the sky is filled with light

Justin, Perry, Daniel and I headed up to Lexington last Sunday night for my second (and unless someone commits to going to one of the November shows with me, probably last) show of Nine Inch Nail's Lights in the Sky 2008 tour. Great show; right up there with the Cleveland one. The crowd was a little mellower than in Cleveland, which makes it strange that I got much clearer shots at that show. While Perry and I ended up a little closer to the stage than Jon and I had been at the first show, we also ended up on the right side of the stage (which you can clearly see from the pictures).

The band was on top of things yet again. A lot of the same great songs from the first show were just as good this time--"Head Down," "Reptile," "The Warning," and "God Given" especially. As always "Terrible Lie" was another highlight of the night. After playing it for twenty years, Trent Reznor still pours everything into it. I couldn't believe we got to hear "The Great Destroyer"--best song of the night; "The Beginning of the End" and "Ghosts 14" were two new standouts as well. In fact, I liked the whole "Ghosts" mini-set even better this time. The only real disappoint was not only did we get "The Frail" without "The Wretched" but the exclusion of "The Big Come Down" left us without any real songs from The Fragile. Overall it was another unbelievable show and it left me eager for November. Seriously. Any takers?

All my photos from the concert can be viewed at my flickr page.


999,999
1,000,000
Letting You
Discipline
March Of The Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
Reptile
Closer
Gave Up
The Warning
The Great Destroyer
Ghosts 21
Ghosts 14
Ghosts 19
Piggy (Ghosts version)
The Greater Good
Pinion
Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
Ghosts 31
Only
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like A Hole

(encore)
Echoplex
The Beginning Of The End
God Given
Hurt
In This Twilight

Discipline

Closer

The Warning

The Great Destroyer

Wish

The Hand That Feeds

in this world for you

It's football season, which means it's time once again for fantasy football games. As usual, we have pick'em games to join. So do it.

College Pick'em: League #1650 password bearcats

Pro Pick'em: League #3371 password bengals

NFL Survival Football: League #957 password cincy08

College Pick'em starts in just two days and the NFL games start next week, so don't delay!

old enough to repay but young enough to sell

Libertarian Presidential Candidate Bob Barr was on The Colbert Report yesterday. It was a decent interview; not a lot of substance, but that seems to be how a lot of Colbert's interviews go. But hopefully Barr will reap the benefits of the "Colbert Bump".

no more time to waste

More photos from Daufuskie Island.

not a single thing here i can recognize

NIN have already announced a fall leg to their North American summer tour (which is separated by a short jaunt to Central and South Americas). They'll be hitting this area in mid-November; the closest date is Columbus on November 17th, but the presale already started an hour ago, so that makes that show less likely (that's also Jess' birthday, but I was given the green light for the concert because she has class all day). So it might be better to either hit the Fort Wayne show the next night (Nov. 18th), which would be about four hours each way. Or maybe people would rather go to the Grand Rapids on Nov. 15th, which is a Saturday, so we could either take our time with the six-hour drive back or get a hotel and not have a crappy day at work the next day (since that would be a Sunday). Or maybe no one else but me really has any interest in seeing them again so soon...

If people want to go to the Columbus show they'll have to let me know very soon. Plus, I don't have the funds to buy tickets at the moment, so someone else would need to pay for those tickets. Please let me know soon if you're interested so I can make plans.

NIN Lights in the Sky 2008 Tour Dates.

Directions to Fort Wayne.

Directions to Grand Rapids.

really all that there ever was?

More pictures and video from the concert; the videos aren't mine--I took them from Youtube.

Vessel

Ghosts 5

Head Like a Hole

Echoplex

God Given

In This Twilight

Piggy

Wish

The Big Come Down

Only


Reptile


God Given

nothing can stop me now

I headed up to Cleveland with a few people yesterday to see Nine Inch Nails at Quicken Loans Arena for the first of two shows I'll be seeing this tour. Jon and I had general admission floor tickets, and we started with decent spots dead center in the middle, and about thirty feet from the rail. The opener--a local named Nicholas Megalis--started around 7:15, and NIN started playing around 8:30 (which was a welcome surprise, I was expecting them to start around 9).

NIN always puts on a great light show, and this one was the best I've seen yet. I was glad I took my camera; surprisingly I got some decent pictures and managed to avoid having my camera destroyed. I tried getting a picture during every song, but it just wasn't possible during ones like "March of the Pigs" and "Gave Up". I wasn't willing to risk having my camera broken while being shoved around.

