Vacation Time Again...Various Crap On My Mind

I'm off for ten days. I still have one more week of vacation after this one that I'm taking the week before Christmas. I plan on doing the usual crap for the most part. I'm sure I'll make a trip to the movie theater at least once if not twice. Zombie land looks promising. I may even end up seeing Surrogates with Bruce Willis. Last week I went with the fam to see Pandorum. Didn't really like it. It was barely ok. Besides movies I also plan on finishing the Halo ODST campaign as well as playing a bunch of firefight with friends online. Speaking of video games I got a chance to play the Brutal legend demo. Loved it! It's a day one purchase. Can't wait to hear all of the podcasts I listen to talk about this game so I can roll my eyes when they start talking about metal in general. I always cringe when gaming podcasts start talking about music because they generally have no idea what they're talking about. Stick to talking about video games, PLEASE! Once the conversation goes to bands and songs from rock band or guitar hero it becomes clear how little most gamers know about music. I find myself correcting them out loud. Yes, I realize I sound like an ass saying that, but I know a shit ton about music in general. End of rant.

The NHL season starts tonight! The Dallas Stars play their first game tomorrow at home against Nashville. Can't wait!!! GO STARS!!!

Some games that I'm buying on day one.
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Uncharted 2 (PS3) Oct 13th
Brutal Legend (360) Oct 13th
Borderlands (360) Oct 20th
Forza 3 (360) Oct 27th
COD Modern Warfare 2 (360) Nov 10th
Assassins Creed 2 (360) Nov 17th
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The next Rock Band game really should be KISS Rock Band! I want it, and I can't imagine KISS not having their own music game at some point. Especially if Gene $immon$ has anything to do with it.

Halo 3: ODST

I haven't been excited about this game. For some reason I finally became a bit interested in it. The main reason is probably because all of the people on my friends list will be playing it. I know I'll feel like I'm missing out if I'm not playing it as well. Today I broke down and pre-ordered it from Best Buy. I'll be headed to Best Buy to stand in line in about 25 minutes. When I went earlier today around 7:30 there were already two chuckleheads waiting in line sitting in comfy lawn chairs. I asked them how long they thought the line would be. Their response was we don't know that's why we're in line right now. I expect the line across the street at Game Stop to be much longer. I say that because I remember the line at Game Stop the night Halo 3 was released. To say it was a long line would be an understatement.

Honestly I'm expecting a really good game. Thus far I've seen a ton of great reviews, so I basically have to buy it.

Californication Rocks!

No, I'm not talking about that terrible Red Hot Chili Peppers song. I'm talking about the incredibly awesome show on Showtime starring David Duchovny. Holy shit is this a great show. I'm just now discovering it thanks to Netflix instant streaming on my Xbox 360. I don't have any of the the premium movie channels on Directv because it's a waste of money for me. I'm only two episodes in, but if the first two shows are any indication of how good this show is then count me in as a fan. I found myself laughing out loud several times. I also enjoyed the eye candy. Quite a few super hot naked women in the episodes I watched. Wow! Definitely a show for men. The world need more shows like this one! If you have a penis you need to watch this show.

It's been awhile...

Man, it's September already? I haven't blogged since August. I'm neglecting my blog. I suck!

My latest addiction is Mafia Wars on Facebook. Never thought I'd get sucked into a game like this, but holy shit it's addictive as hell. A friend of mine requested that I start playing and be a part of his mafia, so I decided to give it a try. If anyone reading this besides Phil is playing let me know and send me a request to join your mafia.

I'm soooooo glad school has started again. My daughter just started high school, so she's out of my hair (does that work even though I'm bald?) and not driving me insane in the early hours of the morning.

I picked up The Beatles Rock Band. Great game IF you are a fan of the band, and I am. I was raised on their music from birth. My parents listened to The Beatles on 8 track and vinyl all of the time. It's part of my dna. I'm having fun singing all of the songs and watching the beautiful visuals. Definitely a 9/10.

I've been watching a couple of tv shows. Lately I'm addicted to Wife Swap for some reason. I love watching two totally opposite families have to deal with one another or at least a new mom. I've also been watching Hell's Kitchen. I've been watching this since season one though. This has been a really funny/good season though. Gordon Ramsey is the man. The guy cracks me up. Can't wait for the new season of House. It starts on the 21st...which id my birthday.

Speaking of my birthday...I'm having a cavity filled that day. Yippee!

Influential Albums

I know most people who are into music like I am (especially metalheads) have a number of albums that they would point to that shaped their listening habits today. My focus of this blog post is to recall the albums that got me into metal and it's sub genres.

KISS - Alive II (Back in 1980 my mom used to babysit some kids at our house. One day they brought this over on two cassettes and let me borrow it for a while. I remember not listening to the live portions. I was only interested in the studio tracks at the end. Those studio songs are still some of my favorite KISS songs to this day. This album was a small stepping stone for me. I wasn't quite ready for hard rock just yet. It took another three years for that to happen.)

Quiet Riot - Metal Health (This was THE album that got me into metal. In late 83 and 84 I would listen to this endlessly. I loved it and wanted more. I can still listen to Metal Health and get all nostalgic. Saw em live once. RIP Kevin Dubrow.)

Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil (My mom actually bought this for me on vinyl for Easter because I asked for it. Motley Crue quickly became my favorite band. I practically wore the grooves out on this album. Besides most of the Overkill albums there probably isn't an album I've listened to more than Shout At The Devil.)

