Comic Con

As a geek, nerd, dork, fanboy, etc., I'd be remiss in my self-appointed duties to not talk about what's been going down at the biggest collection of geeks, nerds, dorks, and fanboys in the world: the San Diego Comic Con.

I've been keeping up as best I could, but foolishly forgot that G4 airs from the Con until this morning. Bummer. Regardless, I checked out updates at IGN, CBR, and some other abbreviations. I won't be recapping everything, just the stuff that appealed to me the most. Or the stuff I have an opinion on, even if it was completely unappealing to me.

First and foremost, the unauthorized trailer for The Walking Dead:


Talk about faithful. And awesome. The zombies look astonishing. I'd daresay they're the best I've seen committed to any sized screen. All that from a shaky cell phone video. And since AMC has a great storyteller behind it all in Frank Darabont, we're guaranteed quality. So long as the show follows the comic's character-based format, and don't get carried away with zombie-killing, I'm all in.

Next up:

This is the only DC book I'm still on, and with good reason. Geoff Johns is doing a hell of a thing with Green Lantern, namely in expanding the world with all the other Lanterns, and now the White Lantern, too. That said, I'm excited about the movie. I was less excited when we got the costume reveal from EW. Many a nerd typed their disdain in the forums, and the movie folks noticed. At the Con panel, the director reassured that what we saw was (hey! those words reflect each other!) not the final costume design. I hope so, and I'll believe it. Recently, at least, Warner Bros. has been giving their superhero flicks the proper attention. That they'd listen to their fanbase could be great or terrible. In this instance, I think it's smart.

Of course, they brought footage with them, and I've only heard good things. Also heard this may be DC's start to expanding their movie universe, like Marvel's been doing. Hopefully that means a Flash movie, and a Wonder Woman, a Superman and Batman that live on the same planet.

That's a beautiful thing. Also beautiful? From more than one review, the footage shown was compared to Indiana Jones. And said footage also helps connect The First Avenger: Captain America with Thor, as the pre-Red Skull Hugo Weaving is searching for a couple of items, namely the Cosmic Cube, said by him to have been in Odin's possession. Tying the mystical into a World War II flick is all right with me, thanks to the Indiana Jones movies and the start of Hellboy. So long as Joe Johnston doesn't bungle it, I mean. More than anything I've heard about the movie, he worries me. I'm worried because of Jurassic Park III, which was worse than the Jurassic Park-inspired stories I wrote in the fourth grade. And then there was Wolfman...Yikes. But again, the footage looked good, especially since it came after only eight days of filming.

More than any other Marvel movie, I've felt Thor would have the hardest time fitting in. Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk did wonders creating a realistic world. Or as realistic a world can be with a 7-foot green monster and a man in a metal suit. But I'm also looking forward to it more than I am the Cap movie. I'm a fan of Kenneth Branagh, and I like that Natalie Portman is involved. But the big question has always been how will the Asgard-side of the story fit in? We saw Mjolnir at the end of Iron Man 2, and it looks like the Cosmic Cube will have some ties to Odin in the Cap movie. And from the descriptions of the footage, I'm excited.

There are two parts to the Avengers I want to talk about. I'll start with the less than good:

Looks like Red Hulk is joining the ranks of Marvel's elitest. That announcement was met with polite applause. Why? Because it's not a good call. Most of you know that I'd love to have a job at Marvel. As such, I hope they never see what I'm going to say here. The Brian Michael Bendis/John Romita, Jr. run on Avengers, so far, has been lackluster. It doesn't feel big. It doesn't feel important, despite having the biggest names in heroes grace its pages. The problem is two-fold: Bendis is great at fast, witty dialogue. That was probably the greatest part of the entire original New Avengers. New Avengers has been my favorite book for the last 4+ years. The man's run on Daredevil was nothing short of bad ass. And it looks like I'm not the only one in love with Spider-Woman. So I know he can write. We all do. He's been writing Marvel's major storylines for nearly a decade! (Avengers Disassembled, House of M, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege, etc.) But now he's on both Avengers and New Avengers, and they all act the same, it's just that one group has Thor and Iron Man, and the other has Luke Cage. It doesn't make sense to me. They both feel like street-level teams, which is what New Avengers has been since Luke Cage's been in charge. But that's not the Avengers. They're higher brow. Yes, Spider-Man will always crack stupid jokes. But he does more than that too. Thor will likely seem out-of-place around some of the newer Avengers, but how about we explore that, not crack a joke? And I think Maria Hill ought to be a bit more professional in the field than we've seen so far. It's about appearances. The Avengers are IT: the best of the best, the most prestigious in Marvel. Write them as such.

The other half is literally appearance. I'm not a fan of JRjr. I read over and over again that he's a legend. That he's a master. But where is that, then? It's not in this book. That cover to #1? Jake was right when he said that's not a cover that sells. I get that no one works on just one book anymore, and I know I'll sound like a broken record, but this is supposed to be Marvel's best. I'd like to SEE that. Now maybe I just don't get his style. But I don't think that's it. I don't care for his character designs. I don't like the way he draws a face, or a lady's neck. I think a lot of his body designs are unnecessarily rounded—there's no hard lines. Look at Big Daddy in Kick-Ass. Look at Apocalypse in Avengers. Limbs don't bend, they curve.

