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Cirque du Soleil has become a trusted brand for theater-goers seeking fresh and unique entertainment. Known the world over for their innovative fusion of circus acrobatics and dramatic theater, the Canadian entertainment company created 19 different productions over the years which were shown in over 271 cities. With such demand and popularity, Cirque du Soleil is continually working on something new to keep their audience coming back for more.

Their all new show titled Banana Shpeel will be premiering at the Chicago Theatre in November. This is Cirque du Soleil like you’ve never seen before!! It’s their own take on vaudeville which will blend comedy, music and dance into something new and exciting. The story centers around a struggling actor named Emmett who meets Shmelky, a cruel producer who enjoys power and control a bit too much. Emmett ends up falling for the beautiful Katie and encounters a variety of characters including the mysterious “Banana Man”.

Written and directed by David Shiner, Banana Shpeel looks to be another hit for the company which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. I absolutely enjoyed their Vegas show “Love” which is based around newly remixed Beatles songs. And I can’t wait to see this new show. I’m very intrigued about this Shmelky character and this so called “Banana Man”. If I had to guess, the banana guy will probably turn out to be the one to help Emmett find his happy ever after with Katie. But whether my guess is right or wrong, it doesn’t matter because the show is much more than just a storyline. One thing you can count on with Cirque du Soleil shows is the “wow” factor. This is no ordinary night at the theater. They want to expand your world and bring you something that you’ve never experienced before. Their creative use of music and visuals hava always impressed me over the years. And I’m sure Banana Shpeel will deliver in the same tradition.

Find out more about the new show on the Cirque de Soleil website.

well, guess what. I successfully moved two of my sites to my new host but retroblog is still stuck with the old host for the time being. apparently since I’ve got a ton of posts here, I’ve got to directly copy the mysql database and dump the info on the new server. problem is that the server application that allows me access the database on the old host is currently “down”. not only that but the customer support ticketing system is ALSO DOWN!! WTF!! and I’ve tried emailing support last week. nothing. who are these incompetent idiots AND why did I stay with these people for SO long???

..stay tuned.

it has been long overdue!! but I finally decided to switch webhosts. I’ve been with my current host for over seven years. They started out very reliable and had a great reputation. but in recent years customer service went to hell and downtime has become too frequent. I’ve been giving them the benefit of the doubt this past year but seeing that they’ve been unresponsive to my recent inquiries pretty much tells me that they really don’t give a crap about me and my websites.

With SO many webhost providers available, I’m very surprised that they aren’t willing to assist their long time clients.

I went ahead and purchased a new hosting plan with another host and will be transferring my websites over to the new server one at a time.

hopefully the transition will be smooth. just so that you all are aware, things might get “wonky” during the switch over.

see you on the other side!

What a disappointment. After a long, drawn out promotional campaign for the new CBS medical drama Three Rivers, last night’s premiere episode was a bust. Come on, if you’re going to produce another hospital-based show in this post-ER era, you gotta deliver more than just the tried and true storylines that we’ve all seen a dozen times before!!

Three Rivers tried to compensate for the tired formula by featuring gimmicky hi-tech medical equipment and heavy-handed scene transitions. But without unique and interesting content, the series just ends up being a rehash of the same old, same old.

The only positive that I could come up with is that I’m glad to see Daniel Henney on a network TV series after his successful stint on Korean soap operas. Other than that, it just felt like I was watching an expensive infomercial on organ donation.

retroGrade: D-

Three Rivers
network: CBS
Starring: Alex O’Loughlin, Katherine Moennig, Daniel Henny, Alfre Woodard
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Paul McCartney’s management has posted an official announcement concerning the DVD of Macca’s New York City gigs. The DVD/CD set will be released in the U.S. on November 17th by Hear Music/Concord Music Group (Starbucks). There will apparently be two editions. The standard edition will have the 2-disc audio compilation of the three-night event plus a DVD. The deluxe version will include an extra DVD featuring the July 15th performance on top of the Ed Sullivan Theater marquee.

A DVD release of a McCartney show is pretty much a given nowadays since every tour of his has been filmed and released in some form or another. What I’m personally hoping for this time around is video of the FULL concert without any unnecessary “cut-ins” of interviews or old archival footage of the Beatles. Past concert DVDs have been marred in this way with stylized video edits and performances cut short by talking heads going on and on about the importance of the music and the history behind it all. I don’t want to be told what to feel. Just show me the concert “as-is” with no interruptions or awkward shots of middle-aged fans weeping uncontrollably. These video directors need to show some restraint and stop trying to show off the latest in video editing techniques!

So cross your fingers and hope for the best!

