So I was up late last night and Nocturnal State was on VH1. I was watching this band because watching it made me really uncomfortable. Sometimes I like to feel uncomfortable and cringe at what I'm viewing and that feeling is kind of a phenomenon to me. So this video was definitely fulfilling that:

http://www.chairpage.com/media_files/YoungModern/video/straightlines/straightlines_bb.htm

First off, I don't like the song. I can't place why, but I guess that the album name "Young Modern" kind of sums that up. It's not rock exactly and it's Way too mainstream pop for my tastes. What bothered me most about it is that the camera in the video just gets incredibly too close for my comfort and he's wearing a vest with no shirt on. The guy reminds me of Freddie Mercury of Queen, and I wouldn't doubt that that is the intention.

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/9968/freddiemercury0ve.jpg


















http://keepqueenalive.com.sapo.pt/freddie%20mercury%20friends.jpg


















This fellow seemed vaguely familiar to me somehow, and I'll usually sit through something that I don't like just so I can see the name of the band at the end of the video and from then on steer clear of that band. But doing so was kind of a slap in the face for me this time. I never would have dreamed that this is the same band who put this song out in the U.S. in 1995:

http://www.chairpage.com/media_files/Frogstomp/video/tomorrow/tomorrowUS_bb.htm

Yes.. the same band that I saw on VH1 last night is the same band that released the song "Tomorrow"; Silverchair. "Tomorrow" is one of my favorite songs, the guy's voice in that song is truly powerful and it Rocked! I kind of wish it was on Guitar Hero III, that would've been awesome! "Tomorrow" was a sort of continuation to Nirvana and Alice in Chains and it really fit for the time.

But now they came back and put out this tripe? I realize that bands have to mature and do what they feel is right and that is alright. But expect to lose a lot of fans if you change too much. That means you too No Doubt. I guess Silverchair lost me after "Frog Stomp" because I missed out on "Freak Show", and the singles from "Neon Ballroom" weren't any good either as far as I'm concerned.

Oh Well.

Exercise

I have been exercising. It makes me feel better but it surely isn't fun. My mp3 player is helpful in keeping my mind occupied and helps to take my mind off of the pain so I can do more than I normally would, which still isn't much. But I gotta say, I often feel like I'm a hamster in a wheel while using my exercise machines. I don't like it.

My job requires me to sit for 8 hours at a time in front of a computer. That's definitely not a job with any physical benefit. I don't mind it and I think I would rather do that than work in construction or something like that. But I do kind of wish that I could get something done while I workout. I do need to split some logs outside here, so that's something.

I'd like to take up hiking, trail biking, kayaking, snow boarding, play soccer, play field hockey, play ultimate frisbee. Which, there's no real productive value to those either, but at least they're much more fun. And it's more social as well. I read only enough of an article to get the point that people who play soccer burn more calories than those who run. And why is that? Because it's more fun, and the competition helps to drive you past the pain in a way that no Mp3 player can.

As if anyone would need to read this to fathom the idea, I mean it seemed pretty obvious to me upon reading the headline anyway, here is the article:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297437,00.html

Friggin Andy Warhol

Not art.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2007/10/20/nat.art.design.chair.cnn?iref=videosearch

I'm sure it was enjoyable to bang on this sleek looking steel box, but I'm not buying it as art. The people talking about this just acted like it was the greatest thing ever too. Ok, so this is a fundraiser and may in fact lead to a greater piece of art in the long run, so one could argue through that, that it is art; but I'm definitely not convinced. It's a chair. A very crude and unusable chair, I'd be more willing to call the original steel box art.

And for those who have 7 minutes of life to waste like I did, here's the long version:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2007/10/20/nat.art.design.chair.cnn?iref=videosearch

Law Suit = Ruined Life

The RIAA has started taking it upon themselves to sue the pants off of people, 24,000 of them. Now, it is understandable that they would want to be sure that their assets are safe and not being taken away, but who are They to do it? They simply seem to be the parasite of the music world, a parasite more powerful than the host, which is the music labels and the artists. The reason I bring this up is because the first person to lose a case to them was Jammie Thomas.