The addition of Red Hulk seems par for the course, that is to say, below par for what ought to be amazing.

Now for the good:

That's the Avengers cast. All of them. Righteous. Left to right, we have Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Nick Fury (Sam Jackson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Hulk (newly cast Mark Ruffalo), director Joss Whedon and head of Marvel Studios Kevin Fiege.

Here's video of the announcement, with Robert Downey really being Tony Stark:

I'm holding off on writing about Scott Pilgrim since the movie is coming out soonish. But they screened the movie for lucky attendees, which is always one of the coolest things people can do. Edgar Wright even brought out Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for a hot second. Combine that with Michael Cera on stage in a Captain America costume and you've got a hot panel.

Other tidbits: Robert Rodriquez said Fox has given him the go-ahead to start developing a sequel to Predators, Warner Bros. pissed off a bunch of fans by showing very little new footage and only having Tom Felton (Draco) show up, Green Hornet is NOT impressing, Grant Morrison will be writing Batman, Inc., which he said was like Brave and the Bold combined with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Carnage is coming back, but without Cletus Kasady.

I'd love to be able to do a live-esque blog from San Diego next year, so I'll start accepting donations now. It's much appreciated.

In Memory of...

I've told a few of you. Most friends could probably guess it—it's been as imminent as Luke's showdown with Vader: the Bronco, as we've known her, is done. She has a bad ticker. Her heart's failing her. There's 8 cylinders under the hood. Right now she's operating on less than half of them. Less than 50% power. Despite that, she got me to New York.

We got the Bronco in December of 2003 after some jerk ran a red light and totaled my K5 Blazer. Initially, my dad was driving it and when I got behind the wheel, it was a bit of a treat. It was such a different riding experience. You felt the road, every crack, every bump, every imperfection. That might be bothersome to most, but I liked it. It was like driving a roller coaster, or a 2-ton go-cart. It really wasn't like any of the other cars I've driven—not my mom's Suburban, my dad's Dodge Ram, Jake's BMW, Emily's Camry, Terence's Volvo, or the Chevy Caprice I first had. Maybe the closest thing was the '69 Grand Prix my dad was rebuilding for a little bit: Lots of power, lots of noise, and a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not you'd get where you wanted to go.


Plenty of money was spent to keep it moving. The rear axle had to be completely replaced. That's a fun story. Turns out, when we bought the truck, the rear axle had been broken in a past life. But it wasn't fixed: it was patched up. I aggravated the problem when I went off-roading at the Uwharrie National Forest. Months later, after making the drive from NC State to High Point, with Jim and Sheyda in the truck, I was heading to the old high school for a football game or something. On one of the country roads, my brakes stopped working. I can't tell you how exciting that was. We got it re-patched, and that held for a while, at least until I got to Wilmington. I was heading to my apartment from campus one night, and low and behold, my brakes stop working. Reverse went, as well. And then we got a new rear axle.

We also replaced the ignition switch. Technically, it was the lock cylinder—the part you put your key in. One Friday night at NC State, me and some suitemates made a midnight run to McDonald's. When we got back, I tried to the turn the truck off. Except that the lock kept spinning around. I couldn't turn it off. I call my dad and the decision is made: I have to drive home that night and park it in the driveway until it runs out of gas. Had he not been in Georgia at the time, he could've shut it off. So I made a late night/early morning drive back home, on a full tank of gas. Thankfully, that 90-minute drive used up close to half a tank, and it was spent when I went back to Raleigh the next day. 

Then there was the time camping on Carolina Beach was ruined because the front end was about to fall off. Sixteen years of wear and tear caught up with her and kept camping from getting checked off the Wilmington bucket list. It also refused to function properly after a day trip to Raleigh. Wouldn't start, and once started, wouldn't stay started. The transmission has always banged shifting in and out of first gear, the torque converter rumbles, and she goes through a quart of oil as often as I do a gallon of milk.


Bare bones doesn't begin to describe the interior. I've never seen a floor like that: No carpet, just black...mat, I guess. Complete with a fire extinguisher in the backseat. The passenger side of the dashboard isn't really attached, and will move around like crazy when the road gets bumpy. The CD Player stopped working after a dusty trip in Uwharrie. The driver's door handle has broken off twice, and I still haven't gotten it replaced after the last time. I love the lack of power; no power locks or windows means one less thing to break. I instinctively go for a window crank now. I'm always a bit nervous about tracking dirt into a car that has actual floor upholstery.

We're at a turning point now. Do we get a new engine? Can we somehow afford a new (to us) car? The Bronco can only sit in the driveway right now, because she has a hard time maintaining 40 mph. It hurts seeing her like this. I used to park in that truck before the back windows were tinted. Mike, Zac, and I used the Bronco's jack to the take a wheel off Ben's car on April Fools Day senior year. I remember Ashley helping me clean it out after off-roading. I laugh at none of us believing that Emily was bleeding after climbing in the night before graduation (she was, and has a scar to prove it).

