I can think of a few things off the top of my head that I learned about with my eyes glued to the television and my hand in a box of Cheerios as a child: Counting, counting in Spanish, bottle caps, and a mastery of the ABC’s are a few examples.

But here’s one thing I learned about on Sesame Street that you might not think of right away: death.

When Will Lee, the actor who played Mr. Hooper, died of a heart attack in 1982, instead of covering it up on the show or saying Mr. Hooper moved away or went on vacation, the show decided to tell children the truth: “Mr. Hooper died.” They told Big Bird this in the episode “Farewell, Mr. Hooper,” broadcast on Thanksgiving 1983. Later in the episode, Big Bird wants to give all the cast members drawings that he made of each of them. When Big Bird asks where Mr. Hooper is, they remind him that Mr. Hooper is dead, to which Big Bird replies that he’ll just wait for him to come back, so he can give him the drawing. The adults pause and tell Big Bird that when someone dies, they never come back.

It was real. It was powerful in a way that insulating modern television may never be again. It was one of TV’s most important moments, and it would affect me just as much when I saw it for the first time in the late 80s. (I wasn’t born when it originally aired)

But most of my Sesame Street memories aren’t nearly as sad!

It this doesn’t completely floor you, nothing will: (see more here)

Register a free account with Blast, and leave a comment about your best Sesame Street moment for a chance to win a free DVD.

The inclusion of Richard Dean Anderson in this episode of “Stargate Universe” was a happy anecdote. He’s now a 3-star general.

Totally changed is the senator’s wife, role from a raging alcoholic who’s emotionally out of control to this oddly grounded matron who has to comfort and reassure her daughter. I guess grief is a process.

Oh wait … HEY! A sex scene! Col. Young, (Justin Louis) millions of light years away, used one of the ancient communications stone devices to take over a soldier’s body on Earth to communicate with everyone back home. And he has sex — in that soldier’s body — with his wife. I’ll leave that one out there for you to comment on. We also learned that Young had an affair with Johansen (Alaina Huffman) before any of this all happened. It might has also been the reason she has decided to leave the Stargate/Icarus program shortly before the attack that forced them to evacuate through the Ninth Chevron.

And then, two of the other characters, in two other people’s bodies, get drunk and go clubbing. Elyse Levesque plays a decent drunk. Not great, but decent.

We do learn more about these characters. The senator’s daughter role (Levesque) gets a back story that’s not too surprising. She was a shallow, rich, bitch, whose boyfriend is dating her best friend now. She didn’t have real friends, and she’s beginning to learn that her happy little life wasn’t so great. This is all good stuff. This is character development. There remains much work to do on the three fronts of character development, writing dialog, and acting it out.

The Eli character (David Blue) was also improved. We knew he was an underachieving misfit with a sick mom, but we saw more of his inner monologue. We gets to take over the body of an attractive, fit man and gets to be popular with the ladies for once.

Improvement was made in this episode, but I still can’t help but wonder if this much progress could have been made in 3 episodes instead of seven. We are also having all of these “good” moments on Earth, instead of on the ship the show is set in.

We learned in previous episodes that the ship, “Destiny” recharges its power by flying through a sun, but each pass doesn’t recharge the batteries to 100 percent. Earth has a master plan to fire the ship’s weapons, to lower the ship’s power, to force the ship to further recharge its batteries entirely by flying through another star, hopefully giving the ship enough power to dial the Stargate back to Earth. We know this fails, because that would essentially end the show. A nice twist is the fact the plan might have worked — or it might have blown up the ship — if Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) hadn’t staged the whole thing to fail.

Rush showed me something in this episode. He’s spiteful and arrogant, but we’re finally seeing clearly that his goal is to study the ship and learn more about the universe. The ship might be very well able to get everyone back home, but Rush’s experiment is ongoing.

On a side note, it’s so refreshing to continuously see the talent that Carlo Rota brings to the table every time. The man who played Morris O’Brianon in “24″ added something to “Stargate Universe” in his brief appearance as a member of the International Oversight Committee.

This was the best episode of “Universe” yet, but it came six weeks and seven episodes later. You get the feeling we’re an an impasse here. They’re stranded. Earth tried to intervene/interfere and failed, and now they have to figure things out for themselves. If this were week four, I think people would be more drawn in to the suspense.

Excavations in the Vigna Barberini area resulted in the discovery of a room imitating the earth’s movement. According to scholars this could well be the room mentioned by Svetonius in the “Life of the Caesars.”

The author described that marvel of engineering as follows: “It turned on itself continuously, day and night, just like the world,” situated in a villa that spread from the Palatine to the Esquiline Hill. He added that “it was lined in gold and adorned with precious stones and shells and pearls with the ceilings of the dining room made of mobile ivory blocks and with pipes that could transport flowers or perfume to launch over the guests.”

Until recently many scholars had thought that this dining room was the Octagonal Hall on the Oppio Hill. In recent days a different archaeological truth has emerged on the Palatine Hill.

According to many ancient authors, Nero’s residence spread as far as the Colle Oppio, but a large part of it was on the Palatine. Preliminary digs carried out by the Archaeological Department, with Maria Antonietta Tomei as the Scientific Director, work directed by the architect Antonella Tomasello and carried out by a team lead by Francoise Villedieu, revealed a circular room with no similarity to others in Roman architecture.

The particular nature of this find is that it is a rotating room and that mechanisms filled with a yet to be analysed dark substance were also discovered. It is this last detail, as well as the building’s circular shape and the surprising power of the central column, unprecedented in Roman architecture, that allow one to envisage the presence of a floor, perhaps made of wood, resting on round mechanisms capable therefore of making it turn. This hypothesis is corroborated by the exceptional position of the building, which dates back to after the fire of 64 A.D. and confirms Nero’s taste for the spectacular. It is in fact overlooking the valley of the Coliseum, at the time covered by an artificial lake, and with a 360-degree view from the Capitol to the Aventino, from the Celio to Velia’s Hill.

The room’s rotation is linked to the figure of the sun, around which Nero’s ideology was based. One must now wait and see if conduits are also discovered which would explain how the higher level built in wood would have rotated, like a windmill or a merry-go-round.

There is a great deal of evidence indicating that this really is the coenatio. Svetonius says that the rotating room was the “main room”, hence on the Palatine, precisely where the newly discovered room is situated. The column and the nearby two-level archways are unique in Roman architecture and have no apparent function. There is no sign of walls, hence the brickwork wheel must have been used as the base for the rotating level that hosted dinners, parties and performances. Finally, another piece of evidence confirming this hypothesis, is that the building is on the same axis as other rooms in the Domus Aurea and hence there is continuity.

These excavations on the Palatine Hill, which were started last June, were addressed at reinforcing the corner overlooking the valley of the Coliseum and were carried out with ordinary financing from Rome’s Special Department for Archaeological Heritage. Considered the exceptional nature of this find, new funds have been allocated to continue excavations and bring to light the entire building so as to verify the hypothesis that this is indeed the coenatio rotunda, and also ensuring that less pressure is applied to the corner of the terrace of the Vigna Barberini.

Sensational discoveries such as this dining room of Nero’s always reopen the debate about the fact that the State should invest its resources in the necessary restoration of what is known and the discovery of what remains unknown. Our cultural legacy is one of Italy’s most important economic driving forces and it would therefore be appropriate to exploit it far more.

Based on Boston’s rich musical history (Boston boasts one of the oldest choral companies in the United States, and one of the most acoustically exact concert halls in the world), Steppin’ Out focuses on the city’s tradition of jazz. Past headliners of the event include famed percussionist Tito Puente (2007), jazz and R&B singer Roberta Flack (2003), and contemporary R&B singer Lalah Hathaway (2008).

This year will bring as many as 20 musicians to feature the talent of local and national artists. Included with the amazing evening of music is dinner, community and corporate awards, and an evening of socializing. Last year nearly 3,000 music lovers and community supporters came out to the event for the Dimock Center.

The Dimock Center, which the Steppin’ Out event benefits, was originally founded in 1862 as the New England Hospital for Women and Children and is considered a National Historic Landmark. It holds nine acres in Roxbury in order to deliver sincere care for over 46,000 patients and clients in its Health Center alone each year. The Center offers services ranging from health screenings, immunizations, women’s health, HIV/AIDS services and more.

Steppin’ Out provides the Dimock Center with funding that is vital to maintaining the center’s outstanding service.

Ruth Ellen Fitch, President and CEO of the Dimock Center, began work at the center in August of 2004, and was previously practicing law with Palmer & Dodge LLP. There she became the first Black female partner at a large Boston law firm.

Before practicing law, Fitch was Director of the METCO program for the Brookline Public Schools and taught at University of Massachusetts, Boston. She has contributed to the community as serving as a member of the Board of the Boston Public Health Commission, Director of Health Law Advocates and as a Director of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. Now she continues to provide in the health field at the Dimock Center, whose vision is a healthy community, and whose mission is to “commit to enhance the quality of life of each individual (they) serve”.

The Dimock Center has announced this year’s Honorary Chairs for Steppin’ Out as Governor Deval L. Patrick and First Lady Diane B. Patrick, with the Gala Chair being Clayton H. W. Turnbull (The Waldwin Group, Founder and CEO).

The event will take place November 7 at The Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel.

To purchase tickets online, click here.

For those of you who don’t know what Fallen Earth is, here’s a summary of the premise: The deadly Shiva virus has decimated the population by 99%. 2156 years after the virus struck, the Grand Canyon is the last citadel of humanity. Inhabitants must choose to ally with one of the remaining factions or rally against them. You can re-build the human race or destroy it. The choice is yours. Sound interesting? Look into it!

With the iPhone app coming out, hardcore players will love the opportunity to check their stats on the go.

For those who are not familar with this game, it is a new arcade-style puzzle game.

Check out the trailers below so you can experience the trippy, multicolored puzzle packed experience (and a really cute cartoon animal)!

Announced today by the mega-publisher and developer is a never-ending trial for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the ambitious MMORPG.

Gone is the lousy 10-day trial in favor of one that lasts forever and always and lets new and returning gamers explore all 24 different careers, so as to hopefully find the one most suitable based on your preferences.

Additionally, players on the trial can travel to one Empire vs. Chaos zones of Nordland and Norsca and can attempt the Hunter’s Vale, a new dungeon or, as the press release reads, “battle other players in the instanced scenarios Nordenwatch, Khaine’s Embrace and Gates of Ekrund.”