She has a website up that's asking for donations to help her pay the 222,000 dollars that the court ordered her to pay. She makes about 36,000 a year. 222,000 dollars means that if she could only pay 5000 a year until it is paid off she'll have payments for 44 years! She'll be 74 by then!

So in order to take the edge off of the suit, she is asking for donations and they can be given to her here:

www.freejammie.com

These websites have more information about the RIAA, what music labels are associated with them and copyright issues. Go sign the petition:

http://w2.eff.org/share/petition/

www.boycottriaa.com

I have read that Jammie has asked that the judge overturn the verdict since the total worth of the songs equals about $24 in legal downloads. And she is also appealing the case, so perhaps things will turn out good for her and she will no longer need donations. I'll give an update on whether she replies or not.

Finally, I find it interesting that the RIAA offered a Clean Slate policy that would grant immunity to the people who vowed to never download copyrighted material and destroyed any that they previously had. Doing so meant signing a legally binding affidavit that didn't actually protect those that signed such documents totally. They recently did away with the program however. Here's the full story:

http://www.news.com/2100-1027-5195301.html

Early Art II

I figured I would post another image from my collection of early art. This one is entitled "MOM." I don't know my thought process behind this one. It reminds me of the young fella that came in from another prison in Shawshank Redemption and worked toward getting his G.E.D. The obvious person to say would've been Elvis but Bob's Your Uncle. I would guess that the figure is supposed to be Mom and that's supposed to be our pencil thin house to the right. I'm pretty sure that's Mom's coffee stain on there, which is kind of ironic. This was done in pen and crayon.

Buy Direct or Buy Used.

The RIAA is ruining music. Here are the steps I take before buying an album. I first check online to see if the album is available directly from the artist, then I check and make sure that the label that the artists are on are not a part of the RIAA: www.boycottriaa.com for that. If their label is associated with the RIAA I start to look for it in the used section at CD stores or buy it used from Amazon. If I'm lucky I'll buy an album directly at the artist's concert because they usually get to keep the money they make from sales at the venue, although that may not be the case at all according to Courtney Love's article. Also, apparently the CDs aren't always available for sale at the venue either as I found out when I went to see Muse and My Chemical Romance.

I don't actually like to buy used CDs because the artists do not benefit in any way. But if they would allow me to buy their music directly from them on their website I wouldn't have to buy used. www.bishopallen.com is one such band, although they recently decided to sign with a label in order to get more serious about their career so not all of your money will go directly to them, but they have a really interesting method of distributing their music. www.cloudcult.com is another band of interest who I gladly gave my money directly to. Supposedly their method is working out really well for them, it's good music too.

www.harveydanger.com offers their album "Little by Little..." on their website for free with the stipulation that if you like it you should throw a little money in the pot. I didn't like it. But at least they're not affiliated with the RIAA. www.radiohead.com IS affiliated with the RIAA but they have decided to offer their new album "In Rainbows" up for download where you get to decide how much you want to pay them. Or you can get a box set for $56.50. BAHH I say!

The reason I dodge the RIAA is because they are detrimental to music artists everywhere. Courtney Love, of all people, sums it up well:

http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/print.html

To sum up the article if you don't want to read it, she tells how the artists get paid a million dollars to split up among the members once they sign to a major label. They then produce the album, hire a bunch of lawyers, and go on tour, all the while that million is getting sucked up like a sponge. Now as long as they continue to tour they do alright, but if the band has differences and split up they get poor quick! That's why Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC had to file for bankruptcy. So in buying used music the record store wins, and you didn't have to put your money towards something so malicious as the RIAA.

Early Art

The one on the top is my painting done in watercolor and it is a self-portrait of me. The one on the bottom is a watercolor painting that my Cousin did. They fit together because we did both of these at the same time so I figure it would be interesting to compare the two. My cousin was 4 years old at the time.

Global Warming Will Kill Us All! Again!!

