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5 Top Quality Blueridge Guitars Built Just Like Martin Guitars

Dave Mandelbrot — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:35:55 +0000

Blueridge Guitar (Price) / Martin Equivalent Guitar (Price)

1. Blueridge BR-143 ($746.25) / Martin 000-18 ($1,999)

2. Blueridge BR-140 ($746.25) / Martin D-18 ($1,899)

3. Blueridge BR-160 ($821.25) / Martin D-28 ($2,149)

4. Blueridge BR-180 ($1,312.50) / Martin D-45 ($6,999)

5. Blueridge BR-260 ($3,071.25) / Martin D-28 Authentic 1937 ($31,999)

Source: Fretbase: Blueridge Guitars

Previous Batmen

John DeFore — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:23:47 +0000

The phenomenal box office success of The Dark Knight suggests that, thank goodness, moviegoers haven’t seen the last of Batman. While we’d love to watch the current filmmaking team stay in place a good long while, past experience suggests we won’t have many more Nolan/Bale Batman films. Before anybody starts throwing around ideas for future replacements, here’s a list of past Batmen, presented roughly from best to worst.

— Christian Bale: The best to date, partly on his own merits and partly thanks to Christopher Nolan’s highbrow take on the material. ‘Nuff said.

— Michael Keaton: A serious actor who embraced his dark side to make the most of director Tim Burton’s heavily stylized vision. In 1989’s Batman and the deliberately nastier sequel Batman Returns, the two made the world safe for an eventual flood of superhero films. It’s not their fault what happened to the cinematic Dark Knight in the Nineties.

— Adam West: While the version of Batman who briefly dominated TVs in the Sixties barely resembles the version held dear by comic book fans (for whom Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns is a holy text), let it not be said that Adam West did not fully inhabit the Pop-Art crimefighter he was hired to play. Basically a muscular Boy Scout with an arsenal of Bat-branded gizmos, this “Biff!”-”Bang!”-”Pow!” hero was laughable but struck a cultural chord.

— Val Kilmer: His time under the cowl was brief, and it’s still hard to believe that an actor known for spiky blond hair was ever cast as tall-dark-and-you-know Bruce Wayne. Then again, given the incredibly garish tone of the ironically titled Batman Forever, a blond Bats was barely odd enough to register.

— George Clooney: The film he starred in, Batman & Robin, was horrible — bad enough to kill the franchise for nearly a decade, make director Joel Schumacher persona non grata among comics fans, and earn a place in the camp canon for its too-frequent anatomical close-ups. Still, the famously suave Clooney was an obvious choice for the role of playboy Bruce Wayne, and physically he’s a better match for the role than many of the others who have played the part.

— The Cartoon Crew: Over the years, plenty of mostly anonymous actors have played Batman in cartoons. Whatever nostalgia thirtysomethings might have for the SuperFriends, though, they’d probably be reluctant to claim that the cardboard Caped Crusader who starred in any of those Saturday-morning ‘toons was worth writing home about.

— Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowery: Nobody’s saying it’s your fault, fellas — you didn’t run the studios or set the budget, as far as we know — but the string of 1940’s black-and-white serials here and here you starred in were so hokey they make Flash Gordon look like The Matrix. Non-obsessive fans who haven’t tracked these down on DVD can see the gloriously amateurish costumes in reviews here and here, where they can easily imagine the kind of cheap cliffhanger adventures you and the Boy Wonder had.

— Honorable Mention: Jim Broadbent?! Yes, the brilliant actor known for playing frumpy, tweed-clad Englishmen recently popped up in a short British spoof as a washed-up Dark Knight lamenting his lost product endorsements and downgraded Batmobile. You can currently watch it online (in parts one and two) and compare Broadbent’s Bat-suit to those of the ’40s.

