about it, she began as this gorgeous little honeypot and she tried her darndest to grow up, but has kinda failed to. The towns of America are littered with people who identify with that. Heck, I even raise my hand along with those folks. Plus, she's become a big open gash spurting for all the attention she can get. Who doesn't love a former teen starlet who shaves her head after divorcing out of a marriage we all knew was doomed to crash, and bashes cars with umbrellas? I know I do.

It shows that you don't have to be stable to be successful, but also that being successful doesn't make you stable. Maybe it's destabilizing? And for those of us that are far from being famous, it makes us sit back in our easy chairs a little more easily. I'm sure a lot of us are far from normal, but when we tune into the news to see Britney continuing to self-destruct, our lives don't seem so bad.

You can listen to her whole album before it's released right here via MTV's The Leak. What ya think?

We're doing something new on Tuesdays here. Every week, we'll compile a Top 5 to help push you through the middle of the week. Whether it be 5 favorite records for a particular occasion, 5 movies, 5 things to do, 5 things NOT to do, you get the idea. And if there's ever any particular Top 5 you'd like to see, send me a hollar at cmarch@pottsmerc.com. I'll make it happen.

For our first one, I thought I'd give you my Top 5 Favorite Albums to sit back and melt to in the autumn. The air is getting a little crisp around the edges. The spring green is bleeding out of the leaves, leaving them crunchy golden and brown. The sun is losing it's heat of summer reds. Summer romance is over, and you're just starting to get over it. It can be sad, but full or promise too. Pumpkins, rakes, and sweatshirts are lining peoples driveways and porches. Life is going into retreat, coiling back for the upcoming winter. I love this time of year as much as I love spring because it's a season of movement. You feel like you're headed towards something. But the music that goes best with it is calm, cool, and crunchy. It's colorful, but not young and budding. It's gruff and seasoned, but not frigid and dead. Think about driving through wooded back country roads with brown and red leaves blowing across the road while jamming these babies.

Here is the soundtrack to our autumn here at Listening In. Enjoy! (comment if you're disappointed on something I missed.)

TOP 5: Autumn Records
1. Jeff Buckley - Grace
2. Appleseed Cast - Mare Vitalis
3. Jets Overhead - Bridges
4. Coldplay - Parachutes
5. Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left

I was bored on Saturday and dug Fight Club out of the vaults to watch it for the first time in a while. I almost forgot how much that movie rocks my bones. So without further adieu, I give you DANCE Club.

Poppin into Chaplins last night totally paid off. Shame on you if you missed it. The final act to go on, Mat Burke, totally wowed me. He was sharp, witty, and loaded with great tunes. His stage presense was on fire. He was the only artist to look comfortable up there, while the others stood in place plowing through their songs.

He explained each song and talked about traveling all over the country and breaking up with long-time girlfriends between songs like we were some of his best friends. He seemed a bit off his hinges and frantic, but at the same time like someone who has full confidence in his songs and what he does, and rightfully so. It was as if he had walked right out of the pages of Kerouc's "On The Road" and climbed up on stage in Spring City with a guitar and started playing some folk songs. Kicks, man. Kicks.

And while his songs were pure folky tale tunes, he ran up on stage with an undeniable rock n' roll force. He woke everyone up in the crowd by igniting the stage with his immediate energy.

"This is MY angry woman song," he said, referring to the previous act who introduced one of her piano-laden tunes as her "angry woman song." He then proceeded to sound-check with Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." I'm telling you, the guy was a hit before he even finished SOUND CHECK!

And there was a sure-fire Bob Dylan swagger in his step through the whole set. Each song read like a story, and he was so smooth and comfortable with the guitar. Plus he whizzed across his harmonica harp easier than some people can walk. I bet my marbles this guy treasures Dylan records the way Dylan treasured Woodie Guthrie.

"I don't consider myself much of a singer. I just tell stories," he said before opening his set with the scathing "Jack And Jill, parts 2 and 3."

But I won't call him "the next Dylan." That's like a curse or something in the music business. Instead, I'll just say he's a must-hear. He's from Scranton, living in Philly now. Seriously, check him out. Click the link for some tunes. I look forward to hearing much more about him. Lets get this guy a ton of more shows in the area people!