If you all don't watch the Colbert Report, his guest on September 10th was Bjørn Lomborg. Bjørn explained how global warming is a problem, but not the most important one. His best example was this: Scientists explain that because the Earth's temperature is rising, mosquitoes will flourish causing Malaria cases to rise as well. But if we were to spend only a fraction of the money we would have spent on global warming we would save 30,000 to every 1 we saved through bringing homeostasis to the Earth's climate.

During the interview Bjørn also explained with some degree of difficulty through Stephen's shenanigans that the Earth's temperature has been rising for quite some time, even before the Model T Ford came to existence. He's selling a book, which I will probably not read, called "Cool It! The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming" which calls for us to keep global warming in mind but to focus mainly on issues that are of much more importance.

http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Skeptical-Environmentalists-Global-Warming/dp/0307266923
If you're interested.

Oh.. and according to him the polar bears are fine.

Global Warming Will Kill Us All

Ok, ok. We get it. Go Green. Well I agree. But, it's starting to get ridiculous with all the coverage in the news.

I have a feed to Discovery News through Gmail and global warming is becoming increasingly more difficult to stomach. Perhaps there's some truth to the fact that the impact humans have on the Earth is starting to show. But we're not being told all the facts here. We are being scared into going green. Fear Mongering is a big factor after "An Inconvenient Truth" came out. Every report dealing with weather, animal behavior and even wildfires seems to have some mention of global warming in it.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/07/04/1183351245960.html

This article just perturbs me a bit, it's pretty interesting but they just had to tag that last sentence onto the end. Because ice melted, it is evidence of global warming. Ok, right. I think they are really splitting hairs here though. I mean is it not true that the Earth used to be very warm, then the Ice Age came and then it started to warm up again? Well, there is actual evidence that the Earth's climate is still cooler than it once was by evidence of certain plants that would only grow in hot weather that were found in ice that suggested that the temperature was warmer then than it is now. Wouldn't it stand to reason that the Earth will inevitably go through some sort of drastic cycle again? If that's true then we should be more afraid of the Earth's natural behavior than we are fearful of its behavior by way of our actions.

Yes, greenhouse gases could be detrimental to the environment. The funny thing is, one of the leading causes of greenhouse gases is in fact bovine belches. Sounds odd right? Aside from humans, how can one of God's Earthly creatures be the demise of the Earth us? Does the sheer volume of cows that we have, which would otherwise be determined by predators vs. prey if we hadn't domesticated them, mean that we are the ones at fault in this regard as well? We have to eat, and it has to be meat.

Don't get me wrong. I think it is very important to do what one can to be environmentally conscious. Recycle, ride a bike short distances instead of driving your car, use florescent bulbs, drink tap water instead of bottled, plant trees. There's a lot of things that can be done. But there are no quick solutions. But do we always have to be scared that something is going to kill us? So what if we end up with ocean front property in Nevada.

Songs as Ringtones

Using songs as ring tones don't make you look cool. I don't care what the song is, in fact I may even like the song, it's just rather pretentious. Plus the sound quality is crap and doesn't do the song any justice, it just sounds like a cacophony of blather. Instead, try using every day sounds. Maybe something like the noise of a crowded room for when you're at a party or in a restaurant? Crickets for when you're outside? Or Birds and wind? The sounds of traffic?

I know! How about the sounds of a car crash for when you're driving. A lot of fun can be had with that if you have a person in the car with you when someone calls. Plus, perhaps it'll keep you from answering and will keep people like me safe, who actually pay attention to driving instead of blabbering about nothing on the phone and endangering people on the road. No even better. Just put it on vibrate, cell phones are annoying. Learn some cell phone etiquette people. Especially in restaurants and theaters.

If you do have to talk while on the road, tell the person on the other end immediately that you are driving and blurt "Driving!" when a matter on the road deserves your attention, drop the phone and use your other hand if need be, then when things are back to a comfortable pace continue talking.

Yogurt.

I'm both jealous and annoyed at companies who claim that their products are more special than others. I'm jealous because I would like to use all kinds of euphemisms and yank at the public's strings like the puppet master I would be if I ran a company and I would laugh all the way to the bank. I speak of Dannon in this case.

