OK, one snow day is healthy.  Then there were two in a row.  That was a little much.  Now, there’s a delay for fog?  I think our administration is getting soft.

&

Take the time and learn how to draw the above character. I did, and it was one of the most useful 5 minutes of my life. The thing is infinately useful, and it totally kicks the pants off of “backwards 3 with a slash thru it” and “+ sign with bottom and left points connected”. Plus even though it’s about as easy to draw as the number 8, it somehow impresses everyone when you use them. Then when they say, “Whoa, you know how to draw the ‘and sign thingy’?”, you can impress them even more when you say in a dignified English accent, “It’s called an ampersand.”

No, I’m not dead. Sorry about my absence, I know I’ve left an infinite void in your heart and in your internet browsing experience. But don’t worry, I’m back to fill it.

Ever wanted to fly over Wyoming? But you’re not one of the 17% of residents who owns a private plane/helicopter with which to do so? Check this out: http://www.isoma.net/games/goggles.html?loc=tqstqqqrssrsqrrrrtt

Nothing amazing, but it’s pretty fun. Just hit start, don’t bother with the dropdown menu. A & Z to control speed, arrow keys to control elevation and turning. You can do it with anywhere on google maps, but it’s kinda complicated.

By the way, there’s a little ambient music on my sidebar if you wanna check it out.

And as a followup to the post below, yes we did get Wiis. And they are awesome. And that is one of the reasons I havn’t posted in a month. Expect a couple music reviews and more coming soon.

Peace Out,

Keep Flying,

BRIAN

Dylan and I are gonna get up mucho early tomorrow to try and grab Wiis.  Wish us luck.

Each of us will produce something in our lives. A single glowing tablet, an epitaph of sorts. We are all writers; we will all write a few lines on this glowing tablet before we die. Our entire life, every action and decision we make will be distilled down into a single sentence.

For a musician, it might be an album, or a song, or just a melody. For a scientist, it might be a theory, or even a single observation or measurement. A poet will contribute a poem. Everyone contributes to this vast brain of the human race, even if all they add is a lesson they learned the hard way. Or a child to carry on the great process.

Our whole life is centered around this, whether we know it or not. At this point in most of our lives, we’re brainstorming. Trying desperately to find what our lines will be, how we want to contribute to Humanity. It’s a confusing, violent time. No one wants to die without giving something to the world. I want to leave something behind, for people in the future to read.

And things like wealth confuse things more. People chase wealth more than they chase these chances to inscrive a verse on the sonnet of mankind. But if you use your wealth correctly, you can buy yourself that chance. Is this why wealth is so valued? No, I think our motives are much more platonic.

And whether there’s an afterlife or not is a completely different subject. But regardless, we will be judged after we die, by mankind. The very best writers are remembered by everyone for ages, the rest only remembered by those close to them. And even they are forgotten as the generations pass.

I’m not trying to glorify fame. Fame is temporary; infamy lives forever. Those who are famous in their lifetime may not be famous afterward, and the most miserable, ordinary seeming person may be a celebrity after they die.

The greatest “writers” are the greatest thinkers. When we think of the Ancient Greeks, we think of Plato, Socrates, Alexander. Yet we don’t know the names of their Olympians. We remember their playwrights, but not their actors.

John Keating from Dead Poets Society’s answer to life’s great question is “That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.

What will your verse be?”

Nike ad from a few years back. I like it for some reason.

Thank god. I was getting tired of all the slandering and campaigning. It’ll still happen, it just won’t be in the form of commercials and automated calling machines.

Though I consider myself independent, I have mostly Democratic views. But I think this commercial from the elections (not in Ohio I’m glad to say) will disgust anybody except the most conservative conservatives. Yay! Let’s return America to the 50s! White Christian Males FTW!

EDIT: That guy lost 36% to 64%.  W00T.

Sorry about my lack of frequent posting. I been busy, and also I’ve just been neglecting the old blog. Well, in any case, I’m back.

New layout. Feedback, por favor. (Facebook users, “see original post” to see my actual blog.)

Teaser: I got the University expansion for Sims.  New update… some time.

And now some music reviews…

Black Holes and Revelations by Muse

Muse is becoming one of my top 5 bands. This British trio has a sound all their own. There’s no easy way to describe it. The vocals are somewhat Coldplayesque, but more forceful and over-the-top. They vary from quiet and almost lullabyelike in songs like A Soldier’s Poem to haunting to poppy and falsetteo in songs like the single, Supermassive Black Hole. This album utilizes synth about as well as the rest of their CDs (meaning good) and the trademark distorted bass is back. The guitar is good and has some catchy riffs, as well as some Spanish influnced style on the last part of the CD. It may be just me, but the drums seemed a little more exposed on this album; which is good. Fills like the one in Assassin add an extra punch to the sound. Muse always seems to succeed in making diverse albums worth listening to, yet without ditching their style. If you liked previous Muse, you will like Black Holes and Revelations. If you’re new to them, this might be a good place to hop on the bandwagon, but be advised its “progressive”, so some songs might be a little outside the average mainstream fan’s comfort zone. Don’t worry, those songs will soon get stuck in your head.

The lyrics clearly convey that the band isn’t happy with Bush, Blair, or the war. Very not happy. But it also has a sort of “theme”, like Hysteria did with the apocalypse. Black Holes and Revalations’ theme is, as the name would suggest, space. The album art includes 4 men sitting on the surface of mars, as well as pictures of Saturn and other phenomenas.

I suggest it. 10.5/13 clams.

Beck-The Information (check back- need to listen to it some more!)

Heroes is a terribly good TV show.  I’m hooked.

If you havn’t seen it, get on the wagon now before it takes off and you don’t understand anything.  You can watch last Monday’s episode for free here: http://www.nbc.com/Video/rewind/full_episodes/?show=heroes And get summaries of the three before that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Heroes_episodes

Those who already watch it might wanna check out the Wikipedia page anyway, for cool stuff they might not have noticed before.

Good premise+good characters+cool special effects=good show.  In other words, don’t ask me to do anything from 9-10 Monday nights.

Well, last night was a lot of fun.

First off, the music part.  The Sleeping were pretty good, but they’re much better in the studio than they are live, which probably speaks to their musicianship.  I left the crowd during Plain White T’s to play some Wii, but more on that later.  I enjoyed select parts of Emery’s show, none of which involved their psychotic keyboardist dancing around and crowd surfing.  That guy was creepy.  Relient K was definately the best part of the entire show.  They came out on stage playing the cave music from Mario.  They were genuinely awesome, and they played old favorites, songs from MMHMM, and one or two from their fresh-out-of-the-oven album coming in February.  That’s gonna be a good one.  Everything from the recordings was there, even the banjo on “Which to Bury…”, and they added stuff like a schoolyard-chant style beginning to Sadie Hawkins Dance, and a new intro to Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been.  I gotta say they’re probably the best band I’ve seen live music-wise, though John Reuben and Falling Up still win for stage presence and acrobatics.  With Hawthorne Heights, their lighting effects were the only good part of their show.

Impressions of the games after the break.  Facebook users, hit “see original post” and then follow the “more” link.