I read Dee Snider's Shut Up And GIve Me The Mic this week - in a single sitting to be exact. Everybody interested in the man and the band should read it, that much is obvious, but what makes it go above and beyond that is anybody interested in being a great positive thinker, a great father and a great human being should read it too. Not that Dee was always those things, but that's kind of the point of the book. If you're smart, you can probably lay your own life right on top of it and see exactly the same patterns, even if you don't front one of the greatest bands of all time. I digress. It might only be May (OK, let's call it June because that's half way through the year), but without question, the best autobiography to come out this year... and maybe last year too. Saturday night, we went to check out Men In Black 3. I can't believe my kids haven't seen the first two movies. What was I thinking! It's pretty good. It's not quite Men in Black by numbers - which is what I was expecting - but what I got was just as good in a different kind of way. It's more self contained than previously and so loses some of the great set pieces that made the others work so well, but it's still a treat of a movie for all the right reasons. I don't think there will be any disappointment. Four thumbs in the air from four people here... it doesn't get much better than that.
On the music front, I picked up a couple of new slabs that are worth talking about too (as opposed to not worth talking about which makes a change). The Slash album - Apocalyptic Love and The Cult's Choice of Weapon. The Slash album is still settling in with me. It's a very moody piece and very, very good but much like the two Tommy Bolin albums that I love so dearly (Teaser and Private Eyes), I have to be in a certain frame of mind to appreciate them properly. If you're expecting anything like GnR or Velvet Revolver, you'll be shit out of luck. If however, you like great rock and particularly Myles Kennedy, you've come to the right place - and this is the problem I have with the concept. I really like Slash's material, but I'm not particularly overboard on Myles. He's a fantastic vocalist but I can't take him out of Alter Bridge. I much preferred the guest appearances on previous albums that worked so well but hey... it will be what it will be to you. Maybe I'm too entrenched in the past for this sort of thing.
Choice of Weapon on the other hand. How can I best describe it to you? It's like they went into the studio and decided to make every album they've made before, all at once. Including every spin-off project Billy and Ian have ever been involved in. Is this good or bad? I think the best way to view it is if you're a Cult fan - and by that I mean you're well aware the band can take you anywhere they feel like going - there will be no losers. If however, you liked a certain album by them, it will largely depend on which album that was. For me, I think it's very clever, very smart and I can take as much of this as you would care to throw at me.
Meantime, to wrap up almost whole year of imported TV from my good friends in the States - and I probably should have done this last week - nearly everything has come to an end. Supernatural was quite possibly the best season we've had in five years. Somebody needs to get their shit together and organise a simultaneous release schedule for that. Grimm had a great first season - providing much dinner time entertainment for all of us and I have high hopes for it as it continues. I've not read anywhere that it's been renewed yet but I don't see how it can fail to be. Meanwhile, on a similar subject, Once Upon A Time was a big family favourite too - after a slow start, it soon ramped itself up to be quite essential viewing throughout the weeks. Aside from Doctor Who, what the hell is the UK playing at? Don't tell me we can't do these sorts of things because we can. I'd really like to see a new golden age of TV coming out of this place but thus far, only the Who material is making any waves. As good as stand-alone shows like The Syndicate are, where are shows like Marchlands on prime-time?
Small gripe really. It's been a good week on the coal face 0f 'stuff'. I even bought myself a Frankenstein model kit so that I could do something that didn't chain me to the laptop. It looks simple enough but the last time I made anything out of bits of plastic and glue, I was about eight.
Building it seems like a piece of cake to be honest - the painting on the other hand looks like it might require no small amount of concentration. I'm half tempted to hit his face with some Kiss make-up and see just how bad I can make it look. The other half of me wants to do it properly though. Maybe I'll do it properly and then get imaginative on its ass in a few months when it's been sitting in the kitchen doing nothing for a few months.