Music... It can be funny

In my never ending up hill battle to find the most obscure music, I have found a worthy group. Now here on this very blogger, Your Feet Can Make Thunder, I place a contest to all the fellow bloggers, bring in the most off the wall music you can find. Here is my first debut... now I'm not a myspace member, but that is where I found this little diddy, check it out... Eatin' Cat by 8 bit. Yes 8 bit the beats are ripped right from various Nintendo games, here's the link http://www.myspace.com/8bitisyourdaddy

Respect,
Mr. Greg

Planet Earth

Sundays will never be the same, well at least not until the 11 part series Planet Earth is over. It's on Discovery channel, and it has to be the greatest show I've ever seen. It's something like 6 years in the making, the camera work is crazy. From the depths of the ocean to the bottom of the rain forest to the inside of an ant's anus this show takes you where you've never been before. It shows nature in it's purest form, unaltered by human contact.

If you get discovery channel and you want to see what human kind is destroying, check it out on Sunday at 8 p.m., it's AMAZING!

Respect,
Mr. Greg

Corruption

some whiz kid created a 'real life' McDonald's game, think of Sim city. Your job is, like all companies, to make a profit. You buy the land, you grow the soy, you inject the soy with twisted fertilizer, you raise the cattle - who eat the soy, you inject hormones into the cows, you kill the sick cows, you hire employees, you advertise and you corrupt - government officials, health advocates and environmentalist. Make sure you read the tutorial - i forgot to hire cashiers - so no one came. I played it twice, and each time i went bankrupt.

Good Luck - click the image for the video game!

I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it.

But first, let me say that I do not care. Repeat NOT CARE.

I am just one of those people who relishes in the fact of being right over soooo many other people that are blindly believing something ridiculous. AND the topic itself is ridiculous all by itself. Anna Nicole Smith folks, died of a drug overdose.

Now, rewind to the evening of the day she passed away. I said, as simply and as quietly as possible, that "I am willing to bet she died of a drug overdose." I don't know if you know this, but saying that elicts a highly aggressive defensive response in most people. So what if I repeated my theory a few more times, perhaps a little less simple and quiet as the first? I knew I was right.

And I am.

Enough people do drugs everywhere, famous people, your friends. I'm sure most parents have tried them. And to the "smoking pot once opens the drug addiction floodgate" people, you are wrong: there is a distinct difference between trying a drug and depending on a drug. Seriously. So for some celebrity to be on drugs? [Insert shocked-and-appaled Spongebob Squarepants* gasp here.] So now time for the apology. I am very truly sorry, everyone, for actually reading a news article relevant to any bullshit celebrity news. It had to be done.

"OMG did u no justin timberlake is hosting the teen choice awards??"*
"lol no im not a teen duh"
"so, im 24!"
"lol"

* Spongebob Squarpants rules. There are only 2 exceptions I give for watching Nickelodeon. Watching either Spongebob Squarepants or the Fairly Odd Parents. Those shows are so funny and so far over most young kids' heads that I don't consider them to be kids shows at all. And that is incidentally how I found out about the Teen Choise Awards fiasco.

MySpace

I honestly cannot for the life of me figure out why I still use myspace. I guess I don't really use it anymore... I just check it out of habit really. The last time I did anything besides delete ridiculous friends requests was months ago.

I always defended the core principle of myspace, that is when you strip away all the pollution it has gone through from being used by every idiot everywhere, there is an honest good idea behind it. That being the idea of connecting with people you know easily and instantly. Now, to completely disprove this is the fact that in this day in age, there are hundreds of communication mediums we can choose to use. Simple telephone calls, instant messaging, e-mail, the other million types of messaging services. We really just count on so many types of instant communication all the time. And sure, it is kinda nice to be able to put pictures of yourself up so that others can see, along with some neat information about yourself, blah blah blah.

But,

Somewhere along the way this message was severely damaged. There's nothing quite like that feeling (and you alllllll know the feeling,) of checking out someone's myspace page only to find it fucking DESTROYED with dozens of YouTube videos (half of which don't play properly while embedded in the page,) and those fucking annoying little icons that people seem to post in colonies of several hundred. Then add in how this person doesn't know how to deny friends requests from any random asshole in myspace, so then their comment section turns into a free-for-all marketplace for shitty band ads, girls that only have a myspace to link "my nude picks lol," and so many of those fucking little glittery phrases about how bitches are hoes, bitches ain't shit and what have you.

So, I guess you could say I can't stand that shit anymore. The reason I had defended it for a while is because I was personally able to get back in touch with friends I hadn't seen in so many years. Now, when you move from Pittsburgh PA when you are 10 years old, and all you ever used were phones for primary communication, it's kind of impossible to find someone the conventional way. I found my friend Dave from Pittsburgh, who I hadn't seen in 10 years (at that point,) and started talking to him again and got to see pictures of him, and it was crazy. This also happened for me for a few other people, but none nearly as significant as that. But now that I have used it for so long, and have gotten these good things out of it, I guess I'm just done.

