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Saturday, June 30, 2007

Saturday Random 10 (but really 20) VIII: Fuck, it's hot

No, seriously, it's been hot as balls.

1. Bush - 40 Miles From the Sun
2. System Of a Down - The Metro
3. Ghostface Killah feat. Redman & Shawn Wigs - Greedy Bitches
4. Trivium - Dying in Your Arms
5. Aphex Twin - Parallel Lines
6. Ben Folds Five - The Ultimate Sacrifice
7. Rush - Tom Sawyer
8. Magnetic Fields - A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
9. Belle and Sebastian - It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career
10. They Might Be Giants - Fingertips 18
11. Arctic Monkeys - Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong, But...
12. Dasboard Confessional - Screaming Infidelities (MTV Unplugged)
13. The Black Keys - Midnight In Her Eyes
14. Beck - The New Pollution
15. Scott Weiland - Lady, Your Roof Brings Me Down
16. The Format - If Work Permits
17. Five Pointe O - Purity 01
18. Beck - Sissyneck
19. The Plastic Arts - StarStuff
20. Daft Punk - Digital Love

YEAH!! Beck's Odelay; one of the best albums of the 90's WOOOOOOOO!

Not much else to say about thisRandom, 'ceptin' that it's awesome, and not nearly enough people listen to The Black Keys.

For serious.

P.S. The day that love....CAME TO PLAAAAYYYYYYYY!

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Saturday, June 23, 2007

Saturday Random 10 (but really 20) VII: 550 Miles, White Stripes and Ale

I drove 550 miles today. Why, you may ask? Why, to watch Silence Bleeds set Nikstock on fire in Nichols, NY of course! They just keep getting better and better, and I'm eagerly awaiting thier full-length. In the meantime, however, I have been obsessing over 2 things this entire week.

(A) The White Stripes - Icky Thump. I really like The White Stripes; I have every single one of thier albums, including an ultra-rare Christmas single. That being said, I've never listened to a White Stripes album as much as I've listened to Icky Thump; it's perfect. It's JUST weird enough to appeal to my bizarre avant-garde affinities while still managing to ROCK. HARD. Like, really goddamn hard. I dare you NOT to headbang to Little Cream Soda. You can't do it. Because it FUCKING ROCKS.

(B) Samuel Adams Summer Ale. You would think beer brewed with lemon zest would be hideously awful, and you would be 100% wrong. It puts an interesting flavor to the ale, and cuts any aftertaste off, while still tasting (pardon the metrosexual wine adjective) "summery". I've almost finished an entire 12-pack in the past 4 days (which is a lot of beer for me these days). Delicious!

Also, and I can't express this nearly enough, I can't WAIT to start classes in September!

So, without anything else to add, heeeeeere's my Random!

1. Dinosaur Jr. - Loaded
2. Sigur Ros - untitled 05
3. Motley Crue - Too Young To Fall In Love
4. Korn - Seed
5. Compay Segundo - Oui Parle Francais
6. Pantera - Drag the Waters
7. The Smashing Pumpkins - The Beginning is the End is the Beginning
8. Sepultura - Talking Shit
9. Cee-Lo - One For the Road
10. Sasha - Belfunk
11. Brother Ali - Daylight
12. Michael Franti & Spearhead - Time To Go Home
13. Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
14. The Blood Brothers - American Vultures
15. Panjabi MC - Sweeter
16. +44 - Cliff Diving
17. Shelter - Freewill
18. Aesop Rock - Zodiaccupuncture
19. Deftones - Street Carp
20. Rasputina - Wish You Were Here

ha HA! Some traditional Cuban music sung in French, one of Pantera's best songs, a Pumpkins tune from the cinema classic 'Batman & Robin', classic MJ, the greatest hardcore song ever (Freewill), and one of Aesop Rocks's greatest, trickiest rhymes. Good random, iTunes! GOOOOOOD!