More than the Caprice and the Blazer, the Bronco was mine. She was my Millennium Falcon: things were constantly wrong, but there's a character there. It's undeniable. She had problems, but I saw them more as quirks. There's a strength under the hood, a desire to keep moving down the road. A lesser engine would just stop turning over. A lesser truck would've quit running before we got out of North Carolina.

But the Bronco wasn't a lesser truck.

The Separation of Church and Everything

I won't pretend: This will be a rant. It will be a rant because I'm annoyed. In spite of that, I'll do my best to remain civil and relatively unoffensive. I'm not naive enough to believe you can talk about religion and offend no one. But I'd rather this be a conversation or even a debate than a Bill O'Reilly screaming match. Or a Glenn Beck cryfest.


(If by the end of this you have any questions about the validity of my statements (those that aren't opinion), ask me for proof. I'll gladly find the appropriate sources.)

I do not believe in gods. Not in Allah, Yahweh, or Jesus Christ. But I also don't believe in Krishna, Enlil, Thor, Zeus, Apollo, Xenu, Shiva, Buddha, or the thousands of other gods society has deemed man-made, and thus not real. All that separates us is one god. Wrap your head around that for a minute. Of all the gods mankind has created, from Mesopotamia to Mecca, we disagree about .001%. But, as it turns out, that makes all the difference.

Here in 'Murica, I'm in the minority when it comes to religion (and race, since I'm a Cuban-American, suckas!). It didn't used to be that way. I was raised Catholic. Went to Catholic school from 3rd grade until I graduated high school. And I was practicing the entire time. Things changed during my second year of college. After a super-religious first year, I found myself faced with an interesting conundrum. Dinosaurs are easily the coolest animals. There's no debate about this and if you say otherwise, once the Bronco is fixed, I will drive to your house and slap you. So there I am, taking a class all about them. Evolution comes up. I never learned about it, but hot damn, did it make sense. It clicked. And despite all the concessions the Catholic Church will and has made to try to be compatible with science, it went against the natural history presented in the Bible. (Not that I was ever a young-earther, but I do remember (and I'm embarrassed to admit this) saying something along the lines of, "I didn't come from a monkey!" in the seventh or eighth grade.) And let's all be real. Whether you're Muslim, Jewish, or Christian (and since I only know about the big 3, those are my focus), you pick and choose what to believe from your particular book. No one follows anything to the letter. But they do make excuses for a lot of it. "Oh, we don't believe the passage about selling our daughters into slavery, but those queers better not ruin the sanctity of marriage!" The same sanctity of marriage that demands you kill your wife if she's not a virgin? Anyways, at that point in my life, I was making excuses, and creating my own beliefs. But this whole evolution and dinosaur thing, that made sense to me. I didn't have to make excuses for the existence of a Tyrannosaurus. The thought never once crossed my mind that fossils were put in the ground by Satan to confuse us because I'm not an insane person. My decision essentially became dinosaurs or God. Yes, this is a giant simplification. But looking back, that was the turning point.

The first time in this country's history a president acknowledged non-believers as equal to believers was when President Obama mentioned us during his inauguration. In fact, good old George Herbert Walker Bush, while campaigning in 1987 said, "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." (Keep in mind, of course, that "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, in response to the Red Scare and as a distinction from the godless commies. And keep in mind the fellows who framed the Constitution and wrote the Declaration of Independence were mostly deists.)


I want you now to replace "atheists" from Bush's quote with Muslims. Or gays and lesbians, bisexuls and transsexuals. Blacks or Asians. No one would be that ignorant, right? How could someone so blatantly discriminate against a significant amount of the populace and still be elected president? It's disgusting. And I'm not saying that as the persecuted minority. When Bush said that, I was probably being taken to St. Lawrence every Sunday as an infant. I'm saying that as a human being who can't wrap their head around such flagrant discrimination.

And that, I guess, can lead into the heart of this blog: Separating religion from public life. It doesn't necessarily start with politics, but that's where I'll start. Take out "under God" in the Pledge. Why? Because it's not necessary. It never was, and certainly not now. Were we a Christian nation, as so many inane talking heads insist, I could understand that. But we aren't. And so long as "God" remains in it, the country is discriminating against every religion but Judaism and Christianity. After that, get the 10 Commandments off of government property, like courts or governor's estates, etc. Again, this is a blatant endorsement of a specific religion. In the same vein, if you're going to allow Christian-themed holiday decorations on govt property, you had better make room for all the others, and that includes the Flying Spaghetti Monster. That stuff I could see happening in my lifetime. This, not so much: If a church contributes to a political campaign of any sort, they should lose their tax exemption. And presidents, how about we keep God out of our speeches? I'm glad Obama is president, but what the hell was he saying about the oil spill during his Oval Office speech? That we ought to be praying? It's a cliché, but two hands working do more than a thousand clasped in prayer. And let's not forget Dubya calling the French president before the invasion of Iraq and telling him that demons, written about in the Bible, needed to be fended off, and that's why 'Murica was heading to war. That man was in charge for eight years.

