Ramblefest Returns

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear right off the bat: I have nothing much to say really…I just need to get a lot of stuff off my chest and I figured this was the eaisest route to take. So, without further ado, let’s just start rambling on about everything that’s been going on in my life lately.

First off…I’m finally preparing to quit my job so that I can return to studying full-time. At least for a little while. Honestly this not only terrifies me to a great extent (mostly because I’m afraid that I won’t be able to handle studying again and I’ll actually miss the job!) but also makes me uneasy about life in general right now. It’s gotten to the point where I’m unsure of almost everything and second-guess even the most mundane decisions. Just imagine taking more than 5 minutes to decide what kind of shampoo to buy and you get a fair idea of my thought processes these days.

One of my most beloved cats — Icey — died of cancer two days ago. I actually took it a lot harder than I thought I would. No, that doesn’t mean weeping or whatnot…just an intense feeling of sadness and a need to be alone for a while. Of course the latter bit isn’t even THAT big a problem. Thanks to the insane timing of the job and my worrying need to sleep for longer and longer periods of time, I have little or no social life anymore anyway. And with said habits, I have very little to talk about as it is so I prefer to keep to myself as I hate to be a bore. (Yeah, yeah…I’m boring you with the violin music right now…deal with it! My blog, my rules!) Unfortunately that seems to lead to more troubles as the few people I did talk to seem to think I’m ignoring them on purpose and well…it’s a vicious cycle.

I just finished Mad Men Season 2. (I know…I’m jumping through topics faster than Palin trying to convince the world of her sincerity to Roe v Wade) Excellent series and I adore each and every single character. I mean, who saw the Pete-Peggy revelation coming? I thought that considering a whole season’s worth of storylines, that would just be swept under…but it really stood out. Very well done. Of course, that’s nothing compared to what happened an episode earlier with Joan. (I’m purposely being vague here…don’t wanna give away any spoilers) That scene was heart-breaking. Especially considering that it happened to someone with the strength and resolve of Joan. Scenes like that keep me coming back to this show…truly brilliant writing and cinematography. Kind of worried that Reiner will leave the show…I think he’s vital to the series brilliance…but we’ll see.

I have just gotten into Boyce Avenue. Now the band’s original stuff is bland, Lifehouse-lite crap. But their acoustic covers are excellent. Especially worth hearing are their covers of Rihanna’s Disturbia and Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. Excellent stuff and don’t be turned off by the poppy origins. Very, very good. Available on both itunes and youtube, btw.

I am, as of today, exactly 2 months behind on my comics reading. Kind of sad, I know. But hopefully I will catch up in the coming weeks. I’ve just been so busy with books and old trades/singles that I’ve had no time to read the new stuff. Hell…I just finished Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #2 last night so you can well imagine how long it could take for me to catch up at this point. But I’m working on it. Although, honestly, I’m sorely tempted to go trade-only. I’ve dropped a large number of books I used to read so I think I can manage it now. (Cost was always the concern previously).

Btw…as much as the allusions to a divine power annoy me…I am loving the new season of Eli Stone. Very well-written, funny and keeps me on my toes. Good stuff…definitely recommended.

That’s it for now…expect more rambles shortly. This is the mode I have shifted to for now since its more comfortable. Oh…and fret not…Butt-Shots will return soon. Not in the same format…but they will. Instead of weekly books…now I shall focus on random comics I read and happen to find Butt-Shots in. I think that shall make it much more interesting, don’t you?

American Idol: All Encompassing Review

I don’t like to talk about American Idol on this blog because I just discuss the thing on Augie De Blieck’s blog: Various and Sundry in the comments on a regular basis. But, since I only do short comment style posts there…I wanted to examine this year’s AI in more detail as well…and how better to do that than through my own blog.

First my current favourite that I don’t expect to win (this becomes much easier when there are only 3 people left) Blake Lewis. I like Blake. He’s fun, energetic and brings something new to a show that had gotten fairly stale after 6 seasons of overly poppy singers. His beatboxing is a welcome relief in a season that has been dominated by Divas, nasally-singing and whatever the hell Phil and Haley were. (He Who Must Not Be Named doesn’t count…plus I refuse to accept that he even existed much less acknowledge his “contribution” to this show) Admittedly, it took some time for his brand of music to grow on me. But, I guess around the time of the JLo week…I think he was singing that Marc Anthony song…I really started to appreciated the guy’s voice and style. He is truly talented at composing and mixing…much moreso than he is at singing. I figure if all else fails after this show, he can easily become the new Timbaland. Plus, that Bon Jovi number…insane!

Moving on to the person I expect to win, Jordin. Jordin is a great singer. She has the power to rival the much more experienced divas and has the all-important youth factor going for her that I personally believe will get her an awesome amount of votes. As long as she stays away from the rock songs, I have no doubt she will do very well after this show. I don’t really have much to say about her because everything I could say has probably already been said.