I don't know about all of you, but I'm headed to Chaplins Music Cafe tonight after work for their new Thursday "Talent Search" feature.

I like the possibility of showing up at a sweet place not knowing who's gonna take the stage. It's like Spring City's own little indie American Idol. And if we need a Simon Cowell to complete the comparison, I'll gladly fill that role. I'll be the little heckler in the crowd.

If you've never checked Chaplins out, tonight's a good excuse to. See ya there, folks.

Are you beginning to feel like the big upcoming presidential election is turning into a Royal Rumble wrestling match with all the big names in the race? (I just pictured Hillary Clinton whacking Rudy Giuliani over the head with a steel chair.) Well the list of candidates just got bigger (and better).

Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's Colbert Report announced Tuesday that he's entering the 08 presidential race. Suddenly, that "Man of the Year" movie starring Robin Williams comes to mind.

His show is the only thing I even bother watching on TV anymore. And considering I work at a newspaper, some of my colleagues may think I'm a wash for saying that. But I'll take "truthiness" and Comedy Central over The Wall Street Jounral anyday, dude. And if he enters into politics, I might pay more attention to that stuff too.

And I know I'm not alone. To many younger Americans, this is huge. It's like we finally got the chance to vote for someone that we TRULY admire. Of course, with Colbert, it's a little difficult to take him seriously. Especially considering that he just published a book. Is this whole thing a stunt to fan more audience to his show and book? He's pulled stunts before, such as roasting W. Bush on the spot last year at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Or going head to head with "papa bear" Bill O'Reilly.

Not to mention, he said he will only run in his home state of South Carolina, and hopes to run as Republican AND Democrat. Plus, he said he might just run as COLBERT & COLBERT. Ross Perot looks like CHILD'S play compared to this.

But, it turns out he's actually made some calls to both parties before he made the announcement. It very well may be a publicity stunt, but one that he's taking fairly seriously. But even though, he's more of a Chevy Chase news anchor than a Dan Rather news anchor, he's one of the sharpest speakers you'll find. He MAY have a chance. But perhaps the most important thing here is that he could very well spark many young voters into actually caring about the upcoming election, whether he follows through or not. I know I suddenly care about it more.

What do you think? Would you actually consider voting for Colbert if he ended up on the ballot? Think about it though. Don't just write him off because he's a fake news anchor. You can't argue that we need something new in the oval office, and he is certainly that.

We need to clear some things up. Turns out I'm not the only me. There is this dude on this Project Runway show named Chris March. We are NOT one in the same. Re-read that past sentence so we are definitely on the same page. I mean it! I hope you can notice the subtle differences and distinctions between us. The camera may add a few pounds, but not a couple HUNDRED.

And this raises another question. Why is this wickedly bad dressed dude on a fashion show?

I'd have my college loans all paid off and maybe even have my own house by now if I wasn't such a dang media junky. The entertainment business would kiss me on the cheek if they knew me and what I was doing for them. Heck, I dropped about 1/3 of my week's pay at Best Buy last night on a stack of CDs and some movies. I'm probably the only thing keeping them afloat!

It's not easy to stay on top of things in a entertainment world so oversaturated with 'stuff', ya know? What have all of you out there in reader land been jamming lately? What music should I be rocking? What movies should I be scoping? What books should I be browsing? Let me know so we can share stories bout em! Below is some of the stuff I've gotten my greedy little hands on (and love) lately.

Music
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Thrice - The Alchemy Index 1 & 2
Hot Hot Heat - Happiness LTD.
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
Whitey - The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is A Train

Movies
Aqua Teen Hunger Force The Movie
28 Days Later
Black Sheep
Science of Sleep
Stranger Than Fiction

You might have heard a new Star Trek flick is in the works. Which means nothing really, because what good is the Trek without the Kirk, much less The Spock?

