amazingadrian

Indy band Of Montreal have been accused of selling out since they've made a good bit of money selling their music to commercials for use in pushing various products and services, including Outback Steakhouse and Verizon Wireless. A music blog by the name of Stereogum caught up with them for an interview, and the result was frontman Kevin Barnes writing an article for the blog addressing the issue himself. He raises some good points here:

( On Selling Out )
The link above provides the full article for those interested.

Got in a book review for Bruce Campbell's "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions Of A B Movie Actor". It was given to me by j_wolfman , and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It is one of the better biographies I've had the pleasure of coming across. Not only that, but the copy I was given was autographed, and a personal account of the autograph experience was written on the inside of the back cover. Way cool. Thanks again, man!


----------------
Now playing: Journey - I'll Be Alright Without You
via FoxyTunes   

After rap and hip-hop killed rock and roll in the late 90's/early 00's, could it be possible that the roots behind this wave of urban black music have exhausted their creativity? This article claims so. After years of pimp-gangsta-ho, it's looking like black artists may be turning to rock music to find their inspiration.

The food industry will lie to you to get you to buy foods that you think are healthy. What are some of the worst myths perpetuated by misleading labels?

Nothing is made in America any more. Or is it? Even though most of our consumer goods seem to come from Japan, America still enjoys the title of number one manufacturer in the world. Read this article to find out more about the realities behind the myth.

Well this year's halloween was a little bit different, but I've gotten good at learning how to celebrate the holiday by myself. I went out on the town and had an impromptu lunch at this Mexican joint called the "El Patron", purchased the extended-cut boxed set of Hellboy and exchanged my "normal" double dvd edition of Hellboy for a Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part 2 double feature. Then I had pizza and beer while experiencing Halloween festivities in Second Life and later on I went to a local tour through the woods. In the past, you might recall that our college group used to visit Wompus Woods, which is supposedly one of the largest haunted tours in the state come Halloween time. Well, out here in the boondocks of Anderson, we have something called "Butcher Holler", and their woods are a lot more claustrophobic. They also aren't so heavily dependent on movie themes, so It is quite a bit more...invigorating. I jumped a few times. The atmosphere was perfect, with a light, sprinkling rain. Even better, the place is within walking distance from my house, so I should have no problem coming back another year. Got a handfull of candy...we never have trick-or-treaters out here, but the parents always get some, just in case. Too many years spent in suburbia, I guess, although I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I also splurged a bit and got S.T.A.L.K.E.R. on discount over Steam. It's a game about mutants coming out of Chernobyl in the year 2012. A first-person shooter with Oblivion style graphics. What I find most shocking is that my computer runs it perfectly. Even Oblivion is prone to slowdown sometimes, and this game seems more demanding. My computer can hardly run Half-Life: Episode 2 at all, and that came out before this game.

So, yeah. I had a good Halloween weekend, and it is now my birth month; November. Not used to it getting dark so early but I'm oh so grateful for the extra hour today. Looking forward to Rob Zombie's new album due out this month, other than that, it should be a relatively quiet month I think. At least, I hope. In a week or two, I should find out whether or not I make the grade at Walgreens.

My second review is for the movie Max Payne. Based off of the noir shooter video game of the same name, it's a gritty drama that is both predictable and confusing. It doesn't seem to want to know what to do with itself.

----------------
Now playing: Men at Work - Blue for You
via FoxyTunes


Which electronics make the grade when it comes to saving energy?

Some careers are still strong, in spite of the economic downturn. Here's 6 of them.

Some money experts share the mistakes they've made in their careers. Don't fall for these!

It's been a while. Several factors have conspired to keep me busy, not the least of which are my two new jobs. I'm about two weeks in now, and about as adjusted as I will ever get with them. The factory clean-up job is not hard, although I find myself doing the same things over and over again throughout the workday. Since the machines used to manufacture these automobile parts are drenched with industrial transmission fluid, it dribbles on the floor quite frequently, and it is my job to clean all of it up. I also have to refuel the machines with more transmission fluid once they are getting low. This is done using a barrel with a pump system screwed onto the top, with your every-day gas hose attached. For major spills and catch trays that look like they might be about to overflow, there is another barrel with a pressure system screwed onto it that turns it into a handy vacuum with a liquid suction hose attached. The pace of the work is quite leisurely and I can usually get everything done twice in an eight hour day, typically working from 12pm to 8pm.

