2003.02.15 you must be brave:
required reading:
speech by senator robert byrd, floor of the u.s. senate – 2/12/2003
[from commondreams.org]
maybe this'll jumpstart that previously mentioned debate…
Archive for the 'Old Posts' Category
2003.02.15 lights out:
well…they finally shut of the directvdsl service. they said it was going to happen a month ago, but the service kept running smoothly. until today. i got home this afternoon to scott looking incredibly bored, not able to check his email or play any games on the internet or anything. bummer. we're signing up for service from a new provider on monday, so hopefully we won't be own for too long…
i'm sitting at work at my new job, wasting away the last few minutes of my lunch break, wishing i could just go home. well…half the day down, the other half to go, i guess.
i meant to post this the other day, but the debate we had raging in the comments section was so good, i hated to make it old news…
i cobbled together most of the desktop wallpapers i've made for myself oer the past couple of years and posted them to one location. here they are, for anyone that actually wants to download them:
hellboy (the one gracing my desktop at home):
800×600 : 1024×768 : 1152×864
fight club (an old favorite):
800×600 : 1024×768 : 1152×864
joycam project (another classic):
800×600 : 1024×768 : 1152×864
and the alternate:
800×600 : 1024×768 : 1152×864
the make-up (photo by mike mcglothlen):
800×600 : 1024×768 : 1152×864
radiohead (some weird collage i threw together):
800×600 : 1024×768 : 1152×864
and that's about it…maybe tomorrow i'll discuss my trip to chicago.
2003.01.24 took him for all he was worth:
when you're bored sitting at your computer, it's always hard to remember the links that people drop in conversation every now and then. today i got lucky and remembered that i was supposed to check out bushwatch.com (redirects to bushnews.com). i'm glad i did. i've been on such an awful anti-bush binge over the past few days that i've actually been overheard contemplating armed revolution (put on the back burner for now while i look into getting the clutch on my car fixed). if you have ever looked for a one-stop, "bush is a fuckin' moron" information depository, this place is the jackpot. give it a few reads. be a liberal. let your heart bleed.
and through that site i found this one. too damn bad that guy beat me to that idea. my personal favorite.
ever wonder why they already had that patriot act written, pre-9/11? hmmm…
2003.01.21 i hope i die before i get old:
so we have a new downstairs neighbor. it's kinda weird not having rob down there. he was always quiet and unassuming, and we never had any problems. sometimes rob and i would sit on the front porch with a few cans of beer and talk about whatever. it was nice. now we have a girl down there. a girl. the boy's club has been invaded.
to be honest, she's really nice and we both work for the same company, but still…a girl. i've already noticed scott going about strange new rituals like listening to his music with headphones on, so as to not disturb the new tenant. she's never even home, anyway. and she's one of those hippie type people. who knows if she'd even be bothered by us, anyway?
went to cahoots last night. hung out with the lady and william. john was there. big buck hunter was played. many digital deer were laid low. many high life's (high lives?) had their life essence drained from them. it was a wretched affair.
and now, after a great breakfast of french toast, i'm gonna sit here and try to work on the new double malt music site.
the operative word is try…
2003.01.19 take a whiff of my pantleg, baby:
another week, another complete lack of anything to write about. i did go see gangs of new york. i guess that might be something. it was three hours long and daniel day lewis was awesome in it. that's about all i can really say about it.
75 or less has run a couple more reviews of mine over the past week. check out the seluah and the live neurosis write-ups. i also wrote a review for the hot charity reissue, but it looks like someone beat me to the punch. just for the sake of pleasing my own ego, i'm going to print my review here and then post a link to the other review.
rocket from the crypt – hot charity + cut and play (swami records)
i bought this record while i was supposed to be out christmas shopping, but since it was the season of giving, i decided to "give" myself a little holiday treat. it's no surprise that a reissue of older, out of print rocket records blew away their newest record with ease. tracks like "lorna doom" and "if the bird could fly" rock you so hard that you think you might crap your pants. after hearing this, you may change your new year's resolution to "throw this thing on repeat and ride around giving beer to homeless people."
and the pretender…
you decide.
2003.01.08 what is the word?:
just a quick check-in on my way to work…
one of my new reviews is up over on 75 or less. the lucky record getting reviewed: twenty years of dischord. i should have a bunch more reviews popping their heads up soon enough. i kinda went on a review writing binge the other night. keep your eyes peeled for 'em.
now i have to dash to work…
2003.01.05 this landslide will bury us all:
okay…new year. still haven't gotten around to some of the posts i planned on making last year. oh well…that's the way the cookie crumbles, i guess. maybe i'll make a new year's resolution to be more timely with these posts. or then again…maybe i won't…
so…let's kick the new year off by doing that thing everyone does: listing my top ten records of last year. here goes (in no particular order except the first one)…
hot snakes – suicide invoice
hands down the best rock record to come out last year. hell…for a couple of years, really. this thing will kick your ass up and down the street and still leave you begging for more.
