That’s a huge understatement, actually…

I’m getting into this nasty habit of making non-rant posts, but I don’t really care. It’s summer, I see no reason to go out of my way to get pissed off, and as long as I’m not posting what I ate for breakfast, I figure things can’t be too bad around here.

So Friday night I went to a concert (Blindside, Showbread, and The Showdown) with two of my friends. We’d been planning this for awhile, since a show even with bands that are relatively unknown is STILL 200 miles away from us, and I have to say it was the best damn day of my summer thus far. I guess it was more of the overall experience than the show itself… Anyways, here’s how things went:

We checked into our motel and then Jed, Ben, and I wandered off in search of the venue and just generally something to do in downtown Spokane. Well, none of us had ever been to the place, so aside from knowing it was a couple blocks from the motel, we had no clue what we were looking for. And being from Troy, we’re not so adept at finding things in cities…

About an hour later, after being given poor directions by half a dozen people, we stumbled upon a hitchhiker who claimed he could lead us there. As we’re waiting to cross a street with him, he decides to break the silence by telling us he “just graduated from his anger management course”. From there we learned that he’s going to do the drug course next (but not before heading to the other side of town to smoke a bowl with his sister), he once hitchhiked all the way to Missoula to see his girlfriend, and that he’s tried all sorts of other drugs. I thought it was pretty funny, though Jed did most of the talking and he was just waiting for the guy to flip out on us.

We finally made it to the venue with the guy’s help, checked the time the show started, and wandered around the various shops downtown. I won’t bother detailing much of that, but I have to say that finding a gangster coloring book at one of the weird stores there was a great moment.

Onto the show… This was my first metal concert, and second “real” concert. I saw Porcupine Tree and Opeth in Seattle two years ago on the Damnation tour, which was amazing despite Opeth only playing their mellow stuff, so that’s the only thing I have to compare this with. Kinda unfair, given the sheer brilliance of both those bands and how long they’ve been at it.

Anyways, I got a kick out of waiting in line for an hour. It was worth it to see all the emo/hardcore kids looking completely ridiculous just as you’d expect… The haircuts (holy hell, the haircuts), the terrible attempts at fashion statements, and people just trying to be as unique-looking (read: moronic) as possible. Though the best part were all the Jesus/general Christianity shirts I saw (the bands themselves aren’t really preachy, but the influence is definitely there). So despite it being sort of “my kind of music”, I didn’t feel at all a part of the crowd. *sniff* I feel so alone without Jesus in my life!

Ahem. Moving onto the important stuff: Fat Tuesday’s is a pretty nice venue. The sound quality was good enough, and the set up was nice since it allowed you to get away from the crowd if you wanted and still have a decent view of the stage. Bear in mind this is compared to The Showbox in Seattle (PT & Opeth show), which is essentially a concrete floor with a stage in front of it. Anyways, a good half an hour later, things got started (click each band name to go to their page on Amazon, if you’re curious what they sound like)…

The Showdown: First band up, and my first exposure to double bass live. They kicked it off heavy and didn’t slow down at all, even when the vocalist announced “The next song is a monster ballad; every rocker’s got his soft side”. It was nothing of the sort, and I’m not complaining.

Their sound is basically southern-influenced metalcore, which is a welcome twist on a genre that’s growing increasingly stale. It’s a bit reminiscent of Pantera, though admittedly I thought their songs all sounded pretty similar. But they put on a great show so it didn’t really matter, and their vocalist in particular was really entertaining: He had a southern accent (on stage anyways; we talked to him after their set and it seemed to have disappeared), would pretend that the mic stand was a bar-bell during parts of the song where the guitar “chugged along”, and at one point took his flannel long-sleeve shirt from around his waist and fanned the guitarist during a solo. If nothing else, hicks are always great fun to watch…

Showbread: Not long after The Showdown was done, these guys came on. They have 7 members: Two vocalists, two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, and a key-tarist (there’s pics at the bottom if you have no idea what that is). In general they have a punk-ish sound, obviously with some electronic influences.

