Big Google is Watching

Who would ever think that an Internet Search Engine would be the form of our oppression? Now with is satellites and crap, the new Google Earth is a way for you to get driving directions better than Mapquest or Yahoo! Maps ever dreamed possible. Now, you can see what your crappy little suburban block looks like from the infinite abyss. And yes, it's kind of creepy. Now I can stalk people by getting their address and seeing what it looks like from thousands of feet in the air. I can check your away messages through Instant Messenger. I can stalk you through facebook and Myspace. I can stalk you musically through last.fm. And now, thanks to Big Broogle, I can stalk you from thousands of feet in the air. What happened to analog stalking? Driving your car and staring through windows, eavsdropping at the cafe and actual physical contact through following. It's all gone. Now I can just find you on Facebook, see your screename, links to myspace and ytour address and Google Earth the living shit out of you and yours. All from the comfort of my home. If Bill Hall was right in the fact that our generation will cause some sort of social change through a spiritual revolution in denouncing stuff, then all this shit that we do have (and yes, I have access to all the afformentioned stalkabilities), needs to stop being created. Because its all addictive. "Television is the opium of the masses"~Martin Donovan in Trust. Now, the internet is the opium of the masses. Beware. Big Brother is Watching...

I can't put into action what it is I understand.

"That's the trouble with us Americans. We want a tragedy witha happy ending."

Surviving Desire. Just under an hour long, yet more amazing than many other film I have ever watched. In this chunk of time, Hal Hartley packs in comedy, philosophy, romance and tragedy. Unbeliveable the amount of awesome packed into this film. The leads, Jude (played by Martin Donovan) and Sofie (Mary Ward) have a convuluted relationship that reflects every relationship we have ever had. Described in one word, verbs. Seriously, do whatever you can to see this film. Essentially brilliant. Plus, it has a rediculous dance sequence.

That's about all I got to say about this for now. It's the only thing keepin' me going this week. Thanks again, Hal, for making me feel good about living.

Best of 2005

So I am going to be compiling a list of the best of 2005 in music and such. I've been going through my musical collection to see what albums that are from this year that I like the best. And, to tell you the truth, it's hard. Yes, 2005 has been an awesome year for albums. A lot of which I have totally forgot about and some new ones that are really great PLUS a lot that I have missed. So here is my rundown of the stuff I have currently have with short descriptions of why they are any good or only moderately good are amazing. Did I miss something? Let me know and I will get it somehow before the year is over.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Howl- Possibly the best album of this year, BRMC ditches its past Retro Rock efforts and decided to all sit around with acoustic guitars and listen to albums like After the Gold Rush and Blonde on Blonde. Good thing they did. Songs with a great acoustic and country feel with that twist of Rock and Roll that has been dead for so long has made this album something to pick up this year. It's truly astonoshingly good.

Beck's Guero- I love Beck and this album is pretty damn good. For some reason, as an album, I don't love it as much as I thought I would. But each individual song is pretty damn amazing. Earthquake Weather and Missing are two outstanding tracks. But for some reason, when all lumped together, I don't love it as much as I should. It's definitely going on my top 10, but not sure if its gonna break the top 5.

The Raveonettes' Pretty in Black- The retro sound of the 50's and 60's blended with loud guitars and dripping sexuality lead to yet another stellar effort from the Rave's. This time, without their weird contract of having to record all songs in one key, they churn out songs more unique then their last two efforts. They also pick up the acoustic guitars on a few tracks and lay down the law with their brand of Whip Lash rock and roll.

The Decemberists' Picaresque- The most poetic album of the year. Lyrics that will numb your brain and orchestration that makes it even better. A perfect blend of beautiful words and music make this album totally worth it. A band I have been meaning to hear for a while and thanks to Lou's recomendations, its totally on.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks' Face the Truth- I think I should face the truth and just say that this will be my #1 album. Malkmus does it again with zany lyrics, jamming songs and a throwback to the schizo of Wowee Zowee yet the innocence and fun of his solo albums. The rocking 8 minute "No More Shoes" rules.