Musically the band was tight and energetic. Trent Reznor was fantastic as always--though his reported throat problems were evident a couple times--while Josh Freese and Robin Fincke were especially amazing. There wasn't a dull song in the whole two hours of the show. Even staples like "Wish" and "Terrible Lie" were fantastic. They ended up playing mostly songs from The Slip and Year Zero, which sounded great, with a handful of older classics thrown in. I was really glad they incorporated a mini Ghosts set. It was great getting a couple less popular Downward Spiral songs like "Piggy"--which had a different feel from the album version--and "Reptile". Jon and I managed to slip to within ten feet of the front of the stage during "Wish". I'd have to say my own highlights were "Head Down," "Vessel," "Terrible Lie," "Echoplex," "Reptile," and "God Given". Oh, and Freese's drum solo on "Piggy". This also had to be the best engineered concert I've ever been to. The sound mixing was perfect; no overpowering bass, no ear-splitting highs, no vocals being drowned out by the music. At times it sounded like an actual live album mixed by an engineer in the studio. My hat goes off to the stage and sound crew.

Fantastic show by the best band out there right now. Can't wait till the Lexington show. Hopefully Trent's strained voice will hold up.


999,999
1,000,000
Letting You
Discipline
March of the Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
Closer
Gave Up
Warning
Vessel
Ghosts 5
Ghosts 25
Ghosts 19
Piggy (Ghosts version)
The Greater Good
Pinion
Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
The Big Come Down
Ghosts 31
Only
Head Like a Hole

(encore)
Echoplex
Reptile
God Given
Hurt
In This Twilight

Head Down

The Warning

Ghosts 25

The Greater Good

Terrible Lie

Echoplex

In This Twilight

All of my NIN pictures can be found here.

an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.

take their passage into night

I apologize for the lack of updates, which is the result of both a lot going on and my (failing) continual effort to limit my computer usage for the sake of my arm.

There have been some big changes lately. First off, I sold my Canon Powershot S3 IS camera, and bought a new Sony A200 DSLR. I only have the standard 18-55mm kit lens but I hope to get Sony's 55-200mm lens soon.

The bigger and better news is that I finally have a new job. Starting Monday I will be a new claims processor for Great American Insurance. It may end up being boring, but the pay is nice and it gets me out of Circuit City. The real test will be how my wrist and arm fair being in front of the computer for eight hours a day.

I just got back from Daufuskie Island in South Carolina with Jess and her family. The island was beautiful and we had great weather most of the time. It was great to get out of Cincinnati for a few days.

a siren singing you to shipwreck

"If you're looking for Kid Rock you're in the wrong place." - Thom Yorke

Robby and I traveled to Indianapolis Sunday night to see Radiohead at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. We had lawn tickets, but still had a good view of the stage since the Verizon amphitheater is laid out much better than Riverbend here in Cincinnati.

I'll keep this brief; but the band was fantastic. Awesome light show, great set list. The band played for slightly over two hours, blowing through all of In Rainbows, along with a good peppering of songs from Hail to the Thief, Amnesiac, Kid A, and OK Computer. While there wasn't a bad song among them, I'd say my personal highlights included "How To Disappear Completely," "Idioteque," "There There," and all three cuts from OK Computer.

I have to again mention how cool the stage setup was. With the exception of my second Nine Inch Nails show--which was at this same venue, coincidently enough--I haven't seen a better light show. Check out these awesome pictures from Keith Klenowski to get a good idea of what I mean (although even they don't do it justice).

It was an awesome show, and I wouldn't hesitate to see Radiohead again.


01. 15 Step
02. Bodysnatchers
03. There There
04. All I Need
05. Pyramid Song
06. Nude
07. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
08. The Gloaming
09. Climbing Up The Walls
10. Faust Arp
11. Videotape
12. Morning Bell
13. Idioteque
14. Reckoner
15. Everything in its Right Place
16. Just
17. How To Disappear Completely

Encore 1
18. You and Whose Army?
19. Bangers and Mash
20. Exit Music (For A Film)
21. Jigsaw Falling Into Place
22. Karma Police

Encore 2
23. House of Cards
24. The National Anthem
25. Street Spirit

That ends the first of my three big concerts in August. Next up: Nine Inch Nails in Cleveland on August 22...

won't get fooled again

• Senator Reid Says Barrack Obama Will Revisit FISA If Elected President. - Then why not oppose it in the first place?! Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
  

• Obama Would Consider Using Military Action Against Iran; "No Options Off The Table." - Apparently Obama's definition of "change" is to use the same foreign policy as the Bush administration. This is despite the fact that polls show the majority of Americans oppose a military solution for Iran. Sadly, most of these Americans will still vote for either Obama or McCain, even though these candidates are not interested out the will of the American people.

