Not much time to say hey and that’s why I’m not updating nearly as often…very BUSY. However I’ll try and get back in the flow.

That said…here’s the first part to my Let’s Play through the game of LIMBO!

I’ll Be Back!

Ross Out

The Moment

This post is late because I couldn’t write it before actually watching The Moment from last night- heck the whole episode- I have no t.v. so I watched the entire season on my laptop. And let me tell you watching the live blog of the finale of The Sing-Off on ACapellaBlog was not for the faint hearted. It took FOREVER last night, and about a million page refreshes to see the words PENTATONIX WINS- and did they ever! I am so ecstatic for the Futuristic Five of Pentatonix!

From their first phenomenal performance they had me falling in love with music by artists I generally would never in a million years listen to- and then they did the unthinkable- they improved each and every week! I don’t know what the judges were talking about but their performance of Love Lockdown by Kanye West was freaking awesome! Each performance opened a window into the creative minds of the Futuristic Five and once they got going the only thing that could stop them was themselves.

And yet they excelled in music styles that on paper, and probably at first glance, would seem impossible for a five person group to even accomplish. I trembled at the idea of Rock…and they blew the doors off Born to Be Wild! Country, we’ll just be as simple as we’ve ever been, cool, fun and awesome! Kirstie, you made me smile too!

I could wax on about all of you other performances too however I will simply say this The Dog Days are Over!

Here are their performances from last nights LIVE finale for your enjoyment.

Once again my heartfelt congratulations to all of the Futuristic Five that make up the awe inspiring  PENTATONIX!

Ross Out!

I chose PTX because simply they promised amazing things and the delivered them with EVERY performance. They are a young group with plenty of possibility for growth, and as I’ve seen in other pieces (and I wholeheartedly agree) PTX has a more than legitimate chance of breaking into the charts. They are fresh, incredibly powerful, full of vocal tricks, and sound like a 18-20 person group- this with three singers- an absurd beatboxer- and a surreal bassist. I can’t say it enough, they CONSISTENTLY delivered. Therefore based on this argument PTX should- and probably will be revealed to be the winner.

But what if Urban Method (UM) or the Dartmouth Aires (DA) end up winning?

UM has a legit new style of A cappella all their own, a fusion of Rap and A Capella. They have been fun to watch, quite exciting, ingenious. Yet as much as I was on board with them at the beginning I began to tire of the Rap in every song, I began to tire of the dramatics, and I was glad when they were shaken up and relegated to the bottom two on one occasion. That drove them to have a rebirth of sorts, the judges called them out and they delivered, the women of the group were awesome- knocking the vocals out. Their performances last week were fantastic- arguably their best yet. They certainly could win, but do they deserve to, I’d argue that they do not.

The DA’s are exceptionally entertaining, very dramatic and they always leave it all on the floor. This action-centric performance style also covers up one of their other major issues- they have always had issues with their pitch. And to be entirely honest they have never really grown or changed for the entirety of the competition. And therein lies the problem, could the DA’s carry the day so to speak even though they’ve failed to change one iota? You betcha! In fact I fully expect the DA’s to give UM a run for their money so to speak. However should they realistically be a danger to PTX, I don’t think so. Is that to say the DA’s are bad, no way! They simply have not brought any more or less than themselves to the party, and invited us along for the ride.

In all honesty I don’t thin they should even be in the final three, I think that Afro-Blue (AB) got robbed. Say what you will but AB were by far the better of the two groups. Their soul-filled jazzy renditions all the way up until last week stirred my soul and were truly the hi-light of each episode besides PTX. They were my comfort, they were my groove, and they were funky when they had to be. I think Sara B. was very forthright last week when she said to AB that they (the judges) may have confused AB with their judging comments.

If you go to ITunes you will find that people have by far bought PTX…followed by Afro-Blue.

