Monday, April 30, 2007

Par For The Course


Human beings are amazing creatures. We are one of only two mammals that have sex for pleasure. We have opposable thumbs, we can see colors, and we walk upright. We are also the only creatures on Earth who are controlled by fear of a God we have never seen, the only creatures willing to murder in anger or for pleasure. We are the only creatures who can read, write, and speak coherently. We can paint pieces of art, compose music, and write poetry. We are also the only creatures on Earth who are willing and able to destroy other countries, create diseases, and spread hate. We can love a person, or we can hate them. We can support them, or use them and throw them away. We can laugh and cry. We can be selfish or giving. Why is it we always choose the worst of the two? We are far better at hurting people than we are at loving them. We are far better are bombing a country than making peace. We are far better at torture than healing. We are the only creatures on Earth that possess the knowledge to do great, wonderful things, to help people and to love them. So why do we always hurt them?


-B
I'm holding on by letting go of you




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Saturday, April 28, 2007

A Bunch Of Savages In This Town


I swear upon everything holy on this earth, if my car gets fucked with one more time I am going to fucking shoot somebody. My car got broken into last night. The fuckers took my CD player face, but not the actual stereo. It gets better, not only did they take that, but they also took some of my favorite CD's that I had in there; The Replacements (Pleased To Meet Me, Don't You Know Who I Think I Was, Tim), Foo Fighters (In Your Honor), Brand New (Your Favorite Weapon), Minor Threat (Discography), X (Los Angeles), Pearl Jam (Live at Easy Street), and Fugazi (13 Songs, Repeater + 3). I am hot a happy person right now.


-B
Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the storm




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Friday, April 27, 2007

The Snozzberries Taste Like Snozzberries


Wow, chocolate lovers are pissed. Apparently, the FDA is imposing new standards on chocolate that has chocolate lovers madder than Willy Wonka at a salad bar. I myself could not care less, as I hate chocolate to the point of awarding it the coveted title of "fruit of the devil". But, if you are a chocolate lover and you feel like having something ridiculous to get mad at and throw your panties in a bunch, here's the article.


-B
So are we playing for keeps, these games begin and they don't end for weeks




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Thursday, April 26, 2007

Like A Rolling Stone


Rolling Stone has compiled a list of 40 songs that changed the world. Now, as a general rule of thumb, I tend to take their "lists" with a grain of salt. I love the magazine, but I sometimes get the feeling that they throw something obscure our way just for the sake of being different. Hipster indie musicians, are you listening? Hello? Anyway, check out the list and tell me what you think. I agree with some, but definitely not all of the selections, just like how I felt with the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" issue they did a while back (which, by the way, I am up to 322 of them so far, 178 more to go). One thing I would like to point out; I am impressed that they gave the hardcore scene its due by throwing the best of the hardcore groups, Black Flag, on the list with what is perhaps their best song.


-B
When you go, would you even turn to say, I don't love you like I did yesterday




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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Forbidden Places


The Meat Puppets have a new album coming out July 17, and this link will take you to an article about it. Also, you can find an mp3 there of their new song, "On The Rise". I am very happy to hear that the Meat Puppets have a new record coming out. I have been a fan of them since the early nineties, and you should be too. For some recommended listening, check out Meat Puppets II, Forbidden Places, and Too High To Die. All great records. I mean hell, even Nirvana played their songs on their Unplugged record ("Lake Of Fire", "Oh Me", and "Plateau"), so they're damn sure good enough for you. Yeah, I said it, what are you going to do about it? Huh? Punk.


-B
Hours are lost in forbidden places




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No Signs Of Intelligent Life


Astronomers claim to have found a habitable planet. They claim that it possesses Earth-like temperatures, and resembles Earth in its terrain. The only problem is that it is 120 trillion miles away, has nearly twice as much gravity as earth, may or may not be either covered in ice, water, or mountains, has a much dimmer red dwarf for a sun, orbits the red dwarf every 13 days as opposed to 365, oh, and it may or may not only have light on one side, leaving the other side completely in darkness. Oh yeah, I forgot, it is also impossible to reach within a human life time, much less reach at all considering we do not have the technology available to make it there, much less back. No wonder this comes from the people who claim Mars is habitable for humans. Now don't get me wrong, I am all for researching new planets to colonize. Especially with the way we are destroying our planet, seeing as how we got nowhere else to go. I'm not trying to piss on anyone's parade or anything, but come on guys; do we really need to get this excited over something we know absolutely nothing about, other than it might be habitable, once all the aforementioned dilemmas are dealt with? Really?