Sadly, with a venue so small and that many members, sound quality suffers. I couldn’t make out either of the vocals- a lot of times I simply couldn’t hear one or the other- and it became a wall of sound at some points. But the upside is that you have 7 people essentially spazzing out on stage, which is quite entertaining. Moreso since they were all sorta… “Flamboyant”. The drummer was great to watch especially, as he had a lot of showmanship (twirling his sticks while playing, bouncing around, etc). And there was a keytar solo, which was in itself hilarious and very cool…

Blindside: The main attraction, and they didn’t disappoint at all. I have trouble describing the sound accurately, since I love trying to pigeonhole bands into a certain genre, so I’ll just say it’s a fair blend of emo and hard rock.

There was a lot of energy from both them and the crowd, which chanted along enthusiastically to many of the songs (All Of Us & About A Burning Fire especially). The guitarist and bassist ran around the stage quite a lot, and I’d say their vocalist did at least two jump kicks every song. Their sound quality was great, on par with The Showdown earlier, but the vocals were still occasionally overpowered by everything else.

The highlights, for me, were “All of Us” (one of my favorite songs of theirs) and the final song, “About A Burning Fire”, which the entire venue seemed to be singing along with at the end.

Once that ended, we waited outside (where it was at least 30 degrees cooler) for the crowd to thin out, then headed back in to find the band. I was a bit surprised to see them all just hanging out near the merch, not getting mobbed or anything. Everybody managed to get something signed, though only Jed managed to get the guitarist’s autograph since the guy was pretty squirrelly. We met Christian (their vocalist), got a picture with him, and then slowly wandered back out.

The Showdown was nowhere to be seen at that point, but we’d already got a picture with their vocalist right after their set. Showbread was here and there, but nobody seemed to care or notice. They looked like typical emo kids, so it was hard to tell which ones they were anyways.

And that’s pretty much it. Well other than the giant, fat, stoned Indian guy who struck up a conversation with me when we were outside. It was a bit scary, seeing as he was apparently disappointed in me: “I told you earlier man, you could’ve got in there for 20 bucks, but you didn’t listen to me!” I just kinda nodded along with what he was saying, hoping he wouldn’t attack me with the rolled up umbrella he had under his arm… Then we ate at Perkins around 1 am, pissed off the waitress more than once I’m sure (we were kinda hyper), and headed back to the motel.

I’d just like to say thanks again to Jed for taking me along on such a great trip, Ben for taking the brunt of more bassist joke than I can count, and Charleigh & Matt for the ride after the show, and for hanging out with us as well. It was a lot of fun, and I’m really glad to have met the both of you (in the unlikely event they read this)…

I’ve got all the pics I took that didn’t turn out like shit (2/3 of them were really blurry due to the lighting) here, for anybody interested:

Black Friday Tour, Spokane, 7-22-05

And a collection of video clips I took of Blindside here (right click, save target as):

Blindside Clips

The audio is atrocious (this is my digital picture camera, not my GL1), so feel free to mute it. The only songs you can make out if you really try are All Of Us (38 seconds into it), Shekina (1:16), Eye Of The Storm (2:10), and About A Burning Fire (2:53). You might be mildly entertained by what you can see of the band since there’s a couple of Christian’s jump kicks in there, but it’s nothing too great given my camera’s crappy quality in low-light environments.

So that’s that. I’ll inevitably go back to my cynical rantings, but I felt like I had to post this. Good day.

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I can’t wait for my generation to take over the government, I really can’t. That time when I can look about and not see ANY sort of material related to violent video games being bad for kids because A) Most of my generation was raised playing them and B) the rest of them are completely apathetic to, well, everything. What a wonderful time…

If there’s one thing that consistently pisses me off, it’s the blame put on game companies like Rockstar (GTA series) or Running With Scissors (Postal series) for violence by state representative and/or senators who are obviously far, far out of touch with pop culture.