Then I go to my second job at Walgreens. I work at their distribution center here, doing something called AKL, which is basically placing sell items of various kinds into tubs that come by on a conveyor belt. The facilities at the DC are quite impressive, but the job itself is really demanding. Speed and accuracy are important, and the job will wear you out quickly. I'm currently on a three week evaluation trial. If I do well enough, I will be hired on after this. So far I think I have been doing all right...In any case, I'm currently only working part time there, from 9pm to 1 in the morning. Also, I am beginning to hate so called 'ergonomically designed' bottles. When you grip them at a leisurely pace, choosing one at a time, it works excellently, but when you have to move a whole bunch of them very quickly, they tend to fly right out of your hands. And I never realized how dangerous shampoo bottles can be-I gouged myself on one of them and frequently hurt my fingers trying to grab one just right.

Then I do it all again the next day.

In other news, I got the last official thing I needed to complete my Journey collection: The MTV Raised On Radio documentary. It's the band's second documentary after "Frontiers & Beyond", and offers a look into the band at a period in their careers where the music took a very interesting turn, growing from casual rock into something more sophisticated. Steve Perry was the principle factor behind that charge, and from what I remember It did put something of a strain on the band, especially when Perry convinced their management to let go of drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory, a longtime member and a founding member. He replaced them with Randy Jackson and Michael Baird. I think Perry said that the decision was made because of musical differences and wanting to get the new sound he was experimenting with just right. The year was 1986 and I cannot fathom whatever possessed Randy Jackson to wear such outlandish costumes. It's funny to watch them though; The styles they're all wearing appear to be a mixture of 80's and 90's styles.

Umm, let's see, what else? Well, if you want some free music, check out my review which finally went through. Act quickly though, I don't know how long it will last.

----------------
Now playing: Journey - I'll Be Alright Without You
via FoxyTunes    

They say that all myths and legends have some basis in reality. Well, some archaeologists believe that we've finally found the lost city of Atlantis.

Here's 25 health tips I found from a doctor online.

Oops! Looks like one of our naval ships accidentally fired on Poland while a gun was being serviced. Hope they're good sports about it.

So yesterday I woke up to this in my inbox:

You used to have the worldwide best score for: into your arms by journey
Now the Audiosurf player 'berlinjeans' has beaten you. Launch Audiosurf and reclaim the top spot!
View scores for into your arms by journey

I couldn't take that sitting down! I went into Audiosurf yesterday and kicked some serious ass. What was probably my greatest victory to date however, was my unexpectedly making the global champion on my first run through "Love Of A Lifetime" by Firehouse under the 'pro' difficulty. So I went back to it today and made the global top scores for 'casual' and 'elite' as well. :)

It's a damn good power ballad. If you haven't heard it before, check it out!



In other news, I have a new review out. The House Of 1000 Corpses, Rob Zombie's first film. I got an opportunity to watch it recently and found it to be mostly disappointing. Considering that Rob Zombie is a hardcore horror fan himself, I was expecting him to avoid falling into some of those common horror film traps, but instead it seems like he flung himself headlong into them. The result is a movie that feels disconnected from itself; like a collection of scenes made for different films that were edited together to form a whole. Hopefully his other movies are better, although I've heard some mixed reviews for his Halloween films.

----------------
Now playing: Firehouse - Love of a Lifetime
via FoxyTunes    

A new religious painting was made recently, that's been stirring up a lot of controversy. The artist is a relative unknown who claims that the painting came to him in a dream. I really like it and the symbolism behind it, but I wonder if it couldn't be a sign of something more. When I first saw it, I thought it might be a portent. Perhaps it is God's way of warning us that America is going to end soon, or perhaps it is a hint at what will cause our nation's downfall? This assumes, of course, that the dream was a product of divine inspiration. No one can really tell now, but I get the feeling that this painting will become important sometime in the future.

Did you know that Magenta isn't really a color? It doesn't actually exist on the color spectrum.

An interesting list of 25 things that you didn't know about your body and health.

So far so good. Just completed the first day working two jobs. Surprising thing is that I don't really feel tired. We'll see how that goes as the week wears on! Not much to talk about today, as we're still going through orientation. I switched to second shift at my cleaning job, and I'll be working part-time there now, since training at the distribution center is full-time. However, we are expecting to "graduate" into part-time work at the d.c., so I'll switch back to full time at my cleaning job then. My schedule is going to be all topsy-turvy this week, and I have no idea where it's all going to end up! lol

Wrote a review for the legendary classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I don't think you need my review to tell you to watch it, and chances are, if you're on my friends list, you've probably seen it already. However, if you haven't, and been curious as to what all the hub-bub surrounding the film has been about, you might want to check out my article.