-B
You're just a sad song, with nothing to say




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The Host With The Most


Have you ever wanted to have your own radio program? I don't know about you, but I have. Well publicradiorequest.com is hosting their own talent show, or as they call it "Hostiness" search, for amateur public radio hosts. The winner will get $10,000 and a chance to create a pilot tape to be considered for development into their own show. The contest revolves around music, but check out this link for all the details. I am going to create my own little 2 minute tape and submit it. I mean, what the hell, why not. Anyway, check it out, and also check out Wired magazine's music blog, there's some pretty interesting stuff on there.


-B
I want a range life




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The Biggest Bully Around


Apparently the RIAA isn't as badass as they think they are. They have now been forced to pay the legal fees for Debbie Foster, who successfully fought off their lawsuit against her infringement. Here is a link to the original article that is not quite as easy to read as the first link posted above. Hopefully, this will force the RIAA to rethink their "sue everybody" tactics, especially now that they are on pissing some people off with their bullying tactics that they have cleverly disguised as "settlements". Fuck the RIAA. And for that matter, fuck Lars Ulrich, just for being the asshole that started this whole mess.


-B
Do you remember the time I knew a girl from Mars




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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The Sounds Of Science


Here is an interesting article I found on Salon.com regarding sound quality versus convenience. The author goes on to state that he himself cannot, on average, distinguish the difference between a song recorded in hi-fi sound and its less-quality digital format replica. I myself can, as can most musicians and audiophiles that I know. The first thing I learned in my music courses is that it takes a difference, plus or minus, of 3 decibels for the human ear to notice a change, however some musicians and audiophiles are able to notice a change in sound at two decibels. This is due to their ears being slightly more attuned to sound, and most musicians have this capability (excluding those who blew their eardrums out trying to make their amps go to 11, of course). What I found interesting is his reasoning on why people are willing to sacrifice good quality sound, and I agree with his assessment. Most people care about convenience, not quality, and are willing to make that sacrifice, thereby reinforcing the fact that humans are naturally lazy. Why do you think McDonalds is still around? I highly doubt anyone actually eats their food because it tastes good, but if you're tired and sick of traffic and don't want to cook but are looking for a quick two-lane drive-thru with minimal human interaction and immediate gratification, there really is no better place. Anyway, here's a link to the article that the Salon author based his piece on, check them both out, interesting stuff.


-B
Stepping over what now towers to the sky




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Fuck The Sharks!


So it appears that my boys in Detroit are going up against those pansies in San Jose for the second round of the Playoffs. Too bad, San Jose almost had a shot at the Cup. Guess now we will never know, will we? In other news, fuck the Sharks! Go Wings!


-B
Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country's been doing to you




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Friday, April 20, 2007

Another Version Of The Truth


I just picked up the new Nine Inch Nails record, Year Zero, and I have to say, it's...interesting. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of NIN, but their new stuff takes getting used to. Year Zero is pretty much a mix between The Fragile and With Teeth. It isn't anything like Reznor's older albums, so those of you who heard that and hoped it would be are about to be disappointed. But give it a few spins; it's slowly growing on me. And if nothing else, there's all this weird marketing bullshit that is at least kind of interesting.


-B
I got my violence in hi-def ultra realism




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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

What Would Jesus Bomb?


This kind of shit pisses me off. Disguised as religious freedom, we allow our kids to be brainwashed and desensitized. This fucker tells these kids that not only is it acceptable to hate people who are different (i.e., gay, non-Christian, listen to music, drink Starbucks...) but that they should militarily organize and "get violent". Yes, parents are actually allowing this guy to theologically seduce their kids into hatred and violent religious actions. Sounds to me like someone has already cast the first stone. Anyway, it's an interesting article, but unfortunately the link doesn't show the whole article, but if it sounds interesting to you, check out the latest issue of Rolling Stone, where you can read the whole thing.


-B
All the kids are right




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Monday, April 16, 2007

Mother Night


I was really sad to hear that Kurt Vonnegut died. He was an amazing writer, and had a sense of dark humor that allowed him to present the world in a way we could all understand. If you want to check out some of his best work (and you should), I suggest Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night, and Cats Cradle. He was one of my favorite authors, and he will be missed.


-B
We fed the lions to the Christians.




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Friday, April 13, 2007

I Makes It With The Majiks


Apparently, Pintsize and I share the same type of art skills. Check out the rest of Questionable Content, although I feel obligated to warn you, it deals a lot with indie music. I myself am really sick and tired of hearing about indie music. Don't get me wrong, some of it is good, I just don't understand how everybody can all of the sudden be so god damn obsessed with it that they needed to make a fucking law for it. Oh, and happy Friday the 13th, watch out for this guy. If you see him wondering around, just run away.