Finally, as far as the top 3 are concerned, Melinda. What need be said about the most professional, most focused and by far the most polished singer Idol has ever seen? She is criticism proof, because not only does she always pick the right song, but she sings it…she doesn’t shout like a lot of other high-power female singers do…she actually sings…and sings incredibly well. Melinda is someone I root for based on her background (as a backup singer…nothing is worse than being invisible) but I don’t think I would really get her album. She’s a great singer, but her brand of music doesn’t really do anything for me. Jordin is the same, but the younger-skewing music might give her a shot. Blake is the most marketable of the three, let’s face it. Whether he can build on that is something else entirely though.

Now for the bygones: Chris was decent. I think the nasally voice worked heavily against him and the fact that he looks like Justin Timberlake did not do him any favours on that stage (well…I’m sure it got him the girl vote, but otherwise it didn’t really help that people were subconciously comparing him to Timberlake) He did have a couple of very good performances and although I don’t really have any intention of looking up his solo album whenever it comes out, it should be interesting to see if he sticks with the nasally thing.

Next, Phil or as he is better known; The Lord of the Undead. Phil’s biggest problem was of course that he developed far too late into the show. He was ok, but nothing special until Country week when we [the audience] finally realized that “Damn! That guy can sing!” and it was too little too late. By that point in time most people had already decided on their favourites and if there’s one thing AI teaches us, its that favourites count a lot more than actual week-to-week performances.

Haley and Chris S were ill-suited for the show. Haley just didn’t have the voice for the competition and I think she knew it. She overcompensated with the short clothes and trying to look sexy (She did succeed on that second count most of the time) and I think what killed her AI career was the fact that a lot of women started to resent her. I saw more than one comment about her being a “whore” because of the clothing and makeup, which I thought was a little unfair since she was just trying her best to stand out in a group that really overshadowed her. Chris S didn’t want to be there, period. I don’t think he was prepared for the grind that AI requires and you could tell he didn’t really care to be here. I hope he has a career beyond this, but his unprofessionalism does make one not give a damn about him.

Now for the obligatory conspiracy theory that all AI blogs should trot out every once in a while: Blake has been repeatedly in the bottom 3, right? And we all know that a B3 position boosts your next week’s rating because your fans are concerned about you? Well, this past week, dialidol (which I trust more than Seacrest) had Blake in a very comfortable lead over the Divas. And yet he was still presented in the B2. I think that is part of the show’s creators sneaky way of keeping Blake on the show longer…maybe trying to manipulate a Jordin/Blake finale even? Eh…who really knows…I am of course talking out of my ass. Still…can’t wait to see the remaining 2 weeks. Hard to believe the show is almost over for this year.

Soundtrack of our lives

Ever feel like you were living in a Zach Braff movie?

You know what I mean. You’re dealing with some heavy issues…maybe a little depressed…and then you hear this gloriously emo song and it just makes you even more depressed, but in a good way. So you just roll with the punches and the next day it’s like nothing happened. Well…I went through something like that recently. The reasons aren’t really important (they never are in retrospect, are they?) but it did make me think about music and its impact on our lives. See, I’m not a musician, but I like a lot of different kinds of music. I like songs that cover pretty much every genre from alternative to techno to country to r&b. And I feel comfortable being into that much music. But the thing is…with that much music listening comes the inevitable point where you tend to compare moments in your life to song lyrics or music chords. This happens to me way to often to be ignored. And well…I want to share it.

So, the point of this post (finally!) I shall now be providing a list of songs (or just one song…sometimes just one is enough) with every single post I write. This song will cover what I’m going through or have gone through that day. There will probably be a lot of repeats because I live a life of tedium and half the time I live in this perpetual state of deja vu. But, hopefully it’ll be fun…for the readers as well as for me.

Also, something that just occurred to me…I want to do a chronological soundtrack of my life. That is so emo of me it isn’t even funny…but it sounds like an interesting challenge…finding music that fits all the major points of my life. So…when I find the time (so…not anytime soon is my bet) I shall start to post a soundtrack of my life for every year I’ve been alive. That’ll be from birth till now (whatever ‘now’ will be once I get there.) Again…this is just for fun…so should be interesting to see what I come up with.

Now that my obligatory ‘cat-blog’ post is done…I am planning posts on the much-awaited butt-shots #4, another buffy trade, and skins (this british tv show that I want everyone to know about). Until then…

TRACK OF THE MOMENT: Annihilation by The Perfect Circle.