Not only are some of them out of touch, they’re completely insane. The following is a bill proposed by Washington State representatives in February. Even though this wasn’t passed, it’s a bit scary that people in their position would even have this line of thought. However, you should note that it’s a good thing something five months old is the most current attack on violent video games (that I can find at least) because five years ago this sort of shit was constant. Anyways, without further ado, House Bill 2178:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds that:
(1) The graphic depictions of violence against others in video and computer games are becoming more disturbingly realistic, especially with the sophisticated advancements in technology;
(2) Some video and computer games give the player points or otherwise reward or encourage the player to assault, rape, torture, and kill other characters;

Since “characters” in a video game can be just about anything… Yes, damn Mario and Pacman for their fancy rewards when you kill goombas and ghosts, damn Halo for letting you destroy aliens, and damn Tom Clancy’s line of games that teach you to kill terrorists! Damn them all! That sort of destruction of life will no doubt have an UNSPEAKABLE IMPACT on the player! Nooooo!

On another note, no retail game has ever let you participate in raping anyone. None. But exaggeration is so much fun, you can hardly expect state representatives or other people in power to NOT do it!

(3) Some of these games contain graphics of torture, sexual assault, and killing of women, persons of color, and law enforcement officers;

Oh, so it wouldn’t be as bad if we were just killing white, male civilians? Great! For a minute there, I was thinking they had this crazy notion that killing anyone is equally bad! Silly me: Equality among humanity is only applicable to “good” things.

(4) These games choreograph violence in a stylized and romanticized way that encourages children and adolescents to associate violence and killing with pleasure, entertainment, feelings of achievement, and personal empowerment;

Of course associating killing with achievement is completely illogical and something only those nasty shoot ‘em up games would do. Pft, I mean, you don’t see our military citing death tolls in a battle or anything of that sort. And if they did, I’m sure somebody would try passing a law saying they shouldn’t because “killing is not an achievement! Not ever ever!.” Er, wait a sec…

Why would any child think it’s pleasurable to kill in real life just because it is in a game? Oh oh, I know! Because of those blasted parent-things that aren’t around to teach them right from wrong…

(5) Studies show a correlation between exposure to violent video and computer games and hostile behavior. Children and adolescents who spend hours playing these video games can become desensitized to violence against others, and such games can be a factor in creating conditions that lead to actual violence;

That’s right folks, they “can” be factor! Hey, why not have laws discouraging ANYONE from creating something with the potential to lead to violence in some way? I mean, just look at what else we could get rid of:

- All forms of mass media. Look at how many shootings there were AFTER Columbine; major channels like Fox & CNN reported it was possible, and viola! More people tried it.
- Sports. Two words: Soccer riots.
- The weather. Ever been so pissed off at the weather you could strangle a puppy?
- God. Jiiiiihad!
- Satan. Sacrificial goats anyone?
- Government. People don’t agree with it, they get all testy, and start deadly riots. We just can’t have that.
- Books. Someone might read Ethan Frome and hurt a tree.
- The Internet. Be it the sudden urge to genocide all 12-14 year olds from reading various forums littered with them, or the fact that you can build a bomb based on plans you found made by a 16 year old with shoddy HTML skills who thinks he’s an anarchist by living in his parent’s basement and smoking pot, the interweb is just plain bad news.

Wow, you know, the world sure would be a safer place without those. Sterile and unenjoyable, but safer nonetheless.

(6) Throughout the country, law enforcement officers report that offenders committing violent crimes admit that they are intentionally copying the types of violent acts they play out in video or computer games. There have been accounts reported in the media in which violent offenders boast of the similarity between their crimes and the games; and

People kill because of God too, but we can’t sue religious organizations when a solider is killed in the name of Allah, or a homosexual is murdered because the killer believes it’s against God’s will, now can we? There’s no more an influence on them by religion to commit their acts than there is on children perpetrating violence because “they saw it in a game and thought it was real neat”.

It’s a distinct LACK of intelligence on both parts. Why would somebody kill in the name of God? Because nobody convinced them it wasn’t ok. Why would somebody kill because a game glorified it? The exact same reason. The difference is that the latter is usually children, and SOMEBODY has plenty of opportunity to teach them right from wrong…

(7) Manufacturers and retailers of these games are aware of the inappropriateness of violent video and computer games for children. Manufacturers and retailers are also aware of the studies and reports regarding the effects of these violent video and computer games on adolescents.

Yes, manufacturers (manufacturers is a synonym for developers in their alternate reality, apparently) are aware of it! You think they stick that “M” on the game box just for shits and giggles?