The Current iTunes Soundtracks Top 100 Chart
3. Dog Days Are Over – Pentatonix
4. Medley: Forget You / Since U Been Gone – Pentatonix
6. Let’s Get It On – Pentatonix
7. Video Killed the Radio Star – Pentatonix
8. A Change Is Gonna Come – Afro Blue
10. Love Lockdown – Pentatonix
14. Stuck Like Glue – Pentatonix
17. Omg – Pentatonix
19. Shout – Dartmouth Aires
21. Medley: Oops!…I Did It Again / Toxic / Hold It Against Me – Pentatonix
22. E.T. – Pentatonix
24. Your Love Is My Drug – Pentatonix
26. Medley: I Believe I Can Fly / Fly – Afro Blue
27. Medley: Sympathy for the Devil / Born This Way – Dartmouth Aires
29. American Boy – Afro Blue
33. Medley: Bittersweet Symphony / Baba O’Riley / Last Friday Night / Hollaback Girl – The Sing-Off Contestants
34. Born to Be Wild – Pentatonix
42. All of the Lights – Urban Method
45. Medley: Hot In Herre / Fever – Urban Method
48. Piece of My Heart – Pentatonix
50. Need You Now – Afro Blue
63. Midnight Train to Georgia – Dartmouth Aires
74. Ignition – Dartmouth Aires
75. Grenade – Delilah
81. Killing Me Softly With His Song – Afro Blue
89. If I Die Young – Delilah
95. Every Little Step – Vocal Point

Going by rankings here it would be:
3. Pentatonix (11)
8. Afro Blue (5)
19. Dartmouth Aires (4)
42. Urban Method (1)
75. Delilah (2)
95. Vocal Point (1)

The number at the front is the highest they are on the chart. The number in () is how many times they are on the list. (I found this listing at the ACB blog.)

There is a bigger danger perhaps than anything else, it’s that the future of television A Capella may hang in the balance of the decision that is announced tomorrow. Should PTX not win it could turn even more people off both A Capella and the show…however this choice was placed in our hands.

It is us that voted.

The future of A Capella is looking bright…and regardless of the outcome of the results tomorrow night A Capella music will survive.

PTX FTW!

Ross Out.

PENTATONIX

Voting information: Online at NBC.com/singoff 10 votes per person per e-mail address. Via Phone 10 votes per number:  Call 1-877-674-6401 or text 1 97979.

They had me from the very beginning and have consistently performed fantastic arrangements of a vast plethora of songs. Bringing a huge stage presence, distinct future-pella style, and a refreshing Christian team stance on foul lyrics they have been by far the most impressive and cutting edge of the season. Not only that but this is a group of  five that sounds as big as my number two choice after the break, Scott, Mitch, and Kirstie (the original Trio) between the Meat and Potatoes (Kevin and Avi respectively) have to be honest simply blown the competition away all season.

The last two performances are below:

After the Break the other two finalists and a performance from Fourth Place finisher AFRO-BLUE!

Dartmouth Aires

The Dartmouth Aires have a huge number of people in their group as you can see below. They are full of energy and are always fully amped for their performances. They have some fine singers, and a great lead that they might have used too much, as they have so many fine voices. My biggest issues with the Dartmouth Aires are that they often had pitch problems which were overlooked because of spectacle, and in some of their pieces they nearly went entirely off the rails.

To vote for Dartmouth here’s the information.

Online at NBC.com/singoff 10 votes per person per e-mail address. Via Phone 10 votes per number:  Call 1-877-674-6403 or text 3 97979.

Urban Method

Urban Method has introduced us to A Capella with Rap…Rap-a-pella if you will. And it was interesting the first few times, but to be entirely honest it got old rather quickly. It took a long time for the female leads to find their voices, (though boy did they ever), and I just never quite gelled with this group as much as I’d originally though I would. However if you like this style of A Capella then by all means vote for Urban Method!

Voting Information for Urban Method: Online at NBC.com/singoff 10 votes per person per e-mail address. Via Phone 10 votes per number:  Call 1-877-674-6402 or text 2 97979.

Here’s their last two performances:

To be honest I feel worst for Afro-Blue I think they were better and more consistently awesome to listen to for me than at the very least Urban Method. So you can experience their wonderful Jazz influenced A Capella here are their 2 Performances from last night and their Swan Song.

There you go folks, get voting for your fave!

Season Finale next Monday!

Go PTX!

Ross Out

Image via Wikipedia

Man I am so damned excited now if all things work out I’ll finally get to meet ZACK STENTZ!

Heck maybe…nah…well maybe…there I go thinking out loud again.

