Lack Of Updates

Sorry for those of you who check this blog. My external hard drive died and with it all my music. I've begun the process of rebuilding as I now have a new one. Hopefully before the week is out I'll post an album! Thanks for checking this music out!

Japandroids - Post-Nothing

This Canadian duo show incredible passion on their debut album. While it's at heart a lo-fi garage rock record, the ever present thick guitars and catchy drumbeats persist in making it a very pleasant listen. While the vocals and production certainly aren't everyone's thing, it's safe to say that any lover of music will find a lot to enjoy about this release. Picture a two dudes singing at the top of the lungs while playing drums and guitar with a huge smile on their face, and you have this record in a nutshell. Check it out!

http://www.mediafire.com/?3woly2nymzo

Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP

I think the main reason I'm writing about this album is for the very last song. The rest of the EP is definitely sweet, but the closing track "Woods" is simply sublime. Based on a very simple set of lyrics, the song quickly transforms from a simple melody into an entire chorus of voices, each part adding a whole new element to the new song. Do yourself a favor and check out this EP, but I won't blame if you just listen to "Woods" on repeat for the rest of the day.

http://www.mediafire.com/?wjx1q3iijzn

And Then There Were None - Who Speaks For Planet Earth?

The metalcore turned electro-pop outfit And Then There Were None has really crafted a gem here. Passionate dual vocalists, intricate instrumentation, great melodies and some solid lyrics all make for what was probably my favorite electronic release of last year. Sure, it's probably a little too sugary for some people, but if you have a sweet tooth for pop hooks and enjoy electronic music, don't miss out on this.

http://www.mediafire.com/?v3hmynurqnl

fun. - Aim and Ignite

First off, if you haven't heard The Format you need to do so now. The lead singer Nate quit that outfit in order to start this new project with members of Anathallo and Steel Train. If you've heard the soon to become indie/pop classic album Dog Problems by The Format, you're in for a treat. Nate's absolutely fantastic sense of melody translates perfectly into the new trio's sound. Luscious harmonies, fantastic orchestration and catchy lyrics all make for one of the best indie and pop related releases to come out last year. You'd be missing out if you didn't take the chance to snag this album and indulge yourself in an album full of the catchiest tunes I've heard in a while.

http://www.mediafire.com/?3yohyqmzcdm

Jake Armerding - Walking On The World

Most of you have probably never heard this guy, so let me give a little introduction. He played a free concert at a resort my family attends in New Hampshire two years ago and ever since then, I have been absolutely hooked on Jake's music. While Jake's music is most certainly folk, don't let the genre moniker scare you. With a voice that is both talented and pleasing, he sings effortlessly over many topics, from failed relationships to traveling the world, to finding the meaning in life through Jesus Christ. Once again, don't be turned off this; Armerding's music isn't preachy at all. My favorite track would have to be "The Fleece." I will leave you with the lyrics to this song. Give a listen a tell me what you think!

Hold me close, October
Let me dance, you gracious May
I will love you both the same
Thinking about my lovelies
A pair of petals, on my knees
My timing always is to blame

Help me now
I never, never need the one I want
Teach me now
I never, never want the one I need

You left your fleece at my place
I drape that fleece across my face
On lonely nights when you're not there
And we're riding on the prairie
When I die, just bury me
Deep within your ocean hair

I was sold
When I saw you pull your ponytail through your hat
I've been told
Don't you ever, ever lose a girl like that

So hold me close, October
Let me dance, you gracious May
I will love you both the same


http://www.mediafire.com/?fjmtzmvzql2

Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home

Lead singer of Thrice Dustin Kensrue's debut solo album may not be what you expect if you've heard the the former band's music. Here, we find Dustin with nary any screams, crunching guitar riffs or aerobatic musicianship; most of the time its simply him and his acoustic guitar, backed up by a bare bones rhythm section. We also see Dustin blatantly delve into Christianity here, with lyrics that are almost hymn-like in some tracks. That being said, this album is a fantastic collection of songs. From the driving rhythm of the starting track "I Knew You Before," to the re-telling of the prodigal son story in the title track, to the triumphant closer "Blanket of Ghosts," this album is short, but ever so sweet. Give me a listen and tell me what you think!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/1c4i1w

The Pope, A Calvinist, and some Baptist dude.

I turned away what some would call a soul-saver at work tonight. After greeting me with a friendly smile the youthful gentleman proudly showed me a lovely pamphlet bearing a cross and the name of the pastor. After briefly scanning the pamphlet and noticing it was from a Baptist denomination, I quickly told the young man that I wasn't interested. After flashing me that radiant smile once more he thanked me and wished me well. I quickly got back to work.