Diamond Nights' Popsicle- Kind of a new one, but the Kemado Records glam rockers whose influences are Marc Bolan, Chianti (yes the wine) and beautiful women know how to throw back to the days of the 70's glam rockers of T-Rex and Lou Reed with catchy riffs and crooning vocals. It's nothing super special, but it's pure fun.

Franz Ferdinand's You Could Have It So Much Better- Not too great of a second effort, but it's still a solid album. Pretty much you know what you are getting with this one. The single "Do You Want To" is definitely the best part about this album. Going from mono to stereo is a throat kick of great production that makes it one of the standout singles of the year.

Depeche Mode's Playing the Angel- A great band of the 80's who has been missing its musical link since 1990's Vialator makes another good solid album of new wave. This time, not from a nu-wave band. The single "Precious" is intoxicatingly good. Otherwise, the album is just decent overall.

The Coral's The Invisible Invasion- A band that has an impossible time getting popular over here in the USA but has huge success over in good ol London Town churns out yet another solid album of catchy, 60's throwback tunes. Happiness drips from every chord (especially on "In The Morning"). An overall solid album with great licks that pull the sources of the Zombies and other Brit Invasion superstars.

Fionna Apple's Extraordinary Machine- Stalled for over 6 years (maybe more) the amazingly brilliant singer/songwriter returns with an album that is just as good as her others. The music, the lyrics and the voice will peirce your ears with intoxicatingly great force.

Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning/Digital Ash in a Digital Urn- Although a lot of people complain that Connor Oberst is a whinny brat, it leads to some excellent songwriting. Two stellar albums in one year is always something to commend. Wide Awake is more traditional, while Digital Ash is more contemporary and edgy. Both are great.

Nine Inch Nails' [With_Teeth]- There is no doubt in my mind that Trent Reznor is a musical genius. Churning out yet another great album with heavy hitting tunes and amazingly structured rock. The first track "All The Love in the World" is the best Nine Inch Nails song since anything off of The Downward Spiral.

The White Stripes' Get Behind Me Satan- The White Stipes skewed away from their usual garage rock feel and get a dose of the country blues. And yes, they did an amazing job. A lot of piano and a lot different than anything else out there. As many critics say, they have recorded their Exile on Main Street. Stellar tracks include "As Ugly As I Seem" and "Little Ghost."

Rhapsody in Blue

Woody Allen is one of those artists who gets crap for being a sleeze ball in real life. But when one forgets the personal lives of an artist, and looks at the art itself, they truly see what the troubled person (in this case) behind the lens is truly seeing. The films of Woody Allen, from Annie Hall to Crimes and Misdemeanors to Manhattan, all have this great sense of life, love, sex, relationships and the world (through New York, of course.) All that aside, I finally viewed Manhattan and was truly blown away by its excellence. There really is no better film that takes a stab at the human condition through Allen's eyes. Everyone says Annie Hall this and Annie Hall that. And yes, Annie Hall is amazing with its sense of wit, hilarity, self-reflection and all that other great stuff. But Manhattan is much more real. It goes beyond hilarious moments. The characters are so well thought out and realistic that it doesn't even seem like a film at times. The innocence of Tracy, the neurosis of Issac, the insecurities of Mary and the two-faces of Yale. If you do one thing for yourself, see this film as soon as humanly possible.



Tracy: Not everybody gets corrupted. You have to have a little faith in people.

Also, Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin is used to score this film) fills me with the urge to live life better than before I listen to it. I have always loved this particular peice of music, but I now love it more than anything at all. It's truly brilliant and fantastic.

There is my rant on that. Check it out. Do yourself some good.

Every junkies like a setting sun

Neil Young is pretty much amazing. I mean, just look at him! Beyond the sweet mutton chops and look of a total slacker, this man is nothing but a musical songwriting genius. I went to look up lyrics for a song off of American Stars and Bars called "Hey Babe" and noticed something about his career. So many friggin albums! He has over 35 albums and some with other groups (CSNY and Buffallo Springfield.) What a sprawling career. His newest album, Praire Wind, is just as good as some of his early works and has a touch of Harvest to it. It's far and away better than Greendale, even tho Greendale is pretty good, but its a return to Neil's more classic songwriting style. Greendale is more insane with sprawling songs that last over the 8 minute mark many times and get a bit repetitive. Regardless, lord knows that I will be listening to Lots of Neil this week. And hopefully getting some more of his albums. Lately, I will just buy one on a whim and a lot of times, it rules. So far, I haven't gotten one that sucked. So keep me posted if you ahve any Neil discs. I will Get File them or copy them or yeah.