Best Guitarists Ever

Cyndi Hughes — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:20:27 +0000

Diehard rock fans will argue for hours over who is the greatest guitarist of all time. Magazines like Rolling Stone and Guitar Player periodically get in on the act with critics’ pontifications. But what if it could be more democratic and not just official “critics” weighing in? For that, let’s check out Wanderlist’s Best Guitarists Ever. This list has been going since 2001 and is basically a moving target that lets fans vote on their favorite axeman/woman. Hendrix and Clapton battling it out at the top is no surprise, but when I spotted my own personal guitar hero –– Todd Rundgren –– at No. 14, I knew this was a serious guitar fan list.

Here’s the current Top 15 of the 152 guitarists:

Jimi Hendrix (right)
Eric Clapton
Eddie Van Halen
David Gilmour
Kirk Hamett
Ritchie Blackmore
Leslie West
Nancy Wilson
Angus Young
Slash
Stevie Ray Vaughan
John Petrucci
Jimmy Page
Todd Rundgren
Brian May

So head on over to Wanderlist and cast your vote. And if your fave isn’t on the list, you can make a nomination. Then crank it up to 11!

Memorable Political Moments

Bill Sullivan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:15:42 +0000

With media playing an ever-larger role in American politics, more and more attention is paid to how radio and television shape the course of events.

Recently, the Museum of Broadcast Communications polled scholars, politicians, commentators and analysts to produce a list of the “Top 125 Most Memorable Political Moments,” beginning with radio’s commercial debut on Election Night, 1920.

Here are the Top 10:

1. John Kennedy Assassination and Funeral (November 22, 1963)

2. 9-11 World Trade Center Attack (September 11, 2001)

3. Kennedy-Nixon: First Televised Debate (September 26, 1960)

4. Franklin Roosevelt: Pearl Harbor Speech (December 8, 1941)

5. Moon Landing (Neil Armstrong) (July 21,1969)

6. 1968 Democratic Convention Riot (Chicago) (August 26-29, 1968)

7. Franklin Roosevelt: First Inaugural Speech (March 4,1933)

8. Richard Nixon: “Checkers” Speech (September 23, 1952)

9. Martin Luther King: “I Have a Dream” speech (August 28, 1963)

10. Richard Nixon: White House Farewell Speech (August 9, 1974)

Ready to see the rest? Visit the official MBC site.

Best Selling Acoustic Guitars

Dave Mandelbrot — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:12:23 +0000

Source: Fretbase

1. Rogue RA-100D ($79.99)

2. Fender CD-60 ($199.99)

3. Seagull The Original S6 ($397.00)

4. Washburn Rover Travel ($149.99)

5. Godin 5th Avenue Archtop ($519.00)

6. Rogue Starter ($39.99)

7. Washburn D100DL ($149.99)

8. Yamaha FG730S ($299.99)

9. Martin Steel String Backpacker ($169.99)

Source: Fretbase

EW Top 100 Movies

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:10:25 +0000

In honor of turning 25, Entertainment Weekly set out to establish lists covering the top movies, TV shows, albums, etc., of the last quarter century.

Part of the project: Name the 100 best films produced between 1983 and 2008.

Let the complaining and second-guessing begin. Here’s the Top 10:

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)
3. Titanic (1997)
4. Blue Velvet (1986)
5. Toy Story (1995)
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Die Hard (1988)
10. Moulin Rouge (2001)

Ready to see the rest? Visit Entertainment Weekly

Most Dangerous Vehicles

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:09:53 +0000

Cost, gas mileage and reliability rate high on any car shoppers checklist, but how many of us stop to think about how safe that new vehicle really is?

Forbes did just that, putting together a list of the “Top 20 Most Dangerous Vehicles.” The report used SCORE (Statistical Combination of Risk Elements) data from Informed for Life, a non-profit vehicle safety information organization. In the case of ties, Consumer Reports accident avoidance scores were used.

Here are the first five:

– Buick Rendezvous (4 door SUV): Discontinued after 2007 model year.

– Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series (Pickup): High rollover risk factor.

– Nissan Frontier (Extended Cab Pickup): Low frontal crash test rating.

– Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner (4 door SUV): High rollover risk.

– Toyota Yaris (4 door): Performs poorly in side crash tests.

To see the rest of the list, and to read more about these and other vehicles, visit Forbes.