Did I just commit a sin?

This guy would probably just splash me with water.

Nevermind the fact that right now I'm pretty torn between Catholicism and Calvinism, never mind the fact that I would probably just have grilled this pour soul with my theological ramblings, and never mind the fact that I probably could have had a nice conversation with a fellow follower of Christ. My own mind has become such a tangled mess of theology and scripture that I can't even bring myself to talk to somebody I hardly know that may very well be going through the same struggles I am.

Now wait, you say. Catholic or Calvinist? Well good lord thats like choosing between Pope John Paul II or John Piper.

The choice is clear.

In all seriousness, I'm quite glad God is sending me on this little theological journey. After all, C.S. Lewis himself said that one cannot simply exist a mere Christian. There is a hallway of Christianity, but one cannot reside there. Here he explains his hallway metaphor in greater detail.

It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in.

What was he smoking?

Lewis, much to Tolkien's dismay, chose Anglicanism over Roman Catholicism. Am I to follow in the great apologetic's path? Or will I write an epic fantasy series with little kids as heroes?

Wait a second...

I'll spare you anymore lame pictures and jokes by letting you all know that I plan to start reviewing music for this blog. And as a good Christian, I believe in sharing, so don't just read the review and forget about the album. Listen to it!

Avatar: A Humble Review

When I first saw the trailers for this in theaters (probably for Inglorious Basterds, Public Enemies, or District 9, I can't remember) I thought it was the Halo movie finally coming to production. Then there were blue aliens on flying birds and I thought it was something new. Then it said "AVATAR" at the very end and I was very very confused (thank you Kelcie Reid).

Regardless, it sounded pretty cool. Then Cracked.com wrote a review on the movie calling it "Horribly written, way too long, totally worth it." Quite frankly, the writing isn't as bad as has been said, and it's not nearly as long as Forrest Gump or The Shawshank Redemption, both of which are awesome movies. Besides, for the length of the movie, you are entirely entertained. Every. Fucking. Second.

You have no idea what's happening in this picture... neither do I.

1. Visuals

The human vehicles, again, make me think of Halo. And honestly, Halo rocks. The Na'vi make me think of StarFox, which also rocks. StarFox and Halo being completely awesome, the technology and opposing races in the movie are simply incredible... IMO. Although that's pretty much in everyone else's opinion as well. So far I haven't heard one bad thing about the visual effects which Cameron himself describes as 60% CGI. It's like a lot of Andy Serkises running around and being transformed into StarFox Adventure characters.

As for the moon Pandora itself... dear God. Dear God. Dear God.

Everything lights up. No seriously. The seeds from the trees are bioluminescent. The moss on the forest floor lights up when the Na'vi step on it. Even the Na'vi themselves have pinpoints of light on them! I'll be pretty much anything that the visual effects team was on acid when they were designing this world. It's pretty much a world made of light. Don't take the acid comment as a bad thing either. The world is AMAZING. You can't help but look and you freaking love it. Avatar would be a work of art simply for the effects in the movie that make you wish forests on Earth lit up randomly.

Sometimes, subtlety just doesn't work.

2. Story/Theme

I've heard two sides of this so far. The first side is that the theme is overused, albeit a good one. It's like Dances With Wolves. A heroic imperialist soldier joins a minority native tribe to learn their ways, reports back to military commanders, but suddenly feels a new-found respect for the tribe, joins them, and helps them destroy the invaders. The audience walks away a little wiser for not feeling as imperialistic as before. 'Twere this a average movie, then it'd be cliche and there would be nothing of note. But it's amazing to behold and a cliche theme that has a decent message is ok in my book. After all, "Stop being Imperialistic Swine" isn't such a bad message is it? It's basically an enlarged political thinking of "Don't Fucking Steal."

The other thinking is that the theme and story are liberal propaganda. As Hollywood is decidedly liberal, this really isn't a surprise, but c'mon, not killing the natives of a world just to take the shit under their houses is a step above polite. More or less it's kind of... moral. Imagine that?

Well I've heard the movie take flak because of the way they demean the armed forces by displaying them as trigger-happy pig-dogs.

Of course, being a history major the first thing that caught my eye was the parallel between European colonization of the New World and Avatar. It's basically the same idea in the future. Corporations (Virginia Company in America, RDA in Pandora) ask their governments (England in America, America [conceivably] in Pandora) to send ship on long voyages to take the resources and sell them at low rates at home. Of course, they encounter natives they need to take care of (Amerindians in America, Na'vi in Pandora) and the result is massacre after massacre (Wounded Knee in America to name one, Hometree in Pandora). The Na'vi, unlike the Native Americans, are physically more capable and have a weird bio-mechanical adaptation to Pandora that makes the sci-fi-ness much more awesome to behold.

