Guitar Hero 2

I know I bitched about forgetting GH3 and Xbox controllers for winter break, and it has helped me finish my homework prematurely, but it's almost made me rediscover GH2. Turns out this game isn't as hard as I thought. Remember when I spent basically a week straight trying to 5* Psychobilly Freakout earlier this year? I know Jordan does, because it annoyed him (rightfully so) to no end. Well, I'm routinely scoring about 70,000 points over the 5* cutoff now. I'm close to FCs of Rock This Town and Stop, and 25k away from a 5* on the granddaddy of them all, Jordan.

So I'm excited about that. But now it's off to a New Year's Eve party where there most likely will be Rock Band, which I still haven't played (sorry Kevin I couldn't come down for your bday). Happy 2008 everybody!

Skinny Girl Gets Owned by Desert Eagle

http://www.break.com/index/skinny-girl-owned-by-desert-eagle.html
you know whats coming the whole time, but it's so much better than you expect

Beat Jordan to it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHbYTm8U1v8

David Blaine Street Magic Pt 3

Dilemma

I think, when it comes down to it, I have two interests in life. They are:

a) being, looking, and feeling fit
b) eating brownies

Any ideas on how I can marry these two are greatly appreciated.

Love,
Max

Happy Birthday Kevin,

Sadly, i was not able to attend festivities, because I am a slave to the system, and I sell shoes all day.
Instead of posting another wonderful explanation about how much work sucks, i'll put up a video that Molly sent to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wq5udytRN0

enjoy.

AND
also for Kevin's benefit

Messiah was on the radio tonight.

The whole fucking thing
oh yes...I listened.

to the whole fucking thing.

20

Holy crap I'm 20.

Better than the chipmunk

http://www.break.com/index/baby-gives-the-evil-eye.html

q101

Can I just say that q101's "15 years in 15 days" programming has been pretty much the greatest thing ever? Whenever I am in my car from 10 AM to 7 PM, the countdown of the 101 greatest songs of that year is playing. It's the closest thing to must-listen radio I've ever heard. Great nostalgia, everything...It's 2002 today. From that 2001-2003 period, I pretty much knew every song that ever played on q101. I followed new alt-rock like none other. I made mix CDs of my favorite tracks after spending hours downloading them on my 56k connection with Bearshare, Gnutella, Kazaa, Limewire, eDonkey, and a million other p2p clients I thought were the coolest invention ever. I bought CDs of a select few bands I really got into (P.O.D., Our Lady Peace, Green Day), and basically lived for new rock music and the now-defunct top 9 at 9.

So getting to relive those days is a fantastic guilty nostalgic pleasure for me. In the car to and from Great Clips today, I got to hear The Taste of Ink by the Used, Up All Night by Unwritten Law, and A Praise Chorus by Jimmy Eat World. And they were still in the 75-80 range!

If I wasn't trying to write a paper right now, I would so be listening to q101 right now. And just like in 2002, I'd mainly be hoping and praying constantly that the next song was Chop Suey by System of a Down, still one of my favorite songs ever to this day.

Edit: To and from the MHS track, I got to hear My Friend's Over You by New Found Glory, My Sacrifice by Creed, and Prayer by Disturbed. Pure joy.

Rachmaninoff

According to Wikipedia, the reliable source, a film about Sergei Rachmaninoff's life, entitled Rhapsody, is in production. I'm excited. Rachmaninoff is the best.

How'd I come across this, you ask? Well, as so often happens, through a series of six-degrees-of-Wikipedia dealio. I started on Youtube watching jaw-dropping highlights of 5'7" Spud Webb dunking, then moved on to highlights of 7'7" Manute Bol and his ridiculous shot-blocking capabilities. I Wikipedia'd Bol, moved on to his fellow 7'7" former NBA colleague, Gheorghe Muresan, and discovered that Bol's height was natural, but Muresan's is due to a pituitary gland disorder called acromegaly. I went to the acromegaly page, and listed as a sufferer was none other than the Rach-man himself. 6'6"! No wonder he had such massive hands. I feel a little better about myself now.

In other news, I am no longer single. You guys need to meet Kate, because she is the best.

Lord of the Rings?

I just started reading The Hobbit (which I know I should have done about ten years ago), and it isn't hard to get through at all, like the younger version of me thought. Rather it's really sing-songish and kinda childish. The language Tolkien uses is like he's telling you a bedtime story. Very interesting. Hopefully that doesn't keep up in the rest of the books. I can't imagine--

"And the sword cleaved the orc in two! And I do say, that must have taken some doing. Orcs were not well known for their cuddly nature, and their skin could be very tough, and yet the knife had gone through him in a manner that was just like Frodo's favorite bumblyboo bread at home! 'I'll be blasted!' He remarked to himself. 'Just like butter on a scone!'"

