Archive for the ‘Bounce Out & About’ Category

Due to varying circumstances, until recently, I have not been able to purchase any new DVDs for my collection for a while. Not long ago, for the first time in several months, I finally was able to add to my collection, with the re-imagined edition of Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams.

Being pretty much a life-long fan of Star Trek, when it was first made known back in 2007 that a new Trek film was in the works with Abrams at the helm, I must admit, my first reaction was one of concern. Ever since the first series debuted (before I was born, admittedly, though I watched it in regular reruns as a kid), I had seen Star Trek as a vision of either Trek creator Gene Roddenberry or “spin-off series” co-executive producer/executive producer/co-creator Rick Berman, and in the 10 Star Trek films that preceded this 2009 release. I was worried at how a new set of eyes would look at the Star Trek universe.

Abrams has impressive credentials as a producer/director, his credits including Alias, Fringe and Lost. The new Trek looked to be in good hands, and it eventually became interesting to me how the Trek universe would look from another’s point of view.

Abrams and company did not disappoint.

The film stays fairly true to what we already know of the world of Star Trek. The basic shape of the re-imagined Enterprise is very familiar, and yet there are some significant changes in its overall look. And, as one of my friends described it recently, the interior is a bit more “industrial” than what we saw back in the 1960s. But the crew uniforms, though updated, are still in the familiar colours from the original series: gold for command, blue for science/medical and red for operations (communications and engineering, for example).

The casting of the younger versions of the Enterprise crew was excellent. My favourite casting decision was to have New Zealand actor Karl Urban (aka Eomer in the last two installments of The Lord Of The Rings) take on the role of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy. This had to have been a challenge for Urban as an actor, having to turn in his New Zealand accent for the southern drawl of the Enterprise chief medical officer. And he nailed it! DeForest Kelley, the original Dr. McCoy, would have been pleased.

The story was very entertaining, involving a certain concept in time travel, in which we see two versions of Mr. Spock: the young officer played by Zachary Quinto, and the Ambassador known as Spock Prime, played by Leonard Nimoy. Quinto portrayed the younger Spock very well, and Nimoy, who applauded Quinto’s selection to be the younger version of the legendary Vulcan, was vintage Nimoy.

In terms of storyline, when I first saw the movie, I was a little confused, when certain characters (like Spock’s mother, Amanda) faced events that were unexpected, but after viewing the film a number of times, I realized that since a major portion of the story deals with time travel and what can happen when people from the future find themselves in the past, the events we see make more sense and, in effect, set up a whole new realm of directions the Trek universe could take – and therefore, open up the possibility for more Star Trek films. In fact, it has indeed been announced that there are plans for a sequel to this film, currently slated for sometime in 2012, in which Abrams is expected to be the producer.

If you’re a longtime Trek fan and haven’t yet seen this new incarnation, I urge you to do so. There’s plenty that’s familiar in the movie to keep you interested, plus a few pleasant surprises. And if you’re new to the Trek universe, this film is a good way to introduce you to Star Trek.

The movie is available as either a single DVD, a “Special Edition” 2-disc DVD set with a good number of bonus features, and a 3-disc “Special Edition” Blu-Ray set. Either way, I believe, it’s worth the purchase.
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Join Jim Todd on BounceRadio.net every Wednesday at 10pmET/7pmPT, and every Friday at 7pmET/4pmPT. Check the Schedule page for details.

Check out the blog “Through Jim Todd’s Eyes”: http://jimwtodd.wordpress.com

When I was a teenager in the 70s, during the infancy of FM album oriented rock and roll radio stations, I figured out something really important:

The best songs on an album are not necessarily the ones played on the radio.
There’s a world of magic in B sides and the ‘other’ songs on the record.

So I became a deep-cuts aficionado way back.

As I worked my way through a radio broadcasting career from the late 70s onward, I discovered something equally important to know:

Radio station program directors don’t know crap about what is good. They are being spoon fed the songs the record company people want them to play. They want and have to play it safe and appeal to the masses.

That’s fine. If you’re one of the masses. But as a unique individual with more depth than that, you know there has to be more. I did.

My Thursday night radio program on BounceRadio, Feed Your Head, salutes the songs you DIDN’T hear often enough to get tired of.

The songs that did not make hit radio rotation. EVER.

The songs you hear when you stuff 6 CDs in the changer, hit the Shuffle button and then, the gas.

Feed Your Head started off appealing to the deep cuts purists among us, focusing on the 60s/70s tunes that characterized the inception of deep cuts album oriented rock and roll radio, when it was new.

But it wasn’t enough.

In fact, it defeats the purpose to exclude all the great deep cuts rock music from the 80s, 90s and 2000s. AND what will come.

So starting December 3rd, Feed Your Head expanded its playlist to include deep cuts from the 60s TO PRESENT.

Please tune in and Feed Your Head. 8 PM Eastern, 5PM Pacific. www.BounceRadio.net. Net Radio Worth Listening To.

It’s weeks like the one I just experienced that make me glad to be involved with internet radio.

I host two shows each week on BounceRadio.net: Over The Hump on Wednesday nights, and The Musical Journey on Fridays.  Over The Hump is meant to help get listeners into the right frame of mind for the balance of the work week: a collection of what I call “the lighter side of rock” and contemporary instrumental.  The Musical Journey is primarily a classic rock show featuring music from the ’60s onward, but there are times when I’ll change things up a little in the playlist to keep things interesting.

On Over The Hump recently, I had a visit in our BounceRadio.net chat room from someone who was listening to my show for the first time.  Christine, one of our “behind the scenes” folks at the radio station, is also an artist and she told me that one of the songs I played, “In The Court Of The Mermaid” by guitarist Friedemann, inspired her to start drawing something.  I thought that was cool, but didn’t really think anything more of it.  The next day, Christine had posted, on one of her sites, a drawing of a mermaid, and in the caption underneath it, she credited the music in my show as being an inspiration for the drawing.  I was honoured that the music I chose had that effect.  It was further proof to me that the format I have chosen for Over The Hump is working.

The following Friday night was a special edition of The Musical Journey (aka “MJ”), focusing on music from the Psychedelic Era: 1965-75.  In setting up the show, I found that, with the requests that had come in from listeners and the fact that there is a wealth of music from that era that was too good not to play, I was going to need to extend the show beyond the usual three-hour timeslot for MJ.  By the time I was finished, the show ran for well over four hours, and even then, the time was gone in a flash!  I had a blast with it, and some listeners commented to me afterwards that it was the best show I’d ever hosted.

Wow…if this isn’t enough to prove to me that I’m doing the right thing with my radio shows, nothing will.

I’ve been in internet radio, and BounceRadio.net, for over two and a half years, and I’m enjoying every minute of it!  And feedback like this really tells me that what I’m doing with my shows is working, and that further adds to the enjoyment of what I do.

If you’re looking for something cool to listen to, something different on the radio, check out what we have at BounceRadio.net – not just my shows, but everything we have to offer!  Check out our website: www.BounceRadio.net – Net Radio Worth Listening To!
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Join Jim Todd on BounceRadio.net every Wednesday at 10pmET/7pmPT, and every Friday at 6pmET/3pmPT. Check the Schedule page for details.

Check out the blog “Through Jim Todd’s Eyes”: http://jimwtodd.wordpress.com