+ Thursday, March 31 - 8:25am +

I didn't feel very well last night (that damn heart thing is still bugging me) so I felt too tired to stand around until after midnight to see 3 Inches Of Blood. After checking out their new video for 'Deadly Sinners' I sort of wish I had gone anyway. Damn they're good.


+ Wednesday, March 30 - 9:42am +

I recently ran across Audioscrobber via Frank on his new site. It a nice way to keep track of the music you are listening to on your computer, via your music player. You just download the plugin, and it does the rest. Since I listen to iTunes all day while I work, this seems like the ideal way to keep a current playlist online. I've added a link on the left to my user page. Right now the site is VERY slow, so be patient.

- HOLY SHIT, BOLD has reunited and are scheduling live shows. So far they seem to have only a few dates, including New York and PA. A DC show is rumored on April 22nd. Fingers crossed for West Coast dates. BOLD is certainly one of my all time favorites and if I wasn't traveling so much already, I be out there in April.

- Speaking of old school, here's a solid interview with Walter Scheifels. He talks about a possible 'unreleased' Quicksand album, Morrissey (Smiths cover on Slip? Huh?), the GB reissue, and what he's doing now.



+ Sunday, March 27 - 10:48am +

On Wednesday night at around 11pm I was watching TV. Out of no where my heart began to pound REALLY hard in the my chest. It was like someone had just flicked on a switch and it just started pounding. I got up, walked around, got a drink of water...no amount of reduced breathing or relaxing could control it. I decided to try to go to bed at around 11:50.

At around 2am there was no change and we decided that I should go to the hospital. As I walk into the emergency room they quickly took my pulse. I'm sitting down breathing normally and it's at 170 beats per minute. Normal speed is around 8o-90bpm. They immediately put all these heart monitors on me, insert an IV in my arm, and start me on oxygen. After 10 minutes with no change they inject me twice
with this medicine that resets my heart beat pattern and I quickly went down to a normal heart rat. After injecting the medicine into the IV the doctor asks me,"How did that feel? I'm curious. I've had some people say they feel like they are going to die...it does stop your heart briefly." Thanks doc. For the record my whole body seized and it felt terrible...I didn't think I was going to die. Not right then anyway.

Turns out I had a case of SVT, Supraventricular Tachycardia. The doctors really had no clear reason why it happened and gave me some medication and sent us on our way at 5am.

Needless to say after my Father's sextuple bi-pass this past January I was scared shitless when I was thrown into a room and saw the exact same routinue start that I witnessed with my father (oxygen, IV, monitors, etc.). My doctor told me on Friday that this can just happen, and isn't at all related to heart disease. Just in case I'm having a full blood work done as well as a stress test and a few other things.

Fun stuff.

---

Despite all this I still managed to get up to Donner Ski Ranch on Saturday for the Legends Snowboard Race. It was crazy to see all the old boards as they had an 'edge' and 'no edge' catagory. I was also stunned at the riders in attendence...Terry Kidwell, Tom Sims, Noah Salasnek, Dave Seoane, Tina Basich, and many more. In 7th grade Kidwell was like a god to me. The last time I saw him he was signing my sweatshirt after placing third in the 1989 US Open in Stratton..


+ Wednesday, March 23 - 2:33pm +

- Fox to release 'America's Cutest Retards'? Possibly, just ask Mr.Cross. At least they haven't cancelled Arrested Development and House. Yet.

- Some great Smiths and Morrissey interviews.

- MP3 web logs are getting popular. Nice idea. I've found two very solid classic punk rock sites: Strange Reaction and Something I Learned Today. I'm expecting good things from the Aversion blog. Any good metal ones out there? Let me know.

+ Currently - LISTEN : Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman +


+ Tuesday, March 22 - 8:35am +

With the school shootings, the Jackson trial (what a joke), and the Schiavo debate...it not a fun time to watch the news.

"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life" - George Bush after signing a bill to place the Schiavo case under federal review.

REALLY? Do you favor life that much? This woman and her husband have asked to have their suffering ended humanely, and you're talking about being in favor of life? What about all those lives being lost (on both sides) because of the two years of war in Iraq? Not to mention your present view being the opposite of a law you signed in Texas in 1999. I guess you discovered Jesus in 2000. It's called the separation of church and state. You hypocritical born again piece of shit. Fuck you and your brother.



+ Thursday, March 17 - 9:42am +

Buried Inside played a gong onstage last night. Yup, the singer struck a gong throughout their first song, 'Time As Ideology'. They also played 'Time As Imperialism', which was fantastic. I wouldn't say they were as tight as the record, but it was damn good stuff. At the end of their last song the vocalist jumped into a totally thin crowd. I'd say maybe 30 people. He hit the floor pretty hard the girl he almost hit seemed pretty stunned. Very nice touch. What did suck was the length of their set. 30 fucking minutes? I know most people where there for some other local band...but fuck. They played four songs total. When they were finished everyone just stood there waiting, wanting more. I hope to see these guys headlining because they are certainly more talented than 95% of the heavy acts out there.

The new Morrissey live album, Live At Earls Court, is surprisingly good. I say that because I watched his live show on HDNET and was pretty disappointed. Maybe it was the shitty sound (hard to believe in HD, but it kept going in and out) or the song selection. In any case, the album is great. 'Let Me Kiss You' is such a great song with a horn section. Top notch. Listen to some tracks here.

(Image above and linked gong image were found at Junked Camera...lots of great band shots)

+ Currently - LISTEN : Morrissey - Live At Earls Court +





+ Tuesday, March 15 - 9:36am +

- 'Support Magnetic Ribbons' found at Ego Inc. Perfect. I don't see too many of these in Northern California, but back east they were EVERYWHERE. The 'Baby On Board' of 2005.

