3 posts in a row???

yeah, sorry 'bout that. i had a bit of time to kill and some things to write about, so i gave ya three new posts in a row, so keep reading down further.

six things about me

my pal, abby, "tagged" me and is making me write six things about myself. she won't let up until i do it, so here goes :)

1. i absolutely love horror movies. any kind is fine: bloody as heck, scary as crap, b-rated as all get-out, violent, funny-scary; it don't even matter. but mostly, i love the ones from the 50's-60's-70's, and mostly the ones that star vincent price. he was a true genius of the genre. the first movie i saw with him in it was the fall of the house of usher in 6th grade english class on a 16mm reel-to-reel projector. i absolutely fell in love and have not turned back since.

2. i love listening to music. i do it constantly, probably at least 12 hours a day, in the car on the way to work, all day at work, on the way home, while doing yardwork and housework, whenever. some of my current favorites that make regular rotation in the car and ipod are devendra banhart, elliott smith, john frusciante, and the hives. there are so many more, but these are the ones i keep going back to over and over again lately (and in the next two months, add the mars volta to the list again when their new album the bedlam in goliath comes out).

3. i love playing with my daughter, mina. she is so much fun and has given me full license to be immature and act like a kid again. and now my wife thinks it is cute instead of annoying.

4. i love to run, and would like to one day train for and run in a marathon. it just seems like a great thing to accomplish. a normal dude like me can't really say he has done amazing things in his life (i guess that is all in one's perspective), but this is one thing i would like to accomplish before i head off to that great bacon cheeseburger and french fry stand in the sky (or underground, or in my mausoleum - who really truly knows what happens after you die?).

5. i could give a crap about reaching 30. i feel no different, and i will still feel no different when i hit 40, 50, and 60 (except for being more tired and having to take more pills and stuff). it is all in how you live your life and not falling into the trappings of how getting older means not having as much fun. screw that, man. i will be the 65 year old dude at a concert with a bunch of 15 year olds. i don't give a crap (and the fact that i said that i don't give a crap twice in regards to this topic without even realizing it proves that i really don't give a crap - there goes my short-term memory...).

and finally...

6. family and friends are very important to me. my wife and daughter are the best. right now, they are upstairs and i can hear mina speaking some rambling rubbish that sounds kind of like this: "mommy! why sly zy my fy zly", and anna is saying "oh yeah? what else?" and the conversation keeps on going. i am about to go join them. my family (mom, dad, brothers, sisters) are great. we always have a great time when we are able to be together. my few close friends are the coolest. i love hanging out with them and just plain doing nothing (or playing video games/watching tv). i am a lucky guy...

update on nyx

here is a photo of nyx's healing progress from her surgery. this is right at the one week mark. notice the redness is gone, the fur is growing back in, and it is looking great. she gets the staples/stitches out this coming week at her 2 week checkup. she is walking well on it and just started walking slowly up and down the stairs yesterday. she is doing quite well. one more month 'til her other leg gets operated on... what a tuff girl!

camping trip with my brothers and dad

last friday night, i went on a camping trip with my 3 brothers, my brother-in-law, and my dad at cheraw state park. let me start by saying i have not been camping in at least 16 years, so i was not really looking forward to it (i have never really liked camping - i am allergic to nature). to make matters worse, we had reserved a space in the "primitive" camping area, which means no showers, no bathrooms. oh boy...



of course, we had to pick the coldest night of the year. i think it dropped down to the upper 20's that night, but we slept comfortably enough in the 8 man tent my brother, scott, brought. when i first got there with my dad, it was already around 8:00pm, so we all just sat around the campfire, talking inappropriately, roasting marshmallows, and making s'mores (mmmm...). we turned in around 12:30am and woke the next morning around 7:30am. throughout the day, we did awesome things, like play a game of football, play texas hold 'em, and play risk (the world domination board game).



we rounded off the afternoon with a 2.5 mile hike through the trails and around the lake. there was one part that was absolutely beautiful. there was a dam that created a waterfall that led down into a stream. a bridge allowed us to walk over the waterfall. with all of the leaves changing colors, and the lack of modern-day city noise/traffic, it was a little piece of heaven.



all in all, i gotta say, i had a pretty sweet time. spending time with my brothers and dad, talking rudely, eating loads of food (we had enough food to stay out there for two weeks), and freezing our butts off made for a truly great camping trip. my dad, my brother ben, and i headed back home that evening, while the other 3 stayed out there one more night (forget that!). i think we are going to try to start an annual tradition of this (isn't that what you do when you get old? start annual traditions?).

today at monster!

just a quick note:

i stopped by monster music and movies today and picked up two cds. one brand-spankin' new, the other a few years old (but i just found out about it). the first one is the new one from the hives called the black and white album. woo hoo!!! i have been looking forward to this one. i have not given it a good solid listen yet, but what i have heard has been stellar.

the other disc i picked up is called the new original sonic sounds in band name and album title. it is mark arm, steve turner, and dan peters from mudhoney with two other dudes covering an album's worth of songs by a mid-60's garage band named the sonics. haven't even laid ears on this one yet, but i am quite sure i will love it. the members of mudhoney never disappoint.