Part of me still wants to believe that Obama would do something to help turn America around; I have no hope of McCain doing so. That said, I'm not naive enough to actually vote for him.

echoes off these walls

My lack of activity isn't because I have nothing to say; there's plenty to talk about--The Dark Knight, sports, and of course, politics. No, the reason I haven't posted at all in the past couple weeks is because of the serious carpal tunnel-like symptoms I've been experiencing lately. I've always occasionally had cramping and stiffness in my hands and wrists--the product of years of online gaming and internet use. But lately the symptoms have grown much worse, so I've been severely limiting my computer usage in attempt to relieve the pain. We'll have to see how things go but it may be a little while till I get back to regular posting.

the politics of greed

This still isn't getting any easier to swallow. John Turley does an excellent job of laying out why the passage of the FISA bill is a horrible blight on the history of this country (this video was aired on July 8, a day before the bill was passed). Quite simply, the spineless Democrats are allowing Bush and his Republican cronies to cover up the fact that the President is guilty of a felony--a felony he committed at least thirty times! From the clip:

"What the Democrats are doing here with the White House is they're trying to conceal a crime that is hiding in plain view. ... Nobody wants to have a confrontation over the fact that the president committed a felony. ... That's a very inconvenient fact right now in Washington."

"The Democrats have learned well from Bush," Turley said in amazement. "They're just going to change the rules. ... It's otherworldly. ... I am completely astonished by Senator Obama's position -- and obviously disappointed. All of these senators need to respect us enough not to call it a compromise. It's a cave-in."

"It's like all those stories where someone is assaulted on the street and a hundred witnesses do nothing," continued Turley. "In this case, the Fourth Amendment is going to be eviscerated tomorrow, and a hundred people are going to watch it happen because it's just not their problem. ... There's not an ounce of principle, not an ounce of public interest in this legislation."

Turley added that even though the telecoms could still be prosecuted criminally, it's unlikely to happen. "The fix is in," he concluded. "Tomorrow night, there's going to be a lot of celebrating among telecom lobbyists. ... What we will lose tomorrow, it's something very precious."

This country has come a long way since Watergate in how it deals with Presidential felonies and unfortunately the change is not for the better.

watching with their shiny satellites

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

Today the Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill to expand Federal domestic surveillance powers and grant retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies for aiding the federal government in spying on American citizens.

I'm furious. Our elected officials in the federal government have made it clear what their priorities are, and it isn't upholding the Constitution or looking out for the rights of the American people. I will never vote for the reelection of Congressman Chabot, Senator Voinovich, or anyone else who supported this act. In fact, I plan to write both of their offices and tell them this. It's not much, but it's something. I'm tired of people saying that there's nothing that can be done about it. The solution is actually fairly simple: stop voting for them!! These people have willfully betrayed the Constitution and the American people. In my mind they are traitors and should be dealt with as such.

We elect people to go to Washington to speak and vote on our behalf; anyone whose votes show their lack of respect for the principles this country was founded on does not speak for me. Senator Obama ultimately voted in favor of the bill, which is the last straw for my declining support of him. He does not care about the Constitution. He does not care about the rights of the American people. His "change" is a lie. I do not want him to be my president. Even Hillary Clinton voted against this bill!

At least John McCain hasn't tried to hide the fact that he's a disciple of Bush and will unapologetically continue to expand the executive branch while eroding civil liberties. I've come to the conclusion that Barack Obama may actually be worse--he's guilty of manipulating people into believe in a movement towards change, and once the Democratic nomination was secured, he's shown his true colors.

Not that it ultimately matters which one of them is elected; they'll both continue to expand the powers of the executive branch at the expense of checks and balances, the Constitution, and our civil liberties. Not that any of those things are important to Americans--not if they can continue to grow fat and watch reality t.v. with the false illusion of safety. Getting angry and actually taking action requires too much thought. We are sheep, and I fear we're letting ourselves be led to the slaughter.

democratic elections under martial law

George Stephanopoulos should be ashamed of his slanted questions and arrogant attitude, but what can one except from someone in the mainstream media?

I've been hesitant to support Bob Barr for president, mainly because I wasn't sure how sincere he was in his political beliefs. Barr was once a die-hard conservative Republican who espouses a libertarian philosophy (the video explains this in more detail). But since he realistically has no real shot at winning the presidency, I feel confident that his conversion from neo-con to libertarian is fairly genuine--and since the evolution of my own political beliefs is fairly similar, I'd be a hypocrite to hold that against him.

I've been feeling that a third-party vote is the way to go this November. Voting for McCain is completely out of the question--as cliched as it sounds after hearing it over and over, he really is running on a platform that sounds exactly like four more years of Bush. I've been growing more disillusioned with Obama--especially after his FISA flip-flop--and I'm sadly realizing that all his inspirational speeches and talk of "change" are nothing but more empty political change. Since the two major political parties are essentially one and the same--and care nothing for the Constitution--I doubt that I can vote for even more of them in good conscience. It makes me happy that I stuck with my guns and voted for Ron Paul in the primary.