Keep religion away from science. They do not coexist, and pretending they do deludes both your faith and science's whole premise. The whole premise of faith is that it goes against reason, logic, and fact. It requires no proof. Thus the term "leap of faith." Now, what is science founded on? The scientific method. We all learned this in middle school. There's lots of hypothesizing, recording data, but what're the key elements? Experimentation and repeated results. You have to test something again and again and again and again and get the same results before something is considered legitimate. You have to PROVE it. Not to mention if one thing is proven false later on, you don't fight a war and slaughter thousands or millions because you dedicated your entire life to one set of scientific findings. No, you do some more experiments, and if one thing replaces another, well that's amazing! It's amazing because we're discovering more and more truths about the natural world. "God did it" doesn't fly. It doesn't answer anything. Just because we don't know it now, at this point in humanity, doesn't mean we won't have some more answers in 100 or 200 years. Just look at how far we've come in 200 years and tell me we won't know more about the planet in another 200.



Going off the science thing, the universe is amazing. It is the biggest thing you could ever imagine, but times 1,000,000,000,000,000. And you know what religion does? It takes a tiny rock, spinning in space around a mediocre star, which sits inside one of billions of billions of galaxies, and it tells the marginally self-aware inhabitants of said rock that you are the center of it all. That all of it exists purely for you. If you can't see the arrogance of that, I don't know what to tell you. Yes, it is absolutely amazing that we've gotten to the point where I can bitch and moan on a piece of hardware that connects me to the internet, which mankind invented. It blows my mind that we can do that. That I can wake up, in air conditioning, and turn on a TV, that I can pick up a pencil and a blank piece of paper and make something beautiful, that I can play a song. These things should never, ever be taken for granted. But I don't think for a second that this planet is mine. Or that the moon is mine. Or that the sun is for us. Why would it be? It's all been here billions of years before us, and it will for billions of years after us. Life existed before mankind. It probably does elsewhere in the universe. Why shouldn't it? And besides, it's not that conditions on earth are perfect for life. It's that life adapted to the conditions on earth. This wasn't made for us. I'm not scared to admit that I have no idea how it was formed. Either are scientists, the people who are actively searching for an answer. But chalking it all up to a god? That's the definition of deus ex machina, which all my writing friends know to avoid like Pat Robertson. Don't ever be scared to admit you don't know. That's how you learn.

When it comes to learning, religion has no place in the public education system. All this nonsense about creationism, or intelligent design? No. Just shut up. You want that in the science classroom? How about Scientology and Mormonism in history class? Let's all learn about Emperor Xenu casting billions of creatures into the volcanoes of Hawaii. Or how the Native Americans are actually Jews. Give me proof for creationism or ID, and I'll concede. I'll admit I was wrong. I might even apologize. But until then, until it has been put through the same rigors that evolution has, shut your pie hole! Teach the controversy? The only controversy is that this is given serious consideration by the people who decide what children will learn. Texas wants to amend history books so that the Founding Fathers are seen as Christians, and the United States of America is seen as ordained from on high. How about instead of that, we teach what actually happened? That means the ugly and the pretty. There's good and bad about the founding of this nation straight up through now, so show us both sides. Don't put your own politics and religious ramblings ahead of the education of the next generation. And you know what ought to be taught? Sex Ed. Not abstinence only. That doesn't work because teenagers are horny and want to see how things work. So teach them how to be smart about it. That means birth control in all its forms. You want to combat abortions and teenage pregnancy? EDUCATE. 

Most importantly, keep religion out of morality. One does not rely on the other. Not at all. What is moral about murdering all the men of a nation, taking the children as slaves and the woman as sex slaves? You can find that in the Old Testament. Please, explain to me all the death and destruction found in that book (for a body count of sorts, check this out: http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2007/01/how-many-has-god-killed-complete-list.html). There's nothing moral about forcing your beliefs on those around you, let alone killing them if they refuse to subscribe, as both the Bible and Koran call for. And this is where picking and choosing comes into play. Noah's Ark is suddenly a fable, not a story about the godly genocide of an entire planet's worth of life. Despite God decreeing that we can't touch the skin of a dead pig, man, tossing that football around is fun. Shananigans, I say, on picking and choosing, and fishing a few morals from the remains. No, religion is used to justify discrimination. It endorses slavery, casts homosexuality as a sin, and says there's something wrong with being human. I don't need a textbook to tell me the slave trade (which Texas wants to rename the "Atlantic Triangular Trade") was inhumane. I never needed to watch a trial to see that murdering an innocent person is wrong. Either did you. The 10 Commandments are mostly inherent. Well, the ones that pertain to living a decent life with the people around you, anyways. For some reason, despite the very words that are in the Bible and the Koran, people will sit and defend both as THE moral standard. Please, read either or both. As the person you are now. Do your best to look at them from the standpoint of a creative writer, or a decent human being, and push aside your emotional connection. Look at the words, and the stories they tell, that we've been told is truth. Come back and tell me it's moral. Without lying to me or yourself. 


