DOWN WITH PANTS!

97X, WOXY, Down With Pants! favorite radio station while living in Indiana is giving away over 700 CD's from the past four years in their Win a Crapload of Modern Rock contest. Head to WOXY's website to sign up to win. There is only one big catch. The winner has to arrange to either pick up the CD's from their studios in Oxford, Ohio or pay for them to get shipped. You have until Friday, April 30th to register so get your butt in gear and do it now.

97X is a small, independently owned radio station that plays great music like They Might Be Giants, Cake, Modest Mouse, Built To Spill and other current non-commercial modern rock. If you are in Seattle, its a lot like KEXP but with commercials. They are the only station in the Cincy area to play this kind of music. However, being we are in the era of consolidation and corporate radio, a conglomerate in Dallas gave the owners a deal they couldn't refuse and 97X will cease to exist sometime in the next two weeks. You can still hear this station if you are in the area or on their website until May 13th.

Down With Pants! just added a comments feature, so if you don't like me or what I have to say, then just tell me. I can take it. If you like me and love what I have to say, please share that too! Please don't rag on my grammar though, I know I can't write really good.

Down With Pants! is completely full. Tonight following a four mile walk around Seattle's beautiful Seward Park, DWP! treated himself to a lovely dinner around the corner at Columbia City's Fasica Ethiopian Restaurant. I had Missser Wot (spicy-ass red lentils) and Gomen (collard greens, jalapenos and garlic?) all with injera, the amazing bread that serves as plate, fork and napkin.

Seattle is home to a ton of Ethiopian restaurants. There is an area in the Central District around Seattle University that is jokingly called Little Addis Ababa because there are at least 10 restaurants within a mile of each other. The DWP! crew has sampled four of the many Seattle establishments:

Fasica in Columbia City - The best lentils of the group. Super spicy. Virtually no atmosphere especially if the place is empty as it was today.
Mesob in Little Addis Ababa - Food isn't as good as Fasica but better atmosphere. Right next to SU so many college kids hanging out.
Cafe Soleil in Madrona - A really nice little restaurant with great atmosphere and good food. Not as spicy as the others. It's kind of the gourmet Ethiopian joint.
Horn of Africa - Only shows up during big festivals in Seattle. Probably our favorite because it hits the spot in the middle of the Bumbershoot crush.

If you are outside of Seattle, click here to find an ethiopian restaurant in your area.

It was a sad day in the world of sports on Friday when it was learned that former Arizona State Sun Devil and Phoenix Cardinal Pat Tillman was killed in action in Afghanistan. Tillman left the NFL in 2002 to join the Army Rangers turning down $3.6 million in the process.

It is a very sad thing to happen. He is the only person that I personally knew of to die so far in the wars. However, we need to not hold Tillman up so high. His loss is no more important than the loss of every other soldier that has been sent out there to die. And from what I know reading about Tillman, I think he would agree.

There has been so much talk about the sacrifices he made giving up so much money and fame to join the army. We understand these sacrifices because they are literal. We can see what he gave up. Does that mean that we consider these sacrifices as more important than the families that other soldiers have left behind? There are plenty of other real people who have died that have sacrificed as much and we must not forget about them

This is not a slight to Tillman or the importance of his death. For the first time most people can identify with someone who has died in the wars. It also reminds us that we are fighting two wars at the same time. In Afghanistan the situation is still unstable and has been stripped down before completion in favor of Iraq and continues to get worse.

If we learn anything from Tillman it is that the personal nature of these wars is only going to increase with time. Soon we will all have to deal with the death of somebody that we personally know and not just from the football field. Maybe his death will help us understand the ridiculous nature of asking anybody for the ultimate sacrifice to fight wars that have no end and no meaning. Nobody should be asked to make that sacrifice in the name of revenge.

The republican controlled Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday allowing health care workers to refuse service to anyone on moral, ethical or religious grounds. Pushed through by The Michigan Catholic Conference, the bill essentially means that doctors or health care providers cannot be punished if they do not treat a gay person because they are gay. The bill now goes to the Michigan Congress which is also republican controlled.

This is terrible. I really can't think of anything else to say. How this is a good idea even in the mind of the most conservative, religious person is beyond me. I've always prided myself on being able to see the other side of the coin. I'm very good at playing devil's advocate. But not in this case. It is pure evil. Quoting the person that forwarded this story to me, "I am now convinced Michigan Catholics are going straight to hell. Jesus would be very dissappointed"

If you live in Seattle and you never made it to Sorry Charlies, shame on you. Unfortunately the Down With Pants! crew only made it once but it was an amazing time. What made Sorry Charlies special was it's old school feel and Howard Bulson, the great piano man who can play anything possible. If you had the vocal chops you could join in at anytime. Sadly, Sorry Charlies passed away after 29 years last year when it was purchased by a group including the owner of the Showbox.

