(De)Classified

Should our government keep secrets from the public? It's a huge question with tons of consequences on either side. Here's my thoughts:

On first thought I'd say no, they should be open with us about anything and everything that may effect us on any level. Then when I stop to think about it, maybe there are somethings we just don't need to know. 

The reason it's even on my mind started with this book No Easy Day that one of the members of SEAL Team 6 wrote about the mission that ended with the death of Osama Bin Laden. Like most Americans, when this all first happened I wanted to know more. That sadistic a-hole killed hundreds of innocent people and I wanted to see him suffer like they did. Once things calmed down though, I was fine knowing he was dead and didn't need to know the details. Now this book is coming out that tells everything which I think is a bad idea. Not only will we as Americans get to see what happened, our enemies will as well. The details in this book could fuel another group to start conflict with the US or even give details on how US military operations are coordinated and executed putting current and future troops in more danger.

Another bit of info that's been made public lately that I'm baffled by is the Secret Service's codenames for those they protect. For example, President Obama is "Renegade", Mitt Romney is "Javelin", and so on. What is the point in having codenames if EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE! In normal every day situations, it won't make much difference but if something does go wrong and someone needs to be discreetly moved from one place to another, they wouldn't even be able to use their codename without everyone knowing exactly who they were talking about!

I'm all for open government and people being informed about what happens on Capitol Hill, but I think it's safe to say that SOME things just aren't meant for the public. The problem is, who decides...

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Most everyone has heard of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If not, the Hollywood Walk of Fame is an area in Hollywood where 2,400 five pointed stars are embedded in the sidewalk as "public monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry" for famous actors, actresses, musicians, producers, directors, theatrical groups, fictional characters, and more.

This morning I saw a story that made me angry, confused, and sad all at once... Kim Kardashian wants a star on the Walk of Fame. Really? Don't get me wrong, I love to look at Kim and her ass... actually, let's do that for a minute...

Alright, now where was I? Oh yea, so this chick thinks she deserves a star among the likes of Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock, John Williams, and other legends of the entertainment world? The only thing bigger than her ass is her EGO!

She justifies this idea saying "reality TV is still a new form of entertainment" and people don't understand it. So let me get this straight, being rich and spoiled and having cameras follow you around makes you an entertainer? I thought it made you a rich spoiled brat that had cameras following her around.

She went on to compare reality TV to rap music because people didn't understand rap at first either. So now she's saying she's as talented as Jay-Z or Dr. Dre or her new bedroom buddy Kanye? Negative madam. 

The big difference here is that people who are on the Walk of Fame did something special and were recognized for it, Kim Kardashian just lives her pampered life with cameras in tow. If anyone deserves a star on the Walk of Fame, it's the people behind the scenes at reality TV shows for making these bottom feeders look like real people.

Encore... Or No Encore?

The subject of bands doing encores at concerts has come up quite a few times in my own personal conversations as well as the media lately so I figured it was time to share my thoughts on the subject. Most people get angry when there isn't an "encore" because they feel like they got screwed out of part of the show. I use quotation marks back there because, in my opinion, it's not an encore if it was planned all along.

Dictionary.com defines encore as "A repeated or additional performance of an item at the end of a concert, as called for by an audience." To me, that means an encore is when the band does something extra at the end of the show because the audience demanded more, right? Then how can you call it an encore when a band has been planning it since the tour started? 

There are a few bands out there who just don't do encores. System of a Down has ended their shows with no encore both times I saw them. A few other bands I've seen also ended sans encore and it was great. Now I don't mean hit the last note of the last song and the band hauls ass. Take a minute, thank your fans for being there, have the whole band come to the front of the stage and take a bow, or whatever. I just don't understand why we HAVE to have a 5-10 minute pause near the end of every concert before the last few songs.

Now I'm not saying I'm against encores, honestly I think they are one of the coolest things about a live show. A true encore happens when a band has finished and is heading to the tour bus and the roar of the fans is so overwhelming they decide "Fuck it, they want more, we're giving them more" and go back on stage to have fun. 

When an "encore" is part of the schedule, there's nothing special about it... it's just part of the show.

Reunited And It Feels So Good

When a band reunites, it can go one of several ways. Some bands come back together for the wrong reasons (money, boredom, etc) and it goes horribly. The fans end up disappointed and the love of that band is replaced with memories what they became. Luckily for me, System of a Down's reunion seemed to be for all the right reasons and came together like they never missed a beat. 

We hit the road Tuesday morning bound for DC for the System of a Down/Deftones show. The drive there was pretty uneventful aside from a little rain here and there and navigating DC to find our hotel was surprisingly easy as well. The hotel (Helix) was INSANE! It was like walking into Studio 51 or something. There was a bar/nightclub downstairs and the whole place had a very trendy/artistic feel. Here's a few pics of the room:

We had dinner at a place called Logan's (not the steakhouse) which was all locally grown and was super delicious. Then we tried to walk to the venue (which wasn't far) and ended up getting good and lost. We then caught the worst cab ever (dude screamed into his phone the whole freaking ride and kept pumping the breaks at stops to keep the meter running... douche). 