Stephanopoulos might be right about Barr taking votes from McCain and helping Obama win, but since one of those two has to win, I'd rather take a chance with Obama. Neither option looks promising. That said, after feeling guilty for the past few years that I helped reelect a president who is one of the worst violators ever of our Constitution, I don't want a vote for either McCain or Obama on my conscience. That way I can maybe take some small satisfaction--offer a smug "I-told-you-so"--as our country continues circling the drain towards a bankrupt police-state.

a change of scene with no regrets

WALL-E was everything I hoped it would be last night. The film covered all the bases with romance, comedy, action, and a socially-responsible moral to boot. Bringing Ben Burtt--Skywalker Sound's guru behind the Star Wars sound effects, among other films--was a brilliant move, as the robot characters in WALL-E were filled with life despite never really speaking more than a few lines of dialogue. It usually goes without saying that a Pixar film is visually stunning, but WALL-E was probably one of the most beautifully shot films I've seen. Not only was the animation jaw-dropping, but the cinemetography was on par with the best live-action films. The movie is an instant classic, ranking up with the Toy Story movies and The Incredibles as the best Pixar films. A must see.

5 out of 5 Davies. *****

feed me weird things

In anticipation of seeing WALL-E tonight at midnight, I thought I would take a look at what other movies are coming out--or maybe are already out, in a few cases--this year that look at least somewhat promising.

The Top 2:

• WALL-E
• The Dark Knight
  

If these aren't the two best movies of the year, I will be greatly shocked.


The Highly Anticipated:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Fincher has some awesome movies. The trailer looks great.
  
• Gonzo - Hunter S. Thompson is one of my favorite authors, and this looks like an excellent documentary on him.
  
• Burn After Reading - From the looks of the trailer, this should be another classic from the Cohen Brothers.
• Choke - A good book from Chuck Palahuniuk (author of Fight Club) and the movie looks promising.
  
• Pineapple Express - Looks hilarious. [Red band trailer, probably NSFW]
  
• Tropic Thunder - Ben Stiller has been stale lately but this film looks like it might change that.

Looks Promising:

• The Admiral - The trailer is very impressive, despite the fact it's entirely in Russian with no subtitles. I'm sure the American release of the movie won't have that problem.
• War, Inc. - Looks like it could be a funny satire.
• Quantum of Solace - The newest James Bond film will hopefully improve upon the success of Casino Royale.
• Miracle at St. Anna - It looks like there is more to this movie than simply a World War II film but it looks good from the trailer.
• The X-Files 2: I Want to Believe - Looks like it could be a solid second installment in the X-Files movie franchise.
• The Good, the Bad, and the Weird - This ridiculous-looking Korean spaghetti-western looks like it could be hilarious.
• Traitor - An interesting action/political thriller starring Don Cheadle.
• OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies - This should be a funny French spoof on the 1960s spy genre.

Might Not Be Bad?:

• The Mummy 3 - The first two movies weren't terrible, so this might be a decent action movie.
• The Clone Wars - You would think I would be more excited about this, seeing as it is Star Wars related but I have no faith in George Lucas anymore.
• The Rocker - Could be funny.
• Righteous Kill - Normally a film starring both Robert De Niro and Al Pacino would look awesome, and this but could be good, but the trailer didn't blow me off my feet.
• RocknRolla - Another British crime film by Guy Ritchie.
• Taken - Looks like a decent action movie starring Liam Neeson.

No doubt there are some I've missed, but that's all for now.

white house shadows who hide behind closed doors

The Democratic-controlled Congress helped the Bush administration strike another blow against the Constitution today when it voted to grant telecommunication companies retroactive immunity for spying on American citizens for the federal government, and broadening the domestic surveillance powers of the executive branch.

"The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation," said Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, the only senator who voted against the Patriot Act in 2001. "The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, which effectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged to have participated in the President’s illegal program, and which fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans at home."
---

California lawmaker Barbara Lee referred to the days of J. Edgar Hoover and concluded, "This bill scares me."

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Washington) slammed retroactive amnesty, asking "Don't we realize there are some lines we should never cross?"

But the short debate and quick scheduling made it clear that the House leadership was confident the measure would easily pass, thus sparing conservative Democrats from campaign ads in the fall attacking them for not being tough on surveillance.

I don't see how someone can argue that this isn't a horrible thing. By definition, the very fact that Congress had to vote to grant telecom companies retroactive immunity means they were breaking the law; which also means that whoever ordered the companies to break the law--the Bush administration--are guilty as well.

Even if trust the Bush administration and don't think they would use these powers for ill, how can you be okay with the precedent this sets? All it takes is for a would-be tyrant to get into office, and all the groundwork has already been put into place. This should have nothing to do with allegiances to political parties.

Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats who have continued to give the Bush administration a free pass to violate the Constitution should be ashamed, not to mention removed from office. They are either cowards for being too afraid to oppose Bush, or they are crooks and villains guilty of greed and a lust for more power at the expense of our liberties--in other words, they are cut from the same cloth as Bush, Cheney, and the rest. It's time to start holding our elected leaders accountable; they are in Washington to look after our interests, not their own. Steve Chabot will never get another vote of mine until he stops toeing the Republican Party line and starts voting for the Constitution. Even Barack Obama disappointingly seems to be too afraid to disagree with the Democratic majority. Some "change" that is. It's truly a sad state of affairs when Dennis Kucinich is one of the most rational, patriotic politicians in the federal government by actually standing up in defense of the Constitution.



Why are we so willing to impeach a president for lying about oral sex, but not for repeatedly violating the Constitution? Which one of these actions truly represents "high crimes and misdemeanors"?

I think George Orwell could see the future when he wrote 1984, he was just off the mark by about twenty-five years.

never failed to feel

I've been thoroughly enjoying Euro Cup 2008. Makes me a little less sad that the next World Cup is still two years away. Originally I had predicted that Portugal would defeat Spain in the championship game. I still could see that happening, but there are some other teams that have really proven themselves in the group stage. Netherlands has probably been the most dominant team in the tournament thus far. Germany and Italy have both under-performed so far, but seem to be improving and could get back into form in the second round. Turkey, Russia, and Croatia have been the big surprises--at least positive surprises--but the only one of those teams with a real chance of getting to the semifinals is Croatia. France and the Czech Republic were the two big disappointments to go out in the group stage; Sweden and Greece to a lesser degree. In the second round Croatia and the Netherlands should be able to handle Turkey and Russia, respectively. The really exciting matches should be Portugal versus Germany and Spain taking on Italy. While I still think my Portugal over Spain prediction for the final may pan out, I wouldn't be shocked to see something like the Netherlands against Germany instead. We shall see...

I wish that the South American World Cup qualifying games were also being aired on TV. The United States completely destroyed Barbados 8-0, and sadly we have to play them another time. In the three games the U.S. has played against Barbados, the cumulative score now comes to a total of 19 goals to none.

can't feel my head as it slips away

say it ain't so

Weezer should go down as one of the most underachieving bands of the past twenty years--maybe of all time. I can think of few other bands off the top of my head right now that showed so much promise with their first couple albums, only to ruin it with a slew of mediocre releases. The band's self-titled debut album (often known as The Blue Album) was a masterpiece, and their sophomore follow-up Pinkterton came close to replicating that success. But when Pinkerton failed to receive a warm reception from most fans, frontman Rivers Cuomo put the band on the shelf for a few years.

Weezer attempted to channel the success of their debut album when they finally returned, making it their second eponymous album and even using a similar album cover. What has come to be known as The Green Album is a good pop album, but it failed to reach the same level of excellence as the band's first two efforts.

Things got worse with the band's next two albums, Maladroit and Make Believe. Maladroit featured a more "metal" sound which resulted in a lot of dull tracks, although the album is not without its highlights ("Burndt Jam" and "Keep Fishin'" to name a couple). Make Believe was even more disappointing considering the album was made with Rick Rubin, one of the best producers in music. While "This Is Such a Pity" ranks up there as one of Weezer's best songs, the album also features "Beverly Hills," which might be the worst piece of garbage Cuomo has ever recorded. Aside from a couple decent tracks, the album was the band's weakest yet.

With their latest release, Weezer once again tried to mimic the success of their first album by self-titling their new record and using a similar cover, Weezer (The Red Album) is way off the mark from the band's early releases. It shows a slight improvement over Make Believe, but that may have more to do with the fact that the record doesn't have any songs as bad as "Beverly Hills" and "We Are All On Drugs" than that it features better songs. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of stinkers here like the emo-sounding garbage like "Heart Songs" and the irritating "Everybody Get Dangerous," but they aren't the worst we've heard from Weezer. Cuomo can't be blamed for all the bad songs, as the tracks written by the other members of Weezer ("Thought I Knew," "Cold Dark World," and "Automatic") are equally awful. The album has a couple hits like the catchy singles "Pork and Beans" and "Troublemaker," but most of the other tracks are completely forgettable. The Red Album is ultimately another disappointing release from a band that we know can do--and has done--much, much better.

