In the meantime, can someone tell me how the FUCK do you copy and paste text into the text box on blogger using a mac/safari?
Thanks.
More material coming shortly.
3/13/09
2/25/09
JJ Spoken Word
The John Joseph spoken word just came through Albany this past Monday and after completely creeping up on me, I decided to check it out on a last minute reminder. Simply put, it was great. I've had the audio version of the book (or some sort of incarnation of the book) for awhile now and this event was just a reminder to get the physical copy - which I've been meaning to for a long time now.
I've been to maybe a handful of spoken word events in my entire life and I'd be willing to bet 4 out of the ballpark 5 were by ex-front men of some of the most influential bands in the history of hardcore/punk. With that said, I wouldn't know where to start in piecing together a logical or coherent review of this. It was very thorough, and mixed equal parts reality, humor, and inspiration. John did a loose recap of the major points in his autobiography and touched a bit on more current events like the election of Obama, foreign policy, and the state of the music industry.
The best parts for me personally were the stories of revisiting his childhood foster home and the areas surrounding, confronting his torturous former guardians just before a book reading to basically say "Fuck you , you didn't win - you didn't fuck me for life." And, on a less serious note, his anecdote about Dave Mustaine and playing with Megadeth after yoking the dude up years prior at a Bad Brains show.
I don't know what the schedule for these events is like. I know he did Albany, then Boston, and Philly before the two. If he's doing more and it's within reasonable driving distance to wherever you are, definitely check it out.
2/8/09
OB4CL2
This is a sequel track to one of my favorite songs on the OG Only Built 4 Cuban Linx album, "Criminology." It features Ghostface and Nicnack(?). Anyway, this could be a mixtape track or it could make it to the album, but I doubt its the official cut. Also, the image displayed for the audio on the youtube video has been rumored to be the cover, or at the very least some artwork for the much anticipated album. This song, as well as "Wu Ooh" feat. Method Man & Ghostface have been leaked. I'm up on the fact that there's at least to tracks featuring Ghost. I've also heard GZA has a strong presence on the record, which can't hurt. Here's a link to download the other track...
2/6/09
Interview.
Here's our first interview done by Bystander Fanzine. Scott asks Joe questions about the origins of the band, the Eagles, and the local scene in Albany. It's short and fairly sweet. Be sure to check out and support Bystander any and all chance you may possibly get.
Currents:
145 bowling game. Career high!
Righteous Jams "Rage of Discipline" - how did this lay dormant in my itunes so long?
Weezy - new found respect and appreciation
iPhone (still)
wrapping up "Reincarnage" !!!!
2/5/09
1/23/09
Guess who's home Guess who's home Guess who's hoooomme!
The lil' guy on the left! (sorry for the small picture). That's right, Dunkin Donuts, despite the hatred I hold for their over saturation of the greater Albany area in the past 5 years, have finally pulled through big time on this one. The Dunkaccino, combining light and sweet coffee and chocolate, is by far the best menu item to ever grace a Dunkin Donuts shop. I'm sipping a much too hot one right now from the ghetto DD next to my work building, and I gotta say that even the mutants at this franchise can't fuck with this hallmark beverage.I've noticed that Dunkin Donuts is a good indicator of whose grown up in the Upstate, and whose a migrate. If you've grown up here, you know that Dunkin Donuts is alright. With the exception of a few fanatics, most agree that the coffee is slightly exceptional (especially if you don't favor Starbucks), the donuts are okay depending on which flavor you opt for, and the service is usually sub par and a headache to deal with. People from downstate and other areas cling to Dunkin as the savior of their morning routine or think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread that you can get an egg and cheese sandwich at 8 or 9 pm somewhere.
Anyways, the Dunkaccino is definitely a step in the right direction for DD, especially after wasting their time for the past 2 years pushing tasteless, flat bred egg white sandwiches and drinks that copy Starbucks. I try to keep it real when I go to Dunkin, and that's why I don't go a lot - Donuts. Obviously bad for you, I opt for the occasionally Blueberry Cake or Vanilla Creme. The Glazed and Jelly are hard to fuck up too so I might throw those in once and awhile. The breakfast sandwiches at BK and MC'Ds are better and the bagels are laughable.
In trying to keep in good faith with my eating habits and diet this new year, I'll stick with the drive-thru Dunkaccino flying solo every once in awhile, just so DD knows I back their decision to resurrect this monster. The bigwigs can rest easy at night knowing I'm on thier side with this one.
1/19/09
Sick
So as the title surely implies, I've been ill in one way, shape, or form for the better part of the new year. It's starting to take hold mentally and in a nut shell, this winter is really mopping the floor with me. Not a good start to the new year, here's a timeline so that everyone can share in my experience if you've unfortunately missed out on this awesome season we're having....1/1/09 12:ooAM - In bed with an upset stomach. This is the first time I'll mention that it's next to IMPOSSIBLE for me to throw up. I haven't done so in almost two years. I don't drink, I don't have the stomach of a girl (until recently), or an eating disorder. I guess wrote my own eulogy on this one. I just couldn't get behind the logic that ONE type of shellfish, amongst a solid half dozen causes me to get sick, yet none of the others cause me to bat an eye.