So, I don't have much personal time any more. I'm just squeezin' this post in before I go to bed. However, tonight was an anomaly in that I had to stay an extra hour because Dad was already in town for a fishing club meeting, so he came to get me after that.

----------------
Now playing: Doug and The Slugs - Making It Work
via FoxyTunes

Check out some of these hot new prototypes, such as a laptop that rolls up into a tube and a fully functional personal computer in your...steering wheel? Ok, maybe some of these ideas aren't so hot.

Lindon Labs recently cracked down on a bunch of users who were using after-market viewers, banning over 50 individuals. These viewers made it possible to exploit the drm system and copy intellectual property that others had made. This comes at a fortuitous time, since copybotting has been starting to get out of control lately.

The recently released MMO Crime Craft is not even a month old yet and the company that runs it just announced that they were going to remove it's $40 retail price and make it free. The move has been making some serious waves in the gaming community, although the general consensus among players is that the move was made out of desperation by a failing company. I suppose we shall see what happens to the game in the coming months.

Yeah, it's been about a week now since I started working cleaning up transmission fluid at this warehouse. It's not a bad job at all, though maybe I am just more tolerant of it than some people; I got a lot of sympathy comments from the coworkers my mom introduced me to. Speaking of which, working at the same place as one's parents is...interesting. I wouldn't recommend it, but it is nice sometimes to have an "insider hand" when you are new. Already had some interesting events happen. Like today, when I saved one of the company machines. There was a guy working on one and he was testing the hydraulic systems that lift the wheels up off the floor. One side of the system wasn't working so instead of lifting straight up, the machine started to topple over. I was mopping in the next lane and saw it, so I came over to hold the machine up so that the guy could stop the hydraulics. That thing was much heavier than a vending machine...It's a good thing I got to it before the machine's weight lifted it's legs off the floor. One of the senior cleaning guys tells me that they haven't been doing as much maintenance as they used to because the machines have all been running non-stop. I suppose they'll probably have to lose some equipment or have someone get injured before they'll fall back into their old routines again. The recession has had a lot of far-reaching effects like that.

It's nice to have money though. While most of it will be going into my student loans and toward a car, I do spend some occasionally on myself when I find a good deal. The Blockbuster at the old Wal-Mart plaza was going out of business, so I took advantage of some of their super last-minute specials to score three DVD's for the price of a single new one. None of the films are ones that I have seen before, so hopefully they will pan out ok. I got The Rocker, The Spirit, and the Max Paine film. They didn't have very many others that interested me; maybe only two or three more. They were about out of stuff by the time they put up these deals...I had checked on them one week earlier and even their markdowns were too expensive. What a difference a week makes, huh? I haven't seen any of them yet, and it will probably be a while before I do; I'm still writing reviews and I don't want to have a glut of nothing but reviews for movies over the rest of the month. Got to change things up every now and then. Speaking of which, my latest review for the computer game Half-Life is up.

I also got Journey's new Manila DVD, and let me tell you, it is freakin' awesome. They used a new technology to film it, so that it has the best resolution out of any film on the market right now. The audio is good too, although my hearing aids have been behaving strangely lately, so I can't really speak much on the quality of the sound. Lately it sounds like everything is being relayed to me through a CB Radio. They didn't start acting like this until I started going to work, but I don't think the environment is that hazardous. There isn't an excessive amount of moisture in the air, I'm careful not to touch them when my hands are greasy with transmission fluid, and there aren't any other ways they can be damaged. Noises in the factory are loud though, and frequently overload the sound dampeners so I am thinking that maybe the hearing aids are having a difficult time readjusting after coming out of all that noise. I've never been a fan of sound dampeners, but it seems like all the good hearing aids come with them automatically; ever since the late 90's. Yes, they protect you from getting smacked upside the head by loud noises, but they tend to mess up music, garble everything when there are too many sounds at once, and make inorganic speech like from the television ineligible.

----------------
Now playing: Sonic Team - Sonic The Hedgehog: Green Hill Zone
via FoxyTunes

So apparently that Prince Of Persia film they had in the works will be out before too long. I wonder how that will go?

