Post Rock

Still no comics lately guys. Dunno why.


A Silver Mount Zion - He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…
Post-Rock | Instrumental | Classical
Release Date: March 27, 2000
Download:
Mediafire

Sigur Ros - Hafsol( track #7 off Von, also on Hvarf/Heim )
Post-Rock | Instrumental
Release Date: October 2004
Download:
Mediafire mp3


more shit top come later today. Now, dinner.

Stuff

Stupid shit.

No fun

This probably won't be enjoyable for anyone to read.

Today was a day of self-realization and analysis. I looked into myself, from existential questions, to moral and character processing. I realized firstly that my thought process is based almost entirely off opposition. Any thought, idea, notion that enters my mind, I decide a preferred angle on it, and promptly realize the equal validity of the counter. It's difficult to explain properly, and invasively frequent, occuring in msot every thought I come across. I know the way things should be, the way I want them to be, the way I know the must or will be, and the way they could be, it's not nearly as optimistic or naive as were a view of the perfect life. I had some sort of 3 page dissertation in my mind, a self-exploratory rambling that would make even myself uncomfortable and confused. As is the norm with this blog, and with my mind, I lost that thought, and I doubt it would have served any real purpose here. Let it suffice to say this is a pivotal moment in my life, not for any moment special to my life, but mostly society tells me it is.
GAH
Regardless, this is a hard time and my mind is busy with so much else, I can't concentrate on any of it for very long, only making it harder. I wish somewhat I could've explained the paradoxical, opposing nature of my thoughts( at least as of late ), but I suppose that itself is an example.
Excuse the rant.

In politics, all the major candidates are involved in low smear campaigns, and it's quite disappointing. And Ralph Nader has entered the race for the 357th time. Awesome, Nader. Go download some of all those albums from the past. Hopefully more cheery, fun things later.

Tired...

But then again, when am I not? Anyway, I was hoem sick again today, tweaking more on old "songs" and failing at getting anything new going. I listened to like 10 songs today, more than all last week almost. I miss listening to so much music, but what the hell did I do while listening to it? I had some stuff that needed saying, but I'm tireddd. Goodnight all, I'll try to get back to our normal programming( comics, news and such, albums, etc) when I'm feeling better and have some school stuff out of the way.

Sick

Today I stayed home sick with a wrecked sore throat, runny nose, and 1 hour of sleep. I don't have much world events news at the moment, or current life news other than I slept all day and feel like a bag of dongs. Or doorknobs. Though I did start mixing the acoustic guitar I recorded off Cody, and tweaking a few other song I;ve been working on. I also got 16 new AA batteries, so my camera is set for maybe a week, lol. Still not sure whether or not I'll be up to school tomorrow, we'll see. Cody, if you read this; tag, sir? I don't have much else to say, but here's some music you could check out, I'm trying to listen to music more often again, but I've been FruityLooping and not on the comp and etc etc. Now, my beauty sleep, see you tomorrow.

Music:


Atlas Sound
Psychedelic | Indie | Rock
Myspace

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Indie | Acoustic | Alt-Country
Released: February 2008
Last.Fm
Megaupload

Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
Indie | Acoustic | Singer-Songwriter
Release Date: Feb 19, 2008
Download:
Mediafire

2/24

Well, this weekend I had an awesome time hanging out with my bestest fwends, playing in the snow, playing videogames, just having fun and PARTYING!

So far today:

• 5 cups of coffee
  
• 5 hours sleep( 6 - 11 )
  

I finally saw fight Club. Effing awesome.

So tonight, there is a democratic presidential debate, or the Academy Awards. I wonder which will be more watched.

More later maybe.

Diddles

Some silly diddles.

Drawstring Closure
Mediafire

Kids With Keys
Mediafire

Hmm

The world around me is always just the same shapes, but with different colors. Perhaps Mother Nature invented seasons to keep me from growing discontent with a static landscape. Her attempts, however, have failed.

Never take anything back

Don't be sorry for anything you do in good will.

It's a friday and I've been neglecting my duties for the past 3 or 4 days. So here's all the friday fare to make up for that.

Top of the week:

• Castro resigns. Who actually believes he's alive?
  