There is one other thing that still bothers me about it. The stupidity of everyone involved. You see, I don't know how many people NEVER read news AT ALL, but I am going to make a reasonable guess and say, 60 percent of people my age don't really have any idea of the world outside of their own. (This, I believe, is a full explanation of how my roommate - just a few months ago - had no idea who Tony Blair was.) The relevance to myspace is that over a year ago, myspace was sold to (I believe it was,) Fox for several million dollars. And the creator, our first friend Tom, as well as other collaborators collected the payment. This was a hugely prolific news topic at the time, people feared that it would no longer cater to teenagers in the "grassroots" way that the original creators had intended. Ha. I even read it Time magazine's 100 people of the year. Tom from myspace was in there, and it detailed the purchase. So then, can we explain this screen capture taken from myspace this morning?


Yeah. Kids, it's hard to break it to you, but Tom isn't in control of myspace anymore. (An honest admission: I guess signing Tom's name for a technical problem will always be better than Rupert Murdoch.) Not a huge deal, I just thought it was ridiculous. Plus I am making my stance on myspace. Another feature that should be forbidden: allowing people to make "video replies" on YouTube. Any assface with a camera in on YouTube. (BUT JEFF TAHTS TEH POIBNT OF UTUBE LOL.) Well that's of no consequence to me. Stick with PornoTube kids, seriously.

Awesome Lyrics

Before you read these lyrics, i ask you to erase your mind. Picture yourself in a blank room with no windows and no doors, but you have this paint brush and some paint, and you are to paint the world these lyrics provide. At the risk of creating a super long post, i am going to condense the song as much as possible. In the end it may read as a paragraph... (and i highlighted my favorites with red ink, and commentary in green)

Rhythm and blues singer Joe and his song "All The Things Your Man Wont Do"
-first off, the title is... magical
Tell me what kinda man, would treat his woman so cold
Treat you like your nothing, when your worth more than gold
Girl to me your like a Diamond, I love the way you shine
-yeah, yeah, yeah and i am sure she smells like a rose too
A Hundred Million dollar treasure, I'd give the world to make you mine
I'd put a string of pearls right in your hand
-right in the hands
Make love on a beach of jet like sand
Outside in the rain, we can do it all night
I'll touch all the places he would not
-hmm
And some you never knew would get you hot
Nothing is forbidden, when we touch
Baby, I wanna do
All of, the things your wont wont do (i'll do them for you)
Baby, I wanna do
All of, the things your wont wont do (i'll do them for you)
I'll take you out on a night cruise, on a Yacht just cant loose
-i think the person who scribed this song put loose instead of lose, or Joe really meant loose. Either way the image can't lose.
Coz we got a lot to look forward to 1,2 whatcha gonna do ?
What good is a Diamond, nobody can see?
I hear I got you on lockdown, but I got the master key
-creepy 3rd person guy who doesn't sound any better than the guy who wouldn't touch her no no area
I'll light up all the candles all around
Show me to the subway I'll go down
Nothing can be sweeter, than the sound of making love
-yeah it sounds like angles
Baby when I start I just cant stop
I love you from the bottom to the top
Nothing is forbidden, when we touch
Ooooo, I got a Jones in my bones for you There aight a damn thing that I wont do I'll make your body cream with my sex machine I wont stop untill i hear your mother scream
-beautiful
next up we have another Rhythm and blues giant: Ginuwine and his song "In Those Jeans"

Not on my ride seen you from a far
And I couldn't stop myself from looking hard
You wore these jeans
Girl you wore these jeans and you Made a thug wanna cry something terrible
I had to have, have you for myself baby
You don't know
what those jeans do to me
Make me wanna get down on one knee
You got that thunder
And it only makes me wonder how it
feels
To get up in those jeans
Oh those jeans
Looking good plenty time
is there room,any more room for me
in those jeans
Pretty thick like i like it
tell me
is there any more room for me
in those jeans
looking tasty really scrumptious
Tell me is there any more room for me
You are the bomb
Girl you tight to death,baby
I don't know the words to say to you
All that i know, baby all i know is that
I'm loving what I see and I'm feeling you
I wanna know, all I wanna know is if
I could have what's up in those jeans
Baby can I have what's up in those jeans
Don't get alarmed 'cause I don't mean no harm
But I love the way you
wear those jeans
Levis, Prada, BabyPhat, I love them Love the way you, wearing them I love them can Calvin, Iceberg, Sergio, I love them
Trying to get inside of those
Yeah Yeah Yeah
I wanna say that them jeans looking good fitting right
Baby damn those jeans
Any kind doesn't matter you could win 'em
you look fine
Baby damn those jeans
Anytime that I see you I want in, you wear 'em well
Baby damn those jeans
You the shit you the bomb
All I wanna know is can I have what's in those jeans
Can I get in those can I baby

i didn't do any commentating, because i was trying to create a Weird Al(esq) parody of this song. It took a while, but i think i give weird al some justice... enjoy...

Got on my ride seen you from a far
And I couldn't stop myself from looking hard
You wore these jeans
Girl you wore these jeans and you Made a thug wanna cry something terrible
I had to have, have you for myself baby
You don't know
what those jeans do to me
Make me wanna get down on one knee
You got that thunder
And it only makes me wonder how it
feels
To get up in those jeans
Oh those jeans

... you get the idea
sorry no audio or video

THE SECRET

I read The Secret by Rhonda Bryne, then wanted so badly to have every copy of the book unexplainably vanish. Let's just say it's still available on Amazon.com.

