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

Technorati : God, hate, heal, hurt, love, war

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

Technorati : auto theft, the replacements, vandalism

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

Technorati : FDA, chocolate, fudge

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

Technorati : 40 songs, changed the world, rolling stone

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

Technorati : forbidden places, meat puppets, nirvana, too high to die

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

Technorati : 581 c, astronomy, gliese 581, planets

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

Technorati : pilot, public radio, wired magazine

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

Technorati : RIAA, debbie foster, infringement

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

Technorati : audio, hi-fi, mp3 quality, salon

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

Technorati : detroit, nhl, playoffs, redwings, san jose, sharks

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

Technorati : nine inch nails, trent reznor, year zero

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

Technorati : acquire the fire, battle cry, rolling stone, ron luce