Mistaken identity.

Over the past several months, I’ve heard from numerous people that I look just like Michael Teutul, a.k.a. Mikey from American Choppers. Now that my hair grew out even longer, it’s becoming more and more frequent. I can’t even order a churro at Taco John’s without some stranger noticing the resemblance.

Yes, I can see where people would think that. No, I don’t take it as a compliment. And I have no interest in ending up like the guy who impersonated Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain.

So here it is:

Me.

NOT me.

There, that’s settled.

Another new idea.

I’ve come up with a different idea on how to make this blog a little more interesting. For the next week or so, I’m going to present a music video and why I think it has meaning. I plan on doing one per day for at least a week, maybe longer if I can keep it up. I think it’ll go well with my other idea of talking about various bands. I will use the same interview-like format for each one, asking myself the same basic questions in order to keep things focused.

1. Does the song stand on its own? There are songs that aren’t musically strong enough for me to listen to without a video to keep me interested. In other words, a good video can usually make a mediocre song worth listening to.
2.Does the video complement the song? If so, how? Some videos convey the song’s lyrical meaning through visual images and themes, while other videos have nothing to do with the song at all and are more for “fun.”
3.What does the song mean to me personally? To me, a good video brings out another level of thoughts and emotions that the song alone might not have achieved otherwise.
4.Does this artist have any other songs/videos worth checking out? Some artists are one-hit wonders, or their music isn’t strong enough without the video. I’ll give examples of other works by the same artist that are worth listening to, if there are any.

The first video is “Prayer of the Refugee” by Rise Against.

Does the song stand on its own? Yes. I listened to this song repeatedly before the video was made. If it was about anything else, it would still be a strong musical performance.

Does the video complement the song? Most definitely. The thing about Rise Against is that Tim’s lyrics aren’t usually in-your-face with specifics. If you read the song’s lyrics, they tell you that somewhere there is a problem. You’re not sure what or where it is, exactly. But then you watch the video and see Rise Against performing this song is a big superstore (any RA fan knows how those guys feel about Wal-Mart), along with the images of people in other countries making the items on those same shelves. I see the dirty little kid making the expensive shoes in a sweatshop, and think “Oh, THAT’S what they’re talking about.”

What does the song mean to me personally?Every time I watch it, I think about the companies who have their products made overseas in order to save a buck, and majority of Americans (myself included) who go out and buy expensive and often unnecessary crap without thinking of the human being on the other end, along with the conditions they live and work in.

Does Rise Against have any other songs/videos worth checking out? If you liked this, then pretty much everything Rise Against have ever put out is worth giving a list. You can read the complete list of their discography here.

Tomorrow’s video: Weird Al Yankovic.

The rest…of the story.

Famed U.S. broadcaster Paul Harvey dies at age 90

I remember when my grandparents and parents would tune in to Mr. Harvey. I think the most specific memory I have is during my Drivers’ Ed. road test when the instructor was listening to him.

It’s just hard for me to believe the loss of so many 20th century figures in the last several years. Just to mention a few more…

2008
• Sir Edmund Hillary, first man to climb Mt. Everest
• Bobby Fischer, American chess master
• Charlton Heston, American actor
• George Carlin, American comedian
• Don LaFontaine, American voice actor (the movie trailer guy)

Source.

Hopes dashed.

Rueters: “Jonas Bros. movie may foretell an end to innocence.”

I clicked on this article because I thought it meant The Jonas Brothers were breaking up. Now I’m disappointed. If I wasn’t going to the studio with my band today, I’d say this ruined my day.

Fortunately, it didn’t.

Project up and running.

The blog project about my band Suspension Of (see “The Project”) is now up and running. You can go check it out here.

Introducing Foxy.

To liven this blog up a bit, every once in awhile I’ll post something about a band I listen to, especially ones I don’t consider well-known or mainstream. If the only thing this blog accomplishes is that one more person listens to one of these bands, I’ll call it a success.

The first band I’ll feature is Foxy Shazam. I saw these guys open for The Fall of Troy last year at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis. The live show was great, and the music is just as good. The music has soul-inspired vocals over hardcore guitars and piano parts, which makes for a pretty awesome sound.They have two albums out, The Flamingo Trigger and Introducing Foxy. For more info, read their Wikipedia page.

But enough of my rambling, I’ll let you check them out for yourself:

Victory?

I’m currently in the middle of an all-night writing marathon in an attempt to crank out a short story due on Tuesday, but I thought I would take a break to make a rare political commentary. Now I have to say, I’m not as involved politically as any American citizen should be, but I have been trying to pay more attention.

Obviously, the big political happening right now is the stimulus bill that was just passed within the past few weeks. I’m not exactly wise to the workings of national economics, but that’s not the point since I’m not commenting directly on the stimulus. What bugs me about the whole thing is how it’s being described as a political “victory” for President Obama and the Democratic party.

Example #1.