Zack wrote imho some of the very best episodes of T:SCC and he’s still writing for television and movies with writing partner ASHLEY MILLER.

Perhaps you saw a tiny movie called THOR or another little flick called X-Men First Class?

Yeah…that’s my dudes right there.

Don’t forget to check out The NoFateCon Website where you can find out more about this excellent event!

Go team SCC!

Ross Out

Last time I posted about Pentatonix (PTX) I ended with a vid of their most recent performance Let’s Get It On..tonight I just thought I’d share their first performance and group introduction from their very first spot on The Sing Off.

So here are PTX Performing E.T. by Katy Perry.

GO PTX!

Ross Out

This is PENTATONIX!

I honestly don’t think I’ve enjoyed another season of The Sing Off as much as I have Season 3. However I had some issues because I fell in LOVE with PENTATONIX for the first four weeks every other one was AWESOME!

Please don’t get me wrong, I love A Capella music there truly is nothing like it. All of the groups that appeared on S3 were excellent in their own way, from MESSIAH’S MEN to VOCAL POINT to my second fave group THE DARTMOUTH AIRES this season has been filled to bursting with awesome A Capella. Why oh why did NORTH SHORE get the boot as early as they did?

However no one has come close to PENTATONIX, from the very start they set the bar exceedingly high for themselves and IMHO they have met or stunningly BLOWN AWAY that bar and everyone’e expectations. Case in point the very latest episode they closed it out with the SICKEST cover of Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get it On I have ever heard! Watch it after the break!

Every. Bloody. Episode.

The five members of PENTATONIX, the original Trio Lead SCOTT HOYING, MIKE GRASSI, and awesome Songstress KIRSTIE MOLDONADO combine with the mind melting Vocal Percussion (that’s what I try and do) KEVIN OLUSOLA and the Subwoofer destroying Bass of AVI KAPLAN to produce some of the most staggeringly awesome Futuristic A Capella you will ever experience.

Dubstep? CHECK!

Electro? CHECK!

Techno? CHECK!

And yet they can also pair it down and pull it back and still blow your mind with REGGAE Janis Joplin!

This coming Monday watch live (if you haven’t been) and crank the volume! You might have to buy more plates, bowls, glassware, window and other paltry items- but at least you’ll be able to see the Final Four live including…you guessed it…PENTATONIX!

Drop it like it’s hot in the comments below!

Ross Out!

Image via Wikipedia

This is breaking as i only got to my e-mail today and foun a new news update from the awesome Steve Alten author of many books in his case focusing on the MEG series.

It seems he’s released a new E-Book called MEG: ORIGINS.

That’s kickass!

Here’s the trailer for the book…I can’t wait for the MEG movie to emerge from the Abyssal Plain that is Hollywood!

Congrats Steve thanks for keeping us up to date!

Ross Out!

Official Announcement Logo

It’s official.

Daniel Craig is back as 007 in SKYFALL which is slated to hit theaters stateside on Nov. 9, 2012.

The short and sweet logline reads as follows:  “Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.”

I am going to say that it is being directed by Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition) and the lead villain is being played by Javier Bardem!

Below I link you to DigitalSpy’s coverage of the Press Conference to announce the film (some second unit stuff is being shot today) full on shooting begins the 7th of November. The full press conference is fun seeing as how they can’t answer much, but it’s a great thing to listen to the banter…and you’ll find some things I haven’t spoiled for you in this article.

Since I’m a huge Bond fan expect me to cover film news as it breaks.

Ross Out.

Related articles

• James Bond 23 SKYFALL Officially Announced & Story Details Revealed (geektyrant.com)
• ‘Bond 23′ Officially Titled ‘Skyfall’, Character and Plot Details Revealed (slashfilm.com)

Image by thetravelguru via Flickr

We all know Tom Cruise likes to do his own stunts…and now a Sizzle Reel of BTS scenes footage has been released of Tom Cruise gettinghis stunt on dangling from the worlds tallest building the Burj Khalifa.

Check it out here!

If I find it on youtube I’ll update this post.

A new trailer is said to be hitting tomorrow…it’s getting close folks and I can’t wait for M:I Ghost Protocol!

Ross Out