• 1994: Weezer (Blue Album) - 5 out of 5 Davies
• 1996: Pinkerton - 4 Davies
• 2001: Weezer (Green Album) - 3 1/2 Davies
• 2002: Maladroit - 2 1/2 Davies
• 2005: Make Believe - 2 Davies
• 2008: Weezer (Red Album) - 2 Davies

like bullets on tin

Last night's UFC 85 event in England was a fairly boring affair, and which made me very glad I didn't pay to watch it. The only notable fight was the savage beating Matt Hughes suffered at the hands of Thiago Alves. Alves stuffed nearly every take down Hughes attempted while landing solid punches and knees. By the second round it seemed it was only a matter of time before Alves pummeled Hughes into unconsciousness, until Alves connected with a flying knee that put Hughes on the mat and forced referee Herb Dean to end the fight. After such a brutal loss coming not long after he was dismantled by Georges St. Pierre--and having lost three of his last four matches--, I would be shocked if Hughes didn't retire sometime in the very near future...

I'd never been much of a hockey fan before this year, but I happily jumped on the Cincinnati Cyclones bandwagon halfway through the 2008 season. I ended up having a blast at the first game I went to and went back a couple more times, especially for the sixth and final game of the championship series against the Las Vegas Wranglers. It was a close game, but the 'Clones ended up scoring twice in the third period to escape with a fantastic 3-1 victory and--most importantly--become the 2008 ECHL Kelly Cup Champions! Next year will find me cheering the team on again, although the sad reality is the team will likely see its best players leave for positions with teams in the NHL and AHL...

Jess and I went out for our six year anniversary last week. Crazy to think about how long six years really is. Anyway, we went to dinner at Nada, which was delicious, and afterward went to Nicholson's for a drink. Both establishments were fantastic; I would highly recommend both of them...

Thanks to Christy and Rob for registering and voting for my Capture Cincinnati pictures. I will add more as time goes on, so keep checking back.

like a sun against my head

Cin Weekly has started their second annual Capture Cincinnati photography competition, in which local photographers submit their photos in a contest. The photos with the most votes will be featured in the book Cin Weekly will publish.

I created an account weeks ago, but I just now got around to uploading some of my shots. The competition is pretty stiff, and I simply cannot compete with some of the people who clearly have A) Better photography skills, B) More expensive and nicer cameras, C) A solid knowledge of Photoshop, or D) All of the above. That said, feel free to create an account and vote for my photos, if you should feel so inclined.

a target on the audience

Spring Grove Cemetery. As always you can see more photos on my Flickr page.

the dogs of doom are howling

I entered the theater to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull bracing myself for the worst and instead I exited the movie feeling only slightly disappointed. I guess that's something to be happy about?

Most satisfying--surprisingly--was Harrison Ford's performance. His last few films have been pretty abysmal, but he managed to bring back much of Indiana Jones' old spark, while throwing in some of the grumpy-and-wise-old-man act when appropriate. The story wasn't bad, although the crystal skulls are no where near as cool of a plot device as the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail. Nor do the Soviets come across as menacing as the Nazis did in two of the three previous films. But a lot of the same adventure is back, especially when it comes to the fist fights and car chases (although the jungle chase went on a little too long). I'm normally not a huge fan of car chases, but Indiana Jones movies always feature exceptional ones, and the chases in Crystal Skull were fairly entertaining.

What really brings the film down are some absolutely ridiculous scenes that take the film from a semi-realistic action movie to a downright ludicrous B-movie at times. The most offensive such scenes (minor spoilers follow) are ones such as Indy surviving a nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator, the super-intelligent army ants, ramping an aquatic car off a cliff onto a tree that bends and drops the care safely into a river, and Shia LeBeouf swinging through the trees like Tarzan with his squad of monkeys. Speaking of LeBeouf, I was disappointed when I heard he was in the film, and my fears were justified as his character was one dimensional and the acting was stale. Whether LaBeouf or the writing and directing is to blame for that is debatable, but I have yet to be blown away by any of his performances. Cate Blanchett was passable as Indy's Soviet nemesis, but Karen Allen was disappointing. While Ford seems to have aged well, time has not been kind to Allen, and there was little of the spunk left in her character from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I also agree with Justin Hall that nearly all of the CGI in the film looks awful. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg both said they used as few special effects as possible to retain the feel of the original films, but when CGI is used it is glaringly obvious and distracts from the events unfolding in the scene.

I'm still unsure how I feel about the ending or the whole X-Files feeling of the plot. On the one hand it fits with the whole 1950s B-movie setting of the film, but on the other hand the climax felt a little too science fiction for an Indiana Jones movie.

Jess, who has never seen all of the other films (I guess that means I'm failing as a boyfriend) said she thought the movie was entertaining. I suppose that means on its own, to people less familiar with Indiana Jones it is a decent action flick. Fans of the series will be a little more disappointed.