Now, I have done a little reading and I'm not quite comfortable with making bold statements on this one. If someone wants to check what I say and tell me the truth I would like to know. But here's my qualm.

I suspect that Dannon's Activia brand yogurt is no different than any other yogurt, and that it's all in their presentation that makes it so convincing to try their 2 week plan to get your pooper back in order. Here's my reasoning. All yogurt has healthy bacterial cultures in it that produce lactic acid which in turn gives yogurt its distinct flavor.

Now, I won't get too deep into the details and technical terms, but there are over 400 known species of bacteria in a human's digestive tract. So here's where I doubt my hypothesis: Dannon supposedly patented a strain of bacteria called Bifidobacterium Animalis and uses it in Activia. So, yes it is possible that this bacteria affects the digestive tract in a different manner than any yogurts, but I have my doubts that it really matters because other brands of yogurt are quite healthy for your digestive tract and is beneficial to eat regularly.

All the while, Dannon has jacked the price up on their patented bacteria flavored yogurts and are pulling our strings. Have you tried Activia yet?

This is what stands in the way of my hypothesis:
http://juliewashere.blogspot.com/

Thank you for actually making it to the bottom of this if you have. I know it's long.

UT Football

I don't watch football. But there's no way to ignore all the orange and white around here. It's painful to look at. Orange and white is one of the most obnoxious color combinations and yet people wear them as if it looks good.

Now I know it is kind of fun to get into a game every now and then because of the wow factor and the Edge-of-you-Seat appeal. But I have to sit in restaurants, doctor's offices, veterinarian's offices, and bathrooms, and try to stomach the awful colors. I just want to eat, or get rid of that annoying cough, or have my pet looked at, or do my business (well, perhaps the colors actually help in that process).

A dentist has a sign up in Surgoinsville on the front of his building that is a rendition of the UT football field as the background, and then over that is the lettering of the name of his clinic. That just goes to show you how ridiculous UT colors are in this area is. IT IS NOT GOOD DESIGN.

Sports fans are kind of scary too, this man was literally castrated for walking into a bar wearing the wrong team on his chest:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20728210/

I was sitting in my dorm one night when I was going to ETSU and I remember hearing the Entire Campus yell in unison because UT made a good play. It was kind of neat and very interesting to be there when it happened but at the same time it was a little discomforting. What if UT had lost?

I've been trying to sum up in my mind what sports are actually good for. Sure, there's a lot of money involved in pro sports, but let's leave that aside for a moment. For instance, the Super Bowl. After a team has won what do they get? A ring, bragging rights, and a trophy. Sports are peculiar because they have a way of both uniting people and dividing people at the same time. A word of caution to those who follow sports though, just try not to get violent over something that isn't even going to matter a few minutes later. So what if your college team loses, they'll still get paid more than you when they go pro.

On a side note; I feel like I'm not fully conveying how bad the orange and white really is around here, So I'm going to start a sort of photo library akin to mullet hunting. Keep an eye out for it.

I Hate Musicals

I consider myself to be somewhat cultured for a person from the sticks of Virginia. But I just don't get musicals. Every Disney Movie, Annie, Wizard of Oz, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Grease, Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray. How do people enjoy these movies?

I've always liked Disney and I grew up watching the Disney movies, but as I watched the movies I always hoped that they wouldn't break out into song every five minutes and spent most of the time longing for those breaks between the songs. Bear Necessities, Hakuna Matata, the intro to Disney's Robin Hood and Somewhere Over the Rainbow were all good songs. But why? Why am I forced to sit through a movie that conveys the character's feelings through song?

The songs are usually horrible. Rocky Horror Picture Show is a sorry excuse for Rock music. Most of the songs that I've heard in musicals just flow really badly. It's not good music. And I think that is because it's so geared toward telling a story, so there's a lot to fit into the songs and therefore it completely breaks up what makes a good song.

Perhaps this note will fall short since I've decided not to go out of my way to write a big conclusion. But it all boils down to this: Musicals suck, and don't try to convince me otherwise. Oh.. and Buffy the Vampire Slayer sucks too.