And I’ll admit, the ESRB needs to get on the ball a little more. When you have a game like No One Lives Forever rated the same as Grand Theft Auto, something’s wrong. Nonetheless, these are labels that ARE visible and parents are fully capable of reading them. Better yet, they can go download a demo themselves before letting their kid buy it and decide whether or not it’s appropriate. But that requires time and effort I guess, and who really has that when it comes to their own children?

The legislature declares that manufacturers and retailers of these games should do their part in taking responsibility when individuals copy in real life the violence they learn from these violent video and computer games. Therefore, the legislature intends to create a private cause of action against manufacturers and retailers of violent video and computer games.
….
A person may maintain an action for personal injury or wrongful death against a manufacturer or retailer of violent video or computer games if the manufacturer or retailer has distributed, sold, or rented a violent video or computer game to a person under the age of seventeen and the game was a factor in creating conditions that assisted or encouraged the person to cause injury or death to another person.

I’d be hypocritical if I said kids under 17 should be completely kept away from games with a mature rating since I started playing violent games like Kingpin and Solider of Fortune when I was around 12 or 13 years old (not that my parents were really aware of it, but that’s beside the point since they were making every effort to instill some morality in me). However, parents should be able to make good judgment calls on what their kids are allowed to play. For example, letting your six year old play GTA 3 is ridiculous because they’re not old enough to separate fantasy from reality and they wouldn’t be able to grasp the fact that what they’re doing is wrong. But by the time that child has reached adolescence, he should have the right idea if you’re doing your job as a parent.

Well that’s House Bill 2178 for you. And since I feel like attacking people even less educated about gaming, let’s go to DrSears.com, a “parental help” site for the spineless:

According to Colonel Grossman, the Marine Corp uses modified versions of grossly violent video games (like the ones that allegedly motivated the Columbine carnage) to teach recruits how to kill. These are used to develop the “will to kill” by repeatedly rehearsing the act until it feels natural.

Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman[...]points out that willingness to kill another person is not a natural behavior, but one that has to be taught by repeated desensitization and exposure to violence.

“Oh, and did I mention the Marine Corp spends most of its time NOT using computer programs to do that? Ha, silly me. My memory must be going…”

For the uninitiated, Lt. Col. Grossman is a former Marine who wrote a book about how games are teaching kids to kill. I have a lot of respect for the Marine Corp, but this man is more than bit misguided. Thankfully, he went away (his book came out in 1999… Haven’t heard from him in the last half-decade).

When did we collectively decide desensitization to violence was bad? It means you no longer respond to it, it does NOT mean you are more willing to perpetrate it. It may be easier for you to do so, but that has nothing to do with willingness. The WILLINGNESS to commit violent acts stems from your level of aggression.

Let’s look at me for an example: As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been playing violent games since a very early age. They didn’t completely desensitize me, but they did play a part. The real factors in my desensitization were graphic videos and photography (Ogrish, etc), mainly because when you look at those you think, “Wow, that’s what it actually looks like”. And after watching those and developing a fascination with them, violence doesn’t really bother me anymore.

Here’s the great part: I’ve never been in a fight, I’ve never seriously threatened to kill anyone, nor have I ever had any intention of doing so. Not once. So you see, despite my desensitization to violence, I am by no means willing to go on a shooting spree or any sort of rampage. I’m like a living contradiction to Lt. Grossman, sweet!

It’s physiologically disturbing. The “hype hormones” that are aroused by violent video games cause children to suffer serious consequences, such as nightmares, stomachaches, headaches, anorexia, and fatigue.

The only dreams I’ve ever had involving games were great. They’re entirely too geeky to go into here, but they were great. And I’d like somebody to show me any semblance of proof that games can induce anorexia, because I’d bet my life there isn’t any.

Some studies have even related seizure activity to violent screen time. Violent video games have been found to stress the cardiovascular system, such as increasing blood pressure and rapid breathing characteristic of a physiologic stress response. One study even reported an increase in the stress hormone adrenaline during video playing.

Oh no, they give you an adrenaline rush! Oh… Oh god! What’re we gonna do?! Send the kids outside! WAIT, they might start playing sports and get the same effects! We’re doooomed!

