Monday, November 26, 2007

Almost Killed Me



It's hard to put thought to pen (or keyboard in this unholy era of technology). I have all these thoughts swirling around, and by the time I launch my word processor, I lose all my thoughts. I am like a deer stuck in the proverbial headlights. I want to tell you to go see No Country for Old Men, and give some sort of swanky and clever and hip review or maybe just a thought and an opinion, but alas I must resort to this; go see the movie. I also want to tell you that you should be listening to the Replacements or the Hold Steady right now. It doesn't really matter what you are doing at the moment, you could be listening to these two wonderful bands. Are you at work? Great! Stop looking at porn and reading email jokes and chain letters and load up iTunes. Go ahead, I'll wait...wait a minute...what if you're not working at the moment? Are you cooking food? Great! You're about to put it in the fridge... go to a record store and buy one of these CD's, or hell, even buy the vinyl if you're old, hip, or an audiophile. Not cooking? Well then, what are you doing? Are you fucking? Great! Pull it out of the doll (don't worry, you can always blow her back up) or your girlfriend or your cousin or whatever/whoever you are currently abusing with your penis and throw on Tim or maybe Boys and Girls in America. Trust me, nothing gets your wife/girlfriend/hooker/sheep in the mood like some good ol' fashioned American rock. Go ahead, I'll wait.

-B
he never saw that girl again


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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The Dark Side of the Moon



I have been listening to Pink Floyd's magnum opus record The Dark Side of the Moon a lot lately. Nonstop. For about six hours today. And seeing as how Pink Floyd is all but over with, I thought I would share some interesting facts that I discovered regarding this wonderful and mysterious record. Enjoy;

You probably own this record: It is estimated that 1 out of every 14 alive today in the U.S. under the age of 50 owns or has owned a copy of this album. Hell, I alone own 7 genuine copies (Shine On collectors box set, original CD, Gold disk CD, 20th Anniversary CD, London import vinyl, U.S. vinyl, and collectors vinyl edition).

It gets around: It is the fifth highest selling record in the world. It sells an average of 9,600 copies a week... to this day.

It isn't going away: The album spent a record 741 weeks (just over 14 years) on the charts, only to be removed by a rule change. It has since been on the charts and has never left. With the Billboard 200 and Pop Catalog charts combined, it has spent more than 1,500 weeks (about 29 years) on the charts.

Coincidentally enough: It only spent 1 week at the #1 spot in the U.S.

Take a look around: The cover artwork, the refracting prism created by George Hardie, is one of the most recognizable pieces of artwork in the world.

Dark Side of the Rainbow: As most of you know, it eerily matches up with The Wizard of Oz, although all band members (except Roger Waters) and the album's producer (Alan Parsons) have claimed none of it was intentional.

Plug in: The record has become a standard for audiophiles to use when testing the quality of audio equipment.

There are plenty more interesting facts regarding this record, and the band as well, as they are certainly one of the most interesting bands around. There is a lot of mystery in their music and artwork, so for anyone who wants to get into Pink Floyd but doesn't know where to start, there is no better place than The Dark Side of the Moon.

-B
there's someone in my head but it's not me.



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Friday, November 16, 2007

Times Like These



As year end approaches and the leaves turn to other worldly colors, the snow begins to fall, and the lights go from white to red and green and blue, I always think about the past year. The opportunities seized and sacrificed, the friends made and lost, the loves tested and thrown away, and it always makes me hope for a better year. A year with less money and more happiness, less hate and more love, less beer and more tea. So for all those chances never taken, friends never called, places never visited, strangers never helped, and flames dwindled to a slowly fading light, I raise my glass of hope-spiced tea and salute you. It truly is times likes these that you learn to live and love again.

