We're All Screwed...

Time to rage.

So I'm assuming anyone who reads this has a window in their house. I also assume that they occasionally look out this window as well. Hopefully I'm not overestimating anyone here. If you have peered out this window, you probably notice that our world is dying.

Yes... dying. By the way, I refuse to make this a goddamn hippy post where I bitch out polluters... because frankly I don't care about it that much.

Anyways, the world: dying. How and why you ask? Well before we get to that part, let me explain in detail what I mean by use of a simple time line.

- Some painter in Germany had an idea.
- World War Two.
- War is over.
- Babies... lots of babies.
- Some people in Asia start doing shit.
- Vietnam.
- George Carlin continues his badassary.
- Some shit happens.
- MTV stops showing music videos.
- Bush Jr.
- Re-elected.
- Carrie Prejean.
- Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus begin the rape of young minds.
- Obama elected because he's "going to change things."
- Tiger Woods' found cheating on wife.
- lol.
- ???


As you've probably noticed by now, I'm somewhat of an optimist... anyways though, whenever I go outside, I know I'm going to see any or all of these things: dumb kids who think they're badass because they wear baggy pants, stupid girls who have over-tanned and look like a foot, and stupid people who text on the phone for ten minutes just to realize they can't remember how to spell 'cellphone.'

That's right, it looks like everyone is becoming more, and more idiotic. Google searches help the dumb, spell 'dumb,' and Paris Hilton is still allowed to be on television. It doesn't help that guidos are by law, allowed to fucking breed.

Honestly, I don't even have the heart to keep typing. so this rage will have to end mid sente...

In Flames

Only one word can describe this band: fucking awesome.

... erm, yeah.


Anyways, I had never heard of them until a year or so ago when their song "Free Fall," was featured on one of the Madden games, if I recall correctly. After hearing that one song I thought they were worth a look but I didn't have highspeed internet at the time. A few months later I happened to hear "Cloud Connected," which made me think that they were even MORE badass. It wasn't until a month ago or so when I decided to look again. Now I started off listening to their "Reroute to Remain" album, which in my opinion is their best.

Their music is like the only shit that is pure amazing, and that's new to me at the moment as far as the metal genre goes. And since their last album was in 2008 along with Protest the Hero, Metallica, All That Remains, and Slipknot's last records... needless to say there has been a lot of crappy stuff out.

I'm not sure exactly what it is, but for whatever reason, In Flames does not seem like that common of a name around where I am. Now maybe it's because I live in a crappy little town where have the chicks think they're from L.A because they have fake tans, or the guys think they're badass because they put their dads old ACDC cd's on repeat all the time, but I've only come across three or four others who have actually listened to them.

Hopefully these Swedes don't go anywhere for awhile because they're quickly becoming one of my favourite new bands for sure. As I type this I'm listening to some songs from their "Clayman" cd, and I must say, it's pretty badass too.

As of now I'd give their cd's these scores:

Reroute to Remain - 4.9 stars
Clayman - 4.5 stars
A Sense of Purpose - 4 stars

Favourite songs:

Trigger
Cloud Connected
Free Fall
Dark Signs
Satellites and Astronauts
Square Nothing
Alias

I have definitely got some more listening to do, "Come Clarity" comes to mind, but I'm pretty sure this stuff will not disappoint.

Ripping Off VH1

I have been thinking this over for about the last twenty minutes or so, and have compiled my forty favourite metal songs of all time. REMEMBER: These are my personal favourites. I don't care if a song was left out that inspired a generation. If I don't think it's as good as these, it won't be on here. There will be "heavy metal," "death metal," "Nu-Metal," "progressive metal," and even some "metalcore," on here.

WARNING: "Crazy Train," and "Welcome to the Jungle," will not be making an appearance. I love those songs, but they definitely aren't the first thing that I look for on my iPod. Anarchy will ensue I'm sure.

Now when I say metal, this doesn't mean my list is just going to be Megadeath, Iron Maiden and Metallica only. I like all sorts of stuff. So if you're expecting to just see a bunch of stuff from the late 70's through to the early 90's, you've come to the wrong place. Born in '92, what do you really expect of me?

40. Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine
39. Symphony of Destruction - Megadeath
38. Loyalty - American Head Charge
37. Contractor - Lamb of God
36. Spoils - Protest the Hero
35. Die With Your Boots On - Iron Maiden
34. Perfect Insanity - Disturbed
33. Enter Sandman - Metallica
32. War? - System of a Down
31. Nothing Remains - Chimaira
30. Cloud Connected - In Flames
29. Cowboys From Hell - Pantera
28. Nothing Left - As I Lay Dying
27. Gematria (The Killing Name) - Slipknot
26. Two Weeks - All That Remains
25. My Plague - Slipknot
24. Schism - Tool
23. Know Your Enemy - Rage Against the Machine
22. Panic Attack - Dream Theater
21. Free Fall - In Flames
20. Chiron - All That Remains
19. (Sic) - Slipknot
18. Revenga - System of a Down
17. Sequoia Throne - Protest the Hero
16. Sleep Now in the Fire - Rage Against the Machine
15. Sworn to a Great Divide - Soilwork
14. Born of a Broken Man - Rage Against the Machine
13. BYOB - System of a Down
12. Aerials - System of a Down
11. Set to Fail - Lamb of God
10. Aenima - Tool
09. One - Metallica
08. The Prisoner - Iron Maiden
07. Forgotten (Lost Angels) - Lamb of God
06. The Unforgiven III - Metallica
05. Sequoia Throne - Protest the Hero
04. Chop Suey! - System of a Down
03. Ticks and Leeches - Tool
02. Toxicity - System of a Down
01. Before I Forget - Slipknot

I Just... I Hate You.

Music.

Remember when music was, good?

Yeah, me neither.



Here are the top ten most downloaded songs on the Canadian iTunes chart for the 7th of November 2009.

1. TiK ToK by Ke$ha
2. Fireflies by Owl City
3. Sexy Bitch by David Guetta
4. Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
5. Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus
6. 3 by Britney Spears
7. Meet Me Halfway by Black Eyed Peas
8. Russian Roulette by Rihanna
9. Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo
10. I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas


Jesus. Christ.

See this is one of the things that make me think that most people are at the very least, semi-retarded. Of all those songs, "Fireflies," is the closest thing to a rock or metal song... That's just fucking ridiculous.

What ever happened to people listening to bands like, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, or CCR? To be fair, Tool isn't in the iTunes store, but I can almost guarantee that a Madonna or a bullshit Kelly Clarkson song would be higher on the charts than "Schism," or "Prison Sex."
I understand that people are entitled to their opinion. I also realize that their opinion, is inferior to mine. Still though, I am dumbfounded that people have all seem to have reverted to listening to songs with no other meanings than, "you drunk enough to fuck yet?," or "man... fuck, my bling's the shit yo."

Does anyone else miss songs that had good musicianship? One can only take so much synthesized, uninspired crap, until they snap and beat up a nun. Speaking of uninspired, when did it become acceptable to have a number one single that mainly consisted of the words, "Tonight's gonna be a good night..."? Wow, thanks for the protip there, Fergie.
Songs like "Sober," "Chop Suey!," and "Sleep Now in the Fire," actually meant something. Guess what, eventually they were condemned by certain groups because people were being influenced by them, instead of having their minds turned into mush.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not some guy trying to pass himself off as a deep, caring and overly serious person, by saying I wish more songs had a serious message to them. I too listen to songs that are simple. The difference between say, a typically simple Britney Spears song, and a song by Iron Maiden, is that her songs usually have a single beat that gets progressively more annoying throughout. On the other hand, Maiden actually can play their instruments and can create several DIFFERENT riffs and breakdowns.

The biggest problem with music though is how it's marketed. Obviously it would be easier to sell a kid a Jonas Brother's backpack, than it would be to sell them an In Flames backpack. It's also kind of hard to promote a sit-com that stars Serj Tankian and Corey Taylor, I would guess.
The problem is things like those don't revolve the music at all. It's just a public popularity test, that doesn't factor in what they do. Play music.