In truth, I could go on for ages about why violent games don’t cause violent children, but I think the above should suffice. My main point is that at THE MOST games are a catalyst for violence. If a kid copies a game and kills someone in real life, they were already mentally unstable because games can’t physically make you do anything. Whose fault is it that they’re fucked up in the first place: The developers? They just make the game, they don’t buy it and install it for anyone. The kid? They’re still under the control (or should be until they’re 18) of their parents. Or the parents? During the formative years of a child’s life they’re responsible for the child’s actions. They teach them what’s right, what’s wrong, and why they shouldn’t cross that line.

The right answer is the only logical one. But logic is almost non-existent in today’s world.

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Because I’m huge advocate of family-oriented fun, I created a new forum where I don’t have to worry about CJB’s policy (which, like all great free web-services, they don’t enforce unless they damn well feel like it) of:

“no swearing, hate mongering, or any material that is threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane, indecent, or otherwise objectionable.”

…And all sorts of other lovely synonyms for a completely sterile posting environment, which is just no fun at all. Not that there was ever anything indecent posted there, or profanity of any sort. Nope…

So if you weren’t already signed up, feel free to do so. It’s pretty much the same thing with one new forum (gaming), possibly another on the way (music; though I’m not sure if I want to subject myself to that), and a smoother look.

Good day.

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If you look off to the right, there are two new pages titled “Videos” and “The 7th Act”. The former will have whatever I cook up (shorts, music videos, etc), and the latter will contain anything I shoot for The 7th Act which they agree is worthy of being displayed to the vast infinity that is all dozen or so regular readers here. Obviously there’s more for each on the way…

Wow, my fourth post this week. I’ve never made that many in a month… I may have a stroke.

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Significantly overweight? Female? Aww, don’t be so down! Do what everybody else is doing: Wear a shirt displaying your bulging stomach in all of its glory! You know, that sort of thing just draws guys to you like a moth to flame. Flames usually consume moths, but no matter! Surely you wouldn’t EAT a potential mate. Well it certainly doesn’t look like you would… Oh, wait.

Why does this have to be one of the things society has that’s inescapable? School is (well, was; there’s laws against this now) ridiculous, with every large female child in a monumental state of denial from ages 13-18 sporting a belly shirt. And just when I think I won’t have to see that crap for 3 months, I get a jolt of reality during my job at our local store. Oh sure, the kids are either playing outside or sitting at home eating Twinkies, but the mothers will have none of that. Nope, they come to buy groceries and display their significantly larger lower rolls like a badge of honor!

This a phenomenon, it really is. Exactly what the hell is going through their head when they get up in the morning?

A) “Wow, I should totally start dieting and exercise instead of spending all day parked on my ass watching judges of various races on TV (we wouldn’t want anybody to think the justice system is racist, now would we?).
B) “Holy shit. I’m fat. But that’s ok, because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggonit, people like me. They won’t care if I show it off.”
C) “Oh, it’s just a little tummy. I can still fit through the door sideways, I’m not THAT bad.”
D) “Mmm… Donuts.”

I say all of the above, except A. It has to be something completely illogical, because no sensible person (outside of the south at least) could walk into a public place with their gut hanging out.

I’d say yell at them, but generally speaking that only makes them depressed, leading to more eating, more denial, more belly-shirts, etc. Beating them senseless and locking them in a room deprived of food seems a tad harsh, and simply giving them a state like Wyoming to roam free in just isn’t feasible.

*sigh* Well, I suppose it falls under “freedom of expression”. Then again, so does saying “I eat way too much and am in COMPLETE AND UTTER denial about my body! One day I will die, and my loved ones will have to spend a small fortune on an over-sized casket!”

On another note, I once saw two women talking to each other in an aisle at the store, and the ENTIRE width of the aisle was taken up by their bodies. Not that that had anything to do with this, but I figured I’d throw that image in there since it’s absolutely priceless.

I have nothing against fat people, by the way. Many of my best friends are such, but then again, they don’t show it off…

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Well, this is a first… I’ve been tagged for a meme. Thanks Heliologue.