Two and a half out of Five Davies. **1/2


On a side note, did you know Newport on the Levee's AMC theater only does student ticket prices on Thursday nights now? A mediocre theater just got even worse. All the more reason for me to go to Springdale from now on.

revolution crawls all over you

a country's soul that reads post no bills

I hear many people complaining these days about the state of politics in our country. Never fear, boys and girls, for democracy is alive and well in America!! That's right, we have no reason to worry when our altruistic and trustworthy elected representatives hold secret, clandestine meetings to discuss bills about spying on their own constituents. That's always been my favorite part of the Constitution, the section that talks about how the government is to be held completely unaccountable for its actions and should violate the civil liberties of its citizens as frequently as possible.

On a serious note, let's hope the Democrats grow a backbone for this new bill and maybe they can fix some of the damage that's been done by all the unconstitutional, warrantless surveillance that has been going on. Naturally, Bush has promised to veto any bill that would curb his surveillance powers at home. After all, why in the world would he want to give up some power for the sake of something as unimportant as freedom and liberty?

Edit: Did you also know the U.S. can and does search and download the data from any laptop entering the country? Fantastic. Apparently that whole needing a search warrant thing doesn't apply to your laptop in an airport.

on warm milk and laxatives

It seems my body grew tired that the subtle hints it had been sending me that my dietary habits needed changing were going unheeded, and decided that the only way I would take notice was if the message was delivered more forcefully. This message was received loud and clear last night, when a week's worth fast food binging--the pinnacle of which being the rather disgusting amount of Skyline and ballpark food I consumed yesterday--ended with me with one of my body seated on the toilet and the other buried in the bathroom garbage can. I apologize for giving you all the unpleasant mental images that accompany my gastrointestinal habits, but you should really be thankfully you didn't have to endure the smell that accompanied my body's revolt against its the fuel I had been giving it.

I may allow myself to be stubborn and stupid in many situations, but I like to think I can take a hint from my own body, at least when that hint is delivered with sledgehammer-like force. I'm heading to the grocery again tomorrow morning to reinforce my supplies of moderately healthy food, and avoiding fast food for awhile. Hopefully I can stay consistent with this.

i jump from every rooftop

Miami Whitewater.

could we change the subject now?

don't you think the joker laughs at you?

I need to stop being lazy and teach myself how to use Photoshop.

beat my compassion black and blue

Chad Johnson is running his mouth again, and continuing to poison his relationship with teammates and fans in Cincinnati. This time he lashed out against one of the only Bengals who he previously claimed still had his back--Carson Palmer. Johnson refuted Palmer's comments that Chad told him he would report to the Bengals' mandatory mini-camp, stating, "I wish (Palmer) would stay out of my business." Johnson reiterated that he had no plans to report to anything related to the Bengals and wanted to be traded as soon as possible. This is clearly an attempt by Johnson to burn one of his last remaining bridges with the team.

Although I would really like to see Chad shipped out of Cincinnati at this point, I think that Mike Brown and Marvin Lewis are making the right decision to hold firm and refuse to trade him. Trading Johnson would be an 8 million dollar salary-cap hit against the Bengals, which would really cripple them financially this season. This is a key factor that a lot of the "experts" seem to ignore when talking about the Chad situation. Since getting rid of Chad is out of the question, part of me hopes he will realize he won't be traded and decide to shut his mouth and play football. Given how emotional and stubborn the man is, I have a hard time believing that will happen.

Since he is doing everything possible to ruin his relationship with his teammates--most importantly Carson Palmer--I don't see how Chad could end up having a successful year for the Bengals. If he plays, I think he will end up being a distraction, dropping balls and moaning when he doesn't feel he's getting enough attention. Maybe this is me being vindictive, but I'd feel perfectly fine with Johnson being left to rot on the bench for the next three seasons. I think his absence will hurt the offense badly--especially after Chris Henry's departure--but unless he is willing to drop his selfish attitude, I don't see a good alternative.

Rob showed me a good article from Paul Daugherty on the Chad issue. Daugherty's take is that the Bengals should just cut their losses and trade Chad now. Yes, the $8 million cap hit will hurt, but since the chances of getting a productive season out of Chad are slim, we'll be losing that $8 million either way. At least by trading him the Bengals would get something in return and Johnson wouldn't be around to torpedo the season. It's a good point, but the vengeful side of me wants to see him wasting away on the bench. Although the idea of "punishing" him by trading him to a team like the Raiders or Dolphins that had no decent quarterbacks does sound intriguing. Either way, one thing is for certain: I need to get a new Bengals jersey.

every kingdom of rain comes pouring down

It has been far too long since my last post, but I do feel that I have some valid excuses for my lack of updates. Two weeks ago I ended up coming down with another cold and (most likely) step throat. I got over that just in time for this past week, where I babysat four kids for eleven hours each day. Needless to say that was exhausting and left me with no time for anything else. The good news is I've been made full-time at work, which means I will now be getting benefits. Jess' senior recital at Xavier was last weekend and she did a fantastic job. Robby and I got tickets to see Radiohead in Indianapolis in August, so that's something to look forward to. I haven't posted any photos in awhile either, so here's one from this past week:

every word you read is true and maybe that is a lie

This kid is awesome.