and in other mudhoney news, that great indie label sub pop has just released a limited edition, vinyl only live LP called live mud. it is a recording of mudhoney in mexico city on december 10, 2005. i went to sub pop's website to purchase, but alas, it is limited to only 500 copies, and they are sold clean out. bummer, you say? ha! ebay, i say! i won a sealed copy on ebay this very afternoon for $11.99 plus 4 bucks shipping. the bonus with this one as well is that sub pop was sweet enough to include a code for downloading the whole album in mp3 format. now, i can load it on the 'ol ipod. a good day indeed in my world.

poor nyx! first day home after surgery...

as some of you may know, one of our pups, nyx, injured her leg a while back. after a few vet visits, we were referred to a veterinary surgeon to have her looked at further, for she had started hobbling on both legs. after they looked at her, they determined that she had torn some ligaments in both of her knees, and both knees would require surgery if she were to ever heal. bummer!

what basically happened is that she tore some ligaments in both knees, causing the femur to slide away from the tibia when she applies too much pressure. the vet compared it to an ACL injury in a human. we dropped her off yesterday morning bright and early at 7:15 am for her first surgery, this one on her right knee. the type of surgery that was done is called a lateral suture technique. what the surgery accomplishes is the removal of any torn/shredded ligament particles, as well as the removal of any torn portion of the cushiony material, called the meniscus, from between the femur and the tibia. Then, the torn ligaments are replaced by a heavy gauge monofilament line to hold the two bones together, preventing them from sliding away from each other again.



the surgery, although quite expensive, was a great success. we currently have her on pain medication and antibiotics, but the road is long from over. we will have to help her with some daily exercises and stretches, and make sure she does not put too much pressure on it too early. she has a 2 week checkup, followed by a 4 and 6 week checkup, after which, if everything is still looking good, we will schedule her surgery for her other leg, and start all over again.



she is pretty out of it right now, but i think that is the medication. i will try to post pictures here every few days noting her progress. she sure is a trooper. she is still quite young at just under 7 years old. and she was our first pup that we could call our own, so we want her around for a long time. way to be tough, girl! ruff!

chris cornell at the house of blues - 11/07/07

YES! last night, my wife and i experienced an incredible show at the house of blues in myrtle beach. chris cornell completely obliterated my ears with a most rockin' show (just after i recovered from that mudhoney show last weekend...). i will get to mr. cornell in a moment though. the opening band was a three piece from new york called earl greyhound. they put on an enjoyable show, very bluesy, soulful rock music. kinda gritty at times, but in a sexy way, you know? the female bass player and the male guitar player shared vocal duties and harmonized nicely throughout. the drummer was quite good as well, and he sure loves those cymbals! {!crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!} check 'em out.

chris cornell came out with a full band of two guitarists, a bass player, and a drummer. this tour is to promote his brand new solo album carry on, which is a great mixture of hard-driving rock and soulful tunes like only he can pull off. as i said, the show was excellent, and was sort of like a greatest-hits-by-bands-that-chris-cornell-has-fronted show. he covered all eras of his previous bands' works, from soundgarden's louder than love and badmotorfinger to temple of the dog's self-titled album to audioslave's three albums. here are the songs that i remember hearing, in no particular order:


photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone

doesn't remind me, outshined, whole lotta love (led zeppelin cover), cochise, show me how to live, what you are, no such thing, hunger strike, spoonman, billie jean (yes, the michael jackson song), you know my name, loud love, slaves and bulldozers, ty cobb, and burden in my hand. and in the middle of all of that, he played the following tracks, with just him and an acoustic guitar: can't change me, thank you (another led zeppelin cover), like a stone, call me a dog, fell on black days, and he finished off the acoustic set with i am the highway, where the band joined him halfway through the song to lead back into more rockin' songs. the highlight of the evening for my wife, i know, was when they played seasons, from the singles sountrack.


photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone

seem like a lot of songs? that's because they played for nearly three hours. "what???", you say? it is true. they came out at 9:00 and left the stage at 11:45. all during the show, the guitar picks were raining on the crowd, so if you were there, and you didn't get one, you must have been sleeping in the corner (anna got hit with two in the face, me with one). it is hard to believe that after all these years of constant recording and touring that his voice has held up so well (he sounds better than ever, and doesn't even flinch at hitting the high notes that he was hitting in the late 80's). he is also still in great physical shape, which most of the ladies in the crowd were admiring. an all-out excellent show. if you get a chance to see him on this tour, don't hesitate. i never forgot how much i love old soundgarden and temple of the dog, but seeing him perform these songs live took it to a whole new level for me. did i mention we got a guitar pick?

mudhoney at the 40 watt club in athens, ga

holy crap! i just saw mudhoney at the 40 watt club in athens, ga last night. i took the trip alone, and it was a long drive, but it was so worth it! there were 2 opening bands (both were mostly metal sounding), the dumps and 300 cobras. they were both pretty decent. check out their myspace pages.