rocket from the crypt – hot charity + cut and play
it's weird that a reissue of a couple of way out of print rocket records would be on this list while the proper album that they released around the same time is conspicuously missing. did i say weird? maybe i meant…fitting.
the flaming lips – yoshimi battles the pink robots
tripped out space rock/pop about giant pink robots and a little japanese girl that fights them. this record made me smack my head and say "oh yeah…i really like the flaming lips."
wilco – yankee hotel foxtrot
i almost shouldn't count this record since i've had it since 2001, but since it was actually released this past year, i'll allow it. wilco steps up to the plate and refuses to be pigeonholed as "alt-country." an awesome record with enough depth and a wide enough range of sounds to keep even me entertained.
queens of the stone age – songs for the deaf
skullcrushing stoner metal with grohl back behind a drum kit. throw in mark lanegan (ex-screaming trees, an old guilty pleasure) and you have a bona-fide rock masterpiece. now where'd i put that bong?
neurosis – live in lyon, france 11.02.99
the first in (hopefully) a long series of "official" bootlegs from the best live band to ever roam the earth. the sound comes across just as huge on the cd as it does in person.
nirvana – nirvana
who'd think that i'd put a whole record on this list just for one song? well…that song is just that damn good. the other 13 tracks are no slouches, either. damn any of us that forgot that nirvana rocks harder than six hookers on pcp.
shipping news – variegated
the last in the limited run of eps with handmade packaging, this one clocks in as the best of the bunch. throw kyle crabtree's track "haymaker" on repeat and feel the rock.
the roots – phrenology
the roots do rock the old school way. ?uestlove and black thought deliver the album that i've been waiting a few years for, and boy do they do it with style. this should be on everyone's "must-have" list.
the dillinger escape plan – irony is a dead scene
four insanely crushing and elaborate songs from the kings of schizo-core. throw in mike patton on lead vocals and a aphex twin cover and you've got a smokin' little ep that hits you straight out of left field.
there you have it…my top ten. take it or leave it.
2002.12.25 but the water's laced:
well…it's been a wild and wooly past couple of weeks, with both servers spending some downtime, leaving me completely without email access. yep…i trashed my old hotmail account because i was sick of logging into it every 30 seconds, or however often microsoft tries to make you do it, these days. but no worries…both transmission3000 and bipolar are up and running just fine now. well…if bipolar weren't up, you wouldn't be reading this, i don't guess.
other things:
as john mentioned in a comment, i recently had a letter to the editor printed in the local newspaper. it seems that the people that run our city have gotten this wild idea up their asses to change the city seal. our beautiful city seal. this, of course, revolves around that whole city-county metro merger thing that i mentioned in my last post (or at least i linked to a page that mentioned it…). luckily, i can't find the page with the proposed replacements. dang. anyway…here's my letter, in it's natural, unedited fashion:
Dearest Louisville,
This letter is in response to the horrid choice we're now being presented with as far as a new city seal goes.
I have a question: What's so wrong with the old seal? As a graphic designer, I personally think it's genius in its sheer simplicity. Did you know that a whole generation of Louisvillians have been going out and getting that very work of art tattooed on their bodies just because they love their city?
Just because we'll soon be the 16th largest city in the Union doesn't mean we have to go and start making really atrocious art decisions. This city has an amazing art scene, and I think we should rise above some two-bit graphic design hack's desire to put his lasting stamp on our city.
Hats off to the designer of the original city seal. He's probably rolling over in his grave.
J. Brian Hall
now i need to get to bed…i'm going out of town for the christmas holiday…
2002.11.30 i hate the kids:
everyone always acts like they don't know where louisville is, or they ask "is that in kentucky?" well…maybe now they'll stop asking us if we wear shoes.
2002.11.28 if i could have just one more time:
well…through a long chain of events, i've opted to not attend the family thanksgiving feast. this actually works out, since i really can't stand certain members of my extended family, and dinner was being held right in the midst of that arm of the clan. i think i'm better off at home eating pasta alfredo, thanks.
other than that…i figured, since it was getting to be that time of year, i should update my wish list. feel free to browse it and buy me something nice. or not. no one is twisting your arm…
i got accepted to beta test the new star wars everquest-type online game, star wars galaxies. we'll see how awesome that game is, or if it's just a giant flop, like all of these other star wars games that rip off other popular platforms, trying to cash in on the craze…
i ended up taking the car stereo back to circuit city and found out that all the sony models even close to mine have the same problem with burned cds. the funny thing i noticed was, the problem only manifests itself when i play cds made in itunes. no matter, though…i opted to trade the stereo in for the better pioneer model. i only have to pay $65 difference and the installation is free. jackpot!
time to get back to doing a maximum amount of nothing…