HOWEVER, there WILL be a KIRK and there WILL be a SPOCK in the new Trek. Although, we're not talking about William Shatner or Leonard Nimoy, mind you, but a whole recasting of the original Star Trek characters for a movie of the Enterprise crew when they were a bit younger. But what makes it worth seeing is the cast that's been announced thus far. Check it out.

Simon Pegg will play "Scotty". And THAT means the Shaun of the Dead (and Hot Fuzz) dude will be telling Kirk that he's a doctor, not a plumber, or zombie basher, or policeman.

John Cho of Harold and Kumar fame (also the duder who single-handedly invented the term "MILF" on American Pie) will be stepping in as Sulu.






Eric Bana, who went all green to become The Hulk in the infamous blockbuster flop will apparently be the lead villain.

Not to mention, the real Spock, Leonard Nimoy is set to make some kind of cameo.

I almost wanna buy fake pointy ears and call myself a Trekkie. But, I won't go that far.

Some other movies on the horizon?
How about a whole new Terminator TRILOGY? There was talk about Vin Diesel being the new "I'll be back" man. Sounds lame, but we'll see.

You probably know about Stallone's new installment in the Rambo series this winter, JOHN RAMBO, but he's already talking about doing some more Rambos afterwards. Nuts.

After 28 Weeks Later just went to DVD, there is already talk of 28 YEARS Later to be the third and final chapter in the too-rad-for-words zombie trilogy. There isn't even a script for it yet, so it's a ways away, but it's coming.

TUNES: Radiohead - In Rainbows
FLICKS: 28 Weeks Later

The way we get our music has been changing for the past decade now. The internet has been whacking up the way entertainment suit heads make their money ever since Al Gore "invented" it. Or at least since Napster came and went while angering silly bald drummers in washed up metal bands (*cough* METALLICA *cough*).

But just because the music industry is selling about 1/10 the amount of CDs that were sold in the mid to late 90s when NSync and Limp Bizkit could push millions of records by the week, doesn't mean there are less people listening to music. If anything, the internet has saved music, put some wholesome grain back into the recipe. It's just not easy for suits to get rich off it anymore, that's all.

Proof that music still matters? Radiohead have become nearly as famous for refusing to get in bed with record labels or anything corporate (won't find 'em on iTunes) as for their constant re-invention with each brilliant release of cryptic arty ambient rock. They unveiled their new record, "In Rainbows" last week in it's entirety to the internet, months before it will see a proper physical release. This isn't a new idea, but here's the catch.

They aren't asking for any money. Listeners get to actually NAME their price. Take it for free, legally, or get it for 2 bucks so you don't feel guilty, or buy it for a grand, which someone actually did. You, the listener put the value on what you're listening to. How about that?

But the awesome news is that the album had reportedly been downloaded by 1.2 million internetters in less than a week. All without any radio or TV promotion. Word had gotten out through the usual online music sites and rock rags, especially in the music blog world, where bloggers had been drooling for the new Radiohead for well over a year now. Take that corporate America!

Radiohead have probably made more money on this album than their previous albums already, because one common misconception of the music biz is where artists make their money. It's off touring and merch mostly, not actual albums. That goes to the labels for the most part. But at this point, Radiohead are sailing on their own boat on their own water, without any record label flags or motors. So who needs a label in this current day in age when you can record music on your own computer, and then release it like this? Labels put music in a box, Radiohead are throwing it out of the box.

Do you think we'll see more releases like this in the future? I don't think there will be a day when record labels and CD releases are gone altogether, but I think the music business needs to realize that their days of getting rich off artists' words, voices, and emotions are numbered. The internet and rock n' roll are two of the most American things in the entire world, if you ask me. Both are pure democracy. Anyone can get anything off the internet. And anyone can be a rockstar, talent or not. The joining of both is the sort of thing that would make our founding fathers proud. Thomas Jefferson is wailing around and air-guitaring somewhere right now to "Bodysnatchers" ("In Rainbows") on George Washington's computer in Heaven.

I highly recommend you give Radiohead's "In Rainbows" a shot. What you got to lose? Get it at their website.