In it's place is the brand spanking new Mirabeau Room. Apparently it is a shiny, spiffy addition to the new,hip Lower Queen Anne neighborhood. It's going to mainly have revolving styles of music with DJ's and some live acts. But, Howard Bulson will be featured on weekdays during happy hour and on Sunday evenings. Down With Pants! couldn't be happier to hear this news. We'll see you at the Mirabeau Room soon.

Death...hope you like this! You should be able to play it on your computer...

Check out the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players first video "Mountain Trip To Japan, 1959"

First of all, let me preface this by saying that Kill Bill Volume 1, after a second viewing today, is one of my favorite movies. It is exciting, stylish and very fast-paced. One of the big criticisms of Volume 1 is that it lacks character development. This is true, it does lack virtually any character development, however I think it is one of the best things about the movie because it leaves us guessing and using our imagination (gasp!) to figure it out.

Kill Bill Volume 2 is none of these things. It is not as exciting, it is not as super stylish and it certainly isn't fast-paced. It is a long, plodding drama instead and yet it works in every way. I got exactly what I wanted out of it. I was satisfied with the character development that took up a quite a bit of this movie. I was satisfied by the answers given and yet I was still left with many questions that I will need to use my imagination to answer (I know, I know, this may be too much to ask).

The fight scenes were incredible again. It was funny at times and intense at others and has one of the most frightening scenes every filmed in which there is nothing on the screen for a good five minutes.

It's not a perfect film by any means and if you didn't care for Volume 1 then I promise you won't like Volume 2. But if you liked Volume 1 and you want some damn answers to the questions swirling in your head and some closure (kind of, there is some sequel potential that I am thinking of already) then this movie should work for you. Down With Pants! gives it two trousers down! (Our new equivalent to two thumbs up, pretty clever eh! eh!....uhh, maybe not...)

The Stranger's review - they didn't like it!
The Seattle Weekly's review - Neither did they! What gives?

"Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature." - A very true statement by Tom Robbins in Still Life With Woodpecker

Having just had an opportunity to really listen to Good News For People Who Love Bad News I realized why I like it so much. When I listen to the Moon and Antarctica it makes me almost embarrassed to hear what Isaac is saying because it is so pessimistic and such a negative reaction to what was going on in his life at the time. On Good News Isaac has written another very personal album that reflects his life, but this time it is extremely optimistic and hopeful. "Float On" is an amazing song full of optimism which has never been present in his music before. There are still some songs that are angsty and moody but they don't feel as personally painful as they did on the previous album. Instead they are just good songs that flow seemlessly into every other song on the album.

I thought the only comic strip Down With Pants! currently liked was the Boondocks, however we found two more we really think are good thanks to an article in the Onion's AV Club

Big Top by Rob Harrell
Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley

Down With Pants! was doing an interview with Seattle band Citizen's Utilities while DJing at KGRG and for whatever reason we didn't have their CD to play so we talked about and played the band that they were playing with that weekend. I got thrown into the interview at the last second and didn't know anything about either band so we played some songs and talked about them. That was my first introduction to Modest Mouse. Eventually "Dramamine" became a big favorite of mine when I would play it at full volume at around 4:00 AM while doing the 2-6 AM shift at KGRG and completely trip and veg out for five and a half minutes.

They played one of our benefit concerts and were absolutely awful. They were drunk and high and couldn't find any kind of rhythm. The drummer asked us to stop flashing some of the lights above him because it was knocking him off beat to much. Isaac couldn't sing or play and we thought that it was probably the last we'd see of them. There album was quirky and interesting but none of us could see them as a band in the future. Little did we know they would eventually put out two of the most incredible albums of the last five years, 2000's The Moon & Antarctica and now Good News For People Who Love Bad News

The Moon and Antarctica was a brooding, harsh look at some of the things that were bothering Isaac at the time like the price of his even modest fame (like his date-rape accusation and subsequent outing in the Seattle music scene). It was dark and moody but beautiful at the same time. Good News is still a bit like that. The lyrics are a bit simpler and it's not nearly as complex of an album but it's much more catchy and infectious and equally as beautiful. It's a masterpiece in DWP!'s opinion and you should run out and get it quick...

Down With Pants! finished a close second on Friday night in his first no limit Texas Hold-Em tournament. A heart-breaking four of clubs on the river paved the way for DWP!'s defeat to a fellow non-med student at this med school tournament. DWP took home a cool $80 for his effort.

"It was an amazing run," said DWP! after the tournament. "My luck just ran out right at the last minute. Not too bad for a first timer."

It was a miraculous comeback. Through the first four rounds DWP! was dead last in chip count but a gutsy all-in play turned the tide as DWP! went on a tear picking off opponent after opponent en route to his second place finish.

Major League Baseball opened it's season on Sunday evening with Baltimore knocking off Boston 7-2 and yet Down With Pants! barely even noticed. Actually the season kicked off earlier that week when Tampa Bay and the Yankees split a series in Japan. Everybody else had their opener either on Monday except for some who opened today.

