MP3: Chad VanGaalen – “Peace on the Rise”
MP3: Chad VanGaalen – “Sara”
Canadian singer/songwriter Chad VanGaalen recently released his eighth album, Diaper Island, and in October, he’ll hit the road — with a stop scheduled at San Diego’s Soda Bar on 10/10. Continue reading…
The Casbah is San Diego’s most famous music venue, and over the years it has played host to thousands of groups ranging from Nirvana to Arcade Fire. But on March 4, the act set to grace the club’s hallowed stage won’t be a band or musician at all — it’ll be some guy named Michael Showalter. Continue reading…
Cartoons and indie music? This is one of those times to wish LA was closer. According to a post by Jerry Beck from Cartoon Brew, “Women In Animation International (WIA) is planning a Battle of the Animation Bands concert, an evening of indie music, to be held in late September in Hollywood that will feature bands created at animation, visual effects and game studios.”
The combination of music and art in the form of animation is nothing new. Actually, the history of cartoon bands (also known as virtual bands) spans over a half a century. From The Simpsons to South Park, animators are able to create the fictional bands seen only in our dreams. Here is a little Cartoon Bands 101 with some of the more well-known animated musicians: Continue reading…
Every July the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my heartbeat quickens. I can sense the gathering of nerds from all over the globe. It’s a mecca for the most hardcore geeks. I’m talking about San Diego Comic Con. It is the Super Bowl for the sci-fi/fantasy/horror/pop-culture fan in all of us. Between the days of July 22-25, the San Diego Convention Center houses thousands of vendors selling toys, statues, costumes, video games, movies, memorabilia, and of course comic books. Continue reading…
When considering whether ancient aliens landed on Earth thousands of years ago and got civilization boost started here, you’re bound to create a few sentences ending with question marks. This is precisely what happened to Erich von Daniken when he wrote Chariots of the Gods, a book that reimagines Earth’s ancient origins. Among others, von Daniken poses the following questions: “Was God an astronaut?”; “What connection have mummies with our theory of space travelers in the remote past?”; “Will hospitals in the year 2100 be spare-part stores for defective men?”; and “Ought we not ask such questions?â€
With more than two hundred question marks in the slim book, von Daniken leaves the reader clamoring for answers. But you have to appreciate the fact that von Daniken’s willing to ask the questions everyone else is perhaps too afraid to.
It’s with this inquisitive spirit that we consider Jay Leno’s unprecedented return to The Tonight Show. There are lots of questions, to be sure, but let’s start with what we do know: airwaves are soon to be The Jay Leno Show-free and new episodes of The Tonight Show will begin airing March 1, with Leno as the permanent guest host of the show, which has no permanent host. Now for the questions. Continue reading