Blog Jammin'

With only an hour or so to go until the big marathon begins, I decided to rant about my week since Tuesday.

So I basically had two whole pages of the Leeg to myself this week. And not because I did a two-pager Mag Page... but my article on the Bluth's and their cancellation was opposite my page which I wrote everything for. It was odd seeing my name plastered on the collegian, but it was also really sexy. That and my two articles (the other being the Death of the Video Rental Buisness Via Stores) were pretty decent.

I also got to visit Colleen twice this week on my own. It was sexy. The one time was pre-New Brain! and was all too short. I almost skipped out to stay, but I am a devoted host to absurdity and went. The next night we watched one of the most clever and most hilarious films of all time-- Living in Oblivion. With it's scary scenes of Buscemi freaking out and not wearing a shirt to the hilarious James Le Gros and the amazing life altering Hamburger scene, it was a good night. I like this Colleen girl a lot. She's really awesome and just the girl that I have been looking for (even tho in an earlier blog I said I wasn't looking, but Schopenhaur was right... can't change who we are... just look at this guy in this film.) But yea... Colleen pretty much makes me smile in a way I haven't in many months (take that however you like... but you might be wrong.) And kudos to you, Colleen, for doing that. So many good times lie ahead no matter what it might be in store for the both of us. We rock... SO hard!

Last.fm is way too addictive. I've had my account for, like, 4 days. And I aready check it more than facebook. Kinda creepy, but seeing what music I listen to days after I listened to it is awesome. The battle between The Who and The Stones is raging forth. I guess I have more Stones on my computer than I thought (altho I only have one album... its all those Live albums I inherited that are pretty rockin'.) As of now, my top 5 is The Who, The Stones, Beck, XTC and Death Cab for Cutie. Once I have this thang for at least a few months or even a few weeks, I may have to rethink my favorite artists. Of course, I go through phases, but who knows, maybe I will find out I like XTC more than Beck because I listen to them a lot. A year will tell the real truth to all that jazz.

Also, the Band XTC is pretty amazing. Just a side bar... if you liek The Talking Heads, check em out... they are the British version in some ways (not purely, but they came around the same time and tend to be both New Wave and rockin'.)

Thanksgiving break is almost upon us here. And that means too much socializing for me. But when I say too much, I dont mean that its a bad thing. I just mean that I know Im going to be all over the place and love it. Between hartley on monday with drust (I hope), Bar hoping with Chwastyk (hopefully for a little bit of this), Wednesday poss absurd movie night/blorio with vinyl (who knows at this point!), Turkey day at CCHS and Aunt Ceal and Uncle Bob's (so many games!), and working all weekend with random hang outs here and there, I will be spent! Im ready for it tho. I basically have 6 days off for this break due to my amazing schedule! WOOT!

And now, with just an hour to go, the Marathon is upon me. And, frankly, I'm nervous that I will be stuck with Ben and Matt Juliano for a while. And let me tell you, Ben I can handle, but Matt, can't stand him. And yes, Ill say that here... matt, you suck. Just let me keep a level head and hope and pray that some people I actually enjoy being around come and bring me boxes of joe and donuts (bosteon cream, please) and save me from murdering myself.

So tune in if you read this. It should be good if we get some stuff together. And now, I must prepare for either a great night, or failure.

I leave you with this...

A Call to Arms

This post is meaningless but for the sole fact that I need some reading suggestions for over the break. Nonfiction, fiction, poetry compilations, whatever. Give me like two choices. After I finally get to On the Road, I will take your suggestions to heart. I think that the few people who read this have good taste in books. And Im always open to new things. Yeah. So thats that.

Tuesday Rants

So now thanks to Drew Stephan's blog about this last.fm website, I am now addicted to it as much as MySpace or girls named Colleen or Tukey on Pumpernickel. It lists the music you listen to and charts that shite as well. It's kind of creepy and stalkerish for music geeks like me. And I love it. So check out my musical taste and find out that I usually listen to my playlist on random. You can add friends too so if you have Last.fm, add the shite out of me.