-B
I am a brand new sky to hang the stars upon tonight


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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

In With The New



Call me old fashioned, but I like tuning my guitar (or having Cameron do it for me because I am lazy and he is bored). I like the fact that not every note I hit will sound pitch-perfect. I like old fashioned crunch-tone humbuckers run through a Marshall stack, I like replacing tubes and pickups. And I would assume that guitar purists would enjoy the same, but apparently Gibson feels differently. Going on sale December 7th, Gibson is introducing its new Robot Guitar. This guitar tunes the strings for you, by monitoring the pitch from an electric component attached to a second set of pickups. It then sends the information to the auto-rotating tuning pegs, saving the guitarist (and many guitar techs) a lot of time and hassle. But that's part of what I like about my guitar. I can play with the pitches and tuning of the strings. I don't want my guitar to sound perfect. I don't want it to sound like it was created by a machine. I want it to sound real, to sound pure, for better or for worse. But who knows, maybe I am part of a dying breed.

-B
though you swear that you are true I still pick my friends over you.


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Monday, November 12, 2007

Provoked



So I went and saw Henry Rollins on his Provoked tour a few days ago at the Crest Theatre. I know that a lot of people view Rollins as an angry old punk rocker with very strong social and political views, but I don't think people really understand him. First off, he may be angry, but at his spoken word show (at least this tour), he wasn't yelling and screaming into the mic the whole night. He was just talking, like a guy telling interesting stories at the bar. His show was surprisingly funny, and his stories are unlike any others I have heard.

He talked about how he met David Lee Roth and touched on a few music points, but most of his show was about him traveling to places. He stated that he was tired of people judging what it's like to be in Iraq and Iran when they haven't been there, so he just went there. He told the story about how he plotted a trip to numerous countries deemed "dangerous" and met interesting people, and the most amazing thing was that he asked every single person he met what they thought about American's, and they all said they love America. He said he did not once run into a situation where someone treated him bad because he was American, and that includes Iraq and Iran.

It was interesting to hear somebody tell about how, instead of getting their opinions second hand, he just went and discovered it for himself, which I have a lot of respect for him for doing. He is a very interesting character, and is incredibly smart, much smarter than his critics give him credit for. There are some video clips at his website (linked above) if you want to check out a little bit of what I saw, but if you ever get the chance to see him, whether you like him or hate him, take it. It was definitely more interesting (in my opinion) than seeing Jello Biafra doing spoken word (I should be honest, I am a Dead Kennedys fan, not a Biafra fan. I think he is a hypocrite and forms opinions based off biased reporting without doing his homework, despite his fight against censorship).

Last but not least, he told the story of how he was asked to sing for the last show by the Ruts, a band whose music he plays constantly on his show. There are some YouTube clips of the show if you are interested, and definitely check out their music. There will also be a DVD of the concert released in a couple months. Anyway, here is a short YouTube clip of one of Rollins' Provoked dates (bad quality), and I am sure you can find more if you look hard enough. That's about it, good night and stay classy.

-B
try to stop us, it's no use.


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Friday, November 09, 2007

Rainy Night In Soho



It appears that my sickness has gotten the best of me lately. Catatonic from a full-frontal assault by the renegade Snot army, crippled by the dehydrating-and-possibly-hallucination-inducing sinus medication, I remain but a pulse without any sense of coherent thought. However, this is not to say that my phlegm filled days have been for not, for I have dared venture outside the realm of this germ-infested hell hole to experience fresh air and the sweet smell of Sacramento. It is, to put it simply, vomit inducing. I was graced with the pleasure of seeing Henry Rollins at the Crest Theatre on his Provoked tour (thanks again Michelle), which was as funny as it was interesting. Rollins is a sort of a renaissance man who never seems to get the credit he so richly deserves. If you ever get the chance to see one of his spoken word performances, do indeed take it. You will not be disappointed. I apologize for the short post, as I am still battling my infection demons, armed only with amoxicillin, a cup of hot tea and a smile... OK, that's so not true, I never smile. But you get the idea.

-B
covered in a cloak of silence, I hear you in my head


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