• world's largest album collection on ebay.
  ($3million if you're interested)
  
• Huge meat recall due to insider investigation showing the treatment of downed animals( illegal ). Possible provokes a widespread deeper look into the current meat industry?
  

Bottom of the week:

• Nasa prepares for satellite to crash somewhere in earth
  
• Current Dem. Candidates vy for Edward's pledged delegates( vultures )
  
• Obama seems to have stolen part of a speech, or perhaps given a homage to.
  
• Still, nobody cares about Clemens and his steroids
  

I've been fairly busy this week, either not being home, or working on my own silly musics, and have listened to a startlingly low amount of music. What I have listened to is largely the same as last week, with My Own Private Alaska being added to ehavy rotation, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Portugal. The Man, yea...

I know that this week I've missed alot of new albums released, I'm gonna go back and see what I can see, if I overlooked anything. Happy hunting?

No albums for the day, or the last few days, other than more Dan Deacon( Legal! ). Haven't listened to this one much yet, but seems good.


Dan Deacon - Twacky Cats
Electronic | Classical | Experimental
Release Date: 2004
Download:
Artist's Site

Fidelity

The best of pictures aren't taken in studios with staged poses and lighting setups, they're taken in the world, of the real world, embracing the surroundings into a frame, instead of blindly avoiding it and substituting for it. The best of music isn't necessarily recorded at ultra h-fi, mastered by a platinum producer. The best painting isn't to be found on Hallmark cards. The difference between craft and art is becoming starkly apparent to me. Making something fucntional and nice to look at, solely striving for aesthetic, is a craft. I personally believe the term "art" implies a content beyond the aesthetic, a presence of deeper meaning. Of course, you're more likely to get your perspective across if it's nicely packaged and appealing, but is that the most truthful representation of it? Simplistic honest art is so commonplace, and in that reality is its beauty, taking art out of the hands of the pretentious ones resting in their New York lofts.
"Fidelity is a notion that at its most abstract level implies a truthful connection to a source or sources."

Ron Paul

I'm 100% sold, he seems perfect. I got a Ron Paul bumper sticker, but I'm not sure what to do with it, as I have no car, and it won't fit on my keyboard. Anyway, anyone NOT completely sold should check out CNN's Issue Center for the presidential race, click any issue that matters to you, and read how correct Ron Paul is. Albums and maybe a comic and maybe some original content music later.

Feb 17

I realized over the course yesterday and today that it's almost impossible to describe the evolution of music as a whole, a specific genre, or a musical scene accurately. It is impossible to do this because of how relative and objective they are. An example being that it seems to me in recent times indie, as a genre, has started leaning away from acoustic singer/songwriter types of roots and more towards pop and dance genres. This is highly influenced by my changing musical tastes though, and there are distinction between these types of indie, genre-relative. Personal anecdotes aside, I think the point has merit, but that too, is objective.

Yesterday's list of favorite albums of the week had one glaring omission: Paulson - All At Once, a great ceedee.

On another personal note( as this is my blog), this week has been alot of me messing around with music creation. I've got my amazing keyboard( pics below ), a virtual modular analog synth program, a microphone, some technical wizardry, Audacity, and Fruity Loops. It's fun to explore, and seems to be a neat passtime/hobby deal, we'll see it anything comes of it. It should be noted that my blog-friend and hetero lifemate Cody is also getting his musical career fired up again, and we've been playing some musical tag, the product of which may find its way onto either of our blogs some time soon. On a related note, my other hetero lifemate, Dallas and his band John Fonda are also doing good. check these people out!

My keyboard, with gain knob being installed, and how it looks now!!




It's got two leads coming out which can hook into an adapter for an amp plug or a mini-audio for connecting to headphones, or PC microphone ports.

I think I had more I wanted to mention, but it's apparent I lose track of my thoughts far too easily.