And P.S.- Unless you have been living under a rock, my show got cancelled. WAAAAAAAAAAAH! So Angry!


TV is headed for a downward spiral like whoa.
On another note, Wow is liquidating their VHS collection, so if you know me, come on in and buy buy buy as much stuff as you can. Lord knows some of these movies are out of print and probably worth more than 3 bucks, but ya know what, do it up. Here is a list of the films I scrounged from Wow:
Down By Law, Videodrome, Living in Oblivion, Malcolm X, Roadhouse, Kentucky Fried Movie, Trekkies, Mean Streets, Manhattan, Gallipoli and Delicatessen.
So many great films! So little money!

What is wrong with me?

I am bored and not tired so before I try and sleep, here is one of those thigns where you add up the pictures to try to figure out what im trying to say.


'



Bedtime now.

Addicted to the Bluth's

Thanks to my good friend Colleen and her addiction, I have now shared in a scary and somewhat life threatening addiction. No, it's not any narcotic (well, the jury is still out on that one), It's a little show called Arrested Development. Ahh yes. The Bluth family. By far the funniest and best television program in years and years and year.

And yes. It is the best. Screw all of you 24/CSI/Law and Order freaks. Those shows are pretty damn boring and get tiresome to watch. AD seems to never lose it's flair. I know its only on to it's third season (lucky for us... it almost got cancelled by this asshole.) Anyway, the laughs are non-stop, enough so that in watching it at work the other night, I had to rewind it and listen to a line I had missed in one episode where George Sr. sells Tobias for a pack of ciggarettes in jail. Nothing this original and hilarious has been on network tv since season 5 of Seinfeld. And the replay value is great as well. I noticed things I never saw before when watching certain episodes. In one episode, the Bluths build a fake model house which falls over. Buster decides he doesn't want to go to war, so he runs to let the house squash him, but he is saved by the window frame that falls around him. Now any of you film buffs know that Buster Keaton did the same gag in a silent film back in the good ol days of film. See any correlation here? So much depth is added to the comedy. TV is something I can't commit myself to doing. I find it hard to sit at the tv every week for a certain time and watch. And this, the one show I could do it for, is a problem since I have my radio show at 7-9pm. So do yourself a favor and watch Arrested Development. Its amazing.

Being single kinda rules

Is it bad to be intimidated by the female species? I'm going to side with yes. I don't see what my problem is, really. I'm an attractive, strapping young lad. What does strapping mean anyway? I don't think that describes me. Anyway, I like girls. And I think I'm stuck in this frame of mind that I have to find one girl to be interested in and be in some sort of "relationship" of sorts because that's all I've really known. And well, thats not the truth. But I'm so friggin conditioned, that I can't get comfortable with it being something casual and random and nothing of any real significance. That is, until now. After tonight, I finally can get over my own insecurities and be single without feeling lonely or unwanted. Because that ain't true. So ladies, beware. The Tsikitas has turned his back on his old self (even tho they say you can't change who you are inside). The time of me relying on someone else or somethign else is over.

Being single doesn't mean I'm not interested in a relationship right now, cuz I'm down for anything. It just means that I'm not going there.

Moving on, I decided that I am going to finally take control of my life and start writing something of importance rather than farting around all day. Lord knows I don't read for class. And Lord knows I don't read for fun right now (although I should.) So this computer will no longer enslave me to mindless E-Stalking and Facebooking. I will start my "Confession" or script more like it.

And here is my inspiration...

Henry Fool: [very calmly] Once - I forget where I was. Central America, maybe. Somewhere hot. Stupid job, bad pay, dangerous location, and water so foul the natives wouldn't even piss in it - this crowd of drunken motherfuckers hired by the local drug cartel showed up at my hotel room and threatened to tear me limb from limb. And I say, "Listen hombres, OK, you got me outnumbered here four to one and you're gonna kill me here tonight and not a soul in this dimly lit world is gonna notice I'm gone. But one of you, one of you, one of you is gonna have his eye torn out. Period." Silence. "I repeat myself: One of you poor, underpaid jerks is gonna have an eye ripped out of its socket. I promise. It's a small thing perhaps, all things considered, but I will succeed, because it's the only thing I have left to do in this world. So why don't you just take a good look at one another one last time, and think it over a few minutes more."
Simon: [pause] And then what happened?
Henry Fool: Well. Here I am, still, after all.