mudhoney rocked. plain and simple. they came out at around 12:15 and played 'til 2:00, with two encores. it was intense. i was front row, slightly-right-of center. they started the show with you got it (keep it out of my face) followed by suck you dry. after that, i can't remember the exact order, but they certainly played a great mix of classics and stuff from their latest album, under a billion suns. here are the tracks i remember distinctly:


photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone

touch me i'm sick, the money will roll right in, sweet young thing (ain't sweet no more), hate the police, burn it clean, if i think, in 'n out of grace, mudride, need, into the drink, here comes sickness, it is us, where is the future, hard-on for war, and a few others that i cannot think of.


photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone

these guys have been around since '89 or '90, but you wouldn't have been able to tell. mark arm's voice still sounds fantastic, and steve turner is still ripping it up on guitar. dan peters played a face-melting drum solo, and was solid throughout. i will definitely be going out of my way to see them again next time they come around. it was such a great show, one of the best i have seen in quite a while.

smashing pumpkins...

my wife, anna, and i headed to atlanta this past week to see the smashing pumpkins at the fabulous fox theatre. when we got there, and checked into the hotel, we called the venue to see what time doors open. we were informed that the show had been canceled due to illness in the band.

we were sad.

the shining and rob zombie! a very good tuesday.

this past tuesday was an extra exciting one for me. not only did rob zombie's live cd, entitled simply zombie live, come out, but a 2-disc special edition of my-favorite-movie-of-all-time-ever, the shining, also came out. i hurried out and bought both the moment i got off of work.



the rob zombie live album is nothing short of amazing. the sound quality is excellent, the music kills, as always, rob's voice sounds so awesome, even though i can't figure out for the life of me how he screams like that the whole show; just a great album. hopefully a live dvd will follow shortly as well. zombie and the band cover lots of ground in this set. you hear songs from white zombie's la sexorcisto and astro creep: 2000, and songs from all three of rob's solo records. here is a complete track listing:

sawdust in the blood
american witch
demon speeding
living dead girl
more human than human
dead girl superstar
house of 1000 corpses
let it all bleed out
creature of the wheel
demonoid phenomenon
supercharger heaven
never gonna stop (the red, red kroovy)
black sunshine
superbeast
devil's rejects
the lords of salem
thunderkiss '65
dragula



as for the shining, i thought i had all i was ever going to get for this movie, with the dvd release in 2001 that had a great documentary shot by stanley kubrick's daughter, vivian kubrick. this release, along with it being presented in widescreen format, adds a second disc with three additional featurettes: view from the overlook: crafting the shining, the visions of stanley kubrick, and interview with wendy carlos, composer. i usually don't get excited about all the so-called bonus footage on dvds these days, because it usually takes up an extra hour of my precious sleep time after the movie is over, and i don't hardly ever get anything from it except maybe a few minor laughs. with this, though, i could watch 10 extra hours of bonus footage and never tire of it.

i won't talk about the movie itself - if you haven't seen this, climb your sorry self from under your rock and watch it as soon as possible. i mean, come on, halloween is right around the corner, so you should be loading up on all the scary movies you can get your hands on. you can even borrow my old dvd copy (are you kidding, of course i am not getting rid of that one - it is full-frame!). i will be watching this as soon as i have nearly 4 hours of spare time to watch all of it at once. i can't wait!

the shins with vetiver @ the plex - 10/18/07

i attended a show at the plex in north charleston the other night that was quite excellent. vetiver was the name of the opening band. the shins were the headlining band. vetiver were a surprise opener to me, because the very day before the show, i found out that the lead singer of the band has worked and toured with a current favorite of mine, devendra banhart, in the past. so, i was very much looking forward to seeing him perform with his band. they did not disappoint. their set was comprised mostly of beautiful, slow-tempo songs. his voice is quite good, and the band are talented musicians. they are touring to support their second album, to find me gone. also, one member of the shins (the keyboard/guitar player, the blonde dude in the second picture below) joined them for a few tunes.


photo courtesy of james petit

the shins put on an excellent performance as well. i admit, i am not the biggest fan of the shins (my wife simply adores them, though), but i did thoroughly enjoy their show. it could have something to do with the fact that my wife and her best friend/cousin, mei-lan, were dancing excitedly the whole show, or maybe because the band just put on a really good show. the first 10 songs or so, i did not recognize, but i aimlessly grooved along to them. then they played new slang, which i first heard while watching the excellent movie garden state, and phantom limb, the first single from their latest album wincing the night away. great songs, even better live.


photo courtesy of james petit

they continued on, playing a few more that i sorta recognized. when they came out for the encore, they played a cover of pink floyd's breathe from dark side of the moon, complete with mini-laser light show, which blew the doors down. the place was packed, the crowd had a great time, i had a great time, and it seems that the bands also had a great time.

i could have done without the smoky atmosphere - i think i am getting too old for all of that second-hand smoke. now, if they can just pass the smoking ban in north charleston, as well, shows at the plex would be so much more enjoyable. anywho, if you get a chance to see either one of these bands, please do so. and listen to their music. as always, if you like it, support the artists and buy it legally. thanks for reading!

an acoustic hour with alice in chains

my friend, shane and i traveled to the house of blues last night to see an acoustic performance by alice in chains, billed as alice in chains, the acoustic hour: an intimate unplugged engagement. needless to say, we were both quite excited, for how often can you see an entire acoustic show from one of your favorite bands of all time? for me, this is my first opportunity.

