Caught In The Whirlwind
Jason
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Posts by Jason
Black Holes and Revelations
Aug 24th 2006
Muse - Black Holes and Revalations
I just picked up Muse’s new album (well not really new at this point exactly) the other day and got a chance to listen to it a few times.
If you’re not familiar with Muse or how they sound, you’re probably going to want to click the image there over to the Amazon page and check out some samples, because I really can’t describe them. Not that I’m good at describing music anyway, but this is one of those times where that’s epically true. The word “Different” come to mind, really. Like Radiohead crossed with some Queen thrown in. Which is a really bad comparison, but it’s all I got. Listen for yourself!
Anyway, I got turned onto the band by the members of the mikeportnoy.com forums, with Absolution, so I’m not an old school fan by any means. This also usually isn’t the kind of stuff I generally listen to (things with a cleaner production, for example)
One of the main things that the band seemed to want to do with this album is to branch out and experiment with some different sounds. Heavier rock, lighter balads, a little electronica thrown in there with “Supermassive Black Hole”, etc.The last one is the only track where the influence is very obvious and somewhat overbearing. If you only hear “Supermassive Black Hole” before purchasing, know that the rest of the CD is more in the Muse style.
My initial impressions of this CD are very positive. I like all the different angles they take on their base sound and don’t seem afraid to branch out a bit into other genres. My only complaint, if you can call it that is that the vocals on a lot of the tracks seem to kinda run together. Matthew Bellamy‘s a very technical singer with a lot of inflection and pitch changes (and all that good stuff) in his vocals, but it seems he can get in a rut at times which makes the vocal lines on every song sound pretty similar. It’s just a minor criticism though and doesn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the album. Overall, I like it more than Absolution.
Favorite tracks include “Starlight” which is a more straight ahead pop type song and “Assassin” which is probably the heaviest song on the CD. “Knights of Cydonia” also rocks. Hard.
QotD: I’m Such A Nerd Because…
Aug 24th 2006
What’s the nerdiest thing about you?
Ok, first of all…I’m a geek. Not a nerd. There’s a slight difference. Geeks are nerds with social skills and no pocket protectors. You can probably pick a nerd out of a crowd, but a geek is a little harder to spot. I get a little touchy about the difference 
Home Penguins
Anyway, to answer the question, I’m really not sure. I do computer programming in my spare time for fun. That’s probably it right there. I enjoy figuring out how to solve a problem and seeing what I make actually work. That’s my only real useful like hobby I guess. The rest involves just playing video games and other time wasting things. I’m one of those people who learns a new programming language just for the heck of it.I also have a stuffed penguin collection. Tux the Linux penguin features promiently in there, but I do have another penguin that I picked up at the zoo (The friends I was with gave me some very odd looks after that one). That might be runner up on the geek-o-meter.
Work Penguin
There’s nothing wrong with collecting stuffed penguins! Don’t look at me like that! I also have one of the Serta Counting Sheep that I got from my parents for Christmas a couple years ago after saying “I want a sheep!” a couple times when the commercial was on.
I also have a couple of the Neopet (quit looking at me like that again!) dragon type things from when McDonalds was doing their Neopet happy meal toy thing. My sister worked there at the time, so she was able to swipe a couple for me
Vox Hunt: That Rules
Aug 23rd 2006
Show us some rules.
Sign At West Point
Ok, in the interests of full disclosure…I did not take this picture. It’s a sign at westpoint military academy. One of my friends took a tour there and he saw this sign and had to take a picture. So I’m cheating a little but, but it’s for the benefit of everyone, isn’t it? 
Is It A Bad Sign…
Aug 23rd 2006
Random thought of the moment: Is it a bad sign when you go home for lunch feeling as tired as you would at the end of the entire day?
Anyway, just so this isn’t a one sentence post, I saw some new info on one of the games coming out this fall that I’m eagerly awaiting, Guitar Hero 2. According to videogamesblogger.com, a whole bunch of cool new stuff is going into this edition, including a multiplayer mode where two players compete against each other playing the same notes, easier hammer-ons and pull-offs and three note chords.
Another song was also revealed. Freebird. Check out the Official Movie 2 for some footage. After seeing a little bit of the final solo, I think a friend of mine had the proper phrase: “holy mother of god”
It releases on the 24th of November…I’m counting down the days.
QotD: Teacher’s Pet
Aug 23rd 2006
What was (or is) your favorite subject in school?
I’ve always been into the science stuff. In high school at least. I’m a hands on kinda person, so having lab time where you get to experiment with stuff and see what you’re learning actually work is really cool and something you don’t normally get with other subjects.
When I got to college though, things turned slightly. Since I was taking things which are more in my field of interest, it ended up that any course that had to deal with computers/programming ended up being my favorite. It also helped that I had the most awesome teacher EVER. (Thank you Mr. Kotary!)
Unfortunetly, after I finished up my first two years, I got really dissatisfied with the whole thing since I really wasn’t learning anything new. So now I don’t really have a favorite subject…I’m just trying to get the shiny piece of paper that lets other people know I can do what I’m already doing.
Morons And The Internet
Aug 22nd 2006
What is it about the Internet that brings out the worst in a lot of people? Is it really so hard to believe that behind the text you’re reading on the screen…there’s a real person sitting there typing?