Imperialism is bad.

Is that such a terrible theme?

If you have not seen the movie, you have no fucking idea how awesome this image is.

3. The Ass-Kicking

Story cliche. Theme simple. Visuals are as good as good can get. What's left? The preposterous amount of ass that is kicked. And I tell you, it is amazing. No seriously. Of the four movies that claim "Awesome" this year, Public Enemies sacrifices massive massive ass kicking for philosophical treatment and historical accuracy. District 9 is more scientific, and has realistic amounts of ass-kicking for taking place in urban South Africa. Avatar is right between District 9's realism and Inglourious Basterds' "HOLY SHIT" category. Of the four movies, Avatar is the only one with armies numbering in the thousands with aerial shots, ground movements, and giant robot knife fights.

Read that again.

Giant. Robot. Knife fights.

Human women don't look too bad either.

4. Conclusion

The point of Science Fiction is to bring us to new worlds to see things different. As I said before, not a lot about Avatar sees the world different if the point is to become another species and see the world through a minorities' eyes. District 9 does that from an alien perspective just as easily as Avatar does. One could argue that Peter Jackson did an even better job displaying the humanity from the prawns while making the prawns completely inhuman. Cameron on the other hand made the Na'vi on the other hand, are a cat/fox mixture with a lot of human thrown in. The Prawns are... bipedal insects. So... yeah.

But I think that's kind of the point. Cameron takes us back to earth by taking us to a new and entirely unbelievable planet... one you believe, frequently throughout the movie, that you're actually there. While you can argue that the Na'vi are more relatable than the Prawns because you can recognize the human in them by sight alone and thus less Science Fiction-y than District 9, it's beautiful to behold. All of it, the Na'vi, Pandora, and the strangely tasteful linked-up sex scene.

What?

Yes. Go see Avatar.

Gosselin Fan? You Need a Life...

I was originally going to do an article on the National Equality March. What's that you say? Well it's a mile stone in the gay right's movement. It's really not as important as people say it is. Granted, not discriminating against homosexuals is just as important as not discriminating against other religions even if it means violating the First Amendment. Still, it's a little overdone. I'd say give all 50 states a Proposition 8-style choice. The states that want gay marriage will have it.

You live in a state that doesn't allow it? Easy, just go to a neighboring state and get one. When you move back... you'll still be married! It's in the Constitution (Article IV, Section 1).

Anyway, what I'm actually doing an article about is John and Kate Gosselin: two people who need to shut the fuck up. Honestly, I don't understand the fandom that seemed to have materialized around these two completely normal people who managed to first have twins and then sextuplets. WOW. AMAZING. TELEVISION SHOW.

Honestly, I've never seen an episode of John & Kate Plus 8 so it probably detracts from my journalistic integrity... I guess I should take the time to do that now.

My Face Just before starting John & Kate Plus 8

OK, I'm still watching the show now. And I can honestly say that there are far more interesting things to do with my life. In addition to watching this incredibly boring show with a woman who has failed to realize that there are people in the world whose bodies refuse to have as many kids as she did and simply don't know how to handle kids as well as she can.

My face after watching the first video.

Kate takes her parenting like a woman who applied for the job of being a mother. John takes to fatherhood like a man who simply does not want to be there. For every word that John says, Kate says about 800,000 more. Her kids are like poor, little, money-making machines for the Gosselins. Kate seems to LOVE doting over her children... but I'm terribly sorry. There's no reason she gets to take millions of dollars from a bullshit TV show when my sister and her husband are an infinitely more interesting couple and my nephew is probably the cutest little boy to ever exist.

I have to say though, in this video (about 4:48 in), Kate is once again going on and on about her extraordinarily ordinary life with a bizzare number of kids when she talks about how "I told John which parts need to be brushed better."

She looks at her husband as if he actually gave a fuck. He promptly wakes himself up and then says, "Uh... the back... and..."

Kate then takes over and lists every part of her mouths. In other words, Kate is a controlling bitch and John was pretty much doing nothing beyond sticking the brush in his kids' mouth and just wondering where these mythical things called "teeth" were. I'm serious, this show could not have been John's idea. He takes no interest in the show and Kate is the least interesting human being I've ever seen on camera.

My face just before I decided to start watching Sunshine instead of John & Kate Plus 8

Being a person who's life has been destroyed by divorce, the Gosselin children will probably see it as the saving grace of their childhood experience.