I'm not dead...

...I'm just that damn busy. I have a lot of catching up to do...weekly tunes (it won't be retroactive), a few comments about some news I learned after my absence at my high school reunion (my best friend during my high school is dead) and some notes on my current reading...

but, nobody's reading this anyway!

Star Wars - the final episode?

My wife and I finally got a chance to see "Episode III-Revenge of the Sith" and my feelings about it are a bit mixed. Overall, it was a great movie. I feel somewhat disappointed; "oh, no more Star Wars movies!" but simultaneously relieved that the 'waiting' is over for the next one. The truth is, most of my feelings (the mixed ones) are of this nature...a good thing and not-good thing.

Rather than produce a sterile dissertation on the cinematic inequities and personal errata involved, I'll just bulletize the "not-good" and "good" by topic, as it comes to me...

Hayden Christensen
Did considerably more 'brooding' than acting.
'Brooding' is kool!

Natalie Portman
What happened to the kool white-tight suit she wore in the last movie?
That's OK...she was pregnant for most of this one, and the suit would have looked a little different.

Palpatine/Lord Sidious
All the 'surprise' was lost in Episode One, when I remember that the emperor in ROTJ was identified by his name (Palpatine) on the Star Wars cards that came out.
His 'transformation scene' was kreepy.

What's in a name/bloodline?
My willing suspension of disbelief was difficult to maintain as the surviving Jedi formulated a plan to 'hide and seperate' the Skywalker Twins, for two reasons: (1) they should have changed Luke's last name to 'Johnson' or something, you'd think the Empire could have found a pup named Skywalker pretty damn easy in less than 18 years, (2) they shouldn't have called Leia a 'princess' for the same reason, which I'm sure that I do not know.
In support of the original series storyline, it couldn't have been done any other way!

Darth Vader suit

I was hoping that the 'origin' of the Darth Vader suit would show us a 'year one' version of the famous mask & cowl; I scoffed a bit at the original suit (in ROTS) being the same exact model found in the first Star Wars movie (ANH)...you'd think that improvements and modifications would have been made in the course of 18 years where the first time we see DV in ANH, he is the 'latest and greatest version'.
Darth Vader is KOOL.

The Jedi
What a bunch of sissies! And who put a guy like Mace Windu in charge, thinking he and 4-5 others could take on a Sith Lord just like that?
The slaughter of the Jedi (executive order 66!) was beyond kool, a great part in the movie.

Let's go to the DARK SIDE...
I was expecting Anakin's journey to the Dark Side to be one driven by power, primarily, not driven by a contrived dream of Padme's death.
Once he went, he went FULL BORE and that was breathtaking to watch!

Now, I've got nothing to wait for except for the next X-Men movie!

Class Reunion

Tonight, in beautiful Decatur, Illinois, the 20th Reunion of MacArthur High School's class of 1985 will take place, and I won't be there.

Other than the fact that it's over 6 hours away, and occurring at a bad time (busy at work, home, etc with other responsibilities that make such travel a gruesome adventure), I'm not fond of reunions. True, there are a few good friends I'd like to see again, but for the most part, I'm confortable with everyone there remembering me as I was...even though I'm not much different now. Heck, I'm so normal these days, in comparison...

My family relocated to Decatur from Freeport, Illinois, in the summer of 1983. When I moved there, my life definitively changed. Freeport was a very small, rural, and marginally oppressed town of about 27,000 back in 1983, and still is today. Until that summer, I had lived in Freeport since 1975 and despite the gross distance from relative civilization, my formative years there were spent hounding the local record shops for discs that 'nobody else would buy' and being the first (along with my friend and band-mate Mark Frazier) to have a spiked hair-do. We knew nothing of the brand new MTV and had never been to a punk rock show, but still listened to CRASS and the DEAD KENNEDYS in large amounts at high volume. I felt nothing less than stifled there, and realized this when I found myself reading Conan books alone in the woods and canvassing the local public library to carry Talking Heads LPs while cutting out articles about Gary Numan and Wazmo Nariz from their seldom-perused Rolling Stone collection. We had to travel to Rockford, IL (30 miles away, and difficult to persuade parents to drive there) to visit more auspicious record stores and purchase magazines such as Trouser Press and Creem.