Basically, I’m to name 3-5 bands who have exactly one good album to their name. So without further ado:

Powerman 5000. Tonight The Stars Revolt! is great, with the 60’s Sci-Fi nostalgia it has about it; just a good combination of simple metal with a slight industrial influence. Buuut, their material before that was just… odd (not in a good way), and then they got ruined by 9/11 when Anyone For Doomsday? was slated for release that day, prompting them to hold it off completely, following up instead with Transform. Yay for generic hard rock!

Disturbed. Down With The Sickness. It’s nu-metal, yeah, but I think Dramain’s vocals are damn good on it and no two songs sound the same. Neither of which can be said of Believe, which was just flat out boring both vocally and instrumentally. And I just heard the single off their new one, which sounds exactly like something from Believe. Imagine that.

Nirvana. Nevermind is their only solid album. Every other release consists of about two decent tracks and a lot of crap that sounds exactly the same… I wonder how many LESS people would put them on a pedestal if Kurt hadn’t shot himself. And if I hear one more person go off on how “ooh, it was Courtney! I know it was!” I may smack them. Shut the fuck up. Just because you read a suicide note doesn’t make you a damn expert; that’s what crime scene investigators are for.

Well that’s it I suppose. It’s so much easier to think of bands that released only a few good songs as opposed to albums. However, I’d like to mention Paradise Lost and Green Carnation as bands that released absolutely incredible albums (Gothic & Light of Day, Day of Darkness, respectively) and followed up with albums that weren’t so much bad as just disappointing. Paradise Lost moved from doom metal to generic goth rock (Draconian Times is flat out boring, and I honestly don’t understand the hype around it), and GC went kinda prog metal-ish. Which is a shame, I loved the vocals on LoDDoD and the long, atmospheric instrumental sections. I’m told In The Woods is quite similar in sound to that album, but damned if I can find any of their material.

And yes, I’ll get back to my real ranting and raving soon.

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Ok, this is getting out of hand…

A couple of months ago System of a Down released “Mezmerize”, their 3rd studio album (sans STA). I personally enjoy their music, though I can’t say I was too impressed with this album, but I know a lot of people can’t stand them for whatever reason. That’s beside the point…

Their single, BYOB, has suddenly become “known” here. That’s right, after being out a good two months with constant airplay people here, many of which claim to be fans of the band, are just beginning to notice. Anyways, I have now corrected THREE people on what the acronym stands for (which is exactly three people too many). They have this notion that it stands for “Bring Your Own Beer”, further leading them to think it’s a song all about partying. Why? Because of exactly one line from the chorus:

“Everybody’s goin’ to the party, have a real good time”

Which is quickly followed by…

“Dancing in the desert blowing up the sunshine”

Oh, but it gets even better. Halfway through the song, after that line, comes this:

“Blast off, it’s party time
And we don’t live in a fascist nation”

And if you’ve heard the song and have an IQ higher than 6, you know it gets even MORE obvious that it’s politically motivated. You know, just like 98% of ALL their songs. I wonder, are some people even aware that the chorus is not, in fact, the only part of a song, and do they have to practice to get to the point where they can dismiss all but one line of a track with around 4 verses?

I should poll people on whether or not they know System of a Down’s major lyrical themes are political; I bet everybody under 18 answers “no” and looks at me like I have some sort of nasty growth on my forehead. But this is what happens when rap is the most popular form of music in my town (and seemingly America; On a national average, we suck at having taste in music), so any mention of the word “party” in a song’s lyrics automatically makes it about just that.

This reminds me of a time back in the sixth grade after Red Hot Chili Peppers released “Californication” (a great album, in my opinion), and a couple of my friends were saying that the title meant sex. I pointed out that it didn’t because of the whole “Cali” addition to the word, and they fervently tried to convince me I was wrong. Sure, it was the sixth grade, but we’d all learned how to speak English by then so I figured the meaning was pretty clear. Alas, even after the lyrics of the title track make it exceedingly obvious it’s about California/becoming a Californian, it just wouldn’t sink in.

Some people shouldn’t be allowed to listen to music that doesn’t consist of a drum machine, a keyboard, and a materialistic high-school dropout “singing”. Everything else is just tooooo complicated for them.

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