And you remember back when I said that I occasionally made predictions that came true? Well, do you also remember that dream I had for Pirates of the Caribbean 4? I was recently shown an announcement that the film is being made, and that it will involve elements of steampunk.

Oops! I know Texas is a pretty backwards place, but they haven't quite seceded yet. However, that didn't stop a flag manufacturer from sending a flag with only 43 stars to a location in San Antonio.

Well, there's some interesting stuff happening in the Journey world these days. There are only 10 shows left in the Revelation Tour, after which the boys plan to take a break and set aside some dedicated time to work on their next album. They have a DVD of the Manila concert coming out this month. Also, I heard a rumor that Gregg Rollie, their original lead singer and keyboardist, joined them at a Texas concert and enabled them to bust out some really old numbers from the set list. Good times! I don't think he will return to the band at this point, but it would be nice to see him doing some collaborative writing and possibly even some guest work on future releases and tours.

I bought Audiosurf, which is on discount during this weekend for around $4 through Steam! It's a great game, which takes any song on your computer and turns it into a racetrack. Voice oscillation, tempo, speed, bass, waveform....all the stuff that makes up those melodies become components in the track. As the song plays, you have to collect points which are strategically placed throughout the track. All in all, good fun, and I even have the global top score on a few of the songs in my collection! Here's my Audiosurf page, if anyone is interested.

I've been adjusting to my new job. Went in for overtime today, the first day I've worked unsupervised. Did a lot of cleaning around the warehouse, mopping up transmission fluid and sweeping up whatever crap accumulates on the shop floor. It's hard work, but it's good work. The kind of job anyone can do, but which one must be dedicated to do well. I'd say I'm pretty dedicated to it, as I've already received a lot of compliments about my work.

Just keep in mind that my working full time is going to mean I'm around less often during the weekdays. If certain events turn out in my favor, I might get even busier than that. Hopefully, I should still have time on the weekend to take care of rp obligations.

Oh, and before I forget, here's my most recent movie review, this time for Clerks, the 1994 black and white film about Murphy's Law and the working man.
----------------
Now playing: Journey - The Pride Of The Family
via FoxyTunes   

The Salton Sea, the most polluted state park in the United States. Formerly the largest inland body of water in California and an important fishery. Now there is only an 80 mile stretch of abandoned beach towns half buried in the toxic sand. I wonder if they'll ever manage to clean this place up?

So you are driving on the highway, minding your own business when suddenly you come across an overturned truck and 40,000 pounds of sausage in the road. Think that's funny? Check out some of these other bizarre road spills.

Rotten Tomato's list of the 100 worst movies of the last 10 years. I think they missed a few and put a few in there that didn't deserve it.

So, things might possibly be improving soon. I got a job lead that looks promising.

A fellow at the place my Mom works got called out by an anonymous person who claimed he was using drugs. Rather than take the drug test, he quit. So apparently they want me to take his place.  Now, I don't have the job just yet...I'm waiting on my own drug test to clear and it is possible that the boss might still change his mind about hiring me (he did once before). But if this pans out, I'll be helping clean up an industrial warehouse, for a dollar more than minimum wage. It should definitely help me get started with paying off my debts and saving up for a car and new hearing aids, especially since the job appears to be full time. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed here...

I got two reviews approved at once again. I didn't think they'd stack. The first one is for the film Bubba Ho-Tep, about an aged Elvis Presley and a black JFK taking on a mummy in a west Texas retirement home. It's one of Bruce Campbell's better films.

----------------
Now playing: Creed - One
via FoxyTunes   

Meet the...doberman?! Note, it's fake, but it did get Valve's attention.

Also, it seems someone got tired of all the War of the Worlds reinventions and decided to finally make a proper sequel. It's animated though, but may be worth looking into.

These days it seems that our environment is going to pot, but don't let the industry big-wigs coerce you into thinking that there isn't anything we humans can do about it. Just look at these examples; some of the most successful environmental reverses in US history.

That's right! The first venue of the Full Circle Tour is viewable for free until tomorrow! Aside from it being an awesome rock concert, it was also being filmed for Creed's upcoming DVD, and the band got an award for breaking the world record for most cameras used during an event!

I took some pictures...Well, more of screencaptures really, but still, it was a good concert.

( Staind )
( Creed )</div>

Only four hours left to receive Tales of Monkey Island for Free!