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With all the various cooking shows that are constantly shown on the Food Network, culinary schools across the country have experienced a surge in interest in recent years. Whether you’re a foodie or a weekend grillmaster, having a great meal is always an important part of one’s day. There’s so much depth and variety in the realm of cooking that one can always learn more. And these food related shows have opened our eyes to all of the wonderful goodness that can be created in our own kitchen.

Cooking classes offered at local schools and even higher-end grocery stores are a good place to start for those interested in expanding their repertoire in the kitchen. But what I’ve noticed recently is the rise in popularity of vacation packages built around gourmet cooking classes. As a matter of fact, I just learned about one being held at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel on October 16th and 17th.

Since my wife loves working out new recipes and interesting dishes in our home, I thought she’d might like a weekend getaway that would feature fine dining as well as tips and instructions from a professional Chef. The weekend cooking school in Branson is hosted by Chef Nathan Read and attendees get to enjoy and feast in his restaurant and learn how to prepare the meals the following day. Looking at the itinerary, I’d love to learn more about the Berkshire Pork Porterhouse as well as Bison Short Ribs. There’s an art to grilling meat and keeping things tender and juicy and I’m sure Chef Nathan would have helpful tips for me in that regard.

Now, I’ve been to Branson years ago and had a blast. I took in a couple shows and I remember checking out some of the neat museums in town including the Roy Rogers museum and Hollywood Wax museum. And the Hilton in Branson is located conveniently in the heart of the historic downtown district. While the summer months are typically the busiest, there are still tons to do in the fall. Besides working with Chef Nathan, I’ll personally take the opportunity to enjoy a relaxing weekend away from the kids.

Now that the summer tour is over, Journey fans can re-live their concert experience with a brand new 2-DVD set titled Journey Live in Manila. It’s great to see an official live release featuring current frontman Arnel Pineda. It says to me that the band and their management are proud of the current lineup and aren’t planning on changing things anytime soon.

Check out the tracklist – they’ve included pretty much all the songs that they’ve been playing the last two years including some lesser performed numbers like “When You Love a Woman”, “Turn Down the World Tonight” and “Where Did I Lose Your Love”.

Another big plus about the DVD is the fact that Arnel sang the songs during the March 14th show in the original key. Like I mentioned in my concert review of the Greensboro show, hearing these classic songs tuned-down in pitch is a bit of a let-down in my book. So it’s nice to have a live document of the band playing these songs without any compromises.

You can purchase the new DVD set at your local WalMart beginning this friday, October 2nd. Journey will also be appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show on friday to promote the new release.
**UPDATE: 30Sep09** – Journey’s Oprah appearance has been pushed back to Monday, October 5th.

Here’s the tracklist:
Disc One
1. Never Walk Away
2. Only The Young
3. Ask The Lonely
4. Stone In Love
5. Keep On Running
6. After All These Years
7. Change For The Better
8. Wheel In The Sky
9. Lights/ Still They Ride
10. Open Arms
11. Mother Father
12. Wildest Dreams
13. When You Love A Woman
14. Separate Ways
15. What I Needed
Disc Two
16. Edge Of The Blade
17. Where Did I Lose Your Love
18. Escape
19. Faithfully
20. Don’t Stop Believin’
21. Anyway You Want It
22. Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’
23. Turn Down The World Tonight
24. Be Good To Yourself
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Todd Rundgren mentioned during his recent chat on Rundgren Radio that the live dates scheduled in October will be the last remaining shows supporting his 2008 album, Arena. So essentially this will be the last chance for Todd fans to experience the entire “Arena” album live. Be sure to catch one of the shows if you can!

Sun 10/18/09 Bay Shore, NY – YMCA Boulton Center
Tue 10/20/09 Rochester, NY – German House Theater
Wed 10/21/09 Annapolis, MD – Rams Head
Fri 10/23/09 Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Spectrum (with Hall & Oates, the Hooters)
Sun 10/25/09 San Juan Capistrano, CA – The Coach House

The Spectrum show in Philadelphia is part of the “Final Farewell Concert Series” for the Spectrum which includes major rock acts like Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam closing out the sports arena. And believe it or not, tickets for the Hall & Oates/Rundgren show are only $6!!!

As for the musicians Todd will be using for these shows, it’ll be the usual “Arena” band minus Rachel Haden. I guess there was a scheduling conflict so in Rachel’s place will be none other than bassist Sara Lee. I’ve personally seen Sara Lee play live several times in the past, including her stint with the B-52’s and the Indigo Girls. She’s a fantastic bass player and it will be great to see her play along side the Wizard himself, Todd Rundgren.

OK, it’s time now for the Song of the Day! Since we’re on the subject of Todd’s Arena tour, I thought I’d post one of the many highlights from his Arena set.

