Sunday, November 30, 2008
Guns N Roses Chinese Democracy
I would just like to say that I like the new Guns N Roses album
Alot of people are going to say it sounds like this or it sounds like that but is actually is good. Everyone says it's not 15 years good but I think that is also up for debate. We've never heard an album that has come out and been pronounced an "instant classic". You have to give this one time. I think people spend way too much time worrying about AXl's hair and ego ehen they should be looking at the content of the album. The album is very ballad heavy which for fans of appetite for destruction may not be a good thing. I think people forget that the Use Your Illusion albums existed. These albums are a logical extention of where those albums were going. I think this album is the one good album that a combination of Use Your Illusion I and II should have been.
Axl's voice is on point and that has always been the focal point of GNR.
Alot of people are going to say it sounds like this or it sounds like that but is actually is good. Everyone says it's not 15 years good but I think that is also up for debate. We've never heard an album that has come out and been pronounced an "instant classic". You have to give this one time. I think people spend way too much time worrying about AXl's hair and ego ehen they should be looking at the content of the album. The album is very ballad heavy which for fans of appetite for destruction may not be a good thing. I think people forget that the Use Your Illusion albums existed. These albums are a logical extention of where those albums were going. I think this album is the one good album that a combination of Use Your Illusion I and II should have been.
Axl's voice is on point and that has always been the focal point of GNR.
This Guy.
I'm sure everyone has a shortlist of people that they would do anything for. I would say outside of my fam that list would include 5-10 people this man being in the top five...
When I met this guy the odds were heavily stacked against us having any sort of friendship.
This all started in the summer of 1995 when I attended the Cleveland hardcore festival of that year which was ironically hosted by one Randall Thatcher, its ironic because Randy just added me as a friend on Facebook. Anyhow during the infancy and long before the days of message boards I was on this thing called the "Straight Edge MAiling List" (or SXE-L). A mailing list was kind of like a message board but instead of going to the website where the message board was you would have all the messages sent to your email inbox, You would reply etc. and everyone would get the messages. I met alot of friends that I still have to this day on that thing. BAck to the the story...
I met alot of people from all over the country on the SXE-L and I met alot of them in person at the two big hardcore festivals in the Summer of 1995. The Columbus Fest and the Cleveland Fest. One of the people I met that summer was this girl Kim who used to write alot on the SXE-L, you could say that she was one of the most popular people on the list. So I met her at the cleveland fest and hung out with her and alot of the other SXE-L kids at the fest. It turns out that she had fallen for one of the other kids on the SXE-L, his name was Wayne. They hung out had a great time and everything was beautiful. There was only one problem Kim already had a boyfriend, a boyfriend who apparently cared a lot for her. I remember hearing some stories from kim about him being an bad guy but it was irrelevant to me at the time because whe would I ever meet this guy?
That happened a few weeks later when Kim ventured to Guelph, ON (a couple of hours from Buffalo) to hang out with Wayne. I remember getting some sort of phone call from Kim saying that she was hanging out with Wayne in Canada but that her boyfriend was freaking out. For some reason she told her boyfriend to drive from North Carolina to see her even though she was with this new guy. I don't know about anyone else but I think I would have dealt with my boyfriend upon my return "home" So she told her boyfriend Greg to come to Canada to see her even though it really seemed as if their relationship was all but over. SO greg drove up to guelph (which is about a 15 hour drive) to try to save what was left of his relationship.
SO greg arrives in Guelph and Wayne and I had to go to this mall parking lot in the middle of the night to meet him. for some reason the scene reminded me of the parking lot in the back to the future. The one in which Dr. Brown gets shot. So over the next few days I ended up getting to know Greg and I remember we (me, greg, wayne and kim) went to a hardcore show in lockport at the end of the weekend. Greg and Kims relationship was done and greg was to go back to North Carolina. I had gotten to know him over that weekend and for some reason I felt close to him. SO when he was leaving I gave him a hug. Kim didn't like the fact that I gave him a hug because I was supposed to be on her side.
anyhow to make a long story short. that hug started our friendship and 13 years later it is still one of my strongest friendships. I'm not even sure where Kim is these days.
Greg is the strongest argument I've ever been witness to for not judging people before you actually have a chance to meet them or know them.
When I met this guy the odds were heavily stacked against us having any sort of friendship.
This all started in the summer of 1995 when I attended the Cleveland hardcore festival of that year which was ironically hosted by one Randall Thatcher, its ironic because Randy just added me as a friend on Facebook. Anyhow during the infancy and long before the days of message boards I was on this thing called the "Straight Edge MAiling List" (or SXE-L). A mailing list was kind of like a message board but instead of going to the website where the message board was you would have all the messages sent to your email inbox, You would reply etc. and everyone would get the messages. I met alot of friends that I still have to this day on that thing. BAck to the the story...
I met alot of people from all over the country on the SXE-L and I met alot of them in person at the two big hardcore festivals in the Summer of 1995. The Columbus Fest and the Cleveland Fest. One of the people I met that summer was this girl Kim who used to write alot on the SXE-L, you could say that she was one of the most popular people on the list. So I met her at the cleveland fest and hung out with her and alot of the other SXE-L kids at the fest. It turns out that she had fallen for one of the other kids on the SXE-L, his name was Wayne. They hung out had a great time and everything was beautiful. There was only one problem Kim already had a boyfriend, a boyfriend who apparently cared a lot for her. I remember hearing some stories from kim about him being an bad guy but it was irrelevant to me at the time because whe would I ever meet this guy?