In their television appearances, Gibbs and Axelrod echoed Obama’s Saturday radio address, which proclaimed a political victory in securing passage of the stimulus bill after weeks of wrangling in Congress, but also warned that the package was only a first step.

Example #2.

In a major victory for President Barack Obama, Democrats muscled a huge, $787 billion stimulus bill through Congress late tonight in hopes of combating the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.

Democrats in Congress/House: 311
Republicans in Congress/House: 219
Independants in Congress/House: 2
Vacancies in Congress/House: 3
(Source.)

What is this, a baseball game?

It might just be a poor choice of words, but it worries me a little. The point of a bi-party political system is to have checks and balances, reasonable discussion, and compromising to reach a decision that most everybody can agree on; not railroading a policy over Republican dead bodies.

I’m not saying the Republicans are completely right here. I can just imagine the GOP sitting around in their big ol’ mansions discussing how they’re going to stick it to those dang Democrats, saying “Wait a minute, you’re wrong! Why? Well…because you’re a Democrat!”

My point is not about how the Republicans should have “won” or the Democrats should have “lost”, or vice versa. My point is that we shouldn’t be talking in terms of winners and losers, we should be talking about how to get this government to work together a little more.

Back to work.

25 Random Things About Me.

I did this on Facebook, and I thought it could make an interesting blog post.

A good music video will redeem a mediocre song almost every time. This is why I like The All-American Rejects.

I will never stop playing bass. Even if I lose both of my hands, I will violently thwack my stubs against the strings, calling the technique “über-slapping.” It will be awesome.

I once had a high school teacher tell me that I had the handwriting of a serial killer.

The more people tell me I should cut my hair, the more likely I am to keep growing it out. I’m just stubborn that way. Besides, I like it long.

I’ve been told uncountable times by complete strangers that I look like Mikey from Orange County Choppers. I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing it again.

I’m one of those crazy people who think that we all should be held accountable for our own actions, without placing all the blame on the media or mild personality disorders.

I love dogs. However, I become ridiculously nervous around larger ones.

I stopped playing World of Warcraft several months ago, and I don’t really miss it. If I had the time or the money, I would probably still play casually.

I firmly believe that celebrities deserve less than half the attention they get, and that all of the reasons we think we should care, we really shouldn’t give a rat’s behind.

I’m musically open-minded enough to admit that a little rap or country never really hurt anybody.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band are okay in my book. But neither of them will EVER be on the same level as playing real instruments, and the moment people start treating them as such is when I get worked up. I don’t care if you can play “Though The Fire And The Flames” on expert, you’re still not a guitar player. It’s like calling yourself a football player just because you kick ass in Madden.

I don’t think the government has a right to tell someone they can’t get married. I think gay people should be given the same chance at adding to the national divorce rate as the rest of us.

I check my reflection a fair amount. I’m not vain, just extremely self-conscious.

I tore my ACL in high school playing a sport I barely even cared about. I had surgery and went through physical therapy, but I still limp every once in awhile.

I have a tendency to shut down and become silent whenever I get mad enough.The best thing to do is to leave me alone for awhile, and I will eventually come around. This is mainly because I would prefer to ignore you and calm down rather than saying something out of anger that I will probably regret.

I am happily engaged, and getting married this coming July.

I enjoyed most of my time spent in high school, but I don’t really miss it.

I don’t read as much as I used to. I’m working on that by taking classes that require me to read books I probably would never have heard of otherwise.

I’m pretty laid-back, so if I bother to get worked up about something it’s probably important.

My hometown of Walhalla, ND is a typical Midwestern community. Thinking back, I’m glad for the experiences of growing up there, but whenever I go back it’s almost more depressing than anything.

A few weeks ago, I had a dream where a blanket was slowly pulled off of me by an unseen presence while I lay in bed. It was so realistic and terrifying that, to this day, I still couldn’t tell you for certain whether or not it actually happened.

My main fears are small insects crawling on my body and being stabbed.

I played the trombone from 5th grade on to my freshman year of college. I went to music camp at least once per summer, and I remember that was the coolest thing ever. I still miss IMC.

I taught myself how to play bass by playing along to Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Green Day.

I spent a long time thinking of 25 random things to say.

Gadzooks!

It’s Friday the 13th, and while I don’t particularly believe in the whole unlucky-day concept, here are some interesting facts about this day in history.

Sue Miley Cyrus?

Full article.

A Los Angeles woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Miley Cyrus on behalf of the city’s entire Asian Pacific Islander population, all of whom she claims are entitled to civil rights damages because of Cyrus’ now infamous photo of her and some friends slanting their eyes.

According to Lucie J. Kim, she and her unwitting coplaintiffs—about 1 million in all, theoretically—are each entitled to $4,000 in damages.

This is ridiculous. Miley is sixteen years old. Sure, she should have been smarter about the whole situation, but taking her money won’t fix anything. She apologized, now let it go.