Albums of the day:

My Own Private Alaska - S/T
Classical | Screamo
Release Date: 2007
Download:
Rapidshare

Paulson - All At Once
Indie | Rock
Release Date: November 22, 2005 / March 6, 2007
Download:
Megaupload

Week-End; Albums, Tops/Bottoms

Personal fave albums of the week:

• Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
  
• Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of the Rings
  
• Iron And Wine - The Shepard's Dog
  
• Edison Glass - Time Is Fiction
  
• The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
  
• Band Of Horses - Everything All the Time
  
• Chase Pagan - Oh Musica
  

There was alot of good new music to get into this week, and there were alot of old favorites coming back( Of Montreal, Chase Pagan ), and I was listening to alot more than this, but these are the albums I kept going back to. Funnily enough, all these are already on the blog somewhere except Of Montreal and Chase Pagan, so here you are, and an album of the day.


Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Indie | Experimental | Electronica | ?
Release Date: January 23, 2007
Download:
Mediafire



Chase Pagan - Oh Musica
Indie | Folk | Vocal
Release Date: July 2007
Download:
Megaupload



Menomena - Friend And Foe
Indie | Post-Rock | Electronica
Release Date: January 23, 2007
Download:
Mediafire


Not a very eventful week, but my breakdown of it:

Top of the week:
-New music, as always
-Snow day/senior skip day
-Writer's strike over

Bottom of the week:
-Valentine's day
-Bad weather abounding
-Who cares about steroids in baseball?

Albums Of Valentine's Day

All I'm motivated to post.


Working for a Nuclear Free City - Rocket EP
Indie | Post-Rock
Release Date: 2007
Download:
Mediafire



Liars - Liars
Indie | Experimental Rock
Release Date: August 28, 2007
Download:
Mediafire



Caribou - Andorra
Indie | Pop | W/e
Release Date: August 21, 2007
Download:
Mediafire


And tomorrow, Top/Bottom of the week, albums of the week(my fave picks), more albums maybe, a comic maybe, who knows?!?!

I'm thinkin of doin more of my mspaint color comics, and more graph jokes with "Paid for by the foundation for ___" etc. but for now, just this!

It's not the 5th of November

"

Illegal downloaders in the UK could be banned from the internet under plans currently being considered by the government. Ministers are examining a scheme that would mean anyone in the UK would be denied access to their internet service provider if they were caught with files containing pirated copies of songs and films.

The proposals appeared in a leaked draft Green Paper (a consultation document issued by the government when it is considering new legislation) and would involve UK internet users being given “three strikes” before having their online access terminated.

First offenders would be warned by email, then their accounts would be suspended after which they contracts with their service provider would be cancelled. Internet providers who failed to uphold the proposed law could be prosecuted too.

Although attempts to come to an agreement are still ongoing, the Green Paper says the government will “move to legislate to require internet service providers to take action on illegal file-sharing.“

"

Remember, Remember...

-NME.com source

Tuesday

I'm pretty tired and ended up napping a bit today because I didn't sleep much. Last night Ihad some of the most horrific nightmares you can imagine. Since I was young, I would see scary things any time I closed my eyes, almost always, so I guess I'm kind of used to it. Regardless, the strange twisted visions package themselves so convincingly as reality to your sleeping brain. Effectively the mind is frightening itself, and some people let that fear last. I personally think they're interesting, though at the time terrifying, and looking back, they're pretty ridiculously creepy. Anyway, I don't remember where any of that was headed, as often happens with my ramblings, so another graph joke:



We've got a heckuva snow storm going on here, which could be cool( sledding, snowballs, school closings ) or suck( mud everywhere, slush, wet everything, gross driving ). That remains to be seen.

Albums:


Burial - Untrue
Dubstep | Dance | Electronica | Indie
Release Date: November 5, 2007
Download:
Megaupload

Two comics and an album

I don't they're as good as before, but maybe I'll get better again later.




Battles - Mirrored
Release Date: April 2, 2007.
Electronica | Funk | Experimental | Dance?
Download:
Mediafire


See you later!