Decatur in 1983 was a breath of fresh air, despite the fact that I was so nervous about moving I manifested my fear physically in the form of severe nausea and diarrhea. I could walk 3 miles to the Co-op record store, where upon entering, would hear the newest Captain Sensible LP on the hi-fi and could purchase the first album by the Smiths...Decatur at over 100,000 people was a paradise of adjusted civilization for me. The best part of it was, I left my past in Freeport behind me...nobody knew anything about my 'quirky' childhood, or passed judgement on my 'bizarre' taste in music or the spiked hair-do. Truth is, only the guys in Voc-Ed made fun of my hair, and for the first time in my life girls were interested in me more than I was in them, a complete reversal of my 'dating' life in Freeport.

Over the next couple of years, the ruralism of Decatur began to raise its head, and eventually, I was only marginally happier there than I was in Freeport...but the relative civilization comparison stood strong, and when I left for college in 1985, my exposure to alternative culture was ten-fold of that which I stood to experience in Freeport.

So, a toast to my good friends in Decatur...I do miss you all, and look forward to a day in the future when we can meet head-to-head and remember road trips to Champaign, IL and fitting 8 people in a 1976 Ford Pinto...until then, this is where I am now and I don't feel right 'going back."

60 years ago...

A black day, indeed...today is, of course, the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, an act that many choose to believe was the only way to end WWII, regardless of the cost to the people of Japan.

As you can read here, in an article from today's Asahi shimbum, 32 nations are attending the ceremonies at the Hiroshima Peace memorial, but the typically arrogant U.S., the criminals behind this foul act of social injustice will not be attending due to other pressing matters...such as continuing to ignore the fact that they cannot and refuse to face the aftermath of their oppressive xenophobia and megalomania.

W should have been there, but not on his hands and knees...indeed, he didn't order the bomb to be dropped. So, who should be the one to stand in front of the Japanese people and apologize for this insane act of supremacy? Japanese aggression in WWII? The U.S. does the same thing (worse, much larger scale) today...

The icing on the cake is the simultaneous news that the African Union will no longer support the G-4 U.N. reform, meaning that Japan and 3 other countries will have no chance of sitting on the U.N. Security Council (read about it here). I wouldn't be surprised at all to find the "allies" behind this, as many Western superpowers fear the possibility of Japan's revision of the constitution in the future to alter the nature of their military.

At any rate, the U.S.A.'s refusal to participate in the peace ceremony only solidifies the international assumption that we continue to be intimidated by foreign power and will not acknowledge the nature of our part in Global genocide...

weekly tunes review #1

on Fridays, I will attempt to compile a list with personal reflections on what I've been listening to for the week...since "Music is the best" (per Frank Zappa) such nonsense is important to me...

IGGY POP - "SOLDIER" (1980)
Growing up, I had copped an attitude about any Iggy Pop that wasn't Stooges or didn't have an Asheton, Williamson, or Bowie involved (even some of the material with the latter bothered me, a little)...in July of 1987, Jeff Wilson said to me (as he did many times) while I was record-hunting at Mother Murphy's, "dude, you've gotta buy this record" so I did and wore it out in less than a week...I haven't listened to this album in YEARS!! I still get the goosebumps when I hear "I'm a Conservative"..."Hello my friends! Is everybody happy?"
mp3.com album info and review

YOUJEEN - "The Doll" (2001) and "BEWITCH" (2002)
Never heard this before, gave it a chance...great J-Rock with female vocals, she's kind of a cross between Alanis Morrissette (sp) and Ringo Shiina...pretty kool and catchy stuff, at least this week...
YesAsia Youjeen info

SEX MACHINEGUNS - "Aijin 28" single (2005)
New single by the second best Japanese metal outfit (ONMYOZA being the best, by far)...very kool stuff, as always, but I miss the outrageousness of the 'old' SMG (w/Noisy, Sussy, etc.).
CD Japan Aijin 28 info

G.I.S.M. - "Performance of War" (1998)
One of my favorite Jap HC bands from the 80's, Mark bought this years ago and taped it for me...happily, I've got a digital copy now...classic, bizarre HC/Metal thrash...
Info on CD and details from GlobalDarkness

TWISTED SISTER - "Under the Blade" (1992)
Classic first TS LP...nothing else to say about it!!
Review from KickedInTheFace
TS website

BOSTON - 1st 2 albums
I got these partly to burn some tracks for my wife, but also because I had to have them! Early BOSTON does rule, you know...