That happened a few weeks later when Kim ventured to Guelph, ON (a couple of hours from Buffalo) to hang out with Wayne. I remember getting some sort of phone call from Kim saying that she was hanging out with Wayne in Canada but that her boyfriend was freaking out. For some reason she told her boyfriend to drive from North Carolina to see her even though she was with this new guy. I don't know about anyone else but I think I would have dealt with my boyfriend upon my return "home" So she told her boyfriend Greg to come to Canada to see her even though it really seemed as if their relationship was all but over. SO greg drove up to guelph (which is about a 15 hour drive) to try to save what was left of his relationship.
SO greg arrives in Guelph and Wayne and I had to go to this mall parking lot in the middle of the night to meet him. for some reason the scene reminded me of the parking lot in the back to the future. The one in which Dr. Brown gets shot. So over the next few days I ended up getting to know Greg and I remember we (me, greg, wayne and kim) went to a hardcore show in lockport at the end of the weekend. Greg and Kims relationship was done and greg was to go back to North Carolina. I had gotten to know him over that weekend and for some reason I felt close to him. SO when he was leaving I gave him a hug. Kim didn't like the fact that I gave him a hug because I was supposed to be on her side.
anyhow to make a long story short. that hug started our friendship and 13 years later it is still one of my strongest friendships. I'm not even sure where Kim is these days.
Greg is the strongest argument I've ever been witness to for not judging people before you actually have a chance to meet them or know them.
Tofurkey Day
SO I recently posted about my thanksgiving but there actually was a good part to thanksgiving. It happened at the Farm Sanctuary's Celebration for the Turkeys. My friend Mary and I ventured down to Watkins Glen last Saturday to help celebrate those wonderful birds.
Here are some Pics:
Here are some Pics:
Thursday, November 27, 2008
happy thanksgiving to me
So it's thanksgiving and guess what I'm doing? Nothing...that's right nothing. I remember going to my aunts house as a little boy and thinking to myself, "I wish that I didn't have to go to my aunts house. I wish I could just stay home alone and play video games". It's 2008 and that is where I am at home and playing video games by myself. It's not as fulfilling as I would have thought. I'm 34 years old and video games are not really that fun anymore and when you live in a world where you computer screen shows you "....is ready to eat like a pig today" or "...is happy to see his family today". You get these stories via myspace and facebook and blogs and you read them all. You take them in process them and you come out with some feelings. For once I can say that I'm feeling a bit lonely. I had originally made some plans with a friend to go to the movies but sickness made that fall through. As a matter of fact me and him have made that a bit of a tradition although I can't remember what I did two years ago. The Cowboys are on now so it's a little better but I can't wait for this day to end. It's really terrible. It just feels like I've wasted a day of my existence.
Luckily I had thanksgiving at the farm sanctuary last saturday which I probably should have written about already.
Luckily I had thanksgiving at the farm sanctuary last saturday which I probably should have written about already.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Crystal Cups
The first post I write is inspired by one David Moore who for my money is the best lyricist I've ever heard. The man puts words and phrases together in a way that I think is simply magical. The lyrical content makes me jealous in a way, not because of his lyrical prowess but because of the content of what his lyrics are about. Apparently (at least from my observation) most of them are about the love of his life. My jealousy does not stem from me wanting her or anything like that but it stems from the expressiveness of his feelings for her. Listening to Chamberlain (his former band) lyrics I just feel like his words describe how someone who feels deeply for someone should express them self. I'm left wishing that someone would express them self like that for me or that I would be able to express myself like that for someone.
"If there's anything you need, please you just leave it all up to me..."
"We spent two eternal days just the way that they all oughta be...."
" I miss the weight of your eyes, when yer sneaking glances..."
I know it's all kinda corny but in my mind feelings like that only come up in some ideal of someone that I'll never be with. To have someone that you could actually say those words and feel that way about would be incredible. That would be love. I've been in love before but this would be,in the words of Steve Winwood a "higher love"
"I wish that I could tell you
Everything you need to hear
So you would know where you belong
You would rise like a song from this carnival of fear
If only you could see
The way that you shine
And that the day would rewind
When all is said and done you would finally be mine.
And I know that you’ve been hurting
and you don’t know who to blame.
But let down your fear
I will pour out my spirit into the wounds you have made
Is it breaking you down?"
"If there's anything you need, please you just leave it all up to me..."
"We spent two eternal days just the way that they all oughta be...."
" I miss the weight of your eyes, when yer sneaking glances..."
I know it's all kinda corny but in my mind feelings like that only come up in some ideal of someone that I'll never be with. To have someone that you could actually say those words and feel that way about would be incredible. That would be love. I've been in love before but this would be,in the words of Steve Winwood a "higher love"
"I wish that I could tell you
Everything you need to hear
So you would know where you belong
You would rise like a song from this carnival of fear
If only you could see
The way that you shine
And that the day would rewind
When all is said and done you would finally be mine.
And I know that you’ve been hurting
and you don’t know who to blame.
But let down your fear
I will pour out my spirit into the wounds you have made
Is it breaking you down?"
On my side of the street
I started this blog because I feel like I have a lot to say and I really need an outlet to say it. I spend my nights in bed thinking about what I really want to say but I really don't have anyone to say these things to. So here is this blog where I will put down these "profound" feelings.
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