Guitar Hero claims another household... mine

I haven't been posting a lot in recent weeks and I blame it squarely on my recent purchase of Guitar Hero II...

It's put a strange stranglehold on my household... both my sister and I find ourselves squeezing in all of our free time to master silly metal songs on a miniature plastic guitar.

Weekend Update

Plans to spend St. Patrick's Day on South Padre Island came to a screeching halt this past Friday. While driving down to the Rio Grande Valley, I stopped in Kingsville to let my dog out for a bathroom break. Upon doing so, my driver door got stuck in LOCK and I couldn't get the thing to re-open.

I was unsuccessful in getting the door to work correctly... so I attempted to contact Honda roadside service and my Insurance company for a possible tow.

Neither option worked out... so I had my parents drive up (2 hours) with proper rope so that I could tie it shut and get home.

The drive down was hellish. Imagine driving 2 hours with a car door died shut- dome lights that won't turn off and a check door bell that won't turn off.

I managed to get the door fixed... but it throw my entire weekend off.

ekobase.18

Uploaded on last Thursday , Ekobase 18 is up and ready to be downloaded.

I've been away from the internet for a couple of days... updates on life and other things to follow.

Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame - 2007 Inductees

It's half past 10 and I'm still on the couch watching the 2007 Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
VH1 Classic got the rights to broadcast the ceremony for the first time, LIVE and in its entirety.

I'm always a little torn when it comes to the RRHF ceremonies... I love to see artists who haven't reunited in a number of years - perform together on one night to recognize their contributions to music.

it upsets me to no end when original members refuse to appear together for one evening or when they opt to not appear in person because they're punker than thou.

This years Class is one of the most memorable in recent memory.

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
R.E.M.
The Ronettes
Patti Smith
Van Halen

Were all asked to join.

Of them all I look most forward to seeing R.E.M. get in this evening... The reasons for that are many. In short, they're one of the most influential artists of my lifetime.

I don't know what songs they'll perform this evening... I'm really hoping that they play these.

Harborcoat
WeWalk
These Days
Driver 8
End of the World as we know it

ekobase.se7enTeen

Uploaded on last Thursday , Ekobase 17 is up and ready to be downloaded.

The show LOST had an incredible this week... thus making the show one of the better ones to record in recent memory.

Waterloo Records

After my visit out to Ikea today, I drove out to Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas.

I've been out there a number of times in the past 2 months, but it just occurred to me that I haven't made a mention of it on the blog.

The record store is well known around these parts. If you're ever in the area (Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos) - make it a point to stop in and pay a visit. The selection is second to none... I've never talked to the store staff, but I'm sure they're quite knowledgeable.

They make it a point to stock the store with Music related books... I saw an amazing book today that I didn't pick up. It was a book of Raymon Pettibon's artwork.

I would have picked it up but I walked out with three new CD's. I'll post little reviews on those later this week or weekend...

Anyhoo. If you're in dire need of a record store - Waterloo is the place to go.

Movie Nite : Stick It

]After spending a good part of my Saturday in a small Honda Civic to Round Rock, Texas (Ikea), then to downtown Austin (Waterloo Records) - I opted to come home tonight and just chill out on the couch with my dog.

After downing a few Pyramid Apricot Ale's - I stumbled across a movie called "Stick It" on one of my many HD channels.

The immediate appeal was simple. Gymnast girls doing floor routines in HD = man chub.

I thought about flipping the channel as soon as the dialogue began, but I began to learn a lot of little things about gymnastics.

example. for years I wondered how girls kept their leotards from riding up their butts. the film shows gymnasts spraying their lower half's with Stick-Em glue.

the film also discussed point systems and how fickle judges are. did you know that a bra - showing during a floor routine is a deduction?

The film is horrible. Jeff Bridges, is in it... he plays a burned out coach. He totally phones in his performance and he even throws in a few "dude" moments in the event someone like myself hangs in for the conclusion of the film.

IKEA

Drove an hour an 20 minutes out of my way today to visit IKEA for the first time.

Got word that one opened up outside of Austin in December of last year... so I made it a point to drive out and see what all the fuss is about.

The store place was a lot larger than I imagined. I don't know how many other shoppers were there - but parking was hard to get at 11:00 AM

I didn't intend to purchase anything on my first visit. I'm in dire need of some proper media storage, but they didn't have anything to house my ridiculous music collection.

I picked up a few inexpensive lamps and a black food tray/black plate.

Some of the furniture appeared sturdier and of better quality in person. That's not to say that it's good by any means... a $199 couch, is $199 dollar couch.

American Hardcore : A Tribal History

Watched American Hardcore : A Tribal Historyon DVD the other night and I wanted to give a quick review on the documentary.

I read and loved, Steven Blush's "American Hardcore: A Tribal History" a few years ago and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about hardcore music.

I had very high hopes for the documentary, but it fell a little short for me... there's no way the documentary could cover everything thats in the book. An expansive 10 DVD documentary could only do that.

What I really wanted to see was the Misfits get some attention in the documentary, like they did in the book. This did not occur.

I don't recall the Dead Kennedy's getting heavy print in the book, but they got zero screen time on the documentary. Bad Brains and Black Flag got heavy screen time, but they also received a lot of inches in the book.

I think anyone whose into Hardcore will love the movie. There's incredible footage in it and some interesting interviews, but its not as rewarding as the book.

Sweet16.Ekobase

Uploaded on last nite, Ekobase 16 is up and ready to be downloaded.

I haven't had a chance to hear the playback yet... there's a good chance that my mom is on this episode. She sorta stormed in while I was recording the show and I'm fairly certain the visit didn't make the cutting room floor.