The future

Is a highly unsure place for me. I know exactly how I'd like to live, support myself as much as possible and make just enough money from odd sources to keep food coming in and a place to stay, to pursue my interests, and be able to see my friends often and etc etc etc... It's all so hopeful and idealistic, I know it will never become, and sometimes the way I cling to my gratingly optimistic, naive ways, while being thoroughly cynical and pessimistic in regards to the majority of the world outside my isolated self-bubble; it grows frustrating and furthers my existential quandries. It's not that I constantly obsess over where I came from or anything, but rather that survival is key, and some luxuries would be great, and that survival isn't a garuntee, it isn't entitled. So I try to find ways to live the life I want, and avoid the one everyone else wants me to live. Honestly, though, I feel that examining life takes away from the time you have to live it. Going to church, saving your eternal soul while your body rots away, not for me. I therefore generally feel I've substantially understood my world, and I go on with my life.

Honestly, through that paragraph, there were so many tangents I wanted to go off on, areas of what I want, to explain. I eventually lost track and my mind got bogged down, so I can only hope I successfully communicated what I intended to.

Album of the past few days, more tomorrow( later today ):

Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
Experimental | Electronic
Release Date:May 8, 2007

Download:
Mediafire


Ha, I use wikimedia for most of my album art sources.
This guy is really cool, his composition is so abstract and childish, yet Deacon's classical compositional skills give it validity as more than random fiddlings on salvaged electronics. That's the other cool thing about him, he apparently gathers random electronic instruments and then proceeds to circuit-bend his heart out, distorting things beyond recognition and inserting emotion into what would otherwise be blips and sines.

I think I could take a lesson from this guy. I've got a tax refund coming, maybe I'll invest in some signal generators, shitty FX pedals, tube amps, maybe something more real like a wavesynth or something depending on how much I get; and just start putting stuff together. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and only a lack of talent in the field has stopped me, and I'm sure with enough trying, I'll get a few decent things. If not, I enjoy the process nonetheless. I've already got my modded keyboard and the Craigophone ( a tube, with BBs, you'll see. I have to post pictures of my keyboard and the Craigophone. )

One last note, I won't be doing any more album reviews as such. I feel that I have nothing new or interesting to contribute here, and am solely positive. Much more qualified opinions are to be found, and I'm not one to push my own opinion above someone else's, especially not in something as interprative as music.

Longest post yet, I think. Well, see you later today with more albums I guess and whatever "tickles me fancy".

Saturday

Out and about last night until today, so no albums yesterday, and it's almost tomorrow right now, so 2 days without comics or albums, sorry. And I'm not in the mood for a long blog currently, dunno what to write about ha. So see ya tomorrow!

Tops and Bottoms

good amount of politic junk in here, but that's what's goin on.

Top of the week:
-Mucho good new music
-Mardi Gras
-Mitt Romney dropped out
-Good movie on the horizon:
    The Happening
-My trip to the Statue
-My Amazing keyboard getting better
-Boobs, alright?

Bottom of the week:
-Mitt Romney(McCain's major opposition) drop out, c'mon huckabee..
-People still care about Heath Ledger
-Clinton has a signifigant lead over Obama
-Tornados
-Cloverfield being a disappointment
-Housing market

Oops

I haven't been including much humor lately, other than my sarcastic, quirky mannerism. so here's a graph joke, and a (nonfunny) list, and I'll try to remember to make a comic everyday, how about that?

As good a time as any for my schedule:

Every day:
-Albums of the day
-A comic
Every Week:
-One Album Review(at least)
Friday:
-Top and Bottom of the week lists

Unfunny list;

5 Longest band names in my music folder:
1.Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra And Tra la la Band
2.Congratulations on Your Decision To Become a Pilot
3.The Birds Are Spies, They Report To The Trees
4....And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
5.Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza

Comic:

Albums of the day

Six Organs of Admittance - Shelter From the Ash
Rock | Experimental | Acoustic | Progressive
Release Date: November 20, 2007
Rapishshare

Kate Nash - Made of Bricks
Pop | Indie
Release Date: Jan 8, 2008
Rapidshare

This Will Destroy You - S/T
Rock | Post-Rock | Instrumental
Release Date: Jan 29, 2008
Mediafire


And a strange twist, I cannot find
Sigur Ros - Hvarf/Heim
at all. I've found at least 20 uploads, all removed. I honestly can't find it anywhere, Could someone who has it possibly upload it to Mediafire or Rapidash for me please? or if you think you can find it...

