i only listen to death metal

Testing the wordpress iPhone app.

Someday soon I’ll revamp this site and start utilizing it. Promise.

Well… I’ve said it before, and I’m certain I will say it again, but Guitar Hero officially jumped the shark when they announced this turd a few months back. Followed quickly by a trailer for another ridiculous cash-cow, the franchise was basically dead to me. Until today…

Guitar Hero: Metallica coming before Q1 2009

Fuck yeah!

Only problem I foresee at this point, is that the difficultly margin will look something like this:

In addition, I’m demanding the following challenges, features and mini-games:

• The Dave Mustaine Six-Pack Slam: Party Fuckin’ Hard! Be sure to slam those brews… if you can’t chug 6 in 3 minutes or less, it’s your ass and a bus ticket back to Cali.
• “…And Justice For All” Bass Tracks: So you’ve nailed the solo for “One” using only one-hand tapping? On Expert? Awesome! Now let’s see how how good your memory is, as you attempt to recall those sweet Newsted bass fills using absolutely no audio whatsoever.
• The Bob-Rock-Creative-Cock-Block: Got a sweet riff in mind? Too Bad!!! Race Bob Rock to the mixing console to see who gets the chance to “fix it in the mix.”
• The “Fresh Approach” Tactic: Running to low on funds? It’s time to freshen your image! Nothing a trip to the barber and a less-threatening logo can’t fix! Lollapalooza here we come!
• Napsterama!: Hit the Red button as fast as you can in an attempt to make legal mumbo-jumbo continue to spew from Lars’ mouth. Hey kid… stop all the downloadin’!
• The Crying Game: Aww… Lars and James are fighting AGAIN… time to bring in the band shrink. –$40,000.
• TOO HEAVY!: Get back to your roots! Mash the buttons even harder for some sweet Frantic-Tic-Tic-Toc. Don’t worry about sore fingers… play it right once and you can just loop that shit!

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• The Venture Bros.
• AF-Kin at Mickey Finns
• Cleaning
• Errands
• BBQ w/ some old friends
• Six Flags
• Grocery Shopping
• BBQ w/ the folks

Good times…

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So the stylus on my record player broke a few days ago. After some extensive research, I opted to replace the entire cartridge with one of these. I’m certainly no audiophile, but (with such a good deal on Amazon) I decided to give it a shot. Low and behold, it sounds great. Thanks to the good folks at Shure I’m currently rocking:

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I know, I know… I need to start posting more than just “Weekend Roundups.” I’ll try and get on that.

So anyways, I’m still trying to kick this cold. It’s pretty much over for the most part, but I still have a sore throat, and a cough that rears its head from time to time. Hopefully warmer weather and more sleep help things along in that department.

This weekend was nice… relaxing, productive, and filled with violent movies. Just the way i like ‘em.

Friday started off with some mild cleaning, and the delivery of our new couch. We purchased this beast about a month ago from Rudolph’s Furniture in Grayslake. It’s a massive sectional… comfy as hell and really fits the decor. It also does a great job of separating our living room into it’s “own space” which is something I’ve wanted for years. Only a few more elements to go (ie: new table, ceiling fan & storage cabinet) and i think we can safely say the downstairs is done.

Friday night was spent enjoying a great meal at Saluto’s with Kelly and my folks. Goddamn does that place rule.

Saturday, Kelly and her mom headed off to DiCarlo’s Spring Wine and Food Festival, so I headed over to Gurnee Mills to see Street Kings (the first in my trilogy of violence). Solid “cop drama;” not the best I’ve seen, but enjoyable enough to recommend it.

Saturday evening, we hung out with Chris & Bridget… got some Mexican food and watched the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. Here’s just a taste of the kind of awesome shit this film had to offer…

Seriously… if you haven’t seen Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky yet… get on it!

Sunday was a productive day… gave the downstairs a thorough cleaning, grocery shopping & the first bbq of the season. Hot dogs and corn-on-the-cob haven’t tasted that good in a loooong time. Wrapped up the day with some Food Network & another bloody epic.

Here’s to hoping I can kick this cold for good and get moving on Dan’s site this week.

I figure I’d post an early edition of this weekend’s events because I honestly don’t see much going on today, as both Kelly and I are sick as shit. The weather here has been pretty flaky as of late, so I’m guessing that doesn’t help much.

Anyways, Friday we headed out to the Grand Opening of The Oasis. The Oasis is a brand new teen center in Grayslake, and has been a collaborative effort that Greg has been involved in for several years. Ben and I have been working on developing their website for the past several months, and I’m pretty happy with how it came out (let’s just hope it stays updated frequently). The Grand Opening was seemingly a big success… lot of people there and everyone looked to be enjoying themselves.

Saturday, when not sitting in traffic or driving in rain, was spent perusing records at the CHIRP Record Fair. The fair was a bit smaller this year, and they seemed to have scaled down the extra-curricular events like Guitar Hero and DDR (but the crappy indie bands and 40-year-old obnoxious record nerds were ever present). Between the fair, a quick trip to Metal Haven, and the mail yesterday, I ended up with quite a haul…

• Death - Scream Bloody Gore
• Death - The Sound of Perseverance
• Death - Individual Thought Patterns
• Killing Joke - Pandemonium
• Meshuggah - Obzen
• Prong - Rude Awakening
• Suicidal Tendencies - Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit… Deja Vu
• Anthrax - I’m the Man
• DJ Shadow - Endtroducing…
• Trouble - The Skull
• Die Kreuzen - Gone Away EP
• The Cure - Pornography
• Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill
• The Mushuganas - S/T

Damn… that IS quite a haul. Guess I didn’t realize it until i had to type it all in.

The record fair was followed by a trip to Kuma’s Corner (I think that this point, no trip to the city will be complete without a trip to Kuma’s). I was feeling adventurous, so i opted for the PLAGUE BRINGER (Roasted Garlic Mayo, Tortilla Strips, Chicago CO-OP hot sauce, Fresh Garlic, Pepper Jack, Sliced Jalapeños). Much like the actual Plague Bringer, it ruled. Kelly tried out the “Make Your Own Mac & Cheese” (w/ Bacon & Corn) and was also very pleased with the results. I believe her quote was something to the effect of, “this is enough for 4 meals.” Yum.

The rest of the day was spent sitting in more traffic, running errands and vegging out, trying to kick these colds. I have a feeling today will be more of the same (though hopefully there will be a bit more of this and this).

Don’t forget… next weekend!

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Thanks to the dairy industry, we’ve had to endure 15 years of the most ridiculous, over-used marketing strategy known to man… and I for one, am fucking sick of it.

It’s no surprise the world is full of lazy and/or stupid businesses/designers/marketing people, but come on:

• got mustard?
• got jesus? (too obvious)
• got weed? (even more obvious)
• got court?
• got basement?
• got plumber? (i shit you not)
• got gobble? (wtf?)

Milk may do a body good, but it does shit for brains of shit-for-brains.

Well… a good, long weekend has come to a close. Bummer. But, it was a fairly enjoyable one. Among other things, I spent time playing Grifball with some friends, celebrating my dad’s 54th birthday, and rocking out to the stylings of Converge, The Red Chord, Baroness & Genghis Tron.

I managed to score a beautiful John Baizley print at the show…

Signed and numbered (25/100)… pretty stoked about that.

This week looks to be pretty full of things to do, so I’ll probably keep posts to a minimum. I’ll probably end up posting again after Saturday’s events.

I plan on really putting some effort into this site the coming month (give or take), so kick my ass if you don’t see something blatantly more evil by mid-May.

I just saw this man driving the most hilariously pimped-out car this side of Hollywood.