CARS, STARS and CZARS

CARS

I know you've been all sitting and waiting for John's big early season Nascar review. Well here it is. It's all about Jeff Gordon. This guy just won't go away. Year after year after year goes by and Jeff is always hanging around. He has been amongst the leaders during nearly every lap of every race this year. Sooner or later (and I think it's sooner), all Nascar fans....even Gordon haters, are going to realize that this is the Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty of our time. I think the problem is that the 37 year old Gordon still looks like he's about 25. I'll say this.....I'm not sure how much race car drivers should be considered athletes, and I'm not sure it's important that they be labeled such. But I will say this about them. There is no other sports that requires a person has to hold so incredibly high a level of concentration over a sustained period of time. Other than a 4-5 hour tennis match I can't imagine anything quite as mentally grueling as driving for 4-5 hours at high speeds with your life potentially on the line at every moment. Yeah...ok golfers......yes, you have to concentrate for 4 hours....and there is the potential of a lightning strike I guess........

STARS

Hollywood star Sean Penn should have never won an Academy Award for Mystic River. How dare the academy award him such a high honor for that role. I believe the award should be immediately revoked and given to someone else. Yes, I believe the award from that year should be given to an actor named Sean Penn for his role in 21 Grams. You see, in Mystic River, Sean Penn was basically Sean Penn. I don't believe his role in that film was a stretch at all for him. I believe 21 Grahms was a much more intense and dramatic film and Penn was surrounded by fantastic performance by Naomi Watts and Benico del Toro. The addition of these actors brought Penn's own acting up to another level. 21 Grams flew under the radar as another one of those "sort of" independent films. The movie is absolutely gripping. I don't write these reviews to give you info on specifics of the story but this was my favority movie in the year that Penn won for Mystic River. Rent 21 Grams!!!!!

Czars

Gonna go Russian on you once more as I'm winding down my Stravinsky kick. If you want some fascinating listening try the Prokofiev Piano Concerti. One on three are quite thrilling and if you're a big fan of virtuosic piano writing and fantastic and colorful orchestration you've got to listen to these works....better yet, go see and listen live. For those non-musicians....and I know you're out there...Prokofiev wrote "Peter and the Wolf". So while you may think of him as a classical one hit wonder, we in the "industry" (I always wanted to use that in terms of the classical music world)......know that he has actually written far more significant pieces. Oh, and for those of you that don't live in Los Angeles, be sure that you utter the words "I'm in the Industry" any time you go out or get a drink at a bar out here. It is a completely arbitrary bullshit statement that will allow you to shine brightly in the eyes of money hungry and fame questing hallucinogenic freaks. Oh, and by the way...I forgot to mention that I do intend to use vulgar profanity when I feel the need to get my point across. Have a nice day :)