A small rant

I just get frustrated with how people spew hateful speech almost constantly, and think there is no consequences or something. Every time you call that quiet kid "faggot", he remembers and grows bitter and hateful, every time you insult someone, they may pretend to take it well, but it's disappointing and lowers confidence. Every time you go on TV and are critical or insultory towards an entire race, group or area, that group will hate the country they see this type of speech coming from. When an entire country's media is portraying you as the enemy, you accept the role; be it Afghanistanis or subcultures. There's too much hate in this world, and it spreads infectiously, infinitely, feeding into itself.


(click for larger size. if you want to read it, read top-to-bottom, left-to-right.) Childish ASCII etc, I know, k.

Idiot Pilot

Idiot Pilot - Wolves

Downloads:
Rapidshare (password: "sharedmp3.net")


Amazing album, maybe review later?
Funny, today turned into a 3-post day anyway; 2 posts being albums. I'm thinking maybe I should start a seperate blog for all the music, and keep the life lessons and comics here. Idunno...

Mars Volta / Jazzanova

Brand New:

The Mars Volta - Bedlam In Goliath
Rock | Experimental | Progressive
Mediafire


Old:

Jazzanova - In Between
Electronic | Experimental | Jazz
Mediafire


Really wierd stuff.
And in case you haven't noticed, I far prefer Mediafire to other uploading services.

Really random albums, these two and the rap album below lol. It's good to spice it up sometimes, and don't worry, I'll stick to what I know best, too.

More Subdued

Today is much slower than the six posts of yesterday, as there are no amazing new albums, and super tuesdays. There are, however, aftermaths of super tuesdays to deal with. I'll start there...

Yesterday was a day of embarassement and painful realizations for America, but hardly anyone noticed. McCain played the voters and worked the election system in manipulative, unsportsmanlike ways of which I would hope to never see in someone who wants to be president of this nation. I fail to see how any of his warmongering, stone-age policies appeal to anyone in the first place, but that is neither here nor there. As for Hillary Clinton, I foresaw this outcome 90%, my prediction for Obama to get the nomination was one of ignorant hope, and of forgetfulness. I had apparently forgotten of the secret workings behind Clinton's campaign.
Spoiler Alert: Hokey conspiracy theories ahead
Hillary Clinton attended the secret, super-influential bilderberg conference in 1997, and it is widely accepted that she attended again in 2007, under heavy secrecy. I could explain more, but I think a simple visit to google or wikipedia for "bilderberg" will convince you that Hillary Clinton WILL be our next president.
Overall, I would rate the presidential race as of current as: A sham.

Next order of business, Albums of the day
These weren't released today but I can't seem to find anything worthwhile that was, so enjoy:

The Dear Hunter - Act I: The Lake South, The River North
Indie | Rock | Experimental/Prog | Amazing
Rapidshare

The Dear Hunter - Act II. The Meaning Of, & All Things Regarding Ms.Leading
Indie | Rock | Experimental/Prog | Amazing
Sendspace

Edit: Old but good cd
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
Hip-Hop | Rap
Rapidshare


Lastly, Sorry no lists or graphs or anything particularly humorous today, I'll make it up to you.

And a practice I'll be making regular;
Links for this blog:
Clinton
-http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2006/150606clintonattend.htm
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bilderberg_attendees#United_States
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group

Damn

6th post today, big day.
I started looking at other album releases today, and I think I may decide to Recommend a few albums that are released each day. Each week would be ideal, but there's too much music. I'll try to only recommend good stuff, if you have questions about any of these bands, answers Here. Keep in mind, these albums came out today, and tomorrow there will be more, so only the really great ones will be able to be reviewed.


Edison Glass - Time is Fiction
Indie | Rock
Mediafire

Nada Surf - Lucky
Indie | Folk | Rock
Mediafire

Kelley Stoltz - Circular Sounds
Rock | Pop | ?
Rapidshare(Protected)

Board Up the House

Album Review:
Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
Release Date: February 19, 2008
Leak Date: February 4, 2008

(see older blog for download links)

This album seems much more structured than Genghis Tron's previous releases, and at the same time more varied. The band has seemingly discovered and harnessed all their compositional skills that shone through on tracks like "Asleep on the Forest Floor" from Dead Mountain Mouth. The songs are also( for the most part )less spastic and seemingly chopped together, though still highly energetic. They maintain their hyper, cybergrind aesthetic, while adding softer electronic interludes and other more experimental segments. The whole album manages to avoid the repetition many grindcore-type bands can incur, each song offering something new, with the whole album working together nicely and leaving you with a feeling of closure, following the somewhat Between the Buried and Me-esque 11-minute outro track, which is largely instrumental. It's strange though; with all the different, strange things going on, and even long instrumental tracks, the album holds your attention throughout. Very solid.