--in the middle of the battle for Helm's Deep.

I hate exclamation points. They're like little kids (decidedly not your own) jumping up and down and demanding your attention while they cram crunch berries up their nose.

Also, I overuse parentheses, and 'also' is a horrible transition.

Cinnamon rolls have been made. I leave now.

Christmas Tiiiiiime is Heeeeeeere...

God the beginning of that cartoon annoyed me. The voices just... aaaagh. ANYWAY.

Everyone does different things for Christmas. What's everyone's story?

We always do today (Christmas Eve) at my grandparent's house in Plainfield. We do gifts with them and my uncle (which should be interesting, because he's recently divorced and is bringing his new girlfriend), and his son. We have dinner, go to the midnight church service, and then go home and quickly put ourselves to sleep so that Santa can come.

Christmas is the best day ever. It's at our house, we do gifts and such in the late morning, and proceed to have a rest of the day filled with fun, family, and Christmas cheer.

Also, turkey is the best dinner meat ever if you do it on a charcoal grill. Anyone who has anything else is not only ignorant, they insult the infant Christ himself.

How Retarded am I?

So I got around to unpacking all my stuff finally, and discovered some troubling news.

I brought home one of the GH guitars, but not the game.

Also I brought home the 360, Halo, and Madden, but no controllers.

:(

On the bright side, I highly recommend I Am Legend. Will Smith gives an unforgettable performance in a very entertaining movie.

We were halfway there

http://www.ifilm.com/video/2926404

Youtube

Since Max posted about the wonder that Youtube is to musicians, I thought I'd put up my own agreement with him.

For those of you who don't know, many many moons ago, I was a fairly decent bass guitar player. Decent enough to win a ridiculously minor sponsorship and a short lived gig as a session player and recording player. I only played deathmetal however, which limited me so much, and probably was the reason I don't play anymore, but I'm thinking about changing that...

Either way, A long time ago, I was introduced to the playing of one Victor Wooten, who is just an AMAZING bass player. He understands every aspect of the instrument, and uses every technique that he can while playing. He usually does Solo projects, but he has played with a number of large groups.

heres a sample of his work http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dWb-aCWR8U&feature=related

Also, incase you're completely retarded, I play Trombone in the Augie Symphonic Band. I like to tell people that I'm shitty, but sadly, I'm decent. I've considered adding on a performance Major as well as my education major, but watching videos of Christian Lindberg performing ridiculously hard solos, and making a joke out of them, (as seen here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GnJ-xL7n3k) makes me never want to play again because of how I can't even compare to that.

Also, Here is a bunch of his excerpts all rolled into one awesome video. The first part shown actually was played by the Augustana Symphonic Orchestra last year, featuring Jemmie Robertson, who played it ridiculously well....but Christian Lindberg is a GOD among Trombonists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_63lbGn4XBw

Youtube

So everyone knows Youtube is pretty much the greatest thing ever to happen to the internet.  But not played up enough, I think, is its massive utility to musicians.  The chance for me, for example, to not just hear dozens of different interpretations of pieces I'm working on, but to see them being played, is invaluable.

Possibly the most controversial pianist of our era is the 25-year old Chinese virtuoso Lang Lang.  He plays with exorbitant energy and piles of emotion.  Purists hate him, others love him.  But the video I want you all to see is Lang Lang playing a Chopin etude with an orange. Seriously, this is ridiculous.  I'm not even sure what to say about this, other than it is pretty damn cool.

Feel free to post your favorite Youtube find of the last day or so!

Composing

So. Occasionally I have these flashes of moments where I consider myself to be musically inclined enough to try my hand at choral composition. It may be the single most frustrating experience I can put myself through. I don't know whether I don't know enough, or whether I simply can't figure out the massive puzzle that's comprised of the ideas in my head and the notes to go on the page. It's all there, but it won't come out, and it won't stay the same, and it won't flow the same way twice, and I'm going nuts.

This happens to me once a month or so. It's like musical menstruation. Something that once had potential to be created into something new and unique getting flushed away once it isn't developed. ...Of course... I keep all the little bits of music i manage to script. ...Hopefully none of you keep your tampons. That's pretty gross.

And for anyone commenting and doubting my masculinity-- I was only looking for a similar event that happened once a month. I suppose I could have used a full moon or something. But now that's niether here nor there, and if you doubt my masculinity, I may be so inclined to chili-whack you to persuade you otherwise.

I know I'm not a musical genius or anything, and my knowledge of theory is admittedly limited. So to just put one of my ideas that i'm writing around in sol fege... which is probably laughable to some of you... B major, do fa do li la. It can go about a billion directions and I want them all.

Also.. it does not yet feel like Christmas. I hope that kinda kicks in pretty soon.