Radiohead are shaking the music industry to it's core with the inventive 'release' of their new phenominal masterpiece, "In Rainbows." More on that later, but for now I think their old video for "Just" illustrates all the crumbling and scrambling going on in the music biz these days. It's one of my all time favorite music vids. We still don't know to this day what the man tells the crowd at the end, but some speculate he says "down is the new up" or "Radiohead are at the window." What do you think? I say that he, and the rest of the crowd are all record executives and he says "That band up in the window, they're going to prove to the world in about 10 years that good music doesn't need us, and we'll all be out of jobs." Talk about a chilling prophecy.

It's shaping up to be an artsy-fartsy weekend, folks. First, I encourage everyone to pop their head into the Schuylkill River Festival at some point tomorrow. I mean it! 9 am to 6 pm. You might think family-oriented festivals are too silly for you, but this festival has shaped up to be pretty stinkin' awesome. You are not better than it. So give it a shot. But I don't even need to bully you into going. I'll let the details speak for themselves.

There will be music all day on 2 different stages. Love Jones will headline from 4 to 6, but there's much more going on then them. Celtic pipe bands, singer songwriters like the area's folky Mike Holiday and Ms. Chris Matsko, not to mention the Paul Thiessen Band who I've been meaning to catch for a while now. There will also be some performances from local schools and a funk band called Parkside Avenue. Bow chikka wow wow.

Plus, if you're down for some good old fashioned perusing, there will be plenty of arts and crafts vendors on hand. And as long as the weather is tame, there will be tethered hot air balloon rides. See, you wanna go. I don't even need to use the Jedi Mind Trick do I?

And if you still are thirsting for more art after all that, head to Birdsboro at any point this weekend for the 15th annual Fine Arts Show. It's 10 am to 7 pm sat, sun, and mon. Free admission.

TONIGHT, Deb Callahan and Sharon Little with Scott Sax are gonna drop in at Chaplins to play some tunes. I might stop in to catch Little, because I liked the article I read about her.

Here's a movie for you. BLACK SHEEP. No, not the Chris Farley one. This one is about a rabid herd of carnivorous zombie sheep that turn humans into monsterous sheep men when bitten. Gore, guts, and the creepiest 'bah-ing' you've ever heard in your life. Take that Silence Of The Lambs! Interestingly enough, the beastly lambs were all designed by the same workshop as Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings workshop, so they look pretty darn wicked. It's the worst movie ever filmed that you won't be able to turn away from. Seriously, it's just BAHHHHHHHHHHHHD. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

Black Sheep is on DVD store shelves now.

It's so heaaaaaaaavaaaaay! But now I'm perplexed. Why is it getting no promotional push? It's not even showing in like half the theaters around the country. Sure it's a musical, but Rent was kinda big wasn't it? And South Park the movie was a musical. Why is a musical with GOOD MUSIC already being flushed into the endless abyss of forgotten Hollywood flicks? Whatever the case, see it if you can and are even a casual Beatles fan. The movie is truly a visual spectacle of fluid colors and effects. It's a collage of characters singing and dancing to Beatles tunes, simulated acid trips, the Vietnam War, some sweet art, and some really stunning shots. Far out, man.

Even if you don't dig the idea of a musical tying together the music of the Fab Four, you have to see it just to take in the 5 minute performance by Bono as Doctor Robert. Sweet McCartney, he rocks a sweet 'stache and is just mind blowing as an acid head (this pun may be intended). And he kinda looks like Ringo! And Eddie Izzard's colorful performance as Mr. Kite (singing "For The Benefit of Mr. Kite") is pretty darn memorable too.

If nothing else though, the movie has inspired me to start talking with a heavy Liverpool accent. Which means I get to use words like "booger" when referring to people. See this movie!

tunes: The Smiths - Singles
film: Across The Universe (in theaters)

Let's get up to speed on music news today, shall we?

Not only have The Police managed to not murder each other on their highly publicized comeback tour, but now they seem to be working up to the idea of actually putting a new record to tape.