“With the introduction of the endless free trial and streaming client, we are making it easier than ever for a new player to join the WAR,” said Jeff Hickman, executive producer, Mythic Entertainment. “We’ve worked hard to create a more informative and community driven new user experience, and now we are giving players an unlimited amount of time to explore the early parts of the game at their own pace. We are confident that players new and old will find all the enhancements we’ve made to WAR over the past year worthy of their time and commitment.”

What’s more, Mythic introduced a new streaming endless trial client so requires only an initial 1GB download while additional content streams in the background as required while playing. Sweeeet!

Start your Warhammer Online trial here, and talk to us at the end of eternity, because that’s when your trial expires!

“This misfortune has fallen among many of our friends in the past,” Mae said in a statement, “and after touring for eight years this sort of thing is bound to happen.”

The band, which was scheduled to play at The Middle East in Cambridge last night, rented a van and performed as planned. With only four dates left on their U.S. tour, Mae has decided to press on with the help of the bands they are touring with, Deas Vail and Jenny Owen Youngs.

The van and trailer have not been found.

The band is currently accepting donations from fans for the loss. To donate, click here.

“It’s in these moments that our fans lift us up and remind us why we do what we do,” Mae said. “We thank you for the immediate outpouring of love and support.”

“Supernatural” started as a really cool mash-up of “creature of the week” and proceeded with a solid genre plot.

Sam and Dean Winchester drive around the country in their dad’s old Chevy Impala, continuing the family business — hunting and killing unnatural and evil things. Armed with a collection of classic rock tapes, a trunk full of weapons and their dad’s journal detailing all things evil, the brothers battled all sorts of cool monsters.

But at the end of season one, the show began to balance serialized storytelling and accessibility better than any other on television.

The creator, Eric Kripke, and the rest of the writing staff have done a wonderful job at slowly layering the mythology, season-by-season, without getting bogged down by it. This is not a show like “Lost” where you have to have been invested since episode one to understand what is going on. With “Supernatural,” you can jump in with any episode and be entertained without feeling completely lost (pun intended).

A lot of the credit for that accessibility is due to the strength of the show’s two leads, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.

As Dean, Ackles proves to be a ridiculously charismatic television lead. His razor-sharp comedic timing and ability to emote seemingly on-command (the guy can produce a single tear drop that would even make Denzel Washington jealous) have helped make Dean one of televisions most intriguing characters.

Padalecki ably handles the tougher job of keeping Sam likable, even as he consistently makes bad decisions. Padalecki excels at playing the serious, cerebral Sam. Ackles is the crowd-pleaser, but Padalecki has proven himself a capable comedic actor, when called for, and does a great job at handling most of the show’s expository scenes.

Ackles and Padalecki were in top form in tonight’s episode. The season-long plot of the hunt to kill Lucifer advanced in some intriguing directions. The Trickster (Richard Speight Jr.) made a welcome return and, once again, got the best of the brothers, trapping them in episodes of familiar television shows. With the Winchesters stuck in The Trickster’s cable box of horrors, the writers have a ball inserting Ackles and Padalecki in some very familiar-looking shows. Anyone who ever wondered what “Supernatural” would look like as a sitcom, Japanese game show or “Knight Rider” had to look no further.

The highlight was the writer’s version of “Grey’s Anatomy.” Dean’s guilty pleasure, “Dr. Sexy M.D.” followed the adventures of the whiny, annoying and constantly-bordering-on-tears Dr. Ellen Piccolo at Seattle Mercy Hospital. I also loved the not-so-subtle dig at David Caruso’s sunglasses and murmur-heavy acting style on “CSI: Miami.” I must agree with Dean: only “no-talent douche bags wear sunglasses at night.”

Despite the heavy doses of comedy, the episode significantly advanced the season’s overall plot. I loved that The Trickster turned out to be an angel with a personal stake in the brother’s battle. The heavy knowledge he drops on Dean and Sam about their destiny is as dark as any narrative twist the writers have given us so far.

Brilliantly mixing comedy with some seriously sobering revelations, “Changing Channels” shows “Supernatural” to be confidently firing on all cylinders.

According to MTV.com, Rihanna said her relationship with Chris was just too intense. They started out as close friends, and their love bordered on obsession. Rihanna also admitted to feeling guilty for reconciling so quickly with Chris because of the message it sent about domestic violence victims. But now, she says, it’s really over.

“I went through … a host of emotions,” she told Sawyer. “It was confusing for me. I was still attached by love. But I wasn’t thinking about … the reality of the situation. You start lying to yourself. … This is a memory you don’t want to have ever again. … The physical wounds go away, you put it in the back of your head and you start lying to yourself subconsciously.”

Long interview short – she still loves and cares about Chris, but doesn’t think they’ll ever get back together. She hated him for a while, yet felt bad that he was facing so much hatred. Now, she just wants to move on.

“I don’t want that five years from now — every time they see Rihanna, they think of Chris Brown beating me,” she said. “That’s not who I am. It’s just one thing that happened to me.”

You can tune in to MTV tonight at 6:00 to here Chris’ side.

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” plays like a collection of scenes without a central thread uniting them. Perhaps worse than the film’s lack of cohesion is its smugness- the movie practically shouts at the audience, “Laugh already! This is really funny!” Unfortunately, more often that not, the movie simply doesn’t deliver.

The film tells the story of the Pentagon’s attempts during the Reagan administration to create an army of psychic soldiers. “The New Earth Army” is founded by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges, in full on “Dude” mode), an army officer who searches for alternative means to wage war after being wounded in Vietnam.

After years spent in the counter-culture scene, Django comes back with all kinds of new ways to fight America’s enemies (psychedelics are heavily involved) and with the help of the intensely zealous Brig. Gen. Dean Hopgood (Stephen Lang), gets funding for his unit of “American Jedis.”

Ewan McGregor gets his meatiest role in years as Bob Wilton, the journalist looking for a story about the New Earth Army. McGregor drives the film. Unfortunately the character feels completely misconceived. Instead of focusing on Wilton’s journalistic quest for a story, the script is more concerned with his desperate search for meaning in his life. This makes Wilton become an active participant in the craziness he is encounters instead of a lens through which the audience can enter such a bizarre and zany world.

Wilton turns to Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) — a former New Earth Army member who he encounters in Iraq — to act as his source and life coach. Clooney dives into the part with relish. With his mustache, sun-baked skin, and movie star good looks, Clooney resembles an enthusiastic and crazed Clark Gable. He clearly has a ball playing off-type. Clooney’s enthusiasm and pure star power almost make the whole thing work.

By having Wilton embrace Cassady’s crazy lifestyle, the audience is left without a levelheaded perspective with which to counter Cassady’s eccentric ways (The guy thinks he can cause clouds to disappear with his mind).

Maybe a stronger director could have wrangled all of this together and turned it into something that worked. Simply put, Grant Heslov seems completely overwhelmed here on his first feature. Heslov, Clooney’s producing partner, seems to have given the actors free reign to play their characters however they wanted- whether it serves the narrative or not. The comedic beats are poorly timed and Heslov does a tremendously awkward job of integrating the more dramatic scenes throughout the film. The worst thing a comedy can do is make you question whether or not you should be laughing.

Walking out of the theater I couldn’t help but think that “The Men Who Stare at Goats” comes off as a lazy and self-congratulatory film. While it’s clear the actors are having a lot of fun, there seems to be little attempt at engaging the audience. I’m glad they all enjoyed it, because I sure didn’t.

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” is now in theaters.

The style that was so fresh, funny and enjoyable in 2004’s “Napoleon Dynamite” has become stale, predictable and merely amusing in this year’s “Gentlemen Broncos.” Writers Jared and Jerusha Hess returned to their home of Utah for the setting of their third film, recycling their kitschy, eccentric characters and awkward, squeaky-clean comedy in hopes of recreating their first film’s magic. While the plot is somewhat compelling and the characters are loveable, the film devotes too much time to the “Yeast Lords” side-story and not enough time the main character, Benjamin Purvis.

Benjamin Purvis (Michael Angarano) is a gullible, homeschooled 16-year-old introvert who has a passion for writing sci-fi. Benjamin appears to be the only sane, reasonable person in a cast of badly dressed misfits.

His loopy mother (Jennifer Coolidge, “Best In Show”) owns a company called “Decent Beginnings” that sells hideous nightgowns for $100 a pop. Gown names include “Reachable Dream,” “Front Pew” and “Righteous Do.” This type of role is Coolidge’s bread and butter. She plays the role of clueless-but-concerned mom to a tee, at one point shoving a popcorn car through prison bars to her son on his birthday.

Benjamin is a reluctant friend with the immensely annoying Tabitha (Halley Feiffer) and Lonnie (Hector Jimenez), two other homeschoolers who run a small amateur adult film company. They eventually dupe Benjamin into giving them his original manuscript, “Yeast Lords,” to make into a movie. The Hess’s went a little overboard with these guys, their unforgivable weirdness making each scene with them in it seem endless and inescapable instead of funny. Tabitha’s oddness would be more acceptable if she showed some redeeming quality like humor or integrity. Lonnie is just flat-out irritating.

But Tabitha and Lonnie aren’t the only ones who swindle Benjamin. His literary idol, Dr. Ronald Chevalier (Jemaine Clement, “Flight of the Conchords”) swipes his manuscript from a contest and pawns it off as his own. Clement does a remarkable job in hilariously depicting the arrogant British author. He provides most of the comic relief in Benjamin’s sad story, delivering lines like, “Do you think they’ll remember us for our writing? No! They’ll remember us for our wealth!”

Angarano’s Benjamin is delightfully awkward, from his cracking pubescent voice to his feet curled insecurely beneath his desk. The audience feels for him as he gets walked all over and roots for him when he finally stands up for himself. The only downside is that by the time he does so, the film is over.

There are few people who could have wanted to like this movie more than myself. Alas, I won’t be quoting it for years to come as I’d hoped. It’s worth seeing for its individual comedic performances, but bring something to do when Clement, Coolidge and Angarano aren’t on the screen.

NUMB3RS might be getting the boot after six years.

CBS is making some mid-season changes. It is cutting the season order of “NUMB3RS” to 16 episodes, down from 22. This is in order to make room for shows like the reality “Undercover Boss” and the dramas “Miami Trauma,” “Flashpoint,” and “The Bridge.” Numbers gets cut short in its sixth season.

The fate of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is up in the air. One report has it that Oprah will switch from broadcast to cable when her contract with CBS expires in 2011. Oprah would then be tree to move to her own cable network, which launches next fall. But CBS says they know nothing of any moves the talk-show diva is looking to make.

