I was on vacation last week, so I didn’t get to this.  Last week wasn’t a big week, though.  This week is a little bigger.  First, we have the new Coldplay CD, ‘Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friend,’ coming out.  We also have a new Offspring CD, ‘Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace.’  That’s pretty good news, right?

Speaking of Coldplay, I heard something on my way home from Virginia Beach yesterday that was pretty cool.  I heard a version of the song ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ with Coldplay.  It didn’t sound too different because the lead singer of The Verve was still singing, but it sounded good.  I’m sure they’ll play it again over the next couple of days on Alt Nation, which is Channel 21 on Sirius.  They’re doing something called ‘Coldplay Nation’ for the next week or so.  They’re playing songs from Coldplay’s new CD and other songs that inspired the band.  Basically, they’re touting it as ‘Coldplay is in control.’  They’re also broadcasting a concert on BBC Radio (Channel 11) on Monday at 7 PM ET.

I can’t say that I don’t like Coldplay, but I can’t really say that they’re my favorite band, either.  I like a lot of their older stuff, like ‘Yellow,’ ‘Trouble,’ and ‘The Scientist.’  They’re newer stuff is taking a while to grow on me.  I did see enough of the ‘Viva La Vida’ commercial during the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Versus and NBC.  That song has grown on me.

I have to admit that driving back from Virginia Beach and Coldplay are not a good mix, especially after being on the road for 5 or 6 hours.  I was really starting to get tired.  I had to change it up and start listening to CDs around the West Virginia line.

Alright… enough of my ranting. Here’s the new music for this week…

Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace

Katy Perry - One of the Boys

Wolf Parade - Wolf Parade LP2

Becky Schlegel - For All the World to See

Charlie Allen - That Was Then, This is Now

Carter’s Chord - Carter’s Chord

Well, we’re heading into the summer months and I got to head out to do a little more geocaching over the past couple of weeks.  I’m not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I finally found the ‘Bog and Boulder Cache.’ 

I also finally got into placing caches… kinda.  I don’t know what I was thinking when I placed my first cache.  I did it in Raccoon Creek State Park in Beaver County (near Pittsburgh).  The park is a state park and I didn’t think to get it approved.  So, I sent my request to the geocaching.com website and got a reply stating that I needed to get it approved.  It’s in the approval process right now and shouldn’t have a problem getting approved… according to the park official.  Maybe I’ll place one around here sometime soon, too.

After taking the form for approval, my friend and I went to search for one called ‘3 Lakes.’  It’s located near my hometown of Burgettstown (again, near Pittsburgh).  Let me tell you, that cache was a workout.  Here’s the problem… I look at the caches online when I put them on my GPSr but then they are in the system and I don’t have to look at them again.  I SHOULD!  This ended up being a 4 in the terrain category.  It required a decent hike, a little bushwacking, and the climbing of a hill (which really wasn’t easy).  We found the first part of this stage!  (Oh, I didn’t mention that this is a multi-cache?)  Now we just have to muster up the time and energy to find stages 2 and 3.

Well, that’s it for now.  Feel free to share your stories by leaving a comment!

I’ve kinda been busy and unintentionally ignoring the ‘In the Loop’ site for the past couple of weeks.  My apologies! 

One song that I want to draw attention to is a song called ‘Let’s Dance to Joy Division’ by ‘The Wombats.’  For some reason, the song reminds me of the theme song for ‘The Muppets.’  That’s not taking anything away from the song as I find myself tapping my toes along to it every time I hear it.  If you get a chance, it’s definitely worth checking out.

I also picked up the new ‘Flobots’ CD at Circuit City last week for $6.99.  The CD, ‘Fight With Tools’ is alright and kinda political, but it just didn’t do much for me.  I liked the lyrics but the songs just aren’t catchy.  The only one that was really catchy was ‘Handlebars.’  It goes something like this…

I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars, no handlebars, no handlebars

To be honest, I didn’t even make it completely through the CD.  I found myself clicking my car radio back over to Sirius 21 - Alt Nation.

That’s all for this week.  Here’s the new music for the coming week…

Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album) (includes ‘Pork and Beans’)

Various Artists - NOW! 28

Gavin Rossdale - Wanderlust

The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

Disturbed - Indestructable

Jewel - Perfectly Clear

Jennifer Hansen - Thankful

Ray Scott - Crazy Like Me

Richie McDonald - I Turn to You

Ladytron - Velocifero

Just a quick update…

Remember a couple of weeks ago, I recapped my geocaching adventures and said I was having trouble finding a couple?  Well, I was able to add another one to my successes.  This one was the ‘Bog and Boulder Cache.’  I found a few spare minutes when it wasn’t raining to head up there on Friday after work.  The cool thing is… there was a Travel Bug in there.  I’ll try to move that on as quickly as possible.

