This post is about the biggest drum Awards/Poll, the Drummies...

 

San Jose, Calif. — It’s exciting, respected, a bit controversial yet fun. That’s right, it’s Drummies time! Comprised of more than 40 categories, Enter Music Publishing’s annual awards/poll officially opens March 10 in the artist and gear categories. Drummers and drumming fans can cast their votes at www.drummagazine.com/drummies.

 

Great Expectations: Diverse Drum Categories

 

Like last year, Enter Music Publishing expects very strong voting returns. In 2011 approximately 7,300 drummers participated in the Drummies, which comprise 42 categories, from “Best Drummer” to “Most Popular Cymbal.” “This year’s Drummies are probably going to be the biggest yet,” noted Andy Doerschuk, editorial director and co-founder of Enter Music Publishing. “As with last year, we have such diverse drumming categories like jazz, hip-hop, blues, rock, pop, and others for drum set and hand percussion."

 

“The Drummies is the coolest event each year because it honors outstanding artists,” said Phil Hood, publisher and co-founder of Enter Music Publishing. “Last year’s voting was a big success and this year promises to be even bigger.”

 

Key Percussive Points

To clarify for Drummies newcomers, there are certain rules that relate to voting. Enter Music Publishing likes to make the voting process fun and be thorough about all issues related to the voting process such as:

1. You can only vote once.
2. Voting is open to any drummer — you don’t have to be a subscriber to the magazine or work in the industry.
3. You don’t have to vote in all categories.
4. Drummers who have won five or more times in a single category aren’t eligible to win in that category again. But they can win another category.

 

The drummers who have won five or more times and been inducted into the Drummies Hall Of Fame include: Travis Barker (punk), Neil Peart (drummer of the year), ?uestlove (hip-hop), Chad Smith (funk), Josh Freese (studio), Luis Conte (studio percussion), Airto (Jazz percussion), Giovanni Hidalgo (Latin percussion), Joey Jordison (metal), Dave Weckl (jazz/fusion), and Carter Beauford (jam band).

 

Drummer Of The Year: Mike Portnoy Pounds To Victory In 2011

Obviously, the Drummer Of The Year category is one of the most intense. However, Mike Portnoy took top drummer in a landslide victory. “Portnoy proved his significance with authority at the polls,” said Phil Hood, publisher and co-founder of Enter Music Publishing. “It will be very interesting to see what happens and if he can be a repeat winner in this prestigious category.”

 

Who will be “Best Drummer” in 2012? Get down with the Drummies and go vote. Of course, Enter Music Publishing appreciates your participation.

 

Will Stanton Moore Strut As Best Funk Drummer a Second-Line Time?

Stanton Moore has two qualities that make him successful where other New Orleans drummers may not. In addition to his music education, he also has a business degree. Let's face it: Stanton can strut with the best. He won “Best Funk Drummer” last year and is featured on the April 2012 cover of DRUM! Look for it on newsstands beginning next week.

 

About Enter Music Publishing

Founded in San Jose, CA in 1992, Enter Music Publishing, Inc. is a leading publisher of informative and entertaining drum and music-related media, with distribution in 40 countries. DRUM! Magazine is the company’s flagship publication and continues to set the industry standard for editorial quality and innovation. Enter Music Publishing, Inc. also publishes drummagazine.com, a leading drum-related Web site. The company’s mission is to be the best source of drumming news and information in the world.