Also on the topic of talk shows, NBC has renewed “Maury,” “Springer,” and “Steve Wilkos” for at least three more years. Tribune, the company that syndicates these shows, also announced that some of its other shows, including “People’s Court,” “Judge Matis,” “TMZ,” “This Old House” and “Judge Jeanine Pirro” are renewed through 2012.

Scipps is purchasing a 65 percent majority stake in the Travel Channel from Cox Communications, pouring millions of dollars into the 22-year-old cable network and securing its near billion-dollar debt.

Comedy Central is teaming up with The Onion to produce a 30-minute television series inspired by The Onion Sports Network.

Finally this week, FX has a Western drama series under construction called “Reconstruction,” set in Missouri during the post-Civil War era.

Believe it or not, Jack and Meg White, who together form The White Stripes have yet to be featured in the extensive catalogue of Rock Band tunes, but that’ll change next week when you rock out to the following tunes.

You know the drill. All tunes are $2 and are master recordings.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Nov. 10) and PlayStation 3 system (Nov. 12):

• The Damned – “Smash It Up (Part II)” +
• Kasabian – “Club Foot” +
• The White Stripes – “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” +
• The White Stripes – “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine” +
• The White Stripes – “Icky Thump”

Songs marked with + mean they’re also available in the LEGO Rock Band DLC store. Remember, only kid-friendly tunes are available to LEGO Rockers.

Additionally, if you’re playing Rock Band Unplugged, these tunes will be available next for your enjoyment.

Tracks available for Rock Band Unplugged (Nov. 12):

• No Doubt – “Excuse Me Mr.”
• Dropkick Murphys – “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”

Of course, this was clearly an exercise of sarcasm as Grand Theft Auto IV was a perfect representation of how to develop a game.  Yet, it seems that the people at Rockstar went ahead and fulfilled my request anyway with their release of Episodes from Liberty City.

This stand-alone title, available for around $40, allows veterans and new fans of the series to play the add-ons for GTA IV, the critically acclaimed Lost and the Damned and the highly anticipated release of The Ballad of Gay Tony, without actually having to own a copy of the original game.  This set-up is perfect for those who played Grand Theft Auto IV as a rental or just never bothered to download the additional episodes, combined with the drop of The Ballad of Gay Tony and a fair price (costing as much as downloading the two separate add-ons in the Xbox Live Marketplace) make Episodes from Liberty City a very intriguing title heading into the holiday season.

First, let’s briefly go over The Lost and the Damned before we focus on The Ballad of Gay Tony and then review the complete package of Episodes of Liberty City as a whole.  (For our more in-depth review of The Lost and the Damned, check out this link). The Lost and the Damned allows players to take control of Johnny Klebitz, a member of the biker gang called The Lost.  Johnny, vice president of the club, is tasked with spending most of his time fixing the mistakes of the president, Billy, who has been in rehab for narcotics possession for a long while.  Of course, upon the release of Billy from rehab, the club is divided by those who prefer Johnny as their leader and those who prefer Billy.  Now, players must find a way to reunite the club, while also dealing with controlling Billy’s out-of-control behavior, gang wars, jail raids and other craziness.  Like The Ballad of Gay Tony, The Lost of the Damned has plenty of mini games and multiplayer modes unique to the add-on.  By itself, The Lost and the Damned is worth downloading due to its unique story and decent amount of gameplay, but how will it look when combined with another add-on?

The Ballad of Gay Tony is the newest release from the folks at Rockstar, which will be available both in downloadable and hardcopy format as found in Episodes From Liberty City, which we’ve been focusing on in this article.  This add-on has a completely different vibe than the previously described The Lost and the Damned episode, which should not really come as a surprise.  Instead of being centered around the gritty activities and conflicts of a biker gang, The Ballad of Gay Tony focuses on the not-so-glamorous life behind the velvet ropes and glitz of the Liberty City club scene.

Players take control of Luis Lopez, a juvenile delinquent turned club-owner body guard.  Luis is introduced as Gay Tony’s (AKA Tony Price) confidant, muscle and eventual business partner.  Of course, coming from a childhood of crime and mischief, Luis has plenty of profitable and questionable connections and opportunities with his life back home as well.  Throughout the game, Mr. Lopez will have to deal with the struggles of balancing business with family in order to become the biggest success he can be.  Plenty of in-game decisions will have to be made by the player, so be prepared to have to make some moral choices as you try to make it to the top.

The Ballad of Gay Tony begins with a funky intro; the term “funky” meaning filled with 70’s and 80’s style of music, complete with synthesizers and heavy bass slaps…. not strange or odorous.  Anyway, the point is that The Ballad of Gay Tony lets you know right from the start that this episode is not like any other Grand Theft Auto title that you’ve seen.  This installment will be filled with a new level of flamboyancy and classiness that players have only gotten mere tastes of in the previous games.  However, rest assured that there are plenty of drugs, swearing, murders and conflicts in this episode, which will surely keep the GTA purists satisfied to a reasonable extent.

Telltale Games, makers of the Sam and Max and Wallace and Gromit series of point and click adventure games, released the fourth installment in their own pirate franchise Tales of Monkey Island with The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood last week, but don’t lose hope: the title is bleak, but the game is wonderful.

The Tales of Monkey Island series is an episode-based saga. The stories began in July with Launch of the Screaming Narwhaland today’s installment Trial and Execution is number four in a five-part drama, culminating next month with Rise of the Pirate God due out sometime in December.

Another essential bit of preface is that Trial and Execution just like those before it, is a point-and-click action adventure game and is rooted on its magnificent storytelling and multitude of dialogue lines.

Now we’re ready.

Trial and Execution begins with a detailed yet brief cinematic introduction that will remind past players of the last chapter’s events, and will catch up newcomer’s to just what the hell is going on. I found this inclusion very helpful, because with short games like these played a month prior, it’s easy to forget what you’ve already accomplished, or, as is more likely, the mess you’ve gotten into.

In the game you play as Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate, who, for as ambitious as he is, lacks restraint and a fully operable brain. This is not to say you’re guiding an empty-headed buffoon around the game-world, because you’re not, just that the comedic value of his bumbling nature is apparent.

The basic plot synopsis for this installment is, without giving too much away, you’ve returned to the once-friendly Flotsam Islands, only to be seized and tried in a court of pirate-law for high seas crimes you’ve allegedly committed. It’s your job to defend yourself, using your dashing wit, in the court and save yourself from an untimely death. Oh, and at the same time the sinister French Marquis is plotting, and he’s plotting hard. To live through the day, a lot is asked of Guybrush, but hell, he’s escaped the belly of a Leviathan, how hard can this be!?

With four titles already under the thick belt of the Monkey Island series, there isn’t a heck of a lot to say here. The incredibly solid foundation Telltale laid in the preceding titles is applied to Trial and Execution with wonderful execution.

Voice-acting and character-recognition (through the voice acting), arguably the focal points of point and click games, are spot-on and without flaw in this latest game. With every line spoken, and there are many, many lines of dialogue, I became more attached to Guybrush and the entire supporting cast. Their lines aren’t corny; save for a few, and through this genuineness, the character’s truly come to life and become an emotional investment on you.

The story and dialogue are so good that it’s scary. The events unfold like a great storybook, and one you’ll find yourself steam-rolling through, as events transpire just like that (I snapped my fingers).

The lines of dialogue are eloquently crafted pieces of prose, and truly speak to the writing staff at Telltale. I’d really like to meet these guys and gals; they have some bona fide talent, that’s for sure.

The music element in Trial and Execution is again beautifully done. It intensifies tense moments, relieves stress at others, and is generally appropriate. I wouldn’t put it up for any soundtrack award, but it works, and it works very well.

As far as plot is concerned, I won’t give specifics, as the game lasts only about three hours, but I can say there is more going on in this tale than any of the others. Yes, the first was intriguing on account of its newness, but Trial and Execution is a rollercoaster ride of emotion that’ll keep you actively engaged right up until the stunning and unexpected conclusion. Alliances are formed, backs are stabbed, and hot peppers are licked! But best of all, this installment ends on the most slippery of cliffhangers and I am truly excited to play next month’s fifth and final episode.

What I found most compelling about the game was the fact that a main character dies. It’s a tense moment in a light-hearted franchise. It was wholly unexpected, but masterfully executed. Death was shown in previous games, but only at a comedic and light level. This tragic occurrence is just that; tragic, and for me, was a compelling reason to finish the game. I had to know what’s next!

My only gripe with the game was its return to a familiar location instead of branching out to new environments, a la the belly of a leviathan in the previous installment, because there I feel Telltale strutted their digital stuff and as a result wowed fans and I alike. Now, the game introduces some new environments; the courthouse, De Singe’s laboratory, and brings the darkness of night to the world, which elicits a second opinion of a locale you thought you knew, but still, I think Telltale could have and should have done more.

The game’s humor is also worth noting. Unlike the comedic value of another Telltale property, Sam and Max, which is more direct, the jokes in Trial and Execution are light-hearted and for lack of better term, less funny, but still funny. You won’t be laughing the way you do during your favorite comedy film, but you’ll have a giddy little smirk fixed on your face during much of the game.

Aesthetically, the title looks wonderful. I have a decent PC, a laptop no less! PC gamers go ahead and heckle me, but the game runs smoothly and looks gorgeous on my rig (if I can even call it that).

From the expansive jungle to the detailed docks to the uncivilized courtroom, Telltale’s attention to detail yet again shines through a fog of drear often associated with games of this nature. I experienced no slow-down or texture issues throughout my stay at the Flotsam Islands and at times stopped and reveled at the beauty of creation, as some of the environments really look splendiferous.

Blast Factor: Tales of Monkey Island: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood is a wonderfully thought out, executed, and enjoyable point and click adventure. Excellence in story-telling through voice acting, attention to detail in regards to the game’s environment and memorable characters combine to make this one of the best installments. Telltale Games have proven they have the chops to excel in the genre and I am both excited and saddened to know there is but one game left!

Tales of Monkey Island: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood is available today on PC. $34.95 gets you all five episodes. A copy of the game was given to us by Telltale for reviewing purposes. Arrrrrr.

First we had Napoleon, the nunchuck-wielding, moon-boot wearing dancing fiend. Then there was Nacho, the cook-turned-wrestler in “Nacho Libre.” In “Gentlemen Broncos,” we meet Benjamin Purvis, the quiet science-fiction lover whose mom sells nightgowns and popcorn balls for a living.

