MistaTwinkies's Xanga

Friday, November 06, 2009

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:21:14 GMT

I've been wanting to write a new post. eh
Halloween was dull this year, didn't dress up or go out, but I was planning on being Chie Satonaka from Persona 4. It's a female character but she has really short hair and I wasn't gonna try to change my appearance other than having brownish hair and wear black shorts instead of... yeah.

Anyway I've been pretty good, the band had a great gig a couple weeks ago for a church event. It has the biggest turnout we've had so far (more than 100) and we played fairly well. Also our music is on iTunes and last.fm if you wanna check them out!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=334611286&s=143441&uo=1&v0=9988
http://www.last.fm/music/This+Blank+World

So most Roth-era Van Halen fans ignore the Hagar-era and vice-versa. I was a Roth-era fan for a longest time until I listened through this (I had before, but it didn't have the same effect on me)

VAN HALEN "Human Beings"

It's not really one of their more well known songs but it's easily one of my favorites.

I'm alive and other music review news

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:10:40 GMT

Yes I'm alive and well and things have been great.
The Knitting Factory gig was pretty good, we had a bigger turn out than the other bands after us and we were definitely one of the most polished even though the other bands have been around for a while (we've only been around for a few months, with me as a member for only a month at that time and our new vocalist Jon being a member for only a week and a half). Jon learned all the songs within a week and a half and had the courage to do it in front of a live group so awesome respect to him.

As for music review news, there's three albums by musicians I listen to that I feel like writing about if just for the record and get some practice in.

Megadeth - Endgame

Dave Mustaine is back with the fastest most aggressive Megadeth album to date, but did it all come together? At 48, Dave Mustaine is still pushing his band to the limit. After Glen Drover left and was replaced by Chris Broderick as the lead guitarist, Megadeth fans are pleased to hear a replacement that can do Marty's solos justice. The tracks range from blazingly shredtastic to a slow ballad, and yet while they aren't as accessible as Countdown to Extinction or as notable as Rust In Peace, Mustaine proves he can still thrash hard as ever. I did have a few problems with the album. Broderick's solos are a bit too random to be memorable and Mustaine doesn't seem to have the ability to go another album without mentioning the phrase 'new world order' a few times.

Rating: I haven't come up with a system (recommend something!) but it's worth a listen for anyone who likes the metal. While it's not the end-all of Megadeth albums ever it's certainly one of the best ones.

Steve Vai - Where The Wild Things Are

Steve Vai proves he's just as fast and talented as he ever was with Where the Wild Things Are. With some new material after 4 years, on a live album no-less, Vai stays relevant as ever as one of "the" guitar virtuosos of this era. Combining his exceedingly unique and insane playing with his flair for showmanship, he pulls off a great performance that the CD version only captures half of (the CD has 15 tracks out of the 27 on the DVD). Vai's composition is increasingly catchy yet progressive enough to capture the attention of anyone from an appreciator of music to the most defiantly elitist guitar player. He is joined by Alex DePue (violin), Ann Marie Calhoun (violin), Bryan Beller (bass), Jeremy Colson (drums), Dave Weiner (guitar and sitar) and Zack Wiesinger (lap steel).

Rating: While Vai has appealed to people outside of guitarists and musicians, his music is too unconventional to appeal to most people. I'd recommend it only to those who think "music died and it isn't original anymore" and of course other guitar players. If you're a Vai fan pick up the DVD version as it's much more complete and well worth the price.

Dethklok - Dethalbum II

Brendon Small is back with another album by his cartoon band, Dethklok, the main characters on the show Metalocalypse. After a grueling season 2 with a lot of criticism after the solid first season, Small does do the music justice but it still suffers the same problems that the show did in the second season. The music is faster, heavier, and more 'brutal' than the music from the first album, but it suffers some major problems. It lacks a lot of humor, catchiness, and memorable moments that the first album/first season had. I know it's unfair for the fans and community to expect the music and show to be as great in the second season since Small had a lot of time to work on making the first so great while the second was rushed to appeal to the impatient fans who were itching for more. Never the less if you're a fan of the show or the music give it a go, though you might be disappointed, or glad that the music has taken a more serious approach. The Deluxe version has bonus music videos of the songs used on the 2008 tour.

Rating: Definitely nowhere as good as the first but still worth a few listens for fans of the music and/or show.

