Thursday, November 11, 2004

Brighter by the minute
Tee heee, my day was made brighter by the fact that I am in the letters column to this weeks new issue of Walking Dead. I guess if you ever wanted to know my last name you can find out now what it is. 5 points to whomever finds it first.
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Another day another pain
Well I have a nice little gap in the concerts I have been going to, every weekend has been a little too much of a runaround lately. I could really use the break to decrompress/decompose. I'm thinking of going Amp-shopping, I have three guitars but no traditional guitar amp. I've been playing out of my shitty Bass amp for so long, I probably don't know what my guitars should even sound like anymore. Its tough to get moving on it since its a pretty big investment to get a decent one. I think I'll end up getting something near a $300 amplifier so it can compete with a drummer. I have a few friends wanting/willing to get a band started around here. I think I might end up in another metal band though, which is funny because I always end up in metal/hardcore bands even though thats not really what I listen to. Either way I've got the itch to start playing again, its been forever since the last show I've done with my last band, and its something I really enjoy. Even if not that many people show to see you its fun to be on stage and jump around with a guitar (I've played Bass in every band I've been in). Plus I've been listening to all this great music lately and it has me really inspired, I can probably pump out a few good songs.
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Monday, November 8, 2004

synopsis
Man was that a fun show. Well actually it was pretty odd. Anyway:

I drove to Portland from Eugene (2hr drive or so) to go see Say Anything. The venue was in a weird industrial district by the river, and I would've completely missed it if I didn't see the tour bus outside. There were some young'ins outside waiting but we were really early so we stopped and ate at this cute little diner before the show. When we got back in line there were enough people to get a feel for the show, and it was 90% high school emo kids. I try not to get too annoyed with 16 year old concert goers since I was one once, but they just are so damn annoying.

Inside the place was cool, a pretty small space but good for shows like this. They had a ton of old arcade games that I suck at like centipede and vortex. $1 lost to those machines.

Say Anything had a TON of cool t-shirts they were selling, but they had weird kids sizes only for a couple of the ones I liked. There was a cool purple one that said I'm growing legs and had a white person that looks like the street crossing sign with six legs or so. They also had I "Heart" SA shirts and a green one with a naked chick on it. I bought the red shirt with "my feet are so black and blue" and a drawing of severed feet with high heels on. I wanted the orange version but they only had it in youth sizes. When I asked the guy why they had so many tiny shirts he said "emo". All the super skinny boys there made that make sense I guess.

So I went up to the front of the stage with Rachael and pretty much felt old. I was surrounded by tiny little teens that I think were staking out their turf for the headliners. It wasn't so bad because I could see over them easily since I was like a foot taller. Say Anything came on and I was a little suprised just seeing them for the first time. The singer was a little chubby and had weird scruffy hair, and the lead guitarist had longer scruffier hair and a semi-unibrow. You never really know what guys are going to look like after hearing their music so its always suprising.

They opened with Belt, then played the first three songs off the album in a row. They played passing slowly through a vector, yellow cat and finished with alive with the glory of love (my favorite). It sucked that it was so short, but I pretty much expected it to be as short as it was anyway. I think we actually got one more song out of them than they were going to play; the sound guy said they had time for 2 more songs and the guitarist said they had one more left. There were enough fans in the crowd to demand two more, so I think they added yellow cat.

After the show I got a chance to chat with Max by the merch table, so I introduced myself and told him that they were really good (blah, blah). He seemed suprised that I had their CD, so I told him that I've been trying to spread the word about them (I have) to all my friends. I totally missed a chance to plug my friends website when he asked where I had heard fo them, I wish I would've thought of it. When I told him I felt old here, He said he was 20 but he looks a lot older, more like my age.

Anyway it was pretty cool, I stuck around to lose my dollar on videogames and watched the first 2 songs of the next band then left. I didn't really feel like staying for the headliners, so hopefully they were as lame a the cawd seemed to indicate. Now I'm at school sporting my new shirt and hoping they are the headliner next time.
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Saturday, November 6, 2004

Alive with the power of opening acts
Going to see Say Anything tonight (the band) in Portland. Its exciting exceopt I wish they weren't the opening act. Hopefully they play a long set anyway.

Later
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Thursday, November 4, 2004

This was much smarter than anything I could muster


It's hard to know what to say. To see Bush re-elected with the first electoral majority since his father's first election is an emotional blow. He seems to have secured a mandate based on his policies of pre-emptive war, war on the environment, crony capitalism, veiled racism, homophobia and a fundamentalism that would make the Taliban proud. This despite the largest "Get out the Vote" effort in the history of progressive causes in the United States.

I can't tell you what went wrong. The political analysts will be coming forth with their thoughts over the next several weeks. What I can tell you is that our country is split down the middle creating a cultural civil war that is not going away any time soon. It is a fight over values in which there is very little middle ground remaining. The stakes are extremely high for all we hold dear. I do not write to offer answers. I know that we must find ways to inspire ourselves and our allies to strive for a greener and more peaceful world.

I also know that in the history of social movements there have been setbacks and sacrifices far higher than we have yet paid. There have been causes that have taken generations. When you listen to President Bush and feel disenfranchised, when you feel like your government doesn't represent you, when you feel like it is no longer your country, savor that feeling. Before Gandhi, King, Lewis, Parks, Muir and Thoreau went on to do great things, they all felt that way. They felt it, it made them angry, and then it motivated them. Now it's our turn. Feel pissed off. Then together we will turn it into something.