In “Broncos,” Hess takes us into Benjamin’s world of cowboy heroes, battle stags, pooping snakes and transvestites. Benjamin finds himself in uneasy situations involving blow-darts, hand massages, guardian angels and shootouts.

So color me surprised when I sit down to talk with Hess and find that, besides his freakish height (6’5”), he looks pretty normal, even average. In comfortable jeans, black-rimmed glasses and a black flannel shirt, he doesn’t even vaguely resemble the outrageous characters he creates. But as we begin to discuss the process of what it was like bringing “Broncos” to life, Hess reveals his fascinating and hilariously weird brain, showing that he might be more like his characters than he seems.

Blast: You say that a lot of your stories are autobiographical.

Jared Hess: Yeah. When my family first moved to Idaho, before school started, there was a trip to a Shakespearean festival in southern Utah. I didn’t have any friends yet, and my mom’s like, “You’d better go on this thing, it’ll be awesome, you’ll meet a lot of new friends.” So this girl and this guy who were very similar to Loni and Tabitha made friends with me and were like “Come sit by us! It’d be awesome!” I was sitting just like Benjamin was and they busted out the lotion and he started giving her a hand massage and blowing in her ear, and all the kids on the bus were like, “Gosh that kid’s an idiot. He’s hanging out with those guys!” So it was really uncomfortable. It was all the gross crap that happens in the back of a van bus.

My wife Jerusha…has a 15-year-old cousin who lives up in Alaska, and he’s been writing really messed-up science fiction stories that make his mom cry. We read some of them and the content is quite disturbing. His were a little medieval. I tried to block it out of my mind. It was a lot of…slapping.

Blast: In what ways do you see yourself in Benjamin Purvis?

Jared Hess: I think I identify with him, in him being kind of an outsider a little bit, but someone who’s creatively engaged, although he’s misunderstood in the things he’s trying to create. I channel that for sure. Especially as a kid I was trying to make my own videos even though people may have gone “Oh well, what are you doing?” You know? It was important to me.

The mother character in this film is based on my mom. She worked for a modest nightgown company and sold popcorn balls that me and my five younger brothers would have to go peddle around…so many things that happened to Benjamin in the film have happened to me.

Blast: One thing that’s a little different about Benjamin is that, you know, with Napoleon, he’s very outlandish. Benjamin is very relatable. He’s a normal kid. And besides the fact that he’s wicked into sci-fi, you really kind of think he’s not a nerd.

Jared Hess: Yeah, yeah. He’s the most normal character in the film. He’s surrounded by a lot of eccentric personalities. You kind of learn about his weird side through his work. But definitely, yeah, he just seems like a normal kid.

Blast: Is Ronald Chevalier based on anyone?

Jared Hess: One time I was a camera assistant during college, and I was working on a really low-budget independent film about Mormon pioneers coming to Utah. The screenwriter visited the set one day, and he was rocking the same clothes as Ronald Chevalier’s the first time you see him. The same Bluetooth earpiece that he never uses. He just looked awesome.

Blast: Tell us about putting the look for the film together.

Jared Hess: To me it’s really important. There’s such a hand-made quality, I think about all of it. It’s all from our style and It’s fun that people can recognize your work based on looking at it. It’s important to get the right kind of tone out there. We shot the film entirely on location in Utah. But the science fiction aspects of it, you know i borrowed a lot of things from my favorite science-fiction films. You don’t really see the big budget glossy expensive CG stuff. You know, like, the battle stags and crap, that stuff was in my trapper keeper when I was like, 12. Stuff that I’d drawn. A lot of the ideas that are in (Benjamin’s) story are, you know, really lame ideas that I had as a kid.

Blast: You’ve got some pretty fierce animal action going on in this film.

Jared Hess: We do!

Blast: You’ve got like a wolf, a bobcat, a snake, like all this stuff. Did Mike White actually have the live snake on him?

Jared Hess: He did. That was a real snake. His name was Peaches. And (Mike) got to be very good friends with Peaches. When we were shooting the snake would…he couldn’t control it very well and it was always gravitating toward Jennifer Coolidge’s chest (laughs) and she would would go “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” But it was very tame. It’s an albino boa. Weird, huh?

Blast: And it knows how to poop on cue?

Jared Hess: Yeah pretty much (laughs). We had a little hose hooked up to an air compressor full of beef stew (laughs). It was some gross mixture, I think it had apple sauce in it and mustard.

Blast: Not much worse than the real thing?

Jared Hess: I know, totally. Yeah, they were like, “This smells worse than crap!”

Blast: That was definitely a shocked laugh for me.

Jared Hess: I know, it’s funny because people either laugh at that or they think that it wasn’t meant to happen! People have asked me, “Was that real snake-poo? Did that happen and you just happened to be rolling?”

Blast: Well, you’re still trying to wrap your mind around the fact that he’s wearing a snake, and then all of the sudden…

Jared Hess: (laughs) Yeah, the bobcat actually had a bigger role but…wild animals aren’t really meant to be controlled. But we got it to eat cat food.

Blast: And a gonad?

Jared Hess: Yeah totally. That was like a ball of cat food.

Blast: Where does the name “Gentlemen Broncos” come from?

Jared Hess: My mom had a parenting book written in the ‘50s called “So You Want to Raise A Boy?” There was a chapter in there where the author referred to the 16-year-old stage in a young man’s life. He called it the “Gentlemen Bronco” phase of life where young men like to take their shirts off and mow the lawn. It didn’t make much sense, but I really liked the title.

Blast: This is a pretty different role for Jennifer Coolidge.

Jared Hess: We knew that we wanted Jennifer to play the mom. You can see her real, kind of tender sweet side. She’s really not that glammed up in this at all. She’s kind of a little more “Middle America.”

Blast: Kind of drab almost.

Jared Hess: Yeah yeah. I felt bad that we put her in such bad clothes. She kept teasing me. But she had so much fun. And you know, she’s so great at improv. It’s funny, cause at the cast and crew screening, everyone had their favorite improvised moment that she did. Not all of them made it into the film, but some of them are on the DVD. When the scene ended, we’d kind of let her say whatever she wanted for at least a take or two and then everybody was in stitches. It’s not really about one-liners and a punch-line of a joke in this film. But you kind of get to choose what’s funny to you.

Blast: All of your characters in your movies are pretty quirky, but in this one, even down to the extras, like the ones in the choir scene – where do you find these weird looking people?

Jared Hess: (Laughs) It’s funny because the choir scene was mostly made up of my family (laughs).

Blast: Well now I’ve really offended you! Great!

Jared Hess: No, no. It’s funny because actually, like…my wife’s handicapped aunt was in that scene. (Also) one of her cousins who has Down’s Syndrome. Both of which we’re very, very close to, obviously. The extras in the film – we like to populate it with authentic people. We’re not going to a fancy Hollywood extras casting agency. We’re getting people that we interact with, you know, daily. That you see at the grocery store. A couple of my little brothers were actually Cyclops guys. They were like, (Napoleon voice) “Jared, I can’t see a dang thing in these!”

Blast: Even when Chevalier is doing the Q&A session and there are all of those sci-fi fans. I mean they’re just interesting to look at. They’re just funny people.

Jared Hess: For some of those things, we really try to get science fiction fans. So it was fun.

Blast: Sam Rockwell plays two roles in this movie. What was it like working with him?

Jared Hess: We knew that we wanted to party with Sam Rockwell. I’m a big fan of Sammy. Even though he plays two pretty funny roles in this film, when he comes out of the trailer, out of wardrobe and makeup, he’s in complete character. You know, he’s like, goin’ for it. I’ll say, “Sam, I wanna tell you something.” And he’ll say “Hey, hey, hey. What? I’m Bronco. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He’s pretty die-hard. Like, he’d be watching episodes of Lonesome Dove in his trailer. He was really channeling some cowboy thunder for Bronco, which I loved.

Blast: What was it like working with Michael Angarano?

Jared Hess: It was awesome. A real pleasure. I mean, he’s so talented and he’s really effortless when he’s acting and bringing to life a character, and that was really important. You know we spent a lot of time trying to find the right person to play him and he ended up being just perfect for it.

He and Napoleon are very very different. And I think a lot of people, with Napoleon, were like, “Gosh! This kid!” you know either they really actually knew somebody like that or they were like “This guy’s obnoxious and I don’t like to have to do anything with people like that.” But with Benjamin, he’s more accessible on an emotional level.

Blast: The everyman.

Jared Hess: Yeah, yeah.

Blast: So we have to talk about Jemaine Clement. I’m a huge “Flight of the Conchords” fan. As soon as I saw he was in this, I was like, “I gotta go see this!” What was it like to work with him?

Jared Hess: Yeah yeah! He is one of the most humble, sweet down to earth guys I’ve ever met in my life. Like, his success has not changed him at all. He’s still hangin’ with the same pals that he’s always had.

Blast: Like Bret?

Jared Hess: Yeah, yeah totally (laughs). He’s so funny. He would have ideas on the set of something funny to do or try, and he’s just brilliant. The guy’s so funny. His timing and everything. He was a dream to work with.

Blast: This is a completely different character from the one we all know him for. In “Flight of the Conchords,” he’s so self-depricating and a putz. But in this, he’s arrogant!

Jared Hess: He’s a totally different character. I remember when our sound designers were working on the film, they were like, “Where’d you find that British actor that plays Chevalier?” And I was like, “Oh, that’s Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords.” They were like “What? That’s him? Really?” They didn’t believe me. They didn’t put it together.

Blast: He really pulls off that accent.

Jared Hess: Yeah, it’s great. And I love when you watch an actor, and you don’t go “Oh, that’s Jemaine, from Flight of the Conchords.” That’s always a testimony, I think, to them, that they’re really becoming the character.

Blast: How did you place him in that role?

Jared Hess: We sent him a script, and he called back and he was like (impersonating New Zealand accent) “Yeah man, I really want to do this. I’ll do anything you want. Do you have anybody playing Bronco?” And I was like, “Yeah, we got Sam Rockwell.” And he said, “Oh, yeah, he’ll do great, man.” And then I said, “You know, we were thinking Chevalier for you.” And he’s like “Oh yeah, he’s great.” Jemaine wanted to play the guy as an American, but I told him to watch “Logan’s Run” and try and do Michael York. Then he called me back and was like (impersonating Chevalier) “Hello, Dr. Ronald Chevalier.” And I said, that’s what we’ll do!