It seems that so many people in this American Idol age use this tried and true method:

-Make an album.
-Get semi famous.
-Then release another album that sounds the same.
-Get REALLY famous.
-Get their own television show or cologne.
-Market to stupid people.
-???
-Profit.
-Celebrity sextape.
-Comeback tour.
-Second failed sitcom.
-Celebrity rehab.
-Failed marriage.
-???
-Divorce... oh, and profit somehow.
-MORE profit.
-???
-E! True Hollywood Story Special.


It's not only music anymore. It's a culture now.

I don't know about you, but I for one have decided that I will begin bowing to the Chinese. Who knows, if I play my cards right, I could make it as a footstool.


"When you lose small mind, you free your life..." - System of a Down (Aerials)

Facebook

We all know of. We love it and we saw we hate it. And with that, it's very clear some of us, use it far too much.

As a person who has had an account for a little over a year now, I've seen plenty of stupid crap posted by people. Things ranging from wall posts like "lool biiiiitch, were gunna get fucked up tonite! love ya slut!" to requests that ask you to join a group about supporting Fred.

I know right. 2012 cannot come fast enough.

Don't get me wrong though. Facebook can be a pretty great thing, as long as you're not a douchebag. The problem though, is that even if you're not the douchebag... you can be certain that there will be anywhere upwards of ten people on your friends list, that are.

How to Look Like an Ass:

- Continually ask me to join your Mafia, Fantasy Sport League, etc.

- Suggesting me to join groups such as "I flip my pillow over to the cool side."

- Pointless wall posts (We know, that you know, that we can see when you post your dumb shit.) We know there's a party. EVERYONE knows. We're going too. Shut the fuck up already bitch.

- This is largely associated with the third point here: Posting pictures of yourselves at parties. It's ok if you take 5-10 per party if you go all the time, but if you take between 20-100... every party, it gets really, really, really, really, really... redundant...

- Posting status updates every twenty minutes (if not fewer...) This isn't Twitter... And just like Twitter, nobody cares.

- Spamming your blog, Youtube channel, blood type, etc (I don't do it with mine, because if they saw this, they'd realize that I hate most of them.)

- Adding random people and then never responding to them when the send you a message asking who you are. Just fucking answer creep.

- Being alive.


Now as you can undoubtedly see, I am once again correct about everything I've just said....

Toronto: Entering 2010

Well it's hockey season again. Of course this means another year of "rebuilding," for my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. Another year of hope is upon us. After FINALLY acquiring the services of Brian Burke, the 2009/2010 campaign looked like it would be one in which we would see a return to the playoffs.

Burke, went out and did a lot of great things I think. He made our defence (on paper at least,) look great.

Defensive Acquisitions:

Mike Komisarek (Free Agency - Had played for Monteal.)
Garnet Exelby (Traded from Atlanta for Pavel Kubina.)
Francois Beauchemin (Free Agency - Had played for Anaheim.)

Add those to a lineup that has perennial All-Star Tomas Kaberle, a future Norris Trophy winner in Luke Schenn, the smooth skating Jeff Finger and the versatile Ian White, we have a very good and very solid defensive core. Not to mention when Mike Van Ryn is healthy he is definitely a presence on both ends of the ice.

Goal scoring was something that need to be addressed, since our leaders last year were players like Jason Blake, Matt Stajan and Alexei Ponikarovski.

Offensive Acquisitions:

Tyler Bozak (Free Agency - No NHL experience.)
Phil Kessel(Traded by Boston for two 1st and a 2nd round draft pick.)
Colton Orr (Free Agency - Had played for the New York Rangers.)
Wayne Primeau (Traded by Calgary with a 2nd round pick in exchange Colin Stuart, Anton Stralman and a 7th round pick.
Rickard Wallin (Free Agent - Had played for Minnesota.)