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Monday, June 18, 2007

The First Step Towards a Dream

Life hasn't been great to me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I regret all aspects of my life, nor am I inferring that I am in any way, shape or form underprivileged. Quite the contrary, I've been given opportunities in my life that others would jump through hoops for. But let me recount the past couple years for you:

After my glorious graduation from Utica College in August of 2004 (due to my own sophomoric sophomore-year indiscretions), I was offered an internship at a recording studio. Soon thereafter, however, the manager at the recording studio gave my job to his producer's cousin. After trying unsuccessfully to find a job somewhere in town, I ran out of money, and had to move back home to Connecticut to live with my parents. After 2 and a half more months of unsuccessful job searching, I finally got hired by FedEx Ground...loading trucks...part time. I stuck with it, convincing myself it was just a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

The bigger and better things never came, until May of 2005, when I was offerred a full time position at FedEx Ground as a manager. Going in with an unrelentingly positive attitude, I started as a full time manager on June 5, 2005. That summer I lost almost 20 pounds just from sweating. It was (and, in some ways, still is) the most grueling, thankless, physical and unrelentingly depressing jobs I've ever experienced. Twelve hours a day, everyday for a year (it has since died down, and I generally spend only 9-10 hours at work everyday presently) managing drug addicts (FedEx doesn't test!) and the otherwise unemployable whilst getting berated by my superiors for not hitting fictional, meaningless numbers. One year ago, I was starting to get very very scared that I would be stuck here for the rest of my life. Making a lifetime career out of the most mundane daily functions I could imagine. I tried to look at the positive parts of such a life, but ultimately the negative always outweighed it; I could feel FedEx like an anchor chained around my neck, drowning me in a sea of mediocrity and serving me up for the sharks. Hungry sharks. Sharks so metaphorical, I haven't thought up a metaphor for them yet. This was until this past December, when I attended a meeting I will never forget. A meeting that culminated in the happiest day I've had since my UC graduation.

As of today, I am officially a Graduate Student at Central Connecticut State University.

I have a long, long road ahead of me. I have to start as a non-matriculated student because of my previously stated indiscretions, and I can only afford to take one class per semester right now. But it's a start; actually, a new beginning. For the first time in 3 years, I can see some sunlight at the end of this long, dark tunnel I've been wandering through for almost 3 years. I'm finally reaching out and following the path I've been searching for since becoming a Communications student at UC. The first thing I did after walking out of the Registrar's Office was call my Mom to tell her I was a student again. I could hear her genuine excitement, and two tears of joy rolled down my cheeks. I haven't seriously been this excited in a very long time, it's very hard to put into words. It feels like, for the first time that I can remember, that instead of following the road that life has paved for me, I'm making my own road, taking my life into my own hands and doing exactly what I want, instead of what other people want, or what is expected of me. It's actually quite exhilirating.

I already have a plan set, and should be able to finish my Master's degree within 3 years' time. After this first year of courses, I'm going to start looking for doctoral programs (what can I say? I have high ambitions).

Upon further reflection, that first sentence sounds a little narcissistic to me, and not altogether true. Life has thrown some obstacles in my way, but it has been pretty damn good to me.

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Saturday, June 16, 2007

Saturday Random 10 (but really 20) VI: Soundtrack To Signing a Lease!

Found an apartment, and it is awesome. I sign my lease tomorrow, and I'm quite excited. Then. on Monday...BIG announcement. Biggest announcement in the life of Evil Brian in a long long time.

Anyways, to cap off this wacky, wild week of near endless posting, here is THE RANDOM.

1. Metallica - Orion
2. dredg - Movement V: 90 Hour Sleep
3. Factory 81 - Rotten Strawberries
4. Further Seems Forever - Bye Bye Bye
5. Annie - Chewing Gum
6. Suicide - Rocket U.S.A.
7. Kanye West (Feat. Twista, Keyshia Cole & BJ) - Impossible
8. The Beatles - You Can't Do That
9. Cannibal Ox - Atom
10. The Beastie Boys - Root Down
11. Jim White - Buzzards Of Love
12. Hellyeah - Alcohaulin' Ass (Acoustic)
13. Sonic Youth - Mary-Christ
14. Matchbook Romance - Tiger Lily
15. Devo - Go Monkey Go
16. nullsleep - harm parm
17. Cannibal Ox - Vein
18. Nine Black Alps - Behind Your Eyes
19. The Muppet Show - The Great Gonzo - Wishing Song
20. Celldweller - Fadeaway


Finally got a double hit in one week! The best underground rap group that nobody listens to, and two tracks off thier classic album The Cold Vein. Along with some 8-bit techno (nullsleep), a song from the Powerpuff Girls (Devo), probably the most positive, uplifting song ever sung by a blue Muppet (Gonzo!) and arguably one of the 5 best songs the Beastie Boys ever wrote (writ? writted?); this might be my favorite random thus far!

P.S.

Like Sweetie Pie By The Stone Alliance/Everbody Knows I'm Known For Dropping Science/I'm Electric Like Dick Hyman/I Guess You'd Expect To Catch The Crew Rhymin'!