Blast: What are your comedic influences?

Jared Hess: I guess it’s life. Letting those awkward beats play out. That happens in life all the time. For me they’re fun and very uncomfortable. A lot of people that watch our films, because of that uneasiness, are not sure if, gosh, something really disturbing is gonna happen. And then when they’re relieved to know that it didn’t go to the dark place they thought it might go to, then the second time around they’re like, “Ahhh.” They’re enjoying it cause they know it’s not gonna go there.

Blast: It’s okay to laugh. I know what you’re talking about cause I could feel that tension building. You’re thinking, “Benjamin has just got to explode sometime soon, and I’m gonna be really unhappy if that doesn’t happen.” And so when he just goes crazy on everybody, it was so fulfilling.

Jared Hess: Yeah, gratifying.

Blast: And you’re like, “Yes! Okay. Good.”

Jared Hess: Yeah, it’s good. Cause he gets walked on the whole movie. He’s a polite, good kid.

Blast: Something that sets your comedy apart, too, from the rest of the stuff that’s out there right now is… lots of stuff out there is very profane. In your films people say “gosh” and “darn” a lot, and Chevalier says…

Jared Hess: Dagnammit! (laughs) That word was improvised. My dad always used to be like, “Dagnabbit!” Then I told Jemaine to say it, and he was like (imitating New Zealand accent), “Ok, yeah, yeah, I’ve never heard that word before, but I’ll try it.” And so we’re shooting (and he says), “Isn’t that why we do what we do, dagnammit?!” And I was like, “Dagnammit? You just made a new word!”

Blast: Do you intentionally keep out the curse words? Is it for comedy or is it for other reasons?

Jared Hess: You know, it’s funny, because it’s such a part of how I talk. I came from a big Mormon family and we were all taught not to swear. So I don’t feel comfortable swearing. You know what I mean? I think it’s just our sense of humor.

Blast: Yeah.

Jared Hess: You know, it’s just not my personality. So that just kind of naturally works its way into our dialogue. So we have a lot of swear word replacements like “flippin’” and “friggen.”

Blast: Your wife, with whom you co-write everything, has just written a romantic comedy.

Jarod Hess: She did, yeah.

Blast: Are you going to be directing that?

Jarod Hess: I don’t know if she’ll let me. I think I’ll ruin it. She’s super-talented. I mean, she may direct it. She’s not decided yet.

Blast: Will it be similar to your previous movies?

Jared Hess: No, it’s something totally different. She’s like, “I get to make a girl movie now.”

“Gentlemen Broncos” is now in theaters.

Cheyenne Medders is the proverbial patriarch of this band of brothers. The eldest, doe-eyed and soft-spoken, he is also the lead singer. His younger brothers Carson and Will back him up on the guitar and percussion, respectively. The odd man out is Joshua Stauter, the classically-trained pianist who sometimes rocks out so hard that he passes out on his keyboard.

When they took the time to chat with Blast about their new album, which was released in September, they described it with words like “haunting,” “dancing,” “rockin’” and “quirky.” Swinging melodies wrap around Cheyenne Medders’ soulful, scratchy southern voice, and make all of these descriptions true. But the passion in his voice on the record was there while he talked to us – this is a man who cares deeply about creating music…even if it’s about insects.

Blast: How would you describe your music to someone who hadn’t heard it?

Cheyenne Medders: I try to name old bands that people would know of and say we’re definitely influenced by The Band and The Beatles and Wilco, and newer people like The Arcade Fire.

It’s kind of impossible. I just wish they would hand me a guitar and I would just play you one of my songs. My taste in music is so broad. I am equally enthralled by the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” and the song “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire. And their sounds don’t really have anything to do with each other, but they all inform the music that I make.

Blast: So tell me a little bit about your new album, “The Medders.”

Cheyenne Medders: We all recorded it ourselves and produced it ourselves. These songs, they kind of go into some new territory. The first song is a really solid, Americana ballad about getting in trouble, being a gunslinger. And then they’ve caught you and you’re gonna get hung. It’s got this really cool piano lick that kind of keeps it drivin’. People have said it sounds like Neil Young and Tom Petty, a little bit. The whole album goes in some really cool directions, I think.

Then the next song is totally, kind of out in left field. It’s called “Win Win.” I wrote that song sitting on a porch at my house, and I was just lookin’ at all the insects. I had a guitar in my hand — I’m a firm believer that the best songs come when you’re not trying to write a song, when you’re not trying to force one out. Some kind of inspiration just comes along, and if you’re lucky, or if it’s meant to be, you have a guitar in your hand or you’re sittin’ at a piano. Or you’re just walkin’, you have some sort of rhythm and you make it into a song. So I was just contemplating the insects on my porch and thinking about how they have to experience time differently than we do because their whole life span is just a matter of days. So it’s kind of a quirky, silly song, but it ends up with a pretty rockin’ outro.

The next song after that is “Bee Free Honey.” It’s probably the weirdest most unexplainable title of the album. Really, it just comes from three words from the song put together in a weird way. On that song we brought in some guest musicians, Claire Indie on cello and Jordan Hamlin on French horn and trumpet. So it kind of has this orchestration…feel to it that I like a lot.

After that there’s kind of a dance beat thing. Then kind of a slow dirge kind of song. I really can honestly say that I’m proud of the songs on the album. I love them all.

Blast: I know you all can play more than one instrument and you do a lot of switching around. How do you work that out?

Cheyenne Medders: We have done a little bit of switching around. We haven’t had a permanent bass player in awhile. Ideally we have one of our friends…play bass for us. That allows me and Carson both to play guitar, which is what we love to do. When I’m singin’ I like to play guitar.

Josh, or Joshua , as he likes to be called, handles all the keyboard stuff. He’s just one of those guys that’s just incredibly musically inclined. He can just kinda hear somethin’ and he’ll come up with his own part, which is something I love. I don’t like to teach people parts, because if they come up with it themselves, then they’ll play it with more passion.

Will is on the drums. He also plays the lap steel guitar. He’s kind of developed a little knack for the slide instruments. In “Terminus,” there’s a kind of haunting electric guitar sound that just goes in and out.

Blast: You’ve all been making music for years. You went solo for a while, but now you’re all together. And how did Josh come into the equation?

Cheyenne Medders: Geographically we were separated for awhile. We all went to college, but by the time my brothers got there, I was on my way out. And I wanted to hurry up and move to Nashville, because my cousin’s studio was just callin’ my name. I wanted a place where I could just record uninhibitedly. When they were done with school, they moved here. So I call it just being a “real band.”

Carson Medders: I met Josh one day when he was a freshman and I was a sophomore. All the freshmen were supposed to be at orientation. I was hangin’ out in Will’s dorm room…and I started playing guitar in there. I thought the building was empty…

Cheyenne Medders: And he was shaking the walls! He was playing Jimmy Page.

Carson Medders: I was playin’ pretty loud because Josh heard me from the third floor. He was asleep and I woke him up. He came down and knocked on the door and came in and kinda startled me. And was like “Hey, mind if I hang out or whatever?” And I was like “Sure.”

And he picked up a guitar and started playing along with me, but he wasn’t that great. I didn’t know how I felt about him. But then kind of as he was leavin’, he mentioned that he was classically trained on the piano. And so at that point we were just trying to put something together. I thought “If he’s really good at piano and he liked our stuff, that would be a big asset.” So I invited him to a practice and it ended up working out. But I will admit at first he was his personality was pretty different than ours…

Cheyenne Medders: Well, you mentioned that he was asleep when he heard you on guitar. We thought he was narcoleptic. Because we would be just playing a song, a pretty loud song, and he’d just be hammerin’ on the organ. Then we’d just hear this dissonant organ chord just totally sustained, just *werrrr* and we looked over and Josh’s head would just be on the keys.

Carson Medders: He used to work overnight a lot. So then during the day he just couldn’t really keep it together. So we didn’t really know what was wrong with him. But turns out he’s a great guy, so…

Blast: So Cheyenne, on your Facebook profile it says that your three favorite songs all have “country boy” somewhere in the title.

Cheyenne Medders: I am kind of a country boy. I was definitely born and raised out in the country. That’s not too surprising. There’s an old guy named Jimmy Driftwood. He was a great folk singer…there’s nobody like him. He’s just a master storyteller with a voice from Heaven. He’s got a song called “The Country Boy,” one of my favorite songs.

I was also thinking about “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” by John Denver, which is one of the most joyous pieces of music I’ve ever heard in my life.

Then there’s an Alison Krauss song…called “You’re Just A Country Boy.” And it’s beautiful. And way different than the other country boy songs.

Blast: What effect do you think that has on your music? Would you call it country?

Cheyenne Medders: It’s really not.

Blast: Not in the traditional sense?

Cheyenne Medders: Or in a modern sense! Country gave birth to rock and roll. Country jazz and blues from up until the forties and fifties came together. That’s what rock and roll came out of.

And I am a sucker for a lot of old country, like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. And what music fan isn’t?

When we were kids we were really immersed in the country industry cause our dad was a staff writer here in Nashville for Diamond Rio and Pam Tillis. Our cousin made a huge career out of writing modern country songs. The country of the late 80s and the early 90s has a strong nostalgia with me. It’s the kind of thing where you just know all the words to every hit of that time because that’s what was on the radio wherever you went. Whether you walked into Cracker Barrel or a gas station, or your dad was dropping you off at school, all these songs like “Two Of A Kind Working On A Full House” was on the radio, and it kind of becomes part of who you are. So no matter how far away you get from it musically, a little vein of that’s still gonna run through it. Whether it’s just the cleverness of the lyrics or the catchy melodies or whatever.

Blast: What plans do The Medders’ have for the future?

Cheyenne Medders: We’re working with a few non-profit organizations (Living Water International and Mission Lazarus). Their main focus is to drill wells for communities that don’t have clean water. The water crisis — you might even say it’s the worst crisis out there. So many people die from not having clean water.

So me and some friends had this idea to pitch to college campuses, and we’re calling it “We’ll Play for Water.” We’re gonna tour colleges…try to construe it to where every dollar that comes in from the public or from a college that hires us to play will go straight to build wells.

Blast: Every dollar?

Cheyenne Medders: That’s the idea. I didn’t think it was possible at first…If you can find some donors, just people with a lot of money that want to do some good with it, you could conceivably come up with all of your administration costs. Then all of the money that comes from the public could go to the cause. I think it’s gonna be good.

