Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

I’m just about to leave for my parents’ house in Tennessee, but I just wanted to wish everyone here a very happy Thanksgiving!  Have a safe holiday and rejoice in all that the Lord has blessed us with.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rick

What are you thankful for?  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

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The Top 10 Worst People of the Week: Adam Lambert, Oprah, Jon Gosselin, and CBS

This is something new I’m going to start doing with the help of my new writers.  The title is pretty self-explanatory, we’ll just go through and name the top 10 worst people of the week and a little bit about why.  This post will probably be posted on Saturdays, but seeing as this is Thanksgiving week and I’ll be busy Saturday, we’ll go ahead and do it tonight.

10. CBS- After CBS jumped at the opportunity to book Adam Lambert and be the shelter for the “kicked puppy”, they blurred out the Lamber/Male keyboarder kiss, while not blurring out the Madonna/Britney kiss that was shown in the same slide set.  I’m glad they blurred out the Lambert/Keyboarder kiss, but they should have been consistent and blurred both.  Watch out folks, hypocrisy earns you a spot on my list.

9. Google- Go back in time a week, google image search Michelle Obama.  What pops up?  A monkey.  True story.  Google lands on the list because they removed the photo and the website from their searches.  Don’t get me wrong, I find blatant racial attacks to be despicable and unwarranted in today’s society, but come on Google.  There are MILLIONS of offensive images on the internet, why try and play police with this one?  That image has been circulated to millions of American’s by now, and this all making much ado about nothing.  Everyone needs to quit being so dang sensitive.

8. Oprah Winfrey- Oprah started off great by announcing she was ending her tv show……… then she continued by saying it wouldn’t be over until 2011.  Geez Oprah, you got me all excited.

7. “President or Jihad” Billboard guy- Come on man, have some sense!  Sure I’d love for B.O. to show us the birth certificate, but really?  I’m not a member of the “AHH! HATE CRIME” group, I just think it’s ignorant.  I must say, it gave me a HUGE laugh when I first saw it though.  For those who missed this story, read it here.

6. Climatologists dismissing the e-mails- No one can take responsibility for their actions anymore.  3 of the climatologists who were a part of the global warming e-mail scandal last week came out today saying that it was nothing but a smear campaign.  When did “smear campaign” become the word of choice when trying to dodge a sticky situation?

5. Perez Hilton- The fact that I can’t stand him aside, Perez really aggravated me on the AMA’s.  They gave him 10 seconds of screen time and he used it to say “I caught up with Derek Hough….. in the bathroom”.  Perez has a chronic case of pedestalitus; he can say whatever he wants, but the second anyone else steps up, cue the tears and Vlog.

4. Jon Gosselin- He’s just a bully.  His latest episode includes being a bully to his twins for preferring their mom over him.  The two twins said they enjoyed being with their mom more, so Jon through them inside and wouldn’t let the poor girls sell lemonade.  I think he’s just bitter that his 15 minutes are officially ovahhhh.

3. WikiLeaks- I’ve never heard of this website until today, but apparently they’ve discovered thousands of 9/11 texts and have released them to the internet.  Why stir up memories with these messages, some of which were extremely personal and heartbreaking?

2. Keith Olbermann- Uhhhh…. He’s just annoying.

1. Adam Lambert- I’ve never seen anyone more desperate for publicity in my life.  I could tolerate him on Idol, but he took it too far at the AMA’s and continues to take it too far as he does interviews throughout the week.  Adam, you may not be “a babysitter”, but that doesn’t mean it’s fair game for you to force simulated oral sex on some back-up dancer in front of 15 million people.  You may think the the world is carrying out one big hate crime and discriminating against you, but I was just as appalled when Britney kissed Madonna.  Save it for pay-per-view, not a show with a rating of TV-14.

Who do you think is the worst person above?  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

Also, Deluxe Membership is now available, click here to join for free.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, be sure and use the new rating feature, found at the bottom of comments and posts!

Song of the Day: “Speechless” by Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga’s latest studio album, The Fame Monster, features the surprisingly normal ballady song, “Speechless”.  She performed this song on the AMA’s and I was highly impressed.  So when I reader tipped me off to the studio version, I was sold.  Here’s the full length song, courtesy of the marvelous YouTube:

What do you think of “Speechless”.  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

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Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, be sure and use the new rating feature, found at the bottom of comments and posts!