I know that yesterday's setback will weed the summer soldiers from the ranks of the movement. But I also know that the sweetness of a victory is in direct proportion to the enormity of the struggle. I know that our Greenpeace mission is the struggle of our generation and that George Bush is symbolic of all that we oppose. And I know that this struggle is going to be long and bitter, that we will have to work harder and smarter, we will have to make greater sacrifices, and ultimately, the cause for which we fight will be the envy of future generations.

We all need to spend some time being pissed off. Feeling shock. Mourning. Then we have to act. Our cause is just. We can not afford to be defeated, or to be defeatist. Too much is at stake: our planet, our future and the legacy we leave to our children.

John Passacantando,
Executive Director


702 H Street, NW
Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20001
(800) 326-0959



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Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Tired
Wooo, I'm tired. I played basketball this morning at 8:30 and its quite a way to make myself instantly tired for the rest of the day. It is a really nice day out, but it feels ominous because of the elections. I don't think that the president will be decided very soon though, since its so close. Some people think it might take months, but I'm not sure I believe that.

Sadly the best I can hope for if Bush wins is that we don't invade anyone new. It would seem unrealistic since our army is so stretched out in the first place but war in Iraq seemed unrealistic too.

If Kerry wins, the killing in Iraq isn't going to stop and I'm not sure it will get any better either. All I really expect from him is that we get back to having increased environmental protections. The Kyoto treaty would be a huge step, and really there's no reason not to do it since we all have to breathe the same air (ever wonder why so many kids have athsma?).

Well, we'll see if things work out. I've been hearing a lot about the band Blood Brothers. I think I'll go pick up one of their CD's today for some new listenings. Also a Japanese band called Envy, anyone heard of them?
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Friday, October 29, 2004

I hate James
Well, Ok, I don't really hate James at all, but it seems much more dramatic that way. It seems that whenever I reply anything to a Bush/Kerry post or whatever on someones MyO he picks up on it and rants. Even someone with an opposite political view I don't really get bothered by, but he somehow pisses me off every time. He has this idea that he knows everything about the two candidates and any contrary thought is ignorant. First off, its impossible to represent yourself as well informed on the internet unless you care to go into really really long posts (I'm much too lazy for that). If you are James, however, all you have to do is give some blanket statements like "I follow American Politics very closely" or "most Kerry supporters know little about him". Its all so high and mighty like he's some expert and somehow not just an internet nerd (like the rest of us). I know the man is intelligent, but you can still be an ass at the same time. You can also fairly disagree with me about whether war in Iraq will save American Lives (so far killed 1000+) but thinking about the damage we have done to those people makes me sick. In all likelihood over 10,000 people have died there. (I messed up on the HC post and wrote 100,000) Their lives are NOT worth more than ours. Iraqi's have done nothing to hurt us, ever. It all so fucked, I think we might need to see some of the things that are happening as more than just blurbs on TV to snap out of it. Families with soldiers in Iraq might understand better than any of us, but we all need to think about whats happening and put ourselves in their place (Iraqi's). The world is scary, and the USA is a big cause of it.

(to see why I'm so mad, check out Heaven's Clouds Oct. 28th post) Oh, and I don't really like Kerry that much, but I think that even if he is very opportunistic he can see more clearly the pain that war causes (I hope).
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Thursday, October 28, 2004

Crackheads
Y'know I wasn't really even planning on getting the new GTA game, but my wife got it for me when I came home yesterday (she rules). A bit of an early birthday present.

It rules!! I wasn't as excited about Vice City, but this new game is great. It an LA theme, based on the 90's black thug and gangsta days. I've already wen't with a brother and beat down some crack dealers with baseball bats. I've also had to beat down a preist who wouldn't pay one of my hookers on a pimping mission. Man, this one is seriously not for kids though. There are soooo many F-bombs in the radio songs, and lots of the "N-word". I feel cheesy saying N-word, but us whiteys have to live in fear of being racist. Well, mostly in regards to black people in the current culture (why, I have no idea). Anyway, the game is quite fun, you can get tats, eat and get fat and ride a BMX bike around. The beginning has you running from a car full of gun toting gangsta's downhill on a BMX and its fun as hell.

One thing I've always kinda liked about GTA game shas been the soundtracks, the rap music is fun because I never ever listen to rap, but it works well in the game. There's planty of old Snoop, NWA and cube in there as well as 90's alternative rock like STP, Soundgarden etc. The DJ's are hilarious too, as always.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Playing with HTML


Finally getting to figure out how to put photos back into these posts thanks to the HTML tutorial. I'm mad excited to try out my halloween costume, I have the black wig, straight jacket, face paint and I'm going to add a black pair of dickies and my old combat boots. Last year I was aquaman which was a fantastic outfit, but not too scary. Halloween costumes really ought to be scary, but I had been going with the superhero theme for a while. Its good to get back into it. Nobody is going to know who the character is from Batman Beyond, but thats OK. I'm going to wear my costume to school on friday before Halloween, then wear it again at the football game, maybe I'll be on TV, I should set a tape for it. My wife is going to be the HULK, we got some green face-paint and already have two sets of Hulk-hands. A long while ago I did a post about my love for HULK-hands and they're just as super spectacular as they were then. If nothing else they give you an excuse to bash someone, without even having to add your own sound effects!

Any of the few of you going to be dressing up?
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Monday, October 25, 2004

24
Not the television show...I'm turning the grand old 24 on Sunday, you know, the night after devils night.

So even though I'll be off in Seattle watching the Hawks trounce the Panthers, you can all feel free to mail me my birthday present anytime.

So...what are you going to get me? I hate suprises (no I really don't).

This is a pretty chaotic post eh?
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