The Medders’ self-titled album is now available on iTunes. Check out their Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/themedders

All the stress of this situation, and the horror of vampires existing in general, has left Elena feeling confused and sullen. What makes Elena so likeable as our heroine, is her conflicting and complex feelings on this whole new world. Unlike a certain other vampire saga heroine (Bella, okay, it�s Bella), Elena doesn�t immediately accept Stefan as the personification of a mythical creature. She doesn�t leap into his arms and confess, �Oh you�re a vampire? That�s totally fine because obviously we have romantic interest in one another and absolutely nothing is going to come between that.� Her hesitancy is refreshing and very human. It�s easy to identify with the isolation she feels by carrying the burden of Stefan�s secret and not being able to talk to anyone about it.

Two sub-plots that have been playing out in the last few episodes have done a great job in moving the story along. One involves the key townspeople (the sheriff, the mayor) being in on the vampire secret. They are aware of the existence of vampires in the town, but they don�t know that Damon and Stefan are the ones they are hunting for. They also have the knowledge of how to fight the undead. In another awesome plot twist (seriously, they get me every week) Damon manipulates the �informed� townspeople to his advantage.

The other storyline that I�m glad is finally getting more attention, deals with Elena�s best friend Bonnie. Bonnie is a descendant of Salem witches and discovered a few episodes ago that she does have the power to practice witchcraft. Judging by next week�s episode preview, this particular plot-line will finally be developed more.

�The Vampire Diaries� airs Thursday nights at 8 p.m. on the CW.

The screens were posted in the Major League Gaming forums today from someone claiming to have played the game. Also, the tipster revealed new gameplay details including a new HUD with squadmates’ names and health status, a Carbine that shoots needles, a Battle Rifle with only 12 rounds, and a perk system, which includes sprinting, cloaking, and halogram.

Now, this is all speculation at the moment, so take this information and these screens with a many grains of salt. But, when we all purchased Halo 3: ODST we were indeed promised beta access to Reach, so these could be images from said beta.

Click each image to make big and tantalizingly vague. Let us know what you think!

Source: IGN

The Nordstrom Holiday catalog showcases these beautiful rosette-adorned pumps in all of their special-occasion glory. I love their curves and the details. Designed by Steve Madden, they only cost $99.95. They haven’t hit the Nordstrom (or Steve Madden) website yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

I’m loving Essie’s “Lollipop” shade in their Winter 2009 collection. The bright red shade just made me smile the entire time it adorned my fingertips.

I’m usually a white wine kind of gal, but lately I’ve been a bit embarrassed ordering a Pinot Grigio with my filet mignon. When Charles Street Liquors had a wine-tasting a few weeks ago, I fell head over heals for this Argentinian wine, a Malbec. The taste is light and sweet, but doesn’t stay on your palet as long as say, a pinot noir. There are hints of black raspberry, and it’s just wonderful by itself or with dinner.

I was a lipgloss only kind of girl until about a month ago, at the urge of one of my daily reads, The Glamour Girls in the Beauty Department blog. Beginning my habit slowly, I found a few good drugstore colors, and started to experiment. Walking through Macy’s on my lunchbreak yesterday, I tried on shade #28 of Chanel’s Rouge Allure lipstick, and I fell in love. Called, “Romantic,” the shade is a rich raspberry tone that I swear would look good on anyone. The lipstick softens your lips and stays much longer than anything else I’ve tried. Not to mention how cute and slick the case is; I’ll whip it out anywhere!!

]]> http://blastmagazine.com/the-blogs/2009/11/lady-in-red/feed/ 0 http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/gaming/gaming-news/screens/2009/11/bad-company-2-multiplayer-trailer/ http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/gaming/gaming-news/screens/2009/11/bad-company-2-multiplayer-trailer/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:37:40 +0000 Marc Normandin http://blastmagazine.com/?p=32795 We just told you that the multiplayer demo for Battlefield Bad Company 2 would be available to Playstation 3 owners in two weeks, but now we’ve also got something shiny and pretty for you stare at whilst you consider your eventual downloading of said demo.

The trailer doesn’t show gameplay in motion, but instead is a series of frozen moments from multiplayer, with voice overs and music playing in the background. While you don’t see it as it happens, it’s cool to see what is essentially an animated screenshot of multiplayer–the game also gives you a good sense of some of the destruction and squad elements, despite the lack of footage. It’s worth a look.

In the near future, a mysterious, growing, black void appears at the Earth’s southern pole.�Unable to determine its cause and powerless to stop its deadly encroachment, humanity sends an elite team of explorers into the heart of the phenomenon, just as Strange Journey’s look and feel represent a return to the heart of Shin Megami Tensei, bringing to mind the all-time classic Nocturne�.�With over 300 demons to bribe, coerce, and negotiate with to gain assistance in battle, Strange Journey is every bit the deep, rewarding RPG experience fans have come to expect from the SMT franchise, yet delivered with a fresh new sci-fi story that taps into mature themes of morality and introspection.

The game received a 36/40 from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu upon release overseas, the highest rating any Shin Megami Tensei title has ever earned from the mag. Considering how much we loved Atlus’ previous SMT effort on the DS, we’ll be keeping an eye on this one as more information releases until its March 10 release. For now you have a bunch of screens and art work to gaze upon, so gaze away.

No, it’s not another Halo game. Rather, it’s a destination, a hub, a waypoint, for all things Masterchief.

According to Microsoft “Halo Waypoint features daily updates of fresh, exciting content such as developer interviews, trailers and screenshots, exclusive video footage, community activities and the latest �Halo� news.”

Additionally, the hub features a career system which tracks your progress through various Halo games and affords gamers goodies based on their in-game accomplishments.

What’s more, in the Waypoint this Saturday, Nov. 7, gamers and Halo enthusiasts can watch the first of the “Halo Legends” anime saga, which delves into untold background stories in the Halo-verse.

Halo WayPoint is free and available for both Gold and Silver members today, but by the end of the month only Gold subscribers can enjoy the service.

Available today for XBL Gold members, and Nov. 12 for the rest of you, the demo allows gamers to play out the storied rivalry between the Duke Blue Devils and last year’s NCAA champions, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels with full CBS announcing integration.

PlayStation Three owners catch the shaft here, as the demo won’t be available for you guys until Nov. 19, a day after the game hits retail. Ouch.

“With Battlefield: Bad Company 2 we�re looking to raise the bar across all aspects of our multiplayer experience, setting a new standard for online play,� says Patrick Bach, Senior Producer on Battlefield: Bad Company 2. �From the graphics to the vehicles, weapons and destruction, we are delivering the best online multiplayer game next year, and we want gamers to experience it themselves by playing the beta and demo.”

If you were thinking about getting the game anyways, I suggest you plop the $5 down for the reserve in order to secure the code, as I haven’t been able to pull myself away from the demo whenever I see it at a convention or press event. DICE looks like they may have a winning multiplayer component on their hands–dare I say–one that is more intriguing than Modern Warfare 2. See for yourself in a few weeks when the demo hits–you’ll be able to compare apples to apples for free.

For those of you sans PS3, don’t worry, as demos will hit the PC and Xbox 360 in the future. This is just a timed-exclusive demo for PS3 owners.

ABC announced that “The Bachelor: On Wings of Love” will premiere January 4 at 8 p.m. This is the 14th edition of the reality show, and it will feature commercial airline pilot, Jake Pavelka, from Dallas, who was in the most recent “Bachelorette” only to fail.

FOX has a cool new CIA drama in the works from Chernin Entertainment, Variety reported. It’s untitled but it will be about a unit of the CIA that does “remote viewing,” finding out information using paranormal skills. No word on the cast.

In other FOX news, Colin Hanks will star in “Jack and Dan” opposite Bradley Whitford. Hanks will play Jack, a detective teamed up with a drunken maverick partner. This one will premiere in early 2010.

Blast caught up with the young starlet to hear about her upcoming debut album and her lead role in the Broadway production of “Dreamgirls,” which premieres on November 22 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and will continue on a 14-city tour throughout the country.

BLAST: What was it like to achieve the sudden success brought on by “American Idol?”

SYESHA MERCADO: It was crazy! It was such a journey and a roller coaster ride. I learned a lot about myself and about what I want my image to be. I met so many amazing people and made a lot of great friends. It was an amazing experience all around, and I am very grateful for it.

BLAST: Tell us about your upcoming album. What was the inspiration for it? What can fans expect to hear? When will it be coming out?

SM: I’ve been writing since elementary school; I’ve kept journals. All of my experiences in life have been incorporated into my music. It’s high energy, pop crossover. It tells the story of my life. It’ll be released sometime after the Broadway tour is over. I’ve been so grateful to be able to work with producers like Chris Rojas, Scott Cutler, REO (who produced Beyonce’s “Hello”), Andrew Dixon, and Evan Bogart. Soon I’ll be working with Eric Hudson and Toby Gad, and I’m really looking forward to it.

BLAST: You are quoted as saying, �As an artist, I believe experiences provide musicians with the inspiration for their music.� Could you tell us about an experience that has inspired your music?

SM: I’m inspired by love, relationships, the people around me, my family. I’m away from my family a lot, so I like to think about the good things and the good times. Being on the road inspires me, nature inspires me. My freshman year of high school, my house caught on fire. It really brought up lots of emotions and made me appreciate the small things.

BLAST: Tell us about your upcoming role in the stage production of “Dreamgirls.” Does the role of Deena Jones hold any significance to you? What is the most exciting part of being in a Broadway show for you?

SM: I can relate with every character, I think. People have many sides. Throughout the play, my character finds herself, and I can relate to that. I have lived that aspect of having a dream and working hard to achieve it. My character has a special place in my heart.

Being in the moment on stage is exciting to me. I’m inspired by the actors I work with, and by my the audience. That’s the beauty and the magic of theater: the show is different every time, it evolves. I’m moved and inspired by the audience. It’s amazing that the show is opening up at the Apollo. I am so excited to be performing there. I can feel the energy and the presence of the people who have performed there before, like Ella Fitzgerald and Michael Jackson. It’s an honor and a privilege. I’m so excited!

BLAST: What is a typical day like for you now?

SM: It’s different every day. Today I found out I have a revised schedule. We’re doing a costume parade, and I’ve never done one before. We wear our costumes and have our hair and makeup done — I wear 17 wigs! We parade across the stage and the director, stage manager and costume designer make sure everything looks right. There’s lots of standing and walking around. But there’s an amazing energy. I love being around all the other actors who love performing, too. I love it, I love the energy. And everyone’s so nice!

