Screwed in Houston is a five part web based documentary from vbs.tv that looks at the hip hop scene in Houston particularly the chopped and screwed scene and that syrup.

Screwed in Houston Pt. 2
Screwed in Houston Pt. 3
Screwed in Houston Pt. 4
Screwed in Houston Pt. 5

Thoughts:

How can he act black and be himself?

CL’ CHE (pronounced cliche) is a great rap name

*Spied over @ TSS

My Summer Vacation is over. I’m getting back to LionsFood and looking for a few writers who would like to add their voice to the site. So if you have something to say, a movie,CD, or Book to review then shoot an email with a writng sample to pwr@lionsfood.com. I can’t promise it will get published but if it’s not completely awful then it probably will.

Futurama was canceled in August 2003. I thought that that was the end for the little cartoon about life in the 31st Century, but luckily I was wrong. In April 2006 they announced they would be making 4 straight to DVD movies which would then be broken up into half hour chunks and shown on Comedy Central as their 5th season. Futurama was back and I was excited.

The Beast with a Billion Backs is the 2nd of those 4 planned movies and it is better than the first. The first movie, Bender’s Big Score was released last Novemeber and was good but not great. I was glad Futurama was back and was entertained by the movie but it just didn’t work as well as I had hoped. Well I’m glad to say that with Beast they have gotten back to what made Futurama one of my favorite shows. They have at least 2 more movies coming and if  The Beast with a Billion Backs is any indication then we are in for a treat (or two treats?)

The Beast with a Billion Backs is funny, but more importantly it is also a good movie. The first DVD just seemed like a really long episode but this one actually feels like a real movie and a really good one at that.

The story starts off where the last one left off, but don’t worry everything you need to know you are told in the first minute. The story starts off with an anomaly in the universe and the Planet Express crew going to explore it. There is a Invasion of the Body Snatchers feel to part of the movie (which is one of my favorite movies) and the side story about Bender is hilarious. Overall it is a really good and really funny movie and I think it will have a lot of replay value (I’ve already seen it twice).

Verdict: Good movie. Go buy it if you are a Futrama fan or rent it if you are new to Futurama.

I like the Car Talk radio show on NPR. I download the podcasts and listen to them on long drives, so when I heard that the Car Talk brothers where going to have their own animated prime time sitcom I was excited. When I heard it was going to be on PBS I was less excited. And after watching two episodes of it last night I am no longer excited.

It was on at 10pm on my PBS station and I think PBS made a mistake putting it on that late. It is basicaly a kid’s cartoon with a few subtle jokes that are meant for a mature auidience but it is not going to keep anyone over the age or 11 or under the age or 78 entertained for very long. Now I realize I am not the target audience for this show nor am I the average PBS viewer.

Average PBS viewers:

But As The Wrench Turns should really be sold as a kids show rather than as an animated sitcom. I was hoping it would be a midly entertaining show  but it really isn’t. It just isn’t funny and the best parts of the radio show - the brothers personalities, the freewheeling format - do not translate to the cartoon. I wanted to like the show and I tried to get into it but I just couldn’t.

Episodes revolve around the adventures of the brothers on the radio and in their garage with their nauseatingly multicultural group of mechanics. You have the Latino who likes fancy clothes, the really smart old black guy, and the burly eastern European who you can’t understand. The stories though are too childish and too dull (A “dull ride” according to the “clever” T.V. critic at the LA Times. (yuk yuk)). You might get one laugh an episode but it won’t be worth the time spent.

Verdict: It stinks and I don’t like it. Stick to the radio show.

After controversy over plans to title his new CD N***er (without the *’s) Nas’s album comes out today and is now untitled. I understand why there was a controversy but I feel most of it was overblown. I’m not sure if Nas was just doing it as a publicity stunt or really wanted to make a statement with this album. After listening to it I’m inclined to think its the former (with a healthy ammount of publicity whoring going on).

From the start you can tell this is going to be a classic Nas album. It opens with the almost too short Queens gets the Money Where Mr.Jones raps over a soothing Jay Electronica beat.

The next song is “You Can’t Stop Us Now” which has almost the same beat as the RZA song You Can’t Stop Me Now Oddly enough the songs are from different producers. I actually like the RZA version better.

The first single off the album, Hero, is also the best. The Video is great and I’m glad that it is getting a decent amount of airplay. Over a great Polow da Don beat Nas raps with the the fire I felt has been missing in his last albums.

Other highlights on the album are Make The World Go Round with a great verse by the Game, Sly Fox where Nas rails against Fox News and other news outlets. (”I watch CBS and I see B.S.”) Fried Chicken featuring Busta Rhymes, and Black President which uses a Tupac sample and makes me wonder if someone has played it for Obama yet.

A couple songs I was not feeling as much: Breathe and N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master) are both mediocre songs.

Verdict: 4.5/5 Overall a Great album. Classic Nas. Go Buy it.

Bonus: Sly Fox Video

I was reading this article about the worst Pen & Pixel album covers when I came across this gem. How many ways is this cover awesome?

Bears wearing purple hats/yarmukles: Check

Bear wearing some sweet shades: Check

Assorted fruits and nuts: Check

Also look at the bears in the background not only are they drinking some sort of wine/alcoholic beverages but they are drinking out of the biggest glasses I have ever seen and wearing what I imagine to be very comfortable robes.