News-Waiting...

Just finished reading "Millenium Falcon" by James Luceno. Really easy read and fun adventure in the Star Wars Universe. Basically takes place 40 years after the original film, yeah there are a lot of stories after the movies. Anyway, it's good stuff and sets up some of the event leading into another 9 book story arc called "Fate of the Jedi" starting in April. I'm really looking forward to that.

So I finally started a facebook page. Kinda weird searching for childhood friends and thinking "that's them" but I'm not to sure about "adding them to the list" so to speak. I have a hard time staying in touch with old buddies. I know I suck, and I want to be the guy who has "friends from way back" but marriage and kids kinda take up all the time. Maybe this will afford me a better way to stay in contact... if they would just accept my adds.

I'm thinking of selling my Gibson electric guitar and Ibanez bass with my Peavy Amp. I really, really, really don't want to, but I have no place to play (Town Homes don't lend to loud amps) and I have little interest in playing electric guitars acoustically. I would like to get an acoustic, but really, I could just use the money. This is an epic struggle for me. I have one other guitar, my first chery red no-name electric, that I will keep no matter what. And I probably won't end up selling, but it's on my mind... and it hurts.

I've been listening to the music that I made during a stretch from 2000 up to 2004. I got a collection of about 50 songs. I recorded them complete with drums, guitar, bass, and vocals. I haven't recorded anything in 4 years. But listening to these songs really makes me want to start up again. Having little kids around in a small house makes it tough, not to mention the time required, but every time I drive home and I'm blaring (yes, blaring, I likes my musics loud) stuff that I actually wrote and am still amped on, I really just want to lock myself in my room and start up the studio again.

I've also been listening to a lot of Thrice lately. They released a live album back in December that is pretty rocking, kinda retrospective of all their albums. Really good. I also picked up an acoustic album written by the Thrice's lead singer. It's really good. I like that it's some haunting lyrics, based on moral dilemmas and bible themes. It's only 8 songs, but I'm pretty stoked on them all.

I'll have some other news on Friday, a lot of people already are in the know, but it'll make it official. But that will have to wait.

P.S. I recently moved my Ubuntu server to a different box. Due to not planning right, I had to install Ubuntu 3 times on 2 different machines. What can I say, practice makes perfect, as now, I think I can do the install without notes or help. w00t, me.

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Weezer-6th album - The Red Album

Just look at that album cover.

Now compare it to the rest of them, yes all 5 others.

Either these are just a bunch of dorks or supremely confident.

I gotta admit, Rivers Cuomo is an interesting guy. From all the interviews I've read, to his lyrics and music I have come to kinda identify with him. His songs revolve around what a lot of teens dream/think about. And little has changed in terms of the kinds of lyrics he still writes.

And I think we are better for that.

This album was billed as an experimental one: different beats, movements, multiple movements on a single song (Greatest Man Who Ever Lived - 11 movements, made of pure awesome), and band members, other than Rivers, sing and take part in the writing of songs. They blatantly use elements of other bands in subtle homage (Everybody Get Dangerous, tell me this doesn't have some elements birthed at the house of RHCP.) and explicit homage to multiple artists (Heart Songs, their final inspiration from Nirvana's Nevermind). There are a lot of awesome songs on this album and it's relatively clean. The 4 bonus tracks that can be found elsewhere are really great including the final 'King' which I can see being played during a melancholy ending to a movie.

Hands down, this one is worth the money. Especially if you listen to anything Weezer. There are a lot of people on the WWW who keep looking for the next Pinkerton and sorry suckers, that will never happen. These are the ones who remain bitter no matter what comes out of Weezer's guitars. Seriously, some fans are never satisfied. But as Rivers makes his case in the second epic track on the album, The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived," If you don't like, Shove it. But you don't like it, You LOVE it." HAHA, this man just doesn't care.

My recommendation, buy this album. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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