Finally, we get to the show and before we go find out seats, we got to meet Serj Tankian with a group of fans. I met him in California and he was just as friendly and excited to meet the winners as we were to meet him! 

After that we grabbed a beer with our buddy Ravi and his girlfriend and headed to our seats.One of my favorite things about a tour like this is that neither band has a current album out (Serj's solo album but not System) so there was no requirement to play more new material or whatever, basically they played what they wanted!  Deftones kicked it off with an amazing set mixed with hits, deep cuts, old, and new!

Then the moment we'd been waiting for...

The boys blasted through a setlist including old favorites, their big hits, and everything you could want from a SOAD live show. And their chemistry on stage was just as prominent as always. They were all grinning from ear to ear, headbanging like teenagers, and having as much fun (if not more) than the fans!

After that we caught a cab (with a much nicer driver) back to the hotel, got some sleep, and headed back to ENC. The drive home was a little hectic at times but not too bad either. All in all, it was an amazing rock experience and I'll have fingers crossed that either or both of these bands come back through soon!

America: F*** Yea!

Every 4 years (well 2 if you count Winter) most of the world puts their differences aside as the elite athletes come together to compete in the name of their countries... THE OLYMPICS! The first summer Olympics were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece and only 14 countries competed. Fast forward to 2012 in London and 204 National Olympic Committees are represented!

There are two things that really stand out about the Olympics to me: the variety of events and the way it unites countries. The events range from swimming to soccer to skeet shooting to judo and everything in between. I'm not a huge sports fan myself but something about watching the men and women (and in some cases, boys and girls) who have trained years and years to excel in their sport go head to head with nothing to lose. Just the sheer intensity they compete with blows my mind, not to mention the precision and perfection they portray on the field of play.

It also brings a swelling of national pride to watch our fellow Americans (and in some cases, neighbors, friends, or family) fighting to win not only for themselves, but for America. It seems that no matter how divided the situation here at home (and I would assume the same for other countries) we always seem to put those issues and differences aside for 15 days and rally behind our Olympic heroes.

If you haven't been watching, there is 24 hour coverage on several channels and tons of content online. As of today, America is tied with China with 23 overall medals and is in 2nd behind China in Gold medals.

Keep kicking ass Team USA!

Diamond in the Rough

On many occasions I've thought about spending time going to second hand stores and places like that where you can buy used and random stuff but never seem to have the motivation but this story I read today makes me think it might be time to give it a shot.

Beth Feedback is an artist from Greensboro who went to Goodwill to grab a sweater and picked up 2 large paintings for $10 each. She didn't like the paintings but was going to reuse the canvas for her own works. A few months later, she noticed an art gallery tag on one of the paintings and decided to look up the original artist before she turned the paintings into scrap. The artist turned out to be Ilya Bolotowsky and the painting is worth over $15,000! Here's Beth, her hubby, and the painting:

How freakin awesome is that? $10 for a $15,000 painting! It's not a common occurrence so don't start searching planning on making it rich but every once in a while instead of shopping at the mall or some big chain store, hit the thrift shops or swing by a local yard or garage sale and give it a good once over. You may not find something worth a ton of money, but you may find some of the coolest collectibles or random treasures you've ever seen.

Under the Covers

There are several ways to cover a song. You can do a direct cover where the new song is essentially a copy of the original or throw the whole format out the window and use the lyrics to build a totally new sounding song. And covering a song isn't a new thing BUT it seems to me that in today's world where music comes and goes at the speed of light, that some people have started to abuse the cover.

In the past covers were a rarity. Most bands didn't even record them but would use them as a cool extra or encore song in concerts. Then slowly but surely more and more covers were added as "hidden tracks" or "bonus tracks" added to a re-release. Nowadays, there are whole albums of covers and even bands who built careers doing covers... but that's not always a bad thing.


Two of the biggest "cover bands" out there have got to be Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine and Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. Richard Cheese takes popular rock and metal songs and twists them into a lounge/swing style. Me First does the same but with a punk sound instead of lounge. Both acts have built careers on covering other songs in their respective styles but both do it with a tongue-in-cheek attitude that makes it more about having fun than making money off someone else's ideas. Here's a sample from each:

Then you have albums that compile covers like Fearless Records' Punk Goes... series. Each album focuses on a genre like pop, 90s rock, and hip hop and modern punk and metal bands cover songs from that genre. Some bands stick more to their personal style and others stay more true to the original track with a touch of their own style mixed in. These are also more about having fun as the artists doing the covers all have active touring and recording schedules and make plenty of their own music. Here's an example:

Then you have bands like Puddle of Mudd or Counting Crows who, after years of making original music, crank out a cover album and start releasing singles like it's a new album. This is where my love of covers ends. Covering a song to honor the original artist or even to have fun and blow off some steam is all well and good, but just because you've run out of creativity, don't start trying to peddle someone else's wares as your own.