But when it comes to comebacks, The Police are like a bronze stone sitting next a gold mountain when compared to the upcoming Led Zeppelin reunion show. People were dropping oodles of money just for a CHANCE to get tickets. If you ask me, the show should take place at Stone Henge, and should be free to everyone. Can you imagine a concert of that magnitude? My God. But don't get your hopes up for a full tour. Robert Plant has been making it extremely clear that this is a once and done thing, a curtain call, if you will.

The White Stripes' adorably awkward--yet totally cute--drummer, Meg White cut all touring this fall for the Stripes because of 'acute anxiety'. Then it turned out she had a sex tape. But then it turned out it wasn't her. Oh, Hollywood. You make our lives seem slow.

Nine Inch Nails has left Interscope Records, which makes sense. Radio won't even touch singles like "Closer" anymore, plus Reznor has become quite vocal about his anti-business side of music, going so far as to TELL fans to download his music. Take that, industry. He's got a remix album for his latest (and awesome) "Year Zero" headed to shelves and digital stores later this fall.

The new Band Of Horses album, "Cease To Begin" (out today) is worth your time.

Kanye wiped the floor with 50 Cent with their music release duel last month. He had my vote. "Graduation" is pretty slick.

Uh, Radiohead. New album. "In Rainbows." Downloadable as of tomorrow. And did I mention that you get to NAME YOUR PRICE. You can get it for $0.00, legally. OR you could drop a grand on it. It's your call. Democratization in rock and roll makes me proud to be an American. And Radiohead are EUROPEAN!

I still haven't seen "Across The Universe".

There is no reason the upcoming biopic on Bob Dylan, "I'm Not There" shouldn't be film of the year. And that statement has less to do with my recent obsession with Dylan and more to do with the idea behind the film. I dont' want to wait any longer for it to come out. And I want to start hearing some hype on it outside of the music blogosphere.

And why do we call the online realm of blogs THE BLOGOSPHERE?? Is it really round? Should we send out a conquistador to the dark waters of blog land to find out the true nature of this land of blogs we live in?

TUNES: Led Zeppelin - CODA (thats the one with the bsides)
FLICKS: ROCKY BALBOA DVD, because when Philly sports are embarassing, we still got ol' Rock. "No little Marie, it ain't alright."

I know you aren't coming to an entertainment blog to read about sports. And I'm not one to write about sports, so you shouldn't have to worry about that.

But I do write about hopes and dreams, and all that warm fuzzy soft stuff, from time to time. And I think the air surrounding Philadelphia sports teams is a sound example of that, and with the Phillies being ROCKED (they went down to the ROCKIES, get it?) in round 1 of the playoffs this past weekend, I have to write about it.

When I was in elementary school, I wanted nothing more than to be a professional baseball player. What boy doesn't? I bet even Marilyn Manson chewed on that thought for a while. As for me though, I wanted to be the next John Kruk. I thought he was the man. But as I progressed through t-ball, I learned that I'd either have to get good, or find a new dream to follow. When pitches started whizzing by my face instead of having the convenience of hitting off a black rubber tee, I realized I was terrified of baseball. I quit by the 4th grade.

I moved on to basketball. Dribbled around for a few years, thinking I could be the next Mugsy Bogues if I worked hard enough. And I did work hard, but a little nerdy white kid in middle school who hasn't even hit 5 feet in height yet doesn't stand a whole lot of chance in a game dominated by power and speed. I quit this too after a few years.

Other dreams have come and gone too. I thought I'd get an awesome job right out of college, writing about music for a magazine. Oh, naive me. Then I thought I'd move to a whole other state for romance, but that didn't work out as intended either. But hey, I'm not moping. Things still worked out pretty nicely. My point is this. We latch onto dreams, and hope for things that are totally unreasonable. That's what makes us human. And believing in a Philly sports team to win us a national championship... well, let's just say that's like believing little ol' me can slam dunk over a 6'7 power forward.

But when the opportunity swings around, like with the Phillies recently, we forget about the way things usually go and think that MAYBE, just maybe, THIS is the time. Well it wasn't. And lots of us engaged in some loud shouting and cursing over the weekend because of that. We all KNEW in our heart of hearts they weren't gonna make an appearance in The Series. Am I right? But we've seen too many sports movies about underdogs going all the way. Angels In The Outfield. Major League. Mighty Ducks. Little Giants. We all want our little teams to win.