Ratt - Out Of The Cellar (Yet another huge album from the early/mid 80's. This one got heavy rotation in my cassette deck in 1984. I've even seen Ratt live three times. Lack Of Communication is still one of my all time favorite songs. It rocks! RIP Robbin Crosby.)

Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry (I played the holy hell out of this cassette. During the summer of 1984 I probably watched the We're Not Gonna Take It video 500 times. It never got boring to me.)

Dokken - Tooth & Nail (This to me is a perfect hard rock/metal album. There isn't a weak song on this album imo. I still listen to this album, and all the albums I'm mentioning for that matter. Saw them live once.)

Def Leppard - Pyromania (There are so many great classics on Pyromania. Then of course things went to hell when they released Hysteria which to me is mostly terrible minus a couple of songs. Talk about watered down pop metal. Blah!!)

Tesla - Mechanical Resonance (This is another album that to me is flawless. It's just a great rockin' album full of good memorable songs. Saw them live once.)

Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance (Perfection. This is one of the greatest metal albums ever created and easily my favorite Priest album. Electric Eye is Metal personified. I've seen Priest live three times.)

Iron Maiden - Powerslave (I bought this on cassette in 1984 when I was 12 years old with birthday money. I couldn't get enough of 2 Minutes To Midnight. What a great song. What a great band. What a great album. Saw Maiden live once.)

W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P. (Great debut album that they never matched in my opinion. Talk about an album that appealed to angst filled teens and pre-teens.)

Grim Reaper - See You In Hell (I first saw the video for the title track on Mtv late at night and was blown away. Hey I was only 12 so give me a break. Great album though.)

Metallica - Master Of Puppets (I heard the title track on one of our local rock stations and went to the mall that day and bought this on cassette. From 1986 until 1988 Metallica was my favorite band. Then a mighty metal band changed all of that for me.)

OVERKILL - UNDER THE INFLUENCE (Thanks to an ex friend of mine I'm a huge Overkill fan. From the moment SHRED blared from the speakers I was in awe. I was fucking blown away. This album will always have a special play in my heart. It's THE album that made Overkill my favorite band. They still are obviously. I've seen Overkill 14 times live and have met and talked with the band several times and have various things autographed.)

OVERKILL - THE YEARS OF DECAY (This remains my favorite album of all time. This was also the album they were touring for when I first saw them live in December of 1989 with Wolfsbane and Dark Angel opening in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Exodus - Fabulous Disaster (I've seen people in metal circles rag on this one, but those people suck because this is a solid Bay Area Thrash album from start to finish.)

Sacred Reich - The American Way (It actually started with the Surf Nicaragua ep, but that's not a full album. I love the guitar solo on the title track. This is a fine album.)

Part two coming soon....

Games, District 9 & Total Randomness

Now that I'm not renting from Gamefly I'm renting games from Hollywood Video just down the road from where I live. At least this way I can go in and actually choose a game that I want that they have in stock instead of getting a crappy game down at the bottom of my list from Gamefly. Last week I ordered The Godfather 2 the video game on half.com for 22 bucks. I decided to buy it after renting it for five days. It's 40 bucks in stores right now, so half price was a good deal. In the meantime I needed a game that I could play and beat in a short amount of time. Wanted: Weapons Of Fate is definitely that game. It's not an incredible game or anything, but it's fun. It's just a mindless fps with stupid ai enemies. I've put in a couple hours a night for the past couple nights and I'm almost done with it already. I feel sorry for anyone who paid 60 bucks for this game. Definitely worth a rent though.

I'm taking my third week of vacation out of five next week, so I'll be gaming as much as possible during my vacation. I'm sure The Godfather 2 will arrive by then. At least it better!

If anyone reading this hasn't seen District 9 yet you really need to. It's the best sci-fi film I've seen in a very long time. Definitely a different spin on alien movies. I pretty much loved it. 9/10

As much as I think Sebastian Bach is a doucher his solo cd entitled "Angel Down" really rocks. Axl Rose even appears on some tunes with some vocals. Definitely a good old school mixed with modern sounding rock album.

I Guess Those Albums Aren't That Bad

Lately I've been really bored with listening to the same albums all of the time. I think we all have a bunch of stand by albums that we listen to. I decided it was time to go back to those albums that I've ragged on and give them another chance. I started with Nevermore's "Dreaming Neon Black" and "Dead Heart In A Dead World". I must say that I enjoyed "Dreaming Neon Black" quite a bit. It's not like I'm new to this album. I picked it up on cd when it was released. I remember thinking at the time that it was alright. It's been well documented by yours truly that I can't stand Warrell Dane's vocals. They are actually pretty good on DNB. I even hear a bit of his old school Sanctuary vocals at times. Not often enough though. "Dead Heart In A Dead World" is decent. I did get bored after about song 7. I must say that their cover of "The Sound Of Silence" is terrible. I don't mind when bands cover songs and make them their own, but man this is just bad. Eventually I'll listen to the rest of the Nevermore catalog. I'd also like to mention that I do enjoy Jeff Loomis's guitar playing.

As I type this I'm listening to Savatage's "Streets: A Rock opera". For years I've been saying that anything after "Hall Of The Mountain King" is weak. I still believe that after once again listening to "Gutter Ballet" and "Streets". It's not terrible. It's just not the Savatage that I want to listen to on a regular basis.