1/3/09 - We play the cover show and hammer 10 Integrity songs. I blow my voice out slightly, or so I thought. Really the stress of preparing for the show and the actual show causes my immune system to temporarily falter, allowing the chest cold that's been in my house since Xmas get at me. There goes my voice for a couple of days.
1/9/09 - Still hacking and coughing up shit trying to keep my throat clear for shows/practice. Overall the cold has stayed in my chest and I haven't really had a runny nose (knock on wood).
1/14/09 - So just when it seems like I may be kicking the cold I eat Bombers (fuck you forever). I get a jerk pork taco and a bbq chicken taco and INSTANTLY, and I mean before leaving that shit hole, feel fucked. I get home and blow up the toilet, get in bed and by midnight I'm running an temperature. Did I mention it's next to impossible for me to throw up. Rather than pure nausea my pain seems to be caused by some intense gas in my stomach. It's like I have to burp really bad but cant. I try sticking my finger in my throat, no dice. Finally around 3AM the Bombers in all of its shitty glory, finds its way into the small trashcan by the side of my bed. I spend the next 24 hours in bed with what I think was food poisoning.
1/16/09 - We have a show in New Paltz, about and hour and a half away. We should've cancelled, we didn't. Stupid. I've since held down honey nut Cheerios (with dairy), peanut butter crackers, Gatorade and Vitamin Water. I'm feeling pretty confident that my stomach is in a least mediocre shape. We play and I actually feel better afterwards then most sets...weird. I'm attributing it to the fact that it was 45 degrees in the venue and that I spent 24 hrs prior sleeping. Of course, I can't go out without a letdown. I cough up shit the whole ride home, the cold went on the d-low during the puking/fever marathon.
Today I feel average at best. My stomach still turns occasionally and I have persistent gas on both ends. The cold is still here but it's really loose in my chest at the moment. This winter has really shit the bed early on. It's been single digit temps for an entire week and it seems like every other day we're getting snow. I'm not usually a typical whiner about seasons, but I'm pulling for spring right now.
1/12/09
Golden Globe Observations.
1.) Prestigious award ceremonies hate comic book movies.
I guess it's a time honored understanding that the order in which these ceremonies are held throughout the yearly season go from bottom to top on prestige scale. First, you have the Critics Choice Awards which is aired on the same channel as "Rock of Love", giving you the perfect indication of it's loftiness, then you have the Golden Globes, and then the Oscars. Well on the second level, they manage to weed out the action category, infuse "musical" with comedy (and fail to nominate any of the latter), and give the SHAFT to Comic book movies. I mean, it's bad enough that Step Brothers or Pineapple Express, with the exception of the oddball nomination of James Franco, weren't even acknowledged in the Comedy category, but no Chris Nolan for director of the Dark Knight? No Robert Downey Jr. for his little comeback as Tony Starks? No Dark Knight for best picture? Horseshit. The Reader was all over the nominations and is still in limited release! The implication of what separates "film" and movie is nothing more than a series carefully designed marketing strategies to make something stand out as more of an art form than its contemporaries. What makes these "Best Picture" films is just as cliche and cheap as what makes a token action movie or a family comedy about zaney pets. Over two hours? Check. Foreign country setting and/or foreign language(s)? Check. "Heavy" topics including but not limited to: poverty, war, adoption, or tragic love affairs? Check. It's nonsense. The Dark Knight was the best movie of the year. Not because I grew up on Batman, but because it made me think about it days after my initial viewing, and want to go back and see it three times in the theatre. It was one of the highlights of my entire summer.
2.) Anne Hathaway is way too young for her roles.
If you're a young actress in Hollywood working in tween movies and looking to be shoved into adult roles, take a nod from Anne Hathaway. Apparently all you have to do is date a bad ass foreign tax evader. Maybe I'm growing up and don't realize it, but this broad is the same age as me, give or take a few years, and it's an unspoken understanding that actors/actresses in movies are always way older than the characters they're playing...NOT YOUNGER. I don't place this chick much above Miley Cyrus and already she's in an upcoming movie about getting married and bickering with ugly mugged Kate Hudson? Nobody 23-26 is getting married, back to Disney with you.
3.) Steven Spielberg kicks ass and self-employed movie snobs can suck on it.
Spielberg was awarded some sort of recognition award by Marty S last night. The montage delivered the brutal reality that this dude has made some seriously awesome movies in the past 30 years and has had a profound impact on where film making is now. Nevermind the movies he's directed...ET - so awesome, Jaws - so awesome, Indiana Jones - never got into them but looked awesome, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan. What about the movies he's produced? Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back To The Future, Catch Me If You Can. Anyone that scoffs at this sort've thing can have their Wes Anderson "I'm so different" bullshit served in a bagged lunch.
4.) The Golden Globes seemed like a pretty close knit party.
This observation could be largely attributed to the fact that I haven't watched one of these things in their entirety since I was like 12, but I got the overwhelming vibe that everyone knew each other at this thing and that it was one social event. People were drunk, the background noise was WAY up (don't know if this is due to watching it in HD or not), and the casual jokes flowed almost as easily as the expensive liquor. Seemed more like a smaller venue style celebration of like a dozen peoples' work rather than a walk-down-the-isle-and-speak-in-front-of-thousands-style ceremony.
5.) Sacha Baron Cohen is still the coolest dude in the "biz."
In an unexpected surprise, my boy came out to present and dropped some funny ass jokes to boot. Who knew Madonna was so sacred? "Madonna has had to relinquish some of her personal assistants...we wish Guy Ritchie the best." Received by "oohs" and "ahhs." Funnier than the joke was his response of "c'mon." I love this guy. And even better than his short performance was that they officially acknowledged "Bruno" coming out this year while introducing him. Tight!
I guess it's a time honored understanding that the order in which these ceremonies are held throughout the yearly season go from bottom to top on prestige scale. First, you have the Critics Choice Awards which is aired on the same channel as "Rock of Love", giving you the perfect indication of it's loftiness, then you have the Golden Globes, and then the Oscars. Well on the second level, they manage to weed out the action category, infuse "musical" with comedy (and fail to nominate any of the latter), and give the SHAFT to Comic book movies. I mean, it's bad enough that Step Brothers or Pineapple Express, with the exception of the oddball nomination of James Franco, weren't even acknowledged in the Comedy category, but no Chris Nolan for director of the Dark Knight? No Robert Downey Jr. for his little comeback as Tony Starks? No Dark Knight for best picture? Horseshit. The Reader was all over the nominations and is still in limited release! The implication of what separates "film" and movie is nothing more than a series carefully designed marketing strategies to make something stand out as more of an art form than its contemporaries. What makes these "Best Picture" films is just as cliche and cheap as what makes a token action movie or a family comedy about zaney pets. Over two hours? Check. Foreign country setting and/or foreign language(s)? Check. "Heavy" topics including but not limited to: poverty, war, adoption, or tragic love affairs? Check. It's nonsense. The Dark Knight was the best movie of the year. Not because I grew up on Batman, but because it made me think about it days after my initial viewing, and want to go back and see it three times in the theatre. It was one of the highlights of my entire summer.
2.) Anne Hathaway is way too young for her roles.
If you're a young actress in Hollywood working in tween movies and looking to be shoved into adult roles, take a nod from Anne Hathaway. Apparently all you have to do is date a bad ass foreign tax evader. Maybe I'm growing up and don't realize it, but this broad is the same age as me, give or take a few years, and it's an unspoken understanding that actors/actresses in movies are always way older than the characters they're playing...NOT YOUNGER. I don't place this chick much above Miley Cyrus and already she's in an upcoming movie about getting married and bickering with ugly mugged Kate Hudson? Nobody 23-26 is getting married, back to Disney with you.
3.) Steven Spielberg kicks ass and self-employed movie snobs can suck on it.
Spielberg was awarded some sort of recognition award by Marty S last night. The montage delivered the brutal reality that this dude has made some seriously awesome movies in the past 30 years and has had a profound impact on where film making is now. Nevermind the movies he's directed...ET - so awesome, Jaws - so awesome, Indiana Jones - never got into them but looked awesome, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan. What about the movies he's produced? Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back To The Future, Catch Me If You Can. Anyone that scoffs at this sort've thing can have their Wes Anderson "I'm so different" bullshit served in a bagged lunch.
4.) The Golden Globes seemed like a pretty close knit party.
This observation could be largely attributed to the fact that I haven't watched one of these things in their entirety since I was like 12, but I got the overwhelming vibe that everyone knew each other at this thing and that it was one social event. People were drunk, the background noise was WAY up (don't know if this is due to watching it in HD or not), and the casual jokes flowed almost as easily as the expensive liquor. Seemed more like a smaller venue style celebration of like a dozen peoples' work rather than a walk-down-the-isle-and-speak-in-front-of-thousands-style ceremony.
5.) Sacha Baron Cohen is still the coolest dude in the "biz."
In an unexpected surprise, my boy came out to present and dropped some funny ass jokes to boot. Who knew Madonna was so sacred? "Madonna has had to relinquish some of her personal assistants...we wish Guy Ritchie the best." Received by "oohs" and "ahhs." Funnier than the joke was his response of "c'mon." I love this guy. And even better than his short performance was that they officially acknowledged "Bruno" coming out this year while introducing him. Tight!
1/7/09
Wish List.
It would make sense that I would think of these things two weeks after X-mas. I was stretching to tell people who were interested in giving me gifts what I wanted, and now I could think of a least a handful of pricey but sweet things I would love to get my hands on.
1/2/09
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