Life is a pitcher, and it throws us curve balls. It'd be nice if we could just hit off a tee and slam it into our stands and run around the bases while our team mates and parents all cheer us on. But it's not that simple. We got 100 mph pitches zinging past us, at us, and out of control. We don't know where the pitch is going. And we don't know if we can knock it out of the stands or whiff it, unless we actually swing at it. Our sports teams might have missed more than their fair share of pitches, but dude, at least they're still swinging. Forgive, forget, see ya next season. Maybe next season will be the one? Maybe the next dream will be the one...

Mornin' Philadelphia sports fans! Yeah, yeah ... I know, you're not in the mood for exclamation points right now. But here's a little something to lift you from your Phillies hang over.

current tunes : band of horses - cease to begin
current film: the departed

Come to think of it, I don't believe I properly introduced myself when I started this blog.

HI! My name is Chris, and I broke ground here at The Mercury in Pottstown as their new Promotions/Marketing Coordinator about a month ago. My job entails having my limbs pulled a little bit in every direction of the building. I straddle the fences that didn't even used to be looked over in 'quality journalism.' I've been working on setting up reader contests and putting together programs for special events such as the recent Carousel of Flavor, as well as the upcoming Schuylkill River Fest...among a whole array of other things.

And this River Fest, as awesome as it's shaping up to be, is keeping me quite busy. Tonight will be a long night full of WaWa coffee and whirring computer screens. So bare with the bogged down blogging while I roll it out and do my part with it. So while I'm busy, you get busy at checking out some of the awesome things The Mercury has going on. We're raising the barometer around here, if I do say so myself.

Are you the only kid on the block without a Wii? Dude, what are you waiting for? Join the rest of us here in the 21st century with the sweetest gaming system around. But don't worry about BUYING one. We're GIVING one away. (click for details)

I was just talking about Riverfest. You should plan on coming. Sat, Oct 13. Riverfront Park and MontCo College, Pottstown. Music on 2 stages, all day long? Hot air balloon rides? Arts and crafts out the wazoo? Stuff for the kids? Kayaking? Geo-caching? There is much great times to be had. CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS!

And while you're at it. Pick up the paper if you want to win a free balloon ride at the Riverfest. Or if you want to learn about how you can be the Eagles Fan Of The Week. Or if you want to collect some collectible Phillies posters. (You'll wish you had them when they're trotting around the bases in The World Series.)

A wise woman once told me, "There are two types of people in this world. Those who 'get' Dylan, and those who don't."

She couldn't have been more right. I spent my whole summer backpacking through Europe and then driving all over the US, immersing myself into different cultures and meeting many different sorts of ladies and gents. And I have to say, yeah, we're different on the outside, but still very much the same when you look past things. The only real way to divide us all up at the heart is not by sex or race or age or designer clothes or hair color. Instead, the most iconic yet enigmatic songwriter to grace a stage in the past century is the only real thing standing between us. Bob Dylan.

This became clear when I saw him play to a packed house in Bridgeport, Connecticut Sunday night. The crowd, as you might guess, was mostly a mess of jaded hippies from the 60s. And if they didn't look like hippies, you could tell they were at one point. They traded their long locks of greasy hair in for full time jobs and Polo shirts, but they haven't forgotten where they came from. These were people that lived and breathed Dylan throughout the 60s. And when he comes around on tour, they grow hungry with a taste of nostalgia in the back of their throats, buy themselves some tickets, and go check out "The Voice" of their generation. But many of these folks that show up complain and complain about Bob once they actually get there and hear him on stage.

"I love the music, but I can't make out a single word he's saying. He must have smoked himself stupid throughout the decades."

Surely you've heard this about his recent live shows. It's what everyone says, yet the people at the shows seem so surprised anyway. These people never 'got' Dylan in the first place. They latched onto a song or album of his, and it ended there. They aren't going to see Dylan, but trying to go back to the 60's. And you just can't do that, which is why Dylan has never pretended to still be something he used to be.