TURBONEGRO - "Apocalypse Dudes" (1999)
I remember these guys from the early 90s and didn't think much of it...at all. Now, I've rediscovered their newer material, and if I had ten thumbs, they'd all be up!! This album has run on my CD player in the car no less than 3 times this week (a rarity, especially when you consider that I did 2 Pimsleur Japanese lessons in the car this week as well); its more-than-obvious nod to Iggy/Stooges era and MC5 (even a smack or two of old MISFITS, a-la sing-along stuff) is very refreshing; they way they revisit the genre(s) and the craziness of their lyrics reminds me very much of the same approach taken by THE DARKNESS...TURBONEGRO must be destroyed!!!
Turbojugend USA fansite

ENKA BLOCK
As a rule, and to retain my sanity, I listen to regular doses of enka on a regular basis...this week, lots of Sachiko Kobayashi and Itsuki Hiroshi!!
Barbara's Enka Home Page

NOTABLE QUOTE:
"Each day, you wake up and get out of bed knowing that there is sh%t waiting for you. Each day is a struggle, a battle and you must prepare for these battles, these wars. You have to be prepared...you either fight to win or you throw up your hands and admit that you are f#cked."
---Joey deMaio, MANOWAR

P2P - fun for friends or a threat to the economy?

Today began in darkness...just as I was addicted, quite seriously, to Bunko (the infamous PublicMM Tracker) last year when it was mercilessly removed from my life right before Christmas, now my favorite BT site has been shut down for reasons (apparently legal) that are unknown to me right now.

I won't disclose the name of the site, yet...friends of mine run it and I'm not sure what kind of trouble they are in, so I'll hold off for now. While Bunko went down for unknown reasons also (it may have been more technical than legal), this latest occurence has not only found me in a mess, withdrawal-wise, but a bit kreeped out, as I usually get when trackers are forced out and the RIAA sues another bunch of people...

My stand on file-sharing has always been a fundamental one:

1. When I was a kid, we used to tape our records and swap them...this way, we knew what we wanted when we went record shopping, and what to avoid. The technology of the day supported this practice, and even though some folks in the record industry tried to tell us that "home taping is killing the record industry" it didn't happen...record industry continued to grow.
2. When I was in college, I began to rely on tape-trading heavily (thanks to you, Mark~!) in the same manner...lots of stuff could be yours only through active trading..."your list gets mine"...again, the technology supported this practice, and it brought a small, grass-roots music movement from its infancy into a mega-corporate marketing machine...I'm talking primarily about Punk and Metal.
3. Now, with file sharing, you have a combination of both aspects...the opportunity to sample before you buy, and the interaction with friends who share your passion for whatever type of music you are obsessed with. Moreso now, the technology supports this practice, and is even driven by it...where would file compression, high-speed internet, and digital media be without the push that file-sharing has provided to drive it to its current state?

What I'm ultimately having trouble understanding is why did Bunko go down (Japanese music only) and my current fave site (underground music), when there is only 'sector-specific' music involved, that by and large doesn't affect the corporate music industry at all...the RIAA could care less about Japanese music or D.I.Y. hardcore demos or German power metal...all completely out of its jurisdiction...

Whereas other trackers and BT sites that offer Eninem and Jessica Simpson by the handful continue to operate...on that account, it's just not fair...

Downhill Battle has always been a source for solace in times like these, and I visited their site during my break again today...I particularly appreciate Steve Albini's diatribe on the truth about the RIAA's claims that file-sharing denies artists their royalties...don't let the media fool you, these guys don't get the money they should from the recording industry, and have to tour and live like dogs to get the money they've got. The economy is what's killing the music industry, that and the crap that comes out anymore...

First Daze Here...

konnichiwa...my first post!

Yes, I've lept onto the blogger bandwagon...just like most of the rest of the world. And for the same reasons, I suppose, as anyone else...sometimes, your head gets full of stuff and you have to do something with it. Since things are so fast-paced and centered around hedonistic self-gratification, let me just say that this somewhat trendy concept of blogging fits right in with everything that's happening right now in the world that's passing us by each day.

Who am I...those of you who know me, aren't asking this question...but may learn a bit more about me (or, specifically, the stuff that's in my head) by reading this HTML drivel. Those of you who don't know me...how in the world did you get here? I won't be boring the internet community with a self-flagellating bio; you'll have to pick through these bits and pieces to figure out who I am...and once you've got it figured out, drop me a line, I need to be reminded sometimes...

Either way, thanks for stopping by...whether you know me or not.

I intend to share information, useless or otherwise, on a regular basis (during lunchtime, more or less). And, I'm serious about the lack of secret messages.

More to add later...and then some.

ja matta!

(photo: myself and my good friend ULTRAMAN, Tokyo 2002; the best summer of my LIFE...)