So, I got into trance music while working in Holland in 2000. When I returned and got my current job (about 5 years ago) there were a couple people who were also into trance and got me deeper into it. I have since become very much into the great trance music: Above & Beyond, Tiesto, BT, Solarstone, and just about anything on Anjunbeats and Anjunadeep. I should mention that I've always been into electronic music, but I've always disliked the typical BEAT BEAT BEAT BEAT without any melody (I also generally prefer songs with words!). Don't get me started on drum & bass, ooof.
Anyway, I've seen A&B twice in the past, the first time was amazing (December 6, 2006) the second time I was not so into it (June 6, 2007) I wasn't sure why; it seemed like they weren't playing any of the stuff I recognized from their albums, label or radio show.
So, I recently saw BT and Tiesto at USC 11 in Seattle I was totally excited because I had aways wanted to see both of them. This was going to be a night to remember. Now, BT did what is known as his "Laptop Symphony" I had never really been able to tell what exactly that was. I figured maybe it meant he didn't have a band (duh) but that he still played a lot of his stuff (kinda like Howard Jones in the '80's). Well, anyone wondering what the laptop symphony is: it's him DJing using a laptop instead of turntables. Woo Hoo. No, wait that sucks. So - he he ended up playing none of his own stuff and it was all just loud, beat beat beat. He did play a couple A&B songs (which ended up being the highlight of the night) but overall I was completely unimpressed.
Tiesto was up next, I knew he was promoting his In Search of Sunrise album, which hadn't even been released yet, but I figured that he would play some of the stuff that I recognized from his other albums. Well, I was wrong, I didn't recognize any of the songs he played and actually ended up leaving early.
I was beginning to wonder what was going on. I know several people who really like going to the shows and have a great time, but I just wasn't getting it anymore.
A couple of weeks ago I went to see Above and Beyond for the third time (June 20, 2008). I was very excited because they had Jaytech opening and I really like the stuff of his that I had heard. He started playing and I realized, "Oh crap, here we go again". He didn't play any of the stuff that I knew and it was all pretty much (sing along with me Chris) beat, beat, beat, beat.
At this point I was starting to really get down and I began trying to figure out why these shows weren't turning out the way I was hoping.
There was still one more hope, A&B had a new album coming out (as Oceanlab) so I figured we'd get to hear some of the new stuff. As you may be guessing, I wouldn't be writing this if they had, in fact, saved the day. They played the same unintelligible stuff with the constant 4/4 beat. There was a bit of melody with it, but generally nothing else.
As I sat there, drowning my sorrows in Red Stripe, I seriously considered where my problem was. I think I figured it out, I think it goes back to my older concert experiences, seeing people like Depeche Mode (numerous times), Curve, Joe Jackson and Peter Murphy. These artists generally were touring in support of an album and often played just about everything off the new album (no matter how crappy it was) and threw in a few of their well know tracks for good measure.
As I sat in the Showbox, pondering, I realized that DJs don't come out to play stuff off their albums or even the same stuff they play on the radio shows. They come out to get people dancing and get some killer energy.
The people who come to the shows know this and are there for the same reason. For them the beat beat beat beat works and gets them moving, a change in tempo/volume/melody is all they need to have a great time. I've realize that I need more than that to enjoy a concert.
I need some great songs (preferably discernible from each other), at least a few songs that I recognize, and I need to be able to hear the melody, and/or vocals over the constant beat. Knowing what I now know, I seriously doubt that I will go to another trance show, which makes me really sad. I'll just have to crank up some Trance Around the World in my ipod, hang out with a strobe light in the basement, and bring my own Red Stripe to kick things into gear. This time, in the basement, I won't be wallowing, I'll be enjoying the exact show I was expecting.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Dear Religious Zealots...
Well, apparently today is chainmail day....
Dear Religious Nuts,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from you, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.
When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. How should I deal with this?
I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as it suggests in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
Lev. 25:44 states that I may buy slaves from the nations that are around us. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not Canadians. Can you clarify?
I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 10:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?
Lev. 20:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear prescription glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Dear Religious Nuts,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from you, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.
When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. How should I deal with this?
I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as it suggests in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
Lev. 25:44 states that I may buy slaves from the nations that are around us. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not Canadians. Can you clarify?
I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 10:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?
Lev. 20:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear prescription glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Goodbye Red States!
Dear Red States:We're ticked off at the way you've treated California and we've decided we're leaving.
We intend to form our own country and we're taking the other Blue States with us.
In case you aren't aware that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast.
We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation and especially to the people of the new country of New California.
To sum up briefly:
You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue. You get to make the red statespay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro choice and anti war and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home.
We wish you success in Iraq and hope that the WMDs turn up but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.
With the Blue States in hand we will have firm control of 80% of the country's fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation's fresh fruit, 95% of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90% of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the US low sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and SevenSister schools plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.
With the Red States you will have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans and their projected health care costs, 92% of all US mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, RushLimbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.
We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.