The opening act, which also played an acoustic set, was called social ghost. while at first, i was not too keen on the music, as the show progressed, the band's excitement was contagious, and i ended up enjoying their set. check them out to see what you think.

when alice in chains came on stage, they brought with them a feel-good atmosphere, which transferred to the crowd immediately and added to everyone's already high spirits. all members were in top form. jerry cantrell played some great solos, missing a note occasionally, but each time laughing it off, as if to just say "oops!". i am sure nobody will be complaining. his voice was also sounding great. william duvall, who has become an official member of the band, taking over lead vocals, was excellent, hitting all of the notes, and sounding good doing it. mike inez and his bass were certainly excited to be there. the big smile didn't leave his face the whole show. sean kinney was, well, sean kinney - a totally sweet drummer.


photo courtesy of aliceinchains.com

they started the show with nutshell, from their ep jar of flies. after that i don't remember the exact order, but here are the other songs they performed in album order (i think i remember them all):

i can't remember and love, hate, love from facelift
brother and got me wrong from their acoustic ep sap
rooster, angry chair, down in a hole, and would from their album dirt
got me wrong and don't follow from jar of flies
heaven beside you and sludge factory from their self-titled album
killer is me which was performed on their 1996 mtv unplugged album

they also included two cover songs:
elton john's curtains from his 1975 album captain fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy
the who's squeeze box from their 1975 album the who by numbers

there were a few teasers, when they broke into the doors' love me two times and david bowie's ziggy stardust. those would have been excellent additions, had they kept going with them. the band invited about 50 people to come up on the side of the stage to watch the encore close-up. what an excellent gesture. from a band that has been around so long, they still appreciate their fans, and it certainly shows. many bands that i have seen live just come out, play their songs, and leave the stage. i really respect these guys.

anyways, i enjoyed the show immensely, and as a lucky bonus, i got a guitar pick that jerry cantrell tossed into the crowd. i will add that to my soon-to-be-created concert memorabilia scrapbook! seeing the band this happy playing together again has made me hopeful of new material in the near future. if you have a chance to see this small acoustic tour, please do yourself a favor and go. the band makes it well worth it.

i think i have a shoe problem

i have known about my shoe problem ...er... collection for some time now. you know, over the years, after your feet stop growing, and you take care of your shoes, and you are somewhat fashionably inclined (in your own mind), you amass a few pair a year. i knew i had a lot, but not an exact amount until the other day, when my cubemate at work, katie, said to me, "new shoes? it seems like you always have new shoes. how many do you have?". "i'm not sure", was my reply, so i counted them a day or so later. i was not quite shocked, but a bit surprised to find that i had somehow managed to collect 48 or so pair of shoes. and i am a dude, albeit a very fashionable one (again, in my own mind).

48 pair...holy cow.



now, my wife has quite a collection as well, but she is in the shoe business, so it makes sense. my friend nichols, another shoe fanatic, put it in perspective for me. "we just build our outfits from the bottom up, while everyone else builds from the top down." well said, madam!

my real collection had its humble beginnings while i was in high school, where i developed a love of converse. from there on out, i have just bought a pair here and there. basically, if i see a color that i really like, that is loud and bright, or just plain ol' sweet lookin', i buy 'em! chuck taylors, one stars, jack purcells, john varvatos-designed styles, ev pros. and they come from everywhere - marshall's, tj maxx, the converse outlet, shops in chicago and atlanta. i even found a very unique pair while we were vacationing in london a few years ago, that i have yet to wear, because they are so awesome, and i am worried i will mess 'em up (you can see them in the picture below, in the bottom row, third pair from the left). i have other brands, but converse outweighs the other brands by a long shot.



there are canvas, suede, corduroy, felt (yes, felt), even pleather. the above pictures show about half of the converse i own (don't want to take up too much space with pictures). i am proud of my collection, and i don't care if people at work think i am mental. what do they know? they only have 4 pair of shoes each! how on earth can you coordinate a sweet matching outfit with only 4 pair of shoes???

radiohead turns the tables on album format offerings

radiohead has always been an inventive band. each album they have released, from 1993's pablo honey to 2003's hail to the thief, has offered the listener something completely different from the last album, yet equally as listenable (my only exception here is 2000's kid a - no matter how many times i listen to it, halfway through, i forget i was listening to it - it just sounds like background music to me...).

with the next album, even though i haven't heard any of it yet, they are continuing with their innovative streak. the album, entitled in rainbows, is currently available for preorder in 2 formats: downloadable digital format and deluxe edition "discbox". why is that so innovative, you ask? well, they are allowing us, the consumer, to preorder (available oct. 10th) the downloadable digital format for whatever price we choose. yes, that means we can download it for free - straight from the source (after some research, it appears that a transaction fee may be tacked onto the final price - probably to those who specify a value of £0.00 - who could blame 'em?). now any self-respecting music lover that cherishes the bands they love, and respects them as artists, will not download it for free, but hey, the opportunity is there, approved by the band. pretty cool.

