Thursday, June 28, 2007

Transformers the Movie



Ang galing!!!!

I feel like a kid treated to a movie or something really enjoyable. Effects and transformations and all, it's all really good. While it isn't loyal to the Transformers we all love, it is still worth watching in the big screen.

Plot is straightforward. The way its delivered is just amazing. I love the Transformers. I am biased. So?!?!?

Ang galing talaga!!!!


Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Woes of a Guitarist

Summer Scream 2007 is coming c/o Tim Mallilin.



Uneven will be playing. Of course. We have not practiced since the 2nd eliminations (summer scream is band contest, but we're just guests) which was around 2 weeks ago. It is now 3 days before the event. I have to be thankful it was moved from June 8 to June 16 because it buys me time to study "Acid Rain".



Acid Rain. Haaay....the song is hard to play. Harder when you try to interpret a 7 string guitar song into a 6 string guitar song. Harder when you know the song far stretches your left hand while your right hand is madly picking. Harder when they don't get coordinated. Harder when you thought you were playing fast, but you weren't playing fast enough!



Remember my "I got tagged" entry? I wouldn't mind if I didn't move at all while my fingers did all the work. They should be working! Furiously WORKING!!!



Then there's Tim song, by Mark King. No title, no album resource. I hope that's easier. I haven't started. I'm still stuck with Acid Rain. I'm in the guitar solo part now.



What's that? Which one?



The part where everyone dies and Petrucci goes all over the place playing ala Vai effects and tremolo. It's hardly melodic. Have to give it to the guy who 95% of the time does live what he did on the recording. How I'm going to pull that off is an "I don't know".



What am I facing? Acid Rain, Mark King, and 3 days. To think out of the 3 days, 1 or 2 will be for practicing with the band in the evenings. Good luck to me.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Addicted...

to this!!! Simple rules, just keep the creeps from reaching the other end of the stage. It's good for the brain. Keep them from going YIPEE!!!! Post your game level, scores. No lying!!!



Wednesday, June 6, 2007

I got tagged...

so many times I chose not to even open the mail!



Now, Zieg sent me a personal message to do it. So rules say 7 things about yourself. Odd things? I'm not sure. I haven't really read the formal rules. I already find it odd I'm writing about it! Here goes...

  1. I'm bad with names...except when you're cute, annoying, worthwhile, useful, friendly, suspicious, have body odor, and everything else extreme. Introduce yourself to me, count 2 minutes, I forgot you already. I do remember faces though. Yes I do, especially when you're ugly.

  2. I remember events that are relevant to me. Not all, but if I do, I remember details of it. I don't want to claim to be good at it. If it didn't hit me that much, it didn't happen.

  3. My best punchlines will be at the cost of others.
  4. I sleep around 12am and beyond regardless of what time I get up in the morning.
  5. My hair's been like this since high school. If it grows too long, you'd mistake me for the long lost member of the Jackson 5.
  6. I personally think I don't look good on stage when I perform. I feel awkward when I head bang, make "rock moves", and do anything performers do. I tend to be stiff while my fingers do all the work. I wish I could do more while looking good at the same time.
  7. I face the computer at work. When I get home, I do the same thing.
I could have put down more, but you'd think I'm evil.

Top 5 Worst Worship Songs

Got this from another blog I stumbled upon. Funny. Haha.



Okay, I know, many of you want to string me up after merely reading the title of this post. Let me explain: I'm a jerk. I'm cynical and somewhat of a music snob. In no way have I or would I ever pretend to be able to write a worship song, or any song for that matter, but I have been subjected to numerous worship sets which made me feel like laughing or puking. (Neither option is preferable when singing to the Big Guy.) Additionally, I am the director of our church's Worship Planning Team, so every week I consciously choose to let these and other songs which annoy me to be played, for the good of everyone else. So I am capable of group thinking. I just reserve the right to my opinion. And so do you. (So please tell me your own worst worship song).





5. I Will Not Forget You

I love Waterdeep. I think they are original and fun and somehow still serious and they usually move me in worship like nothing else. Here's the thing--I can't stand when songwriters want to use a word or phrase, then realize that using said phrase would mess up the rhythm of the song, but instead of rethinking the phrase, they add a word. In this case, the word is 'huge'. (As in, "a huge bell I ring"). I usually remain silent on this line or risk bursting into an inappropriate display of worship laughter.