That’s it for now!

There aren’t a lot of new CDs out this week, but a couple of them have the potential to be decent picks.  First off, it’s hard to go wrong with ‘3 Doors Down.’  Another couple that have a shot are ‘Flobots’ and ‘Carolina Liar.’

There are a few songs that are officially releasing this week in different formats.  The first one is by ‘The Spill Canvas.’  I was turned on to them a while ago and now they have a new song out called ‘All Over You.’  It’s definitely worth checking out.  The next song can do without the profanity, but I like it anyway.  I’m talking about ‘Busta Rhymes’ and ‘Linkin Park’ and the song ‘We Made It.’  There’s a little too much use of the N-word, which I hate.  Finally, and I’m a little confused about this one, is ‘Sister Hazel’ and the song ‘Your Winter.’  Here’s why I’m confused… The song came out years ago.  I don’t know if they are re-releasing it or what, but it’s still good.

The last bit of advice is for those of you who like ‘The Offspring.’  You can get a free copy of their new song by visiting their website.  Click here and I’ll direct you there!

Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for… the new releases:

3 Doors Down - 3 Doors Down

Flobots - Fight with Tools

Jesse McCartney - Departure

Julianne Hough - Julianne Hough

Carolina Liar - Coming to Terms

Yesterday started like a normal day.  I had an appointment to get something fixed with my car then I went to visit my grandfather, who is in the hospital.  It was this visit that really got me thinking…

I was wearing my Penguins Sykora shirt that I bought a few weeks ago and everyone was commenting on it.  They kept asking me what I thought would happen tonight (last night) during the Penguins game.  Would they win?  Would the series go 5 or 6?  Would they lose intentionally to bring the game back to Pittsburgh so that we can make more money?  …….. HUH?

I’m an optomistic type and I normally only think the best about things.  It shouldn’t have, but the question took me by surprise.  My though was ‘how can anyone in the Eastern Conference Finals blow a game and risk not going to the Stanley Cup Finals?’  Being a hockey player myself, I couldn’t believe that the players would risk it to give Pittsburgh a ’shot in the arm.’

Sure, winning the game last night would have given the Penguins the sweep and would have deprived Pittsburgh and the Penguins of millions of dollars in revenue.  It also would have given the Penguins a couple of extra days to rest before the next series… which is going to be a tough one for either Eastern Conference team.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of throwing the game.  This is a brainstormed list and includes any possible pros and cons I could think of.  Pros will be in green while cons will be in red.

Good and Bad of Losing Intentionally
Economic boost for Pittsburgh
Economic boost for Penguins
No sweep of Philadelphia
Less days to recover before Stanley Cup series
Unethical process
Increased risk of not making it to Stanley Cup series
Loss of respect from fans
Chance to win in front of home crowd

Now, I’m not saying that the Penguins threw the game last night.  I’m not saying the game was fixed.  I refuse to believe that, even for an economic boost.  All I’m saying is that everywhere I went yesterday, people were talking about how they would like the Penguins to sweep the series but it isn’t going to happen because they want more money for Pittsburgh.

Knowing the outcome of the game was a 4-2 (with the empty net) loss to Philadelphia, what do you think?  Was this a loss from the beginning or did the Penguins just come out flat?  Was it a blown chance to get some recovery days or just a chance to win in front of a home crowd?  Sound off in the comment section!

All kinds of good stuff this week in the new CD releases post…

First, how about new songs by The Offspring and Weezer.  The Offspring have a new song out called ‘Hammerhead’ and I absolutely love it.  It’s like three songs in one and they all seem to flow into each other perfectly.  Nice work and welcome back Offspring.  The other song that’s new is Weezer’s ‘Pork and Beans.’  I like this song as well.  There’s only one gripe I have about it.  In the song, there’s a line that goes as follows…

Timbaland knows the way to reach the top of the charts… Maybe if I work with him I can perfect the art.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that they’re giving props to Timbaland, but I think that would’ve been a great place for Timbaland to make a cameo in the song.  How cool would it have been if after that line, they break it down and throw a little rap in there?  That’s just my theory.

As I’m writing this post, I’m listening to Death Cab for Cutie’s new song.  It’s called ‘I Will Possess Your Heart’ and it comes out on the ‘Narrow Stairs’ CD on Tuesday.  If I could recommend one of the following to pick up, it’d be that one.

Anyway, here you go.  New CDs…

Bryan Adams - 11

Cherish - The Truth

Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs

Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things

Ryan Cabrera - The Moon Under Water

Jeremy Mccomb - My Side of Town

Filter - Anthems for the Damned

Local H - 12 Angry Months

Safetysuit - Like Left to Go

We Are Scientists - Brain Trust Mastery

A while ago, Nine Inch Nails released some music in the form of a CD called Ghosts.  The first portion of Ghosts was free.  You could download and share and remix as much as you wanted.  Now, they’re doing it again.