TMNT!!

Woooo!
Just got back from the movie theater after seeing the long awaited new film from my favorite heroes in a half shell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I won't spoil anything for any potential movie patrons, but I will say this, it was awesome. If you are a die hard turtles fan you will really like this movie, it takes some sub-plots from the ORIGINAL cartoon and builds off them.

The animation on this bad boy is awesome, it's a totally different way of seeing the turtles, nothing like the new cartoon on fox. At some points though, it is a little too fast (that would be the only negative I could think of). I won't even tell you what characters are in it, you have to see this one. It builds up for a sequel too, wooooooo!

This gets 5 out of 5 pizzas.

Respect,
Mr. Greg

Nerd

Thanks to a movie who's name is a French ruler and a Swedish explosive combined; the nerd market has sky-rocketed in recent years.

The latest movie to jump on this bandwagon is a German (awkward) love story called: "Eagle Vs Shark."

Now that the trailer is released. I can't wait till the message boards on imdb fill up with massive comparisons between, dare I say, Napoleon Dynamite and this movie (Eagle Vs Shark). Look out for the "Eagle Stole From Napoleon" and "Eagle is everything Napoleon Tried To Be" groups to form in the coming months. Most of the comparisons are quite blunt: bizarre phone conversations, funny one-liners, unattractive mid twenty-year olds, lower-middle class community, poppy toy keyboard music, and this...




VS



In all fairness, this is exactly what the producers want us to think. They want us to think of Napoleon Dynamite. Napoleon made a ton of money and they want to keep that novelty going as long as possible. Some differences: Eagle Vs Shark is German, rated R, has scenes of animation, and what appears to be a big story arc, the main dude there needs to kill someone. Well, as the saying goes: "looks like we need to wait till the movie comes out to see what movie is more nerdier."

Links:
Trailer for Eagle vs Shark
Imbd for Eagle vs Shark

Happy War Day

Yesterday marked the 4th year anniversary of Bush's invasion in Iraq. Although the war was over in a matter of weeks, military presence persists. Still no weapons of mass destruction, but young Bush managed to finish what his daddy started. The one thing I can't help but notice is the "weapons of mass destruction" their loading cars full of explosives and driving them into crowds of innocent people, I honestly don't think they have the capacity for WMDs.

Moving right along, while all of the republican party is relaxing in the nation's capitol, 3,200 US troops have been killed in action, more than 24,000 wounded and 10,000 of these troops unable to return to duty due to injury, that's over 27,000 people's lives and the lives of there families that are now destroyed thanks to democracy.

The spread of democracy is far from a democratic gesture, in fact it seems to me to be a war crime to spread such a thing as democracy, especially to a nation that doesn't want it in the first place.

Let's really think about getting our troops out of Iraq, patch up what ever we have to and re-think about our world image, because right now America is a joke, we're not helping, we're making tensions worse with every move we make.

Respect,

Mr. Greg

Censorship

The idea behind any kind of censorship is to NOT interfere, or infiltrate a child's mind. Keep the child innocent. A child's innocence is quite beautiful and quite important. But, lately it seems that the child is not the core of censorship as much as we are led to believe.

DVDs
The hot new thing now is to release the movie in a no holds barred romp. With the title Unrated or Uncensored smeared across the dvd cover like some kind of sticker; even though these new balls-to-the-wall versions have only a couple added minutes. Obviously the consumer wants the added fireworks, either because they feel they are getting more movie for their buck or they want to see what was too 'intense' for theatres. Either way they buy them. They buy them and the studios make more unnecessary 'unrated' versions. Why not put this version into the theatre in the first place? Well, I don't want to sate the obvious but it has something to do with money...

Some Unnecessary Unrated DVDs

Let's Go Prison

Theatre Rating: R

DVD Rating: Unrated

Gross: $4.6 million (desperate for more)

Theatre Runtime: 84 minutes

Unrated Runtime: 90 minutes

Black X-Mas

Theatre Rating: R

DVD Rating: Unrated

Gross: $16 million

Theatre Runtime: 100 minutes

DVD Runtime: 94 minutes (!)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning

Theatre Rating: R

DVD Rating: Unrated

Gross: $39.5

Theatre Runtime: 84 minutes

DVD Runtime: 89 minutes

(Sorces: imdb.com, boxofficemojo.com davisdvd.com)

Censorship is for the children right? For the innocence, for the well-being?
From "Social Problems" by Robert Heiner

The United States has higher rates of child poverty and lags behind other Western industrialized nations in terms of day care and parental support programs

This is the story that got me all wondering about censorship...

(after you read that) ask yourself: Are the producers working for the children or are they working for that Unrated DVD? (even if Grindhouse was released NC-17, it would still do great)

A movie that does a great job with this whole censorship issue: HERE

MTV is the worst channel on television. Every single time a certain roommate of mine gets the use of the remote control, that's the first channel (and usually the only,) thing on television. I'm going to stay away from the ever-popular, outdated remark that "MTV isn't even like music anymore, man, it's just like shows." Because thanks to every other wanna-be-indie/anti-crowd-but-i'm-just-another-ignorant-fuck-who-thinks-that-it's-cool-to-be-"anti" moron, this has already been made perfectly clear. Now, continuing on assuming the previous truths, one cannot get away from the undeniable lack of intelligence that anyone must have to watch this channel.

