20 August 2009

Watch Alice, Wasted, Wash Her FACE!

Omigod! Been listening to a lot of AFI (hoping to drum up some excitement for Cash Love) and I came accross these videos. The first one Mandar showed me years ago. They're hilarious.

You see, brilliant as Davey can be, he often is hard to understand. These are interpretations of what he's saying in their songs. Hilarious!







18 August 2009

Maudie's Here!

History really does repeat itself. This excerpt from an episode of All in the Family (featuring Bea Arthur as Maude) really speaks to today. Hopefully history does repeat itself in the form of televison... I'd kill to have a program today that tackled serious issues today like All in the Family did in the 1970s.

16 August 2009

Albums '09: Past & Future

So 2009 so far has been a very good year for music that I like. First I'm gonna talk about CDs that have come out this year already that were good in my opinion. Then I'll movie on to some upcoming albums from some of my favorite artists.

LaFee ~ Ring Frei ★★★½

German "pop" band LaFee released their 4th studio album in January. I say "pop" because they are considered that in Germany however I myself would call them rock (or at the very least soft rock). Ring Frei is just as good as their previous albums and didn't dissapoint. Not stellar. But darn good. The stuff that was good was good but the stuff to skip was easily skipable. Oh and if you haven't heard of Lafee, the lead singer is female and is eighteen, believe it or not.
Download: Scheiß Liebe, Eiskalter Engel, Lieber Gott


Hoobastank ~ For(n)ever

I was happy with their first CD. I really liked their second CD. I absolutely fell in love with their third CD. I used to have a huge crush on openly atheist lead singer Doug Robb. What the fuck happened! I hated this CD. It just sounded like a b-side collection. Very unhappy. Boo!


Utada Hikaru ~ This Is The One ★★★★½

Simply one of the best CDs of the year. Her first english CD was amazing and this just blew it out of the water. I haven't fallen in love with an R&B album like this in a long time. I have a Pavlov's dog association with this CD because I was listening to it all the time while reading Carl Sagan's cosmos... but that's just random. So what keeps her from getting a perfect five stars? The last track, Me Muero. Perfect right up 'til the end. Strangely Utada herself says that's her favorite song. Oh well. An amazing R&B album by and amazing Japanese artist.
Download: Taking My Money Back, This One (Cry Like A Child), Poppin'


Marilyn Manson ~ The High End of Low ★★★½

Twiggy is back and it's easy to tell. A lot of people call this album 100x better than his last album Eat Me, Drink Me but I disagree (because I fell in love with Eat Me, Drink Me). Like LaFee's CD this CD has some amazing tracks but it also has some shitty ones. Luckily there are a lot of songs so once you weed out the bad ones you still have a near full album. Is he shocking anymore? No. Is he still a good artist. Absolutely. Manson will always be one of my favorites.
Download: Blank & White, I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell, We're From America


Taking Back Sunday ~ New Again ★★★★★

They kicked out (or he left) their lead guitarist. Did much change...? Nope. Why does this CD get a perfect score? Because I love every single track and don't skip anything. Fantastic album. The best CD that's come out this year.
Download: Swing Swing, Where My Mouth Is, Carpathia

Emir ~ Ben Sen Olamam ★★★★½

A new artist. An amazing artist. A clone of Tarkan (I swear!). Not only is he just like Tarkan, he was produced and written by Tarkan. If this doesn't get your seat wet nothing will (unless your a heterosexual male, lol). This CD just screams tarkan and I can listen to it all the way through. Not a perfect score because there are some 'ok' tracks. But overall, fantastic. I want more Emir!
Download: Ben Sen Olamam, Tornistan, Şeklim Başka

Cobra Starship ~ Hot Mess ★★★★½

Another near perfect CD. This one has one not-so-great track but the rest is pure gold. Be prepared to go feel like you're in a warp-zone between 1988 and 2009 with this gem. The best thing Cobra has going for them is a really unique sound. I highly suggest this CD even if you don't like thier first single "Good Girls Go Bad" as I would call that their second to worst song on the album. Perhaps a guilty pleasure, but hey, if it's good, it's good.
Download: You're Not In On The Joke, Hot Mess, Living In The Sky With Diamonds

~ So that brings us up to date. There is still a lot of new shit to come, see below. ~

Shakira ~ She Wolf
First Single - She Wolf
Release Date: Oct 5, 2009
Confidence - ★★★★★

First things first, I have always loved everything that has come out of Shakira. She is absolutely my favorite female performer of all time. Her new track, She Wolf (which is nothing like anything she's done before) is amazing. I cannot stop listening to it (and the Spanish version, "Loba" is just as good). I have complete confidence that I will love this entire album. Oh, and if you're a straight male and this video doesn't make you cream your pants... check your dick!!!


