StereoDevil

Books, books, and more books

Admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:46:10 +0000

My Kindle is exploding with books to read. I’m not complaining. In fact I am quite happy that I have such convenience to read whenever I can grab some time here and there. People say they don’t have time to read and that’s bullshit. I have the Kindle reader on my HD2 (Android Hacked) and G1. I can always steal a chapter here and there on busy days. My reading has gone up tremendously ever since I bought a Kindle. I will be stoked when a really good color reader hits the market. For comics and stuff like that. Right now I am working on the third Dexter book. I love those books. Then I will read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde again. It’s one of those books I love. I plan to get a copy of Notes on Dracula for Christmas. It is all the notes that Bram Stoker used when he was writing the book. It is rare to see inside the creation of a book and how a writer thinks.

On a different note I have made a decision to never read a technical book in my life ever again. Never again will I waste my time on these mindless pursuits of trying to keep up with an industry so that I can grow old and not know jack shit anyways. It’s a total waste and it’s boring as hell. To hell with subnetting. All this clawing up the ladder to make a few extra bucks is totally retarded.

Reboot my Universe

Admin — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 07:06:27 +0000

Time to reboot the franchise. If Hollywood can start Superman over repeatedly then why can’t I? I just had a lot of posts that are irrelevant to where or who I am. You have to prune your blog because truthfully no one wants to read all that old junk and no one does anyways. I am going through all my posts and bringing back the ones I like and there are a few I liked but maybe now I see it different and can explain my thoughts better. I also was tired of the theme and wanted something a little more simple. If you like this theme there is a link at the bottom of the page. It’s free and easy to hack up to your liking.

I don’t really use twitter and although I still have my Facebook page. Social networks come and go but, the blog is always here.

Battery

Admin — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 08:41:16 +0000

I was listening to a radio show the other day and the host was explaining the different events that led to his becoming a radio host and for him the first thing that caused him to wake up, to come alive was Bill Haley and the Comets. This led me to thinking about my own experiences and I knew exactly the moment and song I heard when I woke up. That song was Battery by Metallica.

I remember the day I bought the album Master of Puppets. I remember my thoughts upon seeing and hearing it. It goes something like this. I was at Walmart of all places. I went to go buy two albums. They were Van Halen’s 5150 and ZZ Top’s Afterburner. Now these are great bands and I enjoy them still to this day but looking back I can say I was not connected to anything via these bands or any others.

So I am looking through the albums and I saw Van Halen but no ZZ Top. My eyes glanced down and there was Master of Puppets. I had heard some of Ride the Lighting while riding around in a dude named Glen’s car but it was just a piece. I picked it up and looked at the cover. It was really different.

Rows of crosses and hands holding strings attached to the crosses. The big block Metallica lettering. It meant something but I didn’t know what. I turned it over and saw something I had not seen on any album. I saw 4 guys that looked like me. No rock star hair, no posing. Just 4 dudes with T-Shirts and Jeans. James Hetfield looked like a bad ass. I mean there was something so real about them. The fisheye pic of I believe Day on the Green concert was special too. It wasn’t of the band. It was of the crowd. Looking out from the stage. The whole thing was just fucking cool. So I bought it.

Now mind you I really had no idea what I was buying. I was still in that stage where you are swayed by packaging and all that. I was a kid you know. I had not had a musical awakening but it was coming in about an hour.

I got home and pulled out the record. Straight to the turntable. I had just started playing guitar about a year before so I really wanted to hear the guitars. I stood there and waited. Then the intro starts and it’s a Spanish flavored intro of the main theme to come. All these layers are added, electric guitars with melodies and then those 5 power chords. E5, B5 G5 , fucked up chord B/D#. You may now commence insane riff from hell. Oh my God my head was like WTF! The riff was so fast, and so intense. The accents. Then they all come in. Like a motherfucking freight train. I could not believe they were playing that fast. Those triplets. The riff. The timing. It was so fucking bad ass. I read the words and I knew at that moment I had found something for me. It was like poetry to me. The way the lyrics were written. I listened to that song over and over that day. Knowing that I had made a connection to something more exciting than I had ever encountered. I had my musical awakening. My best friend Jack was learning guitar and I was witnessing like a zealot to him. Soon he was hooked. My mission had just begun. To this very day I can listen to that song and remember those exact feelings from that day.

Music is so deeply ingrained in my neurons that I hear it constantly. I can’t sleep sometimes because the music won’t stop playing. I hear songs. I try different riffs in my own songs. I can’t stop, and I don’t want to. My life has been shaped so deeply by music and that one event set me on a course that led me on a wonderful musical journey with friends and has allowed me to connect music to other events and made my life that much richer. Thanks to Metallica.

Evernote

Admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:24:32 +0000

My journaling effort was not going well at first. Every time I put the journal in my bag I thought about all the thoughts that would be lost if the bag was stolen or lost. Some people like paper but when I weigh the cost of feeling like shit if my journal was stolen or my house was hit by an asteroid I have no problem taking my chances with a server. Plus I back all my crap up on CrashPlan and a backup drive. I’m not paranoid but when you cry over all those lost picture maybe you will think of me being paranoid.