I'm fairly repetitive in my word choice because I don't write at all. Still, feel free to say otherwise about my writing or the music. Thanks!

This Blank World at the Knitting Factory (Front Room), Sep 12th at 7:30pm

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:38:56 GMT

You can get tickets from me for $10! be thereee

A long week

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:52:39 GMT

This is possibly one of the most tiring weeks I've had in a while. I woke up at 5:30 am for 4 days in a row for school registration, had a couple long rehearsals, and then a gig on Saturday. I've been busy, currently a guitarist in a band called "This Blank World" and we had our first show yesterday. I need to get on top of learning the songs and playing them comfortably, I haven't gotten my hands on lead sheets and there are gigs coming up >< visit www.thisblankworld.com for the songs streaming and pics and whatnot (lots of stuff). I didn't work on the album but I plan to for the next one

On top of that, I've been working a good 30 hours a week, blah, though for the next semester I'm taking 4 online classes so I don't blow $50 a week on gas. I'm gonna be bummed once school starts and my friends go back to their respective schools. I also got a haircut with Louisa at the Vidal Sassoon in Santa Monica, hence the picture on the left. Really like it, kept the length and thinned it out a lot =D

I'm too lazy to write directions on how to make a Potter Puppet Pal or reupload all the pictures, but you'll find the pictures on my facebook. And of course the directions are all unclear/instinctive by measuring ratios for the parts and getting lucky that the puppet came out okay. I actually never had sewing experience before this, the only thing being fixing a tiny hole in my Loudness shirt.

Alright

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:59:02 GMT

Gotta say I wasn't feeling great when I wrote that post, but I'm a lot better now. I was really tired and sort of cracking under the pressure, and definitely didn't have enough sleep cause I was trying to finish my rereading of the last Harry Potter which makes more sense now and I don't hate it as much.

Anyway I want to really update this "blog" (such a dirty word) more often, and for just idiot posts it'll be here and only here cause facebook feels too revealing. I just acquired a big mess of music and I'll update later about this band (thanks to lulu for knowing about them and not telling me of their awesomeness). They're called Melt Banana and they're a mix of noise rock with high pitched female vocals, laser crazy sound effect guitar, and an energy that I find addictive. I wouldn't normally listen to something like this but my recent dipping in another Japanese noise rock band [Guitar Wolf] has got me looking for not-so-new good japanese music that I skipped over or didn't bother listening to yet. And that reminds me I recently started liking some Judas Priest, though I still need to try to listen to more metal bands since I haven't really gotten to many to begin with.

Just felt like clarifying my mood now since I don't want people thinking otherwise. Will post pictures/video/crap on here when I get the chance.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:15:10 GMT

Lately something's been bothering me a lot, it's either me or just a few other people in my life. I don't know exactly what it is but it's more of a sense of feeling really inadequate. Not so much scared as just having to drudge on in my life. I want a lot of things but at the same time I don't. Really irritated by all the negative things I see in people. Feeling like I don't have time to do anything out of order or just take a break without having someone criticize me. Not eating much but my body adjusts and I don't lose weight. Trying to make some things work but they're probably never meant to work out the way I envisioned. I'm a needy complaining person who can't seem to shut up about all of the errors. My life isn't bad but my head won't tell me otherwise.Favorite things to do become something else, unsatisfying.

I don't miss the past, but I have the belief that I was a total ass and I'd give anything to go back and have just more time with people I think are my friends and not be the person I was then. I'm just tired of being pessimistic and I can't seem to be optimistic for more than 5 seconds about anything. For once I'm not afraid of complete change and I'm so tired of what my life is right now.

A few things first...

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:25:31 GMT

Wanted to get a few things out of the way, where to start...

Okay so the Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince movie [SPOILERS AHEAD], I was annoyed about the whole set up of the movie, alterations of big plot parts and a lot of things missing that will make the seventh (and eighth) movies complete disasters because of the massive amount of information already in the last book. There's no mention of Rufus Scrimgeour, Fenrir Greyback as a werewolf (this would take about 5 seconds to explain), the new and useless swamp scene with the attack on the Burrow (which will get attacked within the first few minutes of the seventh movie as well so....), the horribly missing Pensieve scenes which explain what objects are Horcruxes (Dumbledore could have taken the few seconds of walking into the cave to explain its purpose as a hiding place for that particular horcrux, not to mention the complete lack of explanation of the Gaunt ring, significance of the other horcruxes such as the Hufflepuff Cup, etc.), and most importantly the bastardization and crapcut of the Death Eaters' attack on the astronomy tower and Dumbledore's death. It was a fairly entertaining movie but I just was so irritated of how they think they're gonna pull off the last two movies fine with all these holes.