Speaking of lying, what the hell is going on with Catholicism? I'm not just talking about the church-wide conspiracy to move molesting priests around to different churches so they can scar multiple children, but the uprising of Catholics to defend this BS. You're going to come to the defense of the Pope, the man who was responsible for covering up a ton of this, but not the children? He was aware of at least one instance, and stayed quiet about it. This is an organization that publicly reprimanded the man who blew the whistle, instead of praising him. It's not like this happened once. And it's definitely not a recent thing. This has been happening for decades. Hundreds, if not thousands, of children lost their innocence, their childhood, and likely a bit of their humanity and sanity at the hands of horrid, hypocritical, deranged individuals. And the Church has the audacity to blame homosexuality and atheism for pedophilia? I mean, WTF? And then there's the Pope telling AIDS-stricken Africa that condoms spread the disease. That man is infallible, and in contact with the Lord God, your savior Jesus Christ.

Which brings me to this: Keep religion away from children. I was indoctrinated. You probably were too. I wasn't given a choice; I was pushed into this and told it was as real as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny (I won't get into the pagan roots of Christmas or Easter). Children are, above all, impressionable. And trusting. As a kid, we trusted what our parents said without question. What most adults said even. So if you tell them this is the one true way to live forever, I bet they'll believe you. People get horrified when they see a kid in the Middle East holding an AK-47. "They've been brainwashed! They were taken advantage of!" Yup, they sure were. So was I. That's how religion takes hold. Get 'em when they're young and etch your beliefs in their mind. Does that seem wrong to anyone else? Why not, instead of taking your kid to church, you teach them how to reason. How to be inquisitive. How to logically think. Explain that instead of there being one way, one truth, etc., many people believe many things. That when it really comes down to it, no one knows the truth. 


I understand why people are religious. I've been there. It's comforting to believe there's something after this. But it lets you make excuses for not really living your life now. Had a crappy day at work? By golly, once you die you get to praise your god of choice for all eternity and be in complete bliss! I don't buy it. Not when I take into account everything the authors of the Bible and Koran got wrong. Not when I see the insanity that religion causes in the world. Of course, those people causing the insanity aren't true Christians, or Muslims, or Jews, or whatever. They never are. EVER. Islam is a religion of peace. Christianity is a religion of love. I call BS. I call BS for the people who died in the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition, for the families who lost someone on 9/11. Religion is not progressive—it's regressive.

By all means, be religious. But keep it private. Keep it in your place of worship and your home. Don't force it into science, education, and politics. It has no right to be there. At least, I don't think so. And you know, I don't know that there isn't a god. There might be something behind all this. But it's not the Christian god. Or the Greek gods. Or the Norse gods. Then again, there might not be anything all, except this life. How are you going to live it?

For those of you who stayed with me this long, thanks. I know this was an arduous read. But it's been boiling up for a while and I realized I have a forum to vent. If something said here bothers you, tell me. Let's talk about it. Too often talk about religion is just shoved aside, or deemed unfit for discussion. But these beliefs impact us.


P.S. Can we please ban, "Then God help us all," from movies, televisions, books, comics, etc.? It's a bad cliché. I'm tired of it.

Well, I've grown bored of my Top Ten Albums thing. My list is still right next to my computer, but I'll be taking a break from it. There's plenty more for me to blog about, so I'll do that instead. Probably be something about Lost or comics. It'll be a surprise to us all!

OK Music That Joey Finds More Than OK, Part 4

Foghorns and Leghorns, We're back! Of course, "We're" is used in the royal sense. Very few folks know this, but We come from a long line of Spanish power, which was, unfortunately, stripped away through years of cavorting in the Caribbean aboard pirate ships and the like. But that matters not! We had but one guess for this round, and it was, alas, incorrect! And now, for the dramatic reveal...

Funeral, by Arcade Fire, released in late-ish 2004. As is par for the course, I didn't listen to the album until years later. It stands as the last of the three albums on my list that I can sit through completely. My first encounter was many moons ago. A friend put the song Crown of Love on a birthday mix-tape, in January 2007. Good song, I thought to myself. It wasn't until the next year I acquired the entire album. This was before Lindsey had me sit in her room and listen to Neon Bible on her record player (remember that, linsoosoo? I do). So I kind of knew the band before the Where the Wild Things Are trailer hit in March and made everyone crazy. That trailer though...Wow. That got me paying attention to the album again.

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) is spectacular in its role as introduction. It sets the stage, building and building anticipation, giving us little payoffs and playing with us. I want it to break, to go a little bit further, but it doesn't. It holds me, and tells me to have a bit of patience. I think it stands as a reflection of the album, with it's slower start, but filled with payoffs along the way.  Neighborhood #2 (Laika) is just kind of there for me. The background vocals really come out in this one, and that's one of the things I love about them: They have a plethora of voices. Une Année Sans Lumière uses those extra voices, but not enough for me. I could've used them backing lead singer Win Butler a bit more, since it's pretty, what they do. By the time the song transitions, you've been waiting for it. No complaints from this listener.

Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) features darker guitars than we've been treated to, and the bass constantly sliding from note to note is one of those small choices that make a big difference. The strings, in only a few moments, bring out something lighter, usually when the guitars take a break. But the drums just keep it going no matter what. Next is the final of the "Neighborhood" songs: Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles). There's a ton to love about this song. The finger-picking opening guitar line, for starters. It makes me think back to my Guitar I class, freshman year of high school. And the strings...I love the way they layer on top of the guitar, only to back off once the vocals start again. The percussion in the background is cool—beating away, but not overbearing or distracting. Once the strings start playing over the vocals, the song just fills. It's a beautiful progression and the way they deconstruct it in the next few bars, and keep it simple, is a work of art. This is probably my second favorite piece on the album.

Ah, my old friend, Crown of Love. I dig the song and all, but it doesn't fit on this particular album. To me, it protrudes from the rest, and draws attention to itself in that regard. Again, not a bad song. I just don't get it's placement on the album. However, I'd bet it has something to do with hearing it first, amidst other songs, that makes it like this for me. The way the violin whines during the chorus complements the lyrics without distracting. In fact, it basically bides its time during the verse, until Butler's voice starts to break.

On the one hand, I feel like plenty has been said about Wake Up, in light of Where the Wild Things Are. The other hand thinks not enough could be said. Oh, before I go any further, watch this (like right NOW. Seriously.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6c9Ejfu-iU. That video encapsulates what I <3 about this band, and especially this song, so much: Emotion. You see it one the face of all one million members of the band. Everyone is into it. Especially on that fella beating about on the tambourine and marching drum. He loves what he's doing. Everything feels right with the song. They had to have known they crafted a genuine masterpiece here. It's a blast to listen to and even more fun to play. It stands at the list of songs I'd want to cover if ever I'm in a band again.

Haiti is a good come-down song, featuring vocals other than Butler's. But at no point does it depart from the feeling of Arcade Fire. Regardless of who's singing, you know who this is. Another thing to check out is their appearance on Austin City Limits. Not only do the vocals trade off, but so do the instruments. The entire show they're handing off guitars, basses, accordions, etc. It's neat to see that represented here on the album, in the only way you could really tell.

As a bassist, I always appreciate a song starting off with one. Rebellion (Lies) does just that, with a rolling bassline, as I describe it. The piano accentuates this sound, and the bass drum gives a sense of forward motion. Also, I lied before. This is my second favorite song on the album. The vocal response to "Every time you close your eyes" makes the song for me, especially after the last go, with the violin's line. I think there's vocals matching the violin, but I can't quite tell. Either way, it sounds awesome.

They close it out with In the Backseat, leading with another voice. It's the right song to close on. How can you argue with that violin line? You can't! The drum work is also stellar—nothing extraordinary but really brings it all around for me. It's amazing to me that they went ahead and closed the album with strings, percussion, piano, and horns, in such a guitar-driven world. A smart and classy move.

I love this album, and I love you, too. Depending on who you are. I'd love you even more if you folks would guess more. I have a lot of junk to (pretend to) unload on you guys. So, the hint: Hip hip, hooray! And the prizes! Winner gets a choice of a 1995 Ford Bronco, two 30 lb. dumbbells, my Fusion razor, size 11 black Pirate boots, my mostly-used bottle of "Tommy" cologne, or two broken guitar tuners. Join us tomorrow for the next installment of Joey's Running Out of Titles for This Top Ten List!

More Birthdays and Other Congratulations!

Well America, it's your birthday now. I still feel like you're in your adolescence, so here's to hoping you grow out of this "Murica" phase!

Now Cory, I know I said you'd get your own post, but I lied. Because I am a liar. Regardless, Happy Birthday, Cory!

Turns out some other big things are happening. Yesterday, it looks like my very good friend from high school, Matt, proposed to his girlfriend, Kathryn. For those of you biting your nails in anticipation, you can stop now. She said yes! So congrats, Matt and Kathryn, on what's already been a gnarly relationship, and will now continue into a radical engagement!

That's all for now. I'll be back tomorrow with the next exciting edition of Crap You Don't Care About But Are Reading To Amuse Me. Happy 4th of July!

Birthdays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I put so many exclamation points because I'm yelling it. The past several days have seen several special ladies celebrate their 23rd birthdays. First, it was my former-roommate and Alaska-travel-pal, LeAnna, on June 29th. Hannah followed suit yesterday, and missed an opportunity to celebrate with Danny McBride. And now today is Emily, also a former-roommate, but currently still a bear.  So ladies, Happy Birthdays! I miss all three of you, and hope you celebrated appropriately. Or inappropriately. Maybe even disproportionately. So long as celebrating was happening.

Happy birthday, LeAnna, Hannah, and Emily!