Well, fuck, that's such a poor statement by me I'm not sure how I can even strengthen it any further. Tell you what, go watch MTV for, eh, an hour. Now come back (if you made it that far.) What did you notice? Oh, the brain swelling should go down in a few hours. But you are correct on your observations, it is complete mind numbing bullshit!

The network expects nothing more than the bottom line from it's viewers. I'm actually going to take the big chance here and try and defend viewers over the shit they're watching. No, that's too risky actually. Also, the shit isn't "real life" or whatever they said about it, I wasn't listening.

"exhibit,* i had no idea u wer comin 2 my house 2 pimp my ride, cuz u no i didnt apply to be on the show or anything."

It's all scripted, even REAL WORLD and ROAD RULES, and I wish a swift case of gonorrhea to the next person who argues this. Reality shows are type casted, so the next time "CAN U BELEVE THE JOCK GUY IS HATIN ON THE GAY GUY" happens, we should be able to slap the shit out of anyone who is truly gripped in turmoil by the show in question. Next week: "Slut from 'the block' engages fisticuffs with typical christian white girl." SAVE IT. All I want to say then is that nobody cares, but lord almighty could I not be any more wrong.

This is exactly the same as one of the founding entries on the Grey's Anatomy magazine. I could comfortably bet anything on the fact that we're talking about the same people here. It's just the soap opera digest for younger, far stupider people. And, has anyone actually seen Grey's Anatomy? I can sadly say that I saw one complete episode and it was terrible. Predictable, no sense of humor, typical drivel that people might claim as "brilliant" or some other word they done thesaurus-ized.

Right, so cheers for staying on topic! But this concept seems to fit universally. Music, movies, television, popular culture and all that. I can understand the whole trend thing. We're all guilty, even to this day, of falling victim to popular trends. Probably more severe earlier on, maybe with clothing or music or something to that extent. But maturity sets in on the lucky few of us who can claim to have been blessed by it, and we watch in horror as the rest of the world clamors about fighting over which popularized item reigns supreme**. I'm pretty sure South Park has done something like this, and if not, they could handle it beautifully. The only thing I can think of is the voting episode, with a giant douche and a turd sandwich.

But that's how most people 'round here seem to work. The fewer the options, the better they will function. Yay kids! That's why ever since 2000, the US presidential election has been color coded! That way, you can join every other schmuck who thinks he/she makes a difference and vote ONLY based on hot issues!

And that's just where it begins folks. I'd love to get into my hatred on the US voting system and how voting doesn't count like they tell you it does, but I shall refrain.

Remember kids, do what they tell you, believe what they tell you, and never question anything you hear from anyone, especially grown-ups!

* Popular hip-hop artist, Xibit
** Phrase popularized by the hit Japanese television show, Iron Chef. "Whose Cuisine Reigns Supreme?"

Country

Here are some clippings on how people creatively explain how they like all types of music except country. All are from Facebook's music section and all from Rochester...

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Edit Project

A year and a half ago, while in san francisco, I made a short movie for my edit 1 class. The assignment, if i remember correctly, was to basically make a narrative using clips from either NYPD Blue, Japan (think of a family vacation to japan), and an early 90's cowboy television show. Well... I tried my best to put all three of these "things" into one happy movie. The outcome is a bit strange and maybe a bit over the top, but I had fun with it and thats all that matters. By the way this is my 1st project at the Academy.

Click the Ice-T for the Movie

Banksy

if you don't know who Banksy is, then this image is a great introduction...
artist, non-conformist, activist, and a big giant mystery (hidden from the public, despite hosting art shows). He recently updated his website with loads of images, sketches, cuttings, and films. The films are almost awe inspiring. Check them out! Here! Highlights: Disneyland and Museums.

Anti Flag Review

Last night was the big "War Sucks, Let's Party Tour" from mine and your favorite political activists- Anti Flag.

The night started off as every concert night starts off... looking for something to wear, something you don't mind getting possibly stretched, ripped or sweaty, and it has to make a statement. So, I made a shirt. I cut up a shirt that no longer fit me and glued it onto to another shirt (Patch Attach is awesome if you don't know how to sew, but know how to use an iron).

After my shirt was done, it was time to head out. My friend Matt picked me up and as soon as we were about a mile away from my house I realized I left my money there, oh well.

We got to downtown Buffalo and found a parking spot pretty fast (only $2 too what a deal). It was butt cold out so we high tailed it to the Ballroom, on our way there we were approached by some guy with turret's, and he of course wanted money, so it was a good thing I left my money at home, we ignored him and went in.

The place was packed, but not sold out. On stage a six man group called "Set Your Goals" was up- they sucked. I think their drummer was using a drum by number set, horrible. The general reaction from the crowd after their set was the same.

Next, a band called "Big D and the kids Table"took the stage. This Ska band had some what of a Rastafarian influence, like "The Mighty Bosstones" and "Bob Marley" meshed together, but with more cussing. The were pretty good, of all the openers they had the crowd the most amped.

The final opening act was a Canadian band called "Alexisonfire" Seeing how half of the people in attendance were from the North they got a huge 50% reaction. The scantily clad lead singer was annoying as sin, telling everyone that they were "the best band and fuck you, I'll fight you if you hate us." I thought they were kind of cheesy with there melodies, a pretty typical hardcore band, not really my thing.

The lights dimmed one more time and it was time for RCA's newest recording act Anti Flag to take the stage, you could tell by the anti war propaganda. I will say this, I really enjoy Anti flag's music, I think their lyrics speak for themselves, but they don't apparently. Every 4 songs or so, the lights would turn off and over the loud speaker came propaganda. But other than that, they rocked the place, I managed to get to about the third row of people. They played new songs from "For blood and empire" and "The Terror state," not too much older stuff though, which is ok with me, because this is a band whose new stuff is better than their old.

The mix of people at the show was pretty funny. I always find it funny to see the different people who show up to punk shows, you've got some people who just broke open their punk rock starter kits, and other's who still think it's 1981. It really makes the show eclectic though, so thanks to those people for showing up.

I always get a kick out of the intermission music too. I heard a classic song "Fuck the Police" by NWA, and kids were actually booing this. As far as revolutionary songs go, that has to be the one that comes to mind. NWA should be respected for what they did. It's like booing the Sex Pistols or the Ramones, granted I don't really like the Sex Pistols, but I would never boo them. And by the way who boos intermission music?

Anyway, the show was a pretty good time, Anti Flag gets a 3 out of 5, points off for propaganda, sorry boys.

Respect,

Mr. Greg

Song of the moment "Sunday Warning" Motion city Soundtrack

Metal Pt. 2

Meet Lordi , another band who idolizes the underworld...

band from Finland, and winners of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, formed in 1992 by Tomi Putaansuu (known as 'Mr. Lordi')^[1] of Rovaniemi, Finland. Lordi is known for their monster costumes and lyrical themes.

Lordi won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with a record 292 points, giving Finland its first ever victory. Lordi were featured on the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards in Copenhagen when Mr Lordi presented the award for rock, they were also the closing act playing their single Hard Rock Hallelujah. (wikipedia)

The music isn't all that... hmm.. tough... its pretty melodic and catchy, also a tad too simple, where are the never-ending guitar solos? A must for any band that dresses like demons from the underworld. Your probably wondering where I found these bands (look at early post called Metal), I credit all the pentagrams I drew on my denim jean jacket and three ring notebook, while in 10th grade in 1982.

I think they beat Paris Hilton for most views on youtube. Hell, I think they beat that video where the mom punches that teacher. (click a tag to watch video, sorry one repeats, i just wanted to emphasize the views)

Popular Science

Cette sorte de comportement est inacceptable.

I-B-O-O-K PHONE HOME

Lesson # 593,683,473,958 Don't rename your Mac OS X home folder. Initially, I had mine named 'Home' (clever, eh?) Last night I wondered if it could be changed... oh, it can be changed, but with severe consequences.

Before:


(Click to maximize)
After:


(Click to maximize)

Address Book, gone. Documents, gone. Calendar items, gone. The list goes on, but I try not to get depressed before work. A lesson learned.

Video Game Nerd

Picture Maddox and his sarcastic tongue in a 8 bit world and you have The Angry Video Game Nerd. Sometimes over the top but most of the time pretty gosh darn funny, this Nerd plays and critiques awful video games of the past (he has since open up his horizon and reviewed Teenage Mutant Ninjas Turtles Three,the movie). Well, this black framed geek, i mean nerd, has posted his new game: Ghostbusters, which i'll include in the post. If you are new to The Angry Video Game Nerd, check out his website and watch the reviews of Back to the Feature and The Karate Kid, both great critiques and a good place to start.

P.S - Maddox has a new post as well.

Rochester Curfew

Well thanks to Mayor Duffy and the City Council of Rochester, youth age 16 and under will have a criminal record if they are not under parental supervision after midnight. According to this curfew children detained for breaking the curfew will have a CRIMINAL RECORD for being out late.

Give me a break Duffy, you were a horrible Sheriff and now you're shaping up to be a pretty bad mayor too. Costing the tax payers thousands of extra dollars to arrest kids for being out late, and on top of that giving them a record for it.

I think it's time to rethink this one, let's catch us a murderer or rapist, or maybe just a crack dealer.

Respect,
Mr. Greg

The Brain

So today I was having a pretty good discussion with a co-worker about consciousness, awarness of an afterlife, and reality perception in general. I came up with a little ditty that I have taken quite a liking to. Human beings were the first species on the planet to have such a large brain, with an enormous frontal lobe giving us the capacity to do what most other species cannot: think rationally. Of course, the speculation over the term "rational" need not apply; it is intended to encompass the ideas of self awareness, reality perception, and others. It is simply meant to describe the abilities that our higher brain gives us over other species.

[See the wrinkes? It evolved from being strictly involved with sensory information, to more powerful integration of sensation, and added all the storage space, and more.]

Anyways, having this powerful brain has allowed us to view things out of the typical biological scheme of things. We no longer just rely on instincts and sensory input. Our brains have wrapped these faithful old devices in a sheath of right and wrong, good and evil, etcetera etcetera. Wherein the animals below us simply get the food they need for survival, we have concocted a way for this to be difficult. We have developed into a species that has the ability to do anything imaginable by using the brain. We are able to lengthen life spans, create means of faster transportarion enabling easy global travel, we have even sent two space probes trillions of miles past the edge of the solar system to outer fucking space. It is unbelievable what humans have accomplished on Earth.

Yet, this same gift is the root of so many problems. Before the adaptation of the advanced brain there were no problems of this nature. Life and death ruled as a duet. There were no quandries over the death penalty, abortion, drug usage, cannabalism, serial murderers, genocide, money, and the like. The only competition between individuals was for food, mates, and in a few cases power, [which really had to do with mating anyways.] Also, the development of the social infrastructure spawned many new problems a purely biological species would never have to deal with, such as the things mentioned above, plus more.

Damnit, I was planning on adding a few aspects to this, but I have to be in physics lab in a few minutes. Essentially what I was after is that the human brain is just a contradictory machine here. Think of mental illnesses. A serial killer has something wrong with his/her brain. This is a problem found with the addition of volume to the thinking regions of the brain. Think about it - the more parts a machine has, the more likely something is going to break. Crap I thought this post was going to be more rounded out and have more of a point. But if you think about it you'll get it.

Type-o

I make a lot of type-o's. I would say more than the average person makes, I know this. When is someone going to come out with a spell/grammer check that can pick up my mistakes and correct them so they don't look like a 10 year old typed on a V-tech super computer?
Respect,
Mr. Greg

AIDS

The cool kids in town brandish their (RED) gear, because the only way you can get the average american to contribute money to a noble cause is by completely bastardizing the entire concept with shallow products. If you are such a social crusader, why not feed money to the right organizations? [Important interjection: Giving money to AIDS research and prevention is a good thing.]

AIDS funds for the parts of Africa hit hardest with HIV/AIDS are essentially wasted. On the same level, in the same villages and towns, the lovely christian missionary preaches abstinence and the evils of condoms. Well there are two things wrong with that. 1. Sex is natural and impossible to prevent in human beings in any culture in any region of the world, and 2. Condoms are the affordable, plentiful, direct method for the prevention of AIDS transmission.

These two items work with each other in a crippling negative fashion. So when the christ-o-fized person decides that he/she is not going to partake in abstinence because it seems to work against the very foundation of our species biologically, they will not use a condom because Jesus said not to. This makes me cringe, knowing that it perpetuates the ignorance to these levels. Hell, on a similar note, a woman called into Talk Sex with Sue Johanson asking if she could become pregnant from swallowing sperm. You read correctly, in fact that was my response when I heard the question: "you have serioulsy got to be fucking kidding me."

Here's whats wrong with the entire clusterfuck: People are not given any sort of education on the matter. We may think that it is readily available because maybe most of us know the score with AIDS prevention and general sexual health issues, but it isn't. Jesus Christ does not make a good spokesperson for AIDS prevention. Jesus Christ does not make a good advocate for any sexual health practice. The only thing he is good at promoting might be some salt packed fish, stale bread, and some good red wine. Perhaps Australian Shiraz?

But getting back to the main point. (RED) is the popular trendy face to typical american pity for other people. But if you want to contribute majorly to AIDS relief, find a better charity. Ironically the best ones are run by Catholic nuns. They keep less than 1% of the money brought in, and the rest goes to the cause at hand. If you check out websites such as Charity Watch run by the American Institute of Philanthropy, you will see that (RED) doesn't show up at all.

Ahh you know everything is so far up the creek right now, no amount of e-bitching can do a bit of good. But, I'm glad you all could read it anyway.

J.

Magnets, Obsolete?

It seems as though in this high tech age we live in that the magnet has become obsolete. Today I went on a frantic search looking for magnets... tape, sticky stuff, glue (hot and cold), paper clips, etc... no mganets. Are they afraid one delete improtant files off a disks, perhaps stick one in there pocket next to an ipod?

I decided to check another store, same thing no magnets. I really need a good quality magnet for tomorrow. It seems as though magnets have become reduced to nothing more than convient Red Cross give-a-ways when you donate blood.

Oh well!
Respect,
Mr. Greg

CASUALLY SMASHED TO PIECES

In the Spring of 2003, before a Locust/Andrew W.K. show in Buffalo, New York, I launched a mini-rubix's cube across a rest stop parking lot. The cube was demolished, my friend Samantha gathered what could be found into her hand, and I snapped this lousy photograph:


(Click to maximize)

4 years later, The Silent Ballet advertised this contest:


(SOURCE: http://www.thesilentballet.com)

Six Parts Seven are an interesting enough band. My favorite release of theirs being Lost Notes from Forgotten Song, which is their only record to date to feature vocals [from key Indie players such as David Bazan, Sam Beam, Isaac Brock, and Pall Jenkins]. I was in a bit of a rush, so I quickly browsed through my picture folder, and sent away the shattered rubix's cube picture. I thought to myself, "there's no way I'm going to win a free album..."

Days went by, followed appropriately by weeks. I awaited patiently by my iBook for an E-ma... Who am I trying to kid? I forgot entirely about the contest.

But finally, I did receive a surprising E-mail this past Sunday:

From: info@thesilentballet.com
To: Brandon Soles
Date: Mar 4, 2007 12:43 PM
Subject: Re: Casually Smashed To Pieces Contest

Brandon,

Congratulations, you've been selected as a winner in the Six Parts Seven contest. Send me your mailing address and we'll send you a copy of the album. Thanks!

-The Silent Ballet

In my 22-years on this planet, this is the first contest I've ever won. I can only assume they received less than 5 submissions... At least I have something to look forward to in the mail - not to mention, some new music for my ears.

Spiderman 3 for PS3

(these are actually from the movie, not the game) I am sure they are going to clean up this graphical mess - especially in picture number 2 - but keep in mind... the movie comes out in 2 months

EINSTEIN

An excerpt from Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson:

"The use of atomic weapons was widely blamed on a primate named Albert Einstein. Even Einstein himself had agreed with this opinion. He was a pacifist and had suffered abominable pangs of conscience over what had been done with his scientific discoveries.

'I should have been a plumber,' Einstein said just before he died."

Fast Food Justice Continued

I was able to snap a pic of the court room yesterday, before the judge took the bench. Enjoy!
Respect,
Mr. Greg

THE BLUES

Sorry to state the obvious, but how important are you that you need to have a communication device attached to your ear consistently throughout your [work]day? I've been having trouble concentrating in one of my classes because the status light on a classmate's headset blinks consistently throughout each lecture. Next up: surgically implanted phones that require brain cells to charge.

PC Vs. Mac

It seems to be one of the biggest debates these days, bigger than Democrats and Republicans, it's the PC vs. Mac debate. When I was a lad, I learned on a Mac, as i progressed in my technological journey, I found myself stuck with a PC. Seeing how Dell and HP, as couple of the only hardware providers and Microsoft as one of the only platform software providers has backed most people into a corner. Cue the re-birth of Mac, now users have the ability do to most things a PC can do, only a lot easier.

However, there are some things that PC can do that I have yet to find on a Mac, not saying that I won't, I just haven't yet. After using a Mac, PC is definitely inferior. So, why do we persist on using PC? I'm typing this very blog on a PC AHHHHHHH! It's like a bad itch that I have to scratch for the sake of compatibility with most of the outside world. Oh, well someday Mac, you and I will live happily together, until then, you'll just have to settle for being my dirty little mistress.

Respect,
Mr. Greg

Roise Mendez!

A couple of weeks ago I emailed Rosie Mendez (Council Member of Manhattan) questions concerning a story I was writing for one of my classes. Weeks passed with no response, than today I got this... (it's been so long I forgot I sent the email in the 1st place)
(yes, thats my email inbox)
But, the friggin email was a friggin newsletter...
WhatTheHeck.
Nothing on her website says: sending email will put you on an email list. And get this, she STILL didn't answer my questions...
Oh Rosie you are sneaky, sneaky, sneaky aren't ya.

The F Word

Politics. A skeptical eye focusing on unemployment in America
From the book "Social Problems" by Robert Heiner:

"Defenders of the American economic system often point to the fact that unemployment rates in European countries today are considerably higher than in the United States, but cross-cultural comparisons of unemployment rates can be deceptive. Different countries calculate include "underemployed" contingent workers in their unemployment figures, whereas "Americans working a mere hour a week do not get counted as unemployed." Further, most countries require a person to be actively seeking employment to be included in the unemployment rate. In some European countries, a recent look through the job ads in a newspaper counts as an "active search," whereas in the United States, a person actually has to contact potential employers to be counted as actively searching for employment."

Fast Food Justice

Allow me to set the seen for you... Speeding ticket 53 in a 35 on a street no more than 1 mile long, yes from a dead stop to a dead stop somehow the car exceeded the speed limit within 1 mile.

Court date... plea down to a lesser speed and parking ticket,
grand total $255.

What truly upset me and honestly mean this... the court room is set up like a fast food restuarant, plea with the attorney, order your sentece with the judge, and get in line to pay. Don't try to argue the fact that your ticket is incredibly unjust in the first place, just order and get on with your law breaking life.

Criminal: "Can I have a 4 point 53 in a 35 reduced to a parking ticket and a 2 point speeding, with a side order of driving school?"

Judge: "Sure that will be $255, please step to the left to pay, have a nice day."

The justice system is officially a joke. To the police, to the judge and everyone in between, thanks for putting on a side show at our expense, do us a favor and catch a murder, rapist or pedophile, oh wait that's right Date line NBC does a better job of that than you.

So, I guess thanks for stealing our hard earned money, enjoy your raise.

Respect,
Mr. Greg

CORK BOARD CEMETERY

Dear Monroe Community College,

Please continue to spend $700 of my tuition on plasma televisions that solely display the Electronic Learning Center's hours of operation. What are you becoming, the Eastridge Diner?

Sincerely,
Brandon Soles

Evil Compendium

I thought it would be nice to quickly whip up my list of what I believe to be the most evil websites online, in no particular order.

• The GOP [This is actually a cute redirect page asking you to join the party. Of notice: the straight scoop. A little forward.
• The DNC
• The DNC's Blog [Kicking Ass! Isn't this a bit edgy for 2007 contemporary america?]
• PETA
• PETA2 [Clearly the punk, indie, whateverthefuck version of regular PETA. Be told what to do by shitty alt. bands instead of shitty celebrities]
• PETA Kids [WHY?]
• VH1

Not all entires are going to take form of a list, I swear. This was just faster.

Tip of the day: Don't idolize famous people. Don't see why? Read the news.

Graduating

I was thinking the other day, actually today, about graduating. They make you jump through hoops, crawl through those collapsible tunnels, eat pounds of poop, etc... and apparently after all of these obstacles we are supposed to be thoroughly seasoned in whatever obscure major we decide to embark on. Last time I checked doing these things would put you in the finals to win the Kibble N' Bits dog challenge.

So, where does this leave the average college student in 2007, in about $40,000 of debt, burnt out and in a semi professional job making $34,000 a year. Seeing how the bachelor degree has become the new high school diploma, jobs are being outsourced, and there seems to be no sign of change in the near future. And what's much worse, we're stuck in this, universities used to a place where young people would go to expand their knowledge and make a difference in the world. Now, we're forced to sit through lectures and believe what the professor believes, mean while they're stuck in their own world of research spreading their propaganda. That's another thing... research give me a break, every body is doing research... did you know that UB has a communication research department, communication, research what?

We can land a man on the moon, but we can't reform our own communities, our young people's schools, jobs for graduates. But, we can research how people in Indonesia use body language to communicate. Leave that to the social psychologists of the world.

Anyway, I just wanted lastly to say about this Tim Horton's contest "Roll up the Rim" I haven't won yet, it's 1 in 9 wins, I can't sleep at night because I've been drinking coffee, for weeks. I'm up to like 50 large coffees and every time I roll up the rim, it says please play again. Come on, throw me a free box of Tim bits.

Respect,
Mr. Greg

Having A Bad Day

LEAST YOUR NOT HIM...

For The Youth

So, I came across some old photographs I took when I went to the Power To The Peaceful festival a year and a half ago. The whole idea of being peaceful is, at the core, for the children, for the future, for life in general. Sadly, the most recent Power To The Peaceful festival pulled away from these beliefs and showcased hate rather than peace. Very unsettling. Who wants to go to a concert about peace and hear people scream about how much they hate bush. Included are some pictures of the children who will hopefully grow up in a world of peace, not a place of hate.

My Childhood Memories

Once and a while i'll dig the internet for an nes emulator and a handful of roms to play some vintage games. They stay on my computer for about 3 days, than I delete them, only to download the same programs months later. There are about 10 games that really define my childhood, they are (in no particular order):

1. Yo Noid!
2. Bayou Billy
3. Contra
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
5. Lifeforce
6. Lolo
7. Super Mario Bros. 1,2,3
8. Batman
9. Sesame Street Countdown
10. Dynowarz - Destruction of Spondylus

I want to focus in on Dynowarz, sorry for anyone who wanted to hear the story behind Sesame Street Countdown.
Dynowarz was a gift I received during Christmas '89 (I am going by the release of the game) and for that reason I fell in love with the game instantly and played it all the time. As a child, I never knew the title, making it very difficult to Google. But amazingly "nes dinosaurs" did the trick.

I just got done playing Dynowarz - Destruction of Spondylus for the 1st time since I was six years old and let me tell you, it feels like yesterday. The game begins with no hesitation, and no story, as you find yourself taking control of a small blue man in a very dangerous setting: full of spikes, flying enemy pilots and levitating platforms. Intense.


You go through about 5 different rooms until you finally meet up with your dyno. This is where we see the true power of the nes...(when i saw this as a child, i knew shit was about to hit the fan)
now you play as the dyno for a level, where you fight off other dynos and gather new weapons along the way. Eventually, you leave your dyno friend for another level as the blue dude... and this continues through most of the game (though I can't remember how far I got, since their are no Game Overs I imagine pretty far). I have no idea how the story goes, but if i was to guess, it would go something like this:

You are a dyno pilot who must destroy Spondylus, a place full of evil pilots and evil dyno's. Hmm. I still love this game for all the great memories it brings.

Time To Be Creative

Eventually I am going to need (want): a new computer, hard drive, video camera, final cut pro and oh a friggin new car.

I can't afford any of this, but, I thought I would do some research, you know, just in case I come across some dough.

I am going to exclude the car for now...

New Computer


15-inch 2.33 GHz MacBook Pro
w. 2GB Memory=
3,000.00
Final Cut Studio 5.1=
1,300.00

G-Tech G-Drive 500GB
350.00
Video Camera
Average 500-3,000

all I want to do is: film, edit and make movies, is this asking too much? 5,000 - 10,000 says yes.
don't forget about the car... another... oh forget it.

Maybe, I'll just make movies using 8mm (though the film is quite expensive) or a VHS camcorder from the 80's, whatever means, I'll find a way to make movies.