Top-Selling Recording Artists of All Time

Cyndi Hughes — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:09:08 +0000

Let’s finally put this one to rest once and for all: Who are the top-selling recording artists of all time? The Recording Industry Association of America, the same group that actually owns the copyright to the Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum and Diamond designations for record sales, compiled this definitive list, based on certified units sold.

Is the No. 1 artist any surprise? No. 2 might be, country’s favorite son Garth Brooks (right). But look at where the Stones landed! And why do we find it immensely satisfying to see George Strait finishing way ahead of Madonna? But AC/DC?!?! Who knew?!

Here is the top 20 and the number of certified units sold:

The Beatles: 170 million
Garth Brooks: 128 million
Elvis Presley: 118.5 million
Led Zeppelin: 111.5 million
The Eagles: 100 million
Billy Joel: 79.5 million
Pink Floyd: 74.5 million
Barbra Streisand: 71 million
Elton John: 69.5 million
AC/DC: 69 million
George Strait: 67.5 million
Aerosmith: 66.5 million
The Rolling Stones: 66 million
Bruce Springsteen: 63.5 million
Madonna: 63.5 million
Mariah Carey: 61.5 million
Michael Jackson: 60.5 million
Metallica: 57 million
Van Halen: 56.5 million
Whitney Houston: 54 million

For the rest, see the complete RIAA list.

EW Top 100 TV Shows

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:08:36 +0000

Entertainment Weekly celebrated its 25th year by compiling a series of “best of” lists covering the top movies, albums, books, etc., produced between 1983 and 2008.

Part of that project involved determining the 100 best TV shows of that era. To give you an idea of how all that turned out, here are the Top 10:

1. The Simpsons, Fox, 1989-present
2. The Sopranos, HBO (1999-2007)
3. Seinfeld, NBC (1989-98)
4. The X-Files, Fox (1993-2002)
5. Sex and the City, HBO (1998-2004)
6. Survivor, CBS (2000-present)
7. The Cosby Show, NBC (1984-92)
8. Lost, ABC (2004-present)
9. Friends, NBC (1994-2004)
10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The WB (1997-2001); UPN (2001-03)

Ready to see the rest? Visit Entertainment Weekly.

NCAA Football National Champions

Austin Sullivan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:07:55 +0000

The NCAA Football National Championship Trophy is among the most coveted awards in the college sports world. Many schools have never won it, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t tried. There have been many of these trophies given out over the years, but a few teams have been able to dominate and win more titles than anyone else.
Since the advent of the Bowl Championship Series, which employs a mixture of computer and human polls to determine the No. 1 and 2 teams at the end of the regular season, the process has been a bit more orderly. That doesn’t mean fans aren’t every bit as passionate – and argumentative – concerning whether their team got a fair deal or not.
Here’s the list of all the National Champions since 1970:

Bowl Championship Series Era
2007 LSU
2006 Florida
2005 Texas
2004 USC
2003 LSU (BCS Champions, USC (#1 in AP Poll)
2002 Ohio State
2001 Miami, Fla.
2000 Oklahoma
1999 Florida State
1998 Tennessee

Pre-BCS
1997 Michigan (AP), Nebraska (Coaches)
1996 Florida
1995 Nebraska
1994 Nebraska
1993 Florida State
1992 Alabama
1991 Miami, Fla. (AP), Washington (Coaches)
1990 Colorado (AP), Georgia Tech (UPI)
1989 Miami, Fla.
1988 Notre Dame
1987 Miami, Fla.
1986 Penn State
1985 Oklahoma
1984 Brigham Young
1983 Miami, Fla.
1982 Penn State
1981 Clemson
1980 Georgia
1979 Alabama
1978 Alabama (AP), USC (UPI)
1977 Notre Dame
1976 Pittsburgh
1975 Oklahoma
1974 Oklahoma (AP), USC (UPI)
1973 Notre Dame (AP), Alabama (UPI)
1972 USC
1971 Nebraska
1970 Nebraska (AP), Texas (UPI)

Source: NCAA.com