Argh, I must have gone mad. I joined up with half a dozen survey sites yesterday in my frustration. Made about $10 between them. Most of them want you to join other sites or sign up for "special offers" that end up costing you in the long run. Like, far more than you would make at these places. It's the same shit I dealt with back when I played Neopets (long story. Not even I'm sure how I got into that), only this time they give you a few cents each survey instead of worthless points. And the fact that I don't qualify for most of the surveys is rather ironic. If I could sum up my life with a single phrase, it would be this: "Does not qualify". It's a recurring theme.

Anyhow. I need to keep my head together. Not all of my problems are going to be magically fixed once I get a job anyways. Though it would help me start taking steps toward independence, which I should have taken years ago. Back to the drawing board.

I think that really, my biggest gripe is that it appears that I have wasted my time and money on a degree that isn't worth anything here. In another town, I could have gotten a job with it right away, but not in Anderson. It's something I probably should have researched before I went to college, the number of places in Anderson hiring people with Associates Degrees in Computer Tech. Oh well.

I think I'm pretty much certain now that what I really want is a career in the Entertainment Industry. Probably something behind the scenes regarding music, movies, or video games. I'm not a musician or much of a programmer, and I'm not sure if I could be a director, but there are still other jobs involved with the making of these things.

While we're on the subject of music, I made my 10th mix-tape disc today, a little later than I had intended after making #9 in July 2008. I had thought of maybe doing something special for it, but in the end, I couldn't think of anything. Many of the songs I put on it are uncharacteristic of what I am normally into, although just as many are quite awesome. Still, I think this one will be called my "unconventional" album. I had to get all of these off my hard drive one way or another, and I couldn't just throw these away.

( Track listing )

As usual, there is a story behind each of them. I've accumulated these over time and probably have enough for an 11th already, but I'm going to reorganize my mp3's so that I can do some memes first. And I probably won't be able to make it for a while anyways, as I appear to be out of blank discs.

----------------
Now playing: Coldplay - In My Place
via FoxyTunes

Dokken hates chicken, and wants to destroy it.

Norton Antivirus is a piece of shit, but these commercials are awesome.

So it seems more and more colleges are starting to require courses taken abroad. Does this mean that as globalization occurs, poorer students will get left behind? I know I couldn't have done studies abroad, even with my student loans.

So, they say that hackers can spy on you by logging your keystrokes using programs called keyloggers, and potentially pick up anything you type over the internet. But did you know that they can see you by hacking your webcam? That's right, and they say it's shockingly easy. Disturbing.

Well well, looks like there's even more good stuff going on in the music business this year. On a whim, I went to check out Adema's website to see if they were coming back from hiatus anytime soon, and I was met with a pleasant surprise! Seems their original lead singer has decided to rejoin them, and they have gotten back together with their original lineup! They also have a new album coming out this spring, although it is going to be an album full of unreleased songs...still, I can hardly wait!

Now, onto the free music. What led me to check out Adema's myspace page was my being lead to another fellow's myspace by a friend of mine on Second Life. It seems a fellow by the name of Andy Gillion does video game covers in a neoclassical metal style, and has a bunch of free songs available for download, as linked through his myspace. But get this....Andy has recently joined the band Shadow Law, so he's no longer an unsigned artist! They supposedly have a debut album coming soon. It's good to see fresh talent like this being recruited into new bands...and if Shadow Law is any good, they could fill the UK/British slot in my goal to follow a band from every continent/country. Anyhow, this could be a rare opportunity to sample the works of an upcoming musician while he was an unknown.

Also, the popular computer game Dawn Of War 2 had its soundtrack released for free on Steam last month. I haven't listened to it yet, but since the game is a RTS (realtime strategy) like Dawn of War 1 was, I would assume the soundtrack consists of dark and ambient instrumentals.

Also...the band Mea Culpa was dissolved a while back and supposedly released a free album, but the link is dead and since the band was undersigned I can't find it anywhere. Can someone help me find this album? I'd ask the artist for it directly, but I don't have a myspace.

In other news, here's my second review, as promised. This time it is for StarFox Adventures.

----------------
Now playing: Adema - Unstable
via FoxyTunes    

An undergraduate student in the US killed a burglar with a samauri sword. Do not fuck with undergrads, people.

Could Harley Davidson be on its way out? Reports show that their customer base isn't getting any younger. Literally!

Want a grilled cheese sandwitch? With these recipes, there's so much more to them than just grilled cheese.