Stop me if you heard this one, J.J Abrams produces a show about an island where people mysteriously disappear through time, and viewers spend each hour wondering what the hell is going on.  Sounds like Lost you say?  No, the show in question is Alcatraz, which had it's two hour premiere last Monday night on Fox.
 "On March 21, 1963, Alcatraz officially closed due to rising costs and because of the outdated facility.   All the prisoners were transferred off the island.  Only that's not what happened.  Not at all."  As read by Sam Neill, the opening monologue tells you all you need to know to set up the show.
Alcatraz is a procedural show where a prisoner is introduced and we see flashbacks to their prison life throughout the episode and by the end, they are captured.  I hope that this formula will be tweaked throughout the course of the show and maybe a prisoner will elude capture or we'll get to see a guard's story.  With over 300 displaced prisoners and guards, Alcatraz should have enough individual stories to keep the series around for a few years at least.
Rounding up the escapees is Agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill) who was a rookie guard off duty when the vanishing happened.  I marvel at how well preserved Emerson is, because the math makes him at least 65 and that's assuming he was 15 when he got the guard position.  Working with him despite his objections is Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) whose partner was murdered by her grandfather who turns out was one of the disappearing reappearing prisoners.  Rebecca enlists the help of Dr. Diego Soto (Lost's Jorge Garcia) a comic book storeowner and famous Alcatraz expert (he wrote a book).  Diego is an interesting character in that he's just an ordinary guy; he's not a cop or any kind of badass.  He's just a highly literate nerd with an academic interest in Alcatraz.
The first hour dealt with a man who was sent to prison for robbing a convenience store, because they sold stamps it was considered a federal crime.  When he shows up in the present looking exactly as he did 50 years ago, he looks to exact revenge on the guard who kept him from seeing his wife on conjugal visits.  He also kills a random stranger and steals a key from him.  Why and who set him up to this remains unknown, even he didn't seem to know why he did it.
Stakes are raised in the second hour when the prisoner turns out to be a serial killer trained with a sniper rifle and who would kill three sets of three people before going into hiding.  Well it turns out his time away hasn't changed him any and when he reappears, he goes back to what he knows, and the team race against the clock to catch him as the body count rises.
The end of the second hour ends with a twist designed to bring viewers back next week and it totally worked on me.  I'm hooked.  
Alcatraz airs 8pm ET Monday nights on Fox.
 

Mitchell Hurwitz creator of the cult hit Arrested Development has been promising a movie pretty much since the shows untimely demise in 2007.  Now we're closer than ever before with talks of not only a movie, but another 10 episode season as well, to be shown on either Showtime or Netflix (who is trying to branch out to original progamming).



As excited as I am to hear this, I'm also filled with a bit of trepidation.  Can an eagerly anticipated movie to a beloved show possibly meet my admittedly high expectations?  The other cause of my concern is hearing that the new season would follow each character around for an episode as we catch up with their lives and not have the entire cast reunite until the final episode and the movie.  This concerns me because one of the best parts about Arrested Development is its ensemble cast and how well they play off each other; to have them isolated from each other surrounded by strangers sounds risky.

Hurwitz has quite a bit riding on this deal as well.  He hasn't had anything even remotely successful as Arrested Development in the last five years, and he seems desperate for a hit, so revisiting his greatest success probably sounds like a sure bet.

If all goes to plan the new season and movie will be shot next summer, and fingers crossed will see the light of day in 2013.  

When Ben & Jerry's announced they would be realeasing a limited batch flavor called "Schweddy Balls" based on the classic SNL sketch featuring Alec Baldwin, I was excited.  Not because I think the vanilla flavor with a hint of rum and fudge rum and milk chocolate balls sounded delicious or be something I would like, but because I thought the name was hilarious and that alone was enough reason for me to at least try Schweddy Balls.

It turns out a right-wing Christian affiliate of American Family Association caled One Million Moms were not amused by Ben & Jerry's clever title, saying "they took something as innocent as ice cream and made it vulgar and repulsive".   This same group of busybodies were previously offended by Hubby Hubby, Ben & Jerry's tribute flavor to gay marriage a twist on their own Chubby Hubby.

Now thanks to the interference of these women, only a third of Ben & Jerry's retail distributors will be carrying the new flavor, making what was already a limited edition that much harder to find.  

Scientists Studying Environmental Impact of Massive 2007 Alaska Wildfire

Scientist are waning that a side effect of global warming could be an increase in the frequency and severity of fires in the Arctic, which could create a new climate feedback.  In 2007, a massive wildfire in northern Alaska burned more than 1,000 square miles around the Anaktuvuk River, doubling the amount of Alaska's land burned since 1950.  Scientists say that fire put as much carbon into the atmosphere as the entire Arctic region typically absorbs in an entire year.

The Emmy nominations were announced today and HBO's "Mildred Pierce" scored the most nominations with 21.  "Madmen" a close second with 19 nominations and "Boardwalk Empire" scored 18 with "Modern Family coming close behind with 17 and SNL, 16.  The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be held at the Nokia Theatre in LA on a Sunday in September...the 8th, maybe? Not sure of the time...you'll have to try and locate that info.  Emmy nominated "Glee" actress, Jane Lynch will be hosting the show!

SNL  fave and star of "Bridesmaids", Kristen Wiig is set to play the title character in Maven Pics and Anonymous Content's film, "Imogene."   The film is about Imogene, a "moderately successful New York playwright who fakes a suicide attempt in order to win back her ex-boyfriend only to be under the custody of her mother, a gambler."  Look for production to begin in NYC on August 8th.

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