Sarbel ~ Untitled
First Single - Mou Paei
Release Date: Late Fall
Confidence - ★★★★

I have pretty high confidence in this CD because Sarbel's albums have gotten progressively better over time. This next CD will be his fourth... and yes, he is a bit of a guilty please. I'm still listening to his last CD, Kati San Esena, like it was brand new. Oh and yes, the video is cheesy. But he looks pretty in it and I love the song.


t.A.T.u. ~ Happy Smiles (English Edition)
First Single - Snowfalls
Release Date: Late Fall
Confidence - ★★

The confidence in this is low for two reasons. First of all, it's probably just going to be an English version of their last CD. Second, ... that's if we ever actually even get this CD. I've had to put up with a lot of crap from them, saying this, doing that. Oh well. I hope it's good.


AFI ~ Crash Love
First Single - Medicate
Release Date: Sept 29, 2009
Confidence - ★
Oh boy. Here we go. First things first, I love AFI. My absolutely favorite album of all time is their "Sing The Sorrow." Hands down. Send the competition home. But... AFI has been jerking me around a lot for the last two years. They announced an EP that never happened. They announced 2 music videos that never happened. I went to one of their concerts and they played for about 32 minutes while their opener Sick Of It All played for an hour and a half. They released a live DVD without a CD version ... oh wait, no, they released a CD too... a year later. So here we are, about 45 days away from a new CD. I hate the title of the CD. It doesn't sound anything like AFI to me. More like Miley Cyrus. Speaking of that. Check out the album cover here. Fucking ugly and gay and shitty. I hate it. And now I've listened to the first minute and a half of their first single and I am anything but impressed (despite how much Davey keeps shouting to the rooftops about how epic this CD is going to be). Oh and did I mention they had a 'Crash Love' t-shirt out a whole year ago and the CD still isn't out yet. Sounds to me more like Cash Love than Crash Love. Oh and I've seen a track-listing for the album and I'm not gonna lie, I'm not impressed.
What do I hope? I hope I love the CD. I hope Medicate is a bad sheep and the album as a whole is amazing. I hope it's just as epic as Davey is saying it is. I hope I love love love it but I cannot pretend to have any confidence in AFI right now. Prove me wrong boys. Please... prove me wrong.

Rammstein ~ Untitled
First Single - Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da
Release Date: Late Fall
Confidence - ★★★
The first single is really good, not amazing. Their last CD is was pretty good but not amazing. I hope the CD is great. They've been gone for a while so I hope that means they've been working hard!

3 Days Grace ~ Life Starts Now
First Single - Break
Release Date: Sept 22, 2009
Confidence - ★★★★
Their last CD was amazing and I can only hope they do just as good.


Atreyu~ Congregation of the Damned
First Single - Unknown
Release Date - October 27, 2009
Confidence - ★★★★★
I give this five stars because their last CD was perfect. It falls as my second favorite album of all time (a very close second to the aforementioned "Sing The Sorrow" by AFI). I could almost give this confidence four and a half stars because they're heading out on tour with Douchebag Undead this year. Lucky for me, I know that the band themself did not pick them, their record company did. Not to mention, I love the album title and the song titles seem very promising.


Tarkan ~ Gelenek (Rumored)
First Single - Unknown
Release Date - Late Fall (Rumored)
Confidence - ★★★★★
Everything that comes out of Tarkan is pure gold. He shits diamonds. My only hope is that the CD really does come out this year but as of yet we haven't had anything concrete. The only thing that is not going for Tarkan is how amazingly perfect his last CD Metamorfoz was. How do you go up when you've reached perfection?

15 August 2009

The 200th Post! Woo! Check Out This Video!



What I wanna see is the bloopers to this video...

14 August 2009

I Must Have A Twin...


Mandar and I went into town yesterday (to get Starfy and a milkshake) and I was asked the strangest thing while in the drive-thru at the ... um, drive-thru.

"No cheesy today!?"

I was like... "Um... excuse me?"