- Jericho's Echo is a documentary film about punk rock in Isreal. Looks inspiring. The trailer/preview is very well done...I'm going to try to catch the premiere on Thursday. (As found on Left Hand Pathos)

- Check out Vegansneakers.com. Nice.


+ Monday, March 14 - 9:14am +

Any trip to Ameoba sets me back cash wise and this weekend was no exception.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the new album by The Evens. Some songs are pretty interesting, but nothing really grabs me. It's certainly solid songwriting.

Interesting side note: I went to art school with Amy Farina, one half of The Evens. We shared first year classes but as we moved toward a major, she took the photography route. We certainly were not in the same social circles. I was super impressed that she hung out with the guys from Admiral and (later) Hoover.

In 'Drawing I' the class would take trips off campus to sketch intersting locations. I remember that there were two questionable offsite locations for vegans: the zoo and the large open air fish market. For some reason I recall that she decided the fish market was fine to visit, but the zoo was taboo. I disagreed as I thought the DC zoo had a pretty good reputation in terms of taking care of their animals, and that the fish market had store after store of dead fish and other meats. My memory is pretty hazy, but I believe we agreed to disagree. You may notice that the Evens album features a photo of an elephant in a zoo, or some sort of cage, on the cover. Very interesting...



+ Friday, March 11 - 4:29pm +

We've lost a good friend.


+ Wednesday, March 9 - 11:15am +

I buy a lot of heavy/metal albums. Too many. Lately very few have lasted more than a few listens. Once or twice and I'm bored with it. I've listened to the Buried Inside album twice a day, everyday, since I bought it on Saturday. It's so damn good. Their sound is hard to describe...it's similar to all the bands they've toured with (Converge, The End, etc) but the production is dead on, and the songs are much more melodic and in some cases flowing instrumentals. A solid review can be read at Aversion. This is certainly one of the best albums of the year so far.

Buried Inside also play Bottom Of the Hill next Wednesday. I'm hoping for great things.

Some other random stuff:

- Quickly download and read 'Metal Church' penned by Matt Kirkpatrick. Damn funny and I can relate. (Pointed out by Pop Cesspool)

- Ink The Movie profiles LA tattoo artist Mr.Cartoon. Although not my favorite style personally, the man has incredible skills. Check out the trailer here.

- In other trailer news, Apple has posted the Lords Of Dogtown trailer. I think it looks pretty good.

- I used to love this game.

+ Currently - LISTEN : Buried Inside - Chronoclast +


+ Tuesday, March 8 - 10:23am +

Want to check out some shitty web design? Here's the soon to be launched Independent Trucks site redesign. Yeah, I designed the current site...it may not be ground breaking, but it's MUCH better than their awful redesign. Bad navigation (how's that top menu bar? Awful), absolutely no style, and slow page loads.

Nice job NHS...way to destroy a good thing.



+ Monday, March 7 - 3:45pm +

It's all about Caninus.

Caninus are a grindcore band out of New York that feature vocals supplied by two dogs. Yup, two pit-bull mutts named Basil and Budgie literally bark and growl over blast beats (the guys/girl from Most Precious Blood provide the sound...I've never listened to them so...). I mentioned them a while back on the site, but now their CD is out. I hate to say it...but it's pretty good.

Entitled, Now The Animals Have a Voice, the disc contains 14 tracks including a cover of New York Crew, and some samples of frightened studio engineers. The CD artwork is really well done featuring info on veganism, pound dog adoption, and all around animal rights. The 'lyrics' promote tolerance of pit-bulls and the acceptance of all dog breeds. I can't help but support this. Great idea and positive message. Listen to some tracks and pick up the CD here.

But hang on! Forget dogs. Are you into birds? Well, neither am I especially...but check out Hatebeak! A parrot on vocals. I shit you not. From their site on Reptilian Records "That's correct, a parrot for a singer, savaging you with feathers of razored steel! This is not Jimmy Buffet's parrot - be warned! Try as one might, they will not escape the claw; nothing can dodge the talons of hate!!" Fucking genius. Check out this interview and then listen to 'Beak Of Purifacation' here.

(Image above by Andy Jenkins / Bend Press...buy some of his fantastic artwork here.)


+ Sunday, March 6 - 4:34pm +

I finally found the time to watch Battle Royale 2 yesterday. It definitely has a ton of problems (way too long, lots of plot holes, piss poor characters, and why don't they just blow up the damn isand?) but it has SOME interesting commentary on terrorism and why it's goes on across the globe. One thing is for sure, director and writer Kenta Fukasaku certainly doesn't care for America. See the first one .

+ Currently - LISTEN : Iron & Wine - Woman King +



+ Thursday, March 3 - 8:31am +

If you are an artist, designer, or just a fan of clip art be sure and order issue 5 of Craphound. Page after page of great clip art. This current issue features images of hands, hearts, and eyes. The cover was designed by the one and only Art Chantry. Worth the $8 and then some.

I had the misfortune of seeing a really bad band play yesterday. Really bad. No, seriously...you have no idea. I need to catch 3 Inches Of Blood at the end of the month to restore my faith in music.

+ Currently - LISTEN : Coalesce - Functioning On Impatience +


+ Tuesday, March 1 - 4:54pm +

This is a great piece on WIRED discussing Howard Stern and his jump to Sirius as well as his struggle with the censors.

I've been listening to Howard Stern off and on since 3rd grade. I first caught his morning show on the old DC 101 in Washington DC. Currently I listen to him for maybe 5-10 minutes every morning before I get bored and turn on the iPod. I don't think I'll make the switch to satellite. Although my commute is pretty long...

If you don't watch Arrested Development I feel bad for you.


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