Whatever happened to "words will never hurt you"? Words are, afterall, just words. right?

What many criticizers of Dylan don't realize is THEY MADE DYLAN, piece by piece. You put a man in a box, and he'll wanna climb out of it, and go find his own box. Call a man of "The Voice" and he'll stop talking. Or start saying weird random things. Don't dissect something great, just embrace it. Call a guy like that a rockstar, and he'll start writing country music. You take a guy with limitless potential and cage him into something, and you essentially kill him on an artistic level. Dylan spent most of his life trying to dodge people from pegging and killing him as an artist.

And because of this, Dylan has become a little bit of all of us--young and old. He was a folk singer. He wrote some of the most poetic lyrics to ever fit against a rock n' roll backdrop. To call him a chameleon would be an understatement. He doesn't JUST blend in. He blends in, but also sticks out. He writes, he paints, he plays a whole array of instruments, he has sung in an endless string of styles. Tell him he shouldn't do something, and he'll do it because you think he can't. And THAT, my friends, IS the true unwavering spirit of rock n' roll. Most of us won't like everything Dylan has done, but I guarantee there is a Dylan song for everyone to get behind.

But as for his singing during live performances, these people are right. You CAN'T understand him. And maybe he does that on purpose, maybe he doesn't. It seems he doesn't want his songs to be anthems. Why can't songs just be songs? A painting doesn't have to be a masterpiece.

When Dylan and his incredibly tight cowboy rock band shoveled through older jams like "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat," he gargled through all the right lyrics but did so more like he was telling the song then singing the song. People can't sing along to that, and that's what sets these nostalgiasts a little beside themselves. But he CAN still sing fine. Last year's incredible release "Modern Times" proves that. He just does his own thing on stage, singing with pure unbridled emotion instead of actual words. And what's so bad about that? That's what sets music on fire--when you forget what key you SHOULD be singing in and just let it all rip right out of you. You should TRUST a musician that gets lost in his music, not spite him. You get it, or you don't.

Personally, I've spent the past year or so immersing myself in the music of Dylan. From "The Freewheelin" days to "Blonde On Blonde" to now. His autobiography, "Chronicles" is one of the most well written and detailed books I've ever read. But I don't think I TRULY 'got' Dylan until the encore of Sunday evening's show. He closed with the inevitable "Like A Rolling Stone" and the whole crowd rose to their toes to sing along, even though they couldn't sing right along with his dodging style of spoken-singing. His old dusty voice rasped through it his way, we all sang through it our way, the way we heard it in OUR heads. Thousands of voices all joining together in a single song, all of us singing it our own way, not worried about how everyone else--even Dylan--was singing it. And that's what Dylan is. He's not a songwriter. He's an old man who has done lots of awesome things, but mainly taught some of us in the world how to look at something through a rainbow, instead of just a single color. You get that, or you don't.

current listening: Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
current watching: 300

You know that catchy Boomtown Rats song about Mondays? The title of it voices most of America's feelings toward the first day after the best days of the week--"I Don't Like Mondays." So first thing every Monday morning, I'm gonna put up a silly little YouTube video for you to get the week rolling along smoothly. Your boss at work is gonna hate me!

Of course, I've gotta keep the videos clean so the whole family can sit down after dinner on Monday evening and watch it together. But now you have something to look forward to every Monday! So without further adieu, "How Spiderman 3 Should Have Ended."

And the guys who put this video together have given this treatment to dozens of other blockbuster flicks, like The Matrix, Star Wars, and Se7en. But this is the best. Check it!



And here's a fun fact for ya! Did you know that "I Don't Like Mondays" was written by Bob Geldof after he heard about a California shooting spree where a 16-year old fired on helpless children and parents in a playground. When she was arrested, she was questioned as to why she did it, and her simple response was "I don't like Mondays." So hopefully hits from the 80's and random YouTube videos can save some lives by making Mondays seem so less dreary.

Current Listening: Hot Hot Heat - Happiness Ltd.
Current Watching: The Flaming Lips - UFOs At The Zoo DVD