Anonymity and the Internet is pretty well discussed. The prospect of Anonymity changes some people. They take it as an excuse to be, well…morons without having to deal with the consequences. Insult a guy online, you’re probably never going to see him again, right? No big deal! Of course you would never say the same thing to the persons face.
Maybe it’s that the individual has a problem even thinking of someone else they meet online as a person. It’s a fairly abstract concept, to be fair. Attaching just disembodied text to a real person might not be the most natural thing in the world. I would hope that people would realize how that text is getting there in the first place.
I dunno, maybe I’m holding humanity to too high of a standard. Luckily, some people still have common sense about this stuff. Perhaps the morons are just the vocal minority.
This whole rant was brought about by reading the PvP forums today on the official City of Heroes forums, something which I usually don’t do. For those not familiar with the area, it’s the cesspool of the forums, with flames and insults going back and forth at the drop of a hat. It just amazes me that people can behave that way towards one another.
Sorry about the rant. Slow day at work here.
QotD: In Heavy Rotation
Aug 22nd 2006
What albums are in heavy rotation for you right now?
First up, we have Frost* – Milliontown. I got turned onto this particular group through the Mike Portnoy Forums when somebody posted over there that people should check them out. It’s made up of a bunch of people from other bands, like Jon Jowitt and Andy Edwards from IQ.
The main creative force behind it is Jem Godfrey, who is primarily a pop songwriter who secretly has a love for Progressive music. Frost* is his take on what progressive rock/metal should be. I’m always horrible at explaining how music sounds, so it might be easier for you to go check it out and listen to some of the samples It’s a very well produced album, and probably my favorite release of the year so far.
Another CD that’s been played a lot recently is from Spock’s Beard. Their second release after the departure of Neal Morse, Octane, really shows their growth as a band. I think they’ve finally found their sound, which is a cross between Prog and more popish songs. They’re really not that great at making long epic songs anymore, but the individual parts of A Flash Before My Eyes can stand on their own. What they excel at are tracks like There Was A Time and As Long as we Ride which are shorter songs with great hooks and wonderful production and playing. I can safely say I enjoy both the Neal Morse era Beard and the new Post-Neal era stuff.
Oh, and ONE WEEK until Dream Theater – Score is released! This is a live DVD and audio CD release from one of the best shows of Dream Theater’s carreer at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The best part is they got a full orchestra to play along with them in the second set and encore. I’ve heard samples of Metropolis Pt. 1 played along with the orchestra and I can’t wait to get the full audio quality of this one. There’s going to be a teaser preview happening this weekend on VH1 Classic if you get that channel. About an hour of the concert is going to be shown, and each showing is preceded by an episode of Metal Mania hosted by Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci
One More Week Until Classes
Aug 21st 2006
Well, it just hit me today (and it’s a good thing it hit as well…) that classes start up for me on Monday. This will be my first class in over a year since I wasn’t able to actually sign up for anything I needed for the previous two semesters.
My situation is kinda odd. I work full time and go to school part time, which may not have been one of my brighter decisions…but it felt right at the time. Anyway, I’ve got about 3-4 classes, plus a large scale project that I need to do before I get my Computer Science degree. And I can only take classes at night or on weekends, which limits what I can take. Hence the year off.
But I’m back. I get to take American History (Colonies to the Reconstruction). Stuff I’ve already learned in high school, of course. But they like making you pay for classes, so they teach everything again. I’m not bitter. Nope.
I picked this particular course since I think that one of my teachers from high school is teaching it. He was a really good teacher then and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn he’s moved up to teaching at a college level. Hopefully I’m right and this is the same person. Otherwise, I may be in for a bumpy ride.
I need to swing by the school tomorrow and pick up my parking permit and books. Books are going to run me about $94. Yay for the overpriced textbook market!
Vox Hunt: Stuck On You
Aug 21st 2006
Take a picture of something that someone put a sticker
Sticker On The Paper
Well…this one isn’t quite as good as my last one, but here’s a copy of the local newspaper with a sticker for an ambulance service on it…handily covering up the name of the paper. Oh, and there’s Tiger Woods. He just won. Again.
The story with the ambulance thing is that, previously, the city contracted out to a private service for our ambulance response stuff. However, they recently created an ambulance service attached to the fire department, which is the default provider if you call 911. Of course, this kinda ticked off the private company. If you call 911, they’re trying to get people to insist that the ambulance they send out is one of theirs instead of the cities. It got very bizarre for a while.
QotD: My First Car
Aug 21st 2006
Tell us a little something about your first car. Do you have any photos you can share?
Submitted by tamara.
If you count the minivan my parents let me drive as my primary means of transportation, my first car was a Dodge Caravan. Green. 1998 I believe. They let me use it since they my mom had just gotten a new car and we had a “spare” hanging around which I needed for commuting to college and stuff.
Tragedy stuck though! Bad head gasket 
So what they did was trade it in to the dealership (who didn’t really notice the head gasket thing…oops) to buy my dad a truck and get him out of our other minivan, which was a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan. In teal. I ended up getting the grand caravan after that for a while. Until my sister got her license that is.
My Car
At that point, my parents suggested that I look into getting a car of my own, and after looking around (since I had a steady job and all), I ended up going with a brand new 2003 Honda Civic LX. That would be my first car, if you’re counting cars which I had paid for myself. Well, still am paying for. It’s almost paid off now.
Sorry, no horror storries of a horrible clunker here with parts falling off. Now, if I could get one of my friends to post on Vox, he’s got some stories…He has the worst luck with cars.
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