I swear, something must be wrong with me. They did it again! Last time I had a dream in which Journey played a brand new song it was when Steve Augeri had been brought on board, and close to when Arrival came out. That song was a combination ballad/rocker, ironically about accepting change. (It played like a rocker but sang like a ballad. It was really neat.)

But let me tell you about my dream, because it was very untypical. It started when a local school somewhere was hosting a concert series, probably as a fund raiser of some kind, and Journey was one of the bands scheduled to play. I can't remember who the other bands were, although I do remember an announcement saying that The Scorpions had been added to the lineup. Anyways...So we were all in the school's auditorium listening to the bands as they came out on the stage. Huge speakers had been suspended from the ceiling to help the school have that arena sound. Well, after the first band played, some of the systems began to have technical problems, which gave everyone in the audience a time to go out into the hall and buy some food from some of the vendors that had been allowed to set up there. When it became time for Journey to play, there were more delays, and I remember Ross Valory running out with Deen Castronovo to plug back in some of the speakers, Ross actually climbing up to the ceiling to do it! Then, after another brief delay, the opening to Separate Ways started playing, but get this, it was Ross Valory who sang it! lol. After the song, he explained that Arnel was running a little late, as he was in the process of "trying to work something out with Neal", and they might play something new and wanted to record it. He was very gracious and had a small question and answer session with the audience, and asked him if he was still working on his solo album, to which he responded, "I've laid down a few tracks, but I'm still working on it."

Then Neal gave a signal from backstage and the guys all took their places. The music started and Arnel emerged from backstage, waving to the crowd. He threw back a beer and a handful of peanuts before he started singing a song he had just recently written with the band that they were vetting at the concert! It was called "Walking The Thin Red Line" and had guitar-work similar to "Never Walk Away" only the song was a little slower and overall more elegant, like their work on Trial By Fire. Some nice piano in it too from JC. The song was about a young couple facing the challenge of raising children during difficult times. I got through the first verse and part of the chorus before I woke up. I can even remember some of the lyrics!

"Walking The Thin Red Line"

"They just had a daughter together
(something something something) forever
(something something) all of life's whims
and she's forever his...."

"Walking The Thin Red Line...
caught up in hardship and sacrifice (?)..."

That's...all that I can remember. But holy crap, why is it my brain can come up with new songs for other bands, when I can't think of new songs at all when I am awake? Trust me, if I could I would be a musician by now. Judging by what I know of Arnel's writing style from The Zoo, the song seemed very typical of him, which was amazing.

Whew...anyway...I have two more reviews up. Would have blogged about them earlier in the week but I didn't have much else to write about at the time. Now I do. The first review is for the animated movie Dead Space: Downfall, the prequel to the popular Dead Space video game. I'll post the second review tomorrow.


----------------
Now playing: NUTS MAN
via FoxyTunes

Well, the Halo movie may have been a bust, but Microsoft sure isn't letting their contract with these filmmakers go to waste! We have another live action trailer, this time for the Halo spin-off game ODST.



Also, squirrels on crack and/or LSD:


Take heed, pet owners! Seven myths about pets debunked!

So, rather abruptly, we decided to host some relatives that were in the area and it turned into a big family reunion and a trip to the lake.

Grandpa Ron and Aunt Lanette were touring the eastern seaboard. They traveled up to Maine to see the old lighthouse that they used to live in when Dad was a boy, and then they made their way down south. They brought with them some real Maine blueberries, and while I'm not much of a blueberry fan, I have never had tastier muffins or biscuits. Anyhow, the parents showed them their house despite its perpetual state of incompleteness. They seem impressed with it, particularly the fact that we had our own pool. Though it is quite clearly becoming Fall now, the weather is still warm enough that the pool should still see plenty of use for at least another month. We certainly made use of it while the relatives were down.