BLAST: What would you say to someone who has dreams of becoming a professional actor or singer?

SM: I’ve learned that you have to go after what you want, no matter what. Something’s gonna happen, there are going to be obstacles, but that’s life. You’ve got to keep going. No one is going to work harder for you than you. Be positive and it’ll happen. Oh, and practice! Practice is important.

BLAST: What do you think of the fact that Paula Abdul isn’t coming back to “American Idol?”

SM: I think it’s sad; I really love her. She was the motherly one, she really cared about us, and she was very sincere. She’d give us gifts and pep talks. Ellen (DeGeneres) is cool, too, though. She’ll be a good voice for the public, for people who watch the show but who aren’t singers. She’ll do well,� she’s so funny.

Want more of Syesha? Follow her on Twitter, @syesha, and become friends with her on MySpace.

The graphics in the video highlight Dark Void’s cinematic quality and give us a cool introduction to the main characters. The game looks like it will be mindblowing and the transition from running to jetpack looks especially cool. The clips make Dark Void look like an animated movie rather than a game, which is pretty damn cool. Check out the video for yourself and if you’re still curious, check out our preview of the game from Comic Con here.

The DLC lets players experience the superhero civil war in an entirely new way with five brand new playable characters Carnage, Psylocke, Magneto, and Black Panther.

Additionally, according to the press-release issued this morning, Activision packed four new challenge missions, new boss encounters, dangerous gauntlets and more into the downloadable content.

The DLC will run you 800 MS Points on Xbox Live and $9.99 over the PlayStation Network, but don’t worry, they’re equivalent amounts.

What’s more, a demo for the game, which allows gamers access to the Washington D.C. mission where they can play as the pro-registration or anti-registration team, released today. Sadly, the demo is for Xbox Live gamers only.

And if all this is still not enough for you, Activision released the Juggernaut character today, and is available as a separate purchase for $1.99 over the PSN and 160 MS Points on Xbox Live.

Oddly, all the DLC will only be available through Dec. 31, so reach into your digital wallets today to join in the superhero madness!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 DLC @ Xbox.com

However, I can say with near certainty, that come next Tuesday, when some other game releases, Halo 3 will be dropped to the #2 spot, and possibly until Reach comes out will remain there.

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles

1��� Halo 3
2��� Call of Duty 4
3��� Call of Duty: WaW
4��� GTA IV
5��� Halo 3: ODST
6��� Gears of War 2
7��� FIFA 10
8��� Borderlands
9��� Madden NFL 10
10�� Forza Motorsport 3

Source: Major Nelson

When Mass Effect 2 releases Jan. 26, 2010, gamers can pick up the Collector’s Edition and be treated to the game wrapped in a hard-shell “tin case, a 48-page hardcover �Art of Mass Effect 2� book, Issue 1 of the Mass Effect Redemption comic book, and a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes and making-of videos.”

What’s more, and more vague for that matter, is the inclusion of “unique in-game weapons and armor,” only attainable through the purchase of the CE. What could it mean?!

�We�re really excited to roll out this Collectors� Edition featuring so many unique items, including special Collectors� Edition armor and weapons and content that will surprise Mass Effect fans,� said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. �The limited edition comic book and bonus DVD will really enhance and expand the overall Mass Effect 2 experience.�

Mass Effect 2 and the Collector’s Edition, release January 26, priced at $59.99 and $69.99 respectivley.

EA via Kotaku

There are a few new gameplay improvements that bear mentioning. For one, the animations have improved, so things look a bit more realistic now than they used to. Wrestlers react to being struck in specific areas more, and you can use things like the ropes to great effect in order to take your opponent out. Strong grapple transitions are now manually performed, which means you can switch from one grapple position to another without having to let go of the grapple first–considering that THQ wrestling games from 10 years ago made you do this, it’s about time this change came about. There are also new positions to attack from and grapple from, which gives you even more options per Superstar when it comes to your move set.

Reversals have received a makeover too–now you have to press the right trigger to reverse everything, but it is timing based, so you can’t just spam the button and hope you reverse it. The window for reversals is pretty small, but with some practice it works effectively. Of course, if you aren’t able to reverse, you’ll take a beating; the good news is that now you will be able to see that beating’s effects on you and your opponent’s body. Give someone a hard chop to the chest? You’ll see their chest redden, which is a cool damage effect that mirrors real life. There’s also a lot of blood in this year’s edition–while the cuts start out small, the blood keeps on coming if you beat them down, so things will get messy.

The bulk of the Smackdown vs. Raw experience is the same as previous editions, but there have been some cool additions that make this much more than a roster update with a fresh coat of paint. The Road to Wrestlemania mode features multiple storylines that have been developed with the mindset of replicating a WWE experience. Copyright logos show up at the same time they would during the actual Raw or Smackdown shows, you go to the backrooms to talk to other wrestlers and view cutscenes, and there’s much more going on than just fight, fight, fight. They also do a very good job of harnessing these Superstar’s personalities–Edge is the kind of guy you’re going to love or hate, just like in real life, as he tries to take over Smackdown in his scenario. He’s presented as a twisted, sick-minded (but talented) wrestler who should not be given the reins to Smackdown, and even the announcers get in on that kind of information as they call his matches. These scenarios are well done and feel very much like a WWE experience.

The Royal Rumble has had some work done to it, as there are now different minigames for eliminating opponents. These change depending on where you try to throw an opponent out (or where you’re being tossed out). These are simple, like tap X repeatedly then tap Y repeatedly until you get back in, or sometimes they are more quick-time event oriented, but they are easy to grasp and make the Royal Rumble a more frantic and fun experience.

Maybe more interesting is the Championship Scramble though, a new match type that has five wrestlers going at it at the same time. You can put the different WWE championship belts on the line in these matches, which have an intriguing concept: two wrestlers start, and the three others enter the ring at set times. Each time someone is pinned or falls via submission hold, the wrestler responsible becomes the new champion; the twist is that there is a time limit, and the last one standing holding the belt is the champion. This becomes very difficult though, as there are five of you in there at once, meaning there are three people ready to stomp on your face every time you go for the cover. The matches are loads of fun though, especially given their difficulty–you aren’t just going to throw a few strong grapple moves around here and come away victorious if there are four others in the ring that all want to hurt you.

The create-a-wrestler mode has also seen improvements, with options for creating entrance movies using highlights that you have saved; you take these highlights, splice them together, and add sound and screen effects in order to come in to a badass theme. Taking a cue from the 2009 edition of the game, custom finishers are back, but you can now also create your own aerial finishers–those of you that love the high flying Superstars are sure to be pleased by this development. The obvious thing to do is to make everyone perform a hurricanrana, but you can string together your own preferences before the final blow. There is also a paint tool that you can use to create custom tattoos and the like for your Frankenwrestler, so you aren’t limited by what comes with the game any longer.

If you don’t want to create a new wrestler, then you still get to toy around with create-a-wrestler features, as you can now customize the Superstars that come with the game more, changing their colors. For me, that meant that John Cena had to wear girly colors, but you can mock or improve whichever wrestler you choose in the way you want to (P.S., make Cena like girly things). You also have the option of downloading other player’s created wrestlers, which means that you don’t need to struggle to create the legends of the WWE hiding in the costume designs if you don’t want to, because someone else already did.

While these modes are all well and good, with either improvements or totally new features that enhance the Smackdown vs. Raw experience, the meat of the game for many is going to be the WWE Story Designer. You don’t need to even make one yourself in order to enjoy this, which is probably its greatest strength–you can simply download other people’s scenarios over Xbox Live, which means you have a limitless supply of brand new stories to play through. While the chances that all of them are memorable experiences is slim, the fact that you will have some serious hardcore fans writing their own stories–this is basically a fan fiction generator–is great news for those who love their WWE.

You may be shocked at the breadth of options you have at your disposal in this mode. You’re basically scripting a 10-year show instead of just playing General Manager of either Smackdown or Raw, so you not only set the matches, but you get to create backstage scenes, start rivalries, create alliances, or, if you’re feeling frisky, create some Diva/Superstar relationships. You write the scripts, and you use the over 100 animations you have at your disposal to emote the lines.

You not only have the entire WWE roster at your beck and call here, but you can also use your created wrestlers, meaning there’s no shortage of talent for you. This also allows you to give your created Superstars some personality that can be played out somewhere besides your noggin. This gives you a lot to do after you’ve finished the story modes included in the game, and as stated, if creativity isn’t your thing, there is always other people’s work to play through. That shared content isn’t restricted to just created-wrestlers and the Story Designer though, as you can download pretty much everything from other people that you can create yourself.

Blast Factor: There is no shortage of things to do in Smackdown vs. Raw 2010. The game that comes packaged has loads of game modes, from the traditional career stuff to a more story-oriented Road to Wrestlemania, and let’s not forget about the enhanced Royal Rumble and the brand new Championship Scramble. Outside of that though, creation is the name of the game, from characters to entrances to your own WWE storylines–and of course, if you aren’t creative or don’t have the time, you can always download other people’s work to extended your Smackdown vs. Raw experience.

Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 is available on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation 2, Wii and Nintendo DS. A copy of the Xbox 360 game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes.

As the Associated Press reports today, Dorf was a freelance artist and a comic book letterer, founded Comic-Con in 1970, and passed away from kidney failure at a San Diego Hospital Tuesday after almost a year of hospitalization for Diabetes.

We’ll miss you, Mr. Dorf, but the solid foundation you created continues to thrive, forever cementing your place in history.

Therefore, in good network television form, ABC is doing everything it can to totally screw it up.

According to ABC, 14.3 million people watched Tuesday’s series premiere of “V,” which challenged CBS and the current No. 1 show in America, “NCIS” in the Tuesday night ratings battle. In fact, “V” had the best debut of the 2009-10 fall television season.

It’s all gravy so far.

But ABC has decided only to air four episodes this fall. It will hold the remaining episodes for March — March — until after the NBC Winter Olympics coverage. Also, news came recently that the producers, who made “V” the ratings and popular success it is, are departing the show. “Chuck” executive producer Scott Rosenbaum will join the series as executive producer and showrunner, to pick up production, which was halted for what ABC called a “creative hiatus.”

ABC only filmed the fourth episode of “V” a few weeks ago, and the show will not go back into production — they won’t film the rest of the episodes — until January.

I have no explanation for any of this. Usually if a show debuts with the best ratings of the season you leave it alone and let the magic happen. This move reeks of no uncertain lack of confidence on ABC’s part.