On a lighter note, I've come to really like a new Source mod called Neotokyo

Taken from their website: http://www.neotokyohq.com/index.html
-NEOTOKYO is a first person shooter that provides a visceral & realistic combat experience in a rich futuristic setting. It is greatly influenced by our admiration for Masamune Shirow (GHOST IN THE SHELL) and Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA), and has been in production since October 2004. To play NEOTOKYO you will need to have a STEAM account, and own the game HALFLIFE 2 or any game that gives you the Source SDK ...

It's a squad based shooter which utilizes a lot of teamwork and thermoptic camo (which can be used for moving quickly from a distance without been seen, used as a way to set up ambushes against careless enemies, punishing unattentive enemy players, and just in general be a sneaky ninja asshole). As your team wins rounds or you get kills, you "rank" up for that game and you can use better weapons, but killing teammates will lower your rank, which happens often since friendly fire is default on. There are three different classes you can choose from, all which support 3 different styles of play (fps rushers, campers, and inbetween those two) so you can't complain about always moving too fast or having too little health. If you enjoy tactical shooters with a lot of serious players and gameplay that has a decent learning curve, you should really try Neotokyo. And besides, it's free if you own any source games or Half Life 2.

(right click->view image to see the images at their actual size)

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:14:09 GMT

I've had a good week, and I can't remember when was the last time I did. Went to six flags, went on a bunch of new rides I didn't get to last time, July 4th BBQ, and a few other things I can't really remember. Oh and I said I was going to post picture(s) of the car crash so here it is

right click it and go to view image to see it in full size (not sure if that works or if its universal so..)

I need more sleep. and time to play guitar enough so I don't get all rusty.

somehow another stage

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:23:29 GMT

I felt like writing in here just to establish a somewhat new and unfamiliar stage in my life. Somehow, it should be almost the same and I feel sick to my stomach trying to catch up with it all. Wanted to document here that I got into a major car accident on Sunday, but somehow got out of my car fairly unharmed except for an annoying sprained finger thats practically fine already and some light skin scraped from my knee. I can't say I like my "new-used" car, I really haven't gotten the chance to check it out, it's a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta stationwagon. Stationwagon sounds so cheesy but eh I don't even know how long this car will last, hopefully for a while =D It's been fairly hectic with the two summer classes (already somehow), but my weekend was pretty fulfilling other than the whole car turning into a crushed tin can thing. I'll post pictures later I had 4 hours of sleep the night before and haven't napped. Eyelids closing.

a post

Thu, 28 May 2009 01:44:48 GMT

I lack any real motivation to write regularly in here, sorry, but I guess I'll keep myself updated so when I read this whenever from now I'll remember what I did, because my memory is getting awful.

Went to a Gogol Bordello concert with Louisa, it was fun but the sound was really off, bad electronics/acoustics of the venue, and up close by the stage all the sound was one big blur of noise with almost no recognizable vocals or notes. Though I'm somewhat inspired to actually get some of their music instead of the few songs I've heard =D

I edited my xanga bg/header (for those who aren't reading this off subscriptions or facebook), and it looks nice. Sure I was a little lazy and I'm not inspired to spend hours on a tiny header like someone else did but it looks good, if I find the need to tweak it I will. And feel free to constructively criticize.

Recently my dog got injured fighting a cat in the backyard, he chased the cat into a corner and they were growling at each other until I decided it was a good idea to seperate them by using a waterhose, which was a big mistake. I wasn't sure who made the first move but seconds later someone's cat was in my dog's mouth getting thrashed around and I guess my dog got too into it and stretched/tore his soft tissue in his back left knee. I guess the pain of that made him let the cat go, and it somehow ran off even those a good amount of it's blood was in and around my dog's mouth. That's when we noticed he was dragging his leg and we took him to a vet and now he's on medication. I just bored myself into ending this post.

Oh and the new spy/sniper update for Team Fortress 2? AWFUL (weapon unlock system). BRING BACK MILESTONES.