the other option, the "discbox", as it is called, will be released on or before december 3rd, and can be preordered for £40.00...what????? hang on, let's see, in u.s. dollars that would be...$81.74 as of today. but wait, let me explain further. at first, i thought this was just some insanely priced special edition cd/dvd set in a hard-bound box or something. upon further inspection, though, i realized that it is going to come with a load of cool stuff, such as the album on cd, a second cd with several extra new tracks, the vinyl version of the album (2 x 12") on heavyweight vinyl, lots of artwork, a lyric booklet, all presented in a beautiful hardback book. wow. i should also note that the digital download is included, so the consumer can still have the music in october when everyone else does. check out the picture below.


photo courtesy of http://www.inrainbows.com

i have added this to my christmas list already with a heavy hint that it should not be ignored (and if my wife is reading this - i really, really think this would be an excellent christmas present...really). i think we should all support this crazy idea, because it looks to be a win-win situation, whether you like to download your music or buy the physical album (i prefer the latter, obviously). yeah, radiohead!

nirvana unplugged to arrive on dvd (...sigh...)

man, have i been waiting for this for a long time. nirvana's mtv unplugged performance is finally getting it's long-awaited official release on november 20th. all of these years of putting off buying the bootleg dvd in hopes that it will arrive in an official form have finally paid off.



the dvd will have the entire unedited performance, including the songs 'something in the way' and 'oh me' (one of the most beautiful songs in the set) that were originally cut from the aired performance. there will also be some behind-the-scenes footage, and a few warm-up performances. s-w-e-e-t.

with good music and movie releases tapering off again in my world, at least i know where i will be on november 20th, and that is comforting.

new releases to which i am looking forward...

next tuesday (october 2nd) is an exciting one for me and my wife, anna, as there are two releases that we are very much looking forward to purchasing. pj harvey has a new one coming entitled white chalk, which should be really sweet. she has consistently put out excellent albums since the early nineties. i can't wait to hear it. for your listening pleasure, there is a chilling new track on her myspace page called "when under ether".



high on anna's list for sure is the new solo album from siouxsie. you heard it right, siouxsie is back yet again, as if she ever left. apparently, she has announced her divorce with banshees and creatures drummer and collaborator, budgie, and she is going at it alone, or at least without him. You can listen to samples of a few tracks from the new album on her official site.



later down the line, in november, the hives release the black and white album. very good to see them back. listen to their new single tick tick boom right away.

new releases - september 25th

a few noteworthy releases to help you make 'til october:

the foo fighters have returned to rock your face off with their latest effort echoes, silence, patience and grace. definitely check this one out, as well as their sweet video for the pretender.



iron and wine has released a new album entitled the shepherd's dog. it is more upbeat music-wise than his previous efforts, drawing from his recent efforts with calexico, i believe, but this is not a bad thing. his voice is as soft and strong as ever, and there are some really good tunes here.

the last thing i picked up this past tuesday was the new one from a new favorite of mine, devendra banhart entitled smokey rolls down thunder canyon. this latest effort includes many songs that seem to call back to his hispanic heritage (he was raised in venezuela), and i swear even includes a gospel track. this is one weird cat, but he makes some really beautiful music that i love to sing along with.

air guitar rules my world!

two nights ago, i watched the documentary air guitar nation. wow! wowee-wow-wow! i was blown away. not only was i blown away that there is a legitimate competition out there for this art form - and yes! it is an art form! - but there are others out there that are just as pumped about it as i am. i have found my people!



the documentary covers the 2003 u.s. and world air guitar championships, and closely follows two of the main u.s. contenders, björn türoque and c-diddy. you must watch to understand...

i have been air guitaring for roughly the last 20 or so years. it started with hits from the 80's, such as the wicked riff in michael jackson's "beat it" to the sexy licks of "walk this way" by run-d.m.c. and aerosmith. it continues to this day, while driving, standing in my living room, sitting at my desk at work listening to my ipod, basically any time i hear a riff or solo that gets my soul moving. today, i nearly lost my balance and fell over when air guitaring one of the many solos in the mars volta's "cassandra geminni" suite from their album frances the mute. awesome.

so, i skedaddled over to the u.s. air guitar championships website and registered to receive more information, as it becomes available, about the 2008 competition. oh yes, i plan on doing my best to enter next year, and the training starts now!

krist novoselic, politically speaking

krist novoselic has written a book to express many of his political ideas and views. i know i am a bit late on this, as the book was published in 2004, but i bought it recently and gave it a read. i am not a politically minded person by any means, but the book, entitled "of grunge and government: let's fix this broken democracy!" is a fairly easy read, even if you do not quite grasp the world of politics in great depth.



of the many things he discusses throughout the book, one thing that stands out to me is when he talks about the positive ideal, which he describes in the following way:

"why kick around the argument of being against censorship when you can advocate for freedom of expression? why disparage violence when you can promote peace? essentially, the positive ideal is about advancing the possibilities."

he only affords a partial chapter to his time in nirvana, also discussing some of the political actions that came about during that time, such as mtv's rock the vote campaign and a fundraiser headlined by nirvana to oppose "ballot measure 9", which proposed institutionalizing discrimination against gays and lesbians.

one of my favorite quotes from the book, which he writes while stressing the importance of independence and freedom in our country today, reads:

"...people expressing their independence are slapped down by scoundrels draped in red, white, and blue."