Add the instant impact of Phil Kessel on offence, the toughness of Primeau and Orr, to a young team and it instantly makes life a little easier on their linemates. One also cannot forget about our great rookie, Nazim Kadri or the explosive Viktor Stalberg.

Of course with all that said, our biggest concern was our goaltending. After being acquired through a trade with San Jose, Vesa Toskala has been less than stellar so far with the Leafs. To address this issue, Burke signed Swedish superstar goalie, Jonas Gustavsson. "The Monster," should be in as the number one starter by the time November 1st rolls around I would expect. Also as some extra insurance, the Leafs went and signed Joey Macdonald to be there in case of injuries. Macdonald has played for the Red Wings, Bruins, and most recently the New York Islanders.

Overall the team looks a lot better really. Young players like Nikolai Kulemin, Jiri Tlusty, Mikhail Grabovski, Jay Rosehill and Luke Schenn should continue to improve, while players like Kaberle, Komisarek, Blake and Jamal Mayers should provide needed leadership and experience.

Overall Grade: B- (70-74%)

Offence: C- (Will be a B- when Kessel returns from injury.)
Defence: A- (Only if Schenn continues to improve and vets can maintain their health.)
Goaltending: B- (With Gustavsson it's a B grade, but with Toskala it's a C grade.)

Season Outcome:

While the Leafs will start off slowly, they will go on a small run around the beginning of November. Kessel will rejoin the team and at the halfway point of the season their record will be (19-17-5.) The start of the second half will go terribly at first until they win ten of their remaining fifteen games, and go (17-15-9.)

Ending with 86 points and a (36-32-14,) record. After the All Star game, expect to see the debut of Kadri and to see Toskala traded away to either Colorado or Nashville (considering Nashville decides to start spending some money.)

They'll end up placing ninth, being narrowly beaten out by one of either Florida, Buffalo or Ottawa.

Let's All Talk About Legalization...

As you all know, there is a certain little thing which is illegal here in Canada, and the US. That would be our friend, marijuana. Yes, a plant which is nearly harmless is illegal, yet people are aloud to get drunk as long as they're 19 (in Canada at least.) Now don't get me wrong, I am not by any way, a pothead. In fact, I'm simply a realist and someone. I know some of the important facts, and I know how people who don't want to control, and exploit us.

These people, are in our governments and our churches. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure most of these people are good at heart, but nonetheless they're grossly uninformed. Some of the ludicrous propaganda that they try to pull off is how marijuana will KILL YOU. I personally have never heard of a single case of that. Weed has less chemicals than cigarettes, alcohol and many other legal substances.

They also try to tell people that pot is addictive and is a gateway drug. Marijuana is NOT addictive... unlike your morning coffee, your afternoon smoke, or even your beer while you're watching the game. To be honest, smoking is more addictive than most things, and many people spend a lot of time trying to get them.

"Marijuana makes you dumb, and lazy." That is absolutely true in some cases. What they don't tell you, is that while it MAY do that, it only does that for a short period of time. In fact, for many people it does something different. It makes people creative, and helps people find new ways to deal with problems. Weed can even bring people together and relieve tension.

Now after reading that you might assume that I think we should have it legalized immediately. Well in fact you're wrong. Many people who lobby for it are simple minded and do not realize that the issue is not black and white. There are many grey areas for sure.

On the one had there are the benefits: not addictive, can stimulate the mind, can relieve stress and can be used medicinally.

The dark side of this is often ignored by lobbyists. Many people realize that even if it's just pot smoke, it is still smoke, and therefore is harmful to the body. Also many people who smoke the chronic are smart, but it's the people who abuse it, that make me slightly pissed off. They're the ones who give the governments and the soccer moms something to bitch about.

I mean, even if we were to legalize it, we would still need some type of law. In my opinion they would need an age limit somewhat like the one on alcohol. The problem with that is kids will still get their hands on it, just like cigarettes and just like alcohol.

Now I realize that this post is random and something unlike I've ever written on here before (oh and I also realize that no one reads it,) but I felt compelled to write. It's that many people don't look at it from the oppositions perspective.