I looked and could not find a satisfactory online journaling site. For me I need a comfortable interface that is easy on the eyes and something I can get to via my G1. So I am using Evernote and it’s really awesome. You can access it via the web or download the programs for free. It is available for Firefox, OSX, Windows, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. So far I have been writing much more than normal. A lot of letters to my son and thoughts and story ideas. Finally I am getting my memoirs and a journal going. It’s really exciting to find something that fits in my life and helps me capture those thoughts and ideas that just pop into my head. I also journal all my dreams now and I have to say, that is some crazy stuff. When you dream that two 50 foot demigods from another dimension appear and fight in the city like Godzilla you have to wonder what the hell is going on in your life to generate that kind of stuff.

…and Justice For Jason

Admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:51:18 +0000

A flawed masterpiece …and Justice For All is one of the greatest musical injustices (no pun intended) of all time. Many things went wrong in the process of making this album. Remming Flassmussen did not mix it and once it came back from mixing there was no Bass guitar. I have heard all the excuses like “It was swallowed up by James guitar” in the mix. Lars Ulrich challenged anyone to find a part where the bass was not doubling the guitar. Hence the swallowed up in the mix story. Finally they say they grieved through hate. Basically turning down Jason’s Bass because of their grief over Cliff Burton’s death. That is kind of twisted. Jason Newsted got the gig of a lifetime but imagine the disappointment that your idols are a bunch of dickheads and didn’t allowed you to be heard on your first album with them. The Lars and James show. Flemming Rasmussen has stated that the bass recorded was beautiful sounding and that it wasn’t his fault because he didn’t mix it. Finally this has been settled and the truth is out. The Bass was recorded and sounds pristine. There is though a version of Blackened with the bass and it was taken from Guitar Hero tracks and oh my God is all I can say. They are gazillionaires so why don’t they re-mix it and put this to rest. Make Justice a masterpiece.

Metallica — Blackened-New Bass

Our Riffs Will Crush You!!!

Admin — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:01:00 +0000

Social Networking. The word sounds like a turd but it has its uses I guess. Seems like now it’s the only way to keep up with friends. Hell I don’t have an address book I have Facebook. Well in the long run it has done some good things for me. I found old friends like Spencer, Eddie, and even Steve. Not that you know who I am talking about.

Recently out of the blue I received a message on Facebook and it was my best friend from high school, Jack. We started our first band together and rode the wave from garage to clubs to implosion. It was a hell of a ride that’s for sure. After all these years it seems like we just left off. So even though I bitch sometimes about Myspace and Facebook I have to say thanks to Facebook because it brought someone back into my life that was with me during some of the best years of my life and it’s really cool to see where we are in life and realize that even over time friendships really can last. Ok well that’s about it. Oh yeah Jack and I wrote and still write the most crushing riffs you fucking losers!

Oh my god that was one long run on sentence. 59 Words!!!!!!! Damn I’m good…

Pollock

Admin — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:05:00 +0000

I love these two painting by Pollock.

The Library in My Head

Admin — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:49:00 +0000

I wanted to list all the books I have ever read and well the list is growing and I can’t put them all in the bar on the right so I will list them here and link them to Wikipedia articles if anyone is interested. I find that there are so many I still want to read and I am making a list of those also and want to try to get through them all within 4 years. There are so many and not all are fiction. Although I do love fiction. When I remember a book I add it to the list. Many are classics in their genre. There is a reason they are classics. Because they usually speak to some common element among us humans. It’s mainly for me to look back and see all I have read. They are not in and particular order and I left out some smaller books that I may add later. Books that are just in passing and really don’t have a bearing on my thoughts and ideas in writing.

The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
War of The Worlds, H.G. Wells
Sandworms of Dune, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Hunters of Dune, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Chapterhouse Dune, Frank Herbert
Heretics of Dune, Frank Herbert
God Emperor of Dune, Frank Herbert
Children of Dune, Frank Herbert
Dune Messiah, Frank Herbert
Dune, Frank Herbert
Dune: House Corrino, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Dune: House Harkonnen, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Dune: House Atreides, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Dune: The Battle of Corrin, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Dune: The Machine Crusade, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
Lies Inc., Philip K. Dick
Rama Revealed, Arthur C. Clarke
Garden of Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
Rama II, Arthur C. Clarke
Rendevouz with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
3001: The Final Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
2061: Odyssey Three, Arthur C. Clarke
2010: Odyssey Two, Arthur C. Clarke
2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
Childhoods End, Arthur C. Clarke
Song of Distant Earth, Arthur C. Clarke
Lightning, Dean Koontz
The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury
Farenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
The Illustrated man, Ray Bradbury
I Robot, Isaac Asimov
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Xenogenesis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler
Darwins Dangerous Idea, Daniel Dennett
Red Storm Rising, Tom Clancy
The Hunt For Red October, Tom Clancy
Patriot Games, Tom Clancy
Clear and Present Danger, Tom Clancy
The Bear and The Dragon, Tom Clancy
The Teeth of the Tiger, Tom Clancy
SSN, Tom Clancy
Dracula, Bram Stoker
Frankenstein, Mary Shelly

Book I am currently Reading:

The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells

Books I plan to read:

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson