Thought Sausage

In no particular order:

1). Finally procured a copy of Slingblade and subjected Megan to it. Went over well and I've succesfully made it one day of work without imitating Carl at work constantly.

2). It's May and not warm enough. Fuck

3). Saw Wicked this weekend. Impressive...my first musical in Chicago and my first time actually being exposed to the story. Pretty clever whoever wrote that.

4). It seems everybody in India gets a copy of some "get rich on the internet" book and has now tapped into a couple Google Groups I moderate. It also seems the people of India are convinced the entire economic balance of the Internet hinges on selling fake rolexes, hack software, and porn. The net result is a bunch of people with shitty useless affiliate websites posting: "I am starting (insert cheesy affiliate program) website. I would like learn of traffic. Can you tell me how to get links to make benefit of Google?". I was going to count how many times I told people "You are a retard, don't email the group again" but found it easier just to bounce their asses.

5. I have found a supercuts in the hood. Hair is no longer out of control

6. Some people aren't happy unless they are have a reasonably certain idea you aren't happy. When it becomes a zero sum game for them (and me), things get retarded. I have allowed too many of these people to be around over the course of my life. That ends today.

7. I am going to attempt an entirely vegetarian meal this Friday. Brace yourselves.

8. Beer on the Pier this weekend baby!

I am a very frequent user-abuser-moderator of an SEO Google group and Master Don has been more or less a curse on it. More or less, he solicits people to sign up for his "web university" and then sends them 4 or 5 emails (or "internets" as he calls them) asking for a link to his web design page. Essentially he's trying to engage in link spam. I wouldn't have so much of a problem with it if it weren't for the fact this guy is obviously praying on the naivete.

Now I'm not gonna begrudge somebody because their command of the English language isn't all that great because it's not something they deal with (although his engrish is pretty fucking funny in parts)...but this motherfucker is about the clearest case of #4 I was talking about yesterday I've seen yet. Except he seems to think he knows what the fuck he's doing (it bears mentioning that the eastern block of Europe is swarming with wannabe-hackers and script kiddies...but this guy just plain needs to stay at the kids table while the grown folks talk).

He was basically told he's a retard and to stop posting in the group by myself and a couple other people...but that doesn't seem to stop him and his bullshit solicitations.

Guns N Roses is a bit of misnomer (more like Axl and some dudes)

First listen says "wow, they picked up right where Use Your Illusion left off. but it's showing promise...i"ll give 'em that.

Lots to report...but my bike is calling me...be back in a bit...hold my calls

I am finally thinking about possibly joining the rat race and buying a condo. So I'll leave my rental days behind me and actually own a piece of property here in Chicago. Of course, by piece of property I really mean a 900 square foot floor and accessories about 15 stories above the ground in the west loop. I'm looking at a particularly unique opportunity in the west loop (which has been my perch for a year now). It's a pre-construction, meaning i wouldn't actually live there until next summer. It turns out the man is gonna break ground next month, and @ said groundbreaking, prices on all unit sizes will go up 15k. So needs must when the devil drives and even though I don't actually have the cash on hand to supply the required downpayment (which in the grand scheme of things is quite low)...I'm gonna drop some Jedi mindtricks tomorrow and see what we can do. I must say i am pretty stoked about it since it is actually a pretty fuckin nice place (Or at least it looks like will be). I think this solidifies any possible doubt that I have in fact graduated from becoming a rocker early 20's dude to a urban late 20's yuppie. Oh where did the time go....

Took in Beer on the Pier this weekend. Evidence to this undertaking is here. I wasn't overly impressed until I came across a Heffewiessen (sp?) that was particularly awesome and from a particularly unknown brewery (this side of the pond). That means it's probably from one of those $15 6 packs @ Binny's I always overlook. Well that may have to end. Cool schwag from the gig? The score only consisted of some cool coasters, bottle openers (of the miller variety), Shiner coozys, some temp tats and a weird green necklace from Corona. Meh...

It's finally getting nice out. The cycle today was nothing short of awesome. A nice stroll up through Wicker Park, through Lakeview and back down into the hood. If it stays like this swimming is gonna be awesome. Unfortunately this new nice weather is making me favor the roadbike over Bertha...which sucks cos bertha is a fav @ practice (mom says they are laughin @ me not with me...but fuck 'em, I'm the one iwth the cool bike)

Just sayin is all...

Welp, Megadeth's new album hit the streets today in America. I've taken it in after a brisk run up to Lakeview. Much like Year Zero, I don't really have a solid opinion of it yet. I will say the musicianship on this album is by far some of the tightest shit since Rust In Piece. The songwriting is a little too much of a throwback in that there's a lot of songs made for soloing rather than solos made for songs. But overall I think it at least holds up to System Has Failed and definitely surpasses World Needs a Hero (which basically bit other than maybe 3 tracks IM oh so HO).

It's definitely political. Almost too political. Like 80's political. It's hard to take an album seriously that has some weird Eddie meets the Tales from the Crypt guy on it. Dave Mustaine seems like he's trying to sound like an angry 20 something when in reality the dude is like 46 and isn't really selling anybody on anything.

Therein lies the real tragedy for me on this album. There's no doubt when you're 46, your days of being a cutting edge genre defining act are probably long in the rearview mirror (unless of course, your name happens to be David Bowie and you're about to start working on 1.Outside). So Dave Mustaine seems to have pulled out all the stops to recapture what he once did. And that's basically what the album is coming across to me like. A man well past his prime who definitely has tighter chops than players half his age playing music that harkens people back to "the old days". And that bums me out people. It's a sign that music that was once really vital to my generation is basically a relic from the days of yore. I guess every generation goes through this. I bet my dad couldn't believe I didn't understand the sheer genius of Paul McCartney and John Lennon when I was in my teens (it did of course become painfully obvious once I had a few years on me). Or more importantly, that that music didn't sound new and fresh anymore.

So to anybody who's going to buy this album that was there 'back in the day' that has actually listened to anything relevant in metal or any genre in the past 10 years, United Abominations is a great album, yet a sad reminder that we're gettin older and our time is past. You can't fault Dave Mustaine...if anything he's proven he's still got the goods here...but to quote Grandpa Simpson "I used to be with it, then they changed what with it is, and now what's with it scares me". I know I'll dig this album..but that album cover and the overall composition (and what's with that remake of A Tout Le Mon? Evanescance wannabe? C'mon yer Dave Mustaine dude!) scream to me that there's no way this album is going to kick todays' generations ass like Countdown to Extinction did mine. Shit...thought I'd die before I got old.

RIP You bigoted hate-mongering fucktard

I know in all reality Jerry Falwell was just a social barometer for a man of his time. Nevertheless, I can think of nothing good to say about this guy. He made a career out of using his religion to channel prejudice and hatred while blaming every natural disaster or calamity in the world on whatever group was on his bad side (which basically encompassed everything except for rich white men in his career).

While I feel bad for his family cos I know there's somebody somewhere who's grandpa died, the world is most definitely a better place without this guy shuffling around.

Oh, and Larry Flynt's still here asshole.

When you're pushed, killin is as easy as breathin...oh how true those words are john, how true they are!

Need a half stack that will be a faithful workhorse? Buy mine!. I desperately need the closet space and really have no need for that volume anymore. Besides there's already a few other amps laying around I can play on so this is more or less thinning the herd. See above link for details.

A good one at that. And I gotta admire the guy for the amazing viral promotion for Year Zero. But ultimately, what he's saying here about labels ripping off bands and fans alike are sentiments every other band on Wax Trax (the label that put Pretty Hate Machine originally) were saying 10 years ago. Welcome to the clue train Trent...now you wonder why nobody else is on interscope.

You know, you can criticize the right wing of America and the Bush Administration for spending billions of dollars on strategies that don't work, but I think the fringe right has made it clear they won't be outdone in the "Superflous waste of money" department

"For here at the $27 million Creation Museum, which opens on May 28 (just a short drive from the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport), this pastoral scene is a glimpse of the world just after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, in which dinosaurs are still apparently as herbivorous as humans, and all are enjoying a little calm in the days after the fall."

27 million dollars for a creationist museum? Are you fucking kidding me? To each their own, but why am I not suprised this thing is in Kentucky?

They basically assert that the world if 6,000 years old (despite what every other scientist in the world says) and these people have built a museum which has dioramas (because real artifacts support anything but their claims). I'm sure they'd disagree with my last parenthesis. In fact, I bet with verry little prodding, they'd tell you all about it.

...fuckin idiots

welp, Nike put their money where their mouth is I guess...after I bitched incessantly about the fact the fucking Nike armband doesn't have a window, they finally came out with one you can see what the hell you're doing. Nice of them to roll this out just as its getting nice and I quit running with gloves on. Nevertheless, this is a step in the right direction. If only they'd let all of us who bought the old one trade it in towards this practically necessary upgrade. Greedy bastards. I suppose what's coming next is a reason to have two nanos while you run.

Rode the first real ride of the season yesterday. Two flats in a single ride! That's actually a record for me. The lesson learned is that I'm done with this Co2 shit. First chance I get, I'm hiking over to Kozy's and procuring a hand pump. Sure it doesn't make a cool noise and requires manual labor, but fuck if you're stuck 50 miles from town (apparently the town of Ravinia has no gas stations and no air) and you can't get your last cartridge to tap. I must say I was very very very fortunate to encounter one biker who offered me his pump and another who actually directed me to his house and let me use his pump. Major props to the northshore bikers. You guys rule the school.