This Music Rocks #1: 30 Seconds to Mars

I doubt many people have even heard of 30 Seconds to Mars. And of those who have heard of them I’m pretty sure it’s more set as Jared Leto’s band in their heads more than their actual musical contribution. I won’t lie…when I first heard about this I was reminded of Dog-Star. I mean seriously…that band was horrible. But I consider myself fairly open-minded when it comes to music and love to try new bands (for me) whenever I get the chance. So I got the first self-titled album.

Not bad all told. The music was your typical angsty rock that is in vogue right now but it seemed to have passion behind it. The band members seemed to really care about what they were doing and that is a pretty big rarity in the music scene right now. (I’m sorry, but after I was incredibly disappointed by Audioslave’s lackluster effort in Revelations I just find most bands seem to be coasting along these days…very little in the way of innovation or excitement such as it were.)

So anyway…I liked the album enough that I went out and got the second album too. And it was excellent. The band obviously used the time in-between albums to hone their craft. The lead singer (Is Leto the lead singer or the bassist? I’m curious to know if anyone can tell me…haven’t seen any music videos of the band yet so not sure…) managed to get vocal lessons apparently since there’s far less screaming in this one and it holds up very well to repeated listenings. Plus, while the angsty rock roots are intact, the band seems to have developed their own sound. They are far more smoother and even have some similarities to…I guess…Nickelback. They do appear to more raw and a lot more powerful than Nickelback but the similarities are present.

So where was I going with that ramble-fest? I just wanted to let people know more about bands that don’t necessarily get a lot of radio playback/music channel play. I plan on making this a semi-regular feature to be pulled out whenever I’m incredibly bored or really can’t talk about anything else. (I wanted to do a post on Gaiman’s Coraline but I’m still formulating some thoughts on that so it’ll have to wait for a while…and no I’m not promising when it’ll come out.)

Either way check out 30 Seconds to Mars. Trust me…good band and definitely worth atleast one listen. Let me know what you think in the comments. It would be nice to know if my music tastes are going to pot.

I’m listening to…

Since this blog is all about me (ME!!!!!) I figure I should also say something about one of the biggest influences in my daily mood and well-being; music.Now, quite frankly, I don’t have a definite “musical identity.” I listen to a lot of shit. I like a lot of different types of music…and I have no compunctions about trying new music based on the genre-branding that is so fucking popular these days.

In view of that, here’s the junk that I’m regularly listening to these days:

1. Katie Melua – Just Like Heaven
I honestly don’t know why I like this song. It’s like a watered down, pretty sad version of the classic Cure version, but I don’t know…whenever I listen to it, it just puts me at peace and all I want to do is read a good book, sleep, or umm…do something involving a certain weed…2. Greenday – Time of Your Life
Quite possibly my favorite Greenday song, and one of the only ones that I can still bear to listen to after the fiasco that was American Idiot. The opening chords of this are classic, and the whole theme is something that appeals to me. Mostly cause I seem to always be saying goodbye; to people, places, things…The thing is, this song makes sense to me and helps me relate to the world. And in my book, them’s good music.

3. Bowling for Soup – Almost
This song is fucking hilarious!! Seriously, it’s one of the most funny, heartfelt songs I’ve listened to in a long time and I love it. I’ve actually been hearing it in the background of a lot of teen movies for the last 2-3 years now, but didn’t realize the actual name of it till I saw Dirty Deeds. The movie was bleh-worthy, but it gave me the name of the song, so for that it does have a semi-fond place in my heart (I doubt this goodwill will last very long…the movie was fucking American Pie with bread…yes, that’s right.)

4. Story of the Year – Anthem of Our Dying Day
I’m probably reading waaayyy to much into this song, but the whole package of lyrics, video and music tell me that this song deals with the end of civilization through decay. What decay is left open to the listener, and in the current state of the world and my mental processes, this song makes incredible sense and thus is getting a heavy rotation on my playlist.

5. Bethany Joy Lenz – Halo
The lyrics. That’s basically the only reason I like this song. Lately I’ve been feeling…trapped I guess is the word I’m looking for. I’m trapped in my patterns, my feelings, my perceptions…and I don’t know how to break free of these. This song kinda mirrors what I’ve been feeling lately, and well…it’s the reason I listen to it.

6. Morningwood – Nth Degree
Don’t ask me why…but I love this song. It’s just plain, simple fun. I haven’t heard a song that was this much fun in a long time, and I dunno…it makes me want to have fun, to do something. I just really, really like this.

7. Orgy – Blue Monday
A cover of the Cure classic, this is just fucking fantastic. Orgy on the whole is an excellent group…but this cover blew me away. Definitely something I’ll probably be listening to for a long, long time.

That’s it. What? You were expecting more swearing or some shit? C’mon…even I need a break. Probably have another I Hate…post soonish…it’s in the works. It just requires a certain level of pure, unadulterated bile that I just can’t manage to spew right now…it’ll come though.