Then a day later, everyone went down to the Santee River System down between Columbia and Charleston, where we had rented several cabins for the weekend. The cabins were built right on the dock, so Dad had his boat moored outside. The Santee River System feeds two lakes made by the hydroelectric power plant (Santee-Cooper), and I believe the lake we resided on was Lake Marion. In any case, these lakes and rivers are famous for their robust populations of wildlife. There are supposedly state and world record fish living in the lake, but after venturing out several times over three days, none of the family caught a bite. We did, however, see several fishing cranes, some turtles, deer, and even a raccoon which was running around on the docks. There were also alligators lurking nearby, but we only ever saw them once. At the cabins, we were joined by more family; Aunt Lisa and her daughter Ashley, Uncle Chris and his wife and young children, Connor and Olivia...I can't believe how big those kids have gotten. It seems like only yesterday I heard about them being born. Now Connor is very rambunctious and energetic, and Olivia is old enough to talk to. On the second day of our stay, we had insect problems because the children kept going in and out while the lights of the cabin drew a screen of flying bugs to the door. By the time everyone had left our cabin to bed down ourselves, there were dozens of bugs crawling all over the walls of the cabin. Since I had to sleep in the living room, they kept me up all night by crawling all over my face and in my hair. Though it pained me to do so, I took the opportunity to go home early with Mom, since I did not want to run the risk of becoming increasingly irritable on the final day of the stay.

All said though, it was a rather pleasant vacation and family reunion. Short, but it was great seeing the family again, and wonderful to get out of the house for a change! I had lots of fun, and probably more alchohol than I usually drink in a year. :p

Though next time we rent a cabin at a place with bugs that out of control, I think I am going to invest in one of those plug-in sonic devices that is supposed to drive them off.

----------------
Now playing: Journey - Still She Cries
via FoxyTunes

A moon rock supposedly brought back by United States Astronauts and given to the Dutch Prime Minister in 1969 was recently discovered to have been a chunk of petrified wood all along. The rock, now owned by a Dutch museum, had been insured for over half a million dollars, but an investigation into the stone determined it was actually worth no more than euro 50 (about $70). I wonder if this will damage US-Dutch relations any?

Want free music? Russian glam rockers Jack Riot released some downloadables from their upcoming debut album.

Speaking of music, Oasis broke up almost a week ago when the two brothers that form the core of the band got into a huge fight. With only a minute to stage time, vocalist Liam Gallagher smashed Noel's guitar, causing the guitarist to walk out of the festival and not come back. In spite of a statement his brother made recently that the band was not going to break up, it was publicly announced that the band's European tour was canceled and that the group no longer exists. Noel later released a statement claiming he would never work with his brother again.

Got this in an e-mail. It's pretty cool!
( The dog that walked like a man! )

Also: I wrote a review for The Zoo's "Zoology" album.

----------------
Now playing: aerosmith - dream on
via FoxyTunes

Check out this list of some of the world's weirdest hotels!

A Japanese lab has created a robot hand that performs amazing feats of speed and dexterity, all with the aid of touch sensitivity.


Meet the car that doesn't require a license to drive.

Oh my God, I don't believe it!

Disney just bought out Marvel!!!

This is heart-wrenching news. Disney is not satisfied with less than total control over it's franchises. Now that it owns Marvel, they have the most vibrant portion of the comic book industry by the balls. Disney has demonstrated, repeatedly, that they do not care about  fans or the people who create these franchises. It's almost guaranteed that the comic book writers will have less leeway with the characters, and we can probably kiss crossover titles with other companies goodbye.

I had a seriously weird dream last night.

In it, something had happened to cause a vast majority of the people in the world to mysteriously disappear. I as my superhero alter-ego the Amazing Adrian had to team up with Journey guitarist Neal Schon and the Genie from Aladdin to get to the bottom of it. We found out that the people had been shunted into an alternate plane of existence by a group of aliens who had plans for taking over the Earth. We fought against them and managed to drive them away, but Mr. Schon had to sacrifice himself in the process. Also, we couldn't figure out how to get the people back on Earth, which had become rather desolate in the meantime from such a massive population loss. In the end, I took Genie's suggestion to hunt for something in the Cave of Wonders that might bring Neal Schon back to life and solve the problem of getting the Earth's people back on Earth. But I had to find those damn scarab halves first, and they were both somewhere in the middle of the desert.

This came completely out of left field, because I haven't seen Aladdin in years. The post apocalyptic scenerio though, reminded me of something j_wolfman proposed during a game, as a little hint that something major was going to happen soon. It felt rather similar to what the immediate aftermath of such an event would have been. I rather rejected the idea at first, but since I've had this dream, I'm thinking I feel more open to it now.

----------------
Now playing: ZOO - I Gave It All [Acoustic]
via FoxyTunes

Oops! A bank auctioned the wrong house in Miami, accidentally evicting a legitimate homeowner in the process. Apparently, mixups of this nature happen more often than you think they would.