The 'Sorry I Got Distracted and Wrote A Bad Review Of Jimmy Eat World' Album List 2010, Part 3

First and foremost, padawan learners, congrats are in order: We've had our first prize winner! My old buddy Zac correctly guessed tonight's album and selected the little Batman figure that guards my Mac. Truth is I never actually had a plan to give out prizes, just to offer them. But dammit, I'd be a right jerk if I did that. So Zac, I have no idea how (apparently I haven't thought of USPS), but you'll get your hands on this mini-Caped Crusader! For the rest of you, I may or may not actually give you the prize, depending on what it is and if I actually want/need it. My blog, my rules. Now get off my lawn you darn kids!

Business out of the way, let's get down to pleasure:

Twas the summer of 2001, and for the last six or so months, my friends and I had been anticipating one thing: the release of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. I'll tell you right now, this album's inclusion on my list has a lot more to do with that summer and those friends than it does with actual musical content.

Now in the months leading up to June 12, 2001, blink-182 released The Rock Show and its accompanying video. At this point in my life, I was spiking my hair up with a ton of gel in my best impression of Mark Hoppus. I tried my damnedest to find a pair of glasses like his in the video, but to no avail. And I definitely didn't have the cash to buy his pink bass. Anyways, June 12 rolls around, and I remember Wes' mom driving us over to Oak Hollow Mall to buy the CD. I got the Take Off version, which had bonus tracks Mother's Day and Break Up Song. I don't remember who else was in the van, but I imagine if Wes was there, Kevin was too, and Chad, since we all lived relatively close together. I think Drew and Brad were there, but this was 9 years ago.

So now we've got the CD. I play mine into oblivion: In the month and a half between buying the CD and seeing their show in Raleigh (my first concert, with Midtown and New Found Glory opening), I learned every damn song on there, and taught myself how to play with a pick. We went to the concert, and I stand by July 31, 2001 as one of the best days of my life. (It ranks right up there with the first time I saw Jurassic Park at a drive-in theater in Walkertown, NC.) Some guy gave Brad and Chad his nearly front row tickets as he was leaving the show, and they graciously came back and got me for the encore. I may as well have been in the pit for Carousel and Dammit, and if you know what kind of blink fan I am at 23, imagine it at 14.

I don't know how much the other guys stayed in touch, but the only one I see anymore is Chad. It's crazy where 9 years will take you.

Nostalgia over. Onto the album!  Anthem, Part II was about the only way they could open this. What other way to get kids pumped to listen then to talk shit about whatever authority we feel is holding us down? And it served as a nice connector to Enema of the State, which ended on Anthem. The energy is high throughout, which is why I was always a bit disappointed that it was followed by Online Songs. I skip this one without even thinking twice, and the first time I listened to it in a while was because of this little diddy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0LIvrxf-R0&playnext_from=TL&videos=zep3f_tE7Nw. They could've cut it and had First Date in the numero two spot, but instead they opted to not satisfy me, 9 years after the fact. Whatever.

So First Date was pretty cool. The video was funny, and I think it still is. The song is easily relatable to teen guys, and frankly that was why blink was so damn popular. Sure, the teeny-boppers thought they were hot and blah, blah, blah. But I think it was guys like me, or had been like me for Cheshire Cat and Dude Ranch, that made blink the unadulterated phenom that it was in 2001 and 2002. If you can find a bigger band during those two years, please tell me in the comments. Because they're all I remember.

Happy Holidays, You Bastard got laughs when it came out, but now it's skip material. I've contemplated deleting it, but I get kind of anal about completeness. It's why I own the steaming pile that is Jurassic Park III. Anyways, it's immature, stupid, and blatantly profane. Fine for that age, but it doesn't hold up.

Story of A Lonely Guy is the most under-rated song on this album. I like what the bass is doing in the intro and the guitar line over it is pretty cool. As a very melodramatic teenager (I think that's redundant) when it came to girls and the like, this song got me through some crushes and whatnots. And then there was The Rock Show, a great choice for first single. It's catchy, fast, and mentions the Warped Tour and girls. Stay Together For the Kids was realer than Adam's Song, even if it was dealing with a less (physically) harmful subject.

I need to be in a special mood to listen to Roller Coaster, because it only strikes me half the time. Reckless Abandon used to be one of my most skipped songs until I saw a video of Tom playing it live while he was with Angels & Airwaves. It works better slowed down, but I appreciated the album version more after that.

One of my favorite songs from blink is Pathetic off Dude Ranch, mostly because of the way Mark and Tom sing over each other in the verse, each singing their own little story. Every Time I Look For You has a little bit of that, and I appreciate it a great deal.  Give Me One Good Reason is my favorite song off this album because it's such a snotty little "Fuck you!" to everyone who's ever told you that you ought to fit in. Fit in to what? With who? This song told you it was all right to be your own person, but mostly to not give a shit about them. Whoever "them" is.

Shut Up is another skipper. There's not much I like about it, so I move on to Please Take Me Home. This one feels disjointed or mistimed, but it isn't. It bothered me at first, but Travis' drums brought me back into it. The breakdown here is gnarly, no two ways about it. I can't imagine them ending the album any other way.