We're taking the good pot too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.
Sincerely,Author Unknown in New California
We intend to form our own country and we're taking the other Blue States with us.
In case you aren't aware that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast.
We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation and especially to the people of the new country of New California.
To sum up briefly:
You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.
We get the Statue of Liberty. You get OpryLand.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.You get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue. You get to make the red statespay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.
Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro choice and anti war and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home.
We wish you success in Iraq and hope that the WMDs turn up but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.
With the Blue States in hand we will have firm control of 80% of the country's fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation's fresh fruit, 95% of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90% of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the US low sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and SevenSister schools plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.
With the Red States you will have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans and their projected health care costs, 92% of all US mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, RushLimbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.
We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.
We're taking the good pot too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.
Sincerely,Author Unknown in New California
Friday, June 13, 2008
West Memphis 3
Here's an interesting video I came across this week. I remember hearing about the case back when it first started in the 90's. Three kids were convicted of murdering three children without any proof, basically because they wore black clothes and liked heavy metal music. There was no evidence that any of them were at the crime scene, or had ever even known the victims. The police got a confession from one of the three who had an IQ of 72 after questioning him without a lawyer present for 12 hours. The confession was inaccurate, but somehow the other kids were arrested and eventually, without ANY evidence, found guilty of these horrible crimes. Since that time there has been new evidence and DNA tests that show none of these kids was at the scene, but do point to someone else...... No spoiler here, watch the clip. Note, it is about 20 minutes long, but is really interesting and shows a frightening view of how justice is never guaranteed. Learn more at: http://www.wm3.org/.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
What a Moron.
Here is a video of the dumbest man on the face of the planet.
Number two right here.
I'm not sure who scares me more, neither seem to realize there are repercussions for their actions. At least the dude with the wall did the work himself.
Number two right here.
I'm not sure who scares me more, neither seem to realize there are repercussions for their actions. At least the dude with the wall did the work himself.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
John McCain is out of Touch with Reality
So I had seen this on TV last night and actually rewound it to laugh a second time. It's a video of John McCain's speech in New Orleans (pronounced naorlens). In the video John says that Barack is going say that John McCain is running for George Bush's third Bush.
What I found so interesting comes at about 55 seconds into that video. He says:
What I found so interesting comes at about 55 seconds into that video. He says:
"Why does he repeat this idea over and over again? Because he know it's verySo I may be remembering thing incorrectly, but I believe it was the Bush administration which constantly lied to Americans to get them to believe a lie:
difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false. So he tries
to drum it into your minds by constantly repeating it..."
- Iraq trying to get uranium
- No one in the administration was involved with the Valieie Plame leak
- Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11
What's worse is that many Americans believe this stuff. Americans believe even the silliest things (that he's a Muslim) and worse yet, Americans don't remember when these stupid things are debunked.
So I realize that when you are trying to court the exact people who would believe lies because the more they are spoken the truer they seem you can't exactly say "Barack Obama keeps repeating these things because he's seen how well it worked for the Republicans over the last eight years."
One thing that the last eight years of Republicans has taught us is that the American people do very easily believe incorrect things after they are repeated over and over. Maybe the Democrats have realized that even dishonest strategies work sometimes...
Of course while McCain is disparaging this behavior in Barack, I'm sure it's just a matter of time until his campaign does the exact same thing, after all, what's good for the first two terms will surely work for the third.
Daddy Crack
So, the kid is now just about 11 months old. While there have been some difficult times (mostly sleep-related or now getting things out of his mouth) there are so many amazing things about having a kid. I used to think that the parents who said that were full of it. "Sure, sure that DOES sound great, I'll be at happy hour if you need me......"
Well, you know what, there are some really amazing things, especially when he began to recognize us and knew who we were. Then just walking in the room was like returning from six months away. The smiles and kicking of the legs. Now he follows me where ever I go and constantly watches to see what I'm doing. It's so amazing to think that he is so in love with me (and my wife) and that he is so happy just to see me and be around me.
Seeing that smile is something I never tire of and I now make faces and sounds just like any other idiotic father out there. I guess it's good that I now understand what all those parents were feeling when I thought they were insane.
Anyway, the point is, having a kid really is amazing and is a lot of fun too. While those without kids will probably still just nod and smile, I must confess that I'm a convert. Check out the smile I'm taking about.
Well, you know what, there are some really amazing things, especially when he began to recognize us and knew who we were. Then just walking in the room was like returning from six months away. The smiles and kicking of the legs. Now he follows me where ever I go and constantly watches to see what I'm doing. It's so amazing to think that he is so in love with me (and my wife) and that he is so happy just to see me and be around me.
Seeing that smile is something I never tire of and I now make faces and sounds just like any other idiotic father out there. I guess it's good that I now understand what all those parents were feeling when I thought they were insane.
Anyway, the point is, having a kid really is amazing and is a lot of fun too. While those without kids will probably still just nod and smile, I must confess that I'm a convert. Check out the smile I'm taking about.
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