Sunday, September 30, 2007

:D


So I'm standing in the middle of a roped-off section of the local park, the smell of cigarette smoke and beer heavy in the air, and I'm thinking to myself What the hell am I doing here? I can't answer myself. My face gets squashed into the porta-potty I'm standing next to as a group of drunk fifteen year olds trample me, trying to get a better spot. Just as I'm about to turn tail and leave, the lights dim, and I find myself surrounded in this envelope of music. Here I am, at the WZYP stage at the annual Big Spring Jam festival, watching Three Days Grace.

Okay, well I suppose I should start at the beginning. We actually arrived a litle less than halfway through Breaking Benjamin's performance. Ben kept asking everyone if we were doing okay, until he finally broke out a box of waterbottles, and just started hurling them at the crowd. Then they played a couple of songs. Then he talked about the release of Halo 3 [his IGN is "killemloud" If you find him, and beat him, you will officially be my new hero.] and how he gained about 3 pounds for each gamer point her earned, which led into Blow Me Away. He then got us to applaud for all the bands before them, and then for Three Days Grace. [Who was the headliner for the stage, and was to follow them.] They then started playing Animal I Have Become. Notice I said started. They finshed about fifteen seconds into the song, and just started laughing at how excited we all got. It was awesome and sad at the same time.

Well, then there's a period of about 20 minutes for set changes, and then BAM, Three Days Grace. Not surprisingly, they opened with Animal I Have Become, and the crowd went nuts. They played Get Out Alive and Never Too Late. Then they went into Riot, at which the whole front area turned into a mosh pit, complete with like...Four people crowd surfing at any one time. [It was rather interesting to see one guy fall face first into the dirt...] They ended up having a relatively short set compared to some of the other acts, but they had the entire crowd ecstatic, and they were amazing. If you get a chance to see these guys, do it. Period.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Mechanicsburg, PA

Mechanicsburg, PA. Tell me that is not one of the coolest city names you've ever heard of, honestly. Bah, whatever. This is a random video post, so enjoy.

Chris Crocker?

If you haven't seen/heard of this video yet, you probably live in a cave, but that's okay. This is some die-hard Britney fan ranting for her sake, and yes, he is completely serious.

Seth Green Says Leave Chris Crocker Alone

This is amazing. I love Seth Green, and now I love him even more. The whole bit about platform pumps was amazing, as well. And because of this video, I'm compelled to watch Robot Chicken. Nonstop.

Magic Mentos

Awwe...They broke it.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

"Human" Single Cover!


Yep. That's it. The thing is supposed to hit shelves October 1st, and is supposedly already available for purchase in the Canadian iTunes store. The cover looks a tad fan-made, but she looks nice.

And on the subject of Human, you guys really gotta request it! [Not sure how/where? Here. No, you don't have to be Canadian to request.] We need to request tons to make this upcoming an album a success! Soldiers, out!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Now We All Have Horns




I've been neglecting this blog. How...Sad. Anyways, I've got another album for you guys to check out. Some of you may remember I posted about a band called A Brief Smile a while back. Well, they've got a new album coming out on October 2nd called "Now We All Have Horns." [You can listen to it here.] I asked the guys a few questions about the upcoming album:

Villains Are People Too: The cover art is rather unusual. Care to explain?
DL: Well. There is a horn in there if you look carefully. Our friend Miles Gilbert (milesgilbert.org) did the art for the record. He had recently done a flyer for us that was heavily inspired by Wurm, and we wanted to do something similar to the flyer for the cover of the record. It was fun to dig up all of those sweaters, now we have a great collection.


VAPT: Both the sound and the look of this album is quite different from R.E.S.T. What inspired this?
John: from "r.e.s.t." there was a kind of escape in the tracks that went more inward than outward and with "now we all have horns" we're really stretching out towards the environments we found ourselves in. hence the more natural looking, more nature oriented, more free aesthetic of the record as a whole. we're still striving for the whole grand without being grandiose thing but the message is somewhat more soothing now that we've matured...like a whole year.

VAPT: What's your favorite song off the album, and why?
Jared: Tairs In The Cloth; I like the way it flows from start to finish and the really contrasting sections. I think the recording of that one came out really well.
Louie: Electric Willows and Tairs In The Cloth came out well. Both of the songs have perfect moods. They feel great. I'd write
more but I don't want to reveal how much I like our music.
DL: At the moment, it is "Hold Tight, Electric Willows." It's always fun to play it live because it's got a different tuning and I really like how it came out on the record.
John: my favorite song off of the record might have to be 'electric willows'. it just a really powerful song that launches you like a crazed hyperdrive and then folds into a drowning fractal of your greatest fears.
Garrett: Probably The Sky Will Crack; I spent many hours trying to figure out how to work with the harmony of that song.

[Read the full interviews here.]

Friday, September 7, 2007

Water, Water, Everywhere...

But not a drop to drink. This, my friends, is a themed music post. The theme, you ask? Water. Why? Because I can. [Remember: If you want the mp3, simply right-click song title, and select "Save Target As."]

Band: Jaws
Song: Let it Ride SSL Mix Demo
What I say: Song name's a mouthful, eh? Ha, anyways...Jaws is a band I found completely by accident. What a happy accident, I must say.

Band: Oceans Firing
Song: Prizefighting
What I say: Yet another band I found by complete accident, these guys are really quite good. I had Prizefighting as my myspace song for a while, and figured I'd pass it on to you fellows.