Halo Stuff

Alright. Nobody reads this, most likely, but in the abysmally low chance that someone manages to stumble across this thing, these are our names for network play.

Max - The Maxtodon
Jordan -Jordan. ...Go figure.
Joe - aids
Andrew - Andrew
Nate - Andrew nate. The best tag ever.
Kevin - Rook/Special K/SavageAnonymous/Henry F. Potter

Also, if we ever get live to work, we will all be The Maxtodon.

I am X SuperElmo X at home. For live. That is all.

School needs to be done now. I've got less than 24 hours left and I'm getting jittery.

Computer Lab

People currently residing in the computer lab at 3:15 PM on December 19th.

Scott MacAlonan, River Stanford, Erin O'Leary, Myself, Shannon Pahl, Julianne Medel.

And I am doing nothing while I work.  I get to spend another 2 hours here tonight.

and currently, Garrett Peacy is here as well.

Peacy...peace pipe?

Life, the Universe, and the pianoforte

Two thoughts:

We had a guest lecturer in my intro religion course this afternoon, Omid Safi, and he was brilliant as usual. But besides that, he had some salient points about life. To paraphrase,

"You guys don't get it. This is the vertex! From here, you're just going to get uglier, fatter, and balder!"

...the message being, of course, to live in the now. I think this fits well with my recent obsession with aficion. We'll see if I can incorporate it into everyday life, but I'm sure as hell gonna try.

Second, a quote from Vladimir Horowitz (seen here
playing my favorite piece, a Scriabin etude I'm trying desperately to learn), arguably the greatest pianist of the 20th century.

"There are three kinds of pianists: Jewish pianists, homosexual pianists, and bad pianists."

Doomed to that fate, I'm still gonna give it what I got. Now if only i could reach from a D# to a G#. Try it. If you can, I'm making you my piano apprentice and I will live vicariously through your glorious exploits and ridiculous propensity for stride piano.

Heart of Darkness

In order to know, we must first look into the heart of darkness.

This was the basic core of my English class today, and though I've pretty much agreed my entire life, talking about it brought to the front of my mind once more. Makes me wonder if I know anything at all.

Also, here is some genius for you to ponder.

"..The true nectar... is the ravishment of the intellect by coming nearer to the fact."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kid Knocks Himself Out Tossing Log

http://www.break.com/index/kid-knocks-himself-out-tossing-log.html

I'm sure we'll see him on 'World's Strongest Man' in a few years.

I just wanted to say, I cannot play the piano.

Maxwell on the other hand, can, very well infact.

that is all.

inaddition, I believe it is spelled HOE kevin.

I could be mistaken.

Pickles

The expression "he's really in a pickle" is just stupid. What the hell does that mean?

December 17th--

I feel a little sorry for Jordan. We've already demanded giant elephants all over the page, scrolling everything, our own pages, and that he somehow learns to type with his toes. He has refused. He also insists that "hacking into the mainframe" of the interwebs is impossible. Max and I both know he's lying, and generally being a lazy ho.

I always wonder if that's how you spell that. Shouldn't there be an apostrophe? But on which side of it, both? 'ho' looks stupid.
Hoh, though phonetically correct, is also retarded.
Who' certainly isn't right. That's who.
Hoe is a garden tool.
And although I was reduced to using it... ho just seems... bare. Inadequate.

I am vexed.

At any rate-- I'm not sure how often I'm going to post any of my earnest life views here, although I'm sure you'll find more serious posts occasionally.

Everything

lolololol i win jordan

I am utterly obsessed by passion lately. How to get it, how to keep it, how to identify it, everything. Thanks Ernest Hemingway & The Sun Also Rises, which I think everybody except me read in high school. Oh well, better late than never.

Also Max wants to talk of his pet peeves (which don't really include speaking in the third person). Basically my only huge pet peeve is academic elitism. When people start talking like they're moderating a debate on NPR or something it really pisses me off. It doesn't impress anybody, and belies a level of insecurity. So stop it, and for the love of God stop me if you ever catch me acting like that, because i probably do at times.

Favorite line from tonight:
Me: So the ER was kinda boring tonight. Nothing like Scrubs.
Kate: Maybe you should try to alienate a janitor. See if it spices things up.

Strapped for cash?

So while watching this evening's Bears game (which went AWFUL), a commercial came on advertising a car dealership here in the quad cities.  The catch line was, "Strapped for cash this holiday season?  Then visit our Suzuki Dealership!"

Maybe I'm retarded...but I fail to understand how purchasing a new vehicle minimum $16,000 will make me ANY less strapped for cash?

Henry F. Potter

Jordan: "Why did he choose that chair? If I was in a wheel chair, I would deck it out with all kinds of pads and stuff."
Kevin: "...but then you'd never get up."

Nightmares

Why are they called Nightmares? Was the first one about a horse?