27 April 2010

Spencer Bell Legacy Show Dallas 2010

Taken during the final song of the night, 'Thunderdome'


I attended the Spencer Bell Legacy show in Dallas last weekend and one word can only describe this event: FANTASTIC! Spencer Bell was a musician, artist & composer who at the tender age of 20 was struck down with Adrenal Cancer. The diagnosis came before Thanksgiving of 2006 and eleven days later on December 3rd, he was gone. Since his passing, his father, Bill Bell, has worked tirelessly in putting out his son's music posthumously and getting the word out about Adrenal Cancer, along with many friends of Spencer's. SpencerBellMemorial was created to show the world his legacy: the music. In Dallas last weekend, the music is what brought many from around the world to Dallas, Texas.
The poster

The bands playing the shows all had connections to Spencer and I learned by talking with several of them, had been influenced by him in many ways. Drew and the Medicinal Pen, The Stevedores, Tin Tin Can, The Kissing Club, 100Monkeys and Evro were the bands playing the momentous event! Dr. Hammer from the University of Michigan spoke and remarked on how one person has made a difference. Until this year, the only treatment for Adrenal Cancer was a variation of DDT. Now, there will be trials using a new drug to help fight this horrible disease.

The Kissing Club- Water In The Pipes

100Monkeys- Violin

TinTinCan- Billie Jean

Drew and The Medicinal Pen- Dandelions


Many of the bands covered some of Spencer's songs like Dandelions, Violin, The Monkey Song, Billie Jean, etc. I enjoyed every moment! I laughed, cried, and met some cool people! I think the most amazing moment for me was when Dr. Hammer was closing out his speech, the power went out! I don't mean just in Trees, but the whole downtown block of Dallas!! My friends and I thought, please don't shut this down! But it seemed Spencer shut the lights out to say, now what are you going to do! Jackson Rathbone appeared on stage and began to entertain us. Next thing the bands were coming out and grabbing anything non-electrical and began to play. Acoustic guitars, tambourines, xylophones, etc! It was beyond anything I ever witnessed! This black-out created the most epic jam/improv I had ever witnessed!




In a few of the videos, you can hear someone not on stage singing a hook of some sorts, "No power.." LOL! Wasn't she awesome?! Words cannot describe the feelings I had and experienced that night! I hated it was over, but come August, It's going to happen again! I want to thank Bill Bell, ASCCNow, Debbie, Teresa, Suzie, Kristin, and everyone I met that night who made the night memorable! And to the bands, you all were brilliantly magnificent!
Videos courtesy of SaraJew16 and VioletAbsinthe :)

04 April 2010

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour Review


O....M.....G and... HAPPY EASTER!!

After six hours of waiting, I finally got my hands on the Series 5 premiere of Doctor Who and was I impressed!! Matt was amazing! Truthfully, I had my reservations on him being The Doctor. Following up David Tennant is a hard feat, but Matt did very well!

One of my favorite bits was the food spitting and tossing! I can never look at fish sticks and custard the same way!

"Can I have an Apple?" "Do I have a face no one listens to?" and "The Doctor will see you now!" "Nurse boy, gimme the phone!" "Not him, the good-looking one!" Some of my favourite lines!

Karen Gillan was feisty and has the makings for a great companion. I loved how she chewed him out for not only not coming back on time (5 minutes= 12 years ), but for coming back two years after the Prisoner Zero incident! I think Eleven needs better Time Management! LOL.

There were some classic Ten lines utters and it felt weird hearing Eleven utter them but again, he is still 'cooking', so there are bound to be some ramblings! Partrick Moore! HAHA! And the Doctor can open the TARDIS with a snap of his fingers! YEAH!!! The theme is something I have to get used to.. It's not as dark as I thought it would be. It reminds me when they went techno in the 80's. It is not bad, but it does takes some getting used to. The new opening, I like!! The touches of lightning are neat!!

Overall, I think it was a great start and sets the pace and tone for the rest of the series!

What do you think??

03 April 2010

New Doctor Describes How Life Has Changed


Matt Smith, the Eleventh incarnation of The Doctor, sat down with What's On TV and talked about how being cast on Doctor Who has affected his life.

Matt's favourite thing about Doctor Who: "That’s a tough one. The TARDIS or the sonic screwdriver maybe. What is so thrilling about it as an actor is that every day is unlike anything else.. It is such a thrill every morning, you never quite know how the day is going to go, but in terms of his world I think my favourite thing is his brain. I like being able to get into the head the cleverest man in the universe, which he is."
On life-changing: "Yes, your daily life changes significantly, if you go into Tesco it is not quite the same as going into Tesco a year before. I am sure that will continue once it is on the telly, but it is just something you adapt to and like anything new in life, you change with as much grace as you can. My family are thrilled though; it changes their life too. My mum goes into work and she is Doctor Who’s mum. It is a mad thing!"

On advice from David Tennant: "Not about the part, but I talked to David and Billie about being in the show and they are lovely souls. We just talked about life in Cardiff and life in this show, which was very helpful. We chatted about it as fans as much as anything else."



To read the complete article, click here