And speaking of the northshore, boy howdy did we scope some kickass trails. First chance I get, we're motoring out west on Dempster and riding that bitch even further west. I'll post pics later tonight on the Spokeeasy website.

I'll be motoring up to Madison this weekend for family stuff. I have one cousin graduating from dental school and another graduating from West Point, not to mention its my grandma's birthday. If you think for one second this doesn't mean I'll be consuming beer from the second I set foot in that city to the second I leave, well, you really don't know much about Wisconsin now do you?

This oughta do the trick....

Spoken from an Irishman:

[21:06] en: I am going to have to make a complaint to AMC
[21:07] en: who decides what makes an American Movie Classic?
[21:07] en: it doesn't paint a great picture of American cinema - example Catwoman is your current classic showing

A conversation a few rants ago with Gabe (aka Microwaved) got me to thinkin about all the things I'd do differently if I were to start a band now. Some you may or may not be aware but I spent the better part of 8 years playing pretty much solid with The Outside and Inner-kube (along with various projects here and there). While the latter definitely had as good a run as one could expect playing left-of-center industrial-electronic-rock in Iowa, I definitely left that scene for Chicago thoroughly burnt out on the whole experience. Not to say it was bad, but well, anybody who is at it for that long knows that the constant strain of holding a band together and all the work that goes along with making it go is a HUGE pain in the ass.

In no particular order:

-Focus less on playing live and more on writing - We definitely put the bulk of our energy into getting out and playing. There's two sides of the coin with playing live. First, unless you are a large enough band to warrant a packed room everywhere you play and can afford a decent crew, gigs are usually fair to all out shit. More often then not, I left a club after striking the gear tired and on the verge of losing the will to live (only to know i have three more shows until I don't have to repeat this act). But on the other hand, a good show is a VERY fucking good thing. There's no drug/booze/sex that can compare to the high you get from that. It's the whole reason you put on with the first thing. If I could go out and do 5 shows, if 1 of them slammed, it made the other shitty 4 worth it. But this was also pre itunes, pre myspace and in the days when mp3.com took an amazing concept and fucked it all up by monetizing the soul out of it. So playing live was also your primary method for building an audience. It seems like this is less and less relevant with the whole web 2.0 thing actually starting to congeal.

-Only employ the services of a band when absolutely necessary - In Chicago, I've noticed its much more common for musicians to simply hire a backing band when needed. I know one hired gun drummer that supposedly draws a six figure salary simply jamming with a new band every night. Granted, this guy is the ONE drummer that can sight read music and play anything after hearing it once (meaning you can hire him at noon and he can do a 2 hour set by 8)...nevertheless, the drama, bullshit and overall pain in the ass of aligning 4-5 people with the same vision isn't ALL that necessary. Besides, I trust my programming ability enough to make a computer play whatever I can't physically do myself (aka drums).

-Monetize my output - Maybe I'm totally wrong about this (and I'm sure I am), but it seems like there are way more ways to monetize your music now than there were 5-10 years ago. Video games have come a LONG way, independant films always need music and the efficiency of the internet has gotten to where getting music to these people doesn't seem like it means you need to have a middleman. It probably helps, but like my guitar teacher used to say, you don't need to join the boyscouts to go camping. Ultimately I can't see myself ever making music to please anybody but myself, but having an end goal of "getting it out there" is essential to actually seeing something to fruition for me.

-Concentrate on creating as much output as possible - Assuming shows aren't really necessary, that would theoretically free up a lot more time to write more shit. And the laws of supply and demand would state that the more shit you have to monetize (see previous point), the more likely you are to "get it out there". I happen to have a very wide taste in music and enjoy playing as much. It wouldn't be unrealistic to drop a metal/industrial collection of songs and a country/rockabilly collection within a month.

-No physical output - This was a huge expenditure then and its a huge expenditure now. Only now you don't even need it to get it out there. It used to be that you pretty much had to have a CD in order to be taken at all seriously. And even then it was a crapshoot.

-No merchandise - If you like my music that's awesome. But I'm not here to fill your wardrobe.

I guess I pretty much described what all my friends that do this professionally (as in don't have day jobs and aren't homeless) are doing on a daily basis. Nevertheless, that suits me. If there's one thing I learned from all those years of riding in vans, playing in shit bars, and ruining my hearing...its that if you really want to 'make it' you need to define what 'making it' is to you (not to your parents, your girlfriend or whoever the fuck thinks they know what's best for you). Once you define this, you need to identify what is getting in the way of that goal and streamline your life. I think for me that would have meant realizing that college in Iowa with the idea of "if this doesn't work, I'll fallback to this" isn't going to work. Man..to think i could have come to Chicago in the heyday (well on the tail end) of the wax trax era if I played my cards right. Don't get me wrong i'm not complaining about or regretting the relatively good life I have now (traded my axe for a roadbike)...but that's the way it goes.