I love the F Chord

Playing the guitar is slowly becoming a lot more natural for me. I still dont know what chords are what on barre chord stylings. But I can rock a mean impromtu jam here and then as I sit and look up Lemonheads and Wilco tabs constantly. These two bands are influencing my music stylings for what I want F-Stop to become someday. Something about the simplicity of the Lemonheads and the lyrics of Wilco have really hit home for me. I love rocking out some Neil Young as well. Playing "Like A Hurricane" is so friggin fun. I can't solo for shite, but I love the chord progression in this song. Not to mention the F Chord, which sounds so good. I don't know why. Its just a good chord. Regardless, Evan Dando, the musician in which inspires me to play guitar, writes some catchy simple songs. And my favorite song to play is Confetti from It's a Shame About Ray. It's such a feel good song that just rocks. I want to learn Rudderless as well which is fun but I cant finda good tab for it. And my ear isnt good for the chords that I dont know how to play yet. Im workin on it. By winter break, Ill be ready to rock out rythm with some people if F-Stop ever gets out of the brain-child phase.

Music is so enriching. It's really the only passion I have right now. I can't write anything that I immediatley hate, I cant stand school anymore and I really have no drive to read either(which sux cuz there is so much I want to read right now.) SO music it is. Between guitar, listening to tunes and doing Peel Slowly and See, I dont want to do anything at all. Which is not good.

So here's to me writing a song right now at 2am right before I douse my throat with Ny Quil and sleep for 9 hours.

I've never been too good with names

I've come to the realization that although I believe Halloween is a lame holiday, I love dressing in costume. Which means that the practice of having parties involving costumes needs to happen more often, therfore making Halloween obsolete and making rediculous clothes wearing more mainstream. I was at two parties this weekend (both at the EmoHouse).
I originally was going to be Artie, but much to my dismay, I could not find a blue and red striped shirt at any thrift store that was to my liking.Instead I went as Used Car Salesman named Gary (don't mistake me with this guy) So I found a costume out of stuff I already owned. I then realized that costumes are not about what you are wearing as much as if you can become the character itself. I wore my beige Cord pants and Blazer and an awesome orange polyester shirt my mom had from the 70's and sweet aviators. It took me a bit to get fully into character, after a bit of Jim Beam and a cigar.
Then the rocking began. The first band was good, El Tore De Oro. But they were only a warm up for the closing act. Which of course was Daggers of Throwing. What an excellent show! Covers, originals, and fake blood all led to the best Daggers show yet. Not to mention the sweet Daggers Blazer I now have!
The rest of the night was filled with members of the cast of Twin Peaks (including a extremely sexy version of Audrey Horn), air guitar and bass to both Slow Ride and I'm Your Captain, random chats with drunk costumed fools and all in all good times. Sleeping on the couch kinda sucked, but alas, worth the great night.
The next party, last night, was short lived yet awesome. I went to this party not as Gary, but as Teen Wolf a la Jason Bateman. Needless to say with a mask at a party, you can be really creepy and stalk random people and get sweet reactions from them. Three bands, only two kegs (which was fine by me since I had to drive), lots of slutty dressed chicks (so much eye candy!) and awesome dancing.
The band that took the cake last night was definitely Liam and Me. An unexpected hit! They were really awesome and played awesome danceable music. They were psyched that myself, Crazian and The King started an all out dance-a-thon 2005. Then the Count took the stage.
Count Robocula that is. And yes, they rocked really hard. With costumes ranging from the Warriors to Gob of Arrested Development, they churned out the musical fury of a band that lives in Halloween 24/7.
Choice costumes of the night were Elvis, Cochise and the slutty cop girl who had bruises on her bare ass legs (Elvis loved those and got a lubby from them.) The night was awesome and I wish I could have stayed longer, but it was winding down fast since people had classes the next day (losers).
One thing that I appreciate about Halloween is I get to make an ass out of myself for no reason except that you get to be someone else that night. Its like acting. And its fun.
Rock on