The book clocks in at just over 100 pages, so it is a short read. if you don't feel like buying it, maybe check it out from the library, or you can borrow my copy. just ask.

amiina = so beautiful

amiina is a band made up of four icelandic women in their mid-twenties. their latest release, kurr, is made up of magnificent instrumentals, that i cannot seem to get enough of. they do not use many traditional instruments, but employ a strange assortment of things they have found in second-hand shops, or just create their instruments themselves. this makes for some very interesting and beautiful moments. as i listen, i find myself thinking, "...what could be making that sound? or that one? oooh, that one is nice!...". indeed! and what style!



please do check out their music. you can have a listen to a few tracks on their myspace page.

missing kids screensaver...

i was reading a few articles on cnn.com last week and ran across one that really interested me, as i thought it was a great idea. take the old "missing children" thing that we used to see all over milk cartons, make it a downloadable screensaver that is updated regularly, help find more missing kids. sounds like a great idea to me, so i thought i would share. the screensaver was developed by Global Software Applications, in cooperation with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).



here is how it works. you go to www.missingkidsaver.com and download the screensaver for free. when your screensaver pops up, it cycles through missing children profiles. it is tailored to your area, so you shouldn't see profiles for children missing in alaska, for instance. it uses your internet connection to gather the latest information so it is always up-to-date. see their FAQ page here for more details.

the program takes seconds to download with hi-speed internet and another few seconds to install. give it a try and let me know what you think.

halloween remake - oh man!

august 31st marks the theatrical release of rob zombie's remake of the classic horror movie 'halloween'. if you have seen any of rob's other movies, you will know that this will be a killer remake. it stars a few people that appear in his other movies, such as his lovely wife, sheri moon zombie, danny trejo, and lew temple.

any fan of good ol' classic horror movies from the 70's, such as 'the texas chainsaw massacre' or 'the amityville horror' will certainly appreciate mr. zombie's vision. not only is he an excellent director, but you can tell he is a rabid fan of horror.

his past movie's, 'house of 1000 corpses' and 'the devil's rejects' were both instant classics in my library, and i still watch them frequently. the viewer tends to grow to sympathize with the characters, no matter how evil, rude, and brutal they may be. i have no doubt that the same will happen with this remake of 'halloween' (well maybe i will sympathize with the 10-year-old michael myers).

i will definitely be there opening weekend with my friend, chris, as we have made a sort of unspoken tradition of seeing mr. zombie's movies in the theatre as soon as we can both be there. in the meantime, while you, chris and i are waiting for that day, watch the trailers over and over again.

for an alternate trailer, click here. woo hoo!!!!!

juliana hatfield & frank smith collaborate

juliana hatfield's latest project finds her teaming with country/folk band frank smith. a six-song ep entitled 'sittin' in a tree...' was released a few weeks back and is available for purchase at juliana's website, the ye olde records website, or from your local music store that gives a crap about good music.

juliana hatfield has been one of my favorite artist's for years and years, and i can honestly say that she has never done anything quite like this before. i won't go into detail about each track, but will say that it could easily fall under the category of what they call 'alt-country', or whatever they are grouping ryan adams and son volt into these days.

some of the tracks have a very country music feel to them, with hints of a banjo and slide guitar here and there. but juliana's touch is ever-present in the lyrics and the vocal stylings. this is a far move from her last full-length disc, 'made in china', but it is a nice change of direction. since this is probably a one-off recording with frank smith (the band), we will probably see the old ms. hatfield returning in all her glory on her next album.

in the meantime though, until that next album comes, get your fix with this ep. also, look for her live cd 'the white broken line', officially released in june of this year.

new iron & wine single

iron & wine (singularly sam beam) has returned with a single from his forthcoming album 'the shepherd's dog', out on sub pop in september. the single is the kind that i used to get so excited about: the domestic single that does not cost $9.99 and above. i bought this one for four bucks at monster music and movies in charleston, sc. so that alone was a bonus for me (not to mention that i knew there was an excellent chance i would love the tunes as well).

the single features a new song, 'boy with a coin', from the album mentioned above. it also boasts 2 (yes, 2!) unreleased b-sides. the first of the b-sides is called 'carried home', and it is beautifully presented with a mix of acoustic guitar, banjo, piano, and bass guitar (among others, i'm sure). the vocal harmonies are lovely as well.

'boy with a coin' comes in as the second track. it has a faster pace than most of his songs, but it is a nice direction, i think. there are hand claps serving as percussion throughout. this adds a more constructed feel to the song. again, the vocal harmonies are lovely.

the final track is 'kingdom of the animals', a bouncy tune with a dance-y piano. nice sounds throughout this one. the bass guitar stands out in this recording, as it also does in the other two songs, making me wonder if the direction with this new album will have the feel of a band playing the music (sort of like what he did with calexico a while back), instead of the slow and quiet music of many of his past recordings.

this is a good cd for the money, and makes me anxious to hear the whole album when it is released. if you have been a fan of his past works, give this one a shot, too.