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Wednesday, June 13, 2007

You Gonna Bet On Row A, or Row B?

Not to overwhelm all you many thousands of blog-readers out there with an inundation of content (THREE posts in the past week so far! It almost seems as if I care again!), but I found this fascinating.

This is an argument given, not from some hoity-toity college professor (at least, he doesn't come off as a professor to me...maybe high school science teacher.), not a politician, but a regular guy. He doesn't go into Inconvenient Truth-esque factoids or environmental buzzwords, and doesn't quote any scientific facts at all. He speaks in very simple terms, and looks at the global warming problem in a very realistic, common sense-type way.

It is the single best argument on global warming I have ever heard.


Interesting Argument About Global Warming - Watch more free videos

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Coolest Music Video of the Year

I dare any band out there to make a more awesome music video than this:



They put out a pretty sweet album today too. Check 'em out.

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Saturday, June 09, 2007

Saturday Random 10 (but really 20) V: Soundtrack For Looking For Someplace to Live

Been shopping around for a new apartment, since my present lease is up August 1st. I think I've found the perfect place for me to live (down here in CT, anyways); hopefully my credit check comes back clean and I can wedge my way into a sweet 3-year lease in my own huge, gorgeous apartment in the center of Wallingford.

Oh, and the Silence Bleeds show from last weekend? Kick-fucking-ass. Check 'em out, won't you, at thier official website or thier myspace.

Now, bask in the glory that is my Random:

1. Black Flag - Six Pack
2. P.O.D. - Boom
3. Fall Of Troy - Shhh!!! If You're Quiet, I'll Show You a Dinosaur
4. Black Sabbath - Children Of the Grave
5. Trivium - Becoming the Dragon
6. Radiohead - Knives Out
7. Clutch - Burning Beard
8. The Darkness - Stuck In a Rut
9. Field Mob featuring YB - Sick of Being Lonely
10. Longwave - Tidal Wave
11. Ludacris featuring Trick Daddy - Hopeless
12. Sparta - Taking Back Control
13. Alkaline Trio - Hell Yes
14. Helmet - I Know
15. Idlewild - Tell Me Ten Words
16. DEVO - Bread and Butter
17. Spineshank - Perfect Ending
18. Bouncing Souls - The Gold Song
19. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Hava Nagila (Christmas Arrangement)
20. Mudvayne - (K)now F(orever)

Alright, this one is a little more mainstream than most, but this gives me the opportunity to mention Idlewild, the best Scottish rock band that you're not listening to. If nothing else, I highly suggest tracks off of the album The Remote Part. They also do a pretty cool cover of Gang of Four's "I Found That Essence Rare".

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Saturday, June 02, 2007

Saturday Random 10 (but really 20) IV: Before My Triumphant Utica Return

I've only been away for a week, but I find myself returning today to Utica for dinner and a rock show. Oughtta be a lot of fun, and there may be a show review upcoming; hey, there might be a blog post that isn't a Random!! SWEET!!! So, before I leave, I figure I should post my Random before I forget to do so.

1. Amy Winehouse - He Can Only Hold Her
2. Snow Patrol - Whatever's Left
3. MC Hawking - Mighty Stephen Hawking
4. Gang Starr - The Ownerz
5. Moby - Everloving
6. Juliana Hatfield - Give Me Some Of That
7. Nerf Herder - Nosering Girl
8. The Misfits - Children in Heat
9. Fantomas - Experiment In Terror
10. The Crystal Method - Name of the Game
11. Beastie Boys - Intergalactic
12. Fear Factory - No One
13. Noise Therapy - Yesterday
14. Obituary - Intoxicated
15. Dir en Grey - Marmalade Chainsaw
16. Papa Roach - Binge
17. Sonic Youth - Lee #2 (8 Track Demo)
18. Dave Matthews - Baby
19. Gnarls Barkley - Gone Daddy Gone
20. Ween - Ode to Rene (San Fransisco 2-93)

Alright, I have no good excuse for that Papa Roach song; none at all. But look what it's surrounded by! Sonic Youth! A Japanese goth-metal band! Obituary, the greatest death metal band ever! I'm still hip! I still have music snob credibility!! AVERT YOUR EYES!!!!

And also, if you aren't listening to Amy Winehouse, then there's something seriously wrong with you. ALL of you.

P.S. Ricecakes! Ricecakes! Ricecakes!

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