An aspiring comic creator who runs a self-published comic series is seeking justice for a real life unsolved murder in his latest edition of Night Owl.

They say that carrots are good for your eyes, but did you know that Pomegranates can protect your hearing? Learn more about food that preserves your senses.

I remember back when I was a boy, how I used to daydream about the concept of the endless summer (aside from things such as superheroes). School always got in the way of things. Wouldn't it be nice to have enough time to yourself to be able to play video games or play outside or just generally do whatever you wanted? I used to get the acute feeling that my childhood was being wasted at school. I learned stuff, but the teaching was formulaic and businesslike, so that at the same time, I didn't learn stuff. I spent large portions of the day doing nothing and avoiding homework. In the days of my youth, I never really saw school as necessary. I used to try and cheat the system.

But when summer rolled around, things were different. You had the time to do whatever you wanted. I played outside. I used to ride my bike around the neighborhood and visit spots where no one else was. I'd play video games on the NES and Super NES, and get frustrated when I couldn't progress through them. There were legos and card collections to sort through. And there were always new action figures coming out. It's true that sometimes boredom would set in, but it felt like there were always things you'd rather be doing than going to school.

Well, I'm out of school now, and in 2009, deep in the heart of the Great Ression, the Endless Summer has been realized. The irony is that somewhere along the line, my attitude toward it changed. Maybe it's because now I know what I want to do with my life. In any case, I now have the free time to do whatever I please with myself, but it feels more like being under house arrest. I spend my days on the Internet. I've got friends now, so I don't need the video games. But I can play them all day, and I hate it. I could spend all day outside, but it doesn't feel like there's much to do out there any more, now that I'm an adult. I hate that. I could read, organize my collections, or even drag out my legos again whenever I want, but there's always that feeling now, that I'm not truly free. That feeling was never there when I was a boy. And I know there are so many ways I could rescue myself from this situation, if only I had the resources and confidence to do them. I don't technically need a 9-5 job where you get up and go to an office every day. There are jobs out there that can provide structure and resources to my life without working on conventional "school" structures that I detested so much in the past. Not that that's what matters to me. I could take any job. And my views on school changed sometime during my last two years of high school.

Now that I've gone through college, I know better. It's school that I want to be endless, not the summer. Because once you get out of school, life will bone you. In school, you always know what you are doing, where you are going, and what needs to be done to get there. All that goes out the window once you're finally finished with school. That's why the idea of the endless summer is a trap.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I wrote a review for a CastleVania game. The first one that came out on the Nintendo DS.

----------------
Now playing: Talisman - Standing on Fire
via FoxyTunes    

It seems Sony is finally cutting down on the price of the PS3 some, releasing a smaller, sleeker design for $300. Unfortunately, older units will remain at the same price, which gives one the feeling that Sony is trying to play the market. Not that they aren't doing that by default.

Check out some of these bizarre birthday cakes.

Where are video games really made? Why, at the gaming factory, of course!

So, I was doing this Grid Wide Hunt in Second Life, see, and at one of the places I saw David Bowie.  Ok, not really. It was actually the band "Linc On The Lake" performing a tribute to the man and his backup band. They put on a rocking show, and I had a good time even though I didn't catch the whole thing. He said that next time he was going to imitate U2.



In other music news, I wrote an album review for "World Play" by the superband Soul SirkUS. Go check it out!

----------------
Now playing: Journey - Every Generation
via FoxyTunes    

British missionaries have discovered a new carnivorous plant, one they say is big enough to consume rats.

A 1,224 pound cupcake beat the world record to become the world's largest cupake.

Astronomers have discovered a massive tropical storm forming on Titan, which is believed to be the only planet in the solar system that has weather patterns similar to Earth, even though the weather on that world is driven by methane instead of water.

Here's a meme taken from dewhitton:

Created by Auto Insurance.org


Here's one from musiclovers :

And yet another meme from musiclovers , which is having something of a meme explosion. This one is from av_chick  in particular:

 

( Music Obsession meme behind the cut )

----------------
Now playing: The Beatles - All You Need Is Love
via FoxyTunes    
 

The host of a true crime TV show in Brazil is under suspicion for ordering murders of people to boost his show's ratings. Police suspect him of having a dual life as a member of a drug faction who made sure television crews were first on the scene when he had put out hits on rivals.

And amusing (and probably dreadfully true) guide for first time IT employees.

A special prosthetic limb was made that is strong enough to support the weight of an amputee elephant.