This staggered opening days in baseball is absolute garbage. Only the braintrust at Major League Baseball could possibly screw up something as important as this. The first games of the season took place in Japan meaning that nobody saw them since they started at 2:00 AM. Sunday's game was barely noticed over the hype and talk concerning the NCAA Championship game. Then on Monday, when every other sport has the sense to take the night off instead of compete with the championship game baseball decides it would rather be the second story (or maybe even the third) on every sports report nationwide. Figure Skating was on ESPN while the Giants/Astros and A's/Rangers were on ESPN2 so that when the basketball game ended they could interrupt and start Sportscenter immediately. Hell, even today baseball had to take a back seat to the Women's NCAA Championship game. Nothing says national pastime like being bumped to ESPN2 by figure skating and women's basketball (Hooray for Connecticut by the way).

Baseball is DWP!'s favorite sport, but sometimes it's hard to like Major League Baseball. They manage to do everything wrong all the time. I can't forsee anything getting better anytime soon. The only thing that could happen that would help is if Bud Selig would finally step down or be fired, but that's not about to happen. Until that time, maybe we should just forget about baseball and accept figure skating as our national pastime.

Down With Pants! favorite event of the year wrapped up on Monday night when the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 82-75 in the Championship game of the 2004 NCAA tournament. Emeka Okafor dominated the game with 24 points and 15 rebounds while altering virtually every shot that Georgia Tech took. Connecticut took a 25 point lead at one time but Georgia Tech rallied late to close the gap but never seriously threatened.

Overall it was yet another unpredictable and exciting tournament. All logic was thrown out in the first two rounds as upset after upset knocked most people's brackets into shambles including DWP!'s. With Gonzaga and Stanford choking in the second round both of my predictions for the championship game dropped out before the first weekend ended. Couple that with Washington's first round exit and DWP! had nothing left to root for.

Nonetheless, it was easy to find something to be excited about and teams to root for. Underdogs like Nevada and Xavier pushed better teams to their limit and never backed down. We saw young players step forward and make a name for themselves like Jarret Jack and Luol Deng. We saw great players like Okafor and Jameer Nelson give everything they had in victory and defeat. Every team gave all of their effort and energy but only one team can come out on top and for 2004 it was the Connecticut Huskies. It's just barely over and yet DWP! already cannot wait for March Madness again next year!

The death toll for American soldiers in the Bush junta's revenge war against Iraq has now risen over 600. About 300 of these deaths have come since Dubya stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declared victory.

600 troops have now died and for what? Has anybody been able to figure out why we are there? Did we find anything? Have we accomplished anything? Will Iraq be better off when we leave? The answer to all of these questions is NO!

Bush and all of his administration have the blood of each and every dead soldier, Iraqi civilian and private contractor on their hands. They have the blood of the future dead in this never ending cycle of violence on their hands. This war never had to happen in the first place and somebody needs to pay.

The only thing that we can currently do to end this cycle is to elect John Kerry president in 2004. He did not stop Bush from going to war and he may not immediately bring our troops home but at the very least he will kick all of Bush's warmongering cronies out of the White House.

Foreign policy and homeland security policy must stop being dictated because of revenge and profits. Maybe eventually we will be able to bring home the reservist who signed up to play war games one weekend a month so he could start saving for his newborn babies college tuition who is now on the front lines fighting for a lying, cowardly commander-in-chief.

Down With Pants! and his Indy Pants bowling team scored a huge moral victory in their matchup against Seattle Sports League leading Lucky Strikes crew. The underdog Indy Pants held their own and actually outplayed the Lucky Strikes, but due to the fact that two of our women bowlers did not show for the game, we lost on a technicality. DWP! himself started the night off with a respectable 141 but rose to the high stakes pressure and delivered a career best 175 in the second game. DWP! would like to thank Cazzie, Buck Naked and Jupiter for their grit and determination staring down the behemoth Lucky Strikes and conquering them in our hearts, just not in the standings.

Roc-A-Fella records to Down With Pants! usually represents a lot of what's wrong with rap these days. Groups like Young Gunz and State Property are very young, inexperienced kids who sing out their bling and bitches. These are topics that don't fly with my tastes. I could care less about these groups and because of it have avoided other Roc-A-Fella acts including Jay-Z.

That being said, Kanye West's new disc, College Dropout, is one of the freshest, most introspective and smart and yet fun CD's to drop in quite a while proving my biases against all Roc-A-Fella artists as false, for the time being. Radio friendly songs like Slow Jamz and All Falls Down combine seamlessly with more hard hitting tunes like Through The Wire and Two Words (featuring my favorite rapper Mos Def). His lyrics are complex and intelligent and are also very contradictory but knowingly so. Here is someone that understands what it means to make money and like money but also understands it's many trappings.

On the negative side are some of the skits. If you aren't De La Soul, who pioneered the hip-hop skit, then maybe you should bag them all together. They never seem to come together cohesively and fail to make much sense. On the plus side they are pretty short and don't detract from the songs too much.

Overall, Down With Pants! was very surprised and satisfied with this disc. Kanye West has proven himself to be a tough new act that we'll be looking forward to hearing more from. Now if Roc-A-Fella could just find some more artists like him.