Oh, Nevermind

lol wtf, Huckabee doesn't believe in evolution. I was completely confused.
As for "Board Up the House", it's amazing so far.
And McCain is still ahead, with clinton also pulling ahead somewhat for the Dems.
More later.

Super Tuesday, Mardi Gras and Genghis Tron

The new Genghis Tron CD leaked. I've heard from various places that it may be a legal download? not entirely sure but I'm sure it's amazing. I'm in the process of downloading it currently, and a review will follow in a few days.

Genghis Tron - Board Up the House

Download:
Mediafire



As for super tuesday, gah. McCain is an asshole, telling his supporters in some states to vote for Huckabee, hoping to take those states from Romney. This is so manipulative and I would hope the voters would see the way he's playing them, and change their minds. Huckabee is a close second( if not first ), though, in many states. Huckabee is alright by me, but my boy Ron Paul is pulling at 3-5%, with 18% in Montana( All numbers as of 21:00E ). So Romney is getting his ass handed to him, but my Democratic predicition is faring much better, with Obama/Clinton pulling very evenly.

Mardi Gras;
Throw some beads on that- throw  some, throw some beads on that bitch.
Enjoy your Lent.
Or your fasnachts.

See ya a little later.

TFoT qft

A message from the Fall of Troy that is just too good. Agreed wholeheartedly, boys.

Tidings!!!

Well, well, well... Blog time dudes and dudettes. There's alot of stuff going down right now. We are at work on what is going to become our 3rd full length on Equal Vision Records. We have yet to disclose a title. We're also getting ready for soundwave 2008 over with our Australian friends and alot of really rad bands. So that's pretty exciting. We also are going to be doing a full U.S. Headlining tour in April/May and will be announcing the line-up ASAP so stay tuned for that, cause it's brain-smashing.

So here's some thoughts that we've been having as of late... The music industry is at a strange time. Half controlled by people who play the music, and love the music, and are there for the music. Half controlled by people who are trying to make MONEY... Nothing else, just money. The thing wrong with that is as follows :

The music industry is at an all time low, there is no such thing as a million dollar record contract for an up and coming rock band anymore. Turn on MTV, how many straight rock bands are just killin' it right now? NOT MANY... Everyone is scrambling to find the "next big thing" when the reality is the next big thing that needs to happen is another revolution. Much like that of Miles Davis, Ray Charles, The Beatles, Hendrix, Nirvana... Even into the much less and embarrassing notables as Korn, Limp Bizkit, and even shit like N'Sync and Backdoor boys ;). This revolution is something that will not be televised though. It will not even be realized until it is upon the industry. There is an army of bands, forming a bond that is not being noted by these people that are interested in "finding the next big thing" because THEY SIMPLY DON'T CARE OR LOVE MUSIC. Well, the next big thing is going to be a movement, not a song. A tour, not a music video. A live show, not American Idol... But the only way this movement is going to happen is for people that love music, and really want to see it thrive again, to take action and become a part of it once again. It's been taken away from us all, and I sure don't want my kids coming up in the braindead, hit single, music video dictated way of the industry that is happening RIGHT NOW...

So what we're saying:

Go out to a show, visit a real record shop instead of an FYE. A vintage guitar shop instead of a Guitar Center. Buy the T-Shirt if you like the band, it goes a LONG way, TRUST us. Talk to your friends, because you, the people, are the only ones that are going to find "The next big thing", until then, the dinosaurs are gonna keep ramming it down the throat of the general public, so they can capitalize off of the artist, and off of you... In short, everyone loses unless we all come together and make some changes.