Album Review: “Play On” by Carrie Underwood

A little over 4 years after winning American Idol, Carrie Underwood is still churning out the hits and proving to everyone that she is one of the biggest superstars in the music industry.  Her third studio album, Play On, is in stores now, so here’s a track-by-track review of her latest effort:

1. “Cowboy Casanova”- The first single from shows that Carrie’s got that star power.  It’s a great vocal, of course, but more importantly it shows signs of growth in Carrie’s writing and shows that she’s not going to keep doing the same old thing.  With Hot AC and Pop showing great interest, I see this as being the next “Before He Cheats” in terms of  crossover success.  9.5/10
2. “Quitter”- Once again, Carrie pulls out something new and different with this song.  This is another song that I see being really successful on country radio, as well as Hot AC and Pop.  It’s insanely catchy, and it would be a great single for next summer.   9/10
3. “Mama’s Song”- This song will mean a lot to mother’s and their daughters I’m sure, but it’s probably my least favorite on the CD.  It’s not bad, but it’s kind of boring.  I know it means a lot to Carrie though.  8/10
4. “Change”- Some have called “Change” preachy, I call it epic.  Sure it’s about helping others, but what’s wrong with that?  Not to mention the vocals and musical arrangement are phenomenal. I can’t wait to see Carrie knock this out of the park on the CNN Heroes special. 9/10
5. “Undo It”- This one screams cross-over, even more than “Cowboy Casanova.” It’s also phenomenal live, as evidenced by the Jimmy Kimmel performance. If they choose to release this as a single, it’ll be a smash on multiple formats. 9.5/10
6. “Someday When I Stop Loving You”- Once again, Carrie changes things up with “Someday When I Stop Loving You.”  The whole song is pretty low-key, but the vocals and arrangement are beautiful.  Probably Carrie’s most restrained vocal yet, not to mention it’s one of the most true country songs she’s done. 10/10
7. “Songs Like This”- This song, more than any, just really makes you want to dance.  Every time my iPod shuffles to this song, I want to jump and embarrass myself.  The only problem is that it’s a bit too short, but the aggressive vocals make up for it. 9/10
8. “Temporary Home”- If this song doesn’t show just how much Carrie has grown as a writer, I don’t know what well.  This deep ballad showcases Carrie’s vocals, but the real magic is the writing.  As I said in my single review of “Temporary Home”, the lyrics don’t beat around the bush and instead deliver the message without complicated metaphors.  ”This is our temporary home/It’s not where we belong” sums up quite nicely.  Songwriting awards, engage.  10/10
9. “This Time”- This smooth country/pop number could be a surprise single pick around the end of Play On’s run, with it’s catchy and light lyrics and delivery.  It’s definitely not like anything Carrie’s released as a single before, so it would keep with the theme of changing things up.  The only problem this song may face is the placement on the CD, where it could be lost among the highlights of the album. 8.5/10
10. “Look At Me”- Like “I Told You So” before it, “Look At Me” features a soaring vocal by Carrie on a cover of a classic country song.  ”Look At Me” is stronger than its predecessor, though, with Vince Gill on harmonies and Carrie bringing her A-game.  It’s the perfect song to keep those who want Carrie to be strictly country busy. 8.5/10
11. “Unapologize”- To many listeners, “Unapologize” may seem like an off the wall song when you look at the grand scheme of Play On.  I, however, think it only adds to the amazing dynamic of the CD.  Sure “Unapologize” is about as country as “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon, but who says you can’t have a little variation on a CD?  Certainly not me, and that’s what makes Play On so great.  ”Unapologize” is pop/rock straight-up and shows off some great vocals by Carrie and a brooding musical arrangement.  It’s got a great chorus, and could see success on Hot AC and pop radio.  9/10
12. “What Can I Say”- Another beautiful song with a really cool intro.  Sons of Sylvia are on hand for a duet, though Carrie far outshines their lead singer.  That aside, the duet still works marvelously.  I hope this is a single, but I’m not holding my breath.  I can’t wait to see this on the Christmas special coming up. 9.5/10
13. “Play On”- The title track takes us back to Carrie’s music when she was fresh off of Idol.  It’s a great little throwback, and I like the encouraging message.  Carrie sings the heck out of the final verses, showing us she has been hard at work perfecting that beautiful voice. 8.5/10

Play On has a little something for everyone, and that’s what makes it an amazingly engineered album.  It’s definitely Carrie’s best album from her young career, and arguably one of the best albums of 2009.  As someone who was a little disappointed in Carnival Ride (The first 4 singles were all wonderful, but outside of those and 2 or 3 more I wasn’t that impressed with it), Play On is refreshing indicator of where Carrie is going as an artist and just how much she has grown through the years.  I can’t wait to watch her and her career continue to grow into something truly incredible.