4. Trading My Sorrows



Please don't kill me. I know that a lot of people love this song, particularly the actions (oh my goodness, don't get me started on action songs). This might be a little picky, but what am I if not detail-oriented? The bridge of this song includes the line "Though the sorrow may last for the night" and the music hits on each word in 'last for the night' in such a way that makes me think of hip-shaking. As in: Though the sorrow may last (stick hip out to right) for (to left) the (to right) night (to left). Get it? Anecdote--I was in a worship setting with my friend Marty and we were singing this song. We get to this part of the song, and, I kid you not, Marty does the hip thing. Completely his idea. I almost crapped my pants.





3.Draw Me Close Not a big fan of the emotional 'Jesus is sitting next to me' type songs. "I'd lay it all down again/ To hear you say that I'm your friend." Not so bad, I guess. Just wait. "You are my desire/ No one else will do/ Cause nothing else could take your place/ To feel the warmth of your embrace." What on earth does that mean? Grammatically speaking, we have a monster on our hands. To what does 'to feel the warmth of your embrace' refer? Peter, please back me up on this one.





2. Come, Now is the Time to Worship

This song is one of a few in a category I like to call "Ha, ha. You have to sing me first." For a Worship Planning Team director, this is maddening. Not to mention the weird chorus that doesn't seem to fit and the way we must all say 'come' at the end of the verse in an unnatural sing-whisper.





1. Your Love is Extravagant



I'm pulling out of the 'most recent' file on this one. My friend Hannah introduced me to this song, and when she sings it, it's great. She has a beautiful voice, and I can pretty much ignore whatever she is saying when she's singing. But when forced to sing as a participant, I found this song problematic. (Again, grammatically). "Spread wide in the arms of Christ/ Is the love that covers sin." No one told me we were moving back to Olde English on this one, and I spent an entire morning trying to figure out what I had just sung. I asked like 10 people what it meant, and understood even less when I was done. (I felt like a major idiot because it seemed like everyone else understood what we were saying. Maybe they just didn't care). Later, Danny explained that we were saying "The love that covers sin is spread wide in the arms of Christ." English majors.





Freebies:

Anything with the word 'river' in the title



This includes "Jesus Flow Like a River," "Let the River Flow," and "Dance in the River." My reasoning: no one can legitimately explain what the 'river' signifies. Seriously. Once, my friend Peter (whose list would be MUCH longer than mine) asked people why they liked a song with 'river' in the title. I believe he said, "What exactly is the river?" The answer? "Oh, you know, its Jesus and he's flowing through us. It's like the Spirit or something." Whatever.





Songs with lyrics that don't match the melody

Example: I Could Sing of Your Love Forever Here, we are singing a fun, happy verse, and then we move into the bridge with a depressing sound where we say, "Oh, I feel like dancing….." (Actually, this music makes me feel like crying.) "Like we're dancing now" (By the way, I have never seen anyone dance at this point. False advertising.)



**I Googled this topic and came up with nothing. So, from now on, when
anyone wants to find the world's worst worship songs, they will see
this list. So, if you want to be a world-famous jerk (and, really, who
doesn't?), post your comments.



That's it! Post your comments!

Friday, June 1, 2007

Marvel - Civil War

If you don't know what's going in the marvel universe for the past months, it's this one. This isn't the currently running series, because the war is over...or is it?



Anyway, it's Captain America VS Ironman.





Why? A group of superheroes named "The New Warriors" (Wow! Very intimidating!) were going "live" for a reality TV show and took on a group of super villains in Stamford. So they launched an attack hoping for good ratings. One of the super villains, Nitro, possesses the ability to explode (yup! kapoot! boom!) and rebuild himself after some time. Of course, superhero fights don't get contained in one lot. Nitro crashes beside a school. Nitro explodes. Everyone is dead. Except Nitro, of course, who manages to escape after that.



This further pushes for the superhuman registration to become law, with Tony Stark (Ironman) leading the act. The law states that everyone who possesses superhuman abilities, whether it be with the aid of machine, mutant gene, some accident and the like, are all required to register. Registration means knowing who you are. No more secret identities for you. Steve Rogers (Captain America) believes this violates civilian rights. Law sees those who refuse to register as criminals.



Questions about loyalty, friendship, patriotism, and ethics come to play.



I've been reading this for quiet some time now. It's good! I don't have the comics. I'm not rich. I have other means. Other free means. =)



Spiderman? Well...