We believe in rock and roll, we believe in revolutions... And we believe in you. The real question is...

What do you believe in?

=The Boys=

Some more graphs

Considering this new layout for the graph jokes, somewhat more polished.






EDIT: Dang! I forgot huckabee, he ain't too bad in either category.

See ya' a little later for SUPER TUESDAY updates.

Another Graph Joke

cya tomorrow

Edit: a misreading led to this;

Amazing Tuesday

Also, tomorrow is Super Tuesday! ehhh... /enthusiasm
Anyway, I'm hoping this year people look into the election for themselves and maybe vote for someone other than the 4 that the national news mention. I personally love Ron Paul so much. I'm slowly warming up the fact that Barack Obama is going to be the next president, though. You may think it's early for predictions like that but yea;
Party Nominees:
Dem - Barack Obama - because people know that she's the Republican of the Democrats
Rep - Mitt Romney - because people will ( hopefully ) realize what a hawk McCain is, though Romney ain't much better. Ron Paul, if only....

President:
Barack Obama - I think it's been clear for quite some time that this country is done with the Republican reign, ready for change, I'm jsut not sure if a young black democratic president is too much change for the country...

The Internet

Things that piss me off on the 'Net:

• The way insanely untalented, uninteresting or otherwise stupid things get popular quickly( eg. bad music, Chris Crocker, Tay Zonday, etc )
• People who use the Mac photobooth Warhol filter. Oh, I see you have a Mac
• Pron everywhere. Boobs, get over it
• People who hate Wikipedia
• Internet tuff guys

I recall being angry far more often than that, but I don't remember what else pisses me off, tell me what pisses you off in the comments.

Protest the Hero - Fortress

I stayed home from school today with a little stomach junk going on, and you'd think I would've come up with SOMETHING good to blog about. By the end of the day or tomorrow, I'll have another list for you. But now, CD review time.


Album Review:
Protest the Hero - Fortress
Released: January 29, 2008
Leaked: January 22, 2008

Download Links:
Rapidshare
password: seckwd

Protest the Hero (PTH) have taken a decidedly more progressive and power-metal route with their new album "Fortress". From the lyrics, which are centered around goddess worship and historic battles; to the different types of vocals and guitar used, this album is more technical and surely files as "power". If the above didn't give it away, there is a keyboard solo by Dragonforce's Vadim Pruzhanov on track 6, "Limb From Limb". I'm not particularly fond of power metal, but PTH adds a good dash of catchy sing-alongs and breakdowns. There are many (in fact, probably one per track) sing-along portions, and they up it from purely technical music to a more accessible, enjoyable experience. The guitars maintain a high level of technical skill, while not being obnoxious, and the composition is excellent. The clean, high vocals of lead singer Rody Walker mix perfectly with both the music and the low, growling vocals of bassist Arif Mirabdolbaghi. Arif also supplies some of the more interesting bass-work I've heard since Between the Buried and Me - Colors, an album which is being cited frequently as a close cousin to this album. Both are more progressive and experimental than those bands' previous outings, and both are near-masterpieces of music. All-in-all, the mixture of technical skill with pure compositional mastery makes this album truly genre-defiant. It should be looked into by anyone who is interested in music.

Album Review 1

A fun idea I found Here. It basically involves finding a random band name, album title, and album cover. Then you try to describe what this cd would most likely be like.

Album Review:
Syd Cain - Warmth On Your Face

A long-time staple of the indie folk scene, this bearded singer/songwriter returns to his previous form; just him, his acoustic, and his raspy vodka voice. A "warming", uplifting album.

As a side-note, I do plan to do real album reviews as music comes out ;-)

Superbowl XLII

Giants won. No I didn't watch it, not even "just for the ads".\
I did, however, see Tom Petty being amazing.

Statue of Liberty

Saturday, me and my family headed out early and caught a ferry in New Jersey to visit the Ellis and Liberty Islands.