the white stripes, myrtle beach, sc

photo courtesy of jim lawhead

the white stripes played at the house of blues last night in myrtle beach, sc. i went with my wife, and friends, charles and leah. the tension has been building up for this show for months now, since tickets went on sale. the venue is pretty decent, the band is freakin' sweet, and it is only 2 hours away. so, needless to say, i was pretty pumped.

the opening act was a fella named dan sartain. i was quite impressed with his music. he played good solid rock music with hints of rockabilly and the blues. i suggest checking him out. it is well worth a listen. he played for about 35 minutes with his band.

promptly at 9:00, the white stripes took the stage, beginning their set with the insanely rockin' 'icky thump', their lead single from the album of the same name. it was bliss.

throughout the show, mr. white displayed some frustration. whether it was with his guitar not staying in tune or just not wanting to play the song that they started playing, it showed during the middle of the set. however, things picked back up as the show moved along. mr. white switched effortlessly between multiple instruments, sometimes switching back and forth during a verse or chorus multiple times. the man is extremely talented.

unfortunately, from where we were standing, we could only see meg's arms as she was playing. she was partially hidden behind a stack of speakers. her drumming was spot on, though, and when she came out and sang 'cold, cold night', from their album 'elephant', it was a thing of beauty.

they covered a good span of music from their career, but focused mostly on newer tracks. the highlight of the show, in my opinion, was 'i'm slowly turning into you'. jack screamed the chorus like the fate of his soul depended on it. it was intense.

another highlight for me was 'the union forever', probably my favorite white stripes tune of all. i was hoping they wouldn't stop playing it in the middle and start a different song, which they did a few times during the show, but they played it to the end, and it was a beauty (sigh.). a few songs were left out from the set that they usually play live, like 'astro' and 'jolene'. i would have loved to experience those live.

anyways, it was overall a great show, albeit a bit schizophrenic at times, but what can be expected?

yeah yeah yeahs 'is is' ep - a return to form

the yeah yeah yeahs are back with an excellent 5 song ep. a few of the tracks were performed live and put on their 'rockers to swallow' dvd that came out over a year ago. they were rerecorded in the studio for this ep. the other two are brand new, never-before-released. a fine collection, for sure.



'rockers to swallow' sounds as if it could be (and very well may be) an outtake from their early days. it is gritty, noisy, and crazy. it actually reminds me a bit of the song in the movie 'high fidelity' by the kinky wizards (those skateboard kids), which i think is actually done by royal trux. i think it is just how the vocals sound. easily the most rockin' song on the ep.

'down boy' makes me think of what would happen if 'fever to tell' yyys jumped into a blender with 'show your bones' yyys and hit puree. it is quite a lovely tune, with karen o switching effortlessly between smooth, sweet vocals during the verses and her trademark high-pitched squeals during the choruses. a bit of organ or keyboard is mixed in as well.

'kiss kiss' is straight-forward, fast-paced rock. i like this one a lot. it builds up throughout the song, then stops short, allowing karen o to finish it off with a bit of a cappella.

'isis' starts out a bit tame, but ends with lots of heavy guitar, cymbal crashes, and screaming. lovely.

'10 x 10' is a great song as well, although a bit tame. it works well to end this small collection of songs, though. it builds up a bit near the end, then it fades out with nick zinner's tinny one-note guitar picking.

do yourself a favor and pick this one up. it is available at your friendly neighborhood independent music store, i am sure, for under $7. no excuses! besides, have they ever let you down before?

family reunion in west virginia

well, a week and a half ago, anna, mina, and i traveled up to west virginia with my parents and younger sister, sarah, to attend the annual harvey family reunion. this year, we decided to have it at the local bowling alley. my family has a long history with the sport of bowling, one that carries on in my veins to this day, so i was quite excited about the reunion this year (not to mention that it was not going to be outdoors in the sweltering heat!).



i got to practice my form, whilst in heavy competition with my dad, as anna and mina watched from the sidelines (anna has this highly irrational fear that if she bowls, she will instantly grow fringes on her clothes and have mall wall, then start square-dancing or something). anywho, we had lots of fun.

we then went traveling through the mountains to visit the harvey memorial freewill baptist church, a church started by my great grandfather (or maybe it is great-great grandfather). after about 30 minutes of winding mountain roads at break-neck speeds and near vomiting, we reached our destination, all persons fully intact, and visited a few graves of old family members.



we hung around for a while and had a good time. there were a few outhouses, which we don't see too many of here in charleston anymore, so that was pretty sweet. they were fragrant to say the least. i won't include a picture of the inside of one of these, to spare those that are weak in the stomach.



finally, we went to another cemetery to visit my grandfather's grave. he died in 2003 at the tender age of 77. he was a sweet, feisty fella, and i still miss him greatly. it is a true shame that my daughter will never know him.



overall, we had a pretty dang good time, although it only lasted 2.5 days (that includes the 7+ hour trip each way), and i must applaud anna and mina for making it through the trip without a single complaint. well, mina complained a little bit, but she just is a baby! we look forward to next year's big event.

addendum to previous smashing pumkins post

i got my tickets in the mail saturday, and they are in row GG instead of row G as i had originally hoped. so we will be 33 rows back instead of 7. bummer...

natalie dee

a friend emailed me a funny one-panel comic of sorts the other day, along with a link to other one-panel comics by the same artist. the artist's name is natalie dee.