Overall Score: 95 out of 100

Staff Hot Picks: “Cowboy Casanova”, “Quitter”, “Change”, “Undo It”, “Someday When I Stop Loving You”, “Songs Like This”, “Temporary Home”, “Unapologize”, “What Can I Say”

What do you think of Play On?  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

Also, Deluxe Membership is now available, click here to join for free.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, be sure and use the new rating feature, found at the bottom of comments and posts!

The Conservative Journal Family Just Got a Little Bigger

A few weeks ago, I sent out an “SOS” asking anyone who was interested in helping me handle this blog to please come forth, take the virtual blogging pen, and write to their heart’s content.  But with no real incentive, who’s gonna do that?  I still blog here because it’s like a child to me; I grew it from a lowly WordPress blog with one post into a lowly WordPress blog with a lot of posts.  So after I posted that plea, I realized it was probably in vain.  However, to my surprise a couple of interesting responsive.  One went a little too far and wanted me to give them blog, which I wasn’t ready for.  But a few others actually wanted to write and help out, and I can’t thank them enough.  So without further ado, here’s a quick overview of the 3 who will be joining me on this blogging adventure:

Michael: College student by day, Conservative Journal writer by night.

Suzannah: You can call her “Mama Suze.” (Pronounced Sooooze)

Angelica: Don’t mess with her.

More on all 3 of the wonderful people when they give me their bios, but here are some more details on how this will work:

• We’re not really sure how much or what each will be posting, and it probably won’t be all ironed until 2010.  Until then, they will be giving their opinions when we do reviews and stuff.  That’ll be a good way for everyone to get to know them before they start doing independent posts.
• As I said above, everything won’t be 100% until early 2010.  Until then, posts will continue to say “posted by: Rick” regardless of who wrote it.  If the author is different there will be a note of that.  When everything is together, Michael, Suzannah, and Angelica will all have their own accounts that they can use to post whatever.

I’m looking forward to what’s ahead, and I hope you’re patient with us as we work all of the details out.  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or send us an e-mail.

Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

Also, Deluxe Membership is now available, click here to join for free.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, be sure and use the new rating feature, found at the bottom of comments and posts!

What Do You Think Was the Best Performance at the AMA’s?

To read my full review, click here.

So what do you think of the AMA’s?  Who really impressed you?  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

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Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, be sure and use the new rating feature, found at the bottom of comments and posts!

AMA 2009: Carrie Underwood, Lady GaGa, Kelly Clarkson Continue to Impress

To vote in the AMA Performance Poll, click here.

Since I had nothing else to do tonight, I decided I’d watch the AMA’s.  That show made me realize just how well-done the CMA’s.  Anyway, this year’s AMA’s came across as more of a concert series than an awards show, since awards were given out in the 5 second transitions between performers.  Here are the highlights (and lowlights):

Great:

• Carrie Underwood delivered another knock-out performance of “Cowboy Casanova,” this time with even more dancers.  The vocals for this one were spot-on.  This was probably the best overall performance she’s given of this song so far.  The general mediocrity of the majority of the other performers made her look even better than she did on her own merit.
• Kelly Clarkson gave an outstanding rendition of “Already Gone” without all of the bells and whistles of the studio version.  She reminds us all that she’s still got it, despite less-than-stellar live performances in the past few years (see, “Never Again” live on AI).
• The one and only Lady Gaga convinced me to look at her new album, The Fame Monster (in stores tomorrow), after wowing in her performance of “Bad Romance”/”Speechless.”  I’m thinking “Bad Romance” may have been at the very least partially lip-synced, but “Speechless” was the real deal and it was great.  Not to mention Gaga is incredibly entertaining.
• Alicia Keys shined during her two performances, both of which made up for her disappointingly bland lead-off single from her latest album.