From the multitudes of gaping, photosnapping tourists to the slurry of souvenir shops across the islands, to the two near-strip searches we underwent - the romantic notion of this place and its past is gone. This once-great memorial to the freedom and hopes to be found in America, now perverted into a uber-patriotic, self-worshipping altar of consumerism and slackjawed tourism; not to mention the rampant mentality of paranoia and fear looming over the island like the shadow of that colossus that hung above our heads. After a quick stop in at the island eatery, the idyllic photo-ops had to stop for a moment. On the way into the base of the statue, we passed a "no photography" sign, and entered a tent where we were throroughly metal-detected and scanned with a GE mass spectrometer that "sniffed" us all for explosive material. After passing through the tent, we proceeded behind the spiked steel fence to the statue. As for the base of the pedestal, that is now the highest you can go for fear of people attacking the higher portions of the statue, or jumping down her 306 foot drop. This paranoia seems to only serve the purpose of fearmongering, and worsening the situation.

All this political ranting rhetoric aside, don't get me wrong, it was a very fun trip with the family.





And Some humor to close it out:

A birthday shout-out to Cody! He cranks it regularly.
see ya tomorrow, links are yet to come, and who knows what else.

Feb 2

"I'm joinking here now. And it doesn't seem like you accept who I am. We see the world in two different ways, once again. Compatability is an issue."

With that out of the way, I would like to retract the part of my last post about Idioteq.com, I jumped the gun. It's back up and going strong. The rest of that post obviously still holds true.

I'm not currently at home, but for today; a list. Tomorrow; a graph comic, a tyrade about Liberty Island and an account of my times there, and some links to other blogs n' such I enjoy.

Personal favorite albums of the week:

• Protest the Hero - Fortress
• Neutral Milk Hotel - Aeroplane Over the Sea
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - S/T
• Portugal. the Man - It's Complicated Being a Wizard
• Portugal. the Man -  Waiter: "You Vultures"
• Dear Hunter - Act I, II
• The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

I think that's about it, see you tomorrow. Don't invest in housing.

Concerning Music Downloads

First off, Idioteq.com, a favorite site of mine for music, is down. First Albumbase, then Demonoid, then this? no good. On the other side of this particular egg, is the new direction that music distribution is going. Many bands are using myspace, purevolume, last.fm, and similar sites to allow free listening, and sometimes downloading of their music. This has been going on for some time now. However, Radiohead's revolutionary internet sales allowed fans to pay any amount they wanted, including nothing, should they so choose. The band did extraordinarily with sales. Following this, last.fm is beta-testing a service where you can download full tracks from a huge library, Amazon has a feature where you can get free tracks, and many labels and bands are realizing that internet distribution is the wave of the future. only time will tell where this will go, but these are definitely good steps.
And back to the original topic, I hope Idioteq is ok.

Inaugural Post( pt.2 )

because of the 200-word limit;

Bottom 5 for this week:

• Cloverfield commercial spoiling the monster
  
• "Head-on" commercials still being aired
  
• Heath Ledger's funeral picketed
  
• Dennis Kucinich dropping out of the race
  
• Scientology
  

Top 5 for this week:

• This blog
  
• Mythbusters prove that a plane on a treadmill will take off
  
• Ron Paul
  
• Gunpowder Plot anniversary
  
• Cloverfield
  

Inaugural Post( pt.1 )

You may think that the first post of a blog would describe something about the blogger, or the purpose of the blog. You would normally be correct in that assumption, but the fact of the matter is; I'm not sure on either. Instead, there's a few lists I would like to write. My lists will hardly ever be in order.

Metal bands whose name begins with 'b':

• Burzum
  
• Bathory
  
• Beneath the Massacre
  
• Befalgor
  
• Behemoth
  
• Byzantine
  
• Benighted
  
• Black Dahlia Murder
  

Things that suck about diners:

• Waitresses
  
• Bad Coffee
  
• Pickles
  
• The smoking section
  
• The obnoxious people sitting behind you
  
• People who actually use the jukeboxes

Back to the blog, I suppose it will be about current events, technology, music, film, things like that. And I guess alot of lists. I'll sprinkle in some personal stories and such about myself, a high school student from Topton, Pennsylvania. Hopefully, I'll just keep a somewhat interesting blog going. See you tomorrow with; my favorite albums of the moment, movies Iwant to see, maybe some pictures/ stories from my New York trip tomorrow, who knows what I'll get the notion to write about.