The CD is called The Slip and is being released exclusively via the Nine Inch Nails website, www.nin.com.  Here’s what the band has to say about the CD.

As a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com.

The music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits.

For those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon.

The cool part is that not only do you get the CD, but it is something called ‘creative commons.’  That means, according to the Nine Inch Nails website…

we encourage you to
remix it
share it with your friends,
post it on your blog,
play it on your podcast,
give it to strangers,
etc.

Now, that’s cool!  So, download away. 

I also heard that Metallica is supposed to be releasing free music.  I’ll try to get some details on that soon.  Until then, enjoy your Nine Inch Nails CD.

I know… I know… That’s a lot of letters.  What does it all mean?  Let’s break it down.  The gist of the title of this post is Grand Theft Auto 4 vs. Mothers Against Drunk Driving.  In case you don’t know what either of these are, let me enlighten you.

(Yes, I know Wikipedia isn’t a great source, but I’m going to use it anyway to get my point across!)

From Wikipedia: 

Grand Theft Auto IV is a sandbox-style action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North … released worldwide on 29 April 2008.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, is a single-issue non-profit anti-drunk driving organization in the United States.

Now that you are familiar, let’s bring you up to date on what’s going on.  Rockstar Games released their game last week and according to an article I read on MSNBC.com, it’s expected to sell $400 million in the first week. (Article)  The problem that M.A.D.D. has with it involves a scene where a character can go into a bar, drink (and get drunk), and then get behind the wheel of a car.

I could understand that if the game played the same if your character was sober or drunk, but the game takes the situation seriously by making the game harder to play while your character is intoxicated.  The camera movement is jumpy and out of focus.  By doing this, Rockstar allows gamers to see that it isn’t all fun and games when you’re drunk behind the wheel.

In a statement, Rockstar Games said…

We have a great deal of respect for MADD’s mission, but we believe the mature audience for ‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ is more than sophisticated enough to understand the game’s content.

I have to agree with that.  Here’s why… The game is already rated with a MATURE rating and that is sufficient for this game.  In the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) rating system, the next level would be ADULTS-ONLY and that doesn’t seem to fit the game.  That’s where MADD wants this game to be rated.  From the ESRB, here’s the definitions of the ratings…

MATURE
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

ADULTS ONLY
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.

The MATURE rating is for age 17 and up while the ADULTS-ONLY rating is for 18 and up.  I really don’t think that one year is going to make that much of a difference.  You also have to look at the definitions above.  Drunk driving, albeit not good, is not a “prolonged scene of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.”  For that reason, it wouldn’t fall under the umbrella of ADULTS-ONLY.

Here are my final thoughts… I enjoy playing Super Mario Brothers but you don’t see me jumping on every turtle I see or throwing fireballs at things or breaking breaks around the neighborhood.  I also enjoy playing The Legend of Zelda but you don’t see me grabbing a sword and killing things with it.  If I enjoyed playing Grand Theft Auto, I might enjoy driving drunk in the game, but it’s not something I am willing to do in real life.  Just because it’s in a video game doesn’t mean that kids are going to imitate it… especially since the game is rated so that it is only for people who are 17 years old or older.

That’s just my 2 cents.  What are your thoughts?  Share them in the comment section!

I’ll tell you what… I love bringing you guys free music.  I know some download music illegally, but it’s great to know that there are bands out there that are trying to help do something about it.  One of those bands is Pennywise.  We gave you the information about how to download their entire CD for free a while ago.  Now, we’re bringing you Coldplay.

Although it’s only one song, it’s still a good thing when bands give us free stuff.  The song is off of their new CD and is called ‘Violet Hill.’  It’s easy to get the song, but not as flexible.  Here are the directions for how to get the single.

Log on to the Coldplay website at www.coldplay.com.  Simple enough, right?  After you do that, click on the letter ‘I’ in ‘Viva.’  (It’s the one that says ’song’ below it.)  After you do that, it’ll take you to a webpage where you have to fill in your e-mail address.  Type in the e-mail and click submit.  They’ll automatically send you an e-mail with a link for you to download the song.  Here’s the kicker… the link expires after six hours, so make sure you are somewhere where you can download the song.  One last thing… I’m not sure if by signing up you are signing up to receive any just e-mail.  It doesn’t say anywhere on the website or e-mail (at least that I saw).

More bands seem to be releasing free music.  I’ll bring it up again… is it a trend and are we going to see more free music coming down the road?  What do you think?  Feel free to leave a comment.