-B
So drinks to the skies, and blood to your eyes




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Thursday, April 12, 2007

What Democracy Looks Like


I love this shit. I can't help but laugh at the redundantly hypocritical ways of the GOP. These fucking idiots are bemoaning the fact that the new "do nothing" Congress is not allowing "open rule" bills to go to the floor. If you don't understand what that means, read the article or go back to school. All this bitching is coming from the party that refused to listen to anyone who held a difference of opinion on what they believe is right, or more accurately, what they believe God tells them is right. God, or Bush, or Cheney, or whoever the fuck else they want to throw their support into in order for them to reject blame for massive fuck-ups without losing any sleep at night.


-B
Now that this curse is in my blood, the time of redemption has begun




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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Funny Shit


This is some funny shit. Here is a snippet of the article, but I highly suggest you read the whole thing, as it is damn funny and oh-so-accurate. Also, here is a link to his blog. Thanks dad.


"Upon the hot heavy-petted hard drive inside the overworked MacBook Pro on which I am typing these words right now sits a rather wide variety of video clips -- homemade, semi-pro and otherwise -- of a nature that would surely make an evangelical congregation scream and their pastor secretly swoon and a few adult-film companies send me a nice fruit basket as a personal thank-you. I know, big shock." - Mark Morford


-B
He crawls like a worm from the bird




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Starlight


It's hard to find a good show nowadays. Most of the time, it is a good performance but lacking aesthetically, or a rough performance with too many visuals. Only twice, out the hundreds of concerts that I have attended, have I walked away impressed. Only twice has a show completely blown me away, incorporating just the right amount of audio perfection, set list selection, and visual performance. The first time was U2, during the Walk On tour. The second time was last night in San Francisco, with Muse. Playing for 2 hours, with 2 encores, Muse blew away virtually every other performer I have seen in every category. I never really thought about how amazing of a musician Matthew Bellamy is until I saw him live. He is able to get the sounds out of his guitar live, with perfection, that I thought were computer generated on the album. And he is even better on piano, sometimes during the show jumping right out from the piano to swing his guitar around and jump into an amazing riff. This show was intense. If you get the chance to see Muse, don't miss it. You will not be disappointed.


-B
I will be chasing a starlight, until the end of my life




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Saturday, April 07, 2007

The Devil And Daniel Johnston


For those of you looking for an interesting documentary to watch, and have already seen Hype! and The Year Punk Broke, I highly suggest The Devil and Daniel Johnston. Daniel Johnston is an artist/musician originally from Sacramento, and if you have not heard of him, allow me to explain a little. He is comparable, in a way, to Syd Barrett. He possesses genius masked by madness and sickness. He has been in and out of mental institutions, and is infamous for his obsession with the devil, most notably with his attempts to attack Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) on the streets of New York because he feared the devil had possessed him, when in reality Shelley was afraid Daniel would hurt himself or someone else and tried to send him home to his parents. This event is detailed in the film, but I must warn you, the film is a bit of a sad one. Watching it gave me a sense of what it must have been like for the guys in Pink Floyd to watch Syd Barrett slowly be consumed by his own demons. You are literally watching a person's mind decompose and sink into madness, and there is nothing you can do. It made me feel a little sad to know that someone with so much talent could be so tortured with mental illness, but it appears that in the last few years he has shown big improvements, and is even touring and promoting his artwork. Anyway, check it out, as it is an interesting film and it helps shed a little light on this underground legend.


-B
Shine on you crazy diamond.




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Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Fenris Returns


I have been a fan of web comics for a long time now, since 1999 or so, and one of my favorite comics is back (sort of). The original comic was titled Aikida, which has gone in and out of publication a few times, but was always enjoyable, one of my favorites in fact. Well, it seems Fenris is back with his new comic, The Mail Order Bride. Check out 10:47 Productions page here and give it a look. It's still pretty new but give it some time; Fenris always manages to deliver the goods. Once he posts the archives for Aikida, I highly suggest you check those out too, they are classic in every sense of the word. Oh, and go Wings!


-B
September girls, I don't know why.




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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Go Wings!


This is what I hate about the New Jersey Devils. Besides the fact that their fans suck and they boo'd Giguere when he won the award in the Stanley Cup series against New Jersey. The coach is a fucking idiot. He has had 7 coaches in the past 8 years. He fires these guys who get them to the playoffs, that way if they win the Cup, he gets the credit. I hope they get eliminated in the first round.


-B
I never knew that everything was falling through.




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