The new trailer seemingly shows off every last bit of frenzied mayhem gamers will experience in next week’s shooter.

From underwater, to desert, to snow, to even outer space, Infinity Ward’s “Modern Warfare 2″ has it covered.

Have a look, and grab a copy of the game for yourself Nov. 10 at retail everywhere. And yeah, that’s Eminem and Nate Dogg you hear.

The first opening act was Between the Oak and Ash, a folk-indie duo from New York. Next up was Landon Pigg, most recognized for his role in �Whip It� as Ellen Page�s love interest, and for his song �Falling In Love at a Coffee Shop,� which is featured in an AT&T commercial. Both acts were enjoyable and well-received by the audience.

But at 10 p.m., the real performance began. �Hello Boston!� Sudol called out excitedly from the stage. She went on to lament how long it had been since A Fine Frenzy had last visited.

Indeed, the last time the band was in town was back in March 2008. Quite a few things have changed since then. For starters, the band released their second full-length album, �Bomb in a Birdcage� back in September. The CD introduced the new, more upbeat version of Sudol (although never fear, there are still plenty of melancholy songs too). There were some changes to her live performance as well. Two new band members have been added. On the last tour, Sudol stayed seated at a piano for the majority of the set. But this time, she switched to a keyboard, allowing her to move around more and show off her dance moves.

One thing that hasn�t changed, however, is Sudol�s genuine gratitude towards her fans. No matter how emotional the lyrics, and now matter how torn up she appeared while singing, she�d break into an adorable giddy grin during the last few strains of each song. As the audience roared with cheers and applause after each number, she�d laugh and thank everyone in an awed voice, as if she couldn�t believe so many people liked her music. At the end of her set, she spent a few minutes elaborating on how much each and every fan meant to her and the rest of the band. Sudol is so sincere and appreciative; it makes it extra satisfying to see her succeed.

As if being sweet and cute weren�t enough, Sudol also has one of the most powerful singing voices of her generation. She sounds great on CD, but if that�s all you�ve heard, be prepared to be blown away. At live shows, she really lets loose. It�s enough to give fans goose bumps. One minute, she�ll be singing so soft it�s almost a whisper, and next she�ll be belting out the words. Think Fiona Apple, but less crazy. (No offense Fiona, we still love you).

The set included tracks from both �Bomb in a Birdcage� and A Fine Frenzy�s debut album, �One Cell In The Sea.� They also played a few b-sides: �Silent War,� �Coming Around� and �From Whence You Came.�

Ironically, one of the highlights of the show was when A Fine Frenzy played someone else�s song. �There are brunettes. There are girls with lovely raven hair,� Sudol began to introduce the track in a dreamy voice. �There are people with purple hair, and blue hair, and orange hair. There are people with red hair,� she said, lifting her own bright red locks. �But I have to say, I really, really, really love a little bit of Blondie.�

And with that, she launched into a rambunctious cover of �Heart of Glass� by, uh, Blondie (if you really need it spelled out for you). This is where Sudol really hit her stride. She skipped around the stage, shaking her hips and clapping her hands. She�d let out periodic cries of �woo!� before rocking out more. As the audience sang along, the band members exchanged grins. They may have played this cover on every date of the tour so far, but it was clear they were still having a blast up on stage.

Every song played during A Fine Frenzy�s set was absolutely phenomenal. All the back-up band members are extremely talented, and Sudol has pipes rivaled by few others. But the most refreshing aspect was simply how much Sudol seemed to be enjoying herself. Sure, she writes gorgeous songs about heartbreak, but it�s nice to see she can still have a good time.

Here�s hoping A Fine Frenzy returns to Boston sooner than last time.

Unless you’re a vegetarian, of course.

The Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker is not your typical smoker. It’s upright, and looks more like a space ship or a time capsule than something that slowly cooks meat. But cook meat it does.

The dual level, 22.5-inch cooking surfaces give you plenty of room for several racks of ribs or just “a lot” of whatever animal you intend to smoke. The lid-mounted thermometer also lets you make sure you stay in the 200-300 degree smoke zone.

We liked the space saving design. When you already have a grill on the patio, you might not have room for a smoker, which is often the same width or wider. The upright design is also functional. Ribs are especially good. Rib meat comes right off the bones and remains flavorful despite what you might think happens when meat cooks for several hours above a fire.

What exactly is smoking? For nearly as long as people have been cooking meat and fish, they have been smoking it. Early on, before refrigeration, smoking meat provided a way to preserve it from spoilage, as absorbing smoke removes water and kills bacteria on the food. In modern culture, the smoky flavor provides a tasty BBQ delicacy. Smoking meat slowly, at low temperature also renders out the fat and breaks down tough connective tissue, making “rougher” cuts of meat easier to eat.

The Smoker Mountain Cooker is easy to use. Dump in your charcoal and choice of wood chips, and light a fire at the bottom. Don’t use lighter fluid. An egg carton or crumbled newspaper will do the job, but chemical fluid will hurt the pure taste of your food. Make sure the water pan is full — try it with apple juice!

Allow the smoker to warm up to about 250 before you add your meat, or you’ll have a difficult time keeping the smoker in the right temperature range. You’re going to leave it going for several hours, so wake up early if you’re having an afternoon cookout.

This is a vocation. For all you gas grill users, you just turn it off and maybe give it a brush-down when you’re done. Not with a smoker. Cleanup is a process. You have to let it cool down, remove the racks and brush them off. It’s actually better to soak them in dish soap in a large cast iron basin if you have one. The water pan will be a caked mess, especially with us throwing juices and beers into it for more flavor. You have to clean that each time you use the smoker. You also have to make sure the fire is out and the ashes are properly disposed of. But as long as you’re willing to put the man hours in, smoking will give you and you guests a delicious meal.

The Smokey Mountain is well-built and will last you as long as you take care of it properly. It’s $499 and is available at a variety of stores where grills and smokers are sold. It’s a great product, and the perfect BBQ companion. The smoked meats and fish are a great compliment to the super-hotness we often achieve with a traditional grill.

1. Taste what you like

�The biggest thing I learned in my early days was that no one tastes anything alike. There are no standards, so to speak, of taste,� Zraly said. He stressed that following the tastes you like will lead to a better appreciation and understanding of wine. Drink the type of wine you think simply tastes the best. Go with whatever region you like.

�Whatever you like, you like. If you like white wine, stick with it. If you like red wine, stick with it.�

Zraly also noted that 95 percent of taste is smell. Your sense of smell peaks at around age 32, so consider these your rookie wine-tasting days. You will get better. Even Zraly, who just finished touring the world and visited over 100 wine regions, tasting 5,000 wines, admits he still can�t discern all the flavors in a sip of wine.

2. Know your terms

But don�t get bogged down in useless lingo. There are four major components in a bottle of wine that you should be familiar with: fruit, acidity, sweetness and tannins. Obviously, you�re looking for that fruit flavor. You can taste acidity off to the side of your mouth and sweetness on the tip of your tongue (though most wines don�t have much sweetness at all).

Tannins are important. They come from the skins, pits and stems of the grape, as well as the oak barrels the wine is aged in. Certain kinds of oak give off more tannin, such as French versus American oak. Newer and smaller oak barrels create more tannin, which are often more prevalent in expensive wines.

If you�re looking to be super savvy, know that the best �new value� wines are coming from Chile and Argentina these days. Zraly also counts South Africa as a current hot spot.

3. There�s a lot of good and not much bad

Just don�t call them cheap. Value wines combine quality and a good price — and a connoisseur can appreciate them just as much as we can. According to Zraly, the best value wines are within the ten to 20 dollar range. There are $20 bottles out there that taste like a good $50. �There are some masterpieces in that 10 to 20 dollar range,� Zraly said.

So what makes a wine bad? It�s obvious. �Poor wine making, start with that. If you want to go further, bad grapes.� In addition, if a wine smells oxidized or like vinegar, it�s �corked,� which means the cork is no good. It doesn�t have anything to do with bits of broken cork in the wine. �I very rarely come upon what I would call �bad wine� anymore. I think that the modern technology of stainless steel fermentation tanks have saved the day,� Zraly said.

If you�re looking for good, yet basic or cheap wines, Zraly has one tip: �The best suggestion is to find the best retail store. I would say that�s like you�re finding the best grocery store. You�re going to the best place they cut your hair. Put your faith in the retailer. Now, 20 years ago I wouldn�t have said that. Twenty years ago they didn�t know what they were doing. But today�s wine retailer is much savvier than they�ve ever been.�

4. Wine is food. Eat!

�I grew up starting with wine as a food,� said Zraly. �It is a food. Wine is a food and it deserves to go with food. Wine will make food taste better and food will make wine taste better.� We�ve heard this before, but is it true? We�ll test all the wine-with-food �rules� in an upcoming column, but for now, take Zraly�s word for it. �If I went to a bar, I�d probably have a beer, but when I have food, I�m always having a glass of wine or two,� he said.

Don�t put so much pressure on it. Wine isn�t as complicated as you think. You don�t need to buy expensive bottles and put them away for years. In fact, only about ten percent of all wines should be kept for more than year. You should drink 90 percent of what you buy right away! Sure, it�s fun to savor those few special bottles, but don�t worry about that now, says Zraly. �Most people in their 20s, they�ll drink the wine. In their 30s, they�ll start thinking about putting it away because now they�re getting more disposal income.�

5. Relax, it�s just wine

Wine is wine. Even Zraly isn�t a wine snob, so we certainly don�t need to be. �Have a good time. Don�t get caught up in all the lingo. It�s just a bottle of wine. 86 percent of a bottle of wine is water to begin with, so now you�re left with 14 percent of other good things,� said Zraly.

�Good things.� We like that. More good things? Taking wine classes� something that Zraly highly recommends. Check out The Cambridge Center for Adult Education or Boston Wine school. Visiting wineries will also help � and Mass has around fifty. The Coastal Wine Trail of Southeastern New England offers a variety to visit. Check out coastalwinetrail.com for more.

�The more that they do, the more fun it will be, the more educated they will be, the less money, in essence, it will cost them to get a good quality wine. And of course tell them to buy my book,� Zraly said. So, yes, buy it. And be sure to flip to the back for an extensive list of cheapies that taste better than you�d expect. Zraly�s wine journal is a great way to keep track of your tastings. Save your labels and paste them in the book, along with your rating.

So, there you have it fellow winos. Thanks to Zraly�s expertise, we can enjoy our next bottle with a little more knowledge of what, exactly, we are pouring down our throat (not that it really matters).