Apparently she swore that I came through all the time and got cheese covered fries. I hadn't been to that drive-thru for months. And I've never purchased cheese covered fries.

But this wasn't the first time. About a year ago at the Wal-Mart down the street I was abruptly stopped by some tall black guy who said to me, "Hey! Mark! Long-time no see!"

I was like, "Um... I'm not Mark."

He laughed, "Oh man, you're such a kidder. You and Sabrina still together?"

WHAT THE FUCK!

So I'm convinced I have a twin in town.

...

And what's the point of the titties above? Well, on Penn & Teller's they have tits in every single episode and it works for them... Plus when I typed in 'twins' in google this image came up.

13 August 2009

Child For Sale! (Short Rant)

This'll be short. Two months ago before summer quarter began I purchased my textbook for my Child Psychology class. It's my final GEC (general educational class). The textbook was $100.

First day of class I asked my professor, Dr. Kreisher, very sternly, "Are we going to actually use the textbook."

She replied, "Oh yes, absolutely."

So I pulled off the plastic wrap (which meant said textbook could not be returned for full price) and opened to chapter 1.

After two weeks of class, I hadn't used the book even once. Her class was completely lecture based. So I left the book at home as it was weighing down my bookbag. I assumed at some point I would need it.

After the full 8-week class period, I never used the book even ONCE!!!

So I go to the campus bookstore to try to sell it back, hoping for ten of fifteen bucks at the least. Nope. Nothing. They have a new addition.

So I'm fucking stuck with a book that I will never ever ever use.

Grrr.

12 August 2009

We'll Drink And Dance And Sweat Right Through Our Pants



So there is this Saloon in town where all the hicks go. I don't know how the subject came up but a friend of Mandar's mentioned that this specific Saloon openly breaks the smoking ban. I confirmed this with several people at my work.

In Ohio smoking inside any public building is illegal. All bars, all restraurants, all saloons must be smoke-free. You're welcome to smoke outside though.

But not at this bar. This bar is defying the government and letting people smoke. Not just letting them smoke, encouraging them to smoke! Why, you ask?

In defiance of Obama. The hicks are breaking a state-wide smoking ban that went into effect during the Bush administration.

::facepalm::

By the way, if you drive by said Saloon today you'll fine a for-sale sign in front.

11 August 2009

The Guiltiest Pleasure Of All

I've been kinda absent of blogging but I have several blogs planned to come. Tomorrow is my last day of summer quarter so I'll have some extra time to blog.

So as for my guilty pleasure... I can't even talk about it. It's adorable. Watch below...



I'm going to go buy it after dinner tonight. Yes, I know. Bad. But it's just so god damn cute!!!

06 August 2009

Clash of the (FALSE!) Gods


This'll be short. So there's this new show on the History Channel called Clash of the Gods. I've only seen the first episode which is all about Zues.

I really expected them to simply talk about the old pagan religions and never mention modern religion, specifically Christianity.

Oh no. Not only do they mention Christianity. They often treat it as if it's 100% true and accurate. For example, "Zues was seen as the one and only all powerful God... and this was two thousand years before Christ." Pfffst.

However, it's not all bad. They do not shy away from mentioning the connections between pagan myths and Christian and Jewish myths. Like comparing Zues's birth story to Jesus's.

Things like this are mentioned, "Hades is like our hell" or "Their creation myth is what the Greeks had before the availability of the book of Genesis."

Really!?

It's actually quite schizo. I can't figure out from where this show's viewpoint is coming from. It's a pretty good show and is informative... but sometimes it will rub you in the wrong direction in it's clear attempt not to piss of Christians. Funny, I notice that they don't bend over backwards to appease Muslims? Funny...



Oh and I just gotta throw in this quote, "Some believe that this statue [found in Dion, Grece] could be a missing link between Greece's worship of many Gods, and the single-god philosophy of Christians and Jews... Greek's were embracing the idea of one god before the arrival of Christianity."

They seem to be treating all other religions as stepping stones to the truth, Christianity. What the fuck? As if religions have been evolving toward the perfection of the Jesus cults. ::snort::

I myself don't consider Christianity to be a single-god religion but a three god religion (father, son, ghost). I think it's convenient that they don't mention that Islam is a single-god religion... and that's the #1 first tenant of Islam (there is no other God besides Allah and Muhammad was his prophet).

Hey, maybe religions are evolving. Many gods to three gods to one god to no gods!