i have to say that after looking at her site, and laughing hysterically, that she is brilliant. the cartoons are drawn with the innocence of a child, but usually include irreverent humor (i am a huge fan of that!). she created a character for herself that she uses in most of the comics, but also includes funny looking animals or monsters, and usually includes a curse word or two.

some people may think that it is childish humor, but duh, i think that is the point. there are lots of archived comics dating back to 2002, so dig in and prepare to have a few laughs.

a moment of silence... R.I.P. guaninator

today, my iguana 'guaninator' passed away. i have had her for 7 years.

i found her in an office i was working in, which was on king street in charleston, sc. it was in the attic of a shoe store. my friend, dasan, and i had torn the old shelves down in the attic and built an office complete with wood-paneled walls, a floating ceiling, and fluorescent lighting. we also hung a curtain in front of a door that lead to where the air-conditioner for the building was located.

i was working alone one day in the office and kept hearing noises behind me, but when i turned around, nothing was there. needless to say, i was getting a bit freaked out. finally, after a series of scratches and scurrying noises, i turned around to find an iguana hanging onto the curtain. she was just hanging there using her claws to hold on. i had never encountered an iguana before, so i was even more freaked out.

we have been friends ever since...

my friend, geoff (a very skilled woodworker and cabinetmaker), and i built a nice wooden lid with built-in doors for a 7 foot long display case that i have had forever. a divider was placed in the center to make 2 cages, one for the iguana and one for my box turtle, ester. everything has been rolling along fine ever since.

i noticed she had not been eating as much over these past 2 weeks, and her skin color slowly has changed from a bright green to a shade of light brown. after doing some research into this on the internet to see what the cause could be, i decided to make an appointment to take her to the vet. the appointment was for 4 o'clock today. when i got home to put her in the travel cage that i used to use for my ferret 'dogg' (r.i.p. also), i reached in to pet her in the way that makes her close her eyes, lift her head, and become immediately chill (i am the only person that can calm her down with voice or a head pet), but she did not lift her head. she had passed away sometime between this morning at 7 o'clock and this afternoon at 3 o'clock.

i am very sad. i look in her empty cage and feel even more sad. she was a bit insane at times, but she was very cute with beautiful turquoise and green markings, and she made me smile with her funny head-bobbing. i will miss her dearly. sleep well, sweet guan.

smashing pumpkins have returned with a new album

so, the new smashing pumpkins album "zeitgeist" is out. instead of going to best buy, target, and itunes to purchase the album 3 times for 3 different bonus tracks, i bought the version with the 76 page book, which cost me $27 at my local independent music store, which i whole-heartedly support (the bonus tracks can be accumulated from other friend's purchases down the line, hopefully). the book is pretty sweet, but i am not sure it is $17 extra worth of sweet. the music is brilliant. when i listened to the first 2 tracks, i was swept back to my mid-to-late teens on a magic carpet that flies on the wings of totally wicked fuzzed-out distorted guitar and jimmy chamberlin's always magnificent drumming. i was thinking, "they are back!... well, 2 of them are back anyways. woo hoo!!!".

i find out the same day that the pumpkins are playing in atlanta on october 30th at the beautiful fox theatre. tickets were to go on sale thursday, the 12th of july. i think to myself, awesome! i will buy tickets on that day. then i go to ticketmaster’s website to see how much i will be soaked for a pair of tickets, but not caring. it is then that i find out that the itunes presale starts on the 12th and lasts until friday the 13th at 10:00pm (so basically 2 whole days). what that means, is that i had to prepurchase the music from itunes prior to the release date to get the itunes presale password so i can get tickets 2 days before they go on sale to the general public (because the general public is so much more unimportant than the itunes music purchaser, right?).

so because i bought the actual $27 deluxe edition instead of buying the tunes digitally, i was being punished, and i knew for a fact that i would get crappy seats to the show, because everyone else probably bought it from itunes (coincidentally, i ordered tickets on saturday, the 14th, and got great seats - at least i think i did; i will need to verify that when the tickets actually arrive in the mail - but that is not the point!). {back to my rant}---

and at that point, i couldn't even bite the bullet and buy it on itunes just to get the passcode either, because it had to be a preorder.

SON OF A…!!!!!!

so, basically, because i bought the deluxe edition that cost almost 3x what the others cost, i was getting screwed out of 3 bonus tracks and a passcode to buy tickets early.

what they should have done is this:

one edition that is a standard format - 12 songs
the second, deluxe edition, would have the 76 page booklet, three bonus tracks, and a slip of paper inside with a unique passcode for preordering the tickets for their 2007 tour.

that is worth the $27 price tag. why should people who preordered the album from a certain place (itunes) get the front-of-the-line privilege when there are people that spent a boatload of money for the deluxe edition? the consumer should be rewarded for supporting the band, not for supporting the store that the band’s CD was bought from. if i was the record company, i would have pushed more for people to buy the deluxe edition vs the standard edition, instead of trying to get people to buy the $10 edition from some big box retail store. complete bull$hit.

anywho, buy the album because it is good. see them in concert if you can. but man, these shenanigans make even the die-hard fan wonder what the hell they were thinking. urgh!