Weakness by Todd Rundgren

I don’t keep a lot of secrets
But the ones I do will die with me
It’s not because I’m hiding something
A trusted friend I try to be

That you are my weakness, my weakness
You are my Kryptonite
The sun that shines a light on my soul…
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Download a live version of “Weakness” [mediafire, mp3]
recorded off the live webstream of the Norwegian Wood show in Oslo, Norway, 13 June 2009. (courtesy of TR fan robznl)

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Have you seen the brand new 2010 Chevy Camaro? After being off the market for seven years, the iconic sports car is back, redesigned and looking better than ever. As your typical “family man”, I’ve been relegated to driving the kids around in a minivan the last few years. My innate desire for speed has sadly been neglected. So, I would oh so love the chance to drive a powerful new sports car like the Camaro. That’s why I recently entered Charter Communications’ Camaro Sweepstakes for a chance to win this slick lookin’ speed machine.

Just like cars, I like my internet super FAST and as it so happens, Charter offers one of the fastest broadband connections in the nation. And not only are they giving away a great sports car, they’ll also give you a $100 gift card if you bundle 3 Charter services together such as digital phone, internet and digital cable.

I think it’s pretty cool that Charter continues to come up with these neat little giveaways for their customers. I remember them giving away laptops a few months back and last year, a brand new Hybrid car was up for grabs. Charter has also embraced social networking and openly interacts with their customer base. Whether you connect with Charter on Facebook or tweet with Charter on Twitter, it’s great to know that they are actively seeking your feedback. That’s pretty rare in this day and age where customer service has gone the way of the dinosaur.

Head on over to Charter.com/camaro to find out more about registering to win the 2010 Camaro 2SS.

On their way down the east coast, Journey made a stop at the Greensboro Coliseum this past friday night. Honestly, I wasn’t that enthused about this show since I saw them last summer on a better bill (Cheap Trick & Heart). When they announced that Night Ranger was opening the show a couple months back, I was very disappointed. But with third row seats, my disappointment in the lineup quickly faded away as the music started to play friday evening. The two pronged lead guitar attack (Night Ranger’s Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra) made things fun to watch and Kelly Keagy’s vocals sounded strong throughout the set. Jack Blades on the other hand needs to just shut up and play. His between song ramblings brought the momentum to a screeching halt and not knowing where they were (“It’s great to be here in GreensBURGH, North DAKOTA”) didn’t help things either. But songs like “When You Close Your Eyes”, “Sister Christian” and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” went over quite well.

As for Journey, I simply had a blast being so close to the stage and having such a great view of the band. Friday night’s setlist was pretty similar to what they had played last summer but it was obvious that Arnel Pineda is now so much more comfortable on stage with the band. I enjoyed his energy, his jumps off the drum riser and his interaction with the audience.

They performed the usual crowd pleasers, with “Open Arms”, “Separate Ways” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” receiving the biggest reactions. I personally enjoyed hearing songs that weren’t played the last time around including “Send Her My Love”, “Keep On Runnin’” and “Still They Ride”. I was also hoping for “Be Good To Yourself” and “Why Can’t This Night Go On Forever” but I guess ya can’t having everything.

From what I saw, “Higher Place” didn’t go over well with the arena-sized crowd along with “Wildest Dream”. I honestly don’t know why they keep “Wildest Dream” on the setlist because it’s not strong melodically and there are better choices off of Revelation, in my opinion, including “Where Did I Lose Your Love” and “Turn Down the World Tonight”.

Another thing they should lose in the set is Jonathan Cain’s harmonica jam. It’s definitely a time waster in my book. Also the “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’” encore is just lame. A good chunk of the crowd headed for the parking lot during that song including yours truly.

But overall, I still enjoyed the show. Pineda is a joy to watch and Deen Castronovo is just a monster on drums. Oh and Castronovo sounded phenomenal singing “Still They Ride”. and of course I could just go on and on about Neal Schon. He’s simply amazing.

I do have to admit though that the band performing these songs a half-step lower is sort of jarring at times. I’m not sure if the general audience notices that they are performing these classic songs in a lower key but it’s definitely noticeable to me. Is this because I’m a musician and I can hear the original notes in my head or do fans also notice this too? I totally understand the need to lower the key to help preserve Pineda’s voice but some of the energy or spark gets lost when things get tuned down. maybe it’s just me?

Not sure if I’d see them again next summer. Will they have new material ready by next summer? and will they go out with a stronger “packaged” tour like they did last year? I’ll be interested in seeing what they decide. …but I can tell you this.. if the setlist stays the same, you can definitely count me out.

**UPDATE: 22Sep09**: According to Neal Schon’s blog – the band will be working on new material in 2010 and won’t be back on the road until 2011!! So, catch Journey live while you still can! There are only a few more dates left on the 2009 tour.
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