keeps coming from the inside

Start clearing out your calendars folks, because the first batch of dates for the Nine Inch Nails 2008 tour have been announced! There are only two so far that are anywhere close to the tristate area:

August 22 Cleveland OH Quicken Loans Arena
August 31 Lexington KY Rupp Arena

Let me know who wants to go, because I plan to be at both shows. No announcement on when tickets go on sale yet.

just a victim of your fear

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." - Thomas Jefferson

I finally saw the first couple episodes of HBO's John Adams miniseries. It's pretty great so far; this may be Paul Giamatti's finest role yet. The supporting cast is fantastic as well, especially Laura Linney as Abigail Adams, David Morse as George Washington, and Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin. The show is a good reminder that our founding fathers did not start out seeking a war for independence, but to legally and peacefully secure their rights. Only when all avenues for a peaceful revolution were closed did they resort to violent insurrection. It is also a great reminder than American success was not a foregone conclusion; in fact the odds were strongly against it. I haven't read historian David McCullough's biography on John Adams that the miniseries is based on, but his book 1776 is a great study on the first year of the war.

While watching this show, I cannot help but wonder what our founding fathers would think of our country now. Unlike modern day leaders, these men were truly risking their lives by going to war; failure would have meant certain death for treason. It was a risk they were willing to take for the sake of liberty. The possibility of losing their property, their families, and their lives was less important to them than living without their naturally, unalienable rights. Meanwhile, today we are content to sit idly by as our government gradually strips away our rights and civil liberties under the guise of protecting us from terrorism. I cannot help but believe that the men who founding our nation are rolling in their graves as the government they created passes legislation that allows it to spy on its own innocent citizens. What is worse is that we are so seized by fear that we have decided that safety is more important to us than freedom. It's sad that we have strayed so far from the beliefs of our forefathers.

(Justin Hall had a good post about his thoughts on John Adams which you can read here)

all the iron turned to rust

blind with my eyes wide open

I've been long overdue for an update, but things have been busy lately. I've been working a decent amount have been trying to get something worthwhile accomplished on my days off. The birthday went well, but I'm currently fighting off my second cold in the past two weeks.

Doug and I saw The Gutter Twins at the Southgate House in Newport last week. Great show. I finally got to see Mark Lanegan perform live, and the man did not disappoint. His vocals have always had an intimidating feel to them, an image that carries over to his live performances, as he stood on stage brooding all night with a death grip on the microphone stage. The man only said two sentences in between songs all night; one to introduce his counterpart Greg Dulli, and the other a threatening response to a heckler in the audience. Dulli, on the other hand, was the outgoing one of the pair. It was a hometown reunion for him--he is originally from Hamilton--and he seemed to enjoy being back in the tri-state. Dulli was hamming it up with the audience all night and continually talking to his mother and sister in the audience. The band played most of their debut album Saturnalia, along with some of Lanegan's solo tracks and a few from Dulli's Twilight Singers band. I thought they put on a great show, and this was hopefully the first of many good 2008 concerts (still hoping for more from Radiohead, NIN, and Tom Waits).

I'll leave you with a shot from the other day:

come on up to the house

A Tom Waits tour in 2008? Count me in. Tom Waits is probably in my top three bands/performers that I'd like to see live, and the fact that he rarely tours makes me even more determined to see him on this summer's tour. No dates have been announced yet, but I'd like to see him to badly that I will seriously pay for someone else's ticket in order to have company to a Tom Waits show. No dates have been announced yet; you can bet I'll be bringing this up again when they are.

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Here's another edited photo from the ones I took yesterday:

Photos.

just a shout away

Since Rob enjoyed my other self-portrait shots so much, I decided to post some I took at the park today.

ghosts

After a couple weeks of cryptic messages via the Nine Inch Nails website, the announcement was made last night that the newest NIN record--a thirty-six track instrumental double album entitled Ghosts I-IV--was available now online, by way of a high-quality digital download, along with a number of different purchasing options for a physical product (ranging from $5 to $300). The music is copyrighted under a non-commercial Creative Commons license, meaning individuals are free to use the music for anything they want as long as there is no profit involved. So far the record sounds amazing; a combination of previous NIN efforts like The Fragile, Still, and Year Zero. Yet again Trent Reznor has proven himself to be the most innovative figure in the music industry.

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I've been trying to keep my expectations low for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but the new trailer actually looks promising. Normally that would be good news, but it's probably just getting my hopes up so they can be let down when Shia LaBeouf ruins the movie. Either way, I know The Dark Knight and WALL-E will make up for it.

you be my passerby