Riddle Me This, Jishman

From time to time, I have been known to check in on my friend PJ to see how his career is progressing. Last year, he released his second album and he has been touring to promote it while getting married last month as well as (rumor has it) hitting the studio to record his third album.

PJ just released a cover of a Beatles tune, “Something” (with video). Enjoy it!

And here is the current schedule for PJ’s Summer tour! For my friends in NYC and New England, he will be all touring your neighborhoods all summer. Rumor has it that Jishman himself might hit a full band show in NYC this summer. And for all my NERFL members, we may have to head over to the All Asia bar after the NERFL Draft on August 28th!

My good friend, PJ Pacifico, is working on a new album and still touring in support of the album he released last summer. For those of us in New England, PJ is going to be in the area soon.

This Friday he is in Burlington, Vermont. Saturday, he is in Boston and later in the month, he is back in Northhampton! Here is the full schedule so far!

As for the new album, last weekend PJ opened for Maura O’Connell at Infinity Hall. This week he released a live video of a new song “Fold Up Your Heat”… here is the video!

I hope to see you all on Saturday night in Boston!

A while ago, I posted a link to PJ’s video of a song of off his new album (click here to see it). Last Summer, I wrote a review of his latest album Always & Everywhere (click here to read it) and in my honest opinion, you should own both of his albums. For more information on PJ Pacifico, his website is here (click).

Last Summer, PJ was selected to open a music festival in Connecticut (The Gathering of the Vibes) and on a rainy day in July, his band took the stage and kicked off a weekend festival with some great music! The videos are coming up in a second because I have some other news to report…

This just in for my friends in the Boston area:

Saturday April 3, 2010 – PJ Pacifico (solo) is playing at the All Asia Bar at 7pm. I will be there and I hope to see many of you there with me as well!!

Now… enough of me… here is PJ with his full band, kicking off the Gathering Of The Vibes in CT this past July!

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1.) A look inside the birth of the iPod - I like that there were conscious thoughts about what it should be from the beginning and not just a “hey look, we’ve got this thing that’s cool!”

2.) iPhone changing education - In a post last year, I talked about the changes in education if every student was given a tablet. Think about the radical changes across the board that would take place with an iPhone, laptop, netbook, tablet PC, etc. in every classroom. My grad school professors encouraged us to bring our laptops to class so we could be looking - real time - at the world around us and its changes. School shouldn’t be just about memorizing names and dates - yes, those things are important at times - but it should also be about teaching people how to think and react to the world around them. I wasn’t an especially good student in high school - and probably not in college either - I got by with a solid B to B+ average, but the difference was that I learned how to think. I understood what was being taught to me and its practical applications (except for economics - a subject I am still not sure should be taught in high school) well before many of my peers. Parents focus on the SAT and ACT scores but how much of what we learn in class prepares students for them? Math and Science classes are useful, to be sure, but I always found the classes where I was forced to think, not memorize, but think about the effects of what I was learning much more interesting.

3.) Because no holiday season is complete without the requisite Chanukkah song. This one is brought to us by Orrin Hatch and the Mormons of Utah. It’s a very Mormon Chanukkah!

I happened upon this video. It is one of my favorite songs off of PJ’s new album “Always & Everywhere” … if you haven’t bought the album yet. Go and download it today. But enough from me, let the music speak for itself:

So, my some of my coworkers are obsessed with bad 90s songs - especially early to mid-90s songs. They were talking about some of their favorites. Here is a selection:

1.) Poison- Bell Biv Devoe (Turk dance optional)
2.) Bust a Move - Young MC (Old MC is on a different list)
3.) I like to move it move it
4.) Now that we found love by Heavy D
5.) Everybody dance now by C&C Music Factory
6.) This is how we do it by Montell Jordan
7.) Motownphilly by Boyz II Men
8.) Walk the Dinosaur by Was Not Was (not really 90s, but they still liked it)

and a whole host of others. Since most of us are/were kids of this generation, I was curious what other people’s favorite/most embarrassing songs of this generation were.

Thoughts?

My friend, PJ Pacifico just released his second album two weeks ago. This is an interview he did on Nantucket yesterday. Check it out.

Update: I should have posted this originally last night with the video. Click here for my review of PJ’s album.

I saw this post on the Wall Street Journal’s Middle Seat Terminal blog and thought it was sad (and hilarious). Basically, a band member for Sons of Maxwell had his guitar broken by United Airlines and they would not reimburse him for it. After his claim was denied, he wrote a song about his experience. Read the whole story, listen to the song, and watch the video here:

United Denies Claim For Broken Guitar, Passengers Sings for Revenge

So, I was in CVS today, and as we all know, they play some variant of MUZAK in the store. So, I’m walking around, and I never really listen to the music specifically. I paid for my items, and as I was walking out, I was humming the tune below with no real idea of the words. I barely knew the music. Wouldn’t you know though, IT WAS A JONAS BROTHERS SONG!

Ugh, the New Kids have nothing to worry about. Their legacy is safe.

That’s right folks, this is a two-for-one deal, in more ways than one.

Because as we all know, I love athletes who have multiple talents - Shaquille O’Neal as a Rapper, Harris Barton as a Rabbi, Steve Young as a Lawyer, and of course, Jose Canseco as an MMA fighter - well, apparently the big news out of Big D is the following:

“Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo and Cory Procter have signed a recording contract as part of a heavy metal band called Free Reign. Their debut album for Australia’s Riot Entertainment will be released this fall.”

Our music expert, Avi McHates-You, reports that “Free Reign’s initial albums won’t compare to such luminaries and their freshman outings as Def Leppard’s “On Through the Night”, Boston’s eponymous effort (”Boston”), Guns & Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction” and who could forget Nelson’s “After the Rain” (an album that caused comparisons to the Beatles - not kidding), but its entirely possible that you’ll be seeing this in a store and in an online venue near you.”

Thanks for that misery, Avi.

Imagine, if you will, an Internet without sarcastic people. What a sad place it would be. Videos like this would be missing from my life.

Oh right, and this came to us from our roving reporter, Snarky McHates-You.

Last week, I was wrong. My record is now 15 for 23.

Round 1: Personal Pick

Adam Lambert — Mad World….

Kris Allen — Ain’t No Sunshine…

Round 1 goes to Kris.

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Last week, I was wrong. In reality, America is tone deaf because Kris sucked last week and Allison is and always will be better than Kris. My record is now 15 for 22.

This week, Judges choice and contestants choice:

Round 1: Judges choice

Danny Gokey — Paula picks a song for Danny and he does a very good job!

Kris Allen — Randy and Kara pick a song for Kris and he sucks (go figure).

Adam Lambert — Simon chooses One by U2 and Adam takes the round 1 win!!! Not even a competition!

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Last week, I was right again. My record is now 15 for 21.

This week, they sang Rock songs and Slash was the mentor. They also did duets.

First duet; Danny and Kris. The song was perfectly suited for Danny; Kris, not so much as he screamed and tried to stay in tune (much like his regular performance)…

Second duet; Adam and Allison. Slow Ride!!! Night and Day, Head and shoulders above the Gokey-Allen bomb… this was rock!!!

Bottom Two

Kris Allen (as Simon said, “It was rather like eating ice for lunch. which is, it will leave you with nothing to remember afterward.” EXACTLY!!!)

Danny Gokey (as Simon said, “the last night was like watching a horror movie.” So Right!!!)

Who goes home?

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Last week, I was right and wrong again. My record is now 14 for 20.

This week, they sang songs from the Rat Pack Era.

Bottom Two

Kris Allen
Matt Giraud

Who goes home?

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