Now, if you'll humor me, I'm going to be real about blink. If your mind is already made up about them, this won't change it. And I'm not trying to. I just want you to get why I'm so all about them. The lyrics have never been anything complicated, but they do their job. They speak to the teenager on their own terms—not talking down to them, or at them, but to them. Everyone remembers what it's like to be that age. Angry for no reason, wanting to be understood and not lectured, thinking you're the only one like you, etc. Looking back, yeah, we were self-centered brats. That's most of what being a teenager is. That's why when we have our own teenagers, we'll talk down to the and be annoyed with them. This life thing is very cyclical. But blink didn't have that air about them. They weren't necessarily the anti-parent, but here were some late-20-somethings, having a ball, telling you it's cool to just be you. That even though your parents are giving you shit, and school sucks, it's all right to be mad. It's OK to feel this way. Because you're not alone or the only one. Shit, Tom was kicked out of high school for going to a basketball game drunk! It gave hope to the teenage condition. And on top of that, they matured. Their last album was nothing like what came before, and it was a nice change of pace. Necessary too. How long can men write about being a teenager?

And so concludes another exciting edition of OK Music That Joey Finds More Than OK. I'm not sure if I'll be posting over the weekend, but I will try. Either way, here's the hint for the next album: You don't want to be the center of attention at this. The winner gets their choice of a 1995 Ford Bronco, two 30 lb. dumbbells, my Fusion razor, size 11 black Pirate boots, or my mostly-used bottle of "Tommy" cologne.

JBear's List of Music That'll Get You Whichever Sex You Prefer, Part 2

It's that time again, fans and fanettes! Or haters and hate-ettes. Time for the latest edition of Joey Likes These Albums and Hopes You At Least Don't Hate Them! The nostalgia-fest is nearly over. I'm getting my most expected albums out of the way early, so let's not keep you waiting.

Jimmy Eat World, formerly Bleed American before September 11, 2001, by Jimmy Eat World. Released the summer of 2001, I had been listening to the demos of this CD for a while, and then I got my hands on the actual studio version. By got my hands on, I really mean I borrowed Dave's copy of the CD for about a year. He has it back at any rate, so it's bygones.

The moment you press play on this one, you're in it. They lead with what was the title track, Bleed American. It's an unrelenting song, for J.E.W., and there's an urgency running through it. It peaks at the end of the bridge, right before they break into a solo, and they keep the energy going through the final chorus. Take note, friends, of the backing vocals, just off the main track. They're like an angry echo, challenging the main vocals to out-do them.

We don't get much of a between the first three songs, as each one jumps right into the next. I dig that they all use different sounds, too. Bleed American is full-on distorted guitars, bass, and drums. A Praise Chorus is all about some cymbals. It really picks up steam from the bridge onward, where they snag some lyrics from Crimson and Clover, in a smart move. They didn't have that part in the demo I originally listened to, but when added, it works. It fits the tone of the song, especially when the chorus is asking "...to hear a song I know." I dig that they actually went out and got a song they know.

The Middle kicks off with palm-muted guitars, and is really just a poppy, feel good song. Your House is the first break we get, and it's refreshing. It's slow, but there's still plenty of movement. And it starts a sequence of songs that reach out. From here, we get Sweetness, Hear You Me, and If You Don't Don't. I can't really explain that sentiment, either. You just need to listen to the songs in order. Maybe you'll feel the same thing I do. But probably not, since we're slightly different beings. I think it's most evident in If You Don't Don't, maybe because lead singer/guitarist Jim Adkins sounds like he's pleading here.

The latter part of the album is definitely a bit disjointed as far as tone goes. But I'm cool with it. As much as I like over-arching themes and cohesive ideas, they aren't always needed. You could even say Get It Faster reflects how the rest of the album will go. It starts like molasses down a slide, picks up, slows down, gets crazy with the solo, and then we get a new song. Cautioners is the missing link of the reaching outers. I would've put it after If You Don't Don't, and I would've ended the album on it, too.

The Authority Song feels a lot like The Middle, so I appreciate them being spread this far apart. I really like the female vocals throughout, and the simulated hand claps (snare) give it a retro-esque feel. I want to say '50s, but I'm not sure. Either way, it makes for an easy, painless song.

They end on My Sundown, which is a very calming experience. I think it'd be perfect as the secret track here, the bonus ending for the dedicated listener, with Cautioners as the lead. Either way, it's a pretty song. But it uses one of my least favorite effects: the note reverse-ifier. It reverses the notes sound, and that's the best way to explain it. Usually, it sucks. But when they use it here, I'm OK. No panic attacks, or hives, or the like.

So yeah, that wraps up The 'Sorry I Got Distracted and Wrote A Bad Review Of Jimmy Eat World' Album List 2010. I am sorry for the lack of quality here. I was distracted by Speed, and Mallrats. I won't be tomorrow night. That's for sure. Oh, and once again, no guesses means no winners. The hint for tomorrow: Things to do when you're really bored. Winner gets their choice of a 1995 Ford Bronco, two 30 lb. dumbbells, my used Fusion razor, the little Batman figure that guards my Mac, or a pair of size 11 Pirate black pirate boots.