The Stooges Finally inducted into the Hall of Fame

After being nominated seven times to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Stooges finally made it! Congrats guys!

"Indiana Jones IV" makes "The Godfather III" look like "The Godfather II"

****CONTAINS SPOILERS****

Okay, I decided it's time for a trivial post nobody cares about. I recently watched the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series. Like the title says, it makes The Godfather III (which is a clear example of why casting/hiring based on nepotism is a bad idea) look like The Godfather II.

To slightly go off on a tangent:
I think there should be a rule that if you have a movie franchise or series, and don't come out with a sequel (or prequel) within ten years, then the MPAA should barre you against making another sequel to it. Case in point: The Godfather, Star Wars, Terminator, Indiana Jones, and probably some more I can't think of right now. Maybe throw some less notable movies like Karate Kid and Dumb and Dumber in there.

The main problem with the Indiana Jones series, though, is that each movie contradicts each other regarding relics and religious beliefs. The first and third movie, the Ark and Holy Grail, respectively, verify Christianity as a religion. While, the second movie verifies some West Asian beliefs. Then, this, the fourth one, verifies the existence of aliens. None of these beliefs can coexist with each other. I should mention that by "verifies" I merely mean in the movies' realm of belief. I guess one could argue the old saying that "perception and belief create one owns reality" (loosely quoted).

Anyway, the ending of the Crystal Skull movie is basically a child's "...and they lived happily ever after" cop out ending with no sense of satisfaction. Putting in over the top fight scenes such as fencing from the back of a jeep didn't help much either. If the kid was really Indiana Jone's son, he would have just shot Cate Blanchet.

Totally stupid and trivial post, I know, but thought I'd put it down on virtual paper.

Obama vs. Birthers

So I guess there is this vast movement, the people of which are called "Birthers" apparently, that believe Obama wasn't born the US and thus, via the US Constitution should be thrown out of his presidency.

I'm firstly reminded of the 2000 election of Bush vs. Gore. You know, the whole Gore and Democrats wanting a recount. Many Republicans started saying "Sore/Loserman" as a (rather weak) play on words of Gore/Lieberman. Well, wouldn't you know it, the pot once again calls the kettle black.

Despite Obama releasing his proof of birth certificate from Hawaii, Birthers are now claiming it's not actually a birth certificate. Why can't these people just admit that they are crybabies and are looking for any means necessary for another Republican "dynasty" (if you will).

The Constitution does claim that you have to be born in the US to be president, yes, but didn't it once claim that purchase of alcohol was illegal via an amendment, only to be repealed by another amendment about a decade later? My point being is that the whole idea of a candidate's requirement to be President that they must be born in the US is vastly outdated and no longer relevant. It was put in the Constitution during the infancy of the nation to protect the colonial interests. The US is no longer in need of fear of a foreign leader reigning tyranny on its people, and if you believe Obama is doing this already, perhaps you should look at other Presidents' actions throughout history (and you don't have to look far backwards beyond 2009).

Jingoism is perhaps our greatest threat now, and has been since W Bush took office in 2001. If you really want to make a statement against Obama, please find something a bit more realistic and more intelligent than the following:

1. Obama wasn't born in the US
2. Obama is a socialist
3. Obama is a nazi

For claiming any of the above will only hurt your reputation as someone who knows anything about politics.

Idea for the RIAA

RIAA: I think a good way to get more people to buy CDs rather than to download them is to make them easier to fuckin open. Without a knife, scissors, or razor blade handy, it takes longer to open the plastic wrap and take off that exasperating sticker at the top than it does to listen to the whole album all the way through... Okay maybe that's an exaggeration. It takes longer to open the plastic wrap and take off that exasperating sticker at the top than it does to listen to a whole EP album all the way through.

Stop!

Please stop the propagation of unicorn porn!

Mistah Kurtz--he dead

My Bloody Valentine + Pixies tour

As some may know, My Bloody Valentine, one of the founding fathers of the shoegazing rock movement of the 80s, started touring again in 2008. The recordings of shows I've seen on youtube don't really utilize the best recording equipment (cell phones, ew). MBV is a band that plays very loud, and those wimpy cell phone mics aren't designed for that shit. I will say this though: Belinda Butcher looks absolutely stunning even after all these years.


Belinda Butcher

Another band who's apparently going back on tour is the Pixies. They went on a reunion tour back in 2004 and I guess they're at it again. After watching the loudQUIETloud documentary of the 2004 tour it really seemed to me they're all incredibly depressed. Each of them were battling their own demons it seemed.

Maybe there will be some new material, but I doubt it.

Journey Through My Fears

Probably the second "real" song I wrote was "Journey Through My Fears." I wasn't too good at guitar back then, and I thought the lead guitar playing was weak. I listened to it again just now and actually enjoyed it, so I added it as the sixth track of the "A Window To The Soul" album. It really doesn't epitomize most my compositions though. Instead of being just a depressing song in a minor key, it's more "dark" than "depressing."

It has an organ playing on it which I did with a guitar tabbing program and just changed the instrument to "rock organ," then recorded into my PC mic into Soundforge.

Finally Joined Facebook

I've been trying to improve on my OCD and social anxiety disorder lately. I thought what better way to tackle the latter of those than to join Facebook. Not having a lot of "in person" social contact the past 9 years or so has drained me in ways. I didn't really create the Facebook account to meet anybody in person, though I'm not ruling it out either. I imagine in most cases I'd be overwhelmed with anxiety. Picked up smoking again just to deal with some anxiety I've had lately.

Will see how things go.