Good/Okay:

• The Black Eyed Peas performed an unrecognizable medley of their latest hits because apparently they’ve spent half a year at #1?  On what chart?  Regardless, that’s a huge accomplishment.  And while the whole performance came together as a bunch of noise and lights, Fergie still showed everyone that she can and does sing quite well.  If only we could hook her up with another gig singing Heart covers (see, Idol Gives Back).
• Former Idol-contestant Chris Daughtry performed his latest single “Life After You.”  I can’t fault the vocals, but I can say it was incredibly boring and unmemorable.  It’s only been an hour since I watched and I have no idea what the song sounded like.
• Life-long divas Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston delivered good performances (in comparison to their “norm”) and Houston was honored with some international award accomplishment.  I’m glad she’s trying to turn things around.

The Bad

• Janet Jackson got the first ten minutes of the show to lip-sync and dance around sporadically.  Could’ve used that ten minutes to allow the latest American Idol Kris Allen winner and the immensely talented teen star Demi Lovato to perform instead of reducing them to lowly presenters.
• Perez Hilton was in attendance and was allowed to speak.
• Taylor Swift once again sweeped all of her categories and gave acceptance speeches “live” from the UK.  Doubt it.  They were obviously pre-taped and Taylor acted surprised the whole time.  I don’t really think MJ deserved “Artist of the Year” more, but I certainly don’t think he deserved it less.  Gaga should have won it.
• Green Day cracks and squeels through “21 Guns,” causing me to wonder if and why people still listen to that crap.
• And finally, the worst part of the night was Adam Lambert’s atrocious and over-hyped show closing performance of “For Your Entertainment.”  Suggestive dance moves aside, the vocals were terrible.  He sounded like 40’s-era versions of Mortimer Mouse (Mickey’s cousin or whatever) on helium.  Not to mention he fell and then made out with some ambiguously gendered keyboarder midway through.  I just ask that I not be subjected to gay porn while I’m trying to eat a bowl of mini-wheats.  Thank you.

So what do you think of the AMA’s?  Who really impressed you?  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

Also, Deluxe Membership is now available, click here to join for free.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, be sure and use the new rating feature, found at the bottom of comments and posts!

Song of the Day: “The Truth” by Kris Allen (New Release)

The latest winner from the Idol franchise released his first post-Idol studio album on Tuesday, and it’s definitely a strong CD.  I will (actually, we will.  more on that later) be reviewing the full disc in the coming days, but until then here’s my personal favorite previously unheard track, “The Truth”.  Listen below:

What do you think of “The Truth”?  Be sure and check back for a full review of Kris Allen (the album) over the next few days.  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

Also, Deluxe Membership is now available, click here to join for free.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, be sure and use the new rating feature, found at the bottom of comments and posts!

Video of the Day: Carrie Underwood Singing “Temporary Home” on Conan

On Monday’s edition of the Tonight Show, Carrie Underwood performed her next single, “Temporary Home.”  Carrie continues to amaze live with her consistent voice and remains one of the few artists in music who sound better LIVE than on recording.  Watch the full performance below:

What do you think of this performance of “Temporary Home?”  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

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Thanks for reading!

Rick

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Song of the Day: “Temporary Home” by Carrie Underwood (Review)

EDIT: A full review of Play On is right around the corner, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

The second single off of Carrie Underwood’s phenomenal 3rd album, Play On, is this stirring number titled “Temporary Home.”  The song tells the story of 3 individuals, a foster-child, a single mom in a halfway house, and an old man on his death bed, who are experiencing hardship but realize that their current situation is only temporary, and that they will soon be on to something much, much better.  Aside from the beautiful arrangement and vocals, the lyrics are exceptionally touching.  In the final verse, Carrie sings “He looks up and says/I can see God’s face,” a lyric that’s so real it will surely shake some of the winter ice off of the hearts of many.  The song is traditional country in sound, but Carrie takes a lot of chances with this one in that, while it’s similar in topic to the Paisley/Parton collaboration “When I Get Where I’m Going,” the lyrics are straight forward and very powerful.  Listen to the full song below and see what you think.

Check out Carrie’s induction into the TCJ Hall of Fame by clicking here.

What do you think of “Temporary Home?”  Leave your comments below or send an e-mail to theconservativejournal@gmail.com.  Don’t forget to bookmark The Conservative Journal and sign up for the RSS Feed and the daily e-mail newsletter.

Also, Deluxe Membership is now available, click here to join for free.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, be sure and use the new rating feature, found at the bottom of comments and posts!