Band: Let's Go Sailing
Song: Sideways
What I say: This song is mellow and nice; considerably calmer than what I normally listen to. It's a nice change of pace, and is definitely something to give a listen to.

And in other news, the Random Click Analysis is fantastic. My best score is 84. This pointless little time waster uses a computer's superior ability to decpher patterns. The less patternized the clicks, the higher the score. I'm either really random, or highly scientific. Both, perhaps?

Monday, September 3, 2007

Geeks/Nerds should get dates too, article raves.

In a 2005 article...well, read for yourself.

----------------------------------------------------

1.) While geeks and nerds may be awkward, they’re well-meaning 9 out of 10 times. That smooth dude with the sly grin and the spider hands? Wonder what HIS intentions are... plus, I’ve never had a geek guy not call me when he said he would. Score major points THERE.

2.) They’re useful. In this tech-savvy world, it’s great to have a b/f who can make your laptop, desktop, and just about anything else that plugs into a wall behave itself.

3.) They’re more romantic than they’re given credit for. Ok true, their idea of romance might be to make up a spiffy web-page with all the reasons why they love you, with links to pics of you and sonnets and such... but hey. It lasts longer than flowers, plus you can show your friends.

4.) Due to their neglected status, there are plenty to choose from. You like ‘em tall and slender? There are plenty of geeks/nerds who are. You like ‘em smaller with more meat on their bones? Got that too.

5.) They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?

6.) Most are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such, especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due again to their neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who “have more options”. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend, they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do once they GOT a girlfriend.

7.) Sex. Yep. Sex. I’m not really familiar with this myself, but I’ve friends who’ve been intimate with geek guys and it’s raves all around. They say a virgin wrote the Kama Sutra... all that time thinking about sex, imagining sex, dreaming about sex, (they are male after all) coupled with a desire to make you happy? Use your imagination.

8.) They’re relatively low-maintenance. Most can be fueled on pizza, Twinkies and Mt Dew. No complicated dinners needed here, so if you’re not the best cook, eh. Can you order a pizza?

9.) Most frequent bars as often as slugs frequent salt mines. You won’t have to worry much about your geek guy getting his “groove” on with club hotties because, frankly, he’ll be too busy rooting around under his computer wondering where that spare cable went. You won’t have to worry about him flirting with other women because, 9 out of 10 times, he’ll zip right by them in a perfect b-line towards the nearest electronics store. I’ve seen this happen.
Me: “Eww. Victoria Secret’s Models... They’re so skinny. How is that feminine? You can see her ribs!”
Geek Guy: “ooooooo...”
Me: “Hey!” *notices he is staring lustfully towards the computer store*
Geek Guy: “What?”
Me: “Never mind...”

10.) Although he may not want to go to every outing with you, you can arrange swaps, as in, you’ll go to his Gamer Con dressed as an elf princess if he’ll take you to the ballet. Plus, if he doesn’t want to go someplace with you, you won’t have to worry much about what he’s up to. You’ll probably come home to find him asleep on his keyboard in a sea of Mt. Dew cans with code blinking from the screen. It’s ok. He’s used to this. Just toss a blanket over him and turn out the light.

11.) His friends aren’t jerks. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll more likely get “Omg! A GIRL!! Can I see?!” than “Hey hot stuff back that ass up here and let me get some grub on...” They’re awkward geeks too and will, 9 times out of 10, treat you with the utmost respect and, more than likely, a note of awe. A cute girl picked one of their clan to date? It could happen to them! Hope! Drag some of your single girlfriends over, open up a pack of Mt. Dew, crack open the DnD set and get working. Nothing impresses geek guys more than a girl who can hack-n-slash (well ok maybe if she can code... a geek can dream).

12.) They’re rarely if ever possessive. They trust you, so you can be yourself around them. You like to walk around the house in a ratty t-shirt for comfort? He won’t care. He does too! They won’t get pissy if you don’t wear make-up or don’t want to bother primping your hair. If you gain a few pounds, they won’t try their best to make you feel like crap.

13.) They’re usually very well educated. Physics majors and the like. See #5. You won’t have to listen to him blathering on about his car (ok maybe a little), he’ll have loads of other interesting things to talk about. Politics, world events, how much the chicken burgers down at the local place rock, so long as you douse them in hot sauce...

14.) You’ll almost never have to hear, “Yaw dawg whazzap!!” plop out of their mouths. Unless it’s in jest. They spell properly, use correct punctuation, and are able to tell the difference between the toilet and the floor. They almost never get “wasted”, so you won’t have to worry about coming home to find him and his friends passed out on the floor amidst a pile of beer bottles. Mt. Dew cans, perhaps...

15.) And the final reason why geeks and nerds make great boyfriends: They actually give a damn about you. Not how you look (though that’s a plus), not how skinny you are, not how much make-up you primp yourself up with, but they like you for you. That kind of thing lasts longer than “DaMN baby you got a fine ass!!!” Believe me.


You've just been enlightened on how nerds make great dates. Aren't you happier? xD
No youtube video today. This post is already long enough.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Clip of "Human" Released!

Human - Skye Sweetnam
I didn't figure you'd much need a download, because it's only a clip, but give it a listen, anyways. I'm not so crazy about it (it's too pop for me, it makes me think Hannah Montana), but I'm still ecstatic. It's Skye news, which is what we're all looking for. There's speculation that it'll be the first single off of the new album, but to be honest, I really hope not. I'm personally much more fond of things like Into Action and Bring It Back. At least I have the